Philip (Despenser) le Despenser (1313 - abt. 1349)

Born 6 Apr 1313 in Lincolnshire, England

Ancestors

Husband of Joan (Cobham) le Despenser — married about Jun 1339 in England

Descendants

Died about 22 Aug 1349 at about age 36 in England

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Biography

Philip le Despenser, Knt., son and heir of Philip le Despenser, Knt., and Margaret de Goushill, was born in Lincolnshire on 6 April 1313.^[1][2][3] Philip, whose father died when he was only a few months old, was his father's heir.^[4] His mother remarried in April 1314 to John de Roos (or Ros). She had no children with her second husband.^[1]

Philip held lands in Goxhill and Gedney, Lincolnshire and Camoys, Essex. In 1348, he recovered lands and tenements at Aberforde, Yorkshire from William Gramari. He was in the king's retinue in 1347.^[1]

Philip married by contract dated June 1339 to Joan de Cobham, daughter of John de Cobham, Knt., Lord Cobham,^[3] and Joan de Beauchamp.^[1] They had three sons and one daughter:

• Philip, Knt., Lord Despenser, born 18 October 1342,^[5] died 4 August 1401, married Elizabeth ______ and had issue^[1][3]
• Hugh,^[1] aged 12 in 1359, when a guardian was appointed^[6]
• Roger, clerk^[1]
• Hawise, wife of Andrew Luttrell, Knt.^[1] She was aged 14 in 1359, when a guardian was appointed.^[6]

Philip died on 22 (or 23) August 1349.^[1][3][7] Philip's mother, Margaret, had died just a month before her son, in July. Inquisitions Post Mortem for both Philip and Margaret were taken in 1349 and the heir to both was Philip's son, Philip, aged 7 years.^[7]

His widow, Joan, did not remarry and she died shortly before 15 May 1357. She was buried at Newhouse Abbey, Lincolnshire.^[1]

Research Notes

Burial Place

Philip and his wife Joan de Cobham were both buried at Newhouse Abbey (also known as Newsham Abbey), near Brocklesby in Lincolnshire. The Abbey was founded in 1143 and was closed by Henry VIII in 1536. At present the Abbey is in ruins but parts of it, including the precinct boundary, are visible as earthworks. The whole precinct of Newhouse Abbey is definable and has survived in a relatively undisturbed state. There are no above-ground ruins.

Per an e-mail received by Alton Rogers on 3 March 2010 from Chris Keyworth in Lincolnshire, England regarding the Newhouse Abbey ruins: "the site is all wooded and you see a great deal - not a lot was known about the place until I started looking into it years ago - the (listed following) are most certainly 'in situ' (tombs 'on the premises' or 'in place') within the abbey church as it hasn't been excavated properly. (buried here: Philip Despenser d. 1349 and wife Joan de Cobham; Elizabeth, wife of Philip Despenser, d. 1401; Philip Wentworth, d. 1464 and Henry Wentworth, d. 1501.) ... I have common rights on the land and live only 2 km away."

And from an e-mail Alton Rogers received on 4 March 2010 from Rod Collins in Lincolnshire, describing a visit by Rod to the site: "Much of the area is shrouded by dense woodland and undergrowth but a great pleasure to be at such an ancient and historic site."

