A HISTORY OF NORTHAMPTONSHIRE 



beth were dealing with both manors in 1377-8,' and 

 the fees held of Edward, Prince of Wales, at his death 

 in 1379 included fees in Great and Little Harrowden, 

 Clipston, Isham, &c., formerly held by Geoffrey 

 Lewknor, and at that date by Simon Simeon.^ 



On 8 August 1386 Simon and his wife Elizabeth 

 received a grant of free warren, ^ and on 18 December 

 1387 Simon died seised of the manors of Great and 

 Little Harrowden, both held of the honor of Hunting- 

 don by knight service.'' A year later Elizabeth granted 

 the manors to Peter Muslee and others,s by whom the 

 manors were conveyed to Sir John de la Warre and his 

 wife Elizabeth,* the widow of Simon Simeon.' Sir 

 John de la Warre in 1 397-8 conveyed both manors to 

 Master Thomas de la Warre, Canon of Lincoln, and 

 others, to hold for life,* and on 27 July 1398 died 

 seised of them in reversion, the said Thomas, his 

 brother, being his heir.' In the following year, 1399, 

 the said Thomas de la Warre made a grant to Sir 

 William Thirnyng, Nicholas Bradshaw, John Welton, 

 and William Vaus (Vaux) of the reversion of lands, &c., 

 in Great and Little Harrowden and Finedon after the 

 death of Maud, wife of Henry Burdon.'" 



In 1408 the manor was in the hands of Sir William 

 Thirnyng, as Sir John Lovell was returned in the 

 inquisition then taken after his death as holding 

 Ochecote manor of Sir William Thirnyng as of his 

 manor of Harrowden by knight service." Next year 

 Sir Thomas de la Warre, clerk, made a conveyance of 

 the manors of Great and Little Harrowden called 

 Lewkenores to Sir William Thirnyng and others.'- In 

 141 3 Sir William Thirnyng was dead, and his widow 

 Joan in possession of these manors, which she granted 

 in that year to Sir Gerard Braybrook and others in a 

 deed witnessed, among others, by Sir Thomas Green. '^ 

 This must have been followed by a grant of the manor 

 to Sir Thomas Green of Green's Norton, as at his 

 death on 14 December 1417 his son Sir Thomas Green 

 was seised of a manor of Harrowden which had been 

 granted to him and his wife Philippa by his father. '■• 

 The Thirnyngs apparently retained the lordship, as in 

 1428 Alice Thirnyng, presumably a daughter of Sir 

 William, was taxed i6s. %d. for 2^ fees in Great and 

 Little Harrowden which John de Lewknor had formerly 

 held. '5 It would seem that her rights passed insome way 

 to Sir William Vaux, who as a zealous Lancastrian 

 was attainted in 1461, when his manor of Great 

 Harrowden and its members in Little Harrowden, 

 Isham, Orlingbury, &c., were among the lands forfeited 

 by his attainder.'* The manor was then granted to 

 Eialph Hastings, Esquire of the Body, on i May 1462." 

 Sir Ralph Hastings of Harrowden, who, among other 

 offices, was lieutenant of the castle of Guisnes in Picardy 

 and constable of Rockingham,'* received a fresh grant 

 in 1483 to him and his wife Anne from Richard III." 



Sir William Vaux had been slain at Tewkesbury, and 

 on the accession of Henry VII in 1485 his son Nicholas 

 immediately secured the reversal of his father's attain- 

 der and restoration to his lands. Sir Thomas Green, of 

 Green's Norton, the fifth in succession of that name, 

 died in i 506 leaving two daughters and co-heirs, the 

 elder of whom, Anne, married, as his second wife. Sir 

 Nicholas Vaux,^° to whom she brought vast wealth and 

 the Greens' interest in the manor of Harrowden; the 

 younger daughter, Maud, married Sir Thomas Parr, 

 of Kirkby in Kendal. 



