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Thomas Hollylande, fighting for the family home.

For generations, “home” to the Leicestershire Holylands was the village of Desford. The surviving Desford parish registers start from 1559, and the first mention of any of the Holyland family was in 1564 with the burial of Thomas Holyland.

However, the Holylands had their home in Desford prior to this. An 1827 copy of the “Calendar to Pleadings and Depositions” during the reigns of the Tudor monarchs is available on the internet via Google Books (1), and contains the following:

Date: Reign: 1+2 Phil + Mar  (ie 1553-4)

Plaintiff: Thomas Hollylande, Son of Agnes Hollylande, Widow, deceased, a Tenant by the Custom of the Manor of Desford 

Defendants: Robert Dewsburye otherwise called Strynger, Reve of the Manor of Desford, and Nicholas Crosbie who was admitted Tenant of the Premises after an alledged Forfeiture.

Premises and matters in dispute: Disputed Title to a Messuage, Cottage, Land, and Pasture claimed by the Plaintiff as devised to him by his Mother’s Will, to hold until Henry Hollylande son to Christopher Hollylande should be able to occupy the same, with Remainder to the said Plaintiff, who charged that the Reve of the Manor was called to receive a Penny to testify the Grant, and contrary to his Oath did refuse; that the Plaintiff was ready at the next Court after the Death of the Testator to make his Fine to the Steward, and no one was ready to receive the same; that there was no Court at the following Easter by reason of the Attainder and Execution of Henry late Duke of Suffolk; that the Officers refused to admit him at a subsequent Court, and that Nicholas Crosbie entered and took Possession contrary to the Custom; the Answer of Robert Dewsburye alledged, that Thomas Hollylande, the Elder, gave the premises to Christopher Hollylande, and Elizabeth his wife, without Surrender, and thereby forfeited his Title and Interest, and the Premises were seized into the King and Queen’s Hands, and were demised to the Defendant Nicholas Crosbie.

(“Henry, late Duke of Suffolk” was the father of Lady Jane Grey and was executed on 23 Feb 1554).

The outcome of the case is not recorded, but you can sense the frustration that Thomas felt with the bureaucracy which he felt was denying him his inheritance.

Further information about the system of inquisitions post-mortem is available. (2)

I have been unable to trace Agnes’s will upon which this case was predicated. Neither can I be sure how these Holylands fit into the family tree. However, the parish registers include the Holyland burials (with various variants of the surname) of Thomas (1564 and 1600), Elizabeth (1571 and 1588/9), Christopher (1588), and Henery (1615); at least some of these are almost certainly the people mentioned in the court case.

 

The Old Forge, Desford – an altered  16th century building. Image from Google Streetview

Desford itself still has a small number of buildings extant from this time period, including the Old Forge, at 16 High Street, and a house on Main Street next to the church (3). It would be fascinating to know what became of Agnes Hollylande’s  cottage !

1.       https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=vOwibkaUxE4C&pg=PA185&lpg=PA185&dq=%22Thomas+Hollylande%22&source=bl&ots=CbAZFOD7y5&sig=ACfU3U1dyZ7-wLs5HWbfH2Wpo267IQbISg&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwic3tq7pIjwAhXITBUIHbdnD7MQ6AEwAXoECAEQAw#v=onepage&q=%22Thomas%20Hollylande%22&f=false

 

2.       http://www.medievalgenealogy.org.uk/guide/ipm.shtml

 

3.       https://www.desfordparishcouncil.co.uk/brief-history.html

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