Conveyance 1837; purchase of land for the building of a National School (next to The Green, Hickling).

Transcription – click here.

William Fletcher Norton Norton, Lord of the Manor of Hickling – click here.

In 1837 a small piece of wasteland belonging to the Lord of the Manor was sold to the Rector and Churchwardens for 10/- (ten shillings) for the purpose of building a National School. The piece of land is just 33 feet x 35 feet.

The detail of the conveyance locates the parcel of land to be used to build a school very precisely:

• … all that piece or parcel of land or ground situate and being in the Parish of Hickling and within and parcel of the *waste lands of the Manor of Hickling in the county of Nottingham containing by admeasurement in breadth from north to south thirty three feet and in length from east to west thirty five feet bounded in the east and south by the village Green on the west by the street of the village of Hickling aforesaid and on the north by the public carriage road or highway leading from Hickling to houses adjacent and being the seize of three cottages lately standing thereon in a dilapidated condition and occupied by Susan Carrington John Clarke and Thomas Carrington the elder …
• … the piece of land […] comprises the seize of three cottages formerly erected by the inhabitants of the Parish of Hickling aforesaid upon part of the wasteland of and in that Parish which said cottages were occupied by poor persons belonging to the Parish but the same having become much dilapidated and decayed it was agreed by and between the freeholders and parishioners of the said Parish [that instead] of repairing and amending such cottages that the same should be pulled down and removed and that the use thereof shall be conveyed in manner hereinafter mentioned in order that a school house to be appropriated for the education of poor children in the principles of the established Church may be erected thereon …

Whilst the project clearly had the support of the Parish it also touches on some of the less comfortable aspects of living within a rural community at the time. References to ‘the poor’ run through the document and the sense that the Lord of the Manor, landowners, freeholders, yeomen and the Rector and churchwardens of Hickling have a moral and social responsibility to the poor of the village is implicit. In this context, ‘the poor’ includes working labourers in rural employment as well as those without the means to support themselves.

* The concept of ‘waste land’ goes back to the pre-Norman feudal system whereby the entire village belonged to (was the demesne of) the Lord of the Manor; it consisted of his own house and grounds, the village which grew around it (which was farmed and/or occupied by permission of the Lord of the Manor) and areas of unused ‘waste land’. In return, the Lord of the Manor managed/oversaw legal affairs and offered protection to those living on his Manor. By the mid-1800s the feudal element had gone but the legal and social structures continued to be evident in this type of situation.

• “In the case of Attorney-General v Hanmer 1858 waste land of the manor was ‘the open, uncultivated and unoccupied lands parcel of the manor, other than the demesne lands of the manor’. “

It seems that the three cottages referred to on this site had probably been built and occupied informally/without permission but had been tolerated as a way of accommodating poorer families. It is hoped that the families were relocated when their dilapidated cottages were pulled down to be replaced by the new school.

• Census 1841: 4 members of the Carrington family are listed in one household – Thomas (age 56 – possibly, Thomas the elder?), Elizabeth (age 65), Elizabeth (age 25), William (age 4).
• No records found for Susan Carrington.
• Census 1841: 5 members of the Clarke family are listed in one household – John (age 40, Ag Lab), Thomas (age 15, Ag Lab), Mary (age 15), John (age 9), Elizabeth (age 6).

William Fletcher Norton Norton; Lord of the Manor of Hickling

(possible link to the Baronetcy of Grantley near Ripon in Yorkshire – including Fletcher Norton and William Norton; see also, report of his funeral)

