The complaint was that John Moore was indebted to Crichton Horne and Edward Finch for two sums of £200, from 6 November 1806. Trial by jury was requested by the defendant, and was heard 11 May 1807 before the Right Honorable Lord Ellenborough, justice. Damages were assessed by the jury at £82.10s and costs and charges to 40s.
The Poynder family included Thomas Poynder, the younger, of Wimpole Street, Cavendish Square, Treasurer of Christ's Hospital; Edmund Samuel Poynder of Brasenose College, Oxford; Thomas Henry Allen Poynder of Wrotham Place, Wrotham, Kent and Sir John Poynder Dickson Poynder, of Hartham Park, Wiltshire, M.P.
The early history of the estate later known as Swakeleys manor is obscure. In the early 13th century the estate seems to have passed to John de Trumpinton whose son, also called John, still held it about 1260. By 1329, however, part of this land had apparently been acquired by Robert Swalcliffe of Swalcliffe. Four years later Robert and his wife conveyed their lands to William le Gauger of London, but the family name Swalcliffe, later contracted to Swakeleys, continued to attach to the estate. In 1751 the estate was sold to the Reverend Thomas Clarke, Rector of Ickenham. Members of the Clarke family held Swakeleys for over a century. Thomas Clarke died in 1796 and was succeeded by his son Thomas Truesdale Clarke. Thomas Truesdale's son, another Thomas Truesdale, succeeded in 1840 and bought the manor of Ickenham in 1859. He died in 1890 and was succeeded by his son William Capel Clarke, who had married Clara Thornhill and had added his wife's name to his own. William Capel Clarke-Thornhill died in 1898 and in 1922 his son Thomas Bryan Clarke-Thornhill sold most of the Swakeleys estate to agents for development as a residential suburb.
The extent of Swakeleys in the Middle Ages is unknown: from the 14th century the manor included much land outside the parish. In 1531 it was said to comprise more than 1,000 acres and in 1608 over 2,000 acres. At inclosure in 1780 Thomas Clarke held 368 acres in Ickenham. A park is mentioned in 1453 and again in 1517. This presumably was that surrounding Swakeleys manor-house.
From: A History of the County of Middlesex: Volume 4: Harmondsworth, Hayes, Norwood with Southall, Hillingdon with Uxbridge, Ickenham, Northolt, Perivale, Ruislip, Edgware, Harrow with Pinner (1971), pp. 69-75 (available online).
There is no unifying factor to these papers (e.g. that they relate to property owned by one estate or family or the legal work of one office), they were simply collected by the Wiltshire Archaeological Society for their antiquarian or research interest before being passed to the archive.
Teddington common was part of Hounslow Heath. It was situated to the west of Park Road and Stanley Road. When enclosed in 1800 it comprised 450 acres.
From: A History of the County of Middlesex: Volume 3: Shepperton, Staines, Stanwell, Sunbury, Teddington, Heston and Isleworth, Twickenham, Cowley, Cranford, West Drayton, Greenford, Hanwell, Harefield and Harlington (1962), pp. 66-69.
Apprentices were admitted, bound and enrolled in the Chamberlain's Court of the Corporation of London. It was possible to become a Freeman of the City by 'servitude', that is, by satisfactory completion of apprenticeship to a freeman. Apprentices were bound by the London indenture (the contract by which an apprentice is bound to the master who undertakes to teach him a trade) which had terms peculiar to the City, requiring the apprentice to serve his master faithfully, keep his secrets and follow his commands, not commit fornication or get married, not play cards or dice, not visit taverns or playhouses and not absent himself from service without permission. In return the master promised to teach and instruct or to arrange to others to teach the apprentice and to provide food, drink, clothing, lodging and all other necessities.
The manor of Hampstead was held by Westminster Abbey from 1086 till 1540 when the Abbey surrendered to the Crown. The Crown endowed the land to the new Bishopric of Westminster until this was dissolved in 1550. Subsequently the manor was granted to Sir Thomas Wroth. In 1620 it was sold to Sir Baptist Hicks, and stayed in his family until 1707 when it was sold to Sir William Langhorne. It subsequently passed through various hands until the manorial rights lapsed in 1944. In 1889 part of the estate, East Heath Park, comprising 56 acres, was added to Hampstead Heath.
'Hampstead: Manor and Other Estates', A History of the County of Middlesex: Volume 9: Hampstead, Paddington (1989), pp. 91-111 (available online).
