FLITT HUNDRED 



LUTON 



Hoo. Quarterly sahU 

 and argent. 



the family, for in I5Z2 William Markham and 

 Frances his wife (who was daughter of William 

 Cockayne, son of Edmund) conveyed the manor by 

 fine to John Markham. He was still holding in 

 1584,'" between which date and 1630 the manor 

 passed to Edward Wyngate,'" who also held Halyard, 

 and it has since followed the same descent as that 

 manor (q.v.), and like it has preserved to the present 

 day its separate identity as a member of Luton 

 manor. 



The manor oi LUTON HOO is declared by some 

 writers upon historically worthless evidence to have 

 been held by the Hoo family prior to the Norman 

 Conquest."' It appears always to have been separate 

 from the royal manor of Luton, and to have been 

 held in chief."' It is not mentioned in Domesday, 

 and no documentary evidence has been found of the 

 Hoos holding in Luton prior to 1245, in which year 

 Thomas de Hoo conveyed land and a small rent to 

 . his father Robert.'" In 1 292 Robert de Hoo, 

 probably a son of Thomas, received a charter of free 

 ivarren in his manor of Hoc,"' 

 and in 1306 conveyed the 

 manor by fine to his son 

 Robert,"' who in 1 3 1 9 leased 

 his capital messuage of Hoo at 

 a rent of j£lo to his mother, 

 Hadwisa de Goushill, and 

 about the same time acquired 

 the mill of Thatchford by pur- 

 chase from Thomas de Kes- 

 ton.™ In 1337 Thomas de 

 Hoo, Robert's son, obtained a 

 charter of free warren : '" his 



death took place some time before 1 391, in which 

 year his widow Isabella obtained a confirmation 

 of this charter."' He left a son William, whose 

 widow Eleanor in 141 5 conveyed the manor to her 

 son Sir Thomas de Hoo, probably on the attainment 

 of his majority.'^ He distinguished himself greatly 

 in the wars with France, and in 1447 was created 

 Baron of Hoo and of Hastings. He died in 1454-5 

 leaving a brother of the half blood, Thomas Hoo 

 (who died without issue in i486) and four daughters 

 and co-heirs — Anne, wife of Geoffrey Boleyn, Eleanor, 

 wife of Sir Richard Carewe, Elizabeth, wife of Richard 

 Devenish, and Anne wife of Roger Copley,'" who all 

 appear to have inherited an interest in the manor, 

 and it was probably by a mutual arrangement that 

 the manor was sold to Richard Fermor about 1523."' 

 He appears subsequently to have forfeited his lands to 

 Henry VIII, 'because he gave help to a certain 

 James Thayne, a convict,' but on his humble petition 



123 Feet of F. Beds. Trin. Mich. 14 

 Eliz. ; Pat. 27 Eliz. pt. 8, m. 41 ; 

 Cockayne Memoranda. 



1" Feet of F. Div. Cos. Mich. 6 

 Chas. I. 



las Ljrsons, Mag. Brit, i, 108 ; Fox, 

 Bist. of Luton, 16, 22. A manuscript in 

 an eighteenth-eentury hand gives an imagi- 

 native pedigree of this family, starting from 

 Robert de Hoo who died looo a.d. (Add. 

 Chart. 28721). This manuscript has been 

 ■dealt with in a paper by Hamilton Hall, 

 Suuex Arch. C. xlv, 186. 



m In i486 it was declared to be held 

 of Sir William Stanley, who was the 

 king's father-in-law. {Cal, of Inij. 

 Hen. Vll, No. 205.) 



127 Feet of F. Beds, 29 Hen. Ill, m. i. 



12s Chart. R. 20 Edw. I, No. 34- 



recovered Luton Hoo manor in 1551.'^' Jeremiah 

 Fermor, probably his son, was holding the manor in 

 1559,'" between which date and 1594 it passed to 

 Sir John Brocket,'" and was sold by his trustees to 

 Sir Robert Napier,'" who, in 161 1, acquired Luton 

 manor (q.v.) and Luton Hoo has henceforward 

 followed the same descent. Sir Robert Napier built 

 a residence here, and Luton Hoo has since been known 

 as the seat of the lords of Luton manor and its 

 members. In 1623 he received licence to inclose 

 300 acres to make a park with free warren,'*" and 

 this was enlarged to 1,200 acres by Lord Bute, after 

 his purchase in 1763,'*' who employed 'Capability 

 Brown ' to lay out the park, and widen the River 

 Lea, which flows through it, into a considerable lake. 

