A HISTORY OF HAMPSHIRE 



who were holding in her right two-thirds of a mes- 

 suage, 2 carucates of land, 2 acres of meadow, 

 100 acres of wood, besides other land in Totford, 

 Northington, Swarraton, and Burcot. In 1357 they 

 granted these lands to Richard Burton and his wife 

 Alice together with the remainder of the other third 

 due to Alice Bifleet at the death of John Hunger- 

 ford, to hold of them and the heirs of Alice Burton 

 for a yearly rent." The grant stipulated that, failing 

 heirs of the bodies of Richard Burton and his wife 

 Alice, the lands should revert to Thomas and Alice 

 Bifleet, and this seems to have occurred, for m the 

 following century the Bifleets were seised of con- 

 siderable lands in Northington." Robert Bifleet 

 held two messuages and certain land called North- 

 ington at his death 20 July, H88.' 3 He left an 

 infant son and heir John, who evidently did not live 

 to inherit the estate, for two years after Robert 

 Bifleet's death a certain Thomas Bifleet died seised of 

 land in Northington, and was succeeded by his 

 brother John Bifleet, then aged thirty." In May, 

 1635, Robert Bifleet, perhaps a grandson or great- 

 grandson of this John, settled the ' manor of North- 

 ington,' in Northington, Swarraton, and Totford, on 

 his son Thomas at the time of his marriage with 

 Mary Speake." In 1707 Francis Dickens and his 

 wife Rachael sold the manor of Northington, with 

 Totford and Swarraton, to Anthony Henley, 2 " with 

 whose estate at the Grange it has since descended. 



TOTFORD (Totteford xii cent.) " is not men- 

 tioned by name in the Domesday Book, but since it 

 was assessed at five hides in the thirteenth century it 

 may perhaps be identical with the five hides held of 

 the abbey in 1086 by Odo the Steward, which 

 were then worth 50^." William de Totford wit- 

 nessed a charter to Hyde Abbey in 1 1 9 1 ,' 9 and was 

 probably the William de Totford referred to in an 

 inscription M which has been taken from the north 

 wall of the old church. William was probably 

 succeeded by Robert de Totford, who witnessed a 

 grant to Roger Abbot of Hyde (1248-63)," and who 

 had a son John living in 1262." These were evi- 

 dently members of a family which held part of the 

 land now known as Totford. Later in the thirteenth 

 century the whole of Totford, consisting of five hides, 

 was held by Philip de Totford, Philip Butler, Peter 

 de Fraxino and Henry le Frankelyn by service of 

 one knight's fee to the abbot of Hyde. 83 Of these 

 five hides Philip Butler held one, which was appa- 

 rently annexed to the Butlers' neighbouring manor of 

 Brown Candover (q.v.) ; M another, which was held 

 by Peter de Fraxino, was acquired from his descen- 

 dant John de Fraxino 35 before 1346 by Philip of 

 Micheldever and Richard de Bordene, the former of 



whom doubtless added his moiety to his manor of 

 Mottisfont (q.v.) ; Henry le Frankelyn's hide was 

 afterwards divided between the abbot and Henry of 

 Northington, while the remaining two hides formed 

 the portion of Philip de Totford, and were probably 

 inherited from him by Robert de Totford, who was 



imiciucu 11 win "j ' , . . 



