The great wealth inherited to him by his father enabled him to amass large tracts of arable land, which he then enclosed, turning out the landless peasants who had hereto lived there. It also meant a serious threat against their livelihood, the common ground previously having been available to grazing for the livestock of everyone.[2][4]The Norfolk Heritage writes about one of these villages, Holt:
This is the site of the medieval village of Holt, which disappeared when the landlord, the notorious Thomas Thursby, enclosed the land and converted it to pasture for his sheep. Holt was the only Norfolk village recorded in the Commission of Inquiry in 1517 as being totally depopulated in this way.[5]
All Saints Church, Ashwicken, Leziate & Bawsey in the Diocese of Norwich, concurs:
The Ruined St Michael's Church, Mintlyn
There are two hamlets within the parish and they are Leziate and Ashwicken, both these settlements are described as "a shrunken village". During the medieval period the village of Leziate was much larger, but the village had shrunk sufficiently by the late 15th century for the parish of Leziate to be united with Ashwicken. The name Leziate comes from the Old English meaning meadow gate, while the name Ashwicken is also derived from Old English and means either place at the dwellings or buildings or place at the ash trees. During the medieval period there was another settlement within the parish. It was called Holt. The village was demolished when the landlord, the notorious Thomas Thursby, enclosed the land and converted it to pasture for his sheep. Holt was the only Norfolk village recorded in the Commission of Inquiry in 1517 as being totally depopulated in this way. And so each village, especially Ashwicken, is much smaller than previously and the Church at Ashwicken stands alone in the landscape. It is known as "Our Church in the Fields". The Church of Leziate has disappeared and Bawsey remains a ruin along with Mintlyn.[6]
His dealings were part of an inquest which took place in 1517,[7] he was sued in the Court of Requests by the inhabitants of Middleton in 1540,[8] and a case was made against him in 1549, years after was he was long dead, for enclosing the salt fen that had always been common to Middleton, but also used by Runcton, West Winch, Setchey and Hardwick.[2]
K.J. Allison writes in The Sheep-Corn Husbandry of Norfolk in the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries that the Norfolk landlords committed manifold abuses of the foldcourse system. And that those abuses were frequently accompanied by the acquisition of houses, landholdings, and commons, and how 'large estates were built up, and villages were depopulated.' K.J. Allison notes that, 'There is a considerable body of evidence to support the poor petitioners' allegations'. K.J. Allison makes a special note of 'the tenants of the notorious Thomas Thursby' and describes how he had converted their holdings to sheep pasture, evicted them from their dwellings, deprived them of their commons, and pulled down their houses in numerous villages, and also mentions the lost villages, 'including four that are now deserted.'[9]
Before 31 May 1527 Thomas Thursby bought the manor of Ashwicken.[10][11] Ashwicken had previously belonged to another branch of the Thursby family, the grandson of his uncle Robert Thursby, his cousin also named Thomas Thursby (1498[4]–1532[12]).[4] This other branch migrated to Essex.[13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29]
The deserted village of Bawsey. Several villages are documented to have existed in this area until at least up to the 16th century. It was during that period that the then landowner - Thomas Thursby and his son - evicted their tenants by pulling down their dwellings and depriving them of their commons in order to turn the area into farmland that was converted to sheep pasture in numerous villages (four of which now lost), reminiscent of the Clearances in Scotland. The small settlement of Bawsey was destroyed by enclosures in the early 16th century and a century later the church, now in ruins, had started to deteriorate.
