Catalogue description BUXTED - ESTATE OF EDWARD HOLMES BALDOCK AT POUND GREEN

AMS6018/1 - 7 New House Buxted, settled 1811

AMS6018/8- 10 Hamlin at Pound Green, purchased 1825

AMS6018/11 The whole estate, 1842

AMS6018/12- 45 Crossways, Britts and Whitehouse farms, purchased 1844

AMS6018/46- 52 Cottages at Pound Green, purchased 1845

AMS6018/53- 56 Pound Green Lane and other waste, purchased 1845

AMS6018/57- 71 House, cottage and land, purchased 1845

AMS6018/72, 73 The whole estate, 1846

AMS6018/74-107 House, Lodge and land called late Filtnesses, purchased 1846

AMS6018/108-122 Cottage and land called Sash Windows, purchased 1847

AMS6018/123-134 Cottage at Buxted Wood, purchased 1856

AMS6018/135-143 House and land at Buxted Wood, purchased 1860

AMS6018/144-164 Cottage and land called Jefferys at Buxted Wood, purchased 1862

AMS6018/165-170 Inheritance of New House, 1862

AMS6018/171-179 The Spotted Cow, cottages and land, purchased 1868

AMS6018/180-190 The whole estate, 1875-1899

AMS6018/191-207 Land at Pound Green, purchased by John Charles Buckwell, 17 Dec 1883

AMS6018/208 Copyhold grant to John Jenner, 1756

AMS6018/209 Photograph of group at the Hermitage, High Hurstwood, c 1870

This group of documents chronicles the accumulation of an estate at Pound Green (also called Buxted Wood) in Buxted by Edward Holmes Baldock (1778-1845) and its further augmentation by his son and grandson, both named Edward Holmes Baldock

Baldock's grandfather, Thomas Baldock, was the owner-occupier of Huggetts Furnace Farm in Mayfield, and died there in 1772. The following year his son Thomas married Agnes Holme at Mayfield and Edward Holmes Baldock, their third child, was baptized at Mayfield on 16 June 1778. The following year Thomas Baldock died, and in 1780 his widow married Benjamin Newnham, who farmed Huggett's Furnace until his death in 1808

Edward Holmes Baldock was described as a china man of Hanway Street St Pancras Middlesex when he married Mary daughter of John Gorringe of Buxted in 1811. A copyhold house at Buxted Wood, which had been built by Mary's grandfather Henry Weller and settled on the marriage, was the first of Baldock's many acquisitions of property in the area, all of which were copyhold of Framfield manor and had their origin in enclosures from the waste

Baldock died at his London residence, 5 Hyde Park Place, Cumberland Gate, on 1 December 1845, and by a codicil to his will of 4 September 1843 established a charity for the poor of the parishes of Uckfield, Buxted and Mayfield

Baldock's son, also Edward Holmes Baldock (1812-1875), continued to augment the Buxted estate by further purchases. He married the daughter of Sir Andrew Corbet of Acton Reynald Hall in Shropshire, and sat as MP for the borough of Shrewsbury, where he succeeded Benjamin Disraeli, in the parliaments of 1847 and 1852. Baldock died of blood-poisoning, having walked through a glass door at his house in Grosvenor Place, on 15 August 1875. The Shrewsbury Chronicle of 20 August described him as 'a staunch conservative and protectionist, and a strong opponent of the endowment of the Roman Catholic Church and its clergy'. Baldock seems to have had interests in several railway companies: his estate, valued for probate at £140,000, included large amounts of railway stock, and in the course of a purchase in 1847 (122), a letter was addressed to await him at York

Baldock's only son, also Edward Holmes Baldock (1853-1913), lived at 8 Grosvenor Gardens and at Melton Mowbray in Leicestershire. He seems not to have added to the estate, which was still in the hands of his father's trustees when, with the concurrence of the court of Chancery, it was sold in 1899

Baldock used his half-brother ohn Newnham of Uckfield, a brewer, as his local agent and regularly instructed his cousin, John Baldock of Burwash, a partner in the firm Philcox and Baldock, in conveyancing matters. William Amos Scarborough Westoby, also described as a half-brother in the legacy duty account of Baldock's estate (PRO IR26/1728), but as Baldock's son-in-law in his own entry in Alumni Cantabrigienses, acted as conveyancing counsel on the purchase of Crossways Farm in 1844 (12-35); his relationship to Baldock cannot be precisely identified

New House Buxted, copyhold of Framfield Manor, settled on the marriage of Edward Holmes Baldock with Mary Gorringe, 13 November 1811

On 21 June 1774 John Skinner and wife Elizabeth mortgaged their moiety of the property, described as a house, barn and four pieces of new assart (5a) at Buxted Pound (late Richards before Vandyke before Driver before Brackpoole before Holman and formerly Walker) to John Taylor for £100; Taylor was admitted on the forfeiture of the conditional surrender on 2 November 1787 (1)

On 1 July 1788 the other moiety, together with a piece of enclosed waste (2r), was surrendered by John Dapp and wife Elizabeth to Henry Weller of Buxted yeoman, who was admitted to the first moiety on 21 July 1788 on the surrender of John and Elizabeth Skinner and John Taylor (2,3)

