26 THE HISTORY OF THE ROYAL BUCKHOUNDS. 



the throne.* On the death of her father, which appears to 

 have taken place in 1506, she and her sister Edith were given 

 in wardship to John Audley, Thomas Cobham, and Anthony 

 Wingfield. We hear nothing of her family again until July 

 16, 1512, when Anne Brocas, Ralph Pexsall, and Edith, his 

 wife, obtained licence to enter upon the Manor of Little 

 Weldon, Northampton, and on the office of keeping the King's 

 Buckhounds — ac in offichn custodiencV canes n'str's damarum 

 — as held by William Brocas, deceased, ifemp, Henry VII. 

 Miss Anne Brocas married George Warham, Esq. ; but she 

 appears to have died in 1514, as on December 16 of that year 

 Ralph Pexsall and Edith, his wife, who had become her sister's 

 heir, and Hereditary Master (or Mistress) of the Buckhounds, 

 obtained livery of the Manor of Parva Weldon, otherwise 

 ** hunter's manor," Northampton, and the property of the 

 said Anne; of the manor and other premises in Weldon; of 

 the office of keeper of the King's Buckhounds, and the profits 

 thereof; and of all possessions held to the use of them and 

 their heirs. This Miss Edith Brocas having married Ralph 

 Pexsall, Esq., he, by virtue of his wife's inheritance, became 

 jointly with her the nominal Master of the Buckhounds to 

 Henry VIII. at this portion of his reign. Pexsall seems to 

 have found favour with the king and the cardinal ; was a 

 J.P. for several counties, and was appointed, with others, at 

 various times, a commissioner to collect the subsidy in 

 Hampshire. He was likewise appointed a teller of the royal 

 wardrobe, and had an appointment in Wolsey's train, when 

 the suite of his Eminence almost excelled that of the king. 

 He was Sheriff of Hants in 1527, 1529, and 1530. On 

 March 6, 1522, he was appointed Clerk of the Crown in 

 Chancery, with a salary of 201. a year and a livery similar 

 to Richard Sturgeon and Thomas Ive, his predecessors in 

 office, temp. Henry VII. The following year he obtained a 

 " corrody " in St. Mary's monastery, Thetford. On January 26, 



* At the present time there are two ladies in France who own and hunt 

 their own packs of staghoands — viz., the Duchesse d'Uzes, in the vicinity of 

 Rambouillet forest, and Mme. Quimet, from her chateau in the Saone-et-Loire. 



