Scope and Content
Flitwick Mill
There was a mill at Flitwick mentioned in Doomsday Book, probably on the site of the present mill. It was included in the Honour of Ampthill in 1610. The present deeds begin in 1681
Section A. Messuage at East End, Flitwick, close of pasture and three watermills.
This section provides a clear picture of the descent of a messuage at East End, Flitwick, a close of pasture and three water mills. In 1700 the property passed from Mary Cheyne, a widow, of Ivinghoe Aston, Buckinghamshire, to William Geary, yeoman of Buckinghamshire. By 1704 it had been sold to Matthew Woodward, but the actual occupier in 1731 is John Goodman. After the death of Matthew Woodward the property was sold to Thomas Langhorne, descended to his daughters, and in 1766 was bought by Richard Goodman 'late of Great Brickhill, Buckinghamshire, now of Flitwick', miller. Through his son, John, it descended to his daughter, Mary Wilmer, who conveyed it, in 1823, to her kinsman, Richard Goodman, miller, of Flitwick. In 1808 a plot in East End meadow was added to the estate through an award made by the Enclosure Commissioners. The mill and land has remained in the Goodman family ever since.
Section B. Lands collected by Cuthbert Sheldon and included in his daughter's Marriage Settlement.
Elizabeth Sheldon's marriage settlement is the key to this section of the documents. The history of various messuages and lands in Flitwick can be traced which, by 1765, had come into the hands of Cuthbert Sheldon, of Priestley Manor, and these were included in his daughter's marriage settlement. The later history of much of the property is also shown.
In accordance with the terms of the settlement some of the lands were sold: a large batch of them to John Kirton of Gray's Inn, who, in his turn, disposed of them: two smaller bundles to Richard Goodman, miller, and to Isaac Phillips. The deeds explain the history of the parts of the property which eventually came to the Goodman family of Flitwick Mill.
In 1722 a messuage in East End, Flitwick, and lands in the common fields were sold to Thomas Deacon of Flitwick by Thomas Barnat, alias Cripsie. These lands were bought by Cuthbert Sheldon in 1746/7.
The marriage settlement itself is interesting since it includes land in Bedfordshire and London, and mentions many field names.
The trustees of the settlement disposed at once of some of the Bedfordshire lands. The block sold to John Kirton was resold. Sub-section I(a) concerns the lands sold to Thomas Carte of Ampthill, innholder, through whom they passed to his son, John. John Carte had no children, and bequeathed his lands to various nephews and nieces, and to his sister Elizabeth Travell. Several of the deeds concern efforts to trace the history of this sister and her children. Finally the land willed to the Travell family was sold by the surviving children of Zilpah Goodman, widow of Richard Goodman, in 1834.
Sub-section I(b) concerns a messuage in East End, Flitwick, and various lands in the common fields which were sold by John Kirton to Richard Goodman, in 1781.
A third batch of lands (Sub-section I(c)) was sold to Thomas Cook - this included a messuage in East End, a close of pasture and Over Broom Close.
In Thomas Cook's will, one of his daughters, Ruth, is mentioned as the wife of Richard Goodman. By 1831 Richard Goodman had bought out inheritors on the deaths of Thomas Cook, his son, Matthew and his daughter, Deborah, and acquired Over Broom Close for himself.
Sub-section II concerns land in the common fields of Flitwick sold direct to Richard Goodman by the trustees of Elizabeth Sheldon's marriage settlement.
A cottage and Pratt's Nook, a meadow, in Flitwick, included in the settlement, came into Richard Goodman's possession in 1807.
Section C. Cottage in East End, Flitwick, and ½ acre arable land.
This cottage occurs for the first time in 1747, when Stephen Price, labourer, sold it to Thomas Farrah, yeoman. From Thomas Farrah it passed to William Archbolt, and from him to John Cleaton. Daniel Cleaton, nephew to John, who received it as a legacy from his uncle, sold it to Ralph Hill, a carpenter, a kinsman of John Cleaton, in 1797. In 1816, the cottage was sold to James Large, who sold it to Richard White of Dunstable, in 1820. Richard White left it to his cousin, Joseph Gobby, who sold it to Richard Goodman, in 1829.
Daniel Cleaton must have owned another cottage, because we have an abstract of title relating to a cottage with a garden, at East End, Flitwick 'late occupied by Ambrose Usher' which belongs, in 1786, to Thomas Large of Flitwick, and an allotment of two acres in Moorefield, Flitwick, in respect of this cottage was sold by his widow and son to Richard Goodman, in 1807.
Section D. Close or pightle, arable, in East End, Flitwick, ½ acre, and new allotment in Moorefield, two acres.
There are only two documents: one relates to the sale of a close of arable land in East End, Flitwick, to John Potter in 1719. John Potter erected a cottage on the land, and his grandson sold a new allotment given by the Enclosure Commissioners in place of common rights in connexion with the cottage, to Richard Goodman, in 1807.
Section E. Meadow or pasture ground in Ampthill Field, near Fan Mead, in Maulden Field and in Flitwick Field.
In 1749 William Findley of Ampthill sold this land to Richard Wainwright of Maulden, and his son, William, sold it to Richard Goodman the Elder, in 1806.
Section F. William Burridge's Cottage, Horne End.
The history of the cottage goes back to 1732 when John White of Flitwick and George White of Lower Milton, Buckinghamshire, sold it to Thomas Farrow of Flitwick, carpenter. In 1766 John Burridge of Flitwick bought it. In 1771 he conveyed it to his son, William, 'for natural love and affection' and the property is now described as 'those two cottages … in … Horne End, once a cottage and an orchard'.
It is interesting to notice a reference to the cottage in X234/71 and X234/72. A close of pasture in East End, Flitwick, is sold to Thomas Cook the younger, of Flitwick, but 'the plot on which William Burridge's cottage stands' is exempted from the sale.
After the death of William Burridge, Richard Goodman acted as trustee for his widow and his daughter, Ann, in their possession of a cottage 'lately erected by William Burridge'. After the marriage of Ann Burridge to Thomas Foscutt of Harlington, Richard Goodman bought the cottage and land, and the barn and buttery adjoining. In 1807 William Burridge of Marston Moretaine, eldest son and heir of William Burridge sold to Richard Goodman a new allotment of two acres, in Moorefield, in respect of a cottage belonging to him - presumably this is the original cottage.
Section G. Miscellaneous.
Among these are two deeds of 1681 relating to a cottage in Dennell End and two pightles. Perhaps these two cottages are some of those mentioned in Richard White's will, X234/100.
'six cottages and garden ground at Dennell End', but there is nothing to show that they are.