Hollesley Parish

Hollesley
Holes or Holeslea

In the 18th of King Edward L, the demesne of this place was in Roger Bigod, Earl of Norfolk, who endowed Alice, his second wife, with this and divers other lordships, at their marriage; which she held during her life, and at her decease it reverted to the Crown.

In the time of King Edward III., Thomas de Brotherton, Earl of Norfolk, fifth son of King Edward I., obtained a grant of the same, and died seized thereof, in the 12th of the same reign. Mary, his second wife survived, and held this and several other estates, assigned for her dower.

At her decease it passed, upon the division, to Joan, the wife of William de Ufford, as the heir of Alice, daughter and co-heir of the above Thomas de Brotherton, and wife of Edward de Montacute; and so passed as the Ufford inheritance.

It afterwards passed into the Wood family, as in the next parish of Loudham; and, upon the division of their estate, it came, by allotment under the Court of Chancery, to one of the co-heirs of Mary Cranmer, elder sister of Sir Henry Wood; namely, Dorothea, daughter of John Chester, Esq., and wife of Sir George Robinson, Bart., M.P. for Northampton, in 1774; who inherited in her right.

We subjoin a list of the lords and ladies of this manor, from Edward III. to James I., under the impression that it will be interesting to our readers, from the illustrious names it contains:

12th Edw. III. Thomas de Brotherton, the King's son, Earl of Norfolk, and Earl Marshall of England.

5th Richard II. Margaret, Countess of Norfolk.

5th Henry VI. John Mowbray, Duke of Norfolk, Earl Marshall.

26th Henry VI. John, Archbishop of Canterbury, and Humphrey, Duke of Buckingham, Feoffees.

2nd Edw. IV. Alionora, Dutchess of Norfolk, after the death of John, the late Duke of Norfolk.

16th Edw. IV. Elizabeth, Dutchess of Norfolk.

22nd Hen.VII. Sir James Hobart, and other Feoffees, for the use of Thomas, Earl of Surry.

16th Hen.VIII. William (Warham) Archbishop of Canterbury, and other Feoffees, for Thomas, Duke of Norfolk, son and heir of Thomas, the late Duke.

1st Edw. VI. King Edward VI., during the imprisonment of Thomas, Duke of Norfolk.

1st of Mary. Thomas, Duke of Norfolk, after his release from imprisonment.

5 & 6 Ph. & Mary. Thos., Duke of Norfolk, son & heir of Henry, Earl of Surry, the son & heir of Thos., the late Duke.

1st Elizabeth. Thomas, Duke of Norfolk, and Margaret his Dutchess.

11th Elizabeth. John Blennerhassett, Wm. Dixie, Wm. Cantrell, and Laurance Banister, upon lease for 16 years.

27th Elizabeth. Elizabeth, Queen of England.

2nd James I. Thomas, Earl of Suffolk, and Henry, Earl of Northampton, by gift of the King; who sold it, in the same year, to Sir Michael Stanhope, of Sudbourne, Knt.

In 1381, Thomas Cobbe was rector of this parish; who exchanged it for the rector of Burgh, in Norfolk, with John Alberd (alias All-Beard.)

Mem. In 1804, two pieces of cannon, of a very singular construction, were picked up in Hollesley Bay, by some sweepers for anchors: a particular description of them is given in Mr. Shoberl's history of this county.

CHARITIES. The sum of £5 a year, appropriated under the donation of Sir Michael Stanhope's gift,¹ is paid to the churchwardens of this parish, after a deduction made on account of land-tax, and is distributed among poor persons.

1. See the account of this charity in the parish of Sutton.

County of Suffolk

Topographical and Genealogical, The County of Suffolk, 1844, Augustine Page

British Isles Genealogy

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