Henry Weller's will of 8 April 1799 bequeathed his newly erected house at Pound Green where he lived to his grand-daughter Mary, one of the daughters of John Gorringe; she was admitted on the third proclamation of his death on 28 June 1802. On 13 November 1811 the property, occupied by John Gorringe farmer, was settled on the marriage of his daughter Mary with Edward Holmes Baldock of Hanway Street St Pancras Mx china man; John Gorringe and Daniel Harvey of Lewes were trustees of the settlement and Mary was given a power of appointment by will, with remainder to her sisters Sarah wife of George Buckwell and Ann and Frances Gorringe spinsters (4,5)

On 19 August 1831 a map of the farm was produced by J[onathan] and S[ylvan] Harmer at a scale of two chains to an inch (6,7)

For the exercise of Mary Baldock's power of appointment in 1860 see 165-170 below

House and land (12a 3r) called Hamlin opposite New House, copyhold of Framfield Manor, purchased by Edward Holmes Baldock, 10 October 1825

By an out-of-court surrender on 16 June 1821 John Dennett Esq and wife Ann and William Franklin Hick Esq and wife Mary sold the property, described as a house, barn and new assart land at Buxted Street late Ann Hamlin formerly James Hamlin, rent 4s 3d, to John Mitchell of Buxted yeoman for £600, of which £490 was raised by a conditional surrender to John Dennett of Woodmancote Esq. On 10 October 1825 Mitchell and Ann his wife sold the property to Baldock, of Hanway Street, Oxford Street china man, who was admitted by his attorney Benjamin Hall gent, for £512 10s

An undated plan of the property [by William Figg] is present in the bundle, pasted onto an advertisement for a straw hat manufactory (8-10)

The whole estate, 1842

On 26 January 1842 Benjamin Hall, Baldock's agent, wrote to him from Buxted Lodge enclosing details of his property, occupied by Robert Berwick and Thomas Jenner, contained in the recent tithe appointment (11)

The Crossways Farm, Britts Farm, The Whitehouse and a house at Pound Green, all copyhold of Framfield manor, purchased by Edward Holmes Baldock, 19 June 1844

This estate was sold to Baldock by different members of the Taylor family in one transaction, but consisted of three separate titles

Title One

As two Crossways Farm and Britts Farm, surrendered to James Coe in 1782

Crossways Farm consisted of a tenement described as a house, barn and 5a new assart near Totease paying 1s 8d; Britts Farm consisted of a tenement described as a house, barn and 4a new assart on Black Lane paying 1s 4d and two pieces of new assart (4½a) formerly Mary Smith widow, paying 1s 6d.

By his will of 19 November 1779, proved (South Malling) 4 July 1782, James Coe left these farms to his only son James; perhaps owing to James's failure to surrender to the use of his will, his brother Thomas Coe of Buxted yeoman was admitted on 10 July 1782 and immediately surrendered to his nephew James, an infant. The tenements had formerly belonged to Thomas and James's mother Sarah wife of James Coe, the sister and heir of John Smith of Buxted. On 25 October 1823 James mortgaged the farms (with other property) to Samuel Woodgate Durrant of Lewes cornmerchant and Henry Hurley of Lewes banker for £1000; this mortgage was discharged on 8 June 1839, four days after another mortgage, for £1,100 at 4½%, to Ruth Hurly of Iford spinster, had been obtained

As to a tenement called The Whitehouse, inherited by James Coe in 1796

The tenement, described at as a house, barn and six pieces of new assart (13a, detailed bounds), late John Pettit, before Robert Pettit, formerly Burgess, was held by a rent of 4s 6d. The death of Thomas Smith was presented at a court held 10 June 1772; his wife Sarah who was entitled to the remainder, had died in Smith's lifetime and her grandson Thomas Coe, eldest son of her daughter Sarah, was admitted. On 1 July 1796 James Coe gent was admitted on the death of his brother Thomas and by an out-of-court surrender on 19 March 1822 mortgaged the property to James Winter of Burwash yeoman for £200 at 5%

As to all four tenements

James Coe died 20 June 1839 and by his will of 6 April left all his real property (except Foxhole in Buxted) to his cousin Mary Stevens (then living with him) who, as Mary wife of James Taylor, proved the will (South Malling) with Thomas Wallis and Ezekiel Weller the other executors on 15 October 1839. Mary Taylor was admitted to the tenements at a court held on 9 December 1839 and on 5 July 1842 mortgaged then to Ruth Hurly for £600 at 5% (12).

Title Two

As to a house and land at Pound Green, inherited by Richard and Martha Taylor in 1800

This property consisted of two tenements described as a house and new assart (3a) adjoining Bongcrosse or Pound Green near a house formerly called the White Horse, paying 1s, and a piece of new assart (2a meadow, S& W of Buxted Wood and N of the road) late Goffe, before Burgess, paying 8d

The death of Lucy Brunsden was presented on 29 June 1787 and her youngest son William Brunsden admitted to the tenements according to her will of 10 November 1778. On 10 September 1799 William Brunsden and wife Jane surrendered to Martha Stanbridge of Buxted widow who on 5 Mar 1800 mortgaged to Elizabeth Susan of Buxted widow for £150

