A HISTORY OF NORTHAMPTONSHIRE 



passed to his two daughters Anne and Maud." During 

 their minority the estate was claimed by the Bishop of 

 Winchester and others,- but this was probably only a 

 question of guardianship, as in 1512a division of the 

 property was made between Nicholas Vaux and Anne his 

 wife and Thomas Parr and Maud his wife^ by which 

 Anne appears to have acquired Boughton Manor. She 

 predeceased her husband, who died in 1523,'' shortly 

 after his elevation to the peerage as Lord Vaux of Har- 

 rowden,5 when their son Thomas inherited the manor.* 

 During his life it appears to have been leased out to 

 Richard Humphrey, after whose death it was the cause 

 of a dispute between his stepson Augustus Crispe and his 

 nephew Thomas Stafford,' but the manor shortly re- 

 turned to the Vaux family, passing to Thomas's son 

 William, and to the latter's grandson Edward,* who mar- 

 ried Elizabeth widow of William Knollys Earl of Ban- 

 bury.' Edward Vaux died in 166 1 without legitimate 

 issue, having settled the manor on his stepson Nicholas 

 Vaux or Knollys, sometimes called Earl of Banbury.'" 

 By his first wife, Isabel, Nicholas had one daughter Anne 

 who married Sir John Briscoe and by his second wife, 

 Anne, on whom he settled Boughton on his marriage 

 with her in 1655," a son Charles who succeeded his 

 father in 1674.'^ Charles apparently sold Boughton to 

 Sir John Briscoe, the husband of his half-sister Anne, 

 who mortgaged it to Lord Ashburnham, and the latter 

 in 1 7 17 sold it with Pitsford to Thomas Wentworth, 

 Earl of Strafford.'^ Lord Strafford died in 1739 and 

 his son William died without issue in 1791, when this 

 property was inherited by his sisters and co-heirs or their 

 descendants, Anne wife of the Right Honourable 

 William ConoUy, Lucy wife of 

 Sir George Howard, and Henri- 

 etta wife of Henry Vernon, as 

 tenants in common,''' but as they 

 were anxious to hold their shares 

 in severalty they obtained an Act 

 of Parliament in 1795 by which 

 Boughton and Pitsford were 

 assigned to Richard William 

 Howard-Vyse, a minor, son of 

 Major-General Howard-Vyse 

 and Anne daughter and heir of 

 Lucy Wentworth and Sir George 

 Howard. '5 The manor has re- 

 mained in the Howard-Vyse 

 family,'* the present owner being 

 Major-Gen. Sir Richard Granville Howard-Vyse. 



The Boughton family, who obtained the Manor of 

 Boughton in the reign of Edward 1, were already 

 holders of land there, and their estate may have 



Howard-\'yse. Argent 

 a hart^s head cahossed 

 sable ivith a cross sable 

 betzueen the attires^ for 

 Vyse^ quartered ivith 

 Hoivard. 



originated in the virgate held in 1086 of Countess 

 Judith by Robert." The first of this family of whom 

 any record remains was William, who was succeeded 

 by a son Richard, whose son Alexander was a benefactor 

 both to St. Andrew's Priory, Northampton, and to the 

 Hospital of the Holy Trinity, Kingsthorpe.'^ He died 

 before 12 1 1, leaving a widow Margaret" and two sons, 

 William who died without issue and Walter-" who died 

 before 1 284.-' Walter was succeeded by his son John,^^ 

 who purchased Boughton manor from St. Wandrille 

 Abbey, when their holding became absorbed in the 

 manor; it is doubtful if it had acquired the legal status 

 of a manor, although Walter is sometimes styled lord 

 of Boughton. 



Boughton Green was long associated with a fair, 

 held annually, at least since it was granted to Henry 

 Green in 1350, on the vigil, day, and morrow of 

 St. John the Baptist;'-' it used to be famed for brooms 

 and wooden-ware, and the last day was given up to 

 wrestling and other forms of sport, but during the last 

 years of its existence it consisted merely of a large horse- 

 and cattle-fair and lost its social character. It was abol- 

 ished during theWar (1914-18); the horses formerly 

 sold at Boughton are now sent to the cattle-market at 

 Northampton; and the green has since been enclosed. 

