QJorttcU Mniocraitj} ffiibrarg 
 
 BOUGHT WITH THE INCOME OF THE 
 
 SAGE ENDOWMENT FUND 
 
 THE GIFT OF 
 
 HENRY W. SAGE 
 
 1891 
 
„ . Cornell University Library 
 
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 3 1924 028 114 779 
 
The original of this book is in 
 the Cornell University Library. 
 
 There are no known copyright restrictions in 
 the United States on the use of the text. 
 
 http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924028114779 
 
Chronicles 
 
 OF 
 
 Finchampstead 
 
Chronicles 
 
 OF 
 
 Finchampstead 
 
 IN THE 
 
 COUNTY OF BERKSHIRE 
 
 BY 
 
 WILLIAM LYON 
 
 LONDON 
 LONGMANS, GREEN, AND CO. 
 
 AND NEW YORK 
 
 1895 
 lo 
 Ail rights r-eserved 
 
PREFACE 
 
 HESE Chronicles had their origin about 
 five years ago in a desire to write a short 
 account of Finchampstead for its parish 
 magazine. I soon discovered the difficulty 
 of the task, owing to there being no local 
 materials available for such a purpose. I 
 was therefore compelled to seek the infor- 
 mation I required from external sources, and my original 
 intention has thus become expanded beyond the limits of a 
 parish magazine. 
 
 It is seldom that the laborious study of- a small country 
 parish can repay the long microscopic research which it in- 
 volves, or that its chronicles can be of much interest to any 
 but the local few who have a taste for such a subject ; and I 
 fear that these Chronicles will prove no exception to this 
 opinion. 
 
 The history of a parish cannot be rightly understood 
 unless read in the light of contemporaneous history. In my 
 
viii Chronicles of Finchampstead 
 
 endeavour to throw a little of this light upon what other- 
 wise would have been only a heap of uninteresting dry 
 bones, I hope I shall not have wearied my readers by 
 leading them occasionally into what may seem unnecessary 
 digressions. 
 
 It is difficult to abstain from giving to others what has 
 been a source of interest or pleasure to ourselves. The lives 
 of the Bishops of Winchester and Salisbury, in whose dioceses 
 Finchampstead was formerly included, present a special temp- 
 tation of this kind : they are full of the most interesting matters 
 connected with our national and parochial history. 
 
 Our archbishops and bishops, in early times, were not only 
 ecclesiastics but statesmen, and sometimes even warriors. I 
 have studied the lives of all the bishops who have presided 
 over Berkshire from the seventh to the eighteenth century, in 
 the hope of presenting a short r^2^»«/of them, but I have, at 
 last, refrained from carrying out that intention so fully as I 
 had wished from fear of overloading my principal subject. 
 If I have occasionally narrated what may be well known to 
 some of my readers, it must be kindly remembered that these 
 Chronicles were intended for others less well informed. 
 
 It is much to be regretted that, since the dissolution of the 
 monasteries, the clergy have not emulated the example of the 
 abbots and monks of old in their laudable efforts to collect and 
 preserve the records of their own times, and of those which 
 preceded them. How little should we have known of our 
 early history had it not been for the chronicles which they 
 collected, and which have been transmitted to us from those 
 nurseries of learning and religion in the early days of Chris- 
 tianity ! 
 
 There is at present no good county history of Berkshire. 
 
Preface ix 
 
 If the incumbent of every parish could be induced to regard 
 himself as the chronicler of his own parish, and would keep a 
 record of every incident connected with it likely to be of 
 interest to posterity, and would leave his records as an heir- 
 loom to be kept up by his successors, what valuable materials 
 would exist for the future county historian ! 
 
 It is with the hope of contributing something towards this 
 object that I have ventured to publish the results of my 
 researches. 
 
 East Court : May 1895. 
 
Erratum. 
 Page 209, line 2^, for 2,400 read 24,000. 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 CHAPTER I 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Roman road through Finchampstead to Silchester and Bath — Roman mile- 
 stone — Suggested position of Vindomis — Silchester — Discovery of site of 
 a ' Romano-Christian Church ' i 
 
 CHAPTER II 
 
 Introduction of Christianity into Berkshire — Apsidal form of churches — 
 Mission of Birinus to the West Saxons and Berkshire — King Oswald's 
 connection therewith — ' Dozell ' or ' Dodswell ' well in Finchampstead — 
 Division of the West Saxon kingdom into two ecclesiastical sees, Win- 
 chester and Sherborne — Berkshire retained under Bishop of Winchester — 
 Creation of Bishopric of Malmesbury, a.d. 909 — Berkshire transferred 
 to it — See of Ramsbury united with Sherborne in 1058 — See of Sherborne 
 transferred to Old Sarum, 1075 — and to Salisbury, 1260 — Berkshire 
 united with See of Oxford, 1836 12 
 
 CHAPTER III 
 
 Finchampstead Church — Mr. John Oldrid Scott's remarks upon it — Its 
 .great antiquity — Its history — Monuments — Church plate — Furniture — 
 Parish Registers — Vestry Minutes— Churchyard epitaphs — The Rec- 
 tory — Ancient Terriers — Tithes — Rectors from 1299 to present time. , 23 
 
 CHAPTER IV 
 
 Origin of Finchampstead Manor — Its description in Domesday Book — 
 Held by King Harold— Grant to the Lords of the Manor of Aldermaston 
 
xii Chronicles of Finchampstead 
 
 1>A0E 
 
 between l lew and 1 1 18 — Held under them by Sir Alard Ballastre and his 
 descendants from 1 120 to about 1290 — Division of the Manor into East 
 and West Court Moieties — Ancient residence of the Lords of the Manor — 
 Family of De la Hoese — ^Ancestors of the Hussey family , . , .81 
 
 CHAPTER V 
 
 The East Court Moiety of the Manor— John de la Hoese and Constance his 
 wife, daughter of the last Sir William Banastre, first owner of this divi- 
 sion of the Manor in 1275 — Pedigrees of their several successors until 
 1894, viz., De Foxle (Foxley) of Bramshill, Warbleton of Sherfield on 
 Loddon, De la Hay, Hussey, Pakenham, Sir Edmund Marvyn, Hynde, 
 Harrison, Palmer, Fish-Palmer, through all of whom the East Court 
 Manor passed down to the late John Walter of Bearwood — The origin 
 of East Court House 93 
 
 CHAPTER VI 
 
 The West Court Manor — Peter de la Hoese and Agatha his wife, daughter 
 of the last Sir William Banastre — Description of the Manor — Pedigrees 
 of successive owners of this division of the Manor from 1306 to 1892, 
 viz., De la Hoese, Colneye (CoUee), Parkyns, Tattershall, the Hon. Charles 
 Howard; Goodyer, and St. John — History of the St. John family . . 146 
 
 CHAPTER VII 
 
 History of ' Banister' House and the ancient family of that name. Who have 
 resided in Finchampstead and its neig'hbourhood from 11 20 to the present 
 time— The betrayal of Henry Stafford, Duke of Buckingham, by Ralph 
 Banastre in 1483, and the connection of Ralph Banastre with the 
 Banastres of Finchampstead considered 178 
 
 CHAPTER VIII 
 Parish Property and Charities — The Village School 196 
 
 CHAPTER IX 
 
 General Remarks 
 
 On the enclosure of Windsor Forest in 1818— Bigshot Rayles— Hanykin's 
 Lodge— Court Rolls of Finchampstead Manors — The Oliver family — Old 
 properties within the Manor— Roads— The Blackwater River— Finchamp- 
 stead Ridges— The new road to Wellington College— The late Mr. John 
 Walter of Bearwood 207 
 
 Appendix, containing copies of the authorities referred to in the text . . 223 
 General Index oj. 
 
CHRONICLES 
 
 OF 
 
 FINCHAMPSTEAD 
 
 CHAPTER I 
 The Roman Road 
 
 A.D. 
 84-412 
 
 N tracing the history of our ancestors in chap. 
 
 Finchampstead, our thoughts are at once ^_ 
 
 carried back to the Roman occupation of 
 our country during the first four hundred 
 and twelve years of the Christian era, 
 for it was during this period that the 
 Roman road, the line of which passes 
 through our parish, was constructed. 
 This road formed part of the great mili- 
 tary road from London to Bath and elsewhere, and is one of 
 the most remarkable illustrations of the Roman power in u.-Coi. 
 Britain. The portion of the road in which we are more ^^oorER 
 especially interested is that which led from Staines (or 1887°' 
 Pontes, the old Roman name), where it crossed the Thames, '^'^'""^y 
 
 . ' •" of Berks. 
 
 to bilchester. 
 
Chronicles of Finchampstead 
 
 CHAP. 
 I 
 
 A.D. 
 84-412 
 
 NORDEN'S 
 
 ' History 
 of Windsor 
 Forest,' 
 1608 
 
 Lt.-Col. 
 
 Cooper 
 
 King's 
 
 note to 
 
 Professor 
 
 Rupert 
 
 Jones's 
 
 paper 
 
 A survey of the road was made in 1835 by students of 
 the Royal MiHtary College, Sandhurst, and I am indebted to 
 General Clive, the governor of that institution, for being 
 permitted to examine the survey, plan, and report, from which 
 the following description is taken. 
 
 The course of the road leads from Staines to the well- 
 known 'Wheatsheaf Inn at Virginia Water, and crossing 
 the southern bend of the lake, ascends the hill close by the 
 tower called the Belvedere. That part of Virginia Water 
 which was crossed by the Roman road was only excavated 
 in the latter part of the last century, and the lake itself Wcis 
 not formed until about the year 1752. In Norden's time 
 (1608) it was a mere stream, running from west to east, but 
 the Romans, who were always careful to provide water for 
 travellers along their great roads, no doubt made use of this 
 stream for that purpose. 
 
 In Windsor Park the line is, for some distance, lost, but 
 becomes well defined near the Sunninghill road, where vast 
 quantities of Roman pottery have from time to time been 
 discovered ; it then passes near Charter's Pond, King's 
 Beeches, and the back of Windlesham Hall, and continuing 
 towards Bagshot reaches a place called ' Duke's Hill,' 
 whence its south-westerly direction diverges considerably to 
 the westward, making an angle of about 25°. Here, in 
 1783, many fragments of Roman pottery were discovered. 
 The road from this point proceeded along the north side of 
 Rapley Lake, in the grounds attached to Bagshot Park, and 
 passed between the two westernmost of four ponds, which lie 
 south of Rapley Farm. At this point the water, either by 
 negleet or design, has been allowed to cut through the old 
 roadway, thus forming one instead of two ponds. 
 
 The late Mr. Hughes in his interesting ' History of Windsor 
 Forest' (1890) states that he believed he had discovered a 
 branch road from this spot to Winchester, passing near 
 Barley Pound Farm, between Froyle and Crondal. 
 
 This discovery, if confirmed, would satisfactorily explain 
 the angle which the road makes at Duke's Hill, and would 
 also tend to set at rest a more important question which has 
 been a subject of much controversy amongst antiquaries for 
 
The Roman Road 
 
 a very considerable time,, viz. the locality of Vindomis, a town chap. 
 of the Saegontiaci, mentioned in the Antonine Itineraries as ^ 
 having been fifteen miles from Calleva Atrebatum (Silchester) a.d. 
 and twenty-one from Venta Belgarum (Winchester). The ^4-412 
 difficulty in determining the position of Vindomis has always 
 arisen from the uncertainty of the position of Calleva Atre- 
 batum. Camden in the sixteenth century assigned Wallingford 
 as the site of Calleva, and Silchester as that of Vindomis, 
 while in later times Reading and other places have in turn 
 been suggested. But recent discoveries having conclusively 
 established the fact that Silchester is the site of the ancient 
 Calleva, the position of Vindomis can now be more easily 
 decided upon. 
 
 Horsley was of the same opinion as Mr. Hughes in regard h.l.l., 
 to Vindomis being near Barley Pound Farm. Attention was February 
 drawn to this spot in the year 1836, by Mr. Long, a learned 1836. 
 antiquary, as the site of an important Roman settlement ; printed'by 
 and he described the discoveries which had been made there Nichol- 
 about twenty years previously. He distinctly stated, how- l"'^^ 
 ever, that he could not agree in thinking that Farnham and Famham 
 its vicinity was the ancient Vindomis ; but it may be 
 remarked that at that time Silchester had not been accepted 
 as the site of Calleva. Now Barley Pound fulfils two 
 important conditions in favour of Vindomis ; for if measured 
 on the ordnance map in a straight line it is thirteen miles 
 from Silchester and nineteen from Winchester, which would 
 be nearly equivalent to the fifteen and twenty-one respectively 
 of Roman miles above mentioned, allowing for slight devia- 
 tions. Stukeley also considered that a Roman road existed 
 from Silchester to Farnham. So far, therefore, as discot^eries 
 have as yet gone, the locality of Barley Pound would appear 
 to be the most probable one for Vindomis. 
 
 The position of Farnham and its vicinity was undoubtedly 
 one of great consequence in the very earliest times. It stood 
 at the intersection of two ancient and important highways, 
 that already described as leading from Winchester to London, 
 and another cutting it at right angles coming by way of 
 Basingstoke from the western regions, and proceeding east- 
 ward to Guildford and onwards by way of the chalk ridge 
 
 B 2 
 
Chronicles of Finchampstead 
 
 CHAP, known as the ' Hog's Back.' On approaching Farnham from 
 
 ^ Basingstoke this road traversed the gravelly height of the 
 
 A.D. Lady (or Law-day ') Common, a lofty hill which rises to the 
 
 84-412 north-west of Farnham. On the northern encampment of 
 this bleak and barren height, a remarkably fine old camp, and 
 a triple vallance at its entrance, existed in good preservation 
 in 1836, although diggers and squatters have since threatened 
 it with demolition. On the southern side, an eminence over- 
 hanging Farnham, adjoining the road from Basingstoke as it 
 descends into the town, was selected in 11 10 by Henry de 
 Blois, brother of King Stephen, for the construction of a 
 castle (one of the twelve hundred said to have been built in 
 the dreadful reign of that monarch), which has survived the 
 vicissitudes of many wars, and still remains the palatial appen- 
 dage of the See of Winchester. 
 
 After this digression I will resume the tracing of the 
 Roman road at Rapley Lake, on its way to Finchampstead. 
 
 Leaving Rapley Lake, the road ascended the plain of 
 Easthampstead, a sandy and barren heath of great extent even 
 within living memory. The ascent of the road to this com- 
 manding plateau is distinctly marked by a deep fosse on one 
 side, but the rectilinear direction hitherto preserved appears 
 here to have been changed, in order to avoid a deep and 
 muddy ravine, and the line bends northwards so as to pass by 
 the head of the ravine, afterwards regaining its former direc- 
 tion. This part of the road ran through Wickham Bushes. 
 In the immediate vicinity is the strong entrenchment well 
 known as Caesar's Camp, a fortress probably of British origin, 
 adopted by the Roman generals on account of its excellent 
 site. * This camp crowns the summit of the height projecting 
 from the plateau, and is strengthened on the side of the latter 
 by a double parapet and ditch. This loop road, or deviation 
 from the straight course, may possibly have been formed also 
 for the easy movement of troops from Caesar's Camp to the 
 road in either direction. 
 
 At Wickham Bushes have been found the remains of a 
 Roman town or village, where Roman pottery and coins have 
 been frequently dug up. It appears to have been supplied 
 
 ' Cf. Mr. Long's paper. 
 
The Roman Road 
 
 with water, as a large pond still exists on the north-east side chap. 
 
 of it. Looking at the area which the camp covered, it has _^ 
 
 been estimated to have accommodated as many as 9,000 men. a.d. 
 Thence the road proceeded direct towards Crowthorne, where 84-412 
 there is another pond the edge of which is straightened by good^" 
 the line of the old road, and continued straight onwards, child, 
 crossing Ravenswood Avenue, where it entered Finchamp- ?^^g. 
 stead parish, until it reached Finchampstead Heath Pond, the ments of 
 road again here having evidently been utilised as an embank- History,' 
 ment for forming the pond. 1878 
 
 In the tithe map of 1844, the road is shown as making a 
 curve to avoid the pond. But Mr. Walter, on acquiring 
 possession of the property in 1850, restored the road to 
 what was doubtless its original course, as is shown in a 
 much older map of this district. The road gradually leaves 
 the present 'driftway,' or grass drive, on ascending the hill 
 leading to the modern lodge known as ' Roman Lodge,' 
 and may be traced by a cutting on the right-hand side of 
 the green drive ; it then crosses the road leading to Wick 
 Hill Farm, and straightway proceeds to a point near Ridge 
 Farm, until it reaches the lane leading from the ' White 
 Horse ' Inn to the ' Nine Mile Ride,' where it can be dis- 
 tinctly traced on the left-hand side for a short distance, 
 until the lane makes a sudden bend to the right, down a steep 
 hill. At this point the course of the road enters the fields 
 belonging to ^Vebb's Farm, and at about 720 yards' distance, 
 in a field known as 'Six Acres,' at a spot marked on the gg yards 
 ordnance map, a Roman milestone was discovered in 1841 by ^o™. f^e 
 
 ,^^,, .. .|, E. side, 
 
 the pomt of a plough commg m contact with it, a representa- 50 from 
 tion of which from a photograph is given on p. 6. ' The *f n. 
 
 .1 1 , T-.° • II • !• ■ 1 side, 250 
 
 milestone was removed to ' banisters, where it now lies in the from the 
 garden. The line of the road through the ' Six Acres ' field, '^- 5"<^« 
 of Webb's Farm can still be clearly traced in summer by the 
 appearance of the crops. The road entered the field on the 
 eastern side of it, about three chains (or sixty yards) from the 
 south-east corner of it. The present occupier of this land 
 (Mr. Pigg) has had the soil removed from the surface of the 
 road in one place, showing the road to have been formed upon 
 a sandy soil by means of a binding gravel to the depth of 
 
Missing Page 
 
Missing Page 
 
Chronicles of Fincliampstead 
 
 CHAP. 
 
 I 
 
 A.D. 
 
 84-412 
 
 Icen eld 
 or stree' of 
 the Iceni 
 
 (H. 
 
 Long. ) 
 H.L.L., 
 H.L., 
 1836. 
 Printed 
 for private 
 ciicula- 
 tion by 
 Nichol- 
 son & 
 .Son, 
 Farnham 
 
 built on the site of a still more ancient British one. The 
 walls are nearly two miles in circumference, and enclose an 
 area of about a hundred acres. Portions of the walls are still 
 standing; they are 13 feet high, and in some places 8 feet 
 thick. It may well be called the Pompeii of England, for, of 
 all the remains of our ancient Roman cities, there is not one 
 that can compete with Silchester in the grandeur and pre- 
 servation of its walls, and in the multiplicity of coins and other 
 antiquities which are continually being discovered within its 
 precincts. 
 
 From this place radiated five or six military roads in dif- 
 ferent directions — to Bath and Caerleon, in Monmouthshire ; 
 to Winchester ; the Portway to Old Sarum, Salisbury, and 
 Exeter ; the Old Street to Wantage ; the Iknield Street to 
 Dorchester, in Oxfordshire ; the Imperial Way to London and 
 Colchester, and probably one to Vindomis. These several 
 great high-roads must have been frequently traversed by the 
 Roman armies during their occupation of this country, not to 
 mention all the commercial and other traffic which must have 
 passed along them. It should be remembered that at the 
 period under review there was a vast forest called Anderida, 
 known by the Saxons as Andredsweald, or ' wooded land,' 
 which extended for nearly 1 20 miles in length by 30 miles in 
 breadth, and comprised the tract between the North and South 
 Downs, the valley of the Weald (wooded land), and a great 
 part of Kent, Sussex, Surrey, Hampshire, and the borders of 
 Wiltshire. This forced the Romans to make a great ddtour, 
 by way of Silchester and Winchester, in going from London 
 and the banks of the Thames to Portsmouth, Chichester, and 
 the South Coast. Thus we may imagine how great must 
 have been the traffic which passed through Finchampstead 
 along this Roman road. 
 
 Silchester is now admitted by the best archaeologists to 
 have originally borne the prehistoric name of Caer Segent or 
 Segont, and to have been a stronghold of the Saegontiaci, a 
 native British race who were driven westward before a wave 
 of invasion, when a tribe of Belgic Gauls called Atrebates 
 overflowed from out of their own territories, near Autun in 
 Gaul, into Britain, and securely established themselves in this 
 
TJie Roman Road 
 
 part of the country, still retaining their ancient settlements in chap, 
 
 Gaul. 
 
 During the Atrebatian period Silchester bore the name a.d. 
 of Calleva (Calleva Atrebatum), a name retained by the ^4-412 
 Romans, and continued to be used up to the date when 
 the Antonine Itineraries were compiled. We do not possess 
 the means of determining the precise period of the com- 
 position of these Itineraries, but as they are attributed to 
 the Emperor Hadrian and his immediate successors, the 
 Antonines, we may conclude that the roads and places men- 
 tioned therein must have been in existence about the year 180 
 180 A.D. 
 
 In support of the opinion that the Ssegontiaci were former 
 occupants of Silchester, it may be mentioned that in 1732 a 
 stone was discovered there bearing the following inscription 
 in honour of their god, the Saegontiac Hercules : 
 
 DEO HERCULI 
 
 SjEGONTIACORUM 
 
 TITUS TAMMONIUS 
 
 SIENII TAMMONH FILIUS 
 
 VITALIS 
 
 OB HONOREM 
 
 This great city passed through many vicissitudes ; the 
 excavations which have been recently carried on disclose the 
 wondrous fact that some of the buildings erected by the 
 Romans were built upon the remains not of one only, but of 
 three successive buildings, all erected one above another, age 
 after age. 
 
 The Roman coins which have been found there, belonging 
 to each of the three Roman periods of the buildings, range 
 from A.D. 2)1 to A.D. 410, which latter date was only two years 41° 
 before the hasty departure of the Romans from Britain. 
 
 The most important discoveries at Silchester have been 
 the Forum with its Basilica, a dwelling-house of great size, 
 supposed to have been the official residence of a Roman of 
 some rank; a bronze Eagle, found among the ruins of the 
 Forum, and presumed to have been the Imperial Standard of 
 a Roman Legion. 
 
lo Chronicles of Finchampstead 
 
 CHAP. It has been conjectured that the Eagle was lost in a deadly 
 
 ^ struggle between the Romans themselves, about the year a.d, 
 A.D. 300. We know that for ten years there had been a defection 
 84-412 from the Imperial rule under the usurper AUectus and his 
 predecessor Carausius, and that Constantius Chlorus had 
 repaired to Britain to put down the revolt, which resulted in 
 the death of Allectus. There is a tradition that Constantine 
 the Great was the restorer of Silchester, and this seems quite 
 possible, as the place may have been destroyed during the 
 struggle which immediately preceded his reign, and have been 
 built by him on its own ruins. Constantius Chlorus died at 
 306 York in 306, and it was there that his son Constantine 
 the Great, who was present at his father's death, was pro- 
 claimed Emperor in Britain, Gaul, and Spain by the Roman 
 soldiers. 
 See letter Previously to 1892, no traces of Christianity had been 
 
 'Times' discovered among any Roman remains in England, but in 
 from Mr. June of that year the foundations of a small basilica were 
 St'. John fo"'^*^ ^^ Silchester, which there is reason to believe were 
 Hope, those of a Roman Christian church. 
 
 ^892^' -^^ Christianity was not tolerated, and certainly not 
 
 promoted, by the Roman government until the reign of 
 Constantine, this basilica of Roman origin could not have 
 existed earlier than the fourth century ; and it is extremely 
 interesting, as being the earliest indication which has been 
 met with of Christianity having been allowed in England 
 during the Roman occupation of the country. 
 
 In 321, Constantine is said to have ordered the observance 
 of Sunday throughout his dominions, and in 323, on becoming 
 sole Emperor, he promoted the spread of Christianity through- 
 out the Roman Empire. 
 412 The Romans abandoned Britain in a.d. 412, and soon 
 afterwards Silchester fell a prey to the assaults of the Saxon 
 hordes, who burnt it to the ground ; the city, it is stated, being 
 finally destroyed in a.d. 493 by the Saxon chief Ella, in his 
 march from Sussex to Bath. 
 
 Silchester owes its name to the Saxon ' Selceaster,' the 
 great castrum or camp, which word ultimately became 
 Silchester, 
 
The Roman Road 1 1 
 
 What a quarry must the ruins of this place have afforded chap. 
 in a locality naturally devoid of any building stone ! Mu(;h of ^ 
 the material is said to have been taken to build the Abbey of a.d. 
 Reading in the twelfth century, and, three centuries later, some 84-41;? 
 of these very stones are said to have been taken down the 
 river Thames to Windsor, to build the houses of the ' Poor 
 Knights ; ' and Queen Elizabeth, we are told, gave two 
 hundred loads of fine stone from the Abbey to the corpora- 
 tion of Reading. 
 
 Such is a brief epitome of what is known about Silchester. 
 For fuller particulars I would refer to a very interesting 
 account of the place by the Rev. J. G. Joyce, late rector of 
 Strathfieldsaye, in the ' Archaeologia,' vol. xlvi. i88r, pub- 
 lished by the Society of Antiquaries ; and the ' Archaeological 
 Journal,' No. 117, 1873. 
 
 The memorials of the conquerors of the world must ever 
 be interesting to posterity, and the more so as they become 
 more rare. Although little now remains, that little ought to 
 be saved from entire oblivion. 
 
CHAPTER II 
 Introduction of Christianity into Berkshire 
 
 CHAP. 
 II 
 
 ^ 
 
 ■^^ 
 
 A.D. 63s 
 
 C^^ 
 
 1^1 
 
 
 & 
 
 JE 
 
 HE next great object of interest to us in 
 point of antiquity is our parish church ; 
 but, before entering upon its consideration, 
 let us take a short survey of the progress 
 of Christianity in this part of England, 
 and particularly in Berkshire, from the 
 earliest time of its introduction. 
 
 We must not forget that Christianity 
 was introduced into England in the first century ; and that, 
 although it suffered persecution for a time under the Roman 
 government, it existed here until the fifth century, when it 
 was broken up by the Saxon Conquest. 
 
 I have already referred in the previous chapter to the 
 remains of what appears to have been a Roman Christian 
 church at Silchester. A full description of this discovery has 
 been given by Mr. W. H. St. John Hope in the following 
 copy of a letter to the ' Times,' dated June 9, 1892. 
 
 DISCOVERY OF A ROMAN-BRITISH CHURCH 
 AT SILCHESTER 
 
 To the Editor of the ' Times ' 
 
 Sir, — I , trust you will allow me to trespass on your space to 
 annoufice a disco'uery of the greatest possible interest that has 
 
Introduction of Christianity into Berkshire 13 
 
 just been made at Silchester, where systematic excavations, under chap. 
 
 the auspices of the Society of Antiquaries, have now been re- 
 
 sumed for the third successive season. a.d. 635 
 
 Close to the south-east corner of the Forum,, in the centre of 
 the city, and in the angle formed by the intersection of two of 
 the main streets, the excavations have disclosed the foundations 
 of a small Basilica, which, from its plan and arrangements, 
 there seems every reason to believe was a Romano-British 
 Christian church. 
 
 It stood east and west, and consisted of a nave \o feet wide 
 and 2g feet long, ending in an apse at the west end, with two 
 aisles 5 feet wide, and rudimentary transepts each about 7 feet 
 square. Across the eastern end of the building was a narrow 
 narthex, about 7 feet square. The total external length was 
 42 feet. 
 
 The central part retains its floor of coarse red lessens, but 
 
 in front of the apse, in the centre of what was the chancel, is a 
 
 panel, 5 feet square, of finer mosaic , of black and white checkers, 
 
 with a border of red and gray lozenges on a white ground. 
 
 On the panel doubtless stood a wooden altar. 
 
 Owing to the destruction of the walls by the plough very 
 little is left above the floor level, but it is possible to make out 
 the arrangements with some degree of certainty. 
 
 About 1 1 feet east of the church, in the court or atrium 
 in which it stood, is the base of a platform, /^feet square, built 
 of tiles. On this probably stood the fountain, and a small pit 
 lined with flints immediately in front of it seems to have been 
 made to carry off the water. 
 
 No signs of a baptistery have yet been met with, but a large 
 well, carefully lined with wood, has been opened out close to 
 the apse, and other interesting features are beginning to 
 appear. 
 
 Since the date of this building is possibly as early as the 
 middle, and probably not later than the end, of the fourth cen- 
 tury, we may fairly claim to have laid bare the foundations of 
 the oldest church yet discovered in Britain. 
 
 The small size of the building is also interesting, since it 
 increases the probability of our finding other such churches in 
 
14 Chronicles of Finchampstead 
 
 CHAP, the loo acres within the city walls, which enclose an area two- 
 
 ^^ thirds the size of Pompeii. 
 A.D. 63s / am, Sir, your obedient servant, 
 
 W. H. St. John Hope. 
 
 Burlington House, W. : June 9, 1892. 
 
 These remains, if finally accepted as those of a Christian 
 church, would tend to show that a definite type of church 
 arrangement had been adopted in England in the fourth cen- 
 tury. Sir Gilbert Scott tells us ^ that in all the schools of 
 architecture which owe their origin to Rome or Byzantium, 
 the apsidal termination is found ; that there was always an apse 
 in the pagan Basilica, and that the apse was much in vogue in 
 the time of Constantine. It was a peculiarity of the basilican 
 plan that the apse and altar were almost always at the west 
 end, and the narthex and the principal entrance at the east 
 end. All this we find illustrated in the remains at Silchester. 
 The clergy would have been seated against the curved wall of 
 the apse, in the centre of which would be the bishop's throne. 
 The celebrant stood with his back to the bishop and his face 
 towards the congregation, and, therefore, while he faced the 
 people he faced also towards the east. 
 
 In the sixth and later centuries churches were frequently 
 built with an apse at each extremity, the origin of which is 
 attributed to the growth of the monastic system. The monks 
 required another altar of their own, and more lofty screens for 
 their enclosure than was consistent with the Basilica plan. 
 This was met by making an apse at the east end, and adding 
 another altar there for the religious, leaving the altar in the 
 western apse to serve as the people's altar. 
 
 As time went on the celebrant officiated at the eastern 
 altar, but retained his former position, standing upon the 
 westward side of the altar and facing the east, and thus the 
 position of the congregation became gradually reversed ; the 
 priest then became their leader or representative, facing the 
 same way as they did. This may perhaps explain what has 
 been a stumbling-block to many in the nineteenth century. 
 
 Canterbury Cathedral, which is said to have been originally 
 
 ' G. G. Scott's Essay on English Church Architecture, 1881. 
 
Introduction of Christianity into Berkshire 1 5 
 
 ' erected by the labour of Roman believers,' ^ and restored by chap. 
 St. Augustine in the sixth century, had a western sanctuary ; ^^ 
 it was destroyed by fire and rebuilt by Archbishop Lanfranc a.d. 635 
 in the eleventh century, with an eastern apse only. The arch- 
 bishop and clergy occupied the same position in the apse as is 
 above described. In the middle ages the seats of the clergy 
 were gradually removed from the apse to the choir, formed in 
 the body of the church, and the bishop was left alone in the 
 centre of the apse. At Canterbury the archbishop's seat re- 
 mained in its primitive position until about the year 1840, 
 when Archbishop Howley withdrew his throne to a more 
 humble situation in the choir. 
 
 There is no evidence of the existence of Christianity 
 amongst the Saxons in Berkshire earlier than the seventh 
 century. The mission of St. Augustine to Canterbury and to 
 the south-east of England, in a.d. 597, does not appear to have 
 extended itself to the kingdom of the West Saxons, in which 
 Berkshire was included. 
 
 The first preacher of Christianity to the Saxons in Berk- 635 
 shire was Birinus, who received consecration from Asterius,^ 
 Archbishop of Milan, and who was sent into Britain by Pope venerable 
 Honorius in 6^"^. He had promised 'that he would sow '^^y-\.. 
 
 , ,-,^^, ,_.i.^,. -I 11 Book m. 
 
 the seed of the holy faith in the inner parts, beyond the ch. vii. 
 dominions of the Angles, where no other teacher had been 
 before him.' On his arrival in Britain we are told that ' he 
 first entered the nation of the Gewissse ' (the ancient name of 
 the West Saxons), and 'finding them all most confirmed 
 pagans, he thought it better to preach the word of God there 
 than to proceed further.' 
 
 This missionary bishop succeeded in converting Cynegils, 'Anglo- 
 king of the West Saxons, together with many of his people, chron.- 
 A.D. 635. The king was baptised at Dorchester in Oxford- vol. ii. 
 shire ; and Oswald, the Christian king of the North Humbrians, y^j^''^^^^ 
 who is said to have been instrumental in the conversion of bbde, 
 Cynegils, ' was his godfather,' or, as the Venerable Bede ex- ^^^^ 
 pressed it, ' Oswald received him as he came forth from baptism, 
 
 ' Sir Gilbert Scott, quoting Eadmer, precentor of the cathedral in the eleventh 
 century. 
 
 » Canon W. Bright, D.D., Early English Church History, 1879, p. 146. 
 
i6 
 
 Chronicles of Finchampstead 
 
 CHAP. 
 
 II 
 
 Venerable 
 Bede, 
 ' Anglo- 
 Saxon 
 Chron. ' 
 
 and by an alliance most pleasing and acceptable to God, first 
 adopted him, thus regenerated, for his son, and then took his 
 A.D. 63s daughter in marriage.' These two kings (says Bede) gave to 
 the bishop the city called Dorcic (the Durocina of the Romans, 
 Dorchester on the Thames) as his episcopal see, which thus 
 became the first bishopric of the kingdom of the West Saxons, 
 which included Berkshire.. Birinus died in 650, and was 
 buried at Dorchester. His bones were many years afterwards 
 removed to the church of SS. Peter and Paul at Winchester, 
 where they are said to be still preserved. 
 
 Dorchester, as we know, is in Oxfordshire, and had pre- 
 viously to this period formed part of the kingdom of Mercia, 
 which had not at that time embraced Christianity, and did not 
 do so until after the death of its king, Penda, in 655. The 
 river Thames had been the boundary between the two king- 
 doms of Mercia and of the West Saxons, who were continually 
 at war with each other ; but about 628 the West Saxons had 
 succeeded in defeating Penda, king of Mercia, and in annexing 
 to their kingdom that part of Oxfordshire in which Dorchester 
 is situated. Thus it became the first seat of the bishops of 
 the West Saxons, or Wessex. 
 
 Dorchester subsequently passed over again to Mercia, 
 and became an episcopal see in that kingdom. In 821 
 it was again brought under the rule of the West Saxons, 
 and its bishopric was eventually transferred to Lincoln in 
 
 And here it will not be irrelevant to say a little more 
 about the good king Oswald, whose memory must have been 
 held in great veneration in the diocese of Dorchester in those 
 early times, being, as he was, so closely connected with the 
 christianising influence of this part of the country. 
 
 1 believe that we possess in Finchampstead a token of this 
 veneration in a well which is known as ' Dodswells,' or 
 ' Dozell's Well,' which we may reasonably suppose to be a 
 corruption of ' St. Oswald's Well.' This ' most Christian 
 king,' as he was called, succeeded to the kingdom of North 
 Humbria on the death of his uncle Edwin (a.d. 633), who was 
 slain in battle with Penda, king of Mercia. Oswald reigned 
 only nine years, and was then himself killed in battle with the 
 
Introduction of Christianiiy into Berkshire 1 7 
 
 same pagan king, at a place called Maserfield, the ancient name chap. 
 of Oswestry in Shropshire, August 5, 642. The Venerable ^^ 
 Bede, writing in the seventh century, says : ' Many miracles a.d. 642 
 are said to have been wrought in the place where Oswald was 5^°^'... 
 killed, or ivith the earth carried from thence. Many took up ch. ix. 
 the dust of the place zvhere his body fell, and putting it in 
 water thereby did much good to their friends who were sick ; 
 this custom came so much into use that, the earth being carried 
 away by degrees, there remained a hole as deep as the height 
 of a man ; nor is it to be wondered at that the sick should be 
 healed in the place where he died, for when he lived he never 
 ceased to provide for the poor and infirm, and to bestow alms 
 on them and assist them,! 
 
 There are numerous wells existing in various parts of 
 England dedicated to St. Oswald, and it seems only natural 
 that there should be a similar memorial of that good king in 
 Berkshire, when we remember the close intimacy which sub- 
 sisted between our king Cynegils and Oswald, by reason of 
 their common zeal for the faith, as well as by the bonds of 
 marriage. 
 
 The existence of a remarkable well in Finchampstead in 
 the tenth and eleventh centuries is referred to in the Saxon 
 Chronicles, in which mention is made of a well there which 
 ' boiled up with streams of blood, whose waters made red all 
 others where they came, to the great amazement of the 
 beholder,' and so great was the superstition of that period 
 that this occurrence was regarded as the usual precursor of 
 some national calamity, such as the death of the king, or 
 floods, famines, &c. 
 
 There are several ways of spelling ' Dozell's Well.' It is 
 found in an old terrier of the glebe land of the rectory, dated See copy 
 1638, spelt Dozell, which is the name of the field adjoining d^^t^^^" 
 the old well. In 1783, in another terrier, it is spelt ' Doswell' No.' 75 
 and ' Dossell,' and in the ordnance survey map of 1871, in 
 which the spot is marked, it is spelt ' Dodswell.' The well 
 was situated ^ on the right-hand side of the road, adjoining 
 the glebe land, leading from Finchampstead village to Eversley 
 
 ' The field which adjoins it is shown in the tithe map, 1841, as 'Well Dor- 
 sell's Field,' containing 5 acres 2 roods i pole. 
 
 C 
 
1 8 Chronicles of Pinckampsteod 
 
 CHAP. Bridge, on the top of the rising ground immediately before 
 
 _}]_ coming to the house originally known as ' Elm Bank,' which 
 
 A.D. 66 name was changed to ' South Court ' in 1892. The well was 
 accidentally destroyed about the year 1872, by deepening the 
 ditch on the roadside : this information was obtained from the 
 labourer who deepened the ditch. The well is said to have 
 possessed marvellous curative properties, especially for eye- 
 diseases, and persons now living can remember that people were 
 in the habit of coming from great distances to the' well, and 
 either dipping handkerchiefs in it or carrying the water away. 
 After this digression, which shows at least that Finchamp- 
 stead, even one thousand years ago, was not an obscure 
 village, unknown beyond the confines of its own parish, let 
 us return to its diocesan history. 
 
 Agilbert was the second bishop of the West Saxons 
 whose see was at Dorchester ; but, being ill acquainted with 
 the language of the people, Kenwalk, the king, son of 
 Cynegils, selected Wina, one of the monks of his church at 
 Winchester, and sent him to Gaul for consecration, and 
 placed him in Winchester as bishop of the south part of 
 660 his kingdom, a.d. 660. Agilbert, being displeased at this, 
 retired to Gaul, and Winchester then became the sole 
 Rev. bishopric of Wessex. It is said that when Oswald and 
 
 KiTCHiN, Cynegils selected Dorchester as the see for Birinus, they had 
 D.D., ' agreed to partition Mercia between them, and Dorchester 
 winchfs- would in that event have been more central for the capital 
 ter, 1890 of the southern kingdom than Winchester, but that when in 
 later days the kings of Wessex saw no prospect of an exten- 
 sion northwards they drew back from Dorchester, and trans- 
 ferred the ' Bishop's stool ' to Winchester under Hedda in 676. 
 Kenwalk built the church at Winchester, which became the 
 parent of the present cathedral, and under its walls nesded 
 the monastic house which became the nursery of Christianity, 
 which gradually spread throughout the diocese. 
 
 Cynegils endowed this monastery with a large grant of 
 land extending some miles around the city ; and some of 
 these estates remain to the present day in the hands of the 
 Dean and Chapter of Winchester. Bishops Leutherius and 
 Headda succeeded Wina. 
 
Introduction of Christianity into Berkshire 1 9 
 
 On the death of Bishop Headda (Haeddi) in 703, Ina, chap. 
 king of Wessex, in 705 divided this immense bishopric of " 
 Winchester, by creating the diocese of Sherborne in Dorset- a.d. 705 
 shire. Among the conflicting statements of historians, there 
 is some difficulty in determining whether Berkshire and 
 Wiltshire were placed under Winchester or Sherborne. 
 
 We learn from the Anglo-Saxon Chronicles that the 'Saxon 
 boundary between the two dioceses was Selwood Forest ^1°^^' 
 (Seal-wud-scire), which occupied the western border of Wilts ; pt.'i. ' 
 that all the country to the west of Selwood was allotted to 
 Sherborne, and all to the east of it to Winchester. 
 
 This division would clearly bring the eastern part of 
 Wilts and all Berks within the diocese of Winchester, and 
 this view of the division is supported by strong collateral 
 evidence, and is held by the greatest authorities on the 
 question, but the arguments in support of it are too lengthy 
 for insertion here. Some weight must, however, still attach 
 to the considerations put out in Haddan and Stubbs's 
 "Concilia," vol. iii. p. 548 (1867), viz. ' The two West Saxon 
 dioceses contained a considerable number of small monasteries, 
 such as Bradford, Frame, Tisbury, Nttrsling, Chertsey, and 
 perhaps Abingdon. The boundaries of the two are uncertain, 
 and it is possible that until the time of Edward the Elder 
 the two bishops ruled in common, or the Bishop of Sherborne 
 acted in subordination to the Bishop of Winchester.' 
 
 Winchester certainly occupied the first place among the 
 Saxon churches, and had precedence of Sherborne ; the 
 Wiltshire and Berkshire bishops in 909 had no proper 
 cathedral-monasteries, and may have been regarded as in- 
 ferior. 
 
 Aldhelm was consecrated by Archbishop Brihgtwold as 
 first Bishop of Sherborne in 705. He was doubtless one of 
 the most learned and interesting personages of his time, and 
 exerted a powerful influence in the spread of Christianity 
 in Wessex. He was a kinsman of Ina the king; he had 
 received his early education in Malmesbury Abbey, where he 
 had been a monk, and of which he ultimately became abbot. 
 
 Although the Christian religion was only adopted by the 
 West Saxons in the seventh century, it had been planted 
 
 c 2 
 
20 
 
 CHAP 
 II 
 
 Chronicles of Finchampstead 
 
 A.D. 705 
 
 Parker, 
 ' Dioceses 
 of Eng- 
 land,' 1888 
 
 Haddan 
 and 
 
 Stubbs, 
 vol. iii. 
 p. 27S-6. 
 
 Parker, 
 ' Dioceses 
 of Eng- 
 land," 1888 
 
 among the Britons, as already stated, at a much earlier period. 
 The Venerable Bede tells us that Aldhelm, when he was as 
 yet only a presbyter and abbot of the monastery which they 
 call • the city of Maldulf^ wrote by command of the Synod of 
 his nation an excellent book against the error of the Britons 
 in that they do not keep Easter at the proper time, and that 
 they have many other practices contrary to ecclesiastical purity 
 and peace; and brought by the reading of the book many 
 of those Britons who are subject to the West Saxons to the 
 Catholic celebration of the Lords Supper' 
 
 The Anglo-Saxon Church had derived its Liturgy from 
 the Galilean Church, whose Liturgy had been established in 
 Gaul by the Church of Ephesus, which had been connected 
 with St. John ; and this would account for its slight deviation 
 from Roman practices. 
 
 It would seem that Aldhelm, whilst Abbot of Malmesbury, 
 before he became a bishop, had already been doing much of 
 a bishop's work ; and there is reason to suppose that many of 
 the early abbots were more like bishops presiding over a 
 large district with a body of clergy belonging to it, but with 
 no definite jurisdiction. Aldhelm is said to have been 
 instrumental in founding the Benedictine Abbey of Abingdon, 
 in Berks, before he became bishop, and thus he became con- 
 nected with Berks as well as Wilts. This circumstance may 
 perhaps have led William of Malmesbury to regard Aldhelm 
 as having been Bishop of Berks. Aldhelm founded monas- 
 teries at Frome and Bradford, in Wiltshire, and he appears 
 to have been allowed by a General Council on the Nadder, 
 Wilts, in 705, to retain the abbacy of each of them, together 
 with his bishopric of Sherborne. 
 
 There still exists an interesting memorial of this good 
 Bishop Aldhelm, at Bradford-on-xA.von, near the large Norman 
 church of the twelfth century. It is an ecclesiola, or little 
 church, which is said to have been built by St. Aldhelm and 
 dedicated to St. Laurence ; it is about forty-one feet long, the 
 chancel being eleven feet broad, and the nave sixteen feet. 
 For some years this building was used as a schoolroom, but 
 it has since been restored to its pristine use as a church, and 
 
 ' Maldunesbury (the name of Malmesbury as it appears in ancient charters). 
 
Introduction of Christianity into Berkshire 2 r 
 
 its altar has been reinstated. William of Malmesbury, writing chap. 
 in the twelfth century, mentions this church as existing in his ^^ 
 day, and if this building, as it is believed to be, is the identical a.d. 
 building of St. Aldhelm, it must be one of the oldest Saxon 909"'°7 
 churches to be found in England, and is of the greatest 
 value from an historical point of view. Aldhelm died in 709 
 and was canonised. 
 
 These two dioceses of Winchester and Sherborne continued 
 as arranged in a.d. 705 until a.d. 909, when, on the death of 
 Denwulf or Denewulf, twenty-first bishop of Winchester, and 
 of Asser, eleventh bishop of Sherborne, both of which events 
 occurred in 909, a further extension of the episcopate in the Leland, 
 kingdom of Wessex took place, by the creation of the bishopric ^i].on°n! 
 of ' Wiltshire,' the see or seat (sedes) of which was established ses' 
 at Ramsbury, in Wilts, with a residence also at Sonning, in 
 Berkshire. Ethelstan was the first bishop of this new diocese, 
 and Berkshire from that time (909) was separated from Win- 
 chester and came within this new diocese of 'Wiltshire.' 
 There were, successively, ten bishops of Wiltshire or of 
 ' Ramsbury and Sonning,' as they were more commonly known, 
 between a.d. 909 and a.d. 1055. Herman, who was the last 
 of them, in 1055 tried to remove the See of Wiltshire to 
 Malmesbury Abbey, and to make that his cathedral, as there 
 was no chapter of clerks nor cathedral at either Ramsbury or 
 Sonning ; but though King Edward the Confessor, to whom 
 he had been private chaplain, consented to the transfer. Earl 
 Godwin, on behalf of the monks of Malmesbury, obtained a 
 reversal of this permission, whereupon Herman retired to the 
 monastery of St. Bertin, in France, where he remained for 
 three years, until the See of Sherborne became vacant ; when, 
 in A.D. 1058, he was appointed to its bishopric as twenty-fourth 
 bishop of Sherborne, and united with it the bishopric of 
 Wiltshire, otherwise called ' Ramsbury and Sonning.' 
 
 In 1075 Bishop Herman removed his See from Sherborne 
 to Old Sarum, in accordance with the desire of William the 
 Conqueror that all bishops' sees should be brought from 
 unwalled villages to fortified places. 
 
 In 1076 Bishop Herman began to build the cathedral of 
 Old Sarum, but died before it was finished. His successor, 
 
22 
 
 Chronicles of Finchampstead 
 
 CHAP. 
 
 II 
 
 A.D. 
 
 the famous Bishop Osmund, the chancellor of William the 
 Conqueror, completed it. This bishop is best known by his 
 having introduced into his diocese a new or modified ritual 
 1076-1836 ^j^^ Liturgy, known as the ' Use of Sarum.' Every bishop in 
 those days had power to make changes in the mode of con- 
 ducting Divine service in his own diocese. 
 
 The ' use ' of the Saxon Church was first superseded by 
 Bishop Osmund, and the ' Use of Sarum ' afterwards became 
 the one most extensively adopted all over England, but espe- 
 cially in the south. 
 
 Bishop Osmund died in 1099. 
 
 About 1 2 1 8 it was found desirable to change the site of 
 the cathedral from Old Sarum to Salisbury, about two miles 
 distant, and the cathedral now existing was then commenced, 
 and in 1260 became the cathedral of the diocese, and it is one 
 of the finest specimens of thirteenth century cathedrals in 
 England. 
 
 Berkshire continued within the diocese of Old Sarum, and 
 afterwards of Salisbury, until the year 1836, when, by an 
 Order in Council dated October 5, 1836, it was transferred to 
 the diocese of Oxford. 
 
 There have been ninety-eight bishops in 1,257 years suc- 
 & 7 Will, cessively presiding over the county of Berkshire. 
 
 It thus appears that Finchampstead must have been 
 originally, from a.d. 635 to a.d. 705, within the diocese of 
 Dorchester-on-Thames ; from a.d. 705 to 909, under the bishops 
 of Winchester; from a.d. 909 to 1058, under the bishops of 
 Ramsbury and Sonning ; from a.d. 1058 successively under the 
 bishops of Sherborne, Old Sarum, and Salisbury until a.d. 
 1836 ; and from 1836 within the diocese of Oxford. 
 
 Under 
 Act of 
 Parlia- 
 ment, 6 
 
CHAPTER III 
 Finchampstead Church 
 
 R. JOHN OLDRID SCOTT, F.S.A., 
 tiae eminent architect, who advises the 
 Oxford Diocesan Board in regard to 
 church buildings, has kindly favoured 
 me with the following remarks upon 
 this church : 
 
 ' The present church' which is said 
 to have been dedicated to St. James, 
 ' is clearly of great antiquity, and al- 
 though it has undergone considerable alterations from time to 
 time, it still retains the walls at least of the original chirch, 
 which may have been built as early as the Conquest, or, pos- 
 sibly, somewhat before that time. The church consisted of a 
 nave and chancel, which ended in a simple apse. The nave 
 was lighted on the north side by three small windotvs placed 
 
 CHAP. 
 
 Ill 
 
24 
 
 Chronicles of Finchampsiead 
 
 ciiAr. 
 Ill 
 
 high up in the walls, two of which can still be traced through 
 the plastering ; and probably there were similar windows on 
 the south side, and also in the apse. The oldest parts which 
 now remain are the south wall of the nave, in xvhich later 
 windows have been inserted ; the north wall of the nave, into 
 which two arches have been introduced comm,unicating with the 
 aisle ; and the whole of the apse.' Mr. Scott considers that 
 ' the original chancel arch was removed in the fifteenth cen- 
 tury, to make way for the one we see now, and that at the same 
 time the western of the two 
 arches in the north wall of the 
 nave was inserted to give access 
 to the aisle which had been, or 
 was then being, added. The 
 other arch is modern. The wide 
 opemng in the north wall of the 
 chancel is very late ; probably 
 it was built in 1590, when the 
 outside north doorway into the 
 aisle was inserted which bears 
 that date. The history of the 
 aisle is very puzzling, and it 
 will not be solved until the 
 plaster which covers the wall 
 inside and out is partly re- 
 m.oved, and the masonry exposed. 
 The roof is of different dates, 
 and some of the timbers have 
 been previously used for some 
 other purpose than they now serve. 
 
 ' All the windows in the nave and apse are insertions; the 
 window on the south side of the apse, and that towards the 
 west end of the nave belong to the fourteenth century, and are 
 very pleasing in design ; the other is modern. 
 
 ' The aisle windows are of different ages, the small one 
 near the door {i.e. the N.E. window) being the oldest ; it 
 probably Decorated in style ; the other (i.e. the JV. W. window) 
 being a century later. The font is a fine Norman one, appa- 
 rently of very early date ; its base is modern. 
 
 SOUTH APSE WINDOW 
 
 ts 
 
Finchmnpstead Church 
 
 25 
 
 ' The piscina and credence in the south zvall of the apse 
 are extremely interesting, being, as far as I know, unique. 
 The details of the beautiful column seem to me to belong to the 
 beginning of the twelfth century. 
 
 ' None of the wooden fittings remain, bict parts of the 
 pulpit seem, to have belonged to a late screen of excellent design. 
 The nave roof is very good in style, and has been carefully 
 restored; it belongs to the fifteenth century. The fine brick 
 tower, which was built in 1720, is very striking in design, and 
 certainly of much interest from the tim^e of its erection. It 
 
 adds much to the character 
 of the church, and suits 
 the admirable site on which 
 it stands. 
 
 There is a small win- 
 dow in the tower over the 
 western door of Decorated 
 date, which makes it pro- 
 bable that the tower had 
 been rebuilt in the four- 
 teenth century, and there- 
 fore the original tower 
 would have been of a still 
 ea^dier date.' 
 
 Mr. Scott concludes his 
 remarks by adding that, 
 ' If it should be necessary 
 to enlarge the church it 
 seem-s clearly the best plan 
 to add a south aisle. There 
 should be three arches corresponding with the divisions of the 
 nave roof, and when they are being inserted, the greatest care 
 should be taken to p7^eserve any traces which may be found of the 
 original Norman windows. The plastering of the wall is no 
 doubt original, and should be maintained ; it looks well, and 
 gives far m.ore individuality to the church than it would have 
 if its walls were faced with flints. The church is of exceptional 
 interest and deserves the most careful treatment.' 
 Thus far is the opinion of Mr. Scott. 
 
 CHAP. 
 Ill 
 
 THE FONT AS ALTERED IN 185S 
 AND AS IT STILL REMAINS IN 1 894 
 
26 
 
 Chronicles of Finchampstead 
 
 CHAr. 
 
 Ill 
 
 The Font 
 
 The 
 Piscina 
 
 THE FONT. 
 
 The font appears to be older than any other part of the 
 church. Sir Arthur Blomfield considers that it may have 
 belonged to about the year 1030, although, as he says, 
 there must always be some uncertainty in ass'gning an exact 
 date to such work. The base and 
 shaft on which it now stands are of 
 modern construction ; they v/ere 
 made only in the year 1855. I have 
 lately found a drawing of the font, 
 as it existed in the year 1814, 
 in the library of the Dean and 
 Chapter of Durham Cathedral, and 
 I have since been favoured by Mr. 
 C. A. Buckler, the son of Mr. Buck- 
 ler who made the original sketch in 
 1814, with a tracing of that sketch, 
 a copy of which is here given. 
 
 The bowl of the font, it will 
 be observed, then stood upon an 
 hexagonal shaft. The mouldings 
 of the circular bowl at the time the sketch was taken were 
 covered with many coats of whitewash, which almost concealed 
 the carved work, and this was only removed in 1855, when 
 the bowl was placed upon its present stand. 
 
 THE PISCINA 
 
 The piscina was discovered in 1855, when considerable 
 alterations were made in the church. Mr. Scott assigns its 
 date to the early part of the twelfth century. It had been 
 bricked up in the wall of the apse and covered over with 
 plaster, probably in 1590, see opposite page. 
 
 THE AISLE 
 
 With regard to the aisle, I have obtained a copy of the Will 
 of John Banastre, of Finchampstead, dated September 12, 1492, 
 which tends to throw some light upon the arrangement of the 
 church at that date. The following is a copy of the Will : 
 
 THE FONT 
 J. AND J 
 1814. 
 
 AS SKETCHED 
 C. BUCKLER 
 
Finchampstead Church 
 
 27 
 
 WILL OF JOHN BAN ASTER OF FINCHAMPSTEAD, CHAP. 
 
 DATED SEPTEMBER 12, 1492 
 
 IN DEI NOMINE AMEN. Anno Domini Millesimo p.cc. 26 
 
 CCCC Nonagesimo secundo xij"" die mends Septembris Ego se°pL"i'2, 
 
 1492 
 
 Tisane & 
 JFjnchixmpi>teeyd . 
 
 7 ■ 
 
 Johannes Bmtastre de Fynckampstede Sarmn diocesis sanam et 
 integrant habens memoriam condo testajnenhwi mciim in hiivc 
 modtwt In primis le^o anima7n meam Deo omnipotenh bcate 
 Marie virgini ac omnibus Sanctis Coipusqzie tnetwi sepelienamn 
 
28 Chronicles of Finchampstead 
 
 CHAP, in ecclesia parochiali de Fynchampstede predicta coram altare 
 
 ^^^ Sancte Trinitatis Item lego ecclesie m,atrici Sarum quatuor 
 
 denarios Item, lego summo altari ejtisdem ecclesie parochialis 
 
 pro decimis meis negligenter oblitis et detentis vj d. Residuum 
 
 vera omnium bonorum m^orum- in presenli testamento non lega- 
 
 torum debitis meis primo et principaliter solutis et sepultura 
 
 tnea facta do et lego Margarete uxorl mee quam quidem Mar- 
 
 garetam m.eam vero executricem ordino et facto ut ipsa de illis 
 
 bonis dtsponat pro sahite anime mee prout melius sibi videbitur. 
 
 His testibus domino Henrico Rolf monacho vicem curati tunc 
 
 ibidem gerente Ricardo Hall et Roberto Hall et aliis. Dal 
 
 die et anno supradictis. 
 
 Proved PROBA TUM . . . apud Lam^hithe xiiii""' die mensis 
 
 1493 ^^' ftmii Anno Domini Millesimo CCCC Nonagesimo tercio 
 
 furamento etc. 
 
 The testator desires to be buried in the parish church of 
 Finchampstead, before the altar of ' The Holy Trinity.' He 
 bequeaths to the mother church of Sarum 4 denarii {^d.) ; 
 he directs 6d. to be placed on the ' High Altar ' of his parish 
 church, in satisfaction of his tithes carelessly omitted to be paid. 
 It was very usual in mediaeval times, and especially in the 
 fifteenth century, for testators to leave a small sum in satis- 
 faction of ' tythes and oblations ' which they might have 
 omitted to pay in their lifetime ; and the amount bequeathed 
 seems to have been no actual measurement of the extent of 
 the omission, as the bequest seldom exceeded xijV. {is.). 
 Even bishops thought it necessary to make this provision in 
 Chicheie their Wills — e.g. Thomas Polton, Bishop of Worcester, 
 LambeTh -^•^- H32, left los. for tithes omitted to be paid. One of the 
 Palace, f. witncsses to John Banastre's Will appears to have been a 
 ^visita-^° monk, who was taking his turn as priest at that time. The 
 tionsand Will was proved at Lambeth, June 14, 1493. 
 ^s^uth-^ From this it would appear that there were at least two 
 weiiMin- altars in the church in 1492-93 ; the 'High Altar,' and the 
 den soc"" altar dedicated to ' The Holy Trinity.' There would also, 
 1891. pp- most probably, have been a third, dedicated to the patron 
 III,' 133' saint of the church, St. James. The question therefore arises, 
 137, &c. where was the altar to. 'The Holy Trinity ?' There could 
 hardly have been room for an altar in the nave, and there cer- 
 
Finchamp stead Church 
 
 29 
 
 tainly would not have been a second one in the apse. It is 
 probable, therefore, that in 1492 there was a chantry chapel 
 where the north aisle now is, and that the altar of ' The Holy 
 Trinity ' was in that chantry. 
 
 Early in the fourteenth century it became a common 
 practice to form chantries in churches, and it existed, though 
 to a less extent, in the thirteenth century. It was usual, also, 
 to provide an endowment for the perpetual provision of eccle- 
 siastics to chant masses for the founder, or for those named 
 by him. 
 
 In small churches, the chantry was usually at the east end 
 
 of one of the aisles ; and, in 
 such cases, there often occurs 
 between the chancel and the 
 chantry an arched recess in the 
 wall, such a recess generally 
 containing the tomb or efifigy 
 of the founder. 
 
 The altar of the Holy 
 Trinity probably stood at the 
 east end of this chantry, and the 
 testator was no doubt buried 
 in front of it, in accordance 
 with his Will, although no 
 trace of either now remains. 
 
 The monk, Henry Rolf, 
 who was a witness of the 
 Will, was probably the chantry 
 priest ; he was certainly not 
 the rector of the parish, as 
 Walter Dudston, No. 14 on the list of rectors, was the rector 
 at that time. 
 
 It would seem likely that John Banastre had been a 
 benefactor to the church, as otherwise he could hardly have 
 claimed to be buried in front of the altar in this chantry. 
 
 The question, therefore, arises, what was the benefaction 
 which entided him to this distinction ? 
 
 Mr. Scott tells us that the east window of the aisle and 
 the chancel arch appear to belong to the fifteenth century ; 
 
 CHAP. 
 HI 
 
 EAST WINDOW OF AISLE 
 
30 
 
 Chronicles of Finchampstead 
 
 CHAP. 
 
 Ill 
 
 See 
 
 Chapter 
 IV. on 
 ■The 
 Manor ' 
 
 we may therefore suppose that this east window in the aisle, 
 which probably replaced the original one in the chantry, and the 
 chancel arch, were the benefactions of John Banastre. We may 
 now form a conjecture as to the date of the original chantry. 
 
 According to Mr. Scott's opinion, the more eastern of 
 the two windows on the north side is 'probably Decorated;' 
 and therefore we are led to the conclusion that the original 
 chantry was founded near the end of the thirteenth century, 
 either by Sir William Banastre, who was the last Lord of the 
 whole Manor of Finch- 
 ampstead, or by his 
 two daughters, between 
 whom the Manor was 
 divided into the East 
 and West Court moieties. 
 
 John Banastre, 
 whose Will we are con- 
 sidering, was no doubt 
 a descendant of the last 
 Sir William Banastre, 
 and would, therefore, 
 naturally be entitled to 
 interment in the family 
 chantry. 
 
 If this view be cor- 
 rect, it is likely that an 
 effigy or some other 
 memorial of the founder 
 would have been placed 
 
 in a recess in the wall in the south side of the aisle, where 
 there is now a large archway between the aisle and the apse. 
 
 In 1590, some further alterations appear to have been 
 made in this north aisle or chantry ; the initials ' T. H.' and 
 ' 1590,' placed over the entrance door, doubtless refer to 
 Thomas Harrison, who was the owner of the East Court 
 moiety of the Manor at that time. The alterations may have 
 consisted in the conversion of the chantry chapel into the 
 v., 'East existing aisle, by the removal of the altar dedicated to the 
 Manur' Holy Trinity ; the destruction of any memorial of the founder 
 
 NORTH-EAST WINDOW OF AISLE 
 
 See 
 Chapter 
 
Finchampstead Church 
 
 31 
 
 of the chantry which might have been there, and the forming chap. 
 the existing low archway into the chancel. Mr. Scott attributes ^^^ 
 this archway to ' T. H.' in 1590. It is also very probable that 
 the insertion of the more western window in the north wall of 
 the aisle took place at the same time. 
 
 There is another possible way of accounting for the arch- 
 way between the aisle and apse. It might originally have 
 been what was termed an ' Easter Sepulchre,' or ' Pascal,' eg. 
 which is still found in some of our old churches, either in the Notts?"' 
 form of a simple arched recess in the chancel wall or an 
 
 altar tomb of the founder, 
 which was generally situa- 
 ted on the north side of the 
 chancel in the vicinity of 
 the high altar. In and upon 
 it was solemnly enclosed the Rev. e. l. 
 Host, which was kept there Cuits 
 for worship from evensong 
 on Good Friday till the 
 dawn of Easter Day, &c. 
 
 In the iconoclastic cru- 
 sade against chantries in 
 Edward VI. 's and Eliza- 
 beth's reigns, the Easter 
 Sepulchre would have been 
 a special object of destruc- 
 
 NORTH-WEST WINDOW OF AISLE 
 
 tion. 
 
 The concealment of the 
 piscina and credence in the apse was probably also effected 
 at that period. 
 
 I can find no faculty for any of these alterations in the 
 Salisbury register. The See of Salisbury was vacant from 
 February 15, 1588, till 1591. It was not unusual for Queen 
 Elizabeth to delay filling vacant bishoprics in order to gain 
 the benefit of their revenues. 
 
 Thomas Harrison may therefore have taken advantage of 
 his freedom from episcopal control, and indulged the puritanical 
 spirit of the age by the changes indicated ; the destruction of 
 the chantry would, moreover, have been in accordance with the 
 
32 Chronicles of Finchampstead 
 
 CHAP, statute of I Edward VI. c. 14, which ordered the removal of 
 ^^^ chantries, and granted their revenues to the Crown. 
 
 This explanation of the chantry and aisle would also ac- 
 count for the present appearance of the roof of the aisle, which 
 has been a puzzle to many architects : the short timbers, which 
 were evidently not intended for their present use, are just of the 
 length which would have been required for the original small 
 chantry, and furnish an interesting memorial of the early 
 history of this aisle. 
 
 We may now use the data we possess for forming an 
 opinion upon the age of the church. 
 
 Mr. Scott tells us that there is a little window over the 
 western door of the tower, which belongs to the fourteenth 
 century, which makes it probable that the present brick 
 tower, erected in 1720, replaced one which had been erected 
 in the fourteenth century. Again, if a tower had been erected 
 in the fourteenth century, that tower most probably had re- 
 placed one of still older date, as our church is of much 
 earlier date than the fourteenth century, and the date assigned 
 by Mr. Scott to the piscina is the early part of the twelfth 
 century, while the date of the font is the early part of the 
 eleventh century, a.d. 1030. It is quite possible, therefore, as 
 Mr. Scott has remarked above, that our present church may 
 have been built ' somewhat earlier than the Conquest,' which 
 would bring its date nearly to the same as that which Sir 
 Arthur Blomfield has assigned to the font, viz. 1030. 
 Chapter In the Chapter on the Manor it will be shown that the 
 
 IV. Manor of Finchampstead was originally held under the Crown 
 
 by Earl Harold, the brother-in-law of King Edward the 
 Confessor. On the death of Earl Harold in 1066, the Manor 
 reverted to the Crown, and remained in its possession until 
 Henry I. bestowed it, about a.d. 1123, upon Robert Achard, 
 who granted it, together with its advowson, to Alard Banastre 
 on knight's service, and it continued in that family for upwards 
 of two centuries. 
 
 Here we have a distinct recognition of a church in Finch- 
 ampstead in the early part of Henry I.'s reign. It is not likely 
 that any church building took place in Finchampstead between 
 1066 and 1 123, as there was no lord of the manor to interest 
 
Finchampstead Church ZZ 
 
 himself in it ; we are therefore led to the conclusion that either chap. 
 there was a Saxon church in Finchampstead in Earl Harold's ^^^ 
 time, which was replaced by the present one in the early part 
 of the twelfth century, by Alard Banastre or his son ; or that 
 the present church has existed since about 1030. At what 
 earlier date there may have been a church here there are no 
 reliable means for determining. 
 
 When, however, we consider the important position which 
 our church occupied on the great Roman road ; that this road 
 continued to be extensively used as the great western road to 
 London from the third to the twelfth century ; that Finch- 
 ampstead was a well-known place in Saxon times ; that there 
 were Bishops of Ramsbury resident so near as Sonning be- 
 tween 909 and 1070 ; that there was a flourishing manor of 
 Finchampstead from 1050 to 1066, possessing its mill (the 
 ancestor of the present ' New Mill ') ; a lord of the manor 
 probably resident with his villeins, bordarii, and serfs, we 
 cannot resist the conclusion that there must have been a 
 Christian church on this spot at a much earlier period than 
 we have as yet reached, and that in all probability a Pagan 
 temple preceded the earliest Christian church. 
 
 The Danish incursions which caused such ravages in 
 Berkshire, and especially around Reading, in the ninth cen- 
 tury, would most probably have destroyed any church which 
 might have existed in Finchampstead at that time. e.g. See 
 
 It may be observed that there is no mention made in Pf'i'^^". 
 ' Domesday Book ' of any church in Finchampstead, although (Hants) in 
 fiftv-six churches in Berkshire are referred to in that book. Domesday, 
 
 .' . ... [. where a 
 
 But this constitutes no reason against the existence ot a church is 
 church in Finchampstead at that time, for churches were "j^j''""^'^' 
 rarely, if ever, mentioned in Domesday, except in connection desia de 
 with land yielding a revenue to the Crown, as the object of ''f ^'?''<^'= 
 William the Conqueror in appointing the Commission which vi.'('Th«e 
 resulted in ' Domesday Book ' was to ascertain the revenues J^grg^""^*^ 
 obtainable from the country. worth 20 
 
 Let us now return to the description of the church subse- !crondai' 
 
 quently to I 590. Records,' 
 
 The only faculty in the Salisbury Diocesan Registry, Pg^°' 
 connected with Finchampstead Church, relates to the tower. 
 
 D 
 
34 Chronicles of Finchampstead 
 
 CHAP. It ' was granted in I'j 20 to Thomas J ohnes^ of Finchampstead, 
 III gentleman, to build a tower to the church, in lieu of the steeple 
 then lately taken down! 
 
 On a stone slab on the face of the tower is the following 
 inscription : 
 
 ' The foundation of the Tnwer was laid Anno Domini 1 720. John Banister, 
 Edward Ellis, Churchwardens. Finished Anno Domini 172 1. John Banister, 
 Thomas Solmes, Churchwardens.' 
 
 The Rev. Richard Rogers was rector when the tower 
 was rebuilt. There is a tradition that the bricks of which the 
 tower is built were made out of the ground now forming part 
 of the north-east corner of the glebe land, then known as 
 ' Brickells ; ' this land was at that time an unenclosed part of 
 Windsor Forest, but was added to the glebe in 1818, under 
 the Windsor Forest Enclosure Act. 
 
 There are six bells. The tenor bell bears the following 
 inscription : 
 
 ' Thy praise and glory, Lord, we will resound 
 To all the listening nations round. 
 And with our tongues and voices raise 
 To Thee, O God, our songs of praise. 
 ' 1792. Thomas Allen and John Soane, Churchwardens.' 
 
 The fifth, fourth, third, and second bells also bear the date 
 of 1792. In 1885 a treble bell was added, bearing the fol- 
 lowing inscription : 
 
 'To the Glory of God, and in commemoration of the Rev. Edward 
 St. John, M.A., Rector of this Parish, attaining the 80th year of his Age, this 
 Bell was given by some of his Parishioners and Friends. Anno Domini 1885.' 
 
 In 1855 the church underwent considerable alterations, 
 but unfortunately no plans, nor any description of what was 
 done, have been preserved among the parish records, and I 
 have been unable to obtain any very exact information as to 
 the changes which then took place. 
 
 Some of the alterations consisted in substituting the pre- 
 sent open sittings for high pews ; opening the smaller arch 
 between the nave and the aisle ; an introduction of a more 
 modern window on the south side of the nave. 
 
 ' Supposed to have been a tenant of West Court, which was not occupied by 
 the owner at that date. See Chapter on the Manors, 
 
Finchampstead Church 
 
 35 
 
 In removing the whitewash from the walls of the chancel 
 or apse, coloured fresco paintings were discovered ; but as they 
 were considered to be in an imperfect condition, the walls 
 were re-whitewashed, as they now remain. 
 
 With much difficulty I have discovered that the late 
 Mr. Clacey, of Reading, was the architect employed to super- 
 intend the alterations ; but, unfortunately, there are no drawings 
 nor specifications in possession of his representatives.. The 
 only reliable information which I have been able to obtain is 
 from Mr. Morris, the present county surveyor of Berkshire, 
 who, in his youth, assisted Mr. Clacey in the alterations in 
 
 CHAP. 
 
 Ill 
 
 From a.3ketchbyJCBucklerinl81S. 
 
 question. Speaking from memory only, he tells me that the 
 roof of the nave was ceiled prior to 1855 ; that the ceiling was 
 removed, and the ancient timbers of the roof were opened to 
 also that the wooden panelling, now in the roof of 
 
 view 
 
 the chancel, was removed thither from the eastern end or bay 
 of the nave roof ; that the present east window in the apse, 
 and the present porch entrance to the nave, were substituted 
 for others previously existing. 
 
 Mr. C. A. Buckler, the present Surrey Herald, for whose 
 kind assistance I have already acknowledged my obligations, 
 
36 
 
 Chronicles of Finchampstead 
 
 ciiAr. 
 Ill 
 
 has given me a tracing of a sketch which his father made of 
 the church in 1818, which enables me to present the etching 
 on preceding page which will show the form of the old porch 
 entrance to the nave as it 
 existed at that date. 
 
 It will be observed that the 
 old porch had a ' lean-to ' roof 
 against the west end of the 
 north aisle, the top of which is 
 still marked on the wall by a 
 ' string-course.' 
 
 I have also been furnished 
 by a friend with another sketch 
 of the old porch, the date of 
 which is unknown ; but it seems 
 probable that this sketch is in- 
 tended to represent the same 
 porch as the one on the pre- 
 ceding page, which is believed 
 to have been erected by Thomas 
 Harrison in 1590. 
 
 The porch now existing was only erected in 1855, when 
 other alterations in the church were made. 
 
 THE PULPIT 
 
 The pulpit deserves special attention. Mr. Scott tells us 
 that parts of it seem to have belonged to a late screen of 
 excellent design. The existence of the wood panelling in the 
 roof over the eastern bay of the nave, referred to in the last 
 page, tends to show that there may have been a rood-loft 
 above the screen, from which the Gospel would have been 
 read. Previously to 1855 the pulpit stood between the two 
 south windows of the nave, where there is now a monument 
 in memory of the late Rev. Edward St. John, of Ashe Park, 
 and opposite to the western archway opening into the aisle ; 
 it was removed to its present site when the church was reseated 
 in 1855, and the central opening into the aisle was then made. 
 The date of the pulpit is probably James I.'s reign, when the 
 
Finchampstead Church Z7 
 
 pulpits in most of our parish churches had their origin ; before chap. 
 the introduction of pulpits the ' sermon ' was delivered from ^" 
 the altar steps. 
 
 The brass desk and candle branches on the pulpit were 
 the gift of the late Mr. John E. Leveson Gower, of Bill Hill, 
 in 1885. Mr. L. Gower had lived at Warren Lodge in 
 Finchampstead for many years, and was greatly interested in 
 all parochial matters, serving as churchwarden, and taking the 
 lead in everything which tended for the good of the people. 
 On the passing of the Education Act in 1870, he took an 
 active part in the establishment of the school on the voluntary 
 principle as a Church school, and became chairman of the 
 committee from 1871 to 1884, when he left the parish for 
 Bill Hill, to the great regret of everyone in Finchampstead. 
 He died January 21, 1892. It is hoped that the brass fit- 
 tings of the pulpit will serve as a perpetual memorial of this 
 good parishioner. 
 
 On reference to the Oxford Diocesan Registry, it appears 
 that no faculty was applied for authorising any of these changes. 
 
 On referring to the Incorporated Church Building Society, 
 Dean's Yard, Westminster, I learn that a grant of 60/. was 
 made in 1855 in aid of these alterations, which were estimated 
 to cost 535/. ; and the Society made the grant conditional 
 upon one hundred and forty seats (140 seats) being reserved 
 for the free use of the poor, the rows of seats being numbered 
 I to 26. Considering the period at which these alterations 
 were made, they show that the Rev. Edward St. John and 
 those who assisted him were somewhat in advance of the age 
 in their desire to render the House of God more worthy of 
 His worship. 
 
 TENTHS AN-D FIRST FRUITS 
 
 We have further corroborative evidence of a church and 
 rector of Finchampstead, in a.d. I29r, in the fact that this 'Taxatio. 
 benefice is shown to have paid ' tenths' to Pope Nicholas III. fastfca 
 in that year, the annual value of the tithes at that date Angiieet 
 being stated as having been 4/. 6s. 8d., and the ' tenths ' to ^^"'^' 
 have amounted to 8s. 8d. 
 
38 
 
 Chronicles of Finchampstead 
 
 CHAP. 
 Ill 
 
 A.D. 1291 
 
 Burn's 
 ' Eccles. 
 Law,' and 
 Ste- 
 phen's 
 ' Comm. 
 on Black- 
 stone ' 
 
 The words of the record are as follows : 
 
 Taxatio Ecclesiastica Papse Nicholai. 
 Decanatus Rading. Sarum Sp. 
 
 Ecclesia de Finchampsted 
 
 Taxatio 
 
 J4 6 8 
 
 Decima 
 
 ;o 8 8 
 
 The above value of the benefice would perhaps have been 
 equivalent to about 220/. of our present money, augmented 
 probably by offerings which were not included. The quantity 
 of land under cultivation at that period was considerably less 
 than at the present time, which would to some extent account 
 for the difference in value. In the time of Henry VIII., 
 when the King took possession of the tenths which had been 
 paid to the Pope, the tithes were valued at 12/. 9^. Tyd., accord- 
 ing to ' Valor Ecclesiasticus,' vol. ii. p. 155. 
 
 It may interest some of my readers to know the origin of 
 ' tenths ' and ' first fruits,' to which the clergy are still liable. 
 Under the feudal system, of land tenure, when any of the 
 king's tenants in capite died, the king was entitled to re- 
 ceive from the heir one year's profit of the land before the 
 institution of his successor. The popes, who claimed to be 
 feudal lords of the Church, took advantage of this for claiming, 
 in like manner, from every clergyman in England, the first 
 year's profits of his benefice, as ' first fruits,' or primitiee. 
 This claim was first asserted in the reign of King John or 
 Henry III. The popes also claimed as due to them, by 
 Divine right, the tenth -part of the yearly value of all ecclesi- 
 astical benefices, after the example of the high priests among 
 the Jews, who received from the Levites a tenth part of the 
 tithes. The value upon which the ' first fruits ' and ' tenths ' 
 were to be levied was fixed by a commission appointed by 
 Pope Nicholas III. in 20 Edward I. (1291-92). These 'first 
 fruits ' and ' tenths ' were taken away from the Pope during 
 the Reformation, and were transferred to the King by an 
 Act of 26 Henry VIII. cap. 3 (1535) ; and by other Acts 
 of Parliament have since merged in what is now known as 
 'Queen Anne's Bounty,' and are appropriated to the augmen- 
 tation of small livings. 
 
Finchampstead Church 39 
 
 MONUMENTS CHAP. 
 
 Ill 
 
 Before quitting the church we must notice the monuments. • 
 
 There is not one of an earlier date than 1580. This may be -'So 
 partly accounted for by the great destruction of monuments in 
 the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries by the Puritans. A 
 still further destruction took place during the revolutionary 
 times of the seventeenth century. In January 1641, com- 
 missioners were sent into every county ' for the defacing, de- 
 molishing, and removing all images, altars, or tables turned 
 altar-wise, crucifixes, superstitious monuments, and reliques 
 of idolatry, out of all churches and chapels.' So that any 
 monuments which may have escaped destruction in the pre- 
 ceding century may have been demolished by this commis- 
 sion. 
 
 The oldest monument now remaining is that of Henry 
 Hinde, of East Court, on the north side of the chancel arch, 
 who died in 1580, the particulars of which will be found in 
 Chapter V. on ' East Court Manor.' 
 
 The author of ' Antiquities of Berkshire ' gives a list of By Elias 
 the monuments existing when he visited Finchampstead. He published 
 does not tell us the date of his visit ; but as he says that 1723 
 James Goodyer was patron of the living, and Richard Rogers 
 the incumbent, it must have been between September 29, 
 
 1709, and March 9, 17 10, as James Goodyer died on March 9, 
 
 1 7 10, and Richard Rogers was instituted September 29, 1709. 
 Elias Ashmole died in 1692, and therefore he could not have 
 visited Finchampstead in 1 709. These particulars could not 
 therefore have been given by Elias Ashmole, but were 
 possibly supplied by his editor. All the monuments which 
 he mentions are still existing. He also alludes to the 
 ' Miraculous Well ' — ' Dozell's Well,' described in Chapter H. 
 page 17. 
 
 At the entrance to the chancel, and in the floor of the 1613 
 chancel, are two brass plates in memory of ' Richard Marshe, 
 Citizen and Grocer of London,' fully described in Chapter V. 
 on ' East Court.' 
 
 In the floor of the centre of the nave is a good brass in 163s 
 memory of Elizabeth BHghe. (See Chapter V.) 
 
40 Chronicles of Finchampstead 
 
 CHAP. In the north aisle a black marble sarcophagus, in memory 
 
 ^^^ of Richard Palmer. (See Chapter V.) 
 A.D. 1670 In the floor of chancel. ' Here lieth the body of Peter 
 
 '^^^ Sparke, who died September 28, 1687, set. 80.' He was 
 living at East Court Manor House in 1661. (See Chapter V.) 
 
 1728 In floor of chancel. ' Here lieth the body of Mary Bra- 
 bent, Widow and Relict of Doctor Brabent, late Rector of 
 Berkhamsted in the County of Hertford, who died 14 June, 
 1728.' She was daughter of Richard Palmer, Lord of the 
 East Court Manor from 1661 to 1670. (See Chapter V.) 
 
 1733 In floor of chancel. ' Here lies the body of Sarah St. John, 
 daughter of Ellis St. John, died 16 January, 1733, a;t. 8 months.' 
 Daughter of the following. 
 
 1786 Floor of north aisle. Rev. Ellis St. John, Clerk, Rector 
 of this Parish and Lord of the Manor of West Court, died 
 19 July, 1786, aet. 79. 
 
 1797 Elizabeth, Relict of Rev. Ellis St. John, and only daughter 
 of John Pollen, Esq., of Andover, died 14 October, 1797, 
 aet. 91. 
 
 1791 Ann Mears, third daughter of Rev. E. St. John, died 
 14 September, 1791. 
 
 1810 Mary St. John, died 2 July, 18 10, aet. 62. Daughter of 
 Rev. E. St. John. 
 
 1817 Elizabeth St. John, died 29 August, 181 7, aet. 82. Daugh- 
 ter of Rev. E. St. John. 
 
 1784 'M. C. 1784.' 
 
 On the south wall of the nave. A brass plate set in grey 
 
 1850 marble records the death of the Rev. Edward St. John, of 
 Ashe Park, born 1778, died April 4, 1850, and of Mary his 
 
 1851 wife, who died October 31, 1851, ' whose bodies lie buried in a 
 vault in this Church yard.' Edward was brother of the Rev. 
 Henry Ellis St. John. (See Chapter VI.) 
 
 In the tower. A large broken slab covers a vault under 
 the floor of the tower, in which are interred the remains of 
 Thomas Harrison, of East Court, born in 1 530, died February 25, 
 1 602, aet. 72 ; also the remains of Elizabeth, his third wife, who 
 1602 died in September 161 2. On this slab was also recorded, 
 1612 though now illegible, that his first wife was Alice, daughter of 
 Richard Warde of Hurst, and that his second wife was 
 
Finchampstead Church 41 
 
 Katherine, the widow of Thomas Anton, of Stratfeildsay. (See chap 
 Chapter V. p. 118.) in ' 
 
 There are two other vaults at the west end of the nave, of a.d. 
 which there is now no external appearance ; one in which the 
 Rev. Thomas Bright, Rector of the parish, was buried in 1684. 
 In his Will, an extract from which will be found in Chapter III. 1684 
 (p. "jj)), he desired to be buried in ' the Vault ' at the west end 
 of the church, which would seem to indicate that there was 
 one particular vault at that time in which he could claim 
 burial ; but there is now no appearance of it. 
 
 The other vault is that of Charles Palmer, lord of the 
 manor of East Court, who in his Will 'desired to be buried 1712 
 in his own Vault at the west end of the church,' and he 
 was so buried (Chapter V. p. 132); but it does not now 
 appear. 
 
 These vaults must have been hid from sight by the new 
 flooring which was laid down in 1855. There must have been 
 other vaults or sepulchral memorials in the church of which no 
 external traces are now visible, as the burial register and wills 
 record the burial of some of the Tattershall family in the 
 seventeenth century, who were lords of the manor of West 
 Court ; and of John Banistre in 1492, who, as has been 
 already shown, was ' probably buried at the east end of the 
 north aisle. ' Possibly there may have been some memorial of 
 the Tattershalls under the ' stall ' seats in the chancel, which 
 may have been covered over when the floor of the chancel was 
 raised one step in 1855, as I suggest in Chapter VI. 
 
 CHURCH FURNITURE, ORNAMENTS AND PLATE 
 
 During the Reformation, about the middle of the sixteenth 
 century, a great spoliation of gold and silver plate and other 
 valuables belonging to churches took place. When Henry VI 1 1, 
 swept away the monasteries, and obtained possession of the 
 valuable plunder which they contained, church officers con- 
 cluded that their turn would come next. Their fears were 
 increased by the grant of chantries and their valuable contents to 
 the King by the Parliament of 1 545, so that vestries were found 
 parting with their plate before it could be seized, and applying 
 
42 Chronicles of Finchampstead 
 
 CHAP, the proceeds to the repair of their churches and other uses. 
 
 ^^^ In the second year of Edward VI. the chantries were finally 
 
 A.D. dissolved, and such plate and other valuables as had not been 
 
 "549-5° already sold were seized by the King, after allowing one 
 
 chalice in a small parish and two in a large one to be retained. 
 
 King Edward VI. appointed a commission on January i6, 
 1553, to take an inventory of all Church goods in the several 
 counties. The object of these inventories was not in the 
 interest of the Church, but of the King himself, who writes in 
 his journal under date of April 21, 1552 : ' It was agreed that 
 commissioners should go out to take certificate of the super- 
 fluous church plate to mine use, and to see how it hath been 
 embezzled.' It will be interesting to some of our parishioners 
 to know what sort of church furniture and clerical vestments 
 were in use in Finchampstead Church after the Reformation in 
 the fifth year of Edward VI. We are indebted to Mr. Walter 
 Money, of Newbury, for a copy of the inventory taken by the 
 commissioners, dated August i, 1552, who has transcribed from 
 the original records all the inventories of furniture and orna- 
 ments remaining in certain of the Berkshire churches in the 
 last year of Edward VI. : 
 
 ' Finchamsted, August i, 6 Edward VI. (1552). Richard 
 Hedges and William Holway, churchwardens. Thomas 
 Hicklinge, rector. 
 
 ' A lit tell c hales of siluer lif^ a cover of siluer percill gilt.^ 
 Thre belles whereof is owing for one of them, which of late 
 was new caste L\ a littell sanctus bell. Too old copes^ Too 
 olde Vestmentes,^ a Crosse of copper and gylte. A Corporas^ 
 case of red velvet, one olde silke clothe hanging before the 
 hie Aulter, one surplis. Two stremers and one baner clothe, a 
 Pixe * of Latin.^ One oyle boxe of Tynne. A Bible and a 
 
 ' Percill gilt, gilt inside only, or partially gilt. 
 
 '^ Cope, the mantle or outer garment of a priest. It was without sleeves, 
 open in front, and fastened round the neck with a morse or brooch. 
 
 ' Vestment, a comprehensive term denoting the whole dress of the celebrant. 
 
 * Corporas, corporal, a cloth of white linen, on which the elements were 
 consecrated. The corporal cloths when not in use were carefully preserved in a 
 case somewhat resembling a portfolio, usually made .of silk and enriched with 
 embroidery. 
 
 ^ Pyx, the vessel used for holding the little box, or pix, in which the Holy 
 Eucharist was preserved, and usually in the form of a cross of gold or silver. 
 
 * Latten or laten, an alloy of copper and zinc. 
 
Pinchmnpstead Church 
 
 43 
 
 paraphrasis, and all the said percelles sauflie to be kepte and 
 p'serued.' 
 
 The ' littell chales of siluer with 
 
 CHAP. 
 
 Ill 
 
 The 
 ' Little 
 Chalice ' 
 existing 
 in 1552 
 
 a siluer cover ' mentioned 
 in this inventory seems to 
 have disappeared during the 
 next forty years, possibly in 
 pursuance of an order which 
 went forth about 1567, that 
 the chalice should be ex- 
 changed for a ' decent Com- 
 munion cup.' There is still 
 in the possession of the 
 Rector of our parish an old 
 chalice and a pewter flagon, 
 which have for many years 
 ceased to be used. They 
 were submitted in 1890 to 
 Mr. Arthur Irwin Dasent, a 
 great authority upon church 
 plate, who reported as fol- 
 lows : 
 
 'HALL MARKS ON CHALICE 
 
 1. Date-letter for 1591 (Roman Chalice 
 letter capital O). ""^^^ '^^'«" 
 
 2. Leopard's head crowned. ° " 
 
 3. Lion passant. 
 
 4. Maker's mark, |-|_ , in a shaped 
 shield. 
 
 Weight, 14 oz. Height, "J -finches. 
 The Paten forming cover to above, I'aten 
 same marks. 
 
 ' This interesting chalice 
 is quite plain with the excep- 
 tion of a small leaded orna- 
 mentation round the foot ; tt 
 is in good preservation, al- 
 though the hall marks have become somewhat indistinct from 
 perpetual cleaning in the course of three centuries. I was at 
 first inclined to think the date-letter might be a Roman letter 
 
 FROM A DRAWING KINDLY MADE FOR 
 ME BY MISS B. C. WROUGHTON 
 
CUTTS 
 
 44 Chronicles of Finchampstead 
 
 CHAP, capital Q instead of O, in which case the date would be 1 593 
 ^^^ instead of 1591, but I think it is of the earlier year. A 
 A.D. 1593 reference to the churchwardens' accounts^ for that period will 
 possibly corroborate this opinion.' 
 
 As this chalice bears the date of 1591 or 1593, it was pro- 
 bably presented about the same time as the alterations in the 
 aisle were made by Thomas Harrison in 1590, above referred 
 to. 
 
 It is not known when silver chalices became universal ; 
 but we read that Henry de Blois, nephew of Henry I., who 
 was Bishop of Winchester from 11 29 to 1171, presided over a 
 synod at which it was decreed that all chalices must be of 
 precious metal ; consequently, the next time the clergy were 
 taxed, the Bishop ordered that every rector should bring the 
 Rev. E. L. amount of his taxation in the form of a silver chalice. When 
 the chalices were brought, he returned them as a gift to the 
 several parishes for the use of the Holy Communion, and he 
 himself paid the cost of them to the King out of his own purse. 
 The old pewter flagon is late seventeenth or early eighteenth 
 century, but so little is at present known of the various marks 
 found on pewter vessels, that the precise year of manufacture 
 cannot be ascertained. 
 
 THE PARISH REGISTERS 
 
 w. An- It is Stated that only eight parish registers are known to 
 
 DREWS, exist of an earlier date than i '^'^S. 
 
 F R H S xJ \j 
 
 1890 ' ' In 1538 an order was issued by Thomas, Lord Cromwell, 
 the Vicar-General of the kingdom, for the establishment of 
 registers. 
 
 The order was as follows : 
 
 ' The curate of every parish shall keep one book or register, 
 which book he shall every Sunday take forth, and in presence of 
 churchwardens or one of them write and record in the same cill 
 the weddings, christenings, and burials made the week before ; 
 and for every time the same shall be omitted shall forfeit to 
 the said church iif iiifj 
 
 In 1597 and 1603 it was determined by canon that the 
 
 ' Unfortunately the churchwardens' accounts do not exist. 
 
