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Parham
Theobald, son of Robert Lord Valoins, founder of Hickling Priory, in Norfolk, in
1185,. endowed it with the churches of Parham and Hasketon, in this county. He
was owner of the lordship of this parish, and a descendant of Peter de Valoins,
a Baron, in the Conqueror's time.
Cecily, the daughter of Robert de Valoins (a Baron in the reign of King Edward
L, the chief seat of whose Barony was Orford Castle, in this county), and one of
his co-heirs, married Sir Robert de Ufford, Steward of the Household to King
Edward II., and inherited this estate in right of such marriage.
It continued in the house of Ufford until the decease of Wm. de Ufford, Earl of
Suffolk, in the 5th of King Richard II., when it descended to the issue of
Cicely, his eldest sister, who married John, 3rd Lord Willoughby de Eresby, and
Robert their son, 4th Baron, succeeded to this estate, as nephew and co-heir of
the said William de Ufford, Earl of Suffolk. This Earl built Parham church, and
bequeathed his body to be buried at Campsey Abbey, under the arch of St.
Nicholas Chapel, behind the tomb of his father and mother.
Christopher, 8th Lord Willoughby de Eresby, married Margaret, daughter of Sir
William Jenney, of Knottishall, in this county, Knt., and devised this estate to
his second son, Sir Christopher Willoughby, Knt.; who, by his last will, dated
1527, gave per annum to the church of Parham , in satisfaction of all tithes and
offerings negligently forgotten. He resided in this parish, and married
Elizabeth, daughter of Sir George Talbois, Knt.; by whom he had issue Sir
William Willoughby, Knt., his son and successor; who in the 1st of King Edward
VI., was created Baron Willoughby, of Parham, and in the 4th of that reign, was
made Lieutenant of Calais, and the marches adjacent.
He married Elizabeth, daughter and co-heir of Sir Thomas Heneage, and by her had
Charles, Lord Willoughby, who married Margaret, daughter of Edward, Earl of
Lincoln. Their descendants continued to enjoy that honor until the death of
Henry, the 16th Baron, in 1775.
Parham House was in the possession of the Warners in the time of King James I.
Edward Warner, Esq., citizen and merchant of London, was the second son of
Francis Warner, of this parish, Esq., by Mary, his second wife, daughter and
co-heir of Sir Edw. Rous, Knt. He died in 1628, and made Francis Warner, of
Parham, Esq., his nephew and next heir, his executor, and chief heir to his
estate. They are derived from the ancient family of the Warners, who inherited
Warner's Hall, at Great Waltham, in Essex, and were advanced to the dignity of
Baronets in the reign of King Charles II., July 16, 1660. Sir John Warner, the
1st and only Baronet of his house, married Trevor, only daughter of Sir Thos.
Hanmer, Bart., of Hanmer, in the county of Flint; and had issue two daughters,
who both took the veil. At Sir John's decease the title became extinct.
In 1699, the estate, late Sir John Warner's, Bart., was purchased by John, son
of John Corrance, Esq., of Rendlesham; whose father had previously purchased,
between 1680 and 1690, Parham Hall,1 formerly the
property and residence of the Lords Willoughby.
Mr. Corrance deceased in 1704, and was buried at Parham: Clement, his eldest son
and heir, succeeded; who represented Orford in Parliament, from 1708 to 1714. He
married, in 1705, Mary, eldest daughter of Sir Robert Davers, Bart., of Rougham,
in this county, and made that parish his future residence.
He was succeeded by his eldest son and heir, John Corrance, Esq., of Rougham,
who died in 1742; leaving, by a second marriage, an infant daughter: at whose
decease, in 1747, the estates devolved upon Elizabeth, his sister, who married
William Long, Esq., of Dunstan, near Norwich.
Mrs. Long deceased in 1792, and devised her property to her cousin Mary, eldest
daughter of Major John Corrance, and wife of Snowden White, M.D., of Nottingham.
This lady died in 1797, leaving an only son, Frederick White, Esq., of Loudham
Hall, in this county, who is the present possessor, and has lately assumed the
name of Corrance.
