POLHILL FAMILY HISTORY PAGE
Next >>I. THE KENTISH POLHILLS
The descent of the Polhill family can be traced back with certainty for more than 500 years and with conjecture for a further 300. The sources derived from the family itself (such as Hasted's History of Kent and Burke's Landed Gentry) do not claim unbroken descent further back than 1422, but genealogists and others have indulged in research which, if justified, could carry the family records back to 1140.
Dr. G. M. Trevelyn, in his survey of six centuries of Social History from Chaucer to Queen Victoria, has much to say about the yeoman stock of England. Successive Tudor governments, in his opinion created "conditions by which the class denominated Yeoman became more numerous, more wealthy and more important than in any other age.--The praise of the yeoman as best type of Englishman, holding society together, neither cringing to the high nor despising his poorer neighbour, hearty, hospitable, fearless; supplies a constant motif of literature under Tudors and Stuarts.--The yeoman were held to be the real strength and defence of the nation. Of old they had won Agincourt and but yesterday Flodden, and were still the nation's shield and buckler."
He quotes the Rev. William Harrison's observation (1577) that "as farmers to gentlemen they come to great wealth in so much that many of them are able and do buy the lands of unthrifty gentlemen, and often sending their sons to the schools and the Universities and to the Inns of Court; or otherwise leaving them sufficient lands whereupon they may live without labour, do make them by those means to become gentlemen."
The Polleys, becoming Polhills, are precisely an example of the advancement recorded by the eminent observers.
The Polhills may not have held supreme office at any time, but the family has, throughout its generations, proved strong and loyal supporters of the King and Country, Church and State, and provided the country with stout yeomen, landed gentry, members of Parliament, Justices of the Peace, Soldiers, Lawyers, Clergy, Authors, Doctors, Artists, Merchants, Mayors and Philanthropists and with at least one Banker, One Port Admiral, one Theatre Lessee and one Schoolmaster. Representatives may be found today all over the south of England as well as in Kenya and remote Australia and New Zealand. There are 140 known descendants in Georgia, U.S.A., and seven Polhills in the London Telephone directory.
The ancestral source for which there is the greatest authenticity, springs from the union about 1461 of JOHN POLLEY of Detling and ALICE BUCKLAND of Shoreham. (36).
DETLING
Detling is a small and rather obscure village lying where the old Pilgrims' Road to Chanterbury is crossed by the modern turnpike from Maidstone to Sittingbourne, at about 2 1/2 miles north-east of Maidstone. The village lies at the foot of chalk-hills - a location which has suggested to one writer the name "Alpine Detling" (49)* This hilly situation is important as will be seen further on. The parish is obscure in so far as Domesday Book overlooked it (possibly because the manor was only a mesne of the larger one of Maidstone). Leland did not reach it in his Itinerary nor Lambarde in his Perambulations. Camden did not deem it worthy of inclusion in his Britannia and Hasted dismisses it in a few lines. The village produced, so far as is known, no recruits for Jack Cade, Wyatt or Wat Tyler.
There has been a church there since 1086 (Domesday Monachorum) and the second World War saw the removal of its obscurity in the choice of the level part of the district for the site of a fighter aerodrome. One of its young men anticipated the exploit of Roger Banister when in 1787, (as a cutting from the Kentish Courier, framed over the mantelpiece in the bar of the Cock Inn, states,) he ran a measured mile in under four minutes. True, he ran downhill all the way, taking steps five yards long, before collapsing at the post.
Wallenburg (67) would derive the place-name from a word indicating its hilly nature-"a lump"-, or from its inhabitants-" men of a lumpy nature"-. Ekwall, usually a better authority, says Detling means Dyttel's people. Elliston Erwood quotes a local tag- "barren in soil, fertile in twins" (23). I am assured that however true these attributes may once have been there is no truth in them now.
The first mention of POLEHILLS in Detling occurs in Kent Assize Roll 359 of 1241, when we learn that Alice, widow of Edward POLEHILL with her sons William and Simon successfully claimed land and 2 1/2 acres of woodland with appurtenances in the parish. The grandfather of the lads was one Simon de POLEHILL, who could very well have existed about 1170.(37)
The Subsidy Rolls yield later information (15). Among the names of 50 inhabitants of Detling in 1327 appears the name of Willielmus de Polehille. In 1383 appears Elena de Polehill. The name appears again and again during the next 200 years under spelling varying from Polehull, Polehille, Polehell, Polhyll, Poleheld, Polley and Polhill.
* The references in parenthesis throughout these pages are to Acknowledgments listed in Appendix A.