Finchampstead Church 45 
 
 records should be written on parchment and copies deposited chap. 
 in the bishops' registries. Careful provision was in each case ^" 
 made for the custody of the keys of the parish chests in which a.d. 1597 
 the originals were deposited. As a result of these orders, the 
 older paper registers were copied into parchment books ; and 
 thus many of the older parchment registers are not really the 
 originals. This system continued until 181 2 (52 Geo. III. 
 chap. 146, ' Rose Act'), when printed schedules were established. 
 In 1836 (6 & 7 Will. IV. chap. 86) the present system was 
 established. 
 
 There are no registers now in Finchampstead of an earlier 
 date than 1653. In the Diocesan Registry at Salisbury, how- 
 ever, there is the copy of a Finchampstead register from 1 609 
 to 1653 (though it is in a very imperfect state), which shows 
 that, the original register for that period ought to be in the 
 Finchampstead parish chest, but it has disappeared. 
 
 In 1653 an Act was passed by the revolutionary Parliament 
 for the better registration of births, deaths, and marriages, and 
 from that year our registers have been preserved ; but the 
 direction of Lord Cromwell that the parson should make the 
 entries has unfortunately not been observed, and this' duty has 
 too generally been performed by persons whose writing and 
 spelling frequently make the entries unintelligible. There is 
 an old register from 1 783 to 1834 which requires careful repairs 
 and binding. This register has evidently been kept by a very 
 illiterate person ; the commonest names are misspelt, and the 
 writing frequently renders the name uncertain. This register 
 has been transcribed into a 'parchment book,' in accordance 
 with canon law, as far as the year 1 8 1 2 ; but on comparing the 
 transcript of baptisms with the original record I find several 
 inaccuracies and some omissions, so that it becomes the more 
 imperative that the original should be carefully preserved. 
 
 In 1698 began a curious practice, during the incumbency 
 of the Rev. John Brandon, of describing the condition of the 
 persons registered : viz. Mr. John Banister is distinguished as 
 ' a rich man,' Richard Hunter as ' a poor man,' John Martin 
 as ' not worth six hundred pounds,' &c., &c. 
 
 In 1710 we find the first record in our registers of ' burying 
 in woollen.' This was in pursuance of an Act of 30 Charles II. 
 
4^ Chronicles of Finchampstead 
 
 CHAP. (1678) 'for lessening the importation of linen from abroad 
 ^^^ seas, and for encouragement of the woollen trade.' It pro- 
 A.D. 1710 vided that ' no corpse shall be buried in any shroud or other 
 thing than what is made of sheep's wool only,' or be put in any 
 coffin lined with anything but sheep's wool only, under a 
 penalty of 5/. This Act was repealed by the 54 Geo. III. in 
 18 1 5, although the Act of 1678 had been practically dis- 
 regarded some years before. The last entry of such burial 
 in the Finchampstead register was on July 19, 1793, in the 
 case of ' Elizabeth, the wife of William Beck,' who was 
 ' buried in woollen.' 
 
 THE VESTRY MINUTES 
 
 The earliest minutes which are found in the parish chest 
 begin only from March 25, 1848. There is nothing in the 
 parish chest of an earlier date, except a few old musty highway 
 and poor rate accounts. 
 
 Under date of January 17, 1852, there is an entry in the 
 vestry minute book which reveals the manner in which the 
 parish business of Finchampstead was conducted at that time. 
 It is as follows : 
 
 ' Resolved, to meet at the hour of 6 d clock in the evening, on 
 the last Thursday in every month, by the inhabitants of the 
 parish of Finchampstead, at the sign of " The Greyhound Inn " 
 in said parish, as per agreement made on the i <^thfanuary, 1852, 
 and signed by the principal ratepayers of the said parish! 
 
 This arrangement appears to have continued until 1861. 
 I have been informed by a parishioner who used to attend 
 these meetings that the parish chest was removed to ' The 
 Greyhound ' during this period, and was accessible to any- 
 one. We cannot therefore be surprised that the parish re- 
 cords are so lamentably deficient. There are no terriers of 
 church or parish property ; no churchwardens' accounts ; 
 and the register of baptisms, marriages, and burials from 1 609 
 to 1653 has disappeared. 
 
 It is difficult to imagine what business the vestrymen so 
 assembled could have found to occupy them. Judging from 
 the minutes which record their proceedings, the formation of a 
 
Finchampstead Church 47 
 
 club for the extermination of sparrows seems to have been a chap. 
 subject in which they took great interest. ^^^ 
 
 These frequent ' vestries ' at the public-house may have a.d. 1852 
 been an agreeable excuse for a convivial meeting ; but they 
 are in striking contrast with the efforts made in later years to 
 form a ' vestry ' once a year, when it has been difficult to 
 bring together a sufficient number to make a quorum. 
 
 It seems scarcely necessary to add that the rector of the 
 parish does not appear to have attended these ' meetings.' 
 Possibly the absence of a proper vestry may have had some- 
 thing to do with these somewhat irregular proceedings, as the 
 only place available as a vestry was, and still is, the church 
 tower, which is not suitable for vestry meetings, and is equally 
 unsuitable for the use of the clergy, as it is a thoroughfare for 
 everyone going up to the organ gallery ; and until a few years 
 ago it was also used as the 'bell-ringing chamber.' 
 
 The only interesting objects in this vestry are two oak 
 chests, one of which was intended for the parish records, and 
 bears the initials ' B. L. and I. T.,' and date 1690. The other 
 appears to have been a vestment chest ; it has a sloping top 
 or lid, with the initials ' R. H.' and flowers carved upon it. It 
 is 5 feet long by i foot 1 1 inches wide and 2 feet deep. 
 They are mentioned in the terrier of July 21, 1783 (Appen- 
 dix, No. 76). 
 
 THE CHURCHYARD 
 
 The original churchyard, we are told in the terrier of 
 1783, contained 'rather more than a quarter of an acre.' 
 But according to the Tithe Commutation Report of January 3, 
 1844, it contained 2 roods 12 poles. 
 
 There are two yew trees of great antiquity at the north- 
 east and south-east angles of the church. 
 
 In 1866, according to a resolution of the vestry dated 
 August 16 of that year, an addition was made to the churchyard 
 by including in it the piece of ground at the western end, 
 on which two almshouses' then stood, which will be more fully 
 described under the head of ' Parish Charities and Lands.' 
 The present boundary wall of the churchyard, opposite the 
 
IV. 
 
 48 Chronicles of Finchampstead 
 
 CHAP, western door of the church, appears to have formed the out- 
 "'^ side wall of one of these cottages. 
 A.D. 1886 At the end of this wall is a small shed, erected at the 
 expense of Mr. John Walter, to contain the parish bier, which 
 was presented to the parish in 1886 by Mr. and Mrs. W. 
 Lyon, of East Court. 
 See Chap. The churchyard was also considerably enlarged in 1881, 
 and the brick wall which surrounds this addition was put up 
 at the sole expense of Mr. John Walter, of Bearwood. 
 81 These two additions were consecrated at the same time in 
 1 88 1. The four fine oak trees, the elm trees, and the hollies 
 which are now included within the churchyard, were pre- 
 viously just outside the boundary of the original churchyard, 
 and are remnants of the ancient forest trees which once sur- 
 rounded the Church Hill. 
 
 The oldest tombstone in the churchyard whose inscrip- 
 tion is legible is that of John Webb, dated 1710 ; and there 
 are only nine dated within that century. The following is a 
 list of the names which are now legible : 
 
 EPITAPHS IN CHURCHYARD 
 
 Baily, Thomas, 1767, July 5, set. 52 Bell, John Thomas, Esq., 1866, Oct. 
 
 years. 28, set. 81, of Hyde Park Gardens 
 
 Baily, Thomas, of Yateley, 1820, May and Finchampstead. 
 
 20. Boumberger, John William, 1810, 
 Banister, Richard Hawthorn, 1783, April 8, set. 38. 
 
 May 28, set. 60. Buchanan, Ann Alice, wife of Rev. A., 
 Banister, Martha Hawthorn, 1827, 1893, July iSi set. 38. 
 
 Jany., set. 91. Dean, Thomas, 1880, April 22, set. 79. 
 
 Banister, Thomas, 1794, Sept. 13, Fyshe-Palmer, Charles, Esq., 1843, 
 
 set. 48. ffit. 74. 
 
 Banister, Martha Hawthorn, 1782. Fyshe-Palmer, Rt. Hon. Lady Made- 
 Banister, William, 1789, July 22, set. lina, 1847, set. 75. 
 
 38. Son of Richard and Martha. G., 1820, set. 86. 
 
 Banister, Samuel, 1787, Oct. 28. Goodchild, Charles, 1806, March, set. 
 Banister, John, 1792, jany., set. 41. 30. 
 
 Banister, Thomas, 1877, Oct. 20, set. Grove, James, 1865, June 9, set. 65. 
 
 59- Grove, Sarah, widow of James, 1871, 
 Banister, John, 1821. June 13, set. 65. 
 
 Bedford, Alice, wife of Henry, 1883, Grovfe, Jane, wife of James George, 
 
 Dec. 12. 1862, Sept. 16, set. 21. 
 
 Bell, Julia, wife of John Thomas Bell, Grove, James, son of Jane, 1875, June 
 
 Esq., 1861, Dec. 2, set. 76. 17, set. 15. 
 
Finchampstead Chtirch 
 
 49 
 
 EPITAPHS IN CHURCHYARD— continued 
 
 Hewett, Anne, wife of Charles, 1843, 
 
 set. 44. 
 Hewett, John, 1825, Sept. 23, set. 69. 
 Hewett, Elizabeth, wife of John, 1832. 
 (' As you do live on earth so lived I 
 
 once. 
 Until the Lord called me hence, and 
 
 here I lie, 
 With my dear husband mouldering in 
 
 the dust, 
 In hope to rise again to meet the 
 
 Just.') 
 Holton, Edward, 1861, May n, set. 8 
 
 years. 
 James, Daisie Maude, 1880, Jany. 11, 
 
 set. 9 months. 
 James, Primrose, 1884, June 22, set. 
 
 3 months. 
 James, Anne Conquest, 1889, Dec. 12, 
 
 set. 48. 
 Kelsey, Annie, 1889, April 8, set. 23. 
 Kemp, Melita, 1889, Oct. 2, set. 36. 
 Kemp, Isabella Mary, 1889, Oct. 3, 
 
 set. 2. 
 Lewis, Elizabeth, 1876, May 12, set. 67. 
 Lewis, William, 1877, March 29, set. 
 
 74- 
 Leveson-Gower, Harriet Jane, 1878, 
 
 April 23, set. 52. 
 Lindey, Mary, daughter of Robert and 
 
 Betsy Ferrier, 1868, Aug. 18, set. 29. 
 Lyon, William Edgar, 1886, March 22, 
 
 set. 17. 
 Marshall, Moses, 1869, May 14, set. 63. 
 Marshall, Jane, wife of Moses, 187°, 
 
 Feb. 23, set. 64. 
 Marshall, Richard, 1873, Nov. 20, set. 
 
 96. 
 Marshall, Ruth, wife of Richard, 1873, 
 
 Nov. 28, set. 85. 
 Marshall, Hannah, wife of Isaac, 18 10, 
 
 April 8, set. 38. 
 Milam, George, 1893, March 21, set. 
 
 69, ' Siste, Viator.' 
 Molyneux, Edmund James, son of 
 
 Edmund and Sarah, 1891, Jany. 22, 
 set. 3 months. 
 Oliver, Richard, 1738, March 19, set. 
 
 71- 
 (Three tombstones apparently same 
 
 family. Epitaphs illegible.) 
 Over, William, 181 r, Feb. 23, set. 31. 
 Over, Jonathan, 1830, May 15, set. 71. 
 Over, Elizabeth, 1827, May, set. 74. 
 Over, William, 1813, May 3, set. 65. 
 Over, John, 1833, set. 30. 
 Over, Charles, 1859, Oct. 26, set. 40. 
 Over, George, 1839, May 7. 
 Over, Ernest Charles, 1887, Jan. 15, 
 
 set. 30. 
 Roberts, William Adam, 1884, Nov. 7, 
 
 set. 36. 
 St. John, the Rev. Henry Ellis, of 
 
 West Court, ob. Aug. 27, 1842, set. 
 
 66. 
 St. John, SaTah, wife of Rev. Henry 
 
 EUis, 1 83 1, set. 51. 
 St. John, Henry, son of same, 1852, 
 
 April 2, set. 48. 
 St. John, Elizabeth, widow of same, 
 
 1864, Oct. 27, set. 84. 
 St. John, John, of ' Banisters,' 1874, 
 
 April 9, set. 64. 
 St. John, Catherine, his wife, 1867, 
 
 Feb, 14, set. 29. 
 St. John, Julia, 1884, July 21. 
 St. John,' Rev. Edward, rector of 
 
 parish, 1892, Jan. 17, set. 86. 
 St. John, Edward (clerk), 1850, April 4. 
 Slyfield, Mary, i860, June 9, set. 27. 
 Smith, Robert, 1807, set. 75. 
 Smith, Anne, wife of Robert, 18 18, 
 
 Aug. 30, set. 85. 
 Smith, Jane, wife of Henry, 1874, 
 
 Sept. 30, set. 59. 
 Soane,' John, 1798, Feb. 26, set. 78. 
 Soane, Frances, wife of John, 1802, 
 
 Feb. 5, set. 77. 
 Sparvell, Thomas, 1879, March 4, set, 
 
 86. 
 
 CHAP. 
 Ill 
 
 See p. 34. Name inscribed on tenor bell as churchwarden in 1792. 
 
so 
 
 Chronicles of Finchampstead 
 
 CHAP. 
 Ill 
 
 EPITAPHS IN CHURCHYARD— continued 
 
 Sparvell, Elizabeth, wife of above, 
 
 1892, Jan. 9, set. 88. 
 Stephenson, Sarah, 1869, Oct. 24, set. 
 
 95- 
 Stephenson, James, son of Sarah, 1878, 
 
 Sept. 29, set. 59. 
 Spratley, James, 1879, Feb. 29, set. 79. 
 Spratley, Ephraim, 1862, Jan. 6, set. 56. 
 Spratley, Charles, 1862, May 17. 
 Spratley, Elizabeth, wife of James, 
 
 1883, Oct. 18. 
 Spratley, Jemmie, 1887, Nov. 1 2, set. 62. 
 Spratley, Jonathan, 1888, May 6, set. 
 
 60. 
 Toms, Lydia, wife of Thomas, 1805, 
 
 Oct., set. 76. 
 Twine, Thomas, 1849, May 24. 
 
 Twine, Martha, his wife, 1859, Feb! 
 8, set. 75. 
 
 Walden, Caroline, daughter of James 
 and Anne, 1 8 1 2, Feb. 2, set. 6 weeks. 
 
 Walden, Jane, 181 7, Sept. i, set. 31 
 years. 
 
 Webb, John, 17 10, May 5. An hour- 
 glass and cross-bones on headstone. 
 (Described in Register as 'Wheeler,' 
 and as the first body 'buried in 
 woollen ' in Finchampstead.) 
 
 Westall, William, 1887, Nov. 21. 
 
 Westall, Sarah, his wife. 
 
 (W.) Flora Eleanor, 1863, July 10, 
 aged 40 days. (' Buried with us in 
 Baptism.') 
 
 Wood, Emma, iSgi, Dec. 24, set. 29. 
 
 THE JUBILEE OAK 
 
 On the little green in front of the principal entrance to the 
 churchyard stands an oak tree, which was planted on June 21, 
 1887, to commemorate the fiftieth anniversary of Queen 
 Victoria's accession. The tree was planted with great ceremony 
 in the presence of the late rector, the Rev. Edward St. John, 
 who was then in his eighty-first year, the principal inhabitants, 
 and all the children of the parish. It is hoped that some day 
 a memorial stone may be placed near this tree, to record its 
 origin and preserve it from destruction. 
 
 THE RECTORY 
 
 The earliest description of the rectory which I have been 
 able to obtain is from a terrier in the Diocesan Registry of 
 Salisbury, dated January i, 1608. There is no terrier of 
 church property in Finchampstead either in the parish chest 
 or in the possession of the rector. 
 
 There are other terriers also at Salisbury for the following 
 years : 
 
Finchampstead Church 5 1 
 
 May 27, 1623 Partly decayed. chap. 
 1631 „ „ 
 
 1635 ,. » ^■^■'^°^ 
 
 1638 
 Oct. I, 1677 
 
 Dec. 30, 1 704 Partly decayed. 
 July 21, 1783 Complete. 
 
 I have selected the terriers of 1608, 1638, and 1783 as Appendix, 
 the most perfect, and as giving the best account of the pos- •j^^'^l'^' 
 sessions of the church of Finchampstead. A copy of each of 
 these will be found in the Appendix at p. 275. 
 
 From these terriers it appears that in 1608 there were a Parsonage 
 parsonage house, orchard, and ten several closes of land, con- °"^* 
 taining altogether 62 acres. 
 
 In 1783 we have a detailed description of this house, 
 which seems to have been a very suitable one ; and the ex- 
 tensive farm buildings, also fully detailed in the terrier, 
 existed until 1892-93, when they were replaced by those now 
 standing. This old rectory house, which stood between the 
 present rectory stables and the old farm buildings, was re- 
 moved in 1845. It had not been occupied as the rectory 
 since the death of the Rev. St. John Rogers in 1743. From 
 that date until 1 845, the rectors of Finchampstead were also 
 owners of the West Court Manor, and had resided at West 
 Court. On the institution of the Rev. Edward St. John to 
 the rectory, in 1842, Bishop Wilberforce, who was then Bishop 
 of Oxford, required that the new rector should reside in the 
 rectory house. The old rectory had fallen out of repair and 
 was unfit for occupation. The Rev. Edward St. John, there- 
 fore, obtained a faculty^ in 1845. for taking down the old 
 rectory house and building the present one, suitable for both 
 squire and parson, which occupies one of the most beautiful 
 and commanding situations in Berkshire. 
 
 The garden, which was near the old parsonage, is de- The 
 scribed as consisting of one acre, and as having been * fenced ^" ™ 
 with a brick wall' on the north. The glebe lands had in- ^Jfj^^ 
 
 ' The faculty under which the old rectory house was removed and the new 
 one erected, is the first and only faculty recorded in the Oxford Diocesan Registry 
 as having been granted to Finchampstead parish. 
 
 E 2 
 
52 Chronicles of Flnchampstead 
 
 CHAP, creased to 6^\ acres, by the addition of 7 J acres called ' The 
 
 ^^1 Parsonage Meadow,' at the extreme south-east corner of the 
 
 parish, bounded by the river Blackwater on the south, and by 
 
 ' West Moor,' in the parish of Sandhurst, on the east. We 
 
 are not told by whose benefaction the addition was made. 
 
 Tithes Next we learn what tithes were payable in 1783, viz. : 
 
 There were tithes in kind of all sorts of grain, wool, 
 lambs, pigs, geese, wood, honey, apples, and all other fruits, 
 and of fish in ponds. For the milk of a cow \d. was paid ; 
 for a sucking colt, 6d. ; for an acre of meadow, 4^^. ; for an 
 acre of upland grass, if mowed, 2d. There was only one 
 meadow in the parish for which tithe in kind was paid, and 
 that was called ' Moulson Meadow,' and was situated near the 
 river, the next field but one to ' The Parsonage Meadow,' 
 above mentioned. The rector received, for marrying with 
 Fees banns, 5^. ; with license, io.y. ; for publishing the banns, 
 2S. 6d. ; for churching women, 6d. There was also a yearly 
 payment of ^d. to the parish clerk from every family in the 
 parish ; for every wedding the parish clerk received 2s. 6d. 
 if by banns, and 55. if by license ; and for making a grave and 
 tolling the bell, he received 2s. 6d. 
 
 In the terrier of 1783 will also be found a full detail of 
 the names and situation of the several pieces of land consti- 
 tuting the 69J acres of glebe. It will be found that these 
 were scattered over several parts of the parish. 
 Acts of In 1818, under the award of the commissioners appointed 
 
 iii^c°' fpr carrying out the enclosure of Windsor Forest, a further addi- 
 122', and tion of about 27 acres was made to the extent of the glebe 
 iii^c.°' lands. What remained at that date of the unenclosed portion 
 132 of the Forest was allotted to the several landowners, according 
 
 to their respective possessions ; and the rectory received its 
 share. Exchanges were made between the neighbouring 
 landowners, which were confirmed by the commissioners, and 
 which resulted in the rectory obtaining a compact estate of 
 99 acres, o roods, 26 poles. A statement of the details of 
 which this acreage is composed, taken from the Tithe Com- 
 missioners' Report of 1844, will be found in the Appendix at 
 page 279. 
 
 There are two other matters in the terrier of 1783 which 
 
Finchampstead Church 
 
 53 
 
 deserve attention, i. Allusion is made to the road which led to chap. 
 the church through the rectory grounds, past the farm build- "^ 
 ings, along the eastern side of the glebe lands, and across a cimrch 
 field which now forms part of the East Court Manor, but road 
 which, in 1783, was an unenclosed part of Windsor Forest. 
 This road is specially mentioned in the ' Award ' of the 
 Windsor Forest Enclosure Commissioners above referred to, 
 and was reserved as a carriage road, 20 feet wide, from the 
 north-east corner of the glebe lands called ' Brickells,' or ' The 
 Brick-kiln Field,' across a twenty acre field marked No. 84 on 
 the Award Map. 2. Mention is also made of ' two little houses 
 in the churchyard, and one other on the common, that are to 
 be given to some poor people by the rector, to be kept in 
 repair by the parish.' These ' little houses,' which no longer 
 exist, will be dealt with under the head of .' Parish Charities 
 and Lands.' 
 
 TITHES 
 
 On January 3, 1844, '^e vexatious system of gathering 
 tithes according to the ancient mode of levying them came 
 to an end, and in lieu thereof a commuted sum became 
 chargeable upon the owners of the lands subject to the pay- 
 ment of tithe, which sum was to be regulated each year by 
 the average price of wheat, barley, and oats during the pre- 
 ceding seven years ; 100/. of tithe was made up of certain 
 proportions of wheat, barley, and oats, when their prices were 
 respectively ']s. o\d., y. \\\d., and 2s. ^d. per bushel. 
 
 a. r. p. 
 
 The total acreage of Finchampstead was stated to be . . 3,926 .1 18 
 Whereof the land subject to tithe was 3i753 131 
 
 Lands not subject to tithe 172 3 27 
 
 A detail of these lands is given below. 
 
 The lands not subject to titki were : 
 
 a. r p. 
 
 The church glebe 99 o 26 
 
 Churchyard o 2 12 
 
 Chapel 007 
 
 Roads 73 o 22 
 
 Total . . 172 3 27 
 
 Tithe 
 Commu- 
 tation 
 Report, 
 1844 
 
 By the 
 Ordnance 
 Survey 
 of 187 1 
 -72, 
 
 the acre- 
 age is 
 
 3.943 ; in 
 1831, II 
 Geo. IV. 
 c. 30, it 
 
 is staled 
 as 4, 1 30; 
 and in 
 ' Windsor 
 Forest 
 Enclosure 
 
54 
 
 Chronicles of Finchampstead 
 
 CHAP. 
 Ill 
 
 A.D. 1844 
 
 Award ' it 
 is stated 
 as 3,499. 
 
 N.B 
 
 The 
 
 Ordnance 
 
 Survey, 
 
 1871-72, 
 
 is the most 
 
 reliable 
 
 Upon the above basis the tithe in 1844 was commuted at 578/., besides 
 99 a. o r. 26 p. of glebe lands. 
 
 ' Summary ' of the Apportionments of Tithe Award, dated January 3, 1844. 
 
 The East Court Manor consisted of 
 
 The West Court Manor consisted of 
 
 Sir John Cope, Bart. 
 
 Henry Simmonds 
 
 William Goodchild . 
 
 John Mousley . 
 
 Edward Bayley 
 
 Robert Gibson . 
 
 George Higgs . 
 
 James Ellis 
 
 George Houghton 
 
 Thos. B. Trickey . 
 
 Richard Marshall 
 
 Mrs. C. Dickinson (Coleshill) 
 
 Mary Anne Banister , 
 
 William Bell . 
 
 Poor of Finchampstead 
 
 Parish of Finchampstead 
 
 Poor of Yateley 
 
 Merryweather Charity 
 
 Wokingham Bell-ringers 
 
 Howes's Charity 
 
 15 other small owners (under 7 acres) 
 
 Total . 
 
 
 
 
 
 Rent charge. 
 
 a. 
 
 r. 
 
 p- 
 
 
 £. 
 
 s. d. 
 
 1,143 
 
 2 
 
 6 
 
 = 
 
 153 
 
 3 5 
 
 I.93I 
 
 2 
 
 2 
 
 = 
 
 310 
 
 2 
 
 72 
 
 3 
 
 26 
 
 = 
 
 17 
 
 2 4 
 
 20 
 
 3 
 
 23 
 
 = 
 
 I 
 
 9 
 
 62 
 
 
 
 I 
 
 ^ 
 
 15 
 
 II 
 
 74 
 
 I 
 
 23 
 
 = 
 
 II 
 
 18 I 
 
 47 
 
 3 
 
 21 
 
 = 
 
 II 
 
 13 8 
 
 i.S 
 
 
 
 26 
 
 ^ 
 
 2 
 
 10 9 
 
 96 
 
 3 
 
 37 
 
 = 
 
 17 
 
 3 8 
 
 47 
 
 I 
 
 15 
 
 = 
 
 10 
 
 13 10 
 
 57 
 
 2 
 
 20 
 
 ^ 
 
 
 
 18 
 
 ir 
 
 I 
 
 2 
 
 = 
 
 2 
 
 II 
 
 16 
 
 3 
 
 24 
 
 = 
 
 4 
 
 7 .I 
 
 8 
 
 
 
 3« 
 
 = 
 
 
 
 17 5 
 
 6 
 
 3 
 
 30 
 
 ^ 
 
 I 
 
 17 3 
 
 S 
 
 I 
 
 2 
 
 = 
 
 
 
 14 
 
 67 
 
 I 
 
 39 
 
 = 
 
 I 
 
 2 10 
 
 I 
 
 3 
 
 I 
 
 ^ 
 
 
 — 
 
 6 
 
 
 
 14 
 
 := 
 
 
 - 
 
 13 
 
 3 
 
 10 
 
 ^ 
 
 3 
 
 17 6 
 
 II 
 
 I 
 
 36 
 
 = 
 
 2 
 
 17 s 
 
 
 
 
 
 23 
 
 ^ 
 
 
 — 
 
 12 
 
 
 
 2 
 
 ^ 
 
 I 
 
 r 
 
 27 
 
 3 
 
 10 
 
 = 
 
 7 
 
 7 8 
 
 3,753 
 
 31 
 
 578 
 
 Lands not chargeable with Tithe. 
 
 Glebe held by Rev. E. St. John 7*3 2 24 
 
 „ underwood held by Henry St. John, Esq. . . . 2 o 27 
 
 „ land held by George Goddard 23 i 15 
 
 Total glebe . . 99 o 26 
 
 Church and churchyard 0212 
 
 Chapel 007 
 
 Roads 73 o 22 
 
 172 3 27 
 
 Lands chargeable (above) 3,753131 
 
 Total acreage . 3,926 i 18 
 
Finchanipstead Church 
 
 55 
 
 RECTORS OF FINCHAMPSTEAD 
 
 Let us now look at the list of rectors of Finchampstead since 
 the year 1297, which has been obtained from the Diocesan 
 Registry of Salisbury, in which diocese, as has been already 
 stated, Berkshire was included from that time until 1836, 
 when it was transferred to the diocese of Oxford. They are 
 numbered 1-28 for the convenience of reference only, but it 
 must not be supposed that there were no rectors before them. 
 There was doubtless a long list of rectors previously to 1 299 ; 
 but the diocesan records of earlier date are said to have been 
 destroyed in the Jack Cade insurrection, when Bishop 
 Ayscough was murdered, in 1450. There is evidence of there 
 having been a rector in the reign of Henry III., between 
 1 2 16 and 1272 (see paper No. 2 in the Appendix), where 
 ' Alexander the Clerk ' is named as ' holding a purpresture 
 of one rood in the town of Finchamstede.' 
 
 Chap. 
 in 
 
 LIST OF RECTORS AND PATRONS SINCE 1299 
 
 No. 
 I 
 
 Date 
 
 Clericus 
 
 Patronus 
 
 Remarks 
 
 6 Kalends 
 
 Henricus de la 
 
 Johannes et Pe- 
 
 Lords of the Manor 
 
 
 February, 
 
 Huese 
 
 trusdela Huese, 
 
 of East and West 
 
 
 1299 
 
 
 husbands of the 
 daughters and 
 heirs of Sir Wil- 
 liam Banastre 
 
 Court respectively 
 
 2 
 
 2 Ides Oc- 
 tober, 
 13H 
 
 Johannes de 
 Grantham 
 
 Johannes de la 
 Huse, miles, et 
 Petrus de la 
 Huse 
 
 as above 
 
 ^ 
 
 Kalends 
 
 Adam de Ulve- 
 
 Johannes de la 
 
 Same as above 
 
 
 August, 
 1317 
 
 ton, per resigna- 
 tion em Johns 
 de Grantham 
 
 Hoese et Petrus 
 de la Hoese 
 
 
 4 
 
 — 
 
 John Olivier 
 
 Not recorded 
 
 — 
 
 1; 
 
 18 Febru- 
 
 Hamond de la 
 
 Johannes de Foxle 
 
 Lord of the Manor 
 
 
 ary, 1 36 1 
 
 Soler, per mort. 
 John Olivier 
 
 
 of East Court 
 
56 
 
 Chronicles of Finchamps^tead 
 
 CHAP. 
 Ill 
 
 A.D. 1 39 1 
 
 LIST OF RECTORS AND PATRONS— continued 
 
 No. 
 
 Date 
 
 6 I 26 April, 
 
 1391 
 
 19 April, 
 1393 
 
 13 
 14 
 
 16 
 
 17 
 
 6 May, 
 1395 
 
 8 October, 
 1401 
 
 15 August, 
 141S 
 
 II March, 
 1432 
 
 29 October, 
 
 1455 
 
 7 Decem- 
 ber, 1465 
 
 15 March, 
 1487 
 
 16 Decem- 
 ber, 1503 
 
 12 March, 
 1505 
 
 Not re- 
 corded 
 
 Clericus 
 
 Walterus Kenar- 
 dusley, per ex- 
 change with 
 Hamond atte 
 Soler 
 
 Adam Stakpol, per 
 exchange Wal- 
 ter Kynhardesle 
 
 Walterus Harden, 
 per exchange 
 wi til Ad am 
 Stakpole 
 
 Johannes Longle, 
 per resignation. 
 Walteri Harden 
 
 Johannes Ladd, 
 per exchange 
 with Johannes 
 Longlegh 
 
 Johannes Fietham 
 
 Willus. Jamys, 
 B.A. 
 
 Willus. Mytton 
 
 Walterus Dudston, 
 per mort. Wil- 
 lus. Mytton 
 
 Johannes David, 
 alias Myttyns, 
 per mort. Wal- 
 teri Dudson 
 
 Johannes Bromo- 
 w y c h, per 
 resign. Johannis 
 Myttons, alias 
 David 
 
 Thomas Hicklinge 
 
 Patrontis 
 
 Philip Baynard et 
 Roger atte Felde 
 
 Not recorded 
 
 Philip Baynard et 
 Roger atte Felde 
 
 Rogerus Curson, 
 miles 
 
 Johannes CoUee 
 et Elizabeth his 
 wife 
 
 Thomas F o x 1 e, 
 armiger 
 
 Stephanus CoUey, 
 No. ,7 
 
 Hugo Pakenham 
 
 Johannes Perky ns, 
 armiger 
 
 Edmundus 
 Pakenham 
 
 Johannes Pkyns 
 (Perkyns) 
 
 Not recorded 
 
 Remarks 
 
 Trustees of John 
 Colneye or Collee, 
 of West Court, 
 who was a minor 
 
 The East Court Turn 
 
 Trustees of John 
 Colneye or Collee, 
 of West Court, 
 who was a minor 
 
 The East Court Turn 
 
 LoriJ of the Manor 
 of West Court 
 
 Lord of the Manor 
 of East Court 
 
 Lord of the Manor 
 of West Court 
 
 Lord of the Manor 
 of East Court 
 
 Lord of the Manor of 
 West Court, No. 8 
 
 Lord of the Manor 
 of East Court 
 
 Lord of the Manor 
 of West Court 
 
 The turn of East 
 Court 
 
Finchampstead Church 
 
 57 
 
 LIST OF RECTORS AND PATRONS— conHnued 
 
 CHAP. 
 Ill 
 
 No. 
 
 i8 
 
 19 
 
 Date 
 
 22 
 
 23 
 
 24 
 
 26 
 
 Clericus 
 
 1 8 January 
 1564 
 
 25 May, 
 1592 
 
 23 August, 
 1660 
 
 9 June, 
 1682 
 
 29 Septem- 
 ber, 1709' 
 
 4 May, 
 1738 » 
 
 30 July, 
 1744 
 
 18 October, 
 1786' 
 
 29 Septem- 
 ber, 1809 
 
 12 May, 
 1819 
 
 Willus. Gill, per 
 mort. Thomas 
 Hicklinge 
 
 Samuelem Marshe, 
 per mort. Willi 
 Gill 
 
 Thomas Bright, 
 M.A., buried 28 
 December, 1682 
 
 John Brandon, 
 B.A., per mort. 
 Thos. Bright, 
 buried 2 May, 
 1709 
 
 Richard Rogers, 
 buried II May, 
 1736 
 
 St. John Rogers, 
 M.A., buried 9 
 May, 1743 
 
 Ellis St. John, 
 buried Feb. 1786 
 
 Ellis St. John, 
 M.A., buried 17 
 May, 1809 
 
 Henry Ellis St. 
 John 
 
 Henry Ellis St. 
 John, per ces- 
 sion of himself,'' 
 buried 3 Sept., 
 1841 
 
 Patron us 
 
 Johannes Marvin 
 knt. et Elisabeth 
 his wife 
 
 Thomas Harrison 
 (generosus) 
 
 Thomas Marsh 
 
 Richard Palmer, 
 armiger 
 
 James Goodyer 
 (generosus) 
 
 King George H., 
 ' by lapse for 
 this turn ' 
 
 Ellis St. John 
 (clerk) 
 
 (Not mentioned in 
 Diocesan Reg.) 
 James Clithero, 
 Esq. 
 
 Henry Ellis St. 
 John (clerk) 
 
 Ditto 
 
 Remarks 
 
 No. 9 in West Court 
 descent 
 
 No. 9 in East Court 
 
 The turn of West 
 Court 
 
 The turn of East 
 Court 
 
 The turn of West 
 Court 
 
 St. Mary Magdalen 
 Hall, Oxford 
 
 The turn of West 
 Court 
 
 The turn of West 
 Court 
 
 Lord of the Manor 
 of West Court 
 
 Lord of the Manor 
 of West Court 
 
 A.D. 1564 
 
 ' Liber Institutimum, P.R.O., Series B. 
 
 ' First Fruits Corn-position Books, vol. xxix. May, 1 1 Geo. IL 
 
 ' From Public Record Office. No record in Salisbury Diocesan Register between 164 
 and 1660. „ „ ^ , . , , 
 
 ' It is not understood for what purpose the Rev. II. E. St. John resigned and was re- 
 instituted in 1819. 
 
58 
 
 Chronicles of Finchampstead 
 
 CHAP. 
 Ill 
 
 A.D. 1842 
 
 No. 
 
 27 
 28 
 
 LIST OF RECTORS AND PATRONS— continued 
 
 Date 
 
 Clericus 
 
 Patronus 
 
 8 October, 
 1842 
 
 3 March, 
 1892 
 
 From Oxford Diocesa 't Registry 
 
 Edward St. John, Mrs. Elizabeth St. 
 LL.B. John 
 
 Rev. R. Tomlin- John Walter, Esq. 
 son 
 
 Remarks 
 
 West Court Manor 
 
 Owner of the whole 
 advowson 
 
 The first thought which must strike every one on reading 
 the long lists of bishops of our diocese, and rectors of our 
 parish, is that our church does not date, as so many ignorantly 
 imagine it does, from the Reformation in the sixteenth 
 century. In the sixteenth century important changes were 
 made in the Church of England by our rejection of the 
 supremacy of the Pope of Rome, and of the additions to the 
 Catholic faith and ritual which had crept in during the 
 middle ages ; but it must be evident to every student of 
 history that our Church has existed since the first introduction 
 of Christianity into England, more than eighteen hundred years 
 ago ; and that our Church ministry is derived in a direct 
 line from the Apostolic Church of Christ Himself. 
 
 It would be instructive and interesting if, in every church, 
 a list of its rectors were exhibited in some conspicuous place, to 
 bring before the people the antiquity and continuity of the 
 Church of England. 
 
 The foregoing institutions embrace a period of 593 years, 
 during which time there have been 27 rectors of Finchamp- 
 stead. The first presentation on the list was made by John 
 and Peter de la Huese (1299), variously spelt ' Hoese,' * Huse,' 
 and ' Huese.' They had married two sisters, daughters and 
 co-heiresses of the last Sir William Banastre, Lord of the 
 Manor of Finchampstead. We find these two families living 
 respectively at East Court and West Court, and conjointly 
 presenting the first three rectors on the list. Further infor- 
 mation respecting these and other patrons will be found in the 
 chapters on the Manors of East and West Court. 
 
 Between 131 7 and 1361 a division of the advowson of the 
 
Finchampstead Church 59 
 
 church appears to have taken place ; and from that time down chap. 
 to 1709 (No. 22 on the Hst of rectors) the patronage was ex- '•"^ 
 ercised alternately by the owners of the West Court and East 
 Court moiety of the Manor. The date of the appointment of 
 No. 4 is not recorded, but it was probably made by the 
 widow of Peter de la Hoese, and third owner of the West 
 Court property, as the appointment of No. 5 was made in 
 1 361 by Sir John de Foxle (Foxley), who was then owner 
 not only of Bramshill, but also of the East Court moiety of 
 Finchampstead Manor, and of its moiety of the advowson. 
 Nothing is known of the personal history of any of these 
 rectors until we come within the seventeenth century. The 
 only interest attaching to them is in relation to the history 
 of the times in which they severally lived ; and in this con- 
 nection the list of rectors furnishes us with matter of the 
 deepest interest affecting the Church of England. The 
 history of the bishops of our diocese which we possess enables 
 us to form a good idea of the character of the clerical life in 
 the diocese. In the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries the 
 shortness of the period for which the rectors of Finchamp- 
 stead held their appointment is striking, and also the frequent 
 vacancies caused by ' exchange.' At first it would seem as 
 though this parish had been less attractive in those days than 
 it has since become. Possibly the value of the tithes may 
 have had something to do with it, owing to the smaller pro- 
 portion of the manor which was then under cultivation. But 
 more probably there were other causes to account for this 
 state of things. The character and learning of the clergy 
 had become greatly deteriorated. We read of instances of 
 the clergy being so ignorant of Latin as to have been unable 
 even to understand what they read in church. Many were 
 appointed so young to the charge of parishes, that a license 
 for five years was frequently granted to them for the purpose 
 of studying at Oxford, their churches being meanwhile en- 
 trusted to the care of some neighbouring vicars, and even 
 unordained persons were sometimes appointed to hold rec- 
 tories for pluralists. 
 
 The Church of the ' Middle Ages ' had at this time sunk 
 into a very low state of spiritual decay. 
 
6o Chronicles of Finchainpstead 
 
 CHAP. The Pope had claimed and exercised the right of intruding 
 
 ^^^ foreigners into the higher English benefices, and even the 
 archdeaconry of -Berkshire and the deaneries of Salisbury and 
 of other cathedrals were held by Italian cardinals and priests. 
 The sale of pardons, dispensations, indulgences, and the taxa- 
 tion of the clergy had produced great national irritation. 
 
 Oxford University in the middle of the fourteenth century 
 had attained the position of being the greatest seat of learning 
 in Europe, in regard not only to the number of the students, 
 but to her intellectual supremacy also. 
 
 The decay of the University of Paris during the English 
 wars with France in the fourteenth century had contributed to 
 this. Franciscans flocked to Oxford not only from England 
 and Ireland, but from the greater part of Europe, and produced 
 some of the greatest scholars and thinkers who have ever 
 adorned that University. John Wyclifie was one of these. 
 He was Master of Balliol College, and to him the Church was 
 indebted for exposing the evil lives of the clergy and the 
 errors of the papacy, and for the first English translation of 
 the Bible. He organised an order of itinerant preachers or 
 ' simple priests,' as they were called, who obtained the scornr 
 ful sobriquet of ' Lollard,' or ' idle babblers,' and met with 
 great persecution. Wycliffe died in 1384, but the progress of 
 the new doctrine which he taught continued. 
 
 In 1455 we find the first mention of a rector of Finchamp- 
 stead with a university degree ; it is also observable that 1468 is 
 the first year in which a vicar of St. Mary's Church, Reading, 
 is recorded in the same diocesan register as having had a 
 university degree. Perhaps, if we were to examine the institu- 
 tion of other parishes in the Salisbury diocese about the same 
 date, we might find similar instances of the introduction of 
 clergy with a university degree. It was at this period (1450-82) 
 that Richard Beauchamp succeeded to the bishopric of Salis- 
 bury. He had the assistance of several suffragan bishops, 
 and proved an active and zealous bishop in regard to church 
 building and restoration, as well as in the promotion of the 
 social good of the diocese, though there seems to have been 
 little progress made in its spiritual improvement. The selec- 
 tion of candidates for ordination who had university degrees 
 
Finchampstead Church 6i 
 
 was no doubt adopted with a view to raising the standard of chap. 
 learning among the clergy. Bishop Beauchamp designed and ^^'- 
 superintended the conversion of St. George's Chapel, Windsor, a.d. usq 
 for the solemnities of the Order of the Garter ; and, in recog- 
 nition of his services in that work Edward IV. conferred upon 
 him and his successors (the Bishops of Sarum), for ever, the 
 office of Chancellor of the Order of the Garter. We cannot 
 here omit noticing Bishop Lionel Woodville (Widville), who 
 succeeded Bishop Beauchamp, as the cause of his. death is 
 associated with the history of the death of the Duke of 
 Buckingham, described in Chapter VII. on ' Banisters.' This 
 bishop was brother-in-law to King Edward IV., whose wife 
 Elizabeth was the bishop's sister and widow of Sir John Grey 
 of Groby. He is said to have died of grief occasioned by the 
 persecution of his family under Richard III., who caused his 
 brother-in-law, the Duke of Buckingham, to be beheaded at 
 Salisbury. 
 
 The state of the clergy generally, and more especially of 
 the inmates of the religious houses, was at this time deplorable. 
 In 1489, a ' bull 'was issued by Pope Innocent VIII., censuring 
 in strong terms their dissolute lives, and giving authority to 
 Archbishop Morton for their correction. 
 
 About this period a gleam of light began to break upon the 
 darkness which had hung over the Church. The translation of 
 the Bible into English, the invention of printing (a printing 
 press had been set up at Oxford in 1477), and the study of 
 Greek, or the ' new learning,' as it was termed, which was 
 promoted by Dean Colet and Erasmus, and became the key 
 by which the teaching of the New Testament could be unlocked, 
 were among the most powerful means for bringing about the 
 enlightenment of the sixteenth century. Salisbury Cathedral 
 can claim the distinguished honour of having had as one of its 
 prebendaries Dean Colet, afterwards Dean of St. Paul's and 
 founder of St. Paul's School, who, in the words of Dean 
 Milman, ' stood forth among the churchmen of his day with 
 almost all the virtues, and few, if any, of the infirmities of his 
 order.' 
 
 Nicholas Shaxton became Bishop of Salisbury in 1535, at 1535 
 the very moment when papal supremacy in England received 
 
62 Chronicles of Finchampstead 
 
 CHAP, its death-blow. The Act declaring the King to be supreme 
 
 "^ head of the Church was passed in 1 534 ; next followed the dis- 
 
 A.D. 1534 solution of the monasteries, due chiefly to their unshaken loyalty 
 
 to the papacy — the lesser ones, 376 in number, whose income 
 
 did not exceed 20c/. a year, in 1536 ; the larger ones in 1539. 
 
 1536 In 1536 the English Bible was ordered to be set up in the 
 parish churches, chained to the desk on which it lay, that the 
 
 1538 people might read it for themselves; and in 1538 Bishop 
 Shaxton issued injunctions to the clergy of the Salisbury 
 diocese to teach the people the Lord's Prayer and the Creed 
 in their own tongue, and to read the Epistle and Gospel at High 
 Mass in the English language. 
 
 Bishop Shaxton was a member of the commission appointed 
 to revise our church services, which resulted in the adoption 
 
 IS44 of an English version of the Litany in 1544, and of an English 
 
 >S47 version of the Communion Service in 1547. Nicholas Shaxton 
 was Bishop of Salisbury for only four years, from 1535 to 1539^ 
 when he was deprived of his bishopric at the same time as 
 Latimer, for not being able to subscribe his assent to the ' Six 
 Articles' embodied in an Act of Henry VHI.'s Parliament, 
 which maintained the doctrine of Transubstantiation, and several 
 practices of the Roman Church, under the terrible penalty of 
 burning. His faith, or his courage, afterwards failed him, 
 and he recanted and preached at the burning of Anne Ascue, 
 with three companions who suffered for the denial of Tran- 
 substantiation. 
 w. T. Within three weeks of that ' frightful holocaust ' he 
 
 Jones preached again at Paul's Cross, and then again recanted, and 
 wept sore, and prayed the people also to forgive him his 
 'myss.' He died in 1556, having after his deprivation of 
 the See of Salisbury acted as a suffragan in the Diocese of 
 
 1547 Ely. On the accession of Edward VL in 1547, the 'Six 
 Articles ' statutes and the severe enactments against Lollard- 
 ism were repealed. 
 
 John Capon (or Salcot) succeeded Shaxton as Bishop of 
 Salisbury in 1539. He had been Abbot of Hyde (Winton) 
 and of Holme ; and he is said to have obtained first the See of 
 Bangor as a reward for his having assisted Henry VHI. in his 
 divorce proceedings against Queen Katharine, and secondly 
 
Finchampstead Church 63 
 
 the See of Salisbury for his having aided the King in his chap. 
 suppression and' spoliation of the abbeys and monasteries. "^ 
 He appears to have accommodated his religious principles to a.d. 1539 
 the various changes which took place during the reigns of 
 Henry VHI., Edward VI., and Queen Mary, without forfeiting 
 the good opinion of his sovereigns. The abolition of the 
 Papal supremacy, which had been effected by Henry VIII. 
 and continued by Edward VI., and the introduction of the 
 first English edition of our Book of Common Prayer in 1 549, 
 were all reversed under Queen Mary, without apparently dis- 
 turbing the conscience of Bishop Capon, who still held on to 
 his bishopric until 1 557, when he died. During his episcopacy 
 many suffered martyrdom for maintaining the same opinions 
 which he had held, among whom were Archbishop Cranmer 
 and Bishops Ridley and Latimer ; but Bishop Capon saved 
 his own life by conforming to every change. 
 
 It was probably during the episcopacy of Bishop Capon Thomas 
 that Thomas Hickling became the seventeenth rector of ^^^^' 
 Finchampstead. His appointment is not recorded in the 
 Salisbury Diocesan Register. His predecessor was ap- 
 pointed in 1505, and his successor in 1564; so we may 1505 
 assume that he was rector about the middle, of this eventful 
 period, in which Green, the historian, tells us that ' ecclesias- 
 tical order was almost at an end ; priests flung aside the 
 surplice as superstitious ; patrons of livings presented their 
 huntsmen or gamekeepers to the benefices in their gifts, and 
 kept the stipend.' The appointment of Thomas Hickling 
 would probably have been made by the owner of East Court, 
 whose turn it was to present. His name is attached to the 
 return of church plate in Finchampstead in 1552. 
 
 On the death of Bishop Capon in 1557, the See of Salis- 
 bury became vacant for nearly three years, until 1560. In 
 the meanwhile Queen Mary died (1558), and Queen Elizabeth 
 suceeded to the throne ; and as all of Queen Mary's bishops 
 refused to take the oath of Queen Elizabeth's supremacy, 
 with the exception of the Bishop of Llandaff, all their Sees 
 became vacant. 
 
 On Queen Elizabeth's accession to the throne, in 1558, 
 Jewel returned to England, preached at Paul's Cross in 1559 
 
64 Chronicles of Finchamps'tead 
 
 CHAP, his celebrated sermon against the errors of Popery, and in 
 ^" 1560 was appointed bishop of our diocese of Salisbury. He 
 A.D. 1560 had been one of the advanced reformers in Edward VI.'s 
 reign, and an exile in Germany in Queen Mary's reign. 
 Bishop Jewel complained that his predecessor Capon had 
 impoverished the bishopric by giving away or selling all the 
 ecclesiastical dignities and houses, and in alluding to his 
 diminished income he would playfully remark that ' a Capon 
 had devoured it all.' 
 
 Bishop Jewel entered upon his episcopate when the 
 
 English people were almost mad with a panic hatred of Rome. 
 
 Sects were growing up all round the Church, agitating for the 
 
 destruction of Episcopacy and the subjection of the English 
 
 P^^ p. Church to the Presbyterian discipline ; not a third of the 
 
 Paget, clergy were licensed to preach ; many were neglecting the 
 
 Deaii'of duties of four or five parishes at once ; few had anything that 
 
 Christ could be called education ; and in one diocese alone four 
 
 Oxford' hundred benefices were vacant. While such a force was 
 
 1889 ' pressing on to the assault of Episcopacy, it was upheld by 
 
 Jewel and Whitgift, not in the strength of its exclusive claim, 
 
 but simply as- an allowable form of government rendered 
 
 authoritative by the appointment of the State; and thus the 
 
 outward framework of the Church of England was preserved 
 
 from the destruction which threatened it during the first 
 
 thirty years of Queen Elizabeth's reign. 
 
 In 1562, Bishop Jewel's 'Apology of the Church of 
 England ' was published by the Queen's authority as the 
 public confession of the Catholic and Christian faith of the 
 Church of England, and to explain our departure from the 
 See of Rome. A copy of this ' Apology ' was ordered to be 
 kept in every church, which order was duly observed through- 
 out the reigns of Elizabeth, James I., and Charles I. It was 
 written in Latin, and spread into all countries. It was trans- 
 lated into English by Lady Bacon, wife of Sir N. Bacon, 
 Keeper of the Great Seal. Bishop Jewel died in 1571. 
 
 The Church of England is greatly indebted to Bishop 
 Jewel for his having been instrumental in raising up another 
 renowned defender' of our Church, of which he was himself 
 so bold a champion. Richard Hooker was the son of poor 
 
Finchampstead Church 65 
 
 parents at Exeter. Jewel discerned in the boy Hooker chap. 
 dawnings of genius which his parents were unable to culti- ^" 
 vate. Jewel assisted him in his education, and in 1567 sent a.d. 1567- 
 him to Corpus Christi College, Oxford, at his own expense, 
 and afterwards supplied him with a pension which enabled 
 him to pursue his studies, and eventually to become the most 
 powerful opponent of Presbyterian and Puritan principles of 
 his time. He held the sub-deanery of Salisbury Cathedral, Rev. w. 
 and was Vicar of Boscombe within the same diocese, and it h. Jonesi. 
 was while living there that the first four books of his ' Eccle- of Dio-'^ 
 siastical Polity ' were written. |«se of 
 
 In 1559, the third and last revision of our Book of Common ^ '^ ""^ 
 Prayer was completed, and from thenceforth until now the 
 Liturgy of our Church has been in the language of the people. 
 
 Immediately afterwards broke out that spirit of Puritanism 
 which led to the destruction of the reredoses, pictures, ornaments, 
 monuments, rood and other screens in our churches ; and 
 efforts were made to efface the distinction between the chancel 
 and the nave ; but Queen Elizabeth, through Archbishop 
 Parker, peremptorily ordered the partitions to be restored, 
 and, further, the disfigured walls above the altar to be hidden ; 
 and she also directed the table of the Decalogue to be set up, 
 which we still find in Finchampstead Church, and in many 
 others of our old churches, and which is still required by Canon 
 82 of 1603. It was at this period that fresco paintings on the 
 walls of our churches were destroyed, and most probably the 
 frescoes in Finchampstead Church alluded to above (p. 35) 
 were at this time covered over by whitewash. Before the 
 English translation and printing of the Bible, its teachings had 
 been presented to the unlearned by means of frescoes or wall 
 paintings, pictorial representations which were regarded by the 
 Puritans as superstitious and idolatrous. 
 
 The Puritans seem to have been ignorant of the truth of 
 those well-known words of Horace : 
 
 ' Segnius irritant animos demissa per aurem, 
 Quam quae sunt oculis subjecta fidelibus, quseque 
 Ipse sibi tradit spectator.' 
 
 ' What is sent through the ears influences the mind more tardily than what is 
 placed before the faithful eyes, and which the spectator delivers to himself 
 
 F 
 
Harri- 
 
 66 Chronicles of Finchamp stead 
 
 CHAP. It was the common practice of Puritans to wear their hats 
 
 "^ in churches, and to receive the Holy Communion standing, 
 
 A.D. 1564 under a bigoted belief that the attitude of kneeling was 
 idolatrous. Queen Elizabeth issued injunctions for correcting 
 these and other acts of irreverence. 
 
 The want of poetry and imagination in the common 
 Puritan character condemned half the popular observances in 
 England as superstitious. It was superstitious to keep Christ- 
 
 Green mas, or to deck the house with holly and ivy ; it was super- 
 stitious to dance round the village maypole ; it was flat popery 
 to eat a mince-pie ; and the long struggle between the Puritans 
 and the playwrights ended in the closing of every theatre. 
 
 1564-92 William Gill, No. 18 on the list, was rector from 1564 to 
 
 1592, when the alterations in the church, as described above, 
 
 Thomas were carried out by Thomas Harrison, the owner of East 
 Court ; we may therefore conclude that William Gill and 
 Thomas Harrison were equally imbued with the Puritan spirit 
 of the age. 
 1570 In 1570 the final act of separation from Rome was accom- 
 plished by the excommunication of Queen Elizabeth by Pope 
 Pius v., when it became a matter of plain loyalty and patriotism 
 to abjure Rome in everything. The Jesuit mission to this 
 country of Campion and Parsons, the massacre of St. Bartholo- 
 mew, the Spanish Armada, all contributed to intensify the 
 hatred of the Church of Rome. Hence a stronger wave of 
 Protestantism swept over the whole country. 
 
 The bishops who ruled over the Diocese of Salisbury 
 during the next seventy years were hardly equal to the emer- 
 gencies of the times. Puritanism became even more powerful. 
 It may be mentioned in passing that Bishop Edmund Guest 
 (or Gheast), who was Bishop of Salisbury from 1570 to 1576, 
 was the last Bishop of Salisbury who resided at Sonning, as 
 the palace at Sonning passed into the hands of the Crown by 
 exchange during his episcopacy. Bishop Piers, who succeeded 
 him in 1577, was translated to York in 1588, when the See of 
 Salisbury remained vacant for three years, and it was during 
 this vacancy that the alterations in Finchampstead Church 
 mentioned above were made in 1590. 
 
 To attempt a full description of the origin and decline of 
 
Finchampstead Church 6; 
 
 Puritanism from the close of the sixteenth to the latter end of chap. 
 the seventeenth century would be beyond the scope of my ^^^ 
 present object, which is to confine attention as closely as pos- a.d. 1600 
 sible to influences which were at work within our own Diocese 
 of Salisbury ; and in this connection I cannot omit the name 
 of Laud, who in his early life was intimately connected with 
 Reading and Hurst, in Berkshire, and who was one of the 
 most powerful opponents of Puritanism. He was born at 
 Reading, October 7, 1573, son of a clothier on the north side 
 of Broad Street, and was educated at the Reading School. 
 On the accession of Charles I. to the throne in 1625, Laud 
 was appointed to the bishopric of London, and in 1633 
 he was promoted to the See of Canterbury. Laud's chief 
 object was to raise the Church of England to what he con- 
 ceived to be its real position as a branch, though a reformed 
 branch, of the great Catholic Church throughout the world, 
 protesting alike against the innovations of Rome and the 
 innovations of Calvin, and basing its doctrines and usages on 
 those of the Christian Communion in the centuries which pre- 
 ceded the Council of Nicea In Laud's view, episcopal suc- 
 cession was of the essence of a church, and by their rejection 
 of bishops the Lutheran and Calvinistic Churches of Germany 
 and Switzerland had ceased to be churches at all. He therefore 
 exerted all the powers of his high position for the suppression 
 of Puritanism. ' Puritan rectors and vicars were scolded, 
 suspended, and deprived.' 
 
 A great Puritan emigration to Massachusetts, or the 
 States of • New England,' in North America, was the result of 
 this persecution. 
 
 Mr. Gladstone has summed up the character of Archbishop Romanes 
 Laud in the following remarkable words : on'-'Medi- 
 
 ' He was the first Primate of all England, for many genera- Eevai Uni- 
 tions, who proved himself by his acts to be a tolerant theologian. ^"j||g^''' 
 . . . He gave to the Anglican polity and worship what was Right ' 
 in the main the impress of his own mind. He then sank to the g "q,^; 
 ground in that conflict of the times which he made and helped stone, 
 to exasperate ; but his scheme of Church polity— for his it ^■^^•' 
 largely was — grew up afresh out of his tomb, and took effect tn 
 law at the Restoration. And now, tvith the mitigation which 
 
 F 2 
 
68 Chronicles of Finchampstead 
 
 CHAP, religious liberty has acquired, it still subsists in all its essential 
 ^^^ features, not as a personal or party opinion, but as embodied 
 A.D. 164s alike in statute and in usage, with no apparent likelihood of dis- 
 appearance or decay. Dealing still exclusively with the quan- 
 titative aspect of the case, and wholly apart from merit 
 or demerit, I conceive that he, Henry VIII., and Queen 
 Elizabeth, form a triad of persons who have had the largest 
 share in giving to the momentous changes of the sixteenth cen- 
 tury so much of their form as is strictly and specifically British! 
 Laud was a statesman as well as an ecclesiastic. He lived in 
 evil times, when Church principles were violently opposed, and 
 he fell a victim to the fury of the Republican Parliament, which 
 charged him with high treason, and after an illegal trial con- 
 demned him to be executed, which sentence was carried out 
 on March 10, 1645. 
 ijga Samuel Marshe (No. 19) succeeded William Gill as rector 
 in 1592, on the nomination of Thomas Harrison, of East 
 Court, and held the appointment until about the year 1645. 
 Further particulars about him will be found in Chapter V. on 
 Oliver East Court. In 1645 we know that the Church of England 
 Crom- vvas virtually disestablished. Episcopacy was abolished in 
 Pariia- that year by an Act of the ' Long Parliament : ' there was 
 lammr therefore no Bishop of Salisbury. 
 
 and Au- ' The Act of Uniformity had been repealed, and the Book of 
 gust23, Common Prayer had been forbidden to be used in any 
 church, chapel, or place of worship in England or Wales, 
 and even in private ; penalties were imposed upon those who 
 disobeyed the order. Bishops and clergy were removed from 
 their offices, the episcopal estates and the Palace of Salisbury 
 were sold. Finchampstead from 1645 'J'^til 1660 was without 
 any duly ordained minister, so far as our information goes. 
 We read of many parish churches being at this time served 
 by unordained and uneducated persons ; and possibly Finch- 
 ampstead Church may have been served in this manner. The 
 seventy years from 1592 to 1660 are about the saddest in the 
 history of our church. 
 1660 In 1660 Thomas Bright, M.A., appears as rector (No. 20). 
 His appointment is not recorded in the Salisbury Diocesan 
 Register ; it is found only in a return made to the Public 
 
Finchanipstead CJnirch 69 
 
 Record Ofifice. This was the year of the restoration of ^^^j^- 
 
 monarchy and church government. The death of Cromwell 
 
 on September 3, 1658, had put an end to his government and ^.d. 1658 
 the reign of ' confusion.' ^"^'"e? 
 
 The Rev. Thomas Bright was instituted on the nomina- 
 tion of 'Thomas Marsh' on August 23, 1660. It was the 
 turn of the owner of West Court to nominate, but the patron 
 (George Tattershall) was a Roman Catholic, and was con- 
 sequently disqualified for appointing ; it is supposed, therefore, 
 that he had delegated his right of presentation to Thomas 
 Marsh, who appears to have been a parishioner residing in a 
 house called ' Phipps Land,' on the East Court Manor,' the 
 name of which place does not now exist. 
 
 We learn from history that ' many ejected clergy and 
 unordained ministers ' returned to their posts at this time. 
 Bright may have been one of these. The bishop of the 
 diocese, Brian Duppa, who had been appointed to the See of 
 Salisbury in 1641, had been an exile from his diocese from 
 1645 to 1660. This good bishop had been formerly tutor to 
 Prince Charles, afterwards Charles II. On the suppression of 
 Episcopacy by the Long Parliament in 1645, Bishop Duppa 
 had retired to Oxford to wait upon the unhappy king, Charles I., 
 and he remained with him until he was executed in 1649, 
 when he went to Richmond, Surrey, until the restoration of 
 Charles II. At Richmond he established some almshouses, 
 which have been rebuilt in recent years. In 1660 he was 
 translated from Salisbury to Winchester, and Bishop Hench- 
 man succeeded him at Salisbury. 
 
 Bishop Henchman had been the friend of Charles II.,- and 
 had aided him in his escape after the battle of Worcester in 
 1651. 
 
 The Bishop's Palace at Salisbury and the estates of the 
 See had been sold by the Long Parliament. We need not 
 therefore be surprised that in these troublous times there 
 should have been some irregularities in the appointments and 
 records of parish priests. Bishop Henchman's episcopate of 
 
 'Will of Charles Palmer, March 3, 1711, proved November 25, 1713, and 
 Chapter V., page 132, 'East Court Manor.' 
 
70 CJironicles of Finchampstead 
 
 CHAP. Salisbury was very short ; in 1 663 he was translated to the 
 
 ^^^ See of London. 
 A.D. 1660 In i65o the religious characteristics of the country may be 
 described as Episcopalian, Independent, Presbyterian, and 
 Puritan. Cromwell had been an Independent, and Cromwell 
 saw that Independent principles were exactly suited to the 
 times, which were republican and revolutionary. 
 
 On the restoration of monarchy in 1660 a great reaction 
 set in ; Puritanism had become hateful to the nation at large. 
 1662. In 1662 an Act of Uniformity was passed restoring the use 
 Uniform- ^^ ^^^ Prayer Book in all churches, and requiring from all 
 ity rectors and vicars unfeigned assent to all contained in it, and 
 
 declaring that no person shall be capable of holding any bene- 
 fice, or of administering the Holy Sacrament of the Lord's 
 Supper, without episcopal ordination. Under this Act about 
 2,000 unordained rectors and vicars were required to resign 
 their livings. The disabilities thus laid upon Nonconformists 
 were not the act of Convocation but of Parliament. It was 
 not the clergy who persecuted dissent, but the laity. It was 
 the national will that proved intolerant, and determined to 
 suppress it. 
 
 The thirty years from the restoration of monarchy in 1 660 
 to the accession of William and Mary in 1688-89 present a 
 melancholy picture of the Church of England. The fanaticism 
 of the Commonwealth had deprived the country of all definite 
 religious teaching. Our churches had been desecrated and 
 robbed of almost every architectural ornament and object of 
 ecclesiastical art. 
 
 A whole generation had sprung up out of this disorder^ 
 with no knowledge of anything high or ennobling. There 
 must have been great difficulty in finding duly qualified clergy- 
 men to supply the places of the 2,000 ejected ministers. 
 Macaulay in his ' History of England ' at this period has given 
 us a very one-sided and unfavourable description of the clergy 
 who were suddenly called upon to supply these vacancies. 
 We cannot be surprised that many of them may have deserved 
 the severe things which have been written of them, but that it 
 was not true concerning the large majority, there is abundant 
 evidence to prove. 
 
Finchampstead Church 7 1 
 
 Between 1663 and 1689 there were three bishops of Salis- chap. 
 bury — Earles (or, as he is more usually called, Earle), Hyde, ni 
 and Seth Ward. AiDTTeej 
 
 Bishop Earles had been chaplain and tutor to Charles II. 11. m. 
 when Prince of Wales, and was one of the prebends of the ^^' 
 cathedral who had been ejected during the Commonwealth, d.d'., 
 or ' Reign of Confusion.' He was a learned and good bishop, gf^ " °^ 
 but only held the See for two years. 'Bishops 
 
 Of Bishop Hyde, from 1665 to 1667, nothing remarkable xowl^. 
 is recorded. 1887 
 
 Bishop Seth Ward held the See from 1667 to 1689. The "^l^^- 
 chief feature of his episcopacy is the rigour with which he Earlbs 
 carried out the penal enactments against ' Nonconformists.' Bishop 
 Towards the end of his episcopacy he was unable from 1665-67. 
 the infirmities of old age to attend to his duties, and in the ^th 
 distant northern parts of his diocese it is recorded that there 1667-89 
 had been no confirmations within the memory of the inhabitants. 
 We may therefore assume that Finchampstead had been 
 seriously neglected in this respect. 
 
 Bishop Seth Ward died on January 6, 1688-89, within a 1689 
 month after the crown of England had been accepted by 
 William and Mary on the abdication of James II. The 
 bishopric of Salisbury was then immediately conferred upon 
 Gilbert Burnet, who had been chaplain to the Princess Mary 
 when in Holland, and to the Prince of Orange, and had taken 
 an active part in promoting the succession of William and 
 Mary to the throne. 
 
 Bishop Burnet found matters in the diocese at a very low Bishop 
 ebb indeed when he succeeded to the episcopate. One of ^"^^^'^ 
 the first difficulties with which he had to contend was the 
 refusal of some of his clergy to take the oath. of allegiance to jonbs's 
 the new dynasty. He was imbued with the spirit of tolera- '?g^i°'^^ 
 tion, and he made great efforts to overcome the scruples of bury Dio- 
 the nonjurors. He soon devoted himself earnestly to his '^^^^'' '^^° 
 episcopal duties ; he was very active in preaching and con- 
 firming throughout his diocese, and in catechising the youth 
 of the towns he visited. He was especially interested in the 
 preparation of candidates for the ministry, and the abolition of 
 pluralities, non-residence, and sale of presentations. 
 
Chroriides of Finchampstead 
 
 A.D. 
 
 1688-89 
 
 ^^t}'' Bishop Burnet's episcopate was a source of much good to 
 his diocese. He was an active poHtician, an historian, a theo- 
 logian, and a steadfast maintainer of the Protestant character 
 of the Church of England. He held the See for about 
 twenty-five years, until 17 14. 
 
 We have now reached the beginning of ' the Georgian 
 period,' or, as it has been somewhat more appropriately termed, 
 ' the glacial period ' of our Church history, when party strife 
 abated, and the Church again fell into a state of lethargy and 
 deadness. There is nothing to be found in the lives of the 
 twelve bishops from Bishop Burnet's time to that of Bishop 
 John Fisher to awaken interest, or to relieve the monotony 
 of the worldly-mindedness of both bishops and clergy down to 
 the first quarter of the nineteenth century. 
 
 Lord Stanhope has expressed with much felicity one and 
 perhaps the main cause of the decadence of the English 
 clergy at this period. He says : ' They were entirely out of 
 symj>atky with the Hanoverian dynasty : they could not be 
 transformed into loyal subjects by force. The course pursued 
 was to select bishops with a view to their political conformity, 
 and to plant them, among a clergy, whom except occasionally 
 they appear to have simply let alone. No attempt was 
 made either to supply deficiencies or to furnish a remedy for 
 abuses. Privilege remained intact, for none would invade the 
 hornets nest, and indolence and greed had their unrestricted 
 reign' 
 
 Now that I have concluded my sketch of the episcopacy of 
 our Diocese of Salisbury down to the year 1836, when our 
 county and parish were transferred to the Diocese of Oxford, 
 my readers will form their own opinion upon the probable 
 condition of the Church in Finchampstead during the same 
 period. Of the personal history of its rectors we know little 
 or nothing. In the chapter on the West Court Manor will 
 be found some further information relating to the family of 
 St. John, of whom more is known from their having been 
 owners of the Manor as well as rectors. It may, however, 
 be interesting to note here a few particulars which I have 
 been able to find respecting some of the rectors. 
 
 I have already mentioned above that the earliest rector 
 
Finchampstead Church 73 
 
 who can be found as having received a university education chap. 
 was William Jamys (James), No. 12 on the list, in 1455. ^^^ 
 I have searched the Oxford and Cambridge University a.d. 1455 
 Calendars from 1500 to the present time with the following 
 
 result. Foster's 
 
 There is no record of any other rector than No. 12 who oxonTen'. 
 had received a university education until we come to No. 19, ^es." 
 Samuel Marshe, instituted May 25, 1592, on the nomination ldard's 
 of Thomas Harrison, of East Court. He matriculated at 'Graduati 
 Magdalen College, Oxon, November 24, 1581, set. fifteen; gienses.'^' 
 M.A. from Lincoln College, March, 1588; afterwards Canon Andrew 
 
 01 barum. 'Register 
 
 No. 20. Thomas Bright,^ whose name is not found in the °^^^^^ 
 Diocesan Registry, but only in the Public Record Office, is re- ates,' vol. 
 corded as having been M.A., but his name does not appear in "• p^- "■ 
 either the Oxford or Cambridge Calendar. 
 
 No. 21. John Brandon is described as the son of Charles 
 Brandon, of Maidenhead, gentleman ; matriculated at Oriel 
 College, Oxford, March 8, 1661-62, aet. seventeen ; B.A., 
 1665 ; Vicar of Wargrave, 1669, when twenty-four years of 
 age; Rector of Finchampstead in 1682. He became one of 'Athens, 
 the Lecturers of Reading. 'Fa^s°f >' 
 
 No. 22. Richard Rogers, son of Mr. John Rogers, of ii. 281', 
 Basingstoke, ',pleb.,' matriculated at Balliol College, Oxford, ^■^°l^^-,l 
 March 11, 1699-1700, aet. 17 ; B.A. 1703 ; M.A. from New 'Aiumni 
 College, 1706; Master of Free School, Odiham, Hants, and <^™"' 
 Vicar of Potterspury, Northampton, 1 707-8 ; Rector of rawl. 
 Finchampstead, 1 709 ; and also of Dogmersfield, Hants, ^-^^^^ 
 February 26, 17 18-19. Died May 5, 1736. Mr. Ellis Mews .North-^ 
 (who afterwards assumed the name of St. John) was owner of ^nts/^ 
 the manors and advowsons of both Dogmersfield and Finch- 
 ampstead from 1712 to 1725. 
 
 No. 23. St. John Rogers was the son of the preceding 
 Richard Rogers, No. 22. His name is not found in the 
 calendar of either Oxford or Cambridge University. All 
 
 ' In his Will, dated December 20, 1680, proved December 10, 1684, British 
 Museum, 58609 A, he desires ' to be interred in " the Vault " at the west end of 
 Finchampstead Church.' He bequeaths his ' lands in Bramcott, Warwickshire,' 
 and also his house and land in Finchampstead East Court, called ' Cowdries or 
 Newhouse,' to Thomas, the grandson of his brother, William Bright. 
 
74 
 
 Chronicles of Finchajnpstead 
 
 CHAR 
 
 III 
 
 A.D. 1737 
 
 Vide 
 Chapter 
 on East 
 Court, 
 p. 132 
 
 For pedi- 
 gree, see 
 p. 167, 
 West 
 Court 
 Manor. 
 Joseph 
 Foster's 
 ' Alumni 
 Oxonien- 
 ses,' 1892 
 
 that can be traced of him is his baptism, April 30, 17 14, and 
 his institution on May 4, 1737, on the nomination of 'the 
 Crown by lapse,' the principal of St. Mary Magdalen Hall, 
 Oxford, who was then owner of the East Court moiety of the 
 advowson, having failed to nominate within the prescribed 
 time. St. John Rogers could not have been more than 
 twenty-four years of age, if his baptism, as above stated, took 
 place within the year of his birth. He died May 9, T743. 
 
 No. 24. The Rev. Ellis St. John, the first of his family 
 who was Rector of Finchampstead, was born in 1706. He 
 matriculated at Oriel College, Oxford, April 2, 1723, aet. 17. 
 It is not stated in the University Calendar whether or not he 
 took any degree. On the death of his father in 1728-29, 
 when he was about twenty-two years of age, he succeeded to 
 the West Court Manor, and to a moiety of the advowson of 
 the church of Finchampstead. He married about 1731-32, 
 and in the register of baptism he is recorded as the father of 
 several children born between 1733 and 1744, and he is 
 described as an ' Esquire ' as late as 1741, and as a ' Rev.' in 
 November, 1744. We may therefore conclude that he was 
 residing at West Court as a country gentleman between 
 1729 and 1744. In March, 1744, the Rev. St. John Rogers, 
 Rector of Finchampstead, died. It was the West Court turn to 
 present to the vacancy. In the Diocesan Registry at Salisbury 
 there is the following entry : 
 
 ' Orders celebrated by the Rt. Rev. Father in the Chapel 
 within the Palace of Sarum on Wednesday, the 2^th day of 
 fuly, in the year of our Lord 1 744, being St. fames' s Day. 
 Ellis St. fohn, insti'.uted to the Rectory of Ffinchampsted, 
 in the county of Berks and Diocese of Sarum, was ordained 
 Deacon. 
 
 ' Orders celebrated by the said Rt. Rev. Father in the Chapel 
 within the Palace at Sarum on Sunday, the 2gth day of fuly, in 
 the year of our Lord 1744. Ellis St. fohn, instituted to the 
 Rectory of Ffinchainpstead, in the county of Berks and Diocese 
 of Sarum, was ordained Priest.' 
 
 It would therefore seem from this record, if rightly ex- 
 pressed, that Ellis St. John was instituted to the Rectory of 
 Finchampstead on his own presentation, before he was in holy 
 
Finchampstead Church 75 
 
 orders, and that there was only an interval of four days chap. 
 between his ordination as deacon and his receiving priest's ni 
 orders. In the register of institutions, however, the date of a.d. 1744 
 institution is stated to have been July 30, 1744. It is clear, 
 therefore, that he could have had no training as a curate before 
 entering upon the charge of the parish. With such an ex- 
 hibition of episcopal laxity, we cannot be surprised if the 
 clergy sometimes failed to realise their high calling. The 
 ' Right Rev. Father's ' name was Thomas Sherlock, who was 
 Bishop of Salisbury from 1734 to 1749. The acquisition of 
 Church property by the Rev. Ellis St. John is somewhat re- 
 markable. We find him first in possession of a moiety of the 
 advowson of the church of South Moreton, a small parish in 
 the north of Berkshire. In 1755 he obtained possession of 
 the other moiety of the advowson of Finchampstead, which 
 had formerly belonged to the East Court Manor, but which 
 had been alienated from it under the will of Charles Palmer, p.cc., 
 lord of that manor in 1713, to the Principal of St. Mary ^"J'^™^*' 
 Magdalen Hall (now Hertford College), Oxford. The way 
 in which this was effected was as follows : 
 
 The Rev. Ellis St. John and the Principal of St. Mary 
 Magdalen Hall were owners of the alternate right of pre- 
 sentation to the rectory church of South Moreton, above 
 referred to, and it was agreed between them that the Rev. 
 Ellis St. John should surrender his alternate right in the 
 advowson of South Moreton in exchange for the college 
 alternate right in the advowson of Finchampstead, and this 
 exchange was confirmed by a private Act of Parliament on 27 & 28 
 
 July 17. 1755- . 2T''"- 
 
 In 1767, the Rev. Ellis St. John purchased the advowson 'History 
 of the Rectory of Winchfield, which from 1290 until that time geid^J^by' 
 had always been attached to its ancient manor, and it con- Rev.' 
 tinued in the possession of the West Court family of St. John seymour 
 until the year 1848. The Rev. Ellis St. John died February 1891 
 19, 1786, in the eightieth year of his age, having been Rector 
 of Finchampstead for forty-two years. 
 
 No. 25. The Rev. Ellis St. John (son of No. 24) was 
 born in 1740. Matriculated at Queen's College, Oxford, 
 April I, 1757, took his B.A. degree in 1760, and M.A. in 
 
76 Chronicles of Finchampstead 
 
 CHAP. 1764 ; married about 1774. He was not ordained in the 
 
 ^^^ Diocese of Salisbury. He succeeded his father as Rector of 
 
 A.D. 1786 Finchampstead, October j8, 1786, on the presentation of 
 
 James Clithero, whose name is only recorded in the Public 
 
 Record Office, and not in the Diocesan Register. No other 
 
 J. Rich- particulars about him can be traced, except that he died at the 
 
 fcou. King's Arms Inn, Oxford, in 1809. 
 
 Berks.,' No. 26. The Rev. Henry Ellis St. John (son of No. 25), 
 
 28663, born 1776. Matriculated at Worcester College, Oxford, 
 
 British May 19, 1795. Signs the registers as curate of Finchamp- 
 
 useum stead, between 1799 and May, 1800; became Rector of 
 
 'Account Winchfield, Hants, in 1800, vice Rev. Richard Pollen, .his 
 
 fieiY'^by kinsman, when he was twenty-four years of age, and held it 
 
 Rev.'c. F. until 1 839. Rector of Finchampstead on the death of his father 
 
 ^1™°'"'' in 1809, on his own presentation of himself. Previously to 
 
 1809 he is described in Foster's 'Alumni Oxonienses' as 
 
 residing at Horton, Bucks. In 18 10 he purchased the 
 
 advowson of the church of Barkham, Berks, from Major 
 
 General John Leveson-Gower, and became Rector of that 
 
 parish, in addition to the rectorship of Winchfield and 
 
 Finchampstead. 
 
 In the baptismal register of Finchampstead, under date of 
 October 4, 18 10, there is the following entry, which gives 
 the dates of the birth of his children, viz. Henry, Edward, 
 Anne, and John, who had been respectively born in 1804, 
 1805, 1808, and 1 810, viz. : 'December 8, 1805, Edward, son 
 of H. E. and Sarah St. John ; Henry, July 22, 1804, son of 
 Rev. H. E. St. John and Sarah his wife ; Anne, April 2%, 
 1 808, daughter of Rev. H. E. St. John and Sarah his wife • 
 John, April 6, 18 10. All privately baptized before and ad- 
 mitted into this (sic) church on October 4, 1 8 1 o. November 
 29, 181 1, Paulet, born June 3, 181 1, son of Rev. Henry Ellis 
 St. John and Sarah his wife,' 
 
 Sarah, the wife of the Rev. H. E. St. John, died in 
 December, 1831, ^t. 51, and was buried at Finchampstead. 
 The Rev. Henry Ellis St. John afterwards married Elizabeth 
 Alexander, whose name appears in the Diocesan Registry as 
 having inherited from her husband the advowson of the family 
 ' livings ' of Finchampstead and Barkham, 
 
Finchampstead Church 77 
 
 The Rev. Henry Ellis St. John died September 3, 1841. chap. 
 Elizabeth, his widow, died October 27, 1864, aet. 84, and "^ 
 was buried in the family vault in Finchampstead church- a.d. i8us 
 yard. 
 
 No. 27. The Rev. Edward St. John (son of No. 26), f°^™^> 
 born December 8, 1805. Matriculated at St. Edmund Hall, oxon^en- 
 Oxford, April 1824; LL.B. from Downing College, Cam- !!='^"<^ 
 bridge, in 1831. Luard's 
 
 In 1839 he was presented by his father to the family 'Graduati 
 living of Winchfield, vice the Rev. E. G. Meyrick, D.D., giense"- 
 Vicar of Ramsbury, and master of the school at Ramsbury 
 where the Rev. Edward St. John and his brothers had been 
 educated, and held it until 1 844, when he vacated it in favour 
 of his brother, the Rev. Paulet St. John, who held it until 
 1849, when he exchanged it for the Rectory of Mottisfont, 
 Hants, which had become vacant by the death of the Rev. 
 Oliver D'Oyley St. John. The advowson of Mottisfont had 
 for a long period been in possession of the family of Goodyer 
 St. John, the brother of the first Ellis St. John (No. 24). 
 
 On October 8, 1842, the Rev. Edward St. John was 
 instituted to the Rectory of Finchampstead, this being the 
 first institution to Finchampstead recorded in the Oxford 
 Diocesan Registry ; and in November of the same year 
 he was instituted to the family living of Barkham, both of 
 these institutions being made (as recorded in the Diocesan 
 Register) on the presentation of ' Mrs. Elizabeth St. John, 
 widow.' He thus became rector of three parishes at the 
 same time. 
 
 In 1848 the Rev. Edward St. John sold the advowson of ^^^tory^ 
 Winchfield to the St. John Mildmay family, of Dogmersfield. fieid,"by' 
 In 1862 he sold the advowson of Barkham to the Rev. Arthur Rev. 
 Roberts, who was then curate of Barkham; and in 1863 he seymour, 
 resigned the Rectory of Barkham in favour of the Rev. A, '891 
 Roberts. 
 
 In March, 1864, the Rev. A. Roberts sold the advowson 
 of Barkham to Mr. John Walter, of Bearwood, and in the 
 same year, 1864, the Rev. Edward St. John sold the advow- 
 son of Finchampstead to Mr. John Walter, of Bearwood, and 
 thus the advowson of Finchampstead, for the first time smce 
 
78 Chronicles of Finchampstead 
 
 CHAP, the existence of the Manor, was entirely severed from the West 
 J^__ Court moiety of the Manor ; but it thus reverted to the owner 
 A.D. 1892 of the East Court moiety of the ancient Manor from which 
 it had been ahenated by Charles Palmer in 17 13. The 
 Rev. Edward St. John died January 17, 1892, in the eighty- 
 seventh year of his age and the fiftieth year of his ministry as 
 Rector of Finchampstead, much beloved by his parishioners 
 and friends. 
 
 The foregoing records of the rectors of Finchampstead 
 reveal the fact that the practice of the clergy holding livings 
 in plurality, of which Bishop Burnet complained in the seven- 
 teenth and eighteenth centuries, continued until near the 
 middle of the nineteenth century. 
 
 The general habits of the clergy during that period, and 
 the manner in which they endeavoured to discharge their 
 duties to two or more parishes at the same time, are too well 
 known to need description. In the exercise of their patronage 
 as owners of advowsons their main consideration appears to 
 have been their own pecuniary advantage, or the benefit of 
 their family. In one instance, and probably there are many 
 others like it, a presentation to a ' living ' was made in 
 satisfaction of a family debt. The sacred character of an 
 advowson seems to have been entirely lost sight of in the last 
 century and a half 
 
 In regard to the family of St. John, from the year 1744, it 
 should be borne in mind that they were large landowners as 
 well as rectors of the parish, and combined in their own per- 
 son the twofold character of squire and parson. As late as the 
 year 1844 they resided in the manor house of West Court, 
 and not in the old rectory ; we must not, therefore, be surprised 
 to learn that some of them were excellent sportsmen, while 
 they doubtless discharged their duties as clergymen in accord- 
 ance with the general habits of the clergy of the Georgian 
 period. 
 
 Happily a great change for the better began about fifty 
 years ago, soon after Berkshire had been brought within the 
 Diocese of Oxford. In 1845 Bishop Wilberforce became 
 Bishop of Oxford, and under his episcopacy there was a great 
 revival of spiritual life throughout the diocese. 
 
Fincham^stead Church 79 
 
 Reference has been already made to the Rev. Edward chap. 
 St. John's efforts in 1855 to render the House of God more ^^^ 
 worthy of His worship ; and it has been also shown (see p. 34) a.d. 1885 
 that in 1885 his parishioners testified their appreciation of his 
 long service among them by presenting a sixth bell (a treble) 
 to the church, in commemoration of his attaining his eightieth 
 year. 
 
 The following letter from Mr. St. John in reply to that 
 presentation of the bell is so characteristic, that it may very 
 appropriately be inserted here : 
 
 ' The Rectory, Finchamptead : Dec. ()th, 1885. 
 
 'My dear Parishioners and Friends, — Before thanking 
 you for the affectionate address so kindly presented to me on 
 Tuesday last, I feel it my bounden duty to offer my heartfelt 
 thanks to God, in that He has prolonged m-y life to the entry 
 of my eightieth year and the fiftieth of m,y ministry amongst 
 you, and for the innumerable blessings vouchsafed to me during 
 my long life. 
 
 ' To God's special m,ercy I owe it that I was permitted to 
 meet you at the church on the 8th inst. I am much moved by 
 your esteemed token of respect in com,m.em,orating the event by 
 placing " a Treble " to the peal in our parish church, and 
 the record it will convey with it. 
 
 ' It is a great happiness to m.e to know how many kind and 
 dear friends I have in m.y parishioners, and to find how sincere 
 has been the union between pastor and flock for so many 
 years. 
 
 ' Let m.e hope {under Gods blessing) that the friendship 
 that has hitherto existed may be unbroken during the time I 
 may yet be spared and allowed to prolong m.y ministry amongst 
 you. 
 
 ' That God's blessing may be with you and protect you 
 through life is the devout prayer, my dear parishioners and 
 friends, of 
 
 ' Your affectionate old Rector, 
 
 ' E. St. John.' 
 
8o Chronicles of Finchampstead 
 
 CHAP. It has been my happiness to enjoy Mr. St. John's friend- 
 
 "^ ship for the last twelve years of his life. He was an excellent 
 A.D. 1832 specimen of the squire-clergyman of the old school, and was 
 much beloved by his friends. It would be beyond my present 
 object to attempt to give a biography of the Rev. Edward 
 St. John, I will only add that his memory will be long 
 affectionately cherished in Finchampstead. 
 
CHAPTER IV 
 Finchampstead and its Manor 
 
 INCHAMPSTEAD in early days was 
 essentially a forest parish, surrounded 
 on all sides by wild heaths and wood- 
 lands, within the boundaries of Windsor 
 Forest, the hundred of Charlton (or 
 Cherledon, as in Domesday Book), which 
 included Barkham, Hurst, Whitley, 
 Shinfield, Sonning, Early, and part of 
 Swallowfield, and within the county of Berkshire. 
 
 It is also found in the records of Cookham and Bray in 
 later times. 
 
 The present parish of Finchampstead contains, according 
 to the Ordnance Survey Map, 3,943 acres, or 3,646 acres of 
 rateable land, and about 300 acres of non-rateable land, roads, 
 and river, as it has a share of the river Blackwater. 
 
 The origin of the name of our county has not been con- 
 clusively settled, 
 
 Camden, the historian, says that the ancient Latin writers 
 termed it Bercheria, and the English Saxons Berrocscyre, 
 which name, some authorities say, is derived from Berroc, a 
 boxwood which grew in great abundance ; while others say 
 it is from Berroc, or Barroch, a Gaelic word for the birch, 
 which abounds in this county. 
 
 G 
 
 CHAP. 
 IV 
 
 A.D. 1086 
 
 The Hun- 
 dred Rolls 
 of 4 Ed- 
 ward I. 
 1276 
 
 T. J. Pet- 
 
 TIGREW, 
 
 F.R.S. 
 
A.D. 8oo 
 
 82 Chronicles of Finchampstead 
 
 CHAP. Leland derived the word from Berrock, a disbarked or 
 
 ^^ bare oak, beneath which the Saxons held their councils when 
 the State was in more than ordinary danger. 
 
 In the ninth century the name of the county was known 
 as Barocscire; and in Domesday Book (1085-86) it is written 
 Barrochesscire, Berokescire, Berche-scire, and hence our 
 modern Berkshire. 
 
 Of the origin of the name of Finchampstead there is less 
 doubt : it is clearly Saxon. The ' ham,' home, and ' stede,' 
 stead or place, suggest that it was the place of the home or 
 ' homestead ' of some powerful family or tribe, perhaps bearing 
 the name of ' Fyng,' or Fynch, as one of the earliest modes of 
 spelling the word was ' Fyngamstede ' or ' Fynchamstede.' 
 In Domesday Book it is spelt ' Finchamestede.' 
 
 Windsor Forest is one of several forests mentioned in 
 Domesday which had never been disposed of in the first dis- 
 tribution of lands, and from the earliest Saxon times has been 
 considered as belonging to the Crown. Its ancient name was 
 Wyndlesore, Windles-ofra, or Wyndleshora, which Camden 
 derived from the winding course of the river Thames, though 
 more modern historians have derived it from a small stream 
 called Vindles, or Windles, which gave the name of Windles- 
 ham. 
 
 For the origin of Windsor Forest we look back in vain 
 through centuries of changeless existence, into a past almost 
 too remote for history. The Romans first opened it up by 
 their great western road, already described. Canute made 
 laws for his hunting in it, and other Saxon kings made 
 use of it for the same purpose ; but it was reserved for 
 Norman times to institute those terrible forest laws which 
 inflicted the severest penalties upon those who transgressed 
 them. Whoever killed a hart or a hind was to be blinded. 
 Any one disguised who killed a rabbit, or was even seen in a 
 rabbit warren, or was found unlawfully taking fish out of a 
 pond, or killed a stag in a park or enclosure, whether dis- 
 guised or not, might suffer death. 
 
 We are indebted to William the Conqueror for the earliest 
 description which exists of the Manor of Finchampstead. 
 Domesday Book, which is a register of all lands held in the 
 
Finchampstead and its Manor 83 
 
 time of King Edward the Confessor, showing their extent chap. 
 and yearly value at that time, the homage of each manor, and ^^ 
 whether any advance could be made, gives us the following a.d. 
 account of Finchampstead in 1086 : 1042-66 
 
 ' Rex tenet in dominio Finchamestede : 
 
 Heraldus (Comes) tenuit. Tunc pro V 
 
 hidis modo non geldat sed reddit 
 firmam in Radinges Terra est XV 
 
 carticatm.' 
 ' In dominio est una et XVI villani 
 
 et VIII bordarii cum XIIII carucis. 
 
 Ibi VI send et molendinum de VII 
 
 solidorum et VI denariorum et IIII 
 
 acrx prati.' 
 ' Silva de cc porcorum valet VIII 
 
 libras et valuit.' 
 
