This second part looks at the descendants of Joan the eldest
sister of Alexander de Neville who died in 1252.
Please note that most of the dates are estimated and I
haven’t included weblinks for the references this time.
1. Joan de Neville (c. 1240 - 1270)
At the time of the death of
Alexander, son of Alexander de Neville in 1252, his sister Joan was probably
already married to John de Heton.
On 12 March 1253, the king took the
homage of John de Heton who had married one of the daughters and an heiress of
Alexander de Neville for the fifth part of three knight’s fees which Alexander
held of the king in chief. The escheator in Lincolnshire, was ordered that
having accepted security from John for rendering his relief of 60 shillings, to
cause John to have full seisin of the fifth part of all the land which
Alexander held of the king in chief [1]. On 3
November 1253, the escheator beyond Trent was ordered to give John de Heton and
Joan his wife seisin of their portion of the lands of Alexander de Neville
which not held of the king, in Nunnington and Mirfield, Yorkshire [2].
Sir John de Heton (II), the
husband of Joan Neville was the son of another John de Heton (I), son of Jordan
de Heton. The family appears to have originated in the vill of Westheton, now
known as Upper Heaton, in the parish of Kirkheaton in the West Riding of
Yorkshire. John de Heton (I) died in or before 1266, when an inquisition found
that he held a capital messuage and land in Westheton of Thomas de Burgh, a
tenement in Norland, near Halifax and land in Hanging Heaton, which he held of
the manor of Wakefield [3].
Joan de Neville was dead before
1271-2, when Robert le Gardiner sued Robert Wacelyn and others concerning two
bovates of land in Redbourne. Robert Wacelyn and the others vouched to warranty
Thomas son of John de Heton, who was under age, Nicholas de Neville and Margery
his wife, Henry le Tyas and Ellen his wife, Ingram Folenfaunt and Juliana his
wife, Adam de Neufmarché (Novo Mercato) and Cecilia his wife, by a charter of
Alexander Crevequer, ancestor of the said Thomas and the others, which they
proffer, and which witnesses that the said Alexander confirmed to William
Wacelyn, ancestor of the said Robert Wacelyn, the said tenements. Because
Thomas was under age the suit was without a day until his age [4].
In 1274-5, a jury in Manley
wapentake, Lincolnshire, found that Alexander de Neville had held the barony of
Redbourne in chief by the service of 15 [should be three] knight's fees, which
were now divided between his five sisters. Four of the sisters attorned (captiabunt) to John de Heton who had
married the eldest sister and John held of the king. Each part of the barony was
worth £10 per year but by what service the jurors did not know [5].
In 1280-1, a jury at an enquiry
in Manley wapentake, Lincolnshire found that Alexander de Neville's barony had
been divided between five sisters. Two of the sisters were dead at the time of
the hearing and their fifths were held by their husbands and sons, Nicholas de
Neville and his son Roger, and John de Heton and his son Thomas. The other
three sisters were also married but still living; Julian was married to Ingram
Folenfaunt, Cecily to Adam de Neufmarché, and Ellen to Henry le Tyas. The five
pairs of parceners were accused of having decided that one of them, John de
Heton, would hold the entire fee from the chief lord and the others would hold
their fifths from him as his undertenants, and would do him homage for them.
This arrangement was to the detriment of the king. However John de Heton and
his son denied that they had taken the homage of the others. The matter was
remanded for a jury to determine the truth of the matter [6].
Four years later, Nicholas de
Neville, the husband of Margery one of the sisters and heirs of Alexander de
Neville died. His inquisition post mortem found that he held a fifth part of
the barony of Redbourne by knight’s service and that he also held two [fifth]
parts of Ingram Folenfaunt and Henry le Tyas and their wives, parceners of the
same barony, by exchange of lands in Yorkshire which are not held of the king [7]. There
is no mention of John de Heton and it appears that between 1281 and 1285, he had
exchanged with Nicholas de Neville his part of the Redbourne land in Lincolnshire
for land in Yorkshire, which was probably Nicholas’ share of Mirfield in the
West Riding.
