ANTIQUARIAN ^ STATISTICAL, 
 
 OF 
 
 THE PARISH OF 
 
 IN THE COUNTY OP 
 
 ESSEX. 
 
 BY GEORGE W. JOHNSON, 
 
 F. L. S., Z. S. AND H. S. 
 
 TOTHAM! 
 
 PRINTED, FOR PRIVATE CIRCCLATION ONLY, 
 BY CHARLES CLARK. 
 
fCOLCAT^ 
 
 C 
 
 CH2 
 
 Tqh 
 
 Hr- 
 
From a Drawing by Miss P<"“essioii of the Kev. T. F. Gower. 
 
 aRXIA.T ToTHAM church. 
 
GRELIV.T TOTHAIYI CHURCH. 
 
 A 
 
 d 
 
 ' ANTIQUARIAN ^ STATISTICAL, 
 
 OF 
 
 THE PARISH OF 
 
 GREAT TOTHAM, 
 
 IN THE COUNTY OF 
 
 ESSEX. 
 
 BY GEORGE W. JOHNSON, 
 
 F. L. S., Z. S. AND II. S. 
 
 GREAT TOTHAM: 
 
 PRINTED, FOR PRIVATE CIRCULATION ONLY, 
 BY CIURLES CLARK. 
 
 i 
 
 1831. 
 
PREFACE, 
 
 EXPLANATORY ^ DEDICATORY. 
 
 TO THE REV. THOMAS FFOOTE GOWER, 
 
 RECTOR OF SXOREHAM AND CURATE OF 
 GREAT TOTHAM.^ 
 
 MY DEAR SIR, 
 
 The following pages have been arranged, as you are 
 aware, with the desire of having for myself and friends 
 as much information as is extant respecting a Parish 
 with which we have all for many years been happily 
 connected. It is true that I had at one time a more 
 extended purpose, but the experience I have gained in 
 collecting materials for this History has taught me, the 
 unwillingly-learnt lesson, that I have not leisure suffi- 
 cient for Topographical Studies. This, then, shall be 
 solely a tribute of friendship to friendship, and I shall 
 have a sufficient recompense if it affords the village 
 friends with whom I have mingled^ freely and happily, 
 for eighteen years, as much pleasure in the perusal as I 
 have enjoyed during its collection. 
 
 I w^ould not have my friends imagine that I claim 
 the merit of entire originality; those who refer to Mo- 
 rant’s History of Essex will find how very much I am 
 indebted to him as a guide; but, on the other hand, I 
 have to ask for the minor commendation of diligence, 
 
when I assure them that, in every instance, 
 where I quote from his work direct, I have re erre 
 the original authorities. 
 
 To several of mv friends I am much indebted, but 
 you, my dear Sir, have been my chief living Bibliotheca 
 nf lnr«l knowledtje. 
 
 I am sure you will agree with me that no one, igno- 
 
 rant of the fact, would believe that the typography ot 
 this work has been the unassisted labour ot a pnva e 
 individual: Mr. Charles Clark has rendered this in a 
 still more particular sense a local work by printing it 
 with his own Press at our manorial Hall, and entirely 
 at his own cost. 
 
 This produce of a Parish over which you have pre- 
 sided for so many years I dedicate, my dear Sir, to you. 
 It should be wished with the Spaniards, if it could 
 avail, that you may live a thousand years, but with 
 more sincerity it is earnestly hoped that you may for 
 many years preside over those parishioners, to whose 
 happiness and welfare you have ever laboured to con- 
 tribute, by him, my dear Sir, who is one of them, and 
 
 Y our sincere and obliged friend. 
 
 G. W. JOHNSON. 
 
 Great Totham, Essex, 
 Sept. 1831. 
 
HISTORY OF TOTHAM. 
 
THE HISTORY OF THE 
 
 PARISH OF GREAT TOTHAM. 
 
 THE Parish of Great Totham is part of the 
 Hundred of Thurstahle. Its boundary parishes are 
 Heyhridge to the S., Little Totham to the S.-E., Beck- 
 ingham to the E., Inworth to the N.-E., Great Braxted 
 to the N., Little Braxted to the N.-W., Wickham 
 Bishops to the W., and Langford to the S.-W. It lies 
 about mid-way between IMaldon and Witham, its near- 
 est boundaries being nearly three miles distant from each 
 of those towns, which are respectively about 38 miles 
 from London. 
 
 Whence the name of this Parish was derived is un- 
 certain. Morant derives it from Tote, a man^s name, 
 and Ham, the Saxon for a house or dwelling ; but in the 
 absence of all evidence we can only say it may be so. 
 I am rather inclined to derive it from Top, the Saxon 
 for summit, and Ham, as translated above ; for though 
 the Anglo-Saxons might not be aware that the highest 
 ground in the County is in this Parish, yet from time 
 immemorial, until within these few years, a Beacon ex- 
 isted upon this hill. The corruption from Top to Tot 
 is easy, which requires no other illustration than that 
 Robert de Totham, who lived in the time of Henry the 
 2nd, is often called by old writers Robert de Topham, 
 
 Extent. — No actual survey of the parish existing, 
 I am unable to state accurately the number of Acres it 
 contains. An approximation is afforded by the know- 
 ledge that Tithe is paid for 2,444 Acres. There are 
 more than 200 Acres of Tithe-free Land in the Parish, 
 and if, as is usual, 10 Acres are added to every 100 as 
 a fair addition to Tenants measure. Wastes, Farm-yards 
 &c., it cannot be very erroneous to consider the area of 
 the Parish as 3,000 Acres. 
 
 Inhabitants. — The male population appears to have 
 been exactly equal in the time of Edward the Confessor 
 
2 
 
 (A. D. 1042 — 1066) and at the period when the Domes- 
 day Book was compiled in the reign of William the 
 Norman, A. D. 1086. At the first-mentioned time there 
 were 10 Villains, 16 Borders, 12 Serfs, and 8 Freed- 
 mcn; at the second period there were 9 Villains, 16 
 Borders,* 13 Serfs, and 8 Freed-men. 
 
 Villains (Villani) are believed to have been tenants 
 of a superior degree to Serfs, yet very servile, and their 
 persons, as well as their property, at the disposal of the 
 Lord upon whose estate they resided. They were either 
 regardant^ that is, annexed to the Soil; or in gross ^ 
 that is, annexed to the person of the Lord ; they all held 
 small plots of Land, but the latter class were entirely at 
 the disposal of their master: their slavery was called 
 •pure Villainage^ and from them are descended our 
 Copyhold Tenures. 
 
 Borders (Bordarii) derived their names from the 
 Bordy or Cottage, each inhabited. They appear to have 
 been drudges for the performance of Threshing, Cut- 
 ting W ood, &c.* 
 
 Serfs (Servi) were much the same as Villains in Gross, 
 but their occupation seems to have been more connected 
 with household work. 
 
 Free Men (Liberi Homines) were either tenants of 
 the King in capite, or freeholders of Land under some 
 nobleman, owing him nothing but military service, from 
 which even some purchased exemption, and were called 
 Novi Fcoffati. Many were knighted by the monarchs, 
 but as this honour brought with it many expenses, those 
 who had scanty fees compounded with the king to avoid 
 it. They were the only men of honour, faith, trust, 
 and reputation in the kingdom ;”t a character many are 
 inclined still to confine to their congeners, the middle 
 classes of later days. There were more Freemen in this 
 County, with Suffolk and Norfolk, than in all England 
 besides.J 
 
 * Howard, p, 204. t Brady's Glossary &c. J Kelham’* 
 Domesday Book, p. 133. 
 
In the year 1692 there were 109 persons resident in 
 the Parish liable to the Poll tax, and as this included 
 servants and children, the only exemptions were the 
 paupers, which other documents prove in those days to 
 have been very few. The document which affords the 
 above information is in the Parish Books, and thus 
 entitled: — 
 
 “July the 18th, 1692. 
 
 A Rate made for the second quarterly paiiuent of the Pool 
 Tax. Granted to their Majesties by a late Act of Parliament for 
 carriing^ on a vigorous War against Frunse.” 
 
 Edmund Wyld, Esq. was rated ‘^for half a Horse,” 10 
 shillings; Nathan Wright, Esq. and his Wife 22 shil- 
 lings ; and the Guardians of Mr. Aylett’s estates 10 shil- 
 lings, hut all other persons, including servants and 
 children, paid one shilling each. 
 
 In 1801 the Population amounted to 528.* 
 
 In 1821 it had increased to 580. 
 
 For the following Table of the annual increase of the 
 Population from that year, inclusive, I am indebted to 
 
 the Rev. T. F. 
 
 G0W( 
 
 Dr:— 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 YEARS. 
 
 BAPTISMS. 
 
 BURIALS. 
 
 MARRIAGES. 
 
 
 M 
 
 F 
 
 T 
 
 M 
 
 F 
 
 T 
 
 
 1821 
 
 12 
 
 15 
 
 27 
 
 7 
 
 11 
 
 18 
 
 6 
 
 1822 
 
 16 
 
 14 
 
 30 
 
 8 
 
 7 
 
 15 
 
 5 
 
 1823 
 
 17 
 
 11 
 
 28 
 
 8 
 
 3 
 
 11 
 
 6 
 
 1824 
 
 10 
 
 10 
 
 20 
 
 2 
 
 4 
 
 6 
 
 6 
 
 1825 
 
 16 
 
 21 
 
 37 
 
 4 
 
 13 
 
 17 
 
 3 
 
 1826 
 
 11 
 
 21 
 
 32 
 
 8 
 
 4 
 
 12 
 
 2 
 
 1827 
 
 11 
 
 14 
 
 25 
 
 7 
 
 8 
 
 15 
 
 1 
 
 1828 
 
 16 
 
 17 
 
 33 
 
 9 
 
 4 
 
 13 
 
 6 
 
 1829 
 
 11 
 
 10 
 
 21 
 
 10 
 
 9 
 
 19 
 
 4 
 
 1830 
 
 16 
 
 10 
 
 26 
 
 6 
 
 8 
 
 14 
 
 6 
 
 TOTAL 
 
 136 
 
 143 
 
 279 
 
 69 
 
 71 
 
 140 
 
 44 
 
 From the foregoing Table it appears there was at the 
 termination of 1830 an excess of Births, when compared 
 with the Deaths, of 139 ; these added to my knowledge 
 
 • Carlisle’s Topographical Dictionary of England. 
 
4 
 
 of the increase of settlers in the Parish, justifies an 
 estimate of the number of its present inhabitants at full 
 730. The above Table does not afford correct data 
 whereby to judge of the ratio at which population in- 
 creases, for almost each year has seen fresh houses 
 erected, and new settlers in the Parish. 
 
 Great Totham is an exception to the rule of Popula- 
 tion which has been ascertained to apply to England, viz, 
 that there are 209 males born for every 200 females ; for 
 the average of the ten years gives only 19lj males to 
 200 females. The deaths in all England have been found 
 to be 199 males to 200 females; in this parish from the 
 above Table they appear to he scarcely more than 194| 
 to 200. When the deaths which occur in our Navy and 
 Army are taken into account, of which no returns are 
 made in the official Records of Mortality, and the num- 
 bers in those Professions thereby incapable of entering 
 into a settled life, it appears the amount of each sex re- 
 sident in England at the same time whom circumstances 
 permit to marry are as nearly as possible equal : a fact, 
 in the absence of all reasoning, or authority, which sub- 
 verts the Mahommedan morality of Polygamy. 
 
 Soil — Geology. — The land situated upon the most 
 elevated district of the Parish is very light, as is appa- 
 rent from the following analysis of an average specimen 
 of its soil: — 
 
 Stones, chiefly siliceous 27, 0 
 Vegetable Fibres . . 1, 5 ... . 28, 5 
 
 Soluble Matters, chiefly vegetable extract 3, 
 
 Carbonates of Lime and Magnesia . . 18, 
 
 Oxide of Iron 4, 
 
 Animal and Vegetable Matters ... 1, 
 
 Alumina (ClayJ 4, 5 
 
 Silica (Flint) 40, 
 
 Loss 1, 
 
 100 
 
 The soil of the lower district of the Parish is richer, 
 and contains more Alumina ; hut, with the exception of 
 a few small veins of Clay, the whole surface-soil rests 
 upon Gravel, which has been found in places to reach a 
 
depth of between 40 and 50 feet. In boring for water 
 at the May-Pole, Public-house, which stands on the 
 edge of the Parish adjoining Heybridge, about 30 feet 
 of Gravel were succeeded by 200 feet of greyish Clay, 
 with occasional mixtures of Siliceous Sand, at which 
 depth a rock intervened which the Borers did not pene- 
 trate. 
 
 With such a porous substratum, and with a Soil so 
 readily permitting evaporation, no Summer can be well 
 too wet for the Agriculturists of this Parish. 
 
 Consisting, as is apparent, entirely of Diluvial depo- 
 sits, it promises little that is new to the Geologist. 
 Petrified Wood, Echini, much mutulated, and some few 
 other testimonies of this mass of Gravel having been 
 subject to movement by some mighty Waters occur in 
 the Gravel of this Parish I have found many Fossils of 
 the Chalk Formation in the surface Soil, but these, 
 doubtless, were imported from the coast of Kent in the 
 Chalk fetched thence as a manure. 
 
 From the few opportunities I have had of examining 
 the Geology of Great Totham I conclude it is entirely 
 composed of diluvial deposit. It is more than probable 
 that it rests on the Plastic Clay formation, but of this I 
 am not quite certain — it may be the London Clay; yet 
 if it he allowed th.it these two divisions are but parts of 
 one great Formation, of which I am convinced, this will 
 be a matter of no consequence. When I was in the 
 neighbourhood, I had neither the opportunity or the in- 
 struments by which I could determine the relative 
 height of the elevation on which you stand; nor was it 
 possible, owing to the thickness of the Diluvium around, 
 to determine from the position of the Strata, whether 
 that elevation was formed by a Fault, or the scooping 
 out of the Valley which intervenes between the chief 
 elevation of Great Totham and the opposite hills. The 
 Diluvium itself is chiefly composed of rounded Pebbles 
 and angular Flints belonging to the Chalk formation. 
 The fossils of this deposit are chiefly Flint-casts of the 
 
Inoceramus mytaloides^ Terrehratula plicata, and the 
 Conuhis alhogalerus ; they are, however, comparatively 
 scarce, if I can judge from the few opportunities that I 
 have had of exploring it. There is, however, another 
 species of Diluvium in Great Totham, which I may per- 
 haps call the Dilmnan Clay — it is a dry friable Clay, 
 containing a few Pebbles, and remarkable for the abun- 
 dance of Gryphcea incurva which are found in it. Ex- 
 cepting a solitary specimen of Dicotyledonous IV ood^ 
 the Gryphoea w^as the only Fossil I found. This singu- 
 lar deposit abounds in almost all parts of Essex; it is 
 not at all improbable the upper green Sand is in its im- 
 mediate neighbourhood.’^* 
 
 Observation enables me to confirm Mr. Higgins in his 
 belief that the Substratum of Great Totham is Plastic 
 Clay. 
 
 Judging from the position of the valleys which tra- 
 verse this and neighbouring parishes, the progress of 
 the Deluge winters appears to have been from the S.-W. 
 towards its opposite point. This is confirmed by the 
 fact that the chief masses of rounded Pebbles (Gravel) 
 occur on the southern faces of the elevations, and ap- 
 pear to have been stopped in their progress by the ele- 
 vations of Plastic Clay upon which they rest. 
 
 A very large surface of this Parish was formerly un- 
 enclosed, forming part of Tiptree Heath, a wild district, 
 on which wdthin the memory of man, but few houses 
 occured between Heybridge and Colchester, a distance 
 of 15 miles. With an inclination to the East, and va- 
 ried with stagnant waters, whose evaporation tendered 
 constantly to reduce the temperature, this district be- 
 came the provincial illustration of desolation, and “Cold 
 Tiptree Heath” was considered as the abode of Disease 
 and Wretchedness — Ague and Poverty. This oppro- 
 bium is now removed from Great Totham, the last en- 
 closure Act in the 44th of the reign of George the 3rd 
 
 * From a communication by Mr. W. M. Higgins, F. G. S. 
 
having reduced the waste land of the Pai-ish to a very 
 trifling remainder; whilst the enclosed land may he 
 quoted in general as specimens of as good agricultural 
 management as can he exhibited in this most agricultural 
 of all the English districts, and consequently of the 
 world. 
 
 Elevation. — I am unable to state the altitude of 
 the Beacon Hill in this Parish, which the eye pronounces 
 to he the greatest elevation in the County. I hoped to 
 have obtained correct information on this point from the 
 Ordnance Office, hut a communication from thence in- 
 forms me that the instrument used in 1799 by Colonel 
 Mudge in triangulating this part of England was not 
 accurate in obtaining vertical angles, consequently the 
 altitude of the Beacon Hill is undetermined. The same 
 authority, however, informs me that Laindon Hill is 620 
 feet above low water, and the Beacon Hill is apparently 
 of rather superior altitude. 
 
