Chapter 19
A New Perlustration of Great Yarmouth
THE HISTORY
OF THE
HAMLET OF
BROTHERTON
AND OF
HOPTON HALL
Brotherton is an old disused name,
the hamlet being undefined, but
referred to in the old deeds of Hopton
Hall, the Hall being described
as in the hamlet of Brotherton.
The Hamlet of Brotherton
was thought by Copinger to
derive its name from Broder, a
Freeman who held sixty acres
for a Manor, and it was thought
that in the Domesday Survey,
that Brotherton in Hopton
was included in the survey of
Browston.
(Copinger, prof. of
Law at Manchester, wrote “The
Manors of Suffolk”). All of this
property was held by Roger
Bigot for the King. Roger Bigot
was the first Earl of Norfolk. The
Manor of Hopton was granted by
William Rufus to the Prior and
Convent of the Holy Trinity at
Norwich. There were however
two Manors in Hopton. At the
dissolution (of the monasteries)
it was transferred to the Dean and
Chapter of Norwich Cathedral. In
1855 it (one Manor) was owned
by Samuel Morton Peto, and in
1885 by Thomas Thornhill. A
Hopton Manor was left by Ralph
Blomville to his Son and Heir on
the 20th April 1517. However
if Brotherton was transferred
with Belton and Gapton, (that is
the Manor of Belton and Gapton
which was one Manor together)
rather than Hopton, then it was
transferred by King Henry II to
Baluri D’Bosco who exchanged
it with Osbert D’Gladson and
Ralph Blomville.. who founded
the Priory of Leighs, Essex in
1230. At the dissolution it passed
to the Crown and was granted to
Richard Cavendish in 1536 and
thence to his brother in 1572. In
1591 it went to John Wentworth
together with several other
Manors. It was John Wentworth who was responsible for the enclosure at
Ashby and the disappearance of that village. Thence it passed to Sir John
Wentworth in 1651 who was a contemporary of Sir Thomas Meadowe of
Yarmouth. Wentworth owned Somerleyton Hall, entertained Cromwell, and
had extensive gardens laid out that included water gardens running across
the land South of Home Farm (see Parks and Gardens, Anthea Taigel and
Tom Williamson, 1993, Batsford, London.)
In the Norfolk Record Office are some manorial records of The “Manor of
Hopton Hall”. These are several books of records of the manorial court of the
manor, and there are also some deeds relating to land in the manor. The land
deeds here all relate to land on the east side of the private turnpike road, which
was the old road from Gorleston and Yarmouth to Lowestoft. There is also
in the record office, (Norwich) a book entitled “Hopton Hall 1611” (Ref.
no.D&C135512). This book, amongst its many entries, contains the following
records. In 1635 a licence was granted to Sir Thomas Meadowe to fell trees.
Photo. 1991, note the iron windows inserted by Dr.Peers, now replaced.
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The Revised History of Great Yarmouth
(On p.43) “....certain lands and tenements, formerly of
Sir Thomas Meadowe, knight, afterwards of Sir James
Hayes, since of William Browne, afterwards of the
said William Newson, the father of William Newson
and the said John Newson, giveth sixpence halfpenny
for the Lords of this Manor for a relief, and his
fealty is respited. There are various accounts relating
to Hopton Hall, dated 22 May 1618 for Thomas
Meadowe. There is also a reference to Thomas
Meadowe’s will, dated 25th.November 1686. Also
mentioned are Thomas Jernegan and John Jernegan.
(Thomas Meadowe was a brewer in Yarmouth with
many estates and land including a house on Fullers
Hill, the brewery on North Quay, public houses
including the “Mitre” on George Street, the manor and
farm at Herringfleet). William Browne had a house
built at 55 North Quay Great Yarmouth and owned
many of the same pubs and breweries as Sir Thomas
Meadowe had before him. He passed these on to the
Fisher family of Yarmouth, who also had connections
with Lound.
