The Long Family of Ashley Researched and compiled by Cheryl Nicol April 2024
Effigy of Anthony Long of Ashley in the Hazelbury Chapel of St Thomas a Becket Church (courtesy Carol Payne)
By the end of the fifteenth century the progenitor of the Longs of Ashley, Robert Long of Wraxall, had already made his fortune in the cloth industry, laying the foundation for subsequent generations of his family, culminating in one of the most powerful dynasties in England.
Robert was also a lawyer, and the first of the family to own land in South Wraxall, where he had a house in 1429. He exploited opportunities that came his way, deriving profit as sheriff, coroner, justice of the peace, and escheator (official adjudicating intestate estates transferred to the king). He also served as MP in a number of Wiltshire boroughs between 1414 and 1442. In the scheme of things he ranked as gentry, a diverse social group that embraced very different levels of wealth, from humble country gentlemen and members of learned professions to titled owners of several thousand acres. For the Long family, and others of their ilk, property ownership would become the backbone of their fortunes for centuries.
Robert’s great-grandson Sir Henry Long, heir to Wraxall and Draycot, was prominent at court in the early years of Henry VIII’s reign. After the dissolution of the monasteries he acquired much property, granted by the king for his unswerving loyalty.
Sir Henry’s eldest son, Sir Robert Long, was also rewarded by Henry VIII, who appointed him gentleman pensioner and
Esquire of the King’s Body. This afforded him intimate access; he was required to be attendant upon the royal person, to array and unray him, and to watch day and night, because no man else [is] to set hands on the king.
Robert was also a lawyer, and the first of the family to own land in South Wraxall, where he had a house in 1429. He exploited opportunities that came his way, deriving profit as sheriff, coroner, justice of the peace, and escheator (official adjudicating intestate estates transferred to the king). He also served as MP in a number of Wiltshire boroughs between 1414 and 1442. In the scheme of things he ranked as gentry, a diverse social group that embraced very different levels of wealth, from humble country gentlemen and members of learned professions to titled owners of several thousand acres. For the Long family, and others of their ilk, property ownership would become the backbone of their fortunes for centuries.
Robert’s great-grandson Sir Henry Long, heir to Wraxall and Draycot, was prominent at court in the early years of Henry VIII’s reign. After the dissolution of the monasteries he acquired much property, granted by the king for his unswerving loyalty.
Sir Henry’s eldest son, Sir Robert Long, was also rewarded by Henry VIII, who appointed him gentleman pensioner and
Esquire of the King’s Body. This afforded him intimate access; he was required to be attendant upon the royal person, to array and unray him, and to watch day and night, because no man else [is] to set hands on the king.
Epitaph in Box Church (courtesy Carol Payne)
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Sir Henry’s fourth son, Anthony Long of Ashley had a quite different life to his brother, away from the royal court. After his marriage to Alice Butler, heiress to the Mountford dynasty, he rebuilt Ashley Manor around 1555 and inherited property at Wraxall at his father’s death in 1556.
Tithe suits enrolled in the Exchequer of Pleas beginning in 1577 show a six year wrangle over this property with Hugh Sexey, which was continued after Anthony’s death by his widow Alice and their son Thomas. Anthony died at the end of April 1578 and is buried at St Thomas à Becket church. His monument, depicting a bearded figure incumbent on the altar in armour, was removed from its original position sometime during the early part of the nineteenth century and only rediscovered after renovations revealed it stored under the old three-decker pulpit of the church. The effigy was placed in a rebuilt tomb recess in 1896 (see headline photo). Alice, the mother of fifteen children with Anthony – many of whom predeceased her – continued to live at the manor house at Ashley after his death, possessed of considerable property in Wiltshire and Somerset. |
Long-running Family Dispute
It is not certain that Anthony Long was secretly a Catholic; his brother Sir Robert apparently was not. Persecution of Catholics was at a peak during the time of Elizabeth I and the Act Against Reconciliation to Rome was passed in 1581 establishing heavy fines for recusancy or attending Catholic mass. Laymen who sheltered priests were liable to the death penalty, and suspected papists were subjected to house searches. In 1582 the finger of suspicion was pointed at Anthony’s widow Alice and their son Thomas.
On the order of the sheriff, William Brouncker, (brother-in-law of Anthony’s cousin, Edward Long of Monkton), a search was made of Alice’s house at Ashley, and the undersheriff Michael Cuffe seized certen Popishe trashe . . . divers popish books, beads, holy candles &c,[1] possession of which constituted a felony. These items were taken to the Queen’s spymaster, Sir Francis Walsingham, to be kept as evidence. Incidentally, Edward Long also had a connection to Walsingham’s wife Ursula, from whom he leased property.
