SPELTHORNE HUNDRED 



CROMWELL. Satlc a 

 lion argent. 



tenances were sold to Edmund Blackwell for 

 ,6,638 7/., and the Middle Park to Colonel Norton 

 for 3,701 ig/. In February 1654 they were 

 all re-acquired for the use of the State, on the 

 return of the purchase money and the payment 

 of 1,200 surplusage,"* 

 made necessary because 

 some of the lands had al- 

 ready been sold again." 7 

 John Phelps appears on the 

 Court Roll as lord of the 

 manor from 14 May 1652 

 to 2 June 1654."* No 

 further courts are recorded 

 till 2 April 1657, when 

 the Lord Protector's name 

 appears." 9 After the death 

 of Cromwell a bill was in- 

 troduced into Parliament to settle the honour and 

 manor of Hampton Court on General Monk, but 

 this was not carried, and on the restoration of 

 Charles II it became once more the property of 

 the Crown. 1 " 



HAMPTON COURT PALACE; HISTORT. 

 There is no doubt that the preceptory of the 

 Knights Hospitallers of St. John of Jerusalem stood 

 on the site of the present palace at Hampton 

 Court, but it seems to have been almost entirely 

 destroyed by Wolsey when he began his new 

 building. 131 At the end of Wolsey's lease is a 

 curious list of the goods of the brethren, which 

 were left in the house when he took possession of 

 it." 3 They were of the most meagre description : 

 even in the chapel the chalice alone was of silver. 

 An item of twenty-two beds gives an idea of the 

 number of people the house could contain. In 

 the hall were some forms, two tables, and a cup- 

 board. There were also some chests, and two 

 bells in the ' toure,' one of which, the sole re- 

 maining relic of the order in the palace, still rings 

 for service in the chapel, and has the following 

 inscription on it : 



+ STELLA + MARIA + MARIS + SUCCVRRE + PIISIMA 

 + NOBIS + 



{Mary most gracious, Star of the Sea, come to our 

 assistance) 



HAMPTON 



The date of the bell is fixed by the letters 'T. H.' 

 stamped on it, which are the initials of a famous bell- 

 founder, Thomas Harrys, who lived about 1479.'" 



From the date of Wolsey's purchase to the reign 

 of George III the history of Hampton Court 

 Palace may almost be said to be the history of 

 England. Besides its intimate connexion with the 

 private lives of kings and statesmen, there were few 

 questions of political importance that were not dis- 

 cussed by the Privy Council, which met frequently 

 within its walls, and innumerable letters and docu- 

 ments which have made history are dated from it. 13i 



Wolsey's political services in the successful cam- 

 paigns against France and Scotland in 1513 had 

 secured him a high place in the king's favour. 136 

 At this date or shortly afterwards he held the 

 offices of chancellor and grand almoner, 137 and 

 many minor dignities, and was besides bishop of 

 three English sees and one French see. 138 From 

 the revenues of these offices he amassed consider- 

 able wealth, and his ambition led to the design of 

 building for himself a great palace. 139 



He was influenced in his choice of Hampton 

 Court as the site for his great house, not only by 

 the proximity of London and the convenience of 

 the river as a 'swift and silent' highway, but by 

 the exceptional healthiness of the neighbourhood. 

 Afterwards, when the ' sweating sickness ' and the 

 plague raged in London, only 20 miles off, Hamp- 

 ton and Hampton Court remained singularly 

 immune from infection. 140 



Henry VIII and Katherine of Arragon paid 

 their first recorded visit to Hampton Court in 

 March 1514, probably to see the property which 

 Wolsey intended to acquire. 



Giovanni Ratto, an emissary of the Marquis of 

 Mantua, took the opportunity to present some 

 very fine horses which his master had sent to the 

 king a present highly appreciated by Henry. 141 

 A little later in the same year (June 1514) Wolsey 

 took possession of the property, and immediately 

 began his extensive works on the site of the old 

 manor-house. 141 



In May 1516 the building was so far advanced 

 that he was able to entertain the king and 

 queen at dinner, 14 ' but he did not stay there for 

 any considerable period before I 5 1 7, 144 and it was 



198 Cat. S.P. Dam. 1653-4, pp. 300, 



356, 385 ; Feet of F. Midd. Trin. 1654. 



W Cat. S.P. Dam. 1653-4, pp. 300, 



3?6, 3 6 3i 385. 397, 48, 49- Th e 

 transactions are printed in full in Law, 

 op. cit. ii, App. B. 



"Stand Rec. Ct. R. (Misc. Bks.), 

 iii, bdle. 40, no. 3, ' Court Roll of 

 Hampton Court.' 



" Ibid. The Court Roll of the 

 manor exists only from 164010 1792. 

 Cat. S.P. Dom. 1654, p. 32. 



180 White Kennet, Hist. Engl. 67 j 

 Hist. MS. Com. Ref. vii, App. 463 ; 

 Journals of the House of Commons, 1 5 

 and 1 6 Mar. 1660 ; S.P. Dom. 

 Chas. II, x, z. Manorial courts are 

 still held annually, up to 1 908 at the 

 ' Red Lion,' Hampton on Thames. 

 The number of copy-holders is now 

 reduced to about two hundred. (In- 



formation from Mr. F. G. Mellish, 

 bailiff of the manor). 



181 The writer wishes to express her 

 indebtedness to Mr. Ernest Law's Hist, of 

 Hampton Court Palace for references to 

 many of the works mentioned in this 

 account. 



13a There is an idea that Wolsey re- 

 tained the original hall, afterwards re- 

 built by Henry VIII. Foundations of 

 an older building have been discovered 

 under the hall. See Architectural acct. 



188 Cotton MSS. Claudius, E. vi, fol. 



'37- 



84 Law, Hist. Hampton Court Palace, 

 iii, 389, v/W< Stahlschmidt, Surr. Belli. 

 Harrys was working at King's College, 

 Cambridge, in 1479. 



* Vide L. and P. Hen. VIII ; Cat. 

 S.P. Dom. ; Hist. MSS. Com. Rep. &c. 



"' Creighton, Life of Wolsey, 29. 



327 



13 ~ At a later period he also held a 

 Spanish see ; ibid. 



138 In 151; he was made cardinal, 

 and was appointed Legate a latere in 

 1518. 



139 For history of the architecture of 

 the palace, see below p. 371 et. seq. 



14 L. and P. Henry VIII, ii (preface) j 

 iii, 1691 ; iv, 4436, 4542. 



141 Col. S.P. Venetian, ii, 385 ; Hali- 

 well, Letters of the Kings of Engl. i, 229. 



14a For Parks and Gardens, see p. 380 

 et. seq. ; L. and P. Hen. VIII, ii (i), 

 4662 ; Law, op. cit. i, 21. 



148 L. and P. Hen. VIII, ii (2), 



'935- 



144 Ibid, ii (2), 3805 the first letter 

 in the Calendar dated from Hampton 

 Court. The first letter from Wolsey 

 himself was written in Jan. 1518; 

 ibid. 3886. 



