SOME MATERIALS FOR A HISTORY 
 
 PARISH OF THOMPSON.
 
 omt llateiials for a l)i 
 
 PARISH OF THOMPSON 
 
 IN THE COUNTY OF NOEFOLK. 
 
 AZ. 
 
 ARMS OF 
 
 AZ. 
 
 SHARDELOW. 
 
 AZ. 
 
 GEOiUxE CEABBE, B.A., 
 
 Eector of Merton, 1882. 
 Edited, with Preface and Introductory Notes, by Augusttcs Jessopp, D.D. 
 
 NORWICH: PRINTED BY AGAS H. GOOSE, RAMPANT HORSE STREET. 
 
 1892.
 
 
 @ontcnte. 
 
 Preface, by the Eev. Augustus .Tessopp, D.D. 
 
 Note on Eana esculenta, by Lord Walsingham 
 
 Addenda .... 
 
 Introduction, by the Rev. George Crabbo, B..V. 
 
 Of the name Thompson 
 
 Of the Early Land-owners in Thompson 
 
 Of the Succession in the Manors 
 
 The Inhabitants of Thompson in the Fourteenth Century 
 
 The Poll Taxes 
 Thompson in the Sixteenth Century 
 Some Account of Thompson College 
 
 Masters of the College 
 
 Patent Roll, ICth Richard IT. (1392) 
 
 Surrender Charter of Thompson College 
 
 Appendix of Documents relating to the College 
 Pedigrees and portions of Pedigrees : — 
 
 Shardelow 
 
 Knevett of Ashwellthorpe 
 
 Futter of Thompson . 
 
 Tooke of Thompson College 
 
 Botetourt of Norfolk . 
 
 Manning of Bury Hall 
 
 Spring of Lavenham 
 
 De Grey of Merton [a.d. 1-190— lG2:i] 
 
 Barker of Thompson [a.d. IGIO— 17o7] 
 
 D'Eye of Scoulton and Barker of Shropham [a.d. 1573—18 
 Some Account of the Manor of Thompson " Nuper Collcgii" 
 
 Note A, — Conveyance of Lands to the Do Greys 
 
 Note B.— "Will of William Bale 
 
 Note C— On the title " Sir " . 
 
 Licence to Sir John Mayster 
 
 Note D. — Lords of the Manor of Thompson nuper CoUegii 
 Some Account of the Manor of Boutctorts or Botours llall 
 
 Lords of the Manor of Botours Hall 
 The Manor of Thompson and Bcducres 
 
 3] 
 
 Vagi 
 
 i 
 xvi 
 xvii 
 
 1 
 
 3 
 4 
 9 
 14 
 16 
 21 
 25 
 32 
 34 
 35 
 36 
 
 12 
 42 
 47 
 
 5.5 
 G3 
 70 
 71 
 92 
 102 
 103 
 41 
 56 
 67 
 58 
 59 
 60 
 62 
 70 
 73 
 
 G1704 1
 
 11 
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 Tho Manor of Waterhoaso and Churchhouso iu Thompsou 
 Lords of tho Manor . 
 Ancient Names of Places iu Thompson 
 Names of some of the Copyhold Tenants in Thompsi 
 
 Tho Church and Churchyard 
 
 Inventories of Church Goods . 
 
 Certificate of Church Goods sold 
 Inventory of Church Goods, Gth Edward VI. 
 
 The Patronage of the Church and its officiating Clergy 
 
 The Eectory and Parish Property 
 
 The Eegisters 
 
 The Barkers of Thompson 
 
 Index Nominum 
 
 Index Locorum 
 
 Index Eerum 
 
 Page 
 
 74 
 
 74 
 
 7(i 
 
 77 
 
 78 
 
 83 
 
 83 
 
 84 
 
 87 
 
 89 
 
 91 
 
 1(10 
 
 107 
 
 112 
 
 114 
 
 "^iixx^ixaixow^. 
 
 Thompson Church — Six Plans by Herbert J. Green, Esq. 
 
 Map of the Parish of Thompson, reduced from a Survey drawn up iu 1723 
 
 Seal of Thompson College ..... 
 
 Map of tho Parish of Thompson, reduced fi'om tho Ordnance Map 
 
 Facsimiles from the Sketch-book of the late Eev. F. H. Sutton, Prebendary of 
 
 The Font in Thompson Church 
 
 Eing Plate on South Door 
 
 The Eood Screen 
 
 Leather Case in the Parish Chest 
 Stencilled Diaper on lower part of Thompson Screen 
 
 Lincoln :- 
 
 in separate folio 
 
 to face p. i 
 
 . p. xiii 
 
 to face p. 1 
 
 to face p. 78 
 
 p. 79 
 
 to face p. 80 
 
 to face p. 82 
 
 p. 81 
 
 -^S;
 
 ThOMPSO^tMaP dare 1725? 
 
 SHEWING OPEN FIELDS Sc 
 
 ReA DvUcd l.ttie FarishBountl'tn- 
 
 Re£L LlJies Cutbjus ctCpfn 
 
 Fields 
 
 Hhtc I rrrr? nn m^ Waterrcur^' ^ 
 YelUw Lines - [hllisJi Read 
 
 Map of TH E Par I S H O F ThO M P S on reduced from a Survej drawn up u, J72JW
 
 ^xcface. 
 
 flllE History of oiir Norfolk Parishes begins, for the most part, 
 ■with the brief notices which occur in the famous record 
 usually spoken of as the Domesday Book; for by history 
 men ordinarily understand such a presentment of the past 
 as can be compiled from authentic written materials, more 
 or less contemporary with the events narrated or the 
 persons named. 
 
 Accordingly, Mr. Crabbe's History starts by utilizing those notices of the 
 Parish of Thompson which are to be foimd in the Record of the great Survey 
 of I08G, and does not concern itself with the darkness or the twilight of 
 pre-historic ages. 
 
 It may be thought by some that, to go back eight hundred years, might 
 be enough to satisfy most enquirers ; and that, having firm ground to 
 stand on in the reports delivered to the Conqueror by his Commissioners, 
 we might spare ourselves the attempt to push our researches any further 
 back. But there is in most of us an irrepressible longing to wrench from 
 the past those secrets which are hidden from us ; an irrepressible curiosity to 
 discern that which the lapse of time has concealed ; an impatient reluctance 
 to leave unsolved the riddles which have come down to us from our remote 
 ancestors, and which we cannot help hoping contain some hints of their ways 
 of life, their beliefs, or their institutions. Of late years the triumphs of
 
 U PREFACE. 
 
 Archoeological Science in all directions have been so many and so startling 
 that the taste for prc-historic research has rapidly increased among us. We 
 have, indeed, gradually escaped from the period of mere guesswork or mere 
 conjecture founded upon insufficient data, and Ave have learnt to accept some 
 conclusions which the scientific method has arrived at, as almost as certain and 
 irrefragable as any conclusions which can plead for their acceptance the evidence 
 of written records. 
 
 Can we get behind the facts handed down in the great Survey ? If so, 
 how far can we get back? What are the hints and footprints, the faint 
 traces of men's handiwork, which the little geographical area of Thompson 
 supply, and which may help us to see, if only a little way, into the mists that 
 we would fain penetrate ? 
 
 That there were organised communities — we may A'enture even to say 
 civilized communities — inhabiting East Anglia long before the Christian era 
 is certain. It is sufficient to point to the gold and silver coinage of the 
 Iceni — of which specimens are forthcoming, dating prior to, contemporary with, 
 and a generation or two after the beginning of our era — in support and in 
 proof of- this statement. Such coins have been found within a few miles of 
 Thompson, at Thetford, at Brettenham, at Bressingham, and elsewhere. We 
 have moreover some faint indications of the existence of a settled population 
 within the limits of the parish at a time earlier than any which these coins 
 carry us back to. The reader may observe in the Parish Map, about half-way 
 between Eedbrick Farm and Merton Hall, a plantation laid down, which is marked 
 as Earth Holes Plantation, from which the land slopes down gradually to 
 the level of Thompson Water at the extreme southern corner. Does this 
 name indicate that in this spot, where now the trees are growiug, there were at 
 one time discernible a cluster of those cup-like depressions which are to be found 
 in many parts of Norfolk — notably on Mousehold Heath, on the outskirts of 
 Norwich — which served as the primitive dwellings of a race long since extinct, 
 and whose existence was a matter of little more than tradition even twenty 
 centuries ago ? ' The question is worth asking, though no answer may be 
 forthcoming, and though the absence of a reply to it may be tantalizing to an 
 enquirer. But there are other and much clearer "footprints in the sands of time" 
 to be found not far off. 
 
 The westernmost corner of the parish is dignified in the map with the name 
 
 • See, on this subject, Mr. C. J. Elton's Origins of English Hislory, second edition, p. 131.
 
 PREFACE. lU 
 
 of Sparrow Hill.^ On this high ground stand three tumuli, the burial places 
 probably of some long-forgotten dead. Across this low ridge it is said with 
 confidence that the Peddars Way may still be traced — that mysterious road which 
 ran its straight course for at least fifty miles through Norfolk from the coast near 
 Hunstanton, and crossing the Nar at Castle Acre, continuing straight as a line 
 till it reached this very Sparrow Hill, at the junction of the parishes of Mertou 
 and Thompson, and (if I am rightly informed) just at this point taking its first 
 slight bend away to the westward again in the direction of Ixning in Suffolk, 
 beyond which hitherto no traces of it have been found. "What was this 
 Peddars' Way? No one has ventured to maintain that it could have been 
 constructed later than Roman times. But, how much earlier is it than the 
 Roman invasion ? is the real question ; and, who were they who laid it down ? 
 The Peddars' Way still remains the great crux for Norfolk antiquaries. He 
 who shall throw light upon that curious problem will deserve, and will receive, 
 the honour that belongs to a discoverer. Till that light comes, all we can 
 say is, that there were settlers and inhabitants dwelling in our little Thompson 
 many ages before the Norman Conquest ; that Angles and Danes, Celts and 
 Belgae, Romans and Iceni passed that way and passed on ; passed away and have 
 almost passed out of remembrance. 
 
 What did the Norman invader find when he came, more than a millennium 
 after the days of Tasciovanus whose coins were dropped here and there upon 
 the Peddars' Way ? To this question we can offer an unhesitating reply. 
 
 We find that there wore in Thompson, in the year 1086, so many acres of 
 land under cultivation, and that these acres belonged to five different owners. 
 Who the tillers of the soil may have been, how many and what sort of men 
 they were we know not, nor their names. Who can read the meagre record 
 without wishing to knoAV more about these people and their way of life, about 
 their method of culture and their habits, and a hundred other matters which 
 concerned the place and its inhabitants? 
 
 (i.) To begin with, it is clear that, at the time of the Conquest, there were 
 in such a parish as this, and in hundreds of others elsewhere, none of those 
 large estates which grew up in the aftertime and which resulted in a 
 single great landowner being the paramount personage in the village 
 community. There were four landlords in Thompson, whom it is the fashion 
 
 ^ Lord Walsingliam tells me that it is locally known as The Sparrow Hilh, probably a corruption of the Barrow 
 Hills, so called from these very tumuli.
 
 IV PREFACE. 
 
 to call owners of " lordships," on the assumption that each of their estates 
 was a 7nanor over which the "lord" was a petty king, his tenants being 
 in the position of subjects and owing to liim certain payments in 
 money and in services. That assumption may be true ; but if it be, the 
 conclusion in this case is that there were four such miniature kings 
 independent of each other, and at least one of them holding his estate of a 
 greater than himself, to whom it might in certain circumstances revert as his 
 own in fee simple. 
 
 (ii.) It is clear that no one of these landowners was resident at Thompson. 
 They all held "lordships" elsewhere, larger and more valuable than those in 
 Thompson, which as a place of residence must have been at this time eminently 
 unattractive. 
 
 (iii.) It is clear that the inhabitants of the parish, whose number we have 
 no means of estimating even by a warrantable guess, were of different grades. 
 Eight are described as free men ; two are called hordarii. That there must have 
 been others of the rank of v/'llani, i.e. men of the ville who were in a condition 
 of serfage — and so tied to the soil and bound to remain upon it as agricultural 
 labourers — can hardly be doubted. All held some patches of land to which 
 they had a certain right, and from which they could not be dispossessed as 
 long as they paid their quit-rents and rendered to their "lord" that specified 
 assistance in tilling such portion of the estate as he retained in his own hands 
 and managed by a bailiff bound to render an account yearly of the income 
 and the outgoings. I am inclined to suspect that in this instance the land of 
 William de Warrenne, and probably too, the land of Isaac and of Roger 
 Bigot, was let to mere tenant-farmers, who are here called liberi homines, 
 and that the manorial dues, such as they were, were levied at the jieriodical 
 courts by visiting bailiffs. 
 
 (iv.) Of tlie five landlords, one almost certainly was a Jew, Isaac by name. 
 He not only held five "lordships'' in Norfolk, but he had five other such estates 
 in Suffolk. Tiie Suffolk estates were all in the neighbourhood of Needham 
 Market or Ipswich, three of the Norfolk estates lay in the Hundred of Loddon, 
 and it looks as if the possession of these lands had come to him as the result of 
 some money dealings with the traders in the towns. That he was a grasping 
 man who snatched at all he could get is indicated by the fact that he had 
 managed to dispossess a poor mm of a little plot of four acres in Seething, which 
 seem to have been certainly Ik rs of right, but which the Jew claimed as part 
 of his holding and managed to keep in spite of lier. The Jews swarmed in
 
 PREFACE. V 
 
 East Anglia at this period ; ' and in the next century they began to have a 
 hard time of it. 
 
 (v.) "When we come to inquire how the land was cultivated eight centuries 
 ago in Thompson we have not much to help us in arriving at an answer to the 
 question. 
 
 There appears to have been little or no wood in the parish ; at any 
 rate no mention is made of plantations or any right of pannage for swine. Nor 
 again do we hear of any cattle, sheep, or horses ; while, in the adjoining parishes 
 of Morton and Tottington, we find there were extensive woods, in which hundreds 
 of hogs had the right of feeding on the mast. Tottington seems to have been 
 a place where horses were bred, and there were flocks of sheep and goats ; 
 while Merton was evidently a village of some consideration, and was perhaps 
 more thickly inhabited than it is now. It is always dangerous to argue from 
 what a record like this we are referring to does noi say; but, comparing 
 the notices of Thompson with those of the adjoining parishes, the impression 
 conveyed is tliat it was a poor little desolate place, bare and uninviting, 
 with no one above the status of a small farmer living within its boundaries, 
 and not more than a third of the parish under any kind of cultivation. 
 This view of the case is confirmed by some collateral evidence which remains 
 to be examined. 
 
 When we refer to the map of the parish which my friend Miss Bateson 
 has carefully reduced from the original one, drawn up from actual survey in 
 1723, and now among the muniments at Merton Hall, we find that prior to the 
 enclosure, three streamlets — one issuing from a source in the parish of Merton 
 called Broadflash, and trickling in a south-easterly direction ; one running from 
 a spring called Bunting Well in the parish of Griston a little to the north of 
 east ; and the third running in an easterly direction from what is now called 
 Sparrow Hill — converged at a point called Low Common Farm, and, uniting 
 their waters, flowed on as one stream to tlie east of the church and Butters' 
 Hall, then, sweeping round to the south-west, almost lost itself in a swamp 
 at Thompson Carr, and broadening out in another depression (which, since 
 those days, has been skilfully turned into a large mere bearing the name 
 of Thompson Water), passed from thence, to continue its course till it emptied 
 
 ' See Vestiges of the Hiatoric Anglo-Hehrew in East Anglia, by Eev. M. Margoliouth, ll.d., 
 Longmans, 1870. 
 
 b
 
 VI PREFACE. 
 
 itself into tlic AVissey or Stoke Eiver at Buckenbam Tofts, between Igl)urgli 
 
 and Langford. 
 
 It seems that, before the history of the parish begins — i.e., before the Norman 
 
 Conquest — all the land under tillage was to be found on the riglit bank of this 
 stream, and that it was comprised within an area of large open fields divided 
 into small strips, some of them cultivated by the tenants of the several manors 
 holding such strips of the "lords" of those manors on what is now called copy- 
 hold tenure. A portion of the land under tillage was held in demesne, as the 
 term was: that is it was cultivated for the advantage of the "lord" by the 
 tenants, they being bound to plough, hoe, mow, reap, and harvest the lord's land 
 as a condition of their retaining the right to cultivate their own portion.* 
 That each and all of the several strips could have been cultivated by spade 
 labour is quite inconceivable. Equally inconceivable is it that there could 
 have been any appreciable number of the tenants who possessed horses, bullocks 
 or plows : the conclusion seems to point to the tenants having a sort of 
 claim upon the implements and beasts of burden of the "lord." Having 
 turned up the land in demesne, Ihcy were probably allowed to prepare their own 
 for the reception of the seed ; when the lord's harvest was stored, then, and 
 not till then, the tenants might gather in their own. 
 
 Though among these villagers there was a close solidarity, the land was by 
 no means held in common or ciiltivated in common in the sense that private 
 property was unknown. So far from it, each watched most jealously over his 
 own interests, clung tenaciously to his own little patch, asserted his own rights 
 against lord or tenant as the case might be, and claimed his privileges, which 
 were not inconsiderable, over that portion of the parish which was not under the 
 plow, which lay outside the arable land and as it were enclosed it round with a 
 broad fringe of heath, marsh, scrub, and sheep-run. Over this untillod land the 
 "tenants," equally with the "lords" (though, of course, not in an equal degree), 
 had their rights and their claims. It will be sufficient, without going further 
 into this matter (which is surrounded with difficulties), to say that over this 
 common land, outside the limits of the open fields, the lords of the several manors 
 had certain rights of pasturage, the liberty of keeping a limited number of 
 sheep, and the right of setting up a fold iu which the flock was penned ; while 
 
 ' Tho position and boundaries of all those littlo strips are carefully marked down upon the original 
 map ; but I have not thought it worth while to indicate them, except in the case of the Hall Field.
 
 PREFACE. VU 
 
 the tenunts had the right of digging turf, cutting the gorse, aud in some cases 
 lopping and topping some of the trees for fuel. A favoured few held tlieir 
 lands with the privilege of turning out here and there a heifer or a cow, though 
 the number of such animals was always strictly defined ; and the charter of 
 liberties of the community was the Manorial Extent^ or the Rolls of the Manor 
 Court, which could be referred to and were frequently referred to when any 
 dispute arose. 
 
 Such a community as this was in its nature eminently conservative; yet 
 changes would necessarily be going on, however slowly. In the earliest records 
 of such parishes or manors we find continual notices of petty encroachments 
 {purprestura is the technical term) made sometimes upon the land of another, 
 sometimes upon the paths or dividing balks that separated one patch from 
 another, sometimes upon the common land or heath. Such encroachments 
 continued to be made, and we may be sure that in many cases they were 
 either connived at or were condoned. Moreover, as time went on aud the 
 towns grew to be important centres of trade, there woidd always be some 
 of the more adventurous spirits froni the villages who would drift in the 
 direction of the profitable life of the streets ; and if these young men prospered, 
 they would inevitably in those days yearn to get back to their birth-place, 
 wherever it was, bringing with them their savings and something like new 
 ideas aud new habits. If the returning wanderer were only a small capitalist 
 he could buy up this or that needy man's plot, paying besides the value of 
 the tenant-right to the occupier, an additional "fine" to the lord of the manor 
 for admission to the holding, and frequently building a better house than his 
 neighbours were accustomed to. Not unfrequently, and especially if the lord 
 of the manor were a non-resident, he would build that house upon the 
 edge of the common or waste, inclosing and reclaiming as much as he 
 could safely appropriate and taking care to make his arrangements with 
 the lord's steward when the court was held. If, on tlie other liand. the 
 "lord" of the manor grew rich, he would be tempted to build a mansion, 
 such as it was, and, in doing that, he too would be likely to plant it, 
 not among the open fields, but as near them as he couveuieutly could, and 
 inclosing convenient portions of the waste land, the heath, or the common, 
 of which he was the lord. In any case, the houses of the lords or the 
 tenants were, as a rule, outside the boundary of the open fields; and if the 
 land under tillage increased in its area the additional clearances would be 
 outside the bounds of wliat Mr. Seebohm has aptly called the shell of the 
 
 b 2
 
 VUl PREFACE. 
 
 little community.' "We find evidences of this extension of the area of 
 cultivation going on continually by a system of squatting upon the common 
 land, in the frequent occurrence of such names as John At-the-town's-end, 
 William Of-the-water-house, Edward By-the-carr, and other similar designations, 
 which all indicate that these persons or their fathers had gradually managed to 
 appropriate to themselves some portions of the land not held in severalty of 
 the "lord" as the strips were, but portions of the waste on which the tenants 
 had their rights already alluded to but which these squatters had contrived 
 to appropriate and enclose. 
 
 The 1723 map supports this view of the case. The course of the stream which 
 served as the natural boundary of the "open fields'' on the east, seems to have 
 widened out into a mere morass from Butters' Ilall to what is now Thompson 
 "Water ; but from the point where the Mill Way crossed the stream on the north, 
 to the point where the Caston and Breccles roads converging crossed it by a 
 bridge on the south, there are unmistakeable signs of the existence of habitations 
 dotted along the sides of the little brook, and shewing that in tlie middle ages it 
 was here that the population was chiefly settled. The same indications exist 
 at what may be called the central point of the shell — where now Eedbrick Farm 
 and Hall Field Farm stand — where those ineffaceable traces of man's handiwork 
 (the remains of ancient ponds or marl pits) are to be found in considerable 
 numbers. 
 
 There is another fact which this map illustrates in a remarkable manner. It 
 is generally supposed by those who have never given their attention to such 
 subjects that the open fields of every parish were "open" to any one and everyone 
 who choose to make his way over them. So far from it, nothing is more common 
 in the earlier convcj'ances of the tinj' little pieces of land which were always 
 changing hands, than the clause which provides that the purchaser shall have 
 with the possession of the land, " free entrance to and free exit from the said 
 land, and liberty of using the ways paths and by-roads and all other 
 easements over which the men of the township have a common right." Nor 
 was this all. It seems that the men of the town could be and frequently 
 were called upon to keep up the fence which surrounded the little territory, 
 and were required to contribute in monej' or service to the maintenance 
 of this hedge, or bank or ditch as the case might be. So far from there 
 
 ' The shell, that is, in -which the active life of the community was carried on ; not, I think, the shell 
 in which the inhabitants made their dwellings.
 
 PREFACE. IX 
 
 having been a liberty of going to and fro through the length and breadth 
 of the land in those early times, it is nearer the truth to say that each 
 of these village communities regarded its own area as a fortress which it 
 held as against all outsiders with exceeding jealousy.' An intruder was 
 looked upon with the utmost suspicion : he was regarded as a probable enemy 
 in disguise or a spy who came to pry and obtain information which might 
 be easily used for a malicious jiurpose. If we refer to Miss Bateson's map, we 
 find that there was but one main entrance through the enclosure of the 
 open fields, at a point in the western boundary where six roads converged, 
 and this main road, as it might be called, was carried across the cultivated 
 fields along a line which presented tlie shortest possible distance. It passed 
 from sheep-walk to sheep-walk straight to the parish mill, and thence ran its 
 course to the outer world, which might take care of its own. 
 
 There were two institutions, as I may venture to call them, which were 
 almost essential in our early Xorfolk villages ; the one was the Mill and the 
 other was the Church. The mill was a source of income at all times to the lord 
 of the manor, for the men of the township were bound to grind their corn 
 at home and the lord took very good care that there should be no other mill but 
 his own. The mill at Thompson occupied a very central position, as will be 
 seen by the map. Of course this was a windmill, for the little stream trickling 
 slowly along could never have served to turn a wheel, and, making all due 
 allowance for the far greater rainfall which we know there was a thousand years 
 ago in Britain, the effect of this more abundant precipitation was only to saturate 
 the ground, and so to produce extensive breadths of marsh and morass, survivals 
 of which state of things may be found in the still-existing meres of Scoulton, 
 Hingham, Merton, and Thompson Water itself. No mention of any mill at 
 Thompson occurs in the Domesday Survey^ nor could any such mention have 
 been looked for there if it be true, as is generally admitted, that in this Eecord 
 a "mill" always means a water-mill. 
 
 No less essential to the continued existence of a village community in the 
 early times we are considering was the Church with its priest, who was a 
 personage of great influence and importance. There are not less than three 
 hundred and seventeen churches in the county of Norfolk mentioned in the 
 
 ' There are traces of the ■whole parish of Thompson having been surrounded by a bank, which is 
 marked on the 6-inch ordnance map.
 
 X PREFACE. 
 
 Domesday Survey and it is quite certain tliat these by no means include all 
 those which existed .at the time. In the Iluudred of Wayland which contains 
 sixteen parishes, only four churches are mentioned ; of these Thompson is not 
 one. 13ut inasmuch as it is demonstrable by collateral evidence that in every 
 other parish in the hundred, within a century after the Conquest, there was a 
 church with its priest to be found/ it is highly improbable that Thompson 
 should have been an exception to the general rule, or that the inhabitants of the 
 little township should have been allowed to remain without some building in which 
 the religious services which played so great a part in the life of people of those 
 days were carried on according to the prevailing ritual. That Thompson Church 
 in the eleventh century could have been anything but a very humble structure is 
 hardly conceivable. Stoue there was none and we can only conjecture that the 
 church may have been a timber church such as we know to have existed in some 
 places. At the best, it can hardly have been a more ambitious edifice than many a 
 poor roadside chapel still to be found in Cornwall, the walls of mud or rubble, 
 the roof of thatch. When the Shardelows built the beautiful church, which 
 remains to this day as the monument of their piety and munificence, they 
 probably — almost certainly — planted it on the same spot which had already 
 been consecrated to the service of i-eligion ages before ; though it is clear that 
 there was nothing in the old church that could be utilized, as not a vestige of 
 any previous sacred building has been discovered. 
 
 Mr. Crabbe has estimated the number of acres under tillage at the time of 
 the great Survey at about 1150. I refrain from discussing the evidence on 
 which this estimate is made ; but accepting it as probably near the truth, 
 I am in a position to prove that, four centuries later, the area under cultivation 
 
 1 It ■vroulJ be out of place here to do more than indicate the line of argument ■which leads to this 
 conclusion. It will be enough to point out that Tottington Church was bestowed upon the Nunnery of 
 Campsey as early as 1196. Breccles had become a vicarage in the thirteenth century, the rectorial tithes 
 being handed over to Westacre Priory. Stow Bedon had been apportioned to the Nunnery of Marhani, as 
 •was Eocklaud St. Peter, before 1250. A portion of the tithes of Ovington was bestowed upon the monks 
 of Thetford by Eoger Bigot during his lifetime. The liedory Manor was bestowed upon St. Catherine's 
 Abbey, at Eouen, by Eoger do Toesney at the end of the twelfth century. The advowson of Threxton 
 belonged to the Priory of Castle Acre apparently within twenty years after the Domesday Survey was 
 drawn up. Obviously, where there were tithes, a benefice, a rector and a vicar to reckon with or to despoil, 
 there there must have been a church in which the people assembled and the priest ministered.
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 XI 
 
 had increased to a far less extent than we should have expected. In the year 
 ICOl a poor-rate was levied in Thompson at a penny an acre, and the sura total 
 of this charge amounted to no more than £5. I85. ; which shows that the whole 
 acreage of the parish in arable and pasture, exclusive of the waste — commons, 
 wood, heath, and fen — amounted to 1416 acres. ^ It would be a task of 
 considerable labour to arrive at the sum total of acres under tillage which the 
 map of the parish constructed in 1723 exhibits, though the calculation might 
 be made with some approach to certainty ; and a careful examination has left 
 upon me the impression that the cultivated land prior to the inclosure can hardly 
 have exceeded 1500 acres. In other words it appears that during the long 
 period when the system of open fields and of manorial rights continued, progress 
 
 ' The record of this rate, written on parchment, came into my possession a few years ago by one of 
 those chances which so frequently reward " the man who knows how to wait." As it is the earliest evidence 
 for a parish poor-rate that I have ever met with, I venture to print it in extenso. 
 
 "THOMSTON A" DNI IGOl. 
 " A trewe account of all the mony gyven of the weekelye contrybucon to the poore of the sd towne 
 from the 30 daye of Marche a." dni 1600 unto the xii of aprill 1601 rated by lond a penny the acre 
 amountynge to the som of \U. xviiis. and of the old churchwardens xiis. iii'i. 
 Imprimis to divers poore travelyng w"> pasports, iis. iirf. 
 It" to Wydow Tayler in relyfe, xxrf. 
 It" to Eychard Wats, in Stoke iis., in relyfe xiirf. 
 It. to Ursula bunswell thelder, widow hill, Wydow Wats, Wyllm Inglyshe.l 
 
 lyone youngs, wydow dugdale, Ursula bunswell the younger in - v?t. xiiiis. viid. 
 relyfe from the s"* 30 of marche unto the s"" xii of ApriU . . . . J 
 
 Som tot' pd? bestowed \iU. xviit?. 
 " Eemayn' unbestowed of the yjlL x8. iijd. fyrst above s* part -whereof ys denyed {sic) to be payd 
 as foloweth — 
 
 Imprimis thomas whit . . 
 It' myles twyslyngton 
 It' thomas mayes behinde 
 It' henry spencer 
 
 thomas halyday 
 
 edward gytyngs 
 
 John tenant . . 
 
 wydow bunswell 
 
 rychard cowpere 
 
 John rolfe 
 
 of m' grayes lond 
 
 Som tot' unpaid 
 
 yi». ob 
 
 Sid. 
 
 vijrf. 
 
 vrf. 
 iijrf. 
 
 ijrf. 
 
 ijd. 
 
 vijA 
 
 viijrf. 
 
 iijd 
 
 jd. ob. 
 
 Not to be 
 answered but to 
 be paid when the 
 tith is paid. 
 
 ij«. 
 
 " Thomas Atmer, 
 "Thomas Wymer[?]."
 
 Xll PREFACE. 
 
 in agriculture was extremely slow, and custom, privilege, and parochial jealousy 
 and exclusiveness offered almost insuperable bars to any advance in making the 
 most of the land. 
 
 The Muniment Eoom at Merton Hall contains no charters, court rolls, or 
 other records which give us any insight into the life and habits of the inhabitants 
 of Thompson prior to the fifteenth century. We are therefore unable to estimate 
 the severity with which the dreadful plague of 1349 smote this little parish, and 
 what havoc it wrought among the inhabitants, as the court rolls of Merton enable 
 us to do for that parish. But we know the living of Thompson changed hands 
 at least three times during the dreadful year, and that when the College began 
 its work ill 1 350, the benefice was again vacant. If three rectors died during 
 that terrible time what must the people have suffered ? It is the more to be 
 regretted that the earlier parochial muniments have so entirely disappeared, 
 because it is easy to see how iutelligeutly Mr. Crabbe could have used them, had 
 they been ready to his hand, by the skilful way in which he has turned to account 
 the later and still existing records. The careful histories of families and their 
 pedigrees, are not mere dry genealogical tables in his hands, but are full of interesting 
 little pieces of biography. Who would have expected to find, in a mere pedigree, 
 such an affecting little story as that of Johanna de Shardelow's retirement from 
 the world, in 1369 ?' How many of those to whom the name of Home Tooke 
 is familiar know that, after all, this once famous litterateur gained very little by 
 his change of name ? Who would have looked in a parish register for so piteous 
 a story as that of the poor boy frozen to death by the heartless and cruel neglect 
 of his master ? But indeed this brief history — which, with characteristic 
 modesty, my lamented friend did not venture even to call a history, \mt contented 
 himself with designating as no more than Some 3Iaterials for a History — contains 
 quite an unusual number of curious pieces of information, some of them of no 
 small value. Such is the very interesting entry from the note-book of 
 Mr. William de Grey, in 1696, giving us a view of the wages paid to 
 agricultural labourers and mechanics at the close of the seventeenth century ; 
 
 1 The reader who has access to the very valuable Calendar of Wills proved in the Court of Husting, 
 London, printed by order of the Corporation of the City of London in 1890, may find other instances of 
 this practice in the fourteenth century. See Vol. II., introduction, p. vi.
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 XUl 
 
 the mention of the hemp-pit a few years earlier;* the quarrel between the 
 inhabitants of Thompson and those of the contiguous parish of Stow Bedon, 
 in 1723, on the contested rights of turbary ; the remarkable continuance of a 
 yeoman family (the Barkers) in a remote and inconsiderable village for upwards 
 of three centuries and continuing to hold their small estate there during all 
 this long period ; and many another little significant scrap of information which 
 goes to show how even a local chronicle can contribute much to illustrate the more 
 ambitious works of historians, sometimes aptly confirming, sometimes strongly 
 contradicting, correcting or modifying generalisations too hastily made or theories 
 too rashly adopted. 
 
 There are two matters which deserve the especial notice of the reader of 
 these pages. The first is the frequent instances of resignation on the part of the 
 Masters of Thompson College during the hundred and eighty years of its existence 
 as a working institution. In this period the College had seventeen masters, of 
 whom at least seven resigned the mastership. I am unable to account for this 
 on any theory which does not show the College in a favourable light. During 
 
 SEAL OF THOMPSON COLLEGE. 
 
 these centuries very few ecclesiastics thought it necessary to give up one piece 
 of preferment because presented to another. So far from a clergyman being 
 thought the worse of for being a pluralist, the more benefices he held, the 
 clearer the proof of the high estimation with which he was regarded. But if 
 the statutes of Thompson, rigidly insisting that the mastership could only be 
 
 ' See Eogers' History of Agriculture and Prices in England, vol. i., p. 2S. 
 
 C
 
 XIV PREFACE. 
 
 held by a resident, were observed and never relaxed, the frequent resignations 
 are accounted for and we get indirect evidence that as a rule the masters of the 
 College were men of character and mark. They held their mastership and 
 governed the College till their reputation as scholars or administrators reached 
 the outer world ; when they received higlier or more lucrative preferment they 
 were compelled to choose between residing at the College or resigning. A 
 non-resident master it seems was not permitted to retain his emoluments. 
 
 The other matter which should not be passed over without comment is the 
 attempt of the lay impropriator, in 1G78, to restore the tithes of the parish to 
 the Church, from which they had been long alienated ; an attemjDt which was 
 made a second time in 1754, but in both cases without success. It is too often 
 forgotten that the essence of true charity and real generosity lies in self-sacrifice 
 and that what a man gives with the dead hand is a gift that costs him nothing. 
 Why should we expect that those who come after us should be more willing to 
 surrender their substance than we have shown ourselves to be? Humphrey 
 Futter in the seventeenth century had retained the full income from the old 
 endowment to his last hour ; and Eoger Barker in the eighteenth century had 
 done the same ; neither of them had scrupled to receive that income during 
 his lifetime. If the conscience of one or the other was troubled by the thought 
 that in receiving this income he had been doing so wrongfully, it was a clumsy 
 way of making restitution to take from his next of kin that which, in his own 
 case, he had not scrupled to appropriate. Eobbing Peter to pay Paul is no 
 restitution at all. A Nemesis usually waits upon such bequests as these. 
 
 With regard to the way in which I have carried out my labour of love in 
 seeing tliis work through the press, there is not much to say. In the earlier 
 chapters I thought it advisable to add some introductory or explanatory notes 
 (whicli I have included within brackets) as being, in my judgment, likely to 
 be helpful to the reader ; but I have refrained from intruding any opinions of my 
 own, even where I dissented from statements which Mr. Crabbe has made. I have 
 printed the translations as I found them. Ilis work has been left unaltered ; and 
 it is quite good enough to stand upon its own merits. Any attempt on my part 
 to make it what no man's work ever can be, faultless, would have resulted in 
 spoiling it as it stands and in exhibiting my own weakness. Mr. Crabbe was a 
 born antiquary, who discovered, only too late in life, that he had quite a genius for
 
 PREFACE. XV 
 
 such researches as these. The enthusiasm, sagacity and scholarly caution which 
 he exhibited in bis antiquarian studies, made me frequently rcgi'et that he had 
 not thrown himself into them earlier ; but he needs no apology for the quality 
 of his work in this volume. To those who knew him — and to know him was to 
 love him — the book reflects him in its unambitious simplicity, its conscientious 
 thoroughness (so far as the opportunity of dealing with the evidence at hand 
 allowed), in the careful avoidance of over statement, and in the entire absence of 
 any other aim than to get at the truth and to present a faithful picture to his 
 readers. 
 
 A nature so pure and gentle and guileless, a personality so magnetically 
 attractive and so free from all semblance of pettiness, pretence and conceit it has 
 never been my happiness to meet with. There may be others such as he but I 
 have not known them. 
 
 The manuscript was left in the hands of Lord Walsingham, at whose 
 expense it has been printed. From first to last, his Lordship's covinsel and active 
 co-operation have been most valuable. To Miss Mary Bateson, Mr. "Walter Rye, 
 and the Eev. Arthur F. Sutton I owe my cordial thanks. Mr. Sutton generously 
 placed in my hands the valuable sketch-book of his uncle the late Rev. F. n. 
 Sutton, Prebendary of Lincoln, containing some extremely interesting sketches 
 of the churches in this district. One of these days this sketch-book will be 
 worth its weight in gold. I can only regret that I could not see my way to 
 reproduce more of Mr. Sutton's drawings as illustrations. Mr. Herbert Green's 
 careful and elaborate plans of Thompson Church speak for themselves ; he has 
 laid my readers equally with myself under obligations which I think we shall all 
 be glad to acknowledge. 
 
 c 2
 
 XVI 
 
 Itote 0%j %\cina e&cxxUnta* 
 
 By Lord "Walsingham. 
 
 N close proximity to the site of the old Thompson College exists one of the 
 last surviving British colonies of the edible frog (Eana esculenta). These 
 were long supposed by Professor A. Newton and others to be the descendants 
 of specimens imported from France by Mr. George Berney in 1837 ; but 
 Ml'. Boulengcr has pointed out (in the Zoologist, July, 1884, as well as in the Proceedings 
 of the Zoological Society, 1884) that they are easily distinguished from the French 
 form, subsequently re-discovered at Foulden, by the much larger metatarsal tubercle 
 which is characteristic of the Italian variety, known as Rana esculenta, var. lessonce 
 The fact that the ancient College is known to have existed on this spot is strong 
 collateral evidence in favour of the suggestion made by Mr. Wolley (Zoologist, 1821)' 
 that the edible frog, like the edible snail (Helix pomatia), was introduced for 
 purposes of food by some of the many secular and regular clergy who, during 
 the middle ages, wei'e continually going backwards and forwards between England 
 and Rome.
 
 XVll 
 
 ADDENDA. 
 
 I. 
 
 The following has been communicated by Mr. Walter Rye. It is derived from the 
 Norris MSS. 
 
 Extracts from Notes in Account Books belonging to Mr. [Thomas] Futter 
 
 of TJiompston, d. 1639. 
 
 161-1.— Francis Bedingfiekl, Gent., Owner of Thorapston Coll. [1616]. 
 13 June, 1621. — Robt. Futter, my son, and Elizth. Barckham were married at Waulton. 
 1621. — The Futters seem to have entered first on the College. 
 1622. — Robt. Futter, Gent., had College rent paid him. 
 8 Aug., 1622. — My son, "Wm. Futter, dyed at Mrs. Maylard, in Layton, and was buried 
 there the 10th of that month. 
 The. Barkham, son of Edward and Mary, was born 20 Sept., 1623, at 
 
 W. Waulton. 
 Bridget, dr. of Robt. and Elizh. Futter, was bom 22 April, 1624, at 
 
 Tompston. 
 Francis, son of Robt. and Elizh. Futter, was born 13 June, 1627. 
 Robt., son of Edwd. and Mary Barkham, 17 June, 1627. 
 Francis Futter, my son, and Jane Coote were mar. 25 Sept., 1628, at 
 
 Chelsey, nere London. 
 Robt. Futter, son of my son Robt. and Eliz. his wife, was born 23 Sept., 
 1628. 
 5 Nov., 1628. — Tho. Futter, son of John and Mary, was born. 
 
 Thus far out of an old book of accounts of ... . Futter of Thomston, pduced at a 
 CoiTiission at Thetf'*, 23 Apr', 172-i. In? Colman & Barker. 
 
 II. 
 
 At page 81, we are told that Sir Roger de Wylasham, Knt., was buried in 
 Thompson in 1308. The date is obviously wrong, and must be due to a slip of the 
 pen, for Blomefield gives it correctly as 1383. I have nothing to tell about this worthy 
 knight. I presume Wylasham is only another way of writing Willisham, a village
 
 XVlll 
 
 in Suffolk, near Needham Market ; but what interest Sir Roger had in Thompson I 
 have not been able to discover. Possibly he was connected with the Siiardelows 
 by marriage. He seems to have died childless. I give his will in extenso, copied from 
 the original, in the Registry at Norwich. A. J. 
 
 In noie pat's & lilij & sps sci. Amen. Ego Rog'us de Wylach""m miles sane 
 mentis & bone memorie die diiica in festo Inuencois See Crucis Anno Dni Miftimo ccc""" 
 octogesimo t'cio Condo testament, meii in hunc modum. In p'mis lego aiam meam deo 
 omipotenti & bte marie Vgini & oinib3 scis & corpus tneu' ad sepdiend^ in ecd'ia de 
 Thomston sw6 archa inf d'cain ecdi'am & capellam Sc'i Jacobi. Item, lego sum'o 
 altari eiusdem ecd'ie, iijs. iiijd. Item, lego sumo altari ecctie de Runhale, iijs. n\]d.; & 
 emendacoi eiusdem ecctie, xlvjs. viijcZ. Item, lego sumo altari ecctie de Mateshale, 
 vjs. viijd.; & ad emendacoem capanit eiusdem ecctie v m'rc. Item, lego ad emendacoem 
 ecctie & campanil de Wylash""m, xxs. Item, lego Priorisse de Carhowe vjs. viijd. Itm 
 cuitt moniali pfesse dom^ p'dce iijs. iiijcZ.; & cuitt moniali ifem non pfesse, ijs. Ir, volo q"" 
 executor^ mei i'aeiant celebi-ari mille missas p a!a mea & p aiab5 quibj teneor infra mensem 
 post obitum meu Et residuu oim bonoi? meor' p't ea que supius sunt legata assigno & do 
 Ka?ine uxi mee, Robto de Kenton, Walro de Gildeford, & Rog'o Cristian Capetlo quos 
 quidem Katinam, Robtu, Waltum, & Rogum hui^ testamenti mei constituo exccutores, 
 quos hentes Deu p auxTo rogo vt soluant debita mea & adimpleant voluntatcm meam 
 p' posse suo sicut viderint aie mee melius expedire. 
 
 Da? die & anno supdcis. 
 Proba? fuit istud apud Norwicu coi^ nob. Offic. Dili Norwic. Epi quarto die mens. 
 
 Augvsti anno Dni m"ccc""' octog. t^cio, &c. 
 
 [Heydon, fol. 211.]
 
 ERRATA. 
 
 Page 3,. line 12. For Cleasley read Cleashy. 
 
 Page 15, second column of values. For Robert de Aukl read Robert de Aula. 
 
 Page 26, line 17. For chains read charms.
 
 SCALE 3 fNCHEe TO I WILE 
 
 urrdo'i ■JLiT/c-iii' 
 
 The retl, liiuK shxnva Uw. Ixnindarie,^ of the qiat titlds us laid down uvfJui olid maps. 
 Ihe houjLdaries of the parish,.
 
 5nlro6ttcfion. 
 
 T is astonishing how little is known of the history of our country 
 ^P villages by those who live in them. It is equally astonishing how much 
 ^^^ may be learned by a careful examination of the registers, tombstones, 
 place names, manor rolls, wills, &c. There is, indeed, as Mr. King says in one 
 of his essays, "no fragment of antiquity— no hint or trace of former days — 
 which may not be made to tell its own tale, and in its own degree to aid us in 
 restoring the past." Even the most retired and unknown \dllage, when, by means 
 of antiquarian research, it is repeopled with succeeding generations of its old 
 inhabitants and proprietors, is found to have a history which not even Dry-as-dust 
 himself can make altogether uninteresting. 
 
 In the following pages I have attempted to put together all that I have been 
 able to learn about the past history of a small village in Norfolk. When our 
 Archaeological Society visited Thompson in 1878, I read a short paper — of which 
 the historical part was taken chiefly from Blomefield — on the parish and church. 
 The subject, once begun, interested me so much that I continued my search for 
 material, and now offer the fruit of my pleasant labours to that Society wliich moved 
 me to betjin them.
 
 HISTORY OF THOMPSON. 
 
 ^f ll]c |\amc (LJ)ompson. 
 
 HE first thing with respect to Thompson that strikes a stranger is that so modern 
 and common a family name should also be the name of a village. Probably 
 Thompson is a corruption of Thomston (Thomeston), town of Thomas ; or of 
 Tomston (Tomeston), town of Tom,^ but at least it is an old corruption ; as the 
 title of the Register Book, written about 1597, has the name spelt as now, Thompson, and 
 in 1624 Sir William de Grey speaks of his lands in Thompson (paper at Merton Hall, B. 
 9 c.) In Domesday Book it is called Tomestuna (town of Tom), and Tumesteda (place of 
 Tom). Professor Skeat says, " no doubt Tom was a personal name, whether it was short 
 for Thomas is doubtful. It looks more like the common Icel., Tomr = Lowland Scottish, 
 Toom, emptj- ; a not improbable nickname. John Baliol was called Toora Tabard, empty 
 coat. Yet Tom may be Thomas. There is this bit of evidence, that Tumi for Thomas is 
 used by Sturla ])ordason, died A.D. 12S4." — Cleasley's Icel. Diet. 
 
 In a deed, dated 1309 the name is spelt Thomuston ; in the lay subsidy, 1327, 
 Thomiston ; in that of 1333, Tomeston ; in a deed, 1351, 24th Edward III., Thomaston ; in 
 a Merton manor roll, 1401, Tommeston; in a manor roll of 1449, Tomston; 1468, 
 Thomston ; on the seal of the College we find Tomesstone ; in the lay subsidy, 1524, 
 Thompston ; in a manor book, 1640, Tompson. 
 
 ' " The Anglo-Saxon never seems to have thought of such a thing as bestowing a name on a place by a definite act, 
 in the same manner as he named his child or his ship. When he had to mention a place, he spoke of it by some 
 
 obvious descriptive expression, which afterwards became fixed as a name A man named Eanbald clears a 
 
 piece of ground and builds a farmhouse. His neighbours speak of Eanbald's tun or farm enclosure .... and this 
 simple and natural designation sticks to the place long after Eanbald is dead and forgotten .... Thus the poorest 
 cottager might come to give his name even to an important town which grew up on the site once marked only by his 
 humble dwelling." — Henry Bradley in Gentleman's Magazine, February 1st, 1882. 
 
 B 2
 
 Ibc cavin ^anb-fltimcvs lit ^Jjompson. 
 
 N the Domesday Survey only four land-owners in Thompson are mentioned, 
 all tenants-in-chiof ; and reckoning a carucate at 180 acres, the largest given 
 by Ducange, the sum of their lands does not amount to more than about 
 1150 acres, whereas the present acreage is 2890. Mr. Freeman (Norman 
 Conquest, v. 7) says that " Domesday tells us by whom every scrap of land was 
 held in the later days of William," and if this be so, the carucate, which we know 
 was a very variable quantity, must have been in Thompson very much larger than 
 Ducano-e's largest example, perhaj^s because it included a quantity of land of very small 
 value. There was a large fen, the Sandwade Fen, in Thompson, in existence till 
 within living memorj^ and a stream runs through the parish for nearly three miles, 
 having on each side of it a quantity of marshy meadows, which at the time of the Survey 
 may have been in great part fen. Then, too, there were three heaths, Thompson Upper 
 Common, near Merton, extending from Cherry Row on the west to Wayland Wood on the 
 east, all along south of the Merton boundary ; Thompson Lower Common, extending fi-om 
 near Stow Bedon Station, and reaching to Sandwade Fen, and then north to Shaker's Furze 
 and Bradmore Common, a small common south of the brickyard, where the school, 
 the blacksmith's shoj^, and the windmill now stand. In fact, before the inclosure 
 of 1817, the commons and fen occupied half the acreage of the parish, and probably, 
 in the time of the Survey, very much more. Thus the carucates in Thompson may 
 have been very large, on account of the small quantity in each carucate that was 
 cultivated. For "the carucate depended for its size more on the nature of the soil 
 or the state of cultivation than on actual extent." — //. Jenner. 
 
 With respect to the under-tenants, " we must not suppose that the population was 
 changed at the Conquest. . . . The notion that every Englishman was turned out 
 of hearth and home is a mere dream. The actual occupants of the soil remained 
 very generally undisturbed." — Freeman, iv. 24. 
 
 We have, then, the names of four owners of land in Thompson in 1086, and 
 the values of their five properties. It must be remembered that these sums of 
 money were thirty times, some say a hundred timcs,^ more valuable then than now. 
 Of two of the Thompson landowners nothing seems to be personally known ; Imt 
 the other two were the most powerful and richest of William's barons. Few names 
 in Ano-lo-Norman history are more familiar than those of William de Warren and 
 Roger Bigot. ^^_^ 
 
 Hume, quoted in Munford's Norfolk Domesday, p. 2.
 
 EARLY LAND-OWNERS IN THOMPSON. 
 
 The actual text of Domesday Book relating to Thompson, as it is found in 
 Sir H. James' photographic copy, is as follows, the abbreviations being replaced 
 by the full words.^ There are five portions, or properties mentioned. 
 
 1. Terre Will, de Warenne. 
 
 In Tomestuna fi liberi homines,- 1 carucata terrse, tunc & post 1 bordarius,' modo 
 3, 12 acr. prati. Tunc et post 2 carucatae, modo 2 carucatse & dim. Totum valet 
 
 49 sol. Hoc est pro escangio. 
 
 Lands of William de Warren. 
 
 In Tomestun there ai'e six free men and one carucate ; then (i.e., T. R. E., time 
 of King Edward) and afterwards * {i.e., T. R. H., time of King Harold) one bordar, 
 now (i.e., T. R. W., time of King William) three ; there are twelve acres of meadow ; 
 then (i.e., T. R. E.) and afterwards (T. R. H.) two carucates, now two and a half. 
 The vehole is worth forty-nine shillings. This is by exchange. 
 
 "Judging from the manner in which the lands are arranged in Domesday Book, 
 viz., first under tenants in capite,^ and secondly under hundreds and parishes, the 
 whole of these lands are attributed to William de Warren. In the cases where 
 another tenant's name is mentioned, he generally will be found to hold the lands 
 attributed to him of the tenant in caplte. As the carucate is a variable measure, 
 it is impossible to say for certain whether the two-and-a-half carucates include the 
 before-mentioned one carucate and twelve aci-es; but there is no reason for supposing 
 that it is so. In either case, however, the value, 49 sol. or shillings, applies to the whole 
 amount of land. My opinion is that William de Wan-en held in Tomestuna three 
 
 > The annotations have heen kindly made for me by Sir. Henry Jenncr, of the British lluscum. 
 
 - ' ' Liberi homines. " Not merely the freemen or freeholders of a manor, but all persons holding in military 
 service, — Munford, p. 63. 
 
 ' " Bordarii" wore distinct from the Villani and Servi, and seem to have been of a less servile condition. Each 
 bordar had a cottage, with a small parcel of land allotted. The " Villani" were occupiers of land at the will of the 
 lord, on condition of performing certain services. 
 
 * The word "afterwards." Among the legal fictions of Bomesdiiy is one with respect to the marking of time. 
 William is looked upon as the immediate successor of Edward, and a waj' had to be found to describe the time 
 between the death of Edward and the coming of William without recognising Harold's reign. — Freeman, v. 741. 
 The correct form is, "post mortem Regis Edwardi," shortened in the above extracts to "post." 
 
 ' "Tenants in capite," or in chief, held immediately of the King, and rendered their services, civil and 
 military, to the Crown. There were sixty-two tcnants-in-chief in Norfolk {Munford, p. 4), and of those four held, 
 as we have seen, estates in Thompson. The tenants-in-chief were accustomed to let their lands which they did 
 not hold in domesno— hold in hand, as wo should say — to sub-tenants, and "by a usage peculiar to England, each 
 sub-tenant, in addition to his oath of fealty to his lord, swore fealty directly to the Grown.'* — Green's Mist, of the 
 English People, p. 81. A.D. 1068—71.
 
 6 HISTORY OF THOMPSON. 
 
 estates, viz., one carucate with six freemen and three bordarii ; twelve acres of meadow ; 
 and that in the time of King Edward amounted to two carucates, but at the time 
 of the Survey to two-and-a-half, the value of the whole being 49 sol." — Henry Jenner. 
 
