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The selection of the English undertakers in the Ulster Plantation, 1609–10

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  13 May 2025

David Heffernan
David Heffernan*
Affiliation:
Independent scholar
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*david.heffernan.history@gmail.com
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Abstract

In 1610, just over fifty men were granted hundreds of thousands of acres of land as part of the estates allocated to English undertakers in the Ulster Plantation in the counties of Armagh, Cavan, Donegal, Fermanagh and Tyrone. Exactly who these individuals were and why they were given estates remains understudied. This article closely explores the process whereby lands were petitioned for by consortiums of individuals in 1609 and early 1610, before assessing who, from amongst the well over 100 applicants, were actually granted lands. Where possible, it considers the background of many these individuals, their ties to the court and officials in England and Ireland, and their material resources. It also highlights how the applicants for lands who had the greatest financial means to make a success of it were generally ignored in favour of petitioners whose ability, from a material perspective, to implement the articles of plantation was highly dubious, something which many senior officials, such as the viceroy of Ireland, Arthur Chichester, had been anxious to avoid.

Type
Research Article
Information
Irish Historical Studies , Volume 48 , Issue 174 , November 2024 , pp. 226 - 249
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Copyright © The Author(s), 2025. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of Irish Historical Studies Publications Ltd

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References

1 Moody, T. W., The Londonderry Plantation, 1609–41: the City of London and the plantation in Ulster (Belfast, 1939), pp 62–83Google Scholar; Hunter, Robert J., The Ulster Plantation in the counties of Armagh and Cavan, 1608–41 (Belfast, 2012), chapter 1Google Scholar; Perceval-Maxwell, Michael, The Scottish migration to Ulster in the reign of James I (London, 1973), pp 68–113Google Scholar; Robinson, Philip, The plantation of Ulster: British settlement in an Irish landscape, 1600–1670 (Belfast, 1984)Google Scholar; Canny, Nicholas, Making Ireland British, 1580–1650 (Oxford, 2001), pp 187–205CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

2 Moody, The Londonderry Plantation, pp 62–83.

3 Hunter, Ulster Plantation, pp 1–15; Canny, Making Ireland British, pp 187–205; John McCavitt, Sir Arthur Chichester: lord deputy of Ireland, 1605–16 (Belfast, 1998), pp 149–68.

4 Robinson, Ulster Plantation, pp 66–90.

5 Perceval-Maxwell, Scottish migration, pp 91–106.

6 The best previous account is that for Armagh and Cavan in Hunter, Ulster Plantation, chapter 2.

7 ‘Project for the plantation of Tyrone’, 20 Dec. 1608 (T.N.A., S.P. 63/225/280, ff 256–60).

8 A collection of svch orders and conditions, as are to be obserued by the vndertakers, vpon the distribution and plantation of the escheated lands in Vlster (London, 1609). Also, see Conditions to be observed by the Brittish undertakers of the escheated Lands in Vlster, &c. (London, 1610), which refined and expanded on some key aspects of the scheme.

9 David Masson (ed.), The register of the privy council of Scotland (14 vols, Edinburgh, 1877–98), viii, 792–4; Perceval-Maxwell, Scottish migration, pp 91–106.

10 Masson (ed.), Register, viii, 267–8.

11 Perceval-Maxwell, Scottish migration, pp 91–106; George Hill, An historical account of the plantation in Ulster at the commencement of the seventeenth century, 1608–1610 (Belfast, 1877), pp 136–44; Masson (ed.), Register, viii, 312–17, 321–5, 329–30, 336.

12 Marc Antonio Correr, Venetian ambassador in England, to the Doge and Senate, 12 Mar. 1609 in Rawdon Brown et al. (eds), Calendar of state papers and manuscripts relating to English affairs, existing in the archives and collections of Venice and in other libraries of north Italy (38 vols, London, 1864–1947), xi, no. 457, pp. 242–3.

13 See, for example, Francis Perkins's ‘Project for Ireland’ (Hatfield House, Cecil Papers MS 197, ff 37–40).

14 English undertakers for the Ulster Plantation, Mar. 1609 (T.N.A., S.P. 63/226/59), calendared in H. C. Hamilton et al. (eds), Calendar of state papers, Ireland, 1509–1670 (hereafter C.S.P.I.) (24 vols, 1860–1912), 1608–10, no. 322, pp 180–81; Simon Healy, ‘Harington, Sir James’ in Andrew Thrush and John Ferris (eds), The history of parliament: the House of Commons, 1604–29 (6 vols, Cambridge, 2010) (www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1604-1629/member/harington-sir-james-1555-1614) (20 Aug. 2024).

