Wishanger Manor

For another description, see Wishanger Manor in Victoria County History, 1911

See also Headley timeline

We are indebted for this text to the kindness of Major J. M: J. Evans, owner of Wishanger (written 1938).

Wishanger was held in 1167 by one Gerard. The overlord seems to have been the Bishop of Winchester, for Richard of Ilchester, Bishop of Winchester, granted to the Abbey of St. Mary of Waverley one hide of his land of Wishanger, which lay towards the forest, and the land of the monks themselves, which was called Dockenfield.

In 1290 William de la Charité surrendered his rights in a messuage and two carucates of land in Wishanger to Richard Atte Rudd, of Petersfield, and Margaret his wife. A year later Richard and Margaret granted a messuage, 160 acres of land, 22 acres of meadow, 8 acres of wood, 180 acres of pasture, and rents in Wishanger to John of Pontoise, Bishop of Winchester.

In 1346 John de Thudden was holding in Wishanger the fourth part of a fee which had belonged to John de Worstede, the Bishop's personal servant. He had also obtained further holdings in Wishanger from a Ralph de Swanewych, who had owed him money, and from John de Tychebourne, to whom some property in this manor had come through Henry de la Charité, who was a brother of the above- mentioned William, and who had married a Tichbourne. It is probable that this John de Thudden left three daughters and heirs, one of whom married Richard Seaman, another John Trop, and the third Richard Esteney.

In 1388 Richard Seaman acquired one-third of the Manor from John Trop and Joan his wife, and in 1391 another third from Richard Esteney and Isabel his wife, and probably by the latter date had the whole of the Manor in his possession.

From him it passed to one Thomas Colriche, and thence to Richard Bolt, who in 1416 had received seisin of Wishanger on behalf of Thomas Colriche and was himself holding it in 1428. Richard Bolt's heir was his son Richard Bolt, who died seised of the Manor in 1458, leaving two daughters, Christine and Elizabeth. Wishanger was assigned to Elizabeth, who married Sir John Pounde, and had a son and heir, William Pounde. On William's death the Manor passed to his son and heir, Anthony Pounde.

Anthony's son and heir, Richard, died without issue, and on his death his property was divided between his two sisters, Honora and Mary, Wishanger being assigned to the latter. She married her cousin Edward White, the son of John White and Katherine Pounde, who was Anthony Pounde's sister.

In 1580 Edward White died seised of the Manor of Wishanger, which he held by courtesy after the death of his wife Mary. His heir was his son John, aged 18, who some time afterwards was described as holding a capital messuage called "Wysslehange" and four tenements in "Hetheley," abutting on "Dokenfeld Water."

In 1592 Jane Lambart acquired the Manor from John White and Frances his wife. She seems to have married subsequently Gerard Fleetwood, for he was seised of it in right of Jane, his wife, in 1601, when he sold it for £400 to (Sir) Hercules Paulet, who was still holding it in 1618.

The deed of 1601 refers to "Hercules Powlett" as the third son of the said Jane, which seems to suggest that he was an illegitimate son by the Marquis of Winchester.

In 1618 Gerard Fleetwood, who by this time had become a Knight, Lady Jane his wife, Hercules Powlett and his son, Hector, together convey the Manor to John Baker, of Headley, yeoman, for "ealeven hundred and ffower and ffortye Powndes."

In 1624 John Baker conveys the Manor to his son, Christopher Baker, on the occasion of the latter's marriage with Joan Hebb, with certain portions excepted, viz.: "the nowe Mantione howse" in which John Baker was then living, with 24 acres of land. Three years later Christopher receives "Edwins" in Headley from his father.

Christopher Baker had four daughters, Anne, Joane, Grissell and Elizabeth, and, when he died in 1640, left Wishanger to his daughter Anne, who had married William Horne, a merchant of Southampton. This gentleman, in whose time the Manor comprised just over 200 acres, by his will dated 1669 provided for various legacies out of the sale of the estate, among which was one of £200 to John Speed, who had married his wife's younger sister Elizabeth, another to his sister-in-law Joane Older, and another to the children of his sister-in-law Grissell.

In 1670 Joane sold her third share in Wishanger to the said John Speed, of Southampton, "doctor of Physick." There is nothing in William Horne's will as to Wishanger being left to his three other sisters-in-law; indeed, it was definitely ordered to be sold to raise the £500 of legacies.

In consequence, it is not clear how Joane or Grissell's children had third shares in the Manor to sell to John Speed, unless, perhaps, John Speed bought the Manor himself and paid out the legacies of £150 to Joane Older, née Baker (widow of Nathaniel Older, of Arundel) and of £150 to Grissell's children, taking conveyances of their various shares in or claims upon the estate from the legatees. He would then allow his own legacy of £200 to lapse.

By a deed in 1682, to lead to uses of a fine, John Speed became assured of the Manor of Wishanger, except a part called "Edwins," which was to go to William Bernard, his wife's son by her first husband, the Rev. William Bernard. She herself had inherited "Edwins" from her father. In 1683 the fine was duly levied, and in 1685 Bernard complained that he had been "surprised" into passing his right in the Manor to John Speed, and threatened proceedings. In consideration of £120, however, he "let fall" his bill in chancery and confirmed Wishanger to John Speed.

Four years later, one of Grissell's two daughters conveyed her moiety of the third share in Wishanger to John Speed, but we hear nothing about the other moiety. In 1701 John Speed the elder conveyed Wishanger to his son John Speed the younger, who appears to have returned it to his father eight years afterwards.

In 1741 John Speed the younger, on the occasion of his marriage with Anna Maria Cross, covenanted to charge the Manor with an annuity of £200 for the benefit of his wife as soon as he came into the property. His father died in 1747, and John Speed the younger next year carried out his covenant.

The latter died in 1780, and the Manor was left to his son, J. M. Speed, who, by will in 1792, left it charged with an annuity to his wife, Harriot, who afterwards married John Silvester, a sergeant at law of the City of London.

The last two paragraphs but one are not quite so plain as they may appear. Unfortunately all these Speeds were "John Speed of the towne and county of Southampton, doctor of physick," so that it is difficult to sort them out. In the two paragraphs mentioned, it appears that the first-mentioned John Speed the younger is son of John Speed the "elder" (who died in 1710) and the father of the second John Speed the younger, who was baptised in 1703 and therefore could not have had the Manor conveyed to him in 1701.

By the time the second John Speed the younger is so described, viz., in 1741, his father, the first John Speed the younger, had clearly become the "elder." Another point which may lead to confusion is the fact that the first John Speed the younger married Anne Cross, while the second John Speed the younger married Anna Maria Cross. In 1797 the Silvesters sold Wishanger to Sir Thomas Miller of Froyle for £4,500.

The estate remained in the Miller family till 1868, when it was sold to John Rouse Phillips. On his death in 1884 it was sold to Joseph Whitaker, on whose death a year later it passed to his son, A. Ingham Whitaker, who held it until the sale of the estate in 1921. Wishanger Manor as shown in an old map dated 1751, in the present owner, Major J. M. J. Evans's, possession [1938], was apparently a very small Manor, and in the deeds as far back as 1700 it is spoken of as "My farm and manor or reputed manor of Wishanger."

Contact me for further information.

Return to top - Headley Home Page

This site maintained by John Owen Smith