• General Notes

  of,Ewden,Buckinghamshire,England ,   d. 1424, (64:1424)
  
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  William D'Oyly, Esq. of Pushull and Eweden, by inheritance, and of Hynton near Brackley, co. Northampton, in right of his wife, the elder son, was born about 1360, and, succeeding his father in 1384, married Isabella, dau. and heiress of — More,[211] (by Elizabeth his wife, sister of Richard de Hynton,[212] Lord of Hynton, near Brackley, co. Northampton, and lineally descended from Elias de Hynton of Hynton, who was a military tenant of De Mandeville Earl of Essex, temp. Hen, II.[213]), and which Isabella was cousin and heiress in remainder, after the death of Dame Christiana Cheyney, wife of Sir John Cheyney, Knt. to the estates of the Hyntons at Hynton, co. Northampton. Hynton de Hynton bore "Per fesse indented sable and argent six fleurs de lis counterchanged;" the arms of More, assigned to Isabella, are "Argent two bars vert between nine martlets gules 3, 3 and 3;"[214] which of course connects her, paternally, with the More family of Heytesbury, co. Wilts and Somersetshire (branches of which were afterwards seated in reputation, at Wychford, co. Hants, and in Bedfordshire), and renders it probable the connection originated through John D'Oyly, the Vicar of Potterne, co. Wilts.—William D'Oyly was lord of Pushull in 1389,[215] but before that time had removed his residence to Hynton, co. Northampton, his wife's inheritance; which estate, however, he never obtained completely, but had a long feud or contest for it, with the Lords Lovel, which lasted for twelve years, and was finally determined (through the influence of the Lovel family) against the D'Oylys.—The circumstances were these. In 37 Edw. III. Thomas de Hynton, then lord of Overbury (or Hynton), in Hynton, made a grant of 20l. per ann. issuing out of that manor to one Richard Engleys or L'Engleys, and levied a fine to him of the lordship the same year;[216] the purport of which was to settle the estate, first on Lady Cheyney and her issue; in default, on Elizabeth de Hynton, wife of More, and the heirs of her body. Accordingly, Lady Cheyney enjoyed Overbury in Hynton, and resided there till her death, which occurred s.p. about 1386. William D'Oyly and Isabella his wife then inherited it under the settlement, and consequently removed thither and settled there; and, as "dominus de Hynton," William D'Oyly presented to Hynton church in 1391, 93, and 94.[217] Meanwhile John Lord Lovel wished to obtain the estate, having taken a fancy to it; but, the D'Oylys being unwilling to dispose of it, he had recourse to a stratagem frequently employed to effect such ends as his. Thomas de Hynton, of the time of Edw. III. had a brother Richard de Hynton, an idiot; who nevertheless had married and left a son named Thomas de Hynton, who was brought up a priest, and was, it seems, heir male of the family. Accordingly this young priest and Lord Lovell combining together, sued out a writ of Diem clausit extremum, in the 21 Ric. II. (1397) to inquire after the death of his uncle Thomas de Hynton of Hynton, who died in 1376 (twenty years before), and thereupon a jury, packed by Lord Lovell, returned, that Thomas de Hynton died seised of the manor and advowson of Hynton in 1376, and that his nephew and heir was Thomas de Hynton, the priest (son of his idiot brother Richard), then æt. 26 years.[218] But to make young Hynton's pretensions still more apparent, they sued out another writ to inquire after the death of Richard de Hynton the idiot, viz. in the following year, and procuring another packed jury, it was returned that Richard Hynton, himself, died seised of the property in 1395-6 (though he had no interest whatever in it), and that his son and heir was the said priest, then aged 28 years; but that a certain "William Doylle de Hynton" had held the property and received the rents for twelve years before Richard's death, by reason of Richard's idiotcy; but by what right the jury could not ascertain.[219]—Thereupon Hynton the priest, assisted by Lord Lovell, his servants and retinue, entered forcibly on the manor, and enfeoffed thereof John eldest son of the Lord Lovell, Lord de la Zouch, and many others.[220]—The result may be imagined. At first the D'Oylys used amicable measures, and received many hypocritical promises from Lord Lovell,—first in 1399, that his title should be tried by a sufficient people of the district; secondly, in Henry IV.'s 2nd parliament, that he would abide the decree of three or four justices; and thirdly, in 1406, that he would have the matter tried by six persons indifferently chosen; but, through his influence and artful procrastination, prevented the fulfilment of his pretended promises; till dying in 1408 (and according to his inquis. post mort. seised of Hynton) his claim devolved on his son and heir, another John Lord Lovell. But ere this the expenses of litigation and the detention of the estates had reduced William D'Oyly to utter beggary. He was thrown into prison for debt (no doubt through the contrivance of the Lovells), and there remained till March 1409-10, when the Commons presented to the King in Parliament a petition commencing as follows. "To the Commons, &c. William D'Oyly, and Isabella his wife, poor and in prison by reason of this suit, humbly pray, that whereas they were lately seised of the manor of Hynton near Brackley, for twenty-two years and more, as the right and inheritance of the said Isabella, by descent of inheritance after the death of one Christian Cheyne," &c,[221] The document, which is in old French, then proceeds to detail the faithless promises of Lord Lovell, &c. The petition having been read before the King and Lords, it was commanded that the Lovells and all the parties interested should come before the King and Lords in Parliament, on the Quinzaine of (14th day after) Easter next; bringing with them all charters and evidences touching the said manor. The parties met accordingly, when it was settled that sixteen persons then nominated should take a special assize touching the disputed inheritance. But truth and justice had less chance against wealth and influence in those days than at present. The result of the contest, at the trial, was the absolute confirmation of the manor to Lord Lovell, subject only to a rent-charge of 20l. per annum, assigned thereout to William D'Oyly for the term of his life.[222] The jury evidently viewed the matter as a strict settlement in tail male, and that Thomas de Hynton's conveyance of the estate to L'Engleys, temp. Edw. III, was an illegal act.
  
  Thus, after twelve years' contest, William D'Oyly was deprived of his wife's inheritance. Pushull had passed from the family in the time of its troubles, and thus nothing remained to it but the small manor of Eweden, in Hambleden parish, co. Bucks. Thither the family then retired, and there its senior line remained, while its younger sons became dispersed into other counties. William D'Oyly died in 1424,[223] 2 Hen. VI. æt. 64, having had issue by his said wife,

Details of William's family with Isabella More