Introduction

It is striking that when we start to look at the period of history between 1485 & 1714 - referred to as the Tudors & Stuart after the names of the royal houses - that there is so little information about Great Addington compared to the Medieval period. Across England and the rest of the world, momentous events occurred but Great Addington seems to have settled into a rural quiet that doesn't change until much later with the industrial revolution, and some might even say continues to the present day. 

The Medieval period between 1066 and 1485 opened with the Domesday Survey and ended with the will of Henry de Vere of Great Addington, the last male descendent of Aubrey de Vere who had accompanied William the Conquer in 1066. The original de Vere house was let to various tenants and eventually disappears from the records and the village - either demolished or replaced. No new building work was to be undertaken on the church for nearly 400 years. The villagers Medieval houses were gradually replaced by later Georgian and Victorian buildings. The only significant buildings that we can categorically date to this period are Great Addington Manor and the Rectory, now known as Great Addington House. 

Following the Black Death, the Peasants Revolt, and the War of the Roses, during the 14th and 15th centuries, the English population began to increase, but was still less than 2 million in 1600 - probably not to dissimilar to the population during the time of Roman Britain. The growing population stimulated economic growth, accelerated the commercialisation of agriculture, increased the production and export of wool, encouraged trade, and promoted the growth of major cities such as London.

The high wages and abundance of available land seen in the late 15th century and early 16th century were replaced with low wages and a land shortage. Inflationary pressures, perhaps due to an influx of New World gold and a rising population, set the stage for social upheaval with the gap between the rich and poor widening. 

The bonds between the Church, the Crown, and the populace was changed forever with the creation of the Church of England and the dissolution of the monasteries. This led to religious wars and extremism; and then in the 1600s the schism between the Crown and Parliament led to the Civil War that tore the country, and often families, apart. 

Perhaps the most significant affect of the change to be seen in Great Addington was the rise of a middle class; property owning, and aspirational. There is a wealth of documents regarding Great Addington throughout this period and into the later Georgian relating to tax and property sales, not just amongst the rich but in a new class of Yeoman farmers and skilled trades people.

The Abbey Lands of Great Addington 

In 4 December, 1539, Henry VIII's commissioners arrived at Croyland, and the surrender of the Abbey to the King was signed by the abbot and twenty-eight monks. Probably for his compliance the last Abbot, John Bridges, was awarded a large pension of £133 6s. 8d., (about £60,000 a year in 2021) and the rest of the monks received pensions varying from £5 to £10 a year, roughly equivalent to a skilled workers wages for a year. Aproximately 12,000 members of religious orders received pensions for life as part of the dissolution process. Some sixty years later there are records showing some were still receiving their pensions. 

The Crown took the value of the Abbey's possession, which when sold in 1544 by the crown-bailiffs brought in £1,434 11s. 4½d.  (about £600,000 in 2021). On 25 March, 1544, the Abbey lands in Great Addington - including where Great Addington Manor now stands - were sold as part of a portfolio of lands to Sir William Parr, Lord Horton; who was uncle to Catherine Parr (6th wife of Henry VIII) and whose daughter, Maud, was lady-in-waiting to Catherine Parr. Maud later married Sir Robert Lane of Orlingbury, who became Sir Robert Lane of Horton following her fathers death in 1547.

As Sir William Parr had no male heir a fresh grant was made in 1558 by Queen Mary (Tudor) and her husband, King Philip of Spain, to Sir Robert Lane of Horton and Anthony Throckmorton of Chastleton, Oxfordshire. Throckmorton was a Member of Parliment and was close to Queen Mary and then later Queen Elizabeth. Throckmorton also purchased Milbourne Grange, Warwickshire in February 1556 and later sold it in April 1565 to Sir Thomas Leigh; clearly he was an entrepreneur able to raise sufficient capital to enter into significant land speculation.  Throckmorton's sister, Merial Throckmorton, married Thomas Tresham and their son Frances Tresham was one of the main conspirators in the Gunpowder Plot of 1605. In partnership, they purchased not only the manor of Great Addington, but also other land and manors across the country for over £1,000; an enormous sum of money at that time.

The order from Philip and Mary, 4th February 1558: reads

"Grant by Letters Patent from Philip and Mary, to Robert Lane of Horton, Northants, and Anthony Throckmorton of Chesterton, Oxfordshire, of the manor of Great Addington, formerly belonging to the monastery of Crowland, Lincs: and the right of patronage to the parish of Addington; and the manor of Brinklow, the manor of Ludbroke, late the land of Lady Mary, late Duchess of Richmond; before that the property of the dissolved monastery of Combe, in Warwickshire; a messuage and lands in Upelmer, called Cotes-on-the-Hill, in the parish of Wolbeding in Sussex; lands in Montgomeryshire; 2 cottages in Aston Cantlow, Warwickshire; a messuage in Hatton, Warwicks., belonging once to the Prior of Studley, Warwicks; King's Field alias Showland in Edgbaston, Warwicks; late part of the land of Fulk Brimincham; and all rights and revenues, and the rights of the Dean and Chapter of the late College of the Blessed Mary in Warwick. (The grant gave the yearly value of each manor and parcel of land). All advowsons except the aforesaid are reserved to the Queen. Enrolled before John Swifte, Auditor, and Robert Multon, Deputy Auditor. "

Sir Robert Lane and Anthony Throckmorton then sold the manorial estate in 1562 to a Henry Clarke of Stanwick, presumably making a good profit in the process. The deed of sale also mentions for the first time a local landmark, Willy Watts Mill, though it is referred to as "Willywater mill". 

"10th May 1562 - relating to the manor of Great Addington, Willywater mill in Woodford, and 15 selions (roughly 15 acres) of land in Woodford, with appurtenances, all lately belonging to the dissolved monastery of Crowland, Lincs., conveyed by Sir Robert Lane, of Horton, Northants., knight, and Anthony Throckmorton of Chesterton, Oxon., to Henry Clarke of Stanwick, Northants."

The 16th century was a period of population rise and price inflation. The social pressure on those with wealth to display it was considerable. Fortunes were poured into building grand houses and providing lavish hospitality. Landowners were also always in debt. Not because they were suffering from serious financial problems but because their rental income varied and they often need to borrow large sums to fund expensive projects such as house building.

Most landowners were, however, more than able to cope with these pressures. Rising food prices and population created a demand for tenancies and this, combined with increases imposed on existing tenants by landlords, made for higher rents. Holdings were also expanded as the sales of ex-monastic lands mostly went to existing rather than new owners. From the second half of the century in particular, the numbers of men who might be classed among the gentry or aristocracy significantly expanded. For the labouring population this was not such a good time. While wages did rise, they did not increase as fast as prices and with an increasing population there was more competition and many were forced to take to the roads in search of work.

Henry Clarke was the son of William Clarke of Potterspury, Northamptonshire who had good connections having been serjeant-arms to Henry VIII, Edward VI, Mary Tudor and Elizabeth I, and appears to have prospered through this connection. When Henry Clarke died in 1574 he left a significant inheritance of lands across Northamptonshire. He lived on his farm at Stanwick with his wife Anne ad their three sons Gabriel, Christopher, and the eldest son and heir, William. 

William Clarke died in 1604, leaving a widow Eleanor but no heir. His brother Gabriel then sold some of the inheritance, including one parcel of land in 1606-7 to Margery Curtis (spelt Curteys in the deed of sale) and her son Christopher, both of Great Addington. The land deeds include: 

15 tofts of land, 20 acres of meadow, and 40 acres of pasture in Great Addington, Little Addington, and Woodford. 

A toft of land meant a house and small area of land for a family. The spelling of "Curteys" given in the deeds is likely to be a misspelling of the surname "Curtis". Margery Curtis and Christopher Curtis reappear in a number of other land transactions around the same time.

Christopher Curtis built the house that we know as Great Addington Manor, though at the time it was built the house was smaller than it is today and shaped like the letter "E" in plan. The house would have been a statement of wealth, being by far the largest building in the village, and represented a superior and substantial farmhouse. Christopher Curtis's wife was Dorothy, so presumably the "C" and "CD" on the date stone of the house stands for Christopher & Dorothy Curteys, with a building date of 1610. 

Around this time we get one of the first property deeds that mention the Beeby family (Warwickshire Archive Ref: CR0162/354) dated to 20th March 1611:

Conveyance by Christopher Curtis of Great Addington, Northants., yeoman, to Alexander Beebie of the same, shoemaker, and John Beebie, his son, of a messuage in Great Addington on the High Street, between the messuages of George Smith and John Bolney, and a ½ yardland.

