Romford: Manors and other estates

MANORS AND OTHER ESTATES.

All estates in Romford, however styled, were subordinate to the manor of Havering. (fn. 1) The manor of ROMFORD or MAWNEYS lay on the west side of the town, extending north from High Street to Collier Row. It appears to have originated in 1200, when the king granted 'the wood of Romford' to Roger Bigod (d. 1221), earl of Norfolk, in fee for 5s. a year. (fn. 2) Two later references show that the wood was then held by the serjeanty of providing pasturage for the king's cattle. (fn. 3) In 1277 the wood, comprising 100 a., was held of Roger Bigod (d. 1306), earl of Norfolk, by Adam de Creting, whose estate included also 280 a., mostly held in chief, which Adam had bought from Roger de Rolling. (fn. 4) In 1280 Creting and his wife Nichola granted the manor of Romford, so styled for the first time, to Henry of Winchester, a Jew, to hold for ¼ knight's fee. (fn. 5) Henry, who was a Christian convert, died holding the manor in 1299. (fn. 6) He had been married under Jewish law, and there was therefore doubt whether his son Thomas was entitled to inherit the manor. There is no evidence that Thomas did in fact succeed to Romford. Adam de Creting had died in 1298, (fn. 7) and by 1303 the tenancy in demesne had been acquired by the earl of Norfolk, who was holding ¼ knight's fee of Adam's son John de Creting. (fn. 8) On the earl's death in 1306 Romford passed to the Crown under a previous agreement, by which John Bigod, the earl's brother, had been excluded from the succession. (fn. 9)

In the subsequent division of the Bigod estates Romford was assigned to Thomas of Brotherton (d. 1338) earl of Norfolk, on whose death it passed to his elder daughter Margaret (d. 1399) countess of Norfolk, wife of John Segrave, Lord Segrave (d. 1353), and later of Walter de Mauny, Lord Mauny. (fn. 10) In c. 1355 Mauny's estate, jure uxoris, comprised 140 a., held as ¼ knight's fee. (fn. 11) He held it until his death in 1372. (fn. 12) He was one of the greatest soldiers of his day, celebrated by Froissart, (fn. 13) and from him the manor took its alternative name. Margaret, created duchess of Norfolk in 1397, was succeeded in 1399 by her grandson Thomas de Mowbray, duke of Norfolk, who died in the same year. (fn. 14) Romford was assigned in dower to the duke's widow Elizabeth (d. 1425) later wife of Sir Robert Goushill (d. 1403) and finally of Sir Gerard Usflete (d. by 1421). (fn. 15) In 1412 Elizabeth's Romford estate of 'Moyns' (Mawneys) was valued at £14. (fn. 16) It passed on her death to her son John Mowbray (d. 1432), duke of Norfolk. (fn. 17) Romford was assigned in dower to John's widow Katherine. (fn. 18) She was still living in 1483, having outlived four husbands. (fn. 19)

In 1488–9 the manor of Mawneys, held in chief, was settled on William de Berkeley (d. 1492) earl of Nottingham, later marquess of Berkeley, who was a coheir to the estates of the Mowbray earls of Norfolk. (fn. 20) He was to hold the manor with remainder to the heirs of his body, and in default to Sir Reynold Bray. After Berkeley's death Mawneys was held by his widow Anne (d. 1497), later wife of Sir Thomas Brandon. (fn. 21) When she died the manor appears to have passed under the settlement of 1488–9 to Sir Reynold Bray, to whom Mawneys was quitclaimed in 1499 by Berkeley's brother Maurice, Lord Berkeley. (fn. 22) Bray (d. 1503) was an official close to Henry VII, and it is not unlikely that he acquired his interest in the manor by assisting in the transactions, in 1487–9, by which Berkeley obtained his marquessate. (fn. 23) Mawneys descended to Sir Reynold's nephew Edmund Bray, later Lord Bray, who was holding it in 1510. (fn. 24) Edmund appears to have alienated the manor by 1523, when Thomas Wastell and Edward Barbour conveyed it to Robert Fenrother (d. 1524), alderman and goldsmith of London. (fn. 25) Mawneys passed to Fenrother's widow Gillian, and after her death in 1536 to their daughter Gillian and her husband Nicholas Tycheborne. (fn. 26) In 1538 Nicholas Tycheborne the younger conveyed it to Robert Dacre. (fn. 27)

Robert Dacre was probably identical with the man of that name who died in 1543 leaving George his son and heir. (fn. 28) George Dacre conveyed Mawneys in 1573 to John Lennard of Chevening (Kent), who died in 1591, having previously settled it on his son Samuel. (fn. 29) In 1612 Samuel Lennard conveyed the manor to Francis Fuller. (fn. 30) Fuller (d. 1637), also acquired Easthouse in Romford, as well as Downshall, Loxford, and Wangey in Ilford. (fn. 31) Mawneys and Easthouse appear to have descended to Francis Osbaldeston (d. 1648) and then to his brother Henry (d. 1669). Henry Osbaldeston (d. by 1693), son of the previous Henry, sold Easthouse, but Mawneys descended to his daughter Ann, who appears to have carried it in marriage about 1701 to John Milner of London, who was holding it in 1719 and 1722. (fn. 32) In 1758 William Lloyd and Elizabeth his wife, who were heirs of the Milners, sold the manor to Richard Newman. (fn. 33)

