Agnes Vavasour

• from David Nash Ford's Royal Berkshire History

In his domestic life, Sir Bernard Brocas married thrice. Firstly, in 1354, to Agnes, daughter and heiress of Sir Mauger Vavasour of Denton (Yorkshire). The following year, his uncle and namesake, the Rector of Guildford (Surrey) - wishing to secure a future for his brother's youngest and, therefore, landless son - bestowed upon him the estate which was to form the chief Brocas property: Beaurepaire, in Sherborne St. John near Basingstoke (Hants). Here, he built a fine moated house, long ago been pulled down, but it does not appear to have been an over happy home. For it seems that, while Bernard was fighting for his country abroad, his wife, Agnes, returned to her Yorkshire estates and entered into a liaison with her neighbour, Henry De Langfield. The circumstances are not precisely clear. The generous suggest that false reports of Sir Bernard's death led to the lady actually marrying De Langfield. She certainly had a son, called Bernard, of whom the Yokshireman was supposedly the father. This must have been something of a shock to poor Sir Bernard upon his eventual return home. The two were divorced in 1360, at which time, he was charitable enough to let Agnes retain the most valuable estates in her dowry.