Martha Stanbridge died 23 June 1800 and by her will of 1 March, proved 6 December, bequeathed the house where she lived with the shop which he occupied to her son-in-law Richard Taylor of Buxted carpenter and his wife, her daughter Martha. Thomas, eldest son of Elizabeth Susans was admitted to the tenements on default of repayment of the mortgage of 1800 on 21 June 1828 and assigned to George Hollands of Buxted shopkeeper. Hollands died and by his will of 29 January 1818, proved in PCC 9 May 1832, the legal estate passed to his wife Sarah for life with remainder to his son John Hollands; she was admitted at a court held 20 June 1832 (20-26)

Title Three

As to Batchelors Lane (1r 34p) and Harpers Lane (35p) purchased by James Taylor in 1840

By an order made at a special highway session at Uckfield on 14 September 1826 several lanes in the parish of Buxted were stopped up; reference is made in the public notice, signed by George Gwynne as clerk to the justices, of a plan to be deposited the with clerk of the peace [for which see QRE 789]

Batchelors Lane was sold by the parish highway surveyors for £2 9s 4d to John Catt on 9 October 1827 who sold it to James Taylor for £27 on 23 July 1840. Also included in the papers is a printed notice recording the decision of a meeting of the copyholders of Framfield Manor on 22 June to consider the advantages of a general enclosure of the wastes of the manor at another meeting on 20 July 1829; Mr John Smith is recorded as chairman, S Lidbetter as honorary secretary (37)

Part of Harpers Lane, described in the order as Bretts Lane (a right of way reserved to the tenants of James Coe's farm occupied by William Brett - see above), was sold by the surveyors for £2 14s to William Britt on 18 December 1827 who sold it to James Taylor for £15 on 24 July 1840 (38)

Purchase of titles 1-3 above by Edward Holmes Baldock of Hyde Park Place St Marylebone

An agreement to purchase for £1700, in which Crossways Farm (see above) was described as freehold, was reached on 11 April 1844; Philcox and Baldock of Burwash acted for the purchaser, Verral Lewis and Verral of Lewes for the vendors. Two abstracts of title (12,26) were considered by William A S Westoby of Lincolns Inn on 20 & 21 May 1844 whose observations required copies of entries of baptism, marriage and burial of members of the Taylor family (14,1 5, 30, 31, 35), extracts of wills of Henry Hurly of Iford (16), James Coe of Buxted (17), the administration of Thomas Coe of Buxted (18), George Holland (29) and Martha Stanbridge (32), statutory declarations by Thomas Fry of Buxted farmer aged 85 concerning the Coe family, Sarah Hollands of Buxted widow aged 80 concerning Richard Taylor's children (33) and Thomas Fry concerning George Hollands (34) [for details of the bankruptcy of John son of George and Sarah Hollands in 1844 see 196 below]

A discrepancy between acreages on the agreement and conveyance and the misdescription of Crossways Farm as freehold was settled by the abatement of £100 from the purchase price

According to Westoby's advice, the transaction at the manorial court involved an admission of John Holland to the legal estate and his surrender to Baldock in respect of title two; the manorial steward refused to allow James Taylor to be admitted to the two lanes (title three) so a fresh grant was made to Baldock at a rent of 4d (39). Separate deeds of 19 June 1844 covenanted the title of the property, and the equity of redemption of title two was released to Baldock by the four sons of Richard Taylor (d 1831) and Martha his wife (d 1842) - Thomas Stanbridge Taylor and Richard Taylor of Buxted husbandmen, James Taylor of Buxted farmer and Henry Taylor of Buxted shopkeeper who, once the mortgage had been discharged, each received £62 10s from the purchase price of £400; titles one and three, subject to a £600 mortgage, were sold by James and Mary Taylor for £1200 (40-45)

Cottages at Pound Green, copyhold of Framfield Manor, purchased by Edward Holmes Baldock on 9 July 1845

The property was described in 1845 as a house converted into three dwellings and assart land (½a) near the Pound Place late Nash, before Wilmshurst, before Cook, before Stevens and before Harris, rent 2d

Robert Wilmshurst, son of Christian wife of William Wilmshurst who was heir of John Cook, was admitted to the tenement (still described as a single house) on the proclamation of the latter's death on 7 July 1774; he surrendered to the use of his will (46). On Wilmshurst's death, presented 21 June 1822, William Nash the only son of his sister Elizabeth Nash was admitted and on 21 June 1830 the property was surrendered to Henry Batchelor of Buxted gardener by William Nash and Mary his wife (47, 48)

On 17 August 1844 Benjamin Hall, Baldock's solicitor, wrote to John Newnham at Uckfield concerning the purchase, enclosing a list of documents 46-48 and advising that Mr Holland's cottages at Redbrook would be sold the next week (49). Edward Holmes Baldock was admitted to the tenement on the surrender Henry Batchelor and wife Elizabeth for £100 on 9 July 1845 and an agreement was reached that Batchelor should continue to live in and enjoy the property for the term of his life; Hall and Mourilyan's account to Baldock for the purchase reveals that Mrs Batchelor refused to consent to the surrender until her husband had made his will (50-52)

Pound Green Lane and other waste, purchased by Edward Holmes Baldock on 9 July 1845