Richard Newman was succeeded by his grandson Richard Harding, who acquired the manor of Nelmes, in Hornchurch, in 1781, and took the surname of Newman in 1783. (fn. 34) Mawneys descended with Nelmes until the 1880s. (fn. 35) In 1846 Thomas Harding Newman's Romford estate comprised 265 a. (fn. 36) Benjamin Harding Newman, who inherited the estate in 1882, put it on the market in the following year, and by 1899 much of it had been developed for building. (fn. 37) The name survives in Mawney Road.

The manor-house of Mawneys, sometimes called Great Mawneys, stood on a moated site about 150 yd. north of High Street. (fn. 38) About 1618 the house was of considerable size. (fn. 39) In the later 19th century it was an irregular building, part of which appears to have been rebuilt in the 18th century. (fn. 40) The moat was filled in between 1883 and 1887. (fn. 41) The house was demolished c. 1935. (fn. 42) The United Services club was later built on the site.

The manor of DAGENHAMS AND COCKERELS comprised two adjoining tenements lying north of the Romford-Brentwood road, in the area now called Harold Hill. The tenements appear to have been identical with two held in the earlier 13th century by John of Weald: 3½ virgates, later Dagenhams, and 1 virgate, later Cockerels. (fn. 43) These were large virgates, of about 120 a. each. (fn. 44) John of Weald (d. 1251) left as heirs his sister Gillian, wife of Roger Cockerel, and his nephew William Shenfield, (fn. 45) Sir William of St. Armine, who from 1257 to c. 1262 was farmer of the manor of Havering, acquired the lands of both Roger Cockerel and William Shenfield, and in or before 1269 granted them in fee to Robinet Rowley (de Rolee) and his wife Isabel. (fn. 46) They later passed to Thomas of Dagenham, who was probably identical with the man of that name who was bailiff of Havering under Edward I. (fn. 47) Thomas was apparently succeeded by his son William of Dagenham, (fn. 48) whose lands had escheated to Queen Philippa by 1352, when she granted them for life to her clerk Austin Waleys. (fn. 49)

About 1355 Dagenhams and Cockerels, with other lands, comprising 606 a. in all, were held by Adam de Holkirk. (fn. 50) By 1382 the estate had been acquired by John Organ (d. 1392), a London mercer; he was succeeded by his son Thomas, also a mercer, who made a conveyance of the manor in 1403. (fn. 51) The Organs appear to have retained some interest in Dagenhams and Cockerels at least until 1406. (fn. 52) In 1420 the manor was held by Humphrey, duke of Gloucester, Edmund de Mortimer, earl of March, and others. (fn. 53) They were obviously trustees, but for whom is not clear.

By 1443 the manor had passed to Henry Percy (d. 1455), earl of Northumberland, (fn. 54) whose grandfather, Henry Percy (d. 1408), earl of Northumberland, had been keeper of the manor of Havering c. 1399–1403. (fn. 55) Dagenhams and Cockerels descended to Henry Percy, earl of Northumberland (d. 1461), who fell on the Lancastrian side at the battle of Towton. (fn. 56) His estates thus escheated to Edward IV, who in 1464 granted Dagenhams and Cockerels to Henry Bourchier, earl of Essex, and his wife Isabel, to discharge a legacy made to Isabel by her uncle Edmund de Mortimer (d. 1425), earl of March. (fn. 57) March's fiduciary interest in the manor, in 1420, has been mentioned above. He is not known to have had any personal interest in it.

The grant of 1464 had no permanent effect. Henry Percy (d. 1489), earl of Northumberland, regained his father's earldom in 1470. (fn. 58) He appears to have vindicated his title to Dagenhams and Cockerels in 1474 by a collusive lawsuit against his father's trustees, (fn. 59) and in 1482 he sold the manor to Avery Cornburgh. (fn. 60) Cornburgh (d. 1487) also held Gooshayes in Romford and Dovers in Hornchurch. Before his death he sold Dagenhams and Cockerels to Sir William Hussey (d. 1495), chief justice of the King's Bench, from whom the manor descended to his son (Sir) John. (fn. 61) In 1512 Sir John Hussey conveyed Dagenhams and Cockerels to trustees for the use of his ward Peter Christmas, with remainder, in default of heirs of Peter's body, to the Grocers' Company of London. (fn. 62) That transaction had been arranged by Henry VIII to compensate Christmas for the manor of Hanworth (Mdx.), which he had conveyed to the king. Hussey received in exchange two royal manors in Lincolnshire.

