ONGAR HUNDRED stapleford abbots 



himself to repay." He made this grant in ignorance, 

 it seems, of the lease held in trust for Henrietta Maria.'* 

 Later Sir George Carteret discovered the existence of 

 Henrietta's lease and in April 1663 he bought it in so 

 as to protect his mortgage." In 1675, the principal 

 sum of ;^4,ooo and most of the interest thereon having 

 remained unpaid, Sir George took the view that the 

 sums outstanding greatly exceeded the value of the 

 estate and that he therefore had an absolute interest in 

 the estate for the term of 99 years granted to him in 

 the mortgage. He proceeded to settle the manor of 

 Stapleford Abbots on Grace wife of his grandson and 

 heir George, later ist Baron Carteret, as part of her 

 jointure. Lord Carteret died in 1695 leaving his 

 younger children unprovided for. In order to help 

 provide portions for these children his widow Grace, 

 Lady Carteret, wished to sell the Stapleford Abbots 

 estate. There were doubts, however, about the validity 

 of her title to this estate on the grounds that the letters 

 patent of 7 February 1650 could not be found and 

 that an enrolled copy showed them to be, in any case, 

 defective, because they did not recite some former 

 demises. Moreover, even if the grant of 1650 were 

 deemed valid, the fact that the Crown was not fore- 

 closed from its equity of redemption constituted a bar 

 to sale. To clear her title Lady Carteret obtained an 

 Act of Parliament,' in February 1704, which con- 

 firmed the grant of 1650 and barred all right or equity 

 of redemption in the Crown. By the same Act the 

 estate, with others, was vested in trustees for the pur- 

 pose of sale. 



It seems, however, that for some reason Lady 

 Carteret did not after all dispose of her interests in the 

 manor of Stapleford Abbots for as lady of the manor 

 she granted a tenancy of a piece of manorial waste to 

 Sir John Fortescue- Aland of Knolls Hill in 1735.^ 

 Moreover there is no doubt that after her death in 

 1744 successive Barons Carteret were granted further 

 leases of the estate which they held until 1805-9 when 

 Henry, Lord Carteret (d. 1826) transferred his lease, 

 which had been renewed in 1 805 for 30 years at a rent 

 °f £S3^ i4-f- ^-Z. a year, to John Rutherforth Abdy, 

 owner of Albyns manor.3 J. R. Abdy still held the 

 lease when it expired in 1835.* The Crown then 

 offered the estate for sale.' At that time it comprised 

 582 acres of demesne land, which included Stapleford 

 Hall farm (163 acres), Hammonds farm (123 acres), 

 several other parcels (totalling 162 acres) in Stapleford 

 Abbots, and Wolves and Joyes farm (134 acres) in 

 Romford and Navestock; freehold and copyhold rents 

 totalled £1^ 7/. 4.1/. a year; fines averaged ,^65 a 

 year.* 



The Crown was evidently unable to sell a large part 

 of the estate. By January 1844 John Barnes had pur- 

 chased the manorial rights' but apparently he did not 

 buy any of the demesne land. In 1845 he owned no 

 land in Stapleford Abbots; the Crown, however, still 



owned 349 acres in the parish, comprising Stapleford 

 Hall farm (226 acres) and Hammonds Farm (123 

 acres).* John Barnes was dead by November 1849 

 when his widow Ann held a court as lady of the manor.' 

 By 1 8 5 1 William Pemberton Barnes was lord of the 

 manor.'" Afterwards the ownership of the manor 

 remained in the family of Pemberton Barnes until 

 191 2-14." The Crown still owns Stapleford Hall 

 farm and Hammonds farm.'^ 



Stapleford Hall farm-house was probably built late 

 in the 17th or early in the i8th century. It is timber- 

 framed and roughcast and has an L-shaped plan. It 

 was much restored in the 19th century and most of the 

 farm buildings are of the same date. 



Hammonds farm-house is timber-framed and rough- 

 cast and probably dates from the 17th century. There 

 have been alterations in the i8th century and later. 