Date

In 1618 Christopher and Dorothy sell the house and estate for the enormous sum of £1,000 to Thomas Bletsoe:

that capital messuage (superior property)...in Great Addington now in tenure of Christopher Curtis...and late in the tenure or occupation of Margery Curtis, widow, mother of said and now or lately reputed to be the manor of Great Addington.

Master William Cockland

The rector of All Saints  between 1509-1526 seems to have been a colourful character. Two extracts from diocesan records relate to him:

John Smith and Roger Salford both of Adyngton say that Thomas Parker of Copmanford has reported and expressively said that the Rector of Addington has two children by the wife of his servant, namely, his cook, and that the said woman was formerly the wife of one Bryde, who was hung at Lincoln. (He said) that she was put in the stocks at Fyskarton and sat in them for two house in the sight of the said Rector. And it is said that the Rector customarily wears, by day and night, chain mail beneath his gabardine (overcoat), which he frequently wears, and not priestly garb, contrary to honest priesthood.

The next section of text is somewhat garbled

The parson said he could not keep a priest there and that (the forename of her husband is crossed out in the text) Wethercotes hath putt 4 or 5 priests, thei were suspecte with Wethercotes wife, (the last few words have been crossed out in the original document) thens bicause her husband was jelious of her.

The date given is either 1526 or 1527 - there is confusion in the handwritten record. The servant, Wethercotes, was probably the curate as the accounts for the parish church in 1526 list the following payments, including one for a curate and no other servant is mentioned:

• William Cokeland, rector £9 (the spelling of the surname is slightly different)

• Curate's stipend 53s 4d

• Synodal dues & payments to papal collectors 10s 7d

• Payment to Crowland Abbey 10s

• Payment to Thorney Abbey 6s 8d

• On these the subsidy was assessed at 9s 11 & quarter d

• John Rowth chantry priest received £6 on which he paid 8s (the chantry priest was paid from the trust established by Henry de Vere)

A second entry relating to William Cockland is dated 12 September 1538, at Liddington some 12 year after he had left Great Addington. He was called to answer as to why he had not celebrated divine service on St. Anne's day. Cockland appeared at Irthlingborough on 27 September 1538 and confessed that he was away from his parish on the day of the Holy Name, and St Lawrence's day; that they were not kept as festivals and neither were the bells rung nor was mass celebrated. On those days he was at Lincoln (Great Addington was part of Lincoln Diocese at that time). The judge dismissed him when this was sworn. As for the rest he denied it.

Philip Darcy died c1670, the probate record following his death is held by The National Archives, Kew:

PROB 4/4989

Description: Darcy, Phillip, of the City of London ob at Great Addington, Northants.

Date: 1670 13 June

The Darcy family, who had been living as tenant of their wealthy relatives the Mordaunts, disappear from the records following Philip's death.

The title to the manor - though over the following years much of the land was sold - passed with the barony of Mordaunt and earldom of Peterborough until 1814, when the last Earl of Peterborough died without an heir.

In the History, gazetteer, and directory of Northamptonshire, 1849, produced by William Whellan, it reads:

"Thomas Andrew, Esq., of Harleston, whose predecessors bought it (the Manor) of Lord Mordaunt, was lord of the manor in Bridges' time (1712)."

The History of Northamptonshire by John Bridges was not published until 1791, nearly 50 years after his death, but it would seem that much of the information about Great Addington was collected by Bridges around 1710-20. In his published work it gives us the only documented reference to the location of the medieval manor house:

"Thomas Andrew of Harleton Esq; whose predecessors bought it of Lord Mordaunt is now lord of Addington-magna. Between this and Little Addington is the manor house, inhabited by a tenant, pleasantly situated amongst woods, with a stream running by it."

This sale of the house and lands by the Mordaunt family to the Andrew family must have occurred some time between 1610 and 1645 as we know that William Andrew, the father of Thomas Andrew, is recorded as being a "farmer" in Great Addington; and Thomas was born and lived the first part of his life in Great Addington. 

See below for information about the Andrew family of Northamptonshire.

Great Addington Tax Payers 1524 & 1545

We have the English tax records from 1524 and 1545 to thank for the next set of records giving names of some of the inhabitants of the village.  A few names appear in both sets of records, though whether it is the same person or a descendent in unknown. 

