The history of the Evelyn family, with a special memoir of William John Evelyn, M. P.

Preface

In publishing this little work on the Evelyn Family, I am aware that it is very far from complete. To make it so, many more papers and documents both at the British Museum and the Record Office would have to be gone through. Notwithstanding this, however, I have decided to publish it as it is, with the consolation that it may be a slight help to any possible future historian of the family In most previous accounts of the family many facts are mentioned wjthout the references which would prove them, and in compiling this work I have endeavoured to avoid this error, carefully stating my authority whenever necessary. There still remain many interesting papers at Wotton which have not been gone through, and it is to be hoped that some day some enterprising member of the family may feel an inclination to do so. The title-deeds of Wotton might also afford some valuable information. In conclusion, let me say that I am much indebted to Miss Fairbrother of 5 Manor Place, Paddington Green, for her assistance with regard to the connection (or rather non-connection as it has proved) of the Evelyns with Shropshire, and also for her researches in regard to the Chamberlain and Shee pedigrees.

H. E.

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

John Evelyn of Wotton (the Diarist) . . . .Frontispiece

From a portrait by Sir G. Kneller (1689). facing page

Richard Evelyn of Wotton (1 579-1646), father of the Diarist . . 30

Eleanor Standsfield, wife of Richard Evelyn . . . 34

From a portrait by Vanderborcht.

Mary Browne, aged 4 years, wife of " Sylva " Evelyn . . .88

Elizabeth Evelyn, granddaughter of John Evelyn, wife of Simon

William Evelyn of St. Clere (1 686-1 766), son of George Evelyn of

Jane, daughter of Benjamin Mead, first wife of Richard Evelyn of

Margaret Chamberlain (17 18-1776), wife of William Evelyn, Dean

William Glanville Evelyn (1741-1776) ..... 230

From a portrait by Sir M. Archer-Shee. George Evelyn of Wotton (1791-1829) ..... 246

Mary Jane Massy-Dawson (1 801-1896), wife of George Evelyn . 252

Mary Jane Massy-Dawson ...... 258

From a painting on ivory by Sir W. Newton, in the possession of Mrs. E. Wyndham Bailey.

Wotton House (from the North) . . . . . .282

Mrs. George Evelyn and her Children ..... 292

Mr. and Mrs. Dennis, of Jamaica, with their Children . . . 296

From a portrait by Sant in 1884.

William John Evelyn, M.P. . . . . . • 382

From a portrait by Havell.

William John Evelyn, M.P. . . . . ' . -45©

Frances Evelyn (1719-1805), wife of Admiral Boscawen . • 502

Sarah Evelyn (1735-1826), daughter of William Evelyn of St. Clere . 566

Part I The Family Of Evelyn

Traditional descent — The French family of Evelin — First English settlers — Their early history — George Evelyn of Long Ditton — His family .......

Part II The Wotton Branch Of The Evelyn Family

Richard Evelyn of Wotton

His history— Petition to Charles I — His will — Family — George Evelyn— Family letters— Improvements at Wotton— Correspondence—Will — Woodcote Park— Baynards . . • -9

John Evelyn, Author of Sylva

Early years — Travels — List of published works — Correspondence — Prayers — His last will — Mary Browne, wife of John Evelyn — Her children — Princess Henrietta — Dr. Bohun's "Character of Mrs. Evelyn" — Correspondence — Death — Her will — Children of John Evelyn — His account of his eldest son — Mary — Elizabeth— Susannah . . . . . -63

John Evelyn, Son of "Sylva" Evelyn

Early years — Education — The Great Plague of London — Travels —

Correspondence with his father — His poems — His children . 133

CHAPTER IV

John Evelyn (afterwards Sir John Evelyn, ist Bart.)

Education — Marriage — M.P. for Helston — Correspondence — His

CONTENTS

PAGE

CHAPTER V Sir John Evelyn, 2nd Bart.

Family history — Correspondence — His children * . .178

CHAPTER VI Sir Frederick Evelyn, 3RD Bart.

Early life — Marriage — Catalogue of Wotton Library . . .185

CHAPTER VII Sir John Evelyn, 4TH Bart.

Family history — Death, 1833 ...... 189

CHAPTER VIII

Sir Hugh Evelyn, 5TH Bart.

