Romney Marsh. Coastal and L,andscupe Change thrwgh the .-lges fed. A Long, S Hipkin and H. Clarke), OUSA Monog~~zpIz56. 2002, 15 7-1 72

1 1. "To fasten itt upon his successors, heirs and owners of that howse ...so longe as the world standeth": Family Identity and Romney Marshlands in Early Modem Kent

Mark Merry and Catherine Richardson

This paper investigates the dynamic between land and family identity, and is concerned to connect the ,sjwzbolic and ideological constrz~ctionsof bolh to lr/ndholding practices. The paper shows tlzcct, for .some fhmilies nt least, holding and z~,,ingpar.cel.sof land in the Level was a tungible nrzd explicitl~1exploited means of constructing familial identi~y,for. the purpose qf' maintaining and promoting their social status, and cementing the local and regional networks which located them among their peers. These parcels were pccssed on benveen generations using a ,form of 'te,stamentary n7etonymy' which facilitated the transmission qf a .fanzily identity consisting of the llzoral nornls and social practices comniensurate with social t tat us. The value of nzarshland on the Level iway have nlerrnt this land in particular wc2.s seen as more closely synonvnlous with status lhan other ho1dirlg.s.

Introduction they discuss issues of lineage and land in their wills3 The This paper investigates the dynamic between land and paper will show that, for some fanlilies at least, holding family identity, and is concerned to connect the symbolic and using parcels of land in the Level was a tangible and and ideological constructions of both to landholding explicitly exploited means of constructing familial identity. practices. In 1977 Peter Clark identified the 16th century for the purpose of maintaining and promoting their social as a period in which a nexus of issues including the status, and cementing the local and regional networks "growing prosperity" of the gentry and their "increasing which located them among their peers. administrative experience" led to an "enhanced political The Level of the Romney Marsh has been seen as a awareness, social self-confidence, articulateness and class distinctive place: its peculiarities of geography, adminis- consciousness to match their rising political and economic tration and self interests distinguished it from the rest of aspirations".' This paper offers an example of the nature Kent.4 Part of the reason for this lies in the sheer value of and significance of such issues within and between the the marshland in the Level: pasture was at a premium generations of the Scotts of Scotts Hall and the Hales' of throughout the period, making marshland holdings valu- Tenterden. Examination ofthese branches oftwo promin- able assets and the land market extremely fluid. Frequent ent Kentish families, who were significantly active in the changes of ownership and occupation with the resulting possession and use of land in the Level of the Romney focus on land use required close management, and the Marsh in the late 16th and 17th centuries. makes it possible Level consequently developed a virtually urban adminis- to situate the generation of family identity within their trati~n.~ connections to local and regional society. The subject is The Scott and Hales families have been chosen for a approached through an examination of both the economic number of reasons. Firstly, they are significant land owning activities of those families, and the language in which families of Kentish elite, about which much is known 158 Mark Men?) and Catherine Richardson throughout the period. Both fall into the category of 23,500 acres in the Level of the Romney Marsh from the 'substantial niarshland owner' identified by Stephen 1580s." They indicate that two trends were developing Hipkin as being resident on the fringes of the Le~el.~ across the Level. Firstly, they show that owner occupation Secondly, although not resident on the Level, they were of holdings had steadily diminished by the end of the particularly involved in its politics and economies. The century.I6 Owning and occupying marshland holdings minute books of the corporation make it clear that both increasingly became entirely separate pastimes, as a families were at the heart of the politicised offices of its response to the rapidly changing national economic peculiar administration. In the 1640s, for instance, sir conditions that prevailed in the early part of the 17th Robert Scott is succeeded in the office of deputy surveyor century.17 by Edward Hales first knight and baronet, while the office The second trend is associated with the crisis in the of surveyor was held by sir Edward Scott (Robert's wool industry in the early 17th century. The depression brother) until his death in 1645, then occupied by his seems to have had the dual effects of coalescing owners eldest son Edward e~quire.~ and occupiers in the Level into distinct groups and altering Thirdly, at the county level, the records show members the structure of occupation across the Level in the 17th of the two families acting as justices or on various century.'' The larger tenant farmers rose to dominance con~missionsthroughout the peri~d.~Tliomas Scott esquire during the course of this century, accumulating growing attained the position of Sheriff, while Edward Hales knight numbers of separate holdings into increasingly large and first baronet served in numerous capacities (see concerns.I9 Analysis of the scot book material indicates below). Members of these families were involved at every that this rise of the larger tenant farmer was principally at level of the administration of justice in Kent.9 the expense of the middle ranked farmers, although the Finally, the marriages of both families were crucial to humblest of farmers also lost holding^.^' There was a clear their immersion into the economics and politics of the trend whereby those who could afford to do so increasingly Level.'' Their family trees (see Figs. 11.1 and 11.2) show turned to exploiting their marshland for their rent yield marriages into well established Kentish families. who were rather than employing them as pasture for their own herds. prominent not only in gentry society but also in the land These two broad trends, both of which can be seen to market in the Level. A series of marriages in the second have been well underway by the early 1650s, resulted in decade of the 17th century between the Scotts and the a fluid land market, which was characterised by high levels Honywoods linked the senior Scott heir with a family of extremely short term leasing of often very small parcels heavily involved in direct farming in the Level throughout of marshland, often (although this is notoriously difficult the century." The Hales family was also married into the to elucidate) with a degree of very small scale sub- Honywood family early in the period (see Fig. 1 1 .2),12and tenan~ies.~'Indeed the activity in the land market seems into other families involved in the owning and farming of most energetic in relation to the smaller holdings in the the marshland in the Level.I3 Level, and it appears that, from the early 1 7th century, the Part of the purpose of this paper is to complement more substantial owners strove to accumulate large recent work done on the structures of land ownership, piecemeal farms in order to exploit their rent value.22 occupation and use in the Level.I4 The broad trends depicted by this work are extremely illuminating, particu- larly with regard to the obscure question of land use, while ,Ycot Book Evidence .for the Scott and Hales the material that it draws upon lends itself to various Fam il ies statistical analyses. This paper takes the findings of these As mentioned, the scot books cannot be used to examine quantitative studies, and elucidates them with deeds, systematically land ownership in the Level until the 1650s, probate materials, and court materials. The activities of but in our period they do indicate the Scott and Hales the Scott and Hales families can be considered as a families holding substantial marshland. In 1587 the Scott response to the developing economic conditions on the family owned (or had recently owned) over 500 acres Marsh, while at the same time indicating how these broad mostly in Orlestone, while the Hales family were listed as economic contexts could shape the strategies adopted for owning 176 acres in Ivy~hurch.~~Clearly this does not social promotion by particular families. reflect anywhere near the complete holdings of either family, particularly as we know from the common expend- itors accounts that both families were holding ancient The Extent of the Marshland Holdings of manors of the Level in the 1580s."' In the early years of the 17th century both families were still substantial owners: the Scott and Hales Families the Scotts owning 582 acres and the Hales family owning 429 acre^.^‘ However, in terms of their occupation of Local Taxation Materials holdings in the Level, both families were clearly heavily The wall scots levied for the upkeep of the Dymchurch involved in the market.26 In both families, individual wall provide (with varying comprehensiveness) details of owners also occupied the lands that were owned, which is owners and tenants of marshland holdings totalling some quite typical of the general pattern at the end of the 16th Edward Hales = Margaret of Tenterden esquire daughter of John d.1586 Honywood of Seen d. 1583

John Hales = MaV - Mary William Hales = Elizabeth Jane Hales = sir Thomas Elizabeth Hales = William of Tenterden esquire daughter of Rob& E~~~$l~~~iaughter of stephen of Tenterden daughter of Paul d. by 1582 Honywood of Austen of Ford of d.1600 Horne, bishop of d.1585 d.1582 Johnson of Elmstead Tenterden (no heirs) Winchester Tenterden (father's heir) ~ordwich

Martha = Edward Hales = Deborah William Hales = Margaret Mary Hales = S. Smith Elizabeth Hales = Richard Richard Hales daughter of sir knight and baronet of Boxley and daughter of Ralph Kenwricke of Hunsdon Mathew Carew. d.1654 artin Harlackenden of Chilston Heyman of widow of sir James Tenterden Carew of Tunstall I

