The manorial descent (or succession) of the Manor Of Belper
Brief notes are given on each holder of the lordship, from the eve of the Norman Conquest to the present day, with the evidence for each. A lord is counted as the person entitled, for their own benefit, to the freehold of the manor; periods when the manor was held only by trustees or an estate are shown but not counted, which is why there are 34 entries but 31 lords. Dates before 1752 are Old Style, and DRO means Derbyshire Record Office. See the notes at the end of the page for more detail.
I. Before the Conquest and the Norman Settlement
Siward Barn — held TRE (to 1066); dispossessed 1071
An Anglo-Saxon thegn who held Bradley — the estate later known as Belper — before the Conquest, and is named in Domesday Book as one of the principal antecessors of Henry de Ferrers. Siward joined the English rebellion against William I and was captured at the Isle of Ely in 1071, the defeat that cost him his lands. He is the earliest identifiable holder in the chain, and the last Englishman to hold Belper before nearly a millennium of Norman and post-Norman succession.
Evidence: Domesday Book (1086), which names Siward as one of Henry de Ferrers's principal antecessors for the Bradley/Belper estate; The National Archives' own Domesday place-name index treats Bradley as directly linked to Belper, titling the entry “Bradley in Belper, Derbyshire” (Folio 275r, D7310344).
Henry de Ferrières — c.1071 – 1093
A companion of William the Conqueror, rewarded after 1066 with Tutbury Castle and some 114 manors across Derbyshire, Belper among them, largely carved from the forfeited estates of defeated Englishmen such as Siward Barn. He founded the fortune of the de Ferrers family, which would hold Belper for the best part of two centuries, and appears holding it in Domesday Book in 1086. He died in 1093, passing the estates to his son Robert.
Evidence: Domesday Book (1086), recording his tenure of Tutbury and the wider Derbyshire fee including Belper.
II. The de Ferrers Earls of Derby
Robert de Ferrers, 1st Earl of Derby — 1093 – 1139
Son of Henry de Ferrières, he succeeded to the family's Derbyshire estates on his father's death in 1093 and consolidated them over the following decades. King Stephen created him Earl of Derby in 1138, the year before his own death, making him the first of six successive de Ferrers earls to hold Belper.
Evidence: Family descent per the Complete Peerage of England. No Belper-specific deed has been examined for this stage; his tenure is inferred from the general de Ferrers Derbyshire inheritance rather than separately evidenced.
Robert de Ferrers, 2nd Earl of Derby — 1139 – 1162
Succeeded his father as earl and lord of Belper amid the mid-twelfth-century instability of the Anarchy, holding the family's Derbyshire lands through a turbulent period of civil war between Stephen and Matilda.
Evidence: Family descent per the Complete Peerage of England; not separately deed-evidenced for Belper.
William de Ferrers, 3rd Earl of Derby — 1162 – 1190
Held the earldom and the manor for nearly three decades before dying on the Third Crusade at the Siege of Acre, before 21 October 1190 — one of many English magnates who took the cross alongside Richard I, and the first Crusader in the Belper succession. He is sometimes described as a Knight Templar, but that claim traces to a single, uncorroborated and much-copied source and does not hold up well under scrutiny. The better-attested connection is to the Order of St Lazarus, the crusading order dedicated to lepers: he granted the church of Spondon to their house at Burton Lazars around 1180, a link later reflected in the Lazarite preceptory established on former Ferrers land at Locko, Derbyshire, after the family's estates were confiscated in 1266.
Evidence: Family descent per the Complete Peerage of England. The Spondon/Burton Lazars grant and the Locko preceptory are independently attested (Leicestershire VCH-derived and British History Online sources); the rival Knight Templar claim rests on a single uncorroborated, repeatedly-copied online source and is treated as unreliable.
William de Ferrers, 4th Earl of Derby — 1190 – 1247
Held Belper for a remarkably long tenure of some fifty-seven years, spanning the reigns of Richard I, John and the minority and majority of Henry III — a period that saw Magna Carta and the Barons' War of 1215–17.
Evidence: Family descent per the Complete Peerage of England; not separately deed-evidenced for Belper.
William de Ferrers, 5th Earl of Derby — 1247 – 1254
A comparatively brief holder, succeeding in 1247 and passing the earldom and the manor to his son after only seven years.
Evidence: Family descent per the Complete Peerage of England; not separately deed-evidenced for Belper.