(John Jernegan was involved in the matter of
the dispute over the throne between Mary Tudor
and Jane Grey). On page 47 of the Manorial Book,
dated 7th Dec.1813, Newson had land granted
by the Dean and Chapter of Norwich, east of the
turnpike. William Foster was Deputy Steward of
the manor. Page 49 refers to “the private road to
the north”. The Dean and Chapter were Lords of
the Manor. On p.52, 7th.Nov.1826, James Sayers
purchased a messuage or tenement, barn, stable
and outbuildings for 205 pounds. On p.62, William
Everitt was referred to as tenant, 3rd. May 1866, and
on p.63, William Jex Blake was tenant, Sept 1844. A
Thomas Blake was also mentioned, a doctor in civil
law. There is no doubt that these lands as mentioned
here were all east of the turnpike, but had clearly
been part of the Hopton Hall Manor as owned
by Sir Thomas Meadowe. Thomas Meadowe had
also been a contemporary of Sir John Wentworth
of Somerleyton Hall, and these men were strong
supporters of Cromwell, whose granddaughter lived
in Southtown. Cromwell
himself lodged at
Somerleyton Hall. James
Sayers was an attorney in
Yarmouth, and buried in
the old parish church at
Hopton, now ruined. Row
83 is named after him. Sir
Edmund Henry Knowles
Lacon held the manorial
lands at Hopton on the
surrender of Christopher
Sayers. The Lacons were
the direct inheritors of
the breweries already
referred to in Yarmouth,
which were inherited
through the Wards, his
wife’s family, and he had
a house from them, on
the site of one owned by
Sir John Fastolf, which
faces down the quay, and
is now the Quay Cub, and
Falstaff’s Restauant. Edm
ond Lacon also went into
banking, and moved his
home from Hopton (12th.
Nov.1859), purchasing
Ormesby House. His
wife was Dame Eliza
Giorgiana Lacon. Later
the land at Hopton was
purchased by James
Henry Orde. (These lived
at Hopton House,
not
Hopton Hall)
The garden at Hopton Hall, 1991
In 1809 Thomas Anguish
was Lord of the Manor of
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A New Perlustration of Great Yarmouth
Gapton with Belton. The Manor of Gapton with
Belton was granted from Hugh Fastolf to John
Fastolf in the second year of the Reign of Richard
II. Sir Henry Ingles married Ann, daughter and
heir of Robert Gyney of Haverland by Margaret
his wife, the daughter and heir of John Fastolf,
he died in 1451 and the Lordships of Gunton and
Hopton were to be sold to pay his debts.
Mrs Noel’s bedroom was photographed with an
antique wheelchair. Is it really possible that this
was still in use in the 1980’s? Dr Clive Liddle
related to me how he visited her here prior to her
death when she was infirm
and some 90 years old.
At a party at one of my
houses, in Links Road in
about 1983, Clive had his
arm round my wife who
was standing next to me. I
did not let on at first,, but
unknown to him the hand
that he was fondling out
of my sight belonged to
me and not to my wife! (A
lot larger - but he never
knew!)
Robert Ingles, one
of the Trustees then
acquired it, from whom it
was passed to his daughter,
Constancia, who married
Ralph Blomvyle, (an
alternative spelling)
who was fined for
some reason, and thence to
Edward Jerningham by
purchase.
The front southwest room
at Hopton Hall had been
used for dances. The Noels
used to hold parties for the
locals on a regular basis.
The front Hall was clothed
with Admiral Noel’s old
prints. A few of these were
left behind by Miss Noel
and have now graced the
walls of 43 King Street
and The Orangery.
On Edward’s death
in 1515 it went to Sir
John Jerningham who
died in 1558, and to his
grandson, subsequently
John Jernegan and then to
his third daughter Francis
and her second husband,
Henry Jerningham. Her
Continued 5 pages later
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The Revised History of Great Yarmouth
The Bell Family.
In Palmer’s Perlustration,
it is related how an estate at Hopton was in
the possession of John Bell of Row 97 in Great
Yarmouth. This was the Hopton Hall estate that
was subsequently passed to his son, William
Bell, whose memorial is in Lound Church. John
Bell was in residence at Hopton Hall towards
the latter part of the 18th.c., and was at this
time instrumental in arrangements to relieve
the disastrous famine in the winter of 1776 in
Yarmouth, with the distribution of thousands of
cheap loaves of bread. Charles Bell purchased a
messuage (dwelling) and lands from Johnathan
Meek on 3rd. December 1811 (see general court
baron book, Manor of Lound, 1767-1817) this
is in the Suffolk Record Office, Lowestoft.
Another part of the Bell family had a brewery
in Gorleston. This must have been the maltings
on High Road that were destroyed by fire in 1980
(thought to be arson).
John Bell’s father was also John, who married
Margaret Wright, the daughter of Captain Wright,
the owner of Hopton Hall, from whom the house
passed to the Bell family. Captain Wright’s ship
traded in the Mediterranean. His portrait in which
he was dressed in his uniform, with “cocked hat and
Portrait by John of his sister Jane Bell
gold lace”, hung in the house.
John Bell jnr., known as “Lawyer
Bell,” was married to Elizabeth, the
daughter of John Cooper and Jane
his wife. Jane died in childbirth in
1737, aged 28, and was buried in St
Lawrence Church, Norwich. John
died on 23rd September 1803, aged 69
years. His wife Elizabeth then married
Captain Pinchin. She was buried at St
Margaret’s Church, London.
