The Parish Chest documents of Lamberhurst Parish are Parish accounts and minutes of vestry meetings,
mainly relating to the “relief of the poor, including maintenance of individual paupers and bastards.” As the
time frame given was 1745-1840, I was hopeful that it may give some clues to the problem of the illegitimate
Hickmott individuals, who remain on the family tree unconnected due to the problem - is the mother a
Hickmott by birth, or the wife of one of the lines where the branch is so far untraced. There are many
branches where the individuals have left the village and probably married away from it, with wives and
descendants at this stage unknown.
As these mothers have common names e.g. Mary, Elizabeth, Harriet, and in most cases more than one child
is born to a woman/women of these names it is hard to place the individual within the framework of the
family tree.
My somewhat cursory study of these documents gave me no insight into this problem. The film itself ended
with the 1806 Vestry meetings with the message “continued on another roll”. This was disappointing as
there was no mention of two films, though as “Bastardy 1819”is another film, perhaps this will shed some
further light on the matter.
The documents are themselves quite interesting as they list the Parishioners in many instances and in the
earlier years they divide them into “Kent Side” and “Sussex Side” They began with the Parish Chest Tithe
1793-1828 and the only Hickmotts who tithed in that period were Russell Hickmott and Nathaniel
Hickmott. Lord Camden “ and others” eventually took over Nathaniel’s tithe.
Russell was tithing £1.3s.10d in the years 1793-1801 and by 1819 that had risen to £5.10s. It was taken
over by his son, Timothy and in 1828 when the documents ceased it was still at that rate.
For the interest of the Hickmott descendants of New Zealand, whose ancestors are George Hickmott and
Clarissa Rose, a George Rose in 1826 and 1827 suddenly appears in the district and tithes the grand sum of
£25, a magnanimous gesture and a very large sum in those days.
The Parish Accounts actually begin in 1741 and beside the actual expenditure of the Church they document
“An assessment made upon all inhabitants and land occupiers of the Parish of Lamberhurst at the rate of 3d
in the pound and 1½d on Foreigners for the repairs of the church of the said Parish and other charges
incidental thereinto.” The rate changed annually, in 1742 it rose dramatically to 9d and 8d for the
foreigners, in 1743 it was 4d and 3d, an so on.
What is interesting is the division of the Parish and the listing of the householders. In 1741 on the Sussex
side the only Hickmott is John, who paid 6d, being assessed on £2. For the Boorman connections of the
Hickmott family, William Boorman also lived on the Sussex side and he was assessed on £5.10s, paying in
1742 the sum of 4s 1½d, though in 1741 he was assessed only on £4 and paid only 1s. John Hickmott in
1742 paid 1s 6d and John Hickmott Jnr appeared in the books, rated on £1 and paying 9d. He also was
living on the Sussex side.
In 1743 John Hickmott’s debt was paid by his “son”, 8d and James Latter paid “for Hickmotts” 4d. The
same applied in 1744 but in 1745 John Hickmott only was noted (not his son) as well as James Latter “more
for Hickmotts”. In 1746 Thomas Hickmott first appears as a householder (he had only recently married
Elizabeth Inge), being assessed on £4.10s. James Latter, who was a “Foreigner” again paid on behalf of
Hickmotts, a £2 assessment this time, and he was also paying “for Bayham, £12 assessment" and “more for
Chapman, £11 assessment.” This continued for some years. Was he a wealthy man from another area
renting these properties?
1747 finds John Hickmott now on the Kent side, being assessed on £4, with Thomas still on the Sussex side,
and the James Latter/Hickmott property also on the Sussex side.
Amongst the accounts there were listings of the “Paupers” within the village. These were people to whom
the Church paid a form of pension.
Disbursements from 25 March 1842 to 25 March 1843: Paupers: John Boorman 9d, William Boorman
10½d, James Hickmott 1½d (and for the NSW families and the problems associated with their forebears,
there is a James Clifton who received 6d. His name occurs quite often within the records.)
Pauper List, Sussex Side, 1840. William Boorman 1s 6d, William Hickmott 1s 6d.
“At a vestry meeting held 18th day of June 1840, notice having been published by the Church Wardens,
Overseers and other Rated Inhabitants of the Parish, it was unanimously agreed to make a rate of six pence
in the pound for the repairs of the Church and all other necessary expenses:
Kent Side: Thomas Boorman 3s 6d, Samuel Boorman, £2.15.0,* Timothy Hickmott 7.s 0d
*Samuel must have been rather wealthy, he was rated on £110, as against the £7 - £14 of the others!
There I left the fascinating saga of petty accounts to look into the Vestry minutes, which were not in
themselves exactly riveting reading but had some items of interest.
26th Day of December 1755 a minute agrees to erect a gallery near the west window for the convenience of
the singers. Parishioners to subscribe The only Hickmott who signed was Thomas. William Boorman was
also present.
“At a Vestry meeting held at the vestry room of Lamberhurst on 14th June 1778, the following was agreed
by the church wardens and overseers and parishioners there present: That no relief shall be given to James
Hickmott’s family until proper order of Relief be granted by a Justice of Peace.” What happened to James
that his family required relief? There are no further clues contained within the minutes following that, so we
are left up in the air as to whether or not relief was finally obtained.
