A HISTORY OF NORTHAMPTONSHIRE 



2 hides above recorded, together with half a hide, taken 

 presumably out of either Wold or Walgrave, were 

 returned as held of the fee of Balliol.' In Moulton, in 

 the Hundred of Spelhoe, Guy de Balliol was holding 

 l^ hides and i small virgate of the fee of Faxton ;^ while 

 in Walgrave Henry de Tracy was holding 3 virgates 

 of the socage of Faxton.^ Guy's descendant John 

 de Balliol by his marriage to Devorgild, elder sister 

 and co-heir to John le Scot, Earl of Chester and Hunt- 

 ingdon, became possessed of part of the honor of 

 Huntingdon in addition to the Balliol fee;* and 

 among his fees in 1236 and 1242 were four fees 

 which Adam de Periton held in Faxton, Walgrave, and 

 Moulton. 5 



Ingelram de Dumart about 1 170 granted to Robert 

 Duredent his nephew the messuage in Faxton which 

 had belonged to Walter de Balliol 

 his uncle, and a fourth part of 

 Faxton with a quarterium in 

 Mawsley, Walgrave, and Moul- 

 ton, for the service of one knight,* 



Balliol. Gules a •voided 

 scutcheon argent. 



Ingelram died in 11 8 5 and Egehn 

 de Dumart, son of his sister Emma, 

 in 1 201-2 conveyed to Thomas 

 de Periton a knight's fee in Faxton 

 and land in Northumberland and 

 Warwickshire.' This Thomas 

 was Egelin's nephew and suc- 

 ceeded him in 1219, himself dying in 1227, leaving a 

 son Adam.' 



Adam de Periton, who appears to have been hold- 

 ing under John de Balliol practically the whole of 

 Faxton, was apparently identical with the Adam de 

 Faxton who in 1229 was in conflict with the Prior of 

 St. Frideswide about customs and services in Moulton.' 

 In 1 266 Adam de Periton died seised of the manor of 

 Faxton (with rents of the free tenants of Moulton and 

 Walgrave), which he was holding of Sir John de 

 Balliol for 4 knights' fees and 4 marks rent. His heirs 

 were Robert, son of Sir William de Kaynes and of 

 Adam's eldest daughter; Isabel, late the wife of Sir 

 Robert de Welles, another daughter; and Katharine, 

 wife of John Paynel, a third daughter.'" Isabel, the 

 widow of Robert de Welles, married as her second 

 husband William de Vescy, who in 1284 was holding 

 2 knights' fees in Faxton, Mawsley, and Walgrave of 

 John de Balliol (afterwards King of Scotland)." In 

 1 288— 9 William de Vescy and his wife Isabel conveyed 

 the manor of Faxton to John de Vescy, their son, pre- 

 sumably in view of his marriage with Clemence, a kins- 

 woman of Queen Eleanor.'- In August 1290 William 

 de Vescy gave the Queen an undertaking to ensure the 

 payment of Clemence's dower. ■■' Clemence de Vescy 

 was holding a third of the manor of Faxton in dower 

 after the death of Isabel in 1314, worth ^£12 19/. i^\d. 

 yearly.'* She died abroad in 1344,'^ having previously 

 granted her third of the manor for her life for £8 yearly 



Welles. Or a lion sable 

 •with a forked tail. 



to Adam de Welles who was then holding the remaining 

 two thirds, and to whom the reversion of her third 

 belonged.'* 



Isabel de Periton's heir by her first husband. Sir 

 William de Welles, was their son Adam, who died in 

 1 3 II before his mother. He left a widow Joan." The 

 custody of lands in Faxton and elsewhere belonging to 

 Adam de Welles, and the marriage of his son and heir 

 Robert, aged 16 at his father's death, was assigned to 

 Gilbert de Clare, Earl of Gloucester and Hertford, on 

 8 December 1 3 1 1 ;" and on 7 April 1 3 1 3 this wardship 

 was sold by Gilbert to Richard le Vavassour and others." 

