The
lay manor was for a time retained by the Crown in its own hands. It was afterwards
in 1510 leased out by Queen Elizabeth to Henry Earl of Pembroke. In the eighteenth
year of her reign, (anno 1576), the same queen granted the reversion of the manor
to Sir Francis Walsiugham, one of the principal Secretaries of State, J Sir P.
"Walsingham had one only daughter, Frances, who was married to Richard, fourth
Earl of Clanricarde, of the kingdom of Ireland, (afterwards Lord St. Alban's),
and their daughter, Honora de Burgh, in 1633, married John Powlett, Marquis of
Winchester.} The Earl, before the marriage, settled the Manor of Bradford upon
the Marquis of Winchester and his heirs by Honora de Burgh. There were born to
them, in course of time, four sons and three daughters. The Lord Francis Powlett,
second son of the said Marquis, by surviving his elder brother, became entitled
to the manor and premises, as well as, by a settlement of the manor and lands
made on him and the heirs of Iris body, by the Marquis of Winchester in his life-time.
The Lord Francis Powlett's daughter was married to the Rev. Nathan Wright, of
Englefield, county Berks, second son of Nathan Wright, Lord Keeper, and through
her he obtained the Manor of Bradford. From him it descended to his son, Mr. Powlett
Wright, of Englefield. In the year 1774, Mr. Powlett Wright sold the same, except
the farms called Barton Farm and Lady Down Farm, sundry houses and dispersed lands,
and a right of fishing, to Paul Methuen, Esq., of Corsham, the ancestor of the
present Lord Methuen, free from a Crown rent of £13 :16 : 8£, with
which it was chargeable, but subject to an annual payment of 38/-, out of the
said manor to the old alms-house. From the Methuen family, it was obtained through
purchase by the Hobhouse family, the representative of whom, the present Lord
Broughton, still holds it. It is still subject as before to the annual payment
of £1:18 : 0 to the alms-house.
[ The Earl of Clanricarde, about 1613-16, sold off several portions of the estate to John Bayley alias Staunton, Edward Long, Robert Graunt, Walter Earbury (Yerbury) and others,]
Below are the original pages from an early 18th century copy of Queen Elizabeth`s grant to Francis Walsingham in 1588.
[ The Earl of Clanricarde, about 1613-16, sold off several portions of the estate to John Bayley alias Staunton, Edward Long, Robert Graunt, Walter Earbury (Yerbury) and others,]
Below are the original pages from an early 18th century copy of Queen Elizabeth`s grant to Francis Walsingham in 1588.
