Margaret

Personal and Family Information

Margaret was born about 1310, the daughter of unknown parents. The place is not known.

Her husband was Richard Stapledon. They were married, but the date and place have not been found. Their two known children were Richard (1341-?) and Thomasin (c1353-1419).

Events

Notes

Note 1

!Source: LANDOWNERSHIP South West Heritage Trust https://swheritage.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/Norton-Fitzwarren-Landownership.pdf

NORTON MANOR

Norton may have been among the lands in Somerset granted in 882 by Alfred, king of the

Saxons, to his thegn Æthelstan.9 In 1066 Norton Fitzwarren was held by Osmund, and it paid

geld for 5 hides. By 1086 it was part of the estates of the Count of Mortain and was held by

Alvred.10 This Alvred was Aluredus Pincerna, Alured or Alfred the Butler, the wealthiest of

the Count of Mortain’s tenants, with most of his land being held in south-west England.11 His

estate at Chiselborough, and presumably that of Norton, descended through the family to his

great-grandson John, surnamed de Montague .12 In

1210 John held manors including those of Norton and Chiselborough of the king, the rent for

Norton being £7 4s. 1d.13 The manor of Norton was held by him in 1212 for one knight’s fee

of the honour of Mortain.14

,…,

When Peter died in 1391 his heir was his son Sir Thomas but under the 1385

settlement Norton should have passed to Henry, his son by Eleanor.46 Possibly taking

advantage of the situation Richard Stapeldon gained possession of the manor and in 1393

John le Veel, presumably brother of Thomas, with some companions entered the manor by

force and expelled Stapeldon’s men and servants.47 Enquiries into the case were still ongoing

in 1397–8.48 In 1401 another assault was made on the manor, thrusting out the servants of

Richard, son of Richard Stapeldon and fixing iron bars before the gates.49 However, the Veel

family were unsuccessful in their attempts to regain the manor. >>> The younger Richard

Stapeldon died c. 1396 leaving a widow Margaret50 and a daughter Thomasine who married

Sir Richard Hankeford of Annery in Devon, son of Sir William Hankeford , Chief Justice of the King’s Bench. <<<

Richard Hankeford was in possession of the manor by 1404 52 and in 1412 he held

lands in Norton, valued at £40.53 After the death of his wife Thomasine he held her estates for

life.54 On his death in 1419 his son, also Richard , inherited the Norton estate. By his

first wife Elizabeth, daughter of Fulk, Lord Fitzwarren, the younger Richard inherited further

estates, Lord Fitzwarren’s son Fulk having died a minor without issue. By Elizabeth’s

daughter Thomasine the manor of Norton and the title of Lord Fitzwarren would come by

marriage to William Bourchier, ancestor of the Earl of Bath.55

When Sir Richard Hankeford died in 1431, the reversion of the manor of Norton

Fitzwarren, after the death of Anne, his second wife, was to his daughters by Elizabeth.56

Anne died in 1457, having remarried twice.57 Thomasine , the only surviving child

of Richard by Elizabeth,58 married, before 3 August 1437, William Bourghchier, styled ‘de

fitz Waryn’ by 1449.59 Their son and heir Fulk Bourchier, Lord Fitzwarren

inherited his mother’s lands upon his father’s death in 1469. He married Elizabeth ,

sister and co-heir of John, Lord Dinham , and in 1472 settled the manor on his

wife and her heirs.60 After Fulk Bourchier’s death in 1479 his widow Elizabeth married

secondly John Sapcott and thirdly Sir Thomas Brandon .61 When Elizabeth

died in 1516 her heir was her son John Bourchier, Lord Fitzwarren , created Earl of

Bath in 1536.62 The manor descended with the Earls of Bath like Huntspill until the

beginning of the 18th century.