The
next generation has a Ralph Bostock as lord of the manor. There is no �proof
of age� for him, but it would seem that he was born circa
1440 as he was said to be aged 20 at the time of his marriage settlement in June
1458 he was said to be 30 years old in April 1475 and inquisitions relating to
the Venables estate return his age as 20 in 1459/60.
On
9 June 1458 Ralph occurs in a licence granted to his father that enabled him to
grant nine messuages, six crofts and 450 acres, with a rent of 4 shillings, in
Wettenhall to a number of trustees on behalf of himself and his wife, Elizabeth.
She was the daughter and heiress of Sir Thomas Dutton of Dutton and brought the
family further wealth.
During
the first year of the Yorkist reign (1461/2), Ralph was bound over to be loyal
to the new king in the sum of 500 marks; his sureties were members of the
Manley, Calveley and Done families. In the following year he occurs with his
father in a similar recognizance. Despite being on the wrong side at the start
of his military career, he eventually did well by serving the House of York.
The
battle of Hedgeley Moor was fought on 25 April 1464 and it is likely that Ralph
fought in there as he had been in the King�s service in the north in earlier
years. On 3 January 1464, a licence was issued to Ralph and Richard Cotton �in consideration of the services done by them at their own costs
in northern parts in the retinue of the king and that of Richard earl of
Warwick, to enter upon their shares of the manors, lands, etc., of which Hugh
Venables died seized of in the county of Chester�. Ralph may have remained
in the north to fight at Hedgeley Moor, at Hexham on 13th May, and at the sieges
of the castles of Alnwick, Dustanburgh and Bamburgh. According to the pedigree
in Landed Gentry, Ralph fought at the
battle of Barnet, on 12 April 1471, and may also have fought at Tewksbury, 6 May
1471, as in both actions it is known that there were contingents of Cheshiremen.
The
Venables inheritance was to cause serious feuds between the families of Cotton,
Venables and Bostock, and their respective allies, for many years. Although
Richard Cotton and Ralph were found to be heirs to the barony, much of the
estates passed to a junior line of the Venables family. On 10 May 1466 Richard
Cotton, Anne Bostock and William Venables were discharged of their recognizances
to keep the peace, �entered into by them pending a claim to the manor of
Kynderton�, by virtue of a warrant issued to the Chamberlain of Chester. On 10
February 1467 Sir William Brereton (one of Bostock�s trustees) and Ralph were
bound over in the sum of �1000 to keep the peace towards Henry Venables and
William son of Thomas Venables of Chester. On a half-dozen times between then
and 1469 there are many recognizances and counter-recognizances to keep the
peace. In 1471/2 and 1472/3 Ralph and Sir William are again bound over in �1000
to keep the peace towards William Venables of Kinderton and Peter Venables.
Brereton alone occurs in similar recognizances over the next several years.
In
1478/9 Ralph Bostock occurs in a grant to Ralph son of Thomas Huxley of lands in
Tattenhall.
On
20 September 1480 a special license was issued to Ralph to enter the barony of
Kinderton, for further services in the north �as well about the person of the
King as that of Richard earl of Warwick�. This, naturally, gave rise to
further feuding. Ralph and Richard Cotton were in possession of their shares
until Henry, William and Peter Venables put them out by force. Whereupon
Brereton prayed for the king�s letters to have the rioters put in prison, and
him in possession of the estates as guardian of Bostock and Cotton. The title
was not settled even then and was to be the subject of litigation for a further
fifty years.
The
death of Ralph de Bostock on 4 August 1482 heralds the end of the main line of
the family. A writ de diem was issued
on 20 August 1482 stating that he had died two weeks earlier; it is said he died
from poison, but whether by accident, suicide or murder is not known. His inquisition
post mortem informs us that he held the manor of Bostock directly from the
earl Chester and that it was worth �10 3s.
per annum. He also held lands in Norcroft, Tetton, Newton by Sydenhall and
Huxley, the manor of Wigland, lands in Foulwich, Bradley and Occlestone, half
the manor of Mersheton, lands in Beterton, Legh, Newton (on Wirral) and
Northwich. His son and heir William was aged 13 years on 9 October 1481. In fact
Ralph had two children by his marriage to Elizabeth Dutton, these were William
and Ann. Apparently, he also had an illegitimate son named John. William was
born in 1468 and Ann was probably born about 1470.
|
Elizabeth outlived her husband by thirty-four years. She was about eight years younger than Ralph and was betrothed to him when aged nine or ten. In her widowhood she remarried and became the wife of Thomas Skyren. She died in February 1516 and her inquisition post mortem recorded that she was in possession of lands in Huxley, Occleston and Wettenhall granted by her husband as dower. |
 The arms of Dutton of Dutton |
Elizabeth
also held dower lands in
Wygland, Malpas, Iscoyd, Aggeton, Chidlowe, Cuddington and Foulwich which after her death were to pass by
a settlement dated 1515 to either her daughter Ann�s son, Sir John Savage, or
else her brother William. It seems therefore that there was some doubts as to
William�s ability to continue the family line, perhaps he was seriously ill or
else had only illegitimate offspring, in any event he was dead by February the
following year and the estates passed to Sir John Savage.