Historical names: Alford cum Membris (Manor) | Alford cum Well (Manor) | Alford with Members (Manor)
Location: Alford, Lincolnshire
Places / associated places: Alford, Lincolnshire
Location & Extent
GPS Location & Recorded Land Areas
Representative GPS point: 53.2424712, 0.165936
Identity: confirmed — The supplied primary name and historical variants correspond to the Lincolnshire manor recorded in the National Archives authority record as Alford with Well, also appearing in historical material as Alford-Well, Well with Alford and Alford cum Well. The associated court-roll references are Lincolnshire records for this Alford/Well manor, not a same-named manor elsewhere.
Representative point: 53.2424712, 0.165936
Basis: documented_estate_centre — Well Hall/Well Vale Hall is the documented historic estate centre at Well, approximately 2.5 km south-west of Alford. Historic England records the hall and its grounds as a substantial historic estate, while the documented estate history links Well Hall with the manorial estate of Well and Alford. This is preferable to Alford Manor House, which local historical research specifically distinguishes from the manor of Alford with Well.
Point confidence: medium
Boundary status: representative_point_only
Boundary period:
Boundary confidence: none
Boundary basis: The available evidence establishes the manor's location and its association with Alford and Well, but does not provide a boundary plan or a sufficiently separable parcel-by-parcel reconstruction for the exact manor. The 1836 Well estate sale particulars describe an estate of more than 4,000 acres including the manors of Well and Alford, Alford-Hanby, Alford-Ryder, Mawthorpe and Claxby, together with property in several other parishes. That composite estate cannot safely be substituted for the territorial extent of Alford with Well Manor.
Sources:
- The National Archives: Alford with Well Manor, F291301: https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/c/F291301 — Registry authority record for the exact manor and associated reference GB/NNAF/M316687.
- The National Archives: Alford manor court roll, 1290-1291, 1-ANC/3/1C/1-2: https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/N17766583 — Representative early court-roll record supplied for the manor and held by Lincolnshire Archives.
- Historic England: Well Hall, Well, Register of Parks and Gardens, 1000992: https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1000992 — Documents Well Hall's location south of Well and south-west of Alford, its approximately 280-hectare historic grounds, and its landscape boundaries.
- Parks and Gardens: Well Hall, Alford: https://www.parksandgardens.org/places/well-hall-alford — Summarizes the historic development of the Well estate, including its succession of lords, the acquisition of Well and its estate, and the 1839 estate map covering Alford, Well and neighbouring places; supplies coordinates for Well Vale Hall.
- Well, Lincolnshire: local historical and archival information: https://well-lincolnshire.co.uk/12%20census.htm — Transcribes the 1836 Lincolnshire Archives sale particulars for the Well estate, stating that it included the manors of Well and Alford and other manors and properties over more than 4,000 acres.
- Alford Manor House history: https://www.alford.info/history/alford-manor-house-history — Explicitly distinguishes Alford Manor House from the separate manor of Alford with Well and explains that the house was associated with the combined Rigsby, Ailby and Tothby manors instead.
Warnings / uncertainty:
- The representative point is based on Well Hall/Well Vale Hall as the best documented later estate or manorial centre, not on proof that the surviving hall occupies the medieval manor-house site of Alford with Well Manor.
- Do not use Alford Manor House as the manor-house point for this record: reliable local historical research states that it was not connected with the manor of Alford with Well.
- No historically defensible polygon was identified. The 1836 estate description is a composite estate sale and includes several distinct manors, so it cannot be used as the boundary of this exact manor.
About the Manor
Alford with Well Manor was a historic manor associated with Alford and the neighbouring parish of Well in Lincolnshire. The surviving historical evidence indicates that it was one of several distinct manors connected with Alford, rather than the same property as the building now known as Alford Manor House. The manor or estate was historically also styled Alford-Well, Well cum Alford, Alford cum Well, Alford cum Membris and Alford with Members. A source discussing Lincolnshire weights and measures identifies the Manor of Alford with Well Tothby and records Robert A. Christopher as lord of the manor before 1850. The secure descent currently established begins with the Well family in the Domesday period, continues through the Willoughby family and William Wolley, and can be followed through the Wellden, Bateman, Dashwood, Christopher Nisbet-Hamilton and Rawnsley interests into the later nineteenth and twentieth centuries. The exact medieval descent and the precise relationship between the manor as a legal unit and the larger Well estate require further archival investigation.
