The ancestors of the Baron Scales came into possession of
the manors of Newsells, Hertfordshire and Rivenhall [Ruenhala ] Manor, Cressing,
Witham, Norfolk in 1255 by the marriage of Sir Robert de Scales to Alice de
Rochester (or de Roffa/Rossa), whose family had held the manors since 1210.
Robert died in 1256.
Peter de Scales was Robert's[i] eldest son who inherited his
father's lands but died shortly afterwards in 1258.
Robert [ii] de Scales is Peter's younger brother who
inherited their father's lands upons Peter's death in 1258. Robert was involved
in several expeditions to France and had summons to Parliament. He was listed
at Dover Castle from 1261-2, as was a Sir Radulfus de Escales [de Scales].[1]
Upon Robert's death in 1266 he was succeeded by his son Robert, who he had by
his wife Muriel, and who was to become the first of the Baron Scales. Left a
widow called Clemencia.
The Scales family's main residences were Middleton in
Norfolk, Newsells in Hertfordshire and Rivenhall [aka Ruenhala, Rewenhale] [aka
Rewenhale] in Cressing, Witham, Norfolk or Essex? but also held other lands
including Ouresby and Torneton in Lincolnshire.
Also Alice de Roucestre [daughter of Ralph de Roucestre
& wife of Robert de Scales] held manor of Hecelingfeld [Haslingfield in
county of Cambridge – there in Heclingfield [ Haslingfield], Cambridgeshire] is
a connection with John le Rus [pre-1279]- the large stone house of John le Rus
outside Trumpington gate, where the Fitzwilliam Museum now stands, no trace
survives [ref: Stokes, Outside Trumpington Gates (C.A.S. Publ. 1908), 40.].
Ref association with Rewenhal also: Calendar of
Patent Rolls 1268: MEMBRANE 17d. : Grant by Nicholas de Audele son of Henry de
Audele to Robert Burnel of an acre of land in Rewenhal which lies in the field
called 'Peycecroft' with the advowson of the said town, which he had of the
gift of the prior of Cruceroyes, who had it of the gift of William de Roffa;
to hold to him, his heirs and assigns, doing to the said prior the service due
and accustomed, as contained in the charter of feoffment which the said
Nicholas has from the prior Robert; with warranty of the premises against all
persons for ever; Witnesses, Sirs Hugh son of Otes, William Charles, Robert de
Scaccario, Henry de Engayne, William de Wokendon, knights, John de Kirkeby,
clerk, Master Ralph de Frenigham, William de Middilton, Master Hugh de Tornham
and others.
Under the bio of Alice’s uncle: Parson Lord Piers Peter de
Merck de Roucestre de Rovecestria de Rovencestria of Rewenhale aka: Rivenhall:
Peter was also rector of Rivenhall.
Citation: The Complete Peerage, by Cokayne, Vol. XI, p. 499
- Records Piers father as WILLIAM DE ROUCESTRE [no dates are recorded]
The said Peter 3 years before his death demised to the
Master of the Knights of the Temple in England the manor of Rewenhale (co.
Essex) for six years for 22 pounds yearly, whereof the said Master gave him 66
pounds in hand for 3 years.
On Saturday before the Ascension [40th day of
Easter, Ascension in 1255 was celebrated 4 April], 39 Hen. III [8 May 1255] came
Brother William d'Estre, preceptor of Kersing and Wyham, and other brethren by
the will of the Master and returned the said [Rewenhale] manor to the said
Peter de Roucestre, who gave them about 100a. land in the said manor in frank
almoign; and the same day he granted by charter to Robert de Scales (his nephew-in-law,
since Robert was married to Alice de Roucestre?) the manor of Rewenhale [Essex,
aka: Rivenhall], and to his sister, Avice, the manor of Newesel (county of Hertford,
Wylton co. Norfolk); and on the Sunday following [15th May] Peter
took their homage after making them swear to find a chaplain forever to
celebrate for his soul, and that if he should recover the said Robert de Scales
would give Peter de Roucestre his [Robert’s] manor of Hoo [Manor of Hoo, ST.
