Generation III
Henry de Isham
1300–1349
Life
Henry de Isham of Pytchley was an early fourteenth-century Northamptonshire landowner whose life and legal affairs established the documented core of the Pytchley Isham pedigree.? Born around 1300, he was the son of Robert Isham and his wife Juliana.? Henry was explicitly styled in contemporary royal court records as the son and heir of Robert de Isham, and in late fifteenth-century genealogical pleadings his line was commemorated as the starting point of three successive generations of Roberts.? Over the course of his adult life, Henry was associated with two wives in contemporary court rolls: Agnes, with whom he defended property in Northampton in 1332 and 1333 and who survived him as his widow, and Margery, named as his wife around 1340 in a family land suit alongside their son Robert and daughter Margery.1,2 Whether Agnes and Margery represented successive marriages or variations in recording, and which woman gave birth to his son and heir Robert, remains unresolved in surviving sources, but both are securely tied to him in the primary documentation.?
Henry emerged as a figure of local substance during the 1320s.? In 1325, his financial standing was demonstrated in the Close Rolls when Robert de Oseville formally acknowledged a debt of two hundred pounds owed to Henry de Isham of Northampton, to be levied against Oseville's lands and chattels.3 During the Northamptonshire general eyre of 1327 to 1330, Henry was heavily engaged in county legal business.4,5,6 He successfully defended his landholdings when a writ brought against him by William son of John le Wykes was dropped, and he frequently acted as a manucaptor and pledge for others, including Richard the Cyre of Pytchley and William Elys, often serving alongside leading regional figures such as Sir John de Longueville.4,5,6 In addition to his principal holdings at Pytchley, contemporary feudal records document that Henry held one carucate and three parts of a hide of land in Isham under Alexander Deundewyle and William de Latimer.?
Following the death of his father, Henry took vigorous measures to protect and recover the family patrimony.? Between 1330 and 1332, he pursued a landmark action in the Court of Common Pleas against William Bene of Pytchley for waste.7,8 Henry's complaint set forth that his father, Robert de Isham, had demised certain houses and tenements in Pytchley to Bene for a term of life or years, and that Bene had committed waste, sale, and destruction of the buildings to Henry's disinheritance.7,9 After protracted proceedings, the court found in Henry's favor in 1332, awarding him six pounds and ten shillings in treble damages to be levied from Bene's lands and paid over to Henry's designated assignees, Peter de Lodington and Thomas de Harpestotes, clerks.8 During the same period, in 1331, Henry was involved in Common Pleas process defending his holdings against claims brought by William son of Geoffrey de Orlingbury and asserting his rights against numerous other Pytchley tenants.10
In the 1330s and 1340s, Henry continued to appear alongside his family in defense of their estates.? In 1332 and 1333, Henry, his wife Agnes, and Simon de la Porte answered a Common Pleas suit brought by William son of John le Megre of Frothingham concerning a messuage in Northampton; when the claimant failed to prosecute, Henry and Agnes obtained an outright dismissal without day.11,12 Around 1340, a writ brought by John le Clerk summoned Henry, his wife Margery, their son Robert, and their daughter Margery regarding three acres of land and a rood of meadow in Pytchley, an entry that provides vital direct proof of his immediate family structure.2 Henry died before 1349.1 Following his death, his widow Agnes retained dower rights in Pytchley, where in 1349 her lands became the center of a violent dispute recorded in the Patent Rolls between the sheriff's bailiff and Henry Dengayne.1 Henry was succeeded by his son Robert de Isham, through whom the family's Pytchley estate continued into subsequent generations.2
- Cal. Pat. 1348–50 p.455: Agnes late wife of Henry de Isham; Dengayne at Pytchley
- CP 40/332: Henry Isham and Margery his wife, Robert their son, and Margery sister of Robert, summoned for three acres in Pytchley
- Cal. Close 1323–7 p.524: Robert de Osevile owes Henry de Isham of Northampton £200
- JUST 1/633: Henry de Isham pledge for Richard the Cyre of Pytchley
- JUST 1/635: Henry de Isham again as pledge
- JUST 1/632: Henry de Isham stands pledge at Northampton
- CP 40/292: Henry de Isham sues William Bene for waste of houses in Pytchley demised by Robert de Isham, father of Henry whose heir he is
- CP 40/297: judgment — Henry recovers £6 10s treble damages for waste against Bene
- Henry de Isham continues waste process for houses demised by his father Robert in Pytchley, CP 40/292 (c.1331)
- CP 40/293: Henry de Isham demands against several Pytchley tenants
- Henry son of Robert de Isham of Pytchley and Agnes his wife sued for a messuage in Northampton, CP 40/299 (c.1332)
- Henry son of Robert de Isham of Pytchley and Agnes his wife appoint attorney, CP 40/299 (c.1333)
? marks 8 statements for which no attached source was found.
