Michaelotts

(In association with Strutt & Parker)

Many manors were created after 1066 by a process known as sub-infeudation. A large manorial estate was divided into two or more estates and the feudal characteristics which made up a ‘manor’ were transferred to the new manor which became self administering. This process can be seen in the creation of the Lordship of the Manor of Michaelotts, which lies in the Cambridgeshire parish of Linton, a few miles from the county town. This was created in around 1267 by Sir Simon de Furneaux from his manor of Barham. He took 60 acres of demesne and 50 acres of tenant’s land to create a new Lordship which was held by a knight’s fee from the Lords of Barham and was granted to his son Michael.

The Furneaux family had held Barham since the Norman invasion and the manor formed part of the Honour of Richmond. They remained landowners in the parish until the 1370s, but Michaelotts (Michael’s Lot) was conveyed by Michael de Furneaux in the late 13th century to Simon de St Omer who then granted it to his brother, Ralph, in 1315. The family of de St Omer could trace their lineage to 11th century Normandy and a Baron of that name had come to England with The Conqueror. They had a number of estates in the east of England, including Brundale and Thraston in Norfolk.

The descent of the manor in the 14th century is a little obscure but in 1397 it was found to be in the possession of Nicholas Parys (Paris) who owned the largest manor in the parish, namely Linton. He died in 1425 and his lands passed to his nephew, Henry Parys. His son was aged just 3 years old when his father died in 1427 and at his death in 1466 his own son Robert was also a minor. He lived until 1504 when he was succeeded by his son John. His son and heir, Philip was treasurer to Bishop Gardiner during the 1530s and became a wealthy courtier. In the same decade he purchased the wardship of Anne Bolyen’s cousin, Edward Bolyen, which allowed him an income from Bolyen’s land and gave him the right to marry the young man to whomever he chose. In 1540 he was given the lucrative position of receiver-general of the Court of Augmentations and married Edward to his own daughter, Agnes. Parys was a staunch Catholic and on the accession of Mary in 1553 was knighted after publicly disavowing the crowning of Lady Jane Grey.

Philip was succeeded in his estates at Linton, including the Lordship of Michaelotts, by his grandson, Robert but he died whilst still a minor in 1572. The title therefore passed to Sir Philip’s younger son, Ferdinand who died in 1601. It descended then to his eldest son, Philip who died in 1617. His heir was his eldest son, Charles, who was still a child. He appears not to have married and died without having had children in 1658. The family remained Catholics and Charles was fined by the Commonwealth government in the 1650s, but did not have his estates seized. There is no record of him having taken par t in the Civil War. His brother and heir, John, was also fined as a papist and a royalist and was forced to raise a mor tgage on the Linton estates from two Londoners, Robert Tempest and John Carter, who are briefly named as Lords of the Manor. John died in 1667, having taken back control of his lands and Michaelotts passed to his son Philip.

Philip Parys was the last male member of this long lived family and he died without leaving an heir, in 1672. His lands and estates were sold to pay off his debts but Michaelotts was retained by Philip’s mother, Anne, and her husband, Sir Joseph Colston. The Parys estate was then bought by Sir Thomas Sclater. Born in Halifax, Sclater attended Trinity College, Cambridge and became a doctor of medicine in 1649. In 1659 he was elected to the third and final Protectorate Parliament but supported the Restoration of the Monarchy in 1660, for which he was created a baronet in the same year. He became a wealthy man in the 1660s and bought Catley Park in Linton and later Michaelotts in 1677.

Scalter was Lord of the Manor for only a few years before his death in 1684. He settled his lands on Thomas, the son of the his nephew Edward Sclater. Edward trained as a lawyer and through his many connections sat as Member of Parliament for Bodmin in Cornwall from 1713. Though a relatively wealthy man in his own right, Thomas married Elizabeth Bacon who appears to have been his own ward. She was the heir of a London merchant who had purchased considerable estates in Huntingdonshire. Unusually, Edward adopted her surname and at the time of his death, in 1736, was said to have been worth £200,000; around £25 million today. It was reported at the time that he died not having made a will but this was later shown to be incorrect when a will of 1724 was produced leaving his estates to a ‘kinswoman’ Sarah, the wife of his coachman, Edward King, and her two sons.

Both Robert King or his brother Thomas, appear to have earned the reputation of being disreputable. His life was described by the Reverend William Cole in the 1740s;

He was at college when he inherited, and was married while at school to a porter’s daughter in Bishopsgate-street, a very good sort of woman and makes him an admirable wife. His son by her died about 1746. Mr. King’s father was a coachman and the estate came to his family by means of his wife. Mr. King died of drink at Bath in 1749.

His brother, Thomas faired little better and had run through the for tune by 1777. By this time the Linton estate, including Michaelotts had been sold to Thomas Bromley, Lord Montfort. In 1772 it was sold again, to Edmund Keene, Bishop of Ely. It then passed to his son, Benjamin, who died in 1837 and was succeeded by his son, the Revd. Charles Edmund Ruck-Keene in 1837. He died in 1880 and Michaelotts passed to his son, Edmund. At his death in 1888 the manor came to his son, Capt. Charles Edmund Ruck-Keene who sold the Catley Park estate in 1904 to Sir Walter Henry Wilkin, retaining the lordships of the manor, which passed on his death in 1919 to his daughter Olive, who married Lt. N. Nightingale in 1936. The family sold the title in 1987 to David Broad.

Rights, customs and incidents

In the same decade he purchased the wardship of Anne Bolyen’s cousin, Edward Bolyen, which allowed him an income from Bolyen’s land and gave him the right to marry the young man to whomever he chose.
Though a relatively wealthy man in his own right, Thomas married Elizabeth Bacon who appears to have been his own ward.

Associated manorial documents / archive references

• 1577-1577: terrier, Cambridgeshire Archives
• 1775-1775: notes
• 1800-1850: notes relating to a terrier
• 1800-1850: copy of a terrier

Historical holder / succession information

1. new manor [source claim requiring identity review]
   conveyed_to · historical_holder_or_transferee
   Source wording: A large manorial estate was divided into two or more estates and the feudal characteristics which made up a ‘manor’ were transferred to the new manor which became self administering.
2. his son Michael [source claim requiring identity review]
   granted_to · historical_holder_or_transferee
   Source wording: He took 60 acres of demesne and 50 acres of tenant’s land to create a new Lordship which was held by a knight’s fee from the Lords of Barham and was granted to his son Michael.
3. Sir Thomas Sclater
   purchased_by · historical_holder_or_transferee
   Source wording: The Parys estate was then bought by Sir Thomas Sclater.
4. Scalter [source claim requiring identity review]
   1684 · lord_of_manor · historical_holder_or_transferee
   Source wording: Scalter was Lord of the Manor for only a few years before his death in 1684.
5. his family [source claim requiring identity review]
   passed_to · historical_holder_or_transferee
   Source wording: King’s father was a coachman and the estate came to his family by means of his wife.
6. Thomas Bromley, Lord Montfort
   sold_to · historical_holder_or_transferee
   Source wording: By this time the Linton estate, including Michaelotts had been sold to Thomas Bromley, Lord Montfort.
7. his son, Capt [source claim requiring identity review]
   1888 · passed_to · historical_holder_or_transferee
   Source wording: At his death in 1888 the manor came to his son, Capt.