The precise origin of the Truman family's involvement in brewing is unclear. Although 1666 is often cited as the start date, it is more likely to have been in 1679 when Joseph Truman Senior (died 1721) acquired the Black Eagle Street brewhouse from William Bucknall. Joseph retired in 1730 and his son Benjamin (died 1780) developed the business so that in 1760 Truman's brewery was the third biggest in London, brewing 60,000 barrels of beer per annum. After 1780, James Grant (died 1788), Sir Benjamin's assistant and executor, ran the business whilst the property passed to Sir Benjamin's grandsons, General Henry Read and William Truman Read.
In 1789 Sampson Hanbury acquired James Grant's share of the business and manged the brewery until 1835. He was joined in 1811 by his nephew Thomas Fowell Buxton. Additional partners joined in 1816: Thomas Marlborough Pryor and Robert Pryor, who had previously run Proctors brewhouse, Shoreditch. Production rose from 100,000 barrels per annum in 1800 to 400,000 barrels per annum in 1850, so becoming the largest brewery in London.
Truman Hanbury Buxton and Co. Ltd was registered in 1889 as a limited liability company. The company was acquired by Grand Metropolitan Hotels Ltd in 1971 and changed its name to Trumans Ltd. In 1974 it merged with Watney Mann Ltd. Brewing at Burton ceased in 1971 but the Black Eagle Brewery at Brick Lane continued to operate until 1988. In 1991, Grand Metropolitan Hotels Ltd was taken over by Courage Ltd.
The manor of Hendon is listed in the Domesday Book as belonging to the Abbey of Westminster. At the Dissolution it passed to the Crown, who granted it to the new Bishopric of Westminster. However, it returned to the Crown when the Bishopric was suppressed in 1550. It was granted to the Earl of Pembroke, William Herbert, and remained in the Herbert family until 1650 when it was sequestrated as the Herberts were Royalists. At the Restoration it was restored to the family. In 1757 the manor was purchased by James Clutterbuck who conveyed it to his friend David Garrick in 1765. It was left to Garrick's nephew but sold after his death and subsequently passed through various hands. The estate was described as 1226 acres in 1754.
Source of information: 'Hendon: Manors', A History of the County of Middlesex: Volume 5: Hendon, Kingsbury, Great Stanmore, Little Stanmore, Edmonton Enfield, Monken Hadley, South Mimms, Tottenham (1976), pp. 16-20 (available online).
A hearth is part of a fireplace or oven. A tax on hearths was introduced in May 1662, requiring payment of 2 shillings per hearth in a domestic household. The tax was abolished in 1689.
Dame Mary Lake of Cannons, Little Stanmore, by her will, 1646, devised a rent charge on land to be used to maintain seven poor people of the parish of Little Stanmore in almshouses already built by her. Her son, Sir Lancelot Lake, bequeathed in his will, 1680, the rectory and tithes of Little Stanmore to trustees, to provide additional support for the almshouses. Dame Essex Drax was one of these trustees. In 1693 she transferred her rights and duties under the trust to nine new trustees. By 1811 there were no surviving trustees and therefore a decree in Chancery of that year recreated the trust, endowing it with the tithes of the parish. Between 1811 and 1829 the rector of Great Stanmore acted as minister for Little Stanmore. This may explain the period covered by these records.
The manor of Sutton in Chiswick was owned by the canons of Saint Paul's Cathedral from 1181 onwards. In 1502 the ownership was transferred to the dean of Saint Paul's. The manor was known as Sutton Court from 1537. The deans farmed the manor out to various tenants. In 1524 it was leased by Sir Thomas More. In 1800 all the land, but not the manorial rights, were sold to William Cavendish, the Duke of Devonshire. The lordship remained with the dean (except during the Interregnum when it was held by the City of London) until 1849 when it passed to the Ecclesiatical Commissioners. The manor house, known as Sutton Court, was situated near the centre of the parish. It was demolished in 1905.
'Chiswick: Manors', A History of the County of Middlesex: Volume 7: Acton, Chiswick, Ealing and Brentford, West Twyford, Willesden (1982), pp. 71-74 (available online).
The Manor of Hampton, later Hampton Court, was in the hands of Walter de St Valery in 1086, having been granted to him by William the Conqueror as a reward for his support during the conquest of England. The manor was sold to the Prior of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem in 1237. The Prior leased the estate to various tenants, including Thomas Wolsey, Archbishop of York, from 1514. Wolsey had permission to rebuild or alter as he chose, and he rebuilt the manor house, creating a palace of some splendour. King Henry VIII became jealous of the palace and for reasons of political expediency Wolsey gave it to him around 1525, although he continued to live there. After Wolsey's death Hampton Court became a royal palace; and in 1531 the Order of St John gave the King the manorial rights in exchange for other lands.
