Table Of Content7 L
y
I/-/
The
Manors
of Suffolk
Notes on
Their and Devolution
History
The Hundreds of Babergh and Blackbourn
With some Illustrations of the old Manor Houses
BY
W. A. COPINGER, M.A., LL.D., F.S.A., F.R.S.A.
Of the Middle Temple, Barrister-at-law. Professor and Dean of the Faculty of Law in the
Victoria University of Manchester. Sometime President of the Bibliographical Society. Author of
"County of Suffolk: Its History as Disclosed by Existing Records," &c.
LONDON
T. FISHER UNWIN
1905
THIS WORK
IS
DEDICATED
TO
ILorb jfrancts 1berve&
IN
THANKFUL RECOGNITION
OF THE ENCOURAGEMENT AND ASSISTANCE
WHICH THE AUTHOR RECEIVED
FROM
HIS LORDSHIP
IN THE ISSUING OF THE
RECORDS OF THE COUNTY OF SUFFOLK.
Hote.
The present is a kind of trial volume, and forms the
first instalment of si< like volumes already written on the
Manors of Suffolk. Should it meet with acceptance, the
volumes will be sent to press so soon as a sufficient
number of copies have been subscribed to repay the cost of
printing. No doubt more might have been said respecting
themanors,andespecially the manor houses, but in viewofthe
fact that there are about 2,000 manors in Suffolk, and the
ofrestricting the work toseven volumes, littlemore
than dry facts could be given to speak for themselves.
For most of the statements made authority is quoted, but
where the author has found no authority he has indicated
the fact, and drawn the best inference he could. And
where full information has not been obtained, he has almost
invariably given the information he had. however defective, in
the hope that such might lead to the supplying by others of
what was lacking. For the sake of easy reference, citationof
fines levied prior to the reign of Hen. VII., a calendar of
which has been printed, is "Feet of Fines," while of those
" "
subsequently of which no printed calendar exists, Fine
only.
The Author has to thank the Rev. E. Fairer, Rector of
Huulcrclay, for his kindness in perusing the proof sheets, and
he is under an obligation to his daughter Katharine for the
Index Rerum, and to his daughter Margaret Sarsfield for the
Indices Nominum and Locorum.
W. A. COPINGER.
KERSAL
CELL,
MANCHESTER.
Jnttobuction.
HE Hundred division is now practically obsolete, having
| been superseded by Petty Sessional and other divisions, but
as late as 1869 there was a High Constable foreach Hundred
of the County.
The division of the Countyinto Hundreds has been vari-
ously accountedfor. It probably was an early Saxon device,
recast no doubt by King Alfred, who certainly revised the
scheme and altered, settled, and brought the divisions into greater systema-
tic order.1 The three divisions of Counties, Hundreds, and Tithings were
dealt with by the King. Each had its own Court. The tithing was com-
posed of ten families or more who dwelt together and were bound for each
other's behaviour. It is said that originally each tithing ought to possess
within itself a church, a burial ground, divine services, and the sacraments.
The tithing developed into Parishes, and of these the Hundred was made
up. We are quite aware that in the older laws of the Anglo-Saxons, the
"
word tithing is not used, the term then in vogue being Gild brethren,"
as, for instance, in the Laws 27 and 28 of Alfred.
Edgar seems to have been the first Saxon King to estimate aright the
value of the Hundred division, and to give it a name and place in the
local divisions of the County. It was by his ordinance (959-975) that the
Hundred had to meet every four weeks, and in fact by him the functions
of the Hundred were first duly prescribed. This king also provided that
every man should be under " borh" or suretiship both within the enclosed
places and without, and that witnesses should be appointed to every
" "
borh and to every Hundred.
Ethelred's laws (978-1016) followed on the same lines, providing of
" borhs " that every freeman should have a true " borh " or surety, and
" "
that the borh might present him to every justice, if he should be
accused. Knut's laws (1016-1035) follow on the same lines, every freeman
having to be brought into a Hundred and into a tithing. He had to be
brought into a " borh," and the " borh " had to hold and lead him to every
plea, i.e., he had to be brought in so as to be under pledge with a surety
who should be answerable for his appearance in any suit. The regulation
did not apply to those who by rank, family connection, or commendation,
were exempted from the provisions of this and similar enactments.
In the laws of Edward the Confessor (1043-1066) we find cap. 13 headed,
' The Divisions of the Shires and Hundreds," runs thus : The divisions of
the shires properly form part of the King's jurisdiction, and attached to
them is the King's highway. The divisions of the Hundred and wapen-
takes belong to the earls and the viscounts (the sheriffs) assisted by the
County Court.
The Hundred was an important division. It was the division on
which was primarily based the assessment for geld and served as the area
for rating purposes, besides being the organisation or body amenable for
damages in case of riot or destruction of property. Mr. Round has satis-
factorily shown that the Hundred and not the manor nor even the vill was
treated as the fiscal unit for the collection of Danegeld.
1 See Statute law in the latter part of this king's reign, about the year 890.
INTRODUCTION.
rf.
"
The butinm of the Hundred was transacted in the hundred mote,"
in which in later times the townships or parishes were represented by the
town reeve and four assessors. The Court of the Hundred exercised both
civfl and criminal jun-<!i< n..n, and litigant-, were bound to seek justice
in thisCourt before applying to a higher tribunal.
As the king was entitled to a fine for each offence, his reeve used to
attend the Court twice a year to receive these fines. It was on these
that the Court exercised the duty of seeing that every man was
enrolled in his tithing, a practice which continued long after the Norman
Conquest as the sheriff's turn, or leet and view of frankpledge. It was
sometime a lower Court for the payment of small debts and then the
bailiff of the Hundred presided.
Hundreds were either in the King's hand or in private hands by
grant from the Sovereign. When in the King's hand the sheriff usually
let them at farm to bailiffs. The bailiff generally presided in the Court,
and after paying hi> nut under the tenancy or holding, made what profit
be could from the fees and amercements or other -exactions levied on the
Miitors and men of the Hundred.
In process of time, the greater number of the Hundreds, certainly
in the County of Suffolk, had been granted to private individuals, and in
many cases the lord of the hundred did not own a single acre in it.
MANORS.
Some have supposed the word " manor " to be derived from the old
" "
French word manoir," or rather perhaps manior," or chief dwelling;
"
but others from the French mesuer," signifying to govern, or to guide,
because the lord of a manor has the guidance and direction of all his tenants
" "
within the limits of his estate ; and this," says Lord Coke, I hold the
most probable etymology, and most agreeing with the nature of a manor
;
for a manor in these days signifies the jurisdiction and royalty incorporate
rather than the land or scite."1 True, my Lord, but is this not deriving
the name from a quality not inherent in the manor at the time of the
original user of the name ? The etymology, no doubt accorded with the
ire of the thing in Lord Coke'sday, and tosome extent in our own time
but this hardly seems sufficient.
Manors have been usually regarded by our writers on English
antiquities as of Norman introduction, but modern investigation tends to
disclose a much earlier origin. They are no doubt as ancient as the Saxon
constitution, and the germ from which they sprung has been traced to
Roman
times.
The elements of the manor are discernible during a somewhat lengthy
period inAnglo-Saxon times but certainly upto the very time ofthe Norman
;
Conquest the greater part of the estates passing under the name of manors
bore but a poor resemblance to the ordinary manorial estate of later days.
The Roman
colonization did not affect the institutions of this country
Mathemodc^in which they were affected by the Anglo-Saxon settlement.
7ner not mt?r'ere .^h existing Celtic institutions further than
ih!appened to be inconsistent with the Roman occupation, but the
Complete Copyholder. Ed. 1644.