Life sketch as written on the FamilySearch Family Tree. Footnotes link each statement to the attached source that supports it; they were matched by machine against the source summaries and should be read as a guide, not a verification.
Records
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1323
Close Rolls acknowledgement (calendared at p. 524): Robert de Osevile acknowledges that he owes to Henry de Isham of Northampton £200; to be levied, in default of payment, of his lands and chattels in co. Northampton.
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1327
William Elys makes fine of 40s. by pledge of Henry de Isham and John de Longueville, in Northampton proceedings. Consistent with Henry of the Northampton/Pytchley circle (VCH notes a Henry de Isham of Northampton owed £200 in 1325). Machine transcription; readings should be checked against the image.
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1327
Henry de Isham named among pledges in Northamptonshire eyre business, c.1327–30.
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1327
Henry de Isham stands pledge for Richard the Cyre of Pytchley in eyre process.
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1327
Further eyre entry naming Henry de Isham as pledge.
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1330
Henry de Isham of Pightesle offers himself against William Bene of Pightesle on a plea of waste: William allegedly wasted houses in Pightesle which Robert de Isham, father of Henry, whose heir Henry is, had demised to William for a term. Machine transcription; readings should be checked against the image.
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1331
Parallel enrolment of Henry's waste suit against Bene; surname garbled as Iohan — twin of image 0884.
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1331
Henry de Isham, by attorney, offered himself against William Bene of Pytchley for waste of houses in Pytchley which Robert de Isham, father of the said Henry whose heir he is, demised to Bene for a term of life, contrary to the statute of Westminster. Bene did not come; process on lands.
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1331
Henry de Isham demands land or rent against several Pytchley tenants in Common Pleas process, 1331.
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1331
Henry de Isham by Richard de Cranesle, attorney, against William Bene of Pightesle for waste of houses in Pightesle which Robert de Isham, father of the said Henry whose heir he is, demised to William for a term of years, to Henry's disinheritance. Machine transcription; readings should be checked against the image.
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1332
Judgment for Henry de Isham: £6 10s for treble damages for waste, sale and destruction to his disinheritance; levy from Bene's former lands; paid to Henry's assignees Peter de Lodington and Thomas de Harpestotes, clerks.
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1332
William son of John le Megre of Frothingham offers himself against Henry son of Robert de Isham of Pyghtesle and Agnes his wife and Simon de la Porte for one messuage in Northampton claimed as his right. Defendants do not come; process continues. Machine transcription; readings should be checked against the image.
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1333
Attorney appointment: Henry son of Robert de Isham of Pighesle and Agnes his wife (with Simon de la Porte) appoint Walter de [—] in their plea. Continues the Northampton messuage process of image 0417. Machine transcription; readings should be checked against the image.
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1340
John le Clerk offered himself against Henry Isham and Margery his wife and Robert son of the same Henry and Margery and Margery sister of the same Robert and Alice Wele, for three acres of land and one rod of meadow in Pytchley which he claims as his right. They did not come; the tenements were to be taken into the kin…
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1343
Per V.C.H. Northamptonshire iv, Pytchley: Henry de Isham in 1309 was bailiff of Richard son of Roger son of Henry in a free-tenement claim in Pytchley by Richard against his brothers Roger and John and his sisters Beatrice, Emma, and Joan. Source: Assize R. 1343, m. 29.
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1343
Henry de Isham was in 1309 bailiff of Richard son of Roger son of Henry in the case of a free tenement in Pytchley claimed by Richard against his brothers Roger and John and his sisters Beatrice, Emma, and Joan.
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1349
Commission of oyer and terminer (calendared p. 455): information that the sheriff of Northampton, by Simon de Hardyngsthorn his bailiff, would have replevied cattle of Agnes late the wife of Henry de Isham taken and unjustly detained by Henry Dengayn, John Goloc and John le Smyth at Pyghtesle (Pytchley); armed resistan…
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1474
Margaret who was the wife of Robert Isham, and Robert [Isham] clerk, William Isham, Richard Isham and John Isham, son of the said Robert Isham son of Robert son of Robert son of Henry Isham, executors of the testament of Robert Isham son of Robert Isham son of Robert son of Henry Isham, by attorney offered themselves a…
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1555
VCH Pytchley narrates: Gregory purchased Engaynes (fine of 1555 with Giles); Giles held a brief manor called Ishams of Robert Isham clerk as of Staffords; Staffords then to Gregory's son Euseby of Braunston; fines/recoveries 1580 (⅓ Geynes & Ishams), 1587 (Pytchley & Bassets), 1606 (Pytchley & Braunston) as Sir Euseby …
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1741