Peter Christmas died in 1517. (fn. 63) The Grocers' Company duly succeeded to the manor, and held courts there until 1544 or later. (fn. 64) Dagenhams and Cockerels was subsequently acquired by Thomas Legatt, who died holding it in 1556. (fn. 65) The manor descended in the Legatt family until 1633, when the representatives of Thomas Posthumous Legatt, great-grandson of the last-named Thomas Legatt, sold it to Dr. Thomas Wright, later physician to Cromwell. (fn. 66) In 1633 the estate comprised 703 a. (fn. 67) Dr. Wright (d. 1657) was succeeded by his son (Sir) Henry Wright (Bt.) (d. 1664), and grandson Sir Henry Wright, Bt. (d. 1681). (fn. 68) The younger Sir Henry, who died under age, was succeeded by his sister Ann, who married Edmund Pye and later William Rider. By her will, proved 1732, she devised all her Essex estates to her relative Edward Carteret (d. 1739). (fn. 69) She expressed the wish that Carteret would never part with the estate, and would keep it in his family, but in 1749 his daughters and coheirs Ann, widow of Admiral Philip Cavendish, and Bridget Carteret sold it to Henry Muilman. (fn. 70)

In 1772 Henry Muilman sold Dagenhams and Cockerels to (Sir) Richard Neave (Bt.), a West India merchant. (fn. 71) The manor descended with the baronetcy until 1948. (fn. 72) The Neaves put together one of the largest estates in south Essex. (fn. 73) Dagnam Park, (fn. 74) rebuilt by the first baronet, was their seat until the Second World War. In 1846 the estate included some 1,700 a. in Romford and Havering. (fn. 75) By 1876 the total there was over 1,800. (fn. 76) In 1919 Sir Thomas L. H. Neave sold 2,200 a. of his Essex lands, of which 1,500 a. were in Romford and Havering. (fn. 77) He retained some 500 a. around Dagnam Park, but in 1948 his son Sir Arundell Neave sold that, including the house, to the London county council for the building (1948–58) of the Harold Hill housing estate. For the same purpose the L.C.C. bought from other owners some 850 a., most of which had belonged to the Neaves before 1919. (fn. 78)

Dagenhams was listed among important seats in 1594, (fn. 79) and was depicted in 1633 as a gabled house, built round a courtyard, within a square moat. (fn. 80) Sir Henry Wright, Bt. (d. 1664), rebuilt it on a modest scale c. 1660. (fn. 81) Pepys, who visited Dagenhams in July 1665, said that it was the most noble and pretty house, for its size, that he had ever seen. (fn. 82) It had 23 hearths in 1662 and 24 in 1670. (fn. 83) Between 1732 and 1739 the house was altered and enlarged by Edward Carteret. (fn. 84) His additions included a private chapel. (fn. 85) In 1771 Dagnams had a central block of two storeys with attics, containing eleven bays. (fn. 86) That may have been the original house of c. 1660. It was flanked at each end by five-bay wings, also of two storeys, but without attics, possibly the additions made in the 1730s. Sir Richard Neave, Bt., who bought Dagnams in 1772, demolished the old house and built a brick house of three storeys. The main front had nine bays, of which the central three bays were bowed. (fn. 87) During the Second World War Dagnam Park was occupied by the Army. It was demolished c. 1948. (fn. 88) The pond immediately south of it still survived in 1976.

Cockerels house was about 800 yd. south of Dagnams. In 1633 it was a substantial gabled building, standing outside a moated site which was by then an orchard. (fn. 89) In the 19th century it became known as Dagnam Park Farm. (fn. 90) It was demolished c. 1948. The moat still survived in 1977.

The manor of EAST HOUSE lay east of the river Rom, in Collier Row Lane (North Street). Early in the 14th century it was held by Richard Rous, who granted it for life to Robert William of Havering. (fn. 91) About 1332 Robert suffered outlawry and forteiture, and East House, then comprising 167 a., was granted for life to Amy Gaveston, a damsel of Queen Philippa. (fn. 92) By c. 1355 East House, comprising 60 a., had become part of the Gidea Hall estate, (fn. 93) in which it descended until 1613, when Sir Edward Cooke sold it to John Wright. (fn. 94) Wright sold East House in 1623 to Francis Fuller (d. 1637), who already held the adjoining manor of Mawneys. (fn. 95) East House descended with Mawneys until 1673, when Henry Osbaldeston (d. by 1693) sold it to Francis Hervey Mildmay, owner of Marks. (fn. 96) East House descended with Marks until 1878, when it was put up for sale by the Mildmay trustees: it then comprised 143 a. (fn. 97) During the next thirty years the estate was developed for building in Havering, Rosedale, and Hainault Roads. (fn. 98)

East House manor-house was left standing on the west side of Rosedale Road. It was said in 1908 to be a large building in the style of an early-19th-century farm-house. (fn. 99) It had evidently been much altered, and may have been much older than that. (fn. 100) Eastern Avenue, built in the 1920s, passed immediately south of the house, which seems to have been demolished about that time. (fn. 101)

