A HISTORY OF BUCKINGHAMSHIRE 



DE SCACCARIO. Cheeky 

 argent and azure. 



daughter and co-heiress Catherine married William 

 Hawtrey. 199 In 1286 lands in Ellesborough were 

 conveyed by William Hawtrey, jun., to William 

 Hawtrey, sen., and Katharine his wife. m In 1383 

 William Hawtrey, and in 1422 

 Richard Hawtrey, both appear 

 in charters referring to the 

 manor of Grove." 1 In 1350** 

 and 1439 tos the heir of Henry 

 de Scaccario held a quarter of 

 a knight's fee of the barony 

 of Wolverton, and as late as 

 1544 Thomas Hawtrey died 

 seised of the manor of Che- 

 quers, with land and tene- 

 ments in Ellesborough.' 04 His 

 heir was William his grand- 

 son, 105 son of Thomas Hawtrey and Sibilla daughter 

 and co-heiress of Richard Hampden of Kimble.* 06 

 The son of William Hawtrey died leaving four 

 daughters, of whom the eldest, Mary, married Sir 

 Francis Wolley.*" She probably inherited the manor 

 of Chequers, since a settlement of the manor was 

 made in 1594 s08 by William Hawtrey and Sir 

 John Wolley. Mary died without children,* 09 and 

 the manor passed to her next sister Bridget, the 

 wife of Sir Henry Croke.* 10 His son Sir Robert 

 Croke was certified as a delinquent during the 

 Commonwealth, but he was said to have had no 

 real property in Ellesborough." 1 In 1660, however, 

 he was seised of the manor of Chequers," 8 and on his 

 death in 1680 the manor passed to his daughters. 

 Susan, the eldest, had married Samuel Wall, M.D.,' 15 

 but neither she nor the third sister Isabella had chil- 

 dren, and Mary the second sister obtained the whole 

 estate of Chequers." 4 She married John Thurban, 

 serjeant-at-law, and the manor descended to their 

 daughter Johanna, 215 who married first Colonel John 

 Rivett. Her three sons, of whom the eldest, John 

 Rivett, was a party to a common recovery in I759, 216 

 all died leaving no children, and the manor passed to 

 their sister Mary Johanna, the wife of Colonel Charles 

 Russell."' Their son Sir John Russell, bart., was seised 

 of the manor in I765.' 18 He died in 1783,"' and 

 was succeeded by his two sons John and George in 

 turn, but both died without direct heirs. On the 

 death in 1 804 of Sir George Russell, who had enlarged 

 the estates of his family in the parish of Ellesborough 

 by various purchases, Chequers passed under the 

 will of his father to his aunt, Mary Russell, with 

 remainder to the Rev. John Russell Greenhill. m The 

 latter was a descendant of Elizabeth, the sister of 

 Colonel Charles Russell. 8 The estate, however, was 

 given up by them to Robert Greenhill, the son of 

 John Russell Greenhill, who held it in 1813.'" He 

 took the name of Russell in addition to Greenhill, 

 and was created a baronet in 1831.*" On his death 



in 1837 Chequers passed to Sir Robert Frankland, 

 bart.," 5 a distant kinsman of the Russells. He assumed 

 the name of Russell, by sign manual, and on his death 

 in 1849 left five daughters as his heiresses.'" Chequers 

 came to the youngest, Rosalind, the wife of Colonel 

 Astley,* 17 and she took the additional names of Frank- 

 land-Russell in 1872. On her death in 1900 she 

 was succeeded by her son Bertrand Frankland-Russell- 

 Astley, who was lord of the manor till his death in 

 1904. Chequers is now in the hands of the trustees 

 of his son Henry Frankland-Russell-Astley, a minor. 



Chequers Court is situated in a small valley in a 

 position south-south-east of the parish church. The 

 many small hills by which it is surrounded and the 

 slopes and spurs of the Chilterns forming the park are 

 thickly wooded with beech trees, interspersed with 

 larch, holly, and box. 



The present house dates from the end of the I5th 

 century, but is on the site of an earlier building of 

 which no traces remain. The 15th-century house 

 appears to have consisted of a central block with two 

 projecting wings, the fourth side of the court being 

 probably formed by a wall. In 1565 the house was 

 much altered by Sir William Hawtrey, but the present 

 north and east fronts are apparently a part of the 

 earlier work, though re-decorated. 



The west wing was completely rebuilt by Sir George 

 Russell towards the end of the i8th century, and the 

 south front was at the same time much altered, while 

 both fronts were stuccoed and gothicized in the 

 approved manner of that date. A small wing with a 

 clock tower was added, a little later, at the south- 

 west. Considerable alterations were made during the 

 i gth century, and a good deal of oak panelling is 

 said to have been cleared out. In more recent years, 

 however, the house has been restored to something 

 approaching its original form. The gables which had 

 been battlemented have been restored and the stucco 

 almost completely cleared off. Mullioned windows 

 have also been inserted in place of some of the 1 8th- 

 century sashes and the court has been covered in to 

 form a hall. 



The library is a large gallery occupying the greater 

 part of the west wing, and though altered in the i8th 

 century retains its mullioned windows. Over the 

 bay window appear the Croke arms. Over the 

 drawing-room bay, a part of the 1 6th-century work, 

 appear the Hawtrey arms and the initials A.H. and 

 W.H., with the date 1565. The house contains 

 many pictures of great interest and a large collection 

 of Cromwellian relics, including some of the Protec- 

 tor's clothes, his sword, jack boots, &c., and several 

 contemporary portraits. 



The church of ST. PETER JND ST. 



CHURCH PAUL "" consists of a chancel 30 ft. by 



1 8 ft. with south organ chamber and 



vestry ; a nave 52 ft. by 21 ft. 2 in. with south aisle 



119 Cf. Sir Alexander Croke, Gen. Hist, 

 of the Croke Family , Visitation of Bucks, 

 1566 (ed. Metcalfe). 



200 Feet of F. Div. Co. Mich. 14 & 15 

 Edw. I. 



"M B.M. Add. R. 22213 ; ibid. 7383. 



202 Chan. Inq. p.m. 27 Edw. Ill, pt. I, 

 no. 35. 



Ibid. 17 Hen. VI, no. 38. 



2 " Ibid. (Ser. 2), Ixxiii, no. +. 



405 Ibid. 



* Gen. Hist, of the Croke Family. 



*? Ibid. 



* Feet of F. Bucks. East. 36 Eliz. 



809 Gen. Hist, of the Croke Family. 



810 Feet of F. Bucks. East. 16 Chas. I. 



811 Cat. of Com. for Compounding, i, 

 68. 



818 Recov. R. Bucks. Mich. 12 Chas. II. 



818 Feet of F. Bucks. Trin. 3 Jas. II. 



214 Ibid. Mich. 3 Will, and Mary. 



215 Ibid. Hil. 2 Anne. 



916 Recov. R. East. 32 Geo. I. 



81 ' Berry, Bucks. Pedigrees. 



8 Recov. R. East. 5 Geo. III. 



819 G.E.C. Complete Baronetage. 



336 



220 Lipscomb, Hist, of Bucks, ii, 196. 

 821 Lysons, Magna Brit. \, 555. 



222 Berry, Bucks. Gen. 



223 Lysons, Magna Brit, i, 555. 

 824 G.E.C. Complete Baronetage. 

 125 Burke, Landed Gentry, I 906. 

 836 Ibid. Peerage and Baronetage. 

 Ibid. Landed Gentry, i 906. 



228 In a lawsuit of the time of Edward I 

 the dedication is given as in honour 

 of St, Peter only i De Banco R. 15,. 

 m. 26. 



