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Charsfield,
Ceresfella or Ceresfelda
In the time of Tung John, this lordship was vested in William de Weyland; who
fined for his villains here, and in Westerfield. It continued in that family
until the death of Sir John de Weyland, ill the time of King Richard II.; when
Elizabeth, his only daughter and heiress, inherited this manor. She married John
Harewell, Esq., of Warwickshire; and Joan, their only daughter and heiress,
married John Stretche, Esq., of Devonshire.
This Joan Stretche, it appears, died without issue, and her pos-sessions
devolved upon the descendants of Margaret and Catherine, sisters and co-heirs of
the said Sir John de Weyland, grandfather of the above Joan. Margaret married to
Sir John de Tudenham, and Catherine to Sir John deBotetort, lord of Mendlesham,
in this county.
In 1434, on the death of Joan Stretche, a fine was levied between Sir Thomas
Tudenham, grandson of the above Sir John Tudenham, and Margaret his wife, and
Sir John Knevet; who married Joan, daughter and co-heir of Sir John Botetort,
and Catherine Ms wife; by which this manor, with Brandeston, Westerfield, and
other lord-ships in this county, were granted to the said Sir Thomas Tudenham;
and the other possessions of the said Joan, in Somersetshire, &c., to Sir John
Knevet.
From the Tudenhams it passed to the Bedingfields, as in Bedingfield parish; and
in the 2nd of Queen Elizabeth, Sir Edmund Bedirigfield held the manor of
Charsfield Hall, at half-a-knight's fee, and paid castle guard rent to
Framlingham Castle; in the 30th of the same reign, Edmund Bedingfield, Esq.,
held the same.
Henry Bedingfield, Esq., kept his first court for this manor in 1591; he was
afterwards knighted, and obtained a grant from the lord of the manor of
Framlingham, that the manor of Charsfield should riot in future be holden of
Framlingham by knight's service, but by fealty only. In 1C 13, he sold the manor
of Charsfield, Charsfield Hall, and the demesne lands belonging thereto, to Sir
John Leman, Knt., and his heirs.
Sir John Leman was Alderman and Lord Mayor of London; was Knighted by King James
I., in the 12th of his reign, and the same year kept his first court for this
manor. By deed, dated April 7, 1629, he settled this estate upon William Leman,
Gent., (the eldest son of John Leman, Gent., eldest son of William Leman, of
Beccles, Gent., the eldest brother of Sir John), and his heirs for ever. Sir
John Leman deceased in 1632, and was buried under an elegant monument, in St.
Michael's church, Crooked Lane, London, having been a considerable benefactor to
that city.
William Leman, Gent., after the death of Sir John, kept his first court for this
manor in 1640; he gave the said manor to Margaret, his second wife, the daughter
of Matthew Trot, of Hargrave, in this county, Gent., for life: the reversion
thereof, to John Leman, his eldest son. He was the first of this family who
resided here, and kept his first court in 1662: he died in 1668; and his eldest
and youngest sons, after his decease, without issue, leaving William their
brother, who succeeded to Ms father's inheritance.
He married Elizabeth, the only daughter and heiress of Robert Sterling, of this
parish, Gent.; a family of good repute here for several ages, descendants of the
Sterling, of Witnesham and Brandeston. In or about 1735, the said Elizabeth, as
widow of the above William Leman, Esq., inherited tin's estate, and resided
here.
It was soon afterwards purchased by William Jennens, Esq., of Acton Place, in
this county; and subsequently became the property of the Curson family. The
Eight Hon. the Earl Howe is the present proprietor.
In 1635, Robert Large, clerk, held this curacy, from which he was ejected about
1644, for reading the Book of Common Prayer, and for taking the solemn league
and covenant with limitations; he became afterwards in such abject
circumstances, as to accept of an asylum in the alms-house at Letheringham,
where he and his family obtained a constant supply of provision from the Abbey.
He died in 1657, and was buried in Letheringham church yard.
ARMS. Weyland: argent; on a cross, gules, five escallops, or.
Bedingfield: ermine; an eagle, displayed, gules. Leman: azure; a fess
between three dolphins, embowed, argent. Stirling: azure; a cross pattee,
between four stars of six points, or.
CHARITIES. This parish has a share in the bequest of Joseph Kersey, for
an account of which see Earl Soham.
County
of Suffolk
Topographical and Genealogical, The County of Suffolk, 1844, Augustine Page |
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