John Hales = Christian Samuel Haies = Martha John Hales =I Margaret Samuel Hales = 7 knight d.1638 daughter of Stephen of Chilston of Coldecote d.c.1627-1651 I Herenden of i Hertfordshire Staples Inn esquire

Edward Hales = Anne Edward Hales = Elizabeth Christian Hales Deborah Hales Martha Hales knight and daughter and coheir of Chilston daughter of sir John second baronet of Thomas lord (and Boughton Evelyn of Lee Place, Wooffon Malherbe) esquire Goodnestone d.1694

Edward Hales = Frances John Hales Charles Hales Thomas Hales knight and Windebank b.1647 b.1649 Hales of Chatham third baronet and Deptford Earl of Tenterden Viscount Tunstall d.1695 in Paris

Fig. I I. I. Simplified,furnily tree of the Hales' of Tenterden. William Scott = Dame Sybil knight of Scotts Hall d.1524 I I JohnScott = Anne Edward Scott = Alice Fogge knight

I I I I Reginald Scott = Dame Mary Pimpe = Dame Elizabeth Pollard = Dame Anne Richard Scott = ? knight Scott Scott of Smeeth d.1555 I lI Alice = Raynold Scott I I gentleman Elizabeth Margaret Br!an Elizabeth = Thoma! sent Katjerine Urs!ula Charle! Scott AJne Will Miry Geo!ge He$ of Smeeth Scott Scott Scott daughter knight Scott Scott esquire Scott Scottbm Scott Scott Scott d.1599 of sir John of Scotts Hall of Smeeth Baker d.1594 d.1583

? = I I I I I I Lady = JoL n = Lady CharlesI Richard Dame = Edward = Katherine Priscilla = Robert Henry = Anthony = ? Richard = ? Katherine of Scott Elizabeth Scott Scott Mary Scott Honywood daughter of Scott Bromley Scoff Sentleger Scott Smith Scoff Nettlestead Knight of 3rd son 4th son d.1678 Knight Order Thomas esquire of knight esquire of esquire of d.1617 Scotts Hall d. 1601 d.by 1617 of the Bath Honywood Osthanger Ulcombe Bromley/ 2nd son of Scotts Hall 6th son London d.1617 5th son

l I I 1 I Ed?ard = ? ? = John Thomas = Elizabeth Alexander = ? Scott Scott Brome Scott Culpeper Scott esquire of esquire esquire Scotts Hall 1st son d.1663 d.c.1610

