Friday, August 4, 2017

Bonby manor in medieval Lincolnshire

 Niall C.E.J. O'Brien

Bonby is a village and civil parish in north Lincolnshire, about 4 miles (6 km) south from Barton-upon-Humber.[1] At the time of the Domesday Survey in 1086 Hugh son of Baldric held Bonby with its six ploughs, 14 villagers, 7 small holders and 2 freemen. It was then worth £6 and paid 3 geld in tax.[2] Hugh son of Baldric held about 25 holdings across Lincolnshire at Domesday.[3]

Early owners

In the 33rd year of King Henry III (October 1248-1249) Maud, the late wife of Geofffrey de Cerland, held at her death £10 worth of land at Bonby in Lincolnshire. This was held in chief of the king by the service of half knight’s fee. Maud left three heirs, namely; Agatha (wife of Sir John de Mares), Joan (wife of Ralph de Planaz) and Alice (sometime wife of Henry de Sancto Hillario) who were each aged forty years and more.[4] It has so far not being possible to find extra information on Geoffrey de Cerland or his three sons-in-law.

Bonby church of St. Andrew by David Wright

Bonby under the Costentin family

In 1263-4 Geoffrey IV Costentin died leaving his brother John Costentin (aged 29 years) as heir. The Costentin family possibly came from Costentin in the Manche region of France.[5] In that same year of 1263-4 John Costentin succeeded to the land of Bonby in Lincolnshire. This consisted of I toft and 7 bovates of land in demesne along with 30 bovates and 3 parts of a bovate of land with 5 tofts in villenage. This property was held of the king in chief by serjeanty which was to carry a wand in front of the king if the monarch was in the county on Christmas Day.[6]

Geoffrey IV Costentin was the son of Geoffrey III de Costentin who came of age in December 1252. In March 1253 Geoffrey III de Costentin was given seisin of Balrothery, Co. Dublin, on payment to the king of one year’s income (£33 9½d).[7] Geoffrey III de Costentin didn’t live long to enjoy his inheritance and died in 1253 leaving Geoffrey IV Costentin.[8] Geoffrey III de Costentin was the grandson of Geoffrey de Costentin, an important landowner and official in medieval Ireland. For more on the Costentin family in Ireland see = http://celtic2realms-medievalnews.blogspot.ie/2017/05/geoffrey-de-costentin-and-family-in.html

Costentin family in Lincolnshire

Early documents show the Costentin family in Lincolnshire at least from the middle of the twelfth century. In 1155-66 a person called Geoffrey de Costentin was a witness to a grant of Legsby church in Lincolnshire to Sixhills abbey by Robert, son of Robert de Thweng.[9] The Costentin family were owners of Bonby manor in Lincolnshire from at least the first half of the thirteenth century. Yet in 1201-2 a person called Geoffrey de Costentin was paying fines in Lancastershire, Wiltshire and in the honor of Gloucester.[10] Geoffrey de Costentin also held the manor of Thorp in Staffordshire from the Earl of Lancaster. This place later took on the name of Thorp Costentin.[11]

Costentin in Staffordshire

Geoffrey de Costentin of Bonby also held the manor of Thorp in Staffordshire from the Earl of Lancaster. This place later took on the name of Thorp Costentin.[12]

Bonby under the Costentin family

John Costentin succeeded in 1263-4 to Bonby and also had property in Ireland as in 1271 he held 4 knights fees at Kenkilly in the honor of Fore from Geoffrey de Geneville.[13] Around 1281 John Costentin enfeoffed his brother Richard Costentin of the manor of Bonby in exchange for certain lands in Ireland. For this Richard was to pay John a pair of gilt spurs at Easter.[14] Richard Costentin retained some property interest in Ireland as in 1318 he held the manor of Ballyfermot, Co. Dublin, of Robert de Clahull.[15]

It seems from records that Richard Costentin often went to Ireland on extended visits. In 1303 he was living in Ireland when he asked for a writ that Sir Richard de Exeter, chief justice of the Dublin Bench, would receive his English attorneys for three years. Richard Costentin was too ill at the time to go in person to the Dublin Bench.[16]