Sources

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 1.8 1.9} Douglas Richardson. Royal Ancestry: A Study in Colonial and Medieval Families, Vol. IV. Salt Lake City, UT: the author, 2013, p. 215, NETTLESTEAD 12.
2. ↑ Douglas Richardson. Magna Carta Ancestry: A Study in Colonial and Medieval Families, 2nd ed., vol. III. Salt Lake City, UT: the author, 2011, p. 233, NETTLESTEAD 7. Google Books.
3. ↑ ^{3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3} G.E. Cokayne and Vicary Gibbs eds. Complete Peerage of England, Scotland, Ireland, Great Britain and the United Kingdom, Vol. IV: Dacre - Dysart, 2nd ed. London, 1916, pp. 288-290. Archive.org.
4. ↑ Calendar of Inquisitions Post Mortem and Other Analogous Documents preserved in the Public Record Office. pp. 266-267. Archive.org, #472.
5. ↑ M. C. B. Dawes, 'Inquisitions Post Mortem, Edward III, File 180', in Calendar of Inquisitions Post Mortem: Volume 11, Edward III. London: 1935, pp. 414-438. British History Online: proof of age of son, Philip.
6. ↑ ^{6.0 6.1} Alfred Gibbons. Early Lincoln Wills, 1280–1547. Lincoln: James Williamson, 1888, p. 23. Google Books. Bishop's Register: "Philip Despenser, knight. xvi Kal. Mar. 1359. [fo. 145.] Commission to Wm. de Askeby, canon of Lincoln, to appoint guardians for Hugh aged 12, and Hawise aged 14, children of deceased."
7. ↑ ^{7.0 7.1} J. E. E. S. Sharp, et al. 'Inquisitions Post Mortem, Edward III, File 96', in Calendar of Inquisitions Post Mortem. Volume 9, Edward III. London, 1916, pp. 175-201. British History Online: his IPM (#217) and that of his mother, Margaret de Roos (#216).

• Gage, John. History & Antiquities of Suffolk, Thingoe Hundred. London: John Deck, 1838, pp. 4, 7-8. Google Books.
• Allison, K J, et al. "North division: Mappleton", in A History of the County of York East Riding. Volume 7: Holderness Wapentake, Middle and North Divisions. London: 2002, pp. 306-321. British History Online.
• Allison, K J, et al. "North division: Beeford", in A History of the County of York East Riding. Volume 7: Holderness Wapentake, Middle and North Divisions. London: 2002, pp. 223-245. British History Online.
• "Despenser/Cobham" 2001 posts in soc.genealogy.medieval newsgroup.
• "Cobham of Cobham Corrections - Part 1" 2003 posts in soc.genealogy.medieval newsgroup.
• Cokayne, George Edward and H.A. Doubleday et. al eds. Complete Peerage of England, Scotland, Ireland, Great Britain and the United Kingdom, Vol. VI: Gordon to Hurstpierpoint, 2nd ed. London: 1926, pp. 42-43. FamilySearch: Goushill (footnote h).

Acknowledgements

Magna Carta Project

This profile was developed for the Magna Carta Project on 10 November 2022 by Thiessen-117 and reviewed for the Project the same day by Michael Cayley.

Philip le Despenser is a descendant of Magna Carta Surety Barons Hugh le Bigod and Roger le Bigod and appears in trails badged by the Magna Carta Project to the following Gateway Ancestors:

• Marmaduke Beckwith: badged 2022, see trails HERE. Also see Jennings, below.
• Nathaniel Burrough (MCA I:375-376 BURROUGH): trail badged Nov 2022. See the trail HERE.
• William Clopton: badged 2022, see the trail HERE.
• Anne Derehaugh (MCA II:62-63 DEREHAUGH): trail badged Nov 2022. See the trail HERE.
• William Farrar (MCA II:141-142 FARRER): needs badged Nov 2022. This trail is set out HERE.
• Henry Isham: trail badged Nov 2022. See trail HERE.
• Edmund Jennings: badged 2022. See the trail HERE.
• Kempe Gateways (Richard, Edward, Edmund and Matthew) (MCA II:468-470 KEMPE): badged 2022. See the trail HERE.
• Jemima Waldegrave (MCA I:354-355 BURES): trail badged Nov 2022. See the trail HERE.

Philip also appears in unbadged trails (still needing work) to the following Gateways:

• Olive Welby: trail needs further development. See the trail HERE.

See Base Camp for more information about identified Magna Carta trails and their status. See the project's glossary for project-specific terms, such as a "badged trail".