• No birth/baptismal record confirmed; likely to have been born in London c.1791 although his death in 1865 records his age as 84 indicating a birth date in 1781. He doesn’t appear to have had any children and his Estate goes to a nephew.
• Hickling Parish Records: none. The Norton family don’t appear to have been resident in Hickling and, by this time, the manorial rights for Hickling have separated from the house known as The Manor, Hickling.
• Newspaper Articles: several hundred available on FMP; examples, below.
• London Gazette 1809: The names of those who were nominated for Sheriffs by the Lords of the Council, at the Exchequer, on Monday the 13^th November 1809 (the Morrow of Saint Martin being Sunday) in the fiftieth year of the Reign of King George the Third, and in the Year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and nine. Nottinghamshire: John Chaworth, of Ansley, Esq. William Fletcher Norton Norton of Elton, Esq. Frank Sotheron, of Firklington, Esq.
• Marriage Record 1807: to Ursula Launder at St. Luke’s, Chelsea in the Parish of St. George, Hanover Square.
• London Gazette 1809: The names of those who were nominated for Sheriffs by the Lords of the Council, at the Exchequer, on Monday the 13^th November 1809 (the Morrow of Saint Martin being Sunday) in the fiftieth year of the Reign of King George the Third, and in the Year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and nine. Nottinghamshire: John Chaworth, of Ansley, Esq. William Fletcher Norton Norton of Elton, Esq. Frank Sotheron, of Firklington, Esq.
• London Courier and Evening Gazette 15^th January 1814: ‘At a meeting of the Gentry, Clergy, Freeholders and Inhabitants of the Vale of Belvoir’ it is resolved that William Fletcher Norton Norton should address his Royal Highness the Prince Regent at Belvoir Castle, declaring their loyalty.
• Oxford Journal 29^th December 1821: The Leicester Journal contains a notice, dated Birmingham, Dec. 11, and signed J. Andrew, Clerk to the Magistrates for the Division of Birmingham, offering 100 guineas reward for the apprehension of the Rev. John Towne, late of Bottesford, pursuant to a warrant under the Hand and Seal of William Fletcher Norton Norton Esq. one of his Majesty’s Justices of the Peace, in and for the county of Leicester, which was issued on the 8^th of November last, on suspicion of his having feloniously administered poison to Miss Ann Wright, late of Bottesford aforesaid, spinster, deceased, whereof she had died.
• Census 1841 (Marylebone, London):
  • William Norton  Male     50         1791     – independent means – born Middlesex, England
  • Ursula Norton    Female  50         1791     –
  • James Turner     Male     35         1806     –
  • Henry Cooper    Male     18         1823     –
  • Robert Brown    Male     24         1817     –
  • Ann Wood         Female  30         1811     –
  • Mary Hucknall   Female  30         1811     –
  • Kitty Musgrove  Female  26         1815     –
  • Emma Mason    Female  30         1811     –
  • Margaret Booth Female  24         1817     –
  • Eliza Rylett         Female  20         1821     –
• Burial Record – Ursula Norton, died Q1, Hastings in Sussex – buried Elton 5th Feb 1845 (note attached – wife of WFN; age transcribed as 85 which is likely to be an error)
• Marriage Record 1845: to Sarah Lushington – Q2 – 3^rd April 1845 – Marylebone
• Globe 25^th June 1845: William Fletcher Norton Norton is listed as a director of the Grantham Canal Company (in relation to the Nottingham Vale of Belvoir and Grantham railway). This is an example of several newspaper articles in this context.
• Globe 10^th Feb 1846: He is announced as the protectionist candidate in south notts elections.
• Westminster Rate Books 1850&1: Wm Fletcher Norton Norton – occupier – Mansfield Street, London – Sarah Carnace (owner).
• Census 1851 (Elton Hall, Granby, Notts – in the Parish of Elton):
  • William Fletcher Norton Norton – head – married – age 63 – Magistrate Landed Proprietor – London
  • Sarah Norton – wife – age 58 – [fundholder] – London
  • Henry Allum – butler – unmarried – age 30 – Streatly, Berks
  • William [Harbert] – valet – unm – age 29 – Dover, Kent
  • John [Warren] – under butler – unm – age 36 – Ilford, Essex
  • Henry [Merrill] – footman – unm – age 23 – Whittington, Worcs
  • Robert Brown – footman – unm – age 35 – Foston, Lincs
  • George Peach – second coachman – unm – age 19 – Thrumpton, Notts
  • Henry Froome – postillion – unm – age 19 – London
  • William Briggs – [helper] – unm – age 23 – Newark, Notts
  • John [Fountain] – groom – married – age 32 – Little Dalby, Leics
  • Elizabeth Bailey – cook – unm – age 27 – Southwell, Notts
  • Mary Ann [Sadin] – lady’s maid – unm – age 36 – Daventry, Northants
  • Jane Davey – housemaid – unm – age 26 – Kitsford, Somerset
  • Emma Marks – housemaid – unm – age 20 – London
  • Ann Fryer – kitchen maid – unm – age 19 – Orston, Notts
• Nottinghamshire Guardian 15^th Feb 1855: He sells extensive areas of land between Queen’s Walk and Wilford Road in Nottingham for the building of ‘genteel villa residences’ in the Meadows area