Robert de Ferrers, 6th Earl of Derby — 1254 – 1266 (forfeited)
Succeeded as a minor in 1254, the last of the de Ferrers line to hold Belper. He backed the baronial rebellion against Henry III during the Second Barons' War and, on its defeat, had the earldom and all its estates — Belper included — forfeited to the Crown in 1266, ending nearly two centuries of de Ferrers lordship at a stroke. He was captured at, or following, the Battle Of Chesterfield in May 1266.
Evidence: Family descent per the Complete Peerage of England; the 1266 forfeiture is a matter of national record (the Dictum of Kenilworth and the subsequent Crown grant to Edmund Crouchback).
III. The Earls and Dukes of Lancaster
Edmund Crouchback, 1st Earl of Lancaster — c.1266/69 – 1296
Younger son of Henry III, granted the forfeited de Ferrers estates in the aftermath of Robert de Ferrers's 1266 downfall. He is documented holding Belper specifically by 1296, folding the manor into the vast Lancastrian inheritance that would dominate English politics for the next century and a half.
Evidence: Post-1266 Crown grant of the forfeited de Ferrers estates, a matter of national record. The name Beaureper is confirmed in administrative/judicial use by 1277–78 via a genuine primary catalogue record, The National Archives' DL 30/32/282 (a Duchy of Lancaster court roll for ‘Belper (Beaureper, Beaurepaire, Bealper, Beauperde), with Duffield...', 6 Edward I) — though the roll's own text has not been examined. The fuller 1296 date and the 'capital mansion' description trace to a 19th-century county-history tradition (C. Willott's 1885 Belper town directory; the Gatehouse Gazetteer's Belper Manor record; Visit Belper's history page), likely rooted in Edmund's Inquisition Post Mortem, itself not yet examined directly. A further, earlier tradition dating the hunting lodge to a charter of 1231 is widely repeated online but uncited and uncorroborated..
Thomas, 2nd Earl of Lancaster — 1296 – 1322 (executed)
Cousin of Edward II and one of the most powerful magnates in England, Thomas led baronial opposition to the king, was defeated at the Battle of Boroughbridge in 1322 and was found guilty of treason shortly afterwards. The sentence was the full traitor's death of hanging, drawing and quartering, but in recognition of his royal blood as the King's cousin, this was commuted to just beheading, a more simple punishment but not more useful to the Earl. The sentence was carried out on a hill near Pontefract and some accounts claim the executioner botched the job with several blows needed. His vast estates, Belper among them, were forfeited directly to the Crown.
Evidence: Standard historical record of the Lancastrian inheritance and the 1322 forfeiture following Boroughbridge.
King Edward II — 1322 – 1327
Following Thomas of Lancaster's execution, Belper was held directly by the Crown under Edward II until the earldom's restoration to the Lancaster family in 1327, shortly after Edward's own deposition.
Evidence: Direct consequence of Thomas's 1322 forfeiture; a matter of national record.
Henry, 3rd Earl of Lancaster — 1327 – 1345
Brother of the executed Thomas, Henry had the earldom and its estates restored to him in 1327 following Edward II's fall, bringing Belper back into Lancastrian hands.
Evidence: 1327 restoration of the Lancastrian estates following Edward II's deposition; a matter of national record.
Henry of Grosmont, 4th Earl and 1st Duke of Lancaster — 1345 – 1361
Son of the 3rd Earl and one of the foremost English commanders of the early Hundred Years' War, he was created the first Duke of Lancaster in 1351 — raising the family's, and the manor's, status accordingly. Played a key role in the Edwardian phase of the wars: leading the Gascon campaign of 1345 including the night march and surprise victory at Auberoche; leading the Loire campaign (1356), during which he besieged Rennes. Died during the second wave of the Black Death in 1361.
Evidence: 1351 creation as Duke of Lancaster; a matter of national record.
John of Gaunt, 2nd Duke of Lancaster — 1362 – 1399
Son of Edward III and son-in-law of Henry of Grosmont, acquired the Lancastrian inheritance including Belper by his 1359 marriage to Blanche of Lancaster, formalised as duke in 1362. Father of the future Henry IV, Gaunt was among the wealthiest and most powerful men in medieval England, and it is through him that Belper passed into what would become the royal Duchy of Lancaster. Fought in the Hundred Years' War, at Nájera in Castile alongside his brother the Black Prince in 1367 and was the dominant English commander during the Caroline phase of the war (1369-1389).
Evidence: 1362 formal ducal succession following the 1359 marriage to Blanche of Lancaster; a matter of national record.
