A HISTORY OF ESSEX 



son, conveyed the manor to Henry Wheeler and Edwin 

 Baldwin.'* 



By 1702 John Austry was in possession of the estate.s 

 He was still lord of the manor in 1 7 1 3 .* Within the 

 next 20 years the estate passed to John Evans, ap- 

 parently Austry's grandson, who was described as lord 

 of the manor in court rolls from 1734 until 1757.'' In 

 1745 there were thirteen manorial tenants who paid 

 rents amounting to ^l os. %d. a year.* Between 1757 

 and 1766 the estate descended to Margaret Mary, 

 who may have been the daughter of John Evans and 

 who was the wife of John Jones in 1766.' By 1780 the 

 manor had passed to Sir Thomas Spencer Wilson, Bt., 

 who in 1767 had married Jane daughter of Margaret 

 Mary.'o Sir Thomas died in 1798." His son and heir. 

 Sir Thomas Maryon Wilson, Bt., died in 1821 having 

 devised the manor to his second son John Maryon 

 Wilson, a minor at the time of his father's death.'^ In 

 1 848 the manor farm, which consisted of 249 acres, 

 was in the occupation of William NichoUs Clay. '3 John 

 Maryon Wilson became 9th baronet in 1 869 and died 

 in 1 876.''* He was succeeded by his eldest surviving 

 son. Sir Spencer Maryon Wilson, Bt., who died in 

 l897.'s In 1899 Sir Spencer's trustees were lords of 

 the manor but after the beginning of the 20th century 

 the estate was apparently no longer regarded as a 

 manor.'* 



The manor house site had an elaborate system of 

 moats of which considerable parts remain. There 

 appear to have been at least three moated enclosures, 

 one of which was triangular. There is no trace of an 

 early manor house although the present farm-house 

 probably occupies the same site. It probably dates 

 from the early years of the present century. A seven- 

 bay timber barn, which formerly had a thatched roof, 

 may be of the i8th century or earlier. 



The early history of the advowson of Little Laver is 

 not clear. It was certainly granted to the 

 CHURCH priory of Rumilly, a Cluniac house in the 

 Pas-de-Calais, by a count of Boulogne after 

 the beginning of the 12th century.'^ It is probable that 

 the grant was made by Count Eustace during the reign 

 of Henry I.'* 



For some time in- the 13 th century, if not before, the 

 prior and monks of Rumilly found it impossible to 

 exercise their rights of presentation." This led them 

 in 1279 to make an agreement with Queen Eleanor, 

 wife of Edward 1.^° The queen was to help the priory 

 to recover the advowson from usurpers. The prior and 



monks were then to grant the advowson to the queen 

 for 50 marks but they reserved to themselves the pen- 

 sion of i6s. which they were 'wont to receive in times 

 past from the church'. Apparently the priory's claim 

 was successfully established, for in 1280 the prior 

 granted the advowson to the king and queen.^' There- 

 after the advowson remained in the Crown until late in 

 thereignofHenry VIII when it was granted to Richard, 

 1st Baron Rich.^^ 



In 1559 Lord Rich conveyed the advowson with 

 the manor of Bourchiers Hall to John Collins who pre- 

 sented to the church in 1569.^3 Nicholas Collins 

 presented in 1599.^ In 1607 James I presented 

 through lapse.^5 In 1609 Nicholas Collins conveyed 

 the advowson to John Adams.^* In 1637 Benjamin 

 Oliver presented to the living.^' In about 1654 Anne 

 Gilbert presented William Hiccocks who in 1655 

 presented Edward Whiston.^* Presentations were 

 made by Richard Collins in 1662, Ann Bayn in 1670, 

 Samuel Burnet in 1690, and Maurice Hunt in 1697. 2' 

 Matthew Blucke held the advowson with the manor of 

 Bourchiers Hall before his death in about 1713.3° 

 After this the advowson descended with the manor 

 until 1767.3' In 1767 Robert Palmer came into pos- 

 session of the advowson as well as the manor.'^ He 

 immediately sold the next presentation to Timothy 

 Earle for ;^52 5.33 The right of presentation after- 

 wards reverted to Palmer according to the agreement 

 of 1767.3*' The living then remained in the gift of the 

 lords of the manor of Bourchiers Hall until the manor 

 was sold to William Clark in i8oi.3s The advowson 

 was also offered for sale by Richard Palmer in 1 80 1 but 

 did not find a purchaser.^* It remained with the 

 Palmers or their trustees until 1910 when it was 

 transferred to the Bishop of St. Albans from Mary 

 Isabella, widow of the Revd. Henry Golding-Palmer, 

 grandson of Richard Palmer. 3' In 19 14 the right of 

 presentation was transferred from the Bishop of St. 