WARBURGH] [is this a connection to Alice
Hawise de Hoo? Is Alice de Hoo also Alice de Roucestre?] in county of Norfolk
for life, and the said Alice would give him the manor of Hecelingfeld
[Haslingfield] in county of Cambridge for life; and he commanded his servants,
who on Monday [17 May] following put the said Robert in seisin of Rewenhal Manor,
and on Tuesday [18 May 1255] the said Alice of Newsell manor; and so she
remained until Friday [27 May 1255] in Whitsun week when the escheators ejected
her. The said Peter was of good memory always until his death, and a little
before his death assumed the dress of the Knight Templars.
Archives ref:
https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C9745172 -: Peter De Rossa,
Parson of Rewenhale. Essex: Rivenhall manor, Cressing, Witham. Norfolk:
Hockwold(?). Cambridgeshire: Haslingfield. Hertfordshire: Newsells.
History of the Manor of Hoo:
BEFORE the conquest, the Manor of Hoo, ST. WARBURGH, with
the court of the hundred, was in the possession of Godwin Earl of Kent, from
whom it descended to king Harold, and after the conquest was given by the
Conqueror to his half-brother Odo, bishop of Baieux, under the general title of
whose lands it is thus entered in the general survey of Domesday.
The bishop of Baieux himself holds Hou in demesne. It was
taxed at 50 sulings, and now at 33. The arable land is 50 carucates. In demesne
there are 4 and 100 villeins, wanting three, with 61 cottagers, having 43
carucates. There are 6 churches, and 12 servants, and 32 acres of meadow. Wood
for the pannage of 30 hogs. The whole manor, in the time of king Edward the
Confessor, was worth 60 pounds, when the bishop received it the like, and now
as much, and yet he who holds it pays 100 and 13 pounds. To this manor there
belonged nine houses in the city of Rochester, and they paid six shillings, now
they are taken away. This manor earl Godwin held. Of this manor Richard de
Tonebridge held half a suling, and wood for the pannage of 20 hogs. In the time
of king Edward and afterwards it was, and now is worth 40 shillings. Adam, son
of Hubert, holds of the same manor one suling, and one yoke of the bishop, and
one of his tenants has there in demesne half a carucate, and four villeins with
half a carucate and one cottager. It is and was worth 30 shillings. Anschitil de Ros held of this
same manor of Hoo for three sulings, and he has there in demesne one
carucate and five villeins, with 12 cottagers, having one carucate and a half.
There are five servants, and one mill of ten shillings, and 12 acres of meadow,
and two fisheries of five shillings. In the time of king Edward, and
afterwards, it was worth six pounds, now six pounds and five shillings.
On the disgrace of the Bishop Odo of Baieux [Bayeux], about
four years afterwards, his estates were confiscated to the crown, and among
them this of Hoo.
King Richard I. exchanged the manor and hundred with Hugh
Bardolf, for the honour of Bampton, in Devonshire, which had been forfeited to
the crown by Fulk Paganel, or Painel, as he was usually called, to whom it had
been given by king Henry II. (fn. 2) He was a younger son of William Bardolf,
of Stoke Bardolf, and bore for his arms, Azure, three cinquefoils pierced or,
as they remain on the roof of the cloisters of Christ church, Canterbury. He
died without issue, (fn. 3) on which this estate of Hoo became vested in the
crown, whence it was granted, anno 17 king John, to Hubert de Burgh, (fn. 4)
then chief justice of England, and afterwards earl of Kent, on whose disgrace
it seems to have become vested in Henry Grey and Hugh Poinz, in right of their
wives, two of the five nieces and co. heirs of Robert Bardolph above mentioned,
in separate moieties.
