OTHER MEDIEVAL ESTATES AND FREEHOLDINGS
HASELEY AND WAVER
In 1433 a messuage fronting the highway by the Thames
was conveyed to Thomas Haseley, esquire, Alice
Haseley, widow, and two others and their heirs, with 3
roods of arable in Westfield apparently near the
messuage. (fn. 2) In 1448 Sir Thomas Haseley and his wife
Agnes had a house in Chelsea which included a chapel. (fn. 3)
In 1449 the house, arable, and meadow in Chelsea were
settled on Sir Thomas Haseley (d. c.1450), then
under-marshal of England and Chancery Clerk of the
Crown, his wife Agnes, and Agnes's heirs, together with
lands in Fulham, Chiswick, and Kingsbury. (fn. 4) In 1451
Agnes Haseley, widow, settled her estates including the
house and land in Chelsea on herself for life with
remainder to Henry Waver, citizen and draper, and his
wife Christine or Christian, probably Agnes's daughter. (fn. 5)
In 1453 Agnes headed the list of assized rents owed to
Chelsea manor with 30s. 4d. (fn. 6)
By 1465 Henry Waver was in possession of property
in Chelsea and he and Christine granted to Master
Robert Kirkham, Keeper of the Chancery Rolls, John
Catesby, sergeant-at-law, and William Morland, clerk,
two messuages in Chelsea, one newly-built with an
enclosed garden, and the other adjoining in which Peter
Carpenter lived, rendering 4d. a year to Waver, and with
a warranty against Christine's heirs. It was quitclaimed
to the three and to the heirs of Kirkham by two
Londoners, probably feoffees. (fn. 7) In 1466 Sir Henry Waver
and the two Londoners granted a 20-year lease to
Kirkham of 1 a. ½ r. of arable on the north side of
Kirkham's wall for 3s. 4d. a year. Waver still retained
other land in the parish. (fn. 8) Sir Henry Waver, alderman of
London, died in 1470 leaving all his lands and tenements
in the towns and parishes of Chelsea, Fulham, Kingsbury, Hendon, and Willesden to his wife Christine and
her heirs, and made her one of his executors. (fn. 9) By 1472
Christine had married Thomas Cooke of Chelsea and
they and another of Waver's executors gave a bond in
connection with Waver's estate. (fn. 10) In 1472 Thomas and
Christine conveyed to William Essex, John Young, and
Thomas Wylkyns eight messuages, five gardens, 60 a.
land, 1 a. meadow, and 16d. rent in Chelsea, with a
warranty against the heirs of Christine to the heirs of
Essex. (fn. 11)
William Essex also acquired property from John
Drayton of London (d. 1467). Drayton's will instructed
the feoffees of his lands and tenements in Chelsea to
grant the property with the profits to his wife Christine
for life, and if she married then to convey it to William
Essex. (fn. 12) In 1476 Christine, now the wife of John Rolle,
claimed that Essex had purchased from Drayton a
messuage called a brewhouse, two cottages, 60 a. land, 6
a. meadow, and 12 a. pasture in Chelsea for £53 6s. 8d.,
of which he still owed part. (fn. 13) William Essex, under treasurer of England, and described as of Walham Green
(Fulham), died 1480 holding the manor of West Town
in Kensington with lands in Kensington, Brompton,
Chelsea, Tyburn, and Westbourne, acquired in 1454,
Wanden manor in Fulham, and land in Knightsbridge.
His heir was his son Thomas. (fn. 14) The descent of his land in
Chelsea has not been traced further.
