I 
 
 ROCKINGHAM CASTLE 
 
 AND 
 
 THE WATSONS. 
 
Digitized by the Internet Archive 
 in 2015 
 
 https://archive.org/details/rockinghanncastleOOwise 
 
Rockingham Castle from the North-Wei- 
 Page 119. 
 
^OG^JINGHAM GASTDE 
 
 AND THE 
 
 WATSONS. 
 
 BY 
 
 C. WISE, 
 
 " Awake, awake, for whom these times were kept, 
 O wake, wake, wake, as you had never slept I 
 
 And are we then 
 To live agen 
 
 With men ? " — Ben Jonson. 
 
 Xon5on : 
 
 ELLIOT STOCK, 62, PAiiiRNOsxER Row. 
 
 Ikcttering : 
 
 W. E. & J. GOSS, Market Place. 
 1891, 
 
 [all rights reserved.] 
 
" 'Tis not time wasted to talk -with antique lore, 
 And all the labours of the dead ; for thence 
 The musing mind may bring an ample store 
 Of thoughts that will her labours I'ecompeuse. 
 The dead held converse with the soul, and hence 
 He that commuueth with them, doth obtain 
 A partial conquest over time." 
 
 BiM, Museum. 
 
TO THE MEMORY OF 
 THE HONOURABLE RICHARD AND LAVINIA WATSON — 
 WHOSE LOVING APPRECIATION AND CARE, 
 AIDED BY THE KNOWLEDGE AND TASTE OF WILLING FRIENDS, 
 RENOVATED IN ITS OLD AGE, AND ADDED FRESH BEAUTY 
 TO, THE CASTLE OF WHICH IT TREATS,— 
 THIS BOOK IS DEDICATED. 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 LONGrSIDE of the feverish craving for change and for some- 
 KK. thing new, characteristic of the latter part of the nineteenth 
 •M century, there has grown up a very laudable endeavour to 
 I preserve from oblivion the history of old family places by 
 means of monographs, of which such books as " Dunster," 
 " The Vine," and, of a much earlier date, " The Black Book of 
 Breadalbane," are such interesting examples. 
 
 In the pi'esent instance the original intention Avas merely 
 to compile under one cover the greater part of what has already 
 
 been written on the more ancient history of Rockingham, and to continue it 
 briefly to the present day. 
 
 But, on the valuable services of the author being called in to examine 
 and tabulate a mass of papers preserved in the Castle, so much was found of 
 considerable interest which had not yet seen the light, that the pi-esent form 
 of narrative was adopted, which, it is hoped, may be of some value not only as 
 a contribution to the Archaeology of Northampton.shire, but as one more side- 
 light thrown on the bye-ways of English history. 
 
 The close search which has been made among the documents at the Castle has 
 brought to light several points connected with the history of the family which 
 have hitherto remained in some obscurity. 
 
 Certain erroneous ideas, founded upon tradition, respecting the taking of the 
 Castle by the Parliamentary forces, and of Sir Lewis Watson's conduct at the 
 time of the Great Rebellion, are hei-e corrected, and the actual facts for the first 
 time placed before the public. 
 
 G. L. W. 
 
 Rockingham Castle, 
 
 March, 1891. 
 
INTRODUCTION 
 
 ATHER moi'e than a centnry has elapsed since Sir John 
 Feun published that marvellous series of literary photographs 
 of domestic, social, and national life in England, dui-ing the 
 fifteenth century, known as " The Paston Letters." 
 
 The avidity with which that work was purchased, — the whole 
 edition having been sold in less than a fortnight, — proves that the 
 general public appreciated that novel and graphic form of history. 
 * And, notwithstanding the doubts which some reviewei's professed to 
 I entertertain of the utility of such documents as materials for history, since 
 that time the value of every letter, diary, or other personal i-ecord, written by 
 our remote ancestors, has been more and more recognized by the historian, not 
 only as affording him the surest insight into the manners and habits of the 
 people of a given period, but also as giving him a firmer grasp of the history of 
 that period by, as it were, placing him in the position of a spectator of the events 
 he would record. Hence the laboi'ious researches amongst the manuscript treasures 
 of the British Museum, the Public Record Office, &c., which our best modern 
 historians have prosecuted before they ventured to write, and hence the greater 
 breadth of view, and the greater minuteness and accuracy in details, which 
 render the results of their labours so valuable. 
 
 Impressed by the justice of this estimate of the value of documents contempor- 
 aneous with the events of which it is proposed to compile a record, it occurred 
 to the present wiiter, when he was called upon to look over and index the 
 extensive collection of manuscripts at Rockingham Castle, that he had lighted 
 upon a rich mine of materials from which to compile a monograph of the Watson 
 Family, and of their historic residence. 
 
X. 
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 Encouraged and assisted by Mr. "Watson in this somewliat daring undertaking, 
 he has endeavoured, in the following pages, to give a succinct chronological 
 account of Rockingham Castle, from the time of its erection, and of the family 
 which has held it since it ceased to be a royal possession. 
 
 The collection of manuscripts above referred to has furnished the basis of the 
 history of the family, but, by the kindness of the Duchess Dowager of Buccleuch, 
 the aiathor has been able to still further enrich his pages with interesting extracts 
 from the manuscript collections of the late Lord Montagu, at Ditton Park. 
 
 The generous readiness with which Earl Sondes gave access to the family 
 documents preserved at Lees Court, and the facilities provided by Lady Sondes 
 to make those documents available, are most gratefully acknowledged by the 
 author. Some obscure points in the family history have been cleared up by the 
 aid of the Lees Court Papers. 
 
 Availing himself of the manuscript treasures thus placed at his disposal, the 
 writer has endeavoured to bring the reader into personal communication with 
 various members of the Watson family, by, as it were, making them live again 
 in their letters and other contemporaneous documents. 
 
 A large amount of supplementary information has been gained from those rich 
 storehouses: — the British Museum, the Record Office, Somerset House, and the 
 Bodleian Library. 
 
 For the history of the Castle, the writer has relied chiefly upon two admirable 
 papers upon the subject, which appeared in the Archteological Journal, — the earlier 
 paper by the Revd. C. H. Hartshorne, the later by Mr. G. T. Clark. To 
 Mr. Clark's paper, he acknowledges himself indebted for what may be called 
 the architectural history of the Castle, as distinguished from its history as a 
 royal residence ; and he gratefully acknowledges Mr. Clark's kindness in allowing 
 him to copy the suggestive ground plan of Rockingham Castle, which appeared 
 in his paper. 
 
 For the details of the royal visits, &c., he has borrowed extensively from 
 Mr. Hartshorne's paper, but he has been able to add other interesting items of 
 information from the National Records. 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 xi. 
 
 He has also to thank the Revd. H. J. Bigge, for the readiness with which he 
 placed at the author's disposal the valuable results of his many years' research 
 into the history of the Castle, and for several useful suggestions which he has 
 made during the progress of the work. 
 
 Chapter VI. has been contributed, over the signature " G. L. W.," in order to 
 bring the history of the Castle down to the present day. 
 
 The chapter on Rockingham Forest, has been compiled from " A Treatis uppon 
 Forestes Parkes Chases & free Warrens " by William Fleetwood, Recorder of 
 London, preserved amongst the manuscripts in the British Museum — from 
 Manwood's Forest Laws ; from that exhaustive woi'k. The Forest of Essex, by 
 W. R. Fisher (a perfect model for future historians of the Royal Forests) ; and 
 from a mass of documents upon the subject in the Record Office. Interesting 
 cases of illegal hunting have been added from the Rockingham Papers, and 
 other sources. 
 
 This chapter the writer believes to be the first attempt to give a connected 
 history of Rockingham Forest ; and ho hopes the subject may hereafter be 
 undertaken by a more competent hand, and be treated in the exhaustive manner 
 it deserves. 
 
 The sources which have furnished the materials for the history of the Hereditary 
 Mastership of the Royal Buckhounds will be found noticed in the article itself, 
 but the writer desires here to express his thanks to Professor Montagu Burrows 
 for his valuable corrections in the earlier portions of the proof sheets of that 
 article. 
 
 The family documents, printed by Mr. Watson's permission amongst the Notes, 
 will be found not the least interesting portions of this volume. 
 
 To the Revd. Canon Yates the author acknowledges a deep debt of gratitude 
 for his assistance in the correction of certain portions of the proof sheets of this 
 work, and for many happy suggestions. 
 
 The writer has also to thank the following gentlemen for lightening his 
 labours : — Mr. Chas. H. Montagu Douglas Scott, by his untiring and valuable 
 aid in elucidating some difficult points in heraldry, which have been encountered 
 
xii. 
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 in the course of this work ; — the Revds P. M. Smythe, and M. W. Hay, of 
 Rockingham; C. J. Percival, of Lyddington ; W. R. P. Waudby, late of Stoke 
 Albany; H. C. Holmes, of Garthorpe ; H. H. N. Howard, of Weekley; W. S. Bagshaw, 
 of Great Gidding ; and J. F. Mercer, of East Carlton, by granting him special 
 facilities for searching the registers of their respective parishes. 
 
 The Initial Designs, Tail Pieces, and the Plan of the Fortifications of the 
 Keep are from clever pen-and-ink sketches kindly made for the anthor by Mr. 
 S. Perkins Pick, A.R.I.B.A., of Leicester. The frontispiece is from a drawing by 
 Mr. E. C. Frere, A.R.I.B.A. The photographs of the porti'aits were taken by 
 Broadhead of Leicester, and the views are from photographs by Knighton of 
 Kettering, and Drake of Uppingham. 
 
 It is the hope of the writer that, in the following pages, the reader Avill find 
 a pleasing panorama of the place and people brought under his notice, and not 
 a mere bird's-eye view, as furnished by a dry historical record of events. 
 
 In submitting the result of his labours to the keen eye of the critic, the 
 author has the satisfaction of being able to say with Cicero : — " Mihi quidem ita 
 jucunda hujus libri confectio fuit, ut non modo omnes absterserit senectntis 
 molestias, sed effecerit mollem etiam et jucundam senectntem." 
 
 Weekley, 
 
 March, 1891. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 Dedication 
 
 Preface 
 
 Intkoduction ........... 
 
 Chapter 1. The Rockingham Castle of History .... 
 
 „ 2. Three Edwards 
 
 ,, 3. Sir Lewis Watson — Prosperity ..... 
 
 Sir Lewis Watson (afterwards first Baron Rockingham, 
 of Rockingham Castle), — Adversity 
 
 F]dward, second Baron Rockingham, and the Went- 
 worths ; the Earls of Rockingham; tlie Viscounts 
 Sondes; the Marquises of Rockingham ; the Barons 
 Sondes (Monson-Watson and Milles) ; and the 
 ^ Rockingham Watsons. 
 
 Rockingham Castle in 1891, a Chapter for the Tourist, 
 by G. L. W. 
 
 4 
 
 7. 
 
 Rockingham Forest, with a brief sketch of the Here- 
 ditary Mastership of the Royal Buckhounds 
 Notes and Documents — 
 
 A. The Will of Edward Watson, Esq., of Lyddington 
 
 B. The Three Bishops of Lincoln 
 
 C. The Will of Mrs. Anne Digby 
 
 D. Mrs. Anne Digby's Inventory 
 
 E. The Will of Anne, Lady Watson . 
 
 E2. The Inventory of Sir Edward Watson, of Stoke Park 
 
 F. Fees paid on the Creation of Lewi.s, 1^' Baron Rockingham 
 
 G. Some Manoinal Possessions of the Watsons — 
 
 Bringhurst, Drayton, and Easton Magna . 
 
 PAGE 
 V. 
 
 vii. 
 ix. 
 
 1 
 18 
 48 
 
 60 
 
 86 
 
 118 
 128 
 
 183 
 
 191 
 
 I9i 
 
 197 
 
 208 ■ 
 
 210 
 
 212 
 
 213 
 
 213 
 
xiv. 
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 G-. Coton, or The Cottons 215 
 
 Garthorpe ........ .... 216 
 
 Great Gidding 217 
 
 Kettering 218 
 
 Lyddington . . . . . . " . . . . . 224 
 
 Rockingham ........... 225 
 
 Stoke Albany a-nd Wilbarston . , 226 
 
 Stoke Park 229 
 
 H. Statement of Sir George Sondes ........ 231 
 
 I. Rockingham Chiircli .......... 233 
 
 Additions and Coubections 255 
 
 Pedigrees — 
 
 1. Pedigree of the Watsons of Rockingham Castle. 
 
 2. Pedigree of the Montagus of Bough ton. 
 
 3. Pedigree of the Digbys of ]3ry Stoke. 
 
 4. Pedigree of Manners. 
 
 5. Pedio-ree of Wentworth. 
 
 6. Pedigree of Monson. 
 
 7. Pedigree of Sondes. 
 Index. 
 
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Frontispiece. Rockingliain Castle fi'om the North-West, from a drawing 
 by E. C. Frere to face Title Page 
 
 Initial Letter A, from design by 8. Perkins Pick ...... vii. 
 
 Initial Letter R, from design by 8. Perkins Pick ...... ix. 
 
 Ground Plan op Rockinguam Castle, from 0. T. Clark . . to face 1 
 Initial Design. — Doorway in Mural Towhr, from pen-and-ink sketch by 
 
 8. Perkins Pick .......... \ 
 
 Tail Piece. — The Entrance Towers, from sketch by 8. Perkins Pick . . 17 
 
 Initial Design. — Mural Tower at Lyddington, from sketch by 8. Perkins Pick 18 
 
 Portrait of Edward Watson, cir. 1552, from Portrait by Holbein (?) 
 
 photographed by Broadhead ....... to face 25 
 
 Portrait of Edward Watson (artist unknown), photographed by 
 
 Broadhead .......... to face 32 
 
 Rockingham Castle from the Beech Thees, from photograjyh by Drake to face 42 
 
 Tail Piece. — Lyddington Church and Bishop's Palace, from sketch by 
 
 8. Perkins Pick ........... 47 
 
 Initial Design. — Entrance Court, from sketch by 8. Perkins Pick ... 48 
 Sir Lewis Watson cir. 1620, from portrait by Michael Wright, photographed 
 
 by Broadhead ......... to face 55 
 
 Tail Piece. — North Front of Rockingham Castle, /rom sketch by 8. Perkins 
 
 Pick 59 
 
 Initial Design. — Stoke Albany Manor House, from sketch by 8. Perkins Pick 60 
 
 Old Plan op Fortifications of the Keep, copied by 8. Perkins Pick . . 66 
 
 Sir Lewis Watson, First Baron Rockingham, cir. 1650, from portrait by 
 
 Michael Wright, photographed by Broadhead . ... to face 78 
 
 Tail Piece. — The Terrace Front, from sketch by 8. Perkins Pick ... 85 
 
 Initial Design. — "Cavalier Relicks," from sketch by 8. Perkins Pick . . 86 
 
xvi. LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Lady Catharine Sondes, from a portrait by Sir Feter Lely, photographed by 
 
 Broadhead .......... to face 101 
 
 Grace Pelham, Wipe op Lewis, First Baron Sondes, from portrait by 
 
 Angelica Kauffmann, photographed by Broadhead . . . to face 113 
 
 Tail Piece. — Walker's House, from sketch by S. Perkins Pick .... 117 
 
 Initial Desion — "The Street," /?'om sketch by S. Perkins Pick . . . 118 
 
 The Yew Hedge, from a photograph by Brake . .... to face 124 
 
 Tail Piece. — Ancient Chests, &c., from sketch by 8. Perkins Pick . . 127 
 
 Initial Design. — Woodland Scene, from photograph by Knighton . . . 128 
 
 Flanker and Remains op Keep, /rom photograph by Knighton . to face 160 
 
 Tail Piece. — Stocks and Whipping Post at Geetton, fro7)i sketch by 
 
 S. Perkins Pick 179 
 
 Rockingham Castle prom the East, from photograph by Knighton . to face 213 
 
Grohnd Plan of Rockingham Castlk, 
 
 Copii'd hy pennU^idu from a Finn hij G. T. CJark. 
 
Chapter First. 
 THE ROCKINGHAM CASTLE OF HISTORY. 
 
 Tfieir engines eke they rearM, iuid witli irrcat art 
 
 Repaired each bulwark, turret, port and tow'r, 
 And fortify'd the plain and easy part 
 
 To bide the storm of every warlike stour, 
 Till as they thought, no sleight or force of mart 
 
 To undermine or scale the same had pow'r. 
 
 (Fairfax' Translation of Tasso, Book 18, Stan. 47.) 
 
 1 
 
 H E traveller by the Midland loop line from 
 Nottiupfham to Kettering, when he leaches 
 the Rutland end of that triumph of modern , 
 engineering — the Seaton Viaduct, comes upon 
 one of the most charming pastoral scenes that 
 can be imagined. 
 
 A broad and luxuriant valley, comprising 
 some of the richest grazing land in the 
 counti'v, lies spread out before him. Ages 
 ago this valley doubtless formed the bed of 
 iui estuai'y of the sea, which, following the 
 immutable law of nature, that change, decay, 
 and death in one age shall be the fountains 
 of life for succeeding ages, has long since 
 receded, and the rich alluvium it has de- 
 posited is the source to which we are indebted 
 for the unrivalled pasturage now found there. 
 
 The only trace left of this once broad 
 e.Kpanse of water is a narrow stream, tine 
 
 Fatal Welland." the " Holv Welland " of 
 
2 
 
 ROCKINGHAM CASTLE AND THE WATSONS. 
 
 Michael Drayton, which gives its name to the valley through which it gently 
 flows, with many windings. 
 
 On the north of this vallej'^ lie the somewhat imposing hills of Rutland and 
 Leicestershire, whilst in front of him, the traveller sees the gentle and well wooded 
 slopes of the Northamptonshire hills. 
 
 To add to the thoroughly English character of the scene, villag(> after village is 
 seen dotted about the valley, and on the hill sides; sometimes standing boldlj^ out, 
 like a sentinel upon a commanding height, as in the case of Bringhurst; sometimes 
 hidden in a hollow, between suri'ounding slopes, as Lyddington ; or lying basking in 
 the open champaign country, as are Caldecott and Great Easton ; or gently winding 
 up the hill-side, like Rockingham. 
 
 Over the whole of these villages, and the greatei- portion of the valley, the family 
 whose history it is proposed to trace in the following pages, once held seigniorial 
 rights ; and ovei- nnxch of the same district the pi'esent representative of the 
 Rockingham branch of that family still wields a beneficent influence; and his home — 
 the home of his ancestors foi- more than three hundred years, the statel}^ Castle of 
 Rockingham — is seen standing upon the extreme northerly point of a bold pi-omontory 
 above Rockingham, and commanding the valley and villages beneath. 
 
 As this Castle was, during Ave centuries, a royal residence, and indeed was, for a 
 considerable period, virtually the Windsor Castle of the Midlands, a sketch of its 
 history will doubtless be acceptable to the reader.^ 
 
 Some arch^ologists profess to find traces of a British fortress having occupied the 
 site of the present Castle. Certainly the situation was one which a tribe of our rude 
 forefathers would be likely to utilize for pui-poses of defence or aggression. There 
 are tolerably clear evidences that their conquerors, the Romans, availed themselves 
 of the commanding position to erect a fortress here, probably for the protection of a 
 road which they had made across the valley beneath. Still more distinct are the 
 traces of a Saxon stronghold having existed here. Indeed, Doomsday Book tells us 
 that it was held by tlie warlike Bovi ; and it was, in all probability, his fortress which 
 the Conqueror converted into a Castle. 
 
 If the reader, who is unable to visit the place itself, will take an ordnance map 
 of the north-eastern portion of Northamptonshire, and look at the spot where 
 Rockingham is marked, he will be better able to understand the nature of the 
 stronghold which so long served as a secure dwelling for the royal and other owners 
 of the fertile valley below it, and as a sort of police station, from which to watch 
 over the security of that part of the royal forest of Rockingham which extended to 
 the south and east of it. 
 
 1 See Introduction for Authorities. 
 
ROCKINGHAM CASTLE AND THE WATSONS. 
 
 3 
 
 As will be seeu, the pioniontoiy upon which the position of the Castle is indicated, 
 juts out almost duly northwards towards the Welland valley. East and west of it 
 are defiles, or ravines, deepening rapidly towards the north, while on the north is a 
 very precipitous slope down to the valley. It is evident that even a sti'ong stockade 
 on three sides of the summit would render this promontory tolerably secure against 
 an attack in primitive warfare. The weakest point was on the south, abutting the 
 extensive tableland on that side. To protect this side, a mound was, evidently in 
 very early times, constructed towards the south-eastern edge of the promontory ; 
 and this mound was further strengthened, probably at a later date, by two ditches, 
 or moats, extending across the southern part of the promontory. It will thus be 
 seen that the steep declivities on three sides gave a certain amount of natural 
 strength to the position, while the south, or weakest side, was secured by a fortified 
 mound and entrenchments. 
 
 The constructor of the Castle evidently availed himself of these arrangements, and 
 convei'ting the mound into a strong keep, he enclosed all the northern part of the 
 promontory (a space of close upon fifteen thousand square yards, or about three aci'es), 
 with almost impregnable walls, and dividing the space thus enclosed into three 
 baileys, or courts, he proceeded to erect the various buildings necessary for the 
 housing and protection of himself and his numerous retainers. 
 
 As the keep was placed at the south-eastern angle of this enclosure, a poi'tion of 
 it must have been outside the curtain walls. But this seems to have been made 
 secure by a ditch. How early the Castle assumed this form is not known positively, 
 but G. T. Clark, one of our safest authorities upon this subject, gives it as his opinion 
 that there are no traces of masonry so old as the eleventh century. But, as the 
 reader will sec further on, in the numerous repaii's and rebuildings recorded, ti-aces 
 of the original buildings may have disappeared ; but we know, on the authority of 
 Doomsday Book, that tlie Castle was ei'ected by order of the Conqueror. 
 
 The space between the southern curtain and the moats, or ditches, is supposed to 
 have served the purpose of a tilt-yard. 
 
 Some idea of the sti'ength ultimately given to this royal fortress may be gathered 
 from Leland's description of it, as he saw it in ruins, in Henry VIII. 's time, before 
 it passed into the possession of the present owners. He says : " The Castelle of 
 Rockingham standith upon the toppee of an hille, right stately, and hath a mighty 
 diche, and bullwarks agayne without the diche. The utter waulles of it yet stond. 
 The kepe is exceeding fair and strong, and in the waulles be certein strong towers. 
 The lodgings that were within the area of the Castelle be discovered and faule to 
 mine. One thing in the waulles of this Castelle is much to be noted, that is that 
 they be embattelid on booth the sides, so that if the aiea of the Castelle were won 
 
4 
 
 ROCKINGHAM CASTLE AND THE WATSONS. 
 
 by cumming in at either of the two greate gates of the Castelle, yet the kepers of the 
 waulles might defend the Castelle. I marked that there is a strong tower in the area 
 of the Castelle, and from it over the dungeon dike is a drawbridge to the dungeon 
 towx'e."! 
 
 Such was the Castle which served the sovereigns of England, during several 
 centuries, as a secure and agreeable place of retreat, where they could indulge in 
 their favourite pastime of hunting. 
 
 And having provided a royal residence, there is little doubt that the Conqueror 
 resorted to it occasionally. Unfortunately, no records of his visits have yet been 
 discovered, nor do we know with certainly that his irascible son, Rufus, visited it 
 more than once ; but as that visit was on an occasion of great importance, and the 
 historian who records it makes no comment upon the place of the meeting, as we might 
 have expected him to do had the king not been in the habit of resorting there, we 
 may safely infer this was not the first or only visit of the Red King to Rockingham. 
 
 The circumstances connected with this visit furnish us Avith some idea of the extent 
 of, and the accommodation provided by, the buildings within the Castle precincts at 
 this date. 
 
 The occasion was Sunday, lltli March, 1095 (Mid-lent Sunday), when William, 
 in compliance with the request of Anselm, Archbishop of Canterbury, summoned a 
 council of British nobles, bishops, and clergy to meet him at Rockingham Castle, to 
 decide the question, " Utrum salva reverentia et obedientia sedis Apostolicas posset 
 Archiepiscopus (Anselmus) fldem terreno regi servare, annon ? " The chapel of the 
 Castle must have been very extensive to receive so large an assemblage ; and as the 
 consultation extended over more than two days, there must have been ample 
 accommodation within the Castle to lodge the very numerous guests. 
 
 A graphic account of this great meeting (too long to be transcribed here), will be 
 found in the Rev. W. Turner's abridgement of Hasse's Life of Anselm, and in 
 Freeman's Life of Eifus. 
 
 It is }'elated of the Archbishop that twice in the course of the protracted 
 deliberations, he, being left alone in the chapel, while the king and council retired 
 to consult together, was found by the messengers quietly sleeping, with the wall for 
 a pillow. While he thus sat alone in the chapel, a common soldier is said to have 
 entered, " and embracing his knees, said ' Holy Father, thy children fervently entreat 
 thee, through me, let not thine heart fail thee, whatever thou art obliged to bear, but 
 think on Job who sat in the ashes, and yet was prepared for the Devil, and thus 
 avenged Adam who had submitted to him.' " It is curious to meet, thus early in 
 tlie liistory of this Castle, with a common soldier of the "godly and exhorting" type, 
 
 1 Lelaud, Itin 1, 14. 
 
ROCKINGHAM CASTLE AND THE WATSONS. 
 
 5 
 
 somewhat like those who, five hundred years later, for a time had illegal possession 
 of it. 
 
 Notwithstanding the absence of records of royal visits here during the reigns of 
 Henry I., Stephen, and Henry TI., we may safely infer those sovereigns did 
 occasionally come to Rockingham, or why did Hemy I. spend twenty shillings upon 
 a vineyard at the Castle, and allow an annual salary of thiity shillings for a 
 vinedresser there ? or why was Stephen so particular about the appointment of a 
 constable ? or Henry II. so careful that the due number of watchmen, &c., were kept 
 there, and allow £4 lis. 3d. annually to pay their salaries? 
 
 When the sovereign was not at the Castle, the care of it devolved upon a constable, 
 generally a prominent partisan of the king, who seems to have held that honoui-able, 
 but responsible position during the royal pleasure, by payment of an annual rent, or 
 fine. His duties appear to have comprised the defence of the Castle, the guarding of 
 all royal rights, the regulation of tournaments held at the Castle, protecting the 
 property of the Church, and, as will be seen, the safe custody of all jnisouers sent to 
 the Castle, and the assisting at the execution of traitors. In return, he enjoyed 
 valuable perquisites and privileges. 
 
 The garrison of the Castle appears to have been partly composed of men furnished 
 by the holders of certain manors, whose tenure obliged them to send one or more 
 men for that purpose. Thus the manor of Benefieid was held on condition of 
 " providing one soldier to keep guard at Rockingham Castle." The names of the 
 following manors, which were held by this service, are preserved by Clark, but the 
 list is stated to be incomplete : Little Billing, Cottingham, Aldwinkle, Cogenhoe, 
 Harwedon, Hanington, Horton, Isham, Uphall, Watton, and the barony of Chipping 
 Wai-den. The Rockingham Papers enable us to add to this list Weston. Sutton, 
 and Dingley. 
 
 " The sums for which this service was commuted ranged from twenty pence to 
 seventy-five shillings annually, and were assessed at five shillings for a knight's fee." ^ 
 Berangarius le Moygne, who built Barnwell Castle, was bound to pay twenty pence 
 annually towards the ward of Rockingham Castle. The manors of Lanton, Upanry, 
 and Hole, and certain lands in Medbourne were each held on the condirion of 
 jjroviding the king with one barbed arrow, when he came to Rockingham to hunt. 
 
 The commutation money, under the name of Castle-guard rent, was collected by 
 the Castle bailiff, an hereditar3- office seemingly held by men in a good position. 
 This officer enjoyed several perquisites, amongist which was that of " his diet when 
 the king or his constable was in residence." 
 
 The names of the constables appointed by the two Williams and the first Henry 
 
 1 Clark. 
 
6 
 
 ROCKINGHAM CASTLE AND THE WATSONS. 
 
 have not yet been recovered, but we find Stephen appointed William Malduit to that 
 office, and no other appointment is recorded until the last year of Richard I., when 
 Robert Mauduit was made constable, for which honour' he paid an annual fine of one 
 hundred pounds. 
 
 As Richard I. spent so few weeks of his reign in England, we cannot suppose he 
 visited this Castle on more than the one occasion of which a record remains. On his 
 escape from captivity and return to England, he seems, immediately after taking 
 Nottingham, to have visited his castles in the Midlands, for early in 1194 he and 
 William the Lion, king of Scotland, were at Rockingham Castle, spent the Good 
 Friday at Geddington Castle, and went on to Noi'thampton Castle. The reader of 
 Ivanhoe will see from this fact in local histoi-y that the Great Romancist was, as 
 usual, almost literally following the course of history in making the Midland counties 
 the earliest part of his kingdom visited by Coeur de Lion upon his retm^n. It is very 
 probable that his treacherous brother had already appropriated " the Ville of 
 Rockingham," which had been given to Queen Berengaria, and was, after Richard's 
 death, seized and given by John to his own queen, Isabella. 
 
 To the restless John this Castle seems to have frequently been a passing place of 
 refuge, for we find him here, in common with his other Midland Castles, after most of 
 his serious reverses. Thus immediately after his reverses in France, and the loss of 
 Normandy, he retired here, by way of Geddington, in August, 1204, to " spaciate " in 
 the glorious forest, and to meditate on revenging himself upon Philiis, and regaining 
 his lost dominions in France. Being thwarted early in the summer of the following 
 year in his project of leading into France the army he had collected at Portsmouth, 
 he, in Sejjtember of that year (1205) came on fi'om Preston to Rockingham to sulk, 
 and to prepare himself for a fresh political leap, this time against the Pope. It is 
 not unlikely that the ninepence recorded in the Rolls as having been paid in this year 
 to the king's messenger, Scogernell, for going to Rockingham, was earned by that 
 individual by bearing a notice of the intended royal visit. 
 
 Finding his contest with Innocent to be like fighting the air, John came from 
 Lamport to Rockingham, on Tuesday, the 20th Februaiy, 1207, and remained four 
 days. During this stay he was occupied with much letter writing. He came again 
 in the autumn of the same year, and received " in his chamber at Rockingham " from 
 David, Earl of Huntingdon, one hundred pounds due on an impress. 
 
 As if in derision of the Pojje's interdict just launched against his kingdom, he 
 came to enjoy himself again at Rockingham in the delightful month of July, 1208, 
 coming on from King's Cliff on Saturday, and remaining' until Tuesday. Again in 
 November he sj^ent Advent Sunday here. He consoled himself for the sentence of 
 excommunication, pronounced upon him the next year, by visiting this " happy 
 
ROCKINGHAM CASTLE AND THE WATSONS. 
 
 7 
 
 hunting ground " three times, in April, September, and November, spendino- some 
 days here on the last occasion. During his visits this year, he is recorded to have 
 " wandered among the forests and rivers," and indeed to have given himself up to 
 pleasure, spending his time between his Castles of Rockingham, Clyve (King's Cliff), 
 and Geddington. We have on record that playing " tables " with the Earl of 
 Salisbury at Clyve, he lost at one time 4s. 10|d., and at another time 4s. lid. The 
 sentence of excommunication evidently had no terrors for him. He was here again 
 in 1210. And in 1212, having at Northampton listened with insolent contempt to 
 Pandulf proclaiming his deposition by the Pope, he figuratively snapped his fingers 
 at him, and on 10th July came to enjoy himself at Rockingham, from whence he 
 wrote to acknowledge the receipt of a coat of mail, formerly belonging to the Earl 
 of Chester. 
 
 The next year, 1213, he changed his constable, replacing Hikjo de Nevil by Roger 
 de Nevil, who, two days after the appointment, was entrusted with the custody of 
 nine pi'isoners. And in Septembei- of the same year John came again, but was 
 probably too much occupied in counterplotting against his barons to spend much 
 time here. 
 
 His military enterpi-ises on the continent during 1214 occupied so much of his 
 time, that he did not pay one visit to this Castle ; but that he was careful for its 
 safety, and for his own comfort when he should come again is evidenced by his 
 spending £127 8s. 6d. on a new tower and chamber, and his ordering one cask of the 
 best wine that could be found in London to be sent to Rockingham for his own 
 di'inking. It is probable that the present gateway is referred to in the entry above 
 given, foi- Clark assigns it to the year 1200. 
 
 In April of 1215, the year of the Great Charter, he sent Peter de Barr and Nicholas 
 de Hugeville, foot cross-bowmen, to be placed in Rockingham Castle for its defence, 
 and commanded them to be paid six peiice ii day each as long as they remained. 
 'J'his was a good sum in those days, and indicates that they must have been trusted 
 men. It would appear from this strengthening of the garrison that John felt some 
 anxiety about the safety of the Castle in his strained relations with his subjects. His 
 desire to please some of his barons is seen in a command issued next month to the 
 constable that he is to receive William de Harcourt at the Castle, if he comes thither, 
 and treat him hospitably. Suspicions of the loyalty of the then constable, Roger de 
 Neville, iiiav have seized the king, for in June the same year, he orders him to give 
 up the command of the Castle to William de Mauduit. In March of this year a man 
 who afterwards made himself consj)icuous in connection with Rockingham Castle came 
 upon the scene. On the 18th of that month, Robert de Veti Ponte was commanded 
 to yield up to William, Count of Albemarle, the manor of Rockingham and all his 
 
8 
 
 ROCKINGHAM CASTLE AND THE WATSONS. 
 
 rights. Of this Earl of Albemarle we shall see more presently. In December of this 
 year John came to Rockingham for one day only, probably in the course of his march. 
 He went on to Melton Mowbray. 
 
 In the year of his final disaster, I2I5, he early took measures for the safety of this 
 Castle. In February he ordered William Malduit, the constable, to fortify it, and 
 "provide men of war" for its defence. On the 3rd March he, while at Bedford, 
 received one hundred marks, the amount of ransom paid by nine prisoners who had 
 been detained at Rockingham since 1213, and the next day sent there four other 
 prisoners. The constable seems again to have been changed, for a receipt for the 
 above ransom is made out to William Aindre, who, the same day, was ordered to 
 pay the garrison at the rate of three pence a day. 
 
 Bent upon defeating the invading Louis, and avenging himself upon his rebellious 
 barons, John was here on the 20th and 21st September of this year, probably on his 
 way to Berwick, for the next day, 22nd September, he went to Lincoln. This is his 
 last recorded visit to, but not his last act in connection with, the Castle, for on the 
 16th October, just two days before his death, he issued a pei'emptoi-y order to the 
 constable to pay the garrison. 
 
 One act of John's deserves mention here as bearing upon some property, now part 
 of the possessions of the Watson family. In the sixteenth year of his reign, he 
 granted a license to William d'Albini to enclose Stoke Park^ and take foxes and 
 hares there. ^ This nobleman was, two years afterwards, taken prisoner while 
 defending Rochester Castle against the enraged king. 
 
 Doubtless the young king, Henry III., had visited Hockingham during his father's 
 life. It is evident that the Earl Marshal, Pembroke, while he held the reins of 
 government, and aftei' his deatli, the equally great Justiciary, Hubeft de Burgh, 
 undeistood the value of this Castle, and took care that it should not suffer from 
 neo'lect. William Aindre was continued in the office of constable, and was insti-ucted 
 not to molest the property of the Abbey of Peterborough, but to excuse the 
 conti'ibution it paid to the Castle, and to make peace with the abbot. 
 
 In this year, 1217, the unfortunate mistake was made of appointing William, Eail 
 of Albemarle, to be constable of the Castle. He quickly forfeited the confidence of 
 one good man, William Longespee, Earl of Salisbury, who, next year, wrote that the 
 alliance between him and the Ear-1 of Albemarle was at an end, and that he did not 
 hold himself responsible for the Earl's misdeeds.^ He, however, retained the voya\ 
 favour, to the disgust of the justices itinerant of Lincolnshire, who wrote in 1219 to 
 
 1 See Note G, Manorial Possessions of the Watsons. 
 2 Eockingham Papers. 
 3 Cal. of Letters, Henry III., vol. 1, p. 19. 
 
ROCKINGHAM CASTLE AND THE WATSONS. 
 
 9 
 
 complain that " they had received a royal letter on behalf of tlie Earl of Albemarle,' 
 which in their opinion put a public affront upon them." ^ The constable I'eceived the 
 king's command to allow Walter Preston to catch forty deer in Rockingham Forest 
 for the royal larder. Whether he opposed this, or whether he had a suspicion of 
 what was impending is not known, but he seems to have thrown ofE his allegiance, 
 for the 30th November the same year (1219) the king writes " The Earl of Albemarle 
 has rebelled against us." ^ Eai'ly in May the following year the young king's mother 
 writes to tell him she has married the Earl of March, and earnestly entreats him to 
 render to her her just rights, including Rockingham Castle, which his father had 
 bequeathed to her. Of course Albemarle refused to surrender the Castle, and the 
 after history of the place might have been altogether different had not the Justiciary 
 conceived the happy thought of " setting a thief to catch a thief." Fawkes de 
 Breaute, who proved himself a most tenacious holder of royal castles, was brought to 
 assist in expelling the rebellious Albemarle. 
 
 He laid siege to Rockingham Castle, which seems to have offered a strong resistance 
 to the battering-rams, catapults, and other engines of war then in use, and probably it 
 would not have fallen had not the astute de Breaute discovered a means of taking it 
 by surprise, which he did on the 28th June. The capture may have been facilitated 
 by the fact that the gariison was found absolutely without food. Only three loaves 
 were found in this Castle and that of Sauvey together. 
 
 The young king was bi'ought to witness the .siege on the 26th June, and stayed 
 until the surrender of the Castle. As the king allowed three bucks to William de 
 Albini, and two to William de Insula on the occasion, it is probable they had assisted 
 at the siege. The forty bucks allowed to William de Preston and Richard de 
 Waterville were no doubt for the royal use, but we may hope the half-starving, 
 captured garrison were allowed to taste the venison. 
 
 This is the first recorded visit of Henry III., who probably did not get a 
 favourable impression of the place, for he is only said to have come once more, and 
 that not till six years afterwards. 
 
 The siege caused considerable damage to the Castle, and for some years afterwards 
 we read of constant repairs and re-buildings going on. 
 
 If Albemarle was in the Castle at the time of its capture, he must have been suffered 
 to escape, for in January, 1221, Henry writes to Geoffrey Neville, " The Earl of 
 Albemarle has seized Fotheringhay Castle." After which he seems to have carried 
 on a sort of guerilla warfare, for in February, Robert de Lexinton writes that he has 
 
 1 Cal Letters, Henry III., Vol. 1, p. 20. 
 2 Cal. Letters Henry III., vol. 1, p. 56. 
 3 Ibid, p. 115. 
 
10 
 
 ROCKINGHAM CASTLE AND THE WATSONS. 
 
 *' constant information of the route of tlie Earle of Albemarle, and has provided for 
 the safety of the border." 
 
 In November of the year of the siege, a grant of one hundi'ed pounds was made to De 
 Breaute for conducting it. A singular instance of the tips and downs which marked the 
 career of the nobles of that lawless pei-iod is presented to us in the fact that shortly 
 after his expulsion from Rockingham Castle, and his subsequent marauding 
 expedition, Albemarle was pardoned, and replaced in court favour, while de Breaute 
 incurred the royal displeasure, and one of his strongest castles, that of Bedford, was 
 besieged by the king in person, and taken, and his brother William and twenty-three 
 knights hanged. De Breaute himself was banished after his wife (an heiress whom 
 he had carried off by force) had been divoi'ced from him ; and seven years after his 
 capture of Rockingham Castle for the king, he was poisoned at St. Cyriac. ^ 
 
 After 1220 the history of Rockingham Castle is chiefly a record of repair-s and 
 re-buildings. The roofs had been damaged during the siege, and in 1221 twenty 
 marks were spent upon repairing them, and the constable had permission to make 
 rafters, and cleft wood in Rockingham Forest for that purpose, and in the following 
 year ten more marks were spent on these repairs. In 1223 five marks were allowed 
 for repairs to the gutters of the king's chamber. 
 
 Symptoms of an impending royal visit began now to shew themselves, and in 1224 
 ten casks of wine were sent to the Castle, and a second supply followed shortly 
 afterwards. Certainly the Rockingham vineyai-d had proved a failure. 
 
 The next year the repairs were hurried on, the sheriff being ordered to take with 
 him certain men skilled in carpentry and masonry, and see to the repairs of the 
 king's chamber. The timber for this purpose was selected by the foresters, who took 
 a receipt for it. The same energy in restoration was displayed during the early 
 part of 1226, and towards defraying the expenses thus incurred, the sheriffs of 
 Northamptonshire and Bedfordshii'e were each required to furnish twenty marks ; 
 and a load of lead jvas ordered for the roof. 
 
 At length, on the 16th July of this year, Henry III. came again to the (.Vstle, but 
 his stay was very short, and unless some of the royal family had made it their home, 
 one wonders what was done with all the wine sent to the Castle during the past five 
 years, for in 1230 four more casks were required. Was wine ad lihitum one of the 
 perquisites of the constables ? 
 
 1 York Powell. 
 
 This Falk, or Fawkes de Breaute was a Norman adventurer who proved himself of much service to John in his 
 contests with the barons. He was made governor of several castles and sheriff of six counties. " Although outwardly 
 acting for the king (Henry III J, Falkes abetted the revolt of the Earl of Albemarle in 1220, and secretly supplied 
 him with forces." — " Die. of National Biography." It is therefore possible that the capture of Rockingham Castle by 
 surprise was an ai-ranged thing between de Breaute and Albemarle. 
 
ROCKINGHAM CASTLE AND THE WATSONS. 
 
 11 
 
 The list of constables is rather confused about this time, but William de Insula 
 and Brian de Insula appear to have filled the office from the time of the siege to about 
 1231, when William de Ral was appointed, and continued in authority until the 
 appointment of Robert Passelawe in 1245, who. pei'haps rendered indifferent by the 
 infrequency of the royal visits, seems to have allowed things to go from bad to worse, 
 for in 1250 he is reported to have left the towers, the walls and battlements, in a 
 ruinous condition, and the chapel destitute of fittings for divine service. Indeed the 
 laxity of discipline at the Castle at this time is seen in the fact that Simoji le Wayte, 
 whose duty it was to see to the safety of the Castle and to chant the hours, 
 committed a theft and fled for safety. 
 
 During the remainder of the reign of Henry III., no records of the Castle of interest 
 to the reader have been recovered. Geoffrey de Langley, John Mansel, Hugh de 
 Goldingham, Robert Waleraund, Alan la Zoucli, Peter de Montfort, junioi', Nicholas 
 de Segiave, and Matthew de Columbariis each in succession held the office of 
 constable within the space of fifteen years, n constant change indicating the king's 
 mistrust, but nothing marks the rule of any one of them, unless the fortifying the 
 Castle again in the time of Alan la Zouch may be held to do so. This renewal of 
 anxiety for the safety of the Castle is no doubt to be ascribed to the nnsati.sfactory 
 relations then existing between the king and his barons. 
 
 But brighter times were in store for our Castle. The new king, the illustrious 
 Edward I., made his fii'st recorded visit here in August, 1275, just a year after his 
 coronation. He probably looked forward to jjuying frequent and prolonged visits to 
 this delightful home in the forest, and bringing with him his queen and her train of 
 ladies, for he at once directed extensive alterations and repairs to be made in the 
 buildings, the execution of which extended over many yeai's. 
 
 The first work appears to have been the ei-ection of ii new hall, and the walls of 
 this hall, then begun, are supposed to be those which arc now standing, and form the 
 walls of the vestibule, the hall, and dining rooni.i 
 
 Edwai'd a])pears to have paid a flying visit here in 1277, for in that year the 
 following etitiy appears in the miscellaneous I'oll : " Paid to Thomas de Blathestone 
 for his expenses in taking the greyhounds with the king ninepence, with two pence 
 in bread foi- the same, cm that day which the sniiie Thomas departed from 
 Rokyngham." 
 
 He was certainly at the Castle again in 1279, once more iu the month of 
 August. He no doubt found the new works well advanced. They included, amongst 
 many other things mentioned in the rolls, a passage and door to the (jueen's chamber, 
 walls about the grass plot near the same chamber, carpentry in the queen's wardrobe, 
 
 1 Clark. 
 
12 
 
 ROCKINGHAM CASTLE AND THE WATSONS. 
 
 and plumber's work on the gutter of the same (for which the plumber received twenty 
 pence, with an allowance of five pence halfpenny for grease.) There were also 
 extensive repairs made in the "little chamber of the king" and in the "great 
 chamber of the king." The stone was brought from Weldon and Stanion, and the 
 slates from Harringworth. All this preparation for the king and queen indicates at 
 least their intention to visit the Castle. 
 
 Amongst the items paid for woz'k at this time is the following : " To Rose, the 
 daughter of Alexander the baker, Agnes de Coleville, Avicia Cooke, Avicia, the 
 daughter of the plumber, John Scot, Ivota, the wife of Adam le Chapman, and John 
 Cooke, workpeople, moving the earth with shovels and harrows towards the granary, 
 5s. 3d. ; each per week, 9d." What would the English sovereign of our time think, 
 if when visiting one of her royal residences, she saw five women busily engaged with 
 shovels and wheelbarrows ? And why is it that names so redolent of poetry are no 
 longer common among our countrywomen ? Some readers may ask " How could these 
 people live on their ninepence a week ? " As a quarter of wheat could then be bought 
 for about four-and-sixpence, a whole bullock for eight-and-sixpence, and a pig for 
 sixpence, and the style of living amongst every class was much less expensive than 
 now, we see that Rose, the Avicias, and Ivota were rich compared with their sisters of 
 the present day. 
 
 The following year, 1280, Richard de Holbroc was appointed constable for three 
 years, for which honour he paid eighty pounds annually. He seems to have carried 
 on the repairs with great vigour, and probably completed the new hall and other 
 buildings which he found in the course of erection. The Rev. H. J. Bigge has 
 calculated that during the time of this constable more than £20,000, at the present 
 value of money, were spent on the Castle. 
 
 Absorbed in his project of conquering Wales, and for three yeai'S absent from his 
 kingdom, engaged in a continental struggle, Edward seems to have had no leisure to 
 visit Rockingham for eleven years. In 1290, the year rendered memorable by the 
 death of his devoted queen, he came on the 2nd September, and spent five days at the 
 Castle. Unluckily the records of these royal visits are drawn from the least romantic 
 of all sources, the Patent, Close, and other Rolls, which notice the king's movements 
 only as they connect themselves with public acts, or the national expenditure. We 
 therefore look in vain for any intimation of the presence of the queen, but as it 
 has been beautifully said of her that " She lived his wife in lovely participation of 
 all his troubles and long voyages," and as we know that she was accompanying him 
 in his journey towards Scotland when the illness seized her which terminated fatally 
 at Harby, in Nottinghamshire, on the 28th November, not three months after this 
 visit to Rockingham, we may safely conclude she was at the Castle with him. 
 
ROCKINGHAM CASTLE AND THE WATSONS. 
 
 13 
 
 What a pageant rises before the imagination ! One can almost see the royal 
 cavalcade as, with all the splendour of armed knights, richly attired ladies on their 
 gorgeously caparisoned horses, and a train of bowmen and falconers, it enters at 
 one of the strongly protected gates of the Castle ; and on the spot where now, at 
 almost the same period of the year, we are accustomed to see crowds assemble to 
 witness a beautiful display of flowers, there ■we can, in fancy, see assembled on an 
 early day in September, six hundred years ago, a crowd of barons, yeomen, and 
 villagers to witness a grand tournament. 
 
 Again a long interval with no royal visit recorded until the year 1300, when the 
 king is said to have passed the following days at the Castle, i.e. August 20th, 21st, 
 25th, 26th, and 28th. These dates seem to indicate that he was then spending his 
 time partly at Rockingham, and partly at some other of his royal castles in the forest, 
 probably King's Cliif and Geddington, ^ where the beautiful cross to the memory of 
 his late queen had recently been erected. 
 
 The year 1290 also proved fatal to one Walter de Levy, a retainer of John de 
 Brabant, who had come to the Castle in the king's train and died there. He ajipears 
 to have been buried with considerable pomp, for the constable, Richard de Holbroc, 
 was allowed £8 lis. lid. for the expenses of his funeral, which took place at 
 Pipewell, his bowels being buried at Rookingliani. The monks of Pipew^ell were 
 allowed twenty shillings, fifty shillings were spent on cloth for the poor, and a 
 banquet was given on the day of his burial. Evidently he was a man of importance. 
 
 Amongst the prisoners taken at Dunbar in 1294, William, son of John de Moravia, 
 knight, Herbert de Moreham, Alexander le Fitz-Gley, and Gregory Fitz-Owen were 
 committed to Rockingham Castle, and two keepers were assigned for their safe custody. 
 They were detained there 323 days, during which time an allowance of four pence per 
 day was made for the knight, and three pence per day each for the others. As 
 £1 16s. Od. was spent at the same time on repairs of the chamber in the tower and 
 the chamber near the gate, these were probably their respective places of confinement. 
 The hall and kitchen also underwent some repairs. 
 
 In 1299, Edward settled that Rockingham Castle, A'ilie, and Forest should form 
 part of the dower of his son's affianced bride, Isabelle. At that time the value of the 
 Castle and manor of Rockingham, with the forest from " Oxendon to Stamford," 
 was only estimated at £80. 
 
 Nothing of interest is left on record relating to Rockingham Castle during the 
 reign of Edward II. That feeble and pleasure loving prince appeals to have visited 
 it twice during 1315, the year succeeding the murder of his favourite, Gaveston ; and 
 
 1 The loyal viKits to Rockingham in 1279, 1290, nnrt 1300 are given on the suthority of the Rev. C. H. Hartshorn, 
 who was at the i)aiu8 to draw up an itinerary of King Edwiird I. 
 
14 
 
 ROCKINGHAM CASTLE AND THE WATSONS. 
 
 once in April, 1323, four years before his own feai'ful death. It was probably owing 
 to what he saw at his last visit that he issued ipstructions for fortifying the Castle 
 and furnishing it with provisions and ai'iiis. How lax was his rule, and how little 
 attention was paid to his orders, may be seen from a letter of Archbishop Melton to 
 Robert de Woodhouse, three years afterwards, in which he says that, in a letter he 
 had just received from the king, reference is made to the king's having given such 
 instructions, but "quod quidem breve nunquam vidimus nec ejus intelleximus tenorem."^ 
 
 The names of five constables occur during this reign, and a good deal of 
 disafforesting went on. The Abbot of Peterborough and some others were allowed 
 to enclose portions of the forest, and to " empark." The Friday market at 
 Rockingham, which had been gi-anted by Henry III. to Edward, Earl of Cornwall 
 in 1271, was in 1315 changed to Saturday. 
 
 Edward III. appears to have used this Castle not only as a pleasure resort but also 
 as a place for the transaction of important state business, and as a stage in his 
 journoyings np and down his kingdom. Thus in 1334, during a lull in his Scottish 
 enterprises, he came here at Easter-tide, on Friday, 25th March, and remained until 
 the 5th April. On Saturday, the day after his arrival, he was occupied in state 
 affairs, and attested four documents. On Easter Sunday, 27th March, by royal 
 command, Simon de Eye, Abbot of Ramsey, pi'eaclied before him in the chapel at 
 Rockingham, an event of which the chronicler of that abbey seems to have been not 
 a little proud. He says : " Item hoc anno ex precepto Regis idem Abbas celebravit 
 missam regis in capella sua apud Rokyngham in die Paschae et ibidem piaedicavit 
 laudabiliter y ^ 
 
 Easter Monday and Tuesday he devoted to leisure, and possibly to pleasure. On 
 Wednesday, the 30th, he was again busy with affairs of state, and attested no less 
 than six documents of importance, and on the last day of the month two more, and on 
 Friday, 1st April, one. From that day to the following Tuesday, there is no ti'acc of 
 him, but as on the 5th he put his name to another document at Rockingham, he 
 had probably been enjoying himself in the forest and neighbourhood. This is the 
 longest sojourn at Rockingham of any king of which we possess a record. He came 
 here the 9th December, the year before his great French campaign, and again on 
 28th August, 1354, the year preceding his renewal of the war with France. His last 
 recorded visit was on the 24th August, 1375, in the midst of his trovibles, and he then 
 signed here the truce which had been concluded at Bruges. ^ 
 
 The names of five constables are found during this reign, and in 1347 two Scotch 
 
 1 Letters from Northern Registers, p. 331. 
 
 2 Chronicon Abbatiae Ramseiensis, p. 352. 
 
 3 Rymer's Foedera. 
 
ROCKINGHAM CASTLE AND THE WATSONS. 
 
 15 
 
 prisoners (not unlikely from amongst those captured at Neville's Cross the previous 
 year) were sent from the Tower of London to this Castle. 
 
 This is the last record yet recovered of an English monarch visiting Rockingham 
 Castle while it remained absolutely in the possession of the crown. When in later 
 times the sovereign came here, he came as a guest. 
 
 After this time we simply find occasional notices of repairs, and from them we 
 learn that from the year 1381 to the year 1385 between three and four hundred 
 pounds were spent on repairs ; and judging from the interesting list of items included 
 in this ex|)enditure, the doors and windows must have been in a very dilapidated 
 condition. Nearly every fastening required renewal, even the vessels of every day 
 use, as the bucket for drawing water, the royal " forkes and stoups," had fallen 
 into decay. A convincing proof that tlie Castle had been neglected by the king. 
 
 No records connected with the Castle during the reigns of Henry IV. and V. seem 
 to have been discovered, .lud the only notice of it during the reigns of the six 
 succeeding kings, from 1399 to 1485, nearly a centixry, is that the vineyard still 
 existed, and was worth four shillings per annum. Robert de Ross was appointed 
 constable in 1442. 
 
 The Castle was granted to Margaret, queen of Henry VI., and afterwards taken 
 from her by Edward IV., and settled upon his own queen, Elizabeth. 
 
 In 1475 a new constable appeared upon the scene for a very brief period, the 
 unfortunate William, Lord Hastings. 
 
 It is most probable that this Castle loas utilized by one or both parties during the 
 veiy im{)erfectly recorded struggle between the two rival houses, although no 
 evidence to that effect has been found. 
 
 On the accession of the Tudors there were symptoms of the Castle coming again 
 into royal favour, for immediately after he assumed the crown, Henry VII. granted to 
 his uncle, " .lohn Wells, Viscount Wells, the office of constable of the Castle, steward 
 of the Castle, lordship and manor, and master of the game of Rockingham, &c. ; 
 and appointments were also made to the rangership of the several bailywicks of the 
 forest. At the same time a " New Park " was enclosed on the south and west of the 
 Castle demesnes, and the Castle having become too dilapidated for the royal use, a 
 lodge was erected in the New Park for the accommodation of the sovei'eign when 
 hunting in that part of the forest. 
 
 On 21st September, 1485, Henry VII. granted to Sir William Stokke, knight, the 
 office of " Keeper of the New Park at Rockingham for life." ^ 
 
 This lodge iii mentioned in coimection with the few royal visits paid to Rockingham 
 during the century and a half following its erection, and it appears to have been 
 
 1 Materials for the History of the Reign of Henry VII., vol. 1, p. 26. 
 
16 
 
 ROCKINGHAM CASTLE AND THE WATSONS. 
 
 much used by the Watsons afterwards. Traces of it are still visible to the righh of 
 the drive through the park to Cottingham, where, amongst a plantation of trees, the 
 situation of the moat which surrounded it is clearly discei'nable. 
 
 The New Park, under the care of its successive owners, has become one of the most 
 lovely parks in Northamptonshire. 
 
 The renewal of interest in the Castle and Forest seems to have extended into the next 
 reign, for Henry VIII., besides making several appointments to the rangership, &c. 
 in 1523 granted to Sir William Parr "the keepership of Rockingham Castle, and other 
 offices connected therewith."^ And in 15.30 the King appointed Sir Richard Sacheverall 
 and Sir William Pitzwilliam to be Justices in Byre (see chapter 7). They, amongst 
 other duties, had the following rather startling ones to attend to, " widows marrying 
 without licence to be fined, and to make obligation " (that is to give a bond that " they 
 wouldn't do it again.") " Widows sueing to marry to pay a fine," which fines were 
 to be paid to the justices in Eyre. ^ This grotesque union of duties in the same office 
 to guard the safety of " The King's Majesty's wild beastes," and to keep an eye upon 
 widows matrimonially inclined, would perhaps seem still more ludicrous to us were we 
 not accustomed to as great an incongruity in the title of our own court of "Probate 
 Divorce, and Admiralty.'" 
 
 Evidence is furnished us of the total disorganization of govei"nment, consequent 
 upon the long internecine war, which had desolated England, by the fact that Henry 
 VII. found that the fees, or castle-guard rents for the Manors of Weston, Sutton, 
 Dingley, and part of Blathe-Wyk, had been unlawfully withheld, and that the Castle 
 tenants at Rockingham were enormously in arrears, and he issued peremptory orders 
 to the sheriif to compel payment of all the dues to Lord Wells. 
 
 Notwithstanding this seeming revival of interest in the Castle, the Tudors appear 
 to have taken no care for the repair of it. Henry VIII. 's brother-in-law, his " fidelity," 
 Lord Parr, did not reside in it, and the building was allowed to fall into that ruinous 
 condition in which it was seen and described by Leland, somewhere between 1533 and 
 1540, just when a yotith, who was destined to rescue the castle from total destruction, 
 had come into possession of a manor in Rockingham, bequeathed to him by his father. 
 
 In all probability this, like so many of our fine old castles and abbeys, would have 
 served the purpose of a handy quarry, whence the materials for building the substantial 
 dwellings, then springing up on every side, could be obtained at little cost, had it not been 
 rescued from that fate by circumstances to be narrated in the following chapter. As it 
 is, there are few inhabited ' castles in England which retain so much of the ancient 
 fabric as this does. Compared to it, in this respect, Windsor Castle is an infant. 
 
 1 Ca!. of Letters, Henry VIII., vol. 4, p. 3073. 
 2 Letters Henry VIII., vol. 4, p. 3073. 
 
ROCKINGHAM CASTLE AND THE WATSONS. 
 
 17 
 
 An account of the restorations necessary to render it again habitable will be found 
 under the lives of the successive owners, and the reader will thus be enabled to trace 
 the growth of the Rockingham Castle of to-day, of which he will find, in chapter six, 
 a description written by one who, knowing every part of it most intimately, has been 
 able to furnish not only a guide to assist the visitor to discover the principle points of 
 interest, but also to enable him to form a mental picture of the old Castle, when, in all 
 its glory, it was inhabited by the sovereign and his court. 
 
Chapter Second. 
 THREE EDWARDS 
 
 Armiger hie situs est Edwardus Watson hononis 
 
 Justiciae cultor, arteq : Causidicus. 
 
 Hunc Lincolnice liabuit praesul dignissimna olim 
 
 Scribam, et causarum hunc legit ad ofRcium. 
 
 Ferre inopi auxiliiim, longas componere lites, 
 
 Consilio prom.ptuf! quosq : juvare fuit. 
 
 Quid memorcm dotes anirni ? quid munera Fortis ? 
 
 In Patriam clarum quid pietatis opus ? 
 
 Parce virum conjux proles ter quina parentem, 
 
 Parce precox- lacrimis solicitare tuum. 
 
 Ingenium, Mores, Virtus et Fama, Fidesq : 
 
 Nunc illi ad superos concomitantur Iter. 
 
 (Epitaph in the Chancel of S. Andrew's Church, Long Lyddirigton, Rutland.) 
 
 HERE are families whose history 
 may be compared to the course of a 
 river like the Thames, which, rising 
 in a humble and obscure spring-, flows 
 as a modest brook, until gradually 
 augmented in its course by the 
 influx of othei- rivulets, it becomes 
 an important river. There are other 
 ^ .. families whose histoiy rather re- 
 ^pgr^ sembles the Nile, which, issuing 
 from a lake, is an important 
 I'iver fi'om the first. The 
 family of the Watsons of 
 Rockingham Castle belongs 
 to the latter class. 
 
 Just within the southern 
 boundary of the county of 
 Rutland, and nestling amongst 
 
ROCKINGHAM CASTLE AND THE WATSONS. 
 
 19 
 
 some small hills, lies the fossilized Tudor village of Long Lyddington : a sort of 
 miniature Herculanetim of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, a perfect treasure 
 for the archiBologist and the antiquary. 
 
 As he enters the long straggling street of this village at its southern end, the first 
 object which attracts the traveller is a curious octagonal tower, like a watch-tower^ 
 projecting into the roadway. ^ A nearer view shews this to be a portion of a system 
 of fortifications that once surrounded the bishop's palace, the fine remains of which 
 are seen abutting upon the chui'chyard. The combined view of the palace and the 
 church, with its massive tower and insignificant spire, is very fine. ^ 
 
 This palace was for centuries, according to Lcland, "The Aunciente Manor-place" of 
 the Bishops of Lincoln, and continued to belong to them i;ntil the reign of Edwai'd VI., 
 when Henry Holbeth, the then bishop, yielded it to the king, who gave it first to his 
 aunt, the Lady Cromwell, and afterwards to William Cecil, Lord Birleigh, who 
 coiivei'ted part of it into a hospital foi' a warden, twelve poor men, and two women, 
 and called it Je.sus' Hospital. " In the Hall of which Hospital, being a fair chamber, 
 and (as reported) part of the Bishop's own Lodgings hci'etofore, is still to be seen in 
 the windows in gi'eat capital letters, Dominus exaltatio mca ; and in almost every 
 quarry, Delectare in Domino." ^ 
 
 This quaint and beautiful building will well repay a visit from the members of an 
 archaeological society, and so will the fine old church, Avith its many points of interest, 
 amongst which may be noticed the unusual arrangement of the altar, which stands 
 on a kind of raised dais, I'ailcd all round in such a manner that communicants are 
 able to api^roach it on any of the four sides. 
 
 On a slab in the floor of the chancel, jnst below the altar steps, is to be seen a 
 brass tablet beai-ing the efiigics of a man and woman, and of apparently five sons and 
 five daughters, with the Latin epitaph which is j)laced as a motto to this chapter. 
 
 This brass marks the resting place of Edwaed Watson of Lyddington, and of Emma 
 Smith his wife. Two centuries ago the following inscription surrounded the tablet : 
 " Of your Charity praye for the soule of Mr. Edwai-d Watson, Esqr., Justice of Peace, 
 and ' Surveyor General ' to three Reverend Fathers in God, that is to say, to my Lord 
 William Smith, to my Lord William Attwater, to my Lord John liongland, late 
 successively beying Bishops of Lincoln. Wliich Edward deceased the X day of 
 October, the year of oui- Lord MV*^ XXX., on whose soule and on the soule of 
 Mistress Emma his wife Jcsu have Mercy." 
 
 The brass bearing this inscription has been torn away, and the mai-k of its original 
 
 1 Sec initial letter of this cliiipter. 
 2 See tail-piece to this chni)ter. 
 3 Wriffht's Rutlnna. 
 
20 
 
 ROCKTNGHAM CASTLE AND THE WATSONS. 
 
 place alone remains, but the inscription lias been preserved in James Wright's 
 history of Rutland (London, 1684), and copied from him by Nichols, in his history of 
 Leicestershire, under " Garthorp." 
 
 The family of this Edward Watson was of considerable antiquity, and had occupied 
 a prominent position in the counties of Cambridge and Huntingdon long before his 
 time. ^ We learn from his will that he himself was born at Sledmer, in Yorkshire ; 2 
 and he appears to have attained to a position of great wealth and influence. His 
 large possessions were partly inherited from various family connections, and were 
 partly the result of his own labours. Most of his possessions in Lyddington, which 
 were considerable, were derived from an ancestor, probably his father, who was living 
 there in 1460. The manor of Garthorp and some other property in Leicester he 
 inherited from his uncle, Lewis Watson.'' Extensive possessions in Great Gidding, 
 &c., in Huntingdonshire, appear to have been in the family for several generations. 
 Amongst the Rockingham Papers are found numerous most interesting rolls of courts 
 held at Great Gidding for the Watsons as far back as the reign of Henry VI. 
 
 But doubtle.ss a good deal of his wealth, and certainly of his influence, was gained 
 by his marriage with Emma Smith, daughter and coheir of Anthony .Smith, Esq., a 
 brother of William Smith, Bishop of Lincoln. We may be sure that the Bishop, who 
 was a great favourite of Henry VII., would use his court influence on behalf of his 
 niece's husband. And the enormous extent of the diocese over which he ruled must 
 have furnished him with abundant opportunities of enriching his Surveyor General. 
 
 At the time of his death, Edward Watson of Lyddington held leases of, at least, 
 half a dozen parsonages, besides leases of several " Lordships, Lands, and Tenements," 
 and was lord of some fourteen manors. 
 
 From him issued, in the full tide of prosperity, like a river from a lake, the family 
 of the Watsons of Rockingham Castle. 
 
 The actual number of the children of this Edward Watson and of his wife, Emma 
 Smith, is involved in some obscurity. According to his monumental brass, and the 
 few references made to the subject by genealogists (who probably derived their 
 information from his tomb), he had fifteen children. But in his will, dated three 
 months before his death, he names only seven children living, and another one 
 expected, who is made the subject of several hypothetical provisions. ^ If, therefore, his 
 wife did bear him fifteen children, seven of them must have pi-e-deceased their father. 
 
 1 Collins. 
 
 2 See Note A, will of Edward Watson of Lyddington and " Note^to the Pedigree of the Watsons." 
 
 3 Nichols. 
 
 4 See Note B, The Three yuocessive Bishops of Lincoln. 
 5 Note A. 
 
ROCKINGHAM CASTLE AND THE WATSONS. 
 
 21 
 
 His eldest son, Henry, appeai-s to have puzzled the genealogists. Nichols dismisses 
 him thus : " Leaving Henry Watson, his son, a minor, fifteen years old. Edward 
 Watson, Esq., who married &c., . . . was the next possessor of this manor" 
 (Gaithorp). Collins boldly ignores him, and says : " He (Edward Watson of 
 Lyddington), had fifteen children, and was succeeded by his eldest son Edward 
 Watson Esq." And one or other of these statements has been followed by later 
 writers. 
 
 The fact, as gathered from his will, is that, for some reason he had placed this son 
 Henry in a religious house, and according to the custom of those times, he simply 
 refers to him in his will in the following terms : " Item I beqaetlie nnto Henrye 
 Watsonne my soune at Newstede XX£, and will that he have no moore of my goodes 
 and landes." This reads like a cruel act, and akin to the modern angry father's 
 cutting ofE an oifending son with a shilling; but when religious houses flourished, 
 and served as quiet homes for some of the highest in the land, it was the usual custom 
 for a testator to state expressly that those of his children who " cntei'ed into religion " 
 were to receive a smaller portion than those who did not, and to leave a donation 
 to the house into which such child should enter. We see therefore that the amount 
 he bequeathed to his eldest son was really handsome. Why he placed him in a 
 religious hou.se at all we are, of coui'.se, left to conjecture. Henry may have shewn 
 strong proclivities towards a monastic life, or possibly he may have shewn no 
 capacity, no proclivities in any direction, and his father may therefore have thought 
 him safer in a monastery, and his extensive possessions safer in the hands of his 
 second son, Edward. However this may have been, the elder son is henceforth 
 lost to view. 
 
 An account of his second son, Edward, heir aid successor, will be found below. 
 
 His third son, Kenelm, on the death of his mother, inherited the Lyddington and 
 other Rutland property. By his will, dated the last of December, 1597. and proved 
 10th April, 1598, he gave his eldest son, Anthony Watson, ^ everything, " onlie six 
 hundred pound in a bagge ensealed and delivered to Ursula Watson, my daughter, and 
 five hundred pounds in an other bagge ensealed and delivered by me to Kenelm 
 Watson my younger son." Anthony, who was left sole executor, was to distribute 
 £20 in charity. Ursula was to have also "one bedde with all the furniture." It is 
 highly probable that from these two sons of Kenelm are descended many of the 
 numerous families of Watson, found in different parts of England, who use the same 
 arms as the Rockingham Watsons. Unluckily the wonderful old parish register 
 of Lyddington gives no assistance towards the solution of this question. The early 
 pages are so injured by damp, and two leaves at the beginning are so mutilated, that 
 
 1 This Anthony Watson mnrned Elizabeth, daughter of Thomas Andrews, of Charwelton. 
 
22 
 
 ROCKINGHAM CASTLE AND THE WATSONS. 
 
 althougli the name of Watson frequently occurs there, nothing can be made out with 
 certainty during this important period. The earliest recognisable date in it is 1563. 
 
 Ursula Watson remained unmarried, and appears to have led a life of active piety, 
 making a good use of her wealth. She assisted her poor neighbours by lending them 
 small sums of money to help them at a pinch, and in her will she directs that Goodman 
 Edmunds, and three others of that name are to keep the £6 they had borrowed, and 
 Richard Borrow (good name !) was to retain the £7 he had borrowed, aLso " Goodwief 
 Price " was to keep the £3 her husband had borrowed, and one " Wenefride " was to 
 keep the 30/- which Edward Ireland had borrowed. Altogether the debts owing to 
 her are thus stated, " Summa totale fEower hundred Thirtie and Two pounds per me 
 Robertus Rudd scriptor." She provided for the continuance of this admirable system 
 of helping the poor, by lending instead of giving, in the following quaint bequest. 
 Out of certain property willed for that purpose " My brother Anthony and Master 
 Rudde, minister of Liddington, shall lend fourth yearly" (without interest) "to ffyve 
 of the poorest couples in Liddington ffyve pounds (20/- to each couple) putting in good 
 security for repayment at the end of 12 months. This to be done so long as my 
 brother and Master Rudde shall live, then by their assigns for ever so long as the 
 world endureth." To Master Rudd she gave £3 and her bible, to each of her god- 
 children 10/-, "except Goodwiefe Walls her child," she is to keep the 40/- she has, and 
 use it "for her child's good." Her brother, Anthony, had seven score pounds, and 
 Keuelm, her " estate of land in Eson." Amongst numerous other bequests made by 
 this sensible woman, ai'e the following, which may interest some lady readers. Her 
 maid, Grace, was to have £5 and her " workaday gown." Her " bulfin gown " was to 
 go to Dorothy ffowler. Mistress Mary Andrewes was to have " one of my rufE bands 
 and a head tue of the best." Aprons of holland were to be given to four widows she 
 names, while " Johan Browne, als Goodier of Tansworth, " was to have one of my best 
 smockes," and to Barbara ffreeman " my straight bodied petticote." May not many of 
 these articles of dress have been objects of envy to her fair neighbours during the 
 wearer's life ? She provides that " Nurse Haccut shall be contented for watching 
 with me." Her brothers were to share her two bracelets, Kenelra was to have a gold 
 ring and chain, and her sister, Watson (no doubt Anthony's wife), her " Tablet " and 
 her " Carker," and ten pounds in money. She did not forget the church in which she 
 had doubtless been a devout worshipper, but left 20/- " towards the makeing of a 
 cawsey between the church gates and the church porch." 
 
 These three, Henry, Edward, and Kenelm, are the only sons named in Edward 
 Watson's will. The daughters are Barbara, Mary, Bridget, and Susan. Of 
 these it is known that Mary married Thomas Dudley, of Clopton, in Northampton- 
 shire, and thus came about one of those instances of double alliance which occur 
 
ROCKINGHAM CASTLPJ AND THE WATSONS. 
 
 23 
 
 so frequently in this family. The Dudley.s, who appear to have been very wealthy, 
 were descended from a Staffordshire famil}'-, and settled in Barnwell and Clopton 
 towards the end of the fifteenth century. Agnes, the sister of the great grand- 
 father of Mary Watson's husband married Thomas Montagu of Hemington, and their 
 granddaughter, Dorothy Montagu of Boughton, married Mary Watson's brother, 
 Edward. In other words this Mary Watson's husband was second cousin once 
 removed to her brother Edward's wife. Edward Dudley, the great grandson of 
 Thomas Dudley and Maiy Watson, married Catherine, a daughter of Sir Christopher 
 Hatton. 
 
 As Edward Watson of Rockingham refers in his will to his sister, " Bridget 
 Ellyott," the third daughter evidently married, and was living the 20th October, 1578. 
 No reference can be found to either of the other daughters, or to the child whose 
 birth had been so much looked forward to by the father. 
 
 The character of Edward Watson of Lyddington is no doubt fairly presented to 
 us in his epitaph. The words italicized mark a trait which has more or less 
 distinguished cdl his successors. Indeed, a generation or two back, the spirit of 
 unbounded liberality, and the generous impulse to help others assumed in the family 
 almost the form of a disease, and seriously impaired the estates. We maj' therefore 
 feel certain that the founder of the family was " Ferre inopi auxilium promptus." 
 Robert Kirton, the fifth mitred Abbot of Peterborough, in a document dated loth 
 March, 1520, conveys the thanks of himself, and of the chapter of his abbey to that 
 "Venerabili viro Edwardo Watson generoso " for some special act of liberality he 
 he had shewn towards their abbey. ^ And in the gi'ant of arms to him, dated 17th 
 October, 1519, it is stated that : " Non pas seulement par co'mune renommee maiz 
 aussi par le rapport et tesrnoignage de plusieurs nobles ho'mes digues de foy (nous) 
 so'mes pour vray aduertiz et infourmez que Edwarde Watson de lidyngton en la 
 conte de Rutland gentil ho'mo a loiiguement ponrsuy les faitz de vertu et tant en ce 
 que aultres ses affaii'es sest ])orte vertueusement et honoi'ableme t gonueriie tellement 
 quil a bien deseruy et est digne que doresenauant p'petuellement luy et sa posterite 
 so^'ent ea toutes places honorables admiz renomez comptez nombrez et receupz ou 
 nombfey et en la compagnie des autres anciens gentilz et nobles hommes." The 
 arms granted to him were : Ar. on a chev. engr., az. between three martlets sa. as 
 many crescents or. each charged with a torteau. ^ 
 
 In the absence of any known portrait of him, Ave arc left to conjecture what his 
 pei'sonal appearance may have Ihmmi. His constitution must have been excellent, or 
 he could not so long have borne the long journeys on horseback, which the great 
 
 1 Bnckinnrhnm Papers. 
 2 See note to Pedigree of the Watsons. 
 
24 
 
 ROCKINGHAM CASTLE AND THE WATSONS. 
 
 extent of the diocese over whicli he was surveyor necessitated, and traces of which 
 are seen in the large number of hack horses he possessed. 
 
 The following extract from a letter from John Longland, Bishop of Lincoln, to 
 Cardinal Wolsey, written at Lyddington, 30th September, 1528, well illustrates the 
 perils the diocesan ofEcials had to encounter. Where the chancellor was not spared it 
 is not likely the surveyor would be spared : " I have both written and sent to the Prior 
 of Spalding by my Chancellor . . for the loaters in the Fens are now great and dangerous.''^ 
 
 We get a slight glimpse of him in a letter from Richard Croke (" John of 
 Flanders," the celebrated Greek scholar, who taught Greek to Henry VIII.) It is 
 dated 1525, and is addressed to Gold. In it he says : " By great good luck met in 
 London Watson, ' tristi vultu et ferme jam omnibus fabulae habito ' " 
 
 The following extract from another letter of Croke's, dated about the same time, 
 shews that the rather numerous family of Smiths, with which the diocesan surveyor 
 was matrimonially allied, contained at least one somewhat objectionable member. "After 
 I left I could not forbear visiting the master of my college in order to understand 
 the lies Smith had been telling. . . . However muc;h I have been maligned 
 to the bishop to whom I owe so much, I have resolved to bear it all with equanimity. 
 I have always been really friendly to Smith, but he is a false friend or an active 
 enemy, for he has traduced me to the bishop. What could have been worse than 
 when I had, according to his advice, opened the way to the favour of the Bishop of 
 Lincoln, than to have acted contrary to all his previous engagements ? " He then 
 goes on to complain of the " ill services Smith has done him with Watson." 
 
 Although Edward Watson's principle residence was at Lyddington, he had a 
 manor house at " Much Gidding," in Huntingdonshire, and another at Garthorp, in 
 Leicestershire, and a " town house " as well, at which he frequently resided Not 
 a trace, not a tradition of his house at Lyddington now remains. It stuod probably 
 on the left hand, about half way up the village, whei'e is a long wall, topped with a 
 very old coping of stone, and which is said once to have surrounded the grounds of 
 "the Hall." 
 
 Od the 10th day of October, 1530, the day on which he added the codicil to his 
 will, and just one month before the death of the great fallen cardinal, died Edward 
 Watson of Lyddington, honoured and respected by some of the greatest men of his 
 time, leaving all his children apparently in their nonage. We know at any rate 
 that it would be some time before his son Edward would have occasion to use 
 the " two best shaving clothes " bequeathed to him. 
 
 He must have been well advanced in years when he married Emma Smith. 
 How long she survived him is not known. His affection for her is shewn in the 
 terms in which he refers to her in his will. And the confidence he reposed in her 
 
Edward Watkox, cir. 1552. 
 Page 30. 
 
ROCKINGHAM CASTLE AND THE WATSONS. 
 
 25 
 
 judgment is seen by his leaving so much to her absolute decision. His executors 
 were his wife, his cousin, Miles Perkyns of Landon (his brother-in-law;, Henry 
 Sapcott, and Sir Laurance Hogeson, vicar of Lyddington ; with " Maister Doctur 
 Payne and Thomas AValdrum gent to be Sup'uisors." 
 
 Having thus placed before the reader all the particulars respecting the life of 
 the founder of this family that can be gathered from documents at present available, 
 I will proceed to an account of his son and successor, 
 
 Edward Watson, Esq., of Rockingham Castle, who may be regarded as the Jacob 
 of his family, for, like that patriarch, he not only supplanted his brother, but he 
 also added greatly to the family wealth and influence, and in a similar manner, i.e. 
 by a judicious marriage. One of his earliest acts, on attaining his majority, was 
 to form an alliance with Sir Edward Montagu of Boughton, the great Chief Justice 
 of England, by marrying his eldest daughtei', Dorothy (or Dowse). He thus 
 secured the countenance and support of one of the most influential men in the 
 court of Henry VIII. 
 
 But he seems to have had another equally influential, if less conspicuous, friend 
 at that court. 
 
 If the reader will refer to the will of Edward Watson of Lyddington (Note A), 
 he will find mention made more than once of Thomas Webster, one of his clerks, 
 who also witnessed the will. At the Record Office is preserved the following letter, 
 mutilated and injured by damp : "(Tho) mas Webster to . . . (Cromwell) . 
 was asked by Master Covert to go with young Master Watson to his place, about 
 which I desire to know your Mastership's pleasure. Yet on my knees I implore you 
 to be a good master unto my (n o)wlde master, Mr. Watson, his children : for 
 if the young man be acc ... is warde to the Kynges grace, thre of his sisters 
 be utterly undooii. His land is held to the performance of Mr. Watson's will, by 
 which each of the daughters should have £100, and two of the sons £200, besides 
 other bequests. The child offers himself of his own motion to give himself, body, 
 goods, and lands to your goodness, and hopes you will accept him as your servant 
 to go to the temporal law." The writer goes on to complain that " when in the 
 country by your Mastei'ship's commandment Mr. Swillington's servants, with 
 their master's approbation called him heritic and spoke shameful words of him, 
 as if he had been a heathen and not your Mastership's servant, and provoked him 
 to fight with daggers and swords di'awn in Swillington's own house. No one in 
 the country loves him, not even his own servants : h(owbeit) . . . d fauch so, 
 by your mastershipp contrary, I think your ... be afrayed on him, and he 
 I'eports your Mastershipp . . . Crumwell." 
 
 From this we see that at least one old sei'vant was found faithful to his young 
 
26 
 
 ROCKINGHAM CASTLE AND THE WATSONS. 
 
 master, and that this humble clerk possessed some influence with the now all 
 powerful Thomas Cromwell. Is it too much to suppose that the clerk to the 
 Surveyor General had in earlier days come into contact, and even formed an intimacy 
 with Cromwell, when the latter was himself in the humble position of a clerk ? 
 It is evident from the latter part of the letter that Thomas Webster had, like 
 Cromwell, to a certain extent adopted the tenets of the Reformation, and was 
 employed by the king's secretary upon some service. At any rate his letter bore 
 fruit, and Cromwell wrote to Henry Sapcote desiring him " to come up to him 
 with all convenient celerity as he is executor of Edward Watson deceased who 
 is in danger to the king." 
 
 Matters seem to have been satisfactorily arranged, and the young heir to have 
 passed into the guardianship of Cromwell, for the following letter (also preserved 
 in the Record Office), written in a bold, distinct hand, shews that with him rested 
 the decision of a most important event in the life of young Edward Watson : 
 " Right honoi^abuil and my singular good master I hartely recom'end me unto yow 
 yowr s'uant mast' Watson and my doughter doo lyke eche other well and if it 
 please yow to be contente I intend to have them maryd before the feast of all 
 Sayntes next com'yng or shortly after and as for your monaye is redy and if I liadd 
 byn suer of yo' being at London I would have wayted upon you my selff And iff 
 your pleasure be to have the monaye before thys terme begyun after ye feaste of 
 all sayntz I wyll wayte upon you my selff at suche daye and place as you shall 
 appoynte and not ffayle And what your pleasure is herein it may please yow that 
 I may be aduertesyd by thys berer beseachyng yow to contynew good master to 
 me and to hym and of owr s'uice yow shalbe assuryd to the best of my powre 
 by the grace off J'hu who p's'ue yow in honor. At Bougliton the Second daye of 
 October^ by yowr assuryd and at yr commandment. Ed. Mountagu. 
 
 To the Right Honorabull Master Crumwell Secretary to the Kings Maiesty thys 
 be de." 
 
 The singularity of the learned Chief Justice's English is attributable to the 
 fact that Latin was still the language of the educated classes. 
 
 A full account of this branch of the great family of Montagu will be found in 
 the author's book on " The Montagus of Boughton." It will be sufficient here to 
 state that, on her father's side, the bride was descended from King Edward I. In 
 the gallery at Rockingham Castle are portraits of the Chief Justice Montagu, and 
 of his daughter. Dowse, ascribed to Zuchei'o. The young lady is represented as 
 rather hard-featured, and the impression gathered from her portrait is that she 
 had a strong will, and was ^^hysically capable of enforcing it. 
 
 1 There is no yenr, but the authorities of the Record Office have assigned this letter to 2nd October, 1536. 
 
ROCKINGHAM CASTLE AND THE WATSONS. 
 
 27 
 
 It was probably through the Montagu influence that Edward Watson obtained 
 from the crown an easy lease of the Castle and Park at Rockingham, in which 
 parish his father had bequeathed him a certain Manor, lands, and tenements. The 
 first grant to be traced was made in the first and second years of Philip and 
 Mary, two years before the death of Chief Justice Montagu. It included the 
 keepership of Corby Woods, and was the commencement of that long period of 
 authority which this family wielded over that portion of the extensive Forest of 
 Rockingham known as " Rockingham Baylywick." At the expiration of this 
 lease Queen Elizabeth granted a lease of the same possessions to the " Ladie 
 Dorothy Stafford, widow, one of her Masties Privie Chaumber," for the sum of 
 £4 annually, " with the right to tak and kill Six Bucks and six Dooes, and them 
 to give or dispose by her or their discretion to tlie Inliabytants neare the Parke 
 and Woodes aforesaid for the better preservation of her Mastie's Deere and Wilde 
 beasts." Six days afterwards Lady Stafford assigned her lease, in consideration of 
 a certain lump sum of money, to William Neale, Esq., of London, who, twenty- 
 five days later, assigned the lease to Edward Watson, who was thus again 
 established for a period of thirty years at Rockingliam. It is interesting to note 
 that, in one of the witnesses to tliis assignment we are first introduced to the 
 learned Dupup, who seems to have been a secretary, or man of law, connected 
 with two generations of Watsons, for his name appears as the writer of many 
 documents, I'emarkable for the free and easy style of orthography adopted by 
 him. ^ 
 
 Edward Watson seems to have led the life of an active country gentleman, and 
 to have been very diligent in the management and supervision of his estates. In 
 the early part of his connection with Rockingham there is no doubt he resided 
 in the Lodge, in the New Park. But fortunately for his posterit}', and for 
 archajology, he seems early to have discerned the capabilities of the old ruin, and 
 one of his first cares, on securing his lease of the royal demesne, was to make 
 the Castle inhabitable. 
 
 He repaired, and evidently where necessary, rebuilt those portions which now 
 form the large hall, and the dining room (or smaller hall). According to G. T. 
 Clark's admirable paper on Rockingham Castle, he found the walls of this part 
 of the Castle standing, as also the fine gate towers, and the massive curtain wall 
 extending southwards to the ruins of the keep. He divided the hall as we now 
 see it, and added chambers above. The date on the beam of the ceiling shews 
 that this portion of the restoration was completed in 1579, the year after he made 
 his will, and the sentence he has inscribed on those beams exhibits the spirit of 
 
 1 The Rockinslinm Pnpers. 
 
28 
 
 ROCKINGHAM CASTLE AND THE WATSONS. 
 
 devout reliance upon Providence in which he set about building up his house 
 and family. ^ His share in the restoration of the Castle terminated in the j^ear 
 of his death, with the completion of the newer portion, now forming that part 
 between the hall and the curtain wall, including the housekeeper's room, &c. Thus 
 to him is due the finest front of the modern building. 2 By Royal licence he, 
 in 1578, fenced in with rails 30 acres of park "for hay for the Deere." ^ 
 
 The latter half of the sixteenth centary is conspicuous in the history of the 
 domestic architectux-e of Northamptonshire. As we have seen, the i-estoration of 
 Rockingham Castle was begun about the middle of that century, at the same 
 time Sir Edward Griffin was building Dingley Hall. And towards the time of 
 the completion of Edward Watson's share in the restoration of Rockingham 
 Castle Sir T. Tresham commenced his additions to Rushton Hall, and began to 
 build his Market House at Rothwell ; also Kirby Hall was completed. 
 
 By judicious sales he was enabled to purchase property which considerably 
 augmented the family revenues, especially in the next two generations. He sold 
 the manor, &c., of Dingley, and possessions he had in Brampton Ash to Sir 
 Edward Griffin, and purchased the advowsons of Kettering, Stoke, and Wilbarston, 
 and the manor of Rockingham, and Sandgate Castle in Kent. He also added 
 largely, by purchases, to his property in Great Gidding and Garthorp. 
 
 Up to this period the manors and rich lands of Stoke and Wilbarston, which 
 now form a no inconsiderable item in the Rockingham pioperty, had been in 
 the possession of the Earls of Rutland (Manners), to whom they had descended, 
 by marriage, from the de Rooses, of whom we shall have to speak in a future 
 chapter. But in 1554 they were purchased of the Earl of Rutland by Sir Edward 
 Griffin, and this purchase paved the way for their transfer, at a, later date, to 
 the Watsons, as will be presently shewn. 
 
 The following is a singular instance of Edward Watson's energy, and of his 
 promptitude in business transactions. On the 2nd April, 1567, while riding over 
 his estate, a letter was brought to him from a_ Mr. Smally, of Holt, giving him 
 notice of the day fixed by the sheriff of Leicestei'shire for the hearing of a dispute 
 about some cattle impounded at Garthorp. He immediately wrote the following 
 characteristic note at the bottom of the letter, and forwarded it to his man of 
 business at Garthorp. 
 
 " To my loving friend Mr. Whiting at Garthorp. 
 
 '*Mr. Whyting, regarde you well of thes contents, and as I gave you myne 
 
 1 See Chapter 6. 
 2 See tail piecs to this chapter. 
 3 Rockingham Papers. 
 
ROCKINGHAM CASTLE AND THE WATSONS. 
 
 29 
 
 advice at Rockingham doo accordingly. Kepe the Days above written, and cawse 
 declaration to be made, as of a frehulde whereby that courte shall holde no longer 
 or further plea, and bring nie a true copye of yr p'cedings you told me you had 
 declared, but it seemyth not so, wch mouid me thence to will you bringe a 
 copie of the avvnswer ; be well advised and let the declarac"on in eny wise be 
 
 substantyally hand wuh shuld have bene i-eily done to yr hand apon 
 
 instructions, if you had not mysenformed me. 
 
 " Yr L. freend E. Watson." 
 " for hast I was constrayned to wryte thes fewe lynes of horseback." ^ 
 
 The writing in this note is perfectly steady and even throughout, and the 
 signature shews the rudiments of that wonderful terminal flourish afterwards 
 brought to such perfection by the writer's son, E J ward. We have known a 
 modern bishop sketch the outlines of his charge while travelling in an easy 
 first-class railway carriage, btit it may be doubted whether the readiest scribe on 
 the Episcopal Bench could write a letter " of horseback." 
 
 To be a good rider was an absolute necessity for an English country gentleman 
 in those days. It' his estates lay scattered in different counties, and he wished 
 to pass from one to another, he had the choice between i-iding or walking. Carriages 
 were not, — and roads were not, — in the sense in which we understand roads and 
 carriages. Every country gentleman's house, therefore, had a well stocked stable 
 attached to it, and in old inventories, the value of the contents of the stable often 
 exceeded that of some of the principal apartments of the mansion itself. 
 
 Edward Watson adopted the motto " Patience is a cure for every trouble," and he 
 appears to have needed whatever consolation he could derive from it, for, notwith- 
 standing his active habits, and the immense quantity of outdoor exercise he took, 
 he seems to have had either some secret trouble, or to have been afflicted with 
 a constitutional melancholy, which caused a vein of sadness to appear throughout 
 his life. 
 
 Amongst the manuscript collections of the late Lord Montagu, at Ditton Pai-k, 
 is a copy of a letter, in which Sir Henry Percy (who was under the conimand of 
 the Duke of Norfolk in his expedition into Scotland, cir., 1.560), gives an interesting 
 account of that expedition, and a list of offi^-ers in the Duke's Armj'. This copy 
 was made by Edward Watson, and sent to his brother-in-law, Sir Edward Montagu, 
 of Boughton, ac(;ompanied by a letter which shews him in a more cheerful mood. 
 He jocularly begins " Mr. Shcrif ^ ye shall understand that the comyssion for the 
 Lewten'cy ys co . (me ?) downe where the old Lewtenant remayne and you nowe 
 
 1 Rockingham Papei'S. 
 2 Sir Edward Montagu was Slieriff of Northamptoiisliire 13 of Elizaljeth. 
 
30 
 
 ROCKINGHAM CASTLE AND THE WATSONS. 
 
 are one (in the com'ission) , but ye shall have sutch a pass of wk (work ?) in hande 
 as in my tyme the lyke never was in this shyre. ******* 
 
 " Your Louing 
 
 brothr. Ed. Watson." 
 In the drawing room at Rockingham Castle, is a very fine portrait, ascribed to 
 Holbein, on which is the following inscription — 
 
 " Cvivis - Dolori - Remedium - Paciencia. 
 A. Dni 1552. 
 
 Secundum Forma - et Habitum 
 Aetatis Suae XXXIII." 
 
 It represents a rather tall, thiia gentleman, with a handsome, grave and meditative 
 cast of features. He wears a flat cap, and is dressed in the costume of Henry 
 VIII. 's or Edward VI. 's time — which gives him the appearance of a student. 
 Near him are several books, and from one in his right hand depends a letter 
 shewing the address :— " To my Loving friend Mr. Watson." This is reputed to 
 be the earliest known portrait of Edward Watson, Esq., of Rockingham Castle. At 
 the top of the front staircase is the portrait of a gentleman in the posture of 
 prayer, on which is the insciiption : — " Cvivis Dolori Remediv — Patiencia Vera 
 effigies Edwardi Watsoni Armiger in hunc Modu depicta, Genibus flexis inter 
 preces. Aetatis suae quinquagesimo sexto, et Ao. Di. 1567." Now if the 
 fifteen years between the dates of these two portraits be added to the age of the 
 subject of the earlier of them, they will make him to have been 48 years old in 
 1567. Either, therefore, the two portraits do not represent the same individual, 
 or there is an error in the dates. 
 
