1.
Grafton Manor
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Grafton Manor was established before the Norman Conquest. For a time, in the reign of Henry II to Edward I, the Lords of the Manor were influential figures in mediaeval and early modern Worcestershire, with a number becoming High Sheriffs or Members of Parliament for Worcestershire. A few were also national figures, especially the Talbots and Earls of Shrewsbury, Grafton was connected with Catholic worship in the County after the Reformation. The house is now a building containing a hotel and restaurant. The current L-shaped building dates to the early 1500s and was altered around 1567. A fire in 1710 destroyed parts, and restoration took place in 1860 by David Brandon. Above the parlour window, there is an inscription, Plenti, salaman saith there is none acorde when every man would be a lorde. Disputes are recorded over the inheritance of the revenues and the costs of maintenance took place between John de Grafton family and the sacrist of St Mary’s, eventually, the advowson was in the hands of the Stafford family at Grafton, and was passed to the Talbot family. The chapel was the “headquarters of a Roman Catholic mission” and there is a burial ground next to it. It was disused and ruined by the end of the 1700s, Members of the families holding the manor are frequently listed as holding positions as local MPs and as the High Sheriff of Worcestershire. The manor was held of Earl Edwin by five thegns who had to support the Lord of the Manor In 1086, edmund de Grafton is noted in 1315, followed by his son John. John’s son Roger granted the manor to Thomas Beauchamp, Earl of Warwick in 1350-51, by 1367–8 John de Hastings had the manor, passing it to his daughter Maud, who married Ralph Stafford. Edmund de Grafton represented the two member Worcestershire constituency in the early House of Commons of England four times, Ralph Stafford died in 1409-10, leaving the manor to his and Maud’s son Humphrey Stafford. His son John Stafford held the manor between 1419–22, and also inherited Upton Warren and he died fighting rebels in Kent and can be identified alongside his brother William as characters in Shakespeares play, Henry VI, Part 2. Sir Humphrey Stafford inherited Grafton and Upton Warren in 1449–50, after fighting at the Battle of Bosworth with Richard III, Sir Humphrey Stafford broke sanctuary and supported Viscount Lovell in a further rebellion. He was executed for treason on 8 July 1486 at Tyburn by Henry VII, the Staffords also represented Worcestershire in the House of Commons. Grafton and Upton Warren were given to a branch of the Talbot family close to the Earls of Shrewsbury, Sir Gilbert Talbot held them until he died in 1517, he also held a position as Keeper of Feckenham Forest. The manor passed to his sons Gilbert and then John, in 1618, George Talbot succeeded to the title Earl of Shrewsbury
2.
Recusant
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Recusancy was the state of those who refused to attend Anglican services during the history of England and Wales, these individuals were known as recusants. The Recusancy Acts began during the reign of Elizabeth I and were repealed in 1650 and they imposed various types of punishment on those who did not participate in Anglican religious activity, such as fines, property confiscation, and imprisonment. As far as the term is used in the present day, recusant applies to the descendants of Roman Catholic British gentry and peerage families. Catholicism was the majority religion in various pockets, notably in parts of Lancashire, Yorkshire and Cumbria, and in Scotland, in parts of the Highlands and the Southern Hebrides. The term recusant is also used generally to refer to non-compliance with a perceived innovation of questionable orthodoxy. Some traditional Catholics have used the term following Vatican II, particularly in defence of the Latin mass, Catholics formed a large proportion, if not a plurality, of recusants, and it was to Catholics that the term initially was applied. Non-Catholic groups composed of Reformed Christians or Protestant dissenters from the Church of England were later labelled recusants as well, the recusancy laws were in force from the reign of Elizabeth I to that of George III, but not always enforced with equal intensity. Other Acts targeted Catholic recusants, including statutes passed under James I and Charles I, recusants were subject to various civil disabilities and penalties under English penal laws, most of which were repealed during the Regency and the reign of George IV. The Nuttall Encyclopædia notes that Dissenters were largely forgiven by the Act of Toleration under William III, early recusants included Protestant dissenters, whose