31 Oct Lordship Title of Stevington ID13865
Posted at 10:47h
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During the Confessor's reign the tenant of Stevington was a thegn, Adelold by name, whose successor in 1086 was Ernulf of Ardres, from whose family the manor passed to the Counts of Guînes. The Count of Guînes appears to have been holding in Stevington some time prior to 1153, for his grant of Stevington Church to Harrold Priory is confirmed by 'Eustace the King's son,' who died in that year. In 1205 Baldwin Count of Guînes, possibly grandson of the benefactor of Harrold Priory, recovered possession of his lands in Stevington of which he had been deprived by the king's orders. Henry de Trubleville received in 1221 the custody of this manor, which is next found in the possession of Robert de Guînes, whom Dugdale states to be a brother of Baldwin. He confirmed the advowson of Stevington Church to Harrold Priory in 1236–7, and is named by the Testa as the representative of the Boulogne honour in this parish. By 1252–3 Stevington had passed from Robert de Guînes to the de Quincy family, for in that year Robert de Quincy acknowledged the right of his elder brother Roger Earl of Winchester and his heirs male to the manor; in the event of Roger's dying without heirs it was to revert to the right heirs of Robert. Roger de Quincy accordingly held Stevington until his death without male heirs in 1264, when Stevington Manor passed to Hadwisa wife of Baldwin Wake, one of the daughters and co-heirs of Robert de Quincy. Baldwin Wake died in 1281–2, leaving a son John, and in 1284 Hadwisa Wake rendered feudal service for Stevington. John Wake did homage for his lands in 1290, and was summoned to Parliament as Lord Wake of Liddell by writs dated from 1295 to 1299. He died in 1300, his heir being his son Thomas, aged two, who held by feudal service in Stevington in 1346. Thomas Wake was made governor of Hertford Castle and of the Channel Islands by Edward III, and died without issue in 1349. His heir was his sister Margaret wife of Edmund Plantagenet Earl of Kent, who died a few months after her brother; but his widow Blanche daughter of Henry Plantagenet Earl of Lancaster continued to hold Stevington Manor in dower till her death in 1380–1, Joan daughter and heir of Margaret then inheriting. Joan, who is known to history as the Fair Maid of Kent, married, first, Thomas de Holand, created Earl of Kent, by whom she had two sons, and, secondly, Edward the Black Prince, by whom she became the mother of Richard II. She died in 1385, and the inquisition held as to her property states that though Thomas de Holand Earl of Kent was her eldest son and heir, she had granted Stevington Manor for her lifetime to her younger son John de Holand, and Thomas de Holand, after his mother's death, gave up all claim in the manor to his brother, John de Holand, who was created Earl of Huntingdon and Duke of Exeter, and was executed in 1400 for taking part in a conspiracy against Henry IV to restore Richard II; in the same year his widow Elizabeth daughter of John of Gaunt and sister of Henry IV petitioned for and obtained the restoration of Stevington Manor as part of her dower. At her death in 1425 the manor passed to her son John Holand Earl of Huntingdon, who in 1443 was advanced to the title of Duke of Exeter forfeited by his father, and who died in 1447, leaving a son Henry, then aged seventeen and upwards. Henry Earl of Huntingdon and Duke of Exeter fought on the side of the Lancastrians and was attainted in 1461, when all his honours were forfeited. His wife Anne, who was sister of Edward IV, received a life grant of Stevington Manor from her brother, with reversion to her daughter Anne, who predeceased her mother, however, leaving no heirs. Anne Duchess of Exeter died in 1475–6, when Stevington reverted to the Crown. The manor remained Crown property until 1485, when Richard III granted it to Thomas Lord Stanley, created Earl of Derby in the same year. His grandson Thomas Earl of Derby received a confirmation of the grant from Henry VII in 1488–9. He died in 1521, leaving a son Edward Stanley, who in 1533–4 granted Stevington Manor as security for a debt of £5,000 to the Crown. Ferdinand Earl of Derby, grandson of the above-named Edward Stanley, left Stevington to his son William in 1594. In 1599–1600 he made a settlement of the manor on the occasion of the marriage of his mother Alice, daughter of Sir John Spencer of Althorpe and widow of Ferdinand Earl of Derby, to Sir Thomas Egerton, Baron, Ellesmere, who was Lord Chancellor of England from 1596 to 1616–17. Two years after its acquisition Thomas Egerton, together with his wife, alienated Stevington Manor to James Dean, who in 1607 conveyed it by fine to Thomas Langhorne and other trustees. In 1623 Sir Samuel Tryon and his wife Elizabeth alienated the manor to George Tuke, who in 1636 conveyed it to William Alston. It thus became attached to Odell (q.v.), with which parish its history is henceforward identical. In July 1873 two portions of this estate, described as 'the Manor Farm, 246 a. 24 p., and fishing in half the river,' and 'Burley Farm, situated at Pickshill,' were advertised for sale, and became the property of the Duke of Bedford. This farm became later the property of Mr. F. C. Higgins of Turvey, who recently sold it to Mr. Cauvin of Bedford. With these exceptions, the manor of Stevington has remained in the Alston family, and is at present the property of Mr. Rowland Crewe Alston of Odell Castle.
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Listed in the Domesday Book:
Yes