The following may, or may not apply to those interested in the Hickmott family, as an Elizabeth Wibley
eventually married Thomas Hickmott, though she was said to be “of the Parish of Frant” at the time of her
marriage. I have noted it anyway, just in case we find it to apply in the future.
Friday evening, 11th April 1780. “That Elizabeth Whibley, daughter of ---- Whibley shall have the value of
15s. laid out in cloths for her on condition that her Father can bargain for her a year from this time.”
1st April 1782: “ Russell Hickmott and others agreed Jeffrey Austen Jnr. should take a poor boy into his
service”
24th day April 1797: “ Nathaniel Hickmott shall take into Sarah Neal, a poor girl and find the girl victuals,
drink, washing, lodging and cloth mending and the parish to to pay him 1s per week until 5 April 1798 and
clothe the girl.”
“At a meeting held by the Churchwardens and Overseers and other the Parishioners, on Saturday evening,
the 31st day of March 1804 at the Sign of the George Inn, Lamberhurst, Kent. Mr Nathaniel Hickmott shall
take into his service Elizabeth Pavey and find her in victuals, drinks and lodgings for one year from Easter
1804 to Easter 1805.”
Vestry meetings were held at various venues, the Vestry, different homes of Wardens, Overseers or
parishioners and obviously they were not always dry and dull affairs. If you had to meet to discuss such
things, Saturday night at the local pub seems a good place to do business, no doubt over a pint or two.
There was more than one meeting held there!
In 1781, James Boorman is noted as Church Warden and Russell Hickmott signs an X for his mark, as
Overseer. Matthew Boorman was an Overseer in 1779, but the Hickmott family apart from this one
instance, did not take appear to take office of any kind within the Church . It may have been due to the fact
that they do not seem to have been literate at that stage. However, it is interesting to note that Russell
Hickmott did manage to sign his name on his marriage certificate in 1753, why sign with an X in 1781?
“At a vestry meeting held on 31st March 1766 for choosing Church Warden and Overseers for the year
ensuing it was agreed:- Kent side Overseers: Robert Burr and Wm Durrant. Sussex side Church Warden:
John Wallis. Sussex side Overseers: Richard Latter”. This shows the division within the village due to
part being in Kent and part in Sussex.
The only Hickmotts who appear within these records are the ones named above, John Senior, John Jnr.,
Russell, Nathaniel, Thomas, James and Timothy. Are these the only religious members of the Hickmott
family, or are they the householders of the parish. Hickmott women do not rate a mention!
For the interest of the Boorman connections; in the Tithes beginning in 1793, there were James, John and
Matthew. William Boorman is a parishioner from 1741 and is named on quite a few occasions within the
records.
There is frequent mention within the Vestry minutes of “poor girl” or “poor boy” and they are placed with
church members as demonstrated above, for a named period. At one stage a Dame Baldwin is named as
Governor of the Poor House and a list of occupants of the poor house given and I was surprised to read
twenty or more names living therein, Mrs Baldwin and her young children amongst them. I did not
recognise any of the names apart from “Baldwin” and wondered if this is how Charity Baldwin, who married
William Hickmott derived her name. Unfortunately, in my haste I did not note dates or particulars of this as
my quest was mainly concerned with trying to trace the illegitimate Hickmotts.
Amongst the records was the following: “January 1812. The return made of the Population of Lamberhurst
under the late act of Parliament was two hundred and eighty families and twelve hundred souls.”
Whilst the majority of the minutes was concerned with placing the poor into homes, or service, there was an
occasional mention such as:
It was agreed that no further relief or payment be given to Dame “So-and-So” or her two children as she has
named “Such-and-Such” (a male) in Frant, Sussex. The meaning behind this is not plainly spelt out, but it
seems she has perhaps named this man as father to her two children and now he is being made to keep her,
rather than the church. This is what I was looking for in regards to the Hickmott problem, but the ladies in
question may not have fallen on the Church for assistance. Perhaps they were being kept by the father’s of
their little ones, so not in need of charity as such, or perhaps the Hickmott families stood by their own and
assisted them without the need for charity.
This is a brief synopsis. The records are interesting and worthwhile looking at if a feel for the village and the
occupants is a priority. I found sufficient mention of families known to me to make it of relevance, even
though I have not found what I am looking for.
What has interested me, is that most of “our” families actually lived in Sussex at the time, not Kent as we
have always addressed them. This may then throw some further light on some of the lines unaccounted for,
as Sussex is not well indexed and we may need to look at Sussex to find marriages and maiden names for
some of the Hickmott wives. The search is still ongoing!
Sussex Side: Mrs. Boorman 5s 0d, James Hickmott 1s.6d, John Hickmott 2s 6d”
28th May 1780. “Resolution was made: That Elizabeth Whibley, daughter of John Whibley shall be allowed
cloth to make one shift.”
Dawn Miles
Hervey Bay, Qld, Australia
4 July 1999