ONGAR HUNDRED 



THEYDON GARNON 



disposal of his estates after Cecily's death. Gaynes 

 Park, Hemnalls, and Madells were to pass to the king 

 for ten years, and then to William, Lord Willoughby, 

 and his heirs for his purparty as one of the heirs of 

 Lionel, Lord Welles." Cecily died in 1507, holding 

 the manor of Gaynes Park of the manor of Theydon 

 Garnon by fealty, a rent of 6/., and i lb. pepper. 

 Gaynes Park was then said to contain 3 messuages, 

 200 acres of land, 40 acres of meadow, 350 acres of 

 pasture, 250 acres of wood, and j^^io i6s. 6\d. rent in 

 Theydon Garnon and 6 acres of meadow in Theydon 

 Bois, valued at a total of ^^14 14/. 30'.'^ 



In April 1 508 Lord Willoughby sold Gaynes Park, 

 Hemnalls, and Madells to William Fitzwilliam, 

 alderman of London, at the same time covenanting that 

 he would prosecute the manors out of the king's hands 

 and that he would acquit the king of the interest which 

 he had in them under the Act of 1503. In default he 

 was to allow Fitzwilliam a rebate of 50 marks for each 

 year that the properties remained in the king's hands. 

 In June 1 508 the parties agreed that Fitzwilliam should 

 undertake these proceedings in return for an abatement 

 of 460 marks in the purchase money.'3 In September 

 1508 the king released his interest in the properties to 

 Lord Willoughby and licensed him to enter upon them 

 without proof of age.''* The conveyance to Fitzwilliam 

 presumably became effective at once. 



Sir William Fitzwilliam died in 1534 and was suc- 

 ceeded by Sir William his eldest son. "5 In 1543 

 Gaynes Park, Hemnalls, and Madells, together with 

 Marshalls in North Weald (q.v.) were settled on Anne, 

 daughter of Sir William Sidney, at her marriage with 

 Sir William Fitzwilliam's son, another William.'* 

 This William succeeded his father in 1576''' and in 

 1596 settled his Essex estates on his wife for life with 

 remainder to his younger son John and his heirs 

 male.'' Sir William died in ijgg," and his wife in 

 1602.20 



The last named Sir William Fitzwilliam had held 

 the office of vice-treasurer and treasurer at wars in 

 Ireland from 1559 to 1573, and as such had incurred 

 debts to the queen amounting to ^3,964. In 1572 he 

 was pardoned ^^1,000, but by his death only ;^i,l85 

 of the residue had been paid.^' After his widow's 

 death their elder son William became responsible for 

 the debt and this led to a dispute over the ownership 

 of Gaynes Park. By the settlement of 1596 William's 

 younger brother John was heir to Gaynes Park but in 

 1602, soon after Lady Fitzwilliam's death, William 

 seized some of the furnishings and other goods at 

 Gaynes Park and challenged John's title to the manor, 

 going so far as to mortgage the estate to the queen, 

 presumably as a means of repaying the debt to her. 

 William and John brought countercharges against each 

 other for wrongful entry into Gaynes Park and the dis- 



pute was finally brought before the Court of Exchequer. 