In the Lay Subsidy Rolls of King Henry VIII (1524) appears an Edmond Polhill rated at L40, the highest of 33 other inhabitants and nearly twice as much as the next highest. This Edmond, who died in 1554, left a charge of ten shillings a year on a farm in Detling called Scragged Oak, for the poor of the parish. By 1680 the Parish Vestry Book records the charity as divisible one third to the priest, one third to the clerk and one third to the poor. Payment on this scale continued down to the second World War, by which time changes of occupation and weightier matters created difficulties in the collect on of the ten shillings and the charity fell into abeyance,(21)
In 1546, Edward Polhyll is one of the four principal inhabitants. The Church Register apparently regarded John Pollye, yeoman, as the head of the family in 1578. By 1598 the Polhills are all of less substance, probably due to the subdivision of the original property between many male descendants, as proved by wills which are available. (appendix B4 and B5). While other inhabitants in this year are rated in pounds, Richard Polhill is assessed at 30/- and John and Edmond at 20/-each. (15) Incidentally the wills refer to marriages with families whose names do not appear in the rolls of principal inhabitants.
A few years later the name is Polley and in 1615 it is Polhill. (15) In 1657 Henry Polhill left 20/- for the poor of Detling. By 1673 (Hearth Roll of Charles II), the name has completely disappeared from Detling records and does not appear again until 1779 when the Rev. William Polhill (who had previously served at Bircholt, Orlestone and Linton (36), was appointed Vicar of the Parish. He was non-resident and in 1780 departed for Albury (2), but he retained property in Detling for which he paid taxes until 1821. (B). His name is commemorated on the walls of the church but there are no memorials to any other members of the family there.
There is, unfortunately, no record whatsoever in Detling of the John Polley, born about 1422, who went to Shoreham to marry Alice Buckland. Possibly he was descended from Willielmus and Elena. Possibly he was related to the John Polhehille who on January 28, 1516 sold the house, mill and substantial farm still called Polhill in the neighbouring parish of Rarrietsham (29). The deeds relating to that transaction are missing but the late 14th. century type house with hall still stands though very much restored after damage by fire in 1939 and by flying-bomb in 1944. In all probability he farmed the land up in the hills, still called Polleyfields and walked along the village street, then called Polley Street but now abbreviated by the inhabitants to "the Street".(12).
LEIGH. (TOMBRIDGE)
Whence did the Polhills come to Detling?
Dr. Gordon Ward has suggested a connection between the Polhills of Detling and the Polles of Leigh. (68)
Martin de Polle is named in deeds of c1190 concerning lands at Leigh. In the accounts of the perambulation of the lands of Donbridge Castle (1258 and 1280), appear the names of Alured de Polle, Martin de Polle and William de Polle. Laurence, Martin and William are named in the rolls of 1295/9. The Polles seem to have become well established at Paul's Farm (?Polle's Farm) Leigh from the 13th century, when one of them possibly planted the oak tree which still stands in mammoth splendour near the rookery, centuries old and 35ft. 9 ins. in girth.
Owing perhaps to a partiality for litigation there are many references to the Polles in the court rolls between 1260 and 1495. (A) most of the actions would in these days be regarded as trivial, being for trespass, imparking oxen and horses, illegal fishing and cutting down of trees. As often as not the Polles won their cases but history fails to record the result of a much adjourned enquiry before the Archbishop of Canterbury, sitting as Chancellor:- (68)
1486/93. "John Molle says he had 47 oxes and young beoffs of his own and many other cattle taken to graze and he had put them in Penshurst Park of which he was keeper. But John Polley, who had married Alison, sister of John Molle's wife Isold, drove them away, saying to Isold that he would keep them safely. But he sold them and kept the money. Then John Polley died and Alison married Henry Vane of Tonbridge and took to him as much as all the money as John got for the cattle.
John Molle asks for a writ against Henry and Alison."
Members of the family sought pastures further afield (68). One went to Hever and dwelt near the brook (river Eden) and became known as Polle o' the Brook or Polbrook. Another went to Detling and farmed on the hill and became known as Polle o' the Hill or Polhill. Despite the fact that Skwall prefers a derivative of Polerook that would give the meaning of Frogpool, the suggestion may not be dismissed as an idle assumption on the part of Dr. Ward, for, although there are no Polles in the Detling records it is remarkable that when John Polley witnessed deeds relating to property at Shoreham on December 31st. 1482 he signed "John Polle". Too much reliance must not be placed on this one act for proof of a connexion, for John Polley had a pre-Elizabethan attitude towards spelling and there are other deeds in the Polhill muniments signed "John Polell" (1476). "John Polly" (1480) and "John Poleyll" (1490). (A and 54).