John Bell had six brothers and sisters,
including Elizabeth, the eldest, who
died 6 June 1814, aged 54.
John and Elizabeth’s children were
Samuel, who inherited the house,
pictured left; John Cooper Bell, who
died aged 16; Benjamin, who died
young; Charles; William; Elizabeth;
Sarah; Sarah; Christiana; probably
2 others; a second Christiana, who
married the Rev Edward Glover at
Norwich, on 22 May 1839.
Samuel Bell died at his own hand in
the house on Thursday 27th June 1844.
(Perhaps there was an inquest and
mode of suicide stated?) His widow,
Sarah died at her son John’s house at
Kensington, later the same year. 16th
December 1844.
Portrait of Samuel Bell by his son John
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A New Perlustration of Great Yarmouth
Hopton Hall, painted
sketch by Rose Bell,
1838 , when Samuel
and Sarah lived there
with their children.
The windows and
portico were in place
as at the later date
below, but there
appears only one
of the two multi-
potted chimneys
(presumably obscured
by the tree)..
Below: Rev. Joseph
Cotterill
Above, the house seen in c.1880. This photo. was printed in
East Suffolk Illustrated 1908, when Mrs H.H.A. Stewart was in
residence.
In 1996, the new owner, L. Steward, had changed the windows
back to Georgian, from the metal frames that were put in by Dr
Peers after the fire.
Rose (Bell) Cotterill, 1824
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The Revised History of Great Yarmouth
Memorials of the Bell Family
On an upright stone in Great Yarmouth
Churchyard, is the following inscription:
“To the memory of William Bell, who departed
this life, the 24th April 1798, aged 83 years”,
and the following lines, when Rev.C.J.Bell saw
them, were nearly defaced:-
“Fill tempest of the ocean’s ware,
Have lost in............
Now God’s dear.........
Has harboured ............... ..town
Where passed...............
With many of................
........................................of weight
.....................................meet.”
This was perhaps a brother of John Bell.
On another very small and low headstone -
“Here lie the remains of Margaret Bell”.
March 1895, aged 83, and was
buried in Kensington Cemetary,
Hanwell, on Tuesday March 19th.
(2) Hugh, who died an infant;
January 20th., 1813 - August 3rd
1818.
(3) a boy who died an hour after
birth. These births and deaths
would have taken place in the
house; there were no hospital
births then.
(4) Hugh, who grew up to
become a surgeon, and emigrated
to Brisbane, Australia. He maried
twice. He had an infant child
that died. Then he married Mrs Elizabeth
Fanny Barton, a widow with two daughters,
Amy Symes and Florence. With Elizabeth he
had four children, who were Selina; Susan;
Thomas Hugh; and Rose. In his youth, Hugh
ran away to sea. He then became an aeronaut,
and invented and patented a “Locomotive
Balloon”, that was exhibited at the Vauxhall
Gardens, Great Yarmouth, but which was
sadly, a disastrous failure, and he lost money
on several similar ventures, and then emigrated
to Brisbane. His first wife and her two children
tragically drowned at sea on their passage
home from Australia, after the ship caught
fire (no doubt more detail is available in
newspapers of this terrible tragedy). It seems
to me that much in the life of Samuel Bell
may have contributed to his serious depressive
illness. He committed suicide in 1844,
possibly these events are connected? He was
The Children of Samuel and Sarah Bell were as
follows:
(1) John, born 9.8.1811, who married in 1846,
Eugene, daughter of Sullivan Esq. John became
a famous sculptor, and his drawings and some
of his sculpture is seen on these pages. Their
infant child Eugene, died in August 1849. Their
daughter Marguerita Joanna, became the second
wife of Peter Merrick Hoare Esq., of Luscombe
Castle, Dawlish, South Devon. She had
stepchildren but none of her own. (He had first
married Edith Augusta Sharp, by whom he had 2
sons and 2 daughters, daughter of Rev Edward
Sharp, Rector of Clyde St Mary. Marguerita
Joanna, born 1847 or 8, died 17 April 1912. John
Bell lived in Kensington at Villa Vigna, Douro
Place, 15 Victoria Road. John died on14th
Drawings made by John Bell in his youth.
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A New Perlustration of Great Yarmouth
Photo from pinhole camera, of the family on Hopton Beach, about 1830.
buried in the chancel at Lound Church. He was
75 years old so may have been in poor health
and pain. His children mostly moved away
from Yarmouth after that, several emigrating
far across the globe.
(5) Paul, who became a farmer at Stifkey. He
married Matilda M Bayes, by whom he had
twelve children
in all, who
included-
a. Thomas Paul,
who moved to
Below, John Bell,
sculptor
to Roman Catholicism. Her
husband survived her by some
years.
