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Little Cornard lies almost at the extreme south of the county of
Suffolk. At the extreme north of Norfolk, occupying the elbow of the
coast, having the Wash on the west and the German Ocean on the north,
lies the deanery of Heacham, a district in which the Le Stranges have
for at least seven centuries exercised their beneficent influence.
Heacham itself is a large township extending over some 4,900 acres.
The manorial rights appear to have extended over the whole parish.
The series of Court Rolls is almost unbroken for the reign of Edward
III. During the years 1346, 1347, and 1348, ten, six, and nine deaths
are registered respectively. The courts were held every two months.
In December, 1348, there is no death recorded; in February, 1349,
again there is none. On the 28th of April a dispute was set down for
hearing to be adjudicated upon by the steward and a jury of the
homage. It was a dispute between a husband and wife on a question of
dower. The man's name was Reginald Goscelin, his wife's name was
Emma. The dispute was never settled. Before the day of hearing came
on, _every one_ of Emma Goscelin's witnesses was dead, and her
husband was dead too. Four other landowners had died. One of these
latter had a son and heir to succeed, but two months later the boy
had gone, and the sole representative of the family was a little
girl, who became straightway the ward of the lord of the manor.
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