TORR, John (b. , d. ?)

Change: Date: 14 JUL 2000

Note: He was Sheriff of Kent in 1689.

He also had 4 daughters

With the Restoration the fortunes of the Filmer family at East Sutton had considerably improved. The family was well established at Court and had many connections in the legal profession and overseas in Virginia.

With the death of the first baronet on the 22nd March 1675/76, so shortly after its creation, the honour descended to his eldest son, Robert. He was twenty-seven at the time and some decline in the influence of the family was to be expected.

Robert had been baptised at East Sutton on the 26th October, 1648. His early education was probably undertaken locally but after the Plague of 1665 he was sent to study at the Academy in Paris, where no doubt, he was supervised by his uncle, S ir Edward Filmer. (K.A.O. U120 C12/9,10).

Following family tradition he was admitted to Gray's Inn on the 29th October, 1670 (Adm.310, 1670).

At Gray's Inn he would have been influenced by his cousin, Sir Thomas Raymond, the noted judge and Sir William Beversham, one of the Masters in the High Court of Chancery.

It is suspected that given a choice he would have been happy to lead the life of a lawyer without other involvements, but this was not to be.

Shaftesbury and the Country Party had engineered the political crisis of 1678 with the object of removing the future James II from the succession to the throne and by 1679 the country was again on the verge of civil war. Charles II and the who le body of opinion that favoured the continuance of the Restoration stood in a desperate need of an argument to vindicate legitimacy and the continuance of the monarchy. The printing of Sir Robert's grandfather's work 'Patriarcha' was the obvi ous answer.

The first collected edition was bundled through the press so hastily that its pages were wrongly numbered and its title page did not tally with its contents. By 1680 the whole body of Sir Robert's grandfather's tracts were in print and in th e hands of the propagandists of both sides.

It would seem that Sir Robert, the second baronet, endeavoured to distance himself from the controversy but not necessarily the Thomas Filmer who had been admitted to the Inner Temple in 1678 (see Chapter Ten). Indeed there seems to have bee n much confusion between the two of them over the years and Thomas Filmer is occasionally referred to as Sir Thomas even though there seems no evidence that he obtained a title. His later marriage to a daughter of Lord Saye and Sele and his ev entual election to Parliament both helped to focus attention on him rather than Sir Robert.

The Exclusion Bill was passed in 1681 and nullified by the Dissolution that followed it. The Whigs, who maintained that government rested on the consent of the people, were determined that James II should not succeed to the throne, as the majo rity of the people did not want it. "No Popish Successor" had a striking appeal, but was being effectively countered by the invocation of the mystique of monarchy in the cry "Pater Patriae".

In the middle of all this controversy Sir Robert married Elizabeth, Sir William Beversham's daughter by his first marriage to Frances, the daughter and co-heir of Christopher Harries of Margaretting in Essex - in 1682. He obviously had other m atters on his mind. Sir William Beversham then lived at Holbrooke in the county of Suffolk and had been knighted on February 12th, 1670. Elizabeth Beversham's mother had died many years previously in 1661. (Her will, dated 24th April 1659 , was proved 24th March 1661/62).

They married by licence (V.G.1.8.1682).

At the time Sir William had remarried for a second time - to Dorothy, daughter of Sir Thomas Hewitt, baronet, by whom she had had a daughter, Dorothy.

The political situation could, however, hardly be forgotten. Locke had not succeeded in establishing against Filmer that consent pervaded all social relationships and continued to be embarrassed by the claim that only Patriarchalism can give c ontinuity to society.

Sidney was executed on the scaffold in December, 1683 reaffirming his defiance to Filmerism; but before then many people were becoming alarmed at the possible Royal encroachments and started looking around for friends.

The Burgesses of Maidstone were such and in 1683 they offered the Freedom of the Borough to Sir Robert Filmer and his close associates, Sir William Twysden, Lord Astley, Sir Francis Clarke, Sir William Drake, Edward Diggs, Archibald Clinkard an d John Clarke, which they accepted (Maidstone Burgmote Book 4 fo. 247).

The controversy died down after the Settlement although patriarchal attitudes continued to influence institutions and political structures for many years to come - particularly in giving support to party or group leaders, ecclesiastical office s and the Papistry. It also continued to affect attitudes to holding property and wealth, the rules of Primogeniture and inheritance, and in the formulation of later capitalist organisations.

Sir Robert was appointed to the office of Sheriff of Kent on the 8th November, 1688, the last appointment under James II.

Thereafter he seems to have lived quietly at East Sutton developing the estates and where he had already enclosed the Park, and in furtherance of his legal activities.