 Climate. — Winds from Easterly points are very fre- 
 quent, consequently the air is dry and injurious to per- 
 sons with weak Lungs. The most powerful winds are 
 from the N.-W., as indicated by the usual inclination 
 of the Trees to the contrary quarter. 
 
 I have no doubt that the average temperature of the 
 high grounds of this Parish is full six degrees lower 
 than that of the surrounding valleys. The greatest de- 
 gree of cold I ever noticed in this Parish was in January 
 1820 ; it then reached 10 degrees below zero, and froze 
 Rum and other spirits exposed to its influence. The 
 annual fall of Rain is as small as in any part of Eng- 
 land — not averaging 20 inches. 
 
 Natural Productions. — The Zoology of the Pa- 
 rish offers little subject for comment. Of Quadrupeds 
 we have the usual species. The Badger is now, how- 
 ever, almost extinct, and the Fox of much rarer occur- 
 ence than it was half a century ago. Up to the year 
 1751, and even a few years later, as appears in the Pa- 
 rish Books, rewards were held out for the destruction 
 
of this animal. Its ravages must have been considerable 
 when the Parish was content to pay 6s. 8d. for every 
 hitch Fox, and half that sum for a male of the same 
 species. 
 
 Of Birds there are no peculiar frequenters. An Eagle 
 was seen a few months since in one ot the adjacent woods, 
 which is not a solitary instance, since it is upon record 
 that in Mr. Wilde’s woods in this Parish one was killed 
 in 1684 whose wdngs were 9 feet in expanse.* The 
 Quail was formerly very frequently found in this and 
 other parts of Essex, but its occurrence now is veiy rare. 
 
 In Entomology this Parish is richer; and perhaps 
 there are few British Insects that are not to be found 
 within its limits. 
 
 Of Plants I know of none particularly rare that oc- 
 cur. The Lesser Perriwiiikle Vinca minor ^ is the 
 only one which is of less frequent occurrence in England. 
 The Parish is, however, abounding in the usual floral 
 beauties of our country, and will seldom suffer by com- 
 parison with any scenery — any combination of wood 
 and \vatcr and varied surface, variously decked, that 
 can elsew^here be found in our parent-land. 
 
 Church. — This Parish is a discharged Vicarage, in 
 the Archdeaconry of Colchester, Deanry of Thurstable, 
 and Diocese of London. Its value in the King’s Books 
 is £10, but its actual value in 1654 was £50 ;t and at 
 present the Vicarial Tithes produce £91 12 9 at the 
 rate of nitiepencc per acre. 
 
 Newcourt gives as follows: — 
 
 ONERA HUJUS VICARI^. 
 
 Priinitiae £10. Decinioe £1. Proc. Episc. R. 48 6d. V. 48 6d 
 Pr. Archid. 6s 8d. Synodulia 2s 8d. 
 
 The Church, dedicated to St. Peter, J is a neat edifice 
 of brick, whitened, and tiled ; of one pace with the Chan- 
 cel. It has a boarded Belfry, and shingled Spire. The 
 
 * Ray’s Philosophical Letters, p. 269. f Landsdowne MSS in 
 the British Museum. J Newcourt’s Repertorium. 
 
two Bells are most discordant and inharmonious. One 
 of them is very much cracked : it has, in old English 
 characters, this inscription — 
 
 ^^SANCTE ANDREA ORA PRO NOBIS,”* 
 
 with S.” the initials of the Caster, and the impres- 
 sion of a Coin, of whose inscription the letters “ C. I.'" 
 -only are distinguishable. The three Pellets in each 
 quarter of the shield, and the inscription, induce me to 
 consider it as a coin of Edward the 1st or Edward 
 the 2nd, which are very difficult to be distinguished from 
 each other. Coinages in those reigns (1272 — 1327) were 
 made at York, the inscription being — eboraci civt. 
 
 The other Bell, in similar characters, with several 
 Crosses fleury, has the inscription — 
 
 ‘‘AVE GRACIA PLENA, 
 
 which is not only had spelling, hut false Latin. Morant 
 says in his time (1768) there were three Bells, and there 
 are evident signs in the Belfry of there having been that 
 number. 
 
 The interior of the Church is simple: the hangings and 
 decorations of the Communion Table, Desk, and Pulpit 
 were the work and gift of Mrs. Elizabeth Gower, sister 
 of the present Curate. This gentleman, the Rev. Tho- 
 mas Ffoote Gower, of Brazennosc College, Oxford, has 
 been a very liberal benefactor of the Church : it was much 
 improved and enlarged in 1826, chiefly at his expense. 
 
 Mrs. Frances Lee, of Maldon, gave the present Altar 
 Piece, (the worship of the Magi,) which I am told came 
 from a Chapel attached to Messing House. The previous 
 Altar Piece is now boarded over, being a wretched repre- 
 sentation of “ the Last Supper,” by David Ogborne, for- 
 merly of Chelmsford. In it, besides the old false accom- 
 paniment of a glory, he gives our Saviour the additional 
 distinction of one more than the usual number of fingers 
 upon his left hand. 
 
 • Holy Andrew pray for us. 
 
 f Hail, full of Grace. 
 
10 
 
 The ODly Monumental Effigies in the Church are in the 
 pavement of the Chancel, consisting of two female FiguiM 
 of Brass, each surmounted by the family shield, andwi 
 the following inscription beneath : — 
 
 «Her«lveth Elizabeth Coke, late wife of Richard Cake, 
 
 qiiier, daughter of John Pilboroufyli soi.ielinie one of the Baiuns ol 
 
 the Gorte of Eschqiier, and of Elizabeth liis wife, daughter of John 
 Rooper, Esquier, and of Jane his wife, wch. Ricliard Coke an^ 
 Elizabeth his wife had issue ouely one Daugh. Elizabeth marne 
 Thomas Wilde Esquier. 
 
 Viva nienior mortis, morions solatia sensit 
 En tiiiiulata jacet celo friictura per evuin* 
 
 Que obiit 24 die.Decembris anno Dni. 1^6.” 
 
 In the church-yard there arc no memorials worthy of 
 notice here, except the two following. The first I copy 
 because it really is a superior composition to those usual- 
 ly found in Country Church-yards; and the second be- 
 cause it affords the oportunity of appending a good im- 
 
 promptu. 
 
 Beneath this humble Stone lies Esther Hale, 
 
 To all the little village dear ; 
 
 Yon Bell exacted, as it told the tale, 
 
 From age — from infancy a tear. 
 
 When the last trump shall change this earthly scene, 
 And Souls their long-lost bodies join. 
 
 Thousands shall wish their lives below had been 
 Immaculate and pure as thine.” 
 
 The following,’’ says Mr. Charles Clark, the typo- 
 grapher of these pages, “you may find in any Church- 
 yard — I send it you that I may add a clever reply that 
 Luttrell once wrote to it, when rambling in a Country 
 Church-yard in which it attracted his attention.” 
 
 “ Stop Reader here as you pass by. 
 
 As yon are now so once was I j 
 As I am now so yon must be. 
 
 Therefore prepare to follow mb.” 
 
 To which Mr. Luttrell replied — 
 
 “ To follow yon I'm not content 
 Unless I knew which way you went!” 
 
 When the Church was first erected we have no do- 
 cuments to prove. It was in existence before the year 
 1222, when. Sir Hugh de Nevyll diedv for hoi gave this 
 
 I 
 
Ghurc1v“cuTli omnibus pcrtihentiis suis, et advocationem 
 ipsius Ecclesice’* to the Nunnery of Clerkenwell in Mid- 
 dlesex.* At the time this gift of the Great or Rectorial 
 Tithes was appropriated to the Nunnery by the Bishop 
 of London a Vicarage was ordained. t 
 
 The Vicarage was augmented in 1719 by Bishop 
 Robinson with £‘200, to which were added £200 of 
 Queen Anne’s Bounty, and an estate purchased with the 
 amount.J This estate is in the Parish of Ingatestone. 
 
 For the following list of Vicars, and the Patrons who 
 presented, I am indebted chiefly to Newcourt. 
 
 VICARS. 
 
 The names in the smaller type are the Patrons. 
 
 Thomas de Stapleford, prid. Id. Aug. 1332. 
 
 , Prioress and Nuns of Clerkenwell, who 
 
 possessed it till 1539. 
 
 Reginald Smith- 
 
 Peter Chikyn, pr. 6 Kal. Feb. 1362, per res. Smith. 
 Roger Sabridgesword, cap. 3 Kal. Dec. 1370, per res. 
 Chikyn. 
 
 John Barret, pr. 29 Jan. 1389, per mort. Rogeri. 
 
 John Whityng. 
 
 — Matherby, 19 Jan. 1426, per res. Whityng. 
 
 Wyld^ pr. 7‘Oct. 1427, per res. Matherby. 
 
 Rob. Norton, pr. 10 Jan. 1429. 
 
 Tho. Pygeon, pr. 26 Mar. 1432, per res. Norton. 
 
 Lucas, pr. 15 July 1434, per res. Pygeon. 
 
 Hugo Harshand, pr. 5 Dec. 1435, per res. Lucas. 
 
 John Harton, pr. 27 Oct. 1437, per res. Harshand. 
 Tho. Spynkyll, pr. 22 Nov. 1441, per res. Harton. 
 
 Joh. Mansfeld, pr. 16- 1451, per res. Spynkyll. 
 
 Wm. Gawntou, pr. .2 Jan. 1458, per res. Mansfeld. 
 
 Rob. Styvvard. 
 
 Joh. Robyiison, pr. ult. Feb. 1480, per mort Styward. 
 
 * Regist. de Clerkenwell. Cotton MSS. in Brit. Museum. Faust 
 B. ii. fol. 17 b. -t Stokesley, 118. NewcourCs Repertoriuu^ ii. 609. 
 J MoranP« Hi^pry of Essex, ii. 385. 
 
— — - Shercliffe, aliaa Smithy pr. 4 Jan. 1487, per 
 mort Robynson. 
 
 Rog. Wolfe. 
 
 Maur. Hayes. 
 
 Jac. Robinson, 22 Aug. 1527, per mort Hayes. 
 
 Rob. Mery, A. M. 22 Feb. 1530, per res. Robinson. 
 Walt. Williams, pr. 11 Dec. 1531, per res. Mery. 
 
 Ant. Dogett, 19 Apl. 1532. 
 
 On the 9tb of September 1539 the Nunnery of Clerk- 
 enwell was suppressed, and the right of presentation 
 seems to have devolved to the King; the Incumbent, 
 however, remained for life, for the next presentation 
 was on the death of Mr. Dogett. The patronage appears 
 to have been sold to two joint impropriators. 
 
 Tho. Caly, cl. 11 Mar. 1540, per mort Dogett. 
 
 Sim. Coston & R. Johnson, prohacvice. 
 Laur. Agar, cl. 7 Mar. 1559, per mort Caly. 
 
 J. Moon, gent, jure uxoris. 
 
 Geo. Clarke, A. M. 17 Feb. 1579, per mort Agar. 
 
 Wm. Laurence, gent. 
 
 Edwd. Goldingham, cl. 15 Sept. 1582. 
 
 Bishop of London, per laps. 
 
 Wm. Tunstall, cl. 15 Feb. 1583. 
 
 Nic. Clerk, gent. 
 
 Franc. Fryer, A. M. 8 Aug. 1587, per priv. Tunstall. 
 
 Rob. Middleton, gent. 
 
 Wm. Tunstall, A. M. 4 July 1598, per mort Fryer. 
 Tho. Aj'lett. 
 
 Tho. Serle, pr. 18 Dec. 1608, per res. Tunstall. 
 
 Tho. Aylett. 
 
 Amb. Westropc, cl. 29 Nov. 1616. 
 
 Tho. Aylett. 
 
 Ste. Brewer, cl. 8 Oct. 1663, per mort Westrope. 
 
 Wm. Gladwyn, G. 
 
 Job. Gey, cl. 17 Oct. 1674, per cess. Brewer. 
 
 King Carl. 2nd, per laps. 
 
 Casse, A. M. 10 Feb. 1675. 
 
 M. Freshwater, V, 
 
 Hen. Blany, A. M. 1 Apl. 1680, per res. Casse. 
 
 Win. Aylett, G. 
 
 Sam. Henderson, A. M. 19 Dec. 1682, per res. Blany. 
 Wm. Aylett, G. 
 
13 
 
 * Joh. Marinus, A. M. 15 Nov. 1690, per cess. Henderson 
 Edm. Percival, Ar, 
 
 Wm. Harris, B. A. 5 May 1711, per mort Marinus. 
 
 Qiieen Anne. 
 
 Speed, per mort Harris. 
 
 Queen Anne. 
 
 Griffith Williams, 13 Mar. 1753, per mort Speed. 
 
 Susanna Foster, Widow. 
 
 t Joseph Venables, 5 Feb. 1705, per mort Williams. 
 
 Susanna Foster, Widow. 
 
 How Mr. Moon came possessed of the right of pre- 
 sentation through his wife in 1559 I am unable to de- 
 termine, unless he married the heiress of William Mor- 
 rice, or Edmund Isaack, to whom Edward VI, on the 
 8th of July 1550, granted the patronage .J 
 
 The present Vicar, the Rev. George Townleyf"suc- '^£ 91 ^ ^ ^ 
 
 ceeded upon the resignation of the Rev. Joseph Vena-/^^^ 
 bles, April 19th 1777- 
 
 During the Usurpation, the Parliament appointed a 
 Committee to enquire into the conduct of the Clergymen 
 of the several Parishes throughout England. Their 
 mode of proceeding may be learned from the following 
 title-page of a pamphlet in the British Museum, pub- 
 lished in 1648: — “The Division of the County of SX 
 into several Classes, together with the name of the 
 Ministers & others fit to be of each Classes ; certified by 
 the standing Committee of that County, and approved 
 of by the Committee of Lords and Commons appointed 
 by ordinance of both Houses of Parliament forjudging 
 of Scandall, and approving the Classes in the several 
 Counties of England.’' In this classification the 14th 
 contained Thurstable, Winstree, Witham, and Colches- 
 ter ; but in it Wickham only had a named minister, Mr. 
 
 Enoch Gray, and two Elders, Josiah Walking and Ro- 
 bert Plum, Gents. Totham and the other parishes are 
 without any specified clergymen. — In the Lansdowne 
 
14 
 
 MSS there is one which contains more information, evi- 
 dently drawn np for the guidance of the Committee. 
 Mr. Ellis ascribes to it the date of 1654. According to 
 it the spiritual welfare of this district was in very had 
 guardianship. This parish and Little Totham were 
 each without clergymen; whilst Mr. Gyll ofTollcshunt 
 Mvujor, and Mr. Gilbert of Tollesbury were ^^scandal^^ 
 ous” and Mr. How of Goldhanger was unfit'* Mr. 
 Gray of Wickham has no characteristic assigned. 
 
 The Rectory in the time of Henry VIII. was valued 
 at £6 13 Sd.* At present it produces to the impro-^ 
 priators, the executors of the late AV. P. Honywood 
 Esq., about €050 annually; the Rectorial Tithe aver- 
 aging five shillings and sixpence per acre. 
 
 Church Registers. — The oldest extant in England 
 extend no further back I believe than the year 1538, 
 at least the importance of such documents for the pur- 
 pose of securing the rights of property first induced 
 this remedy in that year. “That great politician, Tho- 
 mas Cromwell, (afterwards Earl of Essex) being the' 
 King’s Vicar General, he in the year 1538 ordered it 
 to the clergy throughout England that in their respec- 
 tive parishes a public Register should be kept of Births, 
 IMi li nages, Burials &c; and this order was continued in 
 the several Injunctions of King Edward VI., Queen 
 Elizabeth, and James I., particularly in that of Eliza- 
 hoth, every minister at institution was, among other 
 things, to subscribe to this protestation: — ‘I shall keep 
 the Register Booke according to the Queen’s majestieV 
 injunction ’ 
 
 The Registers of this parish commence with the year 
 1557, proceeding with various hiatus to the year 1669, 
 from which period they continue without deficiency to^ 
 the present time. The oldest Register Book is declared 
 to be “A Transcript,” and every folio is signed “Wil- 
 
 * Rolls ill Augmentation Oflicc. f Ralph BiglamRs Observations 
 on Rarochiul Registers, p. 2. 
 
liam Tunstall,” who from the preceding list appears as 
 Vicar of this parish in 1583 and 1598. 
 
 The Vicarage House was rebuilt in 1757, chiefly at 
 the expense of the Rev. Griflith WilliaiYis.* It has been 
 greatly enlarged and improved, as well as the Garden 
 about it (which is the only piece of Glebe vvith which 
 the Vicarage is endowed) created, by the present Cu- 
 rate, the Rev. Thomas Ffoote Gower. 
 
