Feudal Title Index & Research ~ A-B

Lot #6 of Stanford & Son's 'Third Auction' - Sept 1964 

In the parish of Cornard Magna.

According to W. A. Copinger (Vol. I, p. 86) “the Manor came very early in a family who assumed the name of the Parish. The first member of the family we meet with is Serlo de Cornerth of Assington, who was followed by his Son and heir Richarde Corner and he by his son and heir who was High Sheriff in the time of Kings Richard and John.” 

The Manor came by marriage to Thomas de Grey in about 1304 and passed about the end of the 14th Century to the Convent of the Blessed Virgin, West Mailing, in which it remained until the Dissolution. 

After the dissolution Thomas Dangell became Lord, though it is uncertain how he came by it. The next reference to the Lordship, which is equally vague, is that William Whitmore and John Verdon had a Grant of the Manor in 1612. More definite is the recorded fact that in 1624 John Brand was Lord. 

The Manor shortly afterwards passed to the Eldred family and remained in it until 1770, well over 100 years. It then passed to James Sparrow who died in 1777 and in 1800 it was vested in his son and heir, the Rev. Basil James Harold Sparrow-Berridge of Gosfield Place, he having added Berridge to his surname. On 2nd June, 1788 a Court Baron was held by William Dawson as guardian for James Goodeve Sparrow, William Townsend being the Steward. In subsequent years John Broggenridge Leach was Steward. In 1825 Henry Offord was Steward, followed in 1826 by Robert Offord and again in 1832 by Henry until 1839. Thereafter the Manor was held by various trustees under settlements in favour of the Rev. Basil James Harold Sparrow-Berridge. In 1896 the Rev. B. J. H. Sparrow-Berridge was Lord, it having then vested in him. The Steward ship now came into the hands of Geo. Frederick Beaumont and G. E. Rigden and later G. F. Beaumont and J. L. Beaumont. 

It is interesting to note that the Courts were from 1889 to 1900 held at the King’s Head, Great Cornard while the Homage included a well-known farmer. 

The custom of descent on intestacy was to the eldest son and the fines were arbitrary, the most interesting of these entries in the Court Book are those relating to the Fishing Rights, which with other interesting items, are set out below: 

Court Book "A": A View made at Cornard 13 May 1609 Before Thomas Brown, Gent., by virtue of the King’s Commission bearing date the 24 of April 1609 directed to the said Thomas Brown upon oathes of William Dyer Nicholas Potter Richard Dore Edmund Pegg Philip Lambert Thomas Awgar Nicholas Cooke John Abbott John Kingsbury Henry Tanner Edward Philip John Concom John King John Gibson of Great Cornard and William Ley of Bures St. Maries in the County of Suffolk. 

Fishery: The River of the Village of Corneth being Northerly at the South end of a meadow of Sir Robert Crane Knt. near Sudbury and from thence extends Westerly towards the Mill called Heney Mill as far as that part of the River where Mile and Wye Mouth. And that the said River extends in length between the Limits for the space of one Mile and that the Fishery and other profits of the said River belong to the Lord of the Manor of Corneth aforesaid in Right of his sd Manor And that the annual value of the sd Fishery and other profits of the sd River are 20 s. 

Bounds: Great Cornard Parish begins at ye North End at a Lane called Cattes Lane and extends from thence Northerly and Easterly by the Bounds of ye Village of Chilton and proceeding by the Bounds of ye Village of Acton and thence turns away Southerly by the Limits of Little Cornard and from thence runs away Westerly with the River of Great Cornard by the Limits of the Village of Middleton in the County of Essex so proceeding to the sd beginning at Cattes Lane in which Circuit is computed three Miles. 

Court Book "G": 

Page 188, 17th April, 1850: Robert Lee presented for encroachment. 

“That Robert of Great Cornard, Miller, hath placed an obstruction in the ancient Navigable River between the place where the old Lock formerly stood and the present Lock now is by driving a Wooden Pile in the middle of the said River and by placing a Bar across the same to the great hurt and detriment of the rights of the Lords of this Manor and of the rights appertaining or appurtenant to the said Manor and to the Fishery and other profits of the said Manor.” 

Page 192, 30th October, 1850: Presented by Homage that above-mentioned obstruction removed. 

Page 235, 7th November, 1851: Regrant of land allotted to James Goodeve Sparrow in 1813 by the Commissioners Henry Grindley of Wivenhoe, yeoman, One pce of land lying in the open fields of Great Cornard contg 3lp. One other pce of land lying in the open fields of Great Cornard contg 2a.1r.36p. One other piece of land lying in the open fields of Great Cornard contg 3r.20p. for the poor. Immediately afterwards the sd Henry Grindley surrendered the sd lands to Rev. Peter Pering, Oliver Brand, Henry Tiffen and Thomas Dyer. 

Page 241, 3rd October, 1849: Exchange of Glebe lands, Nos 35a, 317, 309, 373, 374, 375, 409, by the Rev. Peter Pering for lands No. 353a., belonging to Frances Mallow, widow as shown on plan. 

Page 291, 11th November, 1853: Copyhold property of Charles Carter presented as dilapidated and ruinous so become forfeit to the Lord. 

Court Book "I": 

Page 571, 12th May, 1886: Copyhold tenement late of Henry Carrington deceased presented as dilapidated and wasted and so becomes forfeit to the Lord. 

The documents to be handed over on completion are as under: 

Court Books:
A. 1624–1760 Binding Vellum.
B. 1716–1742 Paper.
C. 1714–1748 Parchment.
D. 1749–1760 Parchment.
E. 1761–1787 Paper.
F. 1788–1837 Paper.
G. 1839–1856 Suede.
H. 1856–1880 Suede.
I. 1881–1932 Suede. 

The vendors sell as trustees and the title will commence with a mortgage dated 5th April, 1907 between the Rev. Basil James Harold Sparrow-Berridge of Gosfield Place, of the first part and George Frederick Beaumont, of Coggeshall, and others, of the second and third parts.

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Lot #1 of Manorial Auctioneers – May 2008

Catalogue transcribed by the Lord of Finchingfield - a friend to learning

THE TOWN OF Accrington can be found in the extensive parochial chapelry of Altham a few miles east of Blackburn. Until the 19th century this was a small village, but with the advent of the Industrial Revolution at the end of the 18th century it grew rapidly as a centre of textile production. It receives its name from the Anglo Saxon for people of the town of Aker, the Aker in question being Saxon landholders. It is today known chiefly as the home of Accrington Stanley, one of the most famous, if unfortunately not the one of the most successful, football teams in England and who recently were readmitted to the Football League after a gap of 43 years. The town is also noted for being the home of the 'Accrington Pals', the smallest battalion of local friends who fought and died together during the First World War.

The Lordship of the Manor of Accrington New Hold was anciently part of the large Manor of Accrington. Interestingly, after the Norman Invasion of 1066, Accrington remained in the hands of its Saxon Lord, Leofwine who, in return for being allowed to retain his land pledged his allegiance to the new regime. This unusual event demonstrates the difficulties that the Normans had in subduing parts of the North of England. Evidently, the powerful De Lacy family became overlords of Accrington soon after 1066 and during the reign of Henry II, (1154-89) Leofwine's son, Hugh, was formally granted the Lordship by Henry de Lacy. Hugh soon gave up the Manor however and it was then regranted to the monks of Kirkstall Abbey. This Abbey, which lies a few miles from the centre of Leeds, in Yorkshire, was founded by the De Lacys. Ilbert de Lacy was said to have vowed to found a Cistercian Abbey if he recovered from an illness. Sure enough, when he did recover, he provided the funds for the erection of a House at Barnoldswick on the borders of Yorkshire and Lancashire. However the monks demanded peace and serenity for their devotions and the feasting and celebrating of the local people at their parish church in Barnoldswick disturbed the monks. In response the abbot pulled down the church, much to the horror of the local people who took the monks to a papal court, which unfortunately for them found in favour of the monks. The parishioners would eventually recover their church since the monks were also severely troubled by attacks from Scottish marauders and their inability to grow sufficient crops on the barren and bleak land which they farmed in Barnoldswick. Eventually it was decided to move the whole institution and after Abbot Alexander had been told of a vision received by a hermit directing the monks to a place called Kirkstall, it was decided to transfer the abbey to Yorkshire. This was effected by 1152 and soon afterwards they received the grant of Accrington. It is likely that during their tenure the large manor was divided into smaller units and the when [sic] the Abbey gave up their land here in the middle of the 13th century Accrington New Hold had come into being and passed back to the de Lacy family which had become elevated to the Earldom of Lincoln.

After the death of Henry's daughter, Alice, Countess de Lacy, the Lordship of Accrington New Hold became part of the Duchy of Lancaster through her first marriage to Thomas, Duke of Lancaster. When she died, in 1348, the Lordship passed to her nephew by marriage, Henry of Grosmont, Duke of Lancaster. Grosmont came to prominence after Edward III had taken up the reins of government for himself in 1331 and he developed a great friendship with the King. They were both young men in thrall to the idea of chivalry and military romance. Grosmont reportedly accompanied Edward on a secret mission to France in that year and in 1333 fought with him in Scotland. He sat in Parliament during the 1330s and in 1336 was appointed king's Lieutenant in Scotland but was soon recalled to England to help to prepare for war with France. He was created Earl of Derby in 1337 and accompanied the King to France the following year. In 1340 he was taken as a hostage during peace negotiations in 1341, but was soon released and returned to England to become the king's lieutenant in the north on 7 October 1341.

He was then involved in a series of diplomatic missions during the next few years as Edward's continental wars continued and these missions took Grosmont to the Low Countries and Spain. In 1345, he was appointed Lieutenant of Aquitaine and Henry led an English army from here against the French later that year. On the death of his father that September Grosmont became Earl of Lancaster. In 1347 he besieged Calais and during this campaign Edward rewarded Grosmont's successful service with grants of land and he was included as a founder member of the Order of the Garter in 1348. In 1351 he was raised to the Dukedom of Lancaster by right of his Uncle, Thomas Plantagenet. He spent the next ten years in diplomacy, attempting to bring a peaceful, but profitable conclusion to Edward's French wars. Grosmont had no children and at his death in 1361 the Duchy of Lancaster was conferred on John Of Gaunt, his son-in-law. Gaunt's son, Henry Bolingbroke became both Duke of York and Henry IV and so the Dukedom became vested in the Crown and still is today.

From the 15th century the Lordship of Accrington New Hold was leased out to the Sherburne family of Stonyhurst. They had lived in Lancashire since the reign of Edward I. Sir Richard Sherburne is recorded as selling a chantry in Accrington during the reign of Edward IV. The family continued at Stonyhurst until it became extinct in 1717 with the death of Sir Nicholas Sherburne. By this time it is likely that Accrington New Hold had passed out of their control as the Duchy had sold off its interests in Accrington. The Lordship eventually passed to the Towneley family, who owned and lived at nearby Towneley Hall and who had extensive estates in the area. It has remained with this family to the present day and the current Lord of the Manor is the 4th Baron Lord O'Hagan. The descent of the Towneleys lies on the previous page.

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Lot #4 of Bernard Thorpe Auction - June 1986

This lordship, in the East Cuttlestone Hundred of Staffordshire, is recorded in the Domesday Survey of 1086. The manor was held by one Robert under the Bishop of Chester. This Robert was probably Robert de Stafford.

The de Stafford family are recorded at Acton Trussell in 1166. In 1342, John Trussell and Alice Trussell, his wife settled the manor on themselves for life with the remainder to William Trussell of Kibblestone in Stone, Staffordshire. The settlement must have been varied because the lordship passed to another William the son of John Trussell. He settled it on Margaret, daughter of William Trussell of Kibblestone and her husband Fulke Pembrugge.

The entry, dated 17 February 1400, in the Calendar of Fine Rolls in the Public Records Office records that Margaret Pembrugge had died, leaving her husband with a life interest in the manor under a settlement dated 1371 and, also, under a later one of 1383. A further settlement was

obtained by Fulke Pembrugge on his subsequent marriage, which created a remainder in favour of William Trussell, son of Lawrence Trussell. There was litigation over the lordship, but William Trussell died lord of the manor in 1464.

The manor remained in the Trussell family until Elizabeth the family heiress married John de Vere Earl of Oxford. After which the lordship descended with the Earldom of Oxford until 1575, when the manor was sold and divided into three estates. By 1591 Thomas Fowke who had acquired the whole of the manor was sole lord. The lordship passed in 1658 to William Anson of Shugborough, the ancestor of the present lord of the manor, the Earl of Lichfield.

DOCUMENTS ASSOCIATED WITH THE MANOR:

1 Court papers Temp. Henry V – 1497-1591

2 Survey 1574

3 Survey and copy 1574

4 Court roll 1679

5 Court papers 1798-1871

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Lot #2 of Cluttons Chartered Surveyors - Winter 1993

Akeley, Buckinghamshire, is three miles north of Buckingham. The name means "Oak Wood." 

There was once a tiny separate manor in Stockholt, deriving from a grant of four acres of woodland, which the Prior of Longville made to Ralf Briton in 1228. Stockholt also had a chapel of ease in the eighteenth century. The last record o Stockholt as a separate manor was in 1627. In later years the whole parish was known as the manor of Akeley-cum-Stockholt. The land was sold by 1881 and the last manorial court was held in 1919. 

New College holds court rolls for the manor from 1383, several surveys, copies of leases, and an early 19th century map. 

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Lot #15 of 'Beaumont Collection' Auction - Nov 1954

in the Parishes of Akenham, Claydon, Ipswich, etc.

According to Copinger (Vol. II, p. 227), there were in Saxon times four small Manors in Akenham. All were, by the time of the Domesday Survey, vested in Roger de Rheins "who had come in at the conquest and had had the honour of the Barony of Raines or Reynes, consisting of ten knights' fees in Essex, conferred upon him." Morant says that the name appears to be taken from Rayne or Little Rayne in Essex (Vol. II, p. 403). 

The history of Akenham Manor seems to have been much confused with that of Rous Hall. "It is conceived," says Copinger, "that the four Manors of Akenham in process of time came into two, and that at an early period this Manor was held by the Brewse family, but Rice Hall was held by the family of Rous." The confusion arose when, in the reign of  Henry III, Richard de Brewse married Alice, daughter of William le Rus, who then held Rice Hall, and a good deal of exchanging took place. 

The Manor is specifically mentioned in the inquisition p.m. of Sir Thomas Brewse in 1482. It passed in dower on the marriage of Amy, daughter of William Brewse, to Sir Roger Townsend whose descendant, Roger Townsend, sold it in 1586 to John Aylmer, Bishop of London. This Bishop, who was tutor to Lady Jane Grey, was said to have been a warm tempered and irritable man, "rather a man of business than a theologian, and died very rich." The estate was then thought to be worth £1,200 a year. The Manor was sold by Edward Aylmer to Thomas Arras, M.D., who was M.P. for St. Albans in 1646. It subsequently came to Charles Henry Capon and was sold by his Trustee to Joseph Beaumont, of Coggeshall.  

The custom of descent on intestacy was Borough-English, as evidence of which we find an entry in a Court held on 29th December, 1743, that Mileson Hingeston, Surgeon, "youngest son and heir according to the Custom of the Manor of Peter  Hingeston," was admitted to property of which his father died seised. 

The documents (insured for £300, premium 15/- per annum) to be handed over comprise a rental dated 1622 and Court Books dated 1718-73 (including a rental dated 1721); 1775-1864; and 1868-1922. All the books are in vellum bindings.

The rentals mentioned above show that this Manor was very extensive, as holdings in Ipswich and many parishes around are recorded, vis. Whitton, Gosbeck, Ashebooking, Baylham, Hendley, Hemyngston, Claydon, Thurleston, etc.

The following documents, not in the possession of the Vendors and not included in the Sale are at the Public Record Office, where they can be inspected by anyone with a Readers' Ticket: 

Compotus VII to IX Ric. II 1384-85; Compotus XI to XII Ric. II, 1387-88; Compotus XVI to XVII, Ric II, 1392-93

Survey: 40 Eliz. 1597

Court Rolls Ed. III, 1, 2, 5, 10, 11, 12, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23...Period of Black Death...27, 28, and Ric II, 23 (1327-1400); 1651-78; 1680-1704; 1704-17.

Special attention is called to the interval of three years in the Court Rolls, viz., 24, 25, 26, Ed. III. This coincides with the Black Death, which swept over the continent from the East, and wrought great havoc in England. According to Green's History of England "of three or four millions who then formed the population of England, more than half were swept away in its repeated visitations...Nearly sixty thousand people perished at Norwich, while in Bristol, the living were hardly able to bury the dead." No wonder the Court Rolls were not kept up to date, if, in fact, any were held. 

At a Court held in 27 Ed. III (1354) it was presented that Olivia Sparrow did damage to the pasture of the Lord. At the foot of the membrane recoding a Court held in 23 Ed. III (1350) it was noted that an Inquisition was taken on the part of diverse tenants, after the death of the same, of all their lands and tenements. 

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Lot #2 Manorial Auctioneers’ Partnership – October 1990

IN THE time of Edward the Confessor, this Lordship was held by Alwin, a Thegn of the King. In 1086 it was held by the Count of Mortain, the Lordship was held of the Honor of Berkhamstead by fealty and the rent of 5 shillings and 3 shillings and 4 pence for release of suit of court and 16 pence for free common for the Lord and his tenants in the Frith. 

The Court Leet was held on Thursday in Whitsun week and had jurisdiction over the tithings of Long Marston, Bellow, Dunsley Grove cum Pendley, Wiggington, Northcote cum Lyche, Drayton Beauchamp, Gubblecote cum Cheddington, and Aldbury cum Iplethorpe. Tiscote and West Rollsham were also members of the Manor. In 1203, the Lordship was held by William de Bocland, who died circa 1218 leaving as his heirs three daughters including Hawisa, wife of John de Bovill, who received it as part of her inheritance. She died without issue in 1226 and her sister Maud, wife of William de Averenges, succeeded. Maud died in 1271 leaving four daughters, including Isabel wife of Henry de Gaunt, who died in 1283 apparently without issue, whereupon Aldbury passed to her sister Eleanor, wife of Bertram de Criol. Eleanor died in 1302 and was succeeded by her second son Bertram. On his death in 1306, without issue, his sister Joan, wife of Sir Richard de Rokeslegh, inherited, but in 1309 the Manor was sold by Sir Richard and Joan his wife to Walter de Aylesbury. 

It remained in the possession of the Aylesbury family until 1485, when Thomas Aylesbury settled it upon his wife Margaret, who after his death married firstly Ralph Vernon and secondly (?) Talbot. Thereafter the Lordship was held by various families until in 1542-3 when it was sold to John Hyde, of Hyde in Dorset. This gentleman was an officer of the Court of the Exchequer and already had a lease of the Manor. On his death in 1545 he was succeeded by his son Thomas, who died 1577. It then passed to George Hyde, died in 1580 leaving his brother Robert as his heir. 

In 1590 Robert conveyed this Manor to Miles Sandys and William Sydley as feoffees to the use of Nicholas Hyde, his brother, who had married Bridget, daughter of Miles Sandys of Latimers in Buckinghamshire. On Robert's death in 1607 he was succeeded by his brother Nicholas, who was created a Baronet and died in 1625 leaving a son Sir Thomas Hyde. Sir Thomas died in 1665 leaving an only daughter and heiress Bridget, who married Peregrine Osborne, 2nd Duke of Leeds, and the Lordship passed with the Dukedom until 1736, when Thomas, the 4th Duke of Leeds, sold it to Scroop Egerton, 1st Duke of Bridgewater. From him it descended to Francis Henry, last Earl of Bridgewater, whose widow held it for life and at her death it passed to John Hume Cust, Viscount Alford, son of the 1st Earl Brownlow and from him to the present Lord Brownlow. 

The Grand Junction Canal, runs through a small portion of the Lordship on its western side. Francis, 3rd Duke of Bridgewater, justly acquired the reputation of being the great founder of Inland Navigation in this country by his enterprising speculation in the celebrated canal that bears his name, and which realized a princely sum for this successors. There is a monument in the village to the great Duke and the stocks and whipping-post were preserved until recent times. The Lordship covers about 2,000 acres and lies 3 miles north-west of Berkhamstead.

Documents associated with this Manor:

Court Roll     nd     Hertford RO

Court Rolls, Court Papers, Rentals and Docs     16th-19th century 

Court Roll     1530

Court Roll extracts    1529-1555-6

Court Rolls & Views of Frankpledge     15-17tjh centry      PRO

Court Roll     1555     Guildhall Muniment Room

Surveys & Rentals (with North Mimms)     1691, 1715     Brit LIb

Quit Rentals     1804-23, 1858-1918     Hertford RO

Index & Memoranda Books to Courts     1805-1923

Court Rolls, Books & Drafts     1682-1867

Court Papers     1734-1861

Misc Papers     1830-1925

Court Roll     1786

Copies of Court Rolls     1786-1810

Courts Baron     1530, 1531,  1539

Court Book     1790-1867     Office of the Steward of Hemel Hempstead

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Lot #39 of Strutt & Parker Auction – November 2003

(Held in chief, with ancient grants of foreshore, rights of wreck, market and fairs)

The parish and ancient borough of Aldeburgh or Aldbrough is situated between the river Alde to the west which flows south, parallel with the coast to Ordfordness and the seashore and Aldeburgh Bay to the east.

In Saxon times, the manor was held by Uluric, a socman under Edric of Laxfield and consisted of eighty acres in demesne, three bordars, two plough teams, two acres of meadow, five hogs and twenty sheep. The whole value being twenty shillings. There were two churches with sixty acres, valued at ten shillings. By the time of the Domesday Survey 1086, the manor belonged to Robert Malet as tenant in chief and he held in this place twelve acres of free land valued at two shillings, thirty acres with one plought team and one acre of meadow, valued at five shillings. The other holding mentioned at the time of the survey was five acres held in demesne, valued at ten pence, held by Norman the Abbot of Ely.

By 1099, the manor had passed to William Martel and Albreda, his wife, who gave it with the benefit of wrecks of the sea from Thorpe to Orfordness to the Abbey of St John at Colchester, within their grant being a requirement that there should be placed at Aldeburgh, a prior and monks who should pray them half a mare yearly, say two masses weekly for the grant and the Abbot of Colchester should also visit the Priory twice yearly with twelve horses in his entourage. The Tithe Commutation Roll, dated 1263 to be found among the Rolls in the Bodleian Library shows that the tithes of the manor had been commuted to an annual payment and the sum which each of the tenants had to pay. In the event, the priory was delayed until 1155 and built at Snape where some Benedictine monks from Colchester settled. By 1405 however, the manor was in the Kings hands with an entry on the Memoranda Rolls touching on the Priory of Snape, charged for the issue and then in the Pleas and Manuscripts in the British Museum there is a grant by Richard III of the manor to Sir John Conyers for life.

In 1508, Henry VII re-granted the manor to the Prior of Butley, but as with Snape, the grant was withdrawn. In 1524 it was again with the Crown and granted by Henry VIII to Cardinal Wolsey with orders to assist in his educational scheme. A terrier of the suppressed monastery of Snape, found amongst the State Papers in 1525, within the rental, includes Aldeburgh. Cardinal Wolsey re-granted the manors in 1525 to the Dean of Cardinal College, Oxford, who in turn in 1529 re-granted to the Dean of Cardinal College Ipswich in the form of a Bull confirmed by the King. On the fall of Wolsey, Henry VIII took back the manor of Aldeburgh and later in 1530, resumed possession and in 1531 granted a lease to Thomas Russhe for thirty years at a rent of £45, 6s and 8d and in 1533, the King regranted the reversion to Thomas Howard, Duke of Norfolk. In 1536, the Duke made an agreement with the Lord Mayor and Commonality of the City of London, by which the tenants and inhabitants of his manor in Aldeburgh and those free liberty to carry in Voys of other vessels to the city, coals, herrings, corn, fish, victuals, salt and other goods on paying to the Chamberlain the sum of eighteen pence only on the first voyage and a Memorandum of this is entered in the Corporation Books at the Guildhall, London.

The Duke was attainted in 1546 when his honours and estates were forfeit, but he was restored in 1555 and installed as a Knight of the Garter. He died 1554 and was succeeded by his grandson Thomas fourth Duke and the son of the gifted Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey. Thomas settled the manors of Snape, Aldeburgh, Scots and Tatfords but was shortly afterwards attainted for high treason for communicating with Mary Queen of Scots and beheaded in 1572. The estates and honours evidently passed to his son Philip, Earl of Arundel and in 1588 he commenced an action at to Aldeburgh and Orfordhaven against Reginald Highate, however being also attainted in 1589, he died a prisoner in the tower in 1595 leaving his wife Anne and only son Thomas who was restored on the succession of James I in 1604 and created Earl of Norfolk 1644.

The ancient and prescriptive borough of Aldeburgh was originally a town of considerable importance, though constantly subjected to erosion by the sea. The first known Borough Charter was granted by Henry VIII in 1529. There followed the grants of market in 1547 and petition for an additional market due to increase in the population 1568, granted to the Duke of Norfolk as Lord of the Manor, the markets held on Wednesdays and Saturdays with court of piets poudre (pie powder meaning justice) June and in season fairs for pedlary on 1st March and 3rd May. The last governor charter of the Borough was granted by Charles II in 1637 and though disenfranchised 1832, the Corporation continued as a municipal borough.

On succession of James I by Act of Parliament 1604, the Earldom of Arundel was restored to Thomas as were most of his grandfather's estates and he was created Earl of Norfolk 1644. In 1606, Thomas had married Lady Alethea Talbot, daughter and heir of Gilbert, VII Earl of Shrewsbury but dying 1646 the manor passed to his second surviving son, Henry Frederick Earl of Arundel who had married in 1626 Elizabeth, daughter of Erme Stuart, Earl of March, afterwards Duke of Lennox and dying 1652 he was succeeded by his elder son, Thomas Howard who was restored to the Dukedom of Norfolk 1660. In the State Papers there is a statement that in 1668 Mr Parker, steward of H Howard was keeping the courts of this manors.

Thomas fifth duke of Norfolk died unmarried in 1677 to be succeeded by his brother Henry VI Duke of Norfolk who had been created Baron Howard of Castle Rising 1669 and Earl of Norwich 1672. He married first Anne, daughter of Edward Somerset and secondly Jane daughter of Robert Beckerson died 1683 when the manor passed to his son Henry VII Duke of Norfolk who married Mary, daughter and heir of Henry Mordaunt, second Earl of Peterborough but he died April 1701 without issue.

The manor of Aldeburgh was acquired by Sir Henry Johnson Kt. of Bredenham, MP for Aldeburgh and a ship builder of Poplar. He married first Anne, daughter of Hugh Smithson and secondly, Martha Lovelace, daughter and heir of John III Baron Lovelace who became successor to her grandmother the Baroness Wentworth of Nettlested. Their daughter Anne, married Thomas Wentworth, third Baron Raby, second son and heir of Sir William Wentworth of Northgate Head, Wakefield. Thomas achieved military distinction under William III in Flanders accompanying King William after the defeat of his army and in 1698 accompanied him to meet the Duke of Zell at a court to hunt boar. The manor continued in the Wentworth Family through William Wentworth second Earl of Strafford who died without issue in 1799 when the Earl of Strafford became extinct. By Act of Parliament for division of his estates, the Manor of Aldeburgh passed first to Henrietta his cousin who had married Henry Vernon of Hilton, then to her third son Leveson Vernon who died 1831 when the Manor passed to his nephew Frederick William Thomas Vernon-Wentworth of Wentworth Castle, his older brother who was High Sheriff in 1841. The Lordship of the Manor of Aldeburgh has continued with the Vernon-Wentworth family until the present time.

Documents Associated with the Lordship of the Manor of Aldeburgh

Court rolls — 1559-63, 1571-1585, 1636-40, 1635-64 — British Museum

Extracts from court rolls — 1662 — British Museum

Extent and survey — 1536-1577 — Suffolk Record Office

Rental — 1800-1832 — Suffolk Record Office

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Lot #13 of Manorial Services Auction - July 2021 - Stephen Johnson

The course of the feudal system did not always run  smooth. In the case of the Manor of Aldenham, its early  history was riven by an acrimonious dispute between two  rivals owners. The Manor itself is of great age. The earliest  mention of it purports to be from 785 when it was granted  by King Offa of Mercia to Westminster Abbey (or Thorney  Abbey according to some). The grant included almost the  whole of the western part of the present parish and the  Roman road, Watling Street forms one of it boundaries.  

A further charter of 959, from the English King  Edgar, seems to reaffirm the early char ter and by the time of Domesday in 1086 the Manor is recorded as belonging  to the church of St Peter at Westminster. The monks of  the Abbey of St Albans claimed that Aldenham was in fact  granted to them by Offa in 793 on the foundation of their  Abbey. In the words of the the author of the Victoria County  History the whole of the early evidence regarding Aldenham  appears to be exceedingly unsatisfactory.  

The case for St Albans rested on a claim that they had leased the Manor to Westminster in 1064 for 20  years and that at the end of that period the Abbot of the latter had refused to give it back. This dispute then  ensued for 200 years. The authenticity of the various grants was called into question and it led to a number  of legal cases. In 1202 for instance a jury found in favour of St Albans despite no evidence being found that  Aldenham was mentioned in any of their own charters. In 1256 another action was brought by Westminster  to the King’s court and this time an agreement was reached which tried to pacify both sides but which led  to a fairly novel manorial compromise. Once a year the bailiff of the Abbot of St Albans would be allowed  to hold a view of frankpledge and that suit of court for the manor would be divided between the Hundred  of Cashio, which fell under Westminster’s control and the liberty of St Albans. The power to hang criminals  (infangthief) would also be shared. 

Even this very English settlement didn’t extinguish the dispute since as late of 1437 the Abbot of St  Albans entered into a dispute about his rights in Aldenham which was abandoned through lack of money. The  Dissolution of the religious houses in 1538 rendered these disputes academic and the Manor of Aldenham  was surrendered to the Crown. In 1546 Aldenham was granted in total to Ralph Stepneth for £980. Little  is recorded of Stepneth, he is described as a gentleman and was probably a London merchant since he is  also known as Ralph Stepney, or Ralph of Stepney. The Stepneth family retained Aldenham until 1589 when  it was sold to Edward Cary; master and treasurer of Queen Elizabeth’s jewels. Care’s family were stalwart  supporters of the Tudor’s, his father had been groom of the Privy Chamber of Henry VIII, and Cary was well  rewarded for his service. In addition to Aldenham he was granted Berkhamsted Castle.

The Manor of Aldenham passed to Henry Cary on the death of his father in 1617 and he was  subsequently created Viscount Falkland. On his death in 1633 it descended to his son Lucius, 2nd Viscount.  He was a staunch supported of Charles I and fought on the Royalist side at the battle of Edgehill in October  1642 and at the following siege of Gloucester. Despite the national crisis, and possibly as a way of raising funds  to continue the fight, Falkland sold Aldenham in later 1642 to Sir John Harby. A few months later Falkland was killed at the Battle of Newbury. The Manor remained in the Harby family until 1664 when it was sold  once more to Denzil Holles, first Baron Holles. It remained in this family, eventually passing to John Holles, Duke of Newcastle. In 1754 it was sold to Samual Vanderwall an extremely wealthy London merchant from  Lincoln’s Inn. On his death it was willed to Vanderwall’s stepson, Thomas Neate. 

In 1799 Aldenham was sold to George Woodford Thellusson. This family were considered rather  exotic by Eighteenth century standards. George’s father, Peter, had come to England in 1757 to complete his  eduction, his father being a minister at the French court. He found England to his liking and in 1761 married  Ann Woodford and established a merchant bank. he traded his way to a fortune and established himself  as a landed English gentleman at Plaistow in Kent, after becoming a naturalised citizen by Act of Parliament.  His son George continued in the family business after his father’s death in 1797 and invested his money in  land, such as Aldenham. Thellusson also entered the political world. Unfortunately he made something of  a false start. On standing for election to the seat of Southwark in 1796 he was elected but the result was  challenged by his rival and it was found that Thellusson had been guilty of the offence of Treating; that is giving  voters too much by way of an incentive to vote for him. Within months the contest was held again and this  time Thellusson won but, remarkably, was unseated several weeks later after yet another contest when the  result of the second ballot was successfully challenged. 

In 1805, Thellusson sold Aldenham to the trustees of his own father’s will and it duly passed to his  brother Peter who, a year later, was created Lord Rendlesham. The Manor remained in the hands of the  Lords Rendlesham until the end of the 20th century when it was purchased by the family of the present  owners.

Aldenham is a large parish of some 6000 acres in the south of the county and is the neighbour of  Elstree and Watford. Although within the bounds of the M25 it has remained almost entirely rural. As noted  above it is bounded on the East by Watling Street, one of the few features of English parochial boundaries  which is a straight line. 

Documents associated with this manor in the public domain:

1200-1225: custumal, with other manors British Library 

1278-1507: reeve’s account rolls Westminster Abbey Library 

1511-1515: rent collector’s accounts 

1532-1532: court roll 

1314-1315: extent, with other manors Cambridge University Library 

1384-1394 account rolls, with other manors, Essex Record Office 

1394-1398: court roll, with other manors Hertfordshire Archives 

1779-1780: map 

1515-1540: minister’s accounts The National Archives 

1539-1541: estreats, with other manors 

1600-1700: valuation, with Wall Hall, Hatfield House Library and Archives  

1585-1800: terriers (various), Suffolk Record Office 

1655-1790: steward’s papers 

1622-1637: rental 

1681-1875: rentals 

1699-1699: list of surrenders 

1708-1714: court roll 

1708-1763: minutes 

1754-1937: court books (5 vols) 

1806-1806: valuation 

1864-1877: steward’s accounts (1 bundle) 

1875-1900: rental 

1917-1917: maps (with lists of copyhold tenants and admissions 

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Lot #36 of Strutt & Parker Auction – November 2003

(held in chief with ancient grant of free warren) 

According to early Saxon charters, some of which are almost certainly corrupt, Nothelm, King of the West Saxons gave to his sister Nothgifu 33 cassatos of land, of which 12 were in Lyddesige (Lidsey) and Aldingbourne, for the erection of a monastery and church. The transaction is reputed to have taken place in 692AD. However it is not clear how this can be reconciled with the fact that Caedwalla, King of Wessex, in about 683AD endowed the monastery of Selsey with these two places, here called 6, instead of 12 cassatos. Two hundred years later King Alfred in his will left "the ham of Ealdingburnan" to his nephew Ethelm but by the reign of Edward the Confessor it was in the possession of the Bishop of Chichester.

In 1086 the lordship was rated at 36 hides, with land for 20 ploughs of which 2 were in the lords demesne. There was also 16 villagers, 13 smallholders, a church, three slaves, six acres of meadow and also woodland. Of the 36 hides the local priest held one, three clerks, Robert, Hugh & Alward held five, three and one hide respectively, which may represent later prebendal estates. There was also four knights of whom Herald and Murdoc held three hides each and Ansfrid and Lovcl, one hide each.

From very early times Aldingbourne was one of the chief seats of the Bishops of Chichester, who had there a "palace" and a large demesne farm of some 500 acres of arable land cultivated on the three field system. The church and village lie near the centre of the western boundary to the parish, formed by the Aldingbourne Rife, which flows southwards past Tote Copse, a circular mound with traces of a moat, adjoining the site of the Bishop's Palace. In 1857 a survey established that Aldingbourne Park Farm stood on the site.

In 1086 the woodland attached to the lordship became the nucleus of the Park which was an important feature of the manor. Both Henry I (1100-23) and Henry II (1180-4) granted the Bishop of Chichester rights of free warren in Aldingbourne which were confirmed by later kings. A number of Bishops died here, most notably Robert de Stratford in 1362, Robert Rede in 1414 and Simon Sydenham in 1427. In about 1330 the bishop's demesne land amounted to 382 and a half acres but an area of increased by 1388 to 485 acres of arable land ad 28 acres of meadow. There was also a windmill worth 26 shillings and 8 pence. In 1535 there was a watermill valued at £58 1s 6d.

Over the centuries it seems to have been the Bishops' policy to farm the lordship strictly for the use of the church. Although there is a reference in the 1620's to tenants agreeing to the commons of the demesne being inclosed and converted to tillage, representatives of the copyholders were elected and the land was allotted and inclosed, leaving ways and setting up gates to access to each man's piece of land.

Proof of this, certainly in the 17th and 18th centuries, is found in the May admission to copyhold land in the manor. Among the more colourful holders of the Bishopric was William Barlow. This gentleman rose to become Bishop of St Asaph and then St David during the reign of Henry VIII. In the reign of his son Edward VI, he was transferred to the see of Bath & Wells. A remarkable achievement considering that his father John Barlow was committed to the tower for high treason by Henry VII. His crime was to harbour his brother-in-law Barley and Sir Robert Clifford, the night before their departure for the court of Margaret, Duchess of Burgundy, one of Henry's bitterest enemies. During the reign of Queen Mary, Bishop Barlow was forced to flee the country and only returned on the accession of Queen Elizabeth, who promptly made him Bishop of Chichester. His main claim to fame was that five of his daughters all married Bishops. Roger Barlow, the Bishop's brother, was an intrepid traveller and discoverer, who on his father's sojourn in the tower, went to Spain and was employed by the Emperor Charles V in the discovery of Peru. On his return to England he was appointed a Vice Admiral of the Navy and settled in Pembrokeshire.

During the Commonwealth period the lordship was sold to William Kendall, a London merchant. He died before July 1652 when his executors disposed of the manor, which was conveyed in 1653 by Denis Bond and Elizabeth his wife to Thomas Player and others. At the restoration it was returned to the See, in whose possession it remained until the 19th century when it was taken over by the Ecclesiastical Commissioners.

Documents associated with the Lordship of the Manor of Aldingbourne

Account .................................... 1304/5, temp. EdII 1427-9 ............ PRO
View of Frankpledge ................. 1552 ................................. Glos RO
Ct. Rolls .................................. 1648-98
Ct. Books ................................. 1526-29, 1527-30, 1537,1545-54 ........ West Sussex RO
............................................... 1560-5, 1605-19,1628-43, 1670-1951
Copies of Ct. Roll .................... 1725-52, 1808
Ct. Paper ................................. 1692-1925
Draft Ct. Papers ....................... 1737-91
Ct. Abstracts ........................... 1607-1768
Ct. Abstracts & Rental .............. 1670, 1764
Rentals .................................... 1725, 1728, 1737, 1742
Map ......................................... 1770
Custumal ................................ 1388 ................................. Sussex Arch. Soc. Coll.
Survey ..................................... 1388 ................................. Sussex Arch. Soc. Coll.

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Lot #32 of Manorial Auctioneers - Undated but Post-2002

Catalogue gifted & transcribed for the archive by the Lord of Finchingfield - a friend to learning

LYING IN THE PARISH of Alne, this lordship is formed around the township of the same name and covers an area of 2,314 acres. This is a rural Lordship with most of the land being given up for arable cultivation. It lies on the River Ouse, about one mile from a bridge over it which consists of 22 arches. The Ouse is navigable at this point and before the advent of the North Eastern railway a large trade in coal and lime was carried out in Aldwark. The parish church of St Mary was built in the 14th century and houses a ‘virgin’s wreath’ which was used at the burials of unmarried women in the Middle Ages.

At the time of Domesday Book in 1086 the lordship of Aldwark was held by the Count of Mortain, the uterine brother of William the Conqueror. His elder brother was the infamous warrior, Odo Bishop of Bayeux. In early 1066, Mortain had been present at the council at Lillebonne, which had planned the Norman Conquest. He personally contributed 120 ships to the invasion fleet, according [to] the chronicler Wace, but severe doubt has been cast on this contribution by later historians. After the Conquest he was left to defend Lindsey, Lincolnshire, against the Danes in 1069. He was present at William’s deathbed, pleading the case for Odo, later joining the Bishop in armed support of Robert Curthose against the Conqueror’s younger son William Rufus, the new King of England. In June 1088 he yielded to William. Mortain was said to have received the largest English possessions of any of the Conqueror’s followers, estimated at more [than] 790 Manors, many of them, like Aldwark, in Northern England.

Mortain was said to have forfeited Aldwark which became the possession of the Archbishop of Canterbury who retained it until the 15th century when it was granted to the Conyers family. In 1556 it was divided between the co-heirs of John Conyers. In 1585 the whole of Aldwark was united in the ownership of Richard Frankland who died in 1587. Richard left three sons, of whom the eldest, Henry, inherited Aldwark. Henry married the eldest daughter of Charles Wren and died in 1622 being succeeded by his eldest son, Anthony. He sold the Lordship 14 years later to his uncle Thomas Frankland who then settled it on his nephew Thomas, Anthony’s half-brother. At the time of Thomas’ death in 1644 he was childless and Aldwark passed to his brother Henry.

The Lordship then passed to the senior branch of the Frankland family which resided at Thirkleby. This side of the family had been created Baronets in 1660 when William Frankland was rewarded by the restored Charles II for his loyalty during the Civil War. His son was Sir Thomas, who sat as MP for Thirsk from 1685 to 1711. He inherited a considerable fortune from his uncle, the Earl of Fauconberg, and married a descendant of Oliver Cromwell. He was lord of Aldwark which passed on his death to his son Sir Thomas. This Sir Thomas also sat in Parliament, as MP for Harwich, and later became a Lord of the Admiralty. On his death in 1747 the family’s estates passed to Sir Thomas’ nephew, Charles Frankland, the 4th Baronet. Sir Charles was a diplomat and was Consul General in Lisbon at the time of the earthquake which destroyed the city in 1755. He survived this catastrophe and lived until 1768, being succeeded by his eldest son, Sir Thomas.

The Lordship of Aldwark remained in the Frankland family until the death of the last baronet, Sir Robert, in 1849. It passed to his daughter, Augusta, who was married to Thomas Grey, fifth Lord Walsingham. The Grey family can trace their lineage back to William de Grey, who resided in Cavendish in the 13th century. The family prospered in the next three centuries and by the end of the 17th century were considerable landowners and had entered politics. The Greys were raised to the peerage in the person of William Grey. He was the third son of Thomas de Grey, MP for Merton, and entered the legal profession as a lawyer at the Middle Temple in London. In 1758 he became king’s counsel and three years later, solicitor-general to  

Queen Charlotte. In that same year he entered Parliament as MP for Newport in Cornwall and two years later was made solicitor-general to King George III (1760–1820). In 1766 he succeeded to the post of Attorney-General and was knighted. In this position and in Parliament he was a fierce proponent of Lord Halifax and spoke in defence of the Secretary of State’s use of the unpopular general-warrants to suppress dissent. Grey was an opponent of the radical, John Wilkes, and conducted the legal campaign to have the latter’s emphatic election victory in Middlesex declared illegal. In 1771 Grey was promoted to Lord Chief Justice of Common Pleas, a position he held until 1780 when he was raised to the peerage as the 1st Baron Walsingham. He died in 1781 and was succeeded by his son Thomas. The fifth Baron, Thomas, became the lord of Aldwark in 1849 and the Lordship remained with this family until recently.  

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Lot #18 Manorial Auctioneers’ Partnership – October 1990

THIS LORDSHIP is situated two miles south west of Whitchurch in the parish of that name. 

Aelmer, a free man, held it in Saxon times. It consisted of one hide and one virgate with land for five ploughs. There was half a plough in the Lordship, one slave, two villagers and one smallholder with half a plough plus woodland for fattening 100 pigs. Its value before 1066 was £4 3s, but in 1086 only 10 shillings. It was held by William Pandolf of Earl Roger. The former was one of Earl Roger's leading men in Shropshire and Lord of Noron (near Falaise in the Hiemois) in the Earl's Viscounté of the Oximin; he founded a church and priory there in honour of St Peter to which he gave the Manor of Market Drayton. He was a great benefactor to the Abbey of St Evrout, to which in 1073 he gave, among other things, St Peters Church, Noron. He was accused of the murder of Roger of Montgomery's first wife, Mabel of Belleme, and sought refuge in St Evrout. His English lands formed the Barony of Wem which passed to his second son Robert in 1112. 

Alkington originally lay in the Hundred of Hodnet, but was later included in the Hundred of Bradford. Although it was in the parish of Whitchurch, it was not a sub-infeudation of that Lordship. It was counted as a member of the Barony of Wem; the transfer occurred between 1246 and 1255. The Lordship of Whitchurch was held by Earl Harold, later King Harold, and was his only holding in the county. William Pandolf was succeeded by his son Robert, who acquired some notoriety after the death of William the Conqueror by pillaging a nunnery at Caen in Normandy. His son Ivo died circa 1175 leaving five sons Hugh, Hameline, Brice, William and Norman. William and Norman were his sons by Alice de Verdun. Hugh, the eldest, is descended to as Baron of Wem and married Christiana FitzAlan, but was dead by 28 December 1224. During his lifetime he was made Sheriff of Shropshire, serving a term of 10 years and only relinquishing the title in 1189. He was succeeded in this Honour by his brother-in-law William FitzAlan. However, their successive Shervialties resulted in an enormous deficiency of stores and stock in the King's castles and Manors. As a result, they were both taken to account for their actions and fell into disgrace. Hugh had issue five sons, William, Ico, Alan, Hugh and another son who was a Prebendary of Bridgnorth. The eldest, William, succeeded him and on his death in 1233 without heirs male, his estates passed to his two daughters Matilda and Elizabeth. Eventually, Matilda became the sole heiress and married Ralph Botyler. On his death she married Walter de Hopton. 

In the Hundred Roll of 1255 and the Bradford Tenure Roll (circa 1286) both of Matilda's husbands are listed as holding the Barony Wem and its members, including Alkington. On the death of William Boteler, the 3rd Baron, in 1369, his estates passed to his only child Elizabeth who married Sir Robert Ferrers and they had an only son Robert who married Joan daughter of John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster and Katherine Swynford. Robert and Joan had only two daughters and on his death in 1410 the Barony of Ferrers of Wem fell into abeyance between the descendants of his daughters. 

Eventually the Lordship passed into the possession of the ancestors of the present owner, Lord Brownlow, on the death of the last Earl of Bridgewater.

Documents associated with this Manor:

Domesday Book         folio 257, a,2         PRO
Rot finium           27 Edward I 

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Lot #37 of Manorial Auctioneers - Undated but Post-2002

Catalogue gifted & transcribed for the archive by the Lord of Finchingfield - a friend to learning

THE LORDSHIP of Allens lies in the parish of Teversham, four miles east of Cambridge, next to the parish of Cherry Hinton. It is rural, chiefly concerned with arable farming. At the time of Domesday Book (1086), Allens seems to have belonged to the main Teversham Lordship, for which the entry reads:

In Teversham Count Alan holds 1½ hides.

Land for 13 ploughs but they are not there.

This land is assessed with the Count’s Manor of Cherry Hinton.

2 Freemen, Edeva’s men, held it; they could not withdraw from her;

They found 1 cartage and 1 escort for the Sheriff.

In the same village Robert holds 1 hide from Count Alan. Land for 1 plough; it is there; meadow for 1 plough.

The value is and always was 10s.

5 of Edeva’s men held this land and could not withdraw from her; they found 3 escort for the sheriff.  

The Count mentioned in the extract is Alan, Count of Brittany, who held Teversham and what was to become the Lordship of Allens. He had arrived in England with William the Conqueror and was one of the new King’s most trusted advisors. His father was Eudon, who ruled Brittany until 1079 after seizing the province from his father, Duke Geoffrey. After 1066, Alan was granted a large number of estates, including Teversham, many of them formerly belonging to Earl Edwin, a Saxon Overlord. It is thought that he had upwards of 400 Manors in Cambridgeshire, Yorkshire, Lincolnshire, Norfolk, and Suffolk. In Cambridgeshire, Alan founded the Abbey of Swavesey, and then, together with King William, founded St Mary’s Abbey at York. Known as the Red, Alan continued as one of William’s advisers throughout the Conqueror’s reign and led the Norman forces at the siege of St Suzanne in Maine, France. After this he built Richmond Castle, Yorkshire, which formed the caput of the Honour or Barony of Richmond, which he then held. The Barony now belongs to the Crown. The descent of the Earls of Richmond lies on the following pages. After the death of William, Alan sided with William Rufus, the late King’s second son, who succeeded as William II, during the rebellion of 1088. He died in 1089.

He was succeeded as Count of Brittany by his brother, Alan II, known as the Black, who died unmarried in 1093. The estates then passed to a third brother, Stephen, who also held the Honour of Richmond and consolidated the family’s estates. Like his brothers, he was a religious man, supporting St Mary’s Abbey and founding the Abbey of St Croix, in Guingamp, Brittany, and the Cistercian Abbey of Bégard. He died in 1136 and was succeeded by his second son, Alan III, (also known as the Black, or niger) who was created Earl of Richmond. In 1140 Richmond seized the castle of Galclint in Yorkshire, from William d’Aubigny and was gifted the county of Cornwall, by King Stephen (1135–1154), from which he styled himself Earl of Cornwall. At the battle of Lincoln, in 1141, Alan, unsurprisingly, fought with Stephen against Matilda and was taken prisoner by Ranulf, Earl of Chester. Ranulf forced Richmond to surrender Cornwall to Reynold de Dunstanville, illegitimate son of Henry I.

After the death of Alan III in 1146, the family estates began to disintegrate and it seems likely that the Lordship of Allens passed to tenants around this time. Unfortunately its descent is obscure until the 13th century, when it appears to have become vested in the Aleyn family, from whom it took its name. There are members of the family recorded as living in Teversham in the 1360s. At least part of the Lordship of Manners, also in Teversham, was incorporated into the demesne of Allens; this Lordship having been previously in the possession of the Manners family. In the 1380s, John Aleyn was noted as being active in local politics, but he is the last recorded member of the family. By 1460, Allens was held by John Ansty, Lord of Warbletons, and he passed it to his son, John, in 1477. His son, also John, died seized of the Lordship in 1501 and it passed to his son Robert. In 1509 Robert granted Allens and the neighbouring Lordship of Manners to the newly created Savoy Hospital, which is recorded as holding them in 1535. 

This institution was suppressed in 1553 and Allens was then granted, in the same year, to the newly created Royal Hospital of St Thomas’ and Christ’s. The Lordship has remained the property of this institution until the present day. A copy of the Charter of King Edward VI, granting this and other Manors to the Royal Hospitals, will form part of the sale. 

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Lot #3 of Manorial Auctioneers – May 2008

Catalogue transcribed by the Lord of Finchingfield - a friend to learning

THIS LORDSHIP lies in the parish and village of Abbot's Kerswell, six miles north east of Torquay and two miles from Kings Kerswell. It is a mainly agricultural area, with much of the Lordship given over to arable production.

The Lordship of Aller was previously known as Branscombes Aller after the family which held it for several generations. The first mention of Aller comes during the reign of Henry III (1216-1272) when it was in the hands of a local family, the Bagtors. This family evidently held it for some time until it passed, through marriage, to the Scobhull family. From the Scobhulls it passed, again through marriage, to the Speccot family who held it in the reign of Charles I (1625-1649). The Speccots continued as Lords of Aller until the end of the 18th century when it passed to another local landowning family, the Bealys. In 1790 it was purchased by George Baker, from whom it later passed to the Carew family. The current Lord of Aller is Sir Rivers Carew and the descent of that family can be seen on the following pages.

The Carew family are of ancient extraction. They originated with Walter Fitz Other, Castellan of Windsor. Fitz Other's son, William Fitz Walter, moved to Pembroke during the reign of Henry I (1154-1189) and his son William, lived at Carew castle in Pembroke, from where the family derived its surname. Instrumental in the Carews' move to Devon was Sir John Carew, whose father had come into the possession of the estates in that county on his marriage to the daughter and heir of Sir William Mohun. When Sir John came of age, in 1332, he was summoned to Ireland to defend his estates there. In 1349 he became King Edward III's (1327-1377) escheator in Ireland. Sir John accompanied Prince Lionel's (afterwards the Duke of Clarence's) expedition to Ireland in 1362.

During the 15th century the Carew family lost most of their lands in Ireland and consolidated their estate in Devon at Haccombe, which came into the possession of Sir Nicholas Carew on his marriage to Elizabeth Croker in the mid-fifteenth century. Sir Edmund, Baron Carew served in the wars against Scotland at the beginning of the reign of Henry VIII (1504-47) under Thomas, Earl of Surrey. The Earl commanded the English at Flodden in 1513, when James IV was killed with the flower of the Scottish Nobility. A story is recounted in James Prince's The Worthies of Devon about an incident involving Thomas Carew. Before the English and Scottish sides engaged in the battle, a Scottish knight challenged any English gentleman to fight him for the honour of his country. Thomas Carew pleaded for the chance to answer the challenge and, having been granted it, proceeded to win, a foretaste of the subsequent English victory.

His brave deeds did not end there, however. Prince recounts that he was riding with the son of the Earl of Surrey, Lord Howard, who was then Lord Admiral of England. They came to a narrow pass, and realized that they were surrounded by Scottish forces. To prevent the capture of Lord Howard, Thomas swapped armour with him and rode ahead, eventually drawing the Scots and engaging them in battle. Thomas was taken prisoner, the Scots assuming him to be Lord Howard, and taken to Dunbar Castle. He was kept prisoner in poor conditions and his health suffered before his release. Lord Howard was forever grateful for this sacrifice and on his return made Thomas his vice-admiral. Thomas left a son, John, by his first marriage, and was succeeded by his half-brother, Sir Humphrey Carew. His son, Peter, was succeeded in turn by his son, Sir Henry, who left two daughters as heirs. The eldest, Elizabeth, married Sir Thomas Carew, of Haccombe, thus uniting the two branches of the family which had split four generations before.

Sir Thomas had been created Baronet in 1661 and died in 1676, being succeeded by his son, Sir Henry Carew. His first marriage was to Elizabeth, daughter of Thomas, 1st Lord Clifford of Chudleigh. On his death in 1695, the estates passed to Sir Henry, who died unmarried, and then to Sir Thomas, who died before 1746. His son, Sir John, 5th Baronet, succeeded him and the title passed through his son, Sir Thomas, to his son, Sir Henry, 7th Baronet. The Carew Baronets' descent lies on the following pages.

One of the more exotic members of the Devonshire Carews was Bamfylde Moore [Carew]. Born in 1693, his father was the rector of Bickleigh. When he reached 12 years of age, Bamfylde was sent to school in Tiverton, where he fell into bad ways. One day he and two schoolmates, who had a small pack of hounds, hunted a deer over several miles of farmland. They caused so much damage that the farmers came to Bamfylde's father to complain. He was so scared of being punished that he ran away and joined the gypsies and entered a life of swindling and deceit. He travelled to Newfoundland, and returned to marry the daughter of an apothecary in Newcastle Upon Tyne. On the death of Clause Patch, the King of the Gypsies, Bamfylde was elected his successor. This did not prevent his being convicted of vagrancy and being transported to Maryland. With the help of some native Americans he escaped, and posing as a Quaker, he worked his way back to England and continued his criminal life until his death in 1770.

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Lot #16 of Bernard Thorpe Auction - March 1987

This ancient Saxon lordship is situated six miles north of Lichfield in Staffordshire.

According to the Domesday Survey there was a church already here at Alrewas at the time of the conquest. Malmesbury, the historian, says that this was one of the first prebends instituted in the church of Lichfield by Athelwals, Bishop of Lichfield in 822.

We know that it was called a prebend soon after the conquest because Robal the son of Walter de Alrewas granted to Ade de Walton, the Chancellor of the church of Lichfield, and to the Prebendary of the Prebend of Alrewas one piece of land, which he held of the said Prebend in Alrewas. This land was near the churchyard on the east side thereof, to be held of the said Adae and his successors for ever, for which grant he paid 20 shillings in silver.

Pope Celestinus in 1143 confirmed the donation of the church of Alrewas to the Bishop of Coventry and Church of Lichfield, and declared that no one should dare to impede or contradict the same under danger of incurring the indignation of the Almighty and his blessed apostles St. Peter and St. Paul.

In 1259 Archbishop Boniface confirmed it in an Inspexinus that Alrewas church with its chapels constituted the chancellorship of the Cathedral.

In 1386 the perpetual vicar of the prebendal church of Alrewas was Thomas de Wilton. In 1414 it was Robert Cowe. Mr Ralphe Whitehed was taxed 40s there as prebendary and chancellor of Lichfield in 1534 on a value of £26.13s.4d.

By 1795 the value of the prebend was about £100 and was held by the Chancellor of the church of Lichfield, Dr. Farmer, Master of Emmanuel College, Cambridge.

The office of the Chancellor of the Cathedral was to superintend the regular exercise of devotion in the cathedral.

Richard Smallbrook, who became Bishop in 1750, made his son-in-law, Dr. Bateman of Christ Church, Oxford, and chaplain to Archbishop Walker, chancellor of the church. Archbishop Herring on the consecration of Bishop Frederick Cornwallis made the office his option.

On the death of Dr. Bateman he gave the lordship to Dr. Thomas Green, eldest son of Dr. Thomas Green, Bishop of Ely, who was living in 1757 and then made Dean of Salisbury. He was also chaplain to the King. By Act of Parliament of 1796, the chancellorship became annexed to the newly established Residentiary. Shortly after this the lordship was purchased by an ancestor of the present lord of the manor, the Earl of Lichfield.

DOCUMENTS ASSOCIATED WITH THE MANOR:

1 Court rolls 1298-1697

2 Court books 1773-1856

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Lot #14 of Manorial Auctioneers – May 2008

Catalogue transcribed by the Lord of Finchingfield - a friend to learning

THE BARONY OF ALTON was centred at Alton Castle in the eponymous village which lies a few miles north-west of Stoke-on-Trent. The name is today famous for Alton Towers, one of Britain's most popular visitor attractions which was once the home of the Earls of Shrewsbury and Barons of Alton. Also formerly known as Alveton, the village derives its name from the Anglo-Saxon for Aelfa's Estate or Aelfa's Town; Aelfa being a Saxon landowner. The name Alveton survived into the 19th century and was used in conjunction with Alton, which is a corruption of it and which probably gained ascendancy with the building at Alton Towers in the 19th century.

The Barony, or Honour, of Alton, was erected in the 12th century from land which belonged to the Crown. A Barony was a feudal unit of both income and power. The Baron dominated a number of local Manors whose individual lords would pay rental to the Baron, he in turn would make payments to his resident Earl. The Barony of Alton included the Lordships of Alton, Denstone, Farley among others as well as outlying estates such as the Manor of Fenton Culvert a few miles to the south (in what is now the Potteries) and the Manor of Crakemarsh. It was centred on the Baronial residence in Alton and its first Lords were the Verdon family — their descent lies on the following page. It is thought the Barony was erected for Norman de Verdon as part of a distribution of the estates of Henry I to his supporters. Verdon's father had come to England with the Normans in 1066, but was a relatively minor landholder in Yorkshire. The family had aligned themselves with the Earls of Chester. Norman de Verdon made a judicious marriage to the daughter of Geoffrey de Clinton and after the acquisition of Alton, became one of the most powerful men in the area.

Norman was succeeded by his son Bertram who sat as a Baron during the Curia Regis of Henry II (1154-89) and had considerable estates throughout the Midlands. He was Sheriff of Warwickshire from 1168 to 1183 and accompanied Richard I (1189-1199) on his crusade to the Holy Land in 1190. He was succeeded by his son Nicholas, who was considered a great favourite of Henry III (1216-1272).

His only heir was a daughter, Roesia, who married Theobald de Botiller, who took his wife's maiden name as his own. It is thought that it was Theobald who began construction of the Alton Castle which, in part, survives to today. On Theobald's death Alton and the rest of the family estates passed to their eldest son John. He made a profitable marriage to Margerie de Lacy, joint heiress of that powerful family's huge estates in Shropshire, Wales, and Ireland and his resulting wealth made him one of the most powerful magnates of the age. John remained intensely loyal to Henry III during his war with the Barons, which began in 1264 with the King's initial defeat at the battle of Lewes. Later he was present at the side of Prince Edward when he destroyed the power of the Barons at the battle of Evesham in 1265 and then personally led the army which destroyed Simon de Montfort's last bastion at Kenilworth, Warwickshire.

John de Verdon died in 1274 and was succeeded in his Barony of Alton by his son Theobald. He was the third of John's sons, the eldest two being killed in Ireland in 1271. The resulting inheritance made Theobald a powerful figure in England and Ireland and he spent much of his time travelling between his two power bases. After the death of his father, Theobald, then aged about 23, assumed a myriad of royal duties in Ireland and Wales, where he served in 1277, 1282, and 1283. He sat in Edward I's early Parliaments, being summoned on a regular basis after 1295.

