The Hampshire Family Historian | Vol.48 No.1 | June 2021

Member’s article

Back a bit further One of the advantages of belonging to a family history society is that if you are able to contribute in some way – writing a note for this journal, (especially if you live outside of the county and cannot get to meetings), or giving a talk at a meeting, other members get to know your needs and send information from sources which might have been missed. Much of the early records I have in my own family history, have been sent to me by other members and friends. The HEIGHES family history, obtained mainly from the parish records of East Worldham and Selborne goes back to Edward, whose will was made in 1684 and who died in 1689 and although no information has been found which allows a tree to be extended any further back than this, other information has given a strong indication of what the earlier tree might be, together with links with other branches of the family with no male heirs, which died out in the 17th and 18th centuries. The readable parish records for East Worldham go back to 1690, but I once gave a talk to a ladies group in the village, when one of the members, who said that her husband had been Churchwarden, gave me a list of Churchwardens he had compiled, which showed members of the Heighes family too had been Churchwardens during the period 1627 to 1785, a valuable confirmation of which members of the family were living in East Worldham at a particular time. A most remarkable piece of research was provided by Jane Hurst, Group Leader of the Alton Group, who had found many references to the Heighes family in documents held in the

Curtis Museum in Alton. The earliest with the same spelling (there were earlier “might be’s”), was dated 1228, when “Commission of the farm in the vill of Aulton” contained the name of Laurence de Heighes. A document of 1268 concerns John de Heighes and his wife Agnes. Simon de Heighes, a son of Simon de Heighes was born in 1338 and in 1427, John de Heyghes died, his son and heir being John de Heyghes. A tree for the continuation of this line in Bindsted, can be constructed from the bequests made in wills. The earliest will we have is that of Henry, of Hay Place, Binsted, dated 1530. Bequests are made to send to school, “Harry, my brother’s son and Harry CLIFTON my sister’s son.” Also are revealed Henry’s two brothers, Edmund and Richard. The will states that Henry expects his brother Edmund would live at Hay Place. (In the wills, the house is always referred to as Hay Place, not Heigh Place as in the Victoria County Histories) It is probable that the Harry whose schooling benefitted from this will, is the Henry Heighes of Benstede, whose will is dated January 1559, stating that he made his will “at my going to Spain” This mentions his mother-in- law but no wife or children. Bequests were made to his brothers, Myles and Thomas and his sisters Elizabeth and Jone, who was likely to marry Robert LAKE . He then names the children of his brother Richard, the principal beneficiary being Henry. It was a cousin with whom I share a 3 X great- grandfather, Paul Kite, who discovered in The History of Parliament, The Commons, that Henry Heighes of Binsted (will of 1559), had

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