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The life of Sir John Danvers Wm. Ferris, A Poore Man         by Philip Phillips   1989

Sir John Danvers (1588-1655) became MP for Malmesbury in 1645 during the turbulent period of the Civil War and before the institution of the Commonwealth.   He had long been a fervid supporter of the parliamentary cause who would later append his signature to the warrant for the execution of King Charles I. In 1647, when he was Lord of the Manor of Dauntsey, but living in his house in Chelsea, a request from some of the villagers of Dauntsey was addressed to him. In the Great Roll of the Quarter Sessions of the 17th century there is to be found the following communication:

To all Christian people to whom this present writing shall come, Sir John Danvers of Chelsey in the County of Midx Kt sendeth greeting in our Lord god everlasting. Whereas I am informed by a Certificate under the hands of the most substantial inhabitants of Dauntesey that William fferis, a poore man of an honest life and conversacion hath lately erected a cottage in a certaine ground pcell (parcel) of my Manor of Dauntesey where in regard he sits rent free, he maintains himself and familie by his honest labour without any burthen to the parish, which {in case he shall be punished for the said cottage or enforced to seeke a house elsewhere at a Rent it is to be feared he will not be able to doe) Know yee that I Sir John Danvers doe as much as in me lyes hereby license and authorise him to continue his habitacon in the said cottage for so long time as the Justices of the Peace of the said County of Wilts shall thinke fitt to allow and grant him and no longer. In witness whereof I have hereunto sett my hand and seale this twelfth day of November in the three and twentieth yeare of the Raigne of our soveraigne Lord King Charles 1647.                                                                           J. DANVERS In the presence of THO. YATES       WILL LAWES. (Ordered.              Allocat during his life.)

The document was almost certainly drawn up by Sir John's legal advisers. The dating of the jurat is interesting, bearing in mind that the king had, in January 1647, been handed over to the parliamentary commissioners. By November of that year the king found refuge on the Isle of Wight, but he was clearly no longer a monarch in the full sense of the word. His writ ran no further than the island's coast.   It is therefore somewhat unusual to find the regnal year still in use as a date. One wonders, too, who were the 'most substantial inhabitants of Dauntesey' at that time.   Perhaps there were three or four yeomen farmers who could, in honesty, consider themselves 'substantial' and no doubt the parish rector added his name to the request. The location of Ferris's cottage cannot now be traced, but it is likely to have been on the waste ground of the manor, perhaps in the area then known as Sodom. The grant of a licence allowing Ferris and his family to remain in their occupation of manorial land without paying a rent is rather unusual, bearing in mind the rapacity generally understood to be a common trait of landlords. It is certainly to the credit of Sir John that he permitted such an arrangement.   It is also to be noted that the agreement of the local Justices was necessary.   This was, perhaps, to ensure that Ferris was not a fugitive from justice in another part of the county.

Updated 16 Jul 2000                (C) Gary Danvers                   Music: Guitar.mid

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