10 Jul Lordship Title of Bedlow ID1017
Posted at 20:00h
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There is another manor in Clophill, known as BEDLOW MANOR, which probably originated in the land held at Domesday by Azelina wife of Ralph Taillebois; it amounted then to 1 hide, and was held of Azelina by Turstin, and had been held by Ulvric, a sokeman of King Edward. Between 1140 and 1146 it was given to Beaulieu Priory, a cell of the abbey of St. Albans, situated in the parish of Clophill, by the founder, Robert de Albini, in his charter of endowment. The priory continued to hold the land, which in 1346 amounted to the sixth of half a knight's fee from the barony of Cainhoe. The overlordship passed, as in the case of the manor of Clophill and Cainhoe, to the crown, from whom it was held as late as 1586. In 1428 Beaulieu Priory was absorbed in the parent abbey, as its poverty prevented an independent existence, and the manor continued to be the property of the abbey of St. Albans until the Dissolution, when it was taken into the hand of the king. Edward VI in 1553 bestowed it upon Sir William Fitzwilliam and his wife Joan. The former died in 1558 and his wife shortly afterwards, when the manor was divided among their four daughters, Mabel wife of Thomas Browne, Katherine wife of Christopher Viscount Gormanston, Elizabeth wife of Francis Jermye, and Elizabeth wife of Innocent Rede. Mabel Browne died in 1564, and her son Matthew sold his share in the manor in 1585 to Richard Charnock, who had already acquired the remaining parts from the three other daughters of Sir William Fitzwilliam. Richard Charnock left the manor to his son John, and the latter's son Robert, who was knighted in 1619, succeeded his father, and was in possession in 1639 and died in 1670, leaving a son, St. John, who had been created a baronet in 1661 and died in 1680. He was succeeded by his youngest son and heir, Sir Villiers Charnock (the elder sons having died without issue in their father's lifetime), who died in 1694, and the manor passed through his son Sir Pynsent, who died in 1734, to Sir Boteler Charnock, the latter's son, who died in 1756 without issue. His brother and heir, Sir Villiers, probably sold the manor to Lady Amabel Grey, who was holding it in 1772, since which date it has been held by the de Greys, earls of Kent, jointly with the manor of Clophill and Cainhoe, the manorial rights at the present day being vested in their descendant Lord Lucas and Dingwali.
Other Information:
Listed in the Domesday Book:
Yes