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Sir Thomas Phillips of Limavady Servito

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 July 2016

T. W. Moody
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Extract

Sir Thomas Phillips is not to be found among the worthies of the Dictionary of National Biography, nor is he mentioned in Webb's Compendium of Irish Biography or Crone's Concise Dictionary. He was one of those known in early-seventeenth Ireland as ‘ servitors ’—military men who had fought for the crown during Tyrone's rebellion and established claims on the royal generosity which they expected to have satisfied after the peace. In the Ulster plantation, servitors constituted a separate group among the planters, and some of them thus became the founders of great landed families. In his successful pursuit of forfeited land in Ulster, Phillips is a fair example of the servitor class. Very likely he would have left no more mark on Irish history than many another fellow-adventurer, had he not staked his claim in a part of Ulster that presently became a sphere of interest of the city of London. Within a few years of the Londoner's advent, Phillips engaged them in a controversy which he maintained with almost incredible pertinacity for a quarter of a century, and which, on the eve of his death, ended in a crushing defeat for his opponents.

Type
Research Article
Information
Irish Historical Studies , Volume 1 , Issue 3 , March 1939 , pp. 251 - 272
Copyright
Copyright © Irish Historical Studies Publications Ltd 1939

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References

page no 251 note 1 For a detailed account of this controversy, see my Londonderry Plantation, 1609–41 Where authorities are not cited for statements in the present article, references will be found in this book.

page no 252 note 1 Cal. S.P. Ire., 1598–9, p. 470 ; 1600–1, p. 89 ; 1606–8, p. 520. Grant of arms to Thomas Phillips, 15 Oct. 1600 (BM, Stowe MS. 703, pp. 113–14). Londonderry and the London Companies; pp. 8, 10–11. Phillips's will, 23–8 July 1636 (Somerset House, P.C.C., Pile 101). Ir. MSS. Comm., Letters and Papers relating to the Irish Rebellion, 1642–6 (ed. James Hogan), pp. 19–20.

page no 252 note 2 Cal. S.P. Ire., 1598–9, p. 470.

page no 252 note 3 Ibid., 1600–1, pp. 433, 533–4 ; 1600–1, pp. 89, 248–9.

page no 252 note 4 Ibid., 1600–1, pp. 227–8, 248–9. See Pól Breathnach (Paul Walsh), ‘ Origin of King's County ’ in Ir. Book Lover, xxvi. 50.

page no 252 note 5 Cal. S.P, Ire., 1600–1, pp. 248, 417, 419, 420.

page no 253 note 1 Ibid., 1601–3, pp. 454–6, 463, 496–7, 525, 533, 552, and passim.

page no 253 note 2 Ibid., 1601–3, p. 525.

page no 253 note 3 PROI, Records of the Rolls, ii. 235. Repert. Pat. Rolls, Ire., Jas. I, p. 231. Indenture between Phillips and the king, 30 Apr. 1610 (Knox MSS., in the possession of Mr. C. K. Ellis, Clonleigh, co. Donegal).

page no 253 note 4 PROI, Records of the Rolls, ii. 235–6. Repert. Pat. Rolls, Ire., Jas. I, p. 231.

page no 253 note 5 Cal. Pat. Rolls, Ire., Jas. I, p. 86. Repert. Pat. Rolls, Ire., Jas. I, p. 257.

page no 254 note 1 Cal. Pat. Rolls, Ire., Jas. I, p. 131. Repert. Pat. Rolls, Ire., Jas. I, pp. 477–8.

page no 254 note 2 PRO I, Records of the Rolls, iv. 357. Repert. Pat. Rolls, Ire., Jas. I, p. 191.

page no 254 note 3 Cal. Carew MSS., 1603–24, p. 384.

page no 254 note 4 Cal. S.P Ire., 1603–6, pp. 140–1, 178, 194, 275–6, 322–3, 436, 454, 510, 526, 582 ; 1606–8, pp. 280–1, 402.

page no 254 note 5 Description of Ireland :… in Anno 1598 (ed. Edmund Hogan), p. 28. O'Laverty, J., Historical Account of the Diocese of Down and Connor, iv. 162–70Google Scholar. Coleman, A., Ancient Dominican Foundations in Ireland, pp. 5, 6Google Scholar. Hill, G., Macdonnells of Antrim, p. 131 Google Scholar

page no 254 note 6 Irish Society's instructions to John Rowley, 12 Nov. 1612, § 35 (Knox MSS.).

page no 254 note 7 Indenture between Phillips and the king, 30 Apr. 1610 (Knox MSS.).

page no 255 note 1 Cal. S.P. Ire., 1606–8, pp. 406, 519–20 ; 1608–10, pp. 10, 32–3, 97, 202, 248–9. BM, Cott. MS. Tit. B, x, f. 285V (Cal. S.P. Ire., 1611–14, p. 461). Reg. Privy Council, Scot., viii. 504–5.

