Bedfordshire Archives Service Catalogue
  • Reference
    TW
  • Title
    Trevor Wingfield of Biddenham and Bromham
  • Admin/biog history
    The Boteler family The first known ancestor of the Boteler family was Richard Boteler, perhaps a grocer of London, who married Grace, the sister and heir of Thomas Kirton, on whose death Richard and Grace inherited all the property acquired in Biddenham by three generations of Kirtons [TW206 c.1493] Harvey, in his Hundred of Willey, supposes this Richard to be the son of a William who was the son of John Boteler of Biddenham and Stagsden and Joan his wife [TW452]. A note in the published Visitation of 1566 suggests that Richard was the son of another Richard. There are two wills in the PCC which may well be of members of the family. The first is of Richard Boteler of Biddenham [More 23] proved in 1411, which mentions a brother John. The other, 1465 [Godyn 9], was of John Boteler, citizen and fishmonger of London, who had a wife Joan, and whose parents were Richard and Margaret Boteller, probably of Melchbourne. However, the Richard who married Grace Kirton acquired with her the Kirton mansion house in Ford End, Biddenham, which for the next 200 years was to be the home of his descendants. We may suppose that the family fortune was made by Sir William Boteler, knight (I) the son of Richard and Grace, who was a citizen and grocer of London. The keeper of Records of the Corporation of London says that William Boteler or Butler was elected Alderman of Cheap ward in 1507 and Mayor in 1515-6, during which latter office he was knighted. Between 1508 and 1532 he was eight times Master of the Grocers Company. His will [PCC Hogen 10] was proved February 11 1534. He married at least three times, for his London estate was charged with a chantry in St.James Biddenham for the souls of himself and Dame Elizabeth and Elizabeth his late wives, and his parents, and he left a widow named Agnes. One of his wives was Elizabeth, widow of John Saunders, senior, Merchant of the Staple of Calais, fl. 1487-97, which explains the group of Saunders documents, TW1094-6. His son William (II), also a Merchant of the Staple, is a more shadowy figure. His will [More 9] was made and proved in 1554, and he wished to be buried in the chapel built by his father in Biddenham Church. By his will he disposed of what remained of the London property, and he also required his executors to sell the shops and cellars in Calais. His eldest son William (III) could scarcely have been more than ten years old on his father’s death, and a second son Robert was to be put apprentice to his father’s friend Blaise Sanders, citizen and mercer of London. From this time forward the family, having disposed of other interests, took their full part as gentry in Bedfordshire, though not without opposition. Anne, widow of William (II), married Thomas Goodwyn, and for a time Kirtons seems to have been let. But William (III) took up residence there when he came of age and began to consolidate the estates and interest. By 1543 William (II) had had in Biddenham at least 633 acres of land and 8 houses, with about 90 acres in Bedford and 20 acres in Clapham. From the I.P.M. of William (III) in 1602 [TW 610] the estate had increased by about a third. There were 780 acres, 3 messuages and 15 cottages in Biddenham; the White Hart, 6 cottages and c.100 acres in Bedford; a messuage, 3 cottages and 124 acres in Clapham and Oakley, and a house and 17 acres in Knotting. There is no evidence that the Botelers purchased much property after this, but the marriage of Thomas Boteler and Ann daughter of Francis Farrar of Harrold brought in a considerable estate in Harrold, Odell, Newton and Podington, and by the middle of the 17th century they probably owned about 2000 acres in Bedfordshire [WW286] William Boteler (III), c.1544-1602, aroused the ill will of the more ancient and noble family of Dyve, across the river at Bromham. The Dyves looked on him as an upstart, and may have envied the fortune acquired in trade. Certainly they resented the Botelers’ increasing influence in the neighbourhood. William Boteler did not submit to slights, but instead set out to acquire in the face of threats and opposition the reversion of a manor in Bromham itself, in which Sir Lewis Dyve had an estate for life. This purchase led to endless disputes, which are to be found in TW 1015-1070. William was Sheriff of Bedfordshire in 1588 and a man of influence. TW 1102 is a letter from Henry Bendells, presumably of Wootton, sending details of property in the parish and requesting his patronage for the village, “desieringe you woulde be pleased in regard wee have no bodye to spake for us to stand our frend so farre as shall seme fittinge in your wisdom, for heretofore wee have byne much wronged”. William (III) married twice, his second wife and eventual widow being Ursula daughter of Sir Andrew Judde, Lord Mayor of London, and a descendant of Sir Robert Chichele. Dame Ursula was a woman of character, and on her husband’s death continued the Dyve dispute with undiminished vigour on behalf of their