Who Was... Thomas de Mussenden?

According to Reverend Edmund Lynold, in his book about the owners of Healing Manor, Thomas Mussenden "was brought up in the warres in the time of Richard ye second and was captaine of the Castle of [….] in Fraunce". Thomas was a member of the famous Mussenden family, owners of much land within Healing, Aylesby, and Buckinghamshire, and also lord of healing Manor in the fourteenth century.We will examine his transition to Healing Manor in a later article about the legal process in his occupation.

Thomas was born in Great Missenden, Buckinghamshire, sometime in the late 1350's. He began work in the service of King Edward III, mostly as a butler, but also assisting in the wars in France. By 1359, he had acquired enough wealth to become a captain of a small band of men in the king's final campaign against France. In his efforts in the war, he served under John of Gaunt, the 1st Duke of Lancaster. After the campaign, as a reward, he became a knight of the shire for Buckinghamshire in 1363 and 1365. Thomas married Isabelle Brocas, which formed an alliance with the Brocas family and brought him land in Lincolnshire. Their support would later prove critical for the rest of the fourteenth century.

In 1379, Thomas returned to England, and married Joan, daughter of Sir Robert Hawley, lord of the manor at Mablethorpe. Thomas and his wife took up residence at Healing, and became a friend of Sir John de Helyng, who was also mentioned as living in Healing in the census issued by Edward III. The Helyng family had held Healing Manor since the 12th century, and had some great renown.

By the time Thomas returned from his latest military campaign in France, he had amassed enough wealth to buy land from Sir John de Helyng. Thomas now owned land in Aylesby, Great Coates, Little Coated and Healing. Thomas added the coat of arms of Healing to his own, enforcing his authority on the area.

John of Gaunt died some time in 1398, and five months later, in February 1399, his exiled son, Henry of Bolingbroke, landed in the Humber on a lost spit of land known as the Ravenspur, which stretched, according to some sources, from Healing. At this time, the ruling king, Richard II, was fighting in Ireland, and Henry was able to ally himself with the former Archbishop of Canterbury. Under his guidance, Henry began confiscating land. Thomas Mussenden quickly became one of his appointees in the regional network Henry was setting up, and subsequently became 'esquire of the king' only a fortnight after his coronation.

Later, in 1400, Thomas was asked to help the king in an effort to assert his authority in Scotland. Thomas gathered together  archers, and travelled to York, perhaps in the hope of forming an allegiance with the king. However, the campaign failed, and Thomas went home profitless.

Thomas died shortly before the 21 February 1404. A stained glass window was once put up in Healing Church, which no longer survives. It was supposed to be spectacular, depicting Thomas in full military glory. His wife Joan went on to marry William Hilton.

From my research, it seems that the Ravenspur, that Edward IV also landed on in 1471, has been washed up by the tides, and nothing remains.
What an incredible tale! I hope you have enjoyed this,
James

Notes
You can view Thomas' will by clicking this link here.
More information about the purchase of Healing Manor.

Healing's War Grave - Cyril Porri

As I was looking through the graveyard at Healing church today, I found another war grave. I was surprised by this, as I thought I would quickly find all the war graves in such a small churchyard. The reason for this is that the CWGC cleans and maintains the graves, so they are usually bright white, often with a little red poppy.

As you can see, this one is not, and is covered in dirt and mould. The inscription reads:

"Group Captain

CYRIL PORRI

Observer

Royal Air Force

(Retired)

23rd May 1950, Age 57."

This would explain why he is not listed with the CWGC (as he was retired), however, why he was buried with a military headstone. Searching through archives and records, I've found some newspaper clippings of Group Captain Porri's rise through the ranks:

THE LONDON GAZETTE, 1 JANUARY, 1929.

Note that the same person, Frederic Stammers, O.B.E is listed with Porri:

THE LONDON GAZETTE, 31 DECEMBER, 1935

Can we safely assume the two men were both friends? 

Having checked the census records, we can see that Porri was born in 1893, was 18 at the time of the 1911 census, and he lived in Grimsby. 

Lest we forget,

James

Who Was... Lady Portman?

