Morton, called in Domesday Book Mortone, received the addition of Pinkeney from the family of that name, who were afterwards possessors of it. It is bounded on the east by Plumpton, on the north by Canons Ashby, by Eydon on the west, and on the south and south-east by Culworth, Sulgrave, and Weston by Weedon. It contains 2376 acres, of the rateable value of £4310; the gross estimated rental is £5096, 7s. ; and its population in 1801 was 420; in 1831, 581 ; in 1841, 565 ; in 1851, 576 ; in 1861, 570; and in 1871, 511 souls. The soil is principally a light red loam, on a limestone substratum, and the principal proprietors are Baroness Sempill (lady of the manor), Mr Richard Yeomans, Mr Bennett Thomson, Mr Checkley, and Mr Malsbury. The greater part of the lordship is in pasture.

Manor.—This lordship consisted of one and a half hides of land at the time of the Conqueror's survey, and was held by one Geoffrey, of Gilo, the brother of Anculf, also called Gilo de Pecheni. This Gilo possessed 11 lordships in this county after the Norman invasion, and gave name to the barony of Pinkeney, which descended to his heirs and successors. In the reign of Henry II., these one and a half hides were'in the hands of Henry de Pinkeney, the son of Gilbert, the grandson of Gilo. The lordship continued with this family till the reign of Edward III., when it was sold to Richard de Blundell; but soon reverted again to William de Pinkeney, who in the twentieth of the same reign (1347) alienated it to Sir John Molins, who answered for two fees here in the same year. From Sir John Molins, this lordship passed into the hands of Sir Henry Greene, who levied a fine of it in the twenty-first of this reign ; and in the thirtieth of the same reign Sir Henry Greene conveyed it to Giles de St John, and Isabella, his mother, the relict of William de St John, for the term of their respective lives, with remainder to the heirs of the said Giles. It afterwards descended to Margery, the wife of William Harwedon, and daughter of Giles de St John aforesaid. In the first of Henry VII. (1485), Margery Garrnon, the sister of Thomas Harwedon became possessed of the manor; and her daughter and heiress by her first husband carried it in marriage to Sir Richard Knightley, of Fawsley, ami it was included in their extensive estates till the thirty-first of Elizabeth (1589), when Sir Valentine Knightley alienated it to Samuel Danvers, Esq., of Culworth. The next possessors of this manor were the Cope family; and on the death of Edward Candler Sempill, Esq. (the late Lady Cope's nephew), in 1871, his widow, Baroness Sempill, became lady of the manor.

The old Manor-House, for many years used as a farmhouse, was, in 1870, converted into a splendid mansion, of a mixed style of architecture. A great portion of the old building can still be traced, though much altered and beauti fied. Two large wings form a semiquadrangle at the principal entrance. The left wing is surmounted by an octagonal tower, pinnacled at the top. The walls nre handsomely decorated with heraldic devices of the Cope and Candler families. It is now the residence of Baroness Sempill, and stands on an eminence east of the churchyard, surrounded by spacious grounds, the entrance to which is obtained from the village, through a substantial lodge, over the gates of which are the armorial bearings of the Sempills.

Canons Ashby Priory had the church of Morton and other possessions here, and the Abbey of Bittlesdcn had a portion of Morton Wood. This lordship is a member of the Honor of Grafton.

The Village of Morton Pinkeney is situated on a descent, about eight miles W. by N, from Towcestcr, 14 1/2 miles from Northampton, and about the same distance from Brackley and Daventry.

