Bobbingworth, Essex Genealogy

England   Essex   Essex Parishes



Parish History
Bobbingworth St Germain is an Ancient Parish in Essex.

The diocese of Chelmsford was created in 1914, prior to this Essex parishes were in the jurisdiction of the Bishops of London until 1845 when they transferred to the diocese of Rochester. The diocese of Chelmsford has 474 parishes and 600 churches and is the second largest region in the church of England outside London.

It seems that Hamon de Marcy held the advowson of Bobbingworth in the early 13th century. After his death, which occurred before 1244, his widow Denise held it in dower. In 1244 it was agreed that at the death of Denise it should pass to Alice and John de Merk and to the heirs of Alice who, by another agreement, became overlords of the manor of Bobbingworth (see above). In about 1262 John de Merk was patron of the living. In 1280 Ralph de Merk, probably the son of John, granted the advowson, with ½ acre of land, to John de Lovetot for 30 marks. Lovetot still held the advowson at his death in 1293, but by 1328 it was in the possession of Henry Spigurnel, tenant in demesne of the manor of Bobbingworth. In 1332 Thomas Spigurnel granted the advowson as well as the manor to Robert de Hakeney. In 1365 and 1368 John King presented to the living. In 1389 Joan Morell was holding a life interest in the advowson which from that time descended with the manor of Bobbingworth until 1575. In 1575, when Sir Thomas Walsingham and John Rochester divided Bobbingworth manor between them, they agreed that the advowson should remain in common and that they should present to the living in turn. In 1582 Thomas Barefoot presented pro hac vice by concession of Sir Thomas Walsingham. In 1598 Sir Thomas Walsingham granted his rights in the advowson to Robert Bourne, owner of Blake Hall (see above). Afterwards the owners of the manors of Blake Hall and Bobbingworth had alternate rights of presentation. They sometimes sold their single turns. In 1669 John, 3rd Baron Digby, then life tenant of Blake Hall, granted his next turn to John Robinson of Stapleford Tawney. In 1673 Robinson sold it to Sir John Archer, a Justice of the Court of Common Pleas, who presented in 1678. In 1692 James Lordell presented Jacob Houblon. When Charles Houblon, brother of Jacob, purchased the manor of Bobbingworth from John and Mary Poole in 1708 he also purchased their right to half the advowson. At that time Mary Poole held a life interest in it with remainder to John Poole. The advowson remained divided between the owners of the manors of Bobbingworth and Blake Hall until 1834 when Capel Cure of Blake Hall purchased the manor of Bobbingworth and the alternate right of patronage annexed to it. In 1838 Capel Cure presented W. M. Oliver. Since that time the living has remained in the gift of the Capel Cures. In about 1254 the rectory was valued at 5 marks. In 1291 it was valued at £6 13s. 4d. In 1428 the church was still taxed on this valuation. In 1535 the rectory was valued at £13 6s. 8d. Its 'improved' value was £60 in 1604, £81 in 1650, and £100 in 1661. The tithes were commuted in 1840 for £455; there were then 32 acres of glebe. The rectory was built by the Revd. W. M. Oliver in 1839 (fn. 23) near the site of an earlier parsonage. It is a three-story square house of gault brick with a twostory wing on the north. A difference in brickwork suggests that the top story may have been a later addition. The parish church of ST. GERMAIN consists of nave, chancel, vestry, and north tower. At different periods parts of the church have been rebuilt so that very little medieval work now remains. In particular subsidence on the south side has necessitated constant repairs. The date of the original nave is not known but it may be indicated by a 13th-century piscina in the south wall, now reset, which has a pointed head and attached shafts. In 1909 Frederic Chancellor stated that during then recent work to the south wall ancient oak uprights were found embedded near its west end. He suggested that