confessions derived from the Calvinistic Reformers or Radical Reformers. With the growth of these groups after the Restoration of Charles II. The recusant period reaped an extensive harvest of saints and martyrs, among the recusants were some high-profile Catholic aristocrats such as the Howards and, for a time, the Plantagenet-descended Beauforts. In the English-speaking world, the Douay-Rheims Bible was translated from the Latin Vulgate by expatriate recusants in Rheims, France, in 1582 and in Douai and it was revised by Bishop Richard Challoner in the years 1749–52. The 1750 revision is still printed today, the Douay-Rheims Challoner Bible is still often preferred by more conservative or Traditionalist Catholics. Other members of the Howard family, the Earls of Carlisle, Effingham, Recusancy was historically focused in Northern England, particularly Cumbria, Lancashire and Yorkshire. The Acton family is another well-known recusant family, the will of a William Latewise who died in 1603 in Goosnargh – part of the parish of Kirkham – states he was of Culcheth in the parish of Winwick. One of those preparing his inventory in 1608 was John Sterrope, around this time the area around Goosnargh was home to several Catholic families – Beesley, Hesketh, Keighley, Marsden, and Threlfall. Records show that members of the Latewysse family were fined for recusancy. In Wales, the few recusant families include Mostyn, Herbert, Morgan and, most notably and they helped to provide a resurgent Catholic Church in England with financial support
3.
Elizabeth I of England
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Elizabeth I was Queen of England and Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death. Sometimes called The Virgin Queen, Gloriana or Good Queen Bess, Elizabeth was the daughter of Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn, his second wife, who was executed two and a half years after Elizabeths birth. Annes marriage to Henry VIII was annulled, and Elizabeth was declared illegitimate, edwards will was set aside and Mary became queen, deposing Lady Jane Grey. During Marys reign, Elizabeth was imprisoned for nearly a year on suspicion of supporting Protestant rebels, in 1558, Elizabeth succeeded her half-sister to the throne and set out to rule by good counsel. She depended heavily on a group of trusted advisers, led by William Cecil, one of her first actions as queen was the establishment of an English Protestant church, of which she became the Supreme Governor. This Elizabethan Religious Settlement was to evolve into the Church of England and it was expected that Elizabeth would marry and produce an heir to continue the Tudor line. She never did, despite numerous courtships, as she grew older, Elizabeth became famous for her virginity. A cult grew around her which was celebrated in the portraits, pageants, in government, Elizabeth was more moderate than her father and half-siblings had been. One of her mottoes was video et taceo, in religion, she was relatively tolerant and avoided systematic persecution. Elizabeth was cautious in foreign affairs, manoeuvring between the powers of France and Spain. She only half-heartedly supported a number of ineffective, poorly resourced military campaigns in the Netherlands, France, by the mid-1580s, England could no longer avoid war with Spain. Englands defeat of the Spanish Armada in 1588 associated Elizabeth with one of the greatest military victories in English history, Elizabeths reign is known as the Elizabethan era. Some historians depict Elizabeth as a short-tempered, sometimes indecisive ruler, towards the end of her reign, a series of economic and military problems weakened her popularity. Such was the case with Elizabeths rival, Mary, Queen of Scots, after the short reigns of Elizabeths half-siblings, her 44 years on the throne provided welcome stability for the kingdom and helped forge a sense of national identity. Elizabeth was born at Greenwich Palace and was named after both her grandmothers, Elizabeth of York and Elizabeth Howard and she was the second child of Henry VIII of England born in wedlock to survive infancy. Her mother was Henrys second wife, Anne Boleyn, at birth, Elizabeth was the heir presumptive to the throne of England. She was baptised on 10 September, Archbishop Thomas Cranmer, the Marquess of Exeter, the Duchess of Norfolk, Elizabeth was two years and eight months old when her mother was beheaded on 19 May 1536, four months after Catherine of Aragons death from natural causes. Elizabeth was declared illegitimate and deprived of her place in the royal succession, eleven days after Anne Boleyns execution, Henry married Jane Seymour, who died shortly after the birth of their son, Prince Edward, in 1537
4.