15 John Mallory was knighted on 17 Apr. 1603 while James was proceeding south to London. Francis Anderson and Thomas Cornwall were both knighted on 11 May 1603, while Henry Hobart, Henry Helmes and William Harmon were all knighted on 23 July 1603: see William A. Shaw, The knights of England: volume 2 (London, 1906), pp 100–27.

16 Alternatively, see Thomas Blennerhassett, A direction for the plantation in Vlster (London, 1610), Sig. A3, where Blennerhassett suggests that it was Henry Hunnings of Suffolk who first presented the consortium's petition to Salisbury.

17 J. H., ‘Heigham, Sir Clement’ in P. W. Hasler (ed.), The history of parliament: the House of Commons, 1558–1603 (3 vols, London, 1981) (www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1558-1603/member/heigham-sir-clement-1634) (20 Aug. 2024).

18 The plantation of Fermanagh, c.1609 (T.N.A., S.P. 63/232/31), in C.S.P.I., 1611–14, no. 606, pp 315–16; Hill, Historical account, pp 144–6. Also, see Appendix.

19 Appendix; Hill, Historical account, pp 144–6.

20 Robinson, Ulster Plantation, pp 66–90.

21 ‘A view of all such as offer to become undertakers’, 1610 (T.N.A., S.P. 63/229/150), in C.S.P.I., 1608–10, no. 943, pp 548–51. For details from this document, see Appendix. See also Chris Kyle, ‘Hobart, Sir Henry’ in Thrush & Ferris (eds), Parliament (www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1604-1629/member/hobart-sir-henry-1554-1625) (20 Aug. 2024); Stuart Handley, ‘Hobart, Sir Henry, first baronet’, O.D.N.B., xxvii, 373–4.

22 Appendix.

23 S. T. Bindoff, ‘Monson, Sir William’ in Hasler (ed.), Parliament (www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1558-1603/member/monson-sir-william-1567-1643) (20 Aug. 2024); Appendix.

24 Appendix; R. C. G., ‘Berkeley, Sir Maurice’ in Hasler (ed.), Parliament (www.histparl.ac.uk/volume/1558-1603/member/berkeley-sir-maurice-ii-1579-1617) (20 Aug. 2024).

25 Hunter, Robert J., ‘Plantation in Donegal’ in Nolan, William et al. (eds), Donegal: history and society (Dublin, 1995), p. 298Google Scholar.

26 Appendix; Cecil George Foljambe, The house of Cornewall (Hereford, 1908), pp 217–18.

27 Appendix.

28 Ibid.

29 The privy council to Arthur Chichester, 11 July 1609 (Philadelphia papers, vol. 4, p. 50), in C.S.P.I., 1608–10, no. 570, p. 346; T. W. Moody (ed.), ‘Ulster Plantation papers’ in Analecta Hibernica, no. 8 (Mar. 1938), pp 235–7.

30 Simon Healy, ‘Mallory, Sir John’ in Thrush & Ferris (eds), Parliament (www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1604-1629/member/mallory-sir-john-15556-1619) (20 Aug. 2024).

31 Appendix.

32 Arthur Chichester to Salisbury, 27 Sept. 1610 (T.N.A., S.P. 63/229/126), in C.S.P.I., 1608–10, no. 876, pp 501–4; Michael MacCarthy-Morrogh, The Munster Plantation: English migration to southern Ireland, 1583–1641 (Oxford, 1986), pp 107–35.

33 These first deadlines originated in the ‘Project’ for Tyrone promoted by Davies, Ley et al. in Dec. 1608: see ‘Project for the plantation of Tyrone’, 20 Dec. 1608 (T.N.A., S.P. 63/225/280, f. 259v).

34 Perceval-Maxwell, Scottish migration, pp 84–5.

35 Reasons proving that the deferring of the plantation of Ulster until the next spring is most convenient, May 1609 (T.N.A., S.P. 63/226/83), in C.S.P.I., 1608–10, no. 376, pp 211–12; instructions to the commissioners for the Ulster Plantation, c.Mar. 1609 (T.N.A., S.P. 63/226/60(a)), in C.S.P.I., 1608–10, no. 324, pp 181–4.

