The Beauchamp Inheritance

The eventual devolution of the estates held by Richard Beauchamp, Earl of Warwick (1382-1439) were the cause of a major quarrel between Richard Neville, Earl of Warwick and Edmund Beaufort, Duke of Somerset. Richard Neville had acquired the earldom of Warwick and a great deal of land through marriage to Anne Beauchamp, the principle heiress of the Beauchamp estates, but Anne had three older half-sisters, one of whom, Eleanor, was Somerset's wife.

Anne Neville's father, Richard Beauchamp had firstly married Elizabeth, daughter of Thomas, Lord Berkeley. On his death, most of Berkeley's estates passed to his daughter, except for those that were entailed to the male line, and they passed to his nephew James. James worked long and hard against Elizabeth in an attempt to gain more of Berkeley's estates for himself, but he was without success. On her death, her estates were held by Beauchamp, and on his death they were divided among the three daughters of the marriage: Margaret, Eleanor and Elizabeth. Richard Beauchamp family tree

In 1423, Beauchamp married Isabel Despenser, sister and heir to Richard Despenser (1396-1414). This second marriage produced a son and daughter, Henry and Anne. On his father's death, Henry succeeded to the earldom of Warwick and when his mother died in 1439, he inherited her estates.

The descent of the land of the earldom had previously been restricted to heirs male, but when Henry died in 1446, the male line descended from earl Thomas Beauchamp (1314-1369) was extinct, and the title and lands were inherited by Henry's only child, Anne, then aged two. When Anne died in January 1449, aged only five, her heir was her aunt Anne Neville, Henry's only sister in the full blood. Henry's half-sisters were barred from any claim through common law to Anne Beauchamp's estates, as it excluded half-blood. This was not the final word on the estates, however. A royal licence dated 12 July 1449 described Margaret, Eleanor, Elizabeth and Anne as joint heiresses of Richard Beauchamp, but on July 23 of the same year, the king granted the title of Earl of Warwick to Richard and Anne Neville, declaring she was Henry Beauchamp's heir.

Later again in that year, an investigation into Anne Beauchamp's estates affirmed that Anne Neville was Anne Beauchamp's heir and on 2 March 1450 a fresh grant of the title of Warwick was made to Richard and Anne Neville, this time adding provision that Margaret would inherit if the Nevilles remained childless.

Warwick and Somerset first quarrelled over the office of chamberlain of the exchequer, which was part of the earldom of Warwick. Confirmation of this office was given to Anne Neville and her husband on 6 December 1450 and Warwick took possession of the office. The half-sisters and their husbands immediately protested, and in consequence, Warwick was removed from the office and the king committed it to temporary custodians until the Exchequer court could determine the rightful owner. At the time, Somerset was high in the king's favour, and not surprisingly, the court was unable to come to a decision. It was not until the end of 1454, when York was regent and Somerset was in the Tower, that a decision was made in favour of the Nevilles and Warwick was restored to the office.

A more serious quarrel between Warwick and Somerset broke out over the custody of the Despenser lands. Before her marriage to Richard Beauchamp, Earl of Warwick, Isabel Despenser had first married Richard Beauchamp, Earl of Worcester. Their daughter, Elizabeth (1415-1448), married Edward Neville, Lord Abergavenny. They had one child, George Neville (1440-1492).

On Anne Beauchamp's death, the Despenser lands she had inherited through her father now devolved on Isabel's heirs; her two surviving daughters, Elizabeth Neville, Lady Abergavenny and Anne Neville. When Elizabeth died in 1449, her nine year old son George Neville became co-heir with Anne Neville. Anne was granted her portion of the inheritance, but the custody of George Neville's lands was given to Lord Tiptoft in June 1449. Tiptoft later surrendered this charge and on 22 May 1450 the king granted it to Warwick. A fresh committal was made on 26 March 1452, however, on 15 June 1453, the king granted the custody of George Neville's lands to Somerset. This caused Warwick's relations with Somerset to deteriorate rapidly, and private war broke out in the Despenser lands in south Wales.

The king's council ordered Somerset and Warwick to appear before it on 21 July 1453, but the outcome of the dispute is not known. As in the case of the chamberlain of the exchequer, political events soon turned in Warwick's favour. There is no formal record of another committal of George Neville's lands, ever after Somerset's death at St Albans. It is assumed that Warwick continued to hold the custody of these lands on the strength of the March 1453 grant.