Hundred of Forehoe: Hingham

HINGHAM.

Hingham was the head town of the deanery, and at first contained 43 parishes, the deanery was taxed at 30s. and it was in the Bishop's collation.

Deans.

1307, Mr. Tho. de Byteringe, clerk.

1311, Thomas son of John de Byteringe, priest.

Henry Owen of Pultney, clerk, resigned.

1337, Thomas Owen of Pulteney, clerk.

1340, Nicholas Emyse, clerk.

1343, John de Welton.

1344, Henry, son of Will. de Winterton, clerk. R.

1346, Mr. Anthony de Goldesburgh. Change with Sudbury deanery.

1346, John, son of Will. de Winterton, clerk.

1361, Master Robert de Tunsted, A. M. a shaveling.

1382, Peter de Leeghes, clerk, on the resignation of Robert de Tunstede, S. T. P. who exchanged for Colneyse deanery in Suffolk.

1398, John Cutet, clerk, resigned.

1405, Sir Thomas Revell, priest, who changed Bishop's-Thorp rectory with Cutet, for this deanery.

1411, Will. Multon, clerk, who gave Revell the rectory of Hese in Canterbury diocese for this.

1418, John Roo, clerk, on Multon's resignation.

1431, John Breton, clerk, who resigned Dunwich deanery.

1432, Will. Spencer, junior, Breton having resigned for Waxham deanery.

1443, John Roose, clerk.

1459, Thomas Marke, resigned.

1459, John Swyer, clerk, one of the Bishop's servants.

1467, John Jolles, clerk.

The Church is a good pile, the tower being very tall and large; the whole was rebuilt by Remigius de Hethersete, rector here, in the time of King Edward III. with the assistance of John le Marshal, his patron, who contributed much to the perfecting of the work; it is dedicated to St. Andrew the Apostle, and had several chapels in it, of which the most remarkable were at the ends of each isle, that on the north side being dedicated to the Holy Trinity, and that on the south side to the Holy Virgin; the others were dedicated to St. Nicholas, the Nativity of the Virgin, and to her Assumption, there was also a St. Mary's chapel by the rood altar, and another of St. Mary of Pity, and there were no less than seven gilds held in the church, viz. of St. James, Corpus Christi, St. Andrew, Holy-Cross, All-Saints, St. John Baptist, and St. Mary, and each having a stipendiary chaplain, serving at their altars in the church, constituted a choir; for in 1484, Robert Morley, Esq. of this town was buried in the church, and gave seven surplices to the quire of Hingham; (fn. 1) and without doubt this church must make a fine appearance in those times, it being adorned with the following images, all which had lights, either lamps, wax tapers, or candles, constantly burning before them in time of divine service, and being dispersed all over the church, chancel, and chapels, must make it in the night season a fine sight; the principal image of St. Andrew stood (as the principal image or patron saint of every church did) in the chancel, on the north side of the altar, and those of St. Peter, St. Michael, St. Mary, Corpus Christi, St. Margaret, St. Christin, St. Edith or Sythe, St. Mary of Pity, St. Thomas, the Nativity and Assumption of the Holy Virgin, St. Wulstan, St. Appolonia, St. Christopher, St. Erasmus, St. Julian, St. Anthony, St. John Baptist, St. Nicholas, the Holy Trinity, St. Edmund, St. Laurence, St. Catherine, St. John the Evangelist, St. Valentine, St. Ethelred, and the Holy Rood or Cross, which stood on the roodloft, between the church and chancel. (fn. 2)

When Norwich Domesday was wrote, the patronage was late Sir John Marshal's but then the Lord Morley's; the rector had a noble house, (fn. 3) and 20 acres of ground, the living being then valued at 50 marks; it stands in the King's Books at 24l. 18s. 4d. and pays 2l. 9s. 10d. yearly tenths, and first fruits every vacancy, it being undischarged; the synodals are 2s. 8d. and Peter-pence 1s. 2d. 0b. The town paid 7l. each tenth.

Rectors.

1272, Master Richard de Felmingham. In this year the glebe lying west of the church (on part of which the parsonage is built) was given to the rectory by John de Kirkebi Bishop of Ely, to keep his anniversary; and in 1290, John son of David de Rokeland, confirmed it, there being then a messuage and grove upon the premises; Sir William de Mortimer, Sir Guy Butetort, Sir Alexander de Elingham, Sir Edmund de Hemegrave, Sir Baldwin de Maners, Sir Andrew de Hengham, Jeffry, son of Walter de Hengham, &c. being witnesses.

1307, 6 kal. Nov. John de Calton, Lady Hawise le Marchal, assignee of Sir William Marchal, Knt.

1313, 17 kal. July, William Wimer of Swanton, Sir William le Marshal, Marshal of Ireland.

1316, 12 kal. June, Remigius de Hetherset was presented by John le Marshal, Marshal of Ireland; he was of a good family, being son of John de Hetherset and Margery his wife, and only brother to Sir Simon de Hetherset, Knt. one of the King's Justices, lord of Cringleford, &c.; he built the church, and was a man of great note in his time, being trustee and feoffee for most of the best families in the county.

1359, 14 Sept. Master John de Ufford, son of Robert Earl of Suffolk, and Margaret his wife, was presented by Sir Robert de Morley, Marshal of Ireland, (fn. 4) he had two prebends, one in the church of Salisbury, the other in Lincoln; by his will, dated November 1375, in which month he died, he ordered his body to be buried in this chancel, on the north side, and left a legacy to Dame Maud Ufford, his sister, a nun at Campsey in Suffolk.

1375, 3 Dec. Master John de Derlington, master of St. Giles's hospital, &c. licentiate in the decrees was presented by Sir William de Morley, Marshal of Ireland, one of the vicars general, (fn. 5) (fn. 6) in 1387, he was doctor of the decrees, and Archdeacon of Norwich, he exchanged Hingham for the archdeaconry, with,
William de Swynflet, who became rector here.

1388, 9 April, Richard Gomfrey. Thomas de Morley Lord Morley, and Marshal of Ireland.

1397, 21 May, William Segher. Ditto.

1411, 12 Feb. Sir Walter de Thefford. Ditto.

1441, 16 Sept. Sir Thomas Codlyng, priest, on Thetford's death. Isabell Lady Morley, relict of Thomas Lord Morley, deceased: he held it with a mediety of North-Tudenham, and at his death, in 1461, gave a silver chalice, gilt, worth 40 marks, to be sold, either to buy a white vestment, or to build a new treasury.

1461, Sir Thomas Hastyngs, sub-deacon; he died rector in 1469.

1469, 20 Febr. Master Simon Thornham, LL.B. Isabel Lady Morley.

Sir Humphry de la Pole; he died rector.

1513, 15 Febr. Master John Adcock; he died rector. Alice Howard, widow of the Lord Morley.

1553, 19 April, Mr. Edward Thwayts, S. T. B. Anthony Thwyats, Esq. by grant of Sir William Woodhouse, Knt. and Elizabeth his wife, late relict of Sir Henry Parker, Knt. deceased.

1584, 3 Sept. Thomas Clarkson. Thomas Grange of SwafhamBulbek in Cambridgeshire, by grant of the turn from Matthew Trott, A. M. who had it of the honourable Henry Parker, Knt. Lord Morley, who in his life time was true patron. He died in 1605.

1603, Sir Thomas Lovell, Knt. was patron, and there were returned 500 communicants.

1605, 7 Jan. Robert Peck, A. M. Tho. Moor, by grant of Francis Lovell, Knt. he was "a man of a very violent schismatical spirit, he pulled down the rails, and levelled the altar and the whole chancel a foot below the church, as it remains to this day, but being prosecuted for it by Bishop Wren, he fled the kingdom, and went over into New-England, with many of his parishioners, who sold their estates for half their value, and conveyed all their effects to that new plantation, erected a town and colonie, by the name of Hingham, where many of their posterity are still remaining, he promised never to desert them, but hearing that Bishops were deposed, he left them all to shift for themselves, and came back to Hingham in the year 1646, after 10 years voluntary banishment, he resumed his rectory, and died in the year 1656." (fn. 7) His funeral sermon was preached by Nathaniel Joceline, A. M. pastor of the church of Hardingham, and was published by him, being dedicated to Mr. John Sidley, high-sheriff, Brampton-Gurdon and Mr. Day, Justices of the Peace, Mr. Church, Mr. Barnham, and Mr. Man, aldermen and justices in the city of Norwich.

