Notes from a Peakland Parish
An Account of the Church and Parish of Hope in the County of Derby,
by William Smith Porter (1923)
Images by David Blackwell. This transcription by Rosemary Lockie © 1999-2000
Chapter IX.
THE AGINCOURT ROLL.
I HAVE already alluded to the statement,
that Robert Eyre "fought at the
battle of Agincourt under the banner of his father Nicholas Eyre of
Hope." In the Sheffield Reference Library is a copy of Heylin's
'Cosmographia', published in 1665, which was probably once in the
possession of a member of the Eyre family, for there are several MS.
pedigrees of branches of that family written on its leaves. In one, dealing
with the parent stock at Hope, which bears evidence of having been
written at the close of the 17th century, certainly not later than 1706, the
following reference to the battle of Agincourt occurs:-
"Nicholas Eyre of Hope esqre. and Justice of Peace under K. Henry ye
sixth. He was a considerable officer under K. Henry ye 5th at ye battle of
Agincourt in France 1415; where he behaved himself right valiantly." There
is no statement in this pedigree however, connecting his son Robert with the
battle. The tradition that a Company of Archers from the Hope
neighbourhood fought at the battle, under the command of one of these
members of the Eyre family, has been very persistent; and it is usually
coupled with the assertion that a Roll is in existence containing the names of
those who constituted the Company, and that many of these names are
borne by the inhabitants of the parish to this day.
he Revd. Joseph Hunter, the historian of Hallamshire,
as keeper of the National Records possessed special facilities
for ascertaining the existence of an Agincourt Roll, and in
1850 was engaged in a search for documents bearing upon
that battle. The result has been published, under the head
of "The Agincourt Roll", amongst his 'Critical and Historical
Tracts'. He found certain documents or "Indentures", but
these were clearly only it few fragments which had survived
centuries of neglect and indifference to the preservation of
such records. He established the fact, however, that a complete
Roll had once existed. He came across several references
to this Roll, and in one of them Sir Robert Babthorpe, the
Comptroller of the King's Household who had himself
prepared the Roll, specifically referred to it as containing the
name of every person present at the battle of Agincourt.
Hunter's discoveries are of great interest and value, and furnish
the names of many of the Commanders of high rank, and of
some of their subordinates who were present in the campaign:
but he writes that "all hope must, I fear, now be abandoned
of ever recovering this Roll, though it is certain that such
a Roll was prepared, was delivered into the Exchequer, and
was committed to the charge of the King's Remembrancer
to be for ever preserved by him."
The names given in Hunter's list, extracted from the
Indentures he discovered, are as I have said mostly those of
Commanders with the number of their retinue. In no case
is any place of residence mentioned, and there is no mention
of any individual bearing the name of Eyre. Hunter himself
admits that "though this tract may be safely appealed to as
an authority for the fact that the person named was in the
expedition, or at least covenanted to go, it cannot be accepted as
containing proof of the negative, or that a person affirmed to
have been in the expedition was not actually in it".
Amongst the names which appear it, the list the only ones which
would seem to suggest connection with Derbyshire and
the Derbyshire borders are:
Sir Thomas Chaworth 7 lancers and 24 archers: Sir
John Gresley 1 man at arms and 6 archers; Sir Ralph
Shirley 5 men at arms and 18 archers; Sir William
Talbot -- 3 men at arms and 12 archers; William Bradshaw
-- 3 archers (the latter died at Harfleur, and his account for
service was presented by Joan, his widow, and Elizabeth,
his daughter, wife of Richard Harrington); Stephen
Hatfield -- 1 man at arms and 6 archers. Ten Knights and
Esquires of Lancashire covenanted to bring each 50 archers,
amongst them Sir Ralph Stanley, John Stanley, and
Sir Thomas Tunstall.
Hunter, referring to the Indentures upon which his tract is
based, writes: "As to lists in manuscript at the Museum or the
Herald's College, I take the liberty to pass them over, as being
evidence of a class inferior to that on which I proceed. And as to
other National Records of that period, I have made but little use
of them, but I have looked into them so far as to become persuaded
that there is for this purpose nothing at all comparable to the
particular documents from which this list is compiled."
