# The Manor of Little Gatcombe

> English manorial lordship in the Parish of Wymering, Hampshire

The Manor of Little Gatcombe is a documented manorial lordship in the Parish of Wymering, Hampshire, now within the city of Portsmouth. The manor has been documented since the thirteenth century. The lordship is an incorporeal hereditament: a form of intangible property recognised in English law, distinct from the land itself and from any buildings upon it.

Little Gatcombe was carved from the parent manor of Gatcombe as a distinct holding by the mid-fifteenth century. The earliest recorded lords held the manor from the King in chief by grand serjeanty, owing armed military service at Portchester Castle in time of war. The name derives from Old English, meaning "goat valley".

## Primary Source

Victoria County History of Hampshire, Vol. 3 (1908), pp. 165-170.

## Documented Descent

The Victoria County History records a descent of twenty-five lords across approximately five hundred and fifty years.

### Serjeanty Holders (13th-14th century)

- c. 1230s: Fulk de Wymeringes holds by Portchester Castle serjeanty. Armed service for 8 days in wartime.
- d. 1291: Sir William de Esturs. Suit at Portchester Castle court every 3 weeks; one armed man with lance, helmet, shield.
- d. 1293-1307: Geoffrey Lisle, then Baldwin de Lisle.
- d. 1337: John de Lisle of Gatcombe. Held from King in chief by grand serjeanty for defence of Portchester Castle.
- d. 1349: John de Lisle. Died in the year of the Black Death.
- d. 1369: John de Lisle. Died without male heir. Manor passed by marriage to John Bramshott.

### Bramshott Family (14th-15th century)

- d. c. 1433: William Bramshott. Knight of the Shire, MP, High Sheriff of Hampshire.
- d. 1468: Baldwin Bramshott. First recorded use of "Little Gatcombe" as distinct name.
- d. 1479: John Bramshott. Lands divided between two daughters.

### Tudor Period

- c. 1462-1510: Edmund Dudley. Speaker of the House of Commons and Henry VII's chief financial enforcer. Beheaded Tower Hill, 17 August 1510. Father of John Dudley, 1st Duke of Northumberland.
- d. 1545: William Erneley. Manor probably granted after Dudley's attainder. JP, MP.

### Erneley Family and Later Holders

- 1613: Richard Erneley sold to William Marshe. 120 acres in Portsea and Wymering.
- 1691: William Chafin and Mary sold to Thomas Brounker.
- from 1714: Captain Matthew Teate, then Matthew Brady (by 1744).
- c. 1778-1816: Admiral Sir Roger Curtis, 1st Baronet, GCB. Hero of the Great Siege of Gibraltar. Commander-in-Chief Portsmouth. Died at Gatcombe House.

### After Curtis

- 1794: Manor lands sold to the Crown for Hilsea Barracks.
- 1816: Admiral Curtis dies at Gatcombe House. Baronetcy passes to son Sir Lucius Curtis, 2nd Baronet.
- 1869: Death of Sir Lucius Curtis, 2nd Baronet, Admiral of the Fleet.
- 1898: Sir Arthur Curtis, 3rd Baronet, disappears on Klondike expedition, British Columbia.
- 1908: Victoria County History of Hampshire published. Manorial descent formally documented.
- 1954: Death of Sir Roger Curtis, 4th Baronet.
- 1972: Gatcombe House Grade II listed. In separate ownership since 1794.
- 2026: Morgan Sheldon succeeds to the Manor of Little Gatcombe.

## Legal Status

The lordship of the Manor of Little Gatcombe is held as a private incorporeal hereditament. It does not confer a peerage, does not carry a seat in the House of Lords, and does not grant ownership of any land or buildings. The lordship is a title, not a property. Gatcombe House, the Grade II listed building historically associated with the manor, is in separate ownership and use.

## Current Holder

The lordship of Little Gatcombe is held by Morgan Sheldon.

## Links

- Website: https://www.littlegatcombemanor.com
- Heritage site: https://www.littlegatcombe.com