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Who Owned the Manor of Dulcote?


In addition to church landowners, there were two major freehold landowners in Dulcote from the late 16th century until the late 17th century.  The two were parceled up in the following way ...

The manor of Chilcote and Dulcote -- this is the one which was responsible for holding local court sessions and so perhaps was the largest of the two.

Dulcote in the parcel of "Ten Manors" -- including Dulcote and Wellesley estates (likely a farm to the west of the west mill in Dulcote)
 

The Manor of Dulcote and Chilcote

 
Date Proprietor The Interesting Bits
abt 1553 - abt 1594 Sir William Petre
 		Sir William Petre was a highly-successful, Oxford-educated lawyer whose family home, acquired from the dissolution of a monastery in 1539, was Ingatestone Hall in Essex. Also known as "Secretary Peter", his greatest claim to fame is that he served as Secretary of State to Henry VIII.  But even more remarkable was that he also served in similar capacity to Edward VI, Mary I, and Elizabeth I, despite the major political and religious differences in their respective reigns.  It is possible that Sir William acquired the Manor of Dulcote and Chilcote in 1553 with several other parcels of land in Somerset "granted in fee by the Crown". In any case, a survey of Dulcote and Chilcote dated approx. 1595 identifies Sir William Petre as the former landlord of the Manor in a hand-over to Sir William Dodington.

An interesting connection perhaps is that Sir William's son John married Mary Waldegrave, the great-aunt of Sir Henry Waldegrave, b. 1598. (see "The Ten Manors" below)
abt 1594 - 1600 William Dodington William Dodington was a courtier during the reign of the Tudors.  He was a major landowner, including a large estate in Hampshire called Braemore.  He held the office of auditor of the Tower Mint. He was depressed about a legal battle with his neighbours, the Bulkleys, and apparently committed suicide by leaping from the roof of the Church of St Sepulchre in London in 1600.
1600-1638 Sir William Dodington
 		Sir William Dodington, William's son, was knighted by King James I in 1603. Sir William's life turned to tragedy when his son Henry murdered his own mother by running her through multiple times with a sword.  Sir William spent the rest of his life doing good works for the church in an attempt to redeem the family. 
1638-1644 John Dodington  John, one of Sir William's sons, survived his father by only six years.  He married Anne Trenchard. Upon his death, John's young daughter, Anne inherited the Dodington Estates.  Since there was no male heir, the Dodington line of inheritance ended with Anne. 
1644-1690 Anne Dodington

Anne's husband, 
Robert Greville, Baron Brooke		 Anne was 4 years old when she inherited the Dodington estates.  Confirmed by court rolls of Dulcote and Chilcote, Anne was the "infant landlady of Dulcote". Anne held the Dodington estates for her life only and then portions of it were inherited by the families of her first and her second husbands.
1644-1663: Anne's guardians were her grandfather, Thomas Trenchard (until 1657) and her uncles Thomas and George Trenchard (until 1663)
1663-1677: Robert Greville, 4th Baron Brooke of Beauchamps Court Anne's  first husband governed her estates “in right of his wife”
1677-1690:  Thomas Hoby, Anne’s second husband, held the manor “in right of his wife” until her death in 1690
1690-1710

Fulke Greville, 
5th Baron Brooke 

Fulke Greville, 5th Baron Brooke of Beauchamps Court was the son of the 4th baron, Robert, by his first wife Lady Catherine Russell.  
1710-1711 Fulke Greville,
6th Baron Brooke		 The succession of the 6th baron skipped a generation.  Fulke Greville, 6th Baron Brooke of Beauchamps Court inherited the title from his grandfather, also named Fulke Greville.  In other words, he was the son Lady Anne Wilmot and Francis Greville (who pre-deceased his father, Fulke Sr.)
1711-1727 William Greville,
7th Baron Brooke  		William Greville, 7th Baron Brooke of Beauchamps Court inherited the title from his brother Fulke Greville, the 6th baron.  His parents were also Francis Greville and Lady Anne Wilmot.  
1727-1771  
Francis Greville, 
1st Earl of Warwick
& 8th Baron Brooke		 Francis Greville was the son Mary Thyme and William Greville, 7th baron.  In addition to being the 8th Baron Brooke of Beauchamps Court, Francis Greville was made 1st Earl Brooke of Warwick Castle in 1746 and Earl of Warwick in 1759 upon the death of the last Lord Rich. 