Henry Grey left a son, Sir Richard Grey, whose principal
seat was at Codnor, in Derbyshire, whose descendants were the barons Grey of
Codnor. One of these, John lord Grey, of Codnor, paid respective aid for it in
the 20th year of king Edward III. as half a fee, which Henry de Grey before
held in the parish of Wereburghe in Hoo of the king. He lived to a good old
age, and dying about the 15th year of king Richard II. was succeeded by
Richard, his grandson, (son of Henry, who died in his life time) who in the
reign of king Henry IV. purchased the other moiety of this manor, and so became
entitled to the whole fee of it.
But to return to this other moiety, which came into the
possession of Hugh Poinz. His great grandson, Nicholas Poinz, died possessed of
it in the 1st year of king Edward I. holding it in capite, by the service of
half a knight's fee. (fn. 5) He left Hugh Poinz, his son and heir, who had
summons among the barons of this realm, in the 23d year of king Edward I. as
had Nicholas, his son, in the next reign of king Edward II. whose descendant,
Nicholas lord Poinz, having married Alianore, the daughter of Sir John Erleigh,
died about the middle of king Edward III.'s reign, leaving two daughters his
coheirs, Amicia, wife of John Barry, and Margaret, wife of John Newborough.
(fn. 6) They joined in the sale of this moiety to Judd, from which name it
passed in the reign of king Henry IV. by sale, to Richard lord Grey, of Codnor,
as before mentioned, who then became possessed of the entire fee of the manor
of Hoo.
¶Richard lord Grey was much in favour with king Henry IV.
who conferred many great offices on him, and employed him much, as well in war
as in civil negociations. He died in the 5th year of Henry V. it then descended
down to Henry lord Grey, who died possessed of it in the 11th year of king
Henry VII. without lawful issue, and was buried at Aylesford, (fn. 7) under
which parish a further account of this family may be seen. Upon which, although
the manor and castle of Codnor came to Elizabeth, his aunt and heir, wife of
Sir John Zouche, a younger son of William lord Zouch, of Haringworth, who bore
for their arms, Gules, ten bezantes; which arms, with a canton, remain on the
roof of the cloisters at Canterbury; yet this manor of Hoo continued in the
possession of the lady Catherine Grey (afterwards remarried to Sir William de
la Pole) for the term of her life, and she died possessed of it, as appears by
the Escheat Rolls, anno 1521; after which it devolved to Sir John Zouche above
mentioned, who likewise died possessed of it in 1529. He was succeeded in it by
Thomas Cornewall, who was possessed of it at his death, in the 30th year of that
reign, as appears by the inquisition then taken. Sir Thomas Wyatt, of
Allington-castle, was the next proprietor of this manor; and he, in the 34th
year of king Henry VIII. conveyed the hundred and lordship of Hoo, and the
manor of Little Hoo, late belonging to Boxley abbey, (fn. 8) among other
premises, to that king.