 Over the doorway in the Long Gallery is a portrait representing a stout gentle- 
 man with a white beard. On this portrait is " Aet 67." In the old inventories 
 this is referred to as a portrait of " Edward Watson, Esq., aged 67." But he 
 whose life we are now considei^ing, and his father at Lyddington, were the only 
 Edward Watsons who were Esquires at the age of 67, and it is difficult to imagine 
 that the Ed. Watson represented in the portrait of 1567 in the attitude of prayer 
 could, in eleven years, have developed into the figare represented in the gallery 
 portrait. The difficulty therefore of fixing upon either of these portraits as giving 
 an idea of his personal appearance is very great. In each of them there is to be 
 seen more or less of the " Tristi Vultu " noticed by Croke as marking the father's 
 features. ^ 
 
 1 The writer is disposed to think there is an error in the dates, and that these three portraits are representations 
 of Edward Watson, of Rockingham, as he appeared at three periods of his life. 
 
ROCKINGHAM CASTLE AND THE WATSONS. 
 
 31 
 
 In the codicil to his will he explains the omission of certain items by a reference 
 to the " gfievous troubles and suffeiings " which had caused him to forget them. 
 What his trouble was cannot now be known. His life covered what, to a thoughtful 
 and conscientious man, must have been one of the most agitating periods of English 
 History. Daring his minority he witnessed the dissolution of all the monasteries, 
 Ac, which his father had charitably remembered in his will. He lived through 
 all the various changes of doctrine which agitated the Church from the deposition 
 of Wolsey to the time of his own death. Few high-minded men could have 
 witnessed the havoc made amongst the fine old Abbeys — Fineshade, Pipwell, 
 Ramsey, &c. (with all of which he must have had more or less intimate relations), 
 without experiencing a considerable shock. 
 
 His will, written by the phonetic Edward Dupup, is dated 20th October, 1578. 
 The copy in Somer.set House occupies ten very closely written large pages, and 
 commences in a strain of piety similar to that of his father's. Black gowns are to 
 be provided for Sir Ed. Montagu (his brother-in-law), Thos. Brooke, George Lynne 
 (who had married his wife's sister Amy), Thos. ffurthoo, Arthur Brooke, George 
 fflowers, Elizabeth flPui'thoo, Katherin Brooke, Ellyn fflowers, and Anne Watson, and 
 a "gown of black" to each of twelve poor persons in Rockingham. Like his 
 father-in-law, the Chief Justice Montagu, ho forbad the customary distribution of a 
 " common dole " on the day of his burial, but "to every town within the hundred 
 of Corby 10s. to be divided by the Clearke and Churchwardens of each town to 
 the poorest inhabitants, and eveiy poor cottager in the same towns to receive 5s." 
 And 5s. or lO.s. were to be distributed in every town where he had property. 
 
 He had built in Rockingham " a house for the residence and relief of foui- poor 
 lame and ympotent persons," for the support of which house he left a rent-charge 
 of .£8 per an. on his manor of Cotton." ^ To his servant Christopher Grentham 
 he gives " one parcel of copyhold land in Kettering, which he rents " ; and to several 
 others of his servants he gives small parcels of land for their lives. And to 
 " Christopher Roberts my servaunt and butler, the house at Eston wherein he now 
 dwelleth for the terme of his natural life paying yearly for the same the sum of 
 one penny onely." William Martin, the son of his daughter Mary, was to have 
 an annuity of " fourtie shillings"; and his daughters, " ffurthoo. Brook, fflower, Anne 
 Watson, and Mary Videll " were each to receive " a bason and ewer of sylver each to 
 be worth twenty pounds." 
 
 For his " good and loveinge wife Dorothie Watson " he provides, " if she live 
 sole, &c., conveniente meate and drinke meete for her estate, and Vacation for 
 herself and for two servaunts, viz., a mayde and a maun with conveniente chamber 
 
 1 See Ohap. 4 for the fate of this hospita,!. 
 
32 
 
 ROCKINGHAM CASTLE AND THE WATSONS. 
 
 room . . . with all mariner of necessaries of houseliolde stuffe for her and them 
 in my dwelling-house, at Rockingham, with fourty pounds a yeare. Yf she shall 
 happen obstinately or willfully to seek by any othei waye or means to gett, recover 
 or to have any more or furthei- estate . . . then all this my Legacie and devise, 
 shalbe utterly voyde and of none effecte." The reversion of his estates, after the 
 death of his son, was left for the benefit of his seven grand-daughters. But if a 
 brother should be born to them, then the estates were to devolve upon him, with 
 provision for the seven sisters. 
 
 The Codicil, as mentioned above, states that " grievous sufferings, &c., had caused 
 him to omit, amongst other things, to notice, " That Elizabeth Skynner the wyfe 
 of Johm Skynner dydd by many years serve my sonne Watson and his wyfe in 
 nui'sing and nurishing of dyveis of his children. And whereas also sithence that 
 tyme she hath by the space of ffourteen or ffifteen years s'ved me daylye and 
 contynually as a household servant, leaving (with the consent of her husband), in 
 hope of my good will, the care and oversight of her own things at home, to whome 
 (I take God to record), that I did not gyve her to my remembrance one penny in 
 recompence of her paynes and wages other than sometimes a peticote and sometimes 
 a Coate, beinge so much indebted unto her I cannot and dare not in discharge of 
 my conscience but-p'vide for her some such recompence and consideration as she 
 has deserved." She was, therefore, to have " the howse where she dwelleth " and 
 the " hoi-semylne " which he brought from the Castle to set up there, and an acre 
 of meadow, with three acres of land at Cottingham ''ffrankley and freely to be 
 bestowed upon her wth out anything or rent thereof during her natural life." 
 
 He was not so forgetful of his scribe as he was of the faithful old nurse, for 
 in his will he says, " I give and bequeath unto my Servaunt Edward Dupup the 
 mesa' or fferme with thappurtenaunces in Rockingham wherein he now dwelleth 
 during the terme of his lyfe wth out any rente payinge therefore. And also one 
 meadow close lying beyonde Rockingham Brydge." 
 
 The usual gold ring, with a death's head on it, was to be given to each of his 
 executors. Sir Edward Montagu and Sir Thomas Tresham. 
 
 Wherever he might die he was to be buried in Rockingham Church, and "a /air 
 Monument of Stons" to be erected there within twelve months of his death." 
 
 Amongst the early entries in the Rockingham parish register is the following: 
 1584 Edwardus Watson sepultus fuit decimo tertio Maii. 
 Had he lived three months longer he would have welcomed the birth of his 
 grandson, Lewis, destined to become a conspicuous figure in the family. 
 
 4 Presumably in " The Lodge, in the New Park." The date of Mrs. Dorothy Wiitson's death has not been 
 
 ascertaitied. 
 
Eii\vAi;ii Watsox, cir. 1567. 
 Vaue 30. 
 
ROCKINGHAM CASTLE AND THE WATSONS. 
 
 33 
 
 He left one son and six daughters. A preponderance of daughters is observable 
 in almost every generation of this family. 
 
 The fortunes of the son will be followed presently. The eldest daughter, 
 Catherine, married Arthur Brooke, of Great Oakley, in Northamptonshire, which 
 alliance proved of service to the Watsons during the Civil Wars. This family of 
 Brooke had a common origin with the Brookes, Lords Cobham, in a Cheshire 
 family of that name, and from this alliance is descended the family of the Bx'ookes 
 
 of Great Oakley, &c. Of the remaining daughters, Mary was married ta 
 
 Videl, Elizabeth to Thomas ffurtho, of Fortho, in Northamptonshire, and Elleyn to 
 Geo. fflower. The foi'tunes of Anne and Emma have not been traced. 
 
 Edward Watson, his only son and heir, was, according to genealogists, but thirty- 
 five yeai-s of age when his father died. If so he must have married very j-oung, 
 for in April, 1567, he married Anne Digby, a daughter of Kenelm Digby, of Stoke 
 Dry, in Rutland, and their seven daughters were all born during the life of Edward 
 Watson, the elder. He enjoyed the estates and family honors 32 years, and, as will 
 be seen, the records of his life during that period are full of interest, containing as 
 they do accounts of his active administration of forest and other, now obsolete, laws 
 of the Tudor and early Stuart periods, and thus bringing us into toucli with the 
 daily life of the rural population of the age. 
 
 By the settlement made on his marriage witli Anne Digby, his father gave him, 
 in possession, the Manor, Ac, of Knipton, in Leicestershire, and in reversion, the 
 advowsons of Kettering, Stoke Albany, Wilbarston, and Rockingham, and the 
 Manors in Rockingham, Garthorp, Barrow (in Rutland), Great Giddiug, Sawtry, &c., 
 and a considerable accession of wealth and influence accrued to him by this alliance 
 with the Digbys, an ancient, honourable, and wealthy family. An ancestor of his 
 bride had distinguished himself as a partisan of Henry VII., at Bos worth Field. 
 Her father had filled the office of sheriff of Rutland several times, and was during 
 many years, M.P. for that county. Her mother was a daughter of Sir Anthony 
 Cope, Knt., vice-chamberlain to Queen Catherine. Indeed many members of this 
 Digby family have been so conspicuous that the reader will, I hope, pardon a 
 digression, in order that I may put before him some of the facts (and fictions ?) 
 recorded about them. 
 
 Their celebrated family pedigree ^ traces them back to one ^dmar, living at 
 Tilton, in Leicestershire, at the time of the Conquest. It is refreshing to find that 
 he was already there, and did not come over with the Conqueror. His name savours 
 of a Saxon origin, and he may have tilted at William's knights, in defence of his 
 possessions. At any rate he produced a very warlike, adventurous, and pushing 
 
 1 For a descni)tion of it .«ee Nichols' Leicestershire, Vol. 3, p. 473. 
 
34 ROCKINGHAM CASTLE AND THK WATSONS. 
 
 progeny. His great-great-grandson, who died in 1269, married Arabella, a daughter 
 of Sir William Harcourt, thus introducing into the family the blood of another I'ace 
 addicted to "doughty deeds." And in the ninth generation we find that Sir Everard 
 Digby, of Tilton and Drystoke (which seems to have come into possession of his 
 father) was slain, with three of his sons, fighting for Henry VI., at Towton. He and 
 his son and heir, Everard Digby, Esq., rejoiced in the appropriate alias of 
 " Greenleaf." From this Everard Digby, Esq., descended the Digbys of Stoke 
 Dry, and some half dozen other noted families of Digbys. 
 
 His grandson Kenelm, of Stoke Dry, was the father of Anne Watson. Her 
 eldest brother, Everard, married Mary, daughter and heiress of Francis Nele 
 of Keythorpe. If Nichols' account of this lady may be credited, she must have 
 been a very extraordinary woman. He says she was born in 1513, and was living 
 in 1632. This would make her to have attained the age of at least 119 years. 
 Surely here is a fiction ! She married three husbands. The first was Everard 
 Digby, Esq. of Drystoke, and their eldest son was Sir Everard Digby, of gunpowder- 
 plot notoriety. Her second husband was Sampson Brdeswick of Sandon, Stafford- 
 shire ; and her third, Thomas Digbj'^, a relative of her first husband. According 
 to Doctor Plot she was a sort of female Cagliostro, and came near to discovering 
 the elixir of life. He says she was " A most accomplished lady, and by her most 
 exquisite and perspicuous insight into the most hidden recesses of nature, she 
 discovered the restorative properties of the well in Willoughbridge Park, where 
 three score springs are found within the space of ten square acres, and enclosed 
 them for bathing and drinking, with divers appartments for lodging the poorer 
 sort of diseased and impotent folk." , , 
 
 Their son, the unfortunate Sir j^cnolm Digby, Anne Watson's fi^se-asctnsia, is 
 described as one of the "most beautiful" men of his time, and " by the accomplishments 
 of his mind, reported one of the finest gentlemen in England." The early death 
 of his father, who was a zealous member of the Roman branch of the Church, left 
 him entirely under the control of the Jesuits, and to their influence is ascribed the 
 part he took in the gunpowder plot. In 1603 he was knighted by James I. at 
 Belvoir Castle. We are told that " To him Maria, daughter and sole heiress of 
 William Mulsho, Esq. of Gothurst, Bucks., resigned herself and her great fortune, but 
 Eumenides tenuere faces de funere raptas 
 Eumenides stravere torum. 
 
 " She had not been married three years before her husband was snatched from 
 her by an ignominious and merited death." 
 
 His fate is a matter of history. I will only refer the reader to the notices of 
 him contained in his grandmother's will. ^ 
 
 1 See Note C, Will of Mrs. Anne Digby. 
 
ROCKINGHAM CASTLE AND THE WATSONS. 
 
 35 
 
 His son was tlie celebrated Sir Kenelm Digby, wbose cbaracter is so well given by 
 Clarendon in his " Life." Owing to the active part he took as a Royalist in the 
 Civil War, he was compelled to spend much of his life in France, but returning 
 to England at the Restoration, he died here in 1665. He was noted as an admiral, 
 an author, and philosopher. In the latter capacity he seems to have entertained 
 some singular theories. Unluckily he made his wife (Venetia Anastasia, daughter 
 of Sir Edward Stanley, of Tongue Castle, in Shropshire) the subject of some of his 
 experiments. She was remarkable for her extraordinary beauty, and he was so 
 proud of her that, as we read, " To preserve her health he fed her on capons fed 
 with the flesh of vipers." To joreserve her lovely complexion he was continually 
 inventing new cosmetics for her use, and it is suspected that this too great love for 
 her was the cause of her death, for one morning she was found dead in her bed at 
 the early age of thirty-three. There exist two portraits of her by Vandyke, one 
 in the possession of the family, and one in Windsor Castle. She is represented 
 in a " Roman habit, holding doves in one hand, symbolical of her innocence, and 
 a serpent in the other to mark her triumph over the envenomed tongues of the 
 times." What she was accused of remains in obscurity. 
 
 The Rockingham Papers shew that Edwai-d Watson, the younger, had for some 
 time assisted his father in the management of the estates. He seems, immediately 
 after his father's death, to have entered upon that energetic discharge of his duties 
 as a magistrate, a verderer of the forest, and a large landed proprietor, which, while 
 it brought him prominently into notice, and ultimately led to a large increase of 
 wealth, honour and influence, evidently, at times, caused some friction between 
 himself and his neighbours. 
 
 Evidence of his activity as a verderer is furnished by the numerous records of cases 
 of "Unlawful hunting " tried by him, which are found amongst the Rockingham 
 Papers. From them tlie following case is selected because it so well illustrates the 
 operation of the forest laws in their then milder form, and brings us closely into 
 touch with the rural population of the forest districts three hundred years ago. 
 The unblushing effrontery with which the " examinate " tells his first story is 
 thoroughly typical of the poacher in all ages. The circumstantial details of the 
 landlord's wife riding behind iiim on a pillion, and the account of his four or five 
 miles walk from Rushton to Geddington, between half-past seven and nine o'clock 
 on an August evening, without meeting a single person, bring vividly before us the 
 homely and early habits of that age. 
 
 The cheerful confidence with which the writer skirmishes with the alphabet 
 sufliciently reveals the hand of Dupup in this document, without the Latin attestation 
 of his shai'e in the transaction : 
 
36 
 
 KOCKINGHAM CASTLE AND THE WATSONS. 
 
 " The Examynacon of Thomas Sargent of Geddington in the conntie 
 of Northt'. laborer taken before Edward Watson Esquire one of the 
 Yerderors within the fforeste of Rockingham w*Mn the Balyweeks 
 of Brigstocke and Rockingham the XVI*'! daie of August in the 
 XXVII.*'^ yere of her ma^^^^ raigne. 
 " ImjDrimis this Examynate saieth that one Sondaie beinge the Eighte Daye of Auguste 
 he was requested by his Landlord Thomas Walker to carrye the wyfe of the saide 
 Thomas to Rushtou that daie to Dynner w"^ he Did uppon a blacke Mai-e of his own 
 she behynde him uppon a pillyon, where he Dynned and supped that Daie and at 
 after supper he this Examynate turned his mare into a close at Rushton aforesaide 
 emongheste other horses and ymedyatlye wente whome to his owne howse at 
 Geddington and lefte his mare behynde him for the wyfe of the saide Thomas 
 Walker to ryde whome of. And further he saiethe that he Dep'ted from Rushton 
 aboute the sonne settinge and came to his own howse at Geddington aboute IX of 
 the clocke, and wente in at the backe syde of his howse where he founde his mayde 
 sitting up for him and his boye in Bede and he him selfe wente ymedyatlie to Bede 
 and there contynned until the sonne ryseinge of the nexte Daie, And further he 
 this Examynate saithe that he was not in the launde of Benyfeilde nor in the foreste 
 of Rockingham that nighte but in his owne howse, neither yete knewe of any 
 stealers that were there, And beinge Examyned how his mare came into the fforeste 
 brydled and sadeled and who ride upon her this Examynate cannot tell nether yet 
 Dothe he remember that he mete eny betwene Rushton and Geddington nor that 
 eny sawe him at his Dep'ture from Rushton nether yet at his comeinge into 
 Geddington, and more than this he cannot sale. 
 
 " Sig Thome W sargent." ^ 
 
 So far the " examinate " appears to have the best of it. But the verderer and his 
 keepers were evidently not to be taken in by him — for, Thomas Sargent was 
 re-arrested, and, having at hand a "learned writer to set down their excommunication," 
 they, like the immortal Dogberry, proceeded to " go about with him " with the 
 remarkable result here narrated. " This Examynate upon his reexamynacon saiethe 
 that of Sondaye beinge the VTlI.th daye of August he was at Russheton at Sr 
 Thomas Treshams howse wheare he dyned and Supped, and after Supper at the 
 Requeste of Mr. button the Parson of Russheton aforesaid he went to the same 
 p'sons Chamber, and took upp his Mare aboute Mydnighte, and rode with the same 
 Parson accompanyed with one Willm Burbage of Rothwell, and a man of on 
 Thomas Treshams of Gedington nowe remayninge in the howse of S'" Thomas 
 Tresham at Russheton whose name he knoweth not to a Reekplace in Pypwell 
 
 1 Rockingham Papers. 
 
ROCKINGHAM CASTLE AND THE WATSONS. 
 
 37 
 
 Closes where they all lighted and left there horses without any body w''^ them, 
 and from thence they went all together w'*^ a brace of Grayhoundes ledde by the 
 said Mr. Treshams man (the one a blacke and the other a dune) into the Launde 
 of Benyfeilde wheare the Dogges were letten slypp and at the ffirste Coui'se they 
 Kylled a Buck or a Sore, at w*^^ Course they loste one of there Grayhoundes, and 
 yet notwithstanding they coursed agayne w'^ the odde Dogge and kylled an other 
 Buck or another male Deei'e. Whiche done this Examynate and Mr. Treshams 
 man carryed the one and the Parson and Burbage carryed the other to the Sheepe 
 Penne wheare they thoughte to have founde their horses, but from thence they were 
 taken, wherupon they carryed the said Deere to a Barne in the Easte graunge in 
 Pipwell and shaked a little heye upon them. And so this Examynate parted fi-om 
 their companye, and went home to his howse at Geddington. Synce w<^^ tyme he 
 sawe not any of his said Company but the Parson, who at the ffirste badde hym not 
 to confesse anythinge, but when he harde his mare was taken upj) by the Kepers 
 he tolde the Parson thereof who then badde hym doe what lie woldc hym selfe, and 
 more than this he cannot sale. 
 
 " signn Thome — Sakgkaunt 
 
 "Ed. Watson 
 
 " In presencia mei 
 
 Edwardi Dui'UP." 
 
 Unluckily no record has been found of the punishment which overtook this offender, 
 but according to the forest laws of that date he, having by his offence " put himself 
 in the King's mercie," would be required to " putt in maynprise of fower sureties 
 that he shalbe ever after of goode abearinge in the King's fforests." The following 
 example of a recognizance, given two months later in the same year, by another 
 offender and his four sureties, will serve to illustrate the proceedings in similar cases : 
 " Northt. Memorand qd primo die Octobris Anno regni Dnc nre Elizabeth Dei 
 gi*a Anglic ffraunc et Hibnic Regine fidei Defensor &c. Vicesimo Septimo 
 venerunt coram nobis Thome Brudenell et Edwardo Watson Ai'. Duobz 
 viridiar Dee Dne Rne ad pacem in com pd couservand Assignat Henricus 
 Petche Edwardus Dycher Robertus Myller et Willms fl'oster de Wilbarston 
 in com Northt. yeomen et manuceperunt p Willmo Paynes de eisdem villa 
 et com Glover viz. : quilbt eor sub pcna Quinq librar ac idem Willms 
 Paynes assump sib p seipso sub pena Quadraginta librar Quasquidem sepales 
 sumas tam p'dcus Willms Paynes qua predci manucaptores recognoverunt 
 et quilibt eor se recognovit se debere Dee Dne Rne et concessar De terr 
 tentis bonis et Cattail suis ad opus et usu Dee Dne Rne tier et levar 
 ubicunq invent fuint infra I'cgnni Anglie p preseutes sub condicione sequen. 
 
38 
 
 ROCKINGHAM CASTLE AND THE WATSONS. 
 
 " The condicon of this recogBizaunce h suche That if the above bounden Willm 
 Paynes be and p'soiiallie appeare at the nexte Justice seate to be holden within the 
 fforeste of Rockingham and then and there Doe answer to all suche thinges as one 
 the p'te and behalf of our said sov'aigne Ladie the Quenes ma*^'' shalbe obiectcd 
 against him for and concerneinge the uulawfull killinge of a Deere he hathe 
 alreadie confessed, And in the mean tyme doe well and honestlie behave himself 
 againste her Ma'*'^'* Verte venyson and game within all her Ma^'^s fforests Parkes 
 Chaces and Warrens within the said fforest of Rockingham And further Doe at 
 all tymes and from tyme to tyme hereafter within tenu Daies warninge gyven at 
 the howse of the aforesaid Edward Dycher seytuate in Wilbarston aforesaid yealde 
 his bodie prisoner to the prison of Rockingham made and p'vidcd for ofEenders 
 within the said fforest and there doe contynew untill he be thence Delyvered by 
 Due order of her Mat^*^^ lawes That then this present recognizaunce to be voyde and 
 of no effecte or ells to stande remayne and abyde in full force strengthe and virtue. 
 
 "Ed. Watson." 
 
 This would seem to be superior to the modern plan of police supervision. For 
 the sureties being liable to forfeit the whole of their belongings in case the offender 
 relapsed, would naturally keep a sharp look out upon him. 
 
 The vigorous action of the verderer does not appear to have deterred the poachers, 
 for amongst the Rockingham Papers are preserved no less than six similar recog- 
 nizances given in poaching cases, heard by Edward Watson during the ensuing 
 year — 1586 ; but only in one case have I found recorded a repetition of poaching 
 by the same offender, who seems to have been too much for the verderers, and whose 
 case was, accordingly, relegated to a higher cornet. 
 
 The reader will find an account of this, and of some other cases of unlawful 
 hunting recorded in the Chapter on Rockingham Forest. They possess considerable 
 historical interest. 
 
 As may be supposed the verderer's activity was resented, and certain persons 
 appear to have lodged a complaint of some kind against him, but they were 
 quickly brought to their senses, as the following document shews : — " fforasmuch 
 as uppon the sight of the certificate from Thomas Shavington, Thomas Cave, 
 William Cave, and Thomas Oveamounte (?) Esquires. It appeereth that the 
 complainte of Thomas Bringhurse, William Lambert, and Laurence Cooper of 
 Easton in the Countie of Leicester against Edward Watson Esquire, is untrue and 
 that the same proceeded rather of malice then good matter, And that they have 
 made offer to submit them selves to the said Edward Watson in the jD'sence of the 
 said gentlemen, acknowledging their misdemeanours in the same. It is therefore 
 thoughte meete that the said Thomas Bi'lnghursCj William Lambert, and Lauience 
 
ROCKINGHAM CASTLE AND THE WATSONS. 
 
 39 
 
 Cooper with tlieir confederates, shall before five credible persons of the said Towne 
 of Easton wtliin T wen tie dayes after notice thereof given unto them, confes their 
 slanderous dealings against the said Edward Watson whch if they or anie of them 
 shall refuse to doe. Suche further order shall be taken therein as well for their 
 correcon as the satisfaction of the said gentlemans charge as in this case shall 
 be fitt and conveniente. 
 
 " Given at London the XXVth of October 1589. 
 
 " Chr Hatton " 1 
 
 Annoyances in connection with his duties as verderer came also from quai-ters 
 whence they might have been least expected. Amongst the manuscripts at Ditton 
 Pai-k is a letter fi'oni Edward Watson to " The Right Worshippful (my) verye 
 good unckeil Sir Edward mountagew Knight," in which he complains that " Jniustic 
 vexations and wrongs " ai*e done daily to him and liis men by Mr. Lane. He sends 
 his uncle Montagu a " bill of chai'ges " (accusations) against the offender, but leaves 
 it to his discretion to act as he thinks best in the matter, as he esteems the 
 continuance of his fi'iendship far above Mr. Lane's. He says he (Lane) " Shamfastly 
 beaves himself soo high of Sir Robt Lane & yourself that manefast wrong is as 
 comra' Avith him as harvest." ^ 
 
 To the husband of a lady whose family was noted for its strong attachment to 
 the Roman Catholic faith, the performance of the extraordinary duties described 
 in the following letter must have been in the highest degree painful. Tlie 
 extremely matutinal appointment for the " Swaun Inn " merits notice. 
 
 " To the Righte Honorable my very good Loide S'" John Puckeringe Knighte 
 lorde Keeper of the greate seale of England and one of her Ma"'^* Most honorable 
 privy council. 
 
 " My bounded dutie unto your I'ighte honorable good Lo : most liumblie premised 
 may it ])lease you to understand : Tlie beai'er hei-eof Mr. Newhall one of the 
 Messingers of her Ma'^''=^ Chamber acquainted me w''* a warrant directed from 
 your Its. (lord.ship) and others the lords of her mat'<^* most honorable privie Councell 
 foi' the searche of Jesuytes, Semynaries, Massingpriests, Masse books and other 
 supersticious thinges thereunto appertayning w*^ whom according to another warrant 
 he shewed me signed with your lip. hande. I went earlie this morning to a house 
 in little Okeley wherein Mr. Bentley his wyfe and famelye now inhabite to searche 
 
 1 Rockingham Papers. 
 
 2 The Mr. Lane referred to in this letter was probably Mr. Lane, of Gleudon Hall, a descendant of the second son of 
 William Lane, of Orlingbury, who purchased jiart of Glcndon of the Gritlius in 1547. If so he was closely connected by 
 family ties with Edw. Watson, whose maternal grandmother. Cicely, was a daughter of Wm. Lane, of Orlingbury ; 
 and the " Sir Robt. Lane " was also a near kinsman, being descended from the eldest son of Wm. Lane, of Orlingbury. 
 He was Lord of the Manor of Hortiin. For the connection between the Montagus and the Lanes, see "The Montagus 
 of Boughton." 
 
40 
 
 ROCKINGHAM CASTLE AND THE WATSONS. 
 
 for one . . . Ohickyn And upon om' present coming thither the Doores were 
 shutt upon us. The Gentleman himself found in his garden att his Booke (by ?) 
 Mr. Newhall who verie carefulie and Dilligentlie behaved himself in this 
 (business ?) And after we made show to breake into the howse. The doores were 
 opened by the Maydes and passing the hawle and the parlour deserous to goe into 
 the Gentlewomans Chamber wee founde her in Bed and after some searche in Deskes 
 Trunkes and Coffers wee founde a Challice and Mr. Newall going nere the Bed 
 founde aboute the same a lyttle Coifer w'^'^ att the first she refused to open : But 
 aferwardes her husband secretly telling him that Massing stuff was therein, Delyuered 
 the keys to Mr. Newhall : wylling him to keepe yt secret from me : who caryed 
 the same from thence to the towne of Kettering, and in my presence there opened 
 yt, wherein there was an other Challice of sylluer, a Crucyfix of Jett, a Surplisse 
 a Masse-booke and diners other vayne thinges belonging thereunto. There were 
 no men in the house wee sawe at our first coming in But himself : He said he 
 hadd a man called Thomas Coste who was gon to Kettering market : we searched 
 his Studdie allso where there is a great many Bookes, and because the tyme was 
 to short to take view of them, I did by the Messinger's directions lock up the 
 Dore and seale the same w'^ my owne scale, meanyng to keepe the keye thereof 
 until I heare further of your lips, pleasm^e therein. Mr. Bentley being unprovyded 
 presentlie to travell he (by the messengers direcion) acknowledged a recognizance 
 to me to her ma"^^ use of a thousand pounds to be at Kettering w''^ his man att 
 the signe of the Swanne ^ there by VI of the clock the next morning, and they two 
 as prisoners to goe from thence w*^ Mr. Newall to your right h° good lip : and the 
 rest of the lords of her ma'-'*'^ most h° privye Councell. and in meane tyme to 
 contynue true Prisoners. Bat Chickin wee colde not fynde. Neuertheles, upon 
 enquyrie made by the messenger at Kettering he was informed by ffraunces Cater 
 a yeoman of her ma'i^** harte houndes that a man by that name had frequented the 
 house of Mr. Bentley and as he harde he was there aboute Easter laste, after whom 
 (as in dutie bounde) I meane to make inquyrie : The rest I refer to the reporte of 
 the Bearer hereof And as in all dutie I most humblie take my leave. Ketering 
 the XXth of June 1595. 
 
 " Your ho : most humble and at commandm'- 
 
 "Ed. Watson."2 
 
 That the writer of the foregoing letter had no ill will to a Romanist as such, 
 and rejoiced in his escape from persecution, is proved by the fact that, amongst 
 
 1 " The Swanne " was an important inn m Kettering at that date, and occupied the corner of Market Street, where 
 now stand the Capital and Counties Bank, and the premises of Messr.s. Goss. 
 
 2 See Harl Manuscripts in British Museum. 
 
ROCKINGHAM CASTLE AND THE WATSONS. 
 
 41 
 
 the interesting papers which were foand concealed in a wall at Rushton Hall, is 
 a letter from him to his friend Sir Thomas Tresham, congratulating him upon his 
 son, Francis Tresham's escape. And amongst the Rockingham Papers is a copy 
 of a similar letter (possibly of the same letter), dated 4th of May, with no year, 
 but probably 1601 or 2 — addressed : " To the right worshippfuU my assured good 
 freind S"" Thomas Tresham Knight ddn these," and which thus begins : " I most 
 heartily thank you for y'' adv'tisments and I am glad to heare of her Ma'*<^^ most 
 gracious lenity. I sh' rest very willing to joyne in bonde with you againe if it 
 be for twice as much for soe good a purpose as this is even when j-ou will w''^out 
 respect of a counterbonde for I hold yr word sufficient for a greater matter." The 
 remainder of this letter refers to the proposed union of two benefices, and the 
 writer thinks "The motion to her Ma*'^ will be most easily effected by a Ladie 
 of the Privie Chamber," and that the benefices " are none so feeble that tliey are 
 not able to maintaine one honest Pai'sou as kiioweth the Almighty to whose 
 p'tection with my most heai'ty com'enduc'ons to y'" selfe and my Ladie 1 leave 
 you. Rockingham this iiij"' of Maj'. 
 
 "Yours faithfully assured evtry way to use 
 
 "Ec. Watson." ^ 
 
 In that brilliant meteoi-ic shower of kniglithoods which, in 16(^8, marked the 
 pi'Ogrcss of the royal comet, James 1., from north to south of the island, Edward 
 Watson had the good foftuiie to be at The Cliartei'liousc on 11th May, in the 
 midst of the stream; and, one falling upon iiiin, he is thenceforth known to 
 biogra2)hy as Sir Edward Watson, and perhaps upon no one more worthy of the 
 iionour did a kniglitliood fall in that memorable year. 
 
 In August the year following King James was hunting in Rockingham Forest, 
 and a " dyning house" was erected for his accommodation at Sir Edward's Lodge, 
 in Rockingham Park. And on the 9th of August the following year (1605) the 
 King went to Rockingham Castle, and was the guest of Sir Edward for the sjiace 
 of six days, the Queen staying at Kirby Hall, as the guest of Sir Christopher 
 Hatton. 2 In 1608 the King did him the further honour to knight his eldest .son, 
 Lewis, at Grafton. 
 
 1 In Stryi>e8' Annals, Vol.3., Piirt 2, p. 449, i.s a letter dated 17th Oct., 1587, from Howlrtnd, Bishop of I'etcrboroush, 
 to the Lord Treasurer, who had asked for notes on some iirominent Justices of the Pence in his diocese. From 
 this letter it appears the bishop considered " Edward Gritlin, Arm., a man of no great capacity or religion, 
 and whose wife was a gi-eat recusent," and " Edward Watson, Ann., a man suspected in religion," that is, inclined 
 to favour the Papists. 
 
 2 Nichols' Progresses of James I., Vol. 1, p. 524. If the sprightly Lady Anne Clifford may be credited, to 
 receive a visit from the sapient James and his Court whs not altogether agreeable. She says in her Diary: 
 " From North-hall we all went to Tibbal's to see the King, who used my mother and my Aunt very gi-aciously, 
 but wo all saw a great change between the fashion of the Court as it was now and yt in yc Queen's for we were 
 all lowzy by sittinge in Sir Thomas Erskine's Chamber." 
 
42 
 
 ROCKINGHAM CASTLE AND THE WATSONS. 
 
 In connection with the progresses of this King the following extract may 
 interest the reader, from the reference it contains to Sir Edward Watson, which 
 indicates the high social position he held : — 
 
 " About this time my aunt of Warwick went to meete the Queene (of James I.) 
 haveing Mrs. Bridges w'^ her, and my (cousin) Anne Vauisor; my mother and I 
 should have gone w'^ them, but that hir horses, w^^ she borrowed of Mr. Blmes 
 and old Mr. Hickley, weare not ready; yet I went the same night and overtooke 
 my aunt at Tittenhanger, my Lady Blunt's house, whei'e my mother came to me 
 the nexte day about noone, my aunt being gone before. Then my mother and I 
 went on o"" iorney to ouertake hir, and killed thi'ee horses that day w'''^ extremitie 
 of heate, and came to Wrest, my Lord of Kent's house, where we found the doores 
 shutt, and none in the house but one servaunt Avho only had the keys of the hall, 
 so that we were enforced to lie in the hall all night, till towards morneinge, at 
 tyme came a man and lett us into the higher rooms whei-e we slept three or fower 
 bowers. This morning (?) we hasted away betyme, and that night to Rockingham 
 Castle, where we overtook my aunt of Warwick, and hir compaiiie, when we 
 continued a day or two with old S"^ Edward Watson and his Lady." ^ This 
 journey was in June, 1603, and the party joined the queen at Dingley. 
 
 In 1612 Sir Edward suffered the loss of his wife, who was buried at Rockingham, 
 17th February, 1611 (12). She had lived to see her eldest son, Lewis, a knight, a 
 happy husband, and a widower mourning the death of wife and child. Her will, 
 evidently dictated when she felt herself to be dying, is given as an index to her 
 character.2 
 
 After his bereavement, Sir Edward does not appear to have taken much interest 
 in his estates. On the 24th January, 1613, he executed a deed by which he gave 
 "absolutely " to Sir Lewis, his " son and heir apparent all and singular the Manuors 
 Lordshipps Rectories Castles Mesiiages landes ten'mnts tithes advowsons Rentes 
 Reversions Services Woodes " &c., &c., " lying and being in Garthorpe Wilbarston 
 Weston Rockingham Cotton Sutton Kettering " &c., &c. ; that is, all that had not 
 already been given to him. With all " the goodes Cattell Chattells Plate ymplements 
 and utensyles of household and husbandry Hangings and j^eaces of Arras and 
 Tapestrie . . . being at or near Rockingham Castle." " Saving and excepting 
 to the said Sir Edward Watson all and singular his wearing app'ell and the 
 furniture of his bedd and chamber." Sir Lewis binds himself that " he shall 
 and will allow to the said Sir Edward Watson yearly out of the issues and p'ffitts 
 aforesaid for his private and p'ticular expense the yearly sum'e of fhftie pounds 
 
 1 Diary of Lady Anne CliSord, quoted in Nichols' Progresses of King James I., vol. 1, page 173. 
 2 Note E, Will of Anne, Lady Watson 
 
ROCKINGHAM CASTLE AND THE WATSONS. 
 
 43 
 
 of lawfull money of England to be paid unto the said Sir Ed. Watson nppon the 
 feaste daies of the annunciation of the blessed Virgin St. Mary, of St. John 
 Baptiste St. Michaell tharchAngell and St. Thomas Th'app'le or w"^in tenn Daies 
 after anie and every of the said feast daies by even and equall porc'ns the first 
 payment thereof to begin uppon the feaste of the annunciation next coming, and 
 also shall allow and finde unto the said Sr. Edward Watson during his life for 
 himselfe and Tow servaunts and three Geldings or horses convenient meate drink 
 lodging and keeping." ^ Sir Lewis also binds himself to pay his father's debts, 
 which amounted to £1,842. One item was £540 to his uncle, William Montague, 
 of Little Oakley ; another was £60 to his London tailor. There is one " Valentine 
 Deepupp, of Rockingham, mercer," to whom £5 were due, —was this a son of the 
 Dupup ? 
 
 Sir Edward had already given ample portions to his daughters, and had made 
 a suitable provision for his other son Edward. In thus disposing of the whole 
 of his possessions, and trusting the care of his declining years to the dutiful 
 affection of his children, he evidently had no apprehension of meeting with the 
 fate of King Lear. His trust was well founded, and he passed the last three 
 years of his life in peace, and was buried at Rockingham, the 4th March, 1616. 
 Shortly afterwards his son erected in the chancel of the church, to the memoiy 
 of both of his parents, an altar tomb, bearing their effigies.2 
 
 Some idea of the chai'acter of Sir Edward Watson will have been formed by the 
 reader of the foregoing particulai's of his life. His personal appearance we cannot 
 know in the absence of any portrait. He was evidently another rider, or he would 
 not have made the stipulation about the geldings in his old age. This hereditary 
 love of horse exercise has shewn itself in the family in almost every generation. 
 
 During his tenure of the estates he and his two sons (9th James I.) sold the 
 
 Manor, and some other jjossessions in Knipton, Leicestershire, to Roger Earl of 
 
 Rutland. He bought the AdvoAvson of Stoke Albany, and a property there called 
 
 the " Ould," of Sir Edward Griffin, the Advowsons of Lutton and Great Gidding. 
 
 Also a manor there which had belonged to the Vaux, together with several lands 
 
 and tenements, thus considerably increasing his estate at Gidding.'' He obtained 
 
 from Mr. Simon Norwich a lease of the Manor, &c., at Bringhurst, and gave it 
 
 to his son Edward.'* He also evidently began negotiations for the absolute parcliase 
 
 of Rockingham Castle ; but liis declining years probably hindered a final 
 
 arrangement, and it was left to his son. Sir Lewis, to complete that purchase. 
 
 1 Rockingham Papers. 
 2 See note at the euil of this chapter. 
 3Rockiugham Papers. 
 4 Rockingham Papers. 
 
44 
 
 ROCKINGHAM CASTLE AND THE WATSONS. 
 
 Amongst the lands sold by Sir Edward were some in Rothwell, which were 
 purchased by Owen Ragsdall,^ and afterwards bequeathed by him as part of the 
 endowment of his fine hospital there. 
 
 During his life still further additions were evidently made to the castle buildings, 
 but it is difficult to distinguish between his share in the work and that of his son. 
 
 We will now follow the fortunes of his children. As shewn by the will of his 
 father, seven daughtei's were born before 1578, and it seemed possible that with 
 him would lapse the male line of the Watsons of Rockingham. But on the 14th 
 July, 1584, six years from the birth of the youngest daughter, " Ludovicus Watson, 
 filius Edwardi," was baptised in Rockingham Church, and eighteen months later 
 Sir Edward's wife presented him with another son who, on the 25th Jnnuary, 
 1585 — G, was baptised " Edwardus." Thus the male succession was i-endered 
 tolerably secure for another generation. 
 
 The eventful life of the eldest son. Sir Lewis Watson, will form the subject of 
 the two following chapters, and as his brother seems to have been in some haste 
 to follow him into the world, and to have kept close to him, alike in his prosperity 
 and in his adversity throughout his life, we may conveniently treat their biographies 
 conjointly, and proceed here to considei' the alliances formed by the daughters. 
 
 The eldest daughter, Anne, baptised at Rockingham, 22nd September, 1569, 
 married Sii- Charles Norwich, son and heir of Simon Norwich, Esq., of Brampton 
 Ash, in Northamptonshire. By his mother he was grandson of Edward Griffin, of 
 Dingle^-, second son of Sir Nicholas Griffin, of Braybrooke Castle.^ The following 
 bequest, from the will of Sir Charles' father, deserves to be preserved : " ff urthermore 
 for as much as the more part of the Inhabitants of the said town of Brampton 
 are very poore for theyr better comfort and relefe for ever hereafter I give (&c.) 
 . . . one yearly rente of ffive marks of Lawfull English money to be issuing . . . 
 out of the said closes . . . called Highfelde als milnfelde, and Rudder Close." 
 These rents were to be paid quarterly, to the trustees whom he appoints, at the 
 north porch of Brampton Church, and the trustees were to distribute the charity 
 at the testator s tomb every Good Friday, amongst the poor inhabitants of Brampton.-^ 
 
 There ai-e some fine brasses in Brampton Church to the memory of some 
 members of the Norwich family ; and on the east wall of the church, over the 
 sedillia, is a monument to Sir Charles and his lady, Anne Watson. They are 
 represented kneeling, with their hands joined in prayer. Sir Charles died in 1605.'' 
 
 1 Rockingham Papers. 
 
 2 In Braybrooke church, in Northants, may be seen a monument to this family, upon which are represented 
 quite a menagerie of gi'ifflns, and other heraldic animals. 
 
 3 Rockingham Papers. 
 
 4 An old pedigree of the Watson family, found amongst the Rockingham Papers, states that Sir Charles Norwich's 
 widow married, as her second husband. Sir William Price, of Washingley, co. Huntingdon. 
 
ROCKINGHAM CASTLE AND THE WATSONS. 
 
 45 
 
 Their only son, Sir Simon Norwich, was baptised at Rockingham, 20th August, 
 1594, and died in 1624, leaving a son. Sir John, who will appear later on. Tradition 
 relates that the Norwich estates, in Brampton were, eai-ly in the last century, 
 "lost by one throw of the dice" to Sarah Jennings, Duchess of Marlborough. They 
 still form part of the extensive Northamptonshire possessions of the Spencers of 
 Althorp, who are descended from the great Marlborough's second daughter Anne. 
 The last male representative of this Norwich family is said to have died in 
 extreme poverty in Kettering Union, not long since. ^ 
 
 The second daughter, Emma, married John Graunte, Esq., of North Bucks, 
 CO. Warwick. 
 
 The tJdi-d daughter, Mary, married Sir Anthony Maney, of Lutton, in Kent. 
 
 The fourth daughter, Catherine, mai'ried Sir Thomas Palmer, of East Carlton, 
 Northants. According to the epitaph to their memory in Carlton Church, they 
 had live sons and seven daughters. From them are descended the Palmers of 
 Cai'lton, the Maunsolls of Thorpe Malsor, and other pi'ominent families. 
 
 The fifth daughter, Elizabeth, was twice mai'ried. First to Sir John Nedham, 
 of Lichborough, who died in 1618. Some years after his death, his widow 
 erected to his memory an altar tomb in Lichborough Church, with an epitaph 
 beginning : 
 
 " This worthy Knight, subdued by death, 
 Is happe made by losse of breath." 
 
 Her second husband was Sir Edward Tyrrell, of Thornton, Bucks. He was 
 descended from Sir William Tyrrell, of South Okenden, and Elizabeth, a daughter 
 of Sir Thomas Bodley, founder of the Bodleian Library. It is a singular 
 coincidence that the grandmother of Elizabeth Watson's second husband was Eleanor, 
 daughter of the Loi-d Chief Justice Montagu, of Boughton, and half-sister to her 
 (E. Watson's) own grandmother. This family of Tyrrell must have been very 
 wealthy, for Sir Edwai-d's great-grandmother, Jane Ingleton, is said to have 
 brought thirty manors into the family. 
 
 According to the old pedigree, above mentioned, the sixth daughter, "Temper- 
 aunce," married Thomas Dolman, Esq. 
 
 The seventh, " ffrancys " married Rowland Vaughan, Esq., of London, who 
 settled upon her, amongst other property, " The house let to the Venecian 
 Embassado," which formed part of the Priory of the Blessed Virgin Mary, in 
 the parish of St. Botolph, Bishopsgate Without.^ 
 
 The old pedigree mentions an eighth daughter, Dorothy, married to Sir George 
 
 1 See Notes and Quei ries, 7th Ser., Vol. 9, p. 197. 
 
 2 Rockingham Piipers. 
 
46 
 
 ROCKINGHAM CASTLE AND THE WATSONS. 
 
 Tlii'ogmorton, of Fulbrook. She must have been born after Lewis and Edward, 
 as her name does not appear in her grandfather's wilL Nor is she mentioned 
 in the Rockingham Register, nor in the mother's wilL 
 
 It will thus be seen that the Watson family, itself a factor of no mean import- 
 ance in the state, had, during the three generations whose history we have been 
 considering, formed alliances with many families of wealth and influence in the 
 kingdom. 
 
 Note. — Before closing this chapter the author thinks it desirable to state some 
 facts which may help to throw light upon the altar tomb now to be seen in the 
 Mortuary Chapel of Rockingham Church. In his little book on " The Montagus 
 of Boughton," the writer, following Bridges and tradition, refers to it as the 
 tomb of Edward Watson and his wife Dorothy Montagu. Having since carefully 
 examined the tomb, he finds that theory untenable. For the Edward Watson 
 who married Dorothy Montagu was not a knight, and would not have been so 
 represented in his efSgy. We learn from the will of Edward Watson, Esq., of 
 Rockingham, that his executors were enjoined to erect in Rockingham Church, 
 "a fair monument of stone" to his memory within twelve months of his death, 
 and we shall see from the will of Sir Lewis Watson that, during the Civil War, 
 that church was greatly damaged, in fact it appears to have been almost destroyed. 
 This would imply the demolition of the family monuments. From the Rockingham 
 Papers it seems that Sir Lewis Watson spent a considerable sum upon some kind 
 of memorial to his father. There were, therefore, evidently originally tivo'^ monu- 
 ments in the church, which were thrown down and partly demolished by the 
 Parliamentary troops. When Edward, second Lord Rockingham, some years 
 afterwards restored the church, the available fragments seem to have been collected 
 and put together to form one general monument to the memory of his ancestors. 
 The writer believes this theory to be confirmed by the fact that the male figure 
 on the monument now to be seen weai\s the spurs of a knight. It is therefore the 
 effigy of Sir Edward Watson, knight, ob. 1617. But the dress and general 
 appearance of the female figure shew it to be of an eai'lier date, and that is 
 probably the effigy of Dorothy Watson, once on the earlier of the two tombs. 
 The two panels having figures of children palpably do not match, and indeed 
 they do not correspond with the number of children in either of the families of 
 the two Edwards. They are also doubtless remnants of two distinct monuments. 
 A further confirmation of this theory is found in the fact that the shields of arms, 
 now seen over the principal entrance of the castle, were some years since removed 
 
 1 In Sir Lewis' account of losses sustained by the Piirliamentnry troops mention is made of the destruction of 
 the family "monuments." 
 
ROCKINGHAM CASTLE AND THE WATSONS. 
 
 47 
 
 from the walls of the church. The arms of Watson and Montagu, and Watson and 
 Digby, were no doubt originally on the two tombs. It seems then almost certain 
 that the effigy of Edward Watson, ob. 1584, of the first monument, and that of 
 Lady Watson (Anne Digby) ob. 1611, of the second monument, with portions of 
 the sides in relief, of both the tombs, perished beyond restoration at the time of 
 the wilful destruction of tlie church. What vandalism ! 
 
 Lyddincjion Church and Remains of Bishop's Palace. 
 
Chapter Third. 
 
 SIR LEWIS WATSON.-PROSPERITY. 
 
 " He is complete in feature and in mind 
 
 Witli all s;ood »raco to grace a gentleman." — Shakspere. 
 
 F all methods of studying histoiy, 
 biography, Avhile it is admitted to be 
 the most profitable, is undoubtedly the 
 tnost pleasant. 
 
 As the astronomer recognizes the 
 position of a constellation by those 
 stars of greater magnitude which form 
 its rude outline, and afterwards by 
 the aid of the less conspicuous stars 
 fills in the figure of the constellation, 
 and is thus enabled to map out the 
 whole expanse of the heavens, and to 
 realize more perfectly the complicated 
 motions of the planetary bodies ; so 
 the student of history can, by studying 
 the lives of the more prominent men 
 of a particular period in the history 
 of a nation, and afterwards those of 
 men of less note, and applying this 
 method to other periods, obtain a 
 clearer insight into the actual course of events, and into the condition of the 
 nation at each particular period, than by simply studying its history in the 
 ordinary way. 
 
 As the life of Sir Lewis Watson covered the period of the Great Rebellion, and 
 
ROCKINGHAM CASTLE AND THE WATSONS. 
 
 49 
 
 he was tossed up and down, and all but swept away by that destructive wave of 
 social anarchy, his biography will be found to famish a strong side-light for the 
 study of that desolating period. 
 
 We have seen that he was born in 1584, three months after the death of his 
 grandfather, and we can imagine the joy the birth of an heir, so long deferred, 
 caused in the family at the Castle: a joy certainly not lessened by the birth of 
 his brother Edward eighteen months later. The place and manner of his early 
 education are not known, but as his father occupied a foi-emost position in the 
 county, we may be certain that he educated his son to fit him for the place he 
 was destined to fill. We know that Lewis matriculated at Magdalen College^ 
 Oxford, on the 24th May, 1599, when he was about fifteen years of age ; and that 
 his brother Edwax'd entered the same college on the 29th February, in the following 
 year, at a still earlier age.^ 
 
 Sir Edward Watson, besides the numerous powerful family connections already 
 mentioned, numbered amongst his friends the Treshams of Rushton,^ the Hattons 
 of Kirby, the Mildmays of Apethorp, the Mordaunts of Drayton, &c. ; and in the 
 society of the families of such friends the two young Watsons reached manhood. 
 
 Of Sir Lewis we liiive three portraits preserved in Rockingham Castle, all ' 
 attributed to the Scottish artist, Michael Wright.' 
 
 The portrait on the atairs, probably the earliest of the three, represents him as 
 a handsome man, with regular features and very beautiful eyes. This no doubt 
 shews him as he appeared at the court of James I., after he had been knighted, 
 and before his marriage. At this time he probably formed the acquaintance of 
 George Villiers, afterwards the celebrated but ill fated Duke of Buckingham. 
 We know that a more or less intimate friendship existed between them, for we 
 learn from the Rockingham Papers that some years later Sir Lewis bound himself 
 to a considerable amount as security for the lavish Villiers, at that time probably 
 raising funds. This acquaintance may have been formed at the house of their 
 common friends the Mildmays, with whom Villiers was intimate, and where he had 
 the good fortune to atti'act the notice of King James. The king seems also to have 
 taken a liking to the young heir of the Watsons, as he knighted him at the early 
 age of twenty-four. 
 
 Sir Lewis' second cousin, Elizabeth, eldest daughter of Sir Edward (afterwards 
 first Baron) Montagu of Boughton, and of his first wife, Elizabeth Jeffery, had 
 
 1 Clark, Roijister of the University of Oxford, vol 2., part IT, pp. 234 and 239. 
 2 In a drawing in raonoclirome of Sir T. Tresliam's nnfinished Market House at Rothwcll, cir. 1720, preserved in the 
 British Muaeiim, the extreme shield on the right himd in the cornice on the east front shews the Watson Arms, a proof, 
 if any were needed, of the close friendship existing between the two families. 
 
 3 For a favourable criticism on this artist's work, see Evelyn's Diary, 3r(l October, 1662. 
 
50 
 
 ROCKINGHAM CASTLE AND THE WATSONS. 
 
 married Robert, Lord Willouglibj of Eresby, ^' afterwards Earl of Lindsey^) ; and it 
 was probably at Boughton that Sir Lewis first met the Honourable Catherine 
 Bertie, the beautiful sister of that nobleman. Having conceived a mutual attach- 
 ment, they were married in 1609, and the union promised many years of happiness, 
 but the lady died the following year after giving birth to a son. The child was 
 baptised on the 5th February, 1610, by the name of Edward, but survived only 
 four days, and was buried at Rockingham on the 9th February. Lady Catherine 
 died on the 15th of the same month, and was, by her own desire, buried in the 
 Willoughby Chapel, in Spilsby Church, Lincolnshire, where may be seen a 
 monument to her and her father. This monument bears " the figure of a lady 
 veiled resting on her right side : at her feet is an Infant in a cradle covered with 
 a mantle. Behind her are two arches, above which is a nitch containing an 
 inscription to Sir Peregrine Bertie, as follows : — 
 
 " ' This presents to you the worthy memory of the R''- Hon^^'*^- Sir Peregrine, 
 Knight, Lord Willoughby of Willoughby, Bucks, and Eresby, deservedly employed 
 by Queen Elizabeth as General of her forces in the Low Country and in France^ 
 as Embassador into Denmark, and lastly as Governor of Berwick, where he died 
 in the 47th year of his age, anno 1600, leaving issue by his wife, Lady Mary Vere, 
 daughter of John, Earl of Oxford, five sons and a daughter, viz. : Robert h^- 
 Willoughby, General of the English Forces in Denmark, Peregrine. Henry, Vere, 
 and Roger, and this virtuous Lady Catherine, wife of Sir Lewis Watson of 
 Rockingham, where she died in childbed the 15th of February, I6I0, desiring to 
 be here buried with her father, for whom at her request and for herself in his 
 own affection the said Sir Lewis has erected this monument as a mark of both 
 their virtues to all posterity. Anno Domini 1612.' " 
 
 The family of Bertie is of great antiquity, and has held a prominent place in 
 English history. One of the ea.rly Saxon kings gave to the ancestor of this 
 family a " castle and town " in Kent, called after them " Bertiestad," now Bersted. 
 The early annals of this family are full of romantic interest, recounting their 
 quarrels with the monks at Canterbury, their flight to the Continent, their i-eturn 
 to Bersted with Henry II., &c. But it must suffice here to notice only the Lady 
 Catherine's grandfather, Richard Bertie, who, educated at Corpus Christi College, 
 became a most accomplished gentleman, " skilled in Latin, French, and Italian." 
 He entered the household of Thomas Wi-iothesley, Earl of Southampton, where 
 he gained the affections of the great Duchess Catherine, widow of Charles Brandon, 
 Duke of Suffolk. She was in her own right Baroness Willoughby of Eresby. 
 
 1 See "Tlie Montagus of Boughton." 
 
ROCKINGHAM CASTLE AND THE WATSONS 
 
 51 
 
 They were married, and shortly afterwards went through a series of most romantic 
 adventures, a relation of some of which cannot fail to interest the reader. 
 
 In the reign of Edward VI. the Duchess was a zealous supporter of the 
 Reformation. When Gardiner was restored to power by Queen Mary, he sent 
 for Richard Bertie, and asked " Whether the Lady, his wife, was now as ready 
 to set up Mass as she had been to pull it down, when in a progress she caused a 
 Dog, in a Rochet, to be carried and called by his (Gardiner's) name ? " Bertie 
 saw his wife's danger, and by the advice of his friends, obtained the Queen's 
 licence to travel beyond the sea, upon pretence of collecting some debts due 
 from the Emperor to the late Dake of Suffolk. He sailed from Dover in June. 
 His wife disguised herself, and secretly followed him a few months later, sailing 
 from Leigh, in Essex. After many dangers she joined her husband at Sancton, 
 in Clevesland, but they were soon compelled to hurry away from thence on foot, 
 with her daughter (a child) and two servants, as they learned that the Bishop 
 of Arras had received instructions to question them upon their religion. They 
 reached Wesel, a Hanse town in the same Dachy. "But being got there, 
 extremely weather-beaten with Rain, and going from Inn to Inn to obtain lodging 
 it was refused them by reason he was suspected to be a Lance Knight, and she 
 his woman." They resolved therefore to take refuge in the church porch for 
 the night, and he, going to buy coals to warm them there, heard two young 
 men speak Latin, and enquired of them in that language, "Where they might 
 go to some Walloon's house, they were liappily brought where Mr. Perusel 
 lodged, who had received some favours from the Dutchess in England. They 
 were kindly entertained, and for safetj', changed clothes with the good man and 
 his wife." They obtained a protection from the magistrate, and lived in a house, 
 in the town, when the Duchess was brought to bed of a son, born 12th October, 
 1555, who, from the circumstances under which he was born, was baptised 
 " Peregrine." 
 
 But their adventures were not ended. They heard a plot was on foot in England 
 to seize them. They therefore took sudden flight to the Palgrave's Dominions, 
 where, when they were almost starving, they received from the King of Poland 
 (who had heard of their distress) an invitation to come to his country. 
 
 They set out from Winheim, April, 1557, the Duchess, her children, and 
 servants riding in a waggon. She had with her a Spanish dog. The Landgrave's 
 soldiers, quarrelling about it, thrust their spears into the waggon where the 
 Duchess was, and would have killed her husband, had he not taken refuge in a 
 garret, when a Burgh-Master came to him bringing a person who coixld speak 
 
52 
 
 ROCKINGHAM CASTLE AND THE WATSONS. 
 
 Latin, he was thus enabled to send a letter to the Earl of Erbagh, whose kind 
 treatment of the distressed refugees greatly alarmed the soldiers when they 
 found that, in their ignorance, they had insulted people of so high a rank. But 
 all seems to have ended happily. The Duchess and her husband returned to 
 England on the death of Mary. Sir Peregrine died 1582. 
 
 Their daughter Susan married first Reginald Grey, Earl of Kent ; secondly Sir 
 John Wingfield. 
 
 The monumental inscri'iition at Spiisby records Peregrine's career. He assumed 
 the title of Lord Willoughby of Eresby, during his father's life time, in 1580, in 
 right of his mother, who died in that year. Sir Robert Nannton, in his Fragmenta 
 Regalia, describes him as " One of the Queen's best swordsmen, and a great 
 master of the Art-Military." ^ At Uffington is a painting representing the incident 
 of the Church Porch.2 As stated above, the eldest son Robert married Elizabeth 
 Montagu, was created Eai'l of Lindsey, and was killed at the battle of Edgehill. 
 
 By his mari-iage with this lady Sir Lewis Watson gained a considerable 
 accession to his wealth.-^ 
 
 The early death of his wife was a great blow to him, and in the hope of 
 mitigating his grief by change of scene, he, in compliance with the passport 
 system of that time, obtained the king's permission to " travel beyond the seas, 
 with horses and servants.'"* In the will of his mother, who as stated in the 
 previous chapter, died the following year, the reader will find a touch of romance 
 in the reference to a ring which had belonged to Sir Lewis's lady.^ The -reference 
 made in the same will to her son Edward shews him still in his bachelor estab- 
 lishment at Bringhurst. 
 
 Rockingham Castle had evidently by this time altogether fallen out of favour 
 as a royal residence, and the king, wanting money as usual, seems to have been 
 glad to find a purchaser for it. By a patent dated the 21st 1[ July, in' the 13th 
 year of his reign, he, for a good round sum of money, paid down, granted the 
 Castle and certain royal demesne lands in Rockingham, Easton, Gretton, &c., to 
 Sir Lewis Watson, "to hold of us our heirs and successors las of our manor of 
 
 1 See the Rockingham Papers. 
 
 2 Tradition asserts that Peregrine was born in the church porch. In Rockingham Castle is a portrait representing 
 him in armour, and wearing a jewel in his ear. This picture is apparently a half-length copy of a full length 
 portrait in the dining-room at Uffington. 
 
 3 One of the Shields of Arms over the principal entrance to Rockingham Castle (see chap. 6), is Watson 
 impaling Bertie with these eight quarterings : — 1, Bertie ; 2, Willoughby ; 3, Beke ; 4, Ufford ; 5, Fitzalan and 
 Maltravers; 6, Welles; 7, Engayne ; 8, Watertor.. (Everard Green, F.S.A.) 
 
 4 A writer in Bailey's Magazine, presently referred to, in ignorance of Sir Lewis's bereavement, describes this 
 as " doing the grand tour." 
 
 5 See note E. Will of Anne, Lady Watson. 
 
ROCKINGHAM CASTLE AND THE WATSONS. 
 
 63 
 
 East Greenwich ... by fealty only in free and common Socage and not in 
 chief or by Knights service. Rendering yearly . . . 28s. 5d." This rent 
 was shortly after compounded for, and the Castle and other royal possessions 
 adjacent (but 7iot the New Park) were granted to Sir Lewis in fee simple.^ 
 
 Having thus become the absolute possessor of the Castle, Sir Lewis entered 
 with energy and great judgment upon the improvement of the surrounding 
 pleasure grounds. He obtained the royal sanction to divert the public road more 
 towards the east, and thus included within his grounds that glen, or ravine 
 (formerly the old road)^ which now forms the sheltered and i^omantic entrance 
 towards the Castle from the south, having to the east of it that high ridge of land 
 traversed by the fine avenue of lime trees. Upon this ridge are certain small 
 mounds, or undulations which some antiquaries have pronounced tumuli, but it is 
 more probable that they simply mai'k the site of .some cottages, which,- accoi'ding 
 to the map referred to, once stood thei'eabouts. 
 
 Sir Lewis, however, was not so entirely absorbed in the alterations and impi-ove- 
 ments he was making in his domains, as altogether to neglect the Court. Early 
 in 1619 he was in London, and we thus get a little Court news. 
 
 Amongst the manuscripts collected by the late Lord Montagu, at Ditton Park, 
 are several letters from Sir Lewis Watson to his cousin, Edward, first Baron 
 Montagu of Boughton. These letters shew what a olo.se intimacy existed at that 
 time between the Boughton and Rockingham families, and also how highly Sir 
 Lewis was esteemed by his relatives. 
 
 A rather serious dispute had arisen between Charles and Sidney, the younger 
 sons of Sir Edward Montagu, and their eldest brother, B aron Montagu, respecting 
 .some property. This, we learn, was in time settled by arbitration. Sir Lewis 
 was evidently the mediator employed by the pacific Baron Montagu, to reconcile 
 his brothers. 
 
 In the course of a letter written in April, 1619, Sir Lewis says, " I have had 
 another bout with Sir Sidney and Sir Charles ... I hope we shall conclude 
 it before you hear from me again." He then launches into public matters : — 
 " We have been so long about this Business that I have no Tyme leaft me to write 
 you the Newes as I would. You shall heare nothing this Terme of the great 
 Business of the Starr Chamber. They will scarce be ready for the next Terme. 
 The King is pretty well recovered and come Last night to Ware, so to Tiballs 
 dureing Pleasure. The gout is gotten into one of his knees w'^^ make him to be 
 carried all the way in a Chare. The States gee away without doeing any Thing 
 
 1 See Bockinghtim Papers ami Patents of James I. 
 2 See old map in Rockingham Castle. 
 
54 
 
 ROCKINGHAM CASTLE AND THE WATSONS. 
 
 wliicli most are glad of. They would Tye the king to such hard conditions. 
 " So S'^ for thys tyme 1 leave you 
 " Your sure loving cousin to 
 dispose L. Watson." 
 
 A few days later he writes to Lord Montagu : " I did not write to you Last 
 week, because T had not brought my endeavours to so good ways as now I hope 
 they are, (I mean with your brother S'' Sidney). Yet I must tell you that I had 
 brought the Endes so neare to gether, that I thought to see them touche, by cause 
 I did never so much as suspect that He would stand uppon those Leases w'^'^ He 
 had made Himself . . . The King doth recover his strength every day better. 
 The Ambassador for France is com : a very brave gentleman, and hath been, 
 receaved with that State as never yet I see any from thence. My Lord of 
 Southampton was sworn a Counsellor on Friday Last. The King cometli to White 
 Hall on Fryday next day to Greenwich, It was expected that the Master of the 
 Wardes should have beane also a counsellor but I rather thinke you will heare 
 some other Newes shortly. So S'" for this Tyme I com'itt yon to God resting. I 
 am told by divers that a Last of Powder is 24| barrells, your ready cousin to 
 dispose. L. Watson." " To my Worthy and Respected Cousin S"" Edward Montagu 
 of the Honourable order of the Bath this at Boughton." The conclusion of this 
 letter is somewhat obscure. The information respecting a last of powder was 
 probably intended for a postscript, but somehow got mixed with the text, producing 
 what has the appearance of a cryptogram. 
 
 Although King James sold this hunting seat, he reserved his right of hunting, 
 and came once more to the Castle as the guest of Sir Lewis, on the 29th July, 
 1619. On this occasion he knighted his entertainer's brother, Edward.^ 
 
 This is the last recorded visit of an English sovereign to Rockingham Castle. 
 
 But so far as Sir Lewis and his dependants were concerned, a far more precious 
 visitor was shortly to grace the Castle with her presence. 
 
 Sir Lewis, having lived a widower for ten years, took a second wife on the 3rd 
 October, 1620. This Lady was Eleanor, second daughter of Sir George Manners, 
 of Haddon, co. Derby, and sister to John, eighth Earl of Rutland. This alliance 
 again brought the Watsons into touch with the Montagus of Boughton, for the 
 
 1 In connection with this Icnighthood, a curious blunder is made by the writer of an article upon " The 
 Royal Buckhounds " in Bailey's Magazine for February, 1887. The writer, ignorant (as genealogists also appear 
 to have been) of the existence of this brother of Sir Lewis, grows very sarcastic, and speaking of this visit 
 of the king, says : " He then and there knighted his host's oldest sou, Edward, who must have been, at this 
 time, a child of tender years. What a mania James had for dubbing ! " This is amusing, knowing as we do 
 that Sir Lewis was a widower, and that his " oldest son " had been dead seven j'ears. 
 
yiii Liswis Watson, cir. 1620. 
 Pace 55. 
 
ROCKINGHAM CASTLE AND THE WATSONS. 
 
 55 
 
 bride's brother bad married Frances, daughter of Edward, first Baron Montagu 
 of Boughtoii, and of his second wife, Frances Cotton.^ 
 
 This family of Manners was for some centuries settled at Ethale, in Northum- 
 berland, in which county some of its members rose to distinction. In the 15th 
 century Sir Robert Mannei'S, of Ethale, marr'ied Eleanor, daughter and heiress 
 of Thomas, Lord Ros, who bi'ought her husband her father's extensive possessions, 
 amongst which were Belvoir Castle, co. Leicester, and Stoke Albany, and Wilbarston, 
 with other property in Northamptonshire, which the Lords de Ros (or Roos) had 
 inherited from the de Albinis by the marriage of the daughter of William de 
 Albini with Robert de Roos in the 13th century. 
 
 Thomas, 13th Lord de Ros, the grandson of Sir Robei't Manners, of Ethale, and 
 Eleanor de Ros, was created Earl of Rutland by Henry VIII., and his gi-andson. 
 Sir George Manners, of Haddon, co. Derby, was the father of Lady Eleanor 
 Watson. 2 
 
 Thus once again we find Sir Lewis in the enjoyment of that domestic life for 
 which he seems to have been so eminently fitted, and of which he had so transient 
 a taste ten years before. 
 
 About this time was probably painted Wright's second portrait of Sir Lewis 
 shewing a handsome, intellectual looking man, in a suit of armour. This is a very 
 good picture.^ 
 
 Perhaps a slight cloud overshadowed this otherwise happy union. Some disap- 
 pointment would be felt on account of the delayed bii'th of an heir. As usual 
 daughters came in abundance. Grace was born in 1623, Anne in 1625, Frances 
 in 1626, Elizabeth in 1627, Eleanor in 1629. But it was not until 1630, neariy ten 
 years after their marriage, that Lady Eleanor presented Sir Lewis with his fiist 
 son, who was baptised at Rockingham on the 30th June, in that year, by the 
 name of Edward. On the 13th May tlic following year another son was baptised 
 by the name of Lewis, and buried the same day. In 1637, after an interval of 
 six years, another daughter, Catherine, was born. This was the last child. 
 
 In the meantime King James had further ennobled the father by creating him a 
 Baronet in 1621. 
 
 Noble, wealthy, a happy husband and father, the possessor of a splendid home, 
 with all the gifts of a courtier, Sir Lewis might have been expected to take a 
 prominent part in public affairs. On the contrary, he seems to have shunned the 
 
 1 An interesting letter (which was found concealed with other papers in the roof of Boughton House) from 
 this Countess of Rutland to her father is preserved in the " Montagus of Boughton." 
 
 2 See Pedigree of Manners. 
 3 See portrait. 
 
56 
 
 ROCKINGHAM CASTLE AND THE WATSONS. 
 
 Coart (of whicli lie may have seen too mucli), and to have settled down in the 
 bosom of his family, amongst his dependants, and to have spent his time in the 
 improvement of his estates, and in the exercise of the hospitable duties of a 
 country gentleman. He filled the office of High Sheriif of the County of North- 
 ampton during the year 1634, and was early made a Justice of the Peace, 
 and was a Deputy Lieutenant of the county of Northampton. 
 
 The following letter probably refers to one of the stringent orders respecting 
 the forest, which were issued early in the new reign. 
 
 " My Lord, 
 
 " If this cold Morning Both of Fi'ost and Snow did not hinder me 
 (being full of Cold already) I would have waited on your Lo : Ship my Self. 
 Yesterday my Lord of Westmorland sent unto me by his Servant young Bellamy 
 That I would give him Meeting at Welldon : where I Little Thought to have seen 
 such an Order as you will perseave by this Inclosed being a Copy thereof. Which 
 I thought good to send to your Lo : Ship bycause it may be you have not 
 seen It as yet. The Order it Self not being sent to Mr. Sheriif sooner than 
 yesterday. Intending to waight on your Lo : Ship so soone as I dare stirr abroad 
 I take my Leave and rest 
 
 " Your Lo : Ships 
 Kynsman very assuredly to Com'and 
 "Rockingham 3 Jan? 1625(6) " L. Watson 
 
 " For the right honb'"^ & very good Lord Edward 
 Lord Montagu." ^ 
 
 Besides the demesne immediately surrounding the Castle, there was to the 
 south and west of it, that extensive park, described in the first chapter, called 
 the New Pai-k, containing a royal hunting lodge. This must have been a sort of 
 Nabuth's Vineyard to Sir Lewis, possessing as he did the whole of the surrounding 
 property. But fortunately for him King James, in 1619, presented this park to his 
 favourite, the Marquis of Buckingham, who immediately sold it to Sir Lewis 
 Watson for a considerable sum.^ 
 
 Besides this purchase of Rockingham Park, Sir Lewis made large additions 
 to his property. In 1634 he purchased the fairs, markets, and bakehouse in 
 Kettering of John Sawyer and others.^ The same year he purchased of -Str 
 Brocas 1^4'xall; Hunter's Manor in Little Weldon, with the Mastership of the 
 
 1 Ditton Manuscripts. 
 
 2 See Rockingham Papers. The deed provides for the purchase money to be paid "at the Temple Church." 
 3 Twenty seals are attached to this deed. See Rockmgham Papers. 
 
ROCKINGHAM CASTLE AND THE AVATSONS. 
 
 57 
 
 Royal Buckliounds.i In 1638 he purchased of Sir Edward Griffin and others the 
 Manors of Wilbarston and Stoke Albany,^ and the following year other lands in 
 the last named lordship. In IGil he jim-chased of Charles Cotterell the Manor of 
 Wilsford, in Lincolnshire. This last purchase ijitroduces us to a delightful letter 
 from his wife. He being at Wilsford about the time of this puzchase, received 
 the following letter : 
 
 " To my Loueing husband 
 Sir Lewis Watson 
 at Wilsford 
 
 " Sweet harte 
 
 "I thanke you for 3'oure plouar the which ar very great daynties to us 
 indeede for the sweet sauce which is your kindnes in sending them and will 
 procure us doctai- diat and doctar meoriman (? mcrriman) at the eateing of them, 
 writing to you so Lately, I have no more to say now but that I will pray for 
 your good health and reraayne 
 
 " Your ever loueing 
 " Rockingham Wife 
 
 Novem : 23 " Ei-k.\nok Watson." ^ 
 
 " I have given the 
 bearer only i**-" 
 
 The affectionate playfulness of this letter shews how little a married life of 
 twenty years had weakened the love between husband and wife. As the distance 
 between Rockingham and Wilsford was considerable the doulit suggested in the 
 postscript of the adequacy of the remuneration given to the bearei- was natural. 
 
 We here reach the culminating ])oint of Sir Lewis' prosperity and see him 
 the possessor of the Castle, Park, &c., and whole township of Rockingham, with the 
 manorial rights, ])rofits of fairs, markets, there ; the Manor of Cotton (in 
 
 Grettoii), Hunter's Manor in Little Weldon, with the Mastership of the Royal 
 Biickhounds, the Manors of Wilbai-ston and Stoke Albany, the Manor of Lutton, 
 the fairs, markets, &c., at Kettering, the Advowsons of Rockingham, Kettering, 
 Stoke Albany, Wilbarston, Weston and Sutton, and Lutton, all the above being 
 in Northamptonshire ; whilst in Leicestershire he was Lord of the Manor of 
 Garthorp, held long leases from the Uean and Chapter of Peterborough of the 
 Manoi-s of Easton, Bringhurst, and Drayton, with the Advowsons of those four 
 parishes. And in Huntingdonshire he owned the three manors in Great Gidding, 
 the Manor of Sawtry, and the Advowsons of those two parishes. And in the 
 
 1 See Chapter 7. 
 
 2 See Chapter 2, and Note G, Manorial Pcssessioiis of the Watsons. 
 3 Hockingham Papers 
 
68 
 
 ROCKINGHAM CASTLE AND THE WATSONS. 
 
 county of Lincoln lie possessed the Manor and Advowson of Wilsfoi'd. 
 
 We see him occupying a high social position, surrounded by family connections, 
 many of whom were men of influence in the State, and by a circle of friends 
 which included the leading county families. 
 
 By birth he was closely allied to the Montagus of Boughton, to the powerful 
 Earl of Manchester, to the founder of the distinguished family of the Earls of 
 Sandwich, and to the Digbys of Stoke Dry. By the marriage of his aunts he 
 was connected with the Brookes of Great Oakley, &c. By his own marriages, he 
 had contracted close family ties with Rob. Bertie, first Earl of Lindsey, and with 
 the Earl of Rutland. The marriages of his sisters gave him for brothers-in-law, 
 amongst others, Sii* Charles Norwich, of Brampton Ash (which allied him to the 
 Griffins, of Dingley), and Thomas Palmer, of East Carlton. 
 
 The Mastership of the Royal Buckhounds, a post of honour, although of no 
 great emolument, while it cemented his connection with the Court, added considerably 
 to his dignity in the county. 
 
 In 1626 Sir Lewis assisted his brother to purchase Stoke Park of Sir Edward 
 Griffin and his wife, which thenceforth became the residence of Sir Edward Watson,i 
 who seems to have been associated with his brother in most of the family 
 transactions. Thus his name appears as trustee in a deed for the augmentation 
 of the dower after Sir Lewis' marriage with Eleanor Manners, and in many other 
 family deeds. 
 
 When, some years later, the Griffins sold the Manor of Stoke Albany to Sir 
 Lewis Watson, Mr. Conyers Griffin and his sister Lucy continued to reside in the 
 fine old Manor House there, and a close intimacy appears to have existed between 
 the bachelor at the Park and the brother and sister at the old Manor House, an 
 intimacy which seemed likely to lead to a closer bond between the two families. 
 But Sir Edward Watson's affections were evidently too much wrapped up in his 
 brother's family to permit him to contract family ties of his own. 
 
 Sir Lewis appears to have completed the works commenced by his grandfather 
 and carried on by his father, and to him is doubtless due the Jacobean finish 
 given to the gables, &c., at the Castle. He spent a large sum upon the pleasure 
 grounds, and probably replaced the curtain wall on the north and west by the 
 present revetment, and thus threw open the fine views of the Welland valley 
 on those sides. To him has also been ascribed that wonderful yew hedge which 
 now separates the lawn from the flower parterre. But this seems more in the stiff 
 style of landscape gardening which found favour later in that century. 
 
 1 See Note G, Manorial possessions of the Watsons. 
 
ROCKINGHAM CASTLE AND THE WATSONS. 
 
 59 
 
 Having followed the life of Sir Lewis to the fifty-seventh year of his age, and 
 seen him at the summit of his prosperity, there remains the painful task of 
 following him iu his advei'sity. The consideration of his reverses, and of the 
 alliances formed by his children, is reserved for the next chapter. 
 
Chapter Fourth 
 
 SIR LEWIS WATSON, 
 
 (Afterwards First Bahon Rockingham of Rockingham Castli;.) 
 
 ADVERSITY. 
 
 " But if Authority grow wanton, woe 
 To him that treads upon his free-born toe." -Cowper. 
 " As the sun 
 
 Thou did'st rise gloriously, kept'st a constant course 
 In all thy journey ; and now, in the evening, 
 When thou should'sc pass with honor to thy rest 
 Wilt thou fall like a meteor ?"— Massivger. 
 
 " You have fed upon my seignories, 
 Disparked ray parks, and felled my forest woods, 
 From mine own windows torn my household coat, 
 Raz'd out my impress, leaving me no sign — 
 Save men's opinions, and my living blood — 
 To shew the world I am a gentleman." — Shahspere. 
 
 OTWITHSTANDING the 
 ominous symptoms of a 
 fearful eruption of the long 
 smouldering social volcano, 
 which had for two or three 
 years manifested them- 
 selves, there were many 
 men at the commencement 
 of the tiftli decade of the 
 seventeenth century, who 
 evidently did not realize 
 what a terrible convulsion 
 was then impending. Few 
 were gifted with the pre- 
 science which enabled 
 Evelyn, at that time less 
 than twenty-one yeai's of 
 age, to wr-ite in June, 1641, 
 
ROCKINGHAM CASTLE AND THK WATSONS. 
 
 61 
 
 that lie had presented his sister with his " picture in ojle, being her request, on 
 my resolution to absent myself from this ill face of things at home, -which gave 
 umbrage to wiser than myselfe, that the medaill was reversing, and our calamities 
 were but yet in their infancy." 
 
 The reader does not need reminding of the series of misunderstandings, and 
 open ruptures, followed by patched up truces between the King and his Parliaments, 
 which preceded the assembling of the ill-omened Long Parliament in November, 
 1640 ; nor of the strong measures at once adopted by that body to curtail the 
 royal prerogative, nor of the murder of the ill-fated Strafford early the following 
 year. 
 
 These measures, together with the singling out in each county of those officers 
 who remained loyal, and presenting a list of their names to Parliament as 
 " delinquents," must liave alarmed many country gentlemen. But still, amongst 
 the noble and county families, many were found to espouse the parliamentary 
 side, actuated, we may pi'esume, by a belief in the honesty of the professions made 
 by the leaders of the popular party that their sole object was to check the 
 encroachments of the crown upon the liberties of the people. Had they foreseen 
 that they were aiding to set up a tyranny as great as, if not greater than, that 
 which they feared, we may suppose the names of such men as Essex, Manchester, 
 and even Fairfax, would not have been found on that side. 
 
 On the other hand many countiy gentlemen did not hesitate at once to throw in 
 their lot with the King, and remained devotedly loyal to him to the end: forfeiting 
 their fortunes, and in many instances their lives, in defence of his cause. 
 
 In the Midlands " amongst the earliest of these adherents to the royal cause 
 may be reckoned Sir Gervase Lucas, wlio raised a legiment of hoi-se in 1642; 
 Baptist Noel, Viscount Campden, who also i-niscd and maintniued, at his own 
 expense, a troop of horse and a company of foot ; and Mr. Mason, the Rector of 
 Ashvvell, who appeared personally in ai'uis in command of fin independent company."^ 
 
 But many prominent men throughout England must have found themselves, 
 like Sir Lewis Watson, hampered by the close family ties which bound them to 
 leading men on the pai'liamentary side, and who were thus induced to delay 
 taking that active part on tlie side of the King which their inclinations dictated. 
 They probably trusted to matters righting themselves without their active 
 interference. 
 
 That Sir Lewis Watson was at heart a Royalist may be seen from the following : 
 Mary, Countess of Westmoreland (second wife of Mildmay, second Earl of 
 Westmoreland), made several applicatitms that her son, Vere, might be made 
 
 1 Nichols' Leicestershire. 
 
62 
 
 ROOKINGHiVM CASTLE AND THE WATSONS. 
 
 a deputy of the Forest of Rockingham; and on the 1st April, 1631, she wrote to 
 Secretary Dorchester beseeching that " If her son have not the deputation of 
 the Forest alone, Sir Lewis Watson may have no command over him." Against 
 Sir Lewis' name the secretaiy has made this note, "A gentleman very able and 
 always ready in his Majesty's service." ^ 
 
 The following sketch of the part taken by various family connections of his, 
 during this period of social anarchy, will give the reader an idea of the difficulties 
 by which Sir Lewis was surrounded. His father's cousin, the first Baron Montagu 
 of Boughton, although during the earlier misunderstandings between the king 
 and his Parliament, he had supported every measure which tended to enlarge or 
 secure the liberty of the subject, yet when the great question of the control of 
 the militia — the culminating point in the dispute between King and Parliament — 
 ai'ose, at once, as lord lieutenant of the county, sided with the King, and proceeded 
 to carry out his duties of a Commissioner of Array. He was consequently seized 
 by the Parliament, and committed to the Tower, where he died in 1644).2 On the 
 other hand Lord Montagu's son-in-law, the Earl of Rutland (Sir Lewis' brother-in- 
 law), was a sti^ong partisan of the Parliament ; so was Lord Montagu's bi'other, the 
 Earl of Manchester. The Brookes of Gi-eat Oakley wei^e also Parliamentarians. We 
 thus see that Sir Lewis was pulled both ways by family influence, and he seems, like 
 many men of that period, to iiave temporised; and although he attended the 
 committee meetings at Kettering in his capacity of a deputy lieutenant, he does 
 not appear to have put his name to any document. This was doubtless the 
 snui'ce of the suspicion of disloyalty which afterwards foi- a time attached to him. 
 
 We can understand the reluctance a man of Sir Lewis' peaceful, home-loving 
 disposition would feel to precipitate a lupluve with these influential family 
 CDnnections by hastily declaring himself an active partisan of the opposite side. 
 Moreover he had doubtless heard of the numerous well authenticated acts of 
 wanton destruction, committed even upon the property of their friends, which 
 disgraced some of the royalist soldiers. Such for instance as that recorded by 
 Whitelock, who says that " Pi-ince Rupert ranged about with great Parties, who 
 committed strange Insolences and Violences upon the Country," and that " At 
 Fawley Court about 1000 of the King's horse was quartered with Sir John Biron 
 and his brother, who gave strict orders that they should committ no Insolences, 
 . but Soldiers are not easily governed against their plunder," and he says 
 that, notwithstanding the pledges given, they littered their horses with sheaves 
 
 1 Cal. State Papers, Domestic, Charles I, This letter indicates a breach in the old friendship between the 
 Westmoreland and Watson families. 
 
 2 See " The Montagus of Boughton." 
 
ROCKINGHAM CASTLE AND THE WATSONS. 
 
 63 
 
 of wheat, tore up important writings left in his study, and valuable books to 
 light their pipes ; thus destroying many important family documents and manuscripts 
 of his father and others ; broke down the park palings, killed many of the deer 
 and let out the rest, took away his fine hounds, broke open boxes, chests, &c., 
 and took away the linen, and, in pure wantonness, ripped open the feather beds ; 
 and all this havoc was committed in a house which seems to have been placed 
 at their disposal by the owner ! Truly Sir Lewis might well hesitate to admit 
 a garrison of such men into his house. 
 
 However, after the battle of Edgehill, fortune seemed so to favour the Royal 
 cause, that there was a prospect of the King's speedy triumph. The chief strength 
 of the Parliamentarians, out of London, lay in the Eastern and Midland counties, 
 but even in these latter they evidently began to despair, for we read in one of 
 the organs of that party " Special Passages and Certain Liformation from Seuerall 
 Places," for January, 1643, " This week past some thousaiuls of horse from 
 Oxford to Brackley and so over the Bast Pai-t (and best affected) of Northampton- 
 shire, he hath plundered Tossiter and will certainly undo the people if relief 
 come not to them."^ And in " The Kingdom's Weekly Intelligence," of the 
 same month and year, we read, " Prince Rupert with his horse has plundered 
 divers small towns in North-Hampton-Shire and seized tlieir horses and committed 
 great outrages. And in a letter in " Special Passages," dated 28th January, 
 1643, it is stated that " The parliamentary party is in a sad condition, taking 
 refuge in Northampton," and the writer suggests " a flying ai-my of 3 or 4000 
 horse under wise active and faithful commanders to disturb the enemy" {i.e. the 
 Royalists.) ^ 
 
 This feeling of apprehension dictated, no doubt, the following report of the result of 
 a street brawl (taken from the same pamphlet). The passage shews that the practice 
 of giving a distorted and misleading account of the actions of the opposite pai"ty 
 is not an invention of the more disreputable pai-ty papers of this age. " From 
 Kettering, in Northamptonshire, we understand that there is in the Town and 
 the Parts about such a Malignant Partie " (the Royalists again !) " that they hire 
 men to murther men as they go along the streets, and in Particular a servant of 
 the late deceased worthy Gent Mr. Sawyer."^ 
 
 Other extracts might be given to shew how the activity and increasing strength 
 of the Royalists in Northamptonshire, in the early part of 1643, caused the 
 parliamentary party to tremble for the safety of one of their chief strongholds. 
 In proportion as the Parliamentarians saw cause to despair, the Royalists grew 
 
 1 Kings's Pnmphlcts, in the British JhiReiim. 
 
(54 
 
 ROCKINGHAM CASTLE ANJ) THE WATSONS. 
 
 more hopefal, and Sir Lewis evidently expected his party would utilize Rockingham 
 Castle ; and the manner in which he prepared to receive a royalist garrison 
 illustrates the apprehension excited at that time by the approach of friend and 
 foe alike. He sent his plate and other articles of great value to his brother-in-law, 
 the Earl of Rutland, whose castle at Belvoir was at that time one of the chief 
 strongholds of the Parliament, and served as a convenient centre from which 
 their troops could harass and control the neighbouring counties. Here the 
 treasures were supposed to be protected from the Roundheads by the influence 
 of the Earl, and from the Cavaliei's by the strength of the Castle. But the latter 
 trust proved delusive. 
 
 The reader will remember the three gentlemen who, as stated on page 60, were 
 amongst the first in the Midlands to espouse the Royal cause ; and we live told 
 that " By these gallant associates, (whose standard on this occasion was blue and 
 gold, with the motto ' Ut Rex Sit Rex') the Castle of Belvoir was very early 
 taken possession of.''^ Both royalist and parliamentary papers of the day report 
 the capture of this castle by the king's friends. We give the parliamentary 
 version on account of the ingenious fable of the measuring of the table by " one 
 Lucas," evidently introduced to detract from the credit the opposite party gained 
 by their dashing action. 
 
 " A Perfet Diurnal &c. 9 Feb : 1643. It is informed for certain that some of 
 the King's forces have gotten possession of Bever Castle which is the Earl of 
 Rutland's which was betrayed in this manner, viz : The Cavaliers having made 
 some attempt to get it, and being repulsed by the earl of Rutland's servants which 
 were in it though they rather came to view tlie strength of it, than having any 
 hopes to take it, and after fair words and royal entertainment brought out to 
 them (but not admitted to come into the Castle) at last they applyed themselves 
 in soliceting one Lucas, which hath long served the same Earl, to betray the 
 Castle unto them, who lived about a mile from thence, which he did in this 
 manner : viz : the said Lucas having full ingresse and regresse at the Castle, 
 he came very subtlely thither and desired to take measure of a Table in one of 
 the Rooms of the Castle, pretending that his wife desii'ed to have one of the 
 same size, which being granted him, he took occasion when he was in the 
 Castle, to open a window, which not being perceived, or at least (nothing being 
 suspected) not taken notice of, was left open all night, and in the dead time of 
 night, the Cavaleers were brought by him unto the window, where they crept 
 in privately in such abundance, and before they were discovered, that they became 
 masters thereof : and it is reported that they have spoiled the said Bail's goods 
 
 1 Nichols' Leicestershire. 
 
ROCKINGHAM CASTLE AND THE WATSONS. 
 
 65 
 
 plundered the Castle, and put out liis men, and are fortifying it for the King."^ 
 
 But the ascendency of the royalists in Northamptonshire was only temporary. 
 In December, the previous year, a young man had been made Sergeant Major 
 General of eight thousand men raised in Northamptonshire and some adjacent 
 counties, and his dashing attacks quickly changed the aspect of matters. This 
 was Lord Grey of Groby, son of the Earl of Stamford. Although, owing to the 
 opposition of the Earl of Suffolk and Lord Cranborne, his commission appears to 
 have been held back for a tirae,^ he entered at once upon a series of rapid 
 movements that took the Cavaliers by surprise. Thas early in 1643 we find 
 him in the neighbourhood of Harborough, shortly afterwards near Oundle, and 
 on the 19th March, 1643, he appeared suddenly at Rockingham, when Sir Lewis 
 was looking for a visit from the King's troops, and taking possession of the Castle 
 he the same night conveyed Sir Lewis and all his family to his brother. Sir 
 Edward Watson's house at Stoke Park. Thus a clean sweep appeared to have 
 been made of all Sir Lewis' household goods, plate, and treasures. We can 
 imagine his misery as, in his enforced retirement at Stoke Park, he thought of 
 the devastation the parliamentary gari-ison was causing upon his estate at 
 Rockingham, and trembled for the safety of those treasures he had committed to 
 the safe keeping of his brother-in-law, which were now exposed to the tender 
 mercies of the King's soldiers. 
 
 But he was to have an earlier opportunity than he anticipated of ascertaining 
 for himself the fate of those treasures, for the Royalists possessed a leader as 
 active in skirmishing warfare as was Lord Grey — this was Colonel Hastings. He 
 with his troops swept the county of Northampton, by way of Wellingborough to 
 Kettering, thence to the neighbourhood of Rockingham, disarming " malignants " 
 on the way. Coining to Stoke Park in May, 1643, he pounced upon the unfoi-tunate 
 Sir Lewis and. his brother, and. conveyed them as jirisoners to Belvoir Castle, 
 upon the charge that no real attempt had been made to hold Rockingham Castle 
 for the King. 
 
 They were kept at Belvoir for a short time, and then, for greater security, sent 
 to Lord Campden's ca.stle at Ashby de la Zouch, a very strong garrison of the 
 Royalists. They wei'e detained here until August of the same year, when in 
 compliance with frequent petitions of Sir Lewis, they were taken to the King at 
 Oxford, that Sir Lewis might clear himself of the charge of disloyalty. Here 
 we will leave him for a while, and follow events at Rockingham. 
 
 1 King's Pamphlets (large quarto), British Museum. 
 
 2 See King's Pamphlets, British Museum. This Lord Grey was one of the most active of the parliamentary 
 commauclers, and was one of the judges upon the trial of the king, and his name appears amongst the siguatui'es to 
 the death warrant. 
 
66 
 
 ROCKINGHAM CASTLE AND THE WATSONS. 
 
 Having taken possession of the Castle, Lord Grey at once fortified it very 
 strongly. He surrounded the keep Avith a stockade and planted cannon upon it, 
 so as to command the easier approaches to the Castle. 
 
 A curioi;s and interesting j^lan of these fortifications, preserved amongst the 
 Rockingham Papers, is given here. From this plan the reader will gain a clearer 
 idea of the strength which the parliamentaiy garrison gave to the Castle, than 
 from any description. 
 