The Manor of Isleworth Syon was also granted to Walter de St Valery in 1086. The family retained possession of the manor until 1227 when it escheated to the crown. In 1229 a full grant of the manor was made by Henry III to his brother, Richard, Earl of Cornwall, whose son Edward inherited it in 1272. In 1301, Edward's widow Margaret was assigned the manor by Edward I as part of her dower, but it reverted to the crown on her death in 1312. The manor was eventually granted for life by Edward III to his wife Queen Philippa in 1330. The reversion was included in a grant of lands to Edward, Duke of Cornwall, in 1337. In 1390 Queen Anne the wife of Richard II was given a life interest in the manor. Henry V held the manor, as Prince of Wales, but when king, separated the manor from the duchy of Cornwall by Act of Parliament in 1421 in order to bestow it upon his newly founded convent of Syon. It remained as part of the convent's possessions until the dissolution in 1539 when it fell into the hands of the Crown and was added to the Honour of Hampton Court. In 1604 James I granted the manor to Henry, Earl of Northumberland, in whose family it remained.
Source of information: 'Spelthorne Hundred: Hampton: manor', A History of the County of Middlesex: Volume 2: General; Ashford, East Bedfont with Hatton, Feltham, Hampton with Hampton Wick, Hanworth, Laleham, Littleton (1911), pp. 324-327 (available online).
The manor of Ealing or Ealingbury was presumably the 10 hides at Ealing granted in 693 by Ethelred, king of Mercia, to the bishop of London for the augmentation of monastic life in London. The manor passed through various owners until 1906 when most or all of the land was sold to the Prudential Assurance Company.
Northumberland Park, Tottenham, was a new avenue, lined by middle-class villas, running from the High Road towards the new railway line. It was laid out and developed in the 1850s.
Source of information: 'Ealing and Brentford: Manors', A History of the County of Middlesex: Volume 7: Acton, Chiswick, Ealing and Brentford, West Twyford, Willesden (1982), pp. 123-128 and 'Tottenham: Growth after 1850', A History of the County of Middlesex: Volume 5: Hendon, Kingsbury, Great Stanmore, Little Stanmore, Edmonton Enfield, Monken Hadley, South Mimms, Tottenham (1976), pp. 317-324 (available online).
The Manor of Pates (also spelled Paites, Patys, Paytes or Patts) was held of the manor of East Bedfont. John Pate held land in Bedfont in 1403, presumably this was the origin of the Pates manor. The manor passed through various hands until 1623 when it was sold to Christ's Hospital.
Source of information: 'Spelthorne Hundred: East Bedfont with Hatton', A History of the County of Middlesex: Volume 2: General; Ashford, East Bedfont with Hatton, Feltham, Hampton with Hampton Wick, Hanworth, Laleham, Littleton (1911), pp. 309-314 (available online).
The Bullock family first appear in this collection in the early eighteenth century as leather dressers of some substance in London. Henry Bullock was admitted in 1711 as a freeman of the City of London (ACC/0132/240). In 1715 he and his father John Bullock entered into articles of partnership for the management of leather mills at Poyle in Stanwell which they first leased, and later purchased in 1742 (ACC/0132/191, ACC/0132/243). It is title deeds to Poyle Mills, and to other properties in Stanwell which the family subsequently owned, which make up the major part of the collection. The Stanwell deeds date mainly from the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, but the earliest is a grant of four acres dated 1366. The earliest deed which identifies the Mills is of 1612 (ACC/0132/145).
Besides title deeds the collection includes family settlements and wills of the Bullocks, and their connections the Bland and Maw families. It is clear from deposited account books of the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries (ACC/0132/285-286) that the family retained a connection with the City of London as well as being substantial citizens in Stanwell. Members of the family were from time to time churchwardens, as the presence of a group of Stanwell Parish Records shows, and Henry Bullock junior was appointed a trustee of the Bedfont to Bagshot, and treasurer of the Cranford Turnpike Trusts in 1760 and 1773 successively (ACC/0132/281-282). The Bland family papers include a series of commissions of Joseph Bland from practitioner engineer to lieutenant colonel in the East India Company Corps of Engineers between 1770 and 1801 (ACC/0132/288-296). There is also an extemely interesting letter from Alfred Bland describing in detail conditions in Zululand in 1879 (ACC/0132/297).
Deposited with the Bullock family papers, but having no apparent archival connection with them, is a group of three building leases of 1793 and 1794 from the Earl of Southampton to William and James Adam of Albemarle Street relating to houses in Fitzroy Square (ACC/0132/330-332).
The manor of Durants (or Durance) and the manor of Garton, Enfield were originally separate holdings which were joined together. They belonged to the Wroth family and their descendants, and included twenty houses, twenty tofts, two mills, ten gardens, three hundred acres of arable, two hundred acres of meadow, forty acres of pasture, and ten acres of wood.