New Zealand and had three
or four children there.
b. Hugh, who became a
brewer, and had 2 or 3
children
c. Samuel J., who became a farmer and had
four boys
d. Caroline, who married J.Middleton, and had
2 boys and one girl
e. Rose A., who married T.Mann Esq., a
brewer. They had children.
f. Anna Jane, who married E.Mann, a brewer,
and they had children.
g. Gertrude M., married Arthur Wiley. They
had 4 or 5 children.
h. Edith Joanna - married Clarence Middleton
Esq., and bore him 3 or 4 children.
(6.) Ann, was born about 1814. She married
Alfred Lander Esq. Anne died at Frankville,
Upper Canada, in 1870. Married in 1846 (?)
she lost her only child at birth. They converted
(7) Jane, who married the Rev.
J.H.Bird.
(8) Rose (see photos and
painting of the house by her on
previous page) married in June
1863 at Graham’s Town, South
Africa, the Rev, Joseph M.Cotterill, half
brother of the Bishop of Garaham’s Town,
later, Bishop of Edinburgh. They did not
have children. Joseph Cotterill was priest at
St.Mark’s Church, Portobello. He resigned
early in 1904, presumably due to his wife’s
and his own illness, since she died on 8th
March 1904, buried 11th March. He died
the following year, 21st September 1905.
Cotterill received an honourary DD from St
Andrew’s University. He wrote contentious
articles such as “The Epistle of Polycarp to
the Philippians” and “Homilies of Antiochus
Palestinensis” in the Cambridge Journal of
Philology (Vol. xix) and “Proteus Perearinus”,
Edinbugh 1870.
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The Revised History of Great Yarmouth
first husband was Thomas Bedingfield
of Oxborough. They sold the manor
to John Wentworth, Ashby Corton and
Newton. John Wentworth died in 1618
and thence it passed to his son, Sir John
Wentworth. Thereafter it passed to John
Garnese, his nephew, as he had no
other heir. It was sold subsequently to
Admiral Sir Thomas Alan Burnett by his
son Thomas Garnese 1672. Thence it
passed to the son, also Sir Thomas Allen
and then to his sister Alice, the wife
of Edmond Anguish whose son Richard
took the name of Allen and through the
Anguish family and eventually sold
to Samuel Morton Peto in 1844 (Peto
re-built Lowestoft, built
many main railway
lines, and bought and
re-built Somerleyton
Hall). Richard Henry
Reeve was Lord of the
Manor in 1855.
The Hopton Hall estate
passed from the Bells
to Major General
Cock, and thence to
Admiral Plumridge, who
had been a midshipman
at the Battle of Trafalgar.
There is a biography
of Admiral Plumridge
from the “National
Biography” It was
William Bell who
made substantial
alterations to the hall,
building on “two large
airy front rooms”.
In
the Deeds of Hopton
Hall it would appear
that it was transferred
by conveyance to Sir
J. Hanway Plumridge
K.C.B. in October
1885. There is a copy
of a plan showing the
substantial estate at that
time which was said to
be some seventy acres.
By his Will of the 17th.
October 1862 Sir J.
Hanway Plumridge
K.C.B. gave and devised
all his real estate unto
James Fisher German
and John Baker their
heirs and assigns upon
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Continued from 5 pages earlier.
A New Perlustration of Great Yarmouth
trust, until his younger child should
attain twenty one years. The
said J. H. Plumridge died 29th.
November 1863, was said to hold
lands of the Manor of Lound.
The property is described as, all
that one messuage and one piece
of land copyhold containing by
estimation, 1A, 2R theretofore
called Bridges Close Site, and
being in Brotherton
(Thomas
De Brotherton (1300-1338), first
son of the second wife of Edward
Ist., had several local connections,
which are elsewhere examined
in detail) in Hopton between the
way formerly called the Leaking
Way, leading from Corton towards
Hopton aforesaid on the part of
the east, and land formerly of
Elizabeth Hearne and afterwards
of William Lincoln on the part of
the west, and abutting upon lands
formerly of the said E. Hearne and
late of William Lincoln towards
the south and lands formerly of
Sawes and afterwards of Richard
Vesey towards the north with
the appurtenances as the same
messuage and piece of land
were then bounded by freehold
land formerly of Thomas Morse
(Thomas Morse of Lound Manor),
afterwards of James Cock
*6
and
late of the said J. H. Plumridge
towards the north or north west
by the public road in the award
of the Commissioners named in
the Corton, Hopton and Gorlesto
n Enclosure Act No.5 towards the
east or northeast, by freehold land formerly of
the said T. Morse afterwards of the said J. Cock
and late of the said J. H. Plumridge towards the
west or south west by land late of John Thurtle,
since of William Danby Palmer Esq., deceased
afterwards of William Walpole Esq., now towards
the south or south west, also to one piece of
land containing by estimation seventeen feet
in length and three and a half feet in breadth.
