Elizabeth (Clifford) Hamerton (abt. 1440 - aft. 1480)

Born about 1440 in England

Ancestors

Wife of Robert Plumpton — married before 10 Aug 1446 (to 20 Jul 1450) in Skipton, Yorkshire, England

Wife of William Plumpton — married about 1453 in England

Wife of Richard Hamerton — married about 1461 in England

Descendants

Died after 4 Oct 1480 after about age 40 in England

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Biography

Elizabeth was the daughter of Thomas Clifford, 8th Lord Clifford,^[1] and Joan, daughter of Thomas Dacre, 6th Lord Dacre of Gilsland.^[2][3] Her birth place is not known. She was probably born in about 1440 (see the next paragraph).

According to testimony given by William Ratcliffe, Nicholas Whitfield and John Thorn on 26 October 1503 (19 Henry VII), when she was six she was married in the chapel of Skipton Castle, Yorkshire to Robert Plumpton, eldest son and heir of Sir William Plumpton and his first wife Elizabeth Stapleton. She was said to have been carried there by someone called John Garth. The agreement included a stipulation that, if Robert died "within age", Elizabeth would marry William Plumpton's second son William.^[4] William Plumpton made a conditional grant to her and her husband Robert on 10 August 1446,^[5] so if she was 6 at the time of her marriage, she would have been born in about 1440. It should be noted, though, that the three men who gave the testimony were not born at the time these events occurred. Evidence of the marriage to Robert Plumpton was apparently suppressed later.^[6]

Robert died on 20 July 1450,^[6] and, when she was 12, Elizabeth married Robert's brother William, with an agreed stipulation that the marriage would not be consummated until she was 16.^[4][6] A dispensation for the marriage to William was dated 1453,^[2][3]

Elizabeth and William Plumpton had two daughters:

• Margaret,^[1] who was said in the 1503 testimony to have been born when Elizabeth was 18, pointing to a birth date of about 1459^[4][6] and who married John Rocliffe^[2][3][4][6]
• Elizabeth,^[1] who was said to be 3 in 1464, pointing to a birth date of about 1461 and who married John Sothill ^[2][3][7]

William Plumpton was probably killed in the Battle of Towton on 29 March 1461.^[8][9][10]

There was a protracted legal dispute about whether Elizabeth's two daughters were heiresses to their grandfather William Plumpton-71, hereafter referred to as "William senior". The issue turned on whether William senior had a legitimate son. William senior had a son, Robert, by a relationship with Joan Wintringham. Initially it was suggested that William senior and Joan had not married. In 1467-8 William senior declared that there was in fact a marriage, at the parish church of Knaresborough, Yorkshire, but a clandestine one, no banns having been published. This was backed up by his chaplain. The parish clerk of Knaresborough gave evidence in 1472, stating that he had been present at the marriage, which had taken place about 21 years earlier. The ecclesiastical court then declared the marriage valid. William senior's and Joan's son Robert thus became legitimate heir apparent, and steps were taken to safeguard his inheritance. This determination was subsequently challenged on behalf of Elizabeth's daughters, and a compromise settlement was eventually reached. This agreement fell apart in 1496-7. Matters dragged on until arbitration by the Bishop of Winchester in 1514-5: the Bishop determined largely in Robert's favour. A full account of all this complicated saga occupies much of the introductory material, and many of the letters, in Thomas Stapleton's edition of Plumpton correspondence.^[11][12]

Elizabeth married again: her third husband was Richard Hamerton:^[1][13] they appear to have married in 1461, the year of her second husband's death.^[14]

Douglas Richardson states that the first name of Elizabeth's second husband was John, not Richard, and that they married in the period 1465-1471.^[2][3] The evidence for this appears to be a catalogue entry for a record of "John Hamerton and Elizabeth his wife, daughter of Thomas late lord Clyfford" suing William Plumpton senior in "1465-1471, or perhaps 1480-1483".^[15] The documents cited in Thomas Stapleton's Plumpton Correspondence suggest strongly that there is a mistake and that her second husband was Richard Hamerton.^[14]

On 6 February 1480 her William Plumpton senior and his son Robert granted various properties to "Elizabeth Hamerton, formerly wife of William Plompton, esquire, Thomas Clyfford and Robert Carre, esquire".^[16] She was alive on 4 October 1480, when she is named in the will of her third husband.^[17]

Research Notes

Dugdale's Visitation

Clay's edition of Dugdale's Visitation states that the covenant for Elizabeth's marriage to William Plumpton was dated 10 August 1446.^[1] This covenant was for her marriage to William's older brother Robert, with a fallback provision, as described above, that Elizabeth would marry William if Robert died "in age".

