EARLY RECORDS OF THE MANORS OF GILLINGHAM AND TWYDALL

U398

1315-1814

fonds

Gillingham as a modern borough has few archives of a burghal character and it is uncertain how this collection of private records came to be in the Municipal Buildings, Canterbury Street, Gillingham. Ronald A. Baldwin in 'The Gillingham Chronicles' (1998) writes that in 1924 a considerable part of the Lambarde Collection of ancient manuscripts was put up for auction by William Gore Lambarde, the last surviving male descendant of William Lambarde the antiquary. Many of these historic records went to American libraries and universities, but Mr F.C. Boucher, the Town Clerk [of Gillingham] acting for the Council, "with great perspicacity secured those relating to Gillingham" (p.65).

This collection includes the very important survey of 1447 known as the Black Book of Gillingham, a useful group of manorial documents for the manor of Twydall [alias Twidall], and a valuable series of about 30 medieval deeds relating to properties of the Twidall and Beaufitz families of Gillingham. There is also an extraneous group of deeds relating to Brenchley, 1480-1625. Many title deeds in this collection relate to Gillingham and Rainham (U398/T1/1-25, U398/T2/49-113 and U398/T3-T5) and provide an early and full record of the land use of many parts of those parishes especially the Hoath, Gillingham Green and Nor Marsh and areas bordering Upchurch. Several records (U398/Z1-Z8) relate specifically to the Crown's interest in the trees, specifically oaks, in the Hoath forest over a long period, 1586-1788, and particularly between 1751 and 1788. The title deeds for the same areas are also remarkable in containing references to ancient measures of land long redundant and several unique to Kent, some also hinting at names of Old English proprietors (e.g. U398/T2/73, U398/T2/95, U398/T2/125). U398/T1/26-29 relate to lands in Sussex, Yorkshire, London and Sevenoaks and have no obvious connection with the other deeds in the collection, except for a John Lambert, party to the London deed of 1542, who may descend from the Lambard family. A good number of deeds relate to Brenchley and the Weald, including Sussex (U398/T2/1-48, U398/T2/114-125). These appear to be unrelated to the Gillingham area deeds but may result from the acquisition or break-up of a county-wide estate in a later period. Certainly some personal names repeat from the Gillingham area deeds though this may be co-incidental. However, the deeds show clear social, family, agricultural and commercial connections between the two areas as regards tenants and owners of properties, some of them parties to the deeds.

The whole collection was examined and listed some years ago when neat notes were made of the regnal years of the deeds and numbers were assigned in red pencil. At some date the bulk of the deeds and also a group of papers forming a survey of Twydall were bound into volumes (U398/T2 and U398/M5).

See collection GBC for the records of Gillingham Borough Council and later records of the manor of Gillingham (GBC/Mn).