 Bexefactiox. — Morant says that John Goddeshalfe 
 gave a house and lands of about eight pounds a year^ 
 out of which ten shillings are paid for Lord’s Rent, and 
 twenty pence to the King, the remainder for reparation 
 of the Church of this parish. t The land to which Mo- 
 rant alludes is situated in the parish of Little Braxted, 
 and its rental continues to be appropriated as he states. 
 The estate now consists of but seventeen acres, though 
 at one time it was comprised of thirty-five acres, (*) as 
 appears from the following entry in the Parish Books, 
 bearing date the 15th of January 1738-9:—^ 
 
 Resolved at a Vestry, — That John Westwood, on 
 behalf of the parish, shall on Wednesday the 17th in- 
 stant, go to the Tjord High Chancellor’s Oflice at Lon- 
 don to enquire whether, and for what charge, we may 
 be admitted to take the benefit of a Commission, said 
 to be at hand for Kelvedon School, to examine what is 
 become of one half of our Church Lands since the year 
 1716, containing then thirty-five acres, as by an old 
 Lease, but now about seventeen.*^ 
 
 In the British Museum there is a Will, dated the 3rd 
 of March, 150d, made by Thomas A goddishalfe (not 
 John Goddeshalfe) of Much Totham. It begins: — 
 
 Imprimis, I bequeath my soul to Almighty God, our 
 Lady St. Mary, and all the saints in Heaven. My body 
 to be buried in the Church-yard of Much Totham. I 
 bequeath to Johan my wife all my moveable goods” &c. 
 
 * Church Register of that period, t History of Essex, i. 384. 
 
&c. It then proceeds to devise to the Churchwardens 
 of Much Totham all his land called “ Goddyshalfes,” 
 situated in Little Braxted, to be infeofFcd, to the intent 
 that the Churchwardens should have for 100 years, two 
 annual obits, by paying the Vicar for the celebration 
 of Mass. 
 
 It appears to have been tried in the Court of Exche- 
 quer, whether the above estate did not lapse to the 
 Crown by the Statute T. Edward 6th, c. 14, for Sir Ro- 
 ger Man wood. Chief Baron of that Court in Queen 
 Mary’s reign, determined that it did not. He deter- 
 mined, however, that the feoffment ceased at the end of 
 100 years.* 
 
 Vestry Roo3i. — No vestige remains of this building, 
 but that one was erected exactly a Century ago is cer- 
 tain, from the following entry in the Parish Books: — 
 
 1731. 
 
 April 14 II Charges in building ye Vestry Room,|| £8 5 6 
 
 ^llarlcian MSS. Codex 4136. p. 96. This MS. bears the 
 date of 1541. 
 
HISTORY OF THE CHIEF PROPRIETORS 
 AND ESTATES. 
 
 THE MANOR OF GREAT TOTHAM. 
 
 The first notice that we have of this Parish is afford- 
 ed by Domesday Book, which, as already stated, was 
 composed in the year 1086. The following is a literal 
 translation of its relating passages. The original con- 
 tracted Latin is given in the Note. 
 
 *^The Land of Hamo Dapifer. Hundred of Thurs- 
 table. Richard de Hamon holds Totham, which Tur- 
 bert held for one Manor, and for 6 Hides in the time 
 of King Edward. Then there were 10 Villains, now 9, 
 There have always been 16 Borders. Then there were 
 12 Serfs, now 13. Then there were 4 Carucates in de- 
 mesne (at the absolute disposal of the Lord,) now 3. 
 There have always been 5 Carucates (Chief Tenants — 
 Homines) Wood Pasterage for 100 Swine, 16 acres of 
 Pasture, [and] 2 Salt Works. There have always been 
 20 neat Cattle, and 40 Swine. Then there were 5 
 Draught Horses, now 2. Then 100 Sheep, now 150. 
 Always 40 Goats. Then and since it was valued at 100 
 shillings, now at £6. In the same 8 Freemen possess 1 
 Hide and a half, which Richard also holds. There 
 have always been 2 Carucates and 3 acres of Pasture, 
 value 20 shillings.”* 
 
 * Terr. Hamon Dnpif. — H»ind. dc Turestapla. — Toteliam tenet 
 Ricard de Hamone qd. tennit Tiirbt. p. uno man. 7. p. 5. liid. t. r. 
 e. Tc. 10 uill. m. 9. Sep. 16 bord. Tc. 12 srrv. ni. 13. Tc. 4 car. 
 in dmio. m. 3. Sep. 5 car. Iiomlnu. Silii. 100 pore. 16 ac. pti. 2 
 Salinse. Sep. 20 an. 7. 40 pore. Te. 7 p. ual. 100 sol. m. 6 lib. In 
 cad. tenner. 8 libi. boos. 1 bid. 7 diui. qd. tenet, ide Ricard. Sep. 2 
 car. 3 ac. pti. Val. 20 sol.f 
 
 Domesday Book, v. ii. p. 55 & 56. 
 
 f Sol, was a shilling equal in weight to rather more than three 
 of ours. The Norman pound consisting of 20 of them, was worth 62 
 shillings of our money. — Ruding’s Coinage of Gt. Britain. 
 
Of Turbert who was Lord of this district in the time 
 of Edward the Confessor, I have been able to gain no 
 information. 
 
 Hamo^ who was similarly the superior here in 1086 , 
 received his second designation, ^Dapifer* from being 
 Seneschal, Sewer, or Steward of the King’s House- 
 hold,* which office he filled in Normandy. He was de- 
 scended from Duke Rollo of Normandy, and himself a 
 Baron of that Dukedom by the title of Lord Astremer- 
 ville.t He was the son of Haimon Dentatus, Earl of 
 Corboil,J and nephew of William the Conqueror, whom 
 he accompanied into England.§ Hamo Dapifer had the 
 greatest part of fifteen Parishes in Essex, forming por- 
 tions of the Hundreds of Barstable, Witham, Harlow, 
 Dunmow, Winstree, Clavering, Hinckford, Dengie, On- 
 gar, and Thurstable. The date of his death is unknown 
 to me, but he died without issue, and the manor of 
 Great Totham, with his other estates, came to his bro- 
 ther 
 
 Robert Fitz-Hamon, Lord of Cardiff, Tewksbury, 
 and Gloucester. This Robert also obtained immense 
 possessions in Wales, for being invited to assist in a re- 
 bellion against Prince Rhys ap Tewdwr, Robert turned 
 his arms against that Prince and killed him in battle, 
 and then divided the Country [Glamorganshire] among 
 the twelve knights who assisted him; their tenure be- 
 ing Military Service at his Castle of Cardiff, and Civil 
 Service in his Court of Justice there.H Robert was a 
 great favourite of William Rufus, and is said, by Wil- 
 liam of Malmsbury, to have warned that monarch not 
 to hunt in the New Forest on the day he met his death 
 there. The same Chronicler says that he did so in con- 
 sequence of a monk’s dream, || but such pretended reve- 
 lation probably concealed a less doubtful knowledge of 
 
 * Houard Sur les Contuines Anglo-Normandes, i. p. 204. -tMo- 
 nasticon Anglicanum, i. p. 154, J Gibson’s Camden, p, 609, §Le- 
 land’s Ilin. vi. p. 85, ed. 1744. ^ Gibson’s Camden’s Britannia, 
 p. 609. II Fleming’s Chronicles, p, 26. 
 
19 
 
 a conspiracy, of which Sir Walter Tyrell was the agent. 
 Robert Fitz-Hamon died in 1107 from a wound he re- 
 ceived in taking Falaize in Normandy : William of 
 Malmsbury says the blow was upon his head, and pro- 
 duced mania. In the Charters which he granted he is 
 termed — Sir Robert Fitz-Hamon, Prince of Glamor- 
 gan, Earl of Corboile, Baron of Thorigny and Granville, 
 Lord of Gloucester, Bristol, Tewksbury, and Cardiff, 
 Conqueror of Wales, near kinsman to the King, and 
 General of his Highnesses army in France.^’* He was 
 buried in the Chapter House of Tewksbury Abbey, 
 which he had greatly improved. t Mr. Bennett says the 
 tomb is still remaining. By bis wife, Sybil, daughter 
 of Roger de Montgomery, Earl of Shrewsbury, he had 
 four daughters, who were his coheiresses — Mabel, Ha- 
 wise, Cicely, and Amice. Henry I. looked with a co- 
 vetous eye upon the great possessions to which they 
 were entitled, and resolved to deprive them, making as 
 his excuse that they were unable to do the military ser- 
 vice the tenures required. He, however, provided for 
 them, making Hawise Abbess of Winchester — Cicely 
 Abbess of Shaftesbury — and marrying Amice to the 
 Earl of Brittany; whilst in 1109 he united Mabel (or 
 Sybil) to his own bastard son Robert, whom he enno- 
 bled by the title of Consul and Earl of Gloucester. The 
 portion he gave with her to the Earl was the Honor of 
 Gloucester, a large estate in Normandy, and the entire 
 estates of her uncle Hamo Dapifer,J of which, as we 
 have seen, Totham was part. Peter Langtoft, out of 
 Robert of Gloucester’s Chronicle, gives the following 
 account of the King wooing Mabel for his son: — 
 
 This gentille damycelle seide nay, that it were not 
 fittynge to mary suche a man, that bare no name but 
 only Robard. Then the Kynge seide, that his son 
 schulde haue a name. And because her name was 
 
 • Bennett’s History of Tewksbury, p. 73. fWilliam of Malmsbury. 
 JLeland, vi. 85, ed. 1744.— William of Gloucester, 306. 
 
20 
 
 Maboly le Fizhaym, his name schulde be Robert le 
 Fizroy. Nay, quoth she, what name shall cure cWl- 
 dren here betweene him and me? Par ma fey, seide 
 the Kyn^, then he shalle haue a name, his name shalbe, 
 Robert Erie of Gloucester, and I geve hym the Erle- 
 dome for thy sake, and to hym and to your bothers 
 heires. Then this damycclle thankedc hym, and then 
 the mariage was done. And this was the first Erie of 
 Gloucester,’' 
 
 He who thus became the owner of Totham, had for 
 his mother, Nesta, daughter of Prince Rhys ap Twdwr, 
 already mentioned. He was born about the year 1090. 
 When, upon the death of his father, Henry I., Stephen 
 seized the throne of England, Robert of Gloucester be- 
 came one of his most strenuous adversaries, and sup- 
 porter of the rights of his half-sister Matilda through 
 every reverse of fortune that attended her. He was a 
 star in a dark age — brave, virtuous, and learned. Wil- 
 liam of Malmsbury dedicated to him his Chronicle. I 
 cannot sum up his character so well as is done by Lord 
 Lyttlcton: — 
 
 «He had no inconsiderable tincture of learning, and 
 was the patron of all who excelled in it; qualities rare 
 at all times in a nobleman of his high rank, but parti- 
 cularly in an age when knowledge and valour were 
 thought incompatible, and not to be able to read was a 
 mark of nobility. He was unquestionably the wisest 
 man of those times; and his virtue was such that even 
 those times could not corrupt it.”* 
 
 He died of an ague on the 31st of October 1147, and 
 was buried at Bristol in the choir of the Virgin Mary’s 
 Chapel in St. James’s Priory, now St. James’s Church. 
 He left four sons and one daughter; the eldest of the 
 former, William, succeeded him in his title and chief 
 part of his estates, among them he inherited the manor 
 of Great Totham. He died in 1173, and was buried in 
 
 ♦ Lyttleton’s Life of Henry II. 
 
tlie Abbey of Keynsham in Somersetshire, of which 
 Abbey he was the founder.* Previous to his death he 
 gave this manor to 
 
 Sir Richard de Lucy, one of the most distinguished 
 men of his times. He was sheriff of Essex and Hert- 
 fordshire in 1156, and Chief Justice of England in 1162. 
 In 1166, when Henry H. went to Normandy, Sir Rich- 
 ard was appointed Lieutenant of England, to hold the 
 office during the monarch’s absence, which continued 
 until 1174. During his holding such high office it was 
 no sinecure, for Robert, Earl of Leicester, rebelling 
 against bis sovereign. Sir Richard de Lucy after under- 
 taking several expeditions against the Earl, finally met 
 him between Fornham and Bury in Suffolk, and there 
 took him prisoner, after destroying his army. This was 
 in 1173.t In 1179 he resigned his office of Chief Jus- 
 tice, and becoming a Canon in the Abbey of Westwood 
 or Lesnes in Kent, of which he was the founder, he died 
 there the same year. J He had two sons, Geffrey and 
 Herbert, and two daughters, Rohais and Maud. Gef- 
 frey the eldest died during his father’s life, but left is- 
 sue a son 
 
 Richard de Lucy.% He was probably the next 
 holder of this manor, but dying without issue, he was 
 succeeded by his uncle 
 
 Herbert de Lucy, who also dying without offspring, 
 his estates were divided between his two sisters. Of these 
 
 Maud de Lucy was given in marriage by King John 
 in 1213 to 
 
 Richard de Rivers, Redvers, or Ripariis, who held 
 this manor in her right. ^ She survived him, for upon 
 her death in 1242, 
 
 Richard de Rivers, her grandson, then four years old, 
 was found to be her heir.|| 
 
 This minor requiring a guardian, the King sold the 
 
 • Bennett’s Hist, of Tewksbury, p. 75. T Roger Iloveden’s Chro- 
 nicle. J Fleming’s Chronicles, p. 103. § Morant’s Essex, i. 128. 
 
 ^ Ditto, i. 383 & ii. 116. Testa de Nevill, 33. \\ Inq. Henry III. 
 
22 
 
 wardship to Philip Basset for 1,000 marks,* who 
 doubtless took care amply to repay himself under the 
 shelter of such a warrant for iniquity. 
 
 Of the Rivers family this manor was held by the 
 Nevylls or Nevilles. 
 
 Hugh de Nevill held it in 1210 of the Honor of 
 Gloucester, it then obtaining the service of 3 Knight's 
 fecs.t This Nevill was a retainer of King Richard I.'s, 
 as we learn from Matthew Paris, and accompanied that 
 monarch in 1190 on his crusade to Palestine. He there 
 distinguished himself by destroying a Lion that attack- 
 ed him.J This exploit was the subject of the old Leo- 
 nine verse 
 
 Viribus Ilugonis vires periere Leonis, 
 
 which Morant paraphrases thus: — 
 
 The strength of Hugh 
 A strong Lion slew. 
 
 It is emblazoned also in his seal, where an armed man 
 is fighting with a Lion, with this motto — Sigillum 
 Hugonis NemL% He was Chief Forester and Justice 
 of the Forests of England, Treasurer to the King&c.f 
 He died about the year 1222, and was buried in the 
 Abbey of Waltham Holy Cross. || His third son 
 
 John de Nevill held this manor in 1281 by the ser- 
 vice of one Knight’s fee.** He succeeded his father in 
 the office of Justice of the King’s Forests, in 1236, but 
 being accused in 1244 of several neglects and trespas- 
 ses, he was turned out of office, disgraced, and fined 
 £2,000, which so sensibly affected him that he died in 
 the following year, and was buried in Waltham Abbey ..j. 
 
 In 1335 it was still held of the Honor of Gloucester, 
 for in that year 
 
 ♦ Charters & Patents. Henry III., anno. 27, m. 2. f Liber ruber. 
 J Fuller’s Church History, p. 41. § Gibson’s Camden, 358. ^ Pa- 
 
 tents 4, 5, 10, & 15 of John, and 8 & 19 of Henry III. || Weever, 
 Matthew Paris, Sc Monast. Angl. in Morant’s Hist, of Essex, ii 371. 
 *♦ Inquisitiones, Edward I. anno 10. 4- Matthew Paris, 652,661 
 
 and 710. — Morant, ii. p. 371. 
 
23 
 
 Sir Hugh Neville held this manor jointly with his 
 wife Ida of Elizabeth do Burgh, Lady of Clare (a de- 
 scendant of the Earl of Gloucester) by the service of 
 one Kniglit s fee. He similarly held the same without 
 any mention of his wife in 1330.* Sir Hugh died in 
 1335, and was succeeded by his son and heir 
 
 Sir John Nevill, who dying without issue, on the 
 25th of July 1358, left this manor, with several others 
 after his wife Alice's death, to William de Bohun, Earl 
 of Northampton. 
 