Early life and marriage — Memoir — His death and will — Last direct

male descendant of Sylva Evelyn .... 190

Part III The Godstone Branch Of The Evelyn Family

John Evelyn of Kingston, Godstone, West Dean, and Everley

Early history and marriage — Litigation — West Dean — His children . 197

Sir John Evelyn of Godstone, Second Son of John Evelyn of Kingston

Early life and marriage — Knighted by Charles I — His will — Children — Sir J. Evelyn of Lee Place — Marden Park — Litigation — George Evelyn of Nutfield — His marriage — Will — Children — Richard Evelyn of Dublin — Family by first and second marriages — William Evelyn, Dean of Emly — His career — Family ....... 202

John Evelyn, Second Son of William Evelyn, Dean of Emly, Devisee of Lady Evelyn

Early life — India — Marriage — Correspondence — Will — Correspondence of Anne Evelyn, his wife — Children — George Evelyn at Waterloo — Correspondence — His marriage — Athenaeum Club — Further correspondence— Dr. Arnold — Death and children . 233

PART VIII THE EVELYNS IN AMERICA Robert Evelyn . . . . . . . 530 APPENDICES

Appendix I. The Ibelins of Syria, Cyprus, and Normandy . . 539

„ II. The Evelyns in Shropshire . . . 551

„ III. Account of the Shee Family . . . '556

„ IV. Account of the Chamberlain Family . . -559

„ V. The Evelyns of St. Clere, Kent . . . .561 „ VI. Pedigree of the Massy Family .... 569

„ VII. Pedigree of the Chichester Family . . . 570

FAMILY PEDIGREES

1. Abridged predigree of the French family of Evelin . 13

2. Pedigree of the Evelyns of Harrow-on-the-Hill and Kingston . 28

3. Pedigree of the Wotton Branch of the Evelyn Family . . 194

4. Pedigree of the Evelyn Family showing the Wotton and the

Godstone Branch ....... 195

5. Table of descent showing relationship of the Boscawens . . 232

6. Pedigree of the Evelyns of Godstone and later of Wotton . . 488

7. The Evelyns of West Dean and Everley .... 509

9. The Evelyns of Huntercombe ..... 529

11. Pedigree of the Shee Family . ..... 558

12. Pedigree of the Chamberlain Family .... 560

13. The Evelyns of St. Clere . . . . . .568

14. Pedigree of the Massy Family ..... 569

15. Pedigree of the Chichester Family ..... 570

LIST OF AUTHORITIES

THE HISTORY OF THE EVELYN FAMILY

Part I The Family Of Evelyn

The family of Evelyn is traditionally descended from the French family of Evelin. This family took a prominent part in the Crusades, and in fact took its name from Ibelin, a locality in Palestine lying between Joppa and Ascalon.1 A French HeraulcTs Book was brought over to England in 1650 by John Evelyn, author of Sylva, who translated it into English. It relates that a member of the family went to the Holy Land with Robert, Duke of Normandy, and became possessed of Baruth, a seaport. It also states that the Evelins intermarried with the royal families of Jerusalem and Cyprus.2 A member of the family, Henri Evelin, returned to France in 1475 and bought a fief in Normandy which he called " Eveliniere."

In John Evelyn's time the representative of the French Evelyns was Guillaume Evelin, described as " Physician and Counselour to Henry IT, Louis xiii, and Louis xiv."

1 See Appendix L, p. 539, " The Ibclins of Syria, Cyprus, and Normandy."

2 The extract may be found in a book called The Evelyn Family compiled by the Hon. C. G. S. Foljambe, afterwards Earl of Liverpool.

John Evelyn met him in 1670 when he came over to England with Henrietta, Duchess of Orleans, sister to Charles n. The following is an extract from John Evelyn's Diary describing the meeting between them : —

44 May 26, 1670. Receiving a letter from Mr. Philip Howard, Lord Almoner to the Queen, that Monsieur Evelin, first physician to Madame (who was now come to Dover to visit the King her brother) was come to towne, greately desirous to see me, but his stay so short that he could not come to me, I went with my brother to meete him at the Tower, where he was seeing the Magazines and other curiousities, having never before ben in England : we renew'd our alliance and friendship, with much regret on both sides that he being to returne towards Dover that evening, we could not enjoy one another any longer. How this French familie, Evelin, of Evelin in Normandy, a very ancient and noble house, is grafted into our Pedigree, see in the collection brought by me from Paris in 1650."