 This description may be thus paraphrased, viz. : The 
 King (William the Conqueror) holds Finchampstead in de- 
 mesne {i.e. as owner of the land ; it was part of his estate of 
 Windsor Forest). Earl Herold (Harold) held it 'as of fee' 
 (in the time of Edward the Confessor). Then, he not only 
 paid for 5 hides,^ but rendered entertainment at Reading {i.e. 
 the King and his followers for one or three nights, which was 
 an ancient form of tenure). The arable land is 1 5 carucates.^ 
 In demesne {i.e. in the lord's estate) there is one manor and 
 16 villeins^ (or partly free tenants), and 8 bordarii* (or poorer 
 tenants), with 14 ploughs. 
 
 There are 6 serfs and a mill of the value of 75. 6d. (equi- 
 valent to about 22/. io.y. of our present money) {i.e. which 
 yielded to the King 'js. 6d.), and four acres of meadow land. 
 There is wood pasture for 200 pigs. It is valued at 8/. (or 
 
 ^ Hide was the term used in Edward the Confessor's time for the measure- 
 ment of land, and was variable in quantity from 70 to 150 acres : it denoted the 
 ^quantity of land which could be managed by one plough of oxen ift a. year, and 
 included the meadow and pasture land necessary for such tillage. 
 
 ' Carucate was the term introduced by William the Conqueror instead of hide, 
 and was derived from the French word charrue, or Latin carruca, a plough. 
 
 ' Villans, or villeins, from villa (Latin), a small country farm : men who had 
 small portions of land and cottages attached to them, for which they were dependent 
 on the lord of the manor to work for him and to serve him. 
 
 * Bordarii, or borderers, a lower order of dependents or labourers than villeins. 
 Cottagers who worked on the lord's land held their cottage and land on condition 
 of supplying their lord with poultry, eggs, and other small provisions for board. 
 (Kennett.) 
 
 G 2 
 
84 Chronicles of Finchampstead 
 
 CHAP, about 480/. of our present money), and was valued at the 
 
 ^^ same sum in the time of Edward the Confessor. 
 A.D. 1086 It is impossible to form any accurate estimate of the ex- 
 tent of the manor here described, owing to the uncertain 
 quantity represented by the term ' hide ' and ' carucate,' which 
 are variable quantities. 
 
 Earl Harold was the son of Earl Godwin (Earl of Kent), 
 the most powerful English earl, and brother-in-law of Edward 
 the Confessor, who had married his sister Edith (Elgitha). 
 Godwin and Harold were King Edward's chief advisers, and 
 on the death of Earl Godwin, in 1053, Harold became the 
 virtual ruler of the land, owing to the weak and timid disposi- 
 tion of the King. King Edward was an ardent supporter of the 
 ' regular ' clergy, and was greatly under the influence of the 
 Abbot of Westminster, who induced him to build and endow 
 the Abbey Church of Westminster, which was not completed 
 until the year before his death (1065). One of the last acts 
 of his life was to endow his Abbey Church of Westminster with 
 the Crown lands at Windsor and all its surrounding forest. 
 The King's charter conveying this endowment was in these 
 words : ' To the praise of Almighty God, I have granted as 
 an endowment and perpetual inheritance, to the use of those 
 that serve the Lord, Windleshore with its appurtenances' 
 The King died Januarys, 1066. Earl Harold succeeded him 
 as King, but before the close of that year Duke William of 
 Normandy invaded England, and established his right to the 
 throne by conquest at the battle of Hastings, October 14, 
 io66, where Harold was slain. 
 
 The monks of Westminster did not long enjoy their pos- 
 session of Windsor Forest. William the Conqueror soon dis- 
 covered what a good hunting-ground Windsor Forest would 
 afford him ; so he persuaded the Abbot of Westminster to 
 exchange it for some fertile lands in Essex ; and in the 
 charter for effecting the exchange it is stated : ' With the 
 consent and by the favour of the reverend Abbot of Westminster, 
 I have agreed for Windlesora for the royal use ; that place 
 appearing proper and convenient on account of its nearness to 
 the river and the forest, and its suitableness for hunting, and 
 
Pinchampstead and its Manor 85 
 
 many other royal conveniences : in exchange for which I have chap. 
 given Wokendune and Feringhes in Essex.' ^^ 
 
 William the Conqueror then built the Norman castle at a.d. 1086 
 Windsor, which, with subsequent additions, has ever since 
 been the residence of the kings and queens of England. 
 
 Finchampstead in a.d. 1086 appears to have consisted of 
 about thirty cottages and a mill, which at the present day is 
 represented by the well-known ' New Mill,' and possibly both 
 manor and mill had existed for a long time previously to King 
 Edward's reign. (For the further history of the mill, see 
 Chapter on ' Banisters.') 
 
 On the death of Earl Harold, the lordship of the Manor 
 of Finchampstead reverted to the Crown, and continued in its 
 possession until about the years 1 100-18, when Henry I. 
 granted Finchampstead and four other lordships, viz., Alder- 
 maston, Spersholt, Challow, and Colthorpe, in the parish of 
 Thatcham, to Robert Achard, together with the advowson 
 of all the churches, fisheries, and other very extensive mano- 
 rial rights belonging thereto. 
 
 The original document under, which the grant was made 
 is not now in existence, but it is recited in a confirmation of 
 the grant by Henry HI. in 1229 ; and as Matilda, the Queen 
 of Henry I., is stated to have been one of the witnesses to it, 
 the original grant must have been made between the years 
 1 100 and 1 1 18, in which latter year the Queen died. 
 
 I am indeljted to the late owner of Aldermaston, Mr. 
 Higford Higford, for the following copy of the charter of 
 Henry HI., confirming or renewing the grant of these manors 
 to ' Robert Achard, son and heir of William Achard,' which 
 Robert Achard was the fourth in descent from the original 
 grantee.^ 
 
 CLOSE ROLL, 13 HENRY IIL [1229], PART I. 
 {No. 22), M.\2. 
 
 Henry, by the grace of God King of England, Lord of For 
 Ireland, etc., to the archbishops, bishops, etc., greeting. Know ^^^^^^ 
 
 ' I desire also to acknowledge the great assistance I have received from Miss 
 Sharpe, of Ufton Court, in this part of the history of the Manor of Finchampstead ; 
 her interesting History of Ufton Court contains much valuable information on this 
 part of our subject. 
 
86 Chronicles of Finchampstead 
 
 CHAP, ye that we have granted and by our present charter have con- 
 ^^ firmed to Robert Achard, son and heir of William Achard, 
 A.D. 1229 and to his heirs, the manors of Aldermaston and of Finch- 
 amsted, and Coletop, and Speresholt, and Chawelowe, with 
 all their appurtenances, which King Henry {I.), the grandfather 
 of King Henry our grandfather, gave to Robert Achard, 
 grandfather of the aforesaid William, father of the aforesaid 
 Robert. Wherefore we will ^tc, that the aforesaid Robert 
 Achctrd and his heirs after him may have and hold the afore- 
 said manors, with all their appurtenances, in churches, in wood 
 and plain, in meadows and pastures, in waters and mills, in 
 vivaries and fisheries, in ways and paths, and in all other 
 places and other things to those {manors) pertaining ; with 
 thol and theam, and soc and sac, and infangenethef by the 
 service of one knight, well and in peace, freely and quietly ; 
 and that they may be quit of Shires and Hundred Courts, and 
 of murder and of Danegeld, and of all plaints which to us per- 
 tain, as the charter of King Henry, the grandfather of King 
 Henry our grandfather, and the confirmation of King Henry 
 our grandfather, which they have thereof, reasonably testify. 
 The witnesses and date as above. {By the hand of 
 R.\^ ], Bishop of Chichester, etc., at Westminster, 
 
 on the lifth day of February.) 
 Mf Robert Achard appears to have been a Norman knight of 
 
 Walter some distinction. The term ' Magister meus,' by which he 
 ' Hiswry is designated in the grant, seems to imply that he held some 
 of Alder- office in the King's establishment, or he might have been a 
 Tlgo™' professor of civil law, to whom such a title was sometimes 
 applied. The grantee was allowed to hold these five exten- 
 sive manors by the service of one knight's fee only, while 
 each one of them was of itself sufficient to constitute an entire 
 knight's fee, which was equivalent to a tenement of twelve 
 1272 plough lands, the value of which was, in i Edward II., 20/. 
 per annum, or about 800/. of our present money. We learn 
 from Domesday Book that Finchampstead Manor consisted 
 of fourteen ploughs, so that the value of this manor alone was 
 really greater than one knight's fee. 
 
 By the feudal system all land was held upon a strictly 
 military principle ; and the holder or owner of it took rank 
 
Finchampstead and its Manor 87 
 
 in the army of the State according to the nature of his con- chap. 
 nection with it. It was first broadly divided among the _^_ 
 great nobiUty and laity holding immediately under the Crown, a.d. ms 
 who were the lords of the fee throughout the presidency, and 
 they possessed in right of it the service of knights and 
 gentlemen who held their manors under them, and followed 
 their standards in war. Under the lords of manors, again, 
 small freeholds and copyholds were held of various extent, 
 often forty shillings and twenty shillings value, tenanted by 
 peasant occupiers, who thus on their own land lived as free 
 Englishmen, maintaining by their own free labour themselves 
 and their families ; thus creating a descending scale of owners, 
 each of whom was dependent upon an authority higher than 
 himself, and thus constituting a perpetually subsisting army 
 of soldiers. 
 
 A knight was bound to attend his lord to the war for forty 
 days in every year, if called upon, which attendance was his 
 ■ redditus ' (rendering), ' rent,' or service for the land he held. 
 There were, besides, various incidental charges to which his 
 estate was liable, such as ' aids,' ' reliefs,' ' primer seisin,' or 
 'first fruits' on succession, 'wardships,' knighthood,' all of 
 which were sources of revenue to the Crown. 
 
 The Manor of Finchampstead was held under the lords of 
 the manor of Aldermaston, as chief lords, who held from the 
 Crown in capite from about the year 11 20 to the year 1672, 
 when the statute of 12 Charles II., chap. 24, put an end to the 
 feudal system of land tenure, although it had been practically 
 discontinued during the Revolution. The names of the chief 
 lords during the above period will be found in Appendix, 
 No. I. 
 
 Between the years 11 t8 and 1 135, Richard Achard, No. 2, 1118-35 
 son of Robert, the first grantee, enfeoffed two knights, Alard 
 and John Banastre, respectively, with the manors of Finch- 
 ampstead and Sylhamsted. Hearne's 
 
 The authority for this statement is the 'Liber Niger ed. 'Liber 
 Scaccarii,' which contains the certificates of knights' fees for ^^^^-^ 
 manors held in capite of the King in 12 Henry II., on an and Testa 
 assignment of 'aid' for marrying Matilda, the King's ^^^^l^Y 
 daughter. 122 
 
88 
 
 Chronicles of Finchmnpstead 
 
 CHAP. 
 IV 
 
 A.D. 1166 
 
 Pipe 
 Roll, 20 
 Henry II. 
 under Ox- 
 fordshire, 
 by Ma- 
 DOX, in 
 his ' His- 
 tory of 
 the Ex- 
 chequer,' 
 i. 124 
 
 1216-72 
 
 Fed. Fin. 
 35 Ed- 
 ward I. 
 20, V. 307 
 
 Carta Wilhelmi Achard 
 
 Henrico Regi Anglorum Domino suo, Wilhelmus Achard salutem et 
 fidelitatetn : 
 
 Sciatis quod Ricardus filius Achard, meus pater, fefavit tres milites de 
 suo domino in tempore Henrici Regis avi Vestri, scilicet, Alard Banactum, et 
 Johannem Banactum, et Hugonem de Brutinoll. Nee postea aUquis feofatus 
 est. 
 
 The name of Banastre has been preserved attached to the 
 parish of ' Sulhampstead Bannister ' to the present day. It 
 would have been difficult to identify Banastre under the Latin 
 name of Banactus, without the light thrown upon it in the 
 ' Testa de Nevill.' 
 
 Their names occur in various Rolls, but only the fact 
 that they held their manors under Richard Achard. Alard 
 Banastre is mentioned as a justice itinerant in the twentieth 
 year of Henry II. (n 74), setting tallages upon the King's de- 
 mesnes in Oxfordshire. He was then Sheriff of Oxfordshire. 
 
 The name of William Banastre is next found in 4 John 
 (1203) as having quitclaimed, &c., to the Prior of 'Shire- 
 burn,' the advowson of Sulhampstead, in return for which he 
 was to obtain certain spiritual benefits, &c. This William 
 Banastre held the two manors of Finchampstead and Sul- 
 hampstead, and is believed to have been the father of William 
 Banastre, Knt., who held the Manor of Finchampstead, and of 
 John Banastre, who held the Manor of Sulhampstead under 
 Robert Achard, No. 5, who was chief lord of the fee in the 
 time of Henry III. 
 
 The next owner of Finchampstead Manor appears to have 
 been Sir William Banastre, father of Constance and Agatha, 
 and probably the son of William last mentioned. 
 
 In the Diocesan Registry of Salisbury, under date of 1299, 
 it is recorded that John and Peter de la Hoese, husbands of 
 Constance and Agatha, the daughters and heirs of Sir William 
 Banastre, ' presented Henry de la Hoese to the church of 
 Finchampstead,' from which it is inferred that in 1299 Sir 
 William Banastre had died, and, leaving no son, had divided 
 the Manor of Finchampstead and the advowson of the church 
 between his two daughters. Constance, the elder, had mar- 
 ried John de la Hoese and inherited the East Court moiety of 
 the manor and advowson ; while Agatha, the younger, had 
 
Finchampstead and its Manor 89 
 
 married Peter de la Hoese, and inherited the West Court chap. 
 moiety of the manor and advowson. We thus obtain a regular ^'^■ 
 succession of Banastres holding the manor and advowson of a.d. 1120 
 Finchampstead from about the year 1 120 to about 1290, viz. : 
 
 Finchampstead Sulhampstead 
 
 1 1 20. Alard Banastre John Banastre 
 
 1203. William Banastre 
 1216-72. William Banastre John Banastre 
 
 (about) 1290. William Banastre 
 Constance and Agatha 
 
 This seems the proper place to consider where the 
 Banastres were likely to have been living before the division 
 of the Manor took place, in the latter part of the thirteenth 
 century. 
 
 It was almost the invariable custom for the lord of a 
 manor to reside near his church. In the early days of Chris- 
 tianity the noble or the great landowner had his own chap- 
 lain, and he built a church near his own residence, and even- 
 tually his holding became the parish, and his chaplain the 
 parish priest. This is one of the origins of churches and 
 parishes, and was most likely the origin of Finchampstead. 
 
 There is great uncertainty as to the date of the creation 
 of parishes. Lord Selborne tells us that, in the early days of Karl of 
 Christianity, parishes, as such, were unknown. The parish on'p^o^^ 
 (parochia) usually signified the same as a diocese does now. c^iai 
 There was no appropriation of ecclesiastical dues to a parti- isss^^' 
 cular church, but every one was at liberty to contribute his tithes 
 to whatever parish or church he pleased. By the laws of 
 King Edgar, about 970, tithes were ordered to be paid to the 
 parish church, thus recognising that parishes then generally 
 existed. As Christianity spread, the lords of manors, for the 
 accommodation of their own families and their tenants, began 
 to build churches on their own demesnes or wastes, and 
 obliged all their tenants to appropriate their tithes to the 
 maintenance of one officiating minister. This tract of land, 
 with the tithes so appropriated, formed a distinct parish. 
 
90 Chronicles of Finchampstead 
 
 CHAP. The parochial organisation had become universal, or nearly so 
 ^^' in England, before the end of the twelfth century. 
 
 Archbishop Theodore in the seventh century permitted all 
 who built churches and supported a resident pastor to have 
 the right of selecting their priests from the available clergy, 
 and our present system of private patronage is said to have been 
 derived from that practice. 
 
 After a long and careful research I have ascertained that 
 the ancient residence of the lords of the whole Manor of 
 Finchampstead was on the hill adjoining the church ; and I 
 think there can be no reasonable doubt that the church was 
 built by one of these lords — possibly by Earl Harold in the 
 eleventh century, or by Alard Banastre in the twelfth century. 
 
 The late rector, the Rev. Edward St. John, when in 
 his eighty-fourth year, told me that he could remember in his 
 early days seeing the remains of a very old house near the 
 church, which he had always regarded as the original East 
 Court Manor-house. Mr. St. John was not then aware, nor 
 was I, that the East and West Court Manors had originally 
 formed one Manor. 
 
 This house was much superior to an ordinary farmhouse, 
 and contained a large hall with some good tiled pavement. 
 An old resident can also remember seeing in this house a 
 very ancient oak table, which had round places scooped out in 
 it to receive a trencher or wooden basin for each person who 
 dined at it. The brickwork of the wall which still surrounds 
 the garden is of great antiquity. The ground on the south 
 side of the hill, where the house is supposed to have stood, 
 clearly bears traces of terrace walks, which seem to have 
 extended along the south front of the house, as will be seen 
 on reference to the sketch on the opposite page. This ground 
 has every appearance of having been the site of a house of 
 considerable importance. 
 
 On this hill doubtless stood the ancient manor-house, 
 which was occupied by the lords of the whole Manor until 
 about 1298, when the Manor was divided into the East and 
 West Court moieties of the Manor of Finchampstead. Its 
 proximity to the Roman road would have made it convenient 
 of access in early times. The Roman roads continued to be 
 
Finchampstead and its Manor 
 
 91 
 
 the main roads throughout the country as late as the thirteenth 
 century, and West Court House was built upon this very road 
 in that century ; and doubtless this road was used as the means 
 of communication between West Court and the church for 
 several centuries afterwards. The present road between 
 these two points, known by the name of the ' Common Field 
 Lane,' which was only a 'drift way' until the year 1863, 
 deviates very little from the original line of the Roman road. 
 This road in many ancient deeds is called ' Church Lane,' 
 which would seem to be a more appropriate name. 
 
 Until the year 1879-80 there were very extensive farm 
 
 CHAP. 
 IV. 
 
 buildings adjoining the eastern side of the old churchyard, 
 which no doubt anciently belonged to the old manor-house. 
 These buildings were removed in 1879, and by the muni- 
 ficence of the late Mr. John Walter, the owner of the East 
 Court moiety of the Manor, the site of them was added to 
 the churchyard, and the ground was consecrated by the late 
 Bishop Mackarness in 1881. 
 
 Since the foregoing account of the Manor was written, I 
 have discovered a document which fully confirms the opinion 
 that the ancient manor-house was on the church hill. 
 
 In the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries there had 
 been frequent disputes between the lords of the Manors of 
 
92 
 
 Chronicles of hinchampstead 
 
 CHAP. 
 
 IV. 
 
 East and West Court as to their respective boundaries, and in 
 1734 Henry Fish Palmer, the Lord of the East Court Manor, 
 A.D. 1734 and ElHs St. John, the Lord of the West Court Manor, came to 
 eed exe- a mutual agreement upon the subject. In a draft deedofagree- 
 'o^'^'^'fi^ ment dated July 27, 1734, which I have seen, the boundaries 
 are set forth in detail, and in defining the boundary of the 
 East Court Manor, near the church, mention is expressly 
 made of ' the mansion house of East Court adjoining to the 
 said churchyard, in the occupation of John Allwright, together 
 with the plot or hill before it called Church Hill.' 
 
 Wilts 
 • Archaeo- 
 log. Mag. 
 vol. xiii. 
 P- 52 
 
 THE FAMILY OF DE LA HOESE 
 
 The family of Hoese is exceedingly ancient. The name 
 is variously spelt as Hoese, Heose, Huse, House, Howse, 
 Husee, and Hussey, but these variations are all considered as 
 belonging to one and the same family, now represented by 
 various branches of the Hussey family which are found in 
 several counties, e.g. Wilts, Sussex, Surrey, Hants, Shrop- 
 shire, &c. The origin of the name has been variously derived. 
 The Wiltshire ancestor in Domesday Book, 103, 154, was 
 ' Walter Hosatus,' so called because he was ' hosed,' 
 ' trousered,' or ' booted,' as accepted by descendants whose 
 ancient arms were three human legs (heusd) gules, i.e. ' red- 
 trousered.' The crest of the Husseys of Wilts is a boot 
 sable, spurred or, topped ermine. We can easily understand 
 how the word Hosatus became Hose (Norman), Heuse, Huse, 
 Husee (English), and finally Hussey. The spelling followed 
 the various English pronunciations of a Norman name. Some- 
 times these names have the prefix of de la, and sometimes 
 have only de, and sometimes the same name is found without 
 any prefix. In the Salisbury Diocesan Registry the name of 
 these patrons of Finchampstead advowson is spelt in three 
 different ways, viz. as Huese, Huse, and Hoese, but in each 
 case with the prefix of de la ; and this prefix appears to nave 
 been the distinguishing mark of the Berkshire and Wilts 
 branches of the family. 
 
CHAPTER V 
 The East Court Moiety of the Manor 
 
 [ONSTANCE, the elder daughter of Sir chap. 
 William Banastre, married John de la ^ 
 Hoese. It having been shown in the a.d. 1275 
 preceding chapter that the original house 
 of the lord of the whole Manor was on 
 the hill adjoining the churchyard, and that 
 it afterwards became the residence of the 
 lord of the East Court moiety of the 
 Manor, we may reasonably suppose that, on the division of 
 the Manor, the elder daughter Constance and her husband, 
 John de la Hoese, resided in that house. 
 
 John de la Hoese (I.) appears to have been a second cousin 
 of Peter de la Hoese, of West Court. ^ Their grandfathers 
 were brothers. Peter's grandfather owned the Manor of 
 Padworth, Berks, which descended to Nicholas de la Hoese, 
 the father of Peter, who in a post-mortem inquisition was 
 declared to be the ' next heir to Nicholas.' John de la 
 Hoese, though representing a younger branch, was an older 
 man than Peter, who in 1275 was only fifteen years of age; 
 while John was at that time married to Constance Banastre, 
 and had thereby become Lord of the Manor of East Court. 
 
 ' The Roman numerals after the name of the owners of the Manor show the 
 order of the descent of the Manor. 
 
94 Chronicles of Finchamj}stead 
 
 CHAP. In the Court Rolls of the Hundred of Cherledon 
 
 ^ (Charlton), 4 Edward I., a.d, 1276, it is found that in that 
 
 A.D. 1276 year sundry small properties ^ in Finchampstead were then held 
 
 Rotuii by ten tenants of John de la Hoese in capite ; these small 
 
 Hundredo- properties, amounting altogether to about ten acres, are de- 
 
 1812, folio, scribed as ' purprestures,' or encroachments, and had been 
 
 p°^''" enclosed in the time of Henry HI., between 1216 and 1272; 
 
 Appendix, SO we See that the practice of ' encroachments,' which had 
 
 ^°' ^ increased enormously by the beginning of the nineteenth 
 
 century, had a very early origin. 
 
 1299 The next mention of John de la Hoese (I.) is found in the 
 
 Salisbury Diocesan Registry, where he is recorded as having, 
 
 conjointly with Peter de la Hoese, of West Court, nominated 
 
 to the rectory of Fynchamstede in the years 1299, 131 1, and 
 
 1317, and he is there described as the 'husband of the 
 
 daughter and heire of Sir William Banastre.' The only other 
 
 ^ppen IX, j^gj^^JQj^ Qf ]^jg name is in a Subsidy Roll of. Fynchamstede 
 
 and 5 under date of 1327, and in Feet of Fines of 2 Edward III. 
 
 (1328), where he grants to Edward Thornhill and Joan his 
 
 '^^■^ wife one-third part of the Manor of Fynchamstede East 
 
 Court. John de la Hoese in 1328 would have been about 
 
 eighty years of age. Joan Thornhill appears to have been 
 
 the mother of John de la Hoese by a former husband. 
 
 The history of John de la Hoese and of the next descent 
 of the East Court moiety of the Manor is involved in some 
 obscurity. All that we know for certain is that this property, 
 together with its moiety of the advowson, is next found in the 
 possession of the family of Foxle, or Foxley, of Bramshill, 
 but how it came into the possession of that family there is 
 no positive evidence at present forthcoming. 
 
 Sir John de Foxle, No. i (Foxlee) (Foxley), Baron of the 
 Exchequer in 1308-9, was the founder of this family at Bray, in 
 Berks, and Bramshill, in Hants ; the latter place having come 
 to him through his wife, Constantia, who died in 1333. Sir 
 John Foxle, the judge (whom we will call I.), died in 1324, 
 
 ' The Hundred of Sonning had formerly been part of the Hundred of Cherle- 
 don (Charlton), but ' was withdrawn by R' (probably Richard le Poor), ' Bishop of 
 Salisbury, in the time of King Henry III., to the damage of the king's Hundred, 
 but the jury knew not by what warrant ; it was worth one hundred shillings.' 
 
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96 Chronicles of Finchampstead 
 
 CHAP, and was succeeded by his only son, Sir Thomas Foxle, No. 2, 
 
 ^ who died in 1360, having been twice married, first to 
 
 A.D. 1360 Katherine, daughter of Sir John de Ifield, heiress of Apulder- 
 
 field, Kent ; and secondly to Joanna, widow of Sir James 
 
 de Wodestock, of Holeshute (Holdshot), Hants, who survived 
 
 Sir Thomas Foxle. 
 
 Sir Thomas, No. 2, was succeeded in 1360 by his son, Sir 
 John de Foxley, No. 3, who died in 1378. Sir John married 
 Matilda, daughter of Sir John Brocas, of Beaurepaire, Hants, 
 by whom he had two daughters, Katharine, the elder, who 
 married John de Warbleton, grandson of Sir John de 
 Warbleton, of Warbleton, and Sherfield on Loddon ; and 
 Margaret, who married Robert Bullock. 
 
 Sir John de Foxley, No. 3, also left three illegitimate sons, 
 the eldest of whom, Thomas, succeeded to the Bramshill and 
 other estates, although not without dispute. 
 
 The late Sir William Cope, Bart., tells us in his history 
 of Bramshill that William Warbleton (the grandson of 
 Katharine Warbleton), in 1412-13, laid claim to the Manor of 
 Bramshill in right of his grandmother, the elder legitimate 
 daughter of Sir John Foxley, No. 3, and took legal proceed- 
 ings for the recovery of his rights ; but we are not told with 
 what result. We learn, however, that seventeen years after- 
 wards, 'in 1429,' Thomas Foxley, 'with the object of rebut- 
 ting this claim, obtained from Margery {his quasi niece, 
 daughter of Margaret Bullock, and wife of fohn Herting- 
 ton) a demise to him, described as Thomas Foxley, son of 
 Sir John Foxley, of all her right, &c., in the Manors of 
 Bray, Finchampstead, Bramshill, Rumbleds-wyke, and Apul- 
 derfield, together with the advowsons of the churches of 
 Finchampstead and Rumbledswyke, and of the other chapel of 
 Apulderfield, in the counties of Berks, Southampton, Wilts, 
 Sussex, and Kent, which formerly were the possessions of Sir 
 John Foxley, knight.' 
 1361 The earliest mention of the East Court Manor in connec- 
 tion with the Foxley family is in the Diocesan Registry of 
 Salisbury, where it is recorded that Sir John Foxley, No. 3, 
 presented Hamond de la Soler to the rectory of Finchamp- 
 stead on February 18, 1361. This fact alone would not in 
 
The East Court Moiety of the Manor 97 
 
 itself necessarily constitute ownership ; but taken in connec- chap. 
 
 tion with what has been last shown above, and with what ^_ 
 
 will presently be produced, there will be a chain of evidence a.d. 1361 
 in favour of ownership which is irresistible. 
 
 In a Subsidy Roll of 141 2, Sir Thomas Foxley, of Brams- 1412 
 hill, is named as owning lands and rent to the value of £20 a See Ap- 
 year in Fynchamstede, and in another Subsidy Roll of 1428 pp"23i, 
 he is recorded as holding ' parcel of the Manor of Fyncham- 232, for 
 stede,' though there would seem to be some mistake in the f^o™"^ * 
 further description of the ' parcel ' by confusing it with the Subsidy 
 parcel of the Manor which Alina de la Hoese formerly held, 
 which was the Wesi Court moiety of the Manor, and which 
 most certainly never belonged to the Foxley family. ' John 
 Colle,' who is mentioned, was owner of the West Court 
 moiety. (See Chapter on ' West Court.') 
 
 Sir Thomas Foxley, No. 4, presented to the rectory of 1432 
 Finchampstead in 1432, and died in 1436, which shows that 1^^,,^^^ 
 in 1432 he had come to some arrangement with William foxley, 
 Warbleton, whereby he retained his interests in the East ^°- 4 
 Court Manor, and his power of presenting to the rectory 
 of Finchampstead for twenty years after William Warbleton 
 had commenced his action for the recovery of his rights. 
 
 Two other presentations to Finchampstead were also 
 made during Sir Thomas Foxley's tenure of Bramshill, in 
 right of the East Court moiety of the advowson : one in 
 1393. the name of the presenter not being recorded, and the 1393 
 other in 1401, by Roger Curson, Miles, probably by sale of 1401 
 that presentation. The Chancery proceedings of this period 
 are not arranged for easy reference. If we could get access 
 to the pleadings, and to the result of the litigation, we should 
 probably find that a compromise had been arrived at, whereby, 
 as will appear from the following documents referred to, 
 Thomas Foxley was allowed to retain the property in question 
 during his life, with remainder to William Warbleton, No. 5, 
 and Margery his wife, and his heirs for ever. 
 
 By a deed dated November 11, 1447, William Brocas 1447 
 the elder, Robert .Dyneley the elder, John Gaynesford, ^^^.^ 
 esquire, Thomas Hannys, and Master (the Rev.) John b.m. 
 Corker, clerk (who \yere^ probably, trustees appointed for 38558 
 
 H 
 
98 
 
 Chronicles of Finchampstead 
 
 CHAP. 
 V 
 
 A.D. 1447 
 Appendix 
 No. 14 
 
 See 
 
 following 
 
 Pedigree 
 
 J45I-52- 
 See 
 
 Appendix, 
 No. 15. 
 B.M.Add. 
 Charters, 
 38561, 
 -3 and -5 
 
 Appendix, 
 No. 16 
 
 I4S3 
 
 B.M.Add. 
 Charters, 
 38562 
 
 carrying out the arrangement made on the ' termination of 
 the Htigation between William Warbleton and Sir Thomas 
 Foxley), conveyed to William Warbleton, No. 5, and Dame 
 Margery his wife, and their heirs, the moiety of the Manor 
 of Fynchamstede, and the alternate right of presentation to 
 the church, with remainder thereof to Richard de la Hay 
 (uncle of the said William and Margaret) and Margaret his 
 wife for their lives, and remainder thereof to Matthew de la 
 Hay, son of the aforesaid Richard and Margaret, and his heirs 
 for ever, ' according to the form and effect of a certain charter 
 of ours tripartite indented thereof made.' 
 
 William and Margaret Warbleton, having no children, 
 decided to settle this property upon Hugh Pakenham (VII.) 
 and his wife Constance, the daughter and heir of Sir Richard 
 de la Hay and Margaret his wife. 
 
 William Warbleton (V.) was nephew to Sir Richard de la 
 Hay, who was his mother's brother, and was consequently first 
 cousin to Constance Pakenham. By a deed bearing date 
 January 15, 1451-52, they 'gave, granted, and confirmed' the 
 East Court moiety of the Manor and advowson to Hugh 
 and Constance Pakenham, and their children, with remainder 
 to Richard de la Hay and Margaret his wife, in the event of 
 Hugh and Constance dying and not leaving a child, reserving 
 to themselves an annuity of twenty marks, payable to them 
 during their respective lives : the payment of this annuity is 
 shown by receipts dated 1454-59 and onwards. 
 
 In furtherance of this gift Richard and William de la 
 Hay, by deed dated November 8, 1453, 'renounce and quit- 
 claim ' to Hugh and Constance Pakenham all their right and 
 claim to the said property, which is further described as 
 having 'formerly belonged to John Foxley, knight, and 
 afterwards to William Warbleton, esquire.' 
 
 Here we have a distinct admission that the East Court 
 Manor belonged to Sir John Foxley, though it is not stated 
 whether it was Sir John Foxley No. i or No. 3. 
 
 In the deed of November 11, 1447 (B.M. 38558), quoted 
 above, Matthew, a second son of Richard and Margaret de la 
 Hay, is named in the entail of this property ; as his rtame is 
 omitted in the deed of gift of January 15, 1451-52, it is 
 
The East Court Moiety of the Manor 
 
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 CHAP. 
 
 V 
 
TOO Chronicles of Finchampstead 
 
 CHAP, presumed that he had died in the interim between these 
 
 V dates. 
 
 A.D. 1469 William Warbleton (V.) died in 1469; and in 1471 John 
 
 Corker (clerk), who appears to have been the last survivor of 
 
 the trustees under the Foxley and Warbleton settlement, con- 
 
 Rou, firmed to Margaret, the widow of William Warbleton, her 
 
 II Edw. ii^jpg interest in the East Court estate. Margaret Warbleton 
 
 M.S. ' died in 1483, when the East Court moiety of the Manor and 
 
 Nov°'i6 ^^ share of the advowson was freed from the annuity of 
 
 1471 ' twenty marks with which it had been charged since 1451-52, 
 
 ■4^3 and became absolutely the property of Hugh Pakenham and 
 
 Constance his wife. 
 
 Having thus shown the course of the descent of this 
 property from John de la Hoese (about 1328) to 1483, let 
 us now return to John de la Hoese, and consider, with the 
 light thus thrown upon it, what were the probable means by 
 which it passed to the Foxley family. 
 
 There is no evidence to be found of John de la Hoese 
 having left a son who survived him. No post-mortem inqui- 
 sition and no feet of fines relating to the property can be 
 traced. It is quite possible, however, that he may have left 
 a daughter, who may have married, and carried the East 
 Court property with her under a deed of trust. 
 
 It is not known who ' Constantia,' the wife of Sir John de 
 
 Foxle, No. I, was. There are reasons for believing that she 
 
 was a widow when she married Sir John de Foxle, and it is 
 
 known that she ' brought the Manor of Bramshill and other 
 
 1346 properties as her dower.' Bramshilldown to 1346 had belonged 
 
 inq. r.M. to the St. John family of Basing ; and upon the death without 
 
 m'^ST^" issue of Edmund St. John in that year, it passed by marriage 
 
 Sir w. II. to the Foxleys. Constantia appears to have been the wife of 
 
 Bar't!'' Sir John de Foxle in 1306. She died in 1333 ; Sir John de 
 
 'History Foxle died in 1324. It is quite possible that Constantia may 
 
 „fw have been the daughter of John de la Hoese, who was a 
 
 married man in 1275, and was living in 1328. 
 
 She might have married one of the St. Johns of Basing, 
 Bramshill might have been settled upon her marriage in 
 reversion to Edmund St. John, of Bramshill, who left no son, 
 .and -the East Court Manor might also have been settled upon 
 
 of Urams- 
 hiir 
 
The East Court Moiety of the Manor loi 
 
 her by her father (reserving a life interest in it for himself chap. 
 and his wife) as another part of her dower, and thus both "^ 
 these properties may have been brought into the Foxley 
 family. The name of ' Constantia ' would seem to be a 
 natural one for the daughter of ' Constance' de la Hoese. 
 
 I can only throw out this as a suggestion, in the hope that 
 some of my readers may be able either to confirm or correct 
 it. The only alternative suggestion which I can offer is that 
 the property might possibly have come through Joanna, the 
 second wife of Sir Thomas de Foxle, No. 2, who was the 
 widow of Sir James de Woodstock, of Holeshute (Holdshot), 
 Hants, whose maiden name is not knowit, but I incline to the 
 former theory. 
 
 I I is considered by an eminent archaeologist, whom I have 
 consulted upon this question, that ' Constance ' was not the 
 mother of Sir Thomas de Foxle, No. 2, but was the second 
 wife of Sir John de Foxle, No. i, and that she brought a 
 large addition to the family property. 
 
 Bramshill, during the lifetime of Sir John de Foxle, 
 -No. I, was comparatively a small estate, and probably 
 contained only a small messuage or house. Sir John was 
 succeeded in 1324 by his son Sir Thomas de Foxle, No. 2, 
 who was a trusted servant and friend of King Edward III. 
 In 1347 we find that his Berkshire estates were charged with 
 the supply of 120 archers for the war with France, and in 
 the same year he obtained a license to enclose 2,500 acres in 
 Bramshill and Hazeley, and to make the park which still 
 exists; and between 135 1 and 1360 he erected a noble 
 mansion at Bramshill, which was replaced in 1604-12 by the 
 present house, which was built by Lord Zouche. 
 
 In 135 1 he was associated with William of Wykeham, 
 
 afterwards Bishop of Winchester, Sir John de Brocas, and 
 
 Oliver de Bordeaux, in the commission for the rebuilding and 
 
 enlarging of Windsor Castle. He was Constable of Windsor 
 
 'Castle from 1328 until his death in 1360. 
 
 Sir John Foxley, No. 3, succeeded to the estates of his 
 father in 1360, and appears to have been as great a favourite 
 with his king, Edward III., as his father had been. He held 
 several high offices under the Crown, being made in 1365 
 
102 
 
 Chronicles of Finchanipstead 
 
 CHAP. 
 
 V 
 
 A.D. 1376 
 
 Bishop 
 from 1329 
 to 137s 
 
 Professor 
 Burrows' 
 ' History 
 of the 
 Brocas 
 Family ' 
 
 'first constable of Sheppiey Island Castle' for life, and in 1376 
 constable of Southampton Castle, as well as warden of the 
 king's Manor and Park of Lyndhurst, and of the New Forest. 
 His married life was not altogether a happy one. He married 
 in 1320 Matilda, the daughter of Sir John de Brocas, when 
 both of them must have been merely boy and girl of not more 
 than fourteen years of age. Professor Burrows, in his inte^ 
 resting history of the Brocas family, recounts the story of their 
 marriage, the materials for which were derived from a docu- 
 ment which came from the muniments of the Sarum Diocese. 
 
 This document formed part of a valuable collection of 
 manuscripts, the spoils of monasteries treasured up in different 
 places, which came to the Bodleian Library from Bishop Tanner 
 in the early part of the last century, but which, having been sub- 
 merged in the Thames by the upsetting of a barge, had until 
 recent years been illegible, and remained unsorted. In 1878 
 the restoration of these documents was accomplished. Among 
 them was one which proved to be the remission by Robert 
 Wyvil, Bishop of Salisbury, of a sentence of suspension from 
 his function for a year of a priest named William de Handler, 
 who had been ' concerned in the solemnisation of a marriage 
 between John de Foxle and Matilda Brocas outside the 
 parochial church of mother parish of Bray in our diocese, and 
 without the license of our diocesan officers.' From this it 
 would seem that the marriage was ' a runaway match,' for 
 which the priest suffered temporary suspension. Sir John 
 de Brocas, the father of Matilda de Foxle, was a very 
 great personage in the reign of Edward III. He filled the 
 office of ' Master of the Horse,' chief forester of Windsor, 
 constable of Guildford, and various other offices. In 1346 he 
 and his son Bernard of Brocas accompanied the king in his 
 invasion of France, and they were present at the siege of 
 Calais and the battle of Crecy. At the siege of Orleans Sir 
 John de Brocas commanded a company of his own, consisting 
 of one knight, fourteen esquires, and twenty-four archers, a 
 number said to have been considerably above the average. 
 
 Sir John de Foxle, after the death of his wife Matilda, 
 married Joan Martin, by whom he had previously had three 
 illegitimate sons, the eldest of whom. Sir Thomas, appears to 
 
The East Court Moiety of the Manor 103 
 
 have held the family estates for his life, as shown above. Sir chap. 
 
 John de Foxle resided principally at Bramshill, and died there 
 
 in 1378, having sat in Parliament seven times for Berks and a.d. 1378 
 twice for Hants. There is a fine brass in Bray Church in tatw"*" 
 memory of him and of his two wives. Cart^ 
 
 The family of Warbleton, or Warblington, as they were k"88"^' 
 more anciently called, soon after the Conquest held extensive f°i- '376 
 property in Sutton, in the Hundred of Crondal, Hants, a 
 parish which is still known by the name of ' Sutton Warbleton,' 
 but. they seem to have parted with it about 1336, when 'Coiiec- 
 Thomas de Warbleton, the father of William, and Joanna his r°"o°[,5 
 wife, 'quitclaimed' all their lands in 'Sutton' to Nicholas de and Docu- 
 H any ton, and a few years afterwards that property reverted to ^kting 
 the possession of the Cathedral Priory of Winchester, to which to the 
 it had belonged in Anglo-Saxon times. ofaon- 
 
 William Warbleton, the son of Thomas and Joanna, is said dai,' by 
 to have been seized of the Manor of Bray, Cookham, and baigent, 
 Benfield, i.e. the Manor of the Foxleys (September 28, 1452), 189J. pp. 
 in right of his heirship of the Foxleys through his grand- 32.39.43 
 mother, Katharine, elder daughter of Sir John de Foxley, kerry, 
 
 No. 3. 'History 
 
 We ought next to take notice of the names of the principal quiiies of 
 residents in Finchampstead in 1327, which will be found in a ?^,^"i"' 
 Subsidy Roll of that year in the Appendix. Bray, 
 
 This Roll possesses several features of interest. It shows ^|J''*'' 
 the name of every householder in Finchampstead at that time, ^^ 
 and the relative value of their possessions ; many of the names Subsidy 
 seem to suggest the sources from which they had been g°^j5.'g „ 
 derived. 1 Edw." 
 
 First we find John de la Hoese, Lord of East Court, and 
 Peter de la Hoese, of West Court, paying respectively a subsidy 
 of io.y. \o\d. for East Court, and 135. \\d. for West Court. 
 
 Then there is a Thomas Banastreanda Nicholas Banastre, 
 paying respectively 2S. jd. and 2s. 
 
 Nicholas Banastre was at this time in possession of the 
 ancient mill now known as ' The New Mill,' and other property 
 which he held under the chief lords of Aldermaston, and nok 
 under the lords of East or West Court. (See Chapter VH. 
 on 'Banisters.'-) He was doubtless a descendant and near 
 
 in. 
 
104 Chronicles of Finchampstead 
 
 CHAP, relation of the late Sir W. Banastre, who was lord of the 
 
 whole Manor. ; . .: ., 
 
 A.D. 1327 Thomas Banastre was a near relation of Nicholas, and 
 succeeded him in his possessions. 
 
 I have selected the above names because they represent 
 the properties in Finchampstead which possess the greatest 
 interest. 
 
 Next it will be observed that most of the names have been 
 derived from either the occupation or place of residence of the 
 person referred to : e.g. Robert le Marchant (a merchant or prin- 
 cipal tradesman) ; Peter le Coupere (the cooper) ; Peter atte 
 More probably lived on the moor ; Roger atte Hacche was 
 perhaps connected with the mill (or hatch) ; John de Kyngs- 
 mulle — his name suggests that it may have been derived from 
 some former connection with the old mill. Many of these 
 names are found in an earlier Roll of 1276, where they are 
 mentioned as having obtained their lands by ' purpresture,' or 
 encroachment. 
 
 Hugh Pakenham and Constance, his wife (VII.), became 
 
 owners of the East Court moiety of the Manor and of the 
 
 advowson in 1451-52, as has been shown above. 
 
 Charter In 1458 they obtained a license from the Crown for 
 
 27°to 39^ themselves and their heirs to hold a fair on their Manor on 
 
 Hen. VI. Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday in Whitsun week, with all 
 
 s'dc'c. customary liberty pertaining thereto, without payment of any 
 
 See Ap- fine or fee to the king ; but with a proviso that such fair was 
 
 No. 19 not to cause any injury to neighbouring fairs. A copy of the 
 
 original charter will be found in the Appendix. 
 
 The right of holding a fair at this period was a very 
 lucrative privilege, and was only granted as a special act of 
 favour by the king himself 
 
 We next find Hugh (Hugo) Pakenham's name in the 
 1465 Salisbury Diocesan Registry, under date of December 7, 
 1465, where he is recorded as having presented William 
 Mytton to the rectory of Finchampstead, ' by virtue of a gift 
 to him and Constance his wife, by William Warbylton, in free 
 marriage.' 
 
 This is the last mention of Hugh and Constance Paken- 
 ham which I have been able to trace; the date of their death 
 
The East Court Moiety of the Manor 105 
 
 is not found. They left a son, John Pakenham (VIII.), who chap. 
 succeeded to the East Court property, whose wife's name was ^ 
 Margaret,^ both of whom died in October, 1485, leaving a a.d. 1485 
 son, Edmund Pakenham, who, at the date of his parents' inq. p.m. 
 death, was only five years old. In accordance with the feudal J^t"'^^' 
 laws, Sir Thomas de la Mare, the chief lord of the fee and 
 chief Lord of the Manor of Aldermaston, entered into the East 
 Court moiety of the Manor, and assumed the wardship of 
 Edmund, by reason of his minority, and received the profits 
 of the Manor. 
 
 From an inquisition taken at Newbury, January 14, 2 
 Henry VII. (1486-87), No. 50, itappears that Sir Thomas de 
 la Mare sold the 'wardship' of Edmund Pakenham (IX.) to 
 William Beselles, of Beselles Lee, esquire, and William 
 Alane, of Esthamstede, Berks, yeoman, from the date of the 
 death of John and Margaret Pakenham, who occupied and 
 received the issues and profits of the Manor during the 
 minority of Edmund, viz. until 1500-1. In this document it ,500 
 is further stated that 'John Pakenham long before his death 
 {October i, 1485) was seised of a moiety of the Manor of 
 Fynchamstede, which he held of the king in chief, by service 
 of half a knight's fee, and suit at the kings Hundred Court 
 of the Seven Hundreds of Coke ham and Bray' &c., and that 
 the moiety is worth per annum (clear) 10/. 6s. 8d. 
 
 A further inquisition was therefore held in 1493 at Exchequer 
 Maydenhede, otherwise ' Maydenhithe ' (Maidenhead), before l.t.r. 
 ' Simon Seymour the " Escheator" and a jury of honest and 
 lawful men of his bailiwick,' who still maintained that the Manor 
 was held of the king in chief; whereupon the sheriff was 
 commanded to distrain all the executors of the chief Lord of 
 Aldermaston to render an account of the issues and profits of 
 the said Manor for the last five years. After much further 
 litigation and inquiry it was ultimately decided that 'the 
 
 ' There was another inquisition taken at Romesey, November 5, 2 Henry VII. 
 (i486). No. 42, before the Escheator respecting the death of Margaret, the wife of 
 John Pakenham, which occurred October 5, 1485, in which it was declared that 
 ' she was seized in fee of a moiety of the Manor of Bramchute, and a moiety of the 
 Manor of Gatcombe, in the Isle of Wight, and that Thomas Arundell, knight, and 
 Lord Mawltravers has occupied the land from the time of her death.' Title not 
 known. 
 
io6 
 
 Chronicles of Finchampstead 
 
 CHAP. 
 V 
 
 A.D. 1496 
 
 ■Exchequer 
 L.T.R. 
 Mem., 
 Mich. II 
 Hen. VII. 
 Com- 
 munia 
 R. O. 24 
 
 See pedi- 
 grees, pp. 
 99 and 107 
 
 29 Hen. 
 VIII. in 
 eighl days 
 of Pur. 
 B.V.M., 
 Feb. 9, 
 
 •537-38. 
 and 
 
 30 Hen. 
 VIII. fif- 
 teen days 
 of Easter, 
 Mays, 
 
 1538-39- 
 See Ap- 
 pendix, 
 No. 37 
 
 Manor of Fynchamstede was not held of the king in chief.' 
 As the pleadings furnish dates and particulars which are not 
 found elsewhere, a translation of the abstract of the case, 
 which is in Latin, is given in the Appendix, No. 23. 
 
 This case is a good illustration of the character which the 
 ' Escheator ' bore in former times. 
 
 The name of ' Escheator,' says old Thomas Fuller, the 
 historian, ^ cometh from the French word " eschoir," which 
 signifies to happen or fall out ; and he, by his place, is to 
 search into any profit accruing to the Crown by casualty, by the 
 condemnation of malefactors, persons dying without an heir, or 
 leaving him- in minority,' &c. 
 
 These officers were paid out of the revenues which they 
 obtained for the Crown ; and it is said that it was their 
 practice, under pretence of ' inquest of office,' to oust men 
 from lands held by a good title ; and their reputation for 
 what was termed ' cheating ' has added that opprobrious 
 word to our language. 
 
 Sir Edmund Pakenham (IX.) came of age in 1500-1. On 
 December 16, 1503, he presented to the rectory of Fyncham- 
 stede. The only information I can give about him is that he 
 married and had three daughters, one of whom, Constance, 
 married Sir Geoffi-ey Pole, ' whose heirs in 1549 held lands in 
 Finchampstead ; ' and another, Elizabeth, who married Sir 
 Edmund Marvyn (XL), serjeant-at-law, the uncle of Sir 
 John Marvyn who married Elizabeth, widow of Richard 
 Parkyns, the owner of West Court. In a copy of an old 
 terrier of Aldermaston Manor there is the following entry : 
 'Item of the heyars of Geoffrey Pole knight for such lands as 
 he hath in Fynchamsted sometime Sir Edmund Pakenham his 
 lands which he holdithe of the Manor of Aldermaston byknyght's 
 servys [by the yearly rents ofonjelon Clove). ' From this it would 
 seem that Constance Pakenham (X.), the wife of Sir Geoffrey 
 Pole, had inherited from her father the East Court moiety of 
 the Manor ; but it could have been only for a very short time, 
 as her sister Elizabeth (XL), the wife of Sir Edmund Marvyn, 
 brought it by marriage to her husband ; and in 1538 they sold 
 it to Stephen Cawood (XII.). 
 
The East Court Moiety of the Manor 107 
 
 Sir Walter Marvyn, = Mary, dau. of John CHAP 
 
 Mompesson, of V 
 
 Great Bathampton 
 
 A D. 1538 
 
 ! I 
 
 Elizabeth, dau. of = John Marvyn. Sir Edmund Marvyn, = Elizabeth, dau. and 
 
 Lord Mordaunt, 
 
 sold East Court to 
 Stephen Cawood 
 in 1538. 
 
 coheir of Sir Ed- 
 mund Pakenham, 
 of East Court. 
 
 Sir John Marvyn, = Elizabeth, widow of 
 d. 1566. Richard Parkyns, of 
 
 West Court, d. 1581 
 
 There is no evidence of either Sir Geoffrey Pole or Sir 
 Edmund Pakenham having resided upon the East Court 
 Manor ; their names are not found in any of the Subsidy Rolls 
 within the above-mentioned period. 
 
 During the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, while the 
 Manor was in the possession of the Foxley family, the Lord of 
 the Manor possessed other, and probably far better, houses at 
 Bramshill and Bray, and the old manor-house would most 
 likely have been let. It seems probable that Hugh and 
 Constance Pakenham (VII.) may have lived there from 1453, 
 and also their son John and his wife Margaret, both of whom 
 died in 1485, leaving their son Edmund, who became a ward 
 of the chief Lord of Aldermaston, during whose minority down 
 to 1500 the manor-house would again have been let. 
 
 We are now entering upon a new phase of the history of 
 this Manor, when for the next two hundred years it became 
 the possession of a different class of owners. 
 
 In 1538 Sir Edmund Marvyn (XI.) and his wife Elizabeth 29 Hen. 
 sold the East Court moiety of the Manor and of the advowson vm. at 
 to Stephen Cawood (XII.), subject to an annual charge upon minster, in 
 the property of twenty marks, payable to them and to the heirs e'ght days 
 
 _ —^ . , . - 01 ine 1 ur. 
 
 01 Elizabeth. b.v.m., 
 
 The Manor at this time consisted of 10 messuages, 5 tofts, ^^^- ^g 
 3 cottages, 300 acres of land, 40 acres of meadow, 200 acres and 
 of pasture, 1,000 acres of furze — total, 1,840 acres; and 100 ^°j^^"' 
 shillings in rent. fifteen 
 
 In the deed of conveyance of this property, dated 1538, ^1^^°^ 
 there is a special warranty provided against William, abbot of May 5' 
 the monastery of St. Peter's, Westminster, and his successors '538-39 
 
io8 Chronicles of Fmchampstead 
 
 CHAP, making any claim in respect of it, thus recognising that the 
 ^ rights of the abbots of Westminster had at one time extended 
 A.D. 1538 over Finchampstead parish. 
 
 rfnes"^ ^^ ^^^ ^"^ ^^ following year, 1539, that this monastery, 
 
 Mich.' together with all the other larger monasteries, was dissolved, 
 vn?.^"' ^"^ i*^^ property confiscated. 
 
 No. 181 Stephen Cawood (XII.) is described as a 'mercer' of 
 
 Wokingham, and appears to have died shortly after making 
 
 this purchase, leaving a son Thomas, who was then a minor, 
 
 and only one year old. In an old terrier of the chief lord of 
 
 Aldermaston, the following entry occurs under date of 
 
 1 549_5o : ' Sir Humphfreyfforster whas seasid of the wardship 
 
 Alder- of . . . Cowatt (Cuwood) SOU and heiar of Stephen Cowatt 
 
 Srrir" {Cawood) by ffnrse of the same tenure {i.e. half a knight's 
 
 3 Edw. fgg and paithe a clove gelon), and sold the wardship to one 
 
 1549-50 ^i^- Staffordton in the XXVIIIth yeare of the reigne of 
 
 Kynge Harry the VIII. ' (1537-38). 
 
 Thomas Cawood (XIII.), the infant son of Stephen, thus 
 became a ' ward ' of the chief lord for nearly twenty years, and 
 the chief lord sold the wardship according to the custom in 
 such cases. 
 1558 Thomas Cawood came of age about the year 1558, and in 
 1 560, we are told by Lysons, he conveyed the Manor to Henry 
 Hinde (XIV.) and Thomas Harrison(XV.).^ Nothing is known 
 for certain to account for this joint purchase ; probably there 
 was some relationship between them, and the purchase formed 
 part of a family arrangement, as will appear later on. 
 
 The Harrison family had been for a long time residing 
 in Finchampstead. 
 1580 We learn from the following epitaph in Finchampstead 
 Church, on the north side of the chancel arch, that Henry 
 Hinde was Purveyor to the Royal Stables in the reigns of 
 Henry VIII., Edward VI., Mary, and Elizabeth. It is not 
 quite clear what the duties of his office were ; i.e. whether 
 
 ' In a Chancery suit of Tattersall 7'. Harrison in 1623, Sir R. Harrison is 
 recorded as having stated in his pleadings that ' the East Court moiety of the 
 Manor was purchased jointly by his grandfather, Thomas Harrison, No. 4, and 
 Henry Hinde, of one Cawood, and came to his grandfather by survivorship or 
 other good and lawful means.' See also Lysons, Magna Britannia, vol. iv. 1806.' 
 
The East Court Moiety of the Manor 109 
 
 they involved the actual supply of forage, S:c., to the royal chap. 
 stables, or merely the control of it. v 
 
 A.D. 1580 
 EPITAPH 
 
 Here lyeth buryed Henry Hynde Gent. Lorde of the Manor of Finchamsted 
 Easte Courte, Purveyor to Kinge Henry the Eight, Kinge Edward ye sixt, 
 Queene Mary, King Philippe and Queene Elizabeth, of their Stables, who for 
 his true zeale in Religion, his faythevU Servis to his Prince and Country, and 
 his harty love to his neighgboures was as a perfeete Merror for his ensuinge 
 Posteritie to imitate, who departed this life XXVIIIth Daye of December, 1 580. 
 
 As King Henry VIII. died in 1546-47, Henry Hinde 
 (XIV.) must have held his office for many years before he ac- 
 quired possession of the East Court Manor, and he may have 
 been living in Finchampstead before he bought the Manor. I 
 have not succeeded in finding a Subsidy Roll between 1550 
 and 1580 which would have decided the question. 
 
 The only other mention which can be found of Henry 
 Hinde is that in 1573 he acquired possession of a property 
 ' called Russells ' in the parish of 'Finchampstead, and consist- g jy 
 ing of a messuage, a garden, an orchard, 30 acres of land, 3 Add. ch. 
 acres of meadows, 10 acres of pasture, 10 acres of wood, and 38590 
 common of pasture, with appurtenances in Finchampstead and 
 Barkham.' . This property was within the West Court Manor, b.m. 
 and is shown in the court roll of that Manor for the year 1623, 38566 
 a copy of which will be found in the Appendix, i Edw. 
 
 I am not able positively to identify this property, but there 61 ' ^^ °~ 
 is reason for believing it to have been what is now known as 
 ' Longmoor Farm,' the acreage of which corresponded in 1841 Finch- 
 very nearly with the above. It was owned and occupied by a R^feB^ok 
 family of the name of Russell, from whom it derived its name, for 1841. 
 for two generations previously to 1460, and they held it 'under ^dd-'ch. 
 the chief lords for ever.' It subsequently passed through the 38588-90 
 possession of John and Robert Hethe, ' esquires,' of Odyham, 
 William Waller, 'esquire,' of Stoke, Hants, and Thomas 
 Alloway, of Finchampstead, ' yeoman,' who sold it to Henry 
 Hinde. 
 
 Henry Hinde (XIV.) died on December 28, 1580, on 158 
 which date Thomas Harrison, No. 4, succeeded to the posses- 
 sion of the East Court moiety of the Manor and advows^n. 
 
no Chronicles of Finchainpstead 
 
 CHAP. The following pedigree of the Harrison family will show the 
 
 ^ descent of the East Court Manor between 1580 and 1661. 
 A.D. 1580 N.B. — The numbers in plain figures after the name in the 
 text refer to the lines in the pedigree. Figures in Roman 
 characters indicate the order of the descent of the property. 
 
 The East Court Manor was held in trust for Thomas 
 Harrison (No. 4), in the names of Francis Pollyeand Margaret 
 his wife, who were residents in Finchampstead, and was not 
 formally transferred to Thomas Harrison till June 16, 1595, 
 although he exercised all the rights of ownership from 1580 ; 
 the Manor then consisted of exactly the same description as 
 Feet of is shown above in 1538. The name of Francis Pollye 
 Er^b^h ^PP^^'"^ i^^ the East Court Manor Rolls for the years 1605-30, 
 in which latter year he died seized of lands and messuages 
 called ' Hatches,' on the East Court estate. His name is also 
 found attached to the terrier of the rectory, dated 1608, as 
 churchwarden. 
 
 The Harrisons were a family of great antiquity, originally 
 from Cumberland, afterwards of Hurst. They became of con- 
 siderable importance in the reign of Charles I., and were most 
 loyal supporters of that sovereign during the Rebellion. The 
 name of Thomas Harrison (No. 3), who married Elizabeth, 
 daughter of John Slytherhurst, and widow of . . . Barriett, of 
 Finchampstead, is found in Subsidy Rolls of Finchampstead 
 SeeAp- as early as 1522 and 1524, and paying 2QS., the largest yearly 
 No"^26' amount specified. 
 
 Feet of Elizabeth, when she married Thomas Harrison, was the 
 
 i^s"day of widow of . . . BarUett, of Finchampstead, by whom she had 
 Easter, two sons, John and Thomas Barriett. John, the elder, appears 
 vin.^"' t° have been possessed of two messuages and twenty acres of 
 1532- land in Finchampstead, which he settled upon his mother and 
 Bundle Thomas Harrison for life, and remainder upon his own heirs 
 from and his brother William in succession. John Barriett is de- 
 
 He~n° scribed as holding this property of the chief lord ' for ever.' 
 viif. The family of Barriett is traced from this period (1532) as 
 
 '^^^ small landowners in Finchampstead down to the present cen- 
 tury ; and part of what is now called ' North Court ' belonged 
 See Court to that family. The old family house of the Bartletts, known 
 ^°"' in later times as ' Hatches,' was still standing as late as the 
 
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 Chronicles of Finchampsteadr 
 
 ^^^" y^^"" 1886, when it was pulled down and replaced by the 
 
 present gardener's house of North Court. It was one of the 
 
 A.D. 1590 most picturesque houses in Finchampstead — a black and 
 white half-timbered house. 
 
 It may here be mentioned that there was another small 
 property adjoining that of the Bartletts, called in later years 
 ' Cob Hall,' which now also forms part of ' North Court.' The 
 name of ' Cob Hall ' would seem to have been derived from 
 ' Copyd Hall,' by which this property was known in 1590. 
 By a deed of May 18, 32 Elizabeth [1590], Thomas Harrison, 
 the Lord of the Manor of East Court, granted a lease of. 
 ' Copyd Hall ' to William Garner and his assigns for the life 
 of himself, his wife and son, 'on condition that he paid lof. 
 yearly and did suit and service to his court, or else paid 1 2d. 
 for every time of absence except hindered by sickness or some 
 urgent business,' and also that there should be paid 20s. in the 
 name of a heriot after the death of Wm. Garner, his wife and son. 
 
 The lessors were allowed ' Great Timber ' growing in the 
 parish of Finchampstead for the repair of the house, and ' to 
 take at all times houseboote,^ hedgboote, paleboote, fyerboote, 
 ploughboote, and carteboote,' to be used in and about the 
 demised premises. 
 
 On November 14, 1609, William Garner sold his lease to 
 Henry Polley for 100/. In the deed of sale there is a curious 
 proviso that the money which was borrowed was to be repaid 
 ' in or at the Sandhurst Church Porche.' 
 
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 its own ; the properties of which it is now composed origi- 
 nally formed part of the Manor of East Court, and the name of 
 ' North Court ' was only adopted when the present house was 
 built by the late Rev. T. Moseley, about the year i860. The 
 only houses in Finchampstead which are strictly entitled to the 
 appellation of ' Court ' are the chief residences of the ancient 
 east and west moieties of the Manor of Finchampstead, viz. 
 ' East Court ' and ' West Court.' 
 
 ' ' Boote ' (bote) is a Saxon term, equivalent to the Norman term ' estover,' 
 which is identical with the O. Fr. verb 'estovoir' (originally 'estoveir'), to be 
 necessary, used substantively ; it was an allowance of wood for repairs of house, 
 for fuel, for repairing instruments of husbandry and fences. 
 
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1 1 4 Chronicles of Finchampsiead 
 
 CHAP. Finchampstead in 1524 is described as 'within the Hun- 
 
 dreds of Wargrave and Sonninge,' and ' the seven Hundreds 
 
 A.D. 1524 of Cokeham and Bray.' Thomas Harrison (No. 3) next 
 appears as a landowner on the East Court Manor in 1539. 
 He died before 1545, as in February of that year his wife is 
 described in a Subsidy Roll as a widow. He left a son 
 Thomas (No. 4) (XV.), who married, about the year 1557, 
 ' Alse ' (Alice), the daughter of Sir Richard Warde, of Hurst, 
 'cofferer' or sub-treasurer to Henry VHI., Edward VI., 
 Mary, and Queen Elizabeth. Her tombstone at Hurst tells us 
 that she died in childbed of her first son, Richard Harrison 
 (No. 5), the father of Sir Richard Harrison (No. 6), knight. 
 The date of the birth of Richard Harrison (No. 5) has been 
 calculated to have been in 1558, and consequently that would 
 have been about the year of his mother's death. 
 
 In Hurst Church there is an interesting monument to Sir 
 Richard Warde and his wife Colubra, from which we learn 
 that they had eight sons and nine daughters, and that Colubra 
 the mother died April 14, 1574. The date of the father's 
 death is not recorded. 
 
 I am indebted to the Rev. C. W. Penny for the following 
 copy of the epitaph in Latin verse in reference to Richard 
 Warde : 
 
 ' Vita fugit, Wardus cecidit, nee funera defle, 
 
 Perpetuam vitam qui bene vixit habet. 
 Stemmate clarus erat, vere Christumq. timebat, 
 
 Atq. placere Deo maxima cura fuit. 
 Hinc Christo dilectus erat, Christusq. favebat, 
 
 Atq. sibi Christus cuncta secunda dedit. 
 Octavo Henrico, Edwardo, Marise, Elizabethae, 
 
 Aulse proquaestor fidus amansq. fuit ; 
 lUis fidus erat, dilectus et omnibus illis. 
 
 Nulla sibi quserens, commoda nulla suis. 
 Ut pia vita fuit, sic mors pia dignaq. vita, 
 Et sibi per mortem vita perennis adest. 
 Consortem thalami tandem sociatq. Colubram, 
 Quos humus una tegit, junxit ut unus amor.' 
 
 A question has been raised in regard to the last two lines 
 of the epitaph, as to whether Richard or his wife Colubra died 
 first. 
 
 The late Rev. A. A. Cameron, Rector of Hurst, gave the 
 
The East Court Moiety of the Manor 1 1 5 
 
 following rendering of the epitaph, from which it may be chap. 
 inferred that Richard Warde had predeceased his wife. ^ 
 
 Life flies, and Ward is dead ; but mourn him not, 
 
 One who so well has lived, true life has got. 
 
 Of honoured race he was, a Christian true, 
 
 And God to please, his study all life through ; 
 
 So his Lord loved him, and His blessings poured 
 
 On all he had — his home with blessings stored. 
 
 To Henry, Edward, Mary, gi-eat Elizabeth, 
 
 Sub-treasurer he was, faithful in love till death ; 
 
 Yes, faithful to them all, and so by each beloved, 
 
 Ne'er by base thought of gain for self or kindred moved. 
 
 Godly he was in life ; in death the same ; 
 
 Through death, true life to him, eternal, came ; 
 
 And Colubra joined him, ne'er to part ; 
 
 Their grave, their rest, was one, as ever was their heart. 
 
 Richard Warde was living in 1566, when the 'Visitation 
 of Berks' was made. His name is not found in the Hurst 
 register of burials, which begins in 1583 ; it is therefore 
 presumed that his death occurred between those dates, as 
 in all probability he would have been buried at Hurst, and 
 his burial would have been recorded in the Hurst register if 
 his death had occurred after 1583. In 1539 he obtained a 
 grant of Hurst House and Whistley Manor in Hurst, which 
 ' had formed part of the endowment granted by King Edgar 
 to the convent at Abingdon,' which establishment had been 
 dissolved by Henry VIII. in the previous year. This grant 
 was made to ' Richard Warde and his wife Anne.' It would 
 seem, therefore, that Richard Warde was twice married, and 
 that Anne was his first wife. His grandfather, Thomas 
 Warde, is recorded as having had nineteen children, of whom 
 Thomas, the father of Richard, was the sole survivor. 
 
 Richard, the son of Thomas Warde, and husband of FineRoii 
 Colubra, had seventeen children. He was succeeded in his \}^^ ^' 
 estates by his second son Richard, who died in 1605, of ^°- 3° 
 whom we shall have more to say when we come to the first 
 Sir Richard Harrison, of East Court. 
 
 It is remarkable that Henry Hynde, of East Court, and 
 Richard Warde, of Hurst, should have each held office under 
 the same four sovereigns, viz, Henry VIII., Edward Vi., 
 
 1 2 
 
ii6 
 
 Chronicles of Finchampstead 
 
 CHAP. 
 V 
 
 Fins Roll 
 7 James I. 
 part 2, 
 No. 30. 
 Appendix, 
 No. 61 
 
 Mary, and Elizabeth ; the latter as ' Sub-Treasurer ' and 
 
 the former as ' Purveyor of the Stables.' These function- 
 
 A.D. 1558 aries seem to have resembled their chief, the Lord Treasurer 
 (the Marquis of Winchester), who held office for a similar 
 length of time under the same sovereigns, and who attributed 
 his ability in having done so to his possessing more of the 
 characteristics of the willow than of the oak, a remark which 
 would seem to have been equally applicable to his sub- 
 ordinates. It may also be noticed that a son-in-law of 
 Richard Warde, Thomas Durham (Dirham), was 'Serjeant 
 of the Larder to the Queen's Majestie.' Richard Warde 
 appears to have been a friend of the Marquis of Winchester 
 (formerly Lord St. John of Basing). The late Rev. A. A. 
 Cameron in his ' History of Hurst ' tells us that in the old Hurst 
 House there was a stained-glass window, which has been 
 retained in the present house, representing the coat of arms 
 of this distinguished person, under whom Richard Warde 
 served as sub-treasurer. We may easily imagine that an 
 intimacy existed between Henry Hynde, Thomas Harrison, 
 and Richard Warde, who were thus officially connected with 
 each other. 
 
 Thomas Harrison (No. 4) (XV.) after the death of his wife 
 Alice (Alse Warde), about the year 1558, married, secondly, 
 Katharine, daughter of Francis Chamberlayne, of Sparsholt, 
 Berks, and widow of Thomas Anton, of Strathfieldsaye, Hants. 
 Thomas Anton was clerk of the Court of Wards and Liveries. 
 He held lands, of which he 'was seized in fee, in Fynche- 
 hampsted, Swallowfield, and Eversleigh, in addition to a lease 
 of the Manor of Stratfeeldturgis and other property in Strat- 
 feldsay.' His will, dated 1556 and proved November 29, 1558, 
 tells us that he had nine children, three sons and six daughters ; 
 that his daughter Elizabeth (wife of Richard Harrison) was 
 born October 16, 1553 ; and that his three sons were named 
 Thomas, George, and James, born respectively in 1536, 1548, 
 and 1551 (' Berks Archseolog. Journal,' January 1893, p. 177). 
 The name of George Anton, the second son, appears in the 
 East Court Manor Rolls of 1602 and 1607 as paying 13.?. 412^. to 
 the Lord of the Manor for a tenement then known as ' Caddies 
 Piddells' (Pightle), but ' anciendy known as Halles.' In the 
 
The East Court Moiety of the Manor 1 1 7 
 
 Court Roll of 1630 he is stated to have died, and his son chap. 
 Edward to be his heir. Thomas Anton had died about ^- 
 the same time as Thomas Harrison's first wife, Alice, in a.d. 1560 
 1558, leaving nine children, and it seems probable that the 
 marriage of this widowed pair took place within two years 
 after their widowhood, and that the purchase of the East 
 Court Manor in 1560, conjointly with Henry Hinde, with 
 remainder 'after Hinde's death to Thomas Harrison and his 
 assigns,' formed a marriage settlement upon Katharine in the 
 event of her surviving her husband. Thomas Harrison on 
 his second marriage appears to have established himself at 
 Strathfieldsaye, as in various deeds at this period he is de- 
 scribed as ' of Stratfeldsaye,' and most probably in the house 
 of the late Thomas Anton. By this marriage he had one 
 daughter, who married George Carleton, and a son Thomas 
 who had two sons, Thomas and Charles, grandsons of No. 4. 
 
 About this time (1570), Thomas Harrison seems to have 
 had a lease ^ of West Court, and was probably residing there 
 until George Tattershall obtained possession of it in 1584, or 
 perhaps later. 
 
 On the death of Henry Hinde in 1580, Thomas Harrison 
 (XV.) succeeded to the ownership of the East Court Manor and 
 its moiety of the advowson. The first record of him which 
 is found after becoming owner of East Court is in 1583, 
 when he obtained a renewal of the grant of the Whitsuntide 
 Fair on the East Court Manor, which had been made to Hugo 
 Pakenham in 1458. This fair used to be held upon 'Fair 
 Green,' an unenclosed green in the centre of the village, sup- 
 posed to have been where the present schools and other 
 cottages now stand, and extending as far as the old public- 
 house known as the ' Greyhound.' 
 
 Thomas Harrison evidently took a great interest in his 
 church at Finchampstead, as it has been already shown in 
 the chapter on the church that the alterations carried out in 
 1590 were due to him. In 1592 he presented the Rev. 
 Samuel Marsh to the rectory of Finchampstead. 
 
 In 1595-96, Thomas Harrison married, for the third time, 
 
 1 Chancery Roll, Index No. 51, bundle T.T., No. 5 ; Index No. 29, bundle 
 T.T., No. 64. 
 
ii8 
 
 Chronicles of Finchampstead 
 
 CHAP. 
 
 V 
 
 A.D. 
 1595-96 
 
 Feet of 
 Fines, 
 Berks. 
 Trinity, 
 37 Eliz. 
 16 June, 
 
 1595- 
 
 Appendix, 
 No. 54 
 
 Chancery 
 Inq. p.m. 
 I James I, 
 part 2, 
 No. 75- . 
 Appendix, 
 No. 59. 
 23 Bolem, 
 P.C.C. 
 Proved 
 March 3, 
 1602-3. 
 See Ap- 
 pendix for 
 further 
 particu- 
 lars. 
 No. 58 
 
 Chancery 
 Inq. p.m. 
 I James I. 
 part 2, 
 No. 75. 
 See 
 
 Appendix, 
 No. 59, 
 for ex- 
 tracts 
 
 Elizabeth, daughter of Henry Beecher, and rehct (and third 
 wife) of Clement Kelk. It therefore became necessary for 
 him to make a fresh settlement with regard to the East Court 
 Manor, which appears at this time to have been let on lease to 
 Francis Pollye and Margaret his wife, as in June 1595 we 
 find Thomas Harrison resuming possession of it by payment 
 to Francis and Margaret Pollye of 200/. Accordingly, on 
 November 28 (38 Elizabeth), 1595, he conveyed the Manor 
 of East Court to William Becher or Beecher (his wife's 
 brother), on trust for the use of himself and his wife Elizabeth 
 for their respective lives, with remainder to his heirs for ever ; 
 and by his Will, dated February 22, 1602-3 (45 Elizabeth), 
 he further provided that it should remain in trust for 'his 
 son-in-law, George. Carleton, " Esquier," ' during the 'non- 
 age ' of his heir and ' nephewe, Richard Harrison (XVII.) — his 
 brother John Harrison — the nowe wief of his sonne Thomas 
 Harrison, and of her children by him — his said sonne Thomas 
 — his grandchilde Thomas Harrison the son of his sonne 
 Thomas Harrison.' The term ' nephew ' (nepos) in ancient 
 times had a very comprehensive meaning, and its use on this 
 occasion clearly meant '\\\s grandson, Sir Richard Harrison, as 
 is shown by the context : a similar use of the term occurs 
 again in the same Will, where Thomas Harrison describes the 
 two sons of his ' daughter Marshe ' as his nephews. 
 
 Thomas Harrison died February 25, 1602, and his widow 
 Elizabeth (XVI.) thereupon became the owner of the East 
 Court Manor for the remainder of her life. Richard Harrison 
 (XVII.) was at that date aged 18 years, 5 months, and 25 days. 
 
 Thomas Harrison in his Will, above referred to, describes 
 himself as ' of Finchamsted in the county of Berks : ' we may 
 therefore conclude that on his third marriage, in 1596-97, he 
 was residing in the East Court Manor House on Church Hill. 
 He directs his ' Bodie to be buried in the Porche of the West 
 doore of the Parish Churche of Finchamsted, in the place latelie 
 by him prepared for that purpose.' This will be of interest to 
 many parishioners, who have vainly endeavoured to decipher 
 the obliterated inscription upon a very large broken slab on 
 the floor of the church tower. The only words which can at 
 present be traced are a.d. 1602 ... (in line five), Age 72 
 
The East Court Moiety of the Manor \ \ 9 
 
 . . . Wives ... (in line six), Elizabeth {in line nine), chap. 
 But these words, read in the light of what has now been re- ^- 
 vealed, clearly identify the grave as that of Thomas Harrison, a.d. 1602 
 and confirm the foregoing account of him, that he was born 
 in 1530, that he died February 25, 1602, of the age of 72, 
 having had three wives, Alice, Katharine, and Elizabeth 
 (XVI.) who survived him. 
 
 The above clause in the Will has a still further interest, 
 as it raises a question as to what particular form of building 
 stood where the present church tower now stands. It will be 
 observed that it is called ' the Porche of the West doore.' 
 
 In the chapter on the church it has been already shown 
 that the present tower was erected in 1720, under a Faculty 
 which states that it was to be erected ' in place of a steeple ' 
 then " lately taken down ; ' and that there also was an ancient 
 window inserted in the new tower which appears to have 
 belonged to an earlier steeple or tower. We can only imagine 
 that the bottom of this ' steeple ' was constructed and used as a 
 ' porch.' The stone slab over Thomas Harrison's grave has 
 the appearance of having been broken by the fall of heavy 
 stones upon it. Probably it was not protected from injury 
 when the old steeple was taken down, or the steeple may have 
 fallen down upon the slab, which would account for its present 
 injured condition. 
 
 It is hoped that some day this memorial of one who has 
 had so large a share in the alteration of our church may be 
 restored. 
 
 Before taking leave of Thomas Harrison (XV.) we must 
 notice one or two other matters in his W^ill. He entails his 
 East Court Manor, and ' also his Manor or Farme of Evendens, chancer 
 or " Indens," together with the house and land in the tenure of inq. p.m. 
 Mistress Tayler,' in the parish of Ockingham, and lands in ' ^'^^ ^' 
 Swallowfield, on ' Richard Harrison (XVI I.), and the heirs male No. 75. 
 of his bodie lawfully begotten ; in default to his brother John ^05^58"^' 
 -Harrison and heirs male of his body ; in default to Thomas and 59 
 Harrison, his own son, for life, and after his decease to Thomas 
 Harrison, his son, and heirs male of his body-; in default to 
 Charles and his heirs male ; and in default to his own right 
 heirs for ever.' 
 
I20 Chronicles of Finchampstead 
 
 CHAP. He makes several bequests of money to persons named, 
 
 ^ and then : 
 A.D. 1602 ' To the Poore of Finckamsted Twentie skillinges, To Oc king- 
 ham Twentie shillinges, To Stratfildsea Twentie shillinges, To 
 Swallowfield 135-. 4^., Mortimer 20s., Barkham bs. ^d., upon 
 condition that they staye at home and content themselves to re- 
 ceive this my Benevoolence at their owne Parishes and not to 
 be troublesome to my Buriall.' 
 
 A confirmation of arms (or, on a chief sable, three eagles 
 displayed of the field) and crest (out of a coronet a talbot's 
 head or spotted sable) was made to Thomas Harrison, of 
 Finchampstead, by Robert Cooke, Clarencieux. 
 
 Elizabeth Harrison (XVI.), the widow of Thomas (XV.), 
 died in September 1612, and was buried in her late husband's 
 Copy of vault within the tower of the church on the loth of that month. 
 i^Tai'^s- ^^^ ^^ described in the Register as ' Ladie of the Manor of 
 buryDio- Eastcourte.' She probably resided in the Manor House on 
 r:^W Church Hill. 
 
 (the Richard Harrison (No. 5), son of Thomas (No. 4), born 
 
 ha^nedis- ^bout 1 558, married, about 1581-82, Elizabeth, daughter of 
 
 appeared Thomas Anton, of Strathfieldsaye, who was born in 1 553. He 
 
 Finchamp- ^^*^ been brought up from his infancy in that family, his father 
 
 stead). having married the widowed mother of Elizabeth. 
 
 Pedigree, ^' ^^ "^^^ Certain whether Richard and Elizabeth Harrison 
 
 p. III. ' lived at Strathfieldsaye or Finchampstead ; no record of them 
 
 '^ '" ^ can be found at either place. In 1584-85, their son Richard 
 
 (afterwards Sir Richard, XVII.) was born, and in 1586 their 
 
 son John was born, who was subsequently designated as ' of 
 
 Foster's Beech Hill.' Richard Harrison, the father, must therefore 
 
 Oxonkn- have been living in 1585 ; the date of his death is not known; 
 
 ses ■ we only know that he died in his father's lifetime, i.e. before 
 
 ofBerks,°" i6o2, and that his wife Elizabeth married, secondly, ' Robert 
 
 «t- 79 in Marsh, of London.' There are reasons for believing that 
 
 ^ Robert Marsh when he married Elizabeth Harrison was a 
 
 widower, and had two sons, one of whom was the Rev. Samuel 
 
 Marsh, born in 1566, who became Rector of Finchampstead in 
 
 1592, on the nomination of Thomas Harrison (XV.) ; the other 
 
 son was Richard, born in 1573. 
 
The East Court Moiety of the Manor 
 
 121 
 
 At the entrance to the chancel of our church there is a chap. 
 brass plate fixed to a marble slab on the floor, with the follow- ^ 
 ing inscription thereon : a.d. 1613 
 
 Here lyeth the Bodye of Richard Marshe, Citizen and Grocer of London, 
 who departed this hfe the 24 July 1613, beinge of the age of 40 yeares, whose 
 Soule resteth with God. 
 
 On another brass plate in the floor of the chancel is the 
 following epitaph in Latin verse : 
 
 In obitum Richardi Marsh Civis Londinensis. 
 
 Exemplum vitse sanctse, et pietatis imago 
 
 Vera, sub hoc saxo morte perempta jacet ; 
 Cujus laus summa est mundi post terga dedisse 
 
 Impuras sordes, atque vacasse sibi. 
 Hie vixit Cseli sitiens ; habet incola Caeli 
 
 Gaudia defunctis prsemia quas esse solent. 
 
 (Translation.) 
 
 On the death of Richard Marsh, Citizen of London. 
 
 Under this stone there lies cut off by death an example of a holy life, 
 
 . and a real pattern of piety, one whose highest praise is that he turned his 
 
 back upon the impurities of the world, and was at leisure for himself. Here 
 
 he lived thirsting for Heaven : an inhabitant of Heaven, he is in possession 
 
 of joys such as are wont to be the reward of the departed. 
 
 The close relationship of this family of Marsh with the 
 widow of Richard Harrison enables us to imagine how the 
 Rev. Samuel Marsh came to be selected as Rector of the 
 parish, and how his brother Richard found a burial-place in 
 the chancel of our church. From the slight record we have 
 of both of them, they seem to have been remarkable for their 
 piety and goodness of character. 
 
 Samuel Marsh was one of the earliest Rectors of Finch- 
 ampstead who had received a University education. He 
 matriculated at Magdalen College, Oxford, November 24, 1581, anurew 
 at the age of fifteen ; took his M.A. degree from Lincoln pi*^"^'^ 
 College in 1588, and B.D. in 1598, and ultimately became a uJv.'of 
 Canon of Sarum. The last mention of him is found in the East Oxford,' 
 Court Manor Roll of 1642, where he appears as in possession of part u. 
 a house and land known as ' Cowdries,' for which he pays the 
 Lord of the Manor an annual sum of five shillings. This 
 house, two centuries later, became the present East Court 
 
122 
 
 Chronicles of Finchampstead 
 
 CHAP. Manor House, and will be more fully described further on. He 
 ^ would have been eighty years of age in that year. This was 
 A.D. 1642 three years before the suppression of the use of the Prayer 
 Book in all churches, and the deprivation of the bishops and 
 clergy, in 1645, when Samuel Marsh must have ceased his 
 public ministrations. His death is not recorded in the copy 
 of the Finchampstead Burial Register (which is at Salisbury) 
 as late as 1653. We may therefore conclude that he with- 
 drew from Finchampstead in the 'days of confusion,' and 
 ended his life peacefully elsewhere. 
 
 Finchampstead must have been then left without a Rector 
 t;o„n between 1645 ^"d 1660. Robert Marsh, the father of the 
 Rolls for Rev. Samuel Marsh, and his wife Elizabeth (Harrison) are 
 '^ last traced in Finchampstead in 1615, when they appear to 
 
 have been occupying the house called ' Cowdries,' mentioned 
 above. They would then have been respectively about 
 seventy-two and sixty-two years of age. They were not 
 buried at Finchampstead, as their names are not found in 
 the copy of the Finchampstead Burial Register at Salisbury. 
 I conclude, therefore, that they left Finchampstead and 
 died elsewhere. They, however, left two sons, Robert and 
 Thomas : Robert Marsh is found in possession of ' Cowdries ' 
 next after the Rev. Samuel Marsh ; and in 1670 he sold that 
 See p. 73, place to the Rev. Thomas Bright, the Rector who had been 
 Chap. III. appointed in 1660, after the 'days of confusion,' on the 
 presentation of Thomas Marsh, who was most likely the 
 brother of Robert. At page 69 will be found an explanation 
 why the West Court owner, whose turn it was to appoint, did 
 not nominate, he being a recusant. The name of Thomas 
 Marsh ultimately appears in the Will of Charles Palmer, Lord 
 of the Manor of East Court in 17 12, where the testator directs 
 that Thomas Marsh shall be allowed to remain in the occupa- 
 tion of a house on his manor, called ' Phipps Land,' during the 
 remainder of his life, and his name is found in the Finch- 
 ampstead Burial Register as having died in May 1738. This 
 Thomas Marsh is supposed to have been a son of Thomas or 
 Robert above mentioned. I cannot identify ' Phipps Land ' 
 with any place now existing in Finchampstead. 
 
 Robert Marsh the younger, and his wife Susanna, held 
 
The East Court Moiety of the Manor 123 
 
 another property in Finchampstead, which in 1673 they sold to chap. 
 James Winstanley and Joseph Bent, who were probably acting ^ 
 as trustees for some one else. Robert Marsh was then described a.d. 1673 
 as of Edmonton, Middlesex, and the property which he sold 
 is described as consisting of ' 4 closes of arable or pasture con- Deed 
 taining 1 4 acres ; a messuage ; meadow, 7 acres ; wood and ^^'^^X, 
 one m-oor called Molleson or Mollesante ; Marshalls 4 acres ; 11. Nov.' 
 and all buildings, right of common, fishing, &c. Total, 8 ^^' ^^'^^ 
 acres of meadow, 14 of pasture, 8 of moor, common of pasture, 
 and common of turbary.' 
 
 It seems probable, therefore, that Robert Marsh and his 
 wife had retired to Edmonton, whither perhaps his father and 
 mother had previously removed, as the family originally came 
 from London, where they had been engaged in business. 
 This brings us to the close of the connection of the family of 
 Marsh with Finchampstead, and we will now return to the 
 Harrisons. 
 
 Sir Richard Harrison (No. 6) (XVH.), son of Richard .sir 
 (No. 5), was born in 1584-85, as stated above. He matricu- Har^son 
 lated at St. Mary Hall, Oxford, July i, 1603, at the age of (xvii.), 
 nineteen years. Pe°di^ree 
 
 On the death of his uncle, Sir Richard Warde (son of Fine Roll 
 Richard and Colubra Warde), on August 27, 1605, he sue- 7 James i. 
 ceeded to 'the Manors of Hurste and "Wishley" in Hurst, no. 30. 
 and to the Manor of Lee with all other tenements in the 1609-10 
 parish of Hurst,' in accordance with his uncle's Will. 
 
 In September, 1612, he succeeded to the East Court 1612 
 Manor of Finchampstead, and a moiety of the advowson on 
 the death of Elizabeth (XVI.), third wife of his grandfather, 
 Thomas Harrison (No. 4 in Pedigree). 
 
 He married, about 1610, Frances, daughter of George 
 Garrard, second son of Sir William Garrard, knight. Lord 
 Mayor of London, and of Margaret his wife, daughter of 
 George Dacres, who afterwards became the wife of Sir Henry 
 Savile, and died in 1631, aet. seventy-two. 
 
 Sir Richard Harrison does not appear to have resided on 
 his East Court estate. He lived at Hurst House. He seems 
 to have been intimate with Archbishop Laud, who several 
 times makes mention of him in his diary, in the years 1625 
 
124 
 
 Chronicles of Fincharnpstead 
 
 CHAP. 
 V 
 
 A.D. 1625 
 
 Foster's 
 ' Alumni 
 Oxonien- 
 ses,' 
 vol. ii. 
 
 Will 
 proved 
 in London 
 May 24, 
 
 1655- 
 
 125 Aylett 
 
 P.CC. 
 
 1651 
 
 Letter to 
 W. Lyon 
 from the 
 Charity 
 Commis- 
 sioners, 
 Jan. 23, 
 1894, B. 
 29283. 
 Berks. 
 Finch. 
 Sir R. 
 Harrison's 
 Charity 
 
 But John 
 is not 
 mentioned 
 in Sir R. 
 Harrison's 
 Will, dated 
 Nov. 8, 
 1654, 
 
 and 1626, on the occasion of his frequent visits to his old 
 Oxford University friend, Sir Francis Windebancke, who lived 
 at Haines Hill in the same parish. Laud mentions in his 
 diary (p. 6']) that he obtained for Francis Windebancke the 
 office of Secretary of State from Charles I. 
 
 Sir Richard Harrison (XVH.) entered Parliament as 
 member for Wootton B assett in 1621-22. He was member for 
 Berkshire in 1624-25 and 1628-29, and for New Windsor, 
 April to May 1640. He was knighted August 31, 1621, and 
 is said to have been created a baronet, but this seems 
 doubtful, as the patent cannot be found. 
 
 He was also Sheriff for Berks. He suffered severe 
 penalties for his loyalty to the cause of royalty. He died in 
 May, 1655, and was buried, as directed in his Will dated 
 November 8, 1654, ' in that place in the Chancell in Hurst 
 heretofore by mee built, and neere to the sepulcher of the 
 Lady Savile, my wives mother who lyeth interred there, as 
 may be,' on May 5, 1655, 
 
 This seems the proper place to mention one of Sir 
 Richard Harrison's benefactions which is not mentioned in 
 his Will. In 1651 he and his son Richard Harrison (No. 7) 
 gave by deed to the poor of Finchampstead ' Land and 
 Houses which were vested, at the date of a Parliamentary 
 Return in 1786, in the names of John Banister and Thomas 
 Oliver! (Further reference to this gift will be found in the 
 Chapter on ' Parish Charities.') I will only notice here that 
 the Rector of the parish does not seem to have been named as 
 one of the trustees for a very obvious reason, viz. that there 
 was no Rector at that time. The church had been deprived 
 of her ordained ministers from 1645 to 1660. 
 
 Sir Richard Harrison (XVH.) (No. 6), according to the 
 'Visitation of Berks,' by E. Ashmole, left two sons and one 
 daughter : Richard (No. 7), the eldest, who succeeded him in 
 his estates in Finchampstead, Hurst, and elsewhere ; John, 
 who married Anne Carter, of London ; and Frances, who 
 married Thomas Howard, afterwards Earl of Berkshire, one 
 of whose daughters, Lady Frances Howard, married Sir Henry 
 Winchcombe, Bart., a descendant of the famous ' Jack of 
 Newbury.' Sir Richard mentions in his Will Lady Mary 
 
The East Court Moiety of the Manor 
 
 Howard, another granddaughter, to whom he leaves a legacy ; 
 and also his ' cousins, John and James Harrison, and their 
 three sisters.' He also names his brother John and his friend 
 Richard Aldworth as ' overseers ' of his Will. 
 
