The Copeland Manors and their Families - part 1
THE MANORS OF COPELAND
As well as the two important Mesne Lordships [those of Millom & Muncaster], other Copeland Manors were given to important families
1. William de Meschien gave the land between the rivers Derwent and Cocker to Waldieve the son of Gospatrick the Earl of Dunbar along with the parishes of Brigham and Dean as well as the hamlets of Clifton and Stainburn.
2. He granted Kelton, Salter, Workington and Stockhow to Ketel de Talebois, the son of Eldred, who in turn was the son of Ivo de Talebois, the Baron of Kendal.
3. He gave Beckermet, Frizington, Rottington, Weddicar and Arlecdon to the le Fleming family.
4. He gave St.Bees to St.Marys Abbey in York.
5. He gave Drigg & Carleton to the de Stutevilles family.
6. He gave the Manors of Stainton, Bolton, Gosforth & Haile to Thomas de Multon of Gisland (Yorkshire). This family would at a later date hold the Barony of Copeland itself.
Those lands of Copeland that remained under the direct control of the Barony of Copeland, were divided into three parts for administrative purposes. Each part came under the administration of one of three Bailiffs who ran their area on behalf of the Lord of the Manor of Egremont.
So in the middle ages the land between the river Duddon and the river Esk was within the control of the “Bailiff between Esk & Duddon”. The land between the Rivers Esk and Ehen was administered by the “Bailiff between Esk & Ehen”, whilst the land between the river Ehen and the river Derwent was within the control of the “Bailiff between Ehen & Derwent”.
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Manors that still fell under the jurisdiction of the Lord of Egremont had to send a representative to the various manor courts held at the Castle, these representatives were originally called “attorneys” but the word became corrupted into “Turneymen,” or ” Turnmen.” In the year 1707 the following members of the Over-lordship of Egremont were represented at Court by Turnmen :—
a. Muncaster, Drigg and Carleton;
b. Irton and Santon;
c. Bolton;
d. Gosforth;
e. Haile;
f. Newton and Ponsonby;
g. Workington and Winscales;
h. Lamplugh;
i. Murton, Moser, Whillimoor, Weddicar, and Moresby;
k. Kelton;
l. Cleator;
m. Frizington and Arlecdon;
o. Distington and Rottington;
p. Wilton and Braystones;
q. Calder and Beckermet
— ( see Caesar Caine , CWAAS, 1915, pages 76-89 )
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The Manors belonging to the Barons of Egremont, are today, divided traditionally into two parts, the Percy Manors and Wharton Manors. The Court of Dimissions for the Percy Manors where Customary tennants are admitted to their tenenments was held annually, at Christmas time, in Cockermouth Castle.
A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE COPELAND MANORS
1. The Manor of Austhwaite:- The de Austhwaite family belonged to Dalegarth in the Eskdale valley but situated in the Parish of Millom. The manor of Austhwaite was granted in 1102, by Arthur de Boyville, lord of Millom, to an ancestor of Ketel (1130-1180) of this family, who then assumed the local name. This family continued in possession of the manor until 1345, when the male line became extinct, and the heiress one Constance de Austhwaite; carried it by marriage to Nicholas Stanley, in whose family it remained until 1888 when it was purchased by Lord Muncaster. It is generally believed that the adjacent Manor of Birker had been combined with Austhwaite at an earlier date.
This branch of the Stanley family left Eskdale when Nicholas Stanley, the then Lord Austhwaite, purchased the Manor of Ponsonby from Adam de Eskdale in 1388 .
The Ponsonby family itself had previously moved from Ponsonby to Haile Hall in the Manor of Haile in about 1300 upon the marriage of Agnes de Haile to William de Ponsonby.
2. The Manor of Arlecdon:
The manor is included in the Fee of Beckermet, which is itself a Fee of the lordship of Egremont. In about 1072, William de Meschines, granted Arlecdon, together with Frizington, Rotington, Weddicar, and other places, to Michael le Fleming, knight, a kinsman of Baldwin, Earl of Flanders, and brother-in-law of the Conqueror. From this Sir Michael are descended the Flemings of Rydal, in which family it still remains. In 1910 the Earl of Lonsdale is lord of the common, which is freehold, as is also a great part of the ancient lands, the manorial rights of which are exercised by their respective owners.
3. The Manors of Little and Great Beckermet
The village of Beckermet is situated at the junction of the Black Beck and Kirk Beck, 2½ miles south of Egremont. The name of the village is another indicator that Cumberland was sttled by the Norsemen. The village name, formerly written Beckermot, is of Scandinavian origin, and signifies in that language "the meeting of the becks," which accurately describes the situation of the village; and in Kirk Beck is preserved the very name given to the stream by the Norsemen.
4a: The Manor of Little Beckermet:
has been held for several centuries by the le Flemings of Rydal Hall, Westmorland, as a demesne of the barony of Egremont. Also Rottington, Frizington, Arlecdon, and Weddicar, are held of the Flemings as fees of Beckermet.