eldest son Thomas, who was still under age. William’s last act was to arrange the marriage of Thomas, later Sir Thomas, to Ann, daughter and heir of Francis Farrar of Harrold, which was celebrated on 10th January 1602, a month before his death. Francis Farrar was a son of Ralph Farrar of London, grocer, who died in 1560 leaving his estate in Harrold, to his two sons, Thomas and Francis. Francis, as part of his share, took the Priory house and later he purchased from the Crown the Rectory and Parsonage [WW295]. He married Martha Layton of Harrold, and on the marriage of Ann, their only surviving child, with Thomas Boteler, the Farrar property was entailed on the male heirs [WW295]. Francis Farrar found the old monastic buildings inconvenient, or perhaps he hoped to persuade the young couple to settle in Harrold rather than Biddenham. Whatever the reason, he and his son-in-law built on a site between Harrold Church and the river a fine new mansion house with carefully laid out grounds, Harrold Hall [T818] Most of Sir Thomas Boteler’s children were baptized at Harrold, but the family eventually returned to Kirtons. Possibly Ford End was conveniently near to Bedford. During the 17th century Harrold Hall was let, about 1650 to Margaret Mordaunt, the daughter of Henry Lord Mordaunt, and in 1653 to Oliver Boteler. This lease has a schedule describing the gardens, courts, walks and fruit trees which were to be kept “in such sort as the beauty thereof may be preserved” [TW685] Sir Thomas died in 1625 leaving as his eldest son and heir Sir William Boteler (IV) knighted 1641. From the papers left in this collection he seems to be the most considerable figure, interested in theology and music, an able manager of his estate, and he took a more important part in public affairs than any in his family, except Sir William Boteler (I). He was Sheriff in 1637/8 and so responsible for the collection of Ship Money, and he was an unsuccessful candidate in the disputed election in the town of Bedford in 1640. He was much engaged in Quarter Sessions business, and was one of the county’s leading Parliamentarians in the Civil War. Then his family was divided. His brother-in-law John Keeling and cousin Richard Taylor of Clapham were royalists, also his brother Francis Boteler, who was a major in the Royalist Army, but he himself was a member, probably the chairman, of the Sequestration Committee of the County Committee, and a friend of Sir Samuel Luke. His support and hard work were rewarded, and he was Knight of the Shire in 1654. Sir William married first, Helen daughter of George Nodes of Shephalbury, Hertfordshire, who was buried in 1640, and secondly Sybil, widow of his father’s cousin, William Farrar. Both widow and widower had young families, and it seems that there was strong sympathy between them, for in three succeeding generations Botelers and Farrars intermarried. It seems that both eldest sons were called Thomas, and were students at the Inns of Court together, for when in 1649 Thomas Boteler died unexpectedly, Thomas Farrar wrote from London to his stepfather with the sad news [TW1109] The second son, William Boteler (V), born in 1634 succeeded to the estates on his father’s death in 1656, and married in 1657 Elizabeth daughter of Sir Thomas Hatton. Neither of their sons survived infancy, and eventually the estates were divided between the three surviving daughters and their heirs, Anne wife of Nicholas Carew of Beddington, Surrey, Helen wife of Sir Pynsent Chernocke baronet, and Mary who married her cousin William Farrar and had 2 daughters and coheirs, Margaret the wife of Robert Chester and Elizabeth wife of William Hillersdon of Elstow. For the last part of the 17th century many letters have survived. William Boteler (V) was embroiled in the executorship of the will of his mother-in-law, Dame Mary Hatton, but most of the letters show a placid family life, disturbed mainly by illnesses and journeys. The Boteler-Dyve dispute and the Honour of Gloucester Whatever were the reasons for enmity between the two families, human nature in fact would have been sufficient cause. Two families largely owning adjoining villages: the Dyves of Bromham older and of more noble descent, and possibly without the ability to increase their fortune except by judicious marriage; the Botelers of Biddenham of perhaps more obscure beginnings but with considerable wealth gained from two generations of merchants in London. Both had property in the other’s territory. The Botelers said the original fault lay with the Dyves, who bought an estate in Biddenham from Dyve Downes which William Boteler (III) claimed that he had previously contracted to purchase, and which had belonged to his father and grandfather. Whether or no this was intended as a slight, it was taken as such, and in the autumn of 1589, during his term as Sheriff, William Boteler purchased the reversion of the manor of Latimers and Nevilles in Bromham, in which Sir Lewis Dyve had a life estate. There had presumably been an earlier dispute settled by reciprocal leases for 5000 years in 1576, but the new move seemed