 of Lilford and Papley on himself and his wife Margaret, with remainder to John Elmes and his wife Elizabeth, daughter of William and Margaret, for the life of Elizabeth, to William Elmes, the son and heir of John Elmes and Elizabeth, to John brother of the said William, and to the heirs of Elizabeth, and the heirs of each successively. Both William and Margaret died in 1489. (fn. 48) From this date the manor of Lilford follows the descent of Warmington and Papley (q.v.) to the death of Arthur Elmes in 1663. Jane, widow of Arthur Elmes, seems to have married Sir Francis Compton, kt. and had a life interest in the manor which she and her husband conveyed to Sir John Langham, kt. and bart. in 1666. (fn. 49) Arthur Elmes evidently died without issue and was succeeded by his cousin Thomas Elmes, the youngest son of Anthony Elmes of Greens Norton. He was knighted as Thomas Elmes of Lilford in 1688 (fn. 50) and died in 1690. He was succeeded by his brother William Elmes, who made various settlements of the manor of Lilford cum Wigsthorpe and the advowson. (fn. 51) He died in 1699, 'the last male branch of that ancient and honourable family of the Elmes.' (fn. 52) John Adams and other trustees under the abovementioned settlements conveyed the manors of Lilford and Wigsthorpe, the rectory and advowson, to Sir Thomas Powys in 1711, who took a fine of them in 1713. (fn. 53)
Sir Thomas Powys, the second son of Thomas Powys of Henley (co. Salop) and of Anne daughter of Sir Adam Littleton, was the judge who conducted the trial of the Seven Bishops in 1688. He died in 1719, and was buried at Lilford. (fn. 54) Thomas, his eldest son by his first wife Sarah, daughter of Ambrose Holbech (co. Warwick), who succeeded him, married Catherine, daughter and heir of Thomas Ravenscroft of Broadlane (co. Flint), and died in 1720. His son and heir, also named Thomas, married Henrietta daughter of Thomas Spence, Serjeant of the House of Commons. (fn. 55) He was succeeded by his son Thomas, who was M.P. for the county from 1774–97. A man of great parliamentary talents and distinguished integrity, he was one of the batch of peers created during the ministry of William Pitt in 1797, being created Baron Lilford on 26 October. He married Mary, the daughter of Galfridus Mann, and died in 1800. His son Thomas succeeded him at Lilford, as second baron. Thomas Atherton Powys, third baron, inherited Lilford at his father's death in 1825. (fn. 56) The Lilford estates, increased by a succession of inheritances, to which the eventual inheritance from Sir Littleton Powys, elder brother of its purchaser Sir Thomas, must be added, were, after the death of Thomas Powys, third Baron Lilford, at Lilford Park in 1861, dealt with by the Lilford Estate Act, passed on 29 July 1864, (fn. 57) as the result of a Chancery suit instituted by his son Thomas Littleton Powys, the fourth baron, for the purpose of amending the will of his father, dated 24 February, 1841. From the operation of this Act, Lilford, with its chief messuage, park and pleasure grounds, was expressly excluded. It was as an ornithologist that the fourth baron, one of the founders of the Ornithologists' Union, left his mark on Lilford, (fn. 58) the valuable collections he made being housed there. He travelled much, and wrote on his subject. After being twice married he died in 1896, and was succeeded by his son John, the present and fifth baron.
The Hospital of St. John of Jerusalem near Clerkenwell had a preceptory at Dingley as early as the reign of King Stephen, with lands valued in 1535 at £108 13s. 5½d. (fn. 59) In 1330 the prior of the Hospital of St. John of Jerusalem claimed view of frankpledge in Glapthorn from his tenants in Fotheringhay, Lilford, etc.; (fn. 60) and on 18 August 1542 a messuage in the tenure of William Whyte of Lilford, which had belonged to the preceptory at Dingley, was granted to Robert Tyrwhitt, the king's serjeant, with meadow lands, rent, etc. (fn. 61)
The church of ST. PETER was taken down in 1778, and no part of it remains on the site. (fn. 62) Three arches from the nave a