James VI and I
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James VI and I was King of Scotland as James VI from 24 July 1567 and King of England and Ireland as James I from the union of the Scottish and English crowns on 24 March 1603 until his death. The kingdoms of Scotland and England were individual sovereign states, with their own parliaments, judiciary, and laws, though both were ruled by James in personal union. James was the son of Mary, Queen of Scots, James succeeded to the Scottish throne at the age of thirteen months, after his mother Mary was compelled to abdicate in his favour. Four different regents governed during his minority, which ended officially in 1578, in 1603, he succeeded the last Tudor monarch of England and Ireland, Elizabeth I, who died without issue. He continued to reign in all three kingdoms for 22 years, a period known after him as the Jacobean era, until his death in 1625 at the age of 58. After the Union of the Crowns, he based himself in England from 1603, only returning to Scotland once in 1617 and he was a major advocate of a single parliament for England and Scotland. In his reign, the Plantation of Ulster and British colonization of the Americas began, at 57 years and 246 days, Jamess reign in Scotland was longer than those of any of his predecessors. He achieved most of his aims in Scotland but faced difficulties in England, including the Gunpowder Plot in 1605. James himself was a scholar, the author of works such as Daemonologie, The True Law of Free Monarchies. He sponsored the translation of the Bible that would later be named after him, Sir Anthony Weldon claimed that James had been termed the wisest fool in Christendom, an epithet associated with his character ever since. Since the latter half of the 20th century, historians have tended to revise Jamess reputation and treat him as a serious, James was the only son of Mary, Queen of Scots, and her second husband, Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley. Both Mary and Darnley were great-grandchildren of Henry VII of England through Margaret Tudor, Marys rule over Scotland was insecure, and she and her husband, being Roman Catholics, faced a rebellion by Protestant noblemen. James was born on 19 June 1566 at Edinburgh Castle, and as the eldest son and heir apparent of the monarch automatically became Duke of Rothesay and Prince and he was baptised Charles James or James Charles on 17 December 1566 in a Catholic ceremony held at Stirling Castle. His godparents were Charles IX of France, Elizabeth I of England, Mary refused to let the Archbishop of St Andrews, whom she referred to as a pocky priest, spit in the childs mouth, as was then the custom. The subsequent entertainment, devised by Frenchman Bastian Pagez, featured men dressed as satyrs and sporting tails, Jamess father, Darnley, was murdered on 10 February 1567 at Kirk o Field, Edinburgh, perhaps in revenge for Rizzios death. James inherited his fathers titles of Duke of Albany and Earl of Ross, Mary was already unpopular, and her marriage on 15 May 1567 to James Hepburn, 4th Earl of Bothwell, who was widely suspected of murdering Darnley, heightened widespread bad feeling towards her. In June 1567, Protestant rebels arrested Mary and imprisoned her in Loch Leven Castle and she was forced to abdicate on 24 July 1567 in favour of the infant James and to appoint her illegitimate half-brother, James Stewart, Earl of Moray, as regent. The care of James was entrusted to the Earl and Countess of Mar, to be conserved, nursed, and upbrought in the security of Stirling Castle
5.
