The Feudal Barony of Berry Pomeroy was one of eight feudal baronies in Devonshire, England, which existed during the mediaeval era. It had its caput at the manor of Berry Pomeroy, 20 miles south of the City of Exeter and 2 miles east of the town of Totnes, where was situated Totnes Castle, the caput of the feudal barony of Totnes. The exact location of the 11th-century baron's residence is unclear; perhaps it was next to the parish church on the site of the former rectory known as Berry House, as it is now believed that the nearby ruined Berry Pomeroy Castle was not built until the 15th century.
The manor and barony was owned by the Pomeroy family from before 1086 until 1547, when it was purchased by Edward Seymour, 1st Duke of Somerset, in whose family it has since remained. Today the manor and much of the former estate belongs to his descendant the Duke of Somerset, seated at Maiden Bradley House in Wiltshire.
Descent
Pomeroy
Ralph de la Pomeroy (died before 1100) (alias Pomeraie, Pomerei, etc.) 1st feudal baron of Berry , one of the Devon Domesday Book tenants-in-chief in 1086. He was lord of the manor of La Pommeraye, Calvados in Normandy. He was one of the two commissioners appointed to carry to the royal treasury at Winchester the tax collected in Devon resulting from the assessment made based upon the Domesday Book survey.
William de la Pomeroy (died before 1114) Eldest son and heir, who in 1102 donated the manor of Berry (Pomeroy) to Gloucester Abbey, which during the abbacy of Serlo (died 1104) was redeemed by his brother Joscelin in exchange for Seldene (alias "Seldenam", in Devon). He donated 1/4 of a knight's fee in St Omer in Normandy to the "Abbey of Val in St Omer". He died without children at some time before 1114.
Joscelin (alias Gozeline) de la Pomeroy (died after 1123) (younger brother) He refounded the "Abbey of Val in St Omer" in the diocese of Bayeux, Normandy, to which in 1125 he gave the churches of Berry (Pomeroy), "Braordin" and "Clisson" in Devon with others elsewhere, and also a small estate and tithe of a mill in La Pommeraye. He married a certain Emma, who consented to her husband's grants of 1125.
Henry de la Pomeroy (fl.1156, died before 1165), Constable of Normandy. (son) A household knight of King Henry (1100–1135) and named as one of the king's household constables in the Constitutio Domus Regis. He was a leader of the king's household troops on several occasions, notably in 1124 at the Battle of Bourgtheroulde, about ten miles southwest of Rouen. He married Rohese de Dunstanville.
The descent of the barony in the de la Pomeroy family is as follows: Henry de la Pomeroy (died 1201/7) (eldest son) He married Rohesia Bardolf, sister of Doun Bardolf (1177–1205) Rohesia survived her husband , and as the widow of a tenant-in-chief, Rohesia's second marriage became the property of the crown to dispose of, and in 1201/2 Sir John Russell (died c. 1224) of Kingston Russell in Dorset agreed to pay 50 marks to the royal treasury for the hand of his bride. After Russell's death in 1224 his widow Rohesia obtained royal licence of the king, at the suit of Ralph de Blundeville, Earl of Chester and Lincoln (1172–1232), to marry whomsoever she pleased, so long as he should be a faithful subject of the crown. This was perhaps merely a formality to give her freedom from "troublesome solicitations of the king's courtiers" and no records survive of any subsequent marriage having occurred. Following the death Henry de la Pomeroy his estates were assigned by the King into the custody of William Brewer until 1210 when his heir raised 600 marks for his feudal relief.
Henry de la Pomeroy (died 1222) (son) He married Joan de Vautort (alias Valletort), a daughter and in her issue co-heir of Roger de Vautort (died 1207), feudal baron of Totnes from 1206.
Henry de la Pomeroy (1211–1237)
Henry de la Pomeroy (born after 1216; died 1281) He was a minor under the age of 21 at his father's death in 1237. He confirmed his ancestor's grants to Ford Abbey. He married a certain Isolde, a widow, who survived him and in 1293 is recorded as holding as her dower one third (a widow's usual entitlement) of her late husband's manors of Berry and Stockleigh Pomeroy
Sir Henry de la Pomeroy (1266–1305) (son) He was born at Tregony, in Cornwall. In 1281 he married Amice de Camville, daughter of Sir Geoffrey de Camville (died 1308). Amice survived her husband.
Sir Henry de la Pomeroy (1291–1327) (son) He married Joan de Moels, daughter of John de Moels, 1st Baron Moels (died 1310), of North Cadbury.
Sir Henry de la Pomeroy (died 1373) (son)