Upon the west, which the west end of a stable
was formerly built lying and being in Brotherton
aforesaid next land late parcel of the common
pasture there called Black Hill on the part of the
west with the appurtenances as the same piece
of land was banded on all sides by freehold
land formerly of the said T. Morse etc.... called
Black Hills
, and also to one piece of land
enclosed containing by estimation two acres
lying next to the land late parcel of common
pasture of Brotherton on the part of the west
by land formerly of William Woodruff in part,
There is a
Whalebone
arch in the
garden at
Hopton
Hall.
Others
were in
Southtown
Road and
by the Park
Tower
(photo.
1991.)
Hallway at top of main staircase, 1989.
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The Revised History of Great Yarmouth
The main staircase, 1989.
and the lands formerly of Samuel Fenn in part
on the part of the east and abutting on land
late parcel of the common pasture of Brotherton
aforesaid towards the north, and the lands
formerly of John Bermont towards the south, and
also to one Close called Hopton Close formerly
Calthorpes, containing by estimation eight acres
laying in Hopton, with the appurtenances which
said last mentioned etc..... Bounded by freehold
land afterwards of the said T. Morse late parcel of
Hopton Common and allotted to T. Fowler by the
Commoners, Commissioners under the Corton,
Hopton and Gorleston Enclosure Act No.57. And
also to all that piece of land in the said award of
the Commissioners named in the Corton, Hopton
Enclosure Act. No.65, situate in Hopton aforesaid,
762
The front hall, 1989.
A New Perlustration of Great Yarmouth
allotted to the said T. Fowler towards the south by
the boundary ditch dividing the parishes of Hopton
and Lound towards the west, all of which premises
the said J. H. Plumridge took up on surrender of the
said T. Morse, pursuant to the statute of the 23rd
October 1851. Indenture of this date between the
said J.F. German and J. Baker of the one part, and
Gertrude Somes of Hopton Hall in the County of
Suffolk, Spinster, on the other part, subject to the
annual free rent of nineteen shillings payable to the
Lord of the Manor of Caldecott Hall.
*7
The youngest child of Sir J.H. Plumridge, who was
born after the decease of the said testator, attained
the age of twenty one years on the 2nd December
1884. Thereafter the estate was offered for sale in
one lot by public auction at the Star Hotel in Great
Yarmouth, on the 24th day of June 1885 and the
said G. Somes as the highest bidder for the same,
was declared the purchaser at the price of Five
Thousand Pounds. The schedule of lands included
were, Nos.1 on the plan, the Hall, gardens and
pleasure grounds, Nos.2 & 3. the park-like lawn
and plantation, No.4. Lodge and garden, No.5.
Farmhouse and premises, No.6. The Hills and
Home Piece, arable land, No.7. Carr pasture, No.8.
Low Meadow, pasture, No.9. Fairs Hill, pasture,
No.10. Fenn, pasture, No.11. House from premises
and garden, No.12. Fenn Allotment, pasture,
and No.13. Howes Ground Piece, arable. Next
sale by indenture dated 1887 October 14th.
Between Gertrude Somes and Harry Hutchinson
Augustus Stewart of Morningthorpe Manor, Long
Stratton, Norfolk a Lieutant Colonel (Retired) in H.
M. Army of the other part. Then was sold, Parts
Nos. 1,2,3 & 4 together with Part 11,12 & 13
for the sum of Three Thousand Pounds, and let to
Mrs. Barber Nos. 5,6,7,8 & 9,10,11,12 & 13. Total
acreage of seventy one acres, two rods and nineteen
perches. (continued next page)
Dining Room, SE corner, 1989.
John Bell
exhibited in 1832 at the Royal Academy a
religious group sculpture, followed by “Psyche feeding a
swan” and other works.
In 1837 he exhibited the model
of his “Eagle slayer”, exhibited at Westminster Hall
in 1844. He exhibited at the International Exhibition
in 1851, then produced reduced casts in bronze for
the Art Union. He took part in the movement that
culminated in the great exhibition of 1851, and gave
rise to the South Kensington museum, and the schools
connected with it. In 1841 he exhibited his well known
figure “Dorothea”, and other works were: “The Babes
in the Wood” in marble, now in South Kensington
Museum, “Andromeda”, a bronze bought by Queen
Victoria, “Sir Robert Walpole” in St Stephen’s Hall,
“Miranda”, “Imogen”, “The Last Kiss”, “The Dove’s
Refuge”, “Herod stricken on his Throne”, “Lalage”,
“The Cross of Prayer”, “The Octoroon”, “Una and the
Lion”, “Cromwell” (S.Kensington Museum), “James
Montgomery”. “Lord Falkland” at the Houses of
Parliament, the Wellington Monument at the Guildhall,
“Peace and War” and “Armed Science” at Woolwich,
The guards memorial in Waterloo Place, The Crimean
Artillery Memorial on the Parade at Woolwich. He also
sculpted part of the Albert Memorial.
