S

Stewart of Sandy Lodge (Potton Manor)

Introduction The documents of this collection refer largely to the Manors of Potton (and occasionally to that of Sutton). They must be supplemented by those of the Hawkins collection which also deals with Potton, and which at some time in the past have become separated from the main body of the documents of the Potton manors. The Potton documents of the Hawkins collection consist of Court Books from the closing years of the 17th century to the end of the 18th century: 12 bundles of court papers of the 18th century, as well as an agreement to enclose Potton Heath Fields and the plans for Potton Market House. In addition there are some admissions in the Whitbread collection. For a further discussion of documents see the section (3) of this introduction. (1) There is nothing to show that the Burgoyne who held Potton Rectoria in the 15th century was the same family who later held Potton Manor The Burgoynes become Baronets c. 1641-3 The Brudnell family gained Potton Burdetts by marriage; the Rent Roll of 1654 shows that the Burgoyne family held most of the Manor as tenants before becoming owners in 1657 The Byng who obtained Potton about 1750 was the Admiral executed in 1757: the Manor then went to Viscount Torrington the senior member of the Byng family (2) Except spasmodically in the 16th century, when an occasional roll devoted to one manor occurs and in the court books after 1746, there is no attempt to separate the records of the different manor courts into separate rolls or books (3a) The development of the Courts and their procedure Potton Regis seems from the administrative point of view to have been regarded as the chief of the manors, perhaps because it was the first to come into the hands of the Burgoyne family, certainly by the end of the 18th century the admissions and surrenders recorded in its courts occupied less space in the Court books than those of Potton Much Manured. Yet it was the only manor court in which a view of frankpledge was held after 1620, although the Burgoynes were entitled to the View in the courts of the three manors which they held in Potton at that date. The survival of a bill of presentment (S60) made out about 1700, for a view of frankpledge at a time when the View was being held at Potton Regis courts only, but in which the presentment is headed with the names of all 4 Potton courts, suggests that the lord of the manor instead of holding, or writing up the proceedings of the 4 courts separately, was treating the four manors as one for the purpose of frankpledge. This practice did not extend to the Court Baron, for until the end of the last book in the office the Court Barons are being held for the four manors, even though the cases before them concerned the same men. As the homage of the different courts was often different, it is difficult to resist the conclusion that the courts were held separately, and that not only were the circumstances of a transaction written up for each manor in which the man held land but that he appeared before each court in turn. Further it was by no means the rule that every manor held a court when another did. The business of the Leet courts gradually becomes more formal until the last recorded one in 1802. The Byelaws and Field Officers appointed at them become less important as the years go on, so do the presentments, though of course it is difficult to say just how vigorous the courts were in the later 16th century, when the series of rolls begins. The Court Baron, like the Leet, is held at less frequent intervals as the centuries go on. It becomes more usual for the surrenders to be made out of court and the court business as far as they are concerned to become enrolment of the out of court transaction of the last two years or so. There never seems to have been a recognised interval between courts, though at times courts are held in the same month or year for a period of years. This makes it impossible to say what is the difference between a Court Baron and a Special Court Baron, as the time interval between it and the previous court seems to have as little to do with it as the business transacted. The earliest of which record remains was held in 1676 (S27) The General Court Baron, a title which appears at the Courts held in the 1750s after John Byng had become lord of the manor, though not used to the exclusion of the title Court Baron, does not seem to have possessed any administrative significance (3b) The Court Books fall into three categories in addition to an index - a) Those which were a rough copy of the court's proceedings and formed an intermediate stage between the notes made at the actual court and the formal account of the courts proceedings as written up, whether in the Court Roll as before 1743, or in a court book as after that date. The approach to the formal court book as the alternative to the roll can be seen in this series as the lay out of the book and the writing becomes more formal and of a higher quality as the date for the change from a formal court roll to court book approached. Most of the books of this type are to be found in the Hawkin collection, though S35-36 in the Stewart Collection are in this category b) Those which are the final account of the courts proceedings (S38-54) and which during the 1740s replaced the Court Roll for this purpose. They are carefully written up, the margin being used to present a step by step summary of the transaction, while the use of a normal flowing hand to write down the contents of any document cited during proceedings instead of the formal legal hand in which the rest of the book is written makes these passages easy to spot. Until 1768 the courts of all the manors are contained in the same book, but after that date (S42 et seq,) each manor has its own court book. All these columns are indexed c) The Court Books of Potton (and Sutton) Liberty (S55 and also one book in the Hawkins collection) These volumes are nothing to do with any other court book or courtroll in either of these collections, but seem to be concerned with small debts; land transactions do not appear in them. Both the volumes are dated from the 17th century and there are no further papers to throw light on the functions of these courts (see also S55). It is possible that they functioned in connection with Potton market, but there is no evidence to indicate that they did. On the other hand the title of the later of these two books (HA)"Court Book of the Honour of Potton and Sutton" seems to indicate that the origin of the court was in the organization of the two manors during the Middle Ages. Possibly the market jurisdiction itself, as the market belonged to the Lord of the Manor, arose out of the organisation of the Honour. The Courts seem to have been held every three weeks, and in some cases the names of the jury are given, S54 covers the years 1638-1643 and that in the Hawkin collection belongs to the 1690s, d) Indexes of names are contained in the later court books (see above) but at some time in the 18th century a steward of the manor had an index made which covered most of the years from 1676-1738. It is perhaps significant as a herald of the change to come that, except for the years 1712-1715, that which was indexed was the rough court books, not the finished rolls. (4) Previous Classifications At least two stewards of the manor tried to place the court rolls into order, further details are to be found at the beginning of document S37 of this collection. The numbers below are a comparison of those already on the documents at the time of their arrival in this office with those given to them here. In HA other numbers in the Steward's series will be found Bedfordshire Record Office Original 15 4 18 5 19 6 20 7 21 8 22 9 23 24 11 25 12 26 14 27 15 28 17 30 21 33 27 34 30 35 26 36 29 38 39 39 36 40 38 41 37 42 58 43 5 ?(A) 44 5 ?(13) Nos. rubbed off 48 (C) 59 10 61 3A 67 44 72 ?

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