Parishes: Waldershare

WALDERSHARE

Is the next parish southward from Betshanger lastdescribed, being written in the book of Domesday, Walwaresere, and in some other antient records, both Walworthshire, and Walwareshare, taking its name most probably from the worlds, or open downs, among which it is situated. A borsholder is appointed for this parish, including the district of Apulton, at the court leet of Waldershare manor.

THIS PARISH is situated in a healthy country, among the high hills near the eastern boundary of the county, next the sea, from which it is distant about five miles, and near as many from Dover. It lies about a mile and an half northward of the great London road, and extends about two miles from north to south, but it is very narrow across the other way. It contains in the whole about 1000 acres of land, the rents of which are about 600l. per annum. The whole parish belongs to the earl of Guildford, except ing Southwood and Heasleden down; London close, part of Linacre court, and Appleton. There are eight houses in it, besides one in the district of Appleton, which is entirely separated from the rest of it by the parishes of Norborne and West Langdon intervening, as has been already noticed. In the southern part of it is Waldershare park, well cloathed with trees, having the house in the vale nearly in the centre, and the belvidere at the south-west corner, on high ground, with a beautiful prospect from it, the whole of it stands much in need of modern taste and improvements. The church is situated near the middle of the eastern side of the parish. At the northern boundary is Malmains farm, (the antient mansion of that family in this parish, though now only a mean farm-house, belonging to the earl of Guildford) and an open uninclosed down, called Maimage down, corruptly for Malmains down. The country here has much the same face and soil as those of the neighbouring parishes, a wild and mountainous aspect, and a poor chalky soil. There is a fair held here on WhitTuesday yearly, for toys and pedlary.

WALDERSHARE, at the time of taking the survey of Domesday, in the 15th year of the Conqueror's reign, was part of the possessions of Odo, bishop of Baieux, the king's half-brother, of whom it was held by Ralph de Curbespine; accordingly it is thus entered in that record, under the general title of the bishop's lands:

In Estrei bundred. Ralph de Curbespine bolds of the bishop two sulings in Walwaresere. The arable land is . . . . In demesne there is one carucate and an half, and fourteen villeins, with two carucates and an half. Of this land, Robert has half a suling, and one carucate there. In the time of king Edward the Confessor, it was worth seven pounds and ten shillings, and afterwards fifty shillings, now seven pounds. Wluuard held it of king Edward.

Four years afterwards the bishop was disgraced, and all his possessions were consiscated to the crown; soon after which, upon the king's new arrangement of Dover castle, this manor, among other lands, was assigned to Gilbert Magminot, for his assistance in the defence of it, and together made up the barony of Magminot, being held by barony of Dover castle, by the service of performing ward there from time to time.

Of the Magminots, and their descendants the Sayes, the chief lords of the seignory, this manor was again held by the family of Malmaines, of eminent account in these parts, who were possessed of manors called after them, in Alkham, Pluckley, and Stoke; their residence in this parish likewise being called by their name. John de Malmalnes is recorded in the Battle abbey roll, as having accompanied the Conqueror to England, and to have been present at the battle of Hastings, being standard-bearer to the Norman footmen. From him descended the several branches of this family seated in different parts of this county, who were many of them men eminent for the offices of trust and honour, which they at different times held. They bore for their arms, Ermine, on a chief, gules, three right hands couped, argent; which shield is carved in stone in several places on the roof of the cloysters of Canterbury cathedral. Several of this family lie buried in the Grey Friars church, in London. From the permanency of them here, not only their mansion in this parish acquired the name of Malmaines, (fn. 1) but the manor itself became stiled in records, WALDER SHARE, alias MALMAINES.

From John de Malmaines above-mentioned, who first held this manor in the reign of the Conqueror, it descended down to Henry Malmaines, esq. of Waldershare, who died possessed of it in the 46th year of king Edward III. leaving an only daughter and heir Alice, but it seems she inherited only a part of this manor and estate, which she carried in marriage to Henry Holland, of Solton, near Dover, and he died possessed of her interest in it, in the 19th year of king Richard II. leaving Jane his daughter and heir, married to Thomas Goldwell, of Godington, in Great Chart, who entitled her husband to it, and from him it descended down to his grandson of the same name, who, about the beginning of king Henry VI.'s reign, alienated his part of it to John Monins, esq. who had before become possessed of the other part of this manor, by his marriage with the daughter and heir of Colby, who inherited this estate in right of his wife, daughter and heir of Thomas, son of John Malmaines, of Stoke, who was related to Henry Malmaines before-mentioned, on whose death in 46 Edward III. it descended to him, so that he became then possessed of the whole of this manor.

