Title: | Research Paper: The Lordship of Ewyas Lacy from Norman times to the present day. |
Date: | 1066 - 2000 |
Introduction
The Lordship of Ewyas Lacy has a remarkable pedigree for what is today a little known and somewhat remote part of the country. During a long and frequently turbulent history the title has graced Kings and Queens of England as well as Princes, Dukes, Earls and Barons, some bearing family names such as Mortimer, Despencer and Plantagenet that have left much wider imprints on our past. It is fascinating, too, to find that well-known historical figures such as Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester and Richard Neville, Earl of Warwick [“Warwick the Kingmaker”] were Lords of Ewyas Lacy in their time, and that more than one holder of the title has been executed or banished for rebellion and treason against the Crown. During the English civil war the Lordship even passed to one of Oliver Cromwell’s most prominent major-generals; unfortunately for him he was also a signatory to the death warrant of Charles I and was subsequently hung, drawn and quartered at Charing Cross for the crime of Regicide.
The history of the descent of the Lordship can be divided conveniently into three parts. The first part , from the Conquest to the death of Walter II de Lacy in 1241, is intimately linked to the history of the de Lacy family whose name the area still bears. This was a time of continuing conquest, when feudal Norman Barons were pushing back the borders at the expense of the Welsh, and the writ of the so-called Marcher Lords ran more powerfully even than that of the King.
By 1241, however, the bounds of the Manor of Ewyas Lacy had largely evolved, and the Lord of the Manor had become somewhat more accountable to the Sovereign. On the death of Walter II de Lacy in that year the Lordship passed to his granddaughters Margery and Maud, each of whom inherited a moiety and shared the Lordship in coparcenary. The subsequent descent of the Lordship through these two separate branches forms the second and third parts of this history, and has shaped the development of Ewyas Lacy right up to the present day.
References to original sources and documents are given, though there are not surprisingly still areas where evidence is scarce, conflicting and/or difficult to interpret. In such cases the authors have used their best judgement as to the most likely course of events.
Bob Steele
Nina Wedell
January 2007
Part 1: The de Lacy Family, 1066-1241
| 1066-1084
| Walter de Lacy, 1st Baron de Lacy, born c 1042 in France at Lacie, now called Lassy, died 2nd April 1084 [27th March 1085?]; married Ermeline c.1066, by whom he had five children, Roger, Hugh, Walter [became Abbott of Gloucester, died 1140], Ermeline and Emma [Emme, Emmaline]. In 1069 he was sent into Wales with William Fitz Osbern, Earl of Hereford, against the people of Brecknock led by their Prince of Wales, whom they defeated. Walter de Lacy fell from a ladder at St Peter’s Church in Hereford [which he founded] while inspecting the nearly finished work, and died on the spot. He was buried in the Chapter House of the Cathedral at Gloucester. | Ref 17 |
| 1084-1095 | Roger de Lacy, 2nd Baron de Lacy was banished from England in 1095 for rebelling with Robert de Mowbray, Earl of Northumberland against King William II [William Rufus], and died in 1106. All his lands, including some 96 lordships, were given to his brother Hugh, who founded Llanthony Priory.
NOTE : There are conflicting views about the descent of the Lordship of Ewyas Lacy between 1095 and 1185. Follow the link for a Review and Commentary on the differing accounts and scenarios.
| 17 |
| 1095-1121 | Hugh de Lacy, 3rd Baron de Lacy, born c.1073, married Adeline but died 1121 [?1115] without issue, and his two sisters, Emma and Ermeline became the heiresses. Ermeline had no children, and so the inheritance passed to Hugh’s nephew Gilbert, the son of his sister Emma, [born c.1082 in Lacy, Herefordshire.] She had married c.1095 Hugh de Talbot [born c1078, died 1129]. Their son Gilbert chose to take the de Lacy surname and inherited the Baronetcy and properties when Hugh died. | 15 |
| 1121-1163 | Gilbert de Lacy, 4th Baron de Lacy, was born c1104 [1110?] in Ewyas Harold, Herefordshire, and died in 1163. He married Agnes c.1132 and was succeeded by his son Hugh. According to some sources it was Gilbert who recovered the family’s lands from the Crown [Henry II] after Roger de Lacy’s banishment. | 15 |
| 1163-1185 | Hugh de Lacy 5th Baron de Lacy, Lord of Ludlow, Earl of Meath; born c 1125 [1138?] in Ewias Lacy, died 25 July 1185 [1186?] in Meath, Ireland; married Rose [Rohese] de Monmouth [born c. 1145, daughter of Badion (Baderon) de Monmouth and Rohese de Clare] c.1170 [1163?], and was succeeded by his eldest son Walter. | 15 |
| 1185-1241 | Walter II de Lacy, Lord of Meath, Ludlow & Weobley, Sheriff of Herefordshire; born c 1172 in Ewias Lacy, died “blind and infirm” on 24th February 1241 in Meath, Ireland; married Margaret de Braose [daughter of William de Braose of Brecknock, Lord of Bramber] in November 1195. His son and heir Gilbert de Lacy was born c.1205 [1196?] in Ewyas, died in 1234 [1230?] in Trim, Meath, Ireland and is buried in Llanthony. He married Isabel Bigod, [born c.1210; died 1239] about 1225, daughter of Hugh Bigod, 3rd Earl of Norfolk and had two daughters, Margery [born c.1228 [1230?] in Ewyas Lacy, died c.1256] and Maud [born c.1230 [1228?] in Dublin, died 11th April 1304 in Ireland]. Because Gilbert predeceased his father the inheritance passed down to his daughters [Walter II de Lacy’s grand-daughters] who were each given a moiety of Ewyas Lacy and a share of the Lordship with the taxes and revenues that attached to it. Later documents refer to the lordship as being ‘held in coparcenary’, and the split of the lordship and lands of Ewyas Lacy created in 1241 persisted to modern times. Note: An entry from the annals of John de Pembridge, a Dominican friar writing in the 14th century [J. T. Gilbert (ed.), Chartularies of St Mary’s abbey, Dublin, 2 vols, Rolls Series (London, 1884), ii, p. 315.] supports the subsequent descent of the Lordship through the Verdon and Genevile lines, but states that Walter de Lacy died in England and not at Meath in Ireland. Other researchers have suggested that he may have been buried at Craswall Priory.
