Transcript:Shropshire Archaeological Society. Transactions/1889/History of Shrewsbury Hundred or Liberties: Abrighton

Transactions of the Shropshire Archæological and Natural History Society.

Established 1877.

2nd SERIES, VOL. I., 1889.

History of Shrewsbury Hundred or Liberties.

By the late Rev. JOHN BRICKDALE BLAKEWAY, M.A.

< Editor's preface | Abright Hussey >

[page 95]

Abrighton, or Adbrighton.

This is a chapel of ease to the church of St. Mary of Shrewsbury, but though surrounded by the liberties of that town, is itself in the Hundred of Pimhill ; its two other townships, however, viz., Woollescot and Leaton,^[1] are in the liberties of Shrewsbury. Each of these three townships has its separate constable.

From the name of this place and some contiguous ones—Abright Hussey, Abrightlee, Abreywood—I presume the first Saxon that settled upon them was a person of the name of Albert or Adbert ; but in the time of the Confessor it was holden by one Seward. It is written Abretone in Domesday, and was then possessed under Earl Roger by Raynold the sheriff. At the time of the imposition of the dane-geld it was estimated at two hides, but they did not pay to that tax ; for what reason does not appear. Its population in Domesday comprises three villans, a radman, a Frenchman, and four bordars. These occupied two carucates and a half between them, so that the advancement of its cultivation in the space of near fourscore years was but trifling.

If the manner or time in which this place became the property of the Abbey of Shrewsbury appears upon the charters of that religious foundation the circumstance [page 96] has escaped my observation. Adbrictun is enumerated among their demesnes—to the tithes of which they were entitled—in the certificate of the Bishop of Coventry of an uncertain year between 1168 and 1188 ; and this is the first mention of it as their possession which I recollect, though the Iter of Edward I. states them to hold it by the feoffment of Earl Roger de Belesmo, as it calls our first Norman earl.

Three manors of this name occur in Domesday, once written Abretone, twice Etbretone ; all three holden by Earl Roger by Raynold the Sheriff ; in the Saxon times two of them had been holden by a person of the name of Seward. One of these did not pay to the dane-geld, and as Abrighton was an ancient appendage to the Church of St. Mary, I assign that manor thus exempted and written Abretone to this parish.^[2] It was two hides ; comprising three villains, a radman, a Frenchman, and four bordars. They occupied between them two carucates and a half, so that the advance of its cultivation in the space of almost a century was but trifling.

One of the manors of Etbritone had been holden by a Saxon free man, named Gheri ; but Warin, the first Norman sheriff, who held it under Earl Roger, had granted it to one Alcher ; Rainold, however, held it in Domesday. It was rated to the dane-geld at three hides, but the cultivated land was double that quantity, [page 97] being six carucates ; two of which were in the demesne and occupied by four tenants, three more were occupied by a Frenchman, six villans, and a bordar. Of the other carucate no mention is made. I guess the demesne land to have been granted by Rainold to the Abbey of Shrewsbury, and to form the property which afterwards came to the Irelands.^[3] Perhaps Wolescot, a township of Abrighton chapelry, which is omitted in Domesday, was the remaining four carucates.

The following transaction, which supposes the Abbey in possession of this manor, took place early in the thirteenth century :^[4]—

Stephen de Thorneh and Godelina, his wife, of whom more may be seen under the article Berwick, with the assent of their heirs, grant to God and St. Peter and the monks of Salop, for five marks and a half of silver, Roger de Edbretona with all his land, and that neither our heirs may not claim any right in the said Roger or his issue (secta),^[5] we have delivered this present charter to the said Roger and his issue. Teste Thoma de Erdinton tunc vice-comite et toto comitatu. No. 133. Erdinton was sheriff to John.

This deed seems to place these religious men in the amiable light of redeeming this villein and his posterity at their own expense, but not for their own emolument, as the charter of enfranchisement was delivered to the villein himself in full county court ; and therefore I [page 98] should hope that the remarks of Sir Thomas Smith, (as quoted by Blackstone, Comm., b. ii., ch. 6,) that while the monks and friars convinced the laity how dangerous a practice it was for one Christian man to hold another in bondage, they scrupled to empoverish and despoil the church by manumitting such as were bound to them, was not generally true.