He was much concerned with family matters. His eldest son was born in 1683 and altogether he had five sons, Edward, Beversham, Robert, William and Samuel, and four daughters, Dorothy, Dorothy, Elizabeth and Frances.

After Sir William Beversham's death in 1688/9 his widow, Dorothy, came to live at East Sutton.

In 1694 Sir Robert Filmer sold Hoathley Forge in Lamberhurst. The family still retained property there, which seems to have led to a series of disputes with the Gott family concerning boundaries and other matters (K.A.O. U120/Ll and C30).

Sir William Beversham's daughter, Dorothy, had married Sir George Rivers, baronet, of Penshurst, Kent, on the 29th January, 1688/9. This was not long after her father's death, and may have explained her mother's decision to live at East Sutto n thereafter. On the 9th May, 1707 Dorothy was granted administration de bonus non in her father's estate. This seems to have followed the settlement of Chancery Proceedings commenced in 1699 (see Filmer v. Rivers Reynardson's division fil e 164-29 and Collins file 69-4; K.A.O. U120/L4 1698 - answers of Roger Know).

Sir Robert Filmer also seems to have been in dispute with Thomas Stanley and James Crump over a lease of land in Sutton Valence around this time (Chancery Proceedings Collins 1698 file 310-5 and file 312-69).

Sir Robert's wife, Elizabeth died on the 4th May, 1717 aged sixty-two. The sermon preached by the vicar of Sutton Valence, Samuel Prat, after her death is preserved at the Kent Archives Office (U120/Q11).

Sir Robert, himself, died at East Sutton on the 14th March 1720 aged 71. Both he and Dame Elizabeth are buried in the North Aisle of East Sutton Church. His will (U120/F10) and an inventory (T200/18) are amongst his executorship papers at th e Kent Archives Office. He left his estate mainly to his eldest son, Edward, mentioning his wife, Dame Elizabeth, his sister in law, Archibella Filmer, the widow of his brother Edward, Doctor of Civil Law, and his nephews, Edward, Thomas and C harles, and nieces, Margaret, Elizabeth and Ann.

1720

WILL of SIR ROBERT FILMER, of East Sutton

Dated. 16.8.1703. Proved. 1720.

To be buried at East Sutton.
To my oldest son EDWARD, all my estate interests, etc.,
To Dame ELIZABETH, my wife, ...
To my sister in law, ARCHIBELLA FILMER, widow of my brother EDWARD, Doctor of Civil Law, lately deceased. £25 annually.
To Dame ELIZABETH my wife, and EDWARD my son, £200 upon trust for the advancement of the children of my said dear brother, deceased, as follows, £50 for my nephew EDWARD, £40 for my nephew THOMAS, £30 for my nephew CHARLES, £30 for my niece MARG ARET, £30 for my niece ELIZABETH and £20 for my niece ANN.
To the poor of East Sutton, £5.
To Dame ELIZABETH and EDWARD, my son, all plate, jewels, etc., and to be joint executors'.
Ref. Filmer Family Manuscripts. U.120. T.200/18

The following is recorded:

Underneath lie the bodies of SIR ROBERT FILMER Baronet & DAME ELIZABETH his wife daughter and co-heir of SR WILLIAM BEVERSHAM of Holbrook Hall in Suffolk Knight and one of ye Masters of the High Court of Chancery they lived together abov e 34 years and had issue five sons and four daughters. She departed this life May the 4th 1717 in the 62nd year of her age and he April 14th 1720 in the 70th of his age.

Christening: 26 OCT 1648 East Sutton, Kent

Death: 14 APR 1720 East Sutton, Kent

Burial: 1720 East Sutton Church (North Aisle), Kent

Change: Date: 24 FEB 2004

Note: FOSTER to 1714.

FILMER, Edward, s. Robert, of Westminster, arm. Corpus Christi Coll., matric. 17 April, 1668, aged 16; fellow All Souls’ Coll., 1672, B.A. 1672, B.C.L. 21 Feb., 1675-6, D.C.L. 1681; "dramatist" student of Gray’s Inn 1675 (his father the n a bart.); licenced, as of East Sutton, Kent, 29 Jan., 1686-7 to marry Archibella, daughter of Archibald Clinkard, of Sutton Valence, Kent. See Gray’s Inn Reg.; London Marriage Licences; ed. Foster; & D.N.B.


Edward was born around 1651/52. He was probably educated locally.

In 1672 he was admitted as a Fellow of All Soul's College, Oxford where he took a degree of Bachelor of Arts on the 17th December of that year.

His admission to All Soul's was as a direct result of his relationship to the founder of All Soul's, Henry Chichley, Archbishop of Canterbury.

