Copy of court roll, manor of Houndean, 20 Sep 1553. 1
Surrender by William Dumbrell; re-admission to the use of William Dumbrell and his wife Agnes and his heirs of one virgate of customary land (60 acres) called Henti in Wivelsfield.
Heriot a bullock worth £1.
---------------------------
William DUMBRELL of Cuckfield; grant of probate or administration, 1568. 2
---------------------------
Thomas's son, William, was born about 1504, possibly in Wivelsfield or Cuckfield The assumption of his birth date is based on the fact that his name does not figure on the main tax roll for 1524, only appearing on the subsidiary roll for Wivelsfield for 1525. At that time he paid one pound, suggesting he was a minor when the principal tax roll was drawn up a year earlier. William inherited Antye in 1536, and, in 1545, he sold two and half acres and a watermill, all lying in the north-western part of the property, to one Ralph Rickard. This small plot was situated to the east of where the eight railway arches of the London-Brighton Railway today carry passengers into the outskirts of Burgess Hill. The watermill passed to Ralph Rickard's wife, Katherine, on his death in 1566, then to his son Richard. William almost certainly did not live at Antye, at least until later life. In 1549, the property was described as 'his tenement', and was leased out for a period of seven years from March 25th (Lady Day) in that year. It was only four years later that William and his wife retook possession.
William Dumbrell's wife was Agnes, and we know from his will that he had at least two children, a son, John, and a daughter, Alice who married John, the son of Joan and Nicholas Pryor of Hamsey, in 1562. No mention is made of Agnes in the title deeds for Antye until 1555. The marriage settlement between the Pryors and John and Alice Dumbrell included the transfer of an annuity of £7 a year for a property in Cuckfield, and pasturage for 120 sheep in the parish of Piddinghoe. William had died before 25 May 1568, and it is possible that he no longer had an active role in family decisions by the time of his daughter's wedding, since he is not mentioned in the marriage settlement.
William Dumbrell was quite specific that he wished to be buried in the churchyard at Cuckfield, although records for the parish before 1598 are lost. In accordance with the custom of the day, he decreed that all should make merry at his funeral, giving a 'calfe and a shepe to be baked to refresh the poor with two bushels of grain to be baked into bread and a barrel of drynke'. He also left money to poor widows at Cuckfield, a heifer to Thomas Begley, his servant, and £30 to his son-in-law, John Pryor. The residue of the estate was left to his son. This is evidently not the will of a poor man. He also left money or gifts to other relations or to the poor, and it is quite likely that he had estates beyond Cuckfield and Wivelsfield. It appears that the Dumbrells held land at Portslade continuously from about 1540 until August 1650, as William is mentioned for his payments to the manor there. His wife Agnes received from him a legacy equal to what she brought to their marriage: 'I wyll that my wyfe Agnes has all her goods that was hers at the day of my marriage that is ij oxen....'. She probably continued living at Wivelsfield until her death. 3
Research Notes: