Deopham History

Deopham Manor Lease 1742

John Amyas

  1. Notes:
  2. The Lease
  3. Key points
  4. Comments
  5. Footnotes
  6. Navigation

Notes:

  1. The Lease as originally written is one solid block of text with no spaces or punctuation until the final line. The text has been reformatted and some punctuation added below for ease of reading, but the wording remains the same.
  2. 1742 spellings have been retained for Manour, Appertenances, ingrossed, premisses, accrew, etc.
  3. The words in bold correspond to those so written in the original indenture.

The Lease

This Indenture made the First Day of December in the Sixteenth Year of the Reign of Our Sovereign Lord George the Second1 by the Grace of God King of Great Britain France and Ireland Defender of the Faith between the Dean and Chapter of the Cathedral and metropolitical Church of Christ Canterbury of the one part and John Amyas of Hingham in the the County of Norfolk Esquire of the other part witnesseth that the said Dean and Chapter as well for and in consideration of the surrender of a Lease of the things hereby again demised2 before this Time made and granted by them the said Dean and Chapter to the said John Amyas which Lease bears Date the Twenty Fifth Day of November in the Ninth year of his Majesty’s Reign as also for divers other good causes and considerations them  hereunto moving have with their Common Assent and Consent demised granted and to Farm letten3 and by these presents for them and their Successors do demise grant and to Farm let unto the said John Amyas 

All that their:- 

  • Manour Rectory or Parsonage of Deopham in the County of Norfolk and also 
  • all Rents and Services 
  • Lands 
  • Meadows 
  • Pastures and 
  • Feedings 

together with all:- 

  • Tithes 
  • Pensions 
  • Portions 
  • Ways 
  • Wastes 
  • Commons 
  • Profits 
  • Commodities and 
  • Hereditaments 

to the said Manour and Parsonage, or either of them, belonging or appertaining

together with all:-

  • Courtleet4 
  • Views of Frank5 pledge and the profits thereunto belonging with 
  • all Waifs 
  • Strays 
  • Escheats 
  • Deodands 
  • Felons’ Goods 
  • Fugitives’ Goods and all Chattels 
  • Goods of Outlawed and condemned persons 
  • Fines 
  • Issues and 
  • Amerciaments6 and 
  • all other things whatsoever which to the Franchises and Liberties of the said Dean and Chapter and their Successors in the said Manour or parsonage belonging or appertaining with all and singular the appertenances.

Except and always to the said Dean and Chapter and their Successors reserved the Advowson, Gift and patronage of the Vicarage of Deopham whenever the same shall happen to become void.

To have and to hold the said Manour and parsonage with all and singular other the premisses with the appertenances (except before excepted) to the said John Amyas his Executors and Assigns from the Feast of St Luke the Evangelist last past before the Date hereof unto the full End and Term of One and Twenty Years from thence next ensuing and fully to be complete and ended.

Yielding and paying therefore yearly during the said Term to the said Dean and Chapter and their Successors the Sum of Sixteen pounds of good and lawful money of Great Britain on the Feast of St. Luke the Evangelist at the Mansion House of the said Dean and Chapter now the Three Flowers de Luce at or near Battle Bridge in the Borough of Southwark near the city of London 

And also yielding and paying therefore over and above the said yearly Rent above reserved to the said Dean and Chapter and their Successors to and for the Use of the Vicar of the Parish Church of Deopham aforesaid for the Time being yearly and every year during the said Term the Sum of Six Pounds of good and lawful money of Great Britain at the Feasts of the Birth of our Lord Christ, the Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Nativity of St John the Baptist and St Michael the Archangel by even portions to be paid without any Demand to be made of the same free and clear of all and all manner of Taxes Sesses Scots Lots and other Impositions and Burthens ordinary and extraordinary whatsoever 

And the said John Amyas for himself and his Executors Administrators and Assigns doth covenant and grant to and with the said Dean and Chapter and their Successors by these presents that the said John Amyas his Executors Administrators and Assigns shall and will at his and their own proper Costs and Charges in all Things during the said Term repair, uphold, sustain and maintain all the Houses, Barns, Stables, Edifices and Buildings of the Manour and Parsonage of Deopham aforesaid and all the Inclosures of the Lands before demised, together with the Chancel of the Parish Church of Deopham aforesaid as oft as need shall require, and in the End of the said Term the said Houses, Barns, Stables, Edifices, Buildings, Inclosures and Chancel well and sufficiently repaired done and maintained to the Hands of the said Dean and Chapter and their Successors shall leave and yield up 

