Millennium Project
This is a list of manuscripts and documents in the possession of the family.
1540 - Book in Lincoln Cathedral.
Click HERE to read Richard Stilgoe's article about the reference to the parish in this book.
1556-58 Dispute between William Chaundeler and Thomas Stilgo
concerning 'a messuage' in Castle Street, formerly of John Chaundeler deceased, father of complainant.
Click HERE to see image
Click HERE to read a transcript
Dutchy of Lancaster Charter (1574)
"Whereas one John Cock, bailiff of Deddington, in the county of Oxford, being parcel of the Duchy of Lancaster, did heretofore exhibit his bill of complaint into this honourable court .....
Click HERE to see image
Click HERE to read a transcript
Deddington Court Rules (14 October 1640)
It is a hand written marble-backed book inscribed 'Stilgoe '91' inside the cover. This date is post 1753 because a note regarding year end 1752 being 25 March and year start 1753 being 1 January (change from Julian to Gregorian calendar) is written inside the rear cover, so clearly the date was not written by the original writer.
Anthonie Stilgoe comments "I presume the name and date refer to its ownership, in which case the owner is likely to be either H.E.S. or his younger younger brother W.H.S., who on leaving school was apprenticed to the Deddington Solicitors (possibly George Coggins*), before starting his own firm of Solicitors in the City and subsequently the West End of London. The book was probably an old office copy at the Deddington Solicitors, which he acquired as it was no longer in use. The person who did the copying of the original Court Rules would have been of a much earlier generation, as he was still using the old fashioned long "s" at the beginning of a double "s", the use of which in handwritten documents had ceased by the middle of the century. As George III is mentioned by the copier in his explanation about coinage at the end of the book, that limits the earliest date that the copying could have been executed."
The manuscript contains 5 separate distinct sections. Click on the headings to see pdf copies.
Court rules 1591
Court Rules 1640 (at a Court of Survey for Christchurch). A transcript of Items 5 & 6 relating to how many yard lands and acres belonged to Christchurch in the parish can be seen HERE.
Some notes on the £5 piece The book it was extracted from "British Coinage" was first written in the 1840's but was reprinted a number of times including in the 1880's and 1890's.
Notes on Armorial bearings, (again extracted from a book printed in the late 19th C) and below that are a note onthe dates of the Deddington Parish Registers.
A PDF file of the entire contents (5.7Mb) can be down-loaded HERE
* George Coggins was living in what is now The Hermitage on the Bull Ring in 1911 aged 64. In which case the date of '91 is 1891.
1791 - Vet's book of cures for animals
A hand written document of recipes for cures for animals which has the names of Nathaniel Stilgoe - and a date 1759*, James Dashwood and William Mason inscribed.
* This is probably "Nathaniel of Deddington Gent" (1724-1810) son of "Nathaniel of Deddington Yeoman" (1688-1753) whose family descendants can be found HERE
Deddington Terrier
Sometime just prior to the enclosures a list of holdings was drawn up - known as a 'Terrier' * - for the 2000 acres of open field system around Deddington. Henry Edward Stilgoe wrote to his brother Hugh about this in 1933. His letter explaining it can be found HERE (pdf).
...and a more accessible summary compiled by Jon Malings - whose ancestor's landholdings are in the document HERE
Deddington Quality Book - 1807
The Deddington Quality book was copied by Henry Stilgoe. It was a child's home made exercise book in which he had been told to practise writing his name and the words "no gains without pain"when he was only 6 or 7 and subsequently, in 1807 aged 11 or 12, to copy the Deddington Quality Book containing information that was clearly used in the enclosure process, culminating in the award of 1808. It lists, in detail, nearly 300 subdivisions of land in the Deddington and Barford St. Michael common fields and divides much of the land into differing qualities. The book also lists approximately 100 Deddington homesteads and proprietors.
1808 - Land belonging to Henry, Nathaniel and Zachariah
This record dated c.1808 provides considerable detail of their holdings. Click HERE to view.The Story of Deddington (Mary Vane Turner)
This book was written in 1933 for a competition held by the Oxfordshire Federation of Women's Institutes. HES had a big input to several sections of the book and made hand written comments on the text in his own copy which is now in the possession of Anthonie Stilgoe.
An original copy of the book is held in the Parish Archive (Receipt 009/Item 001/Box 003). The inscription inside the book seems to be from HES to either his brother Hugh or his nephew.
The book was republished by Deddington & District History Society in December 2008 to mark both the 10th anniversary of the History Society and the 75th anniversary of the original book. We are grateful to D&DHS' permission to make it available to read online by clicking HERE
Mary's own story makes interesting reading in itself and can be seen HERE