The last entries in the Leigh registers of a name which may be associated with the family occur between 1586 and 1593, when baptisms of the children of Richard Polhill of Tonbridge are recorded.(4).
CORNWALL.
On the other hand, the late Rev. Richard Polwhele, (1760)-1838), a celebrated Cornish writer and historian, (22) advanced a strong claim, not only from the traditions of his family but from other circumstances which he did not particularise, that the Kentish Polhills were descended from the Cornish Polwheles. (49).
This family traces its descent from Drogo de Polwhele, Chamberlain to the Empress Maud about 1140, from whom he received grants of land. The empress (1102-1167) was the only daughter to King Henry I and widow of the Emperor of Germany. Her son, by second husband, Geoffrey of Anjou, was recognized as successor to King Stephen and reigned as King Henry II. (32) Any connexion which could be proved with such a regime would be to the credit of any family. Sir Winston Churchill in his History of the English-Speaking peoples (18) says "She had the nature of a man in the frame of a woman. Fierce, proud, hard, cynical, living for politics above all other passions, however turbulent, she was fitted to bear her part in any war and be the mother of one of the greatest English Kings. --In her old age she proved a sagacious counsellor to her son."
In support of his claim that the families of Polwhele and Polhill are connected, the reverend gentleman advances that in ancient deeds Polwhele is sometimes spelled Polhill. In Domesday Book it is Polhel and under Edward The Confessor the manor was occupied by Winus de Polhell, Polwel or Polwyl. How this name is reminiscent of Willielmus of Detling.
There are therefore two conjectures which could trace the Polhill family to about A.D. 1140:- the Cornish line from the Polwheles and the Tonbridge line from the Polles. It must be admitted, however, that the late Mr. R. B. Polhill-Drabble (54) spent much time in research, with all the facilities of possesing the family deeds, but failed to establish any connexion between the Polhills, Polwheles and the Polles that would satisfy him. The coat of arms of the Polwheles differs in every respect from that of the Polhills.
Recently a member of the family has suggested a connexion between the Polhills and the de la Poles. The evidence is far from convincing, and Mr. A. B. Harvey. Non-Archivist of Trinity House, Hull, who has written upon the origins of the De La Pole family of Kingston-Upon-Hull, sees no reason to suspose that one could be proved.
GREAT BUCKLAND MANOR
The Alice who married John Polley of Detling was the sole heiress of the manor of Great Buckland, which lay in the valley of Luddesdown, near Meopham. (36). Here lies a fragment of all England:-the remains of an Iron-age hut, the foundations of a Saxon manor house, one of the lost churches of Kent, (bode), the work of Tudor craftsmem are all to be found within the bounds of this ancient village. (41 and 48). The manor was granted by Hubert, Archbishop of Canterbury, to an ancestor of Alice, Alan de Buckland, during the reign of King John (1199-1216), to be held in frank fee, not gavelkind as had been the case when the estate was held by Saxon thanes. (49)
In the year 1270 the possession of the whole manor by Alan's eldest son Walter was disputed by his youngest son Alan, on the ground that the Archbishop had changed the form of tenure without the consent of the Chapter of Canterbury. The plea was overruled. (37)
The Polhills and the Bucklands possibly became acquainted soon after, for in a charter of 1334 in the British Museum, (No, XXVI 30) the names Edmund de Polle and Richard de Bocland appear amongst others. (49)
The manor passed through the hands of John de Bocland to Thomas (1327-1377) who founded a chapel on the north side of Shoreham Church and was buried there with his wife Agnes (36 and 37). His son Thomas held Preston and Buckland and added other estates in the Shoreham district. He died about 1461 leaving Alice, his only daughter and sole heiress. (37).
The manor of Great Buckland passed by the marriage with JohnPolley to the Polhills, (36), but the tithes became part of the endowments of the Convent of St. Mary and All Saint Maidstone, at which Joan Buckland was a nun. (3). On the dissolution of that house in 1546 the tithes passed to the Crown. The demesne continued in the possession of the Polhills. In a survey of the adjacent manor of Paddlesworth in 1560 the ownership of the demesne of Buckland, lying to the west and north of a piece of land called Doude Chapell Crafte is stated to be 'now of John Polhill.(3).
