Catalogue description Trustees of the will of Col John By of Shernfold in Frant

Table of contents

Introduction

Appendix The Shernfold estate - titles and acquisitions

AMS6417/1/1-7 Recovery of a fifth share of the residuary estate of his former father-in-law Captain Cuthbert Baines of Penzance (d1810); 1832-1833

AMS6417/1/8 Marriage with Esther March, 1818

AMS6417/1/9-25 Will, probate and executorship of John By, 1834-1838

AMS6417/1/26-52 Death of Esther By, marriage of Esther March By and Percy Ashburnham and By v Barker in chancery, Mar - Aug 1838

AMS6417/1/53-75 By v Barker in chancery - valuation of chattels, dividends dispute, advance of £2500, maintenance of Harriet Martha By and Rideau Canal claim, Sep 1838 - Mar 1840

AMS6417/1/76-111 Ashburnham v By in chancery revived on the death of George By, revised power of attorney to John Burrows, maintenance of Harriet By, transfer of funds to her credit, her death in Oct 1842 and the closing of the accounts of John By's executors, Mar 1840 - Nov 1842

AMS6417/1/112-127 Ashburnham v By in chancery revived on the death of Harriet Martha By, proposed determination of the suits, dispute concerning assets remaining in the hands of the trustees and proposed release by the beneficiaries to the trustees, Jan 1843 - Aug 1844

AMS6417/1/128-145 Residual involvement of Brundrett & Co with the estate, 1846-1866

Introduction

Brundretts acted for the executors of John By, whose country solicitors had been John Stone and Son of Tunbridge Wells. These papers relate largely to the various chancery actions by which the estate was administered after John By's death in 1836

John By, lieutenant-colonel in the Royal Engineers, founder of Bytown (now Ottawa), Canada, and engineer of the Rideau Canal, was baptised at St Mary Lambeth on 10 August 1779, the second surviving son of George By and his wife Mary, née Bryan

George By and his three brothers all lived in Archbishop's Walk, Lambeth, and all held positions at the Customs House. George's eldest son George By, Col By's brother, succeeded his father as chief searcher, which position he held until his death in 1840

After passing through the Royal Military Academy at Woolwich, John By was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the royal artillery on 1 August 1799, and was transferred to the royal engineers on 20 December. He was commissioned as a lieutenant on 18 April 1801 and in the same year married Elizabeth Johnson Baines, daughter of Cuthbert Baines of Penzance; there were no children of the marriage, and she died at Cheshunt on 16 December 1814

After service at Woolwich and Plymouth By went in August 1802 to Canada, where he was involved in repairs to the Cascades bateaux canal on the St Lawrence and superintended the construction of four Martello towers for the defence of Quebec. He was sent to Portugal in January 1811 and took part in the first seige of Badajos in May and June, but returned home on sick-leave in the summer. In January 1812 he took charge of rebuilding the gunpowder works at Waltham Abbey, which had been destroyed in the previous December, and later also became engineer-in-charge of the works at Enfield, Faversham and Purfleet

On 14 March 1818 By married Esther, daughter of John March of Harley Street and granddaughter of John Raymond Barker of Fairford Park, Gloucestershire; their first child, Esther March By, was baptised at 12 Great Cumberland Place on 18 February 1819. He remained in charge of the gunpowder works until August 1821 when, owing to establishment reductions, he was retired on half pay

In January of the previous year By had purchased Shernfold Park in Frant from James Cranbourne Strode; the house had been built in 1790 by Charles Pigou, a gunpowder manufacturer, which may explain By's interest in the estate. The second child of the marriage, Harriet Martha By, was baptised at Frant on 7 April 1821

In April 1826 By went again to Canada, having been selected to design and construct a military canal between the Ottawa River and Lake Ontario, safe from attack by the Americans. The town which grew up around his headquarters, originally named Bytown, was renamed Ottawa after the union of Upper and Lower Canada

The story of this prodigious feat of engineering, of the parliamentary censure of By, his recall in October 1832 and the subsequent committee of enquiry are told in Building the Rideau Canal: A Pictorial History (Robert W Passfield, Parks Canada, 1982), which contains reproductions of several drawings by John Burrows, By's clerk of works on the Rideau project and his agent after his return to England. For biographical details of Burrows, see The Builders of the Rideau Canal, 1826-32 (Parks Canada Manuscript Report 185, 1976)