Pound Green Lane was among the lanes in Buxted stopped up by an order of Quarter Sessions on 30 June 1845; a public notice, signed by George Eade the parish highway surveyor, mentions a plan deposited with the clerk of the peace [for which see QRE 909], and is also endorsed with an undated receipt for £8 8s from the vestry committees to Baldock (53). Baldock was admitted to the land, to be held of the manor of Framfield at a rent of 6d; the grant also included other pieces of waste at Pound Green and its mention of a new parish road suggests that the surveyors were disposing of redundant land (54,55). By the time John Newnham signed a receipt for the highway surveyors on 11 July, the price had fallen to £7 16s (56)

House, cottage, barn and land (12a), copyhold of Framfield Manor, purchased by Edward Holmes Baldock 29 September 1845

The property, which consisted of six tenements described and bounded in detail on the court rolls, was entailed by the will of Nicholas Carratt, 21 June 1745, which was enrolled at a court held 12 May 1763. The second proclamation of the death of Elizabeth Wood widow was made 20 June 1806 and her only son Nicholas Wood was admitted by virtue of the entail, suffered a common recovery and, with his wife Mary, mortgaged the property to Richard Holmwood of Hellingly gent for £150 at 5% (57)

The mortgage was assigned to Thomas Susans of Buxted yeoman and a further charge of £50 incurred on 10 December 1814 and on 8 December 1821, when Mary Wood widow was admitted to a life estate by virture of her husband's will of 8 November 1819 (proved South Malling 17 January 1820), assigned again with a further charge of £20 by Mary and her son James Wood, the remainderman, both of Heathfield, to William Baker of Heathfield gent (58-60)

By the time Mary Wood's death was presented on 20 June 1834 her son James had also died and his eldest daughter Jane wife of Thomas Balcomb was admitted; on 30 April 1838 they sold the property to William Curd of Buxted yeoman for £525 of which £225 was advanced by the vendors at 4½% (61-63). Edward Holmes Baldock of 5 Hyde Park Place agreed to purchase the property from William Curd for £600 on 11 July 1845; on 17 September extracts were obtained from the registers of Heathfield of the marriage of James Wood and Ann Oxly and the baptism of their three daughters and on 29 September John Shipton of Uckfield butcher, aged 75, made a statutory declaration that James Wood had died intestate in 1828 and that Jane Balcombe was his eldest daughter (64-67)

The property, occupied by William Curd and his tenant James May, was surrendered to Baldock out of court on 29 September 1845 and a deed of covenants concerning the title executed by Curd and Thomas Balcomb of Lye Green in Withyham, smith, whose mortgage was paid off. According to the terms of the contract, the farm was leased back to the vendor for 50 years or life at £10 a year; Philcox and Baldock of Burwash again acted for the purchaser (68-71). Baldock died before he could be admitted to the property; for the admissionn of his son on the surrender on 17 June 1846 see 72-73 below

The whole estate, 1846

At a court held on 17 June 1846 Edward Holmes Baldock esq was admitted to his father's copyhold property on production of the latter's will of 4 September 1843, proved in PCC 13 January 1846. He was also admitted to the property surrendered to his father on 29 September 1845 (see 57-73 above) by William Curd, whose receipt for the purchase price is attached to the copy (72,73)

House Lodge and land (13a) called late Filtnesses, copyhold of Framfield Manor, purchased by Edward Holmes Baldock, 17 June 1846

The property, which consisted of five tenemants, is described in detail on the court rolls; for a plan executed in 1833 see 106 below. The vendor, William Baldock of Buxted yeoman, had purchased the property in 1825 and although a large amount of conveyancing correspondence has been preserved from that transaction, relatively little survives from that of 1846

As to late Filtnesses, purchased by Henry Weller in 1789

On 19 April 1754 the property, near the White Horse in Buxted, late Butchers and before Collins, was settled by John Baker on himself and his wife Caroline for their lives with remainder to his daughters Elizabeth wife of John Filtness blacksmith and Caroline and Martha Baker spinsters (84)

On 26 January 1758 Martha Baker was admitted to a grant of waste abutting her father's cottage, with the consent of James Coe (see 12 above) the neighbouring owner (74)

On 3 April 1771 Elizabeth Filtness was admitted to her reversionary interest (John Baker was dead but her mother was still alive) in order to mortgage it to John Alchorn of Buxted yeoman for £20; on 13 July 1773 the mortgage was assigned to Thomas Coe of Rotherfield

On 11 March 1789 Elizabeth Filtness was admitted to the third share of her sister Caroline, who had died unmarried, and immediately surrendered that and her own share to Henry Weller of Buxted yeoman, to whom Martha Baker's share was surrendered by her son John son of Benjamin Shelley; Weller was also admitted to the piece of waste on John Shelley's surrender (75)

As to late Brunsdens, purchased by Henry Weller in 1790

On 26 January 1758 the Lord of Framfield Manor, with the permission of John Baker (see above), granted a piece of waste (½a) W of Baker's land and E,N and S of Buxted Wood, to Stephen Brunsden, wbose eldest son Edward Brunsden was admitted on the third proclamation of his father's death on 27 June 1783. On 18 December 1790 Edward Brunsden and wife Sarah surrendered the property to Henry Weller, who was admitted at a court held 1 July 1791 (76-78)