The present deed belongs to King John's reign, from the seventh year of which Erdinton stands on the pipe rolls as custos of the county ; here he is termed sheriff, a proof of the identity of those offices.

In 40 Henry III., the abbot and convent obtained a grant of free warren in their manor of Edbriton.

In the perambulation of the forests of Shropshire, 28 Edward I., it is called Monkes Adbrighton, and half of it is ordered to be deafforested, together with the whole of Adbrighton Hese and Adbrightleigh.^[6]

In 6 Hen. VI., it was called Adbryghton Abbots. See Battlefield.

In 26 Hen. VIII., the Abbey is found to have £9 13s. 8d. in Adbrighton, and 6s. 8d. of the Church there.

Upon the dissolution, Henry VIII., on the 31st of October, in the 35th year of his reign, 1543, granted inter alia the Manor of Abrighton, late belonging to the Abbey of Shrewsbury, in the parish of St. Mary, and all the appurtenances, lands, etc., wards, marriages, etc., emoluments, hereditaments, etc., etc., etc., lying, being, arising, growing, and renewing in the town, fields, parish, or hamlet of the blessed Virgin Mary in Salop and elsewhere in the said county belonging to the said manor, with divers lands, tenements, and hereditaments in Long haye, etc., with all tithes of the demesne of the said Manor, now or late in the tenure of the College of St. Mary aforesaid in the town of Shrewsbury, to Thomas Ireland, gent., for the sum of [page 99] £292 6s. 9d., who by licence of alienation, dated 18 June in the following year, conveyed the same to Thomas Jennens and Edward Hosier, to the use of himself the feoffor, and Johanna, his wife, and his heirs, by the name of omnia illa lesur' terras & tenementa in Longehays vocat' Priory Hill, Malbrych, Bradweys, and Bright Abricke, in the parish of St. Mary of Salop, and also the tithe of the demesne of Abrighton, lately holden by the Dean and Chapter of St. Mary.

The family of Ireland originated, no doubt, in the kingdom from which they derived their name, but the first of them, in the Visitation of 1623, is called of the county of Huntingdon, which, however, is a mistake, I doubt not, of “ Hunts ” for “ Hurst,” of which (whether the place of that name in the parish of Westbury, or some other, I cannot say), John Ireland (father of Roger, who lived in 3 Hen. IV.) is styled Lord in the pedigree of Lloyd of Aston.

The family, from authentic deeds, was residing in good figure at Oswestry through the whole of the 15th century, where the elder branch terminated in females, but the first, as I conceive, who settled at Shrewsbury (though his father is styled of that town in the Visitation), was David Ireland, whose admission into the company of mercers, ironmongers, and goldsmiths, is thus recorded in 6 Hen. VII. :—“ Dauyd Irlande servaunte unto Thomas Goldsmyth the x day of Juyll made hym Brod^r & ffreman w^t the combredyrne & ffeloschippe of Mercers, Ironmongers, & Goldsmythes for xx^s & payde in hande.” Three years later he was admitted a burgess, prospered in trade, served the office of bailiff several times between 1510 and 1528, and married a woman of family, the daughter of the heiress of Jay, who, after his decease, became the wife of a younger brother of the baronial house of Dudley, yet continued, such was the simplicity of that age, to exercise her first husband's occupation of a dealer in iron. [page 100]

“ Payd to Maysters Dudley for di' C of Irenn & ijli. iiij.s. ijd.” Bailiffs Accounts, 1543. It appears that then in Shrewsbury, as now in smaller market towns, the same tradesman carried on two or more branches of business, for Mr. Ireland was certainly also a mercer, and his son Thomas succeeded him as such.

It was Thomas Ireland, the eldest son of David, who purchased Albrighton from the Crown. He, like his father, was free of the mercers' company, and like him, served the office of bailiff there between 1538 and 1550. His death is thus recorded in the old Chronicle of Shrewsbury, called Taylor's MS. :—“ November 10^th 1554, was buried Master Thomas Ireland of Salop Mercer, a right protestant and dylygent favouror of the woorde of God, and was also a verteous & charitable man unto the poore, zealous and carefull in prouydinge for them : and yf he had lyvyd, he wold have brought hys mynd to pas in the same for hys perpetuall memorye.”

