ONGAR HUNDRED 



STANFORD RIVERS 



in High Ongar (q-v.). In the 13th century this was 

 often referred to as Stanford Park. 



In 1294 John son of John de Rivers conveyed to 

 Robert son of Richard of Chigwell his manor of Stan- 

 ford Park, except the deer, stews, and woods. The 

 grant was for six years, on the occasion of John de 

 Rivers's departure to Gascony in the king's service.*' 

 In 1298 de Rivers was granted the king's licence to let 

 Stanford Park to farm to Salamon le Cutiller, citizen 

 of London, for four years after the expiration of the 

 lease granted in 1294.*^ At the same time John de 

 Rivers was given licence to let to farm for eight years 

 to Fulk of St. Edmunds and John his son, also citizens 

 of London, his manor of 'Stanford without the park'.*' 

 In 1 300 John de Rivers leased the last-named manor for 

 sixteen years to Fulk of St. Edmunds and James son 

 of Fulk.** On the same day de Rivers granted to 

 Humphrey de Walden for life the manor of Stanford, 

 i.e. Stanford Park.*' Stanford Park was known after 

 this as Ongar Park and is treated under High Ongar 



(q-v.)- 



The manor of Stanford Rivers alias Stanford 'with- 

 out the park' continued to be held as of the honor of 

 Boulogne. This manor was granted by John de Rivers 

 in 1308 to Richer de Refham, citizen and alderman of 

 London, to hold for life 'and for two years after'.** In 

 the following year the grant was converted into a 

 tenancy in fee.*' In 1 3 1 3 Richer de Refham granted 

 the manor to his son John.*' In 1 3 14 John de Refham 

 granted it to John de Gras and PauHne his wife.*' In 

 1334 John son of John de Rivers released to Pauline, 

 widow of Sir John de Gras, all his right in the manor.'° 



Pauline de Gras granted the manor in 1348 to 

 Ralph, Baron Stafford, later ist Earl of Stafford." It 

 was thus reunited with the manor of Chipping Ongar 

 (q.v.) and had the same descent until the death in 1460 

 of Humphrey Stafford, ist Duke of Buckingham, when 

 by virtue of a previous settlement Stanford Rivers 

 passed to John Stafford, 3rd son of the duke, who was 

 created Earl of Wiltshire in 1470 and died in 1473." 

 After the earl's death Stanford Rivers was held in 

 dower by his widow Constance until she died in 1475.^1 

 Edward Stafford, Earl of Wiltshire, died childless in 

 1499 and Stanford Rivers was again reunited with 

 Chipping Ongar in the hands of Edward Stafford, 

 3rd Duke of Buckingham.'* In 1524 the manor of 

 Stanford Rivers was granted by the king to William 

 Cary, squire of the body, and Mary his wife.'s Mary 

 was holding a court for the manor in 1534, but soon 

 after this the manor reverted to the Crown, which was 

 appointing stewards in 1 544-7.'* 



In 1 548 Stanford Rivers was given to Princess (later 

 Queen) Mary." In 1557 it was annexed by letters 

 patent to the Duchy of Lancaster.'* The manor 

 remained part of the duchy until 161 3, when James I 



sold it to Richard Cartwright and Thomas Cowley of 

 London." A fee-farm rent on the manor was ap- 

 parently retained by the Crown. The descent of this 

 rent is given below. In 16 14 Cartwright and Cowley 

 conveyed the manor to Henry Spiller and Alexander 

 Williams, who in 16 19 sold it to Sir Thomas Elliott, 

 Kt.*" In 1623 Elliott sold the manor to William, 

 Baron Petre.*' Lord Petre settled it in 1628 upon his 

 3rd, but 2nd surviving, son William as a jointure for 

 William's wife Lucy.'^ The Petres at this time 

 acquired all the other manors in the parish except 

 Littlebury. Their estate in Stanford Rivers became 

 known as Bellhouse, from the name of their capital 

 mansion. It comprised about 1,600 acres in the 17th 

 century. 



In 1645 Stanford Rivers was granted by Parliament 

 to the Earl of Essex, on account of William Petre's 

 adherence to Charles 1.^3 The earl died in 1646. It 

 was presumably after this that John Mann was granted 

 a lease of part of the estate — apparently two-thirds. 

