EDWINSTREE HUNDRED 



ASPENDEN WITH 

 WAKELEY 



JocKLYN. Azure a 

 fwisted "wreath of argent 

 and sable ivith foitr 

 Aawks' bells or attached 

 thereto. 



right in it to his son William/' who died before 

 1426," when his heirs, John Hughessen of Ashwell 

 and Elizabeth wife of John Gierke, senior, of Ardeley, 

 conveyed all their right to John Gierke, citizen of 

 London, and Thomas Gierke, clerk." In January 

 1450-1 the manor was held 

 by Thomas Smyth, Joan 

 Wendy and Thomas Pilche, 

 who sold it in that year to 

 Ralph Jocelyn, citizen and 

 draper of London, and Philippa 

 his wife." Ralph was son of 

 Geoffrey Jocelyn of Sawbridge- 

 worth. In 1464 and 1477 

 he was Lord Mayor of Lon- 

 don," and in 1465 was made 

 a knight of the Bath." On 

 the death of his wife Philippa 

 he married Elizabeth daughter 

 of William Barley. He left 

 no issue at his death in 1478." 

 The manor of Aspenden had been settled on his 

 wife Elizabeth," who married as her second husband 

 Sir Robert Clifford," a prominent supporter of the 

 Perkin Warbeck conspiracy, who afterwards obtained 

 his pardon and a substantial reward by betraying the 

 names of his fellow-conspirators. He died in 1508'° 

 and his widow Dame Elizabeth Clifford about 1526." 

 In 1527 their son Thomas Clifford conveyed the 

 manor to trustees for Agnes Marsh, widow of Thomas 

 Marsh, citizen and mercer of London,*' who died 

 seised in 1528, when Aspenden descended to her son 

 William Byrche.'' 



In 1537 the manor was held by Edward Viscount 

 Beauchamp, afterwards Duke of Somerset and Pro- 

 tector, and Anne his wife, daughter of Sir Edward 

 Stanhope, in her right, and they conveyed it to 

 Thomas Pope, treasurer of the Court of Augmenta- 

 tions.'^ This may have been in trust for Thomas 

 Lord Audley, for he held at his death in 1544." 

 It then apparently came to the king, who mort- 

 gaged it to John Gierke and others." It was re- 

 deemed shortly afterwards, and in 1 549 it was granted 

 on a sixty years' lease to John Philpot, groom of the 

 king's privy chamber.*' In 1553 John Philpot ob- 

 tained entire possession of the manor," and in March 

 1579-80 he granted the reversion of it after his 

 death to Henry Sadleir and Dorothy his wife.*' 

 Dorothy probably died before 1 604, for in that year 

 Henry Sadleir with his wife Ursula conveyed the 





Freeman of Aspen- 

 den. A%ure three 

 lozenges argent. 



manor to Thomas Crouch and George Freeman,™ 

 apparently in trust for William and Ralph Freeman, 

 who married the two daughters of John Crouch,'' and 

 to whom in 1607 Henry and Ursula confirmed all 

 their rights in the manor, with remainder to the heirs 

 of William."^ William and 

 Ralph were merchants of Lon- 

 don and lived together at 

 Aspenden Hall."' Ralph Free- 

 man, who was Lord Mayor of 

 London, died in 1634. In 

 1623 William died and his 

 son Ralph succeeded him." 

 He held the manor" until his 

 death in 1665, retiring from 

 all public life during the Civil 

 War.*' His son and heir Ralph 

 was a justice of the peace 

 and deputy lieutenant of the 

 county." During his tenure 

 of the manor '* he cased Aspenden Hall in brick.*' 

 He died in 1714 and was succeeded by his son 

 Ralph,™ M.P. for the county in 1722, who died in 

 1742." He left three sons, William, Gatesby, who 

 died unmarried the same year as his father, and 

 Ralph Freeman, D.D." William died in 1749, 

 when the manor passed to Dr. Ralph Freeman," 

 who had been presented to the rectory of Aspenden 

 in 1743." At his death in 1772 he left no issue 

 and Aspenden passed by the terms of his will to 

 Philip Yorke, the son of the Hon. Charles Yorke 

 and Catherine the only daughter and heiress of Ralph's 

 brother William Freeman." 