The manor oi ALBTNS has not been traced before 

 1409 when it was held by Sir Richard Walton, lord 

 of Batayles,'3 at the time of his death.'* In 1414 

 Robert Newport and others, who were probably 

 trustees under the will of Sir Richard Walton, founded 

 a chantry of two chaplains in Wivenhoe church for the 

 souls of Sir Richard and his wife Isabel and made 

 Albyns a substantial part of its endowment.'' 



Immediately after the Chantries Act of 1545'* the 

 lands with which Wivenhoe Chantry had been en- 

 dowed were taken into the king's hands on the ground 

 that in about 1538-9 John, 15th Earl of Oxford, lord 

 of Batayles, had dissolved the chantry and given its 

 revenues to Robert Rochester." In December 1545 

 the king leased Albyns to William Luther for 2 r years 

 at a rent of ,/Ji 3 6s. SJ. a year.' * It is not clear whether 

 Luther was granted the perquisites of court which 

 amounted to 2S. ^. a year." In 1548 Edward VI 

 sold the manor for ^{^339 18/. to Walter Cely and his 

 heirs to hold in chief by the service of j^ knight's fee.*" 

 Cely evidently began to build a new manor house but 

 died in 1 549 before it was completed.*' He left the 

 house to his wife Elizabeth 'so that she and her friends 

 will see it finished'.** The heir to the manor of Albyns 

 was Walter's son George, then a minor.*^ George 

 Cely held his first court in 1 567.** In 1 570 he granted 

 the manor to George Wiseman.*' At that time the 

 estate consisted of 5 messuages, 240 acres of arable, 

 40 acres of meadow, 140 acres of pasture, and 50 acres 

 of wood.** Rents amounted to 40J. a year.*'' In 1572 

 George Wiseman settled the manor on his daughter 

 Anne and her husband William Fitch.** In 1578 , 

 Fitch died, leaving the reversion of the manor after the 

 death of his wife to his youngest son Francis.*' In 

 1587 Francis Fitch sold the manor to John Wood 

 (kt. 1603). 3" In 1610, shortly before his death. Sir 

 John Wood settled the manor on his daughter Magdalen, 

 wife of Sir Thomas Edmunds.3' Magdalen died in 

 1 6 14 and Sir Thomas held Albyns until 1636 when 

 he settled it on his eldest daughter Isabella, widow of 



" Lord Carteret'j EsUte Act, 2 & 3 

 Anne, c. 5 (priv. act). 

 «« SP44/10, pp. 44-45. 

 »« Lord Carteret's Estate Act, 2 & 3 

 Anne, c. 5 (priv. act). ' Ibid. 



2 E.R.O., D/DLo T51; see below, 

 Knolls Hill and Schools. 



' E.R.O., D/DDa T5; ibid. D/DDa 

 M26iibid. D/DDaE3. 

 ♦ E.R.O., D/DDa E3. 

 5 Ibid. 

 « Ibid. 

 ' E.R.O., D/DLa M38. 



8 E.R.O., D/CT 330. 



9 E.R.O., D/DLa M38. ■<> Ibid. 

 " Ibid.; Kelly's Dir. Essex (1874^). 



'* Inf. from Rector of Stapleford Abbots 

 and from tenants. 

 " See below, Manor of Battles Hall. 

 '< Cal. Close, 1405-9, 449. 

 '! Cal.Vat. 1413-16, 151. 

 '« 37 Hen. VIII, c. 4. 

 " E301/19, 20. 

 ■8 E30i/30/44;E3i5/68. 

 ■9 E30i/30/44;E3i5/68. 

 M Cd. Pat. 1547-8, 312; E3 15/68. 



" Walter Cely's will : P.C.C. • 44 

 Populwell (1549). *' Ibid. 



" Cal. Pat. 1550-3, 9. 



" E.R.O., D/DDa M21. 



" CP25(2)/i2«/i639; E.R.O., D/DDa 

 Ti;ibid. D/DDa M21. 



" E.R.O., D/DM T60. 



" Ibid. 



»« 0142/184/34; CP25(2)/i29/i647. 



" E.R.O., D/DDa Ti. 



30 CP25(2)/i33/i705; E.R.O., D/DDa 

 Ti ; ibid. D/DDa M21. 



" E.R.O., D/DDa Ti. 



ES. IV 



225 



Gg 



