KINGSTON-UPON-THAMES
Cyningestun (xi cent.); Cyngestun (x cent.);
Chingestun (xi cent.); Kingeston (xii cent.).
The town of Kingston is built on the river-bank;
behind it is alluvium through which the Hogsmill
river flows. On either hand are hills, those to the
north-east carrying the ancient ridgeway to Wimbledon and along the slopes above the Thames valley,
those to the south with roads to Mid-Surrey, Southampton, and the southern shires. All these converge
at Kingston, for here in early times was one of the
two great passages into Surrey from the north, at
first by a ford near which the place probably first
grew, then by the mediaeval bridge. Though the
bridge now has fellows, and trade comes and goes by
the branch line of the London and South Western Railway, completed in 1889, yet the river still influences
the town, and brings the many pleasure-seekers who
have made Kingston one of their favourite haunts
by the river-side. Kingston is first mentioned in 836
or 838 as the meeting-place of the council at which
King Egbert and the Archbishop Ceolnoth made
their league. (fn. 1) This points to its being already a
place of some importance, and the alliance here made
between the West Saxon Crown and the Metropolitan
See, which did so much to confirm their respective civil
and ecclesiastical primacies in Britain, is the only
reasonable explanation for the crowning here of the
West Saxon kings in the 10th century. (fn. 2) Edward
the Elder was crowned here in 902. (fn. 3) Athelstan in
925, (fn. 4) Edmund and Edred in 940 and 946. (fn. 5) In
955 Edwig was elected at a gemot held here and
crowned; at the coronation feast the young king
left the hall and sought two ladies, Aethelgifu
and her daughter Elfgifu, with the latter of
whom he had formed an uncanonical marriage, and
was dragged back to the feast by Dunstan and
Bishop Cynesige. (fn. 6) In 958 Ethelred 'was very readily and with great joy' crowned here by Dunstan. (fn. 7)
All these kings are said to have been crowned on the
'coronation stone' now preserved in the market-place. (fn. 8)
This stone is not mentioned by Leland or Camden,
but is traditionally said to have been preserved in
the ancient chapel of St. Mary, which fell down in
1730. (fn. 9) It was then placed outside the town hall
and used as a mounting-block until 1850, when the
mayor, a local antiquary, placed it on its present
pedestal and unveiled it with much ceremony on a
public holiday. (fn. 10)
Kingston was a demesne manor of the West Saxon
kings. Edward the Confessor let it out to farm and
had a stud-farm in its neighbourhood. (fn. 11) It was its
'great bridge' over the Thames that gave it special
importance, as in the 13th century, this was the
most easterly of the bridges before London Bridge
was reached. In 1217 the peace between King
John and Louis of France was first negotiated at
Kingston though signed at Lambeth, (fn. 12) and Henry III
came here in 1234, 1236, (fn. 13) and 1263. (fn. 14) In 1238
and 1261 (fn. 15) assemblies of the barons were held here.
Probably the castle captured by Henry III in 1264
on his march south to Rochester (fn. 16) was built to cover
the bridge on land seized from the manor by Gilbert
de Clare, who himself had no land nearer than Long
Ditton (q.v.), for Kingston was held in demesne.
Kingston, probably from its accessibility, was a favourite place for tournaments. (fn. 17)
In 1323 some rebels from the West Country made a
disturbance here, (fn. 18) and for the next twenty years the
country was in an unquiet state. In 1331 William Inge,
Archdeacon of Surrey, complained that he had been
attacked by no less than forty-six of the men, fishers,
and others of Kingston, and imprisoned in the town, (fn. 19)
and two years later Thomas Roscelyn applied for
redress against several of the chief men of Kingston,
who had taken away possessions of his worth £200. (fn. 20)
In 1346 commissioners were appointed to arrest the
'Roberdesmen, Wastries and Draghlaches,' who were
harrying the neighbourhood (fn. 21) and who were perhaps
responsible for the destruction of Hartington Coombe. (fn. 22)
Kingston Bridge played a considerable part in the
campaign of 1452, when the Duke of York, who had
marched from the West Country and had been refused
entry into London, was enabled to cross by it into
Surrey and take up his position at Blackheath.
Wyatt also used this passage in 1554 when, baulked
of his intention to enter the city by way of London
Bridge, he marched to Kingston. The extremely
flimsy nature of the bridge stood the government in
good stead, for considerable delay was caused by some
30 ft. of the bridge having been removed before
the insurgents' arrival. (fn. 23)
Kingston-upon-Thames
Until the 16th century the external history of the
town centred in the bridge, but with the occupation
of Hampton Court as a royal palace Kingston gained
a new importance as a lodging-place for those connected with the court, and accordingly many orders
were issued respecting infection from the plague, which
attacked the town with great violence in 1625 and
1636. (fn. 24) During the Civil Wars the importance of
holding the bridge caused Kingston to be garrisoned
by Parliamentary troops, except for a brief space on
14–19 November 1642, when it was held for the
king, and in 1644 the City regiments were stationed
there. (fn. 25) In 1648 when the Earls of Holland and
Peterborough and the Duke of Buckingham made a
last effort in the royal cause they rose at Kingston,
and after a march to Reigate retreated there again,
when a skirmish took place near Surbiton Common,
in which Lord Francis Villiers was killed, and the
Cavaliers routed. (fn. 26) The Committees for Safety and
Sequestrations for Surrey both sat at Kingston, which
from its proximity to London and accessibility has
always been a centre for local administration. The
'general sessions' were held here in 1531, (fn. 27) and it
was an Assize town until 1884; (fn. 28) it was also chosen
as a centre by the Surrey County Council, whose
fine offices stand in Penrhyn Road.
There is no evidence to determine at what date
the great bridge over the Thames was built, but it was
already endowed with lands for its maintenance in
1219, (fn. 29) when Master William de Coventry was
master of the bridge. In 1223 Henry III passing
through the town entrusted the work of the bridge to
Henry de St. Albans and Matthew son of Geoffrey, (fn. 30)
a local merchant, with seisin of the bridge, its charters,
and the house pertaining to it. (fn. 31) This house was, it
has been suggested, on a site in the horse market,
where a curious crypt of shaped chalk stones was
recently discovered. (fn. 32) The bridge probably underwent little modification from an early period until
the 19th century. Sketches made in about 1800
show a long and flimsy wooden structure consisting
of a narrow causeway railed on either side and resting on rows of piles disposed in groups of four or five
banded together by wooden beams. At this time the
ducking stool stood prominently at the east end of the
bridge. (fn. 33) This lightness of build necessitated constant
repairs; the bridge was in a dangerous condition in
1318, when pontage was granted to the bailiffs and
good men for six years upon all wares for sale
crossing and from each ship laden with wares for
sale exceeding the value of 100s. passing beneath it. (fn. 34)
The grant was renewed for five years in 1383, (fn. 35)
and again in 1400 for three years, when the king's
esquire, William Loveney, and two others were appointed surveyors. (fn. 36) A flood did much damage in
1435, and pontage was obtained for five years (fn. 37) ; this
developed into a regular system of toll, (fn. 38) which was
so burdensome that Robert Hammond settled land
valued at £40 for the support and redemption of
the bridge, the gift being commemorated by the
following inscription on a rail at about the middle of
the bridge:
'1565 Robert Hamon gentleman, Bayliff of Kingston
heretofore,
He then made this bridge toll-free for evermore'
When these rails were replaced, a stone similarly
inscribed was set in the brickwork of the north side
of the western abutment. (fn. 39) The tolls had formed a
considerable part of the revenue which the borough
administered in support of the bridge through the
bridgewardens, though there was also an estate
appropriated to the purpose, and some benefit was
derived from the lands of Clement Milan. (fn. 40)
In 1556 the decay of the bridge and the burdens
sustained about its repair were the pretexts for the
grant of the fair of St. Mary Magdalene's Day, and
also of a fish weir (fn. 41) The bridgewardens' accounts
begin at the close of the 14th century, but are not
detailed until 1568; later they were rendered annually to the Court of Assembly and signed by the
bailiffs. (fn. 42) The wardens kept a storehouse for necessary materials, their usual method being to buy
timber and make the repairs by their own workmen;
so in 1572 12d. was paid 'for making of the Plankes,'
5s. 'for two legges for the brydges,' and 2s. for 'stoping
of holes'; gravel for the causeway was always a
serious item. (fn. 43) In the same year 13s. was given to
the poor on Easter Day, and probably the 18d. paid
to the churchwardens in 1569 was also for alms. (fn. 44)
The Court of Assembly made such by-laws as were
needful; so in 1680 and 1685 it was 'ordered that if
upon any Saturday or other market or Faire day of
the saide Towne two carts meete upon the Great
Bridge of Kingston that then each carte shall forfeit
the sume of 6d. which said Forfeiture shalbe paid by
the owner of the said carte or partie driving the same
to Thomas Styles keeper of the said Bridge to give an
acct thereof to the Bayliffs and Freemen, and that
everie emptie carte alwaies give way to the loaded.' (fn. 45)
This order points to the narrowness of the bridge,
which was only partly remedied when its Middlesex
side was considerably widened in about 1791. (fn. 46)
In 1812 the bridge was in such a state of decay
as to be beyond repair, and the bridge estate was
wholly inadequate to meet the cost of rebuilding.