John Monins, or Monyn, as the name was sometimes spelt in antient deeds, was descended from Sir Simon de Monyn, of the castle of Mayon, in Normandy, who attended William the Conqueror in his expedition into England, and bore for his arms, Gules, three crescents, or, the coat-armour of his descendant at this time. John Monins, esq. afterwards resided at Waldershare, where he built a new mansion, about a mile south-eastward from the antient house of Malmaines, in which he afterwards resided, as did his descendants down to Sir William Monins, of Waldershare, who was created a baronet in 1611. He died in 1643, and was succeeded in title and estate by his eldest son Sir Edward Monins, bart. of Waldershare, who served the office of sheriff in the 21st year of king Charles I. and died possessed of this manor and estate in 1663, leaving five daughters his coheirs. On his death, this manor and seat devolved on his two eldest daughters and coheirs, Susan, married to Peregrine Bertie, second son of Montague, earl of Lindsey; and Jane to John, son and heir of Sir Norton Knatchbull, bart. the former of whom left two daughters and coheirs, Mary, married first to Anthony Henley, esq. of the Grange, in Hampshire, father of the lord chancellor, earl of Northington; and secondly, to Henry Bertie, third son of James, earl of Abingdon; and Bridget to John, lord Powlet, afterwards created earl Powlet. On the death of Susan, the eldest daughter and coheir above-mentioned, late wife of Peregrine Bertie, deceased, who seems at her death to have been possessed of the whole of this manor and estate, it became vested in her heirs and trustees, for the use of her two daughters and coheirs, and they, in the reign of king William and queen Mary, joined in the sale of it to Sir Henry Furnese, bart. of Waldershare, who rebuilt this seat, after a design, as it is said, of Inigo Jones, and inclosed a park round it, which he planted in an elegant manner with avenues, according to the taste of that time.

Sir Henry Furnese was the eldest son of Henry Furnele, of Sandwich. His next brother, George Furnese, was in the East-India Company's service, whose son Henry Furnese was of Gunnersbury house. He died in 1712, leaving by his first wife Anne, daughter of Robert Brough, esq. one son Sir Robert Furnese, bart. His second wife was Matilda, widow of Anthony Balam, esq. by whom he had a daughter Matilda, married to Richard Edgcumbe, afterwards created lord Edgcumbe.

Sir Henry Furnese, the eldest son, became a capital merchant, and by his industry and abilities rose to eminence, wealth, and honours. Being always active, and zealous in support of the Revolution, he was favourably distinguished by king William, and the Whigs in general, and the ministry patronizing him, it gave him weight and consequence, and served to enable him in the various branches of trade which he carried on, the more speedily to acquire those riches which he afterwards accumulated. He served the office of sheriff of London in 1701, and was in 1707 created a baronet. At his death he bequeathed a handsome legacy for charitable uses to the several parishes in Sandwich, as may be further seen in the description of that town. He bore for his arms, Argent, a talbot bound, seiant, within a bordure, sable