 Sir Richard Harrison (XVHI.) (No. 7 in pedigree), the 
 son of Sir Richard Harrison (No. 6), was born in 161 1. He 
 matriculated at St. Alban Hall, Oxford, May 4, 1627, at the 
 age of fourteen ; took his B.A. degree, February i, 1629-30; 
 and became a student of Lincoln's Inn in 1631. I cannot 
 give a better summary of his career than in the words of the 
 epitaph upon his monument in the parish church of Hurst, 
 viz. : 
 
 ' Here lies the Body of Sir Richard Harrison, eldest son of Sir Richard 
 Harrison, Lord of Whistly and Hinton, in this Parish, Knight. He married 
 Dorothy, the only daughter and heiress of William Drew, of Nethercote, in 
 Oxfordshire, Esquire, by whom he had 13 sons and 2 daughters, and lived in 
 wedlock 49 years with her. He served King Charles all the time of the Civil 
 Wars, for which he suffered the persecution of sequestration, composition, 
 &c. His estate was much wasted by raising two troops of Horse at his own 
 charge, for the King. With the first he served under the Command of the 
 Rt. Hon. Earl Crawford by His Majesty's appointment, and after, under the 
 Command of Col. Thomas Howard, since Earl of Berkshire (who married his 
 sister), and lived to see the joyful return of King Charles H., under whom he 
 bore the office of Justice of the Peace and IJeputy Lieutenant ; and was 
 chosen one of the Privy Chamber in Ordinary to His Majesty ; and in the 72 
 year of his age he exchanged this life for a better, the 23rd August, in the 
 year 1683.' 
 
 Sir Richard Harrison (XVHI.), by his Will dated August 
 19, 1676, left his estate of Odington, in Gloucestershire, to his 
 son Philip, or Phelipps, barrister-at-law, and his heirs law- 
 fully begotten, and in default of any such issue to his grand- 
 child, John Lewis, for life, and afterwards to his son John and 
 his heirs for ever. To his son William, born 1660 (who was 
 sixteen years old, when his father made his Will), Sir 
 Richard left all his goods and household stuff in Hurst House 
 after his mother's death. William Harrison became a clergy- 
 man and Rector of Cheriton, Hants. To his son Charles he 
 gave ' all the Promises hee made me back againe to him ; ' to 
 his son Deane five shillings, 'and hee knowes why I give 
 him no more.' 
 
 Sir Richard Harrison lived at Hurst House, as his father 
 
 125 
 
 CHAP. 
 V 
 
 A.D. 1655 
 
 proved 
 May 24, 
 
 1655- 
 
 125 Aylett 
 P.C.C. 
 
 Sir 
 
 Richard 
 Harrison 
 (XVHI.) 
 
 P.CC. 
 126 Drax. 
 1676 
 
126 
 
 Chronicles of Finchampstead 
 
 CHAP. 
 V 
 
 A.D. 1659 
 
 Appendix, 
 No. 64 
 
 l66i 
 
 Add. Ch. 
 38605, 
 Appendix, 
 No. 65 
 
 Died Sept. 
 28, 1687, 
 set. 80. 
 See stone 
 in floor of 
 the chan- 
 cel of 
 church. 
 See 
 
 Appendix, 
 No. 86 
 
 and grandfather had done, and not upon the East Court 
 Manor. He, like his father, was much impoverished by the 
 penalties he paid for his loyalty; and in 1659 he cut off 
 the entail of ' the Manor of Hurst, Wynhurst, alias Whishley 
 in the Hurst,' Finchampstead East Court, and Evendens, 
 alias Endens, otherwise Indens, and of Lee Park and other 
 properties ; and on November 15, 1661, he sold to Richard 
 Palmer, of Wokingham, the Manor of Finchampstead East 
 Court, together with the advowson of the church, ' and also 
 the capital Messuage or Manor House now or late in the 
 possession of Peter Sparks, gent., and [ J Treherne 
 
 widow, or one of them ^ {ox i'4,250. Here, in 1 661, we have 
 the earliest specific mention of the ' East Court Manor 
 House ' (on the Church Hill) which I have met with through- 
 out my researches. In the ' presentment ' at the Court Baron 
 for the Manor held on December 27, 1661, under Item ir, 
 it is stated, ' We present the Hill before East Court House 
 is part of the Manor of Finchampstead East Court, and 
 belongs to the Lord of the said Manor, and that Richard 
 Rither of Finchampstead, about seven years since, bought 
 seven trees of Sir Richard Harrison, the Lord of the said 
 Manor, and never since was questioned for it.' 
 
 At another Court Baron, held January 20, 1670, Item 2, a 
 further allusion is made to this hill. A ' presentment ' is made 
 that ' the Hill before East Court is common, and belongs to the 
 Manor of East Court.' 
 
 ' The Hill before East Court,' here referred to, was the 
 western end of the Church Hill, which still retains a few fine 
 specimens of beech trees ; the ground to the westward and north- 
 west and south-west of the hill at that time was an unenclosed 
 part of Windsor Forest, which must have greatly enhanced 
 the beauty of the situation, and given it the shelter which its 
 elevated position so much needed. It would be difficult to 
 conceive a more beautiful situation for a manorial residence, 
 when surrounded by the fine timber which once adorned that 
 hill. 
 
 The picture forming the frontispiece of this book is in- 
 tended to show the site of the ancient Manor House on 
 Church Hill. 
 
The East Court Moiety of the Manor 
 
 127 
 
 It will be observed that the Court Baron in December, 
 1661, was held on behalf of Richard Palmer, who had only 
 obtained possession of the Manor in the preceding month ; 
 and he was evidently desirous of removing any doubt as to 
 his rights in regard to the land adjoining his future resi- 
 dence. 
 
 The Manor House is described as ' now or late in the 
 tenure of Peter Sparks, gent.' This name is not found in 
 any of the Court Rolls or Presentments of the Manor Court 
 previously to 1661 ; but the name is found in a return of the 
 'Hearth Tax' for 1662, showing the number of hearths for 
 which the several houses in Finchampstead were liable in 
 the time of Charles H. Peter Sparks appears to have been 
 occupying East Court Manor House during the ownership 
 of the two successive Sir Richard Harrisons who resided at 
 Hurst. 
 
 Richard Palmer, of Wokingham, who purchased the 
 East Court moiety of the Manor of Finchampstead in 1661, 
 was the son of Richard Palmer, who married Dorothy, 
 daughter of Richard Mead, of Soulberry, Bucks, and grand- 
 son of Richard Palmer, of Wokingham, who married Eliza- 
 beth, daughter of John Bell, of Wokingham. 
 
 The Palmer family of Wokingham and of Hurst would 
 seem to have had a common origin, as their crest and arms 
 
 appear to be the same. 
 The crest and arms 
 
 CHAP. 
 V 
 
 A.D. 1661 
 
 Appendix, 
 No. 66 
 
 of Richard Palmer, of 
 Wokingham, as exempli- 
 fied on his tomb in 
 Finchampstead Church, 
 are as under : 
 
 Crest : A talbot se- 
 jant erminois. 
 
 Arms : Chequy or 
 and sable ; on a chief 
 gules, two mullets of the 
 first. 
 
 1661 
 
 Richard 
 Palmer 
 (XVIII.). 
 ' Visita- 
 tion of 
 Berks,' 
 1664-65, 
 by Elias 
 Ash MOLE 
 
 Granted 
 1 6 Chas. 
 II. ' Visi- 
 tation of 
 Berks,' 
 166s 
 
Chronicles of Finchampstead 
 
 
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The East Court Moiety of the Manor 129 
 
 I am indebted to the Rev. C. W. Penny for a ' rubbing ' chap. 
 of the crest and arms on Richard Palmer's monument from ^ 
 
 Palmer 
 (XIX.) 
 
 which the illustration on p. 127 has been taken. a.d. 1661 
 
 Richard Palmer (XIX.), of East Court, was born in 161 1 ; richard 
 he married Maria, only daughter and heir of Oliver Fish, of 
 Biggleswade, Bedfordshire. He was a barrister and magistrate 
 for the county of Berks. He was owner of the Luckley 
 estate in the parish of Wokingham. This property appears 
 to have been purchased by his grandfather from ' John Crottall, 
 of Wokingham, yeoman,' and the property is described as 
 ' known by the name of " Redde Landes," in the parish of 
 Wokingham, at a place called " Luckley," ' and the purchaser 
 is described in the deed of purchase, dated December 25, 1595, 
 as ' Richard Palmer, alias Underwood, yeoman.' 
 
 In 1663 Richard Palmer sold about i^ acre on Luckley 
 Green for the erection of the almshouse now known as 
 ' Lucas's Hospital,' at the entrance to Luckley Park. 
 
 Richard Palmer had six children when he entered into pos- 
 session of the East Court Manor in 1 661, the eldest of his three 
 sons being then only eighteen years of age. He died in 1670. 
 
 On a black marble slab on a tomb in the north aisle of 
 Finchampstead Church is the following inscription : 
 
 NOVISSIMAM MANENS TUBAM ET ReSUSCITACONIS SpE 
 
 Tegmen quod FUIT 
 
 RiCHARDi Palmer Ari Dni Manerii de EastCourt xxvnj die Maij 
 
 Anno Salutis per Iesum Christum 
 
 Restitutae 1670 
 
 Depositum 
 
 juxta heic tegitur 
 
 CUI FUERUNT EX MARiA FiSH FILiA UNlcA SUPERSTITE ET HAEREDE 
 
 OLIVERI Fish de Biggleswade in Agro Bedfordiense Generosi 
 
 Procreati 
 FiLij TRES sciLT RICHARDUS lOHES 
 
 ET CaROLUS 
 
 & 
 
 FiLIAE TOTIDEM SCILT MARIA MARTHA 
 
 ET ELIZABETHA 
 
 SUPERSTITES. 
 HaEC VIA Olympo. 
 
 Translation. 
 Awaiting the Last Trump and in Hope of the Resurrection All that was 
 mortal of Richard Palmer, Esquire, Lord of the Manor of East Court, was 
 
 K 
 
1 30 Chronicles of Finchampstead 
 
 CHAP, interred on the 28th day of May, in the year of our Salvation restored by 
 V Jesus Christ, 1670, and lies buried near this spot ; To whom were born of 
 
 Maria Fish, sole Surviving Daughter and Heir of Oliver Fish, of Biggleswade, 
 
 A.D. 1670 gentleman, three sons, to wit, Richard, John, and Charles, and as many 
 daughters, to wit, Maria ' (Mary), Martha, and Elizabeth, who Survive him. 
 This is the Path to Heaven. 
 
 The Palmers also possessed in 1661 another property which, 
 i" 1595) belonged to the same John Cro'tall above mentioned, 
 and is supposed to have been acquired about the same time 
 as the Luckley Green estate, viz. : a house and lands called 
 ' Symondes Grene,' and from the allusion which will be 
 presently made to it, in 17 12, these two properties together 
 formed what in later years has been known as ' Luckley 
 Park.' 
 
 Richard Palmer and his family appear to have had a great 
 regard for the town of Wokingham, as is shown by their 
 several benefactions to that town. 
 Charity By deed dated April 11, 1664, Richard Palmer granted 
 
 Commis about half an acre of meadow ground in ' Eversleigh, upon 
 Report, trust to pay the sexton of the parish church of Wokingham, or 
 N°- 32. such other person as the trustees shotild think meet, to ring out 
 p. 224, the greatest bell belonging to the said parish church that shall 
 ''*39 he fit to be rung half an hour every evening at eight d clock, 
 
 and every morning at four d clock, or as near to that hour as 
 may be, from September 10 to March 10 in each year, in order 
 to induce a tim,ely going to rest in the evening, and early rising 
 in the morning to the labour and duties of the day {things 
 ordinarily attended and rezvarded with thrift and proficiency), 
 and that strangers and others who should happen in winter 
 nights, within hearing of the ringing of the said bell, to lose 
 their ivay in the country, might be informed of the time of 
 nioht, and receive some guidance into their right way ; add 
 further that the ringing of this bell might lead people to think 
 of their own passing bell and day of death, and of their resur- 
 rection and call to the last judgment! 
 
 The Charity Commissioners in their report in 1839 describe 
 
 ' Miria (Mary) married Rev. Dr. Brabant, Rector of Berkhampstead, and was 
 buried November 1, 1728, in the chancel of Finchampstead Church. Will of 
 Charles Palmer, proved November 25, 1713 
 
The East Court Moiety of the Manor 131 
 
 the piece of land which was settled as the security for this chap. 
 benefaction as ' in the parish of Eversley, within the county __^_ 
 of Hants.' This land has every appearance of being in Berk- a.d. 1670 
 shire and within the parish of Finchampstead, being on the 
 north side of the river Blackwater, which forms the boundary 
 between the two counties ; but in this particular locality the 
 river has deviated from its original course, and is called 
 ' Longwater,' and has taken a more southern course, leaving 
 a few acres of meadow on the Berkshire side adjoining 
 the East Court Manor, which are still in the parish of 
 Eversley and in the county of Hants. The land in question 
 has long been known as ' The Bell Mead,' and is said to 
 have been part of the Manor of Bramshill. 
 
 It is not quite clear how Richard Palmer could have 
 legally treated this meadow as part of his own Manor. 
 I have not investigated the matter -further than to find that 
 about fifty years ago there was a charge upon the Manor of 
 East Court of two pounds a year for the bellringer. I do not 
 know whether the benefaction still exists ; but it is an instance 
 of the kind intention of Richard Palmer towards the town of 
 Wokingham. 
 
 Richard Palmer was succeeded in his estates in 1670 by richarr 
 his eldest son Richard (XX.), who was then twenty-seven ^r^?'^ 
 years of age. Little is known of him beyond the fact that he 
 married and had no children, that his wife's name was 
 Susanna (who married secondly . . . Wittwrong), and that 
 he lived in a house ' situate in the parish of Wokingham, in a 
 certain green or " Common " called " Simons Green," which 
 house was, in 171 1, in the occupation of Charles, Duke of 
 St. Albans.' This house, it is presumed, was the same as 
 that subsequently known as ' Luckley House.' 
 
 These facts are gathered from the Will of his brother Dated 
 Dr. Charles Palmer, who succeeded him : his brother John, ^^if^ ^' 
 who was born in 1656, died in 1676; the date of Richard 
 Palmer's death I have not been able to ascertain. He was 
 living in 1682, as on June 9 in that year he presented the 
 Rev. John Brandon to the Rectory of Finchampstead ; and 
 there are reasons for believing that he was living as late as 
 1699. 
 
 K 3 
 
1^2 
 
 Chronicles of Finchampstead 
 
 CHAP. 
 V 
 
 A.D. 1712 
 
 Charles 
 
 Palmer 
 
 (XXI.) 
 
 Proved 
 November 
 25. 1713 
 
 Will dated 
 March 3, 
 1711, 
 proved 
 November 
 
 25, 1713- 
 See Chap. 
 iii. p. 75, 
 for its 
 recovery 
 by the 
 owner of 
 West 
 Court 
 in I75S 
 
 Charles Palmer (XXI.) is described in various deeds 
 between 1700 and 171 2 as ' M.D., of Arborfield ; ' and in the 
 registry of his death in the latter year he is so described. 
 
 He married Anne, daughter of . . . Aldworth, and relict 
 of . . . Standen, by whom she had one son, Edward Standen. 
 
 Charles Palmer does not appear to have had any children. 
 He died in 1712. By his Will dated March 3, 171 1, he 
 desired to be ' buried in his own Vault at the West end 
 of the Parish Church of Finchampstead.' There is no 
 trace of this vault now visible ; probably it was in the north- 
 west corner of the nave, where the East Court ' pew ' was 
 situated. 
 
 There is no evidence of Charles Palmer having ever 
 resided on his Manor of East Court, and judging from his 
 disposal of it by his Will, he does not appear to have had any 
 particular regard for it. 
 
 He bequeathed the alternate right of the presentation of 
 Finchampstead, which belonged to the East Court moiety, 
 and which had never before been severed from it, to the 
 Principal of St. Mary Magdalen Hall, Oxford. 
 
 He directed a considerable portion of the* same Manor to 
 be sold in payment of his debts and legacies. 
 
 He gave £\o a year to the minister of the church of 
 Wokingham for .ever, provided that no part of his salary 
 payable by the impropriator be thereby lessened, which be- 
 quest was made chargeable to his estate and lands in the parish 
 of Wokingham, on condition that ' the minister of the said 
 church preach a sermon on 15 February in every year, 
 towards the promotion and encouragement of charity.' 
 
 He gave ' ^20 a year to the parish of Wokingham 
 towards maintaining at school 20 poor boys of the town and 
 parish of Wokingham, the sons of members of the Church 
 of England. The boys to go every Sunday to the parish 
 church and be taught the Church Catechism, and examined 
 in the church by the Minister ; ' the payment to be made out 
 of the rents from his lands in Wokingham. He appointed 
 ' the Rectors of Wokingham, Finchampstead, and Aborfield 
 for the time being ' (besides several other persons named), ' to 
 be trustees of this his charit)'.' 
 
The East Court Moiety of the Manor 133 
 
 To his kinsman, Henry Fish, the youngest son of his chap. 
 cousin Humphry Fish, the younger, of Ickwell, in the parish ^ 
 of ' Nowill,' Beds, and to his heirs male, he gave the reversion a.d. 1712 
 of all his Manor of Finchamstead East Court, with all rents, henry 
 services, courts, common of turbary, wastes, commons, fairs, pal^'er 
 fish-ponds, and all other tenements in Finchampstead ; also the (xxii.). 
 reversion of his messuages, lands, tenements, &c., within the notTmi ^ 
 parish of Wokingham, which latter were subject to the 
 yearly payments aforesaid, with the condition that he should 
 take the surname of Fish-Palmer ; and failing to assume that 
 name, then the same bequest was made to his kinsman 
 Humphry Fish, eldest brother of the said Henry Fish, and to 
 his heirs on the same condition ; and should he fail to comply 
 with this condition, then he gave all his Manor of Finchamp- 
 stead, arid all his lands in the parish of Wokingham, to the 
 poor of the town and parish of Wokingham for ever. 
 
 The name of Palmer ought to be held in high esteem and 
 veneration by the town of Wokingham for all these benevo- 
 lent acts and intentions. 
 
 Charles Palmer gave to each of his sisters a life interest 
 in certain parts of his property ; but to Mary he left his lands 
 in Wokingham, known by the name of ' Cruthalls,' after the 
 decease of his widow, Anne Palmer. This property obtained Buried at 
 its name from John Crottall, from whom it was purchased in f^'^^J^g^j 
 1595-96. I mention this as illustrating the common practice December 
 of naming lands and houses after those who have been long "• '^23 
 owners and occupiers of them. This name may possibly be 
 still extant. ' Luckley Park ' itself may possibly have been 
 once known by this name, since it belonged to the same 
 person (see above, p. 129). 
 
 On the death of Charles Palmer there was a sale of several 
 parcels of the East Court Manor, in accordance with his 
 Will. 
 
 The ' Westwood Coppices and Lands,' ^ consisting of sixty 
 
 ; The ' Further Westwood Coppice ' (abutting on the Common 
 
 Fields of the Lea Common on the south-west) . . -35 acres 
 The 'Hither Westwood Coppice' (adjoining the above) . • 5 ,, 
 
 The ' Little Frith ' i8 „ 
 
 Pye Hill Row' .... = , 
 
 Oo 
 
134 Chronicles of Finchampstead 
 
 CHAP, acres, were sold under a decree of the High Court of Chancery, 
 ^ and Humphry, the father of Henry Fish, who now assumed 
 A.D. 1712 the surname of Palmer in addition to that of Fish, purchased 
 them and restored them to the East Court Manor. 
 
 The Westwood property seems to have come into the 
 possession of the owner of the East Court Manor in, or soon 
 after, the year 1642, when it was probably sold by George 
 Tattershall, of West Court, to enable him to pay the fine for 
 the renewal of the lecise of the Rectory impropriate of 
 Stapleford, Wilts. There was a lengthy litigation between 
 the two George Tattershalls, Nos. 3 and 4, on this subject, 
 referred to in the Chapter on West Court (at page 162), the 
 result of which I have not investigated ; but as the West- 
 wood property belonged to West Court Manor in 1642, and 
 is found in possession of the owner of East Court Manor 
 in 171 2, I conclude that it was purchased by Sir Richard 
 Harrison in or about the year 1642. ■ 
 
 This property was restored to the West Court moiety of 
 the Manor by exchange between the owners of East and 
 West Court, under the Windsor Forest Enclosure Act of 
 1818. 
 Rent Roll The East Court Manor between 171 2 and 1728 is de- 
 and Feet ^'^''^^^'^ ^^ Consisting of 20 messuages, 4 cottages, 30 barns, 
 of Fines, 1 8 stables, 20 gardens, i8 orchards, 500 acres of land, 120 
 Easier ^cres of meadow, 30 acres of pasture, 4 acres of wood, 
 I Geo.' II. 80 acres of moor common of pasture for all cattle, and 
 common of turbary, amounting in all to about 775 acres, ex- 
 clusive of heath land. 
 
 Before taking leave of this period of our history, I must 
 draw attention to the control which the Crown exercised 
 over the cutting of timber trees and coppices of underwood 
 upon the Manors of East and West Court. The Lords of 
 the Manor had no power to cut a timber tree or a coppice 
 upon their Manors without the authority of the Chief Justice 
 in Eyre of all His Majesty's forests, chaces, parks and 
 warrens ; and this authority was not given without the con- 
 sent of the ' verderers,' the ' regardars ' and ' under keeper' 
 of the particular ' walk ' in which the Manor was situated. 
 Finchampstead was included in the ' Bigshot Walk ' of 
 
The East Court Moiety of the Manor 135 
 
 Windsor Forest. These functionaries had to certify that the chai-. 
 timber and the coppices might be cut down without prejudice ^' 
 or hurt to 'the deer or vert' in 'the said forest,' before a.d. 1712 
 permission could be given. (A copy of one of these certi- 
 ficates will be found in the Appendix.) This control over 
 the woods in the Royal forest no doubt greatly contri- 
 buted to the preservation of the grand old forest trees for 
 which Finchampstead was once renowned. Alas ! they are 
 all gradually disappearing ; few only now remain. Fifty 
 years ago the ground about the Church Hill was studded 
 with magnificent oak trees. There are still a few survivors 
 which tell us what we have lost. There are four in the 
 churchyard, and one opposite the ' Royal Oak ; ' three others 
 near the ' Greyhound,' and a few on the East Court grounds, 
 which still remain as memorials of their mighty ancestors, and 
 I trust they may long be spared to be so. Then there are 
 majestic hollies which have stood for centuries ; others have 
 been cut down or mutilated. And here I would draw atten- 
 tion especially to five magnificent beech trees in the woods 
 not far from ' Roman Lodge ; ' one of them has a girth of 
 about twenty-seven feet, and the others give an average of 
 nearly eighteen feet ; again, near ' Warren Lodge ' on some 
 waste land on the right-hand side of the Wokingham road, 
 there is a beautiful specimen of an oak and of a beech tree 
 which must be the admiration of all true lovers of nature. 
 The ' Parsonage ' copse, between the present East Court 
 House and the church, once contained some very fine oak 
 trees ; very few now remain, others having in this utilitarian 
 age given place to a less picturesque copse. This wood once 
 formed part of the church glebe, but was exchanged by the 
 Rev. Henry Ellis St. John, when rector and owner of the 
 advowson, for other lands belonging to Charles Fyshe- 
 Palmer, the owner of East Court, and it thus became part of 
 the East Court Manor under the Windsor Forest Enclosure 
 Act of 1818. 
 
 Henry Fish, the youngest son of Humphry Fish, of Ickwell, ^^^^'^ 
 in the parish of Nowill, originally ' Northill,' ' Norhill,' or palmer 
 'Norrill,' was born in 1705; he was therefore only seven years (xxii.) 
 of age when Charles Palmer died, and he became the twenty- 
 
1 3^ Chronicles of Finchampstead 
 
 CHAP, second owner of the East Court moiety of Finchampstead 
 ^ Manor and of Luckley, and assumed the name of Henry Fish- 
 A.D. 1712 Palmer. 
 
 His father, Humphry Fish, Hved at Ickwell Bury, which 
 was the family seat ; Ickwell was a hamlet a mile from the 
 parish church of Biggleswade. The family of Fish, I am 
 informed, have now entirely disappeared from that parish. 
 Henry Fish-Palmer married, in 1728, Elizabeth, daughter of 
 James Ingram. 
 
 In the early days of their married life they are described 
 as having resided at Luckley House, which had been pre- 
 viously occupied by Charles, Duke of St. Albans ; but 
 m their later years they lived at Ickwell. During this 
 period John Allright became tenant of the East Court 
 Manor House on Church Hill, and of the Manor Farm. 
 Henry Fish- Palmer had seven sons and one daughter, 
 nearly all of whom lived and died near Biggleswade. 
 His wife died in June, 1785, at the age of eighty-two, and 
 1786 he died in January, 1786, aged eighty-one, and they were 
 
 buried at Biggleswade. They were succeeded in their pos- 
 session of East Court Manor and the Luckley estate by their 
 Charles eldest son, Charles Fish-Palmer, whose wife's name was 
 Palmer Lucy. By a deed of settlement dated April 14, 1786, 
 (XXIII.) Charles Fish-Palmer (who about this date began to spell 
 his name as ' Fyshe '-Palmer) entailed his property upon 
 his eldest son who might survive him. In this deed nearly 
 all the same old names of the separate properties on the East 
 Court Manor are mentioned as are found in the Court Rolls of 
 the seventeenth century, but they have for the most part been 
 changed or lost in the present century. Among the names 
 of properties on the Luckley estate the name of ' Bolsing- 
 ham ' is attached to several of them ; e.g. ' Hagvill ' is de- 
 scribed as 'alias Bolsingham.' The name of the junction ot 
 the Finchampstead and Sandhurst roads, now known as 
 ' The Throat,' on the road to Wokingham, was called 'The 
 Throat Bolsingham ; ' several fields in that locality were called 
 ' Bolsingham Six Acres,' ' Bolsingham Four Acres,' &c., &c. 
 The preservation of ancient names is of great value in 
 archeeology. 
 
The East Court Moiety of the Manor 137 
 
 Charles Fyshe-Palmer (XXIII.) was buried at Biggies- chap. 
 wade on February 28, 1807, and his wife Lucy was buried at ^ 
 the same place on March 31, 1804. There is no record of their a.d. 1807 
 having ever resided at East Court ; we may conclude, there- 
 fore, that they lived, as their predecessors had done, at Ickwell, 
 in Bedfordshire. 
 
 Charles Fyshe-Palmer (XXIV.) inherited the estates of Charles 
 his father, Charles Fyshe-Palmer 'the elder,' in 1807. He palmer 
 was born in 1768, and married Lady Madelina Lennox, second (xxiv.) 
 daughter of Alexander, fourth Duke of Gordon, and widow 
 of Sir Robert Sinclair, Bart., who had died August 4, 1795, 
 leaving one son, Sir John Gordon Sinclair, Bart. 
 
 I am unable to state with certainty where Mr. Charles 
 Fyshe-Palmer resided immediately on his succeeding to his 
 Luckley and Finchampstead property, but most probably it 
 was at Luckley, as there was no house at that time quite 
 suitable for him on his East Court estate. The old Manor 
 House on Church Hill had not been occupied by its owner 
 since Richard Palmer's death in 1670 ; and as it had since 
 been used as a farmhouse for 137 years, it had most 
 probably fallen out of repair, and would have required great 
 alterations to adapt it to the modern requirements of a large 
 landowner. 
 
 Mr. Fyshe-Palmer therefore appears to have decided 
 upon adopting another house upon his estate as his future 
 residence, and the house now known as ' East Court ' was the 
 one which he selected. 
 
 The earliest mention of this house which I have met Appendix, 
 with is in the East Court Manor Roll of 1602, and in Nos. 80, 
 another Court Roll of 1607, where it appears under the name 
 of ' Cowdries,' ' and in the occupation of Jhon Tailor,' who paid Jhon 
 ten shillings a year for it. (John) 
 
 These small annual rents are no indication of the real value 
 of the property which they represent. Freehold and leasehold 
 properties on a manor were acquired by purchase, subject to 
 a small annual payment to the lord of the manor in acknow- 
 ledgment of his manorial rights. John Taylor appears to 
 have held this property of Cowdries by leasehold for some 
 years previously to 1602. In the floor of the centre passage 
 
138 
 
 Chronicles of Finchampstead 
 
 CHAP. 
 V 
 
 A.D. 1635 
 
 West 
 
 Court 
 
 Manor 
 
 Roll of 
 
 1623. 
 
 East 
 
 House 
 
 of the nave of Finchampstead Church there is a brass plate 
 with the following inscription on it : 
 
 Here lyeth the body of Elizabeth Blighe, wife of John Blighe, Gent., 
 daughter and heire of John Taylor of Finchamstede, Gent., deceased, who had 
 Jane her only daughter and heire, now of the age of 5 years, which Elizabeth 
 the XIIII day July a.d. 1635 pa- 
 tiently and in the feare of God 
 departed this fragile and trouble- 
 some life, setatis suae 30. 
 
 On another brass on the 
 same grave is the figure of 
 a female very beautifully 
 executed, representing the 
 mother with the young 
 daughter by her side. At 
 the head of this figure are 
 the following words : 
 
 I know that Christ Jesus my 
 Redeemer liveth, by whose merits 
 and abundant mercies towards me 
 I have an assured hope of ever- 
 lasting salvacion. 
 
 This brass memorial has 
 for long been an object of 
 much interest and curiosity, 
 and as the Court Rolls of the 
 East Court Manor for the 
 eighteenth century, which I 
 have had the good fortune 
 to find, enable us to learn 
 something about John Bligh 
 and John Taylor, who are 
 named on this brass, let us 
 first see what they tell us 
 
 about them. John ' Blyth ' (Bligh) appears in a West Court 
 Manor Roll of 1623 as a ' gentleman ' who was then ' occupy- 
 ing a messuage or tenement called East House,' containing by 
 estimation three score acres, for which he paid the Lord of 
 that Manor nine shillings a year ; also for ' East House ' lands^ 
 
The East Court Moiety of the Manor 139 
 
 containing by estimation twenty acres, 3^. a year. There is chap. 
 always very great difficulty in identifying old houses which ^ 
 have changed their names, and ' Cowdries ' and ' East House ' a.d. 1623 
 have been a great puzzle to me for a very long time ; but I 
 have at last been able to recognise them, respectively, as the 
 ancestors of the present East Court House, and of what is 
 now known as the ' Manor Farm,' close to East Court House. 
 
 In the first place, it will be observed that East House in 
 1623 had formed part of the West Court Manor, and appears 
 to have been held by John Bligh from the owner of that 
 Manor subject to an annual quit-rent. In 1630 East House 1630 
 appears to have been transferred to the East Court Manor, 
 and had passed into the possession of Nicholas Taylor, the 
 father of John Taylor, as in the ' presentment ' of the Court Appendix, 
 Baron of the Manor of East Court for that year, Nicholas No. 83. 
 Taylor is recorded as having ' died seized of this property,' Baron, 
 and John Taylor is said to have been his next heir; it is item 8 
 further stated that John Taylor had also ' died seized of a 
 messuage called "Whites," of the annual rent of 5.y., and that 
 Elizabeth (Bligh) his daughter was the next heir.' Elizabeth, 
 the wife of John Bligh, thus became the owner of East 
 House and of Whites. Nicholas, the father of John Taylor, Appendix, 
 is found in 1602 in the occupation of ' Ferretts,' a property ^°^*Add 
 which is mentioned under that name in several deeds in the ckart. 
 sixteenth century, and which appears to correspond with 3^598 
 what is now known as ' Wick Hill ' farm. 
 
 On the death of Elizabeth Bligh, July 14, 1635, these and 
 other properties were inherited by her husband John Bligh, 
 probably for life only, as the above epitaph states that her 
 only daughter Jane was her heir. In 1655 John Bligh was Appendix, 
 ' presented ' at the Court Baron as ' freed from suite, service. No. 85. 
 and reliefe for " Burges Lands " and for " Whites " by deeds of r°"^^ 
 7 Edward III. (1329-30) and 7 Edward IV. (1467-68),' which 165s'. 
 shows that ' Whites ' was as old as the fourteenth century. ^™ ' 
 
 In 1 66 1 John Bligh disappears from the Court Rolls (sup- Appendix, 
 posed to have died), and East House is found in possession court ' 
 of ' Mr. Robert Morey, his wife Jane Morey having died Baron, 
 since the last Court, and Thomas Morey was declared to be nem's 4 
 her son and next heir.' It was also stated that Robert and and 12 
 
14° Chronicles of Finchampstead 
 
 CHAP. Jane Morey had alienated unto John Banister, of Finchamp- 
 
 stead, three closes of land called ' Whites.' 
 
 A.D. This Janie Morey was doubtless the 'Jane Blighe ' shown 
 
 in the brass upon her mother's tomb, represented above. 
 1697 In 1697 East House was sold by Thomas Morey to 
 
 ^°"[' James Maynard, who is found in the Court Rolls'as late as 
 1697, 1727 paying a yearly rent for it of 15^2^., and in the Court Roll 
 b.m/^' fo^ ^^98 it is still described as ' late Mr. Bligh's.' 
 Add.' ch. Inadeedofsettlement made by Henry Fish-Palmer (XXII.) 
 
 38614. jj^ 1728, the name of East House disappears, and only the 
 '^^ names of the fields constituting the property are mentioned. 
 
 In a subsequent deed, in 1786, the same description was 
 recited, and the same property was settled by Charles Fyshe- 
 Palmer 'the elder' (XXIII.) upon his son Charles Fyshe- 
 Palmer (XXIV.). 
 
 This house only became the Manor farm in the early part 
 of the present century, when the last Charles Fyshe-Palmer 
 (XXIV). converted the ancient Manor House on Church 
 Hill and its farm buildings into an ordinary farm, and trans- 
 ferred his own private residence to the house now known 
 as East Court. The old house called East House was 
 replaced by the present large red-brick farmhouse by Mr. 
 John Walter, of Bearwood, about twenty-five years ago ; it was 
 built upon the foundations of East House, and covers the 
 excellent cellarage and a never-failing spring of the purest 
 water which were under the old house. 
 Appendix ^^ '^'^ "°^ resume the history of East Court House, 
 Nos. 80, ' which (as is stated above at page 137) was known in 1602 
 ^' and 1607 by the name of ' Cowdries,' and was then in the 
 
 occupation of John Taylor, according to the East Court 
 Manor Rolls. 
 
 John Taylor appears to have held this house and its 
 
 lands for some years previously to 1602 ; and the old 
 
 woodwork of the staircase, and the panelling which still 
 
 exists, would seem to indicate that the oldest part of the 
 
 present house belonged to the sixteenth century. 
 
 Appendix, In 16T5 ' Cowdries ' had passed into the possession of 
 
 No. 82. « ]y[r_ Marsh,' who was no doubt the second husband of Eliza- 
 
 Ri^soN's beth, widow of Richard Harrison (5), the son of Thomas 
 
 Pedigree. 
 
The East Court Moiety of the Manor Mi' 
 
 Harrison, Lord of the East Court Manor. In 1642 it is chap, 
 found in the possession of the Rev. Samuel Marsh, Rector of ^ 
 Finchampstead, son of Robert Marsh by his first marriage, a d. 1670 
 In 1670 it had passed out of the possession of Robert Marsh, Court 
 who was a half brother of the Rev. Samuel Marsh, into the ^ 
 that of the Rev. Thomas Bright, who became Rector in ^}^^°\- 
 1660, by whom it was held until his death in December, Nof'84."'' 
 1682, when it passed under his Will to his 'cousin,' Thomas Court 
 Bright, grandson of his brother William, subject to the life 1670,' 
 interest in it of his widow, Catherine, who married secondly ^'^™j5- 
 Gervas German. Thomas Bright sold the property in 1687 Baron. 
 to Bernard Eales, citizen and goldsmith of London, for ^PPg"g'^"' 
 325/. In the deed of sale the property is described as Deeds, 
 known by the names of ' Cowleaze,' ' Cowdres, alias New- ^"q^.^" 
 house,' and the lands belonging to it consisted of : ber 25, 
 
 Acres 1687, and 
 
 Four several closes of arable and pasture 16 p°n'^' ^ o 
 
 One meadow called ' The Four Acre ' and another ' The Three Acre ' 8 '^°"' ' ^^s 
 
 Moorland 5 
 
 Total 29 
 
 .Including barns, stables, gardens, orchards, commons, common of pasr- 
 ture, woods, underwoods, &c., belonging thereto, to be held of the chief lords 
 of the fee thereof by the rents and services therefor due. 
 
 In 1728 this property was purchased by Henry Fish- 1728 
 Palmer from Bernard Eales, and was then restored to the ^ebruary 
 East Court Manor. There is a further reference to the re- 
 storation of this property to the East Court estate in a deed 
 settling the boundaries between the East and West Court 
 Manors, dated July 30, 1736. In that deed, after tracing the 
 boundary between East and West Court up to the south 
 side of the churchyard, it is stated that ' the boundary pro- 
 ceeds from thence in a straight line directly to the Summer 
 House at " Newhouse" lately purchased by the said Henry 
 Fish-Palmer of Mr. Eales, and from, thence down Amletts 
 Lane to Amletts Well, and directly across the grounds from 
 thence into the gutter that leads across Moor Green to Short- 
 moor Ditch, and thence in a straight line to the river! Here 
 we have the name of ' Newhouse ' again mentioned as the 
 name by which the present East Court House was known in 
 
■T42 Chronicles of FincPiampsiead 
 
 CHAP. 1687. In 1786 it is described under its old name of 
 J^__ ' Cowdres, alias Newhouse,' in a deed of settlement by 
 A.D. 1783 Mr. Charles Fish-Palmer 'the elder.' After 1807 it received 
 April 25 jj^g name of ' East Court House.' 
 
 There are several old inhabitants of Finchampstead still 
 living who can remember the old ' Summer House' alluded to 
 in the boundary deed of 1736. It was a two-storied building, 
 and is supposed to have been originally erected as a 
 summer house, from which extensive and pleasant views 
 could be obtained, but latterly it was used as a garden store- 
 house ; it was evidently regarded as a prominent and per- 
 manent feature, or it would not have been named as a 
 boundary landmark. 
 
 ' Amletts Lane ' now no longer exists. It was a green 
 road or ' drift way,' leading from nearly opposite ' Sunnyside ' 
 (formerly ' The Hatch ') across the fields to the lower Sand- 
 hurst road, near Amletts Well. The face of the East Court 
 Manor has been so entirely changed during the last forty 
 years, by the removal of hedges and trees, the alteration of 
 roads, and the conversion of small holdings into larger ones, 
 that it has become almost impossible to identify the fields, 
 and places described in ancient documents. The boundary, 
 of the two Manors of East and West Court also under- 
 went a very great change at the time of the enclosure of 
 Windsor Forest, in i8r8, so that the boundary of 1736, 
 described above, is now of no use except for purposes of 
 archaeology. 
 
 With regard to the origin of the name of ' Cowderies,' 
 Miss Thoyts, of Sulhamsted Park, in 1891, drew atten- 
 tion to the common Berkshire name of Cordery and its 
 various modes of spelling, e.g. ' Cowdrey,' ' Cowdray,' 'Cor- 
 derry,' ' Corderoy,' this last being the nearest to its supposed- 
 derivation, viz. ' Corde du Roy,' the Corderoy having, it is 
 said, held Padworth Manor for the service of providing 
 ropes for the king's ship, while crossing to and from 
 Normandy and England. In Chapter VI., p. 152, mention 
 is made of Padworth Manor having been held by Thomas 
 Perkins (No. VIII.) of 'Peter Cowdrie ' in 1518. As 
 Thomas Perkins owned West Court, it seems quite possible 
 
The East Court Moiety of the Mancv 
 
 h: 
 
 that one of the same ' Cowdrie ' family may have occupied 
 East Court House, and given it the name of ' Cowdries.' 
 
 ' Cowderies ' in 1660 and in 1807 was a very much 
 smaller house than the present East Court House. On 
 reference to a return of the ' Hearth Tax ' for Finchampstead 
 about 1662 or 1663, a copy of which will be found in the 
 Appendix, it will be seen that it possessed only eight hearths, Xpptnd 
 and this number of hearths can be accounted for in the old No. 66 
 
 CHAP. 
 V 
 
 A.D. 1881 
 
 Hearth 
 Tax, 1662 
 
 part of the house which still remains. If we were to omit the 
 additions which were made to it by Mr. Charles Fyshe- 
 Palmer in the present century, and the large dining-room and 
 some other rooms and offices which were added by Mr. John 
 Walter in 1870, we should then see the house as it was in the 
 sixteenth century. 
 
 We may also compare this house with West Court House, 
 which at that period had only seven hearths, with the old 
 Manor House on Church Hill, and with East House, both of 
 
144 Chronicles of Finchampstead 
 
 CHAP, which had eight hearths. Our ancestors two centuries ago must 
 ^ have been more easily satisfied than we are in the present day, 
 A.D. 1881 if houses with such scant accommodation as these could be cor- 
 rectly termed ' capital messuages.' 
 
 The above representation of East Court House (from a 
 photograph taken by Mr. F. G. Lyon in 1894) shows the 
 house as it is at present. It originally consisted of only half 
 of what is seen in this picture of the front of the house, 
 namely, the three windows to the right, and the two attic 
 windows above. The left half was added by the last Mr. 
 Fyshe-Palmer, and considerably improved by the present 
 occupier. 
 
 In 18 18 Charles Fyshe-Palmer entered Parliament as a 
 Liberal member for Reading, his colleague being Mr. Lefevre, 
 the father of the late Lord Eversley, who was returned at the 
 head of the poll. Mr. Weyland, of Hawthorn Hill, was the 
 unsuccessful Tory candidate on that occasion. 
 
 In 1820, on the death of King George III., there was 
 another general election, when Monck was returned at the 
 head of the poll {418), Palmer, second (399), Weyland, 
 Tory (394). 
 
 In 1826 came perhaps the severest electioneering contest 
 that Reading has ever known. After six days' polling Monck 
 had polled 580, Spence 492, Palmer 488, Wakefield 366. 
 A scrutiny ensued, which resulted, in March 1827, in Palmer 
 being declared to have polled 481, while Spence had only 
 polled 458. Monck and Palmer were therefore returned as 
 duly elected. This election is said to have cost, together 
 with the scrutiny, about 20,000/. There were great rejoicings 
 in Reading on the occasion. 
 
 In 1830, on the death of George IV., another general 
 election took place. Mr. Monck retired, and Mr. Charles 
 Russell, of Swallowfield, became a candidate, together with 
 Mr. C. Fyshe-Palmer and Dr. Lushington. The election 
 resulted in the return of Palmer (522), Russell (470> 
 Lushington (452). 
 
 In 1 83 1 the Reform Bill came before the House of 
 Commons, and it was carried by a majority of one only, 
 which was too small a majority upon which the House of 
 
The East Court Moiety of the Manor 1 4 5 
 
 Lords could be expected to accept the Bill ; another general chAi'. 
 election was therefore called for. Mr. Fyshe-Palmer and ^ 
 Mr. Charles Russell were returned without opposition. The a.d. 1831 
 Reform Bill was carried by a large majority in the House of 
 ■. Commons, and was then accepted by the House of Lords. 
 
 At the next general election, in 1835, Mr.. Fyshe-Palmer 
 retired, but in July 1837, on Queen Victoria succeeding to the 
 throne, he once more offered himself and was returned at the 
 head of the poll, Serjeant Talfourd second, and Mr. C. Russell 
 lowest. 
 
 Mr. C. Fyshe-Palmer finally retired from Parliament at 
 the end of the year 1837. 
 
 Mr. Palmer appears to have been very fond of his East 
 Court Manor, and carefully preserved all the fine timber on 
 the estate. He was the first owner who began to plant the 
 Scotch fir trees upon the wild heath lands and commons of 
 the Manor, a practice which was extensively followed by his 
 successor, the late Mr. John Walter. He died in January 
 1842. Lady Madeliri^ Fyshe-Palmer died in 1847 ; they 
 were both buried at Finchampstead. Sir John Gordon 
 Sinclair, the son of Lady Madelina by her first marriage, 
 succeeded to the East Court property, and sold it on No- 
 vember 7, 1849, to Mr. John Walter, of Bearwood, who thus 
 became its twenty-seventh possessor since the division of the 
 Manor in the thirteenth century. 
 
 It is remarkable that the East and West Court Manors 
 passed through the possession of almost the same number of 
 owners in the same period. Since Mr. Fyshe- Palmer's death 
 in 1842, East Court House has been occupied by Mr. Gibson, 
 Mrs. Macnabb, General Bentinck (the father of the present 
 Duke of Portland), and at present by the collector of these 
 ' Chronicles of Finchampstead.' 
 
CHAPTER VI 
 The West Court Manor 
 
 CHAP 
 VI 
 
 A.D. 
 1306-7 
 
 1306-7 
 Chanc. 
 Inq. 
 P.M. 
 
 3SEdw. I. 
 No. 30 
 
 HE table on page 148 will exhibit the descent 
 of the West Court moiety of the Manor 
 from 1 306 down to 1 560 ; each owner 
 being numbered consecutively for conve- 
 nience of reference in the narrative. 
 
 The origin of the Manor will be found 
 in Chapter IV. 
 
 Peter de la Hoese married Agatha, 
 daughter of the last Sir William Banastre, and seems to have 
 been a cousin of John de la Hoese, who married Constance, 
 the sister of Agatha. 
 
 It appears from a Post-mortem Inquisition on the death of 
 Peter de la Hoese, in 1306-7, that he held the house and 
 lands of West Court through the inheritance of his wife, 
 Agatha, from Robert Achard, the chief lord (V.),^ by the 
 service of half a knight's fee, and that his son Peter de la 
 Hoese, who was then twenty-four years of age, was the next 
 heir to the estate. 
 
 The property is described in this P.M. Inquisition, which 
 is in Latin, as follows : — 
 
 ' The Roman numerals after the names of the chief lords of the fee refer 
 to the list of chief lords, No. i in the Appendix. 
 
The West Court Manor 
 
 147 
 
 One capital messuage, which is valued at . 
 80 acres of arable land, which are worth . 
 
 the price per acre being 3^. 
 4 acres of meadow, which are worth 
 
 the value per acre being dd. 
 3 acres of separate pasture, worth 
 
 the value per acre being dd. 
 Certain common pasture, worth 
 10 acres of wood, the produce of which is worth 
 
 as underwood, tlie value per acre being 2,d- 
 
 Total ann. value 
 
 J. 
 
 d. 
 
 
 
 2 
 20 
 
 per 
 >, 
 
 „ 
 
 ann. 
 
 CHAP. 
 VI 
 
 2 
 
 A.D. 
 1306-7 
 
 I 
 
 6 „ 
 
 ji 
 
 
 I 
 2 
 
 „ 
 6 „ 
 
 
 
 29 
 
 And there are also 
 quarterly, and 
 
 villeins is worth 
 
 64 
 49 
 
 d. 
 
 4 
 
 10 
 
 114 
 43 
 
 rents receivable from free tenants 
 from villeins at the same period, 
 
 and the labour of the 
 
 157 7 
 The sum total of the whole being 9/. ds. •]\d. per ann. (thus in orig.). 
 
 Here we have the earliest record of the extent of the 
 West Court moiety of the Manor as it existed in 1306-7. 
 
 It will be observed that no mention is made in the above 
 of the Mill, which the Domesday return showed as part of 
 the original Manor. It is therefore presumed that at this 
 period it had been severed from the original Manor of 
 Finchampstead, either by the last Sir William Banastre, or 
 by an ancestor of his, and had been transferred to a junior 
 branch of his family, as the Mill is found subsequently in 
 possession of the Banastre family, who resided at the house 
 known in modern times as ' Banisters,' ' Hatch Farm,' and 
 ' The Hatch,' which property was held by them under 
 the chief lords of the fee, who were owners of Alder- 
 maston. (See Chapter VII. on ' Banisters.') In the P.M. Inqui- 
 sition above referred to there is a further statement, dated 
 February 24 at Chippenham, that the same Peter de la Huse 
 (so spelt in writ) held the Manor of Roudone of the King in 
 chief, ' ad feode firmam,' by service of yielding therefor 
 7/. lOJ. for all service (' Que quidem firma assignata est p 
 dilm Regem Diie Regine'). 
 
 A capital messuage with garden and curtilage, 4^. ; a dove- 
 house, 2s. per ann. ; sum 6^-. Total paid to the Queen, 7/. io.y. 
 
 L 2 
 
 35 Edw. 
 I. No. 30 
 1306-7. 
 Variously 
 spelt in 
 different 
 deeds as 
 ' Rowe- 
 done,' 
 'Rughe- 
 done,' 
 ' Ruch- 
 done. ' 
 1306 
 
14^ Chronicles of Finchampstead 
 
 CHAP. Sir William Banastre, = . 
 
 VI \_ 
 
 Peter de la Hoese, = Agatha, of West Court. Constance, = John de la Hoese, 
 b. 1260, d. 1307. I of East Court.' 
 
 (III.) I (II.) 
 
 Alina'' . . . 2ndly, = Peter de la Hoese, set. 24=ist . 
 
 d. Oct. 29, 1369. 
 
 in 1307, d. about 1360. 
 
 John Haselrigge, = Alina,'i5. 1339. Thomas de la Hoese, = ... Henry de la 
 Inherited the Wilts property and ! Hoese, d. s.p. 
 
 the Manor of Roudone. I before 1369. 
 
 Joan de la Hoese, = John de Colneye. 
 b. about 1275, d. before 1369, 
 of Padworth, i.e. ' Hussie's Manor.' 
 
 (IV.) I 
 
 John de Colneye (or Collee), = 
 aet. IS in 1369, i.e. b. in 1354, of 
 West Court and 'Hussie's 
 Manor.' 
 
 (V.)i 
 John Collee, = Elizabeth 
 b. 1377, livmgin 141 5. I 
 
 I (VI.) 
 Stephen Collee, = . . . 
 
 llViL) 
 Margaret Collee, = John Parkyns, b. 1450, 
 I m. 1480, living in 1505. 
 
 I (VIII.) 
 Thomas Parkyns, = Dorothy, dau. of Edward ■ 
 b. about 1470, 7)1. 1499, d. 1524. I More, ofWichwood, Hants. 
 
 I I (IX.) (X.) 
 
 1st, = Geo. Tat- 2ndly, = Anne, = William P., Richard = Elizabeth, = 2ndly, Sir 
 tershall. dau. of Rich. </ 1558. Parkyns, dau. of John 
 Wells. b. 1500, Sir John Marvyn, 
 
 d. 1560. Succeeded Mompesson, d. 1566. 
 to West Court, 1 524. d. 1 581. 
 
 ' For descent of the East Court Manor, see Chapter V. 
 * Sometimes read as Alicia. 
 
The West Court Manor ^49 
 
 The possession by the family of De la Hoese (or Huse) chap. 
 for many generations, of the Manor of Rowedone, in Wilts, ^^- 
 as also of several other estates in the same county, e.g. Parva a.d. 
 Sutton, Stapleford, Ficheldon, Sydecumb, Chippenham, &c., '3°^~' 
 forms conclusive evidence of the descent of this family from 
 Walter Hosatus, of Domesday, until the fourteenth century, 
 and also of the descent of Peter de la Hoese, of the West 
 Court Manor, and of John de la Hoese, of the East Court 
 Manor of Finchampstead, from the same family ; but the 
 references to the authorities for this statement are too 
 numerous for mention here. 
 
 Peter de la Hoese succeeded to the West Court moiety of jjo^, 
 the Manor on the death of his father in 1307, when he was Feet of 
 twenty-four years of age. In 131 1, and again in 1317, he gEdw.^' 
 conjointly with John de la Heose (Hoese), of East Court, who m- 
 is described as his cousin (cognatus) or kinsman, presented to 1335.'° 
 the Rectory of Finchampstead. On his death about 1360, Chanc. 
 his second wife Alina (HI.) succeeded to the West Court 43'Erw^' 
 property, and held it for her life under Sir Thomas dela Mare ^^^- P'- '> 
 (No. X.), the chief lord of the fee, until 1369, she having jan. ^18, 
 been jointly enfeoffed with her husband, Peter de la Heose. 1369-70 
 
 The Manor was then said to have been ' worth by the , 
 year in all issues ten pounds.' Alina ^ (HI.) died October 29, sometimes 
 1369, and ' JohndeColneye(IV.), aged fifteen years, son and read as 
 heir of Joan de Colneye, daughter and heir of Thomas de la ^^l^' 
 Hoese, son and heir of the said Peter (II.), was declared to be 
 her heir.' 
 
 Thomas de la Hoese and his daughter, Joan de Colneye, 
 did not survive Alina (HI.), and consequently did not obtain 
 possession of West Court, which therefore came to John de 
 Colneye (IV.), son of Joan de la Hoese and her husband, 
 John de Colneye. 
 
 John de Colneye (IV.), being under twenty-one years of 
 age, became the ward of Sir Thomas de la Mare, the chief lord, 
 who, according to the feudal laws in such cases, assumed the 
 
 ' Peter de la Hoese on his second marriage with Alina settled his Wiltshire 
 property, including ' the Manor of Rowdone,' on the issue of this marriage, which 
 seems to be referred to in the following note in Wilts P.M. Inq. : ' Alina, dau. of 
 the aforesaid Peter and Alina, and wife of John Hazelrigge, aged thirty and more, 
 is next heir to aforesaid Alina, " per forma " the above-mentioned gift.' 
 
ISO 
 
 Chronicles of Fincham;psiead 
 
 CHAP. 
 VI 
 
 A.D. 1369 
 
 137s 
 
 Chanc. 
 Inq. P.M. 
 6 Ric. II. 
 No. 25, 
 1382-83, 
 and 10 
 Ric. II. 
 No. no, 
 1387- 
 1398 
 
 1415 
 
 ' Guardianship in Chivalry,' as it was called, of the young 
 heir, which consisted in taking the custody of the heir and 
 of his lands, without rendering any account of the profits, as 
 the law regarded the young heir as incapable of performing 
 knight's service until he was twenty-one : on his attaining 
 that age he could obtain possession of his lands. An 
 ' Inquisitio post mortem ' was held by itinerant justices before 
 a jury of the county, to ascertain the profits to the Crown 
 by the first-fruits of tenure, and to grant the heir his ' livery,' 
 as it was termed. When the heir came of full age he was to 
 receive the order of knighthood, and was obliged to take it 
 or else to pay a fine. John de Colneye (IV.) would not there- 
 fore have entered into his inheritance until the year 1375, 
 when he succeeded to the West Court property as heir of his 
 great-grandfather, Peter de la Hoese (II.), and Alina his 
 second wife (III.). 
 
 He appears to have lost no time in entering into matri- 
 mony also, as in 1377 he is stated to have had a son and heir 
 born to him, John de Colney, or Collee (V.), who was only 
 six years old when his father died in 1383, so that he also 
 then became the ward of the chief lords of the fee, who 
 during his minority were Sir Thomas de la Mare (No. X.) 
 and Sir Robert de la Mare (XL). 
 
 John Colney (No. V.) attained his majority in 1398, and 
 entered upon his West Court property. He married Elisa- 
 beth, whose surname is not recorded : but she appears to have 
 been related to the family of Parkins, of Ufton, for particulars 
 of which reference may be made to page 41 of Miss Sharpe's 
 ' History of Ufton Court.' 
 
 John de Colney (V.), or Collee, as the name was usually 
 .spelt at this time, inherited from his grandmother, Joan de la 
 Hoese, a Manor in the parish of Padworth, called ' Hussies 
 Manor,' the name being supposed to be a corruption of 
 Hoese. 
 
 In 141 5, August 15, John and Elisabeth Collee pre- 
 sented to the Rectory of Finchampstead, and twice before 
 had John Collee's trustees,^ Philip Baynard and Roger atte 
 
 ' The deed by which Roger atte Felde, Ph. Baynard, and John Cholsey were 
 appointed trustees describes ' John Colney ' as ' John de Colle, of Padeworth,' and 
 
The West Court Manor 15 ^ 
 
 Felde, presented for him during his minority in 1391 and chap. 
 
 1395- _!L 
 
 On the death of John (V.) and Elisabeth Collee the West a.d. 1455 
 Court moiety of the IVIanor and its moiety of the advowson, 
 together with ' Hussie's Manor' in Pad worth, was inherited 
 by Stephen Collee (No. VI.), of whom all that is known 
 is that he presented to the Rectory of Finchampstead on 
 October 29, 1455, and all his property descended to Margaret 
 Collee (VII.), owner of West Court. 
 
 About 1480 Margaret Collee (No, VII.) married John 1480. 
 Parkyns, Lord of the Manor of Ufton Robard, whose grand- ^^^^^p^ 
 father, William Parkyns, had been the first Lord of that • Hist, of 
 Manor, and a near relation of Elisabeth, the wife of John ^^y°", 
 Collee (No. V.). 
 
 The family of Parkyns (or Perkins) is of great antiquity, 
 dating from the end of the fourteenth century, and extending 
 down to the nineteenth ; and in addition to the Manor of 
 Ufton and the advowson oj" its parish church, they became, 
 by marriage with the descendants of the Collee and Hoese 
 family, the owners of the West Court moiety of the Manor of 
 Finchampstead, and of the advowson of its church also, and 
 held this latter property for six generations, from 1480 until 
 nearly the end of the seventeenth century.^ 
 
 John Parkyns (No. VII.) presented, in right of his wife, 
 to the Rectory of Finchampstead in 1487, and again in 1505, 
 which is the latest date at which any record of him can be 
 found. His wife, Margaret Parkyns, probably survived him 
 and was living in 15 18; as, from a Chancery Inquisition chanc. 
 P.M. taken on July 15 in that year, it appears that on p-M- 
 November 6, 10 Henry VIII. (1518), she executed a deed 17'^Hen. 
 whereby she settled her West Court estate on trust for her ^^"'■ 
 own use during the remainder of her life, and for three years 1525 
 after her death to perform her last Will, and ' then for the 
 use' of her son, Thomas Parkyns (No. VIII.) and his heirs. 
 
 his descendants appear to have retained the name of Collee. The family are 
 said to have come from Colney (Collee, Coley), near Reading. 
 
 ' Lysons, in his Magna Britannia, is clearly in error in stating that ' the 
 property of the Colneys was afterwards in the Pakenhams.' The Colneys or 
 Collees owned West Court ; the P^enhams owned East Court through the Foxleys 
 and Warbletons. (See Chapter V. on ' East Cpurt.') 
 
152 
 
 Chronicles of Finchampstead 
 
 CHAP. 
 VI 
 
 A.D. 1499 
 
 Appendix, 
 No. I 
 
 Charter 
 dated 
 
 July 13. 
 
 10 Hen. 
 
 vni. 
 1518- 
 
 Inq. 
 
 July IS. 
 
 17 Hen. 
 
 vni. 
 1525- 
 
 Chanc. 
 Inq. P.M. 
 17 Hen. 
 VIII. 
 No. ^3 
 
 Husseys 
 in Eschea- 
 tor's Inq. 
 
 See 
 
 Pedigrees, 
 pp. 148, 
 'S3. IS9 
 
 Feet of 
 Fines, 
 Berkshire, 
 1533 and 
 
 IS37- 
 See 
 
 Pedigree, 
 ante 
 
 This estate is stated to have been then worth by the year (clear) 
 13/. 6.y. ^d., and was held of Sir George Forster as of his 
 Manor of Aldermaston. 
 
 Thomas Parkyns (No. VI IL) married, about the year 
 1499, Dorothy, daughter of Edward More, of Wichwood, 
 Hants, and on the death of his parents inherited in addition 
 to the West Court property certain lands in Woolhampton 
 and Aldermaston, which had been settled upon Edward More, 
 the father of Dorothy, his wife. He was also possessed in fee 
 tail of ' the Manor of Ufton Robard, together with the advowson 
 of the church of that parish, also a moiety of three messuages, 
 &c. in Borwardscote, Sneeswicke, Westonwike, Pynnokeswike, 
 and Ufton Robard. He was also seized in fee tail of one 
 messuage, and one virgate with woods, waters and fisheries 
 in Benham, Bradfelde, and Ufton. 
 
 ' Five messuages and five virgates of land in Padworth ; two 
 messuages and two and a half virgates of land called Pang- 
 burn stande, in Ufton Nervit. 
 
 ' One messuage and one virgate of land in Sellamstede {Sul- 
 hamstead) Abbot.' 
 
 The Manor of Padworth, called ' Hussie's Manor,' in- 
 herited by Thomas Parkyns, was held of Peter Cowdrie as of 
 his Manor of Padworth, called Cowdrie's Manor, by fealty, 
 and 6^'. 2>d. for all services, and was worth by the year 
 (clear) lOOs. 
 
 Thomas and Dorothy Parkyns had seven children. 
 Thomas (VIII.) died August 16, 1524, and Richard Parkyns 
 (IX.), his eldest son, aged twenty-four years, was declared 
 to be his next heir, and inherited all his father's property, 
 
 Richard Parkyns (IX.) was born a.d. 1500, and married 
 Elisabeth, daughter and coheir with her three sisters of Sir 
 John Mompesson, of Bathampton, Wiltshire. They had no 
 children ; they therefore settled the West Court estate and its 
 moiety of the advowson, and also the Manor of Ufton Robard 
 and the advowson of that church and other property on their 
 nephew, Francis Parkyns (XL), son of William and Anne 
 Parkyns, reserving to Richard Parkyns and his wife Elisabeth 
 a life interest in those properties. 
 
 The West Court property is described in 1537 as con- 
 
The West Court Manor 
 
 153 
 
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154 Chronicles of Finchampstead 
 
 CHAP, sisting of 2 messuages, 20 acres of land, 5 acres of meadow, 
 
 ^^ 20 acres of pasture, 300 acres of wood, 60 acres of furze and 
 
 A.D. 1560 heath, and 6o.y. rent, with appurtenances in Finchampstead and 
 
 half the advowson, showing an increase of one messuage and 
 
 308 acres in the extent of the Manor since 1306-7. 
 
 Richard Parkyns died in 1560, and was buried in the 
 parish church of Ufton. His widow, Elisabeth Parkyns, 
 married, secondly, Sir John Marvyn, of Fountell-Gifford, 
 Wilts, who was her second cousin. 
 
 In 1564 Lady Marvyn and her husband. Sir John Marvyn, 
 
 conjointly presented to the Rectory of Finchampstead. Sir 
 
 John Marvyn died in 1566. He was the owner of extensive 
 
 property in Wilts, all of which he bequeathed to his widow 
 
 Elizabeth, who in 1568 purchased a small Manor in Ufton, 
 
 ' History known as ' Pole Manor.' Miss Sharpe in her ' History of Ufton 
 
 of Ufton Court' appears to have established the fact that the house 
 
 1892,' which Elizabeth, Lady Marvyn, built on ' Pole Manor' is the 
 
 P- 67 same as is now known as ' Ufton Court.' 
 
 Elizabeth, Lady Marvyn, died in 1581, and bequeathed the 
 property in Wilts which she had acquired from her second 
 husband, Sir John Marvyn, as well as her property in Ufton, 
 Berks, called ' Pole Manor,' to her nephew Francis Parkyns 
 (XL), who also then became the owner of West Court Manor 
 and moiety of the advowson. The initials ' F.P.' are still 
 to be seen on the iron guttering of Ufton Court, marking 
 that house as having been the residence of this Francis 
 Parkyns or of his son Francis. I must here introduce an 
 account of a somewhat outrageous occurrence in 1534, for 
 the particulars of which we are indebted to Miss Sharpe, of 
 Ufton Court, who has exhumed them from the records of the 
 Star Chamber. The occasion of it seems to have been a 
 long-standing dispute between the Parkyns family and Sir 
 Humphrey Foster, of Aldermaston, as to fealty or service, 
 which he claimed as tenant in capite of the Manor of Pad- 
 worth, but which the Parkyns family refused to acknowledge. 
 Sir Humphrey Foster was Sheriff of Berkshire and 
 Oxfordshire, and fourteenth chief Lord of Finchampstead as 
 well as of Aldermaston ; and the occurrence serves to illustrate 
 the rough manners of those times : 
 
The West Court Manor 155 
 
 ' On the Xth day of Juyn, in the XX Vth yere of King chap. 
 Henry VI II! s most noble Reigne (1534), betwene the houres ^^ 
 of V & VI of the clok, did the saide Sir Humfrey with his a.d. 1534 
 servants, X in number, wt Force & armes, that is to wit, 
 wt bowes, arrowes, swords, Bucklers, daggers, & longjavelyns, 
 & other wspons, come to the duelling of Frauncis Pkyns, of 
 Padworth, besetting & compassing the saide house wt his 
 svants aforesaide. And he, the saide Sir Humfrey, forsibly 
 entred into the hall of the house, & thanne & there founde 
 Frauncis sitting upon a stole in the hall bokeling of his shoes, 
 & Sir Humfrey thanne & there made assaute & a Frey upon 
 Frauncis, saying unto hym. these words : " What, thou arraunt 
 knave ! art thou there f " and wt those words take hym by the 
 hed and gave hym many grete & stang blowes wt his Fist & 
 violently & maliciously hym cast unto the grounde & knokked 
 & brake hys hed against the harth of the heyborne. By reason 
 of the blow grete plenty e & abundaunce of blud descended from 
 his hed & fcue upon his body, untill suche tyme that Anne, the 
 wyffe of the saide Frauncis, foimde Sir Humfrey furiously 
 treding her husbonde under his Fete, & further-m-ore, wolde 
 have slayne hym yf that Anne had not piteously & lamentably 
 kneling upon hur knes in h^t,r Smok by a long season intreated 
 Sir Humfrey to wtdraw his malicious purpose, Rancor, & 
 m.alice ; & Sir Humfrey thanne and there Riotously toke the 
 saide Frauncis wt force & ageinst his will led hym as a 
 prisoner & hym brought unto the dwelling-house of Richard 
 Parkyns, his Brother, at Ufton Robt. And Sir Humfrey 
 Riotously entred into the house betwene the houres of Vf & Vlj 
 of the Clok in the mornynge of the sam.e day, Richard his 
 wyffe and straungers thanne being in the house at that houre 
 and tyme, being set to Brekefast in the Chamber where 
 Richard, hys wyffe, & children accustumably were wont to 
 lye ; the saide Sir Humfrey at his entring dematmded of one 
 of the s'vants where his Maisterwas, the s'vant making answere 
 ageyne that his Mr. was in his chamber, & wt those wordes 
 the s'vant hastely retorned into the chamber, and or he coulde 
 pleynly Notyfie unto his Maister the comynge of Sir Humfrey, 
 the same Sir Humfrey, wt VIIJ of his svants, sodenly entred 
 into the chaml)er, having their wepons & speres in their 
 
1 5 6 Chronicles of Finchampstead 
 
 CHAP, hands assauting & making affray upon Richard; saying these 
 
 ^^ ivordes : " Parkyns, I cannot be in Rest for the <2f thy blud ; " 
 
 A.D. 1534 & wt that, toke Richard by the ere <5f by the here of the hed, 
 
 the saide Richard & the straungers, then there being, Holding 
 
 their Cappes in their hands, supposing Sir Humfrey at his 
 
 first comyng to have come theder to none evill intent, the saide 
 Richard desiring Sir Humfrey gentely to wtdrawe his handes 
 
 from his hed, & saying he never did unto hym, any displeasure 
 whereby he shulde thus handyll hym, & affermyng of that 
 sayinge one Willam More, gent, then being in the house, who 
 saide these wordes unto Sir Humfrey : " Sir, I dare depose 
 upon a boke that Richard Parkyns nor no on of his s'vants, 
 never did you displeasure :" & at these wordes. Sir Humfrey 
 being passed all reason, & wt Malice & Rancor thrust 
 Willam More in the brest wt grete violence wt his Fist, & 
 incontynent thrust hym ageyne, so that by force he was fey ne to 
 Recale abbake upon a table borde, &° wt that Sir Humfrey drew 
 oute his sworde & wolde have stry ken therwt Willam or Richard 
 if that Elizabeth, wyffe of Richard, had not taken Sir Humfrey 
 by both the Armes & so helde hym. wt piteous & lamentable 
 cryinge unto such tyme Sir Hztmfrey commanded one of his 
 s'vants to take his sworde. And thenne he sware by Godde's 
 blud, his hart, & other abhomynable & terrible othes, that he 
 wolde make Richard <2f his brethren that the grounde they went 
 on shulde burne there fete & that ev'y birde that flieth oute of 
 a busshe, he and they shulde thinke to be a Sprite, & also he 
 swore depely that he wolde hew hym, & them as small as 
 flesshe to the pot. And thus departed thens leding & dryving 
 Riotously Frauncis lyke a prisoner afore hym unto his manor 
 of Aldermaston, & thus kept & Imprisoned hym in one 
 chamber, lokked by the space of all that day & the next nyght 
 
 following.' 
 
 The jurymen before whom the case was heard at the 
 Quarter Sessions at Okingham (Wokingham) could not agree 
 in their verdict, and the case was therefore remitted to the 
 Star Chamber for final adjudication, but the result has not 
 been disclosed. Among the magistrates before whom the case 
 was tried was Hugh, the last Abbot of Reading Monastery, 
 
The West Court Manor 157 
 
 who suffered martyrdom at the time of its dissolution in 15^9, chap. 
 five years after the occurrence related above. vi 
 
 Francis Parkyns (XI.) succeeded to the West Court a.d. 1581 
 property, and several other estates in Berks and Wilts, on ^he 
 death of his aunt, Elisabeth, Lady Marvyn (X.), in 1581 ; he 
 married Anna, daughter of Serjeant Edmund Plowden, of 
 Shiplake, Oxfordshire, and had two sons and two daughters. 
 
 Francis Parkins, whose name about this time began to be 
 spelt Perkins, may be noticed here chiefly in connection 
 with his firm adherence to the Roman .Catholic faith. He 
 was one of those who became subject to the various penal 
 enactments against Papists and recusants during the reign of 
 Queen Elizabeth. 
 
 The statutes against Papists were very numerous and 
 severe. 
 
 If any English priest of the Church of Rome came to 
 England from beyond sea, or tarried in England three days 
 without conforming to the Church of England, he was guilty 
 of high treason. 
 
 If the children of Papists were educated at home, and the 
 schoolmaster did not repair to church, the parents were liable 
 to forfeit 10/. a month, and the schoolmaster \os. a day. If 
 they sent their children abroad for education, they were liable 
 to forfeit 100/., and the children so sent were disabled from 
 inheriting, purchasing, or enjoying any lands, tenements, or 
 other profits. 
 
 Patrons of livings who were Roman Catholics were dis- 
 abled from presenting — a law which remains in force until the 
 present time. 
 
 In 1584, if any priest of the Church of Rome was found 
 within the realm after the expiration of forty days, he might 
 be adjudged guilty of high treason. 
 
 All persons who refused to take the oath of supremacy, or 
 to conform to the rules and ceremonies of the Church of 
 England as by law established, were, under several statutes 
 passed in the earlier part of Elizabeth's reign, subject to 
 various penalties for such ' recusancy,' as it was termed, 
 no distinction being made between Papists and other Noncon- 
 
158 
 
 Chronicles of Finchampstead 
 
 CHAP. 
 VI 
 
 A.D. 1588 
 
 Miss 
 
 Sharpe's 
 
 ' Hist, of 
 
 Ufton 
 
 Court,' 
 
 1892 
 
 Miss 
 
 Sharpe's 
 ' Hist, of 
 Ufton 
 Court,' 
 p. 96 
 
 Tatter- 
 shall, 
 see 
 
 Pedigree, 
 p. 159 
 
 fofmists, and absence from church alone, unaccompanied bv 
 any other act, was sufficient to constitute such ' recusancy.' 
 
 In the thirty-fifth year of Elizabeth a statute was passed 
 against Popish recusants as distinguished from Protestant 
 recusants, by which the former were punishable by a. fin^ of 
 20/. for every month during which they absented themselves 
 from church, and by disabilities of various kinds ; and if 
 within three months of their conviction as Popish recu- 
 sants, they declined to submit and renounce their religious 
 opinions, they might be required by four justices to quit the 
 realm. 
 
 The Parkyns family were staunch Roman Catholics, and 
 in their house at Ufton was concealed a priest, to whose 
 ministrations several members of the family secredy resorted. 
 They became objects of suspicion and persecution ; and as 
 informers were entitled to half the fines, we can easily imagine 
 that the lives of the family were carefully watched, and accu- 
 sations made against them. 
 
 The house was searched by justices of the peace, who 
 failed to discover either the hiding-place of the priest or any- 
 thing to bring the family within the power of the law, except 
 that ' Perkins ' was a ' recusant.' The hiding-place of the 
 priest is still to be seen on the second floor of Ufton Court. 
 Two boards in the floor were removable, and secured below 
 by wooden bolts. 
 
 In a document purporting to have been an information laid 
 against several persons named as occasional inmates of Francis 
 Perkins's house at Ufton, two Mrs. TottersoUs (Tattershalls) 
 and a Mr. Edward Tottersoll(Tattershall)are mentioned. This 
 document, though not dated, bears evident proof that it must 
 have been drawn up in or about 1586. One of these Mrs. 
 Tattershalls was, doubtless, Anne, the widow of William 
 Perkyns, who had married, secondly, in 1562, George Tatter- 
 shall (whom, for convenience, we will call No. i, as we are 
 now about to speak of four George Tattershalls) ; the other 
 was Katherine, the daughter of William and Anne Perkyns, 
 who had married another George Tattershall (No. 2). 
 Mr. Edward Tottersoll (Tattershall) was probably a son 
 of George Tattershall (No. i) and Anne, his wife ; but in the 
 
The West Court Manor 
 
 159 
 
 absence of more conclusive evidence he has not been shown 
 in the family pedigree. 
 
 TATTERSHALL PEDIGREE. 
 Showing descent of the West Court Manor from 1524 to 1704, in continuation of table at page 14S 
 
 CHAP. 
 VI 
 
 I. Geo. Tattershall, = Anne, =Wm. Parkyns, 
 
 No. I, 2ndly, m. 
 1562, b. between 
 1515-20. 
 
 dau. of 
 Richard 
 Welles. 
 
 d. 1558. 
 
 (IX.) 
 Richard 
 Parkyns, 
 b. 1500, 
 d. 1560. 
 
 I (XII.) 
 
 2. Wm. Smith, = Constance George Tatter- ■■ 
 of Hard- T.,' d. 1610, shall. No. 2, 
 wick, d. buried at of Stapleford, 
 
 1627, cet. 70. Ufton. Wilts, b. be- 
 tween 1545-50, 
 d. before 1605. 
 
 d. s.p. 
 
 (X.) 
 Elizabeth, 
 dau. of Sir John 
 Monipesson, 
 d. 1 581. 
 
 = 2ndly. Sir 
 John Mar- 
 vyn, d. 
 1566. 
 
 Katherine 
 Parkyns. 
 
 (XI.) I _ 
 Francis 
 
 Parkyns, 
 d. i6i6. 
 
 Anna, Elizabeth, 
 dau. of Gertrude, 
 Edmund Mary, 
 Plowden, Susanna, 
 of Ship- Dorothy, 
 lake, 
 Oxon. 
 
 I (XIII.; 
 
 3. Anne 2ndly, = George T., 
 
 No.^ 
 
 buried 
 at Finchamp- 
 stead. May 
 13, 1658. 
 
 1st, Elizabeth, 
 dau. of Chris- 
 topher Bigge, 
 of Stapleford, 
 Wilts. 
 
 Elizabeth T. = John Don- Francis, = 
 castle, of Edmund, = 
 the Well Katherine, 
 House, a daughter. 
 Binfield. 
 
 3, buried at 
 Finchampstead, 
 May IS, 1658, 
 b. about 1575. 
 
 (XIV.) 
 
 4. George Tattershall, = Mary, dau. of Henry Astell, of Basildon, 
 No. 4, b. 1603, living in 1680. I buried at Finchampstead, June 15, 1660. 
 
 , Hon. Charles Howard, 
 of Greystoke, 4th son of the 
 25th Earl of Arundel, b. 
 (about) 1630, i/. 1713, buried 
 at Dorking, Surrey. 
 
 I (XV.) 
 Mary T., 
 d. 1695. 
 
 Catherine T., = ist, Sir Peter Lichford, of 
 d. \T2.T, Dorking, 
 buried at = 2ndly, The Hon. Bernard 
 
 Brussels. 
 
 Their grandson was 
 loth Duke of Norfolk. 
 
 Howard, 8th son of 25th 
 Earl of Arundel, b. 1642, 
 d. 1717, buried at St. 
 Pancras, Middlesex. , 
 
 Their great-grandson was 
 1 2th Duke of Norfolk. 
 
 ' In Visitation of Berks, 1664, Add. MSS. 14284, fol. 39 ; British Museum, Harl. MSB. 1530 and 
 1483, the name is spelt ' Tetershall ; ' also Constance Tattershall, the wife of Wm. Smith, is stated 
 to have been daughter of George Tattershall, No. 2 ; but for reasons given in Miss Sharpe's Hist, of 
 Ufton, p. 185, it seems more probable she was daughter of Geo. T., No. i. Arms : Sab. a /^ betw. 3 
 tigers or. See also Ashmole Lib. Oxon. (MS. 85 1 ). 
 
 The Tateshalls, or Tattershalls, were descended from a 
 Norman family who obtained the lordship of Tateshall, in the 
 county of Lincoln, one of whom, in 1 139, founded the Cister- 
 cian abbey of Kirkstead, near Tateshall. His descendants 
 
i6o Chronicles of Finchampstead 
 
 CHAP, were considerable landowners in various parts of England 
 
 ^} (see Burke's ' Landed Gentry '). Robert Tattershall pur- 
 
 A.D. 1588 chased the estate of Hilden, near Tunbridge, in 1495, which 
 
 was held by his family for several generations, and was then 
 
 sold by one John Tattershall. 
 
 In Burke's ' Landed Gentry' George Tattershall (No. 2), 
 of Stapleford, Wilts, is described as successor to this John 
 Tattershall, and as having ' married Katherine, daughter of 
 Francis Perkins, of Ufton, and purchased the estate of Finch- 
 ampstead, Berks.' 
 
 This does not appear to be correct. As stated above, 
 George Tattershall (No. i) married, in 1562, Anne, widow 
 of William Perkyns, and there is strong reason for believing 
 that, by a former marriage, he was the father of George 
 Tattershall (No. 2), who married ' Katherine, daughter of 
 .... Perkins, of Ufton, Berks ' (as described in the ' Visitation 
 of Berks,' 1664-65), who was really the daughter of William 
 and Anne Perkins, and not of Francis Perkins, their son. 
 
 There were two ladies named Katherine Perkins : one was 
 the daughter of William and Anne Perkins, of Ufton, the other 
 was the daughter of Francis Perkins (son of William and Anne), 
 and therefore granddaughter of William and Anne Perkins. 
 Francis, son of .William and Anne Perkins, was born between 
 1545 and 1556 : his son Francis was born in 1586, and 
 therefore, had Katherine been his daughter, it is not likely 
 that she could have been born earlier than 1584, in which 
 case she certainly could not have been Mrs. George Tatter- 
 shall (No. 2) in 1586. 
 Wills of Katherine Tattershall was doubtless the daughter of 
 
 William William and Anne Perkins. The date of her marriage cannot 
 Richard be found ; but it is scarcely possible that it could have been 
 Perkins, later than 1575, and most probably it was much earlier. She 
 ^^T^ is shown above as Mrs. George Tattershall in 1586. William 
 Cha5. 1. Perkins was younger than his brother Richard, who was born 
 No. SI,' in 1500, and therefore William could not have been born 
 May 2, earlier than 1501 ; he died in 1558, leaving one son, Francis, 
 and five daughters, the eldest of whom was Katherine ; a 
 sixth daughter, Dorothy, was born after her father's death. 
 George Tattershall (No. 2), who married Katherine 
 
The West Court Manor i6i 
 
 Perkins, was in 1584 seized in fee of the Manor 'or Lord- chap. 
 ship of Finchampstead West Court, and of a watermill and „ZL 
 divers lands in Finchampstead belonging to the said a.d. 1584 
 Manor.' 
 
 George Tattershall, No. 4, was born in March, 1603. 'Visita- 
 Assuming he was the eldest son, of which there is no doubt, Berks,' 
 his father. No. 3, may have married about 1 601-2 ; and as '^^4 
 early marriages were usual in those times, he might then have 
 been about twenty-five years old, or born not later than 1576 ; 
 this would make the marriage of No. 2 not later than 1575, 
 and probably it was earlier. 
 
 This property^ was purchased in 1584 from Francis 
 Perkins (XL), who had inherited it in 158 1 from his uncle, 
 Richard Perkins (IX.), and his aunt, Elizabeth, Lady Marvyn 
 (X.), who died in that year. Francis Perkins at this time 
 appears to have been residing upon his Wiltshire property, 
 in the parish of Steeple Langford, the next parish to 
 Stapleford, where the Tattershalls are described as possessing 
 property. 
 
 .Francis Perkins had also inherited Pole Manor, or Ufton 
 Court, in 1581, as already mentioned. It would therefore 
 seem natural that he should have been willing to part with 
 his West Court property to his brother-in-law for the benefit 
 of his sister. 
 
 West Court at this period appears to have been let on 
 lease to Thomas Harrison, of East Court, on his succeeding 
 to that Manor on the death of Henry Hinde. 
 
 The Tattershalls, like the Parkynses of Ufton, were 
 staunch Roman Catholics, as is shown by their resorting to 
 Ufton for the ministrations of the Roman Catholic priest ; 
 while Finchampstead at this period seems to have been 
 under strong Protestant or Puritanical influence. 
 
 ' In a Chancery suit between Dancastle v. Tattersall, November 22, 1605, it is Chancery 
 
 stated in the pleadings of George Tattersall and Christopher Biggs, the defendants, Bills, 
 
 that George Tattersall, the father, in or about ' the sixe and twentieth yeare of the Jas. I. 
 
 raigne of our late Soveraigne Ladie Queene Elizabeth \i.e. 1584] did purchase and D- 6, 
 
 buye the Manner of Weste Courte, alias Finchampstead West Court,' with the No. 52. 
 
 Advowson of the Church of Finchampstead and divers messuages, &c., which Nov. 22, 
 
 Manor, lands, &c., the father by fine and recovery or other lawful conveyance '^°5 
 entailed to uses, &c. It is further stated that ' George Tattersall (the father) died 
 some years past.' 
 
 M 
 
1 6 2 Chronicles of Finchampstead 
 
 CHAP. The Tattershalls are described as of Stapleford, in Wilts. 
 
 ^^ The property which they held in Stapleford consisted of the 
 
 A.D. 1584 Manor of Stapleford and four messuages and divers other lands 
 
 T.T. n, and tenements in Southington, Wilts ;also a twenty-one years' 
 
 Chancery lease of the Rcctory impropriate of Stapleford (except presenta- 
 
 BiUs and tion of Vicarage, &c.), which they held at the yearly rent of 14/. 
 
 Char^i! from the Dean and Canons of St. George's Chapel, Windsor, 
 
 May 2, under which lease they had to pay a yearly stipend of 1 2/. to 
 
 1642* a.nd ^1 f r* 
 
 June 27, the Vicar. 
 
 '642 In 1642 the lease of Stapleford Rectory had to be 
 
 renewed, and George Tattershall, No. 3, agreed with George 
 Tattershall, No. 4, to sell timber growing on the West Court 
 Manor in the wood called ' The Frieth,' and in Westwood 
 Coppice and Westwood Common, to the value of 200/., to- 
 wards raising the sum of 700/. required as the fee for renewal. 
 
 The family of Tattershall have long since ceased to possess 
 any property in Stapleford. The late Incumbent of that parish 
 informed me that the name is unknown in Stapleford, and does 
 not appear in any of their registers, and that there are no 
 monuments in either church or churchyard to their memory. 
 
 George Tattershall, No. 3, son of No. 2, described in the 
 Finchampstead register of deaths as ' the elder,' inherited 
 West Court on the death of his father, which event occurred 
 ' some years ' before 1 605 (as stated above), and married, 
 about 1 601, Elizabeth, daughter of Christopher Bigge, of 
 Stapleford, Wilts, by whom he had one son, George Tatter- 
 shall, No. 4 (of whom presently), and one daughter, Mary, 
 who married John Lyford, of Berks. He married, secondly, 
 Anne . . ., who died in 1658, and was buried in Finchampstead 
 on May 13, and he himself was buried in Finchampstead on 
 May 15 in the same year. It is not positively known whether 
 there were any children by the second marriage of George 
 Tattershall, No. 3, but it has been suggested that he had a 
 son, John Tattershall, who became the father of the Rev. 
 John Tattershall, Rector and Lord of the Manor of Chipstead, 
 Surrey, from whom were descended John and James Tatter- 
 shall, who became owners of Upper and Lower Gatton, in 
 Surrey, and other estates. 
 
 George Tattershall, No. 4 (XIV.), son of No. 3, who was 
 
The West Cotirt Manor 163 
 
 born in 1 603 and is described as ' the younger,' succeeded his chap. 
 father as owner of West Court in 1658. He married, in 1623, ^]_ 
 Mary, only daughter and heir of Henry Astell, or Awstell, a.d. 1623 
 then of WalHngford, afterwards of Basledon, Berks. He had 
 two daughters, Mary and Catharine. Mary, the elder, married ^l^^^. 
 the Hon. Charles Howard, of Graystoke, the fourth son of mss. 
 Henry Frederick Howard, the twenty-fifth Earl of Arundel, fo^jg' 
 Catharine, the younger, married the Hon. Bernard Howard, Brit. Mus. 
 the eighth son of the same Earl. BiiL"'^^'^^ 
 
 The Recusant Rolls in the Public Record Office contain Chas. i. 
 much interesting information between the years 1588 and no.'si ' 
 1 684 respecting the Tattershalls, and other Berkshire families 
 who suffered heavy penalties for their religion during that 
 period. George Tattershall, No. 3, ' the elder,' as he is 
 described in the Exchequer Rolls, forfeited his lands in Fin- l.t.r. 
 champstead in 1635 to the Crown, and obtained a lease of ^^'j^"' 
 them for twenty-one years by paying an annual rent, ' because 13 c'has. 
 he went not to any church, chapel, or usual place of common (oj^g[nJ^ 
 prayer,' and because 'he made default in payment of 20/. a in Latin) 
 month for his recusancy.' He subsequently compounded for Royalist 
 his penalties and recovered possession of his estate. George Composi- 
 Tattershall, No. 4, ' the younger,' is also found among Papers, 
 the recusants. Both he and his daugrhters were strict Roman f"^' 
 Catholics. Lysons in his ' History of Berkshire ' tells us that vol. 82, 
 the West Court Manor became the property of the Hon. ^^^^^H' 
 Charles Howard on his marriage with Mary, the eldest Series, 
 daughter of George Tattershall, No. 4 (XIV.). George }°l- ^^'^ 
 Tattershall's wife died in 1660, and was buried in Finchamp- 
 stead on June 15 in that year. It is remarkable that there is 
 no tombstone nor other memorial of her or of any of the Tat- 
 tershall family in either the church or churchyard. I can only 
 conjecture that the family tomb may have been in the chancel 
 of Finchampstead Church, and that, as the floor of the chancel 
 was raised one step in 1855,^ it is possible that any record of 
 the family on the old floor of the chancel may have been thus 
 concealed from view. 
 
 What became of George Tattershall after the marriage of 
 
 ' Memorandum by G. Edmund Street, architect. May 5, 1855. MS. Top. 
 Berks, C. 14 (Clark's Coll.), Bodleian Library. 
 
 M 2 
 
164 
 
 Chronicles of Finchampstead 
 
 CHAP. 
 VI 
 
 A.D. 1680 
 
 Appendix, 
 No. 71 
 
 Feet of 
 Fines, 
 Berks, 
 Michs. 
 3 Anne, 
 1704 
 
 Appendix, 
 No. 72 
 
 his daughters I have not been able to discover. Probably, 
 after his wife's death, he left Finchampstead for some other 
 place where he could have the ministrations of a Roman 
 Catholic priest, which would not have been possible for him 
 at West Court. He appears to have been living as late as 
 1680-81, as his name is found in a deed^ of that year. 
 
 I have not been able to discover the date of the marriage 
 of Charles and Mary Howard. Marriages celebrated by 
 Roman Catholic priests at this period were not registered, 
 from fear of the penalties attaching to them. Charles Howard 
 (XV.) was certainly in possession of West Court in 1666, as a 
 license was granted to him in that year, on October 14, by John 
 Viscount Mordaunt, ' Constable of the honor and castle of 
 Windlesore, and keeper of the forest,' to cut down and sell 
 sixty oak trees within the Manor of West Court. It does not 
 seem probable that Charles Howard and his wife resided for 
 any length of time at West Court. The services of the parish 
 church of Finchampstead would have been unsuitable for 
 them ; and as he could not have exercised the right of a 
 patron of the advowson, being a Roman Catholic, it would 
 have been only natural if he took the earliest opportunity of 
 selling the property. His wife died in 1695, and she was 
 buried at Dorking, where we may conclude they were then 
 both living. Accordingly, we find that in 1704 Charles 
 Howard sold the West Court Manor and its moiety of the 
 advowson to Mr. James Goodyer. Charles Howard was one 
 of eight children, and was born between the years 1630 and 
 1 64 1. His father, Henry Frederick, twenty-fifth Earl of 
 Arundel, who died in 1652 at Arundel House in the Strand, 
 had succeeded the previous Earl only in 1646, and was much 
 impoverished by reason of the Parliament having taken pos- 
 session of the great estates of the family, and the Earl had 
 found difficulty in subsisting, until the Parliament were induced, 
 in November 1648, to allow him to compound for his estates 
 by payment of 6,.ooo/. These were troublous times for 
 Roman Catholics. Charles and Bernard naturally allied them- 
 selves to a family of the same communion as themselves, and 
 
 • Feet of Fines, 32&33Chas. II. February 9, 1680-81, between Layton Mounsey, 
 Plaintiff, and Charles Howard, Mary, his wife, and George Tattershall, Defendants. 
 
