Catalogue description Deed of partition by conveyance (lease & release)

[Lease for a year missing] of freehold properties and assignment of leasehold properties in trust

(a) Katharina Page of Chichester, spinster, (b) Frances Page of Watergate House (in Up Marden), spinster, (c) Daniel Walter of Chichester, clerk, M.A., one of the prebendaries of Chichester Cathedral

I. Manor of Donnington, with all the demesne lands; capital messuage or dwellinghouse called the Manor House of Donnington, and those closes of arable, meadow, pasture and marsh land (182a.) therewith now demised or occupied called the Manor Farm, late in the tenure or occupation of Mary Fogden, wid., decd., and now of Daniel Fogden, her son, at annual rent of £126; messuage or dwellinghouse, lately new built, and those closes of arable, meadow, pasture and marsh land (300a.) therewith now demised or occupied called North End Farm in Donnington, in the tenure or occupation of Henry Fogden the elder at annual rent of £240; two messuages or dwellinghouses, and those closes of arable, meadow, pasture and marsh land (156a.) therewith now demised or occupied, called West Lands otherwise West Lands Farm, East Lane Farm and Moorys Land otherwise Moorys Farm in Donnington and Hunston, now in the tenure or occupation of Henry Fogden the younger at annual rent of £112. 16s. 0d.; barn and the closes of arable land (48a.) therewith now demised or occupied called Arderns and Justices 'heretofore Cooper's' in Donnington, in the tenure or occupation of Joseph Harris at annual rent of £38; messuage or dwellinghouse, and the closes of arable, meadow and pasture land (36a.) thereto belonging called Justices in Donnington in the tenure or occupation of said Joseph Harris at annual rent of £25 (subject to an estate for a term of years granted thereout and held of the manor of Donnington contingent on the life only of Richard Merlott, esq., under the annual quit-rent payable to the manor of £4); closes of arable land (20a.) called Palmers in Donnington, in the tenure or occupation of Samuel Pelley, held also of the manor of Donnington at annual rent of £15 (subject to a term of years granted thereout contingent on the life only of Peckham Williams, esq., under the annual quit-rent of £2. 3s. 8d. payable to the manor); the rectory and church of 'Donghton otherwise Donnington' with the glebe lands and one moiety of the tithes belonging to the rectory, and the annual rents of the lands called Neplands and other lands also belonging to the rectory; messuage or dwellinghouse, garden and orchard in Donnington belonging to the glebe lands of the rectory, in the tenure or occupation of Richard Halsted at annual rent of £5; close of land called Old House Field, and those closes of land, parcel of the glebe lands of the rectory, now used therewith (together 24a.) in Donnington, in the tenure or occupation of Maurice Smelt, clerk, at annual rent of £24. 7s. 6d.; cottage and close of land (6a.) called the Hop Garden in Donnington, in the tenure or occupation of William Foster at annual rent of £6; closes of arable land (58a.), with the new barn lately built thereon, called Edgelands in Donnington, in the tenure or occupation of Joseph Randall at annual rent of £50

Capital messuage or mansion house lately erected by John Page, father of (a) and (b), with the coach house, gardens, stables, etc., in Chichester called the Friery otherwise the Black Friers, near and adjoining to the East Street, in the possession or occupation of (a) and (b) at annual rent of £45; freehold messuage or dwellinghouse standing on other part of the said Friery Land with the garden used therewith, near and adjoining to the East Wall or Rampart and the said East Street of Chichester, now in the possession or occupation of Ann Page and Mary Floyd, spinsters, at annual rent of £15; piece of inclosed land (6a.) heretofore garden ground but of late years laid up and used as meadow land, other parcel of the said Friery Ground and belonging to the said Friery as a parcel thereof, in the occupation of (a) and (b) at annual rent of £20

Messuage or dwellinghouse and garden, and parcel of land (3a.), being formerly planted with cherry trees but now used as meadow ground in the parish of St. Peter the Great otherwise Subdeanery, Chichester, in the tenure or occupation of John Williams, esq., at annual rent of £20