Fig. 11.2. Simplified family tree of the Scotts of Scotts Hull Family Identity and Ronzney hfurshlands in Early Modern Kent 161 century.27 At the level of the individual, both families wives.32The repetition of such a detail is richly suggestive again boast members that fit into the highest category of of the extent to which they regard their wills as related to tenant." one another, and their testamentary strategies as a matter Crucially, however, the picture had changed by the of family convention. This suggests that, as a group, the middle of the 17th century, when both families sought to documents do offer concepts of family identity, and the buy more marsl~land,~~again in line with the trends following sections therefore identify patterns which are affecting the Level as a whole. The Scott family withdrew apparent across the wills: patterns suggestive ofthe rhetoric from direct farming, and had largely stopped occupying of identity. any holdings in the Level by the mid 17th century; whereas The wills of these two elite families exhibit particular the Hales family, bucking the trend somewhat, seems to characteristics, which, although not unusual for testators have maintained its direct farming interests until at least of comparable social status, are vital to an understanding the end of the 17th century whilst increasing its posses- of the value of the evidence contained within them. There sions. While the amount of land occupied by the Hales is no space here for a detailed discussion of gentry family remains reasonably constant throughout the century, testamentary practices, but three interrelated issues are it becomes coalesced into the hands of one or two particularly relevant: self-consciousness, literacy, and individual farmers in the latter half of the century:"' this intertextuality. suggests that within the Hales family there might have An example will explicate these issues: sir Edward been differing perceptions as to just what their role as Hales of Tunstall, baronet, makes his will in 165 l, in the prominent investors in the Level ought to be. "threescore and fifteenth yeare" of his life.33At the end of The scot books also indicate that multiple members of the document he describes the text he has just written: both families were engaged in buying, selling and leasing this my last will and testament. consisting of six sheets of holdings; that the holdings themselves varied greatly in paper written ~cithmy owne hand, being liled and ioned size and location across the Level's waterings; and that together. at the Topp with a fairs sheete of paper to Cover those that they did business with came from diverse social them and sealed there~vithtwoe scales.'" and geographical backgrounds." This was true of the Hales demonstrates an awareness of his own actions market as a whole, and it paints a vivid picture of the which arises from his consciousness of their importance fluidity of business on the marsh. and the significance of the manuscript itself. In doing so The Scott and Hales families thus appear fully engaged he posits a putative reader of the text, and confronts the in the business of the Level. Both were committed to their modern reader with his pre-engagement with their reading. positions in the Level financially; and business trans- This striking self-awareness is facilitated by Hales' actions, marriage settlements and the administration of literacy, his ability to explain his actions in writing. Clark Level 'rules' all served to visibly associate the families notes the importance of literacy in constructing and with the Level, and they thus accrued a particular kind of reflecting the identity of the Kentish gentr~,'~and the status. In the period 1550 to 1650 two things are evident period examined here was one in which Kentish gentry from the scot books: both families adapted in some were producing a number of literary texts, most signifi- measure to changing economic conditions and the different cantly in this context, Reginald Scott's Discovery of policies these entailed; and both families maintained a Wit~hcrr!j?.'~The involvetnent of the will-writers in local substantial presence in the Level. The longevity of this and national government must also have developed their presence, as we shall see, was an important factor in the awareness of the authority of the written word and the generation of familial identity. coercive power of rhetorical construction. In addition, mention is made of other documents which the testators have and such intertextual references are an Testamentary strategies important part of the functionality of their testaments: the latter do not make operative sense without the range of Marshland Holdings and Family Strategy supporting documentation which together makes up these Will evidence is important here because it enables the individuals' methods of organising and managing their analysis of discourses of identity over time. Such an affairs. analysis demonstrates testators' attitudes towards the land Attending to the particular place which the wi I1 occupies they held, and situates such thoughts within a discourse of within these different kinds of tests identifies the nature family identity. For that reason it is important to consider of the information about land and identity it offers. It is land bequests in relation to the broader strategies being read and rehearsed in numerous different contexts in front employed in the testaments. of a variety of audiences, and can therefore be seen as a There is evidence that testators are not only aware of public document, intended on some level to relay the the practices of their relatives whilst writing their own conception of family and status held by the testator.38The testaments. but also attempt to emulate them. The Scott contin~~umwhich exists between the different types of family offer an example of this with their tradition of writing these individuals produced facilitates and shapes leaving their best coach and best coach horses to their the self-consciousness oftheir testamentary writing. It also 162 Mark Merg. and Catherirze Richardson indicates the degree of consciousness with which dis- son Charles, while Henry receives the Scotts' smaller courses are employed within these documents, and suggests manors in Bilsington and elsewhere. Reginald's chiefheir, the level on which the concepts of land ownership and Thomas, is to have the most important and central of the reputation they contain are being worked out. Scott holdings: the manors of Scotts Hall and Thevegate in Smeeth, Orlestone, Bircholt, Combe, Ham, Capell and Hernden. A colnplicated series of reversionary and The Scott Family conditional bequests led to Reginald's widow enjoying This paper takes for its material the branch of the Scott virtually all her husband's landed possessions for life, family based at Scotts Hall. The quality of the evidence and she was to be responsible for maintaining them and for the landholding behaviour of this branch of the family making sure his heirs came into them. is particularly strong, and their sense of identity is The core Scott holdings which descended to Reginald's interestingly centred within the house itself. heir Thomas were important units in the region,d3and the The Scotts were involved in two types of land holding fact that they are maintained in their entirety and placed in the Romney Marsh: they owned often quite small parcels in the hands of a single heir is significant. The will is of marshland in the Level which were coalesced into explicit in its conditions that these holdings are to remain substantial farms; and they held manors, which included intact with all their lands and appurtenances, and already parcels of marshland in the Level. The attitude of the it is possible to see a different mode of treatment between Scott family to the two differed in important ways: while different kinds of holdings. The grouping and protecting the former could be traded freely as essentially economic of these manors became a pattern common to the testament- assets, the latter were jealously protected. ary strategies of the later senior Scotts. Reginald's will From the middle of the 16th century the Scott family's refers explicitly to a series of pre mortem deeds and presence as landowners in the Level was substantial. The settlements which were designed to safeguard the trans- inquisition post mortem of Reginald Scott knight (1555) mission of key holdings. An indenture dated 16th February attests to this: the manors of Orlestone, Sevington, 1540 places the manor of Thevegate in the hands of some Brenzett, Ham, Warehome, Snave and Ruckinge are listed eminent gentry notables to ensure its safe retention by the among his considerable possessions in the region. Also Scotts. Similarly, the marriage settlement of Reginald's listed is the manor of Thevegate in Smeeth, one of the son Thomas made it very difficult for Reginald's heirs to most central of the Scotts' capital proper tie^.'^ These are lose the equally key manor of Orlest~ne.'~Reginald's the manors which the Scotts kept within the family trustees and executors were to be his heir Thomas and sir throughout the period.40Reginald, as Zell puts it, occupied John Baker, the father of his heir's wife to be.45 a position among the 'top rank of office-holding gentry' The treatment of these core holdings, many with who were taxed on large landed incomes; and this was a appurtenances in or on the fringes of the Level, should be position that he cultivated during his lifetime through the seen in contrast to Reginald's other holdings, including marriages of his children4' prime pasture holdings in the Level. Small parcels of Even in simple numerical terms the will and tlie marshland, wliich, although highly lucrative and important inquisition make it clear that tlie holdings in the Level economically, are not bundled together with these core comprised the bulk of Reginald Scott's patrimony, and holding^.'^ Other properties, like the manor of any attempt he made to establish himself and his family Slirimpenden on the fringes of Bilsington (which do not based upon his landed wealth therefore needed to focus appear in the later Scott material), and lands and messuages around these possessions. This centrality is clear, even in Newington, Aldington, Bonnington and Braboume, are from the fact that the profits for 15 years from his named not protected in the same way either. marshlands in Snave and Ivychurch are to provide his This then was the situation for the Scott family leading executors with the income needed to fulfil the will." The up to the end of the 16th century, and in many ways the testamentary strategy of sir Reginald Scott with regard to will of Reginald Scott knight established (or reflected an his Romney Marsh holdings should be seen in temls of existing) pattern. He is substantially more forthcoming the careful n~anipulationof something fundamental to the about marshland holdings in his will than his successors, status of his family. and that is principally because across the period the latter In the will, key family holdings were referred to in share the obvious concern to transmit them prior to the concrete detail: manors like Thevegate, Ham and testamentary process. Orlestone, which stayed in the family for at least another Thomas' will makes clear how significant his Romney century; as well as specific, named pieces of marshland in Marsh interests were to his famil~.~~Arnonghis bequests the Level with information about their size and value. he lists the manors of Capell, Hernden, Cornbe, Orlestone. These 'detailed' holdings were by no means all of Ham and Thevegate. To this he has added the manors of Reginald's patrimony, and his naming of them in this Brenzett and Brabourne. Indeed Thomas seems to have manner is indicative of special concern or knowledge about added substantially to his inheritance, with named lands, them. The key holdings are bequeathed intact to indi- woods, properties and parks in Smeeth, Aldington, and viduals: his smaller marshland holdings go as a unit to his Brabourne, and sizeable parcels of marshland in East- Family Identity and Romney Marfshlands in Early Modern Kent 163 bridge; and although these were only partially connected The significance of this is clear: the core possessions with the Level, they would have had a considerable effect of Thomas Scott were protected, and by the default of upon his association with the region. Many of these heirs, were transferred horizontally (in this case to his additions to the Scott patrimony may have resulted from brother sir John). Everything else, including substantial his marriage to Elizabeth Baker. daughter of sir John accretions to these critically important Romney Marsh Baker. holdings, left the control of the Scotts. The dispersal of The scot book of 1587 attests to the activities of Thomas these possessions not only led to a weakening of the in the Level, as both owner and occupier; and one might family's economic condition, it also led to a dilution of identify the 1590s as the high point of Scott establishment the Scott presence in the region. This in turn may have led in the physical landscape of the Level. Between the scot to familial anxiety about how their identity as a long books and the will we have a pretty vivid picture of Thomas standing and substantial influence in the Level was viewed Scott as landlord, tenant and farmer in large pockets of by their peers. land across the Level, firmly rooted in holdings that had That the brother, John Scott knight, was possessed of been his father's. His testamentary strategy is reminiscent the core Scott Romney Marsh possessions is manifest in of his father's: for example references to pre mortem his will of 1616.'' Following this will, however, detailed agreements; detailed descriptions of the most important information about the Scott possessions virtually dis- holdings; conditions imposed upon the bequests of Romney appears from the probate material, and this is especially Marsh holdings. Also like his father, Thomas chose to true of those core possessions in the Marsh. We know aggregate the family's principle Romney Marsh posses- from the scot book material that the family was still in sions into a single heir, his eldest son Thomas esquire. possession of these in the 1650s, and so their absence Thomas senior served to consolidate the identity of the from the wills can only indicate pre mortem transfer. This family by extending the presence of the family in the would suggest a degree of care taken over the transference region of their influence, and to coalesce the respective of assets crucial to the family's status, a feature of gentry holdings into single entities placed into the possession of inheritance patterns in the period." single heirs. Although John does not specify parcels of land, he Thomas Scott esquire rose to the political heights of does make an explicit statement oftheir critical role in his Sheriff of Kent. justice of the peace, and royal com- strategies for preserving the Scott position in the region. ~nissioner.~~He survived his father by little over a decade, His executors are to levy cash from his estate to buy lands and there is no extant will, but a survey of his widow's worth £50 per unnum. which is to be conveyed to possessions in 1627 is sugges~ive.~"He died heirless, and Katherine, the first wife of his younger brother Edward so the careful reversionary instructions of his father sir esquire. This money is to be used for "the redemption and Thomas (and indeed his grandfather sir Reginald) came bringing back into the family of 43 acres 3 perches of into force. What is left in the inquisition post mortem of marsh lately conveyed" to Edward, which is part of the his widow Elizabeth is therefore what she had acquired in "ancient inheritance of the Scotts". The marshland, once her own right, and presumably the holdings that her retrieved, is to be given back to Edward. husband was in a position to leave to her. Among them At a time when a response in the L,evel to economic are considerable marsh and pasture in Newington, Hythe, depression comprised buying up parcels of prime pasture Saltwood, Bonnington, Bilsington, Aldington, Eastbridge to exploit diminishing margins by sheer scale. con- and Lympne." An indenture dated 1619 records the temporaries may have viewed losing any parcel as unsound transfer in trust of these holdings to Thomas Bedingfield business sense.j%owever, there seems to be more to this senior of Smeeth and Thomas Tournaye of Saltwo~d:~' incident than prosaic financial considerations. The after the death of Elizabeth, they are to be conveyed to the stressing of the land's long association with the family heirs of her uncle sir John Honywood. The Scotts were hints at issues bound up with the family's identity as closely connected by marriage with the Honywoods regional leaders: a self-conscious part of their role in the throughout the period, but even so what Elizabeth and the social and political (and economic) networks of the Level Honywoods receive does not originate from the core Scott was based upon the reality of theirpresence there.55From holdings (and indeed may have been brought by Elizabeth their principle 'bases' at Scotts Hall in Sn~eethand into the marriage). Brabourne manor (along with the other core holdings of Thomas clearly followed the pattern established by his the family, which are never disposed of in Scott wills), father by placing the core Scott possessions at the centre these parcels of marshland and other possessions brought of his testamentary strategy. He did introduce an innov- the family into widespread and repeated contact with ation, however, by establishing the house and lands at neighbours, peers, and partners. Possession of land in the Nettlestead (possibly acquired as part of his marriage Level was at the heart of familial identity, and longevity settlement) as a jointure piece for the wife of the senior was of as much importance as scale of possession. Scott, who took up residence there after the death of her As sir John Scott produced no male heirs, the core husband. This develops the situation whereby land Scott holdings passed to the same younger brother Edward, becomes firmly embedded in family practice. eventually knight and Order of the Bath, who had sold off 164 Mavk Merry and Cathevine Richardson