These are the first records since the 1301 Tax Asessment (see Medieval section) and the names of individuals are no longer their occupations but are recognisable forename and surname combinations. Apart from the individuals names and the amount of tax they had to pay there is no other information given, so we don't know their occupations or where they lived. 

A few of the records have in lucro entered against the record, which translates as in profit, but what this implies is unclear.  

A number of the names are difficult to translate, for instance one surname has been translated as Golney, but should probably be Bolney, as a family of that name are know to have lived in the village from the 16th century up until their last decendent, Elizabeth Bolney, died in 1806. 

The 1524 records are also the first time we see the Beeby family name appearing in the village. This surname would be a constant in the village until the death of the last descendent, George Beeby, who was living in Great Addington in the 20th century. 

1524 Assessment

• Thomas Nethercote, who is assessed at a tax of £32.00 which was an enormous sum at that time, equivalent to 4 years earnings for skilled tradesman. Thomas clearly had wealth and I can therefore only assume that Thomas was living in the Medieval Manor house as no other property would have been of a high status.

• John (Bakon)

• Patryk Story

• John Curtes the elder, who is assessed at a tax of £17.00 the second highest amount in the village. This is most likely an ancestor of the Christopher Curtis who built what is now the Manor House in 1609.

• Edward Orton

• John Smyth

• Roger Sawford

• Thomas Beby

• William Beby

• Thomas Beby the younger

• John Mychell (John Mitchell) - in profit

• William Asser

• Richard Crosse

• John Worlyche

• John Eyton

• John Weldon

• William Hart - a record of William Hart's will exists and is dated to 1543

• John Mason

• William Roberts

• Richard Sheperd

• Henry Golney (probably Henry Bolney) - a record of Henry Bolney's will exists and is dated to 1536

• Richard Yvrley the younger (probably Vorley)

• John Hart - in profit

• John Wheytley

• John Petor

• William Hayward - in profit

• Margarett Sawford

• Robert Rowlett

Records for other will's from the period include: John Curtis the younger (1533) presumbly the son of the John Curtis mentioned above, Henry Abbot (the date is unclear but is either1524 or 1527), Thomas Brewster (1511), John Heyds (1546), Christopher Raunden (1560), and Roger Campyon (1546). The last individual has an unusual and distinctive surname, french in origin, and is possibly a descendent of either Alice Campion or William Campion who were living in the village in 1301. 

Twenty one years later in 1545 there is another tax assessment of the village, this was a smaller tax assessment and the sums raised were much smaller, being measured in pennies rather than pounds or shilings.

 1545 Assessment

• Henry Coxe

• Alexander Boley - probably Alexander Bolney

• John Curtes - probably John Curtis

• Thomas Elyat

• Henry Benet

• Robt Johnson

• John Ward

• Wyllyam Armesby

• John Worliche

• Rychard Edbrow

• Alys Curt[is] - probably Alice Curtis

• Rychard Crosse 

• George Mabys

• John Cleyton

• Elenor Bo(sl)ey - probably Elenor Bolney

• Jeffery Bocher

• John Haynes - this might be the John Heyds whose will is recorded for the year after the tax assessment.

• John Crosse

• Crystoffer Johnson

• Johan Ward

• John Maryat

Families of Great Addington: Elections of 1702 & 1705

In 1832 the records of the votes for Members of Parliament for Northamptonshire were gathered together and published listing all those who had voted and who they voted for by village in each hundred of Northamptonshire.  

Secret ballots were not introduced in the UK until 1872 when the law was changed, prior to that those who were eligible to vote had to declare their choice in public, a system that was open to bribery and intimidation.

The earliest poll record is from 1702, the first election under the new Queen Anne, and list the following men (women could not vote until 1928) who were entitled to vote. It should be noted that the original records often contained errors. I believe that the surname "Bolney" which was known in the village for many years has been misspelt in the records as "Boney" and also "Bolvey". The surname "Vorley" has also been spelt as "Virley". I have inserted in brackets what I believe to be the correct name based on Great Addington family names from that period:

• Henry Lee

• Thomas Dowberry

• Alexander Beeby

• John Smith

• Thomas Boney (Bolney)

• Samuel Selby

• Francis Rickard

• Thomas Weekly

• James Boney (Bolney)

• William Weed

• Richard Stanton

• William Willis

• John Willis

• Robert Lamb 

• John Beeby

• John Hawkes

• William Beeby

• William Virley (Vorley)