A note about the Sullivan
family:
Eugenie Sullivan, who
married the sculptor, John
Bell, was the granddaughter
of Sir Benjamin Sulivan,
1747-1810, and Eliza,
daughter of Admiral Sir
Digby Dent. Their son Robert
Sulivan, Eugenie’s father,
married Margaret.
Scullery, 1992.
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The Revised History of Great Yarmouth
(continued from previous page.)
Thousand Pounds, between
William Barlow Skinner and
H.H.A. Stewart, this simply seems
to have been for a year to be
redeemed. In 1891 between Charles
W.Willett late of Blofield then of
Acle, in the County of Norfolk,
Barrister at Law, and the said
Charles Thomas Turner and
H.H.A. Stewart reciting a Richard
Henry Reeve late of Lowestoft,
Gentleman, deceased, being seized
of or otherwise well entitled to the
Manor of Lound for an Estate
enhance in fee simple duly made
his Will dated 30th. December
1887, whereby he appointed
the said C.W. Willett and C.T.
Turner the Executors. R.H. Reeve
died the 18th October 1888 and
H.H.A. Stewart was duly
admitted 18th October 1887 upon
the absolute surrender of the
said Gertrude Somes to
the hereditaments thereinafter
mentioned, and reciting that
on the 18th October 1887, the said
H.H.A. Stewart acknowledged
that he held of the Lord of the
said Manor certain lands
and tenements in Hopton and
The morning room, with Noel prints and clutter.
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A New Perlustration of Great Yarmouth
Brotherton, or one of them
containing by estimation, two
acres by the yearly rent of Four
Shillings and Tuppence, and
also of the Manor of Northleet
certain other lands and Then
October 19th. 1887 for two
tenements in Hopton formerly
“Eldridges”, by the yearly
rent of Three Shillings, and
also of the Manor of Eastleet,
certain other lands in
Brotherton by the yearly rent
of Four Shillings, being the
annual composition of two
bushels of barley, all of which
were formerly of David Henry
Urquhart, it was witnessed in
pursuance of the said agreement
and in consideration of the sum
of Seventy Eight Pounds,
Seventeen Shillings and
Five Pence, to the said C.W.
Willis and C.T. Turner,
paid by H.A. Stewart, that
H.H.A. Stewart then stood
admitted as aforesaid in the
said Manor of Lound in
every part and parcel of
the same including all
timber mines, minerals and
all other rights reserved
by Section 48 of the
Copyholder Act 1852, to
hold unto and to the use
of the said H.H.A. Stewart
in fee simple freely and
absolutely enfranchised
released and discharged
forever, of and from all
manner of yearly
and other payments
quit rents, free rents,
chief rents, customary
or copyhold rents,
fees, fines, heriots
fealty Suit of Court
and other customary
payments etc.......
Admiral Noel’s
prints hung in the
upstairs corridor
also. The collection
was passed to Miss
Noel’s Nephew,
but she left a few
which hung here a
while and at Leonard
Mrs Noel’s Lounge, used also for balls, dances and parties, with
“Sprung floor”.
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The Revised History of Great Yarmouth
Art Deco stair rails, inserted by Dr. Peers, after the fire of 1929.
Ley surgery and now at the Orangery. Items left
included fascinating photos of the Noels house in
Hunstanton in 1886, again showing the same prints.
One print of Admiral Rodney I hung a few months
at 13 Rodney Road, named after the same Admiral.
Another, of Lady Hamilton I had hung alongside
and took as a talking point to an evening recreating
Nelson’s visit to the home of Lord Walpole. In
2010 these were at 43 King St.
size bounded on the north east by the High Road
and on all other sides by the lands intended to be
hereby assured for many years in the occupation
of John Gillings, as tenant for the said H.H.A.
Stewart. It would appear that by means of selling
this land off to the Water Company, the Stewarts
cancelled off a mortgage to John L. Clarke and
remained owing Five Hundred Pounds to the Water
Company. The mortgage having been the Two
Thousand Pounds mentioned earlier. Then by Will
of June 17th 1907, Frances Elizabeth Stewart of
Hopton Hall, wife of H.H.A. Stewart appointed
her eldest son, Walter Stewart and William Archer
Thompson, Executors and in trust for her daughter
Marjory Augustus Stewart, absolutely in case she
should survive her and attain the age of twenty one
years or marry under that age. On the 28th June 1912
F.E. Stewart died. 17th March 1913 an Indenture
was made between the Executors, Marjorie Augustus
Stewart of St. Phillips Vicarage, Bethnal Green,
Middlesex,(which implies she was already married)
and the Caister Freehold Land and Investment Co.