The Duchy of Lancaster (the Crown) — 1399 – 1628
On Gaunt's death his son seized the throne as Henry IV, and by his 1399 declaration — confirmed by statute in 1461 under Edward IV — the Duchy of Lancaster's estates, Belper included, were held thereafter by whoever occupied the throne, as a distinct royal estate, rather than by any individual in a personal capacity. The manor remained in this quasi-royal limbo for over two centuries, through the Wars of the Roses, the Tudor and early Stuart periods, until Charles I began selling off Duchy lands in the 1620s and 1630s.
Evidence: Henry IV's 1399 declaration vesting the Duchy in the Crown as a separate estate, confirmed by statute in 1461 under Edward IV; a matter of national record.
IV. The Leche Family of Squerryes
City of London (The Mayor and Commonalty and Citizens of the City of London) — 1628-1629
Purchased several manors, including Belper, from Charles I in 1628 as part of the Crown's wider disposal of Duchy of Lancaster land to raise revenue, holding it only briefly as an intermediary before selling on. The City of London held the beneficial title to the Lordship, with the legal title vested in four nominees (Edward Ditchfield, John Highlord, Humphrey Clarke and Francis Mosse, all citizens of London). The letters patent were granted by Charles I himself under the Great Seal of England, dated 25 September 1628.
Evidence: A late 17th century copy (DRO D1404/60/4) of the inspeximus dated 20 April 1632 itself of letters patent dated 25 September 1628, the inspeximus having been sourced by Sir Edward Leche (see next entry). This inspeximus mentions Beaureper and refers to the Great Seal of England, granted "per ipsum Regem" meaning "by the King himself". Beneficial title proven by the fact that the payment from Sir Edward Leche (see next entry below) was made to the City's Chamberlain rather than to the four nominees who held legal title.
Sir Edward Leche — 1629 – 1652
MP for Lostwithiel in 1614 and Derby in 1621. Became a Master in Chancery of the High Court in 1621 shortly after being knighted. Bought the manor from the City of London on 1st March 1629/30 for £3,902 and 3 shillings, paid to the City's Chamberlain (Robert Bateman) bringing Belper into the Leche family of Squerryes, Kent, for the first time. He held it until his death on 12th July 1652. The last manorial court roll naming him as lord was the combined view of frankpledge (court-leet) and great court (court-baron) of Sir Edward Leche, Knight, held at Belper on 22nd October 1647 (the Michaelmas sitting) with his manorial steward Edward Cotterell (gentleman).
Evidence: A late 17th century copy (DRO D1404/60/13) of the primary 1629 City-of-London-to-Leche deed itself, whose granting clause and habendum both name Beaureper (Belper) among the manors conveyed. Court roll DRO D1404/19 image 4 is the last named court roll, with all subsequent courts referred to as held "by the steward aforesaid".
Sir William Leche of Squerryes — 1652 – 1674 (beneficial title only from 1671)
Received a complementary 1636 Crown grant covering the church, advowson and associated manors, then united this with the main Belper holding on his father Sir Edward's death in 1652. The first manorial court mentioning Sir William was the Small Court of William Leche Esquire, specially held at Belper on 3rd August 1652 with the manorial steward who was at the time (still) Edward Cotterell. In 1655/56 Sir William demised the manor for a term of 99 years to four trustees (Sir John Evelyn, Ambrose Phillips a barrister of Gray's Inn, Richard Chaworth and Robert Cole) upon trust to pay inter alia Lady Leche's annuity, but retained the ownership of the freehold. In 1671, he mortgaged his legal title in Belper (Beaureper) to a leading Chancery barrister, Anthony Keck of the Inner Temple, but again Leche retained beneficial title through equity of redemption. Leche's 1673 will divided the wider Leche estate in detail among his children — the Rectory of Duffield to his son Edward, Squerryes to John, cash legacies to William, Philip and his daughters — and empowered the overseers of his will to sell the manors of Duffield, Belper and others to raise those legacies. He died in 1674.
Evidence: The 1636 Crown grant of the rectoral manor (per a Derbyshire Council historic-buildings document); a contemporary copy of Sir William's 1673 will (DRO D1404/60/46), which devises the Rectory of Duffield to son Edward and empowers the executors/overseers to sell the 'manors of Duffield, Beaureper [Belper]' and others; death date confirmed via a 1675 Chancery case (DRO D779/T/3/10, item 16), which also details the 99 year trust term. Sir William's first recorded court is shown in DRO D1404/21 image 1 (formerly D1404/1/6 bundle 3). Anthony Keck's legal title via mortgage is shown in DRO D1404/60/72 which is a contemporary copy of the mortgage.