Other owners of parts of Bonby

The entire manor of Bonby was not held by the Costentin family. We saw earlier how the land of Maud de Cerland was divided among her three heirs one of whom was John de Mares. In 1288-9, John, son of Juliana of Barton, held one bovate of land along with 54s 6d of rent from free tenants and 15s 11d rent from bondmen. He had previously purchased this holding from John, son of John de Mares of Kent and continued to render to John junior the sum of 2d in rent.[17]

Costentin owners in late thirteenth century

Shortly after St. Valentine ’s Day, 1291, John de Costentin was found seized at his inquisition post mortem of a capital messuage, 11 bovates of land in demesne along with free tenants holding a further 22 bovates of land in the manor of Bonby. The jury didn’t know by what service to the king John held Bonby but they did know of the enfeoffment to Richard Costentin. Geoffrey V Costentin, son of John, was aged 30 years plus and was heir to Bonby.[18]

Little is known of Geoffrey V Costentin. In February 1291 Geoffrey de Costentin was fined a half mark because he failed to appear at the Dublin county court.[19] Sometime in the next two or three years Geoffrey de Costentin died without no direct heirs and was succeeded to Bonby and to his Irish property by his cousin (uncle), Richard de Costentin. His inquisition post mortem for Balrothery was taken in 1294-5.[20]

Holeym family at Bonby

In 1316-7 John de Holeym was found holding a capital messuage and 3½ bovates of land in the manor of Bonby. This he held by the inheritance of Agnes de Limbergh, his sometime wife, by the service of 6d yearly to Richard Costentin. His heir was his son by Agnes called John de Holeym.[21]  
   
Bonby under the Hothum family
   
At some date before 1318 Richard Costentin and Matilda his wife made an enfeoffment of Bonby to John de Hothum, Bishop of Ely. In September 1318 the Bishop made a grant to Matilda of 10 marks yearly in return for her grant to the Bishop of her dower lands at Bonby.[22] By December 1318 John de Hothum, Bishop of Ely, held Bonby and did homage for same to the king.[23]

Although the Costentin family had left Bonby some members of the family still retained property in Ireland. In 1323-4 Geoffrey VI de Costentin paid £1 for a half service for Balrothey in the army service of Tylagh issued by John de Arcy.[24] Balrothey was an ancient property of the family since the days of King Richard.

Bishop Hothum memorial in Ely cathedral by Andrew Rabbott

By 1327, John de Hothum, Bishop of Ely, and John de Hothum, son of Peter de Hothum (brother of the bishop), had a joint interest in the English properties of Geoffrey de Costentin at Thorpe Costantyn, Staffordshire and Bonby in Lincolnshire.[25] In May 1343 John de Hothum, son of John de Hothum of Bonby, did homage for his lands in England and Ireland. The king wrote to the justiciar of Ireland to give protection to John de Hothum for that homage.[26]

In June 1344 John de Hothum senior passed on Bonby to his son, also called John de Hothum. In return for this gift the son promised his father £100 yearly from Bonby and other manors as income.[27] This John de Hothum junior was a grandnephew of John de Hothum, Bishop of Ely, an important figure in early fourteenth century Ireland.[28]

In June 1347 John de Hothum junior gave his manor at Solihill and Colyweston to trustees in return for 100 marks from each manor yearly. In September 1347 John de Hotum junior paid 268 marks in part payment of 500 marks for the ransom of Sir Sylvester de la Foill from Sir Michael de Pontynges. About the same time John de Hothum entrusted the manor of Colyweston in Northamptonshire for the same ransom.[29]

On 27th September 1351 John de Hothum, son of John de Hothum of Bonby died. The subsequent inquisition post mortem found that John junior held land in the counties of Essex and Lincoln. In Essex he held the manor of Fifhyde with his wife Juetta, who survived him. That manor was a gift of his father, John de Hothum senior to be held in chief of the king by a service of one knight’s fee. If John junior left no heirs of his body Fifhyde was to transfer to Henry son of Geoffrey le Scrope.
   
In Lincolnshire John de Hothum junior held the manor of Bonby jointly with his wife and by the gift of his father with the reminder to the right heirs of the donor. A later inquisition after Easter further clarified the inheritance. Bonby was to be held by John junior for the lifetime of his father with remainder after to John and Juetta and the heirs of their bodies. Failing these heirs the right heirs of John de Hothum senior would inherit.  
   