By's family joined him in Canada and it is said that their health was severely damaged by the climate; certainly his widow and two daughters all died prematurely

Brundretts drafted a will for John By, which he executed on 21 February 1834. By was at that stage in the course of building up the Shernfold Park estate, and continued to buy houses and land up to the date of his death, when a contract for the purchase of the former Frant workhouse was pending

John Stone the elder, a solicitor in Tunbridge Wells, wrote to Brundretts on 29 January 1836 to say that By had suffered 'a serious attack' and that his doctor had forbidden the discussion of business. Stone asserted that he wished to have a new will drawn; but By died three days later and the will of 1834 was proved in PCC on 11 March 1836

The will bequeathed the estate to his wife and daughters for their lives, with remainders to the children of the daughters at 21; if they died under 21, it was to vest in his brothers for their lives with remainder to their children. There was an ultimate reversion to his right heirs

There then began a series of events which resulted in the division of the Shernfold estate and the vesting of the outlying properties in By's cousin, Charles William By, in 1862. It is those events which are chronicled by these papers until 1846, when the trustees withdrew their business from Brundretts

On John By's death, the Shernfold Park estate was subject to four different tenures

Shernfold itself had been purchased with the funds of John By's marriage settlement, and was subject to a power of appointment by the survivor, which was exercised by Mrs By in her will: she devised Shernfold to her daughter, Esther March By, absolutely

The properties which had been added to the estate before John By made his will in 1834, became subject to its trusts

The property in Wadhurst and Ticehurst which By purchased between 1834 and his death in 1836 descended according to the rules of intestate succession to his two daughters in equal shares, as did the former workhouse and land on Frant Green, the sale of which had been completed by Mrs By after her husband's death

John By's widow Esther died at the age of 40 in February 1838 and was buried at Frant; both daughters became wards in chancery. On 23 August 1838, after the settlement had been approved by the chancery master, Esther March By married Percy Ashburnham (1799-1881), the second son of the third earl, at Frant. The settlement consisted of Shernfold Park, the moiety of the post-1834 purchases in possession and the moiety of the pre-1834 purchases in reversion to the children of the marriage at 21. Esther Ashburnham's sister Harriet Martha By died unmarried and was buried at Frant on 13 October 1842, thus merging her moieties with those of her sister

The couple's first daughter, Esther Harriet, was baptised at Frant on 13 February 1844 but died in October 1845; their second daughter, Mary Katherine, was baptised there on 25 November 1847. She survived her mother, who died on 7 February 1848. As a result of Ashburnham v Ashburnham in chancery, at least the Hammerden copyhold land and probably all the property which vested in Mary Katherine as heir to her mother, was transferred to the trustees of Percy Ashburnham's marriage settlement (see AMS1126). Mary Katherine Ashburnham was herself buried, aged 3, on 4 July 1851, and the trustees vested the property in her father absolutely on 27 July 1853 (see ASH 1128). From that date, Ashburnham became absolute owner of all but the property which was subject to the trusts of his father-in-law's will

John By's elder brother George By had died a bachelor in March 1840. Henry, the younger brother, had married Frances Turner at Lambeth on 18 December 1813, but both their sons predeceased their father. Henry By, a stockbroker, died at Selsfield Lodge in West Hoathly in 1852; his widow died there ten years later

In March 1855 a chancery action was entered to establish the identity of John By's right heir. The chief clerk's report of 8 May 1855, naming John By's first cousin Charles William By as the heir, was approved by the master of the rolls on 9 May 1856

William Roper, the surviving trustee of By's will, died on 3 October 1856. Henry By's widow, who enjoyed a life estate, died in November 1862 and Roper's son John William Roper transferred his interest to the trustees of the settlement on 9 January 1863

The estates subject to the trusts of John By's will, consisting of three farms, cottages, shops and 385 acres of land, were auctioned in 9 lots on 21 May 1863. Lot 8 was bought by Lord Abergavenny; for a copy of the printed particulars, see ABE 14F. At the date of the conveyance, Charles William By was of 4 Laurie Terrace, St Georges Road, Surrey