 Lady Alice Nevill survived until 1394. f She was 
 the last of the illustrious family whose name she bore 
 who held lands in this Parish, which from their owner- 
 ship acquired the name of Totham Nevill, 
 
 The family of the Nevilles is one of the oldest and 
 most illustrious in England. It can trace its descent in 
 this country from Waltheof, Earl of Northumberland, 
 who died in 979. Eight branches of this family were 
 ennobled as Lord Neville of Raby, Earl of Westmor- 
 land, Earl of Salisbury, Lord Oversley, Lord Latimer, 
 Lord Montacute, Earl of Northumberland, and Lord 
 Abergavenny. Nine Nevilles have been Knights and 
 Companions of the Garter — 3 Lord High Chancellors of 
 
 England — 1 Lord High President of the Council 1 
 
 Earl Marshall of England, and he was the first that 
 had the honour granted him to bear and carry a gold 
 staff as the badge of his office, all previous carrying one 
 of wood — 3 Lord High Admirals of England, one of 
 them being also Lord Great Chamberlain of England 
 and Captain of Calais — Many of them Guardians of the 
 Marches, Lords Warden of the Cinque Ports, Consta- 
 bles of Dover Castle, and Stewards of the Dutchy of 
 Lancaster. Four of them have been Chief Foresters of 
 England. From Lady Cecil Neville, (Duchess of York) 
 who was daughter of Ralph, Lord Neville of Raby, 
 
 * Tenures in Essex. Edward 3, anno 7. Landsdowne MSS. No. 327 
 in the British Museum, f Inquisitiones Edward III. anno 9 32. 
 
24 
 
 first Earl of Westmorland, descended 7 Kings of Eng- 
 land — 3 Queens of England — 4 Princes of Wales — 4 
 Kings of Scotland — 2 Queens of Scotland — 2 Queens of 
 France — 1 Queen of Spain — 1 Queen of Bohemia, and 
 an Elector Palatine of the Rhine. 
 
 The Nevilles of Billingshurn in right of birth quar- 
 tered 52 honourable Coats upon their Arms. 
 
 On the death of Lady Neville in 1394, as already 
 mentioned, this manor came to Elianor, one of the two 
 daughters and co-heiresses of William de Bohun, Earl 
 of Northampton; for both that nobleman and liis son 
 died before Lady Neville. 
 
 Elianor de Bohun brought this manor as her pur- 
 party to her husband 
 
 Thomas of Woodstocic^ sixth son of King Edward 
 III. Ill right of his wife he was Earl of Essex and 
 Northampton, and Constable of England. By creation 
 in 1377 he became Earl of Buckingham, and in 1385 
 Duke of Gloucester. He was a man of strong mind and 
 confirmed courage, and as such had no high opinion of 
 his nephew King Richard II. Unfortunately for himself 
 he was of too candid a disposition to conceal his opinion, 
 and that unpopular monarch dreading the influence of 
 his uncle over the people, and at the same time desirous 
 of revenge, resolved upon his destruction, and basely 
 entraped him. Fleming, in his Chronicle, from Richard 
 Grafton, Froissart, and others, thus describes the 
 transaction. The Duke was at his Castle of Pleshey in 
 Essex, hither 
 
 came the King with a competent number of men of 
 armes, and a great companie of archers, riding into the 
 base Court, his trumpets sounding before him. The 
 Duke herewith came downe into the base Court hauing 
 none other apparcll upon him but his shirt (for it was 
 early in the morning) and a cloke or mantell cast about 
 his shoulders, and with humble reuerence said that his 
 Grace was welcome, asking of the Lords how it chanced 
 
they came so earlie, and sent him no word of their 
 comming? The King herewith courteouslie requested 
 him to go and make him readic, and appoint his horsse 
 to be sadlcd, for that he must needs ride with him a lit- 
 tle waie, and conferre with him on businesse. The 
 Duke went up againe into his chamber to put upon him 
 his clothes, and the King alighting from his horsse, fell 
 in talke with the Dachesse and hir ladies. The Earle 
 of Huntingdon and diuerse other followed the Duke 
 into the hall, and there staled for him, till he had put 
 on his raiment. And within a while they came forth 
 againe all togithcr into the base Court, where the King 
 was deliting with the Duchesse in pleasant talke, whom 
 he willed now to returne to liir lodging againe, for he 
 might staie no longer, and so tooke his horsse againe, 
 and the Duke likewise. But shortlie after that the 
 King and all his companie were gone foorth of the gate 
 of the base Court, he commanded the Earle Marshall 
 to apprehend the Duke which incontinently was done.” 
 
 It is needless to vituperate this cold-blooded trans- 
 action. The Duke was tried, and made a triumphant 
 defence,* but innocence it was predetermined should 
 not preserve him. He was privately conveyed to Calais, 
 and secretly suffocated there. t This was in 1397. In 
 the succeeding Parliament he was declared a traitor, 
 and all his lands forfeited to the King,J but his widow, 
 says Morant, up to the time of her death enjoyed them, 
 as well as the perquisites of the office of High Consta- 
 ble of England.^ This, however, is not entirely correct, 
 for I find that two years after his death (in the 22nd 
 year of the Reign of Richard IT. — 1399) John de Bour^ 
 cher held in this parish 3 KnighCs fees “ which Hugh 
 ,de Nevyll did hold,” for so I interpret the contracted 
 Latin of the Record (et qu Hugo de Nevyll ten.) H In 
 the following year, 1st of Henry IV., he held the ma- 
 
 ♦Parliam. Placit. pp. 378 379. f Ibid. y. ii. pp. 252 253. JTyreH’g 
 History of England, iii. 961. ^Inquisit. Henry IV. anno 1. ^Te- 
 nures in Essex. Lansdowne MSS., No. 327. 
 
26 
 
 nor of Great Totham, however, of the Earl of Stafford.^ 
 Thomas of Woodstock had one son and three daugh- 
 ters, but death and devotion to religion having removed 
 the others, the eldest daughter 
 
 Anne de Woodstock became possessed of the estates 
 of her parents, and through her they were enjoyed by 
 her three husbands. The first of these was Thomas, 
 Earl of Stafford, who died without issue. In 1392 she 
 married his brother Edmund, Earl of Stafford, who 
 was killed at the battle of Shrewsbury in 1403. For 
 her third husband she had William Bourchier, Earl of 
 Eu, of whom she was likewise the survivor, he dying in 
 1420; whereas her death did not occur until 1438, or 
 1439. By her last husband she had two daughters — 
 Eleanor married to the Duke of Norfolk, and Anne 
 married first to the Earl of March, and then to the 
 Duke of Exeter — and four sons: — Henry, Earl of Eu 
 and Essex — William, Lord Fitz-warin — Thomas, Arch- 
 bishop of Canterbury, and a Cardinal, and Sir John 
 Bourchcr, a Knight of the Garter. The Sir John de 
 Bourcher who held this manor, as already mentioned, 
 in 1399, was of another branch of the family. He was 
 born in 1329 ; was one of the Lieutenants appointed by 
 Edward III. to prosecute his right to the crown of 
 France. In that country he spent a considerable part 
 of his life, and acquired a high reputation, though Sir 
 Robert Knolles, and some others of the officers with 
 him, were charged with treason and peculation. t In 
 1385 he was appointed Governor of Flanders, and in 
 the following year he was employed to fortify Calais. 
 In all these employments he acquited himself so much 
 to the satisfaction of King Richard II., that he made 
 him a Knight of the Garter. He sat as a Baron in the 
 Parliament held in the 5th year of the above named 
 monarch’s reign, and in that of the 1st of Henry IV.J 
 
 •Tenures in Essex. Landsdowne MSS. in British Museum, No. 327.. 
 f Thomas of Walsingham’s Chronicle. J Dogdale’s Baron. 
 

 27 
 
 He died on the 21st of May 1400, and was hnried with 
 his wife in Halstead Church, in this county. She was 
 Elizabeth, daughter of Sir John Coggeshall. By her 
 he had only one son, 
 
 Sir Bartholomew Bourcher, who was born in 1374, 
 He had summons to Parliament from the 1st to the 10th 
 of King Henry IV. He died on the 18th of May 1409, 
 at which time he possessed this manor.* He was twice 
 married; first to Margaret, widow of Sir John de Sut- 
 ton, who died without issue, and secondly to Idonea 
 Lovey, who had been twice a widow ; her two previous 
 husbands being Edmund de Brooksbarne and John 
 Glevaiit. 
 
 Lady Idonea Bourcher ^ the above widow, had the 
 whole of her husband’s estates in dower. This manor 
 she held of the King, as of the Honor of Bologne, by 
 the service of half a Knight’s fee, at the period of her 
 death, the 12th of September 1410, as her husband did 
 previously to his death. t Sir Bartholomew and Lady 
 Bourcher had one daughter, who was their heir, Eliza- 
 beth Bourcher, who married, first 
 
 Sir Hugh Stafford, son of Hugh, Earl of Stafford, 
 who through her held this manor in 1422 of the King 
 as of the Honor of Bologne, by the service of half a 
 Knight’s fee.J He died in 1421. His widow married 
 
 Sir Lewis Rohsart in 1429, and from her he posses- 
 sed this manor by the same tenurc.§ They were both 
 summoned to Parliament by the title of Lord Bour- 
 cher.H Sir Lewis was a Knight of the Garter. He 
 died in 1430. 
 
 The above husbands of Lady Elizabeth Bourcher 
 were each of them distinguished warriors. When Henry 
 V. was waging war in France in 1415, he was opposed 
 in a narrow Pass near the town of Corby by some 
 
 * Inquis. Henry IV. anno 10. f Inquis. Henry IV. anno 11. Lans- 
 downe MSS. in Brit. Museum. JInquis. Henry V. anno 9. Lans- 
 downe MSS. § Ibid. Henry 6th, anno 8. f Morant’s Essex, ii 254. 
 
28 
 
 French troops, “wherein,” says Fleming, Sir 
 Stafford, Lord Bourghchier, cheefteine of a wing o 
 King under his Standard of Guien, and as then . 
 
 to the enimie, though far inferior in number,^ yet wi 
 readie and valiant incounter received them. ine 
 Chronicler then proceeds to state how “ one John roin- 
 ley of Bromley in Staffordshire, a neere kinsman unto 
 the Lord Bourghchier,” distinguished himself m reco- 
 vering the King’s Standard ; and gives a verbatim copy 
 of the deed whereby his kinsman rewards him with a 
 settlement of money and lands. 
 
 The other husband. Sir Lewis Robsart, has this as- 
 surance that he was a man of proven valour,— he was 
 Standard-bearer to the victor of Agincourt. In 1419 I 
 see the same monarch made him governor and captain 
 of “Crulie” and “Cawdebecke” in Normandy.t 
 
 Lady Elizabeth Bourcher again held this manor up- 
 on the death of her last husband. At the time of her 
 death on the 1st of July 1433, she held it of the Earl 
 of Stafford.? Leaving no children by either of her hus- 
 bands, her estates devolved to her nearest kinsman (a 
 grandson of her paternal grandfather) 
 
 Henry Bourcher, Earl of Eu in Normandy, and Earl 
 of Essex in England. He was born in 1404— made Vis- 
 count Bourcher in 1447— and a Knight of the Garter in 
 1452, for his military services. In 1454 he was ap- 
 pointed Lord Treasurer of England ; and on the 30th of 
 June 1461 he was advanced to the Earldom of Essex 
 in right of his grandmother, eldest daughter (as we have 
 seen) of Humfrey de Bohun, Earl of Essex, &c. He 
 died on the 4th of April 1483, and was buried at Be- 
 leigh Abbey, near Maldon, as was his wife Isabel, sis- 
 ter of Richard Plantagenet, Duke of York, and aunt 
 consequently of King Edward IV. By her he had seven 
 sons and one daughter. William, the eldest, died during 
 
 ' •Fleming’s Chronicle, p. 551. flbid. p. 571 from Hall’s ChronJ 
 
his fatlier^s life, but left by bis second wife, Anne (sis- 
 ter and one of the co-heiresses of Richard Woodville, 
 Earl Rivers) a daughter, Cecily, who married to John 
 Devcreux, Lord Ferrers of Chartley, and a son, 
 
 Henry Bourchery who was much distinguished as a 
 warrior, and as a man of powerful intellect. He attend- 
 ed Henry VH. and Henry VHL in most of their expe- 
 ditions. On the 13th of March 1540, when he was 77, 
 he was killed by a fall from his horse. He was buried 
 in Bourcher’s Chapel, adjoining the Church of Little 
 Easton. By his wife, Mary, one of the co-heirs of Sir 
 William Say, to whom he was married in 1520, he left 
 an only child, 
 
 Anney who married in 1541 to Sir William Parr, Ba- 
 ron of Kendal, who in 1543 was created Earl of Essex, 
 and in 1546 Marquis of Northampton. In her right he 
 was possessed of this manor.* This was a most unhap- 
 py marriage, for she cohabited with a man named Hunt, 
 or Huntley, by whom she had several children, who by 
 Act of Parliament were declared illegitimate. In 1551 
 her marriage with the Marquis of Northampton was 
 annulled by another Act, which also ratified the Mar- 
 quis’s marriage with Elizabeth, daughter of Lord Cob- 
 ham, and legitimizing the offspring of this union. Two 
 years subsequently, he was condemned as a traitor for 
 espousing the interest of Lady Jane Grey. He was tried 
 with the Duke of Northumberland and the Earl of 
 Warwick before the Duke of Norfolk, Lord High Ste- 
 ward, on the 18th of August 1553. He pleaded that 
 after the beginning of the tumults he took no part in any 
 public office, but the facts were too completely proved 
 against him, and he was found guilty. t He was the 
 brother of Queen Catherine Parr, and by that or some 
 other road to favour, he obtained the remission of the 
 capital part of the sentence in the following December. J 
 
 * luquisitioncs. Elizabeth, anno. 13. Harlcian MSS. Codex 
 284, p. 128. J Stowe’8 Annals, 617. 
 
30 
 
 He was restored in blood by Act of Parliament but 
 
 not to his honors, nor to his estates ; this manor o 
 Totham, however, and a few others, were gran 
 him for his maintenance * He died without issue t 
 and this manor seems to have reverted to the Crown, or 
 
 William Beriff, Gent., at the time of his 
 vemher the ‘21st 1594, held the manor of Great lot- 
 ham, alias Totham Hall, with all its rights &c. ot the 
 Queen as of her manor of East Greenwich, by fealty 
 only, in free Socage.J The Beriffs held several estates 
 in Essex: their earliest and chief residence seems to have 
 been a house called “Jacobs,” in Brightlingsea, where 
 they were as early as the year 1496.§ At the time o 
 the decease of the above William Beriff, his son and heir, 
 
 William Beriff, was 48 years old-jj From him it 
 came (I suppose by purchase) to 
 
 Thomas Wylde, Esq., who in the Parish Books is 
 stiled of Heyhridge. He held it at the time of his death, 
 the 21st of June 1599.11 He was succeeded by his son, 
 
 Thomas Wylde, who died on the 21st of June I6O6.4. 
 By his wife, Elizabeth Coke, whose mother, we have 
 seen (p. 10) is buried in the Church chancel, he had 
 
 Edmund Wylde, who heired this manor. He either 
 lived to a very advanced age, or a relative of the same 
 name held the manor in July 1692.* 
 
 In 1728tt it was in the possession of 
 
 Thomas Martin, Esq., a London Banker, and how 
 much earlier he had been in possession I cannot say. 
 He died in 1764, and was succeeded by his son, 
 
 Joseph Martin, who sold this manor to 
 
 Filmer Honywood, Esq. 
 
 ♦Letters Patent, 5 & 6 of Philip and Mary. fCibson’s Camden’s 
 Britannia, 430. Jlnquisit. 37 of Elizabeth §Morant’s History of 
 Essex, ii. 450. Ulnquisit. 37 of Eliz. ^Ibid. 44 Eliz. 4-Ibid. 4tb 
 James 1st. •♦Papers in Parish Books, fjibid. 
 
31 
 
 The Honywood Family derives its name from a 
 place called Henewood, otherwise Hunewood, situated 
 in the Parish of Postling, and Hundred of Hene, in 
 Kent. The family resided there soon after the invasion 
 of William I.* JVilliam de Honywood resided there in 
 the reign of Henry H. He had three sons — Thomas^ 
 Richard, and John; the first of whom was his heir. He 
 had a son, Edwin de Honywood, who lived in the reigns 
 of Henry HI. and Edward I. He was a benefactor of 
 Horton Priory near Postling, founded by Robert de 
 Vere, Earl of Oxford. His wife was Amabilia, daugh- 
 ter and heir of Nicholas de Handlo, of an ancient and 
 noble family in Kent, the capital scat of whose Barony 
 was Bellerica, or Courtup Street in Allington, not far 
 from Henewood, which by their means obtained the pri- 
 vilege of a market. This marriage brought several Lord- 
 ships to the Honywood family. The issue of the mar- 
 riage were Ralph, Paine, and John. The first and se- 
 cond were benefactors of Horton Priory, especially the 
 latter, who gave the Monks lands — producing annually 
 £ 9 . Ralph died without issue, and was succeeded by 
 Paine, w’ho left a son, Alan, who dying in the reign of 
 Richard H. left three sons, William, Robert, and John ; 
 the first of whom married Catherine de Casehourne, 
 heiress of the ancient family who derived their name 
 from Casehourne Castle, near Hythe, in Kent. By her 
 he had Alan, whose son Thomas de Honywood, mar- 
 ried first Mary, daughter of William Lovelace, Esq. of 
 Bethersden in Kent, who died without issue. By his 
 second wife he had five sons and two daughters — John, 
 Robert, Richard, Thomas, William, Alice (married to 
 
 Dalmington) and Joan. He was one of the Cinque 
 
 Ports Barons for Hythe in the Parliament that met at 
 Westminster on the 20th of November 1459. He died 
 in the reign of Edward IV. John, his eldest son, mar- 
 ried first Agnes, daughter and heir of Henry Marten^ 
 
 ♦Genealogy by Jo. Philipot, Her. ^Register of Horton Priory. 
 
