LUCAS

-THOMAS Born 1573

John Lucas born 1512 in Bury St Edmunds, bought the former site of St John’s Abbey, Colchester.  He transferred his family to Essex, having becoming the local MP. He was also Master of requests to Prince Edward (the future Edward VI)

Like many of his descendants he was buried in the crypt of St Giles, just outside the gates of their mansion.

The Abbey of St John’s owned several separate properties locally including Bourne Mill and Cannick Mill in Colchester. When he purchased the Abbey site it also included these mills. Bourne Mill was totally rebuilt by his son Thomas, it has been suggested he planned it to double as a banqueting Hall.

Over  his lifetime John and his son Thomas accumulated a substantial portfolio of properties in Essex and into Suffolk . Apart from his own properties the extended family held many other houses and land in the area. These include New and Old Hall Mistley and Royston Hall in Ramsey near Harwich.

Royston Hall was inherited as a result of an arrangement where the heir ( Mary Royston) was a ward of Lucas Family. She was to go on the marry John Lucas born in 1565, the Grandson of John