the 43 acre parcel previously. By the time of his own baronet).64 The latter's father William, who is explicitly death in 1645 he seems to have learned his lesson: like his confirmed as his father's heir, receives all other lands and elder brother John he lists among his bequests a series of properties, but not those in the Romney Marsh which are limited cash annuities funded from marshland holdings, singled out and described in detail. The skipping of a but the holdings themselves have been disposed of by generation in this fashion, even though the grandson pre-testamentary agreement.5hHe also seems to have been Edward is a minor, identifies a keen interest regarding the engaged in a process of adding to the Romney Marsh inheritance ofthe Romney Marsh possessions. There may holdings, as evidenced in the 1663 will of his son and have been a particular concern about William Hales heir, Edward esquire.57Like his predecessors, sir Edward (although this is doubtful as he is deemed fit to receive maintained the policy of guarding the core holdings and the prodigious non-Romney Marsh possession^);^^ or a concentrating them into the hands of single heirs, although concern more generally about the continuity of ownership other valuable parcels of land in the Level were bequeath- of these parcels of marshland.'j6 able.58 The testamentary strategy of Edward Hales of By the end of the 17th century the Scotts seem to Tenterden esquire also affected his other sons.h7 The disappear from the scot books. Although it is clear that complex will of John Hales esquire of Tenterden indicates the family did not actually disappear from the Level, the the wrangling that may have gone on to ensure that the extent of their holdings definitely diminish, and it is marshland holdings found their way to Edward Hales perhaps no coincidence that this happens at a time when knight and baronet.'j8Among John's possession were lands senior Scotts are appearing at Chancery to answer cases and properties in Stone, and a parcel of marshland called of debt and broken agreement.59 By the end of the 17th Mores Court; as well as marshland in Appledore, Burmarsh century George Scott of Scotts Hall esquire was answering and Fairfield which he had received from his father in to the heirs and executors of sir Francis Pemberton over trust until his nephew's coming of age.6"The Stone the jointure of Pemberton's daughter Anne. The jointure properties were to go to Edward Hales baronet (the settled upon Scott's wife Anne Pemberton (in return for intended heir of the Hales patrimony), while John be- the marriage portion of £4000) was to include a number queathed the marshland to his other nephew Edward (son of manors, which after the death of Anne were to pass to of Edward Hales of Chilham), contrary to the instructions the heirs of sir Francis for 500 years. Significantly, one of ofhis father. Codicils later appended to John's will reverse the manors included was that of Brabourne, which had these bequests through a series of detailed and restrictive been jealously guarded by Scott's predecessors."' A decade clauses, so that all the marshland holdings are concentrated later, in 17 12, Pemberton's son is pursuing Scott at into the hands of the intended heir, who was still a minor Chancery for a debt of £5300, and acquiring parts of the at this stage, just as John's father intended. If nothing Scott patrimony to defray the money owed.6' The gradual else, this indicates that not all ofthe Hales family approved dissipation of their holdings in the Level, which had always of the principle Hales holdings skipping a generation to been central to their income, led to a reduction in wealth, the grandson of Edward esquire of Tenterden: his uncle and perhaps also to the family's relationships with its for one, seems to have required compensation for losing peers. out on the estates that the family's position in society was based on. Edward Hales knight and first baronet of Tunstall, the The Hules Family heir of his grandfather, was one of the most notable and The Tenterden, rather than the more prestigious wealthiest Kentish figures of his time.'O His office holding Canterbury, branch of the Hales family provides a useful included that of MP and deputy lieutenant of Kent, and counterpoint to the Scotts of Scotts Hall. There are a through a series of far-sighted marriages was integrated number of important similarities between the two with with the inheritance and influence of the Dering, Cromer regards to patterns of landholding, for example. The Hales and Wootton familie~.~'His role in national politics was family also possessed two distinct kinds of holding in the influential and pragmatic, siding with one party while Level: the core possessions that were protected in the covertly supporting the other, although his interests in strategies of the Hales testators, and the economically these matters were often more concerned with old relations significant marshlands that were more commoditized. The among the families of his regional peers.72 Indeed his nature of the testamentary evidence differs slightly from influence in the region was prodigious, and not least that of the Scotts, however, in that the broad fanlily tl~roughhis business practices: as Clark puts it, "... his practices established in the period tended to skip gener- ruthless depopulation of Romney Marsh and engrossing ations, leaving us with less material. As marshland owners of property made him feared and hated through much of the Hales' belonged to the group who were based outside South Kent".73 the like the Scotts, with their seats at Tenterden, Edward first baronet's will of 1651 follows closely the and later at Tunstall. pattern of his grandfather's. Firstly, there is essentially no Edward Hales of Tenterden esquire" bequeathed his detail about any of the lands and properties held by this holdings in the Level to his grandson Edward (later first leading light of Kentish gentry society; and secondly he Fat~zilyIdentity ant/ Romne?' Marshlatids in Early Modern Krrit 165 leaves what is mentioned to grand~hildren.~~As with the to be sold to fulfil the testator's just debts and legacies, Scotts, the Hales wills are indicative of pre mortem unless all of his personal estate and the manors of transfers of critical assets, and Edward tirst baronet follows Chilstone, Bowley and Borden "withall the lands and this model. The lack of detail about his possessions is hereditaments unto them belonging" are not enough to complemented by the explicit statement that he does not pay them.81 have lands "convenient and fitting in liis power" to dispose In other words, the Hales family was still protecting its of freely, except those he has formerly settled. These must Romney Marsh holdings. That they still appear as leading have included tlie Romney Marsh holdings that warranted owners in the Level in the mid 18th century stands the special testamentary treatment of his grandfather.75 testimony to the importance attached to these components The land and property dealings of this Edward Hales of their enormous landed wealth. But the tenacity with in the first half oftlie 17th century are accessible through which both families held onto their holdings in the Level the collection of doculiients known as the Hales Place suggests that the value of the marshland lay not just in its deeds.7hThese deeds serve to complement the absence of income generating value, but also in their cohesive effects. detail about the family's landholding behaviour during That is to say, the role of the marshland holdings was to this period, and provide an excellent opportunity for anchor the families firmly within the regional society in witnessing the actual, rather than intended. strategies of which they operated as land owners, social and cultural the Hales family. They also provide excellent inforiiiation leaders and officers.82The networks that were created by about the details of holdings, and who the Hales' were ownership in the marsh were extensive: they brought doing business with. The imniediate and inescapable individuals and families into repeated contact with whole impression provided by these deeds is that the family were groups of others, in relationships founded on economic holding land and property all over Kent and further afield interaction and administrative effort. This was perhaps by this period. They had a particular interest in marshland more so in the Level than in other regions, due to the pasture, indicating sound business acumen, and not just in extremely fluid, short-term nature of land holding and the Level; but it was those possessions in the Level which leasing. The marshland parcels and manors thus cemented were perceived to be at the heart of their family identity. the critical interrelationships that drove gentry society to The deeds suggest that the role of tlie Hales family in the a degree greater than land held outside the Level. Level became more prominent as tlie 17th century went on, in contrast to the Scotts. Edward (and his family as a whole) pursued a mixed Fumily and Individual Identity policy with regard to the acquisition and use of his This analysis has seen marshland to be productive of holding^.'^ He bought, sold, leased to and from in many situations in which individual identity is shaped and different places; and the details of these individual deeds evpressed because of its complex administration and show that liis business was conducted with many different frequent trading. In testamentary practice, however, it is individuals, some of which he had manifest business and the manor which is the important unit. and it has been familial associatioiis with, others that he did not. But there shown to be central to the definition and dissemination of are trends discernible in the deed material. It is evident, family identity. It is important therefore to investigate the for example, that Edward Hales was busy accruing evidence which the wills offer about the relationship marshland holdings, and that he exploited them for their between individual and family identity if we are fully to rent value in a series of short term high rent leases. It is understand the role of marshland within their construction. also clear that he was a tenant who commanded favourable Particular items are obviously selected to be bequeathed terms, with very long and cheap lease^.'^ What the deed in wills rather than passed on by other means, and attending material also suggests is that in the half century or so after to other types of object which are described in this context Edward Hales' death, his policies were still in operation is instructive. Bequests of specific objects are much rarer within the family, with the pursuit of a balance of in Scott and Hales wills than in those of their lower status acquisitions and leases which reflect the continuing neighbours, and by far the most prominent type of item importance of marshland holdings to the economic survival given is individual items of silverware. In 1600, for of the famil~.'~The ruthlessness of Edward Hales' business example, John Hales of Tenterden gives to Edward, so11 practices during his life may well have informed the of his brother William, "my bason and we[a]re of silver subsequent patterns of patrimony management amongst percell g~ilte".~'The function of these objects is vital to his successors. an understanding of their position within the will. They By the end of the 17th century, the Hales family's are used in a doinestic setting, but at ritual occasions on concern with their Romney Marsh holdings was still which both farriily and non-family members are likely to palpable and explicit. One of Edward first baronet's have been present. grandsons, Edward Hales of Chilston and Boughton Such objects define the status of the household in terms Malherbe esquire, makes this evident in liis will of 1694." of the amount and quality of silverware which the family The executors of this will are instructed that none of the can afford, and they are at the heart of a complex level of lands in the Romney Marsh or belonging to Bellaview are domestic routine which is increasingly indicative of elite 166 Marli Merry and Clatherit7e Richardson status from the late-sixteenth into the seventeenth centuries. Family Identity and the Importance of Location Whilst the newness of their design may have been Wills display a range of testators' attitudes towards suggestive of aesthetic and artistic precocity, the more or location and locality which offer a context for an under- less traditional form which they took harked back to a standing of the importance of land in broader terms. These medieval past of feudal hospitality and the moral codes attitudes are generated by the social practices of gentry which reinforced it.84 Such objects are, in other words, families within their local communities. vital in the construction of elite identity. and passing them Members of both families are clearly at pains to stress on is an important part of the transferral of social status their cotnmitment to a charitable rhetoric of Christian and from one generation to the next. Identity is encoded within communal responsibility. They leave money to the poor the metonymic qualities of the individual bequest: the of various parishes; invariably those in communities in patriarchal responsibilities of governance and lordship which they own land, in the case of Edward Scot knight within the household and the community are embodied in and Order of the Bath, in Smeeth, Brabourne, Nettlestead, the ceremonial actions associated with the object and Aldington. Orlestone, Postling, Yalding, Mereworth and symbolised in the moral codes which inform those Lympne. amongst others.88 This stress upon a range of parishes indicates the testators' appreciation of the These bequests are often limited by age: the child is to connections between the receipt of profit and a responsi- receive them when he or she reaches maturity. When they bility to the sustenance of parish life. Land ownership is come into the new adult's possession they are already seen as productive of obligation. associated with a series of patterns of behaviour, seen Edward Hales first baronet specifically requests that throughout childhood to be appropriate to their use. In his money be given to "the honest poore persons there this way, the bequest of a piece of silverware is also the and not to such as inhabit or dwell in Cottages illegallie bestowal of a responsibility to use it appropriately, and to erected on warfs or in the high waies or live idlely by be explicitly aware ofthe nature ofthe family whose status freeboothing, begging, filching or stealing or otherwise it represents. dissorderlie in theire lives".89The distinction used here is Inheriting such objects, then, is not about possessing one at the heart of the heavily moralised attempts to something new, but rather about being the owner of distinguish between the worthy and the unworthy poor.90 something very familiar. The shift from use to control is It is one of a range of aspects of testamentary provision one of the central paradigms of maturity in such a family. which as a whole underline the self-consciously con- There is a clear sense here ofan identity on a scale larger structed moral and religious identity which these indivi- than that of the individual, one to which the personal is duals display in their wills. intimately related, but which is partly independent of it. As a counterpart to their pious concern for their souls. This switch from use to control can be seen to operate the Scotts and Hales pay careful attention to the manner even more crucially with respect to land. Edward Hales of disposal of their bodie~.~'Edward Hales of Tunstall first baronet receives his grandfather's marshlands. His wishes to be buried in the parish church of Tunstall, uncle John is to have the profit of the lands until Edward "without any pompe or ceremonies at all no funerall sermon is of age, "to bestowe yearely in or upon the bringing upp no vaine Commemoracon no Invitacon [to] Strangers or of the saide Ed~ard".~~Before he reaches his majority, friends farr of but such friends onlie as are neare at hand, the land will be converted into money for his benefit, with my honest neighbours of the parish of Tunstall aforesaid the use of which he will be moulded into a suitable adult and servant^".'^ Acknowledging the protestant aversion to undertake the responsibilities of its ownership. Once to the superstitions of ritual funerary display, these he achieves maturity, personal and familial identity become instructions offer another example of Hales' godly piety, much more closely related as he is the head of the family. and they stress the sensitivity of the issue of public gentry The uselcontrol dynamic defines the individual in relation behaviour within the local community.93 to the family in a hierarchy with the leading male heir at The wills also illustrate the increasing interest in its head: numerous bequests to daughters and other female ancestry which Clark sees as central to Kentish gentry kin "out of the profittes of my lande~",~'draw attention to identity in this period." Edward Hales bequeaths his their subservient position and the underlying importance granddaughter his "best jewel1 at her Choyce my Cheine of land to family status simultaneously. It provides the of pearles and all other the pearles which are in her or the financial basis for the establishment and maintenance of said Edward Hales her husband his Custodye". In doing status, and the physical basis for the local impact of social so, he describes her as, standing, its negotiation within a local community. It is given expression in these wills as an asset which is ...wife of Edward Hales my Grandsonne and only Sonne of productive of many different kinds of material and social Sir John Hales knight my sonne, deceased, by Dame Christian credit, permitting all to participate in a domesticity which his wife one of the foure Daughters and Coheires of Sir defines and expresses status, whether as users or controllers James Cromer late of Tunstall aforesaid knight, deceased, being one of the foure Daughters and Coheires of Thomas of the assets on which it depends. Lord Wotton Baron of Marley, deceased, by Dame Mary his Fumilj Identity and Romney Mut,sl~lnndsin Early Modern Kent 167

