5

March Tree

HENRY BISH and SUSANNAH ARNOLD (9)

 

HENRY BISH. This surname appears as Bish, Bysh or Bysshe. We have traced the Bysh line in the Tanderidge area of Surrey back to William Bysh in the 16^th century. This Henry Bish or Bysh is his great-great-grandson.

We find his baptism in Horne, a village 5 miles south of Tandridge.
Baptism. St Mary, Horne.
1714 Nov 10  Henry son of Henry Bysh and Mary his wife.

His father’s will confirms that this is the right baptism, leaving a trust fund for the younger Henry’s children.

He was the son of prosperous yeoman, with several farms. His mother Mary Ledger came from a similar family.

. He had an older sister and a younger brother, another baby sister having died before he was born.

Their principal dwelling seems to have been Snouts Farm in the hamlet of Brindley Heath, just east of Horne. This came to his father when Henry was six , and was probably where he grew up

The younger Henry’s great-grandfather, another William Bysh, had bought this farm in the 17^th century and passed on to Henry’s grandfather, another William Bysh, who in turn left it to Henry’s father, Henry Bysh senior.

By the time of his marriage, Henry had left home and was living in Tandridge, though that, like neighbouring Godatone, was a long thin parish measuring 10 miles by 1 mile. We do not know where in the parish he lived, but it is likely to have been in the north, since he used Tandridge church for the baptisms of his children. Had he lived further south, he would probably have used the church in Horne or Lingfield, rather than his parish church.

Tandridge is a village between Reigate and Oxted.  The church of St Peter is overlooked by Beechwood Hill. The yew tree in the churchyard is thought to be some 1500 years old. It has a rare timber-framed spire, dating from the 13^th-14^th century.

 

SUSANNAH ARNOLD. Although she was married in East Grinstead, we have found only one plausible baptism for Susannah.

Baptism. St Nicholas, Godstone.
1716 Apr 10  Susanna dr of John & Susanna Arnold.

She was the third of the nine children of John Arnold and Susanna Snelling, though three of the children died in infancy.

She, too, had left home before her wedding and was married in the larger town of East Grinstead in Sussex, 8 miles SE of Godstone. It is likely that she had gone there to find work.

 

Marriage. St Swithin, East Grinstead.
1740 Nov 19  Henry Byshe bachelor of Sandrige and Susnah Arnold spinster.

‘Sandrige’ is probably a mistranscription of Tandridge.

It was in Tandridge that they raised their family
Baptisms. St Peter, Tandridge.
1741born Dec 20, 1742 bapt Jan 15  Henry
1744 Apr born 17, bapt 30  William
1746 born Aug 27, bapt Sep 17 Thomas
1748 Jan born 16, bapt 22  Elizabeth
1749 born Jan 29, bapt Feb 12  George
In 1754 Jan 15 we have the burial in Tandridge of Ann, daughter of Henry and Susannah Bish.
1755 Apr born 22, bapt 30  Joseph
1756 born Apr 22, bapt May 4  Benamin
1758 Jun born 18, bapt 23  Sarah

Henry’s mother Mary died in 1753. His father, Henry Bysh senior, died the following year.
In his will, he left his son Henry a feather bed with its furniture.
More significantly, he left him “several messuages, farms and lands, together with their arable land, woods and pastures.” Foremost among these was the family home of Snouts Farm. Also Barnsfield, Woodsfield, Foxcroft, Hopgarden, Park Harris fields, and Cantfields Croft, also land at Haffridges. All these were in the parishes of Godstone and Tandridge.
Henry was to pay two hundred pounds to his brother Thomas and his brother-in-law John Wicking, to set up a trust fund for the maintenance and education of Henry Bysh junior’s five children: Henry, William, Thomas, George and Elizabeth until they came of age.
Henry and Susannah’s younger children had not yet been born.
After the named legacies, the rest of his goods were divides equally between Henry, his brother Thomas and his sister Mary.
Anything remaining from his estate is to go to his eldest son Henry.
He appointed his sons Henry and Thomas and his son-in-law John Wicking as his executors. Mary’s husband John Wicking was landlord of the Blue Anchor at Blindley Heath, close to Snouts Farm.
On 23 Oct 2754, Henry and Thomas were in London to prove their father’s will. The third executor, their brother-in-law John Wicking, was evidently too ill to travel. He died the following month.

Michael Chappell, in an article on Snouts Farm, tell us: “The Land Tax records from 1780 show that Henry Bysh moved out of Snouts Farm and let the property to William Head. Henry is noted as living in a house owned by Mrs Hall. This continued until 1791 when he sold Snouts Farm to Robert Gale and the tenant became William Walls. Henry continued to live in the rented house until 1793 when he became both the occupier and the owner. All mention of him stopped in 1797 when it is assumed he died. “[1]

The mention of William Head is interesting. Henry’s paternal grandmother was the widow Joan Head when she married his grandfather William Bysh. William Head may be Henry’s cousin.

We do not know why Henry sold Snouts Farm and moved into rented accommodation. His father had left him several farms. It may be that he was in failing health, and found the farm too much to manage. Or perhaps, over the years, he had got into debt and needed to raise money.

There was more than one Henry Bysh in the area, but we have found only one burial for Susannah. This makes it likely that the following are their burials at the church in the neighbouring village of Lingfield.

Burials. Ss Peter and Paul, Lingfield.
1785 May 9  Henry Bysh from Horne.
1790 Nov 18  Susannah Bysh.

This is at odds with the dates in Michael Chappell’s article, which has records for Henry ending in 1797. It may be that the later references to Henry Bysh are to his son of that name.

 

#[1] Michael Chappell, “Snouts Farm Now The Red Barn”, The RH7 History Group, 2006. https://www.rh7.org/factshts/snoutsfm.pdf

 

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