- Honour of Grafton
The Honour of Grafton is a collection of manors in the south east of
Northamptonshire ,England . The Honour is historic, dating back at least as far as 1542 when a bill for its management was before parliament.Modern villages within the Honour include all or part of
Grafton Regis ,Potterspury ,Paulerspury , Alderton,Roade , Ashton,Hartwell ,Stoke Bruerne ,Shutlanger ,Blisworth ,Yardley Gobion ,Furtho ,Passenham ,Whittlebury ,Silverstone ,Towcester ,Greens Norton ,Abthorpe ,Blakesley andCold Higham . It also encompassedWhittlewood Forest .In 1673 the Honour was granted to
Catherine of Braganza , the queen ofCharles II of England .On her death it was intended to pass to
Henry Bennet, 1st Earl of Arlington but the time the Queen died (in 1705) Arlington was also dead so the Honour passed toCharles FitzRoy, 2nd Duke of Grafton his grandson and heir. The Dukedom of Grafton had been created for one of Charles II's natural sons by Lady Castlemaine. Wakefield Lodge, near Potterspury, was rebuilt by the 2nd Duke as his residence in Northamptonshire but the main Ducal seat isEuston Hall inSuffolk . The Dukes of Grafton kept their Northamptonshire estates until 1921.ources
* [http://www.northamptonshire.gov.uk/Community/record_office/asp_archive/FamcollG.htm Northamptonshire County Record Office]
External links
* [http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.asp?compid=22778 VCH entry]
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