The Hubbards of Bovills Hall

I’m currently transcribing Little Clacton’s parish register. When I spotted Hubbards in the register, my interest was piqued as my 12 x great-grandfather, Ralph Starling, had been married to Margaret Tendring, and Margaret’s first husband was called Richard Hubbard. Her second husband, John Thurston, had lived in Frinton, so I wondered if there was a connection between Margaret’s first husband, and the Hubbards in Little Clacton.

I can’t find any obvious links between Margaret’s husband and the Little Clacton Hubbards, but I wouldn’t be surprised if there’s a link somewhere. So here’s what I’ve found out about them.

William Cardinall (presumably either another 12 x great-grandfather, or his son) had bought the manor of Bovills Hall from John Brokeman in 1552, although the manor was known as “Devill alias Dovell”. Then William Hubbard owned it after William Cardinall.

The 1592/3 will of Richard Hubbard of Little Clacton (not Margaret’s husband!) mentions an uncle called William Hubbard, and I think this must be the William Hubbard who owned Bovills. Richard had married Susan Colman at Little Clacton in 1581, and he seems to be the son of John and Emm Hubbard, baptised at the same place in 1555.

Going back a little further, the 1536 will of John Hubberd of Great Bromley mentions his three sons – John the elder and John the younger, and William. It could be that John of Great Bromley is the father of William of Bovills Hall, and that Richard’s father was one of the two Johns. ERO holds a registered will from 1518 for Richard Hubberd of Thorrington who may well be connected, especially as William mentions property in Thorrington in his will which might have come down from Richard to him.^[1]The will isn’t online and as of writing, we’re in lockdown so I can’t request a copy of it!

Richard’s father John was buried in Little Clacton in 1557, and his mother Emm married William Wolmer a few months later.^[2]This might be William Woolmer of St Osyth – his 1577 will is at ERO, but doesn’t mention any Hubbards, and his wife was Joan – at least by then. Emm might have died and he’d … Continue reading William Hubbard’s nephew Richard was only very little when his father died, and in fact John and Emm had had another son in the same year that John died. William may have taken on the care of the boys. He doesn’t appear to have had any children, apart from a daughter, even though he married four times.^[3]William’s daughter Emm had married Miles Clarke in 1563, but by the time William wrote his will in 1595, Miles had died and perhaps hisdaughter Emm too. He mentions being Miles’ executor, … Continue reading He is commemorated by a brass in Little Clacton church, naming his first three wives: Rose, Jane and Joyce. His fourth wife, Margaret, who he married in 1592, outlived him.

Richard and his wife Susan had five children, although it seems that only three of them, Jane, William and John, survived him. They lived at Bovills Hall with his uncle. Richard died in February 1592/3. Susan married William Haymer a couple of years afterwards. But she was still connected with Bovill’s Hall, as the baptism of her son William in 1595 shows. The child was named by “ould William Hubbard of Bovelles hall” and baptised in the parlour there. It’s nice to think that, although Susan was widowed, she and her late husband’s uncle were still on good terms. In 1666, Mary, daughter of Solomon and Hannah Sibley was also “baptized in the paler at Bovalls Hall.”

When William Hubbard died in 1596, “on midsommer daye in the morning” according to the parish register,^[4]“Olde William Hubbard of Bovelles hall; dyed on midsommer daye [24 June] in the morninge & was buried on Saturday the xxvith daye of June 1596; who gave in his last will and testament the … Continue reading the executors of his PCC will were Richard Symnell of Colchester, Anthony Mannock from Little Oakley and Charles Cardinall of Little Bromley. Charles was either the son or brother of William Cardinall, from whom William Hubbard had bought Bovills Hall, and would marry Bridget Bowes – Bridget’s stepmother was Margaret Tendring, who had been married to the other Richard Hubbard. So there could well be a connection but nothing clear just yet.

William left Bovills to his great-nephew William, Richard’s oldest surviving son, who was only seven years old at the time. He would come to inherit the Hall if he reached the age of twenty-one. And it seems that he did, because in 1609 (in the year young William came of age), Mrs Judith Bowes married Mr William Hubbert at Lawford. One of Bridget’s daughters (and therefore Charles Cardinall’s stepdaughter) was called Judith Bowes, so it seems that she’s the bride and that her husband could well be the son of Richard Hubbard and Susan Coleman.

What happened next to Bovills Hall? Morant said that after it was owned by William Hubbard (not specifying which man by that name), it was owned by Samuel Travers. Travers lived in the early 1700s, and Morant has missed off Thomas, Earl Rivers, owning it. The Essex Record Office holds a document from 1639 recording Earl Rivers giving his daughter Elizabeth, Viscountess Savage, several properties in the Tendring Hundred, including “Bovells Hall Manor in Little Clacton.” So William had sold it by in or before 1639, or perhaps he had died young and it was sold by his heirs. The document mentions tenants of the properties (although they’re not named in the catalogue entry), so it would be interesting to see who’s named.