wife one of the foure Daughters and Coheires of Sir Arthur COncluSion~ Throckmorton late of paulesperry in the Countie of Northampton knight. deceased..."' The preceding analysis has suggested that longevity of family identity was dependent upon a sense of the His intricate noting of the connections between his distinction between the personal and the familial, where family and those to which they are linked in marriage the latter is underpinned by the former but ideologically stresses the importance of lineage and, indeed, of memory separate from it. The Scotts and Hales' in part expressed in the construction and maintenance of status. The need to their idea of family by focusing the meanings of dynasty display these links stresses the ability of rank to overcome and patriarchy into material culture and the ritualised location: Hales is connected through marriage with transfer of land. This practice of 'testamentary metonymy' individuals all over the country, presumably the same kin facilitated the transn~issionof a family identity which whom he suggests should not be invited to his funeral. He consisted of the moral norms and social practices com- depicts rank and locality in tension as a result of the mensurate with their status. It was passed on through a importance of the regulation of display. In Hales' rhetoric, bequest with its own family history: one which marked the moral impetus to limit ostentation reads as a prioritis- out the relationships connecting the generations by its ation of his local community over his connections to the passage between them. 'community of the elite'. Particular manors appear to have functioned in this Despite the strength of this 'localising principle', it is way. figuring the longevity and continuity of physical land which provides the resources that make horizontal, presence on specific pieces of land as a vital aspect of inter-locational connections possible, and which define social status. It seems likely that the morality of land- the family's vertical position above others in the village, holding which both families expound in their wills, issues town and county within which their principle holdings are like the intimate knowledge and sense of responsibility located. The family's rootedness in particular areas is the towards the communities whose surrounding land gener- prerequisite for their connections to other similarly located ated their wealth, were discourses they held in common kin-groups across the country as a whole, and it gives with others of similar rank. them a distinctiveness through their association with a However, the nature of the land market on the marsh specific place. Inay well have made the Scotts and the Hales' situation Many of the Scott family wills address similar issues slightly different. The value of marshland on the Level of situation in their repeated reference to Scotts Hall, where may have meant that such land was seen as more closely being 'of the house identifies the particular branch of the synonymous with their status than their other holdings, family to which the individual belongs, and their relative facilitating the levels of display and provision which status within a wider kin network. The symbolic power of defined them against their peers. In addition, the intensive the house, along with many of the other issues raised in administration of the n~arshlandwas productive of this paper, is epitomised by a bequest of Katherine Scott, increased interaction with neighbours and associates. As widow of sir John Scott, whilst he lived of Scotts Hall. members of both families were officers within this Since she is the widow of the Scott heir she is, in line with administration, it clearly provided a key local arena within family convention, living in Nettlestead at the time of her which they exercised their status in relation to other owners death. She leaves her and occupiers of the marsh. In other words marshland best silver saltseller to the owner of Scottshall, and pray him may have made these individuals particularly conscious in the Lord to take good care to fasten itt uppon his successors of their identity in the first place. Administration also heires and owners of that howse with as such Care of mee, necessitates concentration on its object. time spent in as I shew kindnesse to him, that itt maye be theire abidinge understanding the operation of the marsh, and therefore a as testimony of my infinite affection thereunto (if it may heightened awareness of the position of marshland within bee) so longe as the world standeth.'" the operation of family finances and of county economics. The house becomes the repository for a sense of This particular land seems to have affected the prominent connection and belonging, and the perpetuation of families who owned it in fairly precise ways, perhaps patrimony is linked to the endurance of domesticity. Her facilitating an especially close set of perceived connections husband was concerned in his will to leave money to between the Romney Marsh and family identity. retrieve marshland which was part of the "ancient inherit- Two issues are related to this particularity. Firstly, the ance of the Scotts". Taken in conjunction the two distinct nature of Kentish inheritance patterns in the time testaments demonstrate an overt awareness of the almost of these individuals' ancestors produced specific types of visceral relationships between house, household, family family structure. Gavelkind resulted in a series of large and land. and proniinent families, amongst them the Scotts and Hales', which were divided into several clearly defined branches within the county." Within the extended kinship networks generated by gavelkind, individual groups defined theniselves partly by locality.'j8 Location on the 168 Mark Merry and Catherine Richardson edge of the marsh was therefore significant for both of the the administration of local estates with its moral responsi- branches studied here as a further level of distinction within bilities, and outwards towards wider kinship networks families. based on social parity) appear in a different light in relation The grouping of 'types' of holding, especially those in to this 'connectivity' dynamic. It becomes possible to see the Romney Marsh, and their transmission to single heirs the level of self-consciousness with which these tensions noted above represents neither the practice of gavelkind are exhibited in the Scott and Hales testaments as a way nor pritn~geniture:~~it is related to the former, but is a of explicitly and publicly foregrounding the dynamic set distinct inheritance practice. The division of estates by of connections which empowered these men to govern the Scotts and the fIales' suggests a more directed and at their county.lO' the same time less pragmatic approach to inheritance, with This dynamic between the local and the national should the central goal being the safeguarding ofthose possessions also be seen in relation to a nationwide interest in mostly closely associated with their respective family quantifying land. Saxton's maps and Leland's travels identities. This paper has detllonstrated that the division charted the country, exploring metaphorically whilst of lands was not entirely, perhaps not even primarily. recording systematically the relative character of distinct economically motivated. locations within a whole.lO"n Kent, while Lambarde was Secondly, it is also instructive to consider these issues con~pilinghis Perambulation.~,the ruling gentry groups in relation to Peter Clark's characterisation of the role of were developing an interest in the history of their county the Kentish gentry in this period. He sees their "primary and their own families, commissioning pedigrees and function in county society" as "an intermediary between family trees."' Inspired by a growing awareness of their different concepts of the community", where members of relation to Kent's historical and geographical distinctness, the ruling elite who were most active locally where also they began to investigate its potential as a discrete most effective at a national Their power was conimunity through the metaphor of land management: derived from their close supervision of their locality, and the symbolic correlations between their cultivation of the their status outside the county was additionally located land as gentry farmers and the proper husbandry of a within a notion of a coherent Kentish ~ornmunity.~'' protestant county. Reginald Scot, for example, produced Landownership, for Clark, makes control possible through his PerJire Platfornie of a Hoppe Garden in 1574 as an supervision and interaction, and the closeness of this exploration of 'spiritual husbandry'.lo6The men discussed supervision both inspires a notion of comnlunity and gives in this paper must have appreciated the temporality of the these men their key role in relating the local to the marshland they owned and farmed: a terrain filled with national.lO' potential for the future; simultaneously suggestive of their The tensions identified in the wills above (the dual ancestral past and overflowing with promise for their focus of a gentry identity concentrated inwards towards personal, familial and county future.