these might have represented part of a pre-Conquest church, but in the absence of better evidence this must remain extremely doubtful. The chancel, replaced in 1840, was probably of the 14th century. In 1835 it is described as of ancient appearance and the east window as 'a good specimen of the decorated style of architecture'. The nave roof is of the trussed rafter type and may be of the 15th century. Probably also in the 15th century a wooden bell tower was added beyond the west end of the nave. This appears to have been in two stages, the upper one of smaller diameter, and to have had a small shingled spire. The church still had a small north porch in the early 19th century and this may have been of late medieval origin. The nave is said to have been rebuilt in red brick in 1680. In 1770 considerable work was done to the interior of the church including the erection of a west gallery presented by Jacob Houblon. The nave walls were again largely rebuilt in 1818 and fitted with oak windows. (fn. 32) In 1840 the chancel was rebuilt in gault brick at the rector's expense. The 14th-century style of the demolished work was probably copied, particularly with regard to the east window. In 1840 a north tower and porch were built, a Mr. Burton being the architect. They are of gault brick and the style is again inspired by the 14th century. The tower has three stages with pointed openings and a castellated parapet. The lowest stage combines the functions of a ringing chamber and a north porch to the church. The red-brick vestry was built in 1864 at the expense of the Capel Cure family. It occupies the same position as the wooden bell tower demolished in 1840. In 1902 seven new nave windows with stone tracery were presented by the Revd. W. M. Oliver after his retirement. These replaced the wooden windows of 1818. The nave roof was restored in 1907. In 1931-2 repairs were carried out to the roof and the south wall of the nave and the 18th-century gallery was removed. The stone font is of the 15th century with an octagonal bowl and a moulded shaft. In 1770 the bowl was removed and a new one fitted to the pedestal. In 1936 the original bowl, carved with the initials 'J.P.', was discovered in the churchyard at Little Parndon. It was presented to Bobbingworth by the Netteswell and Little Parndon Parochial Church Council and now occupies its original position. There is an iron-bound chest with two locks of the 17th century. The pulpit has early 17th-century arabesque ornament. The panelling and reading-desk in the nave appear to have been made up of woodwork of various dates, the oldest probably of the early 17th century. The seating in the nave is of early 19th-century date, the more elaborate pitch pine pews of the chancel probably date from 1840. The plate includes a cup of 1635 inscribed with initials 'T.G. B', also a paten inscribed 'Bovinger 1684'. The plate now in use is of 1933. Six bells were presented by the Revd. W. M. Oliver in 1841. In 1834 an acre of land in the parish called Bell Acre formed part of the glebe; by tradition the rector was supposed to provide bell ropes and hassocks for the church from the rent it yielded. The then rector, however, refused to observe the tradition since there was no documentary evidence to support it. The custom appears never to have been revived. In the chancel are two reset brass inscriptions, one to William Bourne (1581) with an achievement of arms and one to Robert Bourne (1639) with two shields. Before its rebuilding in 1840 there were several inscriptions in the chancel to members of the Bourne family and others which have now disappeared. These included an unusual incised slab bearing the arms of the City of London and of the Grocers' Company together with a standing figure of William Chapman (1627) who married a daughter of Robert Bourne. In the nave are several tablets to the Capel Cure family including the first Capel Cure of Blake Hall (1820) and his two wives (1773 and 1804). On the nave roof are painted hatchments of the Capel Cures and Pooles.