ABRIDGED PEDIGREE OF THE FRENCH FAMILY OF EVELIN (From the Lignages d'outre Mer of Du Cange)

Balian le Francois, d. about 1 1 55.

= Helvis, daughter and heir of Baldwin, Siegneur of Kama and Mirabel.

Balian d'Ibelin.

I

Jean d'Ibelin, Seigneur de Beirut, d. 1234.

Queen Marie, widow of Amalric I, King of Jerusalem, and niece of the Emperor Manual Comnenus.

Millicent, dau. and heir of the Seigneur d'Arsur.

I

Guy d'Ibelin, Constable of Cyprus, d. 1247.

Balian d'Ibelin, Seneschal of Cyprus, d. about 1306.

Philippa, dau. of Amalric Barlais.

Alix, dau. of the Seigneur de Lambron.

Guy (or Balian) d'Ibelin, Seneschal of Cyprus.

Isabella, dau. of Baldwin d'Ibelin.

d'Ibelin.

Henri Evklin, went to Normandy, 1475. Bought Eveliniere, near Coutances.

Henri Evelin, m. N. St. Gilles.

Guillaume Evelin, went to England in 1489 and never returned.

Jeanne Morie (second wife).

Jean Evelin = lived at Rohan.

I

I

Pierre Evelin = M a r i e d: Fontaines.

John Evelin = Raulins.

Guillaume' Evelin = Jeanne Venot.

Guillaume Evelin = Physician and Counsellor of Henry iv, Louis xiii, and Louis xiv.

Living 1650.

This pedigree of the French Evelyns, which is taken from the Lignages d' outre Mer of Du Cange, differs slightly from another pedigree of the family which John Evelyn brought from France and is included in Lord Liverpool's book. The William Evelyn said to have gone to England in 1489 cannot very well be the ancestor of the English Evelyns, as they were living at Harrow in 1476 (see pedigree, p. 28).

John Evelyn, in a letter to Aubrey, which is prefixed to the latter's History of Surrey, gives the following account of the Evelyn family and their first settlement at Wotton : —

" We have not been at Wotton (purchased of one Owen, a great rich man) above 160 years. My great-grandfather came from Long Ditton (the seat now of Sir Edward Evelyn) where we had been long before ; and to Long Ditton from Harrow-on-the-Hill ; and many years before that from Evelyn near Tower Castle in Shropshire, at what time there transmigrated also (as I have been told) the Onslows and Hattons, from seats and places of those names yet there. There are of our name both in France and Italy, written Ivelyn, Avelin ; and in old deeds I find Avelyn alias Evelyn. One of our name was taken prisoner at the battle of Agincourt. When the Duchess of Orleans came to Dover to see the King (Charles n) one of our race (whose family derives itself from Lusignan, King of Cyprus) claimed relation to us. We have in our family a tradition of a great sum of money that had been given for the ransom of a French lord with which a great estate was purchased ; but these things are all mystical."

No trace of the Evelyn family can be found in Shropshire,1 although the place Evelyn or Evelithe was situated near the village of Shifnall and is marked in ancient maps of the county, but it never belonged to any Evelyns. First it belonged to the De Toret family, then to the family of Corbett, and lastly to the Forsters. Tonge Castle is not far off, and that is probably what John Evelyn meant when he wrote that Evelyn was near Tower Castle, as no castle of the latter name can be found.

1 See Appendix II., p. 551, " The Evelyns in Shropshire."

The first Evelyn recorded is William Avelyn or Evelyn 1 of the Harrow-on-the-Hill, who died in 1476 (reign of Edward iv).

CHILDREN OF WILLIAM EVELYN Roger Evelyn, of whom presently.

Henry Evelyn, living 17 Edward iv (1478), 2 Henry vii (1487) and in 1508, according to Lord Liverpool's book, which, however, gives no references.