The Church, dedicated to the Blessed Virgin, stands on the south side of the village, and consists of a nave, side aisles, and porches, a chancel, and a low embattled tower, in which are five bells and a clock. In the church are tablets to the memory of Edward Candler Sempill, Esq., and the Hon. Sarah Sempill, who were buried in the Chapel-Royal, Holyrood, Edinburgh. There is also a tablet to the memory of John Sucklcy, churchwarden of this parish, who died in 1843. He secured £2, to be paid yearly to the support of the school by Oriel College. The chancel was rebuilt in 1845 by the patrons, and in 1846 the church was newly floored and pewed, and partly roofed, at a cost of £800; £500 of which was raised by a rate levied on the parishioners, and the remainder by voluntary subscription. The living is a vicarage in the Deanery of Brackley, the gross value of which is about £220, in the patronage of the Provost and Fellows of Oriel College, Oxford, and incumbency of the Rev. Francis Jones, M.A. The advowson continued in the crown till the reign of James I., but now accompanies the vicarage. The great tithes were commuted in 1847 for;£163, 3s. The vicarage was twice augmented with the sum of £200 ; and it now consists of 78a. 3r. 26p., allotted by the commissioners in lieu of small tithes ; a rate pay ment of £6, 93. 2d per annum for the small tithes of old enclosures belonging to persons who had no open land ; about 20s. in Priors Marston, and 22a. 2r. 23p. in Morton, purchased out of the proceeds of Queen Anne's bounty. The Yicarage House stands north of the churchyard.

Here is a Baptist Chapel, which the Rev. Joseph Lees, of Weston-by-Weedon, attends on Sunday and Wednesday every fortnight.

The National School, erected in 1822, at a cost of above £300, ornaments the village green, and is supported principally by subscription. A class-room has since been added, and the school will now accommodate seventy children.

An Infant School was erected here in 1868, at a cost of £170, exclusive of building ground, the gift of Sir E. L. Dryden, Bart., who also contributes towards its support. It is a neat stone structure, in the Elizabethan style, and will accommodate forty children.

C/iarities.—£1, 10s. per annum is received from Mrs Jane I_ecson's charity for the poor of this parish ; 405. a year was left to the poor also by Anthony Plant, in 1624. The poor's land, consisting of 12 acres, lets for about £18 a year, which sum is expended upon the poor, and the interest of ,£36, the amount of some ancient benefactions, was expended upon some small tenements, which have been sold, and the interest of the money realised is devoted to the-poor of the parish.

The liast and West Junction Railway, from Towccster to Stratford-on-Avon, runs through this parish; and a station has just been built a short distance from the village, and about half a mile from Canons Ashby. There is a chalybeate spring on the manor farm.

Letters are received through Banbury at 11 A.M., and despatched at 3 P.M.

Brockliss John, tailor BrunskmLavina J, infant-school mistress

Bull Mr Thomas

Chambers Joseph, butcher

Franklin John, beer retailer

Franklin Thus, vicl. Crown Inn

French John Robt, grocer, &c

Gilkes Elijah, vicl. Dun Cow

Gascoisne John, blacksmith

Hemmings Sam. boot and shoe maker

Higham Thos. shopr &. butcher

Tenkins Emma,Nat. schoolmrs.

Johnson George, builder, &c. Johnson John, timber dealer, builder, &c.

Johnson William, wheelwright

Jones Rev. Francis, M.A. vicar

Kirby Edmund, beer retailer

Potter Mrs Elizabeth

Sempill Baroness, Manor House

Slow Wm. mason and vict. Red Lion

Thomson Walter.drapr.&grocr.

Farmers and Graziers.

Adams Win. and Matthew

Bazeley John Bull

Bazeley Thomas Bull

Branson Richard

Burbidge John

Chambers Martha

Day Joseph

Frost Henry, Foxhill

Golby John Goodman

Goodridge Jessie

Humphrey Wm (and malster)

Ivens Wm. (and cattle dealer)

Law John

Linnell Richard

Potter Samuel Goodman

Potter William, Lodge Farm Seckington

George Turner James

Underwood Edward

Ward Edwin, Manor Farm

Williams Elijah

Williams Joseph

Carriers.—John Franklin, to Brackley, Wed. and Sat, Henry Gardener, to Daventry, Wed Banbury, Thur., and Northampton, Sat. Jessie Goodridge, to Towcester, Tues. and Fri. and Thur, George Kinch, to Banbury, Mon, and Thur., and Northampton, Sat.t

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