Holme Lacy
Encyclopedia
Etymology
Holme Lacy is not from Old Norse holmr "island" like other places of the name HolmeHolme
-England:* Holme, Bedfordshire* Holme, Cambridgeshire* Holme, Cumbria* Holme, Lincolnshire* Holme, North Yorkshire* Holme, Nottinghamshire* Holme, West Yorkshire* Holme Fell, Cumbria* Holme Valley, West Yorkshire* Holme-next-the-Sea* Holme-on-Spalding-Moor...
, but from the fairly similar Old English
Old English language
Old English or Anglo-Saxon is an early form of the English language that was spoken and written by the Anglo-Saxons and their descendants in parts of what are now England and southeastern Scotland between at least the mid-5th century and the mid-12th century...
hamm "land in a river-bend
Oxbow lake
An oxbow lake is a U-shaped body of water formed when a wide meander from the main stem of a river is cut off to create a lake. This landform is called an oxbow lake for the distinctive curved shape, named after part of a yoke for oxen. In Australia, an oxbow lake is called a billabong, derived...
". The name was recorded as Hamme in the Domesday Book
Domesday Book
Domesday Book , now held at The National Archives, Kew, Richmond upon Thames in South West London, is the record of the great survey of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086...
in 1086.
The name has varied through history; it has also been known as Hamlayce (1648), Humlachie (1701) and Hom Lacy (1836).
History
The town was an estate of the Bishop of HerefordBishop of Hereford
The Bishop of Hereford is the Ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of Hereford in the Province of Canterbury.The see is in the City of Hereford where the seat is located at the Cathedral Church of Saint Mary and Saint Ethelbert which was founded as a cathedral in 676.The Bishop's residence is...
and held by Roger de Lacy
Roger de Lacy
Roger de Lacy, was an Anglo-Norman nobleman, a Marcher Lord on the Welsh border.- Lineage :He was son of Walter de Lacy , a retainer of William fitzOsbern. Roger was a castle builder, particularly at Ludlow Castle....
, which is where the "Lacy" affix comes from. De Lacy
De Lacy
de Lacy is the surname of an old Norman noble family originating from Lassy . The first records are about Hugh de Lacy . Descendent of Hugh de Lacy left Normandy and travelled to England along with William the Conqueror. Walter and Ilbert de Lacy fought in the battle of Hastings...
was a Lord
Lord of the Manor
The Lordship of a Manor is recognised today in England and Wales as a form of property and one of three elements of a manor that may exist separately or be combined and may be held in moieties...
of the manor
Manorialism
Manorialism, an essential element of feudal society, was the organizing principle of rural economy that originated in the villa system of the Late Roman Empire, was widely practiced in medieval western and parts of central Europe, and was slowly replaced by the advent of a money-based market...
, indicating that a feudal system was in existence during the Middle Ages
Middle Ages
The Middle Ages is a periodization of European history from the 5th century to the 15th century. The Middle Ages follows the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 and precedes the Early Modern Era. It is the middle period of a three-period division of Western history: Classic, Medieval and Modern...
.
William had returned Hamme to Bishop Walter and in 1086 the total population included:
- 16 villeinsVillein (feudal)Villein was the term used in the feudal era to denote a peasant who was legally tied to the land he worked on. An alternative term is serf . A villein could not leave the land without the landowner's consent. Villeins thus occupied the social space between a free peasant and a slave...
- 4 bordars (Villeins of the lowest rank who held a cottage at their lord's pleasure, for which they rendered menial service)
- 1 reeveReeve (England)Originally in Anglo-Saxon England the reeve was a senior official with local responsibilities under the Crown e.g. as the chief magistrate of a town or district...
- 1 male and 2 female slaves
- 1 priestPriestA priest is a person authorized to perform the sacred rites of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in particular, rites of sacrifice to, and propitiation of, a deity or deities...
- and 1 Frenchman who between them had 20½ ploughPloughThe plough or plow is a tool used in farming for initial cultivation of soil in preparation for sowing seed or planting. It has been a basic instrument for most of recorded history, and represents one of the major advances in agriculture...
s.