to be a declaration of war. In fact one of John Dyve’s faction, William Broughe an innkeeper of Bedford, was heard to say “there is noe remedy but we must fight it out”. William Boteler was protected by his office until 23rd December, when he gave up the gaol and prison to the next Sheriff, and on the following day found that an ambush had been laid for him and his retinue as he went from his house at Ford End to Bedford. On 26th December Dyve challenged him to a duel, which challenge he prudently declined, and on the following Sunday there was a successful ambush laid for him on his way home from the parish church, when several of his men were wounded, and he himself left for dead. This is the case which the Botelers put to the court of Star Chamber, but Dyve’s reply is not found in this collection, nor the decision of the |Court. However, William Boteler kept the Bromham manor, and the next dispute for which we have evidence was after Sir Lewis Dyve’s death in 1592, when the Dyve life interest terminated, and the manor of Latimers and Nevilles came into the hands of the Botelers. By now the lands had for many years lain intermingled with other Dyve property in Bromham, the last terriers having been made in the reigns of Henry VII and Henry VIII, since when bounds had changed or completely disappeared in the enclosures from the common fields made by Sir Lewis when he extended Bromham Park. There was endless cause for dispute, and even if there had been good-will on both sides the situation could have been difficult. Sir Lewis, on his deathbed in 1592, had desired that the feud might be brought to an end, and in 1595 William Boteler made leases to John Dyve of certain of the disputed lands, presumably as a preliminary step to an attempt by arbitration in 159, and there was another appointment of arbitrators in 1601. In 1602 William Boteler died, and it was taken as a most unfriendly act that Sir John Dyve tried to obtain the wardship of the heir, Thomas Boteler. After this time legal actions were taken in the court of Wards, probably at the instigation of the ward’s mother, Mrs.Ursula Boteler. It would appear that a final settlement was reached in 1605, for TW1036 is the draft of an agreement in the February of that year by which the Botelers undertook to convey to Sir John Dyve the Latimers Manor in Bromham, in return for the Dyve manor in Biddenham and £230. Probably this took place, for we have no evidence for further disputes, but this might be in part accounted for by the death of Sir John Dyve in 1607, and the removal of Lewis, his heir, from Bromham to the household of his stepfather, the Earl of Bristol. By 1604 the scope of the dispute had been widened to include the right of the Botelers to hold a court leet in Biddenham. Dyve claimed that the Boteler manor, once Newnham Priory manor, was held of his own manor of Biddenham which the Dyves had acquired from Haber and Duffield, and which was the court leet held by Queen Elizabeth by right of the Honour of Gloucestershire. Thus this dispute is the reason for a number of legal papers concerning the Honour. Ship Money and the Civil War Sir William Boteler (IV) was Sheriff of Bedfordshire 1637-8, and so was burdened with the collection of Ship Money for the county [TW855-71] and during the Civil War he was a member, probably the Chairman, of the Sequestration Committee of the County Committee {TW895-1014]. Most of the papers relating to both these offices have been published in BHRS xviii except for the rough minutes of the Sequestration Committee [TW895] which were discovered too late to be included in the volume. see also OR 1882, a notebook of Sir William Boteler. Harrold Priory The medieval deeds for Harrold and neighbourhood came through the Farrar family, and consist of many of the title deeds of the Priory of Augustinian nuns of Harrold. They have already been published in full in the edition of the Harrold Cartulary by Dr.G.H.Fowler, BRHS xviii. Documents relating to Harrold Priory were also published in BHRS xxxii. Bedford By the middle of the 16th century most of the documents relating to Bedford are conveyances to or leases by the Forde family, who for a time owned the White Hart Inn, as well as other properties. From AD 658 we know that in 1585 William Forde sold the White Hart, lands and cottages to Alexander Hunte, who in 1588 sold to John Yarrowe of Biddenham. They must shortly after have been conveyed to William Boteler (III), for in 1602 he died possessed of the White Hart as well as other Bedford property. [TW610] Biddenham The mass of medieval deeds for Biddenham in this collection provides evidence for names and situation of the early fields and highways, and the building up and descent of the small peasant estates. A few things seem worth noticing. Fords are mentioned several times, including Darneford in 1275/94 and 1333 [TW18 and 149] and Hy?eford, 1452 {TW297]. Kingsfordway is mentioned 7 times between c.1290 and 1349, and “the King’s highway leading to Biddenham Bridge” or “ the Highway to the Bridge” from the year 1327 onwards. The first mention of the