Edward Hasted - The History and Topographical Survey of the County of Kent, Canterbury, 1797
There is a complete text of this on the british-history.ac.uk website.
My interest in this is the account of the heritage of the Raymond family in Kent. Before arriving in
Belchamp Walter the family were residents of Wye in the county of Kent
and via Hunsden in Hertfordshire,
Roger Raymond's descendant John Raymond
(1st of Belchamp Hall) purchased the manor from John Wentworth
in 1611.
Wikipedia:
Edward Hasted (20 December 1732 OS (31 December 1732 NS) – 14 January 1812) was an English antiquarian and
pioneering historian of his ancestral home county of Kent. As such, he was
the author of a major county history, The History and Topographical Survey of the County of Kent (1778–99).
1705. Hon. William viscount Villiers.
Delving deeper into Hasted's history I find that viscount William Villiers was the member of Queen Anne's
4th parliament. The Villiers (Earl of Clarendon) armoury is seen in
stained glass in the Chancel of St. Mary's Church, Belchamp Walter.
Top
Also from Hasted:
Members of Parliament
The origin of the House of Commons, at least in its present form, is a point that has been contested
with great earnestness by several eminent writers; the first express writ that is found of any knights
of counties, by name, summoned to our parliaments, as members, is that of the clause-roll of
the 49th of king Henry III. anno 1264, requiring sheriffs to summon two knights out of every
county to parliament, as also to the cities and boroughs the like number of citizens and burgesses,
and to the barons of the five ports a certain number of their discreetest men. Before that time the
constituent members of the great council of the nation were, archbishops, bishops, abbots, and priors,
earls, barons, and all who held of the king in capite, as sir H. Spelman, sir W. Dugdale, and others
of our best English antiquaries observe, which opinion is grounded on a clause in Magna Charta, as
granted by king John to the people, in the 17th year of his reign, wherein that prince promises to
summon all the above degrees and tenure, to meet at a certain place, within forty days notice, in order
to hold a common council of the kingdom, to assess aids and scutages when necessary.
It is to be observed, that these writs, in the 49th year of Henry III.'s reign, to summon the knights,
burgesses, and barons of the five ports, as above-mentioned, were issued when the barons had that
prince in their power, after the battle of Lewes, and exercised royal authority in his name, and
though there were several parliaments in king Edward I.'s time, before the 18th year of his reign, yet
there is no testimony left upon record of any writs of summons till that year, in which, as may be seen
by the bundle of writs then directed to the sheriffs, two or three knights were directed to be chosen for
each county, but no citizen or burgesses till the 23d of that reign. In consequence of these writs some
few counties returned three knights, but the generality two only,
in which last number was the county of Kent.