Esq. of Graveny in Kent, who hroiight a very large 
 estate to the Honywood family. The issue of this mar- 
 riage was John,* Bcnneta (married to John Dryland) 
 Isabel (to Christopher Lachford,) Mary (to Vincent 
 
 Boys, and Edmund Gayde) and Jane (to -Ferrers.) 
 
 The second wife of this John Honywood was a daugh- 
 ter of Barnes, Esq. of Wye in Kent, by whom he 
 
 had two daughters — Benneta (married to John Turney 
 and Walter Moyle) Margaret (to Edward Hales) and 
 Robert. From this son descended the Essex branch of 
 the Honywood family, and therefore I shall now only 
 proceed with the genealogy of his descendants. He 
 married Mary, a daughter and co-heir of Robert Att- 
 water (or Waters) of Royton, near Lenham, in Kent. 
 She brought him a large fortune, and a progeny that re- 
 quired it, for she bore him 16 children, namely: — Ro- 
 bert, the eldest and heir — Anthony — Arthur — Walter 
 Isaac — and two other sons unnoticed. The daughters 
 were, — Catherine (married to William Fletc and Wil- 
 liam Henmarsh) — Priscilla (to Sir Thomas Ingeham) 
 Mary (to George Morton) — Anne (to Sir Chas. Hales) 
 Grace (to Michael Heneage) — Elizabeth (to George 
 
 Woodward) — Susan (to Rancham) — Bcnneta (to 
 
 Henry Crooke) and Dorothy (to William Crooke.) The 
 mother of this numerous family died at Marks-hall, 
 near Coggeshall, in Essex, on the 16th of May 1620, in 
 the 93rd year of her age. This remarkable woman con- 
 tinued 44 years a widow, and saw 367 individuals law- 
 fully descended from her, viz — 16 children — 114 grand 
 children — 228 great grand-children, and 9 great-great 
 grand-children. t Fuller relates the following remark- 
 able story of her; — Being much harassed with fears 
 respecting her spiritual state, many clergymen visited 
 her, and among them Mr. John Fox, the Historian of 
 the Martyrs. His observations to her were consolatory, 
 
 ♦ A descendant of this son becoming the possessor of the £ssex 
 Estates, I shall hereafter have to state the line of his descendants, 
 t Gibson's Camden's Britannia, p. 218 . 
 
33 
 
 and spoke of hope, but in vain ; and in mental anguish 
 she exclaimed I am as surely damned as this glass is 
 broken saying which, she dashed the tumbler she held 
 in her hand upon the floor ; but the glass rebounded un- 
 broken, and is still preserved in the family. She de- 
 rived no comfort from this omen, till at last,^’ con- 
 tinues Fuller, ^^God suddenly shot comfort like light- 
 ning into her soul, which, once entered, ever i*emained 
 therein.” These particulars she told to Dr. Thomas 
 Morton, Bishop of Durham, who related them to Dr, 
 Fuller.* She appears to have been an amiable, philan- 
 thropic woman. In the days of persecution during the 
 reign of Catholic Mary, she visited and relieved the im- 
 prisoned Protestants; and her enthusiasm carried her so 
 far as to induce her to witness the burning of Mr. Brad- 
 ford in West Smithfield, though the crowd was so ex- 
 treme that her shoes were trodden off, and she walked 
 thence barefoot to St. Martins-le-Grand, before she 
 could obtain another pair. Her husband died in 1576, 
 and was buried in Lenham church. His eldest son, jRo- 
 bert, succeeded him in his estates, and having pur- 
 chased Markus Hall in 1605, he came to reside there. 
 He was twice married, but as it was through the issue 
 of the first marriage that the Great Totham estate came 
 to the family, I shall confine myself to that. His first 
 wif6 was Dorothy, daughter of Dr. John Crooke, by 
 whom he had one son, Robert, to whom he gave the 
 Kentish estate. He w^as knighted on the 7th of July 
 1625. His wife was a daughter of Sir Martin Barnhara 
 of Hollingborne, in Kent, and by her he had twenty 
 children ! His eldest son, who is stated to have been 
 knighted before his father, namely on the I5th of June 
 1625, was also named Robert, He spent many years in 
 the military service of the Palatinate, with the rank of 
 Colonel, and being devotedly attached to the interests 
 of Frederick, King of Bohemia, he sacrificed much of 
 
 ♦Fuller’s Worthies of Kent, p. 86. 
 
34 
 
 his fortune in his service. In the war between Charles I. 
 and the Parliament, he sided with the latter ; and y 
 the interest of his half-brother, Sir Thomas Honywoo , 
 he was elected a Councillor of State about the 16th o 
 May 1659. In the retirement of his later days, he trans- 
 lated from the Italian the History of Baptista Nani, 
 a Venetian of patrician birth ; which translation was 
 published at London in folio, in 1673. He married 
 Frances, daughter of the elder Sir Henry Vane, Trea- 
 surer of the Household, and a Privy Councillor of 
 Charles I. She bore him 16 children. Charles Ludovic, 
 the eldest surviving son of these, had two sons, the 
 eldest of which, Robert^ upon the extinction of the Es- 
 sex branch of the family, by the death of John la Motte 
 Honywood, in 1693, succeeded to the estates in this 
 County. This Robert Honywood was a deputy lieu- 
 tenant of Essex, Colonel of a Regiment of Infantry, and 
 Member for the County in the first and second Parlia- 
 ments of George I. He died in January 1735. By his 
 wife Mary, daughter of Sir Richard Sandford, Bart, he 
 had Robert, who died young — Richard — Charles, who 
 died in 1717 — John — Philip — and Mary. Richard suc- 
 ceeded his father, but died in 1755, and his sons and 
 the issue of the eldest dying, the next heir was his bro- 
 ther, Philip Honywood, last mentioned. He was in the 
 Army, and distinguished himself at the Battle of Det- 
 tingen, where he was so severely wounded in the head, 
 as to be obliged to guard the fracture constantly with 
 a silver plate. He was again seriously wounded in 
 1746, when fighting against the Scottish Rebels at 
 Clifton in Lancashire. At the time of his death, in his 
 75th year, February the 20th 1785, he was a Lieu- 
 tenant-General, Governor of Kingston-upon- Hull, 
 Colonel of the 3rd Dragoon Guards, and had been 31 
 years Member of Parliament for Appleby. Being with- 
 out surviving issue,* he was succeeded by Mr. Filmer 
 
 * His only child, Philip, was an Ensign in the 1st Foot Guards. H© 
 died February 3rd 1779, aged 19. 
 
Honywoody whose genealogy I will now proceed to 
 detail. 
 
 John Honywood, the account of whose descendants 
 was promised at p. 32, had a son and heir named also 
 John, who was a Baron of the Cinque-Port of Hythe in 
 the Parliament of the 26th of Elizabeth. By his wife, 
 Mildred, daughter of Sir John Hales, a Baron of the 
 Exchequer, he had three sons and four daughters. Tho- 
 mas, the eldest, married Margaret, daughter of William 
 Bedingfield, Esq. of Bellhaven in Kent, but having no 
 male issue, he was succeeded by his brother John ; he 
 was married twice, but it was only by his second wife 
 that he had male issue. She was Joane, daughter of 
 
 Perrey, Esq. of Chatham in Kent, and became the 
 
 mother of one son, Thomas, and four daughters. This 
 son was knighted. He married Jane, daughter of Ed- 
 ward Hales, Esq. of Tenterden in Kent, and had by her 
 six sons and three daughters. His eldest son, John, was 
 also knighted. He had two wives, but issue only by 
 Mary, daughter of Thomas Godfry, Esq. of Lyd in 
 Kent, who bore him three sons and three daughters. 
 The eldest son was created a Baronet in 1660; he died 
 in 1670, having issue by his wife, Elizabeth, daughter 
 of Sir John Maynard, two sons and one daughter. Sir 
 William, his eldest son, married Anna Christiana, 
 daughter of Richard Newman, Esq. by whom he had 
 two sons and four daughters. William, the eldest, died 
 during his father’s lifetime ; leaving issue by his wife 
 Frances, daughter of William Raleigh, Esq. three 
 daughters and one son, John, who succeeded to the 
 Baronetcy in 1748, upon the death of his grandfather. 
 He died in 1781, aged 71- His first wife was Anna- 
 bella, daughter of William Goodenough, Esq. and she 
 dying in 1739? he married, in 1742, Dorothy, daughter 
 of Sir Edward Filmer, Bart, and by her had issue 
 FilmeVy born in 1744, who succeeded to the Essex 
 estates, as already mentioned — and John, born in 1745. 
 
Filmer Honywood was in Parliament the representa- 
 tive of Kent, with the exception of one Parliament, from 
 about 1784 to 1806. He died unmarried June the 2nd 
 1809.* General Honywood having closely entailed the 
 property, it descended to 
 
 William Honywood, a descendant from one of the 
 younger brothers of the Robert Honywood who suc- 
 ceeded to the Essex estates upon the death of John 
 la Motte Honywood (see p. 34.) This AVilliam Hony- 
 wood was in the Army, and in active service during the 
 first American war. He retired upon the conclusion of 
 the peace in 1783. His wife was Mary, third daughter 
 of the Rev. Ralph Brackman ; she bore him fourteen 
 children, seven of which survived him. He was the re- 
 presentative of the County of Kent in two Parliaments. 
 His death occurred on the 9th of February 1818, in 
 his 59th year.t He was succeeded by his eldest son, 
 
 William Philip Honywood, who in 1821 married a 
 daughter of Charles Hanbury, Esq. of Halstead Essex, 
 of the Firm of “Sparrow, Hanbury, & Co.,^^ Bankers. 
 The surviving issue of this marriage is three sons, — 
 
 William, the eldest and heir — Robert — and , and 
 
 one daughter. This Mr. Honywood now (in the lan- 
 guage of Scripture) “ sleeps with his fathers,” having 
 died at his seat, Marks Hall, near Coggeshall, on the 
 22nd of April 1831, in the 42nd year of his age. He 
 was interred in the family Mausoleum at Marks Hall 
 Church. He was educated at the University of Cam- 
 bridge, where he was entered a Fellow-commoner of 
 Jesus College, and regularly proceeded to the degree 
 of M. A. Like many different members of his family, 
 (as we have seen) he had the honour of sitting as one 
 of the Senatorial representatives of the County of Kent. 
 He was first elected in 1818, and retained his seat till 
 the demise of his late Majesty, George IV., when the 
 pecarious state of his health demanded a retirement 
 
 * Epitaph in Marks Hall Church. f Ibid. 
 

 37 
 
 from the fatigues of public life. He was a magistrate, 
 and Duputy-Lieutenant, for the Counties of Essex and 
 Kent, and Provincial Grand Master of Masons for the 
 County of Essex. Two of his brothers, Edward and 
 Philip, and one sister, Mrs. Horatio Vachell, survive 
 him ; the rest of the family of fourteen, mentioned a- 
 bove, I believe, are dead. The Marks Hall, Totham, 
 and other estates, are now in trust for the benefit of 
 the family. 
 
 The house belonging to the capital manor. Great 
 Totham Hall, is situated a few hundred yards to the 
 North of the Church. In its early days it was probably 
 a residence fitted for a family of consequence. It was 
 surrounded by a moat, which is yet remaining on three 
 of its sides and partly on the fourth. The bridgeway 
 waa on the western side. The olden form of the man- 
 sion can no longer be recognized, it having been mo- 
 dernised in 1825.— Mr. Martin was the last Lord of 
 the manor who resided at it. 
 
 A farm called The Parsonage^’ continued in this 
 Parish until 1823, when it was incorporated with the 
 Hall farm and with “ Sawns.^* It was apparently the 
 Rectorial Glebe. The house stood by the side of the 
 western end of a bridle-way which leads from the 
 Church to Broad-street Green road. 
 
 THE MANOR OF “ GIBBECRAKES,” MODERNISED 
 «GIBCRACKS.” 
 
 This is a manor farm. was taken from the other 
 capital Manor, says Morant, we do not 
 
 exactly know: only we may guess by the following Re- 
 cord: — On, or about the year 1226, Gilbert de Clare, 
 Earl of Gloucester, purchased of Sir John de Rivers, 3 
 Knight’s Fees which Hugh de Nevyll held under him; 
 and this unquestionably was one of those Knight’s fees.”* 
 
 * Moran t’s History of Essex, i. p. 384 . 
 
That this may be one of the Knight's fees so purchased 
 and held I am not prepared to deny, but that Roger de 
 Mortimer^ Earl of March, held these Knight's fees in 
 1398, as Morant proceeds to state, I must consider to 
 be erroneous, for the very authority he quotes (Inquisit. 
 Richard II. Anno 22) I have given in a former page of 
 this work ; it states them to have been then held by 
 John dc Bourcher. 
 
 Another opinion may be entertained, namely, that 
 this was alienated from the capital manor by Sir Bar- 
 tholemcw Bourcher between the years 1400 and 1409, 
 for his father, at the time of his death in the first named 
 year, held 3 Knight's fees in this Parish ; but Sir Bar- 
 tholemew when he died in the year last mentioned, held 
 but 1 Knight's fee. If this is correct, he probably 
 alienated it to 
 
 Sir William Marney^ who died in 1414, at which 
 time he held a manor called Gippecrake," in Great 
 and Little Totham, and Hebregge, [Heybridge] of the 
 Bishop of London. 
 
 This gentleman was High Sheriff of Essex and Hert- 
 fordshire in 1402. By his wife, Elizabeth, daughter and 
 co-heir of Richard Sergeaulx, he had one daughter, 
 Anne, and three sons. 
 
 Sir Thomas Marney was his heir, and held this 
 manor.* He died in 1417, leaving an only daughter, 
 who died soon after, unmarried: her elder uncle. Sir 
 William Blarney^ being also dead, the third brother. 
 
 Sir John Marney, succeeded to the estates. Dying 
 in 1463, t his son, 
 
 Henry, afterwards Lord Marney, inherited this ma- 
 nor along with the other family estates. He held ‘‘Gip- 
 pecrake's " of Henry, Earl of Essex, as of his manor 
 of Totham Hall, by Fealty and Rent of 9s. 4d.J This 
 
 * Inquisition, Henry 5th, anno 2. f Ibid. Edward 4th, anno 2. 
 JIbid. Henry 8th, anno 15. 
 
39 
 
 L/Ord Mamey was both a politician and a warrior. He 
 was Privy Councellor to King Henry VII., and to his 
 son, a Knight of the Garter, and Captain of the Guard. 
 He attended the latter monarch in his war with France. 
 On the 4th of February 1522, he was made Keeper of 
 the Privy Seal, having previously been Vice-Chamher- 
 lain,* and on the 9th of the succeeding April he was 
 raised to the Peerage. He died on the 24th of May 
 1523, and was buried in the chancel of Layer Marney 
 Church, in which there is a very beautiful shrine to his 
 memory. By his first wife, Thomasine, daughter of Sir 
 John Arundel, he had two sons and one daughter; and 
 by his second wife, Elizabeth, daughter of Nicholas 
 Wifield, Lord Mayor of London in 1450, he had one 
 daughter. He was succeeded in this manor by his 
 eldest son, 
 
 John^ Lord Marney, who held it at the time of his 
 death, April 27th 1525.t He was twice married, but 
 having no family by his second wife, his two daughters, 
 the issue of his first marriage, were his co-heirs. His 
 first wife was Christian, daughter of Sir John New- 
 borough. His eldest daughter, 
 
 Catherine, married first George Ratcliff, and second- 
 ly Thomas, Lord Poynings. His second daughter, 
 
 Elizabeth, married Lord Thomas Howard, son of 
 Thomas, Duke of Norfolk, created Lord Howard of 
 Bindon.J These co-heirs of John, Lord Marney, sold 
 this manor, and others left to them by their father, to 
 
 Sir Brian Tuke, a man of considerable eminence in 
 that age. His literary attainments were considerable. 
 He wrote Notes upon Chaucer, and a Chronicle contro- 
 verting Polydore Virgil, He was appointed French Se- 
 cretary to the King in 1522, and went in that capacity 
 in 1529 to France with Bishop Tunstall to treat for 
 Peace. He was also Treasurer of the King’s Chamber, 
 
 • Baker^s Chronicle, p. 289. f Inquisition, Henry 8th, anno 17* 
 j^Morant's History of Essex, i. p. 406. 
 
