Teddington: Manors

MANORS.

It seems likely that in the 11th century TEDDINGTON was a berewick of Staines, (fn. 1) but by the 13th it had become an independent manor. (fn. 2) In the Middle Ages its area, including about 200 acres held by freeholders, probably approximated closely to that of the 19th-century parish. (fn. 3) In 1861, after the common had been parcelled out at the inclosure and on the eve of the break-up of the manor, (fn. 4) there were still only about 430 acres of independent freehold in the parish. (fn. 5) In 1312 the demesne comprised 159 acres of arable, together with 9 acres of meadow and some pasture. (fn. 6) In the later 16th century there were apparently about 100 acres of arable belonging to the manorial estate. (fn. 7) In 1705 the lord of the manor owned 262 acres and in 1800 his successor was allotted 264 acres in respect of his land and common rights together with 219 acres for tithe and manorial rights. (fn. 8)

Westminster Abbey probably acquired Teddington at the same time as Staines, in the reign of Edward the Confessor. Teddington is not named in Edward's writs to the abbey, but it is mentioned as an appurtenance of Staines in the charters forged soon after this date. (fn. 9) Abbot Ralph de Arundel retained Teddington at least for some time after his deposition in 1214, but thereafter it belonged to the convent. (fn. 10) By 1535 it was appropriated to the treasurer. (fn. 11) In 1536 the abbey granted Teddington and other lands to Henry VIII in exchange for properties formerly belonging to Hurley Priory (Berks.). (fn. 12) Teddington became part of the honor of Hampton Court (fn. 13) and even after it had been alienated in 1603 the office of bailiff and collector of Teddington was joined to offices connected with Hampton Court. (fn. 14)

From 1373 the demesnes and rectory were leased by the abbey. The leases were for terms of years and do not seem to have remained in one family. During the 15th century a money rent replaced the barley rents paid under the earlier leases. (fn. 15) In 1518 the abbey leased the demesnes and rectory to Hugh Manning for 30 years and he was in occupation when the king acquired the manor. (fn. 16) By 1545 he had assigned his lease to George Gates (d. 1562), (fn. 17) who secured a new 21-year lease in 1551. In 1567 a 31year lease to take effect after Gates's term was granted to Richard Brown and in 1582 the reversion after Brown's lease was granted to Sir Amias Paulet (d. 1588) (fn. 18) for 40 years. It is not known whether Paulet's lease ever took effect, for in 1603, the year it was due to begin, the freehold of the manor was granted to John Hill, an auditor of the Exchequer. A rent of £8 6s. was reserved to the Crown in addition to the customary obligation by which the lord paid a small annual fee to the curate of Teddington. (fn. 19) The later16th-century lessees seem to have sublet the manor, for between 1574 and 1580 Thomas Newdigate was said to be the farmer of the rectory. (fn. 20) In 1576 he was said to have leased the manorial demesnes to Nicholas Sadler, who had since died, for 21 years. (fn. 21) In 1583 Thomas Hall, in 1586 and 1589 Abraham Hall, and in 1592 and 1598 Thomas Hall, were farmers of the rectory. (fn. 22) The subleasing of the manor probably stopped under the Hill family, who lived in Teddington.

John Hill appears to have been succeeded by William Hill (d. c. 1642), and he by his son William, who seems to have died between 1664 and 1671. (fn. 23) The manor-house and rectory were in the occupation of his widow Alice in 1671 and 1673, and Edward Hill was in possession in 1694. (fn. 24) The lord of the manor, whether or not he was in each case the same man, was called Edward Hill at several dates between 1700 and 1736, (fn. 25) when Teddington was sold to Matthias Perkins, a surgeon of Twickenham. (fn. 26) Between 1738 and 1746 Matthias was succeeded by Tryon Perkins, who was still lord in 1754. (fn. 27) John Perkins was in possession from 1764 until his death in 1794, when the manor passed to George Peters, a director of the Bank of England, to whom Perkins's son had sold his reversionary interest some years before. (fn. 28) Henry Peters succeeded between 1797 and 1800 and sold the manor in 1801 to Thomas Woodrouffe Smith (d. 1811). He was succeeded by his daughter (d. 1854) and her husband George Head, who survived her. (fn. 29) By 1862 the manor was held by the Revd. Joseph Barton and Burwood Godlee, who were the devisees of one of the trustees of T. W. Smith's will. The manorial estate was sold in 1861 and by 1874 all the copyhold appears to have been enfranchised so that the manor virtually ceased to exist. (fn. 30)