Sources: "A History of the County of Middlesex": Volume 7 (1982) and "The Environs of London": volume 2: County of Middlesex (1795); both available online.
Lords of the Manor:
1689 William Stringer
1706-1734 Richard Darby
1840 Woodham Connop
The General Nursery or Colledg [sic] of Infants was established by the Justices of the Peace for the County of Middlesex in the workhouse at Clerkenwell "for the Reception and Breeding up of poor... Infants, left to the Parish care ...".
In 1086 Twickenham was part of the manor of Isleworth Syon. It is not mentioned as a separate manor until 1445 when it was held by the York family. It was sold in 1538 to Edward Seymour, later the Lord Protector, who later swapped it with the Crown for other lands. It was granted to Queen Henrietta Maria in 1629. The Crown leased out the manor houses and lands, and finally sold the manorial rights in 1836. By 1909 the manorial rights had lapsed.
Source of information: 'Twickenham: Manors', A History of the County of Middlesex: Volume 3: Shepperton, Staines, Stanwell, Sunbury, Teddington, Heston and Isleworth, Twickenham, Cowley, Cranford, West Drayton, Greenford, Hanwell, Harefield and Harlington (1962), pp. 147-150 (available online).
Common Recovery was a process by which land was transferred from one owner to another. It was a piece of legal fiction involving the party transferring the land, a notional tenant and the party acquiring the land; the tenant was ejected to effect the transfer. An exemplification was a formal copy of a court record issued with the court's seal.
A marriage settlement was a legal agreement drawn up before a marriage by the two parties, setting out terms with respect to rights of property and succession.
Source: British Records Association Guidelines 3: How to interpret deeds (available online).
According to a charter forged about 1100, 8 manse at Hanwell were granted to Westminster Abbey by Archbishop Dunstan in the 10th century. Hanwell was reckoned as an independent manor in Domesday Book, but after this, apparently before the 13th century, it became absorbed in the neighbouring manor of Greenford, which also belonged to Westminster. The first court rolls, which survive from the early 16th century, show that Hanwell was then a subsidiary hamlet of Greenford; from the middle of the century the manor was generally called 'Greenford and Hanwell', and lands in Hanwell were described indifferently as held of Greenford manor or Hanwell manor. By the late 18th century, though the courts were still held together, the two manors seem to have been regarded as separate entities. Most of the extensive copyhold land in Hanwell seems to have been enfranchised during the 19th century and the manorial courts were discontinued about 1900.
New Brentford is not mentioned in Domesday Book and seems, under the name of Boston ('Bordwattestun'), to have belonged to the abbey in 1157, so that it is likely to have been included in Hanwell at the time when Westminster Abbey acquired the manor. Westminster continued to have some rights in New Brentford until the monastery was suppressed, but by the later 12th century a separate estate had appeared in the town, which later became known as the manor of Boston. The boundary between Hanwell and Boston manors probably became established at the same time. Apart from this, the boundaries of Hanwell manor, or of the part of Greenford manor in Hanwell, seem to have coincided with those of the parish.
The leases of the demesnes of Greenford manor which were made from the late 15th century onwards included a certain amount of land in Hanwell, though there seems to be no truth in the suggestion of Sir Montagu Sharpe that Hanwell Park, which was in fact copyhold, was ever the residence of the lessees of the manor. The manor passed in the 16th century to the Bishop of London and in 1649 his lessee was estimated to hold 95 acres in the parish. When the manorial estates were divided into two unequal parts in the 18th century, the Hanwell lands all formed part of the larger share. At the inclosure of 1816, the bishop and his lessee were allotted 26 acres for open-field land and common rights, and also held about 75 acres of old inclosed land. Most of this (48 acres) seems to be identical with the former demesne woodland of Covent Park and lay in the detached part of Hanwell parish near Twyford. The bishop was also allotted 5 acres in respect of his rights over the waste as lord of the manor. Most of these lands, like the manorial estates in Greenford to which they were attached, were sold by the Church Commissioners after the Second World War.
There were four manors in Tottenham, which were combined in 1427. In 1626 the manors passed to Hugh Hare, Lord Coleraine, whose family held the manor until 1749. The grounds of the manor house, Bruce Castle, became a public park in 1892.
Ponders End was a hamlet close to Enfield. It was known for its fisheries.
Source: A History of the County of Middlesex (available online).
Sir Charles Duncombe (born 1648) was a successful banker and royal financier, as well as a Member of Parliament and the Lord Mayor of London. He was not married, but from around 1689 he set about establishing landed estates for his nephews as if they were his own sons; the land he purchased to this end included the property at Teddington. The house had ceilings painted by Verrio and carvings by Grinling Gibbons. Duncombe died at the Teddington house in 1711. The house was later known as Teddington Place, and stood just south of the present Saint Alban's church. It appears to have been pulled down in 1940.