He inherited Mintlyn, Geyton Thorp, Gayton, Congham, and Rydon from his father.[30] In a tax assessment of 1524 Thomas Thursby, Esq. is listed as the wealthiest landowner in Gayton. There is a reference in the record of a lawsuit in the Court of Star Chamber during the reign of Henry VIII to Thomas Thursby's 'mansion place' in Gayton.[31] The manors of Rustons and Redehall, moiety of manor of Bawdsey and all possessions in Gayton, Gaytonthorpe, Congham, Rydon, Bawsey, Walton, and Rysing was settled on his wife-to-be Anne Knyvett in their marriage settlement of 31 May 1527.[32] The manor of Rysyng was in the hands of the Crown as part of the duchy of Cornwall, but had been let in 1516 for twenty-one years to Thomas Thursby, of Bishop's Lynne, for 50/.[33] The manors of Rustons and Redehall and possessions Gayton, Gaytonthorpe and Rydon were inherited by his son Edmund.[34]
In an inquiry of 1517, Thomas Thursby, lord of the manor of Gayton, was accused of enclosing arable lands in Ashwicken, Leizate and Bawsey, as well as depopulating the hamlet of Holt in the parish of Mintlyn.[35]
As the son of Thomas Thursby (d.1510), the founder of Thoresby College, he had interaction with the Mayor and burgesses regarding his father's will and its conditions:
By Thomas Thorysby of Mintling, esquire, to the Mayor and burgesses to convey to them four pieces of pasture in Gaywood which were given to them by the will of Thorysby's father Thomas on condition that the Mayor and burgesses appoint a priest as master of the Charnel to instruct 6 poor children in grammar and song but were re-entered by Thorysby because the conditions were infringed. The Mayor and burgesses undertake to appoint the priest to celebrate mass in the Charnel chapel at the west end of St Margaret's church and instruct the 6 children, 1 October 1543.[39]
After the dissolution the Haveless lands were bought by Thomas Thoresby, presumably on 23 August 1540, and he came into conflict with the men of Middleton over the ownership of Salt Fen situated between Middleton and Haveless. He is described as a country gentleman. This dispute was not isolated. He was accused before the Star Chamber in 1535 of attacks on Adam and Ann Foster of Gayton in a dispute over lands and similarly in 1537 for assaults on Nicholas Gurling of Grimston.[2]
Thoresby, dead by the time the complaint was made, had enclosed eight years before, that is in 1540, a year after Lynn Priory was dissolved. Depositions were taken on 25 April 1549 before Sir Nicholas Lestrange, Sir Thomas Hollys, Edward Beawpre and John Dethyk.[2]
Edmund Beaupré of the Beauprés of Beaupré Hall was the guardian of Thomas Thursby's relative Edward Thursby of Doreward's Hall during his minority from 1541.[40]
His future daughter-in-law, Mary Neville, Lady Dacre was one of the ladies appointed to receive Anne of Cleves when she arrived in England.[44][45][46]
Track North of Church Road – The Deserted Village of Bawsey
He may have been the Thomas Thursby of Caxton, Cambridgeshire who was Sheriff of Cambridgeshire and Huntingdonshire for a year from 9 November 1513.[47] By 1509, Caxton was held by the sisters Margaret née Burgoyne (d.1529), wife of George Heveningham (d.1530), and Elizabeth Burgoyne (d.1532+), wife of Thomas Thursby[48] of Norfolk.[20] His first cousin once removed by the same name would in 1513 have been a boy of 15,[4] and therefore unlikely to have been sheriff. Like with Ashwicken, it is possible that this Thomas Thursby (d.1543) bought Caxton from his relatives. It is found again as the property of the grandson of this Thomas Thursby (d.1543) also called Thomas Thursby (d.1633) in 1578.[48]
The Wrest Part Portrait – Recently identified as Mary Neville Fiennes, Lady DacreEdmund (d.1547[53]), m. Ursula (d.1567[54]),[55] daughter of Sir Edward Beynton of the Vyse in Wiltshire, Knight,[56] who remarried to Erasmus Spelman,[55] and had John Spilman, Henry Spelman, Thomas Spelman, Bridget, Ele, Alice and Dorothy.[56] Edmund Thursby and Ursula Beynton had Thomas Thursby, of age c.1565, still living in 1579.[55] Probably the Thomas Thursby who married Mary Barlow of Slewinge,[57] the daughter of Roger Barlow of Slewinge and Jylian Dew, and niece of William Barlow, Bishop of Chichester,[58] by license dated 17 March 1574/5.[59] The will of Thomas Thoresby of Ashwicken (d.1633) was proven 17 December 1633. They had Edmund Thoresby of Haveles in Mintlyng, who married 1) Ann, daughter of Robert Spring of Icklingham; 2) Jane, daughter of Thomas Astley; 3) Susan, daughter of Edmund Jermyn, Francis who died s.p., will proven 1608, Thomas and Wingfield.[57]
Mary, married Geoffrey Cobbs[4] (d.1544[69]), the son of William Cobb of Gayton, the grandson of William Cobb of Sandringham and the daughter and heiress of Ralph Gayton, and the great grandson of William Cobb of Sandringham in Norfolk, and Margaret, the daughter of Sir John le Buttler, knight,[4][70] and had: Thomas Cobbs (b. 1539),[69] eldest son and heir, William Cobbs, Ann, and Dowsabell.[69]
The will of Thomas Thorresby of Hautbois, Norfolk was dated 24 October 1543 and proven 13 February 1543/4.[71][4] In it he mentions his wife Anne and his sons Edmund and Francis, and his daughter Mary, the wife of Geoffrey Cobbs.[71]
^"Will of Thomas Thursby, Burgess and Merchant of Lynn Bishop, Norfolk – National Archives". Published by Ancestry here. 23 October 1510. In the name of god amen the thirde day of May In the second yere of the Reigne of king Henry the viijth And the yere of our lorde god yt v.C and x I Thomas Thursby burgeys and merchaunt of Lynne Bisshop [...] I give unto John G[...]dell son[?] unto Margerie my doughter to [...] above appoynted to Elizabeth my wif during hir life after the decesse of the same Elizabeth and also of the [...] my doughters or their heirs of their bodyes shalhave the same lands and ten[emen]ts after suche [...] any of the said Elizabeth Elyn Beatrice Margarete or the said John Gryndell [...]
