38 THE END OF THE NORMAN January there would certainly have been some entries relating to this partition, the details cannot be fully given, but it is clear that an allotment was made to each co-heir of certain fees, though not for some time.^ In June 1243 Balliol appeared before the king's council and objected to be responsible to the exchequer for any of the debts of the late earl of Chester on the grounds that he and his wife had so far had no certain share of the inheritance allotted to them except certain lands in ballio regis,^ no doubt the tempo- rary allotment mentioned below. Ultimately a number of knights' fees were permanently allotted to them in respect of their share. Negotiations were also commenced in 1237 with Balliol, Bruce, and Hastings with regard to their shares of Cheshire, and between December 1237 and the end of June 1238 the king had made arrangements with all three of them. To the Balliols a formal covenant was given by the king under which he assigned to them his manors of Torksey (Lincolnshire) and Lothingland (Suffolk), with the farm of the toA^n of Yarmouth, in tenancio until he should give them a fair exchange for their share of the comitatus of Chester. This he undertook to do within a year. If, by the death of any of the other co-heirs, their share, either within or without the county, should be increased, the king agreed to augment the compensation within forty days after the increase fell in. On the other hand, if the king or his heirs should fail to make these permanent exchanges, the proper share of the inheritance was to be surrendered to the Balliols, and the manors mentioned above as granted in tenancia were to revert to the Crown. ^ The grant of these manors was made permanent at a later date.* A similar arrangement as regards the Cheshire inheritance was made with the Bruces and the Hastings. The former received the manors of Writtle and Hatfield (Essex) in tenancia, as security for an ultimate permanent exchange (which might be either those lands or others). ^ The grant of these manors, with the half hundred appurtenant to the latter, was made permanent in October 1241,* after the final acts in the acquisition by the king
- For Brace's allotment see Cal. of Close Rolls, 2 June 1241 ; for Hastings', ibid.,
between 6 and 8 November 1241 ; for Balliol's, ibid., 12 and 22 May 1244, 21 June 1245 ; for de Fore's, ibid., 3 July 1244. The partition was postponed, ibid., 18 September 1238. » Ccd. of Close Rolls, 15 June 1243 ; Excerpta e Rot. Fin., 15 October 1246.
- Cal. of Pat. Rolls, 11 December 1237 ; Cal. of Close Rolls, 25 November, 10 Decern-
ber 1237 ; Cal. of Pat. Rolls, 6 February 1237/8.
- See Cal. of Close Rolls, 12 May 1249. This order also refers to the manor of
Driffield, which apparently passed to the Balliols on the death (s.p.) of Christiana de Forz. Balliol and his wife were plaintiffs in a suit relating to the customs of the port of Yarmouth in 1259-60 (Abbrev. Plac., pp. 151-2). » Cal. of Pat. Rolls, 11 June 1238 ; Cal. of Close RoUs, 12 June. 6 Sept. 1238.
- Cal. of Charter Rolls, 16 October 1241 ; Cal. of Close Rolls, 26 October, 19 Novem-
ber, 1241 ; ibid., 23 March 1242/3,