| 15 |
Part 2: Maud de Lacy's Moiety, 1241 to 2000
| 1241-c.1249 | Maud de Lacy/ Peter de Geneva. Maud married her first husband Peter in 1243/4 in Herefordshire, but he died without issue c.1249. | Ref 16 |
| c.1249-1314 | Maud de Lacy/ Sir Geoffrey de Geneville, [born c.1226 in Dublin, Leinster, Ireland, married 1253 in Meath, died 1314 in Trim, Ireland] Sn de Vaucouleurs, Lord of Trim [County Meath, Ireland]. On the death of Sir Geoffrey on 21st October 1314 the lordship and manor of Ewyas Lacy descended to his granddaughter Joan by his son Piers de Geneville, [born 1256 in Dublin, married Jeanne de Lusignan daughter of Hugh, Count de la Marche c.1283 in Ludlow, Shropshire, died before June 1292 in Ireland] who predeceased his father. | 16 |
| 1314-1330
| Joan de Geneville/ Roger de Mortimer, 1st Earl of March. Joan de Geneville [born c.1286, died 1356], heiress to Trim castle, County Meath, married Roger de Mortimer [born 1287, died 1330] in 1301. Roger de Mortimer is said to have murdered King Edward II, and usurped the throne of England. He was executed for treason in 1330 by King Edward III. His Earldom was forfeited, but later restored to his grandson. | 4 |
| [1330-1331] | Sir Edmund de Mortimer, Lord Mortimer, [born 1305/6, married Elizabeth Badlesmere 27th June 1316, died before 21January 1331/2] Roger de Mortimer’s son, may have inherited the lordship of Ewyas Lacy, though in view of his father’s treason the estates were probably held in attainder by the Crown. Sir Edmund died in 1331; his son Roger de Mortimer was his heir. | 29 |
| 1330-1348
| King Edward III. The Earldom of March, presumably including the lordship and lands of Ewyas Lacy, was held in attainder under the Crown on account of Roger de Mortimer’s treason. | 31 |
| 1348-1359
| Roger de Mortimer, 2nd Earl of March, [born c.1328, died 26th February 1359] regained his grandfather’s titles and lands c.1348, presumably including Ewyas Lacy. He was succeeded by his son Edmund by his wife Philippa de Montacute, daughter of William de Montacute the 1st Earl of Salisbury. | 29 |
| 1359-1381
| Edmund de Mortimer, 3rd Earl of March [born 1st February 1352, died 27th December 1381] married c. 1368 Philippa Plantagenet, [1355-c.1378] Countess of Ulster, daughter of Lionel Plantagenet, Duke of Clarence, Earl of Ulster. Their eldest surviving son was Roger de Mortimer, who inherited when his father died. | 9 |
| 1381-1398
| Roger de Mortimer, 4th Earl of March and Earl of Ulster, was born in Usk, Monmouthshire on 11th April 1374. He married Alianore [Eleanor] de Holland, daughter of the 2nd Earl of Kent on 7th October 1388. He died on 20th July 1398 leaving his estates and titles to his son Edmund. | 29 |
| 1398-1425
| Edmund de Mortimer, 5th Earl of March, born 6th November 1391, died 1425 in Ireland of the plague; married Anne Stafford, daughter of Edmund, Earl of Stafford in about 1415 but had no children, thus ending the male line of the Mortimers. A reference in the Fine Rolls dated 11th March 1406 describes the grant to John ap Henry the King’s Esquire of the ‘keeping’ of a moiety of the Lordship of Ewyas Lacy, which is in the King’s hands by reason of the minority of Edmund Mortimer, son and heir of Roger, late Earl of March. Others may well have played a similar role in the period from Roger’s death in 1398 up to 1412 when Edmund reached the age of twenty-one. After Edmund’s death in 1425 the inheritance passed through the line of his sister, Anne de Mortimer, born 27th December 1390, died September 1411, who was heiress to his estates. In about 1406 she had married Richard Plantagenet of Conisburgh, 3rd Earl of Cambridge, [1375-1415] who was the younger son of Edmund of Langley, 1st Duke of York and Isabella of Castile. The 3rd Earl was executed in 1415 for plotting against King Henry V, but left a son, Richard, who became heir to the lordship of Ewyas Lacy. | 10a |
| 1425-1460
| Richard Plantagenet, 3rd Duke of York, son of Anne de Mortimer and Richard of Conisburgh, [born 21st September 1411, married Cecily, daughter of Ralph Nevill, 1st Earl of Westmorland before 18th October 1424, died 31st December 1460 in Wakefield], inherited the Mortimer estates [including Maud de Lacy’s share of Ewyas Lacy] by right of his mother Anne de Mortimer. Richard’s sons by his wife Cicely Neville [1415-1495] subsequently became respectively King Edward IV and King Richard III of England. | 29 |
| 1460-1461
| Edward Plantagenet, 4th Duke of York. [born 28 April 1441, died 9th April 1483]. He married Elizabeth Wydville, daughter of Sir Richard Wydville, 1st Earl Rivers, on 1st May 1464. When he became King Edward IV in 1461 his estates [including the Earldom of March of which Ewyas Lacy was part] were merged in the Crown. The descent of this part of the Ewyas Lacy inheritance thereafter presumably continued through the Crown until the time of Elizabeth I [apart from a brief recreation of the Earldom of March between 1479 and 1483, see below], since it was still in the royal gift when Queen Elizabeth I granted it to Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester in 1566. | 30 |
| 1461-1479
