Yaxlee Bulls Hall cum Blogates Hall

The lands to this manor le in the parishes of Yaxley and Thrandeston, on the Roman road from Norwich to Ipswich, and midway between Mellis on the west and Eye on the east. It is recorded in the Domesday that in Saxon times a manor was held by Bishop Aylmer, consistent of one carucate of land with five bordars, a ploughteam, and two acres of meadow, the whole valued at twenty shillings; after the conquest it was part of the holdings of William, Bishop of Thetford, and belonged to the church of Hoxne. Copinger, in his history of the county, says that the manor was vested int he Crown at the beginning of the reign of Edward I, but that the possessor by the end of this reign was one Sir William Bole or Bulle. In 1335 it was granted by deed to Richard de Blogate, and passed in 1367 to Sir Ralph de Hemenhale, who had a grant of free warren here. His son Sir Robert de Hemenhale inherited in 1370, and at hi death in 1402 Sir Hugh de Lancaster came into possession, but conveyed the manor to Joan, Lady Brayborooke, in the following year. The Blogate family interest was represented by John Blogate's lordship of the manor in 1428, and the next recorded possessor, in 1583, was William Yaxlee.

At the turn of the same century the lord was Anthony Yaxley, eldest son of John Herberd, alias Yaxley, serjeant-at-law, and most of the subsequent lords were Yaxleys (often spelt Yaxlee in the records until the eighteenth century).

Edward Yaxlee, who held his first court in 1726 was the last of the male line of his family to hold the lordship, and his tenure was short, his widow, Susanna Yaxlee, holding court two years later. At her death in 1735 the manor passed into the possession of Samuel Newstead, and thence in 1741 to Dr. John Mott - recorded from 1745 onwards as "John Thurston, lately called John Mott, Doctor of Phisick." Robert Buxton and Philip Meadows (formerly steward) were lords in trust until 1786 for Thomas Mott; John Thornton Mott succeeded in 1813, but his interest passed a year later to Charles Layton, whose steward Adam Taylor, in his court records, dropped the use of the lord's name in the proceedings so that names of successors are not available again until 1897, when Maria Mills, a widow, was the lady. Isabel Phoebe Morter and Edward Stolworthy Holmes became lord and lady in trust at her death in 1905 until the purchase of the manor by Henry Edwards Paine and George Frederick Beaumont in 1907. The trustees of the latter's will purchased Mr. Paine's share in 1953. It may be of interest to note that a later Bishop of Thetford, John Philips Allcot Bowers, who is still remembered with affection by many old residents in Norfolk, married Mr. G. F. Beaumont's sister while a curate at Coggeshall. A bronze tablet to his memory can be read in Norwich Cathedral.

The earlier court books each contain on the opening flyleaf the reminder that in this manor the custom of descent is "borough-English" - inheritance by the youngest son- but it is noted that this custom is not extended to collaterals. Two tenants of the manor were required to witness surrender of tenancies. The manor had its own Leet courts util 1840, and although these courts appear from the records to have been for the last forty years of a very perfunctory nature, the leets of most manors had been allowed to fall altogether into disuse before this date. Apart from election of constables, voting of the "common fine" (four shillings in this manor) and the routine fine of threepence on absentees, a representative of the manor was annually elected "to serve for the town of Yalxey at the turn of Finningham held of the honour of Eye," and fines were levied on those headboroughs who failed to "go the purlieu" - presumably a formal beating of the bounds.

The following may be singled out for mention among a mass of interesting entries:

Presentment of death of Charles, Lord Cornwallis (May, 1722)

New stocks to be erected before 24th June following (May, 1727)

Rent for "Daveys" in Thrandeston, 1/7d. a cock and two hens (May, 1727)

Leave to enclose waste near the Black Lyon, with the consent of the other tenants (ingress 2/6, quit rent one penny per annum "for ever"). (June, 1734)

Seizure of Kipping's tenement, ruinous and occupier missing (June, 1734)

Death of "Mary the late wife of the Rt. Hon. James Reynolds Esq., Lord Chief Baron of his Majesties Court of

Exchequer at Westminster," a copyhold tenant of the manor (1736).