In an Abstract of Conveyance, dated 25 June 1771 , St Cuthbert's, Wells, Francis Earl Brooke of Warwick Castle/Earl of Warwick sold much of  his entitlement to the manor & prebend of Dulcote & Chilcote to Clement Tudway, Esq

1771 ff Clement Tudway, Esq
Member of Parliament


Mrs. Clement Tudway
by Gainsborough 1773

 A member of the House of Commons, Clement Tudway of Wells served as the Father of the House from 1806-1815. This office was bestowed upon the longest continuously-serving Member.  Amongst the duties of this office is managing the election of new speakers of the house. 

Gainsborough painted two portraits of Clement and of Elizabeth, his wife. 

Dulcote, part of "The Ten Manors"

(By 1726, "The Ten Manors" included the 16 (!) manors of Littleton, Wellesleigh, Woodford, Dulcote, Hawden, Westbury, Raddington, Lindhowish, Harnoham, Yard, Ayley, Asholt, Sheverton, Edstork, Purifitshett, and Eddington)

The Waldegrave Family held this estate in Dulcote from at least 1648 until it was sold in the late eighteenth century. For the most part, they used the Ten Manors as annuity income which was at times distributed to other family members.  Thus, rather than occupying the land themselves, they leased or mortgaged the land to others who would re-lease or work the land for their own profits. 
Date Proprietor The Interesting Bits
1648 Sir Henry Waldegrave
 2nd. Baron of Stanninghall and Chewton and Hever Castle.  His right to the ten manors is referred to as being "seized in fee simple", that is, having both possession and title of the property.
1658  Sir Charles Waldegrave Son of Sir Henry; 3rd Baron of Stanninghall and Chewton and Hever Castle

1680-84: Elizabeth Buckland, widow of John Buckland, the high sheriff of Somerset, was one of the gentry who held the mortgage (by demise) on this Dulcote estate from Sir Charles Waldegrave
1684 Sir Henry Waldegrave Eldest son of Sir Charles; 1st Baron of Waldegrave; 1st Lord of Chewton; comptroller of the King's Household. Henry married the natural daughter of King James II

At his death, Henry left the care of these manors to Sir William Waldegrave his brother Charles Waldegrave and Henry Conquest as trustees to his younger son and his daughters in order to establish a dowry for the daughters and an annual income for his young son.  He was survived only by James Lord Waldegrave his eldest son, Henry his youngest son, and Arabella his daughter.  When all the trustees died, James Lord Waldegrave inherited the Ten Manors and the obligations under his father's will. 
1689 Rt. Hon. James, Lord Waldegrave

Once the dowry for Arabella Waldegrave and the annual income for his younger brother were arranged, James Lord Waldegrave; 2nd Baron Waldegrave (of Chewton); 1st Earl Waldegrave was free to use the remainder of the income of the Ten Manors, under the conditions of his father's will.  

James arranged mortgages and long-term leases, and even sold the estates as he needed the income so that by the time his son James inherited the Ten Manors, there were fewer estates involved in the parcel and lands and tenements.  The description of the estates in an indenture dated 1726, sold by James Waldegrave, describes the property for sale as "farms".  

James served as Ambassador to Vienna and then to Paris.
1741 Rt. Hon. James, Lord Waldegrave

2nd Earl Waldegrave and eldest son of the 1st Earl Waldegrave, James married Maria Walpole, daughter of Sir Edward Walpole.  He was the intimate friend of George II and for a time governor of the future king, George III.  He had the unusual honour of holding the office of Prime Minister and First Lord of the Treasury for only 5 days 1757!
1763 Rt. Hon. John, Lord
Waldegrave

3rd Earl Waldegrave and son of the 1st Earl Waldegrave.  John married Elizabeth Leveson-Gower, daughter of John, 1st Earl of Gower.  He was considered a distinguished general and Member of Parliament from 1747 to 1763.
? Tudway possession The Tudway family purchased from John, 3rd Earl Waldegrave, likely first from an leasing arrangement and then likely by private sale when laws allowed.  He was a Member of Parliament for Wells from 1761 to 1815.  The Tudways held their Dulcote land until 1913 when most of their lands and possessions located in the village were sold off by Charles Clement Tudway at a two-day auction (See "1913: Dulcote for Sale").