A HISTORY OF DURHAM 



the manor of Trimdon *■* (q.v.). His daughter and 

 heir Elizabeth married William Beck\Yith/'^ and tliij 

 part of the manor has descended with Triradon to the 

 present owner, Mr. H. J. Beckwith of Millichope Park, 

 Salop.»« 



Elizabeth Claxton had by her first husband a son 

 Robert Conycrs, who succeeded her in 1507.'*'^ In 

 I 530 her part of the manor was held by Christopher 

 Conyers of Horden, son of Robert.*"* Before 1559, 

 however, it was alienated by the Horden branch to 

 Cuthbert Conyers of Layton." It followed the de- 

 scent of Layton, and was left 

 by Ralph Conyers ^^ in 1 6.} 2 

 to be sold for the benefit of 

 his daughter Eleanor, who 

 was both ' a papist and a 

 recusant.' " It was still unsold 

 in 1644, when it was seques- 

 tered among the possessions of 

 Colonel Cuthbert Conyers.'-" 

 In 1658 John Conyers of 

 Layton and Nicholas Conyers 

 of Bowlby, his cousin,^^ sold 

 all their land in Fishburn, late 

 of Sir Ralph Conyers, to 

 John Woodifield and Richard 



Wright.'" The estate was still under sequestration,'* 

 and it is not certain that the purch.isers came into 

 actual possession. It seems probable, however, that 

 this sale united the Conyers' share of the manor to 

 that of the Bulmcrs and that it subsequently descended 

 in the Woodifield and Beckwith families. 



The third share followed the descent of Haswell in 

 Easington (q.v.) in the Widdringlon fimily."'' John 

 Widdrington died seised of 

 it in 1 57 1, leaving a son 

 and heir Henry.'" In 

 1572 a settlement was made 

 by Henry and his brothers 

 Robert and William Widd- 

 rington.'"* In I 581 or 1582 

 Robert Widdrington did 

 homage for this third.'''' It 

 was perhaps sold by him to 

 Robert Farrow, who held it in 

 161 8 and died seised in 



CoNYKRS of Layton. 

 A-zuTt a ilee've or ivitk 

 the difference of a molet 

 gules. 



162 



His son Robert died 



W I D D*R I N G T O N . 



Quarterly argent and 

 gulet a hend :ahk. 



Chaytor of Croft, 

 b.ironet. Party bend- 

 iviie daneelty argent and 

 azure four ijuatrejhils 

 counter-coiouredt 



a few months later, leaving a 



son and heir another Robert,' who, according to 



Surtees, made a settlement of his Fishburn lands in 



1632 and died in 1674.= He is said to have been 

 succeeded by a son Nicholas who died in 1688, a 

 grandson Nicholas who died in 1 710, and a great- 

 grandson Nicholas who died in 1759.' Nicholas 

 Chilton, nephew of the last owner, inherited the estate,* 

 which in 1834 belonged to Farrow Chilton.' Miss 

 Chilton of Fishburn H.ill died in 1839." ^^" 

 estate belonged in 1857 to Robert Hall Nayler and 

 John Giles.' In 1878 the property was acquired by 

 the Chaytor family. Sir Wal- 

 ter Chaytor, bart., of Croft, 

 was succeeded in 191 3 by his 

 brother Sir Edmund H. Chay- 

 tor, who is owner of Fishburn 

 Hall, now a farm house, and 

 land here. 



A holding in Fishburn con- 

 sisting of 100 acres of arable 

 land and 2 acres of meadow 

 belonged in the middle of the 

 14th century to William de la 

 Pole, who held it of the Fish- 

 burn family for a pound of 

 pepper.' It followed the de- 

 scent of Bradbury (q.v.) in 



the de la Pole, Thornton and Lumley families' 

