Sir Thomas West, IV, 1st Baron West of Oakhanger

Thomas West, 1st Baron West (d.17 August 1405) was the only son of Sir Thomas West of Hampton Cantilupe (1312–1386), and Alice FitzHerbert, (died 1395). Various sources list his date of birth anywhere from 1335 to 1365. The earliest date is probably in error, as it was several years prior to his parents marriage.

Sir Thomas' mother Alice was the sister and heiress of Sir Edmund FitzHerbert. His father, Sir Thomas West III, had fought in the Battle of Crécy and the subsequent siege of Calais under the command of Richard FitzAlan, 10th Earl of Arundel. The younger Thomas almost certainly served alongside his father under Richard II; one of them was in active service in Calais in 1386, the year of his father's death. A knight banneret, he served in Ireland with the Duke of Aumale in 1399, and attended Richard's young Queen Isabella homeward to Calais in 1401.

When Thomas was seventeen, he and his mother and sister Eleanor were assaulted and robbed, by Nicholas Clifton, who carried his sister off; he was probably the same Nicholas Clifton who later married her.

Sir Thomas married Joan de la Warr, the daughter of Roger la Warre, 3rd Lord la Warre and Eleanor Mowbray, and half-sister to John la Warr, 4th Baron De La Warr, before 2 May 1384, when they were pardoned for marriage without license. She was the widow of Ralph De Wilington of Sandhurst, Gloucestershire, who died on 16 Aug. 1382. When her brother John died without issue, Joan became heiress to her younger half-brother, Thomas. Some sources show a first marriage for Sir Thomas to a Joan Mowbray, but this is not proven, and may be a confusion between his wife and his wife's mother.

It appears that Sir Thomas and wife Joan had four children. Two sons, Reynold (or Reginald) b. c. 1394 and Thomas b. c. 1391 are mentioned in all sources. A third son, John, d. c. 1393 in infancy, is included in some texts. A daughter, Joan, is not found in all texts, but her marriage to Richard de la Bere is documented [no such documentation exists as far as I can find].

Sir Thomas was knighted in 1399 and was created 1st Baron West of Oakhanger [England by writ] on 19 June 1402. He was summoned to Parliament as Lord West in 1402, by which point he held the manor of Harby, Nottinghamshire. He had inherited Newton Tony, Wiltshire, from his father; and Midsomer Norton, Somerset and Hinton Martell, Dorset from his mother. He was later granted joint custody of Beaulieu Abbey.

Sir Thomas died testate on 19 Apr 1405 seised of the Manor of Harby (will dated 8 Apr. 1405) He requested burial in "the new chapel of' Christchurch Priory, in Lambeth.

Children of Sir Thomas West, 1st Lord West and Joan la Warre

• Sir Reynold West, 6th Lord la Warre+1 d. 27 Aug 1450
• Sir Thomas West, 2nd Lord West1 b. 1392, d. bt 29 Sep 1416 - 30 Sep 1416
• John West, d.1393, most likely died in infancy.
• Joan West, married (1) Richard de la Bere and said to have married (2) William Catesby BUT he married, as can be seen from his memorial inscription to Joan BARRE, widow of Kynard de la Bere. Her MI also confirms this. There seems to be no evidence to support Joan's existence, except to justify a misreading of an MI.

Citations:

• [S37] Charles Mosley, editor, Burke's Peerage, Baronetage & Knightage, 107th edition, 3 volumes (Wilmington, Delaware, U.S.A.: Burke's Peerage (Genealogical Books) Ltd, 2003), volume 1, page 1075. Hereinafter cited as Burke's Peerage and Baronetage, 107th edition.

Links to additional material:

• http://thepeerage.com/p21312.htm#i213111
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_West,_1st_Baron_West
• http://www.tudorplace.com.ar/WEST.htm#Eleanor WEST2
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knight_banneret

Many thanks to the Geni members who helped to develop this profile and who added sources and data to the overview. I have incorporated their data in this brief profile. Maria Edmonds-Zediker, Volunteer Curator, 12/7/2011.

Notes: They had three sons. He was summoned to Parliament from 19 Jun 1402. Thomas West, Lord West, died testate on 19 Apr 1405 seised of the Manor of Harby ( will dated 8 Apr 1405 requesting burial in "the new chapel of Christchurch Priory). Nichols 2 (1): 210 1795. C.P. 12 (2): 520, 649 footnoted (1959). Comber (1933), p. 304.

Constable of Christchurch Castle from 1400 until his death on either the 18th or 19th April 1405. The list of the land that he held in Hampshire when he died is identical to the list of his mother's holdings. In his will he asked to be buried in the "new chapel" in Christchurch Priory. It has always been claimed that the tombs on either side of the altar are those of Alice, his mother, and her son, Thomas , but architectural experts dated them about a hundred years later.

Thomas West, b. 1365, 1st Lord (Baron) West, so created by writ 19 June 1402; knighted 15 Oct 1306, served in wars in France, 1387 [Burke's Peerage]

BARONY OF WEST 1402

Thomas West, son and heir, born 1365, was going to Calais on the King's service, with Henry De Percy, 30 Apr 1386, being in that town, 16 July, following (a); had seisin of his father's manor, of Newton Tony, Wilts, 15 Oct 1386, being then a knight and aged twenty-one; and had seisin of his mother's lands, 20 Oct 1395. He was joint farmer of the possessions in England of the abbot of Sees, 20 Oct 1397; had a protection going to Ireland on the King's service with the Duke of Aumale, 5 May 1399; was granted view of frankpledge within his hamlet of Newton Tony, 17 Feb 1400/1; and, as a banneret, was appointed to attend Queen Isabel to Calais, 1 June 1401. He was summoned to Parliament from 19 Jun 1402 to 25 Aug 1404, by writs directed Thomas West, whereby he is held to become Lord West. He was given the joint custody of Beaulieu Abbey, Hants, 5 Feb 1404/5.

(a) Unless these entries refer to his father, shortly before 19 Aug 1382, he and his mother and sister, Eleanor, were assaulted and robbed at Lyndhurst aforesaid, on which occasion Eleanor was ravished by Nicholas Clifton, presumably her future husband.

Sources:
1. Ancestral Roots of Certain American Colonists, 7th Edition, by Frederick Lewis Weis, additions by Walter Lee Shippard, Jr., 1999, Rec. date 31 Aug 2001, 18-32

2. Burkes Peerage and Baronetage, 106th edition, Charles Mosely, Editor-in-chief, 1999. Rec. Date: 31 Aug 2001, 793

3. Magna Carta Sureties 1215, Frederick Lewis Weis, additions by Walter Lee Shippard Jr., 5th Edition, 1999 Rec. Date: 31 Aug 2001, 4-9

4. Jim Weber, Rec. Date: 31 Aug 2001

5. Complete Peerage of England Scotland Ireland Great Britain and the United Kingdom, by G.E. Cokayne, Sutton Publishing Ltd. 2000 Rec. Date: 31 Aug 2001, XII/2:520

Find A Grave Memorial # 69529563 gives burial information as: Burial: Christchurch Priory Churchyard, Christchurch, Dorset, England.