ROGER EVELYN

Roger Evelyn of Stanmore, Middlesex, who died in 1508 (reign of Henry vn), is stated to have possessed lands at Harrow-on-the-Hill. According to Lord Liverpool, he was living 17 Edward iv (1478), 1 Henry vn (1486), and 18 Henry vn (1503). His wife was Alice Aylard, an heiress, and she died in 1515 (6 Henry vm). She was executrix to her husband's will, in which he desired to be buried at Stanmore. The will was dated July 28, and proved August 28, 1508. Years later, in 1572, we find the Aylard arms quartered with those of Evelyn in a grant of arms to George Evelyn of Long Ditton.

WILL OF ROGER EVELYN OF STANMORE (P.C.C., Bennett, 4)

" In the name of God Amen, the twenty-eighth day of July Fifteen hundred and eight. I, Roger Evelyn of Stamar the More wl in the Co. Middlesex, make and declare my last Will and Testament in the man and forme following, Firste I bequeath my soule to Almighty God and to His blessed Moder, our Lady Saint Mary, and to all saynts in Heaven and my body to be buried wlin the churchyard of Our Lady of Stamar and my principall to be my mortuary after the manner of the country. Also I bequeath to the highe altar of the

1 According to a MS. " History of the Evelyn Family," by Bray, preserved at Wotton, he is mentioned in the Harrow Court Rolls.

same church for tythes forgotten xvid. Item I bequeath to the high altar of the church of Harrow-on-the-Hill xiid. Item I bequeath to the church of Our Lady of Stamar a redde cowe on her first calfe and the churchwardens to have the latting of the cowe so that the stokke may perpetually contynue to the use of the church. Item I bequeath to the church ii of the best baron ewys that I have. Item I bequeath to our ladys werk at Stanmer lld. Item I bequeath to Alice my wif xx poolleys of bestes a bull, five score of my best schep at hir chose after my burying and moneths mynde. Item I bequeath to my wif viii hors the best of three hors coltes my dettes owing to me and my household stuffe. Item I bequeath to my fowre servantes iche of theym a wayning calf. Item I bequeath to my ii doughters Agnes and Margaret iiii bullockes and to iche of theym xx s. to hir marriage. And the chyle that my wif ys wt all shal have oon bullock and xx s. to the marriage. And if it fayll my wif to have the part thereof. Also I bequeath to my ii sonnes John and Robert all the residue of my bestes schepes not bequeathed andyche of theym a hors colt. Item I bequeath to my ii sonnes a brede of free lond of John Warner lying in the fallowfield and it to be sow this yere w* what of my wiffes proper costes and charge to the profit of my ii sonnes. Item I will that my wif doo deliver to John our heyre wl in twel moneths and a day all the housyng and landes that she hath wtin the parishe of Harrow. And if she doo it not John my son shall shifte half of almanner of goodes that I have bequeathed to her and the goodes aforenamed that I have bequeathed to John my son Robert my son shall have it. Item I bequeath to John my son a grete brasse pot. Item I bequeath to Robert my son a litel brasse pot. Item I will that if any of my children faill iche of theym to be others heyre. Item I bequeath to John Colyn a gray mare. Item I bequeath to Henry Evelyn my brother a bay gilding and a don nagge. Item I will a trentall of masses to be songen for my soule. Item I bequeath xx lode of gravell to the High Way and it to be layd betwixt my gate and William Law is gate where that moost neede ys. The Residue of my goodes not bequeathed I give to Alice my wif. I will and ordeyne to myn executos the same Alice my wif and John Warnar. And he to have vi s. viii d. for his labor. And my wife and he to dispose to the pleasure of God and helthe of my soule. Item I will that Robert Warryn and Henry Evelyn be overseers that my will be fulfilled and that my children have noo wrong. Witnesse that this is my last will Sr Edward Thorp parson John Warner yoman Henry Evelyn husbandman w* many other moo."

(Proved at Lambeth August 28, 1508, by Alice, relict, and John Warnar, executors.)

CHILDREN OF ROGER EVELYN John Evelyn, of whom presently.

Robert Evelyn of East Acton, Middlesex (in the parish of Ch. Acton in the Diocese of Westminster) ; second son, will dated October 16, 1543, proved January 12, 1543-44 ; desires to be buried in Churchyard in Acton. Married Petronilla, executrix to her husband. He had three children — William Evelyn, buried at Acton, September 12, 1543 ; John Evelyn, buried at Acton, November 18, 1539 ; and Margery Evelyn, buried at Acton, March 4, 1541-42.

