On 8 June, Arthur wrote to Cromwell to confirm that he was present at the suppression of Jervaulx Abbey. He also stated that he felt he was wasting the king’s money at Pontefract, as the areas in the North were never in a more dreadful and true obedience. He ended his report by beseeching Cromwell to be a good lord to him.37
Arthur was obviously on reasonably good terms with Queen Jane Seymour’s family, as he petitioned the queen’s sister, Lady Ughtred, in June to intercede for him to obtain the parsonage of Askyrth. He was of the opinion that just a word from her would result in the king granting the request. As for himself, he stated, he would be happy to tarry in the North if she were to remain with him, but he was aware of the possibility that some Southern lord would make her forget the North.38 Here again, we see evidence of Arthur’s hankering for the South and the fact that he perceived a clear geographical demarcation between North and South.
On 12 November, Sir Arthur was present at the queen’s funeral and had been granted the office of steward of Galtres Forest, Yorkshire, a few weeks before.39 In May 1538, Arthur was granted lands, the extent of which is quite astonishing and thus needs to be listed in order to appreciate its magnitude. He was granted three dissolved monastic properties: the monastery of St Mary in Sawley, the abbey of Coverham and the priory of the Holy Trinity, all in Yorkshire. Coverham came with various lands, three messuages and Scraston Grange. In addition, Darcy was granted twenty-five manors, mainly in Yorkshire, with some in Lancashire. The manor of Gisbourne also included a forest. At least fifteen other messuages and other lands were also granted, as were two granges: one in Sonderland, Lancashire, and the other in Glingtorpe. To top this off, he was granted the advowsons and rectories of Tadcaster and Gargrave in Yorkshire, with an annual rent of 53s 4d.40 This grant is really quite spectacular when one considers that it came about eighteen months after the end of the Pilgrimage of Grace and a mere eleven months after Darcy’s father was executed as a traitor. Clearly, the king did not believe that the sins of the father should be visited on the son and Arthur’s shrewd perception that loyalty was the key to advancement had been borne out.
In January 1539, he was granted, in addition, over 500 acres of land in Conysthorp, North Yorkshire.41 Overall, he was, as R.B. Smith has stated, the recipient of the largest ‘political’ grant that the king bestowed on those who had been loyal during the Pilgrimage of Grace.42 Sir Arthur and his brother George were also on the reception committee for the arrival of Anne of Cleves at the end of 1539. The following December, he received a grant of a priory, lands and a vicarage in Yorkshire and in December 1541 he was granted the priory of St Andrew’s in York. The following August, Arthur was the beneficiary of yet another grant of £236 12s 6d and additional lands that had previously belonged to the convent of Charterhouse, London.43
May 1543 provides an indication of how diverse Arthur’s property portfolio was – he and his wife obtained a licence to alienate (sell or transfer) some of his property. These were the house and priory of the late priory of Clementhorpe and other lands in Burneholme, Yorkshire, and, interestingly, a ‘mansion’ in London to his brother, George. The following month he was the recipient of a licence to purchase lands and tenements in Aldgate, east London. Yet another grant of a manor, that of Nappaye in Yorkshire, was bestowed upon him six months later in January 1544 and the following year he received the manor, wood and fisheries of Gonby, and Selby Monastery in Yorkshire. He was also given the manor of Talertheg.
The Book of Augmentations for 1546 also reveals that Arthur was in receipt of the tithes of Whitgift Chapel, Yorkshire.44 Although Arthur may have been disappointed with regard to Lady Ughtred, he went on to marry Mary, the daughter of Sir Nicholas Carew of Bedyngton, Surrey, and was based at Brimham, North Yorkshire. Together they had ten sons and five daughters, including his heir, Henry, who in turn married the daughter of Sir Robert Tyrwhyt.45 Tyrwhyt, as will be seen in due course, had remained steadfastly loyal to King Henry during the Pilgrimage and its aftermath and had gained both materially and in status as a result.