| King Edward IV. It was alleged that Edward was not the son of Richard, the 3rd Duke of York, but a bastard conceived while the Duke was away on a military campaign. This is supposedly part of the reason why Edward IV’s sons, Edward and Richard, the ‘Princes in the Tower’ were later murdered, and his brother Richard succeeded as King Richard III. | 30 31 |
| 1479-1483 | Edward Plantagenet, Duke of Cornwall, Earl of March, [1470-1483] The son of King Edward IV had the Earldom of March [presumably including the lordship of Ewyas Lacy] recreated for him by his father in 1479, when he was nine years old. He succeeded briefly as King Edward V in 1483, and so the Earldom merged again with the crown before he was deposed and murdered. | 31 |
| 1483
| King Edward V. Edward Plantagenet, King Edward V of England [born 2nd November 1470] died in the Tower of London on 23rd June 1483, along with his brother Richard Plantagenet, Duke of York [born 17th August 1473], allegedly murdered by their uncle who became King Richard III. | 30 |
| 1483-1485
| King Richard III. | 30 |
| 1485-1509
| King Henry VII. | 30a |
| 1509-1547
| King Henry VIII. | 30a |
| [1529-1546] | William Thynne [died 1546] held many offices in the Court and Household of King Henry VIII, some of which show he retained links with his native Welsh border country. In 1529 he was appointed ‘receiver-general of the Earldom of March in reversion’. The estates of the Earldom of March [merged with the crown in 1461] included a moiety of the lordship and manor of Ewyas Lacy descended from Maud de Lacy via Edmund de Mortimer, 5th Earl of March. Presumably Thynne’s appointment granted him the income from the manor, but the formal lordship title and ownership of the manor probably still vested in the Crown. | 32 |
| [1546-1566?] | Sir John Thynne [1512-1580], nephew of William Thynne, was probably brought to London by his uncle and also held many high offices, including Steward of the household of Edward Seymour, Earl of Hertford and Duke of Somerset. [This was an extremely influential position, since Edward Seymour was the brother of Jane Seymour, who married Henry VIII. Seymour later became King in all but name on Henry’s death, becoming Earl Marshal of England and Protector of the Realm for several years, but was eventually beheaded for high treason on Tower Hill on 22 January 1552]. In May 1546 a grant, made shortly before his uncle’s death at the request of the Earl of Hertford, included John Thynne in the reversion of the Earldom of March, and thus [indirectly?] in the lordship of Ewyas Lacy. John Thynne had acquired Longleat Priory in 1540, and substantial other possessions in Longleat were granted by the crown to the Earl of Hertford and transferred to Thynne in 1541. Subsequently his mansion at Longleat became the centre of his domains, which grew to rival those of the Seymours. He continued to prosper under Edward VI, and in 1549 paid £4340 for additional lands [unspecified] in Herefordshire and elsewhere. He was excluded from public employment under Queen Mary but he was again active at court and in parliament under Elizabeth I, becoming extremely wealthy. | 32 |
| 1547-1553
| King Edward VI. | |
| 1553-1554
| Queen Mary. | |
| 1554-1558
| Philip and Mary. | |
| 1558-1566
| Queen Elizabeth I gave the moiety of the lordship of Ewyas Lacy that had descended from Maud de Lacy to her favourite, Robert Dudley, in 1566. | 33 |
| 1566-1567
| Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester commissioned a survey of the ‘Rentals of Ewyas Lacy’ in 1566 which survives, and details the poor condition of the moiety of the property he had been given. He subsequently sold ‘the manors of Ewyas Lacy and Walterstone alias Trewalter, late parcel of the possessions of the Earldom of March’ to Robert Hopton for £4600 by a deed dated 1st November 1567. | 33 |
| 1567-c1590 | Sir Robert Hopton, Knight Marshal to Queen Elizabeth I, purchased the lordship and manor of Ewyas Lacy from the Earl of Leicester in 1567. He appears to have died without issue, and the title passed to Sir Arthur Hopton his nephew, only son of his brother Sir Owen Hopton who was Lieutenant of the Tower of London. His kinsman [brother?] Sir Ralph Hopton was also jointly Marshal of the Household at this time, and had held high offices at Court since the time of Henry VIII, also serving as an MP. Ralph was also linked with Sir John Thynne of Longleat [above], and may well have been involved with or party to transactions concerning the Ewyas Lacy estates. | 14 |
| c1590-1607 | Sir Arthur Hopton of Witham [1551-1607] inherited the lordship and manor of Ewyas Lacy and other lands from his uncles Sir Robert Hopton and Sir Ralph Hopton. He married Rachel Hall and they had three sons, Robert, Arthur and Owen, and three daughters Philadelphia, Margaret and Jane. | 35 |
| 1607-1636 | Robert Hopton Esquire, eldest son of Sir Arthur Hopton, inherited the Ewyas Lacy properties on the death of his father in 1607. He married Jane Keymis [?Janet Kemeys] and they had three sons, Ralph [born 1596], William [1602-1623] and Robert [born 1608], and four daughters, Catherine [born 1605], Rachel [born 1606], Mary [born 1608], and Margaret [born 1610]. | 35 |