20/0 fine for a dangerously decayed footpath.

Tenant "gone into parts beyond the seas or unknown" for fifteen years, and presumed deceased. His "youngest son and heir according to the Custom of this Manor" admitted as tenant. (Nov. 1741)

Surveyors fined 20/0 for failure to repair road. (Nov. 1741)

Forfeiture of tenancy for dilapidation (1745)

Common fine of 4/- payable by the churchwardens of the Parish of Yaxlee "as ancient custom." (1745)

Presentment of a tenant for several offences involving unlawful enclosure an d unauthorised erection of buildings (1759)

Licenses to enclose waste granted to several tenants including the Marquess Cornwallis (1813)

Death of the R. Hon. J. Hookham, Frere, a copyhold tenant of the manor. (1846)

Awards of enfranchisement under Copyhold Acts (1867-68)

The "Town House" held by the vicar as feoffee for the Charity trustees of the parish - las t of any transfers of this holding. (1905)

The Manorial Records to be handed over are:

Court Books: 1648-1703; 1703-26; 1727-58; 1759-92; 1793-1820; 1821-36; 1837-1924

Minute Books: 1736-46; 1747-56; 1757-1813; 1814-49; 1850-1907.

Rental Rolls: 1710; 1735; 1760; 1773-80

Survey: 1756

Stewards' Accounts and Rentals: 1740-65

Particulars of Sale: With photograph of Yaxlee Manor House

The following records in other hands were also relevant to the history of the manor:

Public Record Office: Court Rolls 10 Ric. 11, 1 Hen. VI, and extracts from a roll of 23 Hen. VIII. 1st Report on Public Records in 1800, p. 191 (referring to a compotus roll of 27 Hen. VIII).

Harleian MSS. (B.M.). Harl. 47D.45; 46F.15; 46E.25.

These have not been investigated and may contain items of historical, economic or genealogical interest to any one who many like to indulge in research work.

In a book entitled "The Betts of Wortham in Suffolk 1480-1905" by Katherine Francis Doughty published in 1912 by John Lane Ltd., New York and London, it is stated on page 53 that one of the Yaxlee family married a certain Thomas Sherman of Yaxlee, and the signatures of both are said to be attached to a deed of Bargain and Sale among the Betts' papers. The writer continues "From the Suffolk Shermans it is said that the whole family of that name in America is descended." In Vol. 1 of A.M. Burke's "Prominent Families in U.S.A." (1908, Sackville Press) appears the pedigree of the Sherman family, and it is stated that a certain "Henry Sherman of Colchester, Essex, who died in 1589 (probably the son of Thomas Sherman of Yaxlee, Co. Suffolk) had a grandson Edmund, born at Dedham, Essex, who went to America in 1632." The pedigree shows that the well known General, William Tecumseh Sherman, was a descendant of these Shermans.

Insurance of Records: £400, premium £1 p.a.

Commencement of Title: Deed dated 8th August, 1907

Rights, customs and incidents

In 1335 it was granted by deed to Richard de Blogate, and passed in 1367 to Sir Ralph de Hemenhale, who had a grant of free warren here.
Apart from election of constables, voting of the "common fine" (four shillings in this manor) and the routine fine of threepence on absentees, a representative of the manor was annually elected "to serve for the town of Yalxey at the turn of Finningham held of the honour of Eye," and fines were levied on those headboroughs who failed to "go the purlieu" - presumably a formal beating of the bounds.

Historical holder / succession information

1. Samuel Newstead, and thence in 1741 to Dr
   1735|1741 · passed_to · historical_holder_or_transferee
   Source wording: At her death in 1735 the manor passed into the possession of Samuel Newstead, and thence in 1741 to Dr.