10 Jul Lordship Title of Langley ID1540
Posted at 20:05h
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Robert held this manor of Gilbert at the time of the Domesday Survey, and in the 13th century the manor of Langley was held by Gilbert de Sanford of Great Hormead, chamberlain to Queen Eleanor. He married Laura, and died in 1250, leaving an only daughter Alice, married to Robert de Vere, afterwards fifth Earl of Oxford. Robert was only ten years of age at the time of the death of his father-inlaw, and succeeded his father, Hugh de Vere, the fourth earl, in 1263. He seems to have granted this manor to his second son Hugh, who was created Lord Vere, and obtained a grant of free warren here in 1290. Robert died in 1296, and, though his widow survived him until 1317, and Hugh seems to have lived until the following year, the eldest son Robert seems to have inherited this manor at once, for he is returned as holding it in 1315–16. In 1330 he had licence to enfeoff Robert de Cheddeworth and William de Parco with the manors of Langley and Bradley, held in chief, in trust for himself and, if he died without issue, for his nephew John; at the same time he received a fresh grant of free warren in Langley. He married Margaret daughter of Edmund Lord Mortimer and died without issue in 1331, when the manor and title passed to John the son of his brother Sir Alphonso de Vere, then aged nineteen. John de Vere, seventh Earl of Oxford, did homage for his lands without delay and received possession of these in May the same year. The manor then followed the descent of the earldom of Oxford until the death of Robert de Vere, ninth Earl of Oxford, in 1392, when the king claimed the reversion. Nevertheless the manor apparently passed the same year to Robert's uncle, Aubrey de Vere, who was created Earl of Oxford, the first of the new creations, and in spite of the exercise of certain rights claimed by the Crown seems to have followed the descent of the earldom of Oxford till the forfeiture of the estates of John Earl of Oxford, the third or twelfth earl, in 1461–2. In 1471 the forfeited estates were granted by King Edward IV to his brother Richard Duke of Gloucester, who became King Richard III. When the manor came into the king's hands in 1461–2 it seems likely that some or all of the lands were sold to Alice widow of William Duke of Suffolk, who was holding the manor of Donnington and other lands adjoining, besides some of the land in Bradley. No record of such a grant has been found, but in 1476–7 we find that she had bequeathed by will at her death in 1475 the manor of Langley to her son John Duke of Suffolk. At John's death in 1491 it must have passed to his son Edmund, who was attainted in 1503, when his lands were forfeited, and in an inquisition held in 1510 he is said to have held the manors of Langley, West Bradley and others. After the forfeiture of the Duke of Suffolk the manor was in 1510 granted by King Henry VIII to the Lady Anne, daughter of King Edward IV and wife of Thomas Howard, afterwards Duke of Norfolk, who as Thomas Earl of Surrey and Lord High Admiral sold it 5 December 1515 to Charles Brandon Duke of Suffolk. By an Act of Parliament in 1535–6 an exchange of lands was authorized between the duke and the king by which this manor came once more into the hands of the king. For some time it remained attached to the royal manor of Donnington, until in March 1545 it was sold to Edward Fettiplace, the king's servant. Edward Fettiplace died without issue and his widow Anne married Richard More of Burghfield, who was holding the manor in 1569, conveyed it in 1570 to Francis More and William Prentyce, apparently in trust, and sold it the same year to John Smith, after obtaining licence to alienate the manor. John Smith died seised of the capital messuage here in 1629–30. For a time the history of the manor is obscure, but by the middle of the century it seems to have passed to Thomas Head. This Thomas appears to have been a son of Adam Head of Chilton by Alice his wife, and to be the Thomas Head of Langley whose name appears as surveyor of the highways in the churchwardens' account book of this parish. The name occurs also in 1659, 1670 and 1675, and it is recorded that a tombstone buried in the church at the time of its restoration bore the inscription 'Sir Thomas Head ob. 1683. His wife's name was Mary, and he left a son Peregrine, born in 1645, but the latter appears to have died without issue, as the estate passed to John Head, son of John Head of Chilton, the elder brother of Thomas. John Head of Langley married in 1687 Anne daughter of Richard Pocock of Chieveley and Sarah his wife, and died in 1711, when he was succeeded by his eldest son Richard. Richard Head married Elizabeth daughter of Dr. John Wallis, and died in 1739 or 1740, when he was succeeded by his eldest son Thomas. He was knighted in 1744 and in 1750 married Jane daughter of Rowland Holt of Redgrave, Suffolk. He was buried at Hampstead Norris in 1779, when, as his elder son William had died unmarried the previous year, he was succeeded by his younger son Walter James, who in 1769 took the name of James on inheriting the Denford estate from John James, who had married his great-aunt Elizabeth Head. ¶Walter James Head James was created a baronet in 1791 and died on 8 October 1829. He was holding the manor in 1806, but the estate was sold either by him or his heirs to John Thomas Wasey, who was holding it in 1839. On his death the estate passed to his daughters Mrs. Jane Stackpool and Miss Mary Wasey, who sold it to Mr. Lewis Loyd, from whom it passed to his son Lord Overstone, whose daughter, Lady Wantage, afterwards held it.
Other Information:
Listed in the Domesday Book:
Yes