CLIFTON HUNDRED 



SHILLINGTON 



acquired by the abbey in mortmain without licence 

 had been forfeited to the crown and regranted to 

 Thomas Fauconer." 



Shillington manor remained in the possession of 

 the abbey till its dissolution, at which time its value 

 was assessed at £SS zs. lod}^ 



In 1540 Henry Bord was made bailiff,*" and 

 Shillington then became part of the honour of Ampt- 

 hill. It was conferred on the Princess Elizabeth in 

 1 55 1," and later formed part of the dower of Anne 

 wife of James I.'* 



During the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries the 

 site of the mansion-house of the manor was leased out 

 by the crown, which reserved to itself the right of hold- 

 ing court leet and view of frankpledge in the manor/' 



In 1594 George Rotherham held it on a twenty- 

 one years lease,'* and in 1625 the king leased the 

 manor for ninty-nine years to Sir Henry Hobart and 

 others, as trustees," who transferred it three years 

 later to Anthony Chester,*^ whose son Henry was 

 holding in 1662." 



In 1 7 1 1 (three years before the expiration of this 

 lease), Roger Gillingham sold to John Borrett for 

 / 1,340 the annual rent of ^78 6s. z^d. from the 

 manor of Shillington, which rent had been purchased 

 in 1678 of Dr. Peter Barwick.^* 



Nothing further has been found concerning this 

 manor until in 1764 John Briscoe left by his will 

 Shillington Bury to Henry earl of Essex for life 

 with remainder to Margaret Arnold and Frances 

 Skegness, daughters of Grey Longueville." Upon the 

 death of the earl in 1800, the property came in 

 moieties to Grey Arnold, the great-grandson of 

 Margaret, and to Bridget Frances Anne, granddaughter 

 of Frances Skegness.™ About the middle of the nine- 

 teenth century, Shillington Bury, till then the property 

 of Miss Profit, was purchased by Mr. Hanscombe, 

 whose son Mr. Wm. Hanscombe owns it at the pre- 

 sent day.^^ 



The first mention that has been found of a second 

 manor in Shillington, afterwards called SHILLING- 

 TON or JSPLET BURT, held of the abbot of 

 Ramsey, is in 1476, when Thomas Lawley transferred 

 this so-called manor to Thomas Rotherham arch- 

 bishop of York," who left it at his death in 1500 to 

 Thomas Rotherham, son of his brother John.'* 

 Thomas Rotherham was succeeded by his son 



Thomas, who conveyed the manor to a son, a third 



Thomas and his wife Alice, for their lives.'' George, 



their son, held the manor from 



1561 to iSgg,'* and his son 



John, having succeeded him, 



appears to have alienated this 



manor, as in the case of Luton 



(q.v.) to Sir Robert Napier," 



for in 165 1 he was holding a 



court at Shillington,'" and like 



Luton it remained in this 



family to the death of Sir John 



Napier in 1 7 14." In 1748 



the manorial court was held 



by Sir Conyers D'Arcy, and in 



1759 ^y '^^ ^^^^ °f Holderness,'* who in 1760 sold 



the property to Joseph Musgrave," and henceforward 



it follows the same descent as Aspley Bury manor (q.v.) 



in the same parish. 



No mention of the so-called manor of jiSPLET 

 or JSPLSr BURr has been found before 1503, in 

 which year Ralph Lane conveyed one-third of this 

 manor to Thomas Montague and Mary his wife for 

 life, with reversion to himself." He died in possession 

 of this manor in 1 541," and was succeeded by his 

 son Robert, who was holding in 1 5 56, in which 



Rotherham. F'ere 

 three harts tripping or. 



Franklin. Argent a 

 bend axure with three 

 dolphins argent thereon. 



wv 



MusGRAVE. Azure six 

 rings or. 



year he transferred a messuage and land forming part of 

 the manor to Laurence Eton." Between this date and 

 1 6 1 2, though no record has been found of the transfer, 

 Aspley Bury passed into the possession of Richard 

 Franklin,*' whose son John, knighted during his 

 father's lifetime, succeeded him in 1612,'* His 

 sister Elizabeth married Sir Christopher Musgrave, 

 and received Aspley Bury as her marriage portion.*^ 



18 Cal, of Pat, 1377-81, p. 4.87. 



19 ralor Eccl. (Rcc. Com.), iv, 272. 



