Nicholas Haute

Sir Nicholas Haute (20 September 1357 – c. 1415), of Wadden Hall (Wadenhall) in Petham and Waltham, with manors extending into Lower Hardres, Elmsted and Bishopsbourne, in the county of Kent, was an English knight, landowner and politician.P.W. Fleming, 'Haute family (per. 1350–1530), gentry', Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (2004). Online edition (subscription required).L.S. Woodger, 'Haute, Sir Nicholas (1357-c.1415), of Wadden Hall in Waltham, Kent', in J.S. Roskell, L. Clark and C. Rawcliffe (eds), The History of Parliament: the House of Commons 1386–1421 (Boydell & Brewer, 1993) History of Parliament online.

Haute of Wadenhall The de Haute family were established at Wadenhall from the 13th century, when Sir William de Haute (died c. 1302) held office as lay steward to Christchurch Priory, Canterbury. He was perhaps briefly succeeded by his son Henry de Haute, who married Margery, an heiress of the de Marinis (Marignes) family, and then by Henry's son Sir Henry de Haute (c.1300-1370),Henry is explicitly identified as Sir William's grandson in the case of Walton v. Hoath in F.W. Maitland, L.W.V. Harcourt and W.C. Bolland (eds), Year Books of Edward II. The Eyre of Kent, 6 & 7 Edward II, AD 1313–1314, Part III, Selden Society XXIX, Year Books Series Vol. VIII (1913), pp. 79-83, 221-22, etc. who succeeded to Wadenhale in 1321, after a period of wardship in his minority superintended by his uncle Richard de Haute. Henry de Haute the younger soon married Annabel atte Halle, of a Dover family to whose lands she became heir. Sir Henry had seisin of his share of the de Marinis patrimony, partible by gavelkind, in 1349.Calendar of Close Rolls, Edward III, Vol. IX: 1349–1354 (1906), pp. 121, 160. He had one son, (Sir) Edmund (before 1329-c.1360), who married Benedicta Shelving in around 1357 and was the father of Nicholas Haute.W.G. Davis, The Ancestry of Mary Isaac, c. 1549–1613 (Author, Portland, Maine 1955), pp. 97-193 at pp. 128-30.

The de Haut pedigree in the 1619 Visitation of Kent by the herald John Philipot, Rouge Dragon,'De Haut', in R. Hovenden (ed.), The Visitation of Kent, Taken in the Years 1619–1621 by John Philipot, Rouge Dragon, Marshal and Deputy to William Camden, Clarenceux, Harleian Society XLII, (London 1898), pp. 212-14. (Sources cited, British Library: Harleian MS 6138, fol. 128; Additional MS 5526, fol. 123.) and much of the research into the family's descent since that time, were dependent upon materials collected by Sir Edward Dering (1598–1644). Dering, long suspected of having "improved" his own ancestral claims (which passed into the de Haute family) by "creative" genealogy,J.H. Round, Peerage and Pedigree: Studies in Peerage Law and Family History, 2 vols (James Nisbet & Co., Ltd./The St. Catherine Press, London 1910), II, pp. 52-55 and pp. 110-117 (HathiTrust). is now shown to have falsified them by the actual forgery of documents and monuments.O.D. Harris, 'Lines of Descent: Appropriations of Ancestry in Stone and Parchment', in T. Rist and A. Gordon (eds), The arts of remembrance in early modern England: memorial cultures of the post-Reformation (Routledge, London 2016), pp. 85-104.R.H. D’Elboux, 'The Dering Brasses,' The Antiquaries Journal XXVII (1947), 11–23. Important documents for the de Haute descent are included among the Harleian collections and charters at the British Library, and it is known that Sir Robert Harley acquired substantial amounts from Dering's collections.Davis, The Ancestry of Mary Isaac, p. 100. The path through the sources for this family therefore has to be trodden very cautiously.