1638, 25 May, Luke Skippon, A.M. was presented by Sir Thomas Woodhouse, Knt. and Bart. as on Peck's death, he having been absent about two years; and in

1640, 11 April, the said Luke was reinstituted, the living being void by lapse, it appearing that Peck was alive since Skippon's first institution, and now two years more being past, and he not appearing, it lapsed to the Crown, as on Peck's death; but in

1646, Peck came again, and held it to his death, and then, in

1656, Edmund Dey held it without institution till the Restoration, and in

1663, 1 April, he was presented by Sir Philip Woodhouse, Bart.; his character is this in the same letter, that he was "a man of the same piece with himself, (that is with Peck,) but a man of lower parts and meaner capacity; with some difficulty he swallowed the oaths at the Restauration," and continued till 1666, when he died, and in January,

1667, Robert Seppens, A. M. was presented by the same patron, who, as the same letter says, was "a very good man; he was the author of a book called Rex Theolicus, a piece full of learning and loyalty, he printed (besides some sermons) a short controversy between him and Bayley the Romish priest, but by the extravagancy of his sons, he was made very pore, and could never make any figure in the world, after a chronicle distemper of the palsie, he dyed in the year, 1682."

1683, 11 April, John Watson, A. M. Edmund Woodhouse, Esq. he held it first, united to the rectory of Wroxham cum Salowes, and afterwards to the rectory of Scoulton; he died rector in 1727, and was succeeded in

1727, 19 March, by the Rev. Mr. John Breese, A. M. sometime senior fellow of Caius college, who is the present rector, and holds it united to Bixton rectory, to both which he was presented by Sir John Woodhouse of Kimberley, Bart. the present [1739] patron.

I find the following persons buried here, for whom there are now no memorials remaining:

1367, Sir John Baker, chaplain; in the churchyard.

1381, Sir Richard Kempe, chaplain. In the church.

1460, John Cross. In the church.

1469, Peter Cooper of North-Wood hamlet in Hingham, was buried in the church, and gave legacies to several gilds, and to the (then erected) gild of St. Peter, and also towards building the Virgin's chapel in the church.

1469, Margaret, relict of Thomas Norwold of Hingham, gave 13 marks to buy a silver bason for the holy water, in memory of William and Joan Willis, her father and mother.

1483, Simon Lyster of Hengham, buried here. "Item, I wyll my close in Sculton-Saunsey, called Ruttocks, and six acres and a half of land arable, and the rent called Markethouse rent in Hengham, shall be put in feoffment of xii. persons in the town of Hengham, of most godly and best disposed persons, to th'intent that Rose my wyffe shall have the gydyng of the almes-houses, called John Lister's alms-houses during her lyfe, bearing all manner of charges, and reparacons thereof, and to the entent to fynd and kepe a certain in the said church for ever, for the sowles of John Lister my father, Margery my mother, Will, Lister and Katherine his wife, Symound Blount and Maud his wyffe, Richard and John Lister, Johane Ade my mother in law, and the sowles of me and my wyffe; and also to kepe an anniversary-day for me the said Symond, and the sowles yerly in perpetuum, upon Passion Sunday at afternoon, with dirige and mass of requiem be note, on the Monday next following, and 13d. to be distributed to six poor persons, or to 13 at dirige, and also for me by name, and my benefactors on Holowmes-Day, to be rehersid in the comyn beed. (fn. 8) And after the decesse of the said Rose, the said close to remain in the said feoffees hands, to the use aforesaid, to be renewed from time to time, when but seven of them are left." (fn. 9)

1485, Katherine, wife of Thomas Cauze or Caus of Hengham, Esq. was a benefactress; she was buried in All-Saints church at Blyford in Suffolk.

1506, John Pyshode, alderman of Norwich, ordered in his will, that his executors should make a cross of free-stone, to be set up in the cross-way in the field of Hingham wood, at the expense of five marks.

1509, Richard Heyhow of Hengham was buried in the church, and gave 3 acres and an half of land "for an obite yerly, the overplus to the reparacon of the church of Hengham. Item to the gilde of St. Peter, my close in Hengham, upon condition that the brodirn of the gilde of St. Peter forseyd shal menteyn and kepe up the almse tabyll, and fynd and repar the alms-hous in the church yerd at all tymes, when nede is to repar them." (fn. 10)

1543, Simon Baxter of Hengham, Gent. was buried in the church.

The church, chancel, two isles, and square tower, are covered with lead; there is a clock, and six large bells; the north vestry is down.

At the west end of the church there lies a stone, plated with brass, from which the effigies of a man and woman are torn off, but that of their son remains, and this,

Obijt 25 Februarij Obijt 30 Marcij

Anno Domini 1622, Anno Domini 1615

Anno Ætatis suæ 69° Anno Ætatis suæ 66

Sub hoc Tegmine marmoreo, jacent Sepulti Johannes Longe, et Margareta Uxor ejus, unicum, relinquentes Filium Superstitem, Robertum, qui hoc ultimum obedientiæ insigne Memoriæ Sacrum dedit.

In the middle isle lies a stone for Elizabeth Wife of Stephen Baldwin, who died Aug. 20. 1709, aged 46.

On a mural monument in the north isle,

M. S.

Justorum Resurrectionem manent Reliquiæ, THOMÆ, Filij EDVARDI HEYHOE de Hardingham Generosi, cujus pietatem simplicem, ingenuam probitatem, cæterasque Virtutes, Deus Cœlis remuneravit, et in terris charitatem in perpetuum largiendam, tum Rostrum, cum pauperes, D. Thomæ Festo quotannis celebrabunt.

Obijt Sept. 28. Anno Domini 1709. Ætatis 69.

On his grave-stone,

Hic jacet Corpus Thomæ Heyhoe, cujus monumentum ad parietem affixum habes.

There is an altar tomb in the south isle by the door, on which is,

Dowe or Dove, sab. a fess dancette erm. between three doves arg. Parke, arg. on a fess sab. three escalops of the field, a canton erm. Crest, a dove arg.

Christopher Dowe Gent. died Apr. 30 1729, aged 35, he married Susan Daughter of Stephen Parke of Hardingham Gent. by whom he had one Daughter Mary, the said Susan died 22 Jan: 1738, aged 38, and is buried by him.

On a mural monument near the east end of the south isle,

Juxta sitæ sunt Exuviæ, Gulielmi Thurrold Gen: Semel Mariti, quaterque patris, cujus in Pauperes Charitatem, quisque Dominicus perpetuo monstrabit Dies, Si cæteras Virtutes dicerem, Res omnibus notas narrarem; Barbara Uxor dilectissima, et Gulielmus Filius, utrumque claudunt Latus, tres habuit Filias, quarum prima Elizabetha, Uxor Benj: Foyster, obijt Norvici in quorum piam Memoriam, Maria et Hanna, superstites, hoc Monumentum posuere.

In the east window of Trinity chapel are the arms of Lord Morley, and arg. on a chevron gul. between three lions heads erased S three bezants. The tradition is, that this chapel was made by the maidens of the town, and that this window was glazed at their cost, which seems very probable by the arms, and the following fragment of an inscription now remaining,

Thys Wyndow ys y mad Nengham.

The inscription when whole, was,
Thys Windowe ys ye Mayden cost of Nengham.

The following inscriptions are in the chancel.

On a brass plate,
Hic jacet humatus Thomas Moore, qui obijt undecimo die Novembris Anno Domini 1618, Ætatisque suæ 78°.

On a mural monument on the north side,

Sacred to the Memory of Eliz: Negus Daughter of Mr. Samuel Gary. T. B. and Prebend of Norwich, first Wife to Wyatt Wright Gent. after married again to Mr. Henry Negus Merchant, she was a Woman of a Religious and Pious Conversation, and of more than common Prudence in the Conduct and Management of Domestick Affairs, who departed this Life Febr. the 20. 1702, in the 92, Year of her Age. Also to the Memory of Mrs. Anne Wright, youngest Daughter of the said Elizabeth, she lived to the 65^th. Year of her Age, a most exact Pattern of true Christian Piety, Charity, Temperance and Sobriety, and died with an unblemished Reputation, June the 15. 1706. Eliz. Watson, Gratitudinis & Honoris Gratia, hoc Monumentum Materteræ tam Beneficæ, prorsus indignum, suo proprio sumptu, erexit.

Gary or Geere, gul. two bars or, or sometimes arg. on a canton az. a leopard's face or.

Negus, erm. on a chief nebulee az. three escalops or.