2» L, and P. Hen, rill, xv, 539 ; xvii, 

 12. ^ Pat. 4 Edw. IV, pt. 3. 



22 Ibid. I Jas. I, pt. 20. Edward, Lord 

 Bruce, was made seneschal in 161 2 

 (ibid. 10 Jas. I, pt. i). 



23 Ibid. 3 Chas. I, pt. 37. 24 ibid. 

 2» Ibid. 22 Jas. I, pt. 16, No. 10. 



26 Ibid. 3 Chas. I, pt. 37. 

 2/ Com. Pleas D. Enr. Trin. 14 

 Chas. II, rot. 13. 



28 Ibid. Hil. 9 Anne. All profits of 

 court are here mentioned as belonging to 

 the vendor. 



29 Add. MSS. 9408. Henry, son of 

 Grey Longueville, had married Anne, 

 daughter of John Briscoe, and had left 

 children who all died prior to this date 

 (Blaydes, Gen, Bed, 433). 



80 Add. MSS. 9408 i Lysons, Mag. Brit. 

 i, 132. 



80a Information supplied by Mr, Hans- 

 combe. 



81 Close, 17 Edw. IV. m. 19. It is 

 probable that this manor was an offshoot 



of Shillington, held of the abbot of 

 Ramsey (q.v.), for in 1487 John Rother- 

 ham is mentioned as a defaulting suitor 

 at the abbot's court (Ct. R. bdle, 179, 

 No. 73). 



82 Chan. Inq. p. m. (Ser. 2), xvii. No. 92. 



88 Recov. R. Hil. 25 Hen. VIII, 

 rot. 307 ; Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), cxxxiv, 

 No. 195. Alice Rotherham died in 1561, 

 having survived her husband, and married 

 again Ralph Astry. 



81 Feet of F. Beds. East. 10 'E,\\z,;Harl, 

 Soc, Puhi, xix, 191, 



8* Cobbe, Hist, of Luton Church, 196; 

 Lysons, Mag, Brit, i, 132. 



88 Add MSS. 9408. 



8Ubid. ; Feet of F. Beds. Mich. 12 

 Chas. IL 



83Add. MSS.9408. Sir Conyers D'Arcy 

 had married the widow of Sir Theophilus 

 Napier, to whom he left his Bedfordshire 

 property for her life, with reversion to 

 Sir John Napier (Cobbe, Hist, of Luton 

 Church, 235). Lysons says it was sold 

 on the death of Sir John Napier, prob- 

 ably to the earl of Holderness. 



295 



89 Feet of F. Beds. Hil. 33 Geo. II ; 

 Lysons, Mag. Brit, i, 132; Add. MSS. 

 9408. 



"OFeet of F. Div. Cos. Mich. 19 Hen. 

 VII. In 1 5 14 Thomas Marlborough 

 settled the manor by fine on Ralph 

 Lane (ibid. Mich. 6 Hen. VIIL). 



<l Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), vol. Ixiv, 

 No. 108. 



<2 Feet of F. Beds. Mich. 3*4 Phil, 

 and Mary. 



•18 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), cccxlix. 

 No. 166. The manor at this time in- 

 cluded pasture called Stockinge, near 

 Hanscombe Lee, containing 30 acres 

 and a messuage, land, and tenements, 

 called Hulls and Lewes in Pegsdon, a 

 cottage called Hobbes Edes and various 

 messuages and lands in Pegsdon, Aspley 

 End, and Shillington. 



"Ibid.; Recov. R. Trin. 19 Jas. I, rot. 

 39 ; ibid. Mich. 1653, rot. 213. 



" G. E. C. Baronetage, iii, 126 ; Feet of 

 F. Beds. Trin. i Jas. II, in which various 

 members of the Franklin family convey 

 the manor to Christopher Musgrave. 



