1498 On November 22, Edmund Donewiche of Flempton, Elizabeth his wife, John Lucas and others granted land to Thomas Lucas and others. [1]
22 November 1498
At Flempton
(i) Edmund Donewiche of Flempton, Elizabeth his wife, Roger Page, late of Risby, James Mell of Brockley and John Lucas of West Stow to (ii) Thomas Lucas, esq., of West Stow, William Ridhale, Humphrey Gatesby, John Page and Richard Best.
Grant of four pieces of land in Lackford and Flempton:-
1¾a. in Lackford, in a furlong called Whetelond between land of the manor of Lackford Hall on either side, abutting W. on land of the said manor and E. on a grove called le Okes; ¾a. in the same furlong between land of the said manor on either side, abutting on land of the same manor N. and S.; 2a. in Flempton between 'native' land of the manor of Flempton in tenure of Thomas Verdon E. and land of the manor of Lackford Hall W., abutting N. on land of the said manor of Lackford and S. on the heath called Nyneacres; 2a. in the same field between land of the same manor of Lackford on either side, abutting S. and N. on land of the said manor.
To hold to (ii) and their heirs, of the chief lords.
Recites ?449/2/104
Warranty clause.
Witnesses: Robert Rumbylowe; John Dykkes; Thomas Bloksegge; John Skepper; George Rumbylowe.
Endorsed: Carta Edd. Dunwich facta Thome Lucas. [16th cent.].
Writer: T. Clerk. (See 449/2/126,)
1498 On the same day, Edmund Donewiche mortgaged the lands described above to Thomas Lucas. [2]
22 November 1498
(i) Edmund Donewiche, husbandman, of Flempton to (ii) Thomas Lucas, esq., of West Stow.
Mortgage, for five marks, of four pieces of land, parcel of the lands of (i) in Flempton and Lackford, as appears in a charter of feoffment to (ii) and his feoffees [449/2/125]
Provision for redemption of the mortgage by 20 November 1500.
1500 "Richard, Abbot of St. Martin's de Bello, bestowed upon" Thomas Lucas "for services rendered to the monastery the advowson of the church of Thurlow, and an annual pension of two marks and a half issuing out of the vicarage." [3]
1504 Sir Roger Darcy sold the manor of Little Saxham in Suffolk to Thomas Lucas. "Immediately after Thomas Lucas's purchase from Sir Roger Darcy he laid the foundations of Little Saxham Hall. This house stood till 1773, when it was pulled down by Richard Croftes, M.P., and there remain now [1911] only the moat and some bits of masonry on its banks. But the foundations are still discernible." [4]
Thomas Lucas was Solicitor General to Henry VIII, "promoted to that office from the household of Jasper Tudor, Earl of Pembroke and Duke of Bedford, uncle to Hen. VII, to which Jasper he acted as secretary. He married Elizabeth, daughter of John Kemys, of Rayland, in Wales. [5]
1531 Thomas Lucas wrote his will on July 1. [6] [7]
By his will dated ist July, 1531, proved in London 12th March, 1531/2, he devised the site of his place or house in Little Saxham, within the great hedge or pale going about or encompassing the place to his grandson, Thomas Lucas, son of Jasper, deceased, in tail male, remainder to the testator's 3rd son, John Lucas, in tail male, remainder to the testator's daughters, Anne Barnardiston and Lettice Grenfeld, in tail. And he gave to his son, John Lucas, in tail male, among other hereditaments, Geddyng's or Topesfield's, Large's, and Grace's Manors in Little Saxham, and Leo's Hall, in Westley; and also the remainder to which the testator was entitled under the will of his wife's brother, Roger Kemys, in the Manors of Rogerston and Sutton, and lands in Newport and Wenlock.
1531 Thomas Lucas died on July 7. [8]
In the north wall of the chancel of the church in Little Saxham are the remains of the cenotaph of this Lucas, which Chitting notices thus: A tomb of stone, made for Thomas Lucas, Solicitor to Hen. VII. which has scutcheons of his wife's coats, but he was never buried in it. It was an altar tomb standing under an arch that opened into the Lucas Chapel; the arch is now filled up, and these shields of the tomb are inserted in the wall: (i) Lucas and Morieux quarterly; (2) Lucas impaling Morieux; (3) Lucas and Morieux quarterly, impaling Kemys. (4) Kemys.