Ownership / Holder Account
The estate at Well was held by the Well family at the time of Domesday and later passed to the Willoughby family. During the English Civil War or Parliamentary period in the 1640s, the Earl of Lindsey, representing the Willoughby interest, was compelled to sell the manor of Alford-Well to Colonel William Wolley. The Wolleys retained the property after the Restoration and sold it in 1695 to Anthony Wellden. His son, also Anthony Wellden, had succeeded to the estate by 1715. James Bateman acquired Well about 1720. In 1752 the property was given to Bateman's daughter Anne and her husband Samuel Dashwood. Their son Francis Bateman Dashwood inherited in 1793. His debts and the financial position of his heirs led to the sale of the estate in 1836 to R. A. Christopher Nisbet-Hamilton, who purchased the manor and several other estates. The property passed to Christopher Nisbet-Hamilton's daughter, Mrs Hamilton Ogilvy, in 1876. She sold Well in 1914 to Major Walter H. Rawnsley, who had previously rented Well Hall. After the death of John Chaplin Rawnsley's widow in 1974, the estate passed to their nephew John Reeve. The later sale and any subsequent legal descent are not established by the sources reviewed. The chain is therefore partial, and the medieval transfers before the Willoughby period remain incompletely documented.
Records & References
Sources and references mentioning this manor/title which are not necessarily conveyances or transfers.
41 records found · showing 9–16.
1572-1579: court roll, with other manors
Held by: Lincolnshire Archives
1571-1571: court rolls (7)
Held by: Lincolnshire Archives
1568-1570: court roll, with other manors
Held by: Harvard University: Law School
1564-1564: court rolls, with other manors (4)
Held by: Lincolnshire Archives
1561-1581: court rolls (16)
Held by: Lincolnshire Archives
1560-1564: court roll, with other manors
Held by: Lincolnshire Archives
1519-1545: court rolls (16)
Held by: Lincolnshire Archives
1504-1510: court roll
Held by: Lincolnshire Archives
Conveyance & Descent
First holder to present holder: blood proximity & distance travelled
First recorded holder: Well family
Present holder:
Recorded title journey: 12 holder entries in this manor's saved Conveyance & Descent history.
No recorded holder currently has a usable saved direct-blood or collateral-blood relationship path from which to calculate proximity percentages.
First recorded holder → present holder
A usable saved blood relationship path between the first recorded holder and the present holder has not yet been recorded, so that first-to-present genealogical distance cannot be calculated.
Transfer: The estate at Well was held by the Well family at the time of Domesday and later passed to the Willoughby family. The date and legal form of the transfer are not established.
Shared holding: Well family
This is the earliest identified holding associated with the Well portion of the Alford with Well estate. The source does not name an individual member of the Well family and does not provide a precise date for the later transfer to the Willoughby family.
Source: English Heritage Register of Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest, Well Hall, Alford, Register entry GD1990, historic development section; accessed through Parks & Gardens UK. — source link
Willoughby family, represented by Robert Bertie, Earl of Lindsey, Baron Willoughby de Eresby
Transfer: The estate at Well passed from the Well family to the Willoughby family at an uncertain medieval date. By the seventeenth century it was held by the Willoughby interest, represented by Robert Bertie, Earl of Lindsey, who was compelled to sell the manor of Alford-Well during the Civil War or Parliamentary period.
Shared holding: Willoughby family
Previous holder: Well family
The sources establish the Willoughby connection but do not provide the medieval conveyance date. The Earl of Lindsey is identified as the relevant seventeenth-century holder or representative of the Willoughby interest. The title numbering is not reproduced here because the modern local source and standard historical identifications are not wholly consistent on the ordinal number of the barony.
