Wood Eaton.
The manor of Wood Eaton has been held with that of Church
Eaton ever since the Conquest, and may be considered as parcel
of the same. The greater portion of these manors have always
been held in demesne.
The principal sub-tenants in these townships under the Barons
of Stafford were the families of Astley of Wood Eaton, (fn. 1) and Aston
of Haywood and Leigh, in the county of Stafford. In 10 Henry
VIII. (1518–19) John Astley held lands both in Wood Eaton and
Church Eaton, which were formerly in the possession of Sir John
Brenton (Brinton or Brimpton), and certain lands in Wood Eaton,
which had formerly been held by William Aston.
Dame Elizabeth Aston also held lands in Church Eaton, which
had formerly been held by John Aston, Esq.
Among the smaller free tenants of that date were William
James, Lady Hill, William Haywarde, Alice Clarke, and John
Stepulton, in Wood Eaton, and John Blake and Isabella London
in Church Eaton. (fn. 2)
In 23 Henry VIII. (1531–32) John Astley was still in possession, and Dame Elizabeth Aston was then represented by Sir
Edward Aston, Knight. (fn. 2)
Dame Elizabeth Aston will have been the widow of John Aston,
Esq., who was Sheriff of the counties of Stafford and Warwick in
16 and 20 Edward IV. (1480), one of the eighty-nine knights
and esquires, retainers for life to William, Lord Hastings. She
was the daughter of John Delves, of Doddington, co. Chester,
Esq., (fn. 3) who died in 1 Richard III. (1483–84), seised of Heywode,
and a third part of the manor of Leigh, and, amongst others, of
messuages, &c., in Wollaston and Onne, in the manor of Church
Eaton. (fn. 4) Their eldest son, Sir John Aston, was made a Knight of
the Bath at the marriage of Prince Arthur, eldest son of Henry
VII. He accompanied Henry VII. in his expedition into Brittany,
and was present at the sieges of Terrouenne and Tournay. For his
bravery at the battle of Spurs he was made a Knight-Banneret by
the King on the field. He was Sheriff of Staffordshire in 16 and
24 Henry VII., and Sheriff of Leicestershire and Warwickshire
in 2 Henry VIII. He died on 28th March, 14 Henry VIII. (1523),
seised of lands and tenements in Wollaston and Onne, which he
held of the King, as of his manor of Church Eyton, by fealty only,
of the value of 100s., the said manor of Church Eyton having come
into the King's hands by the forfeiture of Edward, late Duke
of Buckingham, attainted for high treason. (fn. 5) He married Joan,
daughter of Sir William Littleton, Knight, son of the famous
Chief Justice Littleton, from whom she inherited Tixall; and from
her mother, Helen, daughter and co-heir of Robert Walsh, Esq.,
and his wife Margery, daughter and co-heir of Sir Richard Byron,
Knight, she inherited Wanlip, in the county of Leicester. Besides
daughters, they had two sons, namely, Edward, who succeeded
them, and William, who married Elizabeth Stapleton, of Carlton,
co. York, and had issue Francis Aston, who in 1564 married Mary,
daughter of Anthony Astley, Esq., of Church Eaton. (fn. 6)
Sir Edward Aston, of Tixall, Knight, was Sheriff of Staffordshire in 20, 26, and 32 Henry VIII. He built, in 1555, the fine
old mansion at Tixall. He died in 1568, and his son, Sir Walter
Aston, Knight (one of whose daughters, Margery, married Thomas
Astley, Esq.), was father of Sir Edward, and grandfather of Sir
Walter Aston, who was created a Baronet in 1611 by King
James I., and in 1627 was made a Scotch peer, by the title of
Baron Aston, of Forfar. (fn. 6)
In Michaelmas Term, 4 and 5 Elizabeth, was a fine between
Thomas Asteley, complainant, and Richard Lovatt and Ellen his
wife, defendants, concerning an eighth part of a messuage and
lands in Churche Eyton and Wood Eyton, the right of Thomas. (fn. 7)
In 42 Elizabeth licence was granted to George Onslow, Gent.,
and Jane his wife, to alienate one messuage, garden and orchard,
with 120 acres of land, 20 acres of meadow, 160 acres of pasture,
and 20 acres of wood in Gnosill and Church Eyton, in the county
of Stafford, to Walter Gyfford, Esq., John Talbot, Esq., and Thomas
Asteley, to the use of them and their heirs. (fn. 8)
These estates are now all vested in Mr. Morris, of Wood
Eaton.
Pedigree of Brumpton.
Pedigree of Chetwynd of Ingestre