As to the whole estate

Henry Weller's will of 8 April 1799 bequeathed the property, in his own occupation and that of Elizabeth and Edmund Filtness, to his grand-daughter Sarah Gorringe, subject to a bequest of £50 to [her sister] Frances. The will was proved at Lewes by the executor John Gorringe on 20 September 1800 and on 26 June 1801 Sarah was admitted to the property, which Weller had surrendered to the use of his will on 29 June 1795 (79, 80)

On 12 January 1825 George Buckwell of Friston yeoman, who had married Sarah Gorringe, agreed to sell the property to William Baldock of Buxted yeoman £500, a sum to be calculated for timber and £50 for underwood, hop-poles and hay (82). On 12 February Benjamin Waters of Eastbourne yeoman and wife Frances released the estate from her legacy which had been paid, with interest, on 21 April 1819 (83,81) and on 8 March requisitions on the abstract of title, drawn for the vendor by S[amuel] Sinnock of Hailsham, were returned by Philcox and Baldock of Burwash for the purchaser; the main question was the deficiency of over five acres between contract and abstract. On 28 March the abstract was considered by Lewis Duval of Lincoln's Inn and in the course of April further evidence as to title obtained, including a deposition by George Inskip of Hailsham labourer that John Shelley of Hailsham common carrier died many years earlier at Hailsham unmarried (84-90). The points at variance between the two firms were again put to Lewis Duval on 25 April, whose opinion produced further evidence, including a measurement of the land and an affidavit by Isaac Fermor of Hadlow Down in Mayfield schoolmaster (91-95)

The property was eventually surrendered to Baldock at a court held on 20 June 1825; the purchase price of £583 15s 9d plus stock was raised by Baldock and his wife Maria by a mortgage to John Burrell Hayley of Brightling clerk and James Philcox of Burwash gent; also charged was another Framfield copyhold, late Gaston's, consisting of a house and land (23a 3r 34p) called Pencost between Hadlow Down and Buxted (96)

By an out-of-court surrender on 29 November 1836 William Baldock mortgaged the property to Edward Holmes Baldock of Hanway Street, Oxford Street gent for £100; Maria Baldock of Walshes was buried on 17 April 1844 at Hadlow Down. On 17 June 1846, Edward Holmes Baldock of 5 Hyde Park Place purchased the property for £400, £100 of which discharged the mortgage to the purchaser's late father (97-101). Baldock annotated a note of the 1825 purchase price and his solicitor's bill with comments concerning the fall in the price of timber soon after 1825

On 17 July 1846 William Baldock wrote to the purchaser ensuring him that he would be able to vote in respect of the property since his name (being the same as his father's - 'my poor cousin') is already on the register. He also enclosed a map of the farm (106), drawn on 3 August 1833 by William Bray; the tenant was then Thomas Lidbetter. He also mentions the arrival of 'strong symptoms' of potato disease (102-107)

A cottage and land (7a 1r 17p) called The Sash Windows, copyhold of Framfield Manor, purchased by Edward Holmes Baldock, 29 September 1847

The property, held as four tenements, consisted of three separate titles

As to a cottage and land (1r) and piece of waste (2a) to which Sarah Dalloway was admitted in 1774

On 7 July 1774 John Start and wife Mary surrendered the property late Baker's to Sarah wife of John Dalloway, who was admitted and received a grant of waste (2a) from the lord, with the consent of the neighbouring owners Thomas Fry and William Isted, to be held by a rent of 8d; she surrendered both tenements to the use of her will (108)

As to The Whitelearns (2.5 a new assart), inherited by Sarah Dalloway in 1808

John and Sarah Dalloway were admitted on the surrender of Thomas Baker on 28 September 1768 for the life of the longer liver with remainder to John's heirs; he surrendered to the use of his will. On 23 June 1808 Sarah Dalloway was admitted according to the terms of her husband's will of 20 July 1801, which she had proved at South Malling on 4 June 1808 (113)

As to both estates

After she had been admitted to the second tenement, Sarah settled all her estate on herself for life with remainder to Fanny wife of Edward Waterman of Piddinghoe yeoman; Sarah's death was presented at a court held on 28 June 1820 and Fanny's on 21 June 1822 at which court her son William Waterman, a minor, was admitted by his father Edward as attorney according to his mother's will of 8 February 1821, proved at Lewes on 23 October 1821

On 15 September 1830 the property was sold by William Waterman, with other land, to Joseph Richardson of Withyham miller for £512 of which £250 was raised by mortgage to the vendor, which was paid off on 12 October 1832 (113)

As to a grant of waste (3r 31p) to Joseph Richardson in 1833

On 21 June 1833 the lord of Framfield Manor, with the consent of the neighbouring owners Joseph Richardson, Ann Rutley, William Baldock and James Winter, granted a piece of waste at Buxted Wood to Richardson, to be held by a rent a 4d (109)

As to the whole estate

On 14 January 1845 Joseph Richardson and Elizabeth Goring Richardson his wife mortgaged the property, with other land, to Edward Blaker of Portslade gent for £600 at 4½% and on 11 December 1846 sold the first three tenements, subject to the mortgage, to John Foster of Beddington in Surrey for £630 (113)

