A HISTORY OF ESSEX 



WiUiam Petre the elder died in 1728.92 In 1737 

 his son William handed over the administration of the 

 Stanford Rivers estate to his kinsman Robert, Baron 

 Petre (d. ij^z).'*^ An account book for the years 

 1738-44 shows that the estate (which also included 

 the manors of Stanford Hall, Traceys, and Bellhouse, 

 for which see below) had a rent roll of slightly over 

 ;^i,ooo a year, out of which William Petre was 

 allowed £350 tax free.''* William died in 1745.95 

 His heir was John Petre, son of his brother Edward. 

 Shortly before William's death John, who was under 

 age, had been given into William's care by his grand- 

 father and previous guardian William Keep. After 

 William Petre's death John was sent by his aunt. Lady 

 Mary Petre, to Douai to be educated as a Roman 

 Catholic. WiUiam Keep thereupon started an action 

 in Chancery to regain custody of the boy. An order 

 was made to this effect but was defied by Lady Mary. 

 In 1747 a receiver was appointed in Chancery to 

 administer the Stanford Rivers estate.'* John Petre 

 probably assumed control soon after this, for he was 

 said to have been eighteen years old in 1745.9' 



John Petre died in 1762. In 1759, °^ ^'^ marriage 

 to Frances Man by, he had provided that if he had no 

 sons his estates should pass to Robert, Baron Petre (d. 

 1 801), in trust for Lord Petre's second son, if one 

 should be born to him.98 Provision was made for any 

 daughters left by John Petre. In the event he left only 

 one, Catherine, who became entitled on his death to a 

 jointure of ^^4,000 from his estate.99 



From 1762 to 1775 the Stanford Rivers estate was 

 administered by a steward acting for John Tempest, 

 executor of John Petre's will. The estate accounts for 

 this period show that the rent roll was still about 

 ;^i,ooo a year.' Most of the income, and in some 

 years all of it, was taken up by expenses and the pay- 

 ment of annuities. Catherine Petre, whose jointure of 

 ^4,000 remained in the estate, received interest at the 

 rate of ;^i6o a year. Susan Petre, sister of John, 

 similarly received £120 a year as interest on a jointure 

 of ;^3,ooo, and John Petre's widow drew ^^300 a year 

 from the estate. By 1774 there was £()0^ in hand on 

 the running of the estate, but most of this was ac- 

 counted for by the fact that the annuities had for some 

 reason not been paid in 1772. During the period 

 covered by the accounts the whole estate was leased to 

 various farmers and smallholders.^ 



In 1775 John Tempest conveyed the estate to Lord 

 Petre as guardian of his second son George William 

 Petre.3 In 1 79 1 the estate was found to be encumbered 

 to the extent of ^^9,750: in addition to the jointures of 

 Catherine and Susan Petre a mortgage of ^^2,750 had 

 been raised from a William Plumer.* In 1793 a 

 further mortgage of ;^io,ooo was raised from Thomas 

 Heron of Chilham Castle, Kent.s In 1796 part of the 

 estate (evidently Stanford Hall, for which see below) 



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



" E.R.O., D/DP A32. 



»< Ibid. 



•5 E.R.O., D/DSd T19. 



»' E.R.O., D/DP L5. 



" E.R.O., D/DSd T19. His aunt was 

 ,«dently successful in educating him as a 

 Roman Catholic: cf. E.R.O., Q/RRp 



3/>3- 

 »« E.R.O., D/DSd T19. 

 99 Ibid. 

 ■ E.R.O., D/DP A34/1. The receipts 

 varied from ^988 in 1762 to ^1,252 in 

 1766. 

 » Ibid. Cf. E.R.O., D/DP A33/1. 



3 E.R.O., D/DSd T19. 

 * Ibid. 

 5 Ibid. 

 « Ibid. 

 ' Ibid. 



8 Ibid. For Charles Smith see Burke, 

 Veera^e (1891), pp. 1265, 1267. He was 

 son of Chas. Smith of Stratford (d. 1777), 

 a writer on the corn laws. 