Brundretts' involvement with the estate ceased in 1846, when the trustees wrote to the firm requesting that the deeds of the estate be sent to Messrs Stone & Wall of Tunbridge Wells in connection with land to be conveyed to the South Eastern Railway, and with a plot of land for Frant burial ground. Brundretts wrote to Henry By to ask whether the firm was still to represent the trustees, and received a denial, suggesting that they had acted at the request of Mr and Mrs Ashburnham. By's letter goes on: 'from the commencement of our executorship, Mr Roper, from being on the spot, and having more knowledge of such affairs, has always had the management of the landed property, and from the unpleasant feeling which has existed on the part of Mrs Ashburnham, ever since her father's death, I have from delicacy abstained from interfering as much as possible.'

Brundretts requested confirmation from Frere, Forster that the deeds might be released, and took the opportunity to press them over the release (upon which the release of the deeds was conditional), 'which you have had before you for perusal for some years. .. this appears to be an appropriate time to conclude all transactions connected with the estate as far as we are concerned (for we presume we shall have nothing more to do with it).'

Apart from the release, which was finally executed on 1 August 1848, all the firm's subsequent business in connection with the estate involved requests for copies of deeds

The papers are those of the firm rather than of the By family; there is scarcely any information about John By's interests in Canada, and none concerning the building of the Rideau Canal. Equally, apart from those transactions which were active at the time of By's death, there is no information about his life in Frant between 1820 and his death

The papers do, however, confirm the error of the suggestion that By's origins were humble and that his immediate family were Thames watermen. It is clear that the family had, for at least two generations, held senior positions in the London Customs House, and that By's two marriages - in 1808 and 1818 - consolidated rather than created his financial and social position

The papers have been arranged in eight sections, each with its own introduction. An appendix, illustrated with maps, recites the titles of the component parts of the estate, drawing information from abstracts and lists of deeds among these papers, sales particulars and deeds in the Abergavenny archive and deeds in other archive groups at ESRO

I am grateful to Mark Andrews of Ottawa for his help in the preparation of this introduction and for the gift of the two Parks Canada publications. CHCW

Trustees of Col John By of Shernfold in Frant - appendix - title to the Shernfold Estate

The archive contains several schedules of deeds (AMS6417/1/119, 121-123, 128 and AMS6417/129) which, coupled with the descriptions incorporated in the settlement of 1838 (AMS6417/1/49) and deeds and abstracts of title among the Abergavenny archive (ABE 14A, 14B) dating from the sale of the Shernfold Estate in 1863, enable the reconstruction of the title to Shernfold itself and several of the farms which John By purchased

Those titles are recited here in narrative form in the order of their acquisition by the estate. They are preceded by a series of maps (based on those in ABE 14) locating many of the properties, arranged according to the lotting in the 1863. That sale did not wholly preserve the boundaries of the farms as they were originally acquired by the estate

Two parcels, forming lots 5 and 8 in the sale of 1863, are not represented by documents of title. They are also plotted on the maps overleaf

The maps also show the Shernfold estate as held by Percy Ashburnham at the time of the tithe surveys, and the additional land in Wadhurst, Frant and Ticehurst then held by John By's trustees but subsequently sold. Stone House, Frant, was sold to Percy Ashburnham in 1851 (SAS/BR 112) and land in Wadhurst had been sold to him before 1863. For particulars of sale of the Shernfold estate, 1922 and 1923, see SAS/BR 134, 135

Schedule of acquisitions by John By, 1818-1836

House in Aldersgate Street, London, acquired on marriage in 1818

Shernfold in Frant, purchased in 1820

Masting Gate in Frant, purchased in 1820, lot 6 in the sale of 1863

Freehold and copyhold land in Frant, purchased in 1820, lot 9 in the sale of 1863

Church Fields in Frant, purchased in 1821, lot 4 in the sale of 1863

House and land at Frant Green, purchased in 1824, lot 7 in the sale of 1863

Watergates Farm in Wadhurst, purchased in 1833, part of lots 1 and 2 in the sale of 1863

Dewhurst and Fair Crouch Farms in Wadhurst, purchased in 1834, part of lots 1 and 2 in the sale of 1863

Swatlands, Bakers, Rock Robins and land in Wadhurst, purchased in 1834, lot 3 and part of lot 1 in the sale of 1863

