A HISTORY OF SURREY 



John Wood, sen., and Elizabeth his wife settled their 

 third of the manor on the heirs of Elizabeth." In 

 1484. Sir John Wood, knighted in I483, 4>a died seised 

 of a third of the manor in right of his wife, but 

 leaving no direct heirs. His sister-in-law, Joan widow 

 of William Druell, therefore inherited this portion of 

 the estate," which she held together with her own 

 share till her death in 1495. Upon this John Druell, 

 son of her son William, without livery from the king, 

 entered and intruded on the property as her ' cousin ' 

 and heir. He was not ejected, but only survived his 

 grandmother by a few months, and was succeeded by 

 his brother Richard Druell, aged fourteen. This 

 part of the manor is described as containing the site 

 or house called ' le Manor Place,' 200 acres of 

 land, 10 acres of meadow, 100 acres of pasture, 

 a water mill, a free fishery in the Thames, lo/. 

 rent due at Easter and Michaelmas yearly from divers 

 free tenants, view of frankpledge, and court baron. 

 It was valued at 4 clear yearly, and was held of the 

 king in chief by one-fortieth of a knight's fee. 44 In 

 1511 Richard Druell and Grace his wife conveyed 

 one-third of the manor, probably this same part 

 subsequently known as the manor of MOLESET 

 MATHAM or EAST MOLESET, to William Frost 

 and others ** in trust for Richard Fox, Bishop of 

 Winchester, founder of Corpus Christ! College, 

 Oxford, who settled it on that foundation as part 

 of its endowment by deed dated 17 December 

 I5l8. 46 Henry VIII, wishing to annex this manor 

 to the Chase of Hampton Court, exchanged for it 

 with the college the manor of West Henreth or 

 Hendred, co. Berks., with certain church pro- 

 perty in cos. Berks, and Oxford ; and the college 

 conveyed the estate to the king by indenture dated 

 4 March 1536. The transaction was ratified by an 

 Act of Parliament. 47 From this date the manor 

 remained vested in the Crown. 



James I in 1624 granted to William Holt and 

 others for thirty-one years a wood called Hurst Cop- 

 pice, parcel of the manor of Molesey Matham ; 48 and 

 by letters patent dated a few months later granted the 



manor of Molesey Matham with a water-mill to John 

 Littcott for a similar period. 49 In 1633 Sir John 

 Littcott purchased 50 for 862 14*. SJ. the fee-simple 

 of the manor of Ralph Freeman, alderman of 

 London. To him, or rather to Basil Nicoll and 

 others in trust for him, it had been granted in 

 the previous year by Charles I by the description of 

 the manor of Molesey Matham, a water-mill there, 

 Hurst Coppice, &c., valued at 34 121. \od. 

 per annum, to be held as of the manor of East 

 Greenwich in socage. 51 In 1641 Sir John conveyed 

 the manor and lands to trustees, to the use of 

 himself for life, and after his decease to be sold 

 for the benefit of his wife and family." In April 

 1646 the trustees, the widow, and the eldest son 

 of Sir John joined in a sale of the estate, with 

 the rectory of East Molesey, for 4,000 to Henry 

 Pickering of London ; M who on 30 March following 

 sold it for 4,050 to James Clarke. 64 



Mary " daughter and sole heiress of James Clarke 

 conveyed the estate by marriage to Sir James Clarke, 

 kt., of a different family from her own, by whom she 

 had a son, James Clarke, who died in 1758. He 

 married Ann, only daughter of Christopher Clarke, 

 and Lydia Henrietta, their . only daughter and 

 keiress, became the wife of the Reverend Sir George 

 Molesworth. In 1765 'the manor of Molesey 

 Matham or East Molesey ' with the rectory of East 

 Molesey appears to have been held by Joseph Clarke 

 and Frances his wife. 66 In 1816 Beaumont Lord 

 Hotham held a moiety of the manor. 67 The other 

 moiety belonged in 1 809 to Sir Thomas Sutton, 

 bart., by whose father it had been purchased. 58 Lucy 

 co-heiress of Sir Thomas Sutton married General Sir 

 G. H. F. Berkeley. Captain Hotham and the Earl 

 of Berkeley are now lords of the manor. 



The other third of the manor (after the divisioiXj^V 

 1455) was held by William Sydney at his deathyh 

 I4<!>2. 59 It was inherited by his two daughters, 

 Elizabeth and Anne, between whom his share was 

 divided. 60 Elizabeth, who was only six at the time 

 of her father's death, subsequently married John 



4 "Feet of F. Surr. Hil. 3 Edw. IV, no. 



54- 



4 *> He ii evidently the John Wood, the 

 Speaker of The House of Commons, 

 knighted after Parliament was ended, 18 

 Feb. 1482-3 ; Shaw, Knights of England, 

 ii, 21. 



48 Chan.Inq. p.m. Surr. 2 Ric. Ill, no. 1 9. 



"Ibid. (Ser. 2), xi, 51. 



Feet of F. Surr. Hil. 2 Hen. VIII ; 

 William Frost appears as agent in other 

 transactions for the Bishop of Winchester. 



"Brayley, Hitt. of Surr. ii, 310; see 

 Valor Eccl. (Rec. Com.), ii, 247. 



47 Slat, of the Realm (Rec. Com.), iii, 622. 



<8 Pat. 22 Jas. I, pt. xii. 



41 Ibid. pt. xiv, no. 6. Brayley says 



(op. cit. ii, 310) that Littcott obtained 

 his lease of the manor as heir of Dorothy, 

 wife of Sir Christopher Edmonds, to whom 

 Queen Elizabeth granted the manor in 

 158; on lease. 



60 Close, 8 Chas. I, pt. xxxv, no. 5. 



41 Pat. 7 Chas. I, pr, i, no. 6. There 

 is in East Molesey Church a monument 

 to Sir John Littcott, ob. 1 64 1 , on which he 

 is called lord of the manor of Molesey. 



41 See Chan. Inq. p.m. 17 Chas. I, 

 dxxii, 15. 



55 Feet of F. Surr. East. 22 Chas. II. 



64 Close, 23 Chas. I, pt. xix, no. 38 ; 

 see Recov. R. Trin. II Will. Ill, rot. 

 105. 



" The genealogy of the Clarkes, from 



the monuments at East Molesey, is given 

 at the bottom of this page. 



58 Recov. R. Hil. 5 Geo. Ill, rot. 253. 



" Ibid. Hil. 56 Geo. Ill, rot 293. 



M Manning and Bray, Hist, of Surr. ii, 

 783. 



"Escheat. Inq. {Ser. i), file 1805. It 

 was probably so called because most of 

 the lands lay in West Molesey. 



60 There was an insfeximui of the in- 

 quisition in 1477 owing to a lawsuit. 

 Elizabeth and Anne, returned as six and 

 five, or more, in 1463, are there returned 

 as nineteen and eighteen. The holding 

 is called medictas, but it was really a third, 

 and the half sold by Elizabeth was a iixt> 

 (See Loseley for Sydneys). 



Sir James Clarke 

 d. 1703 



Anne daughter 

 of James Clarke, 



d. 1712 



(Feet of F. Surr. 

 Trin. ii Will. Ill) 



Sir James Clarke, d. 1728 = 

 (Lord of the Manors of 



Molesey) 



James Clarke, d. 1709 (lessee of Molesey Prior) 



Mary, d. 1754 



(Feet of F. Surr. 



Mich.i2Geo.III) 



James Clarke = 

 d. 1758 I 



Anne daughter of 

 Christopher Clarke 



Lydia Henrietta = Rev. Sir George Molesworth 



454 



