EDWINSTREE HUNDRED 



MUCH HADHAM 



More of Moor Place. 

 Argent sprinkled 'with 

 drops of blood two cheve- 

 rons gules. 



Hadham in the 15th century. Towards the end 

 of this century John Threscher and Robert More 

 enfeoffed various trustees of 

 lands in Hadham called 

 ' Mores.' These lands in- 

 cluded in 1488 a messuage, 

 100 acres of arable land, 6 

 acres of meadow and 6 acres 

 of wood. After the death of 

 some of the feoifees the re- 

 mainder enfeoffed one of their 

 number Thomas Gierke and 

 his wife Elizabeth of these 

 lands. Thomas Gierke was 

 holding in 1488,*" and after- 

 wards mortgaged them to 

 James Songer.^' At the begin- 

 ning of the 1 6th century the 



property called ' Mores ' was held by Sir John Ghamp- 

 neys, kt., from whom it was purchased by John 

 Haynes the elder in trust for Mary Dalton, widow. 

 In 1550 John Haynes brought a suit against Mary 

 Dalton claiming 10 acres of land belonging to her 

 son Eldred Dalton on account of this transaction.'^ 



Moor Place remained with the Daltons until about 

 1620,'' when they sold it to Edward Nevill Lord 

 Bergavenny.'* He died in 1622.'' His son Henry 

 was living in Hadham as late as 1641.'^ The estate 

 was acquired soon afterwards by Sir John Gore, kt.,'' 

 who in 1648 settled the capital messuage called 

 Moor Place and the inclosed land called Hadham 

 Park in which it stood, described as heretofore in 

 the occupation of Sir Gerard Harvey and at that 

 time his own residence, on himself and his wife 

 Katherine in tail-male.'* About two years later he 

 conveyed it to Sir Richard Atkins," who is said to 

 have made a small park on the estate.*" He was 

 created a baronet in 1660.^^ He died in 1689,^^ 

 and Moor Place was sold either before or after his 

 death to James Bemers, who died in 1692.*' The 

 estate was afterwards conveyed by William Berners 

 to Robert Atkins.^ In 1 742 Robert Atkins conveyed 

 Moor Place to William Mills to be sold for payment 

 of his debts.*' Lands included in this conveyance 

 were Hunts Wood, Small Gains Pasture, Langley 

 Field, Mappleton Garden, Herringley, a farm called 

 Palmers, and Newdose Brested.** Moor Place was 

 purchased by James Gordon in 1749. He died in 

 1768, and by the terms of his will it passed to his 

 nephew James Brebner, who took the name of 

 Gordon in 1769. It descended to his son James 

 Gordon and afterwards to James Adam Gordon, who 

 died about 1854. In i860 Moor Place was acquired 

 by Money Wigram,*' and in 1885 it passed to 

 Mr. F. H . Norman, the present owner. 



The present house called Moor Place was built 

 between 1775 and 1779 by James Gordon and is 

 40 or 50 yards north of the site of the original house. 

 Over the entrance is a coat of arms in stone. The 

 stables and some of the walls in the garden are 

 believed to have belonged to the earlier house. 



The capital messuage or farm called OLD HALL 

 formed part of the property of Gertrude Marchioness 

 of Exeter, one of the heirs of Sir William Say, and 

 after her attainder in 1539** was granted by the 

 king in 1546 to Sir Richard Lee.*' It was then in 

 the tenure of John Rawlyn.'* The following year 

 Lee granted his manor of Bigging in Standon to 

 Glement Newce, and the grant included lands in 

 Much Hadham ''^ which may probably be identified 

 with Old Hall. Glement Newce was confirmed in 

 his possession of a tenement in Much Hadham by a 

 grant from some of the heirs of Sir William Say in 

 1 575.'^ In 1579 he died seised of the capital mes- 

 suage called Old Hall, then in the occupation of 

 William More.'' His heir was his son William 

 Newce. Old Hall afterwards came into the posses- 

 sion of Mark Mott, who settled it on his son Mark 

 Mott, D.D., on the occasion of his marriage with 

 Mercy Dyke, widow. This family also held a mes- 

 suage in Much Hadham called Watkyns Farm. 

 Dr. Mark Mott, who died in January 1630-1, 

 bequeathed half of his lands to his second son Mark 

 and half to another son, Francis. Mark Mott was 

 aged thirteen in 1637, when his lands in Much 

 Hadham were held by his guardians Samuel Wharton 

 and Adrian Mott.'* After this date the descent of 

 this estate cannot be traced. 



Besides the Old Hall estate the Newces had other 

 property in Much Hadham. The first of this family 

 known to have been connected 

 with Hadham is Thomas 

 Newce, who in the reign of 

 Edward VI sold one of the 

 church bells and shared the 

 profits with Sir Henry Parker, 

 kt., and Eldred Dalton." 

 Glement Newce died at Much 

 Hadham in 1579'* and his 

 son William died there in 

 February 1610-11." In 1623 

 Thomas son of William died 

 in occupation of a mansion- 

 house at Much Hadham.'^ 

 This descended to his son 



William, who with his wife Mary and his son Thomas 

 made a settlement of it and other lands in 1648." 

 William Newce was living as late as 1674, when he 

 was acting justice of the peace.*** By 1 678 he had 

 been succeeded by his son Thomas,*' who died before 



Newce of Hadham. 

 Sable two pales argent 

 and a quarter ermine. 



5" Cat, Inq, p,m. Hen, VII, i, 189. 



" Early Chan. Proc. bdle. 89, no. 79. 



" Ct. of Rcq. bdle. 15, no. 25. The 

 property consisted of a capital messuage 

 and 200 acres of land. 



^^ Cussans, op. cit. Edhvinstree Hund, 

 171. M Ibid. 



=* G.E.C. Complete Peerage, s.v. Aber- 

 gavenny. 



*« East Herts. Arch, Soc, Tram, ii, 143. 



" Ibid. 



^ Add. Chart. 3544.6. 



*' East Herts. Arch. Soc. Trans, loc. cit. 

 See Chan. Enr. Decrees, R. 1870, no. 5. 



^ Chauncy, op. cit. 160. 



*1 G.E.C. Complete Baronetage, iii, 39. 



63 Ibid. 



*' East Herts. Arch. Soe. Trans, loc. cit. ; 

 M. I. in church. (See Duchy of Lane. 

 Misc. Bks. Ixxii, fol. 59. A manor of 

 Morehall, said to lie in Hadham, is here 

 returned as being held by Thomas Newce 

 in 1678, but this must refer to the manor 

 of Morehall in Thorley.) 



« Chan. Enr. Decrees, R. 1870, no. ;. 



65 Ibid. 6C Ibid. 



6' Cussans, loc. cit. 



68 G.E.C. Complete Peerage, s.v. Devon. 



69 L, and P. Hen. Fill, xxi (2), g. 648 

 (46). '6 Ibid. 



" Pat. I Edw. VI, pt. viii, m. 8. 

 of. Biggings in Standon, Braughing Hund. 



" See Feet of F. Herts. Mich. 17 & 1 8 

 Eliz. ; Pat. 19 Eliz. pt. iv, m. 25. 



''^ Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), clxxxix, 92, 



^^ Ibid, cccclxxxvii, 164. 



" East Herts. Arch. Soc. Trans, ii, 139. 



'6 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), clxxxix, 92. 



'^ Ibid, dxxvii, 99. 



'6 Ibid, ccccxxix, 131. 



" Com. Pleas D. Enr. East. 24 Chas. I, 

 m. 31. 



80 Sess. R. (Herts. Co. Rec), i, 245. 



81 Duchy of Lane. Misc. Bks. Ixxii, 

 fol. 59 (see note 63). 



(>z 



