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Easton, or Estuna
The lordship and advowson of this parish were anciently the in-heritance of the
family of Charles, who resided at Kettleburgh; it afterwards became vested in
the Wingfields, of Letheringham, in whose family it continued several ages,
until purchased, with the remainder of the Wingfields' estates, by the Earl of
Rochford.
In the reign of King Henry III., Hugh Pecke resided at Martle Hall, in tin's
parish, and by Ide his wife, had issue a daughter Margery, who married Roger de
Celtey, upon whom the said Hugh settled the manor of Martle Hall, with a
messuage, 26 acres of land, 2 acres of meadow, 2½
acres of wood, and 14s. rent in Hacheston and Easton, in tail.
In 1332, Nicholas de Eston, and Alice his wife, were owners of messages, lands,
and rents, in this parish, and Kettleburgh; and in 1364, John, the son of
Nicholas Eston, occurs.
Sir Peter de Tye, Knt., married the Lady Dyonise*, relict of Sir Edward Charles,
of Kettleburgh, Knt., and lived in this parish about the 21st of King Edward
III. She survived him, and held his manor of Barsham, in Wangford hundred,
during her life, which after her decease, in 1375, descended to their son,
Robert de Tye, Esq. He left issue Robert, who married Alice, the daughter of
Simon, the son of John Brook, of this parish, Gent., and in her right was owner
of Kettleburgh Hall, which Alice Charles, lady of that manor, granted to Simon
Brook, in 1451. They left issue, George Tye, Gent., who sold Kettleburgh Hall,
about 1527, to William Stebbing, of that parish, Gent., and his heirs.
In the reign of Queen Elizabeth, John Wingfield, Esq., resided in this parish.
He was one of the sons of Thomas Wingfield, of Great Dunham, in Norfolk, the son
of William Wingfield, Esq., Sewer to King Henry VIII., who was fourth son of Sir
John Wingfield, of Letheringham, Knt. He died and was buried in this parish
church, in 1584.
Several junior branches of this knightly family were seated here. Sir Anthony
Wingfield, Bart., so created in 1627, built the mansion called the White House,
pulled down the old seat in Hoo, called Goodwin's, and removed hither, making
this his principal seat. He died about 1638, and lies interred at Letheringham.
The old mansion at Letheringham becoming ruinous, the family continued this as
their chief place of residence, until the time of Sir Henry, eldest son of Sir
Henry Wingfield, Bart., and Dame Mary his wife, daughter of Marvyn Touchet,
Esq., afterwards Earl of Castlehaven; who sold this and his other estates to
William Henry Nassau, 1st. Earl of Rochford. Sir Marvyn Wingfield, Bart.,
brother of the above Sir Henry, and to whom, little more than the title
remained, was the last male branch of this ancient house.
William Henry Nassau de Zulestein, was a personage high in favor with King
William III., whom he accompanied into England in 1688, and in consideration of
whose eminent services, was by that Monarch, in 1695, created Baron of Enfield,
in Middlesex, Viscount Tunbridge, in Kent, and Earl of Rochford, in the county
of Essex. He was son of Frederick de Nassau, Lord of Zulestein, in the Province
of Utrecht, by Mary his wife, daughter of Sir William Killigrew, of the county
of Cornwall, Bart., and Chamberlain to Queen Catherine, the Consort of King
Charles II.
His Lordship was Master of the Robes to his Majesty, and after his purchase of
the Wingfield estate, made this parish his occasional residence. He died at
Zulestein, in 1708, and was succeeded by William, his eldest son and heir, who
was killed at the battle of Almanza, in Spain, in 1710, unmarried; when
Frederick Ids brother, succeeded, as 3rd Earl of Rochford.
William Henry, his eldest son, succeeded, who sold this estate to the Hon.
Richard Savage Nassau, his brother, who made it for several years his constant
residence. He married Anne, the daughter and co-heir of Edward Spencer, of
Rendlesham, Esq., and widow of James, 3rd Duke of Hamilton. By this lady he had
issue William Henry, born in 1754; who, on the decease of his uncle, William
Henry, succeeded him in Ins honors, as 5th Earl of Rochford, in 1781.
His Lordship deceased September 3, 1830, at his seat called the White House, in
this parish, in the 77th year of his age, and dying unmarried, the title became
extinct, and the estates were inherited by Alexander Hamilton Douglas, 10th and
present Duke of Hamilton and Brandon.
ARMS. Nassau: azure; a lion rampant, and semee of billets, or:
Crest, in a ducal coronet, azure, a pair of bucks' horns, gules. Tye:
argent; a chevron, gules. Pecke: azure; a fess, between two chevronels,
gules.
In 1821, died in this parish, William Cotton, Gent., the only surviving male
branch of an ancient and respectable family, long resident in this county, who
were of Cheshire extraction, and bore the same arms with those seated at
Cumbermere, in that county. He was a lineal descendant of John, the second son
of Sir Alan Cotton, Knt., of the foregoing parish of Earl Soham.
On the night of the 17th October, 1820, the house of Mr. Cotton was broken into
by four men, with their faces blacked, who with threats and imprecations,
possessed themselves of very considerable property. Their sudden and terrific
appearance by the bedside of Mr. Cotton, together with the idea of appearing
against them on their trial, made such a deep impression upon his mind, as to
depress his spirits, and impair his health, that but little doubt remains that
he was thus brought to a premature grave.
At the ensuing assizes for this county, Samuel Grimwood, Thomas Last, and James
Rozier, were capitally convicted of this burglary, and received sentence of
death. Grimwood was executed at Ipswich, April 28, 1821; the others were
reprieved for transportation.
* This lady was probably the daughter of John de Hoo, and Dyonise his wife: by
her will, proved in the above year, she desires to be buried before the church
door of the Holy Trinity, in Barsham.
County
of Suffolk
Topographical and Genealogical, The County of Suffolk, 1844, Augustine Page |
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