| 1636-1643
| Sir Ralph Hopton [1596-1652], Baron Hopton of Stratton, inherited the family estates on the death of his father Robert Hopton in 1636, including Llanthony Manor and ‘lands in Ewyas Lacy, Waterston [?Walterstone] and Trewaylanin in Herefordshire’. He married Elizabeth Capel on 18th March 1623, but appears to have had no children. A staunch royalist, in 1642 he was declared delinquent and subsequently a traitor by Parliament at the start of the English civil war. The following year he became Commander-in-chief of the King’s Western Army, whereupon all his properties were sequestered by order of Parliament and seized by Colonel William Strode, a leading parliamentarian. In 1646 Hopton finally surrendered to General Sir Thomas Fairfax, commander of the ‘New Model Army’ and went into exile, dying in Bruges on October 8th 1652 ‘in honourable poverty’, never having regained his lands and property. | 35 |
| 1643-1645
| Colonel William Strode MP. On 20th February 1643 all Sir Ralph Hopton’s property, [presumably including the manor of Ewyas Lacy], were sequestered and seized to Colonel William Strode on behalf of parliament. When he died on the 9th September 1645, [or perhaps earlier] this charge passed to trustees appointed by Parliament under an ‘Act for the Sale of Several Lands and Estates Forfeited to the Commonwealth for Treason’. | 35 |
| 1645-1653
| The moiety of the Manor of Ewyas Lacy seized from Lord Hopton was held by trustees appointed by Parliament, who were charged with the sale of forfeited properties. An Act of Parliament dated 23rd April 1652 authorised the trustees to sell ‘all that the manors of Ewyas Lacye, Waterston and Tre Ysgallen (Trewaylan)’ with all their appurtenances, said to be ‘of the clear yearly value of five hundred pounds’ to Thomas Harrison for the sum of five shillings. The formal indenture of sale dated 6th September 1653 records the appointed trustees as William Skynner, William Robinson, Samuel Gookin, Henry Sealy, William Lisle, Arthur Samuell Esquire and Mathias Valentine Esquire. | 37 |
| 1653-1660
| Major General Thomas Harrison [1606-1660] was a religious zealot, who rose rapidly through the ranks of Parliament’s Army during the Civil War to become a Major-General in 1651, commanding [inter alia] the army left to guard England during Cromwell’s invasion of Scotland. He was also politically prominent, sitting as a judge in the trial of Charles I and a signatory to his death warrant. He took a seat on the Council of State in 1651, having been appointed in effect military governor of Wales in the previous year. His extreme religious views eventually led him into conflict with Cromwell and parliament, and he was imprisoned by their order several times between 1653, when his Army commission was withdrawn, and 1658. In 1660, one of the first acts of Charles II on his restoration to the throne was to put Harrison on trial for Regicide, and he was hung, drawn and quartered on 13th October 1660 at Charing Cross. It seems unlikely during such turbulent times that the manor of Ewyas Lacy commanded much of his attention. | 37 |
| 1660-c.1665 | Rachel Hopton/ Thomas Morgan. After the restoration of the monarchy in 1660, it is probable there was considerable confusion concerning the legal ownership of many properties sequestered or seized by parliament during the interregnum. Lord Ralph Hopton’s properties appear to have been promptly reclaimed and occupied by his four sisters and their husbands, with the manor of Ewyas Lacy, Waterston [?Walterstone] and other Herefordshire properties being taken over by Rachel Hopton and her husband Thomas Morgan of Machen and Tredegar. This succession of all the Hopton estates was disputed in Chancery proceedings initiated in 1665 by one Richard Hopton, claiming that the proper descent should be to him through a different line of the extensive Hopton family. This claim appears to have failed, and a ruling by the House of Lords made in 1672 formally restored the Hopton estates to Lord Ralph Hopton’s sisters. | 35 |
| c.1665-1692 | Elizabeth Morgan/ Sir Trevor Williams of Llangibby castle, Baronet. Sir Trevor inherited the Ewyas Lacy title by right of his wife, Elizabeth, daughter and sole heir of Thomas Morgan and his wife Rachel [nee Hopton]. | 36 |
| 1692-c.1693 | Sir John Williams of Llangibby castle , eldest surviving son of Sir Trevor Williams, inherited the Ewyas Lacy estates on the death of his father in 1692. On 25th February 1693 he secured the assent of parliament to an Act to enable the sale of the manors of Ewyas Lacy, Waterston, Trescaillen and other lands ‘for the payment of debts’. Sale particulars were issued and survive [undated], but the exact year the properties subsequently changed hands is not known. | 39 |
| c.1693-1715 | John Jeffreys Esquire (Senior), a wealthy merchant of St Mary Axe in London, probably purchased the manor and lordship of Ewyas Lacy from Sir John Williams, although this may have been on behalf of his son [below] whose name appears in relation to the transaction. Since the son’s death is not recorded until 1768, it is considered unlikely that he could have bought the property on his own account as early as 1693. | 40 |
