ARCHIVE OF THE PORTMAN FAMILY OF BUXTED PLACE - MEDLEY, SHUCKBURGH-EVELYN, JENKINSON...

Acquisitions by the Medley family

AMS6270/1-6 Early Medley family

AMS6270/7 Manor of Withdean Cayliffe, inherited 1689

AMS6270/8 Warningore Park in Lewes St John Without and Chailey, inherited 1689

AMS6270/9-14 The manor of Claverham in Arlington, purchased 1692

AMS6270/15-18 Palehouse, Harlings and Gurrs Farms in Framfield and Uckfield, purchased 1692

AMS6270/19-24 The manor of Otham in Hailsham, purchased 1695

AMS6270/25-30 Greenhurst in Buxted, purchase 1695

AMS6270/31 The manor of Maxfield in Guestling, purchased 1696

AMS6270/32-34 House and land at Buxted, purchased 1697

AMS6270/35-37 Part of Lime Kiln Farm in Chalvington, purchased 1703

AMS6270/38-48 The Priesthawes estate in Westham and land in Pett, Fairlight, Icklesham and Guestling, purchased 1705

AMS6270/49 Howells Bank in Ringmer, purchased 1705

AMS6270/50-59 The estate of the Selwyn family in East Dean and Friston, purchased 1705-1709

AMS6270/60 Moiety of the demesne land of the manor of Camois Court in Barcombe, purchased 1709

AMS6270/61 The Sleeches estate in Buxted, purchased 1717

AMS6270/62-68 The manors of Pett and Mersham, with Delfe Marsh and other land in Pett, Fairlight, Icklesham and Guestling, purchased 1717

AMS6270/69-71 The manor of Allington in Lewes St John Without, purchased 1722

AMS6270/72,73 Land at Hamsey, possibly purchased 1728

AMS6270/74 Land and wood called Whiews in Buxted, purchased 1733

AMS6270/75 The manor of Barcombe, purchased 1738

AMS6270/76 Gatehurst Farm in Pett and Fairlight and Lidham Hill Farm in Guestling, purchased 1753

AMS6270/77 Copyhold estate near High Hurstwood in Buxted, purchased 1756

AMS6270/78-81 The manor of Langney in Westham, purchased 1759

AMS6270/82-86 Burners Wish in Willingdon, purchased before 1762

AMS6270/87 Land near Cablestreet in Barcombe, purchased 1768

Documents deriving from the legal practices of members of the Medley family

AMS6270/88, 89 Stewardship of the manor of Framfield

AMS6270/90 Stewardship of the manor of Wartling

AMS6270/91,92 Receiver of the Sackville estate

AMS6270/93 Letter concerning a chancery commission, 1727

AMS6270/94-96 Stewardship of the manor of Barcombe

The estate in the hands of the Shuckburgh-Evelyn family

AMS6270/97-102 Property at Napton-on-the-Hill and Shuckburgh, Warwickshire, purchased 1655

AMS6270/103-106 Property at Longborough, Gloucestershire, and Farthingstone, Northamptonshire

The estate in the hands of the Jenkinson family

AMS6270/107 Re-settlement after the marriage of Julia Evelyn in 1812

AMS6270/108 Lease of Priesthawes in Westham, 1813

AMS6270/109 Pickbones in Maresfield and Lephams Bridge in Buxted, purchased 1839

The estate in the hands of the Harcourt family

AMS6270/110 Sale to the London, Brighton and South Coast Railway, 1865

Unattributable documents

AMS6270/111 Probate of the will of Richard Wavell of Clapham in Surrey, 1745

AMS6270/112 Letter concerning the rent of Pickcroft in Uckfield, 1745

AMS6270/113 Enfranchisement of part of the Lower House estate, Mayfield, 1772

AMS6270/114 Description of the island of Trinidad, c1800

Introduction

This group of documents was originally bought at the sale of the contents of Buxted Place in 1930, reportedly in a locked box, by two friends acting in common. After the success of their bid, a coin was tossed to decide who should have the box and who the contents. The vendor in 1987 acted on behalf of the latter

The antiquary William Burrell visited Buxted Place in the course of his studies (see SAS/ME 22, Burrell to Charles Gilbert, 27 June 1794), and most of the documents in the archive are endorsed with his initials. The antiquarian collections of Henry Towner of Uckfield (AMS 5896) and Charles Leeson Prince of Crowborough (AMS 5897), who were collecting in the opening years of the 20th century, consist almost exclusively of documents from the Buxted Place archive, and the implication must be that standards of custody at that time were less than strict. Other documents relating to the estate were deposited with the Sussex Archaeological Society by the owner's land-agent in the 1970s, and are still (1992) at the Society's library

In 1928 Lord Portman, the owner of the estate, deposited several hundred deeds with the Sussex Archaeological Society, which were listed by the rev Walter Budgen as PN 1-756 (Sussex estate) and PN 761-1430 (supposedly out-county, but including settlements and wills relating to the whole estate). In 1939, at the request of Lord Portman, the deeds relating to the parish of Buxted (PN 1-118) were handed to Basil lonides, the then owner of the estate. Although it was thought that the deeds had been destroyed in the fire at Buxted Place in February 1940, in 1971 a number were found on the site of the demolished offices of Waltons, solicitors, in Leadenhall Street, who had acted for Mrs Ionides, and returned. Two further deeds were recovered in 1986

The present whereabouts of the many component parts of the Portman archive were very usefully summarised by Richard Olney in the Annual Review for 1988-89 of the Royal Commission on Historical Manuscripts (HMSO, 1989), pp 25-27

An extended pedigree showing the descent of the Buxted estate was published in Sussex Archaeological Collections vol 47 (1904) opposite p 108; it is included as an appendix to this introduction

The documents in this list are arranged in the order of the acquisition by the owners of Buxted Place of the estates to which they relate. It has often been necessary to refer to other groups of documents, SAS/PN in particular, to establish the correct sequence

Included in a separate section (88-96) at the end of the list of documents relating to purchases by the Medley family is a group of documents derived from the legal practices of Thomas and Edward Medley

Evidence for at least two separate systems of arrangement appear on the documents. The earlier consists of a simple number, written in ink, at the top-left-hand corner of the document, with occasional references to boxes identified by letter. The second system consists of a letter followed by a number in brackets, all written in violet ink. These numbers can be found at the end of each calendar entry

<p>For a copy of a map of the Buxted Place estate in 1659, see AMS 6362. For further Medley documents deposited with the Sussex Archaeological Society by * Burfield-Dyer in 1948, see AMS 6334. See also BL Add Ch 56240-315; AMS 3163-3216</p>

Records are open for consultation

Documents purchased 25 March 1987 (ACC 4811)