On a free-stone under it,

Hic jacent supradictæ Eliza: Negus & Anna Wright.

Here lyeth attending its glorious Resurrection, the Body of Caleb Shelley Gent. who died July the 6^h 1689.

On a flat marble,

Amyas, arg. a boar's head cooped, between three croslets fitchee sab. Crest, a stag's head erased.

Hic sitæ sunt Exuviæ Francisci Amyas, Viri Cognitoris Officio Jure periti et æque probi, hujusque pagi fuit diu parœcus, a Generosa Familia, quondam de Deopham oriundus, nec non Ecclesiæ Anglicanæ Filius Pientissimus, Matrimonio duxit et reliquit Mariam Copping, conjugem olim charissimam, jam viduam ægre solandam, sexque demum superstitibus (e quindecim relictis Liberis) migravit in Æternum, septimo Die Augusti, Anno Æræ Xnæ M. dccx. Ætatis suæ 72.

Subter condita sunt Ossa, Thomæ Amyas, Filij Francisci Amyas Generosi, obijt 4^to. die Dec: A^o. Dni: 1730, Æt: 47. Ejus Memoriæ Frater, non magis Sanguine quam Benevolentia conjunctus, hoc Posuit Saxum.

Amyas impales a chief, in pale, three boars heads cooped.

Maria Charissima quondam Conjux, Francisci Amyas Generosi, ob: 4^to. die Nov: An°. Dom: Mdccxix. Æt: suæ lxx.

Hoc sub marmore felicem Rusurrectionem expectant, Magr. Johannes et Francisca Alden, ambo hujus Parochiæ Indigenæ, nec non Parenti-bus Generosis ibidem oriundi, ambo Morum Suavitate omnibus Chari. vixit Ille annos XLII. M: 2: S: 2. D 2. vixit Illa, annos XXV. M. 4. Multum Johanni indulsit Natura, nec minus Fortuna. Francisca (cuius Parentalia Marmora [viz. of Francis and Mary Amyas] ad Lævam conspiciuntur) non modo Forma, sed Pietate eluxit, Puerpera (Heu !) moriens, Marito Sui Desiderium reliquit.

Hestera Gilman, Gulielmi Le Neve Generosi Filia, Samuelis Gilman hujus Parochiæ Generosi Uxor Charissima, Rei domesticæ pollentissima, Christianæ patientiæ insigne Exemplar. Obijt 23 Februarij Anno salutis 1724, Ætatis suæ 43°. hic quoque jacent Hestera et Sara, optimæ Spei, nec non amantissimorum Parentum Filiæ.

Gilman, arg. a leg in pale cooped at the thigh, sab. impaling Le Neve.

Crest, a demi-lion issuing from a cap of maintenance.

Hic jacent Johannes Amyas Generosus, et Anna Uxor ejus, unâ cum Filiabus Anna et Johanna Relicta Gulielmi Starkey, quondam Rectoris Ecclesiæ de Pulham, quæ ob: Octavo die Oct. 1729, et Æt: 63°, jacent etiam juxta hoc Marmore Matthæus Amyas M. D. ac Filij, Matthæus, Anna ac Elizabetha.

In Memory of Capt. Robt. Robinson, Commander of one of his Majestie's Ships of Warr, who died Oct. 13, 1726, Æt: 53.

Amyas's arms and crest, viz. a buck's head erased or, collared with a wreath A. S.

Matthæi Amyas M. D. qui in Civitate Norwicensi per multos Annos, Artem medicinalem peracri Judico, et fœlici Successu exercuit, obijt vicessimo sexto die Novembris A°. Dni. 1729, et Æt. 64^to.

To the Memory of Mrs. Sarah Watson the affectionate Wife of John Watson A. M. Rector of Wood-Rising, and the 2 Rocklands, she was modest, ingenious, compassionate, chearfull, sincere, and generous. Also to the Memory of John Watson, M. A. and of Elizabeth his Wife, he was the Rev^d. and very aged Rector of this Parish and Scoulton. Lastly, to the Memory of good Mrs. St. Clair, Wife of Patrick St. Clair, Rector of Elmerton and Thugarton, in this County. Three of their deaths happened near the same time, in the Year terrible for Fevers, 1727.

There is a marble in the nave for Mr. Edm. Alden, a Just, Diligent, and Worthy Shopkeeper, of this Parish, who died Oct. 1728, ag. 75, and also for John an Infant, son of Martin Alden.

John Alden, a Person of great Honesty, Modesty, and Temperance, died Nov. 4, 1727, aged 68.

Edmund Payne, Mercer and Grocer, died June 5, 1729, aged 55.

On the font is this Greek anagram,

On the north side of the chancel is a noble monument against the wall, reaching from the floor to the roof; it is of stone, embellished with imagery and Gothick work, and formerly with many brass plates, all which are pulled off; the following arms are still remaining, which show me plainly to whose memory it was erected, viz. Lord Morley, impaling Marshal, Bourchier, Hastings, Molins, and De la Pole quartering Wingfield; the two last of which quartered, impales a chevron.

The arms of Morley and Marshal are often single, and the former sometimes with differences.

Morley impales arg. six crowns S. and also G. a bend ar. quarters Hastyngs. From which it is plain that the tomb was erected to the memory of Thomas Lord Morley, who died about 1435, leaving Isabel, daughter of Michael de la Pole Earl of Suffolk, his widow, who died in 1466, and was buried in this chancel by her husband, as her will, which is to be seen in Register Jekkys, fo. 50, informs me, from which I transcribed the following account.

1464, Dame Isabell, widow Lady Morley, made her will in her house in St. Peter's Mancroft in Norwich, and was buried in the chancel at Hingham, before the image of St. Andrew, by her lord and husband. She ordered, if she died in Norwich, that her body should be carried to the chapel of St. Mary in the Fields, and a mass said for her, and then to be carried to Hingham, with 15 torches born before her by 15 of her poor tenants in black gowns, and also five poor women in black shall bear each a taper of two pound weight, and place them before the sacrament by her grave, there to remain till they be burnt up. Every priest at her mass of requiem to have 4d. and every clerk 2d.; she gave to St. Peter of Mancroft's altar 6s. 8d.; to repair the church 40s.; to sustain the holy mass of Jesus 13s. 4d.; to ChapelField high altar 20s.; to the high altar at Hingham 0s. 8d.; to repair the church 40s. more, and a tablet of gold garnished with pearl, containing certain relicks, with a beril in the same tablet, with two images, one of the resurrection, and the other of our Lady, and the longest carpet with white flowers to lie before the high altar; to her sister, Dame Katerine, Abbess of Berkyng, 10 marks, and legacies to the high altars and her poor tenants of Aldby, Buxton, the gild of St. Andrew in Buxton, of which she was a sister, Swanton, Worthing, Folsham, Bintre, Hokeryng, Mateshale, Mateshale-Bergh, Tudenham and Hingham, and also legacies to John Hastyng, her son-in-law, and Anne his wife, her daughter, among which a diaper towel 18 yards long, with gifts to Isabell Boswel, daughter of the said Anne, Elizabeth, sister to Isabell, Dame Eleanor, her grandaughter, the Lady Morley, Dame Catherine, Stapleton, Elizabeth Morley, Edward Bokenham, Sir William Strather her chaplain, Edward Harsick, Gent. &c. all the prisoners in the castle and gild-hall that lie there, for their fees only, to be discharged by her gift; she gave money to Dame Julian, anchoress at Carrowe, and Dame Agnes, anchoress at St. Julian's in Cunsford, besides 53l. 6s. 8d. to be paid as long as it lasts in a stipend for a priest to pray for her and her lord in Hingham church, John Heydon to be counsellor to her executors, John Hastyng, her son, Edward Bokenham, Sir William Strather, priest, and Godfrey Joye, alderman of Norwich, were her executors; her nephew, John Duke of Suffolk, was supervisor, who was to see a whole vestment of black velvet given to Swanton-Morley church.

It was proved at Norwich before William Pykenham, LL. D. the bishop's official 1466, 28 February. (fn. 11)

The arms of Mowbray, Brotherton, &c. were in the windows of the church, but are all gone.

In gilt letters on the pulpit, (fn. 12)

Necessity is laid upon me, yea Woe is unto me, if I Preach not the Gospel. 1. Cor. 9. 16.

There are two tables of the benefactors, placed between the church and chancel, viz.

1607, Aug. 14, lands of 7l. per annum value were settled for the benefit of the inhabitants.