| 1715-1768 | John Jeffreys Esquire (Junior) of West Sheen, Surrey probably inherited the manor and lordship of Ewyas Lacy on the death his father, John Jeffreys Senior, in 1715. | 40 41 |
| 1768-c.1776 | Edward Jeffreys of Brecon may have held the lordship by descent from John Jeffreys Junior [above] before Edward’s son Walter, below, inherited it on his father’s death c. 1776. | 41 |
| c.1776-1813 | Walter Jeffreys of Brecon is shown on deeds of 1776 as holding the lordship and manor of Ewyas Lacy, presumably by inheritance through the Jeffreys family line. Walter Jeffreys died in 1813. | 41 |
| 1813-c.1847 | Thomas Daniell Esquire, formerly of Trelissick in Cornwall and afterwards of the City of Bath, was resident at Michaelchurch Court and in possession of the Michaelchurch Court Estate, which he presumably acquired from Walter Jeffreys’ heirs. Daniell was made bankrupt by his creditors on 15th December 1836, and Michaelchurch Court Estate papers for the period 1835-1847 refer to Miss Barbara Traill as mortgagee. It is not reported whether she took actual possession of the Estate on Daniell’s bankruptcy, but Daniell [Daniels] is still shown as a major landowner in Ewyas Lacy on the Tithe Map in 1843-44. At this time the Michaelchurch Estate seems to comprise a significant part of the moiety of Ewyas Lacy descended from Maud de Lacy [above], principally in Michaelchurch Escley and Craswall, with some land in St Margarets and Newton. There are however also a number of other substantial landowners in the area including the Delahay and Cornewall families, demonstrating that the original manor of Ewyas Lacy was already considerably fragmented at this time. The title of Lord of the Manor of Ewyas Lacy appears to have remained attached to the portion forming the Michaelchurch Court Estate, the descent of which is shown below. | 42 |
| c. 1851-1858 | Richard Watson Barton Esquire is referred to in several local directories of the time as principal landowner in Michaelchurch Escley [along with Lord Abergavenny]. He was resident at Michaelchurch Court and presumably in possession of the Court Estate and parts of the manor of Ewyas Lacy. He acquired more land in Michaelchurch Escley in 1858 from Sir Velters Cornewall. | 42 |
| 1864-1879 | Miss Elizabeth Rawson of Nidd Hall in Yorkshire purchased the manors of Ewyas Lacy and Craswall and the Michaelchurch Court Estate, including the lordship of part of the manor of Ewyas Lacy, in 1864 [presumably from Richard Barton or his heirs] for her nephew Captain Charles Guy Trafford who took up residence at Michaelchurch Court with his wife and family. He died on 19th March 1879 and is buried at St Michael's church, Michaelchurch Escley. | 42 |
| 1879-1910 | Henry Randolph Trafford Esquire, second son of Charles Guy Trafford, inherited the estate under the terms of Elizabeth Rawson’s will when she died in 1892, although in effect it had come to him on the death of his father in 1879. He was High Sheriff of Herefordshire in 1896, and a Deputy Lieutenant of the county. | 42 |
| 1910-1943 | Richard Randolph William Rawson Trafford, the only surviving son of H R Trafford, received the property by conveyance from the trustees of Elizabeth Rawson in 1928, and was resident at Michaelchurch Court until the second world war. He was killed in action on 18th January 1943. | 42 |
| 1943-1944 | Bettina Maud Capper [previously Trafford], RRWR Trafford’s mother [who had remarried] inherited the property on her son’s death. | 42 |
| 1944-1953 | Clare Margaret Hunter [nee Trafford], Randolph Trafford’s sister, received the property by a 1944 conveyance from her mother Bettina Maud Capper. She resided at Michaelchurch Court until 1968, when she moved to Portugal. | 42 |
| 1953-c.1976 | Michael Henry Hunter received the property piecemeal by a series of conveyances from Clare Margaret Hunter. During this period substantial parts of the estate were also sold off into private hands. | 42 |
| c.1976-1988 | Mrs RC Hunter. | 42 |
| 1988- | Mr. John Williams of Eaton Bishop purchased the remaining portions of Michaelchurch Estate by private treaty in 1988. The sale particulars published by Knight, Frank & Rutley specified that the lordship of the Manor of Ewyas Lacy attached to the Estate and was offered in the sale. | 42 |
Part 3: Margery de Lacy's moiety, 1241-1920
| 1241-1278 | Margery de Lacy/John de Verdun [died 21st October 1274 [1278?]]. They had six children. The eldest son, Nicholas died in 1271, predeceasing his father, so the inheritance passed to the next surviving son Theobald on his father’s death. | 1 |
| 1278-1309 | Theobald de Verdun, 1st Baron Verdun [born 8th September 1248 in Alton, Staffs; died 24th August 1309; buried in Croxden Abbey on 13th October 1309], who on 29th July 1302 in Wigmore, Herefordshire, married Matilda de Mortimer [b. 1286; died 18th September 1312 after childbirth; daughter of Sir Edmund Mortimer and Margaret de Fiennes]. The inheritance passed to the Baron’s eldest surviving son, Theobald, who was born c.1284 [presumably from an earlier marriage]. | 19 |