There is a pedigree at the Kent Archives Office (U120 F3) which seems to have been constructed about 40 years later, probably for the benefit of Sir Robert Filmer's grandson, Sir Edward Filmer. This pedigree, which is in manuscript, has a draw ing of the Filmer Arms containing sixteen quarterings for the following families:

1. Filmer
2. Heton
3. More
4. Kempe
5. Chich
6. Cryoll (through Allan Chich's great grandmother)
7. Crevequer
8. Averengel
9. Chichley
10. Apulderfield (Sir Robert Chich [? Chicheley] married an Apulderfield)
11. idem
12. Browne (through Sir William Kempe's wife, Eleanor Browne)
13. Moyle
14. Lucombe (through the grandmother of Sir Thomas Moyle)
15. Kayle
16. Jorden (through Sir Thomas Moyle's wife, Katheline Jorden)

The connection arises as follows:

Archbishop Chichley had a brother, Sir Robert Chicheley, (who was twice Lord Mayor of London in 1411 and 1421). He had a daughter, Isabell, who married Allan Chich. Allan Chich and Isabell had a daughter who married Sir Thomas Kempe. He di ed in 1520 leaving issue, inter alia, Sir William Kempe, who married Eleanor, daughter of Robert Browne. Their son, Sir Thomas Kempe, married Amy, a daughter and co-heir of Sir Thomas Moyle of Eastwell. It was their son, Reginald, who marrie d Mary Argall (the sister of Elizabeth Argall who married Sir Edward Filmer). Reginald and Mary had a daughter, Amy, who married Maurice Tuke. It was their daughter, Dorothy, who married Sir Robert Filmer, Edward's father.

Edward continued at Oxford obtaining the degree of Bachelor of Civil Law on the 21st February, 1675.

He then followed his brother by being admitted to Gray's Inn (Admin 320 - 1675).

He became a Doctor of Civil Laws on the 27th October, 1681.

In February 1687/8 he married Archibella, the sole daughter and heir of their neighbour, Archibald Clinkard, Esquire, of Sutton Valence, at East Sutton Church (see Chester London Marriages Licences, ed. Foster, col. 484. - he indicated as aroun d 30 and she 23. See also Topographical Quarterly, Aug 1933).

By her he had children - Edward and Robert, baptised at East Sutton, Archibald, Margaret, Elizabeth, Samuel, Archibella, Anne, Thomas and Charles - all baptised at Sutton Valence.

The children living in 1703, Edward, Thomas, Margaret, Elizabeth, Anne and Charles are all mentioned in Sir Robert's Will. The remaining children had died in infancy (Neve Mon 74; Whincop). Apart from law, his principle interest was the stag e. In 1697 he actually wrote a blank verse tragedy entitled 'The Unnatural Brother' which was acted three times at the theatre in Little Lincoln's Inn Fields. (Genest. Hist. of the Stage ii.114 - also see Baker's Biographia Dramitica (Reed a nd Jones) i, 242. iii, 371-2). Apparently it met with a very 'cold reception' which Edward ascribed to his having 'made choice of too few persons in the drama, and that the stage was never filled; there seldom appearing above two at a time, an d never above three, till the end and winding up of the whole... If these must be thought faults now in our nicer age, I am sure they were not thought such heretofore by the Ancients'. It cannot have helped in that the play was of extreme le ngth. However in the same year part of this drama was reproduced by Pierre Antoine Motteux as 'The Unfortunate Couple; a short Tragedy' in 'The Novelty'.

He joined in the controversy, which extended over several years, as to whether 'Vicious Characters' and 'profaneness' should be portrayed on the stage.

As a result of the attacks on the stage being made by Jeremy Collier, he published in 1698 in London 'A Defence of Dramatick Poetry; being a review of Mr. Collier's View of Immorality and Profaneness of the stage. (A Farther Defence of Dramati c poetry: being the second part etc.)'.

He later also wrote 'A Defence of Plays, or the Stage Vindicated from several Passages in Mr. Collier's Short View, etc. Wherein is off'd the most probable method of Reforming our Plays. With a Consideration how far Vicious Characters may b e allowed on the Stage'. It does not seem to have been published during his lifetime however.

Dr. Edward Filmer died whilst at Sutton Valence in 1703.


The 'Defence of Plays' was finally published posthumously in 1707. It is clearly indicated as by 'Edward Filmer, Doctor of the Civic Laws' being printed for Jacob Tonson 'within Gray's Inn Gate, next Gray's Inn Lane 1707' (Ed. in Br. Lib). T he tract runs to some 167 pages with a preface.

