A HISTORY OF SURREY
��John Wood, sen., and Elizabeth his wife settled their third of the manor on the heirs of Elizabeth." In 1484. Sir John Wood, knighted in I483, 4>a died seised of a third of the manor in right of his wife, but leaving no direct heirs. His sister-in-law, Joan widow of William Druell, therefore inherited this portion of the estate," which she held together with her own share till her death in 1495. Upon this John Druell, son of her son William, without livery from the king, entered and intruded on the property as her ' cousin ' and heir. He was not ejected, but only survived his grandmother by a few months, and was succeeded by his brother Richard Druell, aged fourteen. This part of the manor is described as containing the site or house called ' le Manor Place,' 200 acres of land, 10 acres of meadow, 100 acres of pasture, a water mill, a free fishery in the Thames, lo/. rent due at Easter and Michaelmas yearly from divers free tenants, view of frankpledge, and court baron. It was valued at 4 clear yearly, and was held of the king in chief by one-fortieth of a knight's fee. 44 In 1511 Richard Druell and Grace his wife conveyed one-third of the manor, probably this same part subsequently known as the manor of MOLESET MATHAM or EAST MOLESET, to William Frost and others ** in trust for Richard Fox, Bishop of Winchester, founder of Corpus Christ! College, Oxford, who settled it on that foundation as part of its endowment by deed dated 17 December I5l8. 46 Henry VIII, wishing to annex this manor to the Chase of Hampton Court, exchanged for it with the college the manor of West Henreth or Hendred, co. Berks., with certain church pro- perty in cos. Berks, and Oxford ; and the college conveyed the estate to the king by indenture dated 4 March 1536. The transaction was ratified by an Act of Parliament. 47 From this date the manor remained vested in the Crown.
James I in 1624 granted to William Holt and others for thirty-one years a wood called Hurst Cop- pice, parcel of the manor of Molesey Matham ; 48 and by letters patent dated a few months later granted the
��manor of Molesey Matham with a water-mill to John Littcott for a similar period. 49 In 1633 Sir John Littcott purchased 50 for 862 14*. SJ. the fee-simple of the manor of Ralph Freeman, alderman of London. To him, or rather to Basil Nicoll and others in trust for him, it had been granted in the previous year by Charles I by the description of the manor of Molesey Matham, a water-mill there, Hurst Coppice, &c., valued at 34 121. \od. per annum, to be held as of the manor of East Greenwich in socage. 51 In 1641 Sir John conveyed the manor and lands to trustees, to the use of himself for life, and after his decease to be sold for the benefit of his wife and family." In April 1646 the trustees, the widow, and the eldest son of Sir John joined in a sale of the estate, with the rectory of East Molesey, for 4,000 to Henry Pickering of London ; M who on 30 March following sold it for 4,050 to James Clarke. 64
Mary " daughter and sole heiress of James Clarke conveyed the estate by marriage to Sir James Clarke, kt., of a different family from her own, by whom she had a son, James Clarke, who died in 1758. He married Ann, only daughter of Christopher Clarke, and Lydia Henrietta, their . only daughter and keiress, became the wife of the Reverend Sir George Molesworth. In 1765 'the manor of Molesey Matham or East Molesey ' with the rectory of East Molesey appears to have been held by Joseph Clarke and Frances his wife. 66 In 1816 Beaumont Lord Hotham held a moiety of the manor. 67 The other moiety belonged in 1 809 to Sir Thomas Sutton, bart., by whose father it had been purchased. 58 Lucy co-heiress of Sir Thomas Sutton married General Sir G. H. F. Berkeley. Captain Hotham and the Earl of Berkeley are now lords of the manor.
The other third of the manor (after the divisioiXj^V 1455) was held by William Sydney at his deathyh I4<!>2. 59 It was inherited by his two daughters, Elizabeth and Anne, between whom his share was divided. 60 Elizabeth, who was only six at the time of her father's death, subsequently married John
��4 "Feet of F. Surr. Hil. 3 Edw. IV, no.
54-
4 *> He ii evidently the John Wood, the Speaker of The House of Commons, knighted after Parliament was ended, 18 Feb. 1482-3 ; Shaw, Knights of England, ii, 21.
48 Chan.Inq. p.m. Surr. 2 Ric. Ill, no. 1 9.
"Ibid. (Ser. 2), xi, 51.
Feet of F. Surr. Hil. 2 Hen. VIII ; William Frost appears as agent in other transactions for the Bishop of Winchester.
"Brayley, Hitt. of Surr. ii, 310; see Valor Eccl. (Rec. Com.), ii, 247.
47 Slat, of the Realm (Rec. Com.), iii, 622.
<8 Pat. 22 Jas. I, pt. xii.
41 Ibid. pt. xiv, no. 6. Brayley says
��(op. cit. ii, 310) that Littcott obtained his lease of the manor as heir of Dorothy, wife of Sir Christopher Edmonds, to whom Queen Elizabeth granted the manor in 158; on lease.
60 Close, 8 Chas. I, pt. xxxv, no. 5.
41 Pat. 7 Chas. I, pr, i, no. 6. There is in East Molesey Church a monument to Sir John Littcott, ob. 1 64 1 , on which he is called lord of the manor of Molesey.
41 See Chan. Inq. p.m. 17 Chas. I, dxxii, 15.
55 Feet of F. Surr. East. 22 Chas. II.
64 Close, 23 Chas. I, pt. xix, no. 38 ; see Recov. R. Trin. II Will. Ill, rot. 105.
" The genealogy of the Clarkes, from
��the monuments at East Molesey, is given at the bottom of this page.
58 Recov. R. Hil. 5 Geo. Ill, rot. 253.
" Ibid. Hil. 56 Geo. Ill, rot 293.
M Manning and Bray, Hist, of Surr. ii, 783.
"Escheat. Inq. {Ser. i), file 1805. It was probably so called because most of the lands lay in West Molesey.
60 There was an insfeximui of the in- quisition in 1477 owing to a lawsuit. Elizabeth and Anne, returned as six and five, or more, in 1463, are there returned as nineteen and eighteen. The holding is called medictas, but it was really a third, and the half sold by Elizabeth was a iixt> (See Loseley for Sydneys).
��Sir James Clarke d. 1703
��Anne daughter of James Clarke,
d. 1712
(Feet of F. Surr. Trin. ii Will. Ill)
��Sir James Clarke, d. 1728 = (Lord of the Manors of
��Molesey)
��James Clarke, d. 1709 (lessee of Molesey Prior)
��Mary, d. 1754
(Feet of F. Surr.
Mich.i2Geo.III)
��James Clarke = d. 1758 I
��Anne daughter of Christopher Clarke
��Lydia Henrietta = Rev. Sir George Molesworth
��454
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