Gunpowder Plot
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Catesby may have embarked on the scheme after hopes of securing greater religious tolerance under King James had faded, leaving many English Catholics disappointed. Fawkes, who had 10 years of experience fighting in the Spanish Netherlands in suppression of the Dutch Revolt, was given charge of the explosives. The plot was revealed to the authorities in a letter sent to William Parker, 4th Baron Monteagle. During a search of the House of Lords at about midnight on 4 November 1605, most of the conspirators fled from London as they learned of the plots discovery, trying to enlist support along the way. Several made a stand against the pursuing Sheriff of Worcester and his men at Holbeche House, in the battle, Catesby was one of those shot. At their trial on 27 January 1606, eight of the survivors, including Fawkes, were convicted and sentenced to be hanged, drawn, details of the assassination attempt were allegedly known by the principal Jesuit of England, Father Henry Garnet. Although he was convicted of treason and sentenced to death, doubt has been cast on how much he knew of the plot. As its existence was revealed to him through confession, Garnet was prevented from informing the authorities by the absolute confidentiality of the confessional, although anti-Catholic legislation was introduced soon after the plots discovery, many important and loyal Catholics retained high office during King James Is reign. Between 1533 and 1540, the Tudor King Henry VIII took control of the English Church from Rome, English Catholics struggled in a society dominated by the newly separate and increasingly Protestant Church of England. The penalties for refusal were severe, fines were imposed for recusancy, Catholicism became marginalised, but despite the threat of torture or execution, priests continued to practise their faith in secret. Queen Elizabeth, unmarried and childless, steadfastly refused to name an heir, many Catholics believed that her Catholic cousin, Mary, Queen of Scots, was the legitimate heir to the English throne, but she was executed for treason in 1587. In the months before Elizabeths death on 24 March 1603, Cecil prepared the way for James to succeed her, some exiled Catholics favoured Philip II of Spains daughter, Infanta Isabella, as Elizabeths successor. More moderate Catholics looked to Jamess and Elizabeths cousin Arbella Stuart, despite competing claims to the English throne, the transition of power following Elizabeths death went smoothly. Jamess succession was announced by a proclamation from Cecil on 24 March, leading papists, rather than causing trouble as anticipated, reacted to the news by offering their enthusiastic support for the new monarch. Jesuit priests, whose presence in England was punishable by death, also demonstrated their support for James, for decades, the English had lived under a monarch who refused to provide an heir, but James arrived with a family and a future line of succession. His wife, Anne of Denmark, was the daughter of a king, Jamess attitude towards Catholics was more moderate than that of his predecessor, perhaps even tolerant. During the late 16th century, Catholics made several assassination attempts against Protestant rulers in Europe and in England, including plans to poison Elizabeth I. Much of the rather nervous James Is political writing was concerned with the threat of Catholic assassination and refutation of the argument that faith did not need to be kept with heretics
6.
Cornelius Johnson (artist)
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Cornelis Janssens van Ceulen was an English painter of portraits of Dutch or Flemish parentage. He was active in England, at least from 1618 to 1643 and he moved to Middelburg in the Netherlands in 1643. Between 1646 and 1652 he lived in Amsterdam, before settling in Utrecht, Janssens painted many portraits of emerging new English gentry. His early portraits were panel paintings with fictive oval frames and his style varied considerably over his career, and he was able to assimilate new influences into his own style without any discordant effect. He was particularly accurate and detailed in depiction of clothing, Janssens van Ceulen was born to Dutch or Flemish parents in London – his father had been a religious refugee from Antwerp, and the family had originated in Cologne. He was baptised at the Dutch Church at Austin Friars much used by the Netherlandish community in London and he was the son of Johanna le Grand and Cornelius Johnson. He may have trained in the Netherlands, possibly under Michiel Jansz. van Mierevelt. He was certainly influenced by artists from the Netherlands, and his early works follow the design. He had returned to England by 1619 when he was a witness at the baptism of his nephew and he was active in England, from then until 1643. He married Elizabeth Beke of Colchester on 16 July 1622 at the Dutch church in London and their son James was baptised on 30 September 1623 at St Annes Church. Another son Cornelius Janssens, junior who became a painter, was baptised on 15 August 1634. Janssens wished to be regarded as an English gentleman, registering his pedigree with the College of Arms and his arms were three gold parrots on a gold background, and had a crest of a silver Catherine wheel with two parrot wings behind it. Apparently winged crests are common in German heraldry which may show the previously used by the family. Janssens moved to Canterbury in the mid-1630s, living with Sir Arnold Braems and he was given parliamentary permission to travel. And to cary with him such pictures and colours, bedding, household stuff, pewter, between 1646 and 1652 he lived in Amsterdam, before settling in Utrecht, where he was buried. For painting a portrait, Janssens liked to charge £5 compared with a typical figure of 10s – 20s. However, this was not as expensive as better known such as Van Dyck or Peter Lely. Karen Hearn’s ODNB entry for Johnson notes that in 1638 Sir Thomas Pelham of Halland House, Sussex, there are hundreds of portraits of the emerging new gentry by Janssens, including Lady Rose MacDonnell of Antrim
7.