The Estate of Sir William Leche (his heirs, with trustees) — 1674 – 1686 (whole period beneficial ownership only)
On Sir William Leche's death in 1674, the manor did not pass outright to any single heir but was held by his estate and governed by four overseers under the sale power set out in his will, pending its eventual disposal to raise legacies for his children. The overseers were George Evelyn of Wotton, George Evelyn of Nutfield, Edward Smith and Thomas Dawling, who held the power to sell, whilst the estate held the beneficial equity of redemption and Anthony Keck held legal title. Manorial courts during this time were held by trustees, for example in 1676 held by Ambrose Phillips with the manorial steward William Ernshaw (gentleman), but the trustees were not lords of the manor as they did not hold the freehold.
Evidence: DRO D779/T/3/10, item 16 (a 1675 Chancery judgment upholding the underlying 1655/6 trust term); a contemporary copy of the 1686 covenant (DRO D1404/60/57), the latter naming Duffield and Beaureper in its operative granting clause and listing the overseers (who were needed because the executors were minors at that point). For example of court held by Phillips: see DRO D1404/28 image 4 (formerly D1404/1/6 bundle 7).
V. The Jodrell Family
Paul Jodrell (of Chancery Lane/Duffield) — 1686 (beneficial) – 1694 (legal) – c.1728
Long-serving Clerk of the House of Commons (1683–c.1727), Jodrell acquired Belper gradually rather than in one clean transaction: he was already a creditor and trustee-adjacent figure in Leche family affairs by 1672 and took a beneficial interest under an express trust dated 1686 although payments clearing the Leche legacies charged on the estate continued into 1687. Jodrell had married Jane Rolles; a likely kinsman Michael Rolles was one of the two trustees for the 1686 transaction, with Thomas Turner being the other. However, through the period 1686 to 1694, Sir Anthony Keck retained legal ownership of the manor via his position as mortgagee as from 1671. A 1694 lease & release provided the mechanism for the legal title in the Manor to transfer to Jodrell. He first appears in manorial court rolls from 24 October 1678, with the manorial steward William Turner (gentleman), but did so by way of him being the executor of the barrister Ambrose Phillips who had been (until his death in 1678) the last surviving trustee from the 1655/56 trust term; Jodrell did not own the manor until 1686 and therefore was not lord until that year, despite holding court. See the next webpage 'from Leche to Jodrell' for a complete explanation of how Jodrell was initially involved with the manor before taking beneficial ownership then finally legal ownership.
Evidence: A contemporary copy of the 1686 covenant (DRO D1404/60/57), with associated legacy payments continuing into 1687, whose habendum vests legal title in trustees Michael Rolles and Thomas Turner 'in trust for the only benefit of Paul Jodrell', naming Beaureper directly; his earlier role as trustee/creditor is shown by DRO D779/T/3/10, items 16 and 34/35 (the 1675 case and a 1710 assignment) and D1404/60/65 showing "Jodrell bond". Jodrell's first appearance in a court roll is in DRO D1404/28 image 49 (formerly D1404/1/6 bundle 7). Anthony Keck's legal title via mortgage is shown in DRO D1404/60/72 (contemporary copy) and the lease & release documents are DRO D1404/60/73 and DRO D1404/60/75 (both contemporary copies); these state that Leche had repaid the debt earlier, but no reconveyance had occurred.
Paul Jodrell of Duffield (barrister) — c.1728 – 1744
Son of the first Paul Jodrell, a barrister of Lincoln's Inn, who succeeded to the manor on his father's death around 1728 and held it until his own death in 1744.
Evidence: The History of Parliament biography of his son (Paul Jodrell, 1715–51), which records that the son 'suc. fa. 1744.'
Paul Jodrell of Duffield, Solicitor-General to the Prince of Wales — 1744 – 1751
Grandson of the first Paul Jodrell, succeeded his father in 1744, was made King's Counsel in 1747 and Solicitor-General to Frederick, Prince of Wales, in 1748 — the most politically prominent of the Jodrell holders — before his death in 1751.
Evidence: The History of Parliament biography (Paul Jodrell, 1715–51), confirming succession in 1744, KC in 1747 and Solicitor-General to the Prince of Wales in 1748, and identifying his paternal grandfather as Clerk of the House of Commons — matching the first Paul Jodrell exactly.