36 A brief of the proceedings of the commissioners for the plantation in Ulster since July last, 19 Mar. 1610 (T.N.A., S.P. 63/228/59), in C.S.P.I., 1608–10, no. 665, pp 409–11.

37 Conditions to be observed.

38 J. H. Baker, ‘Egerton, Thomas, first Viscount Brackley’, O.D.N.B., xvii, 1007–11.

39 Certain considerations touching the plantation of the escheated lands in Ulster, 27 Jan. 1610 (T.N.A., S.P. 63/228/15), in C.S.P.I., 1608–10, no. 587, pp 355–9.

40 A note concerning the Ulster Plantation by Sir Julius Caesar, c.Mar. 1609 (B.L., Lansdowne papers, MS 156, ff 276–7).

41 Rob McPherson, ‘Stuart [Stewart], Ludovick, second duke of Lennox’, O.D.N.B., liii, 196–8.

42 Hill, Historical account, p. 293.

43 Julian Goodare, ‘Erskine, John, eighteenth or second earl of Mar’ O.D.N.B., xviii, 546–52.

44 Maurice Lee Jnr., ‘Home, George, earl of Dunbar’, O.D.N.B., xxvii, 875–8; R. R. Zulager, ‘Bruce, Edward, first Lord Kinloss and first Baron Bruce of Kinloss’, O.D.N.B., viii, 292–3; idem, ‘Hay, Alexander’, O.D.N.B., xxv, 983; Hill, Historical account, p. 137; John Scot, The staggering state of Scottish statesmen, from 1550 to 1650 (Edinburgh, 1872), p. 100.

45 Pauline Croft, ‘Somerset, Edward, fourth earl of Worcester’, O.D.N.B., li, 575–7.

46 Michael Hicks, ‘Talbot, Gilbert, seventh earl of Shrewsbury’, O.D.N.B., liii, 696–8.

47 Croft, Pauline, ‘Howard, Henry, earl of Northampton’, O.D.N.B., xxviii, 366–74Google Scholar; Peck, Linda Levy, Northampton: Patronage and policy at the court of James I (London, 1982)Google Scholar.

48 Pauline Croft, ‘Howard, Thomas, first earl of Suffolk’, O.D.N.B., xxviii, 436–9.

49 Moody (ed.), ‘Plantation papers’, no. 21, pp 222–31 provides a full breakdown of the overseers and their precincts. See also ‘The distribution of precincts for English, 1611’ in J. S. Brewer et al. (eds), Calendar of the Carew manuscripts preserved at Lambeth Palace, 1515–1624 (6 vols, London, 1867–73), v, 231–4, no. 130.

50 Hill, Historical account, pp 268–71.

51 Moody (ed.), ‘Plantation papers’, pp 223–30.

52 Conversely, Hunter, Ulster Plantation, pp 60–61 suggests the overseers had made explicit choice of the undertakers.

53 Moody (ed.), ‘Plantation papers’, pp 222–31.

54 For a concise listing of these, see Robinson, Ulster Plantation, pp 205–08. For further details, see Perceval-Maxwell, Scottish migration, passim.

55 For details, see ibid., pp 317–22.

56 Ibid., pp 96–106. See James I to Sir Arthur Chichester, 20 Apr. 1612 (Philadelphia papers, vol. 2, p. 13), in C.S.P.I., 1611–14, no. 465, pp 262–3, in which the king notes that he had seen to it that Sir James Cunningham and another James Cunningham were both granted lands in Donegal.

57 Perceval-Maxwell, Scottish migration, pp 97–101, 323–30.

58 Ibid., pp 106–13.

59 For a full listing of the grantees in the seven precincts, see Robinson, Plantation of Ulster, pp 202–05; Hill, Historical account, pp 259–83.

60 P.R.O.N.I., D 4446/A/1/112.

61 The privy council to Arthur Chichester, 22 June 1610 (Philadelphia papers, vol. 4, p. 37), in C.S.P.I., 1608–10, no. 791, p. 467; Lord Audley's proposed plantation in Tyrone, 10 July 1609 (Philadelphia papers, vol. 3, p. 404), in C.S.P.I., 1608–10, no. 441, pp lxxxii–lxxxiii, 258–9.