Ltd., whose registered office was at Caister, for
the sum of Two Thousand Six Hundred Pounds,
reciting that the sum of Five Hundred Pounds still
remained owing. There was at that time remaining
a free rent of Nineteen Shillings, to the Manor
of Caldecott. A total of fifty one to Lieutenant
Colonel Frank A.G. Noel, dated 30th July 1937. A
number of items in this inventory were passed on to
me by Miss Susan Noel on subsequent sale of the
property this year 1990. There is an audio record
Now in 1906 February 21st by indenture, between
H.H.A. Stewart and Frederica Elizabeth Stewart
his wife, and by an indenture dated the 1st May
1901 and made between H.H.A. Stewart of the
one part and Lowestoft, Water and Gas Company
of the other part, convey such part of parts of
the last mentioned hereditaments unto the use of
the said company in fee simple, and conveying
the residue of the hereditaments unto the said
Frances Elizabeth Stewart and her heirs and
assigns. Twenty acres were conveyed to the
Water Company, comprising No.2. on the plan,
rough grassland with side strip next to the run,
No.3. grassland, No.4. rough ground and carr,
No.5. old sandpit, No.6. arable land severance,
No.7. old cottage garden outbuildings and yards,
No.8. pasture ground, No.9 & 10. rough ground
and pond, No.11. arable land including fence
and four feet hole, No.12. rough sedgeground,
No.13. half Hopton Run, also all that messuage
or tenement formerly two cottages with a garden
thereto belonging containing an unspecified
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of an interview I made in
November 1992, with Joan
Allen about life there in
1929 when she acted as a
maid to the Peers family. An
inventory remained of all
the items in the house when
it was sold to the Noels. I
wonder why everything was
sold with the house, but
virtually no furniture was
included, so Dr. Peers may
have sold that off separately,
but he moved to Ormesby.
Peers and his wife wife
ended their days in separate
nursing homes, so Joan Allen
said. Items on this inventory
include a double-cylinder
garden roller still there- the
club fender in the morning
room, the roller-blinds with
lace edges we still had one
in use, but the otherwas still
present, also the alabaster pendant
bowls one still in decent condition,
and various glass lamp shades. I
suspect that some of the garden
tools were as on this inventory, and
that the atco mower listed was the
one that Miss Noel said was then
still under the wood pile. The whole
contents were valued at £195. 8s.
9d., by Gambling and Duffield. A
most remarkable thing really were
the “two marble mantels complete”
in the coachhouse,which remained
there in 1990.
*8
Now in late 2001,
the remains of this marble, installed at
Hopton by William Bell in 1832, has
now been incorporated in a fireplace
at the Orangery in Filby, where the
wooden Mantlepeice came from the
office at 43 King Street. The wooden
part of this mantelpiece from King
Street was probably inserted during
the restoration of 1893, at the same
time as the new Thomas Crapper and
Sons’ flush toilet system.
The morning room is pictured full
of Miss Noel’s belongings prior
to removal. There is a thick metal
tube, that might be Admiral Noel’s
Map case which she left behind with
its wonderful maps. The finest is
a map of the Mediterranean, 1856,
that shows neatly drawn upon it in
pencil the voyages of the training
ship Hannibal over two years, when
Noel was a naval cadet. The ship
Date in the brick over this arch - 1786 (from the south).
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was a three masted warship converted
to steam, and incuded with it is a log
of the hours that were sailed, and the
hours travelled by steam. The ship went
back and forth many times across the
Mediterranean, and looking though the
ships logs, now preserved at Kew, the
reason was that the ship was a troop
ship, conveying troops from one posting
to another. I was also able to confirm
from the logs that Noel was indeed
present on the ship. The Hannibal was
decommissioned and ended its days in
Portsmouth docks as accommodation
for trainee sailors.
Sarah Ann Glover (13 November 1785 – 20 October 1867)
Sarah was related to the Bell family, when Samuel’s sister, Christiana
married Edward Glover. Her instructional book Scheme for Rendering
Psalmody Congregational met with great success. Born at the close,
Norwich, she invented the SOLFA system, later made famous in the
“Sound of Music”, as a new way to learn to sing. (Doh-ray-me-fa-so-
lah-te-doh.) Her father was curate of St Lawrence, Norwich. She later
lived at Cromer and Reading, and died at Great Malvern.
