The Cromwell Connection to Wistow actually begins after the period we now call The Dissolution of the Monasteries in 1536 when Henry VIII dismantled the monasteries and other religious houses, appropriated their income and gave away their lands and assets.

This article will look back to a slightly earlier time to explain the steady development of the Cromwell family connection to Wistow taking each generation at a time.

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We start with Walter Cromwell a.k.a. Walter Smyth (c. 1463–1510), variously described as a cloth worker, a smith and an alehouse keeper, who appears to have been a bit of an unsavoury character. Walter had a son, Thomas, and two daughters, Katherine and Elizabeth.

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Thomas Cromwell was born c. 1485 in Putney and married Elizabeth (Liz) Wykys in 1513. They had a son, Gregory, and two daughters, Anne and Grace. Sadly in 1527 Liz and her young daughters all died from the sweating sickness. Gregory Cromwell, 1st Baron Cromwell, married Elizabeth Seymour, who was Queen Jane Seymour’s sister. Jane Seymour was Henry VIII’s third wife and mother to Edward VI.

Thomas Cromwell was a lawyer by profession and the founder of the family’s fortunes. He became chief minister to Henry VIII from 1532 to 1540 and was raised to the peerage as the first Earl of Essex. He fell from favour after arranging the King’s disastrous marriage to Anne of Cleves and was executed on 28^th July 1540.

(The Sweating Sickness was a serious illness which appeared first in England then spread into Europe at different intervals during Tudor times. It claimed many lives during a series of epidemics between 1485 and 1551. The onset of symptoms was dramatic and sudden, with death often occurring within hours. It is not known exactly what caused it or even what it was because it disappeared entirely after 1578).

Bet (Elizabeth) married a Mr Wellyfed (what a fantastic name).

In 1497 Thomas’ older sister Kat (Katherine or Catherine) married Morgan ap Williams, a Welshman and distant relation to Henry Tudor (VII). They had three sons, two of which were named Richard and a third son called Walter, who married his cousin Alice Wellyfed. They had three children and Walter died in 1544.

One of the Richard Williams’ married, had a child named Henry and died in 1588.

The elder Richard was taken in by Thomas Cromwell when both his parents died very close to each other. Richard then took the name Cromwell in honour of his uncle and it is through this Richard that the Cromwell connection to Wistow is first established.

(Hilary Mantel in her novel Wolf Hall suggests that Richard was taken into Thomas’ household when both his parents died of the sweating sickness in close succession. This is possibly the reason for Richard’s gratitude and to be fair to him he did not reclaim his birth name Williams when his uncle was disgraced and beheaded. In fact all three of the Williams’ sons began calling themselves Cromwell in honour of their famous maternal uncle. Most of their descendants also used the surname Cromwell or occasionally Williams-alias-Cromwell. After the Restoration in 1660, when it may have been unwise to be seen to have close links with Oliver Cromwell, some members of the family reverted for a time to calling themselves Williams, though generally just as a temporary measure).

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It is unclear exactly when Richard Williams alias Cromwell was born or when he died. He was born either in 1495 or c. 1500 and most likely died on 20^th October 1544. His will was dated 20^th June 1544 and was proved on 24^th November 1546. (The conflicting birth years could be because there were two brothers both named Richard).

Richard Cromwell was a courtier during the reign of Henry VIII and the nephew of the King’s minister, Thomas Cromwell. Richard married Frances Murfyn (a.k.a. Martyn) who died in 1533 and was a relative of the King’s second wife, Anne Boleyn.

In the aftermath of the Reformation and the Dissolution of the Monasteries Richard, who by this time had been knighted, was granted most of the estates of Ramsey Abbey, Sawtry and Hinchinbrooke Priory with an annual income of £2500. The Hinchinbrooke House website states

– it was in 1538 that Richard Williams alias Cromwell received a royal grant of the priory with its “church, steeple, churchyard and house and all lands”.

Sir Richard was also granted Ramsey Abbey lands including WISTOW on 4th March 1539 or 1540.