On 7 July 1847 The Sash Windows, still occupied by Joseph Richardson, was auctioned at the White Hart Buxted along with Dalloway's Farm and two cottages also occupied by Richardson (sold to Mr Collins of Chiddingly for £500) and a house with a grocer's and draper's shop at Buxted Wood, occupied by Mr Hill (bought in at £345). The Sash Windows was bought by John Newnham as agent for Edward Holmes Baldock for £300; he was also offered the draper's shop by the vendor at £345 but this offer does not seem to have been taken up (110-113). Newnham, writing from Uckfield, announced his purchase to Baldock by a letter of 9 July; he had paid more than he wanted because the prospective tenant of late William Baldock's [74-107 above], W Hope, wanted him to purchase. An abstract, drawn by J and E Blaker of Lewes for the vendor, was examined against the court rolls by the steward, Robert Hoffman Faulconer, on 5 August 1847 and on 6 August the vendors' solicitors wrote answering requisitions and enclosing a plan of the property (113-115)

Joseph Richardson and his wife made an out-of-court surrender of the fourth tenemant to John Foster on 21 August 1847 and on 29 September, once the mortgage had been discharged, Baldock was admitted to the tenements by John Newnham his attorney, who settled the solicitor's account the same day (116-121)

The day after the purchase Newnham wrote to Baldock explaining that an earlier letter had been addressed to York, where Baldock had been expected to be; Newnham would attend the tenant right valuations of Berwick's [late William Baldock's] and Richardson's [Sash Windows] on Baldock's behalf (122)

Cottage at Buxted Wood, copyhold of Framfield Manor, purchased by Edward Holmes Baldock, 10 November 1856

On 7 September 1839 Edward Willett, who held in trust for the parishioners of Buxted, surrendered to William Bennett of Buxted yeoman a house and garden at Buxted Wood in his own occupation; it was part of a tenement in Buxted Wood on which the parish had built another house, which had been sold to John Alchorne, and paid a rent of 1d by apportionment [for this property see 128-134 below]. Bennett was admitted on 17 June 1841 (123)

Baldock's agent John Newnham contracted to buy the cottage from Bennett for £65 on 28 October 1856; it was occupied by John Pollard labourer. Baldock was admitted, on the surrender of Bennett and his wife Martha, at a court held on 10 November 1856 (124-127)

Pair of cottages and land formerly waste at Buxted Wood, copyhold of Framfield Manor, purchased by Edward Holmes Baldock, 30 June 1858

This property forms the residue of that held in trust by Edward Willett for the parishioners of Buxted, part of which (see 123-127 above) was purchased by Baldock in 1856

On 2 March 1839 the churchwardens and overseers of Buxted joined the Guardians of Uckfield Union and Willett, the copyhold tenant, to convey a house occupied by John Thomas and Henry Ware to John Alchorne of Buxted yeoman for £35. The surrender was made on 11 March and Alchorne was admitted at a court held on 20 June 1839. On 21 June 1843 the lord of Framfield Manor, with the consent of the neighbouring tenants William Baldock, William Bennett and John Alchorne, granted a piece of waste (2r 4p) to Alchorne, to be held at a rent of 3d (128-129)

On 18 May 1858 Alchorne agreed with Baldock's agent Charles Newnham of Uckfield for the sale of the property (plan) for £75 but made it clear that he reserved his rights under the imminent enclosure award. Newnham sent the contract to Baldock on 25 May, initially hoping to save money by taking an out-of-court surrender to himself but adding a postscript indicating that the saving of 15s or £1 was not worth making. The vendor, 'Old Alchorne', seems to have resented Baldock's instructing his tenant to pay no more rent to him. On 30 June 1858 the surrender was made by John Alchorne and Frances his wife and the following day, Newnham, addressing the letter 'my dear cousin', enclosed a note of the court fees (130-134)

House and land at Buxted Wood, copyhold of Framfield Manor, purchased by Edward Holmes Baldock, 30 October 1860

On 20 June 1806 a house and land (1r) and two other tenements amounting to 1¼a, all late Coe's and before Isted's, were surrendered by James Coe to James Winter of Buxted labourer (135)

On 19 June 1807, Winter received a grant of waste (1a) from the lord with the consent of John Dalloway, the neighbouring tenant [for the sale of part of this tenement to Richard Winter in 1850 see 171-179 below] and on 22 June 1853 James Winter, Winter's only son, was admitted on his father's death (136, 137)

James Winter agreed to sell the house to Edward Holmes Baldock for £180 on 26 October 1860 and the same day Charles Newnham wrote to Baldock asking for the purchase price and referring to another purchase of land from Colonel Harcourt which, despite its mention on the bundle wrapper, is not represented by any documents. Newnham's reply proposes another purchase, from Mr Field, and also mentions the possibility of the new railway going via Buxted, in which eventuality Mr Baldock may 'be inclined to take a few shares' (138-140)

The property was surrendered by James Winter and Louisa his wife on 30 October 1860 and the same day Baldock, noting the purchase, suggested that the rent of £8 a year proposed to be paid by James Winter junior might be increased since the purchase price had been greater than at first contemplated (141-143)

Cottage and land (2a 1r 26p) called Jefferys at Buxted Wood, copyhold of Framfield Manor, purchased by Edward Holmes Baldock, 17 March 1862

On 21 April 1757 John Goldsmith, with the consent of Thomas Price the neighbouring owner, was granted four preces of waste (2r 26p) in Buxted Wood. On 2 July 1772 Goldsmith, with Elizabeth his wife, surrendered the property, together with a cottage and land (½a) late Harper's before Puxty's to Sarah Wheatly of Lewes spinster, who was admitted by her attorney Richard Watts of Lewes gent on 13 July 1773; Sarah surrendered the property to the use of her will on 18 September (144-147)

