*1 Rev. Thomas George Dixon M.A.
Exeter College Oxford. B.A. 1877, M.A. 1880. Cuddeston College. 1877-78. deacon 1878, priest 1879 St. Albans Curate of Abbey Church. St.Albans 1878-86; Vicar of Halstead 1886-99; Rural Dean of Halstead 1895-99; Rector of Wickham Bishops, Essex, 1899-1907; L.Pr. Dio. (Licenced Preacher Diocese of) Lincoln. from 1907. The Hall, Holton-le-Moor, Lincoln.
*2 Rev. Andrew Clark
In the introduction to Volume 1, The Rev. Andrew Clark states "These eight volumes are not of my own collections but simply condense the collections made by Rev. Thomas George Dixon M.A." Sadly, as he wrote in the preface:
"Had I been able, while the facts were all fresh and clear to me, to have gone over the ground with Mr. Dixon, who knew the parish intimately, and had piled up the materials, I fancy that between us we could have made out:
a) a singular descent of old enclosed lands;
b) an equally singular record of later enclosures – together a land-history of a parish.
"At my time of life, I cannot again hope to attain anywhere so near success.
"Everything was arranged, but I had a grave illness."
He continues by providing an insight into the way the original information was gathered from the court rolls:
"The Manor of Wickham Bishops, Essex, was from before the earliest of extant records till the Episcopal estates were taken over by the Ecclesiastical Commissioners, part of the estate of the bishopric of London; and, during any vacancy of the see, was administered by the Dean an Chapter of St. Paul’s.
"The Court Rolls of the Manor are now partly in the Public Record Office, partly in the Ecclesiastical Commissioner’s office (at 10 Whitehall Place, London).
"In the Public Record Office are over 120 membranes mostly written on both sides.
"Excerpts from these rolls were made by ___________ for Rev. T. G. Dixon, of Holton Park, Lincoln, sometime rector of Wickham Bishops. This excerpter unhappily translated instead of transcribing, and it is not always possible to guess back to the original in difficult prints. He also overlooked the point that even minute manorial customs are known from other sources, and that the mere notice that they were mentioned in the rolls was of no use, unless the actual details were given. Still, the excerpting has been very faithfully done, and represents a large volume of manorial facts.
"In the Ecclesiastical Commissioner’s office the Wickham Bishops roll are mixed up in bundles with the rolls of other manors – as Court Rolls of “Various Manors”.
In each bundle there are some 3 cores of rolls, but all in a very dirty and decayed condition. Excerpts from these were made for Rev. T. G. Dixon. The original excerpter knew very little about manorial matters; found he deciphering beyond her powers*; and the notes are very meagre and unsatisfactory.
Afterwards Mr. Dixon employed a professional (R.E.G. Kirk), Record Agent, Lonsdale Chambers, 27 Chancery Lane, London, W.C. (in November 1906).
* Rev. T. G. Dixon’s note:
"The fact is this. Mr. Kirk attended with T.G.D. at Eccles. Comm. Office. The new building was being finished and continuous hammering was going on. Kirk read out translations of deeds and T.G.D. put down jottings as far as he could hear and understand." ["So the supposed female must be omitted."]
*3 Hokday
Hockday - a holiday commemorating the expulsion of the Danes formerly observed on the second Tuesday after Easter, also called hocktide.