10 Jul Lordship Title of Aston or Aston Upthorpe ID1356
Posted at 20:03h
in
County:
Title Type:
Previous Lords:
In 964 King Edgar gave 10 'mansae' of land in ASTON UPTHORPE to his queen Elfthryth. In the time of Edward the Confessor it was held by a free-woman named Eileva, but in the next reign it passed to Reimbald of Cirencester, the king's chancellor. He held it at the time of the Survey, but his lands eventually came to the Crown, and Henry I gave them to the abbey of Cirencester, which held the manor of Aston Upthorpe in free alms until the Dissolution. It remained with the Crown until 1564, when it was granted to Sir Francis Knollys and his wife Katherine. Their son, who was created Earl of Banbury, obtained in 1623 and 1628 new grants of the manor from James I and Charles I. He probably sold it to the Craven trustees, for in 1650 William Lord Craven held it. The latter forfeited his estates during the Civil War, but this manor is not mentioned amongst the Craven estates sold by the Parliament, unless it was included under Hagbourne Manor. Craven, however, recovered all his estates after the Restoration, but in the early part of the 19th century only 40 acres in Aston Upthorpe were owned by the second Earl of Craven, his collateral descendant and successor. These were afterwards sold. Certain manorial rights, however, still belonged to the Earl of Craven, but they have been allowed to lapse. Thorpe Farm in Aston Upthorpe was held under a renewed lease from the abbey of Cirencester, dated 1533, by John Slade and his wife Elizabeth and their son Henry. They also obtained a lease of the manor of Aston Upthorpe, which is mentioned in the grant to Sir Francis Knollys. Henry Slade died in 1611, and in 1627 his son Bartholomew purchased from the Earl of Banbury all the rights in the manor of Aston Upthorpe previously enjoyed by his family. He obtained by this purchase most of the land formerly belonging to the manor, so that Lord Craven in 1650 evidently only held the manorial rights and a small part of the land. From Bartholomew his estate passed in direct succession to his descendants Leonard, John, John and John. The lastnamed John Slade died in 1832. His executors sold Thorpe Farm and a freehold estate of 867 acres to Mr. Robert Harris of Reading, whose daughter and heir brought it in marriage to Captain A. B. Valpy, R.N., of Enborne. The latter died in 1904, and bequeathed it to his daughter-in-law for her life and then in trust for his grandson Oliver Valpy. The estate, however, was sold in 1906 to Major J. G. Morris of Blewburton House.
Other Information:
Listed in the Domesday Book:
Yes