An 'indenture' was a deed or agreement between two or more parties. Two or more copies were written out, usually on one piece of parchment or paper, and then cut in a jagged or curvy line, so that when brought together again at any time, the two edges exactly matched and showed that they were parts of one and the same original document. A 'right hand indenture' is therefore the copy of the document which was on the right hand side when the parchment was cut in two. A 'fine' was a fee, separate from the rent, paid by the tenant or vassal to the landlord on some alteration of the tenancy.
Common Recovery was a process by which land was transferred from one owner to another. It was a piece of legal fiction involving the party transferring the land, a notional tenant and the party acquiring the land; the tenant was ejected to effect the transfer. An exemplification was a formal copy of a court record issued with the court's seal.
From the British Records Association "Guidelines 3 - Interpreting Deeds: How To Interpret Deeds - A Simple Guide And Glossary".
An assignment of term, or assignment to attend the inheritance, was an assignment of the remaining term of years in a mortgage to a trustee after the mortgage itself has been redeemed.
Lease and release was the most common method of conveying freehold property from the later seventeenth century onwards, before the introduction of the modern conveyance in the late nineteenth century. The lease was granted for a year (sometimes six months), then on the following day the lessor released their right of ownership in return for the consideration (the thing for which land was transferred from one party to another, usually, of course, a sum of money).
A fine was a sum of money paid for the granting of a lease or for admission to a copyhold tenement.
Source: British Record Association Guidelines 3: How to Interpret Deeds - A simple guide and glossary (available online).
A deed is any document affecting title, that is, proof of ownership, of the land in question. The land may or may not have buildings upon it. Common types of deed include conveyances, mortgages, bonds, grants of easements, wills and administrations.
Conveyances are transfers of land from one party to another, usually for money. Early forms of conveyance include feoffments, surrenders and admissions at manor courts (if the property was copyhold), final concords, common recoveries, bargains and sales and leases and releases.
A bargain and sale was an early form of conveyance often used by executors to convey land. The bargainee, or person to whom the land was bargained and sold, took possession, often referred to as becoming 'seised' of the land.
Source: British Records Association Guidelines 3: How to interpret deeds (available online).
A deed is any document affecting title, that is, proof of ownership, of the land in question. The land may or may not have buildings upon it. Common types of deed include conveyances, mortgages, bonds, grants of easements, wills and administrations.
Conveyances are transfers of land from one party to another, usually for money. Early forms of conveyance include feoffments, surrenders and admissions at manor courts (if the property was copyhold), final concords, common recoveries, bargains and sales and leases and releases.
Source: British Records Association Guidelines 3: How to interpret deeds (available online).
Charles Hayne Seale-Haynes, 1833-1903, was the Liberal Member of Parliament (MP) for the Ashburton division of Devon. His will established a trust to found Seale-Hayne Agricultural College, near Newton Abbot, now a department of the University of Plymouth.
The Duke of Northumberland's River was an artificial river flowing into the Thames at Isleworth. It was built by Henry VII to serve the abbey at Syon with water to drive a mill at Twickenham and later another mill at Isleworth. By the 1900s the mills had closed and as having a privately run river in the county was proving a nuisance and an expense the Middlesex County Council bought it in 1930 under the Middlesex County Council Act 1930.
Ponders End was a hamlet near Enfield, noted for its fisheries.
The Court of King's Bench was founded circa 1200 to hear common pleas, although it came to specialise in pleas of special interest and concern to the king, such as those which involved his own property interests, or breach of his peace, or an error of judgment by another royal court. By 1675 the King's Bench was the highest court of common law in England and Wales, with jurisdiction over both civil and criminal actions. Civil business was conducted on the 'Plea Side' and criminal business on the 'Crown Side'. It was absorbed into the High Court in 1875 (source of information: The National Archives Research Guides "Legal Records Information 34" and "Legal Records Information 36").
A writ is a written order issued by a court in the name of the sovereign, state, or other competent legal authority, directing the person to whom it is addressed to do or refrain from doing a specified action. In this case the Sheriff of Middlesex is being ordered to investigate the damage caused to Richard Biggs by the loss of money owed to him.
The Manor of Sunbury was held by Westminster Abbey until 1222 when they transferred it to the Bishop of London to settle a dispute. It passed to the Crown in 1559 and was leased out until 1603 when it was granted to Robert Stratford. The manor subsequently passed through several hands and families until 1925 when it was considered virtually lapsed.
'Sunbury: Manors', A History of the County of Middlesex: Volume 3: Shepperton, Staines, Stanwell, Sunbury, Teddington, Heston and Isleworth, Twickenham, Cowley, Cranford, West Drayton, Greenford, Hanwell, Harefield and Harlington (1962), pp. 53-57 (available online).
