The New Murrey and Blue blog

The de la Pole family of merchants from Hull rose to great heights, becoming Dukes of Suffolk. Of course, for Ricardians the most important of its members was John de la Pole, Earl of Lincoln, who fell fighting the Yorkist cause at Stoke Field in 1487.

This article is about Lincoln’s great-grandfather, Michael de la Pole, 2nd Earl of Suffolk (born 1367 – died 17 September 1415). The date of death might jog memories, because the earl died at the Siege of Harfleur, fighting under Henry V. He didn’t die fighting, as no doubt he would have preferred, but because he contracted dysentery. The tragedy of it was that his son, Michael de la Pole, 3rd Earl of Suffolk, died childless a few weeks later at the Battle of Agincourt/Azincourt.

Michael’s brother William de la Pole, 1st Duke of Suffolk, (16 October 1396 – 2 May 1450) succeeded him. William’s son was John de la Pole, 2nd Duke of Suffolk, whose eldest son was our Earl of Lincoln. A mere half-century lies between the death of the 2nd Earl and Lincoln’s birth.

The point of the above article is that the 2nd Earl’s tomb at Wingfield church near Diss is to be restored. The effigies are not made of stone but carved in wood, then plastered to look like stone, but the dreaded death-watch beetle has been doing its worst. The Church of England’s Church Buildings Council has funded the restoration with a grant of £10,000.

Glad as I am to think this wonderful tomb is to be saved, I cannot help but lament all over again that the earl’s great-grandson, John de la Pole, Earl of Lincoln, has no tomb at all. His last resting place isn’t even known. Well, not for certain. There are legends concerning willow trees. That he’s without the tomb his rank and importance warrants is another tragedy for the de la Poles. But there is a memorial to the Battle of Stoke Field itself.