Sir Thomas Waldegrave of Smallbridge, Suffolk ^{2 3 4}

  General Notes:

Knighted at the Battle of Towton (20 Mar 1461)

  Events

• Manorial Estate, 1464-1472, Westley Manor, Westley Waterless, Newmarket, Cambridgeshire, CB8, GB. ⁵ In 1066 the abbot of Ely held 3 hides in Westley which were later associated with lands in Fulbourn and Teversham and were possibly acquired with those lands in the late 10th century. (fn. 15) In the late 12th century Agnes de Valognes granted to Gunnore her fee in those three places, held of the bishop of Ely for the service of 2 knights. WESTLEY was presumably the manor, worth £15, which Agnes had held in 1185. (fn. 16) In 1212 Gunnore's second husband Robert FitzWalter (d. 1235) was lord, (fn. 17) and his descendants later held the mesne lordship, Robert FitzWalter (d. 1326) being succeeded by his son Robert (d. 1328), by that Robert's son John, later Lord FitzWalter, and by Walter, Lord FitzWalter (d. 1386). (fn. 18) By 1227 the manor had been subinfeudated to Christine, daughter of Gunnore and Robert, who held it with her second husband Raymond de Burgh. (fn. 19) Raymond died in 1230, Christine without issue in 1232, and in the mid 13th century John de Burgh, son of Raymond's uncle the justiciar Hubert de Burgh, sold the manor to Walter de Crek, whose son John, M.P. and sheriff of Cambridgeshire, held Westley in 1299 and is commemorated by a brass (c. 1325) in the church. (fn. 20) In 1353 Master John de Crek granted the manor of Westley in tail to Sir Edmund Vauncey and his wife Joan, John's niece, and Sir Edmund held it at his death in 1372. (fn. 21) His heir, also Edmund, then a minor, died in 1389 leaving his half-sister Joan as heir. (fn. 22) She and her first husband Thomas Prior held Westley in 1392 and 1412. (fn. 23) In 1422 her second husband, John Hore of Childerley, conveyed the manor to Sir Richard Waldegrave (d. 1435) (fn. 24) whose son and heir Sir Richard was succeeded c. 1464 by his son Sir Thomas. (fn. 25) Sir Thomas died in 1472 leaving a son William under age (fn. 26) who in 1487 sold Westley to Richard Gardiner, a London alderman (d. 1489). (fn. 27)

Footnotes:
15. V.C.H. Cambs. i. 364; Farrer, Feud. Cambs. 107; Saga Bk. of Viking Soc. iv. 113.
16. Cat. Anct. D. ii, A 3699; Farrer, Feud. Cambs. 106.
17. Red Bk. Exch. (Rolls Ser.), ii. 525; Saunders, Eng. Baronies, 129\endash 30.
18. Cal. Inq. p.m. vii, p. 129; xiv, pp. 230\endash 1; xvi, p. 141; Complete Peerage, v. s.v. FitzWalter.
19. Rot. Litt. Claus. (Rec. Com.), ii. 201; Farrer, Feud. Cambs. 165.
20. Ex e Rot. Fin. (Rec. Com.), i. 199\endash 200, 241; Knights of Edw. I, i (Harl. Soc. lxxx), 160\endash 1; Plac. de Quo Warr. (Rec. Com.), 106; R. K. M. Davies, Church of Westley Waterless (1970), 4\endash 5.
21. C.P. 25(1)/28/77 no. 21; Cal. Inq. p.m. xiv, pp. 230\endash 1.
22. Cal. Inq. p.m. xiv, pp. 230\endash 1; C 136/64 no. 11; V.C.H. Herts. iii. 167.
23. C.P. 25(1)/30/90 no. 15; Feud. Aids, vi. 407; E.D.R. (1900), 160.
24. C.P. 25(1)/30/96 no. 1; Cal. Fine R. 1430\endash 7, 216.
25. Cal. Fine R. 1430\endash 7, 237; Cal. Pat. 1461\endash 7, 573.
26. Cal. Fine R. 1471\endash 85, p. 36; Cal. Pat. 1467\endash 76, 338.
27. C.P. 25(1)/30/101 no. 3.

Thomas married Elizabeth Fray, daughter of Sir John Fray and Agnes Danvers.^{1 2} (Elizabeth Fray was born about 1441,¹ died after 13 Jan 1495 ¹ and was buried in St. Augustine's Church, Churchfields, Broxbourne, Hertfordshire, EN10 7AU, GB ¹.)