Walter Ledet ^{1 2 3 4 5 6}

  Events

• Manorial Estate, 1254, Smeeton Manor, Smeeton Westerby, Kibworth, Leicester, Leicestershire, LE8, GB. ⁶ The land in the township held by de Grentemesnil in 1086 had by 1130 been acquired by Robert, Earl of Leicester, from whom it was then being held by Richard Basset. (fn. 428) No doubt the earl's father, Robert, Count of Meulan, had obtained them from Ivo de Grentemesnil, Hugh's son, early in Henry I's reign, at the same time as he obtained much other Grentemesnil property, (fn. 429) while Richard Basset had acquired much other land once held by de Buci. (fn. 430) The overlordship of this holding remained with the earls of Leicester until the death of Simon de Montfort in 1265, after which it passed to the earls, and later the dukes, of Lancaster. (fn. 431) Subsequently the Duchy of Lancaster seems to have retained some land at Smeeton in demesne, (fn. 432) while the rest was subinfeudated. The position of the under-tenants of this holding, which was generally known as the manor of SMEETON, is at first not clear. The holding was acquired, apparently in the mid-12th century, by Ivo of Neufmarché, (fn. 433) but it is not known when the Bassets relinquished the ownership. Ivo's heirs were his two daughters Emma, wife of Hugh de Senlis, and Aubrey, wife of a certain Ingebald. (fn. 434) Emma's rights passed to her son Henry de Senlis, and Aubrey's to her son Robert de Braybrook. Henry and Robert agreed to divide the lands that had once been Ivo's between them, and Robert's share included Smeeton Westerby. (fn. 435) Robert was bringing an action about land at Smeeton Westerby in 1203, (fn. 436) and his agreement with Henry may well have been made about that time. In 1208 King John confirmed Robert de Braybrook in the possession of land at Smeeton Westerby which had been handed over to him by Ralph de Turville. (fn. 437) There can be little doubt that this was the same land which had been held by Richard Basset from the Earl of Leicester in 1130, for in 1086, and again in 1130, the property is described as 4 carucates and 7 bovates, and in 1208 it is described as 19½ virgates, that is, 4 carucates and 7 bovates again. (fn. 438) How Turville obtained an interest in Smeeton Westerby is not clear, but from what is known of the descent of the manor at a later date there can be little doubt that it was held by Turville from the earls of Leicester, and was held by Braybrook from Turville. From an action brought in 1254 it seems that the manor was then held by Walter Ledet, Robert de Braybrook's descendant, from Ralph de Turville, and from Ledet by Walter de Langton. (fn. 439) In 1279 the manor was held from Edmund, Earl of Lancaster and Leicester, by the heirs of Nicholas de Turville, and from the heirs by William Latimer. (fn. 440) Latimer had married Alice, Walter Ledet's elder daughter and co-heir, and his younger brother John Latimer married Christine, Ledet's younger daughter. (fn. 441) No doubt William Latimer owed his possession of the manor to his wife. In 1282 John Latimer died possessed of 6¾ virgates at Smeeton, held in right of his wife Christine, from Ralph de Turville of Normanton. (fn. 442) William Latimer, at his death in 1304 or 1305, was holding 9 virgates and some other property at Smeeton in right of his wife Alice, from Turville. (fn. 443) Evidently the lands at Smeeton Westerby which Alice and Christine had inherited from their father had been divided between them.

The land held by the elder brother William Latimer descended to Nicholas Latimer, who may have been one of William's younger sons. (fn. 444) Nicholas died seised of property at Smeeton in 1325, (fn. 445) and was succeeded by his son John. When John, still possessed of the holding, died in 1343, his heir was said to be his son Nicholas, then a minor. (fn. 446) The descent of this holding cannot be traced further.

Footnotes:
428. Slade, Leics. Survey, 23.
429. E.H.R. liv. 386.
430. Slade, Leics. Survey, 12-13.
431. E.H.R. liv. 396-7, 400; Cal. Inq. p.m. iii, p. 319; Feud. Aids, vi. 558; R. Somerville, Hist. Duchy of Lanc. 339, 340; Bodl. MS. Rawl. B. 350, m. 21.
432. See p. 185.
433. B.M. Cott. MS. Caligula A. XII, ff. 91b, 92a.
434. Ibid. ff. 83a, 84b, 92a.
435. Ibid. ff. 91b, 92a.
436. Cur. Reg. R. iii. 44, 60, 63.
437. Rot. Chart. (Rec. Com.), i. 181.
438. V.C.H. Leics. i. 316; Slade, Leics. Survey, 23; Rot. Chart. (Rec. Com.), i. 181.
439. Assoc. Archit. Soc. Rep. & Papers, xxxv. 155.
440. Bodl. MS. Rawl. B. 350, m. 21.
441. W. Farrer, Honors and Knights' Fees, ii. 383 sqq.; Cal. Inq. p.m. ii, p. 284; Cal. Close, 1279-88, 325; Cal. Pat. 1266-72, 374; Abbrev. Plac. (Rec. Com.), 187, 262; Complete Peerage, vii. 464.
442. Cal. Inq. p.m. ii, p. 284.
443. Ibid. xiii, p. 278.

Walter married Ermentrude.¹ (Ermentrude died after 8 Feb 1257 ¹.)