They continued in the crown till king Edward VI. in his 5th
year, granted to Sir George Brooke, lord Cobham, &c. the hundred of Hoo,
and the manors of Great and Little Hoo, to hold in capite by knights service;
but his unfortunate grandson, Henry lord Cobham, being convicted of high
treason in the 1st year of king James I. though he had pardon of his life, yet
he forfeited all his estates to the crown, and among them these at Hoo, all
which were confirmed to the crown by an act passed in the 3d year of that
reign. Soon after which these manors were granted to Sir Robert Cecil, earl of
Salisbury (son of William lord Burleigh) who was afterwards lord treasurer of
England, &c. and had married Elizabeth, sister of Henry lord Cobham above
mentioned. He died possessed of them in 1612, and was succeeded in them by his
only son and heir, William earl of Salisbury, who, in the 4th year of king
Charles I. alienated them to Sir Edward Hales, bart. who possessed them at his
death, in 1654; whose grandson, Sir Edward Hales, bart. became his heir, and
entitled as such to these manors; but he possessed only the court baron of
them; for the view of frank pledge belonging to the hundred, appears by the
court rolls to have continued, from the lord Cobham's death, in the crown, and
to have been in possession of the keepers of the liberties of England, as they
were styled, from the death of king Charles I. in 1648, to the Restoration;
three years after which, in 1663, he seems to have had, by the style of them,
the full possession of both. Having risqued his fortune in the service of king
Charles I. and contracted debts to a large amount, he was obliged to abandon his
country, to which he never returned; and this estate being vested by him in Sir
John Tufton, bart. and Edward Hales, esq. of Boughton Malherb, as trustees, was
conveyed by them, by the name of the manor and hundred of Hoo, to Edward
Villiers, esq. the 4th son of Sir Edward, second son of George Villiers, of
Brokesby, in Leicestershire, by his first wife, Audrey, daughter and heir of
William Sanders, esq. (fn. 9) upon which Edward his eldest son and heir,
succeeded him in the manor and hundred of Hoo, and being much in favour with
king William, was, in the 3d year of his reign, created viscount Villiers of
Dartford, and baron of Hoo. He was afterwards, in 1697, created earl of Jersey,
and died in 1711, leaving by Barbara his wife, daughter of Wm. Chiffinch, esq.
two sons; of whom William, the eldest, succeeded his father in titles and this
estate; whose descendant, George Bussy Villiers, earl of Jersey, viscount
Villiers of Dartford. and baron of Hoo, is the present possessor of this manor
and hundred. (fn. 10)
The manor of Great Hoo extends over part of the parish of
West Pechham, in this county.
¶At the court of this manor, the following constables and
borsholders are appointed—one constable for the Upper half hundred, and another
for the Lower half hundred of Hoo; and borsholders for the boroughs of Hardlefield,
Boxley, Deangate, Dalham, Fincent, Church-street, and Oxenheath. The court is
held yearly on Whit Monday.
The Scales barony was created in 1299 by writ
for Robert de Scales.
The last known holders were Elizabeth de Scales and her
husband Anthony Woodville, 2nd Earl Rivers. After Elisabeth's death in 1473,
Anthony was summoned in her right. Anthony was beheaded by Richard III at
Pontefract on 24 Jun 1483 and the peerage fell into abeyance. However, after
the death of Anthony, his younger brother Edward Woodville, a supporter of
Henry Tudor, styled himself Lord Scales, having been bequeathed Elizabeth's
land by his brother.
Several people have subsequently tried to claim the title
but none have been successful. The most recent was made by Sir Charles Robert
Tempest who claimed to be a co-heir in 1857.
In the 22d of King Edward Robert de Scales had summons to be
at Portsmouth, on September 1st to attend the King into Gascoign; and in the
25th of that King it appears that he held 10 knights fees, viz. two and an half
in Berkway and Newcells [Manorial Estate: Newsells Manor, Barkway, Royston,
Hertfordshire] in Hertfordshire, half a fee in Laufare in Essex, half a fee in
Eneswell in Suffolk, one fee and an half in Rewenhale in Essex, three fees and
an half in Middleton, Islington, How, and Rainham in Norfolk, and one in
Wetherden in Suffolk, held in capite, and half a fee in Haselingfeld in
Cambridgeshire
Barons Scales (1299)
Robert de Scales, 1st
Baron Scales (d. 1304)
Robert de Scales, 2nd
Baron Scales (d. 1324)
Robert de Scales, 3rd
Baron Scales (d. 1369)
Roger de Scales,
4th Baron Scales (d. 1386)
Robert de Scales, 5th
Baron Scales (d. 1402)
Robert de Scales, 6th
Baron Scales (d. 1418)
Thomas de Scales, 7th
Baron Scales (d. 1460)
Elizabeth de Scales Woodville, Baroness Scales (d. 2
September 1473) - Elizabeth de Scales married Anthony Woodville the brother of Elizabeth Woodville and brother-in-law to her husband King Edward IV.