Agnes Evelyn. . Margaret Evelyn.

JOHN EVELYN of Kingston-on-Thames

John Evelyn of Kingston-on-Thames, eldest son of Roger Evelyn, was the first of the family to settle in Surrey. He lived during four reigns, that of Henry viii, Edward vi, Mary, and Elizabeth. He is mentioned in the will of his brother Robert, which is dated 1543. He was born in 1520. He was a tenant at Kingston of one Peter Bradsey in the reign of Edward vi 1 (1547-53), and was one of two wardens chosen yearly for collecting the sum of £6, 13s. 4d. for maintaining a priest to sing mass in Trinity Chapel, Kingston-

1 Letter of George Evelyn, 1596, to Lord Treasurer Burghley. Dom. S. P., Eliz., vol. 261.

The Report of George Evelyn to Lord Burghley. Dom. S. P., Eliz., vol. 261.

on-Thames, which annuity had been left by one Robert Bradsey. His wife was the daughter and heiress of David Vincent of Long Ditton, Surrey.

Regarding the family of Vincent, Burke says : 44 This ancient family, which appeared to have possessed the manor of Swinford, Co. Leicester, a.d. 1264, removed from the Co. Northampton, wherein it had been established for ages, to the Co. of Surrey, upon the marriage of Thomas Vincent in the reign of Elizabeth, with Jane, only daughter and heiress of Thomas Lyfleld of Stoke d'Abernon."

According to Brayley's History of Surrey, the manor of Long Ditton, which, with other monastic estates, had become the property of the Crown on the suppression of the monastery of St. Mary, Bishopsgate, in 1537, was in 1553 granted by Edward vi to David Vincent, keeper of the wardrobe at Richmond, afterwards one of the gentlemen of his bedchamber, and witness to his will, in which the King bequeathed him a legacy of £100. According to the above-mentioned history, this David was the father of Mrs. Evelyn. He died in 1565 and was succeeded by his son Thomas afore mentioned, who was knighted by Queen Elizabeth when she visited him at Stoke in 1613.

The manor of Cleygate, in Ditton, which had once belonged to the Abbot and convent of Westminster, but on its suppression by Henry vm came into the possession of the Crown, was granted in the seventh year of the reign of Edward vi to John Child, paying a rent of £9, 8s. 8d., and not long after he sold the estate to David Vincent, Esq., who died seized of it. His son Thomas did not inherit it, but it became the property of George Evelyn, David Vincent's grandson.

John Evelyn was buried in St. Peter's Chapel, in the Tower of London, according to Lord Liverpool before 1568, his wife having been buried there about 1566. He left one son and a daughter, who married Robert Cole of Heston, Middlesex (belonging to an elder branch of the family now represented by the Earl of Enniskillen, Ireland).

GEORGE EVELYN of Long Ditton, etc.

George Evelyn of Kingston, Long Ditton, Godstone, and Wotton, only son of John Evelyn, was born in 1526 (reign of Henry viii). Like his father, he lived through four reigns. About the year 1565, Queen Elizabeth granted him a monopoly for the manufacture of gunpowder, which had hitherto always come from abroad. The granting of monopolies by the Crown was an intensely unpopular practice, and excited a great deal of ill-feeling. George Evelyn had mills for the manufacture of gunpowder at Long Ditton, Godstone and Wotton, all in Surrey. John Evelyn (Sylva), grandson to George Evelyn, in a letter to Aubrey dated February 8, 1675, says :

44 Not far from my Brother's House (Wotton) upon the Streams and Ponds, since filled up and drained, stood formerly many Powder Mills, erected by my Ancestors, who were the very first who brought that Invention into England ; before which we had all our powder out of Flanders. My Grandfather transferr'd his Patent to the late Sir John Evelyn's Grandfather of Godstone, in the same County ; in whose Family it continu'd till the late Civil Wars. That which I would remark upon this Occasion, is, the breaking of a huge Beam of fifteen or sixteen Inches Diameter in my Brother's House (and since crampt with a Dog of Iron) upon the blowing up of one of those Mills, without doing any Mischief that I can learn ; but another standing below towards Shire, shot a Piece of Timber thro' a Cottage, which took off a poor Woman's Head as she was spinning."

George Evelyn's manufacture of gunpowder was very successful and probably furnished the means by which he bought the large estates of which he became the possessor.

About the year 1550 he married his first wife, Rose Williams, daughter and heiress of Thomas Williams, brother and heir of Sir John Williams, Kt. There is a small portrait of her in the Library at Wotton which represents her as a very plain lady with a sour expression. She is dressed in the costume of the period with an Elizabethan ruffle round her neck. She had a large family consisting of ten sons and six daughters, but most of them died young. She died in July 1577 and was buried at Long Ditton.

George Evelyn became bailiff of Kingston in 1566.

On April 1, 1567, he came into possession of the manor of Long Ditton (see Brayley's History of Surrey), which he bought from Thomas Vincent, his mother's brother ; in 1579 he bought Wotton, which belonged to a family of the name of Owen ; 1 on July 1 of the same year 2 his son-in-law, Richard Hatton of Long Ditton (the husband of his daughter Mary, whom he had married in 1566), sold to him, for the sum of £200, Hill Place alias Hull Place, in Surrey, and 139 acres belonging to it in the parishes of Horsell, Byssheley, and Chobham, in Surrey ; and on the same day Richard Hatton sold to George Evelyn,3 for the sum of £650, the fourth part of the manor of Wooton alias Wooten, also the fourth part of the ad vow son and patronage of the Church of Wooton alias Wooten, " and the free gift and disposition of the same," also the fourth part of other lands in Wooton, Abynger, Dorking and Shere, in Surrey. In 1585 the moiety of the manor of Abinger 4 belonged to the Hill family, who conveyed it to George Evelyn. The other moiety belonged to Sir John Morgan, who settled it on his daughter Ann on her marriage with Edward Randyll, Esq., of Chil worth, and the latter in 1622 conveyed it to Richard Evelyn, youngest son of George Evelyn, who had left him the other moiety.

On April 24, 1588, George Evelyn came into possession of his Godstone estate,5 which he bought for £3100 from Thomas Powle of London, Clerk of the Court of Chancery. This included the manor of Merdenne, alias Mardon, and a house called Leighe Place in the parish of Godstone.

On October 11, 1588, 6 George Evelyn bought from Richard Taverner, Esq., of the city of London, Norbyton Hall in Kingston-on-Thames and lands in Kingston-on-Thames.

1 See Chan. Pro., Eliz., C. 7. 26. 2 See Close Roll, 21 Eliz., part 9.

3 See Exchequer of Pleas Judgment Roll, 22 Eliz., Trinity Term, memb. 16, d.

4 See Brayley's History of Surrey. 5 See Close Roll, 30 Eliz., part 15. 6 See Close Roll, 30 Eliz., part 19.

The following account of Norbiton Hall is from Brayley's History of Surrey : —

" In the reign of Edward vi the mansion called Norbiton Hall was the property and residence of Richard Taverner, Esq., a person of somewhat eccentric character, but a zealous Protestant ; and though a layman, he obtained a licence to preach in any place in the King's dominion. When High Sheriff for the county, he is said to have actually delivered a discourse before the University of Oxford, wearing a gold chain about his neck, and a sword by his side. The estate afterwards belonged to the Evelyn family, and was then described as a manor held of the bailiffs of Kingston. The present house, comparatively a modern structure, stuccoed, was the residence (in the early part of this century) of General Gabriel Johnstone, who purchased it of the representatives of the Lintall family in 1799."

The manor of Milton in Surrey in the time of Edward n belonged to the prioress and nuns of Kilburn,1 and after the suppression of that convent by Henry viii the manor was annexed to the honour of Hampton Court. Queen Mary settled it and other estates on the restored monastery of Shene, which was again suppressed in the beginning of the reign of Elizabeth. After some temporary grants that queen conveyed it, by letters-patent dated 1599, to George Evelyn of Long Ditton. The mansion called Milton Court was built in the latter years of Queen Elizabeth's reign, probably by George Evelyn. It is a red brick house two stories high. The staircase is remarkable for the peculiar form and solidity of its rails and balusters.

