had thus treacherously procured. It would seem as if Providence had decreed this spot to be the theatre of its retribution, in order more deeply to embitter the tyrant's fall, and remind him, at that avenging moment, of the foul act by which he may be said to have commenced his career of crime. In this flagrantly unjust and unworthy manner ended the life of a nobleman, who, if he erred, as impartial judgment cannot deny he did, in a few instances in his public capacity, through ardency of zeal and the most attached and untainted loyalty, and in his private character by criminal indulgence of the passions, and compliance with the habitudes of a licentious Court, must, however, be allowed to have stood pre-eminent, beyond perhaps any person of his time, for national services both in council and in the field, for his influence and popularity, and for the extent of his properties, as well as the multiplied honours and privileges conferred upon him by his sovereign, of whom he was at once the faithful subject, and the devoted and confidential friend. Lord Hastings married Catharine, widow of William Lord Bonville and Harrington, daughter of Richard Nevil, Earl of Salisbury, and sister to Earl Warwick; and by that lady, who died in 1504, and had sepulture at Ashby de la Zouch, he had issue four sons: first, Edward, his heir; second, Sir Richard; third, Sir William; and fourth, George; and also a daughter, Anne, espoused to George Talbot, fourth Earl of Shrewsbury. Sir William, the third Son, by had two daughters, coheirs, viz. Elizabeth married to John Beaumont, of Grace Dieu, Leicestershire, Master of the Rolls, and Mary, to Thomas Saunders, of Harringworth, in Northamptonshire. his wife SIR EDWARD, SECOND LORD HASTINGS, SON OF LORD WILLIAM. EDWARD, eldest son and heir of his father, Lord Hastings, was made a Knight of the Bath by the Duke of Glocester, afterwards Richard the Third, in 1476, at the same time that the Duke conferred that honour on his own son Edward; and, in 1482, 22d of Edward the Fourth, his father then living, was first summoned to parliament, as he was again, though still a minor, in 1483, by the title of Edward Hastings de Hungerford, Chevalier, in right of his wife Mary, daughter and sole heiress of Thomas, Baron Hungerford, Botreux, Moulins, and Moels. In 1484, in consequence of a claim made by Francis, Viscount Lovell, to the manors of Ashby de la Zouch and Bagworth, as well as to the castles, manors, and lands of the late Lord Beaumont, then in possession of Lord Edward and Lady Catherine his mother, much contention and enmity arose between the parties, which was not finally appeased till Lord Edward arrived at age. However, through the mediation of mutual friends, an agreement was in the mean time concluded, under which Lord Lovell received two hundred marks in money, together with the enjoyment, during Lord Edward's nonage, of the third part of the disputed lands, valued at the same sum, yearly; he, on his part, stipulating, in consideration of these concessions, to be, during the said nonage, good lord and cousin to her and her son, and to all his brethren, and to show unto them and their servants, his lordship's good favour, furtherance, and support and assistance, in their lawful matters." When Henry the Seventh, after the defeat of Richard at Bosworth, 66 F attained the crown, that monarch, justly appreciating the merits and sufferings of the late Lord William Hastings, confirmed the reversal of the attainder, and restored Lord Edward full possession of all his paternal estates and dignities, by patent, dated November 22, 1485, together with the lands of Sir Thomas Hungerford his father-in-law. He shared in the dangers and honours of the battle of Stoke: and was subsequently sent, in a high military capacity, to assist the Emperor Maximilian against the French. In 1489, conformably to the directions in his father's will, his mother made partition with him of all the family plate and jewels.* Under his immediate superintendence was compiled, the same year, a manuscript entitled "Feoda Domini Hastynges ratione Mariæ uxoris ejus domina Botreux, Molins, Moyles, ex mero studio, labore, et scriptione mei Thomæ Jakes, anno quinto Henrici Septimi Regis Angliæ 1489." In 1499, he obtained a grant from the king, of all the profits arising annually from the tops, crops, * In the record, to which we are indebted for these minute family particulars, is set down, as exceptions, a curious list of articles, which it is stated then lay in pawn for money borrowed on them; and therefore could not be comprehended in this partition. The list is as follows; First, a cross, with a piece of the Holy Cross therein £. S. d. 20 Item, a ring with a flat diamond Item, a pair of pots, silver and gilt Item, six bowls, silver and gilt, and a salt of gold with a swan...... 40 40 0 0 and bark of trees in the park called the Fryth at Leicester, as well the produce of those cut down for repairing the pales, as the crops called brousings for the sustenance of the King's deer, at a yearly rent of 11. 6s. 8d. Some idea of the great consequence of this ancient family may be formed by the following account of Richard Sacheverell, Receiver-General to his Lordship, for the year ending at Michaelmas, 1500. The total amount of Lord Hastings' income in those times, was 15587. 11s. 8d. of which the receipts in Leicestershire were, Receipt for in sic', scil', Beaumont's Land......63 13 4 An account is also preserved of fees and annuities paid to his Lordship's retainers, among whom were several Knights and Esquires of high degree. Sir Reginald Bray was Steward of certain estates in the counties of Somerset and Wilts, on a salary of 201. and Richard Sacheverell had the same sum as Receiver-General. Thomas Keeble, Sergeant at Law, had an annual fee of 201. Thomas Jakes was Attorney General to the family on a fee of 56s. 8d., and William Cook was Auditor-General on a fee of 117. In 1504, Lord Hastings granted an annual rent of 35s. arising out of the manor of Alveston in Yorkshire, to the Dean and Canons of the Collegiate Church of St. George's Windsor, for ever, in order to make up the sum of 207. bequeathed to them by his father's will for the purpose of establishing, in a certain chapel where he lies interred, a perpetual celebration of divine service by an appointed chaplain, 66 for the souls of himself and his wife, his ancestors, descendants, and all the faithful deceased. The following year his Lordship entered into agreement with Thomas, Earl of Derby, for the marriage of his daughter Anne to that nobleman. The terms of this contract, as we find them recorded,* are worth copying for their curiosity, and as a specimen of the safe, sober style of match-making prevalent in those days. By indenture between Thomas Earl of Derby, and Edward Hastings, Knight, Lord Hastings and Hungerford, it was covenanted, that the said Earl should, before the feast of Pentecost next coming, wed, and take to wife, Ann, the daughter of the said Lord Hastings; and that the said Earl should, at his costs and charges, obtain the license of our holy father the Pope at Rome, for the marriage, and also, at his costs and charges, apparel the said Ann, and bear all the charges, as well for the dinner, as all other things requisite and convenient for the marriage: The Lord Hastings to make good estate to trustees of manors, lands, &c. to the yearly value of six hundred marks, and the Earl to make a like title to the value of four hundred marks. The Lord Hastings further covenanted to pay, should the marriage take effect, four thousand marks of lawful money, viz. five hundred marks in the town or place where the marriage should be had; and, on the first of May, 1507, five hundred marks in London, in the Cathedral of St. Paul, at the font in the same church, and five hundred more at the same place, on every succeeding first day of May, till the year 1513 inclusive.” His Lordship died November 8, 1507, 23d of Henry the Seventh, four days after he had made his will, (for which see Appendix,) and was buried in the Monastery of the Black Friars, London. By his lady, who afterwards became the wife of Sir Richard Sacheverell, but without issue, Lord Hastings had one son, George, his heir, * Harl. MSS. 3881. p. 27. |