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Ufford or Uffeworda
Is a parish of eminence, as giving name to the illustrious house of Ufford,
Earls of Suffolk; whose possessions in this county were very extensive,
including the castles of Orford, Eye, Framlingham, Bungay, Mettingham, and
Haughley.
Their descent is derived from William, Lord Malet de Greville, a Norman Baron,
who accompanied the Conqueror; and whose descendants in their various branches,
have ever since enjoyed opulence, rank, and influence.
Robert, second son of John, son of Reginald de Peyton, was Lord Chief Justice of
Ireland in the time of King Henry HI., and Edward I., and being owner of this
lordship, assumed the surname of his ancestors here. He was created K.B. in the
31st of the latter reign. Ralph de Ufford, his second son, was also Justice of
Ireland in the 20th of the same King.
Robert, eldest son of the above Robert de Ufford, by Cicely de Valoines, was
created Earl of Suffolk in the 11th of King Edward III., and made Knight of the
Garter: and for his valiant exploits the King soon after rewarded him with the
honor of Eye, formerly belonging to the Malets, his ancestors. In 1536, he
served under Edward, the Black Prince, at the memorable battle near Poictiers,
in France, where he and the Earl of Salisbury commanded the reward; and Dugdale
observes, "he was seldom out of some eminent action, and was much employed by
his Sovereign in important affairs of state."
William de Ufford, his eldest son, succeeded to his honor and estates: he died
suddenly, whilst ascending the steps to the House of Lords, without surviving
issue; and his inheritance became divided between the issue of his three
sisters.1
Thomas de Ufford, K.G., and John de Ufford, were brothers to the said Earl; the
latter was bred at Cambridge, and took the degree of LL.D. He was promoted to
the Deanery of Lincoln, then to the Chancellorship of England., and lastly, to
the Archbishoprick of Canterbury, in which he sat but six months and six days,
being cut off by the plague before he received either his pall or consecration,
June 7, 1348. Dying intestate, Andrew Ufford, Archdeacon of Middlesex, took out
letters of administration to his effects, as heir at law.
By thus discharging these great stations and offices with ability and eminence,
they did credit to the Courts of those Sovereigns who employed them; and
executing the several offices in their respective counties, in successive
reigns, with honor to themselves and advantage to the community, they acquitted
themselves as useful members of society.
This manor was lately vested in the trustees of the late Jacob Whitbread, Esq.,
and now belongs to Gordon Whitbread, Esq.
The Chapel of Sigenhoe, in this parish, mentioned by Kirby, was instituted into
from 1310 to 1527, upon the presentation of the Uffords and Willoughbys; and the
manor of Sigenhoe is named, with that of Baudsey, &c., as part of their
possessions, with that of Windervil.
The church Mr. Weever describes, as the most neatly polished little church that
he saw in the diocese; and mentions memorials to the family of Lamb, who were
benefactors to this church, also for those of Brookes and Willoughby. Several
monuments have since been erected for members of the Wood family, of Loudham.2
Ufford Place, formerly the seat of the Hammond family, became vested in Francis
Brooke, Esq., of Woodbridge, by his marriage with Anne, only daughter and
heiress of Samuel Thompson, Esq. He deceased in 1799, and this estate devolved
upon his third and eldest surviving son, Charles Brooke, M.A., rector of this
parish and Blaxhall.
He married, in 1809, Charlotte, third daughter of the Rev. Francis Capper, late
rector of Earl Soham and Monk Soham, in this county, and deceased in 1836. Mr.
Brooke is succeeded in the family estates by his only son, Francis Capper
Brooke, Esq. This family are of remote antiquity, and became early seated at
Aspal, in Hartismere hundred.
ARMS. Brooke: gules; on a chevron, argent, a lion rampant, sable,
crowned, or; armed and langued of the first.
CHARITIES. The town estate, which is appropriated to the general benefit
of the inhabitants of this parish, consists of a double cottage, used as a poor
house, and a cottage and about 41 acres of land in this parish and Melton, which
are let at rents amounting together to £.55
a year. These rents are applied to the reparation of the parish church, and in
payment of other expenses incident to the churchwardens' office. The Right Rev.
Thos. Wood,3 Bishop of Lichfield and Coventry, in
his life-time erected an hospital for ancient and indigent men and women, in
this parish; and by his will, dated in 1690, charged his manor of Barham, in
this county, with the payment of £30 per
annum, for the support of eight ancient poor men in Ufford and Wickham-Market,
to he equally divided amongst them; each to have a gown every two years, with
the letters H.W. upon their shoulders: and he willed that the repairs of the
hospital, and the charges of the gowns, should he provided out of the said
lands. The hospital in this parish contains four apartments, which are occupied
by four poor men, belonging to the same parish, appointed by the feoffees. The
yearly sum of; £15, which is paid by Joseph
Birch Smyth, of Ipswich, Esq., the owner of the manor of Barham, is received by
the poor men in the hospital, and they are each supplied, at Mr. Smyth's
expense, with a coat once every two years. The hospital is kept in repair by Mr.
Smyth, and is at present in good condition. A piece of meadow land, containing
3A. 3r., called Smock Meadow, was given to this parish by a Mr. Sayer, but at
what time is unknown, to the intent that out of the rent, sixty dozen of bread
should be yearly bought, and distributed to the poor; and that the remainder of
the rents should be applied to provide smocks for the poor of the parish. The
rent is £8 a year, which is laid out partly
in buying shifts for poor women, and the remainder is given in bread and money
among poor people. A rent charge of £3 a
year, issuing out of three meadows in this, parish, containing 3A., now the
property of Mr. Chas. Gross. The annuity is laid out in bread, and distributed
to the poor. The sum of 40s. a year is received from the tenant of a farm at
Ufford, belonging to the trustees of Mills's charity, at Framlingham, and is
laid out in bread, and given to the poor.
1. See Baudsey.
2. In the "Gentleman's Magazine," for 1788, p. 702, is an
engraving of a stone coffin in this parish church, with the pastoral staff
surmounted with a cross dory.
3. This Prelate presided over the above diocese from 1671 to
1692, and was of Christ Church, Oxford. He was third son of Thomas Wood, of
Hackney, in Middlesex, Esq., Clerk of the Pantry, and a younger brother of Sir
Henry Wood, of Loudham, in this county, Knt.
County
of Suffolk
Topographical and Genealogical, The County of Suffolk, 1844, Augustine Page |
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