     Lady Portman, Dorothy Marie Isolde, was born on the 23rd April 1878, the daughter of Sir Robert Sheffield. She was christened on 21st July of the same year, in Burton-upon-Stather. Her childhood days were spent at the nearby Normanby Hall.
     Dorothy married Capt. Gerald Burkeley Portman, who had been serving with the 10th Hussars, on the 16th July 1902 at Burton-on-Stather (or thereabouts), Lincolnshire.
    The two lived at Healing Manor together. When Lord Portman died in 1948, Lady Portman continued living there. The photographs I have suggest she must have had weak or failing legs, because she soon had an invalid carriage.
     Lady Portman died on 21st May 1964, and was buried with her husband in Healing churchyard. The grave is very prominent; a large stone rectangle, with letters engraved in:

Below is a picture of Lady Portman riding around Healing Manor. Despite her old age, she still managed to get around the paddocks, stubbing out thistles as she went by.

Here we have an image of Lady Portman sat in her carriage near the manor. Many thanks indeed to Kathleen Robinson, who sent in the above picture, as well as this one:

As I have already said, I am extremely grateful to Kathleen Robinson, who has sent these pictures in as part of the HVHPP (there are some more for future articles).

Regards,

James

Who Was... John Gilbert Surman?

You may remember the name from our previous article on the rectors of Healing. Rod Collins has written an extremely detailed post about J.G.S on his blog. You can view the whole entry here.

Rectors of Healing - A Complete List

This is (hopefully) a complete list of the rectors of Healing Church. The list can be found inside the church, on your right:

1221 - Alan de Kelsia (of Kelsey?)
1238 - John de Stainton (of Stainton - le - Vale?)
1259 - Henry de Steynton (of Stainton-le-Vale?)
1269 - Ralph de Heyling (of Healing)
1285 - Simon de Suthferiby (of South Feriby)
1313 - William de Healing
1349 - Thomas de Heyling (of Healing)
1399 - Robert Tynerington
1419 - John Reyner
14__ - Robert Gaynsburgh (Gainsborough)
1432 - William Redehede (Redhead?)
1473 - Thomas Swawdale
1476 - John Hull
1480 - John Taylour
1507 - Alexander Hawkisworth
1537 - Barnard Parker
1555 - Thomas Cooke
1558 - Thomas Newcome
1560 - John Daye
1564 - William Harting
15__ - Edmund Lynold
1637 - Lawrence Carliel (Carlisle?) S.J.B (Saint John the Baptist)
1661 - George Barnerd
1668 - Thomas Lambe M.A.
16 (36?) - John Alcock
1694 - John Blagrave A.B. (Able Bodied, Father or Bachelor of Arts ?)
1731 - William Murray A.B. (Able Bodied, Father or Bachelor of Arts?)
1752 - John Parkinson
1793 - John Parkinson
1837 - William Wright L.L.B. (a degree in law)
1859 - James Edward Wallis Loft M.A.
1880 - Cecil Henry Legard L.L.M. (a degree in law)
1888 - John Gilbert Surman M.A.
1917 - John Charles Catlin
1932 - Thomas Holehouse
1938 - Hugh Basil Jones M.A. (grave pictured below)

1958 - Walter Edward Harrison
1965 - John William Abbott M.A.
1989 - Daphne Eileen King
1999 - Richard William Grosse L.L.B.


Regards, James

Who Was... Henry Marrows?

Henry Marrows was a Victorian builder in Healing, who was born in Market Rasen in 1856. On the 28^th February 1895, he purchased a plot of land adjacent to the triangular wood (now called Porri’s Wood) for £222.10, on which he built himself a house, called ‘Briarfield’ (now Hazeldene), to the value of no less than £500. Whilst building this house he also built Arden Court for Mr Louis Porri.

Marrows built virtually all of Healing's new houses during the Victorian era.

 In 1913, he built the building which is now used by the fish ‘n’ chip shop, the hairdressers and the Post Office. Marrows also built the Wesleyan Chapel, on Station Road , which seats 200 people, at the cost of £1,400. Throughout his life, Marrows was always interested in church restoration, croquet (he was the then-captain of Healing Croquet Club), and gardening, a passion which he shared with his wife.

Henry married Jane Haith, who is now buried in Healing Churchyard.  Marrows himself died in 1933, and is buried with Jane.

Above: The grave of Henry and Jane, in Healing churchyard.

Below: The stained glass window devoted to Jane. The inscription along the bottom reads: "To the Glory of God. In Memory of Jane the Beloved Wife of Henry Marrows of Healing Who Died 22nd of July 1925"

Regards,

James