The first inquisition found Bonby was held in chief of the king by service of grand serjeanty. By this service the holder had right to carry a white rod before the king on Christmas Day if the king was in the county.  
   
It would appear that John de Hothum junior left no heirs of his body in 1351. Instead, his two sisters; Katherine (aged 19 years) and Alice (aged 16 years) were declared as his heirs.[30]

In Ireland John de Hothum junior was granted Kilkenny castle in August 1335 from his granduncle, John de Hothum, Bishop of Ely. In February 1352 John de Hothum, son of Peter de Hothum of Bonby, had possession of Kilkenny castle and gave it to Lord Thomas de Ferrars and Lady Anne la Despenser, his wife.[31]

Le Despenser family inherit Bonby

Hugh le Despenser died on 2nd March 1374 at Padua in Lombardy leaving his son Hugh le Despenser as heir. The boy was variously aged between 18 and 22 years old at the time.[32]
   
This Hugh le Despenser senior of 1374 held lands in the counties of Yorkshire, Northamptonshire and Lincolnshire. In Lincolnshire he held the manor of Bonby jointly with his wife Alice de Hothum as of her right. Bonby was still held of the king in chief by petty serjeanty, namely, to carry a white wand before the king at Christmas time if he was in the county. The manor was worth 100s and no more because it was in waste with no buildings. The land was mostly untilled as it was said to be sandy and stony in places. The meadows, pastures and marshes were flooded by the River Ankholm.[33]
   
The manor of Colyweston in Northamptonshire was held jointly by Hugh with his wife Alice of John de Oddingeseles by knight’s service. This manor came to Alice following the death of her brother John de Hothum as did those of Crauncewyk and Hothum in Yorkshire.[34]

Bonby in later times

After the death of Hugh le Despenser, Alice de Hothum married Sir John Trussell (died 1424), before her own death in 1379. Her son, Hugh le Despenser, died without issue in 1401 when he was succeeded by his sister, Anne, wife of Edward Butler.[35] Thus in the fourteen century Bonby was held by Edward Butler until his death in March 1413 and thereafter by Edward, Duke of York, until his death in October 1415.[36]

Bonby rectory

Meanwhile, in the time of King John, the rectory of Bonby belonged to the prior and convent of Merton. Later King John arranged for the rectory of Bonby along with those at Saxilby, and All Saints, Stamford, to be given to the Benedictine priory of St. Fromund, Normandy to form the endowment of Bonby Priory.[37]

Bonby priory was never very big and probably supported only one monk. During the Hundred Years War Bonby became so unprofitable to the prior of St. Fromund that in 1390 he granted to London Charterhouse. But this was done without the king's consent and Bonby priory was by that time seized as alien property.[38] It was farmed for a time by the king's clerks at an annual rent of 12 marks. In 1380 Bonby priory was valued at £8 5s 10d per annum.

In 1403 the crown granted Bonby to the Carthusians of Beauvale in Nottinghamshire.[39] At that time the priory was said to be valued at less than 18 marks. The possessions of Bonby included the rectory of the parish church of that place, pensions of 13s. 4d. each from the churches of Saxby and St. John's Stamford, and the advowsons of the churches of Sts. Peter, John, Paul, and George, Stamford, and Saxby and Grafton. In 1404 the prior of St. Fromund consent to this transfer and quitclaimed any rights he had on Bonby.[40]

Bibliography

Brooks, E. St. John, Knights’ fees in Counties Wexford, Carlow and Kilkenny, 13th-15th Century (Dublin, 190)

Brooks, E. St. John (ed.), Register of the Hospital of St. John the Baptist without the New Gate, Dublin (Dublin, 1936)

Chapman, J.B.W. (ed.), Calendar of Inquisitions Post Mortem preserved in the Public Record Office (14 vols. Kraus-Thomson, reprint, 1973), vol. 14

Connolly, P., ‘Irish material in the class of ancient petitions (sc8) in the Public Records Office, London’, in Analecta Hibernica, no. 34 (1987), pp. 1-106