• Robert Smith

• Francis Chapman

• John Beeby

• Thomas Saunderson - (possibly Sanderson as a family of that name were known to have been living in Great Addington in the 1670's)

• Henry Hudson

• James Beeby

The next election was in 1705. The politics at the time was chaotic and the Tory party which had won the majority in 1702 had become unpopular. The election was fiercly fought and there was mob violence in many places across the country. The 1705 electors in Great Addington are listed as follows:

• Japhet Abbot

• Thomas Abbot

• Lawrence Beeby

• James Beeby

• John Beeby

• John Beeby (this may be an error as the same name and the same voting record are repeated)

• William Beeby

• James Bolvey (Bolney)

• Francis Chapman

• John Hawkes

• Thomas Hensman

• Henry Hudson

• Thomas Saunderson - (possibly Sanderson as a family of that name were known to have been living in Great Addington in the 1670's)

• Thomas Sherriff

• Robert Smith

• William Virley (Vorley)

• John Weed

• William Wisdish

The Church in a Poor State of Repair

It is quite surprising to find that the parish church, which had played such an important role in life for nearly a thousand years, had by the 1600's become quite neglected. We tend to think of early generations being more religious, but the reality was that attendance at high Anglican churches had been in decline for many years. Attempts to standardise religious practice in the early 1600s was one of the key factors that led to the conflict between King Charles I and Parliament. Protest took place at what many saw as moves by the King and the Church to reintroduce Catholicism. In 1633, Charles appointed William Laud, his main political advisor, as Archbishop of Canterbury and started making the Church more ceremonial. The Church authorities revived laws from the time of Elizabeth I about church attendance and fined Puritans for not attending Anglican services. Archbishop Laud also introduced a high Anglican Book of Common Prayer that was met with opposition by the Puritans who  accused Laud of reintroducing Catholicism.  The combination of decades of dwindling attendance at chruch, the rise of non-conformism and puritanism was a lack of communal support for the parish church and revenues were in decline. This was a common problem across the country and it is not until the later part of the Victorian era that many church buildings were repaired and maintained. 

It is also important to remember that there was no "lord of the manor" resident in either Great or Little Addington by the end of the 15th century, and therefore nobody wealthy enough or willing to pay for maintenance of the church.

We have two reports following building surveys of the churches in Great and Little Addington from 1631 which give an insight into the poor state of repair the buildings were now in. All Saints in Great Addington, though lacking windows and with a broken floor, appears to be in a better state than Little Addington church, which would appear to have been in a very neglected state - including holes in the floor "deep enough to bury a child":

Great Addington

• One of the windows on the northside of the church and two on the southside are in part boarded up and stopped up, seats want boarding.

• The pavement (floor) of the church is broken in divers (many) places. The pavement of the aisle on the northside of the chancel is a great part there of broken by reason of burial there.  

• The want of a poor mans box (no alms box for the poor)

Little Addington

• The chancel is altogether imparied, and there be diverse holes in the floor deep enough to bury a child in. 

• The seats are broken, and very undecent in the chancel which the proprietry ought to repair in right of the rectory.

• The cover of the east end of the chancel (which was wont to be over the high alter, and might now seem to cover the communion table and to save from any filth falling upon it) is broken and very indecent.

• The chancel door is patched with rough boards and very undecently.

• The chancel wants whiting, plastering  and paining in divers places.

• One window on the south ide of the chancel hath above half the glass broken and the other windows are faulty in divers places.

• The stones in the bottom of the windows at the upper end of the chancel are broken up very unseemly.

• The roof of the chancel wants pointing in divers places in so much that the chancel is utterly unlawful for people to assemble in at the communion or for any persons to sit in to hear divine service or sermons.

The Midland Revolt & The Newton Rebellion

The Midland Revolt was a popular uprising which occurred in the Midlands of England in 1607 and culminated with the Newton Rebellion.

The revolt began in late April 1607 in Haselbech, Pytchley and Rushton in Northamptonshire, it spread to Warwickshire and Leicestershire during May. The riots were a protest against the enclosure of common land and drew considerable support, led by "Captain Pouch", otherwise John Reynolds, said to be from Desborough, Northamptonshire. He urged them to use no violence in their efforts to destroy the enclosures. Three thousand were recorded at Hillmorton, Warwickshire and 5,000 at Cotesbach, Leicestershire. A curfew was imposed in Leicester, for fear its citizens would stream out to join the riots. 

