ESTATE OF HENRY THOMAS GRACE AND HENRY AND ELIZABETH KELSON AT WESTHAM AND PEVENSEY

Summary of Contents

AMS 5583/1 Personal papers of Elizabeth Kelson's brother the Revd Henry Thomas Grace, 1860

AMS 5583/2 Westham Parish property, purchased by H T Grace in 1836

AMS 5583/3 House, slaughterhouse and half an acre in Westham, inherited by H T Grace from his sister Catherine Grace in 1859

AMS 5583/4 Preston House, coach-house and stables in Westham, inherited by Elizabeth Kelson from her brother the Revd Henry Thomas Grace in 1871

AMS 5583/5 The whole estate

AMS 5583/6 Settlement of land at Pevensey on the marriage of Charles Goodwin Bethune and Ann Isabella Mary Eversfield, 1837

<p>for a report of the death of Henry Kelson, see Sussex Express, 12 January 1878</p>

Documents deposited by Bailey, Shaw and Gillett, 5 Berners Street, London W1, solicitors, via the British Records Association (BRA 1208), 18 May 1967 (ACC 815)

Henry Thomas Grace (1788-1871) was born at Risborough in Buckinghamshire, the son of Thomas Grace, esq. He was educated at Merchant Tailors' School and entered Pembroke College, Cambridge, in 1807. He was ordained priest in 1812 and became rector of Jevington in the same year. He was presented as vicar of Westham in 1821 and served both parishes until his death at Folkington Rectory on 13 November 1871. By his will of 19 April 1870, proved on 14 December 1871, Grace bequeathed his property to his sister Elizabeth, wife of the Revd Henry Kelson of Folkington, clerk. Grace's ordination papers, the conveyance of one of the properties listed here and some other documents were purchased from a Hailsham bookshop in 1969 and are listed as AMS 5670.

Henry Kelson (1794-1878) was the third son of Thomas Mortimer Kelson of Sevenoaks in Kent, where he was born on 31 May 1794. He attended Sevenoaks School and was admitted as a pensioner to Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge, in 1812. Ordained priest in 1818, he served curacies at Otford in Kent and at Stansted, and was presented to the rectory of Folkington, which he served until 1877; in 1840 he became vicar of Lullington. His only son Thomas Mortimer Kelson (1835-1886) was born at Folkington, educated at King's College School, London, Winchester and at home, and spent two terms at Caius College, Cambridge, in 1853-1854. He was admitted to the Middle Temple in the latter year, but was commissioned in the 46th Regiment in 1855, served in the Crimean War and retired from the army in 1864. The following year he married Annie, daughter of Robert Thrupp of Brighton, and lived at Westham until his death on 26 July 1886.

On the south side of the nave of Folkington church is a memorial to Henry Thomas Grace, Henry Kelson and Elizabeth Kelson.

The settlement on the marriage of Charles Goodwin Bethune and Ann Isabella Mary Eversfield in 1837 (AMS 5583/6/1 below) seems to have no connection with the remainder of the documents in the deposit, but the land to which it relates may have come into common ownership with the Westham and Pevensey property of the Grace and Kelson families at a date subsequent to 1873.