Stewards
of Wakefield Manor
One of the many duties of a
steward was to preside over the courts.
In 1331, 1332 and 1333 we have recorded in the Wakefield Court
Rolls a number of scattered references to stewards of the manor of
Wakefield. [ 5 Edward III to 7 Edward III ]
It is suggested by Lawrence Butler that the Wakefield
Court Rolls did not commence until 1274 because the building of Sandal
Castle was not sufficiently complete for the accounts clerk to move
into his office. 10, p 48
However, there are stewards known from other sources before this time
:
In the 1100's there was a William FitzRaven
of Hatfield Hall near Wakefield He was a.k.a. William
FitzRaven of Wakefield or Willelm Filius Raven. He acted as William
de Warrene's [Warenne] steward for the manor of Wakefield 1148-1159. William
was b. perhaps 1100, his daughter and heiress was Mabel FitzRaven
born ~1132. Mabel married Otto de Tilli [Tilly] seneschal to Hamelyn
Plantagenet [half brother to King Henry II] of Conisbrough
Castle. Otto and Mabel's daughter Dionysia de Tilli married Henry de
Novo Mercato son of Adam de Newmarche of Womersley.
At
some point on the late 1100's - early Thomas FitzEssulf of Thornhill
a.k.a Thoma filio Edulf, Thomas Pincerna, Thomas the Baker, Thomas
de Monte, Thomas of Monkhill was steward of the manor of Wakefield whilst his
elder brother Jordan FizEssulf of Thornhill was constable of Wakefield Castle between
1174 and 1178.
William de Horbury seneschal [steward] to earl
William de Warenne about 1240. He was a witness to a charter for
Kirklees Priory.
In the 1250's Ralph de Horbury
was
steward to earl John de Warenne the 7th Earl Warenne
& Surrey.
William de London was a witness to a charter 1250-1280 at the time
John
de Hoderode was steward of
Pontefract.21 Hodroyd
Hall near Felkirk is the site
of John's residence.
|
Based upon a sketch
reconstruction
in Sandal Castle Wakefield.10 Note that the barbican,
started in 1270, had not yet been constructed.
A. keep
B. great hall [from Anglian : aula]
C. kitchens with store rooms attached
D. bailey/courtyard
E. motte or mound
F. moat
G. gatehouse
H. great chamber
I. privy chamber
|
John de Hille(e) - 1260's - 'about 40 years before
1307'
Alexander Lucas was the
steward for the manor of Wakefield in 1274, 1275 and 1277, 1279 during
the time of John the 7th Earl of Warenne. joseph Hunter calls him
'Richard Lucas' in the time of Sir
John de Horbury.25
John de Ravensfeud4
later in the year of 1274.
Sir Thomas Coke in 1284 & 1285
[Also rector of Dewsbury 1292-1293.]
Richard de Heydon 25th November 1285 [W.C.R.]
Thomas de Deiville Devile,
Deyville etc. Known to be steward
in 1287/1288. [Yorks. Deeds, vol. 10,
p. 175.]
1297 John de Doncastre
in office 12th October 1297. In 1308 he is still recorded as the steward but
was fined for taking green and dry wood as well as fodder.[J. Horsfall Turner. The
History of Brighouse, Raistrick and Hipperholme, pp, 56, 58.]
Peter de Lound.19 In
1300 Lound was ordered to select footmen for the Scottish campaign from the
wapentakes of Staincliffe, Bowland and Ewcross [Settle- Skipton area].
Lound was steward in 1307.
William de Wakefield in office 13
Dec. 1306, 24 June 1307
Thomas Cok In office 12 March
1307
John de Doncastre 5th August 1307, 'now steward'.
1307 & 1308 John de Neville [of
Hornby, Lancs.and Brierley, S.
Yorks.] 'chief steward' or 'capitalis seneschallus'
and William de
Wakefield 'steward' while Thomas de Wakefeld was
the constable of Sandal Castle.19
Although he held manors in the
honour of Pontefract John de
Neville's son's i.p.m.. in 1336 shows
that John the 'chief steward' had
probably held a
yearly rent of the castle of Sandal
from John de Warenne, earl of
Surrey.