Young life

Nicholas Haute was the elder of two sons (the younger was Edward) of Sir Edmund de Haute and his wife Benedicta Shelving. Benedicta's father John de ShelvingFor whom see W.S. Ellis, 'Early Kentish Armory (notes on the family of Shelving)', Archaeologia Cantiana XV (1883), pp. 1-30, at pp. 27-30. had died by 1331, when his inquisitionInquisition post mortem of John de Shelvyngge (writ dated 6 February 4 Edward III), in J.E.E.S. Sharp and A.E. Stamp, Calendar of Inquisitions Post Mortem Edward III Vol. 7 (London 1909), File 22 pp. 209-22, No. 292, (File 22 (5)) (British History Online, Retrieved 10 November 2017). showed that the manor of Bishopsbourne (Bourne Archiepiscopi), Kent, had come to him through the inheritance of his wife Benedicta.Davis, The Ancestry of Mary Isaac, pp. 130-33, gives a searching account, but see 'Inquisition of John de Woldeham', Cal. Inquisitions post mortem Edward III Vol. 7, File 31 pp 301-12, No. 438, (File 31 (36)) (British History Online, Retrieved 10 November 2017). By Edmund's marriage Bishopsbourne passed to the Haute family and was sometimes known as Hautesbourne.E. Hasted, 'Parishes: Bishopsborne', in The History and Topographical Survey of the County of Kent Vol. 9 (Canterbury, 1800), pp. 328-37 (British History Online, Retrieved 24 September 2017).A.L. Noel, 'The History and Pedigree of the family of Aucher, A.D. 853-1726', in W. Paley Baildon (ed.), The Home Counties Magazine Vol. XI (George Bell & Sons, London 1909), pp. 222-235, at p. 228.

In 1358, in which year he had witnessed a charter on behalf of Christ Church Priory, Canterbury,The National Archives (UK) Discovery Catalogue, ref. CCA-DCc-ChAnt/W/19 (Canterbury Cathedral Archives). an order was given for Sir Edmund Haute to be brought to the king's court to answer a charge.Calendar of Close Rolls, Edward III, Vol. X: 1354–1360 (HMSO 1908), p. 524 (Internet Archive). After this no more is heard of him, and Benedicta remarried (as his fourth wife) to the MP Sir Thomas Uvedale, of Titsey in Surrey,Visitation of Kent, pp. 212-14. who died in 1367.Will of Sir Thomas de Uvedale, Knt. (abstract), in N.H. Nicolas, Testamenta Vetusta: Illustrations from wills of manners, customs, etc, I (Nichols & Son, London 1826), p. 70. Nicholas's grandfather Sir Henry de Haute was still living, but so weak that he had been granted special exemption from the king's commissions.Calendar of Close Rolls, Edward III, Vol. IX: 1349–1354 (HMSO 1906), p. 121 (Internet Archive). Sir Henry had held Wadenhall of the archbishopric of Canterbury, and at his death in 1370 it was taken into the king's hands and granted in wardship to the archbishop during the minority of Nicholas Haute, then aged 13.Calendar of Close Rolls, Edward III, Vol. XIII: 1369–1374 (HMSO 1911), p. 165 (Internet Archive). 'Inquisition post mortem of Henry de Haut' (writ dated 12 June 44 Edward III), in A.E. Stamp, J.B.W. Chapman, M.C.B. Dawes and D.B. Wardle, Calendar of Inquisitions Post Mortem Edward III Volume 13 (London 1954), File 216 pp. 17-31, No. 33, (File 216 (14)) (British History Online, Retrieved 10 November 2017). The age given in the inquisition is 13. Benedicta however maintained control of Wadenhall and Henry's other lands in KentCalendar of Fine Rolls, Edward III, Vol. VIII: 1368–1377 (HMSO 1924), pp. 89, 96-97 (HathiTrust). until Nicholas was of age in 1379, when he received knighthood and (having paid homage to the king) was granted seisin of his grandfather's lands.Calendar of Close Rolls, Richard II, Vol. I: 1377–1381 (HMSO 1914), p. 276 (Internet Archive). Bishopsbourne remained in Benedicta's right until her death.Woodger, 'Haute, Sir Nicholas', History of Parliament Online. Woodger depends upon G.L. Gower, 'Notices of the Family of Uvedale of Titsey, Surrey and Wickham, Hants.', in Surrey Archaeological Collections III (1865), at pp. 78-82, 150-52, 185 (Society pdf), (see reprint London 1865) (HathiTrust). Davis, The Ancestry of Mary Isaac, positively dismisses Benedicta's supposed fourth marriage to her steward John fitzWilliam as a misreading of her tomb inscription, and generally avoids Gower's interpretations.