Curtis, E. (ed.), Calendar of Ormond deeds, volume one, 1172-1350 (Dublin, 1932)

Curtis, E. (ed.), Calendar of Ormond deeds, volume two, 1350-1413 (Dublin, 1934)

Down, K., ‘Colonial society and economy’, in Cosgrove, A. (ed.), A new history of Ireland, volume II: medieval Ireland, 1169-1534 (Oxford, 2008), pp. 437-491

Dryburgh, P., and Hartland, B. (eds.), Calendar of the Fine Rolls of the reign of Henry III, Volume II, 1224-1234 (London, 2008)

Dryburgh, P., and Hartland, B. (eds.), Calendar of the Fine Rolls of the reign of Henry III, Volume III, 1234-1242 (London, 2009)

Forty Second Report of the Deputy Keeper of the Public Records Office, Ireland (Dublin, 1911)

Frame, R., Colonial Ireland, 1169-1369 (Dublin, 1981)

Gwynn, A., and Hadcock, R.N., Medieval Religious Houses Ireland (Blackrock, 1988)

Hagger, M. The Fortunes of a Norman Family: The de Verduns in England, Ireland and Wales, 1066-1316 (Dublin, 2001)

Kirby, J.L. (ed.), Calendar of Inquisitions Post Mortem: Volume 20, Henry V (London, 1995)

Mills, J., and McEnery, M.J. (eds.), Calendar of the Gormanston Register (Dublin, 1916)

McNeill, C. (ed.), Calendar of Archbishop Alen’s Register, c.1172-1534 (Dublin, 1950)

Nicholls, K.W., ‘Inquisitions of 1224 from the Miscellanea of the Exchequer’, in Analecta Hibernica, no. 27 (1972), pp. 103-112

Otway-Ruthven, A.J., A history of Medieval Ireland (London, 1980)

Sharp, J.E.E.S. (ed.), Calendar of Inquisitions Post Mortem preserved in the Public Record Office (14 vols. Kraus-Thomson, reprint, 1973), vol. 1

Sharp, J.E.E.S. (ed.), Calendar of Inquisitions Post Mortem preserved in the Public Record Office (14 vols. Kraus-Thomson, reprint, 1973), vol. 2

Sharp, J.E.E.S. (ed.), Calendar of Inquisitions Post Mortem preserved in the Public Record Office (14 vols. Kraus-Thomson, reprint, 1973), vol. 6

Sharp, J.E.E.S. (ed.), Calendar of Inquisitions Post Mortem preserved in the Public Record Office (14 vols. Kraus-Thomson, reprint, 1973), vol. 9

Sheehan, J., Westmeath: as others saw us (Moate, 1982)

Sweetman, H.S. (ed.), Calendar of Documents relating to Ireland (5 vols. Liechtenstein, 1974)

Warren, W.L., ‘King John and Ireland’, in Lydon, J. (ed.), England and Ireland in the Later Middle Ages (Dublin, 1981), pp.26-42

Wells-Furby, B. (ed.), A catalogue of the medieval muniments at Berkeley Castle, Volume two (Bristol and Gloucestershire Archaeological Society, 2004)

