Sir John Hotham VI

Sir John Hotham VI, son and heir of Sir John de Hotham V and his unknown wife, was born about 1386 as he was found to be 28 years old at the inquisition post mortem of his father in 1414 [1]. He married about 1412 [2], Maud, daughter of William Newsom of York, who after his death re-married John Routh, esquire [3].

On 4 April 1414, the escheators in Yorkshire, Lancashire and Westmoreland were ordered to give to John Hothome, son and heir of John Hothome, 'chivaler', full seisin of all the lands which his father held of the king in chief or was seised of in his demesne as of fee on the day of his death [4].

On 20 June 1414, by a deed dated at Scorborough, John de Hothom, esquire, enfeoffed John Ellerker and Robert Constable, esquires, of the moiety of the manor of Staveley, the hamlets of Hogyll, Respeton, Sadgyll, Girsemere and Langeden, with the appurtenances in Westmorland, an acre of land in Carnford called Salteracre, the advowson of the abbey of Cokersand and the advowson of the church of Warton in Lancashire [5]. On 9 February 1415, John de Hothom, donsel, nobleman, of the diocese of York had a papal indult to have a portable altar [6].

In June 1415, John Hothome, going abroad, had letters of attorney and on 25 July 1415 John Hothum, in the retinue of the king, had letters of protection [7]. He probably fought at the Battle of Agincourt on 25 October 1415 and was knighted there. He was definitely knighted before 13 September 1416, when John de Hothom, knight, of Yorkshire, is named in the Close Rolls as under captain and one of the deputies of Henry earl of Northumberland. From the Close Roll entry, it is clear that he fought at the Battle of the Seine in August 1416, in the fleet of John Duke of Bedford, which ended the Franco-Genoese blockade of the port of Harfleur [8].

By his charter dated at Wassand on 10 May 1417, Sir John Godard granted to John Routh and John Hothom, knights, and Roger Gudale, parson of Bainton, and John Raytheby of Lincolnshire and their heirs for ever the manor of Wassand and ⅓ of the manor of Atwick [9]. On 16 May 1417, John Hothom, knight, was appointed to a commission to enquire into a petition by the church of St. Peter, York [10]. On 30 April 1419, Sir John Hothom, knight, was a party to a fine in which he, Sir John Routh, William Ryman and John Ratheby purchased a third of the manor of Southcotes, a ninth part of the manor and castle of Bransholme, and other lands from Sir John Godard [11].

John Hotham VI died on 3 October 1419, aged about 33. On 14 November 1419, the writ of diem clausit extremum for John Hotham 'chivaler' was issued to the escheators of Yorkshire, Lancashire and Westmorland [12].

The inquisition post mortem for Yorkshire was held at Howden, on 19 December 1419. The jurors found that he died on Tuesday after Michaelmas last (3 October 1419) and that John, his son and heir, is aged 8 years and more [13]. The proof of age inquisition for John Hotham VII in 1435 found that he was born on 8 April 1414 [14], so he was actually only 5½ years old at his father's death, and not 8 as stated at his father's inquisitions. At the inquisition post mortem in Lancashire of Johnnes de Hothom, held at Preston on 25 May 1421, the jurors found that he died on 3 October 1419 and that John, his son, is his heir and aged 8 years and upwards [15]. On 5 July 1420, the king ordered an additional inquisition into lands in Yorkshire not included in the first inquisition [16]. This inquisition which was held at York Castle on 17 October 1420, found that he also held of the king in chief by knight service ½ knight's fee in Whixley and Garrowby [17]. These lands were part of his father’s inheritance from Thomas de Thwenge.

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[1] Calendar of Inquisitions Post Mortem, vol. 20, Nos. 65 to 67 (C 138/3/35).

[2] Their son and heir John Hotham VIII was born in April 1414.

[3] Skaife, Kirkby’s Inquest, 20n.

[4] Calendar of Fine Rolls, vol. 14, Henry V, 1413-1422 (1934), 67.

[5] Farrer and Curwen, Records Relating to the Barony of Kendale, Vol. 1, 317–42.

[6] Calendar of Papal Registers Relating to Great Britain and Ireland, vol. 6: 1404-1415 (1904), 361.

[7] “Calendar of the French Rolls: 3 Henry 5”, Thomas Duffus Hardy, Forty-Fourth Annual Report of the Deputy Keeper of the Public Records (London: HMSO, 1884), 569, 573.

[8] Calendar of Close Rolls, Henry V, vol. 1: 1413–1419 (1929), 317.

[9] Calendar of Inquisitions Post Mortem, vol. 21: Henry V: 1418–1422 (2002), No. 506.

[10] Calendar of Inquisitions Miscellaneous (Chancery), vol. 7: 1399-1422 (1968), 311.

[11] Feet of Fines, CP 25/1/291/64, number 78.

[12] Calendar of Fine Rolls, vol. 14, Henry V: 1413–1422 (1934), 275.

[13] Calendar of Inquisitions Post Mortem, vol. 21: Henry V: 1418–1422 (2002), 88, No. 302.

[14] Calendar of Inquisitions Post Mortem, vol. 24, No. 273.

[15] W. Langton, ed., Abstracts of Inquisitions Post Mortem, Made by Christopher Townley and Roger Dodsworth, Volume I, Chetham Society 95, 1875, 142.

[16] Calendar of Fine Rolls, vol. 14 Henry V: 1413-1422 (1934), 349.

[17] Calendar of Inquisitions Post Mortem, vol. 21, 6-10 Henry V: 1418-1422 (2010), No. 641.