^Bannerman, W. Bruce (William Bruce) (1906). Miscellanea genealogica et heraldica. Allen County Public Library Genealogy Center. London, England: Mitchell, Hughes & Clarke. p. 138.
^ abcdefghijkBannerman, W. Bruce (William Bruce) (1906). Miscellanea genealogica et heraldica. Allen County Public Library Genealogy Center. London, England: Mitchell, Hughes & Clarke. p. 139.
^ ab"K". A Who's Who of Tudor Women. 2017-11-17. Retrieved 2020-09-28. In the covenant for a marriage settlement dated May 31, 1527, Anne was described as "one of the queen's gentlewomen and one of the daughters of Sir Thomas Knyvett deceased." She was to marry Thomas Thuresby or Thoresby of Asshewykyne.
^"Freebridge Hundred and Half: Wyken, alias Ashwyken, Lesiate, and Holt". British History Online. Retrieved 2020-09-30. After this, John Jenkin, Gent. conveyed by fine, in the 28th of Henry VIII. the 3d part of the manor of Glosthorpe, with lands in Wyken, Lesyate, Holt, Geyton, &c. to Thomas Thuresby, Esq. (as in Glosthorp) and the said Thomas Thorisby died seized of the manor of Ashwyken, with its appurtenances, in the 36th of Henry VIII. The Thorisbys seem to have lived here at this time. Edmund Thoresby, Esq. son of Thomas, by his last will, dated December 20, 1547, desires to be buried in the church of Ashwyken, appoints Ursula his wife executrix, and mentions his brother, Francis Thoresby, Esq. proved January 9 following. (fn. 4) In the beginning of Queen Elizabeth's reign, Thomas Thoresby, Esq. had livery of the manors of Ashwiken, Bawsey, Glosthorp, &c. being son and heir of Edmund. In this family it remained till about the year 1700, when Francis Thoresby, Esq. of Geywood, sold it to John Drury, Esq. who in 1675 presented to the rectory as lord.
^Farrer, Reverend Edmund (1931). Early Suffolk Heraldry Volume XXI Part 1(PDF). The Suffolk Institute of Archaeology and Natural History. p. 23. "They were established there as early as 1316, and from that date till 1500 they resided in Bocking when a daughter of William Doreward married Thomas Thursby, who died in 1532." (Notes to the quote: Thomas Thursby (d.1532) does not appear to have married a daughter of William Doreward. Rather, he himself appear to have been the great-grandson of William Doreward. His maternal grandmother was Elizabeth Doreward, and Elizabeth Doreward was the heiress of her father William Doreward, and Thomas Thursby's (d.1532) mother, Elizabeth's daughter Helen/Ellen Fotheringhay was the coheiress of her uncle, John Doreward. The death date appears completely correct, however, as it is known that this Thomas Thursby died after 1529, but before 1538.)
^"Impington: Manors and other estates". British History Online. Retrieved 2020-09-28. John's widow Margaret held Impington until her death in 1528, (fn. 34) when it passed under a settlement of 1512 to their daughters Margaret, wife of George Heveningham, and Elizabeth, wife of Thomas Thursby.
^"Henry VIII: February 1541, 26-28 - Letters and Papers Henry VIII, 1541, g. 580/74". British History Online. Retrieved 2020-10-04. 74. Edm. Beaupre. Annuity of 10l. issuing from the manor of Bocking, Essex, which belonged to Thos. Thurseby, dec., in reversion; during the minority of Edw. Thuresby, s. and h. of the said Thomas; with wardship and marriage of the said heir. Hampton Court, 18 Jan. 32 Hen. VIII. Del. Westm., 16 Feb.—P.S. Pat. p. 5, m. 55.