page no 256 note 1 Cal. S.P. Ire., 1608–10, pp. 248–9.

page no 257 note 1 This corrects a statement in my Londonderry Plantation, p. 38, where the transportees are said to have returned to Ireland.

page no 257 note 2 Cal. S.P. Ire., 1608–10, pp. 290, 296, 300, 303–6, 334, 335, 458.

page no 257 note 3 Throgmorton to Salisbury, 1 Jan. 1610 (Hatfield House, Cecil Papers, vol. 126, no. 143).

page no 258 note 1 Phillips to Salisbury, 16 Feb. 1610 (Cecil Papers, vol. 127, no. 4).

page no 258 note 2 Among the Knox MSS.

page no 258 note 3 For the boundaries of Phillips's lands, see Plate 1 in my Londonderry Plantation; for the calculation of their areas, see appendix G of the same work.

page no 258 note 4 Cal. S.P. Ire., 1611–14, p. 60.

page no 258 note 5 Cal. S.P. Ire., Jas. I, p. 199.

page no 258 note 6 Ibid., p. 62.

page no 259 note 1 The conveyance was dated 26 Sept. 1612, and was confirmed by letters patent under the great seal of Ireland, dated 30 Dec. 1612. The grant was in common socage, the Limavady estate being created a manor (PROI, Records of the Rolls, iii. 317–18 ; Cal. Pat. Rolls, Ire., Jas. I, pp. 286–7).

page no 259 note 2 Cal. S.P Ire., 1611–14, pp. 28–30, 32–3, 340–1. Londonderry and the London Companies, pp. 27–39.

page no 259 note 3 Phillips [not Hugh Wirral] to Northampton, [1612] (BM, Cott. MS. Tit. B, x, ff. 285–6 (Cal. S.P. Ire., 1611–14, p. 461)).

page no 259 note 4 Lambeth MS. 630 (Carew MS.), ff. 47–47v.

page no 260 note 1 Londonderry and the London Companies, plate facing p. 60.

page no 260 note 2 PROI, Transcripts of Charters, vol. vii. Cal. Pat. Rolls, Ire., Jas. I, p. 255.Google Scholar

page no 260 note 3 Cal. Pat. Rolls, Ire., Jas. I, p. 324.

page no 260 note 4 Cal. S.P. Ire., 1615–25, p, 197.

page no 260 note 5 BM, Add. MS. 4770, ff. 140–2.

page no 260 note 6 Bagwell, Stuarts, i. 142–3. Cal. S.P Ire., 1615–25, pp. 507, 525–6, 528, 530–1 Cal. Carew MSS., 1603–24, p. 470 (misdated 1614 for 1615).

page no 261 note 1 Cal. S.P. Ire.y 1615–25, pp. 411–14. Londonderry and the London Companies, pp. 5–6, 58–62.

page no 261 note 2 Letters to and from Sir Dudley Carkton during his Embassy in Holland(2nd edition, London, 1775), pp. 38–9, 41–2, 45. PRO, S.P. 63, vol. 234, nos. 21, 23 (Cal. S.P. Ire., 1615–25, pp. 132–3.).

page no 262 note 1 Cf. above, p. 256.

page no 262 note 2 See my Londonderry Plantation, appendix C.

page no 263 note 1 See above, pp. 59–60.

page no 264 note 1 Hist, MSS. Comm., Twelfth Report, app. i. p. 95.

page no 264 note 2 Records of the Irish Society : Collection of plantation documents, 1609–19, compiled by Henry Carter, Goldsmiths’ clerk (1615–16), p. 560.

page no 264 note 3 Records of the Mercer's company : Irish minutes, i. 67–8.

page no 264 note 4 There are two copies of this map-collection : (i) Lambeth MS. 634 (Carew MS,), from tracings of which the reproductions in Londonderry and the London Companies have been made ; (ii) in a MS. vol. among the records of the Drapers' company, from which six maps have been reproduced in Johnson, History of the Drapers(1914–22), iv. 530–41.

page no 265 note 1 Acts Privy Council, 1627, p. 26. BM, Eg. MS. 2553, ft. 35V–36V. Cal. 8.P. Ire., 1647–60, pp. 206–7 The deed of sale was dated 20 Dec. 1622. At the king's order he had surrendered his lands at Toome to Sir Claude Hamilton, in 1608 (Cal. Pat. Rolls, Ire., Jas. I, p. 432).

page no 266 note 1 This volume also contains reproductions of the maps of the survey of 1622.

page no 266 note 2 Hibernica (2nd edition, 1770), pp. 277–8. Harris prints in extenso (pp. 242–52) the prefatory petition to the whole collection (Londonderry and the London Companies pp. 1–11). Hill, working from Harris, realised the historical value of the Phillips MSS. (Plantation in Ulster (1877), p. 444).

page no 266 note 3 Consequently the Calendar of State Papers, Ireland contains duplicates of many items printed in Londonderry and the London Companies.

