Peter Grain
None of the manorial lords lived in Great Shelford. This meant that it was the farmers who ruled the roost. And of all the farmers, Peter Grain was the one who held most sway. He farmed about 1500 acres, part of it in Great Shelford, but also in Trumpington, Stapleford and Teversham. He was resident in Great Shelford. He'd married an heiress, and lived at what is now the Grange (then Corney Hall), in what had used to be the manor house of Buristead (or Bury) Manor, wuth his family of 12 children. He owned a good deal of property in his own right, but he was also tenant of the Bury farm and Granhams Farm. He was very active in local affairs, whether running the village, or in Cambridge as part of the local farming establishment. He was a good churchman and served as churchwarden and as one of the trustees of the village charity estate. He took great pains to set all his children up well in life.
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