Little Fair Crouch Farm in Wadhurst and copyhold in Ticehurst, purchased in 1836

House in Aldersgate Street, London, acquired on marriage with Esther March in 1818

On 22 Oct 1686 Charles Spicer mortgaged the property for £400 to Richard Darnelly, who on 23 Aug 1692 assigned to Maurice Key, who assigned to William Savage on 28 Apr 1693. Savage's will was proved by his widow Margaret on 1 Feb 1708. She was dead by 1712, when her executrix (her daughter Margaret, wife of John Elderton), having foreclosed on John Russell, the mortgagor's assignee in bankruptcy, assigned the property to Henry Fisher on 16 Apr 1712

Henry Fisher gave the property in his will to Nicholas Godwin, who left it to Elizabeth Pullinger. The term was finally vested in Matthew Nash by Philip Smith (devisee of Samuel Sutton, Elizabeth Fisher's executor) and Elizabeth Pullinger by an assignment of 1 May 1759; on 16 May 1759 Elizabeth Pullinger made an affidavit concerning the property. Matthew Nash left the property to his wife Frances; his will was proved on 4 March 1766. Mrs Nash, whose will was proved on 10 Mar 1775, left the house to John March of Tower Hill, the nephew of her brother John March. John March died in 1798 leaving John March as his only child; he died in 1804 and the property passed to his daughter Martha March, on whose death in 1817 it descended to her sister Esther March, who married John By in 1818

On 31 January 1825 John By leased the house to J D Richardson and on 4 April 1835 to Edward Godson

Shernfold in Frant, purchased from James Cranbourne Strode in 1820

On 7 and 8 January 1820 James Cranbourne Strode of Henrietta Street, Cavendish Square, esq, acting under a power of appointment in a release of 5 March 1814, sold Shernfold for £7627 16s to trustees acting on behalf of John By (Oliver Cromwell of Cheshunt Park, Herts, esq, Charles Raymond Barker, James Gibson of Great St Helens, Bishopsgate Street, London, esq and George By of Archbishops Walk, Lambeth, esq). Of the purchase-price, £10,000 was paid to Justinian Casamajor, presumably a mortgagee. The estate was described as

1 Capital and other messuages, park and farmland described (inter alia) in a conveyance of 4 and 5 Mar 1814

2 Coppice called The Upper Wood (4a 0r 18p), all as in 1814

3 Orchard (former arable) called the Platt (½a) in Frant, occupied by JCS, before Sarah King, before Stephen Crundwell and George King, before Mr Payne, before Charles Carpenter (N: formerly Joseph Bine, to be conveyed; E: formerly Edward Budgen, to be conveyed; S,W: Frant - Wadhurst - Mayfield road)

4 Copyhold of manor of Fothergill (1a), late Budgen, before Hammins, rent 4d, to which JCS was admitted on 16 Jun 1817

5 Another copyhold (1a), merged with the last, now consisting of 1a within Shernfold Park, to which (described as a messuage or cottage and 1a called Carpenters Croft, late Bine, formerly Wilkins, rent 4d) JCS was admitted on 16 Jun 1817

Messuage and land called Masting Gate in Frant, purchased by John By from John James in 1820

The property, described as the SE part of a messuage with land, was conveyed by Oliver Knight of Maresfield, husbandman, and his wife Jane (widow of Robert Gyles of Speldhurst, yeoman) to Stephen Beale of Frant, carpenter, on 28 April 1715. John Skinner conveyed the remainder to Beale on 1 July 1715. On 13 April 1736 Mary Beale of Frant, widow, and her children mortgaged the property to William Jeffery of Speldhurst, yeoman, who assigned it to Michael Taylor of Frant, carpenter, on 2 January 1744. Mary and John Beale conveyed to Michael Taylor absolutely on 10 and 11 February 1744, and on 16 August 1744 William Taylor conveyed to William Jeffery. On 3 and 4 April 1758 William Jeffery conveyed to William Moon of Green Hedges in Rotherfield, yeoman, under whose will of 8 November 1762, [proved on 10 December 1770 - W/A61.117 - it passed to his kinsman William Wickens the younger of Rotherfield]. On 1 January 1784 William Wickens, then of Tonbridge, butcher, mortgaged the estate to William Wells of Tonbridge, gent, who assigned to Sarah Burtenshaw on 24 July. The mortgage was discharged on 25 January 1786 and Wickens conveyed to Joseph Burgess on 20 and 21 April 1786. The property was settled by John James of Morton in Brading, Isle of Wight, and his wife Maria (the only daughter of Joseph Burgess) on 5 January 1809 and sold by them to John By for £300 on 14 and 15 February 1820

