Henlow Lanthony Manor

In 1086 the manor of Henlow Lanthony was held by Nigel d'Aubigny (or de Albini) as a tenant in chief of William the Conqueror. The manor was assessed as 5½ hides of land, with three virgates held by the monks of St. Nicholas of Angers in free alms. Erfast held the remainder from Nigel de Albini as a subtenant. The manor was given to the Augustian Canons of Lanthony (or Llanthony) Secunda Priory in Gloucestershire by Nigel, son of Erfast, with the gift confirmed by Nigel’s overlord Henry de Albini and his son Robert. In the 13th century Henlow Lanthony was assessed as 5 hides, held from the honour of Eaton.

When the Priory was dissolved by Henry VIII in 1539 the manor became Crown property and was leased out for short term. In 1590 it was sold to John Fish and John Clarke for £1891 18s. 10d. In 1591 John Fish gave up his right in the manor to John Clarke. On his death in 1595 the manor passed to his son Thomas Clarke, who died in 1612 leaving a son, five year old St John, who did not survive his father by long. The manor was then divided between Thomas Clarke’s three daughters, Judith (married William Gerard), Anne (married George Steward) and Sibilla (married Walter Graye). In 1531 William and Judith Gerard sold their third of the manor to Edward Aunsell, and in 1640 Walter Graye transferred the other two-thirds to John Idell and Richard Emery, from whom it eventually passed to a William Buckby. Between 1661 and 1689 the manor court was held jointly by Nicholas Aunsell and William Buckby and Mary his wife. Nicholas Aunsell’s third passed to a John Hobbs between 1695 and 1703, and between 1703 and 1716 John Hobbs and Richard Buckby (son of William) held joint manorial courts.

Richard Buckby was succeeded by Thomas Medlicott, who in 1739 transferred his 2/3rds of the manor to George Edwards, who in 1756 and 1760 held the manor court jointly with Daniel Caton, the grandfather and guardian of Elizabeth, Mary and Jane Hobbs. In 1775 their third of the manor of Henlow Lanthony was transferred to George Edwards and the manor was again united. Edwards already held the manor of Henlow Warden and from then onwards the two manors remained in the same hands.  

Bedfordshire Archives holds a number of manorial records relating to Henlow Lanthony, including accounts dating from 1468 and 1481/82 and court books from 1699 to 1851. Other manorial records are held by Hertfordshire Archives, the National Archives, and New College Archives, University of Oxford. A full list of records known to survive for Henlow Lanthony can be found on the Manorial Documents Register available through the online catalogue of the National Archives.