1393, being then a widow; at her death their two daughters inherited,
Anne, married to Tho. Sakevyle, and
Cecilia, to Christopher L'Estrange, Esq. on whom it was settled by fine, for their lives, remainder to Tho. Sakevyle, and Anne his wife, and their heirs, it being now held of Tho. Rokes, Esq. who held it of John Duke of Bedford, as parcel of Richmond honour.
Tho. Rookes, son of the said Thomas, became lord and patron about 1456, whether in right of Elizabeth his wife, or no, I cannot say, and so continued to 1515, and then sold it, and levied a fine to Sir William Waldegrave and Sir Philip Calthorp, Knts. From which families it came to the
Drurys, who took their name from a village in Normandy, whence their ancestor came with William the Conqueror, and had no other name than that of Drury; his son, John Drury, Esq. settled at Thurston in the county of Suffolk, at which place John, his son, Henry, his grandson, and John, his great-grandson, lived many years: Henry Drury of Thurston, Esq. son of the last John, had two wives; by Hawise Greene of Barkway, his first wife, he had three sons, the two youngest of which, viz. Nigell was sheriff of London, and Sir Roger was parson of Bradfield in Suffolk; John Drury, of Thurston, Esq. the eldest son and heir, married Amable, daughter of Tho. Newton, by whom he had Sir Roger Drury, parson of Beketon, and Nicholas Drury of Thurston, Esq. his eldest son and heir, who married Joan, daughter and heir of Sir Simon Saxham, of Thurston aforesaid, by whom he had three sons; Sir Roger Drury, of Rougham in Suffolk, Knt. was his eldest son; he and his descendants bore the paternal coat, as it had hitherto been always born, without a cross tau, but with a label of three points, as the cognizance of the eldest branch; John Drury, the third son, bore the same arms, with his proper difference; Nicholas Drury of Saxham, the second son, went to the Holy Land, at which time he added the cross tau to his arms, which he ever after bore, as did all his descendants; he married Joan Heath of Mildenhall, by whom he had two sons, Henry Drury of Ickworth, Esq. his eldest son, and Roger Drury of Hausted in Suffolk, his second son, who had three wives; by Amy, his first wife, he had no issue; Anne, his third wife, was daughter and coheir of William Hanningfield of Suffolk; and by Felice, daughter of William Denston of Besthorp in Norfolk, he had three sons and one daughter, viz. John, his eldest son, Will. Drury of Besthorp, his second son, from whom descended the Drurys of Besthorp, (as may be seen at large under Besthorp,) Catharine, married to Sir Henry L'Estrange of Hunstanton, and Sir Robert Drury of Halsted, or Hausted Knt. Privy-counsellor to King Henry VII.; his third son, who married Anne, eldest daughter of Sir William Calthorp, Knt. from whom the Drurys of Ridlesworth are descended, as the following pedigree will demonstrate.
The Customs are these: the eldest son is heir; the fine is at the lord's will. This manor is become very small, the whole town being purchased in, so that there are not above 4 or 5 acres held by copy of court roll of it.
The Leet belongs to the hundred, the leet fee being 2s. and all liberties belong to the leet, the lords of this manor never claiming any, it not being once named in the returns to the quo warrantos. The manor pays a rent of 7s. per annum to the Duke of Norfolk, as to his hundred of Gyltcross: there was a rent of 1d. a year paid to the lord of Midle-Herling manor, of which it is held, by the said payment and suit of court, for which Tho. Sakvyle, lord of Ridlesworth, in 1472, was distrained, as was Sir Drue Drury, Knt. in 1589, and again in 1598, when he had two horses seized for this and other rents, for lands that he held in Ridlesworth.
Here are three houses, and about 30 inhabitants. It paid 3l. 6s. 8d. to the tenths, and
