caster[1], son of earl Edmund, obtained licence for a market every week upon the Wednesday, at his manor of Melbourne in Com. Derb.; but this long since hath been discontinued, the earldom of Lancaster being afterwards erected into a duchy by Edward the IIId. the manor of Melbourne continued to be a part of the great inheritance belonging thereto; and in right thereof became the possession of the crown.
King James the Ist. in 1604, by a grant under the seal of the duchy of Lancaster, alienated the castle and manor of Melbourne to Charles earl of Nottingham, who soon after sold the same to Henry earl of Huntingdon, ancestor of the late earl of Huntingdon, for four thousand seven hundred pounds; and the manor is now the inheritance of the earl of Moira, his lordship's nephew.
The ancient castle was suffered to go into ruins after it came into the possession of the earls of Huntingdon; but sufficient of the walls and foundations thereof are now remaining to mark out the scite and extent, and to shew the great strength of the building[2]. By order of her majesty queen Anne a survey of the manor was made in the year 1703, by Thomas Fanshawe, then auditor of the duchy, in which he notices, that "her majesty hath a faire ancient castle standing there, which her majesty keepeth in her own hands:" and that Gilbert, earl of Shrewsbury, was then constable of the same, and bailiff there by letters patent during his life, with the annual fee of ten pounds.
- ↑ This last earl of Lancaster, who probably erected the noble castle formerly here for his residence.
- ↑ The Antiquarian Society have favoured the public with an engraving of this castle, from an original drawing preserved in the duchy office of Lancaster, taken in the time of queen Elizabeth, which shews the venerable style of building of this ancient royal mansion.
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