A HISTORY OF BEDFORDSHIRE 



Kktnsham. Farty 

 argent and amure three 

 roses countercoloured. 



late as 1346;*° between that date and 1428 it had 

 passed to the College of Northill in Bedfordshire, 

 founded at the beginning of the reign of Henry IV," 

 and remained in its possession till the Dissolution, 

 when the temporalities of the college in Tempsford 

 consisted of 13/. •^^d. rent of 

 free tenants, and 6s. SJ. by the 

 bailiff of Tempsford." In 1550 

 the manor was granted by Ed- 

 ward VI to William Fitz- 

 william," who three years later 

 alienated it to Thomas Shef- 

 field,'" and he in 1565 trans- 

 ferred it to George Keyn- 

 sham." 



He, at his death in 1593, 

 left a grandson, George, as 

 heir," but his wife Eliza- 

 beth, subsequently married to 



Francis Gill, held Tempsford till her death in 

 1 605,"^ when George Keynsham succeeded to the 

 property." He became insane in 1639, *°<^ '^^ 

 manor passed to his daughter Anne, then fourteen 

 years of age." She married Anthony St. John the 

 same year, and died in 1700," and from her the 

 manor appears to have passed at some time to Henry 

 fiendish, who held this property at his death in 

 1753." He left two daughters as co-heirs, Mary 

 Berners and Elizabeth Hagar," 

 who in 1772 sold the Temps- 

 ford property to Sir Gillias 

 Payne.'' His grandson. Sir 

 Charles Payne, held Temps- 

 ford, Drayton and Brayes 

 manors in 1814,*° and in 1830 

 sold them to William Stuart," 

 whose grandson,Lieut.-Colonel 

 Dugald Stuart, at present owns 

 this property. 



In the late thirteenth cen- 

 tury DRArTON'S MANOR 

 was separated from Tempsford 

 manor (q.v.). Miles de Drayton, who rendered feudal 

 service for his manor in 1 316," was before 1 346 suc- 

 ceeded by a son Geoffrey.*' By 1428 this manor had 

 become the possession of Robert Scott," whose daughter 

 and heiress, Elizabeth, transferred it to her daughter, 

 Margaret Sheffield, as appears from an inquisition 

 taken at her death in 1 52 5." Thomas Sheffield, in 



Payne. Gules afesse 

 between two lions passant 

 argent. 



1565-6, alienated Drayton's manor to George Keyn- 

 sham, who had at the same time acquired Tempsford 

 manor (q.v.), and the two manors thus reunited have 

 not since been separated." 



The origin of a third manor in Tempsford, MOSS- 

 BURr alias SARNES, is to be found in the i hide 

 i\ virgate of land which the bishop of Lincoln 

 owned in Tempsford at the time of the Domesday 

 Survey." There are evidences that the bishop con- 

 tinued to be overlord till 1428,*' after which the 

 right lapsed, and in 1480 it is stated to be held of 

 the king in chief." William de Carun held this 

 property of the bishop in 1086," and it remained 

 with the de Caruns until 1228, when Walter de 

 Carun alienated it to John de Loring," who in 1 2 3 1 

 transferred this land to Nicholas de Cernes, from 

 whom the manor derives its distinctive name," and 

 in 1284 one of the same name was holding half a fee 

 in Tempsford of the bishop of Lincoln." In 1297 

 Nicholas conveyed property in Tempsford to the 

 abbot of St. Mary's, Stratford," who retained pos- 

 session of it till 1332, when the abbot obtained a 

 licence to grant to John Morice and his wife Agnes 

 the land which he possessed in Tempsford," and 

 accordingly in 1346 John Morice is to be found 

 holding the fee of the bishop." Between this date 

 and 1428 the manor passed to Thomas Fulthorp, 

 though the method of transference has not been 

 ascertained." His grandson, John Dale," died seised 

 of this manor in 1480," and his son, William Dale, 

 left the property in 1537 to adaughter, Joan, married 

 to William Woolascote," and their son, William 

 Woolascote, in 1596 alienated Mossbury or Sarnes 

 manor to Laurence Saunderson," whose grandson 

 John held it in 1669." His sister Anne, widow of 

 Robert Hasleden in 1683 conveyed the manor to 

 John Wilshire and other trustees.^ Very little further 

 has been found concerning this manor ; in 1737 

 Barwell Colling owned it," and in 1803 William 

 Colling Cumming, with othen, transferred it to 

 Godfrey Thornton." At the present day a farm of 

 the same name exists in Tempsford. 