 He remained in supreme command there for a time, but his services being 
 required to clear the neighbourhood of the royalist troops, the command of the 
 Castle was transferred to Sir John Norwich of Brampton Ash, who had espoused 
 the parliamentary cause. It must have been very galling to Sir Lewis Watson to 
 learn that the grandson of his eldest sister, Anne, was ruthlessly destroying the 
 beautiful grounds on which he had spent so much money, and was holding 
 Rockingham for the King's enemies. The parliamentary generals evidently considered 
 the Castle a valuable acquisition, and spared no pains to retain possession of it, 
 which they succeeded in doing until the end of the struggle. Sir John Norwich 
 was, for a time, superseded in the governorship by Robert Horseman, but we 
 find him as governor again in 164-5, and he appears to have remained in command 
 till the Castle was given back to the owner. 
 
 The Royalists made many unsuccessful attempts to take the Castle, and it is no 
 doubt in connection Avith these attempts that the followino- incident may be 
 supposed to have occurred. This is the one solitary tradition relating to the 
 siege of the Castle which the writer has been able to gather on the spot. 
 
 The tradition is that " one night the sentinels within the castle walls were alarmed 
 by sounds which indicated the stealthy approach of a body of besiegers. . Their 
 challenge not being answered, the sentinels fired. The awakened garrison rushed to 
 their aid, and a general fusillade ensued. Instead of the return fire they anticipated, 
 they were answered by a succession of most unearthly sounds, which increased their 
 alarm, and made them fancy themselves confronted by something diabolical. Not 
 daring to venture on a sortie until daylight, they passed some very uncomfortable 
 hours, until the dawn revealed to them the fact that the supposed besieging force 
 was a herd of swine strayed thither from the neighbouring forest." 
 
 The following passages, copied from pamphlets, &c., of the period, are the only 
 authentic references the author has found to incidents connected with the holding 
 of the Castle by the parliamentary garrison. 
 
 In a letter from Za. Dale to Mr. H. Noel, son of Lord Campden, March, 1643, 
 it is stated that " Sir Edward Hartop and Captain Wayte are in Rockingham 
 Castle" (5th Report of Royal Hist. Com. on MSS. p. 79). 
 
ROCKINGHAM CASTLE AND THE WATSONS. 
 
 67 
 
 The following specimen of sarcasm is from a royalist source : " Sunday, May 7, 
 1643. This day also we had advertisement what barbarous acts have been 
 committed by the I'ebels there (in Northamptonshire) especially how one Master 
 Reinolds being asleep in his own house, one of these plundering rebels set a 
 pistoll to his mouth and shot him dead as he lay asleep. And the reader may 
 observe, that though there be two Garrisons the one in Northampton, the other 
 at Rockingham Castle, which are maintained there (as themselves say) to preserve 
 the peace of the county and keep it from plundering, yet Cromwell must be permitted 
 to run over all the Country and plunder all the Cheife Gentry and such others 
 as he pleases. So that to keep a Country in Peace and free from Plundering is to 
 awe it with garrisons and armed men, that when the appointed plunderer shall 
 come he may find the people tame and more easie to be pillaged." -3/ercMrms 
 Aulicusy (Printed at Oxford.) 
 
 From the same paper we take the following as an illustration of the activity 
 of the Royalists against the garrison at Rockingham: " Friday, June 9, 1643. This 
 day we had intelligence that upon Friday last certain of his Majesty's forces to 
 the number of five hundj'od horse or thei'eabouts came to Rockingham Castle in 
 the county of Northampton, and understanding that Major Mole (the governor 
 there) was then sitting with a sub-committee at Weldon, about three miles distant, 
 about imposing a new tax upon the eastern parts of Northamptonshire, which he 
 required should always be paid a month beforeliand, u))on ])ain of being presently 
 plundered. His Majesty's said forces placed some about the castle close under 
 the wall, and marched Avith the rest towards Weldon, to have taken the Mole as 
 he was working. But he who had often before made himself to be swifter of foot 
 than vermin of that kind used to be, betook himself to his wonted ai-t of running, 
 and recovered the woods : wherefore his Majesty's forces fell to beating up all the 
 coppices and quarters in hope to have found him, but he lay hid as close as when 
 last he ran from Banbury, whereupon the soldiers were enforced after they had 
 killed and taken some few of his foUowei-s to rest satisfied with only a thousand 
 oxen, cows and sheep, which they found in Rockingham forest and Stoke park, 
 and with some special horses which were kept near the castle (secure as they 
 supposed) within command of their cannon, some of them within musket shot, 
 which cattle were many of them stolen from the country people to supply the 
 rebels in the Castle ; which his Majesty's forces dravo towanls their rendezvous 
 at Belvoir Castle : but withal made proclamation that if any of them were the 
 Catle of any commoners in Rockingham forest, or were hired to be jo3-sted in 
 Stoke park, let the owners repair to them and tell their marks each man shall 
 
 1 King's Pamphlets, British Museum. 
 
68 
 
 ROCKINGHAM CASTLE AND THE WATSONS. 
 
 tave his own again : for they had no commission to take any thing from any of 
 his Majesty's loyal subjects, but from the I'ebels only : whei-eupon many adjoining 
 country people resorted to them, and had restitution accordingly ; yea some of 
 them got some cattle which had been stolen formerly from them by the rebels. 
 The rebels after the king's forces were gone out of those pai'ts returned to the 
 castle in the night, and upon Saturday, June 3rd, they went to Master Nevill's 
 grounds of Holt, in Leicestershire, about three miles distant from the castle, and 
 to some other grounds adjoining, from whence they plundered all the gentlemen's 
 cattle which depastured there, and then returned in triumph, and reported that 
 they had recovered their own cattle from the cavaliers, whom indeed they durst 
 not look in the face." — Mercurius Aulicus} What a picture of the times is here 
 presented to us ! 
 
 From the following it appears that doubts were entertained of the tidelity of the 
 governor : " 28 Dec. 1643. This day we nndei-stood my Lord Grey had ordered 
 the outing of Colonel Horseman out of Rockingham Castle, but the House of 
 Commons having good assurance of his fidelitie thought good to order his continuance 
 for the present. "2 
 
 Indeed during the early months of their tenure of Rockingham Castle, there 
 seems, from the following extract, to have been considerable dissension amongst 
 the Roundhead officers concerning the governorship. 
 
 " A Letter from Captain Horseman, Governor of Rockingham Castle, to Sir 
 Gilbert Pickering, of the Ninth March, touching his being arrested by the Marshal 
 of the Lord Grey's Brigade, and summoned, by a Wai-rant under the Hand of Isaac 
 Dorisla, Advocate to his Excellency's Army : The Letter was read : The Warrant 
 was read, And an Order of the House of Commons of December 23 made concei-ning 
 Captain Horseman's continuing Governor of Rockingham Castle : and the Copy of 
 a Letter from Colonel Wayte to the Lord Grey, were both Read. . . Ordered 
 that the Whole Business concerning the Governor and Government of Rockingham 
 Castle ; Colonel Wayte, the County of Rutland, and the Lord Grey, be referred to 
 the Consideration of the Committee for Leicestershire Business, appointed on 
 Saturday, January 20th, 1643(4), to comjiose all diffei'ences if they can; or 
 otherwise to report to the House ; and that the Lord General be desired that all 
 Proceedings by the Council of War against the Governor of Rockingham Castle, 
 in the mean time be staid."'^ 
 
 Both parties relied much upon their cavalry, and we find in the following extracts 
 
 1 King's Pamphlets in British Museum. 
 
 2 King's Pamphlets. 
 3 Journals of House of Commons, 1643. 
 
ROCKINGHAM CASTLE AND THE WATSONS. 
 
 69 
 
 evidence of the care taken for that branch. We see Colonel Horseman still in 
 command. " Jany 20, 1644. Acknowledgement (signed Robert Horseman) that 
 25 quarters of oats and five horses belonging to Mr. Barker of Hambleton were 
 taken to Rockingham Castle " for the service of the King and Parliament," " by- 
 virtue of a warrant from Lord Grey of Groby." (First Report of Royal Com. on 
 MSS.) "25th May, 1644. To write to the Committee at Northampton to send to 
 Rockingham so many of their horses as can be spared."^ 
 
 In the year which witnessed the death blow given to the Royal cause both 
 parties appear to have been exceedingly active in Northamptonshire. Thus, early 
 in June, 1645, we read in Mercurius Civicus, " Sir John Noi-wich the governor of 
 Rockingham Castle conceiving that Burleigh House was not tenable, commanded 
 our forces to draw off with their ordnance, arms and amunition to Rockingham, 
 which accordingly they have done, and fii/ed the house at their departure."^ And 
 in The Exchange InieUigcnccr for 5th June, 1645, it is stated that " Sii- John 
 Norris (Norwich) governor of Rockingham Castle in Northamptonshire, hath 
 taken many of the King's Life Guards and of the Queen's regiment, and forced 
 the rest to flight. "2 We get some idea of the King's movements during the fortnight 
 preceding the battle of Naseby from the following account written at Northampton.^ 
 "Upon Tuesday, June 3rd, the King's horse advanced southwai-ds, and kcjjt his 
 general rendezvous at Newton, five miles on this side Leicester ; on Wednesday lie 
 removed to Kibworth, five miles from Harborough; and on Thursday morning 
 (the 5th), his horse came to Maidwell, eight miles from Northampton; and in the 
 afternoon they came to Brixworth and othci- adjacent towns: and sent out their 
 wari'ants all over the north-east parts of the county, and taxed eveiy town, some 
 at £100, some at £200, some less and some more, upon penalty of being pluiidei'ed 
 of their goods, and their houses fired, and by this means they have gathered great 
 sums of money: and some of the towns having paid the sum first .set, another 
 company comes and chargeth them again at a second, and after that a third, 
 and all have been enforced to be paid. On Thursday night, about eight o'clock, a 
 party of their horse came within two miles of Northampton. We took that day 
 divers pi'isoners, who all agree that the whole body of horse and foot were 
 drawing up this way, which gave us timely alarm. On Friday and Saturday they 
 continue their taxing of the country towns, and their horses lie in several ])Iaces 
 in great bodies to collect tlieir tax, we daily take of their men in towns, and our 
 troopers skirmish with them. Sir John Norwich, governor of Rockiugliam Castle, 
 hath sent out his troops daily, Avho have taken many prisoners, he sent thirty at 
 
 1 Cal. Domestic Papers, 1644. 
 2 King's Pamphlets, British Museum. 
 
70 
 
 ROCKINGHAM CASTLE AND THE WATSONS. 
 
 one time to be kept here (Northampton ?) On Saturday, 7th, the King with all 
 his foot and carriages marched from Harborough to Daventry in Northamptonshire."^ 
 A glimpse of the internal economy of the Castle, during the time it was held 
 by the parliamentary troops, is fui'nished by the following, fi'om the Calendar of 
 State Papers, 1650 : " Certified by R. Massey, that it appears by the accounts of 
 Wm. Tompson, late tren surer at Rockingham Castle, during the time Sir John 
 Norwich was governor, exhibited before the late Committee of Account, county 
 Northampton, that Major Wm. Butcher was in actual service under the said 
 governor in the Castle, from 19 July, 1645, to 9 May, 1646, that he received 
 £48 8 1 as his pay, and that there is due to him as major on half-pay, 
 £298 1 lld."2 
 
 The prolonged presence of the garrison in the Castle, their foraging 
 expeditions, and the frequent attacks by the Royalists, caused terrible destruction 
 in the neighbourhood of the Castle. The various governors found it necessaiy for 
 stT'ategical and other reasons, to cut down or top all the trees, and to remove all 
 the buildings in the vicinity of the Castle, which might afford cover to an attacking 
 party. Thus Sir John Norwich not only pulled down the almshouse for four poor 
 men (see p. 31), and the building which had been used as a prison for poachers 
 (see p. 38), but also many cottages, and — can it be credited — the Church, because 
 they presented favourable shelter to the opposite party ! In this way damage to 
 the extent of several thousand pounds was done immediately outside the fortifications. 
 One very deplorable result of the capture of the Castle is the irretrievable loss 
 of many valuable papers. 
 
 Traces of the entrenchments made by both parties are still visible in various 
 directions around the Castle, and many oak and other trees may still be seen in 
 the Park, which were evidently 23ollarded long since. 
 
 In a " Particular " drawn up by Sir Lewis Watson in 1646, of his losses by 
 the Parliamentary forces before sequestration, are the following curious items : 
 "54 Warpes of habberdine ... ... ... 426 
 
 guilt voiders Venice glasses | 10 0 0 
 
 and other things in a closett ) " 
 A Cabbinett wherein was a box \ 
 
 of Massy gold w^^ other Jewills [ ... ... 100 0 0 
 
 in it to the value of ' 
 " 10 ffeather bedds, 8 Matterices, 6 pillowes, 8 BouLsters, 16 Blanketts & 17 
 Coverletts." The Roundheads do not appear to have been very fastidious in their 
 
 1 King's Pamjihlets, British Museum. 
 2 Cal. of State Papers, 1650. 
 
ROCKINGHAM CASTLE AND THE WATSONS. 
 
 71 
 
 plundering. Probablj^, some of the oflBcers, besides the cabinet, &c., mentioned 
 above, appropriated the 36 jiictures, the dozen " Turkey worke Cushions," the 
 t-wo dozen and a half " New damaske Chaii"es," the two dozen " Turkey worke 
 Chaires," and the " 28 damaske stooles," and they no doubt heljjed to drink the 
 " 10 y)ypes and 36 hogsheades of sti'onge beere," and, as a morning " pick me up," 
 probably they took, now and then, a drauglit from the "eleaven hogesheades of 
 ordinary beere." But one wonders who cared to ti'ouble himself with the " Jacke 
 to turn the Spitte," or the " thi-ee ii'on gi'atcs," or with the "kitchen gi^ate 
 one fier shouell and one fiere forke one diippinge pann and Andirons," or the 
 "six potthookes and 4 spittes." Some one took the " warmeinge p.ann " and 
 three indispensable vessels, valued together at the same sum as a hog.shead of 
 old ale, namely at 13s. 4d. 
 
 The garrison appear to have kept up a supply of ale, for they used the whole 
 of " nineteen quarter and seaven strikes of malte," but they evidently did not 
 intend any brewing should be done in the Castle after their departure, for they 
 stripped the brew-house of the copper, of " one Cooler Loaded, 5 ffatts 3 tubbes 
 and other thinges." Indeed, they must nearly have stripped the Castle. Not 
 much furniture could have been left, for we find that, besides the chairs, &c., 
 already mentioned, they took 14 tables, 23 bedsteads, 10 cupboards, 2 "fformes," 
 14 "stooles," 4 leather "chares," and 12 "stooles suitable," 6 great chests, 3 great 
 presses, and an immense numbei- of other articles. The pillage and destruction 
 outside the Castle wei-e on a scale equally extensive. Com of all kinds, hay, 
 timber, coals, all disappeared. 
 
 The total value of all the items enumerated in the long list from which the 
 above are taken, is estimated at £3,903 10s. Od. 
 
 Sir Lewis estimates the damage done by Sir John Norwich, by pulling down 
 the " Chancel], Steeple, Chappies, and monuments " in the church at Rockingham, ^ in 
 1645, at one thousand pounds ; the pulling down, the same year, of the alms- 
 house for four poor peo^ile at one hundred and fifty pounds, " Eleaven cottages 
 with out-houses belonging to them," also, pulled down in 1645, are valued at 
 three hundred pounds ; and " one greate Barne, 2 Stables a Coach house Slaughter 
 Howse and other Howses," at one hundi-ed and thii-ty pounds. The " prison house 
 demolished and lumber taken away," in 1643, is appraised at twenty pounds. 
 The same year the garrison threw down and took away " divers ffence walls of 
 stone," to the value of another twenty pounds. They were no doubt too useful 
 to the Royalists. The " Spoile and defaceing of the Parke Lodge "2 is estimated at 
 
 1 
 
 1 See uotc oil Monumuut, )). 46, nud note I. RockiugUam Church, 
 2 See Chapter 3. 
 
72 
 
 ROCKINGHAM CASTLE AND THE WATSONS. 
 
 £13 6s. 8cl. ; and the "defaceing" of the house at Wilsford, with other damage 
 there, at one hundred pounds. 
 
 After the King had surrendered himself to the Scots, the Parliament appears to 
 have thought so strong a garrison at Rockingham unnecessary, and accordingly it 
 was resolved : " That the Horse belonging to Rockingham Castle be forthwith 
 disbanded . . . That during such Time as the Castle of Rockingham shall 
 continue a Oan-ison the Charge thereof be borne, and paid by the three Coiinties 
 of Northampton, Leicester, and Rutland Equally to be laid upon each County. 
 Ordered, That it be referred to the Committee of Northampton to slight the 
 "Works about Rockingham Castle, in the County of Northampton, and forthwith 
 to make it untenable."^ 
 
 This was accordingly done, and the strong keep was thrown down, and the 
 debris cast into Leland's "mighty diche;" and in the place it once occupied we 
 now see the lovely I'ose garden. 
 
 We can imagine the feelings of Sir Lewis as, from time to time, intelligence 
 I'eached him at Oxford, of what was going on at Rockingham. His wife, with 
 her family, seems to have lived at his brother's house, at Stoke Park, during 
 the time of his banishment from the Castle, and she doubtless kept him well 
 informed of what was passing. To him we will now turn our attention. 
 
 During the early months of his stay at Oxford, he seems to have been a sort 
 of state prisoner, waiting an opportunity to clear himself from the charges made 
 against him. 
 
 Amongst the Rockingham Papers is the following exceedingly interesting 
 document, evidently in Sir Lewis' own hand-wi'iting. It appears to be a 
 memorandum for the guidance of some one who was to bring his case before the 
 King, or some other influential person. 
 
 " The first thing which in order you are to consider is the Attestation of 
 M'" Duport Secretary to General Hastings (now Lo : Loughboz'ough) by which it 
 appears that his Ma*y was petitioned by me and that by that petition Secretary 
 Nicholas was appointed to write to General Hastings as in the Letter is expressed, 
 whereof this I send you is a true copy, and is the same which Duport delivered 
 unto me to be sent to Colonell S'' Charles Cavendish who during my Imprisonment 
 at Ashby had plundered fourteen score sheep of mine at Willford in Lincolnshire, 
 about the same time that my Lo : Campden's forces took four hundred sheep and 
 fourteen Bullocks from Rockingham. This hard usage occasioned a second 
 complaint to his Ma*y (expecting nothing less (if not tymly prevented) than utter 
 destruction) Uppon this his Ma*y was pleased by a warrant under his own hand 
 
 1 Journals of House of Commons, 3 July, 1646. 
 
ROCKINGHAM CASTLE AND THE WATSONS. 
 
 73 
 
 to com'and my removal to Oxford, a Copy whereof I also send you herewith, 
 and is for your better understandinfr to be perused in the second place. My coming 
 to Oxford was when his Ma'^y was at the Siege of Glocester, from whence he was 
 no sooner returned, than receiting all the former Passages I petitioned to be heard 
 and to I'eceive my Triall and accusation. Hereunto I received a Reference dated 
 17 Aug: 1643 to the right Honorable the Lord Com'issioners, which also you 
 shall receive herewith to follow in the third place. At the day of hearing 
 M"" Secretary Nicholas took up the Charge, and alledged divers Particulars as, 
 first that I refused to take M'^ Neville into the Castle when He and his Forces 
 offered to stand with me in the defence of it. 2'^^^ That I did iuvite the 
 Pailiaraentary Forces to come take it, and that my Wife did Lead in my Lord Gray 
 by the hand. 3^^ That I should have divers Conferences with S'' R: S' John at 
 a place called dissembling Lane near Brigstock Park, and all for the delivering 
 up the Castle. 4'*^ that divers Lords and Gentlemen of Northamptonshire had 
 offered to asist me in the defence of the Castle as well as M"" Nevill, and that 
 I had given a deniall to them all, some thinges els was aledged, of which and 
 the rest I was appointed by the Lordes to receive a Copy from M'' Secretary and 
 to make answer another day, which day is so farr of, that I could never yet 
 (allouding to that ordei') receive a Copy of these Articles neither know my 
 Accusers, though 1 often sued for satisfaction therein. Nor can recover one 
 penniworth of my Plate, money or Household stuff at Bclvoir, or of my Sheep and 
 Beasts (as above said) taken from other places to the value of two or three and 
 twenty hundred pounds. What my Loses have bin by the Garrison at the 
 Castle, your Self can wittncss witli me being you know what you want. As all 
 sorts of Corne and other provisions for howskeeping for at least half a year 
 beforehand. 40'^ Hogshead of Beer, Beef, Fish, Bacon, Waren of Conies, Park of 
 Deer all made use of by them, besides householdstuff, and two hundred loads of 
 Hay, at the Least, standing in the pasture grounds about the House, which 
 grounds together with the Meadows amounting to 40'''^ acres, They have for this 
 two summers eaten and converted to their owne use. But above all is the spoile 
 of my dwelling House and Gardens, which you know is but Lately, that I made 
 fitt with a great deale of Cost, though that be not so much as the utter defaceing 
 the Seate of the House, by Cutting downe so many goodly great Ashes, of Age 
 not to be guessed at, and of valew so much the moie as that they cannot be had 
 againe Standing as they did for nere so much money and were worth to be sold 
 one thousand pounds. Besides all this (if it be true which I hear) my Estate 
 is sequestered in all other places, little of my Rents having bin paid, but all 
 behind for this two yeares and half. Good God give us patience. 
 
74 
 
 ROCONGHAM CASTLE AND THE WATSONS. 
 
 " I had allmost forgotten two years woole amounting to 20*y score or thereabouts 
 (Redshaw knows the certainty) besides fifty pounds of Hay and Coale taken and 
 caried away by the Forces of the Duke of Manchester from my Howse at 
 Wilsforde."! 
 
 By what proofs Sir Lewis cleared himself from the serious charges made against 
 him cannot unfortunately be discovered. The author has searched in vain amongst 
 the documents at the Record Office, and the manuscripts, &c., in the British 
 Museum, and has caused inquiries to be made in the Bodleian Library, and other 
 places for any documents which could throw light upon the subject. Gardiner, 
 in his history of the Civil War, states that the King's Privy Council, preparing 
 to treat for the surrender of Oxford, burnt all the records of the Oxford Parliament. 
 
 In this holocaust of documents doubtless perished not only the letters and 
 petitions to which Sir Lewis refers in the above memorandum, but also the i-eport 
 of his trial and acquittal. That he cleared himself most honourably from every 
 charge is manifest. Indeed the King seems to have been touched by his 
 unmerited sufferings, for, as a mark of his confidence in his loyalty, he, in 
 January, 1644, elevated him to the peerage with the title of Baron Rockingham, 
 of Rockingham Castle. In the Bodleian Library is preserved a list of fees paid 
 by Lord Rockingham, on the occasion of his creation. As this is of interest to 
 the antiquary, it is given amongst the notes. ^ 
 
 Owing to the destruction of the records of the Oxford Parliament, we have no 
 knowledge of the part which Lord Rockingham took in its deliberations. His 
 intimate acquaintance with the county would make his advice on local matters 
 exceedingly valuable. 
 
 Oxford surrendered to General Fairfax on the 24th June, 1646, upon terms 
 certainly generous towards the garrison. The following is a copy of the general's 
 "pass" for Lord Rockingham. 
 
 " Sir Thomas Fairfax Knight Generall of the forces raised by the Parliament. 
 Suffer the bearer hereof Lewis Lord Rockingham who was in the City and Garrison 
 of Oxford, at the Surrender Thereof, and is to haue the full benefit of the Articles 
 agreed unto vpon the Surrender, quietly and without let or interruption, to passe 
 your Guards with his Servants, Horses, Armes, Goods, and all other necessaries, 
 and to repaire unto London or elsewhere upon his necessary occasions And in all 
 Places where he shall reside, or whereto he shall remove to be protected from any 
 Violence to his Person, Goods, or Estate, according to the said Articles, & to have 
 full Liberty at any time within six Months to goe to any convenient Port, and to 
 
 1 Rockingham Papers. 
 2 Xntc F. Fees due to liis Mut.vs servants upon crenc'on iif the Lo : Rockingham. 
 
ROCKINGHAM CASTLE AND THE WATSONS. 
 
 75 
 
 Tra'sport himselfe with his Servants, Goods, and Necessaries beyond the Seas, 
 And in all other things to enjoy the Benefit of the said Articles. 
 
 " To all Officers and Soldiers under my command and to all others whom it may 
 concerne. Hereunto due obedience is to be given, as they will answer the contrary. 
 
 " Given under my Hand and Seale the 22 Day of June, 1646. 
 
 "T. Fairfax." 
 
 Sir Edward Watson's pass, dated two days later, on the very day of the 
 surrender, is in similar terms, and the two brothers appear to have returned 
 together to Stoke Park. There is no evidence of Lord Rockingham's I'e-establishment 
 at the Castle until the following year, 1647, in October of wliicli year he made 
 his last will there. 
 
 The " delinquent " gentlemen of property were given the choice of leaving 
 the kingdom within six months, or of compounding for their estates at one-tenth 
 of their estimated value. Lord Rockingliam decided to remain in England, and 
 to compound. Accordingly, we find amongst the Royalist Composition Papers, 
 the following petition : 
 
 " To the Hon*''^ Com'ittee for Compositions sitting at Goldsmith's Hall. 
 
 "The humble pet' of Sir Lewis Watson, of Rockingham, Knight. 
 
 " Their Pef humbly sheweth 
 
 " That he being carried Prisoner to y^ Gamson at Ashby there held against 
 y'' Houses of Parliament and from thence removed to Oxford Being there, about 
 a year and halfe since, had the Title of Bai-on conferred u|)on him, and afterwards 
 did sitt in y^ Assembly att Oxford and did there contribute to y*^ maintenance 
 of that Garrison. 
 
 " That y'' Pef^® estate is sequestered for his delinquancy against the Parliament 
 of England. 
 
 "Yo"" Pef therefore humbly praieth this Hon'^'^ Com'ittee to admitt him to 
 favorable Composic'on And in the meane tyme bee receaved. & his name entred 
 as a Compounder in pursuance of y^ said Articles. 
 
 " And yo'" Pef shall praye &c 
 " Lewis Watson." 
 This petition was granted as the following extract shews: 
 
 " Lewis Watson of Rockingham in the County of Northampton Knight. 
 
 " His delinquency that he deserted his dwelling and went to Oxford and lined 
 in that Garrison while it was holden against the Parliament and contributed towards 
 the maintenance of those fforces raised against the Parliam' and was there in 
 Oxford at the tyme of the Surrender and is to have the benefit of those Articles 
 
76 ROCKINGHAM CASTLE AND THE WATSONS. 
 
 as by Sir Thomas Fairfax Certificate of the 22 of June doth appeare, he hath 
 neither taken the negative oath nor Couenant but prajes to be exempted upon 
 the said Articles and vote of the house of Com'ons pursuant" &c. 
 
 According to this document Lord Rockingham had furnished a " particular," 
 in vv'hich he returned the annual value of his estates, with debts due to him, 
 at nearly four thousand pounds, and a fine of £4,312 was imposed upon him. 
 This was duly paid; but his troubles as a "compounder" were not to end here, 
 it was the rule of the Commissioners to give a percentage to any one who proved 
 a " delinquent " had understated his income. Needy neighbours, accordingly, at 
 once set to work to ferret out such further delinquency on the part of Lord 
 Rockingham. One Captain Stephen Tory seems to have stuck to him like a 
 leech ; and notwithstanding, that Lord Rockingham endeavoured to forestall these 
 informers, by furnishing the commissioners with timely "additions" to his former 
 " particular as of his own discovery," he was condemned in several additional 
 sums which brought his fine up to a total of about £5,000. The pertinacious 
 Stephen Tory obtained £111 6s. 7d. as his share of this additional plunder.^ 
 
 The correspondence respecting this compounder occupies many folios of the 
 Royalist Composition Papers. In one of them Lord Rockingham prays he may 
 be no more " molested " upon Stephen Tory's account. It is pleasing to note 
 that, while one " Snooke " and other seemingly evil disposed neighbours at Great 
 Easton were prompt to give evidence against Lord Rockingham, the names of 
 many of his old faithful servants are found in these papers as witnesses in support 
 of him. These papers furnish many interesting particulars of the estates, &c., 
 of the wealthy supporters of_]the King. 
 
 Lord Rockingham does not appear to have ever thoroughly recovered his elasticity 
 of spirits. The murder of the King must have been a great shock to him. 
 He never entirely submitted to the new order of things, and was consequently 
 an object of suspicion to the temporary masters of the state. 
 
 The Council of State ordered all malignants to report themselves to the ministers 
 of their respective parishes. In the register at Stoke Albany is the following enti-y : 
 
 " A Record to be kept in y® Parish of Stoke Albany for the purpose appoynted 
 by y^ Act of Parleiment bearing date feb : 26. 1649 entituled : an Act for y^ 
 remoueing all Papists and all Officers and Souldiers of fortune and other delinquents 
 fro' London and Westminster &c. 
 
 " Mem-i that uppon y" first day of April 1650 S"* Edward Watson of Stoake Parke 
 in y^ parish of Stoake Albany p'sented himself and gave in his true name in 
 
 1 Rockingham Papers. 
 
ROCKINGHAM CASTLE AND THE WATSONS. 
 
 77 
 
 writing to us Thomas Balgay Minister of Stoake Albany aforesayd, & John Ward 
 Constable of y'' sayd towne according to y^ appoyntment of y^ abovenientioned 
 Act of Parleiment in y' case."^ Sir Edward seems also to have "taken the national 
 Covenaiite ;"2 but Lord Rockingham, as stated in the extract from the Royalist 
 Composition Papers given above, took neither the oath nor the covenant. And 
 there is no trace in the Rockingham register of his having complied with the order 
 requiring him to report himself — serious and suspicious omissions no doubt, in the 
 eyes of the Council of State. 
 
 Amongst the Rockingham Papers is the following letter, wliicli shews how little 
 he was ti-usted. Tiie reader will remember that at the date of this letter, the 
 rising master spirit of the age, Oliver Cromwell, was in Scotland, watching the 
 movements of the young King and his supporters there ; and the Council of State 
 seem to have feared that the old Royalists would embrace the opportunity to 
 rise in favour of Charles II. 
 
 "ffor my honored Cosin 
 the L'^ of Rockingham 
 These 
 
 " Sr 
 
 " Haueing receued instructions from the counsell of state an aspeciall order from 
 the commissioners of the Militia for this count3% for the disarming and securing 
 both of the persons, and hoi'ses, of those disafected to the present goernmeut; 
 Now S^' you beeing in my List nominated to bee one, and beeing my duty to 
 be faithful to the state yett desirous to shew myselfe civill to your L''ship : I have 
 sent an officer in whom I repose trust to put in execution y® sayd order from 
 whom you shall I'cceive y* ciuill respect as if I were present, and therefox's 
 desire y' hee may search with out disturbance y' 1 may faithfully perform the 
 trust imposed on mee S'' This is all I have to treble you with save y' I take leave 
 to underwrite my Selfe 
 
 " Your L'^shipp's affectionate Cosin 
 and Servant 
 
 " Thqs Brooke."3 
 
 " Oakley mag' 
 8 Decemb' 
 1650." 
 
 1 Sir Edward's frieud, Mr. Couyern Griffin, gave in his name to the same authorities the next day. 
 
 2 See Rockinghnm Papers. 
 3 Bocltinghain Papers. 
 
78 
 
 ROCKINGHAM CASTLE AND THE WATSONS. 
 
 The tie existing between tlie two families evidently made this duty painful 
 to Mr. Brooke, although he was enabled to execute it in a manner less offensive 
 to his cousin, than a stranger might have done. 
 
 The difficulties between Lord Rockingham and the State upon the compounding 
 question were still causing him trouble, and only terminated with the spring 
 of the next year. We may infer from the following letter, preserved in the 
 Bodleian Library, that he was settling down again in tolerable quietude at 
 Rockingham in the autumn of 1651, although from the allusion towai^ds the 
 end of the letter, he does not even then aj^pear to be quite free from apprehension 
 that his liberty of action may still be interfered with by the authorities. 
 
 " Sonne, 
 
 " You have done me a speciall Favour in sending this Bearer. Wee All Here 
 wer in an extrem Longing to hear from you. How you wer There, and how 
 you got through your Jorney. The Reason of our not sending, was the Hope 
 I had fi'om the Keepers of accompanying my Letter with some good Venson, 
 which held me in expectation ten dais at the Least, and being at Length performed 
 
 1 desii'e to have my Service to Sir Edward and my Lady, with much HapjDines 
 to all the rest of the good Company. Frauk^ takes your Remembrance of 
 hir very Kindly, and so do I. That you wish so hartely for a meeting with 
 us at London, where I intend (God willing) to be within a few days after the 
 first of November : if 1 be not prevented you know by what means. So I pray 
 God to bless you and my daughter resting. 
 
 " Your Affectionate Father 
 "24 Oct. 1651. "Rockingham. 
 " For my very good Sonne 
 
 "Mr. Edward Barkham Esqr2 
 " This, at Walton." 
 
 Whether Lord Rockingham was allowed to make his purposed journey to 
 London, we do not know. The anxieties of the last ten years of his life were 
 calculated to try the most vigorous constitution. He died 5th January, 1652(.3), 
 and was, in compliance with his directions, buried in Rockingham Church, but 
 there is no memorial there, of any kind, to his memory, except the registry of 
 his burial, which is the only entry in the parish register for that year. 
 
 The last of his three portraits, that in the gallery of the Castle, representing 
 him in buff, was probably painted by Mi eha o l Wr igJit sometime after his return 
 
 1 Probabl3' his daughter Frances, maiTied to Edward Dingly, of Charlton, in Worcestershire. 
 
 2 Afterwards Sir Edward Barkham, of Wastacre, co. Norfolk, married to Lord Rockingham's eldest daughter, Grace. 
 
Sii: Ltwis Watson, 1''iksi' 1}ai!(in Rockingham. 
 cm. hrrnO. 
 Pagk 78. 
 
ROCKINGHAM CASTLE AND THE WATSONS. 
 
 79 
 
 to Rockingham. What a change his troubles wrought in his appearance ! In 
 this portrait, he is represented as an aged gentleman, with scarcely a feature of 
 the two earlier portraits recognizable. The bright intelligence of the eyes alone 
 remains. His countenance ajopears to have gained a stronger resemblance to 
 that of his grandfather, as it lost the features shewn in his earlier portraits. 
 The season of adversity through which he had passed was enough to imbitter 
 the most amiable disposition. In addition to the terrible destruction of his 
 property, the church demolished, cottages and other buildings destroyed, the 
 valuable timber cut down, the pleasure grounds ruined, he had the mortification 
 of losing, by the Royalists and Parliamentarians together, money, plate, jewels, &c., 
 to the value of nearly twelve thousand pounds ; besides his contributions in support 
 of the royalist garrison at Oxford. 
 
 His last will is dated 19th October, 1647. In it he makes this pathetic allusion 
 to the desecration of the burial place of his ancestors : 
 
 " And I will that my Body be buried in the Chancel within the Parish Church 
 of Rockingham, wherein my Father and Grandfather doe lye buried, in such 
 decent manner as my E.Kecutors hereafter named .shall think fitt. Not doubting 
 but that Place, though it have Lately undergon the rude Treatment of a rash 
 hand, yet that in due Tynie, by God's good Blessing, either by my Selfe or soon 
 (some ?) of mine, the same may come to be rebuilt againe." He gives to each 
 of his six daughters a marriage portion (or portions on attaining their majority) 
 of three thousand pounds ; — to be forfeited if they marry without their mother's 
 consent. His wife (if she remains unmai-ried), was to have the use of the Castle 
 the Park and Lodge, &c., until his heir attained his 21st year.^ "Item I do 
 give to my wife all the Jewels which were hir owno before I mai'ried hir, and 
 which were not my first Wives ; and I give hir my Coach and Coach horses, 
 and four of my Hackney Geldings " . . . " Item 1 do give to my Brother, 
 Sir Edward Watson, the best Horse 1 have, to be taken at his Choice and 
 Election" . . . "Item I do give to my Sister the Lady Vaughan (being all 
 the Sisters I have Living) a Cup of Ten Pounds " . . . " Item I do pfive 
 all other my Jewells of what sort soever, as also all the little plate and Furniture 
 of my Howses, that these unhappy Tymes have left and not taken from me, 
 as Hangings Linnen and other household-stuff and utensills of Household 
 whatsoever, to my sonne Edward Watson." Upon this same son Edward devolved 
 the whole of his estates. His executors were his " dearly Beloved Wife Dame 
 
 1 Lady Rockingham's jointure house was Easton Park. 
 
80 
 
 ROCKINGHAM CASTLE AND THE WATSONS. 
 
 Elenor Rockingham," and his " wellbeloved Brother S'' Edward Watson of Stoke 
 Park." The will occupies exactly four pages of large folio paper, and the codicil, 
 referring to later purchases bequeathed to his son Edward, occupies a quarter 
 page. The whole is written on one side of the paper only, and is entirely 
 in the hand-writing of Lord Rockingham. The witnesses were Jonathan Cox, 
 Clerk, Edward Bradshaw, Watson Bradshaw, and Richard Almond. Probate 
 was granted to the heir 14th May, 1653. 
 
 His brother Edward survived him five years. He died at Stoke Park the last 
 week in January, and was buried by the side of his brother in Rockingham Church, 
 on the 2nd February, 1658. During his life he was a helper and comforter to his 
 brother, and since his death he has been a will-o-the-wisp to genealogists and to 
 writers of magazine ai'ticles. Of his once fine house at Stoke Park nothing 
 remains.^ The only "footprints" he has left "on the sands of time" are the 
 registers of his baptism and burial ; his matriculation at Magdalen College, the 
 records of his knighthood, and of his compounding for his estates, and the presence 
 of his name in wills, and many other legal documents connected with his own and 
 his brother's affairs. 
 
 His will is dated IGth March, 1657. He bequeathed £20 towards the building 
 of a Steeple to the " New Church at Rockingham," and more than £30 to the 
 poor of Rockingham, Stoke, and six other parishes. To his dear sister, the 
 Lady Rockingham, £10. "To my neece and Goddaughter M" Grace Barkham £100," 
 and to his four other " neeces Mrs. Dimock, Anne, ffrances, and Elizabeth Watson 
 £100 a peece." The absence of Katharine's name is sufficient proof that she 
 did not survive until 1660, as stated on the tablet to her memory, (vid. infra.) 
 To his " Loveing Nephew Sir John Norwich " he gives the £20 the latter 
 had borrowed of him. This looks as if the breach between the two families 
 was healing. After several bequests to other relatives and to servants: "The rest 
 and residue of my Goods Chatties and personal Estate whatsover I do hereby 
 will devise and give unto my deere and Loveing Nephew the Right Hon'^'^ Edward 
 Watson, Baron, commonly called Lord Rockingham, whom I make and ordayne 
 sole executor of this my last Will and Testament." Probate was granted to 
 Lord Rockingham 19th December, 1658. 
 
 The mother-in-law of Lord Rockingham, the Lady Grace Manners, also fell 
 ander the harrow of the Parliamentary Committee ; and the pertinacity with which 
 they dragged a suspected Royalist about the compounding field, until they tore 
 something out of him, is well illustrated by her case. 
 
 1 See Note G. Manorial possessions of the Watsons. 
 
ROCKmGHAM CASTLE AND THE WATSONS. 
 
 81 
 
 In the sixth report of the Royal Commissioners on Historical MSS. is found 
 the following " Petition of Lady Grace Manners to the House of Commons. 
 In May 1642 she borrowed of S'^' Lewis "Watson, her son-in-law the sum of £2000, 
 and was by him desired to pay the same to Mr. Lambert, and others, and 
 accordingly so paid £1700, not knowing that she was doeing anything contrary 
 to any ordinance of Parliament but now finding that she has offended because 
 Sir Lewis is at Oxford, she is exceedingly sorry, and entreats compassion, as 
 she is seventy two years of age and has constantly lived in the Parliamentary 
 quarters, and has contributed 890£ for public service, and her house is now 
 a garrison of Parliament, and so long as she lived thei'e, she received 300£ 
 a year, but has since received nothing." 
 
 " 28 May, Draft order for Lady Grace Manners to be excused on payement of 500£ 
 for reduced officers." 
 
 The above extract makes this ti-ansaction appear tolerably simple. But the 
 following from the " Calendar of the Committee for Advancement of Money" 
 shews us that it extended over some years, and that it must have been most 
 harassing to so aged a lady : 
 
 " 24 March 1646. Lady Grace Manners, Southampton Buildings, Gray's Inn 
 Lane, London, and Ayleston, co. Leicester. Information that she has sent (so.) 
 2000£ to Sir Lewes Watson a delinquent now at Oxford, 1700£ being paid to 
 Rob : Lambert, linendi'aper of Temple Bar, and 300£ remaining in her hands. 
 "31st March, Assed at 300£. 
 
 " 18 April Note that she shews aquittance for 320£. 
 
 " 1 May 1650. Information that she gave the late Ki ug 1000£ the year before 
 Leicester was taken by his foi'ces. 
 
 " 22 May. The county commissioners for co. Leicester to take examinations and 
 to send them up. 
 
 " 24 ,, Information repeated stating that the money was sent to General Hastings, 
 who was in arms at Ashby de la Zouch. 
 
 " (same date) Order that she give in an answer to the charge. 
 
 " ? May. She states that she is 77 years old, has always resided in Parliamentary 
 
 Quarters, and never gave money or anything whatsover for the service of the late 
 
 King. 
 
 " 19th June 1650. On Statement that the County Commissioners of Nots have 
 issued their warrants to bring in her rents, order that they sieze and secure her 
 personal estate, and detain her rents in the tenants hands, but do not dispose of 
 anything till further order. 
 
82 
 
 ROCKINGHAM CASTLE AND THE WATSONS. 
 
 " 5 July 1650. Witnesses to be examined, but slie allowed to take exception to any, 
 and copies of the exceptions to be given to the Prosecutor. 
 
 " 21 Aut. 1650. She accusing John Coates of tampering with the witnesses to swear 
 against her, and then oifering to bring her clear for a sum of money, the exception 
 is allowed, but she is to prove it, and have liberty to bring a farther exception. 
 " 25 Oct : 1650. Order on full hearing of the case, that she is not within the 
 ordinance of sequestration and that therefore she is to be discharged further 
 attendance, and the seizure of her estate taken off." 
 
 Thus for five years was this poor old lady harried for having paid her debts ! 
 Worn out and wearied, Lady Maimers survived the settlement of this vexatious 
 business only three months. 
 
 Amongst the Rockingham Papers is preserved the following graphic account of 
 her death bed. It is endorsed "My Lady's Words at her death," and on the 
 other side '■ This concernes y'' Lady Rockingham." " M''^ Cartwright's Expression 
 Concerning y*^ Lady Manners hir Coddicill." 
 
 " Vpon friday the 14<^^ of March 1650(1) between ten and leven of the clock at night 
 my Aunt Manners was taken with a Palsey, she lay as if she had been a sleep 
 almost all that night, a bout seven of the clock the next morning she tooke 
 me by the hand and said a great deale to me which I could not vnderstand, 
 I asked her if she would have my Lord of Rutland sent for, she said no, my 
 Lady of Rutland, she said no, my Lady Rockingham, she said no, my Lady Crow, 
 she said no, then I asked her if she would have my Cousen Pierrepont sent for, 
 she said I, I. I sent for him, before he came she said something of a box, 
 M^'s Ryth fetched the box where her Jewels was, she let it stand upon her 
 bed till my Cousen Pierrepont came, as soun as she saw him she looked very 
 cherfully, and said something of an other box, then M.^^ Ryth fetched the box 
 that had her will in it, she tooke it in her hand a gave it to my Cousen Pierrepont, 
 and then made signes to hev the box where her Jewels was opened, when it 
 was she offered to looke in itt, I then opened the papers as the lay lapt vp and 
 held them to her, she tooke the pearle cheane, and the two pearle braclets and 
 the three pendant pearls, and put them in one paper and held them towrds my 
 Cousen Pierrepont. Mrs. Ryth asked her if my Lord of Rutland should have 
 them, she said no, if my Lady of Rutland, she said no, my Lord Ross she said no, 
 my Lady Rockingham she said I. 
 
 "Katharine Cartwright. 
 
 " I can witness the truth hereof 
 
 " ElJZABETT RiTHE." 
 
ROCKINGHAM CASTLE AND THE WATSONS. 
 
 83 
 
 " I hold it fitt for the satisfaction of my Lord Rosse when he comes of age, or 
 any other that may be interressed in ray lady Manners estate, that Mr. Pierrpont, 
 Mr. Savill nor Mr. Gra (?) doe not deliver the pearls to y*' lady Rockingham 
 without a Bill in Equity where these witnesses may be examined upon oath. 
 
 "Will Ellys."i 
 
 Lady Rockingham survived her husband twenty-six years, residing chiefly at her 
 dower house at Easton. She died 23x'd Octobei-, 1679, and was buried by the side 
 of her husband on the 8th November. Her portrait by Michael Wright, in the 
 Gallery at Rockingham Castle, shews us the features of a kind, motherly lady. 
 Her dark hair is arranged in ringlets, in the style rendered familiar to us by 
 Vandyke's portraits of Queen Henrietta Maria, and by Hollar's portraits about 1640. 
 
 Of their six daughters only three married : Gi-ace married Sir Edward Bai'kham, 
 of Westacre, in Norfolk. 
 
 Frances married Edward Dingley, of Charlton, in Worcestershire. 
 
 Eleanor married Sir Charles Dymock, of Scrivelsby, in Lincolnshire. 
 
 The Dymocks have for many centuries held the hereditary office of King's 
 Champion. They sprang from Robert de Marrayon, Lord of Fountney, in 
 Normandy, temp. Will I. Of this nobleman the following legend is i-elated : 
 
 Having expelled the nuns from Polesworthy, within his territory of Tamworth, 
 he was, one night, warned by a vision of St. Edith, who appeared to him as a 
 veiled nun with a crosier in her hand, that unless he restored the Abbey of 
 Polesworth, he should liave an evil death, and go to liell. To impress this 
 warning upon him she struck liim with the crosier, leaving a mark where the 
 blow fell, and then vanished. The pain was so great that he cried out, and 
 being advised to confess and restore the lands, be did so, when the pain ceased, 
 and the mai'k of the blow disappeared I 
 
 His son, Robert, iindeterred by his father's ])nnislnnent, appears to have entered 
 upon a similar course of impiety, and to have furnishetl a practical illustration 
 of the words of the Psalmist He made a pit, and digged it, and is fallen into 
 the ditch which he made ; " for it is recorded that he expelled the monks from 
 the Priory at Coventry, turned their Priory into a fortification against the Earl of 
 Chester, with whom he had a deadly feud. To make it the sti'onger lie dug deep 
 ditches and covered them with turf. Riding out, he fell into one of these ditches 
 himself, and a common soldier cut oif his head. 
 
 Through the youngest of the four daughters of Philijj de Marmyon (temp. 
 Henry III.), the championship passed to Sir John Dymock, who mariied her 
 
 1 Rockingham Papers. 
 
84 
 
 ROCKINGHAM CASTLE AND THE WATSONS. 
 
 granddaughter Margaret. The office was claimed by Sir Baldwin de Treville, 
 descended from the second daughter of Philip de Marmyon, but was decided in 
 favour of Sir John Dymock, in whose family the high honour has remained to 
 the present day. 
 
 Eleanor "Watson's husband, Sir Charles Dymock, filled the office of Champion 
 at the Coronation of James II. Her third son, Charles, was Champion to William 
 and Mary, and to Queen Anne, and her fourth son, named after his grandfather, 
 Lewis, at the Coronation of George I. and George 11.^ At the Coronation of 
 George IV., the Dymock being Rector of Scrivelsby and Prebend of Lincoln, 
 deputed his son Henry to the office. 
 
 Of the unmarried daughters: Elizabeth was buried at Rockingham, 1657(8), 
 and Anne was buried in the same Church, Ilth December, 1697. 
 
 The youngest daughter, Katherine, is distinguished as being the only member 
 of the first Lord Rockingham's family to whose memory a record remains in 
 Rockingham Church. 
 
 On the floor of the Mortuary Chapel is a lozenge-shaj^ed slab, evidently 
 comparatively modern, bearing this inscription : " Here Lyeth Katherine Youngest 
 of Six Daughters to Lewis Lord Rockingham, Obiit June 26, 1660 Aged 13 
 years and 23 days by Eleanor Sister to John Earl of Rutland." Bridges, 
 towards the end of the last century, copied the year " 1640." The Rockingham 
 register says she was baptized 6th June, 1637, therefoi'e, neither of the above 
 inscriptions gives the true year of her death if the age is correctly stated. The 
 register is unfortunately, like most others, defective at the date 1650, but it is 
 most probable she died in that year, in which case the age will coi-respond. 
 There is no record of her burial, either in 1640 or in 1660. 
 
 The point is of some interest because if she died, as the writer believes, in 1650, 
 it proves that Lord Rockingham had himself commenced to rebuild the Church, 
 and that it was, in 1650, sufficiently advanced to allow of her interment, and of 
 the erection of a memorial to her. We have seen that she was not living at 
 the date of her uncle, Sir Edward Watson's will, 1657, and that the new Church 
 was then well advanced. Bridges, and the mason who cut the pi-esent inscription 
 may each have found it impossible to decipher the partially obliterated inscription 
 on the original slab, and so each has given us a hypothetical reading of an 
 important figure. 
 
 1 The reader of Sir Walter Scott's " Redgauntlet," will rcraember the incident (founded upon tradition) of 
 the lifting of the Champion's Pledge by an unknown female at the Coronation of George III. John Dymock was the 
 Champion at this Coronation. 
 
ROCKINGHAM CASTLE AND THE WATSONS. 
 
 85 
 
 It is hoped tliat the foregoing biogi'aphy of Sir Lewis Watson, first Baron 
 Rockingham, unavoidably imperfect as it is, will have served to widen the 
 historical horizon for the general reader, so far as it regards the period of the 
 great Civil War ; and that it will have furnished matter, both interesting and 
 wezt', for the genealogist and the antiquary. 
 
 As the records of the succeeding generations of the Watsons are fairly accessible, 
 it will be unnecessary, in the following chapters, to dwell so fully upon each life. 
 
Chapter Fifth. 
 
 EDWARD, SECOND BARON ROCKINGHAM, 
 
 And the Wentwokths; the Earls of Rockingham; the Viscounts Sondes; 
 THE Marquises op Rockingham ; The Barons Sondes (Mon son- Watson, 
 
 AND MiLLES) ; AND THE ROCKINGHAM WaTSONS. 
 
 " There the most dainty paradise on ground 
 Itself doth offer to the sober eye, 
 In which all pleasures plenteously abound. 
 And none does others happiness envy; 
 The painted flowers, the trees upshooting high. 
 The dales for shade, the hills for breathing space, 
 The trembling groves, the crystal running by ; 
 And that which all fair works doth most agrace 
 
 The art, which all that wrought, appeareth in no place."— -BdmuTid Spenser. 
 
 " Jock, when ye hae naething else to do, ye may be aye 
 sticking in a tree ; it will be growing, Jock, when ye're 
 sleeping." — Sir Walter Scott. 
 
 DWARD, SiX'OND Baron Rockingham, of Rockingham 
 Castle, succeeded to his father's estates in 1653, 
 wlicn he was twenty-three years of age. The father 
 had spent the last six years of his life, the years which 
 followed his restoration to his beloved Rockingham, in 
 labouring to restore to the home of his grandfather 
 and father — to the home he had made his very own, 
 some of the comfort and beauty of which the hand of 
 the spoiler had robbed it. This work was taken up 
 by his successor, and carried on by him with great 
 
ROCKINGHAM CASTLE AND THE WATSONS. 
 
 87 
 
 energy, throughout his retirement at Rockingham, during the seven years which 
 elapsed before the Restoration of the Monarchy. 
 
 The results of his building are seen in the continuation northwards, of the 
 gallery, and the rooms beneath it ;i in the block extending westward from the 
 curtain wall, now used as a laundry (on one of the gables of which is the 
 date 1669), and in that building north of the gate-to wei-s, known as Walker's house. 
 
 He pi'obably felt with Shenstone that " The works of a person who builds 
 begin at once to decay, while those of him who plants begin at once to improve." 
 And accordingly, some of the results of his judicious planting are seen in the 
 noble avenues crowning the ridges of the heights to the right and left of the 
 entrance drive, in that other fine avenue of lime trees, between the flower parterre 
 and the kitchen garden, and in many parts of the New Park. 
 
 We see in these buildings and plantings, a great similarity of taste in the 
 father and son. 
 
 Notwithstanding his secluded life, the second Lord Rockingham also fell under 
 the suspicion of the fluctuating rulers of that time. 
 
 During the brief reign of the resuscitated Long Parliament, under the date 
 30th July, 1659, Wliitelock records " Information of a new plot to bring in the 
 King," and the next day, " Many persons were examined by the Council about 
 a new Conspiricy, which was evidently proved," and that " the Council sat all 
 Day and all Night for a good while together." In their panic they evidently 
 felt they could not trust Loi'd Rockingham, and accordingly we find that on 
 the " 16''^ Au*- 1659 The Council hearing that Rockingham Castle is strong and 
 without a gai'rison, desire you to quarter in it a sufficient force of your soldiers 
 to guard it from being taken by the enemy, (from President Vane to Major Boteler 
 at Northampton. ")2 
 
 Happily, the dissensions between the Pai'liaraent and the Army delayed the 
 execution of this order, and the expulsion of the Parliament, by Lambert, two 
 months later, followed by the restoi-ation of the King in 1660, took away all 
 apprehension of a second occupation of the Castle by parliamentary soldiers ; and 
 from thenceforth, all dangex% alike to the Castle and its owners, was at an end ; 
 and Edward Lord Rockingham, and his descendants continued, uninterruptedly, 
 to develop the beauties of the Castle and the grounds, until they realize the 
 description of the "Bower of Bliss," by Spenser, at the head of this chapter. 
 
 On the restoration of the monarchy. Lord Rockingham hastened to welcome 
 
 1 This was most probably a rc-buibUnsr of pnrt of an enrUer erection, destroyed by the Parliamentarians, for in the 
 old map already referred to, this jiortion of the (Jastlo is represented as extending to the cnrtain wall on the north. 
 
 2 Cal. State Papers, 1659. 
 
88 
 
 ROCKINGHAM CASTLE AND THE WATSONS. 
 
 the King, and was restored to various offices lield by liis ancestors, in connection 
 with Rockingham Forest, &c. He regained the grant of the horse, and other 
 fairs at Rockingham, and of the ancient fair at Kettering.^ He added to his 
 estates by the acquisition of certain manorial rights at Ketteinng, and made 
 extensive pui-chases of property in Sutton, Weston, Drayton, Wilbarston, Great 
 Gidding, &c. 
 
 On the re-assembling of the House of Lords, after its long suspension, Lord 
 Rockingham took his seat and became a diligent attendant. His capacity for 
 business was evidently recognised by his contemporaries. His name appears on 
 a large number of committees. 
 
 His attendances at the House were so unremitting during the years 1660 and 1661 
 that he could only have paid the briefest flying visits to Rockingham. After 
 this his attendances became much less frequent. During the memorable year of the 
 Great Plague, 1665, he attended no sitting, either at Westminster or Oxford. 
 This year was marked in his family by the birth of his third son, Thomas, to 
 be noticed hereafter. 
 
 Daring the following year he was again assiduous in the discharge of his 
 parliamentary duties ; but in 1669, he appears to have been busy with his 
 improvements at Rockingham, and only visited the House six times ; nor does 
 he seem to have gone very frequently to London during the following eight 
 years ; but in 1678, the year of Oats' plot, he attended no less than seventy-eight 
 sittings, but he was not present during the month of October. 
 
 It is, no doubt, to his absence from the House at this time that allusion is made 
 in the following letter, found amongst the Rockingham Papers. Although no year 
 is given, it is evident, from the account of the " accusations against the Barle 
 of crerrenton " (Lord Carrington, one of Bedloe's victims), that it was written 
 in 1678. Unfortunately, only the writer's initials are given, and the first of these 
 is very doubtful. Possibly some readers of this volume will be able, from the 
 allusions contained in the letter, to identify both the writer and the recipient. 
 
 " Southampton Place, Oct : 26. (1678 ?) 
 
 " I receued yours this weake, and am mightily obliged to your Lp^ for the 
 concerne you are pleased to have for my princess, I believe before this you will 
 be inghtly informed concerning her, for I writ this day sennit to my Lady 
 Vernor (or Vernon ?) and directed to M'"'^ Roopert, concluding shee would bee 
 with you, and desired you to open it if shee was not, and I think I spoke something 
 concerning her, but I am shure Mr. Pen writ to his cosen on tewesday last and 
 he cleared that business concerning this princess. I wonder you should accuse mee 
 
 1 Rookingham Papers, and note G, Manorial Possessions of the Watsons. 
 
ROCKINGHAM CASTLE AND THE WATSONS. 
 
 89 
 
 of conplimeiid you, for in the first place that is not to be don to you, and in the 
 next I should doe my self a great ingary for I know I am the worst at it in the 
 world. I read your Ij^^ compliments to Mor de Kennrie (?) and hee tels mee 
 that hee is extremly pleased when hee receius a letter from you, but he would 
 not give you the trouble often, but is very glad to heare you are very well, I eather 
 see him at his owne house or at court every day, and when my Brother Ashley 
 and hee visit I am the interpreter, hee concluds (?) hee shall stay here all this 
 winter, and doubts not but hee shall see you before hee quits England, my Sister 
 crafts is still at Saxton (?) shee is so well with her hand that I received a letter 
 from her to day, hee sais hee will goe doune for her within thas few dais and 
 will biing her up if shee will please for com, and I am confidend shee will not 
 bee so hard hearted as for deny him, my Sister Ashley told mec shee would write 
 too you to night if shee could, but shee bid me present you with her most humble 
 service, pray be pleased to pi-eseiit mine most humbly to my Lady, and to my 
 Godfather and his Lady and tell him that if I could have immagiued he would 
 have bin so ill a patriot, I would have reproched him by every post both for 
 my self and my Lord Keeper, who does it most hily, hee giving him warning 
 of it so long agoe, and hee being the last now that is to be there and is not I 
 desire hee will bring his stole (stool ?) a long with him, for if on com after nine 
 (?) of the clocke there is no seat to be had in the house, for your uncle Staing 
 all on morning till ten I was faine to sit upon tlie steps all that morning, and 
 M"" Solissetur him self stood above an hour in the passige this day and could 
 not get a place to sit, most part of this day was spent in our house in accusations 
 against the Earle of crerrenton, and ther was a committy apointed to bring 
 us an account on tousday of the former presedeuts of impeaching pears in our 
 hous, M"" Ned Seymour was the furst that accused him and many others 
 seconded him, severall of the heads were so hoi-red that I tremble to repete 
 them, but since they most (must?) quickly com to publicke vcw (?) I will give 
 you an account of som of them, first hee was accused to have advised the King 
 too have desolved this ])arlimcnt and to have governd by his Army, and when 
 hee was asked who should pay them hee aiiswered that they might live upon 
 free quarter & plunder as his ffathers did at Oxford, then hee was accused 
 of saing that the King was uncapable of gouerniug and that his Majesty was 
 a papest in his heart, and a faveror of them, tliat his Lori't^ uscrpt the office of 
 the tresuror, and all other great offices in the land, and that hee so underlet 
 the custums (?) that hee hath thurty thousand pounds for himself, besids ten 
 thousand pounds a year as long as their farmc lasted toowards the building of 
 his house, that hee had four- tousande pounds for that Illegall Patent of the 
 
90 
 
 ROCKINGHAM CASTLE AND THE WATSONS. 
 
 Canarycompaiiy, that he maniged this unlucky war, and that he mad this 
 disadvantageous peace, iu tine that hee mad all the miscarriges since the King 
 cam into England of all the three Kingdoms this will be the heads of the 
 impeachment if hee cant cleare him self with out doubt hee will lose his life, 
 I wish he may prove (as his childeren say) an honest man, with out doubt hee 
 will a peare a very unwise man, in this accusation it has bin often said that hee 
 was Treasurar, but there was a Gentilman said to day that your good ffather 
 that is in heaven should complaine, that hee carrid only the Whit Staf, (?) my 
 Lord Chancelor disposed of all the mony, but though it be not my tallent to 
 speake in pablicke, yet I could not heare that worthy man ai'ained of such a 
 last saing and stand silent, I told the house in short that that Gentilman 
 was misinformed of my Uncle for hee was too wise and generos a person to beare 
 the sine of an Ofice and let another execute it, and that I was sure that hee 
 would wrather have quited his seat then liave keepe it upon thos termes. I told 
 them also that Sir Phillip War (?) could answer this better than my self, the 
 which he did immediately, and by this tim it is best to make an end of this long 
 scribble, and to aske your pardon, hoping you will for give this and many other 
 falts of freadom your Lp^ most affectionat obedient and faithful humble servant 
 
 " P.S."i 
 
 At the Coronation of Chai'les IL, Lord Rockingham claimed the right to be 
 present at that ceremony, in his character of Master of the Royal Bxickhounds, 
 but his claim was not allowed. 
 
 He seems, however, in his quiet way, to have been somewhat of a courtier. In 
 a letter from Sir Wm. Coventry to Lord Arlington, 1st August, 1665, preserved 
 amongst the Public Records, is an account of a Progress of the Duke of York 
 and his Duchess to Leicester. 
 
 After giving an account of a panic, into which the party was thrown, at 
 St. Albans, by the sudden illness of one of the Duke's pages ; when the inn-keeper, 
 thinking it was the plague, was on the point of sending him, without permission, 
 to the pest house ; and of the amusing pertinacity of Lord Banbury, who, in 
 his eagerness to induce the Duke to breakfast at his house, grasped him so tightly 
 by the leg, that he nearly "pulled off his shoe," and of his at last persuading 
 the Duke and Duchess to partake of " Sweetmeats and Fruit," notwithstanding 
 that Lady Banbury was .still too ill, from her confinement, to see them; the writer 
 goes on to say " Their Highnesses have dined and been well treated at M'' Griffins" 
 (at Dingley), "where came the Duke and Duchess of Buckingham, Lords Cardigan, 
 Rockingham, Brudenell, the Attorney General, and other gentlemen of those parts." 
 
 1 Kiickiii;;hflin Tapers. 
 
ROCKINGHAM CASTLE AND THE WATSONS. 
 
 91 
 
 The very few manuscripts of the second Baron Rockingham, which have yet 
 come to light, indicate that his education had been somewhat neglected; a natural 
 consequence, perhaps, of the troubled times dui^ing which he grew to manhood. 
 Amongst the Add : MSS. in the British Museum, is a letter from him to 
 Lord Hatton, recommending one Bradshaw to his notice. In this letter the hand- 
 wi'iting is atrocious, as is tlie case in the few of his business memoranda found 
 at Rockingham Castle. 
 
 On the 24th November, 1654, Lord Rockingham married Anne, eldest daughter 
 of Thomas Wentworth, the unfortunate Earl of Strafford. 
 
 The life and character of this nobleman have been so often given to the 
 world, that it is unnecessary here to enter into details of them ; but the writer 
 cannot forbear to express his opinion that, until quite I'ccently, no adequate effort 
 has been made to clear his chai-acter from the odium cast upon it by pai'tisan writei'S. 
 
 There is in the Gallery at Rockingham Castle, a fine ])ortrait of liim by Van Dyck, 
 representing him in armour ; and in another room is a i"<are collection (made by 
 the pi-esent owner of the Castle) of engravings fi'om a huge number of the 
 portraits extant of this celebrated noblem.an. 
 
 It is doubtful whether that portrait of him in Rockingham Castle has ever 
 been engraved. 
 
 The mari'iage of Lord Rockingham with Lady Anne Wentworth is remarkable 
 on account of the influence it had upon the fortunes of their thiid son and his 
 descendants, which will be pi^esently noticed. 
 
 In the preamble to the Patent of Sir William Wentworth, temp. James I., 
 it is stated that he was a lineal descendant of John of Gaunt, and was tlius allied 
 to some of the highest families. 
 
 Sir William's illustrious son, Thomas, Earl of Strafford, was thi-ee times 
 married. His first wife. Lady Margaret Clifford, daughter of Francis, Earl of 
 Cumberland, brought him no family. By his second wife, Lady Arabella, daughter 
 of John Hollis, Eai'l of Clare, he had one son, William (of whom more presently), 
 and two daughters, — Anne, married to Edward, Lord Rockingham; and Arabella, 
 married to Justin Maccarty, son of Donald, Earl of Clancarty. By his third 
 wife, a daughter of Sir Godfrey Rhodes, he had a daughter Margaret, who 
 died unmarried. 
 
 This niari-iage brought Lord Rockingham a charming wifo, a considerable accession 
 of fortune, and a family of four sons and four daughters. 
 
 Of his heir, Lewis, an account will be found below. His second son, 
 Edward, was born on 4th February, 1656(7), and was buried at Rockingham, 
 2nd February, 1676. A notice of his third son, Thomas, as lie was the founder 
 
92 
 
 ROCKINGHAM CASTLE AND THE WATSONS. 
 
 of an independent and somewhat noted family, is reserved for a separate paragraph. 
 George, the youngest son, was born the 26th December, 1669. He was never 
 married. A portrait of him, by Richardson, hangs in the Large Hall at Rockingham. 
 His features are somewhat like his mother's. 
 
 Of his daughters, the eldest, Eleanor, or as her baptismal register has it " Elnor," 
 was born 26th February, 1658(9), and was married on the 2.3rd October, 1679, 
 to the Right Honble. Thomas Lord Leigh, of Stoneleigli. Arabella, the second 
 daughter, was born 18th March, 1660(1), and married Sir Thomas Oxenden. She 
 was buried in Rockingham Church, Januaiy, 1734, where a monument was erected 
 to her memory by her nephew, the Honble. Chas. Leigh. ^ Anne, third daughter, 
 was born 4th February, 1662(3), and died nnmarried. The fourth daughter, 
 Margaret, was born 22ud November, 1667, and died 3rd February, 1713(4). A 
 monument to her memory may be seen in Rockingham Church.^ 
 
 Edward, Lord Rockingham, closed his quiet and seemingly uneventful life 
 on the 22nd June, 1689, when he was within eight days of completing his 59th 
 year.2 There exists no recognised jjortrait of him, nor is there any monument 
 to his memory in Rockingham Church, where he was buried four days after 
 his death. 3 But could more noble monuments to the memory of himself and his father 
 be desired, than the buildings and magnificent grounds they have left to posterity ? 
 
 His Lady survived him nearly seven years. 
 
 In Park's edition (1806) of H. Walpole's " Royal and Noble Authors," a note 
 contains an epigram, in very questionable taste, ascribed to " Plecknoe," eulogizing 
 Lady Rockingham for the tender care with which she reared her childi-en. Her 
 untiring energy in the interests of her family is seen from an entry in the Journals 
 of the House of Commons, where it is recorded that on the 23rd December, 1693, 
 she petitioned the Parliament for the repayment of £5,000 with interest, which 
 had been advanced by her late husband, about 1681, by way of a loan, and 
 of which no part had been repaid. She urges that this sum was now the property 
 of her children ; and amongst the manuscripts in the British Museum, is a letter 
 from her to her cousin, the Earl of Halifax, requesting his advice and assistance 
 in bringing before the Parliament the injustice done to her son by denying him 
 " ys undisturbed possession of y^ estate belonging to his Lady," she says she 
 would not obtrude "a private business before y™ were not y® of such a nature 
 y*" it does as well intrench upon y" propriety of euery English subject as pinch 
 hard upon my Son." 
 
 1 See Note I Rockingham Church. 
 2 He died intestate, and his wife took out Letters of Administration 31st July, 1689. 
 3 The Rockingham Register states that " The Right Honble. Edward, Lord Rockingham, was buried, but 
 contrary to tne Act of Parliament," that is, no affidavit was made that he was buried in woollen, " Whereof Information 
 was made and penalty paid as in yt case provided." 
 
ROCKINGHAM CASTLE AND THE WATSONS. 
 
 93 
 
 Some items in her will (dated 1691), are interesting. She desires to be 
 buried " either at the side or feet of my most dearly beloved Loi'd and Husband, 
 Edward, Lord Rockingham." She gives her daughter, Eleanor Leigh, " the Gold 
 Cup which was the Legacie of my Aunt the Countess of Tirconnell." Her son, 
 Thomas, was to have the "gold cup which was the Legacie of my Cosen the 
 Earl of Clai'e." George had twenty guineas. To her daughter, Arabella, she 
 gave her "silver perfuming pot (called a poon), and the Chalfendish to it." 
 Anne had the " little Gold cup and the little Gold Saluer," whilst, to her 
 youngest daughter, Margaret, she bequeathed what would be an object of interest, 
 could it be discovered, her father's (Lord Strafford's) jiortiait in -water colours. 
 
 Some of my lady readoi's may derive pleasure from a comparison of their own 
 epistolary powers with those of the daughter of the celebrated Earl of Strafford. The 
 following letter is to Cecilia, daughter of John, Earl of Thanet, and first wife 
 of Christopher, Viscount Hatton. It will be seen that the pernicious habit of 
 imperfectly dating a letter is not peculiar to ladies of the present day. 
 
 u lyhev ye IQth 
 
 " The honour you have done mee Madam by yo'" letter is so much above any 
 pretence I can make of merritt, y' I ownc it absolutly from yo"" goodnesse, w*-'^ 
 has I assure you made an impression in me proportionable to so high a favour ; & I 
 doe very much reioyce yo'" La^P has intentions of returning next summer into 
 this contrie, where I shall esteeme it my great happiness frequently to attend 
 you Madam as 
 
 "Yo'' most affect«t<= & humble 
 " Cosen & Seruant 
 
 " Ann Rockingham. 
 
 "^yth yQi- permission Madam I hecr present my most humble service to my Cosen 
 Hatton, & Kisse M™ Annes pretty hands. 
 " For ye 
 
 " Lady Cicelia Hatton 
 
 "At Thanett house."i 
 
 Mrs. Anne with the "pretty hands" was the only surviving child of Lady 
 Hatton. She married Daniel, Earl of Nottingham. 
 
 Lady Rockingham was buried in Rockingham Church, 8th Januaiy, 1695(6), 
 where is a monument to her memory, erected by her son George. ^ 
 
 There are two portraits of this Lady in Rockingham Castle. That in the / 
 
 1 Add. MSS. British Museum. 
 2 See Note I, Rockingham Church. 
 
94 
 
 ROCKINGHAM CASTLE AND THE WATSONS. 
 
 Gallery, by an unknown artist (next tlie portrait of lier father), represents her 
 as rather pretty, with a fair complexion and a most amiable expression of 
 countenance. A companion portrait of her sister, the Lady Arabella Maccartie, 
 evidently by the same artist, hang-s on the other side of Lord Strafford's. 
 
 In the other picture, in the Large Hall, the sisters are painted together, and in 
 both the features express a delightful amiability of character ; and the same amiable 
 expression is seen in her monumental effigy, where she is represented as having attained 
 that embonpoint which is the usual result of an even and unruffled temper. We 
 can readily believe she merited the encomium in her epitaph " Erga Deum pia, 
 ex'ga omnes fuit benefica." 
 
 Before continuing the direct line of the Rockingham Watsons, it will be convenient 
 to follow the fortunes of Thomas, the third son of Edward, Lord Rockingham. 
 
 The reader will remember that the mi^rdei'ed Earl of Strafford left one son, 
 William. 1 The honors, of which his father had been deprived, were restored 
 to him in 1641, and the attainder reversed soon after the Restoration. He was 
 twice married : first to Henrietta Maria, daughter of James, Earl of Derby ; and 
 secondly, to Henrietta, daughter of Fredei-ick Charles du Roy, Knight of the 
 Elephant, and generalissimo of the Forces of the King of Denmark, but dying 
 in 1695, without issue by either of his wives, he left his great wealth to his sister 
 Anne's third son, Thomas, directing him to use and bear the name and arms of 
 Wentworth. Thus this Thomas became the fouudef of that branch of the Watson 
 family, known as the Watson-We7divo7-ths, Marquises of Rockingham. 
 
 As the history of this family has no bearing upon that of the older and direct 
 line, the Watsons of Rockingham Castle, it will be unnecessary to give more than 
 a brief notice of its more prominent members. This Thomas Watson- Wentworth 
 married Alice, daughter of Sir Thomas Proby, and died 6tli October, 1723. 
 " Universally lamented, having been eminent for very extensive charities." In 
 the Large Hall at Rockingham is an excellent portrait of him, by Richardson, 
 which represents him a rather handsome young man, wearing a long flowing wig 
 and a loose blue mantle. He was bui-ied in York Minster, where, in the south-east 
 corner of the Choir Aisle, may be seen a monument to his memory in the taste 
 of the period. 
 
 His lady is said to have survived him many years, and to have died at a 
 veiy advanced age and after a long illness, in 1749, at Great Harrowden Hall, in 
 Northants, one of his seats. 
 
 Their son, Thomas, seems to have encountered a perfect avalanche of honours. 
 From being, on the death of his father, Thomas Watson-Wentworth, he became, 
 
 1 See Page 91. 
 
ROCKINGHAM CASTLE AND THE WATSONS. 
 
 95 
 
 in 1728, Baron Malton ; in 1734, Earl of Malton, Viscount Higham of Higham 
 Ferrers, and Baron Wath of Harrowden ; in February, 1746, Baron Rockingham ; 
 and two months later. Marquis of Rockingham, K.B. He married the Lady Mary 
 Finch, fourth daughter of Daniel, Earl of Winchilsea, and by her had four 
 daughters and one son, CJiarhs, who became the Marquis of Rockingham, known 
 to English History. 
 
 Born 13tli May, 1730, he, at his father's death, succeeded to his great wealth. 
 The curious reader will find a full account of him in Lord Albemarle's " Memorials 
 of Charles Watson-Wentwoi'th, Marquis of Rockingham." 
 
 It may here be briefly noticed that he was not twenty-one when he took his 
 seat in the House of Lords, in whose debates he eai-ly took part, notwithstanding 
 his youthfulness. Hox'ace Walpole's sarcastic remarks upon his early efforts 
 may be taken for what they are worth. It is certain that in pi-ivate life he 
 was a most upright and honourable man, and that he was moderate and consistent 
 in his jiolitical conduct. He possessed in an eminent degree that amiability 
 which distinguished the Watsons in every generation, and endeai'ed them to 
 their friends and dependants. 
 
 The following extract shews that he also inherited anotlier tiait of the Watson 
 family, a love of sport. — "My Lord Rockingham and my nephew, Lord Oi-ford, 
 have made a match of five hundred pounds, between five turkeys and five geese 
 to run from Norwich to London."^ 
 
 In politics he was, by education, a constitutional whig, wliich mny be taken 
 to have then meant a general supporter of the House of Hanover. He was twice 
 Prime Minister of England, and liad the distinction of dying in harness, on the 
 1st July, 1782, in the midst of tlie negociaticms then in ])rogiess in Paris, for the 
 conclusion of that treaty which acknowledged the independence of the " United 
 States of America." The following summary of his character, taken from 
 Robert Bissett's " History of the Reign of George HI." (London, 1803), seems 
 to be pretty just : 
 
 " On the 1st July, died Charles, Marquis of Rockingham, a man of plain and 
 sound understanding, unquestionable probity, great benevolence, the most liberal 
 munificence, and patriotic intentions. He was a lover of the British Constitution, 
 being educated in the prejudices as well as the principles of the whig party, he 
 early imbibed and always retained an opinion that it was necessary for the welfare 
 of this country for its government to be in the liands of a whig connection " 
 
 The following witty epigram is found in Tom Moore's Diary. He says that, 
 at a dinner party, where James Smith was one of the guests, the conversation 
 
 1 Ilor. Walpole's letters to Sir Horace Maun. 
 
96 
 
 ROCKINGHAM CASTLE AND THE WATSONS. 
 
 turning upon the administration of Lord Rockingham, Smith quoted this epigram, 
 which he professed to have met with in an old magazine : — 
 
 " The truth to declare, — if one may without shocking 'em, 
 The nation's asleep— and the Minister — Rockingham."^ 
 
 Alas for human greatness ! Having laboured arduously for the good of the 
 State, and directed its affairs through a critical j^eriod, the Marquis of Rockingham's 
 name is now associated by nine persons out of ten, not with his statesmansliip, but 
 with the celebrated Rockingham China (also known as "Rockingham Pot"), made 
 on his estate at Swinton, near Rotherham. 
 
 Having had no family by his wife, the daughter of Thos. Bright, Esq., of 
 Badswox'th, his estates devolved upon the son of his eldest si&ter, Anne, who had 
 married the first Earl Fitzwilliam, he and his descendants thenceforth became 
 " Went worth Fitzwilliam." 
 
 Thus terminated the episode of the Rockingham Marquisate, having existed 
 for two generations only. 
 
 We will now return to the direct line of the Watsons. 
 
 Lewis, Third Baron Watson, was thirty-six years of age when he succeeded 
 to his father's titles and estates. He took his seat in the House of Lords on the 
 2nd November, 1689, and his business capabilities at once caused his name to 
 appear on many important committees.^ 
 
 He appears to have attained a position of some influence amongst his contemporaries, 
 for in Kemble's State Papers and Correspondence is a letter from J. Ellis to 
 Stepney, dated 10th March, 1702, two days after the death of William III., in 
 which the writer says " The Earl of Marlborough is Grand Vizier, and the EarF of 
 Rockingham and Lord Godolphin co-operate with him, as wee take for granted." 
 
 By his marriage in 1677, with Catherine, youngest daughter of Sir George 
 Sondes, of Lees Court, in Kent, the Watsons received a fresh infusion of Montagu 
 blood ; for Sir George Sondes, the father of Catherine Lady Rockingham, was the 
 eldest son of Sir Richard Sondes and Susan Montagu, second daughter of the 
 second Sir Edward Montagu, of Boughton, and granddaughter of the Chief Justice 
 Montagu. We have here another instance of those " double alliances " which 
 have been so frequently noticed in these pages. 
 
 The life of this Sir George Sondes furnishes materials for a thrilling romance. 
 
 The family of Sondes is found in Tlirowloy, in Kent, as early as the fourteenth 
 century. In the time of James I., Sir Richard Sondes, son of Sir Michael Sondes, 
 
 1 Moore's Diary, vol. 6, page 80. 
 2 Journals of the House of Lords. 
 3 Proljably an error of the editor, for Lord Rockiugham was not created an Earl until 1714. See below. 
 
ROCKINaHAM CASTLE AND THE WATSONS. 
 
 P7 
 
 and of liis first wife, Mary Fynch, purchased of Sir Thomas Norton, the Manor 
 of Sheldwich, in Kent, since which time the name of Sondes has been intimately 
 connected with that of the Manor House there. Lees Com-t.^ 
 
 As just now stated. Sir Richard Sondes' first wife was Susan Montagu, a 
 granddaughter of Chief Justice Montagu, of Boughton, by whom he had three 
 sons and two daughters. He mariied secondly, Catherine, a daughter of Sir 
 Rowland Hayward, who bore him six sons and two daughters. This second wife 
 is here mentioned because she surviving her husband, and being, unhappily, a 
 lunatic, became one of the many thorns in the side of her step son, Sir George, and 
 one of the sources of his continued troubles. ^ 
 
 This Sir George succeeded to the extensive estates about 1G80, and was an 
 exceedingly wealthy gentleman. He married fii'st, Jane, daughter of Sir Ralph 
 Freeman, who was Lord Mayor of London, 9th, Charles I. By her he had 
 several children who died young, and two sons, George and Fi*eeman, who survived 
 theii' mother, and their awful fate, as the reader will presently see, is one of 
 the most remai-kable amongst the " Romances of the Aristocracy." 
 
 At the outbreak of the Civil War, Sir George Sondes espoused the Royal cause, 
 and fell under the ban of the Pai-liament. His estates were sequestered, and he 
 himself suffered a series of imprisonments (or as he quaintly calls them " Clappings- 
 up"), and annoyances, which we feel it difficult to realize. An account of some of 
 these, his troubles, written by himself when a prisoner in the Tower, will be found 
 amongst the notes. ^ Dui-ing a short interval of honu', between some of his many 
 " Clappings-up," he endured the most terrible of all his trials. 
 
 His eldest son, George, appears to have been a bright, cheerful young man, 
 and his agreeable address made him a general favourite. On the other hand, 
 Freeman the younger son, was of a morose, taciturn disposition, repelling I'ather 
 than inviting friendship. The greater popularity his brother enjoyed amongst 
 their companions so worked upon the jealous nature of Freeman, that a serioas 
 outbreak was inevitable sooner or later. The catastrophe came very soon and 
 from a most trivial cause. 
 
 The bi-others each had a doublet almost identical in make. George, hastily 
 taking a journey to Ltmdon, his servant inadvertently put uj) Freeman's doublet 
 in mistake for his brother's. The error was discovered when it was taken to 
 the tailor's, in London, foi- repair. He at once knew it to be Freeman's. When 
 George returned home, his brothei- I'efused to believe it had been taken by 
 
 1 The old Mansion of Lees Court was pulled down by Sir George Sondes, and the present llausion, the front of 
 which is from a design by Inigo Jones, erected on its site. 
 
 2 See his "Plain Narrative." 
 3 See Note H, Statement by Sir George i^ondes. 
 
98' 
 
 ROCKINGHAM CASTLE AND THE WATSONS. 
 
 mistake, and obstinately declined to receive it back. Their father in vain 
 remonstrated with him, and endeavoured to reconcile him to his brother. Finding 
 him in a so unforgiving frame of mind, he appears to have used some rather 
 strong expressions, probably held out threats. Freeman nursed his wi'ath, and 
 a few nights afterwards, having secured a cleaver and a dagger, he attacked his 
 brother while asleep in an upj^er chamber of the house, struck him a deadly blow 
 on the head with the back of the cleaver, and stabbed him with the dagger. 
 
 He was examined by the local Magistrates, pleaded guilty, and was tried at 
 the Assizes, at Maidstone, on Thursday, 9th August, 1655, before Judge Crooke, 
 who sentenced him to death. He was executed on the 21st August, exactly a 
 foi'tnight after the horrible murder of his brother. One account of his execution 
 states that he was kept waiting for half-an-hour at the foot of the scaffold while 
 one Boreman addressed to him a " godly exhortation." This wretched seventeenth 
 century Cain was only nineteen at the time he committed the awful crime ! 
 
 One of the most singular resiilts of ^this terrible tragedy was the publication 
 of " Sir George Sondes His Plaiue Narrative to the World of all Passages upon 
 the Death of His Two Sonnes, London Printed in the Yeare 1655." 
 
 In this extraordinary narrative he relates how certain " Godly Ministers," 
 astounded by the accumulation of calamities which had fallen upon him, — the 
 loss of his wife, and of many children when they were young, perpetual imprisonments 
 for a dozen years, "and the worst of all imprisonments — shipboard," the awful 
 deaths of his two sons, " and now to be taken from my house and affairs and 
 to be clapped up in a Country Castle,^ and all for God Knows What " — came to 
 him, not to condole with and comfort him, but to point out that such a succession 
 of afflictions must have been sent to mark the Divine displeasure on account 
 of some secret sins of his. They placed before him the following charges, gathered 
 from " General Report." That he had not supported the Endowed School, founded 
 by an ancestor of his. That he had fraudulently administered the Freeman 
 Estate, for which he was trustee. That he had hindered the marriage of his 
 son, George, to a " Virtuous and Godly Gentlewoman." That he was too worldly. 
 
 That he 
 
 That he was a bad landlord. That he had not educated his children. That 
 he did not treat his younger brothers (that is, his half-brothers), as he ought. 
 That he was a Royalist. And finally, that he could not forgive and forget an 
 injury. The " Narrative " gives his full answers to the catalogue of iniquities 
 charged against him by these Job's comforters. 
 
 In hi.s replies he unbosomed himself to his inquisitors with a candour of 
 
 1 Upiu r Castle, near Rochester. 
 
ROCKINGHAM CASTLE AND THE WATSONS. 
 
 99 
 
 self-revelation sugf^estive of Michel de Montaigne. He triumphantly cleared 
 himself in the eyes of this self-appointed " Committee on Morals," and on leaving 
 him, "Sir," said they, "you have given us most satisfactory and Christian Answers 
 to all these Things you seem to be charged with; we see how easie a Thing it 
 is for foule Tongues to slander honest Men behind their Backs. We onely wish 
 that these your Answers were made more public to Satisfie the World." In the 
 printing of the " Plain Narrative," we see a fulfilment of their wish. 
 
 The author has seen but one copy of the original edition of this singular book. 
 It is in the Library at Rockingham Castle. A reprint will be found in the 
 Harleian Miscellany. 
 
 The tragedy at Lees Court naturally aroused public curiosity. There appeared 
 "A Mirrour of Mercy and Judgement, or an Exact true Narrative of the Life 
 and Death of Freeman Sondes Esq. Sonne to Sir George Sondes of Sheldwich 
 in Kent, who being about the age of nineteen for murthering his Elder Brother 
 on Tuesday the of August was arraigned and condemned at Maidstone 
 
 Executed there on Tuesday the 21**'' of the same month 16.").5. London Printed 
 for Thomas Dring and arc to be sold at his Shop at the Signe of the George 
 in Fleet street near Clifford's-Iun 1655." Mi'. Boreman also published a 
 "Narrative." And in the British Museum is a curious tract, of some fourteen 
 pages (presented by his Majesty George III.), entitled " The Devil's Reign on 
 Earth," in which, amongst other murders, is an account of Fi-eeman Sondes' crime. 
 
 Sir George Sondes' " Narrative " and Boreman's tract were repi'inted at 
 Evesham, about 1790. From the preface to that edition the following florid 
 passage is taken. "Amidst the splendid allurements of ample fortune, and a 
 birth and rank above the common level, rarely is such an instance of unblemished 
 morality, genuine piety, consistency of religious character and in short of every 
 thing worthy of imitation in private and domestic life, as was Sir George Sondes." 
 
 The Restoration put an end to Sir George's social degradation and j)ecuniary 
 troubles. He not only recovered his estates and foi'nier honours, but was in 1676, 
 by letters patent, created Baron of Throwley, Viscount Sondes, of Lees Court, 
 and Earl of Feversham. 
 
 He had, in the meantime, taken a second wife, Mary, daughter of Sir William 
 Villiars of Brokesby, who survived him eleven years. By her he had two 
 daughters, Mary, married to Lewis de Duras, Marquis of Blandesford and Baron 
 of Holdenby ; and Catherine, married to the Honble. Lewis Watson, afterwards 
 third Baron Rockingham. 
 
 Sir George Sondes (Earl of Feversham, &c.) died 80th April, 1677, three months 
 before the marriage of his younger daughtex-, and was buried in the south chancel 
 
100 
 
 ROCKINGHAM CASTLE AND THE WATSONS. 
 
 of Tlirowley Cliurch. His daughter Mary cari-ied the estates to her husband 
 Duras, who was created Earl of Feversham, and enjoyed the Sondes' estates after 
 the death of his wife. 
 
 This nobleman was a son of the Due de Duras and of a sister of the illustrious 
 Tui'enne. He came to England after the Restoration, became a naturalized 
 Englishman, and a great favourite with King Charles II., who created him Earl 
 of Fevei'sham, gave him the command of the Horse Guards, and made him Grand 
 Chamberlain and Equerry to Queen Katherine. James II. also highly distinguished 
 him. 
 
 According to the account given by that monarch of his brother's last moments, 
 the Earl of Feversham, as Captain of the Guard, the Earl of Bath, as a Lord of the 
 Bedchamber, and James were the only persons present when Charles II., shortly 
 before his death, received the Sacrament from the hands of the Roman Catholic 
 priest. Father Huddleston.^ Lord Feversham commanded the troops engaged 
 against the Duke of Monmouth at Sedgemoor. He died in 1709, when the" 
 estates devolved upon Lewis, Lord Rockingham, by right of Ms wife, and in that 
 family they liave since remained. 
 
 On the accession of George I., Lord Rockingham was advanced to the dignity of 
 Viscount Sondes, and Earl of Rockingham. 
 
 His appearance in the House, under his new dignities, is thus recorded in the 
 Journals of the Lords, " Also Lewis, Lord Rockingham, being by Letters Patents? 
 dat. Decem nono die Octobris, Primi Georgii Regis, created Baron of Throwley 
 in the county of Kent, Viscount Sondes of Lees Court in the same County and 
 Earl of Rockingham, was this day, in like Mannei', in his Robes, introduced 
 between the Earl of Lincoln, and the Earl of Radnor, (also in Robes.") 
 
 His wife bore him three sons and three daughters. 
 
 Edward, tlie eldest son, did not live to enjoy the family honors and estates, but 
 as his family is an important factor in the Watson-Sondes histoiy, he will be 
 further noticed below. 
 
 The second son, George, was born 24th May, 1689, and according to Nichols, 
 was buried in 1739. The third son, William, was baptized at Rockingham, 7th 
 August, 1691, and buried the next day. 
 
 Mary was married in August, 1699, to Wi-ay Saunderson, Esq., of Glenthorp, 
 Lincolnshire, grandson and heir to Lord Viscount Castleton. There is a portrait 
 of her in the Drawing Room at Rockingham Castle, by Mi's. Mary Beale, a 
 pupil of Sir Peter Lely. Arabella married Sir Robert Furnese, of Waldershare. 
 Her poi'trait, with that of her sister Lady Monson, is in the Hall. 
 
 1 Life of James II. 
 
LAnr Catherine Sondes, 
 
 liAri.iHTEK 01-' THE EaKL OF FeVERSHA.M, WIFE OP LeVVLS, 
 
 Final Earl op Rockingham. 
 Page 101. 
 
ROCKINGHAM CASTLE AND THE WATSONS. 
 
 101 
 
 Lady Margaret, who was destined to become an important link in the "Watson 
 family chain, was baptized 22nd March, 1695. She married Sir John Monson, K.B. 
 (first Baron Monson). 
 
 Catherine, Lady Rockingham, died in March, 1G96, only two months after her 
 mother-in-law, the Dowager Lady Rockingham, and was buried in Rockingham 
 Church. Her portrait, by Sir Peter Lely, in the Gallery at the Castle, repi-esents 
 her as a beautiful woman. In a portrait in one of the corridors she is represented 
 in the character of Diana. 
 
 Lewis, first Earl of Rockingham, died 19th Marcli, 1723(4), and was buried 
 by the side of his wife in Rockingham Chuirh, where is to be seen a rather 
 obtrusive monument to the memory of himself and his lady.^ He filled the 
 office of Lord Lieutenant of the County of Kent, and was an active Magistrate, 
 and much esteemed in private life. There is no portrait of him at Rockingham, 
 but one may be seen at King's Weston. Tlie effigy on his monument brings 
 a Roman Senator so vividly before the mind, that one cannot recognize in it the 
 representation of an English nobleman of the seventeenth century. 
 
 Their eldest son, Edward, Viscount Sondes, married Lady Catherine Tufton, 
 daughter of Thomas, Earl of Thanet and Bai'ou Clifford, and by her had three 
 sous and one daughter. 
 
 There is a large painting in the Gallery at Rockingham, which attracts attention 
 less by its artistic merits than by the pleasure excited by the contemplation of 
 the agreeable family party it represents. These are Edward, Viscount Sondes, his 
 lady, and their four children — Lewis, Thomas, Edward, and Catherine. 
 
 We are indebted to a fortunate chance for a glimpse into the inner life of 
 this affectionate family. Sir Hans Sloane, the virtual founder of the British 
 Museum, appears to have been not only tlic family physician, Init also an esteemed 
 and trusted friend of the Viscount and his lady. And to his habit of hoarding 
 his coi-respondence we owe the pi-eservation of several letters from Lady Sondes, 
 and others, which illustrate some interesting pages in the lives of herself, her 
 husband and childien. 
 
