Thrale history

Search • Advanced Search • Search Families • Search Site

First Name:   Last Name:   ID:  

start in the manorial roll, and it would be apt at this point to describe such records. Rolls of a Manor Court were divided into two sections. Court Leet and the Court Baron. The latter dealt with the domestic matters and especially transfer of land from one tenant to another: the fomer with petty criminal offences. A freeholder taking up his inheritance paid a relief to the Lord of the Manor: at the death of a copyholder his best chattel was taken by the Lord, known as a heriot. When a copyholder died, or wished to sell his land, the admission of the new tenant was recorded in the court roll and a copy of the entry was given to him as his title deed, hence the term copyhold. If property was not kept in repair, it might be confiscated by the Lord. Permission was given for a tenant's daughter to be married. Disputes between tenants were settled and debts recovered.

The Sandridge Court Rolls are kept at Althorp, seat of Earl Spencer, and it would therefore at this point be timely to sketch briefly the history of the Lords of Sandridge Manor. To describe with simplicity the Churchill family, for it is indeed the family of Sir Winston Churchill which is concerned, it would be as well to choose Sarah Jennings, so often involved with the Thrales in estate matters, as the focal point. The fiery Sarah was descended from many of Hertfordshire's foremost gentry. It is curious that many historians should be in error with regard to Sarah's ancestry for the basic sources of wills and inquisitions post mortem are readily available. It has already been mentioned how Ralph Rowlatt obtained the Manor of Sandridge upon the Dissolution. Ralph's daughter Elizabeth had married Barnard Jennings, the latter dying in London in 1552. It is from this union that the descent continued down to Sarah's father Richard Jennings of St. Albans, as illustrated in the accompanying pedigree,¹² as shown on the next page.

Richard had married Frances Thornhurst, and it is through her that Sarah had the blood of the Brockets of Wheathampstead and Brocket Hall, of the Bensteads of Benington, and of the Lyttons of Knebworth flowing through her veins. Sarah's grandmother Alice Spencer was daughter of Sir Richard Spencer of Offley, son of Sir John Spencer of Althorp, the family already described, and this branch of the family was to link up again by the marriage five generations later of Charles Spencer. third Earl of Sunderland, with Anne, daughter of Sarah Jennings, and from from whom Sir Winston Churchill was directly descended.

Richard Jennings, father of Sarah, was twice M.P. for St. Albans. It was at Holywell House on the 29th May 1660 that Sarah, the second

Footnotes

12. This research on the Jennings family has been undertaken by Mr. Henry W. Gray of Hatfield, using the authorities quoted in the pedigree. The only confusing point about the pedigree is the name of Barnard Jenning's first wife. According to the inquisition post mortem of Sir Ralph Rowlatt her name was Dorothy, but in his own will, Barnard names her as Elizabeth which name is confirmed in the Visitation pedigree. It will be noted that Sir Ralph's inquisition was not taken until fourteen years after his death and thirteen years after the death of his nephew Raphe Jennings. It would seem likely that the name of his sister had been confused with that of his wife, who was indeed Dorothy.↩︎