1655, Mr. Francis Seaborne of Hingham gave 40s. per annum to the poor.

1677, Mr. Rob. Baldwin of Hingham gave 20s. per annum to the poor in bread.

1705, Christopher Adcock of Hardingham gave 40s. per annum to the poor in bread.

1706, Mrs. Anne Wright of Hingham gave a silver chalice worth 6l. 10s. and in 1612, the old cup which was dated in 1637, was melted down, and made a cover to the chalice.

1708, Mr. Thomas Hcyhoe of Hingham gave 35s. per annum in land, the minister is to have 10s. (out of which, the clerk is to have 1s.) on condition he preaches a sermon on St. Thomas's day, the remainder to be then distributed to the poor in bread, he gave also a salver of 3l. value, in 1688.

1724, Mr. William Thurrold of Hingham gave 3l. per annum in land, the rent to be given every Sunday after sermon, to such poor only as frequently attend divine service.

1734, Mr. Edward Payne intended to have given by will, and Mr. John Payne voluntarily conveyed land worth 52s. per annum, for bread weekly, to such 12 poor people, as attend divine service.

There was an ancient family of the Coopers here, Robert Cooper owned a considerable estate in 1382, in 1701, Feb. 7. Elias Cooper Gent. obtained a faculty for a seat in this church.

This town belonged to King Athelstan, and contained 60 carucates or hides of and, all which he gave to

Athelwold Bishop of Winchester, about the year 966, and that Bishop exchanged it with

King Edgar, for 40 hides and an half, which is now called St. Etheldred's or St. Audries Liberty, and so Hingham came to the Crown again, and continued there some time, for at the Confessor's survey, that Prince held it, and had two carucates and 25 acres in demean, 60 villeins, 18 bordars, &c. His tenants had 15 carucates among them; the whole was then of the value of 7l. 10s. a year, besides rents to the value of 30s. a year, and three sextaries of honey; it remained in the Crown till the Conqueror's survey, when the same quantity of land was held in demean, but the bordars were increased to 29, and the value to 13l. 10s. besides the honey-rent; it was half a league long, and as much broad, and paid 13d. ob. geld. (fn. 13) It extended into Kimberley, &c. and the soke or jurisdiction of the hundred which belonged to this manor went over the towns of Hingham, Kimberley in part, Carlston, Depham, half Barford, Bernham, Morley, and Wicklewood in part, besides several other places, as we learn from Domsday.

King Stephen (fn. 14) granted this manor and hundred and half, and and all their appendages, with the towns of Stow, Chircheby or Kirkby, Racheda, or Rackheith, and Herleham or Erlham, and the hundred of Taverham, to

William de Caineio or Cheney, and his heirs, in exchange for Moleham, on condition that if he or his son should like Moleham better, they might renounce it, (fn. 15) which they afterwards did, and so it vested in the Crown again, and the same King let it to farm to

Henry de Rye, son of Hubert de Rye, castellan of Norwich, who was second son of that Hubert de Rye who came with the Conqueror.

In 1195, William de Ecclesia Sancte Marie rendered an account to King Richard I. of the farm of Heingham, which

Cardo de Freshavile then farmed, and paid for it 25l. 7s. 6d. it being granted to him by Richard I. when he came to the crown: (fn. 16) In this King's time we meet with several persons that paid the farm to the King for this manor, as Hubert de Burgh, Ralf de Camois, Roger Fitz William, &c. but they had no fee in it; another record tells us that Henry II. gave the church to John de Bridport, and after that King John gave it his son for life; (fn. 17) and then it was to go with the manor and hundred to

John le Marshall. (fn. 18) This town was always reputed the head of the barony of Rye ever since its first grant to Henry de Rye aforesaid, and was always acknowledged as such by those that farmed it; after the death of Henry de Rye, Hubert de Rye had the barony, but the manor then belonged to

Hugh Gournay, a noble baron, who was made Captain of castle Galliard, (fn. 19) (which being built on a high rock over the Seyne, which King Richard I. had made impregnable) he defended it nobly for six months, against Philip King of France, doing him daily damage, for which reason King John suspected him not, yet at last he escaped not the blemish of ingratitude and infidelity, for he not only yielded up that castle to his enemies, but secretly in the night brought them into the castle of Montfort, which he betrayed unto them, not weighing his faith to his leige lord, who had given him that castle with the honour, and all the demeans thereto belonging, upon which he was proclaimed traitour in 1202, and all his revenues in England seized into the King's hands, and granted the same year to

John Marshall, nephew to William, who married Isabell, daughter and heiress of Richard Strongbow Earl of Pembrook, and Marshal of England, and was called the Old Marshal Earl of Pembrook; (fn. 20) this John married Alice, daughter and coheir of Hubert de Rhye, Baron of Rhye in Norfolk, who, in 1204, gave the King three palfreys to have the livery of the lands and advowsons which were Hugh Gournay's and Hugh de Ayer's, and of Cantley and Caster: in the year 1207, he had a grant of the marshalship of Ireland; and in 1210, had a further confirmation of the manor of Hingham, and the hundred of Forehoe, to cut off all claim that the heirs of Cardo de Freshavil could make. In 1211, when the King's scutage was raised, it appeared that the barony of Rhye contained 35 knight's fees, and that upon the death of Hubert de Rhye, the last Baron, it went to his two daughters; Alice, married to John Marshal, and Isabell, to Roger de Cressi; and each of their husbands answered for 17 fees and an half; but this town and the barony went to Marshal, though now half of the fees were gone from it, and he was to hold the hundred, manor and advowson, as the head of his barony, at one fee; and at the same time, he obtained liberty of free-warren in those 17 fees and half, which now constituted the barony; in 1215, he was Sheriff of Norfolk and Suffolk with John Fitz Robert, and had the custody of Norwich castle; Le Neve says he died in 1234, (fn. 21) leaving

John, his son and heir, who had livery of Hingham, Folsham, &c. the same year; he died in 1242, having enjoyed the whole barony of Rhye, Isabel, the other daughter of Hubert de Rye, being dead without issue by Roger de Cressi, her husband; and this year the King having raised a tallage upon all the demeans of the Crown in his own hands, granted writs to those who held manors of him, which formerly were ancient demean, and among others to the lord of this manor, to levy a reasonable tallage of his men, as also to John Lovell, for his manor of Dockyng, &c.; he was succeeded by

William le Marshall, his brother, who this year paid his relief, and had livery of his brother's possessions, except that part which Avelina, Aliva, or Alice le Marshal, daughter of Hubert de Rye, held in dower; in 1263, the King directed his writ to the sheriff of Norfolk, and Ralf de Berri, escheator, to respite Aliva le Marshall's homage, which she ought to do, as sister and heir to Isabell de Cressi, and to take her fealty and relief, on condition that if Alice, the widow of Stephen de Cressi, son of Isabell, be with child, then that half part of the barony to descend to that child. In 1264, William le Marshal had a charter for a fair here, when he was called Baron of Rhye, and was constituted a guardian of the peace in Northamptonshire, during the King's captivity; (fn. 22) and he was one of the barons of the exchequer; (fn. 23) in 1266, Alice le Marshal died, and William le Marshal also, who left

John Marshal, Baron of Rhye, their eldest son, a minor, about 10 years old, upon which the barony fell into the King's hands, during his nonage, who granted two parts of the manor and hundred to Jeffery de Luziniaco or Luzinian, and the third part to John de Britania; but in 1274, Luzinian being dead, the two parts remained in the King's hands; but in 1279, John le Marshal being of age, paid the King a hundred marks, for the relief of his barony, and livery of his lands; and it was then found by an inquisition that he held

Hingham manor and advowson with Forehoe hundred, of the barony, at one fee,

And also the manor of Buxton, in cupite, (fn. 24) of the said barony, by the service of warding at Norwich castle, from six weeks to six weeks, paying for the wayt-fee, 20s. per annum, at 5s. each quarter.

The manor of Swanton, in chief of the said barony, as a member thereof,

And Hockering manor was also part of the barony, and afterwards reckoned as head of it.

In 1281, he was summoned to attend the King in his expedition into Wales; he died about 1283, leaving

William, his son and heir, a minor, about three years old, whose guardianship the King granted to John de Boun, who, in 1286, held Buxton manor of 100l. value, to which belonged view of frankpledge, assize of bread and ale, liberty of free-warren, and a common gallows.

