FLITT HUNDRED 



tLITTON 



seised of it before their death." Their son Hum- 

 phrey in 1539 mortgaged his reversion of the 

 property to Edmund Conquest for ^^73 6s. 8</.," and 

 ag^in in 1 544, after the death of his" father, further 

 mortgaged the estate, and the reversion of the 

 property which his mother held as her dower, to 

 Thomas Palmer for i^i20.°* Humphrey was evidently 

 unable to redeem the mortgage for Edmund Conquest 

 at his death left his wife Joan as his executrix, and 

 she sold the estate to Sir Henry Grey, Je jure fourth 

 earl of Kent, for ^£200." In this way, the third part 

 of the manor returned to the de Greys, and was 

 absorbed in the manor proper of Norwood. 



At the time of the Great Survey there was a manor 

 in Silsoe which afterwards became known as the 

 manor of 'NEWBURY (Newberry). It was then 

 held by a concubine of Nigel de Albini, and had 

 been held formerly by Alvric the Little, a thegn of 

 King Edward." The overlordship continued vested 

 in the Albinis and their descendants, and the manor 

 was held of them as of their barony of Cainhoe, the 

 descent of which is traced under the parish of Clop- 

 hill (q.v.). 



By 1284 the manor had passed into the possession 

 of the family of Fitz Richard,'^ who owned land in 

 Silsoe before that date, for in 

 1 201 Ralph Fitz Richard 

 leased I perch of land and 

 \\ acres of meadow to Wil- 

 liam Wiscard for dd. yearly.*' 

 The manor remained in the 

 possession of this family, passing 

 to Ralph's son, who was hold- 

 ing it in 131 8,°* and in 1 396, 

 when a settlement of the manor 

 was made ; *' but the Fitz 

 Richards alienated part of their 

 estate in Silsoe amounting to 

 one-quarter of a fee, which 

 was held in 1302 by Ralph de Limbury and by the 

 tenants of the lands which had belonged to Henry 

 son of William and to William Wiscard.™ By 1346 

 it was in the possession of John Morice and Margaret 

 his wife, in right of the latter," and had passed by 

 1428 to John Wayte." The manor of Newbury 

 and this quarter of a fee then became merged, for in 

 1525, at the expiration of the term of a lease of the 

 manors of Newbury and Silsoe granted to Henry 

 Wayte, probably a relation of John Wayte, and to 

 Joan his wife, by Edward Daniell and others," the 

 manor of Newbury passed into the possession of the 

 Daniell family, who held it from 1525 until 1667 ; '* 

 Edward Daniell, who was holding in 155 1, was 

 apparently succeeded by his grandson Stephen, who 



Fitz Richard. Ermine 

 a chief bendy a%ure and or. 



was lord of the manor in 1573 and in 1603." 

 Stephen died in 163 1, aged eighty-four, and the 

 manor went to his son Richard, who died shortly 

 afterwards, apparently without male issue," as the 

 lordship was inherited by his brother Thomas," 

 according to the terms of his great-grandfather 

 Edward's will." Thomas, who owned the manorial 

 rights in 1658," died in 1664, and there was a dis- 

 turbance on the occasion of his burial, William 

 Wheeler and John Webb of Silsoe and others re- 

 fusing to allow the parson to bury him, and casting 

 him out of the church by force.'" As Thomas died 

 without male issue the manor was inherited by his 

 brother William, who, with Elizabeth his wife, was 

 in possession in 1 666.*' The history of the manor 

 during the eighteenth century is obscure, but at some 

 time during this period it must have been sold to the 

 de Greys, earls of Kent, who already owned so much 

 land in Silsoe and Flitton, as in 1833 it was in the 

 possession of Thomas Philip, Lord Grantham," whose 

 descendant, Lord Lucas and Dingwall, owns the 

 estate at the present day. At the beginning of the 

 nineteenth century, Newbury Manor House was 

 surrounded by a moat, but since then two sides have 

 been filled in. 



