The manorial system
The manorial system had its origins in the late Roman Empire, when it was necessary for large landowners to consolidate their hold over both their lands and the labourers who worked them. This was a necessity in the midst of the civil disorders, enfeebled governments and barbarian invasions, which wracked Europe in the 5th and 6th centuries AD. Small farmers and landless labourers exchanged their land or their freedom and pledged their services in return for the protection of powerful landowners who had the military strength to defend them. In this way, the poor, defenceless and landless were ensured permanent access to plots of land. These they could work in return for the rendering of economic services to the lord who held that land.
In England, the typical manor in the 13th century consisted partly of the cottages, huts, barns and gardens of its peasants, clustered together to form a small village; close by would be the fortified dwelling, or manor house, of the lord. This might be inhabited by him or merely by his steward if the lord happened to hold more than one manor.
The Manorial Court
Each manor would hold its own court, known as the manorial court. Usually this tried only petty offences, such as small thefts. Its principal responsibility would be the trying of offences against the custom of the manor, such as bad ploughing or the improper taking of wood from the lord's land.
It would usually be the duty of the lord's steward to preside over the court. Offenders were punished and often forced to pay fines for their offences. This system provided a convenient source of income for the landowner.
The Court Leet
The court leet performed the same function as the manorial court. The word "leet" denoted a territorial and a jurisdictional area. Its use spread throughout England in the 14th century, so that the court leet became the court in which a private lord assumed jurisdiction for his own profit.
King Henry the Second first constituted juries in 1166 in an attempt to improve procedures in criminal law. The "presenting jury" consisted of twelve men in each hundred and four men in each township.
The court leet met twice a year, usually under the presidency of the lord's steward. It had two main functions; one was to view the frankpledges, which were the pledges of responsibility made by each freeman, and the other was to receive notices of accusation of crimes made by the juries.
The Manor of Tetbury
At the time of the Domesday survey, in 1086, Roger de Lurci who had arrived with William the Conqueror as his cupbearer held the manor of Tetbury. Some time after that, it was returned to the Crown and then acquired by the de St. Valery family. Fortunately for Tetbury, one William de Breuse married into this family, becoming the lord of the manor from about 1197 to 1208.
Evidently William was remarkably forward-thinking for his time. He granted a charter to the manor of Tetbury, relaxing many of the feudal customs and regulations of the time. By doing so, he encouraged merchants to flourish, thus paving the way for Tetbury to become a centre of commerce.
In 1208, William disagreed with King John and his manor was confiscated. But in 1219, it was returned to William's son, Reginald de Breuse. From then it remained with the de Breuse family until it passed by marriage to the Berkeleys in the late 1400s. As Lord Berkeley's usual place of residence was Berkeley Castle, it is likely that the manor house in Tetbury was occupied by the lord's steward.
By the late sixteenth century, the Savage family owned the manor house. It was known as Hicket or Hacket Court. In 1665, the widowed Elizabeth Sheppard owned it. Elizabeth had been a Savage before her marriage.
Matthew Sloper built a new house on the manor house site, in 1766-1767. This was called The Priory and remains as one of Tetbury's most prominent buildings.
From the time William de Breuse granted his charter to the people of Tetbury in about the year 1200, the government of the town was no longer the sole preserve of the lord of the manor. There was a "Court of Record" from 1287, which would have been similar to the manorial court described above. A bailiff certainly administered the borough and market from the last years of the fourteenth century. Two hundred years later, the town jury put a choice of three names for the post of bailiff to the lord's steward every Michaelmas.
In addition to the town jury, there was a foreign jury, the members of which were concerned with the rural areas of the manor. The juries also held the responsibility of appointing lesser town officials, constables, meat inspectors, ale-tasters and inspectors of weights and measures.
William Romney
The situation became particularly interesting in the early seventeenth century, when William Romney, who was Tetbury born and bred, made his fortune in London.
His most notable achievement was in 1600, when he played a part in creating the East India Company. By 1606, he was elected governor of the Company.
He became an alderman and sheriff of the City of London and master of the Haberdashers' Company from 1603 to 1604. In 1603 he was knighted at Whitehall.
For some years before his death in 1611, he had leased the tolls and profits from Tetbury's markets and fairs from Lord Berkeley, the lord of the manor. By 1611, there were still eight years of this agreement to run.
In William's will, he had bequeathed the market lease to the people of Tetbury, specifying that it should be managed by the king's bailiff and twenty other townspeople, thirteen of whom he named. These became known as the Thirteen. This body was responsible for collecting the market tolls and for using the profits to provide for the poor and to finance a schoolmaster and a lecturer at church.
There was also provision for "twenty-four of the most discreet townsmen next to the said number of Thirteen" from whom future members of the Thirteen should be elected.
The Tetbury markets flourished and the town was ranked in importance as the next town after Cirencester and Tewkesbury. By 1633, the Thirteen were able to approach Lord Berkeley and to negotiate the purchase from him of the manor and borough, the advowson of the vicarage and the commons for the sum of £804.
It was agreed that four men should be named as the Feoffees, or lords of the manor in trust. Later there were an extra three Feoffees, but these do not appear to have been lords of the manor in trust. Both the Thirteen and the Twenty-four were also retained.
