In 1333, at a Chancery Inquisition, held at Haltham, “on Friday next, after the feast of St. Matthew,” the Jurors declare, that Nicholas de Thymelby, and his wife Matilda, hold land in Haltham, of the right of the said Matilda, under the Lord the King, as parcel of the Manor of Scrivelsby; also that the said Nicholas held land in Stikeswold, of the Dean and Chapter of Lincoln, by the service of paying them ijs and vid yearly; and also that he held lands in Thymelby, under the Bishop of Carlisle. Further inquisitions show that Nicholas de Thymelby, and John, his brother, also held lands in Horncastle and over (_i.e._ High) Toynton, under the said Bishop of Carlisle; that Thomas de Thymelby presented to the Church of Ruckland in 1381; and that John, his son, presented to the Church of Tetford, April 4th, 1388. In 1427, it was found that the heirs of John de Thymelby, held by their trustees, lands “in Polum and Edlynton.” In 1439, William Thymelby, Esq., Lord of Polum, presented to the Benefice of Somersby, having already presented to Tetford. He seems to have married Joan, daughter of Sir Walter Tailboys, a descendant of the same family, from which sprang Ivo Taillebois, the great Norman Baron, previously mentioned, from whom Gilbert de Gaunt probably acquired his land in Edlington. {37a} Richard Thimbleby, in 1474, obtained the Beelsby estates, through marriage with Elizabeth, daughter and heir of Sir Thomas Beelsby, knight, and widow of Sir John Pygot, Knt. He died (1522) possessed (in right of his wife, who was coheir of Godfrey Hilton), of the Manors of Beelsby, Holton-le-Moor, Horsington, Harpswell, Harleston, Thorgansby; and a share of the advowson of Horsington; John Thymelby, his son, succeeded him (Escheator’s Inquisitions, 14 H.S., No. 24). To show the religious fanaticism in the reign of Elizabeth, even among Protestants, note the following:—A Thimbleby of Poolham, A.D. 1581, was thrown into prison by the Bishop of Lincoln (T. Cowper), for refusing to attend Protestant services. His wife was near her confinement, but she begged to see her husband, she was treated so roughly that the pains of labour seized her in her husband’s dungeon. She was nevertheless detained in prison without any nurse or assistant, and a speedy death followed; her husband also dying soon afterwards in prison from the rough treatment which he underwent there. (“The Church under Queen Elizabeth,” by F. G. Lee, II. p. 60). I have given these details to show the importance of the family of Thimbleby.