Edward Polhill, rector of Etchingham, died possessed of Buckland, Luddesdown in 1654, (49). Subsequently the demesne was divided into the a portions and passed into the possession of other owners. (42)
The estate was originally described as of one yoke, ten acres, with appurtenances at Maidstone. (57). A yoke is usually understood to be a unit of taxation and that measure of land equivalent to the area which could be ploughed annually by a single yoke of oxen, and peculiar to the County of Kent. The area would naturally vary according to the nature of the soil, and from the beginning of the 13th. century was regarded for practical purposes as 100 acres. (25). The appurtenances at Maidstone, when possessed by the convent were said to cover 400 acres. In a return made in 1535 of the convent income the rentals from the farm at Buckland and of lands and tenements at Maidstone accounted for L27.9.7 out of a total amount of L221.5.3 1/2. So that, as possessions were reckoned in those days the manor was a worthy one.(57).
The farmhouse was rebuilt in Elizabethan days but the fine half-timbered building in which Queen Elizabeth is reputed to have slept, was burnt to the ground in about 1910. Only the charred foundations and acluster of about half-a-dozen dwellings and outhouses remains.(41)
The arms of the Buckland family are described as "argent an eagle displayed sable, beaked and anguled or." John Polley impaled them with his own, "argent, on a bend gules, three cross crosslets or," and thereby preserved them for posterity. (36).
SHOREHAM: KENT (PRESTON AND SHOREHAM CASTLE)
Shortly after Alan and Walter settled their legal differences about the ownership of Buckland, their sister Emma had a dispute with nephew Reginald about another family estate Preston, adjoining the river Darent and lying between Shoreham and Eynsford. She won her case and it is not clear how Preston became eventually restored to the male Buckland Line, (37), but so it was until it was carried by Alice Buckland to the Polhills.
In the very early days Preston was accounted an appendage tothe manor of Halstead and as such was held by the Archbishop of Canterbury. In the reign of Edward III (1327-1377) it was held by Sir Thomas Buckland (36). This estate also passed by marriage with Alice to the Bucklands and was the residence of no fewer than seven generations of the senior line for over two hundred years. The old manor house has given way to a nineteenth century farmhouse and nothing remains of the former glories of Preston above the rather spacious cellars below the ground. The owner of the farm, Henry S. ay, achieved the ambition of a lifetime in 1958 when he was successful at the Royal show at Bristol in winning the Supreme Championship of the Ayrshire breed with his cow Shoreham Frances II. Shortly after this success he was compelled to sell the 206 acres of farmland and his herd of 206 Ayrshires to pay death duties. The farm passed into the ownership of Mr. R. F. Montgomerie, of Park farm, Otford and thus two former Polhill properties were again united.
The estate of Shoreham Castle was purchased by Thomas Polhill from Roger Newborough in 1575/6. The Castle was in ruins in Leland's day (1506-1552), (36) but some of the remains can be identified to this day in the walls of the 17th. century farmhouse, the owner of which finds evidence of a moat in the gardens. (11)
All the Shoreham estates were sold by John Polhill, who died in 1689, to Paul D'Aranda (36), a Shoreham resident who is best remembered for his conscientious work as a J. P. (He left a diary of his office which is now in the County Archives at Maidstone. (B. U442). The records of the D'Aranda family which existed in Hasted's day have disappeared, but during 1956/1957 when the floor of Shoreham Church as repaved, the lead coffins of the D'Arandas and the Borretts were revealed. (63). Hasted records that black marble stones recorded the death of Paul D'Aranda on 27th October 1712 aged 60, and of his sons William Henry on 30.3.1713 aged 24 and Paul on 2.5.1732 aged 46. In 1715 this Paul sold Preston and all the other properties in the parish to Sir John Borrett, another Shoreham resident, and moved to Putney, (36). Borrett married Elizabeth Trevor, a descendant of Sir John Hampden, the Buckinghamshire squire who made history by refusing ship-money to Charles I. (The significances of this union to the Polhills will be told later in this story.) Borrett built Newhouse on the right bank of the river Darent in Shoreham, opposite to Great House Mead, the site of the earliest mansion in this area. (34) Newhouse was built in the Italian style but proved to be very damp and in consequence, unpopular as a residence so that for many years after his death on 28th June 1739 it remained empty. Eventually it was demolished about 1820 for the building of the Mildmay residence, Shoreham Place, somewhat farther from the river. That residence is now in turn in a derelict condition.
The memory of Sir John Borrett, who also acquired the manor of Filston (Vielston), between Shoreham and Otford, is enshrined in the handsome memorial with busts of himself and his wife, carved by Sir Henry Cheere in the Buckland Chapel (42), which, incidentally, has in recent years become the shrine of Sir Roger Gregory and his widow.
