sporting and Rural Records of the Cheveley Estate. 55 



St. Edmunds in 1653 and 1656; and with John Clarke, Esq., for the Stonehall in 



CO. Suffolk, in 1654. In the reigns of Charles II., James II., oulton. 



William III., and Queen Anne, Sir Thomas Willes, Bart., was lord 



of the manor, from whom it passed to Sir Robert Davers. Sir 



Jermyn Davers, fourth baronet, sold it to the Duke of Somerset. 



It may be noted, in passing, that the hospitality associated with 



this place apparently continued to be observed, as we read that at 



the last harvest home over which Sir Jermyn Davers presided, in 



1735, there were six quarts of punch served up in a turnip scooped The big turnip. 



out for the purpose, and which measured in circumference one 



yard seven inches. The exterior was ornamented with several 



agricultural devices, and bore an inscription in gilt letters, " God 



speed the Plough, and give us Plenty." The turnip when entire 



weighed 261b. 



Thomas Willys, Esq., of Eyehall, Cambridgeshire, married Joan, The Willys 

 daughter of Martin Fowkes, Esq., of Westley and Burwell, and had two Family. 



sons and one daughter. From his eldest son descended Thomas Willys, 

 Esq., of Fen Ditton, who was created a baronet December 15, 1641. He 

 was lord of the manor of Stonehall, in Moulton, from 167 1 to the time 

 of his death, November 17, 1 701, in the ninetieth year of his age, and 

 was succeeded by his son, Sir John Willys, who died August 9, 1704, 

 aged sixty-eight. Sir Thomas Willys, his son and heir, conveyed the 

 manor of Stonehall, about the year 1707, to Sir Robert Davers. Sir 

 Thomas Willys died June 17, 17 15, when he was succeeded by his 

 only surviving son, Sir Thomas Willys, at whose decease, unmarried, 

 the title devolved on his cousin, Sir Thomas Willys, who also died, 

 unmarried, in 1726, when he was succeeded by his brother. Sir William 

 Willys, the sixth baronet. He died April 14, 1732, when the baronetcy 

 became extinct. His estate at Fen Ditton was purchased by Sarah 

 Duchess of Marlborough for her granddaughter, Lady Mary Godolphin, 

 and was part of her marriage portion. Her husband, Thomas Duke of 

 Leeds, having procured an Act of Parliament for the purpose, sold it in 

 1749 to Thomas Panton, Esq., of Newmarket. 



The Davers family is supposed to descend from John Davers, of Worm- The Davers 

 inghall, co. Buckingham. His son and heir, John, married Isabel, daughter Family. 



of Sir John Wriothesley, Garter King-at-arms. Their descendant, Robert 

 Davers, having acquired a large fortune in Barbadoes, purchased Rougham 



