"it seems improbable, if not downright impossible, that it wouldn't have been removed from local control at some point or other, probably many times."
This would not prevent a determined family from regaining control of the ancestral seat. Some have put great store in such notions, in the past.
good point (the article didnt preclude this), though I would be skeptical of any claims of pre-plague geneological connections.
Well put, Reg'Country, wholeheartedly agree. Centuries after this, Henry VIII had quite a large number of his old carousing buddies executed for treason on various flimsy excuses. He then (very often) confiscated their property and lands.
Nicholas Carew was one of his victims. Nicholas' son Francis Carew apparently pursued the matter in court, suing for return of the lands, titles, etc. After some years he prevailed to an extent, under Mary I ("Bloody Mary"), who needed all the friends she could get.
Meanwhile, Francis' sister Ann married Nicholas Throckmorton and proceeded to spit out kids like a vending machine. ;')
One of the children, Elizabeth Throckmorton, married Sir Walter Raleigh, who is much better known than the rest of this crowd.
Anyway, apparently Francis had never married (probably due to a lack of fortune and title, but who knows) and in any case, had no children. He adopted Ann Carew Throckmorton's son, Nicholas Throckmorton, under the condition that Nicholas take on the Carew family name.
So, the Carew family name and title was revived, and the new Nicholas Carew was indeed a descendant of the Nicholas Carew beheaded by the nutty tyrant Henry VIII.