General history: Division of property at the time of the Domesday survey

Division of Property at the Time of the Domesday Survey

When the Domesday Survey was taken, the King held twenty—one manors in this county in demesne; and one other was held under the crown, the Bishop of Chester had two; the Abbot and convent of Buxton six; Roger de Poictou four; one manor was held under him; Henry de Ferrars, ancestor of the Earls of Derby, of that name, held forty—nine manors in demesne, and forty—one were held under him; William Peverel held six in demesne, six others were held under him; Walter Deincourt held six in demesne; Geoffry Alselin had four in demesne, and two were held under him; Ralph Fitzhubert held eleven manors in demesne, and eight others were held under him; Ralph de Burun had four in demesne, a fifth was held under him; Ascoit Musard held five in demesne; two manors were held under Gilbert de Gand, the Conqueror's nephew; Nigel de Statford held nine manors in demesne; Robert Fitzwilliam, one; Roger de Busli had four in demesne, and four others were held under him. The King's Thanes held twenty—two manors immediately of the crown.

The following table will shew more particularly who were proprietors of the several manors and lands, both at the time of the Survey and in that of Edward the Confessor. The modern names of the several estates are annexed, as far as they could be ascertained.

The only estates which have continued in the descendants of those who were their possessors at the time of the Domesday Survey, are some manors of the Gresley family, which have passed to them in uninterrupted succession from their ancestor Nigel de Statford. The greater number of the estates of Henry de Ferrars, were parcelled out among his retainers, not long after the date of this survey, by Henry de Ferrars, and his son Robert, the first Earl Ferrars. Among those who had grants from the former, we find the ancestor of the Fitzherberts, who still possess the estates then granted. The manors which were retained by the Ferrars family in their own hands, were forfeited by Robert, Earl of Derby, in the reign of Henry III., and became parcel of the duchy of Lancaster.

Ralph Fitzhubert was ancestor of the Frechevilles, who continued to possess estates in Derbyshire till the extinction of the family in the reign of Charles II. The estates of Walter Deincourt continued in his descendants till they became divided between coheiresses in the reign of Henry VI. The estates of the Barons Musard passed to coheiresses in the reign of Edward II.; a marriage with one of them increased the landed property of the Frechevilles.

The estates of William Peverel, Geoffry Alselin (the heiress of whose family married Bardolf), Ralph de Burim and Roger Busli, passed out of those families at an early period.

Among the possessors of considerable landed property in the reign of Henry II. we find only the Shirleys and Curzons who retain any part of it at the present day. Among the larger landed proprietors of later date, may be mentioned the Vernons of Haddon, whose estates have passed by inheritance to the Duke of Rutland; the Longfords and Leakes, whose estates have been dispersed; the Montgomerys, whose estates passed by inheritance to Lord Vernon's ancestors, and the representatives of the other coheiress; the Stanhopes, whose estates are now held by the three noble families of that name; the Talbots, and Cavendishes.

The estates of Talbot, Earl of Shrewsbury, in Derbyshire have been partly divided among coheiresses, and have partly passed by gift of Elizabeth, Countess of Shrewsbury, to the family of Sir William Cavendish, her husband. These estates, with numerous grants of abbey lands, have passed to his descendant, the Duke of Devonshire, who has by far the largest landed property in the county, and is lessee, under the crown, of the greater portion of the ancient Ferrars estate, which was annexed to the duchy of Lancaster.