 Albans to the Bishop of Chelmsford. 3 8 Since 1933 the 

 living has been united with that of Moreton in the 

 gift of St. John's College, Cambridge, who have first 

 and third turns, and the Bishop of Chelmsford, who 

 has second turn. 3' 



In about 1254 the church was assessed at 6 marks.*" 

 This sum did not include the pension of i6i'. which 

 was at that time paid to the monks of Rumilly.*' In 

 1291 the church was assessed at ^8.*^ In 1428 it was 

 still taxed on this valuation .*3 In 1535 the rectory was 

 valued at ^^i 5 10/. 4i/.+* Its 'improved' value was £,io 



♦ CP43/311; Vhits. of Essex (Harl. 

 Soc), 379. 5 CP43/476. 



' E.R.O., D/DB M79. 



' E.R.O., D/DB M79-80i Morant, 

 EsseXf i, 144. No court rolls exist for the 

 period between 1713 and 1734. Morant 

 stated that Evans was grandson of Austry. 



» E.R.O., D/DB M79. 



9 E.R.O., D/DB M80. 



■» E.R.O., C/RPl 685; ibid. D/DB 

 M80; Burke, Peerage (1931), 2496. 

 Margaret Mary apparently married twice 

 since Jane was her daughter by John 

 Badger Weller. 



" Burke, Peerage (1931), 2496. 



■2 Ibid.; E.R.O., D/DB MSo; ibid. 



e/RSg 5- 



■3 E.R.O., D/CT 210. 



'♦ Burke, Peerage (193 1), 2497. 



■5 Ibid.; Kell/s Dir. Essex (1886, 1890, 

 1895). 



'* Kelly's Dir. Essex (1899, 1902). No 

 court rolls exist for the period after 1823. 



" E.A.T. N.s. viii, 228. 



^8 Ibid. In 1 125 CountEustacecertainly 

 gave to this priory a charge of ^10 on his 

 manor of Fobbing and another of ^Tio 

 charged on Shenfield. J. H. Round 

 thought it almost certain that this same 

 Count Eustace gave to the priory the 

 advowson of Little Laver. 



'» Cal. Close, 1272-9, 577-8. In 1250 

 the Bishop of Carlisle had claimed the 

 right of presentation and the Bishop of 

 London had upheld his claim ; Newcourt, 

 Repert. ii, 368-9. 



2" Cal. Close, 1272-9, 577-8. 



" Feet ofF. Essex, ii, 25. 



" Newcourt, Repert. ii, 369-70. The 

 king held the advowson until at least 1 540 

 when he granted It to John Gyes : L. ^ P. 

 Hen. VIII, XV, p. 411. Lord Rich pre- 

 sented to the church in 1554: Newcourt, 

 op. cit. 



" CP25(2)/i26/i6o6; Newcourt, 



Repert. ii, 370. 



^< Newcourt, Repert. ii, 370. ^s Ibid. 



2« CP25(2)/293 East. 7 Jas. I. 



2' Newcourt, Repert. ii, 370. 



28 E.A.T. N.s. vi, 326. 



29 Newcourt, Repert. ii, 370. 



30 E.R.O., D/DEwTi. 



3' Ibid.; J. Bacon, Thesaurus, 615. 



32 E.R.O., D/DEw Ti ; ibid. D/DEw 

 T2. 



33 E.R.O., D/DEw T2. 



3* Ibid.; J. Bacon, Thesaurus, 615. 



35 E.R.O., D/DEw T2. 36 Ibid. 



37 Ibid.; Eccl. Reg. 1808; Cler. Guide, 

 1822 f. ; Clergy List, 1845 ^-i Lor^t^- Gaz. 

 13 Oct. 1880, p. 5431 ; ibid. II Jan. 19 10, 

 230; Kelly's Dir. Essex (1874 f.). 



38 Clergy List, 1 9 1 3 f. ; Kelly's Dir. Essex 

 {1912, 1914). 



39 Kelly's Dir. Essex (1933); Chel. Dioc. 

 Tear Bk. 1952; Lond. Gaz. 26 May 1933, 

 pp. 3536-7. 



t" Lunt, Val. of Norwich, 337. 



4' Ibid. 



■12 Tax. Eccl. (Rec. Com.), 2i. 



« Feud. Aids, ii, 205. 



« Falor Eccl. (Rec. Com.), i, 437. 



100 