The manor of GIDEA HALL, (fn. 102) from which the modern Gidea Park is named, lay north-east of Romford town. In 1250–1 the daughter of Simon of Gidea Hall (Gidiehulle) held two tenements in the manor of Havering, of 1 virgate and ¼ virgate respectively. (fn. 103) Since these were large virgates her total holdings were probably about 150 a. In c. 1355 Sir John of Havering held Gidea Hall (150 a.), East House, in Romford, and other lands, comprising a total of 501 a. (fn. 104) The Gidea Hall section of this estate had previously belonged to John of Abbenach. In 1376 Gidea Hall and East House were held by William Baldwin, saddler of London, to whom they had been granted by Robert of Havering. (fn. 105) Robert Chichele, a London merchant, and brother of Henry Chichele, later archbishop of Canterbury, was holding Gidea Hall in 1412. (fn. 106) By then the estate also included the manor of Bedfords. In 1441 it was held by Robert Saltmarsh and his wife Christine. (fn. 107) They sold it in 1452 to (Sir) Thomas Cooke (d. 1478), a London draper who was lord mayor in 1462. (fn. 108) He also bought the manor of Bedfords and Earls in Havering, and that of Redden Court in Hornchurch. During an eventful career he was twice imprisoned, but he retained the estate, which descended in his family until the 17th century. The Cookes became the leading local gentry. (fn. 109) Notable among them was Sir Anthony Cooke (d. 1576), tutor to Edward VI and father-in-law of Lord Burghley. (fn. 110)

Charles Cooke (d. 1629) was the last of his name to hold Gidea Hall. His heirs were his sisters Ann (d. 1652), wife of Sir Edward Sydenham, and Vere (d. 1685), wife of Sir Charles Gawdy. East House and Redden Court had been alienated before 1629, but the estate still included Bedfords and Earls as well as Gidea Hall itself. In the division of the Cooke property the Gidea Hall estate passed to the Sydenhams. (fn. 111) Sir Edward Sydenham suffered sequestration as a royalist in 1642, but his wife and children were allowed to remain at Gidea Hall. (fn. 112) In 1658 Sir Edward and his son Charles Sydenham sold the estate to Richard Emes, cooper of London. (fn. 113) Emes sold Bedfords and Earls in 1659, but retained Gidea Hall until 1664, when he sold it to John Burch, a West India planter. (fn. 114)

Burch (d. 1668) left Gidea Hall to his wife Margaret (d. 1685), for life, with remainder to his sister Rebecca Hothersall, and his nephews Thomas and Burch Hothersall. (fn. 115) The Hothersalls duly succeeded to the manor on Mrs. Burch's death, and lived at Gidea Hall at least until 1694. (fn. 116) In 1710, under the will of Thomas Hothersall, grandson of Rebecca, the manor was sold to Benjamin Haskins Stiles and John Hunter. (fn. 117) Stiles and Hunter were probably agents for Stiles's brother-in-law, (Sir) John Eyles (Bt.) (d. 1745), who certainly acquired Gidea Hall about that time. (fn. 118) In 1744 Sir John, as lord of the manor, was receiving quit-rents from 54 tenants in Romford town, Hare Street, Collier Row, and Hornchurch. (fn. 119) He was succeeded by his son Sir Francis Haskins Eyles-Stiles, who sold the manor in 1745 to Richard Benyon (d. 1774), governor of Fort St. George (Madras, India). (fn. 120)

Gidea Hall descended like Newbury in Ilford (fn. 121) until 1802, when Richard Benyon, grandson of the purchaser, sold it to Alexander Black (d. 1835). (fn. 122) In 1846 Alice Black, Alexander's widow, was holding the Gidea Hall estate, then comprising 742 a. (fn. 123) She died in 1871. (fn. 124) The estate had previously been settled on Black's two daughters and their husbands: Anne and William Neave, and Adelaide and Alfred Douglas Hamilton. (fn. 125) After Mrs. Black's death the estate was put on the market with a view to development, and in 1883 the main part of it, comprising some 500 a., was bought by the Lands Allotment Co., a member of Jabez Balfour's Liberator group. (fn. 126) The company tried to develop the estate, but with little success, and in 1893, after the collapse of the group, Gidea Hall was again put up for sale in one lot. (fn. 127) It was not then sold, but in 1897 the house and 480 a. were bought by (Sir) Herbert H. Raphael (Bt.). (fn. 128) By then the western edge of the estate (Lake Rise) had been detached. In 1902 Raphael gave some 20 a., including a lake, for the public park (Raphael park). (fn. 129) Soon after that he developed the rest of the estate as the Gidea Park garden suburb. (fn. 130) The western side, between Raphael park and Heath Drive, has been built over, but most of the eastern side remains open as Romford golf course and Gidea Park sports ground.

