A Cherry Hinton Netherhall Manor Copyhold: Mary Peacock’s Surrender, 1896 Old Document
A Cherry Hinton Netherhall Manor Copyhold: Mary Peacock’s Surrender, 1896, another old document from my personal archives.
Among the surviving records of the Manor of Hinton Netherhall is this carefully written surrender dated 21 January 1896, recording the transfer of a small property in Cherry Hinton from Mary Peacock of Histon to Arthur James Bell, carpenter.
Seventeen years earlier, in 1879, Mary Ann Smith and William Archer had mortgaged the same land to Mary Peacock for £225. When they failed to repay, Peacock was admitted tenant under the manor — effectively becoming owner of the property.
By 1896, she chose to sell, receiving £150 for what was described as “a messuage converted into two tenements and a close of land formerly pasture, now garden and orchard.”
This short transaction opens a window onto the late-Victorian property market of Cambridge’s rural edge. Copyhold tenure, with its symbolic “surrender by the rod” and payment of manorial fines, still governed many small plots on the outskirts of villages like Cherry Hinton. Within a decade, such customary holdings would be enfranchised under new property laws, ending centuries of manorial control.
Transcription:
The Manor of Hinton Netherhall in the County of Cambridge The Twenty first day of January One thousand eight hundred and ninety six
Whereas by an Indenture dated the twentieth day of September one thousand eight hundred and seventy nine and made between Mary Ann Smith and William Archer of the one part and Mary Peacock of Histon in the County of Cambridge Single Woman of the other part the said Mary Ann Smith and William Archer did and each of them did hereby bargain and sell unto
The said Mary Peacock all the hereditaments hereafter mentioned To hold the same unto the said Mary Peacock her heirs and assigns To the use of the said Mary Peacock her heirs and assigns by the rod at the will of the Lords according to the custom of the said Manor subject to a proviso for avoidance of the same Indenture on payment of the sum of Two hundred and twenty five pounds with interest thereon and whereas on the fifteenth day of December One thousand eight hundred and seventy nine the said Mary Peacock by her allormey came before the Steward of the said Manor and was admitted to all the same hereditaments upon the default made by the said Mary Ann Smith and William Archer in payment of the said principal sum and interest secured by the before recited Indenture Now be it remembered that on the day and year first above written the said Mary Peacock came before Charles Welldon Ellison of Cambridge Gentleman Deputy Steward for this turn and purpose ————
Steward of the said Manor out of court and in consideration of the sum of One hundred and fifty pounds to her paid by Arthur James Bell of Cherryhinton in the County of Cambridge Carpenter Did by the rod surrender into the hands of the Lords of the said Manor by the hands and acceptance of his said Deputy Steward according to the custom of the said Manor all that customary Messuage or Tenement converted into two Tenements and a Close of land formally pasture adjoining but converted into a garden and orchard situate and being in Cherryhinton in the said County of Cambridge with the outhouses yard garden rights easements and appurtenances to the same belonging To the use of the said Arthur James Bell his heirs and assigns at the will of the Lords according to the custom of the said Manor and under the rents suits and services therefor due and of right accustomed
This Surrender was taken and accepted the day and year first before written by me
C. W. Ellison
Deputy Steward of the said Manor
Mary Peacock
Received on the day and year first before written of and from the before named Arthur James Bell the sum of One hundred and fifty pounds being the consideration money before mentioned to be paid by him to me
£150
Mary Peacock
Witness C. W. Ellison
Modern English Translation
On 21 January 1896, at the Manor Court of Hinton Netherhall in the county of Cambridge, Mary Peacock of Histon, a single woman, appeared before Charles Welldon Ellison, Deputy Steward of the Manor.
By an earlier Indenture dated 20 September 1879, Mary Ann Smith and William Archer had mortgaged a property to Mary Peacock for £225. The mortgage was secured by a customary (copyhold) tenure of the Manor. When Smith and Archer failed to repay the loan, Peacock was admitted to full possession of the property in December 1879.
Now, in 1896, Mary Peacock surrendered the property to the Lords of the Manor for the use of Arthur James Bell of Cherry Hinton, carpenter, in exchange for a payment of £150.
The property was described as a customary messuage or tenement (now divided into two dwellings) and a close of land formerly pasture, now used as a garden and orchard, situated at Cherry Hinton in the county of Cambridge, together with all outbuildings, yards, rights, and appurtenances.
This surrender was accepted by the Deputy Steward on behalf of the Lords of the Manor.
Genealogical Note
Mary Peacock, of Histon, single woman, held property under the Manor of Hinton Netherhall. She had previously acted as a lender, taking security over land in Cherry Hinton in 1879. Her unmarried status and the investment activity suggest a woman of independent means, possibly a spinster landholder or beneficiary of a family estate.
Mary Ann Smith and William Archer, the previous mortgagors, appear to have defaulted on their mortgage to Peacock. Their association with Cherry Hinton may link them to smallholdings or cottage properties in that area.
Arthur James Bell, carpenter of Cherry Hinton, purchased the property for £150 in 1896. The occupation and price suggest a modest freeholding — perhaps a pair of labourers’ cottages with adjoining garden ground. He may be identifiable in the 1891 and 1901 census returns for Cherry Hinton.
• Charles Welldon Ellison, gentleman of Cambridge, acted as Deputy Steward of the Manor of Hinton Netherhall, a position commonly held by local solicitors.