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the history of Leyton and Leytonstone
from . dot to … dots – with plenty of spaces
Landowners
1540 - 1642, The Dissolution of the Monasteries to the Civil War
Michael Hicks became head of the household at Ruckholt House by marrying in 1594 the widow of the merchant who had owned it (another instance of a businessman purchasing the status of lord of the manor). Hicks was a powerful assistant to William Cecil, Lord Burleigh, until Burleigh died in 1598. In the previous year, 1597, Queen Elizabeth stayed at Ruckholt House 1. King James I visited Ruckholt in 1604 and Hicks was knighted soon afterwards. The Hicks family were to remain dominant in Leyton until 1720.