The corporation tried to shift the responsibility on
to the counties of Middlesex and Surrey, with the
result that cross indictments were filed. (fn. 47) Judgement
was finally given against the borough, and money
was raised by the sale of lands. An Act of Parliament for rebuilding the bridge was obtained in
1825, (fn. 48) and the work was begun in that year,
Lord Liverpool, the High Steward, laying the first
stone. (fn. 49) The bridge, which rests on five arches of
stone, was the design of Edward Lapidge, the architect of the Fitzwilliam Museum at Cambridge,
and himself a local man. (fn. 50) It was built about
100 yards south of the old one and brought about a
considerable change in the topography of this part of
the town. Hitherto the way from London Street
had been down Wood Street into the Horse Fair and
then west from this down Old Bridge Street, at the
corner of which probably stood the Bridge House.
To approach the new bridge London Street was continued westward from the point at which Church
Row touches it, sweeping away the row of houses
abutting on the churchyard which now lay open to
the view. The new street was called Clarence Street
in honour of the Duchess of Clarence, wife of the
prince afterwards William IV, who opened the bridge
in grand procession in July 1828. The skeleton of the
old bridge still stood, though with several bays broken
to prevent its use. For some years tolls were charged
and were let for £2,000 a year. (fn. 51) There was much
rejoicing when the toll was abolished in 1870, and
from this time the volume of traffic has continuously
increased.
From the great bridge the way south into the
town lay down Thames Street. The north end of
this, the open Horse Fair, and the surrounding
'Back Laines,' as they were called in the 16th
century, (fn. 52) were cleared of their ancient buildings and
undesirable inhabitants in 1905, when the present
houses were built. Farther south the 17th and 18th-century houses still remain: the street is divided from
the river by shops with gardens behind; passages lead
through darkness into alleys such as Fountain Court,
where the houses stand round an enormous leaden
bowl. Near this is a passage preserving the name
of the Bishop's Hall, once the property of the
Bishops of Winchester. Probably it first came
into their hands in 1202, when Bishop Godfrey
paid 14s. to Osbert Horo for three messuages, retaining two and letting the other to Osbert. (fn. 53) The
Bishop's Hall was soon deserted and was leased to
tenants, certainly from 1392 (fn. 54) ; as Leland put it,
'now it is turned into a commune Dwelling House
of a Tounisch man. Sum Bishop, wery of it, did
neglect the House and began to build at Asher near
the Tamise side 2 or 3 miles above Kingston.' (fn. 55)
In the time of William of Wykeham it was described
as between a lane leading to the Thames on the south,
a tenement on the north, and the river on the west.' (fn. 56)
In 1533 the master of the chapel of St. Mary Magdalene leased a toft and garden abutting on 'le
Byshoppe Hawe' on the north, the Thames on the
west, and the tenement of Richard Benson on the
east (fn. 57) ; this last was described as situated between the
highway and Bishop's Hall. (fn. 58) These descriptions prove
that the hall faced the river and can have had no frontage to Thames Street. Sold to Henry VIII with other
lands of the see, it was granted in 1544 as a garden
and lands to Richard Borole, barber-surgeon, and John
Howe, grocer, of London, (fn. 59) but in 1567 Mr. Starr
paid 3s. 4d. to the bailiffs and freemen for 'Bisshopes
Hall,' (fn. 60) and in 1670 Robert Viall paid 8s. for a
tenement so called. By 1804 no traces of the building remained, (fn. 61) and the site is now occupied by stables
and yards. Probably Thames Street has always been
one of the chief shopping districts; in 1430–1 John
Cheeseman was accused of making an encroachment
on Thames Street by putting out there a porch and
butt or movable counter. (fn. 62) At the south end of the
street a turn brings the market-place into view.
Standing here it is difficult to believe that the turmoil
of London is but 12 miles away; only a few modern
shop-fronts proclaim this present century, and even they
do not hide the high-pitched roofs which show above
the stucco of the walls and assert their age. A map
ascribed to the 17th century suggests that the marketplace originally extended to the Horse Fair as one
open space with the church in the midst. Purprestures
seem to have brought the town to its present state at
an early period, for the houses round the marketplace and churchyard were held in burgage. Probably here, as elsewhere, each trade had a particular
pitch for its booths, which it retained when the stalls
were replaced by houses, and hence the Butchery,
Cook Row, in the market-place, and the Apple Market,
an excellent example of the results of encroachment.
Close to the town hall from at least the 17th to the
19th century stood a small octagonal building (fn. 63) of red
brick with a high roof covered with tiles and supported on pillars, which thus formed an open space
beneath. Its purpose is forgotten, but it may be
suggested that it was to this that reference was made
in 1685 when the toll of the Oat Market was leased
at a rent of £4 a year 'to the use of the chamber and
of the Maior for the repairing, supporting, maintaining and amending the house over the said toll of the
said Oate-Market called ye pillory-house.' (fn. 64) The Malt
Market also is mentioned in 1670 (fn. 65) and points to a
trade very prosperous here in this and the following
century; the Wool and Leather Markets paid rent to
the bailiffs and freemen in 1417–18, and the Cheese
Market is also mentioned.
One of the oldest houses in Kingston is a butcher's
shop at the corner of the passage leading to the Apple
Market. It is a house of three stories, the ground
floor converted into the shop, the first floor overhanging and the top gabled; these are all cemented
and have modern windows. On the side to the alley
the upper stories also overhang and are cemented. In
the wall are remains of a 15th-century wood window
with a cinquefoiled ogee arch and a traceried head;
the window head probably dates the whole building.
An inn on the other side of the passage, in the Apple
Market, may have been as old, but has been almost
completely modernized. No. 5 Market Place, just
opposite (now belonging to Messrs. Hide & Co.
furniture dealers, etc.), formerly the Castle Inn mentioned in 1537, (fn. 67) retains an early 17th-century
staircase from the ground to the second floor; the
heavy square newels have carved and panelled sides
and ball tops, the carriages or sloping strings are
carved as laurel wreaths. The handrails are heavy,
and the space between the strings and handrails is
filled in with heavy foliage, roses, and other subjects;
at the head of the first flight are three tuns, and
on the first floor is a Bacchus seated on a tun and
holding up a cup, and there are other human figures
worked in with the foliage. Various initials, evidently
original, are scattered over the work; on one newel
head IORPGVP, on another newel CB EB SB AB;
in a true lover's knot N B S; on a human face in a
third newel FV and HB; on a fourth TS, TI, and
another GD. The building has been modernized
in front, but the back towards a courtyard is unaltered; it is of narrow bricks with moulded eaves,
cornices, &c. Some of the bricks have initial letters
in relief, like the stairs; among others SB and AB
appear again, and the dates 1651 and 1656 (? 1636).
The 18th-century outside gallery of the inn is also
retained. In 1769 it paid 1s. 10d. quit-rent, (fn. 68) and
remained in use as an inn until converted into dwellinghouses in the middle of the 19th century. Backing
on to the south-east of the church is another row of
three old houses converted into shops; they are of
timber plastered over, and have overhanging second
floors above which are four gabled heads.
The town hall was built in 1838–40; in 1837
the proposal that a new site should be chosen was
fiercely opposed by the townsfolk, (fn. 69) who finally had
their way. The old town hall, red brick and gabled,
probably dated from the 16th century, and had
beneath it an open market-stead extended on the
south by a sort of shed; in 1670 Benjamin Woodfall
paid £1 for his shop under the Court Hall, (fn. 70) or
Gildhall, for the terms were synonymous. In the
upper rooms, then as now, were kept the records of
the borough, for in July 1684 the Court of Assembly
ordered that the bailiffs and nine others should meet
to sort out their writings and leases. (fn. 71) The assizes
were held here, and in the 17th century the hall was
then decorated with hangings brought from Hampton
Court. (fn. 72) In 1670 'Mr. Marriott' received £2 for
their use. (fn. 73) In 1572 two watchmen were paid 6d. 'for
watching under ye court hall at ye syes,' and in 1670
were in special charge of the hanging. (fn. 74) 'The arms'
were painted in the Gildhall in 1572, and in 1660
the painted window still in the council-room was
presented in honour of the Restoration; in 1670
John Baylis was paid 'for taking down the glasse in
Guildhall att Session times.' (fn. 75) Several important
trials took place here, perhaps the most sensational
being that before Blackstone in which George Onslow
brought an action for libel against John Horne Tooke
the politician and philologist. (fn. 76) The poorness of the
accommodation provided caused much grumbling
among both judges and counsel, and in 1808 the
corporation obtained an Act of Parliament authorizing
the sale of the common lands to raise funds for building a new court-house. In 1811 they purchased
Clattern House for the judges' lodging and added on
its eastern side a court-house which cost them about
£10,000. When Kingston ceased to be an assize
town Clattern House was made the municipal
offices, and here the public library was housed until
in 1904 it was moved to its present building
in the Fair Field, given by Mr. Andrew Carnegie.