 William de Warren bore for arms the well-known chequers, blazoned chequy, 
 or and azure. Munford says that he held at the Survey 145 manors in Norfolk, 
 of the annual value of £329. 4s. Od. This includes his estate in Thompson. He had 
 also large possessions in other parts of England. He died in 1089, and was buried 
 at Lewes Priory, whicli ho had founded. His name, and that of his wife Gundrada, 
 supposed to be a daughter (but more probably a step-daughter) of William the 
 Conqueror, have been brought to the recollection of the present generation by the 
 discovery in 1845 of their remains, and their re-burial in Southover Church near 
 Lewes. 
 
 2. Terre Rogeri Bigot. 
 In Tomestuna 40 acr. terre & dim. carucate, & valet 3 sol. 
 
 Lands of Roger Bigot. 
 
 In Tomestun there are forty acres of laud and one-half a carucate, and it is 
 worth three shillings. 
 
 " The word ' Terra ' in the text, simply signifies arable land as distinct from 
 wood, meadow, and common pasture. (See Introduction to Sir H. Ellis's edition 
 of Domesday Book, p. xxx, where Kennet, Glossar. Par. Antiq. is given as authority). 
 The cai-ucate is defined by Sir H. Ellis (p. xlviii) as signifying as much arable 
 land as could be managed by one plough and the beasts belonging thereto in one 
 year; having meadow, pasture, and houses for the householders and cattle, belonging 
 to it. However, there is this ambiguity in some cases, that the scribes often used 
 the abbreviation, car or car'^ to signify either caruca (a plough and its team) or 
 carucata. In this case, however, it is impossible, or at any rate very unlikely, 
 that a half share of a caruca should be intended. It is most probable that two 
 separate estates are intended." — Henry Jenner. 
 
 Roger Bigot, a Norman, was Constable of Norwich Castle. He held 187 manors 
 in Norfolk (see under next head, that of Isac) valued at £281. 186'. Od. per ann. 
 He founded the Cluniac Priory at Thetford. 
 
 Roger died in 1107. Bigot bore. Or, a cross gules. 
 
 3. Terre Isac. 
 
 In Tomestuna, 1 liber homo, 1 carucata terre. Semper 1 carucata, & valet 
 20 sol. Hoc est de feodo Radulfi comitis de Stou. Robertus Blundus liberavit.
 
 EARLY LAND-OWNERS IN THOMPSON. 
 
 The lands of Isac. 
 
 In Tomestun Isac has one freeman and one carucate of land. There has always 
 been one carucate, and its value is twenty shillings. This is of Earl Ealf's fee [estate] 
 of Stow Bedon. Robert Blund gave livery of seisin [gave possession of the freehold, 
 subject, however, to military service]. 
 
 Semper one carucata means that in the time of King Edward, subsequently, and 
 at the time of the Survey, the estate mentioned was one carucate. It has no 
 reference to Isac's possession, but i-ather to the state of cultivation of the land — 
 improvements would probably have increased the proportion of arable land in the 
 estate, and so have made a larger number of teams and ploughs necessary, but 
 the question of ownership would not have been raised by such a consideration. 
 
 This Robert Blund seems to have been associated with Earl Ralph in 
 the possession of Stow Manoi", but whether as vassal or predecessor ' does not 
 appear. Earl Ralph forfeited his lands before the time of the Survey, so does 
 not appear among the tenants. See p. xxxvi of the Norfolk Survey, " Huic manerio 
 iacebant vi soc[manni] ea die qua Radulfus forisfecit, qui reddebant xvi sol. 
 Roberto Blundo." — Henry Jenner. 
 
 Isac (perhaps a Jew — Freeman, v. 819) held five manors in Norfolk valued at 
 £5. 5s. Od. per ann. — Miinford. 
 
 Earl Ralph of Stow — Ralph, Earl of Norfolk, one of the historic characters of 
 William's i-eign, was lord of many manors in East Anglia and elsewhere, and amongst 
 them of Stow Bedon, the next village to Thompson. Earl Ralph was half Englishman, 
 half Breton. He was one of the heads of the rebellion against William in 1075. 
 He fled from his castle at Norwich to Denmark, and was outlawed, and in East 
 Anglia a large part of his lands went to enrich the founder of the great house of 
 Bigod. — See Freeman's Norman Conq. iv. 575 — 591. 
 
 4. Terre Berneri Are. 
 
 In Tomestuna 1 carucatam terre tenuit tempore Regis Edwardi [Aluricus, Tegnus 
 Heroldi] ; tunc 1 carucata, post et modo dimidia ; 1 bordarius ; & valet xvi sol. 
 Hoc etiam de feodo Radulfi. 
 
 Lands of Berner the Ai-cher. 
 
 In Tomestun [Aluric, Harold's Thane] held a carucate of land in the time of 
 King Edward. Then it was a carucate, afterwards [T. R. H.] and now [T. R. W.] 
 
 ' "Predecessor." This word seems to mean, in Domesday, tho same as tho often-used title anteeessor, a 
 dispossessed Englishman or Norman. Almost always, of course, it was an Englishman who was dispossessed.
 
 8 HISTORY OF THOMPSOX. 
 
 half a canicate. There is one bordarius, and it is worth sixteen shillings. This is 
 also of the fee of Ralph. — Henry Jennei: 
 
 " Aluricus, tegnus Heroldi," i.e., Aluric, Harold's thane [i.e., a noble holding service 
 under Harold when Earl] is mentioned above as having held Asscelea [Ashill] in 
 the days of King Edward. It is evident that this same Aluric is the nominative 
 to all the " tenuits " that follow, until another former tenant is introduced. It appears 
 that most, if not all, of Berner's laud had been held by various dispossessed persons 
 in the time of King Edward, and the name of each is not always repeated in the 
 recital of the different lands belonging to them. — Henry Jenner. 
 
 Berner the Archer held eleven manors in Norfolk, valued at £20. 13s. 'id. per 
 aun. — Munford. 
 
 5. Terre Rogeri Bigot. 
 
 In Tumesteda 1 liber homo, xv acr. & 1 acr. prati, tunc dim. carucata, mode 
 ii bovate ; valet ii sol. Idem Rogerus tenet. Rex & comes socam. 
 
 Lands of Roger Bigot. 
 
 In Tumested one freeman and fifteen acres (of arable) and one acre of meadow, 
 then {i.e. T. R. E.) half a carucate, now two bovates.' The value is two shillings. The 
 same Roger holds this (i.e., holds it in his own hands). The king and the earl 
 [hold] the soc- 
 
 ' " Bovata." A piece of land containing as much ground as one ox (or a pair of oxen) could plough {i.e., in 
 one year), Ducange : meaning, probably, a3 much as could be cultivated by a man using an ox (or two oxen). 
 Ducange says that the word is much used in English charters, and that the amount of a bovata varied. He gives 
 instances of its being reckoned as 10, 13, and 18 acres; and says that eight bovates of eighteen acres equalled 
 one carucate, according to an old statute on measures, which he quotes from Spelman. 
 
 ^ "Soc." Liberty to minister justice, or to hold a court of soc-men or tenants. Soc-men were inferior 
 landowners, with permanent tenures, but who owed suit and service to the lord of the manor.
 
 ^f Ibc SiKccssioiT in tjjc Ulanors. 
 
 N Merton, the next parish to Thompson, the family of the tenant-in-chief> 
 Robert Bajniard, who held the manor at the Survey, never aliened it ; for his 
 descendant (through an heiress) Thomas de Grey, Lord Walsingham, is the 
 present owner. But in Thompson tlie four tenants-in-chief seem soon to 
 have aliened their lands, for not even has Blomefield with all his industry and 
 knowledge been able to trace the descent of the manors from the Norman owners. 
 The only descent he mentions is on Isac's Manor, part of which was held, according 
 to Testa de Neville (a document containing evidence respecting the estates held of the 
 king in the time of Henry III. and Edward I.), by Maud de Rochford. 
 
 Although, then, we do not know which of the Norman manors he held, Blomefield 
 tells us that at an early date William de Thomeston was lord of part of Thompson. 
 His son, Robert de Thomeston,' was lord of the capital manor and patron of the 
 church. 
 
 [This Robert de Thomeston had three daughters, (i) Margaret, the eldest, wife of 
 
 Robert Crowe ; (ii) Katherine, the second, wife of de la Sale ; (iii) Aones, 
 
 the youngest, wife of Peter Copsey, or, as he is sometimes called, Peter de Breccles. 
 The three daughters, with their husbands, were plaintiffs in an action against a 
 certain Henry de Bersham in 1289, Bersham having set up a claim to the adv-owson 
 of Thompson which he could not substantiate, and the right of presentation to the 
 
 ' This Robertas de Thomestime with Dominus Galfridus de Thomestune were witnesses to a deed relating 
 to Geoffrey Baynard, son of Sir Folk Baynard, of Merton. The deed, preserved at the British Museum, is 
 without date (communicated by Mr. J. H. Greenstreet) . This Geoffrey Baj-nard, a priest, who farmed ths 
 Lewes Priory lands at Merton, was living in the latter half of the thirteenth centurj-. — Blomefield, under Merton. 
 
 The de Thomestons, though lost to their original seat, were afterwards represented by the Thompsons of 
 Tinmouth Castle, who were descended from the ancient family sumamed of this Norfolk village; and Rowland 
 Thompson of Thorpe Market, of the family of Thompson of Tinmouth, had this coat confirmed 1602, Az., a lion 
 passant guardant or in a bordure ar. — Blomefield, ii. 370. 
 
 Among the English ecclesiastical writers of the fourteenth century, Leland mentions John Thompson of 
 Thompson in Norfolk, who, he says, flourished in 13S0. He belonged to the Order of Carmelites, and was 
 educated first at Blakeney and then at Oxford. He is described as ranking with philosophers and theologians of 
 note, and the titles of fifteen of his works are recorded, which, says Bale, " I have seen in a very beautiful 
 library of his Order at Norwich." Leland is disposed to identify him with " John Campscen," an English 
 Carmelite mentioned by Trithemius, Abbot of Spanheim. 
 
 C
 
 10 niSTORT OF THOMPSON. 
 
 living was decided to belong to the three co-heiresses in common.' That is, the 
 de Thomeston family had come to an end in the male line. Roger Crowe appears 
 to have bought the portions of his wife's sisters ; and at tlie end of the thirteenth 
 century his son (?), John Crowe, had become the great man of the parish. - 
 
 A few years later we find ourselves perplexed by difficulties which it seems 
 impossible to clear up satisfactorily. In 1307 there is a lawsuit again about the 
 right of presentation to the Rectory, and in 1308 Sir Guy de Botetort, one of the 
 Norfolk magnates, presents a relative of his own to the benefice, either in right of 
 his wife, or as guardian of the heir in his minority. Ten years later, the heir, Robert 
 de Aula de Thomeston (who can be no other than Robert Crowe, one of the parties 
 to the lawsuit of 1307) exercises his right as patron and presents to the benefice 
 on its avoidance, by death or cession, of Sir Ralph's nominee. Blomefield's guess 
 (for it is nothing more) that Sir Ralph do Botetort liad purchased the manor from 
 the Ci'owes is quite unsupported by proof. Tliere is no evidence to shew that the 
 Botetorts were ever lords of the capital manor, and much which points to the 
 contrary. 
 
 The question still remains, how did the manor come into the hands of the 
 Shardelows ? It is not lilcely that, if it passed to them by purchase, no record of the 
 sale and release should be found in the Feet of Fines. I suspect that, as in the case 
 of the de Thomeston family, so it came to pass with the Crowes, viz., that the family 
 died out in the male line, and that the last heiress was Agnes, the wife of Sir John 
 de Shardelow, whose inheritance was the Thompson manor. 
 
 Looking through the mists which hang about the three centuries that elapsed after 
 the Norman Conquest and which necessarily make the history of that time obscure, we 
 are yet able to infer with a fair measure of certainty that for about a hundred and 
 fifty years or so, a family which took their surname from the little parish where they 
 were the chief personages, held the lordship of Thompson from father to son, and died 
 out in the male line about the middle of the thirteenth century. Thay were succeeded 
 by another race, the Crowes, one of whom married the eldest of the three co-heiresses 
 of the last de Thompson. The Crowes did not enjoy the inheritance for more than three 
 generations, and vanished from the scene during the early years of Edward II. : then the 
 estate passed into other hands. The new possessors were clearly not of Norfolk 
 extraction, they had but lately settled iu the county, though they were by no means 
 inconsiderable men. 
 
 The founder of the family was Robert de Shardelow, probably a Derbyshire 
 man, who early in the thirteenth century, had made a reputation for himself as a 
 lawyer, and had won a high position at the beginning of the reign of Henry III. In 
 1228 he was appointed a Justice of Assize, two years later he became one of the 
 King's Justices Itinerant : in 1246 he was sent as Chief Justice to Ireland, and there 
 
 ' Albrtviatio Plaeitoium (folio, 1811), p. 283. ^ Blomefield. See, too, Rye's Norfolk Fxnes, Edw. I., No. 1019.
 
 THE SUCCESSION IX THE MANORS. 11 
 
 he died about the j-ear 1255.' He left behind him, as it seems, two sons, Edmund and 
 Galfridus. Galfridus, the younger, inherited a small estate in Ireland, which descended 
 to his son Robert, a child of three years old, when his father died in 1274. Of this 
 branch we hear no more.^ Edmund, the elder son, had lands in Cambridgeshire, and 
 there are some indications which point to him, too, as having followed his father's 
 profession, though he made no mai-k. It was far otherwise with his son Sir John 
 i)E Shardelow, who became lord of the manor of Thompson at the beginning of the 
 fourteenth century, was an eminent Justice of the King's Bench, and largely increased 
 his worldl}^ possessions. When he died in 1344, he had estates in Cambridgeshire, 
 .Suffolk, and Norfolk; but he appears to have resided chiefly at the manor house of 
 Thompson when he died, and where he was buried, as appears by the wording of his 
 grandson's will, which has been preserved to our own time. SiR John had three sons. 
 The eldest, Edmund, died before his father, and it was his son, a second Sir John de 
 Shardelow, who succeeded to the great bulk of his grandfather's property in Suffolk 
 and Cambridgeshiie. The other two sons of Sir John de Shardelow, the judge, were 
 at their father's death both married, but both childless. The one bore the same 
 Christian name as his father. Of the family of his wife, Joanna, we know nothing. 
 The other brother, SiR Thomas, had taken to wife, Margaretta, daughter of Sir Roger 
 de Grey of Cavendish, co. Suffolk, and gi-and-daughter of Sir Thomas de Grey of 
 Morton, the ancestor of Lord "Walsingham, and the first of that noble familj*, which 
 has handed down the estate from father to son without a break for more than five 
 hundred years. When SiR JoHN DE Shardelow the judge, died, he left the Thompson 
 estate with the adowson of the Rectory, together with other manors in Essex, to his 
 two younger sons, and it appears that the second Sir John de Shardelow resided at 
 Thompson, keeping up some state according to the fashion of the time in the manor 
 house. The other brother. Sir Thosias, was a man of more ambition, who seems to 
 have aspired to emulate his father's distinguished career. His success as a lawyer, 
 however, was but moderate : he did attain to the position of King's Attorney in 1379, 
 but he can have held the oflSce little more than two years, for in 1382 he was dead 
 and another had succeeded to the appointment. By the death of Sir Thomas, the 
 Shardelows of Thompson came to an end, and a new chapter in the history of the 
 little parish begins, of which it will be our business to treat in its due course.] 
 
 The following pedigree (as far as concerns the last three generations) has been taken 
 from Gage's History of the Hundred of Thingoe, p. GO. 
 
 ' Dugdale's Origines Juridiciaks. The dates, &c., are given in the Appendix, which he calls Chronica Series. 
 • Calendar of Documents relating to Ireland (a.d. 1171-1301.) Record Series, 4 vols., 1875-1881. 
 
 c2
 
 12 
 
 HISTORY OF TUOlirSON. 
 
 PEDIGREE OF SHARDELOWE. 
 
 Robert de Shardelow, probably of Shardlow, co. Derby. His wife"8=p 
 name does not appear, a.d. 1 228, appointed Justice of Assize; a.d. 
 1'230, Justice Itinerant for York ; a.d. 1231, Justice Itinerant for Cambs, 
 Essex, Herts, Hunts, &c. ; a.d. 1246, sent to Ireland as Justice Itinerant; 
 A.D. 125.5 was dead. Some disputes arose about certain lands of his in Ire- 
 land, and again in 1257. — Calendar of Documents relating to Ireland, vol. i. 
 
 Edmundus de Shardelow, a.d. r280held= 
 lands in Cambs, which he had for liis life 
 by the gift of Sir John de Lovetot, who 
 was raised to be Justice of the Common 
 Pleas in 1275. He held also a good house 
 and other lands in the same county. 
 
 Pns. Johannes de Phardelowe do Shardclowe=T=Agnes, 
 
 Galfiidus de Shardelow, probably a^ 
 younger son. a.d. 1274 died. Held 
 lands in Ireland of no great extent. He 
 had given a "stone house" in Dublin to 
 the Hospital of St. John of Jerusalem in 
 Dublin, and the brotherB of the order. 
 
 H 
 
 in Barton parva in Suff. , Jliles, unus Justic de 
 Banco Reg. 6 Ed. III., et ad Tlacita coram 
 Rege 13 ejusd. Reg., et de Banco 16 ejusd. 
 Reg., ob. 5 Mart., 18 Ed. III., ann. 1344. 
 Had lands in Suffolk, Norfolk, and Cambs. 
 
 13 Ed. III. 
 
 Edmundus de Shardelowe, 
 persona eccles de Ilempton 
 in 1311, et postea de Uerings- 
 well. 
 
 Robert de Sharde- 
 low, aged 3 yrs. in 
 Jan. 1274. The only 
 son of Galfridus. Of 
 this Robert I dis- 
 cover no more. 
 
 Edmundus de' 
 Shardelowe, fil. 
 primog.,ob. v.p. 
 
 fil. Rogeri de 
 Grey de 
 Cavendiiih. 
 
 :Margareta, Dns. Johannes=Joanna, ' 
 vidua, de Shardelowe, vidua 43 
 
 2 Edw. III. miles, ob. s. p. Ed. III. 1369. 
 
 A.D. 1350. These two (with the 
 consent of his brother Thomas) ex- 
 change the manors of Copped Hall and Shingled 
 Hall in Essex, for the manors of Camps and 
 Barham in the same county, and the manor of 
 Orsey in Cambs with the Abbot of Waltham. — 
 Cat. Pat. Rot. p. 159. 
 
 The two brothers, on the ISth Dec, A. R. R. Edw. III. 25°, have licence from the king to 
 confer the advowson of the church of Cowling, co. Suff., on the Cuitos and Fellows of Trin. Hall, 
 and that it should bo held as impropriate to the College. (Inq. ad quod damnum.) 
 
 Dns. Thomas de Shardelowe, =Margareta, 
 miles; a.d. 1367 made Clerk to sororThomse 
 the icing's Attorney ; a.d. 1374, 
 appointed Coroner of the King's 
 Household; ad. 1379, succeeds 
 as Attorney to the king. Ob. s. \>. 
 ■ — Jjugdalc. 
 
 Dns. Johannes de Shardelowe de= 
 Shardelowe in Barton, lilius et hceres, 
 aet. 21 ad mortem avi ; ob. mens. Nov. 
 1391, 15 Rich. II. 
 
 = Margareta. 
 
 Katherina 
 
 de Shardelowe. 
 
 I 1 
 
 Dns. Robertus de Shardelowe, miles, =pEla, ob. 8th Nov. 1457, Elizabetha de 
 ob. die Sab. px. ante fest S. Jacobi, I sepultineccl.S.Mariie, Shardelowe, 
 ApostoU, 1 Hen. IV. — Inq. p. m. | apudS.Edmundsbury.- ob. s. p. 
 
 r -■ 
 
 Dns. Johannes de Shardelowe, miles,= Margareta fil. WillelmiLove- 
 nat. apud Fulburn in Cantab., ob. 2 Hen. neye.dni.maneriide Stratton, 
 VI., 3. p. Suff, 9 Hen. V. 
 
 Joanna de=T=Johanncs le Brews 
 Sharde- de Wenham Parva 
 
 lowe. I in Suff.' 
 
 r ■" 
 
 Robertus le Brews, — 
 
 miles, fil. et ha^res. 
 
 Thomas Brews, mil., fil. et hferes, 
 set. 26, ad mortem Johannis de Shar- 
 delowe, cujus est ha;res 2 Hen. VI. 
 
 ' She became, in 1369, a religious votary in the College of Thompson, where she died. Blomefield, ii. 361, 
 gives her vow and manner of making it: — "She appeared before Thomas Percy, Bishop of Norwich, in the 
 private chapel of his manor house at Thomage, where he then resided" [the manor of Thomage, near Holt, 
 belonged to the Bishops of Norwich till the 27th Henry VIII.] "and at mass she kneeled down before the Bishop 
 (Master 'V\'^illiam Blithe, Archdeacon of Norfolk, Sir Simon de Babingle, and William le Swineflete, and others 
 being present as the Bishop's witnesses) and, joining her hands, he then took them into his hands, and then she 
 vowed in these words : ' Jeo Johanne qui fuy la femme Johan de Shardelowe, avowe et promette a Dieux et a 
 nostre Dame Seinte Marie et a Seint Martin et as toutez Seintz, de vivere en perpetuele chastete a Terme de ma Tie, 
 a Vous Reverent Pere en Dieux Sire Thomas par la Grace de Dieux evesque de Norwiz, et en vostre Presence, 
 et en la Presence de Sire Thomas de Shardelowe [this was her brother-in-law, and joint founder, with her late 
 husband, of the college. — Ibid, p. 16.], Sir Johan Grene, Mestre de la Chauntrie de Thomestone, John Clovylle, 
 et autrez.'" 
 
 ' Her will is amongst the Bury Wills printed by the Camden Society, p. 14. Her gravestone, stripped of 
 its brasses, is in the south chancel aisle of St. Mary's, Bury St. Edmund's, — Tymms' Bury St. Edmund's, p. 25. 
 
 ' He was also of Stinton Manor in Sail, Norfolk. — See Blomefield, under Sail.
 
 THE SrCCESSIOX IX THE MANORS. 13 
 
 In a field still called " The Hall Meadow," abutting on the north boundary of 
 Thompson Carr, can be seen, after a long drought, the situation of part of the 
 foundations of a mansion which tradition says was called Thompson Hall. The 
 road leading to it is still called " The Hall Way " ; and it formerly had another 
 approach, from the direction of the college and church. It had moats or fish-ponds, 
 which were filled up and planted about fifty years ago. It was probably the manor 
 house of the capital manor, the residence of the de Thompsons and Crowes. When 
 the Shardelowes gave the capital manor to the college, the hall perhaps fell into decay. 
 
 Some time after 1.307, Sir John Shardelowe, Knight, Justice of the Common 
 Pleas, held the capital manor, and settled it on his sons Sir John and Sir Thomas. — 
 Blomefield, ii. 372. The family of Shardelowe was of much importance. Sumamed, no 
 doubt, of Shardelowe in Derbyshire, it was established, before 1311, at Little Barton, 
 or Barton Mills in Suffolk, where it held lands, as well as in Mildenhall, Brandon, 
 Downham, and Caverham. — Gage's Thingoe, under Flempton. A branch of the family 
 settled at Shimpling, near Diss, in Norfolk. In Thelveton, the next village to 
 Shimpling, in 1598, Thomas Shardelowe, Gent., and Anthony Shardelowe, Gent., both 
 held lands. — Gav:dy MS. at Merton, pai-t i., p. 50. In 1680, the Manor of Shimpling, 
 and the mansion of the Shardelowes there, was sold to Mr. Mott. — Blomefield, i. 158. 
 Though the family seems at this date (1630) to have lost its possessions in Norfolk 
 (in SufTolk its lands had passed, through a female, to the Brewes family. — Gage's 
 Thingoe, under Flempton), it continued in the county. Henry Shardelowe, Alderman 
 of Norwich, died 1712 ; and at Thorpe, near Norwich, and other places in Norfolk, 
 there are several farmers and tradesmen who still bear the name.
 
 14 HISTORY OF THOMrSON. 
 
 Cljc |nljabit;iiifs of (r|)oinpson in tj)c Jfourttcntjj Ctnturij. 
 
 N the lists o£ lay subsidies at the Record Office there are several relating 
 to the parish of Thompson. They are of great interest, as giving the 
 names of the parishioners from five hundred and fifty to three hundred 
 and forty years ago ; and also as showing how surnames were often formed : 
 how, in some cases, the filace of residence (as, Walkelyn de Rockland), in others 
 the spot in the village (as, John atte Tounesende), in others the father's or ancestors' 
 Christian name (as, John FitzWalter, John Warin) gradually became hereditary 
 surnames. 
 
 It is worthy of notice, too, that within three hundred years of the Conquest, only 
 two Saxon Christian names are found in so remote a village as Thompson, and in 
 a population no doubt of Saxon descent, for the surnames are chiefly Saxon, showing 
 how entirely Noi'man and Scripture Chi'istian names had superseded Saxon. (On 
 this point see Freeman's Nornidn Conquest, v. 5G1.) Out of a total of seventy-one 
 names in the first list, there are thirteen Williams, ten Thomases, and fifteen Johns, 
 showing a sort of fashion (as we find now, occasionally, in our country villages) for 
 particular names. 
 
 The surnames, we must I'enicmbei-, would all have been gained since the Conquest, 
 as in England, before that time, there is no ascertained case of a strictly hereditary 
 surname. — Freeman, v. 565. 
 
 Lay subsidies were taxes levied on the lands and personal property of the 
 laity. The clei'gy were separately assessed. 
 
 The first Lay Subsidy is dated 1st Edward III. (1327), and contains seventy- 
 one names, four being destroyed. The sum total collected was £4. 16s. Sd. The 
 sums paid by each person vary from 3s. Qd. to Grf. These gradations show that 
 there was not a very unequal distribution of property, and that none of the payers 
 of the tax were rich and none very poor. In the neighbouring village of Merton 
 at this time (the fourteenth century), there were a great many small freeholders 
 and copjdiolders having from one to ten acres of land, and it is probable that 
 this was the case also at Thompson. These small holdings were rarely inclosed, 
 indeed nearly the whole village would be ojjen country, with much heath, common 
 and marsh, the cultivated lands not having fences, but being bounded by balks of 
 grass. 
 
 The names with stars are not in the list of 1333.
 
 LAY SUBSIDIES. 
 
 15 
 
 Lay Subsidies, Norfolk, No. 'f, Ao. 1st Edward III., 1327. 
 Hundredum de Wayland. Membrane 14. 
 
 ViLLATA DE ThOMISTON'. 
 
 De Cristiana de Houtofi ' - 
 De Ainicia ad Aquam ^ ^ - 
 De Robei'to ad Fontem - - 
 De Thoma Wimer - 
 De Roberto Mone - 
 De Thoma Hulot * - 
 De Tlioma Willeman 
 De Johanne de Langford - 
 De Willelmo Dorant* 
 De Roberto Doraunt ' 
 De Thoma Noble - 
 De Thoma Grigg' 
 De Emma Carpenter 
 De Johanne Faber - 
 De Thoma Freman - 
 De Johanne Folpe - 
 De Johanne Kyng - 
 De Willelmo Kyng - 
 De Roberto ad Ecclesiam ^ 
 De Willelmo Busshel 
 De Johanne Dobissone ^ - 
 De Willelmo Gibion 
 De Willelmo Gilyon'= 
 
 ' John do Houton de Thomeston and Peter Crowe of the same were witnesses to a deed (now at Mcrton 
 HaU), 8th Edw. II. (1315). 
 
 ' Ad Aquam, ad Fontem, ad Ecclesiam, de Aula, indicate the situation of the houses in which these men lived 
 respectively, i.e., " near the water," " near the well," "near the church," " of the Hall." 
 
 ' In a deed at Merton Hall {Conv. of St. Paul, 2nd Edw. III.) Robert Durant conveys to Eoger Burzoun, liind 
 abutting on that of Thos. le Neve. Witnesses, Robert of the HaU, Simon ad Aquam, John Herynges, and othera. 
 All these names are in the above subsidy, and throughout the deed, which is most clearly written, the place is spelt 
 Thomuston. 
 
 * The Norman-French pet form of Hugh. 
 
 ' Dobbissone = Dobson. 
 
 " From Julian, a popular Norman name. 
 
 ' Chaloner, an importer or manufacturer of a coverlet called a chalon. 
 
 ' William de Grene of Tomcston, was one of the witnesses to a conveyance {22nd July, 1323), of land in Merton, 
 near the hill called Rynghowe (RinghUl), from Thos. Gernoun of Merton to Ralf, the son of Peter, Chaplain of 
 Merton (deed at Merton Hall that date). 
 
 iij.s. iijrf. 
 
 De Johanne Leche - 
 
 xij(/. 
 
 iijs. vjf/. 
 
 De Johanne Heryng' 
 
 ijs. 
 
 iij.s. vjrf.* 
 
 De Willelmo Bee - 
 
 xviij(/. 
 
 xvd. 
 
 De Allano de Catirfete 
 
 v]V. 
 
 xijf/. 
 
 De Bartholomeo Lete (?) - 
 
 xijrf.* 
 
 xxrf. 
 
 De Johanne Colman 
 
 vjd. 
 
 ixr/. 
 
 De Henrico Aysshele 
 
 xvd. 
 
 xiijf/.* 
 
 De Thoma Motte - 
 
 xd. 
 
 viijf/.* 
 
 De Alicia de Herford 
 
 vjrf. 
 
 vjd* 
 
 De Henrico Herberd 
 
 ijs. vjd. 
 
 xiiyL* 
 
 De Willelmo Hulot' - 
 
 xijd. 
 
 ij.s. vjd* 
 
 De Matilda Emne 
 
 iij«.* 
 
 xvijA* 
 
 De Matilda Someryn 
 
 v}d.* 
 
 xijrf. 
 
 De Roberto de Auld 
 
 xvd. 
 
 ixd. 
 
 De Johanne Boycot 
 
 vjd.* 
 
 yjd.* 
 
 Do Henrico Wisman 
 
 xiy/. 
 
 XVfl'. 
 
 De Thoma le Grene 
 
 xijd. 
 
 v]d. 
 
 De Roberto Wysman 
 
 xvd. 
 
 xd.* 
 
 De Thoma Dikes - 
 
 xd. 
 
 xxd. 
 
 De Ricardo Kuj-t - 
 
 vjd.* 
 
 iijs. 
 
 De Johanne France 
 
 - ij«- vjf/. 
 
 yjd.* 
 
 De Johanne Chalnere ' 
 
 xviijrf. 
 
 xvd. 
 
 De Willelmo le Grene * - 
 
 iijs.
 
 16 
 
 HISTOEY OF THOMPSON. 
 
 De Johanne Lynforth 
 
 vjrf» 
 
 De Willelmo ad Fontem - 
 
 - 
 
 iis. iijrf. 
 
 De Willelmo - 
 
 vj,/. 
 
 De Johanne le Neue * 
 
 - 
 
 iij«. 
 
 De 
 
 XV,l'. 
 
 De Thoma Tripclot - 
 
 - 
 
 iijs.* 
 
 [De] - - 
 
 vyi. 
 
 De Ricardo Torel 
 
 - 
 
 xijr/.* 
 
 FDel 
 
 xviijrf. 
 xijrf. 
 
 De Johanne de Risin^g' - 
 
 
 vjrf.* 
 vjrf.* 
 
 [De] - - 
 
 De Roberto Turkcbi 
 
 - 
 
 De Agnete Willeman 
 
 xij./.* 
 
 De Willelmo de Lechton - 
 
 - 
 
 vjrf.» 
 
 De Petronilla Willeman - 
 
 xxrf.* 
 
 De Walkelinus de Rokeland 
 
 - 
 
 vjrf.« 
 
 De Wimei- Turner - 
 
 viijrf.* 
 
 De Thoma filio Radulplii - 
 
 - 
 
 vjrf.» 
 
 De Johanne filio Radulplii 
 
 ij«. \yf.* 
 
 De Radulpho Faukcs 
 
 - 
 
 vjrf* 
 
 De Agnete Roger 
 
 xijr/. 
 
 De Leticia Hendi-i - 
 
 - 
 
 vjrf* 
 
 De Thoma Bernard - 
 
 XV(/.* 
 
 De Rogero Bulzoun 
 
 - 
 
 xijrf. 
 
 De Roberto Osbern - 
 
 Vj(/.* 
 
 De Willelmo Broun 
 
 - 
 
 xijd. 
 
 De Petro le Grene - 
 
 iijs. 
 
 De Thoma Fiket - 
 
 - 
 
 xijcl. 
 
 De Willelmo Dobbe ' 
 
 XX(/. 
 
 Summa totalis, iiijZi 
 
 . XI 
 
 •js. Viijf/. 
 
 The second list, dated 6th Edward III. (1333) contains sixty-one names. A portion 
 is destroyed. There are these new names: Puddyng, Horbling, atte Welle, Houton, 
 Bele, Aleyne, C(o)rnel, Milesent, Quilleter, Gerard, Genne, Hunte. The sums paid vary 
 from 3s. 6d. to 8d. 
 
 THE POLL TAXES. 
 
 [On the 22nd February, 1377, Parliament granted to King Edward III a Poll Tax 
 of a groat a head, to be levied on the goods of each person in the kingdom, men 
 and women over the age of fourteen years, except only veritable beggars (verrois 
 mendicents sans fraude). The sum received amounted to £22,617. 2s. Sd.; and 
 the payers of the tax numbered 1,376,442 lay persons. It would be a moderate 
 estimate which would fix the population of the country at this time at four millions, 
 exclusive of the clergy and the religious orders. This was the first time in English 
 history that any such tax had been raised, and the discontent that its imposition caused 
 was deep and universal. Nevertheless, the sum raised fell far below that which was 
 expected, and the financiers of the time were seriously disappointed. 
 
 King Edward died in June, 1377, and was succeeded by his grandson, Richard II., a boy 
 of eleven years old. Things were going badly at home and abroad, and the Government 
 was almost bankrupt when the Parliament again assembled at Westminster on the 25th 
 Api'il, 1379. Here the second Poll Tax was granted, which, in its incidence, differed 
 from the first in this respect, — that it was graduated according to the rank, condition 
 in life, and property of those from whom it M'as demanded : the Duke of Lancaster, as 
 
 ' See note 5, previous page. 
 
 ' See note 3, previous page.
 
 THE POLL TAXES. 17 
 
 the first subject in the realm, being called upon to pay ten marks; every earl was to 
 pay four pounds ; barons and bannerets two pounds ; and so on, down to the lowest 
 ranks, in which every person above the age of sixteen was to pay a groat. The clergy, 
 in their Convocation, adopted the same intricate method of taxation, one result of which 
 was to produce "one of the most important records of the state of the population 
 of England that has ever been draw'n up : the Poll Tax Rolls of the year 1379." 
 Again the result was a disappointment ; and the amount raised was, in this instance, 
 .somewhat less than had been levied two years before. 
 
 Eight months later, the Parliament again met, at Northampton ; and the exigencies 
 of the times seemed to the Commons so serious that, after some hesitation and 
 discussion, the third Poll Tax was determined on as a necessity, to which the people 
 were compelled to submit, in view of the gloomy aspect of affairs. Accordingl}^ a 
 tax was granted of three groats from each lay person in the kingdom, male and 
 female, of whatever estate or condition of life, over the age of fifteen years, except 
 veritable beggars, as before. 
 
 In the third Poll Tax there was again a change in the manner of levying it. 
 Tlie hanl and fast line laid down in the instance of the second tax, in accordance 
 with which every man was to pay his quota according to his rank, was given up, and 
 a new method was adopted, or rather a new experiment was tried : the population 
 of every township was assessed at a shilling a head ; but the aggregate which the 
 township was bound to collect was to be so levied that the rich were to make up, 
 in each case, any deficiency which the inability of the poor to pay their tax might 
 occasion. No man was to pay more than 20s. for himself and his wife, and no 
 one less than 4cZ. for himself and his wife also. The principle here carried 
 out, whereby the richer inhabitants of a township were called upon to help the weak, 
 was borrowed from the French plan of levying the Fouage, or hearth tax, as imposed 
 in 1369. In effect, the third Poll Tax made a demand of no moi-e than id. upon 
 the poorer classes ; but the teri'ible frequency with which this burden had been laid 
 upon them, and the novelty of the exaction, gave occasion for the great rebellion 
 of 1381, though it was in itself only one of many causes of the irritation which 
 pi'evailed among the masses, and which contributed to bring about the revolt of the 
 labouring classes. After the year -1380, the expedient of raising money by a capitation 
 tax was never tried again. 
 
 From the following return it may be inferred that, in 1381, there were seventeen 
 householders in Thompson who were above the rank of labourers. It would also appear 
 that twelve of the inhabitants were what we should now call paupers, from whom 
 nothing could be got ; and that the whole population of the parish can hardly I'e 
 estimated as less than between two hundred and two hundred and fifty souls.] 
 
 The names with a star (*) are not in the lists of 1327 and 1333.
 
 18 
 
 HISTORY OF THOMPSON. 
 
 A.D. 1381.— Poll Tax Ao. 4tli Richard II. 
 
 Hundrednm dc Wajdound'. 
 
 Lay Subsidies, Norfolk, No. '^'. 
 
 
 Tommeston'. 
 
 
 Johannes attc Tounescnde 
 
 x[ii]./.* 
 
 Will'Bloye 
 
 - iiij'/-* 
 
 Philippus Doraunt' 
 
 iiij'/- 
 
 Alexander Turkeby - 
 
 xij(/. 
 
 Margareta Doraunt' - 
 
 iiiy/. 
 
 Johannes Dynggeloue^ 
 
 - xij</.* 
 
 Will' de Ikeburgh' - 
 
 iiijrf.* 
 
 Joh' Rakke 
 
 - xijrf.* 
 
 Johannes Waryn ' 2 . 
 
 uiyL* 
 
 Will' Ryghtheyr' 
 
 iiij(/.* 
 
 Thomas Ged' - . - - 
 
 myl.* 
 
 Henricus Hcrlcwyn 
 
 - xij./.* 
 
 Johannes Baron - - - - 
 
 iuyt* 
 
 Joli' Howlet' 
 
 
 
 Will'Grene - - - - 
 
 iiiy/. 
 
 Edmundus Bryon 
 
 * 
 
 Radulphus Pepir 
 
 iiiy/.* 
 
 Willelmus Grene 
 
 
 
 PetrusGed' . - - - 
 
 xiy/.* 
 
 Joh' Grene 
 
 
 
 WiirCanofi^ - - - - 
 
 iiijrf.* 
 
 Henricus Busshel* 
 
 
 
 Robei-tus Porter - - - - 
 
 yy/.* 
 
 Willelmus Busshel 
 
 
 
 Will' Jwdyn (?Swayn) 
 
 iiiy/.* 
 
 JIargareta Busshel 
 
 
 
 Ricardus, seruicns dicti Willelmi - 
 
 iiiy/.* 
 
 Joh' HejTion . - - 
 
 » 
 
 Alicia Shepherdi 
 
 iiiy/* 
 
 Joh' Holdelond' - 
 
 * 
 
 Johannes Milsent 
 
 vy/. 
 
 Joh' Darnele 
 
 - iiiy/* 
 
 Robertus Grene- 
 
 iiiy/. 
 
 Joh' Huntc - . - 
 
 iiiy/. 
 
 Wiir Herberd' - - - - 
 
 iiiy/. 
 
 Joh' Hendry . - - 
 
 - yyi.* 
 
 Joh' Broun . . . . 
 
 iiiy/. 
 
 Thomas Nayl 
 
 - vj«?.» 
 
 Matiir Sytrich' - - - - 
 
 iiiy/.* 
 
 Joh' Rolf - - - - 
 
 - iii.)'^-* 
 
 Will' Bele ----- 
 
 xiyl. 
 
 Will' Mone - - - - 
 
 iiiy/.* 
 
 Edinuudus Hanggyng' 
 
 iiiy/.* 
 
 Johannes Wysman 
 
 VJ(/. 
 
 Stephanus Bakere 
 
 iiijrf.* 
 
 Elena Wysman - - - 
 
 iiijrf. 
 
 Stephanas Cook' 
 
 iiiy/.* 
 
 Joh' Rolf - - - - 
 
 iiijrf. 
 
 Margareta Porter - . - 
 
 iiiy/.* 
 
 Will' Wolrich' - 
 
 - iiijf/-* 
 
 Sarra atte Watir 
 
 iiiy/.* 
 
 WiU'Skirop' - 
 
 - iiiy/* 
 
 Marg' atte Watir 
 
 iiiy/. 
 
 Johannes Chalonner' - 
 
 vjrf. 
 
 Edmundus Julion 
 
 iiiy/. 
 
 Johannes Wakkes 
 
 iiijrf.* 
 
 ' Warin, a familiar Christian name in Norman households. 
 
 - Henry Canon, John Waryn, and Robert Grene, witnesses to a deed 4th Hen. IV. 
 
 5 John Dynggeloue, Wilhn. Rytheyr, and John Kyng, were witnesses to a deed now at Merton (iOth 
 Rich. II.) between John de Westgate of Hacford and James de Horstede of Hemlington. 
 ' Henry Busshel mentioned in a deed 4th Hen. IV. 
 ' Thomas Chaloner party to a deed 4th Hen. IV.
 
 Robertus Mone' 
 Robertus Ine 
 Joh' Ine 
 
 Margareta Siklyng' 
 Johanna Mono 
 Agnes Pollard 
 Margareta Parlet 
 Margareta Poutere 
 Alicia Bele 
 Katerina Julion 
 Katerina Bloye 
 Job' Astel 
 Margareta Dobber 
 Alicia Bee' 
 Job' Kyng'^ 
 Thomas Asshele * 
 Thomas ffyket - 
 
 LAY SUBSIDIES. 
 
 19 
 
 vj,/.* 
 
 (On a rider attached.) 
 
 
 vyi.* 
 
 WiU'Rykkes - - . - 
 
 iiijrf.* 
 
 uiyf* 
 
 Adam Coke - - . . 
 
 iiijf/.* 
 
 iiijf/.* 
 
 Walterus Gerad 
 
 iiijf/.* 
 
 iiijf/.* 
 
 Job' Moonk . . . . 
 
 iiijf/.* 
 
 iiijf/.* 
 
 Thomas Hulet - - . - 
 
 iiijf/. 
 
 Vjf/.* 
 
 Alicia Turkeby - - - . 
 
 iiijf/. 
 
 iiijf/.* 
 
 Thomas Heryng' . - . 
 
 iiijf/. 
 
 iiijf/. 
 
 Job' Boycot - - . . 
 
 iiijf/. 
 
 iiijf/. 
 
 Katerina Mayr - - - . 
 
 iiijf/.* 
 
 iiij,/.* 
 
 Robertus Wysman ... 
 
 iiijf/. 
 
 vjf/.* 
 
 Joh' Joppe - - - . 
 
 iiijf/.* 
 
 iiijf/. 
 
 Oliva Grene . . . . 
 
 iiijf/. 
 
 iiijf/. 
 
 Alicia Gi-ene - - . . 
 
 iiijf/. 
 
 
 Magr' Grene . . - . 
 
 iiijf/. 
 
 
 Thomas Mone . - . . 
 
 iiijf/.* 
 
 
 Heuricus Seman 
 
 iiijf/.* 
 
 
 Alicia Wysman ... 
 
 iiijf/. 
 
 [In the fifty-four years that elapsed between the levying of the Subsidy of 1327 and 
 the Poll Tax of 13S1 many changes must needs have occurred in the relative status of 
 the inhabitants of any English village. Some men went up — some went down; some 
 families died out, leaving no repi-esentatives; houses and lands changed hands, and some 
 men and women changed their names. He who had been known as Robert of the 
 house-by-the-well might be succeeded by his son, who was known as Robertson, or it 
 might be that he was called by the name of his occupation, whatever it was; Robert 
 by-the-church again may have left only a daughter ; and her little holding, with all its 
 belongings, have been absorbed into her husband's estate ; and, on the other hand, 
 new houses would be erected here and there, and in cases where such houses were 
 somewhat more pretentious than the old ones, or were, by license of the manorial " lords," 
 built upon new sites and enclosed with their own boundary fences, — such houses would 
 give to the first occupier a new name, and though some might have known him in earlj' 
 days as John Brown or Peter Green, henceforth he would be distinguished as John by- 
 the-pond, or Peter at-the-brook-side, as the case might. This I conjecture to have been 
 the case with one of the Herings. It looks as if John Hering had made a good match 
 early in the reign of Edward III., and that he did that which many another man has 
 done under similar circumstances, that is, he built a new house on a new site some way 
 ofi" from where his poorer neighbours' dwellings were clustered, and that he henceforth 
 
 • Eobert Mone party to a deed 4th Hen. IT 
 See Note 3 on previous page. * Thomas 
 
 • Kobert Bay party to a deed 4th Hen. IV. 
 e mentioned in a Thompson charter, No. 534, in the Bodleian. 
 D 2
 
 20 HISTORY OF THOMPSON. 
 
 became known sometimes as John Hering and sometimes as John At-thc-fonn's-pml. It 
 would be easy to find fifty instances of men in Norfolk villages about tliis period who 
 got their name of Town's-end or At-town's-cnd in consequence of doing that which I 
 believe John Hering did. This explanation will account for the absence of John Ilering's 
 name in the next list. He is in fact included and appears as the most important and 
 first-named personage on the assessment, but he appears not as John Herring, but as 
 John atlc Townsende.1 
 
 In the latter part of the fourteenth century the Herrings seem to have been a 
 family at Thompson. John Heryng is mentioned in the Lay Subsidy of 1327 as a 
 man of more substance than his neighbours. Blomefield (under Shropham), states 
 that Lettice, coheiress of Henry de Breton, of Breton's or Pakenham's Manor, married 
 John Herring of Thompson. Their son and heir, John Herring, was lord of his mother's 
 moiety of Bretons Manor in 1393. Agnes, the other coheiress of Henry de Breton, 
 married — de Pakenham, and her son, Henry de Pakenham, inherited her moiety. 
 About 1408, Henry Pakenham of Pakenham's Manor, Shropham, became heir to Henry 
 Herring of Thompson, clerk, and so the whole of Pakenham's Manor (ami I suppose 
 Herring's property in Thompson) was joined in him.
 
 21 
 
 Cljampsoii in Ibc Bulccntb Ccnturn. 
 
 c 
 
 ETWEEN the reigns of Richard II. and ITcnrv YIIL no such lists of house- 
 
 ^O) holders in the little parish have been found as the Subsidy and Poll Tax 
 Rolls supply. That is, for a period of more than one hundred and forty 
 years we are left very much in the dark as to the changes that may 
 have gone on in the famil}' life of the people. When the curtain rises again it is 
 lifted but a little way, or rather, as in the old theatres, it is let down but a little 
 way, and we are introduced only to the people of some substance and property. Small 
 men, indeed, and men who took care to get their assessment set as low as they could, 
 but men above the mere labourer. Let it be remembered that at the beginning of 
 the sixteenth centur}^ money cannot be estimated at less than twenty times its present 
 value. Indeed, it is speaking below the truth when we sa}- that in the year 1524 
 it was at least as difficult for a small cultivator of the soil to raise or save one pound 
 as it would be now to borrow or amass twenty pounds. A tax of five i^er cent. 
 upon such men would be at all times very burdensome, and hence it became necessary 
 to provide that its incidence should be differentiated bj' some curiously-regulated economical 
 arrangements. 
 
 The first Subsidy Roll, of which a transcript is given below-, is the assessment for 
 the second instalment of tlie impost which the Parliament of 1523 had voted in 
 view of the great expense which the war with France had rendered necessary. By 
 that Act it was ordered that during the first and second years after the passing of 
 the Act, all lands and personal property of the value of £20 and upwards should 
 contribute one shilling in the pound; (ii) all personal property ["goods"] between 
 £20 and £2 should pay sixpence in the pound; all "goods" of the value of 40.?., 
 and all yearly tuages averaging 20s., should be taxed at fourpence in the pound.' 
 The discontent caused by this severo taxation was of course very great, but it had 
 to be submitted to, and it is evident that among the poor people of Thompson eleven 
 men and one woman, who had no personal property that was worth taxing, had to 
 pay their quota upon their yearly wages, nine of them being recipients of one pound 
 a year, and three of them getting three pounds a year, all presumably getting their 
 
 ' Brewer's Seigii of Henri/ VIII. vol. i. p. -ISl.
 
 22 
 
 HISTORY OF THOMPSON. 
 
 board, and some of tlioni, perhaps, a dwelling, willi certain perquisites which were not 
 taxable. The rest were evidently the small occupiers of the parish, tenants of the 
 8e%'eral land-owners, not owners of estates of inheritance themselves ; for the assessment 
 is clearh' made upon "goods" only, such goods including cattle, sheep, farining implonients, 
 &c., the owners of lands being taxed upon ditl'ereut assessment, the records of which have 
 probably perished. 
 
 On a comparison of the names that occur in this list of 1524 with the Poll-tax 
 Roll of 1381, it appears that an :ilino.st entire cliango in tlie surnames of the pari.sh 
 had come about in less than a century and a luilf.] 
 
 A.D. 1524. Lay Subsidies, Norfolk, No. l|', Ao. 15th Henry VIII. 
 
 In jyriniis of William 
 Pory - - . 
 
 Richard Nobys 
 Of John Chamber 
 Of Robert Shrimpling - 
 Of James Shrymplyng - 
 Of Peter Jelyon - 
 Of John Jelyon - 
 Of Thomas Buntjmg 
 Of William Aleii - 
 Of John Thompstoii 
 Of William Wecher 
 Of William Manser 
 Of John Hunt 
 Of William Rolff - 
 Of William Manser 
 Of James Cannon ' 
 Of John Rumbold 
 Of John Bay 
 
 Villa de Thompston'. 
 
 Of Robert Canon ' 
 Of William Morys 
 Of Henry Theyn - 
 Of John Rolff 
 Of John Rolf, junior 
 Of William Mortymer - 
 Of Robert Aldewyn 
 Of Richard Mounteney - 
 Of John Heyward 
 Of William tint - 
 Of John Shropham 
 Of Thomas Stone - 
 Of Richard Rotter 
 Of John Pay 
 Of John Levi'ifi - 
 Of John Mountnry 
 Of Jolni Mortymer 
 Of Kateryne Mower 
 
 ij.s. vj</. 
 
 \Ii. 
 
 xviij'i'. 
 
 iij//. 
 
 ijs. \]d. 
 
 \li. 
 
 ij.s. vjr/. 
 
 \li. 
 
 iiij(/. 
 
 XX.S'. 
 
 iij.s. 
 
 vj/'. 
 
 iiij(/. 
 
 XX.9. 
 
 xijr/. 
 
 xl//. 
 
 ij-^- 
 
 iiij//. 
 
 iiijr/. 
 
 xxs. 
 
 iij.s. 
 
 ^■]lL 
 
 xijr/. 
 
 xl.s. 
 
 xijr/. 
 
 xb. 
 
 ij.v. vj(/. 
 
 \li 
 
 ij«- 
 
 iiij//. 
 
 iiijr/. 
 
 xxs. 
 
 myl. 
 
 xxs. 
 
 SAVL 
 
 xls. 
 
 nijrr. 
 
 xxs. 
 
 iiij(/. 
 
 XXV. 
 
 iiij(/. 
 
 xxs. 
 
 Xijf/. 
 
 xls. 
 
 xviijr/. 
 
 iij/«. 
 
 xijr/. 
 
 xls. 
 
 iWyl. 
 
 
 iiijf/. 
 
 
 n\yl 
 
 
 iiij(/. 
 
 
 'niyl. 
 
 
 xij(/. 
 
 
 iiijr/. 
 
 
 \\\](l. 
 
 
 iiijV. 
 
 
 iiij(/. 
 
 
 xijr/. 
 
 
 xijr/. 
 
 
 Summa, xxxvijs. viijr/.^ 
 
 Between the time when this tax was levied and the assessment for the next was 
 drawn iip, the Act for enforcing the registration of all baptisms, marriages, and burials, 
 in a Register Book to be kept in every parish in England, had come into force, and 
 from this time we are able, by tlie help of this valuable record, to obtain some information 
 of an interesting character. 
 
 ■ Deed at Merton, 19th Hen. VIII 
 conveyance to Henry Myn. 
 
 ^ The items, however, only come to £1. 15s. 
 
 James Canon of Ely, heir to Eichard Canon, late of Tompson,
 
 THOMPSON IX THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY. 23 
 
 A.D. 1543. Subsidy of 34tb and 35tli Hen. VIII. 
 
 Under this subsidy, payable in three years, persons not worth more than five 
 Ijounds, in coin, plate, stock, merchandize, corn in store, household stuff, and other 
 moveable goods, and money owing above just debts, were to pay fourpence in the pound, 
 with a rising scale of eightpence, sixteenpence, and two shillings, to £20 and upwards. 
 On real estates, of £1 to £5 annual value, eightpence in the pound was levied ; from 
 £5 to £10, sixteenpence; from £10 to £20, two shillings; above £20, three shillings. 
 