By 1541 he was Sheriff of both Huntingdonshire and Cambridgeshire. This is after the execution of Thomas Cromwell, so he appears to still be in favour with the king at this time. He was also appointed gentleman of the Privy Chamber; served in France in 1543 as general of infantry; was made constable of Berkeley Castle, steward of the lordship of Urchenfield, and constable of the castle of Godrich in Wales. Sir Richard Cromwell died full of honours and wealth. It was Richard’s son and grandson who weakened the family fortune.

Sir Richard and Frances had two sons – Henry and Francis (died 1598).

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Sir Henry Cromwell (born c 1524 or 1537 and died 6th January 1603 or 1604) inherited his father’s estates including WISTOW.

He was born at Hinchinbrooke Priory and rebuilt it as a mansion. He was made a Knight in 1563 and was nicknamed ‘The Golden Knight’ because of his lavish expenditure.

Henry married Joan Warren (1524 to 22^nd August 1584) and they had eleven children, six sons and five daughters, most of whom survived into adulthood, married and had children of their own.

The four sons of interest to Wistow are Oliver, Henry, Phillip and Robert.

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Sir Oliver Cromwell (c 1559 to 28^th August 1655) married twice and had many children.

He was even more lavish than his father, Sir Henry, and was forced to sell Hinchinbrooke House to the Montague family on 20^th June 1627 or 1629.

In 1648 he sold WISTOW to Sir Nicholas Pedley, Serjeant-at-law, who was later elected to Richard Cromwell’s parliament in 1659..

Henry Cromwell (c 1566 – 1630) is possibly the Henry Cromwell shown owning some land on the outskirts of the manor in the 1617 map of WISTOW.

Sir Phillip Cromwell (c 1576 – 1629) is the most likely candidate for the Sir Phillip shown in the 1617 map of WISTOW as owning the Manor House and much of the land in and around the village.

(In 1618 the Rector of Wistow church was Phillip Cromwell B.A. and he was likely to be related to Sir Phillip Cromwell, maybe a son or nephew).

Robert Cromwell (born c 1559 or 1560 and died 1617) married Elizabeth Steward or Stewart (1564 to 18^th November 1654). They had ten children.

Their most famous child was Oliver Cromwell (25^th April 1599 to 3^rd September 1658) of Civil War fame, who became the Lord Protector of England.

Their eldest daughter was named Joan and either died aged 8 or married a William Baker in 1611. The reason Joan is of interest is because one of the Rectors of Wistow church was William Baker M.A. who was Rector from 1642 to 1645 and then again from 1661 to 1687. These periods of time give away the fact that William was turfed out of the church during the time of The Commonwealth but returned with the Restoration of Charles II, which probably means he had Royalist leanings. The question is did Joan Cromwell marry Wistow’s Wiiliam Baker or some other William Baker? Or was William Baker Joan and William’s son? If Joan was related to Wistow’s Rector she may have had conflicted loyalties during the Civil War, torn between her family member and her brother.

(See the Wistowpedia article Two Defiant Priests for more information about William Baker)

Another of Robert and Elizabeth Cromwells’ daughters was Anna and she was most definitely connected to Wistow.

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Anna Cromwell (2^nd January 1603 to 1646) was married to John Sewster of WISTOW, County Huntingdonshire, Esquire (died c 1682). They lived and brought up their family in WISTOW. Their children were baptised in WISTOW church and some of their children were buried there. Anna and John Sewster were both buried in WISTOW. The parish record shows that Anna was buried in WISTOW on 1^st November 1646.

The parish record has a number of entries about Anna, John and their six children:

Lucy Sewster 26^th November 1631 to 1654
John Sewster c. 8^th April 1638 to 1680. (One of John’s daughter’s, Mary, married William Gosling of WISTOW. They lived in what is now Mill Farm).
Catherine Sewster 1642 – 1642, Baptised in WISTOW church 30^th April1642
Anna Sewster 6^th May 1644 to 1647, Baptised in WISTOW church 15^th May 1644
Robina Sewster marries Sir William Lockhart
Robert Sewster, a clergyman who died 1705

Author: Althea Walker

February 2013

Villeins, Virgaters, Cotmen and Hidemen

At the time of the Domesday Survey the Abbey at Ramsey held 16 complete manors and part of 8 others.