Sir John de Heton was one of the
king’s coroners in Yorkshire, which may explain his frequent non- appearances
at the manor court of Wakefield [8]. On 3
May 1300, the sheriff of York was ordered to cause a coroner for that county to
be elected in place of John de Heton, whom the king had caused to be amoved
from office because he was incapacitated by age and infirmity [9].
In 1302-3, the return of knight's
fees in Yorkshire records that John de Heton was holding 2½ carucates in
Ardsley and that John de Heton, Adam de Pontefract, John rector of Mirfield and
Adam de Everingham [10] were
holding 2 carucates and 6 bovates in Mirfield. Adam de Everingham and John de
Heton were also each holding ½ a carucate in Lepton [11].
Sir John de Heton died before 24
November 1303, when the sheriff of York was ordered to cause a coroner for that
county to be elected in place of John de Heton, deceased [12].
2. Thomas de Heton (c. 1260-1326)
Sir John de Heton (II) was
succeeded by his eldest son Thomas.
Thomas de Heton died before 18
January 1326 when the escheator was ordered to take the lands of Thomas de
Heton into the king’s hand [13]. After
his death, his widow Alice married Robert de Stainford who died before 9 May
1327, when Alice was pardoned for marrying without the king’s licence [14].
His inquisition post mortem held
on 1 March 1326 found that he held a messuage and 1½ bovates of land in
Mirfield, held of the king in chief, as of the honour of Pontefract by knight's
service and that John his son, aged 30 and more, is his next heir [15].
Thomas had at least three
children, John, William and a daughter Maud.
3. John de Heton (III) (c. 1290-1336)
John, son of Thomas de Heton was probably born about 1290. On 5 May 1326, the escheator was ordered to deliver to John de Heton, son and heir of Thomas de Heton, tenant in chief, the lands late of his said father, he having done homage [16].
In November 1331, John de Heton
of Mirfield granted rents in Mirfield and Hopton to his sons Thomas and William
for life, with reversion to himself and John his son and his heirs by Agnes his
wife, daughter of John de Methlay [17]. John
his son would only have been seven years old at this time, so it is a little
surprising that he was already married to Agnes de Methley. Agnes must have
died, or the marriage was annulled because John’s wife in 1355 was named
Margaret.
John de Heton died before 4
October 1336, when at an inquisition taken in the court of Wakefield, John de
Saville did fealty during the minority of the heir of John de Heton, and
acknowledged that he held of the said heir, the manor of Golcar and 4 bovates
of land there, by homage and fealty and the service of 3d. yearly at Martinmas [18].
John de Heton and his wife Amabel
(?) had three sons, John, Thomas and William, a clergyman, and a daughter who
married John de Helay.
4. John de Heton (IV) (c. 1324-1372)
A bit more is known about this
John de Heton because of an inquisition taken in 1355. John was born on 25
March 1324, and until the age of 24 he behaved normally. On 3 May 1348, he
became mentally ill and unable to recognise those around him. In the findings
of the inquisition taken to determine his mental state, the following facts are
recorded. He was married to Margaret and had three children, John, William and
Joan, all aged less than ten in 1355. His eldest son John was married to
Margery, daughter of Adam de Hopton. His nearest relatives were his brother
William, John de Malet, who had married his aunt, and John de Helay, who had
married John’s sister [19].
On 24 July 1347, (before he
became ill) William de Mirfield agreed to support John de Heton in the
presentation he had made of his brother William de Heton to the church of
Mirfield. If William, John’s brother, should be found unfit, John was to
present another person. Afterwards the presentation was to belong to William de
Mirfield [20].
This presentation was probably to a chantry or chapel at Mirfield, because the
advowson of the rectory belonged to Thomas de Burgh.
It is possible that John did not
die until 1372, when he was succeeded by his eldest son John. His wife Margaret
may have still been alive in 1379, when a Margaret de Heton paid poll tax in
Mirfield [21].
John and Margaret had two sons,
John and William and a daughter Joan.
5. John de Heton (V) (c. 1346-1395)
John son of John de Heton was
born about 1346, and was married to Margery daughter of Adam de Hopton [22] before
he was ten years old.