page no 266 note 4 For most of these, there are no other MS. originals except those in PRONI.

page no 267 note 1 Phillips to Coke, i Feb. 1632 (PRO, S.P. 63, vol. 253, no. 7 (Cal. S.P. Ire., 1625–32, pp. 643–4)).

page no 267 note 2 PRO, Privy Council Reg., Chas. I, vii. 141. Hist. MSS. Comm., Twelfth Report, app. i, pp. 437–8. Cal. S.P. Dom., 1631–3, p. 153. PRO, S.P. 63, vol. 252, no. 127 (Cal. S.P. Ire., 1625–32, pp. 631–2).

page no 268 note 1 PRO, S.P. 63, vol. 252, no. 127 (Cal. S.P. Ire., 1625–32, pp. 631–2); S.P. 16, vol. 168, no. 46 (Cal. S.P. Dom., 1629–31, p. 281).

page no 268 note 2 Cal. S.P. Ire., 1625–32, pp. 449, 578. Inq. Cancell. Hib. Repert., ii, Antrim, Jas. I, no. 8.

page no 268 note 3 PRO, S.P. 63, vol. 175, no. 121 (Cal. S.P. Dom., 1629–31, pp. 394–5)

page no 268 note 4 PRO, S.P. 63, vol. 271, no. 28 (Cal. S.P. Ire., 1647–60, pp. 209–10). Cai. S.P. Ire., 1647–60, pp. 209–10). Cal. S.P. Dom., 1633–4, pp. 68, 69, 82, 98, 138, 153–4. The Earl of Stafforde's Letters and Dispatches (ed. W. Knowler), i. 114–16, 137, 153, 248, 270, 281.

page no 269 note 1 Phillips to Bramhall, i Mar. 1635 (Knox MSS.).

page no 269 note 2 King to Wentworth, 8 Nov. 1635 (Hist. MSS. Comm., Twelfth Report, app. ii, p. 99).

page no 269 note 3 The Earl of Strafforde' s Letters and Dispatches, i. 496–7, 513–14, 517; ii. 65, 206.

page no 269 note 4 Ibid., i. 496–7.

page no 269 note 5 An inquisition of 22 Apr. 1637 gives the date of his death as 15 Aug. 1636 (Inq. Cancell. Hib. Repert.,ii, Londonderry, Chas. I, no. 4). The certificate of probate attached to the official copy of his will is, however, dated ‘ tertio die rnensis Augusti ’ Unless ‘ tertio ’ is a mistake for ‘ tricesimo ’ or unless ‘ vicesimo ’ has been omitted, he must have died between July 28 and Aug. 3.

page no 269 note 6 23–8 Aug. 1636 (Somerset House, P.C.C., Pile 101).

page no 269 note 7 Inq. CancelL Hib. Repert., ii, as above.

page no 270 note 1 Boyle, E. M. F.-G, Records of the Town ofLimavady (1912), p. 1, n.Google Scholar

page no 270 note 2 Very likely she was Dorothy Pawlett; the Margery Pawlett described in Phillips's will as his 4 ‘sister’ (see opp. page), was almost certainly his sister-in-law. Probably Dorothy Pawlett was the daughter of Sir George Pawlett, vice-provost of Deny, 1606–8. A tablet in Coleraine church records the death, on 4 June 1624, of Elizabeth, daughter of Sir George Pawlett. This suggests that Phillips's two elder daughters were called after their mother's sister and their mother respectively. As Dudley is described in May 1611 as Phillips's eldest son (see above, p. 258), Chichester must then have been alive. The interval between their births was short, for Dudley must have been born between August 1609 and August 1610.

page no 270 note 3 Indenture between Phillips and the king, 30 Apr. 1610 (Knox MSS.). Cal. Pat. Rolls, Ire., Chas. I, p. 630. Cal. S.P. Ire., 1611–14, pp. 283–4. Londonderry and the London Companies, pp. 38–9.

page no 270 note 4 Ball Wright, W., The Ussher Memoirs (1889), p. 134.Google Scholar

page no 270 note 5 Probably at the time of his father's second marriage.

page no 270 note 6 Ir. MSS. Comm., Letters and Papers relating to the Irish Rebellion, 1642–6 (ed. James Hogan), pp. 13–14, 19–20. Ir. MSS. Comm., Civil Survey, iii. 199–201, 205. Inq. Cancell. Hi A. Repert., ii, Londonderry, Wm. and Mary, no. 1

page no 270 note 7 See Cal. Pat. Rolls, Ire., Chas. I, p. 591. Civil Survey, as above, pp. 212–14.

page no 271 note 1 Note that the intended ‘ collection ’ mentioned in the will is not, as assumed in the introduction to Londonderry and the London Companies (p. vi), the same as the ‘ Phillips MSS.’—the actual ‘ Collection ’ which Phillips presented to Charles I in 1629.