The instigator of the allegations was none other than Alice’s eldest son William, a man of little conscience who coveted her property. His brother Thomas, it was alleged, was an earnest and disorderly Papist, and harbourer of Papists. His mother,
an obstinate Recusant, said to be guided by the perverse direction of a schoolmaster called Wells,[2] a dangerous Papist, fled to Wells’s house in nearby Monkton Farleigh, a haven for suspected persons. The unannounced arrival at Monkton Farleigh of the undersheriff and three justices resulted in the arrest of Wells, together with Mrs Long and anyone else in the house thought worthy of suspicion.
In 1584 a Bill of complaint made in Alice’s name was brought before the Star Chamber by Thomas against his conniving brother William, Michael Cuffe and the others who had forcibly entered the house. It was maintained that Alice was a simple old woman not acquainted with the practices of her son Thomas and his adherents, but the evidence was stacked against her and the Bill declared most slanderous. After Thomas’s death the following year William took advantage of his mother’s increased vulnerability. He determined to gain possession of her estate at Ashley and other lands in Wiltshire which she claimed in descent from her ancestor Thomas Mountford.
With no love lost between them, in March 1586 he callously cast his mother out of dores, making great waste and spoyle of her house and goods therein. A distraught Alice petitioned the Queen, who referred the matter to her Privy Council. The result was yet another Bill of complaint being heard in the Star Chamber, brought by Alice against William for redress of certain wrongs, injuries and oppressions. She won an order from the court for her return to the house, pending further legal action on behalf of William to decide ownership of the title, but Alice’s reinstatement was not as straightforward as it should have been.
William and his wife Lucy stayed put and by August were well and truly ensconced. On being ordered to leave, the pair refused, creating a royotous and disorderlie dysturbaunce. William’s wife was the most obstinate and outspoken, and the sheriff, Sir John Danvers, had orders to charge William with his wife’s misdemeanour and a further order to return possession of the property to Alice. Their continued refusal culminated in both being arrested and imprisoned until the next sitting of the Star Chamber.
The court ruled against them and Alice regained control of her estates, but William again attempted to dispossess his mother by procuring a writ against her. Fortunately for Alice this was unsuccessful, and for the time being William was thwarted.
This was not the end of the matter, however. William, obsessed with desire for what he believed was his rightful inheritance, continued to persecute his elderly mother, and in 1593, seven years after he had first thrown her out of the house, the Star Chamber was once again reverberating with evidence of his cruelty. This time he was found guilty of riotous entry into the house and imprisoning his mother, said to be a widow of 80 years of age, and keeping her locked up for eight weeks, destroying her goods and eating her provisions; a very barbarous and cruell matter. He was fined 100s, his servants 20s each, and all were dispatched immediately to prison.[3] For the three years that remained of her life Alice had the satisfaction that justice had been done, and she died at her house in September 1596. Her son Henry, who died in 1627, took possession of his mother’s property. William, his trouble-making brother, died in 1609.
It is not certain that Anthony Long was secretly a Catholic; his brother Sir Robert apparently was not. Persecution of Catholics was at a peak during the time of Elizabeth I and the Act Against Reconciliation to Rome was passed in 1581 establishing heavy fines for recusancy or attending Catholic mass. Laymen who sheltered priests were liable to the death penalty, and suspected papists were subjected to house searches. In 1582 the finger of suspicion was pointed at Anthony’s widow Alice and their son Thomas.
On the order of the sheriff, William Brouncker, (brother-in-law of Anthony’s cousin, Edward Long of Monkton), a search was made of Alice’s house at Ashley, and the undersheriff Michael Cuffe seized certen Popishe trashe . . . divers popish books, beads, holy candles &c,[1] possession of which constituted a felony. These items were taken to the Queen’s spymaster, Sir Francis Walsingham, to be kept as evidence. Incidentally, Edward Long also had a connection to Walsingham’s wife Ursula, from whom he leased property.
The instigator of the allegations was none other than Alice’s eldest son William, a man of little conscience who coveted her property. His brother Thomas, it was alleged, was an earnest and disorderly Papist, and harbourer of Papists. His mother,
an obstinate Recusant, said to be guided by the perverse direction of a schoolmaster called Wells,[2] a dangerous Papist, fled to Wells’s house in nearby Monkton Farleigh, a haven for suspected persons. The unannounced arrival at Monkton Farleigh of the undersheriff and three justices resulted in the arrest of Wells, together with Mrs Long and anyone else in the house thought worthy of suspicion.