John de Doncastre In office as Earl Warenne's steward. 1312-131323
1315 Henry de Welda [de la Welde/de la Walda] of Wing. John de Warrene held an extensive
property at Wing, Buckinghamshire.10 In 10 Ed. II
[1317-1318] John earl Warenne granted Henry a pasture [vaccary] near
Sowerby called 'Hadreschelf'.* This is now marked by Hadershelf Lane west of
Sowerby. Henry was given this vaccary just before John lost his northern manors
for in 1318 earl John quit claimed the castles of Sandal and Conisbrough along
with estates at Sowerby, Dewsbury, Halifax and estates in
other counties5. These were granted to Thomas earl
of Lancaster. *
Known to have been held by John de
Midgley, forester for the forest of
Sowerby in the late 1200's.
John de Burton/Barton is described in April 1322 as the late steward of Wakefield and Hatfield
and thus had acted as Thomas earl of
Lancaster's steward during the
rebellion. John held twenty
acres at nearby Kinsley.18 According
to The History of Pontefract in
Yorkshire, John de 'Bucton' was
also seneschal of Pontefract castle
for the earl of Lancaster and
afterwards from 1319 -1323.22
In 1324 he is described as [having
been?] the earl of Lancaster's
steward at Wakefield.24
Sir Simon de Baldreston. Holt
citing Walker stated that Baldreston
was a steward of the manor of Wakefield for Thomas earl of Lancaster.12
However, it appears that
Baldreston was appointed by Edward II
after the Lancastrian rebellion. Baldreston appears to have been born at Balderstone in the Ribble Valley,
Lancashire which then lay within the now extinct administrative area of 'Blackburnshire'.
During 1303-1304 Simon had been appointed seneschal of Blackburnshire and
in the following year was made the receiver for Lancashire. He had an
illustrious career under earl Thomas being recorded as an auditor for the
earl in 1313-1314 within the honour of Leicester and in 1321 he was a steward
for the earl with Ralph de Beeston at Conisbrough, Hatfield &c. Simon
seems to have survived the post Boroughbridge turmoil being recorded in March
1322 as the parson of Heversham in co. Westmorland. Following the battle
of Boroughbridge he was appointed to various administrative posts in the
wake of earl Thomas' forfeitures e.g. in March 1323, he made an inquiry into
the church of Leigh in Lancashire. In October 1331, during Edward III's reign,
he was serving as a commissioner investigating who had entered earl
John de Warrene's chases and parks in Yorkshire. Simon was granted lands
in the new park of Wakefield in 1337 which 'was confirmed to him and the
heirs of his body with remainder to William de Scargill'.13
In 1343 Simon de Balderstone purchased the manor of Rogerthorpe near Badsworth
between Barnsdale and Pontefract.14 and in the same year
aquired an interest in Badsworth Church where he presented as rector, a kinsman,
Roger de Balderstone. This interest in Badsworth church and the manor
of Rogerthorpe passed to the descendants of this Roger 'for many generations'.15
About 1345 Simon was was the parson of Dewsbury, west of Wakefield and two
years later he had a licence to endow a chaplain in the church of Emsworth
[Hemsworth, 4 kilometres S.W. of Badsworth], Yorkshire, 'with lands and rents
in various places, to say mass daily for the good estate of him, Simon, whilst
living and for the good of his soul when dead'. 16 Simon made his
will in June 1348, which was proved 7th July 1348. His will shows that
he bequeathed 'his body for burial in the quire of St. Mary in the monastery
of St. Oswald of Nostell [near Barnsley] and £60 to find a fit canon
to celebrate in the said quire for his own soul, the souls of Earl Thomas
of Lancaster, Richard de Balderston his father and Agnes his mother'.17
John de Trehampton, 1327
Sir Simon de Baldreston*,
1330.20
John de Trehampton again
in 1331.
John de Grenegate mentioned
25th October 1331.
Sir Simon de Baldreston*
recorded again on the15th Dec.1331 and later in 1336, 1337, about
October 1338 to before 7th February 1340.. [W.C.R.]. In a letter from John de
Warenne dated 11th November 1340 he is described as now being steward of 'our
lands in the North'. [W.C.R. 1338-1340, pp. 183-184.]