This narrative is rather overrunning its time but has been continued so far in order to record the return of much of the Shoreham estates to the Polhills, when Elizabeth, daughter of Sir John Borrett married David Polhill as his third wife, in July 1719. The Preston property, however, passed to Sir John's eldest surviving son, Thomas. (36).
THE SENIOR LINE
The marriage of John Polley, yeoman od Detling and Alice
Buckland of Shoreham and Luddesdown, (about which there has already been much mention and protracted introduction), occurred about 1461, (36 and 49), and was blessed with three sons:-John, Thomas and Christopher, and one daughter Mary Ann. There is some doubt whether Thomas or Christopher was the second son, but the question is of minor significance now. The little that is known of Mary Ann and Christopher is derived from Ann's will of 1515 (37). She left L3 to her brother Christopher, L1.6.0 to brother John and L1 to Richard Polhill of Detling. She appointed Thomas her executor and left him L20. All of which suggests to the late Mr. Polhill-Drabble that Thomas was the senior to Christopher. (54).
John founded the senior line and for many generations it was traditional for the eldest son of this line to bear the name John. It is not on record whom John married but she was very likely Alison, sister to Isolde who married John Molle and was concerned with the stollen beoffs in 1486/93. (68). There are many entries in the Shoreham Church registers to mark the family life at Preston. (59). One John, in the sixth generation, 1611-1651, married Anne, daughter to Sir Edward Gilbourne of Shoreham. He, together with his children, John, Edward and Elizabeth, is commemorated by a rather damaged tablet, now under protective glass on the west wall of the Buckland Chapel.
During the fourth generation the estate of Franchise or Frenches in Burwash, Sussex, was acquired and both estates were maintained by the family until the seventh generation, when, as has already been told, John Polhill, who died June 3rd. 1689, sold the Shoreham estates to Paul D'Aranda.
The Shoreham and Burwash registers record the life of the senior line there until the 18th century, when the family again moved, this time to Howbury Hall, Bedford, (49) where the head of the family now resides.
The senior line has produced many distinguished citizens but having now passed out of the County of Kent, their story has passed out of the scope of this record. considerable research into the history of the senior line has been conducted by Mr. Alec V. Polhill, descendant of Capt. Frederick Polhill, M.P. of Howbury Hall. (1798-1848), who hopes, in due time, to publish his findings. In the meantime some brief notes about some of the principal characters of this line are given in the sections headed "The Polhills and the Church" (page 46), "The Polhills and the Army" (page 52), "The Polhills in Parliament" (page 55) and in the separate chapter headed "The Polhill senior line" (page 63).
THE KENTISH LINES
The Kentish lines proper descended from the brother of John, i.e. Thomas. He married Joan Miller of Chelsfield. (36).
The Millers were an important family and the ancestors of the Saronets of Hosemayles, Crouch, near Wrotham, and of the Millers of Buckland,Surrey, afterwards of Sandon, Herts. There were four marriages between the Millers and the Polhills.
Thomas and Joan had five sons:-John, Thomas, David, Robert and William, and one daughter Agnes, who married Sir George Milton of St. Cleres, Ightham. Thomas died in 1528 and his will, which is Appendix B1, shOws him to have possessed property in Shoreham, Knockholt, Brasted, Sundridge and Orpington as well as the farm at Detling. Hasted regards him as the founder of four distinct lines through his sons, viz:-Shoreham, Wrotham, Otford and Tonbridge, - but their records are by no means so clear cut as to justify such classification.
THE SHOREHAM LINE
John, the eldest son, lived at Shoreham Castle and married Agnes, (surname unknown) on November 2nd. 1572. They had three sons:- Robert, Thomas and Abraham. Robert's descendants moved to Burwash. Thomas lived at Berghurst, which is an old spelling for Burwash. Abraham stayed at Goddington, in Shoreham, and dying in 1624 left a widow, Alice, a son Edward and three daughters. The wills of Abraham and Alice are in Appendix B6 and B7.
Thomas, the second son of Thomas and Joan, is regarded as the founder of the Wrotham line, but all his roots and those of his family seem to have remained in Shoreham. In the centre of this front step to the chancel of Shoreham Church is a brass plate which reads:-
"Here lyeth Thomas Polhyll who deceased the xxth. daye of February 1588 and Annes his wife, daughter of William Plumly of Otford and had issue five by her one sonne and four daughters, which Annes deceased the -- daye of--whose soule is in God."
