Description:The Sutherland Papers contain many legal papers concerning land and property in Staffordshire. Amongst these are papers relating to a case between the Leveson family and a man named John Lougher of Perton. Lougher was accused of illegally holding the Manor House at Perton in a high profile legal battle during the early 1630s.
Amongst these legal papers is a document outlining the case between ‘dame Margaret Leveson late wife of Sir Rich: Leveson K[nigh]t deceased’ and ‘John Lougher’. Lady Margaret Leveson suffered from mental illness, and is described in the legal papers as ‘a lunaticke’ who was unable to manage her lands and properties. A court order had given ‘the custody’ of Margaret and her goods, chattels and lands to Margaret’s relatives, first her brother William, Lord Howard, and then her brother Charles, Earl of Nottingham.
Accusations Concerning the Manor House
The document indicates that a dispute had arisen over the identity of the rightful owner of lands in Perton believed to belong to Lady Margaret. A man named John Lougher claimed to have the rights to the Manor House in Perton, opposing the Howard family.
The document states that ‘the def[endan]t John Lougher’ was accused of having illegally ‘gotten into his possession’ the ‘capitall mesuage or mansion howse of Perton’ and ‘the demeasne lands’ belonging to the Manor of Perton. In addition to a ‘wood ground or pasture called Penn Coppyce’, Lougher had also taken ‘all the tythes of corne & graine yearly arising & growing or to be taken in the Township[e]s mannors or Lo[rdshi]pps of Perton’.
John Lougher seems to have wasted no time establishing himself as Lord of the Manor, the document stating that Lougher did ‘wrongfully molest the Tenn[an]te Farmors & lessees’ in Perton. In addition, Lougher was accused of committing ‘great waste uppon the said Mansion howse of Perton’. He had suffered ‘a greate p[ar]cell thereof, & of the Chappell Barnes Stables, & other out howses of the said Capitall Messuage to fall to the ground’. Lougher was also accused of misusing timber by carrying away ‘timber trees’ growing on the lands.
Named as a ‘fraudulent’ imposter, John Lougher stood accused of taking advantage of Lady Margaret and her family, taking over their lands and properties in Perton and bullying tenant farmers.
John Lougher’s Reaction
Following the list of accusations made against John Lougher is John's answer to the charges which appear in a section entitled ‘The Effect of John Loughers answere’.
John Lougher stated that William Lord Howard, who had been entrusted with Lady Margaret Leveson’s lands, had ‘lett’ the ‘mansion howse of Perton’ to a man named ‘W[illia]m Powlewheele’ for ‘100 yeers’. A William Powlewheele appears listed on the 1645 Rental for Perton and Trescott, possibly the son of William and Mary Powlewheele. William Powlewheele had leased the lands in return for a ‘yeerely rent’ which was due on the Religious Feasts of ‘Stt Michaell & thamuciacon of the virgin Mary by equall porcons’.
However, William Powlewheele had died leaving ‘the said lease & the remainder of the Terme’ to his widow, Mary. The Mary named in this document is Mary Fitton who had been closely associated with Vice Admiral Sir Richard Leveson (c. 1570-1605). Mary married William Powlewheele who died in 1609 and remarried John Lougher in 1612. The document states that Mary ‘being soe thereof posssessed’ had married the defendant, John Lougher, giving him the right to the remainder of William Powlewheele’s lease of the ‘mansion howse of Perton’ and the lands associated with the property.
Biographical information about Mary Fitton, William Powlewheele and John Lougher from Vivienne Larminie, ‘Fitton , Mary (bap. 1578, d. 1641)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, Sept 2004; online edn, Jan 2008 [http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/9523]
Click on the images on the left to learn more about the legal case.