 By December 1650 Mann had become a member of 

 the Essex County Committee for administering the 

 estates of delinquents. Since it was contrary to parlia- 

 mentary ordinance for any committee to lease land to 

 one of its own members, the Essex committee appealed 

 to the central Committee for Compounding to allow 

 the law to be waived in Mann's favour, 'he having 

 spent much in repairs while he was a tenant at £100 

 before he became a commissioner'. *♦ The central com- 

 mittee refused the application (165 1) and ordered that 

 another tenant should be found. *s Early in 1652 

 negotiations were taking place between the central 

 committee, the local committee, and various prospec- 

 tive lessees of the estate.** From the details of these 

 negotiations it appears that William Petre still occupied 

 the mansion house and one-third of the estate. Eventu- 

 ally he regained possession of the other two-thirds and 

 in January 1653, 'begging allowance of two-thirds of 

 the expense of rebuilding the outhouses, burnt down 

 by lightning', was granted ^^40 by the central com- 

 mittee.*' He had never apparently lost control of the 

 manor court: in the court rolls for 1647-60 he is 

 invariably entered as lord of the manor.** 



William Petre died in 1677 and was succeeded by 

 his eldest son William.*' On the death of the latter in 

 1688 another William Petre succeeded his father as 

 lord of the manor. He raised substantial mortgages to 

 endow his daughters, at least five of whom became 

 nuns.'° This outlay was, however, more than balanced 

 by the marriage portion of ^4,000 brought into the 

 estate by Lady Mary Radcliffe, only daughter of 

 Edward, Earl of Derwentwater (d. 1705), who in 

 1722 married William Petre the younger, heir of his 

 father, and brother of the girls to whom the above 

 portions were given." 



»■ Cal. Pat. 1292-1301, 78. 



" Ibid. 366. 



" Ibid. '♦ Ibid. 503. 



" Ibid. 506. It was stated that this 

 grant was to assist John de Rivers to dis- 

 charge debts incurred by him in Gascony. 



" B.M. Add. Ch. 1996+. 



" Ibid. 19982-3; Cal. Pat. 1307-13, 

 281,554. 



«' Cal. Pat. 13 1 3-17, 31. For the 

 Rcfhams see also Littlebury, below. 



M Ibid. 174. 



'0 B.M. Add. Ch. 19984. 



'" Ibid. 19986. 



'^ C 1 39/ 1 80; Complete Peerage (orig. 

 edn.), viii, 165. 



73 C140/54. 



'4 CP25(2)/5i/364. 



'5 L. & p. Hen. Fill, iv (i), p. 196. 



■"> SC2/173/81; L. & P. Hen. nil, 

 xix(2),p.74;xx(i),p. 327;xx(2),p. 397; 

 Cal. Pat. 1547-8, 113. 



" Cal. Pat. 1548-9, 21. 



" Cal. Pat. 1557-8, 50. Under powers 

 granted by 2 & 3 Ph. & Mary c. 20. 



" E.R.O., D/DP Mi 141 (Abstract of 

 Title, manor of Stanford Rivers). 



8» Ibid. 8> Ibid.; CP43/161 rot. 66. 



82 E.R.O., D/DP Mi 141; Fisiti. of 

 Essex (Harl. Soc), i, 265; Geneal. Coll. of 

 R.C. Families, pt. i, cd. J. J. Howard, &c., 

 p. 44. 



83 B.M. Add. MS. 5497, f. 142. 



84 Cal. of Cttee. for Compounding, 435, 

 2643. " Ibid. 



8« Ibid. 525. 8' Ibid. 2643. 



88 E.R.O., D/DP Ml 129-30. 



89 Geneal. Coll. of R.C. Families, p. 44, 

 For Wm. Petre (1602-77) see D.N.B. 

 He translated (1669) the Flos Sanctorum 

 of the Jesuit Pedro de Ribadeneira. 



9» E.R.O., D/DSd T19; Geneal. Coll. of 

 R.C. Families, p. 44; H. Foley, Recs. of 

 Eng. Province of Soc. of yesus, ii, 585. 



»■ E.R.O., D/DSd T19. There were 

 other portions provided for the younger 

 sons of William Petre the younger. 



2X1 