• Census 1861: William FN (age 76) and Sarah (age 70) Norton are recorded at Elton Manor; there are 6 male visitors in the household – none with the surname Norton (they are either barristers or militia). William Harbert who was a valet in 1851 is now Butler. Mary Ann Sadin is still lady’s maid (age 44).
• London Gazette, July 24^th 1863: on the 6^th April 1863, William Fletcher Norton Norton is one of 5 Justices of the Peace who have petitioned in relation to ‘An Act for the Better management of Highways in England’  to ‘alter the present Highway District of Belvoir, in the said County of Leicester, by disannexing the parishes of Eastwell, Eaton, Harby, Saltby and Statherne from the Melton Mowbray Highway District and unting the same with the Belvoir District of the said County …’. The petition is approved.
• Burial Record: William FN Norton – born 1781 – died aged 84 – buried 23^rd Nov 1865 – St. Michael and All Angels, Elton, Notts.
• Sussex Advertiser 21^st November 1865: Death of  a Sussex Magistrate – our obituary of this day records the death of William Fletcher Norton Norton Esq. which took place on the 15^th inst. at his country seat, Elton Manor, Notts. The deceased gentleman was a magistrate for this county, and for many years has spent the winter months at his marine residence, Wellington Square, Hastings. He had attained the advanced age of 84.
• Usk Observer 25^th November 1865 (also same text in Lincolnshire Chronicle – same date): William Fletcher Norton Norton Esq. died at his seat, Elton Manor, near Bingham, last week at an advanced age. He was a magistrate for the counties of Notts, Derby, Leicester and Sussex and Lord of the Manor of Elton and patron of that living. For many years Mr and Mrs Norton had been distinguished members of the beau monde, and their parties in the London season were on a magnificent scale. He is succeeded in his estates by his nephew.
• Nottinghamshire Guardian 1^st December 1865: Funeral of William Fletcher Norton Norton Esq. The mortal remains of this highly respected gentleman were borne to the grave on Thursday by a band of mourners composed of personal friends of the deceased, and the principal inhabitants of the district. The funeral procession left the Manor House, Elton, shortly before one o’clock, and took its way to the parish church, which is situated on a romantic spot within the grounds of the Manor House. The officiating clergyman was Rev B. Weatherall, who read the solemn service for the dead in a very impressive manner. The pall bearers were: TD Hall, Esq, H.P. Sherbrooke, Esq., Rev …Bradshaw, Rev. T. Butler, Langar; G. Storer, Esq. Thoroton; and H Hall, Esq. Watnall. Among other gentlemen present were: Rev. J. Norman, Rev B. Wright, Dr Wright, E. Percy, Esq. Count de Pally, General Seymour, Lord Grantley, Wm Seymour, Esq. Hon. G Norton, W. Briscoe, Esq. and a large number of the household and tenantry. The whole ceremony was of the most impressive character; and but one feeling was expressed – that of true respect for a good man, whose many virtues were especially remembered by the members of his household and tenantry. Mr Norton died suddenly, but at an advanced age, he having reached eighty-four years. He was respected all over the country; and now that ashes have been gathered to ashes and dust to dust, the remembrance of his many virtues is even more keenly cherished among his surviving relatives and friends than during life. We may mention that the whole of the arrangements connected with the funeral were conducted by Mr W. Scott, draper and undertaker, Nottingham, with the utmost decorum and good taste, and to the entire satisfaction of the friends of the deceased.
• London Gazette, January 16^th 1866: William Fletcher Norton Norton Esquire, Deceased. In pursuance to the Act of the Statute of the 22^nd and 23^rd Victoria, cap. 35, intituled ‘An Act to further amend the Law of Property, and to relieve Trustees.’ Notice is hereby given, that all persons having any claim or demand against the estate of William Fletcher Norton Norton, late of Elton Manor, in the County of Nottingham, Esquire, who died on the 15^th day of November 1865, and whose will and codicil were proved on the 3^rd day of January, 1866, by Sarah Norton of Elton Manor aforesaid, widow and relict of the said deceased, and Edmund Percy, of the town of Nottingham, Solicitor, the executors named in the said will, are hereby required, on or before the 1^st day of March 1866, to send the particulars of such claim or demand to the said executors, or to Messrs. Percy, goodall, and Brown, Solicitors, Nottingham, or in default thereof the said executors will, at the expiration of the above time, proceed to distribute the assets of the testator among the parties entitled thereto, having regard only to the claims and demands of which they shall then have notice. – Dated this 11^th day of January, 1866. Percy, Goodall, and Brown, Solicitors, Nottingham.
• Morning Post 18^th January 1867: Norton – On the 15^th inst. at Elton Manor, Notts, Sarah Norton, widow of the late William Fletcher Norton Norton Esq. of Elton Manor, Notts and 15, Mansfield Street, Portland Place, London, in her eighty-second year.

