GOTHURST, BUCKINGHAMSHIRE. THE manor of Gothurst, at the time of the Conqueror's survey, was held under Odo, bishop of Baieux, by Robert de Nouers, whose family became possessed of it in their own right, in the reign of Henry II. In the year 1408 it passed to Robert Nevyll, who married Joanna, the sister and sole heiress of Almaric de Nouers. In the reign of Henry VIII. Maria, the only daughter of Michael Nevyll, who had obtained the possession of Gothurst, on the death of her two brothers, bestowed it, together with her person, on Thomas Mulsho, of Thingdon, in Northamptonshire. It continued in his family till the time of James I. when Maria, daughter and heiress of William Mulsho, conveyed it, by marriage, to sir Everard Digby, of an ancient family in Rutlandshire. This gentleman was esteemed the most handsome and accomplished of the age, but his bigotry to the Popish religion induced him to associate himself with the conspirators in the gunpowder plot. Previous to the commission of any treasonable act, he secured his property to his infant son and heirs so effectually that the crown could not profit by his attainter. When first arrested, he steadily maintained his innocence as GOTHURST. to the plot, but on his trial pleaded guilty, and endeavoured to extenuate the enormity of his crime, by saying, that he had only acted from the suggestions of conscience. He was executed on the 30th of January 1606, at the west end of St. Paul's. The estate passed from the Digbys, by the marriage of two daughters of the family, to two gentlemen of Wales, who in the year 1704 sold the manor to the late George Wright, esq. son of sir Nathan Wright, the lord keeper. The manor-house, which is now the residence of the daughter of George Wright, esq. stands on a rising ground, nearly three miles from Newport Pagnell, and about half a mile from the banks of the Ouse. It appears to have been erected in the latter part of the reign of queen Elizabeth, but many parts of it are now modernized: the grounds are extensive, and agreeably disposed into spacious lawns, one of which occupies about 130 acres. Several walks, enlivened with prospects of the distant country, have been cut through the woods. Many portraits of the former possessors still remain in the house, particularly one of sir Kenelm Digby, who was of a gigantic stature, and pos sessed extraordinary mental endowments. |