62 P.R.O.N.I., D 4446/A/1/112; Rolf Loeber and Terence Reeves-Smyth, ‘Lord Audley's grandiose building schemes in the Ulster plantation’ in Brian MacCuarta (ed.), Reshaping Ireland, 1550–1700 (Dublin, 2011), pp 82–100, esp. pp 84–8.

63 Hill, Historical account, pp 264–8.

64 Terry Clavin, ‘Parsons, Sir William’, D.I.B., vii, 1104–9.

65 P.R.O.N.I., D 4446/A/1/112; Terry Clavin, ‘Ridgeway, Sir Thomas’, D.I.B., viii, 493–4.

66 Appendix; Hill, Historical account, pp 276–80.

67 P.R.O.N.I., D 4446/A/1/112; C.S.P.I., 1606–8, p. xcvi; C.S.P.I., 1599–1600, pp 402–3.

68 P.R.O.N.I., D 4446/A/1/112; Shaw, Knights of England, p. 127.

69 For the definitive study of Docwra, see McGurk, John, Sir Henry Docwra, 1564–1631: Derry's second founder (Dublin, 2005)Google Scholar.

70 Shaw, Knights of England, pp 92–3; Loades, David, The Tudor navy: an administrative, political and military history (London, 1992), pp 263ffGoogle Scholar; Croft, ‘Howard, Thomas, first earl of Suffolk’.

71 See, for example, McCavitt, Sir Arthur Chichester, pp 149–68.

72 See Appendix.

73 Chris Kyle, ‘Hobart, Sir Henry, first baronet’, O.D.N.B., xxvii, 373–4; Wilfrid Prest, The rise of the barristers: a social history of the English Bar, 1590–1640 (Oxford, 1991); Arthur Chichester to Salisbury, 27 Sept. 1610 (T.N.A., S.P. 63/229/126), in C.S.P.I., 1608–10, no. 876, pp 501–04.

74 See Appendix.

75 Simon Healy, ‘Mallory, Sir John’ in Thrush and Ferris (eds), Parliament (www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1604-1629/member/mallory-sir-john-15556-1619) (20 Aug. 2024); Appendix.

76 Appendix; Hill, Historical account, p. 279. See Hunter, Ulster Plantation, p. 55.

77 Hunter, ‘Plantation in Donegal’, pp 286–9.

78 Hunter, Ulster Plantation, pp 54–5; Robinson, Ulster Plantation, pp 202–05.

79 The twenty-nine in question were as follows: Oneilland (Lord Saye and Sele, John Brownlow, William Brownlow, Richard Rollestone, Francis Sacheverell, James Matchett, William Powell, John Dillon, William Stanhowe, John Heron); Loughtee (Richard Waldron, John Fishe, Stephen Butler, Hugh Wirrall, John Taylor, William Snow, Nicholas Lussher); Lurg and Coolemakernan (Thomas Flowerdew, Thomas Blennerhasset, Edward Blennerhasset, John Archdale, Edward Ward, Thomas Barton, Henry Hunnings); Clankelly (Thomas Flowerdew, Robert Bogas, Robert Calvert, Thomas Plumstead, John Sedborough).

80 See the introduction to the privy council registers provided by State Papers Online, David Crankshaw, ‘The Tudor privy council, c.1540–1603’, found at www.gale.com/intl/essays/david-j-crankshaw-tudor-privy-council-c-1540?1603 (18 June 2023).

81 Christopher W. Brooks, ‘Brownlow, Richard’, O.D.N.B., viii, 268–9.

82 Hill, Historical account, pp 261–2; Brewer et al. (eds), Carew manuscripts, v, 225, no. 128. See The plantation of Fermanagh, c.1609 (T.N.A., S.P. 63/232/31), in C.S.P.I., 1611–14, no. 606, pp 315–6.

83 Canny, Making Ireland British, chapter 2; Joan Thirsk, Economic policy and projects: the development of a consumer society in early modern England (Oxford, 1978); P.R.O.N.I., D 4446/A/1/112.

84 Saye and Sele to Salisbury in R.A. Roberts et al. (eds), Calendar of the manuscripts of the most honourable the Marquess of Salisbury, preserved at Hatfield House, Hertfordshire (24 vols, London, 1883–1976), xx, 92.

