Baldwin in England

THE BALDWINS OF DUNDRIDGE & CHESHAM In Buckinghamshire * Found at: http://www.btinternet.com/~mark.peers/baldwin2.htm

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The following is a chapter of an unpublished manuscript of a History of Aston Clinton, England written by Mr. A. J. Copps.

Mr. Copps was a retired schoolmaster who lived with his wife Margaret at "Little Croft", 29 New Road, Aston Clinton. He was an ardent gardener, and amateur cabinet maker who was greatly interested in the affairs of St. Michael & All Angels Church of Aston Clinton and was its lay reader. A history of the Church written by him has been published by the Church Publishers of Ramsgate.

According to the late Mr. A. Vere Woodman, P.S.A. of Wing, Buckinghamshire, who was a descendant of the Baldwin family and responsible for much research in connection with its history; evidence almost entirely circumstantial, based solely upon the continuous recurrence of the name in the records enabled him to develop a possible table of lineage. The successive generations have been numbered without assuming that they are, in every instance, father and son. It is however certain that they are either direct or collateral ancestors of Richard Baldwin of Dundridge.

John Baldwyne A Chesham charter, dating about the middle of the 13th century mentions a John Baldwin as an adjoining landowner.

(Cartulary of Missenden Abbey, Part II, No. 2 93.)

William Baldewyne By an agreement made on 29th October 1301 between Matthew, Abbot of Missenden and William, the son of John Baldewyne of Chesham, the Abbot granted to the said William and his heirs, all the lands, etc. to hold by rent of three shillings per annum.

In 1314, William was fined six pence for a trespass in the Lord's corn. (Ibid., No. 305)

Thomas & William Baldewyne In 1330, both were fined one penny each for not being present at the court in their tithing.

In 1335, William, a free tenant, was fined three pence for default of suit of Court, and again in 1337.

In 1341, Thomas was fined three pence for default.

Richard Baldewyne In 1350, John de Longe was essoined by a Richard Baldewyne.

1354 to 1367 he held the office of Parish Constable.

1368 to 1377 he was a tithing man, i.e., a tithe collector.

Richard Baldewyne (husband of Isabel, see below) 1379 - Richard Baldewyne was chosen constable instead of John Smyth, which office he held until 1384 at least. (The date makes it unlikely that he is identical with the earlier Richard).

John Baldewyne To the Court held 7th October 1409 came John Baldewyne kinsman of Isabel Blakewell, to claim an inheritance. He was probably come of age and his mother had remarried to John Blakewell, but he was heir to the tenancy to which his claim was upheld by law. He had died before Easter 1442, when his heir was fined two pence for default.

John Baldewyne He was sworn to the tithing in 1421 at the age of 12, per custom. So it can be assumed that he was born in 1409.

His death must have been about 1483, when a Will (now missing) of a John Baldewyne was proved.

John Baldwin First date of mention - 1482, when he became custodian or guardian of a John Webb aged 15 years.

He appears as a juror in 1485 and 1503.

His death must have occurred before 1524 when his son Robert had leased land at Dundridge.

c. 1520 - 1536... ROBERT - An astute and purposeful Freeman emerged into the society of the period of Henry VIII's early years on the throne of England, in the person of Robert Baldwin, who had evidently developed into a prosperous Yeoman. With his sons, Robert and Richard, he had been entered into the Muster Roll of 1522 as the owner of the lands in the Chesham district valued at 40 shillings and of property at Dundridge valued at £20. It is evident that he had leased the manor, or farm, from the Countess of Salisbury, who was Lord of the Aston Clinton Manor in her own right. (Dundridge and St. Leonards village adjoining were then part of the parish of Aston Clinton, which had built a Chapel-of-Ease in the village during the De Clinton regime.)

Robert, who was born around 1476, raised a family of stout sons, of whom John, the eldest, owned land at Bellingdon, and in turn produced a large family, which only indirectly concerns our story; while Robert and Richard, other sons are mentioned with their father in the Muster Roll, the former assessed at £2 in goods, together with sword and armour, which latter might account for his later disappearance from further reference to Dundridge - leaving the succession open to Richard.

To give ourselves an idea of the economy of those times we must turn to the records for the year 1525, when the Subsidy Roll, a district taxation list, was published. This so-called Subsidy was a form of Income Tax devised by Henry VIII to extract six pence in the pound on assessments. Robert, the father, had been previously assessed at £13, but on this list he was assessed at £8 because "he was decaid by corne and the marriage of his son." That is to say that he had had a poor harvest and Richard had married Ellen Apuke, daughter of a local farmer and was now due for higher wages. His father awarded him a 20% rise on the Bailiff scale and now he had a yearly salary of £2 less one shilling tax, which was then deemed a competence. His clothes would cost him between five and six shilling, about the price of an ox. In his former situation as Bailiff he would have received his livery from his father as well as three shillings and four pence in wages so his pay rise seems to have been somewhat disappointing. Freemen labourers could earn four pence a day, with perhaps certain perquisites thrown in. Lambs were one shilling and six pence each, while a goose could by obtained for two pence.