^"Bocking". British History Online. Retrieved 2020-10-13. Doreward's Hall, about 700 yards S.S.E. of the church, is of two storeys; the walls are partly of brick and partly of plastered timberframing; the roofs are tiled. The house is said to have been rebuilt by Edward Thursby
^"DOREWARD'S HALL, Braintree - 1170740". Historic England. Retrieved 2020-10-13. The house has important remains of a c16 house with C17 and C18 additions, partly brick and partly timber-framed and plastered. The house is said to have been rebuilt by Edward Thursby in 1579 and the only part remaining is the present west wing, which was probably the north wing of Thursby's house.
^ abc"Norfolk Record Office - NROCAT: on-line catalogue". nrocat.norfolk.gov.uk. Retrieved 2020-10-05. CatalogueRef: BL/O/X/12. Title: Copy of covenant for a marriage settlement on Ann Knyvett, one of the Queen's gentlewomen and one of the daughters of Sir Thomas Knyvett deceased, and Thomas Thuresby [Thoresby] of Asshewykyne, esq., for conveyance by said Thomas Thuresby to Sir Robert Dymook [the King's champion], chancellor to Queen Katherine, Sir Philip Tylney, Gryffyth Richards, Christopher Jenny, John Scott, Charles Bulkley, Sir John Cressener, William Conningesby, Thomas Guybon senior, Francis Mounfforde, John Fyncham of Fyncham, esq., and Thomas Guybon, son and heir of above Thomas, of manors of Rustons and Redehall, moiety of manor of Bawdsey and all possessions in Gayton, Gaytonthorpe, Congham, Rydon, Bawsey, Walton, and Rysing. Date: 31 May 1527. Level: Piece. Repository: Norfolk Record Office. Extent: 1 roll
^"Freebridge Hundred and Half: Congham". British History Online. Retrieved 2021-04-22. Thomas Thursby, Esq. was lord of Rusteyn's and Reed-hall, in the reign of Henry VIII. and died seized of them in the 36th of that King, and several great parcels of land in this town, Geyton GeytonThorp, Rydon, &c. held of the honour of Tateshale, by knight's service, leaving Edmund his son and heir, as appears from the escheat rolls; and Thomas Thursbye was lord in the beginning of Queen Elizabeth's reign; but in the 39th of Elizabeth, Henry Spelman, Esq. was possessed of the manors of Rustein's and Reedhall, with messuages, &c. in Rydon, Grimston, Hillington, &c. in which family it remained some time.
^New York, Kraus Reprint Corp; Great Britain. Public Record Office; Great Britain. Court of Chancery (1963). List of early Chancery proceedings preserved in the Public Record Office. George A. Smathers Libraries University of Florida. New York, Kraus Reprint Corp. p. 173. 49 Juliana, executrix and late the wife of Robert NORWICHE, knight, [C.JJC.P., v, [Thomas THURSBY of Gayton, esquire, alias of Lynn, merchant.] Debt. Mutilated NORFOLK.
^"Norfolk Record Office - NROCAT: on-line catalogue". nrocat.norfolk.gov.uk. Retrieved 2020-10-05. CatalogueRef: KL/C 58/2/1. Title: Deed of covenant of Thomas Thorysby. Date: 1543. Description: By Thomas Thorysby of Mintling, esquire, to the Mayor and burgesses to convey to them four pieces of pasture in Gaywood which were given to them by the will of Thorysby's father Thomas on condition that the Mayor and burgesses appoint a priest as master of the Charnel to instruct 6 poor children in grammar and song but were re-entered by Thorysby because the conditions were infringed. The Mayor and burgesses undertake to appoint the priest to celebrate mass in the Charnel chapel at the west end of St Margaret's church and instruct the 6 children, 1 October 1543. Harrod reference Bb 6. Level: Piece. Repository: King's Lynn Borough Archives. Extent: 1 parchment
^"Henry VIII: February 1541, 26-28 - Letters and Papers Henry VIII, 1541, g. 580/74". British History Online. Retrieved 2020-10-04. 74. Edm. Beaupre. Annuity of 10l. issuing from the manor of Bocking, Essex, which belonged to Thos. Thurseby, dec., in reversion; during the minority of Edw. Thuresby, s. and h. of the said Thomas; with wardship and marriage of the said heir. Hampton Court, 18 Jan. 32 Hen. VIII. Del. Westm., 16 Feb.—P.S. Pat. p. 5, m. 55.
