Here it may not be improper to add, that the noble families of the _Howards_ and the _Walpoles_ appear to have originated in Marshland.—The ancestors of the former, sometime after the conquest, bore the name of _Wigenhale_, or _de Wigenhale_, from that being their place of residence, and where they had their most considerable possessions. In the 12th century lived a notable person of this family, whose name was Sir William de Wigenhale, and who, it seems, went sometimes under the name of William de Clenchwarton, from his having large possessions in that parish. John, the Son of this William, in the 13th century, took the surname of _Howard_, (on what account does not appear,) and his descendants have borne that name ever since. William, the son of this John Howard, became one of the most eminent lawyers and distinguished characters of his time, being Lord Chief Justice of England, in the reign of Edward I. and one of that King’s privy Council. He owned the manor of East Winch, and the manor-house there appears to have been his principal seat, and where the family chiefly resided for some generations. In the chapel of St. Mary’s, on the south side of East Winch church, supposed to have been built by him, he and many of his earlier descendants are said to have been buried. The Howard family continued to reside at East Winch till towards the close of the 14th Century, and perhaps longer. Sir William’s great grandson, Sir Robert Howard, lived there, and there, it seems, he died and was buried, in 1388.—Sir William Howard rendered much good service, of some sort, to the corporation of Lynn, of which that body was not insensible, as appears by divers presents, which he and his lady received in return;—such as the carcase of an ox, one time, to lady Howard, which, with the conveying of it to Winch, cost _eleven shillings_, a sum equal, no doubt, to many pounds of our money. Another time a present of wine, together with two calves, and a collar, or shield of brawn, were sent as a present to Sir William, and valued at _thirteen shillings_. Another time, two salmons were sent to Sir William, on the vigil of Easter, valued at _eleven shillings_; {131} which, compared with the value of the other articles, seems to indicate, that salmon was a very great rarity at that period.—Such was the origin of the far-famed House of Howard, which has been long since divided into so many noble branches, and makes so conspicuous a figure in the British Annals, and whose chief is now, and has long been the first peer of the realm.