Parts of the waste of the manor of Frant adjoining the house were granted to John By on 17 May 1821

For the original of these deeds, see SAS/BR 91-124, 256, 257 upon which the above descent is based

Freehold and copyhold in Frant, purchased by John By from John Taylor and William Wicker in 1820

On 4 September 1804 Charles E Pigeon covenanted to produce deeds to Sarah King. On 18 and 19 April 1815 Sarah King sold to William Wicker, who mortgaged the property to James Powell, raising a further charge on 29 September 1817. On 12 and 13 June 1820 Wicker sold the property to John By, who leased it back to him. On 16 April 1820 John By was admitted to a copyhold estate on the surrender of John Taylor

Church Fields in Frant, purchased by John By from Francis Dollman in 1821

This descent is based on the deeds of Great Church Field in Frant, purchased by Lord Abergavenny from Francis Dollman on 21 and 22 May 1821 and covenanted to be produced to John By; see ABE 14B. For copies of court roll of the manor of Frant relating to a tenement called Apses, purchased by Lord Abergavenny from the assignee of George Fullagar on 17 May 1821, the title of which follows that of Church Fields, see ABE 14A

Richard Taylor the elder of Speldhurst in Kent, gent, his wife Sarah and son Richard Taylor settled two messuages and land at Frant, including Church Fields, on 9 and 10 June 1701; the trustee was John Dyke of Frant, esq. Thomas Taylor mortgaged property to Edmund Baker on 14 October 1704; on 28 September 1725 Richard Taylor the elder and others mortgaged property to John Crundwell of Ashurst, yeoman, who, with Taylor's daughter Sarah, wife of John Jeffrey of Tonbridge, hollow-turner, assigned to Thomas Scoones the younger of Tonbridge, gent, on 16 May 1747; this transaction was confirmed by fine. The mortgage was assigned, with the authority of Mr and Mrs Jeffery, to Mary Davis on 24 June 1754, and a release executed by Richard Jeffery of Tonbridge, mercer and country shopkeeper and his sister Sarah Jeffrey to their father John Jeffery on 1 May 1756. On 14 and 15 March 1758 John Jeffery conveyed the estate to Thomas Taylor of Frant, butcher, and the following day Mary Davis assigned the mortgage to John Slater in trust for him

On 28 and 29 September 1786 Taylor mortgaged the property to James Norris of Tonbridge, gent. The property passed by Thomas Taylor's will of 7 April 1787, proved in PCC in January 1789, to trustees for sale, who on 19 and 20 Oct 1792 sold it to the occupier, George Fullagar of Frant, innholder. On 22 and 23 October 1792 Fullagar mortgaged it to Thomas Dollman of St James Street, Westminster, gent. On 27 December 1793 Elizabeth Taylor released her dower in Apses (otherwise The Bull) and the rest of the estate to Fullager, who conveyed the property to the mortgagee Thomas Dollman on 24 and 25 March 1805, apparently subject to the equity of redemption; Fullager again conveyed to Dollman on 27 and 28 September 1807, and a deed of covenant between the same parties was executed on 1 September 1808. Francis Dollman granted a lease to William Keates on 20 September 1810. On 21 and 22 May 1821 Dollman conveyed houses and 15a 0r 13p to John By, to whom the Earl of Abergavenny (who had purchased The Great Church Field of 19a 3r 7p) executed a deed of covenant for the production of deeds the same day