The West Court Manor 165 
 
 their brother Philip was created a cardinal by Pope Clement X. chap. 
 in 1675, Charles Howard passed the remainder of his life ^^ 
 principally at Dipden (Deep Dene), in Surrey, retired from the a.d. 1713 
 bustle and noise of the world. He is described as ' a good man coluns 
 upon whom nature had been bountiful, even to a degree of 
 profusion,' and we are told that his memory was much revered 
 in the neighbourhood. He died in 17 13, and was buried at 
 Dorking. His brother, Bernard Howard, who married 
 Catharine Tattershall, the widow of Sir George Lichford, of 
 Dorking, Surrey, had three daughters, all of whom became 
 nuns and lived abroad, and one son, Bernard Howard, died in 
 1 717 at the age of 75. The dukedom of Norfolk had been 
 restored by Charles II. under a special Act of Parliament in 
 1664, whereby Thomas, the eldest brother of Charles and 
 Bernard Howard, became the fifth Duke of Norfolk. The 
 grandson of Charles Howard ultimately became the tenth 
 Duke, and Bernard Howard became the ancestor of the 
 thirteenth Duke. 
 
 James Goodyer became (XVI.) owner of West Court and of 
 its moiety of the advowson by purchase from the Hon. Charles 
 Howard, on November 2-, 1704. He was the third son of Feet of 
 Edward Goodyer, Lord of the Manor of Dogmersfield,^ Hants, ^'"^^' 3^ 
 who died in 1686, and who devised to him by Will con- chas. 11. 
 siderable landed and other property in Heckfield, Hazeley, ^^^"pg^^ 
 Eversley, and Hartley Wintney, in Hants, besides other of Fines, 
 property- in Middlesex. In the conveyance of the Manor of ^^^' ^ 
 West Court the property is described as consisting of ' the 1704 ' 
 advowson of the churchy a mill, eighteen messtMges, seven- 
 cottages and gardens, ten orchards, 126 acres of land, pasture 
 and meadow, i ,000 acres of heath and common, together with 
 free fisheries in Finchampstead.' The fine paid is stated to have 
 been 800/., but these fines are not always reliable as to the real 
 value of the property. The only occurrence recorded during 
 James Goodyer's tenure of West Courtis that in 1709 he pre- 
 sented the Rev. Richard Rogers to the church of Finchampstead. 
 
 ' The Manor of Dogmersfield was granted to the See of Bath by Henry I., ' Records 
 
 and continued in the possession of the Bishops of Bath and Wells until the year of Cron- 
 
 1 548, when it was alienated by Bishop Barlow, and granted to Thomas Wriothesley, dal,' by 
 
 Earl of Southampton, and afterwards passed into the hands of Edward Goodyer, F. J. 
 
 the father of James Goodyer. ' Baigent, 
 
1 66 Chronicles of Finchampstead 
 
 CHAP. He died a widower and intestate on March 9, 17 10, leaving 
 ^^ no children, and was buried at Dogmersfield, March 22, 171 1. 
 x\..D. 1710 His property consequently devolved upon his brother John, 
 the eldest surviving son of. his father. 
 
 There is a remarkable discrepancy between the date of 
 the death and the date of the burial of James Goodyer. On 
 a slab in the floor of the tower of the present church at 
 Dogmersfield, which was built in 1843, it is recorded that he 
 died March 9, 1 7 10, aged forty-four, while in the burial register 
 it is stated that he was buried March 22, 171 1. 
 
 As the Goodyers were the immediate ancestors of the 
 St. Johns of West Court, their relationship is shown on 
 page 167. 
 ' Coiiec- There have been three churches at Dogmersfield within 
 
 unea the present century, (i) The old original church, built of 
 graphicaet Ai^t and rubblc, with small lancet windows and a shingled 
 Genea- spire, stood in the park in front of the mansion, and the site 
 BnL^Mus. of it may still be traced by two lines of elm trees which stood 
 P- 54 in the fence of the churchyard on the right of the carriage- 
 road leading to the house. This church was removed in 
 1806, and the site thrown into the park. (2) The second 
 church, dedicated to All Saints, built in 1804, of brick 
 and rubble, was also within the park, close to the Home 
 Farm. This church seems to have soon fallen prematurely 
 into decay, and its ' ivy-mantled ' tower and the walls and 
 roof of the church still remain, though partly in ruins. There 
 are a few tombstones in the churchyard which surrounds the 
 ruins of the church. (3) The third church, nearly a mile 
 from the mansion, was built in 1843, principally at the joint 
 expense of the late Rector, the Rev. Charles Dyson, and his 
 sister, Miss Mary Dyson. 
 
 In this third church, on the floor of the tower there is a 
 blue slab with a shield, the bearings on which are obliterated, 
 and the inscription, 'Here lyeth the body of Mrs. Hester 
 Goodyer, relict of Edward Goodyer, Esq., of Dogmersfield, 
 who died February 12, A.D. 1723, aged eighty-nine years'. 
 Also, on a similar slab, bearing a fess between two chevrons 
 vaire impaling three chevronels between three mullets 
 pierced, there is the following inscription : ' Here lyeth the 
 
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1 68 Chronicles of Finchampstead 
 
 CHAP, body of Edward Goody er, Esq., Lord of this Manor, who died 
 ^^ October 8, 1686, aged 87, leaving issue behind him, two sons 
 A.D. 1686 and one daughter, viz.fohn, James, and Martha.' 
 
 On another slab, alongside of the two former slabs, is the 
 following inscription : ' Here lyeth yt Body of fam,es Goodyer, 
 Gent, third son of Edward Goodyer, Lord of the Manor of 
 Finchamsted, in y° county of Berks, who died March f gtk, 
 1 7 10, aged /^/^, by whose death his Estate, came to fohn Goodyer, 
 Esq. y"' only surviving brother! 
 
 These three slabs of 1686, 17 10, and 1723 originally 
 covered the mortal remains of those whom they commemorate 
 in the first of the three churches above described ; and most 
 probably those mortal remains still lie buried within the site 
 of church No. i, which now forms part of the open park, 
 while the three slabs have been transferred to each successive 
 .church. The first-mentioned two slabs are described in a 
 work of 8 vols, in the British Museum, entitled ' Collectanea 
 Topographica et Genealogica,' as being then in church No. 
 2, which was only erected in 1804, clearly showing that they 
 must have been removed from church No. i. 
 
 John Goodyer (XVI I.), of Dogmersfield Manor, the second 
 son of Edward Goodyer, on the death of his brother James 
 became the next owner of West Court and of its moiety of 
 the advowson, but he did not long survive his brother James. 
 He died in 1712, a bachelor, and, like his brother, intestate. 
 
 Edward Goodyer, the father of James and John Goodyer, 
 
 was the owner not only of Dogmersfield, but of other extensive 
 
 landed property in Hants, Surrey, and Middlesex. He was 
 
 •Coiiec- born in 1599, and died in 1686, at the age of 87, having 
 
 tonea married in 1656, when he was about 57 years of age, Hester . . ., 
 
 phica^eT who was bom in 1634, and 35 years younger than her husband. 
 
 Geneaio- She died in 1723, at the age of 89. They had six children. 
 
 i'vois. (i) Edward, the eldest, born in 1657, died November 30, 1679, 
 
 ^Chur^h"' '"* ^^^ father's lifetime, and was at the time of his death High 
 
 Notesl^ Sheriff of Hants, although only 22 years of age. (2) John, 
 
 Hants, j.]^g second son, inherited Dogmersfield and other property 
 
 ^' ^'^ under his father's Will, and died a 'bachelor' in 1712 and 
 
 'intestate,' having succeeded his brother James in 171 1 as 
 
 seventeenth owner of West Court. (3) James, the third son, 
 
The West Court Manor 169 
 
 already described as having been the sixteenth owner of West chap. 
 Court. (4) Thomas, the fourth son, died in his father's life- vi 
 time, between April 2, 1684, and October 8, 1686 (he was ajd7^i3 
 mentioned in his father's Will on the former date as then living, 
 but had died before the latter date, when his father died). 
 (5) Mary, daughter, married John, son of Sir Ralph Delavall, 
 Bart., but died in 1683, before her father's death. (6) Martha, 
 the last survivor of all her father's children, became, after her 
 mother s death, the heir to all the family property, inclusive of 
 West Court Manor and its moiety of the advowson. 
 
 Consequent upon the death of James and John Goodyer, 
 s.p. and intestate, their mother, Hester Goodyer, administered 
 to their estates on April 13, 1713, as next-ofkin, and she > Adminis- 
 became owner of all the family property, inclusive of the West ^^[g^oj^ . 
 Court property, of which she was the eighteenth owner. 1713. 
 
 Martha Goodyer^ married in 1703 Ellis Mews, who, by a l?"'!,,^^ 
 
 t • • L L- i: • T- o T 1 Goodyer, 
 
 former marriage with his nrst cousin, r ranees St. J ohn, foi. 86. 
 daughter of Oliver St. John, of Farley, Hants, and heir to her {foonvER 
 brother, Oliver St. John, deceased, had assumed the name of foi. 87 
 St. John by Act of Parliament. 
 
 Hester Goodyer died February 12, 1723, and by her Will, 
 dated March 27, 1715, and proved May 2, 1724, by Martha ug 
 St. John, her daughter, she left everything she possessed to her Bolton 
 daughter, Martha St. John, nineteenth owner of West Court. 
 Martha St. John died intestate in 1725, and on November 9, 
 1725, administration of her possessions was granted to her 
 husband, Ellis St. John, of Dogmersfield. 
 
 After the death of his wife Martha, Ellis St. John married 
 for the third time, Sarah, the daughter of Sir Hugh Stewkley. 
 His eldest son, Paulet St. John, who was created a baronet in 
 1772, came of age in 1725 ; and his father appears to have 
 then given up Dogmersfield to his son, and retired to Farley 
 with his third wife. He made his Will on December 16, 1728, 
 
 ' In Burke's Landed Gentry, Martha Goodyer is erroneously described as the 
 daughter of John Goodyer, instead of sister. John Goodyer was a ' bachelor.' 
 The same error occurs in Collectanea Topographica et Genealogica (British 
 Museum), from which, perhaps, Burke may have derived his information, and 
 where it is also erroneously stated that ' Ellis St. John appears to have had no 
 issue by his wife Martha Goodyer.' Lysons in his Magna Britannia correctly 
 describes James Goodyer as the maternal uncle of Ellis St. John. 
 
1 70 Chronicles of Finchatnpstead 
 
 CHAP, wherein he is described as of Farley, Hants, and mention is 
 _^_ therein made of his third wife. The Will was proved by his 
 A.D. eldest son, Paulet, on February 5, 1728-29, so that the death 
 1728-9 occurred between December 16, 1728, and February 5 follow- 
 ing, and probably shortly after December 16, as the Will bears 
 his mark only, and not his signature, in the presence of three 
 witnesses. 
 
 In this Will, Ellis St. John gives his second son, the Rev. 
 Ellis St. John, ' All goods and furniture in his house at 
 Finchampstead, together with all rents due for and in respect 
 of his Manor of Finchampstead, also capital messuages in 
 parishes of Arborfield and Barkham., on condition that he pay 
 Paulet St. fohn 750/.' He also gave annuities to his sons, 
 Edward, Ellis, and Goodyer, increasing with their several 
 ages. From this it appears that when this Will was made, 
 December 16, 1728, West Court Manor belonged to Ellis 
 St. John of Farley ; but as we know that soon after this date 
 it was the property of the Rev. Ellis St. John, the second son 
 of Ellis St. John of Farley, we may assume that by a deed of 
 gift or some other means Ellis St. John had conveyed the 
 West Court property and the moiety of the advowson to his 
 second son, and that it took effect on the death of the father. 
 
 Before proceeding further with the St. Johns as owners of 
 West Court, let us take a short survey of the history of this 
 remarkable family. 
 
 The St. John family of Finchampstead, and the St. John 
 family of Dogmersfield, who in 1790 assumed the additional 
 name of Mildmay, are descended from a common ancestor. 
 i6gg In 1699, Ellis Mews, whose mother was Christian St. John, 
 
 married his first cousin, Frances St. John, daughter and heir 
 of Oliver St. John, of Farley Chamberlayne, Hants, and 
 assumed the surname of St. John in right of his wife. 
 
 Ellis (Mews) St. John, after the death of his wife in 1700, 
 1703 married secondly in 1703, Martha, daughter of Edward 
 
 Goodyer, of Dogniersfield. 
 
 Ellis (Mews) St. John, by his second marriage with 
 Martha Goodyer, had six sons, the eldest of whom, Paulet 
 St. John, succeeded to the Dogmersfield property, while the 
 second son, Ellis St. John (XIX.), obtained the West 
 
The West Court Manor 1 7 1 
 
 Court Manor of Finchampstead and its moiety of the chap. 
 advowson. vi 
 
 Dogmersfield and West Court thus came into the possession a.d. 
 of these two brothers, from whom are descended the next four '728-9 
 successive owners of each of those places respectively, covering 
 a period of 185 years. 
 
 The St. John family are of Norman origin. They are de- 
 scended from William de St. John (denominated from the 
 territory of St. John, near Rouen, Normandy), who entered 
 England with the Conqueror, whose army he attended as 
 grand master of the artillery, and ' superior of the waggons and 
 carriages,* for which reason the horses' ' hames ' were borne 
 for his cognisance. 
 
 It would fill a large volume to attempt to give a history of 
 this family, who figure in the pages of history for upwards of 
 eight hundred years. 
 
 They were represented in the twelfth century by the St. 
 Johns of Stanton St. John, in Oxfordshire, and by the Lords 
 St. John of Basing, in Hants, from the thirteenth to the six- 
 teenth century, from whom descended the Marquis of Win- 
 chester and the Earls of Bolingbroke. 
 
 One of the most distinguished members of this family was 
 Lord St. John of Basing, in Henry VIIL's reign, who was 1538 
 Comptroller and Treasurer of the King's Household, and served 
 the King in various other ways. In Edward VI.'s reign he 
 was President of the Council, and won the favour of that 
 sovereign to such an extent as to obtain from him a grant of 
 Bramshill and its Manor in 1547, after it had become es- 
 cheated on the death of the second Lord Daubeney (created 
 Earl of Bridgewater)., Bramshill thus reverted to the family 
 of St. John, who had owned it as early as 1086. Bramshill 
 continued in the family of Lord St. John of Basing, who was 
 created Earl of Wiltshire in 1549 and Marquis of Winchester 
 in 1 55 1, until a.d. 1600, when the fourth Marquis of Win- 
 chester sold it to Sir Stephen Thornhurst, who in 1605 sold 
 it to Lord Zouche, the builder of the present house. 
 
 The first Marquis of Winchester was instrumental in frus- 
 trating the Duke of Northumberland's design to set Lady 
 Jane Grey on the throne, for which service Queen Mary and 
 
1 7 2 Chronicles of Finchampstead 
 
 CHAP. Queen Elizabeth continued him in his Treasurer's office, which 
 
 he enjoyed for thirty years ; and on being asked how he pre- 
 
 A.D. 1571 served himself in that place through so many governments, 
 he answered, ' By being a willow, and not an oak,' as already- 
 mentioned in page 1 16. 
 
 He built a magnificent mansion, called ' Basing House,' in 
 Hants, and died there March 10, 1 571-72, in the ninety-seventh 
 year of his age, having seen 103 persons descendedfrom him. 
 
 The Marquises of Winchester do not appear to have 
 resided at Bramshill ; they lived at Basing House, about eight 
 miles distant. The family of St. John seem to have been as 
 remarkable for their longevity in ancient times as they have 
 been in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. 
 
 John, the fifth Marquis of Winchester, was loyal to 
 Charles I., made a garrison for the King at Basing House, 
 and endured a siege from August 1643 to October 1645, when 
 Cromwell's army burnt the place to the ground. He died in 
 1674 at the age of ']'], and was buried at Englefield. 
 
 It seems only natural to find the descendants of this ancient 
 family again established in the immediate vicinity of the pos- 
 sessions of their ancestors. 
 
 Ellis St. John became twenty -first owner of West Court and 
 its moiety of the advowson soon after the death of his father 
 in 1729. Between the date of its purchase in 1704 by James 
 Goodyer, and its inheritance by his nephew, Ellis St. John, 
 in 1729, this property had passed through the possession of 
 James Goodyer, his brother John, their mother, and their 
 sister Martha, through whom, as is shown above, it came to 
 Martha Goodyer's husband, Ellis St. John, of Dogmersfield. 
 His second son, Ellis St. John, appears to have been about 
 twenty-two years of age when his father died.^ He married 
 Elisabeth, the daughter of Mr. John Pollen, of Andover; his 
 sister Esther married John Pollen, the son, who was M.P. for 
 that borough. West Court was probably let after the death of 
 Mr. James Goodyer, in 171 1, until Mr. Ellis St. John (No. i) 
 
 ' In the Finchampstead Register of Burials, the Rev. Ellis St. John is recorded 
 as having been 'buried 19th February, 1786, aged 79 years,' and therefore was born 
 in 1707. Burke in his Landed Gentry describes him as born in February 1705 
 and therefore he would have been eighty-one in 1786. I have not verified Burke's 
 statement. 
 
The West Court Manor 173 
 
 came to reside there. The church tower was rebuilt in 1720, chap. 
 under a Faculty applied for by a Mr. Johnes ; it is conjectured ^^ 
 that this Mr. Johnes was probably the tenant of West Court in a.d. 1720 
 this interval. 
 
 The Rev. Ellis St. John (XXI.) was not ordained until the 
 Rectory of Finchampstead became vacant in 1 744, and he held 
 that living for forty-two years, and died in February 1786, in 
 the eightieth year of his age. (Further particulars respecting 
 him will be found in the Chapter upon the ' Church and its 
 Rectors,' at p. 74.) 
 
 He was succeeded by his son, the Rev. Ellis St. John, 
 as twenty-second owner of the West Court estate, and owner 
 of the whole advowson of the church of Finchampstead. 
 The Rev. Ellis St. John (XXII.) was born in 1739. He See 
 married Anne Banister, of Heckfield, and died in 1809, leav- pedigree 
 ing two sons and one daughter, viz. Henry Ellis St. John, p. 189 
 who succeeded him as twenty-third owner of West Court 
 and Rector of Finchampstead ; the Rev. Edward St. John, 
 of Ashe Park, who was well known as a prominent member 
 of the Vyne Hunt ; and Anne, who married the Rev. Charles 
 Wood, of Tendring, Essex. 
 
 The late Rev. J. E. Austen Leigh, in his ' Recollections 
 of the Early Days of the Vyne Hunt,' has preserved for us 
 some reminiscences of the Rev. Henry Ellis St. John as a 
 sportsman. 
 
 Mr. St. John's home was in the centre of a great hunting 
 country. 'In the latter part of the last century, and in the 
 early part of the present, there were numerous packs of 
 harriers belonging to individual proprietors, and it was not 
 unusual to hunt both hare and fox with the same hounds, 
 sometimes aided by a steady old foxhound. Mr. St. John and 
 his friend Mr. Wm. John Chute had both done this, and thus 
 laid the foundation of two permanent fox-hunting countries! 
 
 The Rev. H. E. St. John, after entering into his inherit- 
 ance of the West Court Manor in 1809, purchased in 18 10 a 
 pack of foxhounds, and hunted a part of Mr. Chute's country, 
 which lay on the west side of the Loddon, from Sherfield to 
 Pinge Wood, including Beech Hill and Strathfieldsaye. 
 
 Mr. Austen Leigh says that ' it is amongst the earliest of 
 
174 Chronicles of Finchampstead 
 
 CHAP, his hunting recollections that Mr. Chute once gave Mr. St. 
 ^^ John a few days hunting in his country ; he thinks it must 
 A.D. 1809 have been about the year 1812 or 1813 that he saw Mr. St. 
 John find a fox at Waltham Wood, and after running him 
 through Ashe Park, Dean Wood, and Nutley, lost him behind 
 Quidhampton. Full thirty years afterwards, as he was sitting 
 with Mr. St. fohn at the Board of Guardians, in the old Town 
 Hall at Wokingham,, he asked him if he recollected the cir- 
 cumstance. His answer was characteristic. " Recollect it ? 
 to be sure I do. Now, do you know, T never could make out to 
 this day where the fox could have gone to !" as if he had been 
 thinking of it ever since! 
 
 Sir John Cope took Mr. St. John's hounds in 181 7, and 
 
 retained them till 1850. Sir John Cope was younger brother 
 
 of Sir Denzil Cope, who died in 18 12. He had been a solicitor 
 
 in the Temple, in partnership with Mr. Gerard Wharton. 
 
 Sir John (it is said) was examining a deed when he received 
 
 a letter announcing Sir Denzil's death, and, hastily glancing at 
 
 its contents, threw it to his partner, saying, ' Hang the law ; 
 
 'Sporting now for fox-hunting.' The partnership was dissolved, but not 
 
 of Hamp- the friendship, as Gerard Wharton was ever after his most 
 
 1745! intimate friend, and, being a first-rate sportsman, became a 
 
 J^2, by constant visitor at Bramshill. 
 
 ^°^ The Rev. Edward St. John, of Ashe Park, appears to 
 
 have had a full share of the family taste for hunting. The 
 late Mr. Challoner Chute, in his ' History of the Vyne,' as 
 well as Mr. Austen Leigh, bears high testimony to his 
 sportsmanlike qualities. 
 
 Among the several members of the Rev. H. E. St. John's 
 hunt, mentioned by Mr. Austen Leigh, is named ' Mr. Dearsley,' 
 whom he describes as 'father-in-law to Mr. St. John,' and 
 ' living with him.' He says : ' He hunted a good deal ; he 
 was a fine old man, and a bold rider for his age ; he was 
 always well mounted, and perhaps a little too much inclined 
 to be diffuse on the merits and value of his horses. I 
 remember,' he adds, ' one day when a young man was looking 
 doubtfully at a low drop leap, Mr. Deansley rode over it, 
 saying, " Come along, sir, you will be ashamed not to follow 
 an old man of seventy." ' Mr. Austen Leigh concludes his 
 
The West Court Manor 175 
 
 ' Recollections' by remarking, in 1864, that one great change chap. 
 had taken place in the society of the hunting field, viz. the ^^ 
 almost total withdrawal of the clergy from it. a.d. 1835 
 
 The love of sport, as was only natural, was duly inherited 
 by the sons of Mr. Henry Ellis St. John. The Rev. Edward 
 St. John kept his pack of harriers at Finchampstead previously 
 to 1850, about which year they were taken over by his brother 
 John St. John, of Banisters, who was a first-rate sportsman 
 and a very good rider. These two brothers were also equally 
 renowned as excellent cricketers, and many were the matches 
 in which they played a conspicuous part at Bramshill, and of 
 which the late Sir John Cope was a delighted spectator. The 
 Rev. Edward St. John seldom failed to attend the best 
 cricket matches at Wellington College during the last four or 
 five years of his life, and sat them out in all weathers. 
 
 During the Rev. H. E. St. John's ownership of West Court, 
 the extent of the property was greatly increased. In 181 8, 
 under the Windsor Forest Enclosure Acts, the unenclosed 
 portions of the forest within the parish of Finchampstead 
 were proportionately allotted to the several landowners in the 
 parish. Many owners of land who had acquired possession 
 by ■' encroachments ' and otherwise had allotments made to 
 them, and numerous exchanges were made under the award 
 of the Commissioners, whereby the two principal estates of 
 East Court and West Court became more compact, and were 
 greatly benefited. 
 
 About the year 1835 the Rev. Henry Ellis St. John SeeChap. 
 acquired possession of the property now known by the name p^Jgg 
 of ' Banisters,' but formerly as ' The Hatch ' and ' Banister 
 Place,' which had been in the family of the Banisters for 
 many centuries. He also considerably enlarged the West 
 Court House, and made it as we now see it. There had 
 been a moat and drawbridge about the old house, which 
 were then removed. 
 
 There is much excellent oak carving in the house, which 
 is said to have been introduced during its ownership by the 
 Tattershall family in the seventeenth century. 
 
 West Court about this period was one of the most 
 hospitable houses in this part of the country. 
 
176 Chronicles of Finchampstead 
 
 CHAP The Rev. Henry Ellis St. John (XXIII.) died in August 
 
 ^^ 1 84 1, leaving four sons and one daughter who survived him. 
 
 A.D. 1841 He bequeathed his Manor of West Court, and the advowson 
 of Finchampstead and his other property in Berks and Hants, 
 to his wife Elizabeth absolutely, with power to dispose of it 
 among his children. Mrs. Elizabeth St. John thus became 
 the twenty-fourth owner of West Court. Accordingly, in 
 the Salisbury Diocesan Register it is found that on October 8, 
 1842, the Rev. Edward St. John, the second son, was pre- 
 sented to the Rectory of Finchampstead by Elizabeth, widow 
 of the Rev. Henry Ellis St. John. 
 
 Mrs. Elizabeth St. John appears to have conferred upon 
 Henry St. John, the eldest son, born in 1804, the whole of 
 her late husband's real property, aad, on the death of Henry 
 St. John (XXV.) at Banisters in 1852, the Manor of West 
 Court and the Banisters estate passed by his Will to his three 
 brothers, Edward, John, and Paulet St. John equally, as tenants 
 in common ; and, by a family arrangement, the Rev. Edward 
 St. John then became the twenty-sixth owner of the West 
 Court Manor, while John St. John became owner of the 
 Banisters estate, and other outlying property fell to the share 
 of the Rev. Paulet St. John. 
 
 Henry St. John and his brother, the Rev. Edward, after 
 their father's death appear to have resided at the old 
 family mansion. West Court, until 1847, when the Rev. 
 Edward St. John (XXVI.) married Caroline, daughter of Mr. 
 John Roberts, of Wokingham, and moved into the new rectory 
 
 Seep. 51 house which he had lately built. Henry St. John then made 
 his home at Banisters, where his stepmother, Mrs. Elizabeth 
 St. John, and his brother John had been living since his father's 
 death. 
 
 West Court House was then let, and has continued to be 
 so successively, until the present time. 
 
 Mrs. Elizabeth St. John died at Banisters, October 27, 
 1 864, at the age of eighty-four, and it is presumed that on 
 her death the advowson of the Rectory of Finchampstead 
 fell into the possession of the Rev.- Edward St. John, who 
 sold it about this time to the late Mr. John Walter, of Bear- 
 wood. 
 
The West Court Manor i77 
 
 The Rev. Edward St. John inherited from his brother chap. 
 Henry St. John three interesting portraits of his ancestors, ^^ 
 viz. Lord and Lady Bolingbroke, and Ellis Mews, born a.d. 1852 
 1679, who assumed the name of St. John on marriage with 
 his cousin, Frances St. John, as shown in the fourth line of 
 the family pedigree. 
 
 The Rev. Edward St. John died at F'inchampstead 
 Rectory, January 17, 1892, as already stated in Chapter VL 
 
 The Rectory of Finchampstead was held successively by 
 four members of the family of St. John, from father to 
 son, for 148 years, and their united ages amounted to 300 
 years, averaging 75 years each, the last of the four Rectors 
 having died in the eighty-seventh year of his age. 
 
 A glance at the family pedigree will show that this 
 family has been remarkable for its extreme longevity : the 
 Marquis of Winchester, in 1571, died at the age of ninety- 
 seven years, as has been shown above. 
 
 Fuller, in his ' Worthies,' remarks in his quaint language, 
 that • the lands in Berks are very skittish and apt to cast their 
 owners, and expresses a wish that they may be better 
 settled in their seats, so that the sweet places in this county 
 may not be subject to so many mutations. There are but few 
 large estates in Berks which have continued for many genera- 
 tions in the same family.' 
 
 The West Court moiety of the Manor of Finchampstead 
 had perhaps not been investigated by Fuller, being a com- 
 paratively small property ; but it will be seen from what has 
 been shown above that it has remained in the same family for 
 seven centuries, passing sometimes by marriage through the 
 female line, and sometimes by direct descent through the 
 male, from the time of Henry I. to the year 1704, when it 
 passed out of the family of Tattershall by sale to. James 
 Goodyer, and from him by regular descent to the late Rev. 
 Edward St. John. 
 
CHAPTER VII 
 Banisters 
 
 CHAP. 
 VII 
 
 A.D. 1483 
 
 Of*'-^ 
 
 1483. 
 
 known 
 
 HERE is a tradition in Finchampstead 
 that the estate called ' Banisters,' ^ in 
 Finchampstead, which had been in the 
 possession of a family of that name for 
 several centuries, down to about the 
 year 182 1, was in some way connected 
 with the betrayal of Henry Stafford, 
 Duke of Buckingham, during his re- 
 bellion against King Richard III. in 
 The story of the betrayal has evidently been so well 
 to the ancestors of this family, that some of the 
 incidents connected with it are still believed by members of 
 the family now living to have actually taken place near this 
 Very house. Let us therefore review the facts as recordedin 
 history. 
 
 This Duke of Buckingham had been the friend and sup- 
 porter of Richard, Duke of Gloucester, in his efforts to become 
 king, and seems to have had a guilty knowledge of the means 
 by which Richard's way to the throne was cleared by the murder 
 of the two young sons of Edward IV. The King, in return 
 for his services, had rewarded the Duke with numerous grants 
 of land, as well as with the great office of Constable of the 
 
 ' In The Wellingfoman, vol. xi. 1890, p. 244, it is also stated that 'this estate is 
 said to have been the reward of the betrayal.' 
 
Bdiiisters ^79 
 
 castles in Herefordshire and Salop. The Duke, not satisfied char 
 
 with these rewards, withdrew his support from the King, and 
 
 lent his aid in favour of Henry Tudor, Earl of Richmond, a.d. 1483 
 who afterwards became Henry VII., and he endeavoured to 
 overturn that usurpation which he had himself helped to 
 establish. A wide revolt was organised under the leadership 
 of the Duke of Buckingham. The Woodvilles and their 
 adherents rose in Wiltshire, Kent, and Berkshire, and met 
 at Newbury, Berkshire, in October, 1483. Sir Richard 
 Woodville, of Wymington, was brother to the Queen 
 Dowager, widow of the late King Edward IV., and also 
 closely related to the Duke of Buckingham and to Lionel 
 Woodville, Bishop of Salisbury, whose See extended over 
 •Wiltshire and Berkshire. We can, therefore, readily under- 
 stand the strong motive which the chief Lords of the Berk- 
 shire Manors must have had for following the standard of the 
 Duke of Buckingham. Among the names of those chief 
 Lords we find that of the chief Lord of Finchampstead, Sir 
 Thomas de la Mare,^ who was also chief Lord of Alder- 
 maston. Here we at once have a clue to ' the connection ' 
 which the Banastres of Finchampstead must have had with 
 this insurrection, as they would doubtless have had to follow 
 the standard of Sir Thomas de la Mare. The Duke of 
 Buckingham marched to the support of his allies from Breck- 
 nock, in Wales. Heavy rains had swollen the river Severn 
 to such an extent as to prevent his crossing the river. His 
 Welsh followers, moved partly by superstitious fear and 
 partly by famine, deserted him ; and at last the Duke, 
 attended by a single companion, is said to have retreated to 
 the house of an old servant of his family, who resided near 
 Shrewsbury. This old servant's name was Ralph Banastre, 
 not Humphrey Banastre as stated in many accounts. He 
 is also described as having been raised to a state of inde- 
 pendence by the Duke's kindness ; but this seems also erro- 
 
 ' Sir Thomas de la Mare, named in the Act of Attainder, was chief Lord of 
 Aldermaston, Finchampstead, and a Member of Parliament for Berks, 12 Edw. 
 IV., and Sheriffs Hen. VII. He died in 1490. ■ Sir William Woodville, Sir 
 William Norris, of Yattenden, Williaiii Berkeley, Sir Roger Jocotes, Richard 
 Beauchamp, Lord St. Amand, Sir William Stonor, &c. &c. are also named in tbfe 
 same Act. 
 
 N 2 
 
i8o 
 
 Chronicles of Finchampstead 
 
 CHAP. 
 VII 
 
 A.D. 1483 
 
 Owen and 
 Blake- 
 way's 
 ' History 
 of Shrews- 
 bury,' 
 1825 
 
 Rev. S. 
 Garbet's 
 ' History 
 ofWem,' 
 1818 
 
 TheCon- 
 tinuator of 
 Cfoyland 
 
 neous. The Duke was proclaimed a traitor by the King, and 
 a reward of 100/. a year in land, or of 1,000/. in money, was 
 offered for his capture. 
 
 Ralph Banastre resided at Lacon Hall, near Wem, in 
 Shropshire, an old half-timbered house, formerly moated. 
 He was descended from an ancient family of the same name. 
 William Banastre, of Wem, his ancestor, had been Sheriff of 
 Shropshire in 1402. He, or one of his immediate descendants, 
 obtained Lacon by marriage with Elena, an heiress of the 
 family of Hussey, whose ancestor had married Elena, the 
 heiress of the head branch of the family of Lacon, the former 
 owners of Lacon Hall. Ralph Banastre was Lord of this 
 Manor in the reigns of Edward IV. and Richard HI. He is 
 described as having been a servant, or officer of the house- 
 hold, of Edward IV. He is also described as having been a 
 servant to the Duke of Buckingham. It was no disparage- 
 ment in those days for esquires and even knights to ' wear 
 the livery ' of a Lord ; and the Duke of Buckingham was the 
 greatest subject of the realm. Barons are even enumerated 
 among the menial servants of the Duke of Northumberland 
 in 1498. 
 
 To the fidelity of Halph Banastre the Duke entrusted his 
 safety. Besides affording the Duke a retreat at Lacon, 
 Banastre is said to have removed him for greater secrecy to 
 another house of his at Mitford, near Baschurch. 
 
 Accounts differ as to the motive and means by which the 
 Duke was discovered. Some say that attention was drawn to 
 an unusual quantity of victuals being brought to so obscure a 
 place ; others, that it was for the sake of the reward ; while 
 others say that it was from fear of the consequences of being 
 discovered sheltering a ' rebel,' as in that event he (Banastre) 
 would most certainly have shared the fate of the Duke. 
 
 All that is positively certain is that the retreat of the Duke 
 became known to the Sheriff of Shropshire, by whom he was 
 conveyed to Salisbury, where Richard III. then was, and that 
 he was beheaded on November 2, 1483, in the yard of the ' Blue 
 Boar Inn,' now represented by the 'Saracen's Head,' which is 
 supposed to have formed part of the premises attached to the 
 ' Blue Boar.' Near the spot where the execution is said to 
 
Banisters 1 8 r 
 
 have taken place, a headless skeleton, without the right hand, chap. 
 was exhumed in 1838, and is supposed to have been that of ^" 
 the unfortunate Duke of Buckingham. There is a cenotaph a.d. 1483 
 to the memory of the Duke in Britford Church, near Salisbury, '"'='• °^ , 
 which is said to have been erected by the Duke's brother-in- b/"^ "'^^' 
 law, Lionel Woodville, who was Bishop of Salisbury at the Salter 
 
 r ^1 • /f> /-^i TTT ^ \ Money. 
 
 time 01 the execution, (bee Chapter 111. p. 61.) 'Saturday 
 
 Ralph Banastre obtained the promised reward ; he received Magazine,' 
 
 a grant of the Manor of Raiding (now Yalden), in Kent, as 1839 ' 
 
 appears from the following copy of the original charter and See also 
 
 translation of it. ' ?'^/ , 
 
 btriie of 
 the Roses,' 
 
 Patent Roll 557. 2 Ric. 3, Part I. m. 7 (20). August 10, 1484. \y 
 
 W. H. H. 
 
 RADULPHO BANASTRE. puwS 
 
 23 ., , by COM- 
 
 Rex ommbus ad quos etc, Salutem. Cum non solum win, of 
 
 gentis nobilitas sed et justitiae equitas omnes provocent et ^l^^' 
 
 maxim.e Reges et Principes homines de se bene meritos pre- 
 
 miis condignis afficere, Sciatis igitur quod ob singulare et fidele 
 
 servitium quod dilectus ligeus et serviens noster Radulphus 
 
 Banastre nobis perantea impendit, non solum faciendo juri et 
 
 titulo nostro cujus juris et tituli vigore jam nuperad Coronam 
 
 hujus regni nostri Angliae, Domino adjuvante, pervenimus, 
 
 verum etiam reprim£ndo proditiones et malitias rebellium et 
 
 proditorum nostrorum qui infra idem regnum nostrum perfidam 
 
 jam. dudum, commotionem- suscitaverant, ac pro bono et Jideli 
 
 servitio nobis et heredibus nostris Regibus Angliae per eundem 
 
 Radulphum et heredes suos pro defensione nostra et regni nostri 
 
 predtctt contra quoscunque proditores inimicos et rebelles, quo- 
 
 tiensfuturis temporibus opus erit, impendendum, de gratia nostra 
 
 speciah dedimus et concessimus ac per presentes damus et conce- 
 
 dtmus pre/at Radulpko manerium de Ealdingo in Comitatu 
 
 nostro Kantio annui valoris quinquaginta librarum, habendum 
 
 et tenendum manerium cum suispertinentibus, ac exitus,proJicua 
 
 et reventtones ejusdem manerii etc. 
 
 T. Rx apud Westm. x° die Augusti. 
 
 Per brevem de privato sigillo et de dato etc. 
 
1 82 Chronicles of Finchampstead 
 
 CHAP. 
 
 vn Translation 
 
 a:d.";;84 ^"^"'* '°' '484- 
 
 The King, to all whom it may concern, greeting. 
 
 Whereas not only nobility of race but also equity of justice 
 requires all m,en, and especially Kings and Princes, to remu- 
 nerate with suitable rewards men who have served them- well. 
 Know therefore that on account of the singular and faithful 
 service our beloved liege and servant Rauf (Ralph) Banastre 
 hath all along forfnerly rendered for us, not only by establishing 
 our right and title, by the strength of which right and title we 
 have lately come, the Lord helping us, to the throne (lit. crown) 
 of this our Kingdom of England, but also by suppressing the 
 treasons and malice of rebels and traitors towards us, who had 
 for some time since stirred up a traitorous commotion within 
 this same realm of ours, and for the good and faithful service 
 to us and to our heirs the Kings of England hereafter to be 
 rendered by the same Ralph and his heirs for the defence of 
 ourselves and of our kingdom aforesaid against all hostile 
 traitbrs and rebels whatsoever, as often as there shall be need in 
 time to come, We, of our special grace, have given and granted, 
 and by these presents do give and grant, to the aforesaid Ralph 
 the Manor of Ealding, in our county of Kent, of the annual 
 value of fifty pounds. To have and to hold the aforesaid Manor 
 with the belongings and the outcome, profits, and returns from 
 the same Manor, etc. for ever. 
 
 ' Witnessed by the King at Westminster the loth day of 
 August, by brief of the Privy Seal and of the date, etc! 
 
 The King also conferred upon ' his trusty and well beloved 
 Squire, Thomas Mytton, the Sheriff of Shropshire, the Castle 
 and Lordship of Cawes, with all the appurtenances thereto, 
 am,ounting to the annual value of $ol., and late belonging unto 
 our rebel and traitor Henry, late due of Buckingham, in con^ 
 sideration of his good and acceptable service! 
 
 Some eighty-four years after the foregoing events, Thomas 
 Sackville, afterwards Earl of Dorset, wrote a poem entitled 
 ' The Legend of the Duke of Buckingham,' in which he as- 
 serted that it was through the treachery of Banastre that the 
 Duke was captured, and this poem is said to have produced so 
 
Banisters 183 
 
 great an effect that even the family to which Ralph Banastre chap. 
 belonged grew ashamed of him, and for this reason his name ^^^ 
 does not appear in any of the family pedigrees. Later writers a.d, 1484 
 add particulars to heighten the picture. According to them 
 the Duke was disguised as a peasant, and digging in a ditch at 
 the time of his ^.rrest. They assure us that on the approach 
 of Thomas Mytton, the Sheriff, the Duke knelt down in the 
 orchard where he was taken, and imprecated vengeance upon 
 his betrayer and his posterity to the tenth generation, which 
 curses are said to have been signally fulfilled ; for it is recorded 
 that Ralph Banastre's son and heir ' waxed mad, and so died 
 in a bore's stye ; ' his ' eldest daughter, of excellent beauty, 
 was sodaynelie striken with a fowle leperye ; ' 'his second 
 son was very marvellously deformed of his limmes, and made 
 decrepite ; ' 'his younger sonne in a small puddel was strangled 
 and drowned ; and he being of extreme old age arraigned and 
 found gyltie of a murther and by his clergie saved.' 
 
 Shakespeare, in his 'King Richard III.,' represents the 
 ghost of Buckingham as appearing to Richard III., and 
 saying — 
 
 The first was I that help'd thee to the crown ; 
 The last was I that felt thy tyranny 
 And die in terror of thy guiltiness ! 
 
 Ralph Banastre appears to have belonged to the Hadnall 'Bygcmes,' 
 branch of the family ; one of them was Sheriff of the county ^^^[^ 
 in 1403. p- 10; 
 
 The arms of the family were argent, a cross potent, fleury, ^X.'^'^^* 
 sable. (See also ' Archaeologia Cambrensis,' vol. i. ist Series, 
 
 PP- 334. 345-) 
 
 From ' Feet of Fines' for Shropshire, in the year 1503, it p.r.o. 
 
 appears that a final agreement was made in the King's Court yi/.^""' 
 
 at Westminster concerning the Manor of ' Lakyne' (Lacon) Junes, 
 
 between Ralph Banastre and his wife Katherine, whereby the '5°^ 
 
 Manor, consisting of i , 100 acres and six messuages with appurr 
 
 tenances in Lakyne, Wemme, Sydenhale, and Henstoke, was 
 
 settled on Ralph and Katherine for their lives, and after their 
 
 decease upon eight members of their family in succession, 
 
 who are mentioned by name ; but their relationship to Ralph 
 
1 84 Chronicles of Finchampstead 
 
 CHAP. Banastre is not in all cases specified, which prevents their 
 ^^^ being placed in the family pedigree with any certainty. 
 A.D. 1503 I, The first in succession named is John Banastre, and 
 
 heirs of his body — no mention of his relationship to Ralph. 
 
 2. Robert Banastre and his heirs — no relationship 
 mentioned. 
 
 3. Ralph Banastre, the younger brother of Robert. 
 
 4. Richard Banastre, son of the said John (i). 
 A female 5. Joycc (Jocose) Banastre, not described. 
 
 6. Richard Banastre, son of Ralph the elder, and 
 Katherine. 
 
 7. William Banastre, ditto. 
 
 8. The heirs of the said Ralph Banastre the elder, 
 
 9. John Banastre, of London, and his heirs. 
 
 10. Finally, to the right heirs of the said Ralph Banastre 
 the elder. 
 
 It will be observed that Nos. 6 and 7 only are described 
 as sons of Ralph Banastre, and it may be assumed, therefore, 
 that Nos. I to 5 were more distantly related to him ; and there- 
 fore it is possible that the property of Lacon may have passed 
 away from the direct line of succession, and the imprecations 
 upon his own immediate descendants may thus have been 
 literally fulfilled. 
 
 Lacon Manor continued in possession of the Banastre 
 family (whose name in the seventeenth century became 
 Banister) until their descendant, Joseph Banister, sold it to his 
 relative. Sir Richard Newport, who was charged for it for a 
 subsidy in 1642. Joseph Banister died in London, about 
 1 68 1, aged 'j'^. The property now belongs to the Earl of 
 Bradford. 
 
 The Rev. S. Garbet in his ' History of Wem ' (1818) states 
 that Lawrence Banister, a member of this family, who died in 
 1588, and was councillor to the Duke of Norfolk, gave evi- 
 dence which was the means of bringing that Duke to the 
 block. 
 
 I have failed to discover what became of the Manor of 
 Yalden, which must have been a reproach to the family of 
 Banister as long as they possessed it. We can only suppose 
 that it was sold, and that the family removed elsewhere, 
 
Banisters 185 
 
 possibly to Finchampstead, which may perhaps account for ^^'^^■ 
 
 the tradition of the details of the ' betrayal ' as above men- 
 
 tioned having been so minutely acquired ; but I am able to a.d. 1329 
 prove conclusively that the property called ' Banisters ' in 
 Finchampstead was not obtained by means of the reward of 
 the betrayal. 
 
 BANISTERS OF FINCHAMPSTEAD 
 
 It has been already shown in Chapter IV. that the Berk- 
 shire branch of the Banastres were in possession of the whole 
 Manor of Finchampstead early in the twelfth century, and 
 that it was divided into the East and West Court moieties 
 in the latter part of the thirteenth century. It has been also 
 shown (Chapter VI. p. 147) that there was a part of the 
 ancient Manor named in Domesday Book which was not in- 
 cluded in that division, viz. the ' Mill.' 
 
 It appears from Feet of Fines, Berks, i to 3 Edward III. 1329 
 No. 8 b, that in 1329 Nicholas Banastre held under the ^p*'!"'*'''' 
 chief Lords of Aldermaston, and not under the mesne Lord of 
 the West Court moiety of the Manor, 96 acres of land and a 
 rent of Ss. 2d., which most likely represented the Mill; and peetof 
 that in 1337 the Mill, then worth "js. %d. a year, together with Fi"es, 
 105 acres of land, was entailed upon Thomas Banastre and n, iz 
 his wife Amicia, daughter of James de la Bertone, and their ^dw. iir. 
 heirs, with remainder in default of issue to John de la Burgh noI's" '"' 
 and his heirs for ever. This property was held of the chief 
 lords of the fee by ' the presentation of a rose at the Feast 
 of the Nativity of Saint John the Baptist, for all service, cus- 
 tom, and exaction, and doing all other services appertaining 
 to those tenements.' I find lands corresponding with these, 
 although slightly varying in quantity, held by Banastres 
 (Banisters) in every century from the above date down to 
 1820. I have tried in vain to make out a pedigree of the 
 early Banastres of Finchampstead ; but the continuous descent 
 of the same lands through a family of the name of Banister 
 (Banastre) is strong evidence of the lineal descent of that 
 family, Thomas and Nicholas Banastre were most probably 
 descendants of a junior branch of one of the mesne Lords of the 
 
1 86 Chronicles of Fin champ stead 
 
 CHAP, whole Manor of Finchampstead, and their ancestors may have 
 _X!L obtained these lands and the Mill by what was termed ' sub- 
 A.D. 1550 infeudation,' which was put an end to by the statute of 18 
 Edward I. c. i (1272). 
 
 In an old Terrier of Aldermaston Manor, 3 Edward VI," 
 (1550), there is the following entry: 'Sir Humphry 
 fforster. Knight, then Lord of the same Manor. Item, of the 
 Heyrs of fohn Banaster for such lands as he hath in ffynch- 
 amsted, which he holdithe of the Manor of Aldermaston by 
 Knyghts svys by the yearly rent of a red rose, which said 
 fohn Banaster, Sir Humphry fforster, whas late seased of the 
 Wardship of by force^ of the same Tenure by the space of 
 X years, and at his full age gave him. the advantage of his 
 marriage.' 
 
 Here we have evidence of the estate of Banisters being 
 held by the Banisters in the sixteenth century under the chief 
 Lords of Aldermaston, who took possession of the estate during 
 the minority of John Banister for ten years, in accordance 
 with the feudal laws, and sanctioned his marriage upon the 
 usual terms, which probably involved the payment of a con- 
 siderable sum of money. 
 Chancery \tv 2. Chancery suit of Tattershall v. Harrison, in 1613, 
 
 Bill, George Tattershall complains that ' about 50 years ago (i.e. 
 
 51, Bund°e '563)1 Thomas HurHson, when he held a lease of the West 
 T.T. Court Manor, had encroached upon that Manor, and that the 
 
 No! 29, boundaries between the East and West Court Manors were 
 liundie i)ery undefined; that he had purchased from- Wil/iam Banister 
 No. 64 5 acres of land on the river side, and had erected another Mill, 
 whereby injury was done to the ancient Mill, which had formerly 
 belonged to Lady Marvyn and afterwards to Francis Perkins, 
 and now to himself as owner of the West Court Manor 
 From this we learn that in 1563 'the old Mill' had passed out 
 of the Banastre possession and become attached to the West 
 Court Manor, where it still remains (although the Banisters 
 had still retained their lands), and the erection of another 
 Mill, it is supposed, became the origin of what is now known 
 as the ' New Mill.' 
 
 The ' old,' or original. Mill was a few hundred yards lower 
 down the stream than, the present one. The remains of the 
 
Banisters 
 
 187 
 
 CHAP. 
 
 VII 
 
 posts which helped to form the weir or dam for raising the 
 water to serve the Mill were visible until the last deepening of 
 the river, in 1893, and the course of the waste or backwater a.d. 1563 
 may still be traced in the adjoining meadow on the south side 
 of the stream. b & a 
 
 Inanother Chancery, suit of Tattershall v. Banister, in 161 3, jac. i. 
 William Banister pleads that ' he has lived at " Banister Place," '^J>^ ^ 
 which he holds of the King's Majestic in free socage at a yearly 1613 
 
 BANISTERS OR BANISTER PLACE 
 
 rent of \d! There were two kinds of socage, ' free' socage 
 and ' villein ' socage. The former term was used where the ser- 
 vice rendered was not only certain but honourable, e.g. homage 
 and fealty ; ' villein ' socage, where the services were of a 
 baser nature, e.g. fealty, and ploughing the lord's land for 
 a certain number of days in the year. William Banister's 
 tenure of Banister Place was therefore of an ' honourable ' 
 character. 
 
1 88 Chronicles of Finchampstead 
 
 CHAP. In the seventeenth century the family of Banister is still 
 
 ^" found residing upon the same property. It has been known 
 
 A.D. 1683 at different times by the several names of ' The Hatch,' 
 ' Banister Place,' and ' Banisters.' 
 
 In Charles II.'s reign they appear to have built a new 
 house, over the porch entrance to which is the date of 1683 
 and the letter ' J ^ H.' In the Finchampstead Register, under 
 date of August 13, 1685, there is an entry of the baptism of 
 ' John, the son of John and Hannah Banister.' John, the elder, 
 whom we will call No. i, is described in the Register as 'a 
 rich man,' and he and the eldest of his descendants are also 
 distinguished in the Register by the prefix of ' Mr,,' clearly 
 indicating that they were regarded as persons of some 
 importance. 
 
 The Pedigree on next page will show the descent of this 
 family from the period which we have now reached. 
 
 John Banister, No. i in Pedigree, was the builder of the 
 house dated 1683, illustrated on preceding page. His son 
 John, No, 2, married Mary (whose name is supposed to have 
 been Hawthorn), and died in 1 748 ; his eldest son, John, 
 born 1722, predeceased him; his second son, Richard 
 Hawthorn Banister, No. 3,- born 1723, consequently succeeded 
 to the Banisters estate. He married his cousin, Martha 
 Banister, of London, and died in 1783 at the age of 60, his 
 wife Martha having died in 1782, leaving a son, John, 
 
 See Chap. No. 4, bom in 1750, a daughter Anne, born in 1752, who 
 
 st^/ohn''^ married the Rev. Ellis St. John, Rector of Finchampstead^ 
 
 Pedigree and three other children. 
 
 John Banister, No. 4, married Mary Soane, by whom he 
 had one son, John, No. 5, and a daughter Mary, of whom 
 presently. John, No. 5, married Elizabeth .Lovelock, and 
 died in 182 1 at the age of 35, leaving no children. The 
 estate of Banisters was then sold to Anne, widow of the 
 Rev. Charles Wood, of Tendring, Essex, and sister of the 
 Rev. Ellis St. John, Rector of Finchampstead. 
 
 On the death of Mrs. Anne Wood, in 1835, the property 
 came into the possession of her brother, the Rev. Ellis St. 
 John, who was also first cousin to the last John Banister, 
 No. 5 ; and thus the old estate of the Banisters, which had 
 
Banisters 
 
 189 
 
 been in their possession for upwards of seven centuries, passed chap. 
 out of their family. 
 
 A.D. 1835 
 
 PEDIGREE OF THE BANISTERS OF 'BANISTERS,' ALIAS 
 ' THE HA TCH; FINCHAMPSTEAD. 
 
 Compiled from the year 1653, which is the earliest date of the Registers at Finchampslead. 
 I. John Banister,' = Hannah . . . 
 
 2. John Banister, = Mary 
 b. 1685, d. 1748. I 
 
 Richard Hawthorn Banister, = Martha Banister, of London, 
 of Hecklield and Finch- | d. 1782. 
 
 ampstead, ^. 1723, d. 1783. ! 
 
 4- 
 
 I L 
 
 Rev. Ellis = Anne Ban- John Ban- 
 
 St. John, ister, b. ister, b. 
 
 b- i739> 1752, d. 1750, m. 
 
 d. 1809, J789, of April 6, 
 
 Rector of Heckfield. 1784, d. 
 
 Finchampstead. 
 
 1792, aet. 41. 
 
 : Mary Thomas B., 
 Soane. b. 1754, 
 d. 1824, 
 buried at 
 Heckfield. 
 
 Sarah B., his 3 other 
 cousin, of children 
 London and 
 Hazeley Heath, 
 d. 1856, set. 88, 
 buried at Heckfield. 
 
 5.' James Smith, = Mary Ban- zndly, = Elizabeth = John B., <^eorge B., = Mary 
 
 of Dummer, 
 Basingstoke. 
 
 ister, b. 
 1784. 
 
 P. C. 
 
 Clacy. 
 
 Lovelock, 
 d. at 
 
 Reading, 
 1869 or 70. 
 
 6. William Banister Smith, = 
 
 b. 1786, 
 d. 1821, 
 Et. 35. 
 
 of Eversley 
 Green, d. 
 1862, a;t. 75. 
 
 Francis Sorrell, d. s.p. 
 of Battersea, 
 Surrey. 
 
 Haw- 
 kins. 
 
 7 daughters 
 and 3 sons. 
 
 7. John Banister Smith, = . . . 
 *. 1839. 
 
 D > scribed in Register as 'a rich marij' built the house called ' Banisters ' in 1683, on 
 the site as is supposed, of an earlier house known by the name of ' The Hatch,' and ' ISan- 
 ister Place,' and ' Hatch Farm;' 
 
 F.R. ■= Finchampstead Register. H. R. = Heckfield Register. 
 
 Elizabeth, widow of John Banister, No. 5, married secondly 
 P. C. Clacy, and died at Reading in 1869 or 1870. 
 
 Mary Banister, the sister of John, No. 5, married James 
 Smith, of Dummer, Basingstoke, from whom descends the 
 
I90 Chronicles of Finchaiupstead 
 
 CHAP, present lineal representative of the eldest branch of the 
 
 ^" family. 
 A.D. 1869 Few families can boast of a longer or more honourable 
 career than that of the Banisters of Finchampstead. 
 
 It has been shown that in the twelfth and thirteenth cen- 
 turies they were Lords of the whole Manor of Finchampstead, 
 and that in later years they held their property, not under the 
 Lords of either the East or West Court Manor, but, like 
 them, under the chief Lords of Aldermaston. 
 
 The arms of the family were Or, a cross patonce,' sable ; 
 these arms, with slight variations, are common to all the 
 families of Banister who are found in Berkshire, Shropshire, 
 Lancashire, and other counties. The arms of the Shropshire 
 Banisters were Argent, a cross potent,^ Heury, sable. The 
 crest was a ' Peacock at rest.' 
 
 The Banisters who were owners of the old family property 
 in P'inchampstead may be regarded as having been one of 
 the oldest county families in Berkshire ; while the junior 
 members of each generation appear to have become small 
 farmers, and in some instances to have declined in prosperity 
 like other families. 
 
 I may here mention that the late George Banister, of 
 Eversley Green, whose name appears in line 5 of the Banister 
 Pedigree, was for many years the trusted friend and church^, 
 warden of the late Rev. Charles Kingsley, Rector of Eversley, 
 who, in token of his great regard for him, desired that he 
 might be buried as near as possible to his grave, and this 
 wish was faithfully carried out. 
 
 The present representative of the elder branch of the 
 Banisters of Finchampstead is Mr. John Banister Smith, 
 who is grandson of Mary, the sister of John Banister, No. 5 ; 
 and I am under obligations to him for allowing me to inspect 
 some ancient deeds in his possession, and also for his assistance 
 in compiling the above Pedigree, and for some interesting 
 particulars of his ancestors. 
 
 The family have in their possession armour, arms, and 
 accoutrements of the fourteenth century which belonged to 
 
 " A cross flory at the ends. 
 
 * A cross whose extremities resemble the head of a crutch. 
 
Banisters 191 
 
 their ancestors ; and they still retain many other interesting chap. 
 relics, e.g. an old Prayer Book which belonged to Mary _^^_ 
 Banister, containing a prayer for the reigning sovereign. Queen a.d. 1120 
 Elizabeth ; the original oak chest which for centuries con- 
 tained the family deeds, &c., in the old house in Finch- 
 ampstead, &c. 
 
 In the course of my researches I have met with the names 
 of many distinguished persons of the name of Banastre, who 
 appear to belong to the Berkshire branch of that family, for 
 whom I have found no place in our parish history. I will 
 therefore introduce them here. 
 
 In 1 1 20, Alarsl Banastre held the Manor of Finchamsted, 1120 
 and John Banastre that of Sulhamsted. 
 
 Adam Banastre was Sheriff of Berks. „6g 
 
 Alard Banastre was Justice Itinerant in the twentieth 1174 
 year of Henry II. (1174), for settling tallages upon the King's 
 demesnes in Oxfordshire. This is quoted by Madox in his 
 ' History of the Exchequer,' vol. i. p. 124, from the Pipe Rolls 
 of 20 Henry II. under 'Oxinef ' (Oxfordshire). 
 
 In the twelfth century, Gervase de Banastre is a witness 
 to an undated charter granting John Banastre's church at 
 Sulhamsted to the church at Sherborne. 
 
 William Banastre, son of John Banastre of Sulhamsted, 1200-12 
 gave ten acres of land in Sulhamsted to Reading Abbey. 
 
 In 1203, William Banastre held the Manor of Finchamsted. 1203 
 In 1205, Thomas Banastre was Sheriff of Berks. ' 1205 
 
 In 1 2 16, William Banastre held Finchamsted and John 1216 
 Banastre held Sulhamsted. 
 
 Richard de Banastre was Abbot of Reading. 1261-69 
 
 Sir William Banastre held the Manor of Finchamsted. 1270-90 
 John Banastre was one of the persons appointed for the 1286-87 
 observance of the ' Statute of Winchester ' in Berks, by a 
 Commission dated 15 Edward I. (1286-87). 
 
 Henry Banastre was one of two manucaptors, or sureties, 1295 
 for ' Galfridus le Engleys,' burgess in Parliament for Reading, 
 November 2, 1295. 
 
 Nicholas Banastre held the family estate in Finchamsted.' 1329 
 In 1364 the advowson of Sulhamsted was given to Sher- 1364 
 borne Priory by John Banastre. 
 
192 Chronicles of Finchampstead 
 
 CHAP. In Beltz's ' Memorials of the Order of the Garter,' p. 205, 
 
 ^^^ there is a long and interesting account of Sir Thomas Banastre, 
 
 A.D. 1375 who was created a Knight of the Garter by Edward III. in 
 
 BriL. Mus. 1375, and his name stands fifty-fifth on the list of those knights. 
 
 The arms of this knight are recorded as having been 
 
 argent, a cross potence, sable, and the crest a ' peacock in 
 
 his pride sejant proper.' 
 
 These arms and crest bear a striking resemblance to those 
 of the Banisters of Finchampsted, the only difference between 
 them being that the arms of the former were argent instead 
 of or, and the crest was a ' peacock in his pride ' instead of 
 ' at rest.' • 
 
 The account in Beltz's ' Memorials ' proceeds thus : ' The 
 
 antiquity of the family of which this gallant knight was a 
 
 distinguished Tnember and ornament is attested by the public 
 
 records, particularly those of the Duchy of Lancaster, within 
 
 which Palatine jurisdiction he held from, an early period ample 
 
 possessions. It is in evidence that Robert Banastre came into 
 
 1066 England with William, the Conqueror, and that he obtained 
 
 ?«! ^^^ Manor of Prestaton, in Englefield, in Berkshire. His 
 
 vol. i. son or grandson, of the same name, removed into Lancashire, 
 
 '^" ^ and was the progenitor of several branches long settled in that 
 
 and the adjoining county of Chester.^ 
 
 Then follows a genealogical history of the family down to 
 1351 135 r. about which time ' Sir Adam Banastre, the father of our 
 
 Knight, Sir Thomas, died.' Sir Thomas Banastre's services 
 begin in 1350 ; they are so little known that a short sketch of 
 them may be interesting. The first mention of him is for 
 his good services in the Earl of Lancaster's engagement with 
 the Spaniards in 1350, when he obtained a pardon for the 
 death of Ralph de Blackburne, whom he had had the misfor- 
 tune to kill. According to Froissart he received knighthood 
 1360 in 1360 from Edward III., when, being with that monarch at 
 
 Bourg la Reine, within two leagues of Paris, and Sir Walter 
 Manny having been permitted to make a chevauchde as far as 
 the barriers of the capital, he was ordered to accompany him. 
 '360 - In 1360 he followed the Earls of Cambridge and Pembroke 
 into Aquitaine with a reinforcement, on occasion of the appeal 
 of the Gascon nobles to the King of France, in the Parliament 
 
Banisters 193 
 
 of Paris, against the ' fouage/ ' hearth money,' imposed by the chap. 
 Prince of Wales. J^ 
 
 In 1366 he attended the Black Prince on his expedition a.d. 1366 
 into Spain, and was in the battle of Najara. 
 
 On the arrival of Sir Robert Knolles at Angouleme, the 
 Prince directed Sir Thomas Banastre to proceed with that 
 commander against the enemy ; and in the same year he ac- 
 companied Chandos in his expedition from Poitiers into Anjou. 
 
 In a skirmish before Pdrigueux he was taken prisoner and 
 exchanged for Messire Caponnel de Caponnat, who had been 
 imprisoned at Agen for having been the bearer of the summons 
 to King Edward upon the appeal of the Gascoigners. 
 
 John, Duke of Lancaster, by a warrant dated at Higham 
 Ferrers, July 20, 1374, bestowed upon our knight the office of 1374 
 Forester of the Chases of Penhill, Frowden, and Rossyndale. 
 
 The fidelity and valour of Sir Thomas Banastre were further 
 rewarded in 1375 with the Order of the Garter, upon the death i37S 
 of Sir Walter Paveley, one of the founders, and he had robes Wardrobe 
 issued to him against the Feast of St. George in 1376-77- Accounts 
 
 X ^ <-, O for the 
 
 ^378. ... , years 
 
 The Duke of Brittany having, during his residence at the 1376-78 
 court of Richard II., received a deputation from his barons 
 soliciting his return to the Duchy, embarked at Southampton 1379 
 in 1379 and proceeded to Vannes. ^ About 6 Dec. in that 
 year the King despatched a force of 200 men at arms and 400 
 archers in aid of the Duke, under the command of Sir John 
 Arundell. In this expedition was Sir Thomas Banastre. 
 The winds proved unfavourable, and the little fleet was driven 
 back upon the Cornish coast, and was driven into the Irish 
 Channel, when three of the ships, containing Sir Thomas 
 Arundell, Sir Thomas Banastre, Sir Hugh Calverley, and Sir 
 Walter Paule, and about 100 soldiers, struck upon the rocks, 
 and Arundell, Banastre, and Paule perished on i6th of that 
 month' 
 
 Sir Thomas Banastre married, before 1355, Agnes, daugh- 
 ter of Sir Adam de Houghton; their son and heir, Edward 
 Banastre, was a minor at his father's death, and died shortly 
 afterwards, leaving an only daughter, Constance, his heir, who 
 became the wife of William, the son of Sir Richard Balderstone, 
 
 o 
 
194 
 
 Chronicles of Finchampslead 
 
 CHAP. 
 VII 
 
 A.D. 1323 
 
 1384 
 
 ASHMOLE, 
 
 p- 63s ; 
 
 'Mon. 
 Angl.' 
 vol. iii. 
 p. 86 
 
 Mr. A. A. 
 Harri- 
 son, of 
 Theale, 
 Jan. II, 
 1892. 
 Rot. 
 Pari, 
 vol. i. 
 p. 27 
 
 Knightj and thus the direct line of Sir Robert Banastre ter- 
 minated in this daughter. 
 
 Agnes, the wife of Sir Thomas Banastre, and Sibella, her 
 sister, who married Wilham Banastre, the brother of our knight, 
 were descended of the elder line of Banastre of Lancashire. 
 Their father, Sir Adam, was the son of Sir Richard de 
 Houghton, by Sibella, sister of Henry de Lee (who was be- 
 headed with Sir Adam de Banastre in 1323) and daughter of 
 Sir William de Lee, by Clementina, the daughter of Sir Robert 
 Banastre, of Walton and Newton-in-Makerfield, who, in 1278, 
 petitioned Parliament for the restoration of the Manor of 
 Prestaton. A full inventory of his extensive estates in Lanca- 
 shire is given in Beltz's ' Memorials,' where we also find, in 
 an inventory of the ornaments of the chapel of St. George at 
 Windsor, taken 8 Richard II. (1384), mention made of the 
 sword of our knight (Sir Thomas Banastre) preserved in that 
 college. This relic was extant in the following reign. 
 
 The Lancashire branch of the Banastres have intermarried 
 with nearly all the principal families in that county. 
 
 To return to what is stated by Beltz, viz. that Robert 
 Banastre, who came over to England with the Conqueror, 
 ' obtained the Manor of Prestaton, in Englefield, in Berkshire,' 
 there would seem to be some confusion. 
 
 No such place as Prestaton can be found in Englefield in 
 Berkshire. There are two notices of Englefield, Berks, in 
 Domesday, but Prestaton is not mentioned in either of them ; 
 there is an Englefield near Aldermaston, and another near 
 Theale, but no Prestaton can be traced in either of them. 
 There is an Englefield (Tegeingl) in Wales, and there is also 
 Prestatyn in Wales ; and as it appears from Sir Robert 
 Banastre' s petition that the Lancashire branch of the Banastres 
 migrated from Wales into Lancashire, it seems most probable 
 that Prestatyn, in Flintshire, was the place from which they 
 came ; they were then distinguished by the name of Westeroys, 
 and I am informed on high authority that this name is fre- 
 quently met with in the public records, and is understood to 
 pertain to the Banastres. 
 
 It is remarkable that they held property in Berkshire, in 
 the immediate neighbourhood of ' Englefield in Berks,' in the 
 
Banisters 
 
 195 
 
 early part of the twelfth century, e.g. at Sulhampstead 
 Banastre, and at Finchampstead and elsewhere, but I have 
 been unable to find any positive evidence o( their connection 
 with the branch which obtained the ' Manor of Prestaton ' and 
 afterwards settled in Lancashire. 
 
 It would seem, however, that the arms and crest of our 
 Berkshire Banastres are a sufficient identification of the 
 family as belonging to the Lancashire, Shropshire, and 
 Cheshire branches, from whatever place they may have 
 originally come. 
 
 CHAP. 
 VII 
 
 O 2 
 
CHAPTER VIII 
 
 CHAP. 
 VIII 
 
 A.D. 1818 
 
 tSxS^ 
 
 Parish Property and Charities 
 
 HERE is no record in the parish archives 
 of any property belonging to the parish, 
 either in the past or present. 
 
 PARISH LANDS 
 
 In 18 1 8, when the enclosure of 
 Windsor Forest was carried out under 
 53 Geo. III. c. 158, the Commissioners 
 awarded to the surveyor of the highways of Finchampstead 
 parish for the time being two acres of land as a public gravel 
 pit, marked No. 76 on the award map. 
 
 On April 12, 1880, it was resolved at a vestry meeting 
 that ' the waywarden having reported that the gravel in the 
 parish pit had been exhausted, the necessary steps be taken for 
 selling the pit. ' 
 
 There is no further mention in the vestry minutes of any 
 action having been taken in the matter ; but, from inquiry, it 
 appears that the land in question was sold to Mr. W. Bell, of 
 Ridge Cottage, and the proceeds were invested in the pur- 
 chase of Consols at 2f per cent., in the names of Mr. John 
 Walter and Mr. William Simonds, and the dividends are paid 
 quarterly to the credit of the Finchampstead surveyor of 
 roads. 
 
Parish Property and Charities 197 
 
 FUEL ALLOTMENT '^yiif' 
 
 On the enclosure of the Windsor Forest lands within the a.d.. 1818 
 parish of Finchampstead, under the award of the Commis- 53 Geo. 
 sioners, dated February 27, 18 18, there was allotted to the c. 158, 
 Rector, churchwardens, and overseers of the poor for the time ^9^ e"ci°- 
 being, for ever, ( I ) ' ^ parcel of land situated near Sandhurst common- 
 Cross, marked No, 4 on the map, containing 20 a, 3 r. 14/., able and 
 bounded on the north by the Crowthorn Road;' and (2) 
 ' Another piece of land situated near Sandhurst Cross, marked 
 JVo. 5, containing 36 «. 1 r. op., bounded on the east by 
 Wokingham- and Sandhurst Road, on the south by the Crow- 
 thorn Road' 
 
 These lands consisted of two pieces of barren heath, and 
 the poor of the parish generally were permitted to cut fuel on 
 them, under the general superintendence of the parish officers. 
 
 By an order of the Charity Commissioners, dated December 
 II, 1857, the Trustees of the charity were authorised to sell 
 these two allotments to Mr. John Walter, of Bearwood, for 
 the sum of 715/. The purchase money was invested in the 
 purchase of 742/. ijs. 2d. New Consols at 3 per cent., in the 
 names of the official Trustees of Charitable Funds, and the 
 dividends were to be remitted by them to the local Trustees, 
 viz. the Rector, churchwardens, and overseers, and applied by 
 them ' in the same m.anner as the yearly rents and profits of 
 the premises so sold would have been applicable had no settle 
 thereof taken place, or as near thereto as circumstances would 
 admit' 
 
 The official Trustees now hold in trust in this charity a 
 sum of 742/. \']s. 2d. New Consols. 
 
 The uses, &c., upon and subject to which the allotments 
 were conveyed are contained in sections 75 to 79 of the Act 
 above referred to, which provide as follows : 
 
 Section 75 directs that "the lands unlet are to be used for 
 the benefit of such poor inhabitants as shall be legally settled, 
 and shall not occupy houses, lands, or tenements of greater value 
 than 5/. The turves, fern, and other fuel thei'-efrom to be 
 allotted in such quantities, at such times in each year, and 
 tinder such regulations and orders, and in such manner, as the 
 
198 Chronicles ofFinchampstead 
 
 CHAP. Trustees or major part of them shall from time to time appoint! 
 ^^^^ Section 78 directs that 'in case of leasing the lands, the 
 A.D. 1818 rents therefrom- are to be laid out in the purchase of coal or 
 other fuel, which is to be sold and disposed of among the 
 industrious poor who shall occupy lands or tenements being less 
 in quantity than one acre, at a price not exceeding half the 
 original cost, in such proportion and quantities, and at such 
 times in the year, and according to such rules and regulations, 
 as the Trustees may appoint. The monies received as half cost 
 to be laid out in the further purchase of coal or other fuel, 
 and according to such rules and regulations as the Trustees 
 may appoint! 
 
 Section 76 empowers the Trustees to make rules and regula- 
 tions. 
 
 Section 79 provides that no rules and regulations shall be 
 binding unless made at some meeting to be held in the vestry- 
 room, of which ten days' notice shall be given to the Rector by 
 the churchwardens and overseers. 
 
 The Charity Commissioners state that the local Trustees 
 are required by law to render accounts of their receipts and 
 expenditure annually to the Charity Commissioners, and to the 
 parish vestry, but that they have not received any such 
 accounts, notwithstanding their applications for them. It was 
 not until the year 1890 that any account was presented to the 
 parish vestry. 
 
 LUCAS'S CHARITY 
 
 As the parish of Finchampstead has an interest in this 
 charity, the following account of it will not be out of place 
 here. 
 
 Henry Lucas, by Will dated June 11, 1663, left 7,000/. 
 to be expended in building and endowing an almshouse or 
 hospital in the county of Berks or Surrey, for the relief of as 
 many poor old men (and a master as chaplain, to read Divine 
 Service every morning and evening and preach once every 
 Lord's Day) as might be conveniently provided for, allowing 
 the master 50/. (since raised to 100/.) a year, and to each old 
 man the yearly maintenance of 10/. ; the men to be of the 
 poorest inhabitants of the Forest Division in the county of 
 
Parish Property and Charities 
 
 199 
 
 Berks, and of the bailiwick of Surrey, and to be nominated 
 by the Master, Wardens, and Company of Drapers : they are 
 to be fifty years of age. The number of brethren 
 twelve, each receiving a pension of 27/. a year. The parishes 
 which receive the benefit of this institution are as follows : 
 
 CHAP. 
 VIII 
 
 IS now A.D. 1663 
 
 1. Wokingham. 
 
 2. Arborfield. 
 
 3. Finchampstead 
 
 4. New Windsor. 
 
 5. Easthampstead. 
 
 6. Clewer. 
 
 1. Chobham. 
 
 2. Chertsey. 
 
 3. Bisley. 
 
 4. Purford. 
 
 5. Wainborough. 
 
 BERKSHIRE 
 
 7. Old Windsor. 
 
 8. Barkham. 
 
 9. Binfield. 
 
 10. Hurst. 
 
 11. Ruscombe. 
 
 SURREY 
 
 6. Egham. 
 
 7. Frimley. 
 
 8. Windlesham. 
 
 9. Stoke. 
 10. Thorpe. 
 
 12. Sandhurst. 
 
 13. Winkfield. 
 
 14. Swallowfield. 
 
 15. Sunninghill. 
 
 1 6. Bray. 
 
 11. Purbright. 
 
 12. Warplesdon. 
 
 13. Byfleet. 
 
 14. Woking. 
 
 15. Horsell. 
 
 The following parishioners of Finchampstead have had 
 the benefit of this charity since its foundation, viz. : 
 
 the 
 
 George Hannington, named 
 
 Charter. 
 William Ryther, elected 1681. 
 William Seward, „ 1705. 
 Henry Phelp, „ 1730. 
 
 John Bullock, elected 1760. 
 
 James Parker, „ 1788. 
 
 Joseph Biggs, „ 1810. 
 
 James Cotton, „ 1833. 
 
 Jeremiah Goddard, „ 1861. 
 
 There have been 292 inmates in 228 years, averaging 
 nearly five vacancies every four years, or \\ every year. 
 
 It is more than thirty years since Finchampstead enjoyed 
 the advantage of this charity. Vacancies are made known 
 by advertisement in the county papers ; but as these adver 
 tisements may not always be observed, it would seem desir- 
 able that some better means should be devised for informing 
 the several parishes concerned when vacancies occur. 
 
 Application for admission should be addressed to the 
 Clerk to the Drapers' Company, Drapers' Hall, Throgmorton 
 Street, London. 
 
 LOST CHARITIES 
 
 I must now draw attention to charities which the Charity 
 Commissioners in their report presented to Parliament state 
 
200 Chronicles of Finchampsiead 
 
 CHAP, have been ' apparently ' lost, not with any expectation of their 
 ^"^ recovery, but as showing the consequences of keeping no 
 A.D. 1839 parish records, and of parishioners not attending the vestries 
 and properly controlling parish affairs. 
 
 The Charity Commissioners in their Report dated 1839, 
 pp. 146-47, state as follows : 
 
 • TWO LITTLE HOUSES IN THE CHURCHYARD 
 AND ONE OTHER ON THE COMMON 
 
 Appendix, ' In a Terrier f Or this parish dated July 21, 1783, there is 
 No. 76 i/^g following entry, viz. : 
 
 Two little ' ( I ) There are two little houses in the Churchyard, and 
 
 fte"^'^^ '" (2) one other on the Common, that are to be given to some poor 
 Church- people by the Rector, to be kept in repair by the parish, 
 ^^'^^ I. ' Of these houses, the two first mentioned would seem 
 
 to be the substance of the bequest described in the Parliamen- 
 tary Return of 1781 as Sir Richard Harrisons Charity, 
 while the other one is the one therein described as that of a 
 donor unknown, the report on which is as follows : 
 
 ' The Manor of East Court passed about the year 1661 
 from the Harrison family into the possession of Richard 
 Palmer, Esq., by whose descendants it was devised to Henry 
 Fyshe, Esq., of Ickwell, in the county of Bedford, father' (more 
 correctly grandfather) "■ of the present possessor, Charles Fy she- 
 Palmer, Esq. 
 
 ' We have not been able to discover any documentary evidence 
 in connection with the origin of this bequest. 
 
 ' The premises consist of two cottages, to one of which is 
 attached a small garden sittiate on the west side of the Church- 
 yard. They have always been occupied by poor parishioners, 
 who have been nominated by the Rector. 
 1809 to ' The patronage of the Living is in the hands of the St. 
 
 '^4' fohn family, and the present Incumbent, the Rev. Henry 
 Ellis St. John, is the owner of a considerable quantity of land 
 in the parish, Mr. Palmer being the other principal proprietor, 
 which may in part account for a mistake whereby, on the 
 enclosure of the parish in 181 8, the whole site of the above 
 premises, described in the award of the Commissioners as a 
 
Parish Pro;perty and Charities 201 
 
 garden with two cottages or tenements thereon^ situate near the chap. 
 Church, and marked No. 80 on the map annexed, containing J^^ 
 twenty-seven perches, was dealt with as the private property of a.d. 1868 
 Mr. St. John, and as such form-ed the subject of an exchange 
 with Mr. Palmer. The result of oitr coniTnunications with 
 Mr. Palmer has been a ready surrender on his part of all 
 claim, or right or interest with the premises in question, the 
 inmates of which it is proposed henceforward to select, as 
 vacancies occur, from among the most meritorious parishioners, 
 under the sanction of the Rector and churchwardens.' 
 
 In 1868 the Charity Commissioners made a further report, juiy 15, 
 in which they stated that these ' habitations for the poor are '^*^^ 
 apparently lost,' and also that ' three other cottages, making six 
 cottages in all, and 12 a. or. 38/. for use of the parish, are 
 apparently lost.' 
 
 In regard to the two cottages described as within the 
 Churchyard, the next mention of them which is found is in 
 the vestry minutes, under date of May 3, 1863, where there Mays, 
 is a resolution in regard to them, ' That the meeting be '^^3 
 adjourned until June 29, to enable inquiries to be m,ade 
 respecting the ownership of this property.' 
 
 It would seem that the history of that piece of land and 
 the cottages thereon, as narrated above, had been entirely lost 
 sight of by the Rector and churchwardens. 
 
 After three adjourned vestry meetings in 1 863, at which 
 no resolution is recorded as having been arrived at, no further 
 action was taken in the matter until August 16, 1866, when 
 the following resolution was passed in a vestry composed of 
 only four parishioners, after due publication of notice of the 
 meeting, viz. : 
 
 ' Resolved, that the Rector having stated his intention of 
 handing over for the use of the parish the Almshouse and 
 piece of ground attached thereto, and adjoining the Churchyard 
 on the west side, a fence be erected along the west boundary of 
 the said piece of ground instead of replacing the present 
 Churchyard fence, which is out of repair, and also to repair 
 the Almshouse.' 
 
 The ground was thus included within the Churchyard in 
 1866, but it was not consecrated until 1881, when the Church- 
 
202 Chronicles of Finchampstead 
 
 CHAP, yard was otherwise enlarged, as described in page 91. 
 
 There is no record in the vestry minutes of the removal of 
 
 A.D. 1868 these cottages, which must have disappeared between 1866 
 and 1868, The parish school had been latterly held in one 
 of them, and the cottages had ceased to be used as Alms- 
 houses for a long time previously to their demolition. 
 
 There appears to have been a remarkable course of ill- 
 fortune attending these two little cottages near the Churchyard 
 (not 'within,' as erroneously stated in the Terrier of 1783). 
 
 It has been already shown in the Chapter on the East 
 Court Manor that they were ' given by Sir Richard Harrison, 
 No. 6, and his son. No. 7, by deed to the poor in 1651,' and 
 that in 1786 they were mentioned in a Parliamentary return as 
 at that time ' vested in John Banister and Thomas Oliver, and 
 occupied by paupers,' and ' producing no rent.' No mention is 
 made of ' the Rector of the parish ' as having had any control 
 over them, nor are we informed in what capacity 'John 
 Banister and Thomas Oliver ' were responsible for them in 
 1786. When, however, we consider that in 1651 there was 
 no Rector of Finchampstead, and that the Church of England 
 was virtually disestablished, it seems extremely unlikely that 
 ' the Rector ' would have been named as one of the trustees, 
 and more probable that the overseers of the poor would have 
 been appointed as trustees, and I am inclined to think that 
 such was the case. 
 
 Unfortunately the accounts and proceedings of the church- 
 wardens and overseers have not been preserved ; otherwise 
 the question might have been cleared up. 
 
 Anyhow, ' the poor ' have lost the benefit intended for 
 them, and the richer inhabitants have gained the advantage 
 of an addition to the Churchyard, without being called upon 
 to contribute to it, as they certainly would have been had the 
 proceedings been regularly conducted under the direction of 
 the Charity Commissioners. 
 
 II. In regard to the cottage ^ and a plot of land measuring 
 I a. or. 31 p., marked 105 on the award map, referred to as 
 No. 2 above, and situated at the edge of Finchampstead 
 
 ' This cottage stood on the ground now marked on the Ordnance map as 
 ' Piggs Farm,' in the woods. 
 
Parish Property and Chanties 20 1 
 
 Heath, ' near the Three Oaks and Wick Hill,' the Charity chap. 
 Commissioners made the following report : ' 7'he first account ^]_ 
 we could obtain found the above in the occupation of one Mr. a.d. 1839 
 Parker, who died, leaving a lar^e family chargeable to the 
 parish, which family were bred up by the parish officers, who 
 took possession of the cottage and land. Amongst the succession 
 of occupiers of it put in by the parish was Allen, who was long 
 its inhabitant; and Spratley, who married Aliens daughter, 
 and — Spratley, who subsequently sold the premises to John 
 Clacey, who built a second cottage. 
 
 ' The claim of the parish officers in the above premises as a 53 Geo. 
 charitable bequest is also recognised in the award of the Com- ^^^- *=• 'SS 
 missioners appointed under the Act for enclosing this parish, 
 dated February 27, 181 8.' 
 
 Among the exchanges which were then made was the 
 transfer of this land and its two cottages to Charles Fyshe- 
 Palmer, the owner of the East Court Manor, in exchange for 
 a parcel of land at Moor Green, marked 55 on the award 
 map, and containing 2 r. 17 p., with a ' cottage^ in two tene- 
 ments thereon,' situated in Longwater Lane and adjoining 
 Wyse Hill, which was thereby transferred to the Trustees of 
 the Finchampstead Charities. 
 
 ' Mr. Palmer, however, did not assume the possession of 
 No. 105 under the above award, specifying as his ground for 
 refusal the defect in the title, but resumed possession of No. 55, 
 which he still retains. He subsequently, in 1833, purchased 
 No. 105 from, the Trustees under the Will of Mr. Thomas 
 Sowdon, the mortgagee of John Clacey, and accepted their title 
 to it. 
 
 ' It formed one of the m,any pieces of land which had come 
 into Clacey s possession, and which lay interspersed with lands 
 of his own, all of which Mr. Palmer purchased at the same time. 
 
 ' In the absence of all proof that the premises in question 
 formed the substance of a charitable bequest, we have confined 
 ourselves to a statement of the above transaction.' 
 
 HI. The Charity Commissioners in their same report of 
 1839 further stated that 'the parish is in possession of the 
 
 ^ This cottage is still in existence, and is a picturesque specimen of the old 
 half-timbered cottages of the sixteenth century. 
 
Missing Page 
 
Missing Page 
 
2o6 Chronicles of Finchampstead 
 
 CHAP, only rented as a parish house for the reception of the poor of 
 ^^^^ the parish. The house now known as ' Sunnyside ' was, in 
 A.D. 1792 1792, conveyed to trustees for a similar purpose. 
 
 In 1798 'Sunnyside' was known by the name of 
 ' Hatches,' a name by which the old house of the Banister 
 family and the old house of the Bartletts were also known at 
 different periods, causing much confusion in tracing their 
 history. 
 
 In the year 1864 this house (' Sunnyside') was purchased by 
 the late Mr. John Walter, and Mr. F. P. Wetherall converted 
 it into a private residence, with much taste, and occupied it 
 for many years. 
 
 THE VILLAGE SCHOOL 
 
 The parish history would be incomplete without some 
 allusion to our school, which is now one of the brightest 
 features of the parish. The present buildings, consisting of 
 two schoolrooms and a teachers' house, were provided at the 
 sole expense of the late Mr. John Walter, of Bearwood, 
 between the years 1858 and 1871, and were lent to the 
 parish, rent free, so long as the school expenses are defrayed 
 without the aid of a School Board. 
 
 Previously to 1858 there had been no building specially 
 set apart for the purpose. School instruction had been carried 
 on in various cottages, according to the custom and enlighten- 
 ment of the age, and latterly, up to 1857, in one of the little 
 Almshouses close to the Churchyard, described under 
 ' Charities.' It has been mainly through the great liberality 
 of Mr. Walter that the blessing of a religious education has 
 been preserved to the children of Finchampstead. 
 
CHAPTER IX 
 General Remarks 
 
 H E award of the Commissioners under the chap. 
 Windsor Forest Enclosure Act, in 1818, ^^ 
 constitutes the most important epoch in a.d. iSiS 
 the history of Finchampstead ; and a 
 careful study of it, and of the several 
 Acts of Parliament which led to it, reveals 
 the fact that the forest generally had 
 become a nursery of crime and lawless- 
 ness, which tended to produce the low 
 standard of morality which prevailed among the smaller 
 holders of the forest lands. 
 
 This ' Enclosure Commission,' as it is called, was the 
 result of several commissions of inquiry and Acts of Parlia- 
 ment. 
 
 In the seventeenth century we read of Claude Duval, 
 whose chivalrous exploits in highway robbery are fully de- 
 scribed in various histories. His hiding-place on the moor, 
 to the east of the road from 'The Golden (now Jolly) Farmer' 
 to Frimley, is still pointed out. Travelling in carriages along 
 the main roads over Bagshot Heath, and on the London road 
 through Wokingham, was attended with much risk to life and 
 property. In 1723 a special Act of Parliament was passed, 9 Geo. i. 
 called ' The Black Act,' to punish armed persons going about 
 in disguise with their faces blackened, robbing warrens and 
 
208 
 
 Chronicles of Finchampstead 
 
 CHAP, fish-ponds, destroying ' deer, and cutting down plantations. 
 
 J^__ Many of them were captured, a special assize was held in 
 
 A.D. 1607 Reading to try them, and four were hung in chains in 
 
 Windsor Forest. The ancient severe forest laws had proved 
 
 inadequate to prevent these lawless depredations. 
 
 'Annals John Nordcu, the celebrated topographer in James I.'s 
 
 sor^b"'^R •'^^S'^' ^^*-* made a complete survey of ' the Honor of 
 
 R. TiGHE Windsor' in 1607, tells us that at that date Windsor Forest 
 
 Davis ^' ^^^ 77^ miles in circumference, within the counties of Berks 
 
 1858 ' and Surrey ; it was divided into three bailiwicks, of which 
 
 Finchampstead was one, and sixteen ' walkes,' with a keeper 
 
 in charge of each of them. The keepers were great men in 
 
 their way, although their allowances were not large ; they 
 
 had a house and various perquisites, and sport at all times, 
 
 which niade the post very attractive. 
 
 The head-keepership of the forest was always committed 
 to one of the royal favourites. In King John's time (1201) 
 we read of Hubert Walter, who was Bishop of our diocese 
 from 1 1 88 to 1193, and afterwards Lord-Chancellor and 
 Archbishop of Canterbury and Legate to the Pope Celestine, 
 being the head-keeper. The walk with which we are at 
 present more especially concerned was ' Bigshot Walke,' the 
 head-keeper of which in James L's reign was Sir Charles 
 Howard, who was Member for Windsor from 1613 to 16 19. 
 He was also ' Keeper of the Sandhurst Walke' at the same 
 time. Bigshot Walke comprised the parishes of Finchamp- 
 stead, Swallowfield, Arborfield, and Barkham, and part of 
 what is now known as St. Sebastians. 
 
 Within several of these ' walkes ' were ' parks,' which 
 had been made over to private owners subject to the per- 
 manent hunting rights of the Crown ; and 'rayles,' the latter 
 being enclosed grounds stocked with deer, which received 
 more attention than those in the open forest. The number 
 of deer in 1607 must have been very great, as we learn that 
 in the year 1731 the number had been greatly reduced, and 
 then even amounted to about 1,300; while between the 
 latter year and 1806 that number had dwindled down to 318. 
 The salaries of the keepers were insufficient to enable them 
 to provide food for the deer, and the keepers' houses had 
 
General Remarks 209 
 
 become dilapidated and unfit for occupation. The extent of chap. 
 the forest had also been reduced within the same period from ^^ 
 77^ miles to 56, chiefly by means of ' purprestures,' or illegal a.d. 1805 
 encroachments. 
 
 In 1805 a Commission was appointed to inquire into the 
 working of the forest laws. Their report states that the in- 
 habitants of the twenty parishes comprised within the forest 
 live in widely scattered dwellings, affording means of commit- 
 ting their various depredations without the least chance of 
 detection. They therefore recommended that these scattered 
 cottages should be removed to the utmost possible extent, 
 and collected into close hamlets, so that the habits of each 
 individual might become better known to the whole com- 
 munity. 
 
 Between 1805 and 18 13 great distress very generally 
 prevailed, consequent upon the European war. Bread was 
 dear, and the people were on the verge of starvation. Farmers 
 and manufacturers were prosperous. The price of wheat in 
 18 1 2 ranged from 1005. to \'^6s. per quarter, and bread was 
 sold as high as 2s. \\\d. per gallon ; there was a general cry 
 for enlarging the corn-growing area by cultivating the 
 commons, waste lands, and heaths. In 1813 an Act was 53 Geo. 
 passed whereby the ancient forest and its dreaded laws ceased ^^^- "- 'S^ 
 to exist. Certain parts of Windsor Forest were vested in 
 the Crown, while about 2,400 acres of commonable land and 
 open heath and moorland were allotted to the various land- 
 owners in the twenty parishes within the forest, in propor- 
 tion to their holdings. The Finchampstead landowners 
 received their share, the poor of Finchampstead also received 
 theirs, as has been already shown under ' Parish Charities.' 
 Much woodland was thus cleared of wood and brought under 
 corn cultivation. What a change has since taken place ! 
 The price of wheat having fallen to 185-. a quarter, there is 1894 
 every prospect of these lands reverting to their ancient use 
 as woodlands. 
 
