A HISTORY OF BEDFORDSHIRE 



Lucy, Gules crusiUy 

 argent and three lucies 

 argent. 



these lands were already leased by Sir Thomas 

 Rotherham, lord of Luton manor, it seems likely that 

 this grant was preliminary to a final transfer to him, 

 and that this portion of Luton manor again became 

 absorbed in the whole."* 



The one-sixth which fell to Sybil de Bohun, 

 later known as WOODCROFT alias HJLTARD 

 MJNOR,^^ was transferred almost immediately by 

 her son John de Bohun to Emery de Lucy, who in 

 1276 obtained a confirmation 

 of the grant of ten librates of 

 land in Luton held of the king 

 by tUe service of half a knight's 

 fee.*' Emery de Lucy was suc- 

 ceeded some time previous to 

 1296 by Geoffrey de Lucy," 

 who died in 1305 holding 

 ' one-sixth of the manor of 

 Luton, namely the hamlet of 

 Woodcroft.' '* He left a son 

 Geoffrey, aged 17 at the time 

 of his father's death, who in 

 1332 obtained a charter of 



free warren in his demesne lands of Woodcroft,'' and 

 dying in 1346 was followed by a son Geoffrey,™ 

 who held the manor till 1400, when Reginald his 

 son succeeded him.'"' Reginald de Lucy was followed 

 in 1437 by a son Walter who died in 1444 leaving 

 a son William."" On the death of the latter in 

 1461'°' the manor passed for life to his widow 

 Margaret, who held it until 1 467,'" when it was 

 divided between his niece Elizabeth, daughter of his 

 sister Eleanor and wife of John earl of Worcester, 

 and his nephew William Vaux, son of Maud, another 

 sister, who was attainted on account of a speech made 

 against the king.'"' Woodcroft eventually passed to 

 William Vaux, who was slain at Tewkesbury in 147 1, 

 and whose grandson. Sir Thomas Vaux, Lord Harrow- 

 den, transferred this manor to the earl of Essex,"" 

 who in 1544 conveyed it into the hands of Robert 

 Dormer and other trustees.'"' This was probably 

 preliminary to an alienation for when the manor re- 

 appears a generation later it is as the property of 

 Ralph Alwey, on whose death in 1623 it passed with 

 his other property to his three daughters, Mary, 

 Anne and Dorothy."" It eventually became the 



portion of Mary, wife of Edward Wingate,"" who in 

 1653 conveyed it by fine to Robert Napier,"" and 

 Woodcroft or Halyard, as it is henceforward called to 

 distinguish it from the other Woodcroft, from this 

 time onwards follows the same descent as Luton 

 manor (q.v.). It has never lost its separate identity, 

 however, and at the present day is distinguished hy 

 name as one of the manors which collectively are 

 styled the manor of Luton with its members.'" 



One-sixth only of Luton manor — that which Eleanor 

 de Leyburne inherited as co-heiress of her mother — now 

 remains to be accounted for. It became later known 

 as IVOODCROFT MANOR, and appears to have 

 passed almost immediately from Eleanor de Leyburne 

 to Walter de Mandeville, who in 1288 held at Wood- 

 croft in Luton 129 acres of arable land, 6 acres of 

 meadow, 18 acres of pasture, and ^9 6s. llji/. rents 

 held of the king in chief for one-sixth of two knights' 

 fees.'" 



His sister and heir was Sibil, wife of Henry de 

 Boderigan, who did not long retain it, for in 1310 it 

 was held by John le Poer, who then received licence 

 to grant Woodcroft manor to Robert de Kendale."' 

 The latter is returned as owing service for this manor 

 in 1 3 16,"* and died in 1330 leaving a son Edward 

 as his heir.'" In 1372 Edward de Kendale con- 

 veyed the manor to William de Croisores and other 

 trustees,"" and died the following year, leaving sons, 

 Edward and Thomas, who both died without issue in 

 1375, when their sister Beatrice, wife of Sir Robert 

 Turk, became their heir.'" Beatrice pre-deceased 

 her husband, who held the manor till his death in 

 1400, when their daughter Joan, wife of John Waleys, 

 acquired Woodcroft."' Her eldest daughter Beatrice 

 married Reginald, son of John Cockayne, of Bury 

 Hatley, and in 142 1, probably on the occasion of this 

 marriage, John and Joan Waleys conveyed this manor 

 to her and her heirs.'" On the death of Reginald 

 Cockayne Beatrice married William Milreth, a citizen 

 and alderman of London, and on her death in 1448,"* 

 Woodcroft manor passed to John Cockayne, her son 

 by her first marriage, who died in 1490.'" His 

 widow Joan, however, held the manor till her death 

 in 1507, when Edmund Cockayne succeeded to the 

 estate.'" From Edmund Cockayne Woodcroft manor 

 then appears to have passed to a younger branch of 



" L.an4P. Hen. VIII, xx (i), 465 (99). 