 It was always attached to the manor, and when sold with 

 it in 1 7 17 was estimated at a yearly value oi £^,0.^* 



In 1086 Gerard held of the Countess Judith half a 

 virgate of land in Boughton-^ which may have passed 

 to the Prestons, lords of Little Billing Manor, for in 

 1233 Gilbert de Preston was concerned in a dispute 

 over 2 virgates of land in Boughton.^* This holding 

 followed a descent similar to that of Little Billing 

 Manor (q.v.),-' but was retained by Laurence de 

 Preston when he alienated Billing, passing from him to 

 his son Laurence whose widow Agnes detained it as 

 dower in 1349 and afterwards to their son Thomas.^* 



As tenants under the Prestons were the Boughton 

 family, who held i virgate of land rendering 17/. io<2'. 

 yearly and 2 virgates by foreign service.-' In the division 

 of property in 1274 between Laurence de Preston and 

 Alice, the widow of Gilbert, the land in Boughton fell 

 to Alice, ^'' but after this date there is no further mention 

 of the under-tenancy of the Boughtons. 



Other lands held of the honor of Huntingdon were 

 those in the possession of the Daubeny family; William 

 Daubeny died seised of land in Boughton c. 1 264,^' and 

 in 1282 this holding was said to amount to 32virgates.2- 

 It may have been afterwards acquired by the lords of 

 the chief manor for there is no further trace of it. 



Robert de Buci held 3 virgates of land less i bovate 

 of the king in chief in 1086,^^ and this estate may have 



' Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), ex, 74. 



^ De Banco R. 982, m. 706. 



3 Feet of F. Northants. Hil. 3 Hen. 

 VIII. 



* Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), xli, 60. 



5 G.^.C. Peerage (ist ed.), viii, 18. 



<> Recov. R. Trin. 22 Hen. VIII, m. 

 4.19; Chan. Proc. (Ser. 2), bdlc. 2, no. 63. 



' Feet of F. Northants. Mich, i & 2 

 Eliz. ; ibid. East. 4 Eliz. ; Chan. Proc. Ehz. 

 S. s. 8, no. 51 ; Recov. R. Mich. 1566, m. 

 460. 



8 Feet of F. Div. Co. Trin. 27 Eliz.; 

 ibid. Trin. 31 Eliz. pt. i; ibid. East. 32 

 Eliz. ; Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), ccxliv, 121; 

 Pat. 1 1 Jas. I, pt. 6 ; ibid. 14 Jas. I, pt. 2 ; 

 Recov. Trin. 22 Jas. I, m. 36; Feet of F. 

 Northants. East. 4 Chas. I; Recov. Trin. 

 4 Chas. I, m. 12; ibid. Trin. 11 Chas. I, 



m. 63. 



9 Feet of F. Div. Co. Mich. 22 Chas. I ; 

 Recov. R. Mich. 22 Chas. I. 



■" G.E.C. Peerage (ist ed.), viii, 1 8. 

 Feet of F. Northants. Hil. 1651. 



" Feet of F. Northants. Mich. 1655. 



^^ G.^.CPecrage (2nded.), i,404; Feet 

 of F. Northants. Trin. 3 5 Chas. IT ; Recov. 

 Trin. 35 Chas. II, m. 66. 



" Add. Chart. 26395. 



■■* G.E.C. Peerage, vii, 264 seq. 



■5 Priv. Act. 35 Geo. Ill, cap. 90. 



'<■ Com. Pleas. Recov. Mich. 48, Geo. 

 in, m. 72. 



" V.C.H. Northants. i, 354. 



'8 Reg. MS. 1 1 B ix, fol. 53 d.; Anct. D. 

 (P.R.O.), C. 1668. 



" Feet of F. Northants. 12 John, nos. 



226, 227,228. 



2" De Banco R. 106, m. 17 d. 



^' Ibid.; Feet of F. Northants. 12 Edw. 

 I, no. 1 12. 



^^ De Banco R. 363, m. 53. 



2' Chart. R. 25 Edw. Ill, m. 1 3, no. 36. 



^i Add. Chart. 26,395. 



25 F.C.H. Northants. \,i<,^. 



^<> Ca/.C/oi£>, I23i-4,p. 292. 



-' Feet of F. Northants. 24 Hen. Ill, 

 no. 418; Cat. Close, 1272-9, p. 222. 



-8 Oe Banco R. 363, m. 53; Cal. Close, 

 1346-9, p. 582. 



29 Chan. Inq. p.m. 2 Edw. I, no. 25. 



3° Ca/. C/o«, 1272-9, p. 222. 



3' Cal. Inq. p.m. (Rec. Com.), i. 27. 



32 Feud. Aids, iv, 15. 



" F.C.H. Northants. i, 335. 



78 