In the two hides which Richard Pungiant held in 

 Tempsford of the king " is to be found the origin of 

 a fourth manor, BRATES, in this parish. This 

 manor was held in 1 324 of the prior of Wallingford 

 by service of 40/. yearly," but no further mention has 

 been found of any overlordship. 



It has not been found possible to connect Richard 



2« Feud. Aids, i, 23. ^ Ibid. 37. 



^ Valor Eccl. (Rec Com.), iv, 196. 

 29 Pat. 3 Edw. VI, pt. I. 

 »» Ibid. 6 Edw. VI, pt. 2. 

 8' Ibid. 7 Eliz. pt. 7, m. 26 j Mem. R. 

 L.T.R. Mich. 7 Eliz. 



82 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), cczxxvii, 

 No. 115. 



83 Ibid, cclxxzviii, No. 147 ; Feet of F. 

 Beds. Mich. 35 Eliz. 



'■■ Fine R. 4 Jas. I, pt. 2, No. 30. 

 8* Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), cccclxzxviii. 

 No. 104. 



88 Blaydcs, Gen, Bedfordiensis, 284, 



87 Beds, N, and Q. ii, 269. 



88 Land. Mag. xli, 330. 



8» Add. MSS. 9408 i Lysons, Mag. 

 Brit, i, 139. 



1" Recov. R. Trin. 54 Geo. Ill, rot. 20, 

 141 i G. E. C Baronetage, vi, 8. 



"Ibid. i' Feud. Aids, i, ig. 



"8 Ibid. 23. « Ibid. 37. 



*' Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser, 2), lxxxi,No. 22. 



"• Ibid, ccxxxvii. No. 115; Recov. R. 

 Mich. 8 Eliz. rot. 645. Drayton's manor 

 docs not appear, however, to have be- 

 come immediately merged in Tempsford 

 manor, for Sir Charles Payne, who re- 

 covered his Tempsford property in 1 8 14, 

 suffered a separate recovery for each of 

 these manors (Recov. R.Trin. 54 Geo. Ill, 

 rot. 141, 20). <7 r.CH, Beds, i, 227J. 



■•8 Feud, Aids, i, 3, 23, 37 ; Testa de 

 Nevill (Rec. Com.), 243. 



■" Chan. Inq. p.m. 19 Edw. IV, No. 9. 



80 r,C,H. Beds, i, 227a. 



81 Feet of F. Beds. 12 Hen. Ill, No. 

 42. The extent is here 2 hides. 



'"Ibid. 16 Hen. Ill, m. 20. 



88 Feud, Aids, i, 3 i Testa de Nevill 

 (Rec. Com.), 243. 



»■• Feet of F. Beds. Mich. 17 Edw. I. 

 This grant consisted of two mills and 

 their appurtenances, and 4 acres i rood 

 of land only, so it is probable there was a 

 subsequent grant of land to the abbey. 



252 



88 Cat. of Pat. 1330-4, p. 375. Moss- 

 bury, the alternative name of this manor, 

 was probably originally Morice-bury. 



88 Feud. Aids, i, 23. 



87 Ibid. 37. 



8» Wrottesley, Pedigrees from Plea R. 

 465. 



88 Chan. Inq. p.m. 19 Edw. IV, No. 

 9. This is the first time the property is 

 definitely called a manor. 



8» Ibid. (Ser. 2), Iviii, No. 48. 



81 Feet of F. Beds. Trin. 38 Eliz. 



85 Ibid. Mich. 9 Jas. I; Mich. 21 

 Chas. II i Blaydes, Gen, Bedfordiensis, 



88 Blaydes, Gen, Bedfordiensis, 285 : Feet 

 of F. Beds. East. 35 Chas. II. 



8^ Ibid. East. 10 Geo. II 5 Recov. R. 

 East. 10 Geo. II. 



88 Feet of F. Beds. Mich. 43 Geo. III. 



88 KCH, Beds, i, 252*. 



87 Chan. Inq. p.m. 17 Edw. II, No. 

 17. The extent of the property was 2 

 hides. 



