A HISTORY OF HERTFORDSHIRE 



Hugh Bardolf." The manor was granted to Margin 

 Robert Aguillon's widow, until the regular assignmt 

 of dower was made by the 

 king," but in .287 it was 

 held by Hugh Bardolf in right 



of]] 



rife* He 



of Arundel Castle in 1272,™ 

 and, having been summoned 

 10 Parliament as Lord Bardolf 

 from 1299 to 1302, died in 

 1304." Isabel having quit- 

 claimed her right in the manor 

 upon her husband's death, it 

 was re-granted to her for life, 



with 

 Willia 



to her 



hffOt « 



'3>- 



.nd Thomas, 



entailed on Thomas Bardolf, 

 the elder son." Isabel died abo 



who had succeeded as second Lord Bardolf in 130+, 

 became lord of the manor. He died in 1329,"' and 

 his widow Agnes held Watton in dower until her 

 death,' which occurred in 1357," when she was 

 succeeded by her son John, third Lord Bardolf of 

 Wormegay." William, fourth Lord Bardolf, son of 

 John, became lord of the manor in I 363." Hegranted 

 Watton to Robert Bardolf for life, in exchange for the 

 manor of Stow Bardolph in Norfolk,"' and died in 

 January 1385-6." Upon the death of Robert Bardolf 

 in 139+ the manor reverted to Thomas, fifth Lord 

 Bardolf, son and heir of William, the fourth lord," 

 after the death in 14.03 u of his mother Agnes, to 

 whom it had been granted in dower by Richard II. 

 Thomas, the fifth lord, joined Northumberland's 

 rebellion in 1405, and died of wounds received at 

 the battle of Bramham Moor in 1408," leaving two 

 daughters, Anne, who married, first, William Clifford, 

 and secondly Reginald Cobham, and Joan the wife 

 of Sir William Phelip.' 3 The manor was divided 

 between the two sisters. Sir William Phelip, who 

 was a Knight of the Garter, and was in 1437 created 

 Lord Bardolf, had served at the battle of Agincourt 

 in 1415, being afterwards made Captain of Harfleur. 

 Later he occupied the post of Treasurer of the 

 Household to Henry V, and that of Privy Councillor 

 and Chamberlain to Henry VI." He died HH441* 

 his wife Joan surviving until 1447, when the half- 

 manor of Watton passed to her grandson William, 

 second but eldest surviving son of her daughter 

 Elizabeth and John Viscount Beaumont." William 

 Viscount Beaumont and Lord Bardolf married 

 Joan daughter of Humphrey Duke of Buckingham, 

 from whom he was divorced before 1477,^ but who 



vived him. Upon the death of Anne Cobham, 

 s great-aunt, in 1454 he became possessed of the 



r, hei 

 the 



whole of Watton Ma 

 moiety passing to him 

 next heir, 10 but he was at- 

 tainted after the battle of 

 Tow ton Field in 1461 " and 

 his lands forfeited. Watton 

 was granted in the following 

 year to his wife Joan, with 

 Thomas Archbishop of Can- 

 terbury and George Bishop 

 of Exeter as trustees, and with 



ainder 



: Wii; 



■ still under 



Ree, < 

 for his 

 died ii 

 Williar 

 to his 

 1471.' 



it," who > 



inder. Joan was still living '" "' ""' ' "" "'■ 



he reign of Richard III,' 1 



1467 the manor was granted to Roger 

 e of the ushers of the king') chamber, 

 *ood services to the king's father.*' Roger 

 1476," leaving a son and heir William. 

 Viscount Beaumont was, however, restored 

 honours in 1 470. He was again attainted in 

 1 finally restored in 1+85. He lost 

 his reason in 1487, and was placed under the custody 

 of John Earl of Oxford' 7 until his death in 1507, 

 when he was seised of the manor of Watton." Hii 

 nearest heir should have been Francis Lord Lovell, 

 son of his sister Joan, but he was under attainder ; 

 the remaining heirs were John Norreis, son of his 

 niece Frideswide, and Bryan Stapleton, son of his 

 niece Joan." The Crown, however, seems to have 

 taken possession of the manor owing to Lord Lovell's 

 attainder, 60 and it was granted in 1509 to John Earl 

 of Oxford, 5 ' who had married Elizabeth widow of 

 William Beaumont, to whom it was confirmed for 

 life by Act of Parliament after her husband's death.' , ' , 

 The reversion of the manor was granted in 1521 to 

 Sir Wistan Brown, Knight of the Body," and Watton, 

 or Bardolf Hall as it was now called, came to his son 

 John," and from him descended to his son and heir 

 George Brown in 155°-" In that year, probably 

 for assurance of litle, Edward VI granted the manor 

 to Sir Thomas Darcy, Lord Darcy of Chich ; 

 George Brown seems to have remained in possession, 

 for in 1552 he conveyed the manor to Matthias 

 Bradbury. 49 In 1576 Thomas Bradbury sold the 

 manor of Bardolfs to Philip Boteler," after which it 

 followed the descent of Watton Woodhall Manor 

 until 1801, when it was sold, after the bankruptcy 

 of Paul Bendfield, to Edward Lord Ellenborough, 

 Lord Chief Justice of the King's Bench. The latter 



160 