^"Henry VIII: January 1540, 1-10". British History Online. Retrieved 2021-04-22. On Tuesday she went to Sittingborne, and the "other" day, being New Year's Even, to Rochester, where she was received by the duke of Norfolk, accompanied by lord Dacres of the South, lord Mountjoy, the barons of the Exchequer, Sir Roger Towneshend, Sir Edw. Beningfield, Sir John Jermy, Sir Edm. Knyvett, Sir Edw. Wyndham, Sir Thos. Jermyn, Sir Jas. Bullyn, Sir Wm. Paston, Sir Fras. Lovill, Sir Th. Straunge, Sir John Clere, Sir Wm. Conysby, Mr. Ric. Southwell, Mr. Philip Calthrope, Mr. Robt. Townesend, H. Hubbert, Thos. Gibbon, Thos. Thursby, Erasmus Paston, Edm. Lumner, Thos. Tyndale, and Ralph Symons.
^ ab"Parishes: Caxton". British History Online. Retrieved 2021-04-23. The manor seems to have passed by 1434 to William Burgoyne of Roxton (Beds.) (d. 1456), whose son Richard died in 1464 leaving Caxton to his heir John, a minor. John presumably succeeded on coming of age c. 1478, but died in 1487, whereupon his feoffees granted the manor in the same year to Agnes Lane for life, with remainder to Richard Burgoyne, then a child. It appears that Richard died before coming of age, probably in 1504 or 1505, and Thomas son of John Burgoyne of Impington was said to hold the manor in 1506. By 1509, however, the property was held by the sisters of Richard Burgoyne, Margaret (d. 1529), wife of George Heveningham (d. 1530), and Elizabeth, wife of Thomas Thursby. By 1530 one half was still held by Thursby, the other half was divided between the three surviving daughters of Margaret Heveningham. On the death of one of those daughters without heirs in 1532 or 1533, the half manor was divided equally between the surviving sisters, Alice wife of Thomas Green and Anne wife of Sir Ambrose Jermyn of Rushbrooke (Suff.). Thursby sold a quarter of the manor to Jermyn in 1536. In or after 1549 the Greens' share passed to Jermyn, who at his death in 1577 left half the manor to his fourth son, Anthony. In 1578 another Thomas Thursby sold his family's share of the manor to Anthony Cage the elder (d. 1583), a London salter who already owned Longstowe.
^ abThoresby, Ralph (1715). Ducatus Leodiensis, Or, The Topography of the Ancient and Populous Town and Parish of Leedes, and Parts Adjacent in the West-Riding of the County of York: With the Pedigrees of Many of the Nobility and Gentry, and Other Matters Relating to Those Parts. Wocken in Norfolk, p. 575. is more truely written Ash-Wicken-Thoresby, by that learned Antiquary Sir Henry Spelman (in his Icenia, p. 144.) whose Father married Anne the Widow of Thomas Thoresby of Ash-Wicken Thoresby Esq; she was descended from the first Thomas Duke of Norfolk who by his former Wife Elizabeth Daughter and Heir of Sir Frederick Tylney, and Relict of Humfrey Bourchier Lord Berners, had Issue Thomas Duke of Norfolk, Elizabeth (who married Thomas Bullen Viscount Rochford, by whom she had Issue Queen Anne Bullen the Mother of Queen Elizabeth) and Muriel, who married first John Grey Viscount Lisle, and 2dly, Sir Thomas Knevet, by whom she had Issue the said Anne, the Wife of Thomas Thoresby, and Henry Spelman Esquires, as my kind Friend John Hare Esq; Richmond Herald, shewed me in some valuable Manuscripts in the College of Arms, London.
^Harleian Society (1886). The Publications of the Harleian Society. Robarts - University of Toronto. London: The Society. 1543-4 [...] Jan. 26 Henry Spylman & Anne Thursby, of diocese of Norwich.