Sir Nicholas, who saw much service in France, was 

 a prominent figure of the time, and on 27 July 151 1 

 Henry VIII was his guest at Harrowden.^' Both Sir 

 Nicholas and his father-in-law. Sir Thomas Green, 

 before him had been active in inclosing lands on their 

 Harrowden property, and for his violations of the acts 

 against inclosures he was repeatedly summoned before 

 the Court of Exchequer,^^ but escaped penalties and was 

 pardoned after his death,^^ which happened on 14 May 

 1523, less than a month after he had been created 

 Baron Vaux of Harrowden. His 

 wife Anne had predeceased him, 

 and his heir, their son Thomas, 

 who had reached the age of four- 

 teen on the preceding 25 April, 

 had married Elizabeth, then aged 

 sixteen, the daughter of Anne 

 Chcyne and of Sir Thomas Cheyne 

 of Irtlingborough, whose heir she 

 was, the manor of Harrowden 

 being settled on the young pair 

 at their marriage. ^'^ By his will^s 

 Sir Nicholas Vaux made provision for his unmarried 

 daughters by his wife Anne, Margaret, Bridget, and 

 Maud. His son Thomas, second Baron Vaux, suc- 

 ceeded him. 'The boke of the accompte of the house- 

 hold of Thomas Vaus, Kt., Lord Harowdon, kept 

 at his manor of Harowdon from 2 August 27 Hen. 

 VIII to 28 October following (1535): by Robert 

 Downall, Steward of the household' gives the family 

 and household as consisting of 46 persons.** 



Lord Vaux, who has left specimens of his skill in 

 verse-making and belonged to the more cultured circles 

 of Henry VIII's court, lived until October 1556, when 

 he was succeeded by his son William, who married as 

 his first wife Elizabeth, daughter of John Beaumont, 

 Master of the Rolls, and as his second Mary, daughter 

 of John Tresham of Rushton.^' In 1 5 57 William, Lord 

 Vaux, conveyed the manors and advowsons of Great 

 and Little Harrowden to his wife's grandfather, Sir 

 Thomas Tresham, evidently by way of a settlement.** 

 Sir Thomas Tresham died in i 559, and was succeeded 

 by his grandson, another Thomas, knighted in 1577. 

 The Tresham Papers discovered at Rushton,*' which 



Vaux. 



Cheeky or and 

 gules. 



' Feet of F. Div. Co. i Ric. II, no. i. 



^ Inq. p.m. 2 Ric. II, no. 57. 



3 Cal. Chart. 134.1-14.17, p. 304. 



* Inq. p.m. II Ric. II, no. 48; Ca]. 

 Close, 1385-9, p. 384. 



5 Cal. Close, 1385-9, p. 612. 



Feet of F. Div. Co. Hil. 12 Ric. II, 

 no. 6; Cal. Close, 1385-9, p. 661. 



' G.E.C. Complete Peerage (2nd ed.), 

 iv, 149. 



« Feet of F. Northants. 21 Ric. II, 

 no. 179. 



' Inq. p.m. 22 Ric. II, no. 53. 

 ■o Add. Ch. 22005. 



" Inq. p.m. 9 Hen. IV, no. 29. Sir 



John Lovell's wife was also named Maud. 



■2 Feet of F. Northants. 1 1 Hen. IV, 

 no. 78. 



'5 Add. Ch. 22006. 



'•' Inq. p.m. 5 Hen. V, no. 39. 



" Feud. Aids, iv, 32. 



'* Inq. p.m. 4 Edw. IV, no. 45. 



" Cal. Pat. 1461-6, p. 195; ibid. 369. 



'8 Pat. R. I Ric. Ill, pt. 5, m. 28. 



"' Ibid. m. 17. 



2° Harl. MS. 6066, fol. 29; L. and P. 

 Hen. Fin, i (pt. i), 438, p. 237. 



" Ibid, ii, p. 1452. 



22 Diet. Nat. Biog. 



" L. and P. Hen. FUI, iv, p. i S65. 



^■i Exch. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), dclxxxix, 15 ; 

 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), xh, 60. 



=5 Ibid. 



^<' L. and P. Hen. VUI, ix, 697. 



" Harl. MS. 6066, fol. 29. 



28 Feet of F. Div. Co. Trin. 3 & 4 Ph. 

 and M. The first wife of Sir Thomas was 

 the daughter and co-heir of Lord Parr of 

 Horton, uncle of Queen Catherine Parr. 

 N. & Q. Northants. ii, 40. The links be- 

 tween both families were numerous. 



" Hist. MSS. Com. {Far. Coll.], iii, 76. 

 These are now in the British Museum, 

 Add. MSS. 39828-38. 



180 