Stowe records that in 1593 'there is a space for the daye and yeare of her death because she was now lyving when I took this'. The well-meant effort of economy which Anne attempted when she honoured her husband's memory rebounded upon herself, for the gaps have never been filled. The registers contain an entry for Agnes, widowe of Thomas Polhill, deceased, under date December 28, 1602, which might very well refer to her. In addition to the brass strip there are two indentations in the stone which suggest that the inscription was once accompanied by a figured and an armorial shield, both of which have since disappeared. (11)
The son of Thomas and Anne or Agnes was also named Thomas. He married Elizabeth Daniel of Farningham. Their only son, also names Thomas, was Knighted in 1619 and married Elizabeth, daughter of Sir George Byng and Catherine Hewet, both of Wrotham. When his end came Sir Thomas chose to be interred at Shoreham. Their children also were buried in Shoreham Church, and the inscribed black marble slabs lie in the chancel beneath the choir stalls. Thomas, described as
"being politely learned, affable and a bachelor" died 9th February 1667 aged 54, and lies on the north side next to his sister Elizabeth
"pious and to this church munificent, died a virgin "29th July 1686 aged 72"
Her munificence to Shoreham has escaped record but as one of the bells in Otford's belfry bears the inscription
"O.I.H. made me.-This bell was given by Elizabeth Polhill and heare placed August ye 7.1674 aged 60 yeares". (61)
It is very possible that part of her munificence to Shoreham were to two bells there hanging dated 1672 and 1675. she also gave a communion platter to Orpington Church in 1682. The platter is inscribed
"The gift of Mrs. Elizabeth Polley, daughter of Sir Thomas
Polley of Shoreham in Kent, Knight. Orpington Parish." and also bears the Polhill arms in a lozenge. (63).
It is difficult to explain the choice of Orpington for her generosity but it is possible that there was a Polhill family then living in Orpington. The parish registers there record the baptism on 2nd. August 1569 of Oswolde, son of Thomas Polley(63). Nothing is known at present of this connexion. It must also be remembered that there was some association with the Cawstons of that place, one of whom married Elizabeth's distant cousin John of the Otford Line.
Also on the north side of Shoreham chancel lie the mortal remains of Sir George Polhill (1612-1678), with a latin inscription which might be freely rendered as follows:-
"A man born of an ancient house, a house built on honest endeavour. Given to moderation and courtesy, an eminent soldier, very learned in the knowledge of God zealous in liberality to the poor, a very lovable person. Weary of abundance yet seeking renown, (he yearned to benefit all men) he exchanged a life of trouble for one of fame and died 19th October 1678 aged 66. Reader, make him your example."
His wife, Margaret, daughter of George Shires of Great Sokenhams, Surrey, who died 30. 8.1682, lies on the opposite side of the choir stalls. Her stone is very much worn and it is almost impossible to decipher more than a few words of a long inscription. "excellency of wit and wisdom: endowments of body; duty, honour and virtue" are among the words discernible. Other stones nearby include one in memory of Frances, "late wife of Thomas Polley, gent, mother of George, only son, who died 30th January 1685, aged 30". The church registers tell us that she was "buried in linnen and 50/- distributed among the poor" but neither she nor George can be associated with any Thomas in the pedigree. Her stone is partly covered by the choir stalls but the last two lines of a poem read:-
"Sweet temper, goodness, pietie
These, these embalm her memory."
The three sons of Sir Thomas Polhill and Elizabeth Byng died without issue and this branch (called the Wrotham branch by Hasted) became extinct.
The Shoreham parish registers bear eloquent testimony to the sincerity and good feeling of the Polhills living in Shoreham and Wrotham towards the other residents of the parish. There are frequent records in the baptismal registers of the Polhills standing as godparents not only to the young members of their own family but also to many more humble children of the parish. (59)
The third son of Thomas and Joan Miller was David, who founded the long Otford line. First of all it would perhaps be best to discuss the younger brothers and sister, Robert, William and Agnes, whose importance to the succession is of less significance.
Of Robert, little so far is known. In the visitation of 1619 he is described as 'of Ightham'. (66). He died 11th December 1596 at Shoreham and left sons William and George and a daughter Joan.
IGHTHAM. THE MULTONS.
Agnes Polhill married George Multon. This George was son of Robert Multon of Otford, described in the visitation of 1619 as a generous contributor to the county of Kent. The late Rev. Dr. John Hunt, vicar of Otford, (40), paraphrasing William Lambarde, records that when King Henry VIII came to Otford to confer about the division of part of the manor lands, this Robert Multon "set before him the whole business of a miracle working image of St. Bartholomew in the church at Otford. When a woman wished for a son she offered to the image a cockerel and when a daughter a hen, and thus the priest of Otford managed to purvey to himself all the poultry in the neighbourhood, the country women being as stupid as the capons they brought." Robert Multon prevailed so far in favour that shortly after, the king commanded Saint Bartholomew to be taken down and to be delivered unto him.
