Page:The Victoria History of the County of Surrey Volume 3.djvu/69

 GODALMING HUNDRED

��GODALMING

��and timber-yards." In 1666 Elizabeth's charter was confirmed by Charles II."

In 1825 an Act was passed for paving, lighting, and otherwise improving the town of Godalming, 46 which, till then, had been ill-lighted with oil, and guarded only by a bellman or watch supported by arbitrary assessments levied by the warden and his assistants." The first attempt to pave the town had been made in 1528.

In 1484 the lord of the manor had received 4*. profit from the watch of Godalming. 48 It is stated in a Parliamentary account of the borough drawn up in 1835 49 that the greater part of its bye-laws appeared to be illegal ; that the town was governed neither according to the charter of Elizabeth nor the institu- tions of James I ; that the choice of warden was always so arranged as to ensure the election of a nominee three years after his nomination ; that the number of assistants had diminished, and that the bailiff, who had then been in office twenty years, had succeeded his father. At this time the chief duty of the warden was to take the lead in all public meetings, to advise the constables, who were appointed at the court leet held by the lord of Godalming, and to defray the surplus expenditure, which was considerable, owing to the lack of any town property ; while the assistants aided the warden, and the bailiff collected the tolls of the fair. The corporation was reconstituted by the Municipal Corporation Act of 1835,* under which the tide of ' warden ' was changed to that of ' mayor,' whilst four aldermen and twelve councillors took the place of the former ' assistants.'

The town has never had any property of impor- tance. The tolls of the market and fair it possessed by Queen Elizabeth's charter of incorporation. They were levied in kind until 1825, when the tolls of market were for the sake of the town's prosperity forgone by the warden and assistants. The only other source of income was the Market House, which was leased from time to time, though still used for town purposes. 51 The old market house was pulled down in 1814 and a poor building erected in its place. The old house had been also the Hundred House, where the hundred court was held. It was from its appear- ance of a date not later than the 1 5th century. In 1616 it was in need of repair, as appears from the will of John Purchase, dyer, of Godalming. It is referred to as the 'Hundred House' in a deed of 1 532. A court of pie powder was held there on market-days. GODALMING MANOR was a posses- MANORS sion of King Alfred, who bequeathed it to his nephew Ethelwald." The latter doubtless forfeited it to the Crown, for he rebelled

���SIE or SALISBURY. Azure Our Lady stand- ing -with the Child in her arms or.

��against Edward the Elder in 905 and died in arms." Edward the Confessor held Godalming, which remained an appurtenance of the Crown till Stephen's son, William Earl de Warrenne, obtained a grant of it," but probably resigned it with his other lands before 1 159. It seems that Henry II granted it to Stephen de Turnham," for in 1206 he obtained a confirma- tion of Arlington, and with it the hundred and all other appurtenances which he had of the gift of Henry II. M In 1 22 1 a mandate was issued to the Sheriff of Surrey to de- liver to the Bishop of Salis- bury seisin of the manor and hundred of Godalming, which had been held by Edelina de Broc, Stephen's widow. 57 Ma- bel de Bavelingham, one of Stephen and Edelina's five co- heiresses, released the manor and hundred to the Bishop of Salisbury in 1224," while ten years afterwards three of

the remaining co-heiresses sued Robert Bishop of Salisbury for the manor, 49 but were evidently unsuc- cessful, for it remained the property of that see till 1541 2. 60 In 1294 the king granted the bishop free warren in his demesne lands in Godalming. 61 In 1541 the Bishop of Salisbury exchanged Godalming Manor and Hundred for the prebend of Bluebery, then held by Thomas Paston, one of the gentlemen of the Privy Chamber, 6 * and evidently an agent for the king, to whom he immediately gave Godalming in exchange for other estates. 63 In 1595 Anthony Viscount Montague was appointed steward of the manor, 64 and in 1 60 1 Queen Elizabeth sold it to Sir George More of Loseley, 65 in whose family it re- mained for more than two and a half centuries. 66

Mr. James More-Molyneux sold it about 1865-70 to Mr. James Stewart Hodgson, who died in 1 899. It is now in the possession of Mr. F. A. Crisp of Hurt- more, who bought it in 1909.

There were court baron and court leet in con- nexion with Godalming Manor. 67 The lord of Godalming also had relief and heriot. 68 In 1394 Richard II granted to John Waltham, Bishop of Salis- bury, all the amercements of the tenants and residents in his fee and in that of the dean and chapter, together with assize of all victuals, waifs and strays, and freedom from purveyance. 69 These liberties were claimed by Sir George More in i6o5-6. 70 The fishing and fowling rights throughout the hundred were leased to Richard Bedon while the manor was in the king's

��1 V.C.H. Surr. ii, 340. 44 No enrolment of the charter has been found ; Par!. Papers, 1835, xxiv, 735. 46 6 Ceo. IV, cap. 177.
 * ' Parl. Pa fen, 1835, xxiv, 735 et seq.

48 Add. R. 26892.

49 Par!. Pafers, 1835, xxiv, 735.

60 5 & 6 Will. IV, cap. 76, schedule B. 41 Parl. Pafers, 1835, xxiv, 735 et seq. "Birch, Cart. Sax. ii, 178; i, 178 et seq. U 4ngl.-Sax. Chron. (Rollt Ser.), i, i8:-2.

44 r. C. H. Surr. i, 298* ; Red. Bk. of Excb. ii, 654 ; Fife R. 2 Hen. II (Rec. Com.), 10.

44 (Manning and Bray state that the land whicii Henry II exchanged with Salisbury

��Cathedral was the manor of Godalming. In the deed of exchange, however, mention is only made of Godalming Church with its appurtenances, i. e. the rectory manor. Sarum Chart, and Doe. (Rolls Ser.), 29- 30 ; Cart. Antiq. C. C. 9.

M Rot. de Oblatii et Fin. (Rec. Com.), 339. The history of the manor and that of the hundred are elsewhere coincident.

" Rot. Lit. Claus. (Rec. Com.), i, 455.

"Feet of F. Surr. 8 Hen. Ill, 23; Sarum Chart, and Doc. (Rolls Ser.), 165.

69 Maitland, Bracton's Nott Bk. 800.

See below.

61 Chart. R. 22 Edw. I, m. 3.

L. and P. Hen. VIII. xvii, 14.

65 Pat. 34 Hen. VIII, pt. iii, m. 23;

3 1

��Feet of F. Div. Co. Trin. 34 Hen. VIII ; ibid. Hil. 35 Hen. VIII. There is a very full and interesting survey of the manor taken early in the reign of Edward VI. Misc. Bks. (Land Rev.), vol. 190, fol. 223 et seq. and Misc. Bks. (Exch. T. R.), voln. 168-9.

64 Hist. MSS. Com. Ref.vii, App. 654.

'*Pat. 43 Eliz. pt. xvi.

under Loseley.
 * For an account of the family see

6 7 See the account of the hundred.

68 Misc. Bks. (Land Rev.), vol. 190, fol.

m-

"Mem. R. (Exch. K. R.) East. 17 Ric. II, ' Record:i,' m. 6 (not marked). 7 Pipe R. 3 Jas. I under ' Sussex resid.'

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