THE FARNCOMBES are a Saxon family, taking their name from Varncombe, an estate in the parish of Patcham, Sussex. In the 15th Edw. III, Henry de Farncombe of Blatchington, made the return of the ninth sheaf, &c., for that parish.1 In 1402, Roger Farncomb was M.P. for Shoreham : and in the same century (1456) Simon de Farncombe was a merchant in Winchelsea, and his widow, the heiress of John Godfrey, endowed the Farncombe chantry.

The family have continued to occupy the station of yeomen in the county. At the election in 1705, William Farncomb of Heathfield, Joseph Farncomb of Patcham, and Richard Farncomb of Bexhill, voted as freeholders: and in the present year, 1850, Alderman Thomas Farncomb, who was born at Hollington, and who was, in early life, a banker at Hastings, is Lord Mayor of London; bearing for his arms: Vert, on a cheveron engrailed between three cinque-foils, or. as many gryphon's heads, erased, sable: and for his crest, A cockatrice's head couped sable, combed and wattled, or. between two wings of the first, each charged with a cinque-foil of the second: motto; Leges ac jura servare.

A large majority of the other families, to whom places were assigned at the foundation of New Winchelsea, cannot now be traced, and the names of many have become extinct. Some, however, such as the Austins, the Colyns, the Coopers, the Dawes, the Martins, and the Mots, have remained in connection with the town down to a recent period; whilst others, such as the Beneyts, the Campions, the Crouches, the Lambs, the Melewards, the Popes, the Pennifathers, and the Wytings, are still to be found in the neighbouring towns and parishes of Sussex and Kent.

MANOR OF HIGHAM, AND CASTLE AND
HAVEN OF CAMBER.

HIGHAM. The manor of Higham, which was obtained by Edw. I from Wm. de Grandison and Isabella his wife, extends into the several parishes of St. Thomas, Winchelsea, on both sides of the modern harbour of Rye, St. Leonard, Winchelsea, and into parts of Icklesham, of Broomhill, and Pett. It is intimately mixed up with the history and prosperity of Winchelsea. The kings usually held it in their own hands; and the King's bailiffs of the manor of Higham were bailiffs of Winchelsea, and generally of Rye. The manor and the royal dues of the town of Winchelsea were, however, granted by Edw. I, as part of her appanage, to his wife Eleanor.1 Edw. II granted them to his Queen Isabella for her life. And, in 4th Edw. III, there were granted (inter alia) to Bartholomew de Burghersh, Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports, for his life,3 the marsh of Iham and the town

of Winchelsea, worth in the whole, £95 a year, for the maintenance of a chaplain, of the watch, and of a carpenter in the castle of Dover. In the reign of Henry VII, however, the king's property was alienated from the Crown to Sir RICHARD GULDEFORD, Knt., who was one of the Chamberlains of the Exchequer, Master of the Ordnance and of the Armory, Keeper of the King's Manor of Kennington,1 and one of the King's Counsellors.

2 Cal. Rot. Orig., vol. 2, p. 36.

4 Rot. Parl., vol. 6, p. 354 b.

1

By letters patent, 6th Oct., 2 Hen. VII, (1486) and 17th Jan., 21 Hen. VII, the grant was made to Sir Richard Guldeford, Knt., and the heirs male of his body lawfully begotten, of the lordship or manor of Higham; and also the office of bailiff of the town of New Winchelsea, of which town the ground and area were anciently parcel of the aforesaid lordship and manor of Higham, otherwise Iham ; and the rents of assize of all and singular free tenants and bondmen, residents and non-residents; and with the custom of ships and fishing boats, called shares; and with the custom of divers merchandizes, as well arriving by water as brought by land; and also the custom of wood for tanning, corn, &c.; and also lastage, stallage, &c.; and also fines, forfeitures, and amerciaments of bakers, maltsters, and other victuallers whatsoever; and for trespasses against the peace; and the chattels of felons, &c.; waifs, strays, and all fees, &c., to the office of bailiff belonging; also the creek called the Camber, otherwise Wenway; and all those marshes, fresh and salt, and lands, &c., called the Camber Marsh, and the Camber Salts, and the Camber Beach, and the Camber and Wenway Sands; and the creek, called the Puddle; and the advowsons and free dispositions of the churches of St. Thomas and St. Giles; and also all and singular messuages, mills, &c., with all the rights, members, and appurtenances to the lordship or manor, office of bailiff, messuages, &c., belonging.