The burial of Robert's wife (nee Joan Michell of Surrey) is recorded in the Shoreham registers on 25th. November 1558 and of Robert himself on the 2nd. January 1559. (59).
The existing Otford registers contain no records of the Multon family although three generations are said in the visitation to have been 'of Otteford'. The south aisle of Otford church is reputed to have been erected at the expense of the Multon family.
The only suitable residence which could have housed the Multons in Otford was Broughtons. There is a gap of 153 years, covering the Multon period, in the available deeds of that property. Robert is referred to as a tenant of the Lord of the Manor in a survey of 1540.
George Multon, his son, was granted demesne lands when Queen Elizabeth divided up the Manor of Otford, (36), but he made his home at Ightham. The memorials in Ightham Church give some evidence. In the centre aisle is a brass, reading:-
"---intyred George Multon, Esquier, Justice of the Peace, and ---ian well learned in the lawes of the land, doing good ---hurte to none, being of the age of 85 yeares. and Agnes, daughter to Thomas Polhill and had issue by her 2 sonnes and ---daughters. He deceased the 25 day of Maye in the yere of Our Lord 1588 and Agnes his wife deceased the daye ---, whose soule resteth with the Lord."
The gaps in the inscription indicate the covering of the brass by the flooring of the pews. From the visitation we can say the date was 23rd. September 1591.
Low down on the wall behind the font is a small gravestone with moulded edge and arched top, of which the left-hand corner has disappeared. It is said to have been broken off to make room for a staircase erected there to give access to the gallery at the west end of the church. (35). Only three fragments of the brass strips which were originally on this stone now remain. One, at the top, bears an engraved figure, query a bird. Half a strip across the middle of the stone reads
----------Lambarde of Lincoln
----------by George Multon
----------Agnes Polhill his wife.
----------
Halsted, who was able to see the brass before the damage was done, tells us that it commemorates Jane, the daughter of Agnes and George Multon. She was first wife to William Lambarde (1536-1601). Her early death in 1573 prevented her from participating in "A Perambulation of Kent" which William published in 1576, and from enjoying, as his second wife, Silvestia Dalison, nee Deane was able to do, his election to the bench of Gray's Inn in 1578, to master of Chancery 1592, to Keeper of the Rolls in Chancery Lane and Justice of the Peaced in 1597, and Keeper of the Records in the Tower of London in 1600. (22). This last important position was occupied by David Polhill in the first half of the 18th. century and will be described later on, but it may be mentioned at this point that when Lambarde presented Queen Elizabeth with his calendar of all the rolls, bundles, membranes and parcels which she had given into his charge at the Tower, she put then book into her bosom and remarked "Farewell, good and honest Lambarde". (48). The royal lady must surely have been wearing her second-best blouse on that day for there would not have been room in the dress she is usually depicted in.
The Multon property of St. Cleres, Aldham, Ightham passed to Jane's brother George who died August 19, 1618. He married Audrea, daughter to Robert Richard of Wrotham, who died in 1638 and left a son Robert who married Deborah, daughter of Sir Henry Wetenall of Peckham and died August 12, 1644. The Lambarde memorials were originally at Greenwich but were moved to Sevenoaks on the rebuilding of Greenwich Old Church. (22).
TONBRIDGE.
The youngest son of Thomas and Joan, William, is credited with the founding of the Tonbridge line, but he should also be credited with the Chatham and Maidstone branches as well.
Together with other lands, not yet identified, William inherited from his father in 1529 (see Appendix B1) at the age of 21 the tenement called Polhill in Detling subject to lease for life to Richard Polhill of Detling. This suggests an association with the kindred of the John Polley who left Detling to found the Family. The descent is not definite but from wills (see Appendix B 2,3,4 and 5) there were at least four brothers, Edmond (1554), William (1564), Richard (1609) and John (1616) still in Pilpotts a bow, curiously enamelled and studded, which was said to have belonged to that Queen. (42)
Richard and Sindonia had a son, William, and, if the entries in the Leigh registers of the baptisms of children of Richard Polhill of Tonbridge refer to the same Richard, they had another son, Thomas (1591) and two daughters, one unnamed in 1586 and Barbara in 1593.