The late Mr. Benjamin Bagshawe of Sheffield, who was
a well-known local authority on matters pertaining to the history
of Derbyshire, his native county, left amongst his papers a notebook
containing notes made by him from the Add. MSS. at the
British Museum. This notebook has been very kindly placed at
my disposal by his son, Mr. E. G. Bagshawe. Under the
heading "Add. MSS. 24707 -- Copy of the Muster Roll called the
Agincourt Roll" is the following list of names, which the late
Mr. Bagshawe had no doubt selected as names borne by
Derbyshire families, though in few instances identified with
names borne by families connected with the parish the of Hope
in recent times. I have substituted the English equivalent for
the Latin form in which the Christian names appear. The
'Monstratio' (or Roll) is stated to have been taken at Lymington
and Beaulieu (ports in the New Forest near Southampton from
which the expedition set out) in the presence of Henry de
Houghton and Ralph Bostok:
"[1]S.S. Dominus de Grey de Codenore"
(Lord Grey of Codnor. ob: 1428.)
(among others): John Grey, Edward Foljambe, John
Cokayn, Robert Strelley, Alured Longford, Robert Wennesley,
Richard Foljambe, William Gloshoppe, John
Martyn, Richard Taillour, William Martyn, Thomas
Staunton, William Dekyn (these were Lancers).
(The Archers were, amongst others): Richard Coup, John
Dekyn, Ralph Bradshawe, Laurence Repyndon. (Repynden
was an ancient form for Repton, a village in South
Derbyshire.)
Peter Leche "miles."
Peter Leche "miles" (? of Chatsworth), Ralph Leche,
George de la Poole (Pole), Roger Barlee (Barlow). (These
names are bracketed Lancers.)
(The following were probably Archers): John de Grendon,
Robert de Lee, Roger Halgethorpe, William Halgethorpe,
Adam Wylughby (Willoughby), Roger Thornhill, Richard
Coke, Wilfred de Lee, John de Marpole (Marple), Roger
Clough, Richard Abney, Hugh Bagshawe, John Staveley,
John Halley, Thomas Ward, Thomas Wybbersley, Thurstan
Halley, John Hide, Richard Botham, John Calton, Thomas
Mellar, Richard Tailioure, Roger Tailhoure, Robert Wright,
Oliver Bradshawe, Thurstan Godbehere, Dionisius Rylee,
John Gretrakes (Greatorex), James Redyman, John Harper,
John Halley, Fulke de Sutton, John Daukyn, Edmund
Tailour, John de Hethecote, William de Glossop, Richard
Heyre (Eyre), William de Hallows, Nicholas de Walton.
S.S. Shirley.
Ralph Shirley "miles", Ralph Fowne, John Peche, Ralph
Barlowe, Nicholas Fowne (Archers).
Earl of Warwick.
Thomas Harthall, Richard Coterell.
Sire John Blount.
Richard Danyell, Richard Stafford (both men-at-arms).
(Amongst the Archers are): John Furnyvale, Thomas
Furnyvale, Henry Wardelowe,
In the absence of any indication as to the locality from
which these soldiers came, and particularly the fact that neither
Nicholas nor Robert Eyre figure in these lists (the solitary
occurrence of the name of Eyre being that of Richard Heyre, an
archer), the Hope tradition must remain a tradition and nothing
more. It cannot be said to be disproved, when we consider that the
documents from which these names were obtained represent but
a fraction of the original roll, and that the rest has disappeared
entirely. The antiquity of the tradition is a point in its favour,
and if a company of archers was raised within the forest area
some member of the Eyre family, which had for generations
held in important official position in connexion with the Royal
Forest of the Peak, would have been a most likely choice for
the position of its Commander or Captain.
Notes on Chapter IX
| [1] |
S.S. a prefix of honour. Probably an abbreviation of Sire, French Sieur. |
[Transcribed by Rosemary Lockie
in January 2000 from G4TIFF images by David Blackwell.
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