Sir Robert Furnese, bart. his son, resided here, and died possessed of this manor and seat in 1733, being at that time knight of the shire for this county. He had been three times married, first to Anne, daughter of Anthony Ealam, esq. by whom he had a daughter Anne, who married the hon. John St. John, second but at length only surviving son of Henry, viscount St. John, and after his death lord viscount St. John; Sir Robert married secondly, the hon. Arabella Watson, one of the daughters of Lewis, lord, afterwards earl of Rockingham, by whom he had Henry, his successor in title and estates; and Catherine, afterwards married to Lewis, earl of Rockingham; lastly, he married lady Anne Shirley, daughter of Robert Shirley, earl Ferrers, by whom he left an only surviving daughter Selina, married to Edward Dering, afterwards Sir Edward Dering, bart. Sir Henry Furnese, bart. survived his father but a short time, dying abroad in 1735, under age, and unmarried, and this, among the rest of his estates, by virtue of the limitations in his grandfather's will, became vested in his three sisters, as the daughters and coheirs of his father Sir Robert Furnese, in equal shares and proportions, in coparcenary in tail general. After which, by a decree of the court of chancery, at the instance of the parties, anno 9 king George II. a writ of partition was agreed to, which was confirmed by an act passed specially for this purpose next year, by which this manor and seat, with Malmaines and other premises in this parish, were allotted to Catherine, wife of Lewis, earl of Rockingham, who died s.p. in 1745, leaving her surviving, who then became possessed of this estate again in her own right. She afterwards married Francis, earl of Guildford, by whom she had no issue, and dying in 1766, devised it, among the rest of hereestates, to her surviving husband, who died in 1790, and was buried at Wroxton, in Oxfordshire, beside the countess his late wife. He was the only surviving son of Francis, lord Guildford, and by the death of William, lord North and Grey, succeeded as his heir to the former of those titles, the latter becoming extinct, bearing the title of. Lord North and Guildford; and on April 8, 1752, he was further advanced to the title of Earl of Guildford, in Surry. He married first Lucy, daughter of George, earl of Halifax, by whom he had Frederick, who became his heir; his second wife was Elizabeth, relict of George, viscount Lewisham, by whom he had two daughters, whom he survived, one of whom, Louisa, married to John Peyto, lord Willoughby de Broke; and a son Brownlow, now lord bishop of Winchester, who married Miss Banister. He married thirdly, Katherine, Countess of Rockingham, as above mentioned, who died s.p. Upon the earl of Guildford's death in 1790, in his 87th year, he was succeeded in titles and estate by his eldest son Frederick, lord North, and knight of the garter, who became (the second) earl of Guildford, a nobleman well known as having continued the prime minister of this country during the late unhappy American war. He died in 1792, in London, being at that time lordwarden of the cinque ports and constable of Dover castle, lord lieutenant and custos rotulorum of Somersetshire, chancellor of the university of Oxford, recorder of Gloucester and Taunton, &c. He was buried in the family vault at Wroxton; the whole university attending the funeral procession with great solemnity as it passed through Oxford. His Lordship married Anne, daughter of George Speke, esq. of Dillington, in Somersetshire, by whom he left three sons and three daughters; the former were, George-Augustus, Frederick, and Francis; the latter were Caroline, the eldest, married to Sylvester Douglas, esq. and Anne and Charlotte who are unmarried. The eldest son, GeorgeAugustus, succeeded him in title, and in this estate and seat of Waldershare, being the present right hon. the earl of Guildford, who first married Miss Hobart, daughter of the earl of Buckinghamshire. She died in 1794, leaving only an infant daughter Maria.—He married secondly, in 1796, the daughter of Mr. Thomas Coutts, banker, of London, by whom he has two daughters.

In the house of Waldershare was a portrait of Sir Robert Furnese, by Carlo Maretti, painted at Rome, and there is now a portrait of him there, marked F. T. his hand resting on a book, intitled Monumenta Romana. There are there likewise two family pictures by Sir Godfrey Kneller; the one of Sir Robert Furnese with his first wife and their daughter; the other of Sir Robert and his second wife, with their son Henry and daughter Catherine. (fn. 2)

A court leet and court baron is held for this manor of Waldershare.

The earl of Guildford bears for his arms, Azure, a lion passant, or, between three fleurs de lis, argent. For his supporters, Two dragons, sable, scaled, ducally gorged and chained, or; and for his crest, on a wreath of its colours— A dragon's head erased, sable, scaled, ducally gorged and chained, or. Motto, La vertue est la senle noblesse.

APULTON is a district esteemed to be within this parish, though separated from the rest of it by a part of the parishes of Norborne and West Langdon in tervening. It is situated northward from the other part of Waldershare, and appears by the survey of Domesday to have been at that time part of the possessions of Odo, bishop of Baieux, under the general title of whose lands it is thus entered in it:

The same Ralph (de Curbespine) holds of the bishop, Apletone. It was taxed at one suling. The arable land is . . . . . In demesne there are two carucates, with six borderers. In the time of king Edward the Consessor, it was worth one hundred shillings, and afterwards ten shillings, now forty shillings. Ascored held, it of king Edward.

Four years after the taking of the above survey, the bishop of Baieux was disgraced, and all his possessions were confiscated to the crown; soon after which, both these manors were granted by the king to Gil bert Magminot, for his assistance in the defence of Dover castle, being held by the service of ward to it, and with other lands made up the barony of Magminot. Of the family of Magminot and their heirs, these manors were again held by the eminent family of Malmains, who continued in the possession of them, down to Henry Malmains who joining with Simon, earl of Leicester, in rebellion against king Henry III. would have forfeited all his lands, had not the abbot of the adjoining monastery of Langdon interceded for him and gained his pardon; for which service his descendant, Sir John Malmains, through gratitude, gave the two manors of Apleton and Southwold, by his will, after the death of Lora his wife, who held them in dower, to the above-mentioned monastery, (fn. 3) and they both continued in the abbot's possession till the Ist year of king Richard III. when the abbot exchanged Southwood with Robert Monins, esq. for other lands elsewhere; but Appleton was, on the suppression of the abbey, in the 27th year of king Henry VIII surrendered into the hands of the crown, together with the rest of the possessions of the monastery; and the king seized on Southwood, then in the possession of Edward Monins, esq. as part of them, and unjustly alienated from it, and afterwards granted both Apleton and Southwold, among other premises, in his 29th year, to the archbishop of Canterbury, who in the Ist year of queen Elizabeth exchanged Appleton again with the crown, but he retained Southwood, which has ever since continued part of the possessions of that see, and remains so at this time.