The manor-house stood north of Main Road, Gidea Park, about 300 yd. east of Raphael park. In 1466 Sir Thomas Cooke obtained the king's licence to empark the manor, and to rebuild and crenellate Gidea Hall. (fn. 131) He left the house unfinished. (fn. 132) Sir Anthony Cooke (d. 1576) completed it before 1568, when he entertained Elizabeth I there. (fn. 133) The finished building was arranged round three sides of a courtyard, with an open colonnade on the fourth side. (fn. 134) In the 17th century Gidea Hall was the largest house in the liberty except for the king's house at Havering. (fn. 135) Marie de Medici, mother of Queen Henrietta Maria, stayed there in 1638. (fn. 136)

Sir John Eyles, Bt., demolished the old house about 1720, and replaced it with a three-storey mansion. (fn. 137) Some stabling from the 16th-century house survived until 1922. (fn. 138) Richard Benyon (d. 1796) appears to have altered and enlarged Gidea Hall. (fn. 139) In the later 19th century the house was divided into two dwellings. (fn. 140) It was used by the Army during the First World War, and after the war became a club house for the garden suburb. (fn. 141) It was demolished in 1930. (fn. 142)

The early-18th-century house had a formal arrangement of canals and avenues converging upon it. (fn. 143) The northern canal, called the Spoon pond, was the main survivor from that scheme. (fn. 144) Its site, now drained, is used as tennis courts. Richard Benyon (d. 1796) enlarged the park, probably to the design of Richard Woods, c. 1776. (fn. 145) He made it less formal, and introduced a lake in the valley west of the house. The greater width of water at the main road made a new bridge necessary, and that was designed by James Wyatt. (fn. 146) It is of three brick arches, forming the north side of the present road bridge. The lake, known from a later owner as Black's canal, is now included in Raphael park. The fishponds also survive farther east. Near them, in Heath Drive, are sections of garden walling from Gidea Hall, probably of the early 19th century. A medicinal spring at Gidea Hall was the subject of a book published in 1783. (fn. 147) It was occluded c. 1906.

The manor of GOBIONS or UPHAVERING lay on the south side of Collier Row common, near Marks Gate. It must be distinguished from a house called Gobions on the east side of the same common, and from Gubbins at Harold Wood. (fn. 148) The name Uphavering, by which it was usually known before the 16th century, fits its position in the uplands of the parish, (fn. 149) but the manor may have been named after the Uphavering family, many of whom are recorded from the 13th century. (fn. 150)

John Parker, a servant of the queen, was holding Uphavering in 1387–95. (fn. 151) Richard Gobion was holding land in that area in 1440. (fn. 152) He may have been the predecessor of John Gobion, who in 1467 conveyed the manor of Uphavering, comprising about 200 a., to (Sir) Thomas Urswick, who already held the neighbouring manor of Marks. (fn. 153) Urswick retained both manors until his death in 1479. (fn. 154) His heirs appear to have sold them separately, and by 1491 Uphavering belonged to Edmund Worsley. (fn. 155) Edmund, son of Edmund Worsley, held it in 1511. (fn. 156)

Sir Willaim Roche, a former lord mayor of London, was holding Uphavering and Nelmes when he died in 1549. (fn. 157) In 1541 Uphavering had been settled on his wife Margaret, who survived him. Both manors descended to John Roche, son of Sir William, and later to Thomas Roche, probably son of John. (fn. 158) Thomas Roche, who had a large estate in the liberty, sold most of it, apparently in the 1620s and 1630s. (fn. 159) Gobions was bought from him in 1632 by Sir Richard Minshull, who sold it in 1642 to Joachim Matthews. (fn. 160) Matthews, a Parliamentary colonel and commissioner during the Civil War, was succeeded on his death in 1659 by his son (Sir) Philip Matthews (Bt.) (d. 1685). (fn. 161)

In 1700 Sir Philip's widow Ann, and his son, Sir John Matthews, sold Gobions to John Blackstone, apothecary of London. (fn. 162) In 1720, after Blackstone's death, his estate was divided among his family. Gobions was bought from the executors by William Curwen, another London apothecary, whose son John had married Blackstone's daughter Ann. (fn. 163) John and Ann Curwen succeeded to the manor and sold it in 1739 to Sir Philip Hall (d. 1746). (fn. 164) Philip Hall, son of Sir Philip, sold it in 1764 to Richard Heighway. (fn. 165) Heighway sold Gobions in 1771 to John Gibson, who conveyed it in 1775 to his relative Thomas Gibson. (fn. 166) Both the Gibsons were lacemen of London. In 1777 the manor was bought from Thomas Gibson by the executors of William Prior Johnson of Stock, on behalf of Johnson's grandson William Richardson, who himself took the name of William Prior Johnson. (fn. 167) Between 1777 and 1796 Gobions was apparently in Chancery, but William Prior Johnson the grandson eventually gained possession of it, and held it until his death in 1839. (fn. 168) In 1840 Gobions was settled on his brother James J. W. Prior Johnson, and James's son William. (fn. 169) William Prior Johnson was holding it in 1846, when it comprised 183 a., leased to a farmer. (fn. 170) He sold it to the Crown in 1854. (fn. 171) In 1976 Gobions comprised some 650 a., leased by the Crown to Mr. James G. Fowler, whose family had been tenants since 1895. (fn. 172)

