10 Jul Lordship Title of Donnington ID1445
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In the time of Edward the Confessor Toti held Donnington of the king, and at the time of the Domesday Survey he had been succeeded by William Lovet. In 1166–7 Gervase of Salnerville was holding it, and in 1215 Gilbert son of Rayner had been holding land here, but, apparently, not the manor. In 1229 Philip de Sanderville, perhaps a son or grandson of Gervase, was holding the manor, and was also holding manors at Enborne and South Morton, which had belonged to William Lovet at the time of the Domesday Survey. In 1229 a suit was brought against Philip de Sanderville by Richard de Coupeland and Joan his wife, who received a grant of land here, probably the manor, from Philip in 1231–2. A little later Richard was holding the manor, and in 1287–8 Alan de Coupeland, who seems to have been his son, sold it to Thomas de Eadburbury. He may, perhaps, be identified with the Thomas de Abberbury who received a charter of free warren here in 1292. Thomas died in 1307 seised of the manor, which passed to his brother Walter, then aged thirty. Walter was living and in possession of the manor in 1308–9, but by 1315–16 he was dead, and the manor had passed to Richard de Abberbury, who was probably his son. Richard died in March 1333 seised of this manor, when his heir was his son John, then aged sixteen. John seems to have died without issue before 1353, when Richard de Abberbury, probably his cousin, was holding the manor. In 1387 Richard received a grant of this manor, or some further rights here, and in 1388 or 1390 he was expelled from the court by the discontented nobles on account of his loyalty. In 1415 he sold the manor to Thomas Chaucer, who is thought to have been the son of Geoffrey Chaucer the poet. Thomas Chaucer had been granted the office of constable of the king's castle of Wallingford in 1399, with the stewardship of the honours of Wallingford and St. Valery, as well as that of the Chiltern Hundreds. He was Sheriff of Berks. and Oxfordshire in 1400 and 1403, M.P. for Oxford 1400–20, and Speaker of the House of Commons in 1407, 1410, 1411 and 1414. He married Maud daughter and co-heir of Sir John Burghersh. He had an only daughter Alice, born in 1404, and she was married in 1415 to Sir John Philip, brother to William Lord Bardolph. This manor and others in the neighbourhood purchased from Sir Richard Abberbury were in 1415 settled by Thomas Chaucer upon his daughter Alice and her husband, but Sir John died in the same year seised of these manors, which under a fresh settlement passed to his youthful widow. Later on she married Thomas le Montagu Earl of Salisbury, who was holding the manor in 1428, but he was killed at the siege of Orleans in that year. In 1430, while still only twenty-six years of age, she was married to her third husband William de la Pole Earl of Suffolk. He was created Duke of Suffolk in 1448 and executed 4 May 1450, when his heir was his son John, then aged seven years. The manor still remained in the hands of the trustees until the death of the duchess in 1475, and the following year the surviving trustees handed over the estate to Thomas Lee, clerk, and William Martin, clerk, who were, presumably, trustees for John Duke of Suffolk. John died in 1491, but his eldest son John Earl of Lincoln had died in 1487 at the battle of Stoke, when his lands were forfeited. At the death of the Duke of Suffolk the manors probably passed with the title to Edmund de la Pole, his second son, but no record has been found showing that he held this manor. In any case, on his attainder in 1503 the manor would have passed to the Crown. The manor remained for a time in the hands of the king, for in 1509 Wistan Browne, squire of the body, was appointed keeper of the manor and park, while John Dounce was made steward of the manor. They were both succeeded in their offices in 1513 by Sir William Compton, and the following year the manor was granted to Charles Brandon Viscount Lisle, then created Duke of Suffolk. The Duke of Suffolk in 1535 exchanged the manor with the king for others elsewhere. In 1536–7 the king appointed William Lord Sandys and Thomas Wriothesley to be constables of the castle, stewards of the manor, keepers and masters of the hunt of Donnington Park in succession, but Edward Fettiplace, a former servant of the duke, seems to have been the actual steward until he gave up the office in 1540, when Thomas Cawarden was appointed. Henry VIII visited Donnington on his way to Windsor in 1541, and in 1545 the manor, with its members, was raised to the rank of an honour. In 1550–1 King Edward VI granted the manor to his sister the Lady Elizabeth, and it remained in the hands of Queen Elizabeth till the end of the century. In 1600 Queen Elizabeth granted the manor in fee to Charles Howard Earl of Nottingham, Lord High Admiral, and in 1601 Nicholas Zouch and Elizabeth his wife released to the earl and Catherine his wife all their interest in the manor. The earl seems to have granted the manor to his son William Lord Howard of Effingham, who died before 1616, when his widow Anne acquired an interest in certain lands in Speen from Peter Vanlore, senior, who held a manor there. The earl died in 1624, and after the death of his widow the manor seems to have passed to her daughter Elizabeth, who had married John Mordaunt Earl of Peterborough, and they conveyed the manor to trustees in 1629. In 1632 they conveyed the manor to William Lane and John Hardy, who were, perhaps, trustees for John Packer, who seems to have held the manor at the time of the siege of the castle in 1644. John Packer was clerk of the Privy Seal and secretary to George Villiers Duke of Buckingham. At his death in 1649 the manor passed to his son Robert of Shellingford Castle, near Faringdon, who was M.P. for Wallingford in the Long Parliament and in 1660 and 1679. He made a settlement of the manor to Ralph Willett in 1651 and died 25 February 1681–2. The Heralds' visitation of 1664 describes his brother William as of Donnington. The property seems to have descended to Robert's grandson Robert (the son of his son John), who was M.P. for Berks. on several occasions, and was succeeded by his elder son Winchcombe Howard Packer. The latter was M.P. for Berks in 1727, 1734 and 1741, and died without issue on 21 August 1746, when he was succeeded by his brother Henry, who died childless on 21 October in the same year. Henry devised the manor with his other estates to Winchcombe Henry Hartley, the son of his sister Elizabeth, who had married Dr. David Hartley of Bath. Winchcombe Henry Hartley married in 1787 Ann eldest daughter of Samuel Blackwell of Williamstrip Park, Gloucestershire, was M.P. for Berks. in 1774, 1780, 1790 and 1794, and died in 1794, leaving the manor to his only son the Rev. Winchcombe Howard Hartley, who married in 1809 Elizabeth eldest daughter of Thomas Watts of Bath, and died in 1832, leaving two children, a son and a daughter. The son, Winchcombe Henry Howard Hartley, married, but died childless in 1881, when the manor passed to his heirs, the four daughters of his sister Elizabeth Ann, who had married Count Demetrius de Palatiano of Corfu, as their only brother had died in 1880 before his uncle. In 1907 the estates were divided among the four co-heirs, when the manor of Donnington fell to the share of the eldest, the Countess E. Ada Palatiano. Court Rolls dating from 1538 to 1547 are preserved at the Public Record Office, and the contents of one of 1494 have been printed.
Other Information:
Listed in the Domesday Book:
Yes