John de Donecastre6
recorded again as the steward of the manor of Wakefield in
1302 and in 1332-3 he was steward to the lands lost in 1317 by John
8th Earl Warenne to Thomas Earl of Lancaster, later forfeited to King
Edward II in 1322. John was also steward to the Abbot of St. Mary's
Abbey, York sometime during the incumbency of Abbot Alan De Nesse [1313-1329].
P.Valentine Harris recognised from the Wakefield Court Rolls that
John was a knight as well as a steward for earl Warrene.8
This was before the ill-fated Thomas Earl of Lancaster succeeded to
Pontefract and its honour in 1311. Harris appears to be amazed that
there was a family in Wakefield called 'De Doncaster' but this should
not be so surprising for it merely refers to someone whose family moved
from Doncaster, which in sensible terms is not far afield. Indeed there
was a Michael de Doncaster who in the early 1200's married Idonia d. of
Hugh Pincerna of the Butler family of Skelbrooke and in the W.C.R. for
8th January 1333 an Elias de Doncastre of Crigglestone who is shown elsewhere
in W.C.R. to be the brother of William de Doncastre. What really did excite
Harris was the fact that he found in the W.C.R. for 22nd Jan.1327 at the
Wakefield Court :
Extract from the Wakefield
Court Roll for 1327
|
Translation: John Attelme
surrenders 22 acres in Crigleston. Committed to Robert del Dene
[1 acre]; Matilda handmaid of Henry del Dene, and her son [1 acre];
Roger son of William de Doncastre [8 acres]; William son of John
[7 acres]; Adam Attegrene [2 acres]; and Robert son of John [3 acres].
See Sir Roger de
Doncaster
|
Harris also found that Roger de Doncastre was fined 2d.on
the 7th July 1327. His name does not appear again in the W.C.R.
but was located in a previous record dated 18th March 1301-2, reprinted
in Yorkshire Deeds, Record Series II, No. 1. p.82 :- "Release
by Henry de Holn, parson of the church of Ryther, to Sir William
son of Sir William de Ryther, of all right in the manor of Hornyngton
[eight miles S.W. of York] Witnesses.... Roger de Doncastre,
chaplain".
Harris speculated that there could
not be two Roger de Doncastres in Yorkshire living at the same
time, nor is it likely that two could be found throughout
England. Harris becomes quite convinced that this is the Roger de
Doncastre of the ballads of Robin Hood. However the difference
between 1301-2 and 1327 is slightly more than a generational gap
[~ 25 years] and thus they could conceivably be two different people,
perhaps the earlier Roger being a kin-relative. However, I find that John
de Doncastre, the steward, did have a toft of land in Wakefield before December
1332:
| John de Warenne
lately took a toft in
Wakefield from John de
Doncastre, then the earl's
steward.
[C.P.R., 15th December 1333,
p. 378.] |
Walker in the W.C.R. found that, on the
8th Jan.1333, six years after Roger had been mentioned, a
Robert Hode of Stanley was fined 6d.
John de Doncastre was also
a Justice of Common Pleas [W.C.R.] and appointed to a number
of Peace Commissions for the West Riding. Similar commissions
can be found for the years 1334-62 There is no evidence
to link this John de Doncastre to the de Doncastres of Crigglestone
although the onomasty and geographical links are there.
See The Prioress's Lover |
Sir William de Skargill [Scargill] sen.1332, 22 January 1339 and
7th February 1340 [W.C.R's.] Skargill was removed from office because he was not
enrolling court convictions. In a letter from John de Warenne dated 7th February
1340 Sir William was found to be 'of French nationality'.[W.C.R. 1338-1340, pp.
184-185.]
| William Skargill+
is mentioned as the 'forester' for the Wakefield and Sowerbyshire
'Chaces' as well as keeper of vert# & venison
in the 'chaces', parks and warrens for Hatfield, [South Yorkshire]
1333. He was also granted 65 acres in the waste of Wakefield
belonging to earl Warenne for a rental. |
In 1347, lord John Warrene the 8th and
last earl of Warrene died. This
death may have been related to the plague, it is the same year that another
well known personage is reputed to have died.