 It seems by the following list that all the parishioners worth less than twenty 
 shillings in goods were excused payment. 
 
 There are only two holders of real estates mentioned, viz., George Brond, Gent., 
 and Peter Porge, Gent. The College would have been taxed separately. There must 
 have been other owners, though they are not mentioned, such as the lord of Boutetors 
 Manor. 
 
 The men of most substance in goods were William Grey, Gent, (he had three 
 children baptised at Thompson, see chapter on Registers, and was no doubt of the 
 family of de Grey of Merton), John Malkyn,* John Rolf,* Peter Jelyon, William 
 Pert, Thomas Wells, John Thayne,* William Hallidaye,* Agnes Freeman, Richard Cowper.* 
 Those marked with a star are mentioned in the Inventory of Church Goods, 6th Ed. 
 VI., q.v. 
 
 Tompson'. 
 
 Lay Subsidies, Norfolk, No. J|^, An. 34tli and 35th Hen. VIII.' 
 
 Thomas Amye, in goodeg 
 
 John Malkyn, in goodeg . . . . . 
 
 Richard Pert, in goodeg ----- 
 
 Peter Jelyon, in goode5 . . - - - 
 
 John Brown alias Lyncolne, in goodeg - . - 
 John Amye, in goode3 - - . . . 
 
 Richard Mounteney, in goode3 - . . - 
 Alice Mortimer, in goode^ ----- 
 
 Will Pert, in goode3 ------ 
 
 Thomas Wells, in goodej ----- 
 
 Jame^ Canon, in goode3 - - 
 
 George Bronde, Gent., in lande3 - - . - xiijli. vj.s. 
 
 John Wigges, in goode3 
 
 Richard Cowper, in goode3 ----- 
 
 xls. 
 
 Tax 
 
 - 
 
 ij<^. 
 
 xij/«. 
 
 >» 
 
 
 iiijs. 
 
 xls. 
 
 }) 
 
 
 \yl. 
 
 xH. 
 
 » 
 
 iij 
 
 s. iu'yi. 
 
 v/«. 
 
 n 
 
 
 X(/. 
 
 iiij/j. 
 
 »» 
 
 
 iiij"'- 
 
 iiij//. 
 
 » 
 
 
 iiijrf. 
 
 vli. 
 
 ti 
 
 
 y.d. 
 
 ixli. 
 
 >y 
 
 
 ^\n]d. 
 
 viij//. 
 
 it 
 
 
 xvjcZ. 
 
 xls. 
 
 a 
 
 
 ijcZ. 
 
 viijd. 
 
 „ 'I 
 
 ,-iij«. 
 
 yiijcL -' 
 
 vli. 
 
 » 
 
 
 X(?. 
 
 vli. 
 
 »> 
 
 
 xcZ. 
 
 ' iib ^° ^'^^ Hen. VIII. (1546) has ten of the names, and one not mentioned here, i.<;. " Willebnus Manser," 
 for goods. 
 
 ' Altered from " vjs. riijrf." evidently after the total had been struck, there being a difference of two shillings 
 between it and the amount of the items.
 
 24 
 
 HISTORY OF THOMPSON. 
 
 John Spencer, in goodc; 
 Jolian Bave, vidua, in goocle3 
 Jolin Bonneswell, in goodej 
 John Thayne, in goocle5 
 John Rolf, in goode5 
 Clement Hedd, in goode'j 
 William Mortymer, in goode5 
 John Cooke, in goodej - 
 Richard Boneswell, in goode3 
 Henric Hogc, in goodc; 
 Robert Cade, in goodc; 
 John Manncer, in goode-j 
 Agne5 ffreman, vidua, in goodej 
 Agne5 Pory, vidua, in goode5 
 The town Stock, in goodej 
 William Grey, gent, in goodej 
 Peter Porj-e, in lande^, by j'ere 
 William Hallidaj'e, in goode^ 
 Thomas Nobbes, in goode^ 
 Thomas Cade, in goodc; 
 
 xl.s. Tax - 
 
 iyl 
 
 ii.i^''- 
 
 Hid. 
 
 iiij//. 
 
 iiijci. 
 
 viij//. 
 
 xvjcZ 
 
 xij//. 
 
 iiij*' 
 
 XX8. 
 
 id 
 
 xxs. „ 
 
 .vf 
 
 xls. 
 
 \]'l. 
 
 xl«. 
 
 \)<l 
 
 iiij//. „ 
 
 iiijfZ 
 
 xls. 
 
 ijrf 
 
 iiij//. 
 
 iiijf/ 
 
 vj//. 
 
 xijc/ 
 
 iiij//. 
 
 iiijrf 
 
 xl.s. „ 
 
 iiijc? 
 
 xvj//. „ vn. 
 
 iiij'/ 
 
 vj//. 
 
 i.i-' 
 
 viij//. 
 
 xvjj 
 
 xxs. 
 
 .vi 
 
 xxs. 
 
 .)'? 
 
 Summ*, xxxixs. iijd. 
 
 
 Subsidy of 1598. 
 
 In the MS. folio at Merton Hall, by Sir Bassingbourne Gawdy, there is tlie subsidy 
 taken in the 40th of Elizabeth (1598). 
 Under Thompson are these names — 
 
 Rob' ffutter, geut. - - - . - 
 
 James Atmear . . - - - 
 
 John Barker . . . . - 
 
 James Cannon . - . . . 
 
 John Thayne ..... 
 
 Nicholas Duckdale 
 
 Goods. 
 
 John Cooles 
 Rob* Jellopp 
 Grace Perry 
 
 Sum total, ix//. is. iiij (7. 
 
 It is worthy of remark that the property of Mr. Futter is valued at twice as 
 much as that of his neighbour, Robert de Grej', Esq., of Merton. 
 
 xx//. 
 
 
 iiij//. 
 
 ix//. 
 
 
 xxxvj.-.-. 
 
 ii.i'''- 
 
 
 xijs. 
 
 iiij//. 
 
 
 xvjs. 
 
 xxs. 
 
 
 iiij.*. 
 
 xxs. 
 
 
 iiij.s. 
 
 Sum, vij//. 
 
 xijs. 
 
 iij//. 
 
 
 viijs. 
 
 iij//. 
 
 
 viij.s. 
 
 yli. % 
 
 iij- 
 
 i. iiijf/. 
 
 Sum, xxixs. 
 
 iiijd.
 
 25 
 
 Some Recount of (tljompsoir College. 
 
 " That length of frail and fire-scorched wall 
 Once screened the hospitable hall ; 
 When yonder broken arch was whole, 
 'Twaa there was dealt the weekly dole ; 
 And where yon tottering columns nod, 
 The chapel sent the hymn to God. 
 So fiits the world's uncertain span ! 
 Nor zeal for God, nor love for man, 
 Gives mortal monuments a date 
 Beyond the power of Time and Fate." — Rohehy. 
 
 "These walls, I say, were not peopled with fantasms, but with men of flesh and blood, made 
 altogether as we are. Had thou and I then been, who knows but we ourselves had taken refuge 
 from an evil Time, and fled to dwell here, and meditate on an Eternity, in such fashion as we could." 
 — Carlyle's Past and Present. 
 
 INTRODUCTORY NOTE. 
 
 HE preceding section, which tells us something about the inhabitants of Thompson 
 during the Fourteenth Century, though gi^'ing little more than their names, 
 may be regarded as a digression. "We have now to consider the significance 
 of the great event in the history of the parish, namely the foundation of 
 the Thompson College bj- the brothers John and Thomas de Shardelow. 
 
 In the fourteenth century the older religious orders in England had begun to be 
 less esteemed than formerl}', and the influence of the Benedictine monasteries and the 
 Canons' houses was on the wane. The austere Carthusians continued to be held in great 
 reverence even to the end, and Monasteries of this order continued to be built even far 
 into the fifteenth century, though East Anglia knew nothing of these severe and ri"-id 
 ascetics. The Mendicant orders were in a wholly different position. In theory, and to a 
 very large extent in practice too, they lived upon the voluntary alms of the people,
 
 26 ■ HISTORY OF THOMPSON. 
 
 which flowed in upon them in a perennial stream. They were so little dependent upon 
 income from landed estates or tithes, alienated from the country parishes, that wlicn the 
 great confiscation came there was nothing to rob them of, except their churches and the 
 treasures they contained, their libraries, and the houses in which they lived. But the 
 Mendicant orders — the Friars — had, without intending it, been exercising a great corrosive 
 force upon the older Conventuals by the powerful stimulus which the}'- gave to the 
 awakened spirit of enquiry and to the new taste for learning now astir in the two 
 Universities. When the great monasteries were the great schools and colleges of the 
 pcof)le, the clergy were, as a rule, educated in the cloister. But a time came when even 
 monks themselves were not content with such living and culture as the priory or the 
 abbey could afford, and it became the practice for young men of all classes to repair 
 to the universities, and there to pursue their studies for a much longer period tlian is 
 considered sufiicient in our days. A higher standard of culture was required of all 
 who aspired to any career in the Church or the State ; the distance between the 
 academic and the non-university man was very great and ver}' marked, and the 
 attractions of the life of Cambridge or Oxford were strong upon men who had once 
 tasted of its chains. It seems that among the beneficed clergy during the fourteenth 
 century there was an increasing desire to prolong or to renew their residence at the 
 universities. Obviously it was for the advantage of the communitj^ that the 
 working clergy should be encouraged to keep pace with the progress of knowledge, 
 and, if possible, become men of learning and cultivated intellect. To promote this 
 the bishops readily gave a licence for non-residence to any beneficed clergyman 
 who asked for it, on the ground that he was anxious to proceed to the higher degrees 
 at the university; but this implied that he would be absent from his parish sometimes 
 for a term of seven or even ten years. Of course the postulant for a degree in canon 
 law or theology, failed at least as often as he succeeded in getting it ; sometimes he 
 never meant seriously to tr}^ for it. But in the meantime, whatever might have been 
 the excuse under which he had obtained his licence of non-residence, his parish was 
 left to be served by a chaplain, or curate, who retained his cure only as long as he 
 could find no more lucrative employment, and while he held it, he did not, as a rule, 
 do much more than he could help doing for his salary. It must be borne in mind 
 that the supply of clergy was, at the beginning of the fourteenth century, very large ; 
 the number of young men admitted to holy orders is quite startling. The result was 
 that the stipends of the unbeneficed chaplains were scandalously small. If the "prizes 
 of the profession " were many, the competition was excessive and tlie unsuccessful 
 clergy, who lived as they could, were generally men of defective education, of equivocal 
 social position, men who were poor, unlearned, and very frequently of low morale. As 
 the non-residence of the beneficed clergy became more and more the fashion, it was 
 inevitable that over large tracts of country, parish after parish would find itself deserted 
 by its rector and given over to a mere hireling. The tithes and fees meanwhile 
 levied upon the inhabitants were all carried awa)' to be spent elsewhere; a poor
 
 SOME ACCOUNT OF THOMPSON COLLEGE. 27 
 
 pittance only being reserved as a bare maintenance for the officiating chaplain. The 
 evil was a crying evil, and it was felt to be a growing one. It was a Norfolk man, 
 
 Edmund Gonville, Rector of Rushworth, near Thetford, who first struck out a plan 
 for remedying this unsatisfactory state of things. Gonville is well-known in the 
 history of education as one of tlie earliest founders at the University of Cambridge. 
 But some years before he began to provide for the endowment of the larger 
 institution, which still bears his name, he had already embarked upon his scheme of 
 parochial reform by opening the little college of St. John the Evangelist at Rushworth 
 and pi'oviding a moderate endowment for its support in perpetuity. 
 
 The foundation of Rushworth College was a new departure, and it commended 
 itself at once to several of the great landlords of the district as a wise and far- 
 sighted measure, which deserved to be carried out where opportunity offered. Gonville's 
 Rural College was not meant to be an educational institution. It might easily 
 admit of a school being affiliated to it if any one might choose to provide the funds 
 for such an addition to the original foundation ; but at starting Gonville aimed at 
 nothing more than securing what we should now call a Clergij House for a small 
 band of working clergymen bound to live together in common, always to be resident 
 in the parish, and always at the call of the sick, the needy, and the dying, asking 
 for their counsel and their spiritual supervision. These associated clergymen, occupying 
 their common home, enjoying a sufficient if no very large income, and exercising 
 some little hospitality, would be sure to be held in much higher estimation than the 
 half-starved clerical tramps and wayfarers, under whose slovenly ministrations the rustics 
 could not but suffer grievously, while their wandering habits and the shifts that they 
 were too often driven to brought disrepute upon the whole clerical order. 
 
 The College of Rushworth was opened on the 31st August, 1342, and the large 
 gathering of Norfolk magnates who attended at the opening ceremony testified to 
 tlie importance of the occasion in the opinion of those who were present. The 
 Statutes of Rushworth College were printed by the late Dr. Bennet, in the 10th volume 
 of the Norfolk Archaology ; they were evident!)' drawn up with great care by Gonville 
 himself they were adopted w^ith only slight alterations in at least six other rural 
 colleges which were founded within a radius of less than twenty miles from Rushworth 
 during the next few years. Three of these colleges were actually established during 
 Gonville's lifetime, and two others wore founded a few years after his death. They 
 were: Ashe College, founded in 1346; Thompson, founded in 1349; Raveningham, 
 founded in 1350 ; "Winfield, founded in 13G0. Attleborough, which I suspect was 
 begun before 1354 by Sir Constantino Mortimer, was left unfinished by his brother 
 Sir Robert at his death in 1387, and was not completed till several years after, in 
 consequence of the legal difficulties which stood in the way of carrying out the 
 founder's original intentions. Gonville evidently contemplated no very great and 
 ambitious project ; nor did they who followed his lead depart from the lines he had so 
 carefully laid down. All these colleges were intended to be mere Clergy Houses, in which 
 
 E 2
 
 28 HISTORY OF THOMPSON. 
 
 five priests were to live together as a community. One of these was to be Master 
 or Gustos : he was to be elected by the brethren when a vacancy occurred : he was to 
 bo no irresponsible dictator over the little community, as the abbot or prior of a 
 great monastery was : he was to be no more than primus inter pares, personally 
 responsible for the spiritual charge of tlie parish, and always to be resident and 
 assisted in his duties by the other brethren as his coadjutors. He was the chief 
 official of the little community, but no mere personal tenant for life in the freeliold 
 of the estates held by the brethren as a corporation : he was answerable to the 
 Bishop for the way in which the affairs of the Society were conducted, and the house 
 was subject to periodical episcopal visitation. The brethren were not bui'dencd by a 
 rule that could not be observed by fallible mortals ; they were not bound by vows 
 too strict to be kept ; they were not required to make any surrender of their private 
 property when they became members of the college ; they might leave it when they 
 grew tired of the life there, or tired of their associates. They were required to 
 submit to certain disciplinary regulations as to dress and other matters of routine, 
 especially with regard to the daih' services in the church ; but beyond this, little 
 more was laid upon them than that they sliould, while continuing to be members of 
 the community, live together as Christian gentlemen in temperance, soberness, and 
 chastity ; take their part in conducting the public worship of God in the church ; and 
 be ready to perform the ordinary duties of parish priests upon reasonable occasions 
 and at reasonable liours. As long as well-intentioned people were content to let these 
 colleges continue doing their work in the modest and unpretending way which their 
 original founders had in view, so long did they keep up their character as very useful 
 and efficient institutions. But people never will let well alone ; and as time went on 
 additional endowments came dropping in, and just in proportion as the income 
 increased, and the brethren found themselves able to pay stipendiary chaplains to 
 represent them in the services of the church, or to relieve them of their duties to 
 the parishioners, exactly in that proportion did the discipline of the colleges suffer, and 
 the tone of the brethren became lower, till the larger the college grew and the more 
 its resources increased, the more was the original purpose of the founder lost sight 
 of, and the more surely did abuses creep in. Nevertheless tlie final suppression and 
 pillage of these institutions, after thej^ had existed for less than two centuries, was 
 an almost immixed evil for the neighbourhoods in which they were planted. They 
 might easily have been reformed their endowment easily have been utilized, tlieir discipline 
 easily have been restored ; but this was not to be, and when the priests were driven out 
 and their estates tossed about to be scrambled for, the poor villagers were the sufferers 
 in more ways than one, and were left as sheep in the wilderness having no shepherd.] 
 
 The "College," as it is still called, is now a farm-house, the property of Lord 
 Walsingham, and in the occupation of Mr. Cackett. Of the original building there
 
 SOME ACCOUNT OF THOMrSON COLLEGE. 29 
 
 only remains a portion of the walls, in which is visible the stonework of two double 
 Tudor-archcd windows with squai'e labels ; and an interior doorway with a four-centred 
 arch. The moulded beams of the ceiling of the principal room also probably formed 
 part of the College. Two of the old fish-ponds still exist. 
 
 In the church there remain, though not in their original position (which was 
 probably in the chancel) eleven of the old stalls in which the Masters and Fellows 
 used to sit. The college, whether it was specially built for its occupants, or was an 
 old manor-house converted, was most conveniently situated for the daily ministrations 
 in the chui-ch, from which it was distant not more than five minutes' walk. The 
 small portions of the college walls are, with the exception of the church, the only 
 remains of buildings older than the seventeenth century now existing in Thompson. 
 And this is not surprising when we consider that probably most of the houses were 
 made of timber and clay only, in a parish where there was no stone. 
 
 About the middle ^ of the fourteenth century. Sir John de Shardelowe and Sir 
 Thomas his brother, sons of Sir John, Justice of the Common Pleas (see pedigree 
 supra), founded St. Martin's College (Blomefiekl, under Shropham), a chantry for six 
 chaplains in the Church of Thompson, to pray for the souls of their father and 
 mother. Sir John de Shardelowe and Agnes his wife, and of themselves and their 
 family. In the Norwich Institution Book, called "Liber Quartus" (fo. 24) it 
 is recorded that " Sir Thos. de Shardelow, Knt., and John his brother, have 
 
 suggested that for the glory of God & pro salute animarum Johannis 
 
 de Shardelow, Militis, patris sui et Agnetis uxoris sue .... the church of Thomson, 
 now vacant, should be appropriated to the Master and Chaplains of the Chantry 
 
 of Thomson Therefore no Vicar was appointed, but one of the chaplains to 
 
 do the work. Dated, Thornege, 7 Ap., 1350." The College had also a messuage 
 in Barton, near Mildenhall, by gift of the Shai-delows, and leave to hold ten 
 libratce of land anywhere within the realm of England. 
 
 The next endowment seems to have been the Manor of Bradekes Hall in 
 Shropham, with nine lihr<dce of land from the Shardelows. The next, I suppose, 
 was the Manor of Thompson Hall, the advowson of Thompson, and the College 
 building from the Shardelows. The next seems to have been the Manor of 
 Shudy Camps and Horseth, in Cambridgeshire (deed, page 39, 16th Rich. II.), from 
 the Shai'delows. The next, the advowson of Shropham and the Chapel of St. 
 Andrew, from the Shardelows (deed, lOth Rich. II.) There were, also, according to 
 Blomefield and the surrender charter, lands in Langford, West Tofts, Saham, and 
 Bradenham (see surrender charter, p. 35). The Master of the College of Tommeston 
 also claimed for himself and his successors from the Manor of Merton, 13s. -id. of 
 annual rent.^ 
 
 ' The donation bears date 8th Feb., 1349 (23rd Ed. ni.)—ll!om<-/ield's 3rS. 
 ' Sco Court Koll, Merton Uull Manor, Sth Hen. IV., Monday after the Feast of tho Ascension.
 
 30 HISTORY OF THOMPSON. 
 
 Sir Thomas de Shardclowe married Margaret de Grey, whose grandfather, Sir 
 Thomas de Grey of Greys Hall, Cavendish, had become possessed of Merton, the 
 adjoining manor to Thompson, through his mamage with Isabel Baynard, heiress 
 of Mei-ton. 
 
 Sir John de Shardelowe, grandson and heir of the first-named Sir John, and 
 nephew of Sir Thomas, by his testament dated 13th Nov., 1391, proved at Doctors' 
 Commons 21st Nov., 1391, ordered his body to be buried in the church of Thompson 
 in Norfolk, near his parents and ancestors ; gave to the college of the same church 
 one hundred shillings, and to two chaplains, to celebrate there for a year after his 
 decease, seven marks, appointing Margaret his wife, the Parson of Flempton, the 
 Master of Thompson College, with others, executors. — Blomefield. 
 
 The Manor of Bradker, in Shropham, with the advowson of Shropham, had 
 been since 1295 in the Coggeshale family, but in 1372 they conveyed, by exchange, 
 one acre of land and the advowsons of the church and a chapel annexed, together 
 with the Manor of Bradker, to Sir Thos. Shardelowe, Knt. (Blomefield, under 
 Shropham). In 1391, the Earl of Arundell and Surrey, chief lord of the fee of 
 Bradeker ilanor, for £20 granted licence to John Methewold, John Coke, Rector 
 of West Tofts ; "Will Coupere, Clerk ; and John Bulnej's, Eector of Longford, 
 trustees and feoffees of Sir Thom. Shardelowe, to settle the manor and advowsons 
 upon Alexander, Master of Thompson College, and the Fellows there, and their 
 successors for ever . . . 
 
 In 1392 (26th Sept., IGth Eich. II.), a licence was obtained from the king, that, 
 notwitlistanding the law of mortmain, the feoffees, John Methewold, John Coke, and 
 Thomas Horstede, might be able to make over to the college the acre of land 
 and the advowsons.' And in 1394 the trustees settled them on the College. The 
 Thomas Horstede mentioned in it was Eector of Shropham, and the " certain 
 chapel " also mentioned was the parochial chapel of St. Andrew, once the church 
 of Bradcar before that parish was united to Shropham. This chapel stood, according 
 to Blomefield, about a furlong S.W. of Shropham Church. 
 
 The arms of the College were the same as those of the founder (Shardelowe), 
 Ar. a chevron ga betw. three crosses crosslet fitchee az. (Taylor's Jnd. Monast. 51.) 
 The College seal is elliptical, about two inches long. It has a figure of the patron 
 saint, St. Martin, on horseback, dividing his cloak with the beggar of Amiens 
 beneath which, under an arch, are five priests kneeling and praying. On the dexter 
 side of the arch are the founders' arms, and on the sinister, what are, in the opinion 
 of the late Eev. C. J. Evans, the arms of Bateman, Bishop of Norwich, viz., Sa. 
 three crescents erm. with a bordure engrailed ar. The legend is Sigillum coraune 
 Collegii de Tomesstone. 
 
 "The rules of the College- were — That the fellows or chaplains should be all 
 
 ' See note A. ^ But see the licence to Sir John ilayster infra.
 
 SOllE ACCOUNT OF THOMPSOX COLLEGE. 31 
 
 obedient to their master, should live and lie in one house, and eat and drink in 
 commons together, and none of them to lodge or victual out of the College ; all 
 to meet every morning in the church at matins and every evening at vespers, and 
 one to say daily mass according to their foundation." — Blomefield. 
 
 In the latter part of the fourteenth century the college seems to have held a 
 large part of the land of Thompson, and of this land, as in other rural parishes, 
 about a fourth part would be retained in hand * as the demesne or home farm, 
 while the remainder would be distributed among tenants who were bound to render 
 service. There was at this time, 1377-1381, in England a class of peasant proprietors. 
 Their service, such as the cultivation of the home farm, had become limited by 
 custom, and each man's hut with the plot around it, and the privilege of turning 
 out a few cattle on the waste of the manor, had passed into rights which could be 
 pleaded at law. A copy of the court-roll of the manor had become the title deed 
 of the tenants, and gave them the name of copyholders. 
 
 We find in the earliest rolls of Thompson College and Butters Hall Manors, 
 the names of many tenants who would have been little, if at all, above labourers, 
 owning their own cottages and plots of land, and paj'ing only a small quit-rent to 
 the lord, and a tine at the death of the tenant. As elsewhere so in Thompson, these 
 small copyholds have in the course of centuries naturally and unavoidably been by 
 degrees purchased from the tenants by the lord of the manor, and so have become 
 merged ; but probably the change has not conduced to the stability or contentedness 
 of the labouring classes in rural parishes. 
 
 Blomefield gives the list of the seventeen Masters of the College, from 1353 till 
 the Dissolution in the 32nd Henry VIIL, when the endowments of chantries were given 
 by Act of Parliament to the king. The value of Thompson College at this time, 
 according to Weever's Funeral Monuments, was £52. 15s. T\d., which would be at 
 least £500 of our money. 
 
 "The Masters of Thompson College were by the terms of the foundation to pay 
 an annual pension of four marks and due obedience to the Bishop of Norwich, and 
 if the chaplains did not choose a master in a set time, the Bishop was to appoint 
 by lapse, and if the chaplains elected a Master he was stiU to be confirmed by the 
 Bishop, who had also all episcopal jurisdiction in the church." — Blomefield. 
 
 ' There is at Merton a remembrance of the existence of this custom so late as 1608, for in Sir Wra. de Grey's 
 account in that year of his manor of Buryhall in EUingham he says, " you may see all the landes that the 
 lorde kepte in liis handca for the ^vision of his howse quoted in the margent in manu domini."
 
 32 HISTOEY OF THOMPSON. 
 
 MASTERS OF THE COLLEGE. 
 
 1353, 17th May. John Grene of Thompson. Elected unanimously Ly the Brethren 
 
 and confirmed by the Bishop. 
 1356, 15th Oct. Sir Stephen Feltham. 
 1368. J«jhn Grene was re-chosen Master. 
 
 It was during Grene'.s second mastership that, on April 2Sth, 1369, 
 Dame Joan Shardelowe, widow of one of the founders (see pedigree, p. 12) 
 became a devotee in this college. 
 1378. Alex, de Horsted. He resigned. 
 
 It was during his mastership, viz. in 1391, that Sir Thos. Shardelowe, 
 Knt., who had in 1372 bought the manor of Bradcar in Thompson, settled 
 it upon the master and fellows of Thompson College for ever. Bradcar was 
 granted at the dissolution, with the other property of the college, to Edmund 
 Knevett, Esq. He sold it in 1541, and it was bought in 1572 by the 
 Mayor and Corporation of Norwich, who still (1879) hold it. (From 
 Blomefield, under Shropham.) 
 1419,' 14th Sept. Master Thomas Bushell. He resigned. 
 
 1425, Gtli Jan. John Mayster, resigned. He died chaplain here in 1451, and was 
 buried in the churchyard. 
 
 There is in the Bodleian Library* (char. 535) a licence to Sir John 
 Mayster, priest and brother, late Master, by Roger Fylpot, the Master, 
 and the other brethren of the said college, dated at Thomeston, 20th June, 
 13th Henry YI. (1435), on account of the good service performed by him 
 to the said college, relieving him from strict obedience to the statutes 
 of the founder on payment of 12cZ. weekly to the college. In this deed 
 the ordinances regulating residence as compulsory are set out. Of this, 
 Sir John was relieved. 
 
 Robert Swetenham, died Master. 
 1432, 17 th March. Roger Philpot collated by the Bishop. 
 1435, 11th June. He was re-chosen by the fellows, and died Master. 
 
 There is in the Bodleian Library, Thompson chart.. No. 536, a grant 
 from John, son of Simon Chapman, to Roger Phylypott, the Master, and 
 the brethren of the College of Tomston, of two tenements, called Wameres 
 and Redames (Reedhams, see p. 40) in Tomston, dated 13th Henry VI., 
 
 ' In 1417, Johannes Hert de Thomeston was OTdained a deacon ad titulum collegii de Thomeston. 
 Ordination in the Chapel of the Palace at Norwich, iiii Id. Apiil, A.D. 1417, by the Archbishop acting as commissary 
 of the Bishop. This does not imply that John Hert became one of the chaplains of the College, for in these 
 times persons were almost always ordained on a title of some religious house, very seldom on that of a 
 cure of souls. 
 
 > See a copy of this in the Blomefield MS. in bos E 2.
 
 MASTERS OF THE COLLEGE. 33 
 
 14;55. Bloinefield says that these were manors, and that they were given 
 with their court rents, faldcourse, and services (i. 627). 
 l-tSO, 18th March. WilL Bettys, resigned. He was also Rector of East Wretham, 
 145.3. He is mentioned in a court-roll of Botours Hall Manors in 1468 as 
 dead. 
 1464, 27th Oct. Peter Lock.^ He was Rector of Merton. 
 1487, 22nd Sept. Mr. John Whittert, in Dec. Bac.,^ resigned. 
 1490, 28th Aug. Mr. Ambrose Ede, Decret. Dr.,^ died Master. 
 1503, 16th July. John Wyatt : he was Rector of Feltwell, lapse, resigned. 
 
 1518, 21st May. Mr. Rich. Aldy, alias Hoke. Died Master, and Rector of Northwold. 
 
 1519, 19th March. Mr. Robt. Dikar, resigned. 
 1524, 12th Julj'. Master Roger Rawlins. 
 
 1534. Master Robert Audeley, Archdeacon of Berkshire. 
 
 He was the last Master, and signed the deed of surrender. 
 
 I am indebted to Mr. Walter Rye for the information that there is in the P. R. O. 
 (No. 109*) tlie acknowledgment of royal supremacy by the College of Secular Priests 
 at Thompson. This document, dated 29th August, 1534, is especially valuable because 
 there is appended to it the only perfect impression, so far as I know, of the seal 
 of the college (see p. 30). The deed bears the signatures of the Master and four 
 felloM's, as follows : — 
 
 per me Roberta Awdeley, magistru Collegii de Thomston. 
 
 p me Nicholau Marryett (?). p me Ric Croftes. 
 
 p me Richardu Raune. p me Johem Alleyn. 
 
 In the Bodleian Library (No. 537) is the original surrender charter of Thompson 
 College. It has been obligingly translated for me by the late Rev. C. J. Evans. There 
 is very little doubt that it is a common form of surrender,' and that some of the 
 terms, such for instance as church, bell-tower, and cloister, would not apply to 
 Thompson, for the master and fellows* had to say mass daily in the church, and 
 therefore would not have had more than a small chapel, if any, in the college. 
 
 ' See under William de Grey, whose executor he was. 
 
 - " In Decretis — in Canon Law. Mr. Mullingcr {Rislory of the University of Cambridge, i. 36) says the 
 Uecretum, as it passed from the hands of Gratian, consisted of three parts, the first being devoted to general 
 law and containing the canons of councils, decrees of the Popes, and opinions of the Fathers ; the second 
 comprising ecclesiastical judgment on all matters of morality and social life ; the third containing instruction, 
 
 with reference to the rites and ceremonies of the Church Such was the work, the study of which, 
 
 known as that of the canon law, formed so important a part of the training of the students at the English 
 Universities prior to the Keformation." — W. Aldis Wright. 
 
 * Magister et capellani habent ex eorum Fundatione, in ecclesia predicta cotidie celebrare, ac in ceteris 
 divinis officijs personaliter ministrare. — Quoted in Blomejield. ' See Note B, 
 
 F
 
 3-1 HISTORY OF THOMPSON. 
 
 [Note A.] 
 
 PATENT ROLL, IGth RICH. II. (1392.) Part 2, Membrane 23. 
 
 Eiccntc The King, to all to whom, &c., greeting. Although, &c., yet of 
 
 grnnttti our special grace, and for forty pounds, which our beloved in Christ 
 ta gibe the Master and Chaplains of the Chantry, at the altar of Saint Martin, 
 (Innb) in in the Church of Thomeston, have paid us, we have granted and given 
 mortmain, licence for ourselves and our heirs, as far as in us is, to John Methewold 
 (the King's Escheator in the County of Norfolk), John Coke, Parson of 
 the Church of Westoftys, and Thomas Horstede, Chaplain, that they may give 
 and assign to the aforesaid Master and Chaplains one acre of land, with its 
 appurtenances in Shropham, and the advowson of the church of the same town, 
 with a certain chapel annexed to the same church, which are not held of us. To 
 have and to hold to the same Master and Chaplains and their successors, in aid 
 of their sustentation, for ever. And to the same Master and Chaplains, that they 
 may appropriate the aforesaid church, together with the aforesaid chapel, and to 
 hold it so appropriated, together with the same chapel, for their own uses to 
 themselves and their successors aforesaid for ever. And to the same Master and 
 Chaplains we have by the term of these presents given a special licence in like 
 manner, that they may receive the said land with its appurtenances from the 
 aforesaid John, John, and Thomas, and hold it to themselves and their successors 
 aforesaid in the form aforesaid for ever, as is aforesaid, the ' statute aforesaid 
 notwithstanding. Being un'\\'illing that the aforesaid John, John, and Thomas, or 
 their heirs, or the aforesaid Master, or Chaplains, or their successors, by reason 
 of the premises, should be on that account interfered with, molested in any 
 way, or aggrieved by us or our heirs, the justices, cscheators, sheritts, or otlier 
 bailiffs, or ministers whomsoever of us or our heirs. Saving, however, the 
 services due and customary from thence to the capital lords of tliat fee. So 
 always that a certain competent sum of money shall be paid and distributed 
 yearly out of the fruits and profits of the said church, by the aforesaid Master 
 and Chaplains, to the poor parishioners of the same church, and that the vicarage 
 of the aforesaid church, according to the value of the same, shall be sufficiently 
 endowed according to an ordinance of the ordinary of that place, to be made in 
 this behalf, and the form of a statute made and provided for such purpose in our 
 last parliament. In (testimony) of which, &c. ^Yitness the King at Oxford the 
 xxvj day of September. 
 
 • "The Statute aforesaid," i.e., the Statute against giWng lands in mortmain was probably referred to 
 in the " ^-c." after the word "Licet." Although, as a Statute of Mortmain was passed in the 15th of 
 Richard II., this may he the statute referred to at the end of his licence.
 
 surrender charter of tuompson college. 35 
 
 [Note B.] 
 
 SURRENDER CHARTER OF THOMPSON COLLEGE. 
 
 (Translation.) 
 
 " To all the faithful in Christ to whom the present charter shall come, Robert 
 Audeley, Clerk, Master of the College or Chantry of Thomson in the county of 
 Norfolk, and the brethren or chaplains of the same college or chantry, health. Know 
 ye that we the aforesaid master and brethren or chaplains, for certain causes and 
 considerations specially moving us at the present, by our unanimous assent and 
 consent, have granted, delivered, and confirmed by this our present charter, to the 
 most excellent and invincible prince and lord, our lord Henry the Eighth, by the 
 grace of God King of England and France, Defender of the Faith, lord of Ireland, 
 and supreme head on earth of the Anglican Church, all our college or chantry 
 aforesaid and the whole house and scite of the same college or chantry, and the 
 whole church, belfry, and cloister of that college or chantry, and all the messuages, 
 houses, edifices, dove-houses, ponds, stews (vivaria), gardens, orchards, pleasure gardens, 
 land and soil, being as well within as without the scite, boundary, enclosure, circuit, 
 and precinct of the same college or chantry, and all our manors of Thomson and 
 Bradker, with all their rights, members, and purtenances in the said county of Norfolk, 
 and all our manor of Cytie Campes alias Sliudicampes in the county of Cambridge, 
 and our rectories and churches of Thomson and Shropham in the said county of 
 Norfolk, and the advowsons, donations, free dispositions, and rights of patronage of the 
 vicarages of the parish churches of Thomson and Shropham in the said county of 
 Norfolk : and all manors, rectories, churches, vicarages, advowsons, rights of patronage, 
 messuages, granges, lands, tenements, meadows, feedings, (pascuas) pastures, commons 
 (co'ias), furze (jampna), heath wastes, courses (cursus), and liberties of all foldages, 
 waters, fisheries, woods, underwoods, turbaries (places for digging turf), rents, reversions, 
 services, fee farms, knights' fees, escheats, reliefs (admission fines), pensions, portions, 
 tithes, oblations, courts leet, views of frankpledge, goods waived, estrays, free warrens, 
 and other rights, jurisdictions, privileges, commodities, profits, possessions, revenues, 
 and hereditaments of ours whatsoever, as well spiritual as temporal, of whatsoever 
 kind, nature, or species they are, or by whatsoever names they ai-e known, reckoned, 
 or recognised, situate lying and being in the towns, fields, parishes or hamlets of 
 Thomson, Shropham, Saham, and Bradenham in the said county of Noi'folk, and in 
 Citie Campes alias Sliudicampes in the said county of Cambridge and elsewhere 
 soever in the same counties of Norfolk and Cambridge, and elsewhere soever within 
 the realm of England, pertaining and belonging only to the same college or chantry ; 
 to have and enjoy all the aforesaid manors, messuages, granges, rectories, churches, 
 
 F 2
 
 36 HISTORY OF TIIOlirSON. 
 
 advowsons, lands, tenements, rents, reversions, services, tenths, courts leet, views of 
 frankpledge, free warrens, and all and singular the other premises above expressed 
 and specified, with all their purtenances, to our lord the king aforesaid, his heirs 
 and successors for ever. In witness whereof we have set our common seal to tliis 
 our present charter. Given in our chapter-house tlie third day of July in the thirty- 
 second year of our said lord King Henry the Eighth. 
 
 L. S. " per me Robert Awdeley." 
 
 The seal is that engraved in Blomefielil's Norfolk. It is imperfect. 
 
 APPENDIX OF DOCUMENTS RELATING TO THE ENDOWMENT OF 
 
 THE COLLEGE. 
 
 [In lS84i Mr. Crabbe discovered among the muniments at Merton some interesting 
 documents relating to Thompson College, of which he has given an account in 
 Mr. Rye's Norfolk Antiquarian Miscellany, vol. iii., p. 18, n. 9. The box in which 
 these documents are kept is designated by him and referred to as [E 2].] 
 
 7th April, Anno Domini 1350. William Bateman, Bishop of Norwich, and Simon 
 Bozoun, Prior there ; at the request of Sir Thos. de Shardelowe and John his brother, 
 who had founded a college or chantry in Thompson, appropriated the rectory of 
 Thompson to the said college. The Bishop dates from his palace at Thornage, and the 
 Prior on the 12th April from the chapter-house at Norwich. Official episcopal seal in 
 fine condition, and seal of the chapter. — Thompson College Deeds, Box E 2. 
 
 On the seal of the Bishop there is a minute shield bearing his arms, a crescent 
 within a bordure engrailed, but on the official seal of Thompson College, of which 
 there is a fine impression in the Record Office, Bishop Bateman's arms seem to be. 
 Three crescents within a bordure engrailed. 
 
 [The following is a translation of the document referred to.] 
 
 To all the sons of holj' Mother Church to whom the present letters may come, William, 
 by divine permission Bishop of Norwich, everlasting salvation in the Lord, our beloved sons 
 in Christ, Sir Thomas de Shard elow, Ivnt., and John his brother, have suggested to us, 
 that, whereas for the honour of God and of the glorious Virgin Mary, and of all the 
 saints, and for the health of the souls of John de Shardelowe, Knt., his father, and Agnes 
 his wife, their mother, their benefactors, and (of the) progenitors of the Lord Edward, 
 by the grace of God the illustrious King of England, (and) for the souls of all the 
 faithfid departed, of our consent, good will, and approbation, have disposed, ordered, and 
 founded a perpetual chantry of six chaj)lains, of whom one is called Master, in the parish
 
 DOCUMENTS RELATING TO THE COLLEGE. 37 
 
 church of Thomeston iu our Diocese, whom, in the aforesaid church they have appointed 
 to celebrate (mass) for ever for the aforesaid souls, which said chantry of six chaplains 
 they have not yet sufficiently endowed, for which reason they have earnestly entreated us 
 that we should grant, out of affectionate regard to the said Master (and) Chaplains, and 
 their successors, for their own use, to be held for ever, the aforesaid church of Thomston, 
 now vacant, of which the Master and Chaplains have the patronage, with their rights and 
 and all things belonging, for the supplementing the endowment of the said chantry and the 
 support of the said chaplains, and for bearing the charges incumbent upon the said chantry, 
 therefore appropriate, annex, and unite the said church of Thomeston, with its rights, 
 and all its appurtenances aforesaid, to the Master and Chaplains and their successors, to be 
 held for their own uses, and granting to them by the tenor of the present letters that they 
 have free power to take possession of the said church immediately after our present grant 
 of annexation (unionem), and for ever to hold the said church for their own use, the 
 permission of ourselves or any other being in no wise necessary. 
 
 And because the said Master and Chaplains have, by their own foundation, in the said 
 church daily to say mass, and in other divine offices personally to minister, "We will not 
 that a vicar should be appointed there, but that in future times they should have the power 
 of ministering the Sacraments to the parishioners of the said church by one of themselves, 
 or by another fit stipendiary chaplain, concerning which church we grant by the present 
 letters to the said Master and Chaplains and their successors special licence for all time. 
 
 And because on every vacancy of every church in our diocese first fruits are by custom 
 due to us and our successors, and in the appropriation of churches the collations of vicars are 
 reserved by custom to the bishops for the time being and their successors, we will and ordain 
 that in compensation of the aforesaid first fruits and other losses which may in future happen 
 to our cathedral church by the said appropriation, the said Master and Chaplains and their 
 successors pay an annual pension of four marcs to us and our successors for the time being in 
 our church of Norwich by equal portions at the two synods, which said annual pension of four 
 marcs wo specially reserve to us and our successors, with the consent of the said Master and 
 Chaplains, to be paid each year for all time, and the power of [recovering] the said pension 
 by the sequestration of the revenues of the said church and by other ecclesiastical censures 
 whatsoever to be denounced against the said Master and Chaplains for the time being, 
 reserving to ourselves also and our successors all rights and customs of our church aforesaid 
 and our dignity in all things. 
 
 In witness whereof our seal is affixed to the present letters. Given at Thornage, seventh 
 day of the month of April, in the year of our Lord 1350, and the sixth of our consecration. 
 And we. Prior Simon Bozoun, Prior of tho Cathedral Church of the Holy Trinity at Norwich, 
 and of the convent in the same place, approve, ratify, and as much as in us lies confirm by 
 the tenor of these present letters the appropriation, union, and annexation, as above 
 written. In witness whereof the common seal of our chapter at Norwich is affixed, 
 given at our chapter house at Norwich the twelfth day of tho month of April, in the j-ear 
 of our Lord 1350.
 
 38 HISTORY OF TIIOMPSOX. 
 
 [A.D. 1386]. The Manor of Bradeker Hall in Shropham confirmed to 
 Thompson College, notwithstanding the Statute of Mortmain. 
 
 The following deed recites that the original endowment of the college was one 
 messuage and ten librates of land, according to the true value of the same. It goes 
 on to say that royal licence is given to the Master and Chaplains to hold Bradeker 
 Hall Manor and lands to the value of the aforesaid messuages and nine librates of 
 land, notwithstanding the statute made about lands and tenements not passing 
 to the dead hand. 
 
 A iibmta terrne was so much land as was worth 20s. a year. — W. A/dis Wrujht. 
 
 Patent Roll, A" 10th Richard II., Part 1, Membrane 17. 
 
 [Translatimi']. 
 
 Tlio king to all, &c., greeting. ICnow j-e that whereas [om-] lord Edward, lately King of 
 England, our grandfather, by bis letters patent granted and gave licence for himself and 
 his beira as far as in biin was, to our beloved in Christ, the Master and Chaplains of a 
 certain Chantry in the Church of Tommeston in the County of Norfolk, founded by Thomas 
 Shardelowe and John his brother, with the licence of our said lord, that they might acquire one 
 messuage with the appurtenances in the town of Berton^ and ten librata: of land and rents per 
 annum, with the appurtenances, according to the true value of the same, which were not held 
 of him our lord in chief, wheresoever they wished within our realm of England, and hold the 
 same to themselves and their successors for ever, notwithstanding the statute made about lands 
 and tenements not passing to the dead hand, as in the aforesaid letters of him our lord 
 more fuUy is contained. We being desirous that the aforesaid grant of him our lord should have 
 due effect given to it, have granted and given hcence for ourselves and our heirs, as much as 
 in us lies, to Richard Holditch of Dudclyngton, John Koc,^ parson of the church of AVestoftos, and 
 James de Shirford, clerk, that the}' may be able to give and assign to the aforesaid Master 
 and Chaplains the manor of Shi-opham called Bradekerhall, with the appurtenances, in Shropham, 
 Hokam, Snyterton, and Lyi-lyng, which is not held of us in chief, and which is worth liy the 
 year in all outgoings, according to the true value of the same, four marks, as is found by an 
 inquisition for that purpose made by our beloved John Mcthewold, our Escheator in the 
 aforesaid county, according to our command and returned into our chancery. To have and 
 to hold to themselves and their successors in aid of their sustentation for ever, to the 
 value of the aforesaid messuage, and nine lihrata of land, and rents by the year, in 
 part satisfaction of the ten librata; of land and rents aforesaid for ever. And to the same 
 Master and Chaplains we have by the term of these presents given special licence in 
 like manner, that they may be able to receive the aforesaid manor with the appurtenances 
 from the aforesaid Richard, John Koc, and James, and hold it to themselves and their successors 
 
 ' Berton or Barton Mills, near Mildenhall, where the .Shardelowc8 had a manor. Here, too, there was a chantry- 
 founded prohably by a member of that family. Blomefield says that the Chaplains of Thompson College were 
 removed for a time to Barton, and subsequently returned to Thompson.— Page's Suffolk, 827. 
 
 2 John Kok was Rector of West Tofts from 1361 to 1323.— Slomifeld.
 
 DOCtrJIENTS RELATING TO THE COLLEGE. 39 
 
 aforesaid in form aforesaid for ever as is aforesaid, the Statute aforesaid notwithstanding. Being 
 desirous that neither the aforesaid Eichard, John Koc, and James, or their heirs, nor the 
 aforesaid Master and Chaplains or their successors, by reason of the statute aforesaid, shall be 
 " occasioned" on this acccount in anything or grieved by us or our heirs or our ministers whom- 
 soever. Saving, however, to the chief lords of that fee the due and customarj' services therefrom. 
 In [witness] whereof, &c. Witness the king at Westminster, the viij day of November. 
 
 The Manor of Shudycampes and Horseytli and a messuage and thirteen acres of 
 land in Shropham and Thompson, confirmed to the College of Thompson, 
 notwithstanding the Statute of Mortmain. 
 
 ^o 
 
 The Manor of Shudycamps and Horseth was part of the endowment of the 
 college by tlie Shardelowes. Mr. W. Aklis Wright, Fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge, 
 informs me that among the muniments of his college there is a MS. copy of a deed 
 dated 24th Edw. III. — the original of which is in the British Museum {MS. Harl. 
 3739, fo. 305)— which states that Sir John Shardelowe, Joan his wife, and Thomas 
 his brother, obtained the manors of Shudycamps and Orseye or Horsey in Cambridgeshire, 
 and Borham in Essex, from the Abbot and Convent of Waltham, by exchange for the 
 manors of Copedhall and Shingelhall in Essex. [See Shardelow Pedigi'ee, p. 12.] 
 
 [A.D. 1392.] Patent Eoll, A" 16th Eichard II., Part 1, Membrane 32. 
 
 {^Translation.^ 
 
 The King to all to whom, &c., greeting. Although, &c., yet of our special grace and for fifty 
 marks which our beloved in Christ the Master and Chaplains of the Chantry at the altar of Saint 
 Martin in the Church of Thomeston have been paid us, we have granted and given Ucence for 
 ourselves and our heu-s, as much as in us is, to John Methewold,' John Coke, parson of the 
 Church of Westoftes, and Thomas Horstedo,' Chaj)lain, that they may give and assign to the 
 aforesaid Master and Chaplains the Manor of Shudycampes and Horseth, with the appurtenances, 
 in the County of Cambridge, and one messuage and thirteen acres of land with the appiu'tenances, 
 in Shropham and Thomeston, which are not held of us. To have and to hold to the same 
 Master and Chaplains and their successors in aid of their sustentation for ever. And to the same 
 Master and Chaplains, that they may be able to receive the aforesaid manors, messuage, and 
 laud, from the aforsaid John, John, and Thomas, and hold them to themselves and their 
 successors aforesaid for over as is aforesaid. We have in like manner given a special Ucence by 
 the tenor of those presents, the Statute aforesaid notwithstanding. Desiring that the afoi'esaid 
 John, John, and Thomas, or their heirs, or the aforesaid Master and Chaplains, or their successors, 
 shall not by reason of the premisses be on that account occasioned, molested in anything, or 
 grieved by us or our heirs, our Justices, Escheators, Sheriffs, or other Baihffs or Ministers, or those 
 of oiu- heirs whomsoever, saving, &c., as above. Witness the king at Nottingham, the xxviij 
 day of June [A.D. 1392]. 
 
 ' John Methewold was patron of Shropham, and Thomas Horstede rector of the same.
 
 40 HISTORY OF THOMPSON. 
 
 [A.D. 1435]. Warners and Eedames given to the College. 
 
 \_Translation.^ 
 
 Let all persons present and future know that I, John, son of Simon Chapman, have 
 g^ven, granted, and by this my present deed have confirmed to Eoger Phyl^jot, Master of 
 the College of Tomeston, othernvise called Eoger Phylpot, Master of the college or chantry 
 of St. Slartin of Thompson, and to the brethren of the same place, in the county of Norfolk, 
 two tenements called "Warners and Eedames, with the crofts adjacent to the same tenements, 
 together with their wards, marriages, homages, fealties, escheats, reliefs, revenues, customs, 
 courts, and services, both uf free tenants as well as of those in villenage, with liberty of one 
 foldage, with the services whatsoever belonging to the aforesaid tenement of Warners, with 
 all the api^urtenances, commodities, and liberties belonging to the tenement in Thomoston 
 aforesaid, which tenements with the crofts, &c., I lately had from the gift and feofment of 
 John Green, clerk, together with Richard Cave, John de Bokenham, jun., John Berton, clerk, 
 Eobert Mone of Tomeston, and William Herbert of the same, now defunct. As appears more 
 fuUy in a certain deed of feoffment executed by us, the date of which is at Tomeston, 
 AVednesday next after the feast of St. James the Apostle, in the second year of the reign of 
 King Heni-y IV., afterwards executed by us, to have and to hold the aforesaid two tenements 
 with, &c., as aforesaid. 
 
 The aforesaid Eoger Phylpot and his brethren and the brethren their successors, being 
 lords in capito of those fees, by the services thence due and by law customary for ever ; and 
 I, John Chapman, and my heirs wiU guarantee and defend against all people for ever the 
 aforesaid two tenements, with their crofts, &c., to the aforesaid Eoger and the brethren and 
 their successors. 
 
 In witness whereof I have affixt my seal to the present deed, these being witnesses, 
 William Dayling, Will. Harre, Joh. Curteis, Bartho. Draper, Tho. Chaloner, and others. 
 Given at Thompson, Monday next after the feast of St. John the Baptist, 13 Henry TI. 
 [A.D. 1435]. (The original is among the Charters preserved in the Bodleian, No. 536).
 
 41 
 
 Some |icc0unt of tijc gTanor of Cbompsoit '' $ixm €alkc^n."' 
 
 " There now is left but one frail arch, 
 Yet mourn thou not its cells, 
 Our time a fair exchange has made." 
 
 Marmion. 
 
 
 HE original deed of gift in the Merton muniment room, box E 2, bundle 
 II., part 2, shows that the college and its endowments, with the manor 
 and advowson, were given at the dissolution to Edmund Knevet, Knt., in 
 the 32nd year of Henry VIII. (1541), 12th April, and not in the 34th Henry 
 VIII. (1543), as stated by Blomefield, in as ample a manner as Robert Awdeley, 
 the last master, and y^ brethren (confratres), resigned them on July 3rd last past. 
 "To hold of us and our successors in capite by the service of a twentieth part 
 of a knight's fee, and yielding therefore yearly to us, our heirs, and successors, 
 105s. GIjcZ. sterling."^ Licence was granted also to hold courts leet and views of 
 frankpledge, as the late master and brethren had held them, and to convert to 
 private use the Rectories of Thompson and Shropham, with the tithes, &c. The 
 deed is sealed with the privy seal. 
 
 The impropriator, being in the place of the college, was to find a curate to 
 serve the church (Blomefield), and it has been served by curates ever since. The 
 perpetual curate now (1879) receives from the parish £39 a year, while the great 
 tithes amount to £327 per annum. This is one of the many instances of the loss 
 which many country parishes sustained by the alienation of the impropriations 
 from the monasteries to laymen. No doubt the ultimate outcome of the dissolution 
 has been generally beneficial, and in the matter of tithes the change made little, 
 if any, difference, where they had long been paid to distant monasteries, but the 
 
 ' The records of this manor, now in the possession of E. R. Grigson, Esq., the steward, who kindly 
 allowed mo to examine them, are bound together in one hook. They begin with the year 1606, and are 
 continued with a few omissions to the present day. The manor has been held from 1561 to the present 
 time by three families only, the Futters, Tookes, and de Greys. 
 
 " The right to receive this fine appears, after a time, to have passed from the Crown on 31st Dec, 1789. 
 It was in the hands of Lord 'Walpole, and he and his eldest son, Horatio, sold it for the sum of £60 to William 
 Tooke, Esq., and thus it became merged. 
 