The manor of Hendon is listed in the Domesday Book as belonging to the Abbey of Westminster. At the Dissolution it passed to the Crown, who granted it to the new Bishopric of Westminster. However, it returned to the Crown when the Bishopric was suppressed in 1550. It was granted to the Earl of Pembroke, William Herbert, and remained in the Herbert family until 1650 when it was sequestrated as the Herberts were Royalists. At the Restoration it was restored to the family. In 1757 the manor was purchased by James Clutterbuck who conveyed it to his friend David Garrick in 1765. It was left to Garrick's nephew but sold after his death and subsequently passed through various hands. The estate was described as 1226 acres in 1754.
Source of information: 'Hendon: Manors', A History of the County of Middlesex: Volume 5: Hendon, Kingsbury, Great Stanmore, Little Stanmore, Edmonton Enfield, Monken Hadley, South Mimms, Tottenham (1976), pp. 16-20 (available online).
The manor of Charlton, situated near Sunbury, is first mentioned in the reign of Edward the Confessor. In 1267 it was granted to the Priory of Merton. It remained their property until 1538 when it was surrendered to the Crown. It was then rented out to various families. In 1620 the manor comprised a house and 125 acres; by 1803 this was 125 acres of inclosed land and 60 acres of allotments.
From: 'Sunbury: Manors', A History of the County of Middlesex: Volume 3: Shepperton, Staines, Stanwell, Sunbury, Teddington, Heston and Isleworth, Twickenham, Cowley, Cranford, West Drayton, Greenford, Hanwell, Harefield and Harlington (1962), pp. 53-57 (available online).
Hayes Manor was granted to Christ Church, Canterbury, in 832; and remained in the possession of the church until 1545 when it was taken over by the king. It was sold to the North family in 1546, who in turn sold it on in 1613. It subsequently passed through various owners. The estate was broken up in 1898.
Southall Manor has its origins in land held by William of Southall in 1212. In 1496 the manor was sold to Edward Cheeseman. His son gained the Manor of Norwood, and the two manors were henceforth united. The manors passed through various owners until 1757 when it passed to the Child family, and then the descent of the manor passed with Hayes Manor.
Information from 'Hayes: Manors and other estates', A History of the County of Middlesex: Volume 4: Harmondsworth, Hayes, Norwood with Southall, Hillingdon with Uxbridge, Ickenham, Northolt, Perivale, Ruislip, Edgware, Harrow with Pinner (1971), pp. 26-29 (available online).
Colham manor was in 1086 assessed at 8 hides, 6 of which were in demesne. At some time before 1594 Hillingdon manor was incorporated in that of Colham. Insulated within the lands of Colham lay the 'three little manors' of Cowley Hall, Colham Garden, and Cowley Peachey, and freehold estates belonging to a number of manors in other parishes, including Swakeleys in Ickenham. The manor passed through several owners before, in 1787, John Dodd sold the whole manor to Fysh de Burgh, lord of the manor of West Drayton. Fysh de Burgh died in 1800 leaving Colham subject to the life interest of his widow Easter (d 1823), in trust for his daughter Catherine (d 1809), wife of James G. Lill who assumed the name of De Burgh, with remainder to their son Hubert. The manor passed to Hubert de Burgh in 1832 and he immediately mortgaged the estate. Hubert retained actual possession of the property until his death in 1872.
Information from: 'Hillingdon, including Uxbridge: Manors and other estates', A History of the County of Middlesex: Volume 4: Harmondsworth, Hayes, Norwood with Southall, Hillingdon with Uxbridge, Ickenham, Northolt, Perivale, Ruislip, Edgware, Harrow with Pinner (1971), pp. 69-75 (available online).
The manor of Edgware Boys (or Edgware and Boys) was sold to William Lee of Totteridge Park in 1762. It passed to his son William, who changed his surname to Antonie in accordance with the will of Richard Antonie of Colworth. He left the manor to his nephew John Fiott, who assumed the name of Lee under the terms of the will of his uncle. John Fiott Lee died in 1866.
Information from: 'Edgware: Manors', A History of the County of Middlesex: Volume 4: Harmondsworth, Hayes, Norwood with Southall, Hillingdon with Uxbridge, Ickenham, Northolt, Perivale, Ruislip, Edgware, Harrow with Pinner (1971), pp. 155-157 (available online).