II. Capital messuage or manor house, and those closes of arable, meadow, pasture and marsh land (204a.) therewith now demised or occupied, called Barnham Manor Farm, 'heretofore Elson's, 'in Barnham, in the tenure or occupation of William Cosens at annual rent of £170; freehold messuage, and those closes of arable, meadow, pasture and brook-land (111a.) therewith now demised or occupied, 'heretofore Elleger's' in Barnham, late in the tenure or occupation of Joseph Postlethwaite, since decd., and now of said William Cosens. Capital messuage or mansion house called Watergate House [in Up Marden], and those closes of arable, meadow, pasture and woodground (330a.) therewith in said John Page's lifetime lately used and occupied, in Up Marden, West Marden [in Up Marden] and Stoughton, in the tenure or occupation of (a) and (b), of the annual value of £260; two messuages or dwellinghouses, and those closes of arable, meadow, pasture and coppice ground (370a.) therewith now demised or occupied called Locksash and Lye Common in Upmarden and Stoughton, in the tenure or occupation of Thomas Rassell at annual rent of £130; three cottages, with the backsides, orchard, and lands, in Stoughton and UpMarden, in the tenure or occupation of (a) and (b) at annual rent of £6

Three closes of arable land (23a.) called the Heath Fields in East Lavant, in the tenure or occupation of John Pinnix the elder at annual rent of £12. 6s. 0d

Messuage or dwellinghouse, with the stable, orchard, garden and tanyard, and the croft of land lying on W. part of the said messuage, in the tithing of Stockbridge in the parish of Saint Peter the Great near the City of Chichester, in the tenure or occupation of Joseph Godman at annual rent of £40

Messuage and garden in the parish of Saint Bartholomew 'in the West Suburbs of the City of Chichester, in the possession or occupation of Thomas Durnford, clerk

III. Messuage and closes of arable land (77a.) therewith now demised or occupied called the Great Juries and Little Juries in Donnington and Hunston, in the tenure or occupation of Henry Fogden the younger at annual rent of £42 (which properties are held by two indentures of lease, 5 Feb. 1777, from the Custos and Poor of St. Mary's Hospital, Chichester to said John Page and his heirs, that of the lands called Great Juries for the lives of (b), George Guy and Richard Rassell, and that of the messuage and lands called Little Juries for the lives of George Marshall, (b) and Richard Rassell, at the annual reserved rent of £5. 19s. 2d.)

Barn and three closes of arable land (20a.) called Tipthorne otherwise Ipthorne Ground, near Stockbridge 'without the South Gate' of Chichester in the parish of Saint Peter the Great otherwise Subdeanery, heretofore in occ. of Thomas Lambert and now in the tenure or occupation of Joseph Randall at annual rent of £20 (which properties are held by lease, 1 Feb. 1759, from Rev. Thomas Hutchinson, prebendary of Ipthorne in Chichester Cathedral to said John Page and his heirs for the lives of (b), Philip Mitchell and John Chaldecott at the annual reserved rent of 40s. 0d.)

IV. Four crofts or closes of land (20a.) called Stockbridge, in the parishes of All Saints, Chichester, Saint Peter the Great otherwise Subdeanery, [Chichester] and Appledram, in the tenures or occupations partly of said Joseph Godman at annual rent of £30, and partly of John Parvin at annual rent of £10, and which properties are held by lease, 2 Jan. 1747/8, from the Principal and Comminalty of the Vicars of the Cathedral to said John Page and w. Ann, both since decd., and their heirs, for the lives of Henry Smart, Francis Dear, gent., and (b), at the annual reserved rent £4. 3s. 4d