 In 1720, symptoms of a developenu'nt of scrofula, ultimately terminating 
 in consumption, shewed themselves in Viscount Sondes, and he consulted Sir 
 Hans Sloane, as appears from a letter of Ladj- Sondes to " Sir Hans Sloan 
 Bar' Stcales's Coft'ehou.se, On the left hand ..." This letter has only 
 the date "Monday Night," and was probably written at their London house in 
 Park Place, and forwarded by messenger, shewing some urgency. She says, 
 
 1 See Note I, Rockiiighiim Church. 
 
102 ROCKINGHAM CASTLE AND THE WATSONS. 
 
 " Mj Lord observing that in the prescribtion you have ordered to day thir's a 
 larger quantity of Diacodium : then in the last," wishes to be instructed about 
 taking it. Sir Hans appears to have ordered him to Bath, vi^hence he wrote 
 the following letter : 
 
 Bath Septer 21^' 1720. 
 
 Sir, 
 
 1 have now Drank y^ waters upwards of a Month, & as to my health find myself 
 perfectly well. I think much better y'^ w" I came hither. But as to the Swelling- 
 think I find very little or no Alteration if any hop it is for y^ Better, 
 
 I desire y'' Directions how mnch Longer I am to Drink y"^ waters, 
 whether only y<^ six weeks as you first mentioned, y'" Speedy Answer will much 
 oblige 
 
 " Your Humble Servant 
 
 " SOXDES. 
 
 " For S'' Hans Sloane Bart, att his house in Great Russell Street 
 " Near Bloomsbury Square. 
 
 " London."! 
 
 Towards the end of the following year Lord Sondes had all the symptoms of 
 pulmonary consumption, and his wife wi'ites to Sir Hans from Lees Court on 
 the 8tli November (evidently in 1721). "About three weeks ago my Lord 
 Catched a great Cold and the friday night after he was very feverish." ' She details 
 his symptoms very minutely. The terrible cough, with the usual discharge of 
 blood, etc. Notwithstanding which we learn that, like all who suffer from this 
 malady, he averred " he was very well." But his affectionate wife was not 
 mislead by this assurance on the part of her husband. She says " I have ever 
 since My Lord had that feaver & swelling in May was 12 months thought him 
 graver than he uset to be, & to speak Hollow, & faint, but he was not so after 
 he was at Bath." She thus excuses herself for troubling the doctor, "But I 
 don't doubt of that to make you over look it when you consider how dear my 
 Loi'd's health is and how much I hope for the Continueance of it." In a postscript 
 she says " I beg you will not mention oicr illness, for if my sisters hears of it 
 they will be frighted. "2 The our relates to a host of new and terrible symptoms 
 from which she is suffering ; the details of which occupy more than half this 
 
 1 Sloane MSB., British Museum. 
 
 2 Lady Catherine's sisters were, Lady Anne Tufton, married to James, fifth Earl of Salisbury; Lady Margaret 
 Tufton, married to Thomas Coke, Earl of Leicester, and was declared in 1734, Baroness Clifford; Lady Mary Tufton, 
 married to Anthony Gray, Earl of Harold, son and heir of Henry, Duke of Kent (she married secondly, the Right 
 Honble. John Levison, first Earl Gower) ; Lady Isabella Tufton, married to Lord Nassau Paulet, and secondly to Sir 
 F. Blake- Deleval, K.B. (Burke). 
 
ROCKINGHAM CASTLE AND THE WATSONS. 
 
 103 
 
 letter. Here is a sample : " About this clay senett ; I thought my mouth lookt 
 to be twitched ■when I spoke & my under lip fells stiff & looks drawn, & when 
 I speak some times feells not to move readyly : my Lord says, he should not 
 have percieved it if I had not told him." 
 
 Her husband's awful malady baffled the highest medical skill of that, as it 
 has done of every age, and Edward, Viscount Sondes, died 21st March, 1722, two 
 years before his father, and was buried in Rockingham Church, where, ten 
 years later, his widow erected a monument to his memory.^ He is described 
 as possessing all the amiable and benevolent qualities which distinguish this 
 family, and his early death was a great loss to the estates. 
 
 By his will, dated lltli December, 1719, he appointed his wife sole trustee and 
 guardian of their children. The letters preserved by Sir Hans Sloane shew her 
 to have been a tender wife, a most thoughtful mother, and indefatigable in 
 business matters, notwithstanding that she was a confirmed valetudinarian, and 
 was, or imagined herself to be. a martyr to every ailment by which our frail 
 bodies are afflicted. Her real disease seems to have been that not uncommon 
 one, even at this day, — the curious craze to try upon hei'self almost every remedy 
 then in vogue. She tried cupping, issues (seemingly a favourite remedy with 
 her, as was also a certain " electuary," which Dr. Sloane prescribed for her), 
 blisters, " blooding," asses' milk, powders, " steell," " Eton's Steptick," and a host 
 of other nostrums, with the natural result that, in one of her latest letters from 
 Rockingham Castle (" Dec. y"^ 30"' " no year) she is able to fill three closely 
 written pages with a description of hei' wretched symptoms — sleepless nights, 
 loss of memory, numbness in her limbs, difficulty in moving about. She 
 complains "this old Castle is all up and down steps & I have not strength to 
 go up and down stairs, itt give me allmost fitts ; " and says "I would leave 
 this Cold place if I cou'd . . . but tis not worth the Venture of being 
 laid up in an Inne to try." Although she fears she shall be deprived of her 
 "memory or my senses which it is a mercy I retain with such an illness," she 
 says " 1 do my business as I ust," but that she " was so low Spirited in a 
 morning, I am then supid & forgetful of what is said except tis Busijness ; but 
 that reading & writing I thank God I am able to do." 
 
 When in 1724, two years after her husband's death, death also deprived her 
 of the advice and assistance of his father, tliei-e devolved upon her not only the 
 care of her family, but the supervision of her son's vast estates in Kent, 
 Northamptonshire, and other places. Thomas Wentworth- Watson was appointed 
 
 1 See Note I, Rockiutrliiiin Church. " ' • 
 
104 
 
 ROCKINGHAM CASTLE AND THE WATSONS. 
 
 by the will of his brother, the first Earl of Rockingham, to take charge of the 
 education of two of his nephews, Thomas and Edward. He and his sistei'-in-law. 
 Lady Sondes, appear to have worked together very amicably. But it is doubtful 
 whether the widow got on so pleasantly with her sister-in-law. Lady Margaret 
 (afterwards Lady Monson), who was left sole executrix of the will of her father. 
 
 This Lady Margaret seems to have been a woman of some business capacity. 
 The following document, found amongst the Rockingham Papers, is given here 
 as an illustration of the energetic manner in which she fulfilled her trust, and 
 of the value which at that date was set upon the articles mentioned in it. It 
 is thus docketed : 
 
 " It appearing after these presents made that y^ late Eai-l of Rockingham was 
 Indebted to the p'sent Earl his Grandson to about y'^ Sum'e of 800,'^ the Lady 
 Margaret Watson Ex"^ of y"^ late Earl reassumed these presents, & insisted they 
 should go as part of that D^* & same was allowed 1724." 
 " Presents made to my nephew Rockingham 
 
 at my Fathers death. 
 
 oz. dw. 
 
 li 
 
 s. 
 
 d. 
 
 Plate 414 : 9 valved at... 
 
 108 
 
 15 
 
 10 
 
 Sheets Table linnen &c : valved at 
 
 34 
 
 6 
 
 0 
 
 a orrignial Picture of my mothers valved ... 
 
 30 
 
 0 
 
 0 
 
 my Fathers coranation & Parliament Robes va. 
 
 65 
 
 0 
 
 0 
 
 14 Carbines 7 Swords & a Dagger valved ... 
 
 14 
 
 5 
 
 0 
 
 Two Family seals valved at 
 
 5 
 
 5 
 
 0 
 
 Hay left a Rockingham valved 
 
 19 
 
 0 
 
 0 
 
 Pit Coal & Sea Coal valved at 
 
 24 
 
 0 
 
 0 
 
 Hard Wood & Faggots valved 
 
 9 
 
 0 
 
 0 
 
 one Dung cart valved at 
 
 3 
 
 0 
 
 0 
 
 a Water cai-t valved at... 
 
 0 
 
 15 
 
 0 
 
 a light cart 
 
 0 
 
 10 
 
 0 
 
 "in all 303 16 10" 
 
 The above inventory is in Lady Margaret's own hand. The writing is exceedingly 
 good, and shews the lady to have been well taught, although her orthography 
 is somewhat uncertain. 
 
 When any momentous question arose in the management of her family, Lady 
 Sondes consulted her confidential friend, Sir Hans Sloane. Thus we find her 
 asking him to appear in the Coart of Chancery on behalf of her two youngest 
 sons. In the same letter she tells him her eldest son, the young Earl, is suffering 
 
ROCKINGHAM CASTLE AND THE WATSONS. 
 
 105 
 
 from " chin cough." And later, she is troubled because " The Dean of Durham 
 sent me word the small pox was so much at Eton he shou'd not wonder if I sent 
 for them " (her two eldest sons) " which I did of a sudain." " Their cousen 
 Furnesse is fallen ill of itt since they came hither att Eton." One of these sons 
 was Thomas, who was after all destined to become a victim to the terrible scourge. 
 
 But the exceedingly confidential relations between her and her physician are 
 most conspicuous in her consulting him upon the momentous question of her 
 daughter's marriage. 
 
 " Lees Court, May y2 2 (?) 
 
 " Sr 
 
 "You will have just reason to think yon shall not casyly gett free of my scribbles 
 but now this trouble to you is not anything of my health but to desire the 
 continueance of the fiiendship you have shou'd me in letting me know your opinion 
 for a match T have proposed to me for my Daughter by Mr. Edward Southwell 
 With hii3 Sou, he says he will settle on him after his Death 4500"' a year now if he 
 has such an estate & the younge man a good Characttu-, 1 think 1 ought not lett 
 it go, & I know no body who.se information of the truth of both, And who will 
 be secrett in the enquirey nor so likely to judge empartialy as you. & that makes 
 adresse my self to you att the very first hearing itt tliat I may know whether 
 ther's a pi'ospect of liappynesse, before 1 })roceed, for that is much att my lieart 
 for she is a very good Chikl, & to- see her settled in the world vvou'd be a joy to 
 me, & I believe by my account of my self, you liavc had lately, the sooner I do 
 settle her the more likely I shall be to do itt att all." Then comes a long list of 
 her bad symptoms and of the medicine she has taken, followed by this postscrii)t, 
 "I fancy that part of the Plstate Mr. Southwell liad by his first wife is in Ireland. 
 I shall be glad if you can tell me what his in England is reckon'd to be, he offers 
 to settle her own fortune upon his son my Sisters in town, dont know of this 
 mater nor I wou'd not have (them) " On the 27th of the same month she thus 
 writes to him, " Upon your information and advise on which I much depended, I 
 have spared as much out of what I have saved, for to give my Daughter, as I can 
 & with what I laid up out of the entrist of her 5000"' & now give hei-, make it 
 8000"' & a good relation will give her 2000"' so that she will have ten thousand, 
 but he wou'd not be named yett, in doing itt, I hope the Father will make a good 
 present maintenance, and then I suppose we shall agree, the' as yett things are 
 not quite settled for 1 have reason to think goodnesse & moderate Riches far 
 preferable to Much of tlie last, & little or none of y" . . . (?) I have carried 
 this Affair so secrett, tis not suspected in my family, but 1 hear tis about Town, 
 
106 
 
 ROCKINGHAM CASTLE AND THE WATSONS. 
 
 wish it was not till we were agreed." Here, like Argan, the writer drops the 
 subject of her daughter's marriage, and plunges into details of her bodily discomforts. 
 
 As the reader will presently see, the results of these enquiries appear to have 
 been satisfactory, and the negotiations for the young lady's marriage terminated 
 most happily. 
 
 Had the anxious mother possessed the pinvilege we have of searching amongst 
 Sir Hans' voluminous correspondence, she would have seen that she could not 
 possibly liave found one who was more intimately acquainted with the family and 
 affairs of the Southwells. We know that, for years, Edward Southwell, the elder, 
 and his father, Robert Southwell, had been in the habit of consulting Sir Hans 
 Sloane. 
 
 As early as 1697 we find Robert Southwell informiug the Doctor that his son 
 (Edward, senior), then a young man, was " nibbling at Spanish," and asking him 
 to recommend some authors. ^ And in 1703 (23rd November), we find that son, 
 Edward, writing to the Doctor from Dublin : " If matrimony and the sitting of 
 Parliament had not of late fully employed my time, I had been inexcusable not 
 to have imparted to you my late happiness in my marriage. I cannot forget the 
 kind part you had in making the first step in this affair, w'^^ is now brought to 
 this happy issue. Give my (so) leave now to return you all due acknowledgements, 
 & to assure you that you have 2 affectionate friends & servants in my Lady Betty 
 & Mee."^ We learn from this that Sir Hans had been the promoter of the match 
 between young Edward Southwell's father and mother (Lady Elizabeth, only 
 daughter and heiress to Vere Essex, Baron of Oakham, in England, and Viscount 
 Lekeale, and Earl of Ardglas in Ireland, whereby he became possessor of Throwley 
 in Staffordshire and of Downe in Ii'eland).^ 
 
 When the time arrived that the young Earl was to leave Eton, she again has 
 recourse to her confidential adviser. A Mr. Dassas appears to have been her 
 son's tutor, and she thus writes to Dr. Sloane : 
 
 " Rockingham. Feb : y^ 14 
 
 u gr 
 
 " I thank you for yours of the 1*^' of Dec : & am troubling you for your advice, or 
 rather information, on the thoughts I want it; Mr. Dassas's behaviour is still 
 very well, but I find by a Book he wrote (called Popish Cruelty — Exemplified 
 in the various sufferings of M'' Seres & Several other French Gentlemen) & his 
 
 1 Sloane Manuscripts, British Museum. 
 2 The elder Edwarrl's second wife was Anne, daughter of Wm. Blath, Bsqr., of Dirham, in Gloucestershire, by 
 whom he had one son, William. Amongst the Sloane Collection is a full and most interesting account of the family 
 of the Southwells, of King's AVeston, with biographical notices of the principal members. 
 
ROCKINGHAM CASTLE AND THE WATSONS. 
 
 107 
 
 own Discourse for he does not seem to desire to conceal it, that he was brought 
 up, a Roman Catholick, by his Father, tlio his Grandfathers, on Fathers & Mothers 
 sides, were protestants, that when younge, he turned Protestant and run away 
 to Geneva, & then served as a soldier, in the Prussian Army, & then I think, 
 fell into a way of teaching or going about with Boys, I perceive now he is a 
 Calvanist, for on Christmas day, he some how, about who should stay at home 
 with my Sons, was asked if he went to the Sacrament ; and he said he did not 
 go in the Church of England; he comes Regularly to Church & Prayers, & his 
 behaviour allways there in the most decent manner; but whether one that has 
 so changed, & is not directly of the Church of England I suppose, tho' he says 
 he goes to the Church in the Savioye, is proper to send a Child beyond Sea 
 with, is what I want your consideration off, for we women, may not look on things 
 in a right light, be startled where there is no fear, now whether I should mend 
 my self in a Change, for this do I know ; as to our constituteon in state Affairs, 
 his opinian & enstructions to my Son seems to be in tho same way of my Lords, 
 & in my mind right ; I shall be glad of yours in this case, because you alhvays 
 give it empartially & amongst all my acquaintance ; I never mett with any that 
 had so true a sence either of the Anexicty one does, & eiideed ouglit to have 
 in the education of ones Children." She then suggests that Sir Hans should enquire 
 about the tutor's antecedents amongst the people with whom he had previously 
 lived. " A Master Clarke, grandson of Lady Eyles, one M"" Freare, & one 
 M'' Whitaker," and thinks he was known to the "Dutchess of Bedford's" family. 
 She says she prefers to ask this favour of the doctor "than Colonell Fain, tlio' 
 he is a man of honour, but you know Religion now, is not (amongst?) younge 
 men much thought on, a sad thing, & endeed T fear nor foundation, laid for it 
 att Eton." . . . "As it may be much in my choice what in a year more to 
 send Lord Rockingliam beyond sea, so I shall be glad to have your opinion, in 
 what time such a change of Air as that is the best for health." 
 
 It was decided the boy should go to Geneva, where he seems to have been 
 attacked by a serious illness, cau.sing his mother great alarm. Besides his tutor, he 
 had with him a faithful man servant, one Delaconrt, who, judging from a number 
 of lettei's of his, preserved at Lees Court, had been a most trusted servant of the 
 young Earl's father; and he seems to have been equally ti-usted by the mother. 
 Thus she says to Sir Hans, " Delacourts entelegancc, I send you As being the 
 particular observation of every day, & he being ust, to his constitution, I depend 
 upon it, but desire you'l take no notice of it to M"" Dassas." Later she has, 
 " so melancholy an account from M"" Dassas of my dear Son, that I don't know 
 
108 
 
 ROCKINGHAM CASTLE AND THE WATSONS. 
 
 what to do, my troublo is so g-reate." She wishes Sir Hans to select some 
 medical attendant to send out to her son, and suggests one " young M^" Grahams." 
 She encloses another letter from Delacourt, with the same request tliat it 
 might not be mentioned to the tutor. She says " I desire no expence may be 
 spared on this occasion." On the 15th February, 1732(3), she writes to Sir Hans 
 from Rockingham, thanking him for his kindness in the nuitter of her son, and 
 in her anxiety writes rather incoherently, "If God is so mei'cifnll to spare me 
 this Dear Sons life I hold out a miserable one." 
 
 The young Earl happily recovered from this illness, and his affectionate mother 
 was thus I'clieved from her great ti-ouble, and was able to say, in a letter from 
 Rockingham, the following August, " I am very glad the Venison came good.^ . 
 I heard Lord Rockingham was very well again." 
 
 At Lees Court and at Rockingham Castle are several documents which bear 
 witness to the astuteness and the untiling business habits of tliis lady. In the 
 Sondes Chapel in Throwley Church, Kent, is a monument from which the following 
 epitaph is given, as shewing how affectionately she cherished the memory of her 
 husband : 
 
 " The bodies of Sir George Sondes Earl of 
 " Faversham, and of Mary Countess of Faversham 
 " his lady, are here interred 
 " the Earl April 30th, 1677, 
 " the Countess September 15th, 1688 
 " whose lives were noble, beneficent, and charitable 
 " Two daughters descended from this marriage 
 " The Lady Mary Sondes, mai'ried to Lewis 
 " Lord Duras, and Baron of Holdenby, 
 " who died without issue. 
 " The Lady Catherine Sondes, married to Lewis 
 " Lord Rockingham afterwards created Earl 
 " of Rockingham, in the county of Northampton, 
 " Lord Viscount Sondes, of Lees Court, and 
 " Baron Throwley, in the year 1714. She 
 " departed this life, March 21st, 1695, leaving 
 " to her numerous issue a pattern of the most 
 
 " consummate goodness and piety." 
 " Edward Lord Viscount Sondes, of Lees Court 
 
 1 She had asserted in a previous letter " There is no where better Vemson then his Parke att Rockingham affords." 
 
ROCKINGHAM CASTLE AND THE WATSONS. 
 
 109 
 
 " eldest son and heir apparent of this marri- 
 " age, adorned with all virtue : remembering 
 " when very young to have heard his mother 
 " express an inclination to have a monument 
 " erected in this place to preserve the memory 
 ' " of the said Earl and Countess of Faversham 
 " intended to do it in this form : But God hav- 
 " ing been pleased to deprive his family and 
 " the world of so excellent a person the 20th 
 " March 1721, his relict and widow Catherine 
 " Lady Viscountess Sondes, conformable to the 
 " piety of her dear Lord's intentions, whose 
 " Chief ambition is to follow that and his 
 " example, has caused to be done : and the 
 " Chancel and other monuments of his ances- 
 " tors to be repaired in the year 1728." 
 
 The estimable Catherine, Viscountess Sondes, whose character presents an 
 attractive subject for the student of human nature, died 13th February 1733(4), 
 at the age of 43 years, and was buried at Rockingham. Besides the portrait of 
 her in the family grouji mentioned above, thei'c is another on the landing of the 
 large staircase. In this she is repi-esented as St. Catherine, and as a very handsome 
 woman. 
 
 Of her children Lewis and Thomas successively inherited the titles and estates. 
 Edward died abroad, and was buried at Rockingham in 173G. There is a portrait 
 of him at the Gallery at the Castle, in which he is represented as a handsome 
 young man, wearing his own haii'. 
 
 The daughter Catherine married, as the reader already knows, the Right Honble 
 Edward Southwell, Secretary for Ireland, who was descended from a very ancient 
 Nottinghamshire family of that name. The Barony of de Clifford (which fell in 
 abeyance on the death of Lady Sondes' father, the Earl of Thanet, and was 
 afterwards conferred on his daughtei-, Margaret, Countess of Leicester), having 
 again fallen into abeyance, was, in 1776, conferred upon Edward, the son of The 
 Right Honble Edward Southwell, and Catherine, daughter of Viscount Sondes. 
 
 There are tablets in Hanbury Church to the memory of Catherine Watson 
 and her husband, and in King's Weston House, ^ Hanbury, near Bristol, are 
 
 1 Built by Viiubursrh. 
 
110 
 
 ROCKINGHAM CASTLE AND THE WATSONS. 
 
 portraits relating to this alliance between the Watson and Southwell families. 
 
 Lewis, Second Earl op RoCKiNanAM, was a minor a,t the time of his grandfather's 
 death. A curious memento of his school days is preserved amongst the Additional 
 Manuscripts in the British Museum. The letter may amuse any young Etonians 
 of the present day who may honor these pages with a perusal. The extraordinary 
 astx'onomical phenomenon it describes will doubtless be as " surprising " to others 
 as it was to the writer of this letter. 
 
 "Eton, June 18, 
 
 " Dear Sister " 1727. 
 
 " I return you many thanks for your kind Letter which tells me a great deal of 
 Newes I suppose you havei the King is dead Mr. de Sas tells me That King 
 William reigned Thirteen Years & So did Queen Anne and so did our King and 
 there were Three Sons seen In the air In every ones Reign wich Is Surprising to 
 me. The Proclamation was Last Fryday and he was a Burn Fier and Illuminations 
 on every House in Town which Looked very pretty I was sorry to hear my Aunt 
 Isabella was not well but I hope this will find you all well My Duty to my Mama 
 
 " Yr 
 
 affectionate Brother 
 " Pray remember and Humble 
 
 me to Mrs. Thomson " Rockingham, 
 
 and Ran." 
 
 The young Earl appears to have had a delicate constitution, and to have frequently 
 spent the winter in mild continental climates. Thus we find him at Verona in 
 the winter of 1733 — 34, when a singular correspondeiice took place between him 
 and the Earl of Essex respecting a supposed insult the young Earl had received 
 from one General Schulenburg. 
 
 On attaining his majority he took his seat in the House of Lords on the 15th 
 January, 1735(6), (probably ari-ayed in his grandfather's robes which had been 
 valued to him at £65), and seems to have been fairly diligent in his attendances. 
 
 In the following April he married his cousin Catherine, daughter of Sir Robert 
 Furnese, who is said to have brought him a fortune of £200,000. She survived 
 her hvisband, and mai-ried (as his third wife), Francis, third Earl of Guilford. 
 Her Christian name is given hj Burke, as Anne, by Nichols, as Mary, but in the 
 register of her burial, and on the monument to her memory at Wroxton, in 
 Oxfordshire, slie is Katherine. At the bottom of the Gallery Stairs, in Rockingham 
 Castle, is a full length portrait of her, on which she is correctly named Catherine. 
 
 1 "heard? " 
 
ROCKINGHAM CASTLE AND THE WATSONS. 
 
 Ill 
 
 This portrait, which shews a fine, but rather a masculine lady, has a somewhat 
 singular history attached to it. It was accidentally discovered in a bedroom in 
 the Clarendon Hotel, in Old Bond Street, by the late Rev'^- Heneage Finch, 
 Rector of Oakham. 
 
 The gossiping Hoi'ace Walpole relates an amusing incident which happened to 
 himself in connection with this Earl. He says, " We had a great scuffle the other 
 night at the Opera, which interrupted it. Lord Lincoln was abused in the most 
 shocking manner by a drunken officer, upon which he kicked him and was drawing 
 his sword but was prevented ... I saw the quarrell from the other side of 
 the house, and rushing to get to Lord Lincoln, could not for the crowd. I climbed 
 into the front boxes, and stejiping over the shoulders of three ladies, before I knew 
 where I was, found I had lighted into Lord Rockingham's lap ! It was ridiculous ! 
 
 The Earl died 4th November, 1745, and was buried at Rockingham. As he 
 left no family, his brother, 
 
 Thomas, succeeded to the estates and honours as Third Earl of Rockingham. 
 He was made Lord Lieutenant of Kent, early in February, 1745(6), and enjoyed 
 the estates only three months. He died of the small pox, 26tli February, 1745(6), 
 and was buried at Rockingham. His portrait may be seen in the Gallery at the 
 Castle. He was a handsome young man, and his untimely death cut short a 
 promising career, and brought to an end the male line of the Watsons of Rockingham 
 Castle. 
 
 He bequeathed his enormous estates, lying in the Counties of Northamptonshire, 
 Leicestershire, Huntingdonshire, and Kent, to his cousin, tlie Honble Lewis Monson, 
 second son of his aunt Margaret Watson, and John, first Baron Monson, on condition 
 that he assumed the name and arms of Watson. 
 
 There is a drawing of Rockingham Castle, cir: 1719, preserved in the British 
 Museum, from which it appears that disfigurement and not improvement of the 
 approach to the Castle on the eastern side, had been the object of the owners about 
 that time. The curtain walls on each side of the Gate Towers are represented 
 as concealed by most objectionable "lean-tos," used as stables and other offices ; 
 while several unpicturesque buildings crown the height on the left. When these 
 latter disappeared is not positively known ; but the reader will be told in the next 
 chapter when and by whom the other unsightly buildings were removed, and 
 the approach on the eastern side made to assume its present character. 
 
 With Lewis (Monson) Watson began the present line of the Sondes and Watson 
 families. 
 
 1 Horace Walpole's letters to Sir Horace Mann (29th April, 1742), Edition of Lonl Dover, vol. 1., page 140. 
 
112 ROCKINGHAM CASTLE AND THE WATSONS. 
 
 The peerages carry back tlie family of Monson to the fourteenth century. It is 
 sufficient here to state that the father of Lewis Monson-Watson was Sir John 
 Monson, K.B., of Burton, in Lincolnshire. He was the fifth baronet, and sat in 
 several Parliaments as member for the city of Lincoln. On 28th May, 1728, he 
 was created Baron Monson of Burton. He married, in 1725, Lady Margaret 
 Watson, and by her had three sons and one daughter.^ Their second son, Lewis, as 
 we have seen, assumed the surname and arms of Watson, on succeeding to the 
 estates of his cousin, Thomas, third Earl of Rockingham, in 1746. On 12th 
 October, 1752, he married Grace, daughter of the Right Honble. Henry Pelham,2 
 and niece to the Duke of Newcastle. As the bride's mother was Catherine, a 
 daughter of John Manners, Duke of Rutland, she stood in precisely the same 
 relationship to John, eighth Earl of Rutland, as the bridegroom did to that nobleman's 
 sister, Eleanor, Lady Rockingham. Another instance of "double-alliance" in the family. 
 
 In April, 1750, Lewis Watson was, on the death of Francis Scott, Earl of 
 Dalkeith, elected member for Boroughbridge, in Yorkshire. And in February, 
 1754. he was appointed Auditor for Life of the Imprest and Foreign Accounts, (fee. 
 Amongst the voluminous " Newcastle Correspondence " in the British Museum is 
 a large number of letters from Lewis Watson and Grace, his wife, and others. 
 In one of these, dated Lees Court, 15th July, 1 754, and signed " Jjewis Watson," 
 he writes rather sarcastically to his wife's uncle, " The house in Downing Street 
 is given up to Mr. Legge . . . and if it does not interfere with your Grace 
 . I hope Mr. Legge may stay in it as short a time as I did." 
 The great influence of the Pelliam faction upon English politics at that time 
 is doubtless familiar to the reader. It is pleasanter here to call his attention to 
 that great collection of letters before referred to. They are spread over many 
 volumes of the Additional Manuscripts in the Bi'itish Museum.^ Besides opening 
 up to us much in the inner life of that widely ramified family, they shed no small 
 amount of light upon the secret workings of the political parties of that time. In 
 a letter of Grace Watson's (from Curzon Street, 19th March, 1765) to the Duchess 
 of Newcastle, after relating how she had come up from Bath in only 11 hours 
 and 40 min : including dinner, and a stoppage to get a horse shod," she says of 
 the Duchess' godson, " Little Charles was inoculated this morning, he behaved 
 heroically under the operation." They had invented for him the pleasant fiction 
 
 1 Burke. 
 
 2 This gentleman, who was a rather prominent figure in English politics during the reign of George II., is described as 
 possessing " only moderate abilities," but superior to his brothers. There is in the Gallery at Rockingham a painting 
 representing him dictating to his secretary, John Roberts, Esq. It is by Sheckleton, and is not a bad S])ecimeii. 
 
 3 From vol. 32,686. 
 
Grace, nAiMiiiTKH of thk Richt Honhle. H. Pelham, 
 wiFi' (IF IjFvvis, Fiiis'i' Bakox Sonoes. 
 Page li:?. 
 
ROCKINGHAM CASTLE AND THE WATSONS. 
 
 113 
 
 that the doctor was going to write his name on his arm, and thus made him look 
 on the proceedings as a good joke. 
 
 This passage, and others in subsequent letters, in which the fond mother 
 enumerates the number of pustules the little fellow had on his face, &c., bi'ing 
 vividly before us the horrors which confronted every class of society at that time, 
 in connection with that loathsome disease. We who, thanks to Dr. Jenner's 
 discovery, enjoy comparative immunity from its ravages, can scarcely realize the 
 feeling of teiTor which led parents to subject their childi-en to it under favourable 
 circumstances, in the hope that they might then be secure from becoming its victims 
 under imfavnurahle circumstances. 
 
 The little patient seems never to have become strong after the operation, foi" he 
 died early in the Spring of 1769, at Lees Court, where is preserved " An account 
 of the Funeral Expenses of the Hon'^'^ Master Charles Watson." These funeral 
 expenses cover 25 days, and include the journey to and from Rockingham, the 
 favourite burial place of the Watsons. The journey by way of Barnet, Hatfield, 
 Stevenage, Biggleswade, Eaton (':'), and Tlirapston to Rockingham and back 
 cost £35 6s. 7|d., and the total cost of the funeral was £170 lis. Od. 
 
 The second son, Henry, appears to have been delicate in his youth, for we find 
 his mother informing the Duchess of Newcastle, that she intfmds to take " Harry " 
 to Bath to try if "the waters and pumping will do his leg any good." He, 
 nevertheless, lived to the ripe old age of 78. He died at Felden, in Hertfordshire, 
 in 1833, and was buried at Rockingliaui.i ^he fourth son, George, resided for 
 many years at Glaston, in Rutlandshire, and died in 1821!, and was buried at 
 Rockingham. A brief account of Lewis Thomas, eldest son and successor, will be 
 found below. They had also a daughter, Catherine, who died young. 
 
 On the 20th of May, 1760, Lewis Watson was elevated to the Peerage, as first 
 Baron Sondes, of Lees Court, in Kent. He died the 20th March, 1795, and was 
 buried at Rockingham. For his character the reader is referred to the epitaph 
 on his monument there. ^ 
 
 Grace, Lady Sondes, has left many letters which shew her to have been a 
 woman of considerable intellectual power, and this impression of her character is 
 strengthened by an inspection of the clever portrait of lier, by Angelica Kauffmann, 
 which hangs in the Gallery at Rockingham. In this her countenance is charming, 
 and the natural and graceful pose of the figure renders this one of the most 
 fascinating paintings the visitor finds in the Gallery. 
 
 1 See Note I, Rockiiighnm Church. 
 2 Note I, Rockingham Chinch. 
 
114 
 
 ROCKINGHAM CASTLE AND THE WATSONS. 
 
 She appears to have been greatly attached to her husband. Writing to her uncle 
 shortly after her marriage in 1752, she says, "The good qualities I see daily in 
 M'" Watson must make me think myself very fortunate," and it would seem she 
 retained her husband's affections to the last. She died at Lees Court in 1775, 
 twenty years before Lord Sondes, and his remaining so long a widower indicates the 
 strong affection he retained for her memory. She was buried at Rockingham. ^ The 
 total expenses of her funeral amounted to £275 19s. lid. The turnpike fees alone 
 amounted to £4 6s. 4d. each way.^ 
 
 Lewis Thomas Watson, Second Baron Sondes, succeeded to the estates on the 
 death of his father in 1795. He only enjoyed them eleven years, dying in 1806. 
 
 It is a regretable circumstance that he weakened the Northamptonshire estates 
 somewhat by the sale, in 1803, to Wilbraham, Earl of Dysart, of one of the oldest 
 possessions of the Watsons, that of Garthoi'p. On the other hand, by his marriage, 
 30th November, 1785, with Mary EHzabeth, daughter and heiress to Ricthard Milles, 
 Esq., of North Elmham, in Norfolk, he had added largely to the landed possessions 
 of the family. 
 
 Of this niarriage wei'e born four sons and three daughters. The sons will be 
 spoken of later. 
 
 In the case of the daughters we meet with two more of those singular instances 
 of double alliance in this family. The eldest daughter, Mary Grace, manned 
 (ord May, 1808) Sir John Heiiiy Palmer, of East Carlton, Northamptonshire, whose 
 ancestor, Thomas Palmer, formed an alliance with the Watsons in the sixteenth 
 century. '5 Lady Palmer died 24th November, 1853, and was buried in East 
 Carlton Churcli. Catherine married (23rd April, 1829) Sir William de Capell 
 Brooke, Bart., of Great Oakley. His ancestor, Arthur Brooke, allied himself to 
 Catherine Watson in the sixteenth century.^ Lady Brooke died 24th November, 1884, 
 and is buried in the Churchyard at Great Oakley. There was another daughter, 
 Grace Theodosia, who only lived four years, dying in 1794, and is supposed to have 
 been buried at Rockingham. Amongst her mother's treasux'es was found a lock of this 
 child's fine light brown hair, which is preserved at Lees Court together with 
 similar locks of other members of the family, dated and arranged. A method of 
 preserving a tangible, and all but imperishable memento of the departed which is 
 to be commended. 
 
 1 Note I, Rockingham Churcli. 
 2 Papers at Lees Court. 
 
 3 See Page 45. 
 
 4 See Page 33. 
 
ROCKINGHAM CASTLE AND THE WATSONS. 
 
 115 
 
 The Second Baron Sondes was buried at Rockingham, where his widow erected 
 a monument to his memory and that of her little daughter.^ 
 
 For her second husband, Lady Sondes married Lieutenant General Sir H. Tuclcei- 
 Montresor, and dying in 1816 (or 18 ?) was buried in Norton Church, in Kent. 
 In the Gallery at Rockingham is a portrait of this lady by Sir Joshua Reynolds. 
 The hat she is representing as wearing would make the fortune of a modern 
 modiste ! 
 
 Of the sons, Lewis Richard, succeeded his father. Unhappily, for the after 
 owners of the original Midland County possessions of the Watsons, he still further 
 reduced them by selling, in 1827, the whole of the earliest of the Manorial 
 Possessions of the Rockingham Watsons, the Manor, &c., of Great Gidding, in 
 Huntingdonshire, and all the family property in Luddington and Papley, to 
 William Wentworth, Earl Pitzwilliam. He also caused the old Royal Hunting Lodge, 
 which had stood in the Park for nearly four centuries,^ to be demolished, thus 
 removing one of the historical land-marks connected with the Castle. He is reported 
 to have been a gentleman of rather eccentric habits, and a great patron of .'^port. 
 The Rockingham Racecourse existed within the memory of many now living. 
 
 He never married, and made an arrangement with his brothers that the elder 
 of them, Oeorge John (second son of Lewis Thomas, second Baron Sondes), should 
 inherit the Kentisli and Norfolk estates : and that, what there was left of the 
 Rockingham estate, should descend to the younger brother. 
 
 The third Baron Sondes died 14tli March, 1S3G, and was buried in Sheldwich 
 Chnrch, in Kent. His brothers, Henry and Richard, erected a tablet to his memory 
 in Rockingham Church.^ The title and the Kentish and Norfolk estates devolved 
 upon The Honble George John Watson, who took tlie name of Milles. He served 
 in the Royal Horse Guards (" Blues ") at Waterloo. 
 
 As it is not the writer's object to follow the Sondes (or Kentish) branch of 
 the Watson family, he refers the reader to the pedigrees for the names, &c., of 
 its various members. 
 
 On the death of Lewis Richard, third Baron Sondes, the Rockingham estates, 
 in accordance with the family arrangement referred to above, devolved upon the 
 Honble the Rev. Henry Watson, third son of second Baron Sondes, who, dying 
 unmarried in 1849, they passed to the Honhle Richard Watson, fourth son of 
 Lewis Thomas, second Baron Sondes. 
 
 Tliis Gentleman, whose memory is still cherished in the County of Northampton, 
 
 1 See Note I, Rockingham Church. 
 
 2 See Page 15. 
 3 See Note I, Rockingham f'hnrch. 
 
116 
 
 ROCKINGHAM CASTLE AND THE WATSONS. 
 
 was distinguished for his liberality, his refined taste, and his enlarged views. 
 He was a generous patron of art and literature. He took up his residence at the 
 Castle in 1836, and early devoted himself to the renovation of the Castle and to 
 the improvement of the dwellings of his tenantry. To him is due the erection 
 of the School-room at Rockingham. In order to encourage a taste for cottage 
 gardening amongst his poorer neighbours, he established that now well-known 
 annual fete, the Rockingham Flower Show. 
 
 He married in 1839, Lavinia Jane, daughter of Lord George Quin. He represented 
 Canterbury in the Whig interests in the first Reformed Parliament, and was 
 elected for the city of Peterborough shortly before his death. He died on the 
 26th July, 1852, at the age of 52 years, and was buried in Rockingham 
 Church. There is a portrait of him, by Collinson, in the Gallery at Rockingh.am, 
 in which he is represented in the uniform of his regiment, the 10th Hussars, in 
 which he held a commission. He left a family of three sons and two daughters. 
 In these sons and daughters we meet with the most conspicuous illustrations of 
 the two features which have been so frequently noticed in the history of this family, 
 i.e. double alliance and preponderance of daughters. 
 
 The Honble Mrs. Watson survived her husband thirty-six years, and died on 
 the 20th January, 1888, and was buried in Rockingham Churchyard. She was a 
 lady of cultivated taste, and was greatly beloved by all on the estate. 
 
 Their eldest daughter, Mary Gorgiana, married in 1866 Vice Admiral Sir Michael 
 Culme Seymour, Bart., and has a family of three sons and two daughters. The 
 younger daughter. Lavinia Jane, married 14th July, 1875, Baron Eugen von Roeder, 
 and has a family of three daughters. 
 
 Of the three sons of the Honble Richard Watson, the third, the Revd. Wentworth 
 Watson is Vicar of Monmouth ; the second, Edward Spencer Watson, Esq., married, 
 28th September, 1871, Mary Blanche, only daughter of the late George Hall, Esq. 
 and of Mary Viscountess Hood. He, unhappily, dying in 1889, at the early age 
 of 46 years, has left a family of one son and ten daughters to regret his loss. 
 
 The eldest son of the Honble Richard Watson, George Lewis Watson, Esq., 
 the present representative of the Rockingham Watsons, married in 1867, Laura 
 Maria, daughter of the Revd. Sir John H. Culme Seymour, Bart., thus bringing 
 about the most interesting " double alliance " to be found in the course of this 
 family history. 
 
 Having thus brought to a conclusion a narrative which he has aimed at making 
 not only a consecutive, intelligible, and reliable, but also a readahle history of the 
 ancient historical family of the Watsons of Rockingham Castle, the author steps 
 
ROCKINGHAM CASTLE AND THE WATSONS. 
 
 117 
 
 aside for a time, to give place to one whose aim it is to place before us Rockingham 
 Castle and its surroundings as they are rather than as they have been. 
 
Chapter Sixth. 
 ROCKINGHAM CASTLE IN 
 
 A.D. 
 
 1891. 
 
 A Chapter for the Tourist. 
 
 " This Castle hath a pleasant seat, the air 
 Nimbly and sweetly recommends itself 
 Unto our fjentle sense." — Macbeth. 
 
 " I do love these ancient ruins, 
 We never ti-ead upon them but we set 
 Our feet upon some reverend history." 
 
 Old Plav. — Webster. 
 
 OCKINGHAM is best approached 
 from tlie north. Let us, therefore, 
 take the Railway at Market Har- 
 borongh and descend the valley of 
 the Welland, " the fatal Welland " 
 as Drayton calls it. 
 
 As we rapidly pass through the 
 rich meadows intersected every- 
 where by formidable ox fences — now 
 alas, mostly strengthened by wire, 
 so fatal to the grand old English 
 sport, an uncomfortable feeling comes 
 over us that even now the day may 
 he looming in the not distant future, 
 when, as Whyte Melville says, "the 
 last who-hoop shall sound the knell 
 of foxhunting, and England, merrie 
 England no longer, shall have to sub- 
 mit to the uncompromising advance 
 of an iron and utilitai-ian age." 
 
ROCKINGHAM CASTLE AND THE WATSONS. 
 
 119 
 
 What a different aspect the valley must have presented when the Abbots of 
 Medehamsted had right of pasture for many a mile of the Welland's course. 
 Undrained and swampy, it must have been the haunt of thousands of wild fowl, 
 which, in these days of high farming and of fat cattle up to London, by rail, every 
 Saturday, have almost entirely deserted it. 
 
 The high ridge on our right, the edge of Northamptonshii-e, is comparatively 
 bare, but on emerging from a cutting under Bringhurst, a full view of Rockingham 
 is obtained, and the Park and woods are seen to clothe the hill side for some distance 
 with dense masses of timber. 
 
 The commanding position is at once evident from this point, though the actual 
 strength of the site is not so clear as it will be on a closer inspection, the ravines 
 on either side being now so heavily filled with trees. 
 
 We alight at Rockingham Station. 
 
 A little inspection of the lay of the land may perhaps suggest one reason for 
 the existence, from the earliest times, of a sti'ong place at Rockingham. On 
 looking north the long gentle slope of Galley (Gallows) hill is seen to sink into 
 the level of the valley at the back of the adjoining village of Caldecote. This 
 long ridge forms a natural and easy descent into the valley of the Welland, and 
 would be the most obvious line of road down from the high lands of Rutland. 
 The nearest corresponding ridge to the westwai-d also leads to a secondary passage 
 of the Welland, by Great Easton, which, as well as the principal one, is commanded 
 by the Castle. 
 
 Leaving the station, a straight embanked road leads in about three quarters of a 
 mile to Rockintyham village. 
 
 In the olden time the passage of the valley and river must liave been a difficult 
 and dangerous matter, more especially in winter. Here, even now, the floods 
 occasionally overflow the road, embanked as it is. Traditions still survive of 
 travellers having lost their lives in attempting the passage — hence on reaching the 
 Welland itself we are not surprised to find a small enclosure on the Northamptonshire 
 side still called the Hermitage. 
 
 In a map dated A.D. 1615, a house is shown here, and doubtless, in mediaeval 
 times, it was the abode of a recluse who guided travellers across the morass. This 
 functionary may also have been the custodian, and, pei'haps the toll taker of the 
 bridge over the Welland, which was built apparently greatly through tiie influence 
 of Hugh, of Wells, Bishop of Lincoln, A.D. 1209-1239. No doubt the woi-thy 
 prelate had experienced the discomfort and danger of the ford, then the only means 
 of crossing the river, during his rides to and from his neighbouring palace of 
 Lyddiugton. Accoi'dingly, we find him recommending the construction of a bridge at 
 
120 
 
 ROCKINGHAM CASTLE AND THE WATSONS. 
 
 Rockingliam, in the 17th year of his episcopacy, and again, a few years later, he offers 
 13 days' indulgence to those who having confessed and being truly penitent shall 
 contribute to the building, or maintenance of the bridge (Lincoln Dioc. pajDcrs). 
 Traces of a stoned ford can still be seen at times a few yards above the bridge. 
 
 It may be worth noticing that at this point the river is not exactly the county 
 boundary, some three or four acres on the north, or Leicestershire side, belonging 
 to Northamptonshire. 
 
 The view looking up from here is very picturesque ; the village on the lower 
 slopes of the hill, the Church above it, and the Castle crowning the summit, the 
 whole enclosed in a frame of grand old timber trees, make up a bit of scenery as 
 striking as it is, perhaps, uncommon, at all events in this part of England. 
 
 The village consists of one street, running up the hill. On the right on entering 
 is the house stated by Mr. G. T. Clark to have been the old Hostel of the place, 
 now a farm house. A little further on stands a good plinth, all that remains of 
 the ancient market cross, which now serves as a fountain. It is supposed that 
 the cross was destroyed during the Great Rebellion, the parliamentary troops 
 having committed great devastation at Rockingham during the time they occupied 
 the Castle. It is hoped that this cross may some day be restored. The village, 
 which in Queen Elizabeth's time contained some 1800 inhabitants, now only has 
 a population of about 230. A fair is held annually on the 25th September, but 
 markets are no longer kept up. 
 
 Passing up the street and leaving the modern Rectory on the right, and a 
 seventeenth century farmhouse to the left, we catch glimpses thi'ough the trees 
 of the Church and Castle high above us, and after passing through an entrance 
 lodge gate, the east front of the latter comes fully into view. 
 
 The aspect from here is very fine, the early English drum towers of the gateway with 
 their Crosslets, the grey walls stretching on either side, unbroken by windows, with the 
 exception of one small late insertion, give a stern, severe expression to the building. 
 
 It will be observed that the road cannot approach the entrance in a straight 
 line, as the gateway faces down a steep part of the hill, thus adding to the difficulty 
 of an attack from this side. 
 
 During the last and early part of the present century, this part was defaced by 
 stables, built on to it on either side of the towers ; these were judiciously removed 
 about 60 years ago. It is iinfortunate that the surface of the stone work of the 
 towers is not original. Early in the last century, perhaps when the stables were 
 built, the old masomy doubtless showed many a mark of war and of the lapse of 
 time, which we should have been so glad to have preserved, but, with the wretched 
 taste of the Georgian ei'a, the builders seemed to have iletermined tu " make a 
 
ROCKINGHAM CASTLE AND THE WATSONS. 
 
 121 
 
 neat job of it ; " at all events, tlie desecrating chisel of a mason has passed over 
 the surface of the Weldon stone. The battlements also are modern, the former 
 parapet, which was not the original one, having been brought into its present 
 state under the advice of the late Revs. H. Rose and Canon James, well known and 
 honoured names in the modern architectural history of Northamptonshire. 
 
 Within the outer arch and portcullis groove, doorways lead on either side into 
 the guard rooms, at one time used as saddle rooms, &c., but now as plasterers' and 
 plumbers' shops. They are worth entering to see the deep embrasures for the 
 crosslet holes, and the early pointed archways leading to the various rooms. 
 
 The roadway rises rapidly. 
 
 On emerging from the inner arch of the gateway, the scene at once shifts, 
 and we exchange the massive, frowning Norman and Edwardian front for the 
 picturesque ivy-clad quadrangle of an Elizabethan and Jacobean dwelling house. 
 On the right is a nearly detached building, the leaden spouts of which bear the 
 cipher of Edward, second Lord Rockingham, the letter R, and the date 1665 ; but 
 the building is apparently older than this date. It contains some old panelled 
 rooms, and an untouched carved oak staircase. It communicates with the main 
 body of the Castle by n passage over the gateway. 
 
 On the left is a part of the work which can be attributed to the Edward Watson, 
 who took in hand the ruinous Castle as described by Leland, and transformed it 
 from a mediteval fortress into an Elizabethan residence. This ))ai't is ci-owned by 
 three gables : on the centi-e one is carved the date 1584, and on the westei-nmost 
 the cipher E.W. An ivy tree of great age and size is conspicuous on the wail of 
 the wing opposite to the gateway. 
 
 Turning to the left we approacli the entrance door over which are five coats 
 of arms, viz. : Watson, impaling severally Digby, Montagu, Smith, Manners, and 
 Bertie.^ 
 
 The shafts of the doorway are Early English, but the arch is Decorated and 
 deeply moulded. A very old and rude knocker is on the door. 
 
 On entering the lobby, or ante-hall, a similar doorway, now blocked up, is seen 
 at the other end, which formerly gave access to the inner court. This lobby is 
 believed by Mr. G. T. Clark to occupy the space underneath the Minstrels* 
 Gallery, the partition replacing the dividing screen. This opinion is confirmed 
 by an early mullion in a passage window in the floor above. 
 
 We now enter the oldest habitable part of the Castle. Though now much altered 
 and cut np, the careful observer will see that the entrance hall is the eastern part 
 of what was the gi'eat open roofed hall, which, much injured during the ti-oubles 
 
 1 See Foot Note, Page 52. 
 
122 ROCKINGHAM CASTLE AND THE WATSONS. 
 
 in the reign of Henry III., was restored under the Edwards, and which again had 
 lost its roof when Leland saw it. 
 
 Edward Watson seems to have adapted this building to more modern ways of 
 living, by putting on the existing roof of oak, and placing in it a floor of rooms 
 supported on massive beams, still to be seen. Two of these beams bear the inscription: 
 
 "The : HOWSE : SHAL : be : PRESERVED : AND : NEVER : WILL : DECAYE : WHKARE : THE 
 
 Almightie : God : is : honored : and : SERVED : DAYE : BY : DAYE : " and on one beam 
 the date 1579. 
 
 The Hall, though there is little or no attempt at decoration, and in spite of the 
 late windows, presents a not unpicturesque appearance which has often attracted 
 the attention of artists. Over the fire-place, which on the exterior is buttressed 
 out from the wall, are some relics of the Civil Wars, such as swords, pistols, cannon 
 shot, etc. Here are preserved two iron chests, a very curious one of the time of 
 King John, and one of the 1.5th century, painted with flowers and with shields 
 of the royal arms of England, and of those of the city of Nureniburg. A 
 " Black Jack," with the crown and the cipher C.R., 1646, is also in this room. 
 
 Crossing a corridor we enter the dining room, a well-shaped, if somewhat low 
 room, decorated with twenty-two carved and painted coats of arras. The jambs 
 and shafts of two decorated windows were discovered and brought to light some 
 years ago, and the remains of one, if not two more exist behind the panelling. 
 The fire-place corresponds to the one in the hall, and is also buttressed outside. 
 
 This room formed probably the west end of the great hall. It is true that 
 some doubts have been expressed as to whether the hall, corridor, and dining room 
 really did form one large room, as the relative propoi-tions of length and width 
 are somewhat unusual. But surely such pi'oportions were not invariably the 
 same everywhere ? On the whole it seems most probable that these rooms 
 originally did form one large hall, the nucleus of the living part of the Castle, 
 and that the massive partition wall is an Elizabethan insertion, placed here both 
 for the sake of the fire-place it contains, and to divide the hall into more comfortably 
 sized apartments, as well as to strengthen the whole building when the I'ooms above 
 were constructed. 
 
 Observe where the outer walls have been pierced at each end of the corridor. 
 
 North of the dining room runs the wing, which contains on the ground floor 
 the billiard, justice, and other rooms, and above these the Gallery. The view 
 on entering the latter is extremely picturesque. It is about 90 feet long. The 
 beauty and comfort of the Gallery, formerly too long for its width, have been 
 much added to by the skill of the late Mr. Salvin, who carried out the large 
 bow which forms one storey of the flag tower. The i-oom is hung with, chiefly 
 
ROCKINGHAM CASTLE AND THP] WATSONS. 
 
 123 
 
 family, portraits, some of which are worthy of inspection. Notice Lord Strafford, 
 a fine example of Van Dyck ; his two daughters, though much inferior as works 
 of art, are interesting : a beautiful jiortrait of a lady at a spring, by an unknown 
 artist : Lady Sondes, by Sir Joshua Reynolds : Earl of Pembroke and Montgomery, 
 by Van Dyck : two portraits, at different ages, of Sir Lewis Watson, first 
 Lord Rockingham, by Michael Wright : Right Honble. Henry Pelham, and his 
 Secretary, Mr. John Roberts, by Shackleton : Grace Pelham, Lady Sondes, by 
 Angelica Kauffmann : two curious portraits on panel of Sir Edward Montagu 
 and his daughter, Dorothy Watson, may be by Zuchero : the first Countess of 
 Rockingham, a brilliant specimen of Lely : a remarkable portrait of Francis, 
 first King of Finance, by Janet, should be noticed ; as also two works, one very 
 good, by the late Sir William Bo.xall, R.A. 
 
 Another staircase, at the other end of the corridor, leads to the various passages 
 that give access to the bedrooms, etc. Some of these passages are quaint and 
 irregular, with a good deal of old panelling in parts. On the stairs are portraits 
 of Sir Geofffy Palmer, by Lely ; a curious one of Queen Elizabeth ; Sir Robert 
 Walpole, by Van Loo ; Lord Willoughby of Eresby, on panel ; Sir Lewis Watson 
 as a young man ; Right Honble. H. Pelham, by Hoarc ; Viscountess Sondes as 
 St. Katherine ; and a very curious portrait of Edward Watson on his knees iu 
 prayer, dated 1567. 
 
 In the library, besides the books, there are only a few objects of intex'est, such 
 as a porti'ait of Edward Watson, by Holbein ; a lady, by Netscher ; two small 
 portraits of Lord Strafford iu tlie style of Van Dyck, and a pretty portrait of Lady 
 Mary Watson, by Mary Beale, a pupil of Sir P. Lely. 
 
 We now retrace our steps to the entrance door, and cross the front court to the 
 terrace wall, looking back as we leave the court to see the general effect of the 
 ivy covered gables and mullioned windows, and the deep arch of the gateway : a 
 favourite subject foi- photographei-s. Mounting a step or two, which mark the 
 ancient division between two of the courts, or baileys, and following the terrace 
 wall, we gain a view of the west front, the originally long, low outline of which 
 has been very judiciously broken by the two towers, added about 1848 — 50, by the 
 eminent architect in this special line, the late Mr. Salvin. 
 
 But the view from these terrace walls will claim the visitor's special attention. 
 Far and wide, up and down the valley of the Welland, the eye ranges over miles 
 of rich meadow land, and o\ er the rounded hills of Leicestershire and Rutland. 
 
 The late Canon James, in the Quarterly Review, says: "Anywhere the high site 
 of Rockingham, backed by its avenues of limes and groups of forest trees, would 
 be a fine one, but in Northamptonshire, the wild and broken ground of the Park, 
 
124 
 
 ROt;KINGHAM CASTLE AND THE WATSONS. 
 
 and tlie abrupt slopes and earthworks on which the Castle stands make it 
 singularly unique, and justify the local preference given to it in the Poly-Olhion. 
 The distant prospect indeed is not of rich woodland, but the long reach of the 
 valley of the Welland, marked .but not marred by the graceful sweep of the 
 railway, and village after village grouped x'ound its church on every toft of rising 
 ground, with its own church and village nestling under the shadow of its walls, 
 present a scene of wider and more human interest than many a so-called richer 
 view." Some twenty villages can be seen on veiy clear days, more of course 
 being within the range of vision but concealed by the folds of the land. 
 
 The defensive position to the north, commanding the passages of the Welland, 
 is well seen fi^om here, and a still better bird's-eye view of the whole Castle and 
 surroundings can be got from the top of, the flag tower. 
 
 An old map, dated A.D. 1615, shews two towers at the angles of the terrace 
 walls; their sites are still clearly indicated. This map also extends the gallery 
 wing as far as the terrace wall, and this is perhaj^s confirmed by the still existing- 
 doorway marked in the masonry of the present end of the building. 
 
 A splendid double yew hedge, of great age, marks the line of division between 
 the second and third bailej^s. This hedge may have been planted by Sir Lewis 
 Watson, who seems to have done a good deal to the grounds. 
 
 We now enter the third bailey, which in these days foi^ms the flower garden, 
 and lies at the foot of the keep mound. 
 
 All that remains of the formerly massive keep, or donjon, are the north and west 
 sides of the mound, which is doubtless of much older date than the Conquest. It 
 has been cut into stockade terraces, and it should be observed that similar 
 terraces ran right round the promontory on which the Castle is built. The 
 site of the keep is mainly occupied by the rose garden, the slight depression 
 visible on the south representing the first moat, which was filled up by the buildings 
 of the keep being tumbled into it. 
 
 At the time of the Great Rebellion the keep was already in a state of ruin. 
 The map of 1615, alluded to above, j^laces a circle of small houses on its site. 
 These houses were removed either by Sir Lewis Watson, when arranging his 
 grounds, or by the Parliamentai-ians, who rejiaired the keep to a great extent by 
 means of wooden flankers and palisades. These are clearly shown in a plan of the 
 keep as it was when in the hands of the parliamentary troops, which was discovered 
 in London a few years ago. The works seem to have been mounted with wall 
 pieces, on swivels, with one large gun, apparently about a thirty-pounder, on the 
 summit. 
 
 The Norman eastern wall of the Castle, about nine feet thick, still runs down 
 
ROCKINGHAM CASTLE AND THE WATSONS. 
 
 125 
 
 from the keep to the gateway entrance. A little way clown is an excellent early 
 pointed doorway, and a lancet belonging to a mural tower. 
 
 From the top of the keep mound a good view is obtained of the inner quadrangle 
 with its mullioned windows and the blocked-up doorway leading into the hall. 
 Another quaint, narrow court runs like a street ^ inside the great I'ampart. 
 
 Leaving the flower garden, an avenue of very old limes leads iis along the edge 
 of the deep, artificially scarped ravine, past the open sjjace which may have been 
 the tilt yard, or parade ground, to the second moat. It is very clearly indicated, 
 and is still in part used as a reservoir of water. A wide double avenue of elms 
 leaves the stables to the right, and conducts us to the third moat, .still full of 
 water. It is crossed by the approach at the point where probably stood the 
 drawbridge. This moat stretches right and left for several hundred yards, 
 completely cutting across the neck of land. 
 
 On looking back it will be seen that tlie defensive position was not confined 
 to the Castle, but was also a strongly fortified enclosure, capable of accommodating 
 a very considerable body of men. 
 
 Mr. Clark says that these moats were probably of the date of the Rebellion, 
 but it is to be presumed that he was not aware of the map of 1615, which clearly 
 marks the outer moat, at all events, just as it exists now. Looking out of the 
 lodge gate on to the Kettering road, just beyond the moat, the view over the level 
 Rockingham Shire, now cultivated and enclosed, but formerly an open common, 
 contrasts strongly by its uninteresting monotony with the beauty of the well 
 timbered, broken ground within the lines of defence. 
 
 The deer park lies to the west, along the edge of the table land aud the side 
 of the valley. 
 
 Befoi'e leaving let us return to the garden. As we rest awhile on a warm 
 summer's afternoon, the deep solemn silence which seems almost peculiar to an 
 old English country place, and which, it has been often observed, is nowhere more 
 marked than here, seems almost o])pressive with memories of the past centuides. 
 We can fancy ourselves " compassed about with a great cloud of witnesses." 
 
 This, doubtless, was a home of the Coiitani. Then, as a Roman road is believed 
 to have crossed the valley here, we may well imagine a kilted legionaiy pacing 
 his walk as sentry on these heights, his eye perhaps wandering over the opposite 
 forests of Leighfield, then existing and lowering mysteriously under the leaden 
 sky of an English winter, while his thoughts are far away in his own glorious 
 Rome, where the bright sun of Italy is shining on the snow-clad summit of distant 
 Soracte. 
 
 1 See Initial Letter to this chaiitcr. 
 
126 
 
 ROCKINGHAM CASTLE AND THE WATSONS. 
 
 That old mound opposite was liaised by the Danes, if not earlier. What varied 
 scenes have taken place under its shade ! For the old Castle has had its share in 
 the making of England. We can fancy the mail-clad Normans superintending the 
 nnwilling work of their lately conquered serfs as they build the great stone keep. 
 A little later and the courtyards are full of men-at-arms, and ecclesiastics. Rufus 
 is here holding his council and St. Anselm is calmly asleep in the little oratory, 
 which some antiquarians tell us stood just opposite to where we are sitting, between 
 the donjon and the great hall, till he is summoned to take part in the deliberations. 
 A long succession of Kings pass by, now holding their parliaments, now going 
 out to the chase in the neighbouring forest. King John, a notable figure here. 
 The wars of Henry III., when the Castle must have been almost destroyed, to be 
 rebuilt in a more graceful style under the Edwards. Then a long period of neglect, 
 till Leland sees it a deserted and roofless ruin. 
 
 But by this time the renaissance has revolutionized the social life of Europe, and 
 instead of armoured barons and knights we can fancy Edward Watson, in ruff and 
 trunk-hose, looking to the building of his gables and mullions, or riding about 
 the country an active country gentleman and magistrate. A few more years, and 
 Sir Lewis Watson keeps up the hunting traditions of the place by becoming 
 hereditary Master of the Buckhoiinds. 
 
 Once more I'oyalty appears on the scene. King James I. visits the Castle, and, 
 no doubt, enjoys a day's hunting from it. 
 
 Again civil war is in the land. Surrounded by relations and neighbours on the 
 parliamentary side, Sir Lewis himself labouring under an unjust accusation of 
 disloyalty, and his Castle seized by the rebels, has the pain of hearing, from a 
 distance, of the devastation committed in the place, and of how the Roundheads 
 have pollarded liis favourite trees to make stockades for the keep, now once again 
 bristling with arms and cannon. After a time, Sir Lewis, now Lord Rockingham, 
 retui'ns to his home a grave and somewhat melancholy man ; his loyalty subjects 
 him to much annoyance on the part of Cromwell's government, and he does not 
 live to see "the King enjoy his own again." His son does much to improve the 
 place in more prosperous times. 
 
 And so on down to this nineteenth century, during which a greater knowledge 
 of, and taste for archeeology, so characteristic of the times, and an increased 
 perception of the capabilities of the site, bit by bit have brought Rockingham 
 into the state in which we now find it. 
 
 The old mound stands there still in a peace, let us hope, never again to be 
 broken by the horrors of war. What will it witness in the years to come after 
 we are gone? It has seen the lise of England, will it see its decadence r Rather 
 
ROCKINGHAM CASTLE AND THE WATSONS. 
 
 127 
 
 let us hope that it may see Englishmen true to themselves and to the grand 
 traditions of their history, consolidating an Empire whose branches extend throughout 
 the world for the benefit of the human race. 
 
 And so we leave Rockingham in the perhaps somewhat sad calm of the evening. 
 Our thoughts have been back among the olden times, " the good old times," as 
 they are often called, and yet it may be that, as we descend the hill, a certain 
 feeling of thankfulness comes over us that those old days are past, and that, instead 
 of a painful journey on pack horses, or in later days on the scarcely less 
 wearisome four-horse coach, a short walk will bring us to one of the blessings of 
 modern civilization, the London and North-Western Railway. 
 
 G. L. W. 
 
 " Tempora mutantur, uos et mntamur in illis." 
 
Chapter Seventh. 
 
 ROCKINGHAM FOREST. 
 
 " When Rockingham, the Muse to her fair forest brings, 
 
 Thence lying to the north, whose sundry gifts she sings, 
 
 O clear and dainty nymph, most gorgeously array'd 
 
 Of all the Di-iads known, the most delicious maid — 
 
 With all delights adorn'd, that every way beseem 
 
 A sylvan, by whose state we verily may deem 
 
 A deity in thee, in whose delightful bowers 
 
 The fawns and fairies make the longest day but hours, 
 
 And joying in the soil, where thou assum'st thy seat. 
 
 Thou to thy handmaid haste, (thy pleasures to await). 
 
 Fair Bcnefield, whoso care to thee doth surely cleave. 
 
 Which bears a grass so soft, as is the dainty sleave. 
 
 And thrumed so thick and deep, that the proud palmed deer 
 
 Forsake the closer, and make their quiet leir 
 
 In beds of platted fog, so eas'ly there they sit. 
 
 A forest and a chase in every thing so fit, — 
 
 This island hardly hath, so ne'er ally'd that be, 
 
 Brave nymph, such praise belongs to Bcnefield and thee." 
 
 M. Drayton. " Poly-Olbion.'" 
 
 ORESTS have always possessed an extra- 
 oi-dinarv fascination for man; a fascination 
 ai'ising from a sense of tlae mysterious, 
 producing an indescribable feeling of 
 awe, not unmixed with pleasure. This 
 I'everential feeling, no doubt, led the 
 idolatrous nations of Canaan to set up 
 their altars in gi'oves, and caused our own 
 Druids to select the sombre shades of a 
 forest for the practice of their religious 
 mystei'ies; and, according to some author- 
 ities, led medieval architects to adopt 
 a forest as the model for the interior of 
 the finest Gothic cathedrals, in which the 
 chisters of slender columns are supposed 
 to represent the trunks, and the gracefully 
 interlacing arches, with their delicate 
 
ROCKINGHAM CASTLE AND THE WATSONS. 
 
 129 
 
 tracery, to represent the beautiful canopy of branches foi-med by a dense mass of 
 forest trees. 
 
 The influence which forests have exercised upon the imagination is seen in the 
 prominent place they occupy in the machinery of the early poets and romance writers. 
 
 America and Africa present us with the most recent examples of what we may 
 suppose the aspect of every fertile portion of the globe to have been before men 
 multiplied, and needed greater space for their dwellings and cultivated fields. 
 Forests doubtless covered the greater part of the surface of the land. We know, 
 from our own early annals, that this was the case in Britain.^ 
 
 As the population increased the cleared and cultivated spaces extended, and 
 the forest diminished, until the isl.and was mapped out into a series of forests 
 swamps, and cultivated regions. 
 
 Northamptonshire was evidently, at one period, almost entirely occupied by a 
 forest extending into some of the adjacent counties. This forest was gradually 
 cleared to make room for the increase of population, and for the extension of agri- 
 cultural operations, which naturally followed the advent of civilization. How early 
 the wooded ])ortions of tliis county came to be distinguished by the tliree names of 
 Rockingham, Whittlewood, and Salcey Forests, is not known with certainty. 
 
 Evidently Kingsley had a tolerably clear perception of the extent of the 
 Northamptonshire Forest, and of its connection with the forests of the neiglil)oiiring 
 counties, when, in Hcreivard the Wake, he wrote : " Away south, between the Nene 
 and the Welland, stretches from Stamford and Peterborough the still vast forest 
 of Rockingham, nigh twenty miles in length, as the crow flies, down be3-ond 
 Rockingham town, and Geddington Chase . . . Deep tangled forest filled the 
 lower clay lands, swarming with pheasants, roe, badger, and moi'c wolves than 
 were needed. Bi'oken park-like glades covered the upjjer freestones, where the 
 red deer came out from harbour for their evening graze, and the partridges and 
 plovers whin ed up, and the hares loped away, innumerable ; and where hollies 
 and ferns always gave dry lying foi- the night. "2 The enormous extent of 
 Rockingham Foi'est, in early times, is seen from tlie Perambulation 14 Edward I. 
 which is given with exemplary brevity : " Bunde et Mete foreste de Rockingham 
 et de Clyve, de ponte austral Northon semper ex parte Borial dv Ripa de Neeue 
 usq : ad pontem Walmesford, et de illo pimte per via regium use], ad pontem 
 Stanford de illo semp : p' ripani Weland semper ex pai'te austi'ali usq : ad pontem 
 Havei'bergre et de illo ])ei' altani viam usq : ad rivuluni de Maydwell sic per 
 eundem Rivuluni semper ex parte Oiientali usq: ad murum Noitb'^""-" 
 
 1 C H. Pearson's valuable work, " Historical Maps of Euglautl," coulaius a lucid ilescriptioii of the gradual 
 diminution of the forests iu England. 
 
 2 Chiipter 34. 
 
130 ROCKINGHAM CASTLE AND THE WATSONS. 
 
 It will be seen from the above that the forest occupied nearly the whole of the 
 north-eastern portion of the county. But it must not be supposed this was a 
 continuous tract of woodland, all that is meant is that the portions included 
 within the so-called Forest were " foris," i.e. outside the boundaries of the public 
 lands, or lands granted to subjects. 
 
 According to Manwood's definition, " A Forest is a certen Territorie of wooddy 
 grounds and fruitfull pasture, priuiledged for wild beasts and foules of Forrest 
 Chase and Warren to rest and abide in in the safe Protection of the Kino- for his 
 prime Delight and Pleasure which Territorie of Ground, so priuiledged, is meered 
 and bounded with uuremouable Markes, Meeres and Boundaries, either known by 
 matter of Record or els by Prescription." 
 
 The Forest Vills, or Manors, must in the time of Edward I. have become very 
 numerous. The possessions of religious communities were, as a rule, exempt from 
 the operation of the forest laws. As those communities at the period of the 
 Dissolution of the Monasteries numbered, in Northamptonshire, about thirt}', they 
 alone must have abstracted a good deal from the forest. 
 
 In the manusci'ipt department of the British Museum is preserved " A Treatis 
 uppon Forests Parkes Chases and free Warrens &c.," by William Fleetwood, 
 Recorder of London, 1571. The writer says " the fforestes of the Realme beinge 
 Parte of the same (the King's) Patrimonie have bene in all ages ' Inter magnalia 
 coron;©.' " This would seem to be not so much the assertion of a new claim on 
 the part of the crown as a holding on, by the sovereign, to his claim to all lands 
 which had not been granted to a snbject. For when the chief of a tribe, or the 
 sovereign of a nation, gave to his tribe or nation (by conquest or otherwise) a new 
 district or country, the whole of that territory was assumed to be the absolute 
 property of that chief or king, who granted parts of it to his principal warriors, 
 either as a reward for past, or a bribe for future services. The portions so 
 granted were either spaces already cleared and settled, or sites suited to the 
 purpose of settlement. Hence, from time to time, new tracts would be cleai'ed, 
 and the forest boundary contracted ; but all the ungranted portions of the forest 
 would still be regarded as crown property. 
 
 When the sovereign, by the peaceable settlement of his newly subdued territory, 
 lost the outlet which war had provided for his combative propensities, he naturally 
 turned to the outlet offered by the chase. 
 
 In the earlier times he seems to have confined his claim to the right of exclusive 
 hunting to those districts which had not been granted to a subject. But the 
 Norman Conquei'or appears to have claimed as his own all animals of chase 
 throiigln lilt llie kingdom, and no one was permitted to hunt, even on his own 
 
ROCKINGHAM CASTLE AND THE WATSONS. 
 
 131 
 
 estates, without a royal licence.^ This view seems to be taken in a quotation 
 given by Fleetwood from La Customarie de Normandie U: 14: " Gonsideres que 
 les Iforests, bois, buissons, et garennes de ce Royaunie est le un de les principales 
 commodities et decoration du domaine du Roy, recreation de Luy et de ses enfans 
 et autres princes et seigneux's de son sange et subvention des affaires de Luy et de 
 la Chose publique &c. &c." 
 
 By degrees the whole of the forest lands of the kingdom became subjected to 
 a set of laws administered by a specially appointed set of officers, in courts established 
 for their administration. These ai-e often referred to as the " Forest Laws," the 
 actual date of whose origin is involved in much obscurity. 
 
 The Forest Laws of Canute, cir: lOlG, are the earliest known in England. 
 They are to be found in Ilolinshed's Chronicle, Hpclman s Glossarij, and in Thorpe s 
 Ancient Laws and Listitutes. Their authenticity is, liowever. disputed by Coke, 
 and by Freeman (see his Norman Conquest.) 
 
 By this code a suspected offender was subjected to a similar ordeal to that 
 administered to offenders against the law outside the forest boundaries. If the 
 accused were a noble or freeborn man, he had to walk a certain number of paces 
 candying a hot iron, weighing one, or tlu'ee pounds. If he was not burnt or sooi'ched 
 he was deemed innocent, otherwise he was guilty. Serfs, &c., were tried either 
 "per aqnam fiigidam " or "per aquam calidani." By tlio first, the .accused was 
 to be thrown into a pond, pool, or river, and if he continued some time under water 
 without struggling, he was pi'ouounced innocent; "If he laboured for breath soon 
 after immersion," he was deemed guilty. By the second of these ordeals the accused 
 had to tlirust his arm up to the shoulder into a vessel of hot water. If he was 
 vmhxirt he was acquitted, if scalded he was condemned.^ 
 
 When convicted of serious offences against the Forest Laws, a freeman suffered loss 
 of liberty and goods, a serf lost his right liand. For a second offence the punishment 
 was death for any offender. For causing a beast of the forest " to run " (either 
 intentionally or by chance), "so that he panted for breath," a freeman was 
 fined, a serf was scourged. For chasing a royal stag till it panted, a freeman 
 was impi-isoned for a year, a serf was outlawed. If the stag died, the freeman 
 lost his freedom, the serf his life. 
 
 The chroniclers assert that by the Forest Laws of the Conqueror, any person 
 convicted of slaying the stag, or roe, or wild boar, was to have his eyes plucked 
 out. In the Forest Laws of Richard I., it is expressly stated that anyone convicted 
 of hunting within the Royal Forests should " lose his eyes and suffer mutilation 
 
 1 This is rather a conjectviral deduction from the supposed Fcucbil Laws. 
 2 Man wood, 
 
132 
 
 ROCKINGHAM CASTLE AND THE WATSONS. 
 
 as in tlie time of my grandfatlier." These barbarous laws are not to be ascribed 
 to the tyranny of the King alone, as they were the joint production of himself, the 
 principal Ecclesiastics, and the Nobles.^ 
 
 The statement of the chroniclers referred to above, must be received with caution, 
 as there are no laws exclusively relating to the forests to be found amongst those 
 of the Conqueror, but during the reigns of his immediate successors a system of 
 laws, and of courts for their administration was established, by which not only 
 all offences with regard to the royal forests were tried, but by them all ]iersons 
 living upon these properties were governed. 
 
 The reader will see how admirably these courts, and the proceedings in them, 
 were calculated to worry and harass an offender. 
 
 The first covirt was the Court of Attachment. This court was held every forty 
 days, and was presided over by the verderers, who were gentlemen of position in 
 the neighbourhood, supposed to be well versed in the Foi-est Laws. To this court 
 were bi'ought, by the subordinate forest officers, all offenders against those laws. 
 The vei'derers, after hearing the charge, held the accused "to mainprise," that 
 is, bound him over to appear at the next Court of Swainmote. An example of these 
 proceedings has been given on page 36. 
 
 The vei'derer seems to have occupied amongst forest officers a position somewhat 
 analogous to that of a magistrate, except that he does not appear to have possessed 
 authority to pass a sentence of any kind, beyond that of holding the accused to bail. 
 But, as he could call upon him to appear at the Court of Swainmote as often as he 
 pleased, he had a tolerably firm hold upon him. This court was also called the 
 Court of Woodmote, the Verderers' Court, and the Forty Days' Court. 
 
 The next higher court was the Court of Swainmote, which was a court of 
 ministers for receiving presentments, and trjnng the truth of them by a jury of 
 freehoklers. It was not to be held oftener than three times a year. f^^"' 
 
 The three sittings were : first, fifteen days before the Feast of St. Michael, when 
 the King's Agistors^ came to agist his demesne woods. 
 
 Secondly, the Feast of St. Martin, when they came to receive the pannage.^ At 
 these two meetings, the agistors, foresters, and verderers were obliged to attend. 
 
 Thirdly, at the beginning of fifteen days before the Feast of St. John. This was 
 the commencement of the "Fence," "Close," or "Forbidden Month. At this 
 court, the verderers and foresters were comjjelled to appear, under penalty of a 
 fine for non-attendance. 
 
 The proceedings at these courts of Swainmote wei-e : firstly, calling names of 
 
 1 See Fisher's " Forest of Essex." 
 2 For an explanation of these terms see further on. 
 
ROCKINGHAM CASTLE AND THE WATSONS. 
 
 133 
 
 officers, fining absentees, and swearing jurors. Secondly, the jurors made their 
 jiresentments after this manner, " It is presented by the twelve jurors of the 
 bailiwick of ... in the Forest of Rockingham, in co. Northampton, and 
 convicted by the foresters, verderers, regarders and other ministers of the forest, 
 that ... on such a day within the Forest kept a dog unexpeditated -.^ And 
 that the same dog on such a day, in such a walk within tlie Forest chased a 
 certain male deer called a Pricket,^ against the laws and assize of the Forest." 
 Thirdly, the fines were " alfeared " (fixed) and written on the margin of the roll, 
 and signed as having the assent, &c., of all the foresters, verderers, regarders, 
 &c., and finally signed by the Steward of the Court. 
 
 Every pei^son indicted was bound in a penalty of twenty pounds, with two 
 sureties of ten pounds each, to appear and answer at the next Justice-seat, and 
 not to depart without license of the court, and meantime to be of " good behaviour 
 towards the King's Game, and Vei't, and Venison of the Foi-est." 
 
 It was the duty of the Court of Swainmote to decide whether a thing was an 
 offence against the Forest Laws, and if it was, to fix the fine. The rolls of the 
 offenders which had passed the Court of Swainmote were to be sealed up by the 
 verderers, &c., and kept till the next justice-seat. If an oHiccr lost the rolls he 
 was fined, and according to Fleetwood, " If it hapj)cn that by the scotte or other 
 Enemies of this Realme suche Rolls or Indictaments are burnte or destioyed yet 
 is this none Excuse per Assisam forestae ... in the said case the officer 
 shall make his fine for the same or els his lands shalbe seised." 
 
 The power of deciding if the offence and fine had been justly decided rested 
 with the highest court of all : 
 
 The Court of Justice Seat. This was the supreme Forest Court, and Avas not 
 to be held oftener than once in three years. It was presided over b}' the Lord Chief 
 Justice in Eyre. According to Manwood, this was " a place of gi-eat Honour and 
 Authority, always held by some of the Chiefest of the Nobility-," appointed by 
 special commission. The holder of this comniission seems to have possessed 
 powers as great as, if not greater than those of the Judges in Common Law. 
 
 As the name implies, ^ this judge held liis courts in the different counties. In 
 the time of our earliei- kings there was one Chief Justice in Eyre for all the forests 
 in the realm. But in the 25th Henry III., one was appointed for the forests 
 beyond ('north of) the Trent, and one for the forests on this side (south of) the 
 Trent. Before the latter, would be brought offenders taken in Rockingham Forest. 
 
 The proceedings of this court were somewhat as follows. Forty days before 
 
 1 See explauation of tcnns bclovr. 
 
 2 Eyre, in old French — a journey. 
 
134 
 
 ROCKINGHAM CASTLE AND THE WATSONS. 
 
 tlie holding of the court the Chief Justice in Eyi-e "made out his precepts to the 
 Sheriff of the County wherein the forest lay, commanding him to summon all 
 the Prelates, Nobility, Knights, Gentlemen and Freeholders that have lands within 
 the Boundaries of the Forest, and out of every Town and Village four Men and a 
 Reve, and out of every Borough Twelve lawful men : And all Persons that claim 
 to hold Pleas of the Forest, before the Justice." " Proclamation to be made 
 also at all Boroughs, Towns, Fail's, & Markets, that those claiming Liberties, 
 Free-Customs &c. in the Forest, to be there. And all Persons attached since the 
 last Court, touching Vert and Venison, with their Pledges and Mainpernors, ^ who 
 had a day given them ... be there and stand to and abide the Judgment of 
 the Court. "2 Another summons was issued to the Foresters, Venderers, &c., to 
 come and bring their writings. 
 
 The duties of this court were to punish, fine, and imprison offenders against 
 the Forest Laws. To enquire into the light of claimants to have Parks, Warrens, 
 Coney Buriows ; to be quit of Assarts^ and Purpastures,-' to be out of regard of 
 the forest, and to kill beasts of chase. It possessed also, within the boundaries 
 of the forest, many of the actual, and some of the potential powers of the modern 
 County Council. It inquired into, and l egulated the repair of bridges, the deepening 
 of fords, the neglect to scour ditches, to mend ways, to train hedges, and the blocking 
 of sewers, and the keeping of unlicensed ale-houses. Ale-houses within the forest 
 were treated as a nnisance because they harboured poachers and vagabonds.'' 
 
 We see from the foregoing sketch that the action of these courts was, like that 
 of the Court of Chancery, slow, and well calculated to worry an offender, who 
 was "presented" at the Court of Attachments, then "committed" by the Court 
 of Swainmote (to which he might be summoned by the verderers as often as they 
 pleased), and finally he was sentenced by the Court of Justice Seat. Thus a rod 
 was, as it were, suspended over the back of an offender against "his Majesty's 
 Vert and Venison " during an almost indefinite period. 
 
 We will now proceed to consider the special laws for the administration of 
 which these courts were devised. To give these in their entirety would require 
 a volume. Their chief features, those features which made them irksome, and 
 often intolerable to dwellers within the boundaries or precincts of Rockingham, or 
 any other roj^al forest, will, therefore, be placed before the I'eader by means of 
 extracts from Fleetwood, whose quaint language furnishes an a2323ropriate setting 
 for the now obsolete enactments he records. 
 
 1 Their Sureties. 
 2 Manwood. 
 3 See explanation of terms below. 
 4 Fisher. 
 
ROCKINGHAM CASTLE AND THE WATSONS. 
 
 135 
 
 " It appears that in the time of King heniie the ffirst that the offenders in 
 hunting of the King's wild beastes weare punished either by lieffe or member 
 and the same lawe was confirmed by his nephewe King Henrie the 2 at his 
 Assises made at Woodstocke." The people being aggrieved by this law, Henry 
 III., in the Charter of Forests (in ninth year of his reign), ordered that " No man 
 from henceforthe shall lose neither lieffe nor member for Killing our Deeie but 
 if anie man be taken therewith Convict for taking of our venison He shall make 
 a grievous fine, yf he have anie tliinge whereof, and if he have nothinge to lose 
 he shalbe imprisoned for a yeai-e and a dale and after the yeare and a daie exjDired 
 If he can finde sufficient sureties he shalbe delivered and if not he sliall abiure 
 the Realme. After the niakeinge of this lawe, beinge confirmed by the statute 
 of marebridge, the people were boldened in a marvellous sort and did not muche 
 feare to offende in the King's fforessts," therefore Edward I. (an. 22) " made a 
 lawe that if anie ff'oster parker or warrener doe find anie ti'cspasser wandering 
 w'^ in his libertie entending to doe Dammage therein and that after hewe and 
 Crye made to him to stande to the peace will not ycMkle himself but doth Continewe 
 and Execute his malice and disobeyeing the King's peace Dotli fflie or Defend 
 himselfe w''^ fforce and arines although suche ffosters parkers or warrenei-s or 
 anie other cominge in theire Companie and aydinge sucli ffoster parker or 
 warrenner in the Kings peace doe kill anie offender or offendors beinge so fowued 
 Either in arrestage or takinge them or anie of them, they shall not be arraigned 
 uppon tlie same before the King and his Justices nor shall lose for so doeinge 
 either liefe or lymme or suffer unie other punishement 13at shall enioye the Kings 
 peace as he did before." The same king enacted that, " If anie take wilde beaste 
 w'^oute warrant in the Kings fforest, his bodie shalbe arrested wh"^ soeA^er it be 
 founde w^hin the mete of the fforest, And when he is taken he shall not be 
 delivered without a siDCciall precepte of the Kinge or of the Cliieft'e Justice of the 
 fforest. If anie person doe see anie malefactor within the bouudcrics of the ft'orest 
 takinge anie Avilde beaste or bearinge the same awaie, ho shall to the uttermoste 
 of his power areste the offender And if ho be not liable then shall he leavie hue 
 and Crie and if he do not this he shalbe in the Kings mei'cie. If anie woodward 
 doe see anie malefactr within his chardge or if he finde anie wilde beaste deed he 
 shall shewe the same unto the chieffe ffoster or els to the verder. And if he doe 
 it not then if the Kings ft'orester doe finde suche a ffaulte within the wood In the 
 regard of such a woodward that wood^^ shall be seized into the Kings hands by 
 the commandment of the King or of his Chieffe Justice of his fforest and the 
 woodward shalbe attached by ffower pledges." 
 
 " If anie wilde beaste be founde dead or wounded Inquisition shalbe made by 
 
136 ROCKINGHAM CASTLE AND THE WATSONS. 
 
 fower Townes nexte unto tlie fforest. The which Townes shalbe noated in the 
 Roll and the ffinder shall put in six pledges and the ffleshe shalbe sent to the 
 Lazerhowse If there be anie neare by the testimouie of the verd"" and of the 
 Counti'ie And if there be no such Lazerhowsse neai^e then shall the fflesh be fi;iven 
 to the infirme and poore people. And the heade and the Skinne shalbe delivered 
 unto the ffrcemen of the next Towne and the AiTowe (if anie be fownde) shalbe 
 presented unto the verdei^or and shalbe Bntred in his Rolls." 
 
 " By reason of the sharp execuc'on of theise statuts Customs and assises and 
 of others the people of this Realme complained that Divers weare Disherited 
 Ransomed and undone by Chieffe keepers of the fforeststes agaiiaste the fforme of 
 the Greate Charter." Therefore Edward II. (an. 34) and Edward III. (an. 2) 
 ordei'ed " that no man should be taken or Imprisoned for vert or venison unless 
 he weare taken w''^ the manner or els Indicted after the forme specified in the 
 said statute." Nevertheless complaints were still frequent of " the sliarpe dealings 
 of the minst^ of the Iforest," therefore in 9th Richard II., it was " Bnaced by 
 parliament that no man should be taken or imprisoned by any minister of the 
 fforest without Dewe Indictment or being taken w'^'^ the manner or trespassing in 
 the fforest. This qualiefieinge of the sharpenes of the foresaid lawes " led, in the 
 time of Henry VII. to " great boldness on the parte of evill disposed people. It doth 
 appear that Diverse persons in great nombers some with painted faces some with 
 Visordes and otherwise disguysed to the Intent that they might not be known In 
 warlike manner Did hunte in fforests parkes and warrens with in this Realme 
 aswell by nighte as by Dale and by the meane thei-eof coulde not well be knowne." 
 It was decreed by Act of Pai'liament that any person concealing any such unlawful 
 hunting when examined by " anie of the Kings Councell or by anie Justice of 
 the peace of the said countie, it should be ' felonye." . . . " It is not lawful 
 to burn or destroy ffearne or heather or such like because it is take by the assise 
 of the fforest to be covert for the prynces wilde beaste." By the Assize held by 
 the Lord "William de Vescy and his companion Justices in Eyre for the pleas of 
 the Forest, it was declared that " He that cutteth down oan in the fforest oute of 
 the Kings ameasne Woode shalbe attached by ffower sui'eties." ..." None 
 shall take howse boote nor haye boote, that is to sale Timber for the repaieringe 
 of his howse withe under woodde for the makinge of his hedge, but that the woods 
 may well suffer and yet remain in their pristino state." 
 
 By 34 Edward II., in order to prevent any suspicion of unfair dealing, it was 
 enacted that " for every trespasse done in the fforest . . . such trespassers 
 shalbe presented at the next swaynem' before the fforesters &c. as well by the 
 oathes of Knights as of other discreete and lawfull men, and not suspicious of the 
 
ROCKINGHAM CASTLE AND THE WATSONS. 
 
 137 
 
 parte joyeninge or neare where sucli offences shalbe presented and wheare the 
 trewth maye best and most Clearlie be knowne, and the trewthe presentlie knowne 
 Then suche presentments by the common assent and consent of all the said 
 ministers " (including the Steward of the Swainmote who " ought to have the 
 fforest lawes at his ffingers endes ") " shalbe solempnlie written and w'-'^ their 
 Seales &c." 
 
 " He that is indicted and hath for the same put himselfe in the Kings mercie 
 then he shall put in maynprise of fewer sureties that he shalbe ever after of good 
 abearinge in the Kings fforests " . . . " No man may enclose anie gi'ound 
 within the fEorest." . . . "No man may build anie howse within the iforest." 
 
 " If any man have a horse pasturinge in the Kings fEorest either by 
 licence or without If in the nighte time he enter into the fforest and take owte 
 his horsse he shalbe Imprisoned and bounde to good abearinge "... 
 "White Tawyers might not dwell within the fforest as they were the common dressers 
 of the skins of deer." It was forbidden to destroy " Hawkcs or the Eyris of 
 Hawkes," also to make a marlpit in the forest. " If the people of a whole townshipp 
 make waste of the Greene hawe^ of the ffoi-est the whole towsi* shalbe fined XX* If 
 when the Hew and Cry be raised it be not pursued and followed with eft'ecte the 
 Townshipiie fawltie be well fyned." If stolen venison was carried away on horseback 
 the horse was forfeited. The receiver of stolen venison had the same punishment 
 as the stealer. " An Abbot that lent a bowe and Arrowcs to the Inteute to kill 
 the kings deare Avas fyned and ransomed." A "Parker" was indicted for receiving 
 a bribe to conceal an offence. Two men were imprisoned for taking a hare in her 
 form. The dogs, bows, and arrows of trespassers were forfeited. " One was Indicted 
 for setting a greue in the Gappe of an hedge wherewith he took a sewell." . . . 
 "One was finde for taking of wilde goatc within the ft'orest." A woman might 
 be a forester and could "make her deputie." No one might fish in a river forming 
 a forest boundary. Dogs must be expeditated or "lawed." "A wodwarde maye 
 not walke with bowe and shafts but with fforest bill." 
 
 Manwood thus defines the four methods of offending when engaged in illegal 
 hunting. 
 
 Stablestand is when the offender is found standing with his bow bent to shoot 
 the deer, or with his greyhound in a leash ready to slip. 
 
 Dogdratv is when, having wounded a deer, the offender draws after him with 
 his dog to take him. 
 
 Backhear is, " when he hath killed a Wilde Beast, and is found carrying him 
 on his back." 
 
 1 8ce explanation of terms below. 
 
]38 ROCKINGHAM CASTLE AND THE WATSONS. 
 
 Blodyhand is when the offender is found with the blood of deer upon him. 
 
 The above presents the reader w^ith a brief outline of the forest laws as they 
 existed, with slight alterations from time to time, until their abolition, which may 
 be taken practically to have been when the Long Parliament passed the " Act 
 for the Certainty of Forests, &c." (16 Charles I.) 
 
 There still remains one of the regulations which, so far as the writer knows, 
 has not been repealed. In the Carta Forestae of Heni-y III., it is provided that 
 " Whatsoever archbisliop, bishop, earl, or baron, coming to us at our commandment, 
 passeth by our forest, it shall be lawful for him to take and kill one or two of 
 our deer, by view of our forester, if he is present; or else he shall cause one to 
 blow an horn for him, that he seem not to steal our deer ; and likewise they shall 
 do returning from us as it is aforesaid." 
 
 Thus any high ecclesiastic or nobleman, on his way to or from parliament, 
 can, by carrying with him a horn and arranging his route so as to pass through 
 a royal forest, still supply himself, or his friends, with a haunch of venison at 
 the expense of his sovereign. 
 
 The power vested in the forest officers gave them opportunities to oppress 
 their poorer neighbours of which they were not slow to avail themselves. Fisher 
 says that much of the hardship suffered by the rural population in the forest 
 districts was due to the arbitrary regulations of those officers, rather than to the 
 harshness of the laws. 
 
 They made it a crime, punishable by loss of goods or limb, to snare or set traps 
 for birds. They kept husbandmen from their fields that the beasts might feed 
 there. Even the bees were compelled to take refuge in the woods that they might 
 become the property of the King. In short, the oppi'ession by these petty officers 
 was, at times, so great that, as Fleetwood quaintly says above, " Divers were 
 Disherited Ransomed and undone by Chieft'e Keepers of the ff'orests and other 
 ministers." This occurred over and over again, notwithstanding the modifications 
 from time to time made in the forest laws. 
 
 Neither the charter laws, nor the arbitrary regulations of the keepers seem 
 to have met with much respect in the reign of James I. This laxity drew from 
 that hunting monarch the following proclamation, which, according to the custom 
 of the time, was published through the medium of the parish churches. 
 
