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Before 1536, Calke was an Augustinian Priory, a cell of Repton Priory. Between 1536 and 1541 King Henry VIII closed every monastery and nunnery in England and Wales. He did this via the Act of Supremacy in 1534 making himself the Supreme Head of the Church of England, and a further two acts in 1536 and 1539…
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Long before Adam Smith spelt it out for us in the late 18th Century, Britain was becoming wealthy through trade, and, in the Age of Discovery (c. 1418 – c. 1620), merchant adventurers were finding new routes to facilitate trade with the wider world. In those early times, as now, secure trading required trust, and underpinning…
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The Dissolution of the Monasteries took place between 1536 – 1541 when Henry VIII disbanded monasteries, priories, convents and friaries in England, Wales and Ireland. He appropriated their income, disposed of their assets and many monastic properties were sold off to fund his military campaigns Under Crown Agent Thomas Cromwell for Henry VIII, the Valor…
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After the reinstatement of Repton Priory and Prior John Young, in 1537, the 99-year Lease of Calke issued to John Preste, became a legally binding document.[1] The fact that the first 59 years were prepaid made it an extremely valuable target of greed in the following years. All seemed well until 1538 when Thomas Cromwell…
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Could matters get any worse for Frances? The answer is ‘Yes.’ It starts with Frances being summoned to attend Lichfield Consistory Court, on 29th March 1558 – as the legality of her marriage to William Bradbourne is under question. Edward Langham filed a suit, claiming that he and Frances had become engaged months before this marriage…
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To continue the story of Frances – from 1561 – 1572 Sadly Frances’ life suffers another setback when her mother Alice dies in 1561. Alice realised, all too late, the type of a man she had married in 1547, as all her personal wealth and responsibilities were taken by Richard Blackwall – his ‘rights of…
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Court Cases for the Ownership of the Calke Lease from 1573 to 1585 The questions arising from Frances dying intestate are Executors of Richard Blackwall – Richard Needham, Ralph Heape, James Wetton, William Barwell – still holding the Lease – believed they were the rightful owners. This was the start of many court cases –…
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Controller Richard Wendsley, Owners Robert Bainbridge then Henry Harpur Before continuing with the Lease story, we need to remind ourselves who were the Freeholders of Calke – from 1537 to 1584. The Freehold story of Calke is one of interest and limitations, due to the 99-year lease and the pre-paid 59 Years being in place…
Noels Drafts
Set against a turbulent period in British history, the Calke Manor series tells of the apprentice spices trader who made a fortune and became a Sheriff of London, helping the Prior of Repton to pay a ‘bribe’ to retain Repton Priory against King Henry VIIIs dissolution of the monasteries, then having to hide at Calke because he had supported the Catholics; how his youngest daughter was deprived of her Tudor Manor inheritance at the hands of her evil step-father; child abuse; unrequited love; civil disorder with drawn swords in the Consistory Court at Lichfield; then more chicanery and lawfare involving a Derby MP before Calke Manor was eventually acquired for Henry Harpur, the first baronet, in 1622/3.