^"CatalogueRef: NCC will register Wymer 122. Title: Thoresbie, Edmund, esquire, of Ashewekin. Date: 1547. Description: Will. Level: Item. Repository: Norfolk Record Office". Published by FamilySearch here. In dei no[m]i[n]e amen The xxth daye of December in the yere of o[u]r Lorde god M CCCCC xlvijth I Edmond Thoresbie of Ashewekin in the countie of Norff [Norfolk] Esquire beinge of good m[in]d p[er]fect Remembraunce thanke be unto god do make and orden this my last wyll and Testament in man[ne]r and forme folowinge ffirst I bequeth my Sowle to allmygtie god and my bodye to be buryed in th[e] Church of Ashwekin afforesaide It[e]m I woll that my Executrix do receyve p[er]ceynt and take all the yssewes[?] profetts and comodities of all those man[or]s lands Ten[amen]ts and heriditaments in wikin and nortonhall in the countie afforesaide which be appoynted and Assigned by the last wyll and Testament of Thomas Thoresbie Esquire my father deceased for and towarde the paymith of the detts and pformaunce of his last wyll and Testament requiringe my saide Executrix to paye the Detts of my saide father with the profetts growinge and coming of the same in ande[?] lands ten[amen]ts and heriditaments And of my goode Cattallis plate [...] detts payed It[e]m I woll that Thomas Gritton the Sone and hayre of Thomas Gritton late of Lezate deceased shall have to him and to his hayres a Tent [...] with all those lands therto belonginge [...] of the man[or] of Glossthorpe inn Lezyate afforesaide accordinge unto the custome of the saide in and payinge the [...] the saide Thomas Thoresbie and of me the saide Edmunde Thoresbie It[e]m I woll that Robert Chapman shall have the forme that Christoffer kerit[?] have at Holte with the warven[?] in Holt afforesaide Balwsey wekin and Lessyate in such man[ner] and forme as the saide Christofer have yt at this p[rese]nt daye[?] & in to enter at the feast of the Annonciacon of o[u]r Ladye [...] It[e]m I give unto ffrauncys Thorrissbie my brother all my Apparell The Residew[?] of all my goods and Cattallis aswell movable at [...] not before bequethed nor in this my p[rese]nt Testament named I put into the disposicon of Ursula my wyff whom I do constitute orden and make to be my sole Executrix she to orden [...] to the pliasure of god and profight of my Sowle Gheis[?] beinge wytnes ffrauncis Thoresbie gentylman Thomas Chaterye Richard Leyton[?] Robert Chapman Willm Strange [...] and Thomas Rawlinge
^ abc"Impington: Manors and other estates". British History Online. Retrieved 2020-09-30. The other half manor, FERME PART, was held by Thomas Thursby (d. 1543), his son Edmund (fn. 49) (d. 1547), and for life by Edmund's widow Ursula, wife of Erasmus Spelman. Ursula's son Thomas Thursby, of age c. 1565, (fn. 50) held it by 1567 (fn. 51) and sold it in 1579 to John Pepys, the lessee from c. 1569.
^"Mitford Hundred and Half: North Tudenham". British History Online. Retrieved 2020-10-06. Rectors. [...] 1559, Gregory Grange, by Francis Thursby, Esq. and Margaret his wife, Lady Dakers.
^"Freebridge Hundred and Half: Congham". British History Online. Retrieved 2020-10-01. Thomas Thursby, Esq. was lord of Rusteyn's and Reed-hall, in the reign of Henry VIII. and died seized of them in the 36th of that King, and several great parcels of land in this town, GeytonGeytonThorp, Rydon, &c. held of the honour of Tateshale, by knight's service, leaving Edmund his son and heir, as appears from the escheat rolls; and Thomas Thursbye was lord in the beginning of Queen Elizabeth's reign; but in the 39th of Elizabeth, Henry Spelman, Esq. was possessed of the manors of Rustein's and Reedhall, with messuages, &c. in Rydon, Grimston, Hillington, &c. in which family it remained some time.
^"Freebridge Hundred and Half: Geyton". British History Online. Retrieved 2020-10-01. It appears by an inquisition taken 22d of April, in the first of Edward VI. at the castle of Norwich, that his father Geffrey died May 13, 1544, possessed of the same manors Gayton, and Egerton, held of Dover castle, paying 10s. rent per ann. Wykenhale, Brecham, and Person's manors, held of the manor of Grimston, paying 12s. per ann. and that Tho. his son and heir, was of the age of 5 years, by Margaret his wife, daughter of Tho. Thursby, Esq. and that Ralph Gayton was Jeffrey's great grandfather; this Thomas is said to die without issue; and William Cobb (his brother, as I take it,) had livery of the aforesaid manors, about the 22d of the said Queen.
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