4b: The Manor of Great Beckermet:
so called to distinguish it from that of Little Beckermet, in the adjoining parish of St. John's, has never been severed from the barony of Egremont, and is consequently still held by the lord of Egremont, Lord Leconfield. One estate, known as the Manor of Calder, is held in 1910 by the Earl of Lonsdale.
5. The Manor of Bootle:
Bootle was one of those manors which covered a greater area than that of the parish. It once held the manor house of the de Copeland family, an ancient and important family who owned lands in Bootle, Irton and Gosforth parishes. It is more than likely that the de Copeland family pre-dates the Conquest. It is said that this family left Bootle parish during the reign of Edward III (1327-1377) for the Furness district of Lancashire.The male line became extinct in the reign of Richard II (1377-1399), when the heiresses married into the Huddleston (of Millom), Pennington (of Muncaster) and the Senhouse (of Gosforth) families, but younger branches carried the name on to the present day in the district, one of the family being prioress of Seaton.
After the de Copeland’s, the ownership of the manor is not clear presumably resulting from the three heiresses and their marriages. It is clear that a part passed through the de Boyvill’s of Millom, then the Huddleston family who obtained the Royal grant to hold a market in 1347. At one stage land was held by the Muncaster family and by 1910 this manor was part of Lord Lonsdale’s estates.
6. The Manor of Brackenthwaite:
At an early date this Manor was held by the Moresby family, from whom it was purchased by Thomas de Multon, who assumed his mother's maiden name of de Lucy, and was the progenitor of the de Lucys, barons of Cockermouth. It continued for some time in this family, which, terminating in an heiress, the manor was conveyed by marriage to the Percys, of Northumberland, and was lost by the sixth Earl to Henry VIII. It was afterwards granted to Lord Grey, of Wilton, and one other, from whom it passed by sale to one Richard Robinson, clerk; and in 1557/58 a license was issued to enable John Robinson to alienate it to Thomas Stanley, Esq. It subsequently passed to the Fishers and others, coming ultimately to the Wyndhams, and is now [1910] held by Lord Leconfield.
7. The Manor of Branthwaite:
This manor, together with Dean, was granted to Waltheof, lord of Allerdale, whose son Alan gave it in marriage with his kinswoman. The grantees assumed the name De Branthwaite. An heiress of this line carried the manor to the Skeltons in 1422, in which family it remained till 1757. The last of the name that held Branthwaite was General Skelton, who served in the army in Flanders and in Scotland in 1745. In the former country his life was saved by his aide-de-camp, Captain James Jones, who shot a dragoon that was on the point of cutting down the General. The latter did not forget this, and left to Captain Jones Branthwaite Hall and estate as a mark of his gratitude. The son of Captain Jones assumed the name of Skelton, and in the next descent the Branthwaite estate was sold to J.C. Curwen, Esq., of Workington, and in 1910 is now the property of H.F. Curwen, Esq. The customary tenants were enfranchised by General Skelton for a payment of eighty years' purchase.
8. The Manor of Brigham:
was given by William de Meschines to Waltheof, Lord of Allerdale, soon after the Conquest. The latter gave Brigham to Dolphin, son of Ailward, together with Little Crosby, Applethwaite, and Langrigg, when he married his sister. The Brigham family ended in two daughters, and the manor was divided in moieties, one of which was conveyed by marriage to the Huthwaites and the other to the Twinhams.
The former passed in marriage to the Swinburnes, one of whom, John Swinburne, in 1543 - "held a moiety of the vill of Brigham of the King, as of the honour of Cockermouth, by Knight's service, 2s. cornage, puture of the sergeants and witnessmen, with suit of court at Cockermouth.”
The other moiety, after remaining for some time in the family of Twinham, passed by marriage to the Herclas. Upon the attainder of Andrew de Hercla, Earl of Carlisle, the moiety was forfeited, and given to a chantry in the church of Brigham, by Thomas de Burgh, in 1322.
After the suppression of monasteries, this moiety was granted to the Fletchers of Moresby, by one of whom it was sold to the tenants. The estates in the manor have long been nearly all freehold; but Lord Leconfield, as successor to General Wyndham, is lord paramount in 1910, and the tenants render suit and service at his honour courts, held at Cockermouth Castle.
9. The Manor of Cockermouth:
does not appear to have played a very prominent part in the history of the Middle Ages. Its proximity to the borderland of the two counties rendered it liable to the unwelcome visit of the Scottish marauders, who frequently made raids into the northern parts, driving away the cattle and burning the villages. Whilst the manor and castle were held by William de Fortibus, who possessed in right of his wife, Henry III, in 1221, ordered the castle to be besieged and destroyed to the very foundations. The cause which led to this summary proceeding on the part of the king, was the opposition he encountered from Fortibus when on a tour through the country, inspecting the various royal castles. It is not known whether the command was carried out in its entirety or not, but there are indications in the western tower of its having been built in the 14th century upon the foundations of an older one. The unruly baron, it would appear, afterwards submitted to the royal authority, for in the same year he obtained a charter for a market at Cockermouth. Freebooting expeditions were not confined solely to the Scottish side of the border. In 1268 Isabel, widow of Thomas de Fortibus, makes "complaint against Roger de Lancaster, Richard de Fleming, and others that vi et armis, they had come to her castle at Cockermouth, and seized and carried away a goshawk, three doves, and consumed her goods to the amount of 40 marks."