From: 'Bobbingworth: Church', A History of the County of Essex: Volume 4: Ongar Hundred (1956), pp. 14-15. URL: http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=15530&amp;amp;strquery=bobbingworth Date accessed: 05 February 2011.

Bobbingworth is a village and civil parish in Essex, England. It is located about 3 km (2 miles) northwest of Chipping Ongar and is 18 km (11 miles) west from the county town of Chelmsford. The village is in the district of Epping Forest and the parliamentary constituency of Brentwood &amp; Ongar. The village lies off of the A414.

A notable building in Bobbingworth is Blake Hall, which, after the bombing of the North Weald Aerodrome in September 1940 (during World War II) became the R.A.F. Station Headquarters.

Civil Registration
Birth, marriages and deaths were kept by the government, from July 1837 to the present day. The civil registration article tells more about these records. There are several Internet sites with name lists or indexes. A popular site is FreeBMD.

Church records
Contributor: Include here information for parish registers, Bishop’s Transcripts, non conformist and other types of church records, such as parish chest records. Add the contact information for the office holding the original records. Add links to the Family History Library Catalog showing the film numbers in their collection

Online images are available Seax - Essex Archives Online From the Essex Record Office St Germain

Census records
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Index for the Census may be searched at FamilySearch Historical Records

http://www.1881pubs.com/ for details of public houses in the 1881 census

Poor Law Unions
Ongar Poor Law Union, Essex

Vestry minute books for Bobbingworth survive for the periods 1667-1789 and 1808-1922. There is also a separate book of overseers' accounts for the period 1789-1827. Until 1702 vestry meetings usually seem to have been held only at Easter in each year. From 1702 until 1758 meetings were held at Easter and Christmas. From 1758 there were several meetings each year, held at irregular intervals of between 2 and 19 weeks. Intervals of 5-10 weeks were common. In the early 19th century between four and eight meetings a year were recorded. Until Jacob Houblon became rector in 1692 the vestry minutes were brief and uninformative. It was the practice to record only the appointment of officers and the balances remaining in officers' hands at the end of each year. Moreover the minutes were never signed. Houblon exercised an immediate influence on the parish records. He scarcely ever missed a vestry meeting and he wrote the minutes himself. At Easter 1693 he began a separate account book containing detailed overseers' accounts, which were always duly audited and were signed by the parishioners who passed them. Thomas Velley, who succeeded Houblon as rector in 1740 also attended vestry meetings regularly and during his incumbency the parish records were kept, though rather less methodically, on the lines that Houblon had laid down. J. Lipyeatt who succeeded Velley in 1751 appears, however, to have taken practically no part in conducting parish business. He did not sign any minutes after December 1751. In the next four years his curate, J. Wells, usually signed the minutes but afterwards neither incumbent nor curate appears to have attended vestry meetings until 1782. The complete absence of officers' accounts in the parish books between Easter 1755 and 1758 may reflect the initial apathy aroused by the incumbent's lack of interest. In April 1782 the curate, then J. Lipyeatt the younger, did sign the vestry minutes and his signature appeared twice more in the next seven years. During the period 1759-89 the churchwarden was almost invariably the first to sign the minutes and this practice continued into the second quarter of the 19th century. The rector rarely attended a meeting in the early 19th century. The number of parishioners who attended vestry meetings varied between 1 and 8 but was usually between 2 and 4. In the century after 1666 members of the Poole family, lords of the manor of Bobbingworth until 1708, took an active and leading part in parish government. John Poole, lord of the manor from 1674 until about 1701, and his son and heir John, frequently held parish office. Each of them held the office of overseer for several years. They nearly always attended vestry meetings and signed immediately after the rector. The younger John continued to take an equally prominent part in parish affairs after he had sold Bobbingworth manor in 1708. From 1708 until 1720 he never missed an Easter vestry. From 1721 until 1740 William Poole was equally active and prominent. The Houblons, owners of the manor of Bobbingworth from 1708, were not resident in the parish and took no personal part in its government. In the period down to 1789 the owners of Blake Hall scarcely ever attended a vestry meeting but Robert Crabb, who occupied