The Manor of Blundells

The de Grey coat of arms

The Victoria County History for Bedfordshire, published in 1912, traced the histories of the various manors in the county. This manor was always held by the Grey family, later Earls of Kent as overlords. It is first mentioned in 1302 when held by Reginald de Grey.

It acquired its name in the 16th century but the Blundell family's connection with the manor went back much further, Roger Blundell holding the manor under Reginald de Grey in 1310. By the early 16th century the tenancy of the manor had been acquired by Richard Fermour. Simon Fitz of Aspley Guise purchased the manor from Fermour and left it to his son in his will of 1543. In 1545 the son died, not long after his father leaving his four sisters, Susan, wife of Thomas Sterne, Elizabeth, wife of Richard Rokes, Joan, wife of William Baker and Alice, wife of William Richardson. The three first named bought an action in Chancery against the Richardsons, to whom their brother had alienated the manor before his death, claiming the alienation was illegal. A compromise was reached in which the Richardsons kept a third of the manor, the other part being divided between the other three couples and Thomas FitzHugh of Wavendon [Buckinghamshire], who had also been a beneficiary of the alienation.

In the following years most of the manor came into the hands of Francis Morgan and he died owning five sixths of it in 1558. The manor is last mentioned in 1623 when Charles, 7th Earl of Kent died owning it without tenants, thus he was both Lord of the Manor and Overlord. It seems likely that the manor was then absorbed into the Manor of Wrest.

The Blundell family coat of arms