HERTFORD HUNDRED 



of the 17th century belonged to Henry Darnall, who 

 died in 1607. 9 His wile was Marie daughter of 

 William Tooke (second son of William Tooke, lord 

 of the manor of Essendon), one of a Hertfordshire 

 family of whom several members are buried in 

 Essendon Church. Early in the 19th century Bird's 

 Place was the seat of the Clitherow family. Chris- 

 topher Clitherow died in 1807, 10 and Bird's Place 

 came soon after to Robert Parnther, who lived there 

 and who died in 1822. His daughter Isabella 

 married John Currie of Bedwell Park." 



In the south-west of the parish is Camfield Place, 

 which took its name from a family of Camvile or 

 Canvile, who were holding lands in Essendon from 

 the 13th to the 15th century (see below under Bed- 

 well Lowthes)." In 1601 the estate was sold by Sir 

 Edward Denny to William Brocket t, 11 ' 1 who in 161 1 

 died seised of a messuage, mansion-house and farm 

 called Camfield which he held by knight service of the 

 king in chief ' by gift and grant of Edward now Lord 

 Denny and Lady Mary his wife.'" In i6i8WilIiam 

 Brocket., his son, sold Camfield to William Priestley, 

 who died seised of it in 1622," and whose son William 

 acquired the manor of Bedwell Lowthes in 1627. 

 Camfield Place was then held with Bedwell Lowthes, 

 and was the seat of the Browne family, and was bought 

 in 1832 by Thomas Robert fourth Baron Dimsdale 

 (see above). It is at present the property and residence 

 of Mr. F. V. McConnell. 



The house called Wild Hill is just within the 

 parish of Hatfield, but the estate is generally spoken of 

 as lying within the parish of Essendon. In the 15th 

 century the 'hamlet of Wyldehelle ' in the parish of 

 Essendon is mentioned, 15 and the names ' Wyldegrene' 

 and 'Wildefeld' also occur, both lying in Essendon. 16 

 The Priest! eys, lords of the manor of Bedwell Lowthes, 

 lived here in the 17th and i 8th centuries." There 

 is a homestead moat near Coldharbour Farm. 



Amongst the place-names which occur in the parish 

 are the following : Panther's Wood, Hoppett's Wood, 

 Poundfield Wood, Gobonescroft and Frydayfelde. 



There is no railway station in the parish ; the 

 nearest stations are Cole Green, 2 miles to the 

 north on the Hertford and Hatfield branch line, 

 and Hatfield, lying 4 miles west on the main line 

 of the Great Northern railway. 



Wulsin, 'a great and wealthy man,' 

 MANORS is said to have given ESSENDON to the 

 monks of St. Albans, 19 probably during 

 the 10th century,' but there is no evidence of the 

 date. There is, however, no further trace of the 

 monastery holding land there. No mention is made 

 of Essendon in the Domesday Survey, but from its 

 subsequent history it was probably then included in 

 the royal manor of Bayford. It was probably in- 

 cluded with the manor of Bayford in the grant to 



ESSENDON 



Peter de Valognes, 1 " as the Empress Maud confirmed 

 it to Roger son of Peter." It appears, however, to 

 have reverted to the Crown (see Bayford). In 

 1214, 1218, and succeeding years Essendon was 

 tallaged as part of the king's demesnes," and in 1228 

 the men of Essendon and li.iy ford successfully asserted 

 their claim to pay no share of a fine which had been 

 assessed on the county as a whole.'* The manor 

 appears to have been, as a general rule, held at farm 

 by the warden of the castle of Hertford. For these 

 grants at farm see Bayford, with whose history that 

 of Essendon is identical for about the next three 



In 1489 Henry VII leased the site of the manor, 

 with the fishery and water-mill, to Sir William Say 

 for ten years.' 1 Henry VIII granted Essendon in 

 1545 to Giles Bridges, citizen and wool merchant 

 of London, and Thomas Harris in fee simple, with 

 all the manorial rights,' 4 but it again reverted to 

 the Crown, for in the same year the king granted it 

 to Sir Robert Southwell, Master of the Rolls, and 

 his wife Margaret." In the same year Sir Robert 

 and Margaret Southwell exchanged it with the Crown 

 for other manors. ,s In 1547 Edward VI granted 

 Essendon with its appurtenances to Sir William 

 Paulet Lord St. John to hold in chief for one- 

 tenth of a knight's fee," and a few months later 

 Sir William Paulet received 

 licence to alienate it to William 

 Tooke, Auditor of the Court 

 of Wards, and his heirs. " s 

 William Tooke died in 158S, 

 having settled the manor of 

 Essendon on his son William 

 in consideration of the mar- 

 riage of the latter with Mary 

 Tichborne." Until the middle 

 of the 17th century the manor 

 remained with the descendants Tooke. Pany cheve- 



of William Tooke. 10 It was ™»«« mbU and aFg m,i 

 probably sold by Ralph Tooke ^7£i£™wtT"'' 

 to John Middleton, serjeant- 

 at-arms, who in 1 666 peti- 

 tioned for the restoration of his 'setting dog taken 

 from him with affronting language' by Viscount 

 Cranborne, and who is described in the petition as 

 being seised of the manor of Essendon. sl He was 

 probably the 'John Middleton of Essendon, esq.,' 

 who in 1665 was presented with others at quarter 

 sessions for 'riotous assembly and entry into the close 

 of Richard Pooley at Essendon and stealing firewood 

 the property of Lancelot Stavesley, esq.*" In 1682 

 the manor was acquired from the Middleton family 

 by T. Lechmere and J. Stanley, who the next year 

 conveyed it to the Earl of Salisbury. 21,1 It remained 

 in the hands of the Cecil family," and the Marquess 



(S> 



9 M. I. in church ; Chan. Inq. p.m 



:r. z), cccc*, 42. 



,u M. I. in church. 



11 Ibid. 



11 AncL D. (P.R.O.), A 5248 ; E 373S 



"35, S+°8. 



""FeetofF. Herts. Hit. 43 E.iz. 



'» Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), cccxvi, z S 



"Close, 16 Jaa. I, pt . xviii, no. 3S 



lan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. i), ccclxxxv, 34. 



ls Anct. D. (P.R.O.), B 144.5; ae 



for an earlier occurrence of the nam 



d. B 144.8. 



:. 1 Edw. VI, pL. 

 d. pt. i, m. 42. 



1.36. 



F. Her 



Mich. 36 & 37 



.»),<: 



**C*i. Chit, .227-31, p. 29. 



23 Duchy of Lane. Misc. Ilka, uxi, 

 fol. 171. 



■" Ibid. xsii, fol. 19S. 



" Close, 36 Hen. VIII, pt. v, no. 26. 



K Feet ofF. Herts. East. 36 Hen. VIII; 

 L.andP. Htn. VUl,x* (1), g. 282 (10). 



=" Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser 

 zedxix, 149; cccc, 6; ; ccccxcviii, 10. 

 11 Cat. .V. P. Bam. 1666-7, P- '7'- 

 S2 Seis. H. (Herts. Co. Rec), i, 173. 

 ™* Information from Mr. R. T. Gui 



3S Recov. R. Hil. 

 East. 9 Geo, II, 

 Geo. IV, rot. 223. 



7 An, 



