Katherine Corbin,my great x6 grandmother, was the younger daughter of Richard Corbin. Richard was a yeoman at Woodtown, West Parley during the late seventeenth / early eighteenth centuries. His farmhouse at Woodtown was of cob on brick and heathstone rubble footings with a thatched roof.
On 30th September 1695 Richard sold the 5 acre close called Great How, leasehold, to Simon Troke. The lease was for 1000 years and the annual rent of a peppercorn was due on the feast of St Michael the Archangel (29 September).
Richard’s will, dated 18th April 1715, bequeathed £100 to Katherine. The rest of his estate was to pass to his eldest daughter Ann after the death of his wife and executrix Ann.
Katherine had married James Troke, a blacksmith from Ensbury, by 1727. Their son James was baptised in the January of that year. Katherine had never received the money due to her from her father’s estate. James, as her husband, was now entitled to it. Ann married the butcher Simon Dean of West Parley on 20th Feb 1727 and by the end of 1728 was pregnant. James Troke acted to secure Katherine’s legacy. Simon was either unable or unwilling to raise the £100 and on 6th May 1729 the two men signed Articles of Agreement dividing the estate equally between them in lieu of payment.
Simon received:
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The north part of the dwellinghouse home to the partition of the Hall
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Half (West end) of the garden adjoining the house
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One close of arable land called 4 Acres except 55 lugs at the south end which James is to have
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One close called Green Close about 4 acres
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One close of arable Corbin’s Plott 1 acre
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One plott arable adjoining garden 2 acres
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One and a quarter acre meadow ground lying in Wood Town Mead.
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Half of the common belonging to said premises on West Side.
James received:
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All the south part of the house
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Half of the garden next to the barn
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One close of arable called Seven Acres
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The 55 luggs in Four Acres mentioned above
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One Close of arable Butts 4 acres
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One and a quarter acre meadow ground lying in Wood Town Mead.
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Half of the common belonging to said premises on East Side with Horseway through Corbin’s Plott and through part of Green Close and also a Cart Road there from St James’s Day (25th July) till the first day of November yearly.
Ann and Simon’s daughter, also called Ann, was baptised 22nd July 1729. A few months after giving birth Ann died. She was buried on 31st December.
On 25th March 1730 James Troke mortgaged Seven Acres Close for £115. The mortgagee was Henry Kelloway, Yeoman of Ensbury. The mortgage was for a term of five hundred years!
James made further drawdowns on the mortgage over the next ten years. These are noted on the reverse of the deed and are difficult to read in places.
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Of this morgag 30 pounds
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6 May 1735 10 pound more of this morgag
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April 4 1737 (?) upon this mortg £5
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the sum of twelve pounds £12
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May 1 1740 then bored and received of Henry Kelloway the som of five pounds to be paid upon demand (illegible)
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September 30 1740 then Bored and received of Henry Kelloway the som of fifty pounds of good and lawful money of Great Britain to be paid to Henry Kelloway his ayers or asines at the delivery of this morgag or ???? to stand in ??? fors witness my hand James Trook
Wood Town Farmhouse, divided by James Troke and Simon Dean in 1729 and later enlarged, still stands and is Grade II listed. (Listing National Grid Reference: SZ0909897643 List Entry Number: 1323552).
Joshua Corbin
20 August 1712 John Webb granted a lease for “Cottage Orchard and Garden and 4 plotts or paddocks of ground improved and 1 plott or paddock of furzey ground being about 4 acres in total at Gally Pool Hill near Ridles fforde” to the labourer Joshua Corbin.
The lease was for four score and nineteen years and named his sons Richard (born 1700) and John (born 1705). The annual rent was 2 shillings per year to be paid in equal portions on the date of the Feast of the Annunciation of the Virgin Mary (25 March) and the Feast of St Michael the Archangel (29 September).
Riddles Ford was an ancient crossing point on the River Stour at the boundary of the counties of Hampshire and Dorset and the parishes of Holdenhurst and Kinson. Galley Pool was a boundary marker for the Canford Estate. A 1571 description of the bounds in a survey of the lands of the manor begin at the pool “Fyrste hyt begynnethe at Gallowe Poole nyghe to Rydlesforde… ” The ford was suitable for horses and vehicles but not pedestrians and the crossing could be treacherous. Using the ford saved having to go to Longham Bridge, Pig Shoot Ford at Throop or Iford Bridge to reach West and East Parley from the south. The ford became redundant when the Ensbury Bridge was built in 1910.
S.J. Lands in his book ‘Old Kinson’ says that at Redhill “water drained to form a pool with marsh land, before running down to a gully to join the Stour.”
Riddles Ford was a mile due south of Woodtown and Joshua was probably a relative of Richard’s.
Resources consulted at the Dorset History Centre (Archives):
West Parley. Lease. (1) Simon Troake of Ensbury in Canford Magna, wheelwright, Edward Troake of West Parley, blacksmith. (2) Roger Brimble of Ensbury, gent, land called “Great How” in Woodtown. Mentioned: Simon Troake, father of said Simon Troake, Richard Corben of Woodtown, Rachell mother of Simon Troake, Edward Troake. Signature: Simon Troake, Edward Troake. Witness: John Allner, Thomas Stokes. 29 Sep 1711 Reference: D1/KB/7
Lease. 1) Sir John Webb of Great Canford, baronet 2) Joshua Corbin of Great Canford, labourer. Cottage, orchard, garden, four small improved plots and a plot of unimproved furzey ground at Gally Pool Hill near Ridles Ford, Canford Magna, but excluding peat moors and timber. Mentioned: Richard and John Corbin, sons of 2). Witnesses: Mary Shear, John Brown. 20 Aug 1712 Reference: D-WIM/JO-213
West Parley. Agreement. Simon Dean butcher of West Parley. James Troke blacksmith of Great Canford. Mentioned: will of Richard Corbin late of Wood Town, West Parley, his wife Ann, his daughters Annn Corbin and Katherine. Ann Corbin since married Simon Dean. Katherine since married James Troke. Mention of dwelling house.. 6 May 1729 Reference: D-FRY/607
West Parley. Mortgage. Relates to close of land at Woodtown, West Parley. (1) James Troke of Ensbury, Great Canford, blacksmith (2) Henry Kelloway of Great Canford, yeoman. Adjoining properties identified.. 25 Mar 1730. Reference: D-RGB/KF/58