'The Farm of the Deanry of Chichester' called 'the Deanry Farm,' built and being in S. side of the place where the 'Deanry Place' stood, in the parish of Saint Bartholomew, [Chichester], formerly in occ. of Edward Cole the elder, afterwards of William Fletcher, gent., and Daniel Duffield, late of Francis Sone, since decd., and others, his assigns, but now of said Joseph Godman, the Hon. Coote Molesworth, esq., Mary Frankland, wid., (c), and others 'more particularly expressed in the Terrar or Survey indorsed on the Indenture of Lease of the said Premises,' i.e. barn called the 'Deanry Barn,' and those closes of arable, meadow and pasture land lying together called the Six Acres, The Thirty Acres, formerly arable now pasture, adjoining to the said Six Acres on W. part, The Barn Field (20a.) adjoining to the said barn, The Old Mead (20a.), The Horse Leaze (12a.), The Little Millfield (12a.), The Great Millfield (14a.), The Thirty Acres Mead, The Stockbridge Field (12a.), The Marshes (30a.), The Long Bridge Field (13a.), The Little Twenty Acres Close, and the Culverhouse Close, [and] also one croft of land lying on W. side of Stockbridge House, containing in length from 'the said messuage' westward 417 feet, and one close of land (1a.), now an orchard, at the annual improved rents, including the tithes for the same as let by said John Page, decd., amounting together to £316. 12s. 0d. (exclusive of such portion of the said 'Deanry Farm,' and tithes of this portion as is the estate of Thomas Sanden, esq., citizen and alderman of Chichester, as mentioned below, and by him let to his own under-tenants), and which properties are held by lease, 14 Oct. 1752, from Rev. William Ashburnham, D.D., then Dean of Chichester, to said John Page and his heirs, for the lives of Harry Burrard, esq., said Thomas Sanden and (b), at the annual reserved rent of £20. 13s. 10d. for the whole of the said 'Deanry Farm.'

Rectory, parsonage or prebend of Saint Bartholomew belonging to the Deanery of Chichester, and the parsonage house and garden, and little close or field of land called the Parsonage Close, and all the tenths and tithes of corn, grain and hay, hemp, flax, and all other predial and personal tithes to the yearly amount of £13. 10s. 0d. 'or near thereabouts' (exclusive of the tithes arising from the said 'Deanry Farm' as let to the tenants thereof, as above); plot of ground (1a.) called the Hop Garden, belonging to the said 'Deanry Farm,' in 'the South Suburbs' of Chichester, having the 'Deanry Farm Lands' on S., plot of ground called the Dean's Orchard on E., the South Walls of Chichester on N., and plot of ground, formerly in occ. of John Scott on W.; toft of ground whereon formerly stood a corn mill called the Dean's Mill, with the usual highway, watercourse, mill pond and dashing pool; piece of ground (4a.) in 'the West Suburbs' of Chichester together with piece of meadow ground (2a.) in 'the Parish of Saint Bartholomew near the said West Suburbs of Chichester' and near to the said toft whereon the mill formerly stood, abutting upon the lands of the said 'Deanry Farm' on E. and S., the mill pond or watercourse on W., and two meadows late in the tenure of Dennis Peele on N.: which properties were heretofore in occ. of William Fletcher, gent., and Daniel Duffield, or one of them, and now or late in occ. of Richard Diggens, at the annual improved rent, 'together with Bowleys Cross,' of £17, including the tithes of such meadows as were let therewith by said John Page; croft of land (2a.) called the Dean's Croft, parcel of the said parsonage and in the parish of St. Bartholomew, in occ. of Rev. Mr. Harward, clerk, M.A., Dean of Chichester, at annual rent of £2. 2s. 0d.: all which rectory, tithes and lands are held by lease, 22 Sept. 1753, from said Dr. Ashburnham, then Dean of Chichester, to said John Page and his heirs, for the lives of said Harry Burrard, Thomas Sanden and (b), at the annual reserved rent of £5. 17s. 2d. 'or near thereabouts.'