Clattern House stands at the southern end of the
market-place opposite the town hall on the bank
of the Hogsmill, Malden River, or Lurteborne as it
seems to have been called in 1439. (fn. 77)
Kingston: High Street
Clattern House preserves the name of Clattering
Bridge, which though but 8 ft. wide in 1831 (fn. 78) had at
least one house on its western side, for which £1 rent
was paid to the corporation in 1620 and 1670. (fn. 79)
The bridge was widened in about 1882 and the
present coping erected. (fn. 80) Across the road and next
to the bridge is a row of gabled houses with plastered
fronts, all more or less restored or altered for modern
shops; near these must have stood 'The Crane,' (fn. 81)
the most important inn in Kingston during the 16th
and 17th centuries. It had belonged to the free
chapel of St. Mary Magdalene, and was held in 1546
by John Agmondesham and inherited by his son, but
in 1564 it formed part of the endowment of the
grammar school. (fn. 82) It was much frequented by the
Court, and in 1526 was the lodging-place of the
Imperial Ambassadors. (fn. 83) When they passed through
the town the Chamberlain's Accounts show items
such as 'Payd at ye Crane for wyen and pypens
geven to ye Byshops,' for a gallon of sack for my
Lord Mayor at the Crane 5s. and 'to the goodman
of the Crane for frewt 12d.' (fn. 81) During the Commonwealth the 'Crane' was the seat of the Committee for
Safety for the county, (fn. 85) but it seems to have lost its
reputation at the end of the century. Close by was
the Debtors' Prison. (fn. 86)
Although West-by-Thames Street, as High Street
was called until the 19th century, was one of the
oldest parts of the town it was considered without the
vill in 1253, when the bailiffs complained that the
tenants of Merton Priory did not keep watch and
perform other duties as did the king's men, and
answer was made that they were never accustomed
to keep watch beyond the water at the end of the
market towards Guildford, which was without the
vill; but only pro homine mortuo did they as others,
serve within the vill. (fn. 87) From the bridge the
road slopes gradually towards the river; picturesque
old houses are on either hand, and open gates show
glimpses of the river or green trees. One of the
most interesting of the houses, that known as King
John's Palace (fn. 88) or Dairy, stood at the corner of
Kingston Hill Road, but was pulled down in 1805.
Its name preserved the tradition that there was a
palace in this part of the town in the early 13th century, with offices stretching into the Bittoms on the
east. No record, however, of such a building has
been found, though Richard II was certainly staying
somewhere in Kingston at the time of the death of
Edward III, when the citizens of London came here
to greet their new lord. (fn. 89) A fruit shop at the
northern end of the street shows signs of age; it is
an irregular building with a plastered front and
gabled roofs, and close to it is a furniture shop
calling itself 'Ye Olde Malt House'; its front is
modernized, but it has a round malting chimney.
There are several other old half-timbered and gabled
houses in the street. Among them is a low three
storied house now called 'Ye Olde White House,'
with plastered front and overhanging upper story,
which probably dates from the 16th century. A
row of three others are worth notice; one, now a
coal office, is weather-boarded and has an overhanging
upper story and a tiled roof with the eaves to the
road; the second is cemented, and has an overhanging
upper floor and eaves, it is now used as the works of
a boat proprietor; the third (a butcher's shop) is
similar in front, but the side of the house towards a
yard on the south is of half-timber filled in with lath and
plaster and a little brick; two of the rearmost windows
in this side have four-centred heads and are unglazed.
On the other side, in a narrow court, the walls are
also of half-timber filled with lath and plaster towards
the rear, but with more modern brick towards the
front. The upper story overhangs on curved brackets
and a moulded facia, the head is gabled and has a
good cusped bargeboard. Some of the windows in
this side retain their original wood frames. The
house is evidently work of the 16th century.
Farther south the road touches the Thames, and
here is a wharf alive with the trade of rivercraft.
North of the bridge the towing path is edged with
small white houses. Here too are boat-houses, and
the bank is covered with small craft. Across the
river is a house with embanked garden, then come
red wooden sheds, then orchards. Beyond the little
houses, and protected from the towing path by a
lawn set with sycamores, is Downhall, the property of
Mrs. Nuthall, widow of the late Mr. G. W. Nuthall,
a grey stuccoed house with jalousies and older
kitchens behind. Downhall was held in the 13th
century of the manor of Canbury (q.v.) by Lewin and
Alan le Mariner, and was afterwards leased to Ralf
Wakelin and Beatrice his wife. (fn. 90) In 1485–6 it was
styled a 'capital messuage' or 'manor,' and was held
of Merton by Robert Skerne, on whose death in that
year it passed to Swithin his son. (fn. 91) It was conveyed
in 1617 by Mildred Bond, widow, and Thomas
Bond to Anthony Browne and Matilda his wife. (fn. 92)
Downhill lies in Canbury; not far away the ancient
tithe-barn stood until sold in 1850 and pulled down.
North of this is the railway bridge and station, the gasworks, a recreation ground, and, finally, Ham Common
and Ham Fields.
Vicarage Lane takes its name from the old vicarage,
which stood here until the modern house was built
to replace that given by John Lovekyn to the vicar
in 1366. (fn. 93)
In 1513 four Lollards were examined at Kingston,
and one Thomas Denys was burned in the marketplace on 5 March, the rest submitted. (fn. 94) There was
a strong element of Puritanism in Kingston. Richard
Taverner the controversialist lived at Norbiton, and
was probably the Mr. Taverner who bought the roodscreen in 1561. (fn. 95) Before 1584 John Udall was
lecturer or curate-in-charge, but was deprived of his
licence to preach by the High Commission in 1588. (fn. 96)
In the early 17th century Edmund Staunton was vicar
for twenty years, but was suspended for a time before
1638, (fn. 97) probably for puritanical teaching; he was
known as 'the searching preacher,' and was diligent
both in catechising and teaching from house to
house. (fn. 98) In 1658 a strong Puritan, Richard Mayo,
was presented to the living. He, though ejected in
1662, kept a separatist congregation together, which
was licensed under the Indulgence of 1672. (fn. 99) In
1698 his more famous son Daniel Mayo (fn. 100) succeeded
John Goffe as pastor of the Presbyterian congregation here. He died at Kingston in 1733 and was
succeeded in the ministry there by George Wightwick
of Lowestoft. (fn. 101) John Townsend, the founder of the
London Asylum for Deaf Mutes, came here in 1781 as
pastor. (fn. 102) The congregation, as was so often the case,
became Independent. The chapel in Eden Street
was built in 1856. (fn. 103) The Presbyterian Church of
England chapel, built in Grove Crescent Road in
1883, has no connexion with this original Nonconformist body. Another early body of Nonconformists
in Kingston was that of the Quakers. George Fox
often preached here, the meetings being held in the
house known as King John's Dairy. In 1769 they
had a burial-place in Eden Street (fn. 104) and there they
still have a meeting-house. The Wesleyans also have
one chapel in Eden Street, another being at Kingston
Hill. There are also four Baptist chapels: in Union
Street, Queen Elizabeth Road, Cowleaze, and London
Road. The first represents a secession from the Independents in the latter part of the 18th century. The Primitive Methodists have chapels in Victoria and Richmond
Roads, while the Brethren meet in the Apple-market.
Heathen, now Eden Street, is said to have taken
its name from being the Jews' quarter, and was so
called when the earliest extant rentals were made.
This and London Street are full of quaint houses,
some timbered, some built of wood.
Next to the Grammar School chapel in the
London Road are almshouses of red brick, six on
either side of a projecting middle bay with a gabled
head. The houses are of two stories with modern
door and window frames and tiled roofs. In the
middle bay a square-headed doorway with cemented
rustic quoins opens into a small common room. On
the first floor are three oval windows, and in the
middle a tablet inscribed 'CHARITATI SACRUM Anno
Salutis 1668 being the Gift of WILLIAM CLEAVE Alderman of London for Six Poor Men and Six Poor
Women of this Town for whose Maintenance for
Ever He hath given A Competent Revenue and also
Caused these Buildings to be Erected at his own
Expense for the Habitation and Convenience of the
said People.' On a cartouche over are his arms:
Argent on a fesse between three wolves' heads razed
sable three molets or; and crest, an eagle with a serpent in its beak. Above this is a sundial with the
initials and date W C 1668.
The Technical Institute in Kingston Hill Road and
the Polytechnic in Fife Road provide education in
technical subjects, and secondary education is cared for
by the Grammar and the Tiffin foundation schools, and
there are several elementary schools.