And the said John Amyas for himself and his Executors and Administrators and Assigns doth covenant and grant to and with the said Dean and Chapter and their Successors by these presents to make or cause to be made Two Terrars or Books distinctly written in parchment containing in them and either of them the Certainty and Quantity of the Demesne Lands Tenements Meadows Pastures and Woods belonging to the said Manour & the Glebe Lands and Tenements to the said parsonage belonging and appertaining with the true Meets and Bounds of every piece and parcel of the same as they do severally or jointly lie and in what Town and Hamlet as also Two Rentals fair and distinctly written in parchment containing in them and either of them the name and names of all and every Tenant and Tenants whatsoever as well Freehold as Copyholders holding of the said Manour together with the true and several Rents and Customs which they and every of them do yearly owe and pay and also the several names Meets and Bounds of the Lands for which the said Rents, Services and Customs are due and payable and where the said Lands do severally or jointly lie and in what Town or Hamlet and the same Terrars and Rentals to deliver, or cause to be delivered, to the said Dean and Chapter and their Successors in manner and Form following that is to say the First Terrar and Rental is to be delivered to the Receiver General or Auditor of the said Dean and Chapter for the time being at and upon the Accompt of the said John Amyas in Form hereafter mentioned to be made in the first year of the said Term and the second Terrar and Rental to be delivered likewise in the Tenth year of the said Term 

And the said John Amyas for himself and his Executors Administrators and Assigns doth covenant and grant to and with the said Dean and Chapter and their Successors by these presents that he, the said John Amyas his Executors, Administrators and Assigns, shall yearly during the said Term pay, or cause to be paid, to the Dean Receiver General or Surveyor of the said Dean and Chapter and their Successors for the time being towards their yearly charges in visiting and surveying that is to say to the Dean Forty Shillings and to the Receiver and other officers Twenty Shillings of lawful money of Great Britain at the Election and Choice of the said Dean or Receiver whether to take their Entertainment in Kind or so much  money in lieu thereof whether they visit the said Parsonage or not and so as the said John Amyas his Executors or Assigns shall not hereby be charged either to make such Entertainment or to pay the said Three pounds in lieu thereof more than once in a year during the said Term 

And further that he the said John Amyas his Executors or Assigns shall yearly during the said Term in the month of October after the end of every year during the said Term at the time of the Audit to be kept for the said Dean and Chapter and their Successors at the said Mansion House of the said Dean and Chapter appear before the Receiver General and Auditor then and there to make an Accompt of the payment of the Rent Farm and Stipend above reserved and then also to deliver to the said Receiver or Auditor the Transcripts of the Court Rolls of every Court by them or their Assigns or the Steward of the Court there to be kept fair and truly ingrossed in parchment and therewith all a Roll or Book fair written in Parchment containing therein all and singular the profits of the precedent year that shall accrew grow and be received or recovered by the said John Amyas his Executors Administrators or Assigns of or for the Franchises and Liberties of the Dean and Chapter within the said Manour and Rectory of Deopham and for what and of whom they were so received 

And also the said John Amyas his Executors Administrators and assigns doth covenant and grant to and with the said Dean and Chapter and the Successors by these presents at his and their own proper Costs and Charges to find and provide a sufficient honest learned Steward to keep the Courts and Lawdays there as hath been accustomed 

And if it shall happen the said yearly Rent or Farm of Sixteen pounds or the said stipend of Six pounds to be behind and unpaid in part or in all by the Space of Fourteen Days next after the Feast above said in which it ought to be paid so as aforesaid 

or if the Reparations of the said Houses Edifices and Buildings be not within One whole year next after Monition and Warning by the Receiver General or Surveyor of the said Dean and Chapter and their Successors for the Time being to the said John Amyas his Executors or Assigns or to the then Occupier of the premisses for the due and needful keeping and repairing of the same given and declared well and sufficiently made and done 

or if the said John Amyas or any other person or persons to whose use and possession the present Lease and Term of years shall remain and come do alienate bargain and sell this present Indenture and Lease or any part thereof to any person or persons without the special Licence of the said Dean and Chapter and their Successors under the common Seal first had and obtained 

or if such person or persons to whose use and possession this present Lease and Term of years or any part thereof shall remain and come by Bargain Sale Devise Legacy or otherwise by or from the said John Amyas do not within One whole year next after the having and enjoying of this said Lease make surrender of the same and of the Term of years therein then to come to the said Dean and Chapter and their Successors so that he or they may then, or within convenient Time after, receive of the said Dean and Chapter and their Successors a like good sufficient and lawful new lease of all the foredemised premisses for so many years as shall be then to come of the Term aforesaid paying only therefore the ordinary Charges and Fees for sealing and writing the same 

That then and from thenceforth this present Indenture and Lease and every Clause and Article therein above on the Behalf of the said Dean and Chapter and their Successors made and granted shall be utterly void and of none Effect any Thing aforesaid to the contrary notwithstanding 

And the said Dean and Chapter do covenant promise and grant to and with the said John Amyas his Executors Administrators and Assigns by these presents that he the said John Amyas his Executors Administrators and Assigns shall or may, for and under the Rents and Covenants aforesaid, peaceably and quietly have, hold, possess and enjoy all and singular the premisses by these presents demised with their appertenences for and during the said Term of Twenty and One years without any manner of Lett, Eviction, Expulsion, Interruption or Incumbrance to be had or made by them the said Dean and Chapter or by any other person or persons lawfully claiming for, by or under them or by their Assent, Consent, Means or Procurement. 

