♂Thomas de Legh

Thomas de Legh (living 1251–1279) was an English landholder in the reigns of Henry III and Edward I, lord of the manor of Leigh in Berkshire and of Kingston in Warwickshire. He was the twentieth great-grandfather of Nancy Jane Blanchard (1929–2006) by two separate lines of descent, both through his son William de Legh (died after 1296).

Life

Leigh, the Berkshire manor later called Bessels Leigh, and Kingston, in the parish of Chesterton in Warwickshire, had passed together since the early twelfth century, both held of the abbots of Abingdon^W. In the middle of the thirteenth century they were held by William de Leigh, the son of Felice de Leigh, who had a knight’s fee^W at each place. Thomas seems to have succeeded him by 1251; how the two were related is not known.

In 1251 Thomas granted a hide^W of land at Leigh to another William de Leigh, perhaps his brother, to hold of him for life. At the same time that William’s son and heir, also William, gave up to Thomas any claim to the land after his father’s death, and took an annuity in return. Thomas still held Kingston in 1279. His wife’s name is not known. By 1292 William, most likely his son, was in possession of Leigh, and both manors passed from William to John de Legh and then to John’s daughter Katherine, who married the knight Thomas Bessiles.

Lines of descent

Both lines run through his son William, William’s son John de Legh, John’s daughter Katherine de Legh, her son Peter Bessiles, Peter’s son Thomas Bessiles, Thomas’s son William Bessiles (1444–1515), William’s daughter Elizabeth Bessiles, her daughter Anne Fettiplace, Anne’s daughter Mary Purefoy, Mary’s daughter Susanna Thorne, Susanna’s son Thomas Dudley^W (1576–1653), later governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, and Thomas’s son Samuel Dudley (1608–1683). One comes down through Samuel’s son Stephen Dudley (1654–1735) to Nathaniel Dudley (1763–1844), and the other to Nathaniel’s wife, Anna Smith (1764–1825); the two lines meet again in their daughter Sarah Dudley (1795–1839).

Notes

Sources for his life

The grant of 1251 is told in the Victoria County History of Berkshire, vol. 4 (1924), under Bessels Leigh, p. 395, citing the feet of fines^W for Berkshire, 36 Henry III, no. 6: William de Leigh “seems to have been succeeded by Thomas, who in 1251 granted to William de Leigh, perhaps a brother, a hide of land in Leigh to hold of him for life; at the same time William son and heir of William quitclaimed to Thomas any claim he might have on it after his father’s death, and received in return an annuity.” The Victoria County History of Warwickshire, vol. 5 (1949), under Chesterton, p. 43, says that “Thomas de Leigh appears to have succeeded by 1251 and held Kingston in 1279”, citing the Berkshire history for 1251 and Dugdale’s Antiquities of Warwickshire, p. 482, for 1279. Both histories spell the name Leigh.

His son

The Berkshire history says “William, the son of Thomas, was in possession in 1292”, citing the feet of fines for Berkshire, 20 Edward I, no. 7, and notes that this “accords with the traditional pedigree which makes John the son of William son of Thomas” (Harley MS 1139, fol. 110). The Warwickshire history calls William “apparently son and heir of Thomas de Leigh”.

Other men of the name

In 1292 William granted lands at Leigh for life to “one Thomas de Leigh”, who was the tenant there in 1316, and a Thomas de Leigh “said to have been” John de Legh’s brother paid tax at Kingston in 1332. Since this Thomas’s son already held the manor by 1292, both were most likely other men of the same name.