BUT THE MANOR OF APPLETON, or Appulton, as it is sometimes written, was afterwards granted to Sir Edwin Sandys, of Northborne, in whose descendants it continued, till it was at length passed away to Wickenden; and Robert Wickenden, gent. of Dover, died possessed of it in 1686, and by his will gave it to his son of the same name, whose descendant Mr. Nicholas Wickenden, of the same place, dying without issue about sixty years ago, devised it to his servants, who sold it to Mr. Samuel Billingsley, of London, whose widow marrying Richard Crickett, esq. entitled him to the possession of it, and he continues the present owner. There is not any court held for this manor.

There are no parochial charities. The poor constantly maintained are about six, casually four.

THIS PARISH is within the ECCLESIASTICAL JURISDICTION of the diocese of Canterbury, and deanry of Sandwich.

The church, which is dedicated to All Saints, is a small mean building, consisting of a body and chancel, having a wooden turret at the west end, in which hangs one bell. It is almost overgrown with ivy. There are two additional buildings on each side the chancel, each of which communicates with the church by a door broken through the walls of it. That on the north side has in it a most magnisicent pyramidical monument, erected by Sir Robert Furnese, bart. in memory of his father Sir Henry Furnese. Four female figures, in white marble, as large as life, support the bale; on the four sides of which are inscriptions to the memories of Sir Robert his father, his sister Matilda, his three wives, his son Henry, and his daughters Anne and Catherine, all buried here; the whole finely executed by Mr. Greene, of Camberwell. In the building, on the south side, is a large altartomb, on which are the figures of a man and woman, made out of all proportion, and conspicuously absurd, and an inscription to the memory of the honorable Susan Bertie, fourth daughter and coheir of Sir Edw. Monins, bart. of Waldershare, and wife to the hon. Peregrine Bertie. Over it are banners, pendants, &c. In the chancel, against the south wall, is a monument for Sir Edward Monins, and Elizabeth his wife, obt. 1602; also for Sir William Monins, bart. of Waldershare, his son and heir, obt. 1642; and for his wife Jane, daughter of Roger Twysden, esq. of Roydonhall, in Peckham, in Kent, obt. 1640, and two of their children. Near it are two grave-stones, pointing out the burying-places of Sir William Monins and his wife, lady Jane; and for Edward, eldest son of Sir Edward Monins, bart. obt. 1640. In the east window are painted several female figures, which seem singularly indecent, at any rate very improper, for the place. In the body is a memorial for Laurence Wright, A. M. vicar of this parish and Elmsted, obt. 1707; arms, A chevron, between three batchets. A memorial for Robert Greenall, A. M. late vicar of this parish and rector of Blackmanstone, and curate of Nonington and Wimlingswold, obt. 1770.

The church of Waldershare was antiently appendant to the manor, and continued so, till one of the family of Malmaines gave it to the neighbouring abbey of West Langdon, to which it was appropriated by archbishop Walter Reynolds, in the 16th year of Edward II (fn. 4) In which state it continued till the suppression of that monastery, in the 27th year of king Henry VIII. when it came with the rest of the possessions of it, into the king's hands, whence this appropriation, together with the advowson of the vicarage, was afterwards granted to the archbishop of Canterbury, part of whose possessions it continues at this time. The appropriation is demised on a beneficial lease. The Monins's were formerly lesses of it, afterwards the Furneses, and now the earl of Guildford.

In the time of king Edward III. there were of the endowment of this church, one messuage, one garden, and nine acres of arable. It is valued in the king's books at 5l. 8s. but is now a discharged living, of the clear yearly value of twenty-five pounds.

In 1588 here were thirty-three communicants. In 1640 here were the like number, and it was valued at thirty-eight pounds. Archbishop Juxon augmented this vicarage twenty pounds per annum, anno 14 king Charles II. There is no vicarage house, and only one acre of glebe land, adjoining to the church-yard; but by the king's books it appears there were formerly two acres.

Church of Waldershare.