A HISTORY OF ESSEX 



1477 Frayes was held by the lord of the manor of 

 Beauchamp Roding (see above).'"' It followed the 

 same descent as that manor until 161 1 when Sir 

 Richard Weston sold it to Thomas Younge." On 

 Younge's death in 1638 Frayes passed by his will to 

 his kinsman John Miller, son of Richard Miller of 

 Great Waltham." It remained in the Miller family 

 until 1704, when another John Miller sold it to George 

 Pochin.'J In 1770 the owner was George Pochin of 

 Ickleton (Cambs.) who was the son or grandson of the 

 previous George.^* In 1780 'Captain Putchin' was 

 owner.'s He remained in possession until 18 10- 11, 

 when Frayes was acquired by Admiral Harvey, lord 

 of the manor of Beauchamp Roding.'* In 1843 Frayes 

 Farm formed part of T. W. Bramston's Beauchamp 

 Roding estate, and comprised 1 40 acres." It was then 

 and subsequently owned and worked as part of Long- 

 barns Farm. 



The manor house was probably rebuilt late in the 

 17th century to the south of the original site. Part of a 

 moat surrounding a square enclosure is still in existence 

 immediately to the north. Morant called Frayes house 

 'the chiefest in the parish','* but it evidently fell into 

 disrepair at a later date. It is now being restored and 

 modernized by the London Co-operative Society to 

 form two dwellings for farm workers. On the south 

 side of the drive leading to the main road are three pairs 

 of new houses for farm workers. The drive itself has 

 been planted as an avenue. 



The manor of HORNERS (the modern Hornets 

 Farm) lay partly in Beauchamp Roding and partly in 

 Willingale Doe. In 1597 it was conveyed by John 

 Collin the elder to Robert Collin." In the 17th cen- 

 tury the manor appears to have been split between 

 coheirs, for* in 1649 half of it was conveyed to John 

 Russe by Lazarus Annys and Mary his wife, John 

 Rogers and Elizabeth his wife, and Honora Collin.*" 

 In 1652 John and William Russe obtained half the 

 manor (probably the other half) from John Collin the 

 elder, clerk, and John Collin the younger, clerk, and 

 Katherine his wife.*' In 1722 Daniel Russe conveyed 

 the manor to Edmund Butler.*^ 



In 1780 Hornets Farm was owned and occupied by 

 Richard Eve.'s He was succeeded by Henry Eve, who 

 held the property from about 1801 to 1820. From 

 1 81 8 to 1820 John Clift was joint owner with Henry 

 Eve.** Clift alone was owner from 1821 to 1832.*' 

 By 1843 the ownership had passed to William Bush, 

 who had for many years been tenant of the farm. It 

 then comprised 64 acres.** It was subsequently oc- 

 cupied by various farmers. From about 1909 to 1943 

 it was owned and occupied by the Mead family. The 

 present (1954) owner is Mr. George Read of Butt 

 Hatch, and a Mr. Mead is the tenant.*' 



The farm-house was probably built in the i8th 

 century. It is timber-framed and plastered and has a 



tile roof. A brick wing was added at the back of the 

 house in 1922.** A window with several trefoil-headed 

 lights was inserted in an outhouse to commemorate the 

 passing of the Local Government Act, 1929, by which 

 agricultural land was de-rated.*' The window is said 

 to have come from a chapel in Netting Hill, London,'" 

 and is probably of the 19th century. Isaac Mead, a 

 former owner, is buried beside his wife in a small patch 

 of consecrated ground near the drive gate, where an 

 inscribed stone marks their grave. 



The advowson of Beauchamp Roding descended 



with the manor of that name until late in 

 CHURCH the i6th century." Mary, widow of Sir 



John Gate, presented in 1 570, presumably 

 by virtue of her life tenure of the manor (see above). 

