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Picks Manor Luton

Wenlock coat of arms
Wenlock coat of arms

Picks Manor was first mentioned as such in 1470 when it was held by John, Lord Wenlock, who changed sides twice during the Wars of the Roses and was killed fighting for Henry VI at the Battle of Tewkesbury in 1471. His estates were forfeited to the Crown (then Edward IV) and were given to Thomas Rotherham, then Bishop of Lincoln and later Archbishop of York. The Wenlocks acquired parts of the former Manor of Luton from two of the co-heirs of Maud de Kyme in 1377 and Picks Manor may well have its genesis in these.

Napier coat of arms
Napier coat of arms

Archbishop Rotherhem died in 1500 and his Luton estates passed to his brother John, who died in 1504 and was succeeded by his young son Thomas who died in 1565, probably after acquiring Joan de Mohun's sixth share of the Manor of Luton, bringing his ownership to two thirds of the medieval manor. His Luton property, including Picks Manor, went to his son George and, on his death in 1600, to his son Sir John Rotherham. In 1611 Sir John sold Picks Manor, with his other lands, to Sir Robert Napier alias Sandy. He died in 1637 and Picks Manor passed to his son Robert Napier. He was an MP, first for Weymouth [Dorset] then Peterborough [Northamptonshire] and took the King's side during the First Civil War (1642 to 1646]. Picks Manor is last mentioned in 1638 and was presumably absorbed back into Luton Manor.