Lord of the manor
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In Anglo-Irish history, the lordship of a manor is a lordship emanating from the feudal system of manorialism. The origins of the lordship of manors arose in the Anglo-Saxon system of manorialism, following the Norman conquest, land at the manorial level was recorded in the Domesday Book of 1086. The title cannot nowadays be subdivided, Lord Denning, in Corpus Christi College Oxford v Gloucestershire County Council QB360, described the manor thus, In medieval times the manor was the nucleus of English rural life. It was a unit of an extensive area of land. The whole of it was owned originally by the lord of the manor and he lived in the big house called the manor house. Attached to it were many acres of grassland and woodlands called the park and these were the “demesne lands” which were for the personal use of the lord of the manor. Dotted all round were the homes and land occupied by the “tenants of the manor”. The owner of a lordship of the manor can be described as, Lord/Lady of the Manor of, in modern times any person may choose to use a name that is not the property of another. Under English common law a person may choose to be known by any name he sees fit as long as it is not done to commit fraud or evade an obligation, a manorial lordship is not a noble title, but a semi-extinct form of landed property. Lordship in this sense is a synonym for ownership, although this ownership involved a legal jurisdiction in the form of the court baron. Technically, lords of manors are barons, or freemen, however, the style Lord of the Manor of X or Lord of X is, in this sense, more of a description than a title, somewhat similar to the term Laird in Scotland. Fellows of Kings College, Cambridge have given the view that the term indicated wealth and privilege, since 1965 Lords of the Manor have been entitled to compensation in the event of compulsory purchase. Before the Land Registration Act 2002 it was possible for manors to be registered with HM Land Registry. Manorial incidents, which are the rights that a lord of the manor may exercise over other peoples land and this is a separate issue to the registration of lordships of manors, since both registered and unregistered lordships will continue to exist after that date. This issue does not affect the existence of the title of lord of the manor, there have been cases where manors have been sold and the seller has unknowingly parted with rights to unregistered land in England and Wales. In England in the Middle Ages, land was held of the English monarch or ruler by a local supporter. The people who had sworn homage to the lord were known as vassals, vassals were nobles who served loyalty for the king, in return for being given the use of land. The person who held feudal land directly from the king was known as a tenant-in-chief, military service was based upon units of ten knights
8.
Albrighton, Bridgnorth
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Albrighton is a large village, and civil parish in Shropshire, England. It is located 7.5 miles northwest of Wolverhampton and is best described as a village for the city. It is 11.3 miles from Bridgnorth and used to be within the now defunct Bridgnorth district, the village has a railway station, which is on the Shrewsbury to Wolverhampton Line. Very close by is RAF Cosford and the M54 motorway, the village is the most easterly settlement in Shropshire. Immediately to the north is the hamlet and parish of Donington separated from Albrighton by Humphreston Brook, mentioned in the Domesday Book as Albricston or the home/farm of Albric/Aethelbeorht, it received its charter in 1303, which was renewed in 1662 for rather unusual reasons. The parish church, dedicated to St Mary Magdalene was completed around 1181 and it is built of red sandstone in the Norman style. The church contains a monument to Sir Craig Wilson, as well as the Albrighton Mace donated to the village in 1663. The east window of the dates from the 14th century. The church is separated from the extremely close parish church of St Cuthbert by Humphreston Brook, the story is that two sisters disagreed about the nature of the architecture of the church and so resolved to build their own churches right next to each other. Blakeway refers to the pond as being called Hall Pool as it was adjacent to Hall Orchard, the High Street has not been altered too much over the years. The half timbered inns, Georgian facades and lime trees still make the street picturesque, some sources say the lime trees were planted in the 19th century