In the early Middle Ages – 12^th and 13^th century – of the free tenants two classes may be distinguished. Firstly those who held land by military service and from whom the Knights were chosen, and secondly those holding land by non-military tenure who owed homage and followed the hundred and county courts and the court of Broughton.

Sometimes a money rent was paid for a free hide and occasionally light labour services were also performed.

The censuarii were tenants paying money rent for their land but owing labour service as well, and thus were hardly to be distinguished in many cases from villeins, who themselves by the 13^th century are to be found paying money rent too. Villeins held land by labour tenure and amongst those on the Ramsey estates are found virgaters, cotmen and crofters.

The services consisted of week-work and boon-work. Of week-work services, ploughing was required as a rule one day a week, usually Fridays. If it could not be done e.g. bad weather or a feast day falling on a Friday, then it may or may not be required on another day. In some cases the service might be put ‘ad censum’ meaning at the lord’s pleasure, or deferred for two or three weeks.

In certain manors if a villein was ill for a year and a day, he was excused all services except ploughing. The work was distributed according to the number of ploughs and not the number of villains and penalties were imposed for bad work. In addition the lord had his own demesne plough on each manor worked by the tenants, usually the semi-virgaters, holding their own land on condition of following the plough, called ‘akermanni’ or ‘carucarii’.

In addition to the weekly ploughing the tenants by labour service were required to work on other days, the number varying from manor to manor, for the performance of miscellaneous services e.g. weeding, haymaking, ditching, threshing, collecting rods or nuts, making hurdles or watching at the fair.

An important item in the weekly works was carting, the amount constituting a load was strictly defined. Carting might be within the manor, including rushes cut from the marshes and brought if necessary by boat, loads of hay or crops, or to adjacent manors or markets and particularly to the Abbey. Occasionally longer journeys were involved. Villeins from Broughton were sent to London. A villein from Abbots Ripton received 1d from those remaining at home if he went beyond the water of St Ives or Huntingdon. At Wistow carrying a cartload to Ramsey was reckoned as two works i.e. the villein was released from two weeks work with the exception of ploughing.

Besides the week-work, additional boon-work was required, boon ploughings and harvest boons were supplementary to increased week-work, which was fixed and regular. Boon ploughing were usually three times a year, in early winter, spring and summer and the land thus ploughed was usually sown with the villein’s own seed. Harvest boons were required in August and September when the regular increase in the week-work was not sufficient. Similarly during haymaking, the villein might be required to work the whole week until the hay was in. Occasionally the villein received food from his lord for the boon-work, usually one meal only and sometimes known as nonemetes’. At Wistow in 1324 – 80 men with 20 ploughs received fish worth 3s 2d, 2 rings of corn and 3 rings of malt; in 1351 – 102 men received 2 cows, 6 rings of corn, 2 rings of malt, 8lbs cheese and 2 geese.

Small holders by labour tenure were known as cotmen or crofters, the cotland being larger than the croft, with 5 to 12 acres and the croft 2 to 3 acres. The services of these are not easy to distinguish from those of the villein, though fewer days of week-work were required.

Generally a day’s work was sunrise to sunset but at Wistow harvesting from dawn to noon was regarded as one work. At harvest time the villein arrived with his whole household except his wife but including his children.

Nowadays, even though the village is still encompassed by farmland, the people of Wistow are no longer tied to the land as they were until 150 or even 100 years ago. Today, although some still live here and work on the farms, the majority of working villagers commute to the surrounding area, the larger towns nearby such as Cambridge or Peterborough and to London, which is only an hour away by rail.

Written by Sharon Waters

June 2011