The manor-house, called Great Gobions, seems to have been demolished between 1680 and 1700. (fn. 173) Another house, Little Gobions, existed in 1715 and later. (fn. 174) That was probably the farm-house which in 1840 was said to have been modernized but to need renovation. (fn. 175) The present farm-house was built by the Crown in 1899. (fn. 176)

The manor of GOOSHAYES ('goose enclosure') lay west of Dagenhams, in the area now called Harold Hill. It originated, wholly or partly, in a tenement which William Hurel held in 1210–12 by serjeanty of keeping the king's park of Havering. (fn. 177) In 1219 and 1227 it comprised ½ hide, which John Hurel (or Parker) held by the same service. (fn. 178) John Hurel's widow Gillian was holding it in 1235. (fn. 179) The serjeanty seems to have lapsed soon after that. In 1251 John Hurel's daughter Joan, her husband John Mauduit, and her sister Emmesold the tenement, comprising 100 a. land and 1 a. wood, to Richard of Dover (d. by 1254). (fn. 180) In 1273–4 John of Dover, Richard's son, held 'Gooseland' of the manor of Havering. (fn. 181) He also held, jointly with William Carpenter, land called Hurel. (fn. 182) No service was being performed for either tenement. In 1274–5 John of Dover, and William of Felsted, who was probably identical with William Carpenter, held ½ hide in Havering, which John Hurel had once held by custody of Havering park. (fn. 183)

John of Dover's lands in Romford appear to have descended like Dovers in Hornchurch at least until c. 1355, when Gooshayes comprised a messuage and 120 a., held by Richard of Sutton. (fn. 184) At the end of the 14th century Gooshayes passed to Richard Hamme. This probably occurred in 1398, when he acquired two tenements in Havering: a messuage and 60 a. from Joan, widow of John Michel, and 2 messuages and 60 a. from Thomas Hasyll and his wife Katherine. (fn. 185) Hamme was a servant of Henry Percy, earl of Northumberland (d. 1408), keeper of the manor of Havering c. 1399–1403. (fn. 186) In 1405 he bought a field adjoining Gooshayes. (fn. 187) His will was proved in 1418. (fn. 188)

Richard Hamme was succeeded by his son John, who was apparently holding Gooshayes by 1435. (fn. 189) Henry Percy, earl of Northumberland (d. 1455), who held Dagenhams at this period, also had a fiduciary interest in Gooshayes. (fn. 190) This suggests that the Hammes were still adherents of the Percies, and may have shared the Percies' forfeiture after Towton. That would explain why Edward IV granted Gooshayes in 1462 to Henry Bourchier, earl of Essex, as well as Dagenhams two years later. (fn. 191) At Gooshayes, as at Dagenhams, the grant to Bourchier had no permanent effect. John Hamme retained the manor, and in 1465 sold it to Avery Cornburgh. (fn. 192) Cornburgh (d. 1487) also held Dagenhams, and Dovers in Hornchurch. (fn. 193) His heirs were his sister Agnes Chambie, and his nephew John Crafford. (fn. 194)

By 1512 Gooshayes was in the possession of John Morton, (fn. 195) who in 1518 granted a 40-year lease of the manor to John Roper. (fn. 196) Thomas Morton, who died holding Gooshayes in 1591, was presumably a descendant of John. (fn. 197) He was succeeded by his son George, who in 1600 sold the manor to Richard Humble. (fn. 198)

Richard Humble (d. 1616) was a Southwark vintner and alderman of London. (fn. 199) His son Peter (d. 1623) left a daughter and heir Martha, who married Reynold Bray. (fn. 200) Martha and Reynold both died in 1638, leaving Edmund Bray their son and heir. (fn. 201) Edmund appears to have died childless. By 1659 he had been succeeded by his mother's cousin Humble Ward, Lord Ward of Birmingham (d. 1670). (fn. 202) Lord Ward's son Edward Ward, Lord Dudley and Ward, sold Gooshayes about 1684 to William Mead (d. 1713), a London linen-draper and a leading Quaker. (fn. 203) William's son Sir Nathaniel Mead sold it in 1754 to William Sheldon (d. 1798), who left it to his son William (d. 1817). (fn. 204) Thomas Sheldon, son of the younger William, sold Gooshayes in 1829 to Sir Thomas Neave, Bt. (fn. 205) It was thus merged in Dagenhams, with which it descended until 1919, when Sir Thomas L. H. Neave, Bt., sold most of that estate. Gooshayes, then a farm of 266 a., was bought by the tenants, R. and H. Watt. (fn. 206) Some years later Robert Watt sold the farm to John Mallinson, who already held the neighbouring New Hall farm. (fn. 207) In 1948 Gooshayes was compulsorily purchased by the London County Council for the Harold Hill housing estate. (fn. 208)

Gooshayes house, described in 1594 as ancient, is said to have been rebuilt by Edward Ward, Lord Dudley and Ward, i.e. between 1670 and c. 1684. (fn. 209) Gooshayes Chase, which formed the drive to the house from the London Road, may have been made at that time. (fn. 210) Most of Ward's house was demolished before 1768, but part of it survived as a farm-house. (fn. 211) When the Harold Hill estate was built Gooshayes became a community centre. It was demolished in 1961. Gooshayes Drive follows the line of Gooshayes Chase.