Whilst Arthur was evidently handsomely compensated for his loyalty and fidelity in Yorkshire, his elder brother, George, Lord Darcy’s son and heir, does not feature as prominently in the sources from the time of the Pilgrimage and does not appear to have gained as much. George had been in attendance at Pontefract with his father in December 1536 but appears to have kept a lower profile from then on. His presence at the Pilgrims’ Council, as Darcy’s elder son and heir, does not support Bastow’s theory that only second sons were involved in rebellious activity.46
Richard Pollard wrote to the Lord Privy Seal with regard to George the following August and stated that he understood that Cromwell had been a good lord to Darcy. This provides evidence that George Darcy was involved in a patron–client relationship with Cromwell. We are not told in what way Cromwell had been a good lord but the fact that it was acknowledged, and by a third party, is surely illuminating. Perhaps Cromwell had displayed another characteristic of a patron? Maybe he had protected George despite Lord Darcy’s rebellious actions? Pollard sent George to Cromwell with this letter and enclosed the value of the late Lord Darcy’s lands.47 Some of these lands were granted to Sir Thomas Hennege in May 1538: the house, manor and the advowson of the parish church of Knayth, Lincolnshire. The Lord Privy Seal duly recorded George’s name in his (Memorandum of) Remembrances.48
In September 1539, George was granted a manor in Gloucestershire, and he accompanied his brother to the reception for Anne of Cleves at the end of that year. The grant of an annuity of £56 3s 4d was to follow three years later, but a more extensive reward was bestowed in June 1543 when he was granted eleven manors and six rectories. His most significant grant was in April 1545 when he was given the manors of Hamylton, Acaster Selby and Stillingfleet in Yorkshire. In addition to this, George received the possessions of Selby, St Oswald’s, Gysborne, Pontefract and Worksoppe monasteries, as well as Helaugh and Basedale priories and St Leonard’s Hospital.49 The elder son does not appear to have gained the extensive rewards of his younger brother, but he was restored as Baron Darcy and he married Dorothy, the daughter and sole heir of Sir John Melton of Aston.50 His heir was John, 2nd Baron Darcy of Aston.
In 1536, Sir William Parr could not have envisaged the possibility of his niece, Katherine, becoming Queen of England; not least because she had married for the second time, her husband being Sir John Neville, Lord Latimer, who was involved in the initial stages of the Pilgrimage and present at the Pilgrims’ Council between 2 and 4 December.51 When the Lincolnshire Rising broke out in the autumn, Parr was steadfastly loyal to the Crown and was designated, among others, to take command in the event of the Duke of Suffolk being absent.52 Parr appears to have relished the opportunity to be involved in the restoration of peace and order in the North. His correspondence with both the king and Cromwell in the aftermath of the Lincolnshire Rising and the Pilgrimage of Grace is both abundant and informative.
In early March 1537 Guy Keym and Thomas Moigne were among the ninety-two rebels condemned as traitors at Lincoln and among thirty-four sentenced to death. Parr wrote to advise the king that he had been present at the proceedings and at the executions of Keym and Moigne – he reiterated these details in a letter to Cromwell the same day.53 The following day, 8 March, saw Parr advancing the cause of the sheriff, William Tirwhit, who wished to have the goods come to the king by Guy Keym’s attainder, in recompense of his expenses. Four days later, in a letter to Cromwell, Parr confirmed that he had attended the executions at Louth and Horncastle and stated that he thought the people sorry for their late ill demeanour and that no county was now more peaceful. He went on to request allowances for Sir John Villers, Sir John Markham, John Herrington, Thomas Neville and Sir William Newnham, as they had performed good service.54 It is hard to avoid the impression that Parr wished to cast himself in the role of both loyal and diligent servant of the king and benefactor to the local gentry – a conduit between Crown and countryside
. Here we see clientage in operation – Parr was endeavouring to secure favours for other dependents in the locality.
Having initially sought reward for others, Parr had obviously endeavoured to promote his own advancement and reward. On 18 March 1537, he wrote to Cromwell thanking him for speaking to the king about the farm of Barlinges. He said that if he were to be granted it, he could do the king good service in the locality.55 Unfortunately for Parr, he was to be disappointed in this request for the Lincolnshire abbey, but he received manors, lands and rents through grants in the same month. He received the manor and hundred of Rothwell, Northamptonshire, on a forty-year lease, which had reverted to the king as a result of the attainder of Edward, Duke of Buckingham (in 1521). In addition, he was granted five manors in Westmorland (Kirby, Croftwaite, Lithe, Heslington and Sampole) as well as two in Lancashire (Weresdale and Clevely).56
By mid-May, he was writing to Cromwell with regard to Lord Hussey’s indictment and, revealingly, stated that he hoped that Hussey’s offices would be given to those who would ensure the order of the countryside and that he wished them for himself.57 Parr was part of the Yorkshire jury panel annexed for the trial of Constable, Bigod, Percy, Sir John Bulmer, Cheny, Hammerton, Aske and Ralph Bulmer at Westminster on 16 May 1537,58 and by the end of that month he was writing to Cromwell, reminding him of his recent visit to London during which he had asked the king for the preferment of Jervaulx Abbey if it were to be suppressed. He reminded Cromwell of his promise of a favour, saying that if he failed to gain preferment of the abbey, of which he was the founder, he would consider it a great reproach.59 The outcome of this request will be noted in due course.