Land at Frant, part copyhold, purchased by John By from Thomas Nuttall in 1824

The property was conveyed by Edward Austen to Thomas Nuttall on 7 and 8 November 1817. On 31 December 1821 Nuttall made an agreement with John By, the details of which are not revealed in the schedule. Nuttall purchased further property from George Fullager on 9 and 10 September 1822, on which latter date Lord Camden covenanted with Nuttall [?for the production of deeds]. Thomas Nuttall conveyed the estate to John By on 22 and 23 July 1824, and covenanted with him [?for the production of deeds] the following day. George King confirmed By's title by deeds of 18 and 19 August 1824 and further property was conveyed to him by Henry Heyman esq on 18 and 19 February 1825. The bundle also contained an undated copy of court roll by which Thomas Nuttall was admitted, [perhaps to a part of Frant Green upon which he had lately built a house, to which Thomas Nuttall of Frant, stonemason, was admitted at a court held for the manor of Frant on 15 September 1823, and to which John By was admitted on Nuttall's surrender on 12 August 1824. The Frant manor court book also records that part of the estate of George Fullager, a bankrupt, passed to John By - ACC 1244]

For reference to a stone house at Frant Green purchased from Nuttall, see AMS6417/1/11, 127. The property is probably that conveyed by John By's trustees to Percy Ashburnham on 8 August 1851 - see SAS/BR 116

Watergates Farm in Wadhurst, purchased by John By from Benjamin Tompsett in 1833

The bundle contained a release by Ann Baker to Audery Plumer of 28 May 1660 and a settlement by John Brattle on Simon Coe and Thomas Russell of 27 March 1674 which cannot be related to the title

On 20 March 1662 Nicholas Fowle mortgaged the property to John Fowle, who assigned the term in trust to John Barham Fowle, Thomas Jenkin and Nicholas Puxty on 27 August 1711. John Barham Fowle conveyed to Nicholas Fowle on 13 Sep 1727, and Nicholas mortgaged to Thomas Wood on 20 September 1738. Nicholas Fowle mortgaged the property on 29 September 1739 to James Tompsett, to whom he released the equity of redemption on 26 March 1741. By his will of 12 November 1762 Tompsett, [describing himself as of Scrag Oak in Wadhurst, gentleman, left Watergates, occupied by Henry Rogers, to his son Samuel Tompsett at 21; the will was proved on 23 December 1766 - W/D8.370]. Samuel Tompsett made his will on 23 June 1820 and was buried on 14 March 1821. An affidavit identifying the land was made by Samuel Tompsett on 13 November 1833 and the property conveyed by Benjamin Tompsett and Josias Bonnick to John By on 23 and 24 December 1833. The bundle also contained two maps of the farm

Dewhurst and Fair Crouch Farms in Wadhurst, purchased by John By from the Rev Edward Raynes in 1834

The estate was sold by John Williams, kt, to Thomas Porter the younger on 16 and 17 July 1717. Thomas Porter was buried on 24 February 1725, and the sale was confirmed by fine on 9 December 1729. The estate was settled by the Rev Thomas Porter on 24 July 1786 and bequeathed by him to his daughters Harriet (who had married the Rev Edward Raynes on 14 October 1783) and Thomasin (who had married the Rev Thomas Plumley on 16 May 1790) on 6 June 1794. Thomasin Porter died [?without heirs] and was buried on 25 January 1811. Raynes mortgaged the farms to Burtenshaw and Martin on 29 September 1820, and on 1 July 1824 to John Hoper. Their son Edward Raynes (baptised 27 April 1785) conveyed the farms to John By on 27 and 28 February 1834. On 4 and 5 February 1835 Lord Camden conveyed unspecified land to John By. Also in the bundle were copy certificates relating to the Porter and Plumley families, affidavits of Nicholas Fowle of 22 June 1822 and of Ann Creasy of 26 February 1834, a land tax redemption certificate of 26 June 1824 and a plan of Three Oaks Farm in Wadhurst

Swatlands, Bakers, Rock Robins Hill and Two Acres in Wadhurst, purchased by John By from John Fowle in 1834

Copyhold at Rock Robins Hill, purchased by Nicholas Fowle in 1736

By his will of 20 November 1720, Elias Longley [of Wadhurst, yeoman, left a messuage, barn and land at Rock Robins Hill, lately purchased of Mary Wood, widow, to his wife Alice; the will also names his nephew Elias Longley, and was proved on 6 July 1732 - W/D6.156]. Nicholas Fowle the younger was admitted on the surrender of Elias Longley on 25 October 1736. On 28 October 1826 Nicholas Fowle gave a power of attorney to Adam Jacob to be admitted on his behalf