 till January 1557-8, when John Lord Lumley 

 granted his estate here to Robert Ayton.'** Ten years 

 before Robert Ayton had had a grant of 660 acres of 

 arable 1 md, meadow, pasture and moor here from 

 Thomas Burtcm and Gr.ice his wife and Ralph F'ish- 

 burn." He died in I 5 58, leaving daughters and heirs 

 Alice and Elizabeth.'^ Alice was the wife of Robert 

 Farrow, who later acquired one-third of the manor, 

 and her share was settled on Robert F'arro\v jun., son 

 of Robert, in 1571.'^ It subsequently followed the 

 descent of the Farrow lands as above described. Eliza- 

 beth married William Heighington,'^ and left a son 

 and heir Richard.''^ In 1599 Richard and his wife 

 Eleanor with John Girlington and Christian his wife 

 sold si.x messuages and 800 acres of arable land, 

 meadow and pasture to Joan Lee, widow,"' whose son 

 was described as 'of Fishburn' in 1615."' John 

 Lee with Robert Ridllngton and Jane his wife in 

 1629 conveyed some 590 acres of arable, meadow and 

 pasture land here to Sir Robert Blndloss kt., whose 

 lands here were sequestered in 1645."" The later 

 history of this estate is uncertain. Some land in 

 F'ishburn was retained by Richard Heighington, who 

 settled it on his son Henry in 1601.'^ Jane daughter 



^* Surtees, op. cit. i, 105 ; Dur. Rec. 

 cl. 12, no. 14 (4). 



^* Surtees, op. cit. 



'^ Burke, Landed Gentry. 



*' Dur. Rec. cl. 3, tile 171, nn. 

 10. 



** Ibid, file 177, no. 5; Surtees, op. 

 cit. i, 28. 



*' Dur. Rec. cl. 3, no. 6, fol. 51. 



»» Tenant in 1618 (Dur. Rec. cl. 3, 

 file 184, no. 105). 



^^ Rec. Com. for Comf}. (Surt. Soc), 

 1 1. 



" Ibid. 



^* See below, Layton. 



^^ Surtees, op. cit. iii, 51 n. 



9S Ibid. 



'^ Defi. Keeper's Ref>. xxxvi, 110; Dur. 

 Rec. cl. 3, no. 3, lol. 4;. 



^' Dur. Rec. cl. 3, file 191, no. 66. 



"Ibid. cl. 12, no. I (2); risit. of 

 Voth. (Harl. Soc), 349. 



" Dur. Rec. cl. 3, R. 85, m. 7. 



'«' Ibid, file 189, no. 71 ; file 184, 

 no. 105. Henry made a conveyance of 

 the manor in 1572 (Dur. Rec. cl. 12, 

 no. I [2]). 



' Ibid, file 189, no. 77. 



'- Surtees, op. cit. iii, 52. He made a 

 conveyance of a third of the manor to 

 Jerrard Pearson and John Myers in 1632 

 (Dur. Rec. cl. 3, R. 107, no. i; ; cl. 12, 

 no. 4 [2]). 



' Surtees, loc. cit. ; Fordyce, op. cit. ii, 



347- 



< Ibid. 



^ Mackenzie and Ross, I'ieiv of Co. 

 Paint, of Dur. i, 440. 



' Fordvce, op. cit. ii, 347. 



' Ibid.' 



328 



** Dep, Keeper'i Rep, xxxi, 96 ; Dur. 

 Rec. cl. 7,, no. 2, fol. 77 d. 



8 Dur. Rec. cl. 3, no. 2, fol. 150, 

 174 d., 184, 221 d. ; no. 4, fol. 35 ; no. 3, 

 fol. 5, 8. 



'" Dur. Rec. cl. 12, no. i (i). 



'> Ibid. 



>2 Ibid. cl. 3, file 178, no. 52, 



'8 Ibid. 12, no. I (2). 



>* Ibid. 



'* Foster, op. cit. 16 v 



^^ Surtees, op. cit. ill, 52 j cf. Dur. 

 Rec. cl. 3, file 184, no. 105, 



''' Foster, op. cit. 211. 



^"a Dur. Rec. cl. 12, no. 4 (2) ; Rec, 

 Com. for Comp. (Surt. Soc), 25. 



'^ Surtees, loc. cit. Henry Heighington 

 had done homage for land in Fishburn 

 twenty-four years before {Dep. Keeper's 

 Rep. xxxvii, 95). 



