Henry de Cobham, 1st Baron Cobham

Henry de Cobham, 1st Baron Cobham ( 1260 – 25 August 1339) lord of the manor of Cobham, Kent and of Cooling, also in Kent, was an English peer.

Origins Monumental brass in Cobham Church of Joan Septvans (d. 1298), wife of John de Cobham (d. 1300) and mother of Henry de Cobham, 1st Baron Cobham He was the son and heir of John de Cobham (d. 1300), of Cobham and of Cooling, Sheriff of Kent, Constable of Rochester Castle in Kent and one of the Barons of the Exchequer, whose monumental brass survives in Cobham Church, a daughter and co-heiress of Sir Robert de Septvans in Kent.

His uncle was Sir Henry de Cobham (d. c. 1316), of Rundale, Kent, Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports, who by his wife Joan Pencester (bef. 1269 – 1314/15) (a daughter of Stephen de Pencester), was the father of Stephen de Cobham, 1st Baron Cobham "of Rundale" and of John de Cobham (d. c. 1314), the latter who died childless.

The Cobham coat of arms was: Gules, on a chevron or three lions rampant sable, as visible on the top two shields on the brass in Cobham Church of Joan Septvans (d.1298), wife of John de Cobham (d. 1300) and mother of Henry de Cobham, 1st Baron Cobham.

Brass of mother A monumental brass, laid down in 1320, survives in St Mary Magdalene's Church, Cobham, of Joan Septvans (d. 1298), wife of John de Cobham (d. 1300) and mother of Henry de Cobham, 1st Baron Cobham. It displays one of the earliest-known specimens of a Gothic canopy. Thirteen of the brasses belong to the years 1320–1529 and commemorate members of the Cobham family and of the Brooke family, their heirs.

Career

He was made Constable of Rochester Castle for life in 1303/4, of Dover Castle, of Tonbridge Castle in 1324 and of Canterbury, all in Kent. He left a highly illustrated book called Apocalypse to Juliana Leybourne.