ARMS. White: argent; on a chevron, between three wolves' heads
erased, sable, a wolf's head, or. Warner: or, a bend, engrailed, between
six roses, gules.
John Tovell, Gent., an opulent yeoman, possessed of an estate of about 800 per
annum, a portion of which he cultivated himself, was formerly a resident in this
parish; of whose dwelling, domestic habits, pursuits, and society, some
interesting particulars are preserved in the "Life of the Rev. George Crabbe,"
the well-known poet. He married Miss Sarah Elmy, the niece of Mr. Tovell, who
resided with her uncle at Parham, some years previous to their marriage.
He deceased in 1792, and his only child dying before him, he bequeathed the
estate to his two sisters, in equal shares. One died unmarried; the other, Mrs.
Elmy, of Beccles, had three daughters, who inherited the property in three equal
shares. Sarah, the eldest daughter, married Mr. Crabbe.
At her decease, the Rev. George Crabbe, the present vicar of Bredfield, and the
late Rev. John Waldron Crabbe, incumbent of Great and Little Glemham, his
brother, succeeded to their mother's third share; and the two maiden sisters, at
their death, bequeathed their shares to them. The property is now vested in the
said George Crabbe, and the issue of his late brother.
The old mansion, so pleasingly described by Mr. Crabbe's biographer, as the
residence of the late Mr. Tovell, has since been almost rebuilt, in the modern
style; and what was formerly designated "Ducking Hall," is at present known by
the name of "Parham Lodge."
Mr. Joshua Kirby, the talented author of a splendid treatise en-titled "The
Perspective of Architecture," was a native of this parish; eldest son of Mr.
John Kirby, author of the "Suffolk Traveler." Emulating the example of his
father, he contributed to the illustration of his native county, by publishing a
set of twelve prints, with an historical account of the same.
In the 8th number of the "Biographical Anecdotes of Hogarth," published by
Messrs. Longman and Co., a genuine memoir of Mr. Kirby is given, principally
compiled by his only daughter, Mrs. Sarah Trimmer; a lady so justly celebrated
for her numerous publications, for the religious instruction and education of
young persons.
By this it appears, he was born in 1716, and settled in Ipswich, as a house
painter, about 1738. When very young he painted the famous sign of the White
Hart, at Scole Inn, in Norfolk; from which an engraving was afterwards
published. Soon after the publication of the above print he became acquainted
with Mr. Gainsborough, whose works increased his taste for painting; and being
of a very studious turn of mind, he employed every leisure hour in the
acquisition of useful knowledge; hut the study which led him to eminence was
that of the art of perspective, in his improvement of which he may almost be
said to have invented a new art.
On being admitted to the friendship and intimacy of Sir Joshua Reynolds, Mr.
Hogarth, and most of the other eminent artists in the kingdom, he quitted
Ipswich, and removed to London; where he was patronized by the Earl of Bute, who
introduced him to King George III., then Prince of Wales, by whose special
appointment he was afterwards made Clerk of the Works at Kew; and, under his
Majesty's patronage, and by his munificent aid, he published, in 1761, the
elegant work on perspective, above named; the whole of which is a masterly
performance.
In 1766, in conjunction with his brother William, then of Witnesham, attorney-
at-law, he published an improved edition of their father's Map of Suffolk, on a
larger scale, with engravings of the arms of the principal families in the
county.
Mr. Kirby was a member both of the Royal and Antiquarian Societies; and at the
first formation of the Royal Academy, he was President of the Society of
Artists, from which that institution emanated. He died June 20, 1774, and was
buried in Kew churchyard.2
1. The gateway to Parham Hall remains tolerably entire; an
etching of the same is given in '' Davy's Suffolk Antiquities," and an
engraving, and also a view of the ancient manor house, in the "Excursions
through Suffolk."
2. There is a portrait of Mr. Kirby, in mezzotinto, by I.
Dixon, from a painting by Gainsborough; and an engraving, by D. Pariset, from
another, by P. Falconet.
County
of Suffolk
Topographical and Genealogical, The County of Suffolk, 1844, Augustine Page |
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