Herefordshire Through Time
Herefordshire Through Time
John Scudamore was a Gentleman Usher and Esquire for the Body to Henry VIII. He had become rich by speculating with the property gained as Receiver for the Dissolution of the Monasteries. For example, the site and demesne lands of Abbey Dore were granted to John Scudamore in 1536 under the Act of Suppression of King Henry VIII. The Scudamores used their wealth to build an impressive Tudor manor house at Holme Lacy (HER 6463).
Sir John Scudamore was the grandson of his aforementioned namesake. He too carved out a career for himself at court, being made a gentleman pensioner, one of fifty well-born men whom Henry VIII had formed into a quasi-military corps in 1539. At court John met and proposed to Mary Shelton, a relation of Queen Elizabeth and one of her maids of honour. The Queen was loathe to consent to their marriage and was said to have beaten Mary so badly she broke her finger. Eventually she relented and John and Mary were married late in 1573 or early in 1574. Unlike other courtiers, who never regained Elizabeth's favour after marriage, he was eventually forgiven and even gained a knighthood in 1592. The poet Spenser has immortalised Sir John Scudamore in his poem about Queen Elizabeth, The Faerie Queene:
"Scudamour doth his conquest tell, Of vertuous Amoret: Great Venus Temple is describ'd, And louers life forth set." (Book IV)
In 1601 he became steward of the city of Hereford and a member of the Council in the Marches, as well as serving as standard-bearer of the gentlemen pensioners from 1599 to 1603. His wife Mary also remained in royal service and was given a gift of £300 by the usually not overly-generous Queen.
Another well-known member of this branch of the Scudamore family is John, 1st Viscount Sligo (1601-1671). He is said to have been very studious as a young man and became very friendly with Archbishop Laud. The deaths of three of Scudamore's baby sons in their first year led to some soul searching. Laud convinced John that the money gained by his ancestor from the Dissolution of the monasteries may have been a reason for this personal tragedy. John took Laud's advice to heart and donated large sums of money to the church. In fact he even rebuilt and endowed the by then dilapidated Abbey Dore Church.
Scudamore also took an interest in agricultural matters and imported a breed of cattle from France (now known as Hereford Cattle) and a type of cider apple. King James made him a baronet and sent him to the French Court as ambassador. During the Civil War Scudamore was one of the leading royalists in the county, which eventually led to his four-year imprisonment in London. For his financial support and personal sacrifices he gained a peerage. (It should be noted that the Scudamores of Kentchurch, the other branch of this family, sided with the parliamentarians during this conflict.)
[Original author: Toria Forsyth-Moser, 2003]