Place Name
In 1516 the old manor of Uxendon was inherited by Mabel Bellamy, wife of Richard, following the death of her father Thomas Boys. Under their stewardship the estate, which had been divided and fought since the 14thCentury was consolidated and passed down the family line. The family were staunch catholics bringing them under the suspicion of the authorities during the bloody religious divisions of the Tudor period. In 1586, Jerome Bellamy sheltered the rebel Anthony Babington here, following the plot to assassinate Elizabeth I, as one of the conspirators he was hung, drawn and quartered. The queen’s spies continued to keep a close eye on the family and in 1592, Anne Bellamy, the niece of the executed man was arrested and imprisoned by Richard Topcliffe, the country’s chief priest-hunter. Several months passed by during which time she was tortured and – it is believed raped – by Topcliffe. Eventually she broke and gave up the hiding place of Jesuit Priest Robert Southwell, the country’s most sought after public enemy who her father Richard, owner of Tokyngton manor, had been protecting. After years of persecution the family were now heavily in debt and in 1603 Richard Bellamy sold the land to the Page family.