Transcription:

1. [Y/31^st Jany … Taylor … for … Solicitor Nottingham]
2. Dated September 29^th 1837
3. Wm of N Norton Esq & others
4. to
5. The Revd Edwd Anderson & others
6. Conveyance of a
7. Piece of waste land in the
8. Parish and Manor of Hickling
9. Com. Nottingham
10. For building a National
11. School for poor children
12. [Enrolled] in Her Majys High Court of Chancery the thirty first day of January in the year of our Lord 1838
13. Being first duly stamped according to the tenor of the Statutes made for that purpose.
14. [5 …] [signed]
15. Signed sealed and delivered by the within named }              Anthony Winson, [Butler] to the said WFN Norton [… …]
16. William Fletcher Norton Norton in the presence of }
17. Signed sealed and delivered by the }                     Robert Gill Householder of Hickling
18. within named Edward Anderson Clerk]
19. John Bell, William Wright, William }
20. Collishaw, Robert Hardy and George Daft }
21. in the presence of – }

1. I the undersigned William Fletcher Norton Norton of Elton in the County of Nottingham Esquire Lord of the Manor of Hickling in the County of
2. Nottingham do by this Instrument appoint John Basilico of Hickling in the County of Nottingham aforesaid land surveyor to ascertain the quantity and ~
3. value of a certain piece of waste land or ground situate and being in the Parish of Hickling and within and parcel of the waste lands of the manor of ~
4. Hickling in the County of Nottingham containing by admeasurement in breadth from north to south thirty three feet and in length from east to west thirty ~
5. five feet bounded on the east and south by the village Green on the west by the street of the village of Hickling aforesaid and on the north by the public ~
6. carriage road or highway leading from Hickling to houses adjacent upon which said piece of land certain cottages were lately standing in a dilapidated
7. condition and have been removed – as witness my hand this sixteenth day of September in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred
8. and thirty seven
9. Witness Edward James                WFN Norton

1. I the above named and undersigned John Basilico of Hickling in the County of Nottingham land surveyor do hereby declare that I have surveyed and
2. valued the piece of waste land or ground above mentioned pursuant to the above appointment and I do hereby declare that the quantity of such waste land is ~
3. eleven hundred and fifty five feet and that the value thereof is the sum of one pound —– as witness my hand this twenty third day of September in
4. this year of our Lord one thousand and eight hundred and thirty seven –
5. Witness
6. Edward James
7. Clerk to Mr [Payne] solicitor Nottingham                           John Basilico

1. The above named John Basilico of Hickling in the County of Nottingham appeared personally before me the undersigned
2. Lancelot Rolleston ——————————Esquire one of Her Majesty’s Justices of the peace for the County of Nottingham at
3. the Shire Hall in and for the County of Nottingham and made and signed the above written declaration this twenty
4. third day of September one thousand eight hundred and thirty seven –
5. Before me Lancelot Rolleston

Seals:

WFN Norton William Wright Edward Anderson Rector

Edward Anderson Rector William Collishaw Robt Hardy }      Churchwardens

John Bell George Daft }

1. Seal.
2. Taken and acknowledged by William Fletcher Norton Norton
3. Lord of the Manor of Hickling in the parish of Hickling
4. In the County of Nottingham [… … … …] at the Town
5. Of Nottingham this twenty seventh day of January 1838
6. Before me
7. [Samuel Payne]
8. A master [exec] in Chancery