Hingham manor and advowson, with Forekoe hundred, value 100l. per annum, to which belonged the same liberties, and the hundred paid 14s. per annum to the Exchequer.

Swanton manor and advowson was held in dower by Hawise or Alice, mother of William, and widow of John le Marshal, and was worth 60l. per annum, to which belonged, free-warren, weyf, view of frank-pledge, a ducking-stool, assize of bread and ale, the marriage of the said Hawise belonging to the King, but the estate at her death was to descend to her son.

Folesham and Hokering manors, and Folesham and Bintre advowsons belonging to the said William.

It seems he had a younger brother, named John, who died a minor, and was to have had Banham manor, if he had outlived Hawise his mother, but dying before her, it came to William, by whom it was given to his uncle Sir Anselm Marshal, Knt. at whose death it reverted to William again. (fn. 25)

After he came of age, he was possessed of all his inheritance, and was summoned to attend King Edward I. at Carlisle, to go with him into Scotland to conquer the Scots; and in 1300, was summoned to Parliament as a Baron, and subscribed the letter written to the Pope about the succession of Scotland, that it was not his fee, and that he had no jurisdiction in temporal matters; he bare, as his ancestors did,

Gul. a bend lozenge or, as you may see in vol. i. p. 356.

In 1309, he was summoned to go against the Scots, who had broken the truce; he was resident here, and wrote himself Lord of Hingham; he gave the advowson of Buxton to the abbey of Gilbertines at Sempringham; in 1313, there being a quarrel between this William and Nicholas de Segrave, about the marshalship, which the King in the first year of his reign granted to the said Nicholas, the King commanded them not to come armed to the Parliament, nor no otherwise than as they used to do in King Edward the First's time; he died in 1314, leaving his estate to

John le Marshall, his son and heir, who paid 100 marks for the relief of his barony of Rye; in 1316, by an inquisition then taken, it was found that Forehoe hundred was worth 6l. 4s. 4d. and that Dionise and Hawise were his sisters and heirs, but Dionise being just dead, Hawise was his sole heir, who was married to Rob. de Morley; this John died in 1316, (fn. 26) and Ela his wife, who afterwards married to Rob. Fitz Pain, had this manor assigned her in dower, when the fishery was worth 13s. 4d. per annum; there was a windmill and watermill, and alder-carr at Northwood, and the rents were 54l. 15s. per annum; he died seized of Hingham, Aldby, North Tudenham, Hokering, Buxton, Folsham, Forehoe and Eynsford hundreds, and the advowsons of all those churches, lands in Brandon, the churches of Mateshall, Mateshale-Burgh, Brandon, Norton, and many knights fees, as parcel of the honour of Rye, in Alby, Thelvetham, Wortham, Elingham, Tunstal, Depham, Morley, Snitterton, Shropham, Newton, Brugham, Hevingham, Draiton's manor in Scarning, Barford-Franceys, Dunham, Salle, Mulkeberton, Brundal, Wroxham, Lexham, Kilverstone, Dockyng, Gayton, Chedistan, and Gislingham in Suffolk, by which it appears all these were held of the honour; and besides these he had the marshalship, and a great estate in Ireland, the whole of which came to

Robert de Morley and Hawise his wife, and their heirs.

Sir Robert de Morley, Knt. and Hawise his wife, sister and heir of John le Marshal, paid their relief for the barony of Rye in the year 1323, viz. a hundred marks for the barony, and a hundred shillings for Hingham; and in 1326, he settled 8l. lands in Hingham, with the manors of Roydon (fn. 27) and Sheringham, on William de Morley, his son, and Cecily, daughter of Thomas Lord Bardolf, his son's wife, and their heirs; and for want of issue, on Robert de Morley, his son, and his heirs male, which rent, William de Swathyng and Thomas de Weston held for life; in 1333, being then Marshal of Ireland, he granted lands in Walkerue in Hertfordshire to William de Berry; in 1335, Ela, relict of John le Marshal, was living, and then the wife of Robert Fitz Pain, [Filius Pagani,] and held the manor of Hingham in dower, which was to go at her death to William, son of Sir Robert de Morley, Knt. which William then was to have 19l. per annum out of the manor, because it so much exceeded her dower, but Robert de Morley, his father, was to have it for life, by the courtesy of England, and Sir Robert had granted it during his life to Sir Anselm Marshal, Knt. by deed dated at Swanton Morley, where Sir Robert then resided; in 1337, Sir Robert was Lieutenant of Norfolk; and in 1340, was sent into Britanny, in company with Walter de Manny, John Bardolf, John Tiptoft, and others, and had the wages for themselves and their men at arms paid at the Exchequer, before they set sail; (fn. 28) and at the latter end of the same year, the King ordered him by letter to repair to him at Newcastle upon Tyne, with 40 men at arms, either to go into Scotland, or stay on the marches to hinder them invading England. (fn. 29) In a deed dated this year, Sir Robert is called cousin and heir of Sir Robert de Montealt, formerly steward of Chester; in 1342, Nicholas de Taterfeld, and Thomas de Wyrham, held a messuage and 20 acres of land in capite of Hingham manor, by the service of finding one man at arms, in the retinue of the lord of Hingham, whenever he carried his men to the King's assistance; this was first granted by the lord, to Sir John de Camois, Knt. who sold it to Ralf de Maneby, he to Alfric Waryn, and he to William Fitte, who granted it to Taterfield and Wyrham; in 1342, Sir Robert, on the marriage of Joan, his second wife, settled Grimstone on her and Sir Peter de Tye, Knt. (whose daughter she seems to be,) in tail; in 1346, the King sent him a particular summons to transport himself and all the men he could raise, and not staying for the shipping of his horses, to repair immediately to him, then lying before Calais, besieging the same, fearing least the French King should come with a great army to raise the siege; (fn. 30) in 1347, Sir Robert was heir to Baldwin de Manerijs, whose arms he granted to Rob. de Corby, by deed dated Jan. 6, 22d Edward III; (fn. 31) he died in 1359, in France, and Joan his wife became a professed religious, but died soon after, in the same year, and

Sir William de Morley, Knt. his son and heir, inherited, who, in 1355, was one of the attendants of Robert Earl of Suffolk, in the King's service in Gascoign, and had the King's letter of protection on that account; and at his father's death inherited the manors of Morley, Hingham, Hockering, Swanton, Grimstone, Buxton, the hundreds of Forehoe and Eynesford, and the office of Marshal of Ireland, with Roydon, &c. in Norfolk, besides divers great estates in other counties, and in Ireland; in 1360, he confirmed his father's donations of lands in Rintre, Folsham, Geyst, and Geyst-Weyt, to the Prior of Walsingham; and the same year, among others, had the King's letter to attend Lionel, the King's son, Earl of Ulster, into Ireland, to recover that kingdom. This manor was after settled by Sir William, on himself for life, remainder to Thomas, his son, and his wife Joan, who seems to have been a Gournay, to be trustee; the hundred of Forehoe was then under a grant for life to John de Herling, who after obtained a grant for life of part of Hingham; by his will dated at Halingbury, in London diocese, March 9, 1379, and proved the 26th of May in that year, (fn. 32) he ordered his body to be buried in the Austin Friars in Norwich, (fn. 33) leaving his estate to

