A HISTORY OF HERTFORDSHIRE 



Standon, on a much larger scale, it is said, than he 

 wished," and here he several times entertained Queen 

 Elizabeth.'-' Sadleir was treated knight banneret on 

 the battlefield of Pinkie in 1547. He served as 

 Lord Lieutenant of Hertfordshire, sat for the county 

 in seven Parliaments and survived until 1587, having 

 served with distinction in ihree successive reigns. 100 

 He was succeeded by his son Thomas, who was 

 M.P. for Lancaster from 1572 to 1583 and Sheriff 

 of Hertfordshire in [595. ' On 30 April 1603 James I 

 came to Standon and having been met by the Bishop 

 of London and a company of gentlemen 'in coats and 

 chains of gold,' proceeded to Sadleir's house, where 

 he staved for a Sunday and knighted his host.' Sir 

 Thomas Sadleir died in 1606. 3 His son Ralph, the 

 'noble Mr. Sadler ' of Walton's Comphnt Angler, was 

 Sheriff" Of Hertfordshire in 1609-10.' He died in 

 ] 660, leaving no issue, and was succeeded in the manor 

 by Walter Lord Aston, son of his sister Gertrude, 

 who married Sir Walter Aston of Tixall, co. Stafford, 



the institution of that order in 

 161 1 and made Lord Aston of Forfar in \6i~ .' 



The Astons were a Roman Catholic family. 6 Walter, 

 second Lord Aston, was an adherent of Charles 1, and 

 after fighting on the king's side had to compound 

 for his estates and live privately. 7 His son Walter, 

 third Lord Aston, who succeeded him in 1678, 8 

 suffered as a victim of Titus Oates' plot. He 

 was indicted for high treason in 1680 and was a 

 prisoner in the Tower until 1685. On one occasion 

 a mob came to plunder the Lordship while he was 

 there, and he only escaped by hiding in a dovecot, 

 valuables were packed in an iron chest 

 n the Rib." His fortunes changed under 

 ind he was made Lord Lieutenant of 

 He died in 171+ and was buried at 

 Walter, fourth Lord Asion, his son and 

 ived in retirement at Standon owing to 

 the severity of the penal laws against Roman Catholics. 

 He died at Tixall in 1 7+ 8, but was buried at Standon. 

 His son James, the last Lord Aston, left no male issue 



whilst his 

 and sunk i 

 James II 

 Suffordshir. 

 Standon." 



on his death in 1751. The manor descended to hii 

 daughters Mary, who married her cousin Sir Walter 

 BJount, bart.,of Sodington.co. Worcester, and Barbara, 

 who married the Hon. Thomas Clifford." They in 

 1 767 joined in a conveyance to William Plumer of 

 Blakesware." The conveyance included the park, 

 the free fishery, the several 

 fishery and view of frank- 

 pledge. William Plumer died 



succeeded by his son William. 

 He by will of 1821 devised 

 the manor to his wife Jane 



legatees. 15 After his death in 



1822 his widow married (as 



her third husband) Robert 



Ward, who took the name 



and arms of Plumer." He 



survived his wife and sold the 



manor in 1843 to Arthur, 



first Duke of Wellington, on 



whose death in 1852 it de- 

 scended to his son Arthur 



Richard, second duke, then 



successively to his son Henry, 



third duke, in 1884, and to the lattcr's brother 

 Anhur Charles, fourth duke and present lord of the 

 manor, in 1900. 



The old manor-house was kept in repair until after 

 the sale of the manor by William Plumer. In a 

 letter written in 1733 to the Earl of Oxford by 

 George Vertue is recorded a visit to 'Lord Aston's 

 ancient house,' rmde especially to see a picture of 

 Vicar-General Cromwell painted by Holbein, which 

 he suggests was one of those done for Sir Thomas 

 More at his house at Chelsea. 11 The original house, 

 of which only a small part now remains, was built 

 about 1546 by Sir Ralph Sadleir (see above), his 

 initials and that date appearing on the front. The 

 old house, of which a plan has been preserved, 

 was of the courtyard type ; the main entrance, with 

 flanking turrets both on the front and next the court- 

 yard, faced the west ; the south wing probably con- 

 tained the principal rooms and the north wing the 

 domestic offices. On the east side of the courtyard 

 was a long range of buildings at a different angle, 

 stretching southwards beyond the main building, 

 which may possibly have been built at a different 

 period. The only portions now remaining of this 

 once extensive building are the lower parts of the 

 walls of the north end of the west wing, on which a 

 modern building has been erected, the south end of 

 the west wing, and a small part of the south wing. 

 The foundations and some of the walling of the de- 

 molished wings still remain between the present 



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