 "James Rex 
 
 ■' Trusty and Wellbeloved wee greete you well letting You to Wit that as 
 Wee are credibly informed nothwithstanding by our sundry proclamations since 
 our happy entrance into this flourishing Kingdom we have testified our princely 
 care and desire tendeinge to the encrease of the Deer and Game Yet many both 
 
ROCKINGHAM CASTLE AND THE WATSONS. 
 
 139 
 
 purlieu Men and Strangers not having Freehold Land to the Yearly Value of 
 XL shillings within the Purlieues do usually chase and kill the Deer and Game 
 lying and feeding within the Purlieues and borders near adjoiug to our Baylywick 
 of Rockingham within the Forest of Rockingham with Greyhounds Crossbows 
 Guns and other Engines, and by divers other means contrary to the plain and 
 express words of the aunciente Laws and Ordinances of the Forest in that case 
 made and provided and to the utter exile and destruction of the Deer and Game 
 there if speedy and conveniente remedy be not had : for redress and present 
 reformation Whereof and for the better peace and pi'eservation of our Deer and 
 Game lying and feeding within the Purlieues and places near unto the confines of 
 the said Baylywick. We reposing especial trust and confidence in Your diligence 
 and provident care in this behalf do earnestly will and require you that presently 
 upon Receipt hereof You do cause to be published in every Parish Cliurch within 
 oui" said Baylywick and near adjoining to the Borders and confines of the same 
 these aunciente Laws and ordinances to you for that purpose directed to the end 
 that all Men from henceforth may by our gracious warnings forbear their disorderly 
 course of hunting within the Purlieus and near the borders and Confines of our 
 said Baylywick or else be and remain hereafter inexcusable, and if any shall out of 
 an obstinate and undutiful humour continue their unlawful manner of hunting 
 in or near the place aforesaid that you fail not to punish them by irajirisonment 
 or otherwise as by the Lawes and ordinances of the Forest in that case made and 
 provided and further that you do forewarn all our loveing subjects who do challenge 
 to have any free haye in our said Baylywick or in the borders and confines of the 
 same that they do forbear hunting the said Free hayes by themselves their servants 
 and deputies and that they suffer our Ranger and Foresters of our said Baylywick 
 to hunt our Deer & Game out of the said Freehayes into our said Baylywick 
 according as in the Purliciues adjoining to our said Baylywick is accustomed to 
 be done until such time as they shall plead their several Charters before our 
 Verdeiers and Officers of the Forest and Baylywick or before our Justice in Eyre 
 at our next Justice Seat to be holden within our said Baylywick as they tender 
 our high Displeasure and this shall be your sufficyente warranto in that behalf. 
 Given at our Court at Wanested the 21^*- June 1610. To our trustie and vvelbeloved 
 S"" Edward Mountecute S^' Christopher Hatton S"" Edward Watson S'" Thomas 
 Brooke S'' Thomas Tresham and to every of them." 
 
 The following is a copy of the " Auncyente Lawes &c." which were published 
 in obedience to the foregoing proclamation. A Purlieu was ground adjoining to 
 a forest, which having been taken into the forest by Henry II., Richard I., or 
 
140 
 
 ROCKINGHAM CASTLE AND THE WATSONS. 
 
 John, was severed from the forest again by Henry III., and a Purlieu man was one 
 Avho claimed a forty shilling-s' freehold within a Purlieu. 
 
 "James Rex 
 
 "Certain auncyeute Lawes & ordinances of the Forest commanded by his Majesty 
 to be published in the Parisli Churches within the Baylywick of Rockingham and 
 near and adjoining iinto the Borders and confines of the same. 
 
 " I. No man may chase or kill the Kings Deer and Game lying & feeding within 
 
 the Purlieu^ adjoining to the said Baylywick except he have Freehold Lands 
 
 to the Yearly value of XL shillings within the said Purlieues. 
 "2. Every Purlieu Man must begin his chase in his own Purlieu. 
 "3. No Purlieu Man may hunt his own Purlieues with any more company than 
 
 his household Servants. 
 " 4. He must not use anie manner of Forestallinge with Quicke Haye or with 
 
 Dead Haye, neither Gun, Crossbow, nor any other Engine to take or kill 
 
 the Deer withal but only chasing with his Dogge. 
 " 5. He must not hunt his Purlieues in the night tyme nor on Sundays nor in 
 
 the Fence month nor oftener than three days in the week. 
 "6. He must not hunt his Purlieu 40 days before the Kings General Hunting 
 
 nor 40 days after. 
 
 " 7. He must not hunt his Purlieu when the Forester is to serve any Warrant 
 near unto the borders of the Purlieues having notice given him thereof before. 
 
 " 8. He must repeal and call back his Dogge before they enter into the Forest 
 neither may he pursue them into the Forest excejjt they do first fasten upon 
 the Deer and that the Deer so draw his Dogge into the Forest. 
 
 " 9. He may not hunt nor kill any unseasonable Deer. 
 
 " To our Trustie and welbeloved S'' Edward Mountacute S'' Christopher Hatton 
 
 S^" Edward Watson S"^ Thomas Brooke and S^ Thomas Tresham Knight and to 
 
 every of them." 
 
 There were certain privileges enjoyed by those who resided in, or adjoining the forest. 
 
 In 1744, F. Howgrave, of Stamford, printed a threepenny tract written by a 
 " Commoner." In this tract he reminds his brother commoners that they and 
 their fathers had, time out of mind, turned their cattle into the open woods 
 throughout the Forest of Rockingham. Hogs were commonable, but if over seven 
 weeks old, they must be rung or pegged. He complains that the keepers illegally 
 im^iounded them, or charged a penny, or twopence a head for branding them. 
 Horses of commoners might also be turned into the forest, under certain conditions. 
 These common and foresterial rights were to be " enjoyed without stint." 
 
 1 See explanation of terms below. 
 
ROCKINGHAM CASTLE AND THE WATSONS. 
 
 141 
 
 Having given a brief sketch of the forest courts and forest laws, we will proceed 
 to notice the chief forest ofScers by whom these laws were administered, beginning 
 with the highest officer, The Chief Justice in Eyre. To this office, as before stated, 
 were appointed men of eminence in the State, who were entrusted with extensive 
 powers. 
 
 The following list, given fiom one found in an interesting manuscript in the British 
 Museum,! and from Fisher's " Forest of Essex," will furnish the reader with an 
 idea of the importance which was attached to this office : 
 
 "2 Henry 3. Joannes Marescallus 
 "5 „ „ Brian de Insula ... 
 
 " 8 „ „ Hugo de Neuill 
 
 ' 13 „ „ „ „ (his son ?3 
 
 '16 „ ,, Petrus de Riuall 
 '19 „ „ Joannes de Neuill 
 
 ? Joannes de Monamue ... 
 ? Joannes Bissett ... 
 
 Joannes filius Godfredi... 
 Rcginaklus de Mohan ... 
 Gilbertus de Segrave ... 
 Galfredus de Langley ... 
 Reginaldus de Mohun ... 
 Galfr'us de Langley 
 
 Ernaldus de Bosio (ob : 39 Hen : 3) 
 
 Short interval witli no Cliief Justice in Eyre, 
 after aj^pears Robeitus Walorand 
 Thomas Grestey... 
 
 Alanus la Zouche (ii festo Pentecoste) 
 Malllia'us de Colunibarijs 
 "2 Richard 2. Thomas Holand frater Regis ... 
 "3 Henry 5. Humfr'us Dux Gloustriae frater Regis 
 "25 Henry 6. Ricardus Dux Ebrorum... 
 "2 Edward 4. Joannes Maubray Dux Norfolkiae 
 "2 „ „ Henricus Bourchier Comes Essexiae ... 
 " 2 Richard 3. Will'mus Comes Ai^undelliae ... 
 "2 Henry 8. Thomas Lupellus Eques Auratus 
 "25 ,, ,, Thomas Graices Marchis Dorsiti 
 "26 ,, „ Carolus Brandonus Dux Suthfolkiae ... 
 
 tot : Ang ; 
 
 "25 
 "26 
 
 "34 
 "36 
 "37 
 
 "38 
 
 43 
 ^43 
 •49 
 
 Cit 
 
 Trent : 
 
 tot : Ang : 
 Cit: Trent: 
 
 1 Sco "Vcsjinsinn, F. iv.," u viilufible miuo of rcrorein'i'. 
 
142] 
 
 ROCKINGHAM CASTLE AND THE WATSONS. 
 
 "37 Henry 8. Gulielmus Pauletus D'n's de Sancto Joanne ") /-cm 
 
 *' -I -r. • (• Cit : Trent : 
 
 de Uasing ... ... ... ... ) 
 
 ? Henricus Radcliffus Comes Sussixiae... ... ,, ,, 
 
 ? Thomas Radcliffus ... ... ... ... ,, „ 
 
 The reader will observe that the foregoing list gives the names of no Chief 
 
 Justices in Eyre during the reigns of the three earlier Edwards, nor in those of 
 
 Henry IV. and Henry VII. The following list from Fisher, supplements the above 
 
 list, and brings it down to the date of the abolition of the office. All are for the 
 
 forests south of Trent : 
 
 " 1323-4 (Edward 2) Roger I'Estrange. 
 
 " 1333 (Ed. 3) Sir Robert de Ufford. 
 
 " 1341 ( „ „ ) Sir Bartholomew de Burgherst. 
 
 " 1344 ( „ ,, ) William de Clynton, Earl of Huntingdon. 
 
 " 1362 ( „ „ ) William de Wykeham. 
 
 " 1368 ( „ „ ) John de Foall. 
 
 "1379 (Richard 2) Baldwin de Barford. 
 
 " 1485 (Henry 7) John Ratclyffe (Lord Fitzwalter, afterwards executed as an 
 
 adherent of Perkin Warbeck.) 
 " 1558 (Elizabeth) The Earl of Sussex, who appointed these seven dejjuties : Sir 
 
 Edward Walgrave, Sir William Petre, Sir Henry Tirrell, Serjeant 
 
 Browne, the Solicitor General, M^' Barnes and M^' Powle. 
 "1602 ( „ ) Charles Earl of Nottingham (Lord Howard, Lord High Admiral 
 
 of England.) 
 
 The Earl of Pembroke. 
 " 1630 (Charles 1^* ) In Commission. The Commissioners were Earl of Manchester, 
 
 Lord Newburgh, Sir Thomas Edmonds, and Sir Humfrey May. 
 " 1634 ( ,, ) Henry Rich, Earl of Holland, assisted by Justice Jones and 
 
 Baron Trevor. 
 
 During the Commonwealth the office was in abeyance. 
 " 1670 (Charles 2"^^^) Aubrey de Vere, Earl of Oxford. His deputy was Sir Thomas 
 
 Fanshawe, assisted by Sir John Vaughan, Justice Wylde, and Baron 
 
 Wyndham. 
 " 1675 ( „ ) Earl of Monmouth. 
 " 1701 (William & Mary) Lord Wharton. 
 " 1714 (George l^t) Lord Abingdon. 
 "1715 ( „ ) Earl Tankeville. 
 "1722 ( „ ) Lord Cornwallis. 
 "1737 (George 2'^'^) Earl of Jersey. 
 " 1746 ( „ ) Earl of Halifax. 
 
ROCKINGHAM OASTLE AND THE WATSONS. 
 
 143 
 
 "1748 (George 2°'i) Duke of Leeds. 
 
 "1756 ( „ ) Lord Sandy.s. 
 
 " 1756 ( „ ) Earl of Breadalbane & Holland. 
 
 "1766 (George 3"i) Lord Monsen. 
 
 "1767 ( „ ) Lord Cornwallis. 
 
 "1769 ( „ ) Sir John Fletcher Norton — afterwards Lord Grantly. 
 "1789 ( „ ) Viscount Sydney. 
 
 " 1800 ( „ ) The Right Hon^e Thomas Grenville." 
 
 By the Act passed 1817, the powers and duties of the Chief Justice in Eyre were 
 vested in the first Commissioner of Woods and Foi'ests and Land Revenue. 
 
 The office next in importance was that of Lord Warden, Lieutenant, or Master 
 Keeper, one of whom was appointed for each forest by the sovereign. 
 
 In 1592, Elizabeth granted this office in Rockingham Forest to the Lord Treasurer, 
 " in as ample a manner as the late Lord Chancellor enjoyed it, excepting Great and 
 Little Brigstock Parks," and in 1598, Thomas Loi'd Burleigh wrote to Sec : Cecil, 
 "1 send Windebank my father's Patent for the Wardenship of the Forest of 
 Rockingham," and three months latei- the office of " Master Forester, &c., in the 
 Forest of Rockingham was conferred upon this Lord Burleigh himself." 
 
 The duties attached to this office were the general supervision of the forest business, 
 the appointment of inferior offices, &c. 
 
 In July, 1489, Lord Wells, as Master Forester, of Rock : Bailiwick gave a receipt 
 for £70 10s. Od. for fees as under : " Himself, 20 marks ; 19 yeomen foresters, 6 at two 
 pence per day, 14 at throe halfpence per day ; a " gai-^on forester " at one penny 
 per day: two " pallestarii at twenty shillings per an.; two clerks of Swainmote, each 
 at twenty five shillings per an.; four vcrderers, each at twenty five shillings per an." 
 
 The following list contains a few names of Rangers, or Head Keepei's of 
 Rockingham Forest, or of parts of it : 
 
 22 Sep: 1485 "Grant for life to John Pylton Esq. (in consideration of good and 
 faithful services done to the King's most dear predecessor Henry VI.) of the 
 office of Ranger of the bailiwicks of Cleff, Brigstock and Rockingham, and of 
 all foreign Parks and Woods within the said bailiwicks within the Forest of 
 Rockingham. "1 
 
 The following year a grant " in survivorship " was made to John Pilton and 
 William Lynne, of the same office : the latter proved the longer liver, and he dying 
 in 1509, the office was bestowed upon William Parr, "squire of the body." In 
 the same year, the " King's lande of Morchay and Horreshawes in Rock : Forest " 
 were to be held by George Kyrkham " as heretofore." 
 
 1 Materials for History of the Reign of Henry VII. Vol : i., p. 26. 
 
144 
 
 ROCKINGHAM CASTLE AND THE WATSONS. 
 
 In 1511, William Parr's authority was extended, and he was made Ranger of 
 the whole forest. ^ The following year Roger Radclif, " Gentleman usher of the 
 Queen's Chamber," was made " yeoman and groom keeper of the Laund of Benefeld 
 &c. in Rockingham Forest, with the usual fees by hands of the ranger, out of the 
 money yearly coming to his hands out of the A.bbey of Peterborough, for Castle 
 Ward."2 
 
 This appears to have been a favourite method of rewarding the Teomen Ushers 
 of the Chamber. In 1525, another of them, William Woodford, was appointed to 
 be keeper of " Geddynton Woodes."'^ 
 
 In 1578, Thomas, Earl of Sussex, Chief Justice in Eyre granted leave to " Edward 
 Watson, Esq., Keeper of hei' Ma''*'''^* Park at Rockingham, to fence in thirty acres 
 of the lowlying part of the Pai^k for hay. Because A great Pte of her Ma^^''^^ Game 
 in the said Parke dothe yearlye in the Wynter tyme dye and decaye for want of 
 sufficiente haye and Store ffeede in the harde season.'"^ Edward Watson had been 
 made " Ranger of Rockingham Woods " the previous year. 
 
 Of course when such good appointments were at her disposal, Elizabeth would 
 not overlook her favourite Sir Ch : Hatton. Accordingly, we find thatv, vevj early 
 in her reign he was allowed to "Fence in and Assart Cottingham Woods, Middleton 
 Thick and Coppice," and many other " Coppices." In 1583, the Queen granted him 
 the " Custody of the Land of Benefield and the Keepership of the Forest of 
 Rockingham on the sui'render of Cha'^ Morgan Esq." 
 
 The above list, selected almost at hazard, shews how the higher offices connected 
 with Rockingham Forest, were given to court favourites and royal dependants. As 
 each of these officers, in addition to his salary, liad a certain number of bucks each 
 year, the appointments wei-e not to be despised. 
 
 Next in importance were the Verderers, whose duties have already been described. 
 Of these officers there were, in the reign of Charles I., four in Rockingham Forest. 
 This, we have seen, was the number two centuries before, when Lord Wells, as 
 Head Ranger, paid them twenty five shillings a year each. 
 
 It would occupy too much space to give even an approximate list of these officers. 
 The Watsons were Verderers of Rockingham Bailiwick for several generations. 
 
 Under the Verderers were the Regarders, who were to go through the whole 
 forest and make their report every third year, to enquire of all offences of the forest, 
 and survey the "Assarts, Wastes and Perprestures." Of these officers there were 
 properly twelve in each bailiwick. 
 
 1 Materials for History of the reign of Henry vii., i^age 242. 
 2 Iljid., page 741. 
 3 Letters of Henry VIII., vol. 4, page 654. 
 4 Rockingham Paper.s. 
 
ROCKINGHAM CASTLE AND THE WATSONS. 
 
 145 
 
 The Foresters were officers whose duties were to preserve the King's Vert and 
 Venison, to watch day and night, and to apprehend all offenders and present them 
 at the courts of the forest. 
 
 One of the duties of the Foresters was to see that all mastiffs, and other dogs 
 which farmers and others dwelling within the forest boundaries were permitted to 
 keep, were expeditated. This bai'barous opei'ation was tiius performed. The wretched 
 animal's fore-foot was " jjlaced upon a piece of wood eight inches thick, and afoot 
 square, and with a mallet, setting a Chisel two inches broad upon the three claws 
 of his fore-foot, at one blow they cut them clean oft"."^ The number of these officers 
 in each forest was regulated by the Regarders. 
 
 The Agistors had to receive and account for the agistment of the profits arising 
 from the Herbage and Pannage of the King's woods, lands, and forests. There were 
 usually four to each forest where the King had woods to agist. 
 
 The Woodwards were similar to the modern Forester, and had charge uf the 
 woods, and jiresented offenders therein to the forest courts. They were assisted by 
 the Under- Woodwards. 
 
 There appears to have been an Upper Ranger to each bailiwick. Amongst the 
 duties of the Rangers was that of driving the deer back into the forest which 
 might have got beyond the boundaries. 
 
 To the above list of officers must be added " A Bow-Bearer, the Constabel. 
 Castelan, Bellivus, Bedellus, &c." 
 
 What a pleasant life must have been that of a yeoman or peasant dwelling 
 within the sacred precincts of a royal forest, perpetually watched by an army of 
 keepers, &c., and hampered at every turn by some forest law ! 
 
 We will now notice a few of the instances that have come down to us of the 
 manner in which the Forest Laws were administered by these officers. The i-eador 
 has already had one instance presented to him on pp. 35 — 38, where reference is 
 also made to a case of obstinate illegal hunting, which gave much trouble to the 
 forest officers. Here is the case taken from Fleetwood. 
 
 Edward Cooke, Esq., Queen Elizabeth's Attorney, complained that "About the 
 1^"^ of April in the xxxix of your Ma**''*^** l eign, In the ft'orest of Rockingham, in the 
 countie of Northampton . . . which ft'orest is and of longe tyme hath bene 
 kept in your Ma*''*^'^ own hands . . . specially kept for the preservac'on and 
 nourishinge of deare and othei' game of pleasure specially kept for your hig'^'* use 
 and delight, . . . One Arthur Brooke gent. Adrian brooke gent. Thomas Locke, 
 Robert Dextei-, Randall Clarcke, John land, and Robert Skethorne being one that 
 longe tyme have used to kill and steal dear in the Parkes round about them and 
 
 1 Manwood. 
 
146 ROCKIN(iHAM CASTLE AND THE WATSONS. 
 
 to take theii- full pleasure and desire therein without the consent or leave of the 
 owner there of and liauing escaped unpunished . . . have grown so Insolent and 
 Owtragious that they behoved to enter into your Ma*'''''' fforest . . . accompanied 
 with divers other disorderly p'sons, led by the. said Arthur bi'ooke — all armed with 
 Iforest bills Crossbowes gonnes dogges and other like weapons . . . did Chase 
 hunt and foUowe your Ma"''^ deai^e and with their bowes gonnes and dogges did 
 kill a doe and trouped up and down the said fforest and the said Riott haveing 
 so raunged and trouped upp and down till they were tired they carried aw^aye the 
 Doe." The same party "about the eleventh daie of December . . . killed 
 another deer, and then hunted the whole herd so furiously that many afterwards 
 died." About the 26th December, the same company, led by Arthur Brooke, entered 
 the forest again and " trouped upp and down and with their gonnes crossbowes and 
 other Engines did kill a fawn and departed taking the deare with them to the 
 Howse of the saide Ai'thur brooke and there receaved and in verie riottous sorte 
 eaten . . . where the said malefactors much triumphed of their good success 
 in their said Enterpryses and Encourage one another to bee readie to attempt the 
 like agaiue. And the saide Arthur brooke beinge a gentleman of some countenance 
 in that Countie continues to encoui'age his servauntes and others to offend and 
 beai's out the offenders And commands them to cany hand gonnes about with them 
 to shoot at the deare." The Attorney prays that a writ may issue against Adrian 
 brooke," &c., to appear at the Star Chamber. But Adrian Brooke objected to the 
 jurisdiction of the Star Chamber, alleging that all offences against the Forest Laws 
 ought to be tried by the Chief Justice in Eyre. So it is probable that all these 
 offenders escaped punishment. 
 
 The above serves as an illustration of the cool way in which gentlemen of position 
 set the Forest Laws at defiance. Here follow cases of their breach by men in a 
 humbler social position. 
 
 The first of these cases is selected from the Rockingham Papers. The paper 
 upon which the depositions are written is much torn, and in places quite illegible; 
 but enough remains to convey a tolerably clear idea of the case, and to place us 
 in a better position to understand the operation of the Foi'est Laws, the methods of 
 poaching practised in those days, and the action of the forest officers. 
 
 The Rockingham Register states that " Edwardus Dupup sepultus erat nono die 
 ffebruarii 1.586 — 7," and the reader will notice that Mr. Edward "Watson, being 
 thus deprived of the services of his erudite scribe, was obliged to content himself 
 with the assistance of a much less pretentious scholar. 
 
 " A'pte (accepte ?) my very hearty Com'endac'ons 1 . . . y' may plese you 
 (good Mr. Watson) to directe your war-rants unto the bowbrer (" bow-bearer "?) for 
 
ROCKINGHAM CASTLE AND THE WATSONS. 
 
 147 
 
 liapp'hending of such parsons as Lave this night offended in disorderly hunting and 
 killing of her Ma*^^ game w"^in h . . . ice of horny (Coi'by ?) and Weedon, 
 (Weldon ?) under the charge of my selfe & Jefferye reade deputye Des . . . (?) 
 Where of so many of her names . . . are yett known are here under written 
 and . . . dester (?) of yo'^ Weldoing I humbly take . . . this 16 of June 1589. 
 
 " Daniell Reade 
 " Richard Reade 
 " Richard Sturgis 
 " with two others unknown 
 
 " Your Worships to Com'nd 
 
 "Tho: Knowlis." 
 " The exaraynac'oii of John Saltei- 
 servaunt to Roger Peach gent, 
 taken before me Edward Watson Esq &c 
 the xvii'^ daie of June in the xxxi'-'^ yeare 
 of her ma*''*''^ raigne &c 
 " This examinat being demanded what uiilauful huntyiige he liathc known to be 
 comytted w'^in the fforest of Rockingham since the furst of June last saicth not 
 an . . . But that of Sundaye last about sixe . . . clock in the aft 
 
 Danyell P . . . Merydythe Pea w*-'' this ex' went 
 
 to a p ... . called S' Ell . . . Bower a place w*'^ 
 
 . the Pnrlewes and having w''^ them twoo fiunnes & a crosbowe, they 
 placed them selves in sev'all standings, and Danyell Reade having the crosbowe and 
 the deare making by him he shott and killed a male Deare, but before thay cold 
 fynd the dear they were enforced to send Meredythe Read home for a hound and 
 before he returned they found the dear And further saieth that one Richard Sturgys 
 and one other unknown to this ex'anat cam unto them at the fall of the dear from 
 flyttingi of there horses, whereupon the Kep's (Keepers ?) comyng in, and after 
 many rough speeches between them they ffytt, and wei'e forced to leave the deare 
 wct the Kep's took home w''^^ them And further saith that the said Danyell stood . . . 
 a crabtree hard by the Closs haly (?) and this . . . Ok, next to wh"" Danyell, 
 
 1 That is "tethering." This use of the verb "to flit" vviis, a few years since, very common in parts of North- 
 amptonshire. Miss A. B. Baker, in her "Glossary of Northamptonshire Words and Phrases," (London, 1854), after 
 describing the more familiar use of the verb in the sense of " to remove," says " But the word is eciunlly or even more 
 common with us, in a sense that is diametrically op])osed — to pkevent removal. A horse is " flitted " when he is fastened 
 or confined with a rope or chain by the leg to a certain portion of pasturage ; in this sense " Tether " is a correspondent 
 word. A bird also is "flitted" when secured by the leg: to jjrcveiit its flight ; bottles are "flitted" when the corks 
 arc tied to the bottles by a string. "Have you flitted the bottles?" is a common enquiry with a thrift}- housewife 
 previous to sending them a-field in hay or harvest time. 
 
148 
 
 ROCKINGHAM CASTLE AND THE WATSONS. 
 
 & meredythe in a . . . next to this ex' not distant six score yards one . 
 
 And that the Deare fell in Ellens bower .... Rans close 
 
 " The m'-k of John X Salter." 
 " This examynaunt being reexamened the xviii of June saith tbat one the x^^^ daie 
 of the monith in the eveninge Danyell Read and meredith Read sones of Roger 
 Reade went with this examinannte & one Richard Stnrge w"^ a leaze of Grehounds 
 of the .said Danyell Read into the forest & upon a place there cawled Rockingham 
 shiei- in the . . . (parlieus?) of Gi-etton & Corby woods at two severall cowrses 
 they kyld tow dear vz a pricked and a tegg and they handeled and caryed to 
 stanyard upon a nagg of M^' Dan^ells w'''^ were dressed by Richard sturge and 
 the fleshe of the Tegg was eaten in the howse and the other etten by doggs the 
 skyns of the dear thye gave to one William ... a ffen powlte' and in their 
 return whom Wards in the dawning of the morning they met w'''^ one Saunders 
 M'' Pratts man and more than this he cannot saye 
 
 " the mark of John slater X " 
 " The examination of meredithe Reead 
 gent the xviii of June An° infra Scripti 
 " This examinaunte saithe the one the x*^ daye of June he this examinannte & his 
 brother Danyell Read w*'^ Richard stnrge & one John slater went about Ten of 
 the clock in the eveninge from stanyard w*'^ a leaze of grehounds & a little nagge 
 to the offan (?) of Gretten & Corbye woods & thear upon agrean cawled the shier 
 w^^*^ . . . the offac (?) aforsaid they Cowrsed tow severall tymes and kyled 
 
 Tegge which they . . . iipon his brother danyels nagge . 
 
 Stanyard where . . . sturges drest them and what was done w"' them he 
 knowethe not and more than this he cannot saye 
 
 " meredeth Read 
 
 " Taken before M"" " Sig'^ John Sawers. 
 
 Edward Watson Esq'" 
 by me thomas Knight " 
 
 " The accusation of " xviii° die Junii An : xxxi" 
 
 JefEery Read " The said Jeffery saith that his men viz. Richard Johnson 
 
 & Jo : pea' tolde him of sondaye last — in the eveninge they 
 founde p'sons in a quarter of the forest cawled sow wodd & that 
 passyng by the purlew side ... in the purlew they Danyell 
 Read meridithe Reade Richard Sturge John sawlter & an other 
 man to them unknowne with a sooz hardled under the bushes 
 of the purlew but whether it was that dear that was 
 stroke in . . . — est he cannot tell but . . . — et that 
 
ROCKINGHAM CASTLE AND THE WATSONS. 
 
 149 
 
 cam into to his men & blowes lie toke tlie 
 
 Dear from ... & further saiethe that he the said Jeffery 
 strack the first blow & y"- they onlye foe . . . t for the dear. 
 " the marke of Jeffery X Reade 
 "sig. george Jeclaye 
 
 " sign X Richard Johnson." 
 
 Brigstock and Stanion appear to have enjoyed an unenviable notoriety as homes 
 of deer-stealei's. Eaidy in the reign of P]lizabeth a daring case of illegal hunting 
 is recorded. We ai'e told that " The Keepers of Brigstock Great Park, and such 
 as were left thei'e in the sei'vice of M'" Secretary, drove the deer into tlie forest, and 
 having pulled down the barrier in the most convenient places, 120 peo{)le of Brigstock 
 and Stanyon stood upon the poll, and kept the deer back; nevertheless 400 or .500 
 were put into the forest ; but the people assembled killed 9 or 10 deer and carried 
 them by force to their own houses." 
 
 The following is a list of men reported as deer-stealers about 1590. It shows how 
 the passion foi' illegal hunting had spread amongst different classes of society. 
 
 "Raines Clark and his father; Richard Awsted, M"" Forbrooke's man; Tho* Stevens, 
 of Cranfoi'd ; the tanner of Lisden (prob : Lyvden;) Gray, Simon Montague's man; 
 Richr Aier, Rob : Lane's man ; John Dowsett, an uiulcM -keeper in Rockingham Forest 
 under Lord Burleigh ; Hunt, sometime keeper in Brigstock Park ; Stringer and 
 Griggs, sci'vaiits to Lord Mordaunt ; two of Pai-son Richardson's Sons of Tywell ; 
 Shelston, and Serg*- Brooke's sons ; tlie Smith of Rushton ; M'" Marbery, of Brigstock 
 a miller of Edward Montagus; and Brown of Fotheringham." 
 
 At a Court of Swainmote held at Little Weldon 9th June, 14th Charles I., there 
 were presented no less than forty-six offenders against the Forest Laws, in Rockingham 
 Forest. 
 
 The Court Roll contains the names of Lords Exeter, Kimbolton, and Montagu, 
 Sir William Fleetwood, Sir Robei't Hatton, Sir Lewis Watson, Sir Thomas Tresham 
 (the two last were verderers), Guido Palmer as Head Ranger, William Jones as 
 Bow-bearer, thirteen Regarders for Rockingham Bailiwick, and twelve for Brigstock, 
 two qencral Woodwards, fifteen Sub-foi'csters, two Sub-rangers, (one of whom was 
 our old acquaintance, Conyers Griffin), ten Woodwards, eight Under- woodwards, 
 and the names of sixty juroi-s are on the roll. As all the above do not sign the 
 roll the assemblage was probably not so foi'midable as it appears to have been. 
 
 The object of this special Swainmote seems to have been to affect a kind of general 
 " gaol delivery " of forest offenders. 
 
 As Courts of Chief Justice Seat had been very infrequent, this Swainmote 
 probably took their place, and its decisions were final. 
 
150 ROCKINGHAM CASTLE AND THE WATSONS. 
 
 Translations of a few of the cases are here presented for the benefit of those 
 I'eaders who are not enthusiasts on the subject of contracted Latin. 
 
 Charles Rewle, butcher, Charles Ellis, husbandman, and John Ellis, mason, all 
 of Brampton, were convicted of having, on the 13th of October, 10th Charles I. 
 (four years before), entered the forest in the night time, and in the Westbaliwick 
 (West Walk?), with a certain "cane leporat" (greyhound?), run to death "a dama, 
 Anglice a prickett," and carried it away, &c. They were fined five pounds. 
 
 Robert BaiTow, a miller of Stoke Albany, was fined twenty pounds because he 
 had, in December of the lOtli Charles 1., entered the Westbaliwick by night and 
 killed a prickett. Probably the officers thought a miller, who fi-om his superior 
 position, ought to have been able to resist the temptation to taste the King's venison, 
 deserved a heavier fine than a shepherd, for in the next case which occurred the 
 same year, Robert Brigstock, a shepherd of Great Weldon, who at Corby Hill, with 
 the aid of his " mongrell dog" killed a prickett, was only fined ten pounds; which 
 was, no doubt, as "grievous" a fine for him as the twenty pounds was for the miller. 
 
 In the next case the Court went back many years, and we here have an example 
 of the exti'aordinary manner in which offenders were left in suspense for years 
 befoi'e they received their sentence. 
 
 On the first of May, 13 James I., one Maurice Dolton, a labourer of Great 
 Oakley, entei'ed Weedliaw and Thornhaw, and killed two pricketts (evidently the 
 favourite prey of poachers), and a certain Thomas Sweetlad, of the same parish, 
 concealed the offence, and received part of the spoil. At this Court, held more 
 than twenty years afterwards, these men were fined twenty j^ounds. 
 
 Some of the offences punished at this Swainmote were against the " King's 
 Vert," others were cases of Purpresture. Lewis Tresham was fined forty pounds 
 for maintaining a house, which his fatlier, Thomas, had built in Bi'igstock Park, 
 contrary to the laws of the forest Robert Weavor, a miller of Brigstock, was 
 fined five pounds for having erected a wind-mill in Corby Woods, and several men 
 were fined for cutting trees and underwood in the forest. 
 
 The foregoing cases are taken from the Chancery Rolls, Rockingham Forest, 
 Roll 60, in the Record Office, where also, in the Chapter House Forest Rolls, may 
 be seen numbers of " Inquisitiones de Venatione" in Rockingham Forest, as far 
 back as the thirteenth century. To the futui-e historian of this Forest these Rolls 
 will afford a valuable mass of information. 
 
 The following forest terms and items of forest lore, gathered from Manwood, 
 will no doubt interest some readers. 
 
 Agistors were men " that took in to feed the Cattle of Strangers, and received 
 for the King's use, all such Tack -Money as became due from those Strangers." 
 
ROCKINGHAM CASTLE AND THE WATSONS. 
 
 151 
 
 This money was due at the Feast of St. Michael. The " Agistment " was at 
 the rate of three-halfpence per week for every beast. Twice a year the forest 
 was cleared of all cattle that were agisting there. These occasions were called 
 " drifts." The first drift was before the Fence Month (fifteen days before 
 Midsummer), the second drift about Holy Rood Day. At these drifts the 
 Under-foresters, Walkers, and Woodwards drove all the beasts of the commoners 
 to a convenient place, whence their owners were summoned to fetcli them, and 
 a short account was then taken of the number belonging to eacli commoner. 
 This was done to prevent the commoners from overstocking. If the officers 
 chose they might drive oftener, a power which was often abused. 
 
 A remnant of this custom, and its name, still lingers in Northamptonshire. 
 When a piece of land is understocked, and the occupier takes in the cattle of 
 another man to feed at so much per head, sucli cattle are said to be " jisted." 
 (The i pronounced very long). 
 
 A71 Assart is thus pathetically defined by Manwood " Verely when the pleasant 
 Woods of the Forest, or thicke bushie places meete for the secret feeding of the 
 wilde beastes, be cut downe, desti'oyed and plucked uppe by the roots, and the 
 same ground made a plaine, and turned into arroble land, this by the laws of 
 the Forest is properly said to be an assart of the Forest, or land assai-ted." In 
 short, it was forest land converted into arable, or pasture land. This was 
 regarded as a heinous oifence, and he who assarted his own woods within the 
 forest boundaries forfeited the land to the King. If a man assarted the King's 
 wood "his body shall be detained until he make a grievous fine." The word 
 still lingers, in a corrupted form, within the old boundaries of Rockingham 
 Forest, where the name of Sart, and Sark Wood is met with more than once. 
 
 Boundaries of the forest were of three kinds : 1. — A Mark, any high object, 
 as a hill, tree, or church. 2. — A Alere, the distance between the forest and some 
 adjoining property, as a dwelling house or a mill. 3. — A Boundary, on the level, 
 as a river or highway. 
 
 A Purlieu was ground adjacent to the forest, which, having been made forest 
 by Henry II., Richai'd I., or King John, was by a perambulation in Henry III."s 
 time, again severed from the forest ; and a 
 
 Purlieu Man was one who had a forty shillings freehold within the purlieu, 
 and consequently enjoyed certain privileges. See p. 140 
 
 Pannage was the money received for swine feeding on the masts within the 
 King's woods. Freeholders having lands within the King's woods might agist 
 them, taking in both cattle and swine. 
 
152 
 
 ROCKINGHAM CASTLE AND THE WATSONS. 
 
 Purpresture was the building of houses, or in any way encroacliing upon 
 the King's forest. 
 
 The Felice Month, Close Month, or Forbidden Month, was the period of fawning'. 
 It extended from fifteen days before to fifteen days after Midsummer. During 
 this month all adjisted cattle and swine were excluded from tlie forest, and they 
 might not be driven through the forest. No man might " wander up and down 
 out of the high way with bow, gun, or engine," and all dogs expeditated or not, 
 were kept out of the forest, and " no rushes or bents may be gathered in the 
 waste soyle of the forest " during this month. 
 
 Oreenhue or Greenhew was every green growth within the forest capable of 
 covering and hiding the deer. If high wood, it was called " Over Vert ; " if 
 underwood, it was " Nether Vert ; " and brushwood was called " Cablish." 
 Woodgeld was money paid for gathering and cutting wood in the forest. 
 The following are some of the terms used in venery. It will be seen that they 
 are not altogether extinct. 
 
 The Hart of the first year was a " Hinde-Calf " 
 „ ,, „ second ,, „ " Knobber " 
 „ „ „ third „ ,, "Brooke" 
 ,, ,, ,, fourth „ ,, " Staggard " 
 „ „ „ fifth „ ,, " Stag " 
 sixth „ „ "Hart" 
 If hunted by the King he was a " Royal Hart ; " if he escaped, and proclamation 
 was made of his safe return, he was a "Hart Royal Proclaimed." 
 The Hind of the first year was a " Calf " 
 ,, „ ,, second ,, „ '"Hearse" or ' Brockets Sister" 
 ,, ,, ,, third ,, ,, "Hinde" 
 The Buck of the first year was a " Fawn " 
 ,, „ ,, second „ ,, " Pricket " 
 „ „ ,, third ,, „ " Sorel " 
 „ ,, ,, fourth „ „ " Sore " 
 
 ,, ,, ,, fifth ,, „ " Buck of the first Head " 
 „ ,, „ sixth „ „ "Great Buck" 
 The Doe of the first year was a " Fawn " 
 second „ „ "Tegg" 
 third „ „ "Doe" 
 The Roe of the first year was a " Kid " 
 second „ „ "Gyrle" 
 ,, ,, ,, third ,, ,, " Hemuse " 
 
ROCKINGHAM CASTLE AND THE WATSONS. 
 
 153 
 
 The Roe of the fourth year was a "Roe-Buck of the first head" 
 fifth „ „ " Fair Roe-buck " 
 
 A wild Boar of the first year was a " Sounder," afterwards a " Ftog," then a 
 " Hog's Steer," and finally, in his fourth year, he was a " Singler," or " Sanglier." 
 The nouns of multitude were also varied, such as " A Herd of Harts, or any kind 
 of deer;" but "A Bevy of Roes," "A Sounder of Swine," "A Rout of Wolves," 
 and "A Richess of Marterns." 
 
 Traces of old forest terms still linger in the district which was Rockingham 
 Forest. And the names of the forest ofiicers, &c., survive in such frequently occurring 
 surnames as Fletcher ("the arrow trimmer"), Falkner (i.e. Falconer), Bailey (Bailif), 
 Law (Quaer: "The man who La wed " or expeditated dogs, the "Lawer"?), Foster 
 ("Forester"?) Parker, &c. 
 
 In some of the larger villages within the old boundaries of Rockingham Forest, 
 the custom of ringing a bell at stated times daily still holds on. This has, by some, 
 been exjilained as having originated in the practice of giving notice, by this bell, to the 
 various forest officers, horse-keepers, cow-men, &c., of the hour to commence their day, to 
 dine, and to go to bed. It is, no doubt, a survival of the ringing <at Canonical hours. 
 
 At Geddington this bell is known as the " eight hours bell," and has been 
 rung for centuries at four in the morning, at noon, and at eight o'clock at night. For 
 some unexplained reason the early morning ringing has been abandoned during 
 the last three or four years. 
 
 At Brigstock the bell used to be rung at four in the morning, at eleven in the 
 forenoon, and at eight at night. But here also the morning bell has been given up, 
 and it is now only rung at eleven and eight. 
 
 There is a rather curious tradition connected with the bell which is rung at 
 Brigstock. It is the third bell, and cari'ics this inscription : 
 
 "John Barton gave me. Worship God in Trinitie " The legend is, "John Barton 
 was one of the jalaintiffs in the action against Sir John Zouche, who threatened 
 to ruin him if he insisted upon his right in the common of Benefield ; Barton replied 
 that he would leave a cow, that pulled by the tail would low three times a day, to 
 be heard all over the common when he and his heirs would have nothing to do 
 there. He had married a rich tanner's widow out of Lancashire, and gave this 
 bell at his own cost."^ 
 
 At King's Cliffe the ringing of a bell at stated hours daily is a much more 
 
 important function. It is rung at eight, eleven, one, four, and eight o'clock. One 
 
 finds it difficult to explain how these five daily ringings can be connected with the 
 
 1 Bridges' Hist. Northants., vol. ii., pnge 287. Bridges says the bell was rung "at tour aud elevou o'clock iu 
 the morning, and at uLEviiif at night. 
 
154 
 
 ROCKINGHAM CASTLE AND THE WATSONS. 
 
 old forest. A King's Cliffe correspondent writes, " This being interpreted by the 
 practical minds and hearty appetites of the ringer and his hearers, represents a call 
 to breakfast, lunch, dinner, tea, and supper." 
 
 Rockingham Forest was, from very early times, divided into three separate 
 districts, called Bailiwicks, each managed by its own officers. They were : 
 
 1. Bockingham Bailiwick, in which were the following •' Walks : " the Lawn of 
 
 Benefield ; the West Bailiwick, or West Walk ; Gretton and Little Weldon 
 Woods (in which was " Hunter's Manor ") ; Weedhaw and Thornhaw Walk ; 
 and Corby Woods. 
 
 2. Brigstock Bailiwick, embracing Geddington Woods, and Farming Woods. 
 
 3. Clive or Cliffe Bailiwick, containing West Hay, Moorhay, and Sulehay Ferms, 
 
 and Shortwood. This division may have been the consequence, or the cause of 
 the existence of the royal castles at Rockingham, Geddington, and King's Cliffe. 
 
 The latest recorded Perambulation of Rockingham Forest was made in the T7th 
 Charles I. A free translation of it from the original Latin is appended, to enable 
 the reader who, as a resident within or near the old forest, may feel interested in 
 its topography, to trace its boundaries, which may be readily done with the aid 
 of the admirable series of parish maps issued by the Ordnance Department. 
 
 The reader who does not feel this local interest in the forest is recommended 
 to skip the four or five pages immediately following. 
 
 "The boundary of Rockingham Bailiwick begins at Brimingforth on the bank 
 of the Welland, where the Stone quarry (' Petra ') is situated, going up across the 
 Netherfeild of Cottingham, by Clinch Hill and Pickle Hedge to Folgates, and so 
 by Westdale Head, following the road which leads from Rockingham to Carlton, 
 to Mouseburn Gap, and from thence ascending the Lane called Middleton Lane, 
 between the two hedges, to Fielden Gate, near Driffield, and so following the Fielden 
 Way, in Middleton Fields, to the Stone quarry which is situated in the parting 
 (Divisis) of Middleton and Carlton, near the Croft called Shortditch, excluding 
 the towns of Cottingham and Middleton, with the fields which are on the west and 
 north of the said boundaries, and excluding the whole of the tovfn and territory 
 of Carlton, with the said stone pit and fields near Shortditch, following the 
 boundaries which divide Middleton from Carleton, including Middleton Woods as far 
 as Swinecote Hume and including Swinecote Hurne by its boundaries, to the corner 
 near the White Cross, and from thence to Raghagh Field, including Raghagh 
 Field, to the corner of the site, or circuit (" ambitus ") of the late Abbey of Pipwell, 
 and by the boundaries of that site, which divide it from Raghagh Wood to the 
 road which leads from the White Cross to Harper's Brook, excluding the aforesaid 
 croft, called Shoi't Ditch, and the Assart called Carleton Secke and the plains 
 (' Pianos ') and Woods of Carleton, and the aforesaid Raghagh Wood with the 
 
ROCKINGHAM CASTLE AND THE WATSONS. 
 
 155 
 
 plains adjacent, which were Poorest in the twentieth yeai" of James, the aforesaid 
 late King, but which were lately disafforested, or are about to be, &c., and excluding 
 the town of Wilbarston, with the fields, and the wood called Asketshawe, and 
 Pipwell Woods, and Pipwell Granges, following the middle of Harper's Brook to 
 Great Oakley, excluding the wood called Oldfield, or Oldliawe, or Old Bull, lying 
 to the north of Harper's Brook, which wood was forest, &c. . . . and so 
 descending Hai^per's Brook ... to Little Oakley, including the village and 
 fields of Little Oakley to the end of the parish towards Rising Brigge, and so between 
 the boundaries of Little Oakley and Stanyerne to the lane called Eastfield Lane 
 and thence following the lane called Thackley Lane, to Thackley Gi'een, excluding 
 the East Field, the close called Wood Close, and certain woods in Little Oakley 
 called Brockerdale Sallow Coppice and Redmore Hall, which were &c. . . . And 
 so by Thackley Green following the lane called Thorney Lane to Snatchall Gate, 
 inclading Thorny Wood, and including Banlcy Slade wood, and so by Snatchall Gate, 
 in Corby Field, excluding Debbing Farlong, part of Corby Fields, and excluding 
 Sow Woods, which were &c. . . . and so including the town and fields of 
 Corby (except Dibbing Furlong), to Corby Bridge, and thence by the boundaiies 
 between Corby Fields and Gi-eat Weldon, with the fields and woods, and excluding 
 the wood at Stanyerne formerly called John de Stanyerne's Wood, and including 
 Little Weldon as far as the beginning of the wood formerly called the Earl of 
 Cornwell's Wood, towards the east, and thence following the boundary which leads 
 between the Water-falls and Prior's Hawe formerly called Finesheved Wood to 
 the watercourse (' Duetu ') called Little Weldon Brook flowing towards Dean 
 including Little Weldon and ascending by that watercourse to Pen Green, following 
 the boundary between Corby Wood, below the forest, and Dean Wood, to Gretton 
 Brook, following Gretton Brook excluding the village, woods, fields, pai-k, land 
 and territories of Dean, and from Gretton Brook following the boundaries of Gretton 
 Woods to Hook Gate and so to the end of the lane, or riding called Long Lane, 
 the present boundary between Gretton Woods and Bulwick Wood, formerly called 
 Henwick Haw, excluding the village, fields, closes, lauds, woods and territories 
 of Kirby and excluding the village, &c. ... of Bulwick, thence following the 
 aforesaid lane called Long Lane (formerly called ' The Old Fosse ') between Gretton 
 Woods and Bulwick Woods, to the corner of Harringworth Park, and following the 
 boundaries of Gretton and Hai-ringworth Park, to Park Corner, excluding Bulwick 
 Woods and all the aforesaid paik, thence descending by the boundaries of Gretton 
 and Harringworth Fields, to the bank of the Welland, excluding the village &c. 
 
 . of Harringworth, and following the bank of the Welland below Gretton, 
 including the village, fields and woods of Gretton, to the Stone (or Stone-pit ?) 
 which is in the division between Rockingham and Gretton, near the plain and 
 
156 
 
 ROCKINGHAM CASTLE AND THE WATSONS. 
 
 common called The Shire, or Rockingham Shire, and from that stone (pit?) 
 following the boundaries of the shire which divide it from the Overfield and other 
 enclosed pastures of Rockingham and of Rockingham Park . . . and Cottingham, 
 to a certain place called Brook's End, in Cottingham, near the western corner of 
 that park, and by Cottingham Fields, near the said park, to the running brook 
 between Cottingham and Rockingham Fields, which falls into the Welland, excluding 
 the Manor, Castle, Pai'k, Village, Enclosed Pastures, Fields, &c., of Rockingham, 
 with the fields which lie to the north of the Shire, between the Shire and the 
 Welland, and which were, &c., &c. . . . And from the running brook aforesaid 
 following the bank of the Welland to Brimingforth, the starting point 
 
 of the boundaries of the said bailiwick of Rockingham." 
 
 " The Boundary of the Bailiwick of Brigstook in Rockingham Forest, begins 
 at Rising Brigge Gate, thence ascends by the boundary of Geddington Woods, 
 following the Water course flowing near Stanford Waie, which leads to the village 
 of Geddington, on the river Ise, and so following the banks of the Ise to Boughton 
 Water Gate, formerly called Boughton Mill, and by the Hayam (Hedge?) of 
 Boughton, formerly called The Old Fosse (' Vetus Fossatum'), passing over the 
 Thrapston Road to Piper's Irons, including Piper's lions, over Bancroft's Hedge, 
 including the village and fields of Geddington, and excluding the villages, fields, 
 closes, woods and territories of Boughton and Warkton, and excluding Bancroft's 
 Close, to Brigge Trees (' Quaer : now Bright Trees ? ') Corner, going out at the 
 southern corner of Geddington Woods, and so following the boundaries of Geddington 
 Woods to Banci'oft's Gate, including Langley, to the gate of Brigstock Park, and 
 excluding Brigstock Parks, following the said park, including Geddington Woods 
 and Hassock's Gate, in Brigstock Fields, following the boundaries of Brigstock 
 Park to the corner of Cockrode Close, excluding Cockrode Clo.se, Plasby Close, and 
 Colby Lees, and excluding the closes called Over Grindalls and Nether Grindalls 
 in Brigstock, including Brigstock Fields, and following the boundaries of Brigstock 
 Park to Prestcroft's Corner and to Wallow Hatch, including Wallow Lane Close, 
 excluding Catteshead Closes and Warly Thick, including Brigstock Fields to Fisher's 
 Park Corner, and following the Hedges of Farming Woods to Steven's Oak, 
 including Cherry Lapp Wood to the corner of Lyveden Park, excluding the villages, 
 fields, woods ' et Yasta Terras et Teritoi-ia de Suborow Luffwick Drayton Islipp 
 Slipton Grafton Underwood Aldwinkle Cranford Woodford et Tywell,' excluding 
 Burton and Wadenhoe Woods, Liveden Park, and the closes, &c. ... of Liveden ; 
 following the boundaries of Cheriy Lapp to Harley Riding, including Harley Riding 
 and the road called Dean Road to the Crosses of Brigstock and Benefield near 
 Luscutt Pond ; and so ascending by the divisions between Brigstock and Benefield 
 
ROCKINGHAM CASTLE AND THE WATSONS. 
 
 157 
 
 to the oak called The Bocase Tree, to the corner of Harris Park, including Brigstock 
 and excluding the village &c. of Benefield ; from Harris Corner following the 
 boundaries of Brigstock which divide (it) from Great Weldon to the wood called 
 Cothicke, excluding all Great Weldon, Cothicke Woods, and Thrapston Hill ; and 
 including Farming Woods to the corner of Landymere and thence by the division 
 between Brigstock and Stanyerne Fields, passing over Harper's Brook to Geddington 
 Woods, including Brigstock and excluding the village, fields &c. ... of 
 Stanyerne, following the boundaries of Geddington Woods, to Paddock Gate, and 
 entering Paddock Riding by the division between Geddington Woods and Stanyerne, 
 including the woods of Stanyerne called Wenshawe, Westmore Hedges, and Borough 
 Soke, excluding the wood in Geddington, called the Assart, and excluding a small 
 close near Rising Brigge called Morgan's Sarte including Geddington Woods to 
 Rising Brigge Gate, the first standing boundary of tlie foresaid forest in the 
 Bailiwick of Brigstock." 
 
 The following were declared to be the boundaries of Bailiwick of Clive, or Cliffe, 
 in the Foi-est of Rockingham. 
 
 " It begins near a certain wood called Hawkes Okes Coppice nearest . 
 Deanthorpe Fields, by Blindstyle and ascending by the l)oundaries of Hawkes 
 Okes Coppice which divides it from . . . Deanthorpe called Burnte Coppy 
 to Horsecroft, excluding Burnte Coppy and the woods &c. of Deanthorpe and 
 including Hawkes Okes Coppy and Earls Wood and from Horsecroft descending 
 by the boundaries of Earls Woods which divide it from Benefield to in . . . 
 Pitts near the close called Frindshaw in Bigging in the Parish of Owndell, 
 excluding Benefield with the woods &c., and excluding Fi'indshaw Bigging and 
 Owndell and so to Tottenhoe formerly called Benefield Hatch, and thence following 
 the boundaries between Tottenlioe Woods, which are in the Forest ' provost ' ? 
 Closes to the corner of the close called Spencers Hurne . . . Tottenhoe Brooke 
 to . . . Brooke excluding Provost Closes and Spencers Hurne and following 
 the boundaries of Tottenhoe Woods to the corner of Flaskett Leyes, and thence, 
 excluding Flaskett Leyes descending by the Cross called Crosse . . . and 
 thence ascending by the boundaries of Morrhaie, including Morrhaie Hangings 
 and Oldsale and Alme Riding and Newhawe to the corner of the wood called 
 Newwood, excluding Newwood, and thence following the boundaries of a certain 
 wood called Southwicke Coppice formerly called Southwicke Wood, to Howgate 
 including Southwicke Coppice, excluding tiie village, fields &c. of Southwick, and 
 excluding the village &c. of Cotherstocke and Grapthorne, and from Howgate, 
 following the boundaries between the woods called Colesters and Wood Comit (?) 
 of Newport, called Howewoode, excluding Howewoode and certain closes called 
 
158 
 
 ROCKINGHAM CASTLE AND THE WATSONS. 
 
 Stockwell Closes, and including part of the said wood called Colesteres which is 
 not imparked in the park of Apethorpe, and so excluding Apethorpe Park, and 
 following the boundaries of the same park, including Moi^ehaye Launds and 
 Morehaye Woods, to Apethorpe Green, and including Horeshowes, to the boundaries 
 of Cliffe, including ClifEe, and excluding Calvehay Woods and Calvehay Closes, to 
 Calvehay Bridge, and excluding those j^arts of the village and fields of Apethorp 
 which lie on the south and west parts of the river there, and including those parts 
 of the village and fields of Apethorp which lie on the north and east of the same 
 river, and including the woods called Sulehay Femes and Shortwoods, and from 
 the village of Apethorpe descending by the river bank to the village of Wood 
 Newton, excluding the village &c. ... of Wood Newton, which lie on the 
 south pai't of the said river, and including the rest of the village . . . &c. of 
 Wood Newton, except the wood of the Prior of Fineshade, called Hall, or Priors 
 Hall, with Watergalls and the aforesaid Manor of the Priory there, and " Feodo 
 de Holt et de Eketon " and the wood there called Newton Spinney which 
 are all excluded beyond the Forest ; and so following the aforesaid river to the 
 boundaries of Fotheringay. near Walcott Hedge, excluding the village . . . &c 
 of Fotheringay, and including the village . . . &c. of Nassington, excepte the 
 Southfeilde of Nassington, which is excluded from the Forest, and so descending 
 between Southfiekl and the Village of Nassington to the bank of the Nene, and 
 thence follo'vving the bank of the Nene, including the village, . . . &c. of 
 Yardwell except certain woods called Ringhawe, or Dringhawe, Whiteleys Bush 
 Shrubbs, and Linnes Coppice, which are excluded from the Forest, and so after 
 following the bank of the Nene to the beginning of the town of Walmsford, and 
 from Walmsford, ascending by the road called Justice Riding, to Gibbes Crosse, 
 and thence to the gate called Swearing Gate, excluding the woods called Thornhaugh 
 Woods and Shortwood, to the boundaries of Cliffe aforesaid, except the park aforesaid, 
 following the boundaries of Cliffe Parke to the boundaries of Westhey, near Kingsall 
 Gate, and there including Westhey Woods, and excluding the village . . . &c. of 
 Wyttering, and excluding the village . . . &c. of Fasten, following the boundaries 
 of Westhay Woods to Hornestock, and thence to Colliweston Gate, and thence, 
 following the boundaries of Westhey Woods to the boandaries of Duddington, 
 including Westhey Woods, and Cottesmere Coppice, and excluding the village 
 
 &c. of Colliweston, and from the Corner of Cottesmere Coppice, including 
 Cornwell Greene to Culvernelles, and thence following the boundaries of Duddington, 
 which divide it from Colliweston, to the bank of the Weyland, excluding the village 
 
 &c. of Colliweston, and including the village . . . &c. of Duddington, 
 and thence, following the bank of the Wejdand to Duddington Foord, and thence 
 
ROCKINGHAM CASTLE AND THE WATSONS. 
 
 159 
 
 following fclie fields of Duddington to the gate of Westhey Woods, called Duddington 
 Gate, excluding the village . . . &c. of Wakerley, from Duddington Woods 
 to Duddington Fair Tree, and thence, following Justice Riding, between Westhey 
 Woods, and the lands and woods of the Priory of Fineshade, to Satehill Gate, 
 excluding " Scitum et Ambitu," of the aforesaid Priory, and the woods, lands, 
 &c. of the same Priory of Fineshed, and from Satehill Gate, following the boundaries 
 of Westhey Woods to Cliife Whitestone, excluding the woods called B . . . sail, 
 and certain closes called Blatherwicke Closes, and from ClifEe Whitestone, following 
 the boundaries of ClifPe which divide it from Blatherwicke, including Cliffe, and 
 passing over the river there to the boundary of Morehey Woods, and so following the 
 boundaries of Mooi'hey Woods, which divide them from Blatherwicke, to Bulwick 
 Gate, excluding the village . . . Park &c. of Blatherwicke, and from Bulwick 
 Gate, descending by the boundaries of Morehey Woods, against Bulwick Shortleys, 
 and there passing over the Kings road into the divisions of Bulwick, to the boundaries 
 aforesaid of the wood called Earls Wood, excluding Bulwick Shortleys, and so 
 following the boundaries of Earls Wood which divide it from certain pastures called 
 Edge Woods, excluding Edge Woods, and all the village . . . &c. of Bulwick, 
 and excluding the village . . &c. of Laxton, excluding the villages . . . &c, 
 of Deen and Deenthorpe, and including the woods of Earles Woods to Blindstyle 
 and Hawkes Oakes Coppice, the first standing boundary of the Bailiwick of Cliffe, 
 in the Forest of Rockingham." 
 
 The names attached to this Perambulation are : 
 
 " Charles Cockayne Viridor' Balliat' de 
 Rockingham & Brigstock 
 Thomas Elmes Un' Virider' Forest' 
 
 sive Balliat' de Cliffe 
 
 Lawrence Manley 
 
 John Lucas 
 
 Henry Weltden 
 
 John Lumley 
 
 William Cradock 
 
 William Maidwell 
 
 William Stringer 
 
 John Atkins 
 
 Thomas Ekins 
 
 John Ekins 
 
 William Taylor 
 
 John Hewitt " 
 
160 
 
 ROCKINGHAM CASTLE AND THE WATSONS. 
 
 It is noticeable that no gentleman of position or great influence in the County 
 put his name to the document. They appear to have regarded the perambulation 
 with suspicion, a feeling not at all to be wondered at when we consider that some 
 of them were still smarting from the effects of the recent activity of the chief 
 forest officer. Gardiner says " In the course of three years Holland, as Chief 
 Justice in Eyre, had held his Justice seat in the Forest of Dean, in Waltliam Forest, 
 and in the New Forest. In 1637 the turn of the Forest of Rockingham arrived. 
 The fines set by Holland were enormous. The Earl of Salisbury was called on to pay 
 20,000£, the Earl of Westmoreland 19,000£, Sir Christopher Hatton 12,000£. The 
 bounds of the forest had been reckoned as measuring six miles in circumferance,^ they 
 were now to measure sixty. 
 
 After this perambulation the Northamptonshire saying " Rockingham Forest 
 from Oxon Brig to Stamford Brigg," did not hold good. 
 
 The reader who has had the patience to wade through the last few pages 
 of somewhat dry local topography, will see that the southernmost boundary of the 
 Forest, instead of being fixed at Oxendon Bridge, was now fixed five miles to the 
 north-east of it, and that the Forest did not extend so far north as Stamford Bridge, 
 by two or three miles ; also that large slices had been taken out of the eastern portion 
 of the Forest. 
 
 During the ten years pi-eceding this perambulation the King had, in his money 
 difficulties, had recourse to the sale of the timber in his forests, to replenish his 
 exchequer. Amongst these sales was a remarkable one in July, 1628, when the King 
 sold to Nicholas Pay and others, all the timber trees in Moorehay, Westhay, and 
 Farming Woods for the sum of £2,000; and the following month he sold Edward, 
 Lord Montagu, the whole of the timber in Geddington Woods, for £1,000. As 
 sales on a scale equally extensive went on in the other royal forests, there appeared 
 to be a prospect that our Fleet would gradually disappear, for want of a due supply 
 of ship-building material. 
 
 The value of the royal forests as nurseries and storehouses for timber for the 
 use of the Royal Navy was very early recognised. Henry VIII., in the thirty-fifth 
 year of his reign enacted that in each of the King's forests, " Twelve Standils or 
 Storers, likely to become Timber Trees, shall be left on every Acre of Wood, or 
 Underwood that shall be felled at or under twenty four years growth." When 
 England had, by the destruction of the Spanish Armada, asserted her position as 
 the principal naval power in Europe, the value of those forests would be more 
 apparent. Accordingly, Elizabeth and James each kept a vigilant watch over the 
 
 1 When? 
 
 2 Gardiner: Hist, of England, vol. viii., p. 282. 
 
ROCKINGHAM CASTLE AND THE WATSONS. 
 
 161 
 
 timber, and punished those forest officers — including even some of the highest — 
 who had abused their trust, and cut down and sold timber for their own special 
 profit.i But the straits in which Charles I. so often found himself placed, for want 
 of funds seem to have made him utterly reckless as to the fate of the old forest 
 oaks, and even of their nursling, the Fleet. 
 
 On the establishment of the Commonwealth, the interest in forests as nurseries 
 for the Navy was again revived, and measures were taken to secure a supply of 
 suitable timber. Nor did the Parliament neglect the venison, as the following 
 extract proves : " 30 May 1659. President Harrington to . . . the Warden of the 
 East part of Rockingham Forest, and Keeper of Benefitt (Benefield ?). Parliament 
 having referred it to the Council to see to the pi'eservation of the deer belonging 
 to the State, and they hearing that several deer have since May 7* been killed and 
 removed, and the meadows and grass for their winter provision much despoiled, 
 order you to send up an account how many deer have been killed or sent away, 
 and by whose warrant. You are to do your utmost strictly to preserve the deer, 
 and to allow no warrants to kill or deliver save from Parliament or Council, and 
 to look well after the grass and meadow lands, that there may be winter provisioTi 
 for them within the Grounds under your Custody."^ 
 
 The Protector shewed his interest in the forests very early after his accession 
 to the supreme power : " 6 Sep : 1653. Proposal to manage Forests &c. of the late 
 King less offensively to the people, presented to the Council of State and considered 
 by them.-' 
 
 " 22 Nov : 1653. Act for the disafforestation, sale and improvements of the Forests 
 belonging to the King, Queen and Prince."'* 
 
 " 25 Jany 1654. Lambert, Woolsey, Sydenham and Cooper to be a Committee 
 to consider the business touching the Forests.'"* 
 
 " In April it was proposed in Council that an Ordnance should be made and 
 the Forests measured by an able Artist who, with two countiymen to draw the 
 Chain at twelve pence a day, could measure and rate the lands, and set out highways 
 and allotments to Claimants."'* 
 
 The value of each of the forty royal forests was estimated of £1,000, making 
 a total of £40,000. 
 
 In 1656 the Council advise his Highness to appoint two Justices in Eyre ; and 
 this active interest in the forest continued till the year of Cromw^ell's death. 
 
 1 Forest Rolls in Iho Public Record Office. 
 2 Cal: State Papers, 1658—9. 
 3 Cal : State Papers, 1653. 
 4 ib, 1654. 
 
162 ROCKINGHAM CASTLE AND THE WATSONS. 
 
 Nor did tlie parliamentary party neglect to reward their followers with some of 
 the good offices connected with the forests. General Desborough lost no time in 
 utilizing those plums. As early as 25th February, 1645, we find him " recommending 
 a soldier in his troop for Keeper in Rockingham Forest," with the emoluments 
 attached to the post. 
 
 A singular instance of courage on the part of one of the keepers is said to have 
 occurred during the time of the Commonwealth. 
 
 One John (or Robert?) Wonall, a keeper of Gretton Lodge, in Rockingham 
 Forest, apprehended at " great personal hazard, four notorious coiners, and defrayed 
 their charges while they stayed at his house before their legal conviction ; and also 
 apprehended six noted highwaymen." For this courageous discharge of his duty, 
 the Council of State, voted the keeper a reward of fifty pounds. ^ 
 
 This keeper must have possessed extraordinary tact as well as courage, to be 
 able to capture and detain at his house, for any length of time, four desperate 
 men. His indomitable pluck has preserved for tis a suggestive picture of the 
 lawlessness of that age, and of the risks the wayfarer ran when travei'sing the 
 forest districts. 
 
 The Restoration of the King was followed by the restoration, in most cases, of 
 the offices of the forest to those noblemen, and country gentlemen, or their 
 representatives, who had been deprived of them by the Parliament ; but thenceforth 
 those offices were virtually sinecures. 
 
 Beyond this, the King appears to have taken little interest in his forests, 
 and spaniels seem to have had more interest for him than buckhounds. 
 Accordingly, we find him remembering his woods and forests only when 
 they afforded him an opportunity to gratify a favourite, or to raise money. 
 
 His father had, in the thirteenth year of his reign, appointed a commission to 
 "disafforest," which enabled purchases to be made in Rockingham, and other royal 
 forests. Lord Montagu purchased for his property in Little Oakley the px-ivilege 
 of being "out of regard of the forest." And, about 1677, that nobleman's son 
 purchased of Charles II. Geddington Woods, and " certain plains and lawns in the 
 same," with permission to convei't them into a Chase, "distinct from the Forest of 
 Rockingham, and out of the jurisdiction and boundaries of the said forest." 
 
 In a similar manner other portions of the forest were absorbed into the 
 possessions of those whose estates lay within, or adjacent to its boundai-ies. 
 
 We have seen how, between the Perambulation of Edward I. and that of 
 Charles I., the southern portions of the forest had gradually disappeared. 
 
 1 Cal: state Papers, 1656(7). 
 
ROCKINGHAM CASTLE AND THE WATSONS. 
 
 163 
 
 Abbiugton, Weston, the Billings, Overston, Moulton, Bougliton, Pitsford, Orlingbury, 
 Brisworth, Lamport, Hougliton, Scaldwell, Wold, Foxton, Mawsley, Walgrave, 
 Cransley, Broughton, Pytchley, Harrowden, Isham, Hardwick, Harrington, Sywell 
 Wood, Mousely Wood, Rusliton, Pipwell, Weston, Sutton, Carlton, Ashley, 
 Cottingham, Middleton, Stoke Albany, Desborough, Brampton Ash, Dingley, 
 Kettering, Warkton, Weekley, Barton, Burton, Cranford, Tywell, Slipton, Snd- 
 borough, Lowick, Aldwiukle, Woodford, Addington, Irthlingborough, Wadenhoe, 
 Pilton, Stoke Doyle, Oundle, Biggin, Lyveden, &c., had wholly, or in part, been 
 disafforested. 
 
 Amongst the parishes enumerated above is that of Pytchley, which has given 
 its name to a Hunt whose celebrity is co-extensive with the English speaking race. 
 But to many persons it may not be known that this small village of Pytchley has 
 been one of the chief centres of hunting in Rockingham Forest since before the 
 Conquest. At the time of the Domesday Survey, Alwin, the Huntsman, held 
 a manor there by the service of finding certain dogs for the destruction of wolves, 
 foxes, and other vei'min, and this manor is said to have been held of the Crown 
 by the same service down to about two centuries ago. 
 
 A rather singular result of the absorption of so large a part of the Forest by 
 private individuals was that a considerable portion of the county became almost 
 denuded of timber. Norden, in his Speciili Britanniae Pars Altera, or Delinintion of 
 Ndrfha'injitimshire, written A. D. 1610, says "To speake now soniethinge of the Pl.aces 
 of Woods within this Shire, which indeed by the scarcilie thereof seemeth most 
 of all to blemish the Shire." And this scarcity of timber is noticed in the next 
 century by Morton in his Natural History of Northamptonshire. 
 
 Disafforesting and leasing the forest lands continued to furnish soui-ces of income 
 to the monarchs during the five succeeding reigns. Late in the last century the 
 great importance of the royal forests as nui'series of timber for the Royal Navy, 
 again became a subject of pressing intei'cst to the State, and parliament appointed 
 a Committee to " Enquire into the State and Condition of the Woods and Forests, 
 and Land Revenues of the Ci'own, and to sell or alienate Fi-ee Farm and other 
 Unimprovable Rents." 
 
 In theii- first Report (IStli January, 1788), they state that they "found a great 
 decay in the growth of timber for the Navy," and make the following very sensible 
 observation : " There is no kind of property that requires the protection of Laws 
 more than timber, which may easily and in a very little time be hurt, or destroyed, 
 but requires a Century to come to perfection." They refer to the statute of 35 
 Henry VIII., quoted above.^ 
 
 1 See page 160. 
 
164 ROCKINGHAM CASTLE AND THE WATSONS. 
 
 Their ninth report (13th February, 1792), deals exclusively with Rockingham 
 Forest. In it they give a full description of that Forest, and enumerate the various 
 Perambulations vphich had been made of it. From the minuter details of each 
 part of it which follow we give extracts (somewhat abridged), to shew the state of 
 the Forest at that date. 
 
 " The Forest consists of Three Separate Districts called the Bailiwicks of 
 Rockingham, Brigstock and Clive or Cliffe, situated at the Distance of two or 
 four Miles from each other." The " Walks " in each Bailiwick are then enumerated, 
 and the names of the hereditary keepers of each Bailiwick, from which it appears 
 that the Exeter, AVestmoreland, Montagu, and Hatton families enjoyed a monopoly 
 of authority in the Forest, and after them came the Watsons, Ossorys, &c. 
 
 " One Court of Swainmote is held for the two Bailiwicks of Rockingham and 
 Brigstock, and another for that of Cliffe. No Forest Courts appear to have been 
 held since the time of Charles I. The forest has been principally under the care 
 of the Hereditary Keepers." 
 
 " A Considerable Pa,rt of the Woods and Lands in all the Bailiwicks belonged 
 to the Crown, but great part is granted in Fee. The Crown still retains (1792) 
 the Manors of Brigstock and King's Cliffe ; the right to Feed and Protection of 
 Deer, and other Foresterial Rights ; the Lodges and Lawns and other Lands 
 possessed by the Hereditary Officers of the Forest ; the Soil of the open Ridings, 
 Plains, and other unenclosed Lands, not granted in Fee, subject to the feed of 
 the Deer, and the Cattle of the Commoners ; the Oak Trees of a certain Description 
 within the Walk of Sulehay Ferms, and Shortwood." The Issues and Profits 
 ai'ising to the king from the Lawn of Benefield amounted to only four joence per 
 acre, in 1719. The following year they were granted to Henry Hoare (in trust 
 for Lord Hatton) for thirty-one years at an annual rent of £3 19s. Od. 
 
 In 1614 eight bucks were supplied by this Bailiwick for the use of the Crown, 
 four for other persons, and one for the Master of the Household. 
 
 In 1704 Rockingham Bailiwick supplied five-and-a-half brace of bucks, and as 
 many does for the use of the king. 
 
 In 1792 Lord Ossory, Hereditary Keeper of Farming Woods, shewed that the 
 proceeds from the sale of deer amounted to £115 10s. Od., and the expenses of 
 keeper.ship to £125 Os. Od., an annual loss of £9 10s. Od. ; but as he received the 
 Castle Guard Rents, amounting to £7 8s. 6d. per annum, the loss was reduced. 
 
 " The Earl of Exeter holds the office of Forester and Keejjer of Westhay, on 
 condition of exonorating the Crown fi'om the payment of any fees out of the 
 Exchequer to the Keeper of that Lawn." 
 
 " Stock of Deer in Westhay Park estimated at 500. The numbers killed 
 
ROCKINGHAM CASTLE AND THE WATSONS. 
 
 165 
 
 annually were 40 bucks and 36 does, of which three bucks and three does were 
 for the Royal Household. Lord Exeter appoints one keeper to the Walk at £40 
 per an : and provides hay for the deer, about £60 more." The receipts and 
 expenditure are thus estimated : 40 bucks at £3 each, £120 ; 36 does at £1 10s. 
 each, £54. Total receipts, £174. Deduct 3 bucks to Crown, £9 ; 3 does to Crown. 
 £4 10 ; keeper, £40 ; hay, £60, Total expenses, £113 10s. Profit, £60 10s." 
 
 Over the case of the Earl of Westmoreland the Commission grew eloquent. " A 
 lease was granted to the Earl of Westmoreland for thirty-one years of the Hei'bage 
 & Deei-e Browse at £2 8s. 5d. per an : (one third of the estimated value.) And 
 the Woods and Lands were exempted from all Forest Rights, Liberties, and 
 Privileges ; and declared Free Hay, and the Deer and Wild Beasts were granted 
 to the Earl of Westmoreland for thirty-one years without account, on Condition 
 the Crown be exonerated from Charges connected with the Premises ! Thus the 
 valuable Lawns of Moorhay and Sulhay, containing more than 400 aci'es of pasture 
 land, not subject to any right of Common, and reserved for the Feeding of the 
 King's Deer, were freed from that incumbrance and the full possession of them 
 transferred to Lord Westmoreland for less than a Farthing a Year per Acre ! " 
 " Lord Westmoreland would answer no Enquiries about the Deer, claiming them 
 as absolutely his own property " . . . " The Grantees of those Offices are not 
 inclined to admit the Crown has any Right or Interest I'einaining in the Forest, 
 (except Timber in Sulehay Walk,) than a right to a continnation of those supplies 
 of deer (from the three Bailiwicks together 8 Bucks and 8 Does annuallj'.)" 
 
 Lord Hatton claimed every right in the Bailiwick of Rockingham, excc2}t tlie 
 deer to be supplied. 
 
 The Commissioners considered that the " Deer, the Lodges, Lawns and other 
 Lands held in Right of the KeepersliiiJ (not especially granted in Fee as Geddington 
 Woods were) still remained in the Crown." . . . "In 1702 an Anonymous 
 Information to the Lord Treasurer Godoljjhin states that ' The Lady Westmoreland 
 was in possession of Grounds in Rockingham Forest which a Certain Gentleman 
 had made it his business to look into the Title of, and found them to be the Queen's, 
 and that the Land and Timber was worth £50,000." ..." On an Inquiry being 
 made there were found growing in these Woods 5,389 Timber Trees, of which 
 778 Trees (containing 940 Loads) were considered fit for Navy Purposes, 1,634 
 (containing 1828 Loads) were decaying, the remaining 2,977 Trees, young and 
 fiourishing; many valuable Trees had been felled." 
 
 We thus see how, in 1792, the Forest of Rockingham was gradually slipping 
 out of the possession of the Crown. 
 
 By the Act passed in 1817 (57 George III., c. 61), the Forests were placed 
 
166 ROCKINGHAM CASTLE AND THE WATSONS. 
 
 under the charge of The First Commissioner of Woods and Forests, and Land 
 Revenues, and the office of Chief Justice in Eyre was abolished. 
 
 Since the passing of this Act, Rockingham Forest, in common with others of 
 the royal forests, has been in virtue of successive Acts of Parliament, disafforested, 
 enclosed, and sold. 
 
 Many persons now living remember the wholesale shooting of the deer, and 
 the sale of others and their transportation to " happier hunting grounds ; " and are 
 fond of recounting how their fathers, or other relatives in the last generation, used 
 to " nobble "1 deer, and feast the family on venison, at the time when those deer 
 seemed to be no man's property, and the forest laws a dead letter. 
 
 The once celebrated Forest of Rockingham is now represented by detached 
 woods, more or less extensive, scattered over the district which was included within 
 the limits of the perambulation given at p. 154, &c. Of these, King's Wood and the 
 various " coppices," still remaining on the east of the road between Great Oakley 
 and Rockingham, will perhaps furnish the tourist with the best illustration of 
 what much of the forest district used to be — open, picturesque glades, with, at 
 intervals, land covered Avitli timber trees, and a thick undergi'owth. Near to King's 
 Wood he will find a good example of an old Forest Lodge, " Benefield," now a farm 
 house. The moat is still seen on three sides of it. Originally it must have been 
 capable of offering an obstinate resistance to an attack, in the times when an 
 Englishman's house was literally his castle. 
 
 In Geddington Chase, and some other parts which have been long disafforested, 
 we see the results of a more ambitious attempt on the part of man to improve nature's 
 work. The long straight "ridings," with a Church seen at the end ; the circuitous 
 " ring ridings," where the wanderer may easily lose himself ; and the intricate 
 narrow paths, all but hidden from sight, which lead to wild and secluded nooks, 
 give a novel attraction to these remains of the Forest. 
 
 Probably no district in England furnishes so large an extent of varied and 
 exquisite sylvan scenery as the old forest districts of Northamptonshire. If a 
 tourist will study a map of the county, and fix on a convenient centre where to 
 spend a few days in exploring either the woods scattered between Geddington 
 and Benefield, or those between Pipwell and Gretton, and Dene, or the Walk of 
 Morehay, south of King's Cliff, he will (weather and game-keepei'S being propitious), 
 
 1 A sort of lassoing operation, in which the operator, furnished with a strong cord, fitted with a running 
 noose, concealed himself, and awaited his opportunity to throw his cord over a buck's antlers, or head, and despatch 
 it with a suitable knife. If local tales deserve credit this species of deer-stalking seems to have been carried on with 
 quite impudent boldness well within the present century. Many stories are told of daring poaching feats in the 
 Forest, which rival the histories of smugglers' adventures. 
 
ROCKINGHAM CASTLE AND THE WATSONS. 
 
 167 
 
 frequently find himself in the presence of pictures of nature's painting as delightful 
 as they are unexpected. 
 
 But it is not alone the tourist in search of pleasure who will find these districts 
 repay a visit. There the paleontologist, the archaeologist, the geologist, the 
 naturalist, and the artist will each find scope for his special researches and studies. 
 
 The numerous quarries within the district expose the remains of animals whose 
 antiquity is quite beyond the grasp of the untrained mind. 
 
 On every side tumuli are to be seen, and no railway cutting, or deep intrencliment 
 can be made within the old forest boundaries without revealing a burial place of 
 one of the very early race of men who dwelt here. Scarcely a parish but can 
 boast of the discovery within it of the site of a Roman Villa, or some other evidence 
 of the presence there of that ubiquitous race. The flint weapon and the rude 
 earthenware of a primitive people are constantly discovei-ed. 
 
 The student of nature will find, hei-e and there, a specimen of the old forest deer, 
 in their loneliness so timid that it is difficult to get a sight of them. A collector 
 may easily fill a cabinet with specimens of rare insects, Ac, to be found in the 
 woods, or haunting the stagnant pools. The humidity of the atmosphere developes 
 vegetation to such an extent within the forest district that plants attain a growth 
 rarely seen elsewhere. The ai-tist will find in the woods, and amongst the fine 
 old specimens of domestic architecture with wliich the forest villages abound, 
 studies to delight and occupy him during many a summer's day. While to the 
 man of a practical and utilitarian turn of mind the slate quarries at Collyweston, 
 the quarries of fine building stone at Weldon,^ and the busy ii-on-stonc workings, 
 now so general thoughout the northern part of the okl forest region, will be so many 
 sources of gi'atification. 
 
 The philosopher, standing amidst the old Roman ii on-stone workings, near 
 Rockingham (disused for nearly two thousand yearsj, and ga/.ing upon the Castle 
 which marks the site occupied successively by the strongholds of a Britisii, a Roman, 
 a Saxon, and a Norman ruler, may well meditate upon the mutability of tlie works 
 of man, and upon the long struggle towards civilization which marks, through 
 unnumbered ages, the histories of race after race to whom the forest around him had 
 been a home. Here beneath his feet, hidden but a few yards below the surface, and 
 extending for many miles, lay one of nature's productions which was destined to 
 become one of the greatest material civilizers of the human race. Little could the 
 Romans who worked these pits foresee that their granite paved roads — stupendous 
 
 1 stone from this quarry is said to bavo been extensively used in public buildings in London, three or four 
 centuries since. Geddington Cross and many other structures in Northamptonshire are evidences of its durable 
 qualities. 
 
168 ROCKINGHAM CASTLE AND THE WATSONS. 
 
 works as they were — would be surpassed by roads made from the material they 
 quarried for domestic and warlike uses alone ! 
 
 Any account of Rockingham Forest would be incomplete which did not include 
 some notice of the ancient and honourable office of 
 
 THE HEREDITARY MASTERSHIP OF THE ROYAL 
 
 BUCKHOUNDS:— 
 
 an office whose oi'igin and history were involved in much obscurity until a flood 
 of light was recently cast iipon them by Professor Montagu Burrows in his work 
 on " The Family of Brocas of Beaurepaire and Roche Court." Being himself allied 
 to a family descended from the original holders of the office he has been able to 
 compile, from the Brocas family documents, a work which almost exhausts the 
 subject. The reader who may desire to go fully into the early history of the office, 
 and to learn what kind of men (and ivnmen), have filled it, will find in Professor 
 Burrows' work information the most ample, together with a mass of historical matter 
 of considerable national interest.^ 
 
 As the object of the present writer is only to bring before the reader an account 
 of the connection of the Watsons with the Hereditary Mastership of the Royal 
 Buckhounds, it is unnecessary to enter so fully into the early history of the office. 
 
 It has been stated above that a manor in Pytchley was held by the service 
 of keeping a pack of dogs to hunt "vermin" in the forest. Similarly the Master 
 of the Royal Buckhounds held a manor in Little Weldon, known as Hunter's 
 Manor, by the service of keeping certain hounds of the King's pack, and attending 
 his sovereign when he came to hunt in Rockingham Forest ; a position of considerable 
 dignity, which indicates that the holder of it was a man of some social standing and 
 courtly address, qualifications not so essential in that mere " vermin killer," the 
 Pytchley Huntsman. Accordingly, we find the earliest Masters, whose names have 
 been recovered, were men who were more or less the friends of the King or of 
 some of the royal family. 
 
 By the courtesy of Professor Burrows, the following notice of the Masters who 
 filled the office before 1633 is condensed from his full and interesting account of 
 them. 2 
 
 1 This admirable work (the full title of which is " The Family of Brocas of Beaurepaire and Eoche Court, 
 Hereditary Masters of the Royal Buckhounds, with some account of the English Rule in Aquitaine. By Montagu 
 Rurrows, Captain R.N., M.A., F.S.A. ; Chiohele Professor of Modern History in the University of Oxford"), is now 
 published by Mr. Quaritch. 
 
 2 The references B.F., in the foot notes, are to pages in the " Brocas Family." 
 
ROCKINGHAM CASTLE AND THE WATSONS. 
 
 169 
 
 The earliest notice yet discovered of the grant of Hunter's Manor is that by 
 Henry II., to his Chamberlain Osborne Level, but it is uncertain whether it was 
 then held by the same service which so long distinguished it.^ This family of Level 
 appears to have held the manor during three or more generations, with one slight 
 break in 1216, when Henry III. granted it to Hamon le Venour, thus proving its 
 connection, at that date at any rate, with the King's hunting. Margaret Lovel, 
 a daughter and heiress of that house, carried the office in succession to her 
 husbands, Thomas de Borhunte and William Danvers.^ Her issue dying, the 
 reversion of the Manor to which the office was attached was sold by her relative, 
 Maude Lovel, to Sir Bernard Brocas, in 1366.'' He possessed previously the life-estate 
 in right of his wife, Mary de Roches, widow of Sir John Boi-hunte. In his family 
 it remained vintil Edith Brocas carried it to her husband, Ralph Pexsall, in 
 1514.'* The Pexsalls again merged in the Brocases, and it was their descendant, 
 Thomas Brocas, who in 1633, sold it to Sir Lewis Watson. 
 
 The tenure by which Hunter's Manor was lield is thus given in a translation 
 from one of the Brocas documents : " Thomas Borhunte holds of the King in capite 
 a chain of land in Little Weldon, of the inheritance of Margaret, daughter and 
 heir of John Lovell, his wife, by service of being 'Venour le Roy des deymers,' 
 or Master of the King's Buckhounds. His duty is to take charge of twenty-four 
 buckhounds and six greyhounds of the King's pack, receiving for the feed of each 
 an obol, or half-penny a day, and also of two under-huntsmen, whose wages are 
 three half-pence a day, with a robe of cloth, or a mark in money by the year, and 
 boots. He is also to take charge of a veutrer (or huntsman) at two pence a day, 
 who is to have a robe, or a mark in money, and also four shillings and eight pence 
 for boots by the year. Out of this pack of hounds the master is to keep at his 
 own cost, for the forty days of Lent, fifteen buckhounds and one ' berner ' (varlet, 
 or keeper of the dogs, from hernarius, a boarhound), the other berner, the rest of 
 the dogs, and the veutrer to be kept at the King's cost, not only for the above 
 forty days, but for the rest of the year. The Master's salary to be seven pence 
 half-penny a day when ' in Court,' and when on the King's business away from 
 Coui't he is to have twelve pence a day for salary and expenses, and two robes a 
 year in cloth, or forty shillings in money. The ' seigno en malades ' is to have 
 for lively (daily) one pennyworth of bread, a gallon of beer, a mess of ' groos ' 
 from the kitchen, and a mess of roast. The other huntsmen (for their livery) 
 at the King's will. "5 
 
 1 B.F., 248. 
 2 B.F., pp. 253 and 255. 
 3 B.F., 255. 
 
 4 B.F., p. 258. 
 
 5 B.F., p. 253. 
 
170 
 
 ROCKINGHAM CASTLE AND THE WATSONS. 
 
 Little Welclon, in which was situated what has long been known as " Hunter's 
 Manor," lay, as the I'eacler will see by referring to p. 155, in the north-eastern 
 point of the bailiwick of Rockingham ; a very suitable situation for kennels, as 
 from that point every part of the forest could be reached with comparative ease, 
 while it w^as, at the same time, 'at a convenient distance from the roj'al Castle 
 of Rockingham. 
 
 The ample powers vested in the Hereditary ]\raster will be best understood from 
 a perusal of the following document, which is here quoted in full as an illustration 
 of the way in which the sovereign's ^^astime was made to take precedence of the 
 subjects' rights of property. 
 
 " James by the Grace of God King of England Scotland ffrance and Ireland, 
 defender of the faith &c. To all Justices maiors Sheriffs Bailiffs Constables and 
 all others our Officers Servants Minister's and Subjects theis our letters of 
 Commission hearing or seeing- greeting. Wee let you weet that by theis p'sent' 
 Wee have granted commanded and authorized our trusty and Welbeloved servant 
 Sir Pexall Bi-ocas Knight master and keeper of our Buckhoundes and that by 
 himself or by his deputie or deputies, bearer or bearers hereof and every or any 
 of them he or they shall or maye in his owne name take up and p'vide from tyme 
 to tyme for us and in our name in all places aswell within liberties and franchesies 
 as without of our loving subjects of what estate or degree so ever they be, such 
 and as many houndes otherwise called Buckhoundes bothe doggs and biches (so) 
 and other necessaries incident and pertaining to the said office as our said servant 
 shall think convenient for our better disporte pastime and pleasure Wherefore 
 w^e will and Command you and every of you tliat unto our said Maister and keeper 
 of our Buckhounds his deputie or deputies, bearer or bearers hereof, and every 
 of them you be in the due execuc'on of this our commandment and authority 
 obeying aiding and assisting in all places and fi'om tyme to tyme as occasion shall 
 require, as yee and every of yon tender our j^leasure and will aunswere to the 
 contrarie. And further forasmuch as thei-e shall often happen cause to convey 
 the said Buckhoundes with their chippings meat and other necessaries incident 
 and p'tinent unto them and the sei'vice from place to place as occasion shall 
 require. Wee will and Commande you and every of you that at such tyme and 
 tymes as any p'son or p'sons shall bring and shewe authorite from the said Sir 
 Pexall Brocas Knight under his hande and sealle in this behalf you and every 
 of you shall see them p'vided of horses or draughts att all places and tymes as 
 the same shall be required for the service aforesaid and thereunto be obeying 
 aiding and assisting : Whereof faile you not as you will likewise aunswere for 
 the contrary. And moiikover Wee doe by theis p'sents grant power and authority 
 
ROCKINGHAM CASTLE AND THE WATSONS. 
 
 171 
 
 to tlie said Sir Pexall Brocass Kniglit to hunt cliase and kill with our said 
 Buckhoundes onely such and see many Bucks and other Deere in any of our 
 Parkes Chases iiorests and Purlewes or other grouncles within oar said Realmes 
 and Domynyons as to his diserecion slialbe thought meete and convenient for the 
 entring quarreing and making of the said Buckhoundes meete and apt for our 
 disport and pleasure and for the keeping quarrying and mainteyning of them or 
 any of them beinge so entered quarried and made. And also all former allowances 
 and grants and payments for Buckhounds meat Couples liams Collers lether for 
 the said Buckhoundes bootes Carts and cartwheeles, woollen clothe and canvas 
 yearly to cover the same carts and three bushells of Chippings for and towardes 
 the said Buckhounds meat daily or Weekly to be taken or delivered out of the 
 office of Buttry or Pantry of our Court or houshoulde (the Officers of the same 
 Buttery or Pantry being paid fower pence for eveiy bushel 1 so taken or delivered). 
 And also all other p'fits rewardes p'heniinences attendances and things rieedfuU 
 and necesary or used heretofore for the better feeding, keeping mainteyning and 
 transporting the said Buckhounds and for the bc^tter exercising and executing of 
 the said office and service for our disport pleasure and pasty me. Ix Witnkss 
 whereof we have unto theis our letters to be made patent Witness our self at 
 Westmynster the syxe and twentith day of July in the first yeare of our Reigne 
 of England ffraunce and Ii-elarid and of Scotland the six and thii-tith.^ 
 
 " p.b're de privato Sigillo Coppin (?) " 
 
 By a singular coincidence, while' Professor Burrows' work on the Hereditary 
 Mastership of the Royal Buckhounds was passing tlirougli the press, there was 
 commenced in BaiJys Moutldij Magazine of /S^toj/.v and Faaiimes, a series of 
 brilliant but sketchy articles on "The Royal Buckhounds and their Masters. "2 As 
 each writer had worked independently, and was ignorant of the labours and 
 discoveries of the other, the result was, that while Professor Burrows was able, 
 with the aid of the family documents at his command, to produce a clear and 
 reliable history of the original Hereditary Mastership, the writer in Baily discovered 
 that, concurrently with the Mastership of the Hunter's Manor Pack, there existed 
 (at any rate fi'om the time of Heniy VIII.) a secondary, or " Privy Pack " of 
 Buckhounds, the Master of which was appointed by the sovei-eign, and paid from 
 the Exchequer of the Household an annual fee of £33 6s. 8d., and that this pack 
 was quite independent of that of the Hereditary Master who Avas always paid 
 by a warrant under the Privy Seal to the Sheriff of Surrey and Snssex. This 
 discovery that there has existed two packs of Buckhounds, quite independent of 
 
 1 Rockingham Papers. 
 2 Sec No. 317 fcr July, 1886, p. 94. 
 
172 
 
 ROCKINGHAM CASTLE AND THE WATSONS. 
 
 each other, clears away some of the difficulties connected with the Hunter's 
 Manor Mastership. 
 
 We have read in the first chapter that Rockingham Castle and Forest had, long 
 before the accession of the Tudors, ceased to be a favourite resort of the English 
 monarchs. Windsor had altogether usurped its place in the royal favour. It is not 
 improbable that Henry VIII., desiring to have his buckliounds near at hand, established 
 this privy pack, under George Boleyn, that the royal hunting establishment at Little 
 Weldon might not be constantly travelling to and from what, by the terms of the 
 tenure of the Mastership, was evidently their lawful home. 
 