Norbiton (Norbinton, xiii cent.; Norbeton, xiv
cent.), which lies towards the north end of London
Street, is not mentioned in the Domesday Survey, but
occurs early in the 13th century when William de
Wicumb and Sailda his wife quitclaimed 6 acres of
land there to Hamon son of Ralf and William son of
Siward. (fn. 105) The hamlet was part of the manor of
Kingston, and the common which lay to the north
was under the control of the bailiffs and freemen, (fn. 106)
who used the timber there for 'the mending, repairing and entreteyning of the wayes' as being appurtenant 'to the King's Royalty, the grant whereof
they have in their fee farm.' (fn. 107) The right of felling
the timber was upheld by an order in Council in
1543, (fn. 108) though violently opposed by the inhabitants
of Norbiton, and was of some value, for the Court of
Assembly ordered, in 1680, 'that a book should be
bought to enter ye accounts of ye wardens of Norbiton Common in, and that the same be left with the
Town clerk to enter as other accounts.' (fn. 109)
In the East Field of Norbiton in the reign of
Edward III lay Walepot, Adewellerthe, Kyondescroft, Crokkeres Forlang, and Wateryngcroft, (fn. 110) and
the common of Norbiton is mentioned as the northern
boundary of a road which had 'le Holefur' on the
south. (fn. 111) The common lands were inclosed under an
Act of Parliament obtained in 1808, (fn. 112) and from that
date the population grew so rapidly that the new
ecclesiastical district of St. Peter was formed in 1842,
the parish of St. John the Baptist, Kingston Vale,
in 1847, the consolidated chapelry of St. John the
Evangelist in 1873, the parish of St. Paul, Kingston Hill, in 1881, and the parish of St. Luke,
Gibbon Road, in 1890. (fn. 113) The population numbered
9,063 in 1901. (fn. 114) From the Kingston Road, Kingston Hill, and Park Road, innumerable streets have
radiated, and nearly the whole space here between
the Hogsmill river and Richmond Park is now
occupied or about to be developed. Manor Gate Road
takes its name from the 'Manyngate' mentioned with
Tarendeslane in the reign of Richard III. (fn. 115) A road
from Latchmere towards Manningate is mentioned in
1605, (fn. 116) Hog Lane Gate in 1683. (fn. 117)
Among the larger houses in Norbiton are Kenry
House (Earl of Dunraven), Coombe Hurst (Mr.
R. C. Vyner), Warren House (Gen. Sir A. H. F.
Paget), Coombe End (Mr. B. Weguelan), Coombe
Wood Farm (Lord Archibald Campbell), Coombe
Warren (Mr. L. Currie), Coombe Court (Earl de
Grey), and Latchmere House (Mr. P. Jackson).
The Elementary Schools are St. Peter's, Cambridge
Road, 1852; St. Paul's School, 1871; and St. John
the Evangelist's School, 1873; the Bonner Hill Road
School was built in 1906, and schools in connexion
with the churches of St. John the Evangelist, St.
Luke, and the Roman Catholic Church of St. Agatha.
In Church Road the Guild House School is for
physically defective children.
Surbiton (Subertone, xiii cent.; Subeton, xiv cent.)
is not mentioned in Domesday Book, but was a
hamlet in 1179 when the men of Surbiton, represented by John Hog and about twenty others, granted
to the Prior and convent of Merton land in Grapelingham for twenty-one years, with a preference,
under which a fresh lease was made in 1203. (fn. 118) The
grange of Edith de la Stronde is mentioned in
1229, (fn. 119) and in 1296 Isabella widow of William le
Haselye granted her curtilage to John le Poter with
the hedge and ditch towards the field and with the
wall towards the highway. (fn. 120) In 1417–18 seventeen tenements here paid £1 11s. 11½d. quit-rent to
the bailiffs and freemen of Kingston, the rate here as
elsewhere being 2d. per acre. (fn. 121) Until the inclosure
award made for Kingston in 1838 under authority
of an Act of Parliament of 1808 (fn. 122) about 190 acres
remained commonable in Surbiton, and extended
from the Surbiton Hill Road, or a little below Villier's
Path, on the north to the division of Surbiton from
the parish of Long Ditton on the south, and from
Clay Hill and King Charles's Road on the east to
just beyond the houses on the near side of the Ewell
Road on the west.
The only house in the district covered by the
modern Surbiton marked on the maps of the 18th
century was Berrylands Farm. It certainly existed in
1736, (fn. 123) and is probably much older, if it can be
identified with Berowe, where William Skerne had
licence to inclose land called the Fyfteen Acres in
1439, (fn. 124) and Berow or Barrow Hill held by Robert
Skerne of Thomas Wyndsore in 1485–6. (fn. 125) Early
in the 19th century building began in the valley
towards Kingston with the original Waggon and
Horses public-house, and the Elmers called Surbiton House until 1823 and pulled down before
1888. Maple Farm, afterwards called Maple Lodge,
was built by Christopher Terry about 1815 as the
Manor House. In 1808 Southborough Lodge, the
first house on the hill, was built for Thomas Langley
by John Nash, the architect of Buckingham Palace;
this with the three farms and a windmill was the
only building here until 1812, when the White
House, afterwards known as Hill House, was
built (fn. 126) where the office of the Urban District
Council now stands. Surbiton Hill House was next
built in 1826 partly from material from the abandoned palace of Kew. Though still, as in the 13th
century, (fn. 127) covered with furze and heath, the land
was already considered of value as a building site.
The whole position of the neighbourhood was
altered when in 1836 the main line of the London
and South Western Railway was brought through Surbiton because, tradition says, the inhabitants opposed
its original course through Kingston. A small cottagelike structure called Kingston Station was built in the
deep railway cutting near the Ewell Road Bridge,
and was used until 1840, when Thomas Pooley gave
the present site to the company. (fn. 128) The 18th-century maps of the neighbourhood mark but one
main road as passing through Surbiton. This, the
Portsmouth Road, is a continuation of the Kingston
High Street and follows the river, though separated
from it for some distance by public gardens. There
were of course minor roads: Leatherhead Mill Lane,
Lower Marsh Lanes, and a road corresponding to the
modern Clay Hill and King Charles's Road are mentioned; (fn. 129) a lane from the Ewell Road to Berrylands
Farm is marked on a map of 1813, as is also the lane
now called Villier's Path and Clay Hill. (fn. 130) The western
side of Surbiton was the first to be developed. After
the death of Christopher Terry in 1838 the Maple
Farm lands were bought by Thomas Pooley, who
began to lay out roads and build houses. Having
insufficient capital he mortgaged heavily, principally
to Coutts & Co., the bankers, who finally foreclosed.
They managed the property well, and the Oakhill
and Raphael estates followed, their streets of staid
Victorian houses giving this quarter its essentially residential character. Lately, however, this has become
the shopping district of Surbiton, a feature emphasized
since the opening of the United Tramways Company's electric service in 1905. In the extreme
southern corner of this section lay the Seething Wells,
yielding an abundant supply of water. The land
inclosed under the Act of 1808 was purchased by the
Lambeth Waterworks, and reservoirs opened in 1851;
they were followed by the Chelsea Water Company,
who, in 1852, built the works adjoining these on the
north.
The Berrylands or eastern hill section was developed
in 1851, the land making £500 per acre at public
auction in 1853. In spite of the great change in the
character of the neighbourhood, the roads, lighting,
and drainage were still those of a hamlet. Under the
Surbiton Improvement Act of 1855 (fn. 131) the inhabitants
secured local government by fifteen commissioners
who, with some modifications in 1882, (fn. 132) retained
their authority until Surbiton became an Urban
District. The southern section was a little later in
growth. In this district the land attains its highest
point, being 120 ft. above ordnance datum on Oak
Hill. The lowest point (20 ft. above sea-level) is by
the river side. The soil on the lower levels is chiefly
gravel on a subsoil of London Clay; on Surbiton Hill
it is clay, and there were brick-kilns near the Fish
Ponds in 1838. (fn. 133)
Within the last five years an entirely new district
has sprung up between the Surbiton Hill Road and
Clay Hill, taking the name of Crane's Park from
the Cranes, the large house which stood here. The
development of this estate has resulted in a continuation of King Charles's Road into Kingston, and has
reduced Villier's Path, the traditional scene of the
death of Lord Francis Villiers in 1648, to a mere
footpath hemmed in with houses. The hillside east
of this is now divided into building lots, and it is
anticipated that Clay Lane will soon form the backbone of a further series of streets. On the island in
the Thames opposite Surbiton, called Raven's Eyot,
are the head quarters of the Kingston Rowing Club,
founded in 1858. The population of the urban
district in 1901 was 15,017. (fn. 134) The development of
Surbiton was marked by the formation of the parish
of St. Mark's, part of which was assigned in 1863
to Christ Church, Surbiton Hill; (fn. 135) and in 1876
another part of St. Mark's parish was assigned
to the consolidated chapelry of St. Matthew,
which was partly formed from the parish of Long
Ditton. (fn. 136) In 1854 the Congregationalists built a
handsome church in Maple Road. (fn. 137) This becoming
too small for the congregation a larger church was
built in 1864 at the corner of Grove Road. The
first Wesleyan services in 1861 were held in a hall
and afterwards in an iron chapel; the church in the
Ewell Road was dedicated in 1882. In 1874 the
Oaklands Baptist chapel in Oakhill Road was opened.