The Two Acres, purchased by Nicholas Fowle in 1799

The property passed to John Taylor under the will of Thomas Taylor of 7 April 1787. On 27 and 28 June 1794 John Taylor and others conveyed it to John Rowland, who conveyed to Nicholas Fowle on 24 and 25 September 1799. Fowle mortgaged The Two Acres to John Noakes on 23 June 1806, and raised the charge to £400 by an assignment to Thomas Blundell on 19 February 1812. Fowle again mortgaged the property to James Powell on 15 December 1818, and the Blundell mortgaged was assigned with a further charge to John Salter on 11 December 1823

Messuage, barn and 4a called Bakers, purchased by Nicholas Fowle in April 1805

[Described in the will of John Beale in 1776 as a messuage, barn and 4a near Faircrouch Green in Wadhurst - W/D9.239]

By his will of 19 May 1740, Robert Beale [of Wadhurst, husbandman] left the property to John Beale; [the will was proved on 4 May 1757 - W/D8.26]. John Beale mortgaged it to Joseph Keene on 9 February 1774. Beale's will of 20 May 1776, [leaving the property to his wife Ann Beale absolutely, was proved on 20 April 1778 - W/D9.239]; on 9 February 1779 Ann Beale made a further charge to Joseph Keene, and sold the farm to John Mitchell on 4 and 5 November 1784. Mitchell conveyed on 9 and 10 October 1799 to Nicholas Waters, who conveyed to Edward Fisher on 22 and 23 March 1802. On 29 and 30 April 1805 Fisher conveyed Bakers to Nicholas Fowle the younger

Swatlands otherwise Clarkes, purchased by Nicholas Fowle in December 1805

John Clarke and others conveyed to Thomas Clarke on 8 and 9 January 1714. Thomas Clarke mortgaged the property to William Skinner for £200 on 1 March 1748, and on 28 April 1750 Elizabeth Clarke surrendered her life interest to Richard Clarke, in whom the estate was vested by a deed of 1 May 1750. Richard Clarke agreed to sell Swatlands to Richard Tapsell on 6 May 1751 and the property was conveyed by Clarke and his wife to [Tapsell's fellow ironmaster] John Legas on 5 and 6 June 1751. By his will of 15 August 1751 [proved in PCC in 1752] Legas left the property to his son John Legas. John Legas's will of 22 February 1803 [proved in PCC on 21 February 1805] left the property to his sisters, who [as Sarah Burnet of Sherborne in Dorset, widow, Catherine and Elizabeth Legas of Sherborne, spinsters and Frances Fooks of Wadhurst, widow - SAS/COA 500] conveyed the farm on 5 and 6 January 1805 to Mary Malin, who conveyed it to Nicholas Fowle the younger on 23 and 24 December 1805

The whole estate

On 27 and 28 October 1826 Nicholas Fowle conveyed the whole estate to John Fowle, who conveyed to John By on 4 March 1834

Little Fair Crouch Farm in Wadhurst and Hammerden copyhold tenements in Ticehurst, purchased by John By from the heirs of James Rogers in Jan 1836

79a 1r 36p, purchased by James Rogers in 1799

The property was conveyed by Groves Wheeler, his wife Mary and others to Hamilton Green on 5 April 1775, bequeathed by Green in his will of 27 January 1795 and sold by John Lane Green and his wife Cecilia to James Rogers for £600 (borrowed on mortgage from the vendor) on 9 and 10 October 1799; the mortgage was discharged on 25 December 1806. Rogers mortgaged the property to James Gardiner Jeffery on 25 June 1810, and the mortgage was assigned to William Eversfield and John Hoper on 13 October 1812. John Hoper assigned the mortgage to Mary Ann Gordon on 16 August 1831, and a certificate of the burial of William Eversfield was obtained on 25 Nov 1835

46a 3r and 18a 2r 18p, part of the Three Oak Farm, purchased by James Rogers in 1804 and 1809

Thomas Reed, Edward Fisher and William Fisher sold the 46a 3r to James Rogers and his trustee William Lambert on 18 and 19 June 1804, and the 18a 2r 18p to him on 27 and 28 December 1809. The second purchase was mortgaged to William Selman (possibly the executor of Limbro Selman, whose will of 27 August 1807 was in the bundle) and Thomas Reed for £300 on 25 June 1810, and the first to William Baker on 13 and 14 April 1813. On 7 March 1821 the first mortgage was transferred to Thomas Reed alone, and the second mortgage assigned to Katherine Rosam by William Baker's heirs (his will of 12 November 1822 was in the bundle) on 13 and 14 October 1831