Parr continued to press not only for his own advancement but ostensibly that of others as well. In August, he informed Cromwell that he wanted the lands of the two abbeys in the City of Lincoln for the people of Lincoln.60 He followed up that request in a letter to Wriothesley in September when asking for the executed Lord Hussey’s lands for himself and asking what Cromwell intended to do with regard to Barlinges.61 He continued to be vigorous in his search for sedition and the maintenance of order, and told of a secret meeting which he suspected was against the king’s peace in the area of Brigstock. He duly had those in attendance arrested and pledged that he would continue to apprehend persons who held secret assemblies.62 A picture emerges of Parr as a rigorous and enthusiastic member of the loyal gentry in the North and one gets the impression that he rather relished his power, local standing and opportunity for wealth and self-advancement. He seems, more than any other, to have been at pains to point out his efficient service on a frequent basis.
In early 1538, Parr reminded Cromwell yet again that the situation with Barlinges had not yet been resolved and repeated his request that the City of Lincoln might have the attainted lands there which belonged to the two houses, in recompense of money and plate which he had taken out of the city for the king’s use.63 Although disappointed in his request for Barlinges, Parr was appointed as the chief steward of possessions in Lincolnshire, Rutland, Nottinghamshire and the City of Lincoln, ‘which came to the king by the attainder of John, Lord Hussey and Thomas Moigne’ with fees of £6 a year. During the summer, Parr was appointed to a Commission of Oyer and Terminer for Treasons for Northamptonshire, Warwickshire, Leicestershire, Rutland, Nottinghamshire, Derbyshire, Lincolnshire and the cities of Lincoln and Coventry, as well as the towns of Leicester and Nottingham. Parr was also granted Brayfield Rectory in Northampton in 1538.64
William Parr’s star continued to rise and he was granted leases of ex-monastic property, including Pipewell Abbey and a number of granges. In 1539, he was elected to Parliament for the last time.65 In September of that year, Parr was granted an annuity of £3 6s 8d from the attainted lands of Jervaulx Monastery; so his previous request was, in part, satisfied.66 John Hussey wrote to Lord Lisle on a couple of occasions in March 1539, stating that he had learned that Parr was to be made Lord Fitzhugh.67 Although Hussey was premature and had got the title wrong, Parr must have been a very proud man when he was created Baron Parr of Horton on his elevation to the peerage in 1543 after his niece Katherine’s marriage to the king. The ceremony took place on Sunday, 23 December at Hampton Court.68
Baron William Parr became chamberlain to the queen’s household and took his seat in the House of Lords on 17 January 1544. The following month, he received a significant grant of property – priories, rectories, manors, farms and windmills in various counties.69 The king appointed him a member of the regency council to advise Queen Katherine whilst he was abroad, but Parr was absent from the Lords during the last of Henry’s parliaments. Parr made his will on 21 June 1546 which made provision for his wife and relatives, including his grandson, Ralph Lane. (Parr and his wife had four daughters.)70 The following November, he was appointed as keeper of Rockingham Park, Northamptonshire, and keeper of the deer in Corby Woods.71
His loyalty to the Crown and energetic service had proved lucrative, and when he died on 10 September 1547, his wealth was approximately £1,500 in bequests and plate.72 He was thus a wealthy man. Parr’s career is an example of how enhanced prestige and power could be attained by loyal service: he profited from the patronage of a grateful monarch and the defeat of that monarch’s enemies.