Not long after this he had a serious disagreement with the King about the ownership of Meath and the Palatinate was seized by Edward for the Crown. There was little Theobald could do about this and he had little choice but to make his peace with Edward and remain in the King's service. Perhaps as an outlet for his frustration, Verdon then entered into a bitter feud with the monks of Llanthony Priory in the Welsh Marches over a trifling matter. Theobald summoned the Prior to his court, but when he failed to appear, Verdon sallied out in his private army and seized land and livestock belonging to the priory. Evidently his men had not been restrained in their violence, and the prior appealed to the king, accusing Verdon of assault and battery. The King demanded that Verdon's men leave the priory but his orders were largely ignored. As events got out of hand, Edward himself was forced to seize Verdon's property and he was imprisoned and stripped of his lucrative Welsh Manor of Ewyas Lacy.

This did not prevent Verdon from continuing to antagonize his neighbours with provocative and largely petty displays of his might. However, despite being only in his forties, Theobald very soon afterwards became infirm and relinquished many of his duties to the King. In 1297, he was summoned to attend to Edward in Gascony, south-west France, but wrote to the King to explain that his illnesses would prevent this. His misery was compounded by the death of his eldest son, John, in the same year. His second son, Theobald was therefore sent in his place. Verdon died in 1309 and was succeeded by Theobald who died in 1316 after what was described as a short but brilliant career.

The younger Theobald was born in 1278 and by the time he was 20 had entered military service. He fought in the Scottish campaign of 1298 and was summoned to Parliament from 1299 as Lord Verdon in his own right, a separate dignity from that of his father. In April 1313, Theobald was appointed as Justiciar of Ireland. It is thought that he was given this position as a response to a revolt against Edward II (1307-27) in Ireland led by Verdon's own brothers. His tenure of the Justiciarship was short lived and within a year he had returned to England and married Elizabeth de Clare, sister of Gilbert, Earl of Gloucester. Their marriage was rumoured to have been the result of Theobald kidnapping Elizabeth from Bristol Castle, but he later claimed that she had left the castle of her own free will and that they had already been betrothed in Ireland in the previous year. He did not live long enough to enjoy married life, and he died at Alton Castle in July 1316. With his death, the Verdon possession of the Barony came to an end.

The family estates were divided and Alton descended to his daughter, Joan who was married to Thomas Furnival. Furnival had been a great favourite of Edward I and survived the chaotic years of the reign of Edward II relatively unscathed. He died in 1339 and was succeeded by his son Thomas, Lord Furnival, who had received the nickname of Hasty and fought with Edward III at the Battle of Crécy in 1347. He died in 1366 and Alton then descended to his brother William. He proved to be the last of the family line and on his death in 1383 his estates passed to his daughter Joan. She married Sir Thomas Nevill, the brother of Ralph, Earl of Westmoreland. Sir Thomas was summoned to Parliament as Lord Furnival by right of his marriage during unrest provoked by the reign of Richard II (1377-1399). Nevill supported Henry Bolingbroke against the King. He was rewarded when Richard was deposed by Henry — who became King Henry IV — when he was made Treasurer of England. Nevill died in 1406 and his estates, including the Barony of Alton, passed to his only daughter, Maud. She married John Talbot, the fourth son of Richard, Baron Goodrich, and one of the most famous of all English warriors.

Born in 1387, John's life was one of battle. He fought in Wales as a teenager and by 1413 he had been made Lieutenant of Ireland by Henry V. In 1419 Talbot went to France, fighting at the sieges of Melun and Meaux, and later, after warring with his adversary in Ireland, the Earl of Ormonde, he returned to France where he took part in the siege of Orleans. His fame and repute as a warrior was such that Joan of Arc was said to have believed that Talbot led the English forces. He was later captured by the French at Patay where he had fought against overwhelming odds. He remained a prisoner until 1433 when on his release he joined forces with Philip, Duke of Burgundy, England's ally. He remained in France and is considered to have done much to keep Normandy in English hands. In 1442 he was created Earl of Shrewsbury and made Constable of France. The next year he returned to England and was made, for the third time, Governor of Ireland, and received the Earldom of Waterford and the Hereditary Lord Stewardship of Ireland. In 1452, as the French threatened Calais, Shrewsbury was sent to France as Lieutenant of Aquitaine, with almost regal powers. After a bloody campaign Shrewsbury made a stand with his English and Gascon troops at Castillon. Despite a brave charge from his men, to cries of 'Talbot, Talbot, St George', the battle was lost and Shrewsbury killed. Despite this, Shrewsbury remained one of the most famous warriors of his age, on both sides of the Channel.

His son and heir as Earl and Baron of Alton was his son John who was knighted as a young man in 1426 and married Elizabeth, daughter of James Butler, fourth Earl of Ormond. In 1445 he was made Chancellor of Ireland, a post he held until 1451. In the political turmoil of the 15th century, Talbot gave only tepid support to the Duke of York and was careful never to offer his full support to any one camp in the civil war, known as the Wars of the Roses. Instead he attached himself to Queen Margaret in 1456, who was opposed to York and this may explain why he was made Lord Chancellor at that time. When Civil war broke out again in 1460 he fought for the king against the Yorkists at the battle of Northampton on July 10, 1460 and was killed.

The Barony of Alton then passed to his son John, the third Earl, who died in 1473 and in turn he was succeeded by his son George, the fourth Earl of Shrewsbury. He was a minor at his father's death, and his wardship was granted to Edward IV's favourite, William, Baron Hastings. He fought at the battle of Stoke in 1487 on behalf of Henry VII, after which he was made a Knight of the Garter. In 1494 he was present at the creation of Prince Henry as Duke of York, in so well-horsed an assembly that it was a triumphant sight. On the accession of Henry VIII in 1509, Shrewsbury became involved in diplomacy and travelled to Spain. He was at the King's side at his meeting with the King Francis I of France at the Field of Cloth of Gold in 1520. During the revolts of 1536, Shrewsbury personally raised a force of 3,654 of his own men to assist the King in Lincolnshire. When the Northern Catholic rising, known as the Pilgrimage of Grace, broke out a few weeks later, Shrewsbury moved swiftly, if somewhat rashly, to try to defeat the rebels. Though he failed, he did manage to slow their advance, and Henry VIII was grateful for this.  

Shrewsbury showed little sympathy for Protestantism, but was loyal to his King and his influence in the Midlands, especially in Staffordshire, prevented any serious disturbances there. He died in 1538 and was succeeded by his son Francis. He was a supporter of Edward Seymour, Duke of Somerset, who ruled as Protector during the first years of the reign of Edward VI (1547-53). He was also one of the peers who welcomed the accession of Queen Mary in 1553. When Elizabeth came to the throne in 1558, Francis found it difficult to fully accommodate his Catholicism with the new regime. He died in 1560.

George, the sixth Earl of Shrewsbury, became Baron of Alton at his father's death. In 1553 he had signed the instrument settling the Crown on Lady Jane Grey, but was later pardoned. During the reign of Elizabeth he was selected for the Order of the Garter and although he dominated local politics he never established himself on the national scene. He is perhaps best known for his marriage to Elizabeth St Loe, Bess of Hardwick. She had been married three times and was regarded as something of a 'gold-digger'. Despite an early warmness in their relationship, Shrewsbury soon soured towards his wife, describing her as 'my wicked and malicious wife'. Since he was one of the richest men in England, it was assumed that she had one eye on his fortune to repair her own. The couple soon separated and there followed a lengthy legal suit to settle their affairs. In the late 1560s, Shrewsbury was made custodian of Mary, Queen of Scots and she was delivered to him at Tutbury Castle, a few miles south of Alton. She remained in his care until 1584 and during this time she was moved around his properties, possibly including Alton Castle. He died in 1590.

[The narrative continues with the 12th Earl, Charles, Duke of Shrewsbury:] ... a member of the Protestant opposition. In July 1688 he left England to join William of Orange. When William invaded that November, Shrewsbury travelled with him and he took control of Bristol with a small force. The Earl helped to consolidate the Revolution, but his relationship with the new Whig Government soon soured and his influence declined. Nevertheless, in 1694 he was created Duke of Shrewsbury and Marquess of Alton. Four years later, with his stock rising once more he was made Lord Chamberlain, but he remained in the post for only two years, ill health forcing his resignation. For the next few years he travelled throughout Europe and returned in 1706 to tour his English estates. He spent a good deal of the year in Staffordshire.

The Duke died childless in 1718 and that dignity became extinct. The Earldom of Shrewsbury and the Barony of Alton passed to his cousin, Gilbert, the son of the 10th Earl and a Catholic priest. Thus the family reverted to the Old Religion. Gilbert died in 1743 and was succeeded by his nephew, George, the 14th Earl.

On his death in 1787, the Earldom descended to his nephew, Charles, the 15th Earl. It was he who decided to develop his estate at Alton. At this time there was a house there, known as Alveton Lodge and in 1812 the Earl began a series of extensive redevelopment of the house and the planting of large formal gardens. The Lodge was renamed Alton Towers. His nephew, John, the 16th Earl continued the development at Alton, drafting in Augustus Pugin to finish the design of the house, creating what is considered to be a gothic wonderland. On the death of the Earl in June 1856 the house passed briefly to his cousin, Bertram, the 17th Earl who died a few weeks later. He was childless and there then followed a series of legal battles to claim the estates and the title. Eventually Alton was claimed and won by Henry Chetwynd Talbot, the 3rd Earl of Talbot of Hensol, who then became the 18th Earl of Shrewsbury and Earl of Waterford. The cost of the legal challenge had been so high that the new Earl was forced to sell the contents of Alton Towers and then let the building out to the public. His son, Charles, the 19th Earl, did much to develop Alton Towers as a public attraction but most of the property was sold in 1924. The Barony of Alton however has remained in the possession of the family, and the current Baron is Charles, 22nd Earl of Shrewsbury, Earl of Waterford, Viscount Ingestre, and Hereditary Lord High Steward of Ireland. Lord Shrewsbury is also co-heir to the medieval parliamentary Baronies of Verdon and Furnival.

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Lot #2 of Manorial Services Auction - February 2022 - Stephen Johnson

The earliest records for the Fief date from  the reign of William, Duke of Normandy, who held  the whole of the island of Guernsey as part of his  Duchy, before his conquest of England in 1066. In  1046 he faced a challenge to his throne from his  cousin, Guy of Burgundy, who received support  from several prominent lords on the island. With the  support of the king of France, Guy was defeated and  the Guernsey rebels forfeited their lands. A few years  later the island was ravaged by a wave of attacks from  pirates from southern France and William dispatched  Sampson D’Anneville, a noble from Anneville in the  Val des Saire region of Normandy. He was described  by the Norman poet Wace as forming a troop of  knights who entered battle fearing neither stake nor  fosse, and overthrowing and killing many a good horse  and man. The pirates had established themselves on the island and D’Anneville landed his troops at St Sampson’s in the north of the island and was quickly joined  by the islanders themselves who had sought refugee behind the walls of the Castle of the Vale. D’Anneville  made short work of the pirates and soon liberated Guernsey. As a reward for his actions William granted  his captain lands and estates on the island estimated to be around a quarter of the whole small realm. It is  described by one historian of the island as the noblest tenure in Guernsey. At the time of its creation it was  said to have included a quarter of the island. 

A proportion of D’Anneville’s grant lay in the parish of St Sampson and this was erected into a fief  or royalty known as the Fief D’Anneville. It remained with the descendants of Sampson D’Anneville for the  next 80 years until the death of its lord during the civil war between Stephen and Matilida which raged across  England and Normandy. In 1144 Matilda’s husband, Geoffrey Plantagenet, was crowned Duke of Normandy  and claimed the island. The fief was then escheated to the Crown. Henry II eventually gifted it to his younger  brother, William, Earl of Montaige but his tenure was a short one and it soon reverted back to the Crown.  It remained a possession of the king until 1190 when Richard I (1189-1199) granted it to his brother John.  When John ascended to the throne on 1199 he granted the Fief to Robert de Vere, ancestor of the Earls  of Oxford. This grant was for a set term and Henry III (1216-1272) then sold it to Guillaume de Chesney  in 1248. The Chesney or Cheney family were residents of the channel islands and remained there as Lords  of the Fief. They subsequently played a prominent role in the government of both Guernsey and Jersey.  Edmund de Cheney was governor of both islands from 1357 to 1367; he had inherited Fief D’Anneville  on the death of his father, Sir William in 1348. After Edmund’s death it appears that his Guernsey estate  devolved to his daughter, Agnes. In 1444 she married John Willoughby of Wiltshire and so the Fief passed to  this family. Their eldest son, Sir William was raised to the nobility as Baron Willoughby de Broke after fighting  for Henry Tudor at the battle of Bosworth in 1485. One of his first commissions was given to him by Edward  IV and it was to lead a force to capture John de Vere, earl of Oxford from his stronghold on St Michael’s  Mount in Cornwall. He later became sheriff of this county in 1479 and of Devon in the following year. With  the accession of Richard III in 1483, Willoughby involved himself in the abortive revolt led by the Duke of  Buckingham. After its failure he was forced to flee to France where he joined the retinue of another rebel,  Henry Tudor. Willoughby’s estates in England were seised by Richard whereas the Fief D’Anneville appears  to have remained untouched. This proved to be a temporary setback for Robert. In August 1485 he landed  with Tudor at Milford Haven and followed his rapid progress east. Two weeks later Henry’s army met and  defeated Richard at the Battle of Bosworth. Willoughby fought in the battle and was to be rewarded for his loyalty to the new king, Henry VII. He was made a knight of the body and was admitted to the king’s council  in 1486. A number of offices and positions were awarded to him culminating in his being admitted to the  Order of the Garter in 1489 and elevated to the nobility as Baron Willoughby de Broke. In the meantime,  as well as recovering his estates he was granted further lands in Somerset and Cornwall. However he was  not one of the king’s most prominent supporters which perhaps explains why he was not offered a higher  peerage and given only relatively minor administrative tasks in the Southwest. He spent much of the 1490s  as a largely ineffective naval commander. He died in 1502 and was succeeded by his son Robert.  

The Fief D’Anneville remained with this family until 1509 when it was offered for sale to Nicholas  Fachion a wealthy merchant living in Southampton and who served as the Gentleman Usher of Hampshire to  King Henry VIII (1509-1547). However, Fachion or Fouaschin never took personal possession of the manors  because they were granted in fee for the lifetime of John de Chesney of Devon. It was Nicholas’ grandson,  Thomas who took full possession in as late at 1548. His claim had involved an extremely lengthy litigation  with the heirs of the Lord Willoughby de Broke, who challenged the original sale. Fachion’s wealth enabled  him to fend off his opponents. He served as Mayor of Southampton in 1545 and was elected to Parliament  for the city in 1555. In 1597 six royal commissioners were appointed to examine the feudal tenures on the  island and Thomas Fachion made a claim to the Fief D’Anneville and it remained in the family for a number  of generations, eventually descending to the Andros family on the marriage of Alice Fachion and Charles  Andros in 1660. The Fief remained in the Andros family and their descendants until it was sold in 1964 by  Cyril Ralph Andros to Donald Wilson and to the present Vendor in 1997.  

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Lot #1 of Manorial Services Auction - 2004 UNPUBLISHED/ABORTED - Stephen Johnson

THIS MANOR lies at the organisational centre of the Barony of Westmorland and contains the ancestral seat of the Veteripont and Clifford families, Appleby Castle. The town itself is a borough, and contains the parishes of St Lawrence and St Michael. The river Eden runs through the borough and divides the two parishes, being crossed by ancient stone bridges. Evidently the town was of some importance before the Norman invasion of 1066, since it gave its name to a now forgotten division, Applebyshire. Since the Norman invasion of 1066 and the reorganisation of England's shire, Appleby has always been the capital of the county of Westmorland.

Appleby was a strategic centre in England’s defence of its northern borders and the castle at Appleby, although the seat of the Barony of Westmorland was a military garrison. Its position on the border marches of England and Scotland has rendered it historically vulnerable in times of warfare. In 1175 the whole town was destroyed by William of Scotland. At this time the Castle was in the custody of Gospatric of and the scene is described by the chronicler, Jordan Fantosme;

‘the king (William) very soon had the castle of Appleby, there were no people

in it, it was quite unguarded. Gospatric, son of Orme, an old grey haired

Englishman, was the constable ; he soon cried mercy’

William left a garrison in the castle under three constables and then proceeded to attack the nearby castle of Brough. Henry II (1154-1189) was angry at Gospatric’s weak attempt to defy the Scots and fined him 500 marks. Officers under him were also fined in accordance with their rank. 

This is the first evidence we have of the castles existence, though it very likely to have stood here in some form for many years previously. Some historians believe that Appleby may have been a Roman fortification and there is evidence to suggest that massive earthworks were thrown up by the Saxons. The original keep, known as Caesar’s Tower was constructed in the 12th century and was destroyed in 1388. It was rebuilt by Anne de Clifford in the 1650s and she used this as her home. Some of the original walls, constructed by Robert de Veteripont still remain at the south-east angle of the castle and the gate house was erected in 1418. The castle stands on a headland and the western bank of the river Eden, at the upper end of Broughgate. Its usefulness as a military force is in doubt since it was destroyed twice in the Middle Ages, but it was used during the Civil War. In 1641 a detachment of Royalist troops were garrisoned at the castle, commanded by Sir Philip Musgrave and it was held by him until the catastrophic defeat at Marston Moor, which lost King Charles the North. In 1648 it was again in the hands of the Royalists who were blockading Cockermouth but it was surrendered in October of that year. The castle was then demolished by Parliamentary forces under General Ashton. After it was restored by Anne Clifford she moved her family there in January 1662. After the Lordship had come into the hands of the earls of Thanet the castle was completely rebuilt and refurbished as a home by Thomas, the 6th earl of Thanet. 

The Lordship of Appleby has always been in the possession of the Barons of Westmorland. After the Norman Conquest it was held by Ralph Meschines and then the Morvilles. Later it came to the Verteripont family who held it until the beginning of the 14th century, when it passed to the Clifford. This eminent family, who became Earls of Cumberland, held Appleby until the death of Anne Clifford in 1675 when it passed to the Tuftons, the earls of Thanet. The current representative of that family, Lord Hothfield is the current Lord of the Manor of Appleby. 

The governance of the town however passed at a very early period to burgesses, since Appleby was incorporated in the 12th century, though the original charter has long since disappeared. Henry II (1154-1189) granted to the burgesses freedom from toll, stallage, pontage and lastage throughout England, except in the city of London and the grant was confirmed with renewal charters during the reigns of John (1199-1216), Henry III (1216-1272), Edward I (1272-1307), Edward II,(1307-1327), Edward III (1327-1377), Henry VIII (1509-1547), Elizabeth (1558-1603), James I (1603-1625), Charles I (1625-1649) and Charles II (1660-1685). During the short reign of James II the borough was newly incorporated. Despite this the Lords of the Manor have still held a considerable influence over the town once the rights of the burgesses had been confirmed by King John. The charter granted by James was a replacement of a restrictive charter imposed by Oliver Cromwell during the Commonwealth period and when the new corporation was enacted, Thomas Earl of Thanet and Lord of Appleby, was the town recorder. 

In the Middle Ages the population of Appleby reached upwards of 11,000, far higher than at any time until the 20th century. Evidence of the previous size of the town can be seen with the remnants of town walls at Burrells, a mile from the town centre and archeological evidence of suburbs up to two miles away. 

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Lot #2 of Manorial Auctioneers – May 2008

Catalogue transcribed by the Lord of Finchingfield - a friend to learning

(in association with SmithsGore)  

THE LORDSHIP of the Manor of Armboth lies 3 miles north of the village of Wythburn and in that township and parish. The area is best known as the location of Armboth Fell. Fell is the old Norse word for mountain and in England it came to be known as an area of high ground which was used for grazing. Alfred Wainwright, the famous fell walker and guidebook writer considered Armboth Fell to lie at the very heart of the Lake District. It rises to a height of 1,572 feet and is in the form of a domed plateau, three-quarters of a mile in length. The eastern flank of the mountain is a rock face known as Fisher Crag.

The Lordship of Armboth was anciently associated with that of Wythburn though the history of this Manor is rather obscure. It appears that by the end of the Medieval period Armboth had come into the possession of the Braithwaite family of Warcop. Perhaps the most notable member of this family was Richard Braithwaite who achieved fame as a poet and writer in the early part of the 17th century. He was the second son of Thomas Braithwaite who died in around 1610. Richard was educated at Oriel College Oxford and trained as a lawyer at Gray's Inn in London and came to prominence in 1611 with the publication of a collection of poems entitled The Golden Fleece, which was dedicated to his older brother, Thomas who died seised of the Manor of Armboth in 1640. Over the next ten years he produced a prodigious amount of work, including pastorals; The Poets Willow; moral treatises; The Prodigals Teares and historical analysis; A Nursery for Gentry. From 1620 though, he appears to have concentrated on his legal business and administering his family estates. In the 1630s he resumed writing and published the picaresque satire of a journey between Cumberland and London, Barnabees Journal. His reputation rested on a number of works he wrote on books of etiquette, most notably The English Gentleman and The English Gentlewoman published in 1630 and 1631 respectively. These works gave the gentry rules of conduct and have become important sources for modern cultural historians. After 1638 Braithwaite concentrated on dramatic and poetical works, including The English Intelligencer, a play centred on the ship money trial of the same year at which John Hampden challenged the legality of Charles I's ship levy. Braithwaite condemns the tax but blames judges for incorrectly advising the king to implement the tax. Indeed, Braithwaite was thought to have fought for the king during the Civil War. He continued to write and publish until his death in 1673.

The Lordship was sold by the Braithwaite family to Sir George Fletcher of Hutton Hall and it descended with his family until the 19th century when it became a possession of the Commissioners of Greenwich Hospital. A Royal Warrant of William and Mary founded the Royal Naval Hospital for Seamen at Greenwich in 1694 on the site of a royal palace. Its aims were: 

'the reliefe and support of Seamen ..... belonging to the Navy Royall who by reason of Age, Wounds or other disabilities shall

be uncapable for further service.... And for the Sustentation of Widows and the Maintenance and Education of the Children of

Seamen happening to be slain or disabled. Also for the further reliefe and Encouragement of Seamen and Improvement of Navigation'.

From 1705 its magnificent buildings, completed by 1751, were occupied by Greenwich Pensioners. With numbers reaching 2,710 by 1814 the Hospital had a large staff, headed by an Admiral, and its own bakery, brewery, infirmary wards and mausoleum. All the pensioners were provided with uniforms and tobacco money and those that could undertook duties for which they were paid.

The conditions were spartan, however, and despite improvements in the mid-1800s, the number of in-pensioners declined, as more of them chose to live out and receive pensions. The Hospital closed as a seamen's home in 1869 but soon found a new role as home to the Royal Naval College and later also to the National Defence College and its successors.

The hospital had a large estate in Cumberland and have remained as Lords of the Manor of Armboth until the present day. As a Crown Charity, the conveyance for Armboth will be executed under the Seal of the Secretary of State.

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Lot #2 of Manorial Services Auction - 2004 UNPUBLISHED/ABORTED - Stephen Johnson

THE ORIGINAL name for this Lordship was Hermitage, and this name was derived from a hermit who was said to have lived in a secluded spot between the parish church and the River Trent. The parish of Armitage lies five miles north west of Lichfield and two miles from Rugeley. Before the Industrial Revolution the village was noted for the production of clay pipes, made from clay recovered from a nearby hill, Stile Cop.

Anciently this Lordship was associated with that of Handsacre, which also lies in this parish but was formerly of more importance. It is briefly noted in Domesday Book as ‘five carucates in Handsacre held by Robert’. This tenant held his land from the bishop of Chester and it seem likely that he was a member of the Handsacre family who had been resident in the parish from before the Norman invasion of 1066. By the reign of Henry I (1100-1135) the Lordship was in the possession of Hubert de Handsacre. and in the reign of Henry III (1216-1272) it was held by Sir William Handsacre who married Ada, the daughter and heiress of David, Earl of Huntingdon. Through this marriage Sir William became the brother-in-law of William, the King of Scotland. Armitage remained with this family until 1429 and for a great deal of this time they were involved in disputes and alliances with the Mavesyn family who owned the neighbouring Lordship of Mavesyn Ridware, on the opposite side of the Trent. 

During the 14th co-operation between the two families dwindled and arguments over their respective manorial boundaries grew. The matter came to a head in a row over a Trentside Mill:

As early as 1382 Robert Mavesyn had leased to John Hammond, fisherman, his fishery in the Trent at Bryggewater, between Handsacre and Oxonhom Pool, and the miller, one Robert Mulner, got into dispute as to the boundary of the two parishes at the mill dam and floodgates. The dispute resulted in a fued and and affray, ending in a riot, in which the mill was burnt and Lawrence de Frodesley, of the Handsacre party was killed by the Mavesynians.

The fued evidently rumbled on and came to ahead in 1403 when both men who each had with them a contingent of armed men set off to fight on opposite sides of the conflict between the usurper King Henry IV and Earl of Northumberland, who had risen in defence of the previous king, Richard II. The two armies would meet at the Battle of Shrewsbury and it here that our´ two local bands were heading when then came across each other in Mavesyn Ridware. Handsacre supported Richard and Mavesyn, Henry. The meeting was briefly described by Dent and Hill in their ‘Historic Staffordshire’;

For many generation s the Handsacres and Mavesyns were not only neighbours but friendly allies. These friendly relations at length became changed, and a dispute as to a mill on the river between the two lordships was the apparent cause of a feud. The local animosities were but too surely the result of partisanship in the national struggles. 

After both sides had mustered their small force;

Handsacre did not take the road through Rugeley (as he had intended) for the deadly meeting with Mavesyn occurred on the north of the Trent. Pitt says that the fight took place just above High Bridge, by two ancient oak trees known as Gog and Magog. Both men being well accompanied with their servants and tenants when they Encountered each other they fought a battle or skirmish where Mavesyn had the victory and having slain his enemy went onto the battle (Shrewsbury) and was there slain himself.

The death of the two Lords of the Manor led to the swift end of the feud. and in true romantic fashion one of the Sir Robert Mavesyn’s daughters and co-heirs, married the son and heir of Handsacre. 

The family therefore continued in possession of Armitage until 1487 when it passed to the last of the family line, Johanna. She married into the Verdun family, who owned a small Lordship in the parish. From this marriage came two daughters, one of whom was Agnes, who who married Nicholas Westcote. This family held the Lordship until 1681 when it passed to the Bertie family. In the 19th century it was held by the Lane family before coming the Earls of Shrewsbury, who had long held most of the land here. The present and 14th earl of Shrewsbury is the current Lord of the Manor of Armitage.

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Lot #16 of Manorial Auctioneers - Undated but Post-2002

Catalogue gifted & transcribed for the archive by the Lord of Finchingfield - a friend to learning

ARNE is most likely the Saxon AErn, an abode, place, secret place. This Manor and little village, consisting of about 14 houses, lies four miles east of Wareham, and is a tything of itself in the hundred of Hasler. The soil is sand and heath, but since the beginning of the 19th century much improved by imported chalk, so that the ground that produced only rye now affords good crops of wheat, barley and oats. The part that lies on the river is marshy. The village is a mile distance from Poole Bay, almost opposite Poole. Arne, or Cold Point, is a bank of gravel, or small pebbles, and extends north-west into the bay towards Poole; Russell Point shoots out to the north-west; Arne Bay is included between Arne and Shipstal Points. In the tithe map this parish is stated to contain 2,617 acres, 342 arable, 497 pasture and meadow, 14 woods and nine homesteads, and the remaining 1,754 acres, plantations and heath.

Arne is bounded on the east, west and north by the waters and mudlands of the estuary, and its shores are deeply indented and broken by numerous small bays. On the south the Manor abuts Corfe Castle. At the extreme north, a long narrow tongue shoots out with an abrupt bend eastward into the estuary, terminating in Patchins or Pagans Point.

It does not occur in Domesday Book, being probably included in the survey of Wareham. It belonged to the monastery of Shaftesbury before the time of Richard II; when or by whom it was given does not appear. In the rental of Shaftesbury Register, Arne is said to be two hides divided into 15 parts; there [were] 24 tenants all of whom had plumbi; plumbus signifies a ticket, properly called mexallus, and the tenants, producing their tickets, were admitted on one or more public days to a dinner in the abbey.

In 1316 the sheriff returns the abbess of Shaftesbury as Lord of the township of ‘Arne cum Blachyngworth.’

The Lordship was granted, in 1555 to Edward Neville, and in 1665 he had licence to alienate it to Nicholas Cadbury and his heirs, valued at £6. 14s. 4d. In 1571, it was held by Eleanor Bruggs, late wife of William Cadbury.

In 1578, Nicholas Cadbury, at his death, was seized of it and 20 houses and 60 acres of land in Worgret and Westport. He left three daughters his co-heirs, Joan, Agnes, and Edith. 22 Elizabeth, Joan, one of the co-heirs of Nicholas Cadbury, held it, value 7l. 8s. 8d. In 1584, William Pitt, in right of Edith his wife, held it. It was granted to William Pitt, who seems to have bought the right of the other co-heiresses, and this grant might be procured to strengthen his title to the whole. It belonged in 1795 to George Lord Rivers, the third Baron Rivers, whose son, George Pitt, the fourth Baron, sold it in 1850 to John Scott, second Earl of Eldon. See Eldon family note on page xxix and descents on pages 38–40.

Near the centre of the village stands a small chapel dedicated to St Nicholas, almost at the foot of a steep hill; it consists of a body and chancel under one roof. There is no tower; the small bell which hung up at the west end having round the top this inscription —

LOVE GOD

has been taken down. The architecture is Early-English, the style prevalent in the 13th century. On the south side are a porch and a buttress, between which is a square-headed window of two trefoiled lights, a Perpendicular insertion. The remaining windows, including that at the east end, which is a triplet, are Early-English of a rude description, which seems to make the date of the building to be about 1220. It is worthy of a remark, that the heads of each of these windows are hewn out of single stones only: at the west end there are two 19th century buttresses. Over the altar is a bracket, and on the south side a piscina. A linen cloth is still preserved, which was given to this chapel by William Wake, rector of Holy Trinity and Saint Michael’s, distinguished by his loyalty and suffering during the Civil War. It is wrought with the emblems of the Trinity with blue silk, very evenly and beautifully, in a curious stitch.   

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Lot #38 of Strutt & Parker Auction – November 2003

Arthuret is a large parish in the Eskdale ward of Cumberland lying between the rivers Esk, Lyne and Liddel. It is about 7 miles long and 4 broad being bound on the west, north and east by the parish of Kirkandrews.

The Norman Conquest of England from 1066 did not reach the further and wilder extremities of England until much later though it appears that in the reign of William the Conqueror the de Stutevilles held much of the lands in the locality. The manor of Arthuret was one of those forming the Barony of Lydale, later Liddel. The earliest reference is a grant in the reign of Henry I, sometime before 1121 by Ranulph de Meschines, Lord of Carlisle to Turgent Brundey or Turgis I Brundos. However in the time of King John 1199-1216 the de Stutevilles had control again and Nicholas de Stuteville is recorded in 1174 as in possession of the Barony. In the 5th year of Henry III, 1220 a reference in the Exchequer Rolls states that Nicholas de Stuteville stood charged to the King for 250 marks for his ransom. His eldest daughter Johanna married Hugh de Wake and became Nicholas sole heir. Hugh de Wake died 1234 and Johanna married secondly Hugh Bigod. However the Barony of Liddel and its manors passed to Johanna's first son, Baldwin Wake following which the estates remained in the Wake family. Thomas Wake, Lord of Liddel is recorded holding it in 1330. The estates then passed to Joan, known as the "Fair Maid of Kent" who married Edward the Black Prince and who later became Edward III.

Lying on the borders with Scotland a little to the south of Hadrians Wall, the area had for centuries been subject to attack from the north. In 1337 a Scottish army crossed the border destroying some 20 villages. Commissioners from England and Scotland were appointed and met in 1343 at the Chapel of Solom, a small oratory which stood near the spot called the Chapel of Folch to settle the disputed boundary of their respective countries. The disputed lands within England became known as the "debatable lands". Even after this, troubles continued and in 1542 on Solom Moss an army of some 10,000 Scots were defeated and turned back by an English troop of only 500 men.

The Barony of Liddel with its manors remained with the crown until 1603 when by letters patent James I re-granted this extensive estate to George Clifford, Earl of Cumberland. By further letters patent in 1611, James I granted additional estates in the locality to George's son Francis Clifford who had then succeeded as Earl of Cumberland. In turn Francis re-granted the Estates Honour Barony and constituent manors in 1629 to Richard Graham who had been a gentleman of the horse to the King. In the same year and in the 4th year of his reign, King Charles I confirmed the grants and created Richard Graham a Baronet in the style of Sir Richard Graham of Esk.

About 1609 the Church of Arthuret was rebuilt with the exception of the tower which was not erected until 1690. In the churchyard is a cross with pierced capital, near which lie the remains of Archibald Armstrong, court jester to both King James I and Charles I and a native of the parish.

Sir Richard continued to distinguish himself under the royal banner, particularly in the battle of Edgehill 1642 though seriously wounded, on recovering took leave of the King's commission in the Isle of Wight, 1648 and with permission retired to his Estate, dying in 1653. He left two sons, George and Richard. Sir George Graham succeeded to the Barony and manors and on his death they passed to his heir, Lady Bridlington who on her death bequeathed the Barony, manors and estates to the Reverend Robert Graham, a grandson of Sir George Graham of Esk. Sir George Graham 2nd Baronet married Lady Mary Johnson, eldest daughter of John, Earl of Hartfield in Scotland but died at Nethery, 1657 when his son, Sir Richard Graham inherited and married 1670, Lady Ann Howard, daughter of the Earl of Carlisle. In 1680 King Charles elevated Sir Richard as Viscount Preston and in 1685, Knight of the Shire of Cumberland. Charles died without issue to be succeeded by his fathers two sisters, Katherine and Mary.

Mary died unmarried but Katherine married Lord Widdrington which explains why the estates subsequently passed to the Reverend Robert Graham, 2nd son of William Graham and grandson of Sir George Graham of Esk. The Rev Robert Graham Robert had married Francis the daughter of Sir Reginald Graham, 4th Baronet of Norton Coylers and it was his son, James who succeeded and became the 1st Baronet of Netherby, 1783. Sir James Graham of Netherby married Lady Catherine Strutt, daughter of the Earl of Galloway and their son, Sir Frederick Uric Graham inherited and became the 3rd Baronet of Netherby holding the Feudal Barony of Liddel with its extensive estates and manors. Before the time of the Reverend Robert Graham, much of the Netherby lands formed an extensive and barren waste. In his time with enterprise and investment the neglected lands were extensively improved and reclaimed through drainage and rebuilding and the reconstruction of the harbour at Sarkfoot. The manors and estates passed to Sir Richard James Graham, 4th Baronet, High Sheriff for Cumberland and through his son, Sir Fergus Frederick Graham, 5th Baronet have continued in the Graham family to the present time.

Documents associated with the Lordship of the Manor of Arthuret

Manorial Records & Papers .......... 1604-1939 .......... Historic Manuscripts Commission

Graham Family Muniments .......... 1604-1940 .......... Public Record Office

Nicholson Burn Directory .......... 1777 .......... Public Record Office

Correspondence of
Sir James Graham .......... 1861 .......... Public Record Office

Lewes Directory .......... 1843 .......... Public Record Office

United Kingdom Gazetteer .......... 1860 .......... Public Record Office

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Lot #18 of Strutt & Parker Auction – November 2003

(with mineral rights, reversion and historic grant of foreshore and wrecks - Stronghold of the Baron Glas)

Ascog is situated at the south end of the island of Bute off the west coast of Scotland. This extensive territory or fief for centuries returned a member to the Scottish Parliament for Ascog and the county of Buteshire, Bute is now controlled by the Marquis of Bute, but was not earlier. The castle of Glasroffe stronghold of Glas Barons was situate on a rocky promontory known as Ascog Point at the south end of Ascog Bay, now in part occupied by Ascog Free Church. The principal settlement overlooking the bay and the Firth of Clyde is the village of Ascog. Originally, the estate had its own mills, one of these a wauk and woollen mill, located on the shore adjacent to Ascog Burn near to the site where a treasure trove was found 1813. The second, a corn mill was located on Millhole Road and a third on the lands of Bogany, these mills dating from Medieval times and operating into the nineteenth century. Located on an island distant from railways and airports, Ascog still has its pier on which local business and communication depended for boat traffic and the post office boasted its own Ascog post stamp until 1970.

The name of Ascog is of Norse origin, meaning the boat-shaped mound which dates from visitations by the Vikings in the thirteenth century where they landed before advancing to attack and occupy Rothesay Castle.

Following the Norman Conquest of England, William the Conqueror granted extensive estates to his ally and follower, Robert de Breos or de Brus, the 'noble Knight of Normandy' but it was Robert's son, also Robert Brus who fought at the Battle of the Standard against the Scots in the twelfth century. His son, the third Robert Brus became a founder of the royal line of Scotland and his father gave him Annandale in Scotland, being thus a Leigeman of the Crown of Scotland. However, Robert III turned and was taken in fair battle against the Anglo-Normans by his own father who sent him to the English Monarch. He, probably struck with the extraordinary situation of the parties and pleased with the good faith of Robert II, placed his captive once more at the disposal of his parents. The young Lord Brus of Annandale complaining to his father that the Valley of Ann afforded no wheat and bread, in compensation for his privation his father gave him the wheat producing Manor of Hart. By this time, Robert Brus III was paying 100s in scutage in 1171 to the Crown and was followed by a son of the same name who in turn was followed by his son William, followed by Robert V of Hart and Annandale who married Isobel, daughter of David, Earl of Huntingdon and granddaughter of Henry Prince of Scotland, the source of the Royal Blood in the Bruce family.

Robert Bruce VI adhered firmly to Henry III in the Barons War and commanded the Scottish auxiliaries he was however taken prisoner at Lewes though the victory of Evesham restored him to his honours and to his northern Government at Carlisle. The sudden death of King Alexander III of Scotland followed by that of his grandchild, Margaret of Norway, six years later, opened the Scottish succession to competing claims. Of these, John Balliol, Robert Bruce and John Hastings were Vassels of the English Crown. King Edward I, appointed arbiter decided on Balliol and Robert Bruce, dying in his castle at Loch Maben, his cause was taken up by his son, Robert Bruce VII but remained loyal to England. It was his son, the ninth Robert Bruce who, when Scotland was under invasion again settled his claim to the throne. He was crowned King of Scotland 27th March 1306 but within in a year was in exile in Ireland. In 1312 King Robert Bruce fighting for freedom in the west, invaded Bute to storm and capture Rothsay Castle. He probably landed at Ascog Bay controlled by Glasroffe Castle, where he would have been met by Baron Glas since legend has it that Glas and sixteen retainers and another Laird with a few more, joined Bruce in the capture of Rothsay Castle. So pleased with the conduct of Glas, Robert caused his learned clerk to make out a Crown charter in the favour of Glas over the lands he held at Ascog after which Glas styled himself as Baron Glas of Ascog which continued to be referred to as late as 1863. Whilst the charter has not been discovered in the register of the Great Seal, this is not altogether surprising due to the turbulent history of the country in later years.

In 1813 a group of workers constructing the coastal road from Rothesay to Ascog, adjacent to Ascog Bay, came across a hoard of coins buried just below Millbank. Among the coins were Scottish pennies of the time of Alexander III, Robert Bruce and Ballioll, also English pennies of Edward I struck at different towns and some Irish pennies. The coins are believed to be part of the military purse which the paymaster of Rothesay Castle escaped with when the Castle surrendered to the Steward of Scotland in 1335. The then shortest route to the sea was by way of Ascog Burn to Ascog Bay, the hoard no doubt buried by the paymaster, fleeing for his life but hoping to return.

By 1544 the lands of Ascog were in the hands of Archibald Maklachlane confirmed by a Crown Charter granted by Queen Mary and consented by her Cousin, James, Earl of Arran, then protector and Governor of Scotland. At the time, Queen Mary was still a child of only two years. The Earl of Arran as heir presumptive could probably be described as 'her cousin' since Arran was head of the powerful Hamilton family. As Governor, it was his duty to protect the interests of the infant Queen and to deal with the affairs of state. He carried out these duties sufficiently but in 1566 rebelled against Mary on her marriage to Darnley though by 1569 he was back in power as leader of the Queen's Party.

When in 1546 the Crown Charter was granted it is fair to assume that the child Queen Mary knew nothing of Ascog or its existence. However her Governor, as Earl of Arran, the island closest to Bute would have been well acquainted with it. Two years later at only five years of age, Queen Mary with the consent and connivance of her Governor, the Earl of Arran was transported from Dunbarton by ship to France to marry the Dauphin of France, a boy one year her junior. For the part he played in the arranged marriage, Arran received an honour from the French and was created Duke of Chatelherault. King Henry II of France was so delighted with the prospect of his son marrying Mary that he sent a part of the French fleet and his Royal Galley to Dunbarton for the purpose. He lately described her as 'the most perfect child I have ever seen'. To avoid risk of attack by the English fleet, his ships took the more hazardous route down the west coast of Scotland, sailing down the Clyde past Bute, Ascog and Arran.

The MacLachlane's continued quietly at Ascog granting rights to work coal, build salt pans, erect mills and were probably little affected by the affairs of state in Scotland, however when Archibald MacLachlane died 1575, the future of Ascog was raised in Holyrood House, since it was 'holden of the King, Prince of Scotland'. A Crown letter was dispatched from Holyrood House to the Sheriff of Bute, dated 3rd November 1575, instructing him to proceed to the service of Donald MacLachlane as lawful heir to Archibal MacLachlane of Ascog. Since Donald was a minor and had not reached the age of 21, the Crown letter commanded the Sheriff to protect the lands of Ascog. By this time, Mary Queen of Scots was a prisoner in England held in bondage by Queen Elizabeth I. Accordingly, the letter written on her behalf was signed by the Earl of Moreton as Regent of Scotland. Mary denounced Moreton, as 'my greatest enemy', his principal achievement being credited with his introduction to Scotland of an engineering monstrosity of torture and execution, euphemistically called 'The Maiden' by which he was ironically later executed for his part in the murder of Darnley.

As a result of the Crown letter, the MacLachlane's remained secure at Ascog until 1593 when they surrendered their lands in exchange for others, to be re-granted by the King to the Stewart family. The Stewarts were an astute and ambitious family playing full part in local and national affairs. They sat in the Scots Parliament as Stewarts of Ascog in 1628/33, 1648 and 1651 and were appointed Crowners of Bute and in 1598 held the office of Captain and Keeper of the Castle of Dunivaig of Islay. The Scottish Parliament met in a number of different buildings and not until 1641 at the Parliament House in Edinburgh. There was no division of Parliament into an upper and lower house and only five groups of people sat, namely officers of the state, the higher clergy, nobility, Barons of Shires and Burgesses of Royal Burghs.

King James VI had taken the Castle of Dunivaig from the MacDonalds and the Earl of Argyle in 1596 and in 1598 Stewart of Ascog was appointed Captain and Keeper. The other office held by Stewart of Ascog, Crowner of Bute is of ancient origin, held only from 1666 to 1698 when it was disponed to Sir James Stewart of Bute. In 1673, King Charles II with the advice and consent of his cousins, John Duke of Lauderdale, John Earl of Rothes, John Earl of Tweedale, Alexander Earl of Kincarden, William Earl of Dundonald and Charles Maitland of Haltoun, Treasurer Depute granted a Crown charter in favour of John Stewart of Ascog of the 'Three Pounds land of Over and Nether Ascog with the mills and pertinences in the Parish of Kingarth and the Sheriffdom of Bute'.

When they first took over Ascog, the Stewarts lived on their Ascog lands since at that time it was law that Barons and Lairds of Land 'holden of the King of Scotland' should reside within such lands before being entitled to sit in the Scots Parliament. The Stewarts of Ascog possibly resided at the Castle of Ascog since it was only in 1661 that the Earl of Argyle destroyed the Castle and the Stewarts moved to the newly completed Mansion House of Ascog in 1668. The house built of stone, quarried from the Ascog Hill is a good example of Baronial building of the period and the Stewarts had their Coat of Arms on a shield bearing the date 1678 set in the stone over the main entrance doorway. They developed the surrounds to a mansion fitting to their style and their country seat with landscaped and walled gardens, fresh salmon, trout and cod landed on their own foreshore and from their Loch of Ascog. Determined to hold Ascog in perpetuity in 1773 John Stewart of Ascog wrote his new will and 'deed of entail' though in 1815. MacArthur Stewart, the last of the direct line died and the mansion and estate passed to his nephew Frederick Campbell an Attorney in Virginia and from an able and highly respected family. Frederick Campbell despite his fear of travelling by water, took ship and landed in Scotland August 1815, conscious of the need to take up residence in order to claim the inheritance. Under the conditions of the deed of entail of 1773 it was necessary for him to assume the name and arms of Stewart of Ascog. Equally, as an American, and an alien of the Crown, he could not hold land within the United Kingdom until he became a British citizen. It took him a further ten years before he secured naturalisation. Intending to sell Ascog, he placed it on the market but a hoard of relatives appeared claiming under the terms of the 1773 deed that he had no right to sell or they should receive a share. On legal advice, he took his case to the law lords in Edinburgh but lost and appealed to the English House of Lords but had died before judgement could be given, sickened by the legal disputes and by consumption. The new heir to Ascog was his younger brother Ferdinand, a professor of mathematics in the college of William and Mary in Virginia. Ferdinand was endowed with a sharp intellect and stronger constitution and arriving at Edinburgh September 1828 briefed his lawyers and moved to London. He secured naturalisation of both Houses of Parliament in 1829 and almost immediately afterwards received a favourable decision of the House of Lords over-ruling the 1773 deed of entail and promptly sold the Ascog estate to Robert Thom.

Robert Thom, the new Laird of Ascog was a different breed of man from the long established land owning Stewarts. Born of the industrial revolution in Scotland, he was a brilliant engineer and shrewd business man, sympathetic also to the arts. He granted to Montague Stanley, actor and artist, who had settled in Ascog the right to be buried at Ascog Point and was directly responsible for introducing Edmund Keane the great Shakespearean actor to Bute and negotiated for him a plot of land beside Loch Fad on which he built the famous house known as Keane's cottage. By the time he was fifty years of age he had secured sole ownership of the Rothsay cotton mills becoming the largest employer of labour in Rothesay, six years later in 1831 becoming able to buy the valuable Ascog estate. From that time he described himself as Robert Thom of Ascog and moved with his family to the Mansion House of Ascog. As an engineer he became responsible for the reports and water supplies to many major cities in Scotland and across Europe and further afield. As Laird of Ascog, Thom also set about organising his estate, maintaining and conserving the amenities whilst at the same time feuing title in land subject to conditions and restrictions, which conditions remain in force until this day. In 1847 in his 72nd year, Robert Thom died at Ascog mansion house and a simple gravestone in the high church yard in Rothesay marks where he lies. His high standards of amenity prevailed when granting the site of Ascog church to the authorities for a nominal sum, this being reputedly the site of Glasroffe Castle owned by the Barons of Glas and stronghold of the Barons Glas of Ascog. Among the sites he feued were to Laurie of Laureston, who in 1838 built the imposing house of Montford. Another was Charles Rennie McIntosh, the eminent architect and artist, Admiral the Honourable Charles Elfinstone Fleeming of Cumbernauld and Robert Bontine Cunningham Graham, known throughout the Americas as Don Roberto.

A substantial part of the Estate of Ascog including Ascog Farm, the Lairdship and Superiority were purchased in the last century by George Bell Barker and the Lairdship and Superiority have continued in his family subsequently.

Of the Superiority we are advised that this continues to be active in holding the mineral rights across much of the estate, sections of the foreshore, the feuars and vassals attached, together with the right to grassums in the varying of feuars. There may also be reversions within the Lairdship as in the case of Ascog Church where the feu contract between the parties in 1853 provides that "in the event of the buildings erected upon the said ground being used for any purpose not connected with divine worship or education, the said Robert Craig and Robert Elder and their aforesaids shall forfeit their right to the said piece of ground and all buildings and materials which may happen to be thereon at the time and the same shall revert and return to and become the property of the said trustees....................as if the same had never been granted.' Ascog Church, whilst still active has been considering a move to another church in Rothesay to be followed by possible redevelopment of the site.

With the Lairdship and Superiority the present owner holds the 'Ascog Charter Chest' with its historic collection of Crown charters and ancient documents that directly relate to Ascog and provide a fascinating insight to its history.

Documents associated with the Lairdship Superiority and Ancient Feudal Barony of Ascog on the Isle of Bute  (Record of the documents is held at the Register of Archives, Scotland)

12th December 1503 Charter by Ninian Cochren, Lord of the North Half of the lands of Ascok in favour of Hugh, Lord Montgomery of the said lands lying in the lordship and sheriffdom of Bute for the sum of 30 merks Scots.

23rd August 1510 Copy of crown charter in favour of John Glas of Ardnaquho of four and half merks of the lands of Askog, in the lordship and Sheriffdom of Bute; which lands formerly pertained heritably to John Glas of Askok.

12th June 1544 Charter by Archibald Maklauchlane of Askoig in favour of Lachlane Maklachlane of that Ilk and Katherine Taith, his spouse, of the four merk land of Askoig, in the lordship and sheriffdom of Buit.

11th June 1546 Crown charter in favour of Archibald Macklauchlane, son of Lauchlan Macklauchlane of that Ilk and Catherine Tait, his wife, of the three pound land of Askok, in the lordship and sheriffdom of Bute; which lands previously pertained heritably to Archibald Maklauchlane, son of deceased Archibald Macklauchlane of Dovard. The charter is granted by Queen Mary with the advice and consent of her dearest cousin James, Earl of Arran, her tutor, 'protector and governor of our kingdom'.

6th May 1553 Instrument of sasine in favour of Archibald McLachlane, son and heir of Archibald McLachlane of that Ilk, of the three pound land of Askok of old extent, lying in the Island of Bute and sheriffdom of the same.

1st June 1553 Procuratory of resignation by Archibald Mclauchlane of Askok.

16th January 1553/4 Instrument of resignation by Archibald Mclauchlane of Askok preceding crown grant no. 8.

16th January 1553/4 Crown charter in favour of Lachlan Mclauchlane of that Ilk and Catherine Tait, his spouse in conjunct fee, of the three pound land of old extent of Askok, in the island and sheriffdom of Bute; which lands formerly pertained heritably to Archibald Mclauchlane of Askok. Queen Mary grants this charter with the advice and consent of her dearest cousin and tutor, James, Duke of Chattellerault, Earl of Arran, 'protector and governor of our kingdom', for the good, faithful and voluntary service given to the Queen and her tutor by the said Lachlan.

20th July 1554 Instrument of sasine following no. 9.

1st April 1568 Crown letters of gift in favour of John Stewart, son of Ninian Stewart of Kilchattane, of the ward and non-entry feesand other feudal casualties due from the three pound land of Ovir and Nethir Askois, with the 'coilheuch' and pertinents, within the isle and sheriffdom of Bute; which lands formerly pertained to deceased Archibald oig Maklauchlane, brother of Archibald Maklauchlane of that Ilk. Granted by James VI with advice and consent of his dearest cousin, James, Earl of Moray, Regent.

3rd November 1575 Letter of James VI of Scotland, signed by the Earl of Morton as regent in the King's name, dated Halyrude House and addressed to the Sheriff of Bute.

20th May 1576 Contract between Donald Maklauchlane, son and heir apparent of deceased Archibald alias Gillaspie og Makclachlane of Escok, with consent of Duncan Maklachlane of (Em...g?) his curator, for his interest, and also with consent of 'maiste tender and narrest kynsmen and freindis of faderis side and moderis side on the said Donald Maklachlane, concur and alltogider in ane voice to the utilitie and profeit of him and his house as is eftir specifeit..........'

15th December 1578 Charter by Donald Maklachlane of Askois and Auchinhale in favour of John Stewart of Largevrechtane and Marion Fairlie, his spouse in conjunct fee, of the lands of Over Askoke with the north half of Nadir. Askoke, extending to three pounds of lands of old extent, in the island of Bute and the sheriffdom of the same.

20th December 1578 Instrument of sasine following on no. 13.

15th December 1578 Document narrating that Donald McLachlane of Askoke and Auchinhale, having attainded the age of 21 years complete, has granted a feu charter of this date in favour of John Stewart of Largevrechtane and Marion Fairlie, his spouse.

3rd November 1575 Crown letters instructing the sheriff of Bute to proceed to the service of Donald Macklachlane as heir to the deceased Archibald Macklachlane of Eskok, his father, although he said Donald has not yet reached the 'lauchfull and perfit age of twentie ane yeiris'.

14th April 1584 Charter by William Glass of Ardnahois in favour of John Stewart of Largabrachtane and Marion Fairlie, his spouse of twenty shillings land of Nethir Ascok, now occupied by the said John, and the granter's part of the lake called Lochascok, within the lordship of Bute and sheriffdom of the same.

15th February 1593 Procuratory of resignation by Donald McLauchlane of the three pound land of Escogis of old extent, in the isle and sheriffdom of Bute, into the hands of the King, for new infeftment by His Majesty in favour of John Stewart and Marion Fairlie, his spouse in conjunct fee.

11th February 1594/5 Procuratory of resignation by Donald Mclaythlane of Ahownhall in favour of John Steward of Escoge and Marion Fairlie, his spouse, in conjunct fee, of the forty shilling land of Overascoge and the twenty shilling land of Netherescoge, with the mill, and the loch called Escoge Loch, lying in the island and sheriffdom of Bute.

17th March 1594/5 Crown charter in favour of John Stewart of Askoge and Marion Fairlie, his spouse. Details given in precept following hereon no.21.

17th March 1594/5 Precept furth of chancery in favour of John Stewart of Askoge and Marion Fairlie, his spouse, in conjunct fee, and their lawful heirs male, whom failing the nearest lawful heirs male of the said John bearing the arms and name of Stewart, of the forty shilling land of Over Askoge, and the twenty shilling land of Nethir Askoge, with the mill of the same, in the island of Bute............

18th March 1594/5 / 18th April 1595 Instrument of the resignation following no. 19.Instrument of sasine following on no. 21.

20th September 1595 Instrument of sasine in favour of John Steward of Ardmeleisch, sheriff of Bute, and Jean Blare, his spouse, in conjunct fee, of the twenty shilling land of Nather Escoge, in the island and sheriffdom of Bute.

22nd September 1595 Charter by John Steward of Ardmeleisch, sheriff of Buit, with the special advice and consent of his beloved Jean Blair, his spouse, the conjunct friar, in favour of John Steward of Askog and Marion Fairlie, his wife, in conjunct fee, of the twenty shilling land of old extent of Nether Escogis, in the island and sheriffdom of Bute.

20th September 1595 Instrument of sasine apparently following on no. 25, although ex facie in ante-dates it by two days.

10th July 1609 Instrument of sasine in favour of John Stewart, younger, friar of Askoge, son of John Stewart of Askoge, of half of the lands of Bogany within the bounds of the burgh of Rothesay.

23rd October 1613 Precept furth of chancery in favour of John Stewart, now of Ascog, as her to the late John Stewart of Ascog, his father, in the lands of Over and Nether Ascog and others.

26th January 1630 Charter by James Stewart of Ardinho in favour of John Stewart of Ascog, in liferent, and Ninian Stewart, his son, in fee, of the twenty shilling land of old extent of Mayns of Neddir Ascog, in the island of Buit and Sheriffdom of the same............

27th January 1630 Instrument of sasine following on no.30.

26th March 1630 Charter by John Stewart of Askog in favour of Ninian Stewart, his eldest son and heir, of the three pound land of old extent of Askogis, with the pertinents, lying in the island of Bute and sheriffdom of the same. The grantee reserves his liferent of the lands.

4th November 1630 Instrument of sasine in favour of John Stewart, now of Askoge, as heir to the deceased John Stewart of Askoge, his father, of the forty shilling land of Over Askoge and the twenty shilling land of Nather Askoge, with the mill, and the Loch of Askoge....................

11th December 1630 Crown letters of gift in favour of John Stewart of Askog, 'guidsar' of John Stewart, now of Ardinho, of the ward and non-entry fees, and other feudal casualties arising from the death of James Stewart of Ardinho.

24th January 1636 Charter by John Stewart of Askog in favour of Ninian Stewart, his eldest lawful son, of his forty shilling lands of Over Askog and the twenty shilling lands of Neddir Askog, with the mill, in the island of Bute and sheriffdom of the same.

12th October 1664 Instrument of sasine in favour of John Stewart, younger of Askoge, of the coal and mines of coal on the lands of Grenoche and others specified, within the bounds of the burgh of Rothesay.

7th August 1666 Disposition by James Cunynghame, writer in Edinburgh, in favour of Mr John Stewart of Ascog, Advocate, of the five pound land of Balshagrie and others in the parish of Govan and the sheriffdom of Lanark............

28th July 1671 Precept furth of chancery in favour of Margaret Graham as nearest heir of the late Margaret and Jonet Carnegy, her mother and maternal aunt respectively, of the other lands of Over and Nethir Ascoge which once pertained to John Stewart of Barshegray; and of other specified lands which once pertained to Hector Bellenden of Kaimes.

27th October 1671 Instrument of sasine following on precept no. 38 supra.

3rd March 1673 Assignation by John Stewart of Ascog to William, Earl of Dundonald, in liferent, and William, Lord Cochrane, his son, in fee, of all his rights in a procuratory of resignation granted by Margaret Grahame, only lawful daughter of the late William Grahame, glover in Edinburgh, respecting the three pound land over Over and Neither Ascogs.

27th October 1673 Instrument of sasine in favour of Mr John Stewart of Ascog, Advocate, of certain specified lands in Upper Bogany, within the bounds of the burgh of Rothesay.

14th April 1674 Instrument of sasine following no. 42.

23rd May 1675 Charter by the provost and bailies of Rothesay in favour of Mr John Stewart of Ascog, for the good and faithful service done to the said burgh by him, of the lands described in no. 45, the reddendo to be three shillings Scots yearly, in name of feu duty.

27th July 1675 Instrument of sasine following on no. 44 in favour of Mr John Stewart of Ascog, Advocate, of a piece of ground within the bounds of the burgh of Rothesay, between the lands of Bardnall on the south and the east and the lands of Grenoch on the west and north; and also of land commonly called the Bught, lying in Upper Bogany.

4th March 1676 Precept furth of chancery in favour of Alexander Wilsone, writer in Edinburgh, of the three pound of Over and Nether Ascoges in the parish of Kingarth and Rowsay, island of Bute, and sheriffdom of the same.........

1st September 1676 Instrument of sasine in favour of Mr John Stewart of Ascog, Advocate, of the lands of Over and Nather Askogis in the parish of Kingarthe and Rowsay, in the island of Bute and sheriffdom of the same.

29th November 1815 Precept furth of chancery in favour of Frederick Campbell Stewart, now of Ascog, as nearest heir of entail and provision, of the lands of Over and Nether Ascoge, with the pertinents, in the parish of Kingarth and sheriffdom of Bute........

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Lot #1 of Hobbs & Chambers Auction – July 1966

Extract from Skeat's “The Place Names of Berkshire”.

It lies between Shrivenham and Lambourn. Spelt ASSCHEBURY. But the Anglo-Saxon name was Æscesbyrig; the nominative case occurs as Æscesburh. This renders it certain that the name is not derived (as a guesser would suppose) from “ash” as in the name of a tree; but from the Anglo-Saxon Æsc, which was in use as a man’s name, though the original sense had reference to a tree. One Æsc was the son of no less a man than Hengist. Hence the sense is “Æsc’s borough” or “Ash’s borough”. The syllable “-es” was easily lost after the sound of “sh”.

The Domesday Survey.

VII. THE LAND OF THE CHURCH OF GLASTONBURY.

IN HILLESLĀUE ( ) HUNDRET.

The Abbey of Glastingeberie (Glastonbury) holds EISSEBERIE (Ashbury¹) and held it T.R.E. and since (semper) T.R.E. it was assessed at 40 hides; now (it is assessed) at 16 hides and 2½ virgates. There is land for 20 ploughs. On the demesne are 3 ploughs; and (there are) 13 villeins and 26 bordars with 5 ploughs. There are 5 serfs and a mill worth (de) 10 shillings, and 200 acres of meadow and a little woodland.

Of the land of this manor Robert de Olgi holds 4½ hides of the abbot, and Alwi 3 hides and Edward 2 hides. There on the demesne are 5 ploughs, and (there are) 2 villeins and 7 bordars with 1 plough. A church is there, and a priest having one hide, and 4 serfs and a mill worth (de) 12 shillings and 6 pence.

The whole T.R.E. was worth 35 pounds; afterwards 20 pounds; what the abbot holds is now (worth) 20 pounds; what the (abbot’s) men (hold is worth) 12 pounds.

IN HILLESLAU (          ) HUNDRET.

The same William holds ORDEGESTION (Odstone). Osgot held it of King Edward in alod. It was then assessed at 10 hides; now (it is assessed) at 5 hides. There is land for 7 ploughs. On the demesne are 2 ploughs; and (there are) 18 bordars with 3 ploughs. There are 5 serfs and 200 acres of meadow. T.R.E. it was worth 12 pounds; afterwards 8 pounds; now 10 pounds.