The manor of MARKS, in Dagenham and Romford, is treated elsewhere. (fn. 212)

The tenement of MARSHALLS was in Romford town, on the east side of North Street. (fn. 213) It took its name from the Marshall family, which occurs in many local records from the 12th century onwards. (fn. 214) About 1618 it comprised about 40 a. land, belonging then to Mr. Thorowgood, and formerly to Edward Carew. (fn. 215) Edward was the son of John Carew, deputy steward of the liberty of Havering. (fn. 216) Marshalls remained in the Thorowgood family until the early 18th century. Simon Thorowgood (d. 1722) was holding it in 1695, when he mortgaged it to Sir William Scawen and his brother (Sir) Thomas Scawen, both of London. (fn. 217) The Scawens were friends and business associates of Russell Allsopp, brother of Thorowgood's wife Elizabeth. In 1704 Simon and Elizabeth Thorowgood sold the freehold of Marshalls to Allsopp, in return for an annuity on their joint lives. Allsopp died in 1705 or soon after, leaving the freehold to his sister Katherine, wife of Thomas Baines, for life, with remainder to William, son of John Jerman. (Sir) Thomas Scawen was Allsopp's executor. At the time of his death Allsopp was heavily in debt to Sir William Scawen and others, whose claims on the estate conflicted with the Thorowgoods' right to their annuity, and caused protracted litigation, during part of which Marshalls was in Chancery. In 1725 William Jerman sold the freehold of the estate to Thomas Scawen, heir to his father Sir Thomas and also his uncle Sir William Scawen. Thomas Scawen bought out Elizabeth Thorowgood's life interest in 1729. He mortgaged the estate in 1730 to James Colebrooke, who in 1733 foreclosed and sold it to Onesiphorous Leigh of Tooting. Marshalls later passed to John Leigh of London, who died in 1748, leaving his estates to his mother Elizabeth Leigh for life, with remainder to his sisters Mary Leigh and Mary Frost. In 1748 the remainder to Marshalls was settled on Mary Frost in anticipation of her marriage to John Beesley.

In the late 18th century Marshalls was owned and occupied by Jackson Barwis (d. c. 1809), (fn. 218) and later by his widow (d. 1816). (fn. 219) After Mrs. Barwis's death the estate, comprising a large house and 112 a. land, was put up for sale. (fn. 220) Then or soon after Marshalls was acquired by Rowland Stephenson, 'the fugitive banker.' (fn. 221) In 1829, after Stephenson's bankruptcy, it was bought by Hugh McIntosh (d. 1840), and it subsequently descended with the Havering manor estate until after the First World War. (fn. 222) Marshalls was put up for sale in 1924 and most of the land was soon developed for building. (fn. 223)

Marshalls house appears to have been enlarged into a gentleman's residence early in the 19th century, possibly by Jackson Barwis. It was a stuccoed five-bay house with a Tuscan portico and earlier back parts. (fn. 224) The Sunday parties held there by Rowland Stephenson were long remembered. (fn. 225) Hugh McIntosh lived at Marshalls, but after his death the house was usually let. (fn. 226) In 1959 it was demolished and the site was used to extend Romford county technical school. (fn. 227)

The manor of RISEBRIDGE lay south of Lower Bedfords Road, near the place where an ancient bridge carried that road over a tributary of the Bourne brook. (fn. 228) It appears to have originated in a 60-acre tenement which Peter of Romford granted in 1234 to Adam of Lincoln, in exchange for other lands. (fn. 229) Lincoln granted it in 1241 to William Dun, (fn. 230) who soon afterwards gave it to Hornchurch priory in free alms. (fn. 231) In 1315 it was alleged that Dun's gift had been intended as the endowment of a chantry in the parish church, and that the priory had misappropriated it, but the charge failed. (fn. 232) Risebridge subsequently descended with Hornchurch Hall and Suttons. (fn. 233) In the 17th and 18th centuries it was leased with the tithes from the northern wards of the parish, and was sometimes called Parsonage farm. (fn. 234) In 1846 it was a farm of 135 a. (fn. 235) New College, Oxford, sold it in 1925 to Mr. C. B. T. Hembry. (fn. 236) It seems to have been acquired later by Thomas England, the estate developer, whose widow, Mrs. E. S. England, sold it in 1969 to Havering L.B. (fn. 237) In 1976 Risebridge was a municipal golf course, and the farm-house, a mid-19th-century building, was in use as the club house.