On 6 June 1786 Sarah Wheatly surrendered to George Adams of Buxted yeoman and his wife Ann, with remainder to the longer liver and then to Ann's heirs; she, as a widow, surrendered the property to Henry Weller of Buxted yeoman on 27 November 1789; also included was a piece of waste (3/4a) late Fry's. Weller surrendered all his copyhold to the use of his will at a court held on 29 June 1795 (148-150)

By his will of 8 April 1799 Henry Weller left this property [for other bequests see 1-7 and 74-104 above] to his daughter Sarah wife of John Gorringe of Buxted innholder, who was admitted at a court held 28 June 1802; the tenant was then James Jeffery. On 25 June 1817 Sarah's husband John Gorringe was admitted for life by virtue of her will of 25 February 1815 with remainder to her daughter Ann Gorringe (156)

John Gorringe's death was presented at a court held on 23 June 1821 and his daughter Ann, now wife of Samuel Rutley of Aylesford in Kent yeoman, was admitted by virtue of her mother's will and surrendered to the use of her own (151)

On an unspecified date in 1829 Sammuel Rutley paid £3 to the parish highway surveyors for part of Nash's Lane which had been stopped up by order of Quarter Sessions on 20 October 1826 [for which see QRE 789] and in the same year Samuel Rutley drew a small map of Jeffery's tenement which shows the new purchase and identifies its tenure as freehold (152,153)

Ann died at Wrotham in Kent on 17 August 1854 and her will of 26 May 1851, bequeathing the estate to Samuel, was presented at a court held on 18 June 1856 and Samuel admitted (154,155)

An abstract of Samuel Rutley's title was drawn in January 1862 by George F Carnell of Sevenoaks and the property surrendered out-of-court on 17 March 1862 for £185; Edward Holmes Baldock, of 31 Grosvenor Place, was admitted at a court held on 19 June (156-164). For Baldock's admission to his late mother's estate at the same court see 165-170 below

New House Buxted, inherited by Edward Holmes Baldock on the death of his mother Mary Baldock, to which he was admitted on 19 June 1862

This estate had been settled in 1811 on the marriage of Edward Holmes Baldock with Mary Gorringe, who was given a power of appointment; for details, see 1-7 above

At a court held on 19 June 1862 Baldock, by Charles Newnham his attorney, produced the probate of his mother's will dated 29 January 1861 bequeathing the estate to him and was admitted to the tenement and to the land allocated in respect of it by the enclosure award of 21 January 1862

A letter from B[ernard] Husey Hunt of Lewes, the steward of the manor who had acted in both 1862 transactions, indicates that enfranchisement was contemplated (165-170)

'The Spotted Cow', three cottages and land, freehold and copyhold of Framfield Manor, purchased by Edward Holmes Baldock on 29 September 1868

The site of this property formed part of the acre of lord granted by the lord of Framfield Manor to James Winter of Buxted labourer in 1807 (see 136 above). On 13 June 1850 James Winter sold the SE part of the tenement, with a recently erected house and other buildings, to Richard Winter of Buxted beershop keeper and Hannah his wife for £38 (171)

As well as being allocated 25 perches in respect of the tenement by the Framfield Manor Enclosure Commissioners, on 21 January 1862 Richard Winter purchased part of the land (1a 1r 18p) set aside to be sold to pay the expenses of enclosure for £26 5s. Richard Winter died 7 November 1863 and on 2 May 1864 his widow Hannah proved his will of 12 Aug 1856, by which the estate passed to her

The estate was purchased by Edward Holmes Baldock for £1000 on 29 September 1868. The correspondence makes clear that as well as the beershop, Mrs Winter was tenant of much of Baldock's other land, paying a rent (including £30 for the Spotted Cow) of £75 a year. Baldock's agent Charles Newnham was of the opinion that the beershop should be closed as soon as Mrs Winter left it, but that she should not be evicted - 'I should not at present know where to find a better tenant'; in another letter, he reported the death and funeral arrangements of William Gorringe, possibly Baldock's brother-in-law, at the age of 88 (172-179)

The whole estate, 1875-1899

Edward Holmes Baldock died on 15 August 1875 and his will was proved by his son Edward Holmes Baldock and his solicitor John Loxley of Loxley and Morley, 80 Cheapside, on 6 January 1876, who on 14 June 1877 were admitted to the copyhold tenements. The manorial stewards sent the admission, together with a renunciation by three of the executors, to Loxley and Morley on 25 May 1878 (180). Neither document survives with the papers but the enrolment (ADA 131 pp310-324) makes it clear that Baldock's personal estate included large amounts of railway stock

In March and April 1878 Edmund John Sinden of Uckfield brewer, acting as agent for the trustees, concluded tenancy agreements (details) with Alfred Eade of Shepherds Hill Farm Framfield farmer (11a 1r 11p at £25), Henry Newnham of the Spotted Cow Farm Buxted farmer (35a 3r 13p at £60), Richard Ralph of Buxted florist (house and 1r at £7) and Samuel Jenner of Pound Green in Buxted farmer (24a 2r 2p at £44 10s), whose lease was taken by Robert Leeves of Pound Green farmer (35a 2r 3p at £60) on 19 September 1879. On 28 September 1887 leases were granted to Henry Coleman of Buxted higgler (house and 1r at £10) and John Bray of Nettlesworth Farm Heathfield farmer (24a 2r 2p at £44 10s); Sinden by that date was of Southover (181-188)