Sir Thomas, his son and heir, who was summoned to Parliament in 1381, and in 1384 was one of those Barons whom the King summoned to meet him at Newcastle upon Tyne, completely armed, with his whole service due from him, to accompany him into Scotland; in which expedition Edinburgh and many other towns were burnt, without any battle offered by the Scots, who were spoiling Cumberland in the same manner; in 1391, he had license to accompany the Duke of Gloucester into Prussia; in 1395, Oct. 20, there was a cause in the Court of Chivalry between Sir John Lovell, Knt. plaintiff, and this Sir Thomas, defendant, concerning the arms of the family of Morley, (fn. 34) which they had born for some time, viz. a lion rampant sab. crowned and armed or, which, as the plaintiff declared in his libel, belonged to the Lords Burnel, whose heir he was, as he proved in the following manner: Sir Philip de Burnel, Knt. lord of Burnet, bare the said arms, and had issue Sir Edward Burnel, Knt. who died without issue, leaving Maud, his sister, his sole heir, who married Sir John Lord Lovel, and had Sir John Lord Lovel, the plaintiff; the Lord Morley pleaded that the arms belonged to his ancestors from the Conquest, time out of mind, without impeachment, except by Nicholas Lord Burnel, at the siege of Calais, who claimed against Sir Robert de Morley, his ancestor, to whom the arms were adjudged by the Constable and Marshal, and after Robert's death, his son William bore them, and the said Thomas had born them in divers expeditions, with the King's uncles, being his lieutenants; upon this, the plaintiff allowed, that sentence was given for Sir Robert at Calais, but says they were adjudged to Sir Robert for his life only, being to revert to the Lords Lovel and Burnel, and their heirs; to which the defendant answered, that the judgment was then given for Sir Robert Morley, who was his grandfather, that Sir William Morley, his father, always bore them, and that he himself had hitherto done so, and that his grandfather died in Edward the Third's time, in the French wars, and Sir William his father was in France at the same time with his father, and that neither he nor his grandfather was ever impeached for them: in the pleadings it was argued, that the triplication of the plaintiff should be admitted this time, but not for the future, in any other cause, it being contrary to the custom of the court, and it was ordered that none but lords, knights, esquires of honour, and gentlemen having knowledge of arms, should be admitted as witnesses, and no other commoners, and all to be sworn, except the Dukes of Lancaster, York, Gloucester, and the Earl of Derby; they had full liberty to make proof by deeds, chronicles, monuments, witnesses of abbots, priors, and other men of holy church, and other honourable persons that knew their ancestors. Sir Walter Bleut, Knt. was Lovell's first witness, who swore positively that the arms belonged to the Lords Burnel and their right heirs, that he remembered Sir Michael Burnel challenged them from Sir Robert de Morley at the battle and siege of Calais, in the church of St. Peter by that town, when King Edward III. took the cause into his own hands, and the arms were adjudged by William de Bohun Earl of Northampton, Constable, and the Earl of Warwick, Marshal, to Sir Robert Morley only for his life, for his valiant deeds performed, and his heirs and kindred excluded from bearing thereof, they being to belong to the Lord Burnel afterwards. Sir Ralf de Theyne, Knt. aged 47, who had bore arms 30 years, swears the same, and that he was present in the great inroad in France, towards Orleans, with Edward III. where Sir Robert Morley likewise was, and in which he died, and at his death ordered his banner to be delivered to the heirs of the Lord Burnel, as belonging to them. Robert Cobb, Esq. aged 60, and had born arms 50 years, sware the same, and that he had been in seven mortal battles, and that Sir John Sully, Sir Thomas Hakefield, the Bishop of Durham, Thomas Duke of Lancaster, and many others, were present at the judgment at Calais. John Moleham, Esq. aged 70, having bore arms 44 years, swore the same, and that he was servant to Sir Will. Bokun Earl of Northampton, and Constable of England, at the siege of Calais, and that he was assigned clerk for the Court of Chivalry, for the Constable, that he was present when Sir Nich. Burnel petitioned the Constable, and Sir Tho. Beauchamp, then Marshal of England, and challenged the arms of Sir Robert Morley, and there were no less than twenty witnesses that proved the same; besides this, the plaintiff produced several old shields, banners, paintings on walls and glass, about the conventual church, and house of the Friars-Austins under Candich by Oxford, as belonging to Sir Philip Burnel, buried there. Sir Tho. Blount, the elder of Oxfordshire, aged 64, having born arms 50 years in England, France, and Scotland, swore to the right of the arms of Burnel, and says particularly, that he was with King Edward III. at the battle of La Hoge, where he heard that a Lord Burnel challenged the arms of Sir Robert Morley, then being in a coat of those arms, at which time there were several other challenges of arms; but the King considering the great mischiefs which might arise by such challenges, commanded the Constable and Marshal to make proclamation, that all challenges should cease, till the King should come to a place where they might be determined; and after the battle of Cressi, the King came to besiege Calais, when Sir Tho. Blount was wounded in the knee, afore Tirocen, and was forced to keep his bed in his tent, where Sir Tho. West came to him, and told him that the arms were adjudged by the King's command, with the assent of the Lord Burnel, by the Constable and Marshal, to belong to Sir Robert for life only, for the honour he had done those arms, remainder to the Lord Burnel's heirs. Will. Wollaston, Esq. aged 96 years, was in arms, first at the battle of Strivelin in Scotland, where he saw Sir Edward late Lord Burnel bear those arms, as also in France and Brittany. Rich. Bruns, Esq. swears the same as the former, but adds, that Maud Burnel, after the death of her first husband, John Lord Lovell, married one Sir John Hadlo, Knt. and had by him Sir Nicholas, who was called Sir Nicholas de Burnel, on whom his mother Maud settled all she could. Friar Alex. Kyngham, of the conventual church of St. Austin of Candich by Oxford, sware that he took the paintings on the church walls, and in the glass, to be the arms of Sir Philip Burnel, who was reputed one of their founders, and was buried in their quire. Sir Nich. Stratford, canon of Osney, having his abbot's license, deposed that Sir Rob. Burnel was buried in their church, and that his banner of these arms hung up there. Sir Hugh Camois, Knt. swears the arms belonged to Burnel, for that he was at a town called Burnell in Normandy, where he saw these arms round the tombs of the Lords Burnel; that he lived with Dame Alayn, widow of Sir Edw. Burnel, son and heir of Sir Philip Burnel, and that if any person had a right to many arms by divers causes, he may use and leave out others, and yet not renounce the arms he leaves out, and that this was the custom and right of arms. Edw. Acton, Esq. swears that Sir Edward, son of Sir Philip Burnel, lies buried in the abbey of Blidewas in Shropshire, with the arms in question, and that arms cannot be alienated according to the law of arms. Ralf de Chinebury, Esq. deposed, that the manors of Sparkeford, Upton, and Cheriton in Somersetshire, Enham in Hampshire, 500l. rent in Nantwich, and the manor of Capenhale in Cheshire, came to the Lord Lovell, by the match with Maud Burnel. The defendant, on on the other side, produced divers grants, deeds, &c. with the seals of a lion rampant on a shield, affixed thereto, and in particular the deed of Sir Matthew de Morley, mentioned in vol. i. p. 41; but none of them had a crown upon the lion's head, and indeed it is certain that the most ancient arms of Morley are arg. a lion rampant, sab. sometimes double quevee, or double-tailed, and are the arms of Roger de Cressi, assumed by the Morleys, as I have observed in vol. i. p. 45; but notwithstanding this, the Morleys having used them so long, and without claim at the death of Sir Robert, according to the judgment at Calais, Sir Thomas and his generation ever after used the arms contended for, and the Burnels generally used the same with the distinction of a bordure az.

In 1396, the men of Hincham were discharged from paying toll, as tenants in ancient demean; in 1402, in the close rolls, (fn. 35) this Sir Thomas's will is inrolled, upon the marriage of Robert, his son and heir, with Isabell, daughter of Lord Molins, by which he settled the manor of Swanton-Morley on them and their heirs, and ordered his feoffees to settle all his manors, except Buxton, Hingham, and Forehoe hundred, (which they were to retain to pay his debts,) on his son and his heirs, and after the debts were paid, they were to be conveyed to him also; in 1402, this Thomas was found by inquisition then taken, to hold the manors of Hingham, Morley, Swanton, Buxton, Hockering, and Aldby, with the hundreds of Forehoe and Eynsford in Norfolk, Great-Halingbury in Essex, Walkerne in Hertfordshire, and Aslakby in Lincolnshire, by the service of the third part of the barony of Rhye, but he and his ancestors were always to pay 100 marks relief for the whole barony, they having undertaken, upon divers alienations, to answer the whole.

