IRELAND - JAMES I
Illuminated letters patent creating Thomas Cromwell the Viscount Lecale, in Latin, signed at the foot by Francis Edgeworth, Clerk of the Hanaper, bearing historiated initial letter portrait of James I, alongside that of Charles, Prince of Wales and the late Anne of Denmark, the document bearing three decorative borders (at head and both sides); the portrait of the King showing him head and shoulders, crowned and in state robes, with an elaborate ruff and jewelled collar, a foliate background and the words 'Posui Deum adiutorem meum [I have appointed God as my helper] ano. Dom. 1625' around his head, the upper border with a portrait of Prince Charles showing him three-quarter-length bearing the staff of office with the Prince of Wales feathers and an eagle to his right and, above, a quote from Isaiah 'Arise ye princes, anoint the shield', the Royal arms flanked by the lion and the unicorn at the centre, flanked in turn by angels bearing standards and the letters 'I.R', to the right a portrait of the late Queen Anne of Denmark next to her hatchment, stippled background decorated with Tudor roses; the left hand border with a knightly figure bearing the shield with the cross of St George beneath the royal portrait, accompanied by the biblical quotation 'The grasse withereth, the floure fadeth but the worde of our God shall stand for ever', and two coats of arms beneath; the right hand border depicting the Duke of Brunswick on horseback carrying a shield and pennant, below is another biblical quotation 'They that waite upon the Lorde shall renue their strength: they shall lift up the wings as the eagles' above crossed anchors and a pennant inscribed with the motto 'JE MAINTENDRAY', two coats of arms below, stippled background, first line with heavy foliate decoration; the reverse with the large illuminated coat of arms of Thomas Cromwell surmounted by a helmet surrounded by ermine and a gold pelican pecking her breast, supported by red winged unicorns, above a contemporary certificate of enrolment in the patent office and docket 'A Patent for the honour of Viscount Lecale to Thomas Lord Cromwell & the heires male of his Body', the writing and decoration in pen-and-ink, illuminated in gilt, with green, red, blue and white washes, on vellum, pierced at the lower border where the Great Seal was originally suspended, overall dust-staining, creased where folded, some rubbing and smudging, areas of loss particularly to lower edge where folded, some show-through from coat of arms on reverse, minor tears at edges, c.700 x 780mm., Dublin, 12 November 22nd James I [1624]
Footnotes:
AN IRISH DEED BEARING PORTRAITS OF JAMES I, HIS SON CHARLES PRINCE OF WALES & HIS LATE WIFE ANNE OF DENMARK.

The beneficiary of this grant, Thomas Cromwell, fourth Baron Cromwell (1595-1653), descendant of Henry VIII's eponymous minister, served in a military capacity in Ireland and was created Viscount Lecale, as shown here, in November 1624. The motto around of the head of the King dated 1625 may show that, whilst the body of the document was drawn up at the end of 1624, the intricate decoration was not completed until the following year. '...In 1625 Cromwell was given command of a regiment in Ernest von Mansfeld's abortive expedition to the Palatinate, raising men in his wife's lands in Staffordshire. He was a staunch supporter of the Stuart monarchy and in the civil war commanded a regiment of horse, being rewarded with the Irish earldom of Ardglass in April 1645. He was fined £460 after the war by parliament for his commitment to the royalist cause and retired to the old family estates in Rutland, dying some time before 26 March 1653 at Tickencote...' (David Grummitt, ODNB).

The head-and-shoulders portrait of James derives from the full-length state paintings of this period by Paul van Somer (ours being in reverse, indicating that it was taken from an engraving). The document has been signed at the foot, as enrolled, by Francis Edgeworth, whose father had emigrated to Ireland under the patronage of Essex and who was founder of Edgeworthstown and ancestor of Richard Lovell and Maria Edgeworth. As Clerk of the Hanaper (named after the hamper in which such writs were originally stored), Edgeworth was responsible for making out and issuing writs under the Great Seal. Our deed stands at the head of a decorative tradition applying to the grant of Irish titles that was to flourish well into the eighteenth century.
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