 He alw added largely to the house which has been 

 injured by fires in 1 77 1 and again in 1 844.'*' 



Luton Hoo Park, at the present day the residence 

 of Sir Julius Wernher, lies to the south of the town, 

 the Lea forming its eastern boundary, making a long 

 sheet of ornamental water. The house stands on the 

 brow of the slope, surrounded by picturesque well- 

 timbered park land and plantations. The entrance 

 is by a colonnaded portico to the west, opening to a 

 large central hall, from which a lately inserted stair- , 

 case at the north-east angle leads to the upper floors. 

 The dining-room is in the middle of the east firont, 

 with library and drawing-rooms, etc., to the south, 

 and the chapel is at the north-east angle. The 

 collection of pictures for which the house was famous 

 was almost entirely dispersed at a late sale, and only 

 a few still remain in their old quarters. The 

 house itself is of little interest architecturally ; 

 the fittings of the chapel, and the marble panelling 

 in the dining-room are costly modern additions, and 

 the present owner has spared no expense in fitting up 

 the house. 



PICKS MJNOR, held in chief, is first mentioned 

 as a manor in 1470. In that year Lord Wenlock 

 held a court for Luton, Langley and ' Pykes ' bracketed 

 together.'" He had obtained Luton from John 

 Cressy in 1467, as previously stated, whilst his an- 

 cestors had in 1 377 acquired the portions of two of the 

 co-heirs of Maud de Kyme, so that it does not seem 

 unreasonable to suppose that Picks is a distinctive 

 name given to one of these portions, more especially 

 as it was held in chief.'" From 1470 it continued 

 to follow the same descent as Luton manor (q.v.). 

 The last mention found of it before its reabsorption 

 in Luton occurs in 1638 when Sir Robert Napier 

 died seised of Picks Farm.'" 



There were several manors in this parish held of 

 Luton manor. The estate afterwards known as 



"5 Feet of F. Beds, 35 Edw. I, No. 34. 

 The estate here given is a messuage, i 

 carucate of land and 66t. id. rent. 



18» Add. Chart. 28721, 28730. 



181 Chart. R. 11 Edw. Ill, No. 8. 

 Hadwisa, his grandmother, and wife of 

 Robert de Hoo, was still living in 1343, 

 when Thomas conveyed the manor to her 

 for life. (Add. Chart. 28721). 



W!" Cal. of Pat. 1388-92, p. 403. 



li" Add. Chart. 19566. 



IM Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), ii. No. 

 18. G.E.C. Complete Peerage, iv, 253. 



1'* Anne Copley conveyed the manor 

 by fine to trustees in 1502 (Feet of F. 

 Div. Cos. East. 17 Hen. VII), and Sir 

 Richard Carewe and Richard Devenyshe 

 received a confirmation of free warren 

 there in 1520 (L. and P. Hen, yill. 



iii (i), p. 273). Lysons gives the date 

 of the sale to Richard Fermor as 1523 

 but no patent of confirmation has been 

 found. 



is« Pat. 4 Edw, VI, pt. 9, m. 17. 

 Haveryngs (q.v.) which was alienated at 

 the same time, he never recovered. 



iw Recov. R. Mich, i Eliz. 



188 Chan, Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), ccxlii, No, 

 14, Lysons says the manor was sold to 

 Sir John Brocket in 1575. 



18S Close, 41 Eliz. pt. 28 i Feet of 

 F. Beds. Trin. 43 Eliz. 



"» Cal. ofS.P. Dom. 1623-5, p. H2. 



141 Lysons, Mag. Brit, i, 108. 



1" Gent. Mag. uiiii, 82. 



l« Marquess of Bute's MSS. 



1** Chan, Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), cxl, No. 

 45. "' Ibid, cccclxjcxiv. No. 16 If 



355 