This entry is omitted and is placed at the foot of the page in the MS.
Now in the Hundred of Shrivenham.

History of the Manor

In 840 a grant was made by Æthelwulf, King of the West Saxons, to his minister Duda of 20 cassatos “at Asshedoune”, identified in the Glastonbury cartulary as Ashbury. In 856 Æthelwulf granted 20 cassatos at “Æcesbyrig” to his thegn Aldred. The same land was granted by King Edmund in 944 to a thegn Wulfric, who also received a grant of 20 mansas from King Edred in 955, and a grant of “Æcesburh”, in restoration, apparently, from King Edgar in 960. There is, further, in the Abingdon Chronicle a charter of King Edred, dated 953, granting 33 cassatos at “Æcesburuh” to his minister Elfsige and Eadgifu his wife, which according to the chronicler were afterwards given to the abbey. Glastonbury Abbey, which held Ashbury in 1086, referred its title to a grant of King Edred, who according to the “Historia” of the abbey gave 40 hides to the monks, whilst the register called the “Secretum Abbatis” contains a charter, held to be the title-deed of this manor, which is a grant from the same king in 947 to his count Edrigus (Eadsige) of 20 mansas at Aysshedoune, said to have been transferred by Edric to Abbot Dunstan together with the charter.

In 1086 the Abbot of Glastonbury’s demesne at ASHBURY was assessed at 16 hides 2½ virgates. Ashbury, the only estate in Berkshire held by Glastonbury, figures with the other abbey estates in the quarrel between this house and the Bishops of Bath and Wells in the 12th and 13th centuries. The conflict lingered on until 1218, when papal delegates effected a new settlement between the two parties whereby Ashbury, with other manors gained by Bishop Savaric under an award of 1202, reverted to the monks, the bishop  a

retaining the advowson. This arrangement was confirmed by a deed in 1266. Bishop Walter quit-claimed (inter alia) the manor of Ashbury to the monks, and they agreed that the bishop, as lord of the abbey, should take the return of writs throughout the abbey lands and return them to the abbots and their bailiffs at Ashbury (for Berkshire), and that the abbots should certify the bishop's bailiffs in matters touching the county at the county court and in other matters at Edwinston; further, the abbots were to have their pleas de namio vetito and other liberties as when they held of the king in chief, and were to have a moiety of all amercements if they could find a sworn bailiff to collect them. In 1275 a final concord was made between the bishop and abbey, the bishop granted the mesne lordship and patronage and his moiety of the amercements to the king, and in 1280 the king confirmed to the abbey its rights as tenant in chief and granted it the moiety of amercements. A quit-claim to the right of return of writs was made by William de Valence, lord of Shrivenham Hundred, in 1286. In 1330 the abbot had a grant of free warren in his demesne lands at Ashbury.

A 13th-century survey shows that the demesne of Ashbury comprised 667 acres of arable land, scattered in holdings of from 1 to 34 acres in the two common fields, East Field and West Field, and about 129 acres of meadow, similarly scattered in the different meadows. The garden and orchard contained 2 acres, among the assets being the fish-pond and the dovecote. The mill was held by a villein tenant. Customs payable to the lord were measured and reghayed, the latter due at the sowing of the two common fields. Special customs regulated the status of the “wylemanin” of the manor, viz., the reeve, brewer, hayward, woodward, and shepherd. This survey may be compared with the terrier made in 1519. At this time the inner court of the manor, with barton and croft containing 2 acres, was reserved to the lord and to the monastic scholars at Oxford; the outer court with its buildings, together with 55 acres of meadow in North-mead, Upmead and Westhoyke, 2 acres of meadow called Reve Acre and Reve Ham, an acre of pasture called Lyncheacre, pasture in Old Marsh and Aysshen Park and mountain pasture for 400 sheep, were in the hands of a farmer, who also held the arable part of the demesne, consisting of 415 acres in the common fields. In the wood called Aysshen Park, which contained 273 acres, the lord had certain rights over the wood and shared common of pasture with his tenants and those of Edwinston and Stainswick.

Glastonbury Abbey was seized into the king's hands in 1539 and in 1543 the manor of Ashbury was granted to Sir William Essex of Chipping Lambourn. Thereafter it followed the descent of Chipping Lambourn (q.v.), and after the sale to William Craven that of Hampstead Marshall (q.v.), the present lord of the manor being the Earl of Craven.

The manor of KINGSTONE WINSLOW (Kingeston or Wendelciva, xii cent.; Wendlcslive, xiii cent.; Kingston Wendelcyve, xiv cent.; Kyngeston Wyndeslyf, xv cent.; Kyngeston Wyncheclif, xvi cent.; Kingston Winsclife or Winsloe, Kingston Winslow, xvii cent.) is probably the fee of 4½ hides held in 1086 by Robert Doyley, the “antecessor” of the Bassets (see Letcombe Bassett). In 1189 Ralph Basset held 5 hides in Wendelciva of the abbot, and in 1196 the vill of Kingstone is called “of Ralph Basset”. At the beginning of the 13th century three tenants held under the Bassets in Kingstone—William de Heriz, Robert de Knitel or Knighteley and William de Wavering. Another Robert de Knighteley held lands, rent and a mill in Kingston and Wendlesclive” in 1310. In 1343 John Archer and homage for the Basset fee, and in 1356, as John Archer of Staffordshire, granted his lands in Kingstone Winslow together with the services of his tenants, Robert de Knighteley and Sir John le Brut, to his son Richard.

In 1428 Gilbert Wyke was returned as tenant of the fee in Kingstone Winslow. William Wyke was said to hold the 5 hides of the Bassets in 1518, and Thomas Wyke died seised of a capital messuage and 14 virgates of land in Kingstone Winslow, Edwinston and Ashbury in 1596, leaving a son Edward, a minor, who had livery in 1610. In 1665-6 Anthony Weekes was summoned to appear before the herald as a resident of Ashbury, but was returned as not living there.

The estate held by the Wyke or Weekes family does not seem, however, to have comprised the whole of the earlier holding, for in 1518 Robert Belson of Brill (Bucks) was seised of “a manor” of Kingston Winchcliff which he settled on himself and his wife Sybil for life, with remainder to his brother William Belson. William Belson levied a fine of the manor in 1568. His son Augustine Belson sold it in 1571 to Richard Cole. The property seems to have been divided, for in 1623 and 1624 Richard Cole, sen., John Cole and Richard Cole, jun., were dealing with a third.

In 1665-6 John Cole was cited before the herald as a resident of Ashbury, and in 1679 a John Cole suffered a recovery of a water-mill and land in Kingstone Winslow. A water-mill was in the possession of William Brown in 1681. The manorial rights were apparently acquired by the Lord of Ashbury before 1795, as Kingston Winslow was one of the manors of which William Lord Craven suffered a recovery in that year.

In 1086 the manor of ORDESTON (Ordegeston, xvi cent.) formed part of the lands of William Fitz Richard, successor of Osgot, tenant in alod under King Edward. William Fitz Richard was the predecessor of the manor of Uffington, held by Walter de Crepys. William's descendants returned in the a “carta” of Robert Scroop in 1166 was Simon de Ordington, whose name is probably a corrupt form of Ordeston. Of the same family may have been Simon Fitz Hugh, who according to the Testa de Nevill held one knight’s fee in Ordeston of Richard Scroop as of the barony of Scroop. By the return of 1201–12 Hugh Fitz Hugh was holding by military service in Berkshire and in 1219 he was dealing with a knight’s fee in Ordeston, for which he paid 12s., as for 6 carucates, at the carucage levied in 1221. He is called Hugh de Ordeston in a deed of rather later date. A Simon de Ordeston appears in the second half of the century, and about 1278 sold the manor to Henry de Shottesbrok in exchange for land at Oore (Wilts) and for a sum paid to the Jews on behalf of Simon de Ordeston. Henry de Shottesbrook was succeeded by his son John de Shottesbrook, and a Joan de Shottesbrook, possibly widow of John, was returned as holding Ordeston in 1316. In 1329 Gilbert de Shottesbrook settled the manor on himself and his wife Joan and their issue. He seems to have been succeeded by another Gilbert, for a Gilbert de Shottesbrook was returned tenant of the fee in Ordeston in inquisitions on the overlords during the rest of this century, and at the beginning of the next. John Shottesbrook, who succeeded, bought the neighbouring manor of Becket in Shrivenham in 1424, and the descent of Ordeston is then the same as that of Becket in Shrivenham, and after 1543 of Ashbury (q.v.).

The estate called RUFFINSWICK appears as pasture lands held with the manor of Ordeston by Thomas Rogers at his death in 1471. Its descent is the same as that of the manor of Ordeston (q.v.), and after 1543 of Ashbury (q.v.). The property is sometimes described as a manor.

The Manorial documents to be handed over are:—

Court Rolls, 40: 1572, and 1663–1710.
Court Books, 3: 1720–1841.
Estreat Rolls, 4: 1661–1672.
Jury Presentments, 1 bundle: 1740–1757.
Rental: 1661–1662.

In addition to the documents to be handed over, the following, which relate to the Manor, are in the possession of the Public Record Office, London:—

Legal Hundreds.
Portmote and Market.
Pleas. 8–9 Edw. ij

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Lot #15 of Bernard Thorpe Auction - June 1986

In the Ninth Century this ancient lordship, in the Evingar Hundred of Hampshire, was held by the Church of Winchester for the maintenance of the monks. It was later appropriated by the Bishop of Winchester, but restored to the Church by Edward King of Wessex in 909.

The Prior and Convent had lost all rights to the Manor of Ashmansworth by 1208-9 because the Pipe Rolls for that period record that the lordship was entirely in the Bishop's hands.

In 1284 King Edward I, in the general confirmation of the ownership of manors given in a royal charter, stated that the Bishop was lord of the manor.

The Reverend Obadiah Sedgwick purchased the lordship from the Bishop in 1649. He died, lord of the manor, in 1654 and his son, also Obadiah, inherited the lordship. By 1660 the Bishop had become lord of the manor once more. In about the year 1800 the ancestor of the present lord of the manor, the Earl of Carnarvon, purchased the lordship.

DOCUMENTS ASSOCIATED WITH THE MANOR:

1 Royal Charter of King Edward I 1284

2 Court rolls (towns) 1505/6, 1518-34 (not consec.), 1563/4, 1564-66, 1567-70, 1599-1601, 1529-46, 1712

3 Included in book of fines 1507-10, 1561/2, 1562-64, 1600-08, 1645/6

4 Book of surrenders 1598-1728

5 Account rolls, court rolls 16th – 18th cent.

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Lot #12 of Manorial Services Auction - 2004 UNPUBLISHED/ABORTED - Stephen Johnson

LYING 4 miles north-west from Skipton, Eshton is a township in the parish of Gargrave. It measures around 1,100 acres and this includes Elso Hill, which rises to a height of 1,171 feet and affords an impressive view over the Aire Valley and the North Yorkshire Moors. Passing through it is Eshton Beck which runs into the river Aire.

Referred to as Eshtone in Domesday Book, an estate is recorded as belonging to Roger de Poitou:

In Eshtone, Arnnketil and Uhtraed had 6 carucates to the geld. 

This is a reference to the Saxon owners who had held this before the Norman invasion of 1066. Whether this is a reference to the Lordship of Eshton or an estate within it, or the township, is nor clear. The early history of Eshton is obscure but it would appear that it was at an early time in the hands of a Norman family which took its name from the village. The earliest reference to them comes in the marriage of one of them to Amesia, daughter of Cicely de Romille, who owned the Barony of Skipton. Eshton  then descended to the unnamed son of that union who married a woman by the name of Constance. This marriage produced a son, Ranulph de Eston, otherwise known as Raghunt, who was living during the reign of Henry III (1216-1272) but of whom we know very little. His son and heir was his son John, who in turn was succeeded by his son John.

This John de Eshton catapulted the family’s name to prominence in 1281 when he came forward to claim the Barony of Skipton. In that year Eshton went to Westminster to plead with Edward I (1272-1307) that the Barony and all its lands should come to him by right of his descent from Amecia. He also claimed for himself the Earldom of Albermarle, which had been last in the possession of the rebellious William de Fortibus. Amecia had been the daughter of William le Gross, who had been the first Earl of Albermarle and had died in 1179. This title had passed to the husband of Amecia’s sister Hawise. Eshton’s claim was a bold one but a strong one and Edward was forced to concede. His claim over Skipton was tenuously based on the former possession of his brother Edmund, earl of Lancaster. The consideration given to Eshton’s claim shows that the powers of the law and property was by this time beginning its eventual eclipse of that of the Sovereign. 

Edward could not avoid the claim and condescended to come to come to some sort of agreement with Eshton. In return for £100, land and the Lordship of the Manor of Apletrewick, Eshton agreed to relinquish his claim and a deed was produced, legally transferring Skipton to the King. John continued as Lord of the Manor of Eshton but from here the family slide back into historic obscurity. 

Despite appearances it appears that the Lordship of Eshton was in fact part of the Barony of Skipton and the Eshton family must have held it from the Baron. We know this because when the latter was granted to Robert le Clifford in 1312 Eshton appears as a member of the Baronial lands under the bailiwick of Malghale. It is even mentioned in a definition of Skipton Forest, which belonged to the Barony and to which Eshton was evidently a part;

The whole may be estimated at an area of six miles by four or 15,360 acres,with

respect to a subdivision known as Elso, long since forgotten, but Ayleshow

or Elso, which means the Hill of Elsi, or Aylsi a well known personal name

in the Saxon times,was that portion of the forest now called Skirackes, divided

by Crookrise by aperture in the hills from Skipton to Rilston and stretching

then to boundaries of Flasby, Eshton and Holme - Crookrise means nothing

more that Crooked Rise.

The forest was an important recreational area for the Clifford family and the inhabitants of Eshton were involved in it upkeep. During the reign of Elizabeth I the Clifford came into conflict with the Norton family of Rilston over hunting rights in the forest(1553-1558) the following report was made;

Launcelot Marton of Eshton, Esq saith That he was a boy and together with

his father he did see the keepers of Skipton Forest hunt and chase deer out

of the grounds of Rilston and also myne old lady Clifford, divers time bring 

deer out of Rilston without any let: and this deponent saw old lady

Clifford, mother to my lord of Cumberland that now is, hound her greyhounds  

within the said grounds of Rilston, and chase deer, and have them away

at her leisure, both red and fallow, till now of late that master Norton hath 

walled his grounds of Rilston, where the Forests were wont to walk, and

to draw my lord of Cumberland’s deer into his ground, he hath made a 

wall on üa high rigge, beside a quagmire and at the end of the wall he hath

rayled the ground, so that it is a destruction to my lord’s deer so many

as come.

From this report it would seem that the Clifford’s were by now Lords of Eshton and it is very likely that the Lordship reverted to them when the whole Barony of Skipton was gifted to them in 1312 or after the Eshton family line had died out. The Cliffords retained it until the end of the 17th century when it passed the Earls of Thanet, the Tufton family. It has remained in the possession of this family ever since and Eshton currently resides with their present representative, Lord Hothfield, who is the Vendor.

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Lot #23 of 'Beaumont Collection' Auction - Nov 1954

in the Parishes of Ashwelthorpe, Wreningham, etc. 

Ashwelthorpe lies 3 1/2 miles south-eat of Wymondham. According to Kelly's Directory for Norfolk (1937) there is in the Church "a tomb with recumbent effigies to Sir Edmund de Thorpe Kt. and Joan his wife (c. 1446); he was envoy from  Henry V to the Duke of Burgundy and was slain at the siege of Lover's Castle, in Normandy, but was buried here:; in the north chapel are five sustained windows with the arms of Thorp, Bourchier, Knyvet and Wilson families, and a brass to Jane (Bouchier) daughter of John, 2nd Baron Berners, and a wife of Edmund Knyvet, Esq., of Ashwelthorpe, who died on February 17th, 1561; there are tables to Knyvet Wilson, died 1796, and to Mary his wife, who died 1772, and some modern memorials to the Wilson family; the font given by Lady Knyvet about 1660 is octagonal, with carved shields bearing the arms of the Knyvet family." 

According to Blomefield ("History of Norfolk," Vol. V, p. 141) Ashwelthorpe was anciently called Thorp only and Ashwell was a hamlet on Thorp, but there being so may Thorps in the County about King Stephen's time, it began for distinction's sake to b called Ashwell Thorp. The name of Ashwell (Note: It signified the well or spring by the ashes) does not once occur in the Domesday Book, though it seems to have been a well inhabited place.

To historians and antiquarians the interest in these Manors lies in the fact that the Court Rolls and other Manorial Documents throw mor light on the Knyvet Family, which is the subject of "The Knyvet Letters," compiled by Dr. Bertram Schofield, of the British Museum, and published in 1949 by Contable & Col, Ltd., in collaboration with the Norwich Record Society. This book contains many letters written by Sir Thomas Knyvett to his wife while a prisoner of the Roundheads, for he was a staunch Royalist. They are regarded by literary experts as being equal to, if they do not surpass, the Paston Letters in their value as material for the economic history of those turbulent days. 

The Manor was in the Knyvet family in 1660, when the Court Rolls to be handed over commence, and on failure of the male line it passed through Elizabeth, granddaughter of the writer of the letters, to the Wilson family: Robert Wilson held his last Court Baron in the Manor on 2nd November, 1831, while on the 26th September, 1862, the Court is that of the Right Hon. Robert Lord Berners. His last Court was held on the 3rd November ,1837, and the next was the General Customary Court of the Right Hon. and Reverend Henry Lord Berners held on 16th May, 1838. On the 12th May, 1851, the Court was that of the Right Hon. Henry William Lord Berners, whose last Court was held on the 3rd November, 1871, and the next was that of the Hon. Grenville Cholmondley and Sir Frederick Thomas Fowke, Bart., as Trustees of his will. The last Court of the Trustees was held in 1899 after which there were numerous "Out of Court" proceedings at the office at Norwich of Mr. W. E. Ripley, the Steward, the Trustees conveyed the Manor of Ashwelthorpe, Wreningham, and Fundenhall with Hapton to George Frederick Beaumont on 7th February, 1919, and he held  his first and only Court on 1st August, 1922, Ernest William Saunders being the Steward.

There are no customs of an unusual kind in these Manors. The Common Law rule of descent prevailed, i.e. primogeniture, and the Lord was entitled to a third fo the value of Timber on Tenants' copyhold property. 

Copies of the Knyvett Letters can be obtained from Mr. T. F. Barton No. 16 Albemarle Road, Norwich, Hon. Sec. of the Norfolk Record Society.

The Manorial documents (insured for £300, premium 15/- per annum) to be handed over are: 

Court  Books: Ashwelthorpe 1660-1712; Ashwelthorpe with Wreningham 1728-58; 1759-90; 1791-1824; Ashwelthorpe 1825-64; 1865-1924; Wreningham 1819-41; 1841-1930.

Rental for the Two Manors: 1716-42. 

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Lot #12 of Stanford & Son's 'Second Auction' - Dec 1955

Pentney is a village sharing with Narborough a station on the Lynn and Dereham section of what used to be the London and North Eastern Railway. It lies on the river Nar 6 1/2 miles north-west-y-north from Swaffham and 8 1/2 miles south-east-by-east from Kings Lynn. It is in the Freebridge Hundred.

Blomefield (vol. IX, p. 37) says that it was a village, pent in, or surrounded with water, and that at the Confessor's time it was held by Hagan. "on the Conquest it was bestowed upon Roger  Bigod, who was the first of that great family (afterwards Earls of Norfolk) who settled in England, and was a Norman Earl (most probably ) taking place next to William Earl Warren and before those bishops, etc, who held Lordships in this county, as appears from the survey" (see cover page for the list of Lords in order of precedence); "for the services he performed at the conquest, he was highly rewarded with several Manors in Essex, etc., 117 in Suffolk and a large number in Norfolk," including several in the Beaumont Collection, sold at the first Auction, vis., Great and Little Lopham, Hapton and Fundenhall. 

upon the ejection of Hagan or Hagane (Blomefield identified him with Hacon, Son of Swain, eldest son of Earl Goodwine and brother of King Harold), Robert de Vallibus held the Manor of Bigot (or Bigod). At the Survey the Manor consisted of: "11 Villains, 14 borderers, 6 servi; there were 3 carucates in demean (demesne) and 3 amongst the tenants, 20 acres of meadow, 3 mills, the third part of a Salt work, the East Waltine as a beruite belonging to it,; it was worth in King Edward's time  £5 per annum, at the Survey  £7. The whole was 5 furlongs long and 4 broad, and paid 8d. gelt, 2 churches endowed with 30 acres, one here, the other (as I take it) at Walton valued at 2/8 per annum that is the 30 acres of glebe." 

 According to Blomefield the Manor remained in the de Vaux family until 1388 when John de Vaux died leaving two daughters coheirs, Petronel, who married Sir Wm. de Nerford, and Maud, who married Wm. de Ros, lord of Hamlake. For his services he was appointed Sheriff of Norfolk and Suffolk and soon after Governor of Norwich Castle. 

At this point in the history of the Manor, Blomefield digresses to deal with the Priory of the Holy Trinity and SS. Mary the Virgin and Mary Magdalene founded by Robert de Vaux for canons of the order of Augustine. All that remains of the building is a very fine gateway (approached by an accommodation road, with farm buildings close by) which shows how extensive and grand the complete structure must have been. To quote again from Blomefield, "In the 44th Edw. III (1371) the prior had a grant of free warren in this Manor, West Bilney and Thorp, and in the 12th of Richard II the men of Pentney were allowed to be toll free, it being esteemed ancient demeans." 

Henry VIII in 1539, "granted to Thomas Mildmay, Esq., (a family with many Manors in Essex), auditor of the Exchequer, the site of this dissolved priory with a watermill, the Manor of Pentney, called Ashwood, a foldcourse for 200 sheep, and all the messuages, lands, etc., belonging to the said Priory in this town." His son, Sir Thomas conveyed the same properties to Francis Wyndham, Esq., a judge of the King's Bench and in 1623 the latter sold to Sir Edward Bullock of Faulkbourn Hall, Essex. The subsequent devolution is as follows: 

Sir Thomas Richardson, Lord Chief Justice of the King's Bench, who died in 1631; his son, another Thomas, succeeded. The Norfolk family of Violet later had an interest in it and about 1710 Charles Nowys of Wood Ditton was Lord. At this point, "...Lloyd, Esq., (the historian give son Christian name), of Epping in Essex was Lord and his widow now possesses it" (1808). 

Referencing to the first Court Book to be handed over shows that John Lloyd was the Lord in 1758, when the opening Court of the Book, a "Court Leet and Baron" was held. During this period members fo the Case family, Thomas and John, acted as Stewards; they were succeeded by John Houchen, of Thetford, a solicitor.

By 1835, the Rev. George Thackeray was Lord. In 1852 when a Court was held at Wereham Hall, then the residence of John Houchen the Steward (The Manor of Wareham Hall is included in this auction) the Lords were the Bishop of Lincoln, Martin Thackeray and James Packe (probably one of the Leicestershire Packes). They were the trustees of the will of the Rev. Geo. Thackeray. All subsequent Courts, until the sale to Henry Edwards Paine in 1912, were held by trustees of the same testator. The conveyance, dated 31st December, 1912, which will be handed to the purchaser on completion is engrossed by hand on 21 pages of parchment and bears  23 signatures and seals of persons who were party to it. It throws much light on the history of the Thackeray family for the period 1849-1912 with many dates of births, marriages, and deaths. 

The last Court held for the Manor was in 1915, the year after Mr. Paine's purchase, his Steward being Horace Frederick Beaumont of Coggeshall.

There was an Enclosure Act in 1807 and the Commissioners' Award was made on the 6th June, 1809. As a result of this, what had formerly been a large common was divided up between the Lord and the tenants, in proportion to their rights and interests. The portions of the wastes allotted to the tenants, which they could thenceforth enclose, were held, "at the will of the Lord according to the custom of the Manor," in the same way as they held their copyhold properties, and they had to attend a Special Court on 3rd October in the same year to be admitted tenants thereof. This accounts for the fact that there were 18 admission at that Court. This Award is again referred to later.

At a special Court held in 1832, as much as £300 was paid on the admission of a copyhold tenant.

In the seventies there were a number of transactions enrolled in the Court Books consequent upon the construction of the Lynn and Dereham Branch Railway line, which passed through the Manor. Any copyhold land affected had to be enfranchised. 

Apart from the one court held at Wereham Hall by John Houchen, most of them were held at the "New Inn," Pentney. After the last Court held in 1913, all proceedings were "Out of Court," i.e., held in solicitors offices. The last of these proceedings to be enrolled was in 1934. 

At a Court Leet held in 8th November, 1758, Rules and Regulations were laid down in respect of the use of the common and waste lands. The homage, i.e., the tenants attending the Court, had to record these regulations and they were very rightly jealous of any attempt being made to make them more burdensome. These rules are interesting as showing what importance the Commoners attached to their rights over the large open s paces of the Manors; they are therefore set out in full below: 

1) We do agree that no mans shall cut above 2,000 flaggs to a tenement end and those to be cut on the further side of Great Sting, Easterly under penalty of five shillings to  hundred.

2) We do further agree they shall cut no Culpins under penalty of five shillings per score.

3) We do further agree they shall cut no flaggs nor Culpins on this side Great Sting and Easterly.

4) We do further order and agree that they shall sell no Whinns off the said Common out of Town under the Penalty of five shillings per score of faggots.

5) We do further agree no man shall take any fayre cattle on to the Common of Pentney under penalty of Five Shillings per head.

6) We do further agree no mans shall keep any sheep or lambs upon the said Common under Penalty of five shillings each.

7) We do further agree that no man shall turn any cattle into the lands without holding them in a line under penalty of five shillings per head.

8) We do further agree that no mans shall turn any horse or Mare having the Mange upon the said Common under penalty of ten shillings per horse or mare.

9) We do further agree that no man shall turn the water out of the watercourse under penalty of ten shillings for such fault.

10) We do further agree that every man shall keep up his Common Parts having ten days notice and for the first default to pay one shilling forfeiture.

11) We agree that this Verdict shall be good and standing force one year and no longer.

At the same Court there are two more interesting entries:

"We do further agree that Mr. William Winsarls shall receive the said forfeiture and pay one moiety thereof to the Informer and the other to be expended for draining the Common." 

"We present Abol Walker the Constable for not appearing at the Court and bringing his Leet Bill and amerce him for this Default one shilling." 

A coloured copy of the Enclosing Map referred to above is included in the accompanying Order Form and will be shown at the Exhibition. This Map prepared for a particular purpose nearly 150 years ago, has many most interesting features. The little River Nar, which is incorporated in the names of the neighboring villages of Narborough and Narford, runs along the south and south-western side of the Parish. Space does not allow much detail of the names and allotments, but it may be mentioned that John Lloyd's me appears as owning a large area, he being Lord of the Manor at the time of the Enclosure and owner of the Ashwood Lodge Estate; he was allotted a big wedge of the Common with an area of 32 acres, 1 rood, and 32 furlongs in respect of his "Right of Soil." The Fuel Allotment immediately to the South of Lloyd's Allotment was 40 acres, this being to compensate the residents for their rights of turbary, etc., over the whole Common. Other names appearing on the Map are T.P. and William Bage, P. Nettleship, Samuel Tyson, Anthony Hammond, George Stratton, Gamaliel Carter, and Mary Hart. Hers was a large holding at the West End of the Parish running between Wormegay and West Bilney Parishes. The gateway of the Priory or Abbey referred to earlier in these particulars is shown, together with the outbuildings, on the map. 

Records to be handed over are:

Court Books: 1758-85; 1787-1809; 1809-28; 1831-69; 1870-1901; 1901-29

Minute Books: 1789-1878 (2).

Insurance of Records:  £350, premium 17/6 p.a.

Commencement of Title: Deed dated 31st December, 1912.

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Note: Scottish feudal superiorities were abolished as part of the AFT 2000. We reproduce this for historical purposes only. 

Lot #16 Manorial Auctioneers’ Partnership – October 1990

BANCHORY PARK encompasses the prestigeous King's Gate area in the historic City of Aberdeen. The Superiority is part of the ancient Stocket Forest which surrounded Aberdeen. The forest had been a hunting ground of the Kings of Scotland, and in 1319, King Robert the Bruce, who had fled Scotland from the rule of Edward II, granted the forest to the City for the common good. Over the succeeding centuries, the forest was broken up into smaller estates. Robert the Bruce had great affection for Aberdeen. 

During his struggles with Edward of England, Robert's sisters, Mary and Christian, were captured and confined in iron cages in one of Edward's strongholds. Later, Christian retired to her palace in Aberdeen. 

In Scots heraldry, the double tressure flory counter-flory (the Royal border in a coat of arms) is a mark of rare distinction denoting royal favour. This is part of the armorial bearings of the City of Aberdeen. 

Robert I "The Bruce" King of Scots was born at Whittlenear Huntingford, Essex in 1274. He was the descendant of David Earl of Huntingdon, a relative of the Scottish Royal Family. In 1299, Robert was chosen as one of the Guardians of the Kingdom of Scotland. King Alexander III had died as a result of a fall from his horse in 1286. His sons had pre-deceased him, and he was succeeded by his grand-daughter, Margaret, daughter of the King's son-in-law, Eric II King of Norway. Margaret, the Maid of Norway, was only aged three when she succeeded to the Scottish Throne. She died at Orkney on her voyage to Scotland to claim her Crown. The death of the little Queen Margaret was followed by the First Interregnum during which 13 competitors submitted their claims to the Throne to the arbitration of King Edward I of England. Edward in 1292 chose John Balliol, a relative of the old Scottish Kings, Malcolm IV and William the Lion. John was not popular and was forced to abdicate in 1286. There followed the Second Interregnum when Edward assumed the government and treated Scotland as a conquered country. A long struggle for independence was led first by Sir William Wallace and then by Robert the Bruce. In 1314, Robert totally defeated the English at the Battle of Bannockburn thereby restoring independence. He died in 1327 and was buried at Dunfermline Abbey. He was succeeded by his young son, David II, who was married as a child to Joan, daughter of Edward II of England. 

In the early 19th century, the Banchory Park estate, part of the lands of Stocket, was sold to the Shirra family, prominent Aberdeen entrepreneurs.

Note: Scottish feudal superiorities were abolished as part of the AFT 2000. We reproduce this for historical purposes only. 

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Lot #7 of Manorial Services Auction - Winter 2021 - Stephen Johnson

Suffolk has always been one of the wealthiest parts of England and one of the earliest areas to develop  sophisticated agriculture after the Roman Empire departed in the 5th century. Its rich, fertile lands ensured  that a good living could be made from relatively small holdings. This is why most parishes in the county have  a number of manors. The parish of Tunstall is no exception for this contains not just the named manor but  also that of Banyards, or Baynards. 

Tunstall is located a few miles East of Wickham Market and a five miles West of the North Sea coast. The manor of Banyards, or Baynards as it is sometimes referred, was centred on a farm of the same name and  a number of other parcels of freehold and copyhold land found both in the main village and in surrounding  parishes.

Little is recorded of the early history of the manor. It is likely that Banyards evolved from part of Tunstall  Manor The earliest known Lord of the Manor Richard de Holbroke, a wealthy Suffolk land owner but relatively  obscure for our purposes. In the following century the Manor passed to Richard Baynard, presumably from  whom the Manor is named and who was originally from Spexhall. The Baynard family laid claim to have  descended from Ralph Bainard, a powerful Norman lord who was award 44 Manors in Norfolk after the  invasion of 1066. At his death in 1428 Richard passed the Manor to his eldest son Robert. On his death it  passed to his daughter Margaret and in turn to her husband Thomas Bacon of Baconsthorpe who died in  1485. That these ladies and gentleman are rather scantily recorded in history is really a testament to the  wealth of Suffolk since these are families who began as villans, or free tenants, under noble lords who, over  the course of the 12th and 13th century could accrue land to become farmers and then minor landowners,  essentially the first expression of the English middle classes. There were wealthy enough to own manors but made little impression on the great historical moments of their day. It is through their property that there  are remembered.   

The descent of Banyards then become a complicated  affair of female heirs and marriages. Thomas Bacon  died in 1485 and the Manor remained with his wife  Margaret. She is thought to have married gentleman  of the name Wingfield. At her death in 1504 she left three granddaughters- Elizabeth, Eleanor and  Katherine. The Manor ultimately appears to have  passed to the former since it was her husband, Sir  John Glemham, of Glemham Hall who was holding  it at his death in 1537. Banyards passed to his son Sir  Henry Glemham who served as deputy-lieutenant  of Suffolk. 

He was succeeded by his son Sir Thomas in 1632. This scion of the family is perhaps its most celebrated  son. Born in 1594 he was educated at Oxford after which he betook himself to the German wars, serving  in various continental armies until 1617 when he was knighted by James I. He was elected a member of  Parliament for Reigate in 1621 and succeeded to the Glemham estate a year later though he continued his  military career through the 1630s. At the outbreak of the Civil War in 1642 he rallied to the Royal cause  and was with Charles I at York and he was appointed Governor of the city a few months later. The city was  famously besieged by Parliamentary forces in 1643 and Glemham managed to organise a successful defence  until relieved by Prince Rupert. after the Prince’s sounding defeat at Marston Moor, Glemham was left with  a mere 1500 men to defend York but he held out for two months before being allowed to leave the city  with his men when his defeat became inevitable. He remained one of the king’s most important and trusted  officers. He was appointed as Commander in Chief of the four Northern Counties in 1644, and based himself in Carlisle. Later he was appointed Governor of Oxford and resisted a fierce siege at the hands of Sir  Thomas Fairfax before he was ordered to surrender  by Charles, who had been captured by the Scots.  Glemham remained loyal to the king to the bitter  end of the war and in 1648 he was a commander  of the Royalist remnant army which marched from  Scotland into Northern England hoping to spark a  royalist rebellion. At the Battle of Preston they were  finally defeated and Glemham fled into exile in the Netherlands. He never returned to England. 

After Glemham’s death in 1649, Banyards passed to  his son Sir Sackville Glemham and thence to his son,  Thomas who sold the Manor to Sir Dudley North.  Barnyards eventually became the property of the Earls  of Guildford, who retained it into the 20th century  before it was purchased by the Cobbold family who  held it until the 1980s when it was possessed by a  private buyer. 

Manorial Documents Associated With This Manor:

1575-1600: extent, with other manors British Library, Manuscript Collections 

1360-1604: court extracts (vol, compiled 17th cent) Suffolk Record Office, Ipswich Branch 

1603-1603: rental (in vol with other records) 

1619-1921: court books (4, indexed) 

1620-1708: steward’s papers, chiefly surrenders, admissions, verdicts and presentments, with other  manors (5 bundles) 

1653-1682: minute books, with other manors (2) 

1709-1763: court rolls (2) 

1710-1710: schedule of court books, surveys  and rentals, with other manors 

1761-1921: minute book 

1766-1779: quit rents, with other manors (14) 

1780-1785: rentals (6) 

1819-1833: rentals, with other manors (6) 

1819-1831: steward’s papers (1 bundle) 

1820-1820: rental, with other manors 

1832-1923: steward’s papers, chiefly admissions, surrenders and enfranchisements (1 bundle) 

1835-1941: papers relating to enfranchisement of  copyhold land and compensation of manorial  incidents, with other manors (7 bundles) 

1842: rental, with other manors 

1858-1858: rental, with other manors  (in bundle with other papers) 

1864-1870: steward’s papers (1 bundle) 

1876-1891: rentals, with Over Pistries (2) 

1903-1903: rental, with other manors 

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Lot #1 of Manorial Services Auction - Winter 2024 - Stephen Johnson

This manor is of an ancient lineage. It is first mentioned as a possession of Bishop Aldun of Durham, in the early 11th century, when it was granted to Ughtred, Earl of Northumberland and the Danes, Ethred and Northman. The Lordship lies in the parish of Forcett and formed one of the berewicks within it but if  formed a detached part, to the north, on the south bank of the River Tees. 

The early history of the manor, after the Norman Invasion, is rather unclear but it appears to have  been essentially divided into two parcel of roughly three carucates each - this being a measurement which,  today, is hard to gauge but is thought to have been between 20 and 50 acres. Robert de Perham is noted as  holding three carucates in 1202 and three were held by William le Norris. The former seems to have passed  to Geoffrey Scales by 1212, and 20 years late was in the hands of “Master’ John de Popelint, who is noted  as holding half a knights fee in Barforth in 1233. In 1286 the Lord of these lands was Roald de Richmond,  whose tenants were the Barforth family who are confusingly recorded as the Lords of the Manor of Barforth  in 1224. It is therefore supposed that Roald de Richmond was in fact the over-lord and that this eventually  passed to the Scrope family of Bolton, before vanishing into irrelevance in the 16th century. 

Waldief de Barforth is the first named of the eponymous family. He is noted as owing Henry II one mark in 1156. His son, Rober t, is the first named Lord of Barfor th, and he left his granddaughter, Emma, as his heiress in around 1227. She married John de Barforth (presumably a cousin) and their son Robert was  Lord of Barforth in 1256. At his death in 1279 the estate passed to his sister Felise and her second husband,  Thomas de Cleasby, became Lord of Barforth. There seems to have been a rather limited pool of suitable  families in North Yorkshire, since Emma Barfor h had married Harsculph de Cleasby, who died in 1280 and she was returned as the sole tenant of the manor in 1286. The fate of Felise is noted recorded, but Emma is  said to have died in 1292 and Barforth then passed to her daughter in law, Amabel, Lady of Cleasby 

The Barforth estate passed through marriage to her son-in-law, Rober t de Hastings who, along with his wife Emma, obtained a grant of free warren here in around 1310. The couple had no children and after  the death of her husband, Emma married for a second time to Henry Fitz Hugh of Reavensworth. They then settled Barforth on their daughter, Christina, who married John de Layton, son of Sir Thomas. The couple  enjoyed possession of their manor until 1353 when they settled it on their male heirs with a remainder to  their daughter. Evidently she survived her brothers as she held the manor at the time of her marriage to  Henry Pudsey of Bolton in Craven. she died in 1424. 

If we revert briefly to the second estate of three carucates which had belonged to William le Norris, these passed to his son Hugh and in 1256, they were held by his son (or grandson) Geoffrey le Norris. He remained in possession of this land until 1290 when they seem to have reverted to their overlords, the Earls  Of Richmond. These remained with the Earls for sometime but at some point, likely in the latter half of the  14th century, they were granted or sold to the Pudsey family since they held the whole manor by the 1420s. 

The Pudsey family remained as Lords of Barforth for the next two and a half centuries. It was sold  in 1660 to Sir Barrington Bourchier of Beningbrough, who was Sheriff of Yorkshire in 1658. Bourchier’s  father, John, had been a regicide in 1649 and the family estates had been forfeited. It is perhaps rather odd  that Sir Barrington would have been an official under the Commonwealth. Two years later, when Charles II was restored, Sir Barrington’s estates were returned and he purchased Barforth. The manor remained in  the hands of the Bourchier family until 1768 when the last of the male line Ralph died. It descended to his  daughter Margaret, wife of Giles Earle and the two subsequently sold Barforth to Francis Fawkes of Farmley  Hall in Forcett. Within a few years it had passed to his son, Walter. The family sold the manor in 1802 to Edward, Lord Harewood. In the 1920s the manor was purchased by Robert Edleston and passed to the family of the present owner. 

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Lot #13 of Manorial Services Auction - Fall 2025 - Stephen Johnson

This manor is of an ancient lineage. It is first mentioned as a possession of Bishop Aldun of Durham,  in the early 11th century, when it was granted to Ughtred, Earl of Northumberland, and the Danes, Ethred  and Northman. The Lordship lies in the parish of Forcett and formed one of the berewicks within it but it  formed a detached part, to the north, on the south bank of the River Tees. 

The early history of the manor, after the Norman Invasion, is rather unclear but it appears to have  been essentially divided into two parcels of roughly three carucates each - this being a measurement which,  today, is hard to gauge but is thought to have been between 20 and 50 acres. This is a division of one manor  into two separate manors which ultimately descended to different owners after being reunited for a time in  the 15th century. This, our manor of Barforth, eventually passed to the Bowes family, and then to the family  of the present owner in the mid-twentieth century and this history will do its best to describe this descent.  The Bowes family are best remembered today in the person of the late Queen Mother, who died in 2002. 

The descent of the division of Barforth which passed to the Bowes’ until the 13th century is obscure,  to say the least. The earliest reference comes when the manor was granted to Agnes, the niece of Barnard  Balliol on her marriage to Sir John Trayne in around 1300. The gift also included the manors of Stainton,  Broomlaw and Streatlam. There is evidence to suggest that the Trayne family had been tenants of the Baliol  family, who held the barony extending from Barnard Castle, and may have even been Lords of the the manor  of Barforth. Their daughter and heiress (whose name is not recorded) married Sir Adam Bowes, captain of  Bowes castle and leader of 500 archers. The Bowes (and Bowes-Lyon) ownership of the manor would last  for the next 650 years. Sir Adam is thought to have descended from the Norman commander, Alan the Black,  who had come to England with The Conqueror. 

The Bowes were a martial family. Adam’s son, Sir William was created a knight banneret after the  battle of Poitiers in 1346. His son, Sir Robert, was killed at the Battle of Beaurge with the Duke of Clarence,  in 1421. His son, also Sir Robert, fought at the Battle of Verneuil in 1424 and on his return home from the  French Wars, oversaw the construction of Streatlam Castle. 

In 1540 Sir George Bowes granted the manor of Barforth  to his kinsman, Robert Bowes of Aske for a lease of 21 years. In  1603 it formed part of a legal case in the Court of Chancery  between William Ewre and his wife Katherine and George Bowes. This followed the death of Sir William Bowes, who had been Lord  of the Manor. Katherine was his daughter and George, his son. It  appears that George was the winner of the case since, on his death  in 1609, there was a further legal battle between his eldest son Sir  William Bowes and his brother, Talbot. Barforth was one of a number  of manors, including the Bowes home estate at Streatlam, included in  the action.  

In 1760 the Bowes estate passed to Mary Eleanor Bowes,  daughter and heiress of Sir George Bowes. At the time the vast  estate was estimated to be worth between £600,000 and £1,000,000  - between £100M and £200M today. She was easily the richest  woman in England at the time of her marriage, in 1767 (aged 18) to  John Lyon, the 9th Earl of Strathmore. Their son and heir, John, took  the surname Bowes-Lyon on inheriting the Earldom in 1776.  

He is widely remembered as having a long relationship with Mary Milner, the daughter of his gardener, and  they had a son, John Bowes, who was known as Lord Glamis. The Earl attempted to legitimise his son by  marrying Mary on his death bed in 1820, but the estate instead passed to his younger brother, Thomas. The  manor was ‘sold’ in 1801 by the Earl to his tenant, but this arrangement was a legal fiction in order to raise  money on the estate and to ‘bar the entail”. This was likely an attempt by the Earl to prevent the estate  passing to his brother.

The manor remained in the hands of the Earls of Strathmore until 1954 when it was sold to Mr R H  Edelston. It has since descended to the present owner. 

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Note: FeudalTitles.com does not guarantee to the validity of Irish feudal titles - which have been abused mightily and exist outside of ANY formal gov't recognition. See: 'Suspicious & Fake Titles' page for more. 

Lot #6 of Strutt & Parker Auction – November 2003

The Lordship and Barony cover the Parish Bearnahely, west of the mouth of the river Lee on its way to Cork harbour. Whilst historically a separate fief this lordship has been administered for several centuries within the overlordship of Carrigaline. Letters patent in the fifth year of King Charles I reflected the extent of this part of the Earl of Shannon's estates inherited from the Great Earl of Cork and the House of Commons Select Committee report of 1837 on the jurisdiction of Carrigaline showed it holding jurisdiction over the Parishes of Carrigaline, Bearnahely, Kilmoney, Lisclery, Monkstown, Marmallane, Templebreedy, part of Kilpatrick and part of Ballinabar with courts held at Carrigaline, Rafeen in Lisclery, Passage West in Marmallane, Monkstown, Ahamartha for Templebredy and Ballyduhig for and near to Ballinabue.

Bearnahely Castle stands a little distant inland from the river Lee, being about three quarters of a mile to the south west of Ringaskiddy Pier, close to another inlet named Lough Beg. It stands on a peninsula named in old Irish manuscripts Longa-Gowgan meaning "the ship of Gowgan or Cogan".

The Anglo-Norman invasion of Ireland in the 1170's by Richard Strongbow Earl of Pembroke and Hugh De Lacy Earl of Lincoln was accompanied by Miles or Milo de Cogan, his father-in-law Robert Fitzstephen and his brother Richard. After capturing Cork city in 1177 Miles with Robert went on two days pilgrimage to Aghadoe Abbey in County Kerry, however the famous record of Giraldus Cambrensis (Barry) reveals that unable to bring the County of Cork into subjection, Miles and Robert had to content themselves, Miles de Cogan with four cantreds to the south west and Robert Fitzstephen three cantreds to the east of the city until such time as they could bring the remainder under subjection. They had taken these parts from Dermot McArthy, King of Munster, but continued on to the walls of Dublin where, after a great slaughter of the citizens, Miles was made Constable of the city. Whilst Governor he attacked with small numbers an invading host of Norwegians, assisted greatly by his brother Richard and routed them. One of their leaders Harsculf having imprudently stated they would come another time, was ordered to be beheaded by Miles de Cogan. Later on he similarly defeated O'Roric the King of Meath having slain O'Roric's son and a vast number of others. Miles behaved equally bravely at Limerick after which he and Fitzstephen governed Munster (Desmond) for five years. Afterwards, Miles with his son-in-law Ralph Fitzstephen travelling toward Lismore were awaiting the men of Waterford when Mactyr with five men crept up and slew them with broad axes. Miles de Cogan or Milo of St Davids is reputed to have come from an eminent Welsh family of Gowgan or Wogan having attained high standing in Pembrokeshire. On his visit to Cork in 1171 in the wake of his knights, King Henry II came to take homage from the Irish chieftons in the locality but instead of restoring their estates he parcelled out the county among his own followers, granting the large tract to the south west of the city of Cork with its natural harbour to Miles de Cogan.

Following the untimely death of Miles, Henry II summoned his brother Richard to take his place. Whilst credited with the construction of the first mott and bailey at Bearnahely and the stone keep of the castle, the remainder was probably built by an immediate descendant, much of the castle appears to be of fifteenth and sixteenth century erection and up against it was a mansion now dismantled built by a branch of the Warren family in 1796 when they re-named it Castle Warren. There is mention of a stone effigy mounted over a doorway over the castle said to be that of Miles or Richard de Cogan, reputed to have been buried in the adjacent graveyard. This effigy now defaced, nail headed was subsequently fixed over the door of a cottage on the main road, formally an entrance lodge to Castle Warren.

Philip de Prendergast's son and heir, Gerald, married first Matilda daughter of Theobald le Botiller and secondly a daughter of Richard de Burgo. Maria, his daughter by his first wife married John de Cogan, Lord of Castle Moor, early in the thirteenth century and brought to the Cogans the Lordship of Beaver alias Carrigaline, Castle Lyons, Shandon and other lands.

John de Cogan died 1278, his son also John had died 1272 leaving a grandson John III to succeed. This John came of age 1281 when he inherited all of his grandfather's lands in Muskerry and the bulk of the Prendergast estates to the south west and east of Cork. Young John de Cogan accordingly became one of the great Norman Lords of Ireland not least because his mother was a daughter of Gerald Fitzmorris Fitzgerald and who had become the heiress of the vast Geraldine estates in Leinster and Munster. Her cousin John Fitzthomas however induced her to pass over the Geraldine estates and went on to become the first Earl of Kildare.

Evidently the Cogans retained Beaver, Bearnhley and the Cork estates and amongst the Carew papers preserved at Lambeth Palace is an Inpseximus granted at Cork 12th June in the seventeenth year of the reign of Henry VI of the grant by Robert, son of Geoffrey Cogan to James Fitzgerald, Earl of Desmond, all of his possessions in County Cork. A popular version graphically described by Sir Wareham St Ledger in 1589 to Queen Elizabeth his version of how the de Cogan estates passed to his family in 1562, claims that Myles the Great de Cogan in 1438 being old and blind and in need of protection had a son and a daughter whom he had married to Cormack Ruadh McCarthy of Muskerry on the understanding that McCarthy would give him the protection he needed. He was particularly concerned that his brother Geoffrey de Cogan to whom he had rented the Castle and lands of Ballinrea was refusing to pay rent due to his need to provide maintenance for his own eight sons and the cost of defending the area due to Myles' weakness. Myles relying on the terms of the wedding contract requested McCarthy who was also a close friend of Geoffrey to call to Ballinrea and persuade him to pay. Despite a long though apparently friendly argument the two men failed to agree and were seen going in the direction of a wooded valley below the castle, McCarthy on horseback and Geoffrey on foot. Apparently the argument became hostile, Cormack drew a knife and stabbed Geoffrey leaving him dead beneath his cloak. The body was found by Geoffrey's sons within a short time and they immediately set off for Carrigaline Castle thinking McCarthy would have gone there. Instead they found the young son of Myles who they demanded let them enter. He refused they hung him, forced entry and kept Myles prisoner at Carrigaline for a month until he escaped, making his way to Cork to seek assistance of Lord Barry. Lord Barry's demands were too high so he turned to the Earl of Desmond who promised protection provided that Myles made over all of the Cogan lands to him as over-lord. With little alternative Myles agreed and Desmond went after the eight sons of Geoffrey de Cogan killing or banishing six of them and granting the surviving two a much reduced share of land. The de Cogans continued to reside in their castles at Coolmore and Bearnhley though by the middle of the sixteenth century the Earl of Desmond (Fitzgerald) had taken occupation of Carrigaline, the fifteenth Earl James granting it to his brother "black hearted Maurice" as a reward for murdering James, the fourteenth Earl known as the Court Page on Palm Sunday of 1540. In 1562 the sixteenth and last Earl of Desmond, Gerald, was imprisoned in London, mortgaged his lands in Carrigaline to Sir Wareham St Ledger, subsequently attainted, in 1595, Queen Elizabeth I confirmed Sir Wareham in these estates.

In 1558 Richard Boyle became first sub-escheator then escheator general (liquidator for the crown) of forfeited lands in Munster. Richard first purchased from Sir Walter Raleigh in 1602 some 12,000 acres in Cork formerly part of the de Cogan estates and subsequently the Grenville share of the Desmond lands. Whilst a pardon was issued to William de Cogan of Bearnahley 1574 for his part in the Desmond rebellion, Richard Fitzphilip Cogan of Bearnhley was amongst those who emigrated to Spain 1601 after the fatal battle of Kinsale. John de Courcy eighteenth Lord of Kinsale married Catherine, daughter of William de Cogan and with the commencement of the seventeenth century came the downfall of the de Cogans of Bearnhley with a number of references in the Kinsale council book and the Earl of Cork's sessions in Youghal indicted for high treason. Doubtless this was around the time King Charles I was executed in England as the Puritan Commonwealth established and the private Commonwealth army deliberately transformed from a victorious but unpaid revolutionary body into mercenary adventurers went in search of land and loot. The Cromwellian conquest of Ireland was completed 1650 and in 1652 the confiscations commenced. Following attainder of Cogan the administrators distributed land and property among Captain Markam's military company for "arrears of pay due for their services". In 1657 the de Cogans were officially deprived of their lands by the inquisition called before John Hodder claiming that in 1643 they had " gone out in rebellion".

The lands of Bearnahley then fell to the hands of John Cooke, however in 1660 the monarchy was restored and Charles II was proclaimed King and John Cooke was tried and executed for high treason. Whilst in 1690 James Cogan of Carrigaline attempted to recover his ancestral lands and he was then outlawed for supporting the Jacobite cause and King James' II army was defeated at Limerick by the army of William III. The Warren family descendants of Williamite soldiers then secured the lands of Bearnahley and in 1796 the Warrens added a Manor house to the castle where they continued until the nineteenth century.

The Lordship of Carrigaline with its members including the Barony of Bearnhley continued to be held by subsequent Earls of Shannon until conveyed to the present owner.

Documents and reference works relating to the Lordship and Barony of Barnahely

Release by Maurice Lord of Fermoy to Robert Fitzgeoffrey Cogan  Sixth year of Henry IV
Land in Munster

Grant by Robert Fitzgeoffrey de Cogan to James Fitzgerald   17th year of Henry VI
Land in Munster

Roche's Map covering the Baronies of Kinelea and Kerrycurrihy, Co. Cork,
Bibliotheque Nationale, Paris

Geraldus Cambrensis History of the Conquest of Ireland   Twelfth Century
Ed. Wright George Bell & Sons, London 1881

Sir Wareham St Ledger Tract     c. 1589

Will of the Great Earl of Cork  1642

Accounts of the Great Earl of Cork and diary records    Seventeenth century

Samuel Lewis Topographical Dictionary of Ireland      1837

The Lismore Papers dedicated to the Duke of Devonshire   1885

Journals of the Cork Historical and Archaeological Society 1904

Note: FeudalTitles.com does not guarantee to the validity of Irish feudal titles - which have been abused mightily and exist outside of ANY formal gov't recognition. See: 'Suspicious & Fake Titles' page for more. 

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Lot #1 of Manorial Auctioneers – November 2007

Catalogue transcribed by the Lord of Finchingfield - a friend to learning

THIS LORDSHIP lies in the chapelry of Barrow, in the parish of Cottesmore, and forms the highest part of this parish, rising to almost 500 feet in places. It is around four miles from the county town of Oakham. Barrow takes its name from an Iron Age burial site which is clearly visible on a high point above the village.

The Lordship of Barrow originally formed part of the Manor of Cottesmore and descended with it until the end of the 12th century when it began to be recorded in its own right. In 1090 the Manor was granted by William II to Roger Newburgh, Earl of Warwick, and soon after this it was enfeoffed, with a number of other Rutland Manors, to Hugh de Montfort. At his death, Barrow passed to his daughter who was married to Gilbert de Gant. Shortly after this, the Montfort interest was ended since by 1197 Hugh de Berc (Barrow) is noted as giving his lands here to Roger de Colville who was to hold them from William Colville by the service of a sixth of a knight’s fee. Hugh’s son Thomas later confirmed the grant. The Berc family however, appear to have remained here into the 13th century as landowners. Hugh’s widow Hawise made a number of endowments from the demesne lands to St Michael’s Priory in Stamford, Lincs. Walter de Colville was  

recorded as Lord in 1253. He was elevated to the peerage as Baron Colville in 1264. At his death in 1277, Walter left his estates to a son Roger who survived until 1288. He was in turn succeeded by his infant son Edmund, who lived until 1316 and was succeeded by his son Robert. In Robert, 3rd Baron, the Colvilles reached their zenith. He died in 1348. Barrow then passed to his grandson, Walter 5th Baron, but he survived for just a year as Lord of the Manor before his death in 1368. The Manor then fell to his kinsmen, Ralph Bassei of Sapcote (see pedigree chart) and Sir John Gernoun, and was sold to Guy de Rouclif and then to Lawrence Haubeck.

After Haubeck’s death, Barrow passed to his daughter Agnes, who was married to Robert Sherard. Robert was recorded as holding Barrow in 1407. This family remained Lords of Manor until the 1570s when it was exchanged for another estate with Edward Watson. He is described as dying seised of the Lordship in 1584. Four years later, his son, Edward, sold it to Sir James Harington. On his death in 1592, he was succeeded by his son, also Sir John, who had trained as a lawyer and represented Rutland in Parliament in 1571 in place of his father who was unable to sit since he was Sheriff of the county. The family resided at nearby Exton and had a considerable local estate, and their power in the county increased in the 1570s and 1580s. Sir John became a JP for Rutland and Warwickshire, where he owned the Combe Abbey Estate and enjoyed a close relationship with the Earl of Leicester, Robert Dudley, Queen Elizabeth’s long-time favourite. In the 1590s Sir John was appointed deputy lieutenant for Rutland, a position he shared with Sir Andrew Noel, whose descendants would later succeed Harington as Lords of the Manor of Barrow. The relationship between the two families was close and Sir John’s sister Mabel was married to Sir Andrew. On the accession of James I in 1603, Harington was already being considered for elevation to the peerage since both his local influence and wealth placed him in that category. He had a lavish lifestyle, hiring theatre troops and holding what one contemporary called a “royal Christmas” in 1602.

Eager to promote himself, when king James travelled south from Scotland in the following year, Harington rode to York to meet him and later that year Princess Elizabeth stayed at Combe Abbey on her journey south. This all paid off for Harington and in that year he was raised to the peerage as Baron Harington of Exton.  

Princess Elizabeth was eventually married off to Frederick Prince-Elector of the Palatinate, southern Germany. He was elected King of Bohemia in 1618 by the Czechs, who literally, defenestrated the Holy Roman Emperor’s envoys from the windows of Prague Castle. Emperor Mathias sent an army in the winter of 1618-19). The new King and Queen were defeated at the battle of White Mountain in 1619, and turned out of their kingdom, gaining the epithet ‘the Winter King and Queen.’ The Czech rebellion sparked the beginning of a general European war, known as the Thirty Years’ War, concluded at the Peace of Westphalia in 1648.

Lord Harington died in 1613 and Barrow passed to his sister Lucy Countess of Bedford, but was sold in 1620 to Paul Ambrose Croke. On his death in 1631, the Manor passed to his daughter and heiress Lucy and her husband Edward Heath. It then came to their daughter Margaret and her husband, Sir Thomas Fanshawe. In 1682, their only daughter, Susanna, married the Hon Baptist Noel who eventually inherited his father’s title to become the third Viscount Campden. His son, Edward, was elevated to the Earldom of Gainsborough and the Lordship of Barrow has remained in this family until the present. The descent of the Earls of Gainsborough is shown under the Lordship of Uppingham in this catalogue.

The Manor covers about 1,000 acres (approx 400 h) and contains two farms and some cottages, now much renovated. There is a chapel in this hamlet and the prehistoric barrow is on a hill next to the chapel, a case of land used for religious purposes periodically for several millenia.

Documents associated with this Manor:     

Boundary 1827 Leicester RO

Lease 1882

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Lot #11 of Bernard Thorpe Auction - June 1986

The Lordship of Baswich, in the East Cuttlestone Hundred of Staffordshire, belonged to the Bishop of Lichfield in the time of King Edward the Confessor. After the Norman Conquest the Bishops continued to be lord of the manor as recorded in the Domesday Survey of 1086.

The Bishops of Lichfield were lords of the manor until 1546 when the Bishop surrendered the lordship to His Late Majesty King Henry VIII in exchange for certain church benefices.

In 1279 one shilling and six pence was paid by the bailiff of the Manor of Baswich for carrying mill stones to the mill. It is recorded in the Compotus

rolls of the Bishops in 1472 that there was a water mill and a fulling mill in the Manor of Baswich.

In 1546 the Crown sold the Lordship of Baswich to Sir William Paget, in whose family it remained. Sir William's descendant became the Marquess of Anglesey, who held the lordship until 1893 when it was conveyed to the ancestor of the present lord of the manor, the Earl of Lichfield.

DOCUMENTS ASSOCIATED WITH THE MANOR:

1 Bailiffs accounts 13th and 14th cent.

2 Extent with other Manors 1297-8

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Lot #11 of Hobbs & Chambers Auction – July 1966

Extract from Skeats's “The Place Names of Berkshire”.

In the Vale of the White Horse. A contracted form. Spelt “BALKING”. (Other spellings: BODELEKING, BATHELKING (1286).) The Anglo-Saxon forms are BEDELACINGE, BATHALACING, BADA-LACING (various readings BATHALACING). Of these, the oldest form is BADALACING or BATHALACING, which must have lost a suffix, owing to its already being quadrisyllabic. The full form would be BADALACINGA, gen. pl.; of which the sense is uncertain, but it probably means “belonging to the descendants of Badala”, and BADALAC is probably a Mercian form of Beaduca, a name composed of the very common prefix BEADU (lit. “battle”), and the known suffix -lac (lit. “play”) as in GUDH-LAC. If this be right, BALKING denotes a place where the family of Beadulac settled. The form BATHALACING may easily have arisen from drawing an unnecessary stroke through the “d”; it first appears with a D in the form BADALACING, in capital letters; but it appears as Badacing in other places.

Five hides in BALKING (Bedelacing, Balking, Bedelakinges, x cent.; Bedeking, Badeking, xii cent.; Baddelekng, Batheleking, xiii cent.; Bauking, xvi cent.; Bawlkin, xvii cent.) were granted by King Edred to Cuthred his servant in 948, and were said to have been given by him to the abbey of Abingdon. Before 1187 the lordship had passed into the hands of the lords of Kingston Lisle (q.v.), the descent of which this manor has followed up to 1824. At Kelly's Directory of about 1847 gives Edwin Martin Atkins as Lord of the Manor.