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[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bonby accessed on 8th January 2017
[4] Sharp, J.E.E.S. (ed.), Calendar of Inquisitions Post Mortem preserved in the Public Record Office (14 vols. Kraus-Thomson, reprint, 1973), vol. 1, no. 134
[5] Dryburgh, P., and Hartland, B. (eds.), Calendar of the Fine Rolls of the reign of Henry III, Volume III, 1234-1242 (London, 2009), p. 623
[6] Sharp (ed.), Calendar of Inquisitions Post Mortem, vol. 1, no. 574
[7] Sweetman (ed.), Calendar of Documents relating to Ireland, vol. 1, 1171-1251, no. 2682; Sweetman (ed.), Calendar of Documents relating to Ireland, vol. 2, 1252-1284, nos. 146, 158
[8] Sharp, J.E.E.S. (ed.), Calendar of Inquisitions Post Mortem (Liechtenstein, 1973), vol. 1, no. 277; Sweetman (ed.), Calendar of Documents relating to Ireland, volume 2, 1252-1284, no. 146
[9] Farrer, W., and Clay, C.T. (eds.), Early Yorkshire Charters: Volume 11, The Percy Fee (Cambridge, 2013), 206
[10] Anon, Rotulus Cancellarii, Vel Antigraphum Magni Rotuli Pipæ, de Tertio Anno Regni Regus Johannis (London, 1833), pp. 56, 120 234
[13] Mills, J., and McEnery, M.J. (eds.), Calendar of the Gormanston Register (Dublin, 1916), p. 11
[14] Sharp, J.E.E.S. (ed.), Calendar of Inquisitions Post Mortem preserved in the Public Record Office (14 vols. Kraus-Thomson, reprint, 1973), vol. 2, no. 750
[15] Brooks, E. St. John, Knights’ fees in Counties Wexford, Carlow and Kilkenny, 13th-15th Century (Dublin, 190), p. 59n
[16] Connolly, P., ‘Irish material in the class of ancient petitions (sc8) in the Public Records Office, London’, in Analecta Hibernica, no. 34 (1987), pp. 1-106, at p. 82
[17] Sharp (ed.), Calendar of Inquisitions Post Mortem, vol. 2, no. 713
[18] Sharp (ed.), Calendar of Inquisitions Post Mortem, vol. 2, no. 750
[19] Sweetman (ed.), Calendar of Documents relating to Ireland, volume 3, 1285-1292, p. 384
[20] Hogan, J., ‘Miscellanea of the Chancery, London’, in Analecta Hibernica, 1 (1930), pp. 179-218, at p. 205
[21] Sharp, J.E.E.S. (ed.), Calendar of Inquisitions Post Mortem preserved in the Public Record Office (14 vols. Kraus-Thomson, reprint, 1973), vol. 6, no. 5
[22] Calendar of Close Rolls, Edward II, 1318-1323, p. 11
[23] Calendar of Close Rolls, Edward II, 1318-1323, p. 39
[24] Forty Second Report of the Deputy Keeper of the Public Records Office, Ireland (Dublin, 1911), p. 53
[25] Brooks, E. St. John, Knights’ fees in Counties Wexford, Carlow and Kilkenny, 13th-15th Century (Dublin, 190), p. 199n; Calendar of Close Rolls, Edward III, 1327-1330, p. 207
[26] Calendar of Close Rolls, Edward III, 1343-1346, p. 65
[27] Calendar of Close Rolls, Edward III, 1343-1346, pp. 387, 388
[28] Phillips, J.R.S., ‘The Mission of John de Hothum to Ireland, 1315-1316’, in Lydon, J. (ed.), England and Ireland in the Later Middle Ages (Dublin, 1981), pp.62-85; Curtis, E. (ed.), Calendar of Ormond deeds, volume one, 1172-1350 (Dublin, 1932), no. 677
[29] Calendar of Close Rolls, Edward III, 1346-1349, pp. 283, 289, 290, 393, 509
[30] Sharp, J.E.E.S. (ed.), Calendar of Inquisitions Post Mortem preserved in the Public Record Office (14 vols. Kraus-Thomson, reprint, 1973), vol. 9, no. 637
[31] Curtis, E. (ed.), Calendar of Ormond deeds, volume one, 1172-1350 (Dublin, 1932), no. 677; Curtis, E. (ed.), Calendar of Ormond deeds, volume two, 1350-1413 (Dublin, 1934), pp. 208, 209; Calendar of Close Rolls, Edward III, 1364-1368, p. 425
[32] Chapman, J.B.W. (ed.), Calendar of Inquisitions Post Mortem preserved in the Public Record Office (14 vols. Kraus-Thomson, reprint, 1973), vol. 14, no. 56
[33] Chapman (ed.), Calendar of Inquisitions Post Mortem, vol. 14, no. 56
[34] Chapman (ed.), Calendar of Inquisitions Post Mortem, vol. 14, no. 56
[35] Wells-Furby, B. (ed.), A catalogue of the medieval muniments at Berkeley Castle, Volume two (Bristol and Gloucestershire Archaeological Society, 2004), p. 958
[36] Kirby, J.L. (ed.), Calendar of Inquisitions Post Mortem: Volume 20, Henry V (London, 1995), no. 397

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