A HISTORY OF ESSEX 



William from the manor and assigned it to William's 

 son Henry, but that in spite of this assignment Henry 

 was never seised of any service from the manor, in 

 whose time there were three abbots, Reynold, Robert, 

 and John (elected 1302, died 1307). Henry assigned 

 his right in the manor to Agnes de Valence, but this 

 was void since he was not legally seised.*s Some light 

 is throwTi on this statement by the history of the manor 

 of Gregories (see below). The abbey certainly seems 

 to have successfully resisted any claims by Henry de 

 Maule or Agnes de Valence. 



Meanwhile, in 1293, Henry, son of the previous 

 owner Henry de Bosco, had arraigned an assize against 

 Peter de Tany, alleging unlawful disseisin of the manor 

 by Tany and others.** Tany's counsel stated that Henry 

 was illegitimate, having been born while his father was 

 in deacon's orders. The jurors found that Henry was 

 indeed illegitimate but on the ground that his parents 

 had not been married at the time of his birth. The title 

 to the manor was again challenged in 1 3 1 3 and on this 

 occasion a charter of 1308 was produced whereby 

 Lawrence de Theydon Bois acknowledged that he had 

 released his right in the manor, which had been of 

 Henry du Boys his father.*' 



Theydon Bois was retained by Waltham until the 

 dissolution of the abbey in 1 540. The manor there- 

 upon passed to the Crown and in May 1540 was 

 granted for life, together with other manors formerly 

 belonging to the abbey, to Robert Fuller, the last 

 abbot.*' He died later in 1 540,*' and the manor was 

 again vested in the Crown until July 1543, when it 

 was granted for life to John Soda, the king's servant, 

 presumably that John Soda whose will was proved in 

 November 1551.'" In his will, dated 1545, Soda 

 described himself as born in Catalonia, but dwelling at 

 that time in the City of London in the service of the 

 Lady Mary, the king's daughter. In December 1 5 5 1 

 Theydon Bois was granted to Sir Thomas Wroth, one 

 of the four principal gentlemen of the Privy Chamber, 

 for which he was to pay 36/. a year in respect of the 

 knight service due from the manor and also ^^5 1 8/. 3 Ji/. 

 a year at the Court of Augmentations." 



Wroth died in 1573, leaving Theydon Bois to his 

 son Robert, who held it until his death in 1606. His 

 son, another Sir Robert, died in 1614. James, son of 

 the last Sir Robert, was an infant at his facher's death, 

 and died in 1616.'^ In his will Sir Robert provided 

 that Theydon Bois and other estates should be vested 

 in his uncle, brother, and cousin, all named John 

 Wroth, to be sold as they thought fit to pay off his large 

 debts." In 161 6 the manor was accordingly conveyed 

 to Edward Elrington, the owner of the impropriate 

 rectory and the advowson.'* 



Elrington died in 161 8. His heir was his son, 

 another Edward." An Edward Elrington was hold- 

 ing the manor in 1652 but by March 1657 John Smart 

 and two others were being named as lords.'* This con- 

 firms Morant's statement that Elrington sold the manor 



to John Smart about 1656." In 1670 Smart bought 

 out the fee farm rent of j^5 18/. ^^J. reserved in the 

 royal grant of 155 1 for a payment of ^^115 6s. 9</.'' 

 What happened to the other rent of 36/. is not clear. 

 Since it had been connected with the knight service 

 due from the manor it may have lapsed with the aboli- 

 tion of feudal tenures. 