 ' Bigshot Rayles,' since 1607, has been successively known 
 by the names of ' Hanykins Lodge,' ' Hennikers,' and 
 ' Ravenswood ' — the latter name having been adopted about 
 thirty-five years ago, when the house was occupied by Captain 
 
 p 
 
2IO 
 
 Chronicles of Finchampstead 
 
 CHAP. Sawyer. The name of ' Hanykin,' or ' Hankin,' is of much 
 ^^ older origin. In James I.'s reign, when Sir Charles Howard 
 A.D. 1607 was the head-keeper, there was an under-keeper of the name 
 of ' Hanykin,' or ' Hankin,' and this is doubtless the origin 
 of the name of the lodge. In Norden's Survey of the 
 Forest, in 1607, there is a rude sketch of the lodge of 
 Bigshot Walke, showing the houses of the ' chiefe-keeper and 
 the under-keeper, Hanykyn.' The Rev. C. W. Penny in- 
 forms me that he has met with the name of ' Hanykin ' in the 
 Wokingham Parish Register about the year 1675 J ^"d I 
 have found the name of ' Ralph Hankin ' in the Finchamp- 
 stead Register under date of March 25, 1690. I may also 
 mention that in the Finchampstead Register of Burials, 
 November 14, 1727, ' Robert Hannington, the antient keeper of 
 Bigshot Lodge,' is recorded. I think there can be no reason- 
 able doubt that the name is derived from one or other of these 
 persons. About thirty years ago it was suggested that the name 
 might have been derived from ' Hannah Lightfoot ; ' but I 
 can find no real foundation for this suggestion. The name of 
 Hanykin existed long before Hannah Lightfoot, and there 
 is no evidence that Hannah Lightfoot ever resided at 
 Bigshot Rayles. Bishop Pocock, in his Itinerary through 
 this neighbourhood in 1750, tells us that Bigshot Lodge was 
 then inhabited by Lord George Beauclerk, son of the Duke 
 of St. Albans, who was Ranger (Warden) of Windsor Forest. 
 I have shown in the Chapter on ' East Court ' that the Duke of 
 St. Albans was about that time residing at Luckley House. 
 
 It is much to be regretted that so few Court Rolls or 
 records of the Court Barons of the Manors of Finchampstead 
 can be found. There are none in the Public Record Office, 
 but there are a few of the seventeenth century belonging to 
 the East Court Manor in the British Museum, and I have 
 succeeded in obtaining possession of a few more of the East 
 Court Manor and one of the West Court Manor of the same 
 century from private sources. Copies of all of these will be 
 found in the Appendix. 
 
 I am informed that the present owners of the East and 
 West Court Manors do not possess any Court Rolls. 
 
 It is remarkable that the owners of Manors should not 
 
 Court 
 Rolls 
 
General Remarks 2 1 1 
 
 always have retained possession of these valuable records, chap. 
 They contain the most reliable information in regard to the ^^ 
 ownership and occupation of property, and the manners and a.d. 166 i 
 customs of the inhabitants. 
 
 The Manor Courts guarded the rights and interests of the 
 tenants as well as of the Lords of the Manors. For instance, 
 In 1 66 1 the following entry appears in Item 9 of the Court 
 Baron of the East Court Manor of that year : ' We present 
 that freeholders, copyholders, and leaseholders belonging to 
 this Manor hath liberty to dig turf, loam, sand, and gravel, 
 and to cut heath and fern according to the former orders' 
 Again, in the same year, Item 14: ' We order that no copy- 
 holder or leaseholder of the Manor of West Court cut any 
 turf, heath, or fern upon any of the wastes belonging to the 
 Manor of East Court, upon pain of forfeiting to the Lord of 
 the Manor for every load so cut \os! 
 
 In Item 6, at the same Court, the tenants desire the Lord Appendix, 
 of the Manor to repair the pound; and in 1700, Item 7, the '^°' *^ 
 Court presents the pound to be out of repair, and states that 
 it is always repaired by the Lord of the Manor. 
 
 In Items 15 and 16 the Court orders the ditches on the side 
 of the lane to be scoured by the tenant, on pain of forfeiting 
 to the Lord for every pole then undone 1212^. 
 
 These Courts appear also to have attended to parish 
 property, as in 1700, Item 6, the following presentment was 
 made : ' We present the house and back side where Thomas 
 Seward now liveth to be a parish house' 
 
 In 1630 there appears to have been a curious custom of 
 giving notice in church upon subjects which would rather 
 shock the ears of worshippers nowadays. Under Item 32 of 
 the Court Baron for that year occurs the following : ' We Appendix, 
 paine that if any swine be found imringed at any time within No. 83, 
 this parish upon a weeks warning pub lick in the church, they 
 are to ring them, or else pay \d. for every hogg so often as they 
 shall be found trespassing! 
 
 We are not informed whether this warning was given by 
 the parson or by the clerk. 
 
 The following copy of a letter of attorney by James 
 Redinge, of Fynchamstede, constituting Francis Policy and 
 
 p 2 
 
2.12 
 
 Chronicles of Finchampstead 
 
 CHAP. Margaret his wife as his lawful attorneys, is inserted here not 
 
 only as a curious specimen of the form in which such docu- 
 
 A.D. 1588 ments were expressed, but also for the novelty of a man and 
 
 his wife being empowered to act either jointly or severally 
 
 in such capacity. It may be observed that Francis and 
 
 Margaret Polley were at the date referred to lessees of the 
 
 Chapter East Court Manor and of the Manor House on Church 
 
 v. p. 118 Hill. 
 
 July 31, ' Too all Feithfull people in Christ to whom theise pre- 
 
 '5^8 sentes shall come to see Rede here or understand James Redinge 
 
 naUn pos- of Fynchamsted in the County of Barkes Trenchermaker 
 
 session of sendith greetinge in our Lord God the Aucthor of all helth 
 
 BANjfs- everlastinge. Knowe ye me the said fames Redinge for 
 
 ™R- diverse considerations m,e thereunto especially movinge have^ 
 
 made authorised and appoynted my welbeloved in Christe 
 
 Francis Polley of Fynchamsted in the County of Barkes 
 
 husbandman and Margarett his Wife my true & lawfull 
 
 Attorneys joyntly and severally to axe levy Recover Receyve 
 
 and take up for Tne and in name of all maner of persons 
 
 whatsoever all and singuler m,y Rentes Dettes and other Duties 
 
 whatsoever to me due and owinge gevinge & grantinge to 
 
 m,y said Attorneys joyntly and severally m,y full power and 
 
 lawful authoritie in the premises ageynst all my Tenantes and 
 
 detters whatsoever for non payment of my said Rentes and 
 
 Dettes to enter and Distreyne and to arest serve & recover 
 
 and thereupon in my name to m.ake seale and as my deed to 
 
 delyver acquitance or other dyscharge unto those parties which 
 
 shall pay & satysfye unto my seid Attorneys eny manor of 
 
 somme or somes of m-oney unto m,e deue & payable And all 
 
 that my seid Attorneys or eyther of them shall do or cause to 
 
 be done for me and in my nam.e I do ratyfye & allowe as 
 
 sufficient lye as I my self wer personally present. In Witness 
 
 whereof I the said fames Redinge unto this my present 
 
 generall letter of Attorney have Putte my owne hand and seale 
 
 the one and Thyrtye daye of fulye In the Thyrtye yere of the 
 
 Reigne of 0" . . . Elizabeth by the grace of God Quene of 
 
 (cutoff) A.D. 1588. 2)^ fuly! 
 
 James Redinge, it will be observed, is described as a 
 ' trencher-maker.' In Chapter IV. p. 90, allusion is made to an 
 
General Remarks 
 
 old oak table with its trenchers, which is supposed to have chap. 
 belonged to the old East Court Manor House, which was in ^^ 
 existence about sixty years ago. I have also been informed that a.d. 1522 
 there is an old lady still living, about eighty years of age, who can 
 distinctly remember seeing, in her youth, in the great kitchen 
 of a large farmhouse in Finchampstead, a long slab six 
 inches thick, cut out of a solid oak tree, which formed the 
 dining-table of the household. There were twelve 
 trenchers sunk in this solid table, and a smaller one 
 beside each of them for salt, &c. Out of these trenchers 
 the several members of the family fed themselves. Their 
 food is said to have consisted of bacon, cabbage, and other 
 vegetables, boiled together in a common stock-pot. 
 
 We may, I think, infer from the above that trencher- 
 making was an extensive business carried on in Finchamp- 
 stead three hundred years ago, and that trenchers were in 
 very general use. Very fine oak timber was grown in Finch- 
 ampstead in those days, and it was no doubt extensively used 
 for almost every domestic purpose. 
 
 Among the ancient families of Finchampstead the name 
 of Banister is the oldest (see Chapter VII.) ; and next in point 
 of antiquity is that of Oliver, which is first found in the year Feet of 
 1345, as holding one third part of the East Court moiety of ET^''' '? 
 
 1 Ti» " '■ ■' Edw. III. 
 
 the Manor. Appendix, 
 
 The name is met with in .various documents in nearly ^°- 9 
 every century from the fourteenth to the eighteenth. In a 
 Subsidy Roll of 1522 the name of Robert Oliver occurs; in Appendix, 
 1524, William Oliver ; and again in a deed dated September 3, ^°- ^^ 
 1557-58 (3 & 4 Philip and Mary), the same name appears. 
 In some Chancery proceedings, June 20, 1584 (Elizabeth), 
 O. 3, No. 46, a pedigree of four generations of Olivers holding 
 land in Finchampstead is given, viz. : (i) Thomas, (2) Wil- 
 liam (1557-58), (3) WiUiam and Richard, and (4) Hugh 
 (1584). In a Subsidy Roll for 1585 the names of William Appendix, 
 and Richard Oliver again appear. °" ^^ 
 
 In the East Court Manor Rolls, between 1602 and 1727, 
 this family is found in possession of the freehold of a property 
 called ' Ferretts,' on the East Court Manor, and paying for 
 it 6j. 6d. a year to the Lord of the Manor. Richard Oliver 
 
214 
 
 Chronicles of Finchampstead 
 
 CHAP. 
 IX 
 
 • Chapter 
 VIII. 
 
 p. 202 
 
 signs the Court Rolls between 1675 and 1700. In the Parish 
 
 Registers the name is found throughout the eighteenth cen- 
 
 A.D. 1786 tury. Richard Oliver was buried in Finchampstead, March 22, 
 
 1739- 
 
 Another Richard, son of Thomas, was buried on April 12, 
 
 1771 ; Thomas Oliver, son of Thomas, was buried on June 24, 
 
 1779; and in 1786 Thomas Oliver appears as a Trustee of 
 
 Sir Richard Harrison's Charity (i.e. the two little houses near 
 
 the Churchyard), and with him the name disappears from 
 
 Finchampstead. 
 
 The old house called Ferretts, now known as Wick Hill 
 
 Farm, has been allowed to fall into decay, and is at present 
 
 occupied by a labourer's family ; but it has every appearance 
 
 of having been a house of some importance in its early days. 
 
 WYNNEBUSH 
 
 There was a small property called ' Wynnebush,' formerly 
 belonging to the West Court Manor, but latterly transferred 
 to the East Court Manor, which I have frequently met with 
 amongst the ancient deeds ; and as I have traced it from the 
 fifteenth to the seventeenth century, with an unbroken chain 
 of descent, I am induced to give a short abstract of it, al- 
 though it does not in other respects at present appear to 
 possess any particular feature of interest ; but perhaps this 
 description of it may lead to its identification hereafter. In 
 1455 Stephen Colle, the Lord of the Manor of West Court, 
 granted to Robert Porton and his heirs for ever a messuc^e 
 with half a virgate of land called ' Wynnebusshe,' yielding 
 yearly to Stephen Colle and his heirs \os. at Lady Day and 
 Michaelmas, 'saving heriot, relief, and suit of Court twice a 
 year, and also pannage of hogs. Except that the said Robert 
 and his heirs shall have two hogs quit of pannage going in all 
 commons within the said Manor.' 
 
 In 1467 Robert Porton granted a release of this property 
 to Roger Thurbarne. 
 
 In 1487 it was released to Henry Tylborough. 
 
 In 1 5 14 it was settled on Henry Tylborough and Agnes 
 his wife, with remainder over. 
 
 ^" 1533 John Tylborough, of Eversley, ' wever,' sold to 
 
 B.M. 
 Add. 
 Chart. 
 
 38564- . 
 Appendix, 
 No. 19 
 I4SS 
 
 B.M. 
 
 Add. 
 
 Chart. 
 
 38567 
 
 38568 
 
 38571 
 
General Remarks 2 1 5 
 
 Stephen Cawood. Lord of the East Court Manor, ' the rever- chap. 
 sion of Wynbusshe and half yard land ' which came to John ^^ 
 Tylborough's mother by the gift of Henry Tylborough. a.d. 1533 
 William Banester, Robert Whyte, and William Olyver are ^"j^; 
 witnesses to the deed of sale. Chart. 
 
 This last transfer brought Wynbusshe into the possession ^ ^^^ 
 of the Lord of the East Court Manor, but it was still subject 
 to the annual rent of \QS. payable to the Lord of the West 
 Court Manor. 
 
 This property is next found in a West Court Manor Roll West 
 of 1623, in the possession of Sir Richard Harrison, Lord of ^"anor 
 the Manor of East Court, who was still paying to the Lord Roll of 
 of the West Court Manor the same annual rent of \os. which ^^^^i 
 had been paid in 1455, but the land is there described as 
 consisting of ' three score acres.' It will be observed that the 
 virgate of land in 1455 is changed into 'half a yerde londe' 
 in 1533, and into 'three score acres' in 1623 : whether each 
 of these three different expressions represents the same 
 quantity or not, I am unable to say. The property appears 
 in the East Court Manor Rolls of 1676 and 1698 as belonging 
 to the Lord of that Manor, under the name of ' Windbushes,' 
 and it was then held on lease from the Lord of the Manor at 
 a rental of 133-. %d. by William Feltham. The West Court 
 manorial rights in it had then, it is presumed, been ex- 
 tinguished by the Act of 12 Charles II. c. 24, which put an 1672 
 end to the feudal tenure of land, and it had become the free- 
 hold of the Lord of the East Court Manor. The name 
 unfortunately disappears after this date ; probably the property 
 assumed the name of its next occupier, and I am unable to 
 identify it. 
 
 HALL HOUSE 
 
 There is an old house near the Church, close to the ' White 
 Horse ' public-house, which has evidently known ' better days.' 
 This house was formerly a private residence of some import- 
 ance, known by the name of ' Hall House.' It is mentioned in 
 an old Court Roll of the West Court Manor of 1623, from Appendix, 
 which I gather that at that date there must have been at least ^°' ^^ 
 sixteen separate fields belonging to it, the total acreage of 
 
2 1 6 Chronicles of Finckampstead 
 
 CHAP, which amounted to upwards of eighty acres. The fields were 
 ^^ then let to various tenants, who are named in the Rent Roll, 
 A.D. 1623 As late as the year 1841 this house had eight fields or 
 enclosures attached to it, consisting of about thirty acres, all 
 of which fields are named in the parish rate book of that 
 year. The names in the rate book enable me to identify the 
 property as Hall House. One of the eight fields in the 
 rate book of 1841 is 'Churchams,' ^ consisting of two acres, 
 which name is found in Item 30 of the Rent Roll of 1623. 
 Two others of the eight fields are called ' Little and Great 
 Gammons ' ^ in the same rate book, consisting of eight acres ; 
 and these names are found in Item 31 of the same Rent Roll, 
 where they are called ' Gam hames,' consisting of the same 
 quantity of land, eight acres, the more modern name being 
 evidently only a corruption of the older one. 
 
 This house in 1841 belonged to a Mr. Goodchild, and was 
 in the occupation of Mr. W. Pigg. 
 
 On the East Court Manor being purchased by Mr. John 
 Walter, of Bearwood, in 1849, the hedgerows separating these 
 several fields were removed, and the fields were thrown to- 
 gether, now forming one large field. The old house has since 
 been occupied by the families of farm labourers. 
 Appendix, In 1 62 3 Hall House and its lands formed part of the 
 
 ^°- 78 West Court Manor, and the boundary line between the two 
 Manors, as described in the deed of July 30, 1736, must have 
 embraced this property within the West Court Manor. 
 
 The boundaries between the East and West Court Manors 
 have undergone many changes since the whole Manor was 
 divided in the thirteenth century, and have at different times 
 been a subject of dispute between their respective owners. 
 
 The West Court Manor, previously to 18 18, must have 
 included much of the ground lying in the centre of the parish, 
 and now belonging to the East Court Manor. 
 
 In the award of the Windsor Forest Enclosure Commis- 
 sioners there are several houses and lands in that locality 
 which were transferred by exchange from the West to the 
 East Court Manor, eg. : 
 
 ' See terrier in Appendix, No. 75, where these names appear as belonging to 
 the Church. 
 
General Remarks 
 
 217 
 
 Fair 
 
 No. 63 on the Award Map. The ' Greyhound ' public-house 
 No. 61. An old enclosure with a cottage thereon, near 
 
 Green,' near where ' the old club-room ' now stands . 
 No. 59. Another old enclosure yard, with buildings thereon, situated 
 
 on ' Fair Green ' 
 
 No. 81. Six old enclosures with cottages thereon, along the north side 
 of the Eversley Road from East Court to the Glebe lands of the 
 Rectory, which seems to represent the East Court garden cottage, 
 a half-timbered building of the sixteenth century, and the black- 
 smith's buildings, and ' the waste of the Manor ' along the north 
 side of the road as far as the entrance gate to the Rectory 
 No. 54. Two old cottages and land in Long Water Lane 
 No. 55. Garden with two cottages thereon, awarded to the Trustees 
 
 of the Finchampstead Charity Trustees in exchange . 
 No. 56. A field on Moor Green, near the ' Royal Oak ' public-house 
 No. 93. Ridge Farm, being twelve enclosures, with a farmhouse and 
 
 other buildings thereon near the pound 
 
 No. 84. Four old enclosures with cottage thereon near the Church. 
 This allotment is subject to a right of carriage-road twenty feet 
 wide from the field called the Brickkilns and other fields near 
 ' Ennox Coppice,' belonging to the Rectory, to the Church 
 No. 83. ' Parsonage Coppice,' part of the Glebe, in exchange for 
 lands transferred from East Court Manor 
 
 38 
 
 CHAP, 
 IX 
 
 030 A.D. 1829 
 
 29 
 14 
 
 17 
 28 
 
 S ° 3° 
 
 ROADS 
 
 Finchampstead, before the enclosure of the forest, was 
 less accessible by good roads than it is now. On the south 
 there were no bridges across the Blackwater river, which 
 could only be forded when the river was low enough to admit 
 of it. The principal crossing was through the village of 
 Eversley ; the present Eversley bridge was not built until 
 1 8 19, and the access to it from Finchampstead village was at 
 that date only by a driftway or green' lane. 
 
 Previously to the year 1854, the only other road from 
 Finchampstead village to Eversley Green was by Long 
 Water Lane, past the 'Greyhound' public-house and the 
 end of the Fleet Wood, to the river Blackwater, thence for 
 about five hundred yards up the bed of the river (which was 
 there called 'Long Water') to where Finchampstead bridge ^^^^^ 
 now crosses the river. The ' New Road,' from opposite East Minutes, 
 Court garden cottage to Finchampstead bridge, was only J^°7g'J^ 
 made in 1 854, at a cost to the parish of 381/. 
 
2l8 
 
 Chronicles of Finchampstead 
 
 CHAP. 
 
 IX 
 
 A.D. 1861 
 
 ' Hamp- 
 shire 
 Field 
 Club,' 
 vol. ii.. 
 part i, 
 p. 49. 
 T. VV. 
 Shore, 
 F.G.S. 
 
 33. 
 
 Finch- 
 ampstead 
 Vestry 
 Minutes, 
 February 
 12, 1863 
 
 The highest sources of the Blackwater river are near 
 Ashridge, on the south of Aldershot, at an elevation of 250 
 feet above the sea. This is near the Aldershot Water Works, 
 to supply which the river has been 'tapped.' The Blackwater 
 forms the north-eastern boundary of Hampshire, from its 
 source to its junction with the Whitewater in Swallowfield. 
 Its height at Blackwater village is 200 feet, at Eversley bridge 
 156 feet, and at Swallowfield 147 feet, so that between 
 Blackwater a.nd Swallowfield, a distance in a straight line of 
 9^ miles, there is only a fall of 53 feet, or one foot in 946 feet, 
 which accounts for the sluggishness of the stream and its con- 
 sequent winding course. The river has deviated from its 
 original course in several places ; this is specially observable 
 at Finchampstead bridge and at the New Mill. Finchamp- 
 stead bridge is consequently entirely in Hampshire, while the 
 New Mill and the land on both sides of the river adjoining 
 it are in Berkshire. 
 
 Among the many improvements made by the late Mr. John 
 Walter on his extensive property in Finchampstead and its 
 neighbourhood, none has been of greater benefit to the 
 residents and the general public than the fine new road over 
 the Ridges to Wellington College station, made about the 
 year 1861, and opened to the pubHc in 1863. Previously to 
 the establishment of Wellington College, between the years 
 1856 and 1859, the country between Finchampstead Ridges 
 and Crowthorne was an unenclosed moorland, with few trees, 
 and scarcely a cottage upon it. There was no Wellington 
 College railway station until about the year 1861. 
 
 The only road from Finchampstead to Crowthorne was 
 a green driftway, which began at the corner of what is 
 now known as ' Ridge Cottage,' and crossed the heath, which 
 was then only partially planted with trees. This green drive 
 can still be traced through what is now a thick fir plantation 
 as far as the Wellington College cross roads, and was called 
 the Crowthorne Road. 
 
 Mr. Walter's new road took a somewhat different course, 
 traversing what is known as Finchampstead Ridges, and 
 ending in the avenue, of nearly a mile in length, leading to 
 Wellington College. This avenue was planted with Welling- 
 
General Remarks 2 1 9 
 
 tonia pines, fifty-five on each side, and forms a very appropriate chap. 
 approach to the College. It will be a lasting memorial of ^^ 
 one of the greatest friends and benefactors of that institution. a.d. 1861 
 
 The road over the Ridges presents one of the finest 
 landscapes to be found in this part of England. In front 
 we look down upon the valley of the Blackwater, and 
 beyond it rise the Hartford Bridge Flats, along which ran 
 the old coaching road from London to Southampton. To the 
 south-east may be seen (at a distance of about twenty miles 
 and upwards) the conical hill of Crookesbury and Hind Head, 
 and in the south-west, at about the same distance, a clump of 
 trees on the hills above Kingsclere ('Cottington Clump'), 
 with Highclere and Inkpen Beacon still further to the west. 
 
 We stand here upon somewhat historic ground. It has 
 been said by very high authority — no less than that of the 
 present Archbishop of Canterbury, when he was Head-master 
 of Wellington College — that to these Ridges King Henry VII. 
 and his son. Prince Arthur, rode out from Easthampstead 
 in 1 501 to meet Katharine of Aragon, after her arrival in 
 England to become the Prince's bride. As the story may not 
 be familiar to all my readers, perhaps the following narrative, 
 taken from Miss Strickland's ' Lives of the Queens of England,' 
 will be of interest : 
 
 'Katharine of Aragon, born December 15, 1485, was the 
 daughter of Ferdinand, King of Aragon, and Isabel, Queen of 
 Castile. 
 
 ' When she was three years of age she was betrothed to 
 Arthur, Prince of Wales, who was then only twenty months 
 
 old. 
 
 ' At seven years of age they corresponded with each other in 
 Latin, their letters being under the direction of tutors, con- 
 fessors, bishops, and a lady governess. 
 
 ' On May 21, 1501, Katharine set off from Granada for 
 England, embarked at Corunna, September 26, and landed at 
 Plymouth, October 2, 1501. 
 
 'Henry VII. set out from his palace at Shene {Sheen), 
 November 4, 1501, to meet his future daughter-in-law. The 
 weather was rainy. He stopped for the night at Chertsey, and 
 fiext morning rode toward East-Hampstead' (then a royal 
 
2 20 Chronicles of Finchampstead 
 
 hunting lodge), ' where he met his son Arthur. The Prince did 
 
 not know his future wife had arrived in England. Royal 
 
 A.D. 1894 travellers moved slowly in those days, and Henry did not think 
 of proceeding further than East-Hampstead, and ''full plea- 
 santly passed over that night season " in company with his son. 
 Next morning the royal personages set forth again on their 
 journey, " which was truly performed at a snails gallop" and 
 proceeded to the Downs' (The moors between Easthampstead 
 and Finchampstead Ridges in those times were not covered 
 with fir woods, as they are now. ) 'A party of Spanish cavaliers 
 was seen passing over them, on a most solemn errand, which was 
 to forbid the approach of the royal bridegroom and his father 
 to the presence of the Infanta, who, in true Moorish fashion, 
 was not to be looked at by her betrothed till she stood at the 
 altar, or until she was his wife. King Henry did not approve 
 of this : he took council with his nobles, and resolved that as the 
 Spanish Infanta was now in his realm., he might look at her 
 if he liked. Henry VII , leaving his son on the Downs, made 
 his way to Dogmersfeld,^ where the Infanta had arrived two 
 or three days previously. The Spanish retinue were put in 
 terrible perplexity, but King Henry insisted on seeing her. 
 Neither the King nor the Infanta could understand each 
 others ''dialect!' Within half an hour afterwards Prince 
 Arthur arrived, as he was tired of waiting on the Downs; 
 and he and the Infanta plighted their troth in person. 
 
 ' Upon the morrow the Infanta set out for Chertsey, and 
 stayed all night at the royal palace, and the next day pro- 
 ceeded to Lambeth! 
 
 I cannot close this chapter without alluding to the great 
 loss which the parish of Finchampstead has sustained by the 
 recent lamented death of Mr. John Walter, of Bearwood. 
 During the forty-five years of his ownership of the East 
 Court Manor of Finchampstead, Mr. Walter has exercised a 
 greater influence for good, and has effected greater public 
 improvements in this parish, than can be traced in the lives of 
 any of his predecessors in this estate. Attention has been 
 
 ' The, Manor of Dogmersfield was then the property of the Bishops of Bath and 
 Wells, having been granted to that see by Henry I. Crondal Records, by F. J. 
 Baigent. 
 
General Remarks 2 2 1 
 
 already drawn to what Mr. Walter has done for our Church- chap. 
 yard, for our Parish Schools, and in making new Roads. I ^^ 
 might also add that he contributed largely to the maintenance a.d. 1894 
 of our Schools, and to every other good object for which his 
 help was needed. The East Court Manor had not enjoyed 
 the advantage of a resident owner for more than a century 
 until the late Mr. Fyshe-Palmer made East Court House his 
 home early in the present century ; and although Mr. Walter 
 did not reside upon this Manor, he seldom allowed a week 
 to pass without visiting it and attending to his various duties 
 connected with it. There was no part of his large property 
 to which he was more strongly attached, and he faithfully 
 discharged every duty connected with it. 
 
 Mr. Walter's position as a public man is so well known 
 that there is no need to make mention of it here, further than 
 that he sat in Parliament for thirty-five years as one of the 
 members for the county of Berkshire and for the borough of 
 Nottingham, between the years 1847 and 1885, and that as 
 manager-in-chief of the ' Times ' newspaper he exercised 
 a powerful influence in forming public opinion in England for 
 upwards of a quarter of a century. 
 
 He died November 3, 1894, in the seventy seventh year 
 of his age, and was buried in Bearwood Churchyard, 
 
APPENDIX 
 
 NAMES OF THE LORDS OF THE MANOR OF ALDER- 
 MA STON, WHO WERE THE CHIEF LORDS OF THE 
 FEE BY WHICH THE MANOR OF FINCHAMPSTEAD 
 WAS HELD UNDER THEM FROM ABOUT a.d. iioo 
 TO 1672 
 
 APP. 
 
 Mr. 
 
 Walter 
 
 Money, 
 
 'Historical 
 
 Sketch of 
 
 Aldermas- 
 
 ton,' 1890 
 
 B ^t^»g\^/'>^^^> HE name of Aldermaston in Domesday is given 
 as Aldremanestone, which means the alder- 
 man's town. It was the king's land, and was 
 held by Earl Harold in the time of King Ed- 
 ward the Confessor. 
 
 I. Robert Achard. Grant of the manors 1 100- 18 
 of Aldermaston, Finchampstead, Spersholt, and 
 Colthorpe in Theale, made by Henry I. 
 
 n. Richard Achard, son of Robert, en- 1:18-35 
 feoffed Alard Banastre in the Manor of Finchampstead, and John 
 Banastre in that of Silhampstead. 
 
 HI. William Achard, in 1166, certified that his father had en- 
 feoffed the three knights above mentioned, and gave to the priory of 
 Monks Sherborne, Hants, the church of Aldermaston, with other 
 dominions. 
 
 IV. William Achard, son of III., succeeded and confirmed the gift 
 of his father. 
 
 V. Robert Achard. Henr>' III., in 1229, confirmed to Robert the 
 grant of all the manors made to his ancestor, No. I. The Manor of 
 Finchampstead was held at this time by William Banastre, and Sul- 
 hamstead by John Banastre. 
 
 116S 
 
 1229 
 
 Rot. 
 
 Chart. 13 
 Hen. UI. 
 
-1353 
 
 2 24 Chronicles of Finchampstead 
 
 APP. VI. Peter Achard, son of No. V., died seised of Aldermaston in 
 
 1278. 
 
 '1278-98 VII. Robert Achard, son and heir of No. VI., born 1250, died in 
 
 1298, granted reversion of the Manor of Aldermaston to Richard de 
 
 Inq P.M. Coleshull. 
 
 27 Edw 
 
 I. ' VIII. Robert Achard, described, in letters patent for founding a 
 
 chantry at Sparsholt in 1336, as a son of Elyas de Coleshull and 
 Margaret his wife, and brother of Peter de Coleshull, Rector of Spars- 
 holt. He died in 1353. 
 
 1353-61 IX. Peter Achard, son of No. VII., succeeded to Aldermaston and 
 
 other estates, and died in 1361. 
 
 Inq. P. M. X. Thomas de la Mare, knight, married the daughter and heir of 
 Sir Robert Achard, No. VIII., the last male heir of the Achard family, 
 
 Chancery and then Aldermaston passed to the De la Mares. He died seised of 
 
 46 Edw"'^ Aldermaston, Sparsholt, Coldrop, Finchampstead, and Silhampstead- 
 
 III. No. Banastre Manors, in 1372, having been Sheriff of Berks in 1370. 
 
 J3»2 XI. Robert de la Mare, knight of the shire, i and 5 Henry V. 
 
 [1417]- 
 -1490 XII. Sir Thomas de la Mare was member for Berks in 1472, and 
 
 sheriff in 1450, 1476, 1481, and 1490, in which year he died. 
 -1533 XIII. Sir George Forster, son of Sir Humphrey Forster, of Har- 
 penden (Harpsden), married Elizabeth, only daughter of John de la 
 Mare, the son of Sir Thomas, No. XII., and thereby became owner of 
 Aldermaston. He died in 1533. 
 
 1533- XIV. Sir Humphrey Forster, son of Sir George, married Elizabeth, 
 
 daughter of Lord Sandys of the Vine. Was Sheriff of Berks and 
 Oxford. 
 
 -'574 XV. Sir William Forster, son of No. XIV., died in 1574. 
 
 1574-1601 XVI. Sir William Forster married Mary, daughter of Sir Mark 
 Steward. He was Sheriff of Berks in 1579, 158 1, and 1592. It was 
 to his house at Aldermaston that Campion the Jesuit was taken after 
 his capture in the house of Mrs. Yates at Lyford, near Abingdon, in 
 1581. He died in 1601. 
 
 XVII. Sir Humphrey Forster, son of No. XVI., was created a 
 baronet in 1620, married Anne, daughter of Sir William Kingsmill, 
 of Sidmonton, Hants. In 1636 he built the house at Aldermaston, 
 which was burnt down in 1843. The Manor of Aldermaston descended 
 through female members of the family of Forster to Ralph Congreve, 
 of Congreve in the county of Stafford, in 1752. 
 
 It would be beyond my present object to pursue the chief lords of 
 
Appendix 
 
 225 
 
 Aldermaston beyond the year 1672, when the feudal system of land 
 tenure was terminated by the statute of 12 Car. II. c. 24. 
 
 APP. 
 
 Rotuli Hundredorum, 1812, folio, vol. i. page 15. 
 HUNDR DE CHERLEDON 
 
 1276 
 
 [Omitting a few lines, and translating from the Latin, is the following.] 4 Edw. I. 
 
 Of Hundreds which are in the king's hands &c. 
 
 They [i.e. the jury] say that the Hundred of Cherledon is in the 
 king's hand, and that the Hundred of Sunynghes was formerly [part] of 
 the Hundred of Cherledon and was withdrawn by R. bishop of Salis- 
 bury in the time of King Henry, father of the now king, to the damage 
 of the king's Hundred ; but they know not by what warrant, and it 
 is worth by the year one hundred shillings. 
 
 Of purprestures ' made upon the king &c. 
 
 They say that John de la Hawe holds a purpresture in Finchamstede 
 which was enclosed in the time of King Henry, father &c., and contains 1216-72 
 two acres. Henry de Bruario holds three acres of land likewise in the 
 same town. William de Hawe holds one rood in the same town. 
 Alexander the clerk holds one rood in the same town. William the 
 miller holds one rood. John the little Cupare holds half an acre. Gilbert 
 de Mora,' Stephen de Stonstred, and Gunilda de Aula hold conjointly 
 three acres, Henry Kewell half an acre. And all the said purprestures 
 are held in chief of John de la Hoese, and were enclosed in the time 
 of King Henry, father &c. ; and they are in regard (i.e. in view of the 
 King's officer). 
 
 See Sub- 
 sidy Roll 
 1327 
 
 Subsidy Roll. Berks V- i Ed. III. (1327). P. R. O. 
 VILLA DE FINCHAMSTEDE & BERKHAM 
 
 D. Joh de la Hoese 
 
 Pet" 
 
 Gilb*» le Bedel . 
 
 Rob*° le Marchaunt 
 
 Pef le Coupere. 
 
 > Purpresture is an encroachment made by building, enclosing, or using any 
 liberty without lawful warrant. 
 
 s. 
 
 d. 
 
 ob 
 
 qu 
 
 X 
 
 X 
 
 
 I 
 
 Xlll 
 
 1 
 
 
 I 
 
 V 
 
 IV 
 
 
 I 
 
 n 
 
 vu 
 
 I 
 
 
 u 
 
 1 
 
 
 I 
 
226 
 
 Chronicles of Finchampstead 
 
 APP. 
 
 VILLA DE FINCHAMSTEDE 6- BER& 
 
 :ham~ 
 
 d. 
 
 i 
 
 xi 
 
 -continued 
 
 
 Stepho Gorwen. 
 Petro atte More 
 
 
 
 
 J. 
 ii 
 
 ob qu 
 
 I I 
 I I 
 
 
 Johne atte More 
 Henr Buayboos 
 John le Kewel . 
 
 
 
 
 ii 
 
 xi 
 
 XX 
 
 vii 
 
 I I 
 
 
 Thoma Banastr 
 
 
 
 
 ii 
 
 vii 
 
 
 
 Rogd atte Haache 
 Emma atte Halle 
 
 
 
 
 ii 
 
 i 
 xxiii 
 
 1 I 
 I I 
 
 
 Nicho Banastr . 
 
 
 
 
 ii 
 
 
 
 
 Edmund atte Halle 
 
 
 
 
 iv 
 
 V 
 
 I I 
 
 
 Jotine atte Hawe 
 Wiito Baron 
 
 
 
 
 ii 
 ii 
 
 viiii 
 i 
 
 I I 
 
 
 Johne de Haseldon 
 Henr atte Hethe 
 
 
 
 
 iv 
 iii 
 
 vii 
 
 
 
 Rogd Est . 
 Johne Boteler . 
 Robto West 
 
 
 
 
 ii 
 
 viii 
 
 ii 
 
 vii 
 i 
 
 V 
 
 I I 
 I I 
 
 
 Johne de Kyngsmulii 
 ad den 
 
 
 
 
 ii 
 
 viii 
 
 X 
 
 I I 
 
 
 Rogo le Em 
 Walto le (?) ywe 
 Ss* Hykonhulle 
 Johne BuUuk 
 Gilbto Red 
 
 
 
 
 ii 
 iii 
 ii 
 
 xi 
 iv 
 x 
 vii 
 xxiii 
 
 I I 
 
 I I 
 I I 
 
 
 Johne Bulluk . 
 Lizanna Bulluk 
 
 
 
 
 
 xviii 
 
 XX 
 
 I 
 
 
 Ad atte Delle . 
 
 
 
 
 ii 
 
 i 
 
 
 
 Juliana atte Bredenchuese 
 
 
 
 
 xvii 
 
 I 
 
 
 Sffia XX" ist. Vill 
 
 
 ciii. 
 
 s. i. d. 
 
 Db. qu. 
 
 
 4 
 EXTRACTS 
 
 
 
 3>4 
 
 
 Feet 
 
 of Fii 
 
 les ,' I 
 
 Berks 
 
 
 
 7 Edw. 
 II. No. 4 
 
 Between Nicholas de la Heuse, plaintiff, and Ralph de la Wyle 
 and Joanna his wife, deforciants, of one messuage, two virgates of land, 
 
 ' ' Feet of Fines ' is the term used to denote the document whereby property 
 was transferred from one party to another ; the document consisted of three parts, 
 
Appendix 227 
 
 two acres meadow, and nine acres wood, with appurtenances, in Finch- APP. 
 
 ampstead and Barkham, the said Nicholas de la Heuse and his heirs 
 
 to hold of the chief lords for ever, and for this the said Nicholas hath 
 given to Ralph and Joan one sore sparrow-hawk (unum esperrarium 
 sorum). 
 
 5 
 Feet of Fines, Berks. At York 
 
 Between John de la Hoese of Finchamstede, plaintiff, and Edward 1328 
 Thornhull and Joan his wife, deforciants, of third part of the moiety !,?°^' 
 of Manor of Finghamstede with appurtenances. The said third 
 part to be the right of John de la Hoese and his heirs for ever, for 
 which the said John hath given to Edward and Joan twenty marks of 
 silver. 
 
 6 
 
 Feet of Fines, Berks. At Westminster 
 
 Between William de CristeshuU, younger, and Joan his wife, 1348. 
 plaintiffs, and Henry de Poghle and (Matill) Maud his wife, defor- ju j^o' 
 ciants, of one messuage, six acres land, eight acres meadow, and five 18 
 acres moor, with appurtenances, in Sandhurst and Fynchamstede, 
 granted to William and Joan and their heirs for ever, yielding there- 
 for yearly one rose 24 June and doing other services to chief lords. 
 Reversion, in case of default of issue, to Henry and Maud. 
 
 7 
 Feet of Fines, Berks, 1-3 Edw. III. No. 8 b 1329 
 
 Translation 
 
 This is the final agreement made in the Court of the lord the 
 King at Westminster in eight days of the Holy Trinity in the third 
 year of the reign of King Edward the Third from the Conquest 
 before ' etc. Between Richard, son of Richard de Bokhurst, plaintiff, 
 and Nicholas Banastre of Fynghamstede, deforciant, of a messuage, 
 forty acres of land, six acres of meadow, forty acres of pasture, ten 
 
 one of which, containing the final agreement, was given to one party, another part 
 to the other party, and the third part, which was at the foot of the document, was 
 cut off and retained in the P. R. O., and is now known as ' the Foot of the Fine.' 
 ' Here the justices are named. 
 
 Q 2 
 
2 28 Chronicles of Finchampstead 
 
 APP. acres of wood, and eight shillings and two pence rent, with the appur- 
 
 tenances, in Fynghamstede. Whereupon a plea of covenant was 
 
 summoned between them in the same Court, that is to say, that the 
 aforesaid Nicholas hath acknowledged the aforesaid tenements with 
 the appurtenances to -be the right of him the said Richard as those 
 which the said Richard hath of the gift of the aforesaid Nicholas. 
 And for this acknowledgment, fine, and agreement, the said Richard 
 hath granted to the aforesaid Nicholas the aforesaid tenements with 
 the appurtenances. And those he hath rendered to him in the same 
 Court to have and to hold to the said Nicholas of the chief lords of 
 that fee by the services which appertain to the aforesaid tenements 
 the whole life of the said Nicholas. And after the decease of the said 
 Nicholas the aforesaid tenements with the appurtenances shall entirely 
 remain to Geoffrey de Bokhurst and his heirs to hold of the chief lords of 
 that fee by the services which appertain to the said tenements forever. 
 
 8 
 1337-38 Feet of Fines, 11-12 Edw. III. Berks 
 
 Hec est finalis concordia facta in Curia dni Regis apud Ebox a 
 die Pasche in tres septimanas Anno regni Regis Edwardi Tcij a con- 
 questu vndecimo . . . In? Thomam Banastre 1 Amiciam filiam 
 Jacobi de la Bertofi que? 1 Johem de la Burgh deforc de vno mesuagio 
 vno molendino sexaginta acris tre quin'i- acris p"ti quadraginta acris 
 bosci 1 septem solidatisT; octo denaratis redditus cum ptin in Fynch- 
 amstede. vnde pl?m convencois su:ti fuit inV eos in eadem Cur Scitt 
 qd j^dcus Thomas recogfi gdca ten cum ptin esse Jus ipius Jotiis vt il!a 
 que idem Johes het de dono pdci Thome Et p hac recognicoe fine 1 
 concordia idem Johes concessit pdcis Thome T; Amicie pdca ten cum 
 ptin Et ilia eis reddidit in eadem Cur . hend T; Tenend eisde Thome 1 
 Amicie Ihedibs de corpib} ipo^ Thome T; Amicie exeuntib} depd6o 
 Johe T; hedib} suis imppm Reddendo inde p annu vnam rosam ad 
 festu Nativita! sci Johis Bapfe p omni svicio conS T; exaccone ad 
 rdcm Johem T; hedes suos ptinente. Et faciendo inde capi? dnis 
 feodi illius p pdco Johe T; hedibj suis oiiiia alia svicia que ad pdca ten 
 ptinent imppm. Et si contingat qd ijde Thomas T; Amicia obierint 
 sine hede de corpib3 suis exeunte : tunc post decessu ipoa Thome 1 
 Amicie :' pdca ten cum ptifi integre remanebunt hedib} ipius Thome 
 de corpe suo pcreat Tenend de pdco Johe T; her suis p fd' a svicia sicut 
 
Appendix 229 
 
 1337 
 
 pdcm est imppm Et si nullus heres de corpe ipius Thome fuit pcrea- app. 
 
 tus r tuc j^dca ten cum ptifl Integra remanebut Thome fit Thome 
 
 Banastre. Tenend de pdco Jotie T; liedib) suis p f/dca ^vicia sicut 
 pdcm est imppm Et si nullus heres de corpe ipius Thome fiiit pcreatus •! 
 tuc pdca ten cum ptifl integre remanebut Thome fit Thome Banastre. 
 Tenend de pdco Johe T; hedib) suis p pdca ^^vicia sicut pdcm est tota 
 vita ipius Thome fit Thome Et post decessu ipius Thome ^dca ten 
 cum ptifl integre revtent^ ad f/dcm Johem T; her suos quiete de aliis 
 hedib} pdco^ Thome Banastre l Amicie. T. eciam de hedib3 Thome fil 
 Thome . Tenend de Capit dnis feodi illius p Wicia que ad pdca ten 
 ptinent imppm. 
 
 Translation 
 
 This is the final agreement made in the Court of the lord the 
 King at York in three weeks from Easter-day in the eleventh year of 
 the reign of King Edward the Third from the Conquest before etc. 
 Between Thomas Banastre and Amicia, daughter of James de la 
 Bertone, plaintiffs, and John de la Burgh, deforciant, of a messuage, a 
 mill, sixty acres of land, five acres of meadow, forty acres of wood, and 
 seven shillings and eightpence rent, with the appurtenances, in Fynch- 
 ampstede. Whereupon a plea of covenant was summoned between 
 them in the same Court, that is to say, that the aforesaid Thomas hath 
 acknowledged the aforesaid tenements with the appurtenances to be 
 the right of him the said John as those which the said John hath of 
 the gift of the aforesaid Thomas. And for this acknowledgment, fine, 
 and agreement the said John hath granted to the afoi'esaid Thomas 
 and Amicia the aforesaid tenements with the appurtenances. And 
 those he hath rendered to them in the same Court, to have and to 
 hold to the said Thomas and Amicia and the heirs of the bodies of 
 them the said Thomas and Amicia issuing of the aforesaid John and 
 his heirs for ever, yielding therefor by the year a rose at the feast of 
 the Nativity of Saint John Baptist for all service, custom, and exaction 
 to the aforesaid John and his heirs appertaining, and doing therefor 
 to the chief lords of that fee for the aforesaid John and his heirs all 
 other services which appertain to the aforesaid tenements for ever. 
 And if it happen that the said Thomas and Amicia die without an heir 
 of their bodies issuing, then after the decease of the said Thomas and 
 Amicia the aforesaid tenements with the appurtenances shall entirely 
 remain to the heirs of the said Thomas of his body begotten, to hold 
 
230 Chronicles of Finchampstead 
 
 APP. of the aforesaid John and his heirs by the aforesaid services as is afore- 
 
 7 said forever. And if no heir shall be begotten of the body of the said 
 
 Thomas, then the aforesaid tenements vsrith the appurtenances shall 
 entirely remain to Thomas, son of Thomas Banastre, to hold of the 
 aforesaid John and his heirs by the aforesaid services as is aforesaid 
 the whole life of the said Thomas, son of Thomas. And after the 
 decease of the said Thomas the aforesaid tenements with the appur- 
 tenances shall entirely revert to the aforesaid John and his heirs, quit 
 of other heirs of the aforesaid Thomas Banastre and Amicia, and 
 also of the heirs of Thomas, son of Thomas, to hold of the chief lords 
 of that fee by the services which appertain to the aforesaid tenements 
 for ever. 
 
 9 
 Feet of Fines, Berks 
 
 1345 Between John Benio, citizen of London, plaintiff, and John Brome 
 
 III^nT" 2 ^"^ Alice his wife, deforciants, of third part of moiety of Manor of Fynch- 
 amstede with appurtenances. The said third part which at that date was 
 held by John Oliver for a term of nine years by the demise of John and 
 Alice to revert wholly to John Benio at the expiration of that term, 
 to hold of the chief lords by the services appertaining thereto for 
 ever. 
 
 This agreement was made in the presence of John Oliver who did 
 fealty to John Benio in the Court. 
 
 10 
 Feet of Fines, Berks. At Westminster 
 
 1347 Between Richard Yenyndone of Wokyngham, plaintiff, and John 
 
 III No^' 8 Benio, citizen of London, deforciant, of third part of moiety of Manor of 
 Fynchamstede with appurtenances. The said Richard and his heirs to 
 hold the said third part of the chief lords by the services apper- 
 taining thereto, for which the same Richard hath given to John Benio 
 forty marks of silver. 
 
 II 
 
 1361-62 Charter of Nicholas atte Halle of Fynchamstede granting to John 
 
 atte Haghe & Stephen atte Haghe of Fynchamsted all lands & tene- 
 ments which he had in Fynchamsted to have & to hold the same to 
 
Appendix 2 3 1 
 
 the said John and Stephen their heirs & assigns for ever of the Lords APP. 
 of the fees, &c. ' 
 
 Witnesses: — WiLLIAM ATTE Hethe. 
 Stephen Est. 
 John Wilcons. 
 Henry le White. 
 Robert le Budel & others. 
 Dated at Fynchamstede on Monday next after the Feast of 
 Saint Hilary, 13 January. 35 Edw. IH. [136 1-2]. 
 [17 January, 1361-2.] 
 
 12 
 Exchequer. Lay Subsidies. Berks ^| 
 
 Six shillings and eightpence on each person having lands and rent '^12 
 to the value of £20 a year. Grant made in the Parliament holden at iv. 
 Westminster on the morrow of All Souls, 13 Hen. IV. (3 Nov. 14 11). 
 Letters patent thereupon directed to Laurence Drieu and others dated 
 at Westminster 2 January, 13th year (1411-12). 
 
 The certificate, after inquiry made, shows (among many others) : 
 
 Thomas de Foxle het ?r ten T; reddit in diet Com apud Fynch- 
 ampstede T; Bray que vai p a™ vlt* repris ..... xx" 
 
 Et quantu het alibi in diverS Com licet diligent inquiri fecim^ nob 
 constar non potest 
 (that is to say) 
 
 Translation 
 
 Thomas de Foxle has lands, tenements, and rents in the said county 
 at Fynchampstede and Bray which are worth by the year beyond 
 reprises ........... £20 
 
 And how much he has elsewhere in divers counties, although we 
 have caused diligent inquiry to be made, cannot be manifest to us. 
 
 Henry Huse has lands &c. in Southmorton worth (clear) p ann. £10. 
 
 If This is a fine roll (in excellent condition) well written and sym- 
 metrically arranged. 
 
 13 
 Exchequer. Lay Subsidies. Berks |f 
 
 SEVEN HUNDREDS OF COOKHAM AND BRA V 
 
 Inquig ' capta apud Wokyngh^m die Martf px ante festu 1428 
 Nativitatf sci Jotiis Bap?e Anno regni Regf Henrici Sexti post conq 
 ' Document much worn and faded. 
 
232 Chronicles of Finckampstead 
 
 APP. Angt sexto Coram . . . Collectorib3 dni Regf de Sbsidijs feod Militu 
 
 die! dno Regi in ultimo Parliamento apud Westni ten? concessis 
 
 infra lifetate dni Humfr Ducf Glowcestre in hundredis de Cokham T: 
 Braye 1 in vij hundred in foresta de Wyndesore in Coin Berk p 
 sacfm Rofi Waltham etc. ad hoc electi triati t iurati p Rege qui 
 dicut p sacrm suu qd Thomas Foxle te} pcella MaSij de Fyncham- 
 stede [q''m] Alina de la Huse q°nda tenuit ibm set p que Pvic 
 ignorant Johes Colle te3 alJa gcella Manerij pdic? qd Jolles ' de la 
 Huse 1 Jolies de 01y9 q°nd tenuer ifem p que s(vic ign. 
 
 Translation 
 
 Inq. taken at Wokyngham on Tuesday (22 June 1428) before the 
 feast of the Nativity of S. John Baptist, 6th year, concerning subsidies 
 of knights' fees granted in the last Parliament holden at Windsor. 
 The jury say that Thomas Foxle holds parcel of the Manor of 
 Fynchamstede which Alina de la Huse formerly held there, but by 
 what services they know not. John Colle holds the other parcel of the 
 said manor which John (i") de la Huse and John de Olyver formerly 
 held there, by what services they know not. 
 
 14 
 B. M. Add. Charter 38557 
 
 1447 
 
 [Endorsed] A Lease from Brockas and others to Warblton and 
 Margerie his wife of the Mannor of Finch. 1 1 Novembris 26 H. 6. 
 
 Hec indentura testaf nos Wiflm Brokas seniorem Rofetum Dyneley 
 Johem Gaynesford Thomam Hannys T; Johem Corker clicum 
 dimisisse 1 tradidisse WiHmo Warbelton T; Dne Margie vxori sue 
 illud ManSiu de Fynchamstede in Com Berks vna cum Advocan 
 ecctie ibm necnon T; omn redditib} T; svicijs terr T; tenementf pratis 
 pascuis pasturis 1 boscis ac oinib} alijs suis ptinencijs que nup huim® 
 ex dono T; fcoffamento pdicti Witti Warbeltoii fcend 1 tenend dictum 
 MaSliu cum oimodis ptinenc suis pdictf pfatis Wiito Warbelton 1 
 Mar|ie a die confecconis psenciu deinceps ad tim vite ipoa Witti 
 Warbelton 1; Marg'ie ac eos diucius viventf Reddend nobis inde 
 annuatim ad ffestum Nativitatf Sci Johis Baptiste vnam Rosam 
 rubeam Et ijdm Wii'ms Warbeltofl 1 Marg'ia seu eo^ all diucius 
 
 ' Doubtful whether pen struck through this christian name or not. 
 
Appendix 233 
 
 vivens dictum Maraiu ac domos inibi situat repabunt manutenebunt app. 
 
 T; sustentabunt omia quoq} onJa inde exeuncia sumptibj suis |;pr 1 • 
 
 expeng durante fmio pdco subibunt T; supportabunt. In cuius rei 
 testimoniu ptes pdicte hijs indentur alinatim Sigilla sua apposuerunt 
 vndecimo die mensis Novembr Anno regni Regis Henrici Sexti 
 A conquestu Anglie vicesimo sexto. 
 
 Two seals : — one (small) a wolf's head within a circle ; other 
 (broken), with 'Warbelton' on verge, shows shield i:o«f//:/ of arms, 
 Lozengy ; on helmet for crest, a wolf's head. 
 
 15 
 B. M. Add. Charter 38558, 
 
 FYNCHAMSTEDE 
 
 [Endorsed] A ire of aturney by Brokas and others to deliver seisin in 1447 
 y moity off mannd' of Finchastede dated 1 1 Novembr 26 H. 6. 
 
 Novint vnivsi p psentes nos WiHm Brokas sen Rofetum Dyneley 
 sen Johem Gaynesford armigos Thomam Hannys 1 Magfm Johem 
 Corker Cticum assignasse T; loco nro constituisse dilcm nobis in xpo 
 Johem Lytelfeld legitimu attornatum nrm ad delifcand vice 1 nomine 
 nro Wiftmo Warbelton de Com Suth? armifo 1 dne Marfie vxi eius 
 plenam T; pacificam seisinam de '\ in Medietate MaSij de Fyncham- 
 stede cum oinib} reddit T; svic 'tf T; ten p'tf pascuis pastur T; bosc ac 
 oinib3 alijs suis ptin T; cum advocacoe ecciie de Fynchamstede ^dic? 
 alt'nis vicib3 psentand cum accident in Coiii Berkg. hend T; tenend 
 ^fatis Wittmo Warbelton T; Marfie T: heredib} de corporib} eoa 
 legitime pcreatis. Remanere inde Rico de la Hay avunclo dci Wilti 
 Warbelton T; Margarete vxi eius ad lim vite ipo^ Ri- i 1 Margarete 
 T; alVius eoa diucius viventis Remanere inde Matheo de la Hay filio 
 pdcoa Rici T; Margarete T. heredib3 suis imppm scdm formam T. 
 effcm cuiusdam carte fire tri, tite indentate inde confecte. Ratum T; 
 gratum feitur quicquid pdcus attornatus nr noie nro fecit in ^missis. 
 In cuius rei testimonium psentib} Sigilla fira apposuim^. Dat 
 vndecimo die Mensis Novembris Anno regni Regis Henrici sexti 
 post conqm vicesimo sexto [1447]. 
 
 t Five tags, of which two (3 and 5) have no seals, i. Shield couchd 
 of arms of Brokas, quarterly (much injured) ; 2nd quarter, two lions 
 passant gardant ; in the 4th quarter, a lion rampant ; on helmet for 
 crest, a Moor's head couped ; 2. Shield couM of arms of Deynelay 
 
2 34 Chronicles of Finchampstead 
 
 ^^^- (Dyneley), viz. : a fess, and in chief a mullet of 6 points between 
 2 roundles ; on helmet for crest, a hare's scalp with two ears erect ; 
 4. Seal-ring (presumably Hannys), showing a merchant's mark. 
 
 Translation 
 
 Know all by these presents that we, William Brokas the 
 elder, Robert Dyneley the elder, John Gaynesforde, esquires, Thomas 
 Hannys, and Master John Corker, clerk,, have assigned and in our 
 stead have constituted our beloved in Christ John Lytelfelde our 
 lawful attorney to deliver in our turn and name to William Warbel- 
 ton of the county of Southampton, esquire, and Dame Margery his 
 wife, full and peaceful seisin of and in the moiety of the Manor of 
 Fynchamstede, with all rents and services, lands and tenements, . 
 meadows, feedings, pastures and woods, and all other its appurtenances, 
 and with the advowson of the church of Fynchamstede aforesaid to 
 present by alternate turns when it shall fall in the county of Berks, 
 to have and to hold to the aforesaid William Warbelton and 
 Margery and the heirs of their bodies lawfully begotten. Remainder 
 thereof to Richard de la Hay, uncle of the said William Warbelton, 
 and Margaret his wife, for term of the life of the said Richard and 
 Margaret and the survivor of them. Remainder thereof to Matthew de 
 la Hay, son of the aforesaid Richard and Margaret and his heirs for 
 ever according to the form and effect of a certain charter of ours 
 tripartite indented thereof made. We will hold firm and stable 
 whatever our attorney aforesaid shall in our name do in the premises. 
 In witness whereof to these presents we have set our seals. Given 
 the eleventh day of the month of November in the twenty-sixth year 
 of the reign of King Henry the Sixth after the Conquest. 
 
 16 
 B. M. Add. Charter 38561. 
 
 1451-52 [Endorsed] Carta Wiitmi Warbelton T: Margate vxoris sue sup 
 ^itii^^ S^jjwwg Mamij de Fynch°"insted fad Hugoni Pakenh"m'\ costaric 
 
 cosorii sue rendring vtgini marcas duranl vitis WiUi '\ Margne T; 
 
 fost decessu xiif iiij''. 
 
 Sciant presentes 1 futuri qd nos Wittms Warbeltoii ArmiS 1 Margia 
 vx mea dedimus concessim^ 1 hac psenti nra indentata cofirmavim^ 
 Hugoni Pakenh^m 1 Constancie filie Rici de la Hay Maneriu nim 
 
Appendix 235 
 
 de Fynchamstede in Com BerR vna cu advocacoe ecctie eiusdm app. 
 
 MaSij T; cu omib} reddiS T; ?vicijs terf '\ tenementis pratis pascuis 
 
 pasturis 1 boscis ac omib3 alijs suis ptinencijs hend T; tenend pdic? 
 
 Maneriu vna cu advocacoe ecctie eiusdm cu reddi? T; svicijs terr 1 
 
 tenementis pratis pascuis pastur T; boscis ae omib3 alijs ptin suis 
 
 pdicE pfatis Hugoni 1 Constancie ac heredib} de corpib} ipos legitle 
 
 pcreatf de Capital dnis feod illius p svicia inde debita T; de iure con- 
 
 sueta Et si contingat decs Hugonem '\ Constanciam absq3 hered de 
 
 corpib} ipoa pcreatf decedere extunc diet Maneriu cu advocacoe ecclie 
 
 eiusdm T; omib} reddiH T; svicijs terr T; tenement^ pratf pascuis pastur 
 
 \ boscis ac oinib) alijs ptin suis pdic? remaneat supradict Rico de la 
 
 Hay T; Margarete vxi eius hendl tenend eisdm Rico 1 Margarete ad 
 
 ?im vite eo& T; altius eoa supviventis de Capital dnis in forma pdict 
 
 Reddend inde annuatim vobis pfa! WiBmo T; Margie ad T;im vite fire 
 
 T; altius nrm diucius viventf viginti marcas vsuat monete Anglie 
 
 ad festa Anunciacois fete Marie virginis T; sci Michis Archi equis por- 
 
 conib3 Ac post decessum nf m 1^ alfius nFm supviventf annuatim inde 
 
 reddend Anne que fuit vx Mathei de la Hay durante vita dco^ Rici 
 
 T; Margarete tresdecim solidos T; quatuor denarios vsualis monete 
 
 Anglie ad duos ?mios pdic? equalit^ Et si dictus annuus redditus 
 
 viginti marca^ aretro fuit non solu? p quadraginta dies post arfum 
 
 soluc6is?nm supradic! tunc bene licebit nobis pfatis Wittmo T; Margie 
 
 in dictu Maneriu reintrare illud q3 absq, impeticoe vasti habere possi- 
 
 dere T; gaudere ad?Tm vite fire T; al?ius nrm diucius viventis Ita semp 
 
 c,d post decessum nrm ^dic? Maneriu cu suis ptinencijs remaneat 
 
 supradictf Hugoni T; Constancie ac heredib} de corpib) ipop legitie 
 
 pcreatis Reversione inde tame si ifos Hugone T; Constanciam 
 
 decedere contigit abst], exitu \ni eos pcrea? post mortem predictor 
 
 Rici de la Hay T; Margarete vxis sue michi pfa? Wittmo Warbeltofi \ 
 
 heredib5 meis semper salva T; reservata Noveritf insup nos prefat 
 
 Wittm Warbeltofi T; Mar^iam assignasse T; loco firo posuisse dilcos 
 
 nob in xpo Johem Lytilfeld Joftem Marchatt Jobem Hawkyfi Nichm 
 
 Holt Johem Peke Rofetum Rigeman T; Roberta Marchatt coniuctim T; 
 
 divisim firos veros attornatos ad deliberand vice T; noTe firo jpfatis 
 
 Hugoni T; Constancie ac eos alfi noie vtriusq5 plenam '\ pacificam 
 
 seisinam de T; in predicto MaSio cu advocacoe ecciie eiusdm 1 cu 
 
 oinib} reddi? T; Svicijs terr T; tenementis pratis pascuis pastur T; boscis ac 
 
 oiiiib} alijs suis ptiil predic? iux* vim forma 1 effcm psentis Carte ilre 
 
 Et ego vero predicf Wittms Warbelton ac heredes mei die! Maneriu 
 
 cu advocacoe ecclie eiusdm "X cii omib} reddit T; svic terf 1 tenementis 
 
236 Chronicles of Finchampstead 
 
 App. pratis pascuis pastur T; boscis ac omibj alijs suis ptin pdic? pfatis 
 
 Hugoni T; Constancie ac hered de corpib3 ipo^ legitie pcreatf cont* 
 
 oms gentes warantizabim^ 1 imppm defendem^ In cui'' rei testiom 
 huic present! Carte fire biptite Sigilla nra apposuim^ Hijs testib} 
 Wittmo Brokas Juniore Rico Merston Wittmo Besiles Johe Bargh 
 Roberto Fowler Simone Almayfi Johne Hylls Rofeto Vaus Thoma at 
 Rithe T; alijs. Da? ap* Fynchamstede predicB quitodecimo die 
 Mensis Januar Anno Regni Regis Henrici Sexti a conquestu Anglie 
 tricesimo [1451-2]. 
 
 Two sea's ; one broken, the other shows wolf's head. 
 
 Translation 
 
 Charter of William Warbelton and Margery his wife upon the grant 
 of the Manor of Fynchamstede made to Hugh Pakenham and Con- 
 stance his wife, rendering twenty marks yearly during the lives of 
 William and Margery, and after their decease 1 3.y. a^. 
 
 Know present and to come that we, William Warbelton, esquire, 
 and Margery my wife, have given, granted, and by this our present 
 [charter] indented confirmed to Hugh Pakenham and Constance, 
 daughter of Richard de la Hay, our Manor of F"ynchamstede in the 
 county of Berks, together with the advowson of the church of the 
 said manor and with all rents and services, lands and tenements, 
 meadows, feedings, pastures and woods, and all other their appur- 
 tenances, to have and to hold the aforesaid manor, together with 
 the advowson of the church of the same, with rents and services etc. 
 (as before), to the aforesaid Hugh and Constance and the heirs of their 
 bodies lawfully begotten of the chief lords of that fee by the services 
 therefor due and of right accustomed. And if it happen that the said 
 Hugh and Constance decease without heirs of their bodies begotten, 
 then the said manor, with advowson of the church of the same and 
 all rents and services etc. aforesaid, shall remain to the abovesaid 
 Richard de la Hay and to Margaret his wife, to have and to hold 
 to the said Richard and Margaret for term of the life of them and the 
 survivor of them in form aforesaid of the chief lords, yielding there- 
 for yearly to us, the aforesaid William and Margery, for term of our 
 lives and of the survivor of us, twenty marks usual money of England 
 at the feasts of the Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary and 
 Saint Michael the Archangel by equal portions. And after the decease 
 
Appendix 237 
 
 of us and the one of us surviving, yielding therefor yearly to Anne who app. 
 
 was the wife of Matthew de la Hay, during the life of the said Richard 
 
 and Margaret, thirteen shillings and four pence usual money of Eng- 
 land at the two terms aforesaid equally. And if the said yearly rent 
 of twenty marks be behind unpaid for forty days after either term of 
 payment aforesaid, then it shall be well and lawful for us the aforesaid 
 William and Margery to re-enter into the said manor, and it without 
 impeachment of waste to have, possess and enjoy for term of the life 
 of us, and the one of us longer living : So always that after our decease, 
 the aforesaid manor with its appurtenances may remain to the above- 
 said Hugh and Constance, and to the heirs of their bodies lawfully 
 begotten ; Reversion thereof, nevertheless, if it chance that the said 
 Hugh and Constance die without issue between them begotten, after 
 the death of the said Richard de la Hay and Margaret his wife, to 
 me the aforesaid William Warbelton and to my heirs being always 
 saved and reserved. KNOW ye moreover, that we the aforesaid 
 William Warbelton and Margery have assigned and put in our stead 
 our beloved in Christ, John Lytilfelde, John Marchall, John Hawkyne, 
 Nicholas Holt, John Peke, Robert Rigeman, and Robert Marchall, 
 jointly and severally, our true attorneys to deliver in our stead and 
 name to the aforesaid Hugh and Constance, and to one of them in 
 the name of either, full and peaceful seisin of and in the aforesaid 
 manor, with the advowson of the church of the same, and with all 
 rents and services, lands and tenements, meadows, feedings, pastures 
 and woods, and all other their appurtenances aforesaid, according to 
 the force, form, and effect of this our present charter. And I truly 
 the aforesaid William Warbelton and my heirs the said manor with 
 advowson of the church of the same, and with all rents and services 
 etc. (as last recited), to the aforesaid Hugh and Constance, and to the 
 heirs of their bodies lawfully begotten, against all people will warrant 
 and defend for ever. In witness whereof to this our present charter 
 bipartite we have set our seals. These witnesses : William Brokas 
 the younger, Richard Merstone, William Besiles, John Barghe, 
 Robert Fowlere, Simon Almayne, John Hylls, Robert Vaus, Thomas 
 at Rithe, and others. Given at Fynchamstede aforesaid the fifteenth 
 day of the month of January in the thirtieth year of the reign of 
 King Henry the Sixth from the Conquest of England. 
 
238 Chronicles of Finchanipstead 
 
 APP. 
 17 
 
 B. M. Add. Charter 38562. 
 
 General Release of Richard de la Hay and William de la Hay made 
 with clause of warranty to Hugh Pakenham and Constance his 
 wife of the Manor of Finchampstead. 
 
 Omibs ad quos presens scriptu pveSit Ricus de la Hay nup de 
 Westhay in Com Hertford Armi§ T; Willms de la Hay filius T; heres 
 dicti Rici Sal?m in Dno Novitis nos ^fatos Ricm 1 Wiflm remisisse 
 relaxasse 1; omio p nobis 1 heredib3 firis imppm quiet clamasse 
 Hugoni Pakenham T; Constancie vxori sue Ac heredib3 eos ligitie pro- 
 creatis totu ius nfm 'X clameu in?esse quoq, T; demandam que vnq^m 
 habuimus habemus vel in futur quovismodo habere po?imus de T; in , 
 illo MaSio de Fynch^mstede in Com Berfe 1 Advocacoe ecctie eiusdm 
 necnon de \ in omib} illis reddit T; svicijs terr T; tenementis pratis 
 pascuis pasturis 1 boscis cum suis ptinencijs dicto MaSio quovismodo 
 spectant que quond'^m fuerunt Jobis Foxley Militis 1 postea Wifti 
 Warbleton Armi^i Ita qd nee nos predicti Ricus T; WiSms de la Hay 
 nee heredes nri ne aliquis alius p nos seu noie nro in supradic? MaiSio 
 Advocacone reddi? T; 'Svicijs terris T; tenementis pratis pascuis pasturis 
 T: boscis cil suis jtinencijs nee in aliqua inde pcella.de ce o exigere 
 clamare seu vendfcare potirnus nee debemus in futuru 33 ab omi 
 Accone iuris '\ clamei tituli quoq, in^esse T: demandi inde sim^ exclusi 
 imppm p I sentes Et nos predicti Ricus 1 Wittms de la Hay '\ heredes 
 nri tot pdicl Mariiu T; advocacoem vna cum reddit "Svicijs terris T; 
 tenementis pratis pascuis pasturis T; boscis cum suis ptinencijs prefatis 
 Hugoni 1: Constancie ac heredib} eoa ligitie procreatis contra oms 
 gentes warantizabim^ \ defendem^ imppm Proviso semper qd hmoi 
 warantia relaxaco 1 remissio in aliquod piudiciu nros Rici T; WiWi de 
 la Hay aut heredum firo^ non se extendant nisi ad maiorem securitate 
 vtilitatem 1 comodum dicto^ Hugonis T; Constancie presens Scriptu 
 nuUius sit auctoritatis vel vigoris. In cuius rei testimoniu nos pdicti 
 Ricus 1 Wittms de la Hay Sigilla fira ^sentib3 apposuimus. Dat 
 octavo die Mensis Novembris Anno Regni Regis Henrici Sexti a con- 
 8 Nov. questu Anglie tricesimo primo. 
 
 Two seals : i, a bird regardant with lettering which is illegible; 
 2, a shield of arms much worn, showing a fess and an orle of (eight) 
 martlets ; and on the verge — ' SiGiLLUM RiCARDi Hay.' 
 
Appe7tdix 
 
 [Endorsed] Relaxac geffat Ric de la hay T. Wifti de la hay fac? APP. 
 cu clauS war? hugoni pakenh^m 1 Constanc vxi sue de Mariio 
 de ffynch^msted. 
 
 Translaiz'on. 
 
 To all to whom the present writing shall come, Richard de la 
 Hay, late of Westhay in the county of Hertford, and William de la 
 Hay, son and heir of the said Richard, greeting in the Lord. Know 
 ye that we the aforesaid Richard and William have remised, released, 
 and for us and our heirs have altogether quitclaimed to Hugh 
 Pakenham and Constance his wife and their heirs lawfully begotten 
 all our right and claim, interest also and demand which we have had, 
 have, or in future in any wise might have, of and in that Manor of 
 ' Fynchampstede in the County of Berks, and advowson of the church 
 of the same ; and also of and in all those rents and services, lands 
 and tenements, meadows, feedings, pastures and woods, with their 
 appurtenances to the said manor in any wise belonging, which were 
 formerly of John Foxley, knight, and afterwards of William Warbleton, 
 esquire ; so that neither we the aforesaid Richard and William de la 
 Hay, nor our heirs, nor any other by us or in our name, in the above- 
 said manor, advowson, rents and services, lands and tenements, 
 meadows, feedings, pastures and woods, with their appurtenances, or 
 in any parcel thereof, shall be able henceforth to demand, claim or 
 challenge, or ought in future, but shall be by these presents excluded 
 for ever from all action of right and claim, interest also and demand 
 therein. And we the aforesaid Richard and William de la Hay and 
 our heirs all the aforesaid manor and advowson, together with the 
 rents, services, lands and tenements, meadows, feedings, pastures and 
 woods, with their appurtenances, to the aforesaid Hugh and Constance 
 and their heirs lawfully begotten will warrant and defend against all 
 people for ever. Provided always that such warranty, release, and 
 remise shall not extend to any prejudice of us Richard and William 
 de la Hay or of our heirs, but to the security, utility, and advantage 
 of the said Hugh and Constance ; otherwise the present writing shall 
 be of no authority or force. In witness whereof we the aforesaid 
 Richard and William de la Hay have set our seals to these presents. 
 Given the eighth day of the month of November in the thirty- 
 first year of the reign of Henry the Sixth from the Conquest of 
 England. 
 
240 Chronicles of Finchampstead 
 
 APP. 
 
 18 
 
 B. M. Add. Charter 38563. 
 
 1454- s Nov'int vni^si p psentes me Wiltm Warbleton Armigum 1, dnam 
 
 MarSiam vxem meam Ricepisse 1 huisse die confeccois ^senciu 
 de Hugone Pakanh^m 1 Constancia vxe eius decern Marc legal mone! 
 Angt note p ?mIo Pasche vltTo f/fito debit de quad^m annuitat viginf 
 Marca^ de MaSio de Fynchamstede nob Recervat ad Iminu vite 
 fire 1 vTq, nrm diuscius vivenH inde annuati capiend consessa de quib} 
 quid decern Marc fateor nos inde fore soluf dcmq, Hugone 1 
 Constanciam inde acquietant p psent sigillis nris signa!. 
 
 Remains of two seals (broken), mere lumps of wax. 
 
 [Endorsed] An aq'" \i.e. acquittance] from Warbleton and his wife 
 to Pakenam and his wife for the receite of 6" 1 3' 4'' being the 
 halfe of 20*' markes by the yeere w"*" is still paid, dated Anno 32*° 
 Henrici vj" [1455]. 
 
 No. 38565 is also an acquittance by Wm. Warbelton and Margery 
 his wife for receipt of ten marks in payment of annuity of 20 marks 
 up to the morrow of Easter last before the date, which is the first of 
 April 37 Hen. 6 (14S9) 
 
 Two seals : one perfect, shows animal's head and apparently the 
 body terminating in foliage, and on (your) left a short word, 
 difficult — like ' Hynic ' or ' Tyme ' ; the other seal broken. 
 
 19 
 B. M. Add. Charter 38564. 
 
 WYNNEBUSHE. 
 
 Deed of Stephen Colle, lord of Westcourte in Fynchehampstede, 
 granting to Robert Porton a messuage with half a virgate of land, 
 called Wynnebusshe, to have and to hold to him, his heirs and 
 assigns for ever, yielding yearly to Stephen and his heirs or assigns 
 ten shillings at Ladyday and Michaelmas by even portions, 
 saving heriot relief and suit of court twice a year and also pannage of 
 
Appendix 241 
 
 hogs, except that the said Robert and his heirs shall have two hogs APP. 
 
 quit of pannage going in all commons within the said manor. 
 
 Witnesses :— THOMAS Banastre. 
 Henry Russell. 
 Thomas Slythehurste. 
 John Dene. 
 Thomas Barnarde. 
 And many others. 
 Dated at Fynchehampstede on Tuesday before the feast of 
 St. Thomas the Apostle, 34 Hen. 6 [1456]. 
 
 Seal, (apparently) the letter T. 
 
 No. 38567. Release by Robert Porton for himself and his heirs to [1467] 
 Roger Thurbarne of all right and claim to a messuage, with half 
 virgate of land, called Wynnebusshe, which he (Robert) had by the 
 grant of Stephen CoUe lord of Westcourte. Dated first Sep- 
 tember 6 Edw. 4 [1467]. 
 
 No. 38570. John Russell of Oldestoke, co. Southton, lands &c. in F. [1497] 
 Dated 10 July, 12 H. 7 [1497]. 
 
 No. 38568. Release of claim in lands and tenements called Wyn- 1487 
 busshe. 10 Feb. 2 H. 7, made to Henry Tylborough [1487]. 
 
 No. 38571. Settlement on Henry Tilborough and Agnes wife with [1514] 
 remainders over. Dated at Fynchamstede 19 Dec. 5 Hen. 8. 
 Messuage &c. called Wynbusshe [1514]. 
 
 20 
 FINCHAMSTEAD 
 Charter Roll, 27 to 39 H, 6 
 
 •a I^ Archiepis Epis T;c sal?m. Sciatis qd de gra fira spali con- i4S8 
 cessim^ T; licenciam dedim^ ac p ^sentes concedim^ T; licenciam dam^ Pakenh-m 
 p nob T; her firis quantum in nofe est dilco T; fideli nro Hugoni 
 Pakenham 1 Constancie vxi sue qd ipi T. heredes sui imppm heant apud 
 MaSlium sive dnium suu de Fynchampstede in Coin BerK. vnam feriam 
 p tres dies duratur tenend ibidem singulis annis dieb3 lune Martis 
 \ M*lcurij in- septimana Pentecostes cum oiiiib3 T; singulis Hfetatib3 
 1 consuetudinib} ad huiusmodi feriam ptinen nisi, feria ilia sit ad 
 nocumentu vicinas feriaj^ absq, aliquo fine vel feodo nob vel heredib3 
 
242 Chronicles of Finchampstead 
 
 APP nris inde reddendo. Quare volum^ T; firmi? jpcipim^ p nob T; heredibj 
 
 nris quantum in nob est qd ^dei Hugo T. Constancia T; heredes sui 
 
 imppm beant apud Man4um sive dnium suu de Fynchamstede in Com 
 pdco vnam feriam p tres dies duratur tenend ibidem singulis annis 
 dieb} lune Martis T; M*lcurij in septimana Pentecostes cu omib3 T; 
 singulis libtatibs T; consuetudinib) ad huiusmodi feriam ptineil nisi 
 feria ilia sit ad nocumentu vicina^ feria^ sicut pdcm est. Hiis 
 Decern- testib3 T;c Da? p manu nram apud Westm quinto die Decembr [anno 
 ber 1458 regni nri tricesimo septimo '] p ipm Regem T; de data pdca auctoritate 
 parliament!. 
 
 21 
 B. M. Add. Charter 38566. 
 
 1460-1 Deed by which Richard Russell of Fynchampstede, son and heir 
 
 of Henry Russell, late of Fynchampstede, deceased, grants to John 
 Hethe and Robert Hethe of Odyham the tenement inhabited by 
 himself,- and in which Henry Russell his father also dwelt, to have 
 and to hold to them, their heirs and assigns for ever, of the chief lords 
 of that fee &c. 
 
 Witnesses :— Robert Graunt. 
 
 William Cressewelle. 
 Thomas Remys. 
 William Pothille. 
 John Cressewell. 
 And others. 
 Dated at Fynchampstede, 20 June, i Edw. 4. 
 
 Seal perfect. Letter I between two branches and sort of coronet 
 over. 
 
 22 
 
 Close Roll. II Edw. 4 (330) m. 8 dorse. 
 
 A.D. 1471 John Corker clerk demised and confirmed to Margery late wife of 
 
 Willin Warbleton a moiety of manor of Fynchamstede together with 
 the advowson of the same presenting alternately with their appurts 
 And he also delivered and demised to her manor of Appulderfelde 
 tog. w* advowson of free chapel belonging to same manor in co. Kent 
 which all and singular (he says) 1 lately had of the gift and feoffm' 
 of the s* Wm Warbleton tog. with John Gaynesford the elder & 
 Thomas Hannys esquires now deceased To have & to hold the 
 
 ' By preceding entry on same membrane (9). 
 
Appendix 243 
 
 moiety of s* manor of Fynchamstede and manor of Appulderfelde app. 
 tog. w* advowsons thereto belonging to the s* Margery her h. & ass. — - — 
 for ever of the chief lords of those fees by the rents and services named in 
 therefor due & accustomed Said John appointed Roger Hannys & *e ^^^^ 
 Rich* Brehill attorneys to deliver seisin of the moiety of the manor veyance 
 of F. and the manor of Appulderfelde tog. w* advowsons thereto 1 1 Nov. 
 belong^ to the said Margaret according to the force form & effect ^^2\^ 
 of this charter hold ng valid whatever said attorneys or one of them Museum 
 sh* do Witnesses: Richard Harecourt knt. Humfrey CO0- ^l^^"^' 
 RYNGTON John Hyde John Hulcote, e.squires Rich° Brehill and 38558 
 and others. Dated i6 Nov. ii Edw. 4 (1471). 
 
 23 
 NOTES UPON CHANCERY INQ. P.M. 2 HENRY 7 
 
 Margaret late wife of John Pakenham Inq. at Romesey 5 Nov. 2 i486 
 Hen. 7 (i486) before James Louther escheator. South- 
 
 Marg* late wife of John Pakenham was seised in fee of a moiety of No. 42 
 the @ of Bramshule and a moiety of the manors of Gatcombe &c. in 
 the Isle of Wight. 
 
 She died S October first year of the king (1485) and Edmund 
 Pakenham is her son and heir, aged six years and more. Writ dated Delivered 
 22 Oct. 2nd year 
 
 Tho. Arundell knt. lord Mawtravers has occupied the lands &c, 
 from the time of the death of s* Marg*. title not known 
 
 28 Nov. 
 2nd year 
 
 John Pakenham 
 
 Inq. at Newbury 14 January 2 Hen. 7 (1486-7) by king's writ to Berks 
 inquire what lands John P. & Marg* his late wife. 
 
 John Pakenham long before his death was ssd of a moiety of the 
 (g of Fynchampstede which he held if y* K. in chief by service of half no. 50 
 a knight's fee & suit, at the King's Hundred Court &c. Moiety is 
 worth p ann. (clear) £10. 6. 8. 
 
 The said John Pakenham & Margaret died on the first of 
 October first year of the king (1485) Edmund P. son & heir of 
 John & Marg* aged five years and more 
 
 William Beselles of Beselles Lee esq. & Wm. Alayne of Estham- 
 sted in said co. yeoman from the time of death of J. & M. have occu- 
 pied & have received the issues & profits of the moiety &c. 
 
 This inq. was taken upon the king's commission directed to John 
 
 R 2 
 
244 
 
 APP. 
 
 No. 74 
 
 Chronicles of Finchampstead 
 
 Isbury and others, and dated at Westm'' first of December 2nd year 
 (i486). 
 
 Inq. (co Southampton) ... 2 H. 7 before James Louther John 
 died first of Oct. first year (1485) Edmund son & heir aged six years. 
 
 Writ dated 5 Nov. ist y' Delivered 27 Nov. 
 
 30 Sept. 
 1493 
 
 24 
 
 EXCHEQUER L. T. R. MEMORANDA MICH. 11 HEN. 7 
 
 [1496] 
 
 Communia Ro. 24 
 
 Berkshire 
 Of removing the king's 
 hands from the Manor of 
 Fynchampstede, co Berks, 
 and delivering it to Hugh 
 Hoope clerk adminis- 
 trator of the goods & 
 chattels of Thomas de la 
 Mare late sheriff of the 
 said county 
 
 \ 
 
 : 
 
 It is found by an Inquisition taken at 
 Maydenhede otherwise Maydenhithe in 
 CO. Berks before Simon Seymour then 
 escheator by virtue of his office 27 May 
 8th year of the reign (1493) by the oath 
 of honest & lawful men of his bailiwick 
 that John Pakenham long before his 
 death was seised in fee of a moiety of 
 the Manor or Lordship of Fynchamp- 
 stede in the said county and died seised 
 of such estate And that he held that moiety of the king by the service 
 of half a knight's fee and suit at the king's Hundred-court of the 
 seven hundreds of Cokeham and Bray and paying ten shillings yearly 
 at the rate of 20s. for the entire manor And that the moiety was worth 
 (clear) £10 by the year And also that John Pakenham died on the 
 first of October in the first year of the king's reign And that Edmund 
 Pakenham was his son and heir then aged twelve years and more And 
 that Thomas de la Mare knight and his executors occupied the said 
 moiety from Michaelmas in the 3rd year (29 Sept. 1487) up to the 
 date of the Inquisition and received the issues and profits for the same 
 time by what title the jurors knew not : as in the Inquisition which is 
 in the bag of particulars of the escheator's Account more fully is con- 
 tained. Thereupon the sheriff was commanded to distrain all the 
 executors and administrators of Thomas de la Mare to render on the 
 morrow of S. Michael in the 9th year an Account of the issues and 
 profits of the said moiety of the Manor of Fynchampstede, viz. from 
 Michaelmas in the 3rd year to 27 March in the 8th year (1493), the 
 time mentioned in the Inquisition At which day the sheriff returned 
 
Appendix 245 
 
 that he had distrained Elizabeth late wife and executrix of the said app. 
 
 Thomas to be here on the morrow of S. Hilary (14 January 149I) At 
 
 which day the sheriff returned the writ and sent that Elizabeth was 
 dead. Then the sheriff was commanded to distrain all the executors 
 of the testaments of Thomas & Elizabeth and the administrators of 
 their goods & chattels to be here at many days past and at length on 
 the morrow of All Souls this term (3 Nov. 1496) to render an Account 
 of the issues of the said moiety for the time aforesaid At which day 
 the sheriff viz. George Gaynesforde returned the writ directed to him 
 and sent that Hugh Hoope clerk administrator of the goods & 
 chattels which were of the said Thomas & Elizabeth was distrained 
 &c. 
 
 And at the said morrow of Souls this term [i.e. 3 Nov. 1496) comes 
 Hugh Hoop by Robert Castell his attorney and complains that he is Or Hooper 
 unjustly distrained Because by another Inquisition taken at Newbury 
 CO, Berks 14 January 2nd year of the king (i48f) before Robert 
 Cheyne and Hugh Fourneys by virtue of a Commission to inquire at 
 what times John Pakenham and Margaret his wife died and what 
 lands & tenements they held of the king in chief and of other 
 articles it was found by oath of twelve jurors that John Pakenham died 
 seised of the moiety of the manor of Fynchampstede which he held of 
 the king in chief by the service of half a knight's fee and suit at the 
 king's Hundred-court of the seven hundreds of Cokeham and Bray 
 every three weeks and paying yearly \os. at the rate of 20s. to be 
 levied and collected among the tenants for the entire manor And that 
 the moiety was then worth (clear) by the year £\o6s. %d. And also 
 that John and Margaret died on the first day of October in the first 
 year of the king And that Edmund Pakenham was son and heir of 
 John & Margaret and then aged five years and more And for those 
 causes the said Robert and Hugh Furneys seized the said moiety into 
 the king's hand as in this Inquisition more fully is contained. 
 
 And further Hugh Hoopere administrator of the goods & 
 chattels of Thome and Elizabeth says that afterwards, namely 18 June 
 in the said 3rd year of the now king Thomas de la Mare knight came 
 before the king in chancery by Christopher Hanyngton his then 
 attorney and complained saying that John Pakenham was seised at 
 the time of his death and long before of the moiety aforesaid which he 
 held of the same Thomas de la Mare by the service of the fourth part 
 of a knight's fee, that is to say, by homage and fealty and paying lOJ. 
 to the king's scutage. of 40 shillings ; and more, more ; and less, less. 
 
246 Chronicles of Finchatnpstead 
 
 APP. Of which services he (Thomas) said that he was seised by the hands 
 
 of John Pakenham, as his true tenant, viz. of homage and fealty in fee 
 
 and right and of the scutage in fee in the time of lord Edward late 
 king of England the Fourth. And that Thomas de la Mare on the 
 day of John Pakenham's death and long before and always after held 
 the said moiety of the king by the service of the 20th part of a 
 knight's fee And that John Pakenham died on the first of October in 
 the first year of the king seised of such estate in homage of the said 
 Thomas, Edmund Pakenham his son and heir being under the age of 
 2 1 years, that is to say, five years old Whereby Thomas de la Mare 
 after the death of John and long before the taking of the Inquisition 
 aforesaid entered into the moiety of the manor the custody of Edmund 
 by reason of minority appertaining to him. 
 
 Thereupon James Huberd who then sued for the king said that 
 John Pakenham held the moiety of the king in the manner stated by 
 the Inquisition and prayed that the matter should be inquired by the 
 country And Thomas Delamare likewise. The sheriff of Berkshire 
 was commanded to cause to come in 1 5 days of S. Hilary (27 Jaiiy) 
 24 knights & others of the neighbourhood of the manor to recognize 
 &c. At the date fixed at Westminster came Thomas Delamare by 
 John Bettys his attorney. The sheriff returned the names of the 24 
 jurors but none came. He was then commanded to distrain them to 
 be there in 15 days from Easterday The same day was given 
 to James Huberde and Thomas Delamare. 
 
 In 3 weeks from Michmas-day the jury came and after trial came 
 to the bar ready to give their verdict James Huberd for the king 
 objected and prayed that the Justices should not proceed to take the 
 verdict After consideration by the justices the verdict was taken that 
 John Pakenham died seised in fee of the moiety of the manor of 
 Fynchamstede which he held immediately of Thomas Delamare by 
 knight's service and not of the king And that the said Thomas held it 
 of the king as alleged in his plea. Whereupon Thomas Delamare 
 prayed judgment. James Huberd prayed judgment for the king and 
 that Thomas Delamare should take nothing by the verdict. A day 
 was given by the Court to give judgment in eight days of S. Hilary 
 ( ) at which day the parties came It was considered by the Court 
 that Thomas Delamare should be restored to possession of the moiety 
 together with the issues & profits received in the meantime 
 , Saving to the king his right if any as in the tenor and process inroUed 
 in Memoranda of this Exchequer among Recorda of Hilary term fifth 
 
Appendix 247 
 
 year of this king Roll [blank] of the other Remembrancer more fully is app. 
 
 contained Thereupon Thomas Delamare was possessed of the moiety 
 
 by reason of wardship of the said Edmund and then died After his i^go 
 death because he died intestate all his goods and chattels were com- 
 mitted for administration by the archbishop of Canterbury to the said 
 Hugh who was possessed of the said wardship until he was removed by xhe name 
 the escheator under colour of the Inquisition aforesaid Which things is written 
 all & singular the said Hugh is ready to verify and he prays ;„ one 
 judgment And James Huberd for the king does not deny that the place [no 
 moiety of the manor of Fynchamstede in the Inq. before Robt. Cheyne nounced™' 
 & Hugh Fourneys the king's Commissioners and the moiety in the Hoop]. 
 Inq. taken at Maydenhede before Simon Seymour late escheator are (jo„^,tfui 
 one & the same moiety. And because it seems to the Barons that whether 
 before giving judgment a search should be made for the king whether 5JJoJ|^"J,g 
 the moiety is held of the king in chief or not. Hereupon the rolls Hooper 
 being searched it is found at the Exchequer that the manor of Fynch- 
 ampstede is not held of the king in chief or by any, other service. 
 
 It is considered by the Barons that the king's hands shall be 
 removed from the moiety and that Hugh Hope administrator of the Hooper 
 goods & chattels of Thomas & Margaret shall be restored to his pos- 
 session thereof And that the late escheator the now escheator and 
 future escheators shall be discharged from the issues and profits of the 
 said moiety saving the right of the king &c. 
 