George^s second wife was a Mrs. Rogers, a young widow whose maiden name was Joan Stint. She was born in 1550 and was married to George Evelyn at St. Mary Aldermary, April 23, 1578. She died March 9, 1613, aged sixty-three, and was buried at Wotton. She had eight children, six of whom died young, which brings the total number of George Evelyn's children up to twenty-four. There were only six, however, of this enormous family who did not die young.

1 See Brayley's History of Surrey.

In 1587 1 George Evelyn brought a lawsuit in the Court of Chancery against one Thomas Gunne of Ewell, whom he alleged to have unlawfully taken possession of some lands in Ewell which rightly belonged to George Evelyn. How the suit ended does not appear.

George Evelyn's grandson, John Evelyn (the diarist), mentions in a letter to Aubrey 2 that his grandfather, George Evelyn, cut down some oaks at Wotton. He says : " That which I would observe to you from the Wood, is, that where goodly Oaks grew, and were cut down by my Grand-father almost a hundred years since, are now altogether Beech ; and where my Brother has extirpated the Beech, there rises Birch."

George Evelyn lived to the age of seventy-seven. He died at midnight between the 29th and the 30th of May 1603, about two months after the death of Queen Elizabeth, and was buried at Wotton on May 31.

WILL OF GEORGE EVELYN (P.P.C., 35 Belein)

" In dei nomini amen. The twenthe day of Januarie and in the forteth yeare of the Raigne of our most gratiouse Soveraigne Ladie Elizabeth by the grace of God Queene of England Fraunce and Ireland, Defender of the Faith etc., I Georg Evelyn of Wotton in the County of Surrey esquier being sicke of bodie but whole and in perfect of remembraunce praise be given unto God Do make ordaine and devise this for my p(rese)nte testament containinge therein my laste will in manner and fourme followinge, that is to saie, firste and principallie I com(m)ende my sowle into the handes of Almightie God my maker and Creator and to his sonne Jhesus Christe my onlie true saviour trustinge by his deathe and passion I hope to be saved. And my bodie to be buried within the parrish Church of Wotton as aforesaide. Item I give unto threescore poore howsholders of the parryshe of Darkinge the some of three poundes of currant monie of

1 See Chan. Pro., Eliz., E.e. 4, No. 25.

2 See Aubrey's History of Surrey.

Englande that is to saie, to everie howsholder twelve pence to be paide at theire dwellinge howses. And allso unto twentie howsholders of the parrishe of Wottoune the some of twentie shillinges that is to saie twelve pence a peece. And allso to thirtie poore howsholders of Abinger the some of thirtie shillinges that is to saie twelve pence everie howsholder as aforesaid. Allso to fortie poore howsholders of the parrishe of Sheere the some of fortie shillinges to be paide att their howses twelve pence a peece as aforesaid. Item I give unto everie one of my servauntes twentie shillings apeece. Item I give unto Thomas Bysshopp and to his wife dwellinge at Claigate the some of fortie poundes of like monie of England. Item unto Henrie Tilte of the parrishe of Kingstone the some of tenne shillinges. Item I give and bequeathe unto Katherine Eveline my daughter the some of five hundred poundes of good and lawfull monie of England which some of five hundreth poundes to be paide by my sonne John Eveline when that the said Katherine my daughter shall accomplishe and be of the full age of eightene yeares which said some of fower (sic) hundreth poundes the said John Evelyne hath receaved of my late ladie Davers or from her Assignes as a true debte from the saide ladie Davers to the onlie use of me the saide Georg Evelyn. And the other hundred of Mr. Edmondes for my woodd. Item I give and bequeath unto my sonne John Evelin and to his heires forever all those parcelles of landes and one tennement with the appurtenaunces lyinge and being in Kingstone uppon Thames which late I purchased of Richard Hatton gent, and Thomas Stamforde of Thisselworthe now in the occupations of William Stawlton and Thomas Elmer and their assignes provided alwaies and uppon this condiction that the said John Eveline or his heires shall well and trulie paie unto the said Katherine my daughter the foresaide some of five hundred poundes as aforesaide when that she shall accomplishe the saide age of eightene yeares as aforesaide without fraude or deceipte yf that the saide Katherine shalbe then livinge.