On 23 January 1899 Henry Hope Edwards bart, out of the trustees of Baldock's will, applied to the court of Chancery to determine whether the copyhold portion of the estate should be enfranchised before sale, by what means the costs of enfranchisement should be met and how, if the court determined that the estate should be sold with vacant possession, the sums necessary to compensate the sitting tenants might by raised; an order for sale was made by Mr Justice Kekewich in chambers on 20 March 1899 and the estate was enfranchised and sold in course of that year (189-190)

Piece of land W of the Buxted-Howbourne Road at Pound Green, purchased by John Charles Buckwell, 17 December 1883

The land was granted under the Framfield enclosure award of 1862 (see 200 below) in reject of a copyhold house and land on the E side of Pound Green, to which the previous title relates. There is no indication that the property formed part of the Baldock estate but it may have been purchased after the date of the last surviving conveyance

On 7 July 1775, a piece of land containing 60 rods was granted by the lord of Framfield Manor to Robert Parker of Buxted stonemason with the consent of Catherine Stone widow and Thomas Coe, the neighbouring tenants, to be held as new assart at an annual rent of 1d (191)

By 1799 the land, on which a house and buildings had been built, had passed, subject to the dower of Robert Parker's widow Elizabeth Skinner, to Henry Parker. On 24 June his attorney William Bunce of Westerham in Kent surrendered the property to Henry Parker the younger of Wisterham, who surrendered to the use of his will at the same court (192)

On 21 June 1805 Henry Parker and his wife Sarah surrendered the property to George Hollands of Buxted shopkeeper; Hollands's will of 29 January 1818, to the use of which he had surrendered the property, was proved in PCC on 9 May 1832 and describes him as a grocer, draper and tailor. On 20 June that year his wife Sarah was admitted to this and other copyhold property (see 20-45 above) for the term of her life (193-195)

George Hollands's son John, a draper and grocer, to whom the reversion of the estate had been bequeathed, became bankrupt in 1844; on 17 June the petition of William Gorringe of Buxted farmer was exhibited against him in the court of bankruptcy and on 28 June his estate was assigned to Gorringe and Edward Kennard of Uckfield maltster. On 11 January 1832 John Holland and his mother had borrowed £800 from Edward Harvey Maltby of the Albany, MX esq in the form of an annuity, secured by a conditional sale of their free and copyhold property in Buxted to Charles Henry Maltby of Quimperle, Finisterre, France

Sarah Holland died on 3 August 1845 and on 20 February 1846 the Maltbys released the property from the annuity for a payment of £834 13s 3d (196,197). The following day the commissioner in bankruptcy joined the assignees (Kenward being described as a wine-merchant) to sell the copyhold house, stable and land at Buxted Wood to James Field of Adelaide Place London Bridge architect for £200; William Crowe of Uckfield solicitor, who had drawn many of the bankruptcy documents, witnessed the conveyance on behalf of the assignees. On 17 June Field was admitted at a court held for the manor of Framfield by his attorney Benjamin Hall (198,199)

The Commissioners for the enclosure of Framfield Manor confirmed the valuer's award on 30 January 1862. James Field was awarded two pieces of land in respect of his copyhold; a plan shows all three parcels (200)

On 2 December 1881 Field, of Sandgate in Kent esq, sold the property to William Whiteman of 6 West View Terrace, Hove, builder for £180. Whiteman was admitted at a court held on 10 January 1882 and enfranchised the holding on 31 March for £26 10s (210-203)

On 30 November 1883 Whiteman sold the smaller of the two awarded parcels, which fronted on Howbourne Road, to Kate wife of John Henry Gardner of Hove, builder's merchant, for £50, who on 17 December 1883 sold to John Charles Buckwell of Brighton gent for £60; the abstract, but not the conveyance, describes the plot as a house and land (204-207)

Grant of land to John Jenner, 28 December 1756

This copy of court roll of Framfield Manor, granting three fields, a garden and close with a barn (2a 12p) to John Jenner whose land it adjoined on the N, does not form part of any of the titles listed above. If the tenement is followed through the court books (ADA 118-133), the descent of the property to the Harcourt family via John Gorringe victualler (admitted 1786), John Newnham brewer (admitted 1829), William Baxter of Lewes tanner (admitted 1842) and William Wheatley yeoman (admitted 1847) can be traced. Gorringe was the (see 1-7 above), Newnham acted as his agent (see 116-121 above) and in 1860 a purchase of land from Colonel Harcourt, for which no deeds survive, was mentioned in a letter (see 138-143 above). This document could derive from any of these relationships or may be a stray from a later purchase (208)

Documents (1-208 below) deposited with the Sussex Archaeological Society (per Loxley Sanderson & Morgan, 12 Devonshire Square, Bishopsgate, London 27 March 1969 (SAS ACC 1228) and transferred by the Society 21 June 1982 (A3445); (209 below) given 2 January 1970 (A1036)