 25 
 Feet of Fines. Salop. 3-24 Hen. VII 
 
 CONCERNING THE MANOR OF LAKYN 
 
 Final Agreement made in the king's Court at Westminster on the a.d. 
 morrow of the Ascension 18 Hen. 7 (5 June 1503) Between Edward '^"■^ 
 Burton esq. Robert Cuny & Henry Eyton plaintiffs and Ralph 
 Banastre and Katherine his wife deforciants of the manor of Lakyne 
 with the appurtenances And six messuages 600 acres of land 100 
 acres of meadow 300 acres of pasture and 100 acres of wood with the 
 appurts in Lakyne Wemme Sydenhale and Henstoke Whereupon a 
 plea of covenant was summoned between them in the same Court, 
 that is to say, that the aforesaid Ralph and Kathierine have acknow- 
 ledged the afores* manor and tenements with the appurts to be the 
 right of him the said Edward as those which the said Edward Robert 
 
248 
 
 Chronicles of Finchampstead 
 
 APP. 
 
 No rela- 
 tionship 
 stated 
 
 A female 
 
 and Henry have of the gift of the afores^ Ralph & Katherme And 
 for this acknowledgment fine and agreement the said Edward Robert 
 & Henry have granted to the aforesaid Ralph & Katherine the said 
 manor and tenements with the appurts And those they have rendered 
 to them in the same court To have and to hold to the said Ralph & 
 Katherine of the chief lords of that fee by the services which appertain 
 to the said manor & tenements the whole life of the s* Ralph & 
 Katherine And after their decease the same shall wholly remain to 
 John Banastre and heirs of his body begotten To hold etc. for ever 
 And if the said John die without heirs of his body begotten then after 
 his decease the said manor &c. shall wholly remain to Robert Banastre 
 & heirs of his body begotten To hold etc. Then, in default, remain- 
 der successively to Ralph Banastre the younger brother of the said 
 Robert ; to Richard Banastre son of the said John Banastre ; to 
 Joyce (Jocose) Banastre ; to Richard Banastre son of the said Ralph 
 Banastre the elder and Katherine his wife ; to William Banastre son 
 of the said Ralph & Katherine ; to the heirs of the body of the said 
 Ralph Banastre the elder ; to John Banastre of London and the heirs 
 of his body ; and finally, to the right heirs of the said Ralph Banastre 
 the elder To hold of the chief lords of that fee by the services which 
 appertain to the said manor & tenements for ever. 
 
 8 Salop 
 
 ■2.6 
 
 Subsidy Roll— Berks ^-^ 14 & 15 Hen. VIII. 1522. P. R. O. 
 
 EXCHEQUER LAY SUBSIDIES 
 Fynchamsted within the seid Vn Hundreds (of 
 
 COKEHAM & BRAYE) 
 £ 
 John Lawuarde in goods 
 Thos. Tailour 
 
 Henry Hellows 10 
 
 Agnes Slethurst 
 Robt Ethger 
 John Clerk 
 Robt Clerk 
 Robt Kembee 
 Thos Foster 
 Willm Olyver 
 
 s. 
 
 d. 
 
 s. 
 
 d. 
 
 100 
 
 
 2 
 
 6 
 
 100 
 
 
 2 
 S 
 
 6 
 
 100 
 
 
 2 
 2 
 
 6 
 
 40 
 
 
 2 
 
 12 
 
 100 
 
 54 
 60 
 
 4 
 
 2 
 
 6 
 16 
 18 
 
Appendix 
 
 249 
 
 
 £ 
 
 s. d. 
 
 s. 
 
 ^- APP. 
 
 Oliver Redyng . . 
 
 
 40 
 20 
 
 
 \'> 
 
 John Jorner in waigs 
 
 
 
 
 4 
 
 George Tailor in goods . 
 
 
 
 40 
 
 
 12 
 
 Robt Oliver „ „ . 
 
 
 
 40 
 
 
 12 
 
 Richd Raynold „ „ 
 
 
 4 
 
 
 2 
 
 
 Richd Hall ., „ . 
 
 
 
 46 8 
 
 
 14 
 
 Agnes Tilborow,, „ 
 
 
 
 40 
 
 
 12 
 
 Richd Wright in waigs . 
 
 
 
 20 
 
 
 4 
 
 Willm Hilborow in goods 
 
 
 4 
 
 
 2 
 
 
 Robt Hall „ „ 
 
 
 . 4 
 
 
 2 
 
 
 Edward Grove „ „ 
 
 
 
 40 
 
 
 12 
 
 Richd Hall in Waigs . 
 
 
 
 20 
 
 
 4 
 
 W-" at Clow . 
 
 
 
 40 
 
 
 12 
 
 W^Hall. 
 
 
 
 40 
 
 
 12 
 
 Alexander servant to Thomas 
 
 Harrison 
 
 
 20 
 
 
 4 
 
 John Belynham goods , 
 
 
 
 40 
 
 
 12 
 
 Robt CoUys waigs , 
 
 
 
 20 
 
 
 4 
 
 James (...?) 
 
 
 
 40 
 
 
 12 
 
 John Norris in lands 
 
 
 
 S3 4 
 
 2 
 
 8 
 
 Willm Banaster in goods 
 
 
 6 
 
 
 3 
 
 
 Richd Tailor „ „ 
 
 
 
 100 
 
 2 
 
 6 
 
 John Holway „ „ 
 
 
 4 
 
 
 2 
 
 
 Alice Marwood „ „ . 
 
 
 
 40 
 
 
 12 
 
 Willm T,abbard 
 
 
 
 ? 
 
 
 22 
 
 Sur 
 
 na . 
 
 
 
 S3 
 
 2 
 
 27 
 
 Exchequer Lay Subsidies. Berks 
 
 73 
 
 First payment of Subsidy granted 15 //e«. 8 Hundreds of Wargrave 
 . and Sonnynge and the seven Hundreds of Cokeham and Bray, 
 
 Dated 29 March 15 H. 8(1524) Fynchamstede 
 
 Thomas Haryson for his goodes 
 Robert Hegger for. his goodes . 
 John Gierke for his goodes 
 Agnes Tylborowe for her goodes 
 Thomas Taylour for his goodes 
 
 Subsidye 
 xx' 
 
 ij' 
 
 xij* 
 xij"* 
 
 Pi.T>. 1524 
 
250 
 
 Chronicles of Finchampstead 
 
 APP. 
 
 For the 
 third pay- 
 ment no 
 names are 
 found in 
 Hundreds 
 of ' Coke- 
 ham and 
 Bray ' by 
 the Roll 
 
 Clement Cole for his goodes . 
 William Lawarde for his goodes 
 Richard Tailour for his goodes 
 Agnes Slythurst for her goodes 
 Edward Grove for his waiges . 
 William Olyvere for his goodes 
 John Tumour for his waiges . 
 Olyver Redynge for his goodes 
 William Ylbery for his goodes 
 Jamys Lawarde for his waiges 
 John Holwey for his goodes . . 
 Robert Kember for his goodes 
 Richard Wright for his waiges 
 Robert Colles for his wages , . 
 Thomas Foster for his goodes 
 Robert Hall for his goodes 
 Richard Hall for his goodes , . 
 John Broner for his waiges 
 Thomas Hegger for his waiges 
 William Banester for his goodes 
 John Lawarde for his goodes . 
 Robert Gierke for his goodes* . 
 Henry Hellows for his goodes . 
 John Nowar for his goodes 
 
 Summa . 
 
 Subsidye 
 xij* 
 xij* 
 ij'vj'i 
 ij vj* 
 
 xviij"^ 
 
 iiij* 
 
 xij* 
 
 \f 
 
 iiij"* 
 
 ij" 
 \f vj* 
 
 iiij* 
 
 iiij* 
 
 xij* 
 
 xij" 
 
 iiij'* 
 
 iiij* 
 
 iij^ 
 
 ij= 
 
 xviij'' 
 
 'vj"* 
 
 IXMUJ 
 
 A.D. 1525 
 
 28 
 
 Exchequer Lay Subsidies. Berks j'^\. 
 
 Subsidy granted 15 Hen. 8. 
 
 Indenture dated 2 January 16 H. 8 (1524-5). 
 
 Fynchamstede within the seide vij hundredes (that is, of Cokeham 
 and Bray) 
 
 John Lawuarde in goodes . . . C § • . . . ijst vjd 
 
 Thomas Tailour in goodes . . . . C § . . . ijs vjd 
 
 Henry Hellows in goodes . . . x ii . . . vs 
 
 Agnes Slethurst in goodes . . . C § . . . ijs vjd 
 
Appendix 251 
 
 Robert Ethger in goodes . . . app. 
 
 * * * 
 
 [many names as before] 
 Alexander servant to Thomas Harison 
 
 in waiges . . . . xx s . . . iiijd 
 Sm* , . . liijg ijd 
 
 29 
 Dated 6 June 34 H. 8 (1542) 
 
 Loan money. Money to be lent to the king by his Grace's ser- 
 vants of his County of Berks and to be paid before 24 June next. 
 
 Under ' the vij hundreds of Cookam and Bray ' no Finchampstead 
 name is mentioned. 
 
 30 
 
 P. R. O. Bundle from 21 to 30 Hen. VIII. [1539] 
 
 Feet of Fines. Berks. No. 41 
 
 At Westm' 15 days of Easter 23 Hen. VIII. [1532] 
 
 Between John Bartlett son of Elizabeth wife of Thomas Haryson 
 Pltfs. and said Thomas Haryson and Elizabeth Defts. of 2 Messuages 
 and 20 Acres of Land in Fynchamstede to be the rights of Elizabeth 
 as those which Elizabeth and Thomas have of gift of John. 
 
 Rendered to John to have and to hold to John and heirs of his 
 body of the Chief Lords for ever. Remainder in default to William 
 Bartlett Son and heir of Elizabeth and his heirs to hold &c. &c. 
 
 [N.B. — Thomas Harrison, born about A.D. 1 500, married Elizabeth, 
 widow of — Bartlett, and held this property for their respective 
 lives. It afterwards reverted to John Bartlett and his heirs, and to 
 William and his heirs. The property was situated near where the 
 house now named North Court stands, and the old ' Black and 
 White ' house, which stood close to the present gardener's cottage, 
 and which was removed about the year 1888, was probably the very 
 messuage above referred to.] 
 
 31 
 
 British Museum Charters. 
 
 21 Hen 8, July -12. Deed of Andrew Wyndesore knight, 
 Antony Wyndesore esq., John Mervyn and Thomas Mompesson 
 
 A.D. 1532 
 
252 
 
 Chronicles of Finchampstead 
 
 APP. 
 
 Add. Ch. 
 
 38574 
 A.D. 1530 
 West 
 Court 
 Trustees 
 
 appointing William Mylle their attorney to enter into the manor of 
 Fynchamstede and lands &c. in F. which they together with 
 Ambrose Dauntesey lately recovered at Westminster in Trinity-term 
 last against Richard Fylder by writ of entry upon disseisin in le post 
 and to take peaceful seisin and to make peaceful execution of judg- 
 ment of the said Recovery. 
 
 [Signed] 4 tags fragment of one (2nd) seal. 
 
 Andreas Antony Thomas p me Johanne 
 
 Wyndesore Wyndesore Mompesson Mervyn 
 
 38575 
 1533 
 
 Wyn- 
 busshe 
 
 32 
 24 Hen. 8, July 16. Deed of bargain and sale between 
 Stephen Cawode of Wokyngham ' Marchaunt ' and John Tylborough 
 of Eversley co. Southampton 'Wever' For £\o paid John sells to 
 Stephen the reversion of that messuage & half a yerde londe called 
 Wynbusshe which Alys Mathew wife of Thomas Mathew and 
 mother of John holds for term of her life of the gift of Harry 
 Tylborough grandfather of John To have to Stephen and his heirs 
 for ever. 
 
 Seal perfect. A pelican in her piety {i.e. vulning herself). 
 
 33 
 24 Hen. 8, July 20. Deed of John Tilborough granting to 
 Stephen Cawode the messuage called Wynbusshe & half-yard land in 
 F. which came to him (John) by the surrender of Alice Mathew his 
 mother. Witnesses : — Wm. Banester, Robert Whyte, Wm. 
 Olyver, Robt. Kymbare and many others. 
 
 Seal gone 
 
 34 
 B. M. Charters. 
 
 24 Hen. 8, Dec. 4. Deed of Robert CreshuU confirming to 
 Stephen Cawode, Wm. Barker, Wm. Blounte and Thomas Reddache 
 Cresseils' ^^ moor and meadow in Finchamsted &c. See 38578, 38579. 
 Seal, A pelican as before. 
 [Endorsed] Cresselles mede in Fynchamestede. 
 
 38576 
 A.D. 1533 
 Wyn- 
 busshe 
 
 Add. Ch. 
 38580 
 
 38581 
 A.D. 1539 
 
 35 
 30 Hen. 8, April 14. Indenture made between Richard Stone of 
 Wokingham 'Taylor' & Johanne his wife & Elizabeth Stone, widow 
 
Appendix 253 
 
 of one part and John Taylor otherwise named John Baker of APP. 
 
 Wokingham ' Shomaker ' of the other part For 40 shillings paid in 
 
 hand Richard Stone and Johanne and Elizabeth sell to John Taylor John 
 the tenement & garden in Fynchartistede between a grove called ^''°' 
 Cokes grove & the lands of Thomas Bullocke esquyer on the N. and 
 E. sides and the king's highway leading from F. towards Wokinghani 
 on the South side To have and to hold the same to the s'^ John 
 Taylor & Petronell his wife, and the heirs & assigns of John Taylor 
 for ever. 
 
 One tag divided with two seals ; i, letters T R ; 2, letter R. 
 A second tag with seal, a mere lump of wax. 
 
 36 
 30 Hen. 8, April 16. Deed of Richard Stone son & heir of 38582 
 Rich* Stone of F. deceased and Joan wife of Rich* the younger & ^'^' '^39 
 Elizabeth Stone widow formerly wife of Rich* Stone the elder 
 deceased, releasing to John Taylor all claim or right to and in a 
 tenement with garden in Fynchamstede &c. (as by 38581). 
 
 Tag divided with two seals ; i, letter R ; 2, a device. Another 
 tag seal a lump of wax. 
 
 Feet of Fines, Berkshire 
 
 At Westm-- in 8 days of Pur. B.V.M. 29 Hen. VHI. {i.e. 9 Feb. ^.d. 
 1537-8) and afterwards in 15 D. of Easter 30 (5 May 1538) granted 
 and recorded. Between Stephen Cawoode ptf and Edmund Marvyn 
 and Elizabeth his Wife Before*^ of the Manor of Fincheamstede with 
 appurtenances and 10 messuages, 5 tofts, 3 cottages, 300 acres of Land, 
 40 acres of meadow, 200 pasture, 300 Wood, 1000 Furze & heath, and 
 100 shillings rent with appurt' in Finchamstede and advowson of 
 moiety of Church of Finchamstede. Whereupon &c. &c. to be the 
 right of Stephen Cawoode as those &c. of the Gift of Edmund and 
 Elizabeth Marvyn aforesaid. Warrant for them and heirs of Elizabeth 
 to Stephen Cawoode and his Heirs against William Abbot of 
 Monastery of St. Peter Westminster & successors for ever. And 
 for this &c. Stephen Cawoode grantes to Edmund & Elizabeth 
 Marvyn an Annuity or Annual Rent of 20 marks going out of said M D 
 (Lord of the Manor's) Rents, and rendered it (ilium) to them to have 
 and receive to said Edmund & Elizabeth and Heirs of Elizabeth 
 
254 Chronicles of Finchampstead 
 
 APR at Lady Day and Michaelmas by even portions yearly to be paid. 
 Clause of entry and distress if rent in arrear for five days after any 
 Feast. If in arrear 6 weeks, power to enter and distrain said Stephen 
 Cawood & Heirs & those who hold the Manor, and retain all goods 
 & chattels until full paym* had of arrears of annuity as well as five 
 
 marks nomine pene. 
 
 38 
 B. M. Charters. 
 
 Add. Ch. 24 Hen. 8, Dec. 3. Deed of Robert Creshull of Vokesbrige co. 
 
 38578 Midddlesex ' wheler ' granting to Stephen Cawode of Wokingham 
 mercer Wm. Barker, Wm. Blounte and Thomas Reddache his moor and 
 meadow in Finchamstede between the meadow or pasture of Agnes 
 
 Cresselles Slythurste on the E. side and a meadow of Thomas Godhere called 
 Saint Mary's meadow on the W. side whereof one head abuts upon 
 the brook called Dudbroke on the S. side and the other head upon 
 the lord's common called Moregrene on the N. side which moor or 
 meadow lately descended by hereditary right to me after the decease 
 of Wiliam Cresshull my brother To have & to hold to them their 
 heirs and assigns to the use of the said Stephen Cawode his heirs 
 & assigns for ever of the chief lords &c. 
 
 Seal perfect, A pelican in her piety. 
 
 39 
 
 ggcyy 24 Hen. 8, Aug. 2. Release by Thomas Mathew & Alice his 
 
 A.D. 1533 wife mother of John Tylborough to Stephen Cawode his heirs & 
 
 assigns of all claim to or in a messuage and half yardland called 
 
 Wynbusshe with warranty against the Abbot of Reading & his 
 
 Wynbusshe successors. 
 
 Two seals ; i, letter R ; 2, a device. 
 
 40 
 
 38579 24 Hen. 8, Dec. 3. [See 38578 above] Deed of Robert Creshull 
 A.D. 1533 of Vokesbrydge co. Middlesex, Wheeler, appointing William Planner 
 
 & John Tailor of Vokyngham his attorneys to deliver seisin of 
 moor & meadow in F. to Stephen Cawode, Wm. Barker, Wm. 
 Blounte & Thomas Redache. 
 
 Seal (broken), A pelican in her piety. 
 
Appendix 
 
 255 
 
 41 
 
 Exchequer. Lay Subsidies. Berks. iW 
 
 First Payment of the Subsidy 37 Hen. 8 
 
 THE SEVEN HUNDREDS OF COOKHAM 
 AND BRAY 
 
 The paryshe of FyncJtamstede 
 
 Mrs Harryson wido for hir goodes 
 John Hollyway for hys goodes 
 Henry Todnall for hys goodes 
 Edward Grove for hys goodes . 
 John BeduU for hys goodes 
 John Reding for hys landes , 
 John Clarke for hys goodes . 
 Jamys May for hys goodes 
 William Horste for hys goodes 
 Thomas Lotman for hys goodes 
 Robert Botler for hys goodes . 
 Wyllyam Lawarde for hys landes 
 John Bartlit sett in the Courte 
 
 APP. 
 
 Dated 16 
 February 
 37 H. 8 
 (1541) 
 
 v' iiij* 
 iij^ iiij'' 
 iiij' viij'^ 
 
 ijs viij* 
 iij* iiij* 
 iij^ iiij"* 
 v^ iiij* 
 iij' iiij'* 
 v^ iiij* 
 viij' 
 
 42 
 B. M. Charters. 
 
 36 Hen. 8, March 20. Deed of John Baker alias Taylor ' Sutor Add. Ch. 
 calcerius' in parish of Wokingham and Petronilla (or Parnell) his ^^ ^11:41; 
 wife selling -to Robt Hamley of Fynchamstede & Agnes his wife a 
 tenement with garden in F. abutting upon land of Thomas BuUoke 
 gentleman called ' Whightes ' on the West side and upon land of ' Whytes ' 
 Thomas Harryson called ' Pynnokes ' on the East side To have & to 
 hold to them the heirs & assigns of Robert for ever. 
 
 They make Richard Hall their attorney to deliver seisin. 
 
 Tags for two seals : one gone, the other broken. 
 
 43 
 
 Same date. Deed similar to the foregoing, but no mention of jgjg^ 
 attorney. Shorter. 2 seals broken. 38585 
 
 .1 Mary, Aug. 28. Deed of sale by Robert Crysell of Redyng *-°' '553 
 'wheler' (for a sum of money paid by William Hyrst of Fynch- 
 
256 
 
 Chronicles of Finchampstead 
 
 ■A^PP- atnstede deceased) to Thomas Hyrst son of William Hyrst of a 
 Cryselles' meadow and moor called Cryselles between the meadow and 
 moor formerly of John Slythurst on the E. side and the meadows 
 called Mulsham & Hatchys and a moor called Bedyllys more 
 on the W. side and upon the meadow called Fane mede in co. 
 Southampton on the S. side and the green called the More grene on 
 the N. side To have and to hold to him (Thomas) his heirs and 
 assigns for ever. 
 
 Seal. 
 
 44 
 
 4 & 5 Ph. & Mary, June i8. Indenture made betw. Thomas 
 Cawood of Harberfeilde co. Berks, gentleman, son & heir of Stephen 
 Cawood late of Reding, co. Berks gent, deceased of one part and 
 John Symynges of London gent, of the, other part. Bargain & sale of 
 the meadow called Cresselles containing ten acres late in the occupa- 
 tion of Thomas Taillor in Fynchehampsted &c. [boundaries Melsam 
 Hatches Fanne Meade More Grene as above 38585]. 
 
 Seal, device (worn flat). 
 
 45 
 Exchequer. Lay Subsidies. Berks. -^ 
 
 Relief granted 2-3 Edw. 6. 
 
 38586 
 
 A.D. 1556- 
 
 57 
 
 A.r). 1549 
 
 Finch*msted 
 
 /I> Joiie Bedill ad . 
 
 D- Edwardo grove ad 
 - 1> Johe Clarke ad . 
 
 I> Jacobo Maye ad 
 
 ll> Johe Hollo wey ad 
 
 Sm" 
 
 x« 
 x« 
 x« 
 
 x° 
 x^ 
 
 X" 
 
 x^ 
 
 46 
 
 B. M. Charters. 
 
 Add. Ch. 4 Eliz. June 14. Award made by Thomas Farmer and Richard 
 
 38587 Gales gentlemen in the matters at variance between John Symynges 
 of London Doctor of Physic and Thomas Hurst of the parish of Bray 
 CO. Berks yeoman concerning the title to meadow ground containing 
 by estimation nine acres called Cresshulles Meade. The Arbitrators 
 award, that it shall be lawful henceforth for the said John Symynges 
 to hold to him his heirs & assigns the meadow in dispute for ever ; 
 and further that John Symynges shall pay to Thomas Hurste his 
 
Appendix 257 
 
 A.D. 1573 
 
 heirs &c. the sum of £25 that is to say, within four days after the APP.. 
 date of this award £5 ; on the eve of Michaelmas-day next at the 
 dwellinghouse of John Symynges in Trynytie Lane within the City 
 of London between one and five in the afternoon £6. 13. 4 ; on the 
 eve of Michmas-day 1563 at the place and time aforesaid £6. 13. 4 ; 
 on the eve of Micftmas-day 1564, £6. 13. 4; and further that the 
 parties shall, each to the other, make release of all manner of actions 
 &c. 
 
 Signed p me Th Farmer per me Ricm Galis 
 
 f Seal j i Seal j 
 
 47 
 
 14 Eliz. Feb. 4. Deed of William Waller of Stoke co. South- 38588 
 ampton esquire that according to the form & effect of agreement ^'^' *^^* 
 made in certain Indentures of bargain and sale between himself of 
 one part and Thomas HoUoway of Finchamsted yeoman of the other 
 part he now confirms to the said Thomas Hollowaye the tenement 
 called Russels situate in the parish of Finchamsted and all edifices, Russels 
 &c. in Finchamsted and in the parish of Barkham belonging to 
 Russels To have & to hold to him his heirs & assigns for ever. See 38590 
 Moreover he appoints Humfrey Laward his attorney to enter & ^""^ 38S9i 
 give peaceful seisin of the said tenement to Hollowaye. 
 
 \Signed\ per me William Waller. 
 
 Seal gone. 
 
 Memorandum on the dorse of possession and seisin delivered to 
 the use of Thomas Holloway the 21st Feb. 1575 and 17 Eliz. in the 
 presence of Richard Stefens senior, Symeon Home, Bartillmew Erley, 
 Kicolas Home Robert Home and Henry Home with others. 
 
 48 
 
 14 Eliz. June 6, Exemplification of Fine levied in Trinity-term 38589 
 14 Eliz. made on the morrow of Holy Trinity in said 14th year *•". 1572 
 ( ) between Thomas Hollowaye plaintiff and William Waller 
 
 esq. deforciant of [the above-named tenement, called Russels, here 
 described as] a messuage, a garden, an orchard, 30 acres of land, 3 
 acres of meadow, 10 acres of pasture, 10 acres of wood and common 
 of pastjure with appurtenances in Fynchamstede & Barkham — to be 
 the right of Thomas, &c. Warranty to Thomas & his heirs against 
 
 s 
 
258 
 
 Chronicles of Fhichampstead 
 
 APP. 
 
 A.D, 
 
 1573-4 
 
 Add. Ch. 
 38590 
 
 A.D. 
 1573-4 
 
 ' 'Russels ' 
 
 38591 
 A.D. 1575 
 
 Blykes 
 
 place 
 
 Wheteles 
 
 William & his heirs And for this &c. Thomas hath given to William 
 forty Pounds. 
 
 A portion (central) of the Queen's Seal used to seal writs in Court 
 of Common Pleas. 
 
 [^Endorsement] The Fine of Waller to Hollowaye for a tenement' 
 in Finchampsteede called Russells now in the tenure of Edward' 
 Ellis dated 6 Junij 14 Eliz. 
 
 49 
 B. M. Charters. 
 
 16 Eliz. March 12. Deed of Thomas Holloway of Finchamsted 
 yeoman that in fulfilment of the agreement specified in certain 
 Indentures of bargain & sale made between himself of one part 
 and Henry Hinde of Finchamsted gentleman of the other part he 
 confirms to Henry Hinde the tenement called Russels with buildings 
 &c. to have & to hold to the said Henry his heirs and assigns for 
 ever. 
 
 Sealed in presence of John 
 Ball, ' Bertelmeu erly ' [who 
 signs] and ALEX"" Stepto 
 Seal, a device of an arrow tied round the centre with a cord (arrow 
 in pale). 
 
 On dorse memorandum of possession & seisin taken & 
 delivered to Henry Hinde 21 Feb. 1575 17 Eliz. in the presence of 
 Humfry Laward, Bartilmewe Earley, Richard Stevins the elder, 
 Symeon Home, Nicolas Home, Robert Home, Henry Home, Robert 
 Home junior and others. 
 
 SO 
 18 Eliz. Nov. 10. Deed of Humfrey Lawarde of Fynchamstede 
 gentleman whereby he releases to William Yeles of Little Shepp- 
 redge, co. Wilts yeoman & Elizabeth his wife (daughter of said 
 Humfrey Lawarde) and the heirs & assigns of said William for 
 ever all title and claim to and in two messuages with curtilages & 
 gardens adjoining ; one called Blykes place ; the other, Wheteles ; 
 situate in the parish of F : between the king's highway leading from 
 Blackwaterbridge tow*' Wokyngham on the East side and the 
 land formerly of Roger Shepperd on the West side ; and in that 
 messuage and curtilage with one pedell adjoining situate in F. on the 
 East side of the king's highway leading from Hungerford otherwise 
 
Appendix 
 
 259 
 
 Oldeforde towards Wokyngham and all gardens closes &c. to the APP. 
 said messuages or any of them in any wise belonging or appertaining. ^ 
 Warranty to Wm. & Elizabeth & the heirs & assigns of William 
 against all people. 
 
 Seal, letters H L. 
 
 51 
 
 38592 
 A.D. 1 593 
 
 ■Blikes' 
 
 water 
 
 35 Elizabeth, Sept. 6. Indenture made between William Froste 
 of Grayes Inn, co. Midd. gent, of one part and Wm. Dearinge of 
 Harrowe on the Hill in said county Husbandman of the other part. 
 Bargain and sale of 3 tenements or cottages in the parish of Finch- 
 ampsteede ; one, called Blikes ; another, called Hungerforde ; and the 
 third, Blackwater. The two first are or lately were in the tenure of fordT'^*'" 
 Henry Gyles by virtue of a demise made by Humfrey Lawarde gent. 'Black- 
 Blackwater is now in the tenure of the said Wm. Frost and abutteth 
 on a River there called Blackwater. Sale also of three acres of land 
 on the back of the two first tenements the west head abutteth upon 
 the tenement called Blackwater To have & to hold the same to 
 said Wm. Dearinge his heirs & assigns for ever. &c. &c. 
 
 \Signed\ By me WiLLlAM FroSX 
 
 Seal, ring of arms : — a chev. betw. 3 trefoils slipt perfect. 
 \Endorsed\ Sealled and delivered in the presence of vs Thomas 
 Dearj'nge Edward Whitlocke. 
 
 52 
 Exchequer. Lay Subsidies. Berks. ^\.. 
 
 Second payment of Subsidy granted ty Elizabeth, Certificate dated a.d. 1585 
 % October, 28 Eliz. 
 
 Charlton Hundered 
 
 William Millard gent, in landes > 
 
 . x» 
 
 xiij' iiij 
 
 John Baghurst in goods .... 
 
 iiij" 
 
 iiij' 
 
 Steaven Hollowaie. in goodes 
 
 iiij" 
 
 iiij' 
 
 Robert Felton in goodes . . - ., 
 
 . iiij« 
 
 iiii' 
 
 John Rither in landes .... 
 
 xx' 
 
 xij* 
 
 Frauncis Poolley in landes ..... 
 
 xl" 
 
 ij' viij"* 
 
 Austen Hawle in goodes ....... 
 
 iij« 
 
 iij» 
 
 Edward Filder in goodes 
 
 iiij'i 
 
 iiij' 
 
 John Hinde in goodes, .... 
 
 iij" 
 
 iii» 
 s 2 
 
26o 
 
 Chronicles of Finchampstead 
 
 APP. 
 
 Finch- 
 amsted 
 
 James Readinge in lande 
 
 Humfreie Tailor in goodes 
 
 Edward Grove in landes 
 
 William Oliver in landes 
 
 Widow Oliver in landes 
 
 Richard Oliver in landes 
 
 Richard Palmer in goodes 
 
 Christofer Dye in goodes 
 
 Nicolas Taylor in lands 
 
 John Banister in lands 
 
 William Hollowaie in goodes 
 
 Christian Stevenson, a stranger for her pole 
 
 xP 
 
 ij' viij* 
 
 iij" 
 
 iij' 
 
 xx' 
 
 xvj* 
 
 xx' 
 
 xvj"* 
 
 xx' 
 
 xvj'^ 
 
 XX' 
 
 xvj* 
 
 iij» 
 
 iij>i 
 
 iij» 
 iij- 
 
 iiij" 
 
 v» ilijd 
 
 v" 
 
 vj» viij* 
 
 viij" 
 
 viij' 
 
 mj" 
 
 A.D. 1591 
 
 Nov. 26 
 
 53 
 
 Deed of Bargain and Sale by Thomas Harrison to John Hinde 
 of a messuage and land, called Monkes, &c., reserving a heriot of 56 
 shillings and suit of Court. 
 
 Indenture made 26 November 34 Elizabeth (1591) between 
 Thomas Harrisson of Stratfyldsey co. Berks gentleman of one part 
 and John Hinde of Fynchampstede yeoman of the other part. 
 Whereas Edwarde Grove of Finchampstede yeoman lately held for 
 term of his life one messuage and half a yard of land called Monkes 
 another half yard of land called James and also other lands & 
 tenements together with a close called the Moore to the same 
 messuage belonging being in the parish of Finchampstede by copy of 
 Court-roll of the manor of East courte in Fynchampstede aforesaid 
 and by yearly rent of 34 shillings and by other services Now 
 Thomas Harrisson sells to John Hinde the said messuage &c. to have 
 and to hold to him his heirs & assigns for ever In consideration of 
 which bargain & sale John Hinde grants to Thomas Harrisson his 
 heirs and assigns for ever being lords of the Manor of East court 
 an annual rent-charge of 34 shillings issuable out of the premises pay- 
 able at Lady-day and Michaelmas, or within 20 days after either of 
 the said feasts by even portions and he also agrees to pay upon the 
 death of himself or any other tenant of the freehold, and upon every 
 alienation of the premises, fifty shillings to the lord of the manor of 
 East court in the name of a Heriot within twenty days after any such 
 death or alienation. [Clauses of entry & distress, &c.] John Hinde 
 for himself his heirs & assigns covenants that he & they will as 
 often as any Court Baron shall be holden within the said Manor will 
 
Appendix 261 
 
 make appearance and be ready to serve (if required) as others of the app. 
 
 homage. 
 
 Attached to this Indenture is a copy from the Court-roll of a Court 
 of Stephen Cawett [Cawood] holden i6 February 31 Hen. 8 (1539- 
 40), showing the admission of Edward Grove as tenant. 
 
 S4 
 Feet of Fines. Berkshire. Trinity 37 Eliz. 
 
 FINCHAMPSTEAD MANOR. 
 
 Final Agreement made at Westm*" on the morrow of Holy Trinity a.d. 1595 
 37 Eliz. (16 June 1595). 
 
 Between Thomas Harrison gentleman plaintiff and Francis 
 Pollye and Margaret his wife deforciants of the manor of Fincham- 
 stede with the appurtenances and of ten messuages five tofts three 
 cottages 300 acres of land 40 acres of meadow 200 acres of pasture 
 300 acres of wood 1000 acres of furze and heath and 100 shillings 
 rent with the appurtenances in Finchamstede and also of the ad- 
 vowson of a moiety of the church of Finchamstede Whereupon a 
 plea of covenant was summoned between them in the same Court 
 etc. And moreover the said Francis & Margaret have granted for 
 themselves and the heirs of the said Margaret that they will warrant 
 to the said Thomas & his heirs the aforesaid manor tenements and 
 rent with the appurt^ and the advowson aforesaid against the said 
 Francis & Margaret and the heirs of the said Margaret and against 
 all others claiming by the said Francis & Margaret and their heirs 
 for ever And for this acknowledgment etc. the said Thomas hath 
 given to the said Francis & Margaret two hundred Pounds sterling. 
 
 55 
 
 Deed of bargain and sale by John Crottall of Wokingham yeo- a.d. 1595 
 man to Richard Palmer alias Underwood of the same parish yeoman 
 of a messuage or tenements with lands, &c., known by the name of 
 Redde Landes in the parish of Wokingham at a place called Luckly 
 Green, now in the tenure of Henry Slatter by virtue of a lease made 
 to him for 21 years [date left blank]. Dated 25 December 38 Eliz. 
 (1 595) 
 
 Seal gone. 
 
262 
 
 Chronicles of Finchampstead 
 
 APR S6 1 
 
 A.D, 1596 Deed of Sale by John Crottall the elder of Wokingham yeoman 
 to Thomas Segrye of Wokingham of a tenement with garden and 
 orchard adjoining in Wokingham in a place called Symondes Grene, 
 also of a croft or ' pudell ' of arable land there with other lands 
 (specified). Dated 27 December 39 Eliz. (1596). 
 
 " Seal, a mere lump of wax. 
 
 57 
 
 Subsidy Roll. Berks. ^^■^. Subsidy granted Oct. 39 Eliz. [1597]. 
 FINCHAMSTED. 
 
 John Hind in lands 
 
 William Banister „ 
 James Redding „ 
 
 Richard Oliver „ 
 
 John Rither „ 
 
 John Clark „ 
 
 Widdow Holloway „ 
 Henry Wood „ 
 
 Richard Mathew .„ 
 Thomas Redway „ 
 Edward Fielder in goods 
 Humfrey Tailor „ 
 
 Bartholomew Earley „ 
 Dennis Stevens „ 
 
 Widdow Underwood „ 
 Nicholas Tailor in lands 
 Francis Polle „ 
 
 Robert Feltham in goods 
 
 P. R. O. SmS 
 
 Assessment. 
 £ s. d. 
 
 40 
 40 
 40 
 20 
 20 
 20 
 20 
 20 
 20 
 
 s 
 
 3 
 3 
 3 
 3 
 
 40 
 15 
 
 Amount paid. 
 
 £ s. d. 
 
 12 
 
 8 
 
 8 
 4 
 4 
 4 
 4 
 4 
 4 
 
 13 
 8 
 8 
 8 
 8 
 
 12 
 8 
 
 16 
 
 H. 
 
 vn 
 
 d. 
 
 nil 
 
 58 
 
 23 Bolein, P.C.C. Extracts from the Will of Thomas Harrison 
 Esquire who died 2$ February, 1602. Will dated 22 Febry., 
 1602-3, 45 Eliz. Proved 3 March, 1602-3. 
 
 I Thomas Harrison of Finchamsted in the Countie of Bercks 
 Esq"" My Bodie to be buried in the Porche of the West doore of 
 
Appendix 263 
 
 the Parishe Churche of Finchamsted aforesaid in the place latelie by app. 
 
 me prepared for that purpose. A deede of Covenantes bearinge date 
 
 the Five and twentieth daie of November in the eighte and thirtieth 
 yeare of the Reigne of oure sovereigne Ladie Queene Elizabeth 
 made by me the said Thomas Harrison & Mr. William Beecher my a.d. 
 wyves Brother of my Manor and Landes of Estcourte in Finchamsted 'S96-7 
 aforesaid to the use of myself and Elizabeth my nowe wief for terme 
 of our twoe lives with Remainder to my heires for ever under suche 
 conditions Reservations & Covenantes as in the saide deede 
 expressed & mentioned that the same shall remaine & be from & 
 after my decease to the use of my said wief for terme of hir 
 naturall lief My sonne in lawe George Carleton Esquier duringe the 
 non age of my heire & Nephewe ' Richard Harrison — his Brother ' sic, but 
 John Harrison — the nowe wief of my son Thomas Harrison & of her ^^'dently 
 Children by him — my said sonne Thomas — my grandchilde Thomas (son of his 
 Harrison the sonne of my sonne Thomas Harrison. Item I give my ?}^^^' ^P," 
 Mannor and landes of Estcourte in Finchamsted aforesaid & the 
 Revercion thereof with all the rightes & appurtenances from & after 
 the expiration of my wives estate therein by me made as is afore- 
 mentioned Also my Mannor or Farme of Evendens in the Parrishe of 
 Ockhingham etc. to my Nephew ' & heire Richard Harrison & to Here the 
 the heires male of his bodie lawfully begotten in default to his H".!"^^^!! 
 Brother John Harrison & heires male of body-; in default to Thomas is abridged 
 
 Harrison my son for life & after his decease to Thomas Harrison his '^y."'^ 
 
 writer 
 son & heires male of his body ; in default, to Charles Harrison his 
 
 brother & heires male of his body ; in default, to my own right heirs 
 for ever. [Many bequests of sums of money to persons named, and 
 then] To the Poore of Finchamsted 20s. To Ockingham 12s. To 
 Stratfildsea 20s. To Swallowfield 13J. /s^d. Mortimer 20s. Barkham 
 6s. 8d. ; uppon condition that they staye at home & content them- 
 selves to receive this my Benevolence at their owne Parishes & not to 
 be troublesome to my Buriall. Peter Normarvile my seconde wives 
 Nephewe I doe appointe that the Rent charge of 1 3 pounde 6s. ?>d. 
 yssuynge owte of my Mannor of Finchamsted Estcourte and paiable 
 to Jerome Tychborne gent" And alsoe the Rent charge of £g. 15. 4, 
 yssuinge owte of my Mannor or Farme of Evendens & paiable to 
 Mrs. Tailor of Ockingham duringe her lief shall be levyed owte of the 
 Rent of Mannor or Farm of Evendens. To my daughter Carleton 
 three sylver Bowlles all of one nest & fashion. To my Nephewe 
 Raduiphe Spier my Sylver & guilte Pott with twoe handles. My 
 
264 
 
 Chronicles of Finchampstead 
 
 APP. 
 
 ' sic, but 
 evidently 
 grand- 
 children 
 
 daughter Marche to the use of my twoe Nephewes ' hir sons — residue 
 to my Nephewe Richarde Harrison. I do ordaine my lovinge wief 
 Elizabeth Harrison my sole Executrix — my lovinge friendes Sir 
 Richarde Warde Knight & my lovinge sonne in law George Carleton 
 Esquier Supervisors of this my laste Will. 
 (Signed) Thomas Harrison Sen" 22 February 45 Eliz. [1602-3]. 
 
 George Carleton 
 
 Thomas Bellamys 
 
 Nicholas Tailor 
 
 Thomas Harrison Jun 
 
 Richard Cane 
 
 Thomas Ridweye Scriptor. 
 Proved at London 3 March 1602-3 by Thos. Lovell notary public 
 proctor of Elizabeth relict of deceased. 
 
 Delivered 
 in Court 
 19 Nov. 
 1603 
 
 59 
 Chancery Inq. p.m. i James I, part 2, No. 75 
 
 Thomas Harrison, esquire 
 
 CO. Southampton Inq. at Basingstoke 17 June I Jas. (1603). 
 
 Tho. Harrison esq. long before his death was seised in fee of the 
 manor of Nuttbeames in cos. Southampton and Berks and lands in 
 Stratfeildsay, co. Southton, called Gomels or Gominges land, and the 
 manor of Finchampsted otherwise Estcourte in Fynchampsted, co. 
 Berks, the manor of Evendens or Indens in the parish of Okingham, 
 a messuage & 40 acres of land occupied therewith now or late in the 
 tenure of Mistress Tayler widow ; messuages &c. in Beachill Hartley & 
 Swallowfeild. So seised, 25 Nov. 38 Elizabeth (iS95) by deed made 
 between himself of one part and William Beacher of the other part, 
 for the consideration therein named, he granted the manor of Est- 
 courte & other premises in Finchamsted (except timber trees) to 
 Wm. Beacher & his heirs for ever to the use of said Tho. Harrison 
 for life & after his decease to the use of Elizabeth then his wife 
 
 for 
 
 to other heirs of s* Tho. 
 
 Harrison 
 
 .d 
 
 for her life, with remainder 
 
 ever. By virtue of w"** gift & by the Statute of Uses s^ T. H. 
 was seised of the s'* manor &c. in Finchampsted in freehold for life, 
 remainder as aforesaid. 
 
 Afterw^', viz. 22 Feb. 45 Eliz. (1602-3) he made his last will 
 & testament in writing and appointed that all his lands of in- 
 heritance should be & go to his executrix towards the paym' of 
 
Appendix 265 
 
 his debts & legacies and that she sh'' receive all the rents & app. 
 
 profits during the minority of Richard Harrison then his grandson 
 
 & heir apparent ; and if he sh* die before full age then during 
 the minority of John Harrison brother of Richard until his debts, 
 legacies, &c. should be satisfied & paid. He devised the manor 
 of Nuttbeames and Gomels land to John Harrison his grandson 
 & heirs male ; in default of such issue to his (John) elder brother 
 Richard Harrison & issue male ; then to the heirs male of the 
 grandchild of testator, Tho. Harrison, son of his son & heirs 
 male ; then to his brother Charles Harrison, & heirs male ; re- 
 mainder to the right heirs of testator for ever. 
 
 Also by the same will he gave the manor of Estcourte & the 
 reversion thereof after the expiration of the estate of the said Eliza- 
 beth then his wife and also his manor of Evendens together with 
 the house & land in the tenure of Mistress Tayler (who is still 
 alive) and lands in Swallowefeild (saving the interest before given to 
 his executrix) to Richard Harrison & heirs male, remainder suc- 
 cessively in tail male to John Harrison brother of Richard ; then to 
 Thomas Harrison son of testator for life ; then to Thomas Harrison 
 son of Thomas the son & heirs male ; then to Charles Harrison 
 his brother & heirs male of his body ; remainder to right heirs of 
 testator for ever. The lands he gave by the same will to Tho. 
 Harrison his son & his heirs for ever ; and he appointed Elizabeth 
 his wife executrix. 
 
 Thom£is Harrison afterw** viz. 25 Feb. 45 Elizabeth (1602-3), 
 died at Finchamsted ; and Richard Harrison, his grandson, i.e. son 
 & heir of Richard, son & heir apparent in his lifetime of the s* 
 Tho. H., is. his heir, who at the time of his grandfather's death was 
 aged 18 years, 5 months and 25 days. 
 
 [Here is recited a charter of John Daubridgcort, lord of Stratfeild- 
 say, dated 20 Oct. 8 Hen. 4 (1406), by which he gave to Richard 
 Wheler the lands called Gomynglond, lately held by Thomas Wheler 
 father of Richard.] 
 
 The manor of Finchampsted orwise Estcourte and other the pre- East 
 mises in F. are held of William Forster esq. as of his manor of Alder- <^°"rt 
 maston by the fourth part of a knight's fee. They are worth nothing 
 during the life of Elizabeth, but after her death will be worth per ann. 
 (clear) £6 13J. 4^. 
 
 [The other tenures are omitted.] 
 
 The said Elizabeth, late wife of Thomas Harrison named in the 
 
266 Chronicles of Finchampstead 
 
 APP. Commission, at the time of taking this Inquisition is alive at Finch- 
 " ampsted, and is now seised in freehold of the manor called Estcourte 
 
 & other the premises in Finchampsted. 
 
 The above Inq. was taken by virtue of a Commission before Samuel 
 Backhouse esq. Edward Savage esq. George Raymond esq. escheator 
 of the county and Richard Here gen. feodary of the county. 
 
 60 
 Chancery Inq. p.m. i Jas. I. part 2, No. 30. Series II. vol. 281 
 
 The same Thomas Harrison 
 
 Inq. at Odyam, co. Southton, 3 Dec. i Jas. (1603) by virtue of the 
 king's commission for better inquiry. 
 
 This relates to Gomels or Gominges land, given by charter 20 Oct. 
 8 Hen. 4, given by Sir John Dabridgecourt to Richard Wheler. This 
 land time out of mind was parcel of the demesne lands of Strat- 
 feildsay and is land of the king in chief by knight's service. 
 
 61 
 A. n. 1609- ^'"^ ^'^^^ 7 James I, part 2, No. 30 
 
 '° Lands to be delivered to the co-heirs of Sir Richard 
 
 Warde, knight 
 
 The king to his escheator in Berkshire. Refers to an Inquisition 
 taken after the death of Sir Richard Warde who made his last will by 
 which (among other things) he devised his manors of Hurste and 
 Wishley in Hurst and the manor of Lee with all other tenements in 
 the parish of Hurste to his kinsmen Richard Harrison and Wm. Mil- 
 ward after the decease of himself and Mary, his wife. To have to them 
 and the heirs male of their bodies begotten with remainder to Thomas 
 Warde Maunsell and his heirs under a condition specified in the will 
 He made Mary, his wife, executrix on certain conditions. He died 
 27 Aug. 3 Jas. (1605), and his heirs were : 
 
 1. Richard Harrison, son and heir of Richard Harrison deceased, 
 son of Thomas Harrison and Alice, his wife, likewise deceased ; which 
 Alice was one of the sisters of the said Richd. Warde. 
 
 2. Thomas Dirham.sonof RichardDirhamdeceased,sonofThomas 
 Dirham and Joan his wife, also deceased ; which Joan was another 
 sister of Ric. Warde. 
 
 3. Katherine Alexander alias Milward, then wife of William 
 Alexander alias Milward esq., a third sister of Ric. Warde. 
 
Appendix 267 
 
 4. Anne Weldon, wife of Francis Weldon, esq., a fourth sister of app. 
 Ric. Warde. ' 
 
 At the time of said Richard Warde's death, Richard Harrison was 
 
 aged 2\; Thomas Dirham, aged 5 years, 10 months, and 2 days; 
 
 Kath. Alexander ats Milward, aged 60 years ; and Anne Weldon, 
 
 50 years. 
 
 Partition to be made. Dated at Westm'' loth February, 10 Feb. 
 
 1609-10 
 
 62 
 
 Exchange in form of a demise for the term of a thousand years a.d. 1615 
 made between Richard Harrison of Hurst, co. Berks esq. of one part ^^P'- 
 and John Tailor of Finchamsted in the said county gentleman of the 
 other part. The said Richard Harrison grants to John Tailor One 
 half acre of arable land in Finchamsted in a common field there called 
 the Little acrey which half acre belongeth to a tenement of the said 
 Richard Harrison lately in the tenure of Henry Policy called Copped 
 Hall parcel and belonging to the Manor of East Court and abutteth 
 on the North end upon a pightell of the said Richard Harrison called 
 South pightell and abutteth upon a close of land called the Downe ' The 
 belonging to the Parsonage or Rectory of Finchamsted and lyeth J^°7son. 
 East and West on the land of the said John Tailor To have and to ^e) 
 hold in exchange for another half acre hereinafter mentioned from 
 Lady-day last past (25 March 1615) to the full end and term of One 
 thousand years without yielding or paying therefore to the said 
 Richard Harrison his heirs or assigns during the said term of One 
 thousand years In consideration whereof the said John Tailor grants 
 to the said Richard Harrison all that his half acre of arable land in 
 the said common field called the Little Acrey which half acre abutteth 
 upon certain lands of the said Richard Harrison now in the tenure or 
 occupation of Thomas Holoway on the East part and upon the lands 
 of Elizabeth Rider widow late James Readings on the West part and 
 upon certain lands of the said John Tailor on the South part To have 
 and to hold the last-mentioned half acre in exchange for the half acre 
 first above demised from Lady-day last past (25 March) to the 
 full end and term of One thousand years then next following without 
 yielding or paying any thing therefore to the said John Tailor his 
 heirs or assigns during the said term of One thousand years. Mutual 
 covenants for peaceable enjoyment of the respective half acres during 
 the term. Provided always that if at any time hereafter the said 
 John Taylor his executors administrators or assigns during the term 
 
268 
 
 Chronicles of Finchampstead 
 
 APP. of One thousand years shall be lawfully put from the possession and 
 
 profit of the said half acre to him granted then it shall be lawful for 
 
 him to enter into the half acre demised to Richard Harrison in ex- 
 change and thereof to be seised as in his and their former estate And 
 likewise if at any time Richard Harrison be lawfully put from the 
 possession of the half acre to him granted then it shall be lawful for 
 him to enter into the half acre demised to John Taylor in exchange 
 and to be seised thereof in his former estate. This Indenture or any 
 thing therein contained to the contrary notwithstanding. Dated the 
 first day of September 13 Janies (161 5). 
 
 (Signed) John Taylor. 
 Seal, a talbot dog. 
 
 (>i 
 
 Subsidy Roll. Berks, n 
 
 U^. 4 Car. I. 
 
 (1629) 
 
 
 FINCHAMSTEL 
 
 
 
 
 Recusant. Geo. Tattershall esq. in 
 
 ands 
 
 Assessments 
 £ s. 
 
 10 
 
 Amounts paid 
 £ i. 
 
 4 
 
 John Bligh gent „ 
 Henry Harwood gent „ 
 Willm Wase gent „ 
 Rich^ Whiting 
 Thos. Oliver „ 
 
 
 2 
 2 
 
 20 
 20 
 
 20 
 
 8 
 4 
 4 
 8 
 
 4 
 
 Henry Hynde „ 
 Stephen Holloway „ 
 Rich* Fi . . . der 
 
 )) 
 11 
 
 2 
 
 20 
 20 
 
 8 
 4 
 4 
 
 John Martin „ 
 Eliz Rither vid „ 
 
 
 
 20 
 20 
 
 4 
 4 
 
 John Grove in goods . 
 William Taylor in lands 
 
 • 
 
 3 
 
 20 
 
 8 
 4 
 
 Thos Bannister „ „ 
 
 SumS 
 
 2 
 
 
 8 
 7 12 
 
 64 
 
 A.D. 1659 Copies of the Exemplifications of the Fine and Recovery suffered to cut 
 off the entail and to make Mr. Harrison tenant in fee simple 
 
 Fine Final Agreement made in the Court of Common Pleas at West- 
 
 minster in three weeks from Easter-day A.D. 1659 Between Samuel 
 
Appendix 269 
 
 Hyne gentleman plaintiff and Richard Harrison the elder esquire and apP- 
 Richard Harrison the younger gent, son & heir apparent of the said " 
 Richard the elder deforciants of the Manors of Hurst Wynhurst 
 otherwise Whistley in the Hurst Finchampstead East Court and 
 Evendens otherwise Endens otherwise Indens with the appurtenances 
 And of the Park of Lee otherwise Lee park with the appurtenances 
 And also of ten messuages etc. in Hurst Wynhurst Whistley in Hurst 
 Berry Twiford Lee Okingham and Finchamstead Whereupon a Plea 
 of Covenant etc. Warranty to Samuel against Richard Harrison the 
 elder and Richard Harrison the younger and the heirs of each respec- 
 tively And for this &c. the said Samuel hath given to the aforesaid 
 Richard and Richard one thousand pounds sterling. 
 
 Amongst the Pleas of land inroUed at Westminster of Easter-term Recovery 
 1659, Roll 103, it is thus contained : Berks. Richard Palmer gent. & 
 Robert Whorwood gent, demand against Samuel Hyne gent, the 
 Manors of Hurst &c. Finchamstead East Court &c. The said 
 Samuel vouches thereof to warrant Richard Harrison the elder who 
 vouches Richard Harrison the younger who further vouches the 
 Common Vouchee who makes default in the usual form. Judgment 
 for Richard Palmer and Robert who have seisin 7th May. 
 
 65 
 B. M. Add. Charters 38605 
 
 \By endorsement in later hand.'] Conveyance of Finchampstead East a.d. 1661 
 Court by Sir Richard Harison to Richard Palmer esq. 
 
 Indre made eleventh of August (13 Chas. 2) 1661 Between Richard 
 Harison of Hurst co. Berks esq. and Dorothy his wife of one part {sic) 
 and Richard Palmer of Wokingham in said county esq. of the other 
 part. In consideration of £4,250 paid Rich* Harison gives grants & 
 confirms to Rich* Palmer his heirs Sz: assigns for ever All the manor 
 of Finchamstead orwise Finchamstead East Court with rights &c. 
 together with the advowson and presentation of & to the Rectory of 
 F. and also the capital mess, or manorhouse now or late in the tenure of 
 Peter Sparks gent. & [ ] Treherne widow or one of them &c. &c. 
 
 Mention is made of several leases in a schedule annexed and of 
 an annuity of £13. 6. 8 by the year payable out of the s* manor lands 
 to Sir Edward Ford knt. which are excepted. 
 
 [Signed] Richard Harison Dorothy Harison 
 Seal undecipherable Seal gone 
 
270 
 
 Chronicles of Finchampstead 
 
 APP. 
 
 This is 
 Add. Ch. 
 
 In schedule a Lease dated 26 Feb. i654[5] from Sir Richard 
 Harison knt. & Richard Harison his son to Wm. Clarke & Agnes his 
 wife of a parcel of meadow for 99 years if Wm. (Clarke) & Agnes & 
 Thomas Marsh brother of the said [Agnes] so long live. Rent 3J. 
 
 Mention is made of an Indre dated 10 Aug. of the same year by 
 w"** Richard Harison demised the Manor advowson &c. to Rich* 
 Palmer for six months from first of August. 
 
 N.B. — Within is a paper (seal of arms . . on fess 3 fleurs de lis) 
 receipt for £3,045 in full paym* of £4,250 purchase money, 15 Nov. 
 1 66 1. Ri. Harison. 
 
 ' From the 
 
 Court 
 
 Rolls 
 
 ee 
 
 Berks. -^■^. Hearth Tax, temp. Car. II. Finchampsted (after 1662) 
 
 No. of 
 hearths 
 
 7 
 8 
 8 
 8 
 7 
 5 
 3 
 2 
 
 4 
 3 
 3 
 3 
 3 
 (N.B. — The Hearth Tax was first introduced in England in 1662.) 
 
 George Tattershall esqr. (' West^ Court'), 
 
 Thos Bright gent. (' Cowdries ' ') 
 
 Peter Sparke gent. (' Manor ' House, Church Hill ') 
 
 John Merry gent. (' East ' House ') 
 
 Martin Eyston gent. 
 
 John Bannister (' Banisters ' ') 
 
 John Hynde .... 
 
 Richard Rither 
 
 Thos. Oliver (' Ferretts ' ' 
 
 Walter Layward 
 
 James Mathew 
 
 Nicholas Marston . 
 
 Edward Ellis 
 
 67 
 B. M. Add. Ch. 3861 1 
 
 A.D. 1700 Thomas Lord Wharton Barron of Wharton in the county of West- 
 
 moreland Warden Cheife Justice and Justice in Eyre of all his Majes- 
 ties Forrests Chaces Parks and Warrens on the South side of the Trent 
 To all and singular the officers and ministers of his Majesties Forrest 
 of Windsor in the county of Berks greeting. 
 
 Whereas Richard Aldworth Gent one of the Verderers of his 
 Majesties said Forrest of Windsor together with two of the Regarders 
 and underkeepers belonging to the same have certified me under their 
 
Appendix 271 
 
 hand that Charles Palmer of the Town of Alesbury in the county of APP. 
 Rucks Doctor of Physick hath twenty oaken Timber trees now stand- 
 ing and growing upon his own free land (East Court) in the Parish of 
 Finchamstead in the County of Berks in Begshot Walk in Fincham- 
 sted Bailywick within his Majesty's Forrest of Windsor and County 
 aforesaid which may be conveniently felled this season without any hurt 
 or prejudice to his Majesty's Deer or Vert in the said Forrest Know 
 yee therefore that the said Thomas Lord Wharton doe hereby give 
 & grant full power Lycense and authority imto the said Charles 
 Palmer or his assigns to fell cut down and carry away the said 20 
 oaken Trees growing upon the premises alwaies provided that the Vert 
 or Venison of the said Forrest receive no prejudice thereby and Pro- 
 vided also that this my Licence be brought to the next Court to be 
 holden for the said Forrest to be there enrolled amongst the Records 
 of the said Court Given under my hand and scale of my o ffice of 
 Chief Justice in Eyre aforesaid this 28 day of March A.D. 1700. 
 
 (Signed) T. Wharton. 
 
 68 
 
 38612 Brit. Mus. 
 
 Similar permission granted to Charles Palmer to cut two Coppices Dec. 14 
 of Underwood called Little Frith and Pye Hill Row, both containing ^■^- '7o8 
 12 acres, now growing upon his own Freehold Land in the Parish of 
 Finchamsted He taking great care for the due fencing thereof according 
 to the Assize of the Forrest Provided always that sufficient Trees be 
 left for standalls according to the Statutes in that case made and pro^- 
 vided. 
 
 69 
 
 38613 Brit. Mus. 
 
 Similar permission to cut 60 oaken Timber Trees. Charles Palmer May 1 1 
 described as of the Parish of Arberfield, in the *"• '7°9 
 
 70 
 
 NO. II OF MR. BANISTER SMITH'S DEEDS 
 
 Charter of Nicholas atte Halle of Fynchamstede granting to John a^d. 1361- 
 atte Haghe and Stephen atte Haghe of Fynchamsted all lands & 
 tenements which he had in Fynchamsted To have & to hold the same Latin 
 
272 Chronicles of Finchampstead 
 
 APP. to the said John & Stephen their heirs & assigns for ever of the 
 lords of the fees, &c. 
 
 Witnesses : — WILLIAM ATTE Hethe 
 Stephen Est 
 John Wilcous 
 Henry le White 
 Robert le Budel & others. 
 
 Dated at Fynchamstede on Monday next after the feast of Saint 
 Hilary, 35 Edw. 3 (17 January 1361-62). 
 
 71 
 No. 4 Licence granted by John viscount Mordaunt, Constable of the 
 
 Latin Honor and Castle of Windesore and Keeper of the Forest there, to 
 
 Charles Howard, that he may cut down & sell sixty oak-trees within 
 the manor of Finchamsted Westcourt in Windsor Forest, so that the 
 cutting down and carrying away of them be done at the fitting time, 
 and not in the close time or to the scaring of the deer there. Given 
 under seal 14 October, 18 Chas. 2. 
 
 72 
 Feet of Fines, Berkshire, Michaelmas, 3 Anne 
 
 A.D. 1704 Hec est finalis Concordia fca in Cur Dne Regine apud Westm a 
 
 die sci Martini in quindecim dies Anno Regnoi Anne Dei gra Angt 
 Scocie Franc T; Hifenie Regine fidei defenS Ic A Conqu 't'cio coram etc. 
 In? Jacobum Goodyer geh'osum que? et Carolum Howard Armigum 
 T; Henr Carolum Howard Armiglum deforc de MaSio de West 
 Court alias Finchamsted West Court cum ptin Ac de decem T; octo 
 Mesuagijs septem Cotagijs vno Molendino vno Columbar decem T; 
 octo gardinis decem pomaf quadringentis T. quindecim acris ?re qua- 
 draginta acris prati triginta T: vna acris pasture Centum septuaginta T. 
 octo acris bosci Mille acris Jampno^ "X bruere T; Coia pasture p omib} 
 av'ijs cum ptifl in Finchamsted Okingham Sandhurst T; Barkham Ac- 
 eciamde libapiscarinFinchamsted^dic? Necnon de Advocacoe ecciiede 
 Finchamsted vnde PJi?m Convencois sum fuit in? eos in eadem Cur Scilt 
 qd pdci Carolus T; Henr Carolus recogn ^dic! Manliu ten Coiam pasture 
 i. piscar cuin ptin Ac Advocacoem pdcam esse ius ipius Jacobi vt itt 
 que idem Jacobus ftet de dono pdco^ Caroli T; Henr Caroli Et iH remise? 
 4 quiefclarn de ipis Carolo T; Hen? Carolo l hered suis ^dco Jacobo 
 '\ hered suis imppm Et ^ea idem Carolus concepit p se T; hered suisqd 
 
Appendix 273 
 
 ipi waran? pdco Jacobo T; hered suis ^dca Man^iu tefi Coiam pasture T; APP. 
 
 ^iscar cum ptifi Ac Advocacoem pdcam Cont" f/dcm Carolum T; hered 
 
 suos imppm Et vllius idem Henf Carolus Concessit p se T; hered eius 
 qd ipi Waran? pdco Jacobo 1 hered suis pdca ManJiti ten coiam pasture 
 i; piscaf cum ptifi Ac Advocacoem pdcam Cont" pdcm Henr Carolum 
 1 hered suos imppm Et p hac recogfi remissione quielclain waran? fine 
 T; Concordia idem Jacobus dedit pdcis Carolo T; Henr Carolo octingentas 
 libf sterlingo^. 
 
 73 
 
 As there are no records in the ' Parish Chest ' showing the ancient 1728-86 
 names of the parish lands, the following names which have been 
 extracted from reliable deeds relating to the East Court Manor may 
 be interesting and useful to some of the parishioners. 
 
 Extract from a Deed of Settlement by Charles Fish- Palmer, ' the Elder ^ April 14, 
 of Luchley House, eldest son and heir of Henry Fish-Palmer, ' here- '7^^ 
 tofore of Finchampstead and late of Ickwell, Beds, and Elizabeth his 
 wife, both deceased', settling his estates on his eldest surviving son 
 {successively') 
 
 The East Court Manor was described as under, vizt. 
 
 The capital Messuage or Manor House (on Church Hill), and all 
 the several Closes or pieces of Land, Arable, Meadow, or Pasture, and 
 Moor Ground belonging thereto, heretofore or now in occupation of 
 John Alright or his under Tenants severally, known as under. 
 
 Barn Close Goose Acre 
 
 Church Hannus Peasedown 
 
 Bromfield The Barneses 
 
 Damson The Lord's Meadow 
 
 Deames The Lord's Moors, alias 
 Brickills Rushy Meads 
 
 Dozedales, alias Dodswells Short Moor 
 
 or Dosdwells Hatch-Mead 
 Containing together 15 Si acres 
 
 Also a Messuage or Tenement and Farm formerly known by name 
 of Groves, and formerly occupied by John Ellis and his under Tenants 
 or assigns, vizt. 
 
 T 
 
274 Chronicles of Finchampstead 
 
 APP. The Two Acres 
 
 Emmots or Emmonts The Pightle The . . . some 
 
 close 
 The Seven Acres The old orchards 
 
 Natts or Hutts Flats Four Acres of Arable land in 
 
 the ' Common Fields ' 
 Containing together 28 acres 
 A Messuage or Tenement called Coppyd Hall, occupied by James 
 Parker and his under Tenants 
 
 The Home Pightle 1 
 
 The Long Croft / «=°"tammg 12\ acres 
 
 Another Farm occupied by Peter Fry, g\ acres 
 A Messuage occupied by Anne Morris (widow) containing the 
 Home Close, the Great Close, the Hogshead Pightle =7^ acres. 
 A Messuage and Farm formerly occupied by Thomas Grove 
 The two Pightles The four Acres 
 
 Blackcroft The Moors 
 
 The Round Close The Cuttar Close 
 
 The little Mead The Pound Pightle 
 
 The Meadow by the River One Acre on the Common 
 
 Field 
 Containing together 37 acres 3 roods 
 A Messuage or Farm occupied by Benjamin Maynard 
 The Home Close The Pightle 
 
 The Wood Close The Coppice Close 
 
 Pirkett Croft The Black Croft 
 
 Pond Mead The Moors (formerly a 
 
 The Hill Grounds Pool of Water) 
 
 The lower Coppice Close The Upper Coppice Close 
 
 Containing together 46 acres 
 A Messuage and Farm occupied by John Bullock 
 The Stable Close The Coppice Close 
 
 The Inner Pightle The Bee Close 
 
 The Pond Pightle The Hatch Pightle 
 
 Containing together 10^ acres 
 A Farm called Salters, formerly occupied by John Martin Acres 
 The Mead, and Close, or Pightle, adjoining the Common called 
 
 Moor Green .... 12 
 
 A piece of Meadow ground adjoining ..... 8 
 1728 All the afore-mentioned lands, except the Manor, were settled as 
 
Appendix 275 
 
 a jointure on Elizabeth Fish-Palmer, deceased, wife of Henry Fish- app. 
 
 Palmer, deceased, by deed dated 12 & 13 Feb. 1728. 
 
 Acres 
 Also a Messuage and Farm of 4 Closes or Pightles in the Common 
 
 Fields 3^ 
 
 Also a Meadow in late Henry Fish-Palmer's occupation . . 4^ 
 Also a Messuage called Cowdries, alias Newhouse . . .16 
 Also Two Meadows, i.e. the Four Acre Mead .... 8 
 
 Piece of Moorland 5 
 
 All of which were formerly purchased by said Henry Fish-Palmer 
 of Bernard Eales, merchant of London. 
 
 Acres 
 Also a Coppice called the further West wood Coppice, abutting 
 upon the common fields of the Lea common upon the south- 
 west side . . . . . . . . . .35 
 
 Another called the Hither Westwood Coppice, abutting upon 
 the Common or Waste called the Westwood Common upon 
 the North, and on Lea Common on the South, and adjoining 
 to the aforesaid Coppice called the ' further Westwood 
 
 Copice ' on the West 5 
 
 Another Coppice called the ' Little Frith,' containing . .18 
 
 Another Coppice called ' Pye Hill Row ' 2 
 
 All of which 4 Coppices were formerly purchased by Humphrey 
 Fish-Palmer, Esq. Father of the said Henry Fish-Palmer, under the 
 Will of Doctor Palmer, and pursuant to a decree of the High Court of 
 Chancery directing the sale — all of which lands &c. are now in posses- 
 sion of the said Charles Fysh-Palmer. 
 
 Then follows a detail of the ' Luckley House ' Estate, formerly 
 occupied by Charles, late Duke of St. Albans, and afterwards by said 
 Henry Fysh-Palmer. 
 
 Also of a Farm called Hagvill, alias Bolsingham farm, formerly 
 occupied by said John Martin, &c. &c. &c. 
 
 74 
 
 CHURCH TERRIERS, A.D. 1608-1783. 
 
 Extracted from the Registry of the Lord Bishop of Salisbury. 
 
 FiNCHAMPSTEAD, 1608. 
 
 Primo Januarii Anno Sexto Regis Jacobi. 
 
 We certify that the PSonage house, orchard, and tenn several 
 
 closes or pcells of ground contayning about fortie and five acres w""" 
 
 T 2 
 
276 Cfironicles of Finchampstead 
 
 APP. abutteth upon the Highe waye leading from Blackwater Bridge 
 
 towards Ockingham on the South pte and all the residue of the 
 
 said closes boundeth upon the groundes of the Estcourt Manno' on 
 the North West parte the Meadowe containing vii acres boundeth 
 upon a Meade called White's Meade on the South West and a Moor 
 called Westmoore on the South Est parte and the Doune Close con- 
 tayning Ten Acres abutteth upon the Littell Acre on the North 
 parte and the land of Richard Greeneawaies on the South parte and 
 the land of the Est Court Manner on the West parte all which is in 
 the Psons possession and all other duties belonging to the Psonage is 
 gathered by the PSon as Witnesseth 
 
 Samuel Marshe, Prion. 
 FFRANCIS POLLEY [ his mark 
 Edward Ellis J his mark ■ Churchwardens. 
 William Clarke 
 Humeri Tailor i „. , 
 
 Thomas Ridgwaye \Sidemen. 
 
 75 
 A TERRIER OF \illegible\ 
 Belonging to the Parsonage of Finchamsted. 
 Finchampstead 1638. 
 
 Acres. 
 
 In primis the Parsonage House, Orchards, Gardens and 
 
 backside contayneth by estimacon ..... i 
 
 Item, the Furzen close and the Well close buttinge upon the 
 
 Comon containing by estimacon ..... x 
 
 Item, the two closes called the Cowleze, and butteth upon the 
 land of Sir Richard Harrison, Knight (East Court), con- 
 taynying by estimacon ....... x 
 
 Item, two closes called the Longcrofts and two Coppices ad- 
 ioyning to them, butting upon a Coppice called the Littell 
 Frith and a ground called Churchams, contayning by 
 estimation ... . . . . . . . . xviii 
 
 Item, a close called the Culver close with a Coppice thereto 
 adioynyng, butting upon the groundes called Brickills and 
 Dozells, contaynyng by estimation vi 
 
 Item, a ground called the Downe, buttinge [illegible] grounde 
 
 called Gammons, conteynyng by estimation . . . xi 
 
Appendix 277 
 
 Acres APP. 
 
 Item a Meadowe buttinge upon Westmore, conteynyng by 
 
 estimation .......... vii 
 
 [Illegible] grounde called the [illegible]. 
 
 Summa Totalis Ixii ackers. 
 Witnesseth Samuele Marshe, Rector. 
 John Grove \ 
 
 his I — 1 mks r Churchwardens 
 
 William Webb ) 
 Nicholas Watts 1 „ . , 
 Thomas RidgwayP'^"''^^'^- 
 
 76 
 TERRIER, A.D. 1783 
 
 A Terrier or Survey of the Parsonage or Rectory of Finchamstead in 
 the County of Berks, taken by the appointment of and to be delivered 
 to the Register of the Honourable and Right Reverend Shute, Lord 
 Bishop of Sarum, at his Primary Visitation to be held at Reading 
 the 2ist day offuly 1783. 
 
 Imprimis. One Tiled House containing three Parlours, a kitchen, Rectory 
 Servants' Hall, Brewhouse, the largest Parlour 17 feet square stucco'd, ^°"^^ 
 another 16 feet by — paper'd, the other 13 feet by 12 wainscotted, the 
 rooms over each of them are of the same dimensions and paper'd, 
 the other two wainscotted, detached from the House are two 
 Pantries and a Dairy built with brick and tiled. 
 
 Item, one Barn with a Coach House at the end, in length 64 feet, Farm 
 in breadth 26 ft. buildings 
 
 Item, one other Barn with a Cow Stall under the same roof, in 
 length 50 ft., in breadth 30 ft. 
 
 Item, one other Barn with a Stable at the end of it, in length, 70 Stables 
 ft., in Breadth 18 ft. ^^^°^^^ 
 
 Item, one Wood House with a little Stable at the end, in length 
 28 ft, in Breadth 1 3 ft. These Buildings are all boarded & thatched. 
 
 Item, one other Stable, in length 20 ft., in Breadth 18 ft, built 
 with Bricks and thatched. 
 
 Item, one Garden containing about one acre of ground fenced with Garden 
 a brick wall on the north side, a brick wall and one side of the 
 House on the East, with a Hedge both on the South and West 
 
 Item, the Glebe Lands, which with their measurement are as oiebe 
 follows, vizt '""'^^ 
 
278 
 
 Chronicles of Finchampstead 
 
 APP, 
 
 Doswells 
 Field 
 
 Highway 
 leading to 
 the church 
 
 Glebe 
 land 
 
 Tithes 
 in kind 
 
 Tithes on 
 produce 
 
 Acres 
 
 s 
 
 5i 
 
 i. 
 
 6| 
 9 
 
 71 
 7\ 
 
 4 
 
 5i 
 \ 
 4 
 
 Wall Close containing 
 
 Meadow Hill Close (Arable) 
 
 Hill Close Shaw (Underwood) . 
 
 Culver Close (Arable) 
 
 Lower Long Croft ( „ ) 
 
 Upper Long Croft ( „ ) 
 
 Great Cowleyes ( » ) 
 
 Great Cowleyes Shaw (Underwood) 
 
 Little Cowleyes (Arable) . 
 
 Little Cowleyes Shaw (Underwood) 
 
 Upper Long Croft Coppice ( „ ) 
 
 The above inclosures lie contiguous to each other, and are 
 bounded on the South in part by the Common, in part by 
 some small inclosures belonging to William Deacon, and in 
 part by some Lands belonging to Henry Fish Palmer, Esq. 
 called Barno's, on the West by Lands of Mr. Palmer's called 
 Doswells, on the North by Lands of the said Mr. Palmer's 
 called Brickells and the Little Fryth Coppice, on the East 
 by Lands of Mr. Palmer called Barn Close, and in part by 
 the Highway leading to the Church. There are also two 
 other enclosures that lie at a distance from the House, one 
 called the Down, containing (Arable) ..... 
 
 bounded on the South and East by Lands belonging to John 
 Goodchild, on the North by Lands belonging to the Rev. 
 Ellis St. John, called the Gut, and on the West by Lands of 
 Mr. Palmer's, called Leasedown Shaw. 
 
 The other is called the Parsonage Meadow and contains . 
 
 is bounded on the South by the River, on the East by a 
 Moor called West Moor in the Parish of Sandhurst, on the 
 North by Lands belonging to the Rev. Mr. Moseley, the Rev. 
 Ellis St. John, jnr., and Francis Burrows, on the West by a 
 Meadow belonging to John Gale, of Yateley in the County of 
 Southton, called Ware Meadow, next to which is the only 
 Meadow in the Parish of Finchampstead that pays Tythe in 
 kind, called Moulsom Meadow. Total acres 
 
 Item, belonging to the said Rectory are Tythes in kind of all sorts 
 
 of Grain, of Wool, Lambs, Piggs, Geese, Wood, Honey, Apples, and 
 
 all other Fruits, and of Fish kept in Ponds. 
 
 Item, for the milk of a Cow 4^, for every Calf 4^, for every 
 
 10^ 
 
 7i 
 
 1o\ 
 
Appendix 279 
 
 furniture 
 
 sucking Colt 6(f, for the Tythe of an acre of Meadow \d, for an acre APP. 
 of Upland Grass if mowed 2d. 
 
 For marrying with Banns 5 shillings, and Licence \os ; for publish- Rector's 
 ing the Banns 2s 6d, for Churching a Woman 6d. ^^^^ 
 
 Item, there are two little Houses in the Churchyard and one Parish 
 other on the Common that are to be given to some poor People by ^ ™^^g 
 the Rector, to be kept in repair by the Parish. The Churchyard poor 
 contains rather more than a quarter of an acre, and is fenced round Church- 
 by the Parish. 
 
 There is also for the Parish Clerk for every Family 4</ yearly, for Clerk's 
 every Wedding by publication 2s 6d, by Licence $s ; for making a ^^^' 
 grave and tolling the Bell 2s 6d. 
 
 Within and belonging to the Church are one Communion Table Church 
 with a covering of green cloth, one Linen Cloth with two Napkins, 
 one Pewter Flagon, one Silver Chalice, and one Silver Paten, two 
 Chests with two Locks, one Pulpit and Reading Desk, three Bells 
 with Frames, but one cracked and useless, two Surplices. 
 
 In testimony of the truth of the above particulars we, the Minister, 
 Churchwardens and principle inhabitants have set our hands this 
 Twentieth day of July 1783. 
 
 E. St. John, Jnr., Minister. 
 
 John Banister ) ^7 7 j 
 
 CORNELIUS BARTLETTj^^^''^'^"'^''^^'^^- 
 
 Wm. Chase. 
 Edward Baily. 
 Richard Goodchild. 
 
 James Maynse. 
 William Hilton. 
 
 Taken from the original Terriers and examined therewith. — 
 D. J. K. Macdonald, Deputy Registrar, Diocesan Registry, Salisbury, 
 23 March, 1891. 
 
 77 
 The Rectory.— The Glebe Lands in 1844. 
 
 Names of the several pieces of land constituting the Glebe. The 
 numbers refer to their position on the Tithe Map. 
 
 A. R. P. 
 
 No. 357 The Slip * 
 
 „ 449 Brick Kiln .... 19 i 16 
 
28o 
 
 Chronicles of Finchampstead 
 
 APP. 
 
 N 
 
 A 
 
 o. 450 Hill Dorsells 
 
 , 45 1 Well Dorsells . 
 
 , 452 Hill Dorsells 
 
 , 453 Hill Ground 
 
 , 455 Bottom of Hill Ground 
 
 , 456 Great Wall Close 
 
 , 457 Homestead 
 
 , 458 Rickyard . 
 
 , 459 Orchard . 
 
 , 660 Culver Close 
 
 , 461 Long Croft 
 
 , 466 Lower Cowley . 
 
 , 358 Hill Ground Shaw . 
 
 , 454 Ditto 
 
 , 467 Cowley's Shaw . 
 
 , 362 The Seven Acres 
 
 , 368 Agates Field . 
 
 , 369 Agates Meadow 
 
 , 371 Dorsells . 
 
 , 372 Brick Kiln 
 
 dd for above * . . . . 
 
 
 A. 
 
 6 
 
 R. P. 
 
 2 2 
 
 
 5 
 6 
 
 2 I 
 2 15 
 
 
 4 
 
 2 30 
 
 * 
 
 
 5 
 
 I 37 
 I 14 
 
 * 
 
 I II 
 
 
 6 
 6 
 
 2 35 
 8 
 
 
 5 
 
 3 31 
 
 
 ■ 2 
 
 27 
 
 Underwood 
 in 1 841 
 
 '23 
 
 I 15. 
 
 Rented by 
 
 George 
 
 Goddard 
 
 91 
 6 
 
 2 
 24 
 
 
 99 
 
 26 
 
 
 No Terrier of the Church property or of the Glebe exists in the 
 parish archives. The above statement is derived from the Tithe 
 Award in 1844, and which was made before the present Rectory 
 House was built, since which time the grounds have been differently 
 laid out. 
 
 The Glebe consisted of — 
 
 A. R. P. 
 
 81 33 Arable 
 
 14 2 II Meadow or Pasture 
 
 2 o 27 Underwood 
 
 I 14 Homestead 
 
 III Garden &c. 
 
 Total 
 
 99 o 26 
 
Appendix 
 
 281 
 
 API'. 
 
 FiNCHAMSTEEDE 
 
 West Court 
 
 Item 
 
 78 
 
 Anno Domini 1623 
 
 A New Rent- Row le drawen out of Atmcient 
 Recordes in the xxj'' yeere of his Ma''" 
 Raigne &c. for the whole yeers rent of 
 the Free Sutors 
 
 Imprimis S'' Richard HARisoNk*for a messuage and] 
 Threscore Acres of land by estimation called Win- 1 
 bushes in y" tenure & occupation of Richard Feilder j 
 
 2 More of him for a Tenem* called Russels by estimation] 
 
 Sixteene Acres now in y" tenure & occupation of I 
 Edward Ellis J 
 
 3 More of him for a parsell of Meadowe called Craswells] 
 
 Meade by estimation Eight acres now in ^the tenure \ 
 & occupation of Humphrey Fernell J 
 
 4 Item Thomas La ward gent, for parsell of Hall\ 
 
 Howse land Conteyneing by estimation Fortye Acres 
 now in the tenure & occupation of the said Thomas 
 Laward gent, and an incrochtment 
 
 5 More of him for Grantes ..... 
 
 6 More of him for a tenem* called Westinhames 
 
 7 More of him for a parsell of land called Heathes . 
 
 8 Item of John Blyth gent, for a Messuage or tenem* 
 
 Called East howse conteyning by estimation Thre- 
 score Acres. now in the tenure or occupation of thef 
 said John Blyth gent. i 
 
 9 More of him for Hall Howse land Conteyninge by| 
 
 estimation Twenty Acres ) 
 
 10 Item of John Kinge for one parsell of land w*** a 
 
 tenem* belonging thereunto some tymes being parsell 
 of Faviresbeyes being by estimation Twenty Acres 
 now in the occupation of John Smith & Widow 
 Elkines 
 
 11 Item of Richard Olyver for a messuage Called] 
 
 Homes by estimation Twelve Acres now in the^ 
 tenure or occupation of the said Richard Olyver ) 
 
 o 10 o 
 
 038 
 
 o 
 I 
 
 2 
 o 
 
 3 
 6 
 
 4 
 9 
 
 5 o 
 
282 
 
 Chronicles of Finchampstead 
 
 APP. 
 
 12 Item of Richard Powell gent, for a messuage or ^ 
 
 Tenem* Called Barbers Conteyning by estimation 
 Thirty Acres now in the tenure or occupation of 
 John Powell > 
 
 13 Item of John Hatryll in the wright of Katherine 
 
 his wife Conteyning by estimation Twenty Acres 
 Called Rayners now in the tenure or occupation of 
 James Fernill 
 
 14 Item of Widdow James for a Messuage or Tenem* 
 
 Called Writhlockes alias Goffes Conteyninge by esti- 
 mation Sixteene Acres now in the tenure of the said 
 Ursula James widdow 
 
 1 5 Item of Thomas Thackham for a messuage or Tenem* 
 
 Called Sparowes Conteyning by estimation Tenn 
 Acres now in y® tenure or occupation of Will™ Clark, 
 
 16 Item of the heyres of Humphrey La ward for a mes- 
 
 suage or tenem* Called Heathes by estimation Tenn 
 Acres now in the tenure of Widdow Silver 
 
 17 Item of Huatt gent, for a parsell of land Called) 
 
 Goffes brooklandes by estimation Six Acres now in 
 y* tenure of the said Huatt 
 
 1 8 Item of John Ball for a messuage or tenem* Called 
 
 the Bath by estimation Eight Acres now in the 
 tenure or occupation of Edward Evered 
 
 19 Item of William Holla wave gent, for one parsell of 
 
 land Called Tanners by estimation Tenn Acres now 
 in y^ tenure of Edward Ellis 
 More for an Incrochment ..... 
 
 20 Item of William Greener for a messuage or tenem* 
 
 Called Barnardes by estimation Eight Acres now in 
 the tenure of Salomon Sargant 
 
 21 More of the said WiLLIAM GREENER for one Cops or 
 
 parcell of Wood ground being parsell of Tanners in 
 the tenure or occupation of the said Salomon 
 
 22 Item of William Barratt for a parsell of land Called] 
 
 Brooklandes being by estimation Thirtene Acres now [ 
 in the tenure of the said Barratt j 
 
 23 More of the said WILLIAM Barratt for parsell of 
 
 another Brooklandes purchased of Thomas James 
 now in the occupation of the said William Barratt ; 
 
 li. s. d. 
 040 
 
 •050 
 
 ■050 
 
 022 
 009 
 028 
 
 o I 8 
 
 008 
 008 
 008 
 
 002 
 
 042 
 
 004 
 
Appendix 
 
 283 
 
 24 Item of William Tayler for Barne Moore (or meade) 
 
 by estimation Six Acres now in the tenure or occu- 
 pation of the said William Tayler 
 
 25 Item of William Batt for one parsell of land Called 
 
 Biddies by estimation Foure Acres holden as in the 
 right of his wife now in the tenure or occupation of 
 John Rither j 
 
 26 Item of Joane Tanner widdow for a tenem* Called 
 
 Homes alias Tanners by estimation Three Acres now 
 in y* tenure of the said Joane Tanner 
 
 27 More of the said JOANE TANNER for one parsell of land 
 
 called Emmerix now in the tenure of the said Joane 
 Tanner 
 
 28 Item of the heires of Christopher Laward for a 
 
 Cottage 
 
 29 Item of Dorothie Tyckner for one parsell of land 
 
 called Picled Croft now in the tenure or occupation 
 
 of Thomas Wise gent. 
 
 havinge ben parcell of Brooklands aforesaid 
 
 30 Item [of] Humphrey Firnell for one parsell of land 
 
 Called Church hames Piddle by estimation Twoo 
 Acres in the Tenure of the said Humphrey being 
 parsell of Hall Howse land the Rent 
 
 3 1 More of the said HUMPHREY for a parsell of Hall Howse 
 
 land Called Gam hames by estimation Eight Acres 
 in the tenure of the said Humphrey the Rent 
 
 32 [Item of] John Ellis for Northlands parcell of Hall] 
 
 House land I 
 
 33 Item of Henry Hinde for Two parsells of Meadow \ 
 
 being of Hall House the one Called Weare meade 
 and thother Called the Little meade by estimation 
 Five Acres now in the tenure of the said Henry 
 Hinde the yerelie rent 
 
 34 More of him for Three parsells of meadowes being of 
 
 Hall Howse likewise the One Called Ludge meade 
 by estimation Five Acres the other Called Broad 
 meade Conteyning Eight Acres the other Called the 
 Three Acre now in the tenure of the said Henry the 
 Rent 
 
 H, 
 
 APP. 
 
 O 
 O 
 O 
 
 4 
 8 
 
 008 
 
 I 10 
 
284 
 
 Chronicles of Finchampstead 
 
 APP. 
 
 35 Item of Christian Eames Widdow for j meadow- 
 
 Called Heithers parsell of Hall Howse land by esti- 
 mation Three Acres now in the tenure of the said 
 Christian Eames the yerelie rent 
 
 36 Item of Stephen Hollowaie for one messuage or 
 
 Tenem' and one Croft being parsell of Tanners by 
 estimation Tenn Acres now in the tenure or occupa- 
 tion of the said Stephen the rent > 
 
 37 Item of Thomas Banister for his land called the 
 
 Forberry at Midsomer only 
 
 The rent of the Frehoulders is ' . 
 
 The rents of Coppie and Lease houlders are 
 
 009 
 
 o o 
 
 
 
 I 
 
 and a 
 
 red 
 
 rose 
 
 
 4 3 
 
 I 
 
 II 3 
 
 
 
 Finchampsteede 
 West Court 
 
 79 
 Anno Domini 1623 
 
 A New Rent-Rowle drawen out of Auncient 
 Recordes in the xxf" yeare of his Ma''^ 
 Raigne &c. for the whole yeeres rent 
 of the Customary Tenantes, 
 
 u. s. d. 
 Imprimis of John Geale for a lease hold called Kembers) 
 
 and Kewes j 
 
 Item of Thomas Yates gent, for a lease hold called Longei 
 
 moore howse J 
 
 Item of Thomas La ward gent, for a Coppie hold tenem*) 
 
 called Long howse J 
 
 Item of John Byrde for his Coppie hold tenement . 
 Item of Francis Mathew for his Coppie hold called] 
 
 Fremans J ' 
 
 Item of William Mathew for a Coppie hold called Gybes o 
 Item of Nycholas Ryther for a lease hold Called Fearne 
 
 hills 
 Item of Danyell Lane for his lease hold of the Myll & 
 
 the ground thereunto adjoyneinge and for the fishing 
 Item of John Smeth for his lease hold of Shrimptons .050 
 
 ' First written 4/. 4^. dd. ; which figures appear below under ' Free houlders, 
 but seemingly altered to 4/. 3^. id. 
 
 I 10 2 
 
 7 
 
 o IS 8 
 o II 8 
 
 o o 
 
 10 o 
 
 o 10 o 
 
 6 
 
Appendix 
 
 285 
 
 u. 
 
 More of him for his Coppie hold o 
 
 More of him for the Cottage called Turners . . . .0 
 Item of John Curtis for his Coppie hold called RawHnes i 
 More of him alsoe for certaine land in the Great Accre by) 
 
 lease 
 
 
 Item of Robeart Eames for his Coppie hold 
 
 Item of Richard Grenewaye for his Coppie hold . 
 
 Item of William Tayler for his Coppie hold . 
 
 Item of Richard Fernell for his Cottage 
 
 Item of S"" Richard H ARISON k' for his piddle not demised 
 
 Item of William Mathew for his Cottage 
 
 Item of y" Widdow Netherclift for her Coppie hold 
 
 . . . leton for the mill close ...... 
 
 Item of Thomas La ward gent, for ij parsells of land at\ 
 the will of y^ lord latelie enclosed, the one the third 
 part of an acre & thother thirty foote in length & tenn 
 foote in breadth 
 
 Item of Martin for his lease hold nowe in the occu- 
 
 pation of John Phelp 
 
 Lease houlders and coppie houlders 
 Free houlders .... 
 In all by the yeare . 
 
 Item of Humphrie Venell for Crabs (.') meade 
 Item of John James for his tenement 
 
 Whole rent of coppie and lease ' 
 
 5 
 2 
 
 3 
 I 
 
 6 
 
 3 
 6 
 2 
 
 
 2 
 
 16 
 2 
 
 d. 
 o 
 o 
 4 
 
 8 
 
 4 
 8 
 o 
 8 
 o 
 o 
 o 
 
 one bushell 
 of pipens 
 and a cople 
 of capons 
 
 6 8 
 
 II 
 4 
 
 7 
 4 
 
 IS II 7 
 
 o 
 o 
 
 APP. 
 
 80 
 
 East Court Manor Court Rolls, 1602 to 1727 
 
 B. M. Add. Roll 38598 
 
 Rentes due out of the mannor of Finchampsted 
 
 A.D. 1602 East Courte & halfe yeerly to be paide 
 
 viz. at 0^ Ladie daye & at Michett A" 1602 
 
 Ladye daye MicheH 
 
 Imprimis M"" Anthonye Bartlett fori 
 three mesuages > 
 
 Richard Soane for nutclose . . . nij" 
 
 > The figures are confused and indistinct here, but the total (after several 
 items not intelligible) seems to come out 16/. J7j. M. 
 
 
 1J» V" 
 
286 
 
 Chronicles of Finchampstead 
 
 APP. 
 