Notes 4. For a brief summary ofthe agricultural develop~nentof the 1. With thanks to the Romney Marsh Research Trust for the Romney Marsh see Zell, Early Modem Kent, 94-100. li~ndingto undertake this research. Quote is from will of 5. Rents rose from 8s per acre in the 1570s to 20s in the Dame Katherine Scott; PRO PCC 1 1/1291188, 16 16. 1610s. and apart from a dip in the middle of the century, 2. Clark, English Provincial Society, 147, 216 and ptissim. stayed at this level throughout the 17th century. The 3. Family identity as a term is used here to describe the purchase price of land rose from £12 per acre at the start practices and possessions which individuals who are related of the 17th century to f 20-22 by the 1660s: Hipkin 'Tenant to one another consider important in the expression of farming', 646-61. their connections with one another. The high levels of self 6. Hipkin, 'Tenant farming'. 649-53. consciousness with which kinship is regarded amongst 7. CKS SIRmlsml ff.2lv, 26v. 37. 53v. people of social standing in early modern society makes it 8. See for example the role of Thomas Scott in 1569; CPU essential to attend to the expression of family identity in Eliz. 5, 156%72. 225. contemporary terms. Influenced by these issues, we have 9. For a snapshot of the role of the families in the tried to develop a methodology which attends to both the administration of county justice at the start of the 17th qualitative evidence of the display of identity (in testament- century. see Knaila Kt~tat Law, passim. For the structures ary material), and the quantitative evidence of the events of county administration see Zell, Early Alodern Kent, and exchanges in which such attitudes were expressed, chapter I: Clark, English Provincial Society, chapter 4. intensified and modified (in land transactions). For an 110. For more on the marriage strategies of the Scott and FIales e~ampleof such a methodology being used upon a 15th families a propos their economic polices. see below. For century urban community, see Merry, Public and Privatr the wider context of Kentish marriage practice see Everill, Lives. The Local Comnzunity; Bonfield. .Marriage Settlenzents. Fumily ldenti@ and Romnry Marshlands in Early Modern Kent 169

