The Manor of Eversholt Wakes

Arms of the Hillersdon Family

Volume III of The Victoria County History for Bedfordshire was published in 1912 and contains details of the manors of Eversholt. The Manor of Wakes is first mentioned in 1502 when held by John Lee and Katherine, his wife, having been conveyed to them by Thomas Langston. Presumably the original owners had been the Wake family. In 1560 it was held by Walter Hinton who settled it on his son Thomas.

In 1599 Thomas Hinton conveyed the manor to Richard Charnock of Hulcote but before 1613 it had passed to Sir Thomas Hillersdon and from then on it shared the same descent as the Manor of Eversholt, remaining in the Hillersdon family until 1702 when William Hillersdon conveyed it to the Duke of Bedford. The dukes owned the manor into the 20th century. A succession of Law of Property Acts in the 1920s abolished manors in all but name.

Arms of the Dukes of Bedford