The parish of Little Stanmore dates back before 1200. The church of St Lawrence, otherwise known as St Lawrence Whitchurch, was first recorded as having been appropriated by St Bartholomew's Priory. The church was acquired by the Lake family of Little Stanmore in 1552. They built up the fortunes of the parish as trustees, setting up a charitable foundation in 1680 and building almshouses and a free school. By the eighteenth century the church had been inherited by the Duke of Chandos who appointed John James to rebuild it between 1714-1720. It is said that Handel played the church organ at the height of his career, while staying with the Duke nearby. Notable ministers of the church include John Theophilus Desaguliers, a Huguenot refugee who preferred natural philosophy to his church duties; he invented the planetarium. The population of the parish grew considerably during the 1920's and 30s with the coming of the underground railway to Stanmore. A separate parish (All Saints, Queensbury) was constituted from the southern part of Little Stanmore in 1932, following boundary changes.
Source: 'Little Stanmore: Church', A History of the County of Middlesex: Volume 5: Hendon, Kingsbury, Great Stanmore, Little Stanmore, Edmonton Enfield, Monken Hadley, South Mimms, Tottenham (1976), pp. 122-124 (available online).
A deed is any document affecting title, that is, proof of ownership, of the land in question. The land may or may not have buildings upon it. Common types of deed include conveyances, mortgages, bonds, grants of easements, wills and administrations.
Conveyances are transfers of land from one party to another, usually for money. Early forms of conveyance include feoffments, surrenders and admissions at manor courts (if the property was copyhold), final concords, common recoveries, bargains and sales and leases and releases.
Feoffment was an early form of conveyance involving a simple transfer of freehold land by deed followed by in a ceremony called livery of seisin.
Source: British Records Association Guidelines 3: How to interpret deeds (available online).
54 Hunter Street, in Bloomsbury, was owned by John James Ruskin, a sherry importer. It was here in 1819 that his son, the art critic and writer John Ruskin, was born. The family moved away in 1823, and the house was demolished in 1969.
The Court of Common Pleas was founded by King Henry II to hear common pleas (matters between subject and subject). It was the only Court where personal actions of account, covenant, debt and detinue could be heard. The Court also had jurisdiction to review and change the decisions of older courts. From 1187 the Court sat at Westminster. The Court was headed by a Chief Justice, working with a team of lesser justices (between three and eight in number at various times) and a large number of clerks. The Court was abolished in 1875.
The Palace Court was a court of record for the trial of all those personal pleas and actions arising within twelve miles of the palace of Westminster which did not fall within the jurisdiction of the city of London or other liberties. It became in practice mainly a court for the recovery of small debts and was abolished from 1 August 1849 by Act 12 and 13 Victoria c101 (from the "Guide to the Contents of the Public Records Office").
The manor of 'Stebunheath alias Stepney' devolved from the bishop of London's Domesday manor or vill of Stepney. The Domesday manor was assessed at 32 hides and included most of Stepney parish as constituted in the 13th century, Hackney, a small part of Shoreditch, and large parts of Islington, Hornsey, and Clerkenwell; the 14 hides held in demesne later formed the demesnes of Stepney, Hackney, Harringay, Muswell, and possibly Brownswood manors.
The bishops held Stepney until 1550; when Nicholas Ridley surrendered the manors of Stepney and Hackney to the king, who immediately granted them to the Lord Chamberlain Sir Thomas Wentworth, Baron Wentworth (d. 1551). The grant included the marshes of Stepney, waters, fishing, wastes, mills, and the liberties, including free warren and view of frankpledge, that the bishops had enjoyed.
The manor subsequently changed hands several times until 1926 when the remaining copyholds were converted into freeholds under the Law of Property Act, 1922. They remained subject to such manorial incidents as quitrents, fines on change of ownership, and the lord's right to timber, until 1 January 1936.
From: 'Stepney: Manors and Estates', A History of the County of Middlesex: Volume 11: Stepney, Bethnal Green (1998), pp. 19-52 (available online).
The Pocock family appear to have leased their estate from part of the lands of the manor of Isleworth Syon, which was held by the Crown.
George James Brown was a Victorian surveyor and land agent, based at 34 Great George Street, Westminster, to the north of Parliament Square.
The Swan Inn, Tottenham, is situated nearly opposite High Cross, at the corner of Philip Lane on the High Road from London to Edmonton. In 1890 it was described as a 'wine and spirit establishment', but it had been an inn since the medieval period. According to the 'History of the County of Middlesex', the Swan at High Cross was often illustrated in Izaak Walton's Compleat Angler as the 'sweet shady arbour' where Piscator took his friend Venator, although the author's 17th-century riverside haunts can no longer be identified.
A deed is any document affecting title, that is, proof of ownership, of the land in question. The land may or may not have buildings upon it. Common types of deed include conveyances, mortgages, bonds, grants of easements, wills and administrations.
