Thomas Fleming, 2nd Baron Slane

Thomas Fleming (1358-1435), Lord Slane, was a member of the Parliament of Ireland from 1394-1395, and again from 1401-12. He is mainly remembered for his kidnapping of the senior judge Richard Rede, from whom he extorted a large ransom. He managed to escape any punishment for the crime.

Background

Thomas was the son of Simon Fleming, 1st Baron Slane, and his wife Cecily Champernowne, daughter of Sir Thomas Champernowne of Modbury, Devon. He was the Commander of the Guardians of the Peace in County Meath in about 1385, and again in 1400. He was knighted in 1396. In 1412 he was licensed to hold a market and fair at Drumconrath in County Meath.

Abduction of Richard Rede

From what is known of his character, Thomas seems to have been ruthless, determined and unscrupulous. The marriage of the wealthy heiress Elizabeth Netterville of Dowth to Richard Rede, Chief Baron of the Irish Exchequer, had given grave offence to other landowning families in Meath, who had hoped to marry her to one or other of their heirs. In 1394, some years before her marriage, Elizabeth had been abducted by the Cusack and Darcy families in an apparent attempt to gain control of her lands, and there were rumours of a similar plot in 1400. Slane and his son Christopher evidently settled on the simpler plan of extracting money from her husband. On April 1401 they ambushed Rede at Skryne, and imprisoned him in their castle nearby. He was not released until he paid a ransom of £1000, a vast sum at the time, and he was also robbed of £200 which he had on his person, and some valuable official records.

So serious a crime, involving an assault on a senior judge by a Commissioner for the Peace, might have been expected to bring down severe retribution on the wrongdoers. The outraged Rede himself demanded the most severe penalties. At first the Crown appeared to take a grave view of the matter, and a powerful commission was appointed to arrest Slane and his wife. In that era however the nobility could generally win a royal pardon even for the most serious of crimes, and Slane was pardoned after paying a £30 fine (a tiny sum compared to what he had extorted from Rede).

Family

He married Elizabeth Preston, daughter of Christopher Preston, 2nd Baron Gormanston and his wife Elizabeth de Londres: they had at least two sons: Christopher Fleming, 3rd Baron Slane, and Sir William Fleming. William was the father of James Fleming, 7th Baron Slane.

Sources

• G. E. C., ed. Geoffrey F. White. The Complete Peerage. (London: St. Chaterine Press, 1953) Vol. XII, Part 1, p. 4-5.
• Slane Peerage case (1835) Reports of Cases decided by the House of Lords Vol. 4
• Smith, Brendan Crisis and Survival- the English of Louth and their Neighbours 1330-1450 Oxford University Press 2013