Collier then replied in 'A Farther Vindication of the Short View' in 1708. (See also Collier J. The Nonjurer. A short View of the profaness and immorality of the English Stage etc.).

Occupation: Place: Doctor of Civil Law, Dramatist

Death: 1703 Sutton Valence, Kent

Burial: 20 JUN 1703 Sutton Valence, Kent

Change: Date: 1 SEP 2003

Note: She was the sole daughter and heir of Archibald Clinkard, Esquire.

After Edward died, Archibella lived quietly at her home at Langley near Maidstone.

On her death in 1743 she was buried at Sutton Valence near her husband

Occupation: Place: of Langley

Death: 1743

Burial: Sutton Valence, Kent

Change: Date: 3 MAY 2000

Note: He was apprenticed to an apothecary in Maidstone.

Occupation: Place: S.P.

Change: Date: 23 MAY 2001

Occupation: Place: S.P.

Death: 1657

Change: Date: 19 APR 1998

Note: Charles was baptised on the 8th October, 1702 at Sutton Valence. He was apprenticed to a Maidstone apothecary (KAO U120 F13/3). His marriage to Alicia Mills on 11th August, 1720 is recorded in Fleet Marriages (Burn) 1834 Vol. 8 p. 105 . Alicia was from Maidstone. It appears that shortly after his marriage he sailed as a surgeon overseas with the Royal Africa or Guinea Company. He seems to have died in 1723. His will is reproduced below:


'All my goods and chattels to my brother
Thomas Filmer, of London, packer, and to be sole executor.

Dated 22 September, 1720.


The will was proved by Thomas at Portsmouth on the 7th July, 1723. (P.C.C. 144

Christening: 6 OCT 1702 Sutton Valence, Kent

Death: 1723

Change: Date: 16 MAR 2004

Occupation: Place: from Maidstone (1720)

Change: Date: 20 APR 1998

Note: Another of Robert and Edward's sisters, Amy, was also to marry a clergyman. In the same year, 1683, as her sister married, she married John Rumney the vicar of Sutton Valence and who also had the living of Crundal. (It will be recall ed that the advowsen of Crundal was inherited by the Filmers as a result of the marriage of Dorothy Tuke to Sir Robert Filmer in 1648). They married at East Sutton.

Hasted indicates that they had no children.

Amy was buried at East Sutton on the 24th August, 1719.

Christening: 5 DEC 1654 East Sutton, Kent

Burial: 24 AUG 1719 East Sutton, Kent

Change: Date: 23 MAY 2001

Note: She died unmarried

Death: 1 JUL 1710

Change: Date: 30 SEP 2003

Note: There are two letters amongst the Filmer MSS at Kent Archives Office (U120 C21) from John Smyth dated 1706 seeking assistance from Sir Robert Filmer for their mutual nephew.

Occupation: Place: Revf. of Lested Lodge, Chart Sutton.

Religion: Place: Vicar (C of E) Chart Sutton & Rector of Hastingleigh, Kent

Change: Date: 2 APR 2004

Change: Date: 27 JAN 2001

Note: Sir Robert Filmer sold the manor of Herst in Otterden, where his great-great-grandfather, James, had lived to the Rev. John Rumney. John died in 1698 and in his will he mentions his mother, Jane Hale, of Sutton Valence, widow, and his w ife, Amy, to whom he left the manor and farm then containing '120 acres and two woods of ten acres'. According to Hasted, Amy sold the manor of Herst in Otterden in 1702 to a Mr. Henry Knowles - it being eventually conveyed to the rectors of t he parish of Otterden in perpetuity.

Occupation: Place: Vicar of Sutton Valence

Religion: Place: He also had the living of Crundal.

Change: Date: 8 MAR 2004

Note: Aged 62

Death: 4 MAY 1717

Burial: 1717 East Sutton Church (North Aisle), Kent

Change: Date: 24 FEB 2004

Note: He is recorded in the Kent Poll Books for 1734:

FILMER, Sir Edward voting at East Sutton. Freehold in East Sutton.

FOSTER to 1714:

FILMER, (Sir) Edward, s. Rob., of East Sutton, Kent, bart. NEW COLL., matric. 12 July, 1700, aged 17; 3rd bart.; died 10 Feb., 1755, aged 72. See Fister’s Baronetage.


He had 11 sons and 9 daughters. Of the sons, only four attained manhood.

On 30th October, 1706 a Thomas Reynolds, aged about 37 years, servant to Edward Filmer, Esq., of East Sutton, Kent, was baptised at Allhallows, Honey Lane, London.


