Sir Thomas Fichet, Kt.

changes to be made by a curator

• Title: Sir
• Name/Suffix: of Spaxton

brief biography and family

From an unidentified source:

Sir Thomas Fichet, owner of substantial estates, died in Spain in 1386, leaving as his son and heir Thomas, only ten years old. Fichet’s widow, Ricarda, having then married Sir William Coggeshall*, retained his property for her lifetime, but she herself died in 1390 leaving her son still under age. This gave rise to prolonged litigation and confusion, especially when the heir was hidden in Essex, and a dispute over the wardship between Lady Audley of Heleigh, Lady Mohun of Dunster and the Crown was only ended by the boy’s death. Before that event, Hill had paid ‘great sums’ to the Crown to be permitted to marry young Fichet’s sister, Isabel, having contracted the alliance in 1394, when she was aged 11 years. Her brother died in July 1395 without reaching his majority, leaving her as the sole heir to their family lands, of which Sir Robert Hill and his father were then granted custody. But not only was Isabel young, she was also ‘weak and retarded by much faintness, so that it was commonly said ... that she could not live long and suffer such infirmities’, and so in 1397 Hill, who had already ‘incurred many ... costs and expenses to save the inheritance’, fearing that he would lose the prospect of sharing Isabel’s estates when she came of age, made an agreement with the next heir, Sir John Devereux*. For a consideration of £50 (and possibly also a loan of £1,000 to alleviate Devereux’s financial difficulties, although the details of this transaction are not clear), Hill was permitted to retain the property for life in the event of Isabel’s early death without children. However, within four years Isabel recovered and gave birth to a son. Hill’s joy (‘God be praised’ he wrote) was tempered only by the consciousness that he had wasted his £50, for now, even if his wife should predecease him he would, in consequence of the birth of a child, become tenant of her patrimony for life ‘by the courtesy’.7is opportune marriage, the circumstances of which he described afterwards in his cartulary. Sir Thomas Fichet, owner of substantial estates, died in Spain in 1386, leaving as his son and heir Thomas, only ten years old. Fichet’s widow, Ricarda, having then married Sir William Coggeshall*, retained his property for her lifetime, but she herself died in 1390 leaving her son still under age. This gave rise to prolonged litigation and confusion, especially when the heir was hidden in Essex, and a dispute over the wardship between Lady Audley of Heleigh, Lady Mohun of Dunster and the Crown was only ended by the boy’s death. Before that event, Hill had paid ‘great sums’ to the Crown to be permitted to marry young Fichet’s sister, Isabel, having contracted the alliance in 1394, when she was aged 11 years. Her brother died in July 1395 without reaching his majority, leaving her as the sole heir to their family lands, of which Hill and his father were then granted custody. But not only was Isabel young, she was also ‘weak and retarded by much faintness, so that it was commonly said ... that she could not live long and suffer such infirmities’, and so in 1397 Hill, who had already ‘incurred many ... costs and expenses to save the inheritance’, fearing that he would lose the prospect of sharing Isabel’s estates when she came of age, made an agreement with the next heir, Sir John Devereux*. For a consideration of £50 (and possibly also a loan of £1,000 to alleviate Devereux’s financial difficulties, although the details of this transaction are not clear), Hill was permitted to retain the property for life in the event of Isabel’s early death without children. However, within four years Isabel recovered and gave birth to a son. Hill’s joy (‘God be praised’ he wrote) was tempered only by the consciousness that he had wasted his £50, for now, even if his wife should predecease him he would, in consequence of the birth of a child, become tenant of her patrimony for life ‘by the courtesy’.7

comments

Surname has also been reported to be Fichett.

Given name has also been reported to be Thomas Philbrick.

Date and place of death have also been erroneously reported to be circa 1379 in England <unattested, conflicts with the cited source and Stirnet's "FZmisc08" page>.

links

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Coggeshall#Life
• https://stirnet.com/genie/data/british/ff/fzmisc08.php#fichet2 (membership required in order to view without interruption)