10 Jul Lordship Title of Shelton (Malory) ID1263
Posted at 20:02h
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The earliest tenants of the manor of whom mention has been found are a family called de Soleby. In the 13th century the third of a knight's fee in Shelton was held by Henry de Soleby. Robert de Soleby was holding in 1282, and had been succeeded in 1284 by his brother William. The latter died in 1291–2 seised of the property, which then comprised 150 acres of arable land. His heir was his daughter Joan, afterwards presumably the wife of Richard de Musgrave, who in 1316 was holding the Soleby property in Shelton. In the same year Richard de Musgrave and his wife Joan granted Shelton to William le Engleys to hold for his life at a rent of 25 marks. On the death of Richard de Musgrave the property passed to Robert de Musgrave, who settled it on his wife Elizabeth for life with reversion to two clerks, William Bayous and William Beauchamp. Elizabeth, it would seem, transferred the property to John Fitz William, who was holding in 1346, whilst in 1357 he bought up the claims of William Bayous and William Beauchamp. By 1387 the property had come into the hands of Sir William Marmyon, who in that year quitclaimed Shelton (here for the first time called a manor) to John la Warre, Anketin Malory, William Palmer and others. In 1398 Thomas Wareton with Elizabeth complained that John la Warre, William Palmer and the others had unjustly disseised them of their Shelton property, and in the same year they quitclaimed the manor to Sir Gerard Braybrook the younger, Sir William Malory of Papworth and others for 200 marks of silver. Sir William Malory died seised of Shelton in 1445, leaving as heir his son Thomas. For the next 200 years few documents have been found concerning this manor, but it presumably remained in the hands of the Malory family, as in 1582 William Malory held it, whilst Ralph Malory was lord of the manor in 1635. In 1637 the tenants and poor cottagers of Shelton petitioned against the unrighteous conduct of Mr. Manning, rector of Shelton, and of Mr. Malory, the lord of the manor, who on the first payment of ship-money had assessed their own land and that of the other frecholders at the rate of 2d. per acre for their arable land and nothing for their meadow and pasture, while they taxed the petitioners as highly as 2s. 4d. an acre. Ralph Malory's son Peter conveyed the manor in 1667 to William Busby for £300. In 1705 there was a fine concerning the manor between William Busby and Francis Malory, and the latter suffered a recovery of it in 1714. In the same year Francis Malory sold the manor to Theophilus Dillingham for £520. The Dillinghams continued to hold this manor throughout the 18th century. Brampton Gurdon Dillingham was lord of the manor in 1794 at the time the parish was inclosed. From the Dillinghams this manor passed to Henry Harris, who was lord of the manor when Lysons wrote his history of Bedfordshire. On Henry Harris's death in 1842 the manor passed to his son Thomas Harris, who in turn was succeeded in 1880 by his daughter, Mrs. Whitehead, who is the present lady of the manor.
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Listed in the Domesday Book:
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