72 A TOPOGRAPHICAL 



the north by the river Ely the; and on the west by the manor of 

 Colton, in the hundred of Pire-hill. 



After the Conquest, this manor was given by William I. to 

 Roger de Montgomery : another adventurous follower of the Con- 

 queror, named Azeline, held it under him. It probably passed from 

 Azeline to the family of Mavesyn, in right of blood ; for tradition 

 asserts, that " the Mavesyns, sithens the Conqueste, were, and have 

 been ever, in possession of Ridware."* 



This manor continued in the possession of the Mavesyn family 

 during ten generations. In the year 1403, Sir Robert Mavesyn, 

 Knight, was slain at the battle of Shrewsbury. A feud had previ- 

 ously existed between this gentleman and Sir William Handsacre ; 

 and their animosity was influenced by the civil war. An authentic 

 account of the termination of the quarrel between these Knights is 

 preserved in Latin, in the British Museum, to the following purport : 

 " The river Trent flows with a clear stream by Mavesyn Ridware, 

 so called, because on its northern bank is situated the ancient inhe- 

 ritance of the Malvesyns. The inhabitants say that a jealousy sub- 

 sisting between the families of Mauvesin and Handsacre, it so hap- 

 pened when Henry IV. had obtained the crown of England from 

 Richard II. and it was rumoured that Percy, of Northumberland, 

 was in arms against the King, Mauvesin had ridden forth with 

 six or seven of his vassals on the part of King Henry ; it chanced also 

 that Handsacre, who espoused the opposite cause, had left home the 

 same day with an equal number of attendants, to join Percy. These 

 rivals met, and inflamed with rage, rushed furiously to battle 

 Handsacre was slain ; and the victorious Mauvesin, proud of his 

 conquest, marching to Shrewsbury, there lost his life, fighting 

 valiantly for the King." Mavesyn and Handsacre fought on an 

 open flat meadow, just above High Bridge, in Mavesyn Ridware, 

 lying on the side of the Trent, between their respective mansions, 

 which are in sight of each other. Sir Robert left behind him two 

 daughters. Margaret, the younger daughter, became the wife of 

 Sir William Handsacre, Knight, and thus terminated a feud which 

 had been so fatal. Sir John Carvarden, Knight, married Elizabeth, 

 the eldest daughter and co-heiress of Sir Robert Mavesyn ; and the 

 manor devolved on their descendants for seven generations. In the 

 eighth year of James the First, A. D. 1611, this mansion audits 

 dependencies were possessed by Gerard Stanley, gent, of Harlaston, 



* Mauesyne Ridware briefs, temp. Edward IV. 