living in 1 272.'* In 1314-15 J ohn de Totford paid 

 scutage for two hides in Totford;" he was living 

 in 1341 when his name appears in the list of jurors 

 in an inquisition concerning lands in Brown Cand- 

 over and Northington. 38 He was succeeded by his 

 son John de Totford, whose daughter and heir, 

 Christine, was taken into the abbot's custody in 



1349 s9 when she was only four yearS 



abbot immediately sold the marriage of Christine, 

 together with the custody of her inheritance, to 

 Thomas Warner of Southampton, then receiver m 

 Winchester Castle, for 20 marks. 40 She married 

 Richard son of Richard de Candover, clerk, who did 

 homage for her inheritance in February, 1364-5, 

 and joined with his wife in 1387 in granting IO 

 marks rent from the manor of Totford to John 

 Maydeford, clerk, and his heirs for ever." Totford 

 seems to have passed to the Tichborne family, for in 

 1571 Elizabeth Tichborne, widow, joined with 

 William Rythe and his wife Margery in conveying 

 ' Totford manor,' with its appurtenances, including a 

 dove-cote to Richard Lee and William Sutton, 43 and 

 in February, 1584-5 Benjamin Tichborne of Tich- 

 borne sold the capital messuage called Totford with 

 its appurtenances in Northington and Swarraton, late 

 the inheritance of Ambrose Tichborne of West Tisted 

 to William Waller of Stoke Charity, saving only the 

 estates made for life to Mary Tichborne and to Mary 

 wife of William Rythe. 4 ' One-third of this pro- 

 perty was apparently retained by the Tichbornes, 

 while probably the other two-thirds were purchased 

 (with the Grange estate) by Sir Robert Henley. In 

 July, 1670, Susan Tichborne of Stoke Charity, with 

 the consent of Sir Robert Henley, knt., of North- 

 ington Grange, conveyed to John Henley of Crawley 

 one-third of the manor and demesne lands of Totford, 

 then late in the occupation of Robert Soper, and 

 one-third of Totford Inn in Brown Candover, during 

 the life of Richard Hunt the elder of Popham." 

 This was probably the same third of Totford that was 

 in the possession of Joseph Tichborne in 1717,'" 

 but the main part of the tenement was annexed to 

 the Grange park estate, with which it has since 

 descended. 



The priory of Christchurch had two virgates of 

 land in Northington which had been granted to it 

 in 1 249 by Matilda Breton, sister and heir of Roger 

 Breton, in exchange for a corrody equal to the 



K Feet of F. Hants, 31 Edw. Ill, 

 file 26, No. 1 8. 



M Thomas on of Thomas Bifleet was 

 impleaded with Sir William Cobham for 

 unjust disseisin of lands in Northington 

 and elsewhere in 1373, but was acquitted 

 since the land in question was at Burcot, 

 to which he laid no claim. Assize R. 

 1476, m. II. 



Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), vol. 3, 

 No. 107. 



1" Ibid. vol. 15, No. 22. 



Ibid. 1 8 Chas. I, pt. I, vol. 4.98, 

 No. 19. 



26 Feet of F. Hants, Trin. 6 Anne. 



2 " In Edmund's charter concerning 

 Basing, dated 945, part of the land was 



said to lie near Totdesford. Liber dt 

 Hyda (Rolls Ser.), 145. 



! V.C.H. Hants, i, 4700. 



" Harl. 1761, No. 38. 



80 ' Conceduntur et confirmantur pro 

 anima Willelmi De Toteford 240 dies 

 indulgencie.' For a print of the stone 

 thus inscribed see Duthy, Sketches of 

 Ham f shirt, 147. 



81 Harl. 1761, No. 22. 

 8" Ibid. No. 50. 



88 Testa de Nevill (Rec. Com.), 232*. 



84 For the division of the five hides 

 among the four tenants see Feud. Aids, 

 ii, 329. 



86 Harl. 1761, No. 101. 



86 Ibid. 69. 87 Ibid. 138. 



88 Chan. Inq. a.q.d. vol. 259, No. 3. 



89 Harl. 1761, fol. 173. In 1346 a 

 John de Hampton held two hides in 

 Totford (Feud. Aids, ii, 329), possibly he 

 was this same John de Totford under 

 another name, or he may have been hold- 

 ing the land during the minority of the 

 heir. 



< Harl. 1761, fol. 137. 



Ibid. 173. 



"Feet of F. Hants, Trin. II Ric. II, 

 48. 



Ibid. Mich. 13-14 Eliz. 



Com. Pleas Deeds Enr. Hil. 27 

 Eliz. 1 3 d. 



5 Ibid. Mich. 22 Chas. II, 14. 



Recov. R. East. 4 Geo. I, 203. 



39 6 