In 1372 (46 Edward III) the
feodary of the honour of Pontefract records that John, son of John de Heton
paid 30 shillings for his relief for the fifth part of 2 knights fees less a
fifth part, in Heton, Mirfield and elsewhere within the honour of Pontefract [23].
On 28 April 1379, John de Heton
granted to William de Heton, his brother, and John Tilly, chaplain, his manor
of Mirfield, and all his other lands and tenements, etc., in Mirfield, Hopton,
and West Heton [24].
John appears to have died before
1400 and been succeeded by his eldest son John, who also had a brother named William,
which makes their dating a bit problematical.
6. John Heton (VI) (c. 1370-1425)
John de Heton (VI) married
Elizabeth.
On 3 February 1400, John de Heton
of Mirfield released to William de Heton, his brother, all his right in the
manor of Mirfield [25].
In the 1401-2, return of fees in
the honour of Pontefract, Adam de Mirfield and John de Heton were holding 2
knight's fees less a fifth part in Mirfield, Lepton, etc. once held by Thomas
de Heton and Adam de Pontefract [26].
On 7 October 1404, Robert Scot,
son of William Scot of Heton granted to John de Heton, lord of Heton, and
Elizabeth his wife, messuages, held by William Scot his father for life, with
reversion to the right heirs of the said John [27].
John and Elizabeth were both
alive on 28 June 1420, when Richard Gascoigne, Alfred Manston and Richard Peck
delivered seisin to John Heton and Elizabeth his wife, for the term of their
lives, of property in Estheton, which they had had of the grant and feoffment
of John Heton, according to a deed of feoffment of the same date [28].
John Heton and his wife Elizabeth
apparently died childless, and John’s heir was Isabel the daughter of his
brother William.
6. William Heton (c. 1375-1423)
William brother of John Heton
(VI) married a lady called Elizabeth who was apparently from Leicestershire.
Nichols says that she was the daughter of James Ozell [29], but
does not provide any source for this statement. William Heton was dead before 4
February 1424, when Thomas de Methley granted to Elizabeth, who was the wife of
William de Heton, an annual rent of ten marks from his lands and tenements in
the county of York. This deed was witnessed by Nicholas Gascoigne, and Alfred
Manston [30].
7. Isabel Heton (c. 1405-1473)
William and Elizabeth had an only
daughter Isabel, probably born about 1405, who married John son of Nicholas
Gascoigne of Lasingcroft, Yorkshire by a marriage contract dated 10 August
1419. In the contract it was agreed that John and Isabel should be married
before the next Michaelmas and that Nicholas Gascoigne should pay to William Heton
the sum of forty marks, that John should settle his estate on Richard
Gascoigne, Alfred Manston, John King, vicar of Halifax and Richard Peck, in
trust for his wife, with remainder to her father and mother, and then on his
own father and mother and that William and Elizabeth Heton should convey by
fine to John, lands in Leicestershire and that John was to inherit twenty marks
per year at the death of his father and forty marks at the death of his mother [31].
In 1427-28 (6 Henry VI), John
Gascoigne came to the court of Wakefield and did fealty to the lord for his
land and tenements in Earls Heaton in right of his wife Isabel cousin and heir
of John de Heton [32].
John Gascoigne died in 1445 and
Isabel is said to have married secondly Ralph de Greystoke, Lord Greystoke, as
his second wife, (although Complete Peerage is not so sure about this) [33]. Isabel
died before 3 August 1473 [34], the
last of the Hetons of Mirfield.
John Gascoigne of Lasingcroft and
Isabel Heton are said to have had 15 children and their descendants are well
documented (including a Mayflower passenger I believe).
[1] Calendar of Fine Rolls 37 Henry III, No. 539.
[2] Calendar of Close Rolls, Henry III: vol. 8: 1253-1254 (1929), 3.
[3] William Brown, Yorkshire
Inquisitions of the Reigns of Henry III. and Edward I., vol. 1, Yorkshire
Archaeological Society, Record Series 13, 1892, 103.
[4] Lincolnshire Notes and Queries, vol. 9 (1907), 147, citing
Lincolnshire Assize Roll, 483, m. 62.