Spelthorne was one of the Middlesex Hundreds, containing the parishes of Ashfrod, East Bedfont, Feltham, Hampton, Hanworth, Laleham, Littleton, Staines, Stanwell, Sunbury, Teddington and Shepperton. The hundred was held by the Crown.
1805 was during the Napoleonic Wars when many militia forces and volunteer forces were formed to participate in the war effort.
Prince William, the third son of King George the Third, was made Duke of Clarence in 1789. From 1797 he lived in Bushy House, Teddington, as ranger of Bushy Park. He became King William IV in 1830.
The Manor of Colkennington alias Kempton adjoined Sunbury Manor. In 1066 it is recorded as held by one Ulward. In 1104 the owner William of Mortain was convicted of treason and the lands became Crown property. The Crown leased or granted the manor to various courtiers. By 1864 the property belonged to the Barnett family, who sold the land in 1876 but kept the title of lord of the manor.
'Sunbury: Manors', A History of the County of Middlesex: Volume 3: Shepperton, Staines, Stanwell, Sunbury, Teddington, Heston and Isleworth, Twickenham, Cowley, Cranford, West Drayton, Greenford, Hanwell, Harefield and Harlington (1962), pp. 53-57 (available online).
In 1438 King Henry VI granted Ruislip Manor to the University of Cambridge. The University gave up its interest in 1441 and the king granted the manor to the new College of St Mary and St Nicholas, later known as King's College Cambridge. This was made an outright grant in 1451. The estate remained in the possession of the college until the early 20th century.
Ralph Hawtrey acquired the lease of the manor in 1669. The Hawtreys and their descendants, the Rogerses and Deanes, kept the lease of the manor until the late 19th century when it was taken up by the College.
From: 'Ruislip: Manors and other estates', A History of the County of Middlesex: Volume 4: Harmondsworth, Hayes, Norwood with Southall, Hillingdon with Uxbridge, Ickenham, Northolt, Perivale, Ruislip, Edgware, Harrow with Pinner (1971), pp. 134-137.
There is no unifying factor to these papers (e.g. that they relate to property owned by one estate or family or the legal work of one office), they were simply collected for their antiquarian interest before being passed to the archive.
A deed is any document affecting title, that is, proof of ownership, of the land in question. The land may or may not have buildings upon it. Common types of deed include conveyances, mortgages, bonds, grants of easements, wills and administrations.
Conveyances are transfers of land from one party to another, usually for money. Early forms of conveyance include feoffments, surrenders and admissions at manor courts (if the property was copyhold), final concords, common recoveries, bargains and sales and leases and releases.
Common Recovery was a process by which land was transferred from one owner to another. It was a piece of legal fiction involving the party transferring the land, a notional tenant and the party acquiring the land; the tenant was ejected to effect the transfer. An exemplification was a formal copy of a court record issued with the court's seal.
Source: British Records Association Guidelines 3: How to interpret deeds (available online).
A deed is any document affecting title, that is, proof of ownership, of the land in question. The land may or may not have buildings upon it. Common types of deed include conveyances, mortgages, bonds, grants of easements, wills and administrations.
Conveyances are transfers of land from one party to another, usually for money. Early forms of conveyance include feoffments, surrenders and admissions at manor courts (if the property was copyhold), final concords, common recoveries, bargains and sales and leases and releases.
An assignment of term, or assignment to attend the inheritance, was an assignment of the remaining term of years in a mortgage to a trustee after the mortgage itself has been redeemed. An assignment of a lease is the transfer of the rights laid out in the lease to another party, usually for a consideration (a sum of money).
Source: British Records Association Guidelines 3: How to interpret deeds (available online).
Ossulston hundred included areas around Kensington, Holborn, Finsbury, Tower Hamlets and Westminster. It is remembered partly because it gave its name to the barony of Ossulston conferred upon John Bennet in 1682. John was the brother of Henry Bennet, earl of Arlington (d. 1686), a close advisor to the monarchy, who built Ossulston House, formerly nos. 1 and 2 St. James's Square and afterwards demolished. The barony was absorbed into the earldom of Tankerville in 1714.
The manor of Ealing or Ealingbury was presumably the 10 hides at Ealing granted in 693 by Ethelred, king of Mercia, to the bishop of London for the augmentation of monastic life in London. The manor passed through various owners until 1906 when most or all of the land was sold to the Prudential Assurance Company.
The manor of Durants (or Durance) and the manor of Garton were originally separate holdings which were joined together. They belonged to the Wroth family and their decendants, and included twenty houses, twenty tofts, two mills, ten gardens, three hundred acres of arable, two hundred acres of meadow, forty acres of pasture, and ten acres of wood.
Sources: "A History of the County of Middlesex": Volume 7 (1982) and "The Environs of London": volume 2: County of Middlesex (1795); both available online.