by a Dr Orson Bidwell, others say a former Earl of Shrewsbury was responsible. In all probability both of them planted trees and so may many other people if a tree was damaged or failed, the diary of John Howell, tenant farmer of Beamish and House Farm gives the year of planting as 1832. For most of the 14th century and into the 15th the manor of Albrighton, the Carles were connected by marriage to the Lestranges and the Talbots. Albrighton left the control of family with the marriage of an heiress to a member of the Corbet family in the reign of Henry VI. The Earl of Shrewsbury is the premier Earl of England and and they were originally the Talbot family, many of whom are buried in Albrighton Church. George Talbot, 9th Earl of Shrewsbury was a Catholic priest and he died in 1630 aged sixty-three and was buried in the family tomb at the parish church of Albrighton. Early in the 17th century, Albrighton was noted for making buttons, by 1880 it was bricks, but by and large, agriculture was the main industry before the building of the railways. Albrighton was granted Borough status in 1303 on account of its remoteness from Shrewsbury and that was renewed in 1662 but it seemed to lapse again by the 19th century
9.
Lincoln's Inn
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The Honourable Society of Lincolns Inn is one of the four Inns of Court in London to which barristers of England and Wales belong and where they are called to the Bar. It is recognised to be one of the worlds most prestigious professional bodies of judges and it is the largest Inn and it covers 11 acres. The other three are Middle Temple, Inner Temple and Grays Inn, the Inn is believed to be named after Henry de Lacy, 3rd Earl of Lincoln. The Inn is also known for its large garden and library. The nearest tube station is Holborn tube station or Chancery Lane, Lincolns Inn does not declare a specific foundation date, as there is a tradition that none of the Inns of Court regards itself to be any older than the others. The Inn was home to influential people, including Prime Ministers, Chief Judges. During the 12th and 13th century, the law was taught in the City of London primarily by the clergy, as a result, the system of legal education fell apart. The common lawyers migrated to the hamlet of Holborn, the nearest place to the law courts at Westminster Hall that was outside the City, as with the other Inns of Court, the precise date of founding of Lincolns Inn is unknown. The third Earl of Lincoln had encouraged lawyers to move to Holborn and it is felt that Lincolns Inn became a formally organised Inn of Court soon after the Earls death in 1310. At some point before 1422, the part of Lincolns Inn, as they had become known, after the Earl, moved to the estate of Ralph Neville. They retained Thavies and Furnivals Inn, using them as training houses for young lawyers, in 1537, the land Lincolns Inn sat on was sold by Bishop Richard Sampson to a Bencher named William Suliard, and his son sold the land to Lincolns Inn in 1580. The Inn became formally organised as a place of legal education thanks to a decree in 1464, during the 15th century, the Inn was not a particularly prosperous one, and the Benchers, particularly John Fortescue, are credited with fixing this situation. Lincolns Inn had no constitution or fundamental form of governance, admissions were recorded in the black books and divided into two categories, Clerks who were admitted to Clerks Commons, and Fellows Socii who were admitted to Fellows Commons. By 1466, the Fellows were divided into Benchers, those at the Bar, by 1502, the extra barram Fellows were being referred to as inner barristers, in contrast to the utter or outer barristers. A Bencher, Benchsitter or Master of the Bench is a member of the Council, the term originally referred to one who sat on the benches in the main hall of the Inn, which were used for dining and during moots, and the term originally had no significance. In Lincolns Inn, the idea of a Bencher was believed to have far earlier than elsewhere, there are records of four Benchers being sworn in 1440. William Holdsworth and the editor of the Black Books both concluded that Benchers were, from the earliest times, the governors of the Inn, the Governors were elected to serve a year-long term, with between four and six sitting at any one time. By the late 15th century, the group were the Governors with assistance and advice from the other masters of the Bench
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). "John Talbot". Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton. The entry cites:
