278 parish of otterham. 



Family History. 



So far as we know, the only family of gentry ever 

 permanently resident in the parish, was that of French, which was 

 settled at Smallhill as early as the beginning of the 17th 

 century. Unfortunately the Parish Eegisters only commence in 

 1687, and they do not aid us much in the compiling a pedigree 

 of that family. We find, however, that in the 14th of Elizabeth, 

 William ffrench paid the lay subsidy, on goods in Otterham on 

 £9, being the highest lay subsidy in the parish. In the 22 

 James John ffrench paid on goods £11, Eoll -^-q. John ffrench 

 22 James -^, and in 17 Charles, William ffrench, gent., paid £2 

 on lands Id. -^^. There are numerous entries of the name. 

 Among them the prevailing christian name is Abel, which 

 renders the descent very confusing without the aid of deeds and 

 wills, which are not at present accessible to us. 



Over the principal entrance to the house there is an 

 escutcheon of arms, but it is so thickly covered with lime-wash 

 that the charges cannot be very clearly defined, but see post 

 page 276. 



In the early part of the present century, the heiress of the 



family of French married Chichester, and in 1841, when 



the tithes were commuted, Robert Chichester, Esq., is stated to 

 be the owner of Smallhill, and it still remains vested in that 

 family. 



At the end of the 17th century and beginning of the 18th, 

 another family of some local repute resided at Kernick in this 

 parish. Peter Prest was buried in 1710, and the name continued 

 on the registers until close upon the end of the century. 



At the time the foregoing notes were taken, an effort was 

 being made by the Eector to raise funds for the purpose of 

 putting the ancient church into thorough repair for divine 

 worship, for which plans and estimate had been obtained from 

 the well-known architect, Mr. J. P. St. Aubyn, of London, for 

 the purpose of executing the work. To Mr. St. Aubyn's courtesy 

 we are much indebted, as we have been on many former occasions 

 in like circumstances, for the plan and elevation of the then church 

 prepared for this work. At this juncture, however, Mr. Eundle 