The estate of Abrighton continued in the direct line of his male descendants for nearly two centuries after his decease (thus forming one of the many exceptions to Spelman's remarks concerning the evil destiny brought into families by the possession of the property of the church),^[7] till on the decease of his seventh descendant, Thomas Pershall Ireland, Esq., in 1792, without lawful issue, it passed by his will, but much diminished, I believe, in its original extent, to his natural daughter, Mary Ireland. On her death under age and unmarried, in 1796, it escheated to the Crown for want of heirs ; but according to the unvariable usage of his Majesty's advisers in the present days of [page 101] moderated prerogative, was soon after granted to . . . . Ireland, nephew of Thomas Pershall Ireland aforesaid, who in 1804 sold it to the Rev. Inigo William Jones, of . . . . now lord of the manor.

[Mr. Inigo William Jones contracted to sell the Albrighton Manor, advowson, and estate to Hugh Smith, but died in 1809, without carrying this into effect, leaving Inigo William Jones his infant son and heir at law. In March, 1830, Mr. Hugh Smith and Mr. Jones (the son) conveyed it to William Spurrier, of Birmingham. Ho died 5 August, 1848, having devised this estate to certain uses in favour of his daughter Mary, the wife of General Edward Mortlock Studd. In December, 1853, General Studd conveyed it to William Hanbury Sparrow, of Penn, co. Stafford. Mr. Sparrow died 20 January, 1867, and was succeeded in his Albrighton estates by his son, William Mander Sparrow, of Penn Court and Albrighton Hall, who was High Sheriff of Staffordshire in 1873. At his decease s.p. 9 Feb., 1881, he left extensive estates to his nephew William Arthur Brown (son of George Gwynne Brown and of his sister Louisa Sparrow), now of Albrighton Hall, who has taken by Royal License the surname of Sparrow, and is Lord of the Manor of Albrighton.—Ed.]

Albrighton.

1. —Of how many townships does the parish consist ?

   Albrighton is a chapel of ease to St. Mary's, Salop ; it contains three townships—Albrighton, Woollascot, and Leighton.

2. —Does the constablewick contain any part, or the whole of another township ?

   There is a constable in each township.

3. —Please to name the several hamlets, mansion houses, and other chief places under each township ?

   At Albrighton is the antient mansion of the Irelands.

   The Rev. Inigo William Jones is now lord of the manor (1809).

   At Leighton is a mansion house, where courts are holden, belonging to Mr. Lloyd of Domgay.

4. —Does the parish lie in more hundreds than one ?

   The township of Albrighton is in Pimhill hundred ; Woollascott and Leighton are within the liberties of Shrewsbury.

5. —Do any of the townships extend into any other parish ?

   No.

6. —Is any part of your parish detached from the body of it ?

   No. [page 102]

7. —How many manors, or reputed manors, are there in the parish ? And over which parts of the parish do such manors respectively extend ?

   Each township is said to be a distinct manor.

8. —Please to name the present lords of such manors ; and also for which of them court leets are holden ?

   Albrighton—[Mr. Royds, of Lancashire, erased.]

   Leighton—Mr. Lloyd, of Domgay, for whom alone court leets are holden.

   Woollascot—Mr. Oare, of Woollascot.

9. —The real or reputed number of acres in each parish.

   Albrighton contains about 900 Acres. (800.)

   Woollascott contains about 400 Acres.

   Leighton contains about 800 Acres. (500.)

   Please to address your answer to—

Adbrighton Chapel Register

begins 1649.^[8]

Mem. that R. S. was buried Jan. 25th, 1669, who was the first corpse that was interred, since it was licensed by our now Bishop to be a common buriall place.

1 Mar. 21 Jac. I. Agg^t y^t if M^r Tho. Ireland do not performe y^e order made by y^e C. in y^e M. of Wales, at y^e suit of M^r Edw. Owen, for not castinge out of tyeth hay, then to proceede to further suite for breache of y^e order. [page 103]

Incumbents of Albrighton.

(From MS. Top. Salop, C.9.)

^[9]The old Register began 1563. It is lost. The first burial here after it was licenced by the bishop to be a burial ground was 23 Jan., 1669.

