Hi there,ive just recovered a box of old documents from the loft.and am seeking information. This is a Mortgage for the Prios Mesne Estate dated 28th March 1870
between Liutenant William warren of The 6th Royal Rifles & John Henry St John.
can anyone give me any info on this Estate, or better still does anyone have connections with any of the families ?
Trevor

can anyone give me any info on this Estate,

Priors Mesne, Aylburton, Lydney, Gloucestershire, Gl15 6dx

http://www.gloucestershiregardens.org/garden.php?gardenID=55

The long north boundary, between the ancient Lydney parish and what were formerly parts of Newland and the extraparochial Forest, follows an irregular course across the hillsides. At its west end above Alvington parish it includes the former Prior's Mesne estate, which was assarted from the royal demesne of the Forest in 1306 by Llanthony priory. (fn. 42) The priory owned both Aylburton and Alvington manors, which left the boundary between them a matter of dispute after the Dissolution. Prior's Mesne was claimed by the lords of both manors in the 1580s (fn. 43) and was later secured by the lord of Aylburton. About 1710 the owners of the two manors were disputing common land lying south of Prior's Mesne (at the later Glebe farm) and it was claimed on the part of the owner of Aylburton that the boundary at that point was Woodwards brook running west and south of the disputed land; (fn. 44) in that dispute the owner of Alvington evidently established his claim, for the land was later part of Alvington common, with the parish boundary north and east of it, joining the brook at the south side of Ferneyley wood. (fn. 45) A feature described as the Forest ditch or the great old ditch defined the boundary between Prior's Mesne and the land in Alvington common c. 1710. It was no longer discernible in 1990 but on part of the boundary, south of the house called Aylburton Lodge, there was a drystone wall of massive dimensions, apparently part of a longer wall built following the dispute. (fn. 46)

From: 'Lydney', A History of the County of Gloucester: Volume 5: Bledisloe Hundred, St. Briavels Hundred, The Forest of Dean (1996), pp. 46-84. URL: http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=23251 Date accessed: 26 February 2011.

--
Ἀριστοτέλης A Gloster & Hereford Boy in the Forest of Dean ><((((*>

Hi

By 1894 the Kellys Directory has this entry

COOK Surgeon-General Henry J.P., Priors Mesne

In 1902 the Kellys Directory has

COOK Surgeon-General Henry M.D., F.G.S., F.R.Met.S., F.R.G.S., J.P., Priors Mesne

The 1914 lists

BOWLES Robert Leamon M.D., J.P., Priors Mesne

BOWLES Robert Rawnsley J.P., Priors Mesne

And in 1927

BOWLES Robert Rawnsley J.P., Priors Mesne

Thanks to geniuk.

I can remember the Cox family there as we went there on a School nature outing from Aylburton Primary School.

Br

Pete

This tree is on Ancestry Public Members Tree

1871 Census, Aylburton - bit difficult to read.... transcribed as
Priors Mesne

John J St John - age 42, late Major in the Army & Landowner, born Florence, Italy - B/S
Margaret - 38 - born Bellary India - B/S
Charles F - Son - age 15, Scholar, born Edinburgh
Normanby H - 13 - born Malta B/S
Henry W - age 10 - born Glos. Frampton
Lewis W St John - age 8 - born Scotland
Sophy R.B. - age 6 - born Scotland
Frederick G - age 4 - born Glos. Aylburton
Walter C.H - age 3 - born Aylburton (Walter Cecil H St JOHN)
Mary L N - age 11 months. born Aylburton

If you look at Gloucestershire BDM

Henry WARREN ST JOHN - birth record, 1860, Gloucester, Frampton - mother's maiden name WARREN

and there is also a

Ferdinand John ST JOHN - mother's maiden name DALYELL - 1861, Gloucester Frampton - looking at the 1871 census, this is the son of Ferdinand St John (again born Italy) and his wife Charlotte - so assume John St John's relative/brother? who is the Vicar of Frampton.

1861 Census, Glos Frampton On Severn

Frampton Green

Margaret St John - 28, wife of Major St John - born East Indies, Bellary
Chas F - 5 - born Scotland, Edinburgh
Normanby H - 3 born Malta
Henry W - 7 months, born Glos. Frampton

by 1881 they had left:

1881 Census, Glos. Aylburton
Priors Mesne

John C GRIFFITH - 29 - Income from Lands & Dividends, born, Yorkshire, Ripon
Mary E GRIFFITH - 23 - born Hants Petersfield
+ servants

By 1881, Ferdinand St John (1871 Vicar of Frampton) - had moved to Kempsford, Glos

M W Ferdinand St John - age 53, Vicar of Kempsford, born Itlay
Selina St John (mother) widow age 75, born Hereford, Herefordshire ***
Aline St John - daughter age 27 - born Frampton on Severn
Ferdinand St John - age 19 - born Frampton on Severn

There seem to 'be other' St John's born in Italy - back in England, as Vicars on census'

Church of Latter Day Saints:

Selima Charlotte KEATING - birth Lugwardine, Hereford, 4 September 1802 - parents Maurice & Martha

and

Marriage - 8 November 1826 - British Embassy Chapel, Paris, Seine, France

Selina Charlotte KEATINGE and Ferdinand St John

Many thanks for the information given,Ive been ploughing through this document,it measures 23 by 28 inches and is 5 pages of beatiful handwriting, this must have been some estate, the price then in 1870 was £3581. that must have been a fortune in those days. interestingly enough, it was pounted out that that John Henry Saint John was a man of the cloth,as there there is mentioned in this mortgage a Rev William Warren & Charles Warren,on the other side. once again many thanks to those who contributed.
Trevor

'the price then (1870) was £3,581'

http://www.measuringworth.com/ukcompare/index.php

Retail Price Index 2009 = £254,000

Hi there, the price mentioned is £3591.17 shillings & ninepence. Intrestingly enough.the wife of John Henry St John was a Margaret Warren, and the seller was William Warren. probibly related.
Trevor

These Family Trees on Ancestry, mention Burke's Peerage

this is a link with this well connected family

http://www.thepeerage.com/p14507.htm

Many thanks for the info. i have just received a mail from New Zealand ,a desendant of the Warrens, I now have the family tree of both families,researching this document has been very intresting,I was expecting to spend many months on this. thanks to you all ,ive completed it in a week.
once again thank you all for your help.
Trevor in Bristol.

Hi
I am currently undertaking research into an article for the Forest of Dean Local History Society's journal regarding the Cook family who lived at Priors Mesne. I am interested to note that you have a deed dated 1870 and would like to know if it gives any indication that the house was built by Warren or St John.

If it is at all possible I should be most interested in obtaining a copy of the deed either photocopy or digitally. I would of course pay any postage costs if the former was the case. May I also suggest that when you have finished with the deed it should be deposited at the Gloucestershire Archives who hold all previous documents relating to this property.
Well done for not just throwing it out as so many others do.

Regards
Averil Kear
Ex Archivist Glos. Archives