FRENSHE
John Frenshe, citizen and goldsmith of London, held
land in Chelsea in 1447 which was used as security for a
sale by Frenshe of an inn in Fleet Street. (fn. 15) In 1453
Frenshe was paying an assized rent of 12s. 10d. to the
manor of Chelsea, (fn. 16) and in 1457 he joined with Robert
Beaufitz and his wife Joan to convey to Ralph Botiller
and others, probably feoffees, a messuage, two tofts, a
dovecote, 46 a. land, and 2 a. meadow in Chelsea. (fn. 17) By
1464 Frenshe's former tenement belonged to Richard
Beauchamp, bishop of Salisbury (d. 1481), and lay
fronting the riverside. (fn. 18) In 1484 Elizabeth Mowbray (d.
by May 1510), the widowed duchess of Norfolk, was
granted for life the tenement, houses, and land in
Chelsea which had belonged to the bishop. (fn. 19) The
holding has not been reliably traced thereafter.
CROKE
In his will of 1477 proved in 1481, John Croke, citizen
and skinner, alderman of London, left all his messuage
or place in Chelsea to his wife Margaret for life, and then
to his daughter Margaret, wife of Sir William Stokker,
draper, and her heirs. (fn. 1) In his will of 1485 Sir William
Stokker, mayor of London, left to Chelsea church 20s.
and a torch, and his wife Margaret received the residue of
his goods and his livelihoods in London, Deptford, and
Bedfordshire for life. All his lands were to go to his
daughter Margaret and her issue, or in default to John
Stokker of Willesden. (fn. 2) His property has not been traced
further.
FENROTHER
Robert Fenrother, alderman and goldsmith of London,
in 1525 left to his wife Julian his manor of Notting Barns
and lands in Westbourne (Paddington) and Chelsea for
life, thereafter to remain to Henry White and his wife
Audrey, Fenrother's daughter. (fn. 3) He headed the list of
assized rents owed to Chelsea manor c.1536 with 14s.
3d. (fn. 4) In 1536 Julian Fenrother leased to John Pattenson
of Chelsea, husbandman, for 20 years the Chelsea property consisting of a brewhouse with various vessels and
utensils used for brewing, a tenement on the east side of
the brewhouse with 40 a. of arable belonging to it, and 7
lots of meadow in Westfield. (fn. 5) In 1542 Robert White,
presumably the son of Henry and Audrey, sold to Henry
VIII in an exchange the two tenements, 40 a. arable, and
7 lots in Westfield, the manor of Notting Barns in
Kensington, a messuage at Westbourne, and other property in Kensington, Paddington, and Chelsea; the fine
was made in 1544. (fn. 6) Thereafter the Chelsea property
became part of the demesne of Chelsea manor. As a freehold of the manor it had had grazing rights belonging to
it, which suggests that the brewhouse may have been at
the Feathers, which like the Magpie (below) was a
demesne property with freeholders' rights.
THE ROSE
In 1503 Thomas Whitehead and his wife Emmota
conveyed to William Birrell, his wife Joan, and William
Champion and William Babeham grocers, a messuage, a
garden, and one virgate and 2 acres in Chelsea. (fn. 7) In the
1540s William Birrell paid 4d. assized rent for his
freeholding, described as a tenement and half an acre of
garden. Birrell died before April 1547, and the heir to his
freeholding was his daughter Lettice, wife of Robert King
of Essex. In 1547 they conveyed to Thomas Beane junior
and his wife Katharine 9 messuages or tenements with
gardens, one called the Rose, and 6 others occupied by
tenants including Thomas Saunders. (fn. 8) Some of Beane's
estate including the Rose was later acquired by Thomas
Hungerford. (fn. 9)
WYLKYNS
John Wylkyns, yeoman, of Chelsea was a witness in 1463
to a grant in Knightsbridge. (fn. 10) In 1464 Agnes Wylkyns,
widow of John Wylkyns senior of Chelsea who died after
1461, conveyed to William Rous and Henry Carpenter,
clerks, John Bedford, and her son Thomas Wylkyns and
Wylkyns's heirs the cottage and adjoining curtilage in
Chelsea, which she and husband had been granted by
Lora widow of William Laurens of Chelsea, baker, and
which lay next to the house of John Frenshe. Agnes also
granted to Thomas Wylkyns and John Lynde of Chelsea
all her goods there and debts owing. (fn. 11) Thomas Wylkyns,
formerly a clerk to William Rous, Chancery clerk of the
Crown c. 1452, in 1465-7 or 1476-80 brought a suit to
recover deeds against John Lynde who had acted as
arbiter in a dispute between Wylkyns and his tenant,
Thomas Mytton, over a messuage in Chelsea let for £4 a
year. (fn. 12)
Thomas's property may be part of that held by
William Wylkyns in the 1540s, when he owed an assized
rent to Chelsea manor of 19s. 1d. (fn. 13) In 1545-6 he and his
wife Alice conveyed to John Bowyer two messuages, a
barn, garden, orchard, 40 a. land, 20 a. meadow, 20 a.
