A HISTORY OF BEDFORDSHIRE 



Scanty reference has been found from the fifteenth 

 century onwards to ESTONS MANOR in Holme 

 belonging to the family of Eston. In 1484 Thomas 

 Eston and Christina his wife conveyed this so-called 

 manor by fine to William Finderne and others under 



Westminster 

 Abbey. Gules St, 

 Peter' f keys crossed or. 



trust for re-conveyance." Some years later, in I 5 1 6, 

 Richard Eston, probably a son of Thomas, died seised 

 of lands and tenements in Holme," leaving a son 

 Thomas aged six, who in 1549 did homage at the 

 Biggleswade court for a messuage and a virgate of 

 land inherited from his father." The later history 

 of this property may be inferred from an extract from 

 a Biggleswade Manor Court Roll {c. 1660) by 

 which customary lands which had formerly belonged 

 to Thomas Eston, then to William Plomer, were 

 transferred by Sir Edward Alford and others to 

 Erasmus de la Fontaine." No further mention of 

 this property has been found. 



Ralph de Lisle owned two mills in his manor of 

 Biggleswade which were worth 47/. at the time of 

 Domesday." In 161 1 these mills were separated 

 from the manor and granted to Edward Ferrers and 

 Francis Philips." Stratton manor appears to have 

 had a water-mill attached to it in 1436, in which 

 year John Enderby conveyed it to John Broughton 

 and other trustees." There was a free fishery in the 

 waters of Biggleswade manor during the sixteenth and 

 seventeenth centuries.** 



Biggleswade is an ancient BOROUGH by prescrip- 

 tion which has never received a charter of incorpora- 

 tion or returned members to Parliament. Small but 

 undoubted traces of Roman remains have been dis- 

 covered," and the early importance of Biggleswade 

 as an agricultural centre was probably owing to its 

 favourable position on the Roman road to the north. 

 The earliest mention that has been found of burgage 

 tenure is in 1247, when Sewel de Haswell alienated a 

 burgage to Henry le Sweyn." In 1293 the burgesses 

 of Biggleswade claimed from Bishop Sutton the right 

 of leaving their burgages by will by a certain charter 

 which granted them ' liberties and customs which are 

 observed in other boroughs.' The bishop ordered an 

 inquiry into the validity of such claim, the result of 

 which does not appear.** 



Biggleswade was a mesne borough which grew up 



under the protection of the bishop of Lincoln, to 

 whom the manor was granted in 1 1 3 2 by Henry I.'" 

 In 1547 it passed by exchange into the possession of 

 the crown," and subsequently was held with the 

 manor (q.v.) by the stewards. There were two 

 courts baron belonging to Biggleswade, one of which 

 was for the borough and the other a forinsec court 

 for dealing with the district outside the borough ; " 

 there were also courts leet held twice a year," 

 kept by the steward of the manor to whom a yearly 

 fee was paid, which in 1649 was 26/. idJ* There 

 was also a reeve elected by tenants with the consent 

 of the lord for the collection of rents, who received 

 14/. per annum, and a beadle who received 7/." The 

 burgage tenants paid 4//. on descent or alienation of 

 land as a fine to the lord of the manor, and the rents 

 of assize within the manor in 1649 amounted to 

 j^2 2 6s. o\d." The borough courts were held as 

 late as 1670, at which date Biggleswade formed part 

 of the possessions of the dowager queen Henrietta 

 Maria." In 1830 a contemporary writer says of 

 Biggleswade, ' In ancient records it is called the 

 borough and foreign of Biggleswade, and it hath now 

 its bailiwick or franchise to which the tolls of the 

 market and fairs are payable. The present proprie- 

 tor is Mr. Simeon Sill.' " Biggleswade has always 

 been an agricultural centre owing to its favourable 

 position and its early privileges as a market town. 

 In 1227 Henry III confirmed a market to Bishop 

 Hugh, which was granted by King John to be held 

 freely and without interruption," and in the four- 

 teenth century the bishops of Lincoln successfully 

 claimed a Monday market." This market was again 

 confirmed by Henry VIII in 1528," and when in 

 1 547 the manor passed to the crown the right to hold 

 a market continued to be attached to it. Thomas 

 Margetts in 1662 petitioned successfully to have the 

 market day altered from Monday to Wednesday," on 

 which day a market is still held. 



The bishops of Lincoln also held from the earliest 

 times at least one fair annually in Biggleswade. In 

 1228 its date was altered from the Feast of the 

 Assumption (15 August) to Holy Cross Day 

 (14 September)." This fair was confirmed to the 

 bishop in 1528, and in addition two other yearly 

 fairs of three days' duration were granted to be held 

 on the Feasts of St. Mary Magdalene (22 July) and 

 of Sts. Simon and Jude (28 October)." Edward 

 Ditchfield, as lessee of the manor, received other fairs 

 on Whit Monday and the Feast of the Purification 

 (2 February) in 163 1," and Camden notes Biggles- 

 wade as famous for its horse fair and its stone bridge.* 

 Defoe's Tour styles it ' one of the greatest markets in 

 England for barley.' At the present day five fairs, 

 corresponding to these various grants, are held on 

 1 4 February, Saturday in Easter week, Whit Monday, 

 27 September, and 8 November. 



The straw-plait trade formed one of the staple 

 industries of Biggleswade from the eighteenth century. 



«» Feet of F. Bed.. 2 Ric. III. The 

 manor waa warranted to them against 

 John abbot of St. Peter, Westminster, 

 who had obtained very extensive privileges 

 in Holme by charter of 1399. 



'" Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), xi. No. 2. 



61 Ct. R. portf. 153, No. 9. 



6" Westm. Abbey, MSS. Ct. R. 



«» F.CJI. Beds, i, 2560. 



" Pat. 8 Jas. I, pt. 33, No. 6. 



«* Add. Chart. 352+2. 



" Pat. 18 Eliz. pt. 



33- 



13 ; 4 Chas. I, pt. 

 *7 See above, p. 6. 



68 Feet of F. Beds. 3 1 Hen. Ill, No. 28. 

 6' Line. Epis. Reg. 

 '6 Dugdale, Mon. vi, 1271. 

 71 Pat. I Edw. VI, pt. 5. 

 7»Parl. Surv.No. 16, Beds. ; Ct. R. 

 portf. 153, No. 10. 



?»Ct. R. portf. 153, No. II. 



^* Pari. Surv. No. 16, Beds. 



" Ibid. 7« Ibid. 



212 



T! Ct. R. portf. 153, No. II. 

 7' Gent. Mag. 1830, pt. 2, p. 19. 

 7» Cal. Rot. Chart. (Rec Com.) 33. 

 86 Plac. de Quo Warr. (Rec Com.), 42. 

 81 Pat. 19 Hen. VIII, pt. 2. 

 8« Ibid. 12 Chas. II, pt. 17. 

 88 Close, 15 Hen. Ill, No. 7 5 Plac. de 

 Quo Pfarr. (Rec Com.), 42. 

 8^ Pat. 19 Hen. VIII, pt. 2. 

 8» Ibid. 6 Chas. I, pt. 33. 

 86 Camden, Magna Britannia^ i, 324. 