But reserving from this present deed, that part of the said 'Deanry Farm', and the tithes of such part, which for several years past have been and now are the estate of said Thomas Sanden and not intended to be devised by said John Page's will, i.e. The Old Mead (20a.), the parcel of meadow (12a.) called the Horse Leaze, The Little Millfield (12a.) and the close of arable land (14a.) called The Great Millfield, together with a way leading into the said lands through the lane called Mill Lane 'without the West Gate of the City of Chichester,' [and] with free liberty and use of all the water which shall come by the Lavant Course upon the said farm for the space of one week in every four in equal turn with the other tenants of the farm, for all the time that the said water shall come upon the farm by the current near the South Gate of Chichester (which property is held by said Thomas Sanden by indenture of underlease from said John Page for the term of 100 years or the lives of said Harry Burrard, Thomas Sanden and (b) at annual rent of £9)

V. Close of leasehold land called the Long Croft in Chichester near the North Wall, in occ. of said John Williams and which is held by lease, 25 Mar. 1778, for 40 years from the Custos and Poor of St. Mary's Hospital to John Page, at the annual reserved rent of 6s. 0d

VI. Close of meadow (¾a.) in the parish of St. Bartholomew, [Chichester], near a place called 'Bowleys Cross,' in occ. of Richard Diggens, and which is held by lease, 20 Jan. 1772, for 20 years from the previous Michaelmas, from the Dean and Chapter to said John Page, at the annual reserved rent of 2s. 0d

Close of arable and coppice ground (27a.), being parcel of lands called Inglers Farm at or near Lye ['Leigh'] Common near Watergate in West Marden in the parish of Up Marden, in the tenure or occupation of (a) and (b) or their assigns, and which were late the estate of John Hipkin, now decd., and by him mortgaged to Henry Budd of Hayling (co. Hants), gent., for a term of 1,000 years for securing the payment of £300 and interest, of which £200 was repaid by John Hipkin in his lifetime to Henry Budd who afterwards assigned the mortgage to said John Page, the freehold whereof was thereupon for certain considerations agreed to be conveyed in exchange by Mary Hipkin, wid. of said John, and William Hipkin, her son, as soon as he should attain the age of 21, to said John Page

Conveyance of the properties in I and II, being freehold, and of the properties in III and IV, being lifehold, and assignment of the properties in V and VI, being leasehold, from (a) and (b) to (c), to hold the properties in I, III and V to the use of (a), and the properties in II, IV and VI to the use of (b), who pays £1,128. 7s. 0d. to (a) for equality of partition

Mutual release between (a) and (b) of the share of the other in the personal estate of John Page, one moiety of which was bequeathed to each of them, and which they have divided between them

Recites : (i) that John Page of Watergate House [in Up Marden], esq., decd., declaring in his Will (dated 29 Sept. 1777), that as the fortunes of both his deceased wives were very nearly equal in value, the whole of his real and personal estates should (subject to some pecuniary bequests) be equally divided between his two daus., (a), the only issue of his first marriage, and (b), the only issue of his second marriage, clear of all demands of portion on the part of (a), particularly the sum of £10,000 payable out of his estates in Donnington or elsewhere by virtue of any articles of agreement on his first marriage, and also clear on the part of (b)

Of all demands or accounts touching the real and personal estates of Francis Sone, esq., decd., father of the testator's late w. Ann under the Will of said Francis Sone, so that the whole of the testator's estate might be enjoyed by his two daus. in severalty and equality, and after declaring that his sister, Ann Page, and his niece, Mary Floyd, might have the liberty of inhabiting his dwelling-house and garden, part of his Friery Estate in Chichester, where they then dwelt, during the life of his said sister, without paying any rent, he devised and bequeathed one moiety of his real and personal estate to (a), and the other moiety to (b), and appointed (a) and (b) as joint executrices, who proved the Will; (ii) that (a) and (b) being desirous to hold the testator's freehold and leasehold properties in severalty, according to the intention of the Will, have caused an impartial valuation to be made, and have agreed to make partition as above, (b) having agreed to pay to (a) £1,128. 7s. 0d. for equality of partition

Signatures and seals of all parties

Witnesses - James Piggott of Crowshole [in Binderton]; Thomas Gawne, attorney, clerk to Mr. Milton

For other documents relating to the Donnington estate and to some other properties mentioned in this deed, see Harris MSS