the manor farm in 1735, frequently held some parish office between 1726 and 1781. The work of the vestry consisted mainly in nominating parish officers, granting rates, agreeing on the recipients of weekly collections, and approving officers' accounts. One of the rare occasions in the 18th century when other business was recorded was in April 1708 when it was resolved that in future the church clerk should be paid 20s. a year out of the churchwarden's or overseer's rate 'in lieu of what he has hitherto received yearly by the house as a former custom it being a great hindrance to him in the loss of time to go about to receive the same'. There were two churchwardens each year from 1666 until 1682. During this period these officers usually served for 2-4 years consecutively. From 1681 until about 1793 there was only one office of churchwarden. From 1690 until 1771 it was the practice to spend many consecutive years in this office. Thomas Nicholls served as churchwarden from 1700 until 1724, William Poole from 1724 until 1740, Samuel Corney from 1741 until 1753, and Robert Crabb from 1759, if not before, until 1771. For a time after 1771 the number of consecutive years spent in the office tended to lessen and from about 1793 it again became the practice to have two churchwardens. There was usually one overseer. Until 1717 it was usual for the overseer to serve for 2 or 3 years consecutively. George Read served for 4 years from 1717 until 1721. After his appointment for a fourth year in April 1720 it was agreed that 'having served 4 years he shall be excused 7 years following'. Read's successor, William Hamshire, also served 4 years consecutively, but 3 years remained the usual term of office until 1744. From 1744 until 1810 the overseers nearly always served for one year only. They seem to have been chosen on a rota system and occasionally the officer chosen appointed another man to perform the duties of the office. Thomas Woodthorp acted for Capel Cure in 1796-7 and again in 1801-2. Jonathan Lewis, the vestry clerk, acted as overseer for Capel Cure in 1808-9 and for William Clark in the following year. During the year ending at Easter 1811 Lewis again acted as overseer, but on what basis is not clear. If he received any payment for performing the duties of overseer during these years, such payment was not made, it would seem, out of the poor rate. In April 1811, however, a meeting of the vestry agreed 'for Jonathan Lewis to be the acting Overseer for the year ensuing and to have a salary of £10 p. annum and to be paid for journeys'. Lewis continued to act as salaried overseer every year from 1811 until 1835 with the possible exception of the year 1819-20. Each year there was a formal agreement at the Easter vestry to renew his appointment. In 1822 his salary as overseer was increased to £13 13s. Constables were nominated in Vestry at least from 1667. Until 1721 the parish always had two of these officers, each of whom served several years consecutively. From 1721 there was only one constable for the parish and he usually served for many years. Richard White was constable from 1721 until at least 1740, and R. Perry from 1744 until at least 1760. Two surveyors of highways were nominated annually until 1700 after which there was usually only one nomination until 1742. The surveyor was chosen from a rota of landholders, as appears from the rector's note on 26 December 1722, 'Mr. William Poole Surveyor as a Deputy for the Revd. Tho. Wragg Clerk for Gainthrops'. From 1742 there were several nominations each year for the office of surveyor but there are indications that there was only one acting surveyor. From 1666 until after 1750 the overseers, churchwardens, constables, and surveyors were each granted separate rates for which they were directly responsible to the parish. Until 1702 it was the custom for each officer to present an annual account at the Easter vestry. Occasionally one officer was ordered to pay another officer's deficit out of his surplus. From 1702 the surveyors submitted their accounts at Christmas instead of at Easter but the other officers continued to make their annual account at Easter. From 1758, if not before, the overseer submitted interim accounts to the vestry at intervals of 5-10 weeks in addition to his final annual account at Easter. There is no evidence that the interim accounts continued after 1775, but in view of the increasing costs of poor relief it is very probable that they did so. By 1772, perhaps before 1760, the churchwardens, constables, and surveyors were no longer granted separate rates. Their expenditure was met by the overseer who included it in his account. This practice continued until 1811. From 1811 to 1812 there was again a separate highway rate and from 1813 to 1814 there was a separate church rate. In 1720 the rateable value of the parish was about £917. In 1790 a 2s. 6d. rate produced £106 15s.; this implies a rateable value of about £854. During the