85 Alan Davidson and Rosemary Sgroi, ‘Cope, Sir Anthony’ in Thrush and Ferris (eds), Parliament (www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1604-1629/member/cope-sir-anthony-1550-1614) (20 Aug. 2024); Alfred Beesley, The history of Banbury, including copious historical and antiquarian notices of the neighbourhood (Banbury, 1842), pp 238–41.

86 Foljambe, House of Cornewall, pp 217–18.

87 P.R.O.N.I., D 4446/A/1/112.

88 F. E. Ball, The Judges in Ireland, 1221–1921 (2 vols, Dublin, 1993), i, 323; John B. Cunningham, ‘The Blennerhassetts of Kesh’ in Clogher Record, xvi, no. 3 (1999), pp 112–26.

89 P.R.O.N.I., D 4446/A/1/112. In addition to Hunter's main notes on the undertakers, see a smaller separate folder on some of the Fermanagh planters, including Bogas, in P.R.O.N.I., D 4446/A/1/39.

90 Simon Healy, ‘Calvert, George’ in Thrush and Ferris (eds), Parliament (www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1604-1629/member/calvert-george-157980-1632) (20 Aug. 2024).

91 On Nicholas Heron, see Kieran Costello, ‘A view from the keep: A history of Enniscorthy Castle’ in The Past: The Organ of the Uí Cinsealaigh Historical Society, no. 36 (2022), pp 4–40.

92 P.R.O.N.I., D 4446/A/1/112.

93 Ibid.

94 Bindoff, ‘Monson, Sir William’; Paula Watson and Rosemary Sgroi, ‘Monson, Sir Thomas’ in Hasler (ed.), Parliament (www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1604-1629/member/monson-sir-thomas-1565-1641) (20 Aug. 2024).

95 Taylor received the Aghateeduff proportion in Loughtee in Cavan: see Hill, Historical account, p. 283; Appendix.

96 Appendix.

97 Instructions delivered to Sir John Bourchier by the lord deputy, May 1611 (Philadelphia papers, vol. 4, p. 141), in C.S.P.I., 1611–14, no. 124, pp 63–7. Also, see Moody (ed.), ‘Plantation papers’, nos 18, 22, pp 220–22; 232–5.

98 See, for example, Hunter, Ulster Plantation, chapters 2–4; Perceval-Maxwell, Scottish migration, pp 114–83; John Johnston, ‘English settlement in County Fermanagh, 1610–1640’ in Clogher Record, x, no. 1 (1979), pp 137–43.

99 Kieran Clendinning, ‘The Brownlow family and the development of the town of Lurgan in the 17th century: part I’ in Seanchas Ardmhacha, xx, no. 1 (2004), pp 100–23; Robert J. Hunter, ‘County Armagh: a map of plantation, c.1610’ in A. J. Hughes and William Nolan (eds), Armagh: history and society (Dublin, 2001), pp 265–94.

100 Loeber and Reeves-Smyth, ‘Lord Audley's grandiose building schemes’ emphasises the building work, but on the almost complete failure to develop the plantation in Omagh in any other way: see Victor Treadwell (ed.), The Irish Commission of 1622: an investigation of the Irish administration, 1615–22, and its consequences, 1623–24 (I.M.C., Dublin, 2006), pp 572–4, 602–04.

101 Unless otherwise stated, the sum given under ‘Financial means’ refers to the annual income of the person in question.

102 A gap was left in the manuscript where James Matchett's first name should have been; however, reference to ‘Mr Matchett’ as a preacher confirms he was the James Matchett of Norfolk who received an estate in Oneilland.

103 The acreage sought by the individual consorts in Hobart's company was not provided, but given that they sought 15,000 acres and there were fifteen individuals in the consortium, it is likely that they intended that each consort would take 1,000 acres of the overall grant.

104 Note the calendar entry for this document is inaccurate in several significant ways.

105 No place of origin for any member of this consortium was recorded. However, the head was almost certainly Sir Thomas Cornwall, at the time the son of the eleventh baron of Burford and from 1615 the twelfth baron, who hailed from Shropshire. Given that the other members of the consortium were almost certainly close family members (the twelfth baron had a brother named Edward) and relatives, it seems highly probable that some others, if not all of the other members, also came from Shropshire.