According to this, Queen Mary granted Haughley manor to John Sulyard in 1554 as a reward for loyalty in supporting her claim to the throne against that of Lady Jane Grey.
Who held the manor before John Sulyard? Was it Thomas Bladgett and did he lose it by backing the wrong side in the dynastic struggle for the crown?
that's such a good question and that's something I would love to find out.
I suggest you research the history of Haughley and Haughley Hall and the surrounding area. There may be a local history society and books about the place.
There were several dynastic, political and religious upheavals immediately prior to and during the lifetime of Thomas Blodgett/Bladget/Blowgate. A man's fortunes could change suddenly, he might gain, or he might lose everything, including his life.
The decades long dynastic struggle for the English Crown between the Houses of Lancaster and York (popularly known as the Wars of the Roses) ended at the Battle of Bosworth 1485 which brought Henry Tudor, the first monarch of the Tudor dynasty to the throne.
Henry Tudor's son, also Henry, kick-started the English Reformation which changed the state religion of England from Catholic to Church of England. Land and properties belonging to monasteries were confiscated early in the Reformation and sold to lay people, proceeds going to the king's treasury, or the king gifted the lands to his supporters. Some monastic lands included manors.
King Edward continued the Reformation began in his father's reign. However, when Edward's sister, Queen Mary, succeeded him she tried to reverse the Reformation and turn England Catholic again as she was a devout Catholic. The next monarch, her sister, Elizabeth (reigned 1558-1603) continued the establishment of the Church of England.
There were several unsuccessful rebellions during Thomas Blodgett's life and many executions.
People gained or lost property, money, influence, status, depending on which side they backed in a particular struggle or whether the branch of Christianity they belonged to was the current official one. Some changed sides more than once. A man could rise from humble origins to a position of influence and then lose again when a monarch or a policy changed or if he offended a powerful person.
Just because a person was lord of a manor it didn't mean he had the title "Lord".
The only line of mine which I've been able to trace back to 1500's would have been tenants of the abbot of the local priory until 1539 when priory property was confiscated at the Dissolution of the Monasteries. Queen Mary granted that manor to someone in 1554. (She seems to have been rewarding her supporters by giving them property in 1554, the year after she became queen.) The manor was bought by the head of a local family a few decades later and owned by them for the next 400 years. Although lords of the manor, none of them had the title "Lord"; 2 were "Sir", the rest were "Mr.".
I hope this explains what was happening in England during Thomas Blodgett's life.
Apart from all the above going on, England went to war a few times, against France and Scotland.