Edward, the eldest son of Sir Robert Filmer, the second baronet, was baptised at East Sutton on the 2nd May, 1683. After completing his early schooling he was placed under the tutorship of William Ford at New College, Oxford; he then, followin g family tradition, became a practising barrister of the Parliamentary Bar (K.A.O. U120 C19).

At the age of 23, on the 24th February, 1706/7 he married Mary, the daughter of John and Elizabeth Wallis of Soundess House, Oxfordshire. Her father was also a lawyer and her grandfather was the famous mathematician of the same name.

Edward and Mary Filmer had the remarkable number of twenty children, eleven sons and nine daughters. Much of their energies were taken up in looking after them. Their first child was baptised in 1712 and the last in 1730. Several of them f ell victim to small pox or to the many other diseases then prevalent. It is clear that their parents had a very harrowing time and much sadness.

Mary's sister, Elizabeth Head, and her son, Thomas, paid frequent visits to them (see correspondence KAO U120 C37) and family connections were fostered. Edward Filmer is mentioned in the will of Catherine Culpeper, Lady Fairfax (Virg. Mag. Vol . 34 p. 27). Contacts with even quite remote relations were kept up.

He succeeded to the baronetcy and the family estates in 1720, after which he devoted much of his tine to farming and developing his estates.

In 1727 he purchased the manor of Kingsnorth in Ulcombe, from Annabella Herris, and a number of other farms. At this time, therefore, the family estates consisted of East Sutton Place, the Park and home farm together with over four hundred acr es of woodland scattered throughout the estate and some thirty eight properties leased to tenants. Sir Edward also leased the nearby East Sutton Parsonage farm from the Dean and Chapter of Canterbury. Elsewhere his estate included not only t he manor of Kingsnorth (which he had just purchased) but also Hoathley in Lamberhurst, Wichling, Tremworth in Crundale, Hinxhill in Wye, Godmersham and Crundale manors. They were mostly leased to tenants.

He was a very progressive farmer and kept detailed notes and accounts. Many of these have been detailed and analysed by Elizabeth Melling M.A. in her 'Aspects of Agriculture and Industry', published in 1961.

It is clear that Sir Edward paid great attention to detail, using a systematic but flexible crop rotation. Most of the persons employed on the estate had cottages supplied and worked not only on the farm but also in the Park, its gardens and w oods. Grain and hops with fruit from the two orchards near the house were regular cash crops.

Sir Edward also acted as a Justice of the Peace in the Eastern Division of the Lathe of Aylesford (KAO U120 C43 regarding the state of the roads in the Division 1733-36, and also notes on business done - 1751-55 - officers sworn, etc. U120 022 ). The records of Orders issued by Sir Edward, gaol calendars for the Assizes at Rochester and Maidstone are kept at the Kent Archives Office (U120 011/16).

It appears that he endeavoured to use his influence as a Justice to ensure that the road between East Sutton and Maidstone was brought up to a good coach standard road but his efforts were much resented by the Hendley family who lived at Langley . There appears to have been a fairly long-standing degree of friction between the two families (and correspondence between them throws an interesting light on Sir Edward's character), arising out of their attempts to interfere in one another' s parishes.

On the 17th July, 1733, Boyer Hendley of Otham draws to the attention of Sir Edward 'that part of Kings Wood (way) which lyes in East Sutton parish is very bad in winter and wants mending very much'.

At much the same time the Hendley family were maintaining that Sir Edward could not expect a good coach road 'where there never was one'. But matters came to a head in 1736 when Sir Edward sent him a bill of charges, which was refused. In re ply he wrote 'I am very sorry that the bill of charges occasioned by your neglect in mending your highways after repeated admonitions from me should ruffle you so, and provoke you to send me so rude and so uncharitable a letter ... Let me advis e you, as a friend, as you are come to these years, to set your mind more upon things above, and to be less careful for the Mammon of unrighteousness...'

Also in 1736 William Hendley (of Gore Court, Otham) refused to support Sir Edward in his choice of surveyor for East Sutton parish writing: 'Collison, whom you recommend to be a surveyor, his son informs me, that he could neither read or write , which I thought a sufficient reason not to nominate a surveyor'.

It is suspected that the road was not really improved until it became a turnpike road in 1803.

Long before then, however, relations had improved between the two families as Sir Edward's son, Beversham, married William Hendley's second daughter, Dorothy, in 1764.

In the church at East Sutton Sir Edward had built a vault in the South Chapel, which thereafter became known as the 'Filmer Chapel'. Previously, the burials of the family had taken place in different parts of the church, both inside and outsid e.

