A HISTORY OF BEDFORDSHIRE 



it continued to be held of them as of their manor 

 of Dallow in Luton ; it is mentioned as so held in 

 1327 and again in 1 53 1.'" Subsequent to the dis- 

 solution of the abbey it continued to be held of 

 Dallow, the last mention of the overlordship occurring 

 in i644."» 



Robert Fitz Walter, to whom Biscott manor thus 

 passed, was one of the twenty-iive barons appointed 

 to enforce the fulfilment of Magna Charta. He was 

 outlawed and temporarily deprived of his possessions 

 on two occasions — in 1 2 1 2 and again in I z 1 6.*" 

 Whether, after these alienations, Biscott was ever 

 restored to him does not appear, and no record has 

 been found of the manor until 1289, when Hugh 

 de Philibert granted to William de Bereford £^() l6s. 

 rent in Biscott, together with all services of those 

 holding in the manor."" 



In 1327 William de Bereford, probably the original 

 grantee, died seised of £() 9/. \d. rent in Biscott, 

 received from eleven free tenants, leaving a son 

 Edmund as heir.'"' The manor was held in 1386 

 by his son Baldwin de Bereford,"" who in 1 40 1 made 

 a settlement of the manor, in the event of his dying 

 without heirs, on the heirs of Joan, Agnes, and Alice, 

 sisters of his father Edmund.'"' 



Biscott was held by Elizabeth, widow of Baldwin 

 de Bereford, during her lifetime, but by 1419 the 

 reversion had passed to Ralph 

 Bush (in right of his wife 

 Eleanor), who in that year 

 conveyed it by fine to William 

 Acworth."" 



John Acworth was holding 

 the manor in 1500,"* and was 

 followed by a son George, who, 

 dying in 1531, left as heir a 

 son, also George Acworth.'"" 

 He sold the manor in 1548-9 

 to John Dormer, citizen and 

 mercer of London,'"' who in 

 the following year transferred 

 it to William Harper, citizen 



and merchant tailor of London,'"* by whom it was sold 

 in 1555 to John Alley.'"' His son Francis conveyed 

 Biscott manor to Edward Wingate in 1593 by way 

 of mortgage,"" which was foreclosed in 1595, when 

 the manor became the property of Edward Wingate.'" 

 At his death in 1598 it passed to his son George,'" 



t\MAAA/| 



Acworth. Ermine 

 a chief indented gules 

 with three croionz or 

 therein. 



Wingate. Sable 

 bend ermine cotized 

 betvjeen six martlets or. 



and from him, in 1606, to his grandson John Win- 

 gate.'" He died in 1644, and was followed by a 

 son Francis,"* who was holding the manor as late as 

 1678."' In 171 8 Arthur Wingate was holding the 

 manor,'" and in 1724 he sold it to John Crawley 

 for ^^8,796 14/.,'" in whose 

 family it still remains, Mr. F. 

 Crawley being the present 

 owner. 



BRJMBLEHJNGER 

 MJNOR was held of the prior 

 of St. John of Jerusalem cer- 

 tainly from the thirteenth cen- 

 tury onwards, for in 1 247 Alan 

 de Brambelhanger held a free 

 tenement of the prior by the 

 service of 22/. l</. yearly.'" 

 The prior claimed view of 

 frankpledge in Bramblehanger 



as appurtenant to his manor of Clifton in 1287. The 

 last mention found of the overlordship occurs in 151 5, 

 when John Sylam held it by rent of 59/."' The first 

 under-tenant of this manor of whom mention has 

 been found is Alan de Bram- 

 belhanger, holding in 1247 ; 

 he was still in possession in 

 1 269, when the property con- 

 sisted of one messuage and 4 

 virgates of land."" By 1309 

 Bramblehanger had passed to 

 Peter Fitz Warin, who in that 

 year conveyed it by fine to his 

 son William."' In 1324 the 

 manor of Bramblehanger — 

 here definitely so called — be- 

 came forfeited to the crown on 

 account of the delinquencies of 

 William Fitz Warin, and was granted to the king's niece 

 Eleanor, wife of Hugh le Despenser.*" Fitz Warin 

 appears to have obtained a free pardon and restoration 

 of his property, for Bramblehanger was still in his 

 family in 1348, when Hugh Fitz Warin conveyed it 

 by fine to John de Northewell."' The descent of this 

 manor is lost till 1425, when it is found as the pro- 

 perty of Joan, wife of John le Waleys, who also 

 owned Woodcroft manor."* She left a daughter 

 Joyce, married to Robert Lee, who in 1434 held a 

 messuage called ' Braumangrebury ' in Luton,"' and 



WA/V) 



Fitz Warin. Quar- 

 terly fesseviise indented 

 argent and gules. 



