Mursley

(Including the historic right to Markets and Fair)

MURSLEY was held by Lewin of Nuneham at the Conquest and he was still holding in 1086. But within 80 years, the Lord was Robert FitzNiel who was also Lord of the adjoining Manor of Salden, in succession to his father Richard. Robert's grand-daughter, Agnes, the wife of Reginald Basset, succeeded to Mursley and was holding it in 1220. She died in 1252 and was succeeded by Robert FitzNiel, but their relationship is not known. He was killed at the Battle of Evesham in 1265 and was succeeded by his son, also Robert, who died in 1331 when it passed to his daughter, Grace, widow of John de Nowers. Their second son, Robert, inherited Mursley in 1349, but he had been struck in the head by a lance during a joust and had lost his memory. Custody of the Manor was therefore granted by the Crown to Robert's two kinsmen, provided they find him proper maintenance.

In 1351, the custodians made an inventory and among the items in the great hall was a piece of green tapestry hung against the wall with diverse coats of arms on it, a bench-covering, a wash-basin, three trestle-tables, and three fixed tables. In the Lord's chamber was a bed and beadspread, a mattress and a blanket. (Until recently, it had been thought that our medieval ancestors were a particularly unhygienic people, so note the presence of a wash-basin in what was a fairly minor family of manorial lords).

The FitzNiels were granted a market on Wednesdays and an annual, three-day fair in September by Henry III. Robert FitzNiel, in 1299, obtained a charter of free warren from Edward I and the family held the view of frankpledge from the 14th century. The market and fair, with the addition of a second fair for 14 to 16 August, were confirmed in 1416, and Mursley was not unimportant, having a Seigneurial Borough for much of the later Middle Ages.

From 1358, Mursley was in the possession of Princess Isabel, daughter of Edward III, and her husband, Ingelram de Courci, Earl of Bedford. It remained in the Bedfords until 1432 when it was sold to Robert Whittingham. In 1525, Mursley was settled on Edward Verney, son of Sir Ralph Verney of Middle Clayton, Bucks, ancestor of the Viscounts Fermanagh and Earls Verney, and remained in the family, from father to son, until its sale by Sir Ralph Verney MP in 1663 to Sir John Fortescue Bart of Salden. On the death of the last Baronet in 1729, the Manor passed to Viscountess Gage, great grand-daughter of Sir John Verney, who died in 1683. Lady Gage's trustees sold Mursley in 1736 to Hugh Barker, a merchant, who in about 1750 conveyed it to Sampson Gideon, a Jewish financier, whose son, also Sampson, was created Baron Eardley in 1789. On Lord Eardley's death in 1824 the Lordship was inherited by his three daughters, Selina, wife of John Walbanke Childers; Maria, wife of Lord Saye and Sele; and Charlotte, wife of Sir Culling Smith Bart. They sold Mursley to the Selby-Lowndes family of Whaddon in whose successors, Martin Selby-Lowndes Esquire and his sister, Jane, it now vests.

The Lordship lies three miles east of Winslow.

Rights, customs and incidents

(Including the historic right to Markets and Fair)
Robert FitzNiel, in 1299, obtained a charter of free warren from Edward I and the family held the view of frankpledge from the 14th century.

Associated manorial documents / archive references

• Add Chart 47482, 53092 British Library
• Chart Roll 27 Edw I, no 92 PRO
• Hund Roll (Rec Com) i, 26 PRO
• Cal Patent 1232-47, p351 PRO
• Chart Roll 3 & 4 HenV, no 2 PRO
• Feet of Fines (Bucks) 4 Jas I PRO
• Pleas Rec R, Hil 9 Jas I, m 7 PRO
• Close Roll 15 Chas II, pt vi no 18 PRO

Historical holder / succession information

1. Viscountess Gage, great grand-daughter of Sir John Verney
   1729|1683 · passed_to · historical_holder_or_transferee
   Source wording: On the death of the last Baronet in 1729, the Manor passed to Viscountess Gage, great grand-daughter of Sir John Verney, who died in 1683.