40 
 
 and Clerk of the Parliaments. He was Sheriff of this 
 County in 1533.* He died on the 26th of October 
 1545, leaving two surviving sons, and three daughters , 
 of these. 
 
 Charles Take, Esq., being his heir, held this manor 
 at the time of his death, the 29th of March 1547.t 
 Dying without issue, he was succeeded in the estates by 
 
 his brother, 
 
 George Tukc, Esq., then in his 23rd year. By his 
 wife, Margaret, daughter of William Morrice, Esq., of 
 Chipping Ongar, he had three sons— Brian— Thomas 
 and Peter. My information from this period is defec- 
 tive. I presume that Brian Take succeeded to this 
 manor upon the death of his father in 1573. He mar- 
 ried a Pennant, hut whether he had any issue I cannot 
 determine. At all events, about this period the manor 
 was sold to Thomas PTyldc, Esq., who held it in 1599, 
 and it had previously been in the possession of William 
 Beriff; J since then it has accompanied the capital ma- 
 nor in its changes of ownership, as already mentioned. 
 
 In 1478, Joan, the wife of Sir John Mervye, and 
 previously the widow of Bohert Gifford, and 
 Barrantyne, died possessed of the manon of Gibcrake” 
 in Essex,t hut whether this was the manor so named in 
 Great Totham, or in Purleigh, I cannot determine. 
 
 The first mention we have of the name of Gibbe- 
 crakes” is in the Inquisitio post mortem of 1414. 
 Whence the name was derived I am unable to surmise. 
 It is remarkable that ^^Gibe” and Crake are each 
 derivatives from Saxon words indicative of contemptu- 
 ous pride. I need quote no authority better than Big- 
 land that places anciently gave names to persons, and 
 not the contrary ; § and in testimony that this holds 
 good as relating to this manor, mention is made of a 
 
 ♦ Moraiit's History of Essex, i. 117. 'j' Inc|iiisit. 1, Edward 4th. 
 
 tHarleian MSS. Codex 6684 & 6685. This Beriffe, the same 
 authority states, was once a resident in Oxfordshire, § Ralph 
 
 Biglaud’s Obseryations on Parochial Registers, p. 3. 
 
Robert de Gybbecrake in a Deed as ancient as the 
 reign of Richard I. or John.* 
 
 The house belonging to this manor farm is about 
 half a mile from Great Totham church, on the left of 
 the road from it to Little Totham church. 
 
 FAVELLS, FREVILLS, OR COBBIS. 
 
 In 1353 Thomas Fabell died possessed of lands in 
 Great Totham, &c ; and had for his heir John Fabell^ 
 his son.t 
 
 Hugh de Naylinghursty returned in 1433 by the 
 Commissioners as one of the gentry of the County of 
 Essex, J died on the 24th of June 1493, § possessed, a- 
 mong other estates, of a tenement called ‘'Favells,’» 
 alias “ Cobbis,” held of the manor of Totham. 
 
 Clement, his son succeeded him, and died on the 20th 
 of December 1499, aged 37.11 His son, 
 
 James, succeeded him, and had three sons — Ralph, 
 Edward — and Richard. The second of these was a lu- 
 natic, and held in 1551 a manor called “Frcvills,'' lying 
 in Great Totham, with lands and tenements in the two 
 Tothams, Goldhanger, Tollesbury, Tolleshunt Darcy, 
 and Tolleshunt Major. || 
 
 By what name this manor or estate is at present 
 known I cannot determine: no such name is now recog- 
 nized in the Parish. I am not at all certain that the 
 detached records I have united in the above statement 
 all relate to the same estate; but we must be content 
 with probabilities, since our information is so imperfect. 
 It has probably been incorporated, by division, among 
 the chief farms of the Parish, for that it was of consi- 
 derable extent we have a detailing record. The lands 
 and tenements of Thomas Fabell in the two Tothams 
 and Heybridge contained 1 messuage, 440 acres of ara- 
 ble, 20 acres of meadow, 30 acres of pasture, and 28 
 acres of wood.** 
 
 ♦ Morant’s Essex, i. 384. f Inquisition. 27 Edw. 3. J Fuller’s 
 Worthies, 338. § Inquisition. 8 Henry 7th. f Ibid. 2 Henry 8th. 
 
 J1 Ibid. 5 Edw. 6th, *♦ Ibid. 27 Edw. 3rd. 
 
SAWNS, OR SAWINS,— MODERNISED SAINS. 
 
 One of the Malcolms^ King of Scotland and Earl of 
 Huntingdon, held this estate. Which of them it was I 
 cannot determine ; hut as the first of that name who en- 
 joyed the Earldom was in the reign of William the Con- 
 queror, and the last in that of his son Henry, we are 
 assured that it was in the period between the years 1070 
 and 1130. How either of the Malcolms became pos- 
 sessed of this estate we cannot ascertain : it is certain 
 he granted it to Robert^ son of Sewin, who gave it to 
 the Nuns of Clerkenwell ; it consisting of 140 acres of 
 land in Hangre de Totham. He also gave them half a 
 wood, and 4 dead trees in his wood of Totham ; and 
 pasturage for 10 hogs, upon condition of the Nuns pay- 
 ing to him one Silver Mark at Michaelmas.* 
 
 Part of the lands of this Robert Fitz-Sewin, I am in- 
 clined to think, constitute the present farm known as 
 
 Sains,*' and from him have since received their name. 
 
 In 1524 it was known as Tothamstent," alias 
 
 Sawins," and was possessed by 
 
 Henry, the first Lord Marney, who has been already 
 mentioned. t 
 
 It probably changed hands in the succession already 
 detailed under the head “ Gibbecrakes,” and passed 
 from the family of the Tukes to 
 
 John Church of Maldon, who held it in 1559.J 
 From him it seems to have come to 
 
 William Aylett, Esq., who died in 1583, § and 
 then to 
 
 Thomas Beckingham, who possessed it in 1596 on 
 the 9 th of October of which year he died. Whether 
 the latter enjoyed it as the marriage portion of wife (if 
 she was an Aylett) I cannot determine, but this farm 
 seems to have been again in the possession of the Ay- 
 
 ♦ Dugdale’s Monast. Anglic, i. p. 430. f Inquisit. 15. Henry 
 8th. J Ibid. 5. Elizabeth. § Ibid. 25 Eliz. f Ibid. 38 Elis. 
 
lett family, for in 1692 “The Guardians of Mr. Aylett’s 
 Estates” are charged “ for half a horse” in the Poll 
 Tax assessment. 
 
 From the Aylett family, who held it as late as 1749 
 It came by purchase made by Filmer Honywood, Esq’ 
 to the family of Honywood, and is now in trust for the 
 family of the late William Philip Honywood, Esq. 
 
 Under the Will of Thomas Aylett, dated the 14th 
 of March 1636, his estates in, and the Great Tithes of 
 the Parish of Great Totham, are chargeable with the 
 
 annual payment of £10 to the Master of Kelvedon 
 School. 
 
 The House is situated on the right hand of the road 
 passing by the Church of Great Totham to that of Lit- 
 tle Totham, and about a quarter of a mile from the 
 former. 
 
 tOFTS. 
 
 This messuage, which seems to have derived its name 
 from the Saxon word, signifying an enclosure, I find 
 first mentioned when belonging to Anne Bourchier, 
 Marchioness of Northampton, in 1570. (see p. 29.) On 
 the 26th of January in that year she died. It is de- 
 scribed as a capital messuage called Le Lofts,'' con- 
 sisting of 40 acres of arable, 4 of meadow, 100 of pas- 
 ture, and 10 of wood land in Great and Little Totham.* 
 
 It next is recorded to have belonged to John Bul- 
 lock ^ Esq.y who died on the 10th of February 1595. 
 He appears to have held part of it, at least, of the ma- 
 nors of Little Totham and Gibbecrakes.'f' 
 
 The Essex branch of the Bullock family appear to 
 have made this their chief residence until Faulkborne 
 Hall was purchased by Sir Edward Bullock in 1637. 
 Previous to that period, the head of the family was al- 
 ways designated “ of Lofts." 
 
 * Inquisit. 13 Elizabeth, No. 49. f Ibid. 43 Eliz. June 9. 
 
44 
 
 The Bullock family is very ancient. Their pedigree 
 is extremely defective: it seems to follow the order 
 which is annexed: — 
 
 Richard Bullock, in the reign of Henry III. (1216 
 1272 ,) had a sou and heir, 
 
 Gilbert Bullock, who was succeeded by his son 
 Robert, who lived in the reign of Edward I. (1272 
 1307 .) He was succeeded by his son 
 
 Gilbert, who married Anne, daughter and heiress of 
 Thomas Neville, Esq., of Barkham in Berkshire. From 
 them appears to have descended 
 
 Robert Bullock, of Arbor-field, or Herburghfield in 
 Berkshire, of which County, and Oxfordshire, he was 
 High Sheriff in 1385. He died in 1405. His son 
 Thomas married Alice, daughter and heir of Wil- 
 liam Yeading, the issue of which marriage was 
 Robert, who had by Eleanor his wife, 
 
 Gilbert, who married to Margaret, daughter of Wil- 
 liam Norris, Esq. of Bray in Berkshire. By her he had 
 two sons. The eldest, 
 
 Thomas, by Alice, daughter of John Kingsnill, Esq. 
 had six sons and six daughters. Of these, William, the 
 fifth son, married Elizabeth, daughter and heir of Ralph 
 Bellet, of Moreton in Cheshire, by whom he had five 
 sons and two daughters. John Bullock, the eldest son, 
 was the first of the family who settled in Essex, mak- 
 ing his residence at Great Wigborough, where he died 
 on the 10th of February 1595, and was buried in the 
 Church chancel of that village. As already stated, he 
 appears to have been the first of the family holding 
 “ Lofts.” By Anne his wife, he had two sons. 
 
 Edward, the eldest, married Joane, daughter of 
 John Collen of High Laver in this county. He died a- 
 bout the year 1601. His son and heir, 
 
 Edward, born about the year 1580, succeeded him. 
 He was knighted by James I. on the 3rd of July 1609. 
 
He died in 1644, and was buried in Faulkborne church. 
 By his wife, who was the eldest daughter of Thomas 
 Weld, or Wyld, Esq., of Glazely Hall, Shropshire, he 
 had an only son, 
 
 Edward, who by his wife Mary, daughter of Sir 
 William de Grey, of Marton Hall, in Norfolk, had 
 
 Edward, who married Elizabeth, daughter and heir 
 of William Bolton, Esq. of Ullenhall, in Warwickshire, 
 and by her had five sons and three daughters. 
 
 Edward, the eldc.st son, was a member of Trinity 
 College, Cambridge, and of Gray’s Inn, London. He 
 was a Representative of this County in Parliament in 
 1698, and of Colchester in 1/05; two years previously 
 to which he was High-Sheriff of Essex.* It is not one 
 of the meanest of memorials that he was an admired 
 friend of John Ray, one of the best, and most philoso- 
 phical of our counhymen. This Mr. Bullock died on 
 the 6th of December 1/05, and leaving five children, 
 this estate was perhaps sold to provide the portions he 
 devised them. At all events, in 1712 it belonged to 
 Sir Nathan Wright of Cranbam. From the Wright 
 family it came into the possession of Mrs. Lewis, con- 
 nected with them, and with the Lawleys of Canwell 
 Hall, Staffordshire, for Margaret, the third daughter of 
 Sir Thomas Lawley, Bart., had for her second husband 
 Sir Nathan Wright, Bart., by whom she had two 
 daughters. From Mrs. Lewis it came to Sir Robert 
 Lawley, Bart., who sold it to Nicholas Wescomb, Esq. 
 of Thrumpton, Nottinghamshire, and is now in the pos- 
 session of his eldest son, John Emmerton Wescomb, 
 Esq., who resides at Thrumpton. 
 
 The House at the time it was inhabited by the Bul- 
 lock family, and even until within a few years past, was 
 a mansion of considerable extent; the hall was particu- 
 larly spacious. It was moated. A modern structure 
 
 ♦ Morant's History of Essex, ii. p. 118 . 
 
46 
 
 has been lately erected, and is now a good farm house ; 
 it stands to the left of the road leading from this Pa- 
 rish to Maldon, over Broad-street Green. 
 
 FRERNE, OR FRIANS. 
 
 This was probably once a residence of more than 
 common respectability, as is testified by its being ac- 
 companied by a moat, the traces of which still remain. 
 
 The earliest possessor of whom we have notice is 
 Robert Mantell, or Martell^ the founder of Beleigh 
 Abbey, and this farm formed part of the estates with 
 which he endowed it. This was in 1180.* It was va- 
 lued at a rental of £4 7 4d.t It came to the Crown 
 when the Abbey was suppressed, being let for 41 years, 
 from the 11th of July 1525, at the above rental to 
 John Church. 
 
 This probably was granted to Cardinal JV ilsey in 
 1525, under the designation of “ The Manor of Great 
 Totham.’^J If so, upon the Cardinal’s disgrace and 
 death in 1530, this estate would revert to the Crown; 
 and in 1544 it is certain King Henry VIII. granted it to 
 William Butts, and his issue, retaining a rental, still 
 paid, of 20s. Whether this was any relative of Sir 
 William Butts of Fulham, Physician to Henry, or whe- 
 ther it was the Doctor himself, I cannot determine. 
 This William Butts, on the 22nd of March following, 
 had license to alienate it to John Page. John Alleyn, 
 Esq. held it in capite in 1556.§ Richard pos- 
 
 sessed it in 1574, at which time he died, and was suc- 
 ceeded by his brother, William Durant.^ 
 
 It now belongs to the Rev. G. E. Howman. The 
 
 House is situated on the right hand of a road passing 
 over Totham Hill from this parish to Beckingham. 
 
 ♦ Morant’s History of Essex, ii. p. 334. f Rolls in Augmenta- 
 tion Office, th Henry 8. J Letts. Patent, 17 Henry 8th. § ‘‘In 
 capite,’’ holding an estate directly of the King. ^ Inquisit. 26 
 Elizabeth, no. 148. 
 
47 
 
 
 MOUNTAINS. 
 
 h 
 
 h 
 
 s- 
 
 c- 
 
 k 
 
 n 
 
 ita- 
 
 ‘In 
 
 26 
 
 No residence but this, surrounded by such fine tim- 
 ber, placed upon beautifully undulating ground, and 
 commanding so extensive a view of Lake Scenery, is to 
 be found in England, untenanted by a Gentleman’s 
 establishment 
 
 Of its history I know scarcely anything. It probably 
 IS one of the Knight’s fees seperated from the original 
 manor at the period Gibbecrakes’' was similarly 
 alienated. The greater part of it is Tithe free. 
 
 In 1729 it was possessed by Thomas Garrard, Esq.* 
 It then came into the possession of a Mr. Firmin ; and 
 by marriage is now possessed by the Countess de Vande. 
 
 BARROW, OR BURROW, HILLS 
 
 Are situated upon some marsh land upon the bank of 
 the Blackwatcr Bay, bounded on the west by Hey- 
 bridge, and on the east by Little Totham. It has been 
 disputed whether these are situated in Great Totham, 
 but that they are is testified in the Parish Register of 
 the year 1736, by the Rev. J. Speed, who states the 
 Barrow Hill land is included in the Perambulations of 
 the Parish then existing, as made in the years 1590, 
 1650, 1667, 1712, and 1732.t 
 
 This land evidently afforded the means of communi- 
 cation with Osey Island, which has never been disputed 
 to belong to this Parish. The Barrow Hills and Bar- 
 row Marsh belonged in 1574 to Richard Durant, and 
 then to his brother William.X They have since been in 
 
 the hands of Pigott, Esq. and have now passed by 
 
 Will to Henry Cope, Esq. 
 
 The Windmill at Barrow Hills was erected about 
 the year 1703.§ This mill was destroyed by a hurri- 
 cane on the 30th of June last: it is now rebuilding. 
 
 * Parish Books, f I have seen the Perambulation of 1712, which 
 certainly includes the Barrow Hills, the Landings Place, Mill, &c. 
 Other Perambulations of this Parish were made partially or com- 
 pletely in 1713, 1755, 1761, 1778, 1786, 7191, 1811, and 1819. 
 