"S? Chan. Inq. p.m. 20 Edw. II, No. 45 

 (Ser. 2), XXV, No. 3. 



398 Ibid, dxxzvii, No. 94 ; dxxxviii, No. 

 144. 



^^ Matt. Paris, Hist. Angl. (Rolls Ser.), 

 ii, 131. 



«>^ Abbrev. Plac. (Rcc. Com.), 217. 

 There can be little doubt that the ^^lo 

 worth of land granted to Robert Fitz 

 Walter and the ^(j ids. rent of Hugh de 

 Philibert are identicaL 



»»' Chan. Inq. p.m. 20 Edw. II, 

 No. 45. 



8<» Close, 9 Ric. II, pt. I, m. 48. 



SOB Wrottesley, Pedigrees from Plea 

 Rolls, 241 ; Feet of F. Div. Cos. Trin. 

 2 Hen. IV. 



»»* Feet of F. Beds. 6 Hen. V, m. 2. 

 Three years later, probably on the death 

 of Elizabeth, Ralph Bush is found placing 

 this manor in the hands of trustees 

 (ibid. 9 Hen. VI, No. 103). 



»»5 Crawley Papers, No. 8. 



8"" Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), xxv, No. 3. 



"•7 Crawley Papers, No. 24 ; Feet of 

 F. Beds. Mich. 3 Edw. VJ. 



»<» Feet of F. Beds. East 4 Edw. VI ; 

 Crawley Papers, No. 26. 



"" Crawley Papers, Nos. 28-340, 61 ; 

 Feet of F. Beds. Trin. i & 2 Phil, and 

 Mary. 



»i« Feet of F. Beds. Mich. 35 Eliz.; 

 Crawley Papers, No. 90. 



Ml Crawley Papers, Nos. 92, 93 ; Feet 

 of F. Beds. Trin. 37 Eliz. 



»" Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), cclv. No. 

 176. 



"* Ibid, cclxxxviii, No. 126. 



'" Ibid, dxxxvii, No. 94. John Win- 

 gate held a court baron for this manor 

 in 1635 (Crawley Papers, No. 194). 



»" Feet of F. Beds.; Trin. 20 Chas. 

 II ; East. 24 Chas. II ; Mich. 27 Chas. 

 II ; Recov. R. Mich. 20 Chas. II ; Craw- 

 ley Papers, Nos. 337, 362. 



"» Recov. R. Mich. 5 Geo. I. 



W Crawley Papers (uncalendered). It 

 must be remembered that the estate here 



362 



includes Limbury, which had become 

 absorbed in this manor. Mention is 

 made in a deed of sale of a capital 

 messuage called Biscott Place, including 

 a moat called Bear's Moat. 



"8 Feet of F. Beds. Mich. 31 Hen. Ill, 

 No. 7. There is no proof of how the 

 overlordship was acquired by the prior, 

 though William Marshal (oi. 1231), who 

 owned Luton manor, was one of the 

 benefactors of the Hospital in Hertford- 

 shire (Dugdale, Mon. vii, 798). 



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

 No. 165. 



"'"' Feet of F. Beds. 53 Hen. Ill, No. 3. 



821 Ibid. 2Edw. II, No. 2. 



»" Chart. R. 17 Edw. II, No. 7. 



»3s Feet of F. Beds. 21 Edw. HI, No. 4; 

 De Banco R. 349, m. i. 



'^ Chan. Inq. p.m. 3 Hen. VI, No. 35. 

 It is here simply described as tenements 

 called 'Brambelhanger,' of whom held not 

 known. 



"»' Ibid. 13 Hen. VI (Add.), No. 50. 