 The writer in Baily, commencing with George Boleyne, Viscount Rochester, 
 brother of Anne Boleyne, as the first known Master, traces the history of the 
 Household Pack through a series of about forty Masters (of whom the celebrated 
 Earl of Leicester was one), down to the present Mastex', the Earl of Coventry. 
 
 To return to the Hereditary Masters of the original pack at Little Weldon. 
 
 On the 6th of June, 1638, Thomas Brocas,l and Elizabeth his wife, sold to 
 Sir Lewis Watson, the Manor of " Little Weldon als Hunter's Manor . . . and 
 the Bailiwick of Keeping the Buckhounds of our Sovereign Lord the King, with 
 th' appurten'ce's &c." for the sum of three thousand pounds. ^ 
 
 Although the Master's salary of fifty pounds had generally been cleared up in 
 full, there appear frequently to have been difficulties and delays in obtaining the 
 warrant for its payment, and the amount of arrears was sometimes very considei^able. 
 Sir Lewis, as will be seen from the following extract, encountered some of these 
 difficulties at the very outset of his Mastership. 
 
 " I have waited upon S'' Tho : Merry ever since my coming to London for a 
 Warrant for yo'' ffee for the Buckhounds] and could not gett yt untill this morning 
 and that was w'^^ the help of S'^ Rob* Banester otherwise I might have staid 
 longer for yt. And the reason of S^ Tho : his backwardness in yt was because 
 hee had formerly graunted a warrant for yt to M'' Brocas his man w* is lost, soe 
 as hee was verie unwilling to graunt another vntill hee had receaued satisfaction 
 from the Clerk of the privy Seale office, as also from M^ Brocas man that no privy 
 seal had yssued by vertue of that former warrant. But now I have the warrant 
 in as large a manner as your Graunt, w'^^ is for above 100 marks some what, and 
 am p'mised to have a privy seale vpon yt to morrow soe as yf I do6 not receave 
 yo^ fee according to the graunt the stopp wilbe in the SherriJf w^^ I have not yet 
 
 1 By an unfortunate slip it is stated on p. 56, that this sale was effected by "Sir Brocas Pexsall " (meaniug 
 Sir Pexsall Brocas) . The reader is requested to read " Thomas Brocas." 
 
 2 Rockingham Papers. 
 
ROCKINGHAM CASTLE AND THE WATSONS. 173 
 
 spoken w^all, but I will be well advised before I receave any money of him w'^out 
 I may liave the full summe according to the privy scale, ffor m'' Brocas Collaterall 
 security m'' Palmer saith hee will write vnto yo" about yt I receaved a p'ticular 
 from m'^ Sutor of Lauds in Wiltshire to the value of 300^' p' ann w^^ yo" are to 
 bee secured w'-'^all. 
 
 " I have bin Div'se tymes at the ffishmongers to look after the hounds but 
 
 could nev' see him I have sent down a Rundlett of High Countrie 
 
 white wine and a box wherein is m™ Grace hir petticoate & wastecoate & Pennyfoure 
 
 for the gentlewomens coates 
 
 "Yo'" Obedient s'vant 
 "3 Cranes 21''^ of "John Loddington.^ 
 
 November 1633." 
 
 Some delay appears to have occurred in carrying out the promises held out 
 in the foregoing letter, for amongst the Rockingham Papers is preserved an order, 
 in French, dated 2nd July, 10th Charles I., addressed " A treshoneureux Seigneur 
 Guardian de La Seau Privie de n're Soveraigne le Roy," dii-ecting him to issue 
 a warrant to the Sheriff of Surrey and Sussex to pay to Sir Lewis Watson and 
 his huntsmen, &c., all of whom are named (Richard Kilbourne " "Veaulterer," 
 Robert Dowset and Edward Bradshaw, " Valectcs Barnierers "), their salaries 
 (which are all duly stated at the amounts we have before given), from Michaelmas 
 " last past " to the 24th of June. 
 
 The Rockingham Papers disclose certain hitches in the aiTangement between 
 Thomas Brocas and Sir Lewis Watson, but ultimately the latter seems to have obtained 
 undisputed possession of Hunter's Manor, and of the Hereditary INIastership attached 
 to it, and to have received his salary with more or less regularity up to 1648. 
 
 With respect to this last payment, the writer in Ba/ihj, before referred to, repi-oaches 
 Sir Lewis for recnvim/ the money from the King's enemies while they held him 
 (the King) a prisoner, and for having signed the receipt '• plain Lewis Watson," 
 when he was " a belted baron of three years' standing." As to the first charge, 
 it may be asked " Why should he not take the salary he had purchased, when those 
 from whom he took it were spending the royal revenues against the King," and 
 for their own ends ? His taking it could not injure his royal master, and was certainly 
 a no fuller recognition of the authority of the Parliament than was his compounding 
 for his estates. 
 
 As to the second taunt, the writer answers himself a few pages further on, 
 when he says " In the course of these investigations it transpired, in connection 
 with some church land which he transferred, that he signed the deeds ' Rockingham,' 
 
 1 Rockingham Papers. 
 
174 ROCKINGHAM CASTLE AND THE WATSONS. 
 
 instead of Lewis Watson. This could not ' by any means be allowed of,' consequently 
 lie was ordered to further sign and seal the said deeds ' by the name of Sir Lewis 
 Watson.' " Here we have an explanation of his signing the receipt simply as 
 " Lewis Watson." 
 
 During many years after the establishment of the Hunter's Manor Pack of 
 Buckhounds, the royal visits to Rockingham Castle were, as we have seen, very 
 frequent. On most of these occasions there is little doubt the services of the 
 Hereditary Master and his dogs would be required by the king. 
 
 One can fancy' a Lovell, or a Brocas, clad in his gorgeous hunting suit, and 
 wearing the enormous boots (which the family historian tells us were a distinguishing 
 feature in his Hveiy), attended by his " valettes venours," his " veutrer, berners," 
 and other servants, leading his pack of " chiens dej^meres, leideres," and so on, 
 to the Launde of Benefield, to the Brocas Tree,^ or to some other favourite spot 
 in the forest appointed for " the meet." Had the histoiian of the Pytchley Hunt 
 lived in those days, what glowing descriptions of " Glorious Runs with the Royal 
 Buckhounds " would have come down to us ! 
 
 After the time of James I., no king is known to have hunted in Rockingham 
 Forest, Lord Rockingham's duties were consequently reduced to hunting for his 
 own j^leasure, and to keep his hounds " meete and apt " for the king's " disport 
 and pleasure." 
 
 Dui'ing the Commonwealth the Hereditary Mastershi]!, in common with other 
 offices connected with the Court, remained in abeyance. We have seen that, 
 on the Restoi'ation of the king, Edwaixl, second Baron Rockingham, was at once 
 put into possession of the office, which he inherited from his father. 
 
 But he did not hold it unmolested by the representatives of Thomas Brocas. 
 About 1669 "one Richard Brocas and others" entered an action of ejectment 
 against him. They were non-suited, and condemned to pay £210 to indenmify 
 Lord Rockingham for " vexacious charges he had incurred in defending the 
 suit. '"2 This is the last wo hear of the Brocas family in coimection with 
 Hunter's Manor. The salary attached to it was paid with tolerable regularity. 
 
 Certain documents are found amongst tlie Rockingham Pajjers which contain 
 
 1 The author of " Tho Family of Brooi\s" has given the only sensible solution the present writer has met with of 
 the origin of the mysterious name of the F.'irming WoolIs " Bocase Stone." This stone stands on the border of 
 Farming Woods, and bears the inscription " In this plaes grew Bocase Tree," and "Here stood Bocase Tree." The 
 tree, commemorated by this stone, may, it is plausibly suggested hy Professor Burrows, have been a favourite 
 meeting place with the Beocas masters of the Royal Buckhounds. and thus have gained the name of "Brocas Tree," 
 afterwards corrupted into " Bocase Tree." See " Family of Brocas," p. 250. 
 
 2 Rockingham Papers. 
 
ROCKINGHAM CASTLE AND THE WATSONS. 
 
 175 
 
 a good many items connected with this salaiy. These documents are docketed 
 "Lord Rockingham's account," with sometimes the addition of " Buckhounds — 
 sometimes "Weklon." They appear to be the accounts of a sort of purse-bearer 
 to Lord Rockingham, as they contain only references to receipts from " Jewel 
 House " and " Fees for y° Buckhounds," &c., and of disbursements for " Privy 
 Seales," " Birthday Gifts," &c. They were made up, or balanced at in-egular 
 intervals, sometimes the writer of them had paid more than he had received, 
 sometimes less. In ]6(i3 the fee received for Buckhounds was £46, the same in 
 the year following. Then the fees from 1665 to 69 (five years) are given in a 
 lump, £230. The cost of a privy seal seems to have been fifty shillings. 
 " Y^^ King's New Yeare's Gift" cost £10 los. Od., and' is of almost annual 
 occurence. " Money received from the Jewel House " was annually £11 14s. Od. 
 The latest entry in these papers of money received for the Buckhounds is for the 
 12 years ending Michaelmas, 1684, and amounts to £600. We also learn from 
 them that, undeterred by the rebuff he encountered at the coronation of Charles 
 II. (see page 90), Edward, Lord Rockingham, claimed, as Hereditary Master of 
 the Buckhounds to take liis place at the Coronation of James II, but his claim 
 was again dissallowed "quia Officium p'd'm est Offici'm de fcodo." The claim on 
 this occasion cost him £5 10s. Od. He was, however, allowed to di-aw his salary 
 as usual. 1 
 
 Indeed the glory of this pack of Buckhoiinds seems quite to have dcp.ai-ted 
 after the Restoration, and the jNIaster had simply to draw the fees for liimself 
 and his servants, to wear the livery and exercise the hounds. This mnj possibly 
 have included the duty of killing the prescribed number of deer annually provided 
 for the use of the sovereign. (See page 164.) 
 
 His son Lewis, 1st Earl of Rockingham seems to have had no difficulty about 
 the matter of salary on his accession to the office of Master, for we find amongst 
 the Rockingham Papers coj)ies of two warrants to the Sliei-iff of Suri'cy and Sussex, 
 dated respectively in the 2nd and 3rd years of William and Mni'v, for the usual 
 jiayments. After this there arose some delay, which led to the usual petitioning. 
 In the Harl. MSS., No. 2,262, fol. 95, and 2,263, fol. 13, are two dockets, the latter 
 of which we give : 
 
 " Docq'' for the Most Noble John Duke of Newcastle Lord Privy Scale, Sealed 
 lltii Day of April : 1707. 
 
 1 See copy of Lord Cheyne'a Report ; Rockingham Papers. Unfortunately there is nothing in these papers 
 which throws light upon the kennel expenses ; no notice of payments connected with the houuils themselves. 
 
176 ROCKINGHAM CASTLE AND THE WATSONS. 
 
 "Mr of tie (Buckds) 
 Wari't 
 
 " A warrant in ffrench directed to the 
 Sheriff of Surrey and Sussex to pay unto the Right 
 
 "April 1707. 
 
 Hon^^^s Lewis Lord Rockingham Master, and to the other Officers of his Mat^^* 
 Buckhounds their usual salaries for one year ended at Mich'as last by Warrant 
 from the Officers of the Greencloth 
 
 We accordingly find that these last years' salaries were paid on the 13th May, 
 1707, and this is the last payment to the Hereditary Master of the Royal Buckhounds 
 of which any evidence has been discovered. 
 
 We have nothing to shew that any interest was taken in the hunting establish- 
 ment of the young heir, the second Earl of Rockingham, during his somewhat long 
 minority. His grandfather appears to have received no salary after the payment 
 in 1707, noticed above, and no j^roofs have been discovered that the grandson ever 
 took any steps to assert his claim to the Master's salary. Neither by character nor 
 by constitution was he calculated to revive the moribund glories of the Little 
 Weldon pack. 
 
 The brief period during which his brother Thomas, third Earl of Rockingham, 
 possessed the estates afforded no opportunity to attempt such a revival. 
 
 However, when the Hon^'^'^ Lewis (Monson) Watson succeeded to his cousin's 
 estates, including Hunter's Manoi', a determined effort appears to have been made 
 to recover the salary and to revive the pack of the Hereditary Huntsman. 
 
 Amongst the Rockingham Papers are two or three copies of a paper headed 
 " The Case of the Honourable Lewis Watson Esqr. as to his Manor called Hunter's 
 Manor in Little Weldon." The situation and size of the Manor, and the history of 
 its tenure are recited, tracing it from the time it was held by the Earl of Cornwall, 
 and the grant of it to John Level, temp. Ed : 2, and of its sale to the family 
 of Brocas, and its transfer to Sir Lewis Watson. The writing then continues : 
 " From what is herein before stated it seems evidently to appear. First That the 
 
 Fee of this Manor is out of the Crown And Secondly that the 
 
 said Manor lyes without the regard of the Forest . • . which is proved by the 
 allowance of Sir Lewis Watson's Claim . . . During all the time that the £50 
 a year was paid as part of the Fee for Keeping the Buckhounds the Rockingham 
 Family Kept Inclosed and Enjoyed under every Act of Ownership Hunter's Manor 
 as their own and absolute Estate. But it afterwards happened that the Revenue 
 out of which that sum was annually to be paid became deficient, and that 
 therefore the family did not for a number of years receive it. They therefore ceased 
 
 "John Tench Dep^? to Tho^^ Goslin Esqr. 
 
ROCKINGHAM CASTLE AND THE WATSONS. 
 
 177 
 
 to occupy the Manor as they had then before done, or to shew it any regard till 
 by degrees it fell back into the same tract of Management of the Forest &c. 
 
 But the present M'' Watson has been so fully able to shew his right to 
 the annual Rent or Fee That he has lately procured an Establishment for it By 
 means whereof he considers the antient Rights of his Ancestors as worthy his 
 Regard and Support. And is therefore determined to inclose .... or make 
 any other Advantage thereof As it is humbly Submitted he Warrantably 
 may."i This copy is undated, but " the Case " was evidently prepared before 
 Mr. Watson's elevation to the peerage in 1760. How far the case was proceeded 
 with, and its results we do not know. But the year following his elevation to the 
 peerage, i.e. in 1761, the same Lewis Watson, then Lord Sondes, petitioned 
 the Lords Commissioners of His Majesty's Treasury for payment of the usual annual 
 fee of £50. 
 
 On 19th. November, 1761, the Commissioners referred this petition to the Hon'''''- 
 Robert Herbert, his majesty's Surveyor General, who was to consider the same, 
 and report his opinion thereon. The Surveyor, in his report upon the above 
 petition, recites the tenure of the office, and says that he found, with the exception 
 of one year's salary (1704), no payments had been made to the Hereditary Master 
 since 1690, on account of the revenues in the counties of SuiTcy and Sussex falling 
 short. He says that, in February, 175.5, on the occasion of a similar petition (was 
 it the "case" before quoted from?), lie recommended that the opinion of his 
 majesty's council should be taken, and he now asks whether " it may not be 
 proper for Greater Caution to have the matter considered by the present Attorney 
 Gen' in regard the Profits arising from the Land Revenues ai'e by a late Act 
 of Parliament become Part of the aggregate Fund That the Office itself is 
 become obsolete and useless. And the s^iecified Duty and Ecec'ou thei-eof at this 
 time impracticable. "1 
 
 What the Attox-ney General decided about the matter we do not know, but no 
 renewal of the payment of salary can be traced. It is pretty certain that thenceforth 
 the Hereditary Mastership of the Royal Buckhounds was to be a matter of history 
 only. 
 
 Lewis, Lord Sondes, does not appear, however, to have allowed himself to be 
 entirely extinguished, and every special privilege heretofore connected with the 
 Hereditary Mastership to be ignored. 
 
 In the billiard room at Rockingham Castle is a highly coloured painting 
 representing a gentleman, seemingly of some importance, carrying a large horn 
 
 1 Rockiiighiiiii Papers. 
 
178 
 
 ROCKINGHAM CASTLE AND THE WATSONS. 
 
 round his neck, the emblem of the Master of the Buckhounds. His three-cornered 
 hat, edged with feathers, and his general appearance indicate a man of higher 
 rank than the rest of " the field," which seems to consist almost exclusively of 
 attendants — two of whom wear the Monson-Watson livery. They and the pack 
 of hounds, are eagerly pursuing a fox, who is represented as leisurely trotting up a 
 hill on a well marked road, leading apparently to two villages, seen a short 
 distance off. Reynard shews some contempt for his pursuers. 
 
 The picture is said to be a rude copy from a painting by that sporting artist 
 of the last century, Sartorius. It was bought many years since out of a cottage 
 at Corby, a village in close proximity to Hunter's Manor, and has always been 
 said to represent Lewis, First Baron Sondes, and his pack of hounds. And until well 
 within the present century Rockingham has always boasted the possession of a 
 private pack of hounds, and the master of it is said to have asserted, and to have 
 exercised the right to hunt wherever and whenever he pleased, any prescribed rights 
 of the Pytchley Hunt notwithstanding. This has much the appearance of a continued 
 assertion of the sj^ecial privileges that were attached to the Hereditary Mastership. 
 
 As a matter of course the disafforestation and sale of the forest rendered the 
 special privilege of Hunter's Manor being "out of regard of the forest" of no 
 advantage to the owner, especially as the possession of the Manor no longer carried 
 witli it the exercise of the duties of Hereditary Master, and the annual salary. 
 We are not, therefore, surprised to find that about 1837, the Hon'-'i<=- Richard 
 Watson gave Hunter's Manor, consisting mainly of the two woods. Hunt's Wood 
 and Hunt's Shorts, to the Earl of Winchilsea in exchange for certain woods in 
 Gretton parish, lying just above the old Watson possession — The Cottons, and in 
 close proximity to the Castle groands, of which they may be considered to form 
 a picturesque portion. 
 
 The above brief sketch of the history of a once important office, imperfect as it 
 is, may serve to guide a future writer on the subject to the leading sources of 
 information. Professor Montagu Burrows' work will be found a most valuable 
 store-house of facts and hints, and much may be gathered from the articles in 
 Baihj, to which reference has been made. Possibly a diligent search amongst the 
 lettei'S of the first Baron Sondes may bring to light some interesting details of 
 runs with his own buckhounds. 
 
 If any reader of this account should feel interested in the old historic Manor, 
 he will easily find the site of it as he turns from Little Weldon towards Gretton. 
 A sketch of that site is given in Professor Buri-ows' Book. If a Manor house 
 ever existed at all (and a ]\fanor always implied a Manor House) it no doubt 
 
179 
 
 ROCKINGHAM CASTLE AND THE WATSONS. 
 
 stood on the raised piece of ground at the coi ner of the road ; — and a fine]] old 
 house to be seen a few yards away from it may give us a hint of what was 
 possibly the appearance of Hunter's Manor. 
 
Notes and Documents. 
 
NOTES AND DOCUMENTS 
 
 A THE WILL OF EDWARD WATSON, Esq. 
 
 OF LYDDINGTON 
 
 THE following Will presents a most agreeable picture of the kindly 
 relations existing between a country gentleman and his dependants three 
 hundred years ago. And it enables us to form an idea of the domestic 
 life of that period. We see also what a reality religion was to our forefathers. 
 The numerous bequests for religious purposes, and for the future welfare of his 
 own soul, and for those of his relatives, shew that to the mind of the testator, 
 life after death was a certainty. 
 
 The number of bows and " shafts," of horses, sheep, &c. not only serves to 
 indicate the wealth of the owner, but also enables us to guess his tastes and 
 jDursuits. The copy from which this Will is taken is preserved amongst the 
 papers in Rockingham Castle, and is, no doubt, that copy of the Will made by 
 the testator's directions for his son Edward. It is somewhat injured by damp, &c., 
 and at places is illegible. There is also a copy in Somerset House. 
 
 In the name of the ffather of the sonne and of the holly gohst Amen. I Edward 
 Watson of lydington in the countie of Rutl : beying this XV'''^ day of July the XXII 
 yere of the Reigne of King Henry the VIII and the yere of our lord god a thousand 
 fyve hundred and XXX hole of bodye and of good mynde and perfect memorye 
 certeyne to dye and uncerteyne when where or how I shall depart out of this wretched 
 world willing in the disposition of my worldly goodes and substance to p'vent the 
 suden houre of deathe So that the tyrae it shall please my maker Redemer and 
 Savyour J'hu criste to call me from thys life transitorye when my mynde I truste 
 
184 ROCKINGHAM CASTLE AND THE WATSONS. 
 
 fally shalbe towardes my lorde god and the ioyes of he'ven I shall not neade 
 to be busy w'^ any thing of this instp.ble worlde ordeyne and make my testament 
 and last will in forme following ffirst T bequethe my soule to allmighty god to 
 our ladye sainte marye and all the holly saintes in he'ven. and my body to bur'yed 
 in the chancell of the parishe Church of Lydington if it shall fortune me to dye 
 nighe unto Lydington and if yt fortune me to dye far from lydington I will my 
 body ' bee] buried in the parishe church where it hap me to departe out of this 
 worlde in some other place nighe thereunto as my executours shall thynke best and 
 I will my best horse to the curate where I shall departe. Item I bequethe to the 
 vycar of lydington in recompence of my duetye undoon and to pray for my soule 
 three pounds and to the bodye of the same churche of lydington for reparation 
 thereof x^' Item to the belles there vi^- viii'^- and to the torches there vi^- viii*^- 
 and to the sepulcre light. Item to the Cathedrall church of Lincoln in recompence 
 of my dutye undoon x''- Item to the churche or cliauncell where it shalhappen 
 me to be buryed for my burall there as the custome is honestly to be paid. Item I 
 will that my executo's cause an hole trigintall of masses to be saide in the churche 
 where I shalbe buryed upon the day of my buryall if it so may be or ells the 
 next day or dayes folowing and likewise as manny at the moneths mynde and 
 asmany at my yeres day And I will there be spent at the daye of my buryall and 
 gyven to prestes clarks and poore people xx^' and at my mouethes mynde x^i 
 And at my yeres day x'' And I will that ymmediately after my burying myue 
 executours fynde an honest secular preest to pray for my soule in the churche 
 where I shall be buryed and all the soules of all them that I have faren the better 
 for by the space of one hole year having for his salarye vi'* and he to say 
 dayly that yere placebo and dirige and dayly masse if he canne be so disposed, at 
 the leaste v. or vi tymes ev'y weeke to say masse. Item I bequethe to my suster 
 Janett peerson v" and to my suster Dame Sybell at Sainte Katherines iiii'^ and 
 I will that my wife out of suche landes as I have wylled to her doo pay to my 
 said suster Sibell xiii^- iiii"^^- yearly during bothe their twoo lyves. Item I 
 bequeathe to Richard Brian my cosen iiii'' and to Johane Smyth his suster xx^- 
 and to his suster maryed at Kirkham in Yorkshire xx**- Item to myles P'kinson 
 at London vi^' xiii"'- iiii'i and to my cousen Agnes Smythe in London xx^- and 
 to her suster my cousen Isabell in London xx"- Item to margarete Eringson and 
 Hely ffox my suster doughters cyther of them xx^- and to sir John Wylliamson 
 the younger to pray for my soule xx*^- And to Sir John Williamson thelder xx^- 
 and to John Panter my s'aunte (servaiit) xx sheepe one of my hackney horses and 
 in money liii^- iiii'^'- and to John Winterbourne one of my good furred gowns 
 one of my doubletts of silke oone of my Ryding cootes one of my hackney horses 
 
NOTES AND DOCUMENTS. 
 
 185 
 
 XXX good sheep the bedd I lye in my selfe being in my chamber at London and 
 in reddy monney vi'i in full recompense of all thinges betwixt him and me, if he will 
 so acceupte yt ells this bequest made to him to be voyde and under the same manner 
 I forgive him all such monney as he oweth to me. Item to Thomas Webster my 
 s'uaunte one of my furred gownes one of my doublitts of sylke twenty good sheep 
 one horse and in monney liii^- iiii^- Item to Bryan Barker my s'unte one of 
 my gownes one of my dobletts xx slieepe the bedd w"^ thappux'tenunces that my 
 ser'ants lay in at London in my chamber there one horse and in monney x^'- Item 
 to John lee my s'unte x sheep and in monney x* (20s?) Item to John ffowler 
 my worste long gowne my course doblett one horse xx sheep and in money xl^- 
 and to every of my other s'untes men and wymen besides all their duties x®- 
 and to every of my godchildren that will come for them ii sheep and to every 
 poore household in Lydington after the discresion of my executours xil d. and I 
 will that sone after my deathe myne executours distribute among poore people 
 of Sledemare where I was borne iii'' vi**- viii'^- and to the brytherne and 
 susterne at Kinges Woldgranes among them xx^- Item I beguethe to every house 
 of ffryrs in stamforde leycester and northampton x*- Item to the pris' and 
 co'vent of Lannde (Launde ?) xx^- Item to the priour and chanons of Broke (?) 
 xx^- and to the abbott and co'vent of Osolmeston (?) xx^- and to the pi'iour and 
 convent of ffynneshed xx^- I ... to the Nonnes of Rowell vi*' viii''- to 
 the Priour of Bradley (?) x^- to the priour and covent of Scpringham xx^- to 
 the nonnes of sempringham xx^- and to the abbat and covent at Dclap'y besydcs 
 Northampton xx^- and to the nonnes of stammford xx**- and to the Priour and 
 covent of Newstede upon Ancoly (?) xx**- and I pray that in eveiy of these houses 
 may be song a dirge and masse for my soule, my tt'atlicr mother, my lord Smythe, 
 my lord Attwater and maistcr Smyth and mester Roberts Tonges soules and 
 all my childrens soules and for my brother Symon and William Watson souls. 
 Item I bequeathe to the churches of uppingham Nysbroke seyton Thorpe by the 
 water, calcot and Stoke every of them vi**- viii''- Item I bequethe unto Henrye 
 Watsonne my sonne at Newstede xx'* and will that he have no moore of my goodes 
 and landes. Item I bequeth to Edward my Sonne C^' to Kenelme my sonne C' To 
 Barbara my daughter C to Mary my daughter C' To Brigett my doughter C' To 
 
 Susanne my doughter C and to the childe in ^ C'- Item I 
 
 bequethe besides that to Edward my sonne my bason and ewer of silver my beste 
 chayne of golde my best bedde of downe w' best covering, best fusteanes ii best 
 pillowes ii pair best sheetes best table cloth best towcU ii best shaving cloathes, 
 myn yron bounde cofer at london my bagge w' silver Ringes my sparver (?) of 
 
 J Literally "in ventre uxoris meae." 
 
186 
 
 ROCKINGHAM CASTLE AND THE WATSONS. 
 
 silke, my signet of gold and tlie greatest bras pott and panne and one of my best 
 gownes. Item I bequeathe to Kenelme my sonne my greate standing cupp w*^ 
 Cover gylte at london my roynde table of waynescott my best yi'oii bond chest at 
 Lydington one of my best fctherbeddes w'' thappurtenandces one of my best 
 coots and best doublitt my second gowne and my second table coth and 
 towell. Item I bequetb to every one of myne other children one good fetherbedd 
 w* thappurten'nces and half my sheep evenly among them and every of them 
 iiii payer of sheets ii table clothes. Item I bequethe to my good wife Emma 
 Watson CC'^ and all my corne, all my mylche beestes all carte ploughes and cart 
 horses and maares and carte geres and all my wood in the P'sonage and all my 
 household stuff not bequethed and iii of my hackney horses and the other halfe 
 of my sheepe, and my leases of Broke Cloas, and p'sonage of Lyttingdon, And I 
 will that my other plate be divided evenly betwixt my wife and Edwai'd and 
 Kenelme my sonnes. I will that Edward my sonne have my leaces of the p'sonage 
 of Gydding and of the cloas at baggrave, and Kenelme my sonne my leace of the 
 p'sonage of Multon (?) and Edward the leace of Tattersall landes in Lutton, and 
 John Winterbourne the lease of the]' parsonage of Stonesby, John Pant (Panter ?) 
 the leace of the lordship of Lyndon. And if any of my childerne depart out of 
 this worlde before they have receyved their said bequestes into their owne Kepings 
 Then I will that half of their said bequestes of all moveables be divided amongst 
 myne other childerne then lyving. the thirde parte thereof I will my wife have, and 
 the iiii''^ parte thei-eof to be dispoased in good works for the soules above written, 
 and if anny of my childerne enter into religion I will then halfe of all moveables 
 bequeathed to them be divided amongest my other childern, the thirde parte 
 therof to the house they shall so enter into religion and the iiii''^ to be disposed 
 as before for the soules before rehersed. P I will that myn' executours out of 
 such rentes as I have appointed and willed them to receyve pay yerely to John 
 Wynterbourne xl^ John Panter xxvj** viii'^^ to Bryan Barker xxvi^- viii'^- to 
 John ffowler xx^- and to Thomas Webster xl^- my s'untes diaring the space of 
 X yeres next after my dep'ture. Item I bequethe to the churche of Lidington all 
 my stock of lether and bark being in my tanne house and also the use and occupacion 
 of all my said tanne house so long as the same stock shall contynue in y* and 
 I will that w"^ the Rentes thereof be founde a preest to pray for my soule and the 
 soules above written and to teache poor mens childern having yearly for his 
 stypend vi'* that preest to be put in and out allway at my wyfes pleasure duryng 
 her life, and afterward by myn heires and the vycar and Churchwardens of Lydington 
 so that myn heires be allway of councell therof and the overplus of the yerely rents of 
 that Tanne house : the preest founde : the stock mayneteynid and repa'cions made 
 
NOTES AND DOCUMENTS. 
 
 187 
 
 I will be disposed yerely in mendyng high wayes and other good works aboute 
 Lydington for the soules above writton as my wife in her life, and afterward myn 
 heires shall thinke beste, and this to contyniae so long as any parte of the same 
 stocke will indure and when the preest can no longer be founde neyther of the rents 
 nor of the stocke. Then I will the Tanne yarde retourne and goo w*- my freeholde 
 thereunto nigh adionyning for out of that I toke yt. And the copy holdes to be 
 solde and dispoased for the soules above wrytton by thadm'st'^ (administrators?) 
 of my wife and heires. Item I will that every of my sounes have ii of my best 
 bowes and all my shaftes and the Resydue of my bowes to be divided among my 
 s'untes. Item I bequethe to my brother in lawe henry Sapcott my chamblett robe 
 one of my gownes furiyd foynes, one of my vousones (?) and to every of his 
 childerne vi*- viii^^- Item I will that this my will be fulfilled as soone as can 
 be after my deatlie. of my goodes moveable, debts, landes, tenements, and rents 
 appointed by this my will for the same, and that my wife have the custody and 
 guyding of my childerne, and all theire bequestes of goodes and landes so long as 
 she lyveth sole, if she will, and if she will mary agayne or will not Kepe the 
 bequestes Then I will that she and other myn executours deliver all my childerne 
 bequestes of goodes into substaunceall Religious houses or Colleges be wryting 
 made by lerned councell, there to be safely Kept tyll my childerne com' to full 
 ages and myn other executours to have the guyding of my childerne and their 
 landes to they com' to law full age of xxi yeres. Item I will that all my evidences 
 and a true copy of this niy testament be putt into a sure cofer under ii or iii keyes 
 and set into ffodringan (Fotheringay ?) college, or some other sure place there to 
 be kept till my childeren come to full ago, and then eche of them to have the 
 evydences of the landes willed unto them, and every of them a copy of this my 
 will. And of this my testament I make myne executours my wife Emma Watson 
 my cosen Miles P'kyn (Perkyn ?) of London Henry Sapcott and Sir Lawraunce 
 Hogeson, Vicar of Lydington and maister Doctour Payne and Thomas Wyldram 
 gent to be Sup'uisours and to ev'y of myn executours taking uppon them thexecution 
 of my will I give for their labours and all their reasonable coastes and either 
 of my sup'uisors for their costes XL^- And I will that in everye thinge concerning 
 this my last will my wifes advise and consent be had and that w'out her consent 
 nothing be doon nor noon acquitaunce be made as long as she lyveth soole. And 
 if anny thinge be doon w*out her consent y' clerely to be voyde nor nothing 
 to be receyved w'out her consent if she lyve soole. Wytness of this my last will 
 S'Laui'aunce hogeson Thomas Bone and Thomas Webster. 
 
 And as concerning thordre and disposition of all my Manners landes and 
 tenements which I now have or hereafter at anny tyme shalhave, this I order 
 
188 ROCKINGHAM CASTLE AND THE WATSONS. 
 
 will and declare, ffurst I will and declare that all suehe p'sonne or p'sonnes as 
 now be, or hereafter shalbe infeoffid possessid or seased of and in all my landes 
 and tenements which I now have or hereafter shall have in possession reversion 
 or in use shall stand and be infeoffid possessed and seased of and in all the same 
 and every parte thereof to thuse and p'fonrmaunce of my testament and last will 
 before or herafter expressed and to none other use nor intent. Item 1 will that 
 my wif Emma Watson have all my mannours lands and tenements in muche 
 gydding and lytton aswell in Huntingdon as Northampton shires and all my 
 man's landes and tenements in garthorpe and leycester shore and all my landes 
 and tenements in lydington Seyton and Thorp in the Countie of Rutland bothe 
 fiee holde and copy holde for terme of her life. So that she hold her therewt 
 contented wtout anny ffurther clayme to auny other parte of my landes eyther 
 by tytle or wyntour (?) dowry or ells this my beques to her to be voyde. Item 
 I will that my executours shalhave take and receyve all the rentes and revenneus 
 of all my manners landes and tenements in bloneham (? Blomham) parrishe 
 Rothersthoi'p Rockingham and Dingley, and all my landes in Burland which I 
 bought of maister Doriner called the Home, towards the performaunce of my 
 last will and testament unto suche tyme as my childerne and other to whome 
 the said landes be wylled be of full age of xxi yeres. And likewise my said 
 executours to have the Revenues to the same use of all suche landes as I have 
 willed to my wife incass she depart before my saide childerne and other to 
 whome the said landes ought by this my will to discend be of their full age of 
 xxi yeres. And incaas myn executours receyve anny more than will p'fourme my 
 testament I will they dispose it for the welthe of my soule in charitable workes. 
 Item I will that Edward Watson, my sonne when he comyth to lawfull age of 
 xxi yeres have the lordshipp of Buckland that I bought of my Lord of Rutland 
 and the manner of Knipton that 1 bought of maister Stonysby and after deathe 
 of his mother and my will p'formid my manners landes and tenements in Lutton 
 muche Gydding Garthrope Rokingham Dingley and Rothersthorpe and all these 
 to him and the heire of his bodye lauffully begotton foreuer And for defaulte of 
 such yssue the remaynder therof to Kenelm my sonne and to theires of his bodye 
 lawfully begotton. And for defaulte of such yssue, the remaynder therof to Emma 
 Watson my wife for terme of her life and after her deceas to the childe now that 
 she goyeth with if he be a boye to his heires of his bodye lawfully begotton also 
 to my doughters and the heires of their bodye lawfully begotton And for defaulte 
 of such yssue the Remainder of all my lands in Buckland to my cosen Miles 
 Parkins in London and his heires in fee, and the remainder of all my manners and 
 landes in muche gydding and Lutton to my cosen Richard Bryan and his heires 
 
NOTES AND DOCUMENTS. 
 
 189 
 
 in fee and the I'emaynder of all my mano' and lands in Garthorp to my cosen 
 William Bryan and his heirs in fee foreuer. And the remainder of my lands in 
 Rockingham John Wiuterbourne and Thomas Webster my clei-ks for terme of their 
 lives and after to be solde and disposed for my soule And the remaynder of all my 
 lands in Dingley to John Panter for terme of his life, and after to be sold and 
 disposed for me and the soules above written, and the Remaynder of all lands in 
 Rotherthorpe to Bryan Barker my s'unte for terme of his life and after to be sold 
 and disposed. And the Remaynder of all my lands in Knipton to my brother-in law 
 Henry Sapcott to the intent he shall therew' founde a chauntrye in the church of 
 lidington for my soule p'petually to endure. Ite I will that my sonne Kenelme 
 Watson when he cometh to the lawful age of xxi yeres have all my manners landes 
 and ten'ts of and in Bolle Brikill calcott and little Walton (?) and the mannour of 
 mantels and after .... be fulfilled all the landes in the Parishe of Bloneham 
 to hyni and to theires of his bodye laufully begotton and for defaulte of suche yssue 
 the remaynder to Edward Watson ray sonne and to tliuires of his bodye laufully 
 begotton and for defaulte of such yssue the remaynder thereof to the childe 
 
 in^ if it be a boye and theires of his bodye ells and for defaulte 
 
 of suche yssue the remaynder of the mann' of Mantels to the college of Brason 
 nose in Oxford foreu' so that ouer and besides their former nom' of fellowes there 
 be euermore one preest fellowe seculier of yorke shere bo'ne to pray for my soule 
 and the soules above written And for defaulte of yssue of all my saide sonnes I will 
 the lordshipp of Bollebrickill and all my landes in calcott and Walton be solde and 
 w' the monney thereof a Chauntery jj'petually to be founden in Lidington Church 
 and the Residue of the monney tlierof comyng to be disposed for the soules aboue 
 writton And in defaulte of yssue of all my saide sonnes I will that the priour 
 and co'vent of Newstcde super Ancoline (?) have all my landes in Bloneham 
 and they for the same to say dayly a masse of Acgmory^ for all the soules afore- 
 rehersed. And after the death of my wife I will that all my landes in Lydington 
 
 Seyton and Thorp freehold and copye holde remayne to the childe in^ 
 
 if it be a boy and to his heirs .... And if it be not a boye or have noon 
 heires Then I will all my freehold in lydington and Seyton remayne to Kenelme 
 my sonne and theires of his bodye. And for default of suche yssue to Edward 
 my sonne and to his heires of his bodye and for defaulte of such yssue to my 
 right heires foreu' in fee And if the Childe in my wifes bodye be not a boye 
 or do not lyve Then I will that ymmedyately after the death of my wife John 
 
 1 "In ventre uxoris meae." 
 2 This woril isi undecipherable, the above seem to be the letters composing it. What is it? 
 
190 ROCKINGHAM CASTLE AND THE WATSONS. 
 
 Winterbourne have my yewes and yarde lande in Tliorp John Panter my house 
 and yarde lande in Lydington called Colstons Bryan Barker my house and yarde 
 lande that I bought of Jerves Thomas Webster my house that Parr dwelleth in 
 and John ffowler my Cotage that Ele dwelleth in foreuer. 
 
 Memorandum. That the s.*'^ day of October xxii yere of the Reigne of our Soveraigne 
 lord King Henry the viii*'^ defendo of the ffaythe I Edward Watson adding to my 
 testament to this scedule annexed bering date the xv*^ daye of July the xxii yere 
 of the Reigne of our soveraigne lord King Henry viii''^ aboue wrytton and in the 
 yere of our lord god m^ v'' xxx will that all suche landes lying and being in the 
 towne and feeldes of Knypton w* their comodities and appurtena'ces as I lately 
 seuerally purchased of John Blak of Knipton gent and Thomas Woodford gent after 
 my deatlie thate Edward my sonne after he comes to his age of xxi yeres shall 
 have to him and to his heires of his body laufully begotton and for defaulte of 
 suche yssue to remayne in like mann' and fourme as I have before bequeathed the 
 said manners of Knypton and Whosoeu' shall have the said mannour of Knypton 
 shalhave the said landes purchased of the said Jolm Blak and Thomas Woodford 
 according to my will beforerehersed Item I will that myne executours shall take 
 the profutes and issues of my manners lands tenements and hered'traents unto the 
 tyme appointed by this my will that my said sonnes shalhave my saide landes w'^ 
 the issues and profutes of the same to pay my debt and legacies and to p'fourme 
 this my will to this scedule annexed and also that is contayned in the same scedule 
 There being wytness Syr Laurance Hugeson vycar of lidington Heniy Sapcott 
 George Swyllington gent .... Wylliam Smyth of thorpe Langton John 
 Winterborne and Thomas Webster. 
 
 Probatum fuit sup' scriptu' testementum voluntate et codicillo 
 
 eiusdem cora' itq secundo die mens' octobris 
 
 1 
 
 Concordat 
 
 in Regio 
 
 Argall. 
 
 1 This portion is illegible. 
 
B. THE THREE BISHOPS OF LINCOLN. 
 
 EDWARD WATSON", of Lyddingtou, evidently occupied a responsible 
 position in the administration of the Diocese of Lincoln. It may there- 
 fore be more satisfactory to the reader to be told something of the 
 three Bishops of that diocese who employed his services, and apparently advanced 
 his fortunes. The first of the three was his wife's uncle, William Smith, ob 
 Smyth, fourth son of Robert Smith, of Peelhouse, in Widness, parish of Prescot, 
 in Lancashire. He is supposed to have been brought up in the family of Thomas, 
 first Earl of Derby, and to have been greatly indebted to the influence of that 
 nobleman (who was a friend of Henry VII.) for his rapid advancement. It is 
 suggested that he was a Commoner of Lincoln College, Oxford, cir : 1478, but this 
 is not known for a certainty. He took his LL.B. degree at Oxford before 1492, 
 in which year he was presented to the Rectory of Cheshunt, in Hertfordshire, by 
 the Countess of Richmond, the mother of Henry VII. He was made clerk of the 
 Hanaper, with a salary of £40 i)er annum, with eighteen pence a day during 
 attendances. This was a larger salary than customary. 
 
 He was made Dean of St. Stephen's, Westminster ; a Privy Councillor ; 
 and in 1493 he was consecrated Bishop of Lichfield and Coventry. His 
 palace in London was on the site now occu])ied by Somerset House. ^ " He was 
 shortly afterwards made president of the Prince's Council within the marches 
 of Wales. There was a renewal of the Commission in the seventeenth year 
 of the reign of Henry VII, of which Smith was again lord-president. The Prince's 
 Court was held chiefly in Ludlow Castle . . . Here Bishop Smith, although 
 placed in an office that seemed likely to divert him from the business of his 
 diocese, took especial care that his absence should be compensated by a deputation 
 of his power to vicars-general, and a suffragan bishop, in whom he could confide ; 
 and here he conceived some of those generous and liberal plans which have conferred 
 honour on his name. The first instance of his becoming a public benefactor was 
 in re-building and re-endowing the hospital of S'- John in Litchfield, which 
 had been suft'ered to go to ruin' by the negligence of the friars who occupied it. 
 
 1 Chalmers. 
 
192 
 
 ROCKINGHAM CASTLE AND THE WATSONS. 
 
 Accordingly, in the third year of his episcopate, he rebuilt this hospital, and gave 
 a newtbody of statutes for the use of the society. "i In 1496, he was translated to 
 the See of Lincoln.^ In 1500, he was elected chancellor of the University of Oxford, 
 and the same year, according to Chalmers, he performed a strict visitation of his 
 cathedral. " Nor was his care for his diocese at large less actively employed in 
 hearing and examining grievances, and in promoting discipline and morals . 
 Nevertheless he condemned heritics to the stake."^ In 1507(8), he, in conjunction 
 with his friend Sir Richard Sutton, concerted the plan of Brasenose College, and 
 lived to see it completed. He died at Buckden, 2nd January, 1513(14), and was 
 buried at "the soath side of the nave of Lincoln Cathedral, under a marble 
 gravestone, richly adorned with brass, which Sir William Dugdale had leisure to 
 describe for us before it was destroyed by the rejDublican soldiers, or Mob. The 
 Rev'i- Ralph Cowley (Principal of Brasenose from 1770 to 1777) put up a mural 
 monument with a suitable inscription."'' Nichols, in his history of Leicestershire, 
 vol. iii., p. 309, says " He was buried next the West door of Lincoln Cathedral, 
 and when his corpse was removed, his body was found in a stone coffin, wrapped 
 in seer-cloths, and with a ring on his right hand. He was a great favourite with 
 Henry vii'^" 
 
 Possessing high court favour and unbounded ecclesiastical influence, he doubtless 
 found many opportunities of advancing the fortunes of his nephew-in-law. 
 
 On tlie death of Bishop Smith, Wolsey was advanced to the See of Lincoln, 
 but, being translated to that of York eight months afterwards, he was succeeded 
 in the diocese of Lincoln by the second of the three bishops named on Edward 
 Watson's tomb : William Atwood, who, according to his ejaitaph in Lincoln Cathedral, 
 was born in 1440, Wood says at Davington, in Somerset, a place unknown. It is 
 suggested that Downton, in Wiltshire, may have been his birth-place. Wood also 
 says he was educated at Magdalen College, but his name is not on the College 
 Register. He was probably a fellow in 1480, and doubtless a tutor when Wolsey 
 was studying there, and thus formed his acquaintance. He was made D.U. in 
 1492(3) ; Vice-Chancellor of the TJniversity of Oxford from 1497 to 1502. William 
 Smith, as Chancellor, continued Atwood as Vice-Chancellor, and highly commended 
 his " merits and diligence." He held a large number of ecclesiastical benefices. 
 He was Dean of Salisbury, Ai^chdeacon of Huntingdon, Canon of Windsor, Dean 
 of the Chapel Royal, Registrar of the Order of the Garter, and by the appointment 
 of his friend William Smith, he was Chancellor of the Cathedral of Lincoln. 
 
 1 Dean Hook. 
 2 Hook says 1495. 
 3 Chalmers. 
 
NOTES AND DOCUMENTS. 
 
 193 
 
 He was also a prebend of Liddington. He died at Woburn, in Bedfordshire, 
 4th February, 1520(1), at the advanced age of 81, and was buried in Lincoln 
 Cathedral.^ 
 
 The third Bishop-patron of Edward Watson was John Longland, who was 
 born at Henley, in Oxfordshire, in 1473, and educated at Magdalen College, in 
 Oxford, of which he became a fellow. He was Principal of Magdalen Hall from 
 1505 to 1507. Promoted to the Deanery of Salisbury and made Canon of Windsor. 
 He was a faithful friend and companion of Cardinal Wolsey. By Papal pi-ovision 
 he was advanced to the See of Lincoln in 1520. " He was afterwards employed 
 at Oxford, by the King, to gain over the learned men of the university to sanction 
 his divorce from Catherine of Arragon. It is said, indeed, that when Henry's 
 scruples began to be started, Bishop Longland was the first that suggested the 
 measure of a divorce. He was one of the consecrators of Ai'chbishop Craiimer ; 
 and was one of those who were commissioned to compose ' The Institution of a 
 Christian Man.' In 1533, he was chosen Chancellor of the University of Oxford. 
 
 His activity in assisting his friend Cardinal Wolsey to raise funds for the College 
 the latter was founding is shewn in certain letters of his from Liddington, which 
 are preserved in the Record Office. A quotation from one of them lias already 
 been given.'^ As early as 1526, we find him writing to the Cardinal that the 
 Abbot of Peterborough had promised a " gift " of £400 towards the object. But 
 in August of that yeai-, Bishop Longland writes " I find the Abbot of Peterborough 
 is not the man I took him for. He almost goes from everything he speaks." It 
 appears that the Abbot, instead of his £400 promised, was only willing to give 500 
 marks. Bishop Longland died 7th May, 1547, at the age of 74. His heart was 
 buried at Lincoln, his bowels at Wobum, and his body at Eton, where is an epitaph 
 to his memory. 
 
 1 Chiefly from Le Neve, and the Diet: of Nationnl Biograjitiy. 
 2 Dcnn Hook. 
 3 Page 24. 
 
C. THE WILL OF Mrs. ANNE DIGBY. 
 
 THE following will is found among the Rockingham Papex's. It is given 
 here as another picture of the times, and as being of interest to the 
 genealogist. It seems to be in the hand-writing of John Digby, and 
 to have been dictated when the testator was in extremis, and so feeble that she 
 was but just able to print her initials by way of attestation. The reader will 
 notice how she returns to the same legatee from time to time, as though her 
 memory, or a bystander, Iiad prompted her to add to her bequest to that particular 
 person. This is especially noticeable in the case of her old servant, John Nicholls. 
 " His Mark " is an arrow head, made with a decision that indicates the enei'gy of 
 his character. Whoever was the scribe he evidently had to write rapidly, this is 
 seen both in the hand-writing and in the orthography. Only once has he spelt 
 give with an i. It seems strange that when the two words occur so frequently 
 in the Will, he did not notice he was spelling the proper name, Mary, the same 
 as he spelt a female horse ! 
 
 The virginals do not appear to have been valued at a high price, as the 
 following extract from the " Inventory of all and singuler the goods &c. &c. of 
 M''^ Anne Digbie " testifies : " In the greate parlor. Item one longe table and a 
 frame four formes four Stooles two greate Clothe Chaires four greate cushions 
 a little greene Cushion two square tables a fawlinge table two little footstooles on 
 pair of vii'ginalles and a table whereon the virginalls stand a long carpett two 
 square carpetts, a screene and a pair of Andirons 4'^ 
 
 " In the name of God amen the last daye of June in the yeare of our lorde 
 God 1600 I Anne Digbie of Stoke Drye in the countie of Rutland woddow of Good 
 and p'fect memorye God be thanked, do ordayne and make this my last will and 
 testemente in manner and form following ifyrst I com'end my soule into the handes 
 of allmyghtie god and my bodye to be burred in the Chauncell of the parishe 
 Church of Stoke Drye aforesaid in the toumbe of my husbande deceased. Ite I 
 geve to my Sonne Watson one of my brounde mai-es which hee will choose Itn 
 I geve to my daughter Watson my guilt . . . (?) Itn I geve to there children 
 to be equally divided among them ten pounds. Itn I geve to my daughter Anne 
 Norwiche guilt bowle. Itm I geve to ray Sonne Dudley and to my daughter 
 
NOTES AND DOCUMENTS. 
 
 195 
 
 Dudley and to their three Childern tenn pounds to be equally divided among 
 them. Itn I gave to my sonne maynwaring fyve pounds and to my daughter 
 maynwaring five pounds and to there childern to be equally divided among them 
 ten pounds in all twenty pounds whych they have laytly bowed (so in orig :) 
 Receved and had of me. Itn I geve to granchild Everard Digby one bro'in (? brown) 
 baie troting filly which he lately had from me and that other yerlynge fylly which 
 was of the same old mare of mine in the upper halliock also J geve to him one 
 frayie (? "frayme"3 of timber ordayned for a roofe for the town chamber also I 
 do forgeve him that six score pounds of debts which were due unto me by my 
 Sonne Everard Digby deceased so that my sayd grainchild Everard Digby do 
 p'mitt and suffer my executor quietly to gane egress and Regress to take and 
 remove all my goodes as do belonge unto me and are to be disposed by my last 
 will and testament and do not challenge any recompence for defaults of reparations 
 or by . . . (?) of wast done by me or my assignes. Itm I geve to the reste of my 
 Sonne Edward Digby liis children to each of them fortie shillings Itm I geve 
 more to his Dauter mare Digby twenty shillings and one silver cup with a cover 
 liaveing these letters upon it M.D. Itn I geve to my Sonne Shei-ard my bald 
 mare in the ladie acer. Itm I geve to my Daughter Sherard my balde niaro in 
 the Wood-feeld. Itm geve to her my coach with all the furneture beloungiug. 
 Itm I geve to her the one halfe of my linnin and half of my peuter and half of 
 my brase. Itn I geve to her daughter Anne Sherard verginalls. Itn I geve to 
 her two Sonnes Will Sliei'ard and Kellam Sherard one skore of Sheepe in the 
 woodfeeld. Itm I geve to my Grandchilde Symon Norwich twentie shillings. 
 Itm I geve to my Sonne James Digby and to his ten children to Ech of them 
 twentie shillings Itm I geve to John Nicholls the elder my man the whyte mair 
 which I bought of him. Itm I geve to James Conke one Cowe Itn I geve to 
 ech other of my househaut servants one sheepe. Itn to each of them in money 
 vi^- viii'*' besyds there quai'ters wages. Itn I do constitute apoynte and make 
 my daughter Anne Watson of Rockingham, and my daughter Eliz : Maynwaring 
 executors of this my last will and testament. Itm I do geve to my sonne John 
 Digby of Satyn my silver bason and Ewer. Itn I geve to Keynelmes Digby his 
 sonue one silver bowel and cover to it p'siell gylt. Itn I geve to his daughter 
 Anne Digby one cowe. To the Repare of the p'rishe ch'rch of Stoke I geve fortie 
 shillings. Itn to Uppingham Church xx^- Itn to liddiugton church xx®- In 
 I geve to my maid Anne sarrol one cowe Itn I geve ten pounds more to be equally 
 Devided amonge my Daughter Watson's Childi-en Itn I give to ould John Nichalls 
 the furneture of his chamber whei-e he lyeth also one of the young mares in the 
 Woodfeelde which were of my cart mares which he will chose Itn I geve to my 
 
196 
 
 ROCKINGHAM CASTLE AND THE WATSONS. 
 
 Daughter Shearords Daughter one skore of my sheepe in the Wood, feeld Itm 
 I geve to my mayden Em'a hames one cowe. Itn I ge\e to my Daughter Sharards 
 mayde grace tow sheepe Itn I geve to Anne Tarrold one fether bed which is 
 in tlie inner chamber, within my lodging chamber Itn I geve to my sonne John 
 Digby and my daughter Sherarde all that is in the closet eccept the bookes. Itn 
 I geve to John Stephemer one sheepe and to Willm Couper one sheep and to mare 
 one sheepe in the woodfeelde and in witness that this is my last will and testement 
 I have here unto sett my hand and all these wytneses whose names ar under writen 
 Itn I geve more to John nichall the Elder fore sheepe Item I geve to John nichall 
 the younger one cowe which he will chose. 
 
 "John Digby " Ambross R)ayie A T 
 
 " Brigitt Sherard A D 
 
 " Mary Digbye "John A nicoholls his marke."^ 
 
 1 Rockingham Prtpers. 
 
D. Mrs. ANNE DIGBY'S INVENTORY. 
 
 THIS Inventory enables us to understand the style in which a country 
 gentleman's mansion was furnished about the close of the 16th century. 
 The paucity of chairs is here very remarkable. Our ancestors appear to 
 have used forms and stools in the place of chairs. Compare the variety of luxurious, 
 many-shaped, easy lounges which crowd a modern drawing-room with the "four 
 formes, four Stooles two greate Clothe Chaires fourc greate cushions a little green 
 Cushion " which comprised the sitting and lounging accommodation in the " Greate 
 Parlor" of the mansion at Dry Stoke in 1602! "The Lady Hadon's Chamber" 
 could only boast of one chair, but it makes the most of that. On the other hand 
 pewter seems to have been so plentiful that, like silver in the time of Solomon, it 
 was " nothing accounted of," although so extensively used. The " black tufE-taffatie 
 gowne " and the " old Damaske Gowne " and " other implements " in the " coffer 
 next the Gallorie doore " would, in our time, be considei-ed a decided bargain at two 
 sovereigns. 
 
 The chambers for the " plowmen, servingmen and kitchen boie " bring to mind 
 the time when the out-door labourers were considered as much a part of the 
 household as the domestic servants. 
 
 The Inventory of all and singuler the goodes Chatties and Cattell of M""^ Anne 
 Digbie while she lived of Stoke Drie in the Countie of Rutlande deceased Made 
 and taken the Last dale of Maie Anno dmi One tliousand six hundred and twoe 
 By Laui'cnce Goodman gent. Richard Reignolds Gabriell Gailer John Richardson 
 John Brightwaie and Thomas Wales as followeth viz : 
 
 In the halle 
 
 Imprimis One hanginge of greenc and yellow 
 sale a long table a frame and two formes 
 ffive other tables tenne tressells and formes 
 one old chest A greate dragge and one 
 littl cubbord. Summa putet : 40* 
 
198 
 
 ROCKINGHAM CASTLE AND THE WATSONS. 
 
 In the greate Parlor 
 
 Item One longe table and a frame, four formes 
 four Stooles two greate Clothe Chaires foure 
 greate cushions a littl greene Cushion two 
 square tables a fawling table two little footestooles 
 one paire of virginalles and a table wheron 
 the virginalls stand a long carpett two 
 square carpetts a screene and a paire of 
 Andirons. Summa pt : . . . . 4ii 10^- 0^^- 
 
 In the Lady Hadons Chamber 
 
 Item One standing bedstead the vallance heade 
 and testerne of Red Raised velvet brancht 
 with gold foure Curtaines of yellow and Red 
 sarsnett a paire of woollen blankets and a fustian 
 blanket A downe bedd a matteris twoe 
 pillowes and a bolster a gi'eate Chaire of Red 
 velvet w*^ gold lace two velvet cushions 
 of the same"|Worke one other Red-velvet Cushion 
 a standing Cubberd a Cubberd Clothe and two 
 longe Cushions of needle worke two window 
 curtins of Buckrom a paire of andirons 
 a paire of Bellowes the hangings of the 
 Chamber of blew and redd Saie : 
 
 Sum'a pt 12" 0 0 
 
 In the Inner chamber 
 
 Item a standing bedsteade two stooles a 
 fether bedd a mattaris and a red blankett 
 
 Sum'a pt: . . . . 40^5 O'l- 
 
 In the greate chamber. 
 
 Item One bedsteade the vallaunce head and 
 testerne of blew Cloth and yellow floweres 
 a Chaire of the same worke foure Curtaines 
 of blew and Red worke one featherbed one 
 mattrasse a Rugge a fustian blanket one 
 
NOTES AND DOCUMEISTTS. 
 
 199 
 
 greate Cheste a standing cubboard two greate 
 Cushions of tui'kie worke three needle 
 worke cushions a paire of Andirons the 
 hangings of the chamber of blew and red saie 
 
 Sum'a pr 10" 0 0 
 
 In the stairheade Chamber. 
 
 Item One ould feather bed a coffer 
 an iron for the halle fire 
 
 Sum'a p 8s 4'' 
 
 In the chappell Chamber 
 
 Item a bedstead a Cubbord a stoole 
 
 three iron Rodds li'our Curtaines 
 
 vv* the heade and testerne of blew Saie 
 
 Sum'a pr: 88^ 8'' 
 
 In the Inner Parlor 
 
 Item a bedsteade with the testerne 
 
 and vallance of Sattyn abridges three 
 
 silk Curtaines a featherbed a bolster 
 
 two blanketts and a Covering w'*" other 
 
 implem**^ Sum'a pr : . . . . 5" 0 0 
 
 In the Lock chamber 
 
 Item a greate chest threescore 
 and seaventeen peeces of pewter 
 a chafingdish a stoole sadle a 
 male Sadie w'*^ divers other implem'''^ 
 
 Sum'a pr. 5» 0 
 
 In the other Lock Chamber 
 
 Item A greate presse twenty two 
 peeces of pewter a large 
 coffer a greate chest two 
 sadles one other chest and 
 other implements 
 
 Sum'a pi' 3'' 8'' 
 
200 
 
 ROCKINGHAM CASTLE AND 
 
 THE WATSONS. 
 
 In the store Chamber 
 
 Item a trunke a Coffer a 
 herscloth of rope worke a 
 featherbed boulster pillowe 
 and blankett, a bason and Ewer 
 of pewter a posuett thirteene 
 peeres of pewter w**^ other 
 implements 
 
 Sam'a pr . . . . vi^' 0"^ 
 
 In M"^ Digbies chamber 
 
 Item one bedstead a featherbed 
 
 a coverlett and a canapie of 
 
 white worke one other fetherbedd 
 
 two boulsters a blanket and a 
 
 coverlet Eight square Cushions 
 
 one longe Cushion two cheires six Stooles 
 
 a square cubbord a long Cubbord a 
 
 greate Chest a pestell and morter one 
 
 greate presse w''^ divers glasses 
 
 boxes and other implements. 
 
 Sum' pr. v'' vis viija 
 
 In the maides Chamber 
 
 Item Two bedsteades a matteris 
 two coverings a boulster a 
 blankett and certaine old ii'on 
 
 Sum'a pr : xiii^ iiii^ 
 
 In the Gallorie 
 
 Item two Chest bounde w'*' 
 iron a black velvet kirtle 
 w''^ other peeces of velvet 
 and Damaske 
 
 Suma'a pr : iii'' vi^ viii'^ 
 
NOTES AND DOCUMENTS. 
 
 201 
 
 In the coffer next the gallerie doore 
 
 Item a Black tuff-taffatie gowne 
 an old Damaske gowne w''^ other } xl^ 
 implements 
 
 Item one other coffer w'''^ ^ 
 certaine peeces of silke 
 and velvet 
 
 ^ v^ 
 
 Sum'a pr xlv* 
 
 In the brn.shiuo' Chamber 
 
 ii'l 
 
 xlii^ 
 
 Item One greate leather Chest 
 ■wherin there is one Damaske 
 towel] one diap towell two 
 diaper table clothes with divers 
 other parcells of lynnen of 
 diaper and hollaiul 
 
 Item one Coffer wherin there 
 are eight tables five dosen of 
 course napkins six towelles 
 and other p'cells of lynnen 
 
 Sum'a pr. viii'' v» iiii'' 
 
 In <lip olde chest in tlic gallorie 
 
 Item five pnire of flaxen sheetes 
 iiynteene paire of hai-den sheets 
 and other lynnen w"* a warming 
 panne 
 
 Sam'a pr: iii" xiii'* iiii'' 
 
 In Slicrards Chamber 
 
 Item One bedstead a quilt 
 a fetherbed and a Cushion 
 
 Sum'a pr. xl" 
 
202 
 
 ROCKINGHAM CASTLE AND THE WATSONS. 
 
 In the nurserie 
 
 Item A Coverlett two blanketts 
 a flocke bedd a fawling table 
 a Chaire a greate Chest two 
 stooles and other implements 
 
 S 
 
 urn a pr 
 
 In the Closet 
 
 Item A bason and ewer of silver 
 Item foure spoones 
 Item a giult salt w'^^out a Cover 
 Item certaine other implem'* 
 
 Sum'a pr. 
 
 xiiy^ vi^ Yiii^ 
 xxvi^ viii"^ 
 xl« 
 
 In the chest in the Inner Chambei' 
 
 Item One bowle w*^ a cover p'cell giult xl*^ 
 Item one giult bowle w''^ a cover iiij'' 
 Item one other giult bowle w'^^oute 
 
 a Cover xl** 
 Item one chalice w'^^ a Cover xxx** 
 Sum'a pr. ix'' x^ 
 
 In the greate presse 
 
 Item One goblet of silver 
 w*"^ a Cover 
 Item foure silver spoones and 
 
 a pearl e spoone 
 Item one silver salt 
 Item foure silver spoones 
 
 Sum'a pr. 
 
 xl« 
 
 XX 
 
 xls 
 xx* 
 
 In the Butterie 
 
 Item One greate binge to hold 
 breade, thi-ee small tables 
 two pewter basons and ewers 
 
NOTES AND DOCUMENTS 
 
 a voider a cheese dish a plate 
 foure lattin candle sticks and 
 two pewter candlesticks twelve 
 hoggsheades with divers other 
 implements 
 
 Sum'a pr : xl 
 
 In the Kitchen 
 
 Item ffiftie peeces of pewter 
 of all sorts One greate brasse 
 pott, four other brasse potts, 
 One greate boiler of copper a 
 chaffer six' Kettles two posuetts 
 a morter and a pestell seaven 
 spitts three di-ippinge pannes 
 yyth divers other implements 
 
 Sura'a pr. 
 
 In the wett larder 
 
 Item a pair of mustard coenes (?) 
 a greate powdring troughe two 
 powdring Tubbes a bakin panne 
 two barres of iron w*^ other implements 
 
 Sum'a pr. 
 
 In the drie larder 
 
 Item One Saffe two tables two 
 shelves w*-^ other implements 
 
 Sum'a pr : 
 
 In the Brewhouse 
 
 Item three fattes three cooling 
 leades one cooler two caales 
 a copper panne a tubbe a pailc 
 and a clensiug Syve 
 
 Sum'a pr. 
 
204 
 
 ROCKINGHAM CASTLE AND THE WATSONS. 
 
 In the Backhouse 
 
 Item Two greate iron rucks 
 
 one greate ix'on in the Chimney 
 a gTcate bowkingf ketle an 
 old panne a boulting tubbe 
 w''^ other Jmplements 
 
 Sum'a pr. xl^ 
 
 In the Yard next the Kitchin 
 
 Item Three bowking tubbes 
 three other Tubbes and 
 a Kymnell 
 
 Sum'a pr. 
 
 In the olde parlor 
 
 Item A table a Chest a 
 greate panne divers 6ther 
 
 Jmplements 
 
 Sum'a pr : viii® iiii'^ 
 
 In the plowmens Chamber 
 
 Item Three bedsteades a feather 
 bed a quilte a coveringe a 
 matteris one other covering 
 and foui'e blanketts 
 
 Sum'a pr. xxiii^ iiiifi 
 
 In the servingmens Chamber 
 
 Item Two bedsteades a featherbed 
 a matteris a boulster two 
 blanketts and a coveringe 
 
 Sum'a pr. xxx^ 
 
 In the the Kitchen boies Chamber 
 
 Item One bolster a matteris and 
 a blankett 
 
 Sum'a pi'. iii'^ 
 
NOTES AND DOCUMENTS. 
 
 205 
 
 In the dayrie 
 
 Item. Two clieese presses twoe 
 brasse pannes eiglit boles two 
 Cowles w'^ certain otlie iinplements 
 S'te in one Coaclie (?) 
 
 Sum'a pr. xxxv^ viii*! 
 
 In the come chamber 
 
 Item One old leade two frames 
 for tables with Seeks sives 
 and other implements 
 
 Sum'a pr. xx^ 
 
 In the stable and plowe yard 
 
 Item Twoe shodd cartes a 
 
 new waine bodie ffoure 
 
 iron harrowes two pi owes 
 
 two Shares two colters 
 
 ffoure iron Yokes three paire 
 
 of Carte geares w'^'^ other implements 
 
 Sum'a pr: v^' xij^ vj'^ 
 
 In the malt Chamber 
 
 Item Twelue quarters of malt vi'^ 
 Item three greate fatts one ^ 
 beareleye and other implements ) 
 
 Sum'a pr: vij'^ 
 
 In the Barne 
 
 Item Barly to thrashe 
 
 praised at iijii 
 
 In the Cheese Chamber 
 
 Item Six score cheeses xl^ 
 Item certain cheese Rucks and boards iij* 
 Sum'a pr : xliij* 
 
ROCKINGHAM CASTLE AND THE WATSONS. 
 
 In the woodfeild 
 
 Item Sheepe of all sortes One 
 hundred three score and three 
 whereof one hundred praised at 
 Item the threescore and three | 
 
 other sheepe 5 " 
 
 Suma pr: Ixxxxiij^' vj* '^iij'' 
 
 Ixxiij'^ vi^ viii"^ 
 
 In the same feild 
 
 Item One baie mare and foale 
 Item two fillies 
 
 111]' 
 iiiji 
 
 In the Ladies acre 
 
 Item One balde mare and foale 
 Item one gray mare and fole 
 Item one white mare and fole 
 
 iijli 
 
 5um a pr ; 
 
 Vllji 
 
 In the halliocks 
 
 Item One browne mare and fole 
 
 Item one baie mare with fole 
 
 Item one baie stumpefoote mare 
 
 Item one baie stoned horse 
 
 Item one black grey colt 
 
 Item one baie Gelding 
 
 Item one graie gelding 
 
 Sum'a pr. xxxj^i vi" viii 
 
 "J 
 iiiji 
 
 iiid 
 
 xl» 
 
 xxvj^ viiid 
 
 In the hogge yard 
 Item Twelve swine of all sortes vi^' 
 
 In the barlie feild 
 
 Item Thirtie five acres of barlie at 
 
 twentie five shillings an acre 
 Item twentie two acres of pease in | 
 the pease feild ) 
 
 Sum'a pr ; lix^' vij 
 
 I xliiji' xv^ 
 
 XV" 
 
 XI f 
 
NOTES AND DOCUMENTS. 
 
 In the Darnell 
 
 Item Sixteene Kine preised at j 
 fortie six shillinges eight pence r 3 
 a cowe ; 
 
 xxxvij'' vi^ viii<i 
 
 Item Two steares and a Bull 
 Item one Cocke of haie 
 
 Sum'a pr 
 
 xliiji' 
 
 iiij" xiij** viiifl 
 
 xxxiij* iiij*! 
 xiij^ iiij'^ 
 
 Suma Totalis 
 
 1 
 
 ccccx" ii^ vii]'^ 
 
 huius Inventarij ) 
 
 Exhibitum fuit hni' Jnventari' 
 vltimo die mensis J'nnij A" dm : 1602 
 p' Thoma' lies no™ jjub"' no'cc 
 procurio executi'icii etc pro vero et pleno 
 Inventario etc sub protestac'oni tameu 
 de addend etc q'^ s't etc. 
 
 Will'mns Woodhall R""« i 
 
 1 Rockingham Piii)ers. 
 
E. 
 
 THE WILL OF ANNE LADY WATSON, 
 WIFE OF SIR EDWARD WATSON. 
 
 THIS Will occupies one-and-a-lialf j^ages of foolscap paper. The writing is 
 very distinct but the ink is faded, except in the piece added by Sir Edward, 
 and the signatures of the witnesses. 
 
 " My desire is that my husband will pleese to p'forme all suche gyftes and 
 bequestes as are hereafter mentioned and intended to be bestowed and gyven by 
 me as followeth vidlt : fhrst I gyve unto my seaven Daughters vi^' xiii^ iui<i- a 
 peice. 
 
 " Item I gyve to my soune Lewis watson a Turkie ringe and to delyver unto him 
 the Dybraond ringe wch my Daughter Watson his wyfe left w'^ me to kepe for him. 
 "Item I gyve to him my Dunessole (?) and my gilded cabanit w^^^^ standeth upon 
 the cubboard in my chamber. 
 
 (Here a space is left as if the testator thought she might remember some other 
 bequests to Lewis.) 
 
 "Item I gyve to my soune Edward watson, my younge baye maer in the p'^ w"^ 
 my uncle William Mountague^ gave me, and also my graye maer in the stable and 
 the ffillie w'=^ is in the upper ffeilde. 
 
 " And my desire further is that you will gyve and assigne to my said soune Edwaj'd 
 the lease of Bringhurst farme, and all the tearm of yeres therin conteyned, w<=^ 
 you have by lease or grant from my soune-in-lawe Sir Charles Norwiche. 
 "Item I give moi'C to my said soune Edward, all my householde stufEe and ymplements 
 of household w'^'^ are at Bringhurst, and Rockingham P'^ lodge with the newe suite 
 of hangings for the great chamber there. 
 
 " Also I give to my said soune Edward, my silver posseuit w'^ the cover and silver - 
 ladle thereto belonginge, and my suger boxe of silver, with the silver spone thereto 
 also belonginge. 
 
 " Item I gyve unto my said soune Edward my stryking watch. 
 
 "Also I gyve unto my said soune Edward all such ymplements of howsliold and 
 yarde w"'^ I have remayning at Stoke Drye. 
 
 1 Her husband's uncle, Mr. William Montagu, of Little Oakley, son of the Lord Chief .lustice Montagu. 
 
NOTES AND DOCUMENTS. 
 
 209 
 
 " Item I give urto my grandchyld Anne palmer the hundred pounds w''^ I am to 
 have of my lord of Rutland, and if I have but ffyftie pounds of his lordship then 
 my desir is that my said husband will make up the same a hundred poundes, to 
 be paid unto her at the daye of her marriag, so that she marrie w''^ the consent 
 of my soune Edw^ard Watson and my Uncle William Mountague, and the said 
 monie to be paid and delivered to them. 
 
 " Item I gyve to my sister Madlam (?) my stalring w*^'' hangeth at my watch. 
 " Item I gyve to my sister Digby at luffenham a gold ringe lyned w'** pomander (?) 
 " Item I gyve to my sei-vant Ellen iii" vi**- viii'*- and the monie due to her. 
 " Item to Rachel a lytle brown heyford in the p^ 
 " Item to the ffour maydes in the house x^- a peice. 
 
 " Item to old Johan and the other maids at Bringliurst a peice and ffoi-ty 
 
 shillings each is due to all fohar for wages. 
 
 " Item I gyve to Thomas Goodman a heyfour. 
 
 " Item I gyve to Willm Wytwell two heyfors. 
 
 " Item I gyve to Willm pantr a cowe. 
 
 " Item I gyve to M'' Morton two ewes and lames. 
 
 " Item I gyve to martin Taibie ffyve sheep. 
 
 " Item I gyve to Willm Taylor fPyve sheep. 
 
 " Item I gyve to Robte Sprigges one ewe & a lambe. 
 
 " Item I gyve to Thoby Whyte one ewe & a lambe. 
 
 " My desire also is that you will gyve unto wydow fRoyd a lease of her house 
 and Closse for tearnie of her lyfe, ])ayeing therefore the accustomed rcntt. 
 
 " All w''^ aforesaid Legacies and Bequeastes gyven and bequeathed and de.syred 
 to be gyven by my wyfe the Ladie Ann Watson as aforesaid 1 do faithfully 
 p'mise to p'forme. 
 
 "ED WATSON 
 
 " Subscribed in the presens of 
 " Reginald Waters 
 " Martin Tailbie."i 
 
 Her son Lewis had not retui'ued to England at the time of her death. The above 
 Will furnishes a most agreeable picture of the relations which existed between 
 a mistress and her servants at that time. The " stryking watch " must have been 
 a curiosity. 
 
 1 Rockuigham Papers. 
 
E2. THE INVENTORY OF SIR EDWARD WATSON 
 
 OF STOKE PARK. 
 
 THIS Inventory does not indicate a very luxuriantly furnished house, 
 and is printed here as a contrast to that of Stoke Dry. The bachelor, 
 Sir Edward Watson, appears to have been less addicted to self-indulgence 
 than he was to lending money. 
 
 " A true And perfect Jnventary of all and Singuler the goods Chatties and 
 Debts of Sir Edward Watson, Knight, of Stoke park in the County of Northampton 
 Deceas'd taken and appriz' by William Barwell Edward Merill and william 
 Merrill the one and Twentieth day of Aprill 1658 as followetli : 
 
 1" 0 0 
 
 Imprimis Jn the Hall thx^ee Tables and a 
 liuery (?) four Chaires Three Stooles 
 
 In the parlor one Table five Chaires Two | 
 Stooles one forme other things of small valew at ) ^'^ ^ 
 
 s. d. 
 
 In the Seller Three hodg'sheads eisrht ferkins 12 0 
 
 d. 
 
 A. 
 
 In the Chamber over the parler three 
 
 Chaires one frame of a Chaire one r 10 0 
 
 Table and other things of Small value 
 
 In the Chamber over the Hall one 
 bedsteed one fether bed one boulster 
 
 one pillow one blankett one Matrice ^ 2'' 10 0 
 
 Curtains Three Stooles and the 
 frame of a Table valew / 
 
 In an other Chamber one bedsteed ^ s. d. 
 
 I 6 8 
 
 with the beddino: belono^inofe to it ) 
 
 In another chamber a little bedinge with a 
 bedsteed valew 
 
 1" 10 0 
 
NOTES AND DOCUMENTS. 
 
 In the kitchin Brass and pewter and 
 other Jmplements valew 
 
 In the dairy house Wooden ware 
 and other things 
 
 In the Chamber over the Dairy Cheese 
 and Shelves valew 
 
 Six pairc of Sheetes Napkins and ") 
 Table Clothes valew i 
 
 In the Brewhouse Brewcinge 
 vesselles belonginge 3 
 
 A Leauen (?) Cowes Two Calves'^ 
 one yeareling heifer ) 
 
 Two Geldins and a filly 
 
 Desperate Debts upon bonds | 
 not likely to bee Recouered ) 
 
 otlier Debts upon bonds 
 
 Moneyes in the house 
 
 All his ajoparrell valew 
 
 Threescore and two pounds paide 
 for the Space of Tenn yeares begin- 
 ninge att Mich'mas fiftie one 
 as is Couceaved about Two hun 
 dred pounde may grow due in 
 that time to the Execute'' 
 Some Small percelles of plate 
 valew att 
 
 A Clocke 
 
 Things forgotten 
 
 Sumetotall 
 
 lUCvyli lis. 4<3. 
 
 This Jnventary was Ex'ted the one and twentyc 
 day of October 1658 by Mr. J )hn Oughton 
 Procter for the Execuf as a true & full 
 Jnventary yet withe protestation to adde 
 
 1 Rockiiifjham Papers, 
 
 3ii 0 0 
 10 0 
 6 8 
 
 3" 13 8 
 
 13 8 
 
 24" 0 0 
 
 9" 0 0 
 
 30.Sii 18 0 
 
 4-i5'' 8 0 
 20" 0 0 
 00" 0 0 
 
 200'* 0 0 
 
 5'i 0 0 
 
 1" 0 0 
 I'i 0 0 
 
212 ROCKINGHAM CASTLE AND THE WATSONS. 
 
 Fees due to his Ma*y^^ servants vpon creac'on 
 of the Lo : Rockingham S"^ 
 Lewis Watson Jany 1644 
 
 
 
 
 
 li 
 
 s. 
 
 d. 
 
 xju.vvciili vv aiii.ci udx lci 
 
 
 To 
 To 
 
 Garter Principall King of Armes 
 the other Kings Heralds & pursuivants 
 
 08 
 vo 
 
 on 
 
 A 
 U 
 
 
 
 
 at Armes 
 
 08 
 
 00 
 
 0 
 
 James Palmer 
 
 * 
 
 To the gent : Vshers of the Privye Chamber 
 
 06 
 
 13 
 
 4 
 
 Edw: Ellis 
 
 * 
 
 To 
 
 the gent: Vshers dayly wayters 
 
 06 
 
 13 
 
 4 
 
 Peter Watson 
 
 * 
 
 To 
 
 the gent : Vshers Quarter Wayters 
 
 06 
 
 13 
 
 4 
 
 Gilbert Ogilbi 
 
 * 
 
 To 
 
 the sergeants at Armes ... 
 
 06 
 
 13 
 
 4 
 
 Edward Hobson 
 
 * 
 
 To 
 
 the Sewers... 
 
 03 
 
 06 
 
 8 
 
 Henry Ferraboses 
 
 # 
 
 To 
 
 the Musitians foure Companyes 
 
 03 
 
 06 
 
 8 
 
 Ro : Ramsay 
 
 * 
 
 To the Trumpetts 
 
 01 
 
 00 
 
 0 
 
 Rio : Stocke 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 George Turner 
 
 * 
 
 To 
 
 the Yeomen Vshers 
 
 02 
 
 10 
 
 0 
 
 Richard Hubert 
 
 
 To 
 
 the Groome Porter 
 
 01 
 
 00 
 
 0 
 
 ffrancis Holdeu 
 
 * 
 
 To 
 
 the Groomes of the Chamber ... 
 
 02 
 
 00 
 
 0 
 
 W™ Paman 
 
 # 
 
 To 
 
 the pages of the Chamber 
 
 01 
 
 00 
 
 0 
 
 
 
 To 
 
 the Master Cookes 
 
 01 
 
 00 
 
 0 
 
 Edward Dowell 
 
 * 
 
 To 
 
 the foote men 
 
 02 
 
 00 
 
 0 
 
 Will Allen 
 
 
 To 
 
 the Drum's... 
 
 01 
 
 00 
 
 0 
 
 Tho: Watkins 
 
 * 
 
 To 
 
 the Ewery ... 
 
 01 
 
 00 
 
 0 
 
 Edward Myles 
 
 * 
 
 To 
 
 the Pantrye 
 
 0 
 
 10 
 
 0 
 
 Thos Landon 
 
 * 
 
 To 
 
 the Buttrye ... ... 
 
 0 
 
 10 
 
 0 
 
 William Landon 
 
 * 
 
 To 
 
 the Seller ... 
 
 0 
 
 10 
 
 0 
 
 Rob : Bennett 
 
 * 
 
 To 
 
 the Porters... 
 
 02 
 
 00 
 
 0 
 
 Rob : Burgess : 
 
 
 To 
 
 the Knight Harbinger 
 
 03 
 
 06 
 
 8 
 
 Willi: Nevill 
 
 
 To 
 
 the yeomen & groomes of y^ Roabes ... 
 
 06 
 
 00 
 
 0 
 
 Daniell Munt 
 
 
 To 
 
 y6 gent: of the Seller & Buttry 
 
 02 
 
 08 
 
 0 
 
 for boath 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Haro : Bickersteth 
 
 
 To 
 
 the Pages of y^ Bedchamber 
 
 06 
 
 00 
 
 0 
 
 John Lambert 
 
 
 To the Wardrobe 
 
 06 
 
 00 
 
 0 
 
 Edw: Walker 
 
 
 To 
 
 the sergeant Porter 
 
 02 
 
 00 
 
 0 
 
 Pet: Watson 
 
 * 
 
 To 
 
 y^ gent: & yeomen Harbing^'^ ... 
 
 08 
 
 00 
 
 0 
 
 Thomas oo Bird 
 
 * 
 
 To 
 
 the Cooke of y^ privye Kitchen 
 
 01 
 
 04 
 
 0 
 
 Tho : Dauies 
 
 # 
 
 To 
 
 the Kings Barbour 
 
 03 
 
 06 
 
 0 
 
 I payd M'' Dauis in M^" Garters 
 p'sence.i 
 
 From Rowl; MS. B. 121, Fo. 6, in the Bodleian Library. 
 
G. SOME MANORIAL POSSESSIONS OF THE 
 
 WATSONS. 
 
 T no period since the coming of the Norman Conqueror has landed 
 property in England changed owners so extensively as during the reigns 
 of Henry VII. and his son. 
 
 The almost total annihilation of the old nohility, and wealthy landowners 
 during the long struggle of the rival houses of York and Lancaster, and the 
 impoverishment of their families, united to the severe shock the feudal system 
 received from the first Tudor monarch, blotted from the list of manorial lords 
 many a name which had been associated with some particular manor for centuries. 
 
 New men, whose wealth or partisanship gave them influence, rose into importance, 
 and acquiring manors by purchase, or by royal gift, founded new families, many of 
 which have their representatives amongst the nobility of our time. 
 
 Again, the wholesale disposal of the extensive estates belonging to the dissolved 
 Religious Houses, gave a fresh impetus to the fortunes of those new families under 
 Henry VIII. Most of the manors belonging to those Houses had been leased to 
 laymen. In most instances those leases lapsed, and new families rose into 
 importance in the various counties. This was particularly noticeable in counties 
 like Huntingdonshire, which were almost entirely owned by one or other of the 
 Abbeys. 
 
 Although the family of the Watsons could not be called a new family in 
 the sixteenth century, ^ — having occupied a I'ather prominent position in Yorkshire, 
 Cambridgeshire, and other counties quite two centuries earlier, there is no doubt 
 the social changes above referred to greatly advanced the territorial influence of 
 the Northamptonshire branch of the family. This will be seen from a perusal 
 of the following brief sketch of the history of a few of the Manorial Possessions 
 of the Rockingham Watsons. 
 
 We will take them in alphabetical order. 
 
 Bringhurst, Drayton, and Easton Magna, in Leicestershire, belonged almost 
 entirely to the Abbot of Peterborough. When he dissolved that Abbey and 
 established his " College " there, Henry VIII. probably moved thereto by his 
 
214 
 
 ROCKINGHAM CASTLE AND THE WATSONS. 
 
 old confessor, the venerable John Longland, Bisbop of Lincoln, wrote the following 
 letter which secured to young Edward Watson, on easy terms, an extensive and 
 fertile tract in the Welland valley. The King's signature, in a bold but rather 
 tottering hand, is as usual at the top of the letter. 
 
 "Henry 8 By the King 
 
 Trustie and welbeloved we grete you well And whereas we vnderstand by the 
 bringer hereof our welbeloved servant Edward Watson that he heretofore hath 
 bene a suf vnto you for a graunt of a lease of all your landes in Eston in our 
 couutie of leicester lately amongst other by us given unto you upon the erection 
 of that our college of Peterborough being of o'' foundation w"^^ as we be informed 
 ye have alredy letten for the terme of certaine yeres yett to come, Myndiug the 
 preferment of o'' servant in this his sute : we have thought good hartely to desire 
 & pray yo'^ for o'' sake to graunt unto him furthwith a lease of all the said landes 
 in Eston aforesaide Any orden^unce statute made or any thing you moving to 
 the conh-arie notw'-'^ standing so that he may have all yo'" said landes there for 
 the terme of three score yeres Teldeing and paying unto youe & y"" successers 
 the rent due & accustumed to yo" therefore Wherein as we doubt not but ye 
 will redelie gratefie us, the same being butt of small importance and no greate 
 discom'oditie vnto youe. So maye ye be assured we will have in o^ good remembrance 
 this your conformities & gentlenes in any yo^ reasonable sutes hereafter to be 
 made unto us accordingly, Geven vuder our Signet at our Manor of Grenew'^'^ the 
 last daye of february the xxxvij'^ yere of our reign. 
 
 willm paget" 
 
 Addressed " To the Deane and other Colledgyans of our Colledge of Peterburgh."^ 
 A portion of Bringhurst, probably a sub-manor, does not appear to have been 
 included in this lease, for we find Edward Watson's son (Sir Edward Watson), 
 some years afterwards obtained a lease of a manor in Bringhurst of Simon Norwich, 
 and assigned it to his younger son, afterwards Sir Edward Watson, of Stoke Park. 
 
 The value of this property is thus given by Sir Lewis Watson, in "A Particular" 
 of his Lands and Inheritance which he drew up in 1650, probably for the information 
 of William, second Earl of Strafford, with whom he, about that time, commenced 
 negotiations for a marriage between his son Edward and that nobleman's sister, 
 Anne. 
 
 " The Manor and Lordship of Easton with a Park and good Lodge thereunto 
 belonging^ Court Leet Court Baron, Waifs, Strais, &c, and Rectory Impropriate 
 
 1 Rockingham Papers. 
 
 2 See pages 79 and 83. 
 
NOTES AND DOCUMENTS. 
 
 215 
 
 with the Advowson of the Vicarage granted to my Grandfather by the Church 
 of Peterborough, a(bout) 130 years since for 260 years, Vnder the Rent of 
 93ii 7s. QQd. the Lands, Tenements, and Hereditaments extending into Easton, 
 Bringhurst, Draton, and Langton. The Revinue wherof over and above the Rent (the 
 Inheritance and Reversion of that terme being Lately purchased) is — 357'' 10*- 4<^- 
 This being improvable, — 200'' p'an : 15 years being expired. "l- 
 
 When the lease had run out a large part of these lordships was purchased by 
 the Rockingham family, and still belongs to the estate.^ 
 
 The following extract from the " Chronicon Petrobursrense " relating to a miller 
 of Easton, is interesting as it illustrates the use of a Church as a place of Sanctuary, 
 or Refuge. 
 
 "Nich(o)laus molendinarius de Estona occidit Robertum de Berlistona cum 
 quadam hacha in villa de Medeburne. Et statim post factum posuit se in ccclcsiam 
 de Medeburne et cognovit se esse latronem et abjuravit regnum coram Coronatore. 
 Catella ejus xxii denarii, unde abbas Burgo respondet. Et fuit in decenna Ricardi 
 le Paumer (de) Horningwolda, qui modo non habet ipsum standi recto. Ideo in 
 misericordia. Et Villa de Holt. 
 
 Estona non venit ad inquisicionem coram coronatore. Ideo in misericordia. Et xii 
 juratori conclaverunt predicta catella in veredicto suo : ideo in misericordia et cetei'a. 
 De villata de Estona xl solidi."^ 
 
 Coton, Cotton, or " The Cottons" is a manor in the parish of Grctton, but adjoining 
 Rockingham, comprising some fertile meadow land extending from the southern 
 bank of the Welland to the strip of picturesque woodland clothing the slope of 
 the hills on that side. This manor is mentioned here on account of the remains 
 of extensive Roman iron works which cover the northern slope of the ridge, and 
 extend into the small woods, giving them a romantic interest, and abounding 
 in fertile nooks and recesses, where floui-ish ferns and a variety of wild flowers. 
 
 The chief interest attached to this manor is the extreme probability that a I'oad 
 was constructed through it by the Romans, to convey the smelted iron to the 
 Welland, for transportation by water. Traces of such a road are said to be still 
 discernible. Is it possible that the name " Cotton " may be a form, reached by 
 the coiTupt pronunciation, through very many generations, of the Latin " Cokettum," 
 a receipt for the payment of custom ? May not a sort of custom house have stood 
 here, on the road leading to the rivei', where a tax was collected on the iron as 
 it passed down ? 
 
 1 Rockingham Papers. 
 2 Canidon Society's Edition, 1849. Page 55. 
 
216 
 
 ROCKINGHAM CASTLE AND THE WATSONS. 
 
 The manor has an uneventful history. According to Bridges it is first mentioned 
 in the time of Edward I., when it was owned by the de Prestons, who held it with 
 Gretton into the reign of Edward II., after which he could find no mention of it. 
 By the Inquisition held after the death of Edward Watson, 1584, this manor was 
 found to be held " of Edward Gryffin Esqr as of his manor of Corby " and was 
 valued at 5^^ O^- 0^- It seems to have passed to the Tanfields of Everton, co. 
 Huntingdon, from whom it was purchased by (Sir) Edward Watson 36 Elizabeth, 
 and by him granted the same year to his son, Lewis, who, in his "Particular" of 
 1650 says of it : " The enclosed Grounds called Cotton, being an ancient Manner 
 in the Parish of Gretton, with the Meadows thereunto belonging, the revenue 
 wherof is 150ii" 
 
 The woods on the brow of the hill, south of " The Cottons " are those mentioned 
 above as having been given by the Earl of Winchilsea in exchange for Hunter's 
 Manor.i 
 
 Garthcn-p, in Leicestershire, according to Nichols, passed through the hands of 
 many owners until towards the close of the thirteenth century, when it came to 
 the Brabasons, who appear to have held it until the sixteenth century. On the 
 death of Edward Watson, 1584, he was found to have held the " Parsonage of 
 Garthorpe of the Queen in Chief by the hundredth part of a Knight's fee and 
 4s. gd. rent; the Manor &c. of Garthorpe of the Queen as of her Duchy of Lancaster 
 by fealty only ; " and certain other lands there " late parcel of the free chapel of 
 Naseby holden of East Greenwich in free Socage." The total value of all his 
 possessions in Garthorp and Knipton is given as less than £20. Sir Lewis Watson 
 thus describes this Manor in his " Particular " in 1650 : " The Manner and Loi'dship 
 of Garthorp with the Rectory 50^' Impropriate, and Advowson of the Vicarage 
 there, some other Messuages, Lands and heredi'taments with a Watermilne 
 within 12 miles of Rockingham, improvable 300'^ per an : the yearly Revenue 
 wherof is 300"" 
 
 The following singular entry in the Garthorp parish register will be acceptable 
 to the readers of these pages who take an interest in modern psychical research. 
 " 1638 Johannes Smith, et Johanna Lambe, nupti fuerunt IS Sept : et Johannes 
 Smith sepultus fuit 3 Oct : " On the opposite page of the register is the following 
 entry made by the Rev'^' James Turner (who died Vicar in 1730) "Of this 
 John Smith there is a story handed down by tradition in the paiish, that in the 
 celebrating the office of matrimony between him and the above mentioned Joan 
 
 1 See page 178. 
 
NOTES AND DOCUMENTS. 
 
 217 
 
 Lambe, lie could not be persuaded to say after the priest these words as they 
 stand in the Office, viz : " from this day forward," — but would only say " till this 
 day fortnight" and by the register, as above cited, it is evident, (if the fact be true) 
 that it was not in his power "to have and to hold" his said wife for any longer 
 period." 
 
 The whole of the Watson property in Garthorp was sold by Lord Sondes to 
 the Earl of Dysart early in the present century.^ Garthorp to-day presents to 
 the visitor a singular appearance of tree-less desolation. The " Watermilne " still 
 stands. 
 