In 1584 a Bill of complaint made in Alice’s name was brought before the Star Chamber by Thomas against his conniving brother William, Michael Cuffe and the others who had forcibly entered the house. It was maintained that Alice was a simple old woman not acquainted with the practices of her son Thomas and his adherents, but the evidence was stacked against her and the Bill declared most slanderous. After Thomas’s death the following year William took advantage of his mother’s increased vulnerability. He determined to gain possession of her estate at Ashley and other lands in Wiltshire which she claimed in descent from her ancestor Thomas Mountford.
With no love lost between them, in March 1586 he callously cast his mother out of dores, making great waste and spoyle of her house and goods therein. A distraught Alice petitioned the Queen, who referred the matter to her Privy Council. The result was yet another Bill of complaint being heard in the Star Chamber, brought by Alice against William for redress of certain wrongs, injuries and oppressions. She won an order from the court for her return to the house, pending further legal action on behalf of William to decide ownership of the title, but Alice’s reinstatement was not as straightforward as it should have been.
William and his wife Lucy stayed put and by August were well and truly ensconced. On being ordered to leave, the pair refused, creating a royotous and disorderlie dysturbaunce. William’s wife was the most obstinate and outspoken, and the sheriff, Sir John Danvers, had orders to charge William with his wife’s misdemeanour and a further order to return possession of the property to Alice. Their continued refusal culminated in both being arrested and imprisoned until the next sitting of the Star Chamber.
The court ruled against them and Alice regained control of her estates, but William again attempted to dispossess his mother by procuring a writ against her. Fortunately for Alice this was unsuccessful, and for the time being William was thwarted.
This was not the end of the matter, however. William, obsessed with desire for what he believed was his rightful inheritance, continued to persecute his elderly mother, and in 1593, seven years after he had first thrown her out of the house, the Star Chamber was once again reverberating with evidence of his cruelty. This time he was found guilty of riotous entry into the house and imprisoning his mother, said to be a widow of 80 years of age, and keeping her locked up for eight weeks, destroying her goods and eating her provisions; a very barbarous and cruell matter. He was fined 100s, his servants 20s each, and all were dispatched immediately to prison.[3] For the three years that remained of her life Alice had the satisfaction that justice had been done, and she died at her house in September 1596. Her son Henry, who died in 1627, took possession of his mother’s property. William, his trouble-making brother, died in 1609.
Among other Long burials at Box is Anthony’s nephew Jewel Long, named after his godfather John Jewel, bishop of Salisbury. Walter Bushnell, vicar of Box at the time, was denounced to the Wiltshire commissioners in 1656 by Anthony’s grandson,
Rev. George Long, vicar of Bath and a zealous supporter of Oliver Cromwell’s crusade to reform the nation’s morals. George was incensed that Bushnell had preached at a funeral at St James’s Church without his permission, telling him he was not well thought of by the godly, i.e. Cromwell’s henchmen. After further investigation, Bushnell was charged with drunkenness, profanation of the Sabbath, gaming and disaffection of the government. In retaliation, Bushnell slighted George Long as an outsider – the intruder of Bath – accusing him of slander and backbiting, and not being as godly as his reputation suggested. Despite a vigorous defence Bushnell was found guilty and ejected from his living, but returned after the Restoration in 1662.
Bushnell’s predecessor at Box, Rev. John Coren (vicar from 1601 to 1644), married Anthony and Alice Long’s daughter Edith. Coren was no saint either, being accused of sexual immorality, drunkenness and blasphemy. In a libel suit prompted by an accusation of adultery, Coren was questioned in the Star Chamber about the qualytye and parentage of his wife and whether shee were a kind quyet and a good wyfe. Coren replied that shee was wyfe good enough, but that shee would chyde sometymes as other weomen doe. This exchange later became part of a letter sent to Mrs Coren advising her in detail of her husband’s indiscretions, warning her that the country speakes of it already. Consequently the letter bredd much discord & strife between Coren and his wife.[4]
Many other members of the extended Long family owned property in or near Box. My 6x great-grandfather, Richard Long (1668–1730) lived at Hatt House in Box from 1695 until at least 1707 while he leased out his house and lands at Rood Ashton, inherited from his uncle Henry Long. A supporter of the Immorality Bill, Richard was elected MP for Chippenham in 1694.