| 1309-1316 | Theobald de Verdun, 2nd Baron Verdun; born c.1284, died 27th July 1316 without issue, so his inheritance was divided between his four sisters. His sister Elizabeth [born 1291, died 1360] became heiress of Ewyas Lacy. | 2 |
| 1316-1355 | Elizabeth de Verdun/ Bartholomew de Burghersh, 1st Baron Burghersh, born 1287; died 3rd August 1355. He was succeeded by his son, Bartholomew. | 6 |
| 1355-1369 | Bartholomew de Burghersh, 2nd Baron Burghersh, born before 1329 died 5th April 1369; married Cecily de Weyland. The inheritance passed to their daughter Elizabeth [born in Ewias Lacy c.1342, died 1409, buried in Tewkesbury Abbey]. | 7 |
| 1369-1375
| Elizabeth de Burghersh 3rd Baroness Burghersh/ Edward le Despencer 5th Lord Despencer [born 24th March 1336, died November 1375]. They were married about 1364 [1354?] and had six children, the eldest surviving son and heir being Thomas. On the death of Thomas their daughter Elizabeth le Despencer [born c. 1367, died April 10, 1408, buried in Tewkesbury Abbey] became the heiress of Bartholomew de Burghersh, 2nd Baron. | 20 |
| 1375-1400
| Thomas le Despencer 6th Lord Despencer and 1St Earl of Gloucester, born 22nd September 1373 in Essendine, Rutland. He was captured by a mob and beheaded at Bristol for participating in a rebellion [the Epiphany Rising] against King Henry IV on 13th January 1400. He was buried in Tewkesbury Abbey. His estates including a moiety of the Manor of Ewyas Lacy were ‘taken into the King’s hand’ on account of his treason. He married Constance Plantagenet, [died 1398 (?1416)], daughter of Edmund de Langley, 1st Duke of York in January 1384 and had five children; Elizabeth [died c.1398]; Richard, 4th Baron Burghersh [1396-1414]; Edward [died young]; Hugh [c.1400-1401] and Isabel [1400-1439]. | 22 |
| 1400-1405
| King Henry IV. The title to Ewyas Lacy was held by the Crown, though Constance, Dame Despencer, widow of Thomas, was holder of the castle of Ewyas Lacy in 1403, and she and/or her brother Edward, 2nd Duke of York [died 1415] may have held the castle until the estates were formally restored to the Despencer line in 1405. | 9a |
| 1405-1408
| Elizabeth le Despencer [died 10th April 1408]. An order to ‘remove the king’s hand and meddle no further with the castle and moiety of the lordship of Ewyas Lacy of Elizabeth Despencer, delivering to her any issue thereof taken’ was made on 24th October 1405, restoring the succession to Elizabeth [sister of Thomas le Despencer and daughter of Elizabeth de Burghersh and Edward le Despencer, above] and subsequently to her nephew Richard in Thomas Despencer’s line. | 10 |
| 1408-1414
| Richard le Despencer, Baron Burghersh, eldest son of Thomas and Constance le Despencer, born 1396 died 1414 without issue, the inheritance passing to his sister Isabel. She became Baroness Burghersh on the death of her brother Richard. | 20 |
| 1414-1422
| Isabel le Despencer/ Sir Richard Beauchamp, 2nd Baron Bergavenny, 1st Earl of Worcester [born 1397, died 1422, son of Sir William Beauchamp, 1st Lord Bergavenny and Joan FitzAlan]. Isabel le Despencer was born 26th July 1400 in Cardiff, died 27th December 1439 in Friars Minoresses, London and was buried 13th January 1439 in Tewkesbury Abbey, Gloucester. They were married 27th July 1411 in Tewkesbury, but had no male issue and the Lordship of Ewyas Lacy seems to have passed to the line of her second marriage [see below]. However, eventually it appears to have been returned to the heirs of their daughter Elizabeth [born 1415, died 1447/8], who succeeded to the title of 3rd Baroness [Lady] Bergavenny on 18 March 1422. | 11 |
| c.1422-1439
| Isabel le Despencer/ Richard Beauchamp, 13th Earl of Warwick [born 28 January 1382, died 30 April 1439, buried at Warwick]. He had three daughters by his first marriage, and a son Henry and daughter Anne by his second wife Isabel. A warrant dated 20 October 1431 clearly identifies Richard Beauchamp Earl of Warwick as Lord of the manor of Ewyas Lacy in Herefordshire. | 44 45 46 47 |
| 1439-1445
| Henry de Beauchamp, 14th Earl of Warwick, [born 21 March 1424/5, died 11 June 1445] created 1st Duke of Warwick by Henry VI in 1445. Married Cecily Neville in 1434, but died without male issue. The Earldom was inherited by his two year old daughter Anne | 48 |
| 1445-1449 | Anne de Beauchamp, Countess of Warwick [born 4 February 1443/4, died 3 January 1448/9], infant daughter of Henry de Beauchamp. | 49 |
| 1449-1471
| Anne de Beauchamp, Countess of Warwick, sister of Henry de Beauchamp succeeded to the Warwick inheritance on the death of the infant Anne. She was married to Richard Neville, 2nd Earl of Salisbury [born 1428, died 1471], the eldest son of Richard Neville, 1st Earl of Salisbury, and thus brought her husband the title and estates of the Earldom of Warwick. He played a prominent part in the Wars of the Roses and became known as “Warwick the Kingmaker” He was killed on 14th April 1471 when Edward IV reclaimed his throne. Following his death without male issue, the Lordship of Ewyas Lacy appears to have been restored to the heirs of Isabel le Despencer by way of her daughter Elizabeth Beauchamp, Lady Bergavenny, though the exact date, extent and process for this is not clear from the available records. | 48 |
| c.1471-1476
| Elizabeth Beauchamp, 3rd Baroness Bergavenny/ Sir Edward Neville [born c.1414, died 18 October 1476]. Edward became 3rd Baron Bergavenny and Lord of the Manor of Ewyas Lacy by right of his wife the Baroness. He died in 1476. Succession passed to their son, George. | 27 49 51 |
| 1476-1492
| Sir George Nevill, 4th Lord Bergavenny; died 20th September 1492, son of above. | 27 |
| 1492-1535
| George Nevill, 5th Baron Bergavenny (d. 1535) son of above. | 27 |
| 1535-1587 | Henry Nevill, 6th Baron Bergavenny (d. 1587) son of above. | 27 |
| 1587-1589 | Edward Nevill, 7th Baron Bergavenny (d. 1589) cousin of above. | 27 |
| 1589-1622 | Edward Nevill, 8th Baron Bergavenny (1551–1622) son of above. | 27 |
| 1622-1641 | Henry Nevill, 9th Baron Bergavenny (d. 1641) son of above. | 27 |
| 1641-1662 | John Nevill, 10th Baron Bergavenny (1614–1662) son of above. | 27 |
| 1662-1666 | George Nevill, 11th Baron Bergavenny (d. 1666) brother of above | 27 |
| 1666-1695 | George Nevill, 12th Baron Bergavenny (1665–1695) son of above. | 27 |
| 1695-1721 | George Nevill, 13th Baron Bergavenny (d. 1721) cousin of above. | 27 |
| 1721-1723 | George Nevill, 14th Baron Bergavenny (1702–1723) son of above. | 27 |
| 1723-1724 | Edward Nevill, 15th Baron Bergavenny (d. 1724) brother of above. | 27 |
| 1724-1744 | William Nevill, 16th Baron Bergavenny (d. 1744) cousin of above. | 27 |
| 1744-1785 | George Nevill, 17th Baron Bergavenny (1727–1785) (became 1st Earl of Abergavenny in 1784) son of above. | 27 |
| 1785-1843 | Henry Nevill, 2nd Earl of Abergavenny (1755–1843) son of above. | 28 |
| 1843-1845 | John Nevill, 3rd Earl of Abergavenny (1789–1845) son of above. | 28 |
| 1845-1868 | William Nevill, 4th Earl of Abergavenny (1792–1868) brother of above. | 28 |
| 1868-1915 | William Nevill, 5th Earl of Abergavenny (1826–1915) (became 1st Marquess of Abergavenny in 1876) son of above. | 28 |
| 1915-1920 | Reginald William Bransby Nevill, 2nd Marquess of Abergavenny (1853–1927). Son of above. The Herefordshire properties of the Marquess of Abergavenny in Ewyas Lacy were sold by auction c.1920 and dispersed. | 28 |
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REFERENCES
| 1 | HRO reference AL2/9 Inquisitions Henry III to Edward I : Writ 5th August 1271 noting that Theobald de Verdun is the brother and heir of Nicholas de Verdun, son of John de Verdun, and inherits Ewyas castle with a moiety of the Manor. |
| 2 | HRO reference AL2/10 Inquisitions Edward III : Writ 28th August 1309 following the death of Theobald de Verdun the elder [1st Baron Verdun] noting that Theobald de Verdun [2nd Baron de Verdun] his son is heir to the holdings in Ewyas Lacy. |
| 3 | HRO reference AL2/11 Inquisitions Edward III : Writ 20th August 1327 refers to Theobald de Verdun and a moiety of three mills in Ewyas Lacy. |
| 4 | HRO reference AL2/11 Inquisitions Edward III : Writ 20th March 1328 refers to ‘three mills of which one moiety belongs to the castle [Ewyas Lacy] and the other moiety to the Lord of Mortimer. |
| 5 | HRO reference AL2/13 Close Rolls : 11th January 1331, an order to deliver to Joan, late wife of Roger de Mortimer, Earl of March, all the lands in Ewyas Lacy that are of her inheritance by reason of Roger’s death. |
| 6 | HRO reference AL2/13 Close Rolls : 1344, enrolment of partition of the lands of Theobald de Verdun […] taken into the King’s hands at his death […] between Bartholomew de Burghersh and Elizabeth his wife, second daughter of Theobald de Verdun […] fees in demesne Hereford […] and a moiety of a fee in Michelscherche [?Michaelchurch Escley] […] which Philip and Rees Apouel and Joan Pichard hold, extended at £22. 10s. |
| 7 | HRO reference AL2/11 Inquisitions Edward III : writ 12th May 1360 naming Elizabeth late wife of Bartholomew de Burghersh, who died on Friday after Ascension day and naming Bartholomew de Burghersh their son aged thirty years or more as her heir […] Ewyas castle and a moiety of the Lordship of Ewyas. |
| 8 | HRO reference AL2/11 Inquisitions Edward III : writ 20th April 1369, inquisition taken at Ewyas Lacy on 10th May 1369 naming Bartholomew de Burghersh, Knight, […] property held jointly with Margaret his wife […] the extent includes three watermills whereof a moiety belongs to the castle […] He died 5th April 1369, and Elizabeth, daughter of the said Bartholomew, is his heir. |
| 9 | HRO reference AL2/14 Close Rolls : 20th January 1380 […] lease for twenty years from Sir Edmund Mortimer Earl of la Marche to others of […]the lands and lordships…of Ewyas Lacy with appurtenances in Wales and the march thereof to Herefordshire adjacent […] |
| 9a | HRO reference AL2/15 Close Rolls : 8th September 1403; order for the furnishing and safeguard of castles during the ‘present rebellion of Owen Glendourdy' [Glyndwr], addressed to Constance, Dame Despencer for the castle of Ewyas Lacy. |