The Baptist chapel in Balaclava Road was opened in
1905. In 1879 the Primitive Methodists built an
iron church, now disused, in Arlington Road. The
Roman Catholic church of St. Raphael was built
by Charles Parker (fn. 138) for Mr. Alexander Raphael
in 1846–7. It was here that many members of the
Orleans family were married. It was shut up for
some years, but was re-opened to the public in
1908.
New Malden and Coombe, 2 miles east of Kingston, is a newly created Urban District, formed by
the great growth of new houses in the neighbourhood
during the last forty years. It was constituted an
ecclesiastical parish, being separated from the new
ecclesiastical parish of St. Peter's, Norbiton, in 1867,
and in the same year a Local Board was formed. In
1895, under the Local Government Act of the previous year, it was constituted a civil parish under an
Urban District Council. It is divided into three
wards, Coombe, New Malden, Old Malden (q.v.).
The total area is 3,220 acres, and the population in
1901 was 6,233, of whom only 503 were in Old
Malden. There is a railway station on the main London
and South Western Railway, the junction also for
the Kingston line. The Baptist chapel was opened
in 1862; the Congregational chapel in 1880.
There is also in the parish a Wesleyan chapel, a Free
Church of England chapel, and a Roman Catholic
chapel of St. Egbert, opened in 1908. The Lime
Grove (Church) School for girls and infants was
built in 1870; the Christchurch Elm Road Boys'
Schools in 1896, and the County Council (mixed)
School was opened in 1908.
Hook (Hoke, xiv cent.) is an ecclesiastical parish,
in the part of Kingston old parish which divides
Long Ditton into two parts. It was constituted an
ecclesiastical parish in 1839, the inhabitants then
being mostly cottagers in small houses on the road
from Kingston to Letherhead. A considerable
number of better houses have now been built. Part
of the ecclesiastical parish was made a civil parish in
1895 under the Act of the previous year, but the
northern part is in the Urban District of Surbiton.
There is an iron Wesleyan chapel in the parish.
The schools (National) were built in 1860.
The ecclesiastical parish of St. Andrew, Ham, was
formed in 1834; it had formerly been a chapelry to
Kew.
BOROUGH
The earliest mention of organized
government in Kingston is in 1086,
when the royal manor was under
the control of bedels, or elected officers. (fn. 139)
They are not again mentioned, but the name was
preserved until the 15th century in the 'Bedelsford.' (fn. 140)
In or about 1195 the men of Kingston claimed to
have held their town at farm by a charter of King
Henry which had been burnt by misfortune, and
they gave 100s. for holding their vill until the coming
of the king, and offered 30 marks for a charter
under which they might pay the same farm as
before. (fn. 141) This farm appears to have been £28 10s., (fn. 142)
the amount granted here in 1199 and 1200 to
Joscelin de Gant. (fn. 143) Accordingly, on paying a
further 60 marks in 1200, (fn. 144) the men received their
first extant charter which confirmed the previous
grant, and gave the vill to the freemen of Kingston,
at the rent of £12 beyond the farm owed and customary. (fn. 145) They continued to hold the town at this
farm until 1208 when King John granted it to them
at the fee farm (fn. 146) of £50 yearly. In 1222 this fee
farm had been granted to John de Atia for his
maintenance in the royal service, (fn. 147) and he drew it
until 1226. (fn. 148) In 1236 the town was assigned to
Queen Eleanor as part of her dower, (fn. 149) and in 1281
was said to be of the yearly value of £51 8s. 6d. (fn. 150)
In 1290 the manor of Kingston was extended at
£52 8s. 6d. (fn. 151) and was still in the hands of the queenmother. The extra sum above the amount of the
fee farm perhaps represents the money service from
Postel's land, (fn. 152) serjeanties, and purprestures which
are expressly mentioned with Kingston in 1299 when
the town was assigned in dower to Queen Margaret. (fn. 153)
In 1300 the custody of Kingston was granted to the
local merchant Edward Lovekin that he might
reimburse himself from the farm and other issues of
that town for £500 lent to the king. (fn. 154) The farm
was granted to Queen Isabel in 1327. (fn. 155) Under
Richard II in 1378 began a long series of grants (fn. 156) of
portions of the fee farm to various officers and persons
connected with the royal household. It is possible
that the freemen of Kingston at this time had made
considerable purprestures, for which they paid additional rent, as in 1381 the farm was said to be
£54 8s. 10d., (fn. 157) and in aid of this the king granted
them, in 1392, a shop and 8 acres of land which were
escheats to the Crown. (fn. 158) Part of the farm was
assigned in the middle of the 15th century to the
expenses of the royal household, (fn. 159) and in 1507 the
manor of Kingston was farmed by Thomas Lovell,
who committed waste of timber in Walton-onThames. (fn. 160) On the formation of the honour of
Hampton Court in 1540 the fee farm was annexed to
it, (fn. 161) and part remitted in consideration of the fact
that much of the land paying quit-rent towards the
farm was now inclosed in the royal parks. (fn. 162) The
abatement was questioned, but ratified in 1563. (fn. 163)
The farm of Kingston was assigned as part of the
dower of Queen Catherine in 1665–6, (fn. 164) but was
alienated in 1670, (fn. 165) and in 1794 was only about
£8. (fn. 166)
The greater part of mediaeval Kingston was held in
burgage in aid of the fee farm, a quit-rent of 2d.
being paid on the acre, and sums varying from 20s.
to a farthing on tenements. (fn. 167) Quit-rents were also
paid by lands throughout the manor, and were received
in the 16th century from the manors of Imworth,
Clay Gate, East Molesey, Molesey Matham, Berwell,
Canbury, Hatch, Hook, and Hampton Court, as well
as from lands in Long Ditton and Sandon. (fn. 168)
In 1287–8 Kingston paid £13 5s. 4d. tallage, (fn. 169)
and 10 marks were exacted in 1197–8 and the following year. (fn. 170) In 1210 the Crown took 50s., (fn. 171) and
in 1214 30 marks. (fn. 172) This last sum was demanded in
1236–7, when Henry III pardoned 10 marks 'so
that the poor and more oppressed feel themselves
relieved'; the remaining 20 marks were to be levied
according to the tenants' respective means. (fn. 173) The
tallage assessed in 1234 was £18, but the excess
above 20 marks (£13 6s. 8d.) was released, (fn. 174) and the
tallage from the men of the almonry of Westminster
remitted. (fn. 175)
Beside the charters of 1200 and 1208 the freemen
obtained from Henry III three charters in 1256,
dated 10, 12, and 13 September. By the last they
obtained the right of 'having and holding their gild
merchant as they have theretofore had and held it,
and as the probi homines of Guildford hold it.' (fn. 176)
Probably, as in Guildford, the gild merchant was
closely connected with the government of the town;
this seems to be the only time that it is referred to
in words. These charters were confirmed in 1343,
1378, 1400, and 1413. In 1441 the town was formally incorporated with markets rights corresponding
to Windsor and Wycombe, under two bailiffs and the
freemen. This charter of incorporation was confirmed
in 1481, 1494, 1510, 1547, 1556, 1559, and 1603.
Additional privileges were obtained under the charter
of 1481 and confirmed in 1559. Elizabeth exempted
the freemen from toll in 1592 and gave or rather
restored to them a grammar school in 1564.
