Saturday, November 26, 2016

The Bradeston Family and Winterbourne Estate

John Fitz Stephen b. 1186 married the daughter of Thomas de Bradeston


Essay docs.org. Manor of Winterbourne
CHAPTER I.
The Manors.
THE manor of Winterbourne was held by Aluin under Edward the Confessor. At the time of the Domesday Survey the Royal manor of Bitton, with its "members," Winterbourne and Wapley, was held by William the Conqueror, and appears to have been retained in the hands of the kings till the reign of Henry II. Smaller manors were arranged in groups for the entertainment of the king and his retinue when he made a progress through his estates, and, when he ceased to do so, an amount of produce proportioned to the extent and value of each estate was required to be sent to the king's court, the share of each being expressed in terms of the quantity supposed to be necessary for one night's lodging for the royal household. Sometimes an equivalent in money was required. Bitton, Winterbourne and Wapley paid a "ferm" for one night between them ("Analysis of Domesday Survey of Glos."--Rev. C. S. Taylor).
Winterbourne was held by Reginald de Cahoine (Pipe-Roll 2, Hen. II) and Ralph Fitzstephen held it in 1191 (Pipe-Roll 2, Richard I). It was held by this family for a long time, other lords holding it of them. Philip de Albeniaco died seized of it in 1216, and Richard de Wales (or Walsh) held a portion in 1225, and Ralph de Wales in 1246; he left two daughters and co-heirs who married Geoffrey de Wrokeshall and Ralph de Hadele respectively. In 1303 "A moiety of the manor was held by Juliana de Wrokeshall of Sir Gilbert, son of Stephen, by service of one quarter of a knight's fee. On her death her inheritance descended to her four daughters," Joan who married John de Cerne, Rose who married Richard de Brokenberg (or Brokenborrow). Anastasia who married John de Haddon, and Margaret, who married Geoffrey de Mohun. In 1320 Sir John Giffard, who held a moiety of the manor, "unjustly disseized Robert de Hadele of a messuage and a carucate of land in Winterbourne"; he had summoned Hadele to his castle at Brimpsfield, "for what cause Robert knew not, but in dread of disobedience came, and the said John detained him and imprisoned him until against his will he made a quit-claim of the said tenement to the said John" (Inq. at Tettbury, in 1324). In that year Giffard, who had taken part in the conspiracy against Edward II, was attainted and executed, and his castle of Brimpsfield was razed to the ground.
THE BRADESTON FAMILY.
In 1328 the manor was held of Henry Fitzstephen by Thomas de Bradeston. One William de Bradeston was abbot of St. Augustine's monastery, Bristol, and was compelled to resign in 1243 after a visitation by Walter de Cantelupe, bishop of Worcester. Thomas was son of Henry de Bradeston, who married Isabel. He held the manor of Bradeston (now called Breadstone, a tything of the parish of Berkeley) of the Lord of Berkeley. The Bradestone coat of arms appears among those of the Berkeleys in the east windows of the cathedrals of Gloucester and Bristol. Thomas was knighted in 1330, and was granted, under certain conditions, the custody of the castle and barton of Gloucester "for his better maintenance in the knightly rank lately conferred on him." (Pat. Roll, 18 Sept., 1330). He was summoned to Parliament from 1347-1360 (he died) by writs directed to "Thome de Bradeston," whereby he is held to have become Lord Bradeston. He married (1) Isabel, after whose death he founded in 1344 the chapel of St. Michael, Bradeston (also called "Bradston Colledge "). He also founded a chantry in Winterbourne Church (see "Chantry Chapel of St. Michael, Winterbourne "). He married (2) Agnes--who died in 1369.
He was commissioned, with Thomas Lord Berkeley and the sheriff to choose 200 archers in the county (French Roll 19, Edward III 1327-1377), and he had a similar commission with Maurice de Berkeley in the following year. Some of these archers were probably drawn from Winterbourne. In the Calais Roll he appears in the king's division at the Battle of Crecy (1346). He evidently lived chiefly at Bradeston, only visiting his manor of Winterbourne occasionally. At an Inquisition held on the death of one Edmund le Blount in 1374, in proof that one Edmund, son and heir of Hugo le Blount, is of full age, four witnesses certify that they were dining with Thomas de Bradeston at Winterbourne on a specified day in 1353, when news of the birth of the said Edmund was brought to his uncle, John de Filton, who was one of the guests. Thomas is said to have been associated with the murder of Edward II, 1307-1327. Before his death he had enfeoffed [under the feudal system, give someone freehold property or land in exchange for their pledged service] Robert Mordac, rector of Winterbourne, and two others with the manor of Bradeston (Cal. of Inq. 34, Ed. III). He died August 24th, 1360, and his I.P.M. was taken at Bradeston on September 21st. He held the manor of Winterbourne jointly with his wife Agnes, in tail male, with contingent remainders to Robert (his son), and John (his grandson) -Note (Jody Gray): I think this is reference to John Stephens, said to have conjointly held the manor... .
  Sir Robert, son and heir of Thomas, by Isabel his first wife, died c. 1355-7 during his father's lifetime. In his journey to the holy land he was taken prisoner by the citizens of Pisa in 1346; the king procured his deliverance by committing twelve merchants of Pisa, who were then in London, to the Tower till they secured his freedom (Smyth's Lives of the Berkeleys). He married Isabella, daughter of Sir Ralph Bassett, of Drayton. This lady was married six times, Sir Robert being her second husband. She died in 1393, and is said to have been buried in Colmworth church, Beds. Robert left two sons, Sir Thomas, born 1352, died 1373, and John, born c. 1353-4. Sir Thomas married Ela, daughter of Sir John de St. Lo, by whom he had a child, Elizabeth, born 1373, who married Sir Walter atte Pole. Ela held the manor with reversion to Thomas, son of Sir Edmund, who was son of John. Sir Edmund, born before 1374. married Blanch --, and died before 1395, in which year Blanch was the wife of Sir Andrew Hage.
  On January 30th, 1393, "grant by special grace (was made) to Blanche Bradeston and her heirs of free warren in all the demesne lands of the manor of Winterbourne, co. Glos., and also of a weekly market in the town of Winterbourne, which is united to the said manor, and of two yearly fairs there, one on the feast of St. Peter and St. Paul, and the other on the feast of St. Luke the evangelist" (Cal. of Charter Rolls). On the Close Roll of 19 Richard II, Blanche is referred to by the name of her first husband. The chief butler of the port of Bristol is ordered to deliver "one tun of wine a year to Blanche Bradeston during her life, and the arrears since I March 8 Richard II, on which date the king granted her for life one tun of wine a year there, so that she should pay the merchant so much as the king should pay him." Thomas, son of Edmund and Blanche is mentioned in 1405 as making a presentation to the living of Winterbourne. There are few subsequent references to members of the family. In 1506 William Browne, warden of the chantry of St. Michael, appeals to the Archbishop in reference to his ill-treatment by Anthony Bradeston (see "Chantry of St. Michael "); in 1540 one Anthony Bradeston figures in the long dispute about the presentation of John Rastall to the Wardenship of the chantry. Anthony, in his will, dated 28 June, 1549, is described as lord of the manor of Winterbourne, and desires to be buried "in the chancel of St. Michael, in the parish church of Winterbourne," appointing his son Henry as his residuary legatee and executor. In 1561 one John Bradeston was excommunicated for non-appearance in a suit of "William Blinde, sequestrator of the fruits of Frampton Cotterell v. John Bradeston, payment of tythes" (records of Bristol Consistory Court). In 1594, Elizabeth Bradeston conveyed to William Veale, and Nicholas Crundall, clerk, "the manor" and the advowson of the church. In 1601 the manor was conveyed to James Buck; the document contains the names of Nicholas Veale, and others, and of several members of the Bradeston family. In 1609 Edward Bradeston was pardoned "for privacy committed upon the French, on his compensating the merchants" (Cal. of State papers). The Winterbourne registers record the burials of Catherine Bradeston in 1620, of Mary in 1626, and of Robert in 1640.
http://www.winterbourne.freeuk.com/ludwell.html History of Winterbourne by H W N Ludwell, 1972
Early Settlers -evidence to take us back to 8 centuries BC when the liberians lived in this land
  A great change came about in 1228 when King Henry III granted a Charter of Disafforestation and most of the Forest was converted into Common Land a small part being retained as a Royal Chase.
  As a result of the Feudal system introduced into Britain by William the Conqueror, the King, in theory, became owner of all the land in the Kingdom most of which he apportioned among his Barons as Tenants in Chief.
   the Domesday Book (1086) fully recognises one organ of Saxon Life - the "Shire" or "County" through which the King acted. The officers of the Shire or Hundred made their demands from the Lord of the Manor, who "answers for the manor" in the matter of taxation from his tenantry as best he may.
  Hence in Winterbourne we know of three Manors, namely (i) The Manor of Winterbourne, (ii) The Manor of Hambrook, and (iii) The Manor of Sturden.
  An appropriate conclusion to this chapter is a reference to the Bradeston Family, various members of which were Lords of the Manor of Winterbourne.


