A sample of the stories:
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Meet William de Parles, husband of an heir to a quarter of the knight’s fee. Found guilty of murder and hanged in 1278, his family asserted his innocence and claimed a rigged trial … all to no avail.
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Similarly, the intriguing Catesby family, who came to hold the third manor of Watford by marriage. William was beheaded for treason by King Henry VII, while Robert, 120 years later, was shot dead after discovery of the Powder Plot.
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Eustace de Ardern de Watford, barely able to pay scutage - a fine - for not sailing with the king's army to France.
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Thomas Burneby, in prison for debt, at the point of losing his manor.
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Along the way, a Burneby heiress, married off at the age of 15, is dead at 19.
A narrative of the Knight's Fee and Manors of Watford in five parts.
Told through true stories of the manor through medieval times.
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Part 1 :
Watford after the Conquest
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The people :
de Clare
de Arden / Ardern / Arderne
de Watford
Arms of de Clare
Arms of de Watford
Part 2 :
The de Burneby
Manor
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The people :
de Burneby
Part 3 :
The de Parles &
Cumberford Manor
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The people :
de Parles
Cumberford
Spencer
Part 4 :
The de Watford &
Catesby Manor
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The people :
de Watford
Catesby
Owen
Watkyn
Part 5 :
The End of the Watford Manors
The people :
Clerke
Craven, Clarke, Francklin, Becher, Hanbury
Cartwright
Breton
Earl Spencer
Lord Eden Henley
The Timeframe:
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In 1066, the Normans Conquer England.
The Lords of de Clare hold Watford for more than 50 years
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In the early 12th century, the parish is given to the Arderns of Watford.
150 years, the manor is held by the Arderns of Watford
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1276, Lord Eustace de Watford IV dies;
Watford split into several manors
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350 years, the three manors of Watford held by the heirs of Ardern
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1626, George Clerke the elder begins buying Watford lands
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For more than 50 years, one manor of Watford is held by the Clerkes
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1689, George Clerke the younger dies,
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1690 - 1725, George Clerke's estate is shared among his daughters and nephew, and/or sold
Images of the Ancient Arms of Catesby, Parles, and Burneby by Swyrich Corporation.