Of the same family were the
three bishops of that name, in the reigns of the early Edwards; one of
which, _Thomas_, Bishop of Exeter in 1299, was the pious founder of a
chantry chapel adjoining Bitton Church, over the bodies of his father and
another, who were buried there; the building itself is quite an
architectural gem. The said bishop must also have resided there, for in
1287, when Dean of Wells, the Lord of the Manor of that part of Bitton
where his estate lay, impounded some of his cattle, and had a trial thereon
at Gloucester, as appears by a Placite Roll of that date.
I send you a copy of the Grant of Arms, as it may be interesting, to
publish--besides, it is a reply to the latter part of S.A.Y.'s Query. It is
copied from the Ashmol. MSS. No. 834. p. 34.
Of the Newtons of Yorkshire I know nothing; but if S.A.Y. wishes to
question me further, I shall be happy to receive his communication under
his own proper sign-manual.
In Nichols' _Leicestershire_, vol. iv. pt. 2. p. 807., is a pedigree of
Cradock bearing the same arms, and it is there laid down that Howel ap
Gronow was slain by the French in 1096, and buried at Llandilo Vawr; also
that the Judge was called Newton from his birth-place. (It is in
Montgomeryshire, I believe.) Matthew Cradock, who lies in Swansea Church,
bore different arms.
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