286 



The Descent of the Manor of Stockton. 



Company on April 24th, 1556, by apprenticeship to Henry Suckley, 

 and entered into partnership with a worthy Freeman, one John Toppe 

 (Warden in 1580-4, Master in 1587), against whom he appears to 

 have instituted a suit in the Lord Mayor's Court in or about 1573/ 

 which was ultimately settled by the award of Walter Fish (the 

 Master), acting with the Wardens, on November 23rd, 1573. Like 

 an ill-conditioned fellow, as he probably was, Eden went to the Star 

 Chamber on bill, alleging against Walter Fish and his colleagues 

 perjury and divers other misdemeanors, of which the court held that 

 there was no proof at all, but on the contrary that the Master and 

 Wardens had acted simply and plainly with the parties' full consent, 

 and without any manner of corruption or suspicion, and the case 

 was dismissed with costs/' 



Another entry is found, by which we learn that: — "On 11th 

 July, 1588, the late Master (John Toppe) gave the house £100 

 towards the new skreen in the Hall/' 



It further appears that a J ohn Topp was apprenticed to the above I 

 —he took up the freedom by servitude on 24th November, 1587. 1 j 

 This second John Topp was never a member of the court of the! | 

 company. He was, in all probability, a son of the purchaser of the 

 manor, and might have been the builder of Stockton House. From j j 

 the parish registers of Stockton it seems that the Topps had a cus- | 

 torn of giving the name of John to more than one living member j 

 of the same family. They seem to have continued their connection [ i 

 with the City of London, as we find in the " Merchant Taylors ! 

 School Register" the name of John Topp entered on the 11th f 

 March, 1694-5 — he having been born 15th December, 1682. 



The subsequent history of the Topp family is fully given by Mr. ! J 

 Miles and Sir R. C. Hoare. Besides building the picturesque! 

 mansion at Stockton they founded and endowed the still-existing I 

 almshouse there. The Topps held the manor until about the middle ! 

 of the last century, when it passed into the possession of the Biggs I 

 family. The present owner is Colonel Yeatman Biggs. 



