Thomas Dale of Alford

Thomas Dale (died 1571) of Alford and his wife Anne Hamby (died 1578) held the Lincolnshire manors of Farlesthorpe, Strubby, and Legsby. Dale left Farlesthorpe and Strubby to his son Francis Dale, and Legsby and the parsonage of Carlton he left to son Edward Dale. Thomas Dale was married to Anne Hamby, daughter of George Hamby of Brocklesby Manor in Lincolnshire. Her brother, John Hamby, administered her husband’s estate. John Hamby also acquired the adjoining estate of Maltby from William Cavendish of Trimley, a kinsman of the explorer Thomas Cavendish (1564-1593), who circumnavigated the world.

The Hambys were from Brocklesby Manor, which was in an area of Lincolnshire known as Lindsey, and the 1st Earl of Lindsey was the son of Peregrine Bertie. Brocklesby Manor passed from the Hambys to Sir William Pelham, Leicester’s Marshall of the camp, and best friend in 1586 when Leicester was heading up the English war effort in the Low Countries, the same year that Governor Thomas Dale joined that army in the Low Countries.

Peregrine Bertie’s daughter Katherine was married to Lewis Watson of Rockingham Castle in Northampton, which once adjoined the massive royal estate of Collyweston. The Watson coat-of-arms, in nearby Rockingham Castle was quite similar to the coat-of-arms shown in the files of Matthew Dale of London. In 1596, a Roger Dale of Collyweston received two estates in Rutland, Manton and Tixover, and we now know this Roger Dale was associated with Governor Thomas Dale.

The second wife of Baron Rockingham was Eleanor Manners, daughter of George Manners of Haddon and his wife Grace Pierrepont. Grace’s sister, Elizabeth Pierrepont (died 1621), was married to the nephew of the 1st Lord Mar, Regent of Scotland, who raised King James. Mar’s son, Sir John Erskin, 2nd Lord Mar, was responsible for raising Prince Henry Stuart. Governor Dale was reported to have been a member of the retinue of the young Prince Henry and called him his “Glorious Master,” and if he were kin to this extended family, this might possibly explain how that came about.