In Witness whereof to One part of this Indenture remaining with the said John Amyas the said Dean and Chapter have set their common seal and to the other part remaining with the said Dean and Chapter the said John Amyas hath set his Seal Dated in the Chapter House of the said Dean and Chapter the Day and year first above written.
1742

Signed, sealed and delivered in the presence of John Breeze, Rector of Hingham in Norfolk

Canterbury Archives – U63-72907
Transcription © G. Sankey

Key points

  1. The agreement was made in 1742 between the Dean and Chapter of Canterbury and John Amyas of Hingham;
  2. By entering into this agreement, John Amyas would benefit from all income and rights attached to the Deopham Rectory;
  3. The one right that the Dean and Chapter retained was to choose the vicars of Deopham Church;
  4. The lease would last for 21 years;
  5. John Amyas agreed to pay £16 per annum to the Dean and Chapter every year;
  6. John Amyas agreed to pay the vicar of Deopham church £6 per annum in four equal payments;
  7. John Amyas undertook to keep the estate in good repair;
  8. He also agreed to keep the chancel of the church in good repair;
  9. John Amyas would keep two copies of a record of everything that made up the estate, and two copies of a record of all tenants and the rents they paid; one copy of each to be delivered annually to the Den and Chapter;
  10. He would pay £3 per year for an inspector to review the estate (even in years where no inspection took place);
  11. John Amyas would ensure that a copy of the Cour Roll was provided to the Dean and Chapter annually;
  12. John Amyas would appoint a suitable person as steward of the Court of Deopham Manor;
  13. If the terms of this lease are broken, then it is automatically cancelled;
  14. If the lease is to be passed on in a legacy or other transfer, the Dean and Chapter will make an administration charge;
  15. Provided that the terms of the lease are complied with, the Dean and Chapter will not interfere.

Comments

The start date of the 1726 lease was “the Feast of the Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary last past before the Date hereof”; it is now from the feast of St. Luke the Evangelist (October 8th), which carries on until the final lease.

Footnotes

  1. i.e. 1742
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  2. Demise is the transfer of property or a title by will or lease, often for a fixed term. (Google Oxford Dictionaries)
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  3. Farm Let To lease land for rent.
    Example: In the 18th century, it was common for landowners to farm let their land to tenants for a fixed period of time in exchange for rent payments.
    Explanation: Farm let is a historical term that refers to the act of leasing land to someone else for a specific period of time. The landowner would receive rent payments from the tenant in exchange for the use of the land. This practice was common in the past and was often used as a way for landowners to generate income from their property without having to work the land themselves. 
    (https://www.lsd.law/define/farm-let)
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  4. Courtleet The court leet was a court of record, and its duty was not only to view the pledges, which were the freemen’s oaths of peacekeeping and good practice in trade, but also to try with a jury, and punish, crimes committed within the jurisdiction; more serious crimes were committed to the king’s justices. (Wikipedia)
    It is significant that the Deopham Court is a Leet Court since this did not apply to allo Manorial Courts. Some were only able to act as administrators and collectors of rents, but without the right to try criminal cases.
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  5. View of Frankpledge In mediaeval England, frankpledge was a system of law enforcement and policing in which members of society were mutually responsible for the behaviour of their peers. The system included everyone in the community except the highest nobility and their households. A frankpledge group was responsible for making sure that any criminal in their group was brought to court or the group itself was fined.  
    By the sixteenth century, use of the term “view of frankpledge” had evolved to mean an appearance before the court, often with reference to criminal activity or other breaches of the peace. A jury representing the community would hear evidence and usually be limited to ten or twelve men, although thirteen, fifteen, and other groupings also appeared. A view of frankpledge is also the time at which the peasantry would swear allegiance to the king.
    Example crimes tried under the manorial courtleet would be trespassing and pasturing of beasts in someone else’s field.
    (https://tarlton.law.utexas.edu/early_modern_manuscripts/1534)
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  6. Amerciament A financial penalty imposed either by the court or by peers. (Wikipedia) 
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DateChange
30/12/23Published