RICHARD... On the death of his father in 1536, Richard took over the lease of Dundridge to develop the land and his fortunes. The times were not of the best to achieve them, for religious strife, with persecutions, was steadily mounting, and the sturdy spirit of liberty that was growing in the Yeoman classes would cause them to resist oppressive laws of the Church, or State even if they only lightly affected their Faith.

In 1541, the Countess of Salisbury died a gruesome death on Tower Hill because, as the last of the Plantagenet line she was an inconvenience to Henry VIII. It was a blow to the people hereabouts, who had learned to love her gentle ways, to learn how the stately lady of their Manor, having refused to bow down to the block was pulled down by the hair by the headsman, who hacked of her head. The country folk of today will tell one that at times she may be heard giving "catarrhal sniffs" around the manor rooms, which she haunts.

After her death, the property reverted to the King, who did not disturb the tenancy of Richard and his "managing" wife.

Richard Baldwin I...Richard and Ellen produced a lively family of three sons and four daughters. Would these young people ride over the steep and rutty tracks to morning church in a lumbering, spring-less wagon through Aston Chivery's sloping woods to the Vale of Aylesbury making the welkin ring with their merriment and groans of anguish intermixed, as they bumped along, or would they have to proceed in silence under the stern gaze of their mother ? We can only assume that they would find the four mile trek somewhat painful in such a conveyance, for even at a later period Queen Elizabeth I traveling in her state carriage along roads in better condition complained that she was unable to sit in comfort for a week after one of her trips.

The alternative form of conveyance would be more popular when the males of the family could manage a steed and take their sisters on the pillion. They could then stable their mounts at the Manor House, which was near the Aston Clinton Church.

The children would at first be somewhat disturbed by the mural paintings. A terrifying Satan would be leering at them from some prominent position, while his myrmidons might be shown forking sinners down to hell fire. The Church, even then, believed in visual education and the grotesqueness of the illustrations emphasised the sombre teaching.

During the reign of the young King Edward there was taken an inventory of the Church property and the Commissioners received all the candlesticks, etc., and even the four bells hanging in the steeple. They returned only the bare minimum of necessities of worship, i.e., the Chalice and Platen, a surplice and some linen cloth, - and the bells as an afterthought. Richard would have to witness this ceremony in his capacity of an officer of the Church.

He was becoming ambitious and was growing affluent enough to consider the possibility of purchasing the Manor from the King. At the same time he was educating his boys for a higher status in society. Indeed, his eldest son Henry, had some training in Law before the death of his father in 1553, the year that saw the accession of Queen Mary.

Though frugal, both Richard and Ellen, were kindly natured as the peasants around found to their own comfort. In his Will, Richard's bequests to them were to a degree generous, a shilling then being £10 value in present day economy. To his family, the following bequests were made:

"To Alis my daughter, 20 marks when she marries; (1 mark = 13s 4d) To Agnes, £12 when 19; - to Cecilly and Letise £10 each To John, my farm at Dongrove when 23, but if he die before age, the same to Henry, my son; To Richard, my tenement in Cholesbury when 23; To Ellyn, my wife and Henry, my son, the rents of my said houses and lands towards bringing up my children." There were other numerous sums to be paid as legacies to servants, god-children, etc., and furthermore he desired to rest in Aston Clinton Churchyard, where he was buried in 1553.

It is noteworthy that "the managing wife" secured to herself 50% of the estate during her lifetime. Maybe this was to safeguard the affairs of the farm now nominally in the hands of her young son.

Henry Baldwin (1553 - 1602)... There are no records to show, but it is estimated that he was born about 1531, which means that he was 22 years old when he succeeded his father and was barely of age. This fact had weighed with Richard in making the terms of his Will as he did, for he must have gained a high estimation of his wife's abilities in their married life. She held her half interest in the estate until her death in 1566, when she left a Will which was even more comprehensive than Richard's and characteristically feminine. She also wished to be buried at Aston Clinton, though the wish does seem to have been unfulfilled. She left two daughters about whom she seemed to have anxieties, so she appointed an Uncle to see that they made suitable marriages.

Henry Baldwin seems to have inherited his mother's acumen for business, for he thrived space so that in 1579 he became the Lord of Dundridge Manor by purchase from the amendment executor of Sir John Baldwin who died one year after he had been seized of it in 1544.

He was the eldest son of Richard I and must have been born previously to 1532 when John, the second son was born. He married an eminently suitable wife in the person of Alice Kinge of this district in 1560 and raised a family of seven, - four sons and three daughters. The two eldest, Richard and Sylvester, most chiefly concern our story. Richard, the heir apparent married Miss Christian Tokefield at Tring on 18th October 1592 and his brother, Sylvester married Jane Wells. The dangers of invasion were past, the Spanish Armada having crushed in 1588 to the great jubilation of the people of this country, and hearty feelings of thanksgiving for delivery from the threatened domination of the Spanish Inquisition.