 G
 
 42 niSTOEY OF TIIOlirSON. 
 
 hardship and wrong caused by their alienation must have been keenly felt in such 
 parishes as Thompson, and indeed has been so felt ever since. For while tiie 
 impropriation was in the hands of the college the parish sufi'ered no loss, a resident 
 spiritual pastor was provided, and the tithe-payers must have felt tliere was reason 
 "for the transfer of the impropriation from the individual to the body of which 
 he was the representative." But when the college, with its property, was granted to 
 Sir Edmund Knevct, it was a great injustice to let the tithes go with the estates. 
 The tithe-payers must have felt it so when called upon to pay their money to 
 a laj^man at a distance, instead of to the clergy on the spot, who, at least, were 
 kind and hospitable, and would have spent it in the parish which provided it. 
 
 The curate had to live and do the work on a very inadequate stipend, while 
 the owner of the impropriation was drawing more than ten times that stipend, and 
 was giving back nothing in return. And the poor were necessarily robbed of the 
 generous treatment they had received from those who were at once their wealthy 
 neighbours, their rectors, and their cui'ates. Then, too, those who valued the daily 
 services in the church, and the private ministrations of the chaplain, suffered a great 
 deprivation at the fall of the college. Instead of daily there were probably not even 
 weekly services. Thei'e was no parsonage house, for in 1754 Joseph Barker tried 
 to provide one, and probably the perpetual curate was non-resident and served other 
 churches. So late as 1806 there had been on one occasion no service in the church 
 for three months. 
 
 Sir Edmund Knevet, who was the grantee of Thompson College, belonged to an 
 ancient and honourable family in the county, and three members of this family held 
 ofEces under Henry VIII. There were at this time at least three Edmund Knevets, 
 but Sir Edmund of Thompson was no doubt the eldest son of Sir Thomas of 
 Buckenham. 
 
 PART OF THE PEDIGREE OF KNEVETT OF ASHWELLTHORPE. 
 
 Edmund Knevett, drowBed in a sea-fight =7= Eleanor, d. of Sir Willm. 
 
 in the lifetime of Sir Wm. Knevett his 
 father, descended from Sir John Knyvett, 
 Lord High Chancellor, temp. Ed. III. 
 
 Tj-rrell of Gipping. 
 
 Sir Thomas Knevett of Edmund Knyvett, Esq., := Jane, d. and ultimately heir of Sir 
 
 Buckenham, eld. son, Stan- Serj. Porter to Hen. VIII., John Bourchier, Baron Berners, 
 
 dard Bearer to Henry VIII. 2nd son, oh. 1546; buried descd. through females from the 
 
 A at Ashwellthorpe. Thorpes of AshweUthorpe and from 
 
 Knyvett, Knt., "of Bukynhm the Baynards of Whetacre. Her 
 
 Castell," conveyance deed 33rd Hen. VIII., lord descent in the sixth generation, a 
 
 of West Bradenham, which he sold in 1540 ; d. and h. of John Kny\ett, m. 
 
 described in 1516 as eld. s. and h. of Sir Thos. Henry Wilson of Didlington, and 
 
 Knyvett, and mentioned in a will of 1542. their descent is the present Baroness 
 
 — Carthew's Launditch, ii. 483. He was probably Berners. 
 grantee of Thompson in 1543.
 
 THE FAMILY OF FUTTEE. 43 
 
 Sir Edmund Knyvet, according to Blomefield, sold Thompson two years after it 
 was granted to him, to John Maynard, mercer, of London. Annie Paine, widow, 
 bought it two years after, and (2nd Elizabeth) Walter Paine and Elizabeth his wife 
 aliened it to Alexr. Raye and others, who in 1561 conveyed it to Robert Futter. — 
 Blomefield, ii. 369. [But see Note A at the end of this section.] 
 
 THE FAMILY OF FUTTEE. 
 
 The Futters, originally of Stanton, Suffolk {Jermyn MS.), and then of Thuxton, 
 Norfolk {Norf. Vis.), continued to be the chief proprietors and residents in Thompson 
 for more than one hundred years. There are sixty-seven entries of Futters in the 
 pai'ish registers, ranging from 1585 to 1697. When Robert Futter came to live at 
 Thompson the College had been dissolved twenty j'ears. The bulk of the parishioners 
 were probably cottage tenants, each living in his hovel, while his cow and his few 
 sheep fed upon the, as yet, unenclosed land. The few farmers in the parish would 
 have been far less mercifully treated by the grantee of the college lands, whose 
 only care would be to get his rent, than by their old landlords the fellows of 
 the college ; and they would welcome a landlord who would always reside amongst 
 them. Here is a picture of a farmer of those days, whose house, be it remembered, 
 would not have been much better than a labourer's cottage is now. " He pursued 
 many trades in his little homestead. He had eels in his stew, and bees in his garden. 
 He grew his own hops and made his own malt. He raised his own hemp and 
 twisted his own cart ropes. His flax was cleaned and spun at home. Some of his 
 wool he sold to the ' webster,' and some kept the spindles moving on his kitchen 
 floor. He sawed out his own timber. He made his own mud walls round his 
 cattle yard. He was his own farrier. He killed his sheep or his calf without the 
 aid of the butcher. He made his own candles and burnt his own wood into charcoal. 
 He cultivated herbs for physic, which his wife dried or distilled. His cheese was 
 manufactured in his own press. His com crops were varied by the cultivation of 
 saffron and mustard seed." — Knight's England, ii. 472. 
 
 Robert Futter, the first of the family who owned Thompson College and advowson, 
 married Mary, daughter of Edmund Bacon of Hessett, Esq., and as we find the 
 shield of Futter impaling Bacon of Hessett over the handsome Elizabethan mantel- 
 piece of the principal room in the college, we conclude that it was he who re-arranged 
 the college and decorated its I'ooms with the present panelling. Futter bore — Sa. betw. 
 two flanches or, as many swans in pale ar. Bacon of Hesset bore — Ar. on a fess 
 eng. gu. betw. three escutcheons of the second as many mullets ar. pierced sa. 
 
 Robert Futter and his wife were buried in the nave near the pulpit. Their 
 marble slab seems to have been an old one, for it has a matrix of a brass in its 
 
 G 2
 
 4t HISTORY OF THOMPSON. 
 
 centre, and the Futter inscriptions are cut by an unskilled hand, one at each end 
 of the stone, facing each other. It seems as if the son, who had a very large family, 
 had wished to commemorate his father and mother as cheaply as possible. The 
 inscriptions are as follows: — "Robert Futter, Gent., buryed 21st Nov., 1603; Marie, 
 y« wife of Robert Futter, Gent., buryed May 22nd, 1588." 
 
 Robert Futter was lord of Thompson College and of the manor of Waterhouse and 
 Churchhouse. He, however, conveyed the College manor (called always the manor 
 of Thompson nuper Collegii) and the advowson of Thompson, in 1.589, fourteen years 
 before his death, to Henry Futter, his half-brother (Blomefield), not through lack 
 of descendants, for he had three sons, and his third son, who resided at Thompson, 
 had eleven sons and two daughters. This third son, Thomas, seems to have become 
 head of this elder branch of the family in Thompson. He had Porye's land conveyed 
 to him in 1590. His eldest son and heir, called Robert Futter, senr., was also 
 called Futter of Porys (Court Roll, Butters Hall, 1660). He was lord of 
 Waterhouse and Churchhouse. His will, now in the Probate Office at Norwich, 
 gives an insight into the house and furniture of a Thompson gentleman two hundred 
 years ago. It was proved 24th March, 1662. It has the usual beginning of wills 
 of that time. " In the name of God, Amen, this fourth day of Aprill, in the 13th 
 yeare of the Raigne of our Sovreigne Lord Kinge Charles the 2nd, by y= grace 
 of God, of England, Scotland, Ff ranee, and Ireland, defender of the fFayth, Anno 
 Dni. 1661, I, Robert Futter, of Tompson in the County of Norff., gent., Beeing 
 weake in Bodie, but of good and pfect remembrance (thanks be to God therefore), 
 doe make and ordaine this my last will and testaint in writeing in manner and 
 forme following — ffirst, I comend my soule into the hands of Almightie God, my 
 Maker, Trusting assuredly, through the Meritts of Jesus Christ, my only Saviour, 
 to be made ptaker of his everlasting Kingdome, And for my Bodie I freely give it 
 over to y"' earth from whence it came to be decently buried, &c." 
 
 He gives £3 to the poor of Thompson, and 20s. to the repair of the Church 
 of Thompson. To Francis Futter, his son, he gives his messuage, called the Bell 
 in Thompson (this was afterwards bought by the Rev. Mr. Colman), and one 
 acre of freehold lying in Garfield, in Curtliious furlong. To John Futter, his 
 son, the tenement called Dowsing in Tompson, and all lands in West Bradenham 
 and Seaming. After giving legacies to his daughter, he says, "and whereas Francis 
 Futter, my eldest sonne, is and standeth bound unto Sarah Futter, my daughter, 
 by his wi-iting obligatory .... for the payment of £100 unto the said Sarah 
 Ffutter .... at the church porch of the prish church of Thompson aforesaid." (It 
 was a common custom to appoint the church porch as the place where money was 
 to be paid. The custom probably originated in the days when the clergyman was the 
 only person in the village who could read and write, and was continued long 
 afterwards from habit. The church porch, too, would be a well-defined spot, about 
 which there could no mistake). He gives to his grandchild, Robert Futter (i.e.,
 
 THE FAMILY OF FUTTER. 45 
 
 Fi-ancis' son), £10 to buy him a piece of plate. "To my brother, Mr. Henry Futter 
 (of the College), 2067i. to buy him a ring to weare for my sake." To his loving 
 friend, Mr. John Hamont, Minister of Tompson, 2067t. " Item, I give .... to my 
 said Sonne, Francis Futter, all my goods in the Parlour as they now stand, and 
 alsoe my bedstead,' Bedd and furniture to the same belonging, with all the chaires, 
 stooles, little table, and cupboard, in the Pai'lour chamber, and all other goods there, 
 one greate trunke onely excepted, together with the greate cheste in the entry next 
 y"' Parlour chamber, one bedstead, bedd, and bedding, in my owne chamber, where 
 I now lie, or one Bedstead, bedd, and bedding, in the Brewhouse chamber, which 
 he shall like best off, and great cupboard standing in the Kitchin, and longe Table 
 
 there, and all the Iron worke whatsoever " He appoints his son Fi'ancis 
 
 executor, and William Davy, Gent., his brother-in-law, and Jeremy Purland, Gent., 
 his son-in-law, to be supervisors of his will. 
 
 As a pendant to this will I give that of a Thompson yeoman, Thos. Rolfe, the 
 contemporary of Robert Futter. It is in the Probate Office at Norwich. The Rolfe 
 family had been long settled at Thompson, and seem to have been among its 
 well-to-do inhabitants. The name occurs in the Subsidy of 1381. In the court-rolls 
 the Rolfes appear as copyholders from 1468 downwards. In the Subsidy Lists of 
 1524 and 1544 they are among the most substantial inhabitants. John Rolfe appears 
 in the Church Inventory of 1552, thereby showing that he was considered one of 
 the chief parishioners. 
 
 Thomas Rolfe the testator, who died 1657, was the owner of houses and lands. 
 We can picture him in our minds living in his own farm-house, which had a hall, 
 where no doubt the family lived, and a parlour with the customary bedstead. The 
 houses of that day were but scantily furnished, and great was the value of chattels ; 
 accordingly we find Thomas Rolfe dividing these among his wife and childi-en, even 
 down to the bowls and dishes. His lands and houses he leaves to his wife and 
 sons on condition that they pay certain fortunes to his five daughters. 
 
 " In the name of God Amen. ... I, Thomas Rolfe of Thompson, yeoman 
 
 unto James my son houses and tenements called Fishers .... and 6 acres 
 
 of ai-able lately purchased of Thomas Page, gent., lying in the furlong called Long 
 Perches .... unto Margaret my daughter .... 2 acres lying in Brackland ffurland 
 .... unto Thomas my son all' my houses, with the house fitting wherein I dwell 
 
 ' Mr. Wright (Domestic Manners, p. 476) says that a bed was always part of the furniture of a parlour 
 of the fifteenth century. We know from Margaret Paston's will that in 1479, and in such a stately house as 
 Mauthy must have been, this was the case. " I bequeth to Anne my dowght, Wiff of William Yelverton, my 
 ffetherbedde w' pillo", curteyns, and tester, in my parlour at Mauteby." And Mr. Wright describes the 
 parlour at Beaimiont Hill, a gentleman's house in the north, as containing in 1 .567 the following furniture : 
 " One trundle bed with a feather bed, two coverlets, a bolster, two blankets, two carpet table cloths, two 
 coverlets, one presser, a little table, one chest, three chairs, and three forms." By Robert Futter's will, and 
 by the will of Thos. Kolfe given below, it seems that one hundred years later a parlour in Norfolk contained 
 among the furniture a bed.
 
 46 HISTOEY OF THOMPSON. 
 
 .... to Elizabeth my wife 2 cows and one bullock, she to take and choose them 
 whore she please [mark the plural termination with the singular pronoun, as now 
 in Norfolk] out of my cattle, and one mare which was her ffather Canham's, and 
 one colt which is the wall-eyed colt, being a blacke one ; and one swine or hogg, 
 she to take wliere she will ; and one bedstead and featherbed and all the furniture 
 thereunto belonging, and one flockbed and bedstead, and all the furniture, &c., shee 
 to choose them ; and 3 coffers and 1 chest and 1 box, all being in the parlour, and 
 likewise one cupboard where she will, she to choose it ... . unto Thomas my son, 
 one featherbed and the bedstead in the Parlor full furnished .... unto James my 
 Sonne one fetherbed with the cartaine and eeke, and the boarded bedstead that stand on 
 the chamber over the hall, furnished by the disci'etion of my wife with a good paire 
 of sheets to it ... . unto Anne my daughter, one bedstead in the bed chamber 
 now standing and a flockbed, my wife to furnish it for her as well as she can and 
 with a good paire of sheets .... unto Pleasant and Margaret my daughters, each 
 a paire of sheets .... unto Elizabeth my wife all the brasse and pewter that she 
 had of her father which I had with her, and likewise one iron pott, 2 beere vessels, 
 and one tubbe, she to take them where she will .... unto James my son the 
 biggest kettle that I have in the howse .... unto Thomas the best brasse pott .... 
 unto Pleasant the little brasse pott .... unto Anne one brasse pipkin, and to every 
 child one pewter dish a peece, the eldest to have the biggest dishes .... unto my 
 two eldest daughters each a beere vessell .... unto James the blacke coulte that I 
 bought of Edward Eowse .... unto my wife all the boM'les that she brought with 
 her, and the rest of the bowles to mj' 3 eldest daughters, to be equally divided 
 among them by my wife .... unto James one speet (spit) and my little fowling 
 piece .... Item I give unto Elizabeth my wife a combe of old Rye if it please 
 God that I depart this life before the 1st day of August next, and the hempe that 
 is now growing upon one of the hemplands which she will, also the old cart, two 
 
 piggs and half the geese, young and old, and two speets, two buffet 
 
 stools,' and a chaire and a bason, and one cheese tubb and one salting trough, and 
 the grasse that is now in Hunt's pightle. Thos. Rolfe, sole executor." Proved 6th 
 Jan., 1658, by the widow, because Thomas Rolfe, the son and executor, died before 
 the testator. 
 
 • Buffet stool — a kind of small stool, a stool with three legs. "Go fetch ns a light buffit." — Towneley 
 Myst., p. 199. There is a saying in Suffolk, "a dead ass and a new buffet stool are two things which nobody 
 ever saw." — MalliuelVs Diet. I am informed that the hassocks in St. George's, Hanover Square, are called 
 
 buffets.
 
 PEDIGREE OF FUTTER OF THOMPSON. 
 
 47 
 
 PEDIGREE OF FUTTER OF THOMPSON. 
 
 The Pedigree given herewith shows that there were two distinct branches of the 
 Futter family, both of which, judging by the Registers and Court Rolls, continued to 
 reside at Thompson, viz., the elder branch descended from Robert Futter aforesaid, and 
 the younger and more important branch descended from Robert's half-brother Henry. 
 The Futters of the elder branch were called " of Thompson " ; those of the younger 
 branch were called "of Thompson College." Both branches were evidently considered 
 as amongst the gentry of Norfolk,' for in the elder there were alliances with the 
 Bacons of Hessett, the Lenthalls of Hereford, the Lovells of Harling, and the Days 
 of Scoulton ; and in the younger with the Thwaites of Hardingham and the 
 Bedingfields of Wighton. 
 
 As an evidence of the position of the Futters in the county, we may cite the 
 letter of Privy Seal issued in 1604, whereby there was proposed to be raised in 
 Norfolk £16,430. Out of 540 knights and gentlemen of the county, 443 have £20 
 each placed against their names, and amongst these names is that of Futter Rbte., of 
 Tompestone (Norf. Archceol. ii. 339). This was Robert Futter of Thompson College, 
 who married Jane Bedingfield. 
 
 The elder branch of the Futter family came to an end, in the direct male line, 
 with Robert Futter of Shelton, who died in 17-58, and his lands in Thompson were 
 sold to John Barker of Shropham, Esq., whose descendant, the Rev. Augustus Barker 
 Hemsworth, is the heir-pi'esumptive to the property. 
 
 Pedigrees of Futter and Bedingfield 
 
 So far as they relate to the parish of Thompson ; showing the descent of Futter 
 
 of Thompson College and of Futter of Thompson, and the connection of the latter 
 
 with Hemsworth, present owner of part of Thompson. 
 
 Tho8. Futter=Florence, dau. of 
 of Stanton, John Deveroe. — 
 Su£F., gent. Norf. Vis. i. 145. 
 
 Christopher Beding-=7=France9, d. 
 
 field, son and h. "f 
 Edmd. Bedingfield 
 of Wighton, and 
 grandson of SirEdm. 
 Bedingfield of Ox- 
 boro, ob. 1627, bur. 
 at Wighton.— Aor/. 
 Vis. i. 168. 
 
 of Hum- 
 phrey 
 Chambers 
 ofSturston, 
 Su£t.,gent., 
 ob. 1629.— 
 Norf. Via. 
 i. 1G8. 
 
 Edmund Beding-=fEIizth., d. Anne, d. of =f=John Futter,: 
 
 field of Hindringham, 
 Norf., 8. and h. of 
 Francis Kedingfield 
 of Thomdon, and 
 grandson of Sir Edm. 
 Bedingfield of Ct- 
 boro. — Norf, Vis. i. 
 IGd. 
 
 («) 
 
 and h. of 
 . . Stimson, 
 of ... in 
 Marshland, 
 bur. 1605, 
 at Thomp- 
 son (.'). — 
 Norf. Vis. 
 i. 165. 
 
 John Bol- 
 dingham of 
 Belstead, 
 Suff., 2nd 
 wife. — 
 Norf. Vis. 
 
 (*) 
 
 of Thu.'iton, 
 Norf., Gentle- 
 man, d. 1572. 
 — East.Cotint. 
 Coll. p. 129. 
 
 w 
 
 ^Agnes, d. of 
 Robert Bryan 
 of Throston, 
 Suff., 1st 
 wife. —Norf. 
 Vis. 
 
 W 
 
 1 The manor of Longham Priors was bought by Sir Edw. Coke of William and Arthur Futter, the grantees 
 from Queen Elizabeth. — Carthew's Zaunditc/i, ii. 426. The family of Futter spread into several other parts of 
 Norfolk, and now (1879) there are many of the name in the county in humble stations.
 
 48 
 
 HISTORY OF THOMPSON. 
 
 (a) 
 
 {/>) 
 
 I — I 
 
 Anne, bur. 
 at Thomp- 
 Bou, 1670. 
 
 Jane, d. 
 loth Mar., 
 1643.— 
 JVorf. J'ia. 
 i. 1«R. 
 
 Robert 
 Flitter, 
 jiin., c.£ 
 Thompson 
 Coll..!.;ent., 
 d. rjth 
 May, 1652. 
 
 —A'o'f- 
 Vis. i. 168. 
 
 Humphrey 
 liedinj2:(iold 
 of Wigh- 
 ton, -Ith 
 son. — jVor/. 
 Via.i. 1G8. 
 
 Abigail, 
 d. of Wm. 
 Hicks, 
 scrivener, 
 of London. 
 —Norf. 
 Vis. 
 
 I. 
 Daniel 
 Bedingfield 
 bapt. at 
 Thompson 
 16-41. Re- 
 corder of 
 Lynn. — Norf. 
 
 I 
 
 Francis Beding-T= Winifred, 
 
 field of Elling- 
 ham, Norf., 
 Esq., mar. at 
 Keymerstone, 
 bur. at Thomp- 
 son 1638, 2nd 
 husband. — 
 Norf. Via. i. 165. 
 Lord of the 
 manor, with his 
 wife, of Thomp- 
 son nuper 
 CoUogii (Court 
 yyuo/,-, 1606), and 
 after her death 
 lord till 1622 
 (Court Book). 
 
 Vis. I. 169. 
 
 d. of Thos. 
 Thwaytes, 
 Esq., of 
 Harding- 
 ham, bur. 
 at Thomp- 
 son, 1619. 
 
 : Henry 
 
 Futter of 
 Thompson 
 College, 
 gent., 2nd 
 son, mar. at 
 Tlarding- 
 ham, 1.589, 
 bur. there 
 1602, Ist 
 husband. 
 From him 
 descended 
 the Futters 
 of Thomp- 
 son College. 
 
 "T — I — T' 
 John, 
 eld. 
 son. 
 
 Thos., 
 3rd 
 
 son. 
 
 Eliza- 
 beth. 
 Norf. 
 Vis. 
 
 I 
 
 w 
 
 Robt. Futter=j=Mary, 
 
 of Thompson 
 Coll. in loGl, 
 eld. son. He 
 conveyed it to 
 his half-bro. 
 Henry in 1.58'J. 
 Bur. at Thomp- 
 son 1603. 
 Called Robert 
 Futter, senr. 
 From him de- 
 scended the 
 Futters of 
 Thompson. 
 Lord of the 
 manor of 
 Waterhouse 
 and Church- 
 house in 
 Thompson. — 
 Votirt-roll, 
 1601. 
 
 d. of 
 Edm. 
 Bacon of 
 Hesaet, 
 Suflf.,ob. 
 1.588, 
 bur. at 
 Thomp- 
 son, in 
 nave. 
 
 .Tobn 
 Futter of 
 Kimber- 
 lev, 
 Norf., 
 gent., 
 2nd son, 
 from 
 whom 
 descend, 
 the 
 
 Futters 
 of Stan- 
 ton. — 
 Jermyn 
 MS. 
 
 Nicholas 
 Bedingfield 
 of Thomp- 
 son, gent., 
 8. and h., 
 will proved 
 1679, bp. at 
 Thompson 
 1606, bur. 
 there 1678. 
 —Norf 
 Vis. i. 165. 
 
 Bridget, 
 bp. at 
 Thomp- 
 son, 1591. 
 
 ■JIary 
 
 Futter, 
 bp. and 
 bur. at 
 Thomp- 
 son, 1593. 
 
 Robt. 
 
 Futter =f=Anne , dr. 
 
 -Henry 
 -I Futter, 
 bp, at 
 Thomp- 
 son, 1595. 
 
 Elizabeth, dr. 
 
 of Futter of 
 
 Thompson 
 
 Coll., mar. 
 
 Thos. Lovell of Garboldis. 
 
 ham. — See Lovell Ped 
 
 Biomejicld. 
 
 jun., of Thomp- 
 son Coll., gent,, 
 bp.at Thonipsim 
 1594, bur. there 
 1652, "recovd. 
 in 1622, the 
 College manors 
 and rectory agt. 
 Francis & Edw. 
 Bedingfield, and 
 in 1663 (?) the 
 said Robert had 
 the manor, the 
 college, 4 mes- 
 suages, 1 dove- 
 house, a fald- 
 course, and the 
 rectory." — 
 
 Blomejield. 
 
 of Chris- 
 topher 
 Beding- 
 field of 
 Wighton, 
 bur. in 
 Th' imp- 
 son chan- 
 cel 1643. 
 
 I 
 
 Henry 
 
 Fut- 
 ter. — 
 Norf 
 Vis. 
 
 Thomas =T=Sibill, dr. 
 
 Futter of 
 Thomp- 
 son, 3rd 
 son, bur. 
 at 
 
 Thomp- 
 son 1629. 
 Poryes 
 land con- 
 veyed to 
 him 
 1590. 
 
 1— 
 
 John Fut- 
 ter, called 
 son and hr. 
 in Jermyn 
 MS. 
 
 Mary, dau. 
 . . . Ballo of 
 Norwich. 
 Norf. Vis. 
 
 of John 
 Lenthall, 
 CO. Hero- 
 ford, mar. 
 at Thomp- 
 son 1585, 
 bur. there 
 1638. John 
 Lenthall 
 was proba- 
 bly of the 
 family of 
 tho 
 Speaker. 
 
 t'tios. Futter, bp. 
 at Thompson, 1628. 
 
 Elizth. 
 Futter, only 
 dr. [Jermijn 
 MS.) bur. at 
 Seoiilton, 
 1623 (^Daye 
 Ped.) 
 
 Robt. Daye, 
 Esq., of 
 Seoulton, 
 mar. there 
 1579, buried 
 there 1627.— 
 Daye Ped. 
 penes J. L)aye 
 Barker. 
 
 Robert, (?) bp. 
 Thompson, 1641. 
 
 at 
 
 I — m — I r 
 
 Francis, HumphreyFut- = Bridget, 
 
 bp. and ter of Thomp- living 19th 
 
 bur. at son Coll., gent. May, 1679, 
 
 Thomp- Will dated and bur. at 
 
 son 16i2. proved (?) 1679. Thompson 
 
 — Ub. e.p. Bp. at 1679, suc- 
 Henry, Thompsonl627, ceeded to 
 bur. at bur, there 1679. manor of 
 Thomp- Of his four Thompson 
 son 1642, childn., all bp. nuper Col- 
 in chncl., and bur. at logii on her 
 not 1643 Thompson, two husband's 
 as on the died young, and death, 
 tomb- twodied justbe- First court 
 stone. fore their father. 1679. — 
 
 — The Thompson Court Book, 
 Frances, Coll. propty. and Also suc- 
 dr., bur. advowson went ceeded to 
 at to John Ware, improp. 
 Thomp- gent., his neph., tithes of 
 son 1625. lord of the Thompson. 
 
 — manor of 
 Anne, Thompson nup. 
 bp. at CoUegii ; first 
 Thomp- court 1652. — 
 son 1629. Court Book. 
 
 dr. 
 
 1. 
 
 Ware 
 
 Robert =T^ Elizth., 
 dr. of 
 
 Robert 
 Ware, 
 dead in 
 1681 
 (men- 
 tioned in 
 Hum- 
 phrey 
 Putter's 
 will). 
 
 2. John, 
 bp. at 
 Thompson 
 1587. 
 
 — — 1 — I — I — r— 
 7. Henry, 
 bp. and bur. 
 at Thomp- 
 son 1593. 
 
 3. Mary, 
 bp. at 
 Thompson 
 1589. 
 
 4. Willm. 
 bp. at 
 Thomjison 
 1590. 
 
 5. Fran- 
 cis, bp. at 
 Thompson 
 1591. 
 
 6. Thos.i 
 bp. at 
 Thompson 
 1592. 
 
 8. Anne, 
 bp. at 
 Thompson 
 
 1595, bur. 
 there 1696. 
 
 9. Henrj-,- 
 bp. at 
 Thompson 
 
 1596, of 
 London, 
 Merchant 
 Taylor.— 
 Norf. Vis. 
 
 10. Arthur, 
 bp. at 
 Thompson 
 1598. 
 
 11. James, 
 bp. at 
 Thompson 
 1601. Of 
 St. Mary, 
 Woolnoth, 
 Londiin. — 
 Jermyn 
 MS. 
 
 W 
 
 Futter, sen,, 
 
 of Thomp- 
 
 son, gent. ,bp. bur. at 
 
 at Thompson Thomp- 
 
 1586, bur. son 1659 
 
 there 1662, s. [qy. sis- 
 
 andh., called ter of 
 
 Futter of Thos. 
 
 Poryes in Cooper, 
 
 Court-roll gent., of 
 
 of Butters Ot. Yar- 
 
 Hall, 1660. mouth. 
 
 Lord of — Car- 
 
 Waterhouse thcw's 
 
 and Church- Laund. 
 
 house in iii. 275.] 
 Thompson. — 
 Court-roll, 
 1618. Called 
 Robt. Fuller 
 the elder in 
 Court-roll of 
 Waterhouse, | 
 ... 1650. (/) 
 
 1 1 There was a Thos. Futter. (rent., churchwarden of Merton, who married, in 
 
 J 1628, Susan Griffyn, widow, of Merton, and had two children bapt. there in 1629 
 
 or ICTi. Susanna, the wife of Thos. Futt«r, gent., buried Feb. Ist, 16S2.— 
 
 Griston Reg. 
 
 2 The children of this Henrj* Futter were all buried in Gloucester Cathedral.^ 
 
 T<imbstonea thei-e and .Jermyn MS. Mr. Heniy, the son of Itobt. Futter, sen., 
 
 buiitd at Thompson, 1656. 
 
 12. Richd. 
 bp. and 
 bur. at 
 Thompson 
 1603. 
 
 13. Austen, 
 bp. at 
 Thompson 
 1605.
 
 PEDIGREE OF FUTTER OF THOMPSON. 
 
 49 
 
 I 
 John Ware 
 of London, 
 gent., lord 
 of Thomp- 
 son ('oil. in 
 1681, when 
 he held his 
 first court 
 (see Court 
 Bk). Sold 
 Thompson 
 improprt. 
 rectory to 
 Mr. CoU- 
 man, and 
 the college 
 and mnnor 
 to Mr, Kd. 
 Cater. — 
 Court Bk., 
 1700. 
 
 (/) 
 
 In Xorf. 
 Vis. i. 146, 
 Anne Fut- 
 ter who mr. 
 "Win. Mel- 
 sop is dr. of 
 Uobt. and 
 Elizabeth, 
 but there is 
 no Anne 
 among the 
 eleven chil- 
 dren bapt. 
 at Thomp- 
 son. What 
 is the au- 
 thority for 
 the state- 
 ment? 
 
 1. Francis = 
 Futter, 8. 
 and h., bp. 
 at Thomp- 
 son 1627, 
 called 
 Franuia 
 Futter of 
 Thompson 
 [liegister, 
 16.57), bur. 
 at Thomp- 
 son 1701. 
 Ijord of 
 Water- 
 house and 
 Church- 
 house in 
 Thompson. 
 — Court 
 Book. 
 
 Robert ^f" Susanna, 
 
 Futter, bp. at 
 Thuxton, 
 1657 [T/iomp. 
 Regr.), of 
 Shelton, 
 gent., bur. at 
 Shelton 1727, 
 conveyed 
 Watorhouse 
 and Church- 
 house Manor 
 to Roger Col- 
 man, clerk, in 
 1725. 
 
 dr. of 
 Thos. 
 Dawson 
 of Shel- 
 ton, mar. 
 at Shel- 
 ton 1681, 
 bur. 
 there 
 1733, 
 aged 78. 
 
 ^'. — 
 
 Lucie = 
 
 Futter, 
 bp. at 
 Thomp- 
 son 
 1668, 
 mar. at 
 Seoul- 
 ton 
 1702. 
 
 ■ Mary, 
 dr. of . . 
 Edgar of 
 Eye, m. 
 at Eye 
 1693, 
 bur. at 
 Thomp- 
 son 1697. 
 
 =Josiah 
 Tun- 
 bridge. 
 
 Robert Fulton of Shelton, Apothecary, 
 eld. son, becam(\ bankrupt in 1746, died 
 in 1758. His lands in Thompson sold 
 to John Barker, Esq., of Shropham. 
 Lord of Waterhouse and Churchhouso 
 Manor from 1730 to 1747, when it was 
 bought by John Barker of Shropham, 
 Esq. 
 
 2. Thos., 
 
 6. Jane, 
 
 10.Brid-=r 
 
 bp. at 
 Thomp- 
 son, 1625 ; 
 
 bp. at 
 Thomp- 
 son 1633. 
 
 get,bp.at 
 Thomp- 
 son 1624, 
 
 bur. there 
 
 — 
 
 mar. at 
 
 1626. 
 
 3. Robt., 
 bp. at 
 
 7. Lewis 
 {?), bp- at 
 Thomp- 
 son 1635. 
 
 Thomp- 
 son 1644, 
 bur. 
 there 
 
 Thomp- 
 son 1628. 
 
 8. Sibyll, 
 
 1678. 
 
 4. Mary, 
 bp. at 
 
 bp. at 
 Thomp- 
 son 1636. 
 
 
 Thomp- 
 son 1630. 
 
 9. Sarah, 
 
 
 5. Eliza- 
 beth, bp.at 
 
 bp. at 
 Thomp- 
 son 1639. 
 
 
 Thomp- 
 son 1632. 
 1 
 
 
 
 ^Jerome 
 Pur- 
 land, 
 gent., 
 bur. at 
 Thomp- 
 son 
 1674. 
 
 11. John: 
 Futter, 
 bp. at 
 Thomp- 
 son 1638, 
 Of Cas- 
 ton, 
 after- 
 wards of 
 Car- 
 brooke, 
 gent. 
 WUl 
 proved 
 1679.— 
 Korf. 
 
 Vis. 
 
 I 
 
 Anne, 
 bp. at 
 Thomp- 
 son 
 1645. 
 
 Elizth., 
 bp. at 
 Thomp- 
 son 
 1645. 
 
 Robert 
 of Fram- 
 linghara, 
 eld. son, 
 ob. s.p. 
 1692. 
 —Nor/. 
 
 ri». 
 
 •Jane, dr. 
 of Thos. 
 Daye of 
 Scoulton, 
 Esq,, ob. 
 ant. 1678. 
 —Xorf. 
 Vis. Her 
 sister 
 Bridget 
 mar. at 
 Thomp- 
 son 1683, 
 to Mr. 
 John 
 Harsant, 
 clerk. 
 
 John Futter, 
 of Norwich, 
 gent., linen- 
 draper, took 
 name of Daye 
 and sued, to 
 Scoulton (by 
 the will of his 
 cousin Thos. 
 Dayeof Scoul- 
 ton). Ob. s.p. 
 1711 ; inheri- 
 ted from his 
 father a prpty. 
 in Thirxton. 
 
 Elizth.= 
 Futter, 
 b. 1665, 
 bur. at 
 Car- 
 brooke 
 1741.— 
 Korf. 
 Vis. 
 
 Elizth. = 
 Engle, 
 d. 1770, 
 a;t. 60, 
 bur. at 
 Shrop- 
 ham. 
 
 ■ Benjn. 
 Engle of 
 Yar- 
 mouth, 
 mercht. 
 —Nor/. 
 Vis. 
 
 Thomas, 
 bp, at 
 Thompson 
 1664, not 
 mentioned 
 in his 
 father's 
 wiU. 
 
 =.Iohn Barker, Esq., 
 High Sheriff of Norf. 
 in 1 756, bought Daye's 
 and Robt. Futter's 
 lands in Thompson. 
 His great-grandson, 
 Rev. Augustus Bar- 
 ker Hemsworth is the 
 present heir-presumpt. 
 of the Shropham Hall 
 estate. 
 
 Returning to the younger branch, the Futters of Thompson College (Robert 
 Futter, who bought the property, having conveyed it to his half-brother Henry), we 
 find that this Henry Futter married Winifred Thwaytes, and dying in 1602, left an 
 only son, Robert, then eight years old. Winifred, the widow, married secondly, two 
 years after her husband's death, Francis Bedingfield of Ellingham, Esq., and Francis 
 and Winifred Bedingfield were lord and lady of the Thompson manor, "nuper collegii," 
 till 1G19, when Winifred died. Francis continued lord till 1G21, when Robert Futter, 
 jun. (as he is called), his step-son, recovered by a suit at law the Manor and Rectory 
 {Manor Court Book, years 1606 to 1621, and Blomefield). The Bedingfields appear in 
 the Thompson registers from 1605 to 1678, in which year Nicholas Bedingfield of 
 Thompson, Gent., son and heir of Francis Bedingfield and Winifred his wife, was
 
 50 HISTOKY OF TUOMPSON. 
 
 buried. Robert Futter, who became lord of Thompson College in 1621, married his 
 step-father's kinswoman, Jane Bedingfield, and died in 1G52,' leaving an only son and 
 heir, Humphrey Futter, Gent., of Thompson College. Robert Futter repaired and 
 partially ceiled the roof of Thompson chancel, for his initials with the date 1648 are 
 carved on escutcheons. He it was, probably, who also placed in the nave the benches 
 with their poppy-heads, as appeal's by the date 1632 carved on one of them. 
 
 Humphre}^ son and heir of this Robert and Jane Futter, was the last of the 
 Futters of Thompson College. All his children predeceased him. He die<l in 1678 
 (Thompson Register). By his will, now in the Probate OiEce at Norwich, proved 
 28th March, 1679, he leaves £10 to the poor of Thompstone ; he desires that Bridgett 
 his wife shall have, occupj', and enjoy the impropriate tythes of Thompston for the 
 term of her natural life ; "and after my wife's death I give all the tythes and customs 
 for tythes whatsoever unto the P'rish Church of the sayd Thompston towards the 
 maintenance of a preaching minister, and that my heires shall present a clerk unto 
 the Parsonage of Thompston aforesaid, immediately after the death of my sayd wife, 
 and always after the death of the present incumbent, and they and every of them 
 shall be lyable to the forfeiture of the lawe in caisse (?) of default as other patrons 
 of presentative benefices be." Thus it appears that it was the testator's wish to 
 restore the tithes of Thompson to the Church after his wife's death. This clause in 
 the will, however, was not carried out, being, I conclude, contrary to the Statute of 
 Mortmain, loth Rich. II. 
 
 Humphrey Futtcr's will, which he signs with a mark, is witnessed by William 
 de Grey of Merton, who had married a Bedingfield, and who was therefore distantly 
 connected by marriage with Humphrey Futter's mother ; by John Blome, who was 
 Perpetual Curate of Thompson ; and by Robert Pooley. 
 
 Bridgett Futter, who was sole executrix of her husband's will, died one year 
 and ten months after him {'Thompson Register), and at her death the tithes, which 
 should have passed to the church, went with the estate. 
 
 Humphrey gave after his wife's decease, by his will, his real estate to Robert 
 Ware, his sister's son, and to the heirs of his body begotten ; but if Robert Ware's 
 son died without issue, the real estate was to be equally divided between the 
 daughters of John Prittiman (Humphrey's uncle). 
 
 Robert Ware enjoyed the estate (as appears by the court book) and the tithes 
 
 • Eobert Futter and Jane his wife were buried in Thompson chancel, close to the east end, under black 
 marble slabs, with these inscriptions. The ages are not given. — "Here lyeth interred the body of Robert 
 Futter, of Tompson College, gent., who died y 12th day of May, 1652, in the yeare of his age." 
 " Here lyeth interred the body of Jane, the wife of Robert Futter, of Tompson College, gent., who died 
 the 2oth day of March, 1643, in the yeare of her age; and Henry Futter, their sonne, who died the ISth 
 day of March, 1643 (it should be 1642, see Register) in the eighteenth year of his age.— Ex. dono Edm. 
 Bedingfield, Esq'." Xo doubt Edmund Bedingfield, of Gray's Inn, Jane's eldest brother, see Korf. Vis. 
 i. 168.
 
 MANOR OF THOlirSOX " NUPER COLLEGII." 51 
 
 only two years, and then, upon his death, passed to his son, John Ware of London, 
 gentleman, who, with Elizabeth his wife, 21st Jan., 1681, cut off the entail, and 
 28th May, 1085, mortgaged the College and Rectory to Ralph Hare, Esq., for £900, 
 and 18th Oct., 1700, sold to Rich. Cater of Caston, gentleman, for £1400 ; the 
 College, except 63 1 acres sold to Robert Atmear, of Swaffham, yeoman; and also, 
 except eighteen acres sold to Thompson Barker of Thompson ; and also, except the 
 impropriate Rectory of Thompson, for £1400. The arms of John Ware — A chevron 
 crenelle, betw. three wyverns' (?) heads. — Deed 14th Oct., 1699, and 23rd Jan., 1699. 
 Crest: A fawn's head. 
 
 The property, consisting of 63J acres, sold to Atmear, was mortgaged, and 
 afterwards sold by him to the Rev. Wm. Ewin of Merton, Norfolk, who died 
 31st July, 1704, and who, by his will, left it to his daughter Susanna Maria, wife 
 of Henry Iveson of Norwich, M.D. Her brother, Thomas Ewin of Swanton Morley, 
 clerk, disputed the will, but this property continued in Mrs. Iveson, who in 1709, 
 sold it to William Tooke, Esq. 
 
 Blomefield, under Wereham, mentions a Thomas Methwold of Thompson College 
 gent., in 1633. He may have been a tenant of the Futters. The Methwolds were 
 connected by marriage with the Futters (see Daye pedigree, infra). 
 
 The Rev. Mr. Collman possessed, and probably resided at, a house south of 
 the church in Thompson, called the Bell House, which had been left to Francis 
 Futter by his father Robert (see p. 43). It was probably on the site of the 
 farmhouse now occupied by Mr. Chase, and forming part of the present Hemsworth 
 estate. Blomefield says, under Kenxinghall, "Jolm Millgate, last Prior of Bokenham, 
 bare for arms three escallops, which are to be seen on a brick in the chancel wall 
 of Kenuinghall, two lions being the supporters ; as also upon a wall of a house at 
 Thompson, in which Roger Colman, clerk, lately dwelt, with this under them — 
 'Perpetius anuis Milgate memento Johannis,' and this motto 'HELP HANDIS.'" 
 Mr. Roger Collman and Sarah his wife had two children baptised and one buried 
 at Thompson from 1715 to 1720. Roger Colman was lord of the manor of Water- 
 house with Churchhouse in Thompson from 1725 to 1730 (see Manor Book, and 
 p. 75 inf.). "The Rev. Mr. Roger Collman at his death left the Rectory deeply 
 mortgaged. Barber Colman, his son and heir, having the equity of redemption, but 
 the mortgagee was in possession in 1738." — Blomefield, ii. 309. 
 
 In a deed dated 21st Jan., 1754, Barber Colman is called of Bedford, OiBcer of 
 Excise, only son and heir of Roger Colman, late of Thompson, clerk. This deed 
 recites an indenture of mortgage, dated 1728, between Roger Colman and Edward 
 Greene of Drinkstone, Suffolk, clerk. The said Roger Colman morto-ao-ed to the said 
 Edward Greene a messuage or tenement in Thompson, commonly called the Bell, with 
 two acres of land thereto adjoining, between the common river east, and the common 
 way leading to the Church of Thompson west, and abutting upon another common 
 way south, and the laud theretofore of Thos. Wright north, for £157. 10s. Od. This 
 
 H 2
 
 52 FAMILY OF THOMPSON. 
 
 deed also recites that Matthew Barker of Thompson (who was at tliat time one of the 
 cliief inhabitants of Thompson) liad contracted with Barber Colman for the absolute 
 sale of the said premises, together with the Rectory Impropriate of Tliompson. — 
 Communicated by the Rev. Wm. Grigson. 
 
 There was a family of Colman resident at Great Ellingham Hall for several 
 generations. Sir Roger Potts, who had, by marriage with the heiress of Gurncy, 
 become possessed of the manor of Ellingham Hall, sold it to Mr. Francis Colman of 
 Norwich. Colman of Norwich bore Az., on a pale radiant rayonne a lion ramp. gu. 
 
 Richard Cater of Caston, gentleman, to whom John Ware sold the college and 
 manor, died in 1717. He was buried in Thompson chancel. His will is in the 
 Muniment Room at Merton (box E 2). The probate is dated 17th June, 1717. "I, 
 
 Richard Cater the elder of Tompston, Gent to my son, John Cater, manor of 
 
 Tompston College, £20 a year out of it to be paid to son Richard ; to son Anthony 
 property in Caston, Griston, and Wattou .... and goods, cattle, and stock on Caston 
 Hall Farm ; .... to Mary, my loving wife, £30 and the furniture of one of my 
 chambers ; . . . . residue to son John," who is appointed sole executor. The Rev. 
 John Cator, the eldest son, succeeded to the College Manor. 
 
 Richard Cater's first court was held in 1700, and the Rev. John Caters first court 
 in 1718 {Court Booh, Thompson nuper Collegii). The Rev. John Cater, the son, was 
 lord also of the Rectory Manor at Great Ellingham, and was patron and incumbent 
 of Great and Little Ellingham. He settled part of the tithes of Great Ellingham on 
 Little Ellingham and on Carbrooke. — Armstrong's Wayland, pp. 19 and 38. 
 
 Extract from Thompson Register : — Richard Cater, Gent., was buryed 29th May, 
 1717. On a small marble slab within the communion rails is this inscription, "Hie 
 jacet corpus Richardi Cater, generosi, qui obiit vicesimo septimo die Maij, anno domini 
 1717, et fetatis sua3 septuagesimo quarto." 
 
 From Thompson Register : — " The Rev. John Cater, a learned and ingenious divine, 
 buried July 30th, 1747." There is a slab within the communion rails which bears 
 this inscription, "To the memory of the Rev. Mr. John Cater, who depai-ted this life 
 the 27th day of July, 1747, aged 55 years. 
 
 The will of the Rev. John Cater was proved 29th July, 1747. "I, John Cater of 
 
 Tompson, clerk to my sister, Mary Bond of Little Ellingham," Thompson 
 
 College Manor, on condition that Robert Tooke is continued tenant at a rent of £100. 
 (The real rent was £120.) To said Robert Tooke £200 and all my furniture, &c., in 
 the mansion house of Tompson, comonly called Tompson College. Mary Bond, 
 executrix and residuary." To be privately interred in Thompson chancel, " hard by the 
 grave of my deceased father." 
 
 The Rev. John Cater left to his sister and heir, Mrs. Bond, widow, his Thompson 
 property, and her first court for the college manor was held in 1747. — Court Book
 
 MANOR OF TFIOMPSON " NUPER COLLEGII." 53 
 
 John Morplievv of Norwich, gentleman, hath niarried Mary, one of the daughters 
 of the said Mary Bond, widow, late of Little Ellingham, and now of Norwich, 
 and in consideration of annuities paid by Morphew to Mary Bond and her son 
 Jonas and his wife Sarah, Mary Bond conveys to Morphew the manor, &c., of 
 Thompson College. Rev. Thomas Bond, the eldest (?) son, is not mentioned. I 
 suppose his mother considered him provided for Ly the Rectories of Thompson and 
 Ellingham. Neither is his only son, the Rev. Thomas Bond, mentioned, but probably 
 for the like reason. Mary and Elizabeth, the sisters of the last-named Rev. Thomas, 
 are to be paid by Morphew the sum of £50 a-piece. Thus, John Morphew, having 
 become possessed of Thompson College by deed, 4th June, 1759 (box E), sold it to 
 William Tooke, Esq., for £3780. 
 
 Tooke bears. Per chev. sa. and ar., in the centi'e point a cross pattee counter- 
 changed, betw., in chief two griffin's heads erased of the second, collared gu., and in 
 base a griffin's head erased of the first, collared or. Mr. Tooke having purchased 
 the College manor and lands in 1759, and the Butters Hall manor in 17G9, 
 continued to add to his Thompson estate whenever he had the opportunity, and 
 before his death had purchased ten other properties there, which, with four 
 small properties purchased in 1S02 by William Tooke Harwood, Esq., made up the 
 Tooke property in Thompson to 1736 acres, of the value of £37,819. This was 
 ceded in 1844 to Thomas, fifth Lord Walsingham, who gave for it in exchange his 
 estate at Copdock in Suffolk, of the value of £39,105. 
 
 William Tooke is buried in tlie nave, near the south door, under a slab which 
 bears this inscription- — " In memory of William Tooke, Esq., of the College farm 
 in this parish, who died Sept. 25th, 1802, aged eighty-two years. There is also a 
 marble monument to his memory on the north wall of the nave. It is worthy of 
 note that John Home, of Parley, the well-known politician and philologist, took 
 by royal license in 1782 the name of Tooke, out of regard for his friend William 
 Tooke, and was thenceforth known as John Home Tooke {A^orf. Chron., June, 1782). 
 By his political conduct Mr. Home obtained the favour of Mr. Tooke of Purley, 
 and received from him such assurances of testamentary favours as induced his 
 nephew. Col. Harwood, to agree upon a partition of their joint interest in the 
 reversion of his estate ; though Mr. Home never received, first and last, moi'e than 
 £8000 from the property, notwithstanding the subsequent change of his name (from 
 Jolui Home to John Horne Tooke) about the year 1782, in acknowledgment of 
 his patron's kindness, and his long-continued intimacy and frequent residence at 
 Purley ; the principal legatee after all being a Mr. Beasley." — Encyc. Brit. 
 
 12th Oct., 1802. Probate of will of William Tooke, Esq. Personalty under 
 £90,000. £36,600 left in legacies to relations and friends. "I give £500 to my 
 ffriend, John Horne Tooke, Esq., of Wimbledon .... I say £500, and I also
 
 54: HISTORY OF THOMrSOX. 
 
 forgive and acquit the said John Home Tooke of all the pi-incipal sum of £750 
 now on niortf^agc .... £100 each to Mary and Chai-lotte Hart, now living with the 
 aforesaid John Home Tooke .... Real estate and remainder of personal to (great) 
 nephew, John Baseley .... lie to take the name of Tooke. Executors, nephews, 
 John Green Baseley, Lieut.-Col. Tooke Harwood, and John Baseley. 
 
 Thus William Tooke left his Thompson property to his great-nephew, John 
 Baseley, whom the writer in the Encyc. Brit, calls "a Mr. Beasley" excluding his 
 nephew William Tooke Harwood. Jolm Baseley Tooke, however, ceded the property 
 to his uncle. Col. W. Tooke Harwood, for his life. Col. Harwood held his first 
 court for the manor of Thompson College in 1809. He resided at the College, to 
 which he added some modern rooms. This modern part of the College was after- 
 wards pulled down by Col. Harwood's successor, John Baseley Tooke, and was 
 rebuilt as an addition to a cottage in a field called Hallidays Close, near Thompson 
 Carr, and became the shooting lodge of the estate and the occasional residence of 
 its owner, the College being again turned into a farmhouse. The shooting lodge, 
 called the Hall Cottage because it stood not far from the site of Thompson Hall 
 (see infra), was again pulled down in 1852, when it had become the property of 
 Lord Walsingham, and was rebuilt as the present Merton Rectory on land in Thompson 
 exchanged by Lord Walsingham for the glebe in Merton. Col. Harwood is said 
 to have been very eccentric. He was many j-ears a prisoner in Norwich Castle 
 because he could not, or would not, pay the damages and costs in an action for 
 slander, brought against him by Sir Jacob Astley. He was afterwards in the 
 Fleet Prison, and returned to Thompson only a few years before he died. 
 
 Col. Harwood on one occasion acted as clergyman of his parish, for I find 
 this entry in his handwriting in the Register book. — " Charles, son of Tliomas and 
 Sarah Andrews his wife (late S. Styles), was buried Aug. 11th, 180G, by W. Tooke 
 Harwood, lord of the manor of Thompson, there having been no Minister, nor 
 service performed in this church since the Sunday after Whitsunday, the •women 
 "•oin" to neicrhbourinsr churches to return thanks, and their children to be christened. 
 This child was kept unburied many days after it became ofiensive in an excessive 
 state of putridity." 
 
 In explanation of this neglect it must be remembered that at this time there 
 was no resident minister at Thompson, Breckles, Merton, Tottington, or Stanford, 
 and that the services were only held in these churches once a fortnight, and often 
 only once a month. The clergyman rode on horseback with top boots, from one 
 church to another, sometimes taking as many as five services in the day, and seldom 
 visiting any parish on the week days. The stipend of the Perpetual Curate of 
 Thomjjson is £43. 
 
 Col. Harwood, though twice married, died s.p. in 1824, and was buried within 
 the communion rails, under a slab which bears this inscription — "To the memory 
 of William Tooke Harwood, Esquire, who died April 11th, 1824, aged sixty-four
 
 MANOR OP THOMPSON " NUPER COLLEGII.'' 
 
 55 
 
 years." Col. Harwood's nephew and successor in the estate also died s.p. Thus 
 the Thompson College property came to the son of Barbara Basely and James 
 Hales, her husband, viz., the Rev. James Tooke. Hales Tooke, who conveyed it 
 in exchange fur an estate at Copdock to Thomas, fifth Lord Walsingham, whose 
 son is the present owner and lord of the manor. The De Greys have been 
 copj'liold tenants of the College manor at least since the 12th Charles I. (court- 
 roll tliat date), but till their purchase from Mr. Tooke they possessed but little 
 land in Thompson, viz., ISO acres, situated (as appears by a map of 1723 now at 
 Merton Hall) south of Bradmore and Thompson North Commons, being lauds now 
 in the occupation of Mrs. Matthews, Mr. Brown, and Mr. Land. 
 
