The Kents and Hollands

Edmund of Woodstock was born in 1301, and was created 1st Earl of Kent in 1321 by his half-brother King Edward II. Following Edward II's abdication in 1327 King Edward III gave the Manor of Woking to Edmund.

Edmund was married to the Margaret, 3rd Baroness Wake, and the couple had four children: Edmund Plantagenet, 2nd Earl of Kent; Margaret Plantagenet; Joan Plantagenet, the Fair Maid of Kent and John Plantagenet, 3rd Earl of Kent. The family may have lived at the manor house.

Both sons inherited the Manor of Woking in turn, but when they died the Manor reverted to the Crown.

A survey of the Manor in about 1327 described the buildings on the site.

Joan, the Fair Maid of Kent, became Countess of Kent in her own right in 1352.

Thomas Holland, 1st Earl of Kent secretly married the 12-year-old Joan of Kent in about 1339. Thomas became Earl of Kent in right of his wife, Joan. He was succeeded as Baron Holland by his son Thomas (2nd Earl of Kent).

Thomas and his wife Alice had nine childen, and their son, Thomas, became 3rd Earl of Kent. He was executed for treason in 1400, and the Manor of Woking reverted to the Crown. the King eventually restored the Manor to his mother, Alice.

Her son, Edmund, inherited the Manor, but he died without issue and the estate went to Margaret Holland, one of his sisters and coheirs. She was the wife of John Beaufort, Earl of Somerset.

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The Manor now passed to the Beaufort family. Read more about the Beaufort family.