| 10 | HRO reference AL2/15 Close Rolls : 24th October 1405; Order to the Escheator in Herefordshire and the March of Wales to remove the king’s hand and meddle no further with the castle and a moiety of the lordship of Ewyas Lacy of Elizabeth Despencer, delivering to her any issue thereof taken. |
| 10a | HRO reference AL2/5 Fine Rolls: 11th March 1406; grant to John ap Herry the King’s Esquire, of the keeping of a moiety of the lordship of Ewyas Lacy which is in the King’s hands by reason of the minority of Edmund Mortimer, son and heir of Roger, late Earl of March. |
| 11 | HRO reference AL2/15 Close Rolls : 13th December 1415, an order to give Richard of Bergavenny and Isabel his wife livery of […] the manor and lordship of Ewyas Lacy. |
| 12 | HRO reference AL2/15 Close Rolls : 26th November 1425, […] to give Anne who was the wife of Edmund late Earl of March […] a moiety of the borough and lordship of Ewyas Lacy. |
| 13 | HRO reference AL2/12 Inquisitions Edward III – Richard III : 1424-1425 Edmund Mortimer comes Marchiae: entries include Ewyas Lacy and a mill [molendino] in Michelschirche. |
| 14 | Longleat House reference NMR no. 1384 , Harleian Catalogue, Hereford Record Office – page 73 ‘Mixed Estates’ |
| 15 | De Lacy family genealogy : |
| 16 | De Lacy family genealogy |
| 17 | De Lacy family genealogy |
| 18 | de Verdon family genealogy |
| 19 | de Verdon family genealogy |
| 20 | Burghersh family genealogy |
| 21 | Le Despencer family genealogy |
| 22 | Le Despencer family genealogy |
| 23 | Le Despencer family genealogy |
| 24 | Le Despencer family genealogy |
| 25 | Le Despencer family genealogy |
| 26 | De Lacy family genealogy |
| 27 | Nevill family genealogy; Barons Bergavenny |
| 28 | Nevill family genealogy; Earls & Marquesses of Abergavenny |
| 29 | Mortimer family genealogy |
| 30 | Plantagenet family genealogy |
| 30a | Skeel, Caroline (1904) The Council in the Marches of Wales, p290-1. Skeel gives a list of 22 lordships pertaining to the Earldom of March, specifically naming Ewias Lacy, and goes on to say ‘The lands of the Earldom of March passed to Henry VII on the death of Richard III, the head of the Mortimer family’, with a footnote giving the source reference: ‘cf. the Statute 28 Henry VIII, c.39.’ |
| 30b | Assurance of lands of the Earldom of March to Henry VIII : Reference: 28 Henry VIII, chapter 39 (1536) Primary source: Statutes of the Realm from original records and authentic manuscripts (1817) Vol III, p697-8: ‘An Act conc’nyng the assurance of c’ten Londs unto the Kyngs Majestie and unto his heires somthyme belongying unto the Earldome of March’ Marginal summary: ‘The King, being right Heir to the Earldom of March, seised, by inheritance and otherwise, of certain Honours, Castles, Manors & c, of the late Earl of March, here specified’ Specific reference: The Act specifies Crown holdings inherited throughout the realm from the Earldom of March, including lordships ‘next adjoyning the countye of Heref’. Among these, an inventory of manors includes Walterstone and Ewyas Lacy (these spellings). Comment: An inventory of castles does not include Ewyas Lacy castle, which is consistent with its ownership by the lords of Abergavenny. |
| 31 | Earls of March: Mortimer family |
| 32 | Thynne family genealogy [of Longleat] |
| 33 | Rental of Ewias Lacy on the behalf of Robert Dudley Earl of Leicester: renewed before John Dudley and others acting under a commission dated 29 June, 8 Eliz. [1566]; Longleat DU/VOL XVII [Private research/ transcription]. |
| 34 | Hopton Family Genealogy |
| 35 | Sir Ralph Hopton |
| 36 | Rachel Hopton/ Thomas Morgan |
| 36a | GRO: Man/A/151/0023. Manorial Survey 1665-67, ‘The Lordship & Manor of Ewyas Lacy on the part of Sir Trevor Williams Baronett, Dame Elizabeth his wife and Thomas Windham Esquire’. |
| 36b | NLW: Llangibby Castle C933; Chancery Proceedings, Robert Hopton versus Sir Trevor Williams and others, June 6, 1665. |
| 37 | Thomas Harrison, 1606-1660 |
| 38 | One and Thirtieth part: Close Rolls 1653; National Archives [private research] |
| 39 | House of Commons Journal Volume 10; 25 February 1693 |
| 40 | Jeffreys family genealogy |
| 41 | Jeffreys family: miscellaneous |
| 42 | Private research: successors to the lordship of Ewyas Lacy resident at Michaelchurch Court: |
| 43 | Burke’s ‘Peerages Dormant and extinct’ 1866. |
| 44 | Warrant dated 20 October 1431 of Richard Beauchamp, Earl of Warwick, lord of Elwell and Ewyas Lacy (Herefs.), appointing Richard Worneford to be his receiver of pence within those two lordships. |
| 45 | Richard Beauchamp, Earl of Warwick [1382-1439] |
| 46 | Beauchamp family genealogy |
| 47 | Richard de Beauchamp Earl of Warwick [1382-1439] |
| 48 | Richard de Beauchamp Earl of Warwick [1382-1439] |
| 49 | Henry de Beauchamp, 1st Duke of Warwick [1424/5-1445] |
| 50 | Richard Neville Earl of Warwick [1428-1471] |
| 51 | Elizabeth Beauchamp, Lady Bergavenny [1415-1448] |
| 52 | Sir Edward Neville, Lord Bergavenny [c.1414-1476] |
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| Arms of the Kings of England & the houses of York & Lancaster |
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| Heraldic Arms |
Ref: rs_ewy_0200