 JInquisit. 26 Eliz. § Rev. J. Speed in Parish Register. 
 
 h 
 
 h 
 
 S- 
 
 c- 
 
 k 
 
 n 
 
 ita- 
 
 ‘In 
 
 26 
 
48 
 
 The Barrows, or Tumuli, from which these lands ob- 
 tained their name, have nearly disappeared, the most 
 prominent of them being levelled during the preparation 
 of some of the lands for sun pans annexed to the Hey- 
 bridge Salt Works. My brother was in attendance 
 during their removal, but no antiquities were discovered. 
 
 They undoubtedly marked the burying places of the 
 Saxons and Danes who fell in some one of the numerous 
 conflicts which took place in this neighbourhood be- 
 tween those nations. I am inclined to consider it to 
 have been that in which Brythnoth, Earldoman of 
 Northumberland, and Governor of Essex, fell in 991. 
 The Saxon Chronicle informs us he lived in the reigns 
 of Edgar, Edward the Martyr, and Ethelred — ^^was 
 the noblest and bravest of the Northumbrians — eloquent 
 in speech — of robust strength — of commanding person 
 —ever active against the enemies of his country — above 
 measure disdaining danger and death — and above all 
 honouring the holy Church and its ministers, and apply- 
 ing to their use the whole of his patrimony.* * ' The 
 Danes having effected a secret landing at Mceldune, he 
 attacked them and nearly destroyed the whole of their 
 force “upon a bridge across the river.*** The Danes, 
 however, returned in greater force, and challenged him 
 to meet them again; he hastened with but few followers 
 to attack them, “lest his delay should enable the in- 
 vaders to occupy a single foot's breadth of the country." 
 In this action, which the Poem describes, he fell. It 
 tells us “ the warriors stood by the side of an estuary ; 
 but the hosts could not engage with each other because 
 of the water," for the tide had risen. t Brithnoth let 
 the Danes pass over and then attacked them. “ Thus,*' 
 says the Poem, “did the son of Byrthelm (Brithnoth) 
 shout across the cold river: — ^ Warriors^ listen! Free 
 space is allowed you. Come then speedily over to us, 
 
 * Probably the old Saxon Bridge at Heybridge. -t This estuary 
 
 probably is that which runs up to the Salt Works from Barrow Hills 
 
 Mill. 
 
V 
 
 49 
 
 Advance as men to the Battle, God alone knows which 
 of us is destined to remain masters of the field of 
 slaughter: The battle then commenced. Two of the 
 
 Danish Chieftains fell, one of them by the javelin of 
 Brithnoth, but the latter immediately afterwards was 
 slain. ^^Some one of the enemies let fly a dart from his 
 hand, which transfixed the noble Thane of Ethelrcd. 
 There stood by his side a youth not fully grown, a boy 
 in the field, the son of Wulfstan, Wulfmor the young. 
 He eagerly plucked from the Chief the bloody weapon, 
 and sent it to speed again on its destructive journey. 
 The dart passed on till it laid on the earth him who had 
 too surely reached his lord. Then a treacherous soldier 
 approached the Earl, to plunder from the Chieftain his 
 gems, his vestment, his rings, and his ornamented sword. 
 But Brithnoth drew from its sheath his battle-axe, 
 broad and browm of edge, and smote him on his corslet. 
 Veiy eagerly the pirate left him when he felt the force 
 of the Chieftain's arm. But at this moment his large 
 hilted sword dropped to the earth. He could no longer 
 hold his hand-glaive nor wield his weapon. Yet the 
 hoary warrior still endeavoured to utter his commands. 
 He bade the warlike youths, his brave companions, to 
 march forwards, but he could no longer stand firmly 
 upon his feet."* Some cheering addresses of his bro- 
 ther chieftains follow, and the fight was renewed, but 
 the conclusion of the Poem being lost, the termination 
 of the battle is not known. The whole is so naturally 
 ^ narrated, and the leading facts so substantiated by other 
 
 i testimonies, that I cordially agree with Mr. Conybeare 
 
 ^ in thinking this Poem is a detail of facts, 
 
 it 
 
 OVESEY, OR OSEY, ISLAND. 
 
 I In our oldest topographical record, the Domesday 
 
 ^ Book, this Island is called ‘‘Uvesia," a name apparently 
 
 1 derived from the Latin, signifying moist or damp, an 
 
 y 
 
 • Conybeare’s Illustrations of Anglo-Saxon Poetry, 87—96, 
 
epithet it even now deserves, and must have still more 
 merited before it was regularly embanked. That the 
 Romans bestowed this name we have no reason to doubt; 
 they certainly gave the name “Idumanum,^^ to the river 
 in which it is situated. 
 
 In the time of William the Conqueror, this Island 
 formed part of the lands of Hamo Dapifer, as it previ- 
 ously had in the reign of Edward the Confessor belong- 
 ed to Turhert. It was held as a manor and four hides. 
 In the time of Turhert there resided in it 1 Border, but 
 when Hamo held it there was not one. There have al- 
 ways been, continues the Domesday Book, 3 Serfs, 1 
 Fisherman — pasture for 60 Sheep ; and its valuation is 
 60 shillings.* 
 
 Until sold to Mr. Wiseman, it appears to have fol- 
 lowed the same change of owners as the manor of Great 
 Totham, which have already been detailed, as is con- 
 firmed by the following particular notices. t 
 
 Bartholemew de Bourchier and his widow held it in 
 1410 and 1411. 
 
 Sir Hugh Stafford^ who died in 1421, (see p. 27) and 
 Elizabeth his wife, held the manor of ‘‘Oveseye’' of the 
 King as of the Honor of Bologne, by the service of half 
 a Knight^s fee.J They also held a tenement called ^‘Tot- 
 ham Omesey.’’ 
 
 Ludovic Robbesart, and Elizabeth his wife, held it in 
 1431, and Anna, widow of Earl March, held it two 
 years subsequently.§ 
 
 Henry Bourchier, Earl of Essex, at the time of his 
 death in 1483, (see p. 28) held this manor by a similar 
 service. ^ 
 
 ♦ Terra Hunionis Dapiferi. Uvesiani tenet idem quod tennitTur- 
 bertus, T. R. E., pro manerio et pro 4 hides. Tunc 1 bordarius; 
 modo mil I us. Semper 3 servi j 1 piscatiira ; pastura GO ovibiis ; vaR 
 60 solidos. — Domesday Book. f In a MS. in the British Museum, 
 quoting an entry of the 33rd of Henry 8th, I found this manor of 
 “ Totham Magna cum Osemi, alias Ovessey,” spoken of as having 
 formerly (quondam) been held by Henry Maleche of the King* as 1 
 Knight’s fee. He lived in the time of Henry 2nd (1154 — 1189.) 
 Harleian MSS. Gilbert de Clare, Earl of Gloucester, &c. held it 
 in 1315. — Inquis. 8 Edward 2. JIbid. 9 Henry 5. § Ibid. 9 Hen- 
 ry 6. % Ibid. 1 Richard 3. 
 
51 
 
 ^nne Bourchier, Marchioness of Northampton, 
 brought this to her husband, and at the time of her 
 death in 1570, she held the manor and isle of ‘^Ovesey,’’ 
 and 6 messuages, 2 cottages, 200 acres of arable land, 
 40 of meadow, 300 of pasture, and 200 of marsh ; a free 
 fishery, wreck of the sea, and free warren in ^'Ovesey,” 
 Great Totham, and Goldhanger * When her husband 
 had forfeited his estates for espousing the cause of Lady 
 Jane Grey, this was one of the few which were granted 
 him by Queen Mary, by a Letter Patent dated August 
 8th 1558, for his maintenance. The greater part of his 
 estates were restored in the reign of Elizabeth. 
 
 On the death of the above Marchioness of Northamp- 
 ton, this manor descended to her heir-at-law, fFdlter 
 Bevereua?, the hrst Earl of Essex of that name, but he 
 appears by the Inquisition last quoted, to have received 
 it, with many other of the Marchioness’s estates, by a 
 grant from the Queen, dated November the 25th 1570. 
 He was the heir as being great grandson of Cecily Bour- 
 chier, by John Devereux, Lord Ferrers. 
 
 Walter Devereux was so admirable a man, and was 
 so melancholy an instance of merit sacrificed to Court 
 intrigue, that he deserves more than the foregoing brief 
 notice. His father was Sir Richard Devereux, and his 
 mother, Dorothy, daughter of George, Earl of Hunting- 
 don. He was born about the year 1540, at the castle of 
 his grand-father in Carmarthenshire. His education was 
 excellent, and his improvement under it most satisfac- 
 tory. He succeeded to the titles of Viscount Hereford, 
 and Lord Ferrers of Chartley, when he was nineteen. 
 Queen Elizabeth admired his attainments, and when in 
 1569, the desperate rebellion in the north broke out un- 
 der the Earls of Westmorland and Northumberland, she 
 -i made him Marshal of her army to oppose them. For his 
 
 success in this enterprise, the Queen created him, in 
 1572, Earl of Essex, and a Knight of the Garter, with 
 
 Inquisit. 13 Elizabeth. 
 
every circumstance of honour. The Earl of Leicester 
 assisted at the ceremony, and it was this atrocious hy- 
 pocrite who plotted, and probably then was plotting, hia 
 downfall. At this time Ireland was in its accustomed 
 state of revolt and discord, and his false friends, anxious 
 to get him from the presence of his favouring monarch, 
 and to expose him not only to the loss of his fortune hut 
 of his life, persuaded him to offer to undertake an ex- 
 pedition against the rebels at his own expense. To pre- 
 vent offence to Sir William Fitz-William, then Lord- 
 Deputy of Ireland, the Earl was directed to obtain a 
 patent from him appointing him Governor of Ulster, in 
 which province the rebellion was rife. He proceeded on 
 his expedition in 1573, with many volunteers of distinc- 
 tion, but unforsecn difficulties arose, and he begged 
 either for assistance or a recall. To this the Queen in- 
 clined, hut the Earl of Leicester successfully opposed 
 her intention. The Lord Deputy of Ireland threw every 
 possible impediment in his way, yet still the Earl of Es- 
 sex rose superior to every difficulty, and rapidly was ef- 
 fecting the suppression of the rebellion, when he was 
 ordered in another direction ; he then requested permis- 
 sion to conclude peace, but that permission was refused. 
 He again successfully addressed himself to active war- 
 fare, but then in the midst of success he was perempto- 
 rily ordered to open a treaty ; he obeyed, and having 
 concluded a peace, he was advantageously employing 
 himself against the Hebrideans, when he was ordered to 
 resign his command and serve as captain of 300 men in 
 the same army ; he submitted to the disgrace without a 
 murmur, and with a heavy heart sternly performed his 
 subaltern duty. His letter to the Privy Council just pre- 
 viously to this time is such an outpouring of a manly 
 heart that I shall give it verbatim : — 
 
 GOOD LORDS, 
 
 ^^I have of late seen a letter signed by the Queen^s 
 Majesty, and jointly endorsed to my Lord Deputy and 
 me, concerning mine enterprise in the province of Ulster^ 
 
53 
 
 which, although it carry a show of a present proceeding 
 therein, and of a consent to all my petitions, yet hath it 
 brought forth none other effects but the present dis- 
 charge of all that serve under me, and a final dissolving 
 of my enterprise. Whereunto, what answer I have made 
 to her Majesty may appear unto you by the copy of my 
 letter herein enclosed; and although it became me to 
 stand contented with anything that hcr.Majesty shall 
 signify to be her will, yet when I compare this conclusion 
 to the course that hath been taken with me since my 
 coming hither, I cannot but think the dealing very 
 strange. First, I came with the good liking of all your 
 Lordships, and with the allowance of the Council here, 
 so as by the consents of both realms I took my journey, 
 the matter being first thoroughly debated and so di- 
 gested, as though no scruple should at any time arise. 
 I had not been here three months but that it was given 
 foith that the continuance of the enterprise was in ques- 
 tion, and in that stay hath it remained ever since, till 
 now, that in all appearance the procee(§ng therein is a- 
 greed upon, and all my petitions granted, and yet the 
 same letter that so doth assure me of all this gracious 
 favour, is a warrant to my Lord Deputy (as he taketh 
 it) to overthrow the whole. My Lords, I humbly desire 
 you to consider well of this matter; it is somewhat to me 
 (although little to others) that my house should be over- 
 thrown, with suffering me to run myself out of breath 
 , with expenses. It is more, that in the word of the Queen, 
 
 1 I have, as it were, undone, abused, and bewitched with 
 
 j fair promises Odonell Mac Mahon, and all others that 
 
 ,5 -pretend to be good subjects in Ulster. It is most, that 
 
 the Queen’s Majesty shall adventure this estate, or else 
 iy subdue rebellion with intollerable charge. For will not 
 
 all parts of this realm take hold of this dissolution? or 
 can any in Ulster, or in any part of the realm, hope of 
 ^ defence hereafter? But to return to my own estate; let 
 
 ’ my life here, my good Lords, be examined by the strictest 
 
 Commissioners that may be sent; I trust in examining 
 
 ter. 
 
54 
 
 my faults they will allege this for the chief, that I have 
 unseasonably told a plain, probable, honourable, and 
 effectual way how to do the country good. F or the rest 
 they can say nothing of me, hut witness my misery by 
 plague, famine, sickness, continual toil, and continual 
 wants of men, money, carriages, victuals, and all things 
 meet for great attempts ; and if any of these have grown 
 by my default^ then condemn me in the whole. I pray 
 you, my Lords, pardon my earnestness, I think I have 
 reason that I am thus amazed with an oversudden warn- 
 ing, that must take a discharge before I am acquainted 
 with the matter; I think it had been a better course 
 that I might have made some profitable peace with 
 Tyrlanghe, which hath been sought at my hands, and 
 not at one instant to lose my travail, my money, my cre- 
 dit, and, with the same, hazard the honour of her Ma- 
 jesty, and of the realm of England. I trust, my Lords,, 
 my plain dealing shall not do me hurt with you; for my 
 own part, a solitary life is best for a disgraced person; 
 but because th#e is none of you but hath professed fa- 
 vour towards me, and some of your Lordships are mix- 
 ed with me in blood and alliance, I crave of you all, 
 that as I have entered into this action with your good 
 liking and advices, so now, the failing being no way to 
 be laid upon me, you will all be means for me to her 
 Majesty to deal well with me for my charge, as in 
 honour, conscience, and justice, you shall think good/^ * 
 
 Essex returned to England, but Leicester artfully 
 procured a command for his return to Ireland, with the 
 high-sounding but powerless title of its Earl-MarshalL 
 With hopes commensurate with the promises of support 
 he received, he addressed himself to his task ; but find- 
 ing those promises as fallacious as the preceding ones, 
 he became so enervated by continued agitation of mind, 
 that it brought on a derangement of his digestive system, 
 which proved fatal to him at Dublin on the 22nd of 
 
 * Sidney State Papers, i. 69. 
 
55 
 
 September, 1576, he being then only in bis 37th year. 
 There were some justifications for a suspicion that he 
 was poisoned, hut a strict investigation produced only 
 evidence negativing such an idea.* The Bishop of St. 
 Davids preached his funeral Sermon at Carmarthen, 
 which with many other testimonies of the Earl’s emi- 
 nence as a man, a soldier, an antiquarian, a scholer, and 
 a Christian, are given in Fleming’s Chronicles of Eng- 
 land,^^ (pp. 1263 — 1267) and fully justify Queen Eliza- 
 beth s declaration when his death was announced to 
 her,— « Then have I lost a rare jewel of my realm, and 
 an ornament of my nobility.” He was the writer of a 
 Poem entitled The Complaynte of a Sinner,” printed 
 in /‘The Paradise of Dainty Devices.” 
 
 To cany on his warfare in Ireland, he mortgaged and 
 sold his estates in Essex, and “Ovesey Island” among 
 the rest. It was purchased of him by Thomas Wise- 
 man, Esq, of Great Waltham, who held it at the time 
 of his decease, July the 15th, 1584, as one tenement, 
 isle, or land surrounded by water, called “ Awsey,” 
 alias “Ovesey,” of the Queen, in capitc, by Knight’s 
 service. t Dying without issue, he was succeeded by his 
 
 two sisters, Dorothy^ wife of Mompesson, and 
 
 Elizabeth, wife of Richard Jennyngs. Like himself, 
 they were the issue of Thomas Wiseman, Esq. of North- 
 
 end in Great Waltham, by Dorothy, daughter of 
 
 Latten, Esq. of Grays Inn, 
 
 It came by purchase to Mr. Charles Coe of Maldon, 
 and belonged to his heirs in 1768. It then came into 
 the possession of the Piggott family, and is now the 
 property of Henry Cope, Esq. of Maldon. — It contains, 
 by admeasurement, 230 acres. 
 
 ♦ For the above sketch of the Earl of Essex’s life I am indebted 
 to the fuller Histories of Hollinshed, Stowe, Fuller, Strype, and 
 Camden. flnquisit. 28 Elizabeth. The Wiseman family first 
 came into the County about the 8th of Henry 6th, settling at Great 
 Waltham. — Morant’s History of Essex, ii. p. 88. 
 
