ERCALL MAGNA
A brief journey through time
The Place
The People
External Sites
A brief history (According to Rob)
Lords and owners of the Hundred
Here I will try and piece together the 'Lords of the Bradford Hundred',
I suspect it might be a little fragmented.
1190-1. William of Ercall (alias of Hadley)
1267. Walter of Pedwardine, (Knight 1270, died
1297)) and the FitzAlans.
1292. Walter was temporarily deprived of the
Hundred, which he had made over to the bailiff William Cressett.
In Edward I's last years (died 1307), the Hundred was held by Walter de
Kyngeshemede .
1309. Edward II granted it to John de Vaux for
life.
1310. Vaux exchanged it with the king's cook
Richard of Cleobury.
1320s. Richard of Cleobury was deprived of the
Hundred, it was committed to the sheriff or other accountants.
1327. The Hundred was granted to Queen Isabel.
1330. The queen was deprived of her property
after the earl of March's downfall.
1331. Edward III granted the Hundred to Sir
John de Neville of Hornby.
1335. The Hundred returned to the Crown and
was restored to Richard of Cleobury.
1338. Edward III granted the Hundred Lord Ferrers
of Groby. It descended with the barony of Ferrers of Groby until 1445.
1445. The Hundred remained with the manor of
Tettenhall Regis until 1601.
1601-2. Francis Newport (Knight 1603), bought
the Hundred from Sir Humphrey Ferrers.
1623. The Hundred then passed to his son Sir
Richard, (Baron Newport 1642).
1651. The Hundred evidently passed to his son
and heir, Francis.
1653. The Hundred was surveyed as part of Charles
I's former possessions, at the same time the profits of courts and all
the royalties were said to belong to the inheritance of Francis Newport.
1661. Charles II leased the hundred to Richard
Salter the younger.
1672. The Crown granted and confirmed the Hundred
to Francis, Lord Newport, (Viscount Newport of Bradford 1675, earl of
Bradford 1694). The Bradford Hundred descended with the Newports' peerage
dignities until 1734.
1734. The Hundred passed away from the 3rd earl
of Bradford's legitimate heirs, descending with the manor of Harley.
1805. The Hundred belonged to the earl of Darlington,
(Marquess 1827, Duke 1833, died 1842 of Cleveland).
1842. It passed to his son Henry, the 2nd duke
(died 1864).
Ernest Leopold Payton
Since having documents relating to the donation of land within High Ercall by Ernest Leopold Payton I had been at a loss to work out his connection with this area, having seen no births, marriages or deaths relating to the name. I had the great fortune to be lent a book named ‘Landed Estates and The Gentry, volume two, High Ercall and Hodnet’ by Anthony Ruscoe (a copy of which I now own, after approximately a year of waiting and watching on line for one to become available). Although it doesn’t go into the Payton family, does at least explain their involvement a little.
Anthony says that in 1919, High Ercall itself, with Ellerdine and Rowton were sold as an estate to Ernest Leopold Payton, a Midlands businessman, and elsewhere individual farms must have been sold quietly to tenants. It was said that £100,000 was raised by sales to tenants and another £30,000 by other sales.
In 1919 much of the estate was owned by Lord Barnard.
The Payton estate was put up for sale in 1930. This included Sugden, High Ercall, with much of the village and land towards Osbaston and towards Hoo Coppice failing to sell until 1931 and Ellerdine and Rowton, again with some failing to sell until 1931.
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