In 1867 the 3rd Earl of Craven included in his Marriage Settlement the manor of Baulking and it may well have been that this manor could have been a subject of the 1853 Order of Exchange of lands in Uffington and Kingston Lisle between Lord Craven and Martin Atkins. Lordship of the Manor of Baulking carries with it freehold rights over Baulking Green subject to the ownership by adjoining landowners of sheep commons on the Green.

Records to be handed over:—

There are no Manorial documents to be handed over on completion of this Lot.

The Historical Manuscripts Commission and the Berkshire Record Office have no knowledge of the existence of any documents relating to this Manor.

Lordship of the Manor of Kingston Lisle (associated ownership?)

Ten hides in Sparsholt, afterwards called KINGSTON LISLE (Kingeston, Kyngeston Gerard, Kyngeston Lisle, xiv cent.) formed part of the royal demesne both in the reign of the Confessor and in 1086. This land, which was worth £20 and included 200 acres of meadow, remained in the possession of the Crown till the middle of the 12th century, when it was granted to the family of Fitz Gerold, hereditary chamberlains. Warin Fitz Gerold, the original grantee, was succeeded in 1157 by his brother Henry, the tenant in 1166. Henry married Maud de Cheney, and held the manor till his death in 1173, when he was succeeded by his son Warin. By his marriage with Alice de Courci this Warin inherited the manor of Harewood in Yorkshire. He lived till 1218, when his lands in Sparsholt were inherited, not by his daughter Margery, but by his younger brother Henry. His own descendants, however, retained an overlordship. Margery married as her first husband Baldwin de Rivers, and had a son Baldwin, Earl of Devon. His right was inherited first by his son Baldwin, who died without issue, and then by his daughter Isabel, who married William de Fortz, and had two and a half knights' fees in Kingston Lisle and Sparsholt in 1267. On her death her estates were claimed by the descendants in the direct line of Henry Fitz Gerold, the Lords de Lisle of Rougemont, under the terms of the grant made by the uncle of Henry Fitz Gerold, having passed meanwhile to a younger branch. In 1368 Robert de Lisle, Lord Lisle of Rougemont, surrendered his knights' fees here and elsewhere to the Crown. They were granted to William Montagu Earl of Salisbury, who was holding them at the end of the century. On the death of his widow Elizabeth they probably reverted to the king, and Kingston Lisle was thus thenceforth held of the Crown till the end of the 15th century, when the overlordship belonged to Lord Dudley.

Margaret's daughter Elizabeth, who became the wife of Richard Earl of Warwick, succeeded her in the manor and barony. She had three daughters and co-heirs, Eleanor wife of Edmund Earl of Dorset, Margaret wife of John Talbot, afterwards Earl of Shrewsbury, and Elizabeth wife of George Lord Latimer. Kingston Lisle was inherited by Margaret and her son John in 1444 of the barony of Lisle as descendant of Warin de Lisle and owner of the manor of Kingston. This heir was his son Thomas, who died without issue. Elizabeth, his sister, survived her sister and co-heir Margaret and inherited the manor; her husband Edward Grey, accordingly had a grant of the barony. His son John died in 1505, leaving a daughter and heir Elizabeth. She married Henry Courtenay Earl of Devon, but died without issue and was succeeded by her aunt Elizabeth, the wife first of Edmund Dudley and afterwards of Arthur Plantagenet. Sir John Dudley, her son by her first husband, sold his reversion of Kingston Lisle in 1538 to William Hyde of South Denchworth.

For three generations Kingston Lisle followed the descent of the Hyde manors in South Denchworth (q.v.). Sir George Hyde, who died in 1623, was succeeded by his son Humphrey, whose son Humphrey was in possession in 1674. He died in 1696, having settled the manor on his son John. John died in 1703 and was succeeded by his brother Frederick, whose son John held the manor in 1716. His widow Jane, with John Hyde who was presumably his heir, sold it in 1749 to Abraham Atkins.

Abraham Atkins had a son of the same name, who left the manor to his nephew, Edwin Martin, with a condition that he should take the name of Atkins. Edwin Martin Atkins, son of the latter, was in possession in 1824. His son Edwin Martin was succeeded by a son and grandson of the same name.

Records to be handed over:—

There are no Manorial documents to be handed over on completion of this Lot.

The Historical Manuscripts Commission and the Berkshire Record Office have no knowledge of the existence of any documents relating to this Manor.

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Lot #23 of Bernard Thorpe Auction - June 1986

This lordship, which is in the Hundred of Loes, was the estate of Adam de Bavent in 1212. A little later it passed to Robert de Rendenhale, rector of Eyke. He founded a chantry there in 1355 and gave to it this manor of Bavent's Hall.

On the suppression of the chantries it passed to the Crown, and was granted to Thomas Alverd, of Ipswich, against whom a fine was levied by Sir Thomas Russhe in 1533. Thomas Alverd, however, died seised of the manor on the 12th February, 1534/5. Davy, the historian enters William Lutton, who died in 1577, as lord.

Later we find it vested in John Lane, junior, and John Lane, senior, who had licence to alienate it in 1608 to Thomas Shance and John Herbert, probably by way of settlement only, for the following year we find John Lane, junior, lord, and on his death in 1625, the manor passed to his son Robert. He died in 1644 and is buried at Ash.

His son, also Robert, married the daughter of Allen Corrance, a London merchant and sold the manor to his brother-in-law, John Corrance, M.P. for Aldborough. John Corrance was succeeded by his son and heir, John Corrance, but the manor went subsequently to William Long, of Dunston, near Norwich, who married a daughter and coheiress of that house. Subsequently the manor came to Edward Spencer, whose daughter and heir Anne, who married first, in July, 1737, James, 5th Duke of Hamilton, and secondly the Hon. Richard Savage Nassau, second son of Frederick, 3rd Earl of Rochford, inherited it when her father died in 1728. The Duchess died in 1771, when the manor went to her second son, Lord Archibald Hamilton, afterwards 9th Duke of Hamilton, who sold it 15th June, 1786, to Sir George Wombwell, Bt., who sold it to the ancestor of the present owner.

DOCUMENTS RELATING TO THIS MANOR:

1 Fine receipt 1355

2 Fine receipt 1534

3 Court Baron papers 1569

4 Court roll 1692-1714

5 Court book 1718-1921

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Lot #16 of Manorial Auctioneers – May 2008

Catalogue transcribed by the Lord of Finchingfield - a friend to learning

THIS LORDSHIP lies in the parish of Rattery in the beautiful South Hams area of Devon which is home to the only community of nuns which was formed before the Dissolution of the monasteries during the reign of Henry VIII (1509-47). The Bridgettine house was formed in 1415, and the order was introduced by Henry V. After the house was finally suppressed during the reign of Elizabeth I (1558-1603) the nuns fled to Lisbon where they established themselves. In 1861 they were invited to return to England and eventually settled in Rattery.

At the time of Domesday Book in 1086, Beara was held by William de Falaise and the entry reads:

Roger holds this of William in 1086.

Roger has a demesne for ½ a plough.

There Roger has 2 bordars and 1 serf and 100 sheep and 3 acres of meadow and one length of pasture.

A short time after this it passed into the hands of Robert FitzMartin, who, in 1115 gifted Beara as well as the Lordship of Rattery to the Abbey of St Dogmells, or St Dogmaels near Cardigan, in Pembrokeshire, Wales. This was the only house of the order of Tiron which has been recorded and was set up by Bernard of Abbeville in 1109 at Tiron, in France. St Dogmaels was founded by FitzMartin and Beara formed part of the Abbey's estates. The identity of St Dogmael is obscure and he was thought to have been a companion of St Columbanus at Luxeuil. Little remains of the early history of this abbey except for one manuscript in St John's College, Cambridge. This chronicles an encroachment made by the burgesses of Cardigan on the house in 1242 and their repulse, successfully undertaken by the monks. At the time of the abbey's dissolution in the 1530s its income was calculated at £87 a year and it housed eight monks.

The history of Beara after the Dissolution is opaque, but by the end of the 17th century it is found in the possession of the Palk family.

On the marriage of Elizabeth, the only daughter and heir of Walter Palk, to Sir Henry Carew, Bart, the Lordship of Beara passed into the hands of this ancient Devon family. The Carews originated at Pembroke, in Wales, with William Fitzgerald of Carew Castle. Sir Edmund, Baron Carew served in the wars against Scotland at the beginning of the reign of Henry VIII (1509-47) under Thomas, Earl of Surrey. He commanded the English at Flodden in 1513, when James IV was killed with the flower of the Scottish Nobility. A story is recounted in James Prince's The Worthies of Devon about an incident involving Thomas Carew. Before the English and Scottish sides engaged in the battle, a Scottish knight challenged any English gentleman to fight him for the honour of his country. Thomas Carew pleaded for the chance to answer the challenge and, having been granted it, proceeded to win, a foretaste of the subsequent English victory.

His brave deeds did not end there, however. Prince recounts that he was riding with the son of the Earl of Surrey, Lord Howard, who was then Lord Admiral of England. They came to a narrow pass, and realized that they were surrounded by Scottish forces. To prevent the capture of Lord Howard, Thomas swapped armour with him and rode ahead, eventually drawing the Scots and engaging them in battle. Thomas was taken prisoner, the Scots assuming him to be Lord Howard, and taken to Dunbar Castle. He was kept prisoner in poor conditions and his health suffered before his release. Lord Howard was forever grateful for this sacrifice and on his return made Thomas his vice-admiral. Thomas left a son, John, by his first marriage, and was succeeded by his half-brother, Sir Humphrey Carew. His son, Peter, was succeeded in turn by his son, Sir Henry, who left two daughters as heirs. The eldest, Elizabeth, married Sir Thomas Carew, of Haccombe, thus uniting the two branches of the family which had split four generations before.

Sir Thomas had been created Baronet in 1661 and died in 1676, being succeeded by his son, Sir Henry Carew. His first marriage was to Elizabeth, daughter of Thomas, 1st Lord Clifford of Chudleigh. On his death in 1695 the estates passed to Sir Henry, who died unmarried, and then to Sir Thomas, who died before 1746. His son, Sir John, 5th Baronet, succeeded him and the title passed through his son, Sir Thomas, to his son, Sir Henry, 7th Baronet.

The current Lord of Beara is Sir Rivers Carew, Bart, of Haccombe, Devon, whose descent lies on page 6 of this catalogue.

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Lot #10 of Manorial Services Auction - Spring 2024 - Stephen Johnson

(In association with Strutt & Parker)

Beauchamps, pronounced “Beecham”, is one of two manors found in the village of Oakley. It sits on the southern banks of the river Waveney between Honxe and Scole.  

Though the manor is not recorded by name in Domesday Book there are three estates recorded  here and it is likely that it descended from that which was held by Robert Malet, who was Lord of the Honor  of Eye. 

 The first mention of the Manor by name occurs in the early 13th century when it is recorded as being vested in Arnold de Charnels. The death of this obscure figure likely occurred during the reign of King John and his son, John was recorded as Lord of the Manor here in 1234. By the reign of Edward I (1272- 1307) the manor was held by Goscelin de Lodne. After his death it descended to Alice, his eldest daughter  and coheir. The manor of Oakley was left to his fourth daughter, Emma. The first mention of the Manor by name occurs in the early 13th century when it is recorded as being vested in Arnold de Charnels. The death of this obscure figure likely occurred during the reign of King John and his son, John was recorded as Lord of the Manor here in 1234. By the reign of Edward I (1272- 1307) the manor was held by Goscelin de Lodne. After his death it descended to Alice, his eldest daughter  and coheir. The manor of Oakley was left to his fourth daughter, Emma. 

Alice was married to William de Beauchamp, the family from whom the manor then took its name.  This family hailed from Drayton Beauchamp in Buckinghamshire and had arrived with the Conqueror in 1066.  The Suffolk Beauchamps appear to be a cadet branch and retained the Lordship for several generations. In  1276 Matilda de Beauchamp is recorded as enforcing an action against one of her tenants in the manor, John  de Hoo and in 1299 it had passed to John de Beauchamp de Fifelude. In 1319 Beauchamps is noted as being  in the possession of Nicholas de Beaufoe but his relationship to the Beauchamps remains unrecorded.  

The descent of the Lordship from Beaufoe is uncertain but by the reign of Richard II (1377-1399) is had come into the possession of Sir John Heveningham who granted it to Sir Bartholemew Bacon and his  wife Joan. Bacon died in 1392 and left his estate, including the manor of Beauchamps to his sister, Isabel. She  was the wife of Sir Oliver Calthorpe of Burnham Thorpe in Norfolk who had been High Sheriff of that county in 1376. Sir William Calthorpe succeeded to the manor in around 1411. He was married to Eleanor Mantley  and died in 1420. Beauchamps remained in the Calthorpe family for a number of succeeding generations but  in 1519 it was found to be the property of Sir John Cornwallis.  

Sir John was succeeded by his son, Thomas Cornwallis who was, famously, Governor of Calais which  fell to France during his tenure. Cornwallis later built a Suffolk home at Brome Hall. Some accused him of  treachery and one anonymous contemporary coined the phrase; 

Who built Brome Hall? 

Sir Thomas Cornwallis.

How did he build it? 

By selling of Calais. 

On his death in 1604, aged 86, a magnificent marble tomb was erected in his honour at the parish church in Brome, which is still on display. His heir was his eldest son, Sir William, who was a leading member  of Robert Devereux, Earl of Essex’s colonial expedition to Ireland in 1599 He was knighted for his part in  this at Dublin in that same year. On his death Brome Hall passed to his younger son Frederick, who served in the household of Prince Henry, the eldest son of James I and travelled with him to Spain. He was created a  baronet in 1627 and knighted in 1630, by which point he had succeeded to the entire Cornwallis estate on  the death of his elder brother, William. Being a staunch Royalist, Frederick fought for for Charles I during the  Civil War and distinguished himself at the Battle of Cropredy in June 1644 where he rescued Lord Wilmot  from capture. Unfortunately, after the Parliamentarian victory his estate was sequestered and he followed  Charles II into exile, only returning with the King in 1660. A year later, as a reward for his loyalty, he was  created Lord Cornwallis of Eye but died only a few weeks later.

Beauchamps remained in the possession of the Cornwallis family until 1823 when the it estate was sold to Mattias Kerrison of Oakley Park. The manor eventually passed with the Oakley estate to the Maskell family and their descendants in whom it remains.

Documents in the Public Domain Associated with this Lordship:

1522-1532: minute book, Norfolk Record Office 

1471-1476 Court Roll, Suffolk Archives - Ipswich 

1546-1649: court rolls (3) 

1551-1551: rental 

1555-1558: bailiff ’s accounts, with other manors 

1556-1600: rentals (non-consecutive) 

1556-1577: account book (non-consecutive) 

1570-1573: minute book 

1575-1600: court extracts, surveys and rentals 

1575-1600: survey 

1597-1672: bailiff ’s views of accounts (non-consecutive) 

1601-1601: terrier 1612-1717: court books 

1641-1647: rentals 

1658-1671: rentals 

1740-1793: minute book 

1740-1740: estreats, with other manors 

1748-1763: steward’s papers (1 bundle) 

1750-1750: particulars of customs 

1757-1800: rentals (non-consecutive) 

1762-1925: court book (indexed) 

1783-1783: schedule of court records 

1793-1797: accounts of court profits 

1797-1797: court fees book 

1798-1799: surveys (49)

1823-1832: court fines received 

1835-1835: rental 

1884-1884: rental 

1887-1897: minute book 

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Lot #16 of 'Beaumont Collection' Auction - Nov 1954

and

Lot #9 of Stanford & Son's 'Third Auction' - Sept 1964 

Lindsey is a parish and village 4 1/2 miles north-west of Hadleigh. 

This was the Lordship of Godfrey de Bellemonte (the Latin name for Beaumont) in the time of Edward I and he had a grant of free warren here in 1291. 

"The Manor was given about 1474 to the College of Denston by Sir John Howard and John Broughton, and there it remained until the Dissolution" (Copinger, Vol. III, p. 195), when it became the property of the Crown. 

In 1548, Simon Sampson seems to have held a third part, but the Manor later became the property of Thomas Smith. In 1568 it was acquired by Anthony Cage, and in 1609 William Cage was the Lord. Later it belonged to Samuel Warner - who also owned the Manor of Callis at the same time - and like Callis the Lordship passed after his death to his daughters before being acquired by Job Hanmer, who purchased it in about 1787. It then passed to John Sparked by purchase in 1836 and was vested in the Reverend F. L. Hayward for a period before being purchased y Joseph Beaumont in 1881. 

The custom of descent, viz., Borough-English, is found in this Manor, for in the Court of 14th September, 1738, appears the entry: "Now at this Court cometh here into Court George Parsons youngest son and heir according to the custom of this Manor and putteth himself upon the favour of the Lord and Ladies of the Manor and humbly prayeth to the said Premisses of which his said father so dyed seized to be admitted Tenant."

The amercement of Defaulters in attendance at Court was threepence. 

The following Court Books (insured for £150, premium 7/6 per annum) will be handed over on Completion: 1737-1845 (two books in one volume); 1744-74 (duplicating part of 1737-1845); 1846-1918. 

((1954 Catalogue Ends - 1965 Catalogue Begins))

Lindsey is a parish and village 4½ miles north-west of Hadleigh. According to Copinger (Manor of Suffolk, Vol. III, p. 195) “this was the Lordship of Godfrey de Bello-monte (the Latin name for Beaumont in the form of Edward I and he had a right of free warren here in 1292. The Manor was given, about 1474, to the College of Denston by Sir John Howard and John Broughton, jun., and there it remained until the Dissolution, when it vested in the Crown”. 

Copinger’s information as to the subsequent devolution of the Manor is very vague and probably complicated by the fact that there was another Manor in the Parish, namely, Lillesley. It does, however, appear that during the 16th century it was vested in Anthony Gage and that in 1609 William Gage was Lord. The farming family of Gage have been connected with Lindsey for many years past, and there are several references to them in the Court Books which will be handed to the purchaser on completion. The Steward of Beaumonts in Lindsey or Lillesley is printed at the head of the name of the Manor for 1712 to 1752, during which time Henry Boughton was Steward, the headings of the Courts ran “Manor of Beaumonts in Lindsey or Lillesly”. After the Court held on 26th February, 1752, at which time Edward Coldham was Steward, Lillesly disappears from the heading and we find either Lyndsey or Lindsey. 

The devolution of the Manor as shown by the title deeds and Court records was as under: 

13th November, 1712: Court of Samuel Warner. 

20th July, 1737: First General Court Baron of Ellen Warner and other co-heiresses of Samuel Warner. 

13th August, 1787: Court of Job Hanner. 

6th April, 1818: Conveyance of this Manor and the manor of Callis Metholds and Wimbols in Glemsford by Wm. Warden Hanner to Timothy Holmes. 

14th January, 1867: Conveyance by John Jackson & James Sparne to Frederick Hayward, price £1,600. His first Court was held on 2nd February, 1867. 

16th March, 1881: Conveyance by the Rev. F. L. Hayward and others to Joseph Beaumont, price £1,200. His first and only Court was held on 30th March, 1881, his Steward being George Frederick Beaumont, his eldest son. 

Joseph Beaumont died on 18th July, 1889 and by the joint effect of his will and a deed of disclaimer by his widow, Eliza Beaumont, the said G. F. Beaumont became Lord of the Manor. He died on 1st June, 1928 and the Manor was included in the first sale by auction of Lordships of Manors in 1954. It was sold to Major and Mrs. G. B. Dunstan, the present Vendors. 

We have here an example of the rather unusual custom of descent, viz., Borough English under which, on the intestacy of a tenant, his copyhold property passed to his youngest son instead of to the eldest. 

At a Court held 14th September, 1738: 

“cometh here into Court George Parsons youngest son and heir (according to the Custom of this Manor) of the sd Wm. Parsons by Susan Parsons Widow his Mother and Attorney in this behalf and putteth himself upon the favour of the Lords and Ladies of this Manor, etc.” and he was duly admitted tenant and paid a fine of 21/-. 

A more recent case of operation of this custom is to be found in the enrolled admission on 22nd February, 1860 of Frederick Gage as the youngest son and heir of his father, Henry Martin Gage. A third case is that of George Augustus Pilkington Dawson, admitted 28th April, 1875 as youngest son and heir. 

Customary fines in this Manor were “arbitrary”, i.e., calculated at twice the annual value as opposed to “certain” fines. 

The amercement, or fine, for failure of tenants to attend the Lord’s Courts was in this Manor fixed at threepence. 

Among the documents to be handed over on completion is an Office copy of Lindsey Inclosure Exchange, the original of which was deposited with the Clerk of the Peace for the County on 20th August, 1862. This recites that Harriet East of Hadleigh, Widow of Charles Gage of Bildeston, Farmer, Thomas East of Kersey, Land Agent, and others, desiring to divide the lands in Lindsey, agreed to the terms of the Inclosure Commission. 

The records to be handed over on completion are as under: 

Rental Rolls: 1700 and 1799.
Court Books Nos. 1 and 2: Rental of 1734 followed by Courts 11th August, 1712–10th June 1742 and 20th July, 1737–31st December, 1845.
Court Book No. 3: 29th October, 1846–1st November, 1918.
Court Book: 19th October, 1744–31st December, 1744 (duplicate).
Presentment and Minute Book: 20th July, 1737–30th June, 1767.
Minute Book: 6th October, 1837–2nd August, 1877.
Presentment and Minute Book: 1767–1818, including accounts of Court profits and quit rents.
Rental: £20 3s. 0d. to 1877.
Particulars of Sale: 27th May, 1861, including plan of Sheepden Common.
Lindsey Inclosure Exchange: 17th July, 1862.
Particulars of tenants parcels and enfranchisements compiled in 1881. 

The 25th Ordnance Survey Map of Lindsey shows the “Castle” with outlying earthworks, described as Manorial Banks. Exactly what the Castle and Banks were is not clear and might be an interesting subject for research. 

This map also shows on the same map a mediaeval chapel, which according to the late Mr. Charles Partridge, antiquarian, of Stowmarket was bought and repaired by the late Col. William Geoffrey Carwadine Probert of Bevills, Bures. 

The Vendors sell as Trustees for Sale. The title shall commence with the before-mentioned conveyance on sale of 30th March, 1881. 

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Lot #9 of Hobbs & Chambers Auction – July 1966

The manor of BECKETT (Becote, xi cent.; Buccot, Bokote, xiii cent.; Bewcott, Bowcote, xvii cent.) was held in 1086 by William. Count of Evreux. Beckett with other lands was granted by the count to the priory of Noyon, a cell to St. Evroul, and was confirmed by his successor Simon Count of Evreux about the middle of the 12th century. This priory was one of the alien monasteries granted to Sheen by Henry V.

In 1202 the Prior of Noyon received a quitclaim of 5 hides in Beckett from Gilbert Martel, who elsewhere (cf. Marlston in Bucklebury) was a tenant under the priory. It was apparently soon after granted by the prior at fee farm to Walter de Becket, who was holding at the date of the Testa de Nevill. His successor John conveyed the manor in 1367 to his brother Walter for life, and dying in 1375 left a son and heir John, who received seisin of his lands in the following year. Apparently John was succeeded by Oliver Becket, for in 1412 Oliver Becket quitclaimed two-thirds of the manor and the reversion of the other third which Roger Capys and Alice his wife held in dower of Oliver's inheritance to a certain John Becket. In 1424 the manor was held by Maud Merfeld now, together with Richard Cole and Joan his wife and John Westover, conveyed the manor to John Shottesbrook and his wife Alice. John Rogers of Berham Valence married Elizabeth daughter of John Shottesbrook, and the manor was settled on them. In 1741 Thomas Rogers, their son, died seised of Becket, leaving a son Thomas. The younger Thomas died in 1488 and left a widow Margaret, on whom he had settled the property for life, and a daughter Elizabeth, the wife of Sir William Essex. Elizabeth inherited it on Margaret's death in 1518. Her husband died in 1548 and was succeeded by his son Thomas, who dealt with the manor in 1552 and (together with Thomas his son) in 1558. He died in the same year. His widow Margaret was holding in 1568. Their son Thomas, who succeeded, died in 1575, and left a son of the same name. The manor was leased in 1581 by Jane, widow of Thomas Essex, then wife of Christopher Lytcot, to Edward Unton for the life of Jane. Thomas Essex was partly in a fine in 1584, and dying in or before 1587 was succeeded by a son William, created a baronet in 1611, who in 1621 conveyed Beckett and Stalpits to Josse (Joseph) Glover and Robert Pemberton.

In 1633 Roger Glover, together with Josse Glover, clerk, and John Glover and their wives, sold the manors to Sir Henry Marten, the judge, whose son Henry Marten, one of the regicides, parted with the lands his father had acquired in order to pay his debts. Beckett, with Shrivenham Sallop, Stalpits and Cley Court, was bought in 1652 by Sir George Pratt, bart., of Coleshill. They were purchased shortly afterwards by John Wildman, who dealt with them in 1676 and again (with his son John) in 1677 and 1678. Towards the end of a life of political intrigue, carried on during the Commonwealth and the three successive reigns, Wildman was made postmaster-general in 1689. He was dismissed from that post in 1691, but became alderman of London and was knighted in 1692. He died in 1693 and was buried in Shrivenham Church. His son John Wildman adopted as his heir John Shute, who on becoming the heir of Francis Barrington took that name in 1716 and in 1720 was created Viscount Barrington. He died at Beckett in 1734 and was buried at Shrivenham. His son and heir William Wildman Barrington made a settlement of the manor in 1740, and dying in 1793 was succeeded in turn by his nephews William, Richard and George, the latter of whom was dealing with the property with his son William Keppel Barrington in 1814. It descended to William Keppel Barrington, who died at Beckett in 1867 and whose grandson Walter Bulkeley Barrington, ninth viscount, is the present owner.

Records to be handed over are:—

M60–67. Court Books, 8: 1732–1947.
M69, 70. Draft Court Books, 2: 1804–1851.
M70a–73. Minute Books, 4: 1793–1922.
M75–78. Rent Rolls, 4: 1760–1786.
M110. Custumals, 4: c. 1715–1725.
E29. Surveys, 2: 1658.
M1. Rental and Custumal, 1: 1768.

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Lot #10 of Bernard Thorpe Auction - June 1986

The ancient Lordship of the Manor of Bednall is in the East Cuttlestone Hundred of Staffordshire. It is recorded in the Domesday Survey of 1086 as belonging to the Bishop of Chester.

In 1243 John de Acton was lord of the manor and, by 1298, the lordship had come to John Trussell, who was holding for one quarter of a Knight's fee. After 1298 the Lordship of Bednall descended with that of Acton Trussell through the Trussell family until Elizabeth the family heiress married John de Vere, Earl of Oxford. 

Subsequently, after a sale by Edward Earl of Oxford, the lordship came to John Fowke who was lord of the manor in 1591. By 1658 the manor had been acquired by William Anson of Shugborough, the ancestor of the present lord of the manor, the Earl of Lichfield.

DOCUMENTS ASSOCIATED WITH THE MANOR:

1 Court papers 1497-1591

2 Survey 1574

3 Survey and copy 1574

4 Court Roll 1679

5 Court papers 1798-1821

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Lot #14 Manorial Auctioneers’ Partnership – October 1990

LYING on the south slope of the Berkshire Downs, to the west of Didcot, this Lordship gives its name to the parish. Apparently, in 965 King Edgar granted land in Beedon to Abingdon Abbey and further lands in the Manor were left to the Abbey in 1015 by Eadwy, a Prince of Wessex. 

As a consequence, at the time of the Domesday Survey in 1086, the Abbey was holding the Manor. In 1505 the Manor was described as held of the Abbey, but in 1538, the Abbot surrendered his estates to Henry VIII. Walter de Rivers held the Manor in 1086 of the Abbot of Abingdon and on Walter's death he left an infant son. Walter's brother, Joscelyn, claimed the Manor, but Abbot Rainald interceded for the infant son and it was agreed that Joscelyn would hold the manor until the child came of age. 

In the early 12th century, a further dispute arose between Joscelyn and another Abbot, Faritius, about whether tenure was for the service of two or three knights, and it was agreed that the tenant should provide three knights. In 1166, we find Boamund holding the manor of the Abbot and in 1190 we find W de Rivers described as the Abbey's military tenant at Beedon. He was probably the William de Rivers who in 1218 did homage to Hugh, Abbot of Abbingdon, for lands in Beedon. 

In 1320 Warine de Lisle is described as Lord of the vill of Beedon, but he took part in the rebellion of Robert Earl of Lancaster and was hanged at Pomfret, Yorkshire, in 1322 when Edward II seized Beedon. The King granted The Manor back to Alice, his widow, in 1326 and in 1336 she was given a grant of free warren here. She was succeeded by her son, Gerard de Lisle, who was succeeded by his son in 1360, Warine. The Manor then became the property of Joan, Warine's widow, who passed it on her death in 1392 to her only daughter, Margaret, who married to Thomas Lord Berkeley. On Lord Berkeley's death in 1417, his only daughter, Elizabeth, wife of Richard Beauchamp, Earl of Warwick, inherited. The Earl and Countess were holding two and a half Knights' fees in Beedon in 1428 and the Earl died seized of the Manor in 1439 when it passed to his daughter, Eleanor, wife of Thomas La Roos Hamlake. 

Lord Roos was succeeded by his eldest son, Thomas, who was beheaded in 1464 after the Battle of Hexham and he by his second son, Edmund, who in 1485 obtained a reversal of his father's attainder. Edmund Lord Roos was apparently feeble minded and custody of his lands was granted in 1492 his brother-in-law, Sir Thomas Lovell, with remainder to the Crown. Edmund died childless in 1508 and the Manor became the property of the King. 

In 1509, the young Henry VIII granted Beedon to the Duchess of Somerset of whom the Roos's were related. It then passed into the hands of the Earls of Southampton, then to the de Grey family and finally to Anne Reade, widow of Thomas Reade. Henry Manners, Earl of Rutland, son of Sir Robert Manners who married Eleanor, sister of Edmund Lord Roos, was a party to this sale and seems to have relinquished any claim to the Lordship. 

In 1615, Sir Thomas Reade KT received from James I a grant of the view of frankpledge in the Manor and it eventually came to Sir Thomas's grandson, also Thomas, who was created a baronet in March 1661. He died in 1679 and was succeeded by his son Sir Edward Reade, who died in 1691 and it remained with the Reade Baronets until 1759 when it was settled on Harriet Barker. The Manor then passed into the Hoskyns Baronets, with whom the Reades were related, before reverting back to Sir John Chandos Reade who in October 1857 sold it to a London banker, later Lord Overstone. 

The arms of Abingdon Abbey: argent a cross paty between four martlets sable. The arms of Rivers: azure two bars dancetey or.

Documents associated with this Manor:

Deeds and papers         1545-1857         Berks RO
Papers                   1783-1857, 1828-1923,
                        1838-88, 1887-91

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Lot #2 of Manorial Services Auction - Summer 2020 - Stephen Johnson

Begbroke is an ancient village and parish lying a few miles north of Oxford on the main road to Woodstock.  Its boundaries, in part, predate the Norman invasion and include the Rowel Brook to the north and the  ancient Frogwelldown Lane to the south-west. It take’s its name from “Becca’s Brook”, a reference to its  Saxon founder and its position by the river.

At the time of the great Norman survey of 1086, Domesday Book, Begbroke it is recorded as belonging  to the fief of William FitzOsbern, earl of Hereford but in 1075 his son, Roger, rebelled against King William  and the FitzOsberns were stripped of their lands. Begbroke was regranted to Walter de Lacy. In 1086 it was  therefore in the possession of his son Roger. It was tenanted by Ralph and it was with his descent that the  manor eventually passed. The De Lacy family remained as overlords, as part of the honour of Ludlow, until  1356 when it passed to the Roger Mortimer, earl of March. The last mention of the overlordship occurs in  1428.

Little is recorded of the manor until the end of the 12th, which is not unusual in an era of few records. In the  1180s it was the property of the de Saussay family of Kiddington. The male line became extinct in the the  mid-13th century and the manor duly passed to Richard Williamscot, grandson of Sibyl de Saussay. Around  this time, or very soon afterwards, the manor of Begbroke appears to have been divided into two. One part  eventually passed to the dukes of Marlborough but our manor descended quite separately. By the end of  the 13th century it was held by the Lyons family of Duns Tew. This was an ancient clan who had arrived in  England with the Conqueror and became established at Warkworth in Northamptonshire. It was one of  the richest families in England who were not ennobled but money cannot buy everything and the male line  ended with Sir john Lyons who died in 1385. He was succeeded by his only daughter Elizabeth, who married  Sir John Chetwode, who in turn became Lord of Warkworth.   

Begbroke remained as one of the Chetwode  family’s outlying manors until 1599 when it was  sold to Sir William Spencer of Yarntom. His son,  who inherited the manor in 1622 was described  during the turbulent 1640s as a ‘great papist’ and  fought with the Royalist side during the Civil War  despite being investigated in 1636 by the king for  his supposed ‘scandalous living’. His son, Sir Thomas,  sat as MP for Woodstock after the wars from 1660  and died in 1685. Ten years later Begbroke was sold  once more, this time to Sir Robert Dashwood. He  was the son of a London merchant and built up  and was granted a baronetcy by Charles II in 1684  and sat as an MP for Banbury where he became  identified with the ermine Tories, or county party  within Parliament. At his death in 1734 the manor  passed to his son James, the 2nd Baronet who built  the family home at Kirtlington a few miles to the  north. This Dashwood was an avowed Tory and  even considered himself a Jacobite, refusing to join  the Oxfordshire Militia at the time of the 1745  Rebellion. He died in 1779 and Begbrooke passed  to his eldest son Henry. The manor remained in the  hands of the Dashwood family until the latter half  of the 20th century. 

Begbroke was one of the last villages in England to use an open field system in agriculture. This traditional  form of farming, using three or four huge open field divided into narrow strips was the common land form  in central England until the 18th century when almost all were divided up by the Acts of Enclosure. A few  survived into the 19th century and even fewer into the 20th. In 1910 it was reported that the meadows in  Begbroke remained divided in strips which were let annually by lot. This was conducted using thirteen balls  inscribed with the names of village families, most of whom had resided there since the 13th century. Each  ball was drawn to determine who held which strip for that year. It is believed that the area of meadow thus  allotted corresponds to the 4 and a half hides of meadow mentioned in Domesday Book as belonging to  the manor. The practise continued until after the Second World War. 

Manorial Documents Associated With This Manor:

1691-1692: rentals, with Yarnton (3) Oxfordshire History Centre 

1694-1694: rental and valuation, with Yarnton 

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Lot #13 of Manorial Services Auction - Winter 2025 - Stephen Johnson

Belper lies in the heart of Derbyshire and owes its current size to the Industrial Reveloution of the  late 18th Century. The world’s second water-powered cotton mill was built here by Jedediah Strutt in 1784.  The town’s name is thought to be a corruption of Beaurepaire meaning a beautiful retreat and is linked to a  hunting lodge of Edmund Crouchback, 1st Earl of Lancaster, who was Lord of Belper in the late 13th century. 

The earliest references to Belper appear to be in Domesday Book where it is referred to as Bradelei  and was formed as part of the great lordship or honour, of Duffield. This lordship was centred on Duffield  Castle, erected to protect the royal hunting ground of Duffield Frith. It was known as a fee because within its  control originally lay a number of manors comprising Duffield, Belper, Alderwasley, Biggin, Hazelwood, Heage,  Holbrook, Hulland, Idridgehay, Southwood, Turnditch and Windley. This history and descent of these manors  is the same as that of Duffield Fee.After the Norman invasion the whole area, known as the Amber Valley,  was granted to Henry de Ferrers, as part of the great Honor of Tutbury. Ferrers owned a huge amount of  land in Derbyshire estates, centred on nearby Duffield Castle which was erected to defend it. The original  castle was destroyed in 1173 after William De Ferrers took part in the rebellion of the sons of Prince Henry  against his father, Henry II. The family restored its position under the rule of John and a second castle was  built on the same site, to the north of the village centre, on a prominence above a bend in the river. 

In 1266 de Ferrers fought against Henry III in a rebellion against the king’s perceived favouritism  towards foreigners. After a rebel defeat at Chesterfield, Belper, as part of Duffield was seized and regranted  to Edmund, Earl of Lancaster. Duffield castle was destroyed, this time permanently but the honour remained,  with Belper as part of it.  

Belper remained a possession of the Duchy, and after the succession of Henry IV, the Crown, until  1628 when it was sold by Charles I to the Corporation of the City of London. Within a year the Corporation  sold its interest to Sir Edward Leche, keeping the sub-manors of Heage and Holbrook. Leche was appointed  a Master in Chancery in 1619 and knighted in September 1621, and owned other properties in Derbyshire  such as Hathersage, Over Padley and Nether Padley as well as land in Suffolk and his main residence at  Squerries in Kent. During the Commonwealth period, Sir Edward seems to have benefited greatly as he  rapidly acquired the wool and lamb tithes for a number of his Derbyshire parishes and amassed considerable  wealth. He died in 1652. 

After the death of Sir William Leche or Leech in 1673 there was a period of some legal dispute with  Sir Ambrose Philips being Lord of the Manor from 1674 to 1678 and then Philip Jodrell. Sir William Leech  certainly had land in Belper, this is explicitly mentioned in his will of 1673;  

to son William, £3,000 at 21, out of manors, lands etc, prebend or rectories of Sawley and Wilne; to son  Philip, land near ‘Beaureper’ [Belper] called Bradley land, and £1,000 at 21, out of lands to be sold; if John, William  or Philip die before 21, the survivor 

However, Paul Jodrell is recorded as Lord of the Manor in 1696. The Jodrell family were members of  the Derbyshire landed gentry and could trace their lineage back to the 13th century. The Derbyshire Jodrells  were a cadet branch of the Cheshire family who lived at Yeardsley in Cheshire.

The manor remained with the Jodrell family for the next 200 years when it was sold to Sir Timothy  White in 1891. Sir Timothy was the founder of the chemist chain “Timothy Whites” which was a high street  staple until the 1980s. In 1976 Sir John White sold the manor which was then sold again in 1998 to the family  of the present holder.

The manor of Belper was one of the administrative centres of the Honour, and courts would often  meet here. There was a manor house which no longer remains, but Manor Farm House, situated on New  Breck Road, in the town, still stands and is a Grade II listed building.  

A selection of Documents associated with the Manor in the Public Domain:

1278-1611: court roll (non consecutive) The National Archives 

1326-1328: reeve’s accounts 

1333-1334: court roll 

1333-1340: court rolls 

1357-1363: reeve’s accounts 

1370-1378: ministers’ accounts 

1399-1401: valors 

1400-1402: ministers’ accounts, with other manors 

1409-1414: court rolls, with other manors 

1414-1415: rental 

1416-1421: ministers’ accounts 

1419-1444: ministers’ accounts, with other manors 

1428-1442: court rolls, with other manors 

1439-1547: ministers’ accounts (non consecutive) 

1536-1537: list of bondholders Derbyshire Record Office 

1588-1676: book of extracts on copyhold estates from court rolls 

1596-1607: court book 

1613-1628: court books 

1616-1626: court rolls 

1640-1790: court books, including drafts (Duffield Fee) 

1746-1775: verdicts (bundle) 

1824-1925: court books, including drafts (Duffield Fee) 

1608-1610: court book Norfolk Record Office 

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Lot #1 of Manorial Services Auction - Spring 2024 - Stephen Johnson

(Among 2-3% of manors which are registered with HM's Land Registry - Title #: BK385159)

The manor of Benham Lovell is one of several estates in the large parish of Speen and is part of the township  of Benham. It lies a mile or two from Newbury on lowland formed by the River Kennet. The area is perhaps  most famous for the introduction of the “Speenhamland” poor relief system after the failed harvest of 1795. 

The Lordship of the Manor of Benham Lovell is first mentioned in 1198 when Osber t Lovell is documented as receiving a grant of land worth 100 shillings. He was succeeded by his son William who died  before 1213. His widow, Emma, paid the king (Henry III) 60 shillings to receive custody of the lands of her  deceased husband. She remarried Anger the Hunter on whom information is sadly scant. His young son,  William, was made a ward of his uncle Robert, who was a chaplain to the king. Emma appealed to Henry  and she was able to claim her son back, and after she died he became Lord of the Manor of Benham Lovell.  In 1242 William was recorded as being a royal huntsmen, which was a court position and was rewarded  with blue and green robes. According to some sources, the manor was held from the king by the Serjeanty of seeing a kennel of harriers at the Kings Croft, though in other records it is bloodhounds. On his death in 1275, William’s son, William, was a minor, and for a time the manor was held by the king’s serjeant, Robert le  Pestur. By 1284,William had taken control of his lands but died sometime before 1306. 

William’s son, John became Lord of the Manor and held Benham Lovell as half a knight; fee from the  king and also by dint of having to provide one man and one horse in armour to the king whenever he was  a fighting a war in the British Isles. He was also the hereditary King’s Master of Buckhounds, a title which had been held by his father. He role was to provide the king with suitable dogs whenever the king was hunting  deer. He lived only until 1316 when the estate passed to Thomas and Margaret de Borhunte. Borhunte must  have been a relative of Lovell’s since he became Master of Buckhounds after 1316.  

Thomas died in 1340 and Benham Lovell (as is had became known) eventually passed to his son,  John who did not inherit his father’s court position, only his property. His mother is noted as settling the  Queen Katherine of Aragon  6 lordship on him and his wife Mary, in 1341. She had married William  Danvers and he is recorded as Lord in 1349. The fate of John and  Mary’s ownership is not recorded. Danvers appears to have ignored  his wife’s deed of settlement and sold Benham Valence to Edward III  in 1354.  

Together with the royal manor of Hampstead Marshall,  Benham Lovell was granted to the king’s daughter Isabella, in advance  of her marriage to the wealthy French nobleman, Enguerrand VII,  Lord of Courcy (later Earl of Bedford). In 1382, Isabella’s trustees granted the manor to one her maids, a Frenchwoman called Isabel  de Feye on condition that she survived her mistress. This she duly  did and she took livery of the manor, with her husband, Richard  Herfeld, in 1392. He inherited the property when his wife died in  1408. On his death, a few years later it reverted to the Crown and in 1443 Henry VI granted it to his serjeant, John Norreys. In 1465  it was granted again, this time to the benefit of Elizabeth Woodville, the wife of Edward IV, who had seized the throne from Henry VI. In 1471, when Edward was crowned for a second time, the rents of  Benham Lovell were granted to the king’s brother, George Duke of Clarence but the manor remained the proper ty of Elizabeth until Henry VII took the throne in 1485. 

With the rise of the Tudor dynasty, the manor remained a property of the Crown but was leased  out, or granted, firstly to Roger Cheyne in 1487 and then, in dower, to Queen Katherine of Aragon in 1509. She retained the property even after her divorce from Henry, but on her death in 1536, Henry passed the  manor to his third Queen, Jane Seymour. After her death a year later, Benham Lovell returned to the Crown  for almost for ty years before being finally granted as a freehold to a wealthy clothier, John Yate, in 1574. Five years later his son, Edward, sold the manor to Thomas Parry, who had also purchased the nearby manor of  Welford. Parry was the son of a notable courtier and sat as a Member of Parliament for Bridport in Dorset  throughout the 1570s and 1580s. In 1593 he was made Sheriff of Berkshire. He was knighted by Elizabeth in 1601 and was persuaded to become the English ambassador to France for four years. His wife, Dorothy  Brooke, had been a maid of honour to the Queen. On his death in 1616, the manor passed to his brother-in-law, Sir Thomas Knyvett but a year later the estate was sold to Sir Francis Jones, an alderman of Aldgate in the  Haberdashers’ Company. He had served as sheriff for the City of London in 1610 and lord mayor in 1620  and died at Welford (which he had also purchased). In 1622 he had settled this estate upon his son Abraham  Jones of the Middle Temple and Susan his wife and after his death Benham Lovell passed to them. The manor  remained in the Jones family until the marriage of Mary to John Archer in 1680. After both Mary and John died in 1702 the estate passed to William Eyre, John’s brother-in-law. He took the name Archer and when he died in 1729 the manor passed to his son, John. On his death in 1800 it descended to his daughter, Eleanora, the wife of Jacob Houblon of Great Hallingbury in Essex. 

  Jacob Houblon was a classic member of the 18th century Landed Gentry. He sat in Parliament for over thirty years for Colchester and then Hertford and represented the Tory faction after becoming a  ‘country squire’. Indeed, when he married Mary Hyde Cotton in 1735 he became connected to the ‘Jacobite’  faction of which her father, Sir John Hyne Cotton, was a leading light. He later joined the Cocoa Tree Club,  the headquarters of the Jacobite Tory faction. After the failed rebellion led by Prince Charles Stuart in 1745  the Jacobite cause was dealt a near fatal blow and it is perhaps unsurprising that he did not stand at the next  election in 1747. He did return to Parliament in the 1760s as an independent.  

The Houblon family, later Archer-Houblon, remained as Lords of the Manor of Benham Lovell until the late 20th century when their descendant, Mrs. Puxley, sold it to a private buyer. 

Documents in the Public Domain Associated with this Lordship:

1437-1437: valor, Surrey History Centre 

1441-1445: court roll, The National Archive 

1502-1504: court roll 1517-1517: court roll 

1441-1660: extracts from court rolls Royal Berkshire Archives 

1537-1541: court roll 

1547: survey 

1547/1550: rental 1517-1519: court roll 

1554-1556: bailiff ’s receipts from the Exchequer 

1558-1731: court rolls (non-consecutive) 

1615-1615: rental 

1671-1763: stewards papers (non-consecutive) 

1680-1680: particular 

1730-1732: letters and papers 

1735-1763: presentments (bundle) 

1743-1744: survey 

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Lot #3 of Manorial Services Auction - 2004 UNPUBLISHED/ABORTED - Stephen Johnson

with historic rights to fair

THIS IS A VERY extensive parish, covering over 8,000 acres. It lies six miles north of Wareham and 11 miles from Poole. It derives its name from the Saxon Byri, or Byrig, which means a town or fort and there is good reason to suppose that there was Roman station here. On Woodbury hill is a large earthen encampment, which overlooked the Roman road which ran to Dorchester. Though the fort itself was the Roman the earth works were ancient British. The hill was the scene of an annual fair which began on September 18 and ran for five days. The right to hold the fair was purchased by the eventual owners of the Lordship, the Drax family and it was considered to be on of the most important of its kind in Western England. In its 18th century heyday it attracted traders from the both London and the Midlands who traded in hops, cheese, cloth and horses.

Bere Regis received its royal appendage from its ownership of King Edward the Martyr. After the Norman invasion of 1066 it was taken as part of the royal demesne and is recorded as belonging to William, along with Burton Bradstock and Colber. Little is known of the Lordship from this time, though there is a local tradition that King John had a castle here, though this is probably a reference to a manor house here which may have occasionally houses this wandering monarch. There are a few references to this house and John appears to have visited Bere in 1204, 1205, 1206, 1207, 1213 and 1215.

During reign of Henry III (1216-1272) Bere Re!gis was granted out to Simon De Montfort, one of the most ‘inspiring’ men of the Middle Ages, in the sense that he inspired absolute loyalty and admiration from some and total hatred from his opponents. His father had led the Albigesian Crusade and Simon came to England with his father in 1230. In the following year he made a claim for the Earldom of Leicester, which was upheld by Henry. His first action was to expel all the Jews from that city, a pogrom which was typical of the period and would culminate in their total expulsion from England under Edward I. Cementing his growing power in 1538, de Montfort, married the king’s sister, Eleanor. He then followed in his father’s footsteps and embarked an a Crusade to the holy Land in 1240. Two years later he returned to Western Europe and becaôme seneshal of Gascony for four years from 1248. Though he had gained a reputation as both a loyal soldier and efficient bureaucrat, Montfort began to gestate a number of financial grudges against Henry and a increasing contempt for the monarch’s administration. The king was seen to favour foreign interests at court, at the expense of the English nobles. After his misguided and disasterously expensive campaign to install his son, Edmund as King of Sicily, the Henry was forced by them to except a number of reforms, granting them more power. Montfort helped to draw up what became known as the Provisions of Oxford and the king spent the next few years in trying to wrench himself free of their constraints. This led to war and Montfort was a natural leader of the opposition. Initially Henry was successful in defending his position and Montfort was forced to leave for France in 1261. However the acquiescence of the Barons was short lived and in 1263 trouble again broke out between them and the King. Montfort came back to England and amassed an army to force the issue. The short war which followed culminated with Montfort’s decisive victory at the Battle of Lewes in May 1264. After the battle Montfort gained custody of both the King and his heir Edward, the Prince of Wales. This made Simon the de facto head of government and he immediately put into operation policies design to appease the native aristocracy and gentry; summoning a Parliament, in January 1265. His rule was short lived. Edward escaped and drew an up an army and confronted Montfort at the Battle of Evesham in August of that year where the rebel was beaten. He was slaughtered and dismembered on the Battlefield.

After Edward’s victory his father, now restored, granted Bere Regis to his brother Edmund who then granted it out to Tarent Abbey. A record of 1273 shows that the abbess held ‘her manor of B»ere, a fair, market, free warren and the whole forest of Bere.’ The whole estate was valued in 1291 at £16.

Tarent Abbey continued as Lords of the Manor of Bere Regis until the house was dissolved on the orders of Henry VIII in 1339. Seven years later the King granted it out to Robert Turberville in return for £608. This family were of ancient lineage and could trace their ancestry back to Paynede Turberville, who came to England with the Conqueror and who appears on the Battle Abbey Roll. The family were established in the area, especially at Sherborne, which was held by Henry de Turberville in 1217. In 1297 there is record of a Brian de Turberville as holding an estate in Somerset and Dorset. The family held a Lordship in Bere and this was being held by William Turberville at his death in 1461. This descended to his son, Richard who was also a tenant of the abbess of Tarent for land held in the Lordship of Bere Regis. His son and heir was John who held the office of Constable of Corfe Castle, a few miles to the south and was range of Purbeck Forest. In 1486, he was sheriff of Dorset, appointed by the new Tudor King, Henry VII (1485-1509).

John Turberville died in 1534 and by his will ordered that his body be buried in the parish church at Bere Regis, in the same tomb of his father. One of John’s sons was James, who became bishop of Exeter. Born at Bere Regis the the 1490s, he was educated at New College, Oxford, from where he graduated in 1516. In 1541, after a number of years as a administrator of the university, Turberville then became rector of Hartfield in Sussex. Little is known of his subsequent career until he was consecrated as bishop in 1555. He was a Catholic by belief and on the accession of Elizabeth in 1558 opposed a number of anti-catholic measures introduced into the first Parliament of her reign. In 1559 he declined to take the oath of supremacy which placed the Queen at the head of the Church of England and was committed to the Tower for a short period. He spent the next four years under house arrest, but died a free man in 1570.

Meanwhile, after the death of John Turberville the family estates passed to his son George, from whom they passed to Robert, who, as mentioned above, was granted Bere Regis by Henry VIII. Robert died in 1559 and the Lordship then passed to his son Thomas. He died childless in 1587 so the estate then descended to his nephew, John. His son and heir, Thomas, died before him in 1628, son, when John died, in 1633, Bere passed to his grandson, Sir John Turberville. He sat as a Member of Parliament under the Commonwealth and was sheriff of Dorset in 1652. It is thought that he was knighted on the Restoration of Charles II in 1660. He had no children so at his death in 1666 Bere Regis came to his brother, Thomas, who lived until 1701. His son and heir was Thomas, who was married to Mary, the daughter of Thomas Trenchard. He died very soon afterwards, in 1704 and the Lordship then came to his daughter Mary, who was married to Grenville Eliot. 

After this point Bere Regis came to the Erle family. How this happened is rather obscure but it possible that it was purchased by Walter Erle, who was Thomas Trenchard’s son-in-law and consequently Mary’s brother-in-law. The Erle family held the Lordship after this date and their descendants, the Plunckett Ernle Erle Drax family, continue to hold it at the present day.

Documents associated with this Manor:

Compotus 1548-1549 Dorset Record Office

Survey 1619 Duchy of Cornwall

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Lot #34 of Manorial Auctioneers - Undated but Post-2002

Catalogue gifted & transcribed for the archive by the Lord of Finchingfield - a friend to learning

'Petit Serjeanty' tenure: historically held of the King by service of a hound with red ears

LYING IN the small parish of Ashow, the Lordship of Bericote forms its southern boundary. It is centred on the small hamlet of the same name, which dates back before the Norman invasion of 1066, when it was held by the Saxon Alwin. At some point after 1086 Bericote seems to have been taken into the possession of the Crown, since it was granted by Henry II (1154–1189) to his Sergeant Boscher. It was to be held by the service of keeping a young, white brachet, or hound, with red ears, to be delivered to the King at the year’s end, and then to receive another to breed up, with a half quarter of bran.

On Boscher’s death, Bericote passed to his son, Henry, who conveyed it to Stephen de Segrave. Segrave died in 1241 and his will granted it to Stoneleigh Abbey, Warwickshire, for the rent of 100s. The rental was to be used to keep one monk at the Abbey and the grant was confirmed in 1265. The Abbey had already received an estate in the Lordship from Henry Boscher’s mother.

Stoneleigh Abbey was founded during the reign of Stephen (1135–1154) when a stretch of land at Radmore, on Cannock Chase, in Staffordshire, was granted to two devout hermits Clement and Hervey and their companions. The hermits lasted only 12 years at Radmore after finding their devotions continually interrupted by foresters. The whole institution then moved to Stoneleigh, in Warwickshire. In 1241 the monastery was burned down and the Sheriff of Warwickshire ordered that 40 oaks be delivered to the monks at his expense. In 1284, Edward I granted them free warren over all their Manors, including Bericote. They also received full manorial privileges such as goods of felons, tumbrel (a cart used for conveying miscreants to execution), pillory, and assize of bread and beer. The Abbey was not isolated from the turbulence of the era. In 1288, it was attacked by an armed band and ransacked, and in 1321 it was forcibly entered by Sir Roger de Mortimer. This was during the period of turmoil caused by the Despenser family and Sir Hugh le Despenser had placed his coffers in the charge of the Abbot. Mortimer broke open the boxes and took away £1,000 in gold and numerous jewels and silver items.

Little is recorded of the social life of the Abbey, although in the 1230s the Abbot, William de Gyleford, was chosen as penitentiary (assistant or companion) to the Papal Legate Pandulf and was sent to Wales. This promotion caused a stir of resentment among other abbots and Gyleford became a figure of some envy. In 1235, he was deposed from the Abbey after allowing a duel between one of his shepherds and another man and for having a cattle thief hanged, the latter against Church canons that priests should not shed blood. His enemies seized on these offences as an excuse to have him removed. After Gyleford’s departure the Abbey slid into laxness, apathy, and decline. It revived in the 15th century and was prospering again by the time of its dissolution under Henry VIII, in the 1530s.

Bericote was seized by the Crown after Stoneleigh Abbey’s demise and granted to Charles Brandon, the Duke of Suffolk, in 1542. Suffolk was the son of William Brandon, who had been Henry VII’s standard bearer at Bosworth and is said to have killed Richard III himself at the battle. He appears to have been a favourite of the young King, Henry VIII, and was similar in stature and temperament. In 1509 he was squire to the king’s body and appointed chamberlain of North Wales and knighted in 1512. In December of that year he was created Viscount Lisle on account of his marriage contract with Elizabeth, sole heir of John Grey, Viscount Lisle. Brandon had arranged the contract with the girl over whom he had been given wardship and when she came of age she refused to marry Brandon and the patent was cancelled. However, he seems to have continued to use the title since he is referred to as Lord Lisle in 1513 when he was appointed marshal over the army which was to invade France. In 1514, after serving in the war, he was created Duke of Suffolk. In that same year Suffolk was sent as Ambassador to the new French King Francis I. Then, to the consternation of Henry, Suffolk married the king’s sister Mary, the widow of Louis XII of France. After a time out of favour, Suffolk reemerged at court and he accompanied Henry to his meeting with the Emperor Charles V and Francis I at the Field of the Cloth of Gold, just outside Calais — then an English possession — in 1520. In 1523, he commanded another invasion force in France. Though it did little in the way of fighting, the army was forced to disband by the fierce winter. After the fall of Cardinal Wolsey in 1529 — over Henry’s divorce from Catherine of Aragon — Suffolk’s position grew at the Court and he took second place in importance behind the Duke of Norfolk and accompanied Henry to Calais in 1532 when he met Francis I once more.   

On the day of Anne Boleyn’s coronation in 1533, Suffolk was appointed High Steward and spent a good deal of time over the next two or three years securing Anne’s daughter’s position as one of the heirs to the throne. That daughter was the future Queen Elizabeth. During the dissolution of the monasteries, Brandon profited heavily and from this he received a great deal of land including the Lordship [of] Bericote. He then faded from public life, though he was one of Katharine Howard’s judges, in 1541 and in 1542 he was on the boat with her that conveyed the unfortunate Queen through Traitor’s Gate into the Tower. Katharine was Henry VIII’s fifth Queen and was executed for adultery. Two years later, Suffolk was put at the head of Henry’s last invasion of France in June 1544. He oversaw the successful siege of Basse Boulogne and returned to England in triumph. Suffolk died a year later and is buried at Tattershall, in Lincolnshire. On Suffolk’s death, the Lordship came to Matthew Wrottesley, who conveyed it to Thomas Marrowe in 1549. Marrowe sold it to John Harryoung, and in 1582 it was purchased by Sir Thomas Leigh, whose successor, Lord Leigh of Stoneleigh Abbey, was Lord until recently. Stoneleigh Abbey is traditionally the scene of the Royal Show, the biggest annual agricultural event, attended by most members of the Royal Family.

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Lot #26 Manorial Auctioneers’ Partnership – October 1990

THIS HONOR, or Feudal Barony, and Manor of Great Berkhampstead gained momentous prominence soon after the Battle of Hastings in 1066. It was here, according to the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, that after the battle and the death of King Harold Archbishop Aldred of York and the people of London met and chose Edgar Aethling (Aethling = throne-worthy) as King, as a consequence of which William of Normandy marched north-west from Hastings, crossing the Thames at Wallingford, and arrived outside Berkhampstead. The remaining Saxon nobles, the Aethling, the Archbishop, and Earls Edwin and Morcar, seeing their weak position 

“from necessity submitted when the greatest harm had been done; and it was very imprudent that it was not done earlier, as God would not better it for our sins, and they gave hostages and swore oaths to him (William); and he promised them that he would be a kind lord to them”. 

A few days later, William was in London where he was crowned King. Berkhampstead had belonged to Thegn Admer Atule in the reign of Edward the Confessor and, because of its importance as a cross-roads between London and the Midlands, William placed it in the safe hands of his half brother Robert, Count of Mortain, to whom he granted the Earldom of Cornwall with some 700 other Lordships in 1068. 

The Domesday entry records a rare vineyard. The Count of Mortain holds Berkhampstead. It is assessed at 13 hides. There is land for 26 ploughteams. In demesne six hides, and there are three ploughteams, and there could be three others. There, a priest with 14 villeins and 15 bordars have 12 ploughteams, and there could be another eight. There, six serfs, and a certain ditcher has half a hide, and Ranulph, a serving man of the Count, one virgate. In the burhium of this vill 52 burgesses who render £4 from toll, and they have half a hide, and two mills yielding 20s. There, two arpents of vineyard. Meadow for eight ploughteams. Pasture for the livestock of the vill. Wood for 1,000 swine and 5s. In all it is worth £16. When he received it £20. In the time of King Edward, £24.

Count Robert married Maud, daughter of Robert de Montgomery, Earl of Shrewsbury, and by her had an only son William, a young man of “arrogant and malevolent disposition”. When Count William rebelled against his sovereign Henry I in 1104, all of his lands were confiscated and granted to Randulph, the King’s Chancellor. Berkhamstead Castle was razed and Randulph rebuilt it. 

In 1123, after spending Christmas at Dunstable, King Henry purposed to visit his Chancellor at Berkhamstead. Randulph felt a look-out so that he might go out to meet the King’s cavalcade, and when the signal was given, the Chancellor rushed forward, up a hill, suffered a heart attack, fell down, and a monk rode over him. He died a few days later. It was granted to Reginald de Dunstanvill, Earl of Cornwall, an illegitimate son of Henry I. Although Reginald survived till 1175, he must have surrendered Berkhamstead, for we find Thomas Becket, Archbishop of Canterbury, holding of the Crown in 1155-6. On the Archbishop’s fall from grace in 1160, Henry II granted a lease to William of Windsor, and in 1174 a new lease was granted to William de Mandeville, Earl of Essex, who seems to have held it until his death in 1189. The following year, Richard I granted it in dower to his Queen, Berengaria, who held it until the accession of John in 1199. John put his sister-in-law out. Berengaria seems to have petitioned Innocent III in Rome, who placed the Honor and all the lands the ex-Queen should have held, under interdict until the King made restitution. This was not effected until 1215 when John paid off his sister-in-law and granted Berkhampstead to his second wife, Queen Isabella. Isabella was living at Berkhampstead Castle the following year when the King died, shortly after which Isabella remarried Hugh, Count de la Marche. The couple placed Hugh de Nazia, one of their knights, in charge of Berkhampstead, but Hugh de Burgh, the effective Regent of England during the minority of Henry III, not wishing to leave so important a place in the hands of a foreigner, took it into Crown custody. 

In 1225 the castle and Honour were granted to Richard, Earl of Cornwall, second son of King John. This Prince was elected King of the Romans at Aachen in 1256 and was duly crowned as such, but was never able to make good his claim to the imperial title. Holy Roman Emperor. Earl Richard and his wife, Isabella, spent most of their time when in England at Berkhampstead and she died here in 1243. Earl Richard’s son, Edmund, by his second wife, Sanchia de Provence, was born at Berkhamstead in 1249. Richard was succeeded in the Honour by Edmund in 1272. The young Earl had obtained what was supposed to be a drop of Christ’s blood in Saxony and founded a priory at Ashridge, a Manor within the Honour, to commemorate this. 

Edmund died childless in 1300 and his cousin, Edward I, granted it to his second wife Margaret of France. She was dispossessed by her stepson Edward II, who gave it to his favourite Piers Gaveston. The King eventually relented and Margaret was confirmed in possession until her death in 1317 after which Edward granted it to his wife Isabella. In 1329 Edward III granted Berkhamstead to John of Eltham, his brother, who died in 1336 without issue. The following year the King granted the Honor to his eldest son Edward, Prince of Wales (the Black Prince), who resided here for some time towards the latter years of his life. 

In 1360 John, King of France, captured by the English at Poitiers in 1356, was imprisoned here in great state. From this date the Honor followed the descent of the Duchy of Cornwall and passed successively to the eldest son of the reigning monarch until 1863. In the reign of Richard II, Geoffrey Chaucer, was Keeper of the Royal Castles, although it is not known whether he visited Berkhampstead. There were exceptions. 

In 1469, Edward IV granted the Honor to his mother, Cecily, Duchess of York, who resided at the castle. “Proud Cis”, as she was known, was the grand-daughter of John of Gaunt. She became the wife of Richard, Duke of York, killed at the Second Battle of St Albans in 1459. Her son, Edward IV, and grandsons, Edward V and Richard, Duke of York, all died (in the case of the latter Two Princes in the Tower, murdered) in 1483. The other son, Richard III, was killed two years later at the Battle of Bosworth. The third son, George, Duke of Clarence, was drowned in a butt of Malmsey in 1478. With the accession of Henry VII in 1485, she saw the marriage of her daughter, Elizabeth of York, to the King and died at Berkhamstead in 1495. 

In 1509 it was granted as a jointure to Katherine of Aragon and then to Anne Boleyn and then Jane Seymour. In 1550 Edward VI granted it to his sister Elizabeth for life and on her accession she leased Berkhampstead to Sir Thomas Benger and later to Sir Edward Carey and his wife, who built the house now known as Berkhamstead Place. With the accession of James I in 1603, the Honor finally became part of the Duchy of Cornwall and was held by each successive Prince of Wales until Edward Prince of Wales, later Edward VII. The Brownlows, who had succeeded to the great Bridgewater estates at Ashridge and Berkhamstead in 1856, took over the lease of the Honor, granted by the Duchy of Cornwall in 1761 to the Egerton Dukes of Bridgewater. Six years later, the Honor was purchased by the trustees of John, second Earl Brownlow, for £43,642. Berkhamstead station inserted a private entrance for the Earl in 1867. 

The Manor and Seignorial Borough of Berkhampstead (as distinct from the Honor) was a liberty outside the jurisdiction of the Sheriff and the Lord of the Manor appears to have had the fishery in any brook, water, or river within the Manor from a place called Bulbourne Head and along the river within the Manor to King’s Langley Park, without the bounds of the Manor but within the Honor.

Documents associated with this Manor:

Court Rolls         1400, 1424-30,    1633-4         PRO                 

Court Books         1448-51

Estreats            1647-49

Survey of the
Manor & Honor       1608 & Commonwealth

Extent or Survey    1356

Rental              1541, 1554-5

Survey              1614

Accts with D of Cornwall Manors    14th-16th c

Court Roll          1447

Collector’s Accts   1498-9

Court Roll I(Honor)         1437

Deputy Stewards Accts       1735-44

Rental                      post 1732

Ministers Accts             1542-73, 1618-9         D of Cornwall Office

Receivers Accts             1442-1661

Surveys                     1619, 1690, 1783

Court Rolls                 1498, 1507, 1633-4      PRO

Portmote Roll               1399

Court Books                 1533-36

Estreats                    1670-2

Court Rolls                 1496, 1498, 1501

Portmote Roll               1446-47                  Hertford RO

Copy of Court Rolls         1787, 1788, 1789, 1790-1810

Copy of Court Roll          nd

Court Rolls                 1786-1810

Quit Rents                  1775

Acct Book of
Rents & Tenants             c1754

Acct of certain reliefs
received at Courts          1740                     Northants & Bucks RO

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Lot #34 of Strutt & Parker Auction – November 2003

(with ancient grant of free warren, market and fairs)

The manor and market town of Bermondsey lies in the Hundred of Brixton bounded by Southwark to the west and Rotherhithe to the east and Camberwell to the south. This fief, with extensive water frontage to the Thames, extended from St Saviours dock to Cherry Garden Pier and comprised some 620 acres.

Before the Conquest, Bermondsey was held by Earl Harold and the Domesday Survey of 1086 records it still held by the Monarch with land for eight ploughs, one in demesne and four held by twenty-five villiens and thirty-three bordars. There were thirty acres of meadow and woodland for five hogs from the pannage and there were thirteen burgesses who paid fourty-four pence in rent. This description covers the larger area of the Parish in a later register described as containing Bermondsey monastery, Camberwell which was part of Rotherhithe, the hide of Southwark, Dulwich, Waddon and Rayham (probably Leigham) in Streatham. All lands and tenements in Bermondsey were pleadable in the Court of that Manor by writ of the right according to the custom of the Manor and not at common law.

The Hundred of Brixton, formerly Briaton but styled Brixiston in the Domesday Book appears to derive from an ancient boundary mark called Brixi's Stone mentioned in a charter granted by Edward the Confessor to the Canons of the Abbey at Waltham Holy Cross. In the time of King Edward it was valued at fifteen pounds and the Sheriff had twenty shillings. The Earl of Morition (Mortaign) holds one hide which in the time of King Edward belonged to this Manor. Brixius or Brixi or Brise was doubtless a common name among the Anglo-Saxons and probably relates to a former landed proprietor. The name Beormund'seye or Island refers to the land surrounded by water courses adjacent to the Thames belonging to a Saxon or Danish thane.

The greater part of Bermondsey remained as Crown lands until about 1094 when William Rufus by Royal Charter gave it to the Priory of the Cluniac Convent which had been founded in Bermondsey in 1082. By the Terms of Grant, the Manor was to be held freely, the Priory exempted from all customs and services and the Charter was reaffirmed by King Henry I. In the Reign of Edward III, Bermondsey being held as a cell to the Abbey of La-Charite in France was seized as an alien Priory consequent on the wars with the French but after a few years the monks received restoration of their estates. In the Reign of Henry V 1417, in proceedings against the Abbey by writ Quoquo Warranto the Abbey received a favourable verdict in respect of Bermondsey and other Manors.

Evidently the Abbot and monks took responsibility for reclaiming the marsh land and protecting the small town of Bermondsey from the river by banks and dykes, though it was subject to frequent incursions by the tides. The Annals of Bermondsey Abbey of 1302 mention repairs to the breach of Rotherhithe where in 1294 the Thames flooded the plains of Bermondsey and in 1304 the Prior and Convent were exempted from service to the Crown because of losses suffered to their lands by breaches of the banks of the Thames. Records show that in 1140 William Count of Mortain retired to the Abbey; the Earls of Gloucester claimed lodgings there in right and Ralph Earl of Stafford died seized of this right to his wife in 1372. Henry II held his Great Council in Bermondsey in 1154 and in 1241 and 1259 Courts of Assizes were held there. Catherine, wife of Henry V and Elisabeth, widow of Edward IV both died at the Abbey in honourable captivity.

Bermondsey remained with the Abbey until the dissolution of the Monasteries by Henry VIII. On New Years Day 1538 King Henry seized the Manor of Bermondsey and the town was one of the most damaged by the troubles of that time. It remained with the Crown until 1542 when by letters patent, Henry granted the Manor with its lands, rights of Court Leat, view of frankpledge and right of free warren to Sir Robert Southwold, Master of the Rolls at an annual rent of ten shillings. In the same year, Sir Robert sold on Bermondsey to Sir Thomas Pope who in 1545 obtained grants and confirmation of the Manor with its Royalties and appurtenances. Sir Thomas pulled down much of the ancient priory and with the materials erected a mansion called Bermondsey House. This with its buildings, orchards, gardens and grounds of about twenty acres, Sir Thomas re-conveyed to Sir Robert Southwold in 1555 and in November of the following year Sir Robert resold the estate together with the advowson of the Rectory of Bermondsey to Robert Trappes, a goldsmith and citizen of London. It remained in his family until 1709 when it passed to a niece Elisabeth Halford who in 1711 married Edward Thurland of Rygate. In 1717 they sold to a Peter Hambly of Streatham and on death it passed to his son William Hambly of Carshalton and on the death of his wife to their son the Reverend Thomas Hambly, Rector of Bermondsey in 1777. Thomas died childless in 1802 when the Manor was settled on his widow for life and subsequently on a nephew Edmund from whom it passed to Abel Ram of Ramscourt, High Sheriff for County Wexford in 1829. His son Steven Ram was also High Sheriff for Wexford in 1840. The Manor of Bermondsey remained in the Ram family until sold in 1990.

Documents associated with the Lordship of the Manor of Bermondsey

Court Leet and Baron         1731-43, 1781-82         Minet PL

List of Rents                     1771

Court Papers                    1584 - 1717

View of Frankpledge         1637 - 1714                PRO

Courts Baron

Court Roll                         1638-9                     J Rylands Library

Extracts                             1692-95

Presentments                    1676, 1687, 1689

List of Tenants                   1682

Views of Frankpledge        1685 - 1716

Rental with other manors   temp Charles I         Cambridge UL

3 Accounts                                                     Queens College Cambs

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Lot #5 of Manorial Auctioneers – May 2008

Catalogue transcribed by the Lord of Finchingfield - a friend to learning

A GREAT BATTLE was fought here between the Mercians and West Saxons, according to the Venerable Bede in his British History, written in the seventh century, a battle, presumably, so well known at the time, that Bede did not think it necessary to mention its date. The Mercians were camped at Willersey and the West Saxons at Meon Hill, in the parish of Quinton. Meon Hill, apparently, derives its name from a tribe in Hampshire, called by Julius Caesar Iceni Magna, who composed the greater part of the West Saxon army. They dwelt on the rivers Meon and Itchen and have given their name to several Hampshire towns, including Meon Stoke and East Meon. The Dark Age conflict at Berrington is marked by a bridge, known as Battle Bridge.

The Lordship of Berrington adjoins the Cotswold town of Chipping Campden to the east, and is the property of the Earl of Gainsborough. The Manor does have a separate entry in Domesday Book (1086), but is very likely subsumed in the description of Chipping Campden, which is mentioned as follows:

The Earl himself holds Chipping Campden

Earl Harold held it.

There are fifteen hides paying geld.

In demesne are six ploughs; and 50 villeins and 8 bordars

with 21 ploughs.

There are 12 slaves and 2 mills rendering 62s 2d.

There are 3 female slaves.

It was worth £30. Now £20

The Domesday Earl was Hugh Lupus (the Wolf), Earl of Chester, a holder of enormous estates throughout England and it appears that the overlordship of the Manor remained with the Earls for some centuries afterwards. Earl Harold was Harold Godwinson, briefly King Harold II who was killed at the battle of Hastings in 1066. The descent of the Lordship seems to follow that for Chipping Campden until the 16th century. In the first year of the reign of King John (1199) it was held by Guinar Briton. He may well have left it to the Church since in 1206 it is noted as being in the possession of the Archbishop of Canterbury, John de Grey. In 1216, though, Sir Ralph de Somery died seized of the Manor, perhaps indicating that it was on some kind of lease from the Earls of Chester. This may well explain the variety of owners over the next few decades. A few years later, it was found that Serlo died seized of it and that it then passed to his widow, Anne.

The Lordship of Chipping Campden then seems to have undergone some division, a number of holders of separate moieties appearing, such as John Strangeways, Ralph Cromwell, and John de Ludloe. These moieties appear to have formed the Manors of Broad Campden, Berrington, and Westington in the course of the 13th century, but it is not certain that Gilbert de Clare, Earl of Gloucester, who was recorded as Lord of Chipping Campden in 1296, owned all or part of the Manor, or perhaps just the Overlordship of Chipping Campden proper, together with Broad Campden, Berrington, and Westington. By the middle of the next century it is recorded as being held by William de Ludloe, as descendant of John de Ludloe above though again, Sir Richard Stafford is noted as holding part of it in 1381. It must still have been in moieties since Thomas de Ludloe is recorded as holding part of Campden twelve years later and Sir Richard Stafford a further share in 1399.

The Ludloes continued to hold their share well into the next century, as did the Staffords. By the time of King Henry VIII (in 1513), Broad Campden, together with the Manors of Berrington and Westington, had become vested in Sir Christopher Savage, whose son and namesake received livery of them from the Crown in 1521. Next to appear as the Lords of Berrington were James Gunter and William Lewis. James Gunter and his wife Anne seem to have been dealing with the Manor later and Lewis is not mentioned. It must be presumed that his interest in the estate had ceased.

The capital Manor of Chipping Campden seems finally to have been reunited under the single ownership of the Molyneux family from whom it passed to the Fitzherberts. From them it came to the Russells, but the details of this transfer appear to be lost. In 1556, Sir John Russell died seised of all the Manors and he was succeeded by his son Sir Thomas. The estate was then taken into the possession of the Crown, possibly as forfeit, since it is noted that Queen Elizabeth granted it to Sir Thomas Smith. He was succeeded by his son Anthony, who sold it to Sir Baptist Hicks.

Hicks was the third son of a rich London trader, Robert Hicks, and inherited his father's mercer business at the White Bear in Cheapside. His brother Sir Michael Hicks was a secretary to Lord Burghley, whom we have already met. These connections enabled Hicks to supply large quantities of silks to the Court and he became a money-lender to prominent figures in society, including the Earls of Shrewsbury and Pembroke. His activities as a money-lender garnered him a reputation as something of a hard dealer and he commented on this to his brother 'when others ... goe awaye with the gaines and yet by[te] to the bone', but Hicks was a vital figure for James I and his son Charles I and is understood to have made loans to the Crown to the vast amount of £33,000. Since the Stuarts were generally hard up and always looking to raise funds, they organized a number of schemes including the sale of royal estates and Hicks had a lucrative business in buying and reselling these. Such was the immense fortune that he amassed it was said that both of his daughters and coheirs collected inheritances of £100,000 each, a staggering sum for the times. In 1603 Hicks was knighted and there followed a number of rewards which culminated in his elevation to the peerage as Baron Hicks of Ilmington and Viscount Campden of Campden in 1628. He died a year later and is immortalized with a magnificent memorial edifice in St James' church, Chipping Campden.

After Hicks' death, his titles and estates passed by a special remainder to his son-in-law, Edward, Baron Noel, and with them came the Lordships in Chipping Campden. Edward was also a notable figure in Rutland and served as Sheriff for the county in 1608. He died in 1642. Among his last actions were raising troops locally for the King's army just prior to the outbreak of the Civil War. His son and heir Baptist, 3rd Viscount Campden, served in the Royalist army as a colonel in a horse regiment and was later fined £9,000 by Parliament for his involvement in the war. In 1645 his house at Campden was burnt down by a fellow Royalist, Lord Bard, in a seemingly pointless attempt to prevent its being captured by Parliamentary forces.

Baptist died in 1682 and was succeeded by his eldest son Edward who was elevated to the Earldom of Gainsborough in the same year. Eight years later his son Wriothesley died and the titles and estates passed to his cousin Baptist Noel, the 3rd Earl. He lived until 1714 and was followed by his son, also Baptist, the 4th Earl. On his death in 1750, the Earldom descended first to his eldest son Baptist, who died in Switzerland in 1759 and then passed to his second son Henry. On the latter's death without male issue the Earldom became extinct and the estates devolved to his nephew, Sir Gerard Noel Edwardes. When he died in 1838 his son, Charles became Lord of the Campden Manors. Three years later he was raised to the peerage with the reactivated title of Earl of Gainsborough. His son Charles was the second Earl, and his son Charles the third.

The 3rd Earl died in 1926 and his estates passed to Arthur, the 4th Earl, who served as a private secretary to the Pope. His son, Anthony is the 5th and present Earl and the Lord of the Manor of Broad Campden.

Chipping Campden lies about 90 miles west of London and 7 miles west of Shipston-on-Stour. There are many memorials to the Lords of the Manor in St James' church. In the Noel Chantry is the recumbent effigy of Sir Baptist Hicks, 1st Viscount Campden, Lord of the Manor, and his wife Elizabeth, under a canopy supported on 12 marble columns. There is a monument to Penelope, daughter of Edward Noel, Viscount Campden, and Juliana (Hicks) his wife. There is a memorial to the wife of the 2nd Viscount, and another to Henry Hicks MA, dated 1708. He was vicar for 50 years.

The Campden and District Historical and Archaeological Society was formed in 1984. The Chipping Campden Community Trust, a registered charity (Hon Sec John Kohler), makes grants to local organizations in the parish. The trust also employs two health adviser nurses for the over-70s which is a free service. The nearest railway station is Moreton-in-Marsh, five miles distant. Stratford and Evesham are both 10 miles' drive, and Oxford 15 miles away.

Documents associated with this Manor, found under Chipping Campden:

Court Records 1782, 1814 Gloucester RO

Court Orders 1771-1795

Court Rolls 1562-63

Court Roll 1788

Court Leet 1778-1811 Shakespere's Birthplace Trust

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Lot #24 Manorial Auctioneers’ Partnership – October 1990

AT THE time of the Domesday Survey Binstead, which overlooks the Solent, which Tovi, the King's thegn, had held as a free Manor of Edward the Confessor, belonged to William, son of Stur. In Tovi's time, it paid geld for five virgates, but in 1086 only two. There was land for two ploughs, with two villeins, worth 10 shillings. Thereafter it appears to have reverted to the Crown and can probably be identified with the half a hide in the Isle of Wight, whence stone could be quarried for the Cathedral Church of Winchester, which was granted by William the Conqueror to Walkelin, Bishop of Winchester. This grant William Rufus extended by leave to dig for stone throughout the island where quarries existed in Henry I in a precept to Richard de Redvers bade him somewhat peremptorily allow the monks of St Swithins to take their due. 

Binstead as a member of the episcopal Manor of Swainstone, remained with the See of Winchester till 1284, when Edward I showed his displeasure in the appointment of John Pontisse as Bishop of Winchester, by seizing the Manor. In 1307, Edward I granted the Binstead and its members to his sister Mary, a nun at Amesbury, for her support at the convent, in exchange for several Manors in Wiltshire which Edward I had granted her. In December 1312, the King granted it to his infant son Edward, Earl of Chester (later Edward III) but the Lady Mary remained in possession until March 1315, when she again received the Wiltshire Manors and Swainstone was resumed by the King, to be regranted to Prince Edward in June of that year. 

In 1331, Edward III granted the Manor to William de Montagu, Earl of Salisbury and it remained with his descendants until 1478 when it was granted to Anthony, Earl Rivers, uncle of Edward V, “in consideration of the injuries perpetrated on him and his parents by George, Duke of Clarence, and because the said Duke on the day of his death and before intended that he should be recompensed”. However, the Earl did not enjoy his tenure for long, as he was seized by the orders of Richard III and beheaded at Pontefract in 1483 without trial. All his estates including Binstead then passed to the Crown until 1495, when Swainstone and Binstead were granted to Sir Reginald Bray for life. 

In 1513, the Manor was restored to Lady Margaret Pole, subsequently Countess of Salisbury, daughter and eventually sole heir of her father George, Duke of Clarence. Lady Margaret's brother Edward, was barely three years old when his father died in 1478. In 1492 he succeeded to the Earldom of Warwick, but was executed in 1499 on the trumped up charge of conspiring with Perkin Warbeck to dethrone Henry VII. After the Countess of Salisbury was restored to the family estates, she rose high in the royal favour to become Governess to the Princess Mary and close confidante of Queen Catherine of Aragon. Unfortunately, however, the activities of her three sons aroused the suspicions of King, Henry VIII, which swiftly resulted in their imprisonment and in the case of the eldest, Henry Lord Montague, his execution in 1539. At the same time Lady Margaret was also imprisoned and her execution took place in 1541 under the most bizarre of situations, for she refused to lay her head on the block, claiming that she was no traitor! The executioner pursued her round the scaffold, hewing pieces of flesh off her until she was dead. 

Three years later, in 1544, Binstead, was sold to Sir William Berkeley, who sold it in the same year to John Mill of Southampton. It remained in the Mill family until 1609-10 when it was sold to Sir Thomas Fleming, ancestor of the present owner Richard Hugh Willis Fleming. 

The Lordship gives its name to the parish and covers about 1,200 acres. Limestone was still being quarried earlier this century by Mr J E A Willis-Fleming, a predecessor in title to the present owner, who owned Binstead Manor House. To the east is Ryde and west Cowes where the Regatta is held every year with participation from members of the Royal family. The Manor stands on the Solent, looking towards Spithead. The remains of the Cistercian Abbey of Quarr, founded by Baldwin de Redver in 1131, are still visible.

Documents associated with this Manor:

Extents of Royal Manors
& Boroughs             1300         British Lib

Court Rolls            1405-6,      Hants RO
                      1416-7

Court Book             1542-77,
                      1602-10

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Lot #7 of Manorial Services Auction - March 2023 - Stephen Johnson

A mile to the south of the Shropshire town of Ellesmere lies the Manor of Birch and Lyth. This was one of a  number of manorial sub-infeudations within the large manor of Ellesmere, which, until the end of the 20th Century,  was held by the Earls Brownlow.

Ellesmere was an important border manor, held before the Norman Conquest by the Earls of Mercia. In 1086  it was held by Rainald the Sheriff before being bestowed by Henry I on William Peverel of Dover. During the period  of civil war during the reign of Stephen (1135-1154) known as The Arnarchy, Ellesmere returned to the possession of  the Crown. In 1177 Henry II conferred it on a Welsh nobleman, David Fitz Owen who was married to the king’s sister,  Emma. By the end of the 12th century Emma was in sole charge of the estate since her husband had been imprisoned  by Prince Llewelyn. However, after he was released a year later it seems that King John had returned Ellesmere to his  own possession. Llewelyn was used as something of an English pawn in their dealings with the Welsh and he fell in and  out of favour with John depending whether matters were going the king’s way. After Henry came to the throne in 1216,  Ellesmere was restored to Llewelyn. The estate was centred on Ellesmere Castle and could be considered more or less  a barony in terms of administration.  

Ellesmere remained in the hands of the Crown for the next century but was leased out to a variety of nobles  such as John le Strange and Thomas Corbet who were charged with the defence of the English border from the North  Welsh. In 1280 Ellesmere Castle was settled on Sir Roger le Strange together with various sub-manors. This is the first  occasion when Birch and Lyth is mentioned. It is recorded in the grant that le Strange was granted 10 acres of assart  in Biche. Furthermore, William Smith of Birche held half a virgate by service of doing the shoeing and ironwork of teams and  mills in the Manor and in wartime in the Castle and forge all necessary implements.  

In 1309 Roger le Strange was was required by Edward II to undertake a commission on the extent of the  Ellesmere lordship. It was valued at £96 17s 7d per year and this had shown a marked increase since the Welsh had  been defeated by Edward’s father. It was noted in the survey for the first time the various sub-manors within the whole  lordship. These include Berche and Lythe as well as others such as Crikott and Grenhulle. The tenants of the various submanors paid £5 6s 8d in annual rent but in times of war this was commuted to the obligation to victual the Castle-guards. In 1330 the Lordship of Ellesmere, with Birch and Lyth, was granted by Edward III to Eubolo le Strange. From  him it passed to his cousin Roger le Strange de Knockin. From him it passed to his son Richard. He died leaving the  Lordship to his daughter, Elizabeth who was married to Roger Kynaston. John Kynaston died in 1477 leaving a daughter  Joan who was married to George Stanley, the son and heir of the 1st Earl of Derby. Birch and Lyth then descended  with Ellesmere for four generations of the Earls of Derby. In 1535 under a statute of Henry VIII Ellesmere cum members (and members) was unified with Pimhill Hundred.

During the reign of Elizabeth I (1558- 1603) William, 4th Earl of Derby, was allowed to sell Ellesmere and  its sub-manors, including Birch and Lyth, to Richard Spencer and Edward Savage. In the following year he received  permissions from the Queen to alienate the estate to Thomas Egerton, who served as Lord Chancellor under James  I and was was created Earl of Bridgewater in 1617. The fourth Earl, Scroop Egerton, was raised to the Dukedom of  Bridgwater in 1720. Birch and Lyth remained in the Egerton family until 1829. Under the will of the seventh and final  earl (the Dukedom having become extinct) the Manor was left in the hands of his widow, Charlotte, until her death in  1849 when it descended to her great-nephew John Home Cust, Viscount Alford, father of the second Earl Brownlow.  The Manor remained in the hands of the Earls Brownlow until the end of the 20th century.

The hamlet of Lyth, which forms part of the manor, is centred on a large house known as ‘The Lyth’. This lay  within 140 wooded acres and was home, in the 19th century, to the Jebb family. At the beginning of the 20th century  it was the home of Eglantyne Jebb, who was recently awarded the honour of Most Influential Salopian of the 20th  Century. She lived at Lyth during the early years of the century and was shocked by poverty among children on a visit  to London before the First World War. She was a co-founder of the charity, Save the Children and drafted the first  “Children’s Charter “ in 1923, a forerunner of the 1991 United Nations convention on the rights of children.  

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Lot #18 of Manorial Holdings Auction - December 1989 

Note: Scottish feudal superiorities were abolished as part of the AFT 2000. We reproduce this for historical purposes only. 

THE LANDS and estate of the Bishops Clinterty are situated generally to the west and just outside of the City of Aberdeen. 

The lands anciently pertained to the Bishops of Aberdeen, but at the time of the Reformation in Scotland, the Superiority was taken from the Church and given to King’s College in Old Aberdeen, which academic institution had been founded in 1494-5 by Pope Alexander VI and King James IV of Scotland. 

There is a Charter granted by King James VI (later James I of England) at the Castle of Stirling and dated 8th April 1579 of various lands and privileges in favour of the principalis, sub-principalis, magistrorum, regentium, bursariorum et officialium of the King’s College. 

The College’s Rental Book for 1637 reveals that “Bischopis Clintertie” yielded the sum of £4 10 shillings Scots money for the benefit of the institution. Sometimes the rent (otherwise called feu duty or teinds) would be payable in kind. The Rental Book for 1685 shows that the tenants of Bishops Clinterty had to the College two bolls of meal. A boll is an old Scottish dry measure of potatoes, barley, oats, etc., containing six bushels. 

The lands of the Bishops Clinterty, mostly in the parish of Newhills, now encompass the smallest estates and farms of Bishopston, Tyrebagger, Kinalnar, Kingswells, Little Mill, Kirkhill, Glasgoeforest, Glasgoego, and also the old Toll house on the main Aberdeen to Inverness Road. 

Feuars and vassals (the actual occupiers of lands under the Superior) have included the Elphinstone Dalrymple Baronets, the late Countess of Southesk, the Bannerman Baronets and Major Malcolm V Hay, the First World War cryptologist and author.

Note: this is a feudal Superiority over-lordship - there is no actual land remaining. However, the Superior has right to collect a small sum in feu duty (ground rent) payable by vassals as feudal tribute.

Note: Scottish feudal superiorities were abolished as part of the AFT 2000. We reproduce this for historical purposes only. 

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Lot #6 of Stanford & Son's 'Second Auction' - Dec 1955

The earliest information available in connection with this Manor lies in a charter which was granted by King Edgar to his Thegn, Athelstan, in 956. This Charter related to certain land known as "7. Masiunculus" in Harwell. During the reign of King Edward the Confessor the Manor appears to have belonged to the Bishopric of Winchester and Bishop Stigand held it for the King. In the Domesday Book it is found that Bishop Stigand still held 10 hides in Harwell in 1086. According to the Victoria History of the Counties of England the Manor was still in the hands of the Bishops of Winchester in 1317, when Bishop John Sendale ordered that Corn and other victuals from the Manor, and that of Brightwell, were to be sent to London for the maintenance of himself and the Clerks of Chancery. 

In 1428 the Service due for the Manor was rated as one knight's fee. Previously to this, the whole of the Bishopric of Winchester was rated as Five Knight's Fees and this Manor was included therein. During the 16th century the Farmhouse attached to the Manor together with all the demesne lands were granted to John Wardcliffe of Harwell, who was very likely a descendant of William Wardcliffe, who in 1421 had been a Bondman of the Manor and who had been manumitted by Bishop Henry Beaufort at that date.

In 1647, when the Bishop of Winchester's lands were sold, it was bought by Edward Wiseman of Spursell's Court. At the Restoration the Bishop of Winchester again recovered it and it appears that succeeding Bishops still held the Manor until early in the 19th century when the Hopkins Family of Tidmarsh Manor became the Lessees, and one of them namely Robert Hopkins purchased the Bishop's Rights but died childless. His brother John  Hopkins succeeded, and when he died in 1877 the Manor descended to his son, Robert John Hopkins. The latter sold it to Messrs. Paine, & Brettell of Chertsey. Mr. Pained died in 1917 and the Manor was recently purchased by the present Vendors. 

In the 10th century there was a boundary of the Manor which was called "Ichenilde Weg" as well as two acres at "ekenelway" over which there was a dispute in the 16th century. The Roman Ickneild Way crosses the area and is now known as Ickleton Mere. Hern Down forms the South Western Boundary of the Manor. 

At Etching of Bishop's Manor, Harwell can be seen in the Victoria County History of Berkshire, vol. 3, page 486.

The following are extracts from the Court Books to be handed over: 

Court Leet and Court Baron - 24th October, 1780

Lord: Rev. John Lockton

Steward: Richard Townsend

Jury and Homage (sworn): William Elderfield, Edward King, James Jobson, John Keat, John Edginton, Robert Waterman, John Webb, James Hellon, John Smith, William King, Francis King, Edward King

"The Jury and Homage agree to meet at Hocker Bench on the fifth day of November next at Nine of the clock in the morning to go and set meer Stones on the penalty of one shilling for each making Default." 

And all former presentments are continued:

James Hobson is appointed Constable and sworn. Jonathan Symonds and William Talbot are continued Tythingmen and sworn. James Hellon and William Talbot are continued Haywards and sworn. 

Court Leet and Court Baron - 16th October 1798

Lord: Rev. John Lockton

Steward: Richard Townsend

"The Homage on their Oaths present that at this Court came Edward King and acknowledged to have had and received of and from the Rev. Benjamin Banner Clerk full payment and satisfaction for all Principal and Interest Monies secured to him and said Edward King by a Mortgage Surrender made by the said Benamin Banner at a Special Court holden for this Manor on the first day of June in the Year of our Lord One Thousand seven hundred and ninety five and he the said Edward King personally authorised the Steward to vacate the said Mortgage accordingly." 

Court Leet and Baron - 5th October 1845

Lord John Hopkins

Steward: George Bowes

Court held before Deputy Steward Daniel Godfrey

"The Jury present an Encroachment by Mr. John Tickell Viner of a piece of ground in front of the cottages purchased by him of Francis Thomas and to which he was admitted at a Court held for this Manor the twenty eighth day of January One Thousand eight hundred and twenty nine and having viewed the same they order and adjudge him to pay for such encroachment the yearly Rent of sixpence until the Lord shall com and take possession thereof." 

Records to be handed over are:

Court Books: 1707-1808; 1809-1843; 1843-1856; 1856-1879; 1880-1933

Court Summaries: 1870-1891

Index to Court Rolls: 1777-1808

Minute Book & Admissions: 1880-1891

List of Customs

Map: 1890

Terrier

List of Fines & Fees

Survey

Insurance of Records:  £300, premium 15/-

Commencement of Title: 29th September, 1890 

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Lot #22 of Manorial Holdings Auction - December 1989 

Including the Freehold of the Market Square

THIS IS a most important offer and includes the Lordship of the town of Bishop’s Stortford which anciently carried with it the high honorific dignity of Precentor of St Paul’s Cathedral, London. The Precentorship has customarily been appendant to the Manor, and while licence was granted by Edward III in 1352 to appropriate Stortford to the Bishop’s Table, it was not severed. 

Bishop’s Stortford was the head of the Bishops of London’s Barony, stretching from Essex to Hertfordshire and containing more than 36 Knights’ Fees. In the reign of Edward the Confessor, it was held by Eddeva the Fair and after the Norman Conquest (1066) it was sold by William I to William, Bishop of London (1051-75). 

It is unusual that, with one or two exceptions when the Bishops of London fell into Royal disfavour, the Lordship of Bishop’s Stortford remained in the same hands until the end of this century when it was acquired by Sir Walter Gilbey. It seems that throughout the Middle Ages four Manorial Courts were held a year: Michaelmas, Epiphany, Easter, Trinity and one held the view of frankpledge, usually the day after the feast of Holy Trinity. 

Two constables were chosen at this court and the common fine payable by the chief pledges was 16d. Headboroughs aleasters, flesh and fishasters, and cattle drivers were appointed by the Court Leet until 1872. Indeed, the Manorial Courts also appointed the surveyor of the highway until his duty was superseded by the highway board in 1856. 

During the intrigues of King Stephen’s reign (1135-54), Bishop’s Stortford played a part of great importance. From its position on the main road London to Saffron Walden, it cut the communication between those places for Geoffrey de Mandeville, Earl of Essex. In 1141 or 1142, the Empress Maud, daughter to Henry I and claimant of the English Crown, promised to acquire the Lordship from the Bishop of London and give it to Mandeville. This she seems to have failed to do. 

William St Mere Eligis, Bishop of London in the reign of King John (1199-1216), was one of the Bishops who published the Interdict in 1208 because of the King’s misrule. John forced him out of the country and Bishop’s Stortford together with his other property was seized by the Crown. John was excommunicated in 1211, but submitted in 1213 and restored Bishop’s Stortford to the Bishop of London. 

The Bishops had a prison in Stortford Castle, now the property of the local authority, and it seems to have been a grim place for in 1344, there were 50 prisoners in the gaol of whom 29 died. It was reckoned at the time that each of them cost a farthing a day to keep. The accounts of the gaolers include such items as lights for the prisoners at night, shackles, fetters, iron for staples, stocks, and so forth. 

At the Dissolution, Bishop’s Stortford Lordship was regranted to the Anglican Bishops of London and it remained in their hands until the end of the 19th century. It was sold by the Ecclesiastical Commissioners to Sir Walter Gilbey, whose family’s informal motto is “blood is thicker than gin”. 

The Lordship will include the conveyance of the freehold soil of the market square.

Documents associated with this Manor:

Fines  1640  Herts RO
Draft Court Rolls  1948, 1849
Court Book  1859, 1906
Steward’s Accounts 1848
Quit Rents  1834, 1842, 1866
Survey of Copyhold  1824-1890
Court Books    1713-1734, 1738-1740, 1489-1509   Guildhall Library
Court Rolls  1576-85
Court Rolls   1661-83
Surveys   1811-53
Estreat Books  1566
Court Leet and Baron Rolls  1681-1951
Court Rolls  1278-1679
Account Rolls  1407-1856
Survey and Valuation  1646-47
Court Rolls    17th and 18th century  British Museum

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Note: Scottish feudal superiorities were abolished as part of the AFT 2000. We reproduce this for historical purposes only.  

Lot #35 of Manorial Holdings Auction - December 1989 

THE ORDER of the Blackfriars, the Dominicans, who were often distinguished by the name of fratres praedicatores, or preaching friars, from their office of preaching, and converting heretics, was originally founded about the year 1206, by Saint Dominic, a Spaniard, whose name they assumed; and confirmed by Pope Honorius in the year 1210. The Order is said to have inherited the persecuting spirit of its founder, having under its direction the tribunal of the inquisition. The superiors of the order were called priors, and their habit was a white gown and scapular. These friars were first established at Aberdeen by King Alexander II who bestowed upon them his palace and garden, situated on the north side of the Schoolhill, for a monastery and a church, which was dedicated to Saint John the Baptist. 

In ancient times, it was the place of sepulture of the family of the Earl Marischal, and continued to be so till the institution was suppressed at the Reformation. By the great influence which these friars possessed among all ranks, they very soon acquired considerable possessions in the town of Aberdeen and in the country, and also annuities, which were given to them as donations, by benevolent individuals, for pious purposes, and arose from various properties in the town. King Alexander III allotted them, as a provision, an annuity of twenty-six merks, from the fee farm of the borough. This grant was afterwards confirmed to them by Kings David II, Robert III, and James III. John de Keth de Kele, by a charter, dated at Kintore, 4 September, 1397 (see illustration opposite), granted and confirmed to Friar Robert de Raine, prior of the order, and to their convent, for the salvation of the soul of himself and his friends, four perches of land,

or crofts on the north side of the town of Kintore; two crofts adjacent; and two crofts, on the west side of the town. Robert de Camera, burgess of Kintore, for the same religious purposes, by a charter dated 2 May 1398, granted to God, the blessed Virgin Mary, Saint John the Baptist, and all the Saints, and to the preaching friars of Aberdeen, four crofts of land in the borough. 

King James III, by a charter of confirmation, dated September 30th, 1477, granted and confirmed to his beloved orators, the prior and convent, the following donations and grants, made to them, viz: 1. the site of their monastery, church and manse. 2. A perpetual annuity of L10, which had been granted to them by Mr Richard Forbes, dean of Aberdeen, arising from the lands of Furthesbeg and Furthmore, and mill thereof. 3. An annuity of twenty-six merks from the fee farm of Aberdeen. 4. An annuity of 100s which had been granted to them by King David, in the 33rd year of his reign, arising from the lands of Banchory Devenick, in the counties of Aberdeen and Kincardine: and lastly, various crofts and land, in the vicinity of Aberdeen, with annuities arising from other properties in the town. Sir John Rutherford of Tarland, provost of Aberdeen, by a charter, dated November 8, 1503, granted to Friar John Adams, Prior of the convent, for pious purposes, two-third parts of certain tenements, on the east side of the Shiprow. 

William, Earl Marischal of Scotland, for the celebration of masses for the souls of himself, Elisabeth Gordon, his lady; William Keith, late Earl Marischal, his father; and of Mariotta Erskine, his mother; by a charter dated August 22nd, 1510, granted John Adams, and the convent, an annuity of £10, to be levied from the Earl's lands and Barony of Dunnottar. After the Reformation, the whole property which belonged to the Black and White friars reverted to the Crown. In 1587, George Earl Marischal having acquired right, by purchase, to the monastery and crofts of those Friars, obtained from King James VI a charter of Nova Damus, dated 11 January, 1588, confirming that right; and, in the year 1593, when he established the Marischal College, he transferred to the principal and regents these crofts and some annuities, with other property in the town, for a permanent provision to the members of that seminary. Some years previously, the Earl had disposed of the Manse, barns and yard, of those friars, to David Anderson of Finzeach, in whose family Sir John Wright, the last Prior of the Order, was maintained for several years. After the death of Mr Anderson, Jean Guild his widow, and his daughters, having succeeded to this property, bestowed it, along with a considerable sum of money, as a fund for a permanent provision, for the education and maintenance of indigent orphans, male or female, of the town, by a deed of mortmain, dated March 15 and 17 1642. The priors of the Blackfriars monastery, whose names we have discovered from records, were:

1397 Friar Robert de Rane

1503 Friar John Adams
1528 Friar Andrew Macneil

Aberdeen's Marischal College thus became the proprietors of the lands of the Blackfriars. In 1640, the college received 18 bolls of bear (a payment in kind) as rent from one Alexander Thorne, the tenant of the lands. By feu Charter of 17 March 1732, the College feued (let on perpetual lease) the lands to the Magistrates of Aberdeen for the building of Robert Gordon's Hospital. The rent (feuduty) was 20 bolls of bear, with grassum (entry payment) of £30. Robert Gordon had amassed a considerable fortune in the Baltic trade and drew up a deed of Mortification leaving his entire estate to the establishing of a hospital (school) for the education of young boys. The administrators of his estate were to be the Aberdeen Magistrates and other eminent persons. William Adam was employed in the 1730s to build the school. Robert Gordon's College (as it became) has been an important Scottish boys' school. In recent times, the school has become independent and has now admitted girls.

Note: Scottish feudal superiorities were abolished as part of the AFT 2004. We reproduce this for historical purposes only.  

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Lot #14 of Manorial Services Auction - Winter 2024 - Stephen Johnson

Tucked away in the far north of the county of Sussex lies the Manor and village of Blackham. It lies four miles  from Hever Castle, the home of Anne Boleyn, and five miles from Royal Tunbridge Wells in the neighboring county of Kent. It forms part of the large parish of Withyham.  

The early history of Blackham is rather obscure but it is almost certain that at some point before  1086 the Manor was granted by Robert, Count Mortain to a small priory of Withyham. In 1100 Mortain’s  son, William, reconfirmed this grant. There does not appear to have been an actual priory building in the village since the house consisted of a single monk who was given the title of Prior of Withyham. In actual  fact the monk was attached to the priory of Marmoutier in Tours.

In 1296 the Subsidy rolls of Edward I note a return for the borough of Blackham but details of how  and when it was established as such are not forthcoming. Another return was made in 1327 listing 25 tenants.  It appears that Blackham remained a possession of the religious house until it was suppressed as an alien  (or foreign) house and the Manor appears to have been granted with that of Withyham to King’s College,  Cambridge. During the early par t of the reign of Elizabeth (1558-1603) the college sold Blackham to the Crown. 

In 1570 Thomas Sackville, Lord Buckhurst, was granted a rent of 110 shillings in fee simple from the  manor of Blakenham or Blackham. This suggest that the manor had remained in the hands of the Crown  after the Dissolution. It was finally granted to Lord Buckhust in 1592. This purchase was par t of a larger scheme to eventually secure 17 manors in this part of the county, all forming an estate around his house at  Buckhurst, Five years after the manor came into his possession it was surveyed in an estate document which  became know as the Buckhurst Terrier. The map is reproduced in this history and shows the demesne land  of the Lord of the Manor. This was the land which was owned and farmed by and on behalf of the lords and  on which his tenants would be required to undertake service. To the north is Blackham Common. This can  be seen, before its enclosure, on a map of Sussex surveyed by the Greenwood brothers in 1825. A good  portion of the rest of the Manor was made up of the freehold of John Ewridge. The field names for Blackham are particularly interesting; Riddle Field, Great Robbins and Coachman’s Rooms are especially evocative. This  is a very early example of an estate survey and was an extremely expensive business. Lord Buckhurst could  afford it after a career as one of the successful administrators of the reign of Elizabeth I.

Born in 1536,Thomas Sackville was the son of Sir Richard Sackville, a first cousin of Anne Boleyn and a privy councillor to Edward VI. Thomas excelled in public finance but was also a poet of some repute. His play, Gordoduc, was first performed in 1560 and was a source of inspiration for Shakespeare’s King  Lear. His literary career went hand in hand with his political. He sat as a MP for Westmorland in the 1550s and a diplomat in the 1560s. In 1566 he was appointed to negotiate a marriage between the Queen and  Archduke Charles of Austria but this came to nought. He remained a favourite of Elizabeth (often a perilous occupation) and she was said to enjoy his company, described by a contemporary as judicious but yet wittie  and delightful. In 1567 he was knighted and then created Baron Buckhurst. He was rich, handsome, intelligent and talented, all attributes which endeared him to the Queen. At this point he began to buy land in his native  Sussex. Like many cour tiers his relationship with Elizabeth waxed and waned but he proved himself a steady hand in organising the defence of the vulnerable Sussex coast against the Spanish Armada in 1588.  

Lord Buckhurst took his title from his estate at Buckhurst Park in Withyham just a couple of miles  south of Blackham and, as has already been noted, his added the manor to this estate in 1592. By the end  of the 16th century this had become too small for Sackville and when he was created 1st Earl of Dorset in 1604 he had moved to Knole. Blackham however remained as part of the family estate, eventually passing to  to Earls De La Warr who held it until the end of the 20th century. 

Documents in the Public Domain Associated with this Lordship:

1440-1440: rental, with Muncklow King’s College Archive Centre 

1659-1659: particular of Lodgefield Land, Kent History and Library Centre 

1704-1704: list of heriots, with other manors 

1732-1732: schedule of court books, with other manors 

1524-1570: court book, with other manors, East Sussex and Brighton and Hove 

Record Office (ESBHRO) 

1597-1598: survey, with other manors 

1613-1613: list of tenants (in court book) 

1618-1619: rental of demesne leases, with other manors 

1620-1620: book of heriots, with other manors 

1621-1639: court book, with other manors 

1640-1660: rental, with other manors 

1640-1640: rental, with other manors 

1680-1680: rental, with other manors 

1687-1687: court book, with other manors 

1690-1888: index to court books, with other manors 

1700-1700: court book, with other manors 

1715-1715: rental, with other manors 

1827-1902: court book, with other manors (indexed) 

1829-1829: rental, with other manors 

1843-1857: custumal, with other manors 

1843-1857: rental, with other manors 

1856-1861: account books, with other manors (5) 

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Lot #11 of Manorial Services Auction - Spring 2024 - Stephen Johnson

Two miles from the market town of Whitchurch lies  the Lordship of the Manor and township of Black Park. This  rural estate of over 1,300 acres is noted for being the site of  a Medieval castle belonging to the Earl of Shrewsbury. The  township contains two small lakes, Osmere and Blakemere. In recent times Black Park has become a division, sub-manor and  township within the Manor and parish of Whitchurch though  it was a manor in its own right whilst being a possession of the  famous Talbot family.  

The manor, sometimes known as Blackmere, after the  lake, was the site of a manor house held by the Le Strange  family as early as the 11th century. It was on this site that the  later castle was built when the manor passed to the Talbot family in the 14th century. There is some evidence of a moated platform and it is likely that the castle was  more of a family home than a military building. The manor passed through the marriage of Ankeret Le  Strange to Richard Talbot, in and around 1377. 

In 1418 Sir Gilber tTalbot died and at his Inquisition Post Mor tem, it was found that he had been Lord of Black Park. Further, it notes that jointly with his wife he held the manors of Black Park and Whitchurch with the  advowsons of Whitchurch and Ightfield, by the grant of Roger Thresk. parson of Whitchurch, Edward Sprynghouse  and John Camvyle, esquire to them and his heirs and assigns., by their charter shown to the jurors and dated Black  Park on 23 October 1413. Black Park manor is held go Gerald Isflet, knight, Elizabeth, duchess of Norfolk, Joan  Beauchamp, Lady Abergavenny, Roland Lanthale, Knight and his wife Margaret, service unknown, annual value  £100. 

Later, Black Park was the seat of Gilbert’s grandson, John, first Earl of Shrewsbury, and ancestor of the present Earl. Born at the castle in 1388,Talbot was the 4th Baron Talbot and on his marriage to Joan Funivall, that family’s heiress, became the Lord of Bittesby, in 1404. Talbot’s life was one of battle; he fought in Wales  as teenager and by 1413 he had been made Lieutenant of Ireland by Henry V. In 1419 Talbot travelled to  France, fighting at the sieges of Melun and Meaux, and later, after warring with his adversary in Ireland, the Earl of Ormonde, he returned to France where he took par t in the siege of Orleans. His fame and repute as a warrior was such that Joan of Arc was said to have believed that Talbot led the English forces. He  was later captured by the French at Patay where he had fought against overwhelming odds. He remained a  prisoner until 1433 when, on his release, he joined forces with the Duke of Burgundy. He remained in France  and is considered to have done much to keep Normandy in English hands. In 1442 he was created Earl of  Shrewsbury and made Constable of France. The next year he finally returned to England and was made, for the third time, Governor of Ireland, as well as receiving the Earldom of Waterford and the Hereditary  Lord Stewardship of Ireland. In 1452, as the French threatened Calais, Shrewsbury was sent to France as  Lieutenant of Aquitaine, with almost regal powers. After a bloody campaign Shrewsbury made a stand with  his English and Gascon troops at Castillon. Despite a brave charge from his men, to cries of ‘Talbot, Talbot, St  George’ the battle was lost and Shrewsbury killed. Despite this loss Shrewsbury remained one of the most  famous warriors of his age, on both sides of the channel. 

Black Park was the site of Talbot’s castle of which there are no remains. It is now a sub-manor and township of the manor and parish of Whitchurch. The manor was sold in 1590 and the castle soon fell  into ruins. The purchaser was Sir Thomas Egerton, a successful and wealthy lawyer, who made his fortune  during the reign of Elizabeth. Born in 1540, he was the illegitimate son of Sir Richard Eger ton of Ridley in Cheshire and a local unmarried woman, Alice Sparks. Unusually he was acknowledged by his father’s family and he received an excellent education at Oxford, and later took the Bar at Lincoln’s Inn. His legal career was remarkable and he was able to take advantage of the more tolerant Tudor attitude to those from  ‘unfortunate’ backgrounds. In 1581 he was appointed Solicitor General. As such, Eger ton played a major role in the prosecution of Mary, Queen of Scots and also of Philip Howard, Earl of Arundel, who was accused of  treason. In 1592, Eger ton was knighted and became Master of the Rolls. On the accession of James I in 1603, Egerton was created Baron Ellesmere and became Lord Chancellor. After his death, his estates, including the  manor of Black Park, passed to his son John, who was created Earl of Bridgewater; a title promised to his  father, but who had died before receiving it. The fourth Earl, Scroop Egerton was raised to the Dukedom of  Bridgwater in 1720 by which time the family were extremely wealthy. They famously used this wealth to pay  for the construction of the Bridgewater Canal between Runcorn and Leigh in Cheshire, the first great canal to be built in the 18th century. Black Park remained in the Eger ton family until 1829. Under the will of the seventh and final earl (the Dukedom having become extinct) the Manor was left in the hands of his widow, Charlotte, until her death in 1849 when it descended to her great-nephew John Home Cust, Viscount Alford, father of the second Earl Brownlow. The Manor remained in the hands of the Earls Brownlow until the end  of the 20th century.  

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Lot #13 of 'Beaumont Collection' Auction - Nov 1954

in the Parish of Great Easton, Near Dunmow

Great Easton lies between Bishops Stortford and Braintree and the name of this Manor, According to Morant, is derived from the family of Blammster, and was vulgarly called Blamsted-Hall. He says that "Beatrix, daughter of WIlliam de Blammster, who died about 1280, held two carucates of land in the village of Estegnes ad Montem." 

George Pikenham, who died in 1499, is recorded as having held the Manor of "Blomesters" and we find it next in the Jennings family, "for George Mead, who died on the 22nde of May, 1602, held lands, called Great Ickley, in Eyston-Magna, of Richard Jennings, Gent., as of his Manor of Blauncetors-Hall." 

After passing into the Kendall family of Bassingbourns in Takeley, the Manor was acquired by John Tayleure, who as Remembrancer of the Exchequer. 

A Grange here, called Croys, belonged to Tiltey Abbey. The 63 acre of land in Great Easton, given to Tiltey Abbey by John de Ashe and John de Newport, were probably part of this farm. King Henry VIII on the suppression granted it to James Gunter and William Lewis tho sold it to Thomas Everard. The latter sold it in 1550 to William Pitch who sold it to John Meade of Henham in 1554. His son John gave Duton-Hill in this parish to his son, John. After remaining in the Meade family for at least two hundred years, the Manor eventually cam into the hands of Henry Dixon. 

At a General Court Baron or Customary Court, held for Henry Dixon on the 12th July, 1830, a license was granted to William Watson to fell certain fir trees on hi s copyhold land and a fine was paid to the Lord of one-third of their value, viz., £6 1s. 4d. At the same Court the Right  Honourable Henry Viscount Maynard acknowledged that he held as a free tenant a messuage and land called Crows at a yearly rent of one capon. 

At the Court Baron held on 11h August, 1862, the Homage "being sworn to do on their oaths present that the Rt. Hon. Henry viscount Maynard and others being respectively freehold tenants of this Manor, have neglected to appear to perform the suit and service which they owe to this Court and the said James Pomeroy and Robert Savill being sufficiently excused the remainder are respectively in mercy." At the Customary Court which followed the Court Baron absentee copyhold tenants except Eliza Tottman, who was sufficiently excused, were fined 6d. each. At the same Court there were grants of waste-land to John Mott Richardson and Joseph Smith of strips of land opposite or near Blamsters  Hall. Plans showing the pieces of land which were the subject of these grants, are drawn in the Court Book. 

In 1883, the Reverend Robert Collett held a Court and in 1841 Frances Mayler Collett Widow was Lady of the Manor. From 1859 to 1869 the Lord of the Manor was Thomas Oliver. On 5th December, 1872, was held the only General Court Baron and Customary Court of Joseph Beaumont, of Coggeshall, who had purchased the Manor from Thomas Oliver. Only two further entries appear in the Court Book after that Court. The first is a receipt given by Joseph Beaumont to  Henry Gibson and the Reverend George Edward Symonds of Thaxted, as Trustees of the Will of the Rt. Hon. Viscount Maynard for 9/4d. in full discharge of an annual free rent of one capon. 

The Following records (insured for £300, premium 15/- per annum) to be handed over are: 

Court Rolls: 1509 to 1830 (with a few omissions)

Court Books: 1830-1911

Index: 15 Court Rolls and Books, etc. 1509-1897

The conveyance of this Manor to Mr. Joseph Beaumont cannot be found, but if and when it is found it will be handed to the purchaser. As per Condition 4 of the Conditions of Sale and the Will of the late G.F. Beaumont is the root of title but the absence of the conveyance is mentioned here to avoid any query being raised by the purchaser or his solicitors. 

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Lot #2 of Manorial Services Auction - Winter 2024 - Stephen Johnson

At the time of Domesday Book, the parish of Blaxhall was divided amongst three landowners, all of whom who powerful Norman Lords; Robert Malet, Alan, Earl of Richmond and Roger Bigot. It appears that  there were only 250 acres of land under cultivation at this time and it is likely that over the next centuries  land was reclaimed from the marshes in the vicinity of the river Alder, a miles or so to the north.  

The manor of Blaxhall itself appears to have coalesced in the next century but it is not mentioned  in the public record until around 1280 when Sir Thomas de Weyland received a grant of free warren from  Edward I. Weyland also held the manor of Dunningworth, which seems to have been subsumed into Blaxhall and was previously held by the Bigots, so this provides some clue perhaps as to the origin of Blaxhall.  Weyland was a judge and in some accounts his is referred to as Edward I’s Chief Justice but in 1288 he was  found guilty of bribery and corruption; his whole estate was confiscated and he was banished from England. The details of Weyland’s actual crime sadly go unrecorded but he is mentioned as having initially avoided his  banishment and  

being convicted, and fearing to yield himself to the King’s mercy, he went to the Friars-minor at Babwell in  Suffolk, took on him the habit of a gray-friar, but being discovered by some of his servants, he was watched and  guarded, and after two month’s siege, went out, forsaking his friar’s coole and was taken and sent to the Tower.  Blaxhall, and his other estates, was seized by the King but was later returned to Weyland’s son, John. 

Thomas received another grant of free warren in 1304 which enabled him to enclose some of his  land to keep game animals. He died a few years later in 1313 and Blaxhall passed to his brother, Richard. He was also the Lord of the Manors of Wantisden, Middleton and Cockfield. The king issued an order, recorded in the Close Rolls, that Richard should not be ‘molested’ in his ownership of Blaxhall, which would indicate  that other parties were trying to wrest them from his grasp. The order proved effective and on his death  some years later the manor passed to his daughter, Cecily and hence to her husband, Baron Bartholomew  Burghersh. He obtained a third grant of free warren here in 1349.When his only child, Elizabeth, married Sir Edward le Despencer, Blaxhall passed into this famous, or infamous family. Sir Edward was par t of the retinue of Edward, the Black Prince, and fought with him at the battle of Poitiers in 1356. He was made a baron and a Knight of the Garter the following year as a reward for his valour. There is a spectacular memorial to  Despencer at Tewkesbury Abbey, known as the ‘Kneeling Knight”. 

 On Sir Edward’s death Blaxhall passed to his widow Elizabeth. From her it descended to her daughter Anne who died, seized of the manor in 1426. It passed to her daughter Isabel, who first married Richard Beauchamp, Earl of Gloucester and then Richard Beauchamp, 13th Earl of Warwick. When Warwick died, in  1438, the manor passed to his son Henry, the 14th Earl of Warwick he who was created Duke of Warwick by Henry VI his childhood friend. He died in 1446 and the Dukedom became extinct. The Earldom and the manor of Blaxhall, passed to his two-year old daughter, Anne. She was only five years old when she died in 1449 and the whole estate passed to her Aunt, Anne Beauchamp who became the 16th Earl of Warwick in  her own right. Her two daughters and heirs were Isabelle, who married the Duke of Clarence, the brother of Edward IV and Anne, who married Richard III and became Queen Consort of the infamous king. There  then followed a lengthy and costly legal battle over Anne Beauchamp’s estate between various factions of  her daughters husbands and it is rather difficult to describe to whom Blaxhall was granted. The historian of Suffolk manors, Alfred Copinger skips ahead to 1638 when it was in the hands of William Saunders. It appears  that Blaxhall was one of the manors which was put into a trust until 1487 and enfeoffed (held in service) to  John Verney, Dean of Lichfield. Its descent from 1487 unto 1638 therefore remains somewhat opaque. 

William Saunders was likely the son of another William, who is buried in the parish church of St Peters.  On his death in 1638 the manor passed to Valentine Saunders. Later, whether after the death of Valentine or  by sale, the Lord of Blaxhall was Robert Warryn, who in turn sold the manor to John Bence. He was recorded as Lord in 1705 and by 1729 had sold it to Dudley Nor th, son of a London merchant of the same name, and the owner of nearly Glenham Hall. North was Member of Parliament for Thetford and Ordford and died a year later in 1730. His son and heir was also Dudley and he married Lady Barbara Herbert, daughter of the Earl of Pembroke. On his death in 1764 his estate was divided between his two sisters, Anne and Mary  with Blaxhall passing to Anne and her husband, Nicholas Herbert, the youngest son of the Earl of Pembroke. Nicholas was MP for Newport and Wilton for many years and died in 1775. Once more the Manor passed  to a daughter, Barbara, who became the Countess of Aldborough on her marriage to Edward Stratford. She  remained as Lord of Blaxhall until her death in 1785 when it passed back to Barbara’s mother, Anne until her  death four years later when she bequeathed it to her nephew, Dudley Long, requesting that he adopt the surname, North. In 1802 he married the Hon Sophia Pelham, daughter of the Earl of Yarborough but at his death in 1839 there were no heirs. Blaxhall therefore became the property of his wife. It appears that the  manor then passed, on her death to the North family, who were the Earls of Guildford in whom the manor  descended in the 20th century.  

The village of Blaxhall is located in an area of heathland known as the Suffolk Sandlings, a few miles  from the coast in the East of the county. It was home after the War to the historian George Ewart Evans  who based his rural history on the characters and practices he encountered in the village. In his book, The  Crooked Scythe, he wrote of Blaxhall countrymen; 

His knowledge is not a personal knowledge but has been available to him through oral tradition which is  the unselfconscious medium of transmission. It is in his bones, you could say, and nonetheless valuable for that....It  was here at this time, and with the dressing and elaborating on it later, that I transposed the Blaxhall community in  my own mind into its true place in an ancient historical sequence, keeping the continuity that was for ever changing,  and for ever remaining the same, until an irreparable break substituted the machines for animal power, and put an  end to a period that had lasted well over two thousand years. 

The village is also noted for its famous Blaxhall Stone, a large boulder which stands outside Stone  Farm. This was was said to have been found in a field in the 19th century and was then only the size of two fists but which has grown over the years and is now well over a metre wide.

Documents in the Public Domain Associated with this Lordship:

 1272-1327: minister’s accounts The National Archives 

1480-1482: bailiff’s accounts 

1500-1600: surveys (2) 

1575-1600: extent, with other manors British Library, Manuscript Collections 

1577-1577: survey, with Ash Biggotts, Suffolk Record Office - Ipswich 

1578-1610: court book (indexed) 

1619-1928: court books 

1693-1693: rental, with Ash Biggotts 

1713-1764: court rolls (2) 

1751-1751: rental 

1763-1928: minute books (2) 

1766-1779: quit rents received, with other manors (14) 

1780-1785: rentals (6) 

1809-1917: steward’s papers (2 bundles) 

1816-1858: steward’s papers, chiefly verdicts and surrenders (1 bundle) 

1819-1833: rentals, with other manors (6) 1820-1820: rental, with other manors 

1842-1842: rental, with other manors 

1858-1858: rental, with other manors (in bundle with other papers) 1889-1889: rental, with Ash Biggotts 1903-1903: rental, with other manors 

1913-1935: rentals 

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Lot #3 of Manorial Services Auction - Winter 2024 - Stephen Johnson

Bodmin is the country town of Cornwall, lying in the centre of the county. Historically it was divided into several manors, including the Honour and Borough, East Port, Bodmin Priory, Bodmin Francis and several manors simply known as Bodmin. The town was founded as early as the 6th Century when St Pretroc  founded a monastery here. The name Bodmin derives from the Cornish Bod-meneghy, meaning dwelling of  monks. The land and manors of Bodmin were held by the monks from an early time and they are recorded  as the owners in Domesday Book, where the town is the only large settlement recorded in the county. The town reached its peak size in the 14th century but went into decline after the advent of the Black Death in the 1350s.  

At the end of the 11th Century the monastery was forcibly dissolved on the orders of Robert, Count  Moreton, Earl of Cornwall who seized its lands and granted them to his son William. William fell out with the king, Henry I and they had been bitter enemies since childhood. With Henry ignoring his claims for the Earldom of Kent, William joined forces with Robert, Earl of Shrewsbury and proclaimed Robert Curthose,  the Conqueror’s eldest son a and Duke of Normandy, as the King of England. The rebellion culminated in the Battle of Tinchebrai in 1066 where they were crushed by Henry’s forces. William estates, including Bodmin, were seized by the Crown. Henry I granted Bodmin to William Walewast, Bishop of Exeter and he redounded Bodmin Abbey under Austin Cannons and our manor of Bodmin descended with the Abbey until  it was dissolved in 1536. 

It is likely that the Robartes family became Lords of Bodmin during this period but the records  are opaque. The first notable member of the family was Richard, a merchant from Truro who amassed a considerable for tune during the reign of HenryVIII. He was succeeded by his son John but Bodmin appears to have passed to his younger son, Richard. He was the father of Sir Josias Robartes. His son, Sir Francis Robartes, is recorded as Lord of Bodmin in Burke’s Peerage but on his death in the early 17th century  his estates passed to his grandfather, John. His son and heir, Richard served as Sheriff of Cornwall and was knighted by Charles I at Whitehall in 1616. Five years he was created a baronet (an inheritable knighthood)  and in 1625, he was raised to the peerage as Baron Robartes of Truro. His son, and the 2nd Baron, John inherited his father’s estates, including their Lordship in Bodmin, in 1634. Despite being an early supporter of the monarchy, on the outbreak of the Civil War John became a supporter of Parliament after violently  disagreeing with Charles’ policies on religion. He fought under the Earl of Essex at the Battle of Edge Hill in 1642 and at Newbury a year later.

In September John accompanied the Earl on a march to Cornwall but their army was attacked and  destroyed at Fowey. Robartes was able to return to Plymouth and was made governor of the city. He was ousted by the officers of the New Model Army in 1645 and was subsequently sidelined. He retired from public life to live at the family estate at Lanhydrock. He returned to politics on the restoration in 1660 and served as Lord Privy Seal in 1673. In 1679 he was created Viscount Bodmin and Earl of Radnor. He died in 1685.  

The Notitia Parliamentaria, published in 1716, notes that the 2nd Earl of Radnor was Lord of the  manor of Bodmin. Charles Bodvile Robartes was the grandson of the first Earl, his father having died in Denmark in 1682 as the Ambassador to the court at Copenhagen. He married the heiress, Elizabeth Cutler and although it was a love match, made against her father’s wishes, the couple had no children. He was described by Jonathan Swift as a scoundrel but this judgement seems harsh by modern standards. When  Charles died, in 1723, the title and estates, including his Lordship of Bodmin, passed to his nephew, Henry Robar tes. He died, unmarried, in 1741 having wasted much of the family for tune on excessive living and an extended ‘Grand Tour’ of the Continent. He left most of his estates to his sister Mary Vere who in turn passed it to her son, George Hunt. The estate, including Bodmin, then passed to his niece Anna Maria Agar, who held the estate for a considerable time and brought stability and prosperity. She is described as a tough,  but fair, business woman and landlord. She inherited in 1798 as a young woman when her estate was mired in  debt, plagued with none paying renters. With her son, Thomas Agar-Robartes, the situation was transformed.  Thomas was created Lord Robartes of Truro in 1869 and was succeeded by his son, Thomas in 1882. As  well as the Barony, Thomas also succeeded to the title of Viscount Clifden, from a kinsman. He oversaw the restoration of Lanhydrock House in the 1880s after a devastating fire in 1882.

The last male heir to the family estates was Victor Aga-Robartes, who died in 1974. The Lordship of  Bodmin, with other titles, was vested in a company, the Lanhydrock Estate Company, which sold the title to  the present owners in 2007.   

When the conveyance was made in 2007 the manor was erroneously referred to as Bodmin Francis.  The manor is simply known as the Lordship of Bodmin. 

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Lot #20 of Manorial Holdings Auction - December 1989 

THIS IS the county town of Cornwall and it is divided into four Manors:- the Honor and Borough of Bodmin, Bodmin East Port, Bodmin Priory, and Bodmin Francis: the first and third belonging to the Town Council, the second to the Mollesworths, and Bodmin Francis to the Trustees of Viscount Clifden. It is a very old settlement and coins from the reigns of the Roman Emperors Trajan (second century) and Vespasian have been found here. Legend has it that St Guron, a recluse, came here in AD518, having resigned his hermitage to St Petrock. According to tradition, St Petrock landed at Padstow from Brittany with SS Credanus, Medanus, and Dacus, and pushing his way inland settled in the solitary vale of Bodmin. Petrock was given a site for a monastery by two Romano-British leaders, Theodoric and Constantine, and this monastery was eventually to become the focal point of the town that grew up around it and whose Lord the Prior of the monastery was to be in the future. St Petrock died in AD564 and was immediately venerated, his bones, contained in an ivory coffin, being until recent times kept at Baralys Bank here. We have a contemporary account of the theft of the holy remains in the 12th century from Benedictus Abbas:

In the same year, namely 1177, immediately after the Epiphany of our Lord, a certain canon of the Abbey of Bodmin, in Cornwall, by name Martinus, secretly took away the body of St Petrock; flying with it, he passed beyond the seas, and carried the body to the Abbey of Meovinsus, in Lesser Britain (Brittany). When this transaction had become known to Roger, the Prior of Bodmin, and to the canons who served God in the same place, the aforesaid Prior, with a council of his brethren, went to Henry, King of England, son of the Empress Matilda, that by his powerful aid they might again get possession of the body of St Petrock, of which they had been fraudulently deprived. The King granted his aid to their infirmity, and by his letters commanded Rolandus de Dinannus, the Justiciary of Brittany (over which Henry II was protector), that, without any delay, he should cause the body to be restored.

When, therefore, Rolandus had received the King’s command, he came with a powerful and armed band to the Abbey of St Meovinus, and ordered that the body be given up. And when the Abbot and Monks were unwilling to comply, he added threats, that unless they would immediately restore it, he would use force to take it; which when they heard, they feared to incur the displeasure of the King of England, and therefore restored that blessed body to the beforenamed Roger, Prior of Bodmin, on the Lord’s Day, being the Feast of St Gurtavisius and of St Prothasius, martyrs, the 13th before the calends of July (19 July).

And that sacred body was restored in all its integrity, without the least diminution; the Abbot and Monks of the church of St Mevenius having sworn on the relics belonging to their church, that they had not retained any part of the body; but had returned it wholly unaltered.

When this was done, the beforenamed Prior of Bodmin, returning with joy to England, brought the body of the blessed Petrock, closed in an ivory shell, to the city of Winchester. And when it was brought into the King’s presence, the King having seen and adored it, permitted the Prior to return in peace with his holy charge to the Abbey of Bodmin.

The King in question, two years later, was to cause four knights to murder Thomas Becket, Archbishop of Canterbury, on the steps of the High Altar at Canterbury. Bodmin was an important town by the 10th century, for, in 926, we find King Athelstan here to venerate St Petrock and to give lands to the Abbey: on the seal of the old Corporation of Bodmin (whose corporate identity was demolished during the wretched boundary changes of 1974) is the figure of that Saxon King. The Church of St Petrock is given as the Lord of Bodmin in Domesday, but dissolution was a modern invention of Henry VIII, for shortly afterwards we find Robert Count of Mortain and Earl of Cornwall seizing the Benedictine Abbey and passing it to his son, William, on whose death the Manor became vested in the Crown. Henry I granted these lands to William Warelwast Bishop of Exeter who re-founded the monastery with Austin Canons. At the final dissolution in the 16th century, the Abbey was worth annually £270. 0s. 1d. and claimed, among other privileges, a market and fair, gallows, and pillory. That the Prior of Bodmin was a good Lord is indicated in a Vulgate Bible now at the British Library in which there are 46 manumissions (freedoms) of slaves in the ninth century, written partly in Latin and partly in Anglo-Saxon. Here are some specimens:

This is the name of that man, Madstun, whom Iosa freed for the redemption of his soul, on the altar of St Petrock, before these witnesses seeing it… and whosoever shall infringe this liberty let him be accused, and whosoever shall defend it may be blessed… These are the names of those women whom Erman freed for the soul of his mother, Guernim and Elswaged, on the altar of St Petrock…

The practice of manumitting slaves in the church, as recorded in these entries, appears to have existed from the early fourth century. As noted, Bodmin was an important town from the middle Saxon period and its burgesses acquired privileges as early as 1179. Richard Earl of Cornwall, brother to Henry III, granted a gild merchant which gave Bodmin merchants the right to buy and sell throughout the county without paying toll. By 1563 in a Charter of Elizabeth, the Town Corporation had obtained the Lordships of the Honor and Borough, and that of the Priory. The Rashleighs by then had obtained East Port and the Robartes’s Bodmin Francis. The Robartes’s became Earls of Radnor, while a collateral branch (infra), married into the wealthy Agar family and were eventually enobled as Viscounts Clifden.

The eighth and last Viscount Clifden’s granddaughter now holds the Lordship and the descent of the Clifdens is illustrated on the following page.

Documents associated with this Manor:

Minister’s accounts  1548-9  Cornwall RO
Rentals  1695-1739
Surveys  c 1670
Papers incl rentals  1780-9
Court Rolls with Trolledlett  1555-6,  1579-80

Minister’s Account for Duchy of Cornwall    audited 5 Feb 1605/6 Kent AO

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Lot #4 of Manorial Auctioneers – May 2008

Catalogue transcribed by the Lord of Finchingfield - a friend to learning

THIS Lordship lies about five miles north-east of St Austell and straddles the parishes of Luxulyan and Lanivet. It may have formed part of the lands known as Trevelyan or Trevillen which are recorded in the Domesday Survey of 1086 and were held by Alric in the reign of Edward the Confessor. A Manor of "Bodewitghi", mentioned in the Exon Domesday here, was also held by Alric, and had passed to Richard, Steward of the Household (of King William), by 1086. It is said that the Prideaux family had their original seat here by the reign of Richard I (1189-99). It is now known as Prideaux Castle.

According to the Heralds' Visitation of Cornwall in 1620, the first of the family was Paganus de Prideaux, Lord of Prideaux, in 1066, although there is no place-name of Prideaux in Domesday Book 20 years later and no Paganus in Cornwall. The name is said by Tonkin in his History to derive from the French, Près d'eaux, since the sea used to flow up this far inland. There are still branches of this family living, one at Place, near Padstow, Cornwall, and the Prideaux-Brunes. We only enter on safe genealogical ground in the middle of the 13th century when we find Sir Geoffrey Prideaux living here in 1243. His grandson Peter is set down in Edward I's tax in 1284, levied against the King's Welsh campaign, at 12 acres in Prideaux and 20 at Boswiththe (Bodwithgy). An heir, Thomas (Dominus Thomas de Prideas), held in Boswyghergy (Bodwithgy) two parts of a knight's fee and had lands here to the value of £20. In the reign of Edward III (1327-77), Sir John Prideaux of Orcharton, Devon, is said to have killed Sir William Bigberry in a duel after 'which Misfortune', in Devon Worthies, 'Sir John Prideaux aforesaid lost much of his Lands... From the time of that unhappy Murder, 'tis observable, not only the Estate, but the Honour of this House, greatly declined: For however it had yielded several knights before, it never produced one in that place after: Of so dangerous Consequence is it, to have one's name dip'd in Blood.'

According to the same author, the family's reputation was restored in the reign of Elizabeth I in the person of Edmond Prideaux, who became a lawyer and a man of learning. His son was Sir Peter Prideaux, Baronet, who wrote the following funerary verses on the death of Sir Thomas Bodley, the great benefactor of the University of Oxford, after whom the Bodleian Library is named:

One Homer was enough to blazon forth, In a full lofty Stile, Ulysses' praise;

Caesar had Lucan to enroll his Worth, Unto the Memory of endless Days:

Of thy Deeds, Bodley, from thine own pure Spring, A Thousand Homers and sweet Lucans sing.

One Volume was a Monument, to bound The large extent of their deserving pains;

The Learning's Common-Wealth was never found So large a Decade, to express by Strains;

Which who desires to Character aright, Must read more Books than they had Lines to write.

Yet give this little River leave to run Into the boundless Ocean of thy Fame;

Had they first ended, I had not begun, Sith each is a Protogenes, to frame

So curiously the picture of thy Worth, That when all's done, Art wants to set it forth.

Edmond's second son was named after him and was also a lawyer. He was probably also a Puritan, or at any rate a man of high religious purpose, and was elected to sit in the Long Parliament in 1640, a Parliament that was to fight Charles I in the Civil War, and to remain in being, in one guise or another, until the Restoration of 1660. Although he never publicly supported the execution of the King in 1649, he held high office under the Cromwellian Protectorship, being Commissioner of the Great Seal (worth £1,500 a year), King's Counsel (worth £5,000 a year), and Attorney-General, 'worth what he pleased to make it.' He eventually became Postmaster-General, making £15,000 annually, enormous sums in the 17th century. The Lordship of Bodwithgy was purchased in 1583 by John Robartes of Truro, grandfather to the 1st Earl of Radnor and ancestor to the Viscounts Clifden, the 8th Viscount's great grandson being the present possessor of it through the Lanhydrock Estate Company.

John Robartes's son Richard was knighted by James I in 1616 and created a Baronet five years later. In 1625, he was advanced to the peerage as Baron Robartes of Truro, in consideration, it was said, of a payment of £10,000 to the King's favourite and chief minister, George Villiers, Duke of Buckingham. One of the charges brought against the Duke in the Parliament of 1626 was 'that, knowing Robartes to be rich, he forced him to take that title of honour; and that, in consideration thereof, he paid £10,000 to the Duke's use.' Lord Robartes died in 1634 and was succeeded by his son John as second Baron. He fought on the Parliament side during the Civil War (1642-48), but was favourably received at the Restoration of King Charles II in 1660. He was appointed to the Privy Council, becoming successively Lord Privy Seal and Lord Lieutenant of Ireland. In 1679, Charles II created him Viscount Bodmin and Earl of Radnor. He was, apparently, 'a staunch Presbyterian; sour and cynical; just in his administration, but vicious under the semblance of virtue; learned above any of his quality; but stiff, obstinate, proud, and jealous, and every way intractable' — two of the seven Deadly Sins. He died in 1685. He was ultimately succeeded in his Cornish estates by his great great grand-daughter Anna Maria. She married the Honourable Charles Bagenal Agar, son of the 1st Viscount Clifden, whose son Thomas James assumed the additional surname of Robartes as representative of the Earls of Radnor (see Pedigree chart). Thomas James was created Baron Robartes of Lanhydrock by Queen Victoria in 1869, and his son succeeded as 6th Viscount Clifden on the death of Leopold George Frederick, 5th Viscount, in 1899, together with the Peerages of Baron Clifden and Baron Mendip. These expired with the death of the 8th Viscount in 1980.

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Lot #29 of Manorial Holdings Auction - December 1989 

THIS LORDSHIP was an early sub-infeudation of the main Manor of Pattishall alias Wodhull but until 9 Elizabeth it was called Strangeways. Ernulf de Pattishull, is the earliest known tenant in 1167. 

Simon de Pattishull, probably his son, was a personage of considerable importance. He was Sheriff of Northamptonshire from 6 Richard I to 5 John and was buried in the chapter house of Pipewell abbey leaving a son and heir, Walter. Hugh another son was treasurer of the exchequer and Martin de Pateshall, a contemporary, a justice in the King’s court. Hugh subsequently became Bishop of Coventry and Lichfield. Walter de Pateshall died in 1232. John de Pateshall, Walter’s grandson was elected a Member of Parliament for Bedfordshire in 1290 but died the same year and the Lordship remained in the possession of his descendants until the death without issue of Sir William Pateshull in 1359. On the division of his estates this manor passed to Sir Thomas de Fauconberge, his nephew but during his minority the Crown held it. On the death of Joane Fauconberge, daughter of Sir Thomas, in 1490 aged 83 it passed to her grandson Sir James Strangeways. In 1539 he sold it to Thomas Tobye of Benham in Berkshire of whom it was purchased by Dame Elizabeth Enfield, who died seised of it in 1543-4. She in turn was succeeded by her son, John, who died in 1567 and he by his son, Francis, who was created a Baronet in 1612. In the mid 17th century it was sold to Theodore Marks of Pateshull, gent whose daughter Bridget, wife of John Theed, conveyed it to the Reverend John Baron in 1730. In 1791 it was purchased by Thomas Pirkins of Pateshull, gent, son-in-law of Theodore Marks, who then sold it to Peter Denys, esquire brother-in-law of George Fermor, 3rd Earl of Pomfret. 

The present owner Lord Hesketh is a direct descendant of the 3rd Earl.  

Documents associated with this manor:  

Court Baron  1708, 1716, 1734  n d Northants RO   

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Lot #15 of Manorial Auctioneers – May 2008

Catalogue transcribed by the Lord of Finchingfield - a friend to learning

or

Lot #1 of Manorial Services Auction - November 2023 - Stephen Johnson

((2008 Catalogue Begins))

(includes the historic office of King's Bowbearer - petty serjeanty)

THE LORDSHIP OF the Manor of Bowland can be found at the southern part of what is today still known as the Forest of Bowland, a wild and little populated moorland area, even today. It receives its name from the practice of archery which was anciently performed as a custom of the forest. Bowland itself forms a township within the extensive parish of Whalley and in parts rises to over 1,200 feet. It is bounded by the Rivers Hodder and Loud.

Historically, the Lordship has always been associated with the Honor of Clitheroe and was a manor within this large feudal estate. The Honor had been erected by the Normans after their invasion of 1066 and it was presented as a reward to the de Lacy family who had arrived with William. Ilbert de Lacy was thought to be the first Lord of Clitheroe though it is not entirely certain. Ilbert was succeeded by his son Robert, who was granted Bowland forest by Henry I and this grant may well have included the Lordship of the Manor of Bowland. Robert was succeeded by his son, Ilbert, who was loyal to King Stephen (1135-1154) during that king's chaotic and violent rule. Ilbert died childless and Bowland then passed to his brother Henry and then to his son Robert, who is thought to have founded Clitheroe Castle in the 1190s. Robert died childless and his estates eventually passed through his sister Aubreye to his cousin Roger de Lacy. This branch of the family were also powerful magnates. Roger was constable of Chester Castle in 1191 and, although he was at first opposed to Prince John while Richard I was on crusade in the Holy Land, once John became king, Lacy swore loyalty to him and remained a favourite of his. In the first few years of the 13th century Lacy was sent to France to help to defend England's Normandy interests and in 1203 he was besieged at Château Gaillard by King Philip Augustus of France. The siege lasted several months and the château was only forced to surrender when Robert and his garrison were threatened with starvation. He was eventually allowed to return to England on payment of £1,000 and John made Lacy sheriff of Cumberland and Yorkshire. His presence was required there since the North was seething with rebellious intent and Lacy remained loyal, becoming in the process a close friend of the King. He spent the next few years almost on constant military duty as John was threatened by the Welsh, Scots and French as well as English enemies. He was particularly active against the Welsh and his harsh and brutal tactics earned him the name 'Roger of Hell'. He died in 1211.

The Lordship of Bowland then passed to his eldest son John, who became Earl of Lincoln and from him to his son, Edmund, who did not appear to have assumed this dignity. He died in 1258 and the Lordship then descended to his son Henry, Earl of Lincoln. He was one of the great barons of the 13th century and was one of Edward I's most trusted and reliable servants. He served the King in France, where he became Lieutenant of Aquitaine in 1295. On his return to England in 1298, he fought extensively in Scotland. After Edward's death, Henry quickly became disillusioned with the intemperate and ill-advised rule of Edward II (1307-27). He died in 1311 at the residence in London which still bears his name, Lincoln's Inn.

After Henry's death the vast wealth of the Lacy estates passed to his only daughter Alice and in turn to her husband, Thomas, Earl of Lancaster. Bowland then became part of the vast Lancaster estates which, with the accession of Henry, Duke of Lancaster, to the throne as Henry IV in 1399, became a Crown property. The Lordship of Bowland remained part of the Duchy of Lancaster until the 17th century when it appears to have been sold off to the Parker family of Browsholme. The Parkers also held the feudal title of bow-bearer or parker within the forest of Bowland. They were hereditary Bowbearers of the forest under the Dukes of Buccleuch, Lords of Clitheroe. This was an ancient office in the palmy days of archery, according to Thomas Blount in Fragmenta Antiquitatis, Ancient Tenures of Land and Jocular Customs of Manors, published 1679, and re-edited in 1908 by W Carew Hazlitt (this has since been republished, in 1999 by W and Barsby in association with the Manorial Society of Great Britain). In the ballad of Adam Bel, 1536, Cloudesle is made the King's Bowbearer at Whalley Abbey. A stirrup was formerly kept at Browsholme Hall, through which every dog in the Manor, except those belonging to the Lord, were obliged to be able to pass. 

The Parker family originated at Alkincoats in Holme and had lived there in the early 14th century. Robert Parker, son of Edmund, is recorded as Bowbearer of Bowland Forest in the 1550s and he was succeeded by his son Thomas who purchased Browsholme from the Crown in 1603. In 1630, Thomas was fined for not attending Charles I to receive knighthood, a tax in those days. He died in 1634 and was succeeded in his estates by his son Edward, who appears to have trodden a fine line between support for Parliament and the King during the Civil War, but his son and heir Thomas was a confirmed Royalist and was appointed a captain of the foot on the Restoration of Charles II in 1660. Thomas made great improvements to the family seat at Browsholme, as did his successor, Edward, who built the east wing in 1711. He died in 1721 and was followed by his son Thomas, but he lived only until 1728 when the family estates passed to his half-brother John Parker. He is recorded as holding the office of Bowbearer in the 1750s and was a well regarded landowner.

The Parker family became increasingly wealthy and aristocratic during the 18th century, but were never formally ennobled. John's successor, in 1754, was his son Edward. His son and heir, John was a patron of the arts and accompanied the Rev William Gilpin on his celebrated trips around England which produced his theory of the 'picturesque' in the English landscape. John was the first member of the family to enter Parliament, as the Member for Clitheroe, in 1780. This was one of the infamous 'rotten boroughs' dominated by the Curzon and Lister families, and John was elected after a bitter dispute between the two. After two years, and having never once spoken in the House, he resigned his seat after the two warring families were reconciled. John died in 1797 and was followed by his son, Thomas Lister Parker, who was a lover of the arts and was a patron of JMW Turner, one of England's greatest painters and perhaps a precursor of the Impressionists who flourished in France in the second half of the 19th century. He lived the life of a rich aristocrat, with a lavish town house in London and a set of wealthy friends, but he quickly overspent and was forced to sell Browsholme and much of the family estates in 1824. It is likely that the Lordship of Bowland was sold during this time, to Peregrine Towneley, who also became Bowbearer of Bowland. 'The Bowbearer was called the Parker and this feudal office was held for three centuries by the ancient family of Parker, and prior to the purchase by the late Peregrine Edward Towneley.' (Baines' History of Lancashire, Vol III)

The Lordship of Bowland remained with the Towneley family and their descendants, the Lords O'Hagan, until today. The present Lord of the Manor is the 4th Baron O'Hagan.

((2023 Catalogue Begins))

This is a unique opportunity to acquire one of the great ancient feudal lordships of England.  

The Lordship Today: 

First recorded in the C11th, the Lordship of Bowland was administered as part of the Duchy of  Lancaster up until the late fourteenth century. In 1399, the Duke of Lancaster was crowned Henry IV and  became Lord King of Bowland.  

The Lord King was no mere lord of the manor. He held sway over a Forest and a Liberty of 10  manors spanning 8 townships and 4 parishes (Slaidburn, Newton, West Bradford, Grindleton, Knowlmere,  Waddington, Easington, Bashall, Mitton, Withgill /Crook, Leagram, Dunnow/Battersby, Hammerton).  

Since 1399, the title has been held by eight dukes, three earls, a baron and sixteen monarchs. The  current Lord of the Forest of Bowland is a Scottish nobleman. 

Ownership of the Liberty – known formally as the Lordship of the Manor and Liberty of Slaidburn, West  Bradford and Grindleton - was split from the Forest in 1955. This title is now held by the family of the 2nd Lord  Clitheroe.  

Lords of the Forest of Bowland bear their own subsidiary title, Lord of the Fells. It is a title comparable  to the Lordship of Mann held by His Majesty The King and the Lordship of the Isles held by HRH The Duke  of Rothesay. This subsidiary title is thought to have become customary during the high medieval period as  a description of the Lords’ rugged upland demesne. Bowland Fells, more widely known as the Forest of  Bowland, is an area of barren gritstone fells, deep valleys and peat moorland, mostly in north-east Lancashire,  England. A small part lies in North Yorkshire, and much of the area was historically part of the West Riding of  Yorkshire. 

The area has strong associations with the Pendle Witches who in 1612 were transported by bullock  cart through Bowland to their trial and execution at Lancaster:

The present Lord of the Forest of Bowland has spent 15 years restoring the dignity of Lordship since  his succession to the title in 2008. He retains a number of ancient rights. These include the right to appoint a  Chief Steward (known formerly as a Master Forester) and to appoint one or more Bowbearers, a ceremonial  attendant who by tradition accompanied the Lord of Bowland during hunting but in later centuries became  an officer of the Lord’s Forest Courts.  

These Forest Courts were held at Whitewell in the ancient courthouse now known as the Inn at  Whitewell and famed for its gourmet dining. The swainmote was held at what is now known as the he Inn  before the verderers of the Forest and dealt with minor infractions of forest law and the woodmote passed  judgment on more serious transgressions. These courts lasted beyond the rule of the Lord Kings into the first  half of the 19th century.

In 2010, Robert Parker of Browsholme Hall was appointed the first Bowbearer of the Forest of  Bowland in almost 150 years. Robert is the eighth generation of his family to hold the office since 1660. The  current Chief Steward of the Forest is Michael Pugh, a former local government official who lives and works  in the Forest. The former Chief Steward was Michael Parkinson, land agent to Sir Simon Towneley and Lord  Clitheroe. 

The Lord of Bowland’s activities in the Forest are supported by officials from Lancashire County  Council who administer the Forest of Bowland Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. The current Lord –  known informally as William Bowland - has played an active ceremonial role in Forest life, dedicating himself  to good causes, including support for the Slaidburn Archive, schools visits, public lectures, official openings,  charitable fundraising and sponsorship.  

Launched in 2011, the Lord of Bowland Annual Lecture takes place in early October each year and has  proven hugely popular with local history enthusiasts. In 2015, William Bowland commissioned acclaimed  Lakeland composer Christopher Gibbs to produce The Music of the Forest, a four-part song cycle celebrating the history of Bowland, which had its world premiere in the Forest in June 2017. The Lord also hosts the  Perambulation of the Forest, an annual fundraising charity walk. He is a trustee of Champion Bowland, a charity  dedicated to supporting community activities in the Forest which is chaired by his Chief Steward. More  information can be found at https://www.forestofbowland.com/lordship-bowland.  

The purchaser of this title should expect to play an active role in Forest life. The title will also come  with a significant archive of material relating to the lordship. Slaidburn Archive also holds its own substantial  collection of materials. While the current Lord of Bowland is armigerous, please note that his arms are  personal and cannot be transferred. 

A History of the Lordship:

It is often presumed that Bowland received its name from the practice of archery which was anciently  performed as a custom of the forest. In fact, it is likely to derive from the Old English word boga or Old Norse  bogi, meaning ‘a bend in the river’. This describes the basin of the meandering River Hodder which rises at  White Hill and flows for approximately 23 miles to Great Mitton on the Ribble, of which it is the largest  tributary. 

Although less extensive than today’s Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, the Lordship of Bowland  once covered an area of almost 300 square miles. It comprised a Forest and a Liberty of ten manors  spanning eight townships and four parishes (Slaidburn, Newton, West Bradford, Grindleton, Knowlmere,  Waddington, Easington, Bashall, Mitton, Withgill /Crook, Leagram, Dunnow/ Battersby, Hammerton). It lies in  a rough triangle of moorland and valleys between Lancaster, Settle and Clitheroe.

The Forest of Bowland was created by William II sometime after the Domesday survey of 1086  although it is thought to have been based on a pre-Norman upland estate.  

It was granted to Roger de Poitou in 1092 but his lordship lasted a brief two years before he fell  foul of the King and was stripped of his estates. In the same year, the Honor of Clitheroe was created,  absorbing the Lordship of Bowland and was granted to the powerful De Lacy family. Robert was its Lord at  the beginning of the 12th century and he was succeeded by his son, Ilbert, who was loyal to King Stephen  (1135-1154) during that king’s chaotic and violent rule – a period known as the Anarchy. He died childless  and Bowland then passed to his brother Henry and then to his son Robert, who is thought to have founded Clitheroe Castle in the 1190s. While Clitheroe Castle remains seat to the Lordship to this day, Robert died  childless and his estates eventually passed through his sister, Aubreye to his cousin Roger de Lacy.

This branch of the family were powerful magnates. Roger was Constable of Chester Castle in 1191.  He was at first opposed to Prince John whilst Richard I was crusading abroad. Once John became King, Lacy  swore loyalty to him and remained a favourite. In the first few years of the 13th century, Lacy was sent to  France to help defend England’s interests. In 1203, he was famously besieged at Chateau Gaillard by King  Philip of France. The siege lasted several months and Lacy was only forced to surrender when he and his  garrison were threatened with starvation. He was eventually allowed to return to England on payment of  £1000 and King John made Lacy Sheriff of Cumberland and Yorkshire. His presence was required since the  North was seething with rebellious intent and Lacy remained loyal to the King, becoming, in the process a  close friend. He spent the next few years on almost constant military duty as John was threatened by the  Welsh, Scots and French as well as by his English enemies. Lacy was particularly active against the Welsh. His  harsh and brutal tactics earned him the name ‘Roger of Hell’. He died in 1211. 

The Lordship then descended to his eldest son John, who became 1st Earl of Lincoln and from him  to his son, Edmund, who did not appear to have assumed this dignity. He died in 1228 and the Lordship  then passed down to his son Henry, 3rd Earl of Lincoln. He was one of the great barons of the 13th century  and was one of Edward I’s most trusted and reliable aides. He served the King in France, where he became  Lieutenant of Aquitaine in 1295. On his return to England in 1258, he fought extensively in Scotland. After  Edward’s death, Henry quickly became disillusioned with the intemperate and ill-advised rule of Edward II.  He died in 1311 at the residence in London which still bears his name: 

After Henry’s death, the vast wealth of the De Lacy estates passed to his only daughter Alice and  in turn to her husband, Thomas, Earl of Lancaster. The Lordship of Bowland thus became part of the vast  Lancaster estates which, with the accession of Henry, Duke of Lancaster to the throne as Henry IV in 1399,  became the property and right of the Crown. At this time, the Lords of Bowland became known as Lord Kings  of Bowland. This appellation continued until the Lordship, as part of the Honor of Clitheroe, was granted to  General George Monck on his creation as the 1st Duke of Albermarle.  

Born the second son of a Devon gentleman, George Monck was required to seek employment and  chose a military career. He sailed in the English fleet which attacked Cadiz as a sixteen-year old in 1625. In  1627, he was forced to flee England after accidentally killing an under-sheriff, who had arrested his father for debt. He joined the Royal Navy and was part of the failed attempt to relieve La Rochelle in the following  year. Throughout the 1630s, Monck remained a military man, slowly working his way up the ranks and gaining  a reputation as a brave and efficient soldier.  

By the time of Charles I’s campaign against the Scottish Covenanters in 1639, Monck had been  raised to the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel. When the Civil War broke out in 1642, Monck was serving under  the Earl of Leicester trying to suppress a rebellion in Ireland. Monck urged Leicester not to take an oath to  support either Parliament or the King but after an agreement was reached with the rebels in September  1643 the Irish army returned to England to bolster the royal forces. A few weeks later, Monck was captured  by Parliamentarians at the siege of Nantwich on January 1644. He spent the next few months as a prisoner  in the Tower. He was eventually freed after promising not to fight against Parliament but to help suppress the  continuing rebellion in Ireland. In September 1647, he was appointed as Major-General of the Parliamentary  forces in eastern Ulster and he remained here after the King’s execution in 1649. 

In 1650, the Commonwealth launched a war against the Royalist rump in Scotland and its leaders  appointed Cromwell to lead it. Cromwell had been impressed with Monck and gave him a command. His  subsequent successes in capturing a number of key posts led to his appointment as Governor of Edinburgh  in 1651. When Charles II made a dash for England, Cromwell followed and left Monck in charge to mop up  any resistance, which he accomplished with remarkable speed. His talents, especially in his use of artillery,  were now considered precious by the Commonwealth and Monck was deployed at sea to fight the Dutch  in 1652-53.  

The General professed to be a soldier, not a politician and that his loyalty was to his men. This  served him well after Cromwell abolished the Regicide Parliament in April 1653. Monck issued a statement  to the effect that he was too busy fighting the Dutch to be able to intervene in the domestic situation. The  powers granted to him enabled him to become the virtual dictator north of the border for a time. When  Cromwell died in 1658, Monck immediately offered his support to his successor, Richard Cromwell but felt  ill at ease with the new regime and in turn, it looked upon him with some degree of suspicion. At this point,  representatives of Charles II began to make overtures towards the General to garner his possible support  for a restoration of the monarchy. As the Parliamentary regime collapsed into disarray at the beginning of  1660, Monck marched his army south. He was instructed to protect Parliament but he could see that the  tide had turned against the Republic and when he was contacted by representatives of Charles once more  Monck assured him of his loyalty. His military control of London ensured that the Throne could be restored  peacefully. When Charles landed at Dover in May 1660, Monck was the first to embrace him. Within weeks,  his loyalty was rewarded with his elevation to the Dukedom of Albermarle. The lands and estates of the  Lordship of Bowland were granted to him as part of the Honor of Clitheroe in 1661.  

The Duke remained a loyal officer of the King until his death in 1670 when his title and estates  passed to his son Christopher. Christopher, Chancellor of the University of Cambridge, died childless in 1687.  Bowland passed, with the rest of his possessions to his wife who survived to the age of 95, dying in 1734.  From her, it passed to her second husband, Ralph, 1st Duke of Montagu. He was succeeded by his son, John,  2nd Duke of Montagu who had no sons and passed his estates to his daughters Isabella, wife of Edward  Hussey, Earl of Beaulieu and Mary who married George Brudenell, 4th Earl of Cardigan (great-grandfather  of Cardigan of the Charge of the Light Brigade fame). In 1801, an inquiry was made into the estate of  Edward, Earl of Beaulieu, who had been declared a lunatic. 

The Lordship consequently passed to Mary’s daughter, Lady Elizabeth Montagu, 3rd Duchess of  Buccleuch. It then remained in the hands of the Dukes of Buccleuch until the death of the 5th Duke in 1827. 

In 1835, Francis, 6th Duke of Buccleuch sold a huge portion of his Lancashire estates to Peregrine  Towneley for £99,000, an astonishing amount at the time. The Towneleys were at that time one of Lancashire’s  most powerful Catholic gentry families whose seat in Burnley is now an important regional museum. This  sale included the Forest of Bowland otherwise Bolland in the Counties of Lancaster and York or one of them with  all the rights royalties franchises offices hereditaments and appurtenances thereto belonging . . . included in the  Offices of Master Forester and Collector of Rents.

The Lordship remained in the possession of the Towneley family until 2008 when the present Lord of Bowland succeeded to the title by private treaty. 

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Lot #3 of Manorial Services Auction - Spring 2024 - Stephen Johnson

There are two manors known as Boylands which belong to the Vendors, one is known as Boylands  or Boylands in Stuston, the other, Boylands in Scole. These two villages neighbour each other across the  boundary of Suffolk and Norfolk. This manor, is the former of the two and lies in Stuston; a few miles from  the market town of Diss. 

In the early 13th century the manor of Boylands was granted by the Crown to Ranulph de Blondeville,  6th Earl of Chester who consolidated the family’s position as one of the greatest landowning clan in England.  His status and power naturally gave him a place at the very highest levels of the state and he proved a loyal  servant to Richard I. After the king’s death in 1189, he backed Prince John to succeed to the throne. Though Ranulph’s relationship with King John was soured by huge losses of land in Normandy when the English were  evicted in 1204, the king rewarded his earl’s loyalty with a swathe of estates in England, including the manor  of Boylands which he was granted for life. Over the next ten years Ranulph became an unstinting supporter of the king despite John’s often abhorrent behaviour. He survived the tumultuous final years of John’s reign and died in 1232.  

Boylands returned to the Crown and it was granted by Henry III to the obscure Ingerand de Fane for  his life, which proved not to last much beyond the grant. Boylands was then granted to another Frenchman,  SirWilliam de Synagon. After his death it was granted for a third time to Sir Aylmer de Beziles. After his death in 1279 the manor rever ted to the Crown and five years later Edward I granted it to Sir Richard de Boyland and his heirs. The entry of the grant on the Patent Rolls notes that the lands had been late of Amaric Bezill,  deceased, tenant in chief of Stuston. It if from Sir Richard and his family that the name of the manor is derived  and as a division of the larger manor of Stuston, it being subsequently described as Boylands Fee. 

On the death of Sir Richard de Boyland in 1295 the manor passed to his son and heir John. Sir Richard was a very rich man and held numerous manors in both Suffolk and Norfolk. He sat as a judge for the  county and when Edward I was absent from England, Boyland was made a commissioner to governor in his  absence. Whilst the king was away, Boyland ‘helped himself’ to a number of estates. When the king returned,  Boyland was found gully of manifest corruption in the administration of justice and fined four thousand marks for  his intolerable extortions. However, despite this, Boyland seems to have kept most of his estates and was able  to pass Boylands to his son. During the 14th century the manor passed to the Lowdham family. John of that name was its Lord in 1355. His wife, Joan, succeeded him and lived until 1371. His son and heir, John, lived for  only four years after her death at which time Boyland passed to his brother Sir Thomas de Lowdham who  died in 1385. His son, John was succeeded by a daughter, Jane, who firstly married Thomas Heveringham and then Ralph Blenerhasset of Frenze in Norfolk. She lived to the age of 97 and died in 1501. Her son, John, was 77 when he inherited Boylands and he died eight years later. The Manor remained in the possession of this  Anglo-Irish family until 1548 when it was sold to Sir Thomas Cornwallis of Brome Hall.  

Sir Thomas died in 1604, aged 86, and a magnificent marble tomb was erected in his honour at the parish church in Brome, which is still on display. His heir was his eldest son, Sir William, who was a leading  member of Robert Devereux, Earl of Essex’s colonial expedition to Ireland in 1599. He was knighted for his  par t in this at Dublin in the same year. On his death the manor passed to his younger son Frederick, who served in the household of Prince Henry, the eldest son of James I, and he travelled with him to Spain. He was  created a baronet in 1627 and knighted in 1630, by which point he had succeeded to the entire Cornwallis  estate on the death of his elder brother, William. Being a staunch Royalist, Frederick fought for Charles I  during the Civil War and distinguished himself at the Battle of Cropredy in June 1644 where he rescued Lord  Wilmot from capture. Unfortunately, after the Parliamentarian victory his estate was sequestered and he  followed Charles II into exile, only returning with the King in 1660. A year later, as a reward for his loyalty, he  was created Lord Cornwallis of Eye but died only a few weeks later.

Boylands remained in the possession of the Cornwallis family until 1823 when it was sold to Mattias Kerrison of Oakley Park. It eventually passed with the Oakley estate to the Maskell family and their descendants with whom it presently resides. 

Documents in the Public Domain Associated with this Lordship:

1336-1439: estreats of court rolls, Suffolk Archives - Ipswich 

1400-1600: rental (fragment) 

1451-1572: copy extents 

1500-1600: extents 

1500-1600: court extracts (2) 

1553-1559: court roll 

1555-1672: bailiff ’s accounts (non-consecutive) 

1560-1574: court rolls 

1563-1563: rental 

1569-1573: minute book 

1570-1570: particulars of lands 

1575-1600: steward’s writ of summons for appearance in court 

1575-1600: survey 

1592-1593: rental 

1592-1592: ministers’ accounts 

1603-1685: court roll (non-consecutive) 

1641-1671: rentals (non-consecutive) 

1665-1665: estreats 

1700-1800: rentals (non-consecutive) 

1740-1740: estreats, with other manors 

1750-1750: particulars of customs 

1783-1783: schedule of court records 

1794-1794: survey, incl list of customs 

1823-1832: court fines received 

1835-1835: rental 

1884-1884: rental 

1887-1897: minute book, with other manors 

1887-1887: schedules of court records

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Lot #10 of Manorial Services Auction - Nov 2022 - Stephen Johnson

Bracken on the Wolds is a manor and township  located in the parish of Kilnwick in the Wolds of the East  Riding of Yorkshire, some 10 miles north of Beverley.  Bracken, or Bracken on the Wolds, is a township to the  east of the main village, centred on Bracken lane. It is  assumed to derive its name from an abundance of bracken  which was cleared to form a tun, or small settlement which  became Bracken farm and manor. There is some evidence  to suggest that it was formerly a village of greater size with  a chapel and a burial ground. When and how this village  became ‘lost’ is unclear.  

The early history of the Manor is rather obscure  though it is mentioned briefly in Domesday Book, where  it simply written - In Bracken, Erneis 6 carucates. This was  Erneis of Buron, who came to England with the Conqueror  and was eventually granted 72 manors and estates in  Yorkshire and Lincolnshire. He is widely considered to  be an ancestor of Lord Byron. He died in 1106 and it is  thought that his estates passed to his son Ralph. Bracken  itself appears in a series of Yorkshire Charters of 1194  when it was recorded as a Knight’s Fee, allotted to Agatha  Trussebut.  

In the first year of the reign of Edward III, Henry Tyes died seized of the Manor. He may have been the tenant  of the de Ros’ since the manor was held by a knights fee from William de Ros, who was the Manor’s overlord. 

By the end of the 14th century Bracken appears to have been acquired the Scrope family (pronounced  Scroop) of Castle Bolton in Wensleydale. Richard le Scrope, who was raised to the Baronage in 1371 was known in  his lifetime as a gallant soldier and was knighted by Edward III at the Battle of Durham, where the Scots were defeated.  The Scrope family were of ancient linege and had come to England with the Conqueror. The family had traditionally  served the King as military knights and Sir Richard was no exception. In 1346 he accompanied Edward to Calais and  is said to have taken part in almost every major battle in which the English fought over the next 40 years: in England,  France, Scotland, Spain and Portugal. His reputation as a soldier was only outweighed by that of his statesmanship.  He served as Lord High Treasurer of England to Edward III and twice to Richard II, both of whom held him in the  highest regard. During the reign of the latter, Scrope was said to have held firm and not placed the Treasurer’s seal  on appointments and gifts made to the king’s favourites unless he felt them worthy. Richard became incensed with  this and sent messenger after messenger to Scrope desiring him forthwith to return the great seal. He refused to deliver it to  any other person than the king himself. Scrope spent much of his political life attending Parliament and is said to have  aided in Richard’s deposition in 1399. After his death in 1403 his estates passed to his son Richard but he died very  soon afterwards and these then passed to his brother Roger. In 1403 there is record of a grant of £20 from Roger le  Scrope, Lord of Bolton, to Thomas Kesteven from his manors of Bracken and Sledmer for life. Several years later, in 1415  Roger’s wife was noted as holding Bracken by a Knight’s Fee from the Roa Fee. 

Bracken descended with the Lords of Bolton for the next century. During the reign of Henry VIII (1509-1547)  a record of the estate of John Scrope, 8th Baron of Bolton, notes that he received rental for Bracken in 1535 and 1536.  Bracken upon the Wolde, was among a number of manors involved in a legal case between Henry Scrope and Henry  Tyrell and Nicholas Lockwood in 1573.

The Manor remained in the hands of the Barons of Bolton until the death of Emanuel Scrope, the 11th Baron,  who was raised to the Earldom of Sunderland. On his death in 1630 his lands and titles were divided amongst his three  daughters. the eldest, Mary, inherited Bracken. In 1655 she married Charles Paulet, the 6th Marquess of Winchester  who was raised to the Dukedom of Bolton in 1689. By this time Mary had died and Paulet was the owner of the  Charles Paulet, 1st Duke of Bolton The Lordship of the The Manor of Bracken on the Wolds, Yorkshire 34 Scrope’s Yorkshire estates. On Bolton’s death in 1694 Bracken was inherited by John Egerton, 3rd Earl of Bridgewater,  who had married Bolton’s eldest daughter, Jane.

In 1748 the steward of the Bridgewater Estate in Durham and Yorkshire was Mr Hammond. He reported to  the Earl and collected the rentals from properties in Winston, Caldwell, Brachs, Skeeby, Bracken, York, Williamsfield, Sutton,  Dishforth, Norton, Ovington, Whitwell and Markenfield. At Michaelmas in that year the whole of this extensive estate  yielded £1,554 6s and 8d in rentals. In 1798 the estate of Bracken and Caldwell was surveyed by Ralph Burton for  £16 and found to contain some 660 acres of demesne land.  

In 1863, as part of the inheritance of the estate of John Hume Egerton, Viscount Alford, the manor of Bracken  on the Wolds was passed to John, Earl Brownlow. In 1923 it was purchased by R H Edelston and has descended to  the family of the present Vendor.

Documents associated with this manor in the public domain:

Account Roll 1535-1536 North Yorkshire Record Office

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Lot #33 of Bernard Thorpe Auction - March 1987

The lordship is in King’s Sutton Hundred, Northamptonshire. It derives its name from the Anglo-Saxon bracken signifying fern. The manor was a Saxon town of considerable importance and was then known as Halse and Brackley. The lord of the manor was Azor in King Edward the Confessor’s reign. There is an entry in the Domesday Book of 1086 for this manor.

King William I gave this lordship to Earl Aubrey, who, as he was unfit for public business, soon returned to Normandy. The lordship was then granted to Robert de Bellomont, Earl of Leicester in England and Earl of Mellent in Normandy. He was succeeded, as lord of the manor, by his second son Robert Bossu, Earl of Leicester.

This was the time of the Crusades and both Robert Bossu and his son and heir went on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem. Margaret granddaughter of Robert Bossu succeeded to this lordship. Her husband was the Earl of Winchester. He died on crusade to the Holy Land and Margaret was succeeded by her second son Robert, who was also granted the earldom of Winchester. He died without a male heir in 1264 and the lordship of the manor came to his daughter Elen and her husband Alan la Zouch.  

In 1276, it was found by presentment of the jurors of the Hundred that the lord of the manor and her predecessors had had the return of writs of estreats, pleas of excessive distress, a gallows and an assize of bread and ale from the time of King John.

Elen died, lord of the manor, in 1296 and was succeeded by her grandson Alan la Zouch. On his death, in 1314, the lordship came to his daughter, Matilda and her husband, Robert de Holand. He joined the insurrection led by his patron, the Earl of Lancaster. His lands, including this manor, were confiscated because he treacherously deserted.

After her husband’s death in 1329 Matilda successfully regained the Lordship of Brackley from the new King Edward III. She held the manorial courts here until her death, when her son, Robert Lord Holland became lord of this manor. He died in 1373 and was succeeded by his granddaughter, another Matilda, then aged 17, and the wife of John, Lord Lovell.

The lordship continued in the Lovell family down to Francis, created Viscount Lovell by King Edward IV. He was a strong supporter of King Richard III. Thus, when King Henry VII took the Crown of England at Bosworth Field on that fateful morning of the 22nd August 1485 the Lovells lost this manor forever. Earlier that month, the loyality of Lord Thomas Stanley, the steward of the Royal Household, had been rightly questioned by King Richard III. Indeed, so concerned was he about Stanley, that he took his son, Lord Strange as a hostage.

The Stanleys had 4000 troops at Bosworth and initially, they refused to support either side. When Henry Tudor’s troops swung into line to face up the slope towards King Richard, he gave orders to execute Lord Strange and for his archers to open battle. Now it so happened that in the immediate confusion of battle, the execution order was not carried out. Lord Strange survived by the most remarkable good fortune and it was he who was granted this Manor of Brackley by the new King Henry VII.

Lord Strange saw twelve more Augusts and died in 1497. He was succeeded by his son Thomas, who became the second Earl of Derby in 1504.

His son, the third Earl of Derby, who became lord of the manor in 1521 was a most exemplary nobleman and lived in such style of splendour that with his death, it was said that “the glory of hospitality seemed to fall asleep”.

On the death of his grandson, the fifth Earl Derby, this manorial lordship came to his daughter, Frances who married John Egerton, second Viscount Brackley and first Earl of Bridgewater, ancestor of the present lord of the manor, His Grace the Duke of Sutherland.

DOCUMENTS ASSOCIATED WITH THE MANOR:

1 Court roll 1440-41

2 Court roll 1552-1882

3 Five views of frankpledge 1571-81

4 Burgess rolls 1696-1778

5 Oath rolls 1696-1836

6 Court baron & court of survey 1588  

7 Court rolls 1714-1882

8 Court papers 1693-1804

9 Court books (manor & borough), Rental surveys, etc. 1787-1882, 1702-98, 1836-75

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Lot #15 Manorial Auctioneers’ Partnership – October 1990

IN SAXON times Leofric, a freeman, held this Lordship. At the time of the Domesday Survey, Ralph son of Hubert held two hides here of the King and Robert of Bucy held of Ralph. There was land for three ploughs, in the Lordship one with six villagers and four smallholders with two ploughs. There was also one acre of meadow and woodland valued at the Conquest at five shillings. 

In 1086 the assessment had risen to 10 shillings. The Talbot family in whom this Lordship was invested are descended from Richard de Talbot who is mentioned in Domesday Book as holding nine hides of land from Walter Giffard, Count of Longueville in Normandy and later Earl of Buckingham. This nobleman possessed in all 107 Lordships of the Manor, including 48 in Buckinghamshire. Hugh Talbot, Richard's son, was made Governor of the Castle of Plessis in Normandy by his uncle Hugh de Gournay in 1118, after murdering the King's Governor. In later life, Hugh retired to the monastery of Beaubec in Normandy and assumed the habit of a monk leaving by his wife Beatrix, daughter of William de Mandeville, three sons. From the eldest is descended the great and noble house of Shrewsbury. Hugh's great-great-grandson, Gilbert, was made Governor of the Castles of Grosmond, Skenfrith, and Blancmaster by Henry II and died in 1274; he married Gwendoline daughter of Rhys ap Griffith, a descendant of the Kings of South Wales. Gilbert's grandson and namesake was summoned to Parliament in the reign of Edward III as the 1st Baron Talbot. 

In 1442 the 7th Baron Talbot was created Earl of Shrewsbury and this was followed in 1446 by the Irish Earldom of Waterford. The Talbots eventually reached the highest rank of nobility in 1694 when the 12th Earl was created Duke of Shrewsbury but on his death without issue the Dukedom became extinct. The Lordship is situated three miles east-south-east of Cheadle. 

The present owners of Bradley in the Moors are the Earl and Dowager Countess of Shrewsbury, and the descent of that family lies on the following pages.

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Lot #4 of Manorial Services Auction - 2004 UNPUBLISHED/ABORTED - Stephen Johnson

IN THE PARISH of Marton lies the Lordship of the Manor of Brampton. This is centred on the long village of the same name. It is an extensive manor, and lies 2 miles north of Appleby and the land here is used mainly for pasture and for arable production. The extent of the Lordship includes both Brampton and the Hamlet of Brampton Croft.

The early history of this Lordship is obscure but it formed part of the Barony of Westmoreland and may have been held by the early owners of this estate, namely the Stuteville, Morvilles and Veteriponts. The first record of the Lordship occurs in 1310 when it is recorded as being held by Ralph Gre ystock from the Clifford family. It may have been that this ancient family held Brampton before this time, but there is no evidence to confirm this. The family had originated in the figure of Lyolf, who may have arrived with William the Conqueror, in 1066. He was evidently a feudal vassal of Ranulph Meschines, Earl of Chester, since this nobleman gave Lyolf land at Greystock in Cumberland. 

The family continued to act as loyal servants of the Barons of Westmoreland and during the reign of Henry III (1216-1272) Thomas de Greystock married Christian, the daughter of Roger de Veteripont. Thomas was succeeded by his son Robert, who in turn was succeeded in the family estates by his brother, William. This Greystock fought the Welsh in 1258 and was married to the daughter of the powerful Roger de Merlay. This union brought him the Lordship of the Manor of Morpeth in Northumberland. William’s son, John was an advisor to Edward I and distinguished himself in battle against the French in Gascony. He was twice summoned to Parliament as a baron and fought the Scots in numerous campaigns. At his death, in 1305 his estates were settled on his cousin, Ralph, whose father had been Lord of Grimthorpe in Yorkshire.

This Ralph is the first mentioned Lord of the Manor of Brampton. In 1283 he married Margery Corbet, a wealthy heiress. He fought in several campaigns against the Socts, including Edward II’s disastrous war which ended in defeat at Bannockburn. For these northern nobles, the war with Scotland was a constant fight to preserve their lands and wealth. In 1314 Ralph was appointed governor of Berwick Castle and was a warden of the Marches. The next year he was governor of Carlisle and founded a chantry at Tynemouth for his kinsman John and all his ancestors. Ralph died in 1316 and was succeeded by his son Robert who enjoyed his estates for only 12 months. Brampton then descended to his son Ralph, who had been born in 1298. Ralph was also summoned to Parliament as a Baron in 1321 and 1322. By a special dispensation from the Pope, Ralph married the daughter of Lord Audley, the enemy of Edward II’s favourite Hugh Despencer. When Sir Roger Mortimer and Edward’s Queen, Isabella, invaded England and deposed the King, in 1327, Greystock appears to have aided the rebellion. He had arrested Sir Gilbert de Middleton at his castle at Mitford, the prisoner somehow arranged for his captor to be poisoned.

After his death, Brampton passed to Ralph’s eldest son, William, who was summoned to Parliament as a baron in 1357. This Greystock fought with the Black Prince, Edward, in France and from Edward III was granted permission to crenelate his mansion at Greystock. Greystock was then made governor of Berwick Castle but after being summoned to attend the King in France, the castle was taken by the Scots. This was said to have greatly offended Edward, but since Berwick’ governor had been absent at his bequest, Greystock was pardoned for the loss. Brampton passed to William’s eldest son, Ralph, known as the 5th Baron Greystock. He was a warden of the Marches, a position granted to him by Richard II (1377-1399). In 1378 he headed a forced which evicted the Scots form Warwick Castle and two years later was commanded by Richard to take an army north to confront the old enemy. However he was taken a prisoner by George, Earl of Dunbar at Horseridge, in Glendall. He was ransomed form an impressive 3,000 marks and his brother, William went to Dunbar to be taken hostage in his place. This act of brotherly love cost William his life as he died of plague whilst imprisoned. Ralph was married to the daughter of Roger Lord Clifford. 

On Ralph’s death, in 1417, the Lordship of Brampton passed to his son Sir John, the 6th Baron Greystock. This nobleman was again appointed to help protect England from its northern neighbour, this time as governor of the Scottish castle of Roxborough. He held this position for 4 years and was paid the enormous some of £1,000 per year to do this, a payment which rose to £2,000 if there was war. On the accession of Henry IV in 1422, Greystock was appointed to the commission established to treat for peace with King James of Scotland. Two more commissions followed, each failing and Greystock was then summoned to relieve the siege of Berwick in 1435.

After Greystock’s death it appears that Brampton passed into the possession of the Lancaster family. John de Lancaster is found to hold the Lordship during the reign of Edward IV (1461-1483). It then passed to his son, John, who was holding it during the reign of Henry VII (1485-1509). From John it descended to his son, or grandson, Edward Lancaster. It continued in this family’s possession until the reign of Elizabeth I (1558-1603) when the line ended with three daughters. The Lordship was then divided into three portions until being reunited in the possession of the Tufton family, who were the Earls of Thanet. The current descendent of this family, Lord Hothfield is the present Lord of the Manor of Brampton.

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Lot #4 of Manorial Services Auction - Nov 2023 - Stephen Johnson

Lying in the district of South Kesteven in the South-East of Lincolnshire is situated the manor of  Brandon. It is parcel of the parish of Hough-on-the-Hill and takes its name from the local River Brant which  runs nearby. It is situated between the larger villages of Caythorpe and Claypole, a few miles south-east of  Newark-on-Trent. 

Brandon has two entries in Domesday book and appears to have been divided between two Norman  owners. Robert de Vessey is recorded as holding 

In Brandon, seven bovates of land taxable 

Land for eleven oxen 

Eight freeman have two ploughs and two oxen. 

 Gilbert de Ghent held; 

In Hough and Brandon three carucates of land and three bovates taxable 

Land for five ploughs 

Thirteen freemen have six ploughs and meadow, six acres 

Dering holds the whole of this from Gilbert and has half a plough in Lordship 

Value 40 Shillings 

It appears that during the Medieval period Brandon was absorbed into the larger manor of Hough-on-the-Hill and became part of its administrative area as a member. It is likely therefore that it shared the  descent of Hough for most of this period. In 1164 Hough was granted by Henry II to the Abbey of St Mary  de Voto in Cherburg, Normandy, which had been founded by his mother, the Empress Matilda. During the  reign of Richard II (1377-1399) the manor was seized from what was now considered an ‘alien priory’ and  re-granted to the Priory of Spittle on the Street for a short while, before being again granted, this time to St  Ann’s Carthusian Priory in Coventry. During the reign of Henry IV, the estate was once more reunited with  the monks of St Mary de Voto. So called ‘alien’ priories and religious houses were once more suppressed  in England during the reign of Henry V, and St Mary’s English possessions were granted to the Priory of  Mountgrace, in Yorkshire. When this house was dissolved in 1539 its Lincolnshire estates, including Brandon,  were granted to John, Lord Russell, Earl of Bedford. Russell was one the most prominent gentleman of his  time, being a member of the Privy Chamber of Henry VII in 1507 and then serving his successor, Henry VIII  after 1509. He carried out a number of diplomatic and military missions for Henry, losing an eye in active  service and being an observer at the great European Battle of Pavia in 1525. Though most of his estates were found in the West of England he did have other estates, and Brandon was granted to him by Henry  personally. He was with the King when discussing the prospects of Ann of Cleves. When Henry asked him  if he though Ann was fair? Russell diplomatically replied that though she was not to be fair, but of a brown  complexion, Henry seemed satisfied.  

Later Brandon passed, or was purchased, by the Payne family who remained as Lords of the Manor  of Brandon for 200 years and have a number of memorials in the parish church of All Saints. The first Payne  of note was Ralph, who came to local prominence during the English Civil War as an early adherent of the  Royalist cause. He supported King Charles throughout the war and was recorded as fighting with his son,  Charles II at the last desperate bid to defeat Parliament at the Battle of Worcester in 1650. His son Charles  was created a Baronet. The family remained as Lords of the Manor until the 18th century, when Sir Richard  Cust, 2nd baronet (1680-1734), married Anne Brownlow, sister of Sir John Brownlow, 5th baronet, who was  created Viscount Tyrconnel in 1718. 

In 1849 John Home Cust, Viscount Alford and father of the second Earl Brownlow inherited the huge  estates of the Duke of Bridgewater, a distant relative. The Manor of Brandon remained in the hands of the  Earls Brownlow until the end of the 20th century. 

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Lot #4 of Strutt & Parker Auction – November 2003

In the Wapentake of Flaxwell

The Manor of Brauncewell incorporates the village of the same name situated some 4 miles to the north of Sleaford in the former Wapentake of Flaxwell in Lincolnshire.

At the time of the Domesday survey in 1086 the Manor is recorded as held by Alfred of Lincoln "In Brauncewell Haldan had 2 carucates of land and 56 bovates taxable. Land for as many ploughs and oxen. Alfred has 3 villagers and 2 smallholders with 3 oxen and a plough. Value before 1066 20s now 10s.

