The manor of LITTLE PAXTON or MOYNES MANOR may be identified with the land held as half a knight's fee of the Earl of Huntingdon and afterwards of Robert de Brus. (fn. 23) In 1203, Roger de Trehamton unsuccessfully brought an assize of mort d'ancester against Earl David, (fn. 24) but presumably the half-fee had escheated to the earl and he had granted it to Philip le Moyne, who in 1202 was his seneschal. (fn. 25) In 1224, the land of John le Moyne was in the king's hands, (fn. 26) but in 1228 lvo, son of Philip le Moyne, was the tenant. (fn. 27) Gilbert le Moyne, nephew of lvo, succeeded before 1241, when he granted half his holding to sub-tenants. (fn. 28) In 1243 he seems to have granted the moiety, which he had retained in demesne, to Philip le Moyne, (fn. 29) who in the following year also described himself as the nephew and heir of Ivo. (fn. 30) In 1279 and 1286 Geoffrey le Moyne was tenant of the manor, (fn. 31) but was succeeded probably before 1303 by Robert le Moyne. (fn. 32) The latter was living in 1328, (fn. 33) but in 1337 it seems to have been held by his widow Emma. (fn. 34) For 150 years this moiety of Moynes manor cannot be traced. Before 1507 it had come into the possession of Edward Stanley, (fn. 35) who was created Lord Monteagle in 1514. (fn. 36) At his death in 1523 his possessions in Little Paxton are not described as a manor, (fn. 37) but in 1544 his son and heir Thomas was overlord of the other moiety of Moynes manor (fn. 38) (q.v.). Afterwards his holding came into the king's hands and various free tenants seem to have held it. Thus Richard Ashcroft died seised in 1628 of the capital messuage and certain lands which he had bought from — Hatley, (fn. 39) and was succeeded by his son, another Richard. (fn. 40) The Ashcrofts held it as late as 1690. In 1693 it was sold to Robert Throckmorton of Stirtloe (d. 1699). In 1719 Bromsall Throckmorton, his son, sold it to Thomas Petty, who in 1720 sold it to the Hon. George Maudaunt, who died in 1728. The representatives sold it in 1736 to Richard Reynolds, Bishop of Lincoln, who transferred it to his son George Reynolds, Arch deacon of Lincoln. (fn. 41) The archdeacon died in 1769 (fn. 42) and was succeeded by his son Richard (d. 1814). His nephew Laurence was the next owner, and he was succeeded by his son Edward (d. 1885) and his grandson Edward (d. c. 1893) and his great grandson Edward (d. 1919). The estate was sold in 1920 to Mr. R. F. Aubrey and in the following year was again sold in lots. (fn. 43)
Reynolds.
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The other moiety of Moynes manor was granted in 1241 by Gilbert le Moyne to Robert Luvet, Roger le Mire of Bedford and his wife Rose, and William Daules and his wife Juliana. (fn. 44) It seems probable that Robert Luvet obtained possession of the whole moiety, as he certainly did of two parts of it. (fn. 45) He was presumably identical with Robert Hereford, who died seised of land in Little Paxton before 1271, when his son Roger was a minor. (fn. 46) The latter, in 1279, was the mesne tenant of a considerable part of Geoffrey le Moyne's half-fee. (fn. 47) Roger gave the moiety of the manor to his son Robert, (fn. 48) who married Juliana de Crokedaik, (fn. 49) and they presumably enfeoffed her brother Alexander, who died seised of it, held of Roger de Hereford, before 1309. (fn. 50) It passed to Alexander's nephew and heir John, son of John de Crokedaik (fn. 51) (aged 3 years), but on the death of the younger John in 1323, leaving no children, the moiety of Moynes manor passed to the descendants of his two aunts Juliana and Christine de Crokedaik. (fn. 52) John Hereford, son and heir of Juliana and Robert Hereford, now succeeded to one share, while Christine was represented by the descendants of her three daughters. (fn. 53) They, like the Crokedaiks, all belonged to Westmorland and Cumberland, (fn. 54) and it seems probable that in the partition of the Crokedaik lands John Hereford obtained by agreement the whole of this southern property. He died about 1342, when his son Reginald was a minor. (fn. 55) On the death of Reginald his sister Eleanor seems to have inherited the moiety of the manor. (fn. 56) Her first husband's name was Raghton or Roughton, (fn. 57) but before 1380 she was the wife of John Brown. (fn. 58) She was succeeded by her grandson John or Christopher Raghton, who died in 1410, his heir being his father's sister Katherine, the wife of John Asplion. (fn. 59) Katherine died seised in 1436, and her heir was her daughter Katherine, the wife of Thomas Manningham. (fn. 60) In 1474 John Manningham, presumably their son, was outlawed, and the moiety was granted by Edward IV to Anthony Grey of Ruthin. (fn. 61) The following year, however, the Manninghams recovered it, (fn. 62) and in 1502 William Manningham sold it to Isabella Manningham, widow. (fn. 63) It seems probable that she sold it to Edmund, Lord Grey de Wilton, and that it may be identified with the manor of Little Paxton which he sold in 1507 to Sir Robert Throckmorton. (fn. 64) It followed the descent of the manor of Toseland, until after the death of Sir Walter Luke in 1544. (fn. 65) Sir Walter was succeeded by his son Nicholas, (fn. 66) who previous to his death in 1563 (fn. 67) seems to have given it to his younger son Walter, who was the tenant in 1608. (fn. 68) It passed to his second son Nicholas, who died seised in 1623. (fn. 69) His son and heir, another Nicholas, (fn. 70) sold it in 1643 to William Hedding. (fn. 71) In 1724 it was apparently in the ownership of William Hedding and his wife Elizabeth, and Robert Pattison and his wife Mary, but it seemed to be the inheritance of the two wives. (fn. 72) William Hedding died in 1729 leaving a son William (d. 1783) and three daughters, Mary (Chesterfield), Sarah (Papworth) and Ann (Cole). (fn. 73) The manorial rights appear to have been lost, but the Heddings are found holding lands in Little Paxton in the early part of the 19th century, (fn. 74) but no manorial rights apparently survive.
Victoria County History - Huntingdonshire Published 1932
