Thomas Skrine (my 11x great-grandfather) is thought to have lived to the age of 90, well beyond the average life-expectancy for that time-period. As noted in the "Burke's" entry below, Thomas Skrine, along with his wife Agnes and their nine children, resided at Warleigh manor, near Bath (for the sake of clarity, "manor" means a parcel of land ... as opposed to a "Manor House", which refers to the home of a wealthy land-owner).

Thomas Skrine was neither wealthy nor a land-owner. In the early 1500's all of the manors in England were owned either by the king or the church, with the church holding the majority. Warleigh was held by the monks of Bath Abbey, and Thomas Skrine was a "tenant farmer", tending Warleigh manor for the benefit of the monks.

This arrangement would change dramatically in 1536, when Thomas was about 52 years of age. Resentful of the power of the church, King Henry VIII dissolved the monasteries and reclaimed all land for the crown. During the next century or two, the Skrine family was able to purchase Warleigh manor, and eventually they prospered.

Warleigh was continuously occupied by the Skrine family until 1956.

From Burke's Landed Gentry, 1972 Edition:
"Ancestors of Thomas Skrine held lands from Bath Abbey in the manors of Forde with Warley, Somerset 1446. Thomas Skrine held a portion of the Warleigh (or Warley) estate as a copyholder (a tenant with a document, in writing, to prove tenancy) under the monks of the Abbey of Bath at the time of the Abbey's dissolution in 1536."

The dissolution refers to the...