1. This Indenture made the twenty ninth day of September in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and
2. thirty seven – between William Fletcher Norton Norton of Elton in the County of Nottingham
3. Esquire Lord of the Manor of Hickling in that County The Reverend Edward Anderson Clerk
4. Rector of the Parish and Parish Church of Hickling in the same county John Bell of the Parish of
5. Hickling in the same county yeoman William Wright of the same place yeoman and William
6. Collishaw of the same place yeoman All freeholders and owners of land at Hickling aforesaid in the manor of Hickling and parishioners of the said Parish of the one part and the said Edward
7. Anderson the Rector and also Robert Hardy of Hickling aforesaid yeoman and George Daft of Hickling aforesaid yeoman, churchwardens of the Parish of Hickling aforesaid of the
8. other part – Whereas the piece of land hereafter described and intended to be hereby bargained and sold comprises the seize of three cottages formerly erected by the inhabitants
9. of the Parish of Hickling aforesaid upon part of the wasteland of and in that Parish which said cottages were occupied by poor persons belonging to the Parish but the same having
10. become much dilapidated and decayed it was agreed by and between the freeholders and parishioners of the said Parish [that instead] of repairing and amending such cottages that the same
11. should be pulled down and removed and that the use thereof shall be conveyed in manner hereinafter mentioned in order that a school house to be appropriated for the education of poor
12. children in the principles of the established Church may be erected thereon – Now this indenture witnesseth that for the purpose of providing a seize whereon a school
13. house to be appropriated for the education of poor children in the principles of the established church in the parish of Hickling aforesaid may be erected and which it is the intention of
14. said Rector and Churchwardens and also of the parishioners of the said parish shall be erected and in consideration of the sum of ten shillings of lawful British money by the said Edward ~
15. Anderson Robert Hardy and George Daft now paid to the said William Fletcher Norton Norton Edward Anderson John Bell William Wright and William Collishaw the receipt whereof is hereby
16. acknowledged they the said William Fletcher Norton Norton Edward Anderson John Bell William Wright and William Collishaw according to their several and respective estates rights and
17. interests in the premises have and each and every of them hath granted bargained sold and confirmed and by these presents Do and each and every of them Doth grant
18. bargain sell and confirm unto the said Edward Anderson Robert Hardy and George Daft their heirs and assigns all that piece or parcel of land or ground situate and being in the Parish
19. of Hickling and within and parcel of the waste lands of the Manor of Hickling in the county of Nottingham containing by admeasurement in breadth from north to south thirty three feet and
20. in length from east to west thirty five feet bounded in the east and south by the village Green on the west by the street of the village of Hickling aforesaid and on the north by the public ~
21. carriage road or highway leading from Hickling to houses adjacent and being the seize of three cottages lately standing thereon in a dilapidated condition and occupied by Susan Carrington
22. John Clarke and Thomas Carrington the elder – Together with all ways paths passages waters watercourses profits privileges advantages and appurtenances to the said piece or parcel of
23. land and hereditaments belonging – and the reversion and reversions remainder and remainders yearly and other rents [if owed] and profits of all the said piece or parcel of land and other
24. hereditaments – And all the Estate right title interest and trust properly claim and demand whatsoever of the said William Fletcher Norton Norton Edward Anderson John Bell William
25. Wright and William Collishaw and every of them in hand upon the same hereditaments – To have and to hold the piece or parcel of land and other hereditaments hereby granted
26. bargained and sold or intended so to be unto and to the only use of the said Edward Anderson Robert Hardy and George Daft their heirs and assigns for ever Upon and for the
27. trusts intents and purposes and with the power following (that is to say) Upon trust that they the said Edward Anderson Robert Hardy and George Daft and the survivors of
28. them and also such official trustees as hereinafter mentioned do and shall as soon as money shall be collected and raised from subscribers and contributors sufficient for the purpose erect
29. and build on the said piece of land or ground a suitable school for the education of poor children in the parish of Hickling aforesaid and thereafter keep the said school in sufficient repair
30. and do and shall at all times cause the children of poor persons residing in the parish of Hickling aforesaid to be educated within the said school in the doctrines and principles of the established
31. Church of England and cause such children as shall be educated therein regularly to attend the administration of divine service in the parish church of Hickling aforesaid and that the said
32. Edward Anderson and his successors Rectors for the time being of the Parish of Hickling aforesaid do and shall alone from time to time appoint a master to teach in the said school and
33. remove such master if and when necessary and that he the said Rector do and shall from time to time make alter modify and annul all rules and regulations for the conducting and
34. government of the said school and the qualifications duties conduct reward and salary of the said master but shall all other matters relating to the premises shall be at the
35. discretion of the Trustees for the time being – Provided always and it is hereby agreed and declared between and by the parties hereto that the Rector and Churchwardens
36. for the time being of the Parish of Hickling aforesaid shall as soon as they shall respectively become and so long as they shall respectively continue to be such Rector and Churchwardens be Trustees for the purposes of these
37. present – In witness whereof the said parties to these present have hereunto set their hands and seals the day and year first above written.//