Further charters were obtained in 1603, 1628, and
1662. In January 1685 the charters were surrendered to Charles II. He died a month later,
and the surrender was repeated to his successor
James II, who granted a new charter in August
1685. This was in turn revoked, and the old
charter re-confirmed in 1688. (fn. 177)
The earliest evidence for the constitution of the
governing body of Kingston points to a state of things
very similar to that still in existence in 1835. The
various charters were, as has been said, granted to
the freemen of the town, who in the early 19th
century were chosen from the free tenants of the
manor; these under the names of gownsmen, peers,
and fifteens, with two bailiffs, a high steward, and
recorder, in 1835 formed the Court of Assembly
which exercised control over both the policy and
property of the town until the corporation was
reconstructed in that year. (fn. 178)
In the absence of any town records before the
15th century it is impossible to decide the origin
of the Court of Assembly. In 1346 the bailiffs were
ordered to appear with six lawful men before the
king in council to answer certain allegations concerning the community of the town; (fn. 179) and in the
15th century leases were usually made by the bailiffs
of the liberty of the men of Kingston and by the
whole community of the town, (fn. 180) or 'with the assent
of the whole community' (fn. 181) or 'of the honest men and
community.' (fn. 182) Such leases were enrolled in the
roll of the view of frankpledge on Tuesday in Whitsun
week, the law day. On the incorporation in 1441
the bailiffs and freemen were given power to meet at
the Gildhall and to make laws for the government
of the town, which they might enforce with penalties. (fn. 183)
It is not evident at what date this gathering obtained
the title of the Court of Assembly, but a 'Court of
Common Council' is mentioned in 1655. (fn. 184) The
'Books of the Court of Assembly' date from 1680,
and though reconstructed under the charter of
James II the acts of the new body were entered in
the minute book of its predecessor. There was also a
separate and inferior Common Council of sixteen
under this charter in place of the 'Fifteens' of the old
charters, and it was ordered that 'the Common
Councilmen should have their vote in all orders and
bye-laws which should be made either for letting,
selling, or passing away any lands, tenements, or
hereditaments belonging to the corporation and all
laws for the good government of the town made in
the Court of Common Assembly.' (fn. 185) The Court of
Assembly, which, besides its other functions had control of the school and bridge, consisted of fifty-seven
members in 1835 when it was replaced by the present
Town Council. (fn. 186)
The 'Fifteens,' so called from their number, are
first mentioned in the 16th century, and were also
headboroughs, the group being generally known in
the 17th and 18th centuries as that of 'the fifteen
headboroughs'; (fn. 187) they took oath on election to be
conformable to the customs of the town. (fn. 188) On the
Sunday after Michaelmas in each year the Fifteens
met at the Gildhall, (fn. 189) and by ballot voted out two
of their number, henceforth known as Peers; their
places were taken by two voted in from among the free
tenants of the manor and these were immediately
elected ale-tasters, (fn. 190) and took oath for that office as
well as for the office of freemen and headboroughs. (fn. 191)
They were liable to a fine of £15 for refusing office.
Although two was the customary number of new
freemen the power of election enjoyed by the court
under the charter was unlimited. (fn. 192)
Gownsmen were those freemen who had filled the
office of bailiff; they seem to have been generally called
'masters' until the 18th century, (fn. 193) and in 1638 (fn. 194)
the three 'masters' received an order from the
exchequer in the absence of the bailiff. A list of the
officers of the corporation drawn up in 1555 shows
them to have been two bailiffs, two constables, two
chamberlains, two churchwardens, two bridgewardens
and two ale-tasters. (fn. 195) The bailiffs were elected from
four nominees chosen from the gownsmen and
peers by ballot of the fifteen on the Sunday before
Michaelmas. (fn. 196) In 1655 the gownsmen and peers
chose two of the four proposed as bailiffs for the
ensuing year, (fn. 197) but in 1835 the method had changed
and the gownsmen and peers elected one, while the
bailiffs of the present year, with the recorder and high
steward, chose a second. (fn. 198) The voting was by a
species of ballot, the names of the fifteen being
written out and placed aside in the council-room,
the vote being recorded by scratching the chosen
name with a pen. (fn. 199) The growth of the power of
the bailiffs is one of the most interesting features of
the borough history. Deriving their powers from
the bailiffs of the royal manor, they are first mentioned
in 1234–5 as holding a court at Kingston, (fn. 200) and in
1242 were impleaded for unjust exaction of tolls. (fn. 201)
The bailiffs and freemen had been clerks of the
market under the charter of 1441, (fn. 202) the bailiffs only
in 1628. (fn. 203) The charter of 1603 rendering their
presence necessary at every meeting of the Court of
Assembly (fn. 204) probably only ratified an ancient practice
and made abortive an attempt of a royalist minority
to hold a court in 1655. (fn. 205) This charter further
granted that the bailiffs should be ex officio justices
of the peace. In 1626 the Commissioners recommended that the outgoing bailiffs should retain their
commission of the peace for a year after holding
office, (fn. 206) and this was embodied in the grant of
1628. (fn. 207) Their position may be gauged by the order
confirmed by the Court of Assembly in 1680 that the
bailiffs were not to take out of the chamber any sum
above 20s. without the privity and consent of the
whole corporation. (fn. 208) The bailiffs were empowered to
appoint under-bailiffs and were to be preceded by two
serjeants-at-mace. (fn. 209) The office of bailiff was suspended shortly after the Restoration, when Charles II
forbade the election of bailiffs until the differences
between members of the town had been settled, (fn. 210) and
it was only restored after a petition in September
1661. (fn. 211) The bailiffs were abolished by the charter
of James II in 1685 and a mayor elected by the
magistrates substituted; (fn. 212) Mr. Agar the first mayor
complained that one of the Common Councilmen had
'very much abused him,' and the offender was accordingly discorporated. (fn. 213) Restored on the resumption
of the charter, the bailiffs retained their office until
replaced by a mayor under the reconstruction of
1835. (fn. 214)
Of the constables little is known, their office being
such that they are seldom mentioned. The chamberlains filled a more important office and acted as
treasurers. (fn. 215) They were elected by the Fifteens from
among their fellows on the charter day, and might
hold office for several years in succession. (fn. 216) Being
considered an integral part of the Court of Assembly
they are not expressly mentioned among the officers
detailed in 1628; (fn. 217) their accounts are preserved from
the 15th century and are full of detail concerning the
life of the town. In 1835 it was said that in
practice the senior chamberlain alone executed the
office, 'the junior only signing the accounts,' (fn. 218) and
possibly this explains the election of a 'treasurer' in
1684. (fn. 219) In the 16th century two churchwardens
were also officers of the corporate body, which seems
to have retained its power over them for another
hundred years. They were answerable to the bailiffs
and yielded up their accounts at the Gildhall each
St. Luke's-tide. (fn. 220) The reason for this term being
chosen is obscure, as St. Luke was not patron of the
church or its chantries, nor was it one of the recognized quarters; (fn. 221) it probably had some connexion
with the borough year, which began on the Sunday
after Michaelmas. A meeting corresponding to the
vestry was first held in the church in 1535, (fn. 222) when
the bailiffs are expressly mentioned as being present;
the vestry minute books begin a century later. (fn. 223)
It is not known when bridgewardens were first
appointed as custodians of the bridge and its property; (fn. 224)
they were elected from among the freemen by the
Court of Assembly, and submitted their accounts for
signature by the bailiffs each Michaelmas. (fn. 225)
The ale-tasters have been already mentioned; it was
part of their duty to give a dinner to the court, and so
important was this considered in the 18th century
that recalcitrant ale-tasters were threatened with a
fine of £10 in 1706 (fn. 226) and with discorporation in
1721. (fn. 227)
The high officials of the corporate body were the
high steward, the steward of the court, and the recorder.
The office of high steward probably originated in the
16th century, when it was advisable to have some prominent person at court directly interested in the
town's welfare. Lord Howard of Effingham is the
first named. The office was not purely nominal, for
in 1684 the corporation immediately applied to their
high steward, Lord Arlington, for advice as to the
surrender of their charter. (fn. 228) James II under the new
charter appointed Lord Ailesbury to the office, which
still exists and has been held by Lord Liverpool and
other distinguished persons. (fn. 229) The appointment was
for life by patent of the Court of Assembly, the presentation being signalized by 'a handsome treate'; (fn. 230)
the annual present consisted of eighteen sugar-loaves,
worth about £9 in 1835. (fn. 231) The steward of the
Court or 'Learned Steward,' as he was more frequently
called in the 17th century, (fn. 232) filled an office originally
much more humble in character than it afterwards
became. By the charter of 1628 the appointment
was limited to the attorney-general, (fn. 233) who has always
held the office since that date.
A recorder is first mentioned in the charter of 1603
when he and the bailiffs were empowered to hold a
court of record and to be justices of the peace. (fn. 234)
The appointment of 'one skilled in the laws of the
realm' as recorder was directed in 1628 and was
made by the Court of Assembly for life, the salary
being eighteen sugar-loaves and £26 5s. a year. (fn. 235)
His duties in 1835 were to attend the election of the
municipal officers on the charter day, to preside at the
sessions and court of record, and to act as steward of
the court leet and as legal adviser to the corporation.