This Sir Robert Morley, Knt. died before his father Sir Thomas, and Isabell survived him; for in 1405, by the name of Isabell, widow of Sir Robert Morley, Knt. Sir Philip la Vache, Knt. her relation, on her behalf sealed the marriage articles, with Rich. Berners, Esq. who settled on her divers manors in Essex, as her jointure. In 1407, Thomas Lord Morley, Knt. was a great friend to Sir Edward Hastyngs Knt. his neighbour, being pledge for him in the cause between him, and the Lord Reginald Grey of Ruthyn, in the Court of Chivatrie, where he was a witness for him, being then 60 years old; he swore that he knew Sir Edward's father and grandfather, and that the Countess of Pembrook last deceased told him at Framlingham castle, that John Hastyngs, brother of Sir Hugh, rather of Edward the defendant, came to that place, and the Countess declared, that Sir Hugh Hastyngs, the valiant knight, was her son's heir, and that he and Sir Hugh, the defendant's father, in King Edward the Third's time, were at the relief of Rochell, where he bore the Hastyngses coat with the label, and at the voyage for the relief of Brest, of St. Malos del Isle, the Earl of Buckingham's journey into France, the voyage into Scotland by King Richard II. that he heard John Maperley, in the presence of John Birlingham, parson of Roydon, say, that Sir Edward's evidences were burnt, and that bribery was used to procure inquisition for Grey, in Notinghamshire, the sheriff receiving 10l. and that this was done in hopes that by reason of the short lives of the Hastyngs's family, he might come to be heir to the Earl of Pembrook; and Thomas Lucas of East-Dereham swore in the same cause, that (Robert) the son of the Lord Morley, who died in his father's lifetime, was buried in the FriarsAustin's church in Norwich, and had his father's arms with a label of three points on his sepulchre, as a proof that the heir apparent always bears the label. In 1408, he procured an exemplification of the grant of the office of Marshal of Ireland, made by King John, to John le Mareschal and his heirs; in 1412, he resided at his manor of Alby, and licensed Thomas Fouldon of Welbourne to enclose lands in his hundred of Forehoe: in 1414, he obtained a writ under the King's seal, directed to the major, sheriffs, and other officers of the city of Norwich, telling them that Hingham and Foulsham were ancient demean, and that the tenants, by virtue thereof, were excused paying toll in all England, and therefore he commanded them, that they should demand no toll of any of the tenants in Hingham or Foulsham, for any goods bought or sold in their city, nor disturb any of them on that account. This is entered in an ancient court-book of mayoralty, begun 3d Henry V. This Thomas Lord Morley was summoned to Parliament from 1381, 5th Richard II. to 4th Henry V. 1415, in which year he died, on the 25th of September, after he had escaped all the dangers of the sea fight before Harflew, where he behaved with great courage: and coming to King Henry V. at Calais, after ten days sickness of a flux or high fever, he died there, and was buried at St. Marie's church at Calais, the King of England, and Sigismond the Emperour being at his solemn exequies. Anne, his second wife, daughter of Edward Lord Dispencer, and widow of Sir Hugh Hastyngs of Elsing, and Gressenhall, Knt. survived him, and died seized of the manor of Clopton and Blaxhall, in Suffolk, about 1426. At his death, his estate went to his grandson,

Sir Thomas Lord Morley, Baron of Rie, and Marshal of Ireland, then 23 years of age; in 1414, he was retained to serve Henry V. in his French wars, and was to be at Dover May 23, with 10 men at arms and 30 archers on horseback, and was to be paid a quarter's wages down in English gold, or other money currant in France, by the treasurer at war there; and on May 1, 1420, he covenanted with the King, to have all the prisoners he and his men could take, except kings, princes, kings sons, and especially Charles, who called himself Dauphine de Vienne, and other great captains of royal blood, and other captains and lieutenants under the said Charles, except also all those who murdered the Duke of Burgoyne. The seal to this indenture are the arms of Morley, but the lion is not crowned; the crest is a bear's head muzzled, the circumscription,
"Sigillum Thome Morley Marescalli Nibernie."

He lived till 14th Henry VI. 1435, and then died seized, jointly with Isabell his wife, of the whole estate, and was buried in the chancel of Hingham, under a noble monument against the north wall, which still remains, the said Isabell his wife being buried by him, as is before observed. At his death,

Robert Lord Morley, his son, was 16 years old, who, in 1440, confirmed to Isabell his mother all her right in this manor and advowson, and the fishery called Semere, in the manors and advowsons of Alby, Hokering, Foulsham, Swanton, Morley, and Eynsford and Forehoe hundreds, with the advowsons of Brandon-Parva, Bintre, Mateshall-Burgh, and Hadesco-Thorp. This Robert died in 1442; Elizabeth, daughter of William Ros, his wife, survived him, by whom he had only one daughter and heiress, then forty weeks old, named

Alianora, or Eleanor, who inherited his whole estate, Elizabeth her mother holding her dower for life; she afterwards married

William, a younger son of William Lord Lovell of Tichmersh, who in her right became Lord Morley, and in 1466 had his homage respited for some time; he was possessed of the estate, and died seized of it, July 23d 1475, and Eleanor his wife died Aug. 20, the same year, leaving

Henry Lovell Lord Morley, their son and heir, then 11 years old; and in 1487, he had a special livery to enter all his lands; in 1489, he settled Hingham, Buxton, and Forehoe hundred, on trustees, (fn. 36) to pay his debts, and this very year he was slain at Dixmue in Flanders, leaving no issue by Elizabeth his wife, who was daughter to John de la Pole Duke of Suffolk, for which reason his estate descended to

Alice, his only sister, 21 years old, then the wife of
William Parker of London, Knt. who had possession of the manors of Hingham, Foulsham, Hockering, Swanton, Morley, Alby, Mateshale, Buxton, North-Tudenham, the hundreds of Eynsford and Forehoe, the advowsons of Hingham, Swanton-Morley, Bintre, Folsham, Windel, Morley, Hockering, and Brandon, in Norfolk, Halingbury manor and advowson in Essex, Stanlak manor and lands in Oxfordshire, Walkern manor, and Chalkworth manor and advowson in Hertfordshire, East-Cleydon, in Buckinghamshire, and 50 marks rent out of Shobingdon manor in the same shire, saving to Elizabeth, widow of Sir Henry Lovell, her dower. After the death of Sir William Parker, Knt. she remarried to Sir Edward Howard, second son of Thomas Duke of Norfolk, (fn. 37) and Elizabeth his wife; he was elected Knight of the Garter, but never installed, for being Admiral of England, he was killed before Brest, April 25, 5th Henry VIII. This Alice, at her death, which happened about 1518, was buried in this chancel, and by will ordered 26l. 13s. 4d. to be expended for a gravestone to be laid over her.

Henry Parker, son and heir of Sir William Parker, and the said Alice, was first Knight of the Bath, and afterwards, in 21st Henry VIII. 529, was summoned to Parliament by the title of Lord Morley, Baron of Rhie; he married Alice, daughter of Sir John Bletso, Knt.; in 1523, 18th Aug. this Henry, (who was then called Lord Morley,) Edward Lee Archdeacon of Colchester, Sir William Hussey, Knt. and Thomas Wriothesley, Garter, were appointed commissioners to carry the garter to Ferdinando Infant of Castile; in 1536, upon the marriage of Sir Henry Parker, Knt. his son and heir, with Grace, daughter and heiress of Sir Robert Newport of Pelham in Hertfordshire, he got an Act of Parliament passed to enable himself and wife to settle divers lands and tenements on the said Grace in jointure. This Sir Henry the son, had issue by the said Grace, his first wife, Henry Lord Morley, and by Elizabeth, his second wife, who was the sole daughter and heiress of Sir Philip Calthorp, Knt. he had Sir Philip Parker, of Arwarton, Knt. whose son, Sir Calthorp Parker, Knt. was great-grandfather to the present [1739] Sir Philip Parker, of Arwarton, Bart. who is by lineal descent intitled to be Lord Morley, the issue of the first wife failing in Thomas Lord Morley and Monteagle, who died in 1697. In 1547, Henry Lord Morley was possessed of Hingham with all its members, divers small manors or free tenements being now purchased in, and united to the manor; Sir Henry Parker, son and heir to the Lord Morley, died about 1550, and about a year after, Elizabeth his widow married Sir William Woodhouse, Knt. at the death of Henry Lord Morley, father of the last mentioned Henry, who outlived his son, and died in 1556.