 Isabel de Vescy died in 1 3 14, when she was returned 

 as holding two parts of the manor of Faxton of John 

 of Britanny, Earl of Richmond, to whom, in return for 

 his services in Scotland, John Balhol's lands had been 

 granted, by service of 2 knights' 

 fees.^° She had granted an an- 

 nuity of £20 out of the manor to 

 her daughters Cecily and Aline de 

 Welles: and her heir was her 

 grandson Robert, aged 19 and in 

 the king's wardship. Robert, son 

 of Adam de Welles, did not long 

 survive his grandmother, but after 

 marrying Maud widow of Robert 

 de Clifford (who in her second 

 widowhood was found heir to 

 her nephew Thomas, only son and heir of Richard 

 de Clare, Lord de Clare), he died s.p. in 1 320, holding 

 two parts of the manor of Faxton of the Earl of Rich- 

 mond and Britanny.^' His estate included a chief 

 messuage with buildings in ruins, and two parts of a 

 windmill. He was succeeded by his brother Adam, 

 aged 16,^- who came into possession of the whole at the 

 death of Clemence de Vescy as above stated. He died 

 on 28 February 1345, his son and heir, John being 

 then aged 1 2. The manor was then held of the Countess 

 of Pembroke as of her manor of Fotheringhay as two 

 knights' fees,^^ the Balliol lands held by John of 

 Britanny at his death s.p. in 1333 having been granted 

 to her. John de Welles died on 11 October 1361, 

 leaving a son and heir aged 11, also named John. His 

 widow Maud survived, the manor being held by her 

 of the Earl of Pembroke, a ward of the king.-* On her 

 death in 1389 her son John succeeded her at Faxton.^' 

 He had seen considerable service in France and Scot- 

 land since making proof of his age in 1373, in which 

 year he was knighted. In 1388 he was summoned to 

 take his place in Parliament and reproved for previous 

 excuses.^* In 1395, according to Dugdale (quoting 

 Stow), he was the hero of a picturesque episode. 

 Having been sent ambassador into Scotland, he was 

 present at a banquet where the Scots and English 

 fell to 'discoursing of arms', and he threw down the 

 challenge: 'Let words have no place: if ye know not 

 the chivalry and valiant deeds of Englishmen, appoint 



' y.C.H. Northants. i, 380. 



2 Ibid. 381. 



3 Ibid, where the redistribution of lands 

 in Faxton, Wold, and Walgrave is discussed. 

 It seems probable that the 3 virgates of 

 Henry de Tracy were ultimately absorbed 

 into the Balliol fee with Faxton. 



* G.E.C. Peerage (2nd ed.), iii, 169. 

 5 Bk. of FeeSj 502, 941. 



" Harl. Ch. 49 F. 53. 

 ' Feet of F. Div. Co. temp. John, no. 

 zi. 



* See Craster, 'Descent of the Manor 



of Ellington': Arch, JEliana^ 4th Ser. v, 

 1-12. 



' Cal. Close, 1227-31, p. 245. 



"> Cal. Inq. p.m. i, 633. 



" Feud. Aids, iv, 2. 



^^ Feet of F. Northants. 17 Edw. I, 

 no. 25S. 



" Cal. Close, 1288-96, p. 144. 



'* Cal. Inq. p.m. v, 526. 



'5 Ibid, viii, 528. 



■6 Ibid. 



" Cal. Inq. p.m. v, 352. 



'* Cal. Pat. 1307-13, p. 509. 



168 



■9 Ibid. 560. 



-° Cal. Inq. p.m. v, 526; ibid. 535. 



-■ Ibid. viii. 528. 



" Ibid. 



^3 Cal. Inq. p.m. viii, 597. 



^* Chan. Inq. p.m. 35 Edw. Ill, pt. 2 

 (ist nos.), 81. 



-5 Cal. Inq. p.m. (Rec. Com.), iii, 105. 

 He had seisin of the manor of Skendelby 

 in that year {Cal. Close, 13S5-9, p. 577) 

 and did homage for all his father's lands. 



2^ Ibid. 478. 