There is no evidence to show at what date a townclerk was first employed, but the trades companies in
1609 had a clerk who later invariably fulfilled both
duties. (fn. 236) He is first mentioned in the charter of
1628 as 'a common clerk and clerk of the peace,
who is called prothonotary of the court of the town.' (fn. 237)
He was elected for life by the Court of Assembly and
was himself generally a freeman. (fn. 238) It was a disputed
election of this officer that led in 1655 to a tumultuous assembly at the Gildhall, when certain freemen
sat as a court, censured the bailiffs for their choice of
a clerk, and discharged them from bearing office. (fn. 239)
The town-clerk in 1835 acted as senior coroner, clerk
of the court baron and court leet and as clerk-solicitor
and attorney of the corporation. (fn. 240)
There were other officials of less importance. After
the restoration of the grammar school two schoolwardens were chosen from among the freemen by the
Court of Assembly, to which they were responsible for
their expenditure. (fn. 241) Paving wardens are also mentioned in 1684. (fn. 242) Inferior to these in status were the
two serjeants-at-mace authorized by the charter of
1481, (fn. 243) who, under the grant of 1556, could execute
writs and be sent by the bailiffs on business before
justices of the peace, coroners, and other royal officers. (fn. 244)
Their numbers were increased to four in 1628, (fn. 245) but
there is no evidence that more than two were ever
appointed. Their duty was to execute the process of
the court of record; in 1835 one of the serjeants was
gaoler, and probably the office of keeper of the tollbooth mentioned in 1683–4 was filled by his fellow. (fn. 246)
In 1682 the Court of Assembly ordered that in the
future the bailiffs at the first hall after their election
should deliver 30s. apiece for gowns for the serjeants. (fn. 247)
In 1835 there were also two mace-bearers to carry
the maces before the mayor on occasions of ceremony, (fn. 248)
as well as a hall-keeper or general attendant on the
Court of Assembly. (fn. 249)
According to Stuart practice the charter of incorporation was expanded and defined in 1603, when a
few additional rights were granted, but no very
material difference made. Henceforth the bailiff,
steward, and recorder were to be justices of the peace
for the town, its liberties, and the hamlets of Surbiton,
Ham, and Hatch, with power to make amerciaments
and deliver malefactors to gaol. (fn. 250) A further charter
in 1628 defined the constitution more closely by
authorizing the ancient methods of election and by
stipulating that the Attorney-General should be the
steward of the borough-court. (fn. 251) With the exception
of the period covered by the charter of James II this
remained the governing charter until 1835.
Although not then a Parliamentary borough, Kingston was among the corporations which Charles II
attempted to remodel. The first indication of the
purpose of the Government appears to have been
received in June 1682, when 10s. was paid for making
a copy of the governing charter for the use of the
recorder, (fn. 252) but nothing further was done until the
autumn of 1684, when the recorder resigned, probably
as a protest, Francis Brown being elected in his
stead. (fn. 253) In September of that year the bailiff and
all the gownsmen waited on the high and the learned
steward to learn the royal pleasure concerning the
surrender, (fn. 254) and two months later the AttorneyGeneral gave formal notice that a writ of quo
warranto would be brought against the charter. (fn. 255)
The corporation was evidently severely frightened,
and also puzzled as to their wisest course of action.
Their high steward, Lord Arlington, was ill, but they
secured the goodwill of his secretary by the gift of a
guinea and obtained his promise to 'let them know
if he heard anything against them at any time.' (fn. 256)
The surrender was authorized, (fn. 257) sealed, (fn. 258) and delivered
to the king on 20 January 1685. (fn. 259) Charles II died
on 6 February, and the surrender not having been
enrolled was rendered void.
A second quo warranto was brought against the
corporation in May, (fn. 260) and the bailiffs now applied
direct to Jeffreys, who 'was so kind to the corporation
as to take the business upon him,' (fn. 261) and 'directed that
the Attorney-General should prepare a new surrender
which should contain an absolute surrender of every
person in the corporation, their respective offices, and
places therein.' (fn. 262) The corporation though unwilling
and terrified, (fn. 263) made an absolute surrender in June of
all liberties, charters, lands, and manors. (fn. 264) They were
forced to borrow £40 from the bridgewardens and
smaller sums from the trades companies towards the
expenses of the new charter, which was granted in
August 1685 and remodelled the constitution under a
a mayor, twelve aldermen, a recorder, high steward,
steward of the court, sixteen common councilmen, and
fourteen headboroughs, (fn. 265) the minor offices remaining
unchanged. (fn. 266) All officers were amovable by the king in
council, and the right was exercised in 1688 against
the recorder, Sir Francis Wythens, and the corporation
required to choose Robert Power in his stead. (fn. 267) The
new charter was recalled at Michaelmas 1688, and the
old form of government resumed, Francis Brown, who
had been removed in favour of Wythens in 1685,
returning to the office of recorder. (fn. 268)
The constitution of the borough, though characterized by the commissioners of 1835 as 'harmless if
not useful to the town,' was remodelled in the same
year by an Act of Parliament. (fn. 269) The style of the
corporation from this time has been the Mayor, Aldermen, and Burgesses of the Borough of Kingston-uponThames, and the town was divided into three wards
with six aldermen and eighteen councillors. In 1855,
by the Kingston-upon-Thames Improvement Act, a
fourth ward was added, and the corporation increased to
a mayor, eight aldermen, and twenty-four councillors,
the present governing body.
Kingston sent representatives to the Parliament of
1311, 1313, 1353, and 1373, (fn. 270) but no further writs
have been found. It is said that the townsmen begged
to be excused the responsibility and obtained their
wish. (fn. 271) At the same time they refused, in 1378, to
bear a part in contributions towards the expense of
knights of the shire, and succeeded in upholding their
exemption. (fn. 272) In 1591 they obtained a royal declaration of indemnity, as tenants in ancient demesne, from
this expense and from serving as jurors.
The first charter of King John, granted in 1200,
gave to the freemen, as has already been mentioned,
the town with all its appurtenances, and in 1208 this
was expanded by the clause 'with all the liberties and
free customs thereof.' (fn. 273) The prescriptive rights thus
obtained included not only the hundred court but
other liberties. One such right was that of amendment of the assize of bread and ale; this, though
recognized in 1292–3, (fn. 274) was disputed by the Crown
until 1441, when Henry VI granted that the clerk of
the market should not exercise his office within the
town, but that the freemen should have correction of
the assize of bread and ale in the town and liberty
and be clerks of the market there. (fn. 275) The office of
ale-taster owed its origin to the right under which the
body corporate had the custody of certain standard
measures. As tenants in ancient demesne the freemen
were quit of toll throughout the kingdom and of
service on juries outside the manor. These rights were
disputed in 1581 when 11s. were paid 'for writin a
copie or note owte of the Booke of Domesdeye' (fn. 276) in
proof, and Queen Elizabeth confirmed these privileges
in 1592. (fn. 277)
It was in accordance with this prescriptive right
that the freemen claimed the purprestures. They
established their right by 1292–3, (fn. 278) though not
without conflict with the Crown, for in 1274 they
were accused of occupying and appropriating the
king's lands, (fn. 279) and at a date previous to 1312 the king
claimed 67s. 11d. yearly rent from a purpresture
which had been inundated by the Thames. (fn. 280) The
Court of Assembly asserted their right in 1680, when
they proposed proceeding against one Rymer whose
pales encroached on the highway. (fn. 281)
By the third charter granted to Kingston in 1256,
which gave the freemen that privilege from arrest
which was the aim of every trading town at this
period, no man of Kingston might be arrested for
debts for which he was not the surety or principal
debtor, unless the debtors were solvent or the men of
the town had failed to give the aggrieved persons
justice. (fn. 282)
This charter was followed three days later by one
of greater importance, by which the freemen realized
the ambition of all mediaeval towns and succeeded in
ousting the sheriff and other royal officers by getting into
their own hands the return of Exchequer and other
writs, unless by default. (fn. 283) The right to exclude the
sheriff was confirmed in 1628, but had fallen into abeyance fifty years later, for in 1682 the Court of Assembly
sought counsel's opinion 'whether an action did not
lie against the sheriffs who entered this liberty and
executed an execution without any warrant directed
to the bailiffs of the town'; (fn. 284) the answer being in the
affirmative. Six weeks later the suit had begun, (fn. 285)
and was only abandoned in November 1683 at 'the
request of Sir Edward Evelyn, Sir James Clarke, and
others of the neighbouring gentry.' (fn. 286) By 1835 the
right was no longer exercised. (fn. 287)
The charter of 1256, confirming the freemen in their
gild merchant, granted that they should not lose goods
which they could prove their own for the trespass or
forfeiture of the servants who might hold them, and
also freedom of inheritance. (fn. 288) The charter of 1441
granted to the freemen all kinds of escheats and forfeitures of land or chattels, with treasure trove, deodands, goods and chattels of felons and suicides. (fn. 289) Yet
in spite of this the Privy Council in 1553 demanded
such plate—perhaps the property of the church or
gild—as they pretended to be theirs by way of escheat, (fn. 290)
and in 1635 process was discharged in the Crown
office against the bailiffs for a deodand. (fn. 291)
The jurisdiction of the borough courts was very
complicated, and was exercised within such varying
boundaries that in 1835 doubts as to both powers and
area were entertained. (fn. 292) At that date the courts held
were the hundred court, court of record, court leet or
law-day, court baron, petty sessions, and sessions of the
peace. (fn. 293) The hundred court of Kingston was a court
of ancient demesne, and in 1199–1200 was said to be
and always to have been appurtenant to the vill,
rendering to the king a farm of £28 10s., to which
the hundred of Emleybridge contributed 16s. (fn. 294) It
passed into the hands of the freemen as a prescriptive
right under the charter of 1208. Under their
prescriptive right of infangenthef the bailiffs would
hold such a court as that which in 1235 tried and
hanged Sarah wife of Stephen de Meudon, a villein,
who was arrested while cooking stolen grain. (fn. 295) The
men of Kingston did not however obtain the right of
choosing coroners until 1256, (fn. 296) the hundred being
amerced in 1224–5 because the bailiffs had permitted the burial of Henry de Heandon, who had died
from an accident, without view of the king's coroner. (fn. 297)
The right of choosing two coroners was confirmed by
James I in 1603, (fn. 298) and is still exercised. The
coroners were elected by the Court of Assembly from
its members, and in 1835 it was usual for the town**
clerk to be appointed senior and acting coroner, the
junior bailiff being junior coroner, a sinecure post.