Cottage and 3a called Deadmans Hill, purchased by James Rogers in 1807

The property was conveyed by Thomas Winder to John Winder on 16 and 17 April 1747. By his will of 12 April 1784 [W/D9.440], John Winder bequeathed it to his grandson John Pilbeam, who mortgaged it to Elizabeth Cole, widow, on 3 January 1786, with a further charge on 3 January 1801. Elizabeth Cole's will of 25 March 1802 was in the bundle. Pilbeam and his wife Mary sold the cottage to James Rogers on 5 and 6 June 1807, and Rogers mortgaged it to Walter Sprott on 25 April 1823

Hammerden copyhold called Walled Crouch and Walled Crouch Land, purchased by James Rogers in 1810

Joseph Newington suffered a recovery of a copyhold messuage, barn and 44a called Wallcrouch in Ticehurst and Benjamin Newington was admitted to it on 24 June 1790. Benjamin Newington was admitted to a bond messuage, barn, buildings, garden and 20a, and a copyhold tenement (20a) called Wallcrouch Land in Ticehurst on the surrender of John Noakes on 5 October 1792; John Newington was admitted to the whole estate on 14 January 1794. On 15 November 1796 Joseph Newington was admitted under John Newington's will of 22 January 1794, and on 25 June 1810 surrendered the property to James Rogers, who mortgaged it at the same court to Thomas Standen for £750. Rogers mortgaged the property to James Philcox on 1 May 1817 and again on 9 December 1820. On 3 December 1831 James Rogers charged the estate with the payment of his lawyers' bill

For a map of the estate by T[homas] W[eller] in 1805, see ACC 2232; for the deeds, 1790-1883, see AMS1105-1129

Hammerden copyhold cottage and garden, purchased from the parish officers of Ticehurst in 1835

On 5 November 1835 William Farley made a statutory declaration concerning the length of his tenancy and attorned tenant; on the same day part of the land was sold for £70 by the devisees of James Rogers to the churchwardens and overseers of Ticehurst

For the declaration and an abstract of title, see AMS1118-1121

The whole estate

Lucy Rogers of Wadhurst, widow, Henry Rogers and their mortgagees conveyed the estate to John By and his trustee William Stone for £3980 on 23 and 25 January 1836, of which the following sums were paid to mortgagees: £833 6s 8d to Mary Ann Gordon for the land bought in 1799, £572 8s 6d to Katherine Rosam for the land bought in 1804, £321 5s to Thomas Reed for the land bought in 1809, £107 7 to Walter Sprott for the cottage bought in 1807 and £1381 11 10 to James Philcox for the copyhold property, leaving a balance of £764 1s to be paid to Lucy Rogers and Henry Rogers. On 24 March 1836 John By's daughters Esther March By and Harriet Mary By were admitted to the copyhold portion of the estate

For the deeds of the estate, 1790-1883, see AMS1105-1129

1863 sale

Lot

1 Dewlands, Swatlands (with 3) and part of Watergates; purchased from Edward Raynes, 28 Feb 1834

2 Faircrouch and part of Watergates; purchased from Thompsett and Bonnick, 24 Dec 1833

3 Land (4a 0r 15p) at Rock Robins Hill; purchased from Fowle and Salter, 4 3 1834

4 The Priory, cottages and land (14a 1r 12p); purchased from Dollman, 22 May 1821

5 Frant copyhold (1a 0r 31p); purchased 17 Apr 1820, 17 May 1821

6 House, shop and land (1a 0r 35p); freehold purchased from James, 15 Feb 1820, copyhold 17 May 1821

7 2 cottages and land (7a 0r 6p); freehold purchased from Heyman, 19 Feb 1821, copyhold 27 Feb 1825

8 Land (4a 0r 4p) purchased from Budgen; freehold 22 Oct 1819, copyhold 7 Aug 1820

9 Cottage and land (3a 1r 12p) freehold purchased from Wicker, 13 Jun 1820