Thomas Freke Lewis inherited the Abbey Dore estate from John Higford in 1852. He was a Herefordshire landed proprietor, military officer and local magistrate, and was recorded in nineteenth-century directories as lord of the manor and chief landowner of Abbey Dore.

His manor lordship is directly stated in the 1876-77 directory and corroborated by a later directory.

Research sources:
- Littlebury's Directory and Gazetteer of Herefordshire, 1876-77, Abbeydore entry; directory entry for Abbeydore using 1891 parish statistics; C. J. Robinson, The Mansions and Manors of Herefordshire, 1873. — https://texts.wishful-thinking.org.uk/Littlebury1876/Abbeydore.html