History and Antiquities of the Country of Hertford Icheton,

Lefstanchirche otherwise Layston Vol III pages 427 to 438

Soon after the Conquest Hugh Triket held this Manor of Cornheie of the honour of Boloniae or Bononiae, which was the honour of Earl Eustace. It was then, with Berkeden, half a knight's fee and part of five knight's fees, said to have been held by Hugh Triket of that honour(c). Hugh Triket granted, in perpetual alms to God and the Church of the Holy Trinity in London, and to the Canons there serving God, whatsoever he and his father, or his predecessors, had in the Church of Leftstanchirche, with all his land of Cornhee ; so that, whosoever should hold that Church, should hold it of the Canons in like manner as they held it of him and his ancestors (d). Eustace Earl of Bouillon or Boloniae, son of King Stephen, and the lineal descendant of the before-named Earl Eustace, granted to the Church and Canons of the Holy Trinity, London, all the land of Cornea, which Hugh Triket had sold to them; and the Earl released to the Canons the service due to him for the said lands, viz. the service of the fourth part of a knight, for which he was to have two besants (i. e. " bisantos," pieces of gold of Bisantium, the chief City in Burgundy) yearly for all services. This he did for the souls of King Stephen his father, of Queen Matilda his mother, Baldwin his brother, and Matilda his sister. And at the desire of Hugh Triket he became the surety of Hugh for performance of the agreement between him and the Canons(e). In the 12th year of Henry the Second, amongst the knight's fees of the honour of Boloniae, under the name of Hugh Triket, is Berkedene half a knight's fee, which Hubert de Anasteia held, and Cornheia half a knight's fee, which the Canons of the Holy Trinity held(f). King Henry the Third, by his charter, dated the 8th of February, in the 11th year of his reign, confirmed to God and the Church of the Holy Trinity, situated in London, and to the Canons there, serving God, the land of Corneia and the Church of Leftstanechirche, of the gift of Hugh Triket(g)

The same King " also granted that the Prior, Convent, and their successors, should have one market at their Manor of Corneia on Tuesday in every week, and one fair every year, to continue eight days, that is to say, on the Vigils, the Day of St. Bartholomew the Apostle, and six days following, and also free warren in all their lordships, which they had then in the Counties of Hertford, Kent, and Middlesex, with all liberties and free customs belonging to the market and fair(h)

The Manor of Corney continued to be the property of the Prior and Canons of the Holy Trinity without Aldgate, London, until the Dissolution of Monasteries.

"But upon the Dissolution of Monasteries this Manor came to King Henry VIII. who, an. 33 regni sui, granted the Rectory of Layston, and the Manor of Corneybury and Milkley, the jurisdiction of holding Court Leet and Baron, and the profits of Courts, to Sir Thomas Audley, Knight, Chancellor of England, and his heirs(i)."

He was a person of obscure origin, who made his fortune by the profession of the Law, and by the active part he took in the dissolution of religious houses. In the 18th of Henry the Eighth he was Autumn Reader of the Inner Temple. In 21 Henry VIII. he was chosen Speaker of the House of Commons, in which Parliament (for it was continued by proroga¬tion to the 27th of Henry the Eighth) the monastick establishment in this Country was overthrown. In the 22d of Henry the Eighth he was also Attorney of the Duchy of Lancaster, and in Michaelmas Term the next year he was called to the degree of Serjeant at Law, and appointed King's Serjeant on the 14th of November in that term. On the 20th of May, 24 Henry VIII. the great seal was delivered to him (on the resignation of Sir Thomas More), and he was knighted; and on the 26th of January following he was declared Lord Chancellor of England. He obtained the Priory of the Holy Trinity for a town residence, and the Great Abbey of Walden, in Essex, for his seat in the Country, and had an ample share of the plunder of the Church. On the 29th of November, in the 30th of Henry the Eighth, he was created by letters patent Baron Audley of Walden, to hold to him and the heirs male of his body. He was also installed a Knight of the Garter, and died on the 30th of April 1544, 36 Henry VIII. in the 56th year of his age(k). He married Elizabeth, daughter of Thomas Grey, Marquis of Dorset, and left Margaret, aged four years and a half, and Mary, aged three years, his daughters and coheirs. The younger of these daughters died without issue, and Margaret, the elder daughter, became sole heir of her father, and married, first, Lord Henry Dudley, younger son of John Duke of Northumberland, who was killed at St. Quintin's, in Picardy, in 1557. She after¬wards married Thomas Howard, Duke of Norfolk, to whom she was second wife, and by whom she had issue Lord Thomas Howard, her son and heir, and other children, and

(c) Lib. Nig, Scacc. fo. 152, (d) Mon. Ang. tom. II. fo. 8O. (e) Id. fo. 8l.
(f) Lib. Nig. Scacci fo. 152. 390. (g) Mon. Ang. torn. II. fo. 82.
(h) Chauncy's Hist. Antiq, of Herts, p. 128; and Cart. 11 H. III. m. 34. (i) Ibid,
(k) Inq.2 Maii, 36 H. VIII;.Essex.

Select page number:  Page 428