 PEDIGREE OF TOOKE OF THOMPSON COLLEGE. 
 
 Communicated by t/te lute Jin\ JTm. Grigson, 
 
 [There were Tookes resident in Thompson, and landowners there, who appear in 
 the Registers from 1643 to 1797, but they are not known to have been connected 
 with the Tookes of Thompson College.] 
 
 Robert Tooke=p Thomasin, dau. of Walter Deynes of Burlingham, 
 of Norwich. | co. Norf. Living 1st March, 1600-1. 
 , I , . 
 
 Thomasin Tooke, 
 bapt. at All Saints', 
 Norwich, Sth April, 
 1593. 
 
 John Tooke, 
 bapt. there 2nd 
 AuL'. Ii98. 
 
 Robt. Tooke, 
 bapt. there 19th 
 Uct. 1596. 
 
 Win. Tooke, sometime =p Elizth., dau. of Hugh Cooper 
 ij „« V .__.:_u ,-,£ Tunstall, co. Norf.. bur. 
 
 in All Saints" t'hurch, Norw. 
 
 Will dated .5th Feb. 1673 ; 
 
 proved (Archd. Norw.) 29th 
 
 July, 1679. 
 
 Alderman of Norwich, 
 Sheritf 1650, died intes- 
 tate, bur. in All Saints' 
 Church, 2nd Sept. 1671, 
 aged 87. 
 
 Edward Tooke of Nor- 
 wich, liell-foundor, bapt. 
 at All Saints', 2nd Feb. 
 1026-7, and there bur. in 
 Oct. 1679, having died 
 unmarried. 
 
 Wm. Tooke of Lakenham,= 
 5'eonran, so described in his will, 
 bapt. at All Saints', 10th Feb. 
 1617; bur. at Lakenbam, 6th 
 April, 1673. Will dated 27th 
 March, 1G73 ; proved in the 
 Coiu't of the Dean and Chapter 
 of Norwich, 29th May, 1673. 
 
 = Frances, dau. of Robt. 
 Fitt, mar. at Laken- 
 ham, 15th Dec. 1641, 
 bur. there 12th April, 
 1673. Will dated 7th 
 April, 1673 ; proved in 
 Court of Dean and 
 Chapt.,20th Oct. 1673. 
 
 1 
 
 Richard = 
 Johnson of 
 Norwich, 
 Slerchant. 
 Living 14th 
 Oct., 1679. 
 
 : Mary Tooke, 
 bapt. at Ail 
 Saints', 14th 
 May, 1624. 
 Living oth 
 Feb. 1673. 
 
 Several 
 
 other 
 
 children. 
 
 John Tooke of Norwich, worstead 
 weaver, bapt. at Lakenham, 18th 
 JIarch, 1646, bur. at St. John's 
 Sepulchre in Norwich, 21st Oct. 
 1673, s.p. 
 
 Wm. Tooke of Norwich, wool- = 
 comber, bapt. at Lakenham, 9th 
 Jan. 164S; ob. loth July, 1725; 
 bur. on the 17th in St. Peter's 
 Hungate, Norwich. 
 
 = Mary, ob. 11th .ind 
 bur. at St. Peter's 
 Hungate, 13th June, 
 1735. 
 
 Other issue. 
 
 Edward Tooke of Norwich, worstead weaver,^ Barbara, dau. of Hood Hunt, 
 
 eldest surviving son, bapt. at St. Peter's Hungate 
 nth Oct. 16S1 ; ob. 27th Feb. 1727, aged 46; 
 bur. in St. Clement's Church, Norwich. 
 
 ob. 6th Aug. 1754, aged 70 ; 
 bur. in St. Clement's Church. 
 
 Willm. Tooke, Esq., of Serjeants' Inn and of 
 Purley (Thompson College Manor Book, 1774). 
 I'urchaser of the Thomp.son property, d. 1802 
 unm.ard., buried in Thompson nave; lord of the 
 manor of Thompson "unper coUcgii" and of 
 Butters Hall. 
 
 Elizabeth Tooke, in^Thos. Harwood of Bracon- 
 
 her descts. heir to her 
 brother; d. 1797, aged 
 79, bur. in St. Peter 
 Mancroft, Norw. 
 
 dale, many years one of tha 
 Common Council of Norwich; 
 d. 1780, aged 72, bur. in St. 
 Peter's Mancroft. 
 
 («)
 
 56 
 
 HISTORY OF THOMPSON. 
 
 I , 
 
 Elizth.Dro8ier,=Win. Tooke Hiirwood of •= Ann, dau. of 
 bom 9th Feb., Thompson, Esq.. only Thos. Hol- 
 176i; died Ist son, a Colonel in the croft. She 
 Jan. 1796; bur. Army; bapt. at St. Peter's died 19th 
 at Woodnorton, Mancft., 19th tJct. 1757 ; Feb. 1841, 
 CO. Norf. 1st d. ind April, 1824, bur. aged 76. 
 wife. at Thompson in chancel; 2nd wife. 
 
 lord of the manor of 
 
 Thompson ** nuper col- 
 
 legii and of Butters Hall, 
 
 Thompson. 
 
 John Baseley Tooke 
 of Thompson, Esq., 
 only son, an acting 
 magistrate for Norf., 
 assumed the additional 
 surname of Tooke by 
 royal lie. in Oct. 1802. 
 pursuant to the will of 
 Wm. Tcioke, Esq., his 
 great-uncle; b. 1.3th 
 Jlar. 1779; d unmar. 
 1 2th Nov. I84I ; bur. 
 in Konsal Green Ceme- 
 tery ; lord of the manor 
 of Thompson "nuper 
 Collegii"andofB utters 
 Hall. 
 
 Edwin = Mary 
 Chitty, a Lt.- Baselt 
 Col. in Hon. 
 E. I. C. Serv., 
 died 7th Oct. 
 1838,aged62; 
 bur.atCatton, 
 s.p. 
 
 Ann 
 eld. 
 dau., b. 2.5th 
 Hay, 1780, 
 mar. 16th 
 Aug. 1825; 
 d. 27th Feb. 
 1856 ; bur. at 
 Catton. 
 
 John Orcene = 
 Basely, .Alderman 
 of Norw., Mayor 
 1791, born 2i;th 
 Sept. 1740; died 
 30lh Nov. 1S06; 
 bur.inSt.Savi<jur's 
 Church in that 
 city. 
 
 = Xlargaret Ilar- 
 wood, mar. 2nd 
 June, 1778; d. 
 18th Dec. 1839, 
 aged 91 ; also 
 bur. in St. 
 Saviour's 
 Church. 
 
 Barbara Harwood, 
 d. 22nd Mar. 1823, 
 aged 73, s.p., having 
 been mar. to Koger 
 Warno. Esq., of 
 Bath, Lieut. -Col. in 
 Hon. E. I. Comp. 
 Service. He d. 1 7th 
 July, 1845, aged 91. 
 
 Wm. Herring, = Eli2th. Mary 
 Esq., .Sheriff of Baseley, 2nd 
 
 Norwich 1831, 
 J. P. for Norf.; 
 d. at Hcthersett 
 16th Jan. 1843; 
 buried in St. 
 George's Cole- 
 gate Church, 
 Norwich. 
 
 dau., b. 13th 
 Oct. 1781, mar. 
 at St. Giles' 
 Church, Norw., 
 22nd Nov. 
 1831 ; d. s.p. 
 21st April, 
 1840. 
 
 JamesHale8,= 
 of the city of 
 Norwich, at- 
 torney-at- 
 law,mar. 13th 
 June, 1810 ; 
 died 6th Apr. 
 1831. 
 
 1 
 
 ' Barbara 
 Baselev, 
 3rd and 
 youngest 
 dau., bom 
 24th Sept. 
 1783; date 
 of death 
 unknown. 
 
 The Rev. James Tooke Hales 
 Tooke of Thompson, conveyed his 
 Thompson manors and property 
 to Thos., 5th Lord Walsingham, 
 d. 1875. 
 
 NOTE A. 
 
 Sir Edmund Knyvett certainly sold some of the college land in Thompson 
 to Edmund de Grey of Merton. There is at Merton Hall a deed of bargain and 
 sale, and also a deed of conveyance, and a " foot of line," all dated 33rd Hen. YIII., 
 from Sir Edmund Knyvett to Edmund de Grey, Esq., of " Waylond Wood ' otherwysse 
 called y^ Collegge Wood, and lands in Griston, Thompston, Marton, Watton, and 
 Totyngton, pcell of the possessions of Tompson Colledge." 
 
 The portion of the possessions of Thompson College which Edmund de Grey 
 boutrht, is stated in the " foot of fine " to have been as follows : — three hundred acres 
 of land [arable], one hundred acres of pasture, twenty acres of wood [half of this, 
 
 ' This wood, seventy acres in extent, is known by tradition as the scene of the murder of "The Babes in 
 the Wood." There are at least two other versions in existence of this story, besides the well-known ballad. 
 In one of these the scene is laid near Padua, in the other near London, but as Wayland Wood has been connected 
 with the story at least as early as the reign of Queen Elizabeth, when Griston Hall, close to the wood, the house 
 known by tradition as that of the cruel uncle, was built and ornamented with carvings representing the story, 
 it is probable that some incident happened in the wood in mediaeval times which gave rise to it. The ballad 
 is supposed not to be earlier than about 1650.
 
 MANOR OF THOMPSON " NUPER COLLEGII." 57 
 
 or ten acres, must have been the College Wood or Waylond Wood].> One thousand 
 acres of marsh, three hundred acres of bruery [heath or furze, O.F. hruiere], a foldcourse 
 and commonage for one hundred cows in Thomcston, Griston, Watton, TottjTigton, 
 and Marton. For all this land Edmund de Grey paid Sir Edmund Knevett £120 
 steiding, according to the same "foot of fine." 
 
 Sir William de Grey, Edmund's grandson, writes in 1624' of his "two fould corses 
 of Morton and Thompson, conteyniiige 1200 sheep (noote y' Mei'ton is not stented to 
 an\^ numlior, Thompson being only 400 and noe more), all valewed w'hout stocke 
 at G" the hundred, Ixxij"." 
 
 And the same Sir William de Grey has this item amongst his receipts in a 
 paper, also dated 1G24: — "Off S'' phelipp Knevett for a rent chardge by covenant 
 for my landes in Thompson pchased of S'' Edmond Knevitt, xvijs. iijrf. ob." And 
 amongst his payments : — " Imprimis to the Kinge for my landes p'call of Thopson 
 Colledge, xvijs. iiyl. ob. Itim to the Kinge for my respitt of Homadge every fyfth 
 terme, iiijs. iiijcl [tenants who held of the Crown had to do personal homage]. Itim 
 for the warrant of attorney, \uyl." And Willm. de Grey, Esq., his grandson, in 
 1676 makes this note :— Payment. "To y' Kings auditt yeerly for lands formerly 
 belonging to Thompson Colledge and 8cZ. for an acquittance, in all I7s. llfZ." — (MS. 
 book at Merton Hall, marked g''^,.] 
 
 NOTE B [see p. 52]. 
 
 2nd Jan., 1796. Copy of Will of Wm. Bale of Watton in Chesterfield, Derbyshire, 
 Gentleman [Pi'oved in Court of Bi-shop of Lichfield, 21st Sept., 1797, by John Bale, 
 surviving executors] to brother Barker Bale and his heirs, cop3'hold of Thompson 
 
 1 In tho schedule attached to the conveyance, dated 30th Aug., 33rd Hen. VIII., occurs this passage: — 
 Closes and lands in Waylond ffeld — "first a certain wood or thicket called Waylond Wood, containing by 
 estimation ten acres of land, and lying near the wood or thicket of the Manor of Merton and the Nahbe 
 pertaining to a certain manor in Thre.xton." It would seem that there were in the sixteenth century four 
 parts of Waylond Wood:— (1) The part belonging to Slerton Manor called Waylond Wood, tho ancient 
 inheritance of the de Greys. (2) The ten acres that had belonged to Thompson CoDege, called also Waylond 
 Wood, which Edmund de Grey bought. (3) Thrcxton Nabbe, which Edmund de Grey also bought, and 
 which was held of Threxton Manor. (4) Mounteneys Wood, which belonged to the manor of Mounteneys in 
 Threxton. In some depositions taken at Wymondham, 4th Jan., 36th Eliz., now in tho P. K. 0., the witnesses 
 state that tho Nabbe was the part of the wood bought of Sir Edm. Knevett, and formerly belonging to Thompson 
 College, but the above extract from the schedule seems to contradict their evidence. 
 
 I
 
 58 HISTORY OF THOMPSON. 
 
 property given to me by y^ Will of Matthew Barker of Thompson, remainder to 
 brother John Bale of Manchester, merchant, and his heirs .... Freehold pi-operty 
 in Thompson to uncle John Bale of Watton, Gentleman, and brother John Bale 
 upon trust to sell and pay annuities to mother Martha Bale, uncle John Bale . . . 
 remainder to brother Barker Bale and heirs .... remainder to brother John 
 Bale and heirs .... residue to brothers and sisters John, Thomas, Martha, 
 Caroline, and Maria .... William Bale, child of Barker Bale, uncle John Bale, 
 and brother John Bale, executors. 
 
 Barker Bale, a private in 15th Regiment of Foot, died Srd Dec, 179o, at 
 Martinique in the West Indies, s.p. 
 
 Thus a portion of the Thompson pi'opcrtj' of Matthew Barker passed to 
 William Bale, Senr., of Thompson, farmer, then to his son William Bale, jun., then 
 to his son John Bale of Manchester, merchant, who sold it to William Tooke, Esq., 
 for £1500. 
 
 NOTE C. 
 
 [The following is a ti-anslation of the document referred to on p. 32, n. 2. It 
 had become displaced among Mr. Crabbe's MSS., and came to hand too late to allow of 
 my putting it in the Appendix of Documents relating to Thompson College. I hope I 
 do Mr. Crabbe no great injustice in suspecting that he was not aM'are of the meaning 
 of the term Sir, often prefixed to the name of a priest, even late in the middle of 
 the sixteenth century ; and as this practice sometimes pei'plexes readers, and its 
 origin is not known to all, I venture to add here an extract which offers the best 
 explanation that I have met with of a title which has caused some discussion from 
 time to time. 
 
 " This being so, and that a Priest's place in civil conversation 
 
 is always before any Esquire, as being a Knight's fellow by his holy orders, and the 
 third of tite three sirs which only were in request of old .... to wit Sir King, 
 
 Sir Knight, and Sir Priest, this word Bominus was in Latin applied to all 
 
 noble and generous hearts, even from the King to the meanest Priest But 
 
 Sir in English was restrained to these foui-. Sir Knight, Sir Priest, Sir Graduate, 
 and in common speech Sir Esquire; so as always, since distinction of titles were, 
 Sir Priest was ever the second." — A Dccacordon of Ten Quodlihetical Questions con- 
 cerning Religion and State, 4to. 1G02. 
 
 William Watson, the writer of this passage, has a little overstated his case. It 
 is more true to say that in common parlance the title Sir was always given to a 
 priest who was a graduate, but not always if he were no graduate of the University.
 
 1L4.N0R OF THOMPSON " NUPER COLLEGII." 59 
 
 In the sixteenth century, however, it became the custom to call every priest Sir, 
 whether he were a University man or not ; much in the same way as now everybody 
 is addressed as Esq. 
 
 With regard to the payment made for the board of John Mayster's attendant — 
 for still continuing to be a brother of the College though ceasing to be Master, he 
 would pay nothing for his own maintenance — it was by no means below the usual 
 charge for board Avages. A century later it appears that the ordinary charge for 
 the board of so considerable a young gentleman as the son of Sir Thomas Le 
 Strano-e of Hunstanton when at school was one shilling a week. See Privy Purse 
 Expenses of the L'Estranges of Humstanton, Archceologia, vol. xxv. p. 446.] 
 
 [Translation.] 
 LICENCE TO SIR JOHN MAYSTER, BROTHER OF THOMPSON COLLEGE. 
 
 To all the sons of Mother Church to whom the present letters may come, and 
 especially to Sir John Mayster, priest and brother of the CoUege of Thompson in the 
 Diocese of Norwich, Roger Fylpot, master of the said College, and the other brethren, 
 priests of the said College, wish eternal health in the Lord. Whereas Sir Thos. Shardelow, 
 Knt., of good memory, out of his good will ordained and founded a perpetual chantry of 
 six chaplains in the town of Thompson aforesaid, in which ordinance and foundation he 
 settled and ordained that one of the same chaplains be master, whom the rest of the 
 priests are bound to obey in lawfid things; and that they shoidd sleep, eat, and drink 
 together in one house, and that it should not be lawfid for any of the same priests to 
 pass the night or eat outside their dweUing ; and that daily in the morning they should 
 assemble in the church of Thompson aforesaid .... and that they shall celebrate matins, 
 mass, and vespers daily by day and night (de die per noctem quotidie) if they conveniently 
 can, as is more fully contained in the ordinance of the founder himself. We, however, the 
 master and brethren of the said College, the aforesaid ordinances and statutes notwithstand- 
 ing, of and with the common consent of us aU, do grant unto the aforesaid Sir John 
 Mayster, late Master of the same College, now brother of the same College, for good 
 service rendered by him to the said College, that henceforth he be not in any wise 
 bound by the ordinances and statutes of this kind or any others whatsoever more 
 specially contained Ln the foundation of the said chantry ; but that the same Sir John 
 oiir brother, be absolved by the present letters, and released fi-om all observance of the 
 like statutes of the said founder ordained in the same chantry, so that the said Sir John 
 
 Mayster, our brother aforesaid, may have free Nevertheless, the same Sir 
 
 I 2
 
 GO HISTORY OF THOMPSON. 
 
 John agrees tlmt lii> will celebrate masses for the Holy Virgin Mary or requiem, with 
 the sajnng of which the said Master and Brethrou are charged, according to the ordinance 
 of the founder aforesaid, when the same Sir John shall bo disposed to do the same and 
 not otherwise or in any other manner. 
 
 Moreover, we, the Master and Brethren of the College aforesaid, for us and our successors, 
 do will and by these present letters grant to the said John Mayster a servant to 
 wait upon the same Sir John in doing his duties to the end of the life of the said 
 Sir John, with his board both in eatables and drinkables, so that Sir John himself may eit at 
 table with the master of the said College to eat and drink, and the same servant to wait 
 upon Sir John with other servants of the said College, for which board both in 
 eatables and drinkables of the said Sir John and his servant to wait upon him, the said Sir 
 John shall pay to the end of his life weekly to the same master and brethren xiirf. ; and 
 if it happen to the said Sir John Mayster to be absent from the said College for any 
 week, that thenceforth he is not bound to pay except for those weeks during which he 
 sliall have been in commons in the College aforesaid. In witness thereof we have affixed 
 to the present letters the common seal of our chapter. Given at Thompson aforesaid in our 
 chapter house the 20th day of the month of June, in the year of our Lord 1435, and in 
 the 22nd year of the reign of King Henry the YI. after the Conquest. 
 
 NOTE D. 
 LORDS OF THE MANOR OF THOMPSON NUPER COLLEGII. 
 
 (Before 1606 Blomefield is the authority; after 1606 the Court Book.) 
 
 Before 1350. Sir John de Shardelowe. 
 
 Sir John and Sir Thomas, his sons. 
 1350. The Master and Fellows of the College. 
 15-13. Sir Edmund Knevett. 
 1545. John Maynard, Mercer, of London. 
 2nd Elizabeth. Alex. Rave, and others. 
 15G1. Robert Futter, son of John Futter, of Thuxton. 
 1589. Henry Futter, half brother of Robert. 
 1C02. Winifred Futter, his widow. 
 ICO-t. Francis and Winifred Bedingfield. 
 1606. Francis and Winifred Bedingfield (court book.) 
 1620. Francis Bedingfield. John Dover, steward. 
 1622. Robert Futter (son of Henry and Winifred). 
 1652. Humfrey Futter (son of Robert, first court, 1652).
 
 MANOR OF THOMPSON " NUPER COLLEGII." 61 
 
 1679. Bridget Futter, widow of Humfrey (first court, 1679.) 
 1679. John Ware, nephew of Ilumfrey (first court, 1681). 
 
 Robert Clarke, steward, 16S.3. 
 
 J. Pitcher, steward from 1685 to 1699. 
 1700. Richard Cater (first court, 1700). John Muston, steward. 
 
 Robert Cater, steward, 1709. 
 
 John Muston, steward, 1712. 
 1718. First court of Rev. John Cater. 
 
 John Rowell, steward, 1722. 
 
 John Amyas, steward, 1731. 
 1747. First court of Mary Bond, widow ; sister of Rev. John Cater. 
 1759. First court of William Tooke, Esq. 
 
 Thos. Hicks, steward, 1763. 
 
 John Morphew, steward, 1772. 
 1809. William Tooke Harwood. John Steward, steward. 
 
 Robert Browne, steward, 1819. 
 1824. John Baseley Tooke. Robert Browne, steward. 
 1841. Rev. James Tooke Hales Tooke. 
 
 Thomas, fifth Lord Walsingham. E, R. Grigson, steward. 
 1870. Thomas, sixth Lord Walsingham.
 
 G2 
 
 <^Dmc |.f(0unt of iljc liliiuor of ^loutctorts or ^lotouvs |)all. 
 
 "Why sit'st thoii by that riiineil hall; 
 Dost thou its formor priilo recall 'i 
 Or ponder how it passed away." 
 
 From Scott's Antlijuary. 
 
 HE manor of Botours Hall belonged to the Boutetorts. Guy de Boutetort 
 and Ada his wife, had bought in 1307 the capital manor, and the 
 Botetourts are called, temp. Edw. I., lords of Thompson (Blomcfidd, ii. 
 3G6 and 372.) The manor of Buttort Hall was a part of the capital 
 manor, and it continued in the Botetourt family when the rest of the capital manor 
 passed to the Shardelowcs {Blomefield), for Sir Baldwyn Botours and his descendants, 
 the Esmonds, certainly possessed it. (Manor I'oU of Botours Hall, Tomston, 1449, 
 and see pp. 63, 64, 65.) 
 
 The Botetourts were Normans, and their descendants were summoned to Parliament 
 as barons in the reigns of the first three Edwards. The barony of Botetourt is 
 now vested in the Duke of Beaufort (Burke's Patrician, i. 40). Sir Guy de 
 Botetourt, lord of Thompson in 1307, seems to have been the head of the Norfolk 
 branch of the family, which had manors at Cantley, Cranworth, Kimberley, &c. 
 I have seai'ched in vain at the Briti.sh Museum and elsewhere for a pedigree of 
 Botetourt. The following table shows only the probable pedigree so far as it 
 relates to Thompson. [For a better account of Sir John de Botetourt (summoned 
 to Parliament as Baron Botetourt, 13th June, 1305) and his descendants, the reader 
 may be referred to C'okayne's Complete Peeracje, vol. i. p. 3S5, London, 8vo. 1887.]
 
 M4.N0R OF HOUTETORTS OR BOIOURS HALL. 
 
 63 
 
 PEDIGREE OF BOTETOURT OF NORFOLK. 
 (Arranged from Blomefield and other authorities.) 
 
 Isabel, d. and h. of Botetort. Arms of = Sir Const-antine de Wodehouse, temp. 
 Botetort, Or, a saltire engr. sa. — Blomrjield, Hen. I., circ. 1100. — lllomcjicld, Kim- 
 Kimberley. berley, Wodehouse Ped. 
 
 Sir Anfrid dc Potetort, temp. Hen. II., held Wendover in Bucks. — 
 Gournay lUcurd^ 186. 
 
 Sir Roger Botetourt held Uphall Manor in Canlley of Hugh de 
 Gournay, 1229. — UlomefieUi, Cantley, and Gouinay Record, 186. 
 
 Sir Guy de Botetourt held Uphall Manor, 127o=f^<l''' 
 and 1305, settled it on his sun \s'\\\ra.—Blomcf. 
 Cantley. Had a charter for free warren in Car- 
 lirooke, 12.53.— i?fomt'/"., Carbrooke. Lord and patron 
 of Little Ellingham,"l274, and 128G-1315. —iJ/omf/"., 
 Ellingham. Sir Guy de Boteturte appears amongst 
 the knights of Norfolk in a roll of arms, Ed. II., 
 as bearing, Erm. a saltier engr. gu., which agrees 
 with the coat of the seal of Jlaster Roger de Butcturte, 
 son of Sir Guy, now at Trin. Coll., Ca.mh.—Jottrn. 
 Soc. Ant. 2nd Ser., iv. 201. Guy de Boutetort held 
 Boutetorts Manor in Kimberley, 1257. In 1305 he 
 settled it on Ralf Boutetort. It afterwards came to 
 Bartholomew Boutetort, who left it to JIaud, his d. 
 and h. — Blomef., Kimberley. Sir Guy de Boutetort, 
 lord of the capital manor and advowsou of Thompson, 
 1307. — Blomef., Thompson. Sir Guy de Boutetort 
 claimed free warren in his demesnes at Cranworth 
 and Swathing, which estate was settled. 1312, on 
 himself and Ada his wife, remainder to his son 
 Ralph. — Blomef., x. 109. The relationship of Sir 
 Guy to Sir John de Boteturte, the head of the 
 house, does not ajjpear. Sir Ciuy seems to have had 
 at least four sons as follows. — Journ. Soc. Ant. 
 2nd Ser., iv. 204. 
 
 Sir .John de Botetourt held: 
 Strumpshaw and Mendlesham, 
 Suff.. 1302, in right of his wife 
 Maud. He was Admiral of the 
 Norfolk Coast, 1295. — Blomef., 
 Strumpshaw. 1305, Baron by 
 writ. — Historic Peerage. A John 
 Butetort and Maud his wife, 
 held W.idehouse Manor in Oving- 
 ton, 1324 (Blomef., Ovington) and 
 left Thomas, a s. and h. {Id.) 
 
 =(Tn 1302) Maud.sist. 
 and eventually h. of 
 Odo de Danmartin, 
 lord of Mendlesham 
 and Strumpshaw. — 
 Blomef., Strump- 
 shaw, and Gout nay 
 ICecord, p. 290. 
 
 Thomas Botetourt. — JIist.Peern/)e.=j=? Joan, d. and coh. 
 
 In 8 Ed. III. a Thos. de Botetourt 
 held Gt. Bradley, Suff., in right of 
 Joan his wife. — Page's SiiJ'., p. 858. 
 
 I ■ 
 
 John de Botetourt, lord of Mcndle- = 
 sham, grandson and h. of Sir John 
 de Botetourt, and s. and h. of Thos. 
 Botecourt. 1342, Baion by writ — 
 Hiiioric Peerage, and Page's Suff., 
 p. 469. 
 
 of JohndeSomerj', 
 Bar. of Dudley. — 
 Page's AH^.,p.S58. 
 
 = Catherine, 2nd d. 
 of Sir Robt. de 
 Weyland, Knt. — 
 Page's Suff., p. 
 469. 
 
 Master Roger, probably an 
 M.A. of Camb. — Journ. Soc. 
 Ant. Close roU, 17 Ed. II. 
 (1324). m. 25, dorse, '-Roger, 
 sou of Guy Boutetourte, gives 
 his messuage in Cambridge to 
 the Parson of E. Dereham." 
 
 Robert. — Jour. 
 Soc. Antiq. 
 
 Joan, d. and h. of John Buttetortc=:Before 1461, John 
 of Mendlesham. — Blomefield, Old Knevett of Old 
 Buckenham, fo. ed., p. 257. Buckenham. 
 
 1 1 
 
 William. — /6i<i«.=T=Maud. 
 Soc. Ant. Uphall 
 Manor in Cantley, 
 
 Sir Ralph, probably the 
 eldest son. — Journ. Soc. Ant., 
 also Blomef. x. 199. Held 
 Botetourts Manor in Kimber- 
 ley. — Blomef. fo. i. 761. 
 
 settled on them in 
 tailin 1 319.— i(/om/. 
 Cantley. 
 
 "Sir"Tho8.de Butte- 
 turt, rector of 
 Titshall, 1367.— 
 Blomef, Titshall. 
 
 Sir Baldwyn Botours, Knt., of Cran- 
 worth.— C'/os« Roll, No. 229, Ao. Hen. VI., 
 memb. 28, dorse. In 1445 Baldwin 
 Butturt, held part of a fee in Stow Bedon. 
 • — Blomef. Sir Baldwin Botours was lord 
 of Butters Hall in Thompson, as appears 
 by his drs. grandson being lord in 1449.' 
 He had Boutetorts Manor in Kimberley, 
 as appears by his drs. grandson "reh'asing"' 
 to John Wodehouse. — Blomef., Kimberley, 
 and Close Roll, No. 299. Probably a son 
 of Sir- Ralph. =p 
 
 («) 
 
 Thomas de Boutetort. — =f=Joan, sist. and h. of 
 
 .B/omf/., Cantley. Prob- 
 ably a son of Willm., as 
 his (Thomas') father and 
 son both held Cantley. 
 
 John, Lord Somery. 
 Blomef, Cantley. 
 
 Sir John de Boutetort, s. and-p 
 h. of Thomas and Joan. Lord 
 of Uphall, 1327.— .B/omc/., Cant- 
 ley. In 1317 Sir John de Bute- 
 tort, sen., was lord and patron 
 of Little Ellingham. — Blomef, 
 Little Ellingham. 
 
 (*) 
 
 ' In ft manor roll of Bo'.oura Hall in T'hompson, 1449, John Esmondes, Esq., being lord of the manor, 
 mention is made of Matilda, daughter of Baldwj-n Boutours, Knt., granting a messnage in Thompson to one 
 Richard Talvour, the deed being dated at her manor of Cranworth, 9th Rich. II. (1386J.
 
 64 
 
 HISTORY OF THOMrSON. 
 
 (") 
 
 JIaud, d. and h., held Boute-^ 
 torte Manor in Kiinberlcy. — 
 i?/(j»i«/.,Kiniberly. Hold Manor 
 of Cranworth in 1381!. — Manor 
 Jtotloi Botuurs Hall, Xomeston, 
 1449. 
 
 :1st, Jeffry Swathing. — Hlome/., 
 Kimherly. 2nd, Emondo or Es- 
 mond. — lilomef., Kimbcrley. CJallcd 
 {in Manor KoU of 1449 of Hotours 
 Hall in Thompson) Esmondes. 
 
 (») 
 
 John, a. and h. of Sir John de^ 
 Botetourt, lord of Uphull, 1367. I 
 — aiome/., Cantley. | 
 
 Roger. — Blomef., Kiniberley. 
 
 John ' Esmond released= Margt. 
 
 his right in Botetourts — Feel of 
 
 Manor in Kimberlcy in Fitien, 
 
 1442 to John Wodi'hoiise.— No. 57, 
 
 Blame/., Kimberloy. Lord Ik'ii.VI. 
 
 of Botours Hall in Thonip- Ao. 8. 
 eon in 1449 (Manor Moll, 
 144S, of Botours Hall) and 
 in 1430.' 
 
 Jocosa,- 
 d. & coh., 
 held Up- 
 ton. 
 
 = Sir Hugh 
 Burnel. — 
 Blomef. , 
 Cantley. 
 
 Margt. := Sir John de 
 d. & coh. Sutton.— 
 Blomef.^ 
 Cant ley. 
 
 Alice, sist. and=Sir Thos. Sir John Oifton of Old liuckcnham, 
 
 h. of John Es- Wodehouse. released his rights in liutctorts Manor 
 
 mond' or Kmond. ^Blomef., in Kiniberley in 1442 {Blomef., Kimb.) 
 
 — Utomef., Pedgr. Kimberley, to John Wodehouse. Sir John Clifton 
 
 of Wodehouse. redigrce of is called by Blomefield {fo. ed. i. 2.'5(i) 
 
 AVodehouse. heir of Sir lialdwyn licjtetourt of ('ran- 
 
 worth, but no reason is given why he 
 
 was so. 
 
 Boutetorte (called also Boteturte, Butteturte, and Butturt) seems to liave been 
 in Thompson changed Lei'ore 1449 to Botours, for, in a manor roll of that year 
 the manor-house is called Botours Halle in Tomston. This manor had then become 
 the pi'operty of the Esmonds, heirs of Sir Baldwyn Botours (see Boutetorte pedigree). 
 Esmond Lore, Erm., a saltier engr. sa., which are the arms of Boutetort, with a 
 slight change of tincture, and were probably assumed by the Esmond who married 
 
 ' "About 1442 John Emond of Cranworth, Esq., released his right in Botetourts Manor in Kimberloy. 
 He was son of Roger, who was son and heir of Maud, daughter and heir of Bartholomew Botetourt hy her 
 second husband Emond" (Blomefield, fol. ed. i. 751). But in Cloie Roll, No. 299, Record Office, A° 20 Hen. 
 VI., John Esmond, who released to John Wodehouse, is said to be son of Roger, s. and h. of Matilda, dr. 
 and h. of Sir Baldwyn Botours, Knt., so that the name Bartholomew must bo a mistake for Baldwyn, and 
 see next note. 
 
 ' Feet of Fines, Korf. No. 57, of Henry VI. At Westminster, Octave of Purification of B. V. ilary, 
 A" 8. Between WiUiam I'helip, Knt., John Wodehouse, Esq., Richard Gegh, Esq., and Henry Stunner of 
 Norwich, plaintiffs, and John Edmond of Cianworth, Esq., and Margaret his wife, deforciants, of the manor 
 of Thomeston with appurts., called Botoures Manor, the deforciants for themselves and the heirs of Margaret 
 grant to the plaintiffs and to the heirs of Richard, and receive one hundred pounds for the concession. 
 
 ^ "Sir Thos. de Wodehouse married Alice, sister and heir of John Esmond or Emond of Cranworth, 
 son of Roger Emond of Cranworth, Esq., who married Maud, d. and h. of Sir Baldwyn Botourt of Cranworth, 
 Knt. — Blomejield, Wodehouse Fed., fol. i. 754. There is some mistake here, for Sir Thos. Wodehouse, according 
 to the pedigree (Blomefield, fol. i. 754) was great grandfather to the John Wodehouse to whom Alice's brother 
 John Esmond in 1442 released Boutetorts Manor in Kimberley. There is, too, great doubt of Alice being 
 sister and h. of John Esmond, for Robert was prohably his son and h. (see next p.), and Richard Edmond 
 had Botours Hall in Thompson in 1495 (see next p.), and Botours Hall in Cranworth in 1498 (see next p.), 
 and in 1563 John Edmonds held the manor of Botetort in Cranworth (see next p.) It is certain too that Roger's 
 mother and not his wife was Matilda, dr. and h. of Sir Baldwyn Botours, Knt. (see Close Boll, No. 299, A" 
 20 Hen. VI., Record Office). [Blomefield's /Vrfi^rce o/ Wodehouae oi Kimberley is wholly untrustworthy.]
 
 THE MANOR OF BOUTETORTS OR BOTOTJRS HALL. 65 
 
 the heiress of Boutetort. The name Esmond and Edmond are probably the same, 
 for we have — 
 
 1429. John Edmond of Cran worth, and Margaret his wife, held Boutetorts 
 Manor in Thompson. — Blomefield. 
 
 1430. John Edmond of Cranworth, and Margaret his wife, of Botours Manor 
 in Thomeston, granted it for themselves and Margaret's heirs to the heirs of Richard. — 
 Feet of Fines, No. 57, Henry VI., AP 8, Record Office. 
 
 1444. A manor roll of Botours Hall in Thomeston, date 1449, says, that John 
 Esmonds, Esq., was lord in 1444 (probably John, son of Roger, see Boutetort 
 pedigree, sup.) 
 
 1468. John Edmundys died seized. — Blomefield. 
 
 1470-71. John Edmundys died seized of the manor of Botours in Craneworth ; 
 also the Manor of Tomston. The manor of Tompston worth four marks per annum 
 clear. Robert Edmundys, his son and heir, aged thirty-six years and more. — 
 Chancery Inq. Post Mort, 9th and 10th Edw. IV., Record Office. 
 
 1495. Robert Drury, Esq., demands of Richard Esmond, gentilman, the manor 
 of Botoreshall (in Tomston), with appurtenances, and other lands in neighbouring 
 parishes. This is merely a "common recovery," the manor remaining with Esmond. — 
 De Banco Roll, A° 10th Henry VIL, Record Office. 
 
 1498. Richard Esmond, Esq., and Joan his wife, aliened the manor of Botoreshall 
 in Cranworth to John Sturges, Esq. — De Banco Roll, Easter Term, A" 13tli Henry 
 VII., membrane 21, dorse. 
 
 1503. Richard Esmondys, called as a tenant of Botors Manor, Thomston, when 
 Richard Baron suffered Thomas Spryng and others to recover the advowson of 
 Tomston, then belonged to Spryng (communicated by J. H. Gi'eenstreet). — Be Banco 
 Roll, Mich. Term, A" 18th Henry VIII., membrane 364, dorse. 
 
 1563. John Edmonds of Cranworth, died seized of the manor of Botetort in 
 Cranworth, and a manor in Thompson (this manor in Thompson could not be that 
 of Botours Hall, as the Spring family held it from 1503 to 1571). Esmonde bore, 
 Erm., a saltire engrailed sa. — Blomefield, under Cranworth. 
 
 The name Boutetort still survives in the farm-house tenanted by Mr. Edm. Land, 
 and called Butters Hall, a further and easy corruption from Botoui's and Buttorts, 
 and here the courts have always, till the Copyholds Act of 1841, been held ; their 
 later recoi'ds being headed " Butters Hall in Thompson." With the exception of a 
 Jacobean chimney, the whole of the present house is modern. 
 
 I have found no evidence that this manor-house was ever the residence of the 
 family. Still it may have been so, for in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries " every 
 manor had probably a residence for the lord, where befoi-e the existence of rents 
 he removed with his family to consume the produce of each estate" {Gournay Record, 
 p. 279). This necessitated extensive outbuildings, and in fact each manor-house had, 
 
 E
 
 G6 HISTORY OF THOMPSON. 
 
 besides its farm-buildings, its bakery, brewery, butchery, still-house, carpenter's 
 shop, &c. The ordinary small-manor house of the fourteenth century, as it is described 
 by Hudson Turner in his Domestic Architecture, such as was probably Boutetort's 
 Hall, consisted of an oblong building generally moated, built in Norfolk of nabble, 
 containing a hall which was the common living-room of the household, and at the 
 upper end of the hall the lords and lady's parlours, each with a bed in it. These 
 parlours were raised above the ground and had cellars underneath them. At the 
 other end of the hall, but not connected with it, were the kitchen and offices, which 
 were generally built of wood. The liall being the only receiving-room, was the 
 place where the lord or his seneschal held the courts: here the household dined, and 
 at night the servants slept on the floor, which was strewed with rushes or straw 
 (Knight's England, i. 407). After a time, the manor-house, deriving its name from 
 its chief featux'e, was called " the Hall." Most of the smaller manor-liouses in Norfolk 
 appear to have been rebuilt of brick or of wood and plaster in the sixteenth or 
 seventeenth century, and then contained a hall and kitchen department on the ground 
 floor, a few chambei-s above, and in the roof a single room ; and the hall became 
 the private living-room of the family, for the armed retainers were done away 
 with, rents had taken the place of personal service, and the shopkeeping class had 
 arisen and had rendered all servants except those of the household unnecessary. 
 Afterwards, when the manors became mei'ged in large estates, these houses were 
 given over to farmers or labourers. 
 
 Hudson Turner says that in the fourteenth centui-y the huts of farmers and 
 labourers contained only the barest necessaries. " They seldom, if ever, consisted of 
 more than two rooms." — Wright's Domestic Manners. 
 
 As in 1723 half the parish of Thompson was open heath and fen, there 
 is no doubt that from the fourteenth to the seventeenth centuries the proportion 
 of uncultivated land was still greater. Of the cultivated land only a small 
 part would be enclosed, the rest would be divided into fields b}^ strips of grass. 
 It is worthy of notice that all the manor-houses, whose sites are known, were 
 situated in the low lands, and not far from the stream which runs through the 
 parish. 
 
 I find no record of tlie wages of the labouring classes of Thompson earlier 
 than the year 1676. At that time, as appears from a note book at Merton Hall 
 (marked q^-^) in the handwriting of William de Gre}% Esq., owner of a farm and 
 common rights in Thompson, wages were as follows : — " To eveiy workman, any 
 waj's substantial], y' workes by y^ Daye, from our Lady till Michaelmas halfe 
 yeere, Hee is allowed per diem \2d., from Michaelmas to our Lady, the winter 
 halfe yeere, but 10c?. ; a head carpenter received Is. 4cil. a day ; a mason, a tyler, 
 and a glazier, each with a man to attend him, 2s. &d. ; for threshing corn &d. a 
 comb was paid ; for oats and barley ^d. ; for reaping corn 2s. an acre ; without
 
 THE MANOR OF BOTETOURTS OR BOTOURS HALL. 67 
 
 meate or lodging, but a dinner at their concluding and making an end of all, and 
 small Leere I brew for them " {lb. p. 54). Shepherds seem to have been paid as 
 follows: — "John Wace, shepheard of my weather flock in Thompson, took charge 
 of it at Midsomer, 1676, and his wages, as my Bayliff, John Barricke, agreed 
 with him, was to be the same y' William Sample, my shepheard of y^ same flock 
 y' preceding yeere had, viz., Halfe a hundred sheepe going his pages and all 60 
 [this means that the shepherd had the privilege of having fifty sheep of his own 
 going with those of his master — a custom not yet obsolete in Norfolk — and the page, 
 or shepherd's attendant, ten sheep. Mr. de Grey's common right in Thompson was 
 limited to 400 sheep (page 26) so that his own flock would be 340] fourty 
 shillings a yeare in monye ; six comb of rye ; six comb of barlye ; a marking 
 Iamb (which they usuallye pick out of y' best in y' flock ; and a belweathers 
 fleece, which being of an uncertaine weight a stone of wooll is usuallye allowed 
 in steade of itt."— (/b. p. 69). 
 
 The records of this manor, now in the keeping of E. R. Grigson, Esq., the 
 steward, begin at a much earlier date than those of the College. And whereas 
 the College Manor from 1.561 till the present time, descended through three families 
 only, all three being large landowners in Thompson ; the Butters Hall Manor has 
 never continued long in any one family, and seems not to have been held by the 
 same lord as the College Manor, with the exception of the Shardelowes {Blomefield, 
 ii. 372, line 20), nor by any one connected with Thompson, till William Tooke, 
 Esq., purchased both manors, and held his first courts, of the College in 1759, and 
 of Butters Hall in 1771 (Court Books). The earliest records are wTitten on rolls 
 of parchment or paper, and are in good condition. The first is dated 27th Henry 
 VI. (1449) ; the second is dated in the same year ; the third and fourth in 7th 
 Edw. IV. (1468). Other rolls are of various dates from 1550 till 1641. From 1660 
 till 1868 the records are in books. 
 
 The proceedings at the court of 1449 are worth recording, as they give an 
 insight into tlie state of things, and into the names existing at that time in the 
 parish. This court-roll has been obligingly translated for me bj' the Rev. C. J. Evans. 
 
 p. , . At a general court held there on the Wednesday next before the 
 
 „! feast of St. Peter ad Vincula, in the twenty-seventh year of the reign 
 
 Thompson. j j a 
 
 of King Henry VI., after the conquest of England. 
 Essoins' Henry Asshill, of the same place, for Henry Mower; John Barker, | Art-i 
 
 of the same place, for Robert Chaloner. J 
 
 ' [The ettoina were they who appeared at the court by proxy. AJ". in the right hand margin stands for 
 affidaverunt, i.e., Henry AshUl answered for Mower, and John Barker for Chaloner.] By an entry in the 
 court-roll of Butters Hall of 1674, it seems that no essoynes were allowed at a first court. " Essonii nulii 
 quia prima curia." 
 
 K 2
 
 68 HISTORY OF THOMPSON. 
 
 •p. .... William Canon ? Henry Mower, Robert Chaloner, John Reder, Thomas 
 
 n^ , Hunt, John Tyrell, William Church, John Fuller, and John Aldwyn were sworn; 
 
 who say upon their oath, that William Perkyn, on divers occasions, about the 
 
 feast of the Purification of the blessed Virgin Mary last preceding, and in Lent, and 
 
 about the feast of Easter, with certain dogs chased four hundi-ed sheep of the 
 
 farmer of the lord of this manor, pasturing upon the heath of Stow, where the 
 
 lord of this manor ought, and of ancient custom is wont, to have right of 
 
 common ; that by this chasing, and the bites of the aforesaid dogs, sixty sheep 
 
 out of the whole number present died, and the remaining sheep were in many 
 
 ways deteriorated, to the grievous damage of them the lord and farmer .... 
 
 T^. And that the same William Perkyn, about the feast of Pentecost, and on 
 
 Fine . 
 
 . . the Monday next preceding, so much chased the sheep of the same farmer there 
 
 with certain dogs, and beat them, that the same sheep, by that chasing and 
 
 beating, were much deteriorated, to the grievous loss, &c 
 
 ■p,. And that the same William broke and entered the close of this manor, 
 
 , g , and cut down and carried away the underwood of the lord there, lately 
 
 growing, to wit, Faldgate Stabes (?), and with it made a certain falling 
 pycam ' close to his own messuage .... 
 
 ■p. And that the same William, without licence, entered the said close of this 
 
 „ 1 manor, and thence extracted plants of the lord called lawer,' and placed 
 
 them in his own ditch near his own messuage, to the grievous damage of the 
 lord .... 
 
 Then follows a long presentment about one William Warner, who had been 
 admitted to land held of this manor. This William Warner was probably the 
 same as the William Warner of Thompson, Esq., wlio was buried in the church in 
 1467, and who was a benefactor to all the guilds, and who gave the college £20 to 
 keep his obiit {Blomefield). He must have been a man of some consequence, as he 
 was one of the executors of John Fitz Rauf, Esq., who was lord and patron of 
 Scoulton, and was buried in that church in 1440 {Blomefield, under SCOULTON). 
 W. Wai-ner was also one of the trustees of the Pakenham family of Garboldisham 
 {Blomefield, under Gaeboldlsham). Warner Manor in Thompson was in 1435 united 
 to the College Manor {Blomefield, and see p. 87). Warner bore. Per bend indented 
 
 ' Pycam caducam. — May te a sort of pent or lean-to. I have a note of Pycagium being demanded by 
 the authorities of the Close at Salisbury during a fair time, and then it seems to be a small payment for 
 the privilege of erecting a booth or small tent (Rev. W. H. Jones, Prebendary of Salisbury). In 1331, the 
 Mayor of Thetford claimed the toll, picage, and stallage of BromehUl Fair. — Blomefield, i. 460, fol. ed. 
 
 - Lawer, probably layer, a name stiU (1879) in use in Norfolk for white thorn, the young plants of which 
 are laid into a bank while making, and not planted after the bank is made. Mr. Barton of Threxton 
 informs me that fifty years ago he heard a very old labourer say, speaking of white thorn, "a better lot 
 of law, or lore, I never saw."
 
 THE MANOR OF BOUTETORTS OR BOTOrRS HALL. 69 
 
 ar. and sa. (Blomefield, i. 337, fol. ed.) In a deed at Merton Hall, 24th Feb., 24th 
 Hen. VI., William Warner de Tompston, anniger, was a witness. 
 
 Dr. Jessopp has sent me this epitome of William Warner's will from the 
 
 Consistory (Norwich), Cobald, 125. " I, William Warner of Thomeston, Esq 
 
 11 Dec. 1467 ... to be buried in the church of Thomeston .... to the oruild 
 
 of the B. V. M to the guild S. Trinitj^ .... to the guild of S. Martin 
 
 .... residue to Agnes my wife .... Ex°". Peter Cooke, clerk .... William 
 Grey, Esq., Jun'. (this would be probably William de Grey of Merton, who married 
 Christian Manning, and who died 1474) .... Henry Spelman of Stow Bedon, 
 gent., supervisor .... Agnes to have my place called Deys in Thomeston (for 
 Day see p. 109) .... At the day of his burial every priest of this town to 
 have 4rf., every clerk ' of this town 2cl., and every householder of this town 4(Z., 
 
 &c., &c Also I will that the Master of the College have xxli. of my 
 
 debts of Thomas Taylor, &c. 
 
 Deed at Merton, 22nd Sep., 37th Hen. VI. "William Warner de Thomeston, Arm. 
 .... to Thomas Mannyng, Arm., Elizth. his wife .... conveyance of land in 
 Rokelond .... 18 a. 1 rood .... inter terram dicti Domini Thome Mannyng 
 vocat Pykyslond." 
 
 It is probable that the Esmond family aliened the manor of Botours Hall in 
 Thompson to the Spring family (see p. 64) at about the same time as they aliened 
 the Botours Manor in Cranworth to John Sturges, Esq. (De Banco Boll, Easter term, 
 A" 13th Hen. VII., memb. 21, dorse) i.e., about 1498. In 1503 Thos. Spryng "recovered" 
 it {Be Banco Boll, Mich, term, A" 18th Hen. VII.) In 1523 Thos. Spring was lord 
 (Manor Bool; that date). 
 
 The de Greys of Merton have been tenants of Botours Hall Manor at least since 
 1563 (CouH Roll, that date). 
 
 ' The clerks were probably persons in clerical orders irnder the rank of a priest, such as the deacon, acolyte, 
 Bubdeacon, &c. These would be more numerous at Thompson than in most villages, on account of the College.
 
 70 HISTORY OF TUOiirSOX. 
 
 LOEDS OF THE MANOR OF BOTOURS HALL. 
 
 (The authority is the Manor Book except where otherwise stated. 
 
 1307. Sir Guy de Boutetort. — Blomefield, Thompson. 
 
 Sir Ralph de Boutetort probably, for he held Boutetorts Manor in Kimberley.— ^ 
 
 B/omefiekl, i. 751. 
 Sir Bakhvyn Botours, for his daughter's descendant, John Esmondes, was lord 
 lUi.—Court-ro//, 1-149. 
 
 1429. Richard conveyed to him by William Phelip, Knt., John Esmond 
 
 of Cranworth, Esq., and Margaret his wife. — Biomejield. 
 Maud, daughter of Sir Baldwyn Botours of Cranworth, whose second husband 
 
 was John Esmond, for her descendant was lord. — Court-roll, 1449. 
 Roger Esmond ? Maud Botours eldest son ? 
 1444. Jolin Esmondes, Esq. — Manor-roll, 1449. 
 
 1468. John Edinundys. — Blomefield, THorpsox. Magister Johes Mannynge, gen', sen. 
 This John Mannynge, gentleman, who was in 1468 seneschal or steward of 
 Botours Hall Manor, was probably John Manning, jun., younger son of John 
 Manning, Esq., of Bury Hall, Great Ellingham. Christian Manning, the d. and 
 coh. of this John Manning, jun., married William de Gre\', Esq., of Merton. 
 Blomefield says that she succeeded to Bury Hall upon her father's death. No 
 doubt it had been the property of her uncle, Thomas Manning, and of her 
 grandfather, John Manning, sen., but it is doubtful if it was ever her father's 
 or her own. The De Grey family still holds it, but it is not at all certain 
 that they obtained it through the Manning marriage. I am indebted for the 
 above information to the Rev. C. R. Manning. 
 
 This John Manning, jun., was also constituted, in 1431, seneschal to William, 
 Bishop of Norwich, of all his lands and leets in Norfolk and Suffolk. — 
 (Blomefield, viii. 532). 
 
 The following table shows the above descent more clearlj' : — 
 
 John Manning, Esq., sen., of Bury Hall in Ellingham, =T=Christian ? d. of Richard Grace hy his wife Christian, 
 
 d. and coh. of Roger Cherville, of BeechamweU. — Blomef. 
 \Ti. 290. 
 
 left it to his son Thomas, and £10 a year out of it to 
 his son John. Died 1430, having made his -niil the same 
 year at Bury Hall. 
 
 Thomas Manning, of Bury Hall,=pEliz,iheth, d. and coh. John Manning, prohaWy' 
 
 third husband of Elizabeth Mor- I of Sir Thos. Jenney. steward of Botours Hall 
 
 timer. He m . 2ndly Elizabeth Manor in 1468. 
 Jenney. | 
 
 Christian Miinnkig= Henry Spelman (son of John Spelman of Christian Manning ^William de Grey 
 
 Beckerton Manor, in Stow Bedon), the first of Merton. 
 
 of Xarburgh ; in H76 Lord of Chervillea 
 in BeechamweU (^Blomefield.)
 
 THE MANOR OF BOTETOUETS OR BOTOURS HALL. 
 