 Great Gidding, or Much Gidding^ in Huntingdonshire, is one of the three Giddings 
 whose name has become familiar to us on account of the celebrity one of them — 
 Little Gidding — has acquitted, as having been the home of the Ferrars. These 
 parishes were, from the eai'liest period of their history, almost entirely Church 
 property. 
 
 "We are told that " Hardicanute at the entreaty of his mother Emma, who was 
 a faithful Christian and a most munificent lover of (our) monastery, gave to the 
 Church of Ramsey five hides at Gidding, for the soul of his father, King Canute. "^ 
 And that the "pious Alwin ("Alderman and Founder") gave to Ramsey Abbey 
 ten hides at Gidding."^ One of the abbots, Rinaldus, gave to " Henry the 
 Monk," all he had in Gidding except that part which belonged to Henry the 
 Archdeacon."'' 
 
 In "Much Gidding" was another manor of the Pytchley Manor type, "Johnde 
 Engaine, obiit 25 Ed : 1, tenet unam Carucatam terrae in Magna Gidding com : 
 Hunt : pe' Serjantiam currendi ad Lupum, Vulpem, et Cattum et amovendi omnem 
 Verminam extra Forestram D'n Regis in Comitatu isto."^ 
 
 We have here the origin of the more modern names of the three manors in 
 Great Gidding, known as " Moines {i.e. " The Monks ") Manor ; " " Prior's Manor," — 
 and " Bngaine's Manor." The early connection of the Watsons with these manors 
 has been already noticed.^ At that time they probably held them on lease. 
 Amongst the interesting MSS. preserved in Rockingham Castle are a number 
 of the Rolls of Courts held for the Watsons here, temp : Hemy vi. &c., which 
 
 1 See page 114. 
 
 2 Chronicon Abbatiae Ramesiensis, p. 152. 
 
 3 „ „ „ „ 53. 
 
 4 „ „ „ „ 260. 
 
 5 Plac : Cor : 14 Ed : I. 
 
 6 See page 20. 
 
218 ROCKINGHAM CASTLE AND THE WATSONS. 
 
 are, some of them, excellent specimens of the caligraphy of that age. In this 
 connection may also be mentioned a fine cartuleiy of the Monastery of Kirby Bellairs, 
 and a large MS. vol : of the Rules and Orders of Faversham Abbey, preserved 
 at Rockingham ; ancient records of considerable value to the antiquary. 
 
 After the Dissolution of the Monasteries the Watsons gradually purchased the 
 three manors in Great Gidding, and held the whole of the lordship until it was 
 sold to the Fitzwilliams, as stated on page 115. 
 
 That Gidding was considered an important part of the family possessions is 
 shewn by the fact that there are six shields placed round the Chancel of the Church 
 there, on which are recorded the family alliances — Watson and (unknown) ; — Watson 
 and Smith ; — Watson and Montagu ; — Watson and Digby ; — Watson and Bertie ; — 
 Watson and Manners. The first shield is, at present, unexplained. It is — dexter 
 Watson :— sinister, a Chevron and three birds, but owing to the dilapidated 
 condition of the stone the character of the birds cannot be determined. A correct 
 blazon of this shield might lead to the discovery of an important link in the 
 family history. 
 
 In Sir Lewis' " Particular " of 1650 his possessions in Great Gidding are thus 
 described : 
 
 " The Manners and Lordship of Great Gidding, viz, Engains Mannor, Moyns 
 Mannor, and priors Maimor, Court Leet, Court Baron, Waifs, Strais &c as also 
 the Rectory Impropriate and Advowson of the Vicarage there and other the 
 Messuages, Farmes, Cottages, Wind Mault milne, Lands, Tenements and heredita- 
 ments the Pasture and meadowgrounds there Comming to 340'' p'an : the yearly 
 revenue whereof is . . . 700^' and is adjoining to Lutton — 12 miles from 
 Rockingham. "1 
 
 As many readers of " John Inglesant " are led to visit Little Gidding, they 
 may like to know that the Church of Great Gidding possesses points of interest 
 well worthy of their notice. 
 
 Kettering, at the time of the Domesday Survey, was the property of the Abbey 
 of Peterborough, and continued to belong to that Abbey until the dissolution of 
 the Monasteries, when it appears to have been divided into two Manors, one of 
 which was assigned to the Rector of the parish, and from that time it has been 
 distinguished as the Rectory Manor. The other remained with the Crown until 
 Henry VIII., in the 35th year of his reign, gave it to Wm. Lord Parr. 
 
 We will first consider the after history of the Rectory Manor, which presents 
 features of a character that certainly would not be possible in our time. 
 
 1 Rockingham Papers. 
 
NOTES AND DOCUMENTS. 
 
 219 
 
 The AdvowsoTL was purchased by Edward Watson, of Rockingham Castle, 
 who presented one Anthony Burton to the living. He, in September, 1562, with 
 the assent of the then Bishop of Peterborough,^ granted to Edward Watson, the 
 younger (afterwards Sir Edward Watson), a lease of the Rectory Manor for a 
 term of sixty years, at an annual rent of £20. This lease would terminate in 1622. 
 In 1565 this Anthony Burton granted a second lease of this Manor to the same lessee 
 for a term of one hundred years, to commence at the expiration of the first lease, at 
 a yearly rental of £36. This second lease would terminate in 1722. But in 1569 
 Anthony Burton granted to the same Edward Watson a third lease for eighty 
 years, to commence at the expiration of the second lease. This lease terminated 
 in 1802.2 
 
 Thus had one incumbent succeeded, with the assent of his Bishop, in alienating 
 the greater part of the rectorial income from his successors for a period of two 
 hundred and forty years ! Such a transaction would, happily, be impossible under 
 the discipline of any modern Bishop. 
 
 This succession of leases naturally brought a good deal of annoyance to the 
 Watsons of succeeding generations. The Puritans made excellent capital out of 
 it, and Sir Lewis was not allowed to complete the " Compounding " business until 
 he had tindertaken to make a more liberal allowance to the then Rector of 
 Kettering.2 
 
 In his "Particular" of 1650 (evidently a most careful and trustworthy 
 statement of his estate), he says " The Inheiutance of the Advowson of the Church 
 of Kettering, out of which there is a lease for 100 years to come made before the 
 Statute, the Revenue wherof besides 120^' paid yearly to Minister is worth to 
 me 60'i" 
 
 Whatever we, guided by our stricter notions of honour, may think of this 
 transaction it is certain that, in the age when these agreements between Anthony 
 Burton and Edward Watson were made, not the slightest stigma attached to it. 
 Such temporary alienations of Church revenues for the present advantage of their 
 holder were almost an every day occurrence. We must not, therefore, judge too 
 harshly the conduct of Edward Watson, or his father, on account of the part they 
 took in a transaction which to tlicm appeared a perfectly legitimate one. In 
 our time the name of Watson is cherished by lovers of our National Church on 
 account of the libez'al manner in which, for generations past, they have supported 
 every movement in the interests of that Church. 
 
 1 Edmund Scambler. 
 2 Rockingham Papera. 
 
220 ROCKINGHAM CASTLE AND THE WATSONS. 
 
 The history of the Royal Manor of Kettering may he thus summarized. On 
 the death of Lord Parr it reverted to the Crown. When King James came to 
 the throne he appointed Sir Edward Watson Steward of the Royal Manor, which 
 in common with other Crown manors appears to have yielded a less income than 
 the King expected. Accordingly, urgent letters were addressed by the auditors to 
 Sir Edward, in which, while commending and thanking him for the manner in 
 which he had attended to the royal interests, they hint that he might obtain a 
 still larger revenue from the fines (which were assessed at the will of the lord, 
 and were not "fines certain.")^ Sir Edward does not appear to have brought 
 sufiicient pressure to bear on the tenants to please the Crown. In August, 1615, 
 the Earl of Suffolk writes to say he 77iust enforce the fines.^ 
 
 Sir Lewis evidently assisted his father in the management of the Kettering 
 Manor, and gradually dropped into the duties of steward, and to him, as steward, 
 was addressed, in 1619, a letter of remonstrance, because " no fines had been paid 
 to his Majesty for 12 or 14 years. "•^ Again in 1622, "much blame was laid on 
 Sir Lewis for not raising any profits on the Kettering Manor." 
 
 Eventually, James (15th June, 22nd year of his reign), gave this royal manor 
 to certain trustees for his son, Prince Charles, for a term of ninety-nine years. 
 
 Sir Lewis Watson's management could not have been, after all, so very 
 unsatisfactory, for soon after Charles' accession the following warrant was issued : 
 
 " Whereas S"" Lewis Watson Kn' and Barron** was by his Patents, from the 
 late King James, steward of the Manno'^ of Ketteringe in y® Countie of Northton, 
 whoe having long executed y^ same, hath nowe made suite to us to have a warrant 
 for y8 further executinge of the said ofiice. Theis are therefore to will and 
 authorise him y^ said S'^ Lewis Watson or his sufficient deputie or deputies 
 from henceforth to keepe all and any Courte or Courtes of in w^Mn or belonginge 
 to or vsed w*in y** said Manno"^ att such tymes and places as heretofore have 
 bin vsed and accustomed, or as hereafter shalbe thought most fitt and convenient 
 for the better furtheraunce of his Ma*^ service. To have, houlde exercise, and 
 enioye y^ same during his Ma*^ pleasure. Together w*'^ all such Annuall ffees, 
 wages, proffitts and other Commodities as are of right or heeretofore have any 
 waies beene due and accustomed. And to doe and performe all any every such 
 thinge, and thinges as are incident and belonging to y® said office, fi^or which this 
 
 1 Rockingham Papers (Letter from Earl of Salisbury). 
 
 2 „ „ (Letter from Earl of Suffolk). 
 
 3 „ „ (Letter from Sir ffaulk Greville). 
 
NOTES AND DOCUMENTS. 
 
 221 
 
 shalbe his sufficient warrant ffrom liis Ma** Commission howse in ffleetstreete 
 London tlie 23*1^ of June 1626. 
 
 "Tho: Sauage 
 
 "Tho: Trevor 
 
 "Eich: Smythe "Wal: Gye (?) 
 
 " Tlio • ffansliawe 
 
 " To our verie lovinge ffireinde 
 " S'' Lewes Watson Kn*^ and 
 " Barronett 
 
 " theis "1 
 
 The King seems to have grown tired of his Manor, for early in 1630 he 
 sanctioned the grant of the remainder of the term of ninety-nine years to the 
 city of London, who assigned the said remainder to William Child and Thomas 
 Gardiner, at an annual rental of £66 7s. lOid. 
 
 These two, in November of the following year, assigned it for the same rental 
 to the following ten people : John Sawyer, Everard Sturges, Leonard Leveridge, 
 Lawrence Maidwell, Geoi-ge Smith, Thomas ffreemau, William Peel, Henry Wyne, 
 Robert Shepherd, and John Webb. Here we have the first notice of the pai'tition 
 of this Manor into ten parts, or shares, as it is at the present time.^ 
 
 Gradually, by death or sale, the names of these original ten holders of the 
 Manor disappear from the list, and in 1G50 we find Sir Lewis Watson claims 
 (in his " Particular ") " Four parts in ten parts to be divided of the Manor of 
 Kettering, the Liberty of Fairs and Markets there,^ and other Lands and 
 hereditaments in Kettering, and several enclosed Grounds in Barton the Tearley 
 Revenue wherof being 170^' " 
 
 A few years afterwards two additional parts were purchased by Edward, Lord 
 Rockingham, and we consequently find that in 1664, Elizabeth Wine, the 
 administratrix, &c., of Thomas Wine, and surviving trustee granted the remainder 
 of the term of ninety-nine years to John, Earl of Exeter, Obryan Viscount Cullen, 
 Edward Griffin, Esq., ffrancis Lane, Esq., Abell Barker, Esq., Edward Palmer, Esq., 
 Thomas Goode, of Islip, Gent., William Philbrigg, of Oundle, Gent., Humphrey 
 Shepherd, of Wilbarston, Gent., in ti'ust. Reserving six parts in ten to Edward, 
 Lord Rockingham. 
 
 Six years afterwards (1670), the remainder of the term of ninety-nine years 
 was granted by Henry Wine (administrator of his father's goods, not administered 
 by Elizabeth Wine), to Sir Euseby Pelsant, Tanfield Mulsho, and eight others 
 
 1 Rockingham Papers. 
 2 The Pairs and Markets he purchased in 1634. See p. 56. 
 
222 ROCKINGHAM CASTLE AND THE WATSONS. 
 
 in trust, again reserving six parts in ten to Edward, Lord Rockingliam, while 
 one-tenth each was reserved to the following : Edmund Sawyer, William Good, 
 the younger, John Drury, John llox, for which the five jointly undertook to pay 
 the yearly rent of £66 7s. 10|d. The signatures attached to this assignment are 
 "Rockingham — John Drury — John ffox — Elizabeth ffox — Henry Wine."^ 
 
 These names gradually disappear until, in the Court Roll for the 21st October, 
 1724, we find the rents, or " fines " then received, were thus distributed : 
 "M^^s Falkner, one part 71^ S^- Sfd. 
 
 M« Bass, one part 7^' S^- 3|d. 
 
 Duke of Montagu, two parts 14ii lO^- 7^- 
 Lord Rockingham, six parts 43ii ll^- 9<^- "i 
 
 Two years later Mrs. Falkner's part was paid to Mr. Hazlewood, and Mrs. Bass' 
 to Mr. Jno. Spriggs. 
 
 Two years after that Mrs. Falkner's name disappears, and the parts are divided, 
 one to Mrs. Bass ; three to the Duke of Montagu ; six to Lord Rockingham ; and 
 in 1729, the Duke of Montagu and Lord Rockingham (having, on the expiration 
 of the term of the lease, purchased the Manor, with reservation of one share each 
 to Mrs. Falkner and Mrs. Bass, during their lives), became, by the death of 
 Mrs. Bass, sole owners of the Royal Manor of Kettering. ^ 
 
 The family of Sawyer evidently occupied a good social position in Kettering, 
 and certain members of that family appear to have been actuated by the spirit of 
 restlessness under authority which seems to be a distinguishing characteristic of 
 Kettering men. 
 
 From the following extract we gather what was one of the grievances of Kettering 
 patriots of that day, and we learn the means one of them employed to redress the 
 national grievance. A hand-saw in the hands of a desperate woman was a weapon 
 not to be despised. 
 
 " 6 Sep : 1638. Certificate of Roger Booth and Samuel Linell constables of 
 Kettering, co. Northampton. They went with William Drewry and William Carter, 
 collectors of ship-money, to the house of Francis Sawyer, of whom they demanded 
 16s. Id. and upon non-payment destrained a horse. Sawyer, his wife, two men and 
 a maidservant came to the rescue of the animal destrained, and Drewry and Carter 
 were violently assaulted, and together with Booth and Linell were driven off the 
 premises. "2 Two days afterwards Drewry and Carter furnish particulars of the 
 assault. On the 16th September, the Council wrote to Henry Middleton, 
 sergeant-at-arms, to bring before the Lords, Francis Sawyer, of Kettering. On 
 
 1 Rockingham Papers. 
 2 Cal, State Papers, 1638, p. 5. 
 
NOTES AND DOCUMENTS. 
 
 223 
 
 the 20th September, Sawyer was examined before the Attorney General. He alleged 
 that Drewry took up an axe to strike at him " whereupon examinants' wife coming 
 out of the house, and being great with child, cried ' Thou Rogue ! Whiltst thou 
 kill my husband ? ' And took up a hand-saw, and struck Drewry upon the head 
 behind his back, whereat Drewry threw away the ax, and said ' Now it is I would 
 have it.' Sawyer confessed that he kept his horse and would not suffer him to be 
 carried away."^ On the 1st October, Francis Sawyer, of Kettering, gentleman, and 
 Samuel Moon, of Northampton, Minister, give a bond to the King for £100, for 
 the appearance of Sawyer before the Council, upon six days' notice.^ In 
 February of the next year we find William Drewry, of Kettering, petitioning 
 the Council for redress against Sawyer, who has arrested him. He has not been 
 paid his expenses as a witness.^ We have here the outline of a very pretty 
 quarrel amongst neighbours. 
 
 It was probably a servant of this "worthy M"" Sawyer" whom, in 1643, the royalist 
 'hirelings" are reported to have gone about especially " to kill. See page 63. 
 
 Kettering seems, throughout its history, to have possessed a demonstrative politician. 
 As far back as the marriage of Henry VIII., with Anne Boleyn, we find " Sir 
 George Clydrowe, parish priest," proclaiming in the house of one Richard Drayton, 
 that "it was a pity the King was not buried in his swaddling clothes," and that 
 "whosoever would call the Queen that now is,"* queen, at Bugden 
 should be knocked to the post," and that "the Bishop of Canterbury^ was a 
 hostler." For these treasonable speeches " Sir George " was arrested by the 
 order of Thomas Cromwell. 
 
 On the 26th August, 1640, a meeting of twenty-seven ministers of North- 
 amptonshire and neighbouring counties took place at the Swan Inn,^ to " Examine 
 the Oath in the Late Book of Canons. The particulars of this meeting were 
 enquired into by Sir John Lambe, Dean of the Arches, and we learn a good deal 
 about it from a letter he wrote at his home at Rothwell, to Archbishop Laud, and 
 from a letter from Sir John's family connection, Francis Hill. From these, we 
 find that " John Baxter, mine host at the Swan " got into trouble about the 
 meeting; and that the Archbishop "disparaged this whole town (of Rothwell), not 
 excepting our fine market house that should be." 
 
 1 Cal. state Papers, 1638, p. 37. 
 
 2 lb. p. 45. 
 
 3 lb. p, 455. 
 4 Anne Boleyn. 
 
 5 Wolsey. 
 6 See page 40, note. 
 7 Known as the " Etcetera Oath." 
 
224 
 
 ROCKINGHAM CASTLE AND THE WATSONS. 
 
 During the Commonwealtli Kettering produced a youtliful politician in Joseph 
 Sawyer, son of John Sawyer, whom we find in the Tower " with other apprentices," 
 in 1656, for taking part in the late insurrection. But the " Council finding him 
 now conformable to the present government" released him. 
 
 The Watsons are not found mixed up with the political or other disputes in 
 Kettering. They seem, after Sir Lewis' ex^jerience, to have retired from active 
 local politics. 
 
 A letter from Mary, Countess of Westmoreland, to Secretary Dorchester, in 
 1629, informs us that "A Sessions House had been built at Kettering by the late 
 Earl of Westmoreland." This house stood on the Market Hill, nearly opposite 
 to where is now the Corn Exchange. Close to it, nearer the Rectory gate, stood 
 the Market Cross, and two rows of houses occupied the remainder of the Market 
 Hill, south of the Sessions House. These houses were known as Rotten Row. We 
 learn from a letter amongst the Rockingham Papers, that they were taken down 
 in 1785. This improvement was carried out by means of a subscription, and 
 the writers of the letter (R. C. Wallis, James W. Roberts, and Robert Stanley, 
 some of which names are still familiar in Kettering), thank Lord Sondes for his 
 liberal subscription, and suggest the removal of the Sessions House and the repair 
 of a barn near the entrance to the Church Yard, for the purposes of the old 
 Sessions House. 
 
 In 1832 placards were issued by George Gill, " Tenant for the Tolls of Markets 
 Fairs &c. " announcing that Lord Sondes (Lewis Richard), had intimated his 
 purpose to forego in future all market tolls, on stock, sheep, &c. " Thus " says 
 Mr. Gill " his Lordship has gratuitously given up an income which his predecessors 
 have enjoyed for 605 years, a Charter having been granted in the 11'^ of Henry iii 
 (A.D. 1227)." 
 
 This brief sketch of the history of Kettering shews it has always been quite 
 a " go-a-head " town. To those who were active in improving the Market Place 
 a hundred years ago, the astonishing advance the town has made since their 
 time would appear almost miraculous. 
 
 Lyddington, iu Rutland appears, like Great Gidding, to have been Church 
 property from a very early date. The Bishops of Lincoln held the Manor 
 themselves, and they do not seem to have been very particular to confine themselves 
 to their actual rights. They took their park from the Forest, according to the 
 "Rotuli Hundredorum" of Henry III., "Hugo de Welles q°nd' Ep's' Line' C ann' 
 elaps' inclusit quemd' p'cum in bosco suo de Lidington qui solet e"e' co'is et est 
 
NOTES AND DOCUMENTS. 
 
 225 
 
 infra forestam" Although this was never one of the "Manorial Possessions" 
 of the Watsons, we have seen that Edward Watson possessed a considerable 
 amount of freehold and copyhold property here. 
 
 RocTiingham Manor was, from the time of the Conqueror held by the Crown. 
 In the reign of Henry III., it was granted to Edmund, Earl of Cornwall. From 
 that time, the Manor was sometimes held by the Crown, sometimes granted by 
 letters patents to subjects. 
 
 The following extract from " Petitiones in Parliamento, 5 Rich ii," shews 
 this Manor was once held by a singular tenure : 
 
 " An' ret's redoute Seign'r le Roy en cest p'sent Parlement supplie John de 
 Clyfton, Chivaler, q'come il tient ley Manoirs de Rokynham & Wj'mundham de 
 n're dit S'r le Roy ])' le s'vice dc Boteler jour de Corounement lez Roys & Roynes 
 d'Englet're, comme purra ov'tment etre prove p' Records & autres evidens, quell 
 Office a cest darreyn Corounement n're dit S'r Roy mon Seign'r le Count d' 
 Arundell mienz resonablement ocupa, Q'e plaise a n're dit S'r le Roy de faire 
 restituc'n del dit Office al dit John p'avys de son p'sent Parlement, en oevi-e de 
 Charite."! 
 
 This S23ecimen of " French as she is spoke " seems to shew that John de Clyfton 
 held the Manor of Rockingham, by the service of pre.senting to the King, on the 
 day of his coronation, a flagon of wine. 
 
 It was, no doubt, the Manor that Edward Watson, of Lyddingtou, held on lease 
 from the Crown. 
 
 We find that on the death of his son Edward, of Rockingham Castle, an 
 Inquisitio post mortem states that he held this Manor, " as of the honour of Hampton 
 Court in free Socage," and it was valued at £4 14s. 8d. 
 
 On the 2-ith of December, 44*^^ Elizabeth, his son Edward (afterwax'ds Sir 
 Edward), purchased the Manoi' of Rockingham, tenements, &c., "formerly paicell 
 of the possessions and revenues of the Du(;hy of Cornwall with tlie patimiage of 
 Rockingham Church &c. &c. — Milles houses Edifices, Structures Dovecotes &c. &c. 
 
 . . Services of Tenants Aimuities, Knights Fees, Wards Marriages, Escheats, 
 Reliefs, Heriotts . . . Goods and Chattells of Felons, Deodands . . . Fairs, 
 Markets, Tolls, Customs ... all other Jurisdiction as well Spiritual and 
 Temporal, and all other appurt's of what nature soever. To hold the said Manor 
 of Rockingham with the rights and appurt's of the said Queen her heirs and 
 successors in Free and Common Socage as of the Honour of Hampton Court . 
 
 1 Rotu. Pari., vol. 3, p. 131. 
 
226 ROCKINGHAM CASTLE AND THE WATSONS. 
 
 by Fealty only and not in Capite for and in Lieu of all Rents Services and 
 Demands whatsoever. And the said Queen for the Cons' aforesaid for her heirs 
 and successors pardons . . . remits and releases . . . the said Edward 
 Watson and W''^ Whitwell their heirs &c. from the payment of any other rents or 
 Services than what are before mentioned." And Wm. Whitwell granted the 
 usual " Release " to Edward Watson the same year, who thus became sole and 
 absolute possessor of the Manor and all rights. 
 
 The " Particular " so often quoted, says of this manor in 1650 : " The Manor 
 of Rockingham with the Messuages, Farmes, Cottages, Milnes (both Watermilne 
 and Windmilne) Lands Tenements woods and hereditaments in Rockingham, Gretton 
 and Cottingham, with the Advowson of the Church of Rockingham, and liberty 
 of Fairs and Marketts there, as also Coiirt Leet, and Court Baron, Waifs, 
 Strays &c. The Yearly Revenue wherof (besides the Improvement to be made 
 theruppon, of 200^^ per an: there being no Freeholder within the same.) — 240^^" 
 
 The after history of this Manor is the history of the Rockingham Watsons. 
 The weekly market which was granted to the Earl of Cornwall by Henry III. in 
 1271, has been discontinued for many years. The once celebrated horse-fair, 
 formerly one of the most noted hoi'se-fairs in the Midlands, the date of whose 
 establishment has not been ascertained, still lingers on, but owing to the easy 
 access I'ailvvay communication now gives to all parts of the kingdom, its glories 
 have departed. A poi-tion of the old Market Ci'oss remains. 
 
 Stoke Albany and Wilharston Manors have a rather interesting history. These 
 Manors were amongst the extensive possessions which the Conqueror granted to 
 Robert de Todeni. It was he, or his grandson, William, who built the original 
 Belvoir Castle. The second William of this family assumed the name of Albini, 
 and from him the lordship acquired the name of Albini. Its after history is best 
 given in the words of Nichols. " Among the ample possessions enjoyed by the 
 lady Isabella^ as heiress of the lands of Albini, Avas the Manor of Stoke in 
 Northam])toushire, one of the nine lordships in that county bestowed by the 
 Conqueror on Robert de Todini, and which acquired the additional name of Albini 
 from his descendant. In 1294 she gave the patronage of this Chux'ch, when 
 Nicholas de Ros, her third son was then rector, to the hospital of Newstede; but 
 it does not appear that this donation took effect, as she herself presented another 
 person to the rectory in 1296, and the succeeding lords have ever since enjoyed 
 the patronage . . . She died in 1301 and was buried at Newstede." 
 
 1 See Pedigree of Manners. 
 
NOTES AND DOCUMENTS. 
 
 227 
 
 By the marriage of this lady with Robert de Ros for Roos^), tlie lordship passed 
 in 1285, to that family, and continued with them until the extinction of the male 
 line on the death of Edmund Loi'd Ros early in the sixteenth century, when, by 
 the marriage of his eldest sister Eleanor, with Sir Robert Manners, of Ethel, 
 it passed into that family. 
 
 Owing to the part which Thomas Lord Roos took during the Wai's of the Roses, 
 he was, after the defeat at Towton, attainted and his estates confiscated, and 
 given to William, Lord Hastings; but after the execution of that nobleman, the 
 Manor was i-estoi'ed to the original owners by Henry VIL Their descendants, 
 as before stated,^ sold it to Sir Edward Griffin, and his son, in 1(538, sold it 
 to Sir Lewis Watson.-' 
 
 The remains of the old Manor House are shewn in the initial picture to 
 chap, iv.** The arms of de Roos are still to be seen over the doorway. The 
 traces of the indispensable string of three fish ponds are yet visible. The prospect 
 from the Manor House is very fine. 
 
 In the north wall of the Chancel of the Chui'ch is an arch evidently mai'king 
 the site of a monument. In Bridges' time there was to be seen within this ai-ch 
 the eflBgy of "a man completely armed lying on his back, with his hands closed 
 in prayer (and at his feet a dog) : for which the collections of M'' Belchier have 
 preserved this inscription : 
 
 ' Hie jacet Johannes Ross le bon compagnon.' 
 
 "In the centre of the ai'ch are three water-bougets, the arms of Ros, which occur 
 also in the window above, and under the battlement of the tower: which shews 
 that the Church benefited after it became the property of the Rosses." 
 
 Nichols says, "Desirous of adding the portraiture of this military lord to those 
 of his noble relatives, the publisher of this narrative visited the Church in February 
 1792, with an ingenious draughtsman to delineate the monument; but, to his 
 great astonishment, was told that the effigies of the Bon Compagnon had been, 
 about two years ago removed fi'om the arch of the Church which himself had 
 founded^ and removed, not by the caprice of an ignorant churchwarden, the false 
 taste of some conceited ai'chitect or of a whimsical owner of the manor, but by 
 the express direction of a I'espectable resident clergyman, because the figuie looked 
 black and unhandsome. The figure of the warrior, with the slab which formerly 
 contained the inscriptions, wei^e first turned upsitle down, in order to make a seat : 
 
 1 See Pedigree of Manners. 
 
 2 Page 28. 
 
 3 Pago 57. 
 
 4 See jiagc 60. 
 5 It 18 (Icmbtfiil if he was the foumlcr. 
 
228 
 
 ROCKINGHAM CASTLE AND THE WATSONS. 
 
 but this appearing still worse than the figure, the whole was broken, and the 
 fi'agments bui'ied under an adjoining bi'ick pavement. 
 
 Local tradition says the clergyman was induced by his wife to perpetrate this 
 wanton destruction because the " black appearaiice of the man made her feel 
 uncomfortable ! " In Stoke Albany Church Yard, on the north side of the Church, 
 is a monument to Lord Denman, who died at Stoke Albany House. 
 
 This elegant little Church is dedicated to S. Botolph, but Bridges, misled 
 possibly by the name of the early lords of the manor, calls it " Albans," making 
 tne de Albinis take their name from, instead of giving it to the parish. 
 
 The reader has been told that the Griffins continued to i-eside at the old Manor 
 House, for some time after it passed into the hands of the Watsons, and some of 
 their descendants were living in Stoke Albany within the last ten years. 
 
 The history of the Manor of Wilharston follows, in all essentials, that of the 
 Manor of Stoke Albani, they have always been held by the same lords. It was 
 purchased from the Earl of Rutland b}' Sir Edward Griffin and others, at the same 
 time as the Manor of Stoke Albany, and together they were sold by the Griffins 
 to Sir Lewis Watson. 
 
 The Advowson of the Church, All Saints, was purchased by Mr. Edward 
 Watson, of — Law, 'as early as 1554. The Church, which has recently been 
 thoroughly and most effectively restored, occupies a commanding position north-west 
 of the village, and from it is obtained a very fine view of the Welland valley. 
 
 In 1650, Sir Lewis possessed " The Mannor and Lordship of Wilbarston with Mes- 
 suages Parmes Cottages Watermilnes, Court Leet, Court Baron, Waiffs, Strais &c. Gift 
 of the Vicarage, as also the Impropriation, the yearly revenue wherof is . . . 120^' " 
 
 Stoke and Wilbarston are pleasantly situated, and evidently well-cared for 
 villages. When one of the de Albini or de Ross family occupied the Manor House 
 at Stoke, these villages must have been centres of attraction for the King and 
 his nobles during their hunting excursions. 
 
 With the exception of the two breaks, when for a short time Lord Hastings 
 held these manors, and again for an almost as brief a period when, after their purchase 
 from the Earl of Rutland, they were held by the Griffins, these manors have 
 virtually been in the possession of the same familj^ dui'ing more than eight hundred 
 years. For Sir Lewis Watson's marriage with the sister of the Eai'l of Rutland, 
 brought about so close a connection with those descendants of the de Rosses, 
 that the present owner must be regarded as also descended from that family. 
 
 1 Nichols' Leicestershire, vol. 2. The reader will find in the Gentleman's Magazine, vol. 62, p. 115, a letter 
 from Nichols (under the signature of Mr. Green), giving an account of this visit. 
 
NOTES AND DOCUMENTS. 
 
 229 
 
 When the forest extended to Northampton, the upland portions of Stoke parish 
 lay well within its boundaries, and a short distance up the small forest stream 
 which used to feed the Stoke fish ponds, lay a poition of the de Albini demesne 
 known as the Lund, an open park-like space within the forest. John, in the 
 sixteenth year of his reign, granted to William de Albini the privilege of enclosing 
 this as a park, and of hunting foxes and hares in the forest. Here he erected 
 a hunting lodge, which in time became a favourite residence of members of the 
 family, and acquired the name of Stohe Park. 
 
 This passed with the rest of the Manor of Stoke, of which it was a sub-manor 
 through [the vai'ious families before mentioned, until it came, by purchase, to Sir 
 Edward Griffin, and from him to his son, Sir Edward Gi'iffin and Lucy, his wife. 
 From them it was purchased by Sir Edward Watson, with the assistance of his 
 elder brother. Sir Lewis, in 1626.^ 
 
 A few years since, a portion of the old premises, or outbuildings of this Lodge 
 were standing, and were particularly noticeable for the strength and solidity of 
 the masonry. Most of these have been removed, and a vei-y convenient modern 
 farm house erected on the site. 
 
 There can still be seen, a little to the north-west of the modern house, a raised 
 plateau with marks of entrenchments (probably the site of an old moat), around 
 it. This was, no doubt, the place where William de Albini built his Lodge. 
 
 The remains of the old park wall are of a great thickness. One fish pond still 
 remains, and the indication of the places of the other two, lowei' down. 
 
 That this Lodge was a good house at the time Sii- Lewis and his family were 
 taken there by Lord Gi'cy^ will be seen from tlie way in which he spoke of it 
 nine or ten years afterwards in his " Particular :" 
 
 " The Manor and Lordship of Stoke Albany with a Convenient House thereujion, 
 with the Closs about the same, as also the Closs called the Cony gray Closs, and 
 a Meadow called Meadcrofts, Cogworth Closs. windmilne Closs, wood Closs, as also 
 the Wood Joining theruppon the yearly revenue wherof with the wind-milnc, and 
 Water-Milne, besides Court Leet & Court (Bai-on) is 320" 
 
 " It is to be noted that my brother Sii- Edward Watson hatli the Advowson of 
 this Towne, as also the Park, ivith a very good House vppon it, standing in the 
 Middle of both the Last two Lordships, with a park of Dearc and a Wai-ren 
 thei'eunto belonging, as also tlie Impropriation of Sutton, all within three miles of 
 Rockingham, worth between two and three hundred p'an : of ivliich I say nothing 
 how near soever to my Sonne." 
 
 1 Rockingham Papers and page 58. 
 2 See page 65. 
 
230 
 
 ROCKINGHAM CASTLE AND THE WATSONS. 
 
 We know how near this estate was to the younger Edward.^ This extract shews 
 the House must have been a really good one. Tradition says, that when Stoke Park, 
 on the death of Sir Edward Watson, came into the possession of his nephew, 
 Edward, second Baron Rockingham, he made use of the material of the house there 
 to repair Rockingham Castle. A remarkable buttress towards the northern end of the 
 west front of the Castle, which experts decide is not " in situ," and is of a different 
 architectural character from (some say older than), other portions of the building, 
 seems to give colour to this tradition. There were some fine buttresses in those 
 portions of the old buildings at Stoke Park, which were removed a few years since. 
 That one at the Castle, it is highly probable, was part of the material brought 
 by the second Lord Rockingham from his uncle's old mansion. 
 
 The view from Stoke Park must have been magnificent. 
 
 1 See page 80. 
 
H. 
 
 STATEMENT BY SIR GEORGE SONDES. 
 
 IlSr the following petition or " Statement," which is preserved amongst the 
 Rockingham Papers, we have another vivid picture of the treatment which 
 a Royalist, or a suspected Royalist, received from the Parliamentarians. 
 The destruction of property by the latter party was certainly quite as disgraceful 
 as that of which Whitelock, and others, accuse the Royalists. 
 
 "The time and Manner of the Comitmt of S"" Geo. Sonds July 164-3 Given 
 under his hand at The Tower Ap. 1647. 
 
 Sunday in the afternoon July 23* 1643 S'' Richard hard S"" John Roberts and 
 Colonel] Kenricke, having browght two or three Companies of Souldiers from 
 Canterbury to ffeversham, did send theire Seruants to S"" Geoi-ge Sonds to his 
 howse to desier him to come thither to them to assist in the Quartringe them in 
 the Towne that night, and composinge some Differences that weare amongst them, 
 to whom hee redily went, and all things there beinge well setled and quietted, 
 they asked his aduise about suppressinge some i-isings that weare then in the 
 country to whom hee gave the best Directions hee could, and tould them hee was 
 redy to assist them with his Owne Compaine, and what forces he could raise, and 
 did not doubte but they would quickley bee suppressed, which seemed to give 
 them good content, where upon they desired him to gooe with some of them backe 
 to Canterbury to aduise with more of the Committy what Avas best to bee done, 
 and to Saitsfy tlieire desirs, he went with S"" Richard Hards in his coach to 
 Canterbuiy that night, and havinge beene there in the Towne some time the 
 Mair (to his great wonder.) came to take charge of him, in whose custody having 
 continued some three dayes, a warrant came from the Right Hono'^e the Committy 
 for the Saufty of the Kingdome to bringe him upp to London, by whome hee 
 was forth with sent prisoner to Peterhows, with out either beinge heard or soe 
 much as seene by any of them, where and a shipboard and in the Tower, he hath 
 Lyen euer since, which in July next is full fouer years, and neuer to this day heard 
 or soe much as called before any one. But all his estate and goods, weare presently 
 seased on, taken and sould away, to the value of neare Thirty thousand pound, 
 
232 ROCKINGHAM CASTLE AND THE WATSONS. 
 
 there beinge taken from liim about lialfe a liundred horses all very Lusty and 
 large fittinge for the saddel, and draught, one hundred head of Oxen, and great 
 cattel, five or six hundred Sheep, most of them fatt, about one hundred of hoggs, 
 ten barnes, very large and great full of corne, most wheat and barley, three or 
 four hundred quai'ters of wheat and mault in the Garners, and fouer Loads of 
 excellent hopps, which then bare a great price, some fifty or sixty loads of hay, 
 four hundred loads of wood and coale, three score hogsheads of wine and beare, 
 with much other provisions, the stocke furniture and vtensils of three great 
 mantion howses, with much beddinge many sutes of hangings persia and Turky 
 carpets, very much fine Lininge, besides many Jewells and plate of great value, 
 and when they had ransaked, taken, and disposed of all this, his seruants weare 
 threatened with pistols sett to theire breasts to make them descouer more if they 
 could, the very deare and Timber in his parke and grounds weare not spared 
 but destroyed, and cutt downe, with the underwoods of any growth : and all the 
 rents and profiitts of his Lands taken from him to this very day, which in surry and 
 Kent are 1600^^ p'ann™ which is still duly paid to the Committy of the weast 
 (west ?) sauinge a fifth part which of late hath upon theire petition beene allowed 
 his children, who have not had in all much aboue one hundred pounds but not 
 one penny out of all this estate, which they have enioyed now neare fouer years, 
 hath been allowed to him Towards his maintenaunce nor noe care taken to pay his 
 debts or the Interest of them, which hee hath made to appeare to be 7000^^ and 
 more, and still increaseth : and all this hath hee suffered that neuer was in Arms, 
 or euer assisted any of those risings of Knight or of any other in the cuntry, 
 or Joyned in the sendinge any of those petitions from thence that weare not 
 well relished by the howse, or euer acted any thinge against the parlament, or 
 euer Denied the payment of any Contribution tax or Cesse laid by parlament, 
 or Duringe all these troubles was euer at Oxford, or had any Corrispondence with 
 any there, or directly or indirectly, hath assisted any with monies arms or 
 amunition against the parlament, this he avers in all to bee most true, and hopes 
 this Hon'^i^ Committy will excuse him for makinge use of this Oppertunity thus 
 brifly to acquaint them with his condition, beeinge as hee is confident till now 
 unknowne to any of them. And fi-eely castes himselfe one them, to allowe him 
 what they shall thinke good, out of the bare and wasted estate of 1600^^ p'ann™ 
 towards the defrayinge of that great debte that lyes on him, and that in all this 
 time hee hath run into, and for his futer Maintenance, if hee must still continue 
 in this sed condition. 
 "Tower April 2#^ 
 "1647." 
 
I. 
 
 ROCKINGHAM CHURCH. 
 
 LITTLE or nothing is positively known of the history of this Chui-ch 
 until the institution of Waleranus Teutonicus, in 1217, nearly two 
 hundred years after the erection of the Castle. It is a singular fact that 
 the Parish Church and the King's Chapel within the Castle, were dedicated to 
 the same St. Leonard. 
 
 Mr. Watson has suggested the possibility that, at first the Parish Church may 
 have been included within the fortifications, and that tlie groat Council, or parliament 
 of 1095, met in what is now the Parish Cliui'ch and not in the King's Private 
 Chapel. This would clear away many of the difficulties which surround tlie 
 account as given by Eadmer.^ It seems almost incredible that there should be 
 within the Castle a Chapel sufficiently capacious to hold so large an assemblage 
 of prelates and nobles. So far as the present writer can see, there is nothing 
 in Eadmer's account which would justify us in hastily rejecting, as improbable, 
 the solution of the difficulty as to accommodation which the above suggestion 
 provides. 
 
 In what relation did the Parish Church of St. Leonard stand to the Castle 
 in the earlier periods of the history of the latter ? The following extract fi-om 
 the Rotul. Hund. temp. Ed. I., emphasizes this ((uestion : " D'nt q'd quidam 
 capellanus solebat celebi'ai'c ab antiquis t'p'ibz in capcUn infra catr' p'd'c'm 
 (Rockingham Castle) p'animabus Regum defunct'z et solebat p'cip'e singul' annis 
 quinquaginta solidos de vie' North' et octo annis elaps' subtrahetur ilia celebracio." 
 Is it not St. Leonard's Church " below the Castle " (walls) which is here called 
 a "Capella?" 
 
 Much may be said in favour of Mr. Watson's suggestion. Perhaps some 
 expert will take up the subject, and he may be able to demonstrate that, in 
 this particular instance, the laws (asserted to be invariahh'), which are supposed 
 to have governed the const)-uction of our old castles were relaxed, and the north 
 wall itself, or an outer-wall, carried round the Parish Church, thus virtually 
 including it within the fortifications, and making it to sei-ve also the pur})ose of 
 the Castle Chapel. 
 
 1 See page 4. 
 
234 
 
 ROCKINGHAM CASTLE AND THP: WATSONS. 
 
 The patronage of the Rectory was in the Crown until piirchased by Edward 
 "Watson. 
 
 The earliest notice of the appointment of a Rector to this Church, which 
 is met with in the Bishops' Registers at Lincoln, is in the Episcopate of 
 Hugh Wells (A.D. 1209—1235). It is as follows: 
 
 " Johannes clericus presentatus per Dominani I.^ reginam Angliae ad ecclesiam 
 de Rokingham vacantem eo quod Walleranus^ clericus qui proximo earn presedit 
 alteram ecclesiam suscejiit per concilium, facta prius inquisitione per R. Archidiaconum 
 Northamptonie per quam negotium fuit in expedite, admissus est et in ea canonice 
 Persona institutus et mandatum et eidem Archidiacouo &c." (11th year of 
 Bishop Hugo's Episcopate.) 
 
 The following year (1221) Petrus de Wakering received the appointment. In 
 the Bishop's commission for his institution, it is stated that the Queen Dowager 
 presented him by virtue of " dotis domine Isabela Regine in manu ipsius Regis 
 existentis." This was the last of her appointments to the living. 
 
 Bight years after the memorable siege of the Castle, the young King, 
 Henry III., appointed Ivo, filius Godfridi, Peter having resigned. Two years 
 before this, as appears by the Lijicoln Registers, there was a stir made by the 
 Bishop, Hugo de Wells, to have the bridge at Rockingham either " constructed 
 (rebuilt ?) or kept in repair ; " and instructions to that effect were accordingly 
 issued from the Palace at Lyddington, by Radulphus de Warwill, a Canon of 
 Lincoln.^ 
 
 On the death of Ivo, a dispute arose between King Edward and the Earl of 
 Cornwall. Each appointed a Rector. But, after an enquiry held by the Archdeacon 
 of Northampton, the King's right was admitted, and Robertus de Holonton had 
 the Rectory ; but soon gave place to the King's second appointment, Petrus de 
 Halonton. He died in 1301, and was succeeded by John de Merton, "acolitus;" 
 followed, three years after by " Magister William de Wodeford," another acolitus, 
 who held the living only four months, and resigning, was followed by Walterus 
 de Lyvedon. He dying the following May, William de Wodefoi-d seems to have been 
 again appointed, aiid to have held the living only till the following October. Was 
 he a curate or only a " warming-pan ? " 
 
 He "resigned" this time in favour of another acolitus, Thomas de Beseville, 
 who received a dispensation from his Bishop, " quod posset per biennium a die 
 dispensionis hujus numerandum inti'a regnum Anglic studio litterarum insistere 
 
 1 Isabella, widow of King John. 
 2 According to Bridges, this "Waleranus Teutonicus" was also appointed by Queen Isabella, A.D. 1217. 
 
 3 See page 119. 
 
NOTES AND DOCUMENTS. 
 
 235 
 
 et fructus ecclesie sne percipere." Lucky man ! He was sub-deacon at the time 
 of his appointment, and held the living until 1327, when on his resignation, 
 Isabella, Queen of Edward II., presented Walterus Wyvill. How long he held the 
 living is not known ; nor is it known who appointed his successor Robertus de 
 Buckingham. But neither Walter nor Robert could have held it long, for the 
 latter resigning in 1332, Queen Philippa (" eo quod castrum de Rockingham 
 cum advocacione ejusdem ville ex dono domini Regis obtinet") appointed Radulphins 
 Chivaler, presbiter, to the living. 
 
 He resigned the next year, when the Queen presented Johannes de Grantham, 
 clericus, who resigned in 1352, and was followed by Ricardus de Merscheton, 
 still on the Queen's presentation. He resigned the next year and Joannes de 
 Brampton received the Queen's presentation. In 1366, he exchanged with Robertus 
 de Caldewell, from the diocese of York, who was accordingly instituted but 
 resigned the following year, and Avas followed by Johannes de Barsham. 
 
 The following extract from the Lincoln Registers, relating to an incident 
 which occurred dui'ing this incumbency, may interest some readers : 
 " 3 Non : Octobri : Anno Domini 1363 apud Lydington Magister Johannes Goderyk 
 de Rokingham et Elena uxor sua habuerunt licenciam quod possent facere divina 
 celebrari in oratorio suo apud Rokynham." 
 
 The fi'equent resignations and the short periods during which the living was 
 held by so many of the Rectors, seem to indicate that the position was in some 
 way disagreeable. During the next 80 years the name of only one Rector is 
 recorded, — William Burdon, but by whom presented is not known. On his 
 resignation, in 1448, the pious Heniy VI. appointed Johannes Draper, presbiter. 
 He resigned in 146.5, when Edward IV. presented Dominus Johannes Scott, 
 presbiter. He died in 1500, four years after the appointment of William Smith 
 to the diocese of Lincoln. 
 
 It appears that the Advowson of this Rectory had been granted by Henry VII. 
 to his Queen, Elizabeth, and she had given the next presentation to her sister, 
 Cecilia. This lady presented Dominus Willelmus Adson (called also Addison, 
 in the Lincoln Register), who held the living until 1518, when he resigned. 
 
 During his incumbency a dispute ai'ose between him and his parishioners 
 respecting the mode in which the milk tithe was to be paid. It appears that in 
 this parish " a custom had grown up from and during a time as to the beginning 
 of which there is no existing memory of man, viz. : that every year from the 
 evening of the second day of the month of May inclusive, up to the time that 
 some sheep in the parish had dropped the first lamb, the parishioners should pay 
 a tithe of milk to the Rector, which tithe was to cease on the birth of the 
 
236 ROCKINGHAM CASTLE AND THE WATSONS. 
 
 first lamb of tlae next season, and was not to be paid again until the second 
 day of the May next ensuing. ' Cum tamen manifestum sit secundum tempus 
 admissure sive emissionis arictum oves ipsas ' some will bring forth their offspring 
 earlier, some later — -and, (which is more to the point,) it has been ascertained 
 by actual experience that a particular sheejj this year, which had already borne 
 a lamb in the winter quarter last past, bore another lamb after the aforesaid 
 second day of May, namely about the Feast of St. Peter ad Vincula as it is called 
 {i.e. first of August) for which reason the aforesaid parishioners, relying upon 
 the afoi'esaid custom, and asserting that they were free from all tithing of milk 
 to the second of May next following from that date refused to pay such tithes 
 during the aforesaid time to the aforesaid Rector, who alleged that no weight 
 ought to be assigned to that event as being rare, unusual, and in a manner 
 accidental ; and who urgently demanded all the same the tithe of milk as before 
 (such unusual and almost monstrous births are no obstacle.) 
 
 " At length the Venerable M"" Wilcock, Doctor of Laws, acting Vicar General 
 of the Reverend Father and Lord in Christ, William, by the grace of God Lord 
 Bishop of Lincoln, residing at a great distance, with the express assent and 
 consent of each of the afoi'esaid parties, submitting themselves and their 
 successors to his regulation and decision, completely and for ever from top to 
 bottom has decreed, ordained, (ac super premissis lauduni ?) or award as follows, 
 namely, that the aforesaid parishioners and their successors in the said parish 
 shall pay honestly, and according to the usual custom in time past in the pai'ish, 
 at the commencement of the evening of the second day of May all the evening 
 milk of that day and all the morning milk of the following day. So on every 
 tenth day in succession respecting the whole morning and evening milk as 
 tithe to the Rector now at this time existing, or his representative, and shall 
 discharge their tithe by continuing on in this way every tenth day as is aforesaid 
 up to the Feast of S. Andrew the Apostle namely so that they shall count as tithe 
 every year all the evening milk on the Eve of the Feast, and all the morning 
 milk on the Feast itself, and shall deliver it to the Rector as above, as tithe, 
 paying no attention subsequently to the first lambing of any sheep in the said 
 pai'ish, or to the aforesaid custom hitherto observed there, in that respect. The 
 aforesaid Lord Vicar General decreed further, and ordained, that after the time 
 of payment of the tithe of morning milk every year on the Feast of S. Andrew, 
 as is aforesaid, all tithing of milk on the part of such parishioners and their 
 successors, and all demands or exactions of tithe on the pai't of the aforesaid 
 Rector and his successors, in all future years, shall absolutely cease in the 
 aforenamed parish up to the aforesaid day in the month of May, on the second 
 
NOTES AND DOCUMENTS. 
 
 237 
 
 day of which, in the evening, the time of such tithing shall begin again e very- 
 year according to manner and time defined above." 
 
 This pretty little " tempest in the milk can " is interesting, not only as 
 shewing how old is the custom of quibbling about the payment of tithes, but 
 more particularly because the Vicar General's decree was dated at Lyddington, 
 25th September, 1508 — '• presentibus tunc ibidem Domino — (?) capellano, Edivardo 
 Watson, notario Episcopi, Registrario et Registrorum custode."^ Here we have 
 the fii'st mention of Edward Watson in connection with Rockingham ; and hence 
 we gain a clearer conception of what was then his position in the diocese of 
 Lincoln. 2, 
 
 William Addison was followed by Magister Georgius Gyles, clericus, who was 
 appointed by Katherine, first wife of Henry VIII. He resigned in 1521, and 
 the Queen appointed Dominus Rogerus Duden, capellanus, who died in 1534, 
 when the King seems to have resumed the right of presentation, and appointed 
 Georgius Denham. He died the next year, and Queen Katherine made the last 
 of the royal pi'esentations, the year before her own death. The new Rector 
 was Ricardus Waldrum, clericus. 
 
 The Advowson of Rockingham was shortly afterwards acquired by Edward 
 Watson, of Rockingham Castle, and his first appointment was that of William 
 Bull, clericus, in 1558, who held the living eleven years. He was succeeded by 
 George Cobberde (alias Talebye), the last Rector appointed by Edward Watson, 
 and upon him devolved the duty of burying the first of the Watsons in Rockingham 
 Church.3 
 
 The earliest date in the Rockingham Register is 1562. The entries up to the 
 end of the year 1601 are all in one handwriting, and appear to have been transcribed 
 from an earlier register. At the end of the entries for 1601 are the following 
 signatures : 
 
 /- William Brightman. 
 William Ashtell, Curate < Thomas Neale, 
 
 Churchwardens. 
 
 It is therefore probable that the Rev. G. Cobberde had become too infirm 
 to perform his duties, for he was succeeded in 1602 by Richai'd Morton, appointed 
 by (Sir) Edward Watson. He lived to bury his patron,'' and was himself buried 
 30th October, 1617. 
 
 1 Register of the Bishops of Lincoln. 
 2 III the time of Bishop Atwiitor, Edward Watsou " clekicus Ebor dioc : publicus notariua " and "notarius 
 publicus Registrorum" witnesses two deeds. 
 
 3 For a description of the remains of Edward Watson's monument see page 46. 
 4 See page 43. 
 
238 ROCKINGHAM CASTLE AND THE WATSONS. 
 
 After this date there is some confusion in the register, which is, at times, signed 
 by the churchwardens only. But Humfrey Templer appeal's to have had the 
 spiritual charge of the parish in 1618, and John Houghton, minister, signs from 
 1623 to 1628(9), when John Cox, minister, signs. 
 
 From April, 1634, Edward Benington, minister, was responsible for the 
 registers, followed from 1637(8) to 1641(2), by one who seems to have had the 
 same difficulty with his own name, that he experienced with the name " Elnor." 
 He signs himself " Guill : Graysley, Cur," and " W"^ Greisley, Cur." 
 
 After him came the confusion of the Civil War. 
 
 From 24th March, 1670, to 19th February, 1674(5), Henry Meres signs as 
 Rector. After this date the following names are signed to the Register : 
 1676—1692 William Barriff, Rector. 
 1696 (25 March) Stephen Allon, Rector. 
 1723 — 1729 William Hammond, Curate, afterwards Rector. 
 
 1729 William Tookey, Rector (he signs himself Rector to 1754, and the 
 
 same name appears 23 Nov., 1755, as Curate — was this a son ?) 
 W"^ Tookey was buried 21 June, 1762, by the Rev<i "Mr. Richard 
 Neveson, Rector of this Parish." 
 1769 (23 Apr.) Henry Kapp, signs as Rector (Mainw? Laughton, Curate.) 
 1785 (13 March) Edward Whitnell signs as Curate. He was probably officiating 
 for the Rev^i- J. Parker, who appears to have been Rector from about 
 1778 to 1800 when the Rev^^- Francis Jones was appointed. His 
 name, and those of the following incumbents, bring the list of Rectors 
 down to the present date. The Rev'^*^ T. H. Madge, H. I. Bigge, 
 I. B. Gwyn, P. M. Smythe, M. W. Hay. 
 We shall, probably, never know what Rockingham Church was before its 
 destruction by the parliamentarians. From the remains of an earlier building, 
 which were discovered when the I'estoration of 1845 was in progress, we may infer 
 that it was more extensive than the modern building.^ 
 
 It was evidently used as a place of sepulture by the Constables of the Castle, 
 and it is not unlikely that the remains of more than one man or woman, of distinction 
 in their time, are resting within the consecrated ground here. 
 
 In the Bridges' Collection in the Bodleian Library are preserved four armorial 
 shields, which were copied by the indefatigable Belchier early in the 17th century, 
 before the original Church at Rockingham was destroyed. These shields have 
 
 1 Portions of the remams of the earlier Church may be seen at the west entrance. From them we can see 
 that the original Church posscsserl considerable architectural beauty. 
 
NOTES AND DOCUMENTS. 
 
 239 
 
 been described as belonging to — 1. John of Eltham, or John Holland D. of Exeter. 
 2. D'Engayne. 3. Harington. 4. . Drayton, or Green of Drayton. 
 
 Belchier does not say whether the shields were in the windows, or in what 
 position he found them in the Church. 
 
 The painstaking and accurate Bridges thus describes Rockingham Church as 
 it appeared cir. 1720. "The Church, dedicated to S. Leonard, a low irregular 
 fabric, consists of a body and chancel, on the south side extending farther than 
 the body of the church, both covered with lead. The church is forty six feet 
 long, and twenty four feet broad. The chancel, in length twenty nine feet six 
 inches, and in breadth eighteen feet. The north chancel, twenty seven feet and 
 a half in length, and twelve feet six inches broad. In this are two pieces of 
 timber laid across the beams, on which hangs a small bell."^ 
 
 In this state the Church remained until the year 1843, when at the cost of the 
 jjoi^bie. Richard Watson, a Tower was added on the north side, the design being 
 taken from one existing in a Church in Oxfordshii-o. At the same time the windows 
 in the nave were I'eplaced by four in the Gothic decorated style, and an east window 
 of three lights, in the same style, was placed in the chancel, which was before 
 disfigured by one of a debased character, and open seats replaced the old square 
 pews. 
 
 Twenty years afterwards the Watson family, the Rector, and parishioners 
 placed a new roof upon the nave, and enlai-ged it by the addition of a north 
 aisle, and added a west porch. In the year 1868, the then Rector, the 
 Rev. H. I. Bigge, still further beautified the Church by raising the roof of the 
 chancel, and adding two arches (the mouldings of the capitals and piers being 
 copied from fragments of the former Church), thus opening the north aisle. At 
 the same time Mr. Watson erected a Mortuary Chapel on the south side of the 
 chancel and removed to it many of the family monuments, formeily in the chancel. 
 
 The interior of the j^resent Church is very beautiful. The subdued light, the 
 rich colours of the stained windows, and of the mural decorations, combine to 
 produce an impression of solemnity most appropriate in a building devoted to 
 divine worship. 
 
 This feeling of solemnity is rather increased as the visitor, approaching the 
 chancel, obtains a partial view of the family monuments in the south chapel. 
 
 Each of these monuments has been referred to in the progress of this 
 work, under the life of tluxt member of the Watson family whose memory it 
 
 1 In the coUcctiou of monochromo drawings in the British Museum, before referred to (see i^nge 111), is a 
 drawing of the Church about the date of this descrijition from which we see the " New Steeple" was never erected. 
 (Pago 80). 
 
•24,0 
 
 ROCKINGHAM CASTLE AND THE WATSONS. 
 
 commemorates. It may be well, therefore, to give a description of each, as far as 
 possible, and transcribe the epitaplis. 
 
 Commencing with the two monuments in the chancel, we will take that on 
 the spectator's left hand against the north wall of the Sanctuary. This will be best 
 described in the words of Nichols.^ 
 
 "A tomb of grey marble, on which, between two pilasters, plain at top, adorned 
 with cherubs, pediment and urns ; the effigies of a lady standing, her right hand 
 bent back, and putting aside pai t of her robe, which hangs over her face ; her 
 left, with part of the robe over the arm, falling down by her side, its hand 
 extended." 
 
 Arms at the top : Watson, impaling, Sa. a chevronel bet., three leopards' faces, 
 or. (Wentworth). This monument is to the memory of Anne Wentworth, wife 
 of Edward, Second Baron Rockingham. ^ It bears the following epitaph : 
 
 " Hie Juxta situm est quod Moi tale habuit Honoratissima 
 ANNA Baronissa ROCKINGHAM, Uxor EDVARDI . Baronis 
 
 ROCKINGHAM, Filia natu Maxima TJIOM.^ Comitis 
 STRAFFORDI^. Nata est Oct. 8^'«- Ann. Dom. 1629. Obiit 
 
 autem Jan. 2'^'°- Ann. Dom. 1695. 
 Prolem Suscepit LUDOVICUM EDVARDUM, THOMAM et 
 GEORGIUM; ELEANORAM, ARABELLAM, ANNAM, et 
 MARGARET AM, Erga Deum Pia, erga oranes fuit benefica • 
 In cujus Memoriam hoc Monumentum 
 posuit Filius GEORGIUS." 
 
 This monument is in better taste than some which were erected about that 
 period, and gives pleasui-e to the spectator. 
 
 Opposite to Lady Rockingham's monument is that to the memory of Lewis, 
 first Eaj^l of Rockinghamj-^ and his Lady.^ It is thus described by Nichols : 
 
 "In the Chancel, against the south wall, &c. . . . is a large tomb of grey 
 marble ; thereon on each side a fine tablet of veined marble, or altar tomb ; 
 and two figures as lai-ge as life, the man holding an helmet in his right hand in 
 a Roman dress, the toga thrown behind over his left shoulder, his head bent 
 backward, and falling close to the same side, the lady in a robe of state, her right 
 hand on her breast, the left holding up the robe close to her, and supporting a 
 book under her arm ; above a cherub blowing his trump, and holding out a 
 
 1 History of Leicestershire, vol. ii., page 189. 
 2 See page 93. 
 3 See page 101. 
 
NOTES AND DOCUMENTS. 
 
 241 
 
 golden wreath in his right hand : the whole adorned with pilasters, urns, &c." 
 Arms at top, Quarterly 1 and 4 Watson, 2 and 3 Smith. On an escutcheon of 
 pretence, Arg. bet. two chevronels sa. three blackamoors' heads couped prop. 
 (Sondes). 
 
 Although the artistic execution of this monument is good, the design is too 
 much in the false taste of that age to be agreeable. The inscription is three-fold, 
 as follows : 
 
 "Near this Place rests the Body of LEWIS 
 Earl of Rockingham, Viscount Sondes 
 of Lees-Court., and Baa-on of Thmwley 
 He was Grand-son to LEWIS, Baron Rockingham 
 of Unckingham-Castle, so created A.D. 1644. 
 (By ELEANOR Daughter to Sr. GEORGE MANNERS, 
 and Sister to JOHN Earl of Rutland) 
 And Son and Heir to EDWARD Lord Rockingham, 
 (by ANNE, Daughter of THOMAS Earl of Strafford) 
 To whom having succeeded in liis Honour 
 and Estate in the Year 1689. 
 He was A.D. 1714 made an Earl of Great-Britain 
 and Lord Lieutenant, and Gustos Rotulonun. 
 
 of the County of Kent. 
 Which Offices having many Years discharged 
 with great Honour and general Satisfaction 
 He laid them down, together with his Life 
 the 19 of March 1728. In the Year of his Age, 69." 
 
242 
 
 ROCKINGHAM CASTLE AND THE WATSONS. 
 
 (0 
 0 
 
 pi 
 
 q3 O 
 
 O 
 
 t/3 
 
 o 
 
 .S ^ 
 
 >^ 9. 
 
 ■2S 
 
 <D O 
 
 o 
 
 o 
 
 o 
 o 
 
 o 
 
 2 
 
 o 
 
 p I ' — ' 
 
 § Q 
 
 o 
 
 CD 
 
 13 
 
 o 
 
 CD 
 
 o 
 
 ^ (— ^ CO 
 
 P5 <1 w 
 
 ^ o 
 
 p M3 ^ 
 
 CD 
 
 s 
 
 "h3 
 
 Pi 
 
 be 
 
 o g 
 
 CO ^ 
 
 - ^ S 
 
 S oj c:e 
 
 o 
 
 biHi 
 
 a; 
 
 CO 
 
 
 
 S 
 o 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 IB 
 
 be 
 
 Pi 
 
 CO 
 
 • H 
 
 
 ear 
 
 SH 
 
 \> 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 t3 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 o 
 
 O 
 
 125 
 
 CO 
 
 I— I 
 
 M 
 o 
 o 
 Pi 
 
 F=3 
 
 o 
 
 CO O 
 
 ts] 2 
 
 Pi O 
 
 =S H o 
 
 2 r3 
 
 OC ^ 
 
 ^ .s ^ 
 
 M Ph iyj 
 
 .2 
 
 rH <1 ^ 
 
 _^ w ^ 
 
 CJ e« O 
 
 P3 O W 
 
 be 
 Q 
 
 g <J 
 
 CS 
 
 £ Pi 
 
 5^ O 
 
 o 
 
 PI 
 
 I ^ ^ 
 
 £ O 
 
 « S g 
 
 •£ O ^ 
 
 I ^ H 
 
 ^ ^ tz; 
 
 U t-H 
 
 •2 -2 p5 
 
 ':S <J 
 
 H 
 
 H Eh 
 
 1 ^ 
 ^ I— I 
 
 I" < 
 
 p^ 
 
 O 
 
 Pi 
 o 
 
 r-SS 
 
 '-e -is 
 
 ^ ^ «^ 
 
 m 
 
 H O 
 Pi 
 
 O H ^ 
 
 03 Pi W 
 
 Pi H o 
 H p:i 
 
 O 
 
 Pi 
 
 P 
 
 <1 
 m 
 
 Pi 
 o 
 
 Pi 
 Pi 
 
 h pa 
 Pi 
 
 < Pi 
 
 H 
 
 Pi 
 Pi 
 
 § 
 O 
 
 CO 
 
 o 
 
 P 
 
 a 
 W 
 
 S 
 
 m 
 w 
 
 a 
 
 o 
 
 P-i 
 
NOTES AND DOCUMENTS. 
 
 243 
 
 " Here also lies deposited tlie Body 
 of KATHARINE, Lady ROCKINGHAM 
 Who departed this Life March 21. 1695. 
 In the thirty eighth Year of her a^e. 
 She was Second Daughter to Sr GEORGE SONDES, Bart, 
 (afterwards created Earl of Feversham, 
 Visct. SONDES of Lees-Court and Baron of Tiirowley) 
 by MARY Daughter of Sr. Wm. VILLIERS of Bmokshij, Leicsh. 
 But MARY Lady Dui'as her Sister and Coheir, 
 dying without Issue 
 She became sole Heir to the Earl her Father, 
 Whose Estate hereby devolving on the 
 Descendants of this Marriage 
 His Viscounty and Barony also being conferral 
 on her surviving Husband and Their Heirs 
 
 are now enjoy'd bj' their Gi'andson 
 LEWIS the present Earl of Rochngham.." 
 
244 
 
 ROCKINGHAM CASTLE AND THE WATSONS. 
 
 On entering the Mortuary Chapel, the visitor feels himself to be in the 
 presence of History. 
 
 In the centre of the Chapel is the altar tomb described on page 46 (which see). 
 
 Turning to the left, against the lower part of the north wall is seen a mural 
 monument to the memory of Grace Pelham, wife of Lewis Watson, first Barton 
 Sondes,^ bearing the following inscription : 
 
 "To the best of Wives 
 To the best of Mothers 
 To the best of Women 
 
 SACRED 
 
 To the Conjugal Parental & Domestick 
 Virtues 
 
 of Grace Pelham Ldy Sondes, 
 foui-th Daughter of the Right Honble. Henry Pelham, 
 and Ldy. Catharine Manners, 
 Her life was employed in continual acts of Benevolence. 
 Her jDainful illness supported by exemplary Piety 
 & Chi-istian fortitude 
 And her irreparable Loss feelingly lamented 
 by her Family and friends. 
 Lewis Watson Ld. Sondes her afflicted Husband 
 Dedicates this Monument. 
 She died 31st of July 1777 
 Aged 46." 
 
 1 See page 114. 
 
NOTES AND DOCUMENTS. 
 
 245 
 
 Over this is a tablet, beat-ing the following inscription to the memoiy of the 
 Honble. Henry Watson, of Felden :^ 
 
 "lu a Vault 
 Beneath lie the Remains of 
 THE HONOURABLE HENRY WATSON, 
 Late of Felden, in the County of Hertford : 
 Who Died on the 1st of August 1833; 
 Aged 78 Years. 
 
 He was the second son of 
 THE RIGHT HONOURABLE LEWIS, first LORD SONDES, 
 And GRACE, his Wife: 
 And was remarkably distinguished 
 For kindness of heai't, warmth of friendship, 
 
 And unostentatious benevolence : 
 He was an honest and an honourable man. 
 
 This Tablet is erected to the memoi-y of 
 A most affectionate relative." 
 
 1 See pnsc 113. 
 
246 
 
 ROCKINGHAM CASTLE AND THE WATSONS. 
 
 Against the south wall are five monuments, the only one of them which offers any 
 artistic atti-action to the visitor is the figure in the centre. That mural monument 
 on the left, nearest to the floor, is to the memory of Lewis Thomas, Lord Sondes, ^ 
 and of his daughter Grace Theodosia Watson. It has the following inscription : 
 
 "SACRED to the Memory of 
 The Right Honourable LEWIS. THOMAS. LORD SONDES. 
 Born April 18th 1754 Died June 21st 1806 
 He was in Religion exemplary. In Friendship sincere. 
 The best Husband and most indulgent Father 
 on November the 30th ; 1785 He married Mary Elizabeth only Daughter of 
 RICHARD MILLES Esqr. of North Elmham in the County of Norfolk 
 and of Nackington in Kent. 
 By whom he had issue four Sons and three Daughters. 
 His afflicted Widow as a grateful tribute of her affection, 
 raises this Monument to his memory, 
 and to that of her Daughter GRACE THEODOSIA WATSON, 
 who died September the 9th : A : D : ] 794. 
 Aged four Years and one Month. 
 She earnestly prays that 
 Reading' this humble record of the Virtues 
 of their exemplary Parent 
 Her Six surviving Children may learn to Live 
 and meditating on the untimely fate of their sister 
 they may always be prepared to Die." 
 
 1 Page 115. 
 
NOTES AND DOCUMENTS. 
 
 247 
 
 Over the above is a tablet — somewhat ornamented — to the memory of Edward, 
 Viscount Sondes,^ with the inscription : 
 
 " EDWARD 
 LORD VISCOUNT SONDES 
 Departed this Life the 20th of MARCH, 1721 
 Aged 35 Years. 
 And is here Interr'd in the Vault of His 
 Ancestors ; Whose admirable Good Qualities were 
 the Delight of His Contemporaries, and most Worthy 
 the Imitation of His Noble Posterity, His Steady Adherence to 
 the Service of God, His King, and His Countiy, His Conjugal 
 
 Affection, and Exact Q^oonomy of His Family, and His 
 Benevolence to all Mankind were more Eminent and Conspi- 
 cuous than Usual in So Short a period of Life. 
 HOW GREAT THEN THE LOSS! 
 To His Most Honourable Memory CATHERINE Lady 
 Viscountess SONDES His Relict and Widow 
 Devotes this TABULATORY COMPARTMENT. 
 And at the Same Time has Caused this 
 CHANCEL to be Repaired and Beautyfied, 
 To THE GLORY OF GOD: 
 And the more decent performance 
 of Religious Offices : 
 In the Year of Our LORD. 
 1731 : " 
 
 1 See page 103 
 
248 
 
 ROCKINGHAM CASTLE AND THE WATSONS. 
 
 In the centre of the south wall is a striking monument to the memory of 
 The Honble. Margaret Watson.l 
 
 Nichols describes this monument "A neat tomb escalloped of grey marble; 
 thereon under a crown, between two fluted pilasters surmounted with feathers 
 and adorned with urns at top and pediment, the efEgies of a lady, in full proportion, 
 in her robe of state,^ her right hand extended, and pointing to a skull at her feet, 
 her left bent in, and laid on her breast, the robe thrown over the arm. Arms 
 at top. Quartered 1 and 4 Watson, 2 Smith, 3 Sable a saltire or." This is 
 a really good work of art, and bears the insci'iption : 
 
 "Near this Place rests in Hope 
 The Honble. MARGARET WATSON 
 Fourth Daughter of EDWARD LORD ROCKINGHAM, 
 And the Lady ANNE WENTWORTH, 
 Daughter to THOMAS Earle of Strafford. 
 As her Birth, so was her Mind truly Noble, 
 Happily formed to an Early sense & Love 
 of God & all Goodness, 
 By the Religious Care of her Parents, 
 Especially her Excellently wise & Vertuous Mother. 
 Whose useful Instructions & Holy Pattern 
 Her whole Life faithfully exemplified. 
 In sweetness of Temper & Behaviour, 
 In engaging Condescension and unaffected Humility ; 
 In Generous Friendship and Liberal Charity ; 
 And every Christian Grace fit to adorn her Character 
 This world (which she had learned both to Use and to Despise) 
 She, by the Will of God, exchanged for a Better 
 the third day of Febi-uary — 1713" 
 
 1 See page 92. 
 2 Bridges calls it a winding sheet. 
 
NOTES AND DOCUMENTS. 
 
 249 
 
 To the right hand, on the south wall, near tlie flooi-, is a mural tablet with urn, 
 &c., at the top, to the memoT'y of Lewis Watson, first Baron Sondes,^ beai-ing 
 this inscription : 
 
 " SACRED 
 To Piety and Benevolence, 
 This Monument is erected to commemorate 
 The Virtues exemplified in the Life of LEWIS WATSON LORD SONDES, 
 He was second Son of JOHN first BARON MONSON 
 And the LADY MARGARET WATSON 
 Daughter of LEWIS first Earl of Rockingham and the LADY CATHARINE SONDES 
 He married GRACE, fourth daughter of the Right Honourable HENRY PELHAM, 
 
 by whom he had four Sons. 
 He was created May 22nd, 1760 BARON SONDES of Lees Court in Kent. 
 He died March 30th, 1795 Aged 66. 
 From his Birth he derived Distinction 
 By his Life he acquired Respect 
 His Death lamented by his Friends 
 Was deplored by his Family 
 Whom his care protected 
 
 And by the Poor 
 Whom his Bounty fed.'" 
 
 1 See papre 113. 
 
250 
 
 ROCKINGHAM CASTLE AND THE WATSONS. 
 
 Immediately over the foregoing is another tablet; as the epitaph shews, this 
 is to the memory of Mary Elizabeth Milles, who was not buried in this Church.^ 
 
 "THIS STONE 
 Erected by LEWIS RICHARD LORD SONDES 
 In Memory of his Mother, is 
 SACRED 
 
 As being the Tribute of Filial Love 
 And the Record of Human 
 Excellence 
 
 Inasmuch as that word can be conceded to human frailty. 
 MARY- ELIZABETH LADY SONDES was the daughter of 
 RICHARD MILLES Esqr. 
 of North Elraham in the County of Norfolk. 
 
 Hei' Virtues 
 
 Spi'inging from the Heart, wei-e matured by the Mind 
 And confirmed by habitual exercise ; 
 For she was 
 By sentiment, from precept, and by practice 
 A Christian ; 
 
 By feeling, from conscience, and by the discharge of her duty 
 An Exemplary Mother ; 
 By Gratitude, reverence, and long intercourse, 
 The Affectionate Child 
 Of Her AFFLICTED PARENTS. 
 Kind towards her inferiors, with her equals courteous ; 
 to the Will of God 
 SUBMISSIVE, 
 She bore with patience a protracted illness 
 And departed this Life September 29th. 
 
 In the Year of our Lord 1818, 
 And in the Fifty-second year of her age. 
 
 Blessed be her Memory." 
 
 1 Pages 114—115. 
 
NOTES AND DOCUMENTS, 
 
 251 
 
 Before the centre of the west wall of the Chapel, on the floor, stands " A large 
 pedestal of grey marble, and thereon the effigies of a lady with her robe loose 
 about her, the end of which she liolds up with her right hand, her left gently 
 falling on the other part girt about her."^ On the pedestal is the following 
 epitaph : 2 
 
 "Hon. Domina ARABELLA OXENDEN 
 Quce Spe Ressurrectionsis beata; 
 Juxta hoc Marmor componi voluit. 
 Fuit Nata Secunda Edwardi Baronis Rockingham 
 Et Uxor Domini Jacobi Oxenden 
 De Dean in Com : Cantii, Baronetti, 
 Nata est Mar: 18: Anno Domi : 1660, Et Obijt 
 Jan: 14: 1734. 
 Et Ne Officio suo deesse videretur 
 Hon : Carolus Leigh De Leighton in Agro de JJedfoi-d : 
 Filius Secundus Thomaj Baronis Leigh 
 
 De Stoneleigh in Agro Warwicensi 
 Et Illustrissimso Eleonorae Uxoris Ejus, 
 Filiic Natu Maximre Pra;dicti 
 Edwardi Baronis Rockingham 
 EvxapLo-Tias Ergo in Materteram suani 
 Domiuam Arabellam Oxenden 
 Monumentum lioc non ambitiose 
 Sed pic Excructum in ejus Memoriam Posuit." 
 
 This is a fine piece of workmanship. 
 
 1 Nichols. 
 
 2 Pncre 92. 
 
252 
 
 ROCKINGHAM CASTLE AND THE WATSONS. 
 
 Against the west wall, on the left of Lady Oxenden's monument, is the latest 
 of the monuments in this Chapel. It is a handsome tablet of Verdi di Prato 
 marble, in a frame of Derbyshire alabaster in the Renaissance style, and is 
 surmouuled by the Arms of Watson impaling Qain. It was erected by Mr. Watson, 
 of Rockingham Castle, to the memory of his father and mother.^ Upon it are the 
 following epitaphs : 
 
 " In Pious Memory of 
 The Honourable RICHARD WATSON 
 M.P. for Peterborough and formerly for Canterbury 
 Late Major 10th Hussars — Fourth Son of Lewis Thomas 
 second Baron Sondes and Mary Elizabeth daughter 
 of Richard Milles Esqr. of North Elmham — 
 Born 6th January 1800 died 26th July 1852. 
 And of his Wife 
 LAVINIA JANE 
 Daughtei' of Lord Geoi'ge Quin, (second Son of Thomas 
 Hrst Marquis of Headfort.) and Georgina Chfi-rlotte, 
 second Daughter of George John second Earl Spencer. 
 Born 21st Mai'ch 1816 Died 20th January 1888. 
 Requiem Tuam dona illis ac nobis Domine." 
 
 This is a beautiful example of the modern mural tablet. 
 
 On the right of Lady O.xendfn s monument is a tablet to the memory of Lewis 
 Richard, third Baron Sondes, who \v;is not buried in Rockingham Chui'c-li.^ It 
 has the following inscription: 
 
 "M.S. 
 
 LVDOVICI RICARDI Baronis SONDES. 
 HENRICVS et RICARDVS WATSON, Fratri Carissimo 
 
 Nato IX Kalend. JVN. A.S. m! DCC. XCII. 
 
 Mortuo Prid. Id. Mart. W. DCCC. XXXVI. 
 Sepulto in agro CANTIORVM 
 H. M. F. C." 
 
 1 See page 116. 
 
 2 See page 115 
 
NOTES AND DOCUMENTS. 
 
 253 
 
 On the floor beneath is the shib with the wrong date, to Katherine, j'onngest 
 daughter of Lewis, first Baron Rockingham. ^ The inscription upon it is : 
 
 " Here 
 Lyeth 
 KATHERINE, 
 Youngest of Six 
 Daughters to 
 LEWIS LORD ROCKINGHAM 
 Obiit 
 
 June 26th 1660, Aged 13 years 
 and 23 days 
 by ELEANOR, Sister to 
 JOHN Earl of 
 RUTLAND. 
 
 Over the enti'anee arch, within the Chapel, is a tablet to the niemorv of the 
 Honourable (icorge Watson, 2 with the following inscrij)tiou : 
 
 ■THE HONOURABLE GEORGE WATSON, 
 DIED JUNE 17TI1, 1824, 
 AGED 57 YEARS. 
 
 He was fourth son of Lewis Lord 
 Sondes, and Grace third daughter of 
 The Right Honourable Henry Pelhani 
 
 This iuscrijjtion was jilaced near 
 
 His mortal I'emains to preserve and to 
 
 Perpetuate 
 
 THE BELOVED MEMORY 
 OE THE MOST KIND, (JENEROUS AND HOSPITABLE OK 
 
 FRIENDS, 
 THE MOST DUTIFUL OF 
 SONS, 
 
 THE MOST AFFECTIONATE OF 
 BROTHERS." 
 
 1 See page 84, 
 
 2 See page 113. 
 
254 
 
 ROCKINGHAM CASTLE AND THE WATSONS. 
 
 Here, surrounded by the monuments of the long line of departed Watsons, 
 whom in these pages we have endeavoared to make " to live agen with men," we 
 may appropriately close our labours with the reflection that they, having tasted 
 life, and each in a greater or less degree set his mark on his own time, have left 
 the world to us until the time when, in the words of the Spectator, " We shall 
 all be Contemporaries, and make our Appearance together." 
 
ADDITIONS AND 
 
 CORRECTIONS. 
 
 Page 5. Castle Guard Rent. — Certain of these rents appear to have been 
 appropriated to some particular purpose in connection with the Castle ; for 
 instance, in the reign of Henry VIII., Sir Thomas Griffin held of the Crown a 
 Manor in Chipping Warden by " an annual payment of three pounds towards the 
 repairs of a certain tower, called Griffin's Tower, in Rockingham Castle." 
 
 Page 28. Foot Note 2. — For ".see tail piece of this chapter" read "see tail piece 
 of the next chapter." 
 
 Page 34. Fourteen lines from bottom. — For "Ann Watson's first cousin'' read 
 "Ann Watson's nephew"; for "the unfortunate Sir Ketielm Digby" read "the 
 unfoi'tunate Sir Ererard Digby." 
 
 Page 51. Line 14. — For " her daughter " read " their daughter." 
 
 Page 56. Last line. — For " Sir Brocas Paxall " read " Thomas Brocas." 
 
 Page 9U. 'I'hree lines from bottom. — For " Their Highnesses have dined and been 
 well treated at Mr. Griffin's at Dingley " read " at Brayhroake Castle. " The Mr. 
 Griffin referred to in the letter was doubtless Mr. Edward Griffin, of Braybrook, 
 a lieutenant-colonel in the Duke of York's regiment of Foot Guards, now called 
 the Coldstream Guards. He was raised to the peerage in 1688 by the title of 
 Baron Griffin, and followed the fortunes of his ro^'al master after the Revolution, 
 and was outlawed. Being taken prisoner in the attempted invasion of Scotland 
 in 1708, he was committed to the Tower, and died there in confinement, in 
 November, 1710. He married Lady Essex Howard, eldest daughter and one of 
 the two coheirs of James Howard, third Earl of Suffolk. Their gi-and.son, l<]dward, 
 third Lord Griffin, dying without children in 1742, the title became extinct. His 
 wife was celebrated for her beauty. See Pepys" Diary. 
 
 Page 96. Line 17. — For " Lewis, third Baron Watsan "' read " Lewis, third Baron 
 
 Unckinqham." 
 
 PA(iK 103. Last line. — For "Thomas Wentworth-Traf.svm," read " Watson-Wentworth." 
 
256 
 
 ADDITIONS AND CORRECTIONS. 
 
 Page 227. The Tomb op the " Bon Compagnon." — This monument is supposed to 
 have been that of John de Ros, brother of William de Ros, first Baron of 
 Hamlake, Werke, &c., who was Lord High Admiral of England during the 
 latter part of the reign of Edward II. and early part of the reign of Edward III. 
 This John de Ros was a great favourite with Edward III. (his " bon compagnon"), 
 who was attracted to him by his convivial qualities, and possibly also by the 
 fact that he had united himself with the party of that king's mother against 
 the unpopular Despensers. His opposition to the latter led to a dispute between 
 him and Hugh Despenser, at a meeting of Parliament in Lincoln Cathedral, 
 when the two exchanged blows with their fists, and drew their swords before 
 the king, and were with difficulty restrained from a serious combat. On the 
 accession of Edward III., he was made steward of the king's household, and 
 was one of the twelve guardians by whom the young king was to be governed. 
 He was made admiral of the sea, under his brothei', from the Thames northward. 
 He died in 1337 : no doubt at Stoke Albany, where he probably resided. To 
 him is ascribed the tower of Stoke Albany Church. He was so poor when 
 he died that his brother obtained two hundred marks from the king towards 
 the expenses of his burial. 
 
PEDIGREES. 
 
Pkdwbbk No. 1- 
 WATSDNS OF HOCKINGHAil CASTLIO. 
 
 tseopagoao).' 
 
 1«0 \ - \ 
 
 (1) Arras of ffaU"", of Lyddingtoii. 
 (AflonvardB of Bockiiighnm Castle). 
 Ar. on n chor. ongr. ni. botw. thwe 
 mnrtlew «. M mnny ore.cout* o 
 oftcli charged witli a t 
 
 Edwabd Watson, OF Lydihsoton (l), \ 
 born (?) at SImlmor. co. York, J 
 Survey or- Genoral ti* H 
 
 Bishops of Lincoln. J, P. 
 Armiger 17lh Oct . 1519 
 (S.'e i-utfo 1!)), 
 
 1 Diiuuhtui 
 
 - Da imht. 
 
 '""■SmitI,. iii,^, < 
 (See pftg^ ,gJ 
 
 n the Monfistitry nt Newslfd 
 (Seo pago 21). 
 
 Itni-bam, Mary, ni. in 
 
 ) Imricd iit LvililinKttui, 1504. ThomiiH Du(|lt.>y 
 (Sfo pi>so of CIcipton, 
 
 (See imgo 22). 
 
 ,N,.HAV Casti-k.-j , (15J5?) Dorothy. <). of Sir Eilwnrd 
 
 f \ MontttKU, of Boughton (3) 
 i,,,,„ ,i 111 U»«-k- j I (Seo Podigrco 2, nud iiHgo aO) 
 
 3 UniiKlitor. 
 
 (Sci.- 1'"?'- 
 
 Two othor •oii«, 
 Synion and Willinm. 
 
 (Soe pag(. iRg). 
 and two dmi[.hter». 
 JaiiPit niid SvbL-ll 
 (Pa«i' IM). 
 
 g of MoulaKii, of Dougliton 
 . three lozongos tronjuincd 
 in fesa gu. n lionli-r »n. 
 
 .\riii« of Smith, 
 ■;■ '"^f. "P"'. on nohiof 01 
 I'lnii iioii mnip. tsiuing m. 
 
 AU. 1530. 
 [8cQ pagci 20*185). 
 
 (,iii,'hip.I Iltli .May, 1603 
 tlie.I 1st March, iClO. 
 
 K..nol',ri)iUy (■*)■ ArM,I.'r'm'o^.ki-. of baj.^ 2nd Sep., 15rtS. 
 of Stoko Dry. l-o. Wreat Oakl«y. (Soe page ^3). 
 Rutland, (See page 33). 
 
 iiiripd 17th Feb.. IGIl. 
 
 ;i3). 
 
 Emma, 
 bap. 23rd Aug., 136[ 
 (Soe page 33). 
 
 I DaiightBr, 
 
 I- Bdniinl WiitBon. of Stoko I'ark 
 hap. 4th Jan . 1585(6), 
 
 knighted 1619, 
 buried 2 Fob,. 1U57(8). 
 (.Sc' paifL' U, Ac). 
 
 I 
 
 Anne, m. 1st to 
 Sir Chas. Norwich, 
 of Brampton Asli ; 
 2ndtoSirWni.Fricc.of 
 Wnshiuyley, CO. Hunts. 
 (i-ae |)ftge U). 
 
 2 Dauglitor. 
 
 Emma, m. to 
 John Granntc. 
 (See pagn 45). 
 
 (Seo pago 
 
 3 Daiightei 
 
 t. to Sir 
 
 Mary, m. t . 
 
 Anthony Mnney 
 'Lutton. CO. Keui, 
 (See page 411]. 
 
 of I 
 
 _4 0 ^JSl, 
 "Ill Mr.)5l5flO,K 
 
 6 Daug htcr- 
 
 Elloyn,' nt. to 
 George fDowcrs. 
 (Seo page 33). 
 
 S Danghtcr. 
 
 Eliitaboth, m. 
 Ist, Sir John Ncdhnra, 
 of Litchborough ; 
 2nd. Sir Edward Tyrrell, 
 of Thornton. 
 (Sou page 45). 
 
 (4). Anns of Uigby, of Stoko Dry, 
 Ax. a flenr-de-lia, ar 
 Cre»t. An ostrich ar. in the beak 
 a liorscihoo or. 
 
 (Trnuovs, m. to 
 Howliind Vauglmn, 
 of London. 
 (See pngo 45). 
 
 6 Dang h tor, 
 
 Dorothy, m. to 
 Sit Goon;o Throgmorton, 
 of Fulbtook. 
 (See pago 45). 
 
 / Isl wife : ^ 
 
 [ The Honbic, Cathoriuo Ucrtie (5), <1. 
 
 \ of I'ereKrine.lUlhBarou WillouKbbv 
 
 ) " of Eresbv, 
 
 ) died l.ilh l\^>.. 1610(11). 
 
 f (See page SO). ' 
 
 Edward, 
 bap. 5th Feb,. 1610(11). 
 buried 9th Feb,, 1010(11). 
 (See piit^e 50), 
 
 Anna of Mninicrs, 
 two bars nj;,aehiofgu. 
 
 i \RP, 2sn B*K«X Uoi 
 bap, 30th Jnne, 1630, 
 died 22ntl June. 1C8I). 
 (See pages 55 & S6). 
 
 L Tbos. Wonlwortli, 
 
 latEarlof Strafford (7), 
 \ died 2nd June, 1695. 
 [ (See page 01 and 
 ^ I'lidigreo No. 5). 
 
 Hon. Anne, 
 died nninnrried. 
 (Soe pages 55»ndS4). 
 
 Hon. Frances, m. to 
 Edniird Dingloy, of 
 Ciiarlton, Worcostorshire. 
 I (See pagOH 55 and 83). 
 
 1 Daughter. 
 
 couped ppr, betw. two chovront-ls sa. 
 
 ■ El ennor. 
 In.rn 26[TrTeT>TlG58(9). 
 m. 23rd Oct,, 1070, to 
 Thomas Lord Leigli. 
 of Stouelcigli. 
 (See I'nge 02), 
 
 .ni . - , 1687(1') 
 1 21*t Mavdi. 1721(2). 
 ;i.e pniif lOU nud ]()1). 
 
 eUeat (Iiiu.,^liU>t „i iLr K:u\ of Thauot, 
 (Sao page 101). 
 
 Hon. George, 
 born a-Uh May. lOSO. 
 buried 1730. 
 (Sco pugo 100) 
 
 Hon. Willinm, 
 bnp. 7th Antt', 
 ritiil Sth Aug.. 1091, 
 (See pago 100), 
 
 rms of Tufttm. 
 
 a border ar. 
 
 Udyllary, 
 "•,IOth Aug., 1690, t 
 WraySsnndom,,,, Es. 
 of Glentbdr)', 
 ee. Linooln, 
 (Sco pagolOtl). 
 
 Katherino, 
 buried 15th Nop.. 1701. 
 (Nothing more is known 
 of this dnuglitor). 
 
 Siv Chailcs Dymijek. 
 of Scrivclsby, 
 CO. Lincoln. 
 (Sco pages 55aud83). 
 
 horn -H.h Vfh , lijil2(:i), 
 
 died unmiirr.cd. 
 buried Utb Dee,, 1U97, 
 (S.c,K,g,.91i), 
 
 (See pages ."35 nnd84). 
 
 Lady Ariihella, 
 aril 15th Jhirch, 1693, 
 . to Sir Hob. Fumeae. 
 of Waldorslmrc, 
 
 Ladv Margaret, 
 bnp. 22nd March. 1695(6) 
 (See pages 101 iiud 111), f " 
 
 MSir Jobi 
 1st Burou 
 (See pagcf 
 i>ud [>cdi| 
 
 l,Kwi>. 2Nn Kari. iiv- RocKisGHAM, 
 horn 1714 (?) 
 dioa(>!,P.),4lb l)iic..l715.agQa31. 
 (Sue pages 101 and 110). 
 
 (10th April. 1730), Catherine d. 
 Robert Fiirni-so (10). 
 (See page 110), 
 
 Tkosias, 3ko Eahl of 
 
 died (S P ). 26th Feb . 1745(0), 
 (See pages 101 and 111). 
 
 (10). Arms of Furncae, 
 of Waldo rsh are, 
 Ar. a talbot sejant sa. 
 a bonier of the last. 
 
 IIou. Cathorinc. m. to 
 'he Right Honble. Bdivnril Sontliwcll, 
 of King's Weston, eo. Uloueester 
 (Soe pages 101 and 100). 
 
 Sir John Monaon, 
 
 Mouseu (11). 
 1 101 and III 
 Pedigree Xo, 6). 
 
 I 
 
 '''>'"i, 2ml Bw,.ii Monsou. 
 
 I'uE HoNBT-e, Lewis Monsox-Watson, 
 1st Baron Sondes (20th May, 17G0), 
 died :Wth SInrch, 1795, 
 (So- pngelll). 
 
 Uoni Ibth Ai.ril. 1751, ; _ 
 4iod 20th Juno, 180G, 
 (Spo page 114) 
 
 '■■^'l . bnrn 20th April 175: 
 
 ' " died let Ang„ 1833 
 
 "ill (3eopagoll3). 
 
 (laj. Arms of Milles of Xorth Elmham 
 Brm a miHrmd aa. betw. two martlets in pale 
 on a chief ar.. two wings conjoined and expanded ' 
 
 • HiciiAKii. San IUbon Sonkeis 
 unmnrriod Uth March, 1836 
 (Seo page 116). 
 
