The superior lord, however, of all these parties, would seem to have been the Bishop of Durham, a powerful and wealthy prelate. Early in the 12th century (circa 1114) we find that Ranulph, Bishop of Durham, held in chief, lands in Lusby, and several other parishes in the neighbourhood, and one Pinson was tenant under him at Lusby, holding by the service of acting as the bishop’s bailiff. Whether this Pinson was the same as Pinso, sworn brother in arms of Eudo, the Norman lord of Tattershall, is not clear; but it seems likely, as the Bishop of Durham, his over-lord, also held lands in Tattershall. (N.B.—The author of “The History of Spilsby,” Rev. H. Cotton-Smith, says that he was; p. 24). But through the Pinsons, Lusby, Winceby, and other manors passed to another family, already named, which for some time held an important position in the county, the Beks or Becs. There is some confusion in the different records of the earlier generations of this family. Walter de Bek was the scion of a family of Norman blood, whose ancestor, according to Sir William Dugdale in his “Baronage,” had “a faire inheritance in Flanders,” but came over with the Conqueror. This Walter de Bec married Agnes, daughter of Hugh Pinson, the steward, and had by her five sons, Hugh, Henry, Walter, John, and Thomas. Of these, Henry succeeded to the manors of Eresby, Spilsby, Scrivelsby, and Wispington; and Walter became “Lord of Lusceby, Wynceby, Neuton (_i.e._ Wold Newton) and ffoulstow (Fulstow).” (Lansdown MSS. 207, cf., 453). The Becs were a family of great influence. Of two brothers, one, Anthony, was Bishop of Durham, the other, Thomas, was Bishop of St. David’s, and another Anthony, was Bishop of Norwich, his brother being Bishop of Lincoln, in days when Bishops were statesmen and even soldiers, as well as proud prelates. Walter was Constable of the Castle of Lincoln (Harleyan MSS, f. 23).