Dead vicar's possessions for sale (1840)

Post date: Mar 26, 2012 7:15:30 PM

Extract from West Kent Guardian 7 March 1840. Jacob or Thouble Marsham had been vicar of Wateringbury from 1827 to 1840. His possessions confirm the prestige of his position in society. The vicarage was at this time The White House on Tonbridge Road near the Crossroads, located by the Glebe rather than the Church.

WATERINGBURY, KENT. Excellent and Modern Household Furniture, fine toned Cabinet Piano Forte, by Tomkinton, pair of large Celestial and Terrestial Globes, excellent Wines, Linen, China, Glass, Oxenham's Patent Mangle, Brewing and Dairy utensils, a handsome well built Chariot, a Four-in-hand Travelling Coach, on Telegraph springs, with patent axletrees, lamps, etc, two superior well bred active Bay Carriage Horses, two sets of Harness, two superior Riding Horset, a Pony Chaise, three Milch Cows, two Calves, part of a stack of Meadow Hay, two Carts, Iron- Hurdles, and effects, TO BE SOLD BY AUCTION, BY MR. JOHN BATTEN, on the 24th March, 1840, and the following day, at Eleven o'clock in the forenoon, on the premises, at the Vicarage, at Wateringbury, by order of the Executors of the late Hon. and Rev. Jacob Marsham, D.D.

The Furniture, etc, comprises excellent Mahogany 4-post and painted French Bedsteads and Furnitures; Hair and Wool Matresses; Straw Palias; Feather Beds; Bolsters and Pillows; Blankets and Counterpanes; Mahogany and Painted Dressing Tables; Mahogany Wardrobes; Mahogany Chests of Drawers; Chimney and Dressing Glasses; Brussels and Kidderminster Carpets and Hearth Rugs; set of Mahogany Dining Tables; Mahogany and Rosewood Loo, Card, and Work Tables; ditto Chairs; ditto Couches; three India Cabinets, inlaid with Tortoiseshell and Ivory; Pratt's Patent Chair on Wheels; Mahogany Sideboard; PedestalTable Lamps; Fenders, Fire Irons, and a general assortment of kitchen requistes in copper, tin, and iron.

The Wines consist of fine old Port, Sherry, Madeira, and Marseilla.

Linen consists of Damask Table Cloths, Breakfast Cloths, fine Linen- Sheets, Breakfast and Dinner Napkins, Table Covers, Dowlas, &c.

China and Glass consists of large handsome Chintz and Gold and other Dinner Services, Chintz and Gold and Crimson and Gold Dessert Sets, and sundry China Tea and Breakfast sets; handsome cut quart and pint Decanters, Claret bottles, Wine Coolers, Finger Glasses, Cut Goblets and Rummers, Wine, Champagne, and Ale Glasses, etc.

The goods to be viewed the day before the sale; when catalogues may be had on the Premises; at Mr. J. V. Hall's Journal Office, Maidstone; Swan Inn, Town Mailing ; and ef the Auctioneer, St. Mary's Bank, Rochester.

The Bristol Mercury of 1st August 1840 reported:

The late Hon. and Rev. Dr. Marshman was Canon Residentiary of Windsor, Prebendary of Rochester, Prebendary of Bath and Wells, Rector of Kirkby Overblows, Yorkshire, and Vicar of Wateringbury, in Kent. The emoluments of these preferments exceeded £3,300 a-year.

If you adjust £3,300 in 1840 by subsequent RPI to 2010 you get £232,000. Go to http://www.measuringworth.com/ to see other means of adjusting to present day worth.

The White House was built or rebuilt in 1731 by the then vicar, George Charlton, at a cost of £400 of which £200 came from the Queen Anne's Bounty Fund. This was a fund established in 1704 to help poor clergy and with the provision of houses for them. John Walkey was the last vicar to live here and his successor Reginald Soar moved the vicarage across the road in 1944, before it left the village altogether as part of joining Wateringbury with Teston and West Farleigh (subsequently replaced by East Malling) for ecclesiastical purposes.

See also Wateringbury Clergy oppose legislation.