In May 1607, King James I issued a proclamation:

Whereas some of the meaner sort of our people did of late assemble themselves in riotous and tumultuous maner within our Countie of Northampton, sometimes in the night, and sometimes in the day, under pretence of laying open enclosed grounds of late yeeres taken in, to their damage, as they say. The repressing whereof we did first referre only to the due course of Justice, and the ordinary proceedings of the Commissioners of the Peace, and other our Ministers in such cases: Forasmuch as Wee have perceived since, that lenitie hath bred in them, rather encouragement then obedience, and that they have presumed to gather themselves in greater multitudes, as well in that Countie, as in some others adjoining, We find it now very necessary to use sharper remedies.

King James I ordered his deputy lieutenants in Northamptonshire to put down the riots.

Event culimated in June 1607 when over a thousand protesters, including women and children, gathered in Newton, Northamptonshire (near Geddington) to protest against the enclosures by pulling out hedges and filling ditches. The wealthy Tresham family of Newton and their better-known cousins at Rushton Hall were unpopular for voracious enclosure of land. Sir Thomas Tresham of Rushton was the gentleman described as the "most odious in this country". The Roman Catholic family of Treshams had been in a long dispute regarding lands with an emerging Puritan family, the Montagus of Boughton House. Now Tresham of Newton was enclosing common land, known as the Brand, which had been part of Rockingham Forest.

Edward Montagu, a deputy lieutenant, had spoken against enclosure in Parliament some years earlier, but was now placed by the King in the effective position of defending the Treshams. Local militia refused to serve, so that landowners had to use their own servants to suppress the rioters on 8 June 1607. The Royal Proclamation was read twice, but the protestors continued at which point the gentry and their forces charged. Between forty and fifty were killed in the pitched battle and the captured leaders of the protest were hanged and quartered.

There is a memorial to the executed at St Faith's Church, Newton, but parish and assize records have not survived. The Tresham family declined soon after but the Montagu family went on through marriage to become one of the biggest landowners in Britain.

John Bridges's, History of Northamptonshire, 1719, recounts information held in the Great Addington parish register that he read when he visited:

"In the Parish Register are entered accounts of several memorable things by Thomas Cox, Rector, who died in 1640; from one we learn that in 1607 were insurrections of the common people in many counties & here at Rushton & Pightesley (Pytchley), to destroy the hedges & other mound of the inclosed fields in those parishes. And that on the eight day of June in this year, assembling for the same purposes at Newton near Geddington & not dispersing after the proclamation had been read, a skirmish ensued between the populace & the justices & gentlemen who met to oppose them. In the fray some were killed & wounded & many taken prisoner, who afterwards were hanged & quartered & their quarters set up at Northampton, Oundle, Thrapston & other places."

The survivors were granted a Royal Pardon, provided they presented themselves before Michaelmas to Sir Edward Montagu at Boughton and signed, or left their mark on, a submission document. About 110 people - including one woman, Winifred Turner of Stanion - left their mark. Less than thirty signed their names showing that the majority of those involved had little or no education. 

In 1675 much of Northampton was destroyed in a fire which destroyed about 700 buildings including All Saints church, in six hours. Three quarters of the town was destroyed, 11 people died and about 700 families were made homeless. Thomas was appointed commissioner for the rebuilding of the town. In 1724, the town's new appearance inspired author and traveler Daniel Defoe to describe Northampton as the:

 "handsomest and best built town in all this part of England…..finely rebuilt with brick and stone, and the streets made spacious and wide".

Thomas was also twice Sheriff of Northamptonshire, in 1687-88 and also between Mar-Nov, 1689.

It is presumed that on inheriting the Harlestone estate - and with a career as an MP - Thomas did not farm the estate in Great Addington, which was then presumably let to tenants, and would have lived at Harlestone. He had married Anne Kynneston of Broughton, Northants, in March 1665 and they had 4 children: 

1. Robert Andrew (d. 1739);

2. Thomas Andrew; died in infancy;

3. Anne Andrew (d. 1710)

4. Dorothy Andrew (d. before 1722) married John Stokes.

Thomas died and was buried at Harlestone on the 19 October 1722, and was commemorated by a monument there; his will was proved 1 February 1722/3.  His wife had died many years earlier in February 1677/8. 