Sources

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4} J W Clay. Dugdale's Visitation of Yorkshire, with additions, Vol. II, William Pollard, 1907, p. 392, Internet Arechive
2. ↑ ^{2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4} Douglas Richardson. Magna Carta Ancestry: A Study in Colonial and Medieval Families, 4 vols, ed. Kimball G. Everingham, 2nd edition (Salt Lake City: the author, 2011), Vol. III, pp. 369-370, PLUMPTON 10, Google Books
3. ↑ ^{3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4} Douglas Richardson. Royal Ancestry: A Study in Colonial and Medieval Families, 5 vols, ed. Kimball G. Everingham (Salt Lake City: the author, 2013), Vol. IV, p. 392, [PLUMPTON 14
4. ↑ ^{4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3} Thomas Dunham Whitaker. The History and Antiquities of the Deanery of Craven, 2nd edition, Vol. 2, Nicholas and Son, 1812, p. 247, Google Books
5. ↑ Derbyshire Record Office, ref. D7676/Bag C/1008, National Archives Discovery Centre catalogue entry
6. ↑ ^{6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 6.4} Thomas Stapleton. Plumpton Correspondence, Camden Society, 1839, p. lxii-lxiv, Internet Archive
7. ↑ George William Marshall. The Visitations of the County of Nottingham in the years 1569 and 1614, Harleian Society, 1871, p. 171, Internet Archive
8. ↑ Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, entry by Keith Dockray for 'Plumpton, Sir William (1404–1480)', print and online 2004, revised online 2008
9. ↑ Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900, Vo45, pp. 434-435, Wikisource and Internet Archive
10. ↑ Thomas Stapleton, Plumpton Correspondence, p. lxvii, Internet Archive
11. ↑ Thomas, Stapleton, Plumpton Correspondence
12. ↑ Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, entry by Keith Dockray for Elizabeth's father-in-law 'Plumpton, Sir William (1404–1480)', print and online 2004, revised online 2008
13. ↑ Notes and Queries, 7th series, Vol. 2, 1887, p. 303, Internet Archive
14. ↑ ^{14.0 14.1} Thomas Stapleton, Plumpton Correspondence, pp. lxxii-lxxiii, including footnote on the latter page, Internet Archive and lxxiv, footnote d, Internet Archive
15. ↑ The National Archives, ref. C 1/31/330, Hamerton v Plompton, Discovery Centre catalogue entry
16. ↑ The National Archives, ref. D7676/Bag C/1010, Discovery Centre catalogue entry
17. ↑ Will of Sir Richard Hamerton Knt, Testamenta Eboracensia, Vol. III, Surtees Society, 1865, pp. 258-259, Internet Archive

• Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900, entry for Elizabeth's father-in-law 'PLUMPTON, Sir WILLIAM (1404–1480)', Wikisource
• Wikipedia: William Plumpton: entry for Elizabeth's father-in-law

Acknowledgements

Magna Carta Project

This profile was re-reviewed for the Magna Carta Project by Michael Cayley on 8 October 2023.

Elizabeth (Clifford) Hamerton is in a trail badged by the Magna Carta Project in September 2015 from Gateway Ancestor Robert Peyton to Magna Carta Surety Barons Hugh le Bigod, Roger le Bigod and John FitzRobert. Later, this profile was identified in badged trails to Richard de Clare, Gilbert de Clare, John de Lacy, and Saher de Quincy. These trails are set out in the Magna Carta Trails section of the Gateway's profile.

See Base Camp for more information about identified Magna Carta trails and their status. See the project's glossary for project-specific terms, such as a "badged trail".