The Colkyns of Fredville-updated 10.5.2013
In 1315 Walter, son of Thomas atte Bergh of Eswele, granted to Sir Henry Beaufuiz, a King’s Justice, “a messuage and 25 acres of land in Eswele (the Eswale & Esol referred to previously), to wit all the lands that the donor has there, which descended to him after the death of his father Thomas and his brother Ralph, and which he acquired in that town; and all the lands held in dower there by his mother Juliana; and all the lands that Margaret, late the wife of his brother Ralph, holds there in dower”.
The witnesses to the transaction were:Sir John Malemeyns (of Waldershare), knight; Sir Thomas de Sandwyco /Sandwico/Sandwich), knight; Thomas de Acholte (of Ackholt); John Colkyn (of Fredvill’) ; Thomas his brother; John de Retling’ (of Ratling); Henry Perot (of Knowlton) ; William and Stephen, sons of Ralph de Eswele (Essewelle, who held it from the Abbey of St. Alban’s).
The messuage referred to above was quite possibly located near to a mound know locally as Mount Ephraim. In the late 13th century a John atte Berghe was a witness to a document concerning the sale of land in Moneketon, the present Gooseberry Hall area, which is a quarter of a mile or so down the hill to the east of Mount Ephraim. At this time family names were not often hereditary and to distinguish individuals with the same first name a physical characteristic, trade, or where they lived was used to differentiate them. John was a very common name in England at this time, it’s thought that over one third of adult males had this first name.
The suffix “atte Berghe or Bergh” would have been used to describe someone who lived on or by a hill, mound or barrow, and in this case I believe the “berghe” referred to is what was later to become known as Mount Ephraim.
Sir Henry Beaufuiz, (also Beaufiz, Beaufitz, Byaufiz, the origins of the surname Beavis), was a very influential man in the reign of Edward II, and may have obtained control over Freydeville and Esol by buying the wardship of Geoffrey de Say (2nd Baron) after the death of his father, also Geoffrey (1st Baron), in 1323 when he was in his minority. It was not until in 1337 that Geoffrey de Say regained his rightful possession as over-lord of “a messuage and a carucate of land in Freydevill, Esole and Nunynton”, held by “the service of a moiety of a knight’s fee (half a knight’s fee)” from the executors of Sir Henry’s will. The John Colkyn mention above died in 1337 and his Post Mortem Calendar of Requisition records he held land at “Frydewill, Esole and Nunynton” and his heir, also John, was granted possession of the above as he was by then of age.
Wardship of minor heirs of a tenant in chief was one of the king’s ancient “feudal incidents” (amongst escheat, marriage, relief, custody of an “idiot”,etc. Such right entitled the king to all the revenues of the deceased’s estate, excluding those lands, generally 1/3 of the estate, allocated to his widow as dower, until the heir reached his majority of 21, or 14 if a female. The king generally sold such wardships to the highest bidder or granted them gratis, generally by letters patent to a favoured courtier as a reward for services, which saved cash having to be found from the privy purse. On attainment of his majority the heir was required to obtain a “Proof of Age” certification witnessed by prominent men from his local area who certified that he had reached the age of 21. Such certificate then formed the basis for the king to issue a writ to the custodian of the land in question to release it to the heir.
During his tenure of Esewele Sir Henry appears to have carried out improvements as on April 15, 1316 he was granted a licence to enclose a lane between his gardens at Eslowe (Essewelle) containing in itself 30 perches of land in length (345 yards) and 2 perches in breadth (11 yards), “provided that he make another lane in its place on his own soil to the south of his garden” (almost certainly the present Beauchamps Lane). The gardens may have been to complement improvements to the existing house or possibly the building of a new one.
Sir Henry died in around 1325 leaving Alice, his only child who had married Sir William de Plumpton circa 1322, as his sole heiress. Alice herself died in 1334 or 1335.
The Aids and Scutages of 1346-7, for getting the King’s eldest son, Edward, Prince of Wales who was known as The Black Prince, made a knight, recorded: “From John, son of John Colkyn, the Abbot of St. Alban’s, Edmund of Ackholt, Richard, son of Richard de Retlyng, in partnership/joint ownership, for that which John Colkyn holds at Esol and Freydevill from Geoffrey de Say. 10.l (£10, half a knights fee)”.
The Colkyn’s part of the manor of Essewelle was now divided into four with each party liable for a part of the knighs fee owed to the de Says.
The John Colkyn who inherited “Frydewill, Esole and Nunynton” in 1337 appears to have died and his son, the John Colkyn mentioned therein, had succeeded to the manor but may have died shortly after the record was made as at sometime between 1346 and 1356 Fredvill’ and Esol reverted back to the de Says and Sir John Herliston was granted a lifetime interest in the manor of Fredville by Geoffrey de Say, 2nd Baron Say, who died 1356, and was succeeded as 3rd Baron Say by his son William, a nephew of the Earl of Warwick and Sir John de Beauchamp, 1st Lord Beauchamp of Warwick whose sister, Maud, was the 3rd baron’s mother.
The most likely cause of the reversion was the death of John Colkyn without heirs, possibly due to the Black Death. This epidemic swept through the country between 1348 and 1450 with sporadic outbreaks occurring into the 1360’s. If John had died without heirs the Law of Escheat would have applied under which the land of a tenant went to the Crown for a year and a day before reverting to the Tenant-in-Chief, in this case Geoffrey de Say, 2nd Baron Say.
In feudal England, escheat referred to the situation where the tenant of a fee (or “fief”) died without an heir or committed a felony. In the case of such decease of a tenant-in-chief, the fee reverted to the King’s demesne permanently, when it became once again a mere tenantless plot of land, but could be re-created as a fee by enfeoffment to another of the King’s followers. Where the deceased had been subinfeudated by a tenant-in-chief, the fee reverted temporarily to the crown for one year and one day by right of primer seisin after which it escheated to the over-lord who had granted it to the deceased by enfeoffment. From the time of Henry III, the monarchy took particular interest in escheat as a source of revenue.
The Black Death killed between one third and a half of the population of England which meant that agricultural land was readily available. However, the returns from agriculture were greatly diminished as the cost of employing the now scarce labour force rapidly increased and the market for agricultural produce had correspondingly shrunk.
The Statute of Labourers was passed in 1351 in an effort to stop labourers taking advantage of the shortage of workers and demanding more money. They were forced to work for the same wages as before the Black Death and landowners could insist on labour services being performed, instead of accepting money (commutation) in lieu of service. Landowners accordingly profited from the food shortages, whilst the labourers standard of living declined because of the substantial increases in the price of basic food stuffs such as bread and ale. A consequence of the shortage of labour led to much of the land previously used in food production being given over to the keeping of sheep as wool became more profitable, especially when shipped to Continental markets.