Above the vault is a bust of Sir Edward in white marble with the Filmer arms impaling Wallis. After his wife, Mary's death the following inscription was raised:

"In the little Vault under the pew made by Sir Edward Filmer, Bart., in the year of Our Lord 1733, to contain 12 bodys, one above another, for the use of himself, and his wife, his successors and their wives, lie the Bodys of the said Sir EDWAR D FILMER and Dame MARY his wife, daughter of John Wallis of Soundess in Oxfordshire, Esq. They lived together near 48 years, & had issue 11 sons and 9 daughters. He departed this life 10th February 1755, in the 72nd year of his age, and sh e the 5th January 1761, in. the 72nd year of her age."

"Non est vivere, sed valere vita."

The inscription is the subject of a note by Sir Edward to his executors (KAO. U120 T200/22-24).

Of Sir Edward and Mary's twenty children only four sons and three daughters survived him. He also outlived seven of his brothers and sisters. One can not but help thinking that this must have been one of the most unhealthy periods to have li ved in, with the many epidemics that never seemed to stop sweeping the country.

An extract of Sir Edward's will is given below:


WILL of Sir EDWARD FILMER, Bart., of East Sutton

Dated 17/12/1750 Proved 1754/5

Extract of Sir EDWARD FILMER (3rd Baronet)'s will dated 17/12/1750. He died10/1/1755

'To be buried at East Sutton Church
To my wife Dame MARY, £100, coach and pair, etc.
To my brother, BEVERSHAM, of Lincoln's Inn, Esq. £50.
I have now living 3 younger sons and 3 daughters by my wife Dame MARY. To them I bequeath £5000 to be divided as follows: To my son BEVERSHAM, £1000, and Branden Farm, To my son EDMUND, £1900, To my youngest son FRANCIS, £1900.
The manor of Hoadley, etc., in the parish of Lamberhurst, Manor of Hinxhill, etc., in parishes of Wye, Godmersham and Crundall, Manor of Kings North in parish of Ulcombe, barn with land called Wallet Court, near Warren Street in parish of Wichli ng, land in parish of Chartham, etc. etc. to my said wife Dame MARY and my brother BEVERSHAM upon trust to raise legacies mentioned in this will.
To my daughter Dame DOROTHY HONEYWOOD, wife of Sir JOHN HONEYWOOD, £400.
To my daughters ANN FILMER and AMY FILMER, £2400 each.
Residue to eldest son JOHN FILMER and his heirs male and then, in default, to my third son EDMUND and his heirs male, and then, in default, to fourth son FRANCIS and his heirs male.
To grandson and godson FILMER HONEYWOOD, £10.
To nephew ROBERT FILMER, £10.
Executor. Dame MARY FILMER.
Dated 17 December 1750.'

Note from Sir EDWARD to his executors:

'Inscription to be placed on church of East Sutton.

In the little vault under this pew made by Sir EDWARD FILMER, Bart, in the year of our Lord 1733, to contain twelve bodies, one above another, for the use of himself and his wife, his successors and their wives, lie the bodies of the said Sir ED WARD FILMER and Dame MARY his wife, daughter of JOHN WALLIS of Soundess in Oxfordshire, Esq. They lived together near 48 years and had issue 11 sons and 9 daughters. He departed this life the 10th of February, 1755 in the 72nd year of his ag e and she the ___ in the _.. of her age.
Non est vivere, sed valere vita.
Note. The said Dame MARY FILMER was born about the _.. day of January 1688/9.'
Ref. Filmer Family Papers. U.120. T.200/22-24.

Christening: 30 MAY 1683 East Sutton, Kent

Education: Place: New College, Oxford

Occupation: Place: Barrister

Death: 10 FEB 1755 East Sutton, Kent

Burial: East Sutton, Kent

Change: Date: 10 NOV 2003

Note: He was an eminent conveyancer and was reputed to be worth £150,000 when he died, (Gents. Mag.)

Beversham Filmer was born at East Sutton in 1685, entering Gray's Inn in 1702 (Adm. 353 1735), and in 1723, Lincoln's Inn (Adm. i.391). He was considered to be one of the most eminent conveyancers of his day and later was appointed a Master o f the Nisi Prius.

He acted as Sir Edward Filmer's legal advisor and there is much correspondence amongst the Filmer papers relating to estate and family matters between them (U120 C24-29; C42; C53). He advised Sir Edward as regards his children when in London , particularly on the welfare of his son, Edward, whilst at Furnival's Inn, and following closely his progress on admission to Lincoln's Inn in 1732 prior to his tragic death from small pox in 1734. He also helped Sir Edward's next son, John , who was admitted to Gray's Inn in 1735 (Adm. 372).

