The Marmions did not reside at the castle continuously. They had other
possessions, including, probably from the time of Sir Roger Marmion, the
manor at Middleton, a few miles from Tamworth, and when they were not
engaged in wars abroad or at home, they lived sometimes at the Castle
and sometimes at Middleton.
The following summarizes the way in which the castle descended from the
first lord to its acquisition by Tamworth Corporation in 1897.
c.1070: Robert le Dispensator, (Marmion?) to whom the Conqueror gave the
site of the castle, and adjoining lands. The date of his death is
uncertain, but is believed to have taken place at the beginning of the
twelfth century.
c.1101: Sir Roger Marmion. He entertained King Henry I at the castle.
1129: Sir Robert Marmion, son of Sir Roger. He is believed to have
entertained Henry I; reinstated at Polesworth the nuns who had been
expelled from Tamworth by the first lord; slain at Coventry.
1143: Sir Robert Marmion, son of Sir Robert. Received Henry II and
Thomas à Beckett at the castle; spent much of his time in Normandy, and
died there.
1185: Sir Robert Marmion, son of the previous
Sir Robert. He was a renowned
student of the law and was one of the itinerant justices appointed by
Henry II in 1176, serving in this capacity in the Midland counties for
many years. Having joined the barons in the struggle against King John,
the latter ordered the destruction of the castle, but met with such
resistance that the order was not carried out.
1217: Sir Robert Marmion, son of the previous
Sir Robert. His brother was
also called Sir Robert. "Sir Robert the Younger" held the
castle for a time while "Sir Robert the Elder" was abroad.
1241: Sir
Philip Marmion, son of Sir Robert the Elder. He entertained Henry III at
the castle, and was sometime sheriff of Warwick and Leicester. He
received grants of the two parts of the borough in 1266, and in
exercising this proprietorship he antagonised the burgesses, by
encroaching on the market place to extend his grounds and by attempting
to deprive them of their rights to elect the town bailiffs; founded the
Hospital of St. James in Ashby Road. He was the last of the male line of
the Marmions.
1291: Joan Mortein, eldest daughter of Sir Philip.
1294: Sir Alexander Freville, husband of Jane Cromwell who was the niece
of Joan Mortein and grand-daughter of Sir Philip. Sir Alexander and his
wife assigned the castle to their son Baldwin in 1323 on the condition
that they were to be allowed to live in it for the rest of their lives.
In 1327 he performed the office of Royal Champion at the coronation of
Edward III.
1328: Jane Freville, widow of Sir Alexander.
1340: Sir Baldwin Freville, son of Sir Alexander. He held the
Warwickshire part of Tamworth by grant from Edward II from 1317 to 1319,
when the King granted it to the burgesses.
1343: Sir Baldwin Freville, son of the previous
Sir Baldwin. In 1348 he
quarrelled with the burgesses, who besieged him in his castle and cut
off all supplies of food for some time. He fought in wars with France,
where he died, having spent his later years there.
1375: Sir Baldwin Freville, son of the previous
Sir Baldwin. He lost his
claim to act as Royal Champion at the coronation of Richard II in 1377,
when it was adjudged that the right was attached to the manor of
Scrivelsby in Lincolnshire, an estate which had descended through the
Marmion family.
1387: Sir Baldwin Freville, son of the previous
Sir Baldwin.
1400: Sir Baldwin Freville, son of the previous
Sir Baldwin. He was only two
years old when his father died. He himself died unmarried.
1418: Elizabeth and Margaret Freville, as sisters and co-heiresses of
the last Sir Baldwin.
1423: Thomas Ferrers, husband of Elizabeth Freville, to whom the castle
was assigned upon a partition of the estates of Sir Baldwin; heiresses
automatically transferred their rights to their husbands. He made
Tamworth Caste his principal residence.
1458: Sir Thomas Ferrers, son of Thomas Ferrers. He was knighted
in 1461. Buried in Tamworth Church. His son John predeceased him.
1498: Sir John Ferrers, grandson of Sir Thomas. He was High Steward of
Tamworth. Buried in Tamworth Church.
1512: Sir Humphrey Ferrers, son of Sir John. He also was High Steward.
It was during his time that Leland, the historian and surveyor to Henry
VIII, visited Tamworth and recorded of the Castle:- "the base court
and great ward of the castle is cleane decayed, and the wall fallen
down, and therein be now but houses of office, of noe notable
buildings," referring to the buildings below the mound, and adding
"the Dungeon Hill yet standeth, and a great round tower of stone
wherein Mr Ferrers dwelleth, and now repaireth it. "Sir Humphrey
spent the later years of his life at his manor of Walton-on-Trent.
1554: John Ferrers. He was High Steward of Tamworth.
1576: Sir Humphrey Ferrers, son of John Ferrers. He was High Steward of
Tamworth until the Earl of Essex was appointed to that office by the
charter of 1588. He lived alternately at Tamworth and Walton-on-Trent.
1607-8: (1)
Sir John Ferrers, son of Sir Humphrey. He was knighted in 1603. MP for
Tamworth; entertained King James I at the Castle, which he repaired and
altered, although he spent much of his life at Walton-on-Trent. Buried
in Tamworth Church.
1633: Sir Humphrey Ferrers, son of Sir John. He was knighted in 1617. He
lived to own the castle for a few months only, although he had resided
in it for some time while his father lived at Walton-on-Trent.
1633: John Ferrers, son of Sir Humphrey. In 1642 the castle was occupied
by the Royalists in the Civil War, but it surrendered to Cromwell's
forces in the following year.
1680: Anne Ferrers, grand-daughter of John Ferrers. She succeeded to the
castle as her father had been accidentally drowned in the Trent two
years previously.
1688: Robert Shirley, by his marriage to Anne Ferrers.
1697-8: (1) Robert Shirley, son of Anne Ferrers. Died unmarried.
1714: Elizabeth Shirley, sister of Robert Shirley and daughter of Anne
Ferrers.
1714-15: (1) James Compton, 5th Earl of Northampton, by marriage to
Elizabeth Shirley.
1754: George Townshend, by marriage to Lady Charlotte Compton, daughter
of the 5th Earl of Northampton. He was created Marquis Townshend in
1786.
1807: George Townshend, 2nd Marquis Townshend, son of the 1st Marquis.
Who restored and made major alterations to the Castle.
1811: George Townshend, 3rd Marquis Townshend, son of the 2nd Marquis
who rejected his eldest son as heir and, after his death, the ownership
of the Castle was contested.
1821: John Robins, a London auctioneer, who occupied the castle after
seven years' delay involving legal proceedings to complete the purchase,
after claiming the Castle to settle debts owed him by the 2nd Marquis.
1833: Lord Charles Vere Ferrers Townshend, brother of the 3rd Marquis,
purchased the Castle back into the Townshend family.
1853: John Townshend, 4th Marquis Townshend, cousin of the 3rd Marquis.
1863: John Villers Stuart Townshend, 5th Marquis Townshend, son of the
4th Marquis.
1897: Castle purchased by Tamworth Corporation.
(1) Until
1752, the first day of the year began on 25th March, so dates in the
period from 1st January to 25th March were expressed by quoting both
years.