 71 
 
 1503. Thomas Spring.— De Banco Roll, Michs. Term, A.D. 18th Hen. VII., mem. SG-t, 
 doi-se. One Richd. Baron then suffered Thomas Spring and othei-s to 
 recover. Richard Esmondys called as a tenant. Spring holds the 
 advowson of Thompson. — (Communicated by J. H. Greenstreet). 
 1523. Thomas Spring. — B/omefiekl. 
 1547. Sir John Spi-ing died, lord. — Blomefiekl. 
 
 1550. Lady Dorothy Spring (first court), wife of the late Sir John Spring. — 
 Manor Roll. 
 William Spring, their son. — Blomefiekl. 
 The Springs were of Lavenham, Suffolk, and afterwards of Pakenham near 
 Bury St. Edmund's. They bore, for arms, Ar. a chevron between three mascles 
 gu. The following table shows the descent of those membei's of the family 
 who were lords of Botours Hall :— 
 
 PEDIGREE OF SPRING. 
 
 Thomas Spring, a rich clothier of Lavenham. [His will, dated 29 March, 1486, is 
 printed in Dr. Howard's VUitalion of Suffolk, 8vo. 1866, vol. i. p. 170.] Botours Hall 
 Manor was conveyed to him, or perhaps to his son Thomas, between 1468 and 1503. 
 
 Thomas Spring, eldest son, a liberal benefactor to Lavenham Church 
 and Town (Pages Suffolk, 945.) [Uis wOl proved 3 July, 1524,] 
 
 Sir John Spring of Lavenham, eldest son, settled at Hitcham, where he was buried 
 1st (sic) Edw. VI. (Page's Suff., p. 728.) Soon after the dissolution of Bury Abbey, 
 37th Henry VIII. [Concise Dociiplioii of Bury St. Edmund's, p. 261), Sir John Spring 
 held (probably by purchase) the parish manor and advowson of Pakenham, near Bury 
 St. Edmund's. Here the family continued tiU Sir William Spring, Bart., died in 
 1736, being the last heir male (Page's Stiff., p. 729). Sir John Spring died lord of 
 Little Buckenham, near JIundford, in 2nd (sic) Edw. VI. (Blomefield.) 
 
 f ' 
 
 Sir William Spring, Knt., of Pakenham, only s. and h., a minor at the death of=l. Anne Kytson, d. of 
 his father. In 2nd Edw. VI. the King granted to Edm. Wright of Bradfield, Margaret, Countess of Bath. 
 Esq., the custody and marriage of William Spring, aged U\ years, s. and h. of Sir 
 John Spring, Knt., and Dame Dorothy his wife. JIargaret, Countess of Bath, in the 
 following year gave Edw. Wright 400 marks (£266) for the marriage of his ward 
 with her daughter, Anne Kitson. — Concise JJescriplton, p. 262. Sir William was 
 High Sheriff of Suffolk in 1578, and received Queen Elizabeth on her visit to 
 that county. He died Feb. 10th, 1600. — lb. Pakenham Hall, the residence of 
 the Springs, was pulled down within living memory. Sir William seems, during 
 his lifetime, to have conveyed Botours Hall to Ambrose Jermyn, his wife's kinsman. 
 
 ^Dorothy, d. of Sir Wm. 
 WaMegrave, Knt., of Small- 
 bridge, in the parish of 
 Bures, Suffolk (Page's 
 Suf., p. 728). 
 
 2. Susan, d. of Sir Am- 
 brose Jermyn, of Rushbrook, 
 Knt. (Page's Suff., 729), and 
 widow of Lionell Talmache 
 of Helmingham. — J'is. of 
 Suff., under Spring. 
 
 1571. Ambrose Jermyn. — Blomefield. 
 
 This may be Ambrose Jermyn, Esq., gentleman pensioner to King Henry 
 A^III., Edw. VI., Queen Mary, and Queen Elizabeth, who died in 1575, and was 
 buried in Huntingfield church, Suffolk. He married Elizabeth, d. and co-h. of 
 of John Paston, Esq. — Page's Siifo/k, 2-i3. 
 1576. Sir Ambrose Jermyn, Knt. (1st court 4th Aug.) 
 
 The family of Jermyn, from which the present Marquis of Bristol is, through 
 a female, descended, were owners of Rushbrook in Suffolk from the beginning 
 of the thirteenth, till the end of the seventeenth century (Page's Suffolk, 739).
 
 72 niSTORY OF TIIOMl'SON, 
 
 Sir Amlirose Je-rnij-n of RnshLrook, lord of Botours Hall in 157G, was heir to 
 his brother Edmund, and was son of Sir Thomas Jermyn, Knt., of llushbrooke. 
 Sir Ambrose died 1577. He was lord of Bigots Manor in West Tofts, of 
 Great Hockham, and of Tydds Manor in Feltwell. — Blomefiekl. 
 
 Lionel Talnmsh {Blomefiekl), descended from a family (of English extraction) 
 which continued in an uninterrupted male succession for thirteen centuries in 
 Bentley, Suffolk, and afterwards in Helmingham, was probably the son of Lionel 
 Tollemache by Susan his wife, daughter of Sir Ambrose Jermyn. The said 
 Susan married secondly Sir Wm. Spring. Tollemache bears Ai-. a fret sable. 
 1586. Thomas Bright, sen. — Bhmefiekl. 
 
 1590. Margaret Bright his widow (Manor Roll), first court, 14th Aug. 
 IGOO. Thomas Bright their son, generosus, first court. 
 IG-iO. Thomas Page. 
 
 1641. Edmund Page, first court, called of Shropham, gent., in a deed at Merton, 11th 
 May, 1G38, wherein, too, Thos. Page, gent., is called the son and heir 
 app. of the said Edmond. 
 1G51. Tiiomas Page. Richard Humphrey, steward. 
 
 1660. William le Hunt. He was also a tenant of the manor of Waterhouse in 
 Thompson in 16GG. James Alington, steward. The le Hunts were a 
 family of note at Ashen in Essex, and Little Bradley, Suffolk. They 
 bore Vert, a saltire or (Page's Suffolk, 8G9), and this coat is now on 
 the tombstone of Mary, wife of George le Hunt of New Buckenham, 
 Gent., who was buried in Shropham Church. 
 1672. John Gage, Esq., of Camberwell. John Borrett, steward. 
 1674. Thos. Grundy, Gent., of Westminster, first court. 
 1691. John Grundy (brother and heir of Thomas), first court. John Muston, steward, 1699. 
 
 John Grundy's will dated 28th June, 1716. 
 1717. William Underwood, Arm., of Greys Inn. John Rowell, steward, 172G ; James 
 Martin, steward, 1734; Edward Harvey, steward, 1731. In an abstract 
 of a deed marked q^-^ now at Merton Hall, it appears that the estate of 
 Butters Hall comprised a garden, orchard, 160 acres of land, and common 
 rights. William LTnderwood married Margaret, widow of John Grundy. 
 — College Court Book, 27th July, 1718. 
 1751. Martha, wife of Michael Beale, and Abigail Moore, widow, fii'st court. These 
 were the daughters of W^m. Underwood, as appears by the above-named 
 abstract, ^^p 
 
 1756. Martha Beale, widow, tii'st court. 
 
 1757. William Moore, Martha Beale, and others. 
 
 After 1764. John Griffiths and the Rev. Anthony J. Sanderson, the husbands of 
 two of the daughters of Abigail Moore and granddaughters of William 
 Underwood, as aj^pears by the above-named abstract ^^
 
 THE MANOR OF BOTETOURTS OR BOTOURS HALL. 73 
 
 17G9. Sir William do Grey, Attorney-Genei-al, bought the manor and estate for 
 £2,125, but before entering into possession ceded it to William Tooke, 
 Esq. (who ten years before had purchased the College property), in 
 exchange for land of Mr. Tooke's, which he had recently purchased at 
 Tottington. 
 
 1771. William Tooke, first court. For an account of this family see p. 53. Thos. 
 Hicks, steward ; John Morphew, steward, 1772. 
 
 1812. William Tooke Harwood. John Steward, steward. 
 
 1832. John Baseley Tooke, first court. John Cole, steward. 
 Rev. James Tooke Hales Tooke. 
 
 1851. Thos. de Grey, fifth Baron Walsingham ; first court, 1858. E. R. Grigson, 
 steward. 
 
 1870. Thos., sixth Baron Walsingham. 
 
 CIjc 'Sjimxax of Cljompsoit antr gcbiures. 
 
 HERE was a Manor with this title so late at least as the year 1778, which 
 belonged to the Walpole family.
 
 74 
 
 ^ht Mlanor of Mliitcrbousc nntr Cburrbbousc 
 
 in Cbompsou. 
 
 HIS small manor is still (1880) in existence. The Rev. Aug. Barker Hemsworth, 
 heir ^presumptive to the Hemsworth estate in Thompson, has kindly lent nie 
 the manor book. The first record, however, of the courts of the manor of 
 Waterhouse that I have met with, is not in the manor book, but on the paper 
 roll of the manor of Botours Hall, of 14G7 and 1468. It was then probably held 
 by the same lord as Botoui's Hall, viz., John Esmond, Esq. I am told by an old 
 inhabitant that the manor-house, which stood about 300 j^ards north of Botours 
 Hall, and was much dilapidated, was pulled down about forty yeai-s ago, and the 
 present small farm-house ei'ected on its site. I do not know when Waterhouse was 
 joined with Churchhouse. The first court of the combined manors of which there 
 is record is dated 43rd Eliz. (IGOl), the second is dated 15th James I., and 
 Robert Futter, sen., the first of that family that settled in Thompson, was then 
 lord. The manor continued in his descendants, the Futtei-s of Porys, except for 
 five j-ears (during which it was held by Roger Colman), till it was sold under the 
 bankruptcy of Robert Futter of Shelton, in 1746, to John Barker of Shropham 
 Hall, Esq., and passed as part of the Shropham estate to his descendants. The De 
 Greys of Merton are found as tenants of this manor in all the existing records, 
 i.e., from 1601 till the present time, and the present Lord Walsiugham is the only 
 tenant of the manor now remaininfj. 
 
 LOEDS OF THE MANOR OF WATEEHOUSE AND CnUECHHOUSE 
 
 IN THOMPSON. 
 
 1512. Thomas Blakeney, Gent., died seized (Blomefielcl, ful. ed , i. 630) : descended 
 from William de Blakeney, one of the bailiffs of the City of Norwich, 
 26th Edw. III., before that city had a mayor. — Blomefield, under 
 Spaeham. 
 
 1535. Robert Gi-iggs (? Giggs) of Sparham, Gent., died seized {Blomefield, Thompson).
 
 MANOR OF WATERHOUSE AND CHrRCHHOUSE. 75 
 
 He was lord of Barkyns in Filby, &c., patron of that church, lord 
 also of a manor in Cromer. He was a relation of Sir Thomas 
 Gegges of Rollesby, living 1433 [Blomefiekl, under Sparham). He had 
 a daughter and heir, who married first John Blakeney, Gent., by whom 
 she had a son John, and afterwards married Thomas Clere {Bloraefiekl, 
 under Sparham). From IGOl the authority is the Court Book. 
 
 IGOl. Robert Futter, sen. Thos. Ast3% steward. He died in 1603 (see pedigree), 
 and from him descended the Futters of Tliompson, or of Por3^s. 
 From 1603 to 1618 no doubt his eldest son held the manor. 
 
 1618. First court of Robert Futter, gTandson of the above Robert. He was buried 
 at Thompson in 1662. 
 
 1666. First court of Francis Futter, son and heir of the last-named Robert. Francis 
 was buried at Thompson in 1701. 1682, John Borrett, steward. 
 
 1716. Robert Futter. He was of Shelton, Gent., and was buried there in 1727. 
 He conveyed the manor to Roger Colman in 1725. 1722, John 
 Muston, steward. 1724, John Flannar, steward. 
 
 1725. Roger Colman. His court was held at the Chequers Inn. He was impro- 
 priator of Thompson and lived there (p. 51), and was perpetual 
 curate of Thompson. — Terrier, 1706. 1731, John Smith, stewai-d. 
 
 1732. Robert Futtei-, Gent. He was of Shelton, son and heir of the last-named 
 Robei-t Futter. He must have purchased the manor of Colman, but 
 became bankrupt in 1746, and the manor became, by purchase, the 
 property of John Barker, Esq. 
 
 1747. First court of John Barker, Esq., of Shropham. To the record of this court 
 the steward, Thos. Martin, appended the following note : — " The young 
 gent who transacted the business above, forgot to set down the day of 
 the month, the place where surrendered, and to have the lord sign 
 the minutes, all which I have perfected in the admission. Likewise 
 he stiles it a special court, whereas it cannot amount to a court 
 unless there be two tenants at least sworn upon the homage. The 
 lord and two tenants may hold a court anywhere, and the lonl solely 
 may admit." 
 
 1756. John Barker, Lieut. -Col., son and heir of the above John Barker, Esq. 
 1769, John Tajdoi-, steward. 
 
 1792. George Reading Leathes. Court held at Shropham Hall. He had married 
 Sarah, eldest daughter of Gen. James Barker, Hethersett, and one of 
 the co-heiresses of her uncle, Lieut.-Col. John Barker. He died without 
 issue, and the manor descende<l to his wife's sister, Jane Maria, wife 
 of Henry d'Esterre Hemsworth, Esq., whose son is the present lord. 
 Mr. Leathes was in holy orders, and was second son of Rev. Edward 
 Loathes, Rector of Reedham. 
 
 L 2
 
 HISTORY OF TUOMPSON. 
 
 A^TIENT NAMES OF PLACES IN THOMrSON, FROM THE 
 
 COURT-ROLLS, &c. 
 
 14-i9. Tenement Lawmans ; Street called Hopthorp, perhaps the cluster of liouses 
 now called Pockthorpe (Pauca Thorpe ? little Thorpe) ; Houlott's Croft ; Tenement 
 Melsens, lying at Coppynges. 
 
 1550. Crowdicks Furlong; Lyutokks Croft. 
 1554. Copthorne Furlong. 
 1563. Nether Thurstye Gate Furlong. 
 1601. Messuage called Bees. 
 
 1644. Coppins Furlong ; Sandware Street, called also Sandwade, p. 97 ; Bouers 
 Close. 
 
 1651. Sheep-house Furlong ; meadow called Blakenyes. 
 
 1660. Tenement Brightmaus ; Windover Furlong ; tenement Mancers ; Pynnes Lane ; 
 Foxborrow Mill- way ; Hungate Furlong. As to the meaning of this word Hungate, 
 a very crux to etymologists, Mr. Walter Rye says, " I do not like the Hound-gate 
 derivation, and have alwaj's thought that it more probablj' came from the personal 
 name (a common one) of Hun, as found in Hunstanton, Hunworth, &c. As to its 
 meaning I can ofl'er no suggestion. I only know that certain men went by the 
 names of, e.g., Hun, Lok, Thirkettle, &c. Thej^ neither had surnames nor Christian 
 names." 
 
 1723. In a map of this date there are these names — Bays Row ; Middle, Upper, 
 and Lower Slight (still so called), situated near the Fen ; Longman's Tongue, Craddock's 
 Closes (still so called), and situated at the back of the Chequers Inn; Hayhou.se 
 Close. 
 
 1747. Manor books. — Market Way, Kirkhous Furlong. This is probably the site 
 of the ancient hall of the Manor of Churchhouse. 
 
 1759. Tenement Reedhams. This tenement was, perhaps, the old manor-house 
 of Reedhams, in Thompson, which was given to the College in 1535 by John, .son 
 of Simon Chapman {Bloviejield, i. 627, fol.) There is in the Bodleian Library the 
 original grant of this manor and that of Warners, called "Tenements Warneres 
 and Redames," to the College in the 18th Hen. VI., 1435 (see p. 40). As to 
 Tenement Warners there is still a piece of land not far from Thompson Carr, which 
 is called Warners, and here, probab]}^ the manor-house was situated. For an account 
 of Warner, see p. 68. Though I have not found the name in any of the court-rolls, 
 a plot of fen land south-east of the church called "the Heme," situated east of 
 "the Alley," is worthy of mention. It is still called by this name in the parish
 
 ANCIENT NAMES OF I'LACES. 77 
 
 map, and l.y the parishioners. The name has, uo doubt, existed since Anglo-Saxon 
 times, A.S., hirne = corner. Forby says the word is still applied to a nook of 
 land. 
 
 1624. In a paper (marked ^f,) at Merton Hall — the Harpe Pightle. 
 
 1653. On a parchment (marked ^p) at Merton Hall — Gunnes Lane. 
 
 1638. Thos. Atmeare's will — Cockpit Furlong, Tenements Bullwanis, Whynny Close, 
 Curtaines Fui-long. 
 
 6th Nov., 1638. More Furlonge, Deale Furlonge, Filbyes Lane, Cheralls et Moonyes, 
 Hollmore, Blowsomes Close. 
 
 6th Dec, 1683. Quarentena called Goare Furlong, Quarentena called Calkpit 
 Furlong, near the Plow-drove Meere ; Well Furlong, Milgate Way, Roesthorpe. 
 
 KAMES OF SO^IE OF THE COPYHOLD TEXAXTS OF THE 
 MANORS IX THOMPSOX 
 
 NOT OTHERWISE MEXTIONED IN THESE PAGES. 
 
 1606. Sir Thomas Berney, Knt., was of Eeudham, which his family inherited 
 as heirs of the Reedhams and Castons, together with manors in Caston, Griston, &c. 
 He married Julian, daughter of Sir Thos. Gawdy of Redenhall. The copj-holds of 
 his in Thomp.son were originally part of the manor of Reedhams in Thompson, 
 which had become united to the College Manor, having been given by John Chapman 
 in 1535. I do not find the name of Berney after 1621. The tenement Reedhams 
 is mentioned so late as 1759. 
 
 1649. John Aldewyn, Thos. Grene, Mary Mower. 
 
 1468. John Hybbys, Robert Brightman, John Gerrard, John Farthing. 
 
 1550. John ThejTie, a descendant probably of some noble Saxon. There is a 
 Henry Theyne in the lay subsidy of 1524. Edmund Lumpner, Armigei", no doubt 
 Edward Lumner of Mannington, Esq., who married Jane, daugliter of William 
 Yelverton of Rougham, and whose ancestors had been lords of Mannington for 
 two hundred and fifty years (see Blomefield, under Mannington). 
 
 George Brond, Generosus. He is mentioned in the lay subsidy of 1543 as a 
 considerable land-owner. William Manser, William Mortimer, John Wyggs, William 
 Minns, Vicar of Griston. He is not in Blometield's list of Vicars of that parish, 
 \vhich is copied from Tanner's MS. in the Bishop's registry. Edmund Wright, Esq. 
 
 1563. Robert Corbole. 
 
 1590. Roger Costj-n. 
 
 1599. James Cannon.
 
 78 
 
 ^be Cburtb anb Cburcbnavb. 
 
 ' 'Tis to this church I call thee, and that place 
 Where slept our fathers when they'd run their race, 
 "We too shall rest ; and then our children keep 
 Thoir road in life, and then, forgotten, sleep; 
 Meanwhile the building slowly falls away, 
 And, like the bmlders, will in time decay." 
 
 HOMPSON is not one of the four parishes in the Wayland Hundred 
 
 mentioned in Domesday (Munford's Domesday Norf., 112) as having a 
 
 church, but there may have been a Saxon church there notwithstanding.' 
 
 At any-rate there was certainly a church before tlie present one, whicli 
 
 is of the foui'teenth century. It consists of a tower, nave, chancel, south porch, 
 
 and south chapel, and is dedicated to St. Martin. Being almost entirely of one 
 
 period it has but little architectural history. 
 
 Nave exterior. The four windows of the nave are of three lights of the plainest 
 kind, yet solid and well proportioned. The mullions simply cross in the heads without 
 foliation. The ai'ches and mouldings of the doorwaj's are also very plain. The 
 buttresses are unusually massive and handsome : they have angular projections at the 
 base, and are gable-headed. Over the north door has been inserted a Perpendicular 
 window. The south chapel is of later date than the church. The east window of 
 this chapel was probablj^ closed when the very late Perpendicular south window and 
 the present roof were added. The nave was covered with lead in Blomefield's time. 
 The present thatch dates from 1800, for I find this entry in an old parish account 
 book : " Jan. 28, 1800. At a vestry meeting held this day at the parish church, it 
 
 ' We must not conclude that because we find an omission in any particular parish of a place of worship, 
 in a survey designed for other purposes than that of recording the exact number of ecclesiastical edifices, that 
 none such ever existed.'' — llunford's Xorf. Domesday, 82.
 
 ^s<^ 
 
 FACSIMILE OF A SKETCH OF THE FONT IN THOMPSON CHURCH, 
 BY REV. F. H. SUTTON. PREBENDARY OF LINCOLN.
 
 THE CHURCH AND CHrRCHYARD. 
 
 79 
 
 is agreed that Mr. Green, builder, of the city of Norwicli, is desired by the 
 churchwardens and principal inhabitants of the said pai-ish, to lay before and 
 request of the Lord Bishop of the Diocese to grant a petition for taking off the 
 lead of the said church, to repair the roof of the same to a proper pitch for tiling, or 
 if permission can be obtained for repairing the present old roof and thatching the same 
 with reed. Jas. Pearmain, Churchwarden." This latter course was evidently followed. 
 
 Porch. The porch is unusually large, 1-i ft. by 10 ft. The pitch of its 
 roof was lowered, as it seems, in 1608. Over the entrance is a shallow flat segmental- 
 arched niche in three compartments, divided by shafts surmounted by Decorated 
 tracery. In each of the side walls is a cinque-foiled lancet window. In the centre 
 of the pavement is a stone without inscription, which doubtless covers the body of 
 John Barker, the last of that family (see extract from Register, 1774). The ancient 
 door is surrounded by a moulding consisting of four-leaved flowers united by stalks. 
 The old thumb, or ring plate, and key plate both remain, as does also the lock 
 encased in its solid beam of wood. 
 
 Thumb or Ring-plate on south door, Thompson. 85 inches diameter. 
 
 The nave, chancel, ami porch all had gable crosses, of which fragments only remain. 
 
 Chancel exterior. A string-course runs round the chancel, returning over the 
 priest's door and making spandrils with its arch. The drip-moulds of all the windows 
 and of the door are terminated by heads. There are two three-light windows, 
 both on the north and south side, and an east window. These five windows have 
 flowing tracery of beautiful design. Above the east window is a circular opening 
 about 2 ft. in diameter. There is a low side window in the usual place. 
 
 Tov:er. The doorway, and the windows above it, have some good Decorated 
 mouldings and tracery. The window is exactly like the west window at the 
 neighbouring church of Caston. The base of the tower is ornamented with flint 
 chequers. The battlements are probably of later date.
 
 80 HISTORY OF TIIOJirSON. 
 
 There \vei"e tlirce bells from the Draper foundry at Tiietford, Imt oue of them 
 (the tenor) was recast about 1860. 
 
 1. John Draper niaile me 1G30.' 
 
 2. J. D., 1608, and Draper's mark. 
 
 One bell of G cwt. in 6th Edw. VI. {L'Estrange, see also p. 8.5). 
 
 Nave interior. The chancel arch and tower arch are plainly chamfered, but 
 of fine proportion. The nave is surmounted by the oriifinal trussed rafter roof, 
 which was a favourite style of roofing of the architects of the Decorated period. 
 There are similar roofs at Wilton, Barton Bendish, and other places. Thompson 
 i-oof is of five cants, about sixty-five feet long by twenty-nine broad. Against 
 the south wall is a painting by Berchet (?), a Fi-ench artist, representing Joseph's 
 coat brought to Jacob. It is said to have been bought in Paris about sixty years 
 '^o'^ ^y Col. Tooke Harwood, of the College, who, upon its ari-ival at Thompson, 
 found that, like the family picture of the Vicar of Wakefield, it was too large for 
 any room in his house. He therefore placed it in the church. 
 
 The font is of the same date as the church. It is octagonal, and each panel is 
 worked in different traceiy of low relief. It has a crocketed cover about 2 ft. high. 
 
 There is a Jacobean desk and pulpit with its pedestal and canopy, all of oak, 
 and considering how many of these have been turned out of Norfolk churches and 
 destroyed, archaeologists will be inclined to say — 
 
 "May Taste respect thee, and may Fashion spare!" 
 
 Some lover of uniformity and ugliness has, however, covered the oak of the pulpit 
 screen and poppy-heads with a coat of yellow paint ! There is a Jacobean pew in 
 the nave with carved panels, probably the manor pew of Henry Futter of the College. 
 This pew and the reading-desk have their original Jacobean hinges. There are in 
 all fifty-eight poppy-heads in the chux'ch. A few of these are of the fifteenth century, 
 and the others were added in 1632, probably by Henry Futter or Robert Futter, jun. 
 
 There are two portions of a Perpendicular screen which may have enclosed a 
 chapel, perhaps that of one of the guilds, for there were three guilds'^ in Thompson 
 (see William Warnei''s will, p. 69). 
 
 ' The introduction of change ringing in the seventeenth century led to the wholesale recasting of all 
 hells to make them into peals, for the original bells were intended to be rung separately, and usually had 
 no harmonic relation among themselves. — Guardian, No. 1888. 
 
 ' The guilds seem to have occupied much the same position as the modem village clubs. ' ' Care for 
 the fitting burial of dead members, help to the poor, the aged, and the infirm, assistance to those who were 
 unfortunate, having been reduced to poverty by misfortune, as by fire, flood, or robberj' ; the advancement of 
 loans under special circumstances, the portioning of poor maidens either on their marriage or on entering 
 a religious house, the release of prisoners, the helping of pilgrims on foreign travels, and the entertainment 
 of pilgrims on their journeys at home." — Walford on Guilds, quoted in Antiquary, i. 78. The little parochial 
 guilds were sometimes so poor that they could not afford to have a room of their own, but met at the members' 
 houses. — Cullum's Maicttcd.

 
 THE CHIJECH AND CHURCHYARD. 
 
 81 
 
 The south transept or chapel of St. James seems to have been built long after 
 the church. Perhaps there was a smaller fourteenth century chapel existing before, 
 for Sir Thos. Shardelowe, who, with his brother Sir John, founded the College or 
 Chantry, died probably in that century, and the incised alabaster slab, with border 
 legend between lines, which now lies before the place where the altar of St. Martin 
 stood (the piscina, which remains), covers his body {BLorae field). " He seems to be 
 in a habit much like a priest" {Blomefield). The border legend is now illegible. 
 
 Blomefield saw these wonls: — "Oi'ate salvetur qui fuit cujus animae 
 
 propicietur Deus, Amen." Sir Thomas married Margaret, daughter of Sir Roger de 
 Grey of Cavendish and Morton. "Sir John de Shardelowe of Little Barton, Suff., 
 nephew of Sir Thomas, by his will pi'oved 1391 ordered his body to be buried in the 
 church of Thompson in Norfolk, near his parents and ancestors." — Blomefield. 
 
 The present chapel seems to have been built late in the fifteenth century. The 
 window then was at the east end over the altar. The present arch between the church 
 and chapel, as well as the south window and the roof, are all of very late date, 
 probably not long before the dissolution. There is a portion of the old chapel screen of 
 Perpendicular work still i-emaiuing in situ. Under the arch was buried, in 1308, 
 according to Blomefield, Sir Roger de Wylacham, Kut., who was a benefactor to the 
 college and town. 
 
 Chancel interior. The rood loft screen is of the Decorated period, but of an early 
 type. The lower part, which is plain boarded, has on the upper part of its east side 
 the remains of a beautiful stencilled diaper in white, black, and i-ed, so thinly painted 
 
 
 Stencilled diaper on lower part of Thompson Screen. 
 The ground is u-hite, the large figures black, the small red. Scale, J nearly. —G. C. 
 
 M
 
 82 HISTORY OF THOMPSON. 
 
 that the grain uf the wood is visible through the paint. This pattern is also still 
 faintly visible under the modern paint on the west side. Near the south end is a 
 sex-foiled hole which may have been used as a confessional. The upper part of the 
 screen is of open geometric foliated tracery supported on circular shafts, banded, and 
 the whole was apparently decorated in colours. Instead of a centre arch, there is a 
 triangular foliated and crocketed gable. The doors remain. The lower doorway of 
 the rood loft stairs is in the jamb of the north window. 
 
 The stalls now in the nave, of which eleven remain (see p. 29), and which 
 according to Blomefield belonged to the fellows of the college, probably once lined 
 the walls of the chancel. Some of them, I think, were retunied against the east face 
 of the screen, as at Caston, and this would account for the upper part only of the 
 boards of the screen being diapered. The stalls are in sets of three and two. They 
 have a rose on each elbow piece. The misereres have disappeared except four. Two 
 of those bear the arms of Shardelowc, which were also the arms of the college (Az., a 
 chev. gu. betw. three cross-crosslets fitchee az.), and on one is the head of a bishop, 
 and on the other the head of a woman. 
 
 The gi-aceful windows of the chancel have hood moulds terminated by heads. 
 The piscina and sedilia of fine Decorated work, have flattened cinque-foiled ogee arches 
 supported on shafts. The spandrils are filled with foliage. The chancel has a simple 
 fifteenth century arch-braced roof. It is of slightly lower pitch than the original of 
 the Decorated period. The top part was ceiled probabl}^ in 1648 by Robert Futter, 
 then lord of Thompson, when the shields on the wall pieces were added. On one 
 of these shields is carved R. F. 
 
 In 1612 complaint was made at a Visitation under an order from the Archdeacon 
 by the Vicar of Watton, and the Rector of Merton, that " the glasse windows of 
 Thompson chancell arc broken and decayed. The roof of the chancell is decayed so 
 that it rayneth into the same" {Archdn.'s Visitation of Breccles Deanery, 1612). 
 
 In the ancient chest is a cui'ious cylindrical box of black leather, 7^ inches high, 
 and the same in diameter. It is probably of the fifteenth century, and may have been 
 a case for the plate used in the celebration of nias.s.' The sacred monogram J. H. C., 
 the mediceval form of I. H. S., is stamped on the cover. There is a black-letter copy 
 of the Homilies dated 1683, and part of a tine black-letter Prayer-book. 
 
 The Churchyard. On the south side, opposite the priests' door, is some rubble 
 work which may have formed part of the base of the churchyard cross. The top 
 step and a portion of the shaft have been appropriated as tombstones. On the north 
 side, abutting on the chancel, are the foundations of a vestry [?], from which there was 
 a door of communication with the chancel, 4 ft. from its east wall. 
 
 ' Or it may have teen a relic box, smh as the box of black leather containing some of the linen of ITiomas 
 a Beckett, which Erasmus saw in the sacristy at Canterbury.— Knight's England, ii. 216.
 
 ORNAMENTED LEATHER BOX FOR CHALICE, [?] 
 THOMPSON CHURCH.
 
 83 
 
 Jnbcntorics ai Cburrb dSooiJs. 
 
 O understand why these inventories were taken we must remember, that, 
 after the change to a simpler form of worship, consequent upon the 
 Reformation, many of the utensils and ornaments of the churches ceased 
 to be used. Strype in his Memorials of Cranmer, ii. 8, A° 15-18, says, 
 " the utensils or ornaments of churches were spoiled, embezzled, and made away, 
 partly by the churchwardens, and partly by other parishioners. Whether the cause 
 were, that they would do that themselves which they imagined would be, ere long, 
 done by others, viz., robbing the churches, .... certain it is, it became more or less 
 pi-actised all the nation over, to sell or take away chalices, crosses of silver, bells, 
 and other ornaments." (Quoted in Chambers' Strictures on the Judgment in Westerton 
 V. Liddell, p. 69). To check this sacrilege commissions were issued by the Priv'y 
 Council in the first, second, and third years of Edw. VI., to take inventories of the 
 church goods {ih. p. 71), and probably it was under one of these commissions that the 
 churchwardens of Thompson were called upon to state what they had sold, and liow 
 the monej' received was expended. 
 
 CERTIFICATE OF CHURCH GOODS SOLD IN THOMPSON. 
 P.R.O., vol. 500, p. 94. 
 
 Thompson — Willia Manser, and John Malkyn, churchwardens, do present that 
 by the consent of thinhabitants ther we have solde these pcelles folowinge. 
 
 One chales and a senser weienge togither xxx one. at iiijs., vjii. ; ij belles of y" 
 weight of xiiij' for 6li. xis. iiijt?. ; ij coopes ' of damaske white and blewe, xiijs. iiijt7. ; 
 ij tunycles and a vestment, xjs. ; ij tunycles, ij vestments, and an old coope sold 
 
 1 Coope for cope seems to show that the Norfolk pronunciation was much the same in the sixteenth century 
 as it is in the nineteenth. 
 
 M 2
 
 84 HISTORY OF THOMPSON. 
 
 all togither for xjs. viijd xiij/i. vijs. iuyl. ; wherof we have bestowed and 
 
 bought as moche leed as cost iiij//. xiijs. iiijcZ. ; for tymber and naile for y« said church, 
 xiijs. iiijrf. ; for whitinge thereof, xls. ; for the taske [tax] p"" this yer for the relive of 
 y* poore people, 6/('. The resideue remayen in our handes toward* y" reliff of the 
 poore people. 
 
 If the churchwardens balanced their accounts, they would have seen that this 
 residue was only one shilling. 
 
 "It seems that in the 4th and 5th Edw. VI. the same system of embezzlement 
 beo-an again, so that in the 6th year fresh commissions were issued. Now instructions 
 were given to leave one or two chalices, and some honest and comly coveryngs for 
 the Communyon-table, and to sell all the rest, and remit the money to the Treasurer 
 of the Household." — Chambers, pp. 73 and 115. 
 
 Under this commission of the Gth Edw. VI., we find what was done at Thompson 
 to have been as follows : — 
 
 INVENTORY OF CHURCH GOODS, 6th EDW. VI. 
 
 From Record OflBce. 
 
 Exchequer, Queen's Remembrancer, Church Goods, Norfolk, *, 
 
 Hundred' de Weylond. (1552).' 
 
 Thompston. 
 
 This Inventorie indentid, made the ix daye of September in the sixt yere of the 
 rainge of our most dread Souerainge lord Edward the Sixt, by the grace of God of 
 Inwlond, France, and Irelond, King, Defendour of the Faith, and in Erthe of the 
 Church of Inglond and Irelond the supreme hedde, Betwyn Will'm ffermour,'' John' 
 
 > Edward VI. began to reign Jan. 28th, 1547. 
 
 2 Sir Willm. Fermour, Knt., was of Wolterton manor in East Barsham, a large and stately mansion (the 
 ornaments of moulded brick) which he himself built. In 1527, being then heir apparent to his father, Sir 
 Henry Fermor, he married Catharine, daughter of Sir Thomas Knevett, dec. In 32nd Hen. VIII., he was High 
 Sheriff of Norfolk. He succeeded his father 25th Hen. VIII., and was himself succeeded by his nephew, 
 Thos. Fermor. In 37th Hen. VIII. he had the manors granted to him of Hempton Priory in Norton, and 
 Waltham Abbey in Seaming. He had also grants of manors and possessions of the College of Holy Trinity 
 in Pontefract after its dissolution, jointly with Sir Richard Fulmerston. — BlomfJUld, imder E. Baksham. 
 
 ' Sir John Robsart, Knt., was only (?) son of Sir Terry Robsart of Siderstone, a parish contiguous to 
 Houghton, and was brother to Lucy, wife of Edw. Walpole of Houghton, who died 1559. Sir John was twice 
 Sheriff of Norfolk. He resided at Stanfield Hall, near "Wymondham, and was father of the ill-fated Amy 
 Robsart. He possessed the manor of Siderstone and several others. The Siderstone property alone was more 
 than 4000 acres —Jessopp's One Generation, pp. 21-29, and Blomejield, under Sidesston.
 
 INVENTORIES OF CHURCH GOODS. 85 
 
 Robsart, and Xpofer Heydon,' Knights, Osl>ert Mounford,^ and John Calibut,' Esquires, 
 Commisioners amonges other assigned by vertu of the Kinges Ma"*' Commission to 
 them directed, for the survey of Church goodes in NorfT, on thone parte. And 
 Wyll'm Halyday and Richar[d] Cowper, Churche Wardens there, and Peter Pory,* 
 John Rolffe, John Thayn, John Mawkyn, parissheoners of the seid Towne, on thother 
 parte, Witnesse[th] that there remaynith in the custodie of the said Church Wardens 
 and othe[r], the daye and year aboueseid, these parcelles of goodes vnderwreten, viz : — 
 
 In primis ther is hangyn in the stepyll ther one bell, weying vj'., 
 
 valewyd at ------ - iiijZi. xs. 
 
 Item ij Westments of silk valewyd at - - - - xxs. 
 
 Item one blewe cope of Bawdkyn,* price . . . . iijs. iiijc^. 
 
 Item one chalysshe of syluer, all gylt, waying xx. ow[nces], at iiijs. 
 
 iiijd. the ownce ------- iiij//. 
 
 Whereof is assigned to be occupied and vsed in thadministracion of Diuine 
 
 ' Sir Christopher Heydon of Baconsthorpe, Knt., descended from Willm. Heydon, Esq., who settled at 
 Baconsthorpe in 1447. Sir Christopher succeeded his grandfather in 1551. He married (1) Anne, daughter of Sir 
 William Drury of Hawstead, Suffolk ; (2) Temperance, daughter of Sir Wymonde Carew of Anthony, Cornwall, 
 and widow of Thos. de Grey of Merton, Esq. ; (3) Agnes, daughter of Robert Crane of Chilton, Suffolk, Esq. 
 Sir Christopher died 1579, seized of thirty-three manors and nine advowsons. The family became extinct 1689. — 
 W. E. G. L. Buhcer, Esq. The manor-house at Baconsthorpe, built by Sir Henry Heydon, Knt., who died 1503, 
 was a sumptuous pile. It was quadrangular with a gate-house in front. — Gournay Records, p. 411. 
 
 ' Osbert Mounford, Esq., was of FeltweU, and was head of the younger branch of Jlundeford of Hockwold. 
 He married Margt., dr. of John, s. and h. of John Townsend of Rainham, Esq. He died in 1580, leaving nine 
 sons and two daughters. In 2nd Edw, VI. he had a grant of lands in Gayton on the dissolution of St. Stephen's, 
 Westminster. For pedigree of llundeford see Jilomefield, under Hockwold. 
 
 ^ John Calibut, Esq. The Calibuts were a family of wealth and substance, whose ancestors had been for 
 some generations large landowners in West Norfolk. Francis Calibut was a governor of Lincoln's Inn in IGth 
 and 24th Hen. VII. He died 9th Hen. VIII. He owned about 3000 acres in Castleacre and the adjoining 
 parishes, and a great deal else which is specified. His son John married Bridget, d. and h. of Sir John Boleyn, 
 and died 20th Feb., 1553. John Calibut, son of the above (and I suppose the commissioner of Sept., 1553), is 
 called by Dr. Jessopp John Calibut of Castle Acre. He died at Upton in Northamptonshire, 1570, leaving 
 four daughters, who divided his inheritance. — From Jessopp's One Generation, pp. 22, 31. 
 
 • Peter Pory, who signs as the representative of the parish, is called " generosus " in a Botours Hall Roll 
 of 1563, when the title gentleman was far less widely applied than it is now. He is one of the two landowners 
 mentioned in the Lay Subsidy of 1543. Some account of the family will be found at page 93. William 
 Haliday, Richard Cowper, John Rolfe, John Thayne, and John Miiwkyn were all amongst the most substantial 
 inhabitants in the same year. 
 
 ' Baudekyn, Fr. A rich stuff, consisting of silk interwoven with gold thread and enriched by embroidery. 
 It was originally manufactured at Baldock, or Babylon ; whence its name. (See Ducange). It was introduced 
 into Europe at the period of the Crusades, for regal garments ; and, some time after, for those of the nobility, 
 for church vestments, altar hangings, and canopies of state, hence termed baldachins. — Fairholt't Dictionary.
 
 86 HISTORY OF THOMPSON. 
 
 S[eruice] there, tlie seid bell and the chalysse. In witnes whereof, the seid Com- 
 missioners and other the persons to these Inventories, alternatly h daye and 
 
 yero aboucscid. 
 
 per me, Peter Pory 
 
 iiijii. vjs. viij[fZ]. 
 
 It will be observed that altogether at Thompson there were four copes, five 
 vestments, and four tunicles. The numbers, I suppose, would not have been so great 
 had not the college of priests existed. 
 
 A short explanation of these di'esses has been kindly given me by the Rev. M. 
 Bower : — 
 
 Cope — a part of ecclesiastical dress for a choir and for processions, not for the 
 celebration of the mass. It was a cloak of silk of divers colours, open in front, 
 except where it was united by the morse or clasp, and was often embroidered with 
 gold and jewels. It had no sleeves, nor had it apertures for the arms. It was worn 
 over the surplice, and was made a substitute for the chasuble or vestment by the 
 Canons of 1604. 
 
 Surplice — before the Reformation was not worn during the celebration. It was 
 a choir dress. 
 
 Vesttnent — a word meaning in mediaeval times the chasuble ; an oval garment 
 without sleeves, open at the sides, having an aperture through which to pass the head. 
 It was worn over the albe (a tight sort of surplice) during the celebration. The stole 
 and maniple were necessary parts of the vestment. 
 
 Thus, during any service, except that of the mass, the officiating clergy would 
 wear cassock, sui-plice, and cope. But during the celebration the priest would wear 
 cassock, albe, and vestment ; the deacon would wear cassock, albe, and dalmatic ; the 
 sub-deacon cassock, albe, and tunicle. 
 
 The dalmatic and tunicle were short coats without sleeves, the only differcnco 
 between them being that the dalmatic (so called because originally worn by the 
 Dalmatian priests) was more richly embroidered than the tunicle. The first Prayer- 
 book of Edw. VI. directed that the priest and deacons who assisted at the celebration 
 should wear albes with tunicles.
 
 87 
 
 C^c ||atronci0c of tlje (H^ljiirdj jiittr its d^fficiatiiTg Clcr0i|. 
 
 Patrons. 
 
 1282. Robert de Thomeston. — Blomefield. 
 
 Three daughters of Robert de Thomeston in common. — Id. 
 130S. Sir Guy de Boutetort by purchase [?]. — Id. 
 1318. Robert de Aula, of Thomeston. — Id. 
 
 1349. Sir Thomas de la Shardelowe and John his brother. — Id. 
 
 1349. The Master and Chaplains of Thompson College by gift from Shardelowe. — Id. 
 1503. Thos. Spring (P. R. O. de Banco Roll, Mich, term, A" 18th Henry VII., memb. 
 
 364, dorse). 
 1541. Robert Audeley, the last master of the College, resigned the patronage of the 
 
 advowson to Hen. VIII. — Surrender Charter, supra. 
 1543. Sir Edm. Knevett, Kni.— Blomefield. 
 1561. Robert Futtcr.— /d. 
 1589. Henry Futter. 
 1604. Francis and Winifred Bedingfield. 
 1622. Robert Futter. 
 1652. Humphrey Futter. 
 1679. John Ware. 
 
 1706. Roger Colman was impropriator, and probably patron. 
 1754. Barber Colman. 
 1754. Matthew Barker. 
 
 John Barker, Esq., of Shropham. 
 1792. Four daughters of Genl. James Barker. 
 1853. Henry Hemsworth, Esq.
 
 88 history of thompson. 
 
 Rectors. 
 From Blomefield. 
 
 1303. Brian dc Saham. 
 
 1308. Master Ralph Buttetourt. 
 
 1318. Rob. de Harbling. 
 
 13-t9. Will, de la Cliambre. 
 
 1349. John Spore of Barton near MilJenhall. 
 
 1349, 10th March. Willm. de la Chambre of Ereswell. 
 
 1350. The Master and Fellows of Thompson College. 
 
 Perpetual Curates. 
 
 1610-20. Robert B.o\\se.—Iiegist€r. 
 
 1622. Nicholas Halman.— 76. 
 1633-63. John Hamond.— /6. 
 1663-82. John Bloome. 
 
 1706. Roger Colman, Impropriator and Perpetual Curate (Terrier, 1706). 
 1738. James Smith. — Blomefield. 
 
 1745. John Edgerley. — Register. He was collated to the Vicarage of Stanford 
 in 1730, and became Rector of Dunham Pai-va in 1741. At the latter 
 place he appears never to have resided. 
 1764. William Clough. — Dawson Turner's Norfolk Benefices. 
 
 1768. Thomas Scott. — lb. He appears to have held Thompson till 1809, when 
 George Dean succeeded him. 
 1779-84. John Twells. — Register. [He was Rector of Caston and apparently served 
 Thompson as Curate.] 
 1795. E. M. Vrice.— Register. [Vicar of Griston and of Runham, 1787-1811, 
 serving Thompson as Curate.] 
 1796-1805. Robert Bamcs.— Register. [Vicar of Stanford, 1787-1808. Curate of 
 
 Thompson.] 
 1809-1816. George Deane. — Register. [He held the Carbrookes with Thompson till 
 
 his death in 1816]. 
 1816-1849. James Brown Thompson of Norwich, also Vicar of Shropham. 
 1850-1859. Augustus Barker Hemsworth. 
 
 1859. — Bethune of Sussex. He held it only a few weeks. 
 
 1860. William Smj-th Thorpe, who is also Incumbent of Breccles.
 
 89 
 
 Jicttorri antr ^lavish propcvln. 
 
 X the Terrier of 170G, when Mr. Roger Colman was Impropriator and Perpetual 
 
 Curate, I find as follows : — 
 
 I^lp^, All tythes within this parish of Thompson, except the tithes of 
 
 Woodfielil and Bridge Closes, are paid to the Rector {i.e. Impropriator, as he is 
 
 called in the Terrier of 1725) or his tenant, in their proper kinds, and there are no 
 
 customs in the p'^'^, Lut only 8 pence for every Milch Cow and Calfe under the 
 
 number of tenn ; six pence for every Bullock with the first calf (or as it is in 1725, 
 
 four pence for a bullock, and 2 pence her first calf) ; and 4 pence for every ffarrow 
 
 Cow ; 2 pence for every lamb under 10 ; for every foal, one penny ; for every Henn, 
 
 2 eggs. 
 
 The tithes profitts of the s"" rectory worth about £-iO per annum. 
 
 Signed, Robert Futter, Edmd. Dexter, Rob. Kidwell. 
 
 Rob. Atmear, ) ^, , 
 
 r^, „ , I Cnurchwardens. 
 
 Ihos. Barker, } 
 
 In Roger Colman's writing is the following note : " I subscribe so to this as not to 
 abridge myself of my Tyth milk. Roger Colman, Curate." If thear be tenn calves, 
 then the minister is to have the calve only. 
 
 In Roger Colman's writing are these Queries : " Quere for what the groat is paid 
 for the farrow cow. Quere whether the 10th Calf in kin<l be a sufficient discharge for 
 the milk." 
 
 In the Terrier of 1725 is the following: — "Imprimis the tithes within the .said 
 parish are paj^able to the Impropriator, but there are some particular customs within 
 the said ]iarish, viz. : 4 pence is paid for every cow, and 4 pence for her calf under 
 seven, and 4 pence for a bullock, and 2 pence her first calf, and 4 pence for every 
 fallow cow in lieu of milk in kind, and when there is seven calves, the Impi'opriator 
 takes the 7 calf, and returns 4 pence for every cow under 10 to the occupier ; and 
 when 10 calves, the Impropriator takes the lOtli calf, and the farmer pays the 
 Impropriator, in lieu of milk, 4 pence per cow. 
 
 " Item, the Impropriator has in lieu of lambs for tythe, 2 pence for every lamb 
 under 7 from the occupier, and when the occupier has seven, he pays to the
 
 90 HISTORY OF THOMPSON. 
 
 Impropriator a lamb in kind, and the Impropriator allows to the Occupier 2 pence for 
 
 every lamb under 10. The like custom and usedge in the tythe of piggs as in lambs. 
 
 "Item is paid from the owner to the Impropriator a penny for tithe of every ifole." 
 
 Before 1865, twenty acres in East Harling were given by Queen Anne's Bounty, to 
 
 the Perpetual Curacy, and £400 in the funds. 
 
 Parish Peopeety. 
 
 Terrier of 170G. — Two parcels of land and pasture, four acres in Thompson called 
 Fishers, rent £3. 7s. 9d. 
 
 One piece of arable, one acre called Bell-rope Acre, and now (1879) let for 126-. 
 per annum, dedicated to the renewal of the bell -ropes. 
 
 One arable eight acres, in Gaston, rent £3, called Whitebread Close, and now 
 (1879) let at £4. 15s. 0(7. 
 
 One acre in Rattlesden (Suff.), rent 13s. 4d. Blomefield states that in 1599, Sir 
 John Crofts settled an acre of land in Rattlesden, Suff., on Robt. Futter of Islington ; 
 Robert Futter of Thompson, Gent. ; Thos. Dey of Scoulton, to the town's use. Sir 
 John Crofts of Little Saxham Hall, Suff. (probably the Sir John above-mentioned) 
 died in 1G28, and was buried in Little Saxham Church (Gage's Thingoe, p. 135). 
 The Parish still (1879) holds this acre of land. 
 
 Two small cottages situate next the common pasture of Thompson ; the rents of 
 which lands are applied by the Churchwardens and Overseers to the relief of the poor. 
 For Mr. Daye's dove coate, 12 pence, and for Mr. ffutter's, 12 pence. 
 
 Thos. Atmeare, Yeoman, of Thompson, by his will proved 8th Sept., 1G38, leaves 
 £3 to the poor of Thompson. 40.s. of it to remain as a stock, to be lent out by the 
 Churchwardens at Is. M. the pound. Tliu other 20s. to be distributed. 
 
 In 1817 the Inclosure Commissioners awarded to the churchwanlens G«. 3c. 24yj. 
 town land, of which la. Qr. 20p. on the north side is copyhold of Butters Hall Manor 
 {Court Book, Butters Hall, 1819) In the Terrier of 18G5, 6a. 3r. 24^j. at a rent of 
 £10. los. Od. is said to have been awarded by the Inclosure Act. It is added "all tlie 
 rents of the said lands — meaning I suppose, all the lands belonging to the parish — 
 are received by the cimrcliwardens, and appropriateil to the reparation of the churcli, 
 and for the use of the poor of the said pish, and to the payment of the clerk's 
 salary."
 
 91 
 
 CI^c llcgistcrs. 
 
 " Here to be born and die, 
 Of Rich and Poor makes all the history." — Pope. 
 
 HE Thompson Registers begin in the first year in which registers were kept, 
 
 viz. 1538, the year of Secretary Cromwell's order, made necessary by the 
 
 dissolution of the monasteries. But the entries are, as usual, for many 
 
 years, only a transcript. In 1597 parchment books were ordered by the 
 
 Synod of the Province of Canterbury to be supplied, and transcripts of existing 
 
 books were to be made in the parchment books. The correctness of tlie entries was 
 
 to be certified by the clergyman and churchwardens at the foot of each page. 
 
 The oldest book begins with this title. " The Register booke of Thompson wiierin 
 is conteyned all christenings, mariages, and burialls, from the yeare of our Lord God 
 1538, and from the thirtie yeare of the raygne of Heniy the eight, by the grace of 
 God of firance and England King, Lord of Ireland, and of the churche of Englaml 
 next under God supreme head and governour." 
 
 The most prominent names in the sixteenth century are Porye (see 1570), Rolfe 
 (whose name appears in a court-roll of Botours Hall in 14G8, and in a lay subsidy of 
 1381), Jellian or Julian (whose name appears in a lay subsidy of 1327 as Gilyon, 
 and in the court-roll of Botours Hall in 14'67 as Julyon), Manser, Mortimer, Gerarde, 
 Mounteney, Houchin, Dugdale, Beckerton, Halliday, BuUimer, Barker, Spurgin, Atmeare, 
 Costens, Futter, Esmond. 
 
 The most prominent entries of the century are as follows : — 
 
 1545. Ursula Wodehouse, the daughter of Roger Woodhouse, Knt., was baptized. 
 
 N 2
 
 by 
 
 92 HISTORY OF TirOMPSON. 
 
 This Ui'sula was daughter of Sir Roger Woodliouse of Kimberley, 
 
 /Elizabeth, d. and euh. of !^ir Roljert Ratcliffe, Knt., Sir Roger's only wife. — 
 
 Dr. Jessopp. 
 Elizabetii, d. of John Dniry, Sir Roger's second wife. — Biomefidd, Fed. of 
 Woodhouse. 
 Ursula married the eldest son of Sir Thos. Cotton of Kent (Blome field). The 
 brother of Sir Roger, John Woodhouse, was living at Breckles, the next village 
 south-east of Thompson, at this time, with his wife Anne, daughter of William Spelinan 
 of Stow-Bedon, Esq. Their son, Francis Woodhouse, built Breckles Hall, which 
 became a harbour for persecuted Catholics (Dr. Jessopp, Norf. Arcliceol., viii. 300). 
 