pasture, 5 a. wood, 10 a. marsh, 10 a. waste, and 5s. rent
in Chelsea and Fulham. (fn. 14) They also owned Chelsea ferry
and its landing place in 1550 and 1564. (fn. 15)
THOMAS KEYLE
Maud, widow of Richard Est, held for life a freehold
messuage and barn with one rood of land adjoining it
and another 2 acres in the fields of Chelsea, which was to
remain to her son John Est. John was succeeded by his
daughter Katharine who married William Hunteley and
had a son Thomas. William Hunteley was a freehold
tenant of the manor, paying 8s. assized rent in 1453, and
also leased 3 acres demesne that year; (fn. 16) in 1464 his tenement lay next door but one to that of John Frenshe.
Thomas Hunteley, who leased the property in 1493 to
John Lamprey for 14 years, died when his daughter and
heir Jane was 6 months old. The lease was sold successively to John Morecote, John Whitehead, and William
Birrell of London. Birrell was succeeded by his son John,
who took possession of the property and would not
acknowledge Jane's right. In Henry VIII's reign, probably c.1520, Jane and her husband John Kyngton
brought a suit against John Birrell for the property, to
which they claimed Jane was entitled as Thomas
Hunteley's daughter under an entail. (fn. 17) The outcome is
unknown, but in 1522 John and Joan (sic) Kyngton
conveyed to Thomas Keyle and others a messuage, 8 a.
land, and 2 a. pasture in Chelsea, which may have been
Jane's inheritance. (fn. 1) In 1538 Keyle sold to Henry VIII a
tenement with a barn, stable, and buildings, and a close
of land, which had once belonged to Kyngton and his
wife and lay next to a messuage called the Lord Sandys
place, (fn. 2) the Tudor manor house. In 1538-9 40s. was due
as the rent of a tenement and parcel of land next to the
king's manor and acquired from Thomas Keyle of
London. The property was later called the Pye or
Magpie, and was part of the manorial demesne estate
thereafter, though as a former freeholding it retained its
commoning rights. Courts were sometimes held there,
and one tenant, James Leverett, gardener, who had been
granted the property with its outbuildings and a garden,
6 roods by 3½ roods, in 1642 on unknown terms, left £4
a year to be spent on 4 dinners a year at the Magpie for
the parochial officers. (fn. 3)
Thomas Keyle also acquired other land in Chelsea: in
1526 a fine was levied by John Greenfield and his wife
Lettice to Keyle and others for the manor of Brompton
Hall, which included 2 messuages, one tenement, 20 a.
land, 4 a. meadow, 22 a. pasture, and 4 a. wood; (fn. 4) within
three years Keyle brought a suit against them for detention of the deeds to this property, which included land in
Kensington, Chelsea, and Fulham. (fn. 5) Both the Greenfields
and Keyle also sold property to Sir Thomas More: (fn. 6)
Keyle's property in Chelsea included Butts close of 2½ a.
and a house, wharf, and adjoining close, which Sir
Thomas More bought from Keyle. (fn. 7) Keyle was also lessee
of the medieval manor house in 1519. (fn. 8)