ELMBRIDGE HUNDRED
��who in 1547 sold the manor to William Hamond, senior. 85 From him it passed to his son William, and he sold it in 1565 to Thomas Brend. 86 Thomas Brend and his son Nicholas in their turn sold the manor in 1584 to Robert Benne, citizen and iron- monger of London, 87 but it would appear that Benne had for ten years previously had some sort of hold over the property. 88 From him in 1592 it was bought by Cuthbert Blackden ; 89 and in 1602 Robert Blackden and his wife and Elizabeth Black- den conveyed the manor to Francis Leigh, 90 created a baronet by James I. He died in 1625," and the estate descended to his son Francis, who subsequently became Baron Dunsmore and in 1644 Earl of Chichester. At his death in 1653 the property came into the hands of Thomas Wriothesley, Earl of Southampton, who had married Elizabeth daughter and co-heir of Francis. Thomas had by her four daughters, one of whom, Elizabeth, married Joceline, Earl of Northumberland, and after his death in 1670, Ralph, Earl, and later Duke, of Montagu." He died in 1 7089, and was succeeded by his son John, Duke of Montagu, who died without surviving male issue in I749. 93 I B '757 the manor was in the possession of Jeremiah Brown, whose daughter carried it in marriage to Jeremiah Hodges. 94 A descendant of his, Colonel Hodges, sold the manor in 1802 to Edmund Hill ; 95 he bequeathed it to John Hamborough, after whose death it was sold by the trustees of his will to Richard Sharpe. 96 Robert Gill bought it before 1867. Mrs. Gill occupied the house after his death. It was sold in 1 8989 to the Southwark and Vauxhall Water Company, who pulled down the house, and excavated the whole estate for a reservoir. A barrel of ale, and a quarter of corn made into bread, were still in the igth century distributed annually to the poor by the owners of the property on All Souls' Day in respect of the customary tenure. 97 The Water Company tried to evade the tenure, but on petition of the inhabitants the Charity Commissioners sanc- tioned a scheme in 1903, by which the interest of ,200 paid by the Water Board was vested in trustees for the use of the poor of Walton and Molesey.
In 1639 Francis Dunsmore received licence to inclose 150 acres of land, parcel of the manor of Apps Court, for a park. 98
The estate formerly called 4SSHLEES, now known as ASHLEY PARK, was in 1433 in the hands of Joan widow of Robert Constable, who held it of the Crown. From her it descended to her son William Constable. 99 It consisted at that time of 1 2 acres of land, 4 acres of meadow, and half an acre of wood. Henry VIII bought out the tenant in order to annex it to the honour of Hampton Court. 100 In 1625 James I granted Ashley to Henry Gibb, together with the
��WALTON ON THAMES
manor of Walton Leigh and certain lands in Walton Mead. 101 The Countess of Anglesey, who married secondly Benjamin Weston, son of Lord Treasurer Weston, the first Earl of Portland, lived here and was buried in Walton Church in 1662. In 1668 the estate was held by Henry, Lord Arundell of Wardour. Sir Richard Pine, Lord Chief Justice of Ireland, died here in 1710.'* In 1718 it was bought by Richard Boyle, Viscount Shannon, who made considerable additions to the house and park. A fine monument to him is in the church. The Countess of Middlesex, his daughter by his second wife, Grace Senhouse, owned it, and died in 1763, leaving it to Colonel Stephen- son, son of Jane Senhouse, her mother's elder sister. After his death and that of his three sisters without issue, it came to Sir Henry Fletcher, bart., son of Isabel Senhouse, younger sister of Grace Senhonse. Sir Henry Fletcher was M.P. for Cumberland from 1768 until his death in 1807. He was succeeded by his son Sir Henry, who died in 1821, when the manor descended to Sir Henry, third baronet, who died in 1851. In the time of his son Sir Henry, fourth baronet, the property was sold. 104 It now belongs to Mr. J. S. Sassoon, J.P. Ashley Park is noted for the size and beauty of its trees. The house is believed to have been built in the reign of Henry VIII.
The estate known as BURWOOD, at one time in the possession of Corpus Christi College, Oxford, was demised by the president and fellows of that college to John Carleton. 106 From him it was purchased by Henry VIII in 154.0. The family of Drake, who held the bishop's manor in Esher (q.v.), lived at Burwood, 107 and Mr. Latton, who sold the manor to the Duke of Newcastle, retained Burwood, where he died in 1777."* The arms of Latton used to be in the window of the house. 109 Later it came into the hands of the Frederick family, one of whom, late in the i8th century, built a large house there, and greatly increased the area of the park. 110 It is now the property of the Misses Askew.
Hersham contained a manor known as MORE- HALL alias STLKESMORE alias SOUTHfTOOD. There is a mention of a court held at Hersham in 1272 by Reginald de Imworth and Matilda his wife, 111 which may indicate that he was then lord of the manor. When Henry VIII built Nonsuch Palace as many as eighty loads of timber were obtained from Southwood, or the South Woods, for that purpose. 11 * In 1 540 Henry VIII purchased from John Carleton the manor of Morehall alias Sylkesmore in Hersham, together with lands and woods in Bur- wood and Hatch in Hersham. 11 * The manor remained in the possession of the Crown, and was granted by Philip and Mary to David Vincent." 4 In 1 579 Queen Elizabeth granted to Thomas Vincent
��" Feet of F. Surr. Hil. I Edw. VI.
M Chan. Proc. (Set. ii), bdle. 176, no. 2.
7 Com. Pleai Recov. R. Surr. East. 28 Eliz. no. 26.
88 Feet of F. Surr. Trin. 17 Eliz.; Trin. 19 Eliz. ; Trin. 23 Eliz. ; Trin. 24 Eliz. ; Recov. R. Surr. Mich. 19 Eliz. rot. 142.
89 Ibid. Trin. 34 Eliz.
90 Ibid. Trin. 44 Eliz.
"Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. ii), cccclxxii, 170.
"Manning and Bray, Hist, of Surr. ii,
7*5-7-
Recov. R. East. IO Anne, rot 172.
��94 See Com. Pleas Recov. R. Hil. 30 Geo. II, m. 28. ; Mich. 31 Geo. II, m. i; Hil. 32 Geo. II, m. 41 ; Recov. R. Mich. 30 Geo. Ill, rot. 51.
94 Com. Pleas Recov. R. Hil. 42 Geo. Ill, m. 139.
98 Brayley, Hiit. of Surr. ii, 320.
97 Manning and Bray, Hist, of Surr. ii, 765.
8 Pat 14 Chas. I, pt x.
99 Chan. Inq. p.m. 1 3 Hen. VI, no. 7.
100 Brayley, Hist, of Surr. ii, 350 ; see Act 31 Hen. VIII, cap. 5.
101 Pat 22 jas. I, pt. ii, no. 3. 104 M.I. in Walton Church.
473
��108 Manning and Bray, Hist, of Surr. ii, 767.
104 Burke, Peerage and Baronetage j Landed Gentry ; and private information.
105 So at least it is stated in Chan. Proc, (Ser. ii), bdle. 90, no. 14.
'"L. and P. Hen. fill, xv, 733 (48^ "'Wills dated there. > Par. Reg.
109 Manning and Bray, op. cit ii, 767. " Brayley, Hilt, of Surr. ii, 360-2.
111 Feet of F. Surr. Mich. 56 Hen. III. L. and P. Hen. fill, xiii (2), 342. ""Ibid, xv, 773. 114 Pat 3 & 4 Phil, and Mary, pt iii.
60
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