Richard Paul Jodrell — 1751 – 1831
Classical scholar and playwright, held the lordship for some eighty years — the longest tenure in the entire succession other than the Duchy Of Lancaster. A man of letters rather than politics, he left behind, in a note on a volume of copyhold estate document extracts, his own verdict on ever separating Belper from its parent manor of Duffield: a "most ridiculous idea," since the two estates were, in his words, too thoroughly blended ever to be severed — a rare instance in this chain of a lord's personal voice surviving in the record. As he succeeded to the lordship as an infant, his manorial courts were initially held by his mother Elizabeth Jodrell acting as guardian, with the manorial steward Thomas Gell (gentleman)
Evidence: A Derbyshire Record Office-catalogued volume of documents concerning copyhold estates of Belper DRO D1404/57 (formerly D1404/2/1) covering 1588–1676, compiled by the manor steward Manley bearing R. P. Jodrell's own front-note on the estate; his roughly 80-year tenure matches the span between his father's 1751 death and his own in 1831. Courts held by his mother Elizabeth Jodrell: see for example DRO D1404/41 image 2 (formerly D1404/1/6 bundle 12)
Sir Richard Paul Jodrell, 2nd Bt. — 1831 – 1861
Succeeded to the manor on his father's death, holding Belper until his own death in January 1861. Succeeded to the baronetcy through his mother, on the death of the first baronet John Lombe.
Evidence: Baronetcy succession records (1817) and White's 1857 Derbyshire trade directory, which lists him as lord of the manor.
Rev. Sir Edward Repps Jodrell, 3rd Bt. — 1861 – 1882
A clergyman, son of the 2nd Baronet, who held the title and the manor until his death in 1882 without a direct heir — at which point the baronetcy, and presumably the manor, passed sideways to a cousin.
Evidence: Baronetcy succession and death records (d.1882, without direct heir).
Sir Alfred Jodrell, 4th Bt. — 1882 – 1888-1890
Grandson of a younger brother of the 2nd Baronet, inherited the baronetcy and the manor sideways in 1882 after his cousin died childless. He is the likely seller of the Belper estate reversion to Timothy White around 1888-1890, ending nearly two centuries of Jodrell ownership; the Jodrell baronetcy itself went extinct on his death in 1929.
Evidence: Baronetcy succession records (inherited sideways, 1882). His identification as the seller to Timothy White is timing-based, not yet confirmed by any source naming him as lord of Belper specifically — flagged here as inferred rather than documented.
VI. The White Family
Timothy White — 1888-90 – 1908
A Major in the 2nd Hampshire Artillery Volunteers and, very probably, the same Timothy White who founded the Timothy Whites chemist chain, bought the Belper estate reversion from the Jodrell family around 1888-90. His purchase marks the point at which the lordship passed, for the first time in its history, into the hands of a man who had made his own fortune in trade rather than inherited or married into landed or noble status.
Evidence: A statutory declaration by Manorial Services Ltd and a Derbyshire Council historic-buildings document, both naming him as the purchaser of the estate reversion from the Jodrell family around 1888-1890. His identity with the chemist-chain founder rests on matching dates and a shared son named Woolmer — a strong circumstantial case, but not independently document-proven.
Sir Woolmer Rudolph Donati White, 1st Bt. — 1908 – 1931
Timothy White's son, likely inherited Belper on his father's death in 1908; created a baronet in 1922 under the title "White of Salle Park" — with Salle Park being formerly the possession of the Jodrells in Norfolk.
Evidence: Baronetcy creation record (1922). His 1908 inheritance of the manor is inferred from his father's death date rather than confirmed by a specific instrument.
Sir (Rudolph) Dymoke White, 2nd Bt. — 1931 – 1968
Member of Parliament for Fareham, held the manor from 1931 until his death in 1968. A 1950 vesting deed shows him settling the estate on himself as tenant for life under the Settled Land Act 1925 — the instrument that would govern the manor's legal ownership for the following decades.
Evidence: The 1950 vesting deed itself (a copy of which is held by the current Lord of The Manor), which shows him as settlor vesting the fee-simple estate in himself as tenant for life.
The White Family Estate (held in trust) — 1968 – 1977
On Sir (Rudolph) Dymoke White's death in 1968, the manor was held in trust under the 1950 Settled Land Act settlement rather than passing to a new tenant for life. His sons administered it as trustees — first Sir Headley Dymoke White, 3rd Bt. (d.1971), then, as sole surviving trustee, Lt.-Col. Sir Lynton Stuart White, who took out a special grant of probate in 1976 and executed the sale of the manor as special personal representative in 1977. The manor was thus held by the family's estate throughout this period, rather than by a named individual lord.