According to Joseph Hunter's calculations a Robert Hood who had been on the
accounts of King Edward II, died in 1347 at Kirklees Priory.
Sir John de Eland
[also High Sheriff
of Yorkshire 1341] murdered at Brookfoot, Elland,
1353. He was left ten marks in John de Warrene's will of 1347 which
indicates that he was in his service at this time.11
I have suggested
earlier, elsewhere that this may be one of the inspirations
for the "Sheriff of Nottingham" [more correctly Nottinghamshire
& Derbyshire] along with Faucumberg, used by balladeers
such as John
Montague in King Edward III's court of the late 1300's
and the playwright
Munday in the 1600's. Professor J.C. Holt may
have been thinking of the De Lacis and De Warrenes when he wrote,
'Extremely common for example, was the use of armed ambush as
an instrument in local vendettas and disputes between landlords
and their other tenants'.9 Earlier, in the 1290's, at least
one of the Butler family is known to have been arrested for robbery
and other mayhem in the 'Barnsdale' area. See Skelbrooke
|
| Sir William de Eland is mentioned
as the Constable
of Nottingham Castle in 1330. Eland led the way for
Edward III through the secret passages under the castle where
he surprised Queen Isabella, his mother and her lover Sir Roger de
Mortimer. This de Eland could have been a younger brother to John
de Eland as they are both mentioned as having a father Sir Thomas de Eland,
Lord of Elland, Rochdale & Tankersley.
William, son of Juliana de Eland of Rastrick is mentioned in the
Wakefield Court Rolls for the 19th November 1331. This
may have been the William de Eland who was the constable
of Nottingham Castle.
A John de Eland is mentioned in the W.C.R. for 31st January
1332 as giving pledge.
John de Eland, knight is mentioned with his son, Hugh in a plea
dower by Alice 13323.
An essoin was given by a John de Eland on the 16th October 1332.
A John de Eland had 6 acres demised to him at Northowram on the
1st June 1333.
There were at least seventeen writs issued [C.P.R.] relating to
those pardoned for various and serious crimes except noticeably, for the
death of Sir John a justice and sheriff for Yorkshire.
|
Sir John Savile, Baron Pontefract,
Viscount Savile [d. 1482], was high steward of the Wakefield Manor
and custodian of Sandal Castle for life. Sir John was also
a High Sheriff of Yorkshire in 1455 and 1461 and M.P. in 1450 and
1467. Upon his death in 1482 at Sandal Castle, his body was carried
through Wakefield to be buried at Thornhill. The male line of the Savile's
had married into the Elands' with the marriage of Sir John Savile
d.1399 [also a High Sheriff of Yorkshire] to Isobel de Eland, sister
of Sir John de Eland [steward and Sheriff of Yorkshire], Sir John de
Eland was killed in an ambush along with his father of the same name in
1353. After the marriage Thornhill passed to the Savile line and they then
became the Savile's of Eland and Thornhill§.
Another Sir John Savile who died in 1399 was the brother of Margaret de
Savile, who I believe to be an inspiration for the 'Prioress
of Kirklees" who is found in the earliest extant Robyn Hode ballad.
One unrecognised fact, until now, is that the surviving branch
of the Saviles were connected by marriage to the Paston's of Norfolk.
The Pastons were avid letter writers and produced the earliest surviving
English family letters. It was in one of these letters in 1473 that
a family servant was described as play acting Saint George, Robyn
Hode and the Sheriff of Nottingham, but to the dismay of the letter
writer, the servant had left the family manor to go to Barnsdale.
Perhaps this servant wanted to visit the country side of his hero he
had been speaking and acting about in the Paston household.
John Midgley of
Headley was appointed deputy steward7 of the manor of Wakefield
in 1639, during King Charles I's reign. An attorney of Headley Hall near
Thornton, Bradforddale.
Besides Lord Warrene's stewards
there were bailiffs or serviens ['serjeants'] e.g. William
Temple of Stanley 8th Nov. 1331 & Henry de la Welde, of Horbury, 5th June 1332
THE EARLY COURTS OF THE WAKEFIELD MANOR
|
OCCASION |
HELD AT |
TIME OF YEAR |
| Sheriff's
Tourn |
Wakefield |
Fridays
at about 3 week intervals, not Christmas or Easter. |
| Sheriff's
Tourn |
Halifax
Brighouse
Kirkburton |
Twice
each year ¤ |
| Halmote
[court] |
Halifax
Brighouse
Kirkburton |
Twice
each year ¤ |
¤ held
at the same time
Notes:
* Possibly Balderstone, in the
Ribble Valley, Lancashire.
# Vert= the right to cut green
wood or the wood itself, cut, hence the word vertical.
+ Effigies of the 1300's for William
Skargill Kt. and his lady are to be found at St. Luke and
All Saints Church, Darrington, near Pontefract [additions to
the Norman church were carried out in the 1200's and 1300's]
§ Saville Row in London- bespoke
tailors set up shops here, wool became the material most
suitable for the making of suits. The suit may have evolved
from suits of armour. Waistcoats may have evolved from the 'coats
of arms' worn over the armour. The modern business suit owes its existence
to the production of wool from such places as Saville Town near
Thornhill, West Riding of Yorkshire. The business tie harks back
to the strengthening bars on shields, it is said that the bars
on a tie should slope from dexter [from the wearers point of view],
bar sinistre inclines from the left and on coats of arms was purported
by some to indicate that the wearer was an ex-nuptial or bastardi,
Hence the term bastard file for the hand tool which has its grinding
ridges set at such an angle.
.
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Link:
Scargill Genealogy
Sources/References:
1. Walker, Sheridan, Sue; Wakefield Court Rolls
vol. III, 1331-3, Yorkshire Archaeological Society, Leeds,
1982.
2. Calendar of Patent Rolls 1334-1338 pp.63,137,138,
215, 285, 289-90; appointed to assess the levy in the West
Riding of Yorkshire, the 15th and tenth of moveables,
C.P.R.1330-1334, p. 357.
3. Public Record Office MS Court of Common Pleas
CP 40/292 m 482 [1332]
4. The Wakefield Court Rolls for 1274-97
5. Crowther G., A Descriptive History of the
Wakefield Battles.
6. Harris, P.V., The Truth about Robin Hood,
Linneys. Mansfield.1951.
7. The Bradford Antiquary, issue 4, 1989.
pp44-52.
8. Harris P.V. The Truth About Robin Hood,
Linneys. Mansfield.1951 pp73-4.
9. Holt J.C. Robin Hood. Thames & Hudson,
London, 1982.
10. Butler, Lawrence. Sandal Castle Wakefield.
Wakefield Historical Publications, 1991, p 47.
11. L. Baker and Raine, J. [Eds.] Testamentata Eboracensia, London,
Surtees Society, 1864, p. 43.
12. Holt J.C., p. 47 citing Walker J.W., The True History of Robin Hood,
Wakefield, 1952, p. 9.
13. Abbrev. Rot. Orig. (Rec. Com.), ii, p. 118.
14. C.P.R. Edward III, 1330-1334, p. 154; Yorks. Arch. Journ. viii,
p. 495; xiii, p. 47.
15. Hunter, J., Deanery of Doncaster, ii, pp. 438–439.
16. C.P.R. Edward III, 1345-1348, p. 286.
17. V.C.H. Lancashire, Balderstone, citing York Epis. Reg.
Zouch, fol. 327.
18. Denholm-Young, Noël. History
and Heraldry 1254 to 1310,
Clarendon Press. 1965, p. 137.
19.
Baildon.
W.P. Court Rolls of the Manor of
Wakefield 1297-1309. Y.A.S. vol. II,
1906.
20.
Wakefield
Court Rolls 1297-1309
21.
Hunter, J. South Yorkshire. Deanery of Doncaster,
Vol. II,
p. 251.
22.
Fox, George. The History of
Pontefract, in Yorkshire. 1827,
p. 64ff.
23.
Stanley, M.J. (ed.) Yorkshire Deeds,
vol. 10, C.U.P., 1955 dig. repr.
2013, p. 177.
24.
TNA SC 8/72/3574.
25.
Hunter, J. South Yorkshire. Deanery of Doncaster,
Vol. II, p. 240.
© Copyright Tim Midgley, 2002, modified 11th April 2024.