The manor of STEWARDS lay on the east side of Hornchurch Lane (South Street), Romford. In 1499 John Hotoft of Orsett and his wife Joan conveyed it to William Chapman of Bulphan and others. (fn. 238) Chapman conveyed it in 1501 to Edward Hales. (fn. 239) Stewards later passed to Marcellin Hales (d. 1561). (fn. 240) Thomas Hales, son of Marcellin, sold the manor in 1566 to William Cade. (fn. 241) In 1588 Cade sold it to James Quarles (d. 1599), purveyor to the Navy, who was succeeded by his son (Sir) Robert Quarles (d. 1639); Sir Robert's widow Mary held a life-interest in the manor, and was still living in 1659. (fn. 242) James Quarles, son of Sir Robert, died in 1642 leaving an infant daughter Hester, who eventually inherited Stewards and married William Holgate. (fn. 243) In 1696 the estate comprised 374 a., extending from Hornchurch Lane to Squirrels Heath. (fn. 244) William Holgate, son of William and Hester, sold it in 1708 to John Wood. (fn. 245) Wood (d. 1761) devised Stewards in equal shares to William Gill and John Leach. (fn. 246) The halves were reunited in 1800, when William Tolbut bought them both from the Gill and Leach families. (fn. 247) Tolbut (d. 1828) was succeeded by his son William. (fn. 248) The Eastern Counties railway (1839) cut the estate in half, and the station was built at that point. In 1849 Stewards, then comprising some 255 a., was put up for sale by William Tolbut, and during the next 20 years much of it was developed for building in Western Road, Junction Road, Eastern Road, Victoria Road, and South Street. (fn. 249)

About 1618 Stewards house stood in a large park. (fn. 250) By 1696 the park had been divided up for farming, but the house was still standing. (fn. 251) At both dates it was depicted as a substantial gabled building, possibly of the 16th century. The owners lived there from the time of Marcellin Hales at least until the mid 17th century. Francis Quarles the poet (1592–1644), brother of Sir Robert, lived there in childhood. (fn. 252) In 1700 an Independent meeting was registered there. (fn. 253) Stewards was demolished shortly before September 1717. (fn. 254) At that time it was thought unlikely that it would ever be rebuilt, but in fact a new house, called Romford Hall, was built soon after on the same site. (fn. 255) It was a large red-brick building which survived c. 1914 but was later demolished. (fn. 256)

The tenement of WRIGHTSBRIDGE lay beside the bridge of that name over Putwell (now Weald) brook at Noak Hill. A small part of it lay east of the brook, in South Weald parish. The Wrights, a prolific yeoman family, had several branches in this part of Essex. The eldest sons were usually called John. (fn. 257) About 1355 John Wright was holding Morris's land in Havering, comprising a messuage and 60 a., formerly belonging to Robert Morris. (fn. 258) That tenement was evidently in the Noak Hill area, since its tithes were leased along with Newbury in 1378 and 1385. (fn. 259) The Wrights were certainly holding Wrightsbridge by the 1550s, and remained there until the later 17th century. (fn. 260) John Wright, who was living in 1678, appears to have been at least the fifth holder of the estate, in successive generations, with the same name. (fn. 261) In that year Wrightsbridge was mortgaged to John Wood, a London haberdasher. John Wright and John Wood were both dead by 1685, when Wright's mother and sisters conveyed the estate to Wood's daughter Sarah, later wife of George Caldecott. Wrightsbridge was bought from the Caldecotts in 1720 by Sir Robert Abdy, Bt., of Albyns, in Stapleford Abbots. (fn. 262) It descended with Albyns until c. 1872, when it was bought by Sir Arundell Neave, Bt., and thus became part of the Dagnam Park estate. (fn. 263) In 1772 Wrightsbridge farm comprised 80 a. (fn. 264) During the next century it was gradually enlarged, to 93 a. in 1818 and 98 a. in 1869. (fn. 265) By 1919, when that part of the Dagnam Park estate was put up for sale, Wrightsbridge had been merged in Hill farm, which was bought by the sitting tenents, R. Watt & Sons. (fn. 266)

Wrightsbridge house stands immediately north and west of the bridge. About 1618 there was a substantial gabled house there. (fn. 267) The present house is a brick building of the early or mid 18th century. It was excluded from the sale of 1919, and was later sold separately. It was remodelled and extended to the rear in 1926, when an earlier service wing was probably replaced. The sundial on the front of the house, dated 1663, was imported at that time. (fn. 268)

Angel Cottages, about 150 yd. south of Wrightsbridge, in Wrightsbridge Road, was part of the same tenement in the 17th century, and was probably identical with Malland (1625), and with Little Wrightsbridge (1659). (fn. 269) It comprises the northern half of a late-14th- or early-15th-century timber-framed hall house. (fn. 270) It is not unlikely that this building was the original house on Morris's land. In the early 17th century the first floor was put into the hall, and the northern end was rebuilt in its present cross-wing form. By 1707 Little Wrightsbridge had been detached from the Wrightsbridge estate, and by 1744 it had become the Angel public house. (fn. 271) Sir Thomas Neave, Bt., of Dagnam Park, bought the Angel in 1818 and converted it into two cottages. (fn. 272) In 1976 the building belonged to Hill farm.