The Hampshire Family Historian | Vol.48 No.3 | December 2021

Member’s article

household goods plus a further £200 if son Richard died without issue. So, following his death later in 1724, the Court Baron records note that Martha is ‘next taker’ of Richard Attneave’s three copyhold estates in Nether Wallop. After the death of both Richard Attneaves, Martha now had the money to secure her son’s future and in 1726 she paid £145 to buy the copyhold. However, when she then married William BATT of Nether Wallop she forfeited the estates she had gained as Richard’s widow. In the 1742 copyhold entry Isaac paid to change the three people named on the copyhold to himself and his two elder children (Martha and Sarah). Their surnames are recorded as ‘Horlock alias Gearle’. In 1752 he converted the copyhold into an Indenture of Lease for 99 years which presumably gave him more rights and signed as ‘Isaac Horlick alias Gearl. In 1758, the farmland in the original copyhold was let to Richard COWDRY , although Isaac still appears to be in the farmhouse: First the said Thomas Gatehouse agrees to let the said Richard Cowdery all that One Yard lands with appurtances thereof excepting the Farm House and garden situate and lying and being in a Common Field called Cossation Common in Nether Wallop aforesaid and known by the name of Penbridges late in the possession of Isaac Horlock alias Gearle and now in the occupation of the said Richard Cowdery for the term of 4 years from the feast of St. Michael the Archangel next ensuing the date thereof at and under the yearly rent of £13 clear of all taxes and other deductions whatever except the land tax and quit rent of

all the said premises ….. etc. By 1759, Thomas GATEHOUSE had taken over the lease with Isaac and his elder daughter as the other two lives: The Most Honourable Charles Marquis of Winchester by virtue of a letter of attorney from his Grace Harry Duke of Bolton bearing date the 11th May 1759 by George Durnford gentleman his steward contracted with Thomas Gatehouse Esquire of Lower Wallop in the County of Southampton .That for the surrender of a Lease dated 18th July 1752 whereby Isaac Horlock als Gearle holds a customary tenement and yard land with the appurtances in Lower Wallop called Penbridges for the residue of a term of 99 years if the said Isaac Horlock als Gearle and Martha his daughter should so long live. And for the fine of £25 secured to be paid at Michaelmass next he the said Marquis of Winchester is to demise by lease the said premises to the said Thomas Gatehouse. To hold to the said Thomas Gatehouse for 99 years if he the said Thomas Gatehouse (36), the said Isaac Horlock als Gearle (41) and the said Martha (18) his daughter shall so long live by yearly rent of 10s 9d. The book “Behind the Scenes - A History of Nether Wallop” states that Penbridges farmhouse was converted into a replacement Five Bells Pub and was occupied by Isaac Gearle around 1777. This would make a lot of sense and give Isaac a means of living without working the land. However, records of the sale by Sir Thomas Gatehouse in 1777 of all his lands and leaseholds seem to dispute this, as Penbridges and The Five Bells Pub (let to Thomas VERNON ) are listed separately:

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