Belchamp William

Many people have asked "How did Belchamp Walter get its name?".

Manoral Records

I have called the records that I have seen in a ledger that was found in one of the dwellings in the village "manoral". While it is true that Thomas Ruggles was the principle for the Belchamp Estate from 1741 until it was "recovered" by the Raymond family, these records are more of a recording of the legal proceedings of the village over the 18th and 19th centuries. Ruggles, a London lawyer, would have probably had such records made.

I have not seen references to other such records in other communities and the Feudal System was long over. Ruggles may not have even lived in Belchamp Walter, or even Finchingfield, but employed tenant farmers to run his agricultural lands which were probably investments for him.