There was another estate in Silsoe, which, in the 

 sixteenth century, acquired the name of the manor of 

 BLUNDELLS. It was held of the de Greys as of 

 their manor of Wrest by knight service.** 



In 1302 Reginald de Grey and his tenants held 

 one-twelfth of a knight's fee in Silsoe," and this was 

 held in 1 346 by Roger de Grey : " the family of 

 Blundell evidently held under the de Greys, for 

 Roger Blundell in 1 3 1 o acquired 4 messuages, 

 80 acres of land, 10 acres of meadow, and 5 acres 

 of wood in Silsoe and Flitton from John Blundell.'* 

 There is no further record of the holding until the 

 middle of the sixteenth century, but there is little 

 doubt that this estate afterwards became known as the 

 manor of Blundells, which was acquired by Richard 

 Fermour early in the sixteenth century, and held for 

 life by Hugh Swynerton. Simon Fitz of Aspley 

 Guise purchased the reversion from Richard Fermour, 

 and by his will, made March, 1543, he left it to his 

 younger son Simon.*' Simon the father died shortly 

 afterwards leaving a widow Alice and two sons, William 

 his heir, and Simon, who soon became possessed of the 

 manor of Blundells, for in 1 545 he alienated it to his 

 brother-in-law William Richardson, husband of his 

 sister Alice, and to Thomas Fitz Hugh of Wavendon 

 (Buckinghamshire).** In the course of the next year 

 Simon died unmarried, leaving his four sisters : Susan, 

 wife of Thomas Sterne ; Elizabeth, wife of Richard 

 Rokes ; Joan, wife of William Baker ; and Alice, 



61 Close, 31 Hen. VIII, pt. 2, m. 51. 



62 Ibid. 



«3 Ibid. 36 Hen. VIII, pt. 2, m. 60 ; 

 Feet of F. Beds. Hil. 38 Hen. VIII ; 

 ibid. I Edw. VI. 



6^ Chan. Proc. (Ser. 2), bdle. i. No. 



93- 



«* V.C.H. Beds. 1, 244. 



6« Feud. Aids, i, 7. 



W Feet of F. Beds. 3 John, No. 2. 



68 Chart. R. 12 Edw. II, m. 16, No. 57. 



«9 Close, 20 Ric. II, pt. I, m. lyd. 

 Ralph Fitz Richard received permission 

 in 1323 to inclose a lane, 63 perches by i, 

 leading from the king's highway, below 

 his dwelling-place, in order to enlarge h'.s 

 house, on condition of replacing the road 



by one on his own land ; Cal. of Pat. 

 1321-4, p. 364. 



7" Feud. Aids, 1,14. Emma, the widow 

 of Ralph Fitz Richard, held a twelfth of 

 this in dower. 



'1 Ibid, i, 33. 



n Ibid. 48. • 



75 Feet of F. Beds. Hil. 16 Hen. VIII. 

 ^* Ibid. Mich. 5 Edw. VI. 



'* Recov. R. Mich. 1573, rot. 860; Exch. 

 Dep. Beds. 31 Eliz. E. 5 ; ibid. 34 Eliz. 

 H. 14 ; Feet of F. Beds. Hil. i Jas. I ; 

 Com. Pleas Recov. R. Mich. 3 Jas. I, 

 m. 2. 



76 Harl. Soc. Fubl. xix, 98. 



J7 Feet of F. Beds. Hil. 22 Jas. I. 

 78 Ibid. Mich. 5 Edw. VI. 



79 Ibid. Trin. 1658. 



8" Blaydes, Beds. N. and Q. ii, 339. 



81 Feet of F. Beds. HiL 18 & 19 

 Chas. II. 



82 From information supplied by Miss 

 Squires. 



83 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), vol. 134, 

 No. 194 ; ibid. (Ser. 2), vol. 163, No. 8 ; 

 ibid. (Ser. 2), vol. 349, No. 172; ibid. 

 (Ser. 2), vol. 476, No. 144. 



8'' Feud. Aids, i, 14. 



85 Ibid, i, 33. 



86 Feet of F. Beds. 4 Edw. II, No. 9. 



87 Chan. Inq. p.m". (Ser. 2), vol. 68, 

 No. 15. 



89 Com. Pleas D. Enr. Mich. 37 Hen. 

 VIII, m. I. 



42 



