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Heveningham or Heueniggeham
This parish was the seat and estate of a family who derived their name there
from, and were very honorably allied. Weever, and some other authorities, state,
that Jeffery de Heveningham was lord here in 1020, in Canute's time; which may
be doubtful: but it appears certain that in the 9th of King Edward I., Roger de
Heveningham held the same.
Thomas Heveningham, Esq., was a great favorite of Richard Plantagenet, Duke of
Gloucester, afterwards King Richard III.; who settled an annuity on him for
life, of £10, out of his manor of
Rothing-Berners, in Essex. He died in 1499.
John Heveningham, son of the said Thomas, succeeded; and married Alice, daughter
of Sir Ralf Shelton, the younger, of Shelton, in Norfolk, Knt. He died in 1530.
Sir Anthony Heveningham, his son and heir, was made a Banneret by King Henry
VIII.; and married first, Katherine, eldest daughter of Sir Philip Calthorpe,
Knt. In 1546, he settled, by fine on himself and Mary his second wife, daughter
of Sir John Shelton, sen., of Shelton, Knt., this lordship, with those of
Cookley, Sibton, Ubbeston, and Walpole, in this hundred.
Sir Anthony died in 1558: Mary his relict, re-married to Philip Appleyard, Esq.
Sir Arthur Heveningham, Knt , was their son and heir; who, about 1570, inherited
all the above named manors. He died in 1630; and William Heveningham, Esq., his
son and heir, by his second wife, Bridget, daughter of Christopher, son of Sir
William Paston, of Paston, in Norfolk, Knt., inherited.
This William was one of the nineteen regicides that surrendered themselves at
the restoration; and being attainted, in 1660, his estate became forfeited to
the Crown: the year following, Mary, daughter and heiress of John, Earl of
Dover, his second wife, obtained a patent from King Charles II., for most of her
husband's estates, particularly that of this manor, and Keteringham, in Norfolk;
which she enjoyed to her death, which took place in 1695-6.
Henry Heveningham, Esq., the last of this family, was member for Dunwich in
1695; and is probably the same person who served the office of Mayor for
Thetford in 1684, the first after the new charter, and who returned himself as
member for that borough, the following year, in opposition to Sir Joseph
Williamson, the Recorder, who was elected by the burgesses.
In or about 1700, it became the estate of John Bence, Esq., by purchase; and he,
or his descendant, sold it to George Dashwood, Esq., who was seated here in
1735; who sold it to Joseph Darner, Esq., afterwards Baron Milton, and Earl of
Dorchester; of whom Sir Joshua Vanneck, Bart., bought it, ancestor of Lord
Hunting-field, the present proprietor.
The house of Vanneck are of Dutch extraction, and claim a very ancient and
honorable descent. Joshua, second son of Cornelius Vanneck, Esq., paymaster of
the land forces of the United Provinces, an eminent and opulent merchant of
London, was created a Baronet in 1751.
He married, in 1732, Mary Daubuz, and had issue, Gerard and Joshua, successive
Baronets. Sir Joshua died in 1777, and was succeeded by his eldest son, Sir
Gerard, who died unmarried, in 1791; when the title devolved upon his brother,
Sir Joshua. This gentleman married, in 1777, Maria, 2nd daughter of Andrew
Thompson, of Roehampton, in Surrey, Esq.; by whom he had issue, Joshua, present
Peer, and several other children.
Sir Joshua was created a Peer of Ireland, in 1796, by the title of Baron
Huntingfield, of Heveningham Hall; he died in 1816, when Joshua, his eldest son,
the present Peer, succeeded. He married, 1st, Catherine, eldest daughter of
Chaloner Arcedeckne, Esq., of Glevering Hall; and 2nd, Lucy Anne, 3rd daughter
of Sir Charles Blois, Bart., of Cockfield Hall. By the former lady he has a son,
Joshua, and a daughter; and by the latter, a son, Charles Andrew Vanneck.
Heveningham Hall, the residence of this nobleman, is justly esteemed one of the
finest seats in the county. It is of modem erection, having been began about the
year 1778, by Sir Gerard Vanneck, from the designs of Sir Robert Taylor, but
finished by Mr. James Wyatt.1
In a letter from Sir Joshua Vanneck, dated from Heveningham, September 19, 1754,
and addressed to Dr. Duearel, he observes: "The old house built by the family,
who gave their name to this village, has been pulled down about forty years ago;
the present house being built at that time by one Squire Bence, so that nothing
mentioned in the abstract remains, but in the old offices, where the name of W.
H. and time of building, 1653, are yet to be seen."
A branch of the ancient and respectable family of Garneys were formerly
interested here. Robert, son of Robert Garneys, one of the lords of Soham Hall
manor, at Bereford, in Norfolk, married Catherine, daughter and heir of John
Blanchard, of this parish, and in 1400, resided here.
By her he had two sons. William, his second son, married Elizabeth, daughter of
Sir Ralph Bigod, of Stockton, Knt.; by whom he had Half Garneys, Esq., who died
without issue in 1446, and Sir Peter Garneys, his uncle, was found to be his
heir. He married Elizabeth, daughter and heir of Ralf Ramsey, of Kenton Hall, in
Loes hundred; and by this marriage Kenton came into this family, where they
continued to reside for many ages.
Walter Fitz Robert gave the advowson of this parish church to the Priory of St.
Neots. He deceased in 1198, probably seized of this manor. The advowson remains
in the Crown.
ARMS. Heveningham: quarterly, or and gules; in a bordure
engrailed, sable, nine escallops, argent. Vanneck: argent; a torteaux
between three bugle horns, gules, stringed, or. Crest: a bugle horn, gules,
stringed or, between two wings expanded, per fesse, of the second, argent.
Supporters: two greyhounds, ermine; collared, compony, argent and gules, lined,
or.
CHARITIES. The town and poor estates here, consist of five tenements, in
Heveningham, formerly one messuage, called the town or poor house, with gardens
comprising about half an acre; rents amounting together to
£10 5s. A messuage and four acres of land in
the same parish, rent £6 a year. A farm in
the parish of Badingham, partly copyhold, comprising a house with outbuildings,
and 52 acres of land, let at the annual rent of £60.
It appears by the older writings, which are of a very ancient date, that the
trusts, as to the Badingham estate, were for the payment of fifteenths to the
King, the repairs of highways, the relief and maintenance of the poor of this
parish, and such other charitable uses as to the feoffees should seem meet: as
to the tenements in Heveningham, for the use of the poor; and as to the rest of
the premises, partly for the repairs of the parish church, and partly for the
relief of the poor. It has long been the practice to treat the whole as one
estate; and the rents are applied in providing for the repairs of the parish
church, in payment of the clerk's salary, in occasional payments to the
surveyors of the highways and constables, and in support of a Sunday school.
1. An engraving and description of this splendid mansion is
given in "Davy's Seats," and also in "Excursions through Suffolk."
County
of Suffolk
Topographical and Genealogical, The County of Suffolk, 1844, Augustine Page |
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