The Hampshire Family Historian | Volume 50 No.3 | Dec 2023

Local Group Programmes

a lump sum. This was registered for three lives e.g. wife, eldest son or even youngest son. Life was reckoned to be 33 years so a lease was a 99-year lease. Most copyhold could be bought and sold, inherited by relatives, willed, etc. Leasehold Tenure was held by means of a lease issued by the landlord. These were usually long leases of 99 or 125 years but could be 21 years or less. If the leaseholder(s) died, a new leaseholder could be inserted for a fee but this was not registered in the manorial court. A reversion of the lease happened when a tenant gave the lease back to the landlord. Before the introduction of secret ballots, if the landlord was the MP, he could ask for the lease to be returned if his tenant did not vote for him! Freehold This has existed since 1696 and a list was held by parish vestries. In cities and towns, the list was held by the county Clerk of the Peace. This list was used to identify jurors, i.e. men between 21 and 70 with freeholds worth at least 40 shillings per annum. In 1825, the qualifications changed to £10 pa for leaseholds of 21 years’ worth rentability and occupation of a house with 15 windows or more. In 1873, a Return of Freeholders was published for the whole country. The lists are held in the Quarter Session Records at County Record Offices. In 1862, this was replaced by the Land Registry but was not compulsory as it is now. This was a very informative and well researched talk and Jane recommended a website for terminology found in leases - sophialambert.com/devon-documents-glossary.htm (August) Visit to Stratfield Saye – Home of the Duke of Wellington On a lovely afternoon in August members of the Group visited the home of the Duke of Wellington to the north of Basingstoke. Stratfield Saye was a gift to Arthur Wellesley, the first Duke of Wellington, from a grateful nation after the Battle of Waterloo. It has been the home of the family since 1817 and is currently occupied by the 9th Duke. We enjoyed a comprehensive tour of the house, explored the grounds and also saw the funeral carriage of the 1st Duke and the burial site of Copenhagen, his horse at Waterloo. (September) Maps for Family History – Laurie Page Laurie started his talk by outlining the importance of maps in showing where our ancestors were born and where they moved to during their lifetime and across generations. A major resource was The Phillimore Atlas & Index of Parish Registers which contains topographical and parish maps for each county plus details of research material and where to find it. He spoke about the different versions of the London A to Z – a Victorian one for 1888, Regency for 1813, Georgian for 1740, Restoration for 1676 and Elizabethan for 1559. The Charles Booth poverty map, covering the years 1898/9, coloured each street according to the financial situation of the families living there. The colours ranged from black for lowest ‘vicious, semi criminal’ class to orange for the wealthiest. He also covered OS maps which started in 1834, tithe maps and indexes generally available in County Archives, Cassini Maps, Alan Godfrey maps and many more useful sources. Laurie then used the British 19th Century Surname Atlas CD to look up the historical (1881) distribution of names requested by group members.

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