Evidence: The 1950 vesting deed (naming both Headley and Lynton White as trustees) and the 1977 conveyance (an original of which is held by the current Lord of The Manor), which recites the 1976 grant of probate to Lynton White as special personal representative and names him as vendor. No vesting assent naming a new beneficial tenant for life has been found for this period. Copy of 1976 grant of probate obtained by this website's author from The Probate Registry.
VII. The Modern Era
David Carrington-Brown — 1977 – 1998
Purchased the manor from the White family trustees in 1977 and held it for twenty-one years before selling on in 1998. Locally based in Sandbach, Cheshire, he was chairman of the Sandbach Chamber of Trade in the mid-1970s, in which capacity he helped negotiate a 1976 conservation treatment for Sandbach's Saxon Crosses with the Ministry's Ancient Monuments inspectorate. He also owned and managed an insurance brokerage, Carrington-Brown.
Evidence: The 1977 conveyance (an original of which is held by the current Lord of The Manor), naming him as purchaser. His Sandbach background is corroborated by an independent local-history account of the 1976 Saxon Crosses restoration and by a Northwich Chronicle advertisement (7 October 1982, British Newspaper Archive) for his insurance brokerage.
John Horman — 1998 – 2024
Bought the manor in 1998 and held it until his death in 2024. By trade an engineer, he was a long-serving director (1998–2024) of Smallbone, Brown & Co. — a Preston-area manufacturer of fabricated metal products — reportedly its managing director.
Evidence: The 1998 conveyance (an original of which is held by the current Lord of The Manor), naming him as purchaser. His career is corroborated by Companies House records showing a director of matching name and birth date at Smallbone, Brown & Co. Ltd, Preston, appointed 1998 and resigning 31 October 2024 — closely matching his death that year; the specific title "managing director" is reported rather than shown on the public record, which lists only "director."
The Horman Estate (held in trust) — 2024 – 2026
On John Horman's death in 2024, the manor was held in trust by his estate until the sale to the present holder completed in 2026.
Evidence: The 2026 conveyance (an original of which is held by the current Lord Of The Manor), which completes the sale from Horman's estate to the present holder.
The current Lord of The Manor Of Belper — 2026 – present
The current, 31st Lord of the Manor of Belper. By profession an accountant and a manager, he has served as a director of groups of companies in the North of England since the 2010s.
Evidence: The 2026 conveyance itself, executed in the current Lord's name.
Notes
Brief biographical notes have been provided on each holder of the lordship, in order of succession, from the eve of the Norman Conquest to the present day, with the evidential basis for each identification. Dates and links reflect the current state of research; several stages of the medieval and seventeenth-century chain rest on secondary, partial, or inferential sources, as noted against each entry. Victoria County History convention is used in describing this list as a manorial descent. Lords are shown by way of being the person entitled in possession, for their benefit, to the freehold of the manor (beneficial interest / beneficial ownership). Sometimes such a person did not hold legal ownership, so those holding legal ownership (nominees, trustees, mortgagees, personal representatives) are not named but are stated where they differed from the person entitled in possession. Periods when no one was so entitled (e.g. the administration of an estate or a settlement awaiting a new life tenant), are shown as estate or trust periods and not counted (thus there are 34 entries but only 31 lords). Dates before 1752 are given as they appear in the deeds, in Old Style, with the year beginning on 25 March, so for example 14 March 1671 is 1672 by modern reckoning. References to DRO mean Derbyshire Record Office.
The person named in a manorial court roll is not necessarily the lord of the manor as defined by being the beneficial owner of the freehold: a manor court roll opens each court with a heading naming the person in whose name the court was held. A typical Latin heading reads Curia parva [name of person holding court] gen' domini maneriorum: "the small court of [name of person holding court], gentleman, lord of the manors". It's natural to read this as proof that they were lord of the manor. But the heading recorded who held the courts and took their profits at the time, not who owned the freehold of the manor. Usually these were the same person. They separated whenever the manor was let, mortgaged, held in trust or managed on someone else's behalf, situations which happened several times for Belper in the 17th century. A tenant for a term of years, a trustee, an executor or a guardian could lawfully hold the lord's courts, and the steward would style them lord in the heading. Belper's own rolls show this several times