1 34 EARLY HISTORY OF THE MOUNT EDGCUMBE FAMILY. 



John de Eltliam having died in 1336, the matter came before 

 the Council of Edward the Black Prince, who had been created 

 Duke of Cornwall by Charter of the King in 1337. In the first 

 place John de Brendon, eldest son of Maude de Brandon, claimed 

 the wardship and marriage of Hillaria, as his mother's heir ; 

 and by an Order in Council, dated March 1, 1352, the Prince 

 declares that they belong to himself, and that he has sold them 

 to the said John (so that she be married without disparage- 

 ment) for forty shillings (solez) to be paid to the feodary of the 

 Duchy. By a subsequent order he commands his dear 

 " Vadlet " John Dabnoun de Bradford, the said feodary, or 

 keeper of the fees of Cornwall and Devon, to deliver to this 

 John de Brendon the body of the said heiress, to be married as 

 aforesaid, on payment of the money ; and again in a third Order 

 commands that the said John be allowed to take her lands and 

 tenements for his advantage and profit, ' ' in case that in any 

 marriage offered to her she shall not be disparaged, within the 

 time ordained by the statute, and that she has refused." 



On further investigation, however, the feodary learns that 

 Maude de Brendon on her death bed appointed another son, 

 Thomas, and his sister Joan, to be her executors, and bequeathed 

 to them by will the wardship of the body and lands of Hillaria. 

 One Mons. Walter de Wodeford (whom the Prince calls " our 

 dear Bachelor ") has also stated that the contested wardship was 

 sold to him by the said Thomas, and at the same time Hillaria 

 herself claims to be of full age of 14 years and upwards, and 

 prays to have letters of enquiry as to her age, so that she may 

 have the benefit of the statute, which would free her from 

 control in the matter of her marriage. Wherefore the Prince, 

 on 27th March, 1353, issues fresh orders to his steward and 

 feodary. "We command you," he says, " that you caR the 

 parties before you, if they are willing to come, and, the things 

 on the one hand and the other being properly tried, that you 

 cause the "livery" to be made to him who ought in right to 

 have it. And, if what is needed cannot be duly tried before 

 you, that you certify to us distinctly all the aforesaid things, and 

 the rights claimed by each party." 



I have no record of the issue of this enquiry, but as the 

 young heiress was born in the days of John de Eltham, who had 

 been dead at least 16 years, she must have found it easy to 



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