The Lordship of Brauncewell is believed to have come into the possession of the Carr family early in the sixteenth century. The founder of that family George Carr was a rich merchant of the Staple. He died in 1521 and was succeeded by his second son John who died in 1529 without issue. His brother Robert inherited the family estate in Kirby La Thorpe and added to this by purchasing the castle and Lordship of Sleaford from the crown in the reign of Henry VIII. He lived until 1590 but his first son George had died in 1588 leaving a son and heir Robert. This Robert sued out of his livery in 1591 but died without issue in 1593. Robert's sister and heir had been disinherited on account of her marriage to Edward Sisson, a union that bore her a son by the time of her brother's death. The substantial Carr estates passed to Robert's uncle, also Robert Carr of Aswarby who was the second son of the Robert Carr who had died in 1590. Robert Carr of Aswarby founded the Grammar School of Sleaford in 1604 and was the Treasurer of the Army of the North. He endowed the Grammar School at Sleaford with a farm at Gedney of 129 acres in trust to pay £20 per annum to educate local children. The School was rebuilt in 1834 in the Elizabethan style.

Despite two marriages, Robert Carr of Aswarby died in 1606 without issue when the Manor passed to his brother Sir William Carr who was knighted at Belvoir in 1603. He died soon after his brother in 1607-8 and was like him childless. Brauncewell was then inherited by his brother Edward the fourth son of Robert Carr. Edward was created a Baronet on 22nd May 1611 and was Sheriff of the County of Lincoln in 1615. He died in 1618 leaving three children. 

Edward's oldest son, Sir Robert Carr inherited and during his life founded the institution at Sleaford called Carres Hospital. Twelve men were to be provided with residence and maintenance there taken from the local area. After his death in 1667 he was succeeded by his son also Sir Robert Carr the 3rd Baronet. This Sir Robert enjoyed a flourishing political career. He was a Member of Parliament for the County of Lincoln from 1661 to 1681 and Deputy Lieutenant in 1681. More importantly he was the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster from 1672 to 1682 and a brother in law of Henry Earl of Arlington for whom he acted as secretary in 1673. Sir Robert was a member of the Privy Council but was removed briefly from 1678 to 1680 over an election. He died in 1682 when the Lordship descended to his son Sir Edward who died in 1683 without issue. The title then appears to have passed to his great uncle, Sir Rochester who was found to be a lunatic and died without issue. Brauncewell perhaps on account of this, passed to his sister, Isabella.

It was Isabella Carr who married John Hervey of Ickworth in Suffolk and who later became Earl of Bristol. Isabella died in childbirth in 1692-3, her estate passing to her husband, subsequent to which the Manor of Brauncewell continued by descent in the Bristol family. John Hervey, Earl of Bristol 1714 was also created Baron Hervey of Ickworth 1703 and stood as Member of Parliament for Bury St. Edmunds. The Hervey family distinguished itself, John's son appointed Keeper of the Privy Seal, his son Frederick Augustus the fourth Earl, Lord Bishop of Derry and his son Frederick William fifth Earl created Marquess of Bristol and Earl Jermyn. Frederick William John, third Marquess was a Member of Parliament for West Sussex in the nineteenth century and his grandson, Victor Frederick Cochrane, sixth Marquis was Chancellor of the Monarchist League, died 1985 when the estates and titles passed to his son Frederick William John Augustus, seventh Marquess of Bristol, Viscount Jermyn and Baron of Ickworth.

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Lot #25 of 'Beaumont Collection' Auction - Nov 1954

and

Lot #43 of Manorial Auctioneers - Undated but Post-2002

Catalogue gifted & transcribed for the archive by the Lord of Finchingfield - a friend to learning

((1954 Catalogue Begins))

in the Parish of Bressingham

According to Blomefield (Vol. I, p. 63) the Manors in this Parish were Brisingham, Boyland, Middletons, Filbies and the Priory. He writes of the Priory Manor that "It was taken out of the Great Manor in the beginning of the reign on Edward II, when Sir John de Verdon granted to the Prior of St. James the Apostle, of Old Bokenham, and the convent there, divers lands, tenements, rents and services of the fee of the said John in the town of Brisingham, all of which the King licensed the prior, the convent and canons there, to purchase of him, after which he confirmed them to that house, together with an acre of turf-land in the Fen, which Richard, son of Robert de Scinges, gave them." 

"The value of this Manor in 1479 was 31s. 5d. in quit rents besides the demeans; the whole temporality of the Priory here was taxed at 26s. as appears by the taxation of the revenues of the religious (1425)." 

"It continued in this house until its dissolution; from which time it remained int he Crown till 1557, when Philip and Mary, by their letters patent, granted it to Thomas Guybon of Lynn Regis, Esq., and William Maynne of London, Gent., to be held by fealty only in free socage, as of the Manor of East Greenwich in Kent. In a few years they sold it to Robert Francis Buxton of Tybbenham, in Norfolk; and they, in 1560, to Edmund Hoare of Palgrave in Suffolk. He, in 1561, sold to Thomas Howard of Burston, who in 1604, left it to Robert Howard of Burston, his son, who with his feofee, Thomas Harvey, of London, conveyed it to Robert Howard of Tyham, his son and heir. Then, Robert, August 24th 1613, sold it to Thomas Burston, his brother, whose daughter and heiress married Mr. Dowe; she in her widowhood passed it to Mr. Biringloes. Mr. John Bringloes being the last male of that family that enjoyed it, whose daughter married Mr. Robert Onge, of Henninghall, the present Lord, who now (1736) hath the whole Manor and part of the demeans; the other part called Priors Lands, lying at Crosgate in Fersfield, and Brisinghame, were held from the Manor by the Buxtons and are now divided into parcels, some being held by Mr. John Edwards of Winfarthing, and others by divers persons." By the second half of the last century this Manor had come into the hands f Henry Rushmere Upton, of the Hamlet of Eaton, i the City of Norwich who conveyed it on 22nd September, 1855, to Matthew Sallit Emerson, also of Norwich. The latter conveyed it in 1887 to Joseph Beaumont of Great Coggeshall. 

The customs in this and other Manors in the Parish were that the eldest son inherited on intestacy of the father; the tenants had liberty to pull down and waste their copyhold houses, to fell and cut down wood and timber on their copyholds without license "to plant and cut down all manner of wood and timber against their own lands, by the names of freebord or outrun, and to dig clay and turf and cut furse and bushes, on all the commons." They were unusually free from the normal tiresome incidents of copyhold tenure. 

There is only one Court Book covering the years 1839 to 1931 (insured for £50, premium 2/6 per annum), marked "D" on the spine, to be handed over.  The Vendors have not been able to trace any earlier book sor Court Rolls, but they are making inquiries as to the location of the other records and if any information is obtained it will be announced in the Auction Room.

((~2002 Catalogue Begins))

THIS LORDSHIP lies in the parish of Bressingham, or Brissingham. It is a long village which follows the course of the river Waveney and lies three miles north-west of Diss. It is almost entirely rural with most of the land given over to arable farming.

According to Blomefield (Vol 1 p63) the Manors of this Parish were Brisingham, Boyland, Middletons, Filbies, and the Priory. He writes of the Priory manor that it was taken out of the Great Manor in the beginning of the reign of Edward II, when Sir John Verdon granted to the Prior of St James the Apostle of Old Bukenham, and the convent there, divers lands, tenements, rents and services of the fee of the said John of the town of Brisingham, all of which the King licensed the prior, the convent and canons there, to purchase of him, after which he confirmed them to that house, together with an acre of turf-land in the Fen, which Richard, son of Robert de Scinges, gave them. The value of this Manor in 1474 was 31s 5d in quit rents besides the demesne; the whole temporality of the Priory here was taxed at 26s as appears by the taxation of the revenues of the religious foundation.

It continued in this house until its dissolution; from which time it remained in the Crown till 1557 when Philip and Mary, by their letters patent, granted it to Thomas Guybon of Lynn Regis Esq, and William Maynne of London, Gent, to be held in fealty only in free socage, as of the Manor of East Greenwich in Kent. In a few years they sold it to Robert Francis Buxton of Tibbenham, in Norfolk; and they, in 1560, to Edmund Hoare of Palgrave in Suffolk. He, in 1561, sold to Thomas Howard of Burston, who, in 1604, left it to Robert Howard of Burston, his son, who with his feoffee, Thomas Harvey of London, conveyed it to Robert Howard of Tyham, his son and heir. Then Robert, August 24, 1613, sold it to Thomas Howard of Burston, his brother, whose daughter and heiress married Mr Dowe; she in her widowhood passed it to Mr Bringloes. Mr John Bringloes being the last male heir of that family who enjoyed it, whose daughter married Mr Robert Onge, of Henninghall, the present Lord, who now, (1736) hath the whole Manor and part of the demesne; the other part called Priors Lands, lying at Crossgate in Fersfield and Brisingham, were held from the Manor by the Buxtons and are now divided into parcels, some being held by Mr John Edwards of Winfarthing, and other divers persons.

By the second half of the 19th century this Manor had come into the hands of Henry Rushmere Upton, of the Hamlet of Eaton, in the city of Norwich who conveyed it on September 22 1855 to Matthew Sallit Emerson, also of Norwich. The latter conveyed it in 1887 to Joseph Beaumont, of Great Coggeshall.

The Customs in this and other Manors in the parish were that the eldest son inherited on the intestacy of the father; the tenant had liberty to pull down and waste their copyhold houses, to fell and cut down wood and timber on their copyholds without licence to plant and cut down all manner of wood and timber against their own lands, by the names of freebord or outrun, and to dig clay and turf and cut furse and bushes on all the commons. They were unusually free from the normal tiresome incidents of copyhold tenure.Bressingham is a very ancient settlement and is recorded as early as 963 as being given by Osulph le Sire to the Abbey of St Edmund's Bury. The Abbey continued to hold the capital Lordship here until the time of the Norman Conquest in 1066, and are still noted as lords in Domesday Book, where the entry reads:

In Bressingham Aelmer held 1 carucate of land from St Edmund before 1066; now Roger Bigot holds from the Saint.

Always 1 villager; 4 smallholders.

Then 2 ploughs in lordship, later and now 1½. Then and later 2 men's ploughs, now 1. Woodland, 6 pigs; meadow, 6 acres.

Then 3 cobs, now 1. Then 4 head of cattle, now 3. Then 20 pigs, now 8. Now 60 sheep. Also 1 freeman, at 1½ acres.

Value always 20s.

The priory of Old Bokenham, or Buckenham, was founded in 1146 by William Albini, second Earl of Arundel, and Queen Adeliza, his wife. It was a fairly wealthy house, but it rarely exceeded 11 or 12 canons. In 1310 the  

prior received a letter of thanks from Edward II after the canons had provided a sizeable contribution of supplies for the King's army in Scotland. The Priory made few other interventions into life outside its walls and possessions and when Bishop Goldwell visited the house in 1492 he found that there were a few complaints about religious observance. However, there were many complaints from the canons about their treatment at the hands of the Prior, John Buckenham. The Victoria County History for Norfolk notes that they were to the effect that

Prior John did not show yearly to the chapter the state of the house; that he was too partial, and that there was not perfect charity among the canons; that there was not a sufficiency of fish on fast days; that he did not seek advice of his chapter on serious affairs, but did everything after his own judgment; that he had pledged a silver gilt bowl, value eight marks; that if any of the brethren were ill he did not assign anyone to attend them in the infirmary but obliged them to attend hall; that he farmed out the dairy to the great loss of the house; that the frater was not served save in Lent and Advent, nor was care taken for the observance of silence in cloister and quire; that the food for the kitchen was not good or wholesome; that the house and walls of the priory were ruinous; and with a certain woman named Isabel Warner was often at the priory under suspicious circumstances.  

On 10 November 1535 it became known to the last prior, John Millgate, that the suppression of the house was imminent so he wrote to Thomas Cromwell beseeching him to save at least part of the house but Cromwell was not moved and the house was suppressed the next year.

Documents associated with this Manor:

Court Book: 1839–1931, Norfolk RO

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Lot #5 of Stanford & Son's 'Second Auction' - Dec 1955

In the Liberty of Brickendon and Hundred of Hertford

This Manor according to the Victoria History of Hertfordshire (Vol. III) was in the Hundred of Hertford in the parish of All Saints and was known as the Liberty of Brickendon. it was anciently part of the possessions of the Saxon Kings and was bestowed by Edward the Confessor upon the canons of the church of Waltham. The Canons of Waltham were 14th in the list of holders of land in the County of Hertford when the Domesday Survey was made and it was in that work called Brickendona. The detailed description of it is: 

"It is assessed at 5 hides.

There is land for 8 ploughs.

In the demesne are 3 1/2 hides,

and on it are 2 ploughs, and there could be a third.

There 9 villeins have 4 ploughs between them and there could be a fifth. 

There are 9 bordars and 24 cottars and 2 serf, and 1 mill worth 8 shillings. 

Meadow is sufficient for 2 ploughteams, 

pasture sufficient for the live stock of the vill and (worth) 2 shillings bedside, 

woodland to feed 200 swine. 

In all its value is and was 100 shillings at the time of King Edward 8 pounds. 

This Manor belonged and belongs to the Church of Holy Cross of Waltham. "

Between the years 1174 and 1184 King Henry II confirmed the Manor to the monks of Waltham Abbey who had replaced the Canons of Waltham. It was given to them free from geld and toll and from the forfeiture of criminals, thus establishing the Liberty. 

In 1227 the Abbot of Waltham obtained freedom from tollage and as there was no church then at Brickendon the Manor was regarded as belonging to the Parish of All Saints, Hertford. The monks held this Liberty until the Dissolution when King Henry VIII granted it to Thomas Knighton with the advowson of All Saints; from him it passed to Sir William Soame who conveyed it to Edward Clarke in 1682. His son Thomas surrendered to the Manor and when he died in 1754 it is said that he left it to Mrs. Jane Morgan, his niece. Her youngest son John Morgan inherited it and left a half share to his sister Jane and the other to the representatives of his Aunt, Anne Freke. 

Jane's moiety passed to her son Sir Charles Morgan and from him to his grandchild Selina Rose Catherine, who was the wife of the Rev. W. T. Marsh-Luschington Tilson. The other moiety went to Anne Freke's two granddaughters, Mary, wife of the Rev. Edward Lewis, and Fanny, the wife of the Rev. Francis Lewis. In 1881 Henry Edward Paine and Richard Brettell, of Chertsey, purchased the Lordship of the Manor for £2,000. The parties to the Conveyance were: (1) Charles Edward Lewis of St. Pierre, Mon.; (2) Frances Lewis of Portskewitt, Mon. Spinster; (3) Thomas Freke Lewis of Abbey Dore, Hereford; (4) Thomas Henry organ of Chepstow, Mon. as surviving Settlement Trustee; (5) the said T. H. Morgan as mortgagee; (6) Selina Rose Catherine Marsh-Lushington Tilson of South Hall, Guildford; (7) Edward Motman, a Lt.-Col. in H.M. Army and Governor of H.M. Prison at Holloway; (8) Henry Edward Paine and Richard Brettell of Chertsey. 

Up to this point the Lordship of the Manor had gone automatically with the Brickendon Estate, but like many other large estates during the second half of the last century, the time came when they came under the hammer and the Lordship of the Manor, sold as a separate Lot, passed to a person other than the owner of the Manor House and estate. in this particular case the purchaser of the Lordship of the Manor is unlikely to be the present owner of the Mansion, for this now belongs to the County and is the Headquarters of the County Executive Agricultural Committee. It is pleasant to relate that the buildings and grounds are kept in such perfect order that any former owner of the estate would feel that the house, stabling, parkland, woodlands and views he so loved were still appreciated and giving pleasure to employees and visitors. 

An interesting feature in connection with the sale of the estate in 1881 is that considerable portions of the extensive wastes of the Manor were sold with the appropriate Lots. Even Brickendon Green, that charming open space at the Southern extremity of the Liberty, was sold as part of Fanshaw's Farm; Well Green and a number of wide roadside wastes were also sold with the Farms which they bordered.  Altogether 35 acres of wastes were sold away from the Manor of which they had hitherto formed part. They cannot be enclosed, but the adjoining owners have the right to cut the grass, and fell the trees subject to any necessary license. These wastes, which were excepted from the 1881 conveyance of the Manor, are specifically shown on the plan attached to the old Particulars of Sale included in the records to be handed to the purchaser. 

The plan referred to shows at the point where Brickendon Lane joins the road from  Hertford to Hatfield, opposite the Horns Public House, a triangular piece of land upon which a small rectangular building is shown marked "Pound." No trace now remains of the building, but it was presumably the Pound into which the Pindar of the Manor drove stray cattle, sheep, etc., only to be recovered by the owners upon payment of the customary charges. Such interest as the present Lord of the Manor may have in this, and any wastes still forming part of the Manor, is included in the sale, and the purchaser should be able to negotiate wayleave agreements with the appropriate Authorities in respect of any telegraph, telephone, electricity poles, stays, kiosks, etc., erected thereon. 

Many items of interest are to be found upon perusal of the records included in the sale. For example, some names well-known in the County are to be found among the Stewards, viz., Bostock Toller (Court held 1703); Henry Thorowgood (1755); Benjamin Rooke (1770); William Crowdy (1823, Rooke's stewardship thus being at least 53 years); Philip Longmore (1838); Matthew Skinner Longmore (1875); Thomas Joseph Sworder (1881); the last three being partners in the still existing Longmores at Hertford. Upon the sale to  H. E. Paine and R. Brettell, Joseph Beaumont became Steward and has been followed by his son and grandson up to the present time. 

The custom of descent in the Manor was to the eldest son; the fines were arbitrary, i.e. two years' annual value, as opposed to a fine certain of so much per acre, house, etc. 

From an early date the Courts were held at the "Inn called the Black Swan otherwise Pimblico" in Hertford. This Inn was a copyhold property of the Manor and, at a Court held in 1706, is recorded as being surrendered by the tenant, Maria Hawkings, to her son-in-law Thomas Harrod and her daughter Maria, on their marriage (Vol. 1, p. 49). 

The Cowper family had a long connection with the Manor. William Cowper (later referred to as "Clerk to the Parliaments") succeeded to holdings on the death of his father Spencer Cowper, a Justice of the Court of Common Pleas at Westminster, and subsequent reference to the Earldom conferred later on William Cowper occur frequently in the transactions. 

The records of the mid-eighteenth century are unusually clear and full. The proceedings at a Court Leet held in 1758 (Vol. II, o. 141) are confirmation of the status of those Courts for reference is made to "the Great Inquest for our Lord the King." At these Courts the Jury - in Courts Baron and Customary Courts the jurors are called "The Homage" - took notice of the infringement on the ancient rights, not only of the Lord but also of the tenants, commoners, or inhabitants, such as the stopping-up of a water course for commoners' cattle, closure of a footpath, etc. A presentment was made to the Court referred to "that there is an Ancient Footpath leading from the West Street in the said Manor to the River Lee lying between the house of Stephen Beadle on the West part and the house of John Giddings on the East part and that no horses ought of right to pass or go in the said Footpath and that several persons have lately went up and down the said footpath with horses to the great prejudice and danger of all persons passing and repassing on foot up and down the said Footpath." 

A court held in 1801 runs to 117 pages in recording redemptions of Land Tax by the heirs fo the Dowager Lady Tonwnshend; this family had a long connection with the Manor. Baron Dimsdale (the Barony was of Russian origin) also held extensive properties in this and other Hertfordshire Manors.

In Vol. VIII, p. 238-268 are enrolled a conveyance to the Governors and Company of the New River of several parcels of riverside land with accompanying plans. An intriguing loose note in this volume (at p. 161) is worded, "This book should be carefully examined with the Court Rolls and deeds of ? (illegible ) ? to 1874, Mr. ? does not appear to have enfranchised all but see deed." The note is signed "P. Longmore, The Castle." 

The Conveyance of the Manor in 1881 enumerates in detail the rights intended to be included (inter alia) "wastes, warrens, commons, mines, minerals, quarries, furzes, trees, woods, underwoods, coppices and the ground and soil thereof, fences, hedges, ditches, ways, waters, water courses, fishings, fisheries, fowlings, Courts Leet, Courts baron and other Courts, views of frank-pledge, mills, mulctures, tolls, duties, reliefs, heriots, waifs, estrays, rents, services, royalties, jurisdictions, franchises, liberties, privileges, easements, profits, advantages, enrolments, hereditaments" and so on. 

Among the papers to be handed over is a statement of fines on admission of tenants received by the Lord during the years 1871-76, the last decade of the ownership of the Manor by the Morgan family. These included 90 from H. Randall in 1871; 405 Pembertons Trustees (1872); 118 Misses Stodart; 79 10s. 0d. B. Young (1874) and 250 Baroness Dimsdale's Trustees (1876). These transactions emphasise the fact that Manorial Rights were in those days of substantial value, and that a good deal still remained is shown by the amount of the amount of the purchase money for what remained in 1881, viz., 2,000. Of that, 1,500 went to Charles E. Lewis, Thos. Freka Lewis, Frances Lewis, and Mrs. S. R. C. M. Lushington-Tilson , while the remaining 500 was paid to Everard Stephen Milward. Their receipt for the money duly signed and witnessed are endorsed on the conveyance. 

Records to be handed over are: 

Court Books: 1703-1731; 1733-1762; 1767-1799; 1801-1820; 1823-1845; 1845-1865; 1865-1932.

Rental: 1848

Particulars of Sale: 15th August 1882

Particulars of Tenants: properties etc., dates of admissions, enfranchisements, etc.

Insurance of records 300, premium 15/- p.a.

Commencement of Title: Deed dated 14th December, 1881

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Lot #36 of Manorial Auctioneers - Undated but Post-2002

Catalogue gifted & transcribed for the archive by the Lord of Finchingfield - a friend to learning

Within the Parish of St. Clement Danes, encompassing Fleet Street

WE BELIEVE that this is the first Manor to come up for sale within the City of London and, so far as can be ascertained, it includes the small ecclesiastical parish of St Clement Danes to the west, across Aldwych from the Royal Courts of Justice. To the east lies the ancient parish of St Brides, which starts at Blackfriars Bridge westward to St Clements, northward to Ludgate and Fleet Street, and southward to the Thames Embankment. Hard though it may be to believe now, the area was a well-wooded retreat, lying between the city walls of London and Westminster, when the tiny village of St Clements with its church was founded by a party of Danes in 1022 in the reign of the Danish King Canute. St Brides was founded slightly later, but certainly before 1087, probably by Danes since St Brides is a diminutive of St Bridget, a Danish saint. Discovery of artefacts during development in the 19th century demonstrate that the area was occupied by Romans or Romano-Britons, perhaps wealthy ones with interests in the trade of Londinium. A royal tower or castle stood here by 1087, according to the 16th century writer, Stow, ‘for I read that in 1087, the 20th (year of the reign) of William I, the city of London with the Church of St Paul being burned, Mauritius (Maurice), then Bishop of London, afterward began the foundation of a new church, whereunto King William gave the choice stones of his castle standing near to the bank of the river Thames, at the west end of the citie.’ The bank of the river came much further north then and was probably flat and marshy, the Thames not being confined in its present course until Sir Joseph Bazalgette built the Thames Embankment in the 1860s. Consequently, much of the area known as the Temple to the south would have been tidal. If you look at the river-side of the Tower of London, grass separates that fortress’s walls from the river, but until the reign of Queen Victoria the river ran up to its outer walls. Indeed, the River Gate is obviously named and state prisoners, such as Anne Boleyn and Katherine Howard, were rowed through Traitor’s Gate to be imprisoned in the Tower where they met their doom. The Manor was early called the Royal Precinct of Bridewell, and it was physically separated from the City of London by the Fleet River, which joined the Thames near Blackfriars Bridge.

The area seems to have attracted its first colony of Danes because of a reputed holy spring which was supposed to possess miraculous curative powers, and bore the saint’s name. In due course, the royal palace hard by was called ‘Bridewell’. The last public use of the spring appears to have been in 1821 when several men were employed in filling thousands of bottles for the coronation of King George IV on 19 July that year, an early example of ‘spring water’ perhaps which infests every restaurant these days. The idea was apparently that of a Mr Walker, who owned the hotel in Bride Lane, and the water was obtained by means of a cast iron pump in the lane.

After the demolition of the castle at Bridewell, the palace or mansion was built, for Henry III and his Courts resided here in 1225. King John in 1210 summoned the leading clergy to Bridewell where he imposed a tax of £100,000, a colossal sum, impossible to convert into a value today because of the infinitely more complex nature of our economy. But if the gross domestic value of England then was perhaps £1.5 million, then one gains an impression of the size of this impost.

The Bishops of Salisbury then lived at Bridewell, giving their episcopal name to Salisbury Square. The Manor appears eventually to have passed into the hands of Cardinal Thomas Wolsey, Lord Chancellor to Henry VIII (1509–47), and on his fall from royal favour it fell into the hands of the King in 1529. Of the Cardinal’s ownership, Cavendish, his biographer, says, ‘He found means to be made one of the King’s Council, and to grow in good estimation and favour with the King, to whom the King gave [a] house at Bridewell in Fleet Street, sometime Sir Richard Empson’s, where he kept a house for his family, and daily attended the King’s Court.’   

In 1522, Henry VIII rapidly repaired the palace at considerable expense for the reception of the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V, although that monarch lodged at Blackfriars (near the present Underground station), although his suite was housed at Bridewell, a gallery of communication being put across over the Fleet River estuary, and a passage cut through the City wall into the Emperor’s apartments. After Wolsey’s fall, Henry himself lived at Bridewell, and the whole of the Third Act of Shakespeare’s Henry VIII passes at this place:

The most convenient place that I can think of

For such receipt of learning is Blackfriars;

There shall ye meet about this mighty matter—

— Shakespeare, Henry VIII, Act ii

- a reference to the King’s impending divorce from Catherine of Aragon, the Emperor’s aunt.

Hall, in his chronicle, says:

In 1528 Cardinal Campeius (Campeggio) was brought to ye Kinge’s presence, then living at Brydewell, by ye Cardinal of Yorke (Wolsey), and was caryed in a chayer of crimson velvet borne between iiii (four) persons, for he was not able to stand, and the Cardynall of Yorke and he sat both on the ryght hand of the Kinge’s throne, and there was one Francisci, Secretary to Cardinal Campeius, made an eloquent oracion in the Latin tongue. And the same King caused al his nobilitie, judges, and counsaylors wt (with) diverse other persons to come to his palace of Brydewell on Sunday the viii (eighth) day of November at after none (afternoon) in his great chamber, and there delivered a speech to them concerning his marriage with Catherine of Aragon.

The King held a Parliament at Blackfriars in 1525, and at Bridewell Palace at the same time, he created or advanced the following men in the peerage:

Harry Fitzroy, (a child he had had illegitimately by Elizabeth Blunt) to be Earl of Nottingham and Duke of Richmond, also Lieutenant-General from Trent northward, Warden of the East, Middle, and Western Marches.

Henry Courtney, Earl of Devon, cousin german to the King, to be Marquess of Exeter.

Henry Brandon, a child of two years old, son of the Earl of Suffolk, to be Earl of Lincoln.

Sir Thomas Manners, Lord Rosse, to be Earl of Rutland (ancestor of the present Duke of Rutland, of Belvoir Castle).

Sir Henry Clifford, to be Earl of Cumberland.

Sir Robert Ratcliffe, to be Viscount Fitzwalter.

Sir Thomas Belvin (Boleyne), father to Anne Boleyne, or Bullen, to be Viscount Rochford.

We have mentioned the River Fleet which gives its name to the famous Fleet Street, ‘ancestral’ home of the British national press, where until about 20 years ago, many of the great newspaper titles were based: The Daily Telegraph, The Daily Express, The News of the World, The Evening Standard, while just off Fleet Street were The Daily Mail, The Sun, The Daily Mirror. Reuters and the Press Association are still located in Fleet Street, as are numerous regional newspapers with London offices. The departure of much of the media for places like Canary Wharf has not altered the fact that ‘Fleet Street’ is still the generic name for the national press, and the bars and restaurants located there, or just off the thoroughfare, continue to be frequented by journalists and lawyers. In the case of the lawyers, there are two Inns of Court within the ancient precincts of the Manor — Middle and Inner Temple — and the Royal Courts of Justice. 

Restaurants and public houses, famous for the press, continue in and around Fleet Street, some dating from the medieval period: the Mitre, in Mitre Court; the Cheshire Cheese, El Vino, the Wig and Pen, the Printers’ Pie. Being adjacent to the City, though not part of that corporation until later, Bridewell was less regulated. Because kings sometimes held courts and parliaments in the precincts, the area was, therefore, full of entertainments, from brothels to hotels, and dangerous, as noted in Lodowick Barry’s Ram’s Alley, or Merrie Tricks, printed in 1611:

Will Smallbankes and the rest of his fellows, while being conducted after supper by torchlight from the Mitre in Fleet Street to the Savoy, are set on, swords drawn, by Throat and his desperadoes, who carry off the pretended heiress unperceived towards St Giles. Thos. Smallbankes, nettled at this ill-luck, affirms that she has run off towards Fleet Bridge; but Will asserting it as a thing not possible, Thomas reiterates:—

Upon my life,

They went in by the Greyhound*, and so strooke

Into Bridewell, — to take water at the dock.

* a tavern on the southside

By the time the Fleet River arrived at Bridewell Palace it had been fed by brooks and rivulets upstream. It was known as the ‘river of wells’ in the reign of Edward I (1272–1307) on account of its being the easiest source of ‘fresh’ water before the Thames, which was and is tidal and, therefore, salinated. We quote ‘fresh’ in the preceding sentence because as early as the beginning of the 14th century complaints about its pollution were brought before Parliament, meeting at Carlisle in 1307, in the following terms by Henry de Lacy, Earl of Lincoln:

Whereas (in times past) the course of water running at London under Oldbourne Bridge and Fleet Bridge into the Thames had been of such bredth and depth that 10 or 12 ships, navies at once with merchandises were wont to come to the aforesaid bridge of Fleet, and some of them to Oldbourne Bridge, now the same course (by filth of the Tanners and such others) was sore decayed; also raising of wharves but especially by a diversion of water, made [by] them of the New Temple, for their mills standing without Baynard’s Castle in the first year of King John (1199–1200), and by others divers impediments, so that the said ships could not enter as they were wont and as they ought. Wherefore he desired the Mayor of London, with the Sheriffs, and other discreet Aldermen, might be appointed to view the said course of the said water, and that, by the oaths of good men, all the aforesaid hindrances might be removed, and is to be made as it was wont of old. Whereupon, Roger de Brabazon, the Constable of the Tower (of London) with the Mayor and Sheriffs, were assigned to take with them honest and discreet men, and to make diligent search and inquiry how the said river was in former time and that they leave nothing that may have hurt or stoppe it, but keep it in the same estate that it was wont to be.

As with so many matters then as now, legislation was one thing, action another, and the river — a filthy brook in reality — got worse, despite efforts at a clean-up in 1502 and again in 1589. Not only were the waste products of ‘Tanners and such others’ — particularly millers — cast into the river, but all the waste from private houses. Little wonder that disease spread when it was thought that this happened through the air and not through water, a scientific fact that was not appreciated and adopted until the 1860s.

The Royal Navy was victualled from the Fleet throughout the Middle Ages, the last time being in 1624 when James I planned a campaign against the French in defence of French Protestants at the Ile de Rhé, Brittany. The Lord Mayor was ordered to supply Sir Allen Aspley, one of the surveyors-general for the Navy, 2,000 quarters (a quarter = 28lbs (about 12.5kgs)) to be made into biscuit from the storehouses in Bridge Street, Bridewell. During the reign of Charles II, the Navy was transferred to Chatham, Kent, with a staff college at Greenwich, designed by Sir Christopher Wren, one of the finest Baroque buildings in England.

So dirty and limpid had the Fleet become, that lampoons were written about it, including by the poet Alexander Pope — Dunciad, ii:

This labour past, by Bridewell all descend,

As morning prayer and flagellations end,

To where the Fleet Ditch with disemboguing stream

Rolls the large tribute of dead dogs to Thames,

The King of Dykes! than whom no sluice of mud

With deeper sable blots the silver flood.

Jonathan Swift called for the Fleet to be filled in in his City Shower.

In 1756, Blackfriars Bridge was built across the Thames, joining Bridewell with Southwark, but even by 1812 there were still only three bridges across that river. In the next 70 years, during the Victorian hey-day, 10 more were built, plus five for railways.

The Manor came into the hands of the Royal Hospital of Bridewell, St Thomas’s and Christ’s, by Grant of King Edward VI in 1553, and is still owned by their heirs at law, the Special Trustees of St Thomas’s and Guys Hospital. The suppression of the monasteries and other religious houses during the Reformation led to London becoming flooded with starving or necessitous people from the provinces. Hitherto, such people had largely been catered for by Church charity. The idea was promoted by Nicholas Ridley, Bishop of London, an ardent Protestant who was burned to death by Bloody Mary as one of the ‘Oxford Martyrs’ in 1556. The Grant was made two days before the young Edward VI’s death, whose memory was commemorated in these lines in the old Bridewell Chapel:

This Edward of fair memory the Sixth,

In whom with greatness, goodness was commixt,

Gave this Bridewell, a palace in old time,

For a chastizing house of vagrant crime.

In some ways, the Royal Hospitals were the forerunners of the Poor Law, inaugurated by Queen Elizabeth at the end of her reign, which Law, as amended, survived until 1945. Medieval Church charity — no doubt as cold as any other charity — was not of itself a matter of chastizement, but in the case of the Royal Hospitals it became so, which accounts for the allusion in Pope’s poem quoted above: ‘As morning prayer and flagellations end…’

The Bridewell became a prison for many and a place of punishment for being poor. It was also a place of punishment for serious criminals and torture was carried on there in the reign of Queen Elizabeth. Pope’s ironical reference was that morning prayer was followed immediately by floggings either at a special whipping post, near the Law Courts, or by being tied to the tail of a cart and whipped through the streets. This was a long way from the founding Ordinances of 1557, which were, ‘the importance of succour and relief for the poor, sick, and aged; to yield alms to the poor and honest decayed householder; to train up the beggar’s child in virtuous exercise, and to compel the wilfully idle and dissolute to better ways…’ As ever, the devil is in the detail, the ‘wilfully idle and dissolute.’ They were to receive offenders, ‘and examine and punish the same; to visit taverns, alehouses, dicing-houses, bowling-alleys, tennis-plays, and all suspected places of evil resort in and about London.’ If these are just different words for those used today — nightclubs, discos, drugs, promiscuity — then legislation and coercion were as ineffective then as now. Those industrious poor who did work often ran up against the liveries in the City of London, concerned to maintain their closed shop and, thus, maintain prices. It would not do if Bridewell undersold genuine masters and journeymen who were members of City guilds.

December 1556: — A woman, resident in Southwark, was judged to be whipped at Bridewell, and sent to the Governors of Christ’s Hospital for a further reformation, and subsequently to be placed in the pillory in Cheapside with a paper in her hand, whereon was written, ‘Whipped at Bridewell for leaving and forsaking her children.’

July 1559: — A woman named Jane Foster was brought into the house for enchanting Margaret Storer, and trying to bring her into dissolute and evil ways.

February 1595: — H Hodges tortured by manacles to find out where £100 was hid in the ground, he having stolen goods and money, and secreted them, the property of Sir H Bagnall, Knight, attendant about Her Majesty’s person.

September 1682: — A beadle was appointed to correct prisoners in the house, and those who were to be punished through the streets of the City, instead of the Chapel Beadle, who had performed the office — for the better witnessing the correction, the whipping post to be raised.

The practice of sending offenders to Bridewell merely to receive corporal punishment continued until the 1850s. In 1793, as much as £80. 6s was paid to one of the beadles for flogging prisoners during the previous two years at five shillings each, which gives about 160 as the number of persons punished by one man in this way.

In the 1860s, Bridewell as a prison was closed and King Edward’s Grammar Schools established, the first of these being built at Witley, Surrey. Boys and girls were separated in 1867, thus bringing to an end, or at least severely curtailing, what the records describe as the ‘debauchery’ of the ‘Bridewell Boys’. It was also found that boys and girls attended to their lessons better when separated, particularly the boys.

An idea of the commerce conducted in the 18th century can be gleaned from the small advertisements in the local papers:

December 1719: — Edmund Thomas at the ‘Old Brunswick Mum and Spruce Beerhouse’ against Bridewell Bridge, Fleet Ditch, sells right Brunswick Mum and Spruce Beer* wholesale and retail. Note, it hath a large quantity of new spruce just arrived, and is the only person in London that deals in these two commodities and nothing else.

* alcoholic drink made of molasses and flavoured with spruce twigs and cones; mum was a type of beer made from cereals, such as beans, and was of German origin, hence ‘Brunswick’.

July 1723: — Mr Hart, formerly partner to Mr Taylor, a governor of Bridewell, was well in health on Tuesday night, but found dead in his bed the next morning.

September 1723: — Yesterday evening, one Bird, a watchmaker, aged above 20, living in Bridewell Precinct, made an attempt upon his own life, but not doing it effectually, died afterwards on the staircase.

August 1730: — Mr Alderman Parsons has wrote to Mr Alderman Child from France, to desire he will hold the annual Court Thursday at Bridewell, where a fine entertainment will be prepared at the expense of twelve stewards, the said Alderman having put off his return to England for some time.

[illustration: River front at Bridwell, showing granaries circa 1660]

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Lot #28 of Manorial Holdings Auction - December 1989 

THE EARLIEST reference to this Lordship is in 1284 when it was held in demesne by John, Earl Warenne. 

In the time of Edward the Confessor, Brighton was divided into three holdings, two of which belonged to the King and the third to Earl Godwin, the father of King Harold. It is almost certain that Earl Godwin’s portion became known as Brighton Lewes, from his holding of the Honor or Barony of Lewes. 

In 1086 it was held by Ralph de William de Warenne and consisted of five and a half hides of land, land for three ploughs with eighteen villagers and nine smallholders. There was also a tribute of 4,000 herrings. Its value before 1066 was £8.12s; later 100s but in 1086 £12. The herring rent was still being collected from the Brighton Fishermen as late as 1862. 

The Domesday tenant was probably Ralph de Chesney and it remained in his family until at least 1175 when the Third Earl Warenne, the First Earl was reputedly a near kinsman of William the Conqueror, granted land in Brighton to the Priory of Lewes which suggests that the Third Earl was already holding the Manor in demesne. The Third Earl’s only daughter and heir Isabel married firstly William de Blois, Earl of Mortain and on his death without issue, Hamelin natural son of Geoffrey of Anjou and brother of King Henry II. William de Blois was the natural son of King Stephen. Upon the death of the last Earl Warenne in 1347, the Lordship passed to his sister Lady Alice and her descendants. Lady Alice’s eldest son Richard FitzAlan, Earl of Arundel, married Eleanor, the daughter of Henry, Earl of Lancaster, a lady of Royal Blood. His son and successor Richard, the Tenth Earl married Elizabeth de  Bohun daughter of William Earl of Northampton, a great-grand daughter of King Edward I. The Tenth Earl, Thomas, married Beatrix , illegitimate daughter of John King of Portugal. Upon her death in 1440 without issue , the Lordship passed to John Mowbray, Third Duke of Norfolk, her late husband’s nephew. He in turn married a grand-daughter of Thomas Plantagenet, Duke of Gloucester, a son King Edward III. On the marriage in 1478 of Anne, the only daughter and heir of the Fifth Duke of Norfolk, to Richard, Duke of York, son of King Edward IV, the Lordship was settled upon them both for their lives. On the deaths of Anne in 1481 and Richard in 1483 the Manor was divided between the four heirs of Elizabeth FitzAlan, John Howard Duke of Norfolk, William Lord Berkeley, Thomas Lord Stanley, and Sir John Wingfield. The Duke of Norfolk and Lord Stanley agreed to divide the Lordship of Brighton Lewes between them. The Duke’s moiety remained in the possession of his family until 1651 when it was sold. In the 18th century it was in the possession of the Sparrow family but was sold in 1771 to Charles Scarse whose descendants still held it as late as 1940. 

Lord Stanley’s moiety , Brighton Michelham, passed to the Sackvilles Earls of Dorset and it remained in their possession until last year. In 1664, Brighton Lewes was part of the inheritance of Margaret the wife of John Tufton, Earl of Thanet, she being a daughter of Richard, Earl of Dorset. It then passed to Margaret’s youngest son, Colonel Sackville Tufton, whose son the Seventh Earl sold it in 1737 to Thomas Friend of Brighton. In 1862 Thomas Wisden was Lord of this moiety and his family long continued to hold it until sold the present owners in the 1920s.  

Documents associated with this Manor:  

Rental with other Manors  1618-9   East Sussex RO 

Rental & Survey with other Manors  1664 

Court Book with Duddleswell  1664

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Lot #22 of Bernard Thorpe Auction - March 1987

The Manor of Brinkhill, in the Hundred of Hill in Lincolnshire was held in 1387 by John de Ormesby. From him the lordship passed to the Cromwell family. In 1401 Matilda, the wife of Ralph de Cromwell, late Lord of Tatersall, granted the manor to William de Cromwell her son and his wife Margaret. In 1417 William Cromwell granted the lordship to Sir Henry Richeforth, Thomas Hawley, John Kyghley and Thomas Somercotes. They were presumably only trustees as in 1439 Richard Cromwell was lord of the manor.

By 1571 the manor was held by Francis Carsey of Revesby, Lincolnshire who in that year granted it to William Cecil, Lord Burghley, whose descendants in turn conveyed the lordship to an ancestor of the Ingilby family.

During the Civil War, Oliver Cromwell called upon a substantial yeoman in this parish to give up all his horses for the use of the Parliamentary army, where-upon the farmer, being a Royalist, sent them to the blacksmith for the ostensible purpose of shoeing, but contrived to have their feet pricked with the nails in such a manner as to render them entirely useless for the time being: the descendants of this loyal countryman were occupants of the same land up to about the year 1890.

Brinkhill is a small village in a picturesque valley six miles north west of Alford. The church of St. Philip is in the Early English style. In the church yard is an interesting old cross with an embattled coronal. The church register dates from 1562. In the manor pyrites of iron is found, called from its bright yellow colour “Brinkhill gold”. Any future finds of this mineral under former copyhold lands will belong to the lord of the manor. The area of the manor is about 870 acres.

DOCUMENTS ASSOCIATED WITH THE MANOR:

1 Manorial accouts 1387-88

2 Manor Court rolls 1391-1632 

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Lot #6 of Manorial Auctioneers – May 2008

Catalogue transcribed by the Lord of Finchingfield - a friend to learning

 THE LORDSHIP of Broad Campden lies about a mile south-east of the Cotswold town of Chipping Campden, and is the property of the Earl of Gainsborough. The Manor does not have a separate entry in Domesday Book (1086), but is very likely subsumed in the description of Chipping Campden, which is mentioned as follows:

The Earl himself holds Chipping Campden

Earl Harold held it.

There are fifteen hides paying geld.

In demesne are six ploughs; and 50 villeins and 8 bordars with 21 ploughs.

There are 12 slaves and 2 mills rendering 62s 2d.

There are 3 female slaves.

It was worth £30. Now £20

The Domesday Earl was Hugh Lupus (the Wolf) Earl of Chester, a holder of enormous estates throughout England and it appears that the overlordship of the Manor remained with the Earls for some centuries afterwards. Earl Harold was Harold Godwinson, briefly King Harold II who was killed at the battle of Hastings in 1066. The descent of the Lordship seems to follow that for Chipping Campden until the 16th century. In the first year of the reign of King John (1199) it was held by Guinar Briton. He may well have left it to the Church since in 1206 it is noted as being in the possession of the Archbishop of Canterbury, John de Grey. In 1216, though, Sir Ralph de Somery died seized of the Manor, perhaps indicating that it was on some kind of lease from the Earls of Chester. This may well explain the variety of owners over the next few decades. A few years later, it was found that Serlo died seized of it and that it then passed to his widow, Anne.

The Lordship then seems to have undergone some division, a number of holders of separate moieties appearing, such as John Strangeways, Ralph Cromwell, and John de Ludloe. These moieties appear to have formed the Manors of Broad Campden, Berrington, and Westington in the course of the 13th century, but it is not certain that Gilbert de Clare, Earl of Gloucester, who was recorded as Lord of Chipping Campden in 1296, owned all or part of the Manor, or perhaps just the Overlordship of Chipping Campden proper, together with Broad Campden, Berrington, and Westington. By the middle of the next century it is recorded as being held by William de Ludloe, as descendant of John de Ludloe above though again, Sir Richard Stafford is noted as holding part of it in 1381. It must still have been in moieties since Thomas de Ludloe is recorded as holding part of Broad Campden twelve years later and Sir Richard Stafford a further share in 1399.

The Ludloes continued to hold their share well into the next century, as did the Staffords. By the time of King Henry VIII (in 1513), Broad Campden, together with the Manors of Buriton and Westington, had become vested in Sir Christopher Savage, whose son and namesake received livery of them from the Crown in 1521. Next to appear as the Lords of Broad Campden were James Gunter and William Lewis. A house, formerly belonging to the dissolved abbey of Tewkesbury, was granted by King Henry in 1546 to James Gunter and his wife Anne, who levied a fine of the Lordship of Broad Campden for the purpose of Sir Roger Cholmondeley, Chief Baron of the Exchequer in 1559. Lewis is not mentioned and it must be presumed that his interest in the estate had ceased.

There is nothing unusual about this. The Dissolution was a time for what historians have called the 'new Tudor men', those who made money as servants of the Crown, mostly lawyers, and who could buy former Church lands cheaply and sell quickly at a profit. A number of surviving aristocratic families today can date their emergence to this period: the present Marquess of Salisbury, of Hatfield, Hertfordshire, is an excellent example. His ancestor was William Cecil, Lord Burghley, so created by Queen Elizabeth I, whose son Robert was created Earl of Salisbury by King James I (1603-25). The family were promoted to the Marquessate of Salisbury in the 19th century, and the third Marquess was the last aristocrat to be Prime Minister (in 1900). Sir Percival Hart, a Squire of the Body of Henry VIII, obtained, with numerous Lordships and lands, the Lordship of Eynsford Peyforer offered in this Catalogue.

The new men were often, but not always, Protestants. Catholics — who had to affect to have renounced their adherence to Rome — also took part in the Tudor 'gold rush' for cheap ecclesiastical property. The present Lord Petre, of Ingatestone, Essex, owns the former Priory of Ingatestone. The Welds of Lulworth Castle, Dorset, obtained that estate in the 16th century, and the scion of that family today is head of the English branch of the papal Order of the Knights of Malta. We hardly know the attitude of such men to the Hereafter, but they were certainly in favour of getting ahead in the Here and Now.

The capital Manor of Chipping Campden seems finally to have been reunited under the single ownership of the Molyneux family from whom it passed to the Fitzherberts. From them it came to the Russells, but the details of this transfer appear to be lost. In 1556, Sir John Russell died seised of all the Manors and he was succeeded by his son Sir Thomas. The estate was then taken into the possession of the Crown, possibly as forfeit, since it is noted that Queen Elizabeth granted it to Sir Thomas Smith. He was succeeded by his son Anthony, who sold it to Sir Baptist Hicks.

Hicks was the third son of a rich London trader, Robert Hicks, and inherited his father's mercer business at the White Bear in Cheapside. His brother Sir Michael Hicks was a secretary to Lord Burghley, whom we have already met. These connections enabled Hicks to supply large quantities of silks to the Court and he became a money-lender to prominent figures in society, including the Earls of Shrewsbury and Pembroke. His activities as a money-lender garnered him a reputation as something of a hard dealer and he commented of this to his brother 'when others ... goe awaye with the gaines and yet byte to the bone', but Hicks was a vital figure for James I and his son Charles I and is understood to have made loans to the Crown to the vast amount of £33,000. Since the Stuarts were generally hard up and always looking to raise funds, they organized a number of schemes including the sale of royal estates and Hicks had a lucrative business in buying and reselling these. Such was the immense fortune that he amassed it was said that both of his daughters and coheirs collected inheritances of £100,000 each, a staggering sum for the times. In 1603 Hicks was knighted and there followed a number of rewards which culminated in his elevation to the peerage as Baron Hicks of Ilmington and Viscount Campden of Campden in 1628. He died a year later and is immortalized with a magnificent memorial edifice in St James' church, Chipping Campden.

After Hicks' death, his titles and estates passed by a special remainder to his son-in-law, Edward, Baron Noel, and with them came the Lordships in Chipping Campden. Edward was also a notable figure in Rutland and served as Sheriff for the county in 1608. He died in 1642. Among his last actions were raising troops locally for the King's army just prior to the outbreak of the Civil War. His son and heir Baptist, 3rd Viscount Campden, served in the Royalist army as a colonel in a horse regiment and was later fined £9,000 by Parliament for his involvement in the war. In 1645 his house at Campden was burnt down by a fellow Royalist Lord Bard in a seemingly pointless attempt to prevent its being captured by Parliamentary forces.

Baptist died in 1682 and was succeeded by his eldest son Edward who was elevated to the Earldom of Gainsborough in the same year. Eight years later his son Wriothesley died and the titles and estates passed to his cousin Baptist Noel, the 3rd Earl. He lived until 1714 and was followed by his son, also Baptist, the 4th Earl. On his death in 1750, the Earldom descended first to his eldest son Baptist, who died in Switzerland in 1759 and then passed to his second son Henry. On the latter's death without male issue the Earldom became extinct and the estates devolved to his nephew, Sir Gerard Noel Edwardes. When he died in 1838 his son, Charles became Lord of the Campden Manors. Three years later he was raised to the peerage with the reactivated title of Earl of Gainsborough. His son Charles was the second Earl, and his son Charles the third.

The 3rd Earl died in 1926 and his estates passed to Arthur, the 4th Earl and who served as a private secretary to the Pope. His son, Anthony is the 5th and present Earl and the Lord of the Manor of Broad Campden. The descent of the Gainsboroughs is shown on page 13 of this catalogue [i.e. under Lot 5, Berrington, above].

Chipping Campden lies about 90 miles west of London and 7 miles west of Shipston-on-Stour. There are many memorials to the Lords of the Manor in St James' church. In the Noel Chantry is the recumbent effigy of Sir Baptist Hicks, 1st Viscount Campden, Lord of the Manor, and his wife Elizabeth, under a canopy supported on 12 marble columns. There is a monument to Penelope, daughter of Edward Noel, Viscount Campden, and Juliana (Hicks) his wife. There is a memorial to the wife of the 2nd Viscount, and another to Henry Hicks MA, dated 1708. He was vicar for 50 years. The church of St Michael and All Angels, at Broad Campden, was built in 1868 to the memory of Charles Noel, 1st Earl of Gainsborough of the second creation. The 4th Earl gave the land for the Roman Catholic church of St Catherine of Alexandria.

The Campden and District Historical and Archaeological Society was formed in 1984. The Chipping Campden Community Trust, a registered charity (Hon Sec John Kohler), makes grants to local organizations in the parish. The trust also employs two health adviser nurses for the over-70s which is a free service. The nearest railway station is Moreton-in-Marsh, five miles distant. Stratford and Evesham are both 10 miles' drive, and Oxford 15 miles away.

Documents associated with this Manor, found under Chipping Campden:  

Court Records 1782, 1814 Gloucester RO

Court Orders 1771-1795

Court Rolls 1562-63

Court Roll 1788 Birmingham Archives

Court Leet 1778-1811 Shakespeare's Birthplace Trust

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Lot #35 of Bernard Thorpe Auction - June 1986

The Lordship of Brocton, in the East Cuttlestone Hundred of Staffordshire, originally formed part of the Manor of Baswich. The lordship was given to the Priory of St. Thomas.

At the Dissolution of the Monasteries, the manor was vested by Act of Parliament in the person of His Late Majesty King Henry VIII. It is recorded in the Letters and Papers of the King that in 1539 the manor was granted to Bishop Roland Lee. The Bishop settled the manor on his nephew, Brian Fowler, in 1540.

On Brian Fowler's death in 1587, the lordship came to his son, Walter. He died in 1621 and was succeeded by his son, Edward, and the manor remained in the Fowler family until Catherine Fowler, an heiress, married Viscount Fauconberg in 1726.

By 1744 the manor had been acquired by Sarah, Duchess of Marlborough, who left the lordship to her grandson, John Spencer. In 1785 George, Earl Spencer, transferred his interest to George Anson, an ancestor of the present Lord of the Manor, the Earl of Lichfield.

DOCUMENTS ASSOCIATED WITH THE MANOR:

1 House of Lords Appeal cases — Fauconberg v. FitzGerald 1730

2 Anson Papers — Abstract of title of Lord Spencer to William Fowler's estate

3 Court papers on trespassing case 1626

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Lot #17 of Manorial Auctioneers – November 2007

Catalogue transcribed by the Lord of Finchingfield - a friend to learning

THE HISTORY of this Manor can be traced back to before the Norman Invasion of 1066, when it constituted one of the five berewicks of the Lordship of Oakham and was held by Queen Edith, the eldest child of Earl Godwine of Essex. She was unusually well educated for a Saxon woman, receiving tuition at Wilton Abbey. She married King Edward the Confessor in 1045 and although sometimes referred to as ‘lady’, she is also often described as ‘queen’ or ‘hallowed queen’. She was renowned for her beauty and piety and tradition has it that Edward never consummated his marriage with her due to his own deeply held religious beliefs.

Though pious, Edith was less scrupulous in politics and she is thought to have taken considerable bribes in order to influence the King and was thought to have inherited her family’s tendency to greed. She amassed considerable estates, including Brooke in Rutland, Essex, Buckinghamshire, Berkshire and Wessex. Her relationship with Edward was one of complete submissiveness in public, often sitting at his feet at banquets and he in turn is said to have loved her. Despite this, when her father and brothers were outlawed in 1051 for conspiring against him, Edward made no objection to the proposal of Archbishop Robert that he should be separated from her. All her property was seized, and she was exiled to Wilton Abbey. When her father was reconciled with the King a year later, Edith was allowed back to court and her land, including the Lordship of Brooke, was restored to her. She is said to have stood at the foot of Edward’s deathbed at Christmas 1065, ‘cherishing his feet and trembling at his prophecy of evil’. Edward commended her into the care of her brother Harold, despite her allegiance to the cause of Harold’s enemy Tostig and on her husband’s death retired to Winchester to await the outcome of Tostig’s expected encounter with her brother. Tostig failed and she is recorded then as wishing William Duke of Normandy to succeed her husband. It was no surprise, therefore, that after the Conqueror’s victory at Hastings she paid him tribute and obeyed his orders. She survived the Norman conquest with her lands intact until her death in 1075.

After this the Lordship became the possession of Walkeline de Ferrers and from him it passed to his son Hugh. In 1153 Brooke, now separate from Oakham, was gifted to Kenilworth Abbey and in the Manor, the abbey established a cell priory, St Mary’s. Later in the century the priory took possession of the Lordship and held it until both institutions were dissolved in 1535, during the Reformation. When the commissioners made inquiries into the priory, they found that the prior and the abbot of Kenilworth were in dispute over the constitution of St Mary’s. The prior maintained that St Mary’s was independent and the abbot argued that the priory was still a cell of his institution. Apparently the dispute had endured for centuries.

Initially after dissolution, the Lordship of Brooke was leased to Sir William Fielding, but in 1536 the Manor and site of the priory were granted by Henry VIII to Anthony Cope. There then followed a legal case between the two and eventually the judge, Sir Anthony Fitzherbert, found in favour of Cope. In 1549, Cope sold Brooke to Andrew Noel, who is recorded as holding the Lordship in chief, by knight service. Noel died seized of Brooke in 1563 and it then passed to his youngest son Andrew. From him it passed to his son, Sir Andrew Noel, who died in 1607 and he was succeeded by his son Edward. After his marriage to Juliana, the daughter of Baptist Hicks, Viscount Campden, Edward received a new grant of the Manor from James I in 1610. After the death of Hicks, in 1629, Noel succeeded to his father-in-law’s title. His grandson, and successor as Lord of the Manor of Brooke, was created Earl of Gainsborough in 1682 and it has remained with the family until the present day. The descent of the Gainsboroughs is found within the Lordship of Chipping Campden commencing on page 44.

Brooke, which covers about 1,400 acres (approx 500 h) lies to the south of Oakham, near to the county border with Leicestershire and is bisected by the river Gwash. St Mary’s priory stood on the southern bank of the river, half a mile from the village. The Noel family lived at Brooke House in the 17th century. The ancient priory stood on the bank of the Gwash, half a mile from the village. A house known as the Priory stands there today, and incorporates some remains of the medieval monastery. The wife of the second Viscount Campden lived here until 1680, and is said to have been 100 years old at death.

Documents associated with this Manor:

Rental 1516-88 National Archives

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Lot #31 of Bernard Thorpe Auction - March 1987

The Lordship of Brookhampton is in the Kington Hundred of Warwickshire, about half a mile west of Kineton.

The Close Rolls of King Henry III record that Ralph was lord of the manor in 1231. The following year his nephew Henry de Trublevill succeeded to the lordship. By 1235 it is recorded in the Book of Fees at the Public Records Office that the lordship had reverted to King Henry III.

In 1477 Richard Dalby died, lord of the manor, leaving a son Robert, who succeeded him. The Dalby family continued to hold this lordship until 1677 when Ambrose Holbeck acquired the manor. From him the lordship came to Lord Willoughby de Broke, who’s descendants have continued to hold the lordship until the present day.

DOCUMENTS ASSOCIATED WITH THE MANOR:

1 Copies of customs (with other manors) 16th-18th centuries

2 Courts 1630-31

3 Chancery inquisitions post mortem 1398

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Lot #4 of Manorial Services Auction - Spring 2024 - Stephen Johnson

Located in the large parish of Hartfield, the Manor of Broome formed par t of the Sackville family’s original estate centred on Bolebroke House. It lies on the Sussex/Kent borders a few miles from East  Grinstead and part of the Manor lay in the Forest of Ashdown. 

The early history of the Manor is fairly obscure. It is likely that after the Norman conquest it formed  par t of the larger manor of Har tfield, which was held by the Count Mor tain. By the 13th century it appears to have been detached from the principal manor as a possession of the de Brom family, from whom it  derived its name. The earliest holder was Matilda, who died in 1295 and was found seized of a message and  curtilage in Hartfield, holden of the honor of the Eagle, then in the King’s hands. She was required to do suit  at the Honor court at Pevensey Castle. The Manor then passed to her son Robert who died in 1317. At his  death it was found that the estate was held by a knights service from the King. It then passed to his son John  de Brom. From John the descent is much less clear but it is likely that it descended, or was purchased by,  the Dallindridge family who had inherited another manor in Hartfield, that of Bolebroke. In 1425 Bolebroke, which was the site of a castle, passed through the marriage of Margaret Dallindridge to Sir Thomas Sackville  and it is at this point that Broome was likely to have passed to this family. Bolebroke became the home estate  and Broome likely passed with it.  

The Sackville family built a house at Bolebroke which was one of the first brick built private houses in England and replaced a much earlier castle. Completed in 1480 it was a favourite hunting lodge of Henry VIII and it is said that he used it as a base when courting Anne Boleyn at nearby Hever Castle. Henry stayed  at Bolebroke, ostensibly to hunt wild boar in the Ashdown Forest but really to pursue Anne who was playing  a long game of seduction by retreating to Hever Castle, knowing that the king would follow. The house still  stands and is now a private residence. 

Whatever the precise method of transmission the Brome was certainly a part of the Sackville Estate  by the end of the 16th century. A Survey of the Manor is found in the Buckhurst Terrier, a detailed account  of the Sackville Estate in Sussex, produced in 1597. It gives details of all the freeholders and their properties.  We therefore find that John Bridger held a messuage called Strode, in Hartfield village. The heirs of John Charlewood held a number of parcels around the church. The main demesne, Broome Place, was held  by Henry Burgis, who is described as a yeoman and who paid £3 per year for his 40 year lease. Another  considerable tenant was Thomas Bowyer, who farmed Knighton Hall. In total the Manor was worth £48 19s per year. The present day Anchor Inn was the manor house for Broome. Built in 1465 it was originally known  as Broome Place.  

The Manor of Broome remained in the hands of the Sackville family until the end of the 20th century  and by the end of 19th century was in the hands of Gilbert George Reginald Sackville, 8th Earl De La Warr. In 1899 it is recorded as providing a rent charge of £3 13s 6d toward the income of Sackville College in nearby East Grinstead. The college was founded by an endowment made by Thomas Sackville, the 2nd  Earl of Dorset, on his death in 1609. He gifted the sum of £1000 and yearly rent charges on his manors in  Sussex of £300. A charge on lands in Broome was included in this behest. The college is actually a complex  of Jacobean alms-houses which are still in use today. It was intended to house twenty-one poor men and ten poor women of the area. In 1624 it received a charter from Charles I. Philanthropy in the 17th century  usually came with moralising provisions and this was the case at Sackville College. There were numerous  ‘statutes’ which the residents were required to follow under in order to avoid being evicted. For instance,  ‘inmates’ were not allowed to lodge or receive any person in the house, or secretly entertain any stranger. They  were not allowed to be out of the house for more than twelve hours without the permission of the warden  nor could they indulge in any dicing, carding or unlawful games for any money apart from at Christmas, and  even then these games were not allowed in noe sort of corners or private rooms. Fines were often imposed  on secret feasting, excessive drinking, swearing and frequenting taverns.  