9 E.R.O., D/DTc M3. 

 '" In 1842 the Stanford Rivers section 



of the estate was about 1,350 acres. 



" E.R.O., D/DSd T20. Originally the 

 rent had consisted of sums amounting in 

 all to ^48 65. id. in Stanford Rivers and 



was sold to Charles Smith of Suttons in Stapleford 

 Tawney (q.v.) for £j,(>t,o.^ George William Petre 

 died in 1797, leaving George Petre his son and 

 heir.' 



In 1 8 19 the remainder of the Stanford Rivers 

 estate, including the manorial rights, was bought from 

 George Petre for ^^2 5,280 by Judith Smith of Strat- 

 ford, Essex, who was probably sister of the above 

 mentioned Charles Smith of Suttons.* Judith was 

 lady of the manor up to 1830; in and after 1833 the 

 lordship (and presumably the estate) had passed to 

 Charles Joshua Smith, Bt. (d. 1 831), son and heir of 

 Charles Smith of Suttons. 9 The subsequent descent 

 was the same as that of Suttons.'" 



When Judith Smith bought the estate she found it 

 encumbered with a fee-farm rent of ^^45. Inquiries 

 into the title showed that this rent had been granted by 

 Charles II in 1672 to Sir John Banks, ist (and only) 

 Bt. of Aylesford, Kent. From this it seems probable 

 that the rent had been reserved when the estate was 

 granted by James I to Cartwright and Cowley in 

 161 3." The rent passed on the death of Banks in 

 1699 to his daughter Mary, wife of Sir John Savile. 

 Elizabeth (d. 1767), daughter and heir of Mary, 

 married John Finch and the rent passed to her son 

 Savile Finch (d. 1788) and subsequently to Judith, 

 widow of Savile. By her will (l 802) Judith Finch left 

 the rent to her brother Weston Fullerton, who by his 

 will (proved 1 8 1 9) left it to his nephew John Fullerton. 

 In 1826 Judith Smith bought the rent.'* 



In 141 2 the manor oi STANFORD HALL, worth 

 £20, was held by Nicholas Bradshagh.'^ It is likely 

 that this manor was the demesne of the manor of 

 Stanford Rivers, and that Bradshagh was merely the 

 life tenant of the Earl of Stafford. In the later court 

 rolls of the Stanford Rivers estate there is no mention 

 of a manor of Stanford Hall, whereas Traceys and 

 Bellhouse (see below) were both described as manors. 

 Bradshagh died in 1415.''' There is no other mention 

 of him or his family in connexion with Stanford Rivers, 

 and it is probably significant that he had held a North- 

 amptonshire manor for life of the Earl of Stafford." 



There is no further mention of Stanford Hall until 

 1543, when the king granted to William Grene of 

 London 'the manor and farm of Stanford Hall, parcel 

 of the manor of Stanford Rivers ... in the tenure of 

 Thomas Grene', to hold for 21 years at a rent of 

 £26 13/. 4//'.'* In 1548 Stanford Hall, along with the 

 other manors formerly included in the Duke of 

 Buckingham's estate, was in the possession of Princess 

 Mary." In 1557 it was merged as part of the estate 

 in the Duchy of Lancaster.'* After this its descent was 

 the same as that of the manor of Stanford Rivers until 

 1796 when it was sold to Charles Smith of Suttons.' 9 

 If it was reunited with the main estate after the death 

 of Judith Smith it had again been severed from it by 



,^13 6s. %d. in Suttons in Stapleford 

 Tawney. See below. Manors of Stanford 

 Hall, Traceys and Bridges. 



** John Fullerton retained rent of about 

 j^i6 on land in the parish held by Capel 

 Cure. For the manor courts see below. 

 Parish Govt, and Poor Relief. 



'3 Feud. Aids, vi, 443. 



'* Cal. Pat. 1413-16, 357, 380. 



'5 Ibid. 380. 



'<> L. & P. Hen. fill, xviii (2), p. 60. 

 For Thomas Grene sec below, Bellhouse. 



" Cal. Pal. 1548-9,21. 



>8 Ibid. 1557-8, 50. 



'9 See above, manor of Stanford Rivers. 



212 