[9]
1531 The inquisition post mortem of Thomas Lucas was taken at Hennowe on September 25. [10]
The jurors find that: 'Thomas Lucas was seised (under conveyances to trustees) of the manor called Larges and Graces with 12 messuages, 50 acres of land, 6 acres of meadow, 300 acres of pasture, 20 acres of wood, and 20s. of rent in Little and Great Saxham, Ikworth, Fornham, Westle, Great Hornyngeserth, Little Hornyngserth, Chevyngton and Rysby, and the Manor of Geddyngshall alias Toppysfeilds with appurtenances in Great and Little Saxham, Rysby, Westle, Norton, Ikworth and Chevyngton, and of all the lands belonging in Flempton and Lackford late belonging to Roger Dunwych.The manors of Graces, Larges and Toppisfelds were found to be held of the Abbot of St. Edmund in Bury, service not known and worth £20 per annum.
1530 "Thomas Lucas had three sons and two daughters, the eldest of whom, Jasper, married Margery, daughter and heir of Robert Geddyng, and died 17th Feb. 1530, in his father's lifetime, leaving, with other children, a son Thomas. He and his uncle, John Lucas, sold their estates in Little Saxham to Sir John Croftes, of West Stow, in 1551." [11]
Research Notes:
Some of the notes above were recorded in Gage's History of Thingoe Hundred. [12] [13] [14] [15]
[1] The National Archives of the United Kingdom Catalog, Suffolk Record Office, Bury St Edmunds Branch, Reference: 449/2/125, [UKNationalArchives].
[2] The National Archives of the United Kingdom Catalog, Suffolk Record Office, Bury St Edmunds Branch, Reference: 449/2/126, [UKNationalArchives].
[3] Walter Arthur Copinger, The Manors of Suffolk, Vol. 7 (Manchester: Taylor, Garnett, Evans, and Co., 1911), 100, [InternetArchive].
[4] Walter Arthur Copinger, The Manors of Suffolk, Vol. 7 (Manchester: Taylor, Garnett, Evans, and Co., 1911), 100, noting that a manuscript in the British Museum contains items of expenses incurred in the building of this house and that extracts of the manuscript were published in Gage's History of Thingoe Hundred, [InternetArchive].
[5] Walter Arthur Copinger, The Manors of Suffolk, Vol. 7 (Manchester: Taylor, Garnett, Evans, and Co., 1911), 100, [InternetArchive].
[6] Walter Arthur Copinger, The Manors of Suffolk, Vol. 7 (Manchester: Taylor, Garnett, Evans, and Co., 1911), 100-101, [InternetArchive].
[7] Prerogative Court of Canterbury Wills, 1384-1858, Prob 11, Piece 24, Thower (1531-1533), [AncestryImage].
[8] Walter Arthur Copinger, The Manors of Suffolk, Vol. 7 (Manchester: Taylor, Garnett, Evans, and Co., 1911), 100, cting I.P.M., 23 Hen. VIII. 62, [InternetArchive].
[9] Walter Arthur Copinger, The Manors of Suffolk, Vol. 7 (Manchester: Taylor, Garnett, Evans, and Co., 1911), 100, [InternetArchive].
[10] Walter Arthur Copinger, The Manors of Suffolk, Vol. 7 (Manchester: Taylor, Garnett, Evans, and Co., 1911), 101, [InternetArchive].
[11] Walter Arthur Copinger, The Manors of Suffolk, Vol. 7 (Manchester: Taylor, Garnett, Evans, and Co., 1911), 101, citing Fine, Mich. 5 Edw. VI, [InternetArchive].
[12] John Gage, The History and Antiquities of Suffolk: Thingoe Hundred (London: John Deck, 1838), 62, [GoogleBooks].
[13] John Gage, The History and Antiquities of Suffolk: Thingoe Hundred (London: John Deck, 1838), 76, [GoogleBooks].
[14] John Gage, The History and Antiquities of Suffolk: Thingoe Hundred (London: John Deck, 1838), 131, [GoogleBooks].
[15] John Gage, The History and Antiquities of Suffolk: Thingoe Hundred (London: John Deck, 1838), 132, [GoogleBooks].