As the only surviving son of one of the most influential figures to represent Derbyshire in our period, Philip Leche was assured not only of a prominent place in the county community but also of favour and preferment at Court. The knighthood conferred on him by Henry V at the time of his coronation was clearly bestowed in recognition of years of service loyally given by (Sir) Roger Leche, who had just assumed office as treasurer of the royal household. Little is known about Philip Leche before this date, although according to a lawsuit which reached the courts much later he was evidently of age by September 1404, when he and various others forcibly detained a Shropshire man in the goal at Leominster in order to extort from him a bond worth £50. At all events, his return to Parliament in April 1414 must have owed a good deal to (Sir) Roger’s dominant position among the Derbyshire gentry, since he himself was still without administrative experience by royal appointment at least. One year later his father managed to secure for them both a grant in survivorship from the Crown of the manor of Bolsover, for which they agreed to pay £36 13s.4d. a year in rent. At about this time Sir Philip began to act as a trustee for his neighbour, Edward Foljambe, but his attention was soon diverted by the prospect of warfare overseas, and in April 1415 he contracted to take part in Henry V’s first invasion of France with a personal retinue of three men-at-arms and nine archers. Although unable to moblize so large a force as was recruited and led by his father (who also fought on the campaign), Sir Philip distinguished himself as a soldier, and for the rest of his career he devoted himself largely to military affairs.
Sir Philip spent at least part of 1416 on garrison duty at Harfleur, but he probably returned to England on his father’s death in late November of that year. His inheritance comprised a substantial bloc of property in the Derbyshire villages of Chatsworth, Tideswell, Repton, Bubnell and Newton Solney, although other estates both there and in London remained as a jointure in the hands of his widowed stepmother. He was, however, allowed by Henry V to succeed (Sir) Roger as steward of the High Peak, being granted in addition the subsiduary office of master forester there. He cannot have spent much time on his duties, for once plans got under way in 1417 for a second invasion of France he and his now considerable following of ten lances and 161 archers enlisted under the banner of Robert, Lord Willoughby. On 15 July he obtained permission to entrust his affairs to attorneys, and within a matter of weeks he was active in the theatre of war. By December he had begun to play a leading part in defending the northern ‘frontier’ of Normandy (between Bethune and the Breste) against attack by the French; and he was duly rewarded first with the captured town of Neufchâtel and then with a gift for life of ‘Les Wylondes’ in the High Peak—property worth about £24 a year which his father had previously held on the same terms. Moreover, in the following February, King Henry agreed that, contrary to established practice where foresters or parkers of the duchy of Lancaster were concerned, he might be allowed to farm all the grazing land in the High Peak for as long as he remained in the royal army.
Sir Philip last saw England in February 1420, when he obtained royal letters of protection pending his departure for yet another campaigning season in Normandy. Notwithstanding an order that fees paid to officers of the duchy of Lancaster should be kept at the pre-1399 rate, he then managed to secure King Henry’s sanction for an increase in his own case, even though his work was almost exclusively performed by deputies. The death of his stepmother in May 1420 brought a further improvement in his financial position, since the manor of Nether Haddon and the valuable property near Baynard’s Castle in London which his father had settled upon her then reverted to him. He did not long enjoy this new wealth, being killed at the siege of Melun in the following July while leading an attack on an outpost constructed by the defenders. His bravery was praised by French and English alike; and we are told that no less a figure than Duke Philip of Burgundy thought highly of his soldierly qualities. The task of executing his will fell to William Pirton (with whom he had previously acted as a trustee of land in Repton) and the Londoner, John Stokes. The latter had to pay a debt of £18 to Sir Philip’s brother-in-law, Sir Sampson Meverel, and also supervise the division of his estates between his four sisters and coheirs. Although he had always proved generous to Sir Philip during his lifetime, Henry V had no compunction in seizing his lands at Repton until arrears of £40, due in rent from the manor of Bolsover, had been paid into the Exchequer.