 Before this, in 1 560, the advowson (presumably in 

 reversion only) had been granted by the Crown to John 

 Harrington and George Burden, and in the same year 

 Harrington and Burden had conveyed it to Sir Richard 

 Weston, who had recently acquired the lordship of the 

 manor (also presumably in reversion after Mary Gate's 

 death). '2 John Hoskyn, who presented pro hoc vice in 

 1578, probably had the advowson from Sir Richard or 

 his son Sir Jerome Weston. '3 The Westons retained 

 the advowson until 1613, when the younger Sir 

 Richard sold it to Sir Gamaliel Capel of Rookwood, 

 Abbess Roding (q.v.).''» In 1624 Sir Gamaliel Cape] 

 the son sold it to John Mead and his son William." 

 William Mead sold it in 1639 to John Siday.«* This 

 was presumably the John Siday who became rector in 

 1642.'" After his death the advowson passed to his 

 son, also named John, who became the next rector 

 (1689).'* The younger John (d. 1704) devised the 

 advowson to his son John Siday (III)." Mary Siday, 

 widow, presented in 1704, 17 10, and 1720.' The rector 

 whom she presented in 1720 was another John Siday, 

 probably John Siday (III). In 1739 Jo^'^ ^""^ Mary 

 Siday conveyed the advowson to Thomas Bramston, 

 who was acting for Sir John Comyns, of Writtle, Chief 

 Baron of the Exchequer.^ At the same time Comyns 

 bought Gubbiss Farm in this parish. According to 

 statements made after his death he intended that the 

 advowson and the farm should be used 'as an honorary 

 trust for the benefit of poor clergymen and small livings 

 in Essex'. 3 There was, however, no such provision in 

 his will (dated Nov. 1740). He died soon after and 

 the advowson passed to his wife Ann, who presented 

 in 1752.* She was succeeded as patron by John 

 Comyns, nephew of Sir John. In 1 768 John Richard, 

 son of John Comyns, conveyed the advowson and other 

 property in trust to William Birch in order to provide 

 an annuity for John Comyns's widow Mary.' In 1770 

 John Richard Comyns sold the advowson to the Revd. 

 Richard Birch of Roxwell and John Birch of Boswell 

 Court, London.* 



In March 177 1 the above Richard and John Birch 



'<> C140/56. 



'■ CP25(2)/294 Mich. 9 Jas. I. 



" C142/487/127. 



" CP25(2)/922 Hil. 3 Anne. Morant, 

 Essex, i, 1 36, has John, brother of George 

 Pochin as purchaser from Miller. 



'♦ Hisl. Essex hy Gent, iii, 340; Morant, 

 Essex, i, 1 36. 



'5 E.R.O., Q/RPl 685. 



" Ibid. 686-716. 



" E.R.O., D/CT 294. 



" Morant, Essex, i, 136. 



'« CP25(2)/i38/i75o. 



•o CP25(2)/550B East. 1649. 



•' CP25(2)/550B East. 1652. For these 



two John Collins see J. and J. Venn, 

 Alumni Cantab, pt. i, vol. i, p. 373. 



" CP25(2)/ioi4 Mich. 9 Geo. I. 



83 E.R.O., (2/RPI315. 



8« Ibid. 316-55. 



«5 Ibid. 356-67. 



«' E.R.O., D/CT 294. 



" Inf. from Mrs. Mead of Hornets; 

 Kelly's Dir. Essex (1912 f.). 



88 Inf. from Mrs. Mead. 



8' Inscription in situ. "> Local inf. 



** J. L. Fisher, Colne Cartulary, 9; 

 E.A.T. N.s. xviii, 19; Newcourt, Refert. 

 ii, 502. 



" E.R.O., D/DHf T16: Abstract of 



Title to advowson. 

 «3 Newcourt, Repert. ii, 503. 

 " E.R.O., D/DHfTi6. 

 «5 Ibid. »' Ibid. 



*' Newcourt, Repert. ii, 503. The pre- 

 sentation of 1642 was made by William 

 Siday. 



98 E.R.O., D/DHf T16. The pre- 

 sentation of 1689 was made by William 

 Purcas : Newcourt, Repert. ii, 503. 

 »9 E.R.O., D/DHf T16. 

 ' Morant, Essex, i, 137. 

 2 E.R.O., D/DHfTi6. 3 Ibid. 



■• Ibid.; Morant, Essex, i, 137. 

 5 E.R.O., D/DHf T16. ' Ibid. 



200 