Henry lived on till 1602, predeceasing Good Queen Bess by one year. Some interesting side-lights on his generosity are displayed in his Will. First, he remembered the destitute, leaving to Aston and Cholesbury 20 shillings each; to Wendover five shillings and to Missenden three shillings and four pence. Richard, his eldest son, was to succeed him as head of his family, though he could not claim certain articles of furniture till after his mother's death.

Sylvester was left £10, and two of his sons six shillings and eight pence each, while John, another son received four crofts at Wendover, and Robert and Jane's widower were left £40 each. A brother-in-law was Willed 10 sheep, while all his god-children were to receive six pence each, (worth about £5 today).

There were numerous other bequests.

As Lord of Dundridge he claimed the privilege of burial in the Parish Church.

Alice, the widow lived on till 1626, her Will being proved on the 23rd November of that year.

Richard Baldwin II (1602 - 1636) ...Richard had passed his fortieth year when he succeeded his father, Henry, in 1602, and after ten years of marriage, found that he had to look elsewhere for an heir. He fixed his eyes on Henry, the third son of his brother Sylvester who had made his mark in life and became a notable Barrister-at-Law. As such, he would be much interested in the events occasioned by the change of dynasty, from Tudor to Stuart in 1603, the Gunpowder Plot and the publication of the authorised version of the Bible.

Richard's time was devoted to farming and charitable works in which he was abetted by his wife and mother. On the death of the latter, he took over the furniture which her husband had reserved to her in his Will of 1602. In her Will she gave favourable consideration to her own folk at Aston Clinton.

Richard survived her by about ten years, his burial being entered into the register of funerals at Aston Clinton as taking place on 16th October 1636, and his nephew Henry, son of Sylvester succeeded him at Dundridge. We do not follow the fortunes of the heir because he was, more or less, an absentee landlord, his interests being in his profession of Barrister-in-Law of Clifford's Inn, and subsequently residing and practising in Guildford, where he died and was buried at St. Mary's Church there.

So we turn our attention to the elder Sylvester's family the third son of which had become Lord of the Manor. George, the first born, died young and the second son, John, was passed over in the search for an heir. Maybe he was left to manage his brother's lands and perhaps he was that John who joined his brother Sylvester in his emigration plans.

The Emigrant - Sylvester ...Sylvester was the fourth child of Sylvester Baldwin and Jane Wells who were married in September 1590, being born about 1598 probably at Cholesbury. He married Sarah Bryan in 1620, and produced a family of eight. Latterly, according to his statement in Court, he was living at Aston probably directing his brother Henry's affairs at Dundridge, sharing the responsibilities with his younger brother, Richard and his wife Phillipa, when Sylvester decided to emigrate to New England, taking with him his wife and the following children:

Sarah - April 1621 Richard - August 1622 Mary - 1625 Marsha - April 1628 Samuel - July 1633 Elizabeth - 1634 John - 1635 Maybe also Uncle John was in the party, which would have been fortunate for them, because Sylvester died on the voyage on 21st June 1638.

Decline and Fall of the Baldwins of Dundridge

The departure of Sylvester seems to have heralded the decay of the Baldwin fraternity. Matters became complicated; the true heirs had other interests and chose to live elsewhere, though the estate remained in Baldwin hands until the year 1748, when the last owner, Robert Montieth Baldwin, bequeathed Dundridge to his cousin John Canham, who sold it. Thus the name of Baldwin ceased to be connected with the Manor, which fell into a state of disrepair.

Eventually the estate was disposed of in three parts to: Mr. Robert T. Green - the house and 150 acres Mr. F. Butcher of Tring - 130 acres Small lots to various buyers - 50 acres Mr. Matthews, the present owner has done much to preserve it, taking great pride in doing so.

However, there were Baldwins left in Aston Clinton, who were descendants of John, brother of the first Richard, known as John of Hayle, who left to his son Sylvester, lands known as Pleadells, in perpetuity. But the Baldwin family, once so thick upon the ground here, seems to have torn up its roots and gone to "fresh fields and pastures new."

Dundridge: In many of the old records Dundridge appears spelled Dourigge.

Countess of Salisbury: Three years after the execution of the Countess of Salisbury, the Manor, which had been forfeited to Henry VIII, was transferred to Sir John Baldwin, the Chief Justice for Common Pleas in Buckinghamshire, either by gift or purchase. But he died in the next year (1545) seized of the Manor, which he left in the charge of Sir Robert Pakington, who, in 1579 passed it over to Henry and Richard Baldwin (father and son). So Henry was now Lord of the Manor, with Richard as heir.

Incidentally, it may be surmised that the escutcheon of Sir John Baldwin - three pairs of green oak leaves on a silver shield - might have been emblazoned on the Manor of Dundridge at the time of its acquisition by him and retained by the subsequent Baldwin Lords on grounds of collateral relationship.