 Precise details of the result have not been found, but 

 John certainly gained possession of the Essex estates.^^ 



In 1609 John Fitzwilliam entailed Gaynes Park 

 upon himself, with remainder to his executor for ten 

 years after his death for such purposes as should be 

 declared in his will, or if he left no such declaration, 

 then to the use of Sir Richard Wingfield, son of his 

 father's sister Christiana. At the end of the ten-year 

 period the property was to pass to Sir Richard and his 

 heirs male, with reversion to Nicholas, second son of 

 Sir John Byron of Newstead (Notts.) by his wife 

 Margaret, sister of John. In the deed of settlement 

 John mentioned the dispute with his brother and also 

 the support which he had received from Sir Richard 

 Wingfield.23 In the following year John Fitzwilliam 

 made a new settlement in which he repeated the above 

 provisions, altering only some later remainders.^ 



Fitzwilliam died without issue in 161 2.^' In his 

 will he confirmed the settlement of 16 10, with the 

 additional clause that if Sir Richard Wingfield or who- 

 ever should then be next in tail would undertake to pay 

 his debts and legacies then he should have immediate 

 possession of the properties. 2* Wingfield took advantage 

 of this clause, taking a lease from the executors for the 

 ten years, and settled the manor upon himself and his 

 wife and their heirs male, with remainder to the above 

 Nicholas Byron.^^ Wingfield was created Viscount 

 Powerscourt in 161 8 and died without issue in 1634, 

 having outlived his wife.^s 



Gaynes Park passed to Sir Nicholas Byron. In 1637 

 he agreed with John and Margaret Harrison that the 

 manor should be settled in trust for the use of Harrison 

 but that if Byron paid ,^4,400 at any time within the 

 next seven years the manor was thereafter to be held 

 for his use. In addition Byron was to pay ^^800, to 

 settle a quarter of the manor of South Stoke (Lines.) 

 on Harrison and to release to Harrison two annuities 

 charged upon Gaynes Park for the lives of Byron, his 

 wife and their eldest son William.^' A month after 

 this agreement Byron mortgaged the estate for ^^300 

 to John Fountaine.3o In 1639 he raised a further 

 mortgage of ^200 from Fountaine and in 1642 pledged 

 an annuity of ^^20 out of the estate to secure payment 

 of ;^300 to Anne Beverley.s' He died in 1648, leaving 

 Gaynes Park to his widow Sophia for life, with suc- 

 cessive remainders to his sons William and Ernestus.^^ 

 In 1657, after the death of Sophia and William, 

 Ernestus Byron sold the estate to William Turner for 

 X;3,ooo.33 



The next knowTi owner of Gaynes Park was the 

 Earl of Anglesey (d. 1686), who was holding it in 

 1662.34 It is possible that Turner was acting on his 

 behalf in the above conveyance. The manor ap- 

 parently descended with the earldom of Anglesey until 



" Rot. Pari. (Rec. Com.), vi, 542-4; 

 Statutes of the Realm (Rec. Com.), ii, 

 683-4. 



" Cal. Inq. p.m. hen. VII., iii, p. 270. 



" B.M. Harl. Chart. 55 H. 28; 

 Winstonc, Epfing and Ongar Highway 

 Trust, 287-8. 



'< Cal. Pat. 1494— I J09, 606. Gaynes 

 Park is wrongly indexed in this Cal. under 

 Upminstcr. 



** Burke's Peerage &c., Fitzwilliam. 



" L. &■ P. Hen. Fill, xviii (i), p. 46. 



" Burke's Peerage fe^c, Fitzwilliam. 



" Earl Fitzwilliam (Milton) Deed 1731. 



" Burke's Peerage &c., Fitzwilliam; 

 P.C.C. 63 Kidd. 



*" M.I. in Theydon Garnon church. 



** C66/1627. For Sir William see also 

 p. 289. 



" E134/2 Jas. I Mich. 3i,cf. Ei 33/10/ 

 1 51 3; Earl Fitzwilliam (Milton) Deeds 

 1734, 1738, 1745; E.R.O.,Q/SR 'S8/38. 

 55 and 160/147. 



" E.R.O., D/DB T90. 



" Ibid. 



" Burke's Peerage &c,, Fitzwilliam. 



J« P.C.C. 50 Fenner; cf. E.R.O., D/DB 

 T90. 



" E.R.O., D/DB T90. 



^8 Complete Peerage, x, 636. 



" Contemporary MS. vol. in possession 

 of Mrs. A. D. Bell. Complete Peerage, v. 



520, describes Lord Fitzwilliam (d. 1644) 

 as of Gaynes Park, and states that he sold" 

 the manor in 1636. This is probably a 

 false conclusion drawn from a final con- 

 cord of 1636 by which he released his 

 right in the manor to- John and Margaret 

 Harrison: CP25(2)/4i7 East. 12 Chas. I. 

 Fitzwilliam was the son of William Fitz- 

 william who had tried to seize Gaynes 

 Park in 1602. 



3" MS. vol. in poss. Mrs. A. D. Bell. 



3> Ibid. 



" P.C.C. 176 Essex. 



" MS. vol. in poss. Mrs. A. D. Bell. 



" E.R.O., S/RTh I. 



267 