Henry Parker, Knt. his grandson inherited, who by an inquisition taken at the shire-house at Norwich, was found to be Lord Morley, Baron of Rhye, and heir to the hundreds of Forehoe and Eynsford, Hingham, Buxton, Swanton-Morley, &c. being then about 24 years old, in 1561. Upon his marriage with Elizabeth, daughter and heir of Edw. Stanley Earl of Derby, he settled the hundred of Forehoe, &c. on Henry Stanley Lord Strange, her trustee; and by the said Isabell he had

Edward Lord Morley, who married Elizabeth, daughter and heir of William Stanley Lord Monteagle, in whose right William, their son, became Lord Monteagle. This Edward was summoned to Parliament, 23d Elizabeth by the name of Edward Lord Morley, Baron of Rye, and had the manors of Hingham, Buxton, Forehoe, Mateshale, Tudenham, Folsham, Eynesford hundred, besides others in Essex and Hertfordshire: at the death of Sir William Stanley, Knt. Lord Monteagle, who died 10th Nov. 23d Elizabeth, at Skypton in Yorkshire, Elizabeth, wife to Edward Lord Morley, Baron of Rye, was found his heir. (fn. 38) It was this Edward that divided and sold most, if not the whole, of the ancient estate of the Lord Morley in this county; and this manor, advowson, and hundred of Forehoe, about 1583, belonged to

Sir Thomas Lovel of East-Herling, Knt. who left it to

Sir Francis Lovel, Knt. his son and heir, who owned it in 1620, in which year, by deed dated 2d April, he aliened the manor of Hingham, Waters, Andrews, and Baconsthorp, with their appurtenances in Hingham, Hardingham, Runhall, Barnham-Broome, EastTudenham, Wramplingham, &c. with the hundred of Forehoe, to

Sir Henry Bedingfield, Knt. in trust, who the next year joined with the said Francis Lovell, and conveyed them absolutely to

Sir Thomas Woodhouse, Knt. and his trustees, by deed dated April 1, in whose family they have continued ever since,

Sir John Woodhouse of Kimberley, Bart. being now [1739] lord and patron.

This manor is still intitled to all the privileges of ancient demean; the chief of the lands are freehold, and all fines and recoveries of the freehold lands held of the manor are levied and suffered in the court here; fines and recoveries at common law are void, and have been set aside. There is a mere called Semere, which belongs to the lord; the courts are held by the insoken and outsoken, and there were separate juries for the several united manors of Baconsthorp, Waters, and Andrews. The leet belongs to the manor, at which the constables and four heywards or messors are chosen; there is a weekly market on Saturday, and three annual fairs, viz. on St. Matthias's day, Feb. 24. on St. Matthew's day, Sept. 21, and on Whitsun-Tuesday. The Atlas, fo. 308, tells us, that "this town hath had the bad fate to be burned down, but is since re-built in a finer form, and the inhabitants suitable to the place, are taken notice of as a gentile sort of people, so fashionable in their dress, that the town is called by the neighbours Little-London."

St. Andrews' Manor

Was originally part of the capital manor, granted by the lords thereof to the family sirnamed De Hengham, and most likely to that Sir Andrew de Hengham, Knt. who confirmed the gifts of his father and ancestors, of lands in Burgh and Thurton, to Langley abbey, from whom the manor received its name; he was father of

Sir Ralph de Hingham, Knt. who was Justice of the King'sBench, and held that post 16 years; and in 1270, had 40l. per annum fee. He was canon of the church of St. Paul's in London, Justice Itinerant in 1271, 72, 74, &c. and was chief commissioner for the government of the kingdom in the absence of Edward 1. when he went into the Holy-Land; but after that King's return, he was one of the judges that was cast out of his place for bribery and corruption, being fined 7000 marks, a prodigious sum in those days, which being not immediately paid, he was imprisoned, and after banished, with nine more of his brethren, two only escaping, viz. John de Metingham and Elias de Bekingham; but after his fine paid, he gave such signs of true repentance, and such satisfaction to the publick for his faults, that he was made Chief Justice of the Common Pleas, 1st Edward II. 1308, and dying that year, was buried under a niche in the wall of the north isle of St. Paul's cathedral, as may be seen in Mr. Dugdale's History of that church, fo. 47, 100, 101; an account of him we also meet with in Mr. Weaver's Funeral Monuments, fo. 367, and much of him may be seen in the Cronica Series, &c. at the end of Mr. Dugdale's Origines Juridiciales, from fo. 24 to 34. In 1278, he gave a house in Holme, by the common of Rungeton, to which parish Hulme then belonged, to the parson of St. Mary of Rungeton, and his successours for ever, with an acre of land belonging to it; in 1282, he was summoned with the other judges to be at Salop, to advise with the King about the Welsh affairs: this Parliament was held at ActonBurnel, as appears from Mr. Rymer, vol. ii. p. 258. It appears that Sir William de Hengham, Knt. was his uncle; in 1298, he conveyed part of Hingham wood, which belonged to this manor, to William, son of Sir John le Marshal, by deed, to which is fixed a seal of a shield, on which are five martlets between two chevrons, 2, 2, 1; the legend is, [Ave Maria: Gratia plena].; he had another uncle called Adam de Hingham, who had two sons, William and Richard.

In 1286, Robert de Hingham held this manor by the Judge's grant, and was presented for holding a whole knight's fee, and being of full age and not knighted; it seems he died not long after, for

In 1296, William de Hengham, another brother of the Judge, held it of him for life.

In 1303, I find one Andrew de Hengham, whom I take to be son of this William, married to Amabil, daughter and coheir to Robert Burnel, who presented to the church of Bathele this year. Mr. Neve says, that in 1307, Ralf de Hingham was summoned to attend the coronation of King Edward II. with the other judges of the realm, and of the King's council. This manor immediately after, if not before, the Judge's death, was conveyed to the lord of the head manor, and now it continues a member of it.

There are divers other small manors, now included in the great manor of Hingham cum Membris, as

Baconsthorpe so called from Robert de Bacons-Thorpe, lord in 1314, who then held it at half a fee.

Rothing-hall, of which I find nothing more but that it was held at the fourth part of a fee in 1239, by Peter de Laringsete, and seems to belong to John de Wysam, who had free-warren granted him here in 1327; it was called Rothyng, no doubt, from some of its ancient lords.

Waters belonged to William de Calthorp, who had free-warren granted him in 1270, and seems to belong to William de Blundevile of Newton, in 1275.

Wylby manor belonged to Oliver de Vaux, one of the rebellious Barons, who held it of the capital manor; in 1215, it was seized by the King, and was after Sir Will. de Huntercomb's, in right of Alice, his second wife, whose second son, Thomas, inherited it; in 1290, Bald. de Manerijs had free-warren granted him here; in 1330, Rob. de Manerijs, and Remigius parson of Hingham, settled a messuage, 50 acres of demean, the manor, &c. on John de Snitterton of Norwich, and Maud his wife; and in 1357, Reginald de Eccles, John de Stoke of Norwich, and Alice his wife, and others, settled it on Adam de Hautboys parson of Cockfield, &c. and then it contained two messuages, 80 acres of land, 9 acres of meadow, three of pasture and wood, and 9s. rent. In 1413, John Wylby was lord, from whom it took its present name, and he it was, that conveyed it to the Morleys.

Gurney's Manor

Was part of the great manor, granted to a younger branch of the family, before the forfeiture; it continued always in the family of that name residing at Barsham and Great-Elingham, in this county; (fn. 39) Henry Gurney was lord in 1572; how it passed afterwards I do not find; but in 1715 it was owned by Mr. Larwood of Norwich, merchant.

Elingham Hall Manor

Took its name from its owners; in 1292, Ralf de Bukenham, parson of Great-Elingham, as trustee, settled the manor, which contained 12 messuages, 100 acres of land, 6 of meadow, 24 of wood and pasture, and 20s. rent in Hingham, Suthbergh, Hardyngham, Rymeston, Little Elingham, Woodrising, and Honingham, on Alex. de Elingham, and Beatrice his wife; they added to it, by purchasing many lands of Roger de Brom; it was held by half a fee of the Earl Marshal: in 1345, Ralf de Elingham had it, and John de Snitterton held a fourth part of it of him; and in 1401, Rich. Caus held it, it being conveyed in 1383, by Robert de Ashfield and John Pyeshale, to Thomas Cause of Hockham, father to the said Richard.

The Morleys were concerned here long before they were possessed of the manor; Ingulf de Morle, who was a witness to the foundation charter of Windham priory, held lands of the head manor; in 1198, Robert de Morlai had lands here, and after the head manor went out of the family, there was a good estate remained in a younger branch of it, which passed with that branch as Roydon did, to the Ratcliffs; (fn. 40) in 1482, Rob. Morley, Esq. who was buried in Hingham church, ordered his best horse, saddle, and bridle, to be led before his body at the day of his burial. and to be delivered at the church to the curate or his deputy, in the name of a mortuary; Elizabeth his wife and Emma his daughter are mentioned. (fn. 41)

There is a free school here, and north-west of the church, about four furlongs distance, is a handsome seat, built by Mr. Bullock, the present [1739] owner, and about a furlong south-west, stands a good parsonage-house, built by the present rector; and something more south, is a neat house, in which dwells Mr. John Amyas, attorney at law, to whose family I find the following arms were granted, which he now bears, viz.

Arg. a boar's head cooped, between three cross croslets sab.