Amongst his close friends were the portrait painter, William Verelst (U120 C44/1; C25-26), and the Raymond family.

The Raymonds were related to the Filmer family but probably their close affinity over several generations was that both families were strongly orientated towards the legal profession. Sir Thomas Raymond (1627-83) was a noted judge and indee d is reputed to be the last English judge to have sentenced anyone for witchcraft. (S.G. Thicknesse 1946). This despite the views of his relation, Sir Robert Filmer - which were most likely known to him.

Sir Thomas Raymond's son, Robert, (1673-1733), was a close advisor to Sir Robert Filmer, the second baronet. He eventually became Lord Chief Justice and first Baron Langleybury. He left substantial property to Beversham Filmer including Pirt on Rectory and the Manor as well as a substantial estate at Abbots Langley in Hertfordshire. The Raymonds lived at the manor of Abbots Langley and also owned the manor of Chambersbury (or Rectory Manor) nearby. After the death of the first B aron Langleybury a huge monument was erected at Abbots Langley in his honour. The second Baron Langleybury died without issue in 1753 and much of his estate was inherited by the Filmers.

Beversham died in 1763 being reputed to be worth at his death some £150,000 - an enormous figure for those days.

His monument in East Sutton Church refers to his virtues:


"Under a small stone of white marble at the entrance into the Chancel lyes interred the body of BEVERSHAM FILMER, Esq., of Lincoln's Inn, Barrister at Law. His great abilities, improved by the closest study and application, acquired him the re putation of one of the ablest Lawyers of his time. His singular probity and integrity, uniformly displayed in the course of Fifty years practice, procured him the character of an honest man. His affability, modesty, arid sweetness of tempe r gained him the friendship and esteem of all his acquaintance. His innocency of life and simplicity of manners, founded upon true Christian principles, inspired him with the most comfortable assurances of a Resurrection to a Blessed immortali ty. He was the second son of Sir Robert Filmer, Bart., by Dame Elizabeth, his wife (daughter and coheir of Sir William Beversham, Kt.), and died a Batchelor on the 10th June in the year of Christ 1763, and the 78th of his age."

There is a slab on the floor:

BEVERSHAM FILMER Esq died 10 June 1763 AE78 ROBERT FILMER his brother died 18 Jan 1717 AE31


It will be noticed that he never married.

He left a short will :


All property to my nephew Sir John Filmer, in default to my nephew Beversham Filmer, and in default to my nephew Edmund Filmer, and in default to my nephew Francis Filmer, and in default to my nephew Robert Filmer (Robert the son of my brother S amuel Filmer deceased)
To sister Dame Mary, 20 guineas.
To my sister in law Mrs Margaret Filmer, widow of my brother Samuel and to her sisters my cousins, Elizabeth and Ann Filmer, £300 each.
Residue to be equally divided among my nephews Beversham, Edmund, Francis, Robert, and nieces Dame Dorothy Honeywood, Ann and Amy.
Nephews Sir John Filmer and Francis Filmer, executors.

Dated 18 August 1757

Codicil. 1762. Also Nephew Beversham Filmer to be Executor.

(KAO U120 T200/25)

It is thought likely that in the latter part of his life he lived at Luddenham when he visited Kent, having purchased the manor in 1753.

In 1744 the Duchess of Marlborough made him one of her executors of her will. (Gent. Mag. 1744 (Vol. XIV page 588)

Baptism: 8 MAR 1684/85

Death: 10 JUN 1763

Burial: 17 JUN 1763 East Sutton Church, Kent. MI

Change: Date: 3 OCT 2003

Note: Robert, was baptised on the 2nd May, 1687 at East Sutton. Not much is known of him. He seems to have set up in partnership with Charles Fox in London where he was a member of the Worshipful Company of Skinners.

He does not seem to have married and died at the young age of 31 in January 1717/18. His will is reproduced in brief below:


'To my friend and partner Charles Fox, £10
To my friend Richard Jones of Woodstreet, London. gentleman, £10
To friend James Jordan of Cheapside, London, linendraper, £10
To friend Francis Cole, of London, brewer, £10
To servant and maide Elizabeth Barman, £20
To friend John Eylam, apothecary, a ring
To my brother Samuel Filmer £100
Remainder and residue of my estate to be equally divided between my brothers and sisters, viz., Beversham, Samuel, Dorothy, Elizabeth, and Frances Filmer.
To my brother Samuel, my diamond and stone rings, stone buttons set in gold, silver watch and silver buckles, and to be executor

Dated 22 December 1717.