See.: Glover, Sarah Ann (1845). A Manual of the Norwich Sol-fa System:
For Teaching Singing in Schools and Classes, Or, a Scheme for Rendering
Psalmody Congregational. Jarrold & Sons Glover, Sarah Ann (1850). The
Tetrachordal System. Jarrold & Sons
Curwen, John; Sarah Ann Glover (1885). An Account of the Tonic Sol-fa
Method of Teaching to Sing. A Modification of Miss Glover’s Norwich Sol-fa
Method, Or Tetrachordal System
In 1998 the cellar at Hopton Hall still
contained the old boiler, with a pile of
coke and a pile of sticks. The sticks
covered some old letters, of which
the youngest was written 1946,
and amongst them was a bundle
wrapped in brown paper and tied
with string, containing a copy of a
1904 London Trades Directory, and a
pencilled note saying that it had been
rescued from a bombed post office.
The newspaper was dated 1917,
and had a picture of the Kaiser
inside. An old tallow candle sat on
the left side in the wine storeroom,
and a crumpled newspaper there was
dated 1944, and inside that for some
time resided a bat, which whenever
I inspected it carefully was seen to
be breathing away happily inside,
though at first I had quite a shock and
was taken aback in alarm. In the same
room, the entrance had been walle
d off in the war by the Butler. The
family had sent half the furniture to
Headington, Oxford, and left half
in the house. The butler had walled
the remaining half of the furniture
in his safekeeping up in the cellar.
When the war ended, the half of the
furniture that was in Oxford had
been destroyed by a bomb.
That which was sealed up with no
ventilation in the cellar, had rotted
away.
A 1930’s electric floor polisher left
behind, was past its best!! Upstairs
in the morning room, the overmantel
of carved oak had two coats of arms
carved on either side of the mantle
itself, the left hand one was a shield
with three lions rampant and a
chequered strip across the centre. The
right-hand one was a shield with
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three upright mallets, grapeshot in the middle, a small
new moon above, and an anchor in the left upper
corner. The date at the top of the overmantel was
1889
*9.
There is a date on the garden wall of 1786.
The date is in the brick above this arch, and a date
on the coach house, again in the brickwork, of 1832.
My feeling is that the cellars predate the garden
wall, and that the house was remodelled in about
1832, whilst the overmantel, clearly put in by Harry
Hutchison Stewart may well have been later than
the rest of the mantlepiece A photo published in the
East Suffolk Illustrated dated 1905, shows the house
before the fire, with a low slate roof, a lower portico
than at present, and fourteen chimneys! The original
Georgian windows on the ground-floor, which were
much taller than now, rose almost to the ceilings.
There were French windows on the S.W. bedroom,
with the window 2nd from the right split into two,
having apparently two rooms there one above the
other. Presumably all the extra chimneys in the picture
demonstrate a number of extra rooms at the back of
the house, in rather a different configuration. Joan
Allen told me that before the fire the bedrooms were
all arranged along the south side, and bathrooms with
toilets ranged along the north side of the corridor.
Fancy dress party, 1991, Malcolm King as Arab
The present bathrooms are post-fire: the house mostly
all burned down in c.1931. It appears that Peers
was obliged to sell the land that was owned by the
woodyard (until it closed c.1995, and Mr. Steward
bought it back) in order to meet the huge costs of
rebuilding the hall, which were in fact equal to
the total value of the entire property, including
coach-house and grounds. It seems likely that he
was either under-insured, or perhaps had no fire
insurance at all.
The ordinance survey map of 1889 shows a
“pheasantry”, which must have been a substantial
breeding place for young birds, past the wall to
the southwest, where at the time there were few
trees.
*6
Major-General Cock’s memorial tomb is still
intact to the south side of the old ruined church at
Hopton.
*7
Ancient Deeds of Caldecott Hall are in the ap-
pendix to these volumes.
*12
Burton House is now the “House of Wax”, on
Regent Road.
*8
These two marble mantle-pieces were stored
by me and in 2001 were incorporated into a fire-
place in the lounge at the Orangery, Filby.
*9
To my eternal sorrow, this was stolen in 1992,
whilst the house was empty between owners (“re-
possessed” by the bank in the recession).
[1]
The Morse family was important in Yarmouth;
there is a row of their grave stones at the East end
of Lound Churchyard.
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There is a strange trapdoor filled over in the
cellar here.
Dance troupe at a party at the Hall, 1991.
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[2]
There are some very ancient deeds of Caldecott
Hall copied by me, which should be found on the
disk.
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The Noel Family at Hopton Hall
a Scrap Book
Susan
Coach house
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Daddy (Col.Noel)
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Sale prospectus, 1937. For the rest of this document, see the disk.
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