[The new Church was opened May 30, 1841. Inscription on the bell,—“ William Jones & Thomas Mall, C. W. 1710.” The oldest chalice, a Porringer, was given by Thos. Oare, gent., to the chapel, 1790. The first entry in the Register is a Baptism 22 May, 1664 ; the first Burial is that of John Scotton, Jan. 25, 1669.—Ed.]

1. ↑ [Leaton in Albrighton was originally a member of the Domesday Manor of Albrighton, and the lordship of this estate was in the monks of Shrewsbury, who made an ancient feoffment of it to the Pantulfs. Cf. Eyton, x., 211. There is some doubt whether Wollascott was a member of Albrighton. Ibid, 110.—Ed.]
2. ↑ [Eyton's opinion differs from Blakeway here. Eyton assigns to Albright Hussey the ungeldable manor of Abretone of two hides, which Blakeway here assigns to Albrighton ; and the manor of Etbretone, also of two hides ; whilst to Albrighton Eyton assigns the manor of Etbritone of three hides geldable, of which Domesday gives this account :—“ Alcher held Etbritone of Warin, who was ancestor of Rainald. Gheri held it and was a free man. There are three hides geldable. There is land for six ploughs. In the demesne are two ploughs, and four serfs, and one Frenchman, and six villains, and one bordar, with three ploughs. In the time of King Edward it was worth twenty shillings, and afterwards fifteen shillings. It is now worth twenty-five shillings.” Cf. Domesday, fo. 255, b. 1 ; Eyton x., 80, 107.—Ed.]
3. ↑ [Eyton points out that Alcher, the ancestor of Fitz Aer, had, before Domesday, given Albrighton to Shrewsbury Abbey, but the Domesday Commissioners did not find the gift so substantiated as to warrant their registration of it, and therefore spoke of it in a guarded manner. Earl Roger's charter to Shrewsbury Abbey says :—“ Aherius dedit Etburtonam cum suis appendiciis.” The confirmations of Henry I., Henry II., Stephen, and Henry III., duly record Alcher's grant. Cf. Eyton x., 107–8.—Ed.]
4. ↑ [Eyton dates this quit-claim between 1204 and 1214, and gives, as the reference, “ Salop Chartulary, No. 33.” Stephen de Turnham was lord of Great Berwick, in right of Edelina, his wife. The quit-claim was probably of some tenement, held in villeinage, and which lay between Berwick and Albrighton. Cf. Eyton x., 108, n. 2.—Ed.]
5. ↑ [Not “ or his issue,” but “ with all his suit.” Ibid.—Ed.]
6. ↑ [In the Pimhill Hundred-Roll of 1255 it is termed “ Adbrichton Monachorum,” or Monks' Albrighton. Cf. Eyton x. 109.—Ed.]
7. ↑ See Hearne's prelim. obs. to Br. Willis's View of the Mitred Abbies, Leland's Coll., vi. 84, and Sir Henry Spelman's History of Sacrilege there quoted ; also Gibson's Camden in Huntingdonshire, sub. init., and South's Sermons, v. 1, p. 267, ed. 1772, where is an account how the Pope who permitted Wolsey to found Christ Church on the ruins of forty Monasteries, Wolsey himself, and the five persons employed by him in that business, all came to violent or unfortunate ends.
8. ↑ [The ancient existence of a Chapel here is probable, but the evidence is not very distinct. There was a field called Churchfield in the Vill ; and an Abbey Rent-Roll about 1490 mentions 6s. 8d. arising from the Glebe. The Font, which is the only piece of antiquity in the present Church, probably belonged to the former Chapel. Cf. Eyton x. 109, 110.—Ed.]
9. ↑ [These names are placed in Blakeway's MS. under Adbrighton Hussey, but they really belong to Albrighton.

   For the names since 1814, I am indebted to the Rev. F. J. Walker, the present Vicar of Albrighton. Mr Walker informs me that the names of Roger Eddowes, James Doughty, William Gibbs, and Henry Johnson, though given in Blakeway's MS., do not appear in the Albrighton Registers. Probably they were non-resident.—Ed.]

10. ↑ [Pascough in the Register.—Ed.]