[5] W. Illingworth, ed., Rotuli
Hundredorum Temp. Hen. III. & Edw. I. in Tur’ Lond’ et in Curia Receptae
Scaccarij Westm. Asservati, vol. 1 (London, 1812), 339.
[6] W. Illingworth, ed., Placita de Quo Warranto Temporibus Edw. I.
II. & III. (London, 1818), 426.
[7] Calendar of Inquisitions Post Mortem, vol. 2, 340, No. 574.
[8] See: Yorkshire Archaeological Society Record Series, vols. 26 and
36.
[9] Calendar of Close Rolls, Edward I: vol. 4: 1296-1302 (1906), 351.
[10] In the reign of Stephen, if not earlier, Peter son of Assolf, or
Adam de Birkin his son, had been enfeoffed, possibly by Adam son of Swain, of a
knight's fee in Havercroft, Stainborough, Lepton, Mirfield, Shitlington and
Flockton. This fee descended in the line of Birkin and Everingham. EYC, III,
319n.
[11] Inquisitions and Assessments Relating to Feudal Aids, 1284-1431,
vol. 6 (London, 1920), 128, 130.
[12] Calendar of Close Rolls, Edward I: vol. 5: 1302-1307 (1908), 112.
[13] Calendar of Fine Rolls, vol. 3, 373.
[14] Calendar of Patent Rolls, Edward III, vol. 1, 114.
[15] Calendar of Inquisitions Post Mortem, vol. 6: Edward II (London,
1910), 406, No. 640.
[16] Calendar of Fine Rolls, vol. 3, 387.
[18] Alfred S. Ellis, Dodsworth's Yorkshire Notes (Agbrigg), Yorkshire
Archaeological Journal, vol. 7 (1882), 262.
[19] Calendar of Inquisitions Post Mortem, vol. 10, 132, No. 142.
[20] William Brown, ed., Yorkshire Deeds, vol. 1, Yorkshire
Archaeological Society, Record Series, 39 (1909), 119, No. 328.
[21] http://www.genuki.org.uk/big/eng/YKS/Misc/SubsidyRolls/WRY/Mirfield.html
[22] Thoresby says that Margery, wife of John Heton was a daughter of
Sir Adam Hopton, knight by Margery daughter and heir of Thomas Headon of Armley: Ralph Thoresby,
Ducatis Leodiensis (London, 1715), 186; Pedigree of Hopton. N.B. Do not place any reliance on this
statement.
[23] Alfred S. Ellis, Dodsworth's Yorkshire Notes (Agbrigg), Yorkshire
Archaeological Journal, vol. 7 (1882), 403.
[24] William Brown, ed., Yorkshire Deeds, vol. 1, Yorkshire
Archaeological Society, Record Series, 39 (1909), 120, No. 330.
[25] William Brown, ed., Yorkshire Deeds, vol. 1, Yorkshire
Archaeological Society, Record Series, 39 (1909), 120n.
[27] Alfred. S. Ellis, Yorkshire Receipts and Bonds, Yorkshire
Archaeological Journal, vol. 13 (1895), 83.
[28] William Brown, ed., Yorkshire Deeds, vol. 1, Yorkshire
Archaeological Society, Record Series, 39 (1909), 87, No. 230.
[29] John Nichols, The history and antiquities of the county of
Leicester, Vol. 3, Part 1: East Goscote Hundred (London, 1800), 265.
[30] West Yorkshire Archive Service, Calderdale, Papers of the Armytage
family of Kirklees Hall , KM/102.
[31] F. S. Colman, A History of the Parish of Barwick-in-Elmet, in the
County of York, Thoresby Society, 17 (Leeds, 1908), 137.
[34] J. Raine, ed., Testamenta
Eboracensia: A Selection of Wills from the Registry at York, Vol. IV,
Surtees Society 53, 1869, 20n.
Thank you so much for this. My name is Jacob Heaton. I started getting into my personal family history several years back and have traced my Heaton heritage back to the 9th century. I appreciate this information here, because it gives more details into the names on my family tree. Blessings to you!
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