Brief History of Rotherham
Lordship of Hallamshire
The Manor of Sheffield and Lordship of Hallamshire is notable from having descended in unbroken line, without sale or forfeiture, not indeed from father to son, but in direct hereditary descent, including frequent descents in the female line, from the Norman Conquest to the present day.
By the time of the Domesday survey in 1086, Waltheof , Prior of Kirkham Abbey, Earl of Northumbria had been executed for his part in an uprising against William I and his lands had passed to his wife, Judith of Normandy, niece to William the Conqueror. The lands were held on her behalf by Roger de Busli who died around the end of the 11th century, and was succeeded by a son, who died without issue. The family's lands passed to William de Lovetot ,the son of a Norman baron who had come over with the Conqueror, and who had succeeded the powerful Roger de Busli He built his castle here and made Sheffield Manor his home. Three generations of the de Lovetots were lords of Hallamshire covering about one hundred years.
In 1181, the estates of the de Lovetots passed to an only daughter, Maud aged seven who was made ward of King Henry II. About 1190 King Richard I gave the sixteen-year-old girl in marriage to Gerard de Furnival, the son of a Norman knight.
Thomas, Lord Furnival's Charter, 10 Aug 1297
To all the faithful of Christ who shall see or hear this present writing, Thomas of Furnivalle, the third, son and heir of Sir Thomas of Furnivalle, eternal salvation in the Lord.Know ye that I have demised, granted, and delivered in fee farm to all my Free tenants of the town of Schefeld and their heirs all the tofts, lands, and holdings which they hold of me in the foresaid town of Schefeld, to hold and to have [the same] of me and my heirs to the foresaid tenants and their heirs with all their appurtenances belonging to the said tofts, lands, and holdings, within the town of Schefeld and outside, in fee and heredity, freely, quietly, well, and in peace, for ever, (provided that my free warren be not hindered by the said tenants or in anywise disturbed), the said tenants and their heirs paying yearly therefor to me and my heirs £3. 8s. 9¼d. of silver, at the two terms of the year, namely, half at the Birthday of the Lord (Christmas), and half at the Nativity of Saint John Baptist, in discharge of all services and demands, reserving nevertheless to me and my heirs fealty, escheats, and suit of court of the said tenants.
Furthermore, I will and grant that the court of the said Town of Schefeld of my foresaid tenants shall be held within the foresaid town every three weeks by my Bailiffs, as hitherto has been accustomed in the time of my ancestors.
And if it should happen that my said tenants, or any of them, are to be fined for any trespass in my said court, I will and grant for myself and my heirs that they be fined by their peers, and that according to the measure of the offence.
Furthermore, I will and grant for myself and my heirs that the said tenants and their heirs, as well buyers as sellers, shall everywhere throughout all Hallamshire be quit from all exaction and demand of toll, as they were wont to be in the time of my ancestors, for ever.
And I; the foresaid Thomas, and my heirs, will warrant all these matters aforesaid, with their aforesaid appurtenances, as is aforesaid, to my aforesaid tenants and their heirs, against all people for ever.
In witness whereof the seals of the parties are to the present writing, made in the manner of a chirograph, alternately affixed. Witnesses:--Sir Robert of Ecclissale, Sir Edemund Foliot, knights, Thomas of Schefeld, Thomas of Mounteney, Robert of Wadislay, Ralph of Wadislay, Thomas of Furneys, William of Darnale, Robert the Breton, then seneschal of Hallumshire, and others.
Given at Schefeld on the fourth of the Ides of August, in the year of the Lord 1297.
Thomas, Lord de Furnival of Sheffield - the son of Gerard and Matilda Furnival died in 1332 - in his will Elizabeth, his widow had for her dowry, Eyam, Stoney Middleton, Bamford and Hathersage, Derbyshire; and Treeton, Todwick, Ullay, Brampton, Catcliffe, Orgreave, and Whiston. After she died, Edward the Third, enjoyed her dowry a great many years. It then reverted to her husband's grandson by his first wife, Thomas, Lord Furnival, called 'the Hasty'.
After holding the lordship of Hallamshire for about sixty years,- the last Thomas de Furnival died childless and was succeeded by his brother, William who had a daughter - Joan. She married Sir Thomas de Nevill, a younger brother of the Earl of Westmorland, and they also had only one child a daughter Maud. From the will of her father Maud who by now was married to John Talbot, inherited the whole of the Furnival estates.
The title of the early Lords to their Sheffield and Worksop properties was an ancient one when Edward I instituted Quo Warranto proceedings and there are no early deeds relating to it. The first Market Charter of 1296, granting Thomas de Furnival market rights in Worksop and Sheffield, is among the earliest documents. « Definition of Hallamshire
Source:Sheffield Archives
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