A History of Horncastle, from the earliest period to the present time. James Conway Walter
A dispute arose in the following year between Richard Thymelby and Robert Savile, which was submitted to arbitrators (Feb. 15, 7 Elizabeth), who ordered Richard Thymelby to pay Robert Savile £1,500, and Robert Savile should then convey all to Richard Thymelby. The £1,500 was paid and afterwards the two “confederated to defraud the said Richard Gardiner and conveyed the said manors to John Kent.” The judgment of the court is not given, but neither of the defendants, surely, cut a very creditable figure, and Richard Thymelby, suitably, we must admit, passes from the scene.
Of the Saviles we may here give a few more particulars. Gervase Holles, the antiquary, mentions in his Collectanea (vol. iii, p. 770) John Savile, Esq., as Lord of the Manor of Tetford, in this neighbourhood, in the reign of Elizabeth, and as joint Lord of Somersby with Andrew Gedney, Esq. (of the latter and his wife there is a very fine sepulchral monument in the church of the adjoining parish of Bag Enderby). The most distinguished literary member of the family was Sir Henry Savile, a learned mathematician, Fellow and Warden of Merton College, Oxford, and Provost of Eton; a munificent patron of learning, founding Professorships of Astronomy and Geography at his University; he wrote a Treatise on Roman Warfare, but his great work was a translation of the writings of St. Chrysostom, a monument of industry and learning; he was knighted by James I., and his bust is carved in stone in the quadrangle of the Bodleian Library at Oxford, among those of other benefactors. Charles I. conferred the Earldom of Sussex on Thomas, Lord Savile of Pontefract. Several members of the family were Seneschals, or Stewards, of Wakefield. George was created Marquis of Halifax, another was Baron of the Exchequer. The name is given in the Conqueror’s Roll of Battle Abbey (A.D. 1066), Hollinshed’s version, as Sent Ville, in Stow’s version as Sant Vile, while a Chancery Inquisition (of 18 Henry VII., No. 46, Architectural Society’s Journal, 1895, p. 17) gives it as Say-vile, and on the analogy of Nevill, formerly de Novâ-villâ, we may perhaps assume that the original form was de Sanctâ-villâ (or “of the Holy City”); which may well have been adopted by one who had made a pilgrimage to Canterbury, Rome, or Jerusalem itself.
I should, however, add that a member of the family, Miss Elizabeth J. Savile, who has herself dug to the roots of the genealogical tree, gives a different version of their origin. According to her they are descended from the Dukes de Savelli, who again trace their lineage from the still more ancient Sabella in Italy. When John Savile, 2nd son of Sir John Savile, travelled in Italy in the time of James I., the then Duke de Savelli received him as a kinsman. Of this family were the Popes Honorius III. and Honorius IV. A MS. Visitation in the British Museum says “It is conceived, that this family came into England with Geoffrey Plantagenet, rather than with the Conqueror, because there are two towns of this name on the frontiers of Anjou, both of which were annexed to the crown of England when the said Geoffrey married Maud, sole daughter and heir of Henry I.” This is said to have been taken from the Savile pedigree in the keeping of Henry Savile of Bowlings, Esq., living in 1665. The Saviles of Methley trace their descent, in the male line, from this Sir John Savile of Savile Hall. One branch, the Saviles of Thornhill, are now represented in the female line by the Duke of Devonshire, and the Savile Foljambes, one of whom is the present Lord Hawkesbury. The Saviles of Copley, now extinct, are represented by the Duke of Norfolk, and a younger branch by the Earls of Mexborough. The opinion that they came from Anjou is generally accepted, the authorities being Yorkshire Pedigrees, British Museum Visitations, Gregorovius, uno frio, Panvinio, and other chroniclers.
We now proceed to notice the other persons, of more or less repute, who were at various periods owners in Horncastle. In the 3rd year of King John we find Gerard de Camville paying fees for land in Horncastle by his deputy, Hugo Fitz Richard, to the amount of £836, which was a large sum in those days. [26a] He was sheriff of the county, A.D. 1190, along with Hugo. [26b] The name, however, is more known for the celebrated defence of Lincoln Castle by Nicholaia de Camville against the besieging forces of King Stephen in 1191, and again in her old age against Henry III., assisted by Louis, Dauphin of France. An ancestor of William de Camville is named in the Battle Abbey Roll, among those Normans who came over with the Conqueror.