A court of record appears to have been held here
as early as 1234–5, when Ralf de How questioned an
essoin under a writ de recto; (fn. 299) it was formally granted in
1481, and was to be held every Saturday before the
bailiffs and steward of the town, with cognizance of
all pleas of debt, covenant, trespass, and personal
matters within the demesne of the town and the
hundreds of Kingston and Emleybridge. (fn. 300) This
privilege was extended in 1628 (fn. 301) to the hundreds of
Copthorne and Effingham, and the court continued
to be held until the end of the 18th century. (fn. 302) The
court leet was part of the old manorial organization, and
in the early 19th century was still held before the
recorder on Tuesday in Whitsun week, when the
Fifteens were the jury. (fn. 303) Its jurisdiction at one time
extended throughout the hundred, (fn. 304) but the corporation surrendered their powers in Richmond, Petersham,
Kew, Ham, and Effingham to Charles I in 1628. (fn. 305)
The court baron, at which presentment of the death
of free tenants and the alienation of free tenements
was made, was held before the bailiffs on Tuesday in
Whitsun week; the gownsmen and peers formed the
homage, and also signed the presentment of the leet
jury. (fn. 306) In 1556 a court of pie-powder was granted
with the fair, but does not appear ever to have been
much exercised, and had fallen into disuse by 1835. (fn. 307)
The petty and quarter sessions were, in 1835, held
concurrently with the court leet, the bailiffs being ex
officio justices of the peace.
There were also Trades Companies, which were
certainly established in the town by 1579, when
certain constitutions were enacted which practically
remained in force until the 19th century. (fn. 308) The
freemen of the town were divided into the four
companies of mercers, woollen drapers, shoemakers
or cordwainers, and butchers, later victuallers, whose
'arms' may still be seen in the painted glass of the
town hall. Each company was constituted in the
same way, and consisted of a body of freemen governed
by two wardens, with a clerk and a beadle. (fn. 309) The
freemen of the companies were distinct from the
freemen of the corporation, and were either 'apprentices bound to and serving a freeman in the town, or
the eldest son living of a freeman upon the death of
his father,' or freemen of the corporation, who could
claim the freedom of one of the companies either on
or after election. (fn. 310) In 1835 a member of either of
these classes paid 6s. 8d. on admission to his freedom,
but in 1635–7 the normal fee paid by apprentices
was 3s. 4d. (fn. 311) The names of the freemen were
entered in roll books, (fn. 312) now no longer extant; the
number of admissions yearly was considerable in the
early 17th century, but diminished after the Restoration, the membership being sixty in 1835. The two
wardens were elected every year by the freemen of
the Company; it was their duty to keep the accounts,
to act as treasurers generally, and to be present at the
signing of indentures of apprenticeship in the trades
under their control. (fn. 313) They had power to impose
fines and distrain for breaches of their orders. (fn. 314) The
town clerk acted as clerk of each company, receiving a
fee of 5s. (fn. 315) Each company generally met but once
a year by special summons, though sometimes as many
as six meetings were held, (fn. 316) and an item would appear
in the accounts such as 'expended at 2 several times
in wyne at the Sarazen's Head.' (fn. 317) The greatest
expense of the year was generally the money 'spent on
the Company at the Dinner' on Easter Monday, the
'feast-day' on which the outgoing wardens presented
the accounts of each company to the bailiff at the
Gildhall before the newly-elected wardens and divers
other freemen of the company.
None of the companies possessed property, and
their revenues were derived solely from the fees paid
by newly-elected freemen, from fines for breach of the
orders, postponement of the swearing-in of apprentices,
and from quarterages due from each freeman. (fn. 318)
According to the by-law the quarterage of a householder was 8d., that of a journeyman 8d., but by 1835
8d. was paid by married and 4d. by single men; (fn. 319)
in 1609 the quarterage paid to the Mercers' Company
was 13s. 4d. for the past year, while the woollen
drapers received 20s. 8d. But though the expenses
usually nearly balanced the receipts, as in the case of
the woollen drapers, whose receipts in 1655 were
£2 19s. and expenditure £2 17s. 7d., in 1688 the
Court of Assembly was able to borrow £16 10s. from
the victuallers, £17 of the mercers, and £26 10s. of
the cordwainers, 20s. of which was repaid in 'brass
money.' (fn. 320)
The companies were very dependent on the Court
of Assembly, which kept their money stored in 'a
chest with four boxes and six locks and keys for the
four companies' bought in 1609–10. (fn. 321) The regulation of the trade of the town was really in the hands
of the Court of Assembly, which in 1638 re-enacted
orders of 1579 prohibiting any but freemen of the
companies from exercising any trade, science or
mystery, or keeping open shop or selling by retail
within the town under penalty of 6s. 8d. for each
offence and the like sum for every market-day he
continued to transgress. (fn. 322) This seems to indicate
that market-days were not like fair days, free, and in
1609 the Company of Mercers twice distrained Henry
Woodfall for trading in the town contrary to orders,
and spent 4d. in twice carrying his stall into the
court-hall. (fn. 323) The Court of Assembly, moreover,
reserved to itself the right of granting life-tolerations
to those who were not freemen on payment of sums
varying in 1835 between £5 and £30. (fn. 324) These
tolerations became increasingly common after the
Restoration, and brought the corporation into conflict
more than once with the wardens of the companies, as
in 1682, when the wardens of the Company of
Shoemakers were ordered to cease disturbing Thomas
Burchett, who had obtained a toleration in 1676. (fn. 325)
The system opened a new source of revenue to the
corporation, which in 1776 required the wardens to
make a return of all persons following trades in the
town who were not free or tolerated. (fn. 326) The search
for 'foreigners' was active at this time, and even in
1835 tolerations were demanded of all but those
keeping very small shops. (fn. 327) The trades companies
were then still flourishing, though the Company of
Woollen Drapers had already lapsed.
The market at Kingston was established in 1242,
when the men of the Bishop of London came to it
from Fulham. (fn. 328) It was included among the liberties
granted by the charter of 1208 until 1603, when
James I granted a market to be held every Saturday
for all animals. (fn. 329) Grain was sold in the market in
1551, (fn. 330) and it was an important market for corn
in 1623; (fn. 331) a few years later the justices of the
peace told with pride how they had brought down
the price of wheat from 9s. and 9s. 6d. to 7s.
the bushel, while the poor were served with rye at
5s. (fn. 332) The corn market is now small and unimportant. The proximity of the royal household at
Hampton Court evidently had a stimulating effect on
trade at Kingston, and formed the pretext for a
petition in 1662 for a second market, (fn. 333) which was
granted for Wednesdays in the same year. (fn. 334) This
second market has not, however, flourished so well as
that on Saturday; it appears to have been abandoned
at the close of the 18th century, (fn. 335) and though
revived later was 'small and unimportant' in 1888. (fn. 336)
The Saturday market on the other hand has always
been considerable. Beneath the new town hall, as
beneath the old town hall, is a covered space filled
with stalls, which also stand in rows without, and are
covered with fruit, flowers, fish, and miscellaneous
articles. The whole space is alive with movement
and colour, for the market is not only attended by the
townsfolk but serves the whole neighbourhood, the
fruit, flower, and fish markets being especially popular
among the housekeepers of Norbiton and Surbiton.
The fish market, which is perhaps the most important,
was well established in 1619, when George Walker
was paid various sums 'for whipping and cleaning the
Fish Market.' There is also on Saturdays a busy cattle
market, provided by the corporation in the middle of
the 19th century at the request of the farmers in the
neighbourhood. (fn. 337)
The fairs were likewise held in the market place;
the first of these was granted to Kingston in 1256 for
the morrow of the feast of All Souls and the seven
following days. (fn. 338) A second fair was ordered to be
proclaimed in 1351 for Thursday in Whitsun week
and the seven days after. (fn. 339) In 1555 the bailiffs
petitioned for a third fair which, with a court of piepowder, stallage, picage and all amerciaments, was
granted to them in the same year for the day and
morrow of the feast of St. Mary Magdalene. (fn. 340) These
three fairs were still held in 1792, (fn. 341) but under
powers obtained in 1855 the November fair alone
was continued, and at the same time this was shortened
to three days and the cattle fair removed to the fair
field. The pleasure fair remained in the streets of
the town, but was abolished as a nuisance in 1889. (fn. 342)