Hamon VI, Lord of Dunham Massey

Sir Hamon Massy, the 6th and last baron of Dunham-Massey, son and heir to the 5th, married Isabel, daughter of Humphrey de Beauchamp, and on the marriage-day at night she died before carnal copulation. Afterwards he married Alice, sister of Isabella and by her had issue, Hamon, a son who died without issue; and four daughters: Cicely, wife of John Fitton, of Bollyn; Isabella, wife Hygh Dytton (Hugh Dutton), who had issue Katharine, wife of Thomas Belgrave; another daughter who married Thomas de Lathom; and Alice, wife of Hamon de Hilond.

After the death of his son, Hamon, Hamon the 6th, divorced Alice and married Joan Clinton, sister of the earl of Huntington; and, by the counsel of Joan, he sold the reversion of the whole manor of Donham, with its appurtenances. Hamon, the last baron of Dunham-Massy, died 15 Edward III. (1342).

Notes for Hamon VI Massey:

After the death of his only son, Hamon VI fell in love with Joan Clinton, sister of the Earl of Huntingdon, and he looked for any excuse he could find to marry her. His station of rank was such that he was able to have the church declare that his marriage to Alice Beauchamp, the mother of his children, illegal under a religious tenet: ie his marriage to Alice was invalid because she was a sister of his first wife. So the Church by a fiat declared that Hamon's marriage to have been meretricious, with Alice declared to have borne bastard children, and thus the children were declared illegitimate. Baron Hamon VI married Joan Clinton after he was freed from Alice, but no children were born from this union. Joan Clinton before her death in 1329, proved to be as extravagant as Hamon VI was profligate. First he sold his life estate to Dunham-Massey as well as other estates to one Robert De Frodesham. Afterward he sold the reversion rights thereto to Oliver De Inghon who was the justice of Cheshire.

Sources:

War and Society in Medieval Cheshire by P. Morgan Cheshire under the Earls by B.M. Husain The Origins of Cheshire by N. J. Higham

~George Ormerod's The History of County Palatine and City of Chester, Vol I, p. 521-522

More details from Transactions of the Historic Society of Lancashire and ..., Volumes 55-56 page182 on the disposition of the estate and the legal battle that ensued, in which the King had to finally become involved: Transactions of the Historic Society of Lancashire and ..., Volumes 55-56 http://books.google.com/books?id=7rMVAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA182&dq=hamon+de+...

Links

• http://cybergata.com/roots/4057.htm Additional information: An alternative source says: The area of Dunham Massey was originally called just Dunham but was given the Massey addition to distinguish it from another Dunham near Chester. The family that settled there took their name from Masci in Normandy. The last baron was Hamon who died in 1341. A complicated sequence of events then took place for Hamon de Massey and his wife Joan, having no issue, had sold the reversion of the manor to Oliver de Ingham, a judge of Chester. However, Hamon had four sisters, Cicely had married John Fitton of Bollin, Isabel married Hugh Dytton, a third sister married Thomas de Lathom and a fourth married Hamon de Hilond. On the death of Hamon, Richard Fitton and the heirs of the other sisters tried to seize the manor as Oliver de Ingham was in France during the early years of the Hundred Years' War, serving Edward III. However, in due course, the king ordered Hamon Massey of Tatton to ensure that Oliver de Ingham gained possession. After Oliver's death, Richard Fitton and his cousins tried again and a legal battle ensued. Eventually, Henry Duke of Lancaster bought out all the heirs of of Oliver de Ingham and those of Hamon de Massey and gave the manor of Dunham to Roger le Strange, Lord of Knocking.

Source:http://www.thornber.net/cheshire/htmlfiles/dunham.html