William de Lizures and Eudo de Bavent are also named as paying similar fees, though to smaller amounts. The de Lizures were a powerful Yorkshire family, who inter-married with the De Lacys of Pontefract Castle and inherited some of their large estates. [27a] Among these, one was the neighbouring manor of Kirkby-on-Bain, which would seem to have passed to the Lady Albreda Lizures; [27b] they probably derived their name from the town of Lisieux, near Harfleur in Normandy. We soon lose sight of this family in England, and they seem to have migrated northward and to have acquired lands in Scotland. The name De Lizures is common in Scottish Cartularies, for instance in the Cartulary of Kelso, p. 257 (Notes & Queries, series 2, vol. xii, p. 435). In 1317 William and Gregory de Lizures were Lords of Gorton, and held lands near Roslyn Castle, Edinburgh (Genealogie of the Saint Claires of Roslyn, by Father Augustin Hay, re-published Edinburgh, 1835), [Notes & Queries, 3rd series, vol. i, p. 173].
The De Bavents were also a distinguished family, their connection with Horncastle survives in the name of a field in the south of the parish, on the Rye farm, which is called “Bavent’s Close.” A few particulars of this family may not be without interest. The earliest named are Richard de Bavent in 1160, [27c] and Eudo de Bavent in 1161, [27d] as holding the manor of Mareham-le-Fen, in the extreme south of the Horncastle soke, under Henry II., “by service of falconry.” [27e] Eudo (about 1200) gave “to God, the Cathedral, and Chapter of Lincoln,” his lands in the north fen of Bilsby. [27f] The family seem to have gradually increased their possessions in this neighbourhood. In 1290, under Edward I., we find Jollan de Bavent holding lands in Billesby and Winceby, as well as Mareham. [27g] In 1319, under Edward II., Robert de Bavent holds his land in Billesby of the King by the service of supplying “3 falcons for the royal use,” [27h] and, under Edward III., certain trustees of Peter de Bavent, by his will, transfer the manor of Mareham to the convent of Revesby, to provide a monk who shall daily throughout the year say masses “for the souls of the said Peter and Catherine, his wife, for ever.” [27i] Truly “L’ homme propose, et Dieu dispose,” for from this time forward we hear little of the Bavents. They may “call their lands after their own names,” “Bavent’s Close” survives, but of the whilom owner we can only say, in the words of Coleridge:
The knight’s bones are dust,
And his good sword rust,
His soul is with
The saints, we trust.
Another family of distinction connected with Horncastle was that of the Angevines. Among the Carlisle documents is one [27j] shewing that a trial was held at Horncastle (A.D. 1489–90), in which Sir Robert Dymoke, Knt., and William Angevin, Esq., recovered possession of 400 acres of land, with tofts and appurtenances, in Horncastle and its soke, from John Hodgisson and his wife, John Cracroft, Gervase Clifton (of Clifton) and others. This family probably acquired their name thus: William the Conqueror brought to England from Normandy a body of troops called the “Angevine auxiliaries” (from the province of Anjou), and their descendants were granted lands in various parts of the kingdom. One family especially seems to have adopted this name, which was variously spelt as Angevine, Aungelyne, Aungeby, &c.; they settled in various parts of this county at an early period, and Horncastle being a royal manor they naturally were located in this neighbourhood. We find traces of them at Whaplode in the south, Saltfleetby in the north, and Theddlethorpe midway, in the 12th and 14th centuries. [28a] Among Lincoln records is the will of Robert Angevin, Gent., [28b] of Langton by Horncastle, dated 25 April, 1545, in which he requests to be buried in the Church of St. Margaret (then a much larger edifice than the present); he leaves to his son land in Hameringham, and to his widow, for life, and his four daughters, lands in Burnsall, Hebden, Conyseat and Norton, in the County of York. His brother, John Angevin, resided at West Ashby, then a hamlet of Horncastle. William Angevin, Gent., of Theddlethorpe [28c] is named in the official list of Lincolnshire freeholders made in 1561, and the name also appears in the Visitation of 1562, but all traces of the family disappear before the time of the commonwealth.
The same Carlisle document [28d] mentions Thomas Fitz-William as concerned in the said dispute, as being a Horncastle proprietor; while, further, another Carlisle document of the time of Henry VIII., shows that Thomas Fitz-William, Esq., was seized of one capital messuage, 6