And so Tetbury began to manage its own affairs.
The Wilkins family
There is evidence to show that the Wilkins family were prominent and wealthy citizens of Tetbury. In 1705, the Town Jury for the Court Leet included Matthew Wilkins Esq.; later that year, it included Matthew Wilkins Junior. The younger Matthew also appeared in the Town Juries of 1706 and 1708.
The elder Matthew was born about 1650, as a younger son of Thomas Wilkins and Hester Tanner. His son Matthew was baptised on 6 March 1682. It is interesting to note that the elder Matthew has Esq. added to his name. This would indicate he was a principal landowner.
According to the details provided by Elizabeth Janson, the Matthew Wilkins born in 1682 was a Feoffee and a Gentleman, Lord of the Manor, in both 1722 and 1735. As the Feoffees appear to have retained their positions, it is likely that Matthew was a Feoffee and a Lord of the Manor in trust for at least the period 1722 to 1735. The records are inevitably fragmentary and details gleaned from them are similarly so.
A daughter of the elder Matthew, Eleanor Wilkins, married John Sloper in 1705. In that same year, John appears as one of the Town Jury and again in 1706. As mentioned above, The Priory was built in 1766-67 by Matthew Sloper, who was a son of Eleanor Wilkins and John Sloper.
Matthew Sloper was born in 1716. When he made his will, in 1770, he augmented one of the town charities, known as the Hodges charity. It would appear that he married rather late in life, as his two sons were born in 1759 and 1765. The younger of these, Henry Hall Sloper, appears in the records in 1803 as a resident of The Priory and the Commanding Officer of the Tetbury Volunteer Infantry. This was the time when Napoleon was preparing to cross the channel and invade the shores of England. Each town and city was preparing its own "Dad's Army".
Amongst the Tetbury Volunteers were John Wilkins and George Wilkins. These would be father and son, born 1752 and 1785 respectively.
Two other prominent citizens of Tetbury were Joshua Wilkins, born 1674 and his son Joshua, born 1700. In 1699, the elder Joshua married Elizabeth Cooke, whose mother had been Elizabeth Sheppard and a member of the Sheppard family. The Sheppards were wealthy clothiers; Elizabeth Sheppard's mother, born in 1651 and also named Elizabeth, is referred to above as the owner of the manor house in 1665.
The elder Joshua is a brother of Hezekiah, born 1684. In Joshua's will, he refers to this brother, who is evidently living in one of Joshua's properties at a favourable rent.
Joshua the Younger married very late in life, at the age of 66. His wife was Martha Craddock, the widow of Samuel Craddock. Samuel's name also appears as one of the Town Jury, in 1705 and 1708.
A list of voters for the election of May 1734 includes both Joshua and Matthew Wilkins. On 15 November 1729, in the second year of the reign of George the Second, Matthew Wilkins was one of the signatories to a document pledging support for the king against the "Traitorous and Detestable Conspiracy by Papists and other Wicked Persons".
In the "Papers relating to the administration of the Manorial Court, Tetbury", there is the following note in the Court records for 1661: "Thomas Wilkins forfeits 1s 0d for shearing his sheepes upon the common contrary to an order........" This is likely to be Thomas, born 1607.
The Foreign Jury for the Borough of Tetbury and Court Leet at Law Day held on 16 October 1665 presents: "Thomas Wilkins Junior for not repairing the walls at quarry Also at Harper Street and order him to make it three foot high next the highway by the fifteenth day of September making on the payment £2-00-00"
And on 14 October 1765, the Town Jury presents: "Widow Sloper must remove posts and nails from outside her house, street and waste ground". As well as: "John Wilkins, Mathew Sloper.....for laying dung soil, timber and stones before their doors and in the streets and on the waste ground.....order them to remove same within one month...penalty ten shillings each".
On the same date, 14 October 1765, a list of 252 names is presented to the Court Leet. This is the Leet Bill and consists presumably of those citizens of Tetbury who form the Court. Amongst them are the following: Joshua Wilkins, John Wilkins, John Wilkins the Younger, Adam Wilkins. The two Johns were father and son, the son and grandson of Hezekiah. Adam, born 1704, was the baseborn son of Hannah Wilkins, daughter of Thomas Wilkins and Margaret Trotman.
There are also references to a Jacob Wilkins, born in 1729, a son of Robert Wilkins. Jacob was a Quaker. He married Judith Fry, of Calston, Wiltshire, who was possibly related to the Fry family of Bristol.
Jacob became "an eminent cheese factor" of Tetbury and a very wealthy man. His will was made in 1762, when his five daughters and his wife were still living. Sadly, his only son, also named Jacob, had not survived. It is interesting to note that some twenty years later John and Mary Wilkins were determined to produce a son named Jacob. Their son Jacob, born in 1789, died at the age of three. A year later, their next son was born and also called Jacob.
One of the witnesses to Jacob's will in 1762 was Mat. Sloper, who must have been the son of Eleanor Wilkins and John Sloper, referred to above.
Together with Matthew Sloper and John Wilkins, Jacob was presented to the Court Leet on 14 October 1765 for laying dung soil where it should not have been laid. He also appears in the Leet Bill of that same date.
Valerie Tolhurst - November 1999.
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