We live in an age where the thought
of forced marriages and abductions fills people with horror and reports of such
events in the British Asian communities are condemned. Each year according to a
recent TV documentary over 10,000 young Muslim women are forced into such
arrangements against their will.
The picturesque Blore near Ilam seems a world
away from such considerations although a dramatic episode involving a forced
marriage took place at Blore Hall at the beginning of the 16th
century.
Margaret Kebell was the daughter of
Ralph Bassett and in 1502 was a newly widowed 25 years old. She had married 10
years before to an elderly Leicestershire lawyer on whose death the previous
year had left his young bride a sizable inheritance. In short, Margaret was now
a very attractive proposition to the gentry of the area as any wealth that she
had would become the property of the husband.
At the end of January Margaret
became engaged to Ralph Egerton of Wrinehill who was also a wealthy person as
he stood to inherit lands in Cheshire ,
A party was organised to celebrate the event. However someone had other ideas.
On the 1st February 1502
an armed band led by Roger Vernon of Wirksworth, Derbyshire assisted by a local
landowner Thomas Foljambe of Throwley Hall attacked Blore Hall. The brigands
arrived at 6am. The band was about 100 strong and was well armed. The trembling
guests and retainers were under siege by a group of determined men. Vernon ’s band broke in
and threatened the servants of Margaret Kebell brandishing swords to get them
to reveal her presence. Margaret was found and forced onto a horse and the
posse plunged over the River Dove back into Derbyshire. Quickly a compliant priest
was found in Derby
and the couple was married despite Margaret’s protests.
Margaret’s father was furious and
sent out parties to rescue his daughter. Roger Vernon was aware of the threat
and moved his new unwilling bride into Herefordshire until things quietened
down. Margaret’s
mother, Eleanor, accompanied by Eleanor's father and brother, set off in
pursuit of the abductors. They were outnumbered and unable to rescue Margaret,
but Margaret later managed to escape on her own and reach safety in London . Sir Henry Vernon
of Haddon Hall, Margaret’s father in law, was protesting his son’s innocence at
court to anyone who would hear that his daughter in law was just being
difficult. But Margaret was determined to have her say and gained personal
audience with Henry VII. The case ended up before the court of the Star
Chamber, where changes and counter-charges kept the litigation active for many
years. Vernon was
fined, but in December 1509 all those involved in the abduction were pardoned
by the new king Henry VIII. Margaret did eventually marry Ralph Egerton,
who was knighted in 1515. However whether it was a happy marriage is debateable
as Egerton was reputed to have fathered many illegitimate children.