William married Elizabeth, daughter of William Codde of Wateringbury, Maidstone, to whom were born a son, also William (1613) and three daughters, Agnes, Hester and Catherine. This son William married Elizabeth, nee Marsh, widow of Paul Lukyn of Sandwich and Deal who died in 1670.(36) Her will forms Appendix B8.
The association of the Polhills with Tonbridge appears to have undergone a temporary lapse and was not resumed until 1623 when the manor of Hadlow was purchased by one of the Otford line and will be referred to when that part of the story is reached. According to Hasted the descendants of the youngest son of Thomas and Joan were living in Maidstone and Chatham in 1782. Further research is necessary to establish any record of the Polhills at Chatham, but there are distinguished traces of the family services to Maidstone.
MAIDSTONE.
About the year 1656, a William Polhill was acting for the Protector Oliver Cromwell, as the instrument for raising money from Royalist opponents of the new regime. By the device known as 'Compounding', owners of estates which had been sequestrated for loyalty to Charles I could redeem them by the payment to the Commonwealth of a sum equal to half their value.(68). One of the Commissioners appointed to receive moneys on this account was a William Polhill (sic) of Maidstone. (29). In Robert Goodsall's book on the annals of 'Stede Hill' (1949) is facsimile of a Parliamentary demand upon Dr. William Stede of Harrietsham to pay to this William Polhill the sum of L60.16.0 yearly as from the 17th, April 1656 until the sum of L5404.5.0 had been remitted or the tax removed. This seems a strange role for a Polhill who are invariably King's men. Was it the William who married Mrs. Lukyn?
In 1740, the will of Richard Polhill, linendraper of Maidstone was proved. The drapers were one of the five guilds which developed the trade of Maidstone, the others being the Artificers, Victuallers, Mercers and Cordwainers. (57). Richard was a man of substance for he left his real estate in equal share to his three sons, see Appendix B9.
In 1759 and 1767 Maidstone elected Polhills for the office of Mayor: Daniel in the first named year and David for the second.
Perhaps the most distinguished Maidstone Polhill was the William Polhill who was headmaster of the Grammar School from 1764 to 1777. His services are thus described by the Rev. Frank Streatfeild in his history of the School (64):-
"The appointment now reverted to the original governors, the borough Council established under the newcharter of 1747, and they made a choice unique in the history of the school by electing an old Maidstonian, the Rev William Polhill, B.A. a pupil of Russell's and Gunsley scholar.* He was the son of Richard Polhill of Maidstone and entered University College 26th October 1754, matriculating at the age of 18 and taking his degree four years later. He was made Head master by the order of the Burhmote 9th April 1764 and is described as 'now of this town. His arms were those of the Kentish Polhills viz:-or, on a bend gules three cross crosslets of the field; crest: out of a mural crown, argent, a fawn's head between two branches of oak, fructed, proper.
Soon after his appointment he obtained permission to make considerable structural alterations in the Old Hall. It was divided up into classrooms, and a roof made below the clerestory window, thus affording space for bedrooms which seem now to have been required by the arrival of boarders. This arrangement can hardly meet with the approval from the architectural student, and the taking of pupils from outside was a departure from the original purpose of the school; but is certainly marks the beginning of a wider influence and usefulness for the old foundation and shows an adaptability rare in those days.
After holding office for thirteen years, Polhill resigned in 1777 and eventually died at Albury, near Guildford on March 4th, 1822 at the great age of 86.
*the school was founded by the Corporation in 1549. The Rev. Robert Gunsley, rector of Titsey, Surrey, who died 11th November 1618, left the tithes of Flamstead in Hertforshire to University College, Oxford, for four scholars, natives of Kent: two chosen from Maidstone school and two from the Grammar School, Rochester; Scholars of his name and kindred to be given preference.
In the same work are references to Robert Polhill, Gunsley exhibitioner of 1750 and William Polhill, like wise of 1785. These two are in all probability the Robert who became Rector of Goudhurst from July 1759 to June 1801, and his son William who became rector of Hadleigh, Essex 1792 to 1802, and through the marriage of his daughter Sarah with the Rev. William Douthwaite founded the Tonbridge family of Douthwaite.
Among the pupils of William Polhill were John Gambier, son of the Lieut-Governor of the Bahamas, Samuel Egerton Brydges, second son of Edward Brydges, James Jefferys, son of the artist whose painting of the Last Supper long formed the altar-piece in All Saints Church.
Phineas Pett, son of John Pett, of Maidstone.
Further reference to these reverend gentlemen will be found in the section headed "The Polhills and the Church."
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