present Biddenham Bridge itself is in 1319 “next land of the chapel of the Blesssed Virgin Mary at Bydenhambridge” [TW185] and the chapel was further endowed with the stipend of a chaplain in 1325 [TW103]. All of this could suggest a slightly later date for the building of the bridge on the main highway through the village, the present Biddenham Bridge, than that usually given. But see Calendar of Fines 1227/8 and Pipe Roll 1224. The early date is to a large extent based on the story in the Dunstable Chronicle, where it is said that in the great frost of 1281 Biddenham Bridge gave way, and a woman fell from it on to an ice flow, and was carried as far as Bedford bridge. By present measurements this would be 4 or 5 miles, which makes the story indeed remarkable. If the earlier bridge had been nearer Bedford, it is more feasible. There is the mention c.1275 of “William of the Bridge” [TW14] which could of course have been Bedford Bridge, but as the man was holding land in Biddenham, it was more likely to be a bridge somewhere in the village. The first reference to the dedication of the church of St.James is in 1293 [TW33]. Land for the “Holy Bread” distributed in the church is described in 1339 [TW65] and c.1540 [TW799 p.140]. Land charged with the provision of a wax taper or light before the image of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Biddenham Church appears in 3 documents; in 1362 and 1394 [TW143 and 148] and c. 1540 [TW799 p.139]. The use of the church as the only public building in the village is shown when in 1619 the manor court confirmed the court orders for the regulation of the common fields as they were on the board hung up in the church [TW730]. Some houses are mentioned, particularly Kirtons which was probably the capital house in Ford of the Drew family first mentioned in 1333 [TW128] and conveyed to Alan de Kyrketon in 1375 [TW131]. The parsonage House was also important. It had three Warden Pear trees in the yard or garden, and the pears were particularly reserved in leases of 1566 and 1574 [TW606 and 674]. There was also a dovecot in the parsonage yard in 1574 [TW674]. Knotting William Boteler (II) bought a messuage and c. 17 acres of land at Knotting in 1540, which Thomas Boteler sold in 1607 [AD 1837-44]. There is no evidence that the Botelers ever bought the manor, but presumably they held it for a time on lease, for in 1556 Thomas Goodwyn, who married the widow of William Boteler, was holding a court at Knotting in the right of his wife [TW757] Travellers Two groups of documents show the wide horizons of the sixteenth century English countryman. The will of Thomas Goldston’ of Colme, Huntingdonshire, made in June 1570, left £300 to be used to ransom his son Michael “at theys present a presonere and in Captevitye in Barbaria”, and luckily the son was home by August 1571 [TW317 and 320] Another group, TW 394-401, concern the Lawrence family of Bedford. They seem to have been mercers in Bedford, but at least one, Nicholas son of Gyles, was a Merchant Taylor of London, and c. 1587 set out for Taradanty, Morocco, where he died between 1597 and 1602. He says in a letter home [TW397] that he took 2 months and 20 days to get there. His wife was dead, and he left his young children in the care of a brother, and it was difficult to make provision for them at such a distance. He expected his household furniture and the trade goods he’d sent back at various times to cover their keep. Nicholas does not sound successful, but in 1597 his eldest son Giles was also beyond the seas [TW396], though later on he settled in London as a surgeon. The Moroccan trade was obviously not an unusual venture, for with Nicholas in Taradanty was his cousin Travill, who probably died there also.
  • Archival history
    The title deeds in TW and WW together give the title of the Trevor family to estates acquired in Bedfordshire at the beginning of the 18th century, with smaller additions made later to round off the property. The main purchases were: 1708 DYVE estates (heavily mortgaged) in Bromham, including the manors of Bromham, Bowells, Wakes and Brayes, and properties in Biddenham, Kempston and Stevington [WW23 and 24]; 1710 MORDAUNT property (heavily mortgaged) purchased of Charles Earl of Peterborough, being the manors of Stagsden also Stacheden, Dylwick, Bosoms and Chellington, and the advowsons of Chellington, Carlton and Stagsden [WW191-2]; 1712 BOTELER estates in Biddenham from William Hillersdon of Elstow, whose wife Elizabeth was the sole surviving daughter of William Farrar by Mary, eldest daughter of William Boteler of Biddenham, esquire [WW99 and 292]. The properties bought by Trevor were only part of the Boteler estates which had extended over Harrold, Odell, Clapham and Oakley, Podington and Newton Blossomville, Buckinghamshire. 1810 ORD family, manor of Brays and Bury End in Stagsden and Bromham [WW207-8] Generally speaking, the earlier deeds are in TW, the later ones in WW, and the mass of TW consists of the archives of the Boteler family of Biddenham.
  • Reference
  • Level of description
    fonds
Hierarchy browser