 1550. "Edmund Grene and Alice Piggott, gent., were married the 13th Jenery"; 
 an instance of the title gent, being given to a lady. 
 
 1551. Gabriell Grey, the daughter of Mr. William Gre}^ was baptized. This 
 Mr. William Grey who had three children baptized at Thompson, viz., Edmund in 
 1.545, Gertrude in 1547, and Gabriell, was no doubt of the family of De Grey of 
 Merton, the next village north of Thompson, for the title Mr. was in the sixteenth 
 century only given to esquires and gentlemen. The family of De Grey had been at 
 this time owners of Merton for more than two hundred years, having obtained that 
 estate by marriage with the heii'ess of Baynard. This William Grey, Gent., is 
 mentioned in the lay subsidy of 1543, q.v., as in goods the man of most substance in 
 Thompson. 
 
 I suspect he was the William Grey who was afterwards owner of Griston Hall, 
 for that manor was bought (accoi'ding to Bloraefield) in 1541 by Edm. Grey of Sir 
 Edmund Knevett (see p. 56), and it is probable that Edmund and William Grey were 
 brothers [this is so stated in an old MS. Pedigree at Merton Hall, q^^] and were sons 
 of Thos. de Grey of Merton, and of Elizth. Fitz-Lewes his wife. In the pedigree 
 of Grey of Griston {Vlsitai'wn, Harvey, Clarenciewx, 15G7) William Grey, the first 
 of Griston, married Jane, daughter of John Bennet (of Attleborough). 
 
 The following table shows more clearly the supposed descent of Grey of Thompson. 
 It is continued to 1G15, when a de Grey was baptized at Thompson. 
 
 Slary, dr. of Thos. Boilingfiflil of Oxburgh ="William de Gre)- of Mcrton,=:=Grace, dr. of Thos. Teyc and widow of 
 ob. 1480, leaving issue five diildren, of whom ob. 1496. Francis II ethe. Second wife, 
 
 three were daughters. I'irst wife. | 
 
 Tho3.de Grey of =p Elizabeth, dr. of Kdmund, see Inquisn. 
 
 Jlertcm, eldest son 
 (by Mary Beding- 
 field) and h., ob. 
 ].3o(i. 
 
 Sir Kichard Fitz after death of his father, 
 
 Lewes, ob. 1515. only two sons living 
 
 then, Thos.and Edmund. 
 
 Bennett. 
 
 Edmund Grey of Merton, s. and h.=p Elizth. d. of Sir John William Grey, second t= Jane, d. of John 
 
 of Thos. He bought lands of 8r. ^ " ~ 
 
 Edm. Knevett in Thompson, and also 
 probablv was the Edmund who bought 
 Gristou'Hall in 1541, ob. 1548. 
 
 (") (*) 
 
 Spelman. son, of Thompson, after- 
 
 wards owner of Griston, 
 as supposed.
 
 THE REGISTERS. 93 
 
 {") (*) 
 
 I : iri"" . I 1 ~T" ' 
 
 Ilis only Wymonde 1600. 
 
 son and h. Carewe. 
 died a 
 
 of Sir of Griston, the only bp. 1545. bp. 1547. 1551. 
 Thos. child mentioned in the 
 
 ThoB. de = l. Anne, dr. of Robert^ Anne, dr. John Grey, eld. son, Edmund, Gertrude, Galiriel,bp. 
 
 Grey, of Uenry Everard. de Grey, ' "' . ~ . 
 
 Merton, 2. Temperance, of Mer- 
 
 ob. 1562. dr. of .Sir ton, ob. Lovell. Pedigree of l.i67. He 
 
 she died was probably the John 
 
 1600. (Jrey of Jlethwold, 
 
 who, according to 
 
 Blomefield, gave Gris- 
 
 Sir Willm. de=FAnne, dr. of ton to William Grey, 
 
 Grey, Knt , of 
 Merton, ob. 1023. 
 
 .Sir James his eldest son, in 1358, 
 
 Calthoipe, who sold it before 1572. 
 
 Knt., ob. 
 1662. 
 
 He had seventeen children. His 
 
 fourth son was William, who was 
 
 bapt. at Thompson in 1615, and 
 who died 1616. 
 
 1555. John an Egyptian (gypsy) the sonne of George an Eg3'ptian, was baptized. 
 An example perhaps of a man without a surname so late as the sixteenth century. 
 
 1570. "John Porye, Clarke and doctour in divinitie, being of the age of G7 
 years, was buried the 2.5th of June, whose soule and body God grant a joyfull 
 resurrection. Amen." 
 
 I was told liy that accurate antiquary, the late Rev. William Grigson, that he had 
 no doubt about this Dr. Porye being the Dr. John Porye, who was Master of Benet 
 (now Corpus Christi) College, Cambridge ; and certainly, the dates, as given in 
 Masters' History of the College, fully confirm Mr. Grigson's opinion. Dr. Pory of 
 Corpus was a native of Thrapstone, Northamptonshire, to which church he bequeathed 
 £6. 13s. 4cZ. (Dean Lamb's Hist, of Corpus). Masters says of him " Dr. John Porye 
 is said to have been of the County of Norfolk." He was probably admitted to Benet 
 College (Dr. Perowne, the present Master, informs me) in 1527, ami became fellow 
 about seven years after. He became a Prebendary of Stoke College, Suffolk, about this 
 time, probably through the influence of Matthew Parker (afterwards Archbishop of 
 Canterbury), who was made Master of that College in loS-t. He became Rector 
 of Bunwell in 1555, and Vicar of St. Stephen's, Norwich (in the gift of his college) 
 in 155G. He was elected Master of Benet 10th Dec, 1557, and became Rector of 
 Landbeaeh (in the gift of his college) soon after. (He proceeded to the degree of 
 D.D. in 1.5.")!J — Br. Peroiune). In 1559 he was prebendary of Ely, and in 15G1 
 prebendary of Canterbu^J^ At this time Dr. Porye resided sometimes at Ely, 
 sometimes at Benet College, sometimes at Lambeth with Archbishop Parker, who was 
 a Norfolk man ; and often at his rectory at Landbeaeh, where he lived hospitabh'. 
 He resigned his stall at Ely in 1563, in which j'ear he became Rector of Lambeth. 
 Blomefield says that in 1503 he leased out the parsonage of Bunwell for six years 
 to Willm. Tolp, in consideration of his repairing the house and paying the an-ears
 
 94 HISTORY OF THOMPSON. 
 
 of tenths, ami tlie liisliop confirmed it. Ami thus, when nothing was to he got, he 
 resigned it the next year. A bad example to posterity, &c." 
 
 Dr. Porye resig-ned his stall at Canterbury in 15G7 when he became prebendaiy 
 of Westminster. He resigned LandVieach soon after. He was a Justice of the Peace 
 for Cambridgeshire, and was one of the four supporters of the Queen's canopy when 
 slie visited Cambridge in ISG-i, and Oxford in 1.5CG. Masters supposes that Dr. Porye, 
 from his continuance in his preferments, complied with all the changes of religion in 
 those tinie.s. (Masters' History of Coriius, ed. 1753, page 104). Dr. Porye was 
 persuaded in 1-")C9 to i-esign the mastership of Benet, but not without great reluctance, 
 and after long solicitation. [He appears to have held his stall at Westminster till 
 his death, for Dr. Aldrich succeeded him in November, 1570.] 
 
 Dr. Porye bore for arms — Sa., guttfee d'eau, a saltire or (Masters). Dr. Porye 
 must undoubtedly be considered one of the noted characters of Thompson, but 
 scarcely one of its Avorthies. 
 
 The Poryes of Thompson were copyhold tenants of Butters Hall and of the 
 College Manors. The name occurs in the registers from 1539 to 1572; sixteen entries. 
 In 1507 a Sir John Pory,' chaplain, was Rector of Morton (B/omefiekl). In the 
 Lay Subsidy, 1524, William Pory is one of the most substantial inhabitants of 
 Thompson. In Botours Hall Manor Roll, 1563, is mentioned Petrus Porye, Generosus. 
 In 1590, Will's Pory, Generosus. In the Lay Subsidy, 1543, Peter Porye is one of 
 the two landowners mentioned. Agnes Porye, widow, is also mentioned. In 1552 
 Peter Porye signs the inventory of church goods as representing the parish. 
 
 Porye's land was conveyed to Thomas Futter of Thompson in 1590 (Butters Hall 
 Roll, that date). Thomas Putter's son and heir, Robert Futter, senr., of Thompson, 
 is called "of Porye's, gentleman" in a rental of copyholds of Butters Hall of the 
 year 16C0. There is a field which in a map of 1723 is called " Poras Close." It is at 
 the bottom of the descent in the road leading from Merton to Wretham, and close 
 to the Jacobean cottage (see page 54). 
 
 1598, the 11th Dec, was found an old man dead upon the heath, and was 
 buried 12th Dec. 
 
 In the seventeenth century the prominent names are those of Futter, Barker, 
 Atmeare, Thornebacke, Halliday, Cosden, Rolfe, Dugdale, Spurgin, Bedingfield, Jellyan, 
 Ringbell, Houchen, Whalebelly, Jewell, Tooke, Quantrill. The most prominent entries 
 are as follows : — 
 
 ICIO to 1020, Robert Rowse was minister. 
 
 1013, Elizth. Reppes, the daughter of Henry Reppes, Esquier, buried. She was, no 
 doubt, of the old Norfolk family of Reppes of West Walton, and was probably daughter 
 
 ' In a deed at Merton Hall, 24th Jan., 9th Hen. VIII., John Poory de Marton, Clericus, is mentioned.
 
 THE REGISTERS, 95 
 
 of Henry Reppes, Esq., who married Anne Cotterell, ao'l who died 1G29 (see Cartheiv's 
 Launditch, iii. 321). 
 
 1015. "William de Oroy, the Sonne of Sir William de Grey, K"'., and the Lady 
 Anne, his wife, was bapt"" the 7th day of Angt." He seems to have died at Merton 
 the following year. Sir William de Grey, hy his wife Anne, daughter of Sir James 
 Calthorpe of Coekthorpe, was the father of seventeen children, of whom ten lived to 
 marry (monument in Merton chancel and Merton Registers), but none of the younger 
 sons seem to have formed collateral branches. Sir William, in 1020, finished building 
 Merton Hall, which had been begun by his father, Robert de Grey, who was many 
 times imprisoned and fined as a Popish Recusant.' 
 
 1G22. Nicholas Halman sims the Register as Minister. 
 
 We now come to the time of the Commonwealth. A Registrar was appointed, and 
 the minister, Mr. Hamond, was, judging by the entry at his death, 1003, q.v., probably 
 ejected. " The number of beneficed clergymen who were ejected is not accurately 
 known : Gauden says between six and seven thousand.^ In Walker's " Sufferings " the 
 computation is still higher, but probably these statements are much beyond the truth " 
 (Short's Hist, of Chv.rch of England, 443). 
 
 In 1054 there is this entry, " The Register begun the 22ud day of Maj% 1654, by 
 me, John Barker, Register for the parish of Tompston." 
 
 In 1653 tho Parliament passed an Act appointing a civil Registrar for each parish. 
 He was elected by the inhabitants, and sworn before a magistrate. He was sometimes, 
 as at Griston, the minister of the parish ; [" Samuel Warren, minister of God's word at 
 Griston, and parish register there, June 12th, 1054" (cover of Griston Register book)], 
 but generally, as in Thompson, he was a layman. The filled church registers were to 
 be given into his custody. 
 
 The John Barker who was appointed Register of Tompston, was at this time (witli the 
 exception of the two cousins Futter, proprietors respectively of the College and of Por3-s) 
 the chief resident in Thompson (for family of Barker of Thompson, see p. 100). Children 
 are now entered as ' born,' not ' baptised.' Tlie marriages were performed by the civil 
 power. The agreement of marriage was published three times on the Lord's day in the 
 pulilic meeting place, commonly called the church, or sometimes in the mai-ket place, 
 on three mai-ket days, and " the parties were to profess their desire to be married in 
 
 ' [There is an extremely interesting account of this gentleman in the ix"' vol. of tho Norfolk Aichtcologij, p. 282, 
 which will repay anyone to refer to. It is a most careful and elaborate paper, and was written by Jlr. Crabbo in his 
 best style]. 
 
 ^ The Covenant was in 1643 enforced in the Diocese of Norwich with extraordinary rigour . . . Dr. Prideaux 
 informed Mr, Walker {Sufferings, p. 107), " that all tho clergy of that diocese that would not take the Covenant 
 were ejected, and that two or tliree hundred lost their preferment." — Gournay Records, p. 167.
 
 96 iriSTOKY OF THOMPSOX. 
 
 the presence of a justice of the peace, in order to make the union legal. In 1G56 the 
 parties were penuittcJ to a(h)pt tlie accustomed rites of religion if tliey preferred them " 
 (Short's Hist, p. 472). 
 
 1C5G. " Steven Oaulikii, wiildinver, and Elizabate Sinallock, single woman, were 
 married 2 June, by Justes Gurdin, 1G5G." Tliis Justice Gurdon was Brampton Gurdon, 
 Esq., of Letton. He was living in 1G64, and married Mary, daughter of Henr}' Polsted 
 of London, Gent. 
 
 " 1657. Robert Clarke, widdower, and Eliz"' Rolfe, wiiluw, were married the 8th 
 day of June by Thomas Daj', Esq., one of the justis of the peace for this county." 
 Thomas Daye, Esq., of Scoulton, was father-indaw of John Futter. John Futter's son 
 afterwards took the name of Day, and succeeded to the Scoulton estate, which had 
 been long in the Day family, and which is still (1879), remembered in Scoulton by the 
 Inn called the Da\''s Arms. Day of Scoulton bore — Or, on a chief indented az. two 
 mullets of the field, probably from a very earl}"- date, as there was a house called 
 Deys in 1474 (see p. 72). The Days were copyholders of the Manors of Thompson 
 College (see Court Booh, 1053, IGGO, &c., down to 1734), and of Waterhouse (see Cvart 
 Boole, 1601 to 1682). 
 
 In 1658, judging by the handwriting and tlie signature at tlie bottom of the page, 
 the registrar, Mr. Bai-ker, gave up the register book to the minister, the Rev. John 
 Hamond, wlio, I suppose, was restored to his church at the fall of Cromwell. The 
 children are again entered as " baptized." 
 
 We have not, however, done with the ctiects of tiic Civil War. In Charles II. 's 
 reign there were many briefs, or orders to collect money, issued in behalf of charitable 
 objects, many of them to assist towns which had suffered in the royal cause. Pepys 
 says, June 30th, IGGl, " Lord's Day. To church where we observe the trade of briefs 
 is come now up to so constant a course every Sunday, that we resolve to give no 
 more to them." In Thompson register two of these are recorded. 
 
 "Collected in the Pish of Thompson for Bridgnorth, IGGl, tlic 10th November, 
 2s. 9tL Chaides II. had been proclaimed king May Sth, IGGO. Bridgnorth had during 
 the Civil Wars remained faitliful to the royal cause. In 164G it sustained a desperate 
 attack from the parliamentary forces, in the course of wliieli a large portion of the 
 town was burnt to the ground. It was taken after three weeks' resistance, and its 
 fortifications destroyed " {Purl. (Jaz.) No doubt Charles would be anxious to help 
 liis faithful city, and hence the brief for this purpose. In the Merton register there 
 is this entry: — "To Bridgenorth in Salop a buiuiiig and eliuich iv-edifying, 2s. \d., 
 Dec. 15th, IGGl." In Horringer register. Bury St. Edmund's, the loss is stated to be 
 of the value of £GO,000. 
 
 Other entries are as as follows : — " Collected in the Pish of Thompston, the 17th 
 November, 1661, for Henry Harrison, Marriner, 2s. 5c?." In Merton register is the 
 entry, "To Harrison off Trinity House a losse at sea, IGGl." In Horringer register, 
 Harrison's loss is stated to be £7,500.
 
 THE REGISTEES. 97 
 
 1G61. Collected for Bolingbrooke Churcli, 3s. M. "Bolingbroke Church suffered 
 much in the Civil War" (Pari. Gaz.) In Merton register is this entry, "To Bullingbrook 
 in Lincolnshire, a church repairing, 19d., 1661." In Horringer register this loss is 
 stated as £2400. 
 
 1661. Richard y'^ sonne of Thos. Rising and Bridget his wife was baptized. In 
 1663 Thomas Rising was buried, and in 1708 Rysinge Smith, Gent., was buried. In 
 the chancel, close to the north wall, is a slab with a coat of arms, Ar. a chev. gu. 
 betw. three cross-crosslets sa. Crest: Out of a mural crown an eagle's head or. The 
 inscription is as follows : " Here lies the body of Rysing Smyth, Gent., who departed 
 this life y"= 16th of January, 1708, aged 53 years. Son of John Smyth late of Haughly 
 in y'^ county of Suffolk, Gent." This John Smyth is no doubt commemorated on a 
 mural monument against the south wall of Haugliley church. 
 
 Juxta banc parietem 
 
 jacet quod reliquum est 
 
 Johannis Smyth, Gen., 
 
 qui obiit Api'. 26, 
 
 An. Dom. 1691, jetat. 
 
 su£e 77. 
 
 There are inscriptions on the same monument to his wife and son John, who 
 died sexagenarius, Oct. 9 th, 1723. Arms and crest as above. And on another mural 
 monument in the same church is an inscription to Sarah, the wife of John Smyth, Gent., 
 and to their daughter, Mrs. Mary Smyth, ending with these words: — "This family was 
 ancient and much respected in this parish." Arms and crest as above. Rising Smith 
 was cousin of Edward Blackball of Merton, Gent., and of Thomas Scott of Watton, 
 Gent. — Carthew's Launditch, iii. 34'9. 
 
 1663. " Mr. John Hamond, curat, was buried the first of March. He was minister 
 about thirty-six years." He first signs the book in 1623, which would be forty years, 
 but he seems to have been ejected four years. 
 
 1671. There is an entiy on page 68 too long to give, but which tells us a story 
 of a quai-rel between the neighbouring parishes of Thompson and Stow Bedon, about 
 some turfs which the Thompson people had cut in " the Sanwade ffienn, nere the Hemp 
 pyt." This fen, about two miles S.W. of Thompson Church, is now covered by a lake 
 of about sixty acres, made about 1845. There are several plots of ground near it still 
 called " Sannard " ; and there is in a map of 1723 a ti-ack leading from the Fen to the 
 North Common called the Sandwood Way. The parishes took the case to the Assizes, 
 then held at Thetford, and Thompson gained the verdict. In tliis account it is worth 
 noticing that the word plotforme is used in its first meaning of " ground plan or 
 design " {HaUiwell's Bid.}, " was set forth by draught or plotforme y" situation of y' 
 
 o
 
 98 HISTORY OF THOMPSON. 
 
 towne of Toniston, demonstrating y" several hritlges, cawsies, wayes, &e." Lord Bacon 
 (Essays) says, "I have made a platform of a princely gai-deii" {Richardson's Bid.) 
 The word Cawsies is the old form of the word Causeways (old French caxccii from 
 Latin calciata, formerly spelt causey. — Milton and Borner's Froiss((,rt. Skeat's Diet.) 
 
 1682. Mr. John Bloome, curate of this parish, dyed 3rd tt'eb. at Shanietoney 
 (Saham Toney, a neighbouring village), and was buryed there. He was minister 
 twenty years. 
 
 1685. " Mrs. Eliztli. Booth was buried March 23rd. Affidavit was made by Ann 
 Bouging of Thompston, widow, March 24th, before William de Grey, Esq., George 
 Heath, and George Cooper, witnesses." By 30th Charles II, sec. i., c. 3, for the 
 encouragement of woollen manufacturers, a sworn affidavit was to be produced to the 
 officiating minister within eight days after the funeral, that the corpse was wrapped 
 in woollen cloth : penalty, £5. Readers of Pope will remember the lines on woollen 
 shrouds — 
 
 " Odious in woollon ! 't would a saint provoke, 
 Were the last words that poor Narcissa spoke. 
 
 • ••••« 
 
 One would not, sure, be frightful when one's dead, 
 And Betty, give this cheek a littlo rod." 
 
 The William de Grey of Merton, before whom Mrs. Bouging's affidavit was sworn, 
 himself died two years after, at the eai-ly age of thirty-five, and his wife Elizabeth, 
 sister of Thomas Bedingfield, died in the same year as himself. 
 
 1695. "Tompston, A Register Bill beginning the first day of May, 169.5, By virtue 
 of an Act of Pliam' made in the 6"' and 7"' yeare of y'= Reigne of King William y'^ 
 3'''^ [for carrying on the War against France], for certaine rates to be paid upon 
 Marijages, Birthes, and Burijalls, that shall be in y" Parish. The lowest rate, a 
 Marrijage, 2s. Qd. ; a Birth, 2s. Od. ; a Burijall, 4s. Od." There were extra rates, 
 according to rank and pro]5erty : a duke's burial was taxed £50. These taxes were 
 paid to the government till the 52nd Geo. III., c. 146, the act for registering baptisms 
 and burials. 
 
 In 1785 in the Thompson Register, William Whalebelly and Elizth. Whalebelly 
 were buried, and these words were added in the register '• No Tax," but no exjjianation 
 is given of the exemption. 
 
 In the eighteenth century the prominent names are those of Churchman, Barker, 
 Crauraer, Collman, Tooke, Houchen, Whalebelly, Perryman, Pollington, Chilvers, Pilgrim, 
 Pairiuain, Mounseer. 
 
 The most prominent entries are as follows : — 
 
 1745. John Edgerly signs as Curate. 
 
 " 1747. The Rev. John Cater, a learned and ingenious divine, buried July 30th." 
 
 1771 to 1774. Thos. Scott signs as Minister.
 
 THE REGISTERS. 99 
 
 1774. " Mr. John Barker, the last of that name which have lived so many years 
 as principal owners in this parish, died Feb. 5th, aged 92 years, and is buried in 
 the porch." There is a slab in the centre of the porch, which no doubt covers his 
 grave, but it lias never had an inscription. 
 
 177G. "Also Thomas, buried, son of Danal Jonas and his wife, of Thimbclthorpe 
 near Foulsham in Norfolk, aged 12 years: he was sent one the 12 Jenery by his master, 
 Richard Palmer, of that place, to help to drive sum cattell towards London, and he was 
 sent back abought five miles this side of Thetford late in the afternoon, to go to 
 Watton Bull to lodge, but Being so badley clothed, and the weather so very sharpe, 
 that he was Frozen to death one Tompston common, near the old Thetford Rode to 
 Cherry Row and covered over with Snow, and was not found tell the 6 of Febury : 
 it was thought by all that see him after he was found, that he perished through the 
 cearleness of his master's brother that was with him, for it was the opineng of the 
 pepell that see his clothing, that it wold have perished any man to have ben sent the 
 way that lie had to go with such Clothen as he had one, and he was cept ten days for 
 want of a pason to Bery him." Apparently the entries of this year are by John Bale, 
 Churchwarden. 
 
 1779 to 1784. John Twells signs as Curate. 
 
 1791 to 1793. Thos. Scott signs as Curate. 
 1785. E. M. Price was Curate. 
 
 1796 to 1805. Robert Barnes signs as Curate. 
 
 o 2
 
 100 
 
 C^c §aiiurs 0f Cbom]^soiT. 
 
 HE will of John Barker of Thompson, yeoman, dated 6tli April, 1773 ; 
 
 proved 15th Feb., 1775 ; leaves to John Bale of Thompson, yeoman, all 
 
 his property real and personal, except £10 to John Pearle, eldest son of 
 
 George Pearle of Quiddenham, yeoman, and £10 to Thomas Sands, son of 
 
 Elizth. Sands of Diss ". . . . I direct that my body may be decently buried in the 
 
 porch of the parish church of Thompson, and that a proper stone shall be laid over 
 
 my grave." John Bale, sole executor. 
 
 20th Oct., 1754. Will of the Rev. Joseph Barker of Wiggenhall St. Mary, 
 Norfolk .... I bequeath the sum of five shillings to every poor family in each of 
 my parishes .... that doth not pay window or house taxes or parish rates .... to 
 my kinsman, John Archer the yonger .... houses in Diss .... my brother, John 
 Barker, and sister Miller, wife of John Miller .... Mary, daughter of my cousin 
 John Hammond .... Elizabeth Pearl, my kinswoman .... Elizabeth Sands, my 
 kinswoman .... if my cousin Mathew Barker, &c. 
 
 9th May, 1769. Probate of will of Matthew Barker of Thompson, farmer .... 
 to Ann, the wife of Keene Bunkall of Carbrooke, farmer, houses and lands 
 in Thompson, remainder to her children ' .... to William Bale of Thompson, 
 farmer, who liv^s in my late brother William Barker's house, certain messuage and 
 lands ; the remainder to William Bale his eldest son, subject to payment of £30 to 
 
 Barker Bale, brother of the said William (the son) to John Bale of Thompson, 
 
 farmer, brother of the first-named William Bale, houses and lands that were my 
 brother Thomas Barker's .... to said Keene Bunkall of Carbrooke, farmer, 
 two closes lying near Thompson church, which I purchased of the Rev. Mr. Brundish, 
 in trust that he and his heirs shall on every Sunday for ever, give ten pennyworth 
 of penny bread to the churchwardens or overseers of the poor of Thompson, to be 
 by them distributed amongst such of the poor of that parish as they shall think 
 
 ' This property was mortgaged lOth Oct., 1776, by Keene Buakall, and passed in 1790 to Willm. Tooke, Esq.
 
 THE BARKEES OF THOMPSON. 101 
 
 the greatest objects of charity ; also upon further trust that the said Keene Bunkall 
 and his heirs, shall on St. Matthew's day in every seventh year for ever, give to 
 the clergyman of the parish of Thompson half a guinea to preach a sermon in 
 commemoration of the bequest of the above charity of bread, given by me to the 
 said parish. Keene Bunkall, sole executor and residuary. Will signed 18th Feb., 17G9. 
 This family of Barker of Thompson was probably entirely distinct from that of 
 Barker of Shropham, which now owns their property in Thompson. The Barkers of 
 Thompson appear in the court-rolls of Butters Hall and the College from 1449 to 1774 
 a period of 325 years. In a roll of Botours Hall Manor of 1449, John Barker is 
 mentioned (see p. 67), and in another court of the same manor in 1468, John Barker 
 is said to hold a cottage named Beytofts, lying in Netherthorpe in Thompson. There 
 are sixty-two entries of Barkers in the Thompson Registers, ranging from 1564 to 1774, 
 and there are fourteen of them named John. They were copyhold tenants of the 
 Manors of the College, of Butters Hall, and of Waterhouse (see Court Books passim). 
 Thos. Barker, born 1561, bought part of the College property of Mr. Cater {Blomefiekl, 
 ii. 373), and Matthew Barker, one of the last of the family, bought the great tithes 
 and a house called the Bell House, and two acres of land adjoining, near the church, 
 of Barber Colman, heir of the Rev. Roger Colman of Thompson (see p. 52). He 
 appears to have sold them before he made his will, as he makes no mention of them 
 in it. The John Barker who was buried in the Church porch is described in the 
 College court book, 1772, as worsted weaver,' and as cousin and heir-at-law of 
 Matthew Barker ; and the year before his death, which took place in Feb., 1775, he 
 sold his property to John Barker of Shropham, Esq. In the last quarter of the 
 seventeenth century, there seems, judging by the Registers, to have resided at 
 Thompson two large families of these Barkers, viz., that of Thomas, born 1651, who 
 had six sons, and that of his brother Roger, who had three sous and three dauohters. 
 Thomas was a considerable landowner, as appears by a map of Thompson of 1723. 
 He had bought part of the college lands [Blomefield). The family of Thomas came at 
 last to be represented by Matthew, who outlived all his brothers. He was tenant of 
 Butters Hall Farm, containing 160 acres (paper at Merton Hall, ^■^), and probably lived 
 there. The family of Roger was, at the same time, represented by his eldest son John, 
 who was the worsted weaver buried in the porch. 
 
 Roger's second son Joseph, baptised at Thompson, 1685, was Vicar of Wiggenhall. 
 This Joseph in his will (proved Cur. Ep. Nor., 30th Nov., 1754), declares that "if my 
 cousin Matthew Barker should think fit to restore and give the Tythes which he had 
 bought to the Parish Church of Thomstone, and make his house called the Bell House, 
 and the land belonging to it, a mansion for the Incumbents, then I give all my 
 money in his hand to him, only upon this condition, that he or the Incumbent pay 
 the usuall interest to my said brother and sister (John Barker and Mi-s. Miller), as lonf 
 
 ' In the court book of the College, 1772, John Ellia is described as of Thompson, linen weaver.
 
 102 
 
 HISTOKY OF THOMPSON'. 
 
 as they or either of them shall live." Testator appointed his cousin, William Miller 
 of Gissing, Gent., and his kinsman, Osborn Clark, an attorney-at-law, and the 
 said Matthew Barker, executors, and also the Rev. Mr. Richard Money, for the 
 first half-yeai'. The testator saj'-s subsequently, "If my cousin Barker shall restore 
 the Tithes to the said Parish Chui'ch, then my request to him is that after his 
 own and his brother's decease, he would settle the patronage and advowson of tiie 
 said Church upon Sidney College in Cambridge," which, he added, is the way to 
 perpetuate his name to future generations, and to avoid much confusion, which 
 otherwise, he sa3-s, is likely to ensue. 
 
 Matthew Barker makes no mention in his will (see p. 100), of the impropriation 
 of Thompson, so that probably he had sold it before he died to John Barker of 
 Shropham, who also bought the impropriation, and in his family it continues to this 
 daj^ ; and the farm, which, judging by the abuttals, occupies the site of the Bell House, 
 is the property of the same owner. 
 
 Some Materials towaeds a Pedigree of Barker of Thompson. 
 
 From the Parish Registers and the Court-rolls of Botours Ball and of the College. 
 
 John Barker, mentioned as a tenant in a court-roll of Botours Hall, 1449. 
 
 John Barker, in a court-roll of the same manor, 1468, held a cottage 
 called Beytofls, lying in Netherthorpe in Tomston. 
 
 John Barker, copyhold tenant of the College Manor in 7th Jas.=p Elizabeth, 
 
 (IGIO). Tenant also of Waterhouse Manor.— Coh»-< Book, 1617 
 IJur. 1627. [From now the baptisms and burials are all taken from 
 the Thompson Registers.] 
 
 bur. 1585. 
 
 Elizth. Bar- 
 ker, bp. 1579. 
 
 John Barker, 
 bp. 1683, bur. 
 1585. 
 
 Ill 
 
 John= 
 B.irker, 
 jun. 
 
 1 1 
 
 Eoht., bp. 1609, 
 bur. 1614. 
 
 John, bp. 1612. 
 
 Eoger,bp. 1618. 
 
 Elizth., 
 
 bur. 
 
 1630. 
 
 EIizth.,bp.l6I4, 
 bur. 1617. 
 
 Mary, bp. 1616, 
 bur. 1617. 
 
 John Bar— I 
 ker.eld.son, 
 bur. 1638; 
 2nd hush. 
 
 son, bp. 1607, bur. 
 1677. Tenant of Bo- 
 tours Hall. — ManorBk. 
 1660. 
 
 :Margrt.,=Roger Thomas=Jane Misson, mar. in 1614. [In 
 
 the wife Costen, Barker. a paper in Sir Wm. de Grey's 
 of John d. 1584, handwriting, dated 1624, ^^^ , 
 
 Barker, 1st hush. I find, " Off ould Jhon Bar- 
 
 was bur. kar for 22 acres and acre of 
 
 1610. errable, and Greenhouse Close 8 
 
 acres, which ho hath hitherto 
 
 (in respect ho was my nurse's 
 EUen, bur. 1667. husband), paid butt a load of 
 
 hay p. ann., and in money, 
 
 iiii/. xs."] 
 
 John Barker, eldest=i=HelIen, called also 
 
 Thos. Barker,: 
 yeoman, bapt. 
 1651, bur. 1727, 
 bought part of 
 the CoU. lands 
 of Ware— .B/. 
 Admittd. to Col- 
 lege lands 1685. 
 
 Margt., 
 
 dau. of 
 
 Thos. 
 
 Avis, 
 
 bur. 
 
 1731. 
 
 1 — I — I T"! — r — — 
 
 HeUen, bp. Margt.,bp.l634, 
 
 1649, bur. 1650. bur. 1679. 
 
 John, bp. 1637. Elizth.,bp.l644. 
 
 Eobt., bp. 1645. John, bp. 1643. 
 
 John Bar-=pMargaret 
 
 ker, bapt. 
 1636, mar. 
 at Merton 
 1680, bur. 
 1686, eld. 
 son. 
 
 («) 
 
 Hawarth, 
 widow, of 
 Merton; 
 bur. 1687, 
 at Thomp- 
 son. 
 
 Roger Bar- 
 ker, bp. 1639, 
 oh. 1696.— 
 Court-roll, 
 CoUege, 1697. 
 2nd son.copy- 
 hold tent, of 
 Butters HaU. 
 —Roll, 1683. 
 
 ^^M.irtha, 
 died 1728, 
 aged 78 ; 
 bur. at 
 Banham. 
 
 (» 
 
 (^)
 
 THE BARKERS OF THOMPSON. 
 
 103 
 
 _i 
 
 (*) 
 r-r-" 
 Margt., 
 bp. 1681, 
 bur. 
 1685. 
 
 Elizth., 
 bp. 1684, 
 bur. 
 1683. 
 
 rr—i ; — i 1— i 
 
 Juhn Barker, Willm., bap. llatthew, bp. 
 
 bp. 1683 at Tot- 1089, bur. 1760. 1690, bur. 1769; 
 
 tington, buried His property in copyhold tenant 
 1705, eld. son. Thompson by of Butters Hall, 
 
 — his will came to 1734, bought 
 Thomas, bap. John Bale, who great titljes of 
 
 1684, bur. 1768; sold it to John Thomp. and the 
 his brother Mat- Barkerof Shrop- Bell-house, both 
 thewwasadmtd. ham, 1776. of Barber Coll- 
 
 to his College Wm. Bale lived man. — see p. 52. 
 copyholds 1768, in Wm Barker's — 
 
 as heir-at-law. house after hia Daniel, bap. 
 
 — death.— College 1691, bur. 1757; 
 Robert,bp.l686, .Bi., 1771. WiU his br. Matthew 
 bur. 1742. dated 24th May, was admitted to 
 
 1753. his Cull, copy- 
 
 holds 1739. 
 WiU dated 19th 
 Sept. 1733, pro V. 
 14 Dec. 1757. 
 
 John Barker, bap. 1608. 
 
 John Barker, sen., mar. Marie Waby, 1637. 
 
 Easter Barker, bur. 1680. 
 
 Rebecca Barker, bur. 1681 (daughter of Robert Barker). 
 
 Henery Cranmer and Dorothy Barker were mar. 1678. 
 
 Margiet Barker, singlewoman, buried 18th June, 1679. 
 
 John Barker of Wymondham, beer brewer, admitted as tenant 
 
 Death of John Barker of Wymondham presented at Court of 
 of Thompson presented. 
 
 Thomas Barker, called yeoman in court of Butters Hall, 1693. 
 
 Elizth , John, bap. 1683, 
 
 bp. 1681. bur. Feb. 10th, 1775, 
 in Thompson Porch, 
 called ' ' of Thompsn. 
 worstead weaver," 
 and cousin and heir- 
 at-law of Matthew 
 Barker. — Co«. £oll, 
 1772 and 1774. Ad- 
 mitted to his father 
 Roger's Coll. lands 
 as eld. son and heir, 
 1706. Thelastofthe 
 Barkers of Thomps. 
 — Thomp. Reg. Sold 
 his Thompson prpty. 
 the year before hjs 
 death to John Bar- 
 ker of Shropham, 
 Esq. 
 
 — I I I I 
 Joseph, 
 bp. 1685, 
 B.A. 1708, 
 died 1754, 
 Rector of 
 Wiggen- 
 hall. 
 
 HeUen, 
 bp. 168S. 
 
 Martha, 
 bp. 1688. 
 
 Samuel, 
 bp. 1689, 
 bur. 1691. 
 
 of TVaterhouse Manor in Thompson, 1716. 
 Waterhouse Manor, 1728, and Thomas Barker 
 
 Pedigree shewing the connection of the Futters of Thompson, 
 
 CALLED ALSO FUTTERS OF PORYS, WITH THE DaYS OR D'EyES OF SCOULTON 
 
 AND Barkers of Shropham. 
 
 Robert Daye, buried at Scoulton 1627,=r Elizth. , dau. of Robert Futter, sen., of Thompson. 
 
 son and h. of Thomas D'Eye of Scoulton, 
 who was buried there 1573. — Bays Fed. 
 
 Blomef., under Scoulton. Mar. at Scoulton 
 1579, bur. there \6l%.—Doye Fed, penes J. Daye 
 Barker. 
 
 Thos. Day, 2nd son and h.,=j=Bridget, dau. of James Slethwold of Langford, 
 ob. 1658. Gent.— .Bfc«i«/. Buried at Scoulton 1626. — 
 
 I Laije Fid. 
 
 Thos. Daye of Scoulton, Esq., =i=Barbara, dau. of Philip Calthorpe of 
 2nd son and h., ob. 1671, copy- Gressenhall, Esq., a younger son of Sir 
 
 Jas. Calthorpe of Cockthorpe. She died 
 bef. 8th Aug. 1669; bur. at Scoulton. 
 
 Willm. Milsop, Gent., and Mrs. 
 Anne Futter, mar. at Thompson 1650. 
 Their d. and h.' Sarah, mar. Robt. 
 Daye. — Surf. Vn., Fed. Futter. 
 I — 
 
 hold tenant of the College .Manor 
 in Thompson. — Court Bk., 1656. 
 
 T- 
 
 Philip 
 
 Robt. Daye, 
 
 Daye, 2nd 
 
 Esq., 8. and 
 
 son, bapt.at 
 
 h., bar.-at- 
 
 Scoulton 
 
 law, ob. 1700, 
 
 1635, bur. 
 
 ;et. 37, bur. 
 
 at Hamp- 
 
 at Scoulton. 
 
 stcad 
 
 1686. 
 
 Will 1693. 
 
 («) 
 
 (*) 
 
 ^Sarah, d. and h. of 
 Wm. Melsop of West 
 Dereham, ob. 1 740, set. 
 89, bur. at Scoulton ; 
 mar. 1669, 29th Ap., at 
 Stradset. — Sorf. Vis. 
 Li red at Scoulton Hall. 
 Account of Daye and 
 Barker latosuil, penes 
 Messrs. Grigson | Co. 
 
 Bridget = 
 Daye, mar. at 
 Thompson 
 1683. She 
 was the 10th 
 child and 3rd 
 dau. — Baye 
 Fed. 
 
 =Mr. John 
 Harsant.Clk., 
 Rector of 
 Sahara Tony 
 from 1679 to 
 1686.— 7)ay 
 Fed. and 
 Thomp. Seg. 
 
 Jane Daye,=T=John Futter 
 
 bp. at Scoul- 
 ton, ob. ante 
 167S. —.Vor/. 
 Vis. She was 
 the 12th and 
 youngest 
 chUd. 
 
 of Caston, 
 aftw. of C'ar- 
 brooke.Gent. 
 Will proved 
 1679. 
 
 W
 
 104 
 
 HISTORY OF THOMPSON. 
 
 (") 
 
 Edwd.: 
 Daye, 
 eld. son, 
 of Lond., 
 bom in 
 Ireland. 
 Will dat. 
 1703; 
 bur. at S. 
 John 
 Zachary, 
 London, 
 1703. 
 
 = Sarah, d. of 
 John Kow- 
 ley of Hidg- 
 way Hall, 
 Staff.; bur. 
 at St. John 
 Zachary, 
 Lond., 1702 
 (fz inform. 
 J. Daye 
 Barker, 
 Esq.) 
 
 John Daye- 
 of Seoul- 
 ton, Gent., 
 only son, 
 and heir 
 general of 
 Daye fmly. 
 in 1741 ; 
 living 1755. 
 Plaintiff in 
 Day V. 
 Barker, 
 1740-47. 
 
 =Elizth. 
 
 bur. at 
 
 Scoulton 
 
 1734. 
 
 (») 
 
 Thomas 
 Daye, 
 Gent., only 
 child, ob. 
 1706, set. 
 33, s p. ; 
 left the 
 estate to 
 his cousin, 
 John 
 Futter of 
 Norwich, 
 linen 
 draper. 
 
 John 
 Futter of 
 Norwich, 
 linendrap. , 
 aftw. John 
 Futter 
 Daye of 
 Scoulton ; 
 ob. s.p. 
 1711 ; suc- 
 ceeded to 
 Scoulton 
 by the will 
 of his cousin, 
 Thos. Day. 
 
 Thos. 
 Futter, 
 bap. at 
 l-homp- 
 son 1644. 
 
 1 
 
 Elizth.= 
 Futter, will 
 dated 174U, 
 buried at 
 Carbrooke 
 1741.— 
 Norf. Vis. 
 Succeeded 
 to the Daye 
 estate in 
 Scoulton 
 by the will 
 of her bro. 
 John. 
 
 -J 
 
 Benj. 
 Engle of 
 Yar- 
 mouth, 
 mercht. 
 -Xorf. 
 Vis. 
 
 James 
 Barker 
 of Shrop 
 ham, 
 Esq., 
 only son 
 of John 
 Barker of 
 Thorn- 
 don, 
 Gent. ; 
 ob. 1718, 
 bur. at 
 bhrop- 
 ham. 
 
 :.T: 
 
 Anne=rWm. Bar- 
 
 Daye, bap. 
 1693; from 
 her is de- 
 scended the 
 family of 
 Daye 
 Barker. 
 
 ker of 
 Wol- 
 stanton, 
 CO. Staff.— 
 Comm. by 
 J. Daye 
 Barker, 
 Esq. 
 
 Elizth.= 
 Engle, d. 
 1770, 
 bur. at 
 Shrop- 
 ham, ait. 
 60. 
 
 John Barker of Shrop- Rev. Jas.=Elizth., 
 
 ham, Esq., died 1756; Barker sister of 
 
 High Sheriff for Norf., of Red- Edmd. 
 
 bought Daye and Robt. grave, Norman 
 
 Futter's of Shelton ob. s.p. of Bury 
 
 land in Thomp. ; bur. Will St. £d- 
 
 at Shropham ; built proved mund's, 
 
 Shropham Hall before 1770. mercer, 
 
 1739.— B/ome/". Lord living 
 
 of Waterhouse and 1764. 
 
 Churchhouse Manors 
 in Thomp. from 1747. 
 — Court Book. 
 
 Sarah, d. of Worm- 
 ley Hethersett, Aid. 
 of Thetford, lord of 
 Gt.and Lt.Breccles ; 
 she was mar. 1696, 
 at St. Mary's, Thet- 
 ford. Had Little 
 Breccle8,now Shrop- 
 ham Hall, of the gift 
 of her father ; d. 
 1758, bur. at Shrop- 
 ham, set. 86. In her 
 will dated 1745 gave 
 living of Bacton to 
 her son James Bar- 
 ker, Clk. 
 
 — I 
 Two 
 others. 
 
 I ' 1 I 1 
 
 Thos. Daye Other 1. John Barker, eld. son, 2. Gen.Jas.: 
 
 of E. Dere- children Lt.-Col., ob. s.p. ; will proved Barker took 
 
 ham, attmy., died s.p. 1792 ; bought Ellis', Barker's, name of 
 
 8. and h.; will and Bales' property in Thomp- Hethersett, 
 
 dated 1756; son; left the Shropham estate, d. at Scoulton 
 
 died, it is which now included half 1812, bur. at 
 
 believed, un- Thompson, to the eld. dau. Shropham ; 
 
 married. of his brother James, who left four drs. 
 
 should attain to 25 years, in coparceners, 
 
 default of sons — Court Book, — Manor Bk., 
 
 Butters Sail, 1792. Lord of Butlers Sail, 
 
 Waterhouse and Church- 1812. 
 house Manors in Thompson. 
 — Court Book. 
 
 ^Miiry 
 Anne, 
 dau. of 
 
 Coston, 
 ob. in 
 London 
 1823, 
 bur. at 
 Shrop- 
 ham. 
 
 4. Ed. 
 Barker, 
 Rector 
 of Bac- 
 ton. 
 
 .-■v 
 
 3. Benj. 
 Barker.Esq., 
 of Carbrooke, 
 mar. Ist, 
 Anne 
 Rickards ; 
 2nd, Elizth. 
 Hicks, wid. 
 
 1. Sarah Hether-=Rev. G. H. 
 
 sett, eld. d. and h. Leathes of 
 
 of Shropham Hall, Shropham 
 
 died s.p., succd. Hall, aftw. 
 
 as heir toher uncle of Shropham 
 
 John Barker, d. Villa, d. 1836. 
 1830. 
 
 of Shropham Hall, 
 succeeded on the 
 death of her sister, 
 Sarah Leathes, d. 
 1853. 
 
 Henry 
 
 3. Anne =^ Count de 
 
 4. I3a-=i 
 
 Fjohn 
 
 d'Esterre 
 
 Amelia, Freytag. 
 
 bella,2nd 
 
 Barker, 
 
 Hemsworth, 
 
 ob. s.p. 
 
 wife. 
 
 Hunting 
 
 Esq., d. 
 
 
 
 don. 
 
 1850. 
 
 
 ' 
 
 s 
 
 r 
 
 Henrj- Hemsworth, Esq. 
 
 Rev. Augustus Barter Hemsworth, Eector^In 1847, Duncanna, dau. of 
 
 of Bacton (died 1873), heir presumptive of the 
 Shropham Hall estate, which includes Daye's, 
 Barker's. Ellis', Bales', and Robert Futter's of 
 Shelton land, and the manor of Waterhouse 
 and Church-house, all in Thompson. 
 
 Alexander Campbell of Kil- 
 martin, Esq. 
 
 Augustus. 
 
 Other children.
 
 THE BARKERS OF THOMPSOX. 
 
 105 
 
 A Parish History can never be completed, for every seai-ch brings forth some new 
 facts concerning it ; but advancing years warn me that it is best to be content with 
 what I have done, and to bring my task to an end. I well know how very 
 imperfectly I have accomplished it, 
 
 " I sigh the lack of many a thing I sought," 
 
 yet as I have given, whenever practicable, the authority for my statements (and 
 without quoting authorities, no history and no genealogy is of any real value), I am 
 not without hope that what I have collected may be of interest to my brother 
 archaeologists, and of use to some future Norfolk historian.
 
 107 
 
 INDEX NOMINUM. 
 
 A'Beckett, Thomas, 82 
 
 Aldewjti, AldwvD, John, G8, 77 ; 
 
 Robert, 22 
 Aldrich, Dr., 94 
 Aldy (alias Hoke), Richard, 33 
 Alen, William, 22 
 Aleyne, 16 
 Alington, James, 72 
 AUeyn, John, 33 
 Aluric, 8 
 Arayas, John, 61 
 Amye, John, 23 ; Thomas, 23 
 Andrews, Charles, 54 ; Sarah, 54 ; 
 
 Thomas, 54 
 Aquam, Amicia ad, 15 ; Simon ad, 
 
 15 
 Archer, John, 100 
 Arundell and Surrey, Earl of, 30 
 Asshole, Avsshele, Henry, 15 ; 
 
 Thomas, 19 
 Asshill, Henry, 67 
 Astel, John, 19 
 Astley, Sir Jacob, 54 
 Asty, Thomas, 75 
 Atmear, Atmeare, 91, 94 ; James, 
 
 24; Eobeit, 51, 89; Ihomas, 77, 
 
 90 
 Atte Watir, JIarg', 18; Sarra, 18 
 Atte Welle, 16 
 Atte Townescnde, At-the-town's- 
 
 end, John, IS, 20 
 Audeley, Robert, 33, 35, 30, 41, 87 
 Aula, Robert de, 10, 87. See Hall 
 Auld, Robert do, 15 
 Avis, Margaret, 102 ; Thomas, 102 
 Aysshele. See Asshole 
 
 Babingle, Sir Simon de, 12 
 Bacon, Edmund, 43, 48 ; Lord, 98 ; 
 
 Mary, 43, 48 
 Bakere, Stephen, 18 
 Bale, Barker, 57, 58, 100 ; Caroline, 
 
 58; John, 57, 58, 99, 100, 103; 
 
 JIaria, 58 ; Martha, 58 ; Thomas, 
 
 58 ; William, 57, 58, 100, 103 
 Baliol, John, 3 
 Balle, Mary, 48 ; , 48 
 
 Barker, 91, 94, 98; Anne. 104; 
 Anne Amelia, 104; Benjamin, 
 104; Daniel, 103; Dorothy, 103; 
 Easter, 103; Edward, 104; Eliza- 
 beth, 49, 102, 103, 104 ; Ellen 
 (Hellen), 102, 103 ; IsabeUa, 104 ; 
 James, 75, 87, 104 ; Jane, 102 ; 
 Jane Maria, 75, 104; John, 24, 
 47, 49, 67, 74, 75, 79, 87, 95, 96, 
 99, 100, 101, 102, 103, 104; J. 
 Daye, 48, 103 ; Joseph, 42, 100, 
 101, 103; Margaret, 102, 103; 
 JIartha, 102, 103; Mary, 102, 
 1U3; Mary Anne, 104; Matthew, 
 52, 58, 87, 100, 101, 102, 103; 
 Rebecca, 103 ; Robert, 102, 103; 
 Roger, 101, 102, 103; Samuel, 
 103 ; .Sarah, 104 ; Sarah Hether- 
 sett, 104; Thomas, 89, 100, 102, 
 103 ; Thompson, 51 ; William, 
 10!i, 103, 104 
 
 Barnes, Robert. 88. 99 
 
 Baron, John, 18 ; Richard, 65, 71 
 
 Barricke. John, 67 
 
 Barton, Jtr., 68 
 
 Baseley, Barbara. 55. 56; Elizabeth 
 Mary, 56; John, 54; John 
 Greene, 54, 56 ; Margaret, 56 ; 
 Mary Ann. 56 
 
 Bateman, William, Bishop of Nor- 
 wich. 30, 36 
 
 Bath, Margaret, Countess of, 71 
 
 Bav, Johan, 24 ; John, 22 ; Robert, 
 19 
 
 Baynard. 92 ; SirFulk, 9; Geoffrey, 
 9 ; Isabel, 30; Robert, 9 
 
 Beale. Slartha, 72 ; Michael, 72 
 
 Beasly, Mr., S3 
 
 Beaufort, Duke of, 62 
 
 Beckerton, 91 
 
 Bedingfield, 94: Abigail, 48; Anne, 
 48 ; Christopher, 47, 48 ; Daniel, 
 48; Eduiuud, 47, 50; Sir Ed- 
 mund, 47 ; Edward, 48 ; Eliza- 
 beth, 98 ; Frances, 47 ; Franci.-J, 
 47, 48, 49, 60, 87 ; Jane, 47, 48, 
 60 ; Humphrey, 48 ; Mai-y, 92 ; 
 
 p 2 
 
 Nicholfls, 48, 49 ; Thomas, 92, 
 98 ; Winifred, 48, 49, 60. 87 
 
 Bee, Alice, 19; WiUiam, 15 
 
 Bele, 16 ; Alice, 19 ; William, 18 
 
 Bennet, Bennett, Dr., 27 ; Jane, 92 ; 
 John, 92 
 
 Berchet, 80 
 
 Bernard, Thomas, 16 
 
 Bemer the Archer, 7, 8 
 
 Bemers, Baron, 42 ; Baroness, 42 
 
 Bemey, Julian, 77 ; Sir Thomas, 
 77 
 
 Bersham, Henry de, 9 
 
 Berton, John, 40 
 
 Bethune, 88 
 
 Bettys, William, 33 
 
 Bigo"t, Roger, 4, 6, 8 
 
 Blackball, Edward, 97 
 
 Blakeney, John, 75 ; Thomas, 74 ; 
 William de, 74 
 
 Blithe, William, 12 
 
 Blome, Bloome, John, 50, 88, 98 
 
 Blove, Katherinc, 19; William, 18 
 
 Blund. Robert, 6, 7 
 
 Bokenham, John de, jun., 40 
 
 Boldingham, John, 47 
 
 Boleyn, Bridget, 85 ; Sir John, 85 
 
 Bond, Elizjibeth, 53 ; Jonas, 53 ; 
 JIary, 52, 53, 61; Sarah, 53; 
 Rev. Thomas, 53 
 
 Boneswell, Richard, 24 
 
 Bonneswell, John, 24 
 
 Booth, Elizabeth, 9S 
 
 Borrett, John, 72, 75 
 
 Botetourt, Botetort, Boutertort, 
 Buttctourt, Ada de, 62 ; Sir An- 
 frid de, 63; Sir Baldwin, 64; 
 Bartholomew, 63, 64 ; Catherine, 
 63; Sir Guy de, 10, 62, 63, 70, 
 87; Isabel, 63; Joan, 63; Jocosa, 
 64; Sir John de, 62, 63. 64; John 
 de, 63. 64 ; John, 63 ; 5[argaret, 
 64; Maud, 63, 64; Ralf, 63; Sir 
 Ralph. 10, 63. 70; Ralph, 88; 
 Robert. 63; Sir Roger de. 63; 
 Roger de, 63; Sir Thomas de, 
 63 ; Thomas, 63 ; William de, 63
 
 108 
 
 IIISTOPiY OF TIIOMrSON. 
 