^^ In 1461 it is called Lightgrave 

 manor, but probably to distinguish it 

 from the other Woodcroft manor. 



9« Chart. R. 4 Edw. I, No. 69. 



"'' Chan. Inq. p.m. 24 Edw. I, No. 27. 

 In this year Gerard Salveyn was the 

 tenant of Geoffrey de Lucy, who was 

 nephew of Emery (Baker, Northanti, i, 

 130). 



™ Chan. Inq. p.m. 33 Edw, I, No. 67. 



99 Chart.R. 6 Edw. Ill, No. 35. 



"» Chan. Inq. p.m. 20 Edw. Ill, No. 



34- 



IM Ibid. I Hen. IV, pt. 1, No. 26. He 

 held of the king i.e. at Woodcroft in 

 Luton by service of one-twelfth of a 

 knight's fee, one-third of a messuage, 

 with fourscore acres of arable land, three 

 of pasture, and ^^4 rent of assize. 



'"» Ibid. 23 Hen. VI, No. 9. In an 

 assignation of the dower of Eleanor his 

 widow she received one acre of land in 

 Luton (ibid. No. 57). 



'»»Ibid. I Edw. IV, No. 16. 



i»< Ibid. 6 Edw. IV, No. 29 i Close, 

 I Edw. IV, m. 38. 



"° Ibid. 6 Edw. IV, No. 29. 



l" Recov. R. East. 27 Hen. VIII, rot. 

 155- 



"? Feet of F. Beds. Trin. 36 

 Hen. VIII. G.E.C. Complete Peerage, 

 viii. 



'"8 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), cccxcv, 

 No. 109. It is here first given the alter- 

 native name of Halyard ; Fine R. 3 

 Chas. I, pt. 2, No. 51. 



"9 Harl. Soc. Publ. xii. 



"» Feet of F. Beds. Trin. 1653. 



"• Information supplied by Mr. Austin. 



"' Chan. Inq. p.m. 16 Edw. I, No. 25. 

 This share is the equivalent of Sybil de 

 Bohun's 10 librates or ,^10 worth of 

 land. 



"' Cat. of Pat. 1307-13, p. 270. 



1" Feud. Aids, i, 22. 



1" Chan. Inq. p.m. 4 Edw. Ill, No. 76. 

 This inquisition proves conclusively that 

 this manor represents Eleanor de Ley- 

 burne's sixth, for it is here called one-sixth 

 of the manor of Luton (except the capital 

 messuage), held of the king by one-sixth 

 of a knight's fee. It included a water- 

 mill, a fishpond worth I2t., and rents of 



354 



free tenants £^ 31. ^d., the total value of 

 the property being ^f 16 21. oJ</. 



"« Feet of F. Div. Cos. 46 Edw. Ill, 

 No. 94 ; Chan. Inq. p.m. 47 Edw. Ill, 

 No. 20. 



"7 Ibid. 49 Edw. Ill, pt. 1, Nos. 74, 75. 

 Abhre-u. Rot. Orig. (Rec. Com.), ii, 238. 

 In 1377 William Croyser, trustee for 

 Edward de Kendale [ut supra) released all 

 his right in the manor to Robert Turk 

 and Beatrice his wife (Feet of F. Div. Cos. 

 50 Edw. HI, 146). 



"« Chan. Inq. p.m. 2 Hen. IV, N0.36. 



"9 Feet of F. Div. Cos. 9 Hen. V, 

 No. i6 ; Add. Chart. 656. This arrange- 

 ment is entered into at full length in the 

 inquisition taken at Joan's death in 1425 

 when the value of the manor is given as 

 ^^13 6s. %d. (Chan. Inq. p.m. 3 Hen. VI» 

 No. 35). 



"» Chan. Inq. p.m. 27 Hen. V, No. 14. 



1" Cat. of Inq. Hen. VII, No. 668. 

 The manor, here called Luton, is wrong- 

 fiilly described as held of John Rother- 

 ham. 



"9 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), ixiv. No. 

 77- 