Source: English Heritage Register of Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest, Well Hall, Alford, Register entry GD1990, historic development section; Society for Lincolnshire History and Archaeology, Lincolnshire Past and Present, issue containing the discussion of the Alford Fight and the manor of Alford-Well. — source link
Transfer: Sale of the manor of Alford-Well during the English Civil War or Parliamentary period by the Willoughby interest to Colonel William Wolley.
Shared holding: Wolley family
Previous holder: Willoughby family, represented by Robert Bertie, Earl of Lindsey, Baron Willoughby de Eresby
A local historical account explicitly states that the manor of Alford-Well was sold to William Wolley during the Parliamentary period. The Parks and Gardens Register likewise records that Colonel William Wolley purchased or occupied Well after the Earl of Lindsey was forced to sell it.
Source: Society for Lincolnshire History and Archaeology, Lincolnshire Past and Present, issue containing the discussion of the Alford Fight and the manor of Alford-Well; English Heritage Register of Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest, Well Hall, Alford, Register entry GD1990. — source link
Anthony Wellden, Merchant-adventurer, associated with the East India Company, later President of Fort William, Calcutta
Transfer: Purchase of the manor or Well estate from the Wolley family in 1695.
Shared holding: Wellden family
Co-holder: Anthony Wellden, son of Anthony Wellden
Previous holder: Colonel William Wolley
The Parks and Gardens Register states that the Wolleys sold the property in 1695 to Anthony Wellden, an explorer-trader associated with the East India Company.
Source: English Heritage Register of Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest, Well Hall, Alford, Register entry GD1990, historic development section. — source link
Anthony Wellden, son of Anthony Wellden
Transfer: Succession to the Well estate within the Wellden family; the Parks and Gardens Register states that Anthony Wellden's son had succeeded by 1715.
Shared holding: Wellden family
Co-holder: Anthony Wellden
Previous holder: Anthony Wellden, Merchant-adventurer, associated with the East India Company, later President of Fort William, Calcutta
The source explicitly records that the younger Anthony Wellden had succeeded to the property by 1715. His exact date of accession and the later conveyance to James Bateman are not given.
Source: English Heritage Register of Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest, Well Hall, Alford, Register entry GD1990, historic development section. — source link
James Bateman, Second son of Sir James Bateman of Shobdon Court
Transfer: Acquisition of Well and its estate about 1720. The precise seller and legal form of the transaction are uncertain; the source suggests that the property may have been acquired from or through Sir Robert Chaplin, who had been financially ruined by the South Sea Bubble.
Shared holding: Bateman family
Previous holder: Anthony Wellden, son of Anthony Wellden
James Bateman acquired Well about 1720. The source presents the possible connection with Sir Robert Chaplin as a hypothesis rather than a documented conveyance, so no specific seller is asserted beyond the preceding Wellden holding.
Source: English Heritage Register of Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest, Well Hall, Alford, Register entry GD1990, historic development section. — source link
Transfer: Well was given to James Bateman's only child Anne and her husband Samuel Dashwood in 1752.
Holding arrangement: Joint
Shared holding: Dashwood family
Co-holder: Francis Bateman Dashwood
Previous holder: James Bateman, Second son of Sir James Bateman of Shobdon Court
The Parks and Gardens Register states that Anne and Samuel Dashwood were given Well in 1752 when James Bateman moved to a smaller house at Claxby. The source does not state whether the gift was by settlement, conveyance or another legal mechanism.
Source: English Heritage Register of Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest, Well Hall, Alford, Register entry GD1990, historic development section. — source link
Transfer: Inheritance from his parents, Anne and Samuel Dashwood, in 1793.
Shared holding: Dashwood family
Co-holder: Anne Dashwood and Samuel Dashwood
Previous holder: Anne Dashwood and Samuel Dashwood
Francis Bateman Dashwood inherited Well in 1793 and held it until his death in 1825. The later sale was made by his heirs because of debts.