The scot book material indicates that the Hony\\ood In the 1650s Mrs Eli~abethHales was recorded as being famill were occupying 243 acres in the Level in c 1612, in occupation of 3 10.5 acres owned by Colonel Kendrick, while by 1650 they \\ere still farln~ngo\er l00 acres, vvhile by the end of the century she had added a further CKS SiRmlf\5. SIRmlFSzlO Sir Edward Scott of Scotts 9.5 acres to this. Also by 1699. Richard Hales was Hall made his first marriage to Katherine Honywood r. occupying 55 acres across two waterings; CKS SIRml 1616. while his younger brother Robert had married fs6. Priscilla (daughter of Thomas) Hon>wood in c. 1610. This is evident from the scot book material; Hipkin, Edward Hales esquire took a Honywood heiress for a 'Tenant farming., 658. wife, while his sister Mildred also married into the family. See for instance PRO PCC 1 1113 1/57, 1616; PCC l 11 'The connection with the Honywoods was 'renewed' by 1 95/49, 1645. the Hales' throughout the period. PRO PCC 1 112371150v. probate 1654. Other hmilies connected to the Hales' and mentioned in PRO PCC 11/237/153. the scot book mater~alinclude the Fords. the Johnsons, Clark, English Provinciul Society. 202-220. For compar- the Austens, the Harlackendens; SlRmlfs5. SlRnilfs3, S/ ative material on non-Kentish gentry see Larminie, 6, RmIfs6, SIRIIIIFSLI0. and chapter 8. Hipkin. 'Tenant farming', 646-76: and 'The slructure of For the relationship between Reginald Scott and the Scotts land occupation', 147-63. of Scotts Hall. see Fig. 1 1.1. IJnlike thc majority of land taxes, they were imposed For example. Edward Hales leaves jewels "the number upon those \\ ho occupied land rather than those mho whereof are spccitied in a paper under my hand writeing owned it. Indeed is should be noted that the scot books kept mith them": Edward Scott provides for his son to only procide patchy information about ownership in the buy back his goods -'by vertue or the said recyted deed Z,e\el Surviving wall scot records date from 1587. c. given by me": PRO PCC 11123711 50v, PCC 1 113121232v. 1612, a number of records from I 650 to 1654, 1699 and In addition, several wills mention the dealings these men later. had in local and national courts, underlining their H~pkin,'Tenant farming', 659-66. familiarity with p~lblicexchanges and public image; see Bowden, -Agricultural pr~ces',63 1-41. for example PRO PCC 1 11961320. 1600. Hipkin, 'Tenant farming'. 658-60. PRO C1421102185. Also listed are 60 acres of marsh In the earl! part of the ccntury the largest farmers (those called Ermynerdes in Eastbridge. the manor of occupying 200 acres or more). some 3% of tenants. Shrympesdcn in Bilsington, and substantial holdings in accounted for a little over 20% of the I .c\ el; by the middlc Aldington, Bircholt. Neurington, Wyc. Smeeth, of tlie century they comprised some 5% of tenants and Bilsington, Bonnington and Saltwood. uere occupying a little over a third of the Levcl; tthile In addition Regil-rald Scott's \+ill reli-rs to 85 acres of by the end ol'the century. they comprised 7% ol'tenants named marshlands in Sna~e,Tvqchurch and Aldington: and held over 40% of tlie Level: tlipkin. 'Tenant farming'. PRO PCC 11/37, 1555. 653-56. Zell, Early Mode1.12 Kent, 49. 63. Reginald's children Bowdcn, 'Agricultural prices', 602-5. 642-8. 662-72. were married to a son and daughter of sir John Baher. The scot book and watcring map material for the first one of'thc largest scale lando\tners in bli~abcthanKent. half of the 1650s provides the greatest amount of serial who held very significant estates in the Romney Marsh. information. and it appears that holdings as small as 16.5 Along with unspecified lands in Aldington. acres could change hands four times in as many years: Interestingly both Orlestone and Scotts Hall are to be during the period 1650 to 1654, at least tivo fifths of the administered by Reginald's executor: the former until Level saw a change in occupier; Hipkin. 'Tenant farming', Thomas marries Elizabeth Baker, the latter until Thomas 649-52. reaches 21 years of age. In both cases the executor Hipkin, 'Tenant farming', 652. receives the profits in order to maintain the testator's CKS SIRmlfs3. daughters. CKS SIRmlFAe3. These include: sir Brian Tuke, Cieorge Tychit esquire, sir CKS SlRmlTs5. With thanks to Stephen Hipkin for Edward Boughton, sir John Williams, Anthony Cooke extracting these figures. esquire, and Charles and George Tuke gentlemen. Quoted The Scotts were in occupation of 476 acres (in Newchurch in the inquisition post mortem of Reginald Scott; PRO and Orlestone), while the Hales family occupied at least C1421102185. 3 17.5 acres (in Ronnington. Ivychurch and elsewhere). PRO PCC 11/37. 1555. CKS SIRmlfs3. Thus the nine acres in Snave and Ivychurch, \\hich are to Hipkin. 'Tenant farming', passun. provide the executor uith an income to maintain Charles Scott occupied 92 acres; Thornas Scott 204 acres, Reginald's daughters for l5 years, are bequeathed to a Edmund Scott 106 acres: Roger Scott gent 5 1 acres; Henry younger son who gets little else. Scott 23 acres. From the Hales family: sir James occupied PRO PCC l l1 8511. His brother Henry, who received 99.5 acres; Charles 77 acres; William 20 acres; John manors in Bilsington from his father, may well have Hales gent 102 acres: Edward Hales gent 19 acres. CKS withdrawn his interests from the Romne! Marsh. as by SIRmlfs3. the end of his life he ~ndicateslittle in the way of' a The figures for 161 2 are somewhat sketchy as CKS S1 foothold in the Kentish land market. All his lands and Rm/fs5 provides only patchy information about ownership properties are located in some detail in London; PRO of the holdings. PCC 11166. 1583. 170 Mark Merry and Catherine Richardson