Sir Ralph Eure (also known as Evers) was the son of Sir William Eure of Witton, County Durham, and predeceased his father. Both were active members of the northern gentry and are not recorded as having participated in the Pilgrimage of Grace. Ralph Eure appears on the East Riding Commission in April 1536 and was in command of Scarborough Castle during the Pilgrimage.73 Eure wrote to Sir John Bulmer in January 1537, praising the king for forgiving the Pilgrims both in writing and in his heart. He also kept Henry informed of the activities of Bigod and Hallam.74
Eure wasted no time in requesting Bigod’s lands in a letter to Cromwell of 11 February, before Bigod had even been to trial.75 The Privy Council displayed faith in both Eure’s and Ellerker’s abilities in March when it instructed Norfolk to ‘keep a special eye’ on Sir Robert Constable: ‘You shall secretly inform Sir Ralph Ellerker and Sir Ralph Evers of this matter and let them take order of the parts of Hull and Scarborough to prevent him stealing away to outward parts.’76
By April, Cromwell had noted that ‘Raffe Evers’ was to be remembered, among others,77 and in May Eure was busy taking the inventory of the goods of the attainted Sir James Cockerell, formerly of Gisburn. In June, Norfolk recommended Eure for a pension of £40 a year78 and Cromwell made a further record of Eure’s entitlement to some acknowledgement in his Remembrances for 1537.79 It is interesting that Ralph’s servant was one of the accusers of the Vicar of Mustone for his failure to set forth the Royal Supremacy.80 Eure’s servant was clearly not only loyal and obedient to him, but also to the king’s religious policies and the vicar was subsequently executed for treason. The loyalty that Eure fostered in his servant was mirrored by his own behaviour towards the regime and he was duly rewarded, as he had requested, in April 1538. Eure was appointed chief steward of possessions in Lincolnshire and Yorkshire, ‘which came to the king by the attainder of Sir Francis Bigod’, with a fee of £5 a year.81 This example again illustrates the link between retribution and reward.
Ralph’s father, William, had been a member of the Council of the North since 1525, and was suggested as a member for the newly constituted council set up by the Duke of Norfolk in the aftermath of the Pilgrimage in 1537.82 William, a man of ‘moderate fortune’, was appointed as one of the king’s lieutenants in the marches; Deputy and, subsequently, Warden of the East March.83 In June 1537, he was involved in a ‘device’ for the keeping of the East and Middle Marches, alongside Ellerker. Eure was given 200 marks per year and Ellerker £20. Eure was also paid £20 per annum as a member of the Council of the North and was appointed as a Justice of the Peace for the West Riding of Yorkshire in November 1537. He also received an annuity of £20 from the manor of Barmeston in Yorkshire from January 1542.84
Wil
liam’s offices included Escheator of Durham, Steward of Pickering, Whitby Strand, Sir Francis Bigod’s lands and Jervaulx. He was also Constable of Scarborough and Captain of Berwick, in addition to being Warden of the East March. The pinnacle of his achievement came in March 1544, when he was created a baron, 1st Lord Eure, and had his patent as Warden of the East Marches renewed.85 In January 1545, William was also granted the lordship of Stritton Grange, Northumberland.86 In this case, a man of moderate fortune had reaped handsome dividends for his loyalty throughout the Pilgrimage.
However, his pleasure in his success must have been tempered by the death of his son and heir, Ralph, the following year. Ralph had been active on the border and participated in the Earl of Hertford’s invasion of Scotland in 1544, for which he received Henry’s thanks, but he then fell at Ancrum Moor on 27 February 1545 at the hands of the Earl of Angus.87 Lord William was appointed as chief steward of the lands in Lincolnshire and Yorkshire (previously Sir Francis Bigod’s) the following May. He was also made Constable of Scarborough Castle (these offices had been Ralph’s) and received a grant for life of the manor of Northstede in Yorkshire.88 Ralph’s will was made on 6 May 1544 and his offices passed to his father, William.89
When William Eure died three years later, he was succeeded by Ralph’s son, William, who in turn became 2nd Baron Eure. Both father and son had benefited materially and in status as a result of their unwavering loyalty during the Pilgrimage and its aftermath. William made his will shortly before his death – it is dated 25 February 1548.90 William’s elevation to the peerage was the zenith of their achievements and Ralph would have expected to inherit the title as 2nd Baron Eure. However, the price he paid for his steadfast service on the Borders was that the title did not pass to him. Instead, his son, William, continued the family’s line in the nobility.
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