Source: English Heritage Register of Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest, Well Hall, Alford, Register entry GD1990, historic development section. — source link
R. A. Christopher Nisbet-Hamilton, Right Honourable, Member of Parliament
Transfer: Purchase of the manor and several other estates from the heirs of Francis Bateman Dashwood in 1836, following the financial pressures caused by debts.
Shared holding: Christopher Nisbet-Hamilton family
Previous holder: Heirs of Francis Bateman Dashwood
The Parks and Gardens Register states that the heirs sold the estate in 1836 to the Right Honourable R. A. Christopher Nisbet-Hamilton, MP, who purchased the manor and several other estates. A weights-and-measures history separately identifies Robert A. Christopher as lord of the Manor of Alford with Well Tothby before 1850, corroborating the manor connection.
Source: English Heritage Register of Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest, Well Hall, Alford, Register entry GD1990; Carl Ricketts and John Douglas, Marks and Markings of Weights and Measures of the British Isles, East Anglia and Eastern England I, section 'Manor of Alford with Well Tothby'. — source link
Mary Hamilton Ogilvy, also styled Mrs Hamilton Ogilvy, also styled Lady Mary Christopher Nisbet-Hamilton in an 1880 estate-plan reference
Transfer: Inheritance from her father, R. A. Christopher Nisbet-Hamilton, in 1876, followed by sale of Well in 1914.
Shared holding: Hamilton Ogilvy family
Previous holder: R. A. Christopher Nisbet-Hamilton, Right Honourable, Member of Parliament
The Parks and Gardens Register states that Mr Christopher Nisbet-Hamilton's daughter, Mrs Hamilton Ogilvy, inherited in 1876. A Lincolnshire Archives catalogue reference cited by the same heritage record describes an 1880 plan of the parish of Well as the property of the Honourable Lady Mary Christopher Nisbet-Hamilton, supporting the identification of the female holder, although the precise formal name and style require archival confirmation.
Source: English Heritage Register of Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest, Well Hall, Alford, Register entry GD1990; Lincolnshire Archives, HIG 1/28, plan of the Parish of Well, 1880, as cited in the heritage register. — source link
Major Walter H. Rawnsley
Transfer: Purchase of Well in 1914 from Mary Hamilton Ogilvy. Walter H. Rawnsley had rented Well Hall for several years before buying it.
Shared holding: Rawnsley family
Previous holder: Mary Hamilton Ogilvy
The Parks and Gardens Register explicitly records the 1914 sale to Major Walter H. Rawnsley. It also states that he had previously rented Well Hall. The subsequent transfer within the Rawnsley family is not assigned to a precise date in the sources reviewed.
Source: English Heritage Register of Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest, Well Hall, Alford, Register entry GD1990, historic development section. — source link
Transfer: The estate passed to John Reeve, nephew of John Chaplin Rawnsley, after the death of John Chaplin Rawnsley's widow in 1974. The later sale is mentioned but its date and purchaser are not identified.
Shared holding: Reeve family
Previous holder: Rawnsley family; immediate intermediate holder not securely documented
The source states that after John Chaplin Rawnsley's widow died in 1974, the estate passed to their nephew John Reeve. The intervening succession from Major Walter H. Rawnsley and the subsequent purchaser are not securely established, so those links are left as documentary gaps rather than inferred.
Source: English Heritage Register of Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest, Well Hall, Alford, Register entry GD1990, historic development section. — source link
Corrections / Challenges
Sign in to challenge or submit evidence against a recorded assertion.
JSON API
Machine-readable published manor data, including public images, mapped land areas, notes, rights, conveyances, relationships, records, source/document-library entries and public file links.
https://manorialregistry.com/index.php?rest_route=/mhr/v1/manor/alford-with-well-manorPublic API access is currently disabled. Authorised API clients must use a private X-MHR-API-Key; currently only administrator keys are enabled.
Private source files, pending edits, moderation/admin information, user API keys and non-public import identifiers are not returned.