There was a manor-house at Teddington in the 13th century. (fn. 31) In the 14th century there were two halls and a private chamber as well as farm buildings, (fn. 32) and the lease of the manor made in 1518 included covenants to repair the buildings. (fn. 33) These, including the manor-house itself, were all of timber in 1596. (fn. 34) A tradition that the manor-house as it existed in the 18th century had been built by Thomas Sackville, Lord Buckhurst (created Earl of Dorset 1604, d. 1608), seems to have originated with Lysons: it was based apparently on the presence in one of the principal rooms of Buckhurst's arms, with crest and supporters and the date 1602. (fn. 35) Possibly he was an undertenant of one of the Crown's lessees. The 17th-century owners of the manor lived at Teddington and owed tax on eighteen hearths in 1664 and 1671. (fn. 36) John, Viscount Dudley and Ward (d. 1788), occupied the house and laid out ornamental grounds around it. (fn. 37) Captain John Smith (d. 1808) who married Dudley's widow is said to have made many changes to the house, and it may have been then that Buckhurst's supposed arms were removed. (fn. 38) Successive occupiers again altered the house, which was said in 1816 to contain very little of the old building. (fn. 39) It was still in existence in 1893 but had been pulled down by 1913. (fn. 40)

The estate or manor of GAYLES or GELES was held in the 16th century by the lessees of the demesne of Teddington manor. It then comprised a house and 141 acres of demesne arable, and the owner also held 44 acres copyhold of Teddington manor. (fn. 41) In the 17th and 18th centuries it seems to have comprised about 160 acres of arable, meadow, and pasture, and in 1607 included property in Twickenham and Hampton. (fn. 42) It is likely that this estate had originated in the largest of the free tenements held of Teddington in the Middle Ages. Its name may have been connected with one John Gele who conveyed 100 acres of arable and other property in Teddington and Hampton in 1443. (fn. 43) Since the descent of the earlier freehold tenement cannot be traced at this period, the two suppositions are not mutually exclusive.

One of the largest freeholds of Teddington manor in the early 13th century comprised 3 virgates held by Peter Hut for one mark. (fn. 44) Three virgates at the same rent had been granted by the Abbot of Westminster to Ailward de Cherringe and Hawise his wife in 1197. (fn. 45) At the same time as Peter Hut, Walter West held 2½ virgates at 9s. 2d. (fn. 46) In 1312 another Walter West, holding 6 virgates for 23s. 10d., was the largest freeholder of the manor. (fn. 47) In 1379 Ralph Thurbarn held the same amount at the same rent, and his holding was said to have been formerly West and Huttes tenements. (fn. 48) He also held part of another tenement, alternatively said to comprise 1 virgate or 22 acres. (fn. 49) Thurbarn's holding may have been altogether about 120 acres. (fn. 50) In 1384 he transferred all his land in Teddington to his son Robert. (fn. 51) Robert Thurbarn was the name of the farmer of Teddington demesne for a short time in the early 15th century. (fn. 52) John Wether, the farmer in 1499 and 1512, (fn. 53) held a tenement or manor called Gayles. (fn. 54) His successor as farmer, Hugh Manning, held the manor of Geles in Henry VIII's reign. (fn. 55) William Manning (d. 1573) (fn. 56) held it in 1569, (fn. 57) and in 1593 Henry Manning settled it on the marriage of his son Henry. (fn. 58) In 1608 it was conveyed from Andrew Norwood to Thomas Hall, (fn. 59) who was possibly the man who had farmed Teddington demesne slightly earlier. (fn. 60) Robert Smith owned the manor in 1666, when it was called the manor of Teddington or Gale. (fn. 61) The next and last known reference to Geles was made in 1764, when it comprised a farm-house and about 160 acres, belonging to Thomas Duncombe and formerly acquired from John Smith. (fn. 62) Duncombe was the eventual heir of Sir Charles Duncombe (d. 1711), who bought land in Teddington and built the house later known as Teddington Place. (fn. 63) The descent of Geles after 1764 is uncertain since by 1800 the Duncombe property in the parish (c. 123 a.), including Teddington Place, was all copyhold. (fn. 64) The site of the manor-house has not been ascertained.