Land Indenture Hampshire, England 1719 Book 12, Folder 4, L16 Report

CONDITION OF THE DOCUMENT

This document is made of vellum, or processed animal skin, which is in good condition considering the age of the document. The document is written in ink which has not faded significantly over time. This document seems to be written by one scribe, as the document’s handwriting style never changes. At the top of this document, there is an elaborate stamp that marks it as a land indenture. Compared to the top portion, the bottom half of this document is more challenging to read because the lines were written closer together and is cramped. Also, the areas where this document has been folded repeatedly are very faded and the ink has worn away somewhat.

DESCRIPTION OF THE HAND

This document was written in a mix of Bastard Secretary and Secretary Hands which were commonly used during the late 15th century to the mid-16th century. At the time this document was written there was no standardized spelling in England, which accounts for the number of spelling variations used by the scribe. He also uses a number of abbreviations and medieval word practices. For example, capitalization and bold letters were used to draw attention to the important sections of the document.

GLOSSARY OF TERMS (Terms found from the Oxford English Dictionary; OED)

Michaelmas: “The feast of Saint Michael the Archangel which occurs on the 29th day of

September.”

Lady’s day: “The traditional name of the Feast of the Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin which occurs on the 25th day of March.”

Appurtenances: “Pertaining to something that attaches. In real property law this describes any

right or restriction which goes with that property, such as an easement to gain access across the

neighbor's parcel, or a covenant (agreement) against blocking the neighbor's view.”

Tenant: “The legal occupier of a parcel of land, pay rent and/or services to the lord.”

Tenement: “A parcel of land occupied by a tenant; literally, a holding.”

South Gorley: Even though the document says South Gorley is in Southon, modern boundaries

indicate it is located in the County of Hampshire.1 Approximate distance in miles from

Southampton to Ibsley is 17 miles or 27.35 Kilometers.

Devise: “The act of apportioning or assigning real property from one person to another in a will.”

Arrable: “Land that has the ability to make a profit through crops. This land would not be used

for pasture or for forestation.”

Reversions: “The rights of succeeding an estate to the next living heir. Helps to redistribute an estate after the death of the owner.”

Impositions: “To put, place, or deposit. The act of depositing.”

ABBREVIATIONS

‘cion’ (abbreviation mark over con)

ex. menc[i]oned

ex. occupac[i]on

ex. Relac[i]on

‘pre’ (‘p’ with an abbreviation mark connected to the letter itself)

ex. p[re]misses

ex. p[re]sents

‘m’ (abbreviation mark over the m, indicating that there should be two m’s in the word)

ex. Com[m]on

ex. Sum[m]e

‘missing letters’ (some abbreviations will have an abbreviation mark with random missing letters; fill in the letters accordingly)

ex. appurten[an]ces

ex. Mich[aelm]as

ex. Annoq[ue] D[omi]ni

ABSTRACT

This document was written on the 16th day of October 1719 which was in the sixth year of the reign of King George I. King George’s reign lasted from 1 August 1714- 11 June 1727.

The endorsement on the outside of this document is dated 12th October 1712. It states that this indenture is a mortgage of leaseholds. The endorsement also gives the names of the two witnesses of the indenture, who were John Castle and Edward Cox. The indenture states that it is an agreement between Richard Stormes, a yeoman of South Gorely, in the parish of Ibsley in the county of Hampshire and Charles Burt a butcher from Brooks Heath in the parish of

Fordingbridge in the same county of Hampshire.

It also, refers to two other men, one named John Litle who was from Moyles Court in the parish of Ellingham and the other named Walter Watts who was a yeoman. It appears that

Richard Stormes made a lease agreement with John Litle on the 6th day of November 1696 and that before Walter Watts passed away he was in possession of the tenement. These two men were deceased by the time this indenture was made. Richard’s wife Elizabeth and his two sons

Richard and William are also mentioned in the document. This indenture was written concerning fifteen acres of arable land in the common field of South Gorely, five of which are in meadow areas. Because of the wording contained in this document, namely, the phrases ‘demise, set and to farm let’ line [7] and the number of parties mentioned in this document it appears to be an assignment of Lease. The period of the leases seems to be for the life of the tenant or fourscore and nineteen years which is a total of 99 years. An entry fine of 105 pounds was paid by Charles

Burt for the lease of the property. If he defaults on the lease he had to pay 107 pounds, 12 shillings and six pence.

ANALYSIS

This indenture is for a lease of fifteen acres of arable land. ‘Arable’ refers to land that is good for farming and growing crops. The parish of Ibsley, including the hamlets of South Gorley and Furze Hill in the north and Mock beggar and New Town in the south contains 1,793½ acres, of which 379¾ are arable land and 329 acres are permanent grass. The high road from

Fordingbridge to Ringwood forms the main street of the village, which consists of thatched cottages grouped near the River Avon. Huckles Brook and Linwood Bog, tributaries of the Avon, run through the parish. The soil is chiefly sand and gravel.2

South Gorley is located in the western part of England and in that region of the country it

was common for landlords to lease their property for life time leases. In this indenture the term

of lease is for four score and nineteen years which is a life lease for 99 years. Some historians

believe that the 99-year lease is a by-product of an old English custom, dating back at least to

feudal times. In the Middle Ages, extended leases were made for a period of 1,000 years, but as

the Renaissance approached, the figure was reduced to 999. In Henry IV, Part II, Shakespeare

bends a metaphor around the thousand-year lease--"Now I am so hungry, that if I might have a

lease of my life for a thousand years, I could stay no longer"--

In Lifeleasehold in the Western Counties of England 1650—1750, written by Christopher

Clay, it states that “in the Western part of England landlords let their estates differently from what was normal elsewhere. In the east and the Midlands, if landlords granted leases at all (and many preferred annual tenancies), they almost invariably conveyed to the tenant the right to occupy the land for a fixed number of years which in normal circumstances did not exceed

2 'Parishes: Ibsley', A History of the County of Hampshire: Volume 4 (1911), pp. 579-580. URL: http://www.british- history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=56885 Date accessed: 13 March 2012

This indenture makes no mention of rack rent or peppercorn rent. Instead, under the system of life leaseholds tenants were expected to purchase their tenancies by payment of lump sums known as fines. Thereafter they rendered only a small annual rent representing a mere fraction of what their land was worth. Not only did life leases last longer than those for years which prevailed in the east, but in practice they established hereditary tenancies since it was customary for landlords to allow automatic renewals. Indeed, in most districts where they prevailed, the final expiry of leases for lives or 99 years determinable upon lives was somewhat unusual. The normal practice was for each life to be ‘renewed’ upon payment of the appropriate fine when, or soon after, it had ‘dropped’, and only if a leaseholder was utterly in able to afford the fine, or had no heirs to succeed him, would he fail to keep his lease ‘filled up.’3

This indenture seems to be unique in that it names four different parties involved in the leasing of this specific area of land. One explanation for this can be found in the book by N.W.

Alcock entitled, Old Title Deeds; A Guide for Local and Family Historians. In chapter four of this book a summary of assignment leases is given.

“The tenant might assign his rights to someone else by an assignment of

lease. He might also sub-let (under-lease) the property or part of it, though both

assignments and sub-leasing were often controlled by conditions in the original

lease (usually requiring the owner’s permission). The main difference between

3 Clay, Christopher, Lifeleasehold in the Western Counties of England 1650—1750:The Agricultural History Review , Vol. 29, No. 2 (1981), pp. 83-96 Published by: British Agricultural History Society Article Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/40274152

the two is that with an assigned lease, the owner would receive his rent from the

new tenant, but a sub-tenant paid the original tenant who then paid the owner.”

Richard Stormes lease was a life lease which form was popular in south-west England, but not uncommon elsewhere, the ‘three-life lease’, was for 99 years or until the death of the last of three

people named (all living when the lease was granted). In this indenture the three people named are Elizabeth, Richard, and William Stormes. The rent for this lease is a real sum, not a token

(peppercorn) as in the lease for a year. It was usually paid in two parts, on Lady Day and

Michaelmas. Some leases, especially those for ‘three lives’, had rather small rents coupled with large entry fines. 4In this document the rent is for the amount of twelve shillings and eight pence

and the fine is for 105 pounds.

Bibliography

Alcock, N.W. Old Title Deeds; A Guide for Local and Family Historians, Phillimore, 1986, pg

59-60.

Clay, Christopher, Lifeleasehold in the Western Counties of England 1650—1750:The

Agricultural History Review , Vol. 29, No. 2 (1981), pp. 83-96 Published by: British

Agricultural History Society Article Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/40274152.

Land Indenture between Richard Stormes and Charles Burt, Land Indenture Collection MSS

1779, box 12, folder 4, L-16, L. Tom Perry Special Collections, Harold B. Lee Library,

Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah.

Parish of Ibsley, maps.familysearch.org.

'Parishes: Ibsley', A History of the County of Hampshire: Volume 4 (1911), pp. 579-580. URL:

http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=56885 Date accessed: 13 March

2012.

Additional Links and References

For more information on the family history of the Stormes family see:

http://archive.org/stream/hampshireparish00colcgoog/hampshireparish00colcgoog_djvu.txt

(search term ‘Storme’)

For more information on the places mentioned in the document, see these resources:

Ibsley, Hampshire https://familysearch.org/learn/wiki/en/Ibsley,_Hampshire

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ibsley

South Gorley, Hampshire

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_Gorley