Robert Andrew (d. 1739) of Harlestone was the only surviving son of Thomas Andrew. He was unmarried and died without an heir on the 7th July 1739 and is commemorated on his father's monument at Harlestone church. He had inherited the Harlestone estate from his father in 1722 and appears to have built a new house there in about 1728.  At his death the estate was bequeathed to his godson, also called Robert Andrew, son of John Andrew of Creaton.

The Andrew family of Northamptonshire by the end of the Stuart period and into the early Georgian period were an established, wealthy, and connected member of the Northamptonshire landed gentry. By now the family had lands in Harlestone, Creaton, Crick, and Great Addington. The Andrew estate at Harlestone was next to the estate of Earl Spencer and there is an interesting account of the relationship between the two families:

"The park wall on the south side divides the properties of the Andrew and Spencer families. In the time of Charles some hounds of Squire Andrew broke loose, and trespassing upon the premises at Althorpe, the Earl ordered his game keeper to shoot one of them. A short time after, the Duke riding upon a grey horse was met by the squire, who presenting a pistol towards the horse, addressed him thus: - “Duke dismount-otherwise I may shoot you as well, as your horse. A horse for a dog as long as your grace pleases”. The Duke as may be naturally supposed dismounted quickly, and his horse was as quickly shot dead. Its noble owner being struck by the decisive method, as well as the just cause, of retaliation, turned round and addressed the Squire thus:- “Mr Andrew you are a gentleman, and I have done wrong; give me your hand”.- and ever after the closest intimacy existed between them."

Robert Andrew (1735-1807) was a justice of the peace in Northamptonshire for nearly 50 years and like may of his ancestor was made Sherriff of Northamptonshire (1777). In March 1763 he married Frances Thornton of Brockhole and they had 10 children.

The eldest son of Robert and Frances was Robert Andrew the younger (1770-1831) who was born in 1770 and married Frances Packe, daughter of James Packe of Leicestershire in 1799. The Mary Queen of Scotts crucifix was given to Frances on her wedding day. Frances died in childbirth in 1800 and the memorial plaque in St Andrews church at Harlestone carries the inscription, “Her infant son did not survive his mother”. Robert never remarried and died without an heir in 1831.

On inheriting the estate in 1807, Robert Andrew (the younger) embarked on a substantial remodelling of the house at Harlestone and the laying out of the grounds to designs by Humphrey Repton. 

The works at Harlestone contributed to a growing debt, estimted to be £85,000 by 1824, in which year he vested all his estates in his brother-in-law, Colonel Henry Packe, as a trustee for their sale. An initial sale of land at Crick realised some £15,000; but in 1829 the decision was taken to sell Harlestone itself. After protracted negotiations, a price of £135,000 was agreed for the estate with Earl Spencer. Robert Andrew died before the sale of Harlestone went through, but it was completed after his death, ending the family's long record as Northamptonshire landowners. 

The Great Addington part of the estate remained with the Packe family until 1865 when the executors of Colonel Henry Packe, including his wife Eliza, sold the lands to James Rennie Wilkinson. In total the estate in Great Addington was nearly 435 acres. The deed of sale sincluded the names: Robert Isham, Nicholas Hamond and Eliza Packe (1800-1895). Eliza was the widow of Colonel Henry Packe and was born Eliza Isham of Lamport. Robert Isham and Nicholas Hamond are named as the executors of Henry Packe in his will; Nicholas being his nephew and Robert his brother-in-law.

Eliza Packe was the daughter of Vere Isham of Lamport. Her father’s forename is unusual and gives a hint of another link to Great Addington. Her ancestor, Thomas Isham was born in Pytchley, Northamptonshire in about 1456 as the only son of William Isham and succeeded in c1475 to his father's lands. He married Elena de Vere in 1485, the daughter of Richard de Vere of Addington and Isabella Green. Elena was the sister of Sir Henry de Vere, the last de Vere lord of Great Addington. It would seem that the name Vere - which had an important pedigree with its connection to the Norman conquest - was then used as a forename by a number of generations of the Ishams of Lamport.

Thomas Isham's son, Rev. Robert Isham (c.1521-1564), entered the church and became the Rector of Grafton Underwood and Pytchley, and Prebendery of Peterborough and Windsor. He is said to have been the favourite chaplain of Queen Mary Tudor. In 1659 Robert and his younger brother John purchased the estate at Lamport, Northamptonshire where the Isham family resided for the next four centuries. The property was brought for £610 from Sir William Cecil of Burghley, who had purchased the estate just 6 months earlier on May 7, 1559 for £530 from Sir John de Vere, the Earl of Oxford. The Earl of Oxford being a distant cousin of the de Veres of Northamptonshire – yet another, though tenuous, link to Great Addington.