On 10th April, 1610, (8th James) in consideration of £20, Sir Henry Guldeford, Knt., and his heirs male, had a grant2 of the same estates, to hold in as ample a manner as Sir Richard Guldeford, deceased, had held them, yielding yearly a fee farm rent of £20 to Queen Anne for her life, and after her death into the public Exchequer. The Guldeford family had their principal seat at Hempstead, in Kent. They bore for their arms: 3 Or. a saltier, between four martlets, sa.

1 Holloway's Romney Marsh, p. 154, where there is a full description of the lands, &c., granted.

2 Charter, Penes W. D. C.

3 See wood cut, ante p. 168.

Their pedigree is to be found in the Harl. MSS., 5507, p. 250. On the 8th January, 1662, (13 Charles II) Edward Guldeford, Esq., obtained a grant of these estates to himself and his heirs and assigns, without the limitation to his heirs male, to hold as of the manor of East Greenwich in free and common soccage, and not in chief, at a fee farm rent of £20.1 And in 1663, he sold the whole, with the exception of Camber farm,2 to JOHN CARRYLL of Harting, who bore for his arms: Ar.

three bars sa. in chief as many martlets of the last: and for a crest, On a mount vert, a stag, lodged, reguardant, ar. His grandson, John Caryll, sold and spent all his property. In 1762, he joined with his mortgagees in selling this Higham and Winchelsea estate, including the office of the bailiff, the patronage of the churches, &c., to Charles O'Brien Earl of Egremont: and, in 1787, his son, George O'Brien

1 This fee farm rent is now the property of the Hon. - Herbert, and is paid in the proportions following: Mr. William Longley, Camber farm, £6 12s.; Rev. T. S. Curteis £2 18s.; Mrs. Curteis (late) £1 10s.; the same £3 8s. 4d.; devisees of the late Mr. William Croughton £2 4s.; Mrs. Curteis, Mr. John Stonham, Mr. Mortimer, and Mr. Thomas Mills, £3 7s. 8d. Total £20. Holloway's Romney Marsh, 162.

2

Among the private acts of 10th Anne, 1711-2, No. 15, is an act for the sale of the manor of Hempstead and other lands in the counties of Kent and Sussex, the estate of Sir Robert Guldeford, Bart., for the payment of debts, and for settling Camber farm and other lands in the county of Sussex, to the same uses as Hempstead manor then stood settled. Camber farm was subsequently alienated, and is now the property of Mr. William Longley.

Earl of Egremont, exchanged them for the manor of Wig

gonholt with SIR WILLIAM
ASHBURNHAM, Bart., then
Bishop of Chichester, whose
family property was at
Broomham, in Guestling.
The Ashburnham estates in
Winchelsea have been since
sold
to various persons.
The manor of Higham, with
all its rights and royalties,
together with the Castle of
Camber, the office of Bailiff
of the town, the Kings rent's
there, the town hall, &c., was
purchased in 1834 by the

late HERBERT BARRETT CURTEIS, Esq., and is now the property of his only son, Herbert Mascall Curteis, Esq.

They bear for their arms:

Ar. a chev. sa. betw. three bulls heads, cabossed, gu.: and for their crest, A unicorn, passant, or. betw. four trees proper.

A new church in the early English style was built in 1848-9, in that part of the manor of Higham and parish of Icklesham, which lies on the west side of the mouth of Rye harbour. The architect was Mr. Samuel S. Teulon.1

1 Under his direction the chancels of the old church at Icklesham have

been restored, and two new eastern windows put in.