10 Jul Lordship Title of Finchampstead Westcourt ID1482
Posted at 20:04h
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In the reign of Edward the Confessor FINCHAMPSTEAD was held by Earl Harold and on his death at the battle of Hastings it came into the possession of William I, who held it in demesne in 1086. It then rendered no geld, but contributed to the 'ferm' of Reading. The manor was granted by Henry I with Aldermaston to Robert Achard. It remained vested in the lords of Aldermaston (q.v.), under whom it was held by sub-tenants. Apparently Robert Achard enfeoffed three knights in three of his manors, of whom two were Alard Banister and John Banister, ancestors of the two families of Banister found in Finchampstead and Sulhamstead. Alard Banister, a justice itinerant for Oxfordshire in 1174, was possibly son of the above-mentioned Alard. Finchampstead descended to William Banister, who was holding at the time of the Testa de Nevill. William Banister, probably his son, died before 1276, leaving two daughters and co-heirs Constance and Agatha, who married John and Peter Hussey (de la Hoese) respectively. John Hussey appears in Finchampstead in 1276, and the two daughters with their husbands presented to the church in 1299. Thus the manor became divided and the East Court and West Court moieties were formed. The other half of the manor, known as WEST COURT, the property of Agatha Banister, wife of Peter Hussey, was held after her death by her husband, and at his death in 1306 descended to their son Peter Hussey. He settled the manor in 1335 on his son Thomas. Peter was dead by 1350, when Margery his daughter quitclaimed the manor to Alina Hussey his widow. On the death of Alina in 1369 it passed to Peter Hussey's great-grandson John Colney, then aged fifteen, son and heir of Joan wife of John Colney, daughter and heir of Thomas Hussey, son and heir of Peter. John Colney died in 1382, leaving a son John, aged six years. Stephen Colney succeeded before 1455, when he presented to the living, and in 1456, as Stephen Colle, he executed a deed granting to Robert Porton a messuage called Wynnebush. Margaret Colle, who inherited the Colle lands, married John Perkins (or Parkyns), lord of the manor of Ufton. Their son and heir was Thomas Perkins, who married Dorothea daughter of Edward More of Wichwood (Hants), and became a large landowner in several parishes. His eldest son Richard, who married Elizabeth daughter of Sir John Mompesson, succeeded in 1524 and died in 1560. Having no children, he settled the property on his nephew Francis Perkins, reserving to himself and his wife a life interest therein. Francis became owner of West Court on the death of Lady Marvyn, widow of Richard Perkins, in 1581. He married Anne daughter of Serjeant Edward Plowden of Shiplake, and, being a recusant, suffered much for his religion, his house at Ufton being frequently searched. He sold West Court to George Tattershall of Stapleford (Wilts.), who had married his sister Katherine Perkins. George Tattershall, his son, was holding in 1605. The Tattershalls were also recusants. After the death of the last-named George Tattershall the manor was apparently taken into the king's hands, for in 1637 his son George had a grant of two parts of the manor for twenty-one years from the Crown. Another George Tattershall was dealing with the manor in 1659. His daughter Mary married Charles Howard, fourth son of Henry twenty-fifth Earl of Arundel, a recusant, and the manor was settled on them by George Tattershall in 1662. After his wife's death Howard sold the manor in 1704 to James Goodyer, third son of Edward Goodyer of Dogmersfield. James Goodyer died a widower and intestate in 1710, and was succeeded by his brother John, who died a bachelor in 1712. The estate reverted to their mother Hester Goodyer, who lived to a great age and died in 1723, and then passed to her daughter Martha, wife of Ellis Mews, who assumed the name of St. John by Act of Parliament in right of his first wife Frances St. John. He left the manor to his second son the Rev. Ellis St. John, who was rector of the parish for forty-two years (1744–86). His son the Rev. Ellis St. John succeeded. He died in 1809, leaving the manor to his son the Rev. Henry Ellis St. John, rector of Finchampstead. The rector was a keen sportsman and kept a pack of foxhounds. His property was greatly increased by the Windsor Forest Inclosure Acts, and he acquired the property known as Banisters (see above). He died in 1841, having bequeathed the manor to his second wife Elizabeth, who presented her second son Edward to the rectory. The eldest son Henry St. John died before her in 1852, and she left the manor and Banisters to her remaining sons Edward, John and Paulet St. John. The Rev. Edward St. John, who became the owner of the manor, died at Finchampstead rectory in 1892. The manor is now the property of Mr. Charles Edward Harris, who took the name of St. John by royal licence in 1907, having married Jessie St. John St. John, niece of the last owner and daughter of Henry St. John, J.P., above mentioned, who died in 1852.
Other Information:
Listed in the Domesday Book:
Yes