Westhey (or Westhay) and Faldo

In 1312 William son of William de Keynes of Faldo and Joan, probably a grandson of the original holder, defended his mother in an action which she brought against Robert Michel, concerning her dower of 10 marks of annual rent paid from her tenants in Higham, Faldo, and elsewhere. This William joined the earl of Lancaster's rebellion in 1322, and his estates were forfeited; but he was afterwards pardoned, and his possessions were restored to his heir in 1324, William's death having occurred in the interval. This heir, another William Keynes, died in 1336, leaving as his co-heiresses his four aunts, Christina, Emma, Alice, and Margery. Alice, who at that date was married to Roger Foliot, appears to have married as her second husband Ralph Fitz Richard, with whom, in 1389, she made a settlement of two parts of the manor, which here appears for the first time in conjunction with the manor of Westhey, of which no earlier record has been found. There is no further mention of the manor of Faldo until 1613, when it reappears with Westhey as one manor. The latter manor, which in 1389 was in the possession of Ralph and Alice Fitz Richard, had come into the hands of Ralph and Elizabeth Hamelyn by 1408, and in 1485 it was the property of Thomas Bassingbourn, who in 1500, with his wife Katherine, alienated the manor to Sir Reginald Bray. The manor for a short time was held by the Brays, with the manor of Haynes (q.v.). Sir Edmund Bray, the nephew of Sir Reginald, probably alienated the manor to the descendants of his mother and her first husband Isaac ap Rys, or Aprice, as by 1559 it was in the possession of William Aprice, a grandson of Isaac and Jane Aprice. William in that year made a settlement of the manor on his sons in tail male, and it passed to his eldest son Robert, who was lord in 1604. In 1613 Robert united with his brothers Edmund and John to alienate the manor to Francis Crawley, the amalgamation of the manors having apparently taken place before this date. Francis Crawley or his descendants evidently conveyed the manor to the Crowch family, for Samuel Crowch was holding it in 1656. The latter, with his wife Mary and several relatives, sold the manor in the same year to Anthony Samwell, who did not retain it for long, for in 1662 he, with his wife Anne, his son William and his brother Arthur, alienated the manor to Thomas Halfpenny. It remained in the Halfpenny family for about sixty years. Thomas, dying in 1684, was succeeded by his son Thomas, sheriff for Bedfordshire in 1685, who, with his wife Mary, owned the manorial rights in 1702. Bernard, probably a son of Thomas, alienated the manor in 1725 to Sir George Byng, Lord Torrington, whose grandson George was holding it in 1762. After that date there is no trace of the manorial rights, which probably lapsed, but the manor house still exists, and is known as Faldo Farm.