http://www.winterbournebarn.org.uk/index.html Winterbourne Medieval Barn 1342
Winterbourne Medieval Barn is a building of national importance. Built in 1342, just a few years before the great plagues swept across England, the barn is a unique survival of the medieval agrarian economy. It was commissioned by Thomas de Bradeston, who was Lord of the Manor of Winterbourne from 1328 until his death in 1360. Records suggest that he 'dined with friends at Winterbourne in 1353'.
History:
Winterbourne Medieval Barn was built in the middle of the 14th Century, a turbulent time in which one King was murdered and another deposed. Throughout this period England was also ravaged by civil wars, famine and the Black Death, as well as by foreign wars against the Scots and the French. The man who had the Barn built, Thomas de Bradeston, was involved in many of these events, some of which are recorded here:
A Timeline to a Turbulent 14th Century

  • 1306: Rebellion of Robert the Bruce.
  • 1307: Death of Edward I; accession of Edward II.
  • 1314: Scottish Victory at Bannockburn.
  • 1315 - 16: Great Famine.
  • 1321 - 22: Civil War in England.
  • 1327: Edward II is murdered in nearby Berkeley Castle, Gloucestershire.
  •          NB: Thomas de Bradeston was closely associated with the Berkeley family.
  • 1328: de Bradeston acquires the Patronage of Winterbourne.
  • 1337: The Hundred Years War against the French begins,
  •           in which de Bradeston is said to have amassed his wealth
  •           as a Captain in Edward III's army.
  • 1339 - 41: Political Crisis in England.
  • 1342: Construction of Winterbourne Barn.
  • 1348: First occurrence of the Plague in England.
  • 1377: Death of Edward III; accession of Richard II.
  • 1381: Peasants' Revolt.
  • 1399: Deposition of Richard II; accession of Henry IV.

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