Despite some legal disputes with the heirs of Lord Dorset, the Sackville family continue their patronage  to today and the building was restored under the auspices of Elizabeth, Countess De La Warr in the mid-19th century. 

Documents in the Public Domain Associated with this Lordship:

1275-1300: survey, West Sussex Record Office 

1552-1552: rental 

1379-1379: court roll, British Library 

1606-1622: court book, East Sussex and Brighton and Hove Record 

Office (ESBHRO) 

1624-1652: court book  

1664-1664: court book  

1668-1689: court book  

1686-1686: rental 

1731-1743: court book  

1691-1925: court books 

1829-1829: rental 

1856-1861: account books 

1613-1613: estreats, Kent History and Library Centre 

1656-1656: list of tenants 

1704-1704: estreats  

1711-1720: estreats  

1738-1738: minutes

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Lot #5 of Manorial Services Auction - 2004 UNPUBLISHED/ABORTED - Stephen Johnson

With historic rights to market

OTHERWISE KNOWN as Brough under Stainmore, this manor formed an important parcel of the Barony of Westmorland. Brough is a small market town and lies amid some of the highest peaks in England. The parish includes a large part of the forest of Stainmore and is one of the few wildernesses in England. Brough lies four miles from Kirby Stephen and six miles from Appleby and covers over 24,000 acres. Brough was formerly a town of some importance since its position on the road to Scotland meant that it handled a great deal of the coaching trade. When London to Glasgow railway was opened in the 1840s this trade declined rapidly, as did the town.

At Brough are the remains of a castle which belonged to the Barons of Westmoreland and formed part of the strategic defences of the area. Brough Castle lies on an eminence near to the parish church of St Michael the original fortification dates back to the Roman period when it formed a station named Verterae. Brough was known for the abundance of its Roman remains and the antiquarian Leland wrote in his 17th century, ‘Itinerary’; ‘Brow, now a vyllage set in Lunesdale a vi miles beneath the foot of Dentdale. The plough menne find there yn éreng lapidres quadrotos, and many other straung things; and this place is much spoken of the inhabitants there’. A great quantitiy of coins have been found in the river Eden here. After the Romans left Britain Verterae became a Celtic settlement, who named it Brough, which meant fortification. 

When the Saxons overran the area they renamed it Brough under Stainmore.

After the Norman invasion of 1066 the manor and castle of Brough came into the hands of the Meschines family and from him to the Morvilles, the Cliffords and finally, in the 17th century, the Tuftons, who were Earls of Thanet. The present Lord of the Manor is Lord Hothfield, the current representative of the Tufton family. The castle at Brough formed the centre piece of the manor and the Meschines appear to have built a tower early in the 12th century and it was known as Caesar’s Tower or the Round Tower. In 1174 the Scots, led by their king, William the Lion invaded northern England and attacked the area. A description of the action against Brough castle was recorded by Jordan Fantosme in his Chronicle of the War Between the English and the Scots. He wrote;

They (the Scots) want to go to Brough; the resolution was soon taken.

If it is not surrendered to them, not a single living being shall go out of it.

The castle was very soon attacked on all sides.

And the Flemings and the Border men shall make a violent assault 

upon them,

And have the first day taken from them the portcullis;

And soon they left it and placed themselves in he tower.

Already the fire is lighted: now they will be burnt here...

For they cannot hold out longer; they have surrendered to the king.

That is well done which they do now.

They have surrendered to the king; they have great sorrow in their hearts.

But a new knight has come to them that day.

Now hear of his deeds and great virtues:

When his companion shad all surrendered,

He remained in the tower and seized two shields;

He hung them on the battlements. He stayed there long,

And threw at the Scots three sharp javelins.

With each javelin he struck a man dead.

When those fail him he takes up sharp stakes

And hurled them at the Scots, and confused some of them,

And ever keep shouting ‘You shall soon be vanquished!’

Never by a single vassal was strife better maintained.

When the fire deprived him of the defence of his shield,

He is not to blame if he then surrendered.

Now is Brough overthrown, and the best of the tower.

Once the Scots had been driven back over the border the castle was repaired under supervision of Thomas de Wyrkington. In 1203 the castle and Lordship were granted to Robert de Veteripont, who continued the restoration. However the castle seems not have remained operational because in 1245, the warden of the young Robert de Veteripont, Walter, prior of Carlisle appears to have neglected it severely; ‘the tower of Burgh is much decayed, the joists are rotten and the most part of the house is brought to nought by default of Walter.” More repairs were required and evidently they were of some quality since Edward I was entertained here in 1300. Fourteen year later, during Edward II’s reign Brough was against destroyed by the Scots and the manorial land in Brough was devastated. Once more, now under the direction of the Clifford family, the castle was repaired once more. It survived in tact until 1521 when ‘it was sett on fire by a casual mischance...so as all the timber an dead was utterly consumed and nothing left but bare walls and it remained waste...going to ruin more and more.’ It remained a ruin until the Lordship of Anne Clifford, who carried out a systematic rebuilding of Brough in order to make it a place of residence. In 1695, one of her successors as Lord of the Manor, Thomas, the 6th earl of Thanet, had most of it demolished and sold the timber.

In 1330 the Lord of the Manor of Brough, Robert, Lord Clifford, was granted a weekly market on a Thursday. The charter, from Edward III, also made provision for a four-day annual fair around the festival of St Michael (September 21). This charter was later confirmed by Edward VI in 1549. The fair was held until the 19th century on Brough Hill, two miles from the centre of town and was considered to be the most important fair in the area.

There are a number of mediaeval reference to the Lordships. During the reign of Henry III (1216-1272) it was found that the manorial land was tenanted by Adam de Slegill, a forester of Stainmore. On the death of Robert de Clifford in 1315 the following was recorded for Brough; Robert de Clifford..held the castle of Burgh under Staynemore...with the precinct of the trenches thereof, the herbage of which was worth 6s 8d yearly. Two hundred acres of demesne land, 22 whereof at the least were worth 9d each a year. A hundred and ten acres of meadow, each of which is worth by the year 12d...Also the constableship of the castle worth yearly 40s. Also the profits of the fair worth 10s.

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Lot #6 of Manorial Services Auction - 2004 UNPUBLISHED/ABORTED - Stephen Johnson

THIS LORDSHIP lies within the parish of the same name, which is about 2 miles from Penrith. Brougham is very ancient. it is referred to in the Itinerary of Antonious as being a Roman station, bearing the name Brocavium, from which the modern name is thought to be derived. There are traces of this station near to Brougham Hall and coins and an alter have been found here. The alter bore the description;

DEABVCS MATRIBUS TRAMAR VEX GERMA NORUM PRO

SALVTE RP S L M

This translates as;

To the goddess mothers transmarine, the vexillation of the Germans, for

the safety of the state, perform a vow willingly and dutifully.

After the Romans departed the castle was captured by the Celts who in turn were forced to hand it over to the Saxons, who gave it is modern name. There is a Norman castle at Brougham and a description of this can be found in the entry in this catalogue for the Lordship of Oglebird and Whinfell.

The Lordship of the Manor of Brougham was, after the Conquest , in the hands of the Burgham, or Brougham family. The first recorded was Walter, who was recorded as being Lord of the Manor here in 1086. From him Brougham passed to his son Wilfrid, who was living during the reign of Henry I (1110-1135). His son, Sir Udard de Broham was, during the 1150s, in custody of Appleby castle and was fined 20 marks for surrendering it to the Scots. From him the Lordship passed to his son Gilbert, and then to his son Henry. The family it by the tenure of drengage, a tenure of military servic:e, from their overlord, the Barons of Westmoreland. It then appears that the Lordship was divided into three moieties with the division between the Broughams, the Bird family and the Flemings. 

During the reign of Edward III (1327-1372) the Lord of the Brougham, moiety was John de Brougham, who entered into a protracted dispute with Lord Clifford over the boundaries of the his land which was only settled after a number of years and a great expense to both parties. Sir John was a knight of the shire for Cumberland at the Parliament of 1383 and resided at Brougham Hall, a fortified residence. From him the hall and lands passed to his son John, who was a Member of Parliament for Carlisle in 1394 and 1396. His son and heir was Thomas. He was knight of the shire in 1436 and is the first member of the family to dr/op the de from before his surname. He was one of Henry IV’s justices for the northern counties. From him Brougham Hall passed to John, who was landowner during the reign of Edward IV (1461-1483). The next several generations, Gilbert, Thomas, Henry appear to have been reduced in status. Henry’s son Thomas however was a member of the Commission of the Peace for Cumberland. He died in 1607 without issue and the Brougham estate passed to his wife Agnes for the duration of her life. At her death it passed to her husbands Uncle, Peter Brougham.

During the 17th century the entire Lordship of Brougham was reunited in the hands of the Bird family. These had originated in Burd Oswald, near to Gillsland in Northumberland. The last owner of the Lordship in this family was James Bird, who was steward to the Earls of Thanet. He was a keen scholar of topography and made a study of a number manors in the area and collected deeds relating to them, which he deposited at Appleby Castle. On his death, despite having had nine sons, he had no male heir and the whole estate was sold to the Brougham family. This family continued in possession of the Lordship until the 19th century when it was purchased by the Tufton family, the earls of Thanet, who also possessed Brougham Castle. The current representative of the that family, Lord Hothfield is the present Lord of the Manor of Brougham.

Brougham Hall, the seat of the the Brougham family stands on an eminence near the river Lowther, a mile and a quarter from the centre of Penrith. Its size and impressive position have earned it t2he name ‘The Windsor of the North’. It is half mansion and half castle, much of it dating from the 13th or 14th centuries, with the oldest part thought to be the western side of the great hall. Some parts of the fortified walls are several yards thick and the presence of an armoury indicates the former defensive nature of the house. In one of the bedrooms is a bed, dating from 1571 that was brought from Sheffield Castle. This was the bed slept in by Mary Queen of Scots during her confinement there. The chapel in also mediaeval, though underwent extensive renovations in 1659. It is built on the site of a well, which used to rise up though a hole bored in the centre of the ancient font. 

Brougham itself is an extensive parish, covering some 6,000 acres. It is bounded by the Eden, Lowther and Eamont rivers. 

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Lot #4 of Manorial Services Auction - Winter 2024 - Stephen Johnson

The Lordship of Bunshill can be traced back to Domesday Book where it is recorded as being a possession of Gruffydd ap Maredud. It was among several manors that the Welshman held in the area,  including two other manorial estates in the parish of Mansell Lacy, to which Bunshill belonged. In fact Bunshill, here recorded as Bunesulle, formed a detached part of that parish, surrounded by the lands of Kentchester.  The Domesday record reads; 

The same Gruffydd holds Bunesulle. Godric held it 

and could go where he would. 

There is one hide paying geld. 

There are three villans

and 1 bordar with 1 plough and 

there could be 3 ploughs. 

It was and is worth 3s. 

Gruffydd was a Prince of South Wales, and son of King Mariadoc and his ownership of the manor  appears to have been allowed as part of a policy of conciliation between the Normans and the Welsh. It  appears that Bunshill had been granted specifically to Gruffydd’s father, King Mariadoc after 1066, having taken it from the free Saxon, Godric. It seems that Bunshill may have passed eventually to Gruffydd ap Rhys  and then followed this familial line to his son, Anarawd ap Gruffydd (1136-1143) then to his brother, Cadell  ap Gruffydd (1143-1151). It then descended to his brother, Maredudd ap Gruffydd (1151-1155) and finally to his brother, The Lord Rhys (Rhys ap Gruffydd) (1155-1197), though this is open to some uncertainty. 

At the beginning of the 13th century, the Lordship became the possession of Sir Walter de Lacy, a  Marcher Lord. By the time of his death the Manor had been gifted to the nuns of Aconbury, a religious house  founded by Walter’s wife, Margaret. Evidently though the Manor was tenanted on behalf of the Priory during  this period and this method continued after the estate had been taken by the Crown after the suppression  of the religious houses. Aconbury Priory itself was dissolved in 1536. 

It was only in 1571 that the Crown gave up its interests in Bunshill and it was purchased by William  Barroll, a clerk to the Earl of Essex, and his brother Thomas. Evidently the manor descended to the former  since, after his death in 1600, Bunshill passed to the Traunter family. Thomas’ daughter Bridget was married  to Simon Traunter and her sister and coheir, Joanna had married Simon’s brother, William. In the National  archives there is a record of a legal dispute between Simon Traunter and Richard Savacre which took place  in 1608 and concerned a messuage or parcel of the manor known as Looffes. Simon Traunter, who died in  1630, was succeeded by his eldest son Francis. A record held at Herefordshire RO ( AW28/22/3 ) records that the manor was granted in trust to Francis on his marriage to Eleanor Evans, by his mother, Bridget.  

Francis was succeeded by his only son, Simon who sold Bunshill to the Hon. James Brydges, for £,2,250 in 1712. Brydges, who had been born in nearby Dewsall and was created the first Duke of Chandos in 1719, when he was already Lord of Bunshill. Though Chandos was not a politician of the first rank, he held a number posts in various Governments of the early 18th century whereby he was able to accrue  vast wealth. As paymaster-general in 1705 he organised provisions for the British forces involved in the War  of the Spanish Succession. He was later commissioner for taking subscriptions to the South Sea Company, whose over-inflated stock values led to its infamous collapse. He is chiefly remembered as a patron of arts and architecture. He used his wealth to build the magnificent mansion known as Cannons in Edgeware (demolished in 1747). Perhaps his most lasting memorial was his patronage of George Frederick Handel. Handel lived at Cannons between 1717 and 1718 where he composed his oratorio Esther and the opera Acis and Galatea. In return for this largess, Handel composed the Chando Anthems, which the composer  himself played on the (still existing) organ at the church of St Lawrence, Great Stanmore. 

In 1731, facing bankruptcy after vast overspending, Chandos sold the bulk of his Herefordshire estates, including Bunshill, to Guy’s Hospital for £60,000 and it remained a possession of the Hospital and its state successor bodies until 2007 when it was sold to the present owner. Thomas Guy (1645-1724), founder  of Guy’s Hospital in London, ended his life a very rich man, but star ted his commercial life by selling Bibles on the black market, it being the law in England that the Bible be only printed and sold by authority (ie in return  for a royalty). Guy profited immeasurably from the South Sea Stock, multiplying his original investment of £45,400 sixfold before the stock crashed with the widest possible implications for company investment until  the 1840s. Guy founded the hospital in 1721 after serving as a governor of St Thomas’ and after his death in  1724 was buried in the hospital chapel.  

Bunshill forms par t of the parish of Mansel Lacey which lies several miles west of Hereford. 

Documents in the Public Domain Associated with this Lordship:

 1325-1338: reeve’s accounts The National Archives 

1339-1351: court rolls, with Mansell Lacy Rectory 

1343-1345: bailiff’s accounts 

1353-1354: rental 

1393-1401: overseer’s accounts 

1393-1394: court rolls 

1434-1437: court rolls

1445-1452: court rolls 

1493-1494: court roll 

1502-1536: court rolls, 

1521-1522: court roll  

1550-1553: court rolls 

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Lot #38 of Manorial Auctioneers - Undated but Post-2002

Catalogue gifted & transcribed for the archive by the Lord of Finchingfield - a friend to learning

BURDELEYS lies in the parish of Comberton and appears to derive from two hides of land held of Picot, the Sheriff of Cambridgeshire. At Domesday, in 1086 it is mentioned thus:

In Comberton, 2 men hold 2 hides and 2 acres from Picot. Land for four ploughs. In Lordship 2;

7 villagers with 11 smallholders have 2 ploughs. Meadow for 1 plough.

The value is and was 60s; before 1066, £4.

7 freemen of King Edward’s time held 1 hide and 1 virgate of this land; they found 5 cartages and 3 escorts. 2 other Freemen had 3 virgates and could withdraw (ie leave the Manor without the Lord’s consent); one of them was Archbishop Stigand’s man, the other Earl Waltheof’s man.

The Lordship was held by a number of tenants under the overlordship of various baronial families. In 1166 it was in the possession of Eustace Picot, who left it to his daughter, Lauretta, the wife of Hugh Burdeleys. It is from him that the Lordship derives its name. Lauretta died in 1224 and Burdeleys passed to her grandson, William, who died in 1233. He was succeeded by his two brothers in turn, Hugh and Geoffrey, before the estate passed [to] the latter’s son John.

Before this time, however, the Lordship appears to have undergone subinfeudation and there follow several minor owners. The majority of the demesne remained with the Burdeleys family until the 1330s when it was granted out to Thomas Pateshull and then John Francis.

Thomas Pateshull was a descendant of Sir Simon Pateshull, a judge and knight, who lived during the reign of Henry III (1216–1272). In 1257, Sir Simon was appointed as King’s Justice over the Jews. In 1258 his Manor of Crawley in Buckinghamshire was invaded and damaged by William de Beauchamp. There is no record of what caused this feud. In 1260 Pateshull was appointed Sheriff of Northamptonshire, but then joined Simon de Montfort, Earl of Leicester’s, cause and was with him when [he] was besieged by King Henry at Northampton in 1264. A year later he joined the other rebel barons at the siege of Kenilworth Castle. A story is told of Sir Simon Pateshull, that on his uncomfortable death bed in 1273 he demanded the last rites. After they had been given he became speechless, but a relic from the body of Simon de Montfort was brought to him and he immediately recovered. This ‘miracle’ lasted only a year since [he] died in 1274.

John Francis’ son John then held the Lordship until 1347, when, dying a minor, it was divided among his sisters, Elizabeth and Joan. On the former’s death the Lordship was united with Joan and her husband, Gilbert Chamber. On his death in 1360 Joan remarried, to John Fitzjohn, but he refused to maintain Gilbert’s children and Joan left him and lived at Comberton until her death in 1375. Her son, Edmund Chamber, inherited Burdeleys from her. However, Fitzjohn claimed that the lands were his until his death, which occurred in 1394. Edmund Chamber then held the Manor until his death in 1400 when it passed to his mother, Margaret. In 1419 she sold Burdeleys to William Baker of Clare in Suffolk.

The descent is then a little unclear until the 1450s when a later William Baker sold the Lordship to Thomas Pouncey who then devised it to John Denston of Denston in Suffolk. He died in 1462, leaving Burdeleys to his wife Catherine for life. It then passed to his daughter Anne, who married John Broughton of Denston. Their son John was the heir and he died in 1483. The Lordship then came to his brother Robert, who came of age in 1487. He died in 1506, leaving Burdeleys to his son John, who lived until 1518. In 1514, he had sold the Lordship to the Bishop of Winchester and others who included it in their endowment of the Savoy Hospital in London, which was established in 1517. This was dissolved in 1553 and Burdeleys came to the Corporation of London who used it in the endowment of a new hospital, St Thomas’s in Southwark. The Lordship has remained in the ownership of the Royal Hospitals of St Thomas’s and Christ’s to the present day. A copy of the Charter of King Edward VI in 1553, in which this and other Lordships were granted to the Royal Hospitals, will be included in the sale.   

Burdeleys lies between the parishes of Toft and Burton, some 5 miles south west of Cambridge, and is sometimes spelt Burlynes, or Burdlymes.

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Lot #2 of Stanford & Son's 'Third Auction' - Sept 1964 

Mount Bures is, according to Kelly’s Directory for 1929, “a parish situated on the South Bank of the River Stour, opposite Bures St. Mary, which is in Suffolk. This village”, again according to the same Directory, “is said to derive its distinctive name from an artificial mound here, about eighty feet in height, near the church, covering an acre of ground and encompassed by a dry moat, but no tradition exists as to the time it was raised.” 

Morant tells us that: “the other names of this place that occur in records are Bures Par Parva, and Bures Sancti Johannis, Little Bures, and Bures St. John’s because the church is dedicated to that Saint, and Sackville Mount Bures because it belonged for many ages to the noble and most ancient family of Sackville, now Dukes of Dorset. This parish at the time of the Great Survey was chiefly holden by Roger Pictaviensis; but in Edward the Confessor’s reign had belonged to Ulmar.” 

Edward Sackville held at the time of his decease, 29 Henry VI, the Manors of Bergholt and Mount Bures, with the advowsons of the churches, of John Duke of Norfolk. Humphrey, his son and heir born in 1436 held the same till his decease in 1488. Richard, son of Humphrey, dying 28th July, 1523, held these manors of Bures and Bergholt of Charles Brandon, Duke of Suffolk as of the honour of Eye by the service of a fifth part of a knight’s fee and 6/- rent. His son, John, held the Manor of Bures at the Mount and dying in 1557, bequeathed to the poor of Bergholt and Mount Bures, £3. Sir Richard, his son, possessed of the same two Manors, died in 1566. Thomas, his son and successor, was created Baron Buckhurst in the same year. He sold it to John Dister, whose widow held it in 1581 and gave it to Richard Weston on his marriage with her daughter. He alienated it to Lady Temple and she granted it to her son by her first husband, Edward Alston. It was afterwards in George Cressener, from whose executors it was purchased, together with the Hall and Fenhouse, by Osgood Hanbury of Coggeshall. 

Morant also refers under Great Tey to George Cressener as being Lord of that Manor and descended from the Cressenors of Bures, Bures Hamlet and Earls Colne. He married Maria Anna, daughter of Nathaniel Payler, by whom he had Nathaniel, and Elizabeth, married to Samuel Tufnell of Langley, and Maria Anna to Colonel Petit. George Cressener died on 4th November, 1722, and was buried, according to Morant, the eighth in the family vaults within the south aisle of the church of Earls Colne. Samuel Tufnell’s great-great-granddaughter, Victoria Tufnell, daughter of Nevill Arthur Charles Hirzel Tufnell, married Mr. A. W. Milburn, Fowberry Tower, Northumberland, and purchased the Manor of Great Tey from the executors of George Frederick Beaumont of Coggeshall in 1955. 

During the last hundred years the Manor has devolved as under: 

11th October, 1864. C. J. Bourchier conveyed to John F. Robinson.
24th May, 1869. J. F. Robinson conveyed to Thomas Cree, junr.
2nd November, 1869. Thomas Cree conveyed to Charles Tabor. 

Mr. Cree was doing what others were doing about the same time, that is, making a quick profit by buying Manors, compelling enfranchisement, and then either selling them again or putting the deeds away and forgetting they were Lord of Manors. 

The following are typical of entries in the Court Rolls which are constantly repeated: 

11th Oct., 1797. At the General Court Baron of Abram Newman, held by his Steward, John Round (a well-known Essex family with its mansion, recently demolished, at Birch) the Homage, consisting of Peter Pettit and Thomas Stedman, presented “all such tenants of this Manor who owe Suit and Service at this Court and have this day made default Therefore every of them is amerced (i.e., fined) 3d.” 

James Baker, an infant, was admitted on his father’s death. The fine paid on admission, calculated at two years purchase of the net annual value was £10. As he was under-age guardianship was granted to his grandfather, John Baker “rendering a just and true account of the rents and profits thereof when he shall be thereunto lawfully required”. 

Edmund Chaplin of Kelvedon, Essex, farmer, was admitted tenant of Heath House and Akermans and paid the Lord a fine of £21. 

Mary Polley was admitted tenant of customary land called Rumps and five acres of land. She and Frances Polley surrendered the land to the use of her will. (An owner of copyhold property could not even leave it by will without during his or her lifetime attending at one of the Lord’s Courts and surrendering it to such uses as might be created by his or her subsequent will. The Steward took his rake-off on this transaction in the form of a fee). 

Edmund Chaplin gets a licence to demise (i.e., to bequeath by his will). 

1st Nov., 1798. John Brett, an infant, was admitted to seven acres of land called Stonefield, four acres called Branfield, six and a half acres, Jays, and two pieces of arable land called Prestnys Hoppitt. 

7th June, 1799. On this day George Caswall and Anne, his wife, held their first General Court Baron and their Steward was John Round. 

A Conditional Surrender (this was the name given to mortgage of copyhold property) by William and Martha Grimwood to John Lay of Boxted. 

“The death is presented of John Everard, a copyhold tenant, “but who is next heir the Homage know not.” 

Peter Pettit presented to the Court because he had “lately felled from his copyhold lands some timber for which he hath paid the Lord thereof of this Manor the sum of £38 10s. 0d., being the Lord’s thirds for the same”.

7th Nov., 1805. This was the first General Court Baron of Robert Panther the younger and Charles Newman, Trustees for George Caswall and Anne, his wife. 

9th Dec., 1805. Thomas Sewell was admitted to about 28 acres of copyhold land called Reedings, Highfields, Glasswrights, Little Dedsley, Crowland and Rowers Green. The fine in this case was £55, the highest so far found in this volume of the records. It was based upon two years purchase of the net annual value. 

17th Mar., 1812. William Honywood admitted to a “piece of land or wood called Knopps Grove otherwise The Grove containing by estimation one acre more or less (since that time stubbed and now arable land) held of this Manor by copy of Court Roll by the yearly rent of one penny and being parcel of a tenement called Lovency Hall”. 

27th Aug., 1849. A conveyance dated 23rd Oct., 1847 is enrolled. It was between Thomas Leatherdale of Wakes Colne and Jemima, his wife and the Colchester Stour Valley, Sudbury and Halstead Railway Company (now called the Colne Valley Railway) the price being £410 and the area conveyed five acres. All timber and trees were included in the Sale except Lord’s thirds. 

At the same Court Mary and Edward Brett produced a conveyance dated 23rd Oct., 1847, which passed ten acres of land to the same Railway. The names of the fields were Sibleys, part of Great Thornfield and Moatgate in the parish of Wakes Colne. 

The Records of the Manor are in two Vellum books: 

(a) Containing entries from 11th Oct., 1797, to 7th Dec., 1866 of General Courts Baron. 

(b) Containing entries of proceedings out of Court and awards of Valuers in connection with compulsory enfranchisements. It is interesting to note that the Valuers were J. Surridge, junr., of Coggeshall and James Joseph of Stratford, Suffolk, acting for Mrs. Emma Hovens Brett of Wakes Colne. 

(c) 23rd Dec., 1723. Certificate that at the General Quarter Sessions of the Peace held in Kelvedon on 3rd Sept., 1723. 

“Elizabeth Osgood of Great Coggeshall Widow personally appeared in open Court and then and there did make and subscribe the Declaration of Fidelity and take the effect of the Abjuration Oath contained and specified in a certain Act of Parliament made in the Eighth year of His now Majesty’s Reign, entitled, ‘An Act for granting to the People called Quakers such forms of Affirmation or Declaration as may remove the Difficulties which many of them lie under, according to the Direction of the said Act’.” 

(d) 19th March, 1828. Valuation of the Rental of a Water Corn Mill, the property of Osgood Hanbury Esquire valued at £300 for a lease of 14 years with a recommendation that the tenant should pay £250 only for the first four years owing to the “present unprofitable state of the milling trade”. 

The title shall commence with a conveyance dated 2nd November, 1869, between Thomas Cree and Charles Tabor of Bovingtons, Bocking. The vendors will convey as Trustees for Sale. 

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Lot #2 of Manorial Services Auction - Winter 2021 - Stephen Johnson

Alfred the Great is remembered for many reasons, not least of which was halting the advance of  the Danes across England. One of the ways in which  he was able to control them was by establishing  fortified settlements across his realm which served to protect the local populations. These were known as  Burgs or Burghs and the Manor of Burgh le Marsh  was established by Alfred to protect this part of  Lincolnshire. There is some evidence to suggest that  the Saxons chose this site because it had previously  been a Roman Castrum, or fortified camp, established to guard this part of the east coast. The settlement  is situated on raised ground which the Romans  themselves had made higher to provide a commanding  view of the surrounding area. Today Burgh le Marsh is  a small town which lies five miles from Skegness. 

In Domesday Book there were a number of manors recorded but the main estate was held by  Earl Alan of Brittany and Richmond. It had been part of the extensive estate of the Saxon Earl Edwin. The  Manor remained a possession of the Richmonds until the reign of Henry II (1154-1189) when it passed on  the marriage of Constance, daughter and heiress of the last Earl, to Ranulph, Earl of Chester. On his death it  reverted to Arthur, Duke of Richmond, Constance’s son from her first marriage. 

During the reign of Henry III (1216-1272) the Manor was forfeited to the King who granted it to  Peter of Savoy, the uncle of Queen Eleanor. Peter, the 9th count of Savoy, and Marquis of Italy, was born in  Susa in 1203. He had many connections in England, his brother, Boniface, was Archbishop of Canterbury and  his niece, Eleanor, was the wife of Henry III. In 1240 Henry invited Peter to England and granted him large  estates also making him the Earl of Richmond. Henry showered power and positions on a rather reluctant  Earl and Peter was made Sheriff of Kent and a royal counsellor. In 1242 he sailed with Henry to Poitou in  France before later having to travel to Italy to defend his family’s estates from the Count of Geneva. Peter  returned to England in 1247 having consolidated his Italian Estates, bringing with him a ‘bevy’ of foreign  women anxious to marry English noblemen. This, and Peter’s desire to obtain several lucrative wardships of  young noblemen, began to create resentment with some English barons. In the early 1250s Peter developed  a friendship with Simon de Montfort, Earl of Leicester but this did not seem to have interfered with his  friendship with the King. As the dispute between the barons, led by de Montfort, and Henry escalated, Peter  joined the party of the former in forcing the king to accept the committee of twentyfour, appointed to  ensure the reforms. During 1259 as tensions heightened, Peter, who was at heart a moderate passed to the  King’s side and Montfort had him removed from the committee. A year later Peter was instrumental in the  reconciliation of Henry with his son Edward. When civil war broke out in 1263 the hostility to foreigners  was such that Peter was forced to return to Savoy. Peter remained abroad and took no part in the war until  1265 when he was present at Pevensey Castle, defending if from the younger Simon de Montfort. After the  King’s victory at Evesham Peter was restored to all his lands. He died in 1268 in France and is buried at the  Abbey of Hautcombe. Peter was described as a ‘prudent man, proud and hardy and terrible as a lion; who so  held himself in his time that he put many folks in subjection under him and he was so valiant that men called him  “le Petit Charlamagne.” 

 The descent of Burgh le Marsh from this point is rather obscure but later in the reign of Henry it  was found that Robert, Lord Tateshull held the estate. It remained in this family and passed to his grandson,  Robert, who died in 1302. He had no children and so his estate was divided between his three sisters. Burgh le Marsh passed to Joan, who was married to Sir Robert Driby. They had a daughter, Alice, who was married  to Sir William Bernake and it was from his family that the manor received its other name of Bernack Hall. On  the death of Sir William’s grandson, also William, the Manor descended to his sister Maud, wife of Ralph de  Cromwell. 

Ralph de Cromwell, who came from Tattershall in the county was made Baron Cromwell and  summoned to Parliament in 1375. He died in 1398 and was succeeded by his son Ralph. In turn he was  succeeded his son, Ralph, the 3rd Baron. He served in the household of Thomas, Duke of Clarence and later  Henry V at Agincourt in 1415. He fought in France until the death of Henry and returned to England where  he was appointed to the Regency Council to the infant Henry VI. Soon afterwards he was made Chamberlain  of the Household. This was the senior position on the royal household and it was his job to organise the  ‘Chamber’, the rooms in which the king would spend his time and receive visitors. Cromwell lost this job  in 1432 during a bout of infighting between the Duke of Gloucester and Cardinal Beaufor t. When power shifted towards the latter a year later he was made Lord Treasurer of England. Since England was embroiled  in wars in France, Cromwell spend much of his time trying to raise money to continue the fight. His tenure however was marred by an economic depression brought on by a lack of precious metals in Europe. Known  as the Great Slump, this eventually led to a large scale rebellion led by Jack Cade in 1450 and ultimately  was a factor in the outbreak of the Wars of the Roses, a decade later. Although an adherent of the Yorkists,  Cromwell died a few years before this war became serious.

On his death in 1456 the Manor of Burgh le Marsh passed to Maud, one of Cromwell’s two nieces.  She was married to Robert Willoughby, 6th Baron Willoughby de Eresby and through this union the Manor  passed to this family who held it for over four centuries.  

In 1907 the Manor was sold by Lord Willoughy to Willie Wray and it remained with the descendants  of this family until recently when it was obtained by a private individual who is the present Vendor.  

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Lot #7 of Manorial Services Auction - 2004 UNPUBLISHED/ABORTED - Stephen Johnson

BURNGULLOW Lordship lies in the parish of St Mewan, on the outskirts of St Austell, on the southern coast of Cornwall. The parish was formed by combining the villages of Burngullow, Polgooth and Trewoon. The church is dedicated to St Mewan who was born in Gwent and travelled to Brittany with Saint Samson. On route Mewan was given a plot of ground to found a monastery but finding no water he struck the ground with his staff and spring appeared. Many other miracles were attributed to this Dark Age saint which led to a sizable cult, especially in 11th century Cornwall. The area was known, until the twentieth century, for its tin mines and it is said that over 500,000 pounds of the metal was produced over space of forty years in the 15th century. A great deal of the Lordship was taken up with Burngallow Common, which lies in the north of the parish and measured over 600 acres. 

At the time of Domesday Book it is thought that Burngallow formed part of the jurisdiction covered by the Lordships of Branell, Tybesta and Towington, which were in the possession of the Count Mortain. He was the half brother of William the Conqueror. and had, In early 1066, been present at the council at Lillebonne, which had planned the Norman Conquest. According to the chronicler, Wace, Mortain himself gave over 120 ships to William to aid in the invasion but this is thought to be an exaggeration. Three years after the successful invasion, Mortain defended Lindsey against the the Danes, helping to finally rid the east of England of of Nordic overlords. Mortain was said to have received the largest English possessions of any of the Conqueror's followers, estimated at more 790 Manors and Burngallow seems to have been one of these.

The descent of the Lordship after this is very obscure and it is not known who its early owners were. However, by 16th century it had passed to the Robartes family. These had long been resident in Cornwall and had evidently been land holders for some time since their fortune was derived from wool and tin, a product in which Burngallow, as we know, was rich. In the latter quarter of the 1500’s the Lordship was held by Sir Richard Robartes, who had married Frances Header of Boscastle and was knighted in 1616. He was raised to the baronetage five years later and in 1625 was made Baron Robartes of Truro. His son and heir, John, was born in 1606 and educated at Exeter College, Oxford where he was supposed to have ‘sucked in evil principles both as to church and to state and he became a presbyterian. This is born out during the Civil War (by which time he had succeeded his father as Lord Robartes) when he became a lieutenant of foot in the Parliamentary army of the Earl of Essex. In this force he fought at the Battle of Edgehill which ended in a stalemate and later at the first Battle of Newbury, in September 1643, which was again indecisive. A year later he was made a field-marshal and later that year a petition was presented to Parliament ‘praying that Robartes be made commander-in-chief of Devon and Cornwall.’ It is thought that the baron persuaded Essex to march to the West Country, a campaign which ended in his surrender at Lostwithiel. At this engagement Robartes escaped to Plymouth where Essex ordered him to defend to town. In the following months Robartes’ held out against a series of attacks and despite the hardships caused by the siege he was obviously a popular man since he was repeatedly petitioned by the townsfolk to remain in office. Whilst at Plymouth his lands, including Burngallow, were confiscated by King Charles and granted to Richard Grenville. To make matters worse for Robartes, his children were imprisoned by the King. After this his zealousness began to cool and he argued with Essex over what he saw an increase in radicalism on the Parliamentary side. When Charles was executed Robartes withdrew from public life, having received back his estates, but tacitly supported the Commonwealth. By the time of the Restoration his lack of involvement with the regime was rewarded by Charles II and he was made a member of the Privy Council. He became an active supporter of toleration for non-conformists but his bill to Parliament of 1663 met with no success. In 1669 he was made lord lieutenant of Ireland and this led to his being created Viscount Bodmin and Earl Radnor in 1679.  

The Earl died in 1685 and he was succeeded by his daughter-in-law, Sarah, who had married his son Richard, but who had died four years earlier. Burngallow then passed to her son, Charles Bodville Robartes, the second Viscount Bodmin. He held a number of positions in the Government of William III (1688-1601) including constable of Carnavon Castle and lord lieutenant of Cornwall from 1696 to 1702. He died in 1723 and his seat, the Llanhydrock Estate which included Burngallow, descended to his nephew, Henry, Earl of Radnor. He died unmarried, in 1741 and the Lordship passed to his nephews, Thomas and George Hunt. It then descended to Anna, Thomas’ granddaughter, who was married to Charles Agar, third son of the 1st Viscount Clifden. His son and heir, Thomas was made Lord Robartes in in 1869 and his son, Thomas, inherited the Clifden Viscountcy on the death of his cousin Leopold, the 5th Viscount, in 1899. The Lordship of Burngallow has remained with this family until the present day and the Llanhydrock Estate are the Vendors. 

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Lot #23 of Stanford & Son's 'Second Auction' - Dec 1955

According to Copinger there are three Manors in this Parish lying to the East of Sudbury, viz. Newton Hall; Sayham alias Siam or Saxham Hall; and Botelers alias Butlers or Buxtons.

In the time of King Edward the Confessor Newton was held by the Abbot of St. Edmunds and in Norman days by Aelons of the Abbot. From the Domesday Survey it appears that there were "2 carucates of land, 2 plough teams in demesne, 1 1/2 belonging to the men, 2 slaves, 3 beasts, 40 hogs, 2 villeins, 4 bordars, 14 goats, 16 hives of bees, wood for 8 hogs and 2 acres of meadow." 

Copinger gives the following information with regard to the devolution of this Manor:

At the close of the 13th century the Lord was Robert Carbonell, who had a grant of free warren in 1277. He was succeeded by Thomas Carbonell and his wife Elizabeth who died in 1325. Their son John had a grant of free warren in 1301 and die din 1333. Their daughter Alice succeeded and married Ralph Butler, from who this manor derived its name. Ralph's daughter, who married Thomas Boteler, had a grant of free warren in 1393. 

In 1410 Sir Andrew Butler was Lord and by his Will made in 1429, he left the Manor to his wife Catherine, daughter of Sir William Philip for life. Air Andrew died in 1430 and on his widow dying in 1460 it passed to William Crane. In 1500 Robert Crane, who was then the Lord, died and was succeeded by his brother John, upon whose death in 1505, his son Robert inherited. Upon the death of a Robert Crane in 1591, his son and heir, Sir Robert Crane, "so well-known as of Chilton" says Copinger , succeeded.

Copinger's final sentence, after a jump of nearly 300 years, reads: "This Manor was about 1880 vested in the Rev. T.L.N. Causton and subsequently in his Trustees, but is now (1908) vested in C. Beaumont." This was incorrect for the Manor remained in the Causton family until 17th September, 1900, as shown below.

The gap referred to above can be filled in from the Records as under: Robert Crane was Lord for Courts held in 1636 and 1642. At a Court held in 1660 the name of the Lord is not given, but Courts held in 1667, 1671, and 1672 show Edward Walpole as Lord; then Suzanna Crane (1676, 1678, 1679, and 1682); then Isaac Eastwich (1683-1689); then Hester (for Esther) Eastwich, widow, (1690-1724); John Causton (1732-1752); Nathaniel Causton (1756-1781); Charles Causton (1787-1801); the Rev. Thomas Causton (1818-1820); the Rev. Thomas Henry Causton (1832); Thomas Lilford Causton (1859); Thoams Lilford Neil Causton, on whose death in 1898 the trustees of his Will (Josephina Causton, widow, the Rev. Thomas Allerton Bernard Causton and the Rev. Lilford Jervoise Causton) proceeded to sell the Manor. It was conveyed by them on 17th September, 1900, to Henry Edwards Paine and by the latter's Trustees in 1954 to the present Vendor.

Some of the Stewards of the Manor during the period covered by the Records were: John Earle (1660-1667); James Alington (1667-1676); Edward Drake (1676-1682); Egidio Duncombe (1683-1690); Henry Crossman (1695-1706); Thomas Richardson (1778-1801; Edmund Stedman (1818-1859); Robert Stedman (1870); Joseph Scott (1874-1884); Leonard J. Tatham (1891-1900).

Space doe snot permit of the insertion of more than a few interesting items from the records themselves, which include the following:

Custom of Descent: This is given as both "eldest son" and "youngest son" with documentary evidence for both. Pasted on the flyleaf of the Court Book commencing 9th April, 1756, is a sheet in old handwriting cut form an earlier record which reads:

"A Court Book of  Butlers Mannor form 1636 to 1650 declaring custom of the Mannor to eldest sone from...to first of the 43 Queen Eliz.

ye Robert Crane Lord:

1. Court 6 May, 1636
2. Court 25 Oct., 1638
3. Court 19 Sept., 1639
4. Court 3 Nov., 1642
5. Court 16 May, 1645
6. Court 1 Nov., 1650"

At proceedings out of Court on 15th October, 1903, Jerome Kerr Hart was admitted as eldest son of Jeremiah Kerr Hart and this in spite of the fact that in the Minutes or draft of a Court held on 1st October, 1683, there is a note in contemporary handwriting "The Custom of this Manor is that the lands descend to the youngest son." Further, in the Court held on 9th April, 1756, it is recorded that:

1. "The youngest son is Heir at Law." 
2. "The wife of a customary Tenant is intitled to Thirds of her husbands estate." 

There are a number of entries in the Court Rolls supporting the claim of youngest sons. This is the only Manor in which the compiler has met such divergence of practice in respect of a custom. They are usually handed down from generation to generation without any variation.

Records to be handed over are:

Court Rolls: 1660-1706; 1756 (April to June)

Court Book: 1756-1932

Minutes of Courts, Drafts, etc.:  1636-1650; 1667-1683; 1683-1702; 1660-1752; 1723-1740; 1756-1774

Index Book

Rentals

Insurance of Records: £350, premium 17/6 p.a.

Commencement of Title: Deed dated 17th September, 1900

It has been ascertained, since the compiling of these Particulars, that the Lord of this Manor may have an interest in the School standing on part of Newton Green. The matter is being investigated and persons interested in the Lot will be informed of the result of the investigation upon application to the Auctioneers or Solicitor concerned. Meanwhile the right is reserved to withdraw the Lot or dispose of it before the Sale.

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Lot #3 of Stanford & Son's 'Second Auction' - Dec 1955

The following is a translation from the Victoria County History of the portion of Domesday Book relating to  Byfleet:

"The whole Manor in the time of King Edward was worth sixteen pounds. Now the Monk's part is worth twelve pounds and ten shillings , but the homagers' part sixty shillings.

Ulwin holds of the same Abbey, Byfleet. The same held it in the time of King Edward. it was then assessed for eight hides; now for two hides and a half. The land is for two ploughs. In demesne there is one plough; and there are seven villeins and two bordars with two bordars with two ploughs. 

There is a church; and three servs; and one mill of five shillings. One fishery and a half of three and twenty five eels; and six acres of meadow. Wood for pannage of ten hogs. In the time of King Edward it was worth a hundred shillings; now four pounds." 

The Manor of Byfleet was not in the original grant made to Chertsey Abbey in the 673 Charter, but appears in Frithwald's later Charter in 727.

At the Domesday Survey Byfleet was held by Chertsey Abbey, as 2 1/2 hides by Ulwin, who also held it in Edward the Confessor's tie when the assessment was eight hides. 

The Manor continued in the possession of the Abbot until in the 13th century it was held in half a knight's fee by Geoffrey de Lucy who died in 1284. His son Geoffrey, in 1297, enfeoffed Henry de Leybourne of the Manor who remained in possession until 1305.

In 1312 the Manor was in the hands of the Crown but the Overlordship of it was vested in the Abbey for some time. 

A statement in 1319 reads:

"Held in Chief of the Abbot of Chertsey by the service of half a Knight's fee and 15/- rent to the Abbot for the vill of Weybridge, 4/3d. rent for the vill of Bisley; the Surveyors add that before the Manor came to the King its lord did sit at the Abbot's Hundred Court of Godley and that all free tenants and 15 customary tenants came to the View of Frankpledge there." 

This overlordship held by the Abbey over the King soon became purely nominal. The Courts of Byfleet were held by the King and no further mention of that Manor occurs in the record of Court Rolls belonging to the Abbey after 1428.

Edward II stayed there from time to time, and in 1308 Piers Gaveston was granted Free Warren in his demesne lands of Byfleet.  

Edward III assigned Byfleet to his Mother Isabella in 1327 as part of her Dower. Isabella surrendered the Manor soon afterwards an in 1330 Edward III granted it to his Brother John of Eltham to be held by Knight's Service, and at his death it reverted to the Crown. 

On the King's eldest son being granted the title of Duke of Cornwall in 1337, the Manor and Park of Byfleet were among lands granted to him " to hold to him and his heirs as a Parcel of the Duchy of Cornwall." The Black Prince held it until his death when it passed to his son. IN 1389 this Manor was granted to the Earl of Northumberland for two years and in 1391 it was granted to John Bishop of Salisbury for 10 years "for his easement and abode whenever he chooses to go thither." In 1393 the Manor was granted to William, Duke of Gueldas, son of the Duke of Juliers, to hold for life without rent, he having become the King's vassal and done homage. 

The Duke granted the Manor and Park to Rover Walden, Dean of York and Treasurer of England, and to his brother John Walden for their lives, on condition that "the Duke might lodge with his household whenever he should come there." Richard II was then on the throne and was murdered in 1399. 

On his deposition all Richard's grants were annulled by Parliament and Byfleet was then granted to Henry the new King's son. Roger and  John Walden surrendered their estates to Sir Francis Court for £100. The latter was a trusted friend of Prince Henry and his wife Joan, and they received a confirmation of the grant to hold the Manor for life, all fees, advowsons, wards, marriages, warrens, and reversions, etc., reliefs, escheats and liberties being included. 

Byfleet continued to be granted by the Kings of England to their eldest sons until the reign of Henry VIII, who spent much of his laylordship at Byfleet. In 1533 he granted the Manor to Katherine of Aragon, whom he had divorced that year, and she was styled the Princess Dowager of Wales. On the surrender of Chertsey Abbey to the Crown in 1537 the Surrender Deed included Byfleet as one of the Manors belonging to the Abbey. Upon the conversion of the King's Manor of Hampton Court into an Honour in 1539, Byfleet was included in the possessions allotted to it. 

Queen Elizabeth I visited Byfleet in 1576. King James I granted the Manor to Henry, Prince of Wales, and after his son's death he granted it to Anne of Denmark, who was his Consort. After Anne of Denmark's death in 1617, the Manor was granted in reversion to Sir Francis Bacon and others for the term of 99 years, on trust for Charles, Prince of Wales. 

During the Commonwealth period the Manor and Park of Byfleet were sold as Crown Lands to Thomas Hammond. On Charles II's restoration the Manor once again belonged to the Crown and seems to have been d by Queen Henrietta Maria until her death in 1669. 

The lands were granted to Lord Hollies and others in 1672 to hold in trust for Queen Catherine of Braganza and afterwards for Charles II and his heirs. Sir John Buckworth, as Lord of the Manor in 1694, was accuse d of neglecting to repair a bridge over the River Wey, but it was found that he was not responsible as he was "only a termer for years in the Manor under a Lease made by the late Queen Mother's Trustees." During the following century, while in the possession of the earls of Lincoln (later ennobled to the Duchy of Newcastle) the Manor, according to Manning, was usually let to owners of "Oatlands," and in 1804, Frederick, Duke of York, who was then the owner of "Oatlands," purchased Byfleet with Walton and Weybridge by Act of Parliament. 

On the Duke of York's death the estate passed to E. Ball0-Hughes who, in 1829 sold a consdrable portion of the land to Lord  Bing, whose younger son, the Hon. P.J. Locke-Bing, inherited the purchased land in 1833. Mr. Bell-Hughes remained lord of the mManor until 1844 and it came later in the century to Henry Edwards Paine and Richard Brettell. Mr. Paine acquired Mr. Brettell's share some years later and held the entirety of the Manor until his death in 1917. Since then it has been held by his devisees and their Trustees, until recently sold to the present Vendor.

The following are excerpts from the Re cords to be handed over:

View of Frankpledge with Court Baron of Rt. Hon. Henry Earl of Lincoln 

Knight of the Most Noble Order of the Garter, Lord of the said Manor, there held 7th June, 1756, before John Rayner, Esq., Steward. 

Plaints - None

Essoins - None

The Jury presented that the Common Fines for the present Manor and its members were:

Common: 

• Byfleet: 7 1/2 d.
• Weybridge 10 1/2 d.
• Effingham 3/12 d.

The Jurors as well for our Sovereign Lord the King as for the Lord of their Manor (all sworn):

James Hole, Mark Joshua, Thomas Charlwood, George Stone, Richard West, Salter Field, William Baker, Timothy West, Joseph Copeland, Edmund Young, John Smith, John Killick

officers chosen for one whole year now ensuing: 

Constables for Byfleet: George Wood & James Yowett

Constables for Weybridge: Jonathan Blundell

Headborough for Weybridge: Henry Wallis

Constable for Effingham: contd.

Headborough for Effingham: contd.

Pinder for Byfleet; James Heather

Pinder for Weybridge: Nicholas Tyrell

Pinder for Effingham: Edmund Young

View of Frankpledge with Court Baron of Most Noble Henry Duke of Newcastle

15th May, 1780

"Also at this Court the Homage above-named present James Collins for erecting a cottage and enclosing half an acre of land (more or less) off the Commons near St. George's Hills. 

"Also at this Court the Homage above-named present that Byfleet Pound is now so much out of repair as not to confine any best that may be put threin. 

"Also at this Court the Homage above-named present George Pain, Esq., for enclosing a part of the Lord's waste lying near Copyhold Corner." 

At a Court held on 4th July, 1866, H. J. Grazebrook, the Lord of the Manor released to John. W. Ellis the minerals which had been reserved to the lord on enfranchisement of the latter's copyhold property. The consideration for the release was £5. On the 20th march, 1872, Richard Brettell, who was then the Lord of the manor, granted to John Whittaker Ellis of Byfleet, in consideration of the payment of  £1, "all that piece or parcel of land situated in Byfleet and being the site of the Pound and land adjacent thereto except and always reserved out of the grant the site of the pump standing upon the said piece and parcel of land and except also and always reserved a right to and for the inhabitants of Byfleet to impound stray cattle in the said Pound o in some other Pound to be provided by the said John Whittaker Ellis or his assigns."

It is recorded that the General Court Baron and Customary Court on 20th April, 1854, was held at the Plough Inn, Byfleet. the Lord then was James Spark, the steward H.G. Grazebrook, and the only business at the court was the appointment of James Lewker as bailiff of the manor. 

The Lod of this Manor was liable for part of the repair of Crockleford Bridge, but this liability was released in 1925 by the Surrey County Council. A duplicate of the deed will be handed to the purchaser with the other documents of title and photographs, with a couloured plan, can be purchased, if required. 

Records to be handed over are:

Court Books: A series of eleven volumes covering the period 1603-1930 without any gaps. Attached to the flyleaf of Court Book XI is a copy of the customs of the manor dated 12th August, 1854. 

Minutes of the Commissioners' proceedings in Byfleet and Weybridge Inclosure Act - the first meeting is recorded as having been held at the Ship Inn, Weybridge on 27th June, 1800. The contents of this book are very interesting, but cannot be set out here. 

Insurance of Records: £300, premium 15/- p. a. 

Commencement of Title: Deed dated 14th October, 1893

Lot #3 of Stanford & Son's 'Second Auction' - Dec 1955

The following is a translation from the Victoria County History of the portion of Domesday Book relating to  Byfleet:

"The whole Manor in the time of King Edward was worth sixteen pounds. Now the Monk's part is worth twelve pounds and ten shillings , but the homagers' part sixty shillings.

Ulwin holds of the same Abbey, Byfleet. The same held it in the time of King Edward. it was then assessed for eight hides; now for two hides and a half. The land is for two ploughs. In demesne there is one plough; and there are seven villeins and two bordars with two bordars with two ploughs. 

There is a church; and three servs; and one mill of five shillings. One fishery and a half of three and twenty five eels; and six acres of meadow. Wood for pannage of ten hogs. In the time of King Edward it was worth a hundred shillings; now four pounds." 

The Manor of Byfleet was not in the original grant made to Chertsey Abbey in the 673 Charter, but appears in Frithwald's later Charter in 727.

At the Domesday Survey Byfleet was held by Chertsey Abbey, as 2 1/2 hides by Ulwin, who also held it in Edward the Confessor's tie when the assessment was eight hides. 

The Manor continued in the possession of the Abbot until in the 13th century it was held in half a knight's fee by Geoffrey de Lucy who died in 1284. His son Geoffrey, in 1297, enfeoffed Henry de Leybourne of the Manor who remained in possession until 1305.

In 1312 the Manor was in the hands of the Crown but the Overlordship of it was vested in the Abbey for some time. 

A statement in 1319 reads:

"Held in Chief of the Abbot of Chertsey by the service of half a Knight's fee and 15/- rent to the Abbot for the vill of Weybridge, 4/3d. rent for the vill of Bisley; the Surveyors add that before the Manor came to the King its lord did sit at the Abbot's Hundred Court of Godley and that all free tenants and 15 customary tenants came to the View of Frankpledge there." 

This overlordship held by the Abbey over the King soon became purely nominal. The Courts of Byfleet were held by the King and no further mention of that Manor occurs in the record of Court Rolls belonging to the Abbey after 1428.

Edward II stayed there from time to time, and in 1308 Piers Gaveston was granted Free Warren in his demesne lands of Byfleet.  

Edward III assigned Byfleet to his Mother Isabella in 1327 as part of her Dower. Isabella surrendered the Manor soon afterwards an in 1330 Edward III granted it to his Brother John of Eltham to be held by Knight's Service, and at his death it reverted to the Crown. 

On the King's eldest son being granted the title of Duke of Cornwall in 1337, the Manor and Park of Byfleet were among lands granted to him " to hold to him and his heirs as a Parcel of the Duchy of Cornwall." The Black Prince held it until his death when it passed to his son. IN 1389 this Manor was granted to the Earl of Northumberland for two years and in 1391 it was granted to John Bishop of Salisbury for 10 years "for his easement and abode whenever he chooses to go thither." In 1393 the Manor was granted to William, Duke of Gueldas, son of the Duke of Juliers, to hold for life without rent, he having become the King's vassal and done homage. 

The Duke granted the Manor and Park to Rover Walden, Dean of York and Treasurer of England, and to his brother John Walden for their lives, on condition that "the Duke might lodge with his household whenever he should come there." Richard II was then on the throne and was murdered in 1399. 

On his deposition all Richard's grants were annulled by Parliament and Byfleet was then granted to Henry the new King's son. Roger and  John Walden surrendered their estates to Sir Francis Court for £100. The latter was a trusted friend of Prince Henry and his wife Joan, and they received a confirmation of the grant to hold the Manor for life, all fees, advowsons, wards, marriages, warrens, and reversions, etc., reliefs, escheats and liberties being included. 

Byfleet continued to be granted by the Kings of England to their eldest sons until the reign of Henry VIII, who spent much of his laylordship at Byfleet. In 1533 he granted the Manor to Katherine of Aragon, whom he had divorced that year, and she was styled the Princess Dowager of Wales. On the surrender of Chertsey Abbey to the Crown in 1537 the Surrender Deed included Byfleet as one of the Manors belonging to the Abbey. Upon the conversion of the King's Manor of Hampton Court into an Honour in 1539, Byfleet was included in the possessions allotted to it. 

Queen Elizabeth I visited Byfleet in 1576. King James I granted the Manor to Henry, Prince of Wales, and after his son's death he granted it to Anne of Denmark, who was his Consort. After Anne of Denmark's death in 1617, the Manor was granted in reversion to Sir Francis Bacon and others for the term of 99 years, on trust for Charles, Prince of Wales. 

During the Commonwealth period the Manor and Park of Byfleet were sold as Crown Lands to Thomas Hammond. On Charles II's restoration the Manor once again belonged to the Crown and seems to have been d by Queen Henrietta Maria until her death in 1669. 

The lands were granted to Lord Hollies and others in 1672 to hold in trust for Queen Catherine of Braganza and afterwards for Charles II and his heirs. Sir John Buckworth, as Lord of the Manor in 1694, was accuse d of neglecting to repair a bridge over the River Wey, but it was found that he was not responsible as he was "only a termer for years in the Manor under a Lease made by the late Queen Mother's Trustees." During the following century, while in the possession of the earls of Lincoln (later ennobled to the Duchy of Newcastle) the Manor, according to Manning, was usually let to owners of "Oatlands," and in 1804, Frederick, Duke of York, who was then the owner of "Oatlands," purchased Byfleet with Walton and Weybridge by Act of Parliament. 

On the Duke of York's death the estate passed to E. Ball0-Hughes who, in 1829 sold a consdrable portion of the land to Lord  Bing, whose younger son, the Hon. P.J. Locke-Bing, inherited the purchased land in 1833. Mr. Bell-Hughes remained lord of the mManor until 1844 and it came later in the century to Henry Edwards Paine and Richard Brettell. Mr. Paine acquired Mr. Brettell's share some years later and held the entirety of the Manor until his death in 1917. Since then it has been held by his devisees and their Trustees, until recently sold to the present Vendor.

The following are excerpts from the Re cords to be handed over:

View of Frankpledge with Court Baron of Rt. Hon. Henry Earl of Lincoln 

Knight of the Most Noble Order of the Garter, Lord of the said Manor, there held 7th June, 1756, before John Rayner, Esq., Steward. 

Plaints - None

Essoins - None

The Jury presented that the Common Fines for the present Manor and its members were:

Common: 

• Byfleet: 7 1/2 d.
• Weybridge 10 1/2 d.
• Effingham 3/12 d.

The Jurors as well for our Sovereign Lord the King as for the Lord of their Manor (all sworn):

James Hole, Mark Joshua, Thomas Charlwood, George Stone, Richard West, Salter Field, William Baker, Timothy West, Joseph Copeland, Edmund Young, John Smith, John Killick

officers chosen for one whole year now ensuing: 

Constables for Byfleet: George Wood & James Yowett

Constables for Weybridge: Jonathan Blundell

Headborough for Weybridge: Henry Wallis

Constable for Effingham: contd.

Headborough for Effingham: contd.

Pinder for Byfleet; James Heather

Pinder for Weybridge: Nicholas Tyrell

Pinder for Effingham: Edmund Young

View of Frankpledge with Court Baron of Most Noble Henry Duke of Newcastle

15th May, 1780

"Also at this Court the Homage above-named present James Collins for erecting a cottage and enclosing half an acre of land (more or less) off the Commons near St. George's Hills. 

"Also at this Court the Homage above-named present that Byfleet Pound is now so much out of repair as not to confine any best that may be put threin. 

"Also at this Court the Homage above-named present George Pain, Esq., for enclosing a part of the Lord's waste lying near Copyhold Corner." 

At a Court held on 4th July, 1866, H. J. Grazebrook, the Lord of the Manor released to John. W. Ellis the minerals which had been reserved to the lord on enfranchisement of the latter's copyhold property. The consideration for the release was £5. On the 20th march, 1872, Richard Brettell, who was then the Lord of the manor, granted to John Whittaker Ellis of Byfleet, in consideration of the payment of  £1, "all that piece or parcel of land situated in Byfleet and being the site of the Pound and land adjacent thereto except and always reserved out of the grant the site of the pump standing upon the said piece and parcel of land and except also and always reserved a right to and for the inhabitants of Byfleet to impound stray cattle in the said Pound o in some other Pound to be provided by the said John Whittaker Ellis or his assigns."

It is recorded that the General Court Baron and Customary Court on 20th April, 1854, was held at the Plough Inn, Byfleet. the Lord then was James Spark, the steward H.G. Grazebrook, and the only business at the court was the appointment of James Lewker as bailiff of the manor. 

The Lod of this Manor was liable for part of the repair of Crockleford Bridge, but this liability was released in 1925 by the Surrey County Council. A duplicate of the deed will be handed to the purchaser with the other documents of title and photographs, with a couloured plan, can be purchased, if required. 

Records to be handed over are:

Court Books: A series of eleven volumes covering the period 1603-1930 without any gaps. Attached to the flyleaf of Court Book XI is a copy of the customs of the manor dated 12th August, 1854. 

Minutes of the Commissioners' proceedings in Byfleet and Weybridge Inclosure Act - the first meeting is recorded as having been held at the Ship Inn, Weybridge on 27th June, 1800. The contents of this book are very interesting, but cannot be set out here. 

Insurance of Records: £300, premium 15/- p. a. 

Commencement of Title: Deed dated 14th October, 1893