For the political career of Thomas Scott. Scott. Clerk gentleman of Uoinney Marsh. Clerk was a Memorials, 213; PRO C142132211 78: SP 12lCase F: SP substantial occupier in 1587 and 1612, and Marden was 121208125; BL Add. MS. 33924, f.23 an owner-occupier in 1587. Inquisition post mortem, PRO C1421738115. 65. The extent of the estates he inherited away from the The parcels amount to just short of 400 acres. There is Level is evident from the Hales deeds: CCA U85 boxes also the manor of Oaseborne and other holdings in 1-8. Cheriton, as well as several messuages and mills. 66. The will of William Hales confirms the transfer of the Both men appear as occupiers in the Level in the scot marshlands from his father to his son Edward, which books of 1587 and c. 1612; SIUmIFs3, SIRmlFs5. The also contain holdings in Appledore and Fairfield. To this indenture. quoted in the inquisition post niortem, provides he adds his own inheritance in Tenterden, Ebony and considerable detail about the provenance of these Stone: CCA PRC 17.44.58. holdings. For example, the manor of Blackoose uas 67. Ednard Hales of Cliilham seems to have been in bought from Edward Hales knight and baronet: see also possession of nothing in the Romney Marsh. He died CCA U85 box 3 for the indenture (the price was £1000: before his father. and so was not involved in the the sale took place in 1612). Elizabeth is said to have transmission of Edward senior's Romney Marsh holdings bought lands from William Finch esquire and wife. and CCA PRC 17.46.335. Jolm Cooper esquire and wife. 68. PRO PCC 11196/320. PRO PCC 11/131/57. 69. Mores Court comprised 100 acres in the parish of For an extended discussion of pre mortem inheritance Burmarsh. and was occupied by Thonias Hollywood of strategies see Larminie, ll.eulth, Kinship and Culture, Elmstead, gentleman, who was the brother-in-law of John especially 21-5. Hales. It should not be forgotten that recouping a plot of top 70. Everitt, Continuity rrtzd Colonizution. 74. quality Romney Marsh pasture (the value of which would 71. Zell, Early Modern Kent. 309-31 1; Everitt, Continuity have been some\vhere in the vicinity of €20 per acre in and Colonizatiorz, 79 the 1610s) would not have been an insignificant 72. Everitt, Continuity and Coloniztrtion, 116, 145, 191- proposition, e\,en for a family as wealthy as the Scotts. 199. 219, 246: Clark. English Provincial Societj.. 369, That is. the presence oftheir financial interests there: the 476. traditional seats 01' both the Scott and Hales families 73. Clark, 01glishProvincial SocieQ. 344. were ,i~~stbeyond the boundaries of the Level. 74. PRO PCC 1 11237I150v. l'li0 ['CC I I/l95/49. An annuity of £20 goes to his 75. His late servant William Barham of Tunstall is made grandson Richard Brome, and one of £5 goes to his .keeper'. overseer and rent collector of a number of the servant 'l'imothy Rooke, from a well documented parcel Hales' core holdings, including the testator's lands in of 30 acres in Burmarsh bought from Edward Berry of the Romney Marsh; PRO PCC l 1/237/150v. These also Canterbury. will have included recently reclaimed marshland that he It refers to all the lands bought by his father in Broohland, had acquired in 1636; Zell. Early Modevrz Kent. 99. also bought from Captain Berry of Canterbury; PRO PCC 76. Hundreds of deeds are bundled into CCA U85 boxes 1- 1 113 121232~.Edu ard esquire's mother, Mar). removed 8. to Stanstead in Hertfordshire after her husband's death, 77. For example, in one area of Sellindge parish, probably and her will refers only to substantial properties in that adjacent to Blackmanstone manor that he bought in Mersham which she leaves to her daughter Elizabeth 1630, the deeds show him buying land he already Westrowe: PRO PCC 111356132 1. occupies, buying other land in order to lease out, and He leaves what marshland he mentions to his servants leasing land (presumably in order to sublet): CCA 1785 Peter Bedingfield and William Hartridge: again the box 4. parcels involved do not come from the core group of the 78. Frequently, where Edbvard Hales acquires a lease. it is family's Rornney Marsh possessions. part of a complicated family settlement, which is why the See for example PRO C51417152. C51301139 and C51 rent figures are often negligible. 261113. 79. Although like the Scotts. Edward Hales seems to have PRO C5130IJ39. A passing reference also indicates run into financial difficulty at the end of his life. as fir~ancialdiffjculties for George Scott. At the time of his suggested by the sale of 578 acres of marsh in the ],eve1 marriage he had mortgaged the manor of Nettlestead for to William Sedly or Diggesworth in Hertfordshire esquire. €7,000 plus interest to Samuel Grimston baronet: for particularly as the price he obtained (£5,000) is well almost a centurq Nettlestead had been preserved for the below the average per acre in the period (approximately wife of the senior Scott heir. £20); CCA U85 box 3. This may have been connected PRO C51261113. with the financial penalties he incurred (a 'voluntary Hipkin, 'Tenant farming., 659-64. Although a branch ol' donation' of £6.000) to obtain his release from the Tower the Hales famil) were established a1 Woodchurch. in 1648 after Parliament's suspicion at his involvement Who died in 1586; PRO PCC 1 11691423. in the Kentish insurrection earlier in the decade. PRO PCC 111691423. We know that some of his marsh- 80. CCA PRC 17.79.141. land holdings were in the parish of Warehome, and that 81. Bellaview had passed to his Father Samuel in a pre mortem he had recently bought marshland William Marden transfer of his grandfather Edward tirst baronet. In the the elder of Tenterden, Thomas Asshenden and Humphreq latter's will. Samuel's widow Martha is said to owe rent Furni!~,Identity atzd Romney Afarshlan~lsin Eurly Modern Kent 171 on a property and lands called Bellaview. and on the of Braborne in plaine and decent manner, not in any demesne of the manor of Willop, amounting to some costly or chargeable manner", PRO PCC 1 1/13 1/57. £3.003: PRO PCC 1 11237ll5Ov. Cressy. Birth Marriccge and Dcath. disagrees with For an analysis of 'dynastic families' actively maintaining Lawrence Stone in The Crisis oj'tlle Aristoct.acy. Cressy assoclations with a region, see Mitson, 'The s~gnificance says that Stone's evidence I'or a reduction in the opulence of kinship network?'. 35-6. 49-5 l. \\here he identifies a ofaristocratic funerals by the end ofthe sixteenth century series of highly localised branches of the same family. is anecdotal rather than statistical. "In death as in life. PRO PCC 1 11961320. 1600. the aristocratic and armigerous classes sustained their See Heal. Hospitality in &rly Modern England, chapter dominant position by means of elaborate di\pIay1'. 150. 1, on the routines of hospitality and their relationship to The ev~dericeTor these families, In the light of Cressy's medieval ideals. Lorna Weatherill, in Consumer Be- fuller investigation, suggests that the Scots and the Halzs haviour. also briefly describes the relationship bctween are identifL~ngthemsel\es as a particular kind of elite, food consumption and social status; 137. On the aware of the dangers of certain forms of display. possession of silverware by the elite see Shammas, The C'lark, Englisl7 Provincial Society, 2 18. Pre-indu.str,iul ('onsumer. who noles in passing that PRO PCC 11/2371150\. "Silver plate surfaced quite often [as a bequest] PRO PCC 1 111 2911 88. considering the limited number of dcceased who %ell. Early Modern Kent. 11. possessed an)"; 209. This demonstrates the significance Indicated in the scot book of 1768; CKS SIKmlFSzl 0. of passing it on as a bequest, and its semi-ritualised nature; For an extended discussion of primogeniture and other also Weatherill. Consun7er Beizaviour. 29, 30. 66, where inheritance practices, see 1,arminie. We~rlth,Kinship and she suggests that possession of silver\vat-e in the seven- Culture. 21-4. With regard to the Scott and Hales families, teenth century is indicative of interest in "less rapidly eldest sons are not always the inheritors, and the inherit- changing aspects of the economy and of consumers' ances grouped together by the Scotts and Hales' do not lives". 29. Possession of this type of large silverware. as comprise complete patrimonies. opposed to spoons and the odd bowl, is one of the clearest Clark. English Proi.i~rcialSociety. 125, 135. ways in which the elite are marked out from those below Clark, 219. Interestingly. such notions of county com- them, and this appears to have been the case across the Inunity have not been tili~ndin all counties: Hughes, whole period under study; Richardson, The ,\feanitzgs of 'War\vickshire on the eve of the ci~ilwar'. Sptrce, chapter 2. For the relevrrnce ol' this d?namic ofthe local and the The meanings attached to objects are being gilen nat~onalouts~de Kent we Rosenheim, Emergenc~of a increasing critical attention. 'l'he strongest \\ark is Rullng Order. 89: Larminie. Wealtil. K~nsh~ptrnd C'ult~lre. anthropological, liowcver. exemplified by Appadurai. The 136. and chapter 9 generally lor John Neud~gate111 a\ a Social liijC of Thit~gs. case study. PRO PCC 11/691423. The position of both families on the edge of the marsh, PRO PCC 131961320, 1600. For a more traditional within view of it but above its unhealthy airs; seems to analysis of the financial aspects of krnale marriage s)mbolise this nolion of 'distant proximity'. prospects see Slater. Futrrily Llfe. chapter 4: Larminie, John Lclatid, Itinerary, 1535%1543;Christopher Saxton. Wi.c7lth, Kinship urld Culture. Chapter 6. Atltrs of Engl~ztidand Wales, 1574-1 579. PRO PCC 1 111 95149, c. 1645. Clark, Englislz Provincial Society. 21 8. For the relation- PRO PC:C 1 11237/150v. ship between maps and Kentish identity see Zell. Early See Sharpe, Earlj, Modern Engl~lrr~~d,223-234, especially Modern Kent. 23. For a ruller investigation of the 225, for the distinction between deserving and un- sy~nbolicaspects of mapping see Klein. Maps arid tire deserving, of which Hales' is a more personal and Writing of Space. colourful version. For the concrete problems being The term 'spiritual husbandry' derives from Googe's experienced on the marsh at this time see Zell. Early translation of Heresbachius' Four Bookes ofHusband-ie. hfodern Kent. 99. Clark touches on this briefly in the context of education. For example Katherine Scot. who bequealhs her soul English Provir7cial Society. 2 16-220; but for a detailed "into the hands of God the father, m) maker, hoping study of the interaction of Kentish writers as a group, only to bee saved by the merrittes and mercies of Jesus focusing particularlj on Thynne, Lambarde, Scott, Dering my blessed Redeemer Confimed in that expectation by and Googe and their involvement in local politics and the testimony of the holy Ghost the electes Comforter, law enforcement see Bartram 'Gentry Constructions of renouncinge all vaine confidence in earth and earthly Protestant Identities': with thanks to her for discussing things"; PRO PCC 1 111 291188. 1616. these issues with us at some length. Again this interest is PRO PCC 1 1123711 50v. not unique to Kent. see Larminie, ITkulth, Kinship ond See also, for instance. John Scott. knight. who wishes to Cultrtre, 1 6. be buried "amongst my ancestors in the parish Churche 172 Afcrrk Merg, and (

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