KINGSTON HUNDRED
��PETERSHAM
��losses sustained by the inclosure of the New Park, he petitioned that the lease of the manor of Petersham, which had been made out for twenty-seven years, might be exchanged for a grant in perpetuity of the manor." This request was acceded to, and in 1643 Murray was created Earl of Dysart. In the troubles which followed, however, these estates were sequestered," and in 1651 Sir Lionel Tollemache and Elizabeth his wife who, with Katherine, Anne, and Margaret Murray, was one of the four daughters and co-heirs of William and Katherine Murray begged allowance of their title to Ham and Petersham Manors." After the Restoration the same ladies were again pleading for a renewal of the grant of these estates at the same rental of 16 g/. at which they had been held by their father, and they pleaded that none had suffered more in the late times than they, having been twice plundered, sequestered, and forced to purchase their lands at an unreasonable rate." After many renewals of the same petition, 75 acres of land in the manors were granted to them in 1665 at a rent of \d. per acre, 46 and in 1666 a lease of the demesne lands, consisting of 289 acres 27 perches, was bestowed for a term of sixty-one years upon Sir Robert Murray," one of the founders of the Royal Society, extolled by Burnet as ' the worthiest man of the age,' " to hold on behalf of the same persons. Sir Lionel Tollemache died in 1668, and his widow married John, Earl of Lauderdale, who in 1672 obtained a grant of the manors of Petersham and Ham in right of his wife for the same rent of 16 91., exception being made, however, of the portion granted as above to Sir Lionel Tollemache." The countess was succeeded by her eldest son Lionel, third Earl of Dysart, and from this date Petersham remained with the Earls of Dysart. Lionel, fifth earl, suffered a recovery of all his estates in Ham and Petersham in 1773, and, dying without issue in 1799, was suc- ceeded by his brother Wilbraham Tollemache, sixth earl." On the death of the latter without issue the estate was divided, in accordance with a settlement made by the previous earl, between his sisters, Lady Louisa Manners," Lady Frances Tollemache, and Lady Jane Halliday. 53 The manors have been held since 1878 by William John Manners, ninth earl, descen- dant of Lady Louisa Manners, who was herself Countess of Dysart.
A charter dated 1 464 enumerates certain customs as pertaining to the lordships of West Sheen, Petersham, and Ham. These include the holding of an annual court, fines of a minimum of zd. being imposed on such as failed to attend. On the death of a tenant the inheritance passed by the custom of the manor to his youngest son, or failing such youngest son to his youngest daughter. The quit-rent of the land at Petersham was \d. per acre and 6d. the houses, and the fine one year's quit-rent. The charter is attested by five tenants : John Hart, William Ballet, John Howe, John Brewtell, and William Thorne. 54 A survey of the manor taken in 1 649 gives a list of customs granted to the tenants
��of Petersham in 1481 by Edward IV and confirmed by divers monarchs ; namely, that the lord of the manor might ' sell all wood and waste lands to any man by copy, paying a fine to the lord and a yearly quit-rent to the king.' A court baron for the manor was kept at the will of the lord, and a court leet once a year. The youngest son and youngest daughter inherited as above. There was a little common belong- ing to the manor called Petersham Common on the west side of Richmond Hill. In a survey taken in 1609 this common is said to contain 200 acres, the tenants having common of pasture there for their cattle, and common of estover."
In the charter granted by James I to Kingston in 1603 it was enacted that the court leet and view of frankpledge should no longer extend into Petersham, and in 1609 the king is said to hold a court leet for Petersham twice yearly, after Easter and Michaelmas. 56 Kingston appears subsequently to have claimed court leet in Petersham, however, for in 1628 the bailiffs and freemen of Kingston were con- firmed in their former liberties on condition of relinquishing their court leet in Richmond, Petersham, Ham, and Effingham," and in that year the king appointed Sir Robert Douglas steward of the court leet for the manor of Richmond, at which the tenants of Petersham were to make attendance, the same court to be held twice a year. 68 In the survey taken in 1649 the courts baron and the courts leet were valued at 35 yearly. 59
The church of ST. PETER is of un- CHURCH usual plan, having a chancel I 5 ft. 6 in. by 15 ft., nave 28 ft. 2 in. east to west by 62 ft. north to south, and west tower 7 ft. square, with a porch to the west of it and a vestry to the north.
The church is said to have been built in 1505, but a blocked 1 3th-century lancet window in the north wall of the chancel shows that part at least is of much older date. Originally, as it seems, a plain rectangle 15 ft. 6 in. by 43 ft., it was enlarged early in the I7th century by the addition of a south tran- sept and a west tower of red brick. In 1 790 a north transept was added, more than half as long as the church and of a depth nearly as great as its width ; the west porch was then added and the upper half of the tower rebuilt. In 1840 the former south transept gave way to a very much larger one, the east wall of which lines with that of the north transept, while its west wall overlaps the tower. Galleries were inserted, various alterations being made in the north transept, which was heightened and had some of its windows blocked up, and an inclosed staircase was built against the west wall. The vestry north of the tower probably dates from 1 790.
The chancel is plastered and has diagonal eastern buttresses ; the small blocked lancet in the north wall is rebated and chamfered, and the east and the south windows are each of two lights with wood frames. All the nave windows are round-headed except on the north, where they have been blocked by the
��Cal. S.P. Dom. 1630-9, p. 609.
a Cal. of Com. for Compounding, 2552.
Ibid. 2553.
Cal. S.P. Dom. 1661-2, p. 34.
48 Ibid. 1664-5, p. 492 ; 1665-6, pp.
I> 3'5-
- ' Pat. 17 Chat. 1 1, pt. iii, no. 5 ; Cal.
S.P. Dom. 1665-6, p. 315.
��48 Burnet, Hia. of Hit Ovin Time, ii, 20.
Pat. 23 Chas. II, pt. x ; Cal. S.P. Dom. 1671-2, pp. 225, 312.
- Recov. R. Mich. 1 1 Geo. Ill, rot. 35.
61 See Recov. R. Hil. 40 Geo. Ill, rot. 229.
M See Feet of F. Trin. 51 Geo. III.
Will P.C.C. 348 Howe.
S3'
��H Petersham Parish Notes (1886). Parl. Surv. Surr. no. 45. " Land Rev. Misc. Bks. vol. 197, fol. 9911.
- 7 Cal. S.P. Dom. 1628-9, pp. 3*5i 35i
399-
68 Ibid. 329, 350.
69 Parl. Surv. no. 45.
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