Lords of the Manor of St Lawrence
St Lawrence have three Manors - East
Newland, West Newland and the principal Manor of St Lawrence Hall.
East Newland
The Domesday book lists East
Newland as held by Ingwar
There are 4 Bordars , 1
serf, 1 freeman and 1 plough
The estate is 120 acres worth
30 shillings
The Freeman holds 7.5 acres
worth 7 pence
Ingwar was of Royal Danish
descent holding several Manors including East Newland
The Manor then passed to St
John's Abbey in Colchester until the reformation when it reverted to
the Crown and was granted to Lord Thomas Cromwell
Henry 8th then gave the manor
as freehold to George Cley as part of his Knights Fee for services
to the King
From Cley it passed to John
Coker , then to his son also John Coker and on John's death in 1551
to his brother Robert Coker
By 1608 the manor had passed
to his Ralph Browning ( also called Browninge and Breeder on
records) and on Ralph's death it passed to his older brother Richard
Browning.
The next name mentioned is
Abel Clarke who was wealthy paying the highest amount in
parish subsidy rolls.
By 1745 the Lord was Anthony
Dean from Harwich. Records for 1745 show the Manor as having 200
acres of arable, 5 acres meadow and 200 acres pasture
The next three occupants were
comparatively short lived occupants -John Nicholson, Arthur Dabbs
from Hatfield Peverall and Samuel Trew.
By 1772 the occupant was Mr
Payton and in 1783 the land was in possession of local man H
Nicholas Pattison.
In the 1800's tenants included
Richard Hunt and John Root with owners including a Mr Ellis ,
Robert Pilkington. Robert Deardes and at the beginning of the 19th
century Richard Cowle who moved from Lancashire to farm this land.
WEST NEWLAND
The Domesday book lists West
Newland as held by The Priory of the Holy Trinity, Canterbury
There are 3 Vilan's ,
2 serf's, and 1 plough
There are 24 sheep
The estate is 240 acres worth
40 shillings
A family called De Tillebury (or de Tilbury in some records) with the long term stewardship of
Robert Ledett.
In the time if Edward III the
estate became notorious as it was one of the lands that the King
gave to his mistress Alice Perrers along with the manors of Dengie
and Bradwell.
It is doubtful that Alice
Perrers actually visited the estate although the income from the
estates made her a wealthy woman.
Although the estate was taken
back from her in 1378 it was returned on her marriage to William de
Wyndesore.
In 1390 there were new owners
with Clement Spys and William Totham recorded before it passed to
the custody of the Prior of Christ Church in Canterbury.
In 1508 Robert Rochester is
recorded as holding the manor before he was succeeded by his son
William Rochester and then his son John.
By 1633 William Austen held
the land on behalf of the Earl of Warwick.
In the 1700's Wiliam Sewell
was a long term occupant being buried in the Parish Church.
The 1800's saw Joseph
Pattison, Percy Wedd, Richard Going, Benjamin Bayles, W A Pattison ,
Wenn Ellis Edward Allen Catchpool, Robert G Brown, The Governors of
St Bartholemews Hospital and Robert Partridge.
ST LAWRENCE HALL
St Lawrence was not listed as
a manor in the Domesday Book
The first mention of the Manor
is in 1295 when it was held by Roger Baynard as 120 acres of arable
land and a marsh rented from three land owners
Roger was succeeded by his
nephew Thomas and then Thomas's widow
Johanna who appears to have owned several other manors including Burnham and Mayland
In 1409 Lord Batholemew
Bourcher-Chivaler held the Manor along with Tillingham,
Asheldham, Mayland, Latchingdon and Nispalls ( Maylandsea) as well
as Beeliegh
By 1422 Bourcher's son Hugo
Stafford Chivaler held St Lawrence Hall
The next occupant listed is
Sir John Shaw in 1496 who was Sheriff of London, MP for the City,
Lord Mayor, Master of the Mint and Prime Warden of the Goldsmith's
Company. Sit John Lived on another estate at Rochford although he
would no doubt have visited his land at St Lawrence
The estate passed to Sir
John's son Edmund and then to Edmund's daughter Alice who married
William Foley
By 1572 the estate was held by
Judge Richard Weston before passing to his son Sir Jerome Weston
Robert Clarke Snr and then Jnr
were the next Lords before another prominent Londoner assumed the
Manor
Sir John Leman was an Alderman
in the city Sheriff I 1606 and then Lord Mayor in 1616, Leman was
Prime Warden of the Fishmongers Company, president of Christ's
Hospital and patron of several schools in London
His cousin William Leman
inherited the manor when Sir John died at the venerable age of 88
The family of Mason then took
over the Manor and remained at the helm for many years although the
family home remained in Westminste
By 1767 Mr Bartholemew was the
tenant but by 1783 the records show that the owner was the heirs to
the late Mary Sallows with the heir being William Sallows
From then the estate passed to
James Robinson, Archibald Kirkpatrick, John Vinson, George Vinson
and John Coster
The Rolfe family became owners
in the early 1800's and have let the farmland to Mark Fosdyke,
Robert Fuller,William F Witney, Ernest Smith and Clement W Parker
In the late 1800's ownership
passed to Robert Haddock, William Pye and then to Robert Procter at
the start of the 1900's
OTHER ESTATES
In addition to the Manors
there are several significant estates in St Lawrence
Moynes , Gallants , Motts , Barkhams,
Redhouse , Ramsey Wick, Tinnocks, Blackhouse and Beacon Hill