Marriages

The first wife of Nicholas was Alice Cawne, the widow of Richard Charlys (Charles) and daughter of Sir Thomas Cawne (or Couen), M.P. (d. 1374),'The Cawnes – our earliest known owners', The National Trust, Ightham Mote webpage.(L.J. Larking), 'Will of Sir Thomas Cawne, Kt.', in Miscellanea, Archaeologia Cantiana IV (1861), at pp. 221-25. This is from a Surrenden MS. and his wife Lora, daughter of Sir Thomas Moraunt of Chevening.L.J. Larking, 'Additional note on the window in Ightham church', in Miscellanea, Archaeologia Cantiana V (1863), at p. 324. Following the death of Alice's father Lora remarried to James de Pecham or Peckham of Yaldham manor, Wrotham,N.H. Nicolas, De Controversia in Curia Militari inter Ricardum Le Scrope et Robertum Grosvenor milites, 2 vols (Privately printed, 1832), II, pp. 435-36 (Internet Archive). who took care to safeguard Alice's later affairs, especially her interests arising from her first marriage.L.S. Woodger, 'Peckham, James (d.1400), of Yaldham in Wrotham and Hadlow, Kent', in J.S. Roskell, L. Clark, C. Rawcliffe (eds), The History of Parliament: the House of Commons 1386–1421 (from Boydell and Brewer, 1993), History of Parliament Online. By the marriage of Nicholas to Alice, Cawne's property of Ightham Mote, near Sevenoaks, Kent, passed into the Haute family.C.E. Woodruff, 'Notes on former owners of Ightham Mote House', Archaeologia Cantiana XXIV (1900), pp. 195-200.'The Hautes of Ightham Mote – a family with influence', The National Trust, Ightham Mote webpage. The descent of Alice, with many details of her family relationships, is shown in a suit of 1418 relating to the advowson of Warehorne church in Kent.Davis, The Ancestry of Mary Isaac, pp. 137-141, citing PRO De Banco rolls, 17 Easter 5 Henry V (1418), membranes 306-06a. View original at AALT, images fronts, 0620-21, dorses, 1500-01, fronts, 0622 (AALT). Alice died on 11 March 1400,'Inquisition post mortem for Alice, widow [sic] of Nicholas Haut, Knight (Kent)', The National Archives (UK) Discovery Catalogue, ref. C 137/1/8. See J.L. Kirby, Calendar of Inquisitions Post Mortem: Volume 18, Henry IV (London 1987), pp. 1-20, No. 12 (British History Online, Retrieved 11 November 2017). at which point her manor of Palster, "the denne of Palster" in Wittersham, Kent, representing one knight's fee held half from the king's castle of Leeds, Kent, and the other half from the archbishop of Canterbury by knight-service, passed by reversion to William Sneyth.Calendar of Patent Rolls, Henry IV, Vol. I: 1399–1401 (HMSO 1903), p. 259 (HathiTrust).In describing the descent of this manor Hasted gives a different account of Alice's identity. E. Hasted, 'Parishes: Wittersham', in The History and Topographical Survey of the County of Kent, Vol. 8 (Canterbury, 1799), pp. 486-93 (British History Online, Retrieved 9 November 2017).

Nicholas married secondly Eleanor Flambard (d. 29 March 1422),'Inquisition post mortem: Haute, Eleanor, who was wife of Nicholas Haute, Knight (Hants)', The National Archives (UK) Discovery Catalogue, ref. C 138/63/29a. Calendar of Fine Rolls, Henry V, Vol. XIV: 1413–1422 (HMSO 1934), p. 434. daughter and heir of Edmund Flambard of Shepreth, Cambridgeshire, and widow of Walter Tyrrell,Woodger, 'Haute, Sir Nicholas', History of Parliament online. by whom she was the mother of Sir John Tyrrell, Speaker of the House of Commons.

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