Hello List,
I get a Virginia blog from Arlene Eakle, a pretty well-known genealogist.
This one refers to the Robert "King" Carter and his lands, etc.
Kathie
The manor is a British jurisdiction, common and known to our ancestors who
came from the British Isles to settle in Virginia. The jurisdiction took on
an *American accent,* however, when it was established here.
There is a book in my Virginia collection titled: *Landmarks of Old Prince
William: A Study in Origins in Northern Virginia,* by Fairfax Harrison. 2
vols. 1987. Available Gateway Press, 3600 Copper Mill Rd, Suite 260,
Baltimore MD 21211-1953. Originally published 1921 and 1941, with reprints
1964, 1984. So lots of copies are available in genealogy libraries.
http://www.gatewaypress.com
[With an old Virginia name like Fairfax Harrison, I had to read the book
from cover to cover–not once but 4 times over the past several months.
Remember that I am working on a guide to Virginia genealogy jurisdictions
that created the records of your ancestors and mine.]
*Chapter Eighteen: The Barrier of the Manors,* describes the differences
between the manors created in Virginia and those in the British Isles. What
separated the manor essentially from a large estate was court
jurisdiction–Court Baron and Court Leet. And while the early grants of land
state that the powers of the manor are the same, there is little or no
evidence that these courts were held in Virginia.
The grants did allow for leases for three lives and the collection of quit
rents and compositions. Land was not owned outright, use of the land was
acquired by lease. The right to the use of the land could be inherited,
exchanged, and sub-leased. In England, it could not be sold. In Virginia,
the lease could be transferred to another lessee for payment, unless it was
entailed. The transfer was supposed to be okayed by the land owner.
The three lives, during which the lease existed at the specified rent, were
named in the grant–usually the eldest son and the wife are included. When
all three named persons have died, the lease came due. The rent could be
changed, usually increased, and another three lives will be named. In
England, the leases were private documents until 1922 and were recorded as
copyhold documents on the Court Baron Roll. In Virginia, the leases were
quasi-public and were recorded in the public records at the county court.
The rents were collected by the land owner's agent. The bigger the piece of
land, the bigger the rents collected and the bigger the income of the land
owner.
Robert "King" Carter amassed a huge acreage, most of it acquired while he
served as agent (1702-1732) to the Northern Neck Proprietor, Lord Fairfax
and his heirs (including Denny Martin who was required to assume the Fairfax
name when he inherited the Proprietary). Carter challenged Fairfax for
overlapping land boundaries because he had the support of a Virginia that
resented such an important and huge landed estate totally in private hands
as the Proprietary. Virginia did not originally receive income from these
lands.
Robert Carter's lands–Richland, and his extensive landholdings in the
Northern Neck:
*Lands included in Fauquier and Prince William counties, 1724:*
__Licking Run tract, 10,227 acres
__Turkey Run tract, 10,610 acres
__Kettle Run tract, 6,166 acres
__Broad Run tract, 12,285 acres
__Bull Run tract, 41,440 acres
__Lower Bull Run tract, 8,989 acres in two parcels
*Lands included in Fairfax and Loudoun counties, 1727-28: *
__Goose Creek tract, 25,909 acres
__Frying Pan tract, 27,000 acres
*Lands on and beyond the Blue Ridge Mountains, 1730-31:*
__Shenandoah tract, 50,212 acres
__Pageland tract, 8,007 acres
__Williams Gap tract, 2,941 acres
__Ashby's Bent tract, 4,207 acres in two parcels
Titles to these lands were issued in the names of the King's sons,
grandsons, sons in law: Landon Carter, George Carter, John Carter, Charles
Carter, Robert Carter Jr, Mann Page of Rosewell, Lewis Burwell, Carter
Burwell, Robert Burwell, Carter Page, Robin Page, Robert Carter Nicholas,
Robert Carter Jr (son of John), Benjamin Harrison Jr, and Robert Carter Jr
(son of Robert Carter). The records, however, refer to Colonel Carter's
boundaries.
*Other manors included:*
Nicholas Spencer and Richard Lee–Mt. Vernon
George Brent–Brent Town and Piscataway Neck
William Fitzhugh–Ravensworth
Philip Ludwell
Thomas Lee
Edmund Jennings
Colonel Charles Burgess–Thumb Run, 23,000 acres
Captain James Ball of Bewdley–Horsepen and Great Cove, 10,757 acres
Charles Carter–Manor of Cleve, and Manor of View Mount
*Lord Fairfax Proprietary:*
__Leeds Manor, 122,852 acres
__Great Falls Manor, 12,588 acres
__Blue Ridge, 26,535 acres, including South Branch manor and Greenway Court
These and other great manors and extensive estates were held intact as
units, with tenant farmers leasing the lands as farms. The lands were
largely undeveloped down to the Revolution–rendering these areas
"wilderness." So settlement does not begin heavily until close to the time
of the American Revolution.
Documentation is difficult for some manors–the manorial rent rolls, the quit
rent rolls, the leases for three lives, the local court minutes as well as
the minutes of the Governor's Council may not survive. Best bets–county
court records and rent rolls, and the personal papers of the land owner.
I'm working on a beginning list of these. Fauquier County records are
already published and include the loose papers in the court house.
What has survived is loaded with ancestors and their connections. Deeds
that transfer land ownership between relatives are quite numerous and
essential to prove the exact relationship. Especially valuable are deeds
from the eldest son to other family members to equalize inheritance. Watch
for some examples that I will share in this blog–stay tuned for an extended
*minithon* of Virginia relationships. Your favorite Virginia genealogist,
Arlene Eakle
http://www.arleneeakle.com
PS And watch for announcement of my book on Virginia Genealogy
Jurisdictions and their Records later this summer.
*admin Tue, 08 Jul 2008 04:35:43 +0000*
------------------------------
Source:
http://virginiagenealogyblog.com/2008/07/07/the-contribution-of-the-manor...
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