10 Jul Lordship Title of Kitchen, Kitchens or Bilkemore ID1166
Posted at 20:01h
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Previous Lords:
In 1284, Richard Wiscard held 1 hide of the abbot, and this estate, which was of the same extent in 1362 and 1486, was known in 1295 as the manor of Kitchen. In that year it was alienated by Richard Wiscard to Master John de Lacy, from whom it passed to Robert de Hakeneye and Katherine his wife, who in 1329 conveyed it to Robert de Bilkemore and Anastasia his wife, the manor subsequently being known by the name of Bilkemore or Kitchens. In 1348 Robert and Anastasia conveyed the manor to David son of Bartholomew de Flitwick to their own use for life, with remainder after their deaths to Sir John de Lylebone, Sibyl his wife, and their heirs. Robert de Bilkemore was dead by 1361, and the manor passed to Sir John de Lylebone, who settled it on Henry Pyres and his heirs in 1383. The claim of the Bilkemore family was renewed by William Snowe, grandson of Matilda sister of Robert de Bilkemore, in 1431, who on these grounds recovered the manor from William Ryman, who by some means had acquired possession of it. Laurence Snowe, probably a son of William, sold the manor in 1541 to Simon Fitz, who died seised of it in 1543. From this date its descent is identical with that of the manor of Blundells in Silsoe in the parish of Flitton (q.v.). When in the early years of the reign of Elizabeth, Thomas Sterne and Susan his wife, one of the four daughters and heirs of Simon Fitz, brought an action in Chancery against the tenants of the manor on account of their failure to pay rent, it was stated that Roger Pott had occupied part of the manor, and that on his death it had descended to his son John, then aged six, and in the custody of his mother Katherine, who had married for the second time William Dodd. The latter had an interest in this part of the manor for a certain number of years, but the reversion belonged to John Pott, who was holding in 1590, and who in that same year alienated his share of the manor to Thomas Johnson, who married his daughter Mary. Of this portion no further trace has been found. The other half of the manor, occupied by John Man when the proceedings were instituted, was in 1590 held by John Man and John Godfrey. The latter's daughter Frances married William Newton, and she and her husband in 1608 conveyed the half to Edmund Crouche and others, probably a preliminary to selling it to George Fitz, who in that year made a settlement of the half manor purchased from William Newton and John Man to his own use for life, and then to the use of Anne Briers, wife of Sir William Briers and niece of George Fitz, and in default of issue to George Wharton. Shortly after in the same year George Fitz died seised of the half manor, and there is no further mention of the manor of Bilkemore. It probably passed with the manors of Greenfield and Pulloxhill (q.v.), in which it was subsequently merged, to the Croft family, and was conveyed with them to Thomas Neale. The name still survives in Kitchen End Farm.
Other Information:
Manorial Counsel Limited has created a new legal right to bring the titles of this lordship back into use.
Listed in the Domesday Book:
No