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7 L y I/-/ The Manors of Suffolk Notes on Their and Devolution History The Hundreds of Babergh and Blackbourn With some Illustrations of the old Manor Houses BY W. A. COPINGER, M.A., LL.D., F.S.A., F.R.S.A. Of the Middle Temple, Barrister-at-law. Professor and Dean of the Faculty of Law in the Victoria University of Manchester. Sometime President of the Bibliographical Society. Author of "County of Suffolk: Its History as Disclosed by Existing Records," &c. LONDON T. FISHER UNWIN 1905 THIS WORK IS DEDICATED TO ILorb jfrancts 1berve& IN THANKFUL RECOGNITION OF THE ENCOURAGEMENT AND ASSISTANCE WHICH THE AUTHOR RECEIVED FROM HIS LORDSHIP IN THE ISSUING OF THE RECORDS OF THE COUNTY OF SUFFOLK. Hote. The present is a kind of trial volume, and forms the first instalment of si< like volumes already written on the Manors of Suffolk. Should it meet with acceptance, the volumes will be sent to press so soon as a sufficient number of copies have been subscribed to repay the cost of printing. No doubt more might have been said respecting themanors,andespecially the manor houses, but in viewofthe fact that there are about 2,000 manors in Suffolk, and the ofrestricting the work toseven volumes, littlemore than dry facts could be given to speak for themselves. For most of the statements made authority is quoted, but where the author has found no authority he has indicated the fact, and drawn the best inference he could. And where full information has not been obtained, he has almost invariably given the information he had. however defective, in the hope that such might lead to the supplying by others of what was lacking. For the sake of easy reference, citationof fines levied prior to the reign of Hen. VII., a calendar of which has been printed, is "Feet of Fines," while of those " " subsequently of which no printed calendar exists, Fine only. The Author has to thank the Rev. E. Fairer, Rector of Huulcrclay, for his kindness in perusing the proof sheets, and he is under an obligation to his daughter Katharine for the Index Rerum, and to his daughter Margaret Sarsfield for the Indices Nominum and Locorum. W. A. COPINGER. KERSAL CELL, MANCHESTER. Jnttobuction. HE Hundred division is now practically obsolete, having | been superseded by Petty Sessional and other divisions, but as late as 1869 there was a High Constable foreach Hundred of the County. The division of the Countyinto Hundreds has been vari- ously accountedfor. It probably was an early Saxon device, recast no doubt by King Alfred, who certainly revised the scheme and altered, settled, and brought the divisions into greater systema- tic order.1 The three divisions of Counties, Hundreds, and Tithings were dealt with by the King. Each had its own Court. The tithing was com- posed of ten families or more who dwelt together and were bound for each other's behaviour. It is said that originally each tithing ought to possess within itself a church, a burial ground, divine services, and the sacraments. The tithing developed into Parishes, and of these the Hundred was made up. We are quite aware that in the older laws of the Anglo-Saxons, the " word tithing is not used, the term then in vogue being Gild brethren," as, for instance, in the Laws 27 and 28 of Alfred. Edgar seems to have been the first Saxon King to estimate aright the value of the Hundred division, and to give it a name and place in the local divisions of the County. It was by his ordinance (959-975) that the Hundred had to meet every four weeks, and in fact by him the functions of the Hundred were first duly prescribed. This king also provided that every man should be under " borh" or suretiship both within the enclosed places and without, and that witnesses should be appointed to every " " borh and to every Hundred. Ethelred's laws (978-1016) followed on the same lines, providing of " borhs " that every freeman should have a true " borh " or surety, and " " that the borh might present him to every justice, if he should be accused. Knut's laws (1016-1035) follow on the same lines, every freeman having to be brought into a Hundred and into a tithing. He had to be brought into a " borh," and the " borh " had to hold and lead him to every plea, i.e., he had to be brought in so as to be under pledge with a surety who should be answerable for his appearance in any suit. The regulation did not apply to those who by rank, family connection, or commendation, were exempted from the provisions of this and similar enactments. In the laws of Edward the Confessor (1043-1066) we find cap. 13 headed, ' The Divisions of the Shires and Hundreds," runs thus : The divisions of the shires properly form part of the King's jurisdiction, and attached to them is the King's highway. The divisions of the Hundred and wapen- takes belong to the earls and the viscounts (the sheriffs) assisted by the County Court. The Hundred was an important division. It was the division on which was primarily based the assessment for geld and served as the area for rating purposes, besides being the organisation or body amenable for damages in case of riot or destruction of property. Mr. Round has satis- factorily shown that the Hundred and not the manor nor even the vill was treated as the fiscal unit for the collection of Danegeld. 1 See Statute law in the latter part of this king's reign, about the year 890. INTRODUCTION. rf. " The butinm of the Hundred was transacted in the hundred mote," in which in later times the townships or parishes were represented by the town reeve and four assessors. The Court of the Hundred exercised both civfl and criminal jun-<!i< n..n, and litigant-, were bound to seek justice in thisCourt before applying to a higher tribunal. As the king was entitled to a fine for each offence, his reeve used to attend the Court twice a year to receive these fines. It was on these that the Court exercised the duty of seeing that every man was enrolled in his tithing, a practice which continued long after the Norman Conquest as the sheriff's turn, or leet and view of frankpledge. It was sometime a lower Court for the payment of small debts and then the bailiff of the Hundred presided. Hundreds were either in the King's hand or in private hands by grant from the Sovereign. When in the King's hand the sheriff usually let them at farm to bailiffs. The bailiff generally presided in the Court, and after paying hi> nut under the tenancy or holding, made what profit be could from the fees and amercements or other -exactions levied on the Miitors and men of the Hundred. In process of time, the greater number of the Hundreds, certainly in the County of Suffolk, had been granted to private individuals, and in many cases the lord of the hundred did not own a single acre in it. MANORS. Some have supposed the word " manor " to be derived from the old " " French word manoir," or rather perhaps manior," or chief dwelling; " but others from the French mesuer," signifying to govern, or to guide, because the lord of a manor has the guidance and direction of all his tenants " " within the limits of his estate ; and this," says Lord Coke, I hold the most probable etymology, and most agreeing with the nature of a manor ; for a manor in these days signifies the jurisdiction and royalty incorporate rather than the land or scite."1 True, my Lord, but is this not deriving the name from a quality not inherent in the manor at the time of the original user of the name ? The etymology, no doubt accorded with the ire of the thing in Lord Coke'sday, and tosome extent in our own time but this hardly seems sufficient. Manors have been usually regarded by our writers on English antiquities as of Norman introduction, but modern investigation tends to disclose a much earlier origin. They are no doubt as ancient as the Saxon constitution, and the germ from which they sprung has been traced to Roman times. The elements of the manor are discernible during a somewhat lengthy period inAnglo-Saxon times but certainly upto the very time ofthe Norman ; Conquest the greater part of the estates passing under the name of manors bore but a poor resemblance to the ordinary manorial estate of later days. The Roman colonization did not affect the institutions of this country Mathemodc^in which they were affected by the Anglo-Saxon settlement. 7ner not mt?r'ere .^h existing Celtic institutions further than ih!appened to be inconsistent with the Roman occupation, but the Complete Copyholder. Ed. 1644.