The will was proved by his brother, Samuel, on the 28th January, 1717/18. (P.C.C. 8 Tenison).

There is a letter, written shortly before his death, held at the Kent Archives Office - U120 C32.

Robert, seems to have died unmarried. He was, according to the register of his death at East Sutton, a linen draper of St. Michael's Quern in London, and was a member of the Worshipful Company of Skinners. No progeny are mentioned in any fam ily wills. He died comparatively young, aged 30, in 1717/8 and he left his estate to be mainly divided between his brothers and sisters. (P.C.C. 8 Tenison).

There is a slab in the floor of East Sutton church:

BEVERSHAM FILMER Esq died 10 June 1763 AE78 ROBERT FILMER his brother died 18 Jan 1717 AE31

Christening: 2 MAY 1687 East Sutton, Kent

Occupation: Place: Linen draper of St. Michael's Quern

Death: 17 JAN 1716/17

Burial: East Sutton, Kent

Change: Date: 24 FEB 2004

Note: He may have been baptised or possibly buried 19/3/1690? If so his date of birth may well have been 1688 or even 1689.

Christening: 8 JUL 1688

Occupation: Place: S.P.

Death: 19 MAR 1688/89

Change: Date: 30 SEP 2003

Note: Sir Robert and Elizabeth's youngest child, Samuel, was baptised at East Sutton in 1694. In 1715 he was apprenticed to his brother, Robert, for £150 (Bk. 4/1 Apprentices, Guildhall), probably working for his brother's partnership with Ch arles Fox until 1717/8 when his brother died, and when he proved his will.

In 1721 he married his cousin, Margaret Filmer, the daughter of his uncle, Dr. Edward Filmer and his wife Archibella. (See Chapter Fourteen). In the marriage licence granted on the 6th November 1721, Samuel is indicated as being a bachelor o f Staplehurst and Margaret Filmer as a spinster of Langley. The wedding is thought to have taken place at Langley where her family lived not far from Maidstone.

They had at least two children - Samuel and Robert - both mentioned in the wills and codicils of their aunts reproduced above but the register of their baptisms has not been examined. They may also have had a daughter, Nancy.

It seems likely that the family lived for a time at Archibella's father's home in St. Mary le Bone and also stayed in Langley.

Not much is known about him. He died at the young age of 34, being buried at East Sutton in 1728.

Samuel, their youngest child, had two children who were mentioned in various family wills - Samuel and Robert. He married his cousin, Margaret Filmer. He lived, prior to his marriage and possibly afterwards, in Staplehurst and in London , but would also have stayed at his wife's mother's homes in Langley and in St. Mary-le-Bone. It is possible that there may have been other children who were born by Samuel and his wife, Margaret, who have not been identified, but as they hav e certainly not been mentioned in any wills it seems most unlikely that they would have survived to maturity. Also, Samuel died at the young age of 34 in 1728.

Death: 3 AUG 1728 East Sutton, Kent

Change: Date: 23 MAY 2001

Note: He is mentioned in the wills of his aunts, Dorothy, Elizabeth and Frances Filmer, who died in 1742, 1741 and 1744 respectively.

However, practically nothing is known about Samuel. Frances, the last to survive, died in 1744 and her will was proved by John Filmer of the Middle Temple and Robert Filmer of St. Andrews, Holborn, stationer, her nephews. Amongst the manuscr ipts at Kent Archives Office is the following reproduced receipt given by Samuel's brother, Robert:

'Know all men by these presents that I Robert Filmer of St. Andrew's, Holbourn, Co. Middlesex, stationer and administrator of the Goods, Chattels, rights and credits of my brother Samuel Filmer, deceased, do hereby acknowledge to have this day h ad and received of Sir Edward Filmer, of East Sutton, and Beversham Filmer of Lincoln's Inn, executors of Dorothy Filmer, Elizabeth Filmer and Frances Filmer, late of Sutton Valence, spinsters, deceased, the sum of £1100, which with £100 alread y received, is in full payment of legacies bequeathed to me and my brother Samuel by the above Dorothy, Elizabeth and Frances Filmer.

Whereas the within named Frances Filmer has given by her will, over and above the money legacy to me and my brother Samuel, since deceased, all her plate and rings, etc., I do hereby acknowledge receipt both for myself and as administrator to m y brother.

Signed. Robert Filmer.'

Ref: U120 T200/21.


It would appear from the above receipt that Samuel died unmarried shortly after Frances, in about 1744/45.

Christening: --Not Shown--

Occupation: Place: of St. Andrews, Holborn

Burial: --Not Shown--

Change: Date: 5 SEP 2001