 James Readinge for his freeholde 
 
 HUMFREY Laward for Knightes . 
 
 Tho. Laward for Hawes 
 
 Tho. Laward for Whitesfarme . 
 
 Thomas Lawarde for Wilkes 
 
 John Smyth for blick 
 
 Harrye Giles for Smiths & ashers 
 
 Widowe PEVERELLfora tentof M'Lawardes) 
 
 called Cherries I 
 
 Richard Oliver .... 
 William Rodderd 
 Walter Godard for hangers ford 
 Humphrye Tailor 
 Nicholas Tailor .... 
 Jhon Woodes for Landes sometimes Mr.j 
 
 Titchborns ' 
 
 Richard Underwood 
 
 M' George Bullocke & M"" Standen fori 
 
 Whites J 
 
 Jhon Tailor for Cowdreis . 
 Richard Laward for his tent 
 More of him for Vavesbyes plotte . 
 
 M' BOOTHE 
 
 Thomas Ridwaye for Moore howse 
 More of him for Philps & gaston coppice 
 Richard Hollow aye for one acre in the) 
 
 great Ackree i 
 
 George Buckle . 
 More of him . 
 Edward Feilder 
 Francis Polley . 
 More of him for Alder more 
 Richard Cane for Homes 
 Nicholas Liforde 
 More of him for Vawesbyes plotte in borsey) 
 
 meade J 
 
 William Bardner for Cophed hall 
 
 Ladye daye 
 
 iij" 
 
 iiij" iiij"* 
 
 ij-* 
 
 vj' viij"* 
 
 Michett 
 
 [not filled in] 
 iij' iiij* 
 
 viij* ob 
 vij* ofe 
 
 ;d 
 
 vuj 
 
 ijs vj* 
 
 viij' 
 
 V' 
 
 xx' 
 
 v» 
 
 [blank] 
 iij^ iiij* 
 
 iij' iiij* 
 v» 
 
Appendix 
 
 287 
 
 Ladye daye 
 xiij' iiij'* 
 
 X' 
 
 xviij'* 
 xvij' 
 
 xxiij* 
 
 Mlchett APP. 
 
 X11J = 
 
 xxxiij' 
 
 111J° 
 
 ' iiij* 
 iiij* 
 
 iiij' 
 
 George Anton for Caddies piddells this] 
 
 tent antiently called halles J 
 
 Bartholmewe Earley .... 
 More of him for the Piddell Joyninge on the] 
 
 Lane ) 
 JHON HiNDE 
 
 in man dni Creswell's Meade 
 
 Richard Grove 
 
 jHON Pither for Vawsbies .... 
 More of him for his Free holde by the Fleete 1 
 
 side J 
 
 Edwarde Ellis 
 
 More of him for Reignolds close 
 
 More of him for Reignolds coppice & the) 
 
 lesser coppice j 
 
 jHON Cooper 
 William Jeames . 
 Nicholas Tailor for Ferretts 
 Katheren Michell widoe . 
 Anthony Michell 
 William Clarke . 
 Jhon Clarke 
 
 J HON Feilder for the Bathe . 
 Thomas Thackham 
 
 ROBERTE AlLOFFE 
 
 Jhon Oliver 
 Andro Shrimpton 
 
 [blank] for the 
 
 Frithe ponds 
 
 10/. 14?. gd. 
 
 Receaved of Nicholas Taylor for the rent of Finchamsted East 
 court for our lady day 1603 the Summ of nine pound seventeen shil- 
 lings three pens. And for Michelmas following the summ of tenne 
 pound, tenn shillings, tenn penns and more for poundpens two shil- 
 lings whereof there was allowed him to pay M''^ Tichborne twenty 
 nobles, at our lady day. And for Michelmas allowed as much more. 
 Received of Nicholas Tailor the first of July 1604 for o' ladie dales 
 rent last past (^ 10' i'^ of that allowed hime that hee had paid M' 
 Stichbofne for his rent 6* 13' 4^ 
 
 xnj' nij° 
 xiij' iiij'' 
 
 iij^ 
 vj"" 
 
 XX" 
 
 XV" 
 
 howse at thei 
 
288 
 
 Chronicles of Finchampstead 
 
 APP. 
 
 1607 
 
 81 
 B. M. Add. Ch. 38599. 
 
 Rents due out of the Manor of Finc¥ East Court and 
 Half-yearly to be paid at Lady Day and Michaelmas 1607. 
 
 Imprimis Mr. Anthony Bartlett for 3 Messuage 2s. ^d. 
 
 Richard Soane for Nuttclose 
 Richard Pyther for his freeholde 
 HUMFRY Laward for Knyghtes 
 Tho. Laward for Hawes 
 Tho. Laward for Whites Farm 
 John Smyth for blick . 
 Thos. Saward for Wilkes . 
 „ „ for Cherries . 
 
 Richard Oliver 
 Walter Goddard 
 
 „ „ for Hangers forde 
 
 More of him for . 
 Humphrey Taylor . 
 Nicholas Taylor 
 Richard Underwood 
 William Woode for landes sometimes Mrs. Tichborne' 
 Mr. William Standen for Whites . 
 John Taylor for Cowdries 
 Richard Laward for his Tenem*^ 
 More of him for Vawsbies plott in borsey meade 
 Mr. Charles Boothe .... 
 Thomas Ridwaye for Moore House . 
 More of him for Pilps and Gaston Coppice . 
 Richard Holloway for one acre in the greate Acree 
 George Buckle 
 More of him .... 
 Edward Feilder 
 Francis Polly . 
 More of him for Alder Moor 
 Richard Cane for Homes . 
 Nicholas Lyforde . 
 
 More of him for Vawsbies plott in borsey meade 
 William Bardnar for Cophed hall . 
 
 UIJ 
 
 iij' 
 iiij 
 
 id 
 
 nij" 
 
 vj' vnj" 
 iiij' iiij'^ 
 
 I'd 
 
 Vllj" 
 
 vij"* ofe 
 viij* 
 
 d 
 
 vj" 
 
 s X' 
 ij= 
 
 Xljd 
 
 iij' iiij'' 
 viij' 
 
 V' 
 
 ij-i 
 
 iij' 
 
 V' 
 
 nj" 
 iiij^ 
 
Appendix 
 
 289 
 
 George Anton for Caddies Piddles . 
 Bartholomewe Erley . . . . ' 
 More of him for the Piddles joining on the Lane 
 John Hynde for Monks .... 
 
 William Webbe 
 
 John Pither for Vawsbies 
 
 More of him for his freehold by the Fleet side 
 
 Edward Ellis 
 
 More of him for Reignold's close . 
 
 „ „ „ Copice and Lesser 
 
 John Cooper 
 
 William Jeames .... 
 Robert Hall for Ferretts .... 
 Katharen Mitchell Widow . 
 
 William Clarke 
 
 John Clarke 
 
 John Feilder for the Bathe 
 
 Thos. Thackham 
 
 Robert Ailiffe 
 
 John Oliver 
 
 AUNDREW SHRIMPTQN .... 
 Nicholas May for House at the Frithponds 
 
 Cop: 
 
 )ice, 
 
 xnj' uij" 
 x= 
 
 xviij'' 
 xvij^ 
 
 xxiij* 
 iiij'i 
 
 xiij' iiij'^ 
 xxxiij' iiij'' 
 iiij^ 
 xiij' iiij* 
 
 ijs jd 
 
 xiij' iiij* 
 
 ij* 
 iij* 
 
 iij* 
 
 vj* 
 
 xv^ 
 x» 
 
 APP. 
 
 [Copy] 
 A.D. 161 5. 
 
 82 
 
 B. M. Add. Ch. 38602 
 A roll of two paper leaves. 
 
 Quit rents due out of the mannor of 
 Finchamstead this Co'''' at o'^ladye daye 
 
 Imprimis of Mr. Thomas La ward for three Messuages o 
 
 Of him more for Haus 
 
 Of him more for Whites Farme . 
 
 Of him more for Wilkes 
 
 Of him more for cherries 
 
 Of Mr. HUMFREY La ward for Knightes 
 
 Of Richard Maynard for Nutteclose 
 
 Of Richard Rither for his Freehold landes 
 
 Of Richard Smith for Bleeks . 
 
 1615 
 
 I. 
 
 9. 
 
 a. 
 
 
 
 
 2 
 
 2 
 
 Free- 
 
 
 
 
 
 5 
 
 holders 
 
 
 
 
 
 2 
 
 
 
 
 6 
 
 8 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 6 
 
 
 
 
 4 
 
 4 
 
 (b) 
 
 
 
 
 
 4 
 
 
 
 
 3 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 I 
 
 (a) 
 
 u 
 
290 Chronicles of Finchampstead 
 
 APP ^' 
 
 1 Of Richard Oliver o 
 
 (c) Of Walter Goddard o 
 
 Of him more for Hangers ford o 
 
 Of HuMFREY Taylor o 
 
 Of Nicholas Taylor o 
 
 Of Richard Underwood o 
 
 Of William Woods for land somtimes Mr. Tuch- 
 
 bornes ......... o 
 
 Of Mr. Standen for Whites o 
 
 Of Mr. Marsh for Cowdries o 
 
 Of Mr. Powle for his Tenem' bought of Tho. & Hum : 
 
 Laward ........ o 
 
 Of Mr. Charles Boothe o 
 
 Of Richard Halloway for j acre of land in the 
 
 greate acre ........ o 
 
 (<5) Of William Rither for Lathers . . . . o 
 
 Of Francis Polly for his house and land . . . o 
 
 Of him more for Alder moore o 
 
 Of Henrve Hinde for his Freehold lands . . o 
 
 Of the Widdow Webb o 
 
 Of John Rither for his house & lands vocat' Vaus- 
 
 bies ......... o 
 
 Of Richard Rither for his Freehold lands . . o 
 Of Will'm James for his house & lands vocat' James 
 
 cross ......... o 
 
 Of Catherin Michell widdow for her freehold lands o 
 Of Will'm Clearke for a close of freehold land called 
 
 Stony close . . . . . . . .003 
 
 Of John Clearke for a close of freehold land called 
 
 Hethy close . . . . . . . .003 
 
 Of John Feelder for freeland called the Bathe . 006 
 
 Of Thomas Thackham for freeland called [blank] . o o o ofe 
 Of John Rither the yonger for his house & freehold 
 
 called . 002 
 
 Of Tho. Ridwaye for his Lease lands called Moore 
 
 house . . . . . . . . .080 
 
 Of Edward Feelder for his house & lands held by 
 
 lease 118 
 
 Of Richard Caine for house & land held by lease 
 
 called Homes . . . . , . ,068 
 
 *. 
 
 d. 
 
 3 
 
 3 
 
 
 
 I 
 
 
 
 I 
 
 
 
 8 ob 
 
 
 
 7 ob 
 
 
 
 8 
 
 
 
 10 
 
 2 
 
 6 
 
 5 
 
 
 
 I 
 
 
 
 
 
 2 
 
 
 
 2 
 
 
 
 3 
 
 5 
 
 
 
 
 
 I 
 
 17 
 
 
 
 
 
 ob 
 
 I 
 
 II 
 
 
 
 4 
 
 2 
 
 I 
 
 
 
 2 
 
Appendix 291 
 
 APP. 
 
 10 
 
 
 
 (0 
 
 I 
 
 6 
 
 (g) 
 
 13 
 
 4 
 
 
 Of NiCH. Lyford for his house & land held by lease 034 
 
 Of George Anton for his house & Cadis piddle held («) 
 
 by lease 0134 
 
 Of Tho : Holla WAVE for his house & land held by 
 lease ......... 
 
 Of him more for a piddle of land by his orchard 
 
 Of Edw : Ellis for his house & lands held by lease . 
 
 Of the Widdow CoOPER for hir house & land held by 
 
 lease 0134 
 
 Of Rob't Hall for his house & land held by lease 
 
 called Frettes ' o 13 4 
 
 The true some is . . . . .854 
 Out of w'='' taken for Mr. TUCHBORNE 6' 13^ 4* & so ther will re- 
 maine unto me the some of 1' 12'. 
 
 Another leaf (paper) shows the above given names with some 38602 
 alterations, as follows [supposed the following half-year] : 
 Of Mr. Thomas La ward the yonger for Knights 
 Of Turner ^ for Bleeks .... 
 
 Of James Goddard 
 
 Of Widow Bartlett for Lathers .... 
 Of Nicholas Liford for his house and Land held by 
 
 lease 
 
 Line struck out. 
 Line struck out. 
 
 At foot the following : 
 The trew sum of all is 
 
 Out of w* take for Mr. TuCHBORNE .... 
 And so there will remaine to me the sum of 
 
 83 
 Anno Domini 1630. 
 
 Presentments of the Homage at the Court Baron of Fine h- 
 ampstead East Court, October VIIII.*^ 1630. 
 
 I Imprimis we present that William Webb dyed since the last 
 Court seized of a Tenement & Land 3 acres & that his son W« 
 
 • Written ' Ferrets ' in accompanying paper and in other rolls. 
 'First written Tohn Smith— pen struck through and Turner written over. 
 
 u 2 
 
 
 (a) 
 
 
 (b) 
 
 
 (c) 
 
 
 (d) 
 
 
 (e) 
 
 iij' iiij* 
 
 
 
 (f) 
 
 
 (g) 
 
 8' S' 4 
 
 
 & 13' 4 
 
 
 i' 12' 
 
 
292 Chronicles of Finchampstead 
 
 APP. Webb is the next heir & is of full age & happeneth to the Lord a 
 Reliefe. 
 
 2 We present that JOHN HiNDE dyed seized of Two half yard 
 Lands the one called Monks, the other James, at the Rent of 34' 
 whereby happeneth to the Lord a Herriott 50', and that his son 
 Henry Hynije is the next heir. 
 
 3 We present that Richard Rither died seized of a Messuage 
 & Tenem' 3 acres of Land called Carpenters of the Rent of 8* per 
 ann. & that Richard Rither his son is next heir, wherefor to the 
 Lord & for Herriott he must shew a Deed to defend it. 
 
 4 We present that JOHN Clark died seized of a Mess, or Tene- 
 ment 3 acres & \ and that John Clark his eldest son is the next 
 heir, happeneth to the Lord a relief of 6* and for a Herriott 20'. 
 
 5 We present that Edward Fielder Coppyholder died seized of 
 two Messuages & 40 acres of land called Windbushes of the rent of 
 40' 3' 4"* per annum, & that Richard Fielder is estated in the 
 next life, relief to the Lord, & for Herriott paid to the Lord two 
 Oxen. 
 
 6 Humphrey Taylor died seized of one Mess, and 9 acres of 
 Land of the rent of 17'* per ann. & that W Taylor the son is 
 next heir. Relief to the Lord and Herriott due. 
 
 7 We present Humphrey Saward gent, died seized of a Mess. 
 & Tenem* called Knights ... 30 acres more or less at the rent of 
 8' 8* per ann. Herriott & relief due to the Lord, & that his son Thos. 
 Saward is the next heir. 
 
 8 We present that NICHOLAS Taylor died seized of a Mess. & 
 Tenem*^ called East house of the rent of 1 5* per ann. & that John 
 Taylor his son is next heir, relief & Herriott due to the Lord except 
 a deed to defend it : and that John Taylor died seized of a Mess, 
 called Whites of the rent of 5= per ann. and that Eliz : his daughter 
 is the next heir. 
 
 9 We present WALTER GODDARD seized of a Tene' & Mess. 
 3 acres of Land in the occupation of one Nicholas Marsh of the Rent 
 of &2 per ann. and one piddle called Hungerford of the rent of 2" per 
 ann. and that James Goddard the son is the next heir. Relief & 
 Herriott due to the Lord. 
 
 10 We present William Clark died seized of certain Lands 
 called Stony Close & 3 acres of the rent of 6" per ann. & that 
 William Clark son of Augustine late deceased is next heir. 
 Herriott & Relief due to the Lord. 
 
Appendix 29; 
 
 1 1 We present that Francis Polly died seized of a Mess. & app. 
 
 Tenement called Hatches containing i6 acres of the rent of lo'* per 
 
 ann. & that URSULA POLLY and Marg^ Polly dau" of Henry 
 Polly dec* are coheirs — for Herriott 2S^ 
 
 12 We present that WILLIAM OLIVER died seized of a Mess. & 
 Tenem' called Ferretts containing 1 1 acres of the rent of 6^ 8* per 
 ann. & that Thos. OLIVER his son is next heir. Relief and Herriott 
 due to the Lord. 
 
 13 We present that Nicholas Lyford a Copyholder died seized 
 of a Mess. & Tenem' of the rent of 6^ 8* per ann. & his wife Anne 
 the next Life. Relief & Herriott due to the Lord. 
 
 14 We present RiCHARD UNDERWOOD died seized of a Mess. & 
 Ten' and Land called ... of the rent of 18"* per ann. his daughter 
 Anne, the Wife of W" Greener is next heir. Relief & Herriott due 
 to the Lord. 
 
 15 We present that the said W" Greener made an alienation 
 thereof to Richard How whereby happeneth to the Lord a Relief. 
 
 16 We present that Thos. S AWARD & Humphrey Saward 
 gents, aliened unto Richard Powell Esq. some certain Land at the 
 rent of 2' per ann. A Relief due, & the said RlCH° Powell hath 
 aliened too the same to W* IRELAND, the Rent 2' Relief due to the 
 Lord. 
 
 17 We present that ANTHONY Bartlett gent, aliened unto 
 Thomas Saward gent, one Mess, at the Rent of 4' 4'' per ann. A 
 Relief due to the Lord. 
 
 18 We present that the said Thos. Saward gent, hath aliened 
 unto Rich° Solmes Esq. three Mess, at the rent of 4^ 4* per ann. 
 First a Mead 12 acres, the Bath 2 acres and Do. 3= 8'^ a Mess, called 
 Hall place, a close adjoining, i acre abutting upon Moor Hill upon 
 the west, another in the common field in 2 parts abutting west upon 
 Charmoor, the rent S"* per ann. 
 
 19 We present that HUMPHREY SAWARD died seized of a parcel 
 of land called Hawes containing 2 acres, rent 10"* per ann. His next 
 heir Thos. Saward his son, what happeneth to the Lord we know 
 not. 
 
 20 We present that Thos. Saward hath aliened unto John 
 Taylor. 
 
 21 We present that JOHN Fielder died seized of a Mess, called 
 Bath containing 6 acres at the rent of 12'^ per ann. & that his son 
 John Fielder is next heir. Relief & Herriott due to the Lord. 
 
294 Chronicles of Finchampstead 
 
 APP. 22 We present that Thos. Saward gent, aliened unto Thos. 
 
 Robinson a Mess, and 2 acres of land called Cherries at the rent of 
 
 1 2^ per ann. Relief due to the Lord. 
 
 23 We present that W" Ryther alienated unto M''^ Anne 
 Bartlett a Mess, called Hatch or Bath containing 4 acres at 
 the rent of 6"^ per ann. A Relief due, & the said Anne Bartlett 
 died seized of the said Mess. & Land whereby happened unto the 
 Lord a Herriott, and her heir was JOHN YATES, & the said JOHN 
 hath alienated the same unto NATHAN"- CANNON whereby happeneth 
 to the Lord a relief of 6*. 
 
 24 We present that FRANCIS POLLY died seized of a parcel of 
 Land called Aldermoor containing 2 acres at the rent of i* per ann. 
 A Herriott to the Lord 4' the next heir his daughter Katherine 
 whereby happeneth to the Lord a Relief 
 
 25 We present that FRANCIS Polly died seized of a parcel of 
 Land called Long Croft containing 2 acres & a Ten' called Wine 
 Sellers containing ... by what Rent & Service we know not. 
 
 26 We present that White Farm THOMAS Saward hath alienated 
 unto John Hannington and his wife a Tenement & Lands contain- 
 ing 40 acres called Wilks holden by the rent of 1 3' 4* per ann. where- 
 by happeneth to the Lord a Relief 
 
 27 We present that WiLLiAM Ryther alienated unto Deodatus 
 CURWIN & Alice his Wife a Mess, and Land containing 10 acres 
 called Vausbies of the rent of 3' 4"^ per ann. : to the Lord a Relief 
 
 28 We present that GEORGE Anton died seized of a Mess, con- 
 taining 6 acres more or less (Cop.) the Rent 26' 8* and his son Edw° 
 Anton is the next life, what happens to the Lord we know not. 
 
 29 We present Alice Cooper the Wife of John Cooper Lease- 
 holder died since the last Court & did hold of the Lord a Mess, con- 
 taining 3 acres the rent 2& S"* & her son John Cooper is estated in 
 the next life, 
 
 30 We present that the Tenements of JOHN CoOPER is much in 
 decay for want of repairing. 
 
 3 1 We paine that no person shall carry or sell any Turf out of 
 the Parish upon pain of 10' for icvery load so carried or sold. 
 
 32 We paine that if any swine be found unringed at any time 
 within this Parish, upon a weeks warning publick in the Church, they 
 are to ring them, or else pay 4* for every Hogg, so often as they shall 
 be found Trespassing. 
 
Appendix 
 
 295 
 
 1642 
 
 [Copy] 
 
 84 
 Add. Roll. 38603. 
 
 Anno Domini 1642. 
 
 Quitrent deue to the Manno" of Eastcourt 
 collectted by Robert Greenway Woodward 
 to the Right Worshipfull S" Richard 
 Haryson Knight 
 
 APP. 
 
 Thomas Laward for his freeland 
 
 More of him for Hawes 
 
 Roger Hacket 
 
 Richard Perssons 
 
 Thomas Laward for Knights . 
 
 Weddoe Tayler 
 
 More of her for whites meade . 
 
 John Clarke for Heath Close 
 
 John Blighe gent . 
 
 More of him for Wheits 
 
 William Web 
 
 Nicholas Stevens 
 
 John Rither . 
 
 Richard Rither for his freeland . 
 
 More of hime for Carppenders . 
 
 Weddow Woods .... 
 
 Weddowe Rither .... 
 
 More of her for Stonie Close 
 
 Richard Ellis for Jeams crose house 
 
 Jeams Goddard for his house 
 
 More of hime for Hungerford . 
 
 Jeams Goddard .... 
 
 Richard Howsen for hawkes & longut 
 
 Henry Hinde .... 
 
 Richard Mainard for Nutclose . 
 
 John Hattrell for Aldermer 
 
 Richard Howe Juft 
 
 Thomas Banister 
 
 John Hanyngton for Wilks 
 
 Samuell Marsh Rector for Cowdrys 
 
 mead 
 
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 iij'* 
 
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 viij" 
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 iiij"* 
 
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 viij'^ 
 
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296 
 
 Chronicles of Finchampstead 
 
 APP. William Sealand . 
 Thomas Olliver . 
 Richard Maynard 
 William Vernels for Copses 
 
 Coppiehoulders. 
 Weddoe Cane . 
 John Grove for Lyfords 
 Thomas Hall 
 Richard Feilder 
 Edward Anton 
 Edward Ellis 
 John Coppar . 
 Samuel Ridway 
 
 XJ" 
 
 
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 ob 
 
 
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 XX' 
 
 
 FiNCHAMSTED 
 
 Eastcourt in 
 
 FiNCHAMSTED 
 
 85 
 
 Anno Domini 1655. 
 
 The Court Baron of Richard Harrison Esq. 
 held the twelfth day of November one 
 thousand six hundred and fifty-five and 
 adjourned unto the third day of Dec'', 
 following 
 
 Andrew Bayly Baylifif 
 /James Goddard \ /Thomas Isall 
 
 Homage^ 
 
 John Hind 
 John Hanington 
 William Dornell 
 William Clarke 
 ^Thomas Banister 
 
 John Cooper 
 Sworne f°^^^",^NT0N 
 Jerome Mathewe 
 Nicholas Marsh 
 ^Edward Vernoll 
 
 1 John Blythe freed by deed dated Monday next after the 
 Feast of S. Mary the Virgin in 7 Edw 3* for Burges Lands from 
 Suite Service and Reliefe and so freed for Whites by another Deed 
 dated 7"' of March 7 Edw 4. 
 
 2 Margaret Tayler freed for part of Whites by the same Deed. 
 
 3 At this Court came Margaret Taylor and did her fealty and paid 
 seaventeen pence for a Relief for one Messuage and nine acres of 
 Land. 
 
 4 Also Thomas Saward holds of the Lord of the Manor one 
 
Appendix 297 
 
 Messuage and thirty-seven acres of Land called ' Knights ' by fealty APP. 
 suite of Court Herriott and annual Rent eight shillings and eight 
 pence aliened the same since the last Court unto Thomas Purvish 
 whereby due to the Lord in Reliefe 8^ 8*- 
 
 5 Also that Thomas Purvish since the last court alliened the 
 same unto Christopher Cotterell whereby due to the Lord for Relief 
 8^ 8". 
 
 6 Also John Fielder who held of the Court of the said Manor 
 one messuage and seven acres of Land called the Bath by fealty suite 
 of court Herriott when it happened and the Annual Rent of 12* 
 aliened the same since the last Court unto William Vernell who at 
 this Court came and did his fealty and paid 12*^ Reliefe. 
 
 7 Anne Hackett paid iC^ Reliefe for Hawes and 12"^ for one 
 messuage and two acres called Cherries. 
 
 8 Also that John Ryther holds of the Court of the said Manor 
 one messuage and four acres of Land called ' Carpenters OlHvers ' by 
 fealty suite of Court Herriott when it happened and Rent 4* since 
 the last Court died seized and that Nathan' Ryther, his sonne, is his 
 next heir, and the Herriott the best Beast of the said John and 
 Reliefe 4'*. Mr. Kingman compounded for Nicholas Ryder's Herriott 
 on the death of Richard Ryther. 
 
 9 Also that William Clarke holds of said Manor three several 
 closes of land called stony closes and since the last Court aliened the 
 same unto Richard Ryther by fealty Suite of Court and Rent six 
 pence and Herriott by Composition 5' Relief 6*. 
 
 10 At this Court came THOMAS HALL and desired a copy of 
 Licence for to demise one messuage and ' Tenne ' Acres of Land called 
 ' Ferretts ' for the ' Tearme ' of one and twenty years to whome he 
 pleased. If the said Thomas, Elizabeth, and Robert Halls his sonne 
 live for soe longe And it was granted him and his fine 20'. 
 
 Anno Domini 1661. 
 
 The furys Presentment at the Cottrt Baron for 
 No. HI. the Manor of Fine hamstead East Court, holden 
 
 the 2']th day of December 1661 
 
 I Imprimis we present Richard Harrison Esq. of Hurst in the 
 County of Berks hath since the last Court alienated unto Richard 
 
298 Chronicles of Finchampsiead 
 
 Arp. Palmer Esq. of Wokingham in the County of Berks all the Manor of 
 Finchamstead East Court with all the Tenements and profits there- 
 unto belonging. 
 
 2 Item we present that JOHN GoODING hath since the last Court 
 alienated one alienation of 2 Closes of land one called Hawkeshills 
 & the other Little Mead unto Nicholas Ryther of Finchamstead 
 & that there is due to the Lord a Reliefe the Quit Rent being 
 5* per ann. 
 
 3 We present that JOHN CLARKE hath since the last Court 
 alienated unto Augustine Binfield of Barkham one Mess, or Ten' 
 containing 3 acres & an half of land & that there is due to the Lord 
 a Reliefe the rent being 6* per ann. 
 
 4 We present that Robert Morey gent, and Jane his wife 
 hath since the last Court alienated unto John Banister of Finchamstead 
 3 closes of Land called Whites & that there is due to the Lord a 
 Relief the Quit Rent being 3' 9* per ann. 
 
 5 We present that William Taylor died since the last Court 
 seized of one Mess. & certain Lands thereunto belonging & that 
 W. Taylor his son is the next heir & that there was paid for a 
 Herriott 3' and a reliefe due to the Lord, the Quit rent being 16"* 
 per ann. 
 
 6 We present that William Sellon gent, died since the last 
 Court being seized of a Tenements & Lands & his son William 
 Sellon is the next heir & that there was paid for a Herriott a 
 Black Cow. A Reliefe due to the Lord, the Quit Rent being 2^ per 
 ann. 
 
 7 We present that John Hannington died since the last Court 
 being seized of a Tenement & lands called Wilks's, & that John 
 Hannington his son is the next heir holden by the rent of 13' 4* 
 per ann : but whether there be a Herriott due or no we know 
 not. 
 
 8 We present that Richard Allwright hath since the last 
 Court alienated unto John Cox one Tenem* & certain Lands called 
 Barnes being a Lease belonging to the Lord of this Manor, & what 
 is due to the Lord we know not the Quit Rent being 6' 8* per 
 ann. 
 
 9 We present that the Freeholders Copyholders & Leaseholders 
 belonging to this Manor hath liberty to dig Turf Loam Sand & 
 Gravel & to cut Heath & Fern according to the former orders. 
 
 10 We present that Thomas Oliver hath since the last Court 
 
Appendix 299 
 
 alienated unto Richard Oliver one Tenem* called Ferretts containing app. 
 
 1 1 acres of Land & that there is due to the Lord a Relief. The Quit 
 
 Rent being 6' 8* per ann. 
 
 1 1 We present the Hill before East Court House is part of the 
 Manor of Finchamstead East Court & belongs to the Lord of the said 
 Manor & the Trees thereupon standing belong to the Lord of the 
 said Manor, & that Richard Rither of Finchamstead about 7 years 
 since bought 7 Trees of Sir Richard Harrisson the Lord of the said 
 Manor & never since was questioned for it. 
 
 12 We present that Jane Morey Wife of Mr. Robert Morey 
 died since the last Court seized of a Mess called East House & that 
 Thomas Morey is her son & next heir, whereupon happeneth to the 
 Lord a Reliefc the Rent being 15* per ann but whether an Herriott 
 be due we know not. 
 
 13 We present that HENRY Alexander died since the last 
 Court seized of 2 parcels of Land called Reignalds & that W™ Alex- 
 ander is the son & next Heir, but what happeneth to the Lord we 
 know not. 
 
 14 We order that no Copyholder or Leaseholder of the Manor 
 of West Court Cut any turf Heath or Fern upon any of the Wastes 
 belonging to the Manor of East Court upon pain of forfeiting to the 
 Lord for every Load so Cut 10'. 
 
 15 We order that John Cooper do scour his Ditch in the Lane 
 lying against his ground called Marshalls by the 2* of February next 
 upon pain of forfeiting to the Lord for every Pole then undone 1 2^- 
 
 16 We order that M'' Reeves & Robert Aston scour their 
 Ditches on T3oth sides of New Lane by the same day on pain as afore- 
 said of 1 2*. 
 
 17 We amerce the Freeholders 6^ a piece. 
 
 18 The Tenants desire the Pound be repaired by the Lord of the 
 Manor. 
 
 19 We present that the West Wood Coppices ought to be laid 
 Common according to the Statutes. 
 
 Richard Ryther The mark of 
 
 William Vernell 
 
 William Webb 
 
 The mark of 
 Thomas Oliver 
 
 The mark of 
 Austin A. B infield 
 
 Richard O. Ellis 
 John Hind 
 
 The mark of 
 Peter Betts 
 W™ Alexander 
 
300 Chronicles of Finchampstead 
 
 APP, 
 
 87 
 
 The Presentments of the Court Baron of 
 A.D. 1668 IV. Finchamstead East Court taken the 25 
 
 Sept. A.D. 1668 
 
 1 Imprimis We present that Richard Ryther died seized of 4 
 parcels of Land one whereof is called Stony Pidde, another Called 
 Hackshill & the Guttmead one other Called Carpenters & other two 
 Piddles & a Meadow belonging to Woodhouse in fee simple to him & 
 his heirs & we find Mary Rither the Relict of R. Ryther to have the 
 same Lands during her life. 
 
 2 Richard Ryther for Nich. Rythers land we present that there 
 is due for a Herriott 20'. 
 
 3 For Carpenters 5^ 
 
 4 For Hacksells and the Gutt Mead 24' by Composition. As for 
 the Herriott due upon the death of RICHARD Ryther for Stony 
 Piddles we know not what is due. 
 
 5 We present that W™ Sellon died seized, in his Demesnes of 
 fee, of certain Lands in Finchamstead & we find the best Animal 
 paid before the keeping this Court. 
 
 6 We present that RICHARD Maynard died seized of a parcel of 
 Land called Nutclose & of a House & land at the Lee & we find a 
 mark for a Herriott paid before the keeping this Court. We present 
 that Richard Olliver paid one years Quit Rent for Ferretts for a Relief 
 being 6^ 6''- 
 
 JOHN Hind 1 cRichard Oliver 
 
 John Cox [ 
 
 William Vernell] 
 
 88 
 
 The Presentments of the Homage at the 
 A.D. 1670 V. Coii,rt Baron of Finchamstead East Court 
 
 holden the 20'* day of fanuary 1670 
 
 1 We present a Deed that Richard Oliver produced for Fer- 
 retts that doth defend Herriott and Reliefe. 
 
 2 Item, we present the Hill before East Court Common and 
 belonging unto the Manor of East Court. 
 
Appendix 301 
 
 3 Item, we present the Two Coppices in Westwood Common & APP. 
 to be laid out according to the Statute. 
 
 4 Item, we present that JOHN Taylor deceased, since the last 
 Court, seized of a Meadow called Whites Mead and a Cow ' ceased ' {sic) 
 for a Herriott & John Taylor his son is the next Heir an Infant. 
 
 5 Item, we present M"" ROBERT Marsh hath alienated to M'" 
 Thomas Bright a house & land called Cowleaze since the last Court. 
 Bailiff to distrain. 
 
 6 Item, we present JOHN HiND deceased since the last Court 
 seized of a Mess. & half yard lands, & 34^ paid for a Relief, & his 2 
 Daughters Rathall and Susan Coheirs Infants. 
 
 7 Item, we present Richard Ellis deceased of a House & Land 
 lying at James Cross. What's due to the Lord we know not, & his 
 Son Richard is the next Heir, Bailiff to distrain. 
 
 8 Item, we present the House & Piatt that the Widow Harhsell 
 liveth in to be Common. 
 
 9 Item, we present and amerse all the Copyholders & Lease- 
 holders that doth not make their appearance at this Coiirt or ' Essoyne ' 
 {sic) six pence apiece and the Freeholders three pence a piece. 
 
 10 Item, we present Mary Rither the wife of Richard Rither 
 deceased since the last Court of four parcels of land ; one is called 
 Stoney Piddles, another Hacksells & the Guttmead, another is called 
 Carpenters and another Two Piddles & a Mead belonging to Wood- 
 house. 
 
 11 And we find Mary KiNGMAN the Wife of Walter Kingman 
 to be the next heir of Richard Rither but what is due to the Lord we 
 know not. 
 
 12 Item, we present ROGER Hackett to make a Ditch & move 
 the Gate & set him in his old Place according as it is staked out on 
 penalty of 20' by the 25 day of March next. 
 
 John Cox 
 Richard Olliver 
 M"' Webb 
 W" Alexander 
 W" Clark 
 
 ) 
 
 John Cooper 
 Augustine Benfield 
 W" Feltham 
 W™ Steevens 
 
302 Chronicles of Finchampstead 
 
 APP. 
 
 89 
 
 The Presentments of the Homage of East 
 
 Court at the Court there holden on the 
 
 A.D. 1675 VI. ^^th ^^y gjr December 1675 made by us 
 
 whose names are hereunder written 
 
 1 We present that JOHN Hannington died since the last Court 
 & William Hannington to be his Brother & heir of a House & Land 
 Called Wilks, & the Lord acknowledged a Deed in discharge of 
 Herriott & Reliefe. 
 
 2 We present that Thos. BRIGHT clerk, there is due to the Lord 
 a Reliefe upon an alienation of an .House & Land called Cowleys or 
 Cowderys made to him from one Mr. Marsh. 
 
 3 We present that JOHN BANISTER died seized of a House & 
 Lands Called Whites & that Sarah Banister is next heir under the 
 age of 2 1 years but what is due ignorant and Fealty was respited. 
 
 4 We present that W"' TAYLOR paid to the Lord 16* for a Relief 
 for the House and Land that descended to him as heir to W™ Taylor 
 his Father. 
 
 5 We present that Eliz. RiTHER died seized of a Tenem' with a 
 Backside & Garden & one Piddle of Land containing one acre called 
 Windfellers & that John Bromley is her next heir what is due ignorant. 
 
 6 We present that W™ WEBB died seized of a Mess or Tenem' of 
 Land Called Hemes & that a Herriott hath been paid & that a 
 Reliefe is due & that the Wife of John Cox is the next heir. 
 
 7 We present that Ri. Ryder hath alienated a House & Backside 
 called Woodhouse to Nich. Ryder but what's due to the Lord we know 
 not. 
 
 8 We present that W™ Greenoway the elder sold a Load of 
 Turves out of this Manor Contrary to an order of this Court whereby 
 he forfeits 10' & that Thos. Thackham & John Marlow Servants to 
 John Milom of Arborfield carried those Turves out of the Manor. 
 
 9 We do order that no person shall dig any sand at the foot of the 
 Hill called Copthill hill upon pain of forfeiting for every load IO^ 
 
 10 We present JOHN CoOKE for cutting one Load of Heath to 
 burn Lime with it and selling it out of the Parish 10' penalty. 
 
 1 1 We present David Watts for burning of Heath and Lime 
 and selling it out of the Parish in Penalty of IO^ 
 
 12 We present the alienation of a House and Land called 
 
Appendix 303 
 
 Hubbard's Bath from William Vernell to Samuel Walton & a app. 
 like alienation of the same from Samuel Walton to John Bowyer. 
 But what is due to the Lord we know not. 
 
 William Taylor \ ^ 
 
 WILLIAM CLARK EDWARD ANTON 
 
 William Feltham f Jp^^ ^^^^ 
 
 JERE. MaTTHEWES J RICHARD OLLIVER 
 
 90 
 
 Manor of Finchampstead East Court. The 
 A.D. 1697 VII. Presentment of the Homage of the Court 
 
 Baron the 2'jth day of December, 1697 
 
 1 Imprimis We present the death of Edward Mansfield one 
 of the Tenants of this Manor & we present his wife Elizabeth 
 Tenant during the Term of her Natural Life & afterwards to John 
 Home of Earley in the Parish of Sonning in the County of Berks 
 & to his Heirs & assigns for ever. Herriott seized 3' 8'^ pd 
 Cowleys. 
 
 2 We present Deodatus Barnes for a sale of a Tenement 
 which he purchased of Roger Haskett one of the Tenants of this 
 Manor but what is due to the Lord of this Manor we know not. 
 
 3 Item, we present that THOMAS Fairbrother hath purchased 
 the said Tenement above mentioned of the said Deodatus Barnes, 
 but what is due to the Lord of this Manor we know not. A Reliefe. 
 
 4 We present that JOHN BANISTER since the last Court hath 
 purchased a Mess : or a Tenem* of James Goddard one of the Tenants 
 of this Manor, but what is due to the Lord we know not. 
 
 5 Item, we present that John Banister hath also purchased 
 a Mess : or Tenem* of William Steevens but what is due to the Lord 
 we know not. 
 
 6 Item, we present the death of RICHARD ELLIS one of the 
 Tenants of this Manor who died seized of a certain parcel of Lands in 
 this Manor & that his son Richard is next Heir of full age, but what 
 is due to the Lord of this Manor we know not. 
 
 7 And we also present the said RiCHARD ELLIS died seized of 
 a Mess, or Tenem* in this Manor, and his son John is next Heir by 
 survivorship, but what is due to the Lord we know not. 
 
 8 We present the Death of W" TAYLOR one of the Tenants 
 
304 Chronicles of Finchampstead 
 
 APP. of this Manor who died seized of a Mess, or Tenem' and his Daughter 
 Sarah Wife of Wm. Hannington next heir but what is due to the 
 Lord of this Manor we know not. 
 
 9 Item, we present the death of Wm. Hannington Senr. one 
 of the Tenants of this Manor & his Son William next Heir but 
 what is due to the Lord of this Manor we know not. 
 
 10 Item, we present the death of WILLIAM HANNINGTON Senr. 
 one of the Tenants of this Manor and his son William next Heir but 
 what is due to the Lord of this Manor we know not. 
 
 11 Item, we present that JOHN BRANDON, Rector, hath pur- 
 chased of John Bowyer one of the Tenants of this Manor a Mess, 
 or Tenem* in this Manor : but what is due to the Lord of this Manor 
 we know not. Called Hubbard's Bath a Reliefe. 
 
 12 Item, we present that the Tenants of this Manor hath a right 
 to Cutt Heath Turff Fern and also Digg Sand Gravel and Loam by- 
 Custom without leave of the Lord of this Manor for their necessary 
 estovers. 
 
 13 Item, we present that BARNARD Eales Citizen and Gold- 
 smith in London purchased a certain parcel of Lands of the Bishop 
 of Ely and is since dead and hath left male heirs but what is due to 
 the Lord we know not. 
 
 14 Item, we present that jAMES Maynard purchased an Estate 
 in this Manor of Thos. Morey but what is due to the Lord of this 
 Manor we know not. 
 
 Walter Ringman^ 
 James Goddard 
 John Banister 
 Richard Oliver 
 Thomas Marsh 
 
 /Peter Philip 
 Wm. Feltham 
 John Turner 
 John Ellis 
 
 91 
 The Presentments of the Homage of 
 A.D. 1700 VIII East Court Baron in the Parish 
 
 of Finchamstead this 20th day of 
 May 1700 
 
 r Imprimis We present that William Hannington hath alien- 
 ated one Mess, and Tenem' to Samuel of Reading. 
 
 2 We present that Robert Inwood since the last Court hath 
 
Appendix 
 
 305 
 
 alienated a parcel of Land to John Sansom and is due to the Lord a 
 Reliefe. 
 
 3 We present that JamES SpiCER since the last Court hath 
 alienated one Mess. & Tenem* to John Sansom & that there is 
 due to the Lord a Reliefe. 
 
 4 We present the death of Elizabeth Taylor who died seized 
 of a parcel of Land called Whites Mead within this Manor, on 
 which happened to the Lord a Herriott, & the Tenants horse was 
 marked, but she living in Wokingham the Bailiff was ordered to 
 enquire what goods she died possessed of 
 
 5 We present the death of Anne Taylor widow who died 
 seized of the same land, and by Will left it to one Nicholas Knight 
 of Farnham & his heirs, & the said Nicholas Knight hath alienated 
 it to W™ Hannington, & what is due to the Lord we know not. 
 
 6 We present the House and Backside 'were' {sic) (where) 
 Thomas Seward now liveth to be a Parish House. 
 
 7 We present the Pound within the Manor to be out of Repair 
 which is always repaired by the Lord of the Manor. 
 
 8 We present any person that shall cut the grown soads to burn 
 in the Penalty of 2^ 6* the Hundred if any such thing be done within 
 this Manor. 
 
 APP. 
 
 John Banister 
 Richard Oliver 
 Wm. Hannington 
 Peter Philip 
 
 /•John Sanson 
 J Richard Ellis 
 
 [ J AMES GODDARD 
 
 A.D. 1690-98 
 
 92 
 
 B. M. Add. Ch. 38610. 
 
 Roll of the Rents of the Manor of East Court 
 Finchamsted and due to the Lord thereof for 
 one Half year beginning Lady day iSgoand 
 ending 1698 
 
 Mr. Eales for Cowdries alias Cowleze 
 
 Mr; William Reeves for Lands called the Bath 4ate Mr, 
 
 Sehns ...•■■■■■ 
 Mr. James Maynard for East house late Mr. Blighes 
 Mr. John Taylor for Whites Meade .... 
 Mr. Bernard Eales for Funings .... 
 
 s 
 
 d 
 
 ■ S 
 
 
 
 2 
 
 2 
 
 
 7\ 
 
 
 8 
 
 
 10 
 
Missing Page 
 
Missing Page 
 
3o8 
 
 Chronicles of Finchampstead 
 
 APP. 
 
 Lease- 
 holders 
 
 John Sansum for Parsons .... 
 Hen. Dew for Heath Close . 
 EuzAB. Maynard for Aldermore late Hannells 
 John Lun for House and Land at the Lee 
 Thomas Seward for Mount Agnes 
 
 John Seward for Russells 
 Widow Cox for Lyfords late Barnes 
 John Turner for Ferretts Jun"" ux"" 
 Henry Dawkins for Hutts and Kathrines 
 Anthony Goodale for the Moores 
 John Cooper for Hodmans & 'an acre in that 
 Acreage' ...... 
 
 Thomas Marsh for Phips Land 
 Widow Manfeild for Hedsoys Mead 
 20 Freeholders yearly .... 
 
 8 Leaseholders yearly . . 
 
 Quit Rents of Finchampsted East Court yearly 
 
 Great 
 
 d. 
 
 3 
 
 3 
 
 k 
 
 304 
 
 
 13 
 
 4 
 
 
 3 
 
 4 
 
 
 13 
 
 4 
 
 
 5 
 
 
 
 
 2 
 
 11^ 
 
 
 13 
 
 4 
 
 
 3 
 
 
 
 
 I 
 
 6 
 
 6 
 
 4 
 
 3 
 
 2 
 
 II 
 
 7 
 
 8 IS 10 
 
 A,D. 1722-27 
 
 94 
 Add. Roll 38614 
 
 Rent Roll of the several Quit Rents and Re- 
 served Rents due to Richard Phripp Esq. 
 and Anne his Wife as Lord of the Manor 
 of ffinchamstead East Court in the County 
 of Berks and due and payable at Ladyday 
 yearly from 1722 to 1727 
 
 1. s. d. 
 
 Mr. Eales for Cowderys 10 o 
 
 Mrs. SOLMES for Bath Lands 44 
 
 Mr. James Maynard for East House .... 13 
 
 William Hannington for Wades Mead ... 14 
 
 John Sansum now Mr. Ellis for Monks . . . . i 14 
 
 Do. for late Spicers ...... 6 
 
 Do. for Cherries ...... 10 
 
 Mr. Eales or Thomas Taylor , 
 
Appendix 
 
 309 
 
 Mr. Moses Maynard for Nutt Close 
 
 Mr. COTTERELL .... 
 
 Mr. Thos. Banister for Justices 
 
 Do. for late Stevens 
 
 Do. for Stony Piddle 
 
 Do. for Hawks Hill & the Mead 
 
 Do. for the late Richard Riders 
 
 Mr. John Bannister for Whites 
 
 William Hannington for Wills 
 
 Richard Olliver for Ferretts 
 
 Richard Ellis for James' 
 
 John Ellis for Powells . 
 
 Samuel for Fos 
 
 William Simonds for late Taylers 
 
 John Parker for late Goddards 
 
 John for part of the same 
 
 Mr. John Bannister for Lands by the Lee 
 Do. for Ford Close 
 
 Do. for Carpenters 
 
 Mr. Brandon for Hubbards Bath 
 
 Peter Philip for the Moore & Hornetts . 
 Do. for the Poor Lands 
 
 William Hill for Howes' 
 Do. for Cherryes 
 
 Mr. Harvey for Heath Close . 
 
 The Widdow Lunn for a House by the Lee 
 
 The Widow Maynard for Aldermoor 
 
 John Kimber 
 
 Anthony Goodall now Wm. Bullock for the Moors 
 Thomas Marsh for Phipps Land .... 
 
 John Turner for Ferretts 
 
 Richard Ellis for Nutts late Tawlins 
 
 Mrs. Fish late the Widow Mansfield for her Mead . 
 
 APP. 
 
 8 
 
 8 
 
 6 
 
 
 
 
 4 
 
 
 6 
 
 S 
 
 
 
 
 4 
 
 3 
 
 8 
 
 13 
 
 4 
 
 6 
 
 6 
 
 4 
 
 2 
 
 2 
 
 
 
 I 
 
 4 
 
 3 
 
 9 
 
 I 
 
 3 
 
 
 2 
 
 
 4 
 
 
 8 
 
 I 
 
 
 
 
 5 
 
 I 
 
 4 
 
 
 10 
 
 I 
 
 
 
 
 6 
 
 
 I 
 
 
 I 
 
 3 
 
 
 
 5 2 
 
 8 
 
 S 
 
 1 1 Lease- 
 
 6 
 
 Q holders 
 
 . I 
 
 8 
 
 10 
 
 
 
 3 
 
 
 
 Collected by JOHN Ellis . 
 
 2 II 7 
 
 628 
 
 ^8 14 3 
 
;io 
 
 Chronicles of Finchampstead 
 
 APP. 
 
 Date; between 1698 and 1712. 
 
 
 
 
 
 Terms 
 
 
 
 
 — 
 
 Tenants' names 
 
 Farciculars 
 
 Acres 
 
 of the 
 tenants' 
 
 The reserved 
 rents 
 
 The 
 improved 
 
 
 
 
 
 interests 
 
 
 
 rents 
 
 
 
 
 
 £ s. 
 
 d. 
 
 £ 0. 
 
 / 
 
 The Landlord 
 
 House and lands . 
 
 34 
 
 — 
 
 30 
 
 
 
 
 
 Wm. Stevens . 
 
 i> It 
 
 54 
 
 II years 
 
 30 
 
 
 
 36 
 
 
 ■The same Person . 
 
 Meadow and arable 
 
 364 
 
 21 1, 
 
 23 
 
 
 
 
 
 Robert Wilkes 
 
 House and lan^s . 
 
 Sai 
 
 21 t, 
 
 16 
 
 
 
 18 
 
 
 Henry Miller . 
 
 Meadow and arable 
 
 23 
 
 2 lives 
 
 10 9 
 
 
 
 15 
 
 
 William Smeether , 
 
 House and lands . 
 
 22 
 
 21 yeart 
 
 10 
 
 
 
 12 
 
 Wokingham 
 ;^i5oi,i. orf. * 
 
 Nicholas Stevens . 
 
 1 > » 1 
 
 8i 
 
 21 tt 
 
 7 
 
 
 
 
 Simon Leach . 
 
 A meadow 
 
 7 
 
 21 II 
 
 7 
 
 d 
 
 
 
 
 John Smeether 
 
 Arable and meadow 
 
 7 
 
 21 It 
 
 6 
 
 
 
 7 
 
 
 Robert Hannington 
 
 A moore 
 
 8 
 
 II It 
 
 4 
 
 
 
 5 
 
 
 Thomas Smith 
 
 A meadow 
 
 3 
 
 21 It 
 
 3 
 
 
 
 
 
 Richard Tailor 
 
 A moore 
 
 4 
 
 — 
 
 2 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 William Bankes 
 
 A meadow 
 
 2 
 
 2[ years 
 
 I 10 
 
 
 
 2 
 
 
 Thomas Hodgts 
 
 Arable and pasture 
 
 2 
 
 21 tt 
 
 18 
 
 
 
 I 6 
 
 
 Samuel Walton 
 
 House and lands . 
 
 56 
 
 3 lives 
 
 30 
 
 
 
 47 
 
 
 Edward Mansfield . 
 
 f 1 It 
 
 32 
 
 21 years 
 
 18 4 
 
 
 
 20 
 
 
 Richard Oliver 
 
 Arable and pasture 
 
 30 
 
 22 ,, 
 
 8 
 
 
 
 II 
 
 Finohanip- 
 stcad 
 
 John Pais 
 
 House and lands . 
 
 6i 
 
 22 It 
 
 5 
 
 
 
 
 Nicholas AUoway . 
 
 Arable and pasture 
 
 14 
 
 19 .. 
 
 4 10 
 
 
 
 6 
 
 /80 15J. U. ' 
 
 William Leward . 
 
 It It 
 
 10 
 
 20 ,, 
 
 3 10 
 
 
 
 4 
 
 Anthony Goodall . 
 
 House and lands . 
 
 8 
 
 3 lives 
 
 3 6 
 
 8 
 
 5 ° 
 
 
 Austine Hannington 
 
 Arable and meadow 
 
 5 
 
 — 
 
 3 
 
 
 
 
 
 William Pryer 
 
 House and lands . 
 
 4 
 
 21 years 
 
 2 IS 
 
 
 
 3 
 
 
 Robert Hector 
 
 Meadow . 
 
 2 
 
 21 ,1 
 
 2 
 
 
 
 
 j 
 
 Peter Sparke, gentn. 
 
 House and lands . 
 
 178 
 
 I life 
 
 
 
 120 
 
 
 William Feltham . 
 
 tt II 
 
 40 
 
 3 lives 
 
 I 7 
 
 4 
 
 22 
 
 
 Jertune Mathew . 
 
 If It 
 
 28 
 
 3 .1 
 
 8 
 
 
 
 14 
 
 
 John Cox 
 
 
 20 
 
 2 ti 
 
 6 
 
 8 
 
 10 
 
 
 John Dorman 
 
 Arable and pasture 
 
 17 
 
 3 It 
 
 10 
 
 
 
 10 
 
 
 Thomas Marsh 
 
 11 
 
 i6i 
 
 3 II 
 
 6 
 
 
 
 10 
 
 £15 7^- 8rf./ 
 
 William Clarke 
 
 A meadow 
 
 8 
 
 3 It 
 
 6 
 
 
 
 8 
 
 1 
 
 John Leward . 
 
 House and lands . 
 
 13 
 
 I life 
 
 I 6 
 
 8 
 
 8 
 
 
 Thomas Hall . 
 
 
 10 
 
 3 lives 
 
 T 6 
 
 8 
 
 8 
 
 
 Anthony Goodall . 
 
 Arable and pasture 
 
 14 
 
 3 It 
 
 5 
 
 11 
 
 7 
 
 
 Robert Hector 
 
 House and lands . 
 
 10 
 
 3 .1 
 
 13 
 
 4 
 
 7 
 
 
 Edward Anton 
 
 It 
 
 8 
 
 ^ ti 
 
 I 6 
 
 8 
 
 6 
 
 
 John Cooper . 
 
 ',', 
 
 S 
 
 3 ;, 
 
 I 6 
 
 8 
 
 5 
 
 
 The Landlord 
 
 In woods 
 
 86 
 
 
 55 
 15 
 
 
 
 
 
 The Landlord 
 
 In ponds 
 
 14 
 
 — 
 
 
 
 — 
 
 
 In Possession 
 
 
 
 
 317 
 280 17 
 
 4 
 4 
 
 
 
 In Reversion 
 
 — 
 
 — 
 
 — 
 
 — 
 
 In the whole . 
 
 — 
 
 63s 
 
 — 
 
 597 17 
 
 8 
 
 — 
 
 Finchampstead total 
 
Appendix 3 1 1 
 
 There was formerly a small property in Finchampstead called ■'^PP- 
 ' Carpenters,' the name of which is met with in sundry ancient deeds. 
 I am unable to identify it. I will here give a translation of the 
 charters or deeds relating to it, which are in Latin, in the hope that 
 some day they may possibly be found useful. 
 
 ' 14 Henry VII. Charter of John Bernard, son and heir of May 20, 
 
 Thomas Bernard the elder and Thomas Bernard the younger, granting ^'^^^ 
 
 to Thomas Mody, of Strattefeldsay, all that tenement with curtilage The 
 
 adjoining, together with a parcel of land called " Carpenters," with •'"Lat^J, 
 
 appurtenants in Fynchamsted ; which said tenement, &c., the said Thomas is in 
 
 Bernard tlie elder lately acquired from Thomas Pokerigge, of Eversle, possession 
 
 in the county of Southampton, husbandman, to have and to hold the John 
 
 same to the said T/tomas Mody, his heirs and assigns, for ever, of the Canister 
 
 J' o >j t J Smith 
 
 chief Lords, &-c.' 
 
 ' 30 Henry VIII. Charter of Stephen Badrode., of Fynchamstsde, May 20, 
 gentleman, granting to James Hylton, of Finchamstede, and Isabel his '^^ 
 wife, all that tenement with curtilage, together with a parcel of land 
 called " Carpenters" with all appurtenances, in Fynchamstede, tvhich he 
 lately had by the feoffment of the said James Hylton, to have and to hold 
 tfie said tenement, Src, to James and Isabel his wife, their heirs and 
 assigns, for ever, of the chief Lords, Stc' 
 
 It will be observed that this property, ' Carpenters,' was not 
 originally held under the Lords of either East or West Court, but 
 from ' the chief Lords,' who held direct from the Crown and who were 
 Lords of Aldermaston ; and as the Banisters estate was the only 
 other property in Finchampstead which was so held, it is supposed 
 that ' Carpenters ' must have belonged originally to that estate. 
 
 Its first appearance as belonging to the East Court Manor is in Appendix 
 the Court Baron of that Manor for 1630 (Item 3). '^'°- ^^ 
 
 It is not shown in the East Court Rent Rolls for the years 1602, 
 1607, or 161 5. It was during the Commonwealth that the feudal 
 system of land tenure began to be disregarded, and was finally 
 abolished by an Act of Charles II. in 1672. It would therefore 
 seem very probable that Sir Richard Harrison, shortly before 1630, 
 obtained possession of ' Carpenters ' by purchase, without the interven- 
 tion of the chief Lord of Aldermaston, who was Sir Humphry Forster 
 (XVII.), and added it to the East Court Manor. 
 
 Its next appearance is in the East Court Court Baron for 1655 Appendix 
 (Item 8), where there is a presentment ' that John Rither, who had '^°- ^^ 
 held " Carpenters," or " Olivers," and four acres of land, by fealty 
 
3 1 2 Chronicles of Finchampstead 
 
 APP. suite of Court and " Herriot" when it happened,' had died, and that 
 his son, Nathaniel Ryther, was his heir. 
 Appendix In 1668 (Items 1-3) Richard Ryther had died possessed of this 
 
 ^°- ^^ property ; and in 1670 (Items 10 and 1 1) Mary, the wife of Walter 
 Kingman, was said to be the next heir. 
 
 From 1698 to 17 12, Walter Kingman appears in the East Court 
 Rent Roll as holding it at a nominal quit rent ; and in 1727, John 
 Banister, of ' Banisters,' appears as holding it on the same terms, and 
 this is the latest date to which the property can be traced. 
 
 Whether the house still exists, or where it stood, I have been 
 unable to discover. 
 
INDEX 
 
 ABB 
 
 Abbots of Westminster, 84, 107 
 Abingdon Monastery, 19, 20 
 Achard, Richard, 87, 88, ,223 
 
 Robert, 32, 85, 86, 146, 223 
 
 William, 85, 223 
 
 Agilbert, 18 
 
 Alayne (Alane), William, 105, 243 
 Albans, St. {see St.) 
 Aldermaston, 85, 87 
 Aldhelm, Bishop, 19, 20 
 Aid worth, Anne, 132 
 
 — Richard, 125, 270 
 
 Alexander, alias Milward {see M.) 
 
 Elizabeth, 76 
 
 AUectus, 10 
 
 AUright, John, 136 
 Amletts Lane, 142 
 Anderida, Forest of, 8 
 Anton, Katharine, 116 
 
 Thomas, 41, iii, 113, 116, 117 
 
 Antonine Itineraries, 3 
 Aqua Solis, 7 
 Arundell, Sir Thomas, 243 
 Ascue, Anne, 62 
 Ashmole, Elias, 39 
 Asser, Bishop, 21 
 Astell, Henry, 163 
 Asterius, Archbishop, 15 
 Atkins, Martin, 6 
 Atrebates, 8 
 Augustine, St., 1 5 
 
 Bacon, Lady, 64 
 Bagshot, 2 
 
 BAR 
 Banactus, 88 
 Banastre, Sir Adam, 194, 248 
 
 ■ Agatha, 88 
 
 Alard, 32, 58, 88, 89 
 
 Amicia, 185, 229 
 
 Constance, 88, 93 
 
 Gervase de, 191 
 
 John, 26, 41, 191, 184, 248 
 
 Joyce, 184, 248 
 
 Katherine, 247 
 
 Nicholas, 103, 185, 191, 226, 
 
 227 
 
 248 
 
 Ralph, 179, 180, 181, 182, 247, 
 
 Richard, 184, 248 
 Robert, 184 
 ■ Thomas, 103, 185, 191, 192, 
 
 194, 226, 229, 241 
 
 • William, Sir, 30, 
 
 186, 191 
 
 9. 146, 
 
 William, 184, 248, 249 
 
 Bangor, See of, 62 
 
 ' Banister ' House, alias Place, alias 
 
 The Hatch, 5, 174, 178 
 Banister, Hannah, 188 
 
 John, 260, 270, 312 
 
 Martha, 188 
 
 Mary Anne, 54 
 
 Thomas, 268 
 
 William, 262 
 
 Banister Pedigree, 189 
 Barkham, 76, 81 
 Barley Pound Farm, 2, 3 
 Barnarde, Thomas, 241 
 Barode, Stephen, 311 
 
314 
 
 Chronicles of Finchampstead 
 
 BAR 
 
 Bartlett, John, no, 251 
 
 Thomas, no 
 
 Basil, Sir P., 95 
 Basing, 100 
 Basingstoke, 4 
 Bath, 7 
 
 Bayley, Edward, 54 
 Baynard, Philip, 56, 150 
 Beauchamp, Bishop, 61 
 
 G. E., 6 
 
 Beck, Elizabeth, 46 
 Bedel, Gilbert le, 225 
 Beecher, Henry, in, m8 
 
 William, 26,3 
 
 Bell Mead, 131 
 
 Bell, William, 54 
 Bellamye, Thomas, 264 
 Benio, John, 230 
 Bent, Joseph, 123 
 Bentinck, General, 145 
 Bercheria, 8i 
 Berkhampstead, 40 
 Berkshire, Earl of, n i 
 Bernard, John, 311 
 Bertin, St., 21 
 Bertone, James de la, 185 
 Beselles, William, 105, 243 
 Bible, English, 62 
 Bigge, Christopher, 159, 163 
 
 • Elizabeth, 162 
 
 Biggleswade, 136 
 
 Bigshot Rayles, 208 
 
 Birinus, 15, 18 
 
 Blackwater, River, 6, 217, 218 
 
 Blighe, alias Blyth, Elizabeth, 39, 138 
 
 Jane, 138, 140 
 
 —_ John, 138, 139, 26t> 
 
 Blikes, alias Blykes, 258, 259 
 
 Blois, Henry de, 4, 44 
 
 Blomfield, Sir Arthur, 25 
 
 Blyth, alias Blighe and Bligh 
 
 Bokhurst, Richard de, 227 
 
 Bolingbroke, Viscount, 167, 171, 177 
 
 Bolsingham, 136 
 
 Boscombe, Vicar of, 65 
 
 Boteler, John, 226 
 
 Brabent, Mary, 40 
 
 Bradford- on- Avon Monastery, 19 
 
 Bramshill, 59, 94, 100 
 
 Brandon, Rev. John, 45, 57, 73, 131 
 
 Bray, 81, 94 
 
 Bredenchuese, Juliana Atte, 226 
 
 Brehill, Richard, 243 
 
 CLA 
 Brickells, 53 
 Bright, Rev. Thomas, 41, 57, 68, 69, TJ,, 
 
 141, 270 
 Brightwold, Archbishop ,19 
 Brocas, Sir John, 95, 102 
 
 Matilda, 102 
 
 William, 97, 232 
 
 Bromowich, Rev. John, 56 
 Buckingham, Duke of, 61, 178 
 Buckler, C. A., 26, 35 
 
 J-C.,3S 
 
 Budel, Robert le, 231, 272 
 Bullock, Margaret, 95 
 
 Robert, 95 
 
 BuUuk, John, 226 
 
 Lizanna, 226 
 
 Burgh, John de la, 185 
 Burnet, Bishop, 71, 78 
 Burrows, Professor M., 102 
 Burton, Edward, 247 
 
 Caerleon, 8 
 
 Caer Segont, 8 
 
 CsEsar's Camp, 4, 6, 7 
 
 Calleva Atrebatum, 3, 9 
 
 Camden, 3, 6 
 
 Cameron, Rev. A. A., 114, n6 
 
 Campion, the Jesuit, 66 
 
 Cane, Richard, 264 
 
 Capon, John, 62, 63 
 
 Carleton, Elizabeth, 1 1 1 
 
 George, nr, n3, n7, n8, 
 
 263 
 Carpenters, alias Olivers, 3n 
 Cawood, Stephen, 106, 107, 108, 252, 
 
 253, 254, 256 
 Challow, 85 
 
 Chamberlaine, Francis, in, 116 
 Chantry, 28 
 Charities, Finchampstead, 54, 191 
 
 Howe's, 54 
 
 Merryweather's, 54 
 
 Chertsey, 19 
 Churchams, 210, 270 
 Churchyard epitaphs, 48 
 Chute, Challoner, 173, 174 
 Clacey, 35 
 Clarke, Agnes, 270 
 
 Dorothy, 113 
 
 Sir Edward, 1 1 1 
 
 John, 262 
 
 William, 270, 276 
 
Index 
 
 315 
 
 CLI 
 Clithero, James, 76 
 Codrington, Humphrey, 243 
 Colet, Dean, 61 
 CoUee, John, 56, 1 50 
 
 CoUey (CoUee), Stephen, 56, 148, 240 
 
 Colney, John de, 149 
 
 Colthorp, 85 
 
 Constantine the Great, 10 
 
 Constantius Chlorus, 10 
 
 Cooke, Robert, 120 
 
 Cookham, 81 
 
 Cope, Sir Denzil, 174 
 
 John, 54, 174 
 
 William, 96 
 
 Copyd, Copped, Cob Hall, 1 1 2, 267, 
 274 
 
 Cordery, 142 
 
 Corker, Rev. John, 97, 242 
 
 Coupere, Peter le, 104, 225 
 
 Court Baron, East Court, 291, 296, 
 
 303 
 Court Rolls {see Rent Rolls), 210 
 Cowdrie, 142 
 Cowdries, alias Cowleaze, 122, 139, 
 
 140, 275 
 Cranmer, Archbishop, 63 
 Cressewelle, alias Creshull, Crysell, 
 
 John, 242 
 
 Robert, 252, 254 
 
 William, 242 
 
 CristeshuU, William de, 227 
 
 Cromwell, Oliver, 69 
 
 Crondal, 2, 103 
 
 Crottall, John, 129, 130, 261,262 
 
 Ci-owthome, 5, 218 
 
 Cuny, Robert, 247 
 
 Curson, Roger, 56, 97 
 
 Cutts, Rev. E. L., 31 
 
 Cynegils, King, 1 5, 1 8 
 
 Dacres, George, i i i 
 Danvers, Thomas, 1 1 1 
 Dasent, Arthur I., 43 
 Daubridgecourt, Sir John, 265 
 David, Rev. John, 56 
 Dean, William, 1 1 1 
 Dearing, William, 259 
 Dearsley, Mr., 174 
 Defts, Elizabeth, 251 
 Delavall, Sir Ralph, 169 
 Delle, ad Atte, 226 
 Dene, John, 241 
 
 FIR 
 Denwiilf, Bishop, 21 
 Devil's Highway, 7 
 Dickenson, Mrs. C., 54 
 Dirham, Thomas, 113, 1 16, 266 
 Dodswell, Dozen's Well, t6, 39 
 Dogtnersfield, 73, 77, 165 
 Domesday Book, 83 
 Dorchester-on-Thames, 15, 22 
 Dudbroke, 254 
 Dudston, Rev. Walter, 56 
 Duke's Hill, 2, 7 
 Duppa, Bishop, 69 
 Duval, Claade, 207 
 Dyneley, Robert, 97, 234 
 
 Eales, Bernard, 141, 275 
 
 Earles (or Earle), Bishop, 71 
 
 Early, 81 
 
 Earley, Bartholomew, 262 
 
 East Court House, 126, 139 
 
 East House, 139, 140, 270 
 
 Easthampstead, 4 
 
 Edward the Confessor, 21, 83 
 
 Edward VI., 42 
 
 Ellis, Edward, 270, 276 
 
 James, 54 
 
 Elm Bank, 18 
 Em, Roger le, 226 
 Endens, alias Euendens 
 Englefield, 194 
 Epitaphs in Church)ard, 48 
 Erasmus, 61 
 Escheator, 106, 244 
 Est, Roger, 226 
 
 Stephen, 231, 272 
 
 Ethelstan, Bishop, 21 
 
 Evendens, alias Endens, Indens, 119, 
 
 126, 263 
 Eyston, Martin, 270 
 Eyton, Henry, 247 
 
 Fair, license to hold, 241 
 Farnham, 3, 4 
 Feet of Fines, 226 
 Felde, Roger Atte, 56, 150 
 Feltham, Robert, 262 
 
 William, 215 
 
 Ferretts, 139 
 Fietham, Rev. John, 56 
 Finchampstead Ridges, 218 
 First fruits, 37 
 
3i6 
 
 Chronicles of Finchampstead 
 
 FIS 
 
 Fish, Henry, 135 
 
 Humphrey, 134 
 
 Oliver, 129 
 
 Fish-Palmer, Henry, 92, 128, 133, 140 
 Fisher, John, Bishop, 72 
 Ford, Sir Edward, 269 
 Foster, Sir Humphrey, 154, 224 
 
 William, 224 
 
 Foxle-Foxley, de, Constance, 94, 100 
 
 Joane, 95 
 
 Joanna, 95 
 
 Sir John, 55, 59, 94, 
 
 95, 96, loi, 239 
 
 96, 97, 231, 232 
 
 Katharine, 103 
 
 Matilda, 103 
 
 Sir Thomas, 56, 95, 
 
 William, 95 
 
 Frome Monastery, 19 
 Froyle, 2 
 Fuller, Thomas, 106 
 Fylder, Richard, 252 
 Fyshe-Palmer, see also Fish-Palmer, 
 Charles, 128, 136, 140, 144, 145 
 
 Lady Madelina, 128, 145 
 
 Lucy, 137 
 
 Gammons, 276 
 Gamer, William, 112 
 Garrard, George, iii, 113, 123 
 
 Sir William, iii, 123 
 
 Gaynesford, John, 97, 234, 242 
 Germans, Gervas, 141 
 Gibson, Robert, 54, 145 
 Gill, Rev. Wm., 57, 66, 68 
 Gladstone, Right Hon. W. E., 67 
 Glebe land, 54 
 Godwin, Earl, 21, 84 
 Goodchild, William, 54, 216 
 Goodyer, Edward, 165, 168 
 
 Hester, 169 
 
 James, 39, 57, 164, 165, 166,272 
 
 John, 168 
 
 Martha, 169 
 
 Goodyer Pedigree, 167 
 Gorwen, Stephen, 226 
 Graunt, Robert, 242 
 Greyhound Inn, 46 
 Grove, Edward, 260 
 
 John, 268 
 
 Guest, or Gheast, Bishop, 66 
 Guildford 4 
 
 HEX 
 Hacche, Roger Atte, 104, 226 
 Haghe, John Atte, 230, 271 
 Hall House, 215 
 Hall, Richard, 249 
 
 Robert, 249 
 
 William, 249 
 
 Halle, Edmund Atte, 226 
 
 Nicholas, 230, 271 
 
 Handlor, William de, 1 02 
 Hannys, Thomas, 97 
 Hanoverian Dynasty, 72 
 Hanykins Lodge, 2og, 210 
 Hanyton, Nicholas, 103 
 Harden, Rev. Walter, 56 
 Harecourt, Sir Richard, 243 
 Harold, Earl, 32, 83 
 Harrison, Alice, ill 
 
 Catherine, 1 1 1 
 
 Charles, in, 125 
 
 Dean, in, 125 
 
 Elizabeth, no, 117, 120, 251, 
 
 262 
 
 269 
 
 - Francis, 1 1 1 
 
 ■ James, 125 
 
 ■John, in, 113, 118, 124, 263 
 
 ■ Philip, III, 125 
 
 ■ Sir Richard, i n, 1 14, 123, 124, 
 
 •Thomas, 30, 36, 40, 44, 57, 
 66, 68, 73, 108, no, 112, 113, 114, 
 117, 118, 249, 260, 261, 262 
 
 Harrison Pedigree, in 
 
 Hartington, John, 95 
 
 Harwood, Henry, 268 
 
 Haseldon, John de, 226 
 
 Hatch, The, alias ' Banisters,' ' Bart- 
 letts' 
 
 Hawe, John Atte, 226 
 
 John de la, 325 
 
 Hawton, 31 
 
 Hay, de la. Pedigree, 99 
 
 Hay, Margaret de la, 98 
 
 Mathew de la, 98 
 
 Richard de la, 98, 239 
 
 William de la, 239 
 
 Headda, Bishop, 18 
 
 Heath Pond, 5 
 
 Hellows, Henry, 248 
 
 Henchman, Bishop, 69 
 
 Henry 111., 94 
 
 Henry VIII., 41 
 
 Herman, Bishop, 21 
 
 Hethe, Henry Atte, 226 
 
Index 
 
 317 
 
 HET 
 
 Hethe, John, 242 
 
 Robert, 242 
 
 William Atte, 231, 272 
 
 Heuse, Nicholas de la, 226 {see Hoese) 
 Hicklinge, Rev. Thomas, 42, 56, 63 
 Higford, 85 
 Higgs, George, 54 
 
 Hinde, Henry, 39, 108, 115, 117, 258, 
 268 
 
 John, 259, 260, 262, 270 
 
 Hodges, Richard, 42 
 Hoese, Agatha de la, 146 
 
 Alina de la, 97, 149, 232 
 
 John de la, 55, 58, 88, 92, 93, 94, 
 
 100, 103, 146, 225, 227 
 
 Peter de la, 55, 58, 88, 94, 
 
 146, 225 
 
 Thomas de la, 149 
 
 Hog's Back, 4 
 Holdshot, 100 
 HoUoway, Steaven, 259, 268 
 
 Thomas, 257, 258 
 
 William, 260 
 
 Holway, William, 42 
 Honorius, Pope, 15 
 Hooper, Richard, 64 
 Hope (Hoop), Hugh, 245 
 
 W. H. St. John, 12 
 
 Home, Henry, 257 
 
 Nicholas, 257 
 
 Robert, 257 
 
 Symeon, 257 
 
 Horsley, 3 
 
 Horton, 76 
 Hosatus, Walter, 149 
 Houghton, George, 54 
 Howard, Lady Frances, iii, 
 
 Lady Mary, 124 
 
 The Hon. Bernard, 
 
 Charles, 
 
 103, 
 
 124 
 
 163 
 163, 
 
 164, 
 
 165, 222 
 Hughes, 3 
 Hulcote, John, 243 
 Hungerford, 258, 259 
 Hunter, Richard, 45 
 Hurst (Hyrst), 66, 81, 123, 255, 256, 
 
 266, 269 
 Huse, or Huese, de la {see Hoese) 
 Hussey, Sir Henry, 99 
 
 Family, 180 
 
 {see Hoese) 
 
 Hussie's Manor, 151, 152 
 Hyde, John, 243 
 
 LOL 
 Hyde, Abbot of, 62 
 
 Bishop, 71 
 
 Hylton, Isabel, 311 
 
 James, 311 
 
 Hynde {see Hinde) 
 
 ICKWELL, 136 
 Ifield, Sir John, 95 
 Ina, King of Wessex, 19 
 Indens {see Evendens) 
 Ingram, Elizabeth, 136 
 
 James, 136 
 
 Isbury, John, 243 
 I sham, 128 
 
 jAMYs, William, 56 
 Jewel, Bishop, 63, 64 
 Johnes, Thomas, 33 
 Joyce, Rev. J. G., 1 1 
 Jubilee Oak, 50 
 
 Kelk, Clement, in 
 Kenardusley, Rev. Walter, 56 
 Kenwalk, 18 
 Kingman, Walter, 312 
 Kingsley, Rev. Charles, 190 
 KyngsmuUe, John de, 104, 226 
 
 Lacon (Lakyn) Hall, 180, 247 
 
 Ladd, Rev. John, 56 
 
 Lady, or Law Day, Common, 4 
 
 Lamberde, William, 113 
 
 Lanfranc, Archbishop, 15 
 
 Latimer, 6^ 
 
 Laud, Archbishop, 66, 68, 123 
 
 Laward, Humfrey, 257, 258 
 
 Lawarde, John, 248, 270 
 
 Layward (Laward) 
 
 Lefevre, 144 
 
 Leigh, Rev. J. E. Austen, 173 
 
 Leland, 81 
 
 Leman, Rev. Thomas, 6, 1 11 
 
 Leutherius, Bishop, 18 
 
 Leveson-Gower, John E., 37 
 
 Major-General John, 76 
 
 Lewis, John, 125 
 Liber Niger Scaccarii, 87 
 LlandaflF, Bishop of, 63 
 LoHard, 60 
 
3i! 
 
 Chronicles of Finchampstedd 
 
 LON 
 
 Long, H., 3 
 Longle, Rev. John, 56 
 Longwater, 131 
 Louther, James, 243, 244 
 Lovelock, Elizabeth, 188 
 Lucas Charity, 198 
 Luckley, 129, 130, 136, 261 
 Lyford, John, 162 
 
 Mary, 162 
 
 Lyon, F. G., 144 
 
 Macnabb, Mrs., 145 
 
 Magdalen Hall College, 74 
 
 Malmesbury Abbey, 19, 20 
 
 Manor Farm, 139, 140 
 
 Marchant, Robert la, 104 
 
 Marchaunt, Robert la, 225 
 
 Mare, Sir Thomas de la, 105, 149, 179, 
 
 224, 244 
 Marshall, Richard, 54 
 Marshe (Marsh), Agnes, 270 
 Richard, 39, 120, 121, 
 
 128 
 
 123, 140 
 
 Robert, in, 120, 122, 
 
 Rev. Samuel, 57, 68, 73, 
 117, 120, 121, 122, 140, 276, 277 
 
 Susanna, 122 
 
 '■ Thomas, 57, 69, 122, 
 
 270 
 
 Marston, Nicholas, 270 
 Martin, Joanna, 95, 102 
 
 John, 45 
 
 Marvyn (Marvin, Mervyn), Sir Edmund, 
 
 99. 106, 107, 253 
 
 r Elizabeth, 253 
 
 Sir John, 57, 106, 107, 153, 251 
 
 Sir Walter, 107 
 
 Mathew, Alice, 252 
 
 James, 270 
 
 Maunsell, Thomas Warde, 266 
 
 Mawtravers, Lord, 243 
 
 Maynard, James, 140 
 
 Mead, Richard, 127 
 
 Mears, Ann, 40 
 
 Mercia, 16 
 
 Merry, John, 270 
 
 Merry weather, 54 
 
 Mews, Ellis, 167 
 
 Meyrick, Rev. E. G., D.D., ^^ 
 
 Millard (Milward), Katherine, 266 
 
 WilHam, 259, 266 
 
 PAK 
 
 Milman, Dean, 61 
 Mody, Thomas, 311 
 Mompesson, Sir John, 107, 152 
 
 Thomas, 251 
 
 Money, Walter, 42, 86 
 
 Monkes, 260 
 
 Monuments, 39 
 
 Mordaunt, Lord, 107, 164, 272 
 
 More, Dorothy, 152 
 
 Edward, 152 
 
 Peter Atte, 104, 226 
 
 Moreton, South, 75 
 Morey, Jane, 139, 140 
 Robert, 139 
 
 Thomas, 140 
 
 Morton, Archbishop, 61 
 Moseley, Rev. — , 278 
 Mottisfont, ^^ 
 Moulson Meadow, 52 
 Mousley, John, 54 
 Mylle, William, 252 
 
 Nadder, the, 20 
 
 Newhouse {see Cowdries) 
 
 Nicholas IIL, Pope, 37 
 
 Norden, John, 2, 208 
 
 Normarvile, Peter, 263 
 
 Northill, alias Norhill, Norhill, Nowill, 
 
 13s. 
 Nursling Monastery, 19 
 
 Oliver family, 213 
 Oliver, John, 230 
 
 Richard, 260, 262 
 
 Robert, 248 
 
 Thomas, 124, 268, 270 
 
 William, 248, 260 
 
 ' Olivers ' (Carpenters), 3 1 1 
 Osmund, Bishop, 22 
 Oswald, King, 15, 17 
 Oxford, 22 
 Bishop of, 78 
 
 Padworth, 151 
 
 Pakenham, Constance, 98, 104, 106, 107, 
 
 236, 241 
 
 Sir Edmund, 99, 105, 106 
 
 Elizabeth, 106 
 
 Hugo, 56, 98, 104, 107, 236, 
 
 241 
 
Index 
 
 319 
 
 PAK 
 
 Pakenham, John, 243, 244 
 
 Margaret, 243 
 
 Pakenham Family Pedigree, 99 
 Palmer [see also Fish-Palmer), Charles, 
 
 41,75,122,129,131,271 
 
 Elizabeth, 129 
 
 John, 129 
 
 Maria, 129 
 
 Martha, 129 
 
 Richard, 40, 57, 126, 127, 129, 
 
 260, 261 
 
 Susanna, 131 
 
 Parkyns, Anne, 152, 160, 269 
 
 ■ Elizabeth, 106, 152 
 
 Francis, 152, 155, 160, 161 
 
 Richard, 106, 107, 152, 161 
 
 William, 152, 160 
 
 Parsonage Meadow, 52 
 Parsons, the Jesuit, 66 
 Pedigrees of Families — 
 
 Banister, 189 
 
 CoUee, 148 
 
 Foxle, or Foxley, 
 
 Goodyer, 167 
 
 Harrison, in 
 
 Hay de la, 99 
 
 Hoese de la, 148 
 
 Hussey, 99 
 
 Katherine, i6o 
 
 Marvyn, 107, 153 
 
 Mompesson, 153 
 
 Pakenham, 99, 153 
 
 Palmer, 128 
 
 Parkyns, 148, 153 
 
 Tattershall, 153, 159 
 
 Thomas, 142, 152 
 
 Warbleton, 99 
 
 Warde, Sir R., 113 
 Panda, King, 16 
 
 Penny, Rev. C. W., 114, 129, 210 
 Perkyns (see also Parkyns), John, 56, 
 
 151 
 Piers, Bishop, 66 
 Plowden, Edmund, 159 
 
 Anna, 1 59 
 
 Pocock, Bishop, 210 
 Pokerigge, Thomas, 31 1 
 Pole Manor, 154 
 Pole, Sir Geoffrey, 99, 106, 107 
 Pollen, John, 40 
 
 Rev. Richard, 76 
 
 PoUey (PoUye), Francis, no, 118, 212, 
 
 259, 261, 262 
 
 SAI 
 Polley (Pollye), Henry, 112, 267 
 
 Margaret, no, n8, 
 
 212, 261 
 Poor of Finchampstead, 54, 205 
 
 Yateley, 54 
 
 Pope Pius v., 66 
 Portland, Duke of, 145 
 Porton, Robert, 214, 240, 241 
 Pothille, William, 242 
 Prestaton, 194 
 Property, Parish, ig6 
 Pugin, A. W., 31 
 Puritans, 66, 67, 70 
 Puttenham, Margaret, 95 
 William, 95 
 
 Queen Anne's Bounty, 38 
 
 Ramsbury, 21,22, 77 
 
 Rapley Lake, 2, 4 
 
 Ravenswood, 5, 209 
 
 Reading, 3, 60 
 
 Rectors of Finchampstead, 55 
 
 Rectory, 50 
 
 Redde Landes, 129, 261 
 
 Redinge (Readinge), James, 212, 262 
 
 Redyng, Oliver, 249 
 
 Rent Rolls, East Court, 285, 295, 305 
 
 West Court, 281, 284 
 
 Ridge Farm, 5 
 Ridgewaye, Thomas, 276 
 Riseley Common, 6 
 Rither, EUzabeth, Widow, 268 
 
 John, 259, 262, 3n 
 
 Richard, 126, 270, 312 
 
 Roberts, Rev. A., 77 
 Rogers, Rev. Richard, 34, 39, 57, Ti, 
 165 
 
 Rev. St. John, 51, 57, 73, 74 
 
 Roman Road, i 
 
 Rowedone (Rughdone), 147, 149 
 
 Russell, C, 145 
 
 John, 241 
 
 Richard, 242 
 
 ' Russells,' 109 
 Ryther {see Rither) 
 
 S^GONTIACI, 3, 8, 9 
 
 St. Albans, Duke of, 131, 136, 210 
 
320, 
 
 Chronicles of Finchampstead 
 
 SAI 
 
 St. George's Chapel, Windsor, 61 
 St. John, Anne, 76, 173 
 
 Edmund, 100 
 
 Edward, Ashe Park, 36, 40, 
 
 173 
 Edward, Finchampstead, 37, 
 
 50, SI, 58, 76, n, 78, 90, 170, I7S. 176 
 
 EUzabeth, 40, 58, 76, 176 
 
 Ellis, 40, 57, 74, 75, 76, 92, 
 
 170, 173 
 
 Ellis, Dogmersfield, 169 
 
 Frances, 170 
 
 Goodyer, 170 
 
 Henry, 76, 176 
 
 Henry Ellis, 57,76, 173, 174, 
 
 176 
 
 John, 76, 176 
 
 Mary, 40 
 
 Mildmay, ^^ 
 
 Oliver, 170 
 
 Oliver D'Oyley, 77 
 
 Paulet, 76, JT, 176 
 
 Sara,h, 40, 76 
 
 Sarah, Dogmersfield, 169 
 
 Salcot, Bishop Capon, 62 
 Sandhurst, 2, 6 
 Savile, Sir Henry, 123 
 School, 206 
 Scott, John Oldrid, 23 
 
 Sir Gilbert, 14 
 
 Selborne, Lord, 89 
 
 Selwood Forest, 19 
 
 Seward, Thomas, 211 
 
 Seymour, Simon, 105, 244 
 
 Sharpe, Miss, 85 
 
 Shaxton, Bishop, 61, 62 
 
 Sheldon, Richard, 1 1 1 
 
 Sherborne Diocese, 19 
 
 Sherlock, Bishop, 75 
 
 Shinfield, 81 
 
 Simmonds, Henry, 54 
 
 Simons, alias Symonds Green, 130, 262 
 
 Six Articles, the, 62 
 
 Slethurst, Agnes, 248 
 
 Slytherhurst, John, 1 10 
 
 Soane, Mary, 188 
 
 Soler, Rev, Hammond de la, 96 
 
 Sonning, 21, 22, 66, 81 
 
 Sorrell, Francis, 189 
 
 South Court, 18 
 
 Smith, W. Banister, 88 
 
 Spanish Armada, 66 
 
 Spence, 144 
 
 VYN 
 
 Stackpole, Rev. Adam, 56 
 Standen, Edward, 132 
 Stanhope, Lord, 72 
 Stapleford, 162 
 Stewkeley, Sir Hugh, 169 
 Stone, Richard, 252 
 Strathfieldsaye, 6, 41 
 Stukeley, 3 
 
 Sulhampstead Banister, 88 
 Sutton Warblington, 102 
 Swallowfield, 81 
 Symynges, John, M.D., 256 
 Syrewast, Elizabeth, 95 
 John, 95 
 
 Tailor, Humfreie, 260, 262, 276 
 Tanner, Bishop, 102 
 Tattershall, Anne, 162 
 
 Edward, 1 58 
 
 George, 69, 134, 158, 161 
 
 163, 268, 270 
 
 John, 162 
 
 Tayler, Mrs., 119, 263 
 Taylor, George, 249 
 
 John, 138, 139, 253, 267 
 
 Nicholas, 139, 260 262, 264 
 
 Petronell, 253 
 
 William, 268 
 
 Taylour, Thomas, 248 
 Theodore, Archbishop, 90 
 Thomhill, Edward, 94, 227 
 Thoyts, Miss, 142 
 Thurbarne, Roger, 241 
 Tisbury Monastery, ig 
 Tithes, 53, 278 
 Tomlinson, Rev. R., 58 
 TottersoU [see Tattershall) 
 Trickey, Thomas, 54 
 Tylborough, Agnes, 241, 249 
 
 Henry, 214, 241 
 
 John, 252 
 
 Ufton, 85 
 
 Underwood, alias Palmer, Richard, 
 
 129, 261 
 Uvedale, Elizabeth, 95 
 Sir Thomas, 95 
 
 Venta Belgarum, 3 
 Vindomis, 3 
 Vyne Hunt, 173 
 
Index 
 
 321 
 
 WAL 
 
 Waller, William, 257 
 
 Wallingford, 3 
 
 Walter, Hubert, Bishop, 208 
 
 John, s, 48, 58, 11, 91, 145, 176, 
 
 206, 218, 202 
 Warbleton, Joanna, 103 
 
 John de, 95 
 
 Katherine de, 95 
 
 Margaret, 95, 98, 232, 235, 
 
 236, 240 
 
 William de, 95, 97, 98, 100, 
 
 103, 104, 232, 233, 236, 239, 240, 242' 
 Warbleton Pedigree, 99 
 Ward, Seth, Bishop, 71 
 Warde, Alse (Alice), 114 
 
 Anne, 1 1 S 
 
 Colubra, 1 14 
 
 Katherine, 41 
 
 Richard, 41, iii, 113, 114, 115, 
 
 266 
 Wase, William, 268 
 Webb, John, 48 
 
 William, 277 
 
 Webbe, Anne, 1 1 1 
 Webb's Farm, 5, 6 
 Welles, Anne, 1 59 
 
 Richard, 159 
 
 West Moor, 52 
 West, Robert, 226 
 Westminster Abbey, 84, 107 
 Westwood, 133 
 Wharton, Lord, 270 
 
 YEN 
 
 Whishley, 123, 126, 266, 269 
 
 Whisley, 81 
 
 White, Henry le, 231, 272 
 
 Whites, 139 
 
 Whitgift, Bishop, 64 
 
 Whiting, Richard, 268 
 
 Wick Hill, 5, 139 
 
 Wilberforce, Bishop, 51, 78 
 
 Wilcons, John, 231, 272 
 
 Wina, 18 
 
 Winchcombe, Sir Henry, 11 1, 124 
 
 Winchester, 2, 3, 19 
 
 Winchfield, 75, 76, 77 
 
 Windebancke, Sir Francis, 124 
 
 Winstanley, James, 123 
 
 Witt wrong, 131 
 
 Wodestock, Sir James de, 95 
 
 Wood, Anne, 173, 188 
 
 Rev. Charles, 173, 188 
 
 Woodstock, Sir James de, lot 
 Woodville, Bishop Lionel, 61 
 
 Sir Richard, 179 
 
 Wycliife, John, 60 
 Wydesore, Sir John, 251 
 Wykeham, William, loi 
 Wyle, Ralph de la, 226 
 Wynnebush, 214, 240, 241, 252, 254 
 Wyvill, Bishop, 102 
 
 Yeles, William, 258 
 Yenyndone, Richard, 230 
 
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