There is no reference to Theydon Bois in John 

 Smart's will, which was proved in 1679," but the 

 manor seems to have passed to his son John Smart who 

 must have died shortly afterwards, for Benjamin Smart, 

 brother of the younger John, in his wiO proved in 

 1684, stated that he and his other brother Joseph 

 acquired the manor under the will of John Smart their 

 brother.*" Benjamin left his moiety to Joseph, who 

 thus held the whole of the manor, apparently until his 

 death in 1702.*' Joseph's son and successor Benjamin 

 was still lord of the manor in 1753.*^ In 1762 the lord 

 of the manor was John Hopkins, who was dead by 

 1773, when his trustees Benjamin Bond and William 

 Jacomb were named as lords. '^ The manor was held 

 in 1783 by Elizabeth Bond, widow, and in 1789 by 

 John Hopkins Dare, then an infant.** 



J. H. Dare died in 1805, leaving his estate in trust 

 for his mother Elizabeth, then wife of John Marma- 

 duke Grafton, and his half-sister Elizabeth Grafton, 

 who were to take the name and arms of Dare. Grafton 

 did so in the same year and died in 18 10. His widow 

 died in 1823 and was succeeded by her daughter, the 

 above Elizabeth, then wife of Robert Westley Hall. 

 R. W. Hall took the name and arms of Dare and died 

 in 1836, being survived for some years by his widow. 

 Their son and successor, Robert Westley Hall Dare, in 

 1853 obtained a private Act of Parliament authorizing 

 the sale of parts of his estate, in order that he might 

 settle in Ireland, his wife's country.*' Theydon Bois, 

 however, remained in the family. R. W. H. Dare died 

 in 1866 and was succeeded by his son Robert Westley 

 Hall Dare who in 1901 sold Theydon Bois to Gerald 

 Buxton. Buxton was succeeded on his death in 1928 

 by his son Lt.-Col. Edward North Buxton.** In 

 1 8 50-1 the Hall Dare estate included 781 acres in 

 Theydon Bois and 47 acres in Loughton.*' 



The Elrington family was settled at Birch Hall in 

 Theydon Bois before they acquired the manor in 1616 

 (see above) and from that date Birch Hall was the 

 manor house. In 1633 Edward Elrington sold 

 Theydon Hall, which must previously have been the 

 manor house, to Frances Muscott, by the name of the 

 site of the manor of Theydon Bois.** This conveyance 

 was accompanied by litigation, as Thomas Smith 

 claimed that Elrington had concluded a bargain with 

 him.*' In 1644 Frances Muscott settled Theydon 

 Hall upon her daughter Charity, wife of George 

 Duncombe.'o The estate was subsequently owned by 

 George Meggott, certainly by 1680 when he claimed 

 tithe from certain properties in the parish." His son 

 Robert Meggott married Anne daughter of Gervase 



«' B.M. Cott. MS. Tib. c.Ix f. 196". 



w J.I. 1/1298, m. 66j, </. 



" J.I. 1/1352,11). 2l(l)</. 



" L. Sf P. Hen. VUl, xvi, p. 7 1 5. 



«« E. A. Webb, Rect. of St. Bartholomew's 

 Priory &c. i, 259. 



'» L. & P. Hen. Vlll, xix (i), p. 6+4; 

 P.C.C. 34 Bucke. 



" Ca}. Pat. 1550-3, 188-90. 



" For the Wroths see also Loughton. 



" P.C.C. 60 Lawe. 



1* CP25(2)/295 Mich. 14 Jas. I. 



" C142/369/168. 

 ■"> E.R.O., D/DBx M2. 

 " Morant, Eaex, i, 162. 

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

 " P.C.C. 49 King. 

 80 P.C.C. 81 Hare. 

 8' Morant, Essex^ i, 162. 

 »2 E.R.O., (2/RSg 3; and see below, 

 Charities. 

 «3 Ibid.; E.R.O., D/DBx M7. 

 8« E.R.O., D/DBx M7. 

 »5 Hall Dare's Estate Act 16 & 17 Vict. 



(1853), c. 8 (priv. act). All the above 

 details in this paragraph are from the pre- 

 amble to the Act, or from Burke, Land. 

 Gent. (1871), 564-5. 



86 Burke, LanJ. Gent. (1937), 2568; 

 Burke, Peerage (193 1), 435; St. Mary's, 

 Theydon Bois (pamphlet). 



" E.R.O., D/CT 349, 225. 



«8 CP25(2)/4i6 Mich. 9 Chas. I. 



8» C2 Chas. I, S. 100/36, 37. 



«» C142/777/96. 



«' Ei 34/30 Chas. II East. 8. 



252 