 Botours, rioutourfl, nnltiirt. Sir 
 
 Baldnjn, 62, 63, 64, 70; Balil- 
 
 wyn, 63; Matilda, 63; MuuU, 
 
 64, 70 
 Bouging, Ann, 98 
 Bower, Kev. JI., 86 
 Boycot, John, 15, 19 
 Bozoun, Simon, 36 
 Bradley, Henry, 3 
 Brecdcs, Peter de, 9 
 Breton, Henry de, '20 
 Bright, llargnret, 72 ; Thomas, 72 
 Brightman, Kubert, 77 
 Bristol, Marquis of, 71 
 Brond, George, 23, 77 
 Brown, Browne, John, IS; John 
 
 (alias Lvncolne), 23; Mr., 55; 
 
 Kohcrt, 61; William, 16 
 Bnmdish, Kev. — , 100 
 Bryan, Agnes, 47; Robert, 47 
 Bryon, Edmund, 18 
 Bullimer, 91 
 Bulneys, John, 30 
 Bulzoun, Roger, 16 
 Bunkall, Ann, 100; Keene, 100, 101 
 Bimtyng, Thomas, 22 
 Burnel, Sir Hugh, 64 ; Jocosa, 64 
 Burzoun, Roger, 1.5 
 Busshel, Bushell, Henry, 18; Jlar- 
 
 garct, IS; Thomas, 32; William, 
 
 15, 18 
 Buttertorte. See Botetourt 
 Butturt. See Botours 
 
 Cackett, Mr., 28 
 
 Cade, Robert, 24 ; Thomas, 24 
 
 Calibut, Bridget, 80 ; Francis, 85 ; 
 
 John, 85 
 Calthorpo, Anne, 93, 95 ; Barbara, 
 
 103; Sir James, 93, 95, 103; 
 
 Bhilip, 103 
 Campbell, Alexander, 104; Dun- 
 
 canna, 104 
 Campscen, John, 9 
 Canham, Elizabeth, 46 
 Canon, Cannon, Henry, IS; James, 
 
 22, 23, 24, 77 ; Richard, 22 ; 
 
 Robert, 22; William, 18, 68 
 Carewe, Temperance, 93 ; Sir Wy- 
 
 niondo, 93 
 Carpenter, Emma, 15 
 Cater, Anthony, 52 ; Rev. John, 
 
 52, 61, 98; Mary, 52; Mr., 101; 
 
 Richard, 49, 51, 52, 61 ; Robert, 
 
 61 
 Catirfete, Allan de, 15 
 Cave, Richard, 40 
 Chalnore, John, 15 
 Chaloner, Robert, 67, 68 ; Thomas, 
 
 18, 40 
 Chalonner, John, 18 
 Chamber, John, 22 
 Chambers, Humphrey, 47 
 Charabro, Wm. de la', 88 
 Chapman, John, 32, 4C, 76, 77; 
 
 Simon, 32, 40, 76 
 Chase, Mr., 51 
 
 Cherville, Christian, 70; Roger, 70 
 Chilvers, 98 
 
 Chitty, Edwin, 56 ; Mary Ann, 5S 
 Church, William, 68 
 
 Churchman. 08 
 
 Clark, Clarke, Elizabeth, 96; 
 
 Obborn, 102; Robert, 61,96 
 Clere, Thomas, 75 ; — , 75 
 Clifton, Sir John, 64 
 Clough, William, 88 
 Clovyllo, John, 12 
 Coggeshale, 30 
 Coke, Adam, 19; Sir Edward, 47; 
 
 John, 30, 33, 39 
 Cole, John, 73 
 Collman, 98 
 Colman, Barber, 51, 52, 87, 101, 
 
 103; Francis, 52; John, 15; 
 
 Roger, elk., 44, 49, 51, 74, 75, 
 
 87, 88, 89, 101 ; Sarah, 51 
 Cook, Cooke, John, 24 ; I'cter, elk., 
 
 69; Stephen, 18 
 Cooles, John, 24 
 Cooper, Elizabeth, 55 ; George, 
 
 98 ; Hugh, 55 ; Thouuis, 48 
 Copsey, Peter, 9 
 Corbole, Robert, 77 
 Cornel, 16 
 Cosden, 94 
 
 Costen, Margaret, 102 
 Costens, 91 
 
 Coston, Mary Anne, 104 
 Costyn, Roger, 77 
 Cotterell, Anne, 95 
 Cotton, Sir Thomas, 92; Ursula, 
 
 92 
 Coupere, William, 30 
 Cowper, Richard, 23, 85 
 Crabbe, i\lr., 36, 58, 95 
 Cranmor, 98; Dorothy, 103; 
 
 Henry, 103 
 Croftes, Richard, 33 
 Crofts, Sir John, 90 
 Cromwell, Secretary, 91 
 Crowe, John, 10; Margaret, 9; 
 
 Peter, 15; Robert, 9; Roger, 10 
 Curteis, John, 40 
 
 Danmartin, Maud de, 63 ; Odo 
 de, 63 
 
 Darnele, John, 18 
 
 Davy, William, 45 
 
 Dawson. Susanna, 49 ; Thomas, 49 
 
 Day, Daye, D'Eye, Anne, 104; 
 Barb.ara, 103; Bridget, 49, 103; 
 Edward, 104 ; Elizabeth, 48, 103, 
 104 ; Jane, 49, 103 ; John, 49, 
 104; John Futter, 104; Philip, 
 103; Robert, 48, 103; Sarah, 
 103, 104; Thomas, 49, 90, 96, 
 103, 104 
 
 Day ling, "William, 40 
 
 Dean, Deane, George, 88 
 
 Deveroe, John, 47 
 
 Dexter, Edmund, 89 
 
 Deynes, Thoraasin, 55 ; Walter, 65 
 
 Dikar, Robert, 33 
 
 Dikes, Thomas, 15 
 
 Dobbe, WilUam, 16 
 
 Dobber, Margaret, 19 
 
 Dobissone, John, 15 
 
 Dorant, Doraunt, Durant, Mar- 
 garet. 18; Philip, 18; Robert, 
 15 ; William, 15 
 
 Dover, John, CiO 
 
 Draper, Bartholomew, 40; John. 
 
 80 
 Drosier, Elizabeth, 56 
 Drury, Elizabeth, 92 ; John, 92 ; 
 
 Robert, 6-3 
 DiU'kdale, Nicholas, 24 
 Dudley, Baron of, 63 
 Dugdiilo, 91, 94 
 Durant. See Dorant 
 Dynggcloue, John, 18 
 
 Ecclcsiam, Robert ad, 15 
 Ede, Ambrose, 33 
 Edgar, Mary, 49 ; — , 49 
 Edgerley, Edgerly, John, 88, 98 
 Edmond, John, 64, 65 ; Margaret, 
 
 64, 65 ; Richard, 04, 65 
 Edmonds, John, 04, 65 
 Edraundvs, John, 65, 70; Robert, 
 
 65 
 Ellis, John, 101 
 Emne, Matilda, 15 
 Emond, Emondo, 63 ; John, 64 ; 
 
 Maud, 63, 64 ; Roger, 64 
 Engle, Benjamin, 49, 104; Elizabeth, 
 
 49, 104 
 Erasmus, 82 
 Esmond, Esmonde, 91 ; Alice 64 
 
 Joan, 65 ; John, 64, 70, 74 
 
 Margaret, 64, 70 ; Richard, 05 
 
 Roger, 64, 70 
 Esmonds, Esmondes, Esmondys, 
 
 John, 63, 65, 70; Richard, 65, 
 
 7 1 ; Roger, 65 
 Evans, Rev. C. J., 30, 33, 67 
 Everard, Anne, 93 ; Henry, 93 
 Ewin, Thomas, 51 ; Rev. William, 
 
 51 
 
 Faber, John, 15 
 
 Farthing, Jolm, 77 
 
 Faulkes, Ralph, 16 
 
 Fermour, Catherine, 84; Sir Henry, 
 
 84 ; Thomas, 84; Sir William, 84 
 Feltham, Sir Stephen, 32 
 Fiket, Fyket, Thomas, 10, 19 
 Fitt, Frances, 55 ; Kubert, 55 
 Fitz- Lewes, Elizabeth, 92 ; Sir 
 
 Richard, 92 
 Fitz Rauf, John, 68 
 Flannar, John, 75 
 Folpe, John, 15 
 Fontem, Robert ad, 15 ; William 
 
 ad, 16 
 France, John, 15 
 Freeman, Freman, Agnes, 23, 24; 
 
 Thomas, 15 
 Freytag, Anne Amelia de, 104 ; 
 
 Count de, 104 
 FuUer, John, 68 
 Fulmerston, Sir Richard, 84 
 Fut, William, 22 
 Futter, 91, 94, 95 ; Agnes, 47; Anne, 
 
 47, 48, 49, 103; Arthur, 47, 48; 
 
 Austen, 48 ; Bridget, 48, 49, 50, 
 
 61 ; Elizabeth, 48, 49, 103, 104 ; 
 
 Florence, 47 ; Frances, 48 ; 
 
 Francis, 44, 45, 48, 49, 61, 75 ; 
 
 Henry, 44, 45, 47, 48, 4J, 50, 60, 
 
 80, 87 ; Humphrey, 48, 50, 60, 
 
 61, 87 : James, 48"; Jane, 48, 49,
 
 INDEX NOMIXCM. 
 
 109 
 
 50, 103; John, 44, 47, 48, 49, CO, 
 96, 103, 104; Lewis, 49; Lucie, 
 49; Marie, 44; M.irr, 48, 49; 
 Richard, 48 ; Robert, "24, 43, 44, 
 45, 47, 48. 49, 50, 51, 60, 74, 75, 
 82, 87, 89, 90, 94, 103, 104 ; 
 Robert, jun , 48, 80 ; Sarah, 44, 
 49; Sihill, 48, 49 ; Susanna, 48, 
 49 ; 'J'litmias, 44, 47, 4S, 49, 94, 
 104; William, 47, 48; Winifred, 
 49, 00 
 Fylpot, Roger, 32, 40, 59 
 
 Gage, Juhn, 72 
 
 Gaulden, Elizabeth, 96 ; Stephen, 
 90 
 
 Oinvdy, Sir Bassinghourne, 24 ; 
 Julian, 77 ; Sir Thomas, 77 
 
 Ged', Peter, 18; Thomas, 18 
 
 Gegges, Sir Thomas, 75 
 
 Gegh, Richard, 64 
 
 Genne, 16 
 
 Gerad, Walter, 19 
 
 Gerard, Gerarde, 16, 91 
 
 Gernoun, Thomas, 15 
 
 Gerrard, John, 77 
 
 Gibion, William, 15 
 
 Giggs (Griggs), Robert, 74 
 
 Gilyon, 91 ; William, 15 
 
 Gonville, Edmund, 27 
 
 Goumay, Hugh de, 63 
 
 Grace, Christopher, 70; Richard, 70 
 
 Green, John, 40 ; Mr., 79 
 
 Greene, Edward, 51 
 
 Greenstreet, J. H., 9, 65 
 
 Grene, Alice, 19. 92; Edmund. 92; 
 Sir Johan, 12; John, 32; Jlagr', 
 19 ; Olive, 19 
 
 Grene, Robert, 18; Thomas, 77; 
 William, 18; William de, 15 
 
 Grey, de Grey, Anne, 93, 95 ; 
 Christian, 70 ; Edmund, 56, 57, 
 92, 93 J Elizabeth, 92 ; Gabriell, 
 92, 93 ; Gertrude, 92, 93 ; Grace, 
 92; Jane, 92; John, 93; Margaret, 
 12, 30, 81 ; Mary, 92 ; Robert, 
 24, 93, 95; Sir Roger, 11, 81; 
 Temperance, 93 ; Sir Thomas, 
 11, 30; Thomas fil Rogeri, 12; 
 Thomas, 92, 93 ; Sir William, 3, 
 31, 33, 50, 57, 09, 73, 93, 95, 
 102; William, 23, 24, 66, 07, 70, 
 92, 93, 95, 98; William, jun., 69 
 
 Griffiths, John, 72 
 
 Griffyn, Susan, 48 
 
 Grigson, E. R., 41, 61, 67, 73 ; 
 Rev. William, 52, 55, 93 
 
 Grigg, Thomas, 15 
 
 Griggs (Giggs), Robert, 74 
 
 Gnindy, John, 72; Margaret, 72; 
 Thomas, 72 
 
 Gurdin, Justice, 96 
 
 Gurdon, Brampton, 96 ; Mary, 96 
 
 Gurney, 52 
 
 Hales, Barbara, 55, 56 ; James, 55, 
 
 56 
 Hall, Robert of the, 15. See 
 
 Aula, de 
 Hallidaye, Halyday, William, 23, 
 
 21, 85, 94 
 
 Ilalnian, Nicholas, 88, 95 
 Hammond, Haraond,llamont,Juhn, 
 
 45, 88, 90, 97, ion ; Jlr., 95 
 Hanggyng, Edmund, 18 
 Harbling, Robert de, 88 
 Hare, Ralph, 51 
 Harre, William, 40 
 Harrison, Henry, 9G 
 Harsant, Bridget, 4'.l, 103; John, 
 
 49, 103 
 Hart, Charlotte, 54 ; JFary, 54 
 Harvey, Edward, 72 
 Harwood, Ann, 56 ; Elizabeth, 55, 
 
 56 ; Margaret, 56 ; Thomas, 55 ; 
 
 William Tooke, 53, 54, 56, 61, 
 
 73, SO 
 Hawarth, Jfargaret, 102 
 Hedd, Clement, 24 
 Hemsworth, August<is, 104; Rev. 
 
 Augustus Barker, 47, 49, 74, 
 
 88, 101; Duncanna, 104; Henry, 
 
 87 ; Henry d'Esterre, 75, 104 ; 
 
 Jane Slaria, 75, 104 
 Hendri, Leticia, 16 
 Hendry, John, 18 
 Herberd, Henry, 15 
 Herbert, William, 18, 40 
 Herford, Alice de, 15 
 Hering, Herring, Heryng, Eliza- 
 beth Mary, 56; Henry, 20; John, 
 
 15, 19, 20; Lettice, 20; Thomas, 
 
 19; William, 56 
 Herlewyn, Henry, 18 
 Hert, John, 32 
 Herynges, John, 15 
 Hethe, Francis, 92 ; Grace, 92 
 Hethersett, James, 104 ; Sarah, 
 
 104; Wormley, 104 
 Heydon, Agnes, 85; Anne, 85; Sir 
 
 Christopher, 85 ; Sir Henry, 
 
 85 ; Temperance, 85 ; William, 
 
 85 
 Heynon, John, 18 
 Heyward, John, 22 
 Hicks, Elizabeth, 104; Thomas, 61, 
 
 73 ; William, 48 
 Hoge, Henrv. 24 
 Hoke (alias Aldy), Richard, 33 
 Holcroft, Ann. 56 : Thomas, 56 
 Holdelond, John, 18 
 Holditch, Richard, 38 
 Horbling, 16 
 Home, John, 53 
 Horsted, Horstede, Alexander do, 
 
 30, 32; James de, 18; Thomas, 
 
 30, 33, 39 
 Houchen, 94, 98 
 llouchin, 91 
 Houton, 16 : Christiana de, 15 ; 
 
 John de, 15 
 Howlet, John, 18 
 Hulet. Hulot, Thomas, 15, 19; 
 
 William, 15 
 Humphrey, Richard, 72 
 Hunt, Hiinte, 16; Barbara, 55, 56; 
 
 Hood, 55 ; John, 18, 22; Thomas, 
 
 68 
 Huntingdon, John Barker, 104 
 Hybbys, John, 77 
 
 Ikeburgh, William de, 18 
 
 Ine, John, 19; Robert, 19 
 Isac, 6, 7 
 
 Iverson, Henry, m.d., 51 ; Susanna 
 Maria, 51 
 
 JcIIian, Jelly.an, Jelyon, 91, 94; 
 John, 22; Peter, 22, 23. See 
 also Julian 
 
 Jellopp, Robert, 24 
 
 Jenner, Henry, 4, 5, 6, 8 
 
 Jenney, Elizabeth, 70 ; Sir Thomas, 
 70 
 
 Jermyn, Sir Ambrose, 71, 72 ; Am- 
 brose,7I ; Edmund, 72; Elizabeth, 
 71 ; Susan, 71 ; Sir Thomas. 72 
 
 Jessopp, Dr., 69, 85, 92 
 
 Jewell, 94 
 
 Johnson, Mary, 55 ; Richard, 55 
 
 Jones, Danal, 99; Thomas, 99; 
 Rev. \V. H., 68 
 
 Joppc, John, 19 
 
 Julian, Julion, Julyon, 91 ; Ed- 
 mund, IS; Katherine, 19 
 
 Jwdyn (r Swayn), Richard, servant 
 of WiUiam, 18; WUUam, 18 
 
 Kidwell, Robert, 89 
 
 Kitson, Kytson, Anne, 71 
 
 Knevet, Knevett, Knyvet, Cathe- 
 rine, 84; Sir Edmund, 41, 42,43, 
 56, 57, 60, 87, 92 ; Edmund, 32, 
 42; Eleanor, 42; Jane, 42; Joan, 
 63; Sir John, 42; John, 42, 63; 
 Sir Philip, 57 : Sir Thomas, 42, 
 84 ; Sir William, 42 
 
 Knyt, Richard, 15 
 
 Koc, John, 38. See Coke 
 
 Kyng, John, 15, 18, 19; William, 
 "15 
 
 La Chambre. See Chambre 
 
 Lancaster, Duke of, 16 
 
 Land, Edmimd, 55, 65 
 
 Langford, John de, 15 
 
 La Sale, Katherine de, 9 
 
 La Shardelowe. See Shardelowe 
 
 Leathes, Edward, 75 ; George 
 
 Reading, 75, 104 ; Sarah, 75 ; 
 
 Sarah Hetherset, 104 
 Le Brews, John, 12; Robert, 12: 
 
 Thomas, 12 
 Leche, John. 15 
 Lech ton, William de, 16 
 Le Grene, Peter, 16; Thomas, 15; 
 
 William, 15 
 Le Hunt, George, 72; Marv, 72; 
 
 William, 72 
 Le Nevo, John, 16 ; Thomas, 15 
 Lenthall, John, 48 ; Sibill. 48 
 Le Strange, Sir Thomas, 59 
 Lc Swineflete, William, 12 
 Lete, Datholomew, 15 
 Lewin, John, 22 
 Lock, Peter, 33 
 Lovell, Anne, 93 ; Sir Thomas, 93 ; 
 
 Thomas, 48 
 Loveneye, Margaret, 12 ; AVilli;un, 
 
 12 
 Lovetot, Sir John de, 12 
 Lumner, Lumpner, Edmund, 77 : 
 
 Jane, 77
 
 110 
 
 HISTOUY OF THOMPSON. 
 
 Lyncolno (aliaa Brown), John, 23 
 Lynforth, John, 16 
 
 iralkyn, John, 23, 83 
 
 Manning, Mannvng, Christian, 69, 
 
 70; Rov. C. il., 70; Elizabeth, 
 
 69,70; John, 70; John, junr., 
 
 70 ; Thomas. 69, 70 
 Manser, 91; WUliam, 22, 23, 77, 
 
 83 
 Ifarryctt, Nicholas, 33 
 Martin, James, 72 ; Thomas, 75 
 Matthews, Mrs., 55 
 Mauncer, John, 2-1 
 Mawkin, John, 85 
 Maynard, John. 43, 60 
 Mayr, Katlicrine, 19 
 Maystcr, Sir John, 30, 32, 59, 60 
 Melsop, Jlilsop. Anne, 49, 103; 
 
 Sarah, 103; William, 49, 103 
 Merton, Ralph son of Peter, 
 
 Chaplain of, 15 
 Methewold, Methwold, Bridget, 
 
 103 ; Jamos, 103 ; John, 30, 34, 
 
 38, 39 ; Thomas, 51 
 Milesent, 16 
 Miller, John, 100; Mrs., 101; 
 
 WiUiam, 102 ; — , 100 
 MOlgate, John, 51 
 Milsent. John, 18 
 Minns, William, 77 
 Misson, Jane, 102; Thomas, 102 
 Mone, Joh-inna, 19; Rohert, 15, 
 
 19, 40 ; Thomas, 19 ; WiUiam, 18 
 Money, Rev. Richard, 102 
 Moonk, John, 19 
 Moore, Abigail, 72 ; William, 72 
 Morphcw, John, 53, 61, 73; Mary, 
 
 53 
 Mortimer, Mortymer, 91 ; Alice, 23 ; 
 
 Sir Constantino, 27 ; Elizabeth, 
 
 70; John, 22; Sir Robert, 27; 
 
 AVilliam, 22, 24, 77 
 Morvs, William, 22 
 Mott, Mr., 13 
 Motto, Thomas, 15 
 Mounford, Margaret, 85 ; Osbert, 
 
 85 
 Mounseer, 98 
 Mounteney, 91 ; John, 22; Richard, 
 
 22, 23 
 Mower, Henry, 0", 68 ; Katherine, 
 
 22 ; Mary, 77 
 MuUinger. Mr., 33 
 Muston, John, Gl, 72, 75 
 Myn, Uunry, 22 
 
 Nayl, Thomas, 18 
 
 Nobbes, Thomas, 24 
 
 Koble, Thomas, 15 
 
 Nobys, Richard, 22 
 
 Norfolk, Ralph, Eari of, 7 
 
 Norman, Edmund, 104 ; Elizabeth, 
 
 104 
 Norwich, Mayor and Corporation 
 
 of, 32 ; Bishop of, 30, 36, 70 
 
 Oshern, Robert, 16 
 
 Page, Edmund, 72 ; Thomas, 45, 
 72 
 
 Paine. Anne, 43 ; Elizabeth, 43 ; 
 
 Walter, 43 
 Pairmain, 98 
 Pakonham, Agnes de, 20 ; Ucnry 
 
 de, 20 
 Palmer, Hichard, 99 
 Parker, Matthew, 93, 94 
 Parlet, Margaret, 19 
 Paston, Elizabeth, 71; John, 71; 
 
 Margaret, 45 
 Pav, John, 22 
 Pearlo, Elizabeth, 100; George, 
 
 100; John, 100 
 Pearmain, James, 79 
 Pepir, Kalph, IS 
 Pepys, 96 
 
 Percy, Bishop Thomas, 12 
 Perk'in; William, 68 
 Perowno, Dr., 93 
 Perry, Grace, 24 
 Perrvman, 98 
 
 Pert' Richard, 23 ; William, 23 
 Phelip, Sir William, 64, 70 
 Philpot (see Fylpot), 32, 40, 59 
 Piggott, Alice, 92 
 Pilgrim, 98 
 Pitcher, J., 61 
 Pollard, Agnes, 19 
 PoUiiigton, 98 
 
 Polsted, Henry, 96 ; Mary, 96 
 Pooley, Robert, 50 
 Poory, John, 94 
 Porge, Peter, 23 
 
 Porter, Margaret, 18 ; Rohert, 18 
 Pory, Porye, 91 ; Agnes, 21, 94 ; 
 
 Sir John, 94 ; John, 93 ; Peter, 
 
 24, 86, 94 ; William, 22, 94 
 Potts, Sir Roger, 52 
 Poutere, JIargaret, 19 
 Price, E. M., 88, 99 
 Prideaux, Dr., 95 
 Prittiman, John, 50 
 Puddyng, 16 
 
 I'urland, Bridget, 49 ; Jeremy, 45, 
 49 
 
 Quantrill, 94 
 Quilleter, 16 
 
 Radulphi, Johannes fil, 16; Thomas 
 
 fil, 16 
 Rakke, John, 1 8 
 Ratcliffe, EUzabeth, 92; Sir Rohert, 
 
 92 
 Raiine, Richard, 33 
 Rawlins, Roger, 33 
 Raye, Alexander, 43, 60 
 Reder, John, 68 
 Reppes, Anne, 95; Elizabeth, 94; 
 
 Henry, 94, 95 
 Rickards, Anne, 104 
 llingbell, 94 
 Risinar, Bridget, 97 ; Richard, 97 ; 
 
 Thomas, 97 
 Risingg, John de, 16 
 Robsart, Amy, 84 ; Sir John, 84, 85 ; 
 
 Sir Terry ,'84 
 Rochford, Maud de, 9 
 Roger, Agnes, 16 
 Rokeland, Walkeline de. 16 
 fioU, Rolfe, Rolff, Rolffe, 91, 94 ; 
 
 Anno, 46 ; Elizabeth, 46, 96 ; 
 
 James, 45, 46; John, 18, 22, 23, 
 
 24, 45, 85 ; John, jun., 22 ; 
 
 Margaret, 45, 46 ; Pleasant, 46 ; 
 
 Thomas, 45, 46 ; William, 22 
 Rotter, Richard, 22 
 Rowell, John, 61, 72 
 Rowley, John, 104 ; Sarah, 104 
 Rowse, Edward, 46 ; Robert, 88, 
 
 94 
 Rumbnld, John, 22 
 Rye, Walter. 33. 76 
 Ryghthevr. William, 18 
 Rykkes, William, 19 
 Rytheyr, William, 18 
 
 S.iham, Urian de, 88 
 
 Sale. See La Sale 
 
 Sample, William, 67 
 
 Sanderson, Rev. Anthony J., 72 
 
 Sands, EUzabeth, 100 ; Thomas, 
 100 
 
 Scott, Thomas, 88, 97, 98, 99 
 
 Soman. Henry, 19 
 
 Shardtlowe, Agnes do, 10, 29, 36 ; 
 Anthony, 13 ; Edmund de, 11, 
 12; Ehi'de, 12; EUzabeth de, 12; 
 Galfridus, de, 11, 12; Henry 13; 
 Joanna de, 11, 12; (Dame) Joan, 
 32, 39; Sir John de, 10, 11, 12, 
 13, 25, 29, 30, 36, 38, 39, 60, 81 ; 
 Sir John de la, 87 ; Kathorine 
 de, 12 ; Margaretta do, 11, 12, 
 80 ; Sir Robert de, 12 ; Robert 
 de, 10, 11, 12; Sir Thomas de, 
 11, 12, 13, 25, 29, 30, 32, 36, 38, 
 39, 59, 60, 81 ; Sir Thomas de la, 
 87; Thomas, 13 
 
 Shepherdi, Alice, 18 
 
 Shirford, James de, 38 
 
 Shrimpling, Robert, 22 
 
 Shrimplyng, James, 22 
 
 Shropham, John, 32 
 
 Siklyng, JIargaret, 19 
 
 Skirop, William, 18 
 
 Smallock, EUzabeth, 96 
 
 Smith, James, 88 ; John, 75, 97 ; 
 Risingc, 97 ; Sarah, 97 
 
 Smyth, JIary, 97 
 
 Somery, Joan de. 63 ; John de, 63; 
 John, Lord, 63 
 
 Someryn, ilatilda, 15 
 
 Spelman, Anne, 92 ; Christian, 70 ; 
 Elizabeth, 92 ; Henry, 69. 70 ; 
 fcir John, 92; John, 70; William, 
 92 
 
 Spencer, John, 24 
 
 Spore, John, 88 
 
 Spring. Spryng, Lady Dorothy, 71 ; 
 Sir'john, 71 : Thomas, 65, G9, 
 71, 87; Sir William, Bart., 71, 
 72; WiUiam, 71 
 
 Spurgin, 91, 94 
 
 Steward, John, 61, 73 
 
 Stone, Thomas, 22 
 
 Stow, Ralph, Earl of, 6, 7 
 
 Sturgcs, John, 65, 69 
 
 Sturmer. Ucnry. 64 
 
 Styles, Sarah. 54 
 
 Sutton, Sii' John de, 64; Margaret, 
 64
 
 INDEX NOMINTJir. 
 
 Ill 
 
 Swayn, Richard servant of Wiliiam, 
 
 18 ; William, 18 
 Swathing, Jeffry, 64 ; Maud, 64 
 .Swetenhiim, Kobert, 32 
 Sytrich, Matilda, 18 
 
 Talmache, Liunell, 71, 72 ; Susan, 
 71, 72 
 
 Talniash, Lionel, 72 
 
 Talyour, Kichard, 63 
 
 Taylor, John, 75 ; Thomas, 69 
 
 Teye, Grace, 92 ; Thomas, 92 
 
 Thaj-n, Thayne, Theyn, Thevne, 
 Henry, 22, 77; John, 23, 24," 77 
 85 
 
 Thomeston, Dom. Galfridus de, 9 
 Robert de, 9, 87 ; William de, 9 
 
 Thompson, Rev. James Brown, 88 
 John, 9 ; Rowland, 9 
 
 Thompston, John, 22 
 
 Thornubacke, 94 
 
 Thorpe, Rev. William Smyth, 88 
 
 Thwaytcs, Thomas, 48 ; Winifred, 
 49 
 
 Tollemache, Lionel, 71, 72; Susan, 
 71, 72 
 
 Tolp, WilUam, 93 
 
 Tooke, 94, 98 ; Barbara, 55 ; Ed- 
 ward, 55; Elizabeth, 55; Frances, 
 55; Hales, 55; Rev. James Tooke 
 Hales, 55, 5G, 61, 73; John, 55 
 John Baseley, 54, 56, 61, 73 
 John Home, 53, 64 ; Mary, 55 
 Robert, 52, 55 ; Thomasin, 55 
 
 William, 41, 51, 53, 56, 58, 61, 
 
 07. 73, 100 
 Torel, Richard, 16 
 Townsend, John, 85 ; Margaret, 85 
 Tripelot, Thomas, 16 
 Trithemius, Abbot of Spanheim, 9 
 Tunbridge, Josiah, 49; Lucie, 49 
 Turkebi, Robert, 16 
 Turkeby, Alexander, 18; Alice, 19 
 Turner, Hudson, 66 ; Wimer, 16 
 Twells, John, 88, 99 
 Tvrell, John, 68 
 Tyrrell, Sir William, 42 
 
 Underwood, Abigail, 72; Margaret, 
 72 ; Martha, 72 ; William, 72 
 
 Waby, Mary, 103 
 
 AVace, John, 67 
 
 Wakkes, John, 18 
 
 W'aldegrave, Dorothy, 71 ; Sir 
 
 William, 71 
 Walker, Mr. , 95 
 Walpole, 73; Edward, 84; Horatio, 
 
 Lord, 41 ; Lord, 41 ; Lucy, 84 
 Walsingham, Lord, 9, 28, 63, 54, 
 
 55, 56, 61, 73, 74 
 Ware, Elizabeth, 51; John, 48, 49, 
 
 51, 52, 61, 87; Robert, 48, 50; 
 
 -,48 
 Wame, Barbara, 56 ; Roger, 56 
 Warner, Agnes, 69 ; William, 68, 
 
 69, 80 
 
 Warren, Gundreda de, 6 ; Samuel, 
 
 95 ; William de, 4, 5, 6 
 Waryn, John, 18 
 Watson, William, 58 
 Wells, Thomas, 23 
 Westgate, John de, 18 
 Weyland, Catherine de, 63; Sir 
 
 Robert de, 63 
 Whalcbelly, 94; EUzabeth, 98; 
 
 William, 98 
 Whittert, John, 33 
 Wigges, John, 23 
 WiUeman, Agnes, 16 ; Petronilla, 
 
 16; Thomas, 15 
 Wimer, TTiomas, 15 
 W^isman, Henry, 15 
 Wodehouse, Anne, 92 ; Sir Con- 
 
 stantine de, 63 ; Elizabeth, 92 ; 
 
 Francis, 92 ; John, 63, 64, 92 ; 
 
 Sir Roger, 91, 92; Sir Thomas, 
 
 64; Ursula, 91, 92 
 W^olrich, William, 18 
 Wright, Edmund, 71, 77; Edward, 
 
 71; Thomas, 51; W. Aldis, 33, 
 
 38, 39 
 Wyatt, John, 33 
 Wyggs, John, 77 
 Wylacham, Sir Roger de, 81 
 Wysman, Alice, 19; Elena, 18; 
 
 John, 18; Robert, 15, 19 
 
 Yelverton, Anne, 45 ; Jane, 7 7 ; 
 
 WUliam, 45, 77
 
 112 
 
 INDEX LOCOBUM. 
 
 Anthony, Cornwall, 85 
 Ashe, 27 
 Ashen, Kssex, 72 
 Ashwellthorpe, 42 
 Attleborough, 27, 92 
 
 Baconsthorpe, 85 
 Bacton, Suff., 104 
 Banham, 102 
 ISarham Manor, Essex, 12 
 Barsham, East, S4 
 Barton Bendish, 80 
 Barton Mills, 13, 29, 39, 88 
 Barton Parva, Suff., 12, 13, 81 
 Bath, 56 
 
 Beaumont Hill, 45 
 Bedford, 51 
 BeechamweU, 70 
 Belstead, 47 
 Bentley, Suff., 72 
 Blakeney, 9 
 Bolingbroke, 97 
 Borham, Essex, 39 
 Bracondale, 55 
 Bradenham, 29, 35, 42 
 Bradfield, 71 
 Bradley, Great, Suff., 63 
 Little, Suff., 72 
 Brandon, 13 
 Breckles, 54, 92, 104 
 Bridgnorth, 96 
 Buckenham, 42 
 
 „ Little, 71 
 
 „ New, 72 
 
 Old, 63, 64 
 Bunwell, 93 
 Bures, Suff., 71 
 Burlingham, 55 
 Bury St. Edmund's, 12, 104 
 
 Camherwell, 72 
 
 Camhridge, 63, 93, 94, 102 
 
 Camps Manor, Essex, 12 
 
 Canterhurv, 82, 93, 94 
 
 Cantley, 62, 63, 64 
 
 Carbrooke, 49, 52, 63, 88, 100, 103, 
 
 104 
 Castleacre, 85 
 Caston, 49, 51, 62, 77, 79, 82, 88, 
 
 90, 103 
 Caston, Whitehread Close in, 90 
 Catton, 56 
 
 Cavendish, Suff., 11, 12, 80 
 
 Caverham, 13 
 
 Chesterfield, 67 
 
 Chilton, Suff., 85 
 
 Cockthorpe, 95, 103 
 
 Copdock, 53 
 
 Copped Hall Manor, Essex, 12, 39 
 
 Coston, 104 
 
 Cowling, Suff., 12 
 
 Cranworth, 62, 63, 64, 65, 09, 70 
 
 Cromer, 75 
 
 Cytie Camps Manor, Camhs, 38 
 
 Denmark, 7 
 Dereham, East, 63, 104 
 
 West, 103 
 Didlington, 42 
 Diss, 100 
 Downham, 13 
 Drinkstono, 51 
 Dublin, 12 
 Dudelvngton, 38 
 Dudley, 63 
 Dunham Parva, 88 
 
 EUingham, 48 
 
 ,, Bury Hall Manor in, 31 
 
 ,, Great, 52, 70 
 
 Little, 52, 53, G3 
 Ely, 93 
 Ereswell, 88 
 Eye, 49 
 
 Feltwell, 33, 72, 85 
 Filby, 75 
 Flempton, 13, 30 
 Fulbum, Cambs, 12 
 
 Garholdisham, 48, 68 
 Gayton, 85 
 Gipping, 42 
 Giasing, 102 
 Gloucester, 48 
 Gray's Inn, 50, 72 
 Griston, 52, 56, 57, 77, 88, 92, 93, 
 95 
 
 Hacford, 18 
 Hardingham, 47, 48 
 Harling, 47 
 
 East, 90 
 Haughley, Suff., 97 
 
 Hawstead, Suff., 85 
 
 Helmingliam, 71, 72 
 
 Ilemlingtun, 18 
 
 Ilempton, 12 
 
 Hereford, 47 
 
 Iloiingswell, 12 
 
 Hessott, 43, 47, 48 
 
 Hethersett, 66, 75 
 
 Hindringham, 47 
 
 Hitoham, 71 
 
 Hockhaiii, Great, 72 
 
 Hock wold, 85 
 
 Hokam, 3S 
 
 Horringer, 96, 97 
 
 Horseth Manor, Cambs, 29, 39 
 
 Houghton, 84 
 
 Hun.stanlon, 59, 76 
 
 Iluntinglield, Suff., 71 
 
 Hun worth, 76 
 
 Islington, 90 
 
 Kenninghall, 51 
 
 Kilmartin, 104 
 
 Kimberlcy, 48, 62, 63, 64, 70, 92 
 
 Lakenham, 55 
 
 Lambeth. 93 
 
 Landboach, 93 
 
 Langford. 29, 103 
 
 Lavenham, Suff., 71 
 
 Letton, 90 
 
 Lewes Priory, 6 
 
 Lincoln's Inn, 85 
 
 London, 43, 48, 49, 51, 61, 96, 
 
 104 
 Longford, 30 
 Lvnn, 48 
 Lyrlyng, 38 
 
 Manchester, 58 
 
 Mannington, 77 
 
 Martinicjue, 58 
 
 Mautby, 45 
 
 Mondlesham, Suff., 63 
 
 Merton, 3, 4, 9, 11, 33, 36, 48. .51, 
 54, 56, 57, 63, 69, 72, 74, 77, 80, 
 82, 85, 92, 93, 94, 95, 97, 9b, 
 100, 102 
 
 Merton, Rinshill in, 15 
 
 Methwold. 93 
 
 Mildenhall, 13
 
 INDEX LOCORUM. 
 
 113 
 
 Narljurgli, 70 
 
 Northampton, 10 
 
 NorthwolJ, 33 
 
 Norton, 84 
 
 Norwich, 6, 7, 9, 13, 32, 36, 37, 
 
 48, 51, 52, .'53, 54, 55, 56, 04, 74, 
 
 79, 88, 93, 104 
 Nottingham, 39 
 
 Orsey Manor, Camhs, 12, 39 
 Ovington, 63 
 Oxhorough, 47, 92 
 Oxford, 9, 34, 94 
 
 Padua, 56 
 Pakenham, 71 
 Paris, 80 
 Pontefract, 84 
 Purley, 63 
 
 Quiddenham, 100 
 
 Rainham, 85 
 Rattlesden, Suff., 90 
 Raveningham, 27 
 Rodenhall, 77 
 Redgrave, 104 
 Reedham, 75 
 Reymerstone, 48 
 Ridgway Hall, Staff., 104 
 Rockland, 69 
 Rolleaby, 75 
 Rougham, 77 
 Runham, 88 
 Rushbrook, Suff., 71, 72 
 Rushworth, 27 
 
 Saham, 29, 35 
 
 Saham Toney, 98, 103 
 
 Salisbury, 68 
 
 Sail, 12 
 
 Saxham, Little, Suff., 90 
 
 Seaming, 84 
 
 Scoulton, 47, 48, 49, 68, 90, 96, 
 
 103, 104 
 Shardlow, Derbysh., 12, 13 
 Shelton, 47, 49, 74, 75 
 Shimpling, 13 
 
 Shingled Hall Manor, Essex, 12, 39 
 Shropham, 20, 29, 30, 34, 35, 38, 
 
 41, 47, 72, 74, 75, 87, 88, 101, 
 
 102, 103, 104 
 Shropham, Pradcker Hall Manor 
 
 in, 29, 30, 38 
 Shropham, Pakenhams' Manor in, 20 
 Shudy Camps Manor, C'ambs, 29, 
 
 35, 39 
 Siderstono, 84 
 Snyterton, 38 
 Southover, 6 
 Sparham, 74, 75 
 Stanfield Hall, 84 
 Stanford, 54, 88 
 Stanton, Suff., 43, 47, 
 Stinton Manor in Sail, 12 
 Stoke, Suff., 93 
 Stow, 68 
 
 Stow Bedon, 4, 7, 63, 69, 70, 92, S7 
 Stratton, Suff., 12 
 Strumpshaw, 63 
 Sturston, 47 
 
 SwafTham, 51 
 Swan ton Morloy, 51 
 Swathing, 03 
 
 Thetford, 0, 08, 79, 97, 99, 104 
 Tholveton, 13 
 Thimblethorpo, 99 
 Thompson — 
 
 Alley, the, 76 
 
 Bays' row, 76 
 
 Bees' messuage, 76 
 
 Bell house, 44, 51, 101, 102, 103 
 
 Bellrope acre, 90 
 
 Beytofts cottage, 101, 102 
 
 Blakenyes' meadow, 76 
 
 Blowsomes' close, 77 
 
 Bouers' close, 76 
 
 Brackland furland, 45 
 
 Bradciir Manor, 32 
 
 Bradmore common, 4, 55 
 
 Bridge close, 89 
 
 Brightman's tenement, 76 
 
 Bull ward' 8 tenements, 77 
 
 Butters Hall Manor, 31, 48, 53, 
 55, 56, 101 
 
 Calkpit furlong, 77 
 
 Carfield, 44 
 
 Carr, 13, 76 
 
 Chequers Inn, 76 
 
 Cheralls, 77 
 
 Cherry row, 4, 99 
 
 Churchhouse Manor, 74, 104 
 
 Cockpit furlong, 77 
 
 College Manor, 60, 61 
 
 Common, Lower, 4 
 
 Common, North, 55, 97 
 
 Common, Upper, 4 
 
 Coppin'a furlong, 76 
 
 Coppynges, 76 
 
 Copthorne furlong, 76 
 
 Craddock'a closes, 76 
 
 Crowdick's furlong, 76 
 
 Curtaine's furlong, 77 
 
 Curthious furlong, 44 
 
 Deale fmlong, 77 
 
 Dey's tenement, 69 
 
 Dowsing tenement, 44 
 
 Filbye's lane, 77 
 
 Fisher's tenement, 45, 90 
 
 Foxburrow Mill-way, 76 
 
 Goare furlong, 77 
 
 Gunne's lane, 77 
 
 Hall meadow, 13 
 
 Hall way, 13 
 
 llarpe pightle, 77 
 
 Hayhouse close, 76 
 
 Hemp pit, 97 
 
 Heme, the, 76 
 
 Hollmore, 77 
 
 Hopthorp Street, 76 
 
 Iloulott's croft, 76 
 
 Hungate furlong, 70 
 
 Kirkhou.se furlong, 70 
 
 Lawman's tenement, 76 
 
 Ijong Perches furlong, 45 
 
 Longman's tongue, 70 
 
 Lyntokk's croft, 76 
 
 Mancer's tenement, 76 
 
 Market way, 76 
 
 Mel.<en's tenement, 76 
 
 Milgate way, 77 
 
 Moonyes, 77 
 
 More furlong, 77 
 
 Netherthorpe, 101, 102 
 
 Nether Thurstyegate furlong, 76 
 
 Plowdrove meere, 77 
 
 Pockthorpe, 76 
 
 Porys, 44, 48, 94, 95 
 
 Pynne's lane, 76 
 
 Redames Manor, 32, 40, "0, 77 
 
 Roesthorpe, 77 
 
 Sandwade fen, 4, 97 
 
 Sandware Street, 76 
 
 Sandwood way, 97 
 
 Sannard, 97 
 
 Shaker's furze, 4 
 
 Sheephouse furlong, 76 
 
 Slight, Lower, 76 
 „ Middle, 76 
 „ Upper, 76 
 
 Thompson & Bedacres Manor, 73 
 
 Wamers, 32, 40, 76 
 
 Waterhouse Manor, 74, 96, 101, 
 103, 104 
 
 Wayland Wood, 4, 56 
 
 "Weil furlong, 77 
 
 ■\Vh)-nny close, 77 
 
 Windover furlong, 76 
 
 Woodfield close, 89 
 Thornage, 12, 29, 36, 37 
 Thoradon, 47, 104 
 Thorpe Market, 9 
 
 ,, next Norwich, 13 
 Thrapston, Northants, 93 
 Threxton, 57, 68 
 Throston, Suff., 47 
 Thuxton. 43, 47, 49, 61 
 Tinmouth, 9 
 Titshall, 63 
 
 Tofts, West, 29, 30, 34, 39, 72 
 Tottington, 54, 56, 67, 73, 103 
 TunstaU, 55 
 
 Uphall Manor, 64 
 Upton, Norf., 64 
 Upton, Northants, 85 
 
 Walton, West, 94 
 
 Watton in Chesterfield, Derhvshire, 
 
 57, 58 
 Watton, Norf., 52, 56, 57, 82, 97, 
 
 99 
 Wayland Hundred, 78 
 Wood, 4, 56 
 Wendovcr, Bucks, 63 
 Wenham I'arva, Suff., 12 
 Westminster, 16, 39, 72, 85, 94 
 Whetacre, 42 
 Wiggenhall, 101, 103 
 Wigiiton, 47, 48 
 Wilton, 80 
 Wimbledon, 53 
 Wingfiold, 27 
 Wolstanton, Suff., 104 
 Wood Norton, 56 
 Wretham, 94 
 
 East, 33 
 Wymondham, 57, 103 
 
 Yarmouth, Great, 48, 49, 104
 
 114 
 
 INDEX RERIJM. 
 
 Arms of Bacon, 43 
 
 „ Bateman, 30, 36 
 
 „ Bigot, 6 
 
 ,, Boutc'tort, 63 
 
 ,, Colman, 52 
 Day, 96 
 
 ,, Esmond, Gl, 65 
 
 ,, Futter, 43 
 
 „ Le Hunt, 72 
 
 ,, Millgate, 51 
 
 ,, Pon-e, 94 
 
 „ Shardelow, 30, 82 
 Smyth, 97 
 
 „ Spring, 71 
 
 ,, Thompson, 9 
 
 ,, Thompson College, 30, 36, 
 84 
 
 ,, Tollemache, 72 
 
 ,, Tooko, 53 
 Ware, 51 
 
 ,, "Warner, 68 
 
 ,, Warron, De, 
 Ashe College, Foundation of, 27 
 Attlehorough College, Foundation 
 of, 27 
 
 Bacon of Hesset, Arms of. 43 
 Barker of Shrophani, Family of, 103 
 Barker of Thompson, Family of, 100 
 ,, I'edigree of, 
 
 102 
 Bateman, Arms of, 30, 36 
 Bedingfield, Pedigree of, 47 
 Bells, Inscriptions on, 80 
 Bigot, Arms of, C 
 Boutetort, Arms of, 63 
 
 ,, Family of, 62 
 
 ,, Pedigree of, 63 
 
 Boutetorts Hall, Manor of, 62 
 Bradker in Shropham, Manor of, 
 30, 38 
 
 Church, Account of the, 78 
 
 ,, Goods, Inventories of, 83, 
 
 84 
 ,, Patronage of the, 87 
 
 Churchyard, The, 82 
 
 College, Ashe, Foundation of, 27 
 ,, Attlehorough, Foundation 
 
 of, 27 
 ,, Raveningham, Foundation 
 
 of, 27 
 , , Rush worth , Foundation of, 
 
 27 
 ,, Thompson, Account of, 25, 
 
 28 
 ,, Thompson, Documents re- 
 lating to, 36, 37, 38, 39, 
 
 40, 69 
 ,, Thompson, Gift to, 34 
 , , , , Masters of, 32, 
 
 33 
 ,, ,, Seal of, 36 
 
 ,, ,, Surrender 
 
 Charter of, 35 
 Colman, Arms of, 52 
 Copyhold Tenants, Names of, 77 
 Curates, Perpetual, 88 
 
 Day of Scoulton, Family of, 96, 103 
 
 ,, Arms of, 96 
 
 Domesday Survey, Extracts from, 
 5, 6, 7 
 
 Esmond, Arms of, 64, 65 
 
 Futter, Arms of, 43 
 
 „ Family of, 43-6, 103 
 „ Pedigree of, 47, 103 
 
 Grey, Pedigree of, 92 
 
 „ Family of Do, II 
 Guilds, 80 
 
 Kncvett, Pedigree of, 42 
 
 Lay Suhsidies, 14, 22, 23, 24 
 Le Hunt, Arms of, 72 
 
 Manors, Account of, 9 
 
 ,, Boututorts, or Botours 
 
 HaU, 62 
 ,, Bradker in Shropham, 30, 
 
 38 
 
 Manors, Thompson nuper CoUegii, 
 60, 61 
 ,, ThompsonandBedaeres, 73 
 ,, AVatcrhouse and Church- 
 house, 74 
 Millgate, Arms of , 5 1 
 
 Parish Property, 89, 90 
 Patronage of the Church, 87 
 Pedigrees — Barker, 102 
 
 ,, Bedingfield, 47 
 
 ,, Boutetort, 63 
 
 „ Futter, 47, 103 
 
 ,, Grey, 92 
 
 ,, Knevett, 42 
 
 ,, Shardelowe, 12 
 
 ,, Spring, 71 
 
 ,, Tooke, 55 
 
 Place-names, Ancient, 76 
 Poll Taxes, 16 
 Porye, Arms of, 94 
 
 ,, Account of Dr. John, 93 
 
 Raveningham College, Foundation 
 
 of, 27 
 Rectors. 88 
 Rectory, 89 
 
 Registers, Account of the, 91 
 Registrar, Civil, 95 
 Rood Screen, 81 
 Rush worth College, Account of, 27 
 
 Seal of Thompson Colli^ge, 36 
 
 Shardelowe, Arms of, 30, 82 
 ,, Family of, 10 
 
 ,, Pedigree of. 12 
 
 " Sir," Explanation of the title, 53 
 
 Smyth, Arms of, 97 
 
 Spring, Arms of, 71 
 „ Pedigree of, 71 
 
 Terriers, the, 89 
 Thompson, Name of, 3 
 
 ,, Early Landowners in, 4 
 
 , , Manors in, 9 
 
 ,, Early Inliabitants of, 
 
 14, 15, l.s, 19
 
 INDEX RERUM. 
 
 115 
 
 Thompson in the sixteenth century, 
 21 
 CoUege, 25 
 Church, 78 
 Churchyard, 82 
 Rf-ctors of, 88 
 PiTpetual Curates of, 88 
 Rectory of, 89 
 Parish Property, 89 
 Registers, 91 
 
 Thompson nuper Collegii, Manor 
 of, 60, 61, 
 , , and Bedacrcs, Manor of, 
 
 73 
 ,, of Tinmouth, Arms of, 
 
 9 
 ,, College, Arms of, 30, 36, 
 
 81 
 Tithes, 89 
 Tollemache, Arms of, 72 
 
 Tooke, Arms of, 53 
 , , Pedigree of, 55 
 
 Ware, Anns of, 51 
 Warner, Arms of, 68 
 Warren, De, Arms of, 6 
 Waterhouse and Churchhouse, 
 
 Manor of, 74 
 Wingfield CoUege, Foundation of, 
 
 27
 
 SUBSCRIBEES. 
 
 Amyot, TI108. E., Esq., Diss, Norfolk. 
 Armstrong, Eev. B. J., Heydon Rectory, Norwich 
 
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 Beloe, E. M., Esq., King's Lj-nn (large paper). 
 
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 BetheU, W., Esq., Else Park, Hull. 
 
 Birch, Rev. C. G. E., Brancaster Rectory, King's Lynn. 
 
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 Boileau, Sir F. G. M., Bart., Ketteringham Park (large paper). 
 
 Boston Public Library, U.S.A. 
 
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 Callis, Eev. A. W., Wymondham. 
 
 Cooke, Eev. Canon W., 6, Clifton Place, Sussex Square, London, "W. 
 
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 Elvin, Chas. N., Esq., m.a., EckUng Grange, East Dereham (large paper). 
 Ely, The Lord Bishop of, The Palace, Ely. 
 
 Farrer, Eev. E., f.s.a., Eickinghall, Diss. 
 
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 Jones, Sir Lawrence, Bart., Cranmer Hall. 
 
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 Lack, T. Lambert, Esq., Hiugham, Attlcborough (large paper). 
 Legge, Rev. A. G., Elmham Vicarage, East Dereham, 
 le Strange, Hamon, Esq., Hunstantun Hall, Norfolk. 
 Lewis, The late Rov. S. S., Cambridge. 
 Lee-Warner, H., Esq., Swaflham. 
 
 Macmillan and Bowes, Messrs., Cambridge. 
 Manning, Rev. C. R., f.s.a., Diss Rectory. 
 Millard, Rev. J. W., ShimplLng. 
 Mottram, J., Esq., Bank House, Norwich. 
 
 Nevill, Lady Dorothy, 45, Charles Street, Berkeley Square, London, W. (large paper). 
 Norfolk, His Grace the Duke of, k.g., Norfolk House, St. James' Square, London, S.W. 
 
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 Norwich Free Library (largo paper). 
 
 Procter, Rev. F., AVitton Vicarage, North Walsham. 
 
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 Rivett-Camae, Mrs. G., Thorpe, Chertsey, Surrey (two copies). 
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