The manor and castle were for a short time in the possession of Piers de Gaveston, the favourite of the weak minded Edward II, and after the murder of Gaveston, the honour of Cockermouth was conveyed to Anthony de Lucy, in recognition of his gallant conduct in the capture of the rebellious Earl of Carlisle, Andrew de Hercla, in 1322. For a few years previous and subsequent to this date, there were troublous times for the Cumbrians. The Scotch, under their leaders, Sir William Wallace and his friend David Brigham, Bruce, and the Black Douglas, made frequent incursions into the county, and though several attempts were made on Cockermouth castle, they were never successful.
10. The Manor of Cleator:
The first mention of the Lord of the Manor of Cleator was in 1190 when the Manor lands were returned into local ownership by the Abbot of St.Marys in York. The first person mentioned at this time was one Richard de Cleator. The Manor of Cleator was ravaged by Sir James (Black) Douglas on behalf of Robert the Bruce in 1315, when the Manor house was burnt to the ground. The manor was locally unique in that the Manor was enfranchised to its tenants very early when the process was completed by 1543/44.
By 1578 the Manor lands were divided six ways, each having a sixth part. The holders were
1. Richard Irton; 2. Thomas Sevenhouse; 3. Roger Kirkby; 4. Christopher & John Haile;
5. The heirs of Lord Dacre and 6. John Hilton and the heirs of John Towerson.
11. The Manors of Copeland Forest :
The forest of Copeland contained the Manors of Kenniside, Wasdalehead & Eskdale. It must be significant that the Baron never relinquished control of the great Forest, which roughly covered the land lying between the rivers Cocker and Esk. The Forest would be retained, along with its hunting lodges, for the personal pleasure of the Baron and his guests. Some authorities have claimed that at least one King hunted in this Forest. Therefore Kenniside, Wasdalehead & Eskdale were known as the Forest Manors and along with Netherwasdale were always kept directly under the control of the Baron; such that they had their own separate Manor Court meeting held under the control of the Steward of the Lord, the Courts rotating to each manor in turn.
12. The Manor of Corney:
belonged at an early period to "Michael le Falconer," whose descendants assumed the local name of Corney. This family retained possession until the reign of Henry III [1216-1272], when, through failure of male issue, the estates were carried by the marriage of the heiress to a member of the Penningtons of Muncaster family. It is possible that this unknown heiress of Corney married Alan de Pennington who died in 1255. From them it has descended to the current Lord Muncaster who is also the Lord of the manor of Corney and Middleton Place. Lord Lonsdale is owner of certain lands, messuages, &c., and a few of the landowners possess the manorial privileges of their own estates.
13. The Manor of Dean
was part of the possessions given by William de Meschines to Waltheof, first Lord of Allerdale. Having passed by descent to the de Lucys, and then to the Percys, it was granted by the sixth Earl of Northumberland to the controller of his household, Sir Thomas Wharton. It was subsequently purchased from the Whartons by the Duke of Somerset, and has descended through the Lords of Egremont to Lord Leconfield, the present owner.
14. The Manor of Distington :
History has not recorded much of the early possessors of this manor. The first of whom there is any documentary evidence is Gilbert de Dundraw, who held it in the reigns of Richard I and John. He was descended from Odard de Logis, grantee of the manors of Wigton, Crofton, Dundraw, and Distington, from Waltheof, lord of Allerdale. He left no male issue, and his four daughters became co-parceners of his estates. In the 6th Edward I (1277-8), a part of the manor of Distington was conveyed to Thomas de Moresby and his wife Margaret. At a later period (1485) we find it in possession of the Dykes; and in 1578 it was held conjointly by Leonard Dykes and William Fletcher, and by the rent of 12s. 11d. By an intermarriage in the families of the co-heritors, the Fletchers became sole owners, and after the death of the last of that family, it was sold under a decree of Chancery in 1720 to John Brougham, Esq., of Scales, who, in 1737, conveyed it to Sir James Lowther, Bart., from whom it has descended to the present owner, the Earl of Lonsdale. The land has been enfranchised, but at what time does not appear, and each landowner claims the manorial rights of his own property. In 1910 the Earl of Lonsdale exercises the privileges of his lordship over the common lands only. These were inclosed by Act of Parliament in 1768, and a portion allotted to the church in lieu of tithes.
15. The Manor of Drigg :
The first recorded possessors of the manor of Drigg were the family of de Stuteville [ or Estoteville ], who held it in the reign of Henry II (1154-1189). In default of male issue, it passed to an heiress, who conferred it, along with her hand, upon Lord Wake, Baron of Liddell, from whom it passed to the Greystokes, Harringtons, lords of Aldingham, and subsequently by marriage to the Curwens, but was sold in the reign of James I, by Sir Nicholas Curwen, to Sir William Pennington, of Muncaster, whose posterity have since enjoyed the manorial rights and privileges. Lord Leconfield is, however, lord paramount of the whole parish