William Pole (died 1587)


William Pole, Esquire, was a lawyer and speculator in church lands following the Dissolution of the Monasteries who served as MP for Lyme Regis in 1545, Bridport in 1553 and for West Looe in 1559. He acquired lands in East Devon and was the founder of the influential and wealthy Pole family of Shute, Devon. He was the father of the famous Sir William Pole, the antiquary, historian of Devon.

Origins

He was the only son of William Pole by his second wife Agnes Drake, daughter of John Drake of Ash in the parish of Musbury, Devon, an eminent and ancient Devon family. His full pedigree, showing his descent from the ancient family of "Pool" of Pool Hall, Wirral, Cheshire is inscribed on a brass plaque on his monument erected by his son the antiquary in the Pole Chapel in Colyton Church in Devon:

"Here lieth the body of William Pole late of Shute, Esq., deceased who maryd Kateryn daught. of Alexander Popham of Huntworth, Esq. Ye said Wm. was sonne of Wm. & of Agnes daught. of John Drake of Ashe wch. Wm. was sonne of John & of Edith daught of Rychard Tytherleigh of Tytherleigh; wch. John was sonne of John and of Jone his wife da. of Robert Code of Cornwall; which John was sonne of Arture & of Johan, da. and heire of John Pole; which Arture was second sonne of Sr. Wm. Pole of Pole in Wirral in the county of Chester, knight, & of his wife da. of Sr. William Manwaring of Pyver. He hath left behind only on sonne named William & on daught. names Dorothie maried to Thomas Erle of Charbrough, Esquier. He dyed the XVth of August Ao 1587 beinge of the age of lxxii yeares and vi dayes".

Thus on his paternal side he was descended from the Pole family of Cheshire, into which family was married his great-great grandmother Johan Pole, the heiress of the Poles of Ford in the parish of Musbury, Devon, which were unrelated families bearing different armorials: The Poles of Cheshire bore: Azure seme of fleurs-de-lys a lion rampant argent, whilst the Devon Poles bore: A buck's head gules. The senior line of the Cheshire Poles had held the manor of Pool since the 13th century and remained seated there until the early 1820s. Pool Hall, demolished in about 1938, was a Tudor house re-built by Thomas Pole in about 1574, as indicated by that date having been carved on the hall fireplace. The east front of the house faced the River Mersey, and the site was purchased by Bowater Mersey Mills Paper Limited, paper manufacturers, which constructed a factory on the site in 1921, now known as "North Road, Ellesmere Port". In the 1840s the house was described by W. Mortimer as "the finest ancient manor house in Cheshire". The house, which had long been derelict, was destroyed to allow for later expansion of the works. The clock which once occupied a gable of the house was saved and is now situated in the Boat Museum of Ellesmere Port.

Career

He studied law at the Inner Temple and before 1547 was elected Fellow of that institution, Bencher in 1556, Autumn Reader in 1557, Lent Reader in 1557 and was elected to the position of considerable trust of Treasurer in 1564. He served as JP of Devon and Dorset from about 1559, and as legal counsel to the town of Lyme Regis from about 1564.

Lands acquired

In 1560 at Colyford, Devon, he purchased from Sir William Petre, principal Secretary of State to Queen Mary, the "house, materials and furniture" of Old Shute House, Colyton, for £300. This property thenceforth became the main seat of the family until it was given to the National Trust shortly after 1955. In 1562 he acquired from Petre a lease for 1,200 years of the Shute estate, the freehold of which was not purchased until 1788 by his descendant the 6th Pole baronet. By coincidence the Pole family of Ford in Devon were distantly descended from Alexander Bonville, a younger brother of Sir William II Bonville, Sheriff of Somerset, Dorset and Devon, who built the mediaeval hall house at Shute in 1380. Alexander had married the heiress Hawise de la Forde, and thereafter had adopted for himself and his descendants the surname de la Forde. It was his great-great-granddaughter Johan Pole de la Forde who married Arthur Pole of the Cheshire Poles. He also acquired the manor of Charmouth, seven miles from Shute from Petre in 1575, and presented a silver chalice to Charmouth Church in that same year.

Marriages and children

He married twice and produced children from the second marriage only:
The monument to Katherine Popham stands adjacent to the left of the monument to her husband William Pole, and shows her kneeling surrounded by her seven children. Underneath is a tablet with the following inscription in relief:

"Heer lieth the body of Katherin daughter of Alexander Popham of Huntworthi in the counti of Somerset Esquir., the sister of Sir John Popham, knight, Lo. Chief Justice of England, lately the wief of William Pole Esquier the Elder unto whom shee brought foorth William Pole, knight, and Dorothe the wife first of Thomas Erle Esquier, secondly of Walter Vaughan, knight, which were liveing and Alexander, Hugh, Richard, Arthur and Amy which died younge. She died the 28 of October 1588 unto the memori of whome Sr. Wm. Pole Knig. her son hath set this monument".

Four shields with armorials are displayed on the frieze of the monument supported by two pairs of Corinthian columns, as follows:
He died on 15 August 1587 aged 72 years and 6 days, as is stated on his monument erected by his son the antiquary in the Pole Chapel, Colyton Church, where he was buried.