Abbey History 1609 - 1780 The Final Hobye Chapter

In the Shadow of the Abbey

The shape of the village and tudor brickmaking, From parliament to the church, illegitimacy saves the day, the start and end of the Hoby Baronetcy of Bisham, the succession finally falters and fails.
The Bisham estate passed to Edward and Thomas Posthumous Hobye, in 1609, a map of the estate was drawn up. The outline of the village is still similar today, on the road to Marlow and Maidenhead. Brick field identifies where bricks were be made for the new dwellings in the 1600s. Itinerant brickmakers were hired to excavate, mould, dry, fire and deliver bricks. English cross-bond was popular as it allowed the bricklayers to create patterns, specially shaped bricks could be made. Called ‘hewing’, this practice was introduced by Flemish craftsmen during the 15th century and required great skill.

Sir Edward was another Hobye scholar, from Trinity college Oxford, under the patronage of his uncle, undertaking confidential missions for Queen Elizabeth. Lord Burghley arranged his marriage in (1582) to the Queens cousin Margaret Carey, and took him to Scotland, where he impressed King James VI with his affability and learning. By September 1586 he was MP for Queenborough (on the Isle of Sheppey in Kent) and gained distinction as the Speaker in Parliament. He regained favour with Queen Elizabeth and reported to her on the defence preparations for the Spanish Armada. However his attempts to reform the exchequer were not well received by the Queen as they challenged the royal prerogative. In 1601 he was placed in charge of the parliamentary privileges committee, accompanied the expedition to Cadiz, Spain in 1596 and in 1597, he was made constable of Queenborough Castle. A Justice of the Peace, he was elected a knight of the shire for Berkshire and Kent. Reputedly he entertained King James frequently at Bisham. Sir Edward died without a living son. He recognised and brought up an illegitimate son by his lover Catherine Pinckney. In 1616, Peregrine Hoby (aged 14) was named his heir. Sir Edward died in March 1617. Was this the curse of Abbot Cordery at work?

Under English Law, a bastard could not inherit real property, thus Peregrine could not inherit his father’s title. Peregrine was accepted by society and followed in his father’s footsteps, MP (Royalist) for Great Marlow, serving in the Long Parliament and was given leave to use his father’s arms, with a bordure . Later he became MP for Rochester, and a favourite of King James I. Peregrine’s son Edward married Elizabeth Styles, the co-heiress of Francis Styles of Little Missenden and his daughter Mary married William Fleetwoode of Great Missenden in 1654 at Bisham. The Hoby Baronetcy was a new title, created in 1666 by Charles II for Edward Hoby Peregrine’s son . Unfortunately Edward died and was buried on the 1st May 1675 at Bisham, just before his father, so the succession passed to his younger surviving brother, Sir John who married Mary Long, daughter and heiress of Thomas Long.
Sir Thomas (1685-1730) was the next heir. He married Elizabeth, daughter of Sir John Mill and produced another Thomas, MP for Marlow, the succession passed to his younger brother, the Revd Sir Philip Dean of Ardfert ( Ireland) the last Hoby baronet, number 5, commemorated on a stone plaque in the Hoby chapel of Bisham Church. Sir John Mill 1st cousin inherited the estate in 1766 on condition that he took the name of Hoby. He died in July 1780 and his wife sold the estate that year ending the era of the Hoby family at Bisham after 200 years.
Episode researched, written and narrated by Sheila Featherstone-Clark. Image is Edward Hoby from David Nash Berkshire History