The priest shows there was a church at Holme Lacy. There were also two ploughs under the lordship's tenure in existence.
Holme Lacy House and its estate
Holme Lacy was for some centuries in the ancient family of Scudamore, one of whom attended William the Conqueror in his expedition to England;Philip Scudamore, a descendant, settled here in the 14th century, and his descendant John Scudamore esq. was created a baronet in 1620, and in 1628 Baron Dromore and Viscount Scudamore
Viscount Scudamore
Viscount Scudamore was a title in the Peerage of Ireland. It was created on 1 July 1628 for the diplomat and politician Sir John Scudamore, 1st Baronet...
, of Sligo.
Holme Lacy continued to be the principal seat of the family till the year 1716, when on the death of the James the 3rd and last Viscount Scudamore in that year, the estate vested in Frances (1711-1750, childbed), his only daughter and heiress.
Frances Scudamore married Henry Somerset 3rd Duke of Beaufort
Henry Scudamore, 3rd Duke of Beaufort
Henry Somerset-Scudamore, 3rd Duke of Beaufort was born Henry Somerset, the elder son of Henry Somerset, 2nd Duke of Beaufort and his second wife, Rachel Noel. As his father's eldest son and heir to his father's title he was known as Marquess of Worcester, a courtesy title...
in 1729 who in 1730 assumed the name and arms of Scudamore. Frances was divorced in 1744. There were no children of the marriage.
Frances then married as her second husband Charles Fitzroy esq
Charles FitzRoy-Scudamore
Charles FitzRoy-Scudamore was a British politician.Born Charles FitzRoy, he was the illegitimate son of Charles FitzRoy, 2nd Duke of Grafton. Fitzroy married Frances Scudamore after her divorce from Henry Scudamore, 3rd Duke of Beaufort in 1744...
. He thereupon assumed the name and arms of Scudamore, and had by her an only daughter and heiress, Frances (1750-1820), wife of Charles Howard, 11th Duke of Norfolk
Charles Howard, 11th Duke of Norfolk
Charles Howard, 11th Duke of Norfolk , styled Earl of Surrey from 1777 to 1786, was a British peer, the son of Charles Howard, 10th Duke of Norfolk and Catherine Brockholes....
to whom the property then in part descended, and, together with other valuable estates in this county, and Gloucestershire, was added to the princely domain of the Howards.
The Duke and Duchess died without surviving children and after extensive litigation the Holme Lacy estate devolved upon Capt. Sir Edwyn Francis Stanhope bart. R. N. who assumed the name and arms of Scudamore, and died leaving several sons, of whom the eldest, Henry Edwyn Chandos, succeeded in 1883 as 9th Earl of Chesterfield
Henry Scudamore-Stanhope, 9th Earl of Chesterfield
Henry Edwyn Chandos Scudamore-Stanhope, 9th Earl of Chesterfield, DL, JP, He was the first son of four of Sir Edwyn Francis Scudamore-Stanhope, 2nd Baronet....
. (Kelly's Directory of Herefordshire - edited)
The mansion
Mansion
A mansion is a very large dwelling house. U.S. real estate brokers define a mansion as a dwelling of over . A traditional European mansion was defined as a house which contained a ballroom and tens of bedrooms...
of Holme Lacy built by Viscount Scudamore
Viscount Scudamore
Viscount Scudamore was a title in the Peerage of Ireland. It was created on 1 July 1628 for the diplomat and politician Sir John Scudamore, 1st Baronet...
remained, until 1909, the family seat of the Earls of Chesterfield
Earl of Chesterfield
Earls of Chesterfield, in the County of Derby, was a title in the Peerage of England. It was created in 1628 for Philip Stanhope, 1st Baron Stanhope. He had already been created Baron Stanhope, of Shelford in the County of Nottingham, in 1616, also in the Peerage of England. Stanhope's youngest son...
.