 T\\y. Has. Gkoroe Jous Milles, 
 
 4tb Baron Sondes, 
 (Sco Pedigree No. 7 and page 115), 
 
 Uuu, f.-aib..niic, 
 died young, 
 eo page 113). 
 
 1 Dnuifhle 
 
 Hon. JInry Gmce, 
 7l4 m. 3rd May, 1808, to 
 
 fifort Sir John Honrs' I'olrocr, Bart,, 
 died 21lh Nov,, 1853. 
 pngo 114). 
 
 ■'- I I' D-L. 
 
 SI,enni..lS7U.«ndJ.P.ror 
 Leicotor and Rutlnud. 
 
 (Pairo 116). 
 Anns, Watson imiwliog 
 Culuie-SeymouT. 
 
 15). Arms of Culnic- Seymour, 
 Am. a pair of wiugs conjoined in ' 
 
 a pale, surmounted of a naval 
 wu or. on a canton nr. an andior ■, 
 
 Henry George, 
 
 3 UnnglHtu 
 
 lion. Grace Theodoeio, 
 horn lOth Aug,, 1790. 
 died 0th Sop , 1794. 
 (Sec page 114). 
 
 I 
 
 floit- rathuriiie. 
 m. 23nl Aprii, 1S20, to 
 Sir William do Cnpell Urooke, 
 died 24th Norember, 1884. 
 (Seo pagolI4). 
 
 Edward Spoucer \Va,g^,, 
 l" llie U.N-. whou'J.f**'' "''J"' ' 
 
 Briga^^ Sl'^^-cn-. 
 was present at Wi„dh«J^""^ Mutiuy?'" 
 Cawnpore. aad. as A D 0 , at 
 
 'P-^utattUecl;Sre'„VS'r^<«'. 
 a served it, tlj^. lot], " 
 
 (16th Oct., 1866), to Lariuia Grace. ^ 
 Vico-Admiral Sir Michael (Sco page 110). > 
 Culmo-Soymour, Bart. ' 
 
 Villiobniaa KliMbetb Boriha Lnvinii 
 Jut Goriiitin KmperorMood spo: 
 Aloiandra. to whom H. II. H. Prid 
 
 to whom II. M, ^Villiam, 
 lor. Oied'lth Feb,, 1801. 
 a Alexander of Prnsaia 
 
THE 
 
 NOTE ON THE PEDIGREE 
 WATSONS OF ROCKINGHAM 
 
 CASTLE. 
 
 In Burke's General Armory are given the names of forty-seven families of 
 Watson. Of these, fifteen bear tlie same arms as the Watsons of Rutland, either 
 alone or quartered. Those families are, therefore, presumably more or less closely 
 allied. These arms are borne by nearly all the Yorkshire families of that name. 
 Paver, in his Collections for Yorkshire,^ gives the same arms to the Watsons of 
 East Hage as early as the fourteenth century, and, as Edward Watson of Lyddington 
 states in his Will that he was born in Yorkshire,^ it is highly probable that the 
 Rutland Watsons originated in that county. Hitherto it has been found impossible 
 to connect them with either of the Yorkshire families. 
 
 The sinister side of the shield in the Church at Great Gidding-^ may possibly be 
 the arms of Edward Watson's mother, and if that could be deciphered it might 
 throw some light upon the subject. 
 
 There is yet another unexplained quartering which has appeared from time to 
 time in the arms of the Watsons of Rockingham Castle, that is : Sable a Saltire or. 
 This quartering is seen in the arms engraved on a seal much used by Sir Lewis 
 Watson (still preserved in Rockingham Castle), and in the arms on the top of 
 the monument to the memory of the Hon'^''^- Margaret Watson. (See page 248). 
 
 It is not known for certain whether the Edward Watson, who was living at 
 Lyddington in 1460, was the father, the uncle, or grandfather of Edward Watson 
 there, who was the founder of the Rockingham family. It is just possible that the 
 Lincoln archives may contain information which would help to clear up this point. 
 We see that the Edward Watson, of Lyddington (ob. 1530), had lost two brothers 
 before the date of his Will,'' and that he had two sisters then living. The name 
 of one of those brothers, Symon, appears in the old pedigree at Rockingham 
 before mentioned;^ so also do the names of three sisters, Jane, Isabella, and 
 Margaret, but not Sibell. Indeed, the family history about that period (early 
 in the sixteenth century), remains obscure, notwithstanding the efforts which 
 have been made to trace it. From the passage in Edward Watson's Will providing 
 for prayers to be said for the souls of his children,^ it seems probable that he 
 had, as suggested on page 20, lost several children before the date of his Will. 
 
 Watson Mottoes : Earls of Rockingham: " Mea gloria fide s" 
 
 Watson of Rockingham Castle (1891), the same. 
 (Monson) Watson, " Esto quod esse videris." 
 
 1 AtUl. MS., British Museum. 
 
 2 See page 185. 
 
 3 See page 218. 
 
 4 See page 184. 
 
 5 See page 44. n. 
 
 6 See Page 185. 
 
Pedigree No. 2. 
 PEDIGREE OF MONTAGUS OF BOUGHTON. 
 
 William de Montacute, created Earl") — 
 of Salisbury, 1337, died 1343. ] J 
 
 (Second Son) Sir John de Montacute, | 
 Knight, died 1390. j 
 
 Sib Simon de Monteagce of Hanging 
 Houghton. i 
 
 ( Catherine, d. of William, Lord Grandison, 
 ^ died 1347. 
 
 ^ Margaret, d. and h. of Sir Thomas de 
 S Monthermcr, son of Ralph of Monthermer, 
 ) Earl of Gloucester and Hereford, and of his 
 wife Joan of Aeon., d. of King Edward I. 
 
 _ Ela, d. and h. of William Houghton 
 
 Thomas Montagu, of Houghton. 
 
 Christian, d. of Thomas Bassett. 
 
 John Montagu, of Houghton. 
 
 I 
 
 Alice, daughter of William Halcott 
 
 William Montagu, of Houghton. _ Margaret, d. of Christopher Butlin. 
 
 Richard Montagu, of Houghton. 
 
 Agnes, d. of William Suelling. 
 
 Thomas Montagu, of Hemington. _ Anne, d. of William Dudley, of Clopton. 
 
 Sib Edward Montagu, of Boughton, Lord ") — f (1st wife) Cicily, d. of William Lane of 
 Chief Justice of England, died 1556. i "j" 1 Orlingbury. 
 
 Eldest Daughter, Dorothy. _ f Edward Watson of Rockingham Castle. 
 
 See page 26. 
 
 See Pedigree 1 
 
Pedigeee No. 3. 
 THE DIGBYS OF TILTON AND DRY STOKE. 
 
 ^DUAtL, held lands in Tilton, temp. William I. 
 
 (Second Son) Sir Everard Digbt, of I — I , . . „ 
 Tilton, temp. Henry I. and Stephen. | 7 j Bretton. 
 
 William, Lord of Digby. 
 
 RiCHARB Digby, of Digby, | — | Ida, d. of John Fitzherbert. 
 1260. I T I 
 
 Sir John Digby, died 1269. — Arabella, d. of Sir Wm. Harcourt. 
 
 Sir John Digby, of Tilton, ] — 
 1271 and 1299. I ~ 
 
 Wake. 
 
 (Ist Son) Robert Digby— Sibella. 
 
 I 
 
 V 
 
 (Second Son) John Digby, 
 livincc 1399. 
 
 Robert Digby, 
 died before 1403. 
 
 I 
 
 Catherine, d. of 
 Simon Pakeman, of Kirby. 
 
 Elizabeth, d. of 
 Sir Wm. Osevill. 
 
 Simon Digby, of Tilton, Leicestershire, ") ( Joan, d. of Sir James 
 and of Dry Stoke, Rutland, t — j Beler. 
 
 died before 1422. ) i (. 
 
 Sir Everard Digby, alias Greenleaf, 
 slain at Towton, 1461. 
 
 Anne, d. of 
 Francis Clarke, 
 . of Whissendine. 
 
 Everard Digby, of Tilton 
 and Dry Stoke, died 1509. 
 
 Jaquetta Ellis, 
 died 1483. 
 
 Sir Everard Digby, 
 of Dry Stoke. 
 
 Margaret, d. of 
 Sir John Haydon (Norfolk). 
 
 Kenelm Digby, 
 of Dry Stoke, 
 Sheriff of Rutland, 1541, 1554, 
 1561, 1567, and 1585; 
 M P. for Rutland, from 
 1 Ed. VI., to 14 Eliz., 
 died 1590. 
 
 Everard Digby, of 
 Dry Stoke, died cir. 1592. 
 (See page 34). 
 
 Anne, d. of Sir Anthony Cope, 
 of Hanwell, co. Oxon. 
 (Vice-Chamberlain to Queen Catherine). 
 
 Anne, m. 
 in April, 1567, 
 to Edward (afterwards 
 Sir Edward), Watson, 
 of Rockingham Castle. 
 (See Pedigree No. 1). 
 
l^HDIORES No. 4, 
 
 DUJUKM OK MANNKllS (TNChUUlNCl Dn ALlilNI 
 
 WDBBT »K Tonus, . 
 
 Lord of ll„|,„|f 
 "lioil 1088. ' 
 
 Albini. 
 
 fAdelaifl, <1. of 
 (?) 
 
 (Brito), died 1155. j - s.t'y ?' 
 
 WlI.MiM m AI.BINI ) _ ( A,lr.li.i„ /s> 
 
 (Mea chino.s), diod 1108. j - } <■> 
 
 I ' 
 
 William De Albisi (HI ) 
 (liod 1236. 
 
 HtMl Stoko Park. (Sco page 8.) ] 
 
 Ajfathii, d. au(i U 
 to Id, Tn»b„t 
 
 WlLlUSl liK AtBIM (IV.), 
 
 died 1247. 
 
 } ( (1st wife 
 
 \ -- ] d. to lie 
 } I ( Iii« 
 
 ) Mhrnh. 
 Henry. Lord 
 "isetli. 
 
 IsABKLLA, d. and li., ■) 
 carried tlie pstates (o > 
 Iior husband. ) 
 
 ( Rolierl, Lord Uoss, 
 ] of Uanilakc 
 (died 17tli Mav, 128.',. 
 
 LLiAM DE Ross, of ^ — f Maud, d. and co-hoir 
 Qamlake, 4c. i T \ of Jolin de Vauj. 
 
 William (II.), Bahon Boss,) CMarfrcry, oldest d. and 
 of Uamlake, } ~ 1 coheir of Giles, Lord 
 
 died 16th Feb., 1342. ) 7 ( Badlcsmere. 
 
 William (111.), Lord Ro: 
 died S.P. 
 
 Thomas, Lorii Ross, of ' 
 Hnmlake, heir to his i 
 brotlior, died 7 Richard II. ^ 
 
 C Beatrice, d. to 
 j Ralph, Earl of 
 ( Stafford, 
 
 William (VI.), Baron Ross, ) — f Beatrice, d. to 
 of Hainlake, died 1414. ) 7 i Sir John Arundel. Knt, 
 
 Thomas, Babon Ross, of Ilamlafce, ) — ( Eleanor, d. of Richard 
 heir to his brother, died 9 Heary VI. i T 1 Beaucharap, Earl of Warwick. 
 
 Thomas, Lord Ross, of 
 Hnmlake, died 1 Ed. 
 
 s, of ) _ f 
 
 ( Pliilippa, sister and co-heir to 
 Z ] John, Lord Tiptofl. Earl of 
 Worcester. 
 
 Db Ros, Ro) 
 -IK William Eipse, of Heliniley - 
 
 Adeline it. of Hn^'Ii ll<.iiuel>ain)) (?) 
 
 Sir Walter Aspeo. j - } di„„ 3 „ 
 
 UOBBHT. Basox R, 
 
 Robsrt. Baron 11o„, „f Hamkke nnd Werke, ) - < I,»bella, d. of William, 
 died II Henry III. J - } „,„ KinR of Scotlai 
 
 I ~ ■ 
 William. Babdx Ross, of Hamlakc, He.) - ( 
 died 42 Henry III. j ~ j 
 
 Scotland, 
 d. of Reginald Fitji-Piors. 
 
 MAx.vess. 
 Sir Robkrt Masxer.s, of Ethale, 1 
 
 . Northumberland. 
 
 GiLKs Mansi 
 
 i 
 
 ■ Philippa, d. of Sir Bartholomew Montbouchiar, Kii 
 
 Robert SfAXNEHs, of ) — ( Hawise, d. of 
 Etiiale, Knt. ) 7 (Robert do liluschanip. 
 
 EfsTAcR Maxnehs, of Ethale, - Elizabeth, d, of Su- Hugh Prollin, Knt. 
 
 Sir Hugh Man.vers, of Ethale. — (?) 
 
 Sir Robert Mann 
 
 - Atjnes. d- of Sir David Conplaiid, Knt, 
 
 Sill Robert Manners,) - (Joan, d- of Adiini de neton. 
 knighted (i Edward I. ) 7 t 
 
 William Manners (Second Son), ) - j Ellen, or Janolla, d. of 
 died 1349. ) 7 \ D«'i'i »' 
 
 S.R BOBEiT Manners, ) - (Joan, or Alice, d. and h. of Henry Strother, 
 died 1355. ) 7 i it Newton Olendalo, Knl. 
 
 i, ) - f Alice, n idow of Willia 
 
 fi. of Sir .folpii Aliddlcton, Knt 
 
 Edmund, 
 died 27 Henry VII,, 
 
 ( Sir Robert Manners, Kn . f^l" „, 
 , _ Ssortbumberland. 33 Henry M , ; f , ; 
 ( - \ and 4 Riclmrd III. M P- 
 
 ; Gkdrge Manners, 
 Lord Roes. 
 
 Ann, d. and heir to 
 Sir Thomas St. Ledger, 
 _ 1 by his wife, Anne, sister 
 ■ ' to Edward n. 
 
 Sir Thomas Manners, 1 ^ 
 13th Lord Rons, [ - / 
 iBt Earl of Rutland, 1520. ; , 
 
 I i f Dorothy, d. and co-heir 
 
 (2iiJ Son) SIR John Manners, j ; si/Goorgo Vernon, 
 did not succeed to titles, sc. ) it. 
 
 " 1.1 ,1 of Sir Thomas Holcrotl. 
 
 .BE, third Earl ot) - llf v„le Royal. K»«- 
 
 died 1582 • ' 
 
 foortl. " 
 
 Sill Geoboe M-tf'f'"''; ' 
 "'Haddon, knighted «. 
 
 Belvoir, J''0* 
 died 1623. 
 
 , Grace, eldest d. of 
 ^ Sir Henry Pierropont. 
 ^ (See page SO), 
 
 I „ .1 of Edward, 
 
 John, suceeeded his ^ ( f™,"""' 
 
 eigUrL'l'STutl",d.5 Ji ' 
 
 , . v;,;, mil ««l<i'i8linm. 
 
 '"n li„-,.e No, I. »'"' PW 54). 
 - (See I'edigiee 
 
 The Roekinghaui Wats 
 
 I 
 
 The Dukes of Rutland. 
 
k 
 
Pedigree No. 5. 
 
 THE WENTWORTHS AND THEIR DESCENDANTS, THE 
 MARQUISES OF ROCKINGHAM. 
 
 Sir William Wentworth, Baet, 
 of Wentworth House, and of Gawthorp. 
 Lineally descended from John of Gaunt. 
 Created Baronet by James I. 
 
 Anne, d. of Sir Robert Atkinson, 
 Bart., of Stowell, co. Gloucester. 
 
 Thomas, 1st Eael 
 OF Straffoed. 
 Beheaded. 
 
 r 1st wife, Lady Margaret ' 
 ) Clifford, d. of Francis, ( 
 Earl of Cumberland. I 
 
 No issue. 
 
 '2nd wife. Lady ^ , 
 ) Arabella, d. of f — 
 I John Holies, C — 
 .Earl of Clare. ^ I < 
 
 3rd wife, — d. of 
 Godfrey Rhodes. 
 
 Margaret, d. unmarried. 
 1 daughter. 2 daughter. 
 
 William, 2nd 
 Earl of 
 Steafford. 
 
 1st wife, The Lady 
 Henrietta Maria, 
 d.of James, Earl of 
 Derby. 
 
 2nd wife. Lady 
 Henrietta d. of 
 Frederick Charles 
 du Roy. 
 
 Lady Anne 
 
 No issue. 
 
 No issue. 
 
 HoNBLE. Thomas Watson- 
 Wentworth, 3rd son of Edward, 
 2nd Baron Rockingham. See Fed. 1. 
 Born 17th June, 1665 ; died 1722. 
 See page 94. 
 
 Alice, d. of Sir Thomas Proby, of 
 Elton, CO. Huntingdon, Knight, 
 died 2nd October, 1749. 
 
 Edward, 2nd Lady 
 
 Baron Arabella. 
 Rockingham. 
 Fed. 1. 
 
 Justin Maccarty, 
 son of Donald, 
 Earl of Clancarty 
 
 Thomas Watson-Wentworth, 
 1st Marquis of Rockingham, 
 1746; died (?) See page 94. 
 
 The Lady Mary Finch, fourth 
 daughter of Daniel, Earl of 
 Winchilsea, and grand-daughter 
 of Earl of Thanet. 
 
 1st daughter. 
 
 Chaeles Watson- Went- " 
 WORTH, 2nd Marquis of 
 Rockingham, born 13th 
 May, 1730 ; died 2nd July, 
 1782. See page 95. 
 
 fMary, daughter and 
 heir of Thomas 
 Bright, Esq. of 
 Badsworthy. 
 
 2nd d. 3rd d. 4th d. 
 
 Lady Ann, m. 1744. 
 died, 4th May, 1759, 
 
 Right Hon. William, 
 3rd Earl Fitzwilliam. 
 d. 9th August, 1756. 
 
 C3 b (3 
 
 William, 4th Earl 
 Fitzwilliam, who in- 
 herited the estates 
 of his uncle, Charles, 
 2nd Marquis Rock- 
 ingham. 
 
 1st d. 
 
 2nd d. 
 
 George, died 
 8th May, 1786 
 
 Charlotte, m. Thomas, 
 Ist Earl Dundas. 
 
 Frances Henrietta, 
 died unmarried. 
 
 3rd d. 
 
 a - 
 
 4th d. 
 
 5th d 
 
 a .)i > 
 
 a ■ 
 
Pedigree No. 6. 
 MONSON. 
 
 John Monson, Mounson, or Munson, of Earst Eeson, co. Lincoln, 
 living in 1378. Prom him descended 
 
 William Monson, Esq., died 1558. — Elizabeth Tyrwhitt. 
 J 
 
 I 
 
 John Monson. — Mary, d. of Sir Robt. Hussey, Knight. 
 
 7 
 
 Sir John Monson, Knight, died 1593. — Jane, daughter of Eobert Deighton, Esq. 
 
 Sir Thomas Monson, Bart., Master r Margaret, d. of Sir Edmund Anderson, 
 
 of the Armory, and Master Falconer ^ Z ] Chief Justice Common Pleas, 
 
 to James I. J \ (. 
 
 Sir John Monson, K.B., and M.P. | — | Ursula, daughter of Sir Robert 
 for CO. Lincoln, died 1674. y | O.xenbridge, Knight. 
 
 I I 
 (His grandson), SiE Henry Monson, died S.P. | 
 
 Sir William, died S.P. 
 
 Succeeded by his nephew. Sir John Monson, | — | Lady Margaret Watson. 
 K.B., 5th Baronet. Baron 28th May, 1728. | 7 | See Pedigree 1. 
 
 From these two issued the present lines of Sondes of Lees Court, 
 and Watson of Rockingham Castle. See Pedigree 
 No. 1 and page 111. 
 
C 
 o 
 
 c 
 
 GO 
 
 2 C 
 cc 
 
 o 
 
 a? 
 
 I— ( 
 o 
 w 
 a, 
 
 ^ -a 
 
 I 1—1 
 
 a 
 
 s o c 
 
 I I- 
 
 7; a) 
 
 ■ = C 
 
 o E 
 
 -= P-i c 
 S £ 
 
 :3 C 
 
 Is 2; 
 
 I — 
 
 .a o 
 
 -7 0 
 
 A O 
 
 5 J 
 
 I 1- 
 
 OS W 
 
 2 -be 
 
 I I- 
 
 Vj 
 hi 
 
 o . 
 O 1~ 
 
 o .£ 
 
 H 
 
 3 
 
 § - 
 
 03 * 
 
 ^ 2 1: 
 2 °? 
 
 03 r- 
 
 +3 c S 
 
 .5 S 
 
 ^ ° 
 
 ^ n rt 
 
 0; ^ OQ 
 
 S 2 
 
 I I 
 
 Ed 
 
 «) a 
 
 u a m > 
 rt d o T3 
 
 * C3 05 .2 
 J . = 
 
 9 S' S 2 " 
 
 Meg 
 'C S; « 
 
 = K 
 
 ■ < 
 
 a 
 
 0 
 
 ui — 
 
 o a 0 
 G r Q O 
 
I N D 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Abbot of Peterborough "emparks" ... ... 14 
 
 Abbot of Ramsey, preaches before the King 
 
 at Rockingham ... ... ... ... 14 
 
 Act of 1817, places Forests under first Com- 
 missioner of Woods and Forests ... 166 
 
 Agistors, their number and duties ... 145 — 150 
 
 Agistment, when due, and rate of ... ... 151 
 
 Albemarle, Wm., Count of, obtains Rockingham 
 
 Manor ... ... ... ... ... 7 
 
 made Constable of Rockingham Castle 8 
 
 rebels against Henry III. ... ... 9 
 
 is besieged in Rockingham Castle ... 9 
 
 takes Fotheringhay Castle ... ... 9 
 
 Alliances, double, frequent in the Watson 
 
 Family ... 22, 49, 54, 96, 112, 114, 116 
 
 Alms House for four poor men, founded at 
 
 Rockingham ... ... ... ... 31 
 
 destroyed 70, 71 
 
 Alwin, the Huntsman ... ... ... ... 163 
 
 Altar Tomb in Rockingham Church ... ... 46 
 
 Ancient Chests in Rockingham Castle ... 122 
 
 Anecdote connected with the Siege of Rock- 
 ingham Castle .. ... ... ... 66 
 
 Anecdote of Lewis, second Earl of Rockingham, 
 
 from Horace Walpolo ... ... ... Ill 
 
 Anselm at Rockingham Castle... ... ... 4 
 
 Arms granted to Edward Watson, of Lydding- 
 
 ton 23 
 
 Assart, an, defined ... ... ... ... 151 
 
 Attachment, Court of ... ... ... ... 132 
 
 Attempts of Cavaliers to re-take Rockingham 
 
 Castle 66, 67 
 
 Atwood, William, Bishop of Lincoln... ... 192 
 
 " Auncyente Lawes" of the Forest, proclaimed 
 
 by James I. ... ... ... ... 139 
 
 " Backbear," defined ... ... ... ... 137 
 
 Bailiwick of Rockingham, boundaries ... 154 
 
 Brigstock, boundaries ... ... ... 156 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Bailiwick of Clive, or Cliffe ... ... ... 157 
 
 Baker, Miss, quoted ... ... ... ... 147 
 
 Barony of de Clifford, conferred on Edward 
 
 Southwell, son of Catherine Watson ... 109 
 
 Bcale, Mary, portrait by ... ... 123 
 
 Belvoir Castle taken by Royalists ... ... 64 
 
 Parliamentarians' version of its capture... 64 
 
 Bell, curious custom of ringing in forest 
 
 villages ... ... ... ... ... 153 
 
 Bertie Catherine, married to Sir Lewis Watson 50 
 her death and monument... ... ... 50 
 
 death of her son ... ... ... .. 50 
 
 Bertie, sketch of the family history ... ... 50 
 
 Bertie, Peregrine horn ... ... . ... 51 
 
 tradition respecting his birth ... 52n. 
 
 his portrait ... ... ... ... .. 52n. 
 
 Bertie, arms of ... ... ... ... ... 52n. 
 
 Bertie Robert, first Earl of Lindsey ... ... 52 
 
 Bigge, Rcvd. J. H., his estimate of the cost 
 
 of repairs at Rockingham Castle ... 12 
 Bishop's Palace at Lyddington ... ... 19 
 
 Blandesford, Lewis do Duras, Marquis of, 
 
 married Lady Mary Sondes ... ... 99 
 
 created Earl of Feversham ... ... 100 
 
 his career ... ... ... ... ... 100 
 
 " Bloodyhand," defined ... ... .. ... 138 
 
 Bocase Stone, origin of the name e.\plained 174n. 
 
 '' Bon Compagnon," the, his monument, 
 formerly in the Church at Stoke 
 
 Albany 227, 256 
 
 Boundaries of a forest, defined ... ... 150 
 
 Boundaries of Rockingham Forest, temp. 
 
 Edward 1 129 
 
 temp. Charles 1 154 
 
 Boai-, various names for the wild ... ... 152 
 
 Bovi has a Stronghold at Rockingham ... 12 
 
 Bosall, Sir William, paintings by ... ... 123 
 
INDEX. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Brampton Ash, how lost to the Norwich 
 
 Family ... ... ... ... ... 45 
 
 Brampton Ash Church, Norwich Monuments in 44 
 
 Breaute, Fawkes de, takes Rockingham Castle 9 
 
 his supposed treachery and fall ... ... 10 
 
 Bridge constructed over Welland ... ... 119 
 
 Brigstock, curious custom of ringing a bell at 153 
 
 tradition concerning ... ... ... 153 
 
 Bailiwick ... ... ... ... ... 156 
 
 Bringhurst, Manor of ... ... .. ... 213 
 
 early residence of Sir Edward Watson, 
 
 of Stoke Park 43 
 
 Brocas Family, the .. ... ... ... 168 
 
 Brocas, Thomas, sells Mastership of Royal 
 
 Buckhounds to Sir Lewis Watson 56, 174 
 
 Brookes, the, of Great Oakley, descended from 
 
 Catherine Watson... .. ... 33 
 
 Brooke, Thomas, letter from, to Lord Rock- 
 ingham (1650) ... .. ... ... 77 
 
 Arthur and Adrian, accused of deer- 
 stealing ... ... ... ... ... 145 
 
 Sir William de Capell, married Honble. 
 
 Catherine Watson... ... ... ... 114 
 
 Buck, various names for the ... ... ... 152 
 
 Buckhounds, The Royal 137 
 
 The Hereditary Mastership of ... ... 168 
 
 gradual decay of Hunter's Manor Pack... 175 
 
 Buckingham, Marquis of, sells Rockingham 
 
 Park to Sir Lewis Watson ... ... 56 
 
 Burleigh, Lord Treasurer, made Lord Warden 
 
 of Rockingham Forest ... ... ... 143 
 
 Master Forester of ditto ... ... ... ib. 
 
 Burrows, Professor Montagu, on the 
 Hereditary Mastership of the Royal 
 
 Buckhounds 168 
 
 Butcher, Major William, his pay when serving 
 
 in Rockingham Castle ... ... ... 70 
 
 Buttress, a, at Rockingham Castle, probably 
 
 brought from Stoke Park ... 230 
 
 Canon James, on the scenery at Rockingham 
 
 Castle 123 
 
 Canute, Forest Laws ascribed to ... ... 131 
 
 Carrington, Lord, letter referring to the trial of 88 
 
 Cartulary of Kirby Bellairs ... ... ... 218 
 
 Castle, Rockingham, see Rockingham Castle 
 
 Castle Guard Rent ... ... ... ... 5 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Castle Guard Rent withheld ... ... ... 16 
 
 some applied to special purposes ... 255 
 
 Castle, Bailiff, the ... ... ... ... 5 
 
 Cavalry, extensively used in the Civil War... 68 
 
 ordered to Rockingham Castle ... ... 69 
 
 Chancery Rolls, the, quoted ... ... ... 150 
 
 Charles II., restores forest ofiBces to noblemen 
 
 who had been deprived of them ... 162 
 
 sells portion of the Forest ... ... 162 
 
 sells Geddington Woods ... ... ... 162 
 
 Chests, Ancient, in Rockingham Castle .. 122 
 
 Chief Justice in Eyre, his high position ... 133 
 
 moaning of the term ... ... ... 133n. 
 
 list of 141 
 
 curious duties of ... ... ... ... 16 
 
 Children of Edward Watson, of L5^ddington, 
 
 and Emma Smith ... .. ... 20 
 
 Children of Edward, second Baron Rock- 
 ingham, and Lady Anne Wontworth... 91 
 
 Church used as a place of Sanctuary ... 215 
 
 Church, Rockingham, destroyed ... 70, 71 
 
 rebuilt ... ... ... ... ... 84 
 
 recent restorations of ... ... ... 239 
 
 Clifford, Lady Anne, her diary quoted ... 42 
 
 and her Aunt, visit Sir Edward Watson 42 
 
 her description of the Court of James I. 41n. 
 
 Close Month, the 152 
 
 Coiners and Highwaymen captured in Rock- 
 ingham Forest by a keeper ... ... 162 
 
 Committee to enquire into Woods and Forests 163 
 
 extract from first Report of ... ... 163 
 
 extract from ninth Report of ... ... 164 
 
 Committee for compounding harass Lord 
 
 Rockingham ... ... ... ... 76 
 
 harass Lady Grace Manners ... ... 80 
 
 Commonable Animals ... ... ... ... 140 
 
 Commoners, Rights of ... ... ... ... 140 
 
 Conqueror, supposed Forest Laws of the ... 131 
 
 Constables of Rockingham Castle, their duties 5 
 
 names of 5, 7, 8, 11, 12, 15, 16 
 
 Cost of repairs at Rockingham Castle ... 12 
 
 Coton, Cotton, or the Cottons, probable 
 
 derivation of name ... ... 215 
 
 history of the Manor ... ... ... 215 
 
INDEX. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Council, great, held at Rockingham Castle. 
 
 1095 4 
 
 Courage, extraordinary instance of ... ... 162 
 
 Court of Attachment, or Woodmote ... ... 132 
 
 of Swainmote ... ... ... ... 132 
 
 of Justice Seat, proceedings at ... ... 133 
 
 duties of ... ... .. ... ... 134 
 
 Court of Swainmote, important one held at 
 
 Little Weldon, 14 Charles 1 149 
 
 Court of James I., foul state of . . ... 41n. 
 
 Cromwell, Thomas, letter to, from Thomas 
 
 Webster 25 
 
 from Chief Justice Montagu ... ... 26 
 
 Cross-bow men sent to Roclvingliam Castle... 7 
 
 Curious list of articles taken from Rock- 
 ingham Castle by Parliamentary 
 
 soldiers ... ... ... ... ... 70 
 
 Curious cases of illegal hunting 
 
 35, 145, 146, 147, 148, 149, 150 
 
 Curious custom of bell-ringing in forest 
 
 villages ... ... ... ... ... 153 
 
 Curious tenure of Pytchley Manor ... ... 163 
 
 Manor in Great Gidding ... ... 217 
 
 Rockingham Manor ... .. ... 225 
 
 Dassas, Mr., tutor to Lewis, 2iid Earl of Rock- 
 ingham ... ... ... ... ... 100 
 
 Death-bed, scene at Lady Grace Manners' ... 82 
 
 Do Breaute, Fawkes, besieges Rockingham 
 
 Castle 9 
 
 his reward ... ... ... ... ... 10 
 
 his fall 10 
 
 supposed treachery of ... ... ... lOn. 
 
 Deer stealing, cases of ... 
 
 35, 145, 146, 147, 148, 149, 150 
 
 Do Clifford, Barony of, conferred on Edward 
 
 Southwell, son of Catherine Watson 109 
 
 Defacement of towers at Rockingham Castle 120 
 
 Delacourt, servant to Lewis, 2nd Earl of 
 
 Rockingham ... ... ... ... 107 
 
 Denman, Lord, buried in Stoke Albany Church 
 
 Yard 228 
 
 Description of Lyddington .. ... ... 19 
 
 of Welland Valley 1, 119 
 
 Destruction of buildings, &c., by the Par- 
 liamentai-y garrison at Rockingham 
 
 Castle ... ... ... ... ... 70 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Digby, Anne, married Sir Edward Watson .. 33 
 
 her ancestry... ... ... ... ... 33 
 
 Digby, Kenelm, of Dry Stoke ... ... 34 
 
 Digby, Everard .. ... ... ... ... ib. 
 
 Digby, Sir Everard, his fate ... ... ... ib. 
 
 Digby, Sir Kenelm, junior, his beautiful wife 35 
 
 her untimely death... ... ... ... ib. 
 
 Digby, Mrs. Anne, of Stoke Dry, her will ... 194 
 
 her inventory ... ... ... ... 197 
 
 Dining room at Rockingham described ... 122 
 
 Diocese of Lincoln, dangers of travelling in 24 
 
 Disafforesting 14, 160, 162, 163, 166 
 
 Divisions of Rockingham Forest ... ... 154 
 
 Documents, Royalist, burnt ... ... ... 74 
 
 Doe, various names for the ... ... ... 152 
 
 " Dogdraw " defined .. ... ... ... 137 
 
 Dogs, e.x'peditating, or lawing of, described... 145 
 
 Dorchester, Secretary, his opinion of Sir Lewis 
 
 Watson's loyalty ... ... ... ... 62 
 
 Dorothy, or Dowse, Montagu, married Edward 
 
 Watson ... ... ... ... ... 25 
 
 her portrait ... ... ... ... ... 26 
 
 Double alliances frequent in the Watson 
 
 family ... 22, 49, 54, 96, 112, 114, 116 
 
 Double yew hedge ... ... ... ... 124 
 
 Drayton, Manor of ... ... ... ... 213 
 
 "Drifts of the Forest," explained ... ... 151 
 
 Dudley, Thomas, married Mary Watson ... 22 
 
 Duke and Duchess of York visit Mr. Griffin 
 
 at Braybrooke ... ... ... 90, 256 
 
 Dupup, Edward, secretary to Edward Watson 27 
 
 his death 146 
 
 Duras, see Blandesford, Marquis of 
 
 Dymock, Sir Charles, married Lady Eleanor 
 
 Watson 83 
 
 Dymock, sketch of the family of ... ... 83 
 
 Hereditary King's Champion .. ... 83 
 
 Eadmer, his account of the Great Council held 
 
 at Rockingham Castle, in 1095 ... 4 
 
 Early monuments of the Watsons destroyed 46 
 
 Earls of Rockingham, see Rockingham 
 
 Easton Magna, manor of ... .. ... 213 
 
 Easton Park, jointure house of Lady Rock- 
 ingham .. ... ... ... ... 79n. 
 
INDEX. 
 
 Easton, the miller at, commits a murder 
 
 Edward I. visits Rockingham Castle 
 
 Edward II. visits Rockingham Castle 
 
 Edward III. visits Rockingham Castle 
 
 Entrenchments visible at Rockingham Castle 
 
 Epigram on Charles, 2nd Marquis of Rock- 
 ingham 
 
 PAGE 
 
 215 
 11, 12 
 13, 14 
 U 
 70 
 
 96 
 18 
 108 
 
 Epitaph of Edward Watson of Lyddington... 
 
 Sir George Sondes ... 
 
 Epitaphs (family) see Rockingham Church, 
 
 from p. 240 to p. 253 
 
 Evelyn's political foresight ... ... ... 61 
 
 " Exaniynate " and " Examiuat," a person 
 
 under examination ... ... 36, 147 
 
 Excesses of Royalist troops ... ... ... 62 
 
 Parliamentary troops ... ... 70,73,231 
 
 Expeditating or lawing of dogs explained ... 145 
 
 Eye, Simon de, preaches at Rockingham ... 14 
 
 Fair, hoi-se, at Rockingham ... ... 120, 226 
 
 Fairs, &c., at Kettering, purchased by Sir 
 
 Lewis Watson 
 Family portraits in gallery at Rockingham 
 Castle 
 
 56 
 
 123 
 123 
 
 143 
 212 
 152 
 99 
 100 
 
 on stairs, &c. 
 
 Fawkes de Breaute, see De Breaute 
 
 Fees paid to forest officers 
 
 Fees paid " on creation of Lord Rockingham " 
 
 "Fence Month," or "Forbidden Month" ... 
 
 Feversham, Earl of (Sir George Sondes) ... 
 
 Feversham, Earl of (Duras) 
 
 Fleetwood " Treatis on Forest Lawes" 
 
 130, 135, et seq. 
 
 "Flit," singular local use of the verb ... 147 
 
 Ford across the Welland, traces of still visible 120 
 
 Forest, definition of, by Manwood 130 
 
 Forest laws ascribed to Canute 131 
 
 laws (supposed) of the Conqueror ... 131 
 
 courts 132 to 134 
 
 laws (ancient), from Fleetwood 
 
 laws, badly administered ... 
 
 officers 
 
 terms ... 
 
 offices bestowed on courtiers or partisans 162 
 Forest, Rockingham, see Rockingham Forest 
 
 ... 134 
 ... 138 
 141 to 145 
 ... 150 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Forests (Royal) nurseries for Royal Navy ... 160 
 
 Henry VIII.'s care for ... ... .. 166 
 
 neglected by Charles I. and II. 161, &c. 
 
 interest in, revived under Commonwealth 161 
 
 Foresters, their duties ... ... ... ... 145 
 
 Fortifications of Keep " slighted " by Parlia- 
 ment .. ... ... ... ... ... 72 
 
 Fox hunting, the decay of ... ... ... 118 
 
 Gallery, the, at Rockingham Castle, described 122 
 
 Garrison at Rockingham Castle ... ... 5 
 
 Garthorpe Manor.., ... ... ... ... 216 
 
 singular entry in parish register ... 216 
 
 sold to Earl Dysart ... ... ... 114 
 
 Geddington, custom of ringing bell at ... 153 
 
 Gidding, Great, Manors in (see Manors) ... 217 
 
 sold to the Fitzwilliams 115, 218 
 
 Watson Arms in Great Gidding Church 218 
 
 an eai'ly possession of the Watsons ... 20 
 
 " Greenhue, or Greenhawe," defined... ... 152 
 
 Grant of Arms to Edward Watson, of 
 
 Lyddington ... ... ... ... 23 
 
 Grey of Groby, Lord, his activity ... ... 65 
 
 seizes Rockingham Castle ... ... ... 65 
 
 takes Sir Lewis Watson to Stoke Park 65 
 
 Griffin, Sir Edward, builds Dingley Hall ... 28 
 
 Griffin, Sir Edward, sells Manors of Stoke 
 Albany and Wilbarston to Sir Lewis 
 
 Watson ... ... ... ... ... 57 
 
 sells Stoke Park to Sir Edward Watson 58 
 
 Griffin monument in Braybrooke Church ... 44 
 
 Griffin, Mr. Conyers 58 
 
 Griffin, Mr., of Braybrooke, entertains Duke 
 
 and Duchess of York ... ... 90, 255 
 
 Griffin's Tower at Rockingham Castle ... 255 
 
 Grounds at Rockingham Castle, described ... 124 
 
 Hall, Mary Blanche, married to Edward 
 
 Spencer Watson ... ... ... ... 116 
 
 Hall, a new, built at Rockingham Castle ... 11 
 
 the, at Rockingham Castle, described ... 122 
 
 motto on ceiling ... ... ... ... 122 
 
 Hart, the, various names for ... ... ... 152 
 
 Hatton, Sir Christopher, orders certain men 
 of Easton to confess their slanders 
 
 against Sir Edward Watson ... ... 38 
 
INDEX 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Henry I., spends 20s. on vineyai-d at Rock- 
 ingham Castle ... ... ... ... 5 
 
 Henry II., provides watclimen for ... ... 5 
 
 Henry III., visits Rockingham Castle ... 9, 10 
 
 Henry VIII., letter from 214 
 
 Hereditary Master of the Royal Buckhounds — 
 
 his powers ... ... ... ... ... 170 
 
 Professor Montagu Burrows on ... 168 
 
 his salary, &c. ... ... ... ... 169 
 
 Articles upon, in BaOy's Magazine ... 171 
 
 Mastership of Royal Buckhounds ... 168 
 
 Mastership of Royal Buckhounds, bought 
 
 by Sir Lewis Watson ... ... 56, 169 
 
 Hermitage once standing at the ford over the 
 
 Welland 119 
 
 Hind, various names for tlie ... ... ... 152 
 
 Hoare, portrait by ... ... ... ... 123 
 
 Holbein, a portrait in llockiugham Castle, 
 
 ascribed to... ... ... ... ... 30 
 
 Horseman, Robert, Governor of Rockingham 
 
 Castle ... ... ... ... ... 66 
 
 Hospital for poor men at Rockingham ... 31 
 destroyed ... ... .. ... 70, 71 
 
 Hunter's Manor at Little Weldon ... ... 168 
 
 tenure of ... ... ... ... ... 169 
 
 site of 170, 178 
 
 Hunting, illegal, cases of ... 35, 145, to 150 
 
 Hunting Lodge, Royal, built in Rockingham 
 
 New Park ... ... ... ... ... 15 
 
 Hunting Picture, curious, by Sartorius ... 177 
 
 Hutton, Mr., the parson of Rushtou, accused 
 
 of deer-stealing ... ... ... ... 57 
 
 Illegal hunting, cases of ... 35, 145 to 150 
 
 Important Court of Swainmote held at Little 
 Wcklon, 14 Charles I., with list of 
 
 officers ... ... ... ... ... 149 
 
 Inoculation for small pox ... ... ... 112 
 
 Inventory of presents made by Lewis, first 
 
 Earl of Rockingham, to his grandson 101 
 
 Inventory, Mrs. Anno Digby's... ... ... 197 
 
 Sir Edward Watson's 210 
 
 extracts from Sir Lewis Watson's 
 
 of losses sustained by Parliamentary 
 
 garrison ... ... ... ... ... 70 
 
 Itinerant Justices, see Justice in Eyre 
 
 Itinerant Justices, resent Royal Letter ... 9 
 
 James I. (King), " dyning house," erected for 
 him at Sir Edward Watson's Hunting 
 
 Lodge ... ... ... ... ... 41 
 
 visits Sir Edward Watson... ... ... 41 
 
 visits Sir Lewis Watson ... ... ... 54 
 
 his Queen, at Kirby Hall ... ... 41 
 
 knights Sir Edward Watson's eldest son, 
 
 Lewis ... ... ... ... ... 41 
 
 knights Sir Edward Watson's second son, 
 
 Edward, of Stoke Park ... ... ... 54 
 
 his Court described by Lady Anne Clifford 41n 
 his proclamation against illegal hunting 
 
 in Rockingham Forest ... ... ... 138 
 
 Janet, portrait by ... ... ... ... 123 
 
 Jewels of Lady Grace Manners ... ... 82 
 
 John, King, visits Rockingham Castle ...6 to 8 
 
 Justices in Eyre, curious duties of .. ... 16 
 
 list of 141 
 
 Justice Scat, Court of, proceedings at ... 133 
 
 Kauffman, Angelica, portrait by ... ... 113 
 
 Keep, the, of Rockingham Castle, originally a 
 
 mound ... ... ... ... ... 3 
 
 great strength of ... ... ... ... 3 
 
 fortified by Lord Grey of Groby ... 66 
 
 plan of his fortifications ... ... ... 66 
 
 thrown down by Parliamentary garrison 72 
 
 present remains of... ... ... ... 124 
 
 Kettering Manors, see Manors 
 
 Kettering " Swanne Inn," at ... ... ... 40n. 
 
 " Swanne Inn," mine host of the ... 223 
 
 " Swanne Inn," meeting of ministers at 223 
 
 history of the two Manors ... ... 218 
 
 Sessions House at, removed ... ... 224 
 
 Rotton Row, &c., taken down ... ... 224 
 
 Market Tolls at, abolished by Lord Sondes 224 
 
 King William I. builds Rockingham Castle... 3 
 
 King William II. holds a great Council at 
 
 Rockingham Castle ... ... ... 4 
 
 King Henry I., King Stephen, and King 
 Henry II. all shew an intei-est in, and 
 
 probably visit Rockingham Castle ... 5 
 
 King Richard I. visits Rockingham Castle... 6 
 
 King John visits Rockingham Castle ... 6 to 8 
 
 King Henry III. visits Rockingham Castle 9, 10 
 
 King Edward I. visits Rockingham Castle 11, 12 
 
INDEX. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 King Edward II. visits Rockingham Castle 13, 14 
 
 King Edward III. visits Rockingham Castle 14 
 
 King Henry VIII., letter from 214 
 
 King James I. hunts at Rockingham ... 41 
 
 visits Sir Edward Watson... ... ... 41 
 
 his Court described by Lady Anne 
 
 Clifford 41n. 
 
 visits Sir Lewis Watson ... ... ... 54 
 
 knights Edward Watson, of Rockingham 
 
 Castle 41 
 
 knights Sir Edward's eldest son, Lewis.. 41 
 
 knights Sir Edward's younger son Edward, 
 
 of Stoke Park 54 
 
 King's Pamphlets quoted ... 63, 64, 67, &c. 
 
 King's Cliffe, curious bell-ringing custom at 153 
 
 Kirby Bellairs, Cartulary of, at Rockingham 
 
 Castle 218 
 
 Kirby Hall completed 28 
 
 Kirton, Robert, Abbot of Peterborough, thanks 
 Edward Watson, of Lyddiugton, for 
 
 his liberality ... .. ... ... 23 
 
 Lane, Mr., accused by Edward Watson ... 39 
 
 Lane, Mr., of Glendon ... ... ... ... 39n. 
 
 Lane, Sir Robert, of Horton ... ... ... 39n. 
 
 Last Royal visit to Rockingham Castle ... 54 
 
 "Last Words" of Lady Grace Manners ... 82 
 
 Lawing of dogs described ... ... ... 145 
 
 Legacy, Simon Norwich, his singular ... 44 
 
 Leland's description of Rockingham Castle... 3 
 
 Lely, Sir Peter, portrait by ... ... ... 101 
 
 Letter from Thomas Webster, to Thomas 
 
 Cromwell ... ... ... ... .. 25 
 
 from Chief Justice Montagu to the same 26 
 
 " written of horseback " by Edward 
 
 Watson 28 
 
 from Edward Watson, of Rockingham 
 Castle, to his brother-in-law, Sir Edward 
 
 Montagu of Boughton ... ... ... 29 
 
 from Sir Edward Watson to the Lord 
 Keeper, respecting a search for Papists 
 
 at Little Oakley 39 
 
 from Sir Edward Watson to Sir Thomas 
 
 Tresham ... ... ... ... ... 41 
 
 Letters from Sir Lewis Watson to Baron 
 
 Montagu ... ... ... ... .. 53 
 
 Letter from Sir Lewis Watson to Edward, 
 
 Lord Montagu .. ... 56 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Letter from Lady Eleanor Watson to her 
 
 husband ... ... ... ... ... 57 
 
 from Lewis, 1st Baron Rockingham, to 
 his son-in-law (1651) ... ... ... 78 
 
 from Thomas Brooke to Lewis, first Baron 
 Rockingham ... ... ... ... 77 
 
 (interesting) signed " P.S.,'" referring 
 to the trial of Lord Carrington ... 88 
 
 from Anne, Lady Rockingham, to the 
 Earl of Halifax (1678) 92 
 
 from Anne, Lady Rockingham, to Lady 
 Hatton 93 
 
 from Edward, Viscount Sondes, to Sir 
 Hans Sloane .. ... ... ... 102 
 
 Letters from Catherine, Viscountess Sondes, 
 
 to Sir Hans Sloane .. ... 102 et seq. 
 
 Letter from Edward Southwell to Sir Hans 
 
 Sloane 106 
 
 from Lewis, second Earl of Rockingham, 
 
 to his sister ... .. ... ... 110 
 
 Letters from Grace (Pelham), Lady Sondes, 
 
 referred to, and quoted ... ... 113 et seq. 
 
 Letter from John Loddington to Sir Lewis 
 Watson, respecting salary of Master of 
 the Royal Buckhounds ... ... ... 172 
 
 from King Henry VIII. ... ... . . 214 
 
 Levy, Walter de, dies at Rockingham Castle, 
 
 and is buried with pomp... ... ... 13 
 
 Library, the, at Rockingliam Castle, described 123 
 
 Lincoln, Bishops of ... . ... ... 191 
 
 their Palace at Lyddington ... ... 19 
 
 Little Oakley, search for Papists at ... 39 
 
 disafforested ... ... ... ... ... 162 
 
 Little Weldon, Hunter's Manor at 170 
 
 Swainmote held at ... ... ... ... 149 
 
 List of Chief Justices in Eyre ... ... 141 
 
 List of Rangers of Rockingham Forest ... 143 
 
 Longland, John, Bishop of Lincoln ... ... 193 
 
 Long Parliament, the, proposes to re-fortify 
 
 Rockingham Castle ... ... ... 87 
 
 Lund, the, at Stoke Albany 229 
 
 Lyddington described ... ... ... ... 19 
 
 parish, register of ... ... ... ... 21 
 
 Manor of 224 
 
 Major Mole, Governor of Rockingham Castle, 
 
 pursued by Royalists ... ... ... 67 
 
 Manners family, account of the ... ... 55 
 
INDEX. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Manners, Eleanor, married to Sir Lewis 
 
 Watson 54 
 
 Manners, Lady Grace, lier estate sequestered 80 
 
 her troubles ... ... ... ... ... 80 
 
 her death and "last words" ... ... 82 
 
 Manors of Bringhurst, Drayton, and Great 
 
 Easton, sketch of their history ... 213 
 
 Manor of Easton, leased to Edward Watson 214 
 
 Manor, a, in Bringhurst, held by Sir Edward 
 
 Watson, of Stoke Park 43, 214 
 
 Manor of Coton, or Cotton ... ... ... 215 
 
 remains of Roman iron works near ... 215 
 
 supposed derivation of the name ... 215 
 
 Manor of Garthorpe, its history ... ... 216 
 
 singular entry in parish register... .. 216 
 
 sold to Earl of Dysart 114, 217 
 
 Manor of Gidding, Great, sketch of history 217 
 
 singular tenure of ... ... ... ... 217 
 
 old Court Rolls of 217 
 
 purchased by the Watsons ... ... 218 
 
 sold to Earl Fitzwilliam 115, 218 
 
 Manor of Kettering, history of Rectory Manor 218 
 
 Manor of Kettering, Advowson purchased by 
 
 Edward Watson 28, 219 
 
 Manor of Kettering (Rectory), three leases of, 
 
 held by Edward Watson ... ... 219 
 
 Manor of Kettering, history of the Royal 
 
 Manor of 220 
 
 Manor (Royal) of Kettering, Sir Edward Watson, 
 
 Steward of 220 
 
 Sir Lewis Watson, Steward of ... ... 220 
 
 purchased by Lord Rockingham and Duke 
 
 of Montagu ... ... ... ... 222 
 
 Manor of Lyddington ... ... ... ... 224 
 
 Manor of Rockingham, history of ... ... 225 
 
 singular tenure of ... ... ... ... 225 
 
 purchased by Edward Watson ... ... 28 
 
 Manor of Stoke All)any, history of ... ... 226 
 
 purcliased by Sir Edward Griffin... ... 28 
 
 purchased by Sir Lewis Watson ... 57 
 
 Manor of Wilbarston, history of ... ... 22G 
 
 purchased by Sir Edward Griffin ... 28 
 
 purchased by Sir Lewis Watson ... ... 57 
 
 Manor of Stoke Park, disafforested and 
 
 enclosed ... ... ... ... ... 8 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Manor of Stoke Park, history of 229 
 
 purchased by Sir Edward Griffin ... ib. 
 
 by Sir Edward Watson 58 
 
 material of old house used to repair Rock- 
 ingham Castle ... ... ... ... 230 
 
 Manors held by service of providing men 
 
 for garrison at Rockingham Castle ... 5 
 
 Manwood's definition of a forest ... ... 130 
 
 Market day at Rockingham changed .. ... 14 
 
 Marquises of Rockingliam (see Rockingham) 
 
 Marlborough, Duchess of, wins Brampton Ash 
 
 estate at cards ... ... ... 45 
 
 Master Keeper ... 143 
 
 Mcdburn, murder at ... ... ... ... 215 
 
 Medburn Church, used as a Sanctuary ... lb. 
 
 Meeting of Ministers at Kettering ... ... 223 
 
 Memorandum by Sir Lewis Watson of the 
 taking of Rockingham Castle, of his 
 own capture, and of the charges made 
 
 against him ... ... ... ... 72 
 
 Milk titlie, dispute about ... ... ... 235 
 
 Minstrels' gallery at Rockingham Castle .. 121 
 Milles, Mary Elizabeth, married to Lewis 
 
 Thomas, second Baron Sondes... ... 114 
 
 Jloats at Rockingliam Castle ... ... ... 125 
 
 Monson, family of ... ... ... ... 112 
 
 Monson-Watson, see Sondes, Lewis, first Baron 
 Montagu, Sir Edward, Chief Justice, his letter 
 
 to Thos. Cromwell ... ... ... 26 
 
 Dorothy, married to Edward AVatson ... 26 
 
 her jjortrait .. ... ... ... ... 26 
 
 Lord, disafforests Little Oaklej' ... ... 162 
 
 purchases Geddington Woods ... ... jb. 
 
 Montagu Burrows, Professor, on the Hereditary 
 
 Mastersliip of the Royal Buckhounds ... 168 
 
 Monuments of the Watsons destroyed ... 46 
 
 Motto of Edward Watson ... ... ... 29 
 
 Nedham, Sir John, married to Elizabeth 
 
 Watson ... ... ... ... ... 45 
 
 Nelo, Mary, wife of Everard Digby, anecdote 
 
 about ... ... .. ... ... 34 
 
 Netscher, portrait by ... ... ... ... 123 
 
 New tower built at Rockingham Castle ... 7 
 
 New hall built at Rockingham Castle ... 11 
 
 New park made at Rockingham ... ... 15 
 
INDEX. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Nicholas de Hugeville, cross-bow man ... 7 
 
 Norwich family monuments in Brampton 
 
 Church ... ... ... ... ... 44 
 
 Noi'wich, Simon, extract from his will .., 44 
 
 Sir Charles, married to Anne Watson ... 44 
 
 Sir John, governor of Eockingham Castle 66 
 
 Norden quoted , , ... ... ... ... 163 
 
 Northamptonshire at the outbreak of the Civil 
 
 War 63 
 
 Northamptonshire denuded of trees ... .. 163 
 
 Palace of Bishops of Lincoln at Lyddington 19 
 
 Pannage, defined... ... ... ... ... 151 
 
 Parishes disafforested, list of ... ... ... 163 
 
 Parish register at Garthorp, curious entry in 216 
 
 Park lodge defaced by Parliainentary garrison 71 
 
 demolished ... ... ... ... ... 115 
 
 Parliament (Commonwealth), enactments made 
 
 by, respecting Koyal forests ... ... 161 
 
 Parliamentary garrison destroy Rockingham 
 
 Church and monuments ... ...70, 71 
 
 destroy buildings ... ... ... ...70, 71 
 
 at Eockingham reduced ... ... ... 72 
 
 Parson, the, of Eushton, accused of deer 
 
 stealing ... ... ... ... ... 37 
 
 "Particular" of Sir Lewis Watson's losses by 
 
 Parliamentaiy garrison ... ... ... 70 
 
 " Particular A " of Sir Lewis Watson's (first 
 Bai'on Eockingham ) estate in 1650, ' 
 
 quoted 214, &c. 
 
 Pelham, Grace, married to Honble. Lewis 
 
 Monson-Watson ... ... ... ... 112 
 
 her portrait ... ... ... ... ... 113 
 
 her letters and character... ... ... 113 
 
 her monument ... ... ... 244 
 
 Perambulation of Rockingham Forest, 
 
 14 Edward 1 129 
 
 Perambulation of Rockingham Forest, 
 
 17 Charles I. ... ' 154 
 
 Peter de Barr, cross-bow man ... ... 7 
 
 Political agitators at Kettering ... ... 223 
 
 Portraits, family ... ... ... ... ... 123 
 
 "Presentments" at forest courts ... 133,149 
 
 Presents made by Lewis, first Earl of Rock- 
 ingham to his grandson, inventory of 104 
 
 Prisoners sent to Rockingham Castle ... 7, 8, 13, 15 
 
 Prisoners ransomed .. ... ... ... 8 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Proclamation by James I. ... ... ... 138 
 
 Proper names derived from forest usages ... 153 
 
 Purlieu, a, defined ... ... ... ... 151 
 
 Purlieu man, defined ... ... ... ... 151 
 
 Purpresture, defined ... ... ... ... 151 
 
 Queen Isabella claims Rockingham Castle ... 9 
 
 Queen Eleanor probably at Rockingham Castle 12 
 
 Quin, Honble. Lavinia Jane married Honble. 
 
 Richard Watson ... ... ... ... 116 
 
 her character ... ... ... ... 116 
 
 her monument ... ... ... ... 252 
 
 Ragsdall, Owen, buys land of Sir Edward 
 
 Watson ... ... ... ... ... 44 
 
 Rangers, list of ... ... ... ... ... 143 
 
 Ransom paid for prisoners detained in Rock- 
 ingham Castle ... ... ... ... 8 
 
 Recognizance, example of a ... ... ... 37 
 
 Rectors of Rockingham, list of ... 234, &c. 
 
 Eegarders, their number and duties ... ... 144 
 
 Repairs at Rockingham Castle ... 9, 10, 12, 15 
 
 Reynolds, Sir Joshua, portrait by ... ... 115 
 
 Richard I. visits Rockingham Castle ... 6 
 
 Richard de Hobroc spends large sums upon 
 
 repairs at Rockingham Castle ... 12 
 
 Rockingham Alms House, founded ... ... 31 
 
 destroyed 70, 71 
 
 Rockingham Castle, site of described ... 2 
 
 built by William 1 8 
 
 great strength of ... ... ... ... 3 
 
 described by Leland ... ... ... 3 
 
 vineyard at ... ... ... ... ... 5 
 
 great council held at, by William Rufus 4 
 
 how garrisoned ... ... ... ... 5 
 
 claimed by Queen Isabella ... ... 9 
 
 besieged and taken by Fawkes de Breaute 9 
 
 repairs of, after siege ... ... ... 9 
 
 general repairs at ... ... ...12, 15 
 
 women employed on repaii'S at ... ... 12 
 
 large sums spent on repairs ... ... 12 
 
 ruinous condition of ... ... ... 11 
 
 wine sent to ... ... ... ... 7, 10 
 
 new hall built at ... ... ... ... 11 
 
 probably visited by Queen Eleanor ... 12 
 
INDEX. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Rockingham Castle, stone and slate used at 12 
 
 part of the dower of Isabelle ... ... 13 
 
 Edward III. frequently visits ... ... 14 
 
 neglected during the Wars of the Roses 15 
 
 Simon de Eye, preached at . . ... 14 
 
 granted to Queen Margaret ... ... 15 
 
 granted to Queen Elizabeth ... ... 15 
 
 gradual decay of ... ... ... 15, &c. 
 
 leases of, taken by Edward Watson . . 27 
 
 its condition at that time ... ... 27 
 
 restored by him ... ... ... ... 27 
 
 purchased by Sir Lewis Watson... ... 52 
 
 restoration of, continued by Sir Lewis 
 
 Watson ... ... ... ... ... 58 
 
 taken by Lord Grey of Groby ... ... 65 
 
 fortified for Parliament ... . . . . 06 
 
 disputes about the governorship of ... 68 
 
 prison for poachers at, destroyed 70, 71 
 
 Sir Lewis Watson's account of its capture 
 
 by Lord Grey ... ... ... ... 72 
 
 repaired by Lewis, first Baron Rocking- 
 ham, and by his son, Edward ... 86 
 
 Parliament propose to re-garrison ... 87 
 
 as it appeared in 1719 ... ... ... Ill 
 
 its present appearance ... ... ... 121 
 
 additions to, by Mr. Salvin 122—123 
 
 Rockingham Church, destroyed by Parliament- 
 ary troops ... ... ... ... 70, 71 
 
 probable date of re-building of ... ... 84 
 
 in 1720 239 
 
 modem restorations of ... ... ... 239 
 
 general history of ... ... ... ... 233 
 
 question whether it was not originallv the 
 
 Castle Chapel " ... 233 
 
 account of Rectors ... begins p. 234 
 
 description of family monuments in 
 
 begins at p. 240 
 
 Rockingham, Sir Lewis Watson, created first 
 Baron Rockingham, of Rockingham 
 
 Castle 74 
 
 fees paid at his creation ... ... ... 212 
 
 his pass on surrender of Oxford... ... 74 
 
 compounds for his estates... ... ... 75 
 
 a delinquent ... ... ... ... ... 75 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Rockingham, Sir Lewis Watson, did not sub- 
 scribe to the oath ... ... ... 77 
 
 letter to, from Thomas Brooke .. ... 77 
 
 still suspected by Parliament (1650) ... 77 
 
 letter from, to his son-in-law (1651) .. 78 
 
 his portrait in later life .. ... ... 78 
 
 his death 78 
 
 his will (abstract of) ... ... . 79 
 
 he probably commenced to re-build 
 
 Rockingham Church ... . 84 
 
 (For references to earlier jieriod of lii.s life see under 
 Wfttson, Sir Lewis). 
 
 Rockingham, Eleanor, Lady, her death ... 83 
 
 Lady, her portrait ... ... ... ... 83 
 
 Rockingham, Edward, second Baron, succeeds 86 
 
 continues restoration of Rockingham 
 
 Castle 87 
 
 plants extensively ... ... ... ... 87 
 
 is suspected by the Long Parliament 87 
 
 restored to various offices ... .. 88 
 
 adds to his estates .. .. ... ... 88 
 
 unremitting in his attendances at the 
 
 House of Lords ... ... ... . . 88 
 
 restored to Mastcr.ship of Royal Biick- 
 
 hounds ... ... ... ... . . 1 74 
 
 claims to bo present at Coronation of 
 
 Charles II. 90 
 
 claims to be present at the Coronation 
 
 of James II. ... .. ... .. 175 
 
 a Courtier 90 
 
 his education neglected ... ... .. 91 
 
 marries Lady Anne Wentworth , . ... 91 
 
 his death 92 
 
 buried contrary to Act of Parliament ... 92 
 Rockingham, Anno, Lady, takes out Letters 
 
 of Administration 
 
 
 92n. 
 
 her management of the Estates . . 
 
 
 92 
 
 letter from, to Earl of Halifax 
 
 (1679) 
 
 92 
 
 abstract of her Will... 
 
 
 93 
 
 letter from, to Lady Ilatton .. 
 
 
 93 
 
 her burial 
 
 
 93 
 
 her monument 
 
 93, 
 
 240 
 
 her portraits 
 
 93. 
 
 94 
 
 Rockingham, Thomas Watson- Wentworth, 
 
 first Marquis of ... .. ... ... 95 
 
INDEX. 
 
 PAGT5 
 
 Rockiii<<-ham, Thomas Watson-Wentworth, 
 
 married to Ladj' Mary rincli... ... 95 
 
 their family ... ... ... ... ... 95 
 
 Rockingham, Charles Watson-Wentworth, 
 
 second Marquis of ... ... ... 95 
 
 his early career ... ... ... ... 95 
 
 his character and politics... ... ... 95 
 
 anecdote of his love of sport .. ... 95 
 
 twice Prime Minister ... ... ... 95 
 
 epigram upon ... ... ... ... 96 
 
 his marriage ... .. ... ... .. 96 
 
 his death ... ... ... ... ... 95 
 
 Rockingham, Lewis, third Baron, succeeds ... 96 
 
 his influence... ... ... ... ... 96 
 
 married to Catherine Sondes ... 96 — 99 
 
 created Viscount Sondes and first Earl of 
 
 Rockingham ... ... ... ... 100 
 
 his children ... ... ... ... ... 100 
 
 his death . . . . ... ... ... 101 
 
 his monument ... ... ... 101, 241 
 
 presents made to his grandson ... ... 104 
 
 Rockingham, Catherine, Countess of (wife 
 
 of Lewis, first Earl) 96 
 
 her death 101 
 
 her portraits... ... ... ... ... 101 
 
 her monument ... ... ... ... 240 
 
 her epitaph ... ... ... ... ... 243 
 
 Rockingham, Lewis, second Earl of, his illness 107 
 
 succeeds to estates... ... ... ... 110 
 
 letter from, to his sister ... ... ... 110 
 
 his delicate constitution ... ... ... 110 
 
 married to Catherine, daughter of Sir 
 
 Robert Furnese ... ... ... ... 110 
 
 anecdote relating to, from Walpole ... Ill 
 
 his death ... .. ... ... ... Ill 
 
 Rockingham, Catherine, second Countess of 
 
 (wife of Lewis, second Earl), her portrait 110 
 
 married Francis, third Earl of Guilford ... 110 
 
 her burial .. ... ... ... ... 110 
 
 Rockingham, Thomas, third Earl of, succeeds 
 
 his brother... . . ... ... ... Ill 
 
 bequeaths his e states to his cousin, the 
 
 Honble. Lewis Monson ... ... ... Ill 
 
 his death and portrait ... ... ... Ill 
 
 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Rockingham china, or "Pot" ... 
 
 
 96 
 
 Rockingham Forest, Kingsley's notice of 
 
 
 129 
 
 boundaries of, time Edward I. ... 
 
 
 129 
 
 gradual decadence of 
 
 
 160 
 
 perambulation of, time Charles I. 
 
 
 154 
 
 gradually disafforested 
 
 162, 163 
 
 totally disafforested and enclosed 
 
 
 166 
 
 as it now is... 
 
 
 166 
 
 great beauty of the old forest districts 
 
 166 
 
 antiquities found in 
 
 
 167 
 
 mineral wealth of ... 
 
 
 167 
 
 Rockingham market day changed 
 
 
 14 
 
 Rockingham Manor, history of 
 
 
 225 
 
 singular tenure of ... 
 
 
 225 
 
 purchased by Edward Watson ... 
 
 
 2S 
 
 village described 
 
 
 120 
 
 village formerly more populous... 
 
 
 120 
 
 Roe, various names for the ... 
 
 
 152 
 
 Rothwell Market House begun 
 
 
 28 
 
 Rotten Row, in Kettering, pulled down 
 
 
 224 
 
 Royal Buckhounds, Hereditary Mastership 
 the ... 
 
 of 
 
 168 et seq 
 
 privy pack 
 
 
 171 
 
 gradual decay of Hunter's Manor pack 
 
 
 175 
 
 efforts made by Lewis Monson Watson 
 (first Baron Sondes) to revive it 
 
 176 
 
 Royalists' documents burnt at Oxford 
 
 
 74 
 
 Royal forests, value of, as nurseries for Royal 
 Navy 
 
 160 
 
 Henry VIII. 's care for 
 
 
 160 
 
 neglected by Charles I. ... 
 
 
 161 
 
 interest in revived under Commonwealth 
 
 161 
 
 Rushton, the Parson of, accused of deer stealing 
 
 37 
 
 Rutland, Earl of, sells Manors of Stoke and 
 Wilbarston to Sir Edward Griffin ... 
 
 28 
 
 Sacheverall, Sir Richard, Chief Justice 
 Eyre 
 
 in 
 
 16 
 
 Salary of Hereditary Master of Royal Buck- 
 hounds, difficulties as to payment of 
 
 172, 174, 175 
 
 Salvin, Mr., his additions to Rockingham 
 
 Castle 122—3 
 
 Sapcote, Henry, executor to Edward Watson, 
 summoned to London by Thomas 
 Cromwell ... ... ... ... ••■ 26 
 
INDEX. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Sartorius, hunting' picture by.. ... ... 177 
 
 Sargent, T., of Geddington, his examination 
 
 for deer-stealing ... ... ... ... 36 
 
 Sawyer, " worthy Mr.," of Kettering, his man 
 
 killed 63 
 
 refuses to pay ship-money ... ... 222 
 
 Joseph, in the Tower ... ... ... 224 
 
 Secretary Dorchester's opinion of Sir Lewis 
 
 Watson's loyalty ... ... ... ... 62 
 
 Sessions House at Kettering .. ... ... 224 
 
 Seymour, Laura Maria, married to G. L. 
 
 Watson, Esq 116 
 
 Vice-Admiral Sir Culme, married to Mary 
 
 Georgiana Watson ... . . ... 116 
 
 Shackleton, portrait by... ... ... ,. 123 
 
 Sloane, Sir Hans, his intimacy with Edward, 
 
 Viscount Sondes, and his family ... 101 
 
 his collection of letters ... ... ... 101 
 
 Smith, Emma, married to Edward Watson, 
 
 of Lyddington ... ... ... ... 19 
 
 Smith, Wm., Bishop of Lincoln ... ... 191 
 
 Sondes, Lady Catherine, married to Lewis, 
 third Baron Rockingham. (See under 
 
 Rockingham, Catherine 1st Countess of) 96 
 Sondes, Sir Ricliard married to Susan 
 
 Montagu 96 
 
 married to Catherine Hay ward ... ... 97 
 
 his second wife insane ... ... ... 97 
 
 Sondes, Sir George, sketch of his life ... 96 
 
 married to Jane Freeman .. ... 97 
 
 his imprisonments ... ... ... ... 97 
 
 his "Statement" ... .. ... ... 231 
 
 his family troubles... ... ... ... 97 
 
 his "Narrative" ... ... ... ... 98 
 
 married to Mary Villiars .. ... ... 99 
 
 their children ... ... ... ... 99 
 
 created Earl of Feversham ... ... 99 
 
 his death 100 
 
 his epitaph in Throwley Church ... 108 
 
 Sondes, George, murdered by his brother 
 
 Freeman ... ... ... ... ... 98 
 
 Freeman executed ... ... ... ... 98 
 
 Sondes, Viscount, see Rockingham Lewis, 
 third Baron 
 
 Sondes, Edward, Viscount, his birth ... 100 
 
 pa(;e 
 
 Sondes, Edward, Viscount, married to Lady 
 
 Catherine Tufton 101 
 
 portrait of himself and family ... ... 101 
 
 his illness ... ... ... ... ... 101 
 
 letter from to Sir Hans Sloane... ... 102 
 
 his death 103 
 
 his will 103 
 
 his monument ... ... ... ... 247 
 
 Sondes, Catherine, Viscountess (wife of Edward, 
 Viscount Sondes), her letters to Sir Hans 
 Sloane 102 
 
 a valetudinarian ... ... ... ... 103 
 
 her management of her family ... ... 103 
 
 letters to Sir H.ans Sloane on family 
 matters ... ... ... .. ... 105 
 
 letter on the education of her son ... 106 
 letter on the marriage of her daughter 105 
 
 her business habits ... ... ... 108 
 
 her death 109 
 
 her portrait ... ... ... ... ... 109 
 
 Sondes, Grace (Pelham), Lady, her portrait .. 113 
 her Icttci-s ... ... ... ... 112 &c. 
 
 her death ... ... ... ... ... 114 
 
 her funeral ... ... ... ... ... 114 
 
 her monument ... ... ... ... 214 
 
 Sondes, Lewis Monson Watson, first Baron .. 113 
 
 petitions for restoration of salary of Master 
 
 of Royal Buckhounds ... ... ... 177 
 
 continues to hunt in Rockingham Forest 177 
 
 his death 113 
 
 his monument ... ... ... ... 249 
 
 (For early life, see Watson, Lewis (Monson). 
 
 Sondes, Lewis Thomas, second Baron ... 114 
 
 married to Marj' Elizabeth Milles ... 114 
 
 sells Garthorpe to Earl of Dj'sart ... 114 
 
 his death ... ... ... ... ... 114 
 
 his monument ... ... ... ... 240 
 
 Sondes, Lady Mary Elizabeth (Milles), widow 
 of Lewis Thomas, second Bai'on Sondes, 
 married to Lieutcnant-General Sir H. 
 
 Tucker Montresor ... ... ... 115 
 
 her portrait . . . 115 
 
 her monument 250 
 
 Sondes, Lewis Richard, tliird Huron . 115 
 
INDEX. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Sondes, Lewis Eichard, third Baron, sells 
 
 Great Gidding to Earl Fitzwilliam ... 115 
 
 demolishes old Hunting Lodge ... ... 115 
 
 arranges with his brothers to divide the 
 
 estates ... ... ... ... ... 115 
 
 his death ... ... ... ... ... 115 
 
 his monument ... ... ... ... 252 
 
 Sondes, Earl, see Pedigree No. 7. 
 
 Southwell family, the ... ... ... ... 106 
 
 Edward, letter from to Sir Hans Sloane lOG 
 
 Eight Honble. Edward, married to 
 
 Catherine Watson ... ... ... 109 
 
 " Stablestaud," defined ... ... ... ... 137 
 
 Statement by Sir George Sondes ... ... 231 
 
 Stoke Albany Manor, see Manor of 
 
 Stoke Albany Church, monument of " Le bon 
 
 Compagnon " 227, 256 
 
 Stoke Albany Churchyard, Lord Denman buried 
 
 in 228 
 
 Stoke Park, see Manor of 
 
 Strafford, Thomas, first Earl of, portraits at 
 
 Rockingham Castle ... ... ... 91 
 
 family of ... ... ... ... ... 91 
 
 William, second Earl of, leaves his estates 
 to his nephew, the Honble. Thomas 
 
 Watson ... ... ... ... ... 94 
 
 Strype's Annals quoted... ... ... ... 41n. 
 
 Swainmote, Court of ... ,. ... ... 132 
 
 proceedings at one held at Little Weldon 149 
 
 '■ Swanne " Inn, the, at Kettering ... ... 40n. 
 
 Tiltyard at Rockingham Castle ... ... 3 
 
 Tithe of milk, disputes about ... ... ... 235 
 
 Tomb of Edward Watson, of Lyddington ... 19 
 
 Tomb of the "Bon Compagnon" in Stoke 
 
 Albany Church 227, 256 
 
 Tradition relating to a bell at Brigstock ... 153 
 
 Tresham, Sir Thomas, adds to Rushton Hall 28 
 
 letter to, from Sir Edward Watson ... 41 
 
 Trials by ordeal 131 
 
 Tufton, Lady Catherine, married Edward, 
 
 Viscount Sondes ... ... ... ... 101 
 
 Van Dyck, portrait by 91, 123 
 
 Van Loo, portrait by ... ... ... ... 123 
 
 Verderers, their duties ... ... ... ... 132 
 
 their number ... ... ... ... 144 
 
 PAGE 
 
 View from terrace at Rockingham Castle, 
 
 described ... ... ... ... ... 123 
 
 Vineyard mR.de at Rockingham Castle, by 
 
 order of Henry I. ... ... 5, 15 
 
 Viscount Wells ... ... ... ... ... 15 
 
 Watson Family, antiquity of ... ... ... 20 
 
 of Lyddington, probably originated in 
 Yorkshire. (See Note to Pedigree). 
 
 Edward, of Lyddington (1460) ... ... 20 
 
 Edward, of Lyddington (ob. 1530), 
 founder of the Rockingham Watson 
 
 family, born at Sledmere, co. York ... 185 
 
 married to Emma Smith... ... ... 20 
 
 his possessions ... ... ... ... 20 
 
 his position in the diocese of Lincoln 237 
 
 first notice of, in connection with Rock- 
 ingham ... ... ... ... ... 237 
 
 his children ... note to Pedigree 1 and p. 20 
 
 his death 24 
 
 his will, quoted ... ... ... ... 21 
 
 his will, given in full ... ... ... 183 
 
 his tomb ... ... ... ... ... 19 
 
 his epitaph ... ... ... ... ... 18 
 
 grant of arms to ... ... ... ... 23 
 
 supposed reference to, in a letter from 
 
 Croke 24 
 
 Watson, Emma, of Lyddington, wife of the 
 
 above ... ... ... ... ... 19 
 
 Watson Henry, eldest son of the above ... 21 
 
 Kenelm, of Lyddington, third son of the 
 
 same ... ... ... ... ... 21 
 
 his will 21 
 
 Anthony, eldest son of Kenelm ... 21 
 
 married to Elizabeth Andrews ... ... 21 
 
 Kenelm, younger son of Kenelm of 
 
 Lyddington... ... ... ... ... 21 
 
 Watson, Ursula, daughter of Kenelm Watson, 
 
 of Lyddington ... ... ... ... 21 
 
 her charitable deeds ... ... ... 22 
 
 curious bequests in her will ... ... 22 
 
 Watson, Mary, second daughter of Edward 
 Watson, of Lyddington, married to 
 
 T. Dudley 22 
 
 Watson, Edward, of Rockingham Castle ... 25 
 
 Thomas Webster writes to Thomas 
 
 Cromwell in his favour ... ... 25 
 
INDEX. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Watson, Edward, of Rockingham Castle, Chief 
 Justice Montagu uses his influence in 
 
 his favour ... ... ... ... ... 26 
 
 married to Dorothy Montagu ... ... 25 
 
 obtains lease of Rockingham Castle ... 27 
 
 character and business habits ... ... 27 
 
 commences restoration of Rockingham 
 
 Castle 27 
 
 writes a letter "of horseback"... ... 28 
 
 fences in part of park ... ... ... 28 
 
 sells Dingley and Brampton ... ... 28 
 
 purchases Adrowsons of Kettering, Stoke 
 
 Albany, &c. ... ... ... ... 28 
 
 purchases Manor of Rockingham ... 28 
 
 property in Gidding and Garthorpe ... 28 
 
 is made Ranger of Rockingham Woods... 144 
 
 his motto ... ... ... ... ... 20 
 
 his troubles 29,31 
 
 letter from, to his brothor-in-lavv. Sir 
 
 Edward Montagu of Boughton ... 29 
 
 three portraits of . . . ... ... ... 3(J 
 
 his Will quoted 31 
 
 his death and burial ... ... ... 32 
 
 his monument ... ... ... ... 32 
 
 note on his monument ... ... ... 40 
 
 his children ... ... ... ... ... 33 
 
 Watson, Dorothy, wife of the above, lier 
 
 portrait ... ... ... ... ... 2() 
 
 Catherine, eldest daughter of the above, 
 
 married Arthur Brooke ... ... ... 33 
 
 Mary, fourth daughter of ditto, married 
 
 — Vidal 33 
 
 Elizabeth, fiftli daughter, married Tho. 
 
 fEurtho 33 
 
 Elleyn, 6th daughter, married G. fflowcrs... 33 
 
 Anne and Emma, his other daughters... 33 
 
 Watson, Edward (afterwards Sir Edward), 
 
 only son of the above ... ... ... 33 
 
 obtains three leases of Kettering, Rectory 
 
 Manor 219 
 
 succeeds to the estates ... ... ... 33 
 
 married to Anne Digby ... ... ... 33 
 
 his activity as Verderer ... ... 35, 38 
 
 letter to Lord Keeper about a search for 
 
 Papists at Little Oakley 39 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Watson Edward (afterwards Sir Edward), 
 
 "suspected" in religion ... ... 41n. 
 
 letter to Sir Thomas Tresham ... ... 41 
 
 knighted ... ... ... ... ... 41 
 
 visited by King James I. ... ... 41 
 
 by Lady Anne Clifford ... ... ... 42 
 
 is Steward of Kettering, Royal Manor... 220 
 
 sales and purchases made by him 43, 44 
 
 assigns his estates to his eldest son, Sir 
 
 Lewis Watson ... ... ... ... 42 
 
 provides for his other children ... ... 43 
 
 his death and monument... ... ... 43 
 
 his childi-cn ... ... ... ... ... 44 
 
 Watson, Lady Anne, wife of the above, her 
 
 death 42 
 
 ring mentioned in her Will ... ... 52 
 
 her Will given in full 208 
 
 Watson, Anne, eldest daughter of the above, 
 
 married first to Sir Clias. Norwich ... 44 
 
 married second to Sir Wm. Price ... 44n. 
 
 her monument in Brampton Church ... 44 
 
 Watson, Emma, second daughter of the same, 
 
 married to John Grauiitc ... ... 45 
 
 Mary, tliird daughter of the same, married 
 
 Sir Anthony Maney ... ... ... 45 
 
 Catherine, fourth daughter of the same, 
 
 married to Sir Thomas Palmer ... 45 
 
 Elizabeth, fifth daughter of the same, 
 
 married to Sir John Ncdham ... ... 45 
 
 married second to Sir Edward Tj'rrell ... ib. 
 
 Temperaunce, sixth daughter of the 
 
 same, married to Thomas Dolman ... 45 
 
 ffrancys, seventh daughter of tho same, 
 
 married to Rowland Vaughan... ... 45 
 
 Dorothy (?) ciglith daughter of tho same, 
 
 married to Sir George Throgmorton ... 45 
 
 Watson, Sir Lewis, birth ... ... ... 44 
 
 education ... ... ... ... ... 49 
 
 knighted 41,49 
 
 portraits of ... ... .. 49,55,78 
 
 married to tho lioiible. Catherine Bertie 50 
 
 travels after death of his wife... ... 52 
 
 buys Rockingham Castle of King James 52 
 
 buys Rockingham Park of Marquis of 
 
 Buckiugham ... ... ... ... 56 
 
INDEX. 
 
 PAGK 
 
 Watson, Sir Lewis, improves grounds ...53,58 
 
 letters from, to Baron Montaga ... 53 
 
 is visited by King James I. ... ... 54 
 
 marries Eleanor Manners... ... ... 54 
 
 their children ... ... ... ... 55 
 
 is made a Baronet... ... ... ... 55 
 
 is made Sheriff and Deputy Lieutenant 
 
 of Northants. ... ... ... ... 5G 
 
 letter from, to Edward, Lord Montagu... 56 
 
 made Steward of Kettering Royal Manor 220 
 
 buys fairs, markets, &c., at Kettering ... 56 
 
 Hereditary Mastership of the Royal 
 
 Buckhounds ... ... ... ... 56 
 
 Manors of Stoke Albany and Wilbarston 57 
 
 Manor of Wilsford 57 
 
 his possessions in 1642 ... ... ... 57 
 
 his difficult position at the outbreak of 
 the Civil War 61, 62 
 
 a Royalist ... ... ... ... ... 61 
 
 sends valuables to Belvoir Castle for 
 
 safety ... ... ... ... ... 64 
 
 is seized at Rockingham by Lord Grey 
 
 and taken to Stoke Park ... ... 65 
 
 captured at Stoke Park by Colonel 
 Hastings and taken to Belvoir and 
 
 Ashley 65 
 
 taken as a prisoner to O.vford ... ... 65 
 
 at Oxford ... ... ... ... ... 65 
 
 his memorandum of the taking of Rock- 
 ingham Castle, &c. ... ... ... 72 
 
 his losses by the Royalists and Parlia- 
 mentarians ... ... ... ... ... 72 
 
 charged with treachery in surrendering 
 
 Rockingham Castle ... ... .. 73 
 
 charged with disloyalty ... ... ... 74 
 
 clears himself before the King... ... 74 
 
 by what proofs unknown... ... ... 74 
 
 created Baron Rockingham, of Rock- 
 ingham Castle ... ... ... ... 74 
 
 For list of fees paid on the occasion see p. 212 
 
 (For remainder of his life see under Rockingham, Lewis, 
 first Baron). 
 
 Watson, Lady Eleanor, letter from, to her 
 
 husband ... ... ... ... ... 57 
 
 (See also Eockinghain, Eleanor, Lady). 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Watson, Grace, eldest daughter of Sir Lewis, 
 first Baron Rockingham, married to 
 
 Sir Edward Barkham 83 
 
 Frances, third daughter of the same, 
 
 married to Edward Dingley 83 
 
 Eleanor, fifth daughter of the same, 
 
 married to Sir Charles Dymock ... 83 
 
 Anne and Elizabeth, second and fourth 
 
 daughters of first Baron Rockingham 84 
 
 Katherine, sixth daughter of the same, 
 
 her death and monument ... ... 84 
 
 Watson, Sir Edward, of Stoke Park, second 
 
 son of Sir Edward Watson ... ... 44 
 
 education ... ... ... ... ... 49 
 
 resides at Bringhurst ... ... ... 43 
 
 knighted ... ... ... ... ... 54 
 
 at Oxford with his brother ... ... 65 
 
 his pass ... ... ... ... ... 75 
 
 reports himself at Stoke ... ... ... 76 
 
 takes the oaths ... ... ... ... 77 
 
 death 80 
 
 abstract of his Will 80 
 
 his Inventory ... ... ... ... 210 
 
 Watson, Edward, second son of the second 
 
 Baron Rockingham ... . . ... 91 
 
 George, fourth son of the same ... 92 
 
 his portrait ... ... ... ... ... 92 
 
 Watson, Eleanor, eldest daughter of second 
 Baron Rockingham, married to Honble. 
 
 Thomas Leigh, of Stoneleigh ... ... 92 
 
 Arabella, second daughter of the same, 
 
 married to Sir H. Oxenden ... ... 92 
 
 her monument ... ... ... 92, 251 
 
 Watson, Anne, third daughter of the same 92 
 
 Margaret, fourth daughter of the same 92 
 
 her monument ... ... ... ... 248 
 
 Watson, Thomas, third son of Edward, second 
 Baron Rockingham, takes the name of 
 
 Watson- Wentworth ... ... ... 94 
 
 succeeds to his uncle's estates ... ... 94 
 
 founds the family of Watson-Wentworth 94 
 
 superintends the education of his nephews 104 
 
 his marriage, death, and burial ... ... 94 
 
 Watson-Wentworth, Thomas, son of the 
 
 above ... ... ... ... ... 95 
 
 his many dignities ... ... ... ... 95 
 
INDEX. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Wntgon-Wentworth, Thomas, created first 
 
 Marquis of Rockingham ... ... 95 
 
 (See Rockingham, Marquis of). 
 
 Watson, Honble. George, second son of the 
 
 first Earl of Rockingham 100 
 
 William, third son of the .same . . . 100 
 
 Watson, Lady Mary, eldest daughter of the 
 
 same, married to Wray Saunderson ... 100 
 
 her portrait ... . . ... . ... 100 
 
 Watson, Lady Arabella, second daughter of the 
 
 same, married to Sir Robert Furnesc... 100 
 
 her portrait ... ... ... ... ... 100 
 
 Watson, Lady Margaret, fourth daughter of the 
 
 same, married to Sir John Monson .. 101 
 
 her decision of character... ... ... 104 
 
 Watson, Honble. Edward, third son of Edward, 
 
 Viscount Sondes 101, 109 
 
 Honble. Catherine, daughter of Edward, 
 
 Viscount Sondes ... ... ... ... 101 
 
 negociations for her marriage . ... 105 
 
 marries Right Honble. Edward Southwell 109 
 
 buried at Hanbury Church .. . 109 
 
 Watson, Honble. Lewis (Monson), succeeds to 
 the estates of Thomas, third Earl of 
 Rockingham ... ... .. ... Ill 
 
 founds present lines of Sondes, of Lees 
 Court, and Watson, of Rockingham 
 Castle Ill 
 
 member for Boroughbridge ... ... 112 
 
 appointed to office ... ... ... ... 112 
 
 letter from, to Duke of Newcastle ... 112 
 
 marries Grace Pelham . . . ... 112 
 
 seeks to restore Royal Buckhounds at 
 Weldon 176 
 
 created first Baron Sondes ... ... 113 
 
 (See Sondes, Lewi.'?, first Baron, for the remainder of his 
 career). 
 
 Watson, Honble. Charles, third son of Lewis, 
 first Baron Sondes, inoculated for small 
 pox 112 
 
 expenses of his funeral at Rockingham 113 
 
 Watson, Honble. Henry, second son of the 
 
 same ... ... ... ... ... 113 
 
 his monument ... ... ... ... 245 
 
 Watson, Honble. George, fourth son of the 
 
 same ... ... ... ... ... 113 
 
 his monument ... ... ... ... 253 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Watson, Honble. Grace, eldest daughter of 
 Lewis Thomas, second Baron Sondes, 
 married to Sir John Palmer... .. 114 
 
 Honble. Catherine, second daughter of 
 the same, married to Sir William de 
 Capell Brooke 114 
 
 Honble. Grace Theodosia, third daughter 
 
 of the same ... ... ... ... 114 
 
 Watson, the Revd. the Honble. Henry, third 
 son of the second Baron Sondes, 
 succeeds to the Rockingham Estates .. 115 
 
 Watson, the Honble. Richard, fourth son of 
 the second Baron Sondes, succeeds to 
 the Hockingham Estates ... ... 115 
 
 his character and career .. ... ... 116 
 
 married to the Honble. Lavinia Jane 
 Quin 116 
 
 his portrait .. ... ... ... ... 116 
 
 his death ... ... ... ... ... 116 
 
 his monument ... ... ... ... 252 
 
 Watson, Honble. Lavinia Jane, wife of the 
 
 Honble. Richard Watson, her character 116 
 
 her monument ... ... ... ... 252 
 
 Watson, George Lewis, eldest son of the 
 Honble. Richard Watson, succeeds to 
 the Rockingham Estates ... ... 116 
 
 married to Laura Maria, daughter of the 
 
 Revd. Sir John II. Culme-Seymour, Bart. 116 
 
 Watson, Edward Spencer, second son of the 
 Honble. Richard Watson, married to 
 Mary Blanche Hall 116 
 
 his death ... ... ... ... ... 116 
 
 Watson, the Revd. Wcntworth, third son of 
 
 the Honble. Richard Watson ... ... 116 
 
 Watson, Mary Georgiana, eldest daughter of 
 the Honble. Richard W^itson, married 
 to Vice-Admiral Sir Michael Culme- 
 Seymour, Bart. ... ... ... ... 116 
 
 Watson, Lavinia Grace, second daughter of 
 the Honble. Richard Watson, married 
 to Baron Eugcn Von Rocdcr ... ... 116 
 
 (See also Pedigree No. 1). 
 
 Wayte, Simon le. Castle watchman... ... 11 
 
 Webster, Thomas, his letter to Thomas 
 
 Cromwell ... ... ... ... ... 25 
 
 Welland valley described ... ... 1, 119 
 
 Wells, Viscount ... ... ... ... ... 15 
 
 Wells, Hugh, Bishop of Lincoln ... ... 119 
 
INDEX. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Wells, Lord, fees pairl by ... ... ... 143 
 
 Wentworth, Lady Anne, married to Edward, 
 
 second Baron Rockingham ... ... 91 
 
 Thomas, first Earl of Strafford, portraits 
 
 of 91 
 
 family of ... ... ... ... ... 91 
 
 Westmoreland, Mary, Countess of, letter to 
 
 Secretary Dorchester ... ... ... 61 
 
 Whitelock quoted 62, 87 
 
 Widows marrying without a license to bo fined 16 
 
 Wilbarston Manor sold to Sir Edward GriEBn 28 
 
 to Sir Lewis Watson ... ... ... 57 
 
 Wild Boar, various names for the ... ... 153 
 
 William II. holds great Council at Rock- 
 ingham Castle ... ... ... ... 4 
 
 Will of Ursula Watson, of Lyddington, quoted 22 
 
 Edward Watson, of Lyddington, given 
 
 in full 183 
 
 Will of Edward Watson, of Rockingham Castle, 
 
 quoted 
 
 31 
 
 Simon Norwich, of Brampton Ash, quoted 
 
 44 
 
 Lewis, first Baron Rockingham, quoted... 
 
 79 
 
 Anne, Lady Watson, referred to... 
 
 42 
 
 Anne, Lady Watson, given in full 
 
 208 
 
 Mrs. Anne Digby, given in full ... 
 
 194 
 
 Sir Edward Watson, of Stoke Park, quoted 
 
 80 
 
 Wine sent to Rockingham Castle 
 
 7, 10 
 
 Wonal, John, captures coiners 
 
 162 
 
 " Woodgeld " defined ... 
 
 152 
 
 Woodmote, Court of 
 
 132 
 
 Woodwards, duties of ... 
 
 145 
 
 Wolsey, Cardinal, Bishop of Lincoln 
 
 192 
 
 Wright, Michael, portraits by... 
 
 49 
 
 Tow Hedge, the 58, 124 
 
 Zuchero, portraits, ascribed to 
 
 123 
 
 THE END. 
 
 PRINTED BY W. E. AND J. GOSS, MARKET PLACE AND HIGH STREET, KETTERING. 
 
, I CO , I ql , iCTZf I no| III , III ji3 , \ ^b'