Bletso

The family name Bletso (and also Beltsoe) occurs in various documents associated with Great Addington during the Stuart and into the Georgian period. There are also numerous legal documents held by the National Archives relating to the family name Bletso during this period and which mention properties in Woodford, Ringstead, Denford, Bozeat, Rushden, Irchester etc. However, despite all these documents it is difficult to gain a deeper understanding beyond the scant information held in the archives of who Thomas Bletso was and how he came to own so much land. This is not helped by the fact that the forename, Thomas, seems to have been used by multiple generations and cousins, so that the 17th century records have multiple different Thomas Bletso's, living in many different villages and towns in this area.

In 1618 Christopher and Dorothy Curtis sell for the enormous sum of £1,000 to Thomas Bletso a parcel of land that includes:

"that capital messuage...in Great Addington now in tenure of Christopher Curtis...and late in the tenure or occupation of Margery Curtis, widow, mother of said and now or lately reputed to be the manor of Great Addington."

The capital messuage mentioned in the text is the house that we now call, Great Addington Manor House, though at the time it was a large Jacobean farm house.

Thomas Bletso does not have the funds for the purchase, instead the money is advanced on his behalf by his father William Bletso of Wymington and Robert Sanderson of Rushden. William Bletso had acquired land in Wymington in 1591 and then the manor in 1598.

In 1644 Thomas Bletso gives the land to his son (also called Thomas) and his future wife, Anne, as part of a marriage settlement. 

In the Northamptonshire Archives there is a legal document from September 1660 relating to lands in Ringstead and Denford with the purpose of securing an annuity (annual payment) of £50.00 for a Thomas Bletsoe the younger, on lands owned by his father Thomas Bletsoe the elder of Mill Cotton; which was a small hamlet located to the south of Ringstead, and across the river Nene from Great Addington, which by the end of the 18th century had ceased to exist as a working village and is now a "lost village".

Annuity

 (1) Thomas Bletsoe the younger of Great Addington, gent, son and heir of Thomas Bletsoe the elder of Cotten alias Cotes alias Mill Cotten esq

 (2) Thomas Bletsoe the elder and wife Anne

 Capital messuage at Cotten (etc)

 Chappell Close, moiety of 1 une (?June) meadow and lands in Crumm(?) fields of Ringsted and Denford

 To secure annuity of £50 pa

Date: 17 September 12 Charles II [1660]

There is an entry in Barton Seagrave parish register for the burial of Anne Bletso, wife of Thomas Bletso the younger, in 1662.

In the following year Thomas Bletso the younger sells his land holdings to Samuel Whitby a merchant in London.

"the manor of Great Addington, the mansion house, 4¼ yardlands; Long Lane Close, Cooks Leyes Close, Widow Batson Close and Abbot's Tongue in Great Addington, Little Addington and Woodford; a messuage in Great Addington, 2 tenements, and a ¼ of a yardland in the same; conveyed by Thomas Bletso the younger of Coton alias Cotes, to Samuel Whitby of London, merchant."

Thomas Beltso the elder, Gentleman of Cotton, the elder dies c1697 and his will is to be found in the National Archives. There are a number of striking points in the text of the will. Firstly, the bulk of the inheritance goes not to his son Thomas, but rather to "my loving kinsman, John(athan) Bletso of Wellingborough". The second thing that is clear, is the large amount of land and property that Thomas Bletso owned. As well as the house in Cotton, he leaves the following to John Bletso:

"messuages, cottages, land, and tenanments, meadows, close (enclosed fields), pastures, mills, royalltyed (royalities?), ffishings (fishing rights or fisheries)...whereever situated lying and being within...parishes...of Cotton...Ringsted (Ringstead), Denford, Woodford, Great Addington, Little Addington, Rushden...Higham Ferrers, Irthlingborough....Shelton (Bedfordshire)" 

There are still Bleso descendents living in the area, perhaps most well known is the Bletsoes business of Agricultural & Development Consultants, Chartered Surveyors, Auctioneers & Estate Agents based in Thrapston since 1881.