56 
 
 the small estates. 
 
 There are several small Estates in this Parish, the 
 chief of which are the following: — 
 
 « Blatchams ’’ and Taylors ” now form one farm, and 
 belong to Mrs. Harrison, widow. The first-named be- 
 longed to Beleigh Abbey, and still pays a Quit Rent of 
 6s. 8d. to that manor. In 1555 John Sarnmns, yeoman, 
 held Taylors,’^ * as also lands in the Parish called 
 ^^Greyhow,” ‘‘Woodland,’' “ Sqiiycrs” and “ Cookes,’' 
 alias “Dyxley,” “Garlands,” “Fabyans,” alias “Smiths" 
 and “Howletts," “Wheelers” and “Southfield,” “Cock- 
 rells,” and “Pynkys:” 
 
 In 1289 Thomas de Weyland held, for Walter 
 Peltingdony land in Totham and Langham.t 
 
 In the Taxation of 1291, Stansgate Priory, which 
 stands on the south bank of the Blackwater Bay, paid 
 two shillings for its lands in Great Totham.J 
 
 In 1558 part of the estates granted to the Marquis of 
 Northampton for his maintenance (see p. 30) was a te- 
 nement in Great Totham called “ Nokes.” This was 
 perhaps “Knowes Hall,” now belonging to the Rev. G. 
 E. Howman ; it is situated on the right hand side of the 
 road between the “Bull” and “Compasses” Inns. 
 
 There are several other estates of which I know no- 
 thing but the names and those of their present posses- 
 sors. These are:— “Chigboroughs,” belonging to Mrs. 
 Carter, widow — “Brick House,” to Mr. James Clapton, 
 tailor, of Maldon— “Finches,” “Catchpoles,” &c. to Mr. 
 Isaac Foster — “Hoares Wood, ”§ situated opposite to 
 “Mountains,” and belonging to Peter Ducane, Esq. — 
 “Crisps,” the property of the same gentleman. One of 
 the fields belonging to this farm is known as the “Goat 
 Lodge.” In a map of the Parish before the last enclo- 
 
 * Iiiquisit. 3 & 4 of Philip and Mary, No. 48. f Ibid. 17 Ed- 
 ward 1. JDugdale’s Monasticon. § “Horeswood” and “Hores- 
 laud” belonged to Beleigh Abbey,-— Lett. Pat. 32 Henry 8th. 
 
57 
 
 sure, and within the memory of many persons still living, 
 this field, then consisting of about four acres, was an 
 enclosure entirely surrounded by heath, and evidently, 
 rom the timber in its hedge-rows, had been enclosed 
 many years. We have seen that in the time of William 
 the Conqueror, this Parish pastured many Goats, and 
 its high-lying, heathy grounds rendered it particularly 
 in accordance with their wandering habits. There can 
 be little doubt that this enclosure was the night-pen 
 and winter-shelter for his flock of some later Goat- 
 Herd. One of my informants says his father remem- 
 bered “Mountains'" being empaled, when possessed by 
 Mr. Wright, and that many Goats as well as Deer pas- 
 tured in it— “Alleys"’ and “Applebys,” possessed by 
 Mrs. Emeritta Argent, widow. — “Yates"" by William 
 Pattisson, Esq., Solicitor, Witham. — “Rook Hall"" by 
 the Executors of Mr. Challis Carter. — “Paynes"" and 
 Quilters by Mr. William Brown. — “Slough House"^ 
 belongs to the Parish of St. Paul’s, Covent Garden, but 
 how it became possessed of it I cannot discover. 
 Suspicion is excited by their declining to give informa- 
 tion ! Glasgow College also has a small quantity of land 
 in this Parish.— There is also a small plot known as 
 ^Hatfield Poor Lands,"" which was purchased with part 
 of £100 bequeathed by Sir Edmund Alleyn, Bart, with 
 the direction that the rent of it should be appropriated 
 to the schooling and apprenticing of poor children, of 
 the Parish of Hatfield Peverel, in the cloathing trade. 
 The proper name of this is “Howletts,"" or “Wheelers,"" 
 and belonged, as I have already noticed, to John 
 Sammes in 1555. It is properly described in the be- 
 quest as two crofts of land and pasture, containing by 
 estimation nine acres, situate in Much Totham, between 
 the way leading from Maldon to Colchester on the one 
 part, and upon the street or way there leading to Tot- 
 ham Hill; together with a cottage erected upon part of 
 the land.* — In 1594 William Beriffe held lands in this 
 
 ♦ Morant’s History of Essex, ii. 134. 
 
58 
 
 Parish called “Shinhornes,” “Rose Shinhovnes ” “Osey 
 Lands,” “Walcrofts,” “Haywards,” and Ongham’s te- 
 nement near Totham Hall.* — In 1595 John Bullock, 
 Esq., and in 1601, Edward Bullock, his son, held mes- 
 suages and lands called ^‘Inham, ^'Croshouse, and 
 ^‘Fouchcrs** in Gr6at and Little Totham. 't' 
 
 Land Tax. — In 1 708 this Parish was rated to the 
 Land Tax at £716 2s., J and at present it is set at the 
 value of £1337. 
 
 ♦ Morant’s History of Essex, i. 383. f luquisit. 43, Eliz* 
 
 J Moraui’s Essex, i 385. 
 
I 
 
 
 
 09 
 
 ’■ ’ . ' \'h i 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 Addition to 1>age 43, line 4. — From the Aylett 
 family, who held it as late as 1749, it came by purchase 
 to Samuel Shaeir, Gent., who died on the 16th of No- 
 vember 1758, aged 52.* He left it to his daughter, 
 married to Thomas Fenn, Esq., Banker, of Sudbury, 
 from whom it was purchased by Filmer Honywood, Esq. 
 
 CHURCH. 
 
 The Rev. Mr. Wix, F. R. S. &c., in a note now be- 
 fore me, made in October, 1829, says: — ‘‘ Great Tot- 
 ham Church is an ancient structure. The east window 
 is modernised. In the south wall, near to the chancel, 
 is an early English, or Norman window, divided by a 
 shaft — 1 should say Norman, for it is not a long, nar- 
 row, or round-headed window, though it has in the 
 upper part (which is, I think, cinquefoil) an early Eng- 
 lish ornament, containing, in coloured glass, roses. In 
 the north wall, I observed a vestige of a long and nar- 
 row window, approaching to the early English ; but a- 
 bout the period when these windows were employed the 
 Norman and English styles ran so into each other that 
 it is not very easy, accurately, to distinguish them. The 
 south porch is a specimen of ancient wood work, more 
 than cinquefoiled, and has a modern door-way, enter- 
 ing the Church, with an arch somewhat of the Norman 
 style, appropriate in a good degree to that of the 
 Church, and creditable to my friend Gower, under 
 whose orders it was erected.'" 
 
 * Epitaph in Church Chancel. 
 
60 
 
 POPULATION. 
 
 Comparative results of the Census of 1821 and 1831. 
 
 1821. 1831. 
 
 Inhabited Houses 92 136. 
 
 Families (chiefly Agricultural) .... 120 138. 
 
 Males 282 353. 
 
 Females 298 343. 
 
 Increase since 1821,— Inhabited Houses 44— Families 
 18— Males 71— Females 45— Gross Population in 1821 
 580— in 1831 696. 
 
 S'. 
 
 NAMES OF SOME OF THE SEVERAL PER- 
 SONS WHO HAVE BEEN OCCUPIERS OF 
 THE CHIEF ESTATES AT DIFFERENT 
 PERIODS, &c.* 
 
 CAREFULLY COMPILED BY C. CLARK. 
 
 HALL. — 1728, Thomas Martin, Esq. 38, John 
 Fisher. 40, Richard Goodman. 59, James Carter. 
 81, Morgan Poole. 1807, Isaac Poole. 23, Robert 
 Clark. 31, Ditto. — Rent in 1738, 90/.; in 59 80/. 
 
 SHEEPCOTE.— 1728, Thomas Clements. 43, 
 Samuel Clarke. 84, Mrs. Clarke. 87, Samuel Clarke. 
 91, Mark Clarke. 93, Robert Clarke. 1823, John 
 Beadel. 31, Ditto. — Rent in 1732, 118/.; in 51, 123/. 
 
 GIBBECRAKES.— 1728, Robert Weaver. 64, John 
 Weaver. 81, Edward Blythe. 1802, Dorcas Blythe. 
 22, John Green. 31, Hony wood’s Executors. — Rent in 
 1732, 65/. ; in 52, 80/. 10s. 
 
 SAWNS. — 1728, Thomas Guy. 38, William Guy, 
 who at this period held “Baileys” also. 59, James 
 Candler. 81, Thoinas Challis. 88, James Carter. 
 1815, James Carter, Jun. 22, James Wood. 31, DittOi 
 
 * The “Outdwellers” are distinguished by Italic. 
 
61 
 
 LOFTS — 1738^ Daniel Belsham. 59, John Bel- 
 sham. 81, Thomas Challis. 88, James Carter. 1825. 
 Joseph Pitt. 31, Mrs. Pitt. 
 
 T FARM— 1728, John Farrar. 38, 
 
 John Westwood. 81, Thomas Mann. 1820, Robert 
 Clarke. 23, Robert Clark. 31, Ditto.— This farm is 
 now incorporated with the Hall farm and with “Sawns.” 
 
 69, William Brown. 1815, William Davey. 24 
 
 Bowton. 27, Isaac Poole. 31, Ditto. 
 
 MOUNTAINS. 1728, Thomas Garret, Esq. 40 
 
 Pattisson. 59, miliam IVright, Esq. 92, John 
 
 Humphreys. 1815, John Royce. 25, William Good- 
 day. 31, Ditto. 
 
 OSEY ISLAND.— 1728, Charles Coe. 43, John 
 oe. 9,\, Joseph Bygrave. Daniel'Harvey. 1831 
 Edward Hainraortd. ^ 
 
 ROUND BUSH.— 1738, David Policy, who held 
 “Shinbornes’' also at this period. 1807, William Davev 
 1824, William Carter. 31, Ditto. 
 
 ROOK HALL. — 1728, John Pettit. 38, John 
 
 Fitch. 1815, Jeremiah Thedam. 31, Challis Carter’s 
 widow. 
 
 CHIGBOROUGHS. — 1728, Charles Coe. 59, John 
 Francis. 89, Mrs. Francis. 90, Robert Pattisson 
 1807, James Carter. 23, Mrs. Carter. 31, Ditto. 
 
 GOAT LODGE. — 1728, Matthew Oates. 38, Tho- 
 mas Lee. 1814, Joseph Thuilow. 23, John Beard. 
 27, Joseph Higham. 31, Ditto. This plot is now in- 
 corporated with “Crisps.” 
 
 LANTERNS— 1738, John French. 43, Thomas 
 Lee. 82, Widow Bright. 85, William Bright. 88, 
 John Giblin. 89, Joseph Brooks. 1831, Knight. 
 
 BLATC HAMS.— 1728, Thonias Lee. 38, Jacob 
 Watson. This plot has long been united with “Taylors.” 
 
62 
 
 TAYLORS.— 1759, Thomas Carter. 1816, Harn- 
 sou. 31, George Allaher. 
 
 KNOWES HALL.— 1781, Abraham Davey. 1831, 
 Charles Cottee. 
 
 HATFIELD POOR LANDS.- 1738, John Trundle. 
 81, Mrs. Wright. 1831, Joseph Cottee. 
 
 WHITE CHLMNEYS.— 1728, John Watson. 97, 
 Thomas Lee. 
 
 YATES'S. — 1759, William Pitt. 87, John Banes. 
 1823, Charles Eve. 31, Ditto. 
 
 SM ALLSHOES.— 1781, David Polley, from which 
 period it has been held by the same persons as “Moun- 
 tains,” it having been united with that farm. 
 
 It will be ob<;crved that there are several Tstntes of impor- 
 tance in the Parish unnoticed in the above list; in explanation, the 
 Compiler begs to say that the slate of the Parish Books precluded 
 the possibility of making it more complete. 
 
 PARISH CLERKS. 
 
 1730, Moses Matthews. 38, Francis Allen. 42, 
 John Wakling. 70, John Taylor. 94, William Pitt. 
 1813, Joseph Beadle. 31, Ditto. 
 
 THE END. 
 
 GREAT TOTHAM: PRINTED BY CHARLES CLARK. 
 
WILL OF M. J. WHITLOCKE, 
 
 OF TOTHAM PARK. 1500. 
 
 (from the harleian manuscript, no. 4136. dated 1583.) 
 
 THE LAST WYLL AND TESTAMENT OF MYDDLE JOHN 
 WHYTLOCKE WHO DYED THIRTY YEARS PAST AT 
 THIS JANUARY 1583. 
 
 IN the name of God amen the xxw# of Januarie yeare of our Lorde 
 1500 I Myddell John Whitlocke of Totham Parke in the Countie of 
 Essex beingc sick in the body but of hole and good Memorie thanked be 
 God make my last Will and testamente in forme followinge. Ffirste I 
 coramende my soule unto Allmighty of heaven and my body to be buried 
 in the Church yearde of Totham aforesaid. Item, I geve unto George 
 Badcocke my Godsone my Copie lande called Stockwell and he to haue 
 no profite of the saide lande untill he come to the age of xxi yeares age 
 and then I will that Henry Badcocke his brother shall haue the said 
 Stockwell when he cometh unto the age of xxi years and if the saide 
 Henrie die er he come unto the age of xxi yeares then I will that Ri- 
 chard Skarlet the sonne of Thomas Skarlet shall haue the saide Stock- 
 well to him and to the heires of his bodie lawfullie begotten when he 
 cometh unto the age of xxi yeares and yf the saide Richaide die er he 
 come unto the age of xxi yeares then I will that John Skarlet his bro- 
 ther shall haue the saide Stockwell when he cometh unto the age of xxi 
 yeares. Item. I geve unto John Whitlocke my brother all my parte of 
 the Cattell which is now in one of the farms of Totham Hall and all my 
 parts of the Cattell which is nowe on the Tenement called Bartlotts and 
 all my parte of the househole stuff. Item. I geve unto Thomas Whit- 
 locke 4^. Item, to his wife bs. Item, to John Whitlocke of vi^. viiic?. 
 
 Item, to Agnes Whitlocke a Bullocke iiii Shepe and xs. Item, to Johan 
 Whitlocke xs. Item, to Thomas Skarlet my godson v\s. viiic?. Item, to 
 John Richard and Johan the Children and Thomas Skarlet to each of 
 them iii^. mid. Item. I give unto Thomas Henrie and George the chil- 
 dren of John Badcocke ^vi vViis. iiiirf. to be equally divided amongst 
 them when they come to the age of xxi years and yf it fortune any of 
 them to die er they come unto that age then his or their parts to be 
 paide unto him or them that liveth. Item. I geve unto Agnes Wylleis 
 my goddaughter iii^. nnd. Item. I geve unto John Neles my godsonne 
 vis. viiirf. Item. I geve unto George Songer viiS. viiirf. Item, to John 
 Sams my godsonne vi^s. viiirf. Item. I geve unto every one of my God 
 children above not named xWd. a pece. Item. I geve Johan Bullocke 
 widdowe vw. vmd. Item, to Margaret Bullocke widdow vi^. viiic?. Item, 
 to Jane Bullocke my Goddaughter vi^. viiic?. Item. I give unto John 
 
Whitlocke of Dedham x\s. Item, to Alis hia sister Item, to Robert 
 Handfeld iii^. iiiic?. Item, to William Rofhe ins. iiiirf. Item, to Cristcan 
 Knappe ius. iiiirf. and a Ballocke and 11 Sheepe. Item, to Alis both a 
 bullocke 11 sheepe and u\s. iiiirf. Item, to Alice Mandestone a sheepe. 
 Item, to Katherine Barker a lambe Item. I will that there shall be said 
 vii Masses at my funriall with bread and beare and pcnie dole. Item. I 
 geve X shirts and smokes to pore folks. Item. I geve to John Badcocke 
 of Worningeforth a Bullocke and 11 Sheepe. Item. I ordayne and make 
 William Whitlocke and Richard Whitlocke his brother my executors 
 whom I will shall have all my goods moveable and unmoveable aboue 
 not bequest and they to see my debts and legacies trulie payed and to 
 see this my will truly fulfilled and me honestly buried as they shall make 
 me aunsweere afore the face of the highest judge Also I make Thomas 
 Whitlocke and John Whitlocke my Supervisers. 
 
 In witnesse hereof those beinge present 
 
 THOMAS HODSUN, Priest 
 RICHARD SANKIN and 
 THOMAS SKARLET with others. 
 
 GBEAT TOTUAM I PRINTED AT CHARLES CLARK’s PRIVATE PRESS.