In keeping with the Long family’s Puritanical values, his remedy for poverty was the suppression of alehouses. He proposed that to hinder the growing evil of alcoholism, a clause should be inserted into the impending Bill to prevent the poor from spending their time consuming their weekly wages in little paltry alehouses, especially on Sundays. This could be achieved, he thought, either by instituting more severe penalties for drunkenness, or by stopping the proliferation of alehouses which I am sure is the most intolerable grievance we have.[5] He is also described in 1702 as of Hatt Farm though it is not clear if he leased or owned this property. He served as sheriff of Wiltshire in 1702–3.
Rev. George Long, vicar of Bath and a zealous supporter of Oliver Cromwell’s crusade to reform the nation’s morals. George was incensed that Bushnell had preached at a funeral at St James’s Church without his permission, telling him he was not well thought of by the godly, i.e. Cromwell’s henchmen. After further investigation, Bushnell was charged with drunkenness, profanation of the Sabbath, gaming and disaffection of the government. In retaliation, Bushnell slighted George Long as an outsider – the intruder of Bath – accusing him of slander and backbiting, and not being as godly as his reputation suggested. Despite a vigorous defence Bushnell was found guilty and ejected from his living, but returned after the Restoration in 1662.
Bushnell’s predecessor at Box, Rev. John Coren (vicar from 1601 to 1644), married Anthony and Alice Long’s daughter Edith. Coren was no saint either, being accused of sexual immorality, drunkenness and blasphemy. In a libel suit prompted by an accusation of adultery, Coren was questioned in the Star Chamber about the qualytye and parentage of his wife and whether shee were a kind quyet and a good wyfe. Coren replied that shee was wyfe good enough, but that shee would chyde sometymes as other weomen doe. This exchange later became part of a letter sent to Mrs Coren advising her in detail of her husband’s indiscretions, warning her that the country speakes of it already. Consequently the letter bredd much discord & strife between Coren and his wife.[4]
Many other members of the extended Long family owned property in or near Box. My 6x great-grandfather, Richard Long (1668–1730) lived at Hatt House in Box from 1695 until at least 1707 while he leased out his house and lands at Rood Ashton, inherited from his uncle Henry Long. A supporter of the Immorality Bill, Richard was elected MP for Chippenham in 1694.
In keeping with the Long family’s Puritanical values, his remedy for poverty was the suppression of alehouses. He proposed that to hinder the growing evil of alcoholism, a clause should be inserted into the impending Bill to prevent the poor from spending their time consuming their weekly wages in little paltry alehouses, especially on Sundays. This could be achieved, he thought, either by instituting more severe penalties for drunkenness, or by stopping the proliferation of alehouses which I am sure is the most intolerable grievance we have.[5] He is also described in 1702 as of Hatt Farm though it is not clear if he leased or owned this property. He served as sheriff of Wiltshire in 1702–3.
Addendum
For more information, please see my book Inheriting the Earth: The Long family’s 500 Year Reign in Wiltshire.
Informative, impressive and praiseworthy, and a most important addition to published sources for Wiltshire – Wiltshire Archaeological and Natural History Magazine.
Available from Amazon. https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B07NC2P7SG/
For more information, please see my book Inheriting the Earth: The Long family’s 500 Year Reign in Wiltshire.
Informative, impressive and praiseworthy, and a most important addition to published sources for Wiltshire – Wiltshire Archaeological and Natural History Magazine.
Available from Amazon. https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B07NC2P7SG/
References
[1] Calendar of State Papers, Domestic Series 1547–1625, p. 158
[2] St Swithun Wells, one of the forty martyrs of England and Wales canonised by Pope Paul VI, 25 October 1970. He was sent to the gallows for treason 10 December 1591
[3] Hawarde, John, Les Reportes Del Cases in Camera Stellata, 1593 to 1609, 1894, p. 323
[4] Thompson, Anne, Parish Clergy Wives in Elizabethan England
[5] Hayton, David, Moral Reform and Country Politics in the Late Seventeenth-Century House of Commons, Past & Present, No. 128, Aug., 1990, p. 63
[1] Calendar of State Papers, Domestic Series 1547–1625, p. 158
[2] St Swithun Wells, one of the forty martyrs of England and Wales canonised by Pope Paul VI, 25 October 1970. He was sent to the gallows for treason 10 December 1591
[3] Hawarde, John, Les Reportes Del Cases in Camera Stellata, 1593 to 1609, 1894, p. 323
[4] Thompson, Anne, Parish Clergy Wives in Elizabethan England
[5] Hayton, David, Moral Reform and Country Politics in the Late Seventeenth-Century House of Commons, Past & Present, No. 128, Aug., 1990, p. 63