Napoleonic wars the rateable value was generally between £900 and £912. In 1815 a reassessment was ordered as a result of which the rateable value became £1,635; in 1823 it fell to £1,559 and in 1831 rose to £1,586. There was evidently a poorhouse in Bobbingworth in 1692-3, for in that year 10s. was paid by the overseer for 'straw at the allmnshouse'. By 1783 the poorhouse was situated in Pensons Lane, and seems to have been the cottage which Robert Bourne (d. 1666) left in trust to provide clothing for the poor. (fn. 54) It was rented by the overseer at £1 10s. a year. In 1779-80 the poorhouse was fitted with a 'poor's oven.' In 1784-5 the building housed at least one poor family and in each of the years 1791-2, 1797-8, 1800-1, 1803-7, and 1819-20 it housed at least one poor person. In 1807-8 7s. 6d. was paid by the overseer for '6 yards cloth for strawbed for poorhouse'. Minor repairs were often carried out and in 1807-8 more substantial repairs were done at a cost of £55. In 1823 the stove was repaired. In most cases, however, poor relief was given, in various forms, outside the poorhouse. In each of the years 1813-15 there were 20-21 adults on 'permanent' outdoor relief. (fn. 55) Provision for the poor was made in various ways including the binding out of paupers' children as apprentices, the provision of spinningwheels, the payment of rent and allowances for lodging or nursing, the provision of wood and clothes, and the payment of weekly doles. Parish apprentices were allotted on a rota system to farmers in the parish. In the period between 1681 and 1718 three 'great' farms and thirteen 'lesser' farms were on the rota. About 11 children were apprenticed during the period. In 1787-8 a spinning-wheel was purchased for John Little at a cost of 2s. 6d. In 1799-1800 spinning-wheels cost the overseer £2 4s. In several of the following years 'the poor's spinning' occurs as an item of expenditure in the overseer's accounts. In 1692-3 there seem to have been 2 widows receiving weekly doles, the cost to the parish being 5s. 6d. a week. In 1719 there were 4 weekly doles amounting to 7s. In the years between 1758 and 1775 there were usually 9 households, including several widow households, receiving weekly doles, totalling between 16s. 9d. and £1 1s. a week. In 1777-8 there were 10 households which throughout the year received doles which totalled £1 5s. a week. In each of the years from 1780 to 1797 there were 15-21 households in receipt of regular weekly doles which cost the parish between £1 5s. and £2 2s. 6d. a week. From 1797 the doles increased, reaching their maximum of £8 5s. 6d. a week in 1801. They then declined to £2 17s. 6d. a week in 1808. From then until 1819 there were usually about 16-18 households in receipt of constant relief at a total cost to the parish of about £2 17s. 6d. a week. From 1819 until 1827 the number of households dependent on weekly doles varied between 20 and 27, the total weekly cost ranging from £3 to £5. In 1613-14 the cost of poor relief was £4 10s. which was distributed to 5 people. In the last years of the 17th century the total cost of poor relief was always below £20 a year and was sometimes as little as £7. In the 18th century much higher figures were soon reached, rising to an average of £32 a year in the three extreme years 1716-19. There was then a rapid fall to a minimum of £3 14s. 5d. in 1723-4. In the period 1725-42 figures have survived for only seven years. These are within a range £16-£31. In the period 1743-54 expenditure only once fell below £45 and on two occasions reached nearly £60. In 1754-5 it was £71. Between 1759 and 1771 it averaged about £85. In 1772 the cost reached the £100 level and from then until 1782 it remained fairly stable between £100 and £120 a year. It then rose to £165 in 1782-3 and to £197 in 1784-5. In the next ten years the cost remained within the range £160-£190. In 1794-5 it was £170. In 1795-6 it jumped to £273. After a slight drop in the next three years it rose to £290 in 1799-1800 and then in the following year to £505, its maximum. In 1801-2 the cost was £450. It then dropped to £293 in 1802-3. Between 1803 and 1811 it varied between £246 and £331 a year. It then rose to £477 in 1812-13. After this it varied between £280 and £480, the peak year being 1819-20. In 1836 Bobbingworth became part of Ongar Poor Law Union.

From: 'Bobbingworth: Parish government and poor relief', A History of the County of Essex: Volume 4: Ongar Hundred (1956), pp. 15-17. URL: http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=15531&amp;amp;strquery=bobbingworth Date accessed: 05 February 2011.

Probate records
Records of wills, administrations, inventories, indexes, etc. were filed by the court with jurisdiction over this parish. Go to Essex Probate Records to find the name of the court having primary jurisdiction. Scroll down in the article to the section Court Jurisdictions by Parish.

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