 Philip Yorke sold the manor 

 in 1 785 to John Boldero,"who 

 already held Aspenden Hall." 

 John Boldero died in 1789." 

 His son Charles Boldero left 

 no issue, and Aspenden passed 

 to his nephew Sir Henry Lush- 

 ington, bart., son of Hester 

 Boldero, who had died in 

 1830." Sir Henry was suc- 

 ceeded in 1863 by his son 

 Sir Henry Lushington, bart.,™ 

 who died in 1897. His son 

 Sir Henry Lushington only 

 survived him a year, and Aspen- 

 den then descended to Maj. Sir Arthur Patrick Douglas 

 Lushington, bart.," the present lord of the manor. 



Lushington. Or u 



fesse ivazy bet^ween three 

 lions' heads razed "vert 

 ivith three ermine tails 

 or on the fesse. 



ifl* 



nvif 



" Anct. D. {P.R.O.), B 154. 



■" See Close, 6 Hen. VI, m. 14. 



" Ibid. 



« Anct. D. (P.R.O.), B 157. 



^^ Stowe, Survey of London (ed. J. 

 Strype), i, 122. 



^^Shawr, Knights of England, i, 134; 

 see Holinshed, Chron. of Engl, ii, 690, 

 702 for further facts about him. 



*'' Visit, of Essex (Harl. Soc), 228 ; 

 Chan. Inq. p.m. 18 Edw. IV, no 28. 



^ Chan. Inq. p.m. 18 Edw. IV, no. 28. 



" Visit, of Essex (Harl. Soc), 228. 



*" M. I. in church. 



*' Her will was proved in 1526. See 

 P.C.C. 9 Porch. 



'"See Feet of F. Herts. Trin. 19 

 Hen. VIII ; Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), 

 li, 29; Ct. R. (Gen. Sen), portf. 176, 

 no. 126. 



*^ Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), li, 29. 



" Feet of F. Herts. East. 29 Hen. VIII. 



" See L. and P. Hen. VIII, xix (2), 

 g. 1 66 (56). 



« Ibid, (i), 891 (iv). 



" ActsofP.C. 1547-50, p. 389. 



'5 Ibid. 1552-4, p. 287; Pat. 7 

 Edw. VI, pt. xi, m. 29. 



*' Pat. 22 Eliz. pt. ix, m. 24 ; Feet of 

 F. Herts. East. 22 Eliz. 



«" Feet of F. Herts. East. 2 Jas. I. 



6' M. I. 



^^ Feet of F. Herts. Trin. 5 Jas. I. 



^ Chauncy, Hist. Antiq. of Herts. 

 122. 



" Ibid. 



«* See Feet of F. Div. Co. Hil. 13 & 

 14 Chas. II. 



^^ Chauncy, loc. cit. 



«' Ibid. 



68 See Feet of F. Div. Co. Trin. 28 

 Chas. II i Hil. 1 1 Will. III. 



19 



^ Chauncy, loc. cit. 



™ Clutterbuck, Hist, and Antiq. of 

 Herts, iii, 348. 



" Cussans, op. cit. Braughing Hund. 

 1 96 ; M. I. Ralph Freeman's name appears 

 in the Inst. Bks. (P.R.O.) as presenting 

 to the rectory in 1743, but this must be 

 ■A mistake for William Freeman his son. 



'^ Cussans, loc. cit. See Hamells in 

 Branghing Hundred. 



'* See Recov. R. East. 23 Geo. II, 

 rot. 323. 



'* Clutterbuck, op. cit. iii, 351. 



" See Close, 25 Geo. Ill, pt. xxii. 



'« Ibid, no, 8, 9. 



" Ibid. ; Clutterbuck, loc. cit. 



™ M. I. in church. 



" G.E.C. Complete Baronetage, -i, 



80 Ibid. 



8' Ibid. 



267. 



