310
THE ESSEX NATURALIST
provided a delicious tea, after which, permission was granted to hold a short
meeting of the Club, and Mr. E. F. Williams was elected as chairman.
The following were elected to membership of the Club :
Mr. K. G. Gordon, of Hillcrest, Chigwell Rise, Chigwell.
Mr. Peter H. Smith (junior member), of 4, Ascot Gardens, Hornchurch.
Mr. Alan Wiseman (junior member), of 38, Loughton Way, Buckhurst
Hill.
Several members gave an account of the flowers, birds, and insects which
had been seen. Col. Solly read a short account of the vicissitudes through
which Rivenhall Place had passed.
The bulk of the land had been in the ownership of Edward the Confessor's
Queen and Harold, and fell to Count Eustace of Boulogne after the Conquest.
A Norman family, by the name of Scales, occupied the Manor of Rivenhall
Place from the time of Henry III down to 1460; the last of the male line,
an ardent Lancastrian, was murdered, and the property passed by marriage
to the Rivers family and the then Earl Rivers was made Lord Scales through
the right of his wife. This Earl Rivers was executed by Richard III at Ponte-
fract in 1483, but, before his death, he had disposed of this property to Sir
Geoffrey Gate. His great-grandson, Sir John Gate, was a privy councillor
of Henry VIII and Edward VI, and Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster
in the latter's reign. However, he espoused the cause of Lady Jane Grey and
lost his head in 1553, the property reverting to the Crown.
After passing through various hands, the property was sold to Ralph
Wiseman in 1590. The Wiseman family owned large estates all over the
county of Essex, and were connected, by marriage, with other well-known
families such as the Riches of Felsted fame, and the Honeywoods of Marks-
hall. The male line of the Wiseman family dying out, the estate was sold to
Thomas Western, youngest son of William Western, a wealthy London grocer.
During the time of Thomas's grandson William, very fine maps of all the
property held by him in Essex were compiled (1716-17) and they can be seen
in the Essex Record Office.
Rivenhall Place remained in the hands of the Westerns until quite recently,
though their main residence was moved to Felix Hall. Of late years, it has
only been intermittently occupied.
On the conclusion of the meeting, a very cordial vote of thanks was ac-
corded to Lt.-Col. Solly and Mrs. T. H. Solly, for their most kind hospitality,
and the members rejoined the coach en route for Witham Station and the
train journey home.
Mr. Howard reports that 139 species of plants were recorded, of which
123 were in the flowering stage. Of special interest were the poisonous
plants, Henbane (Hyoscyamus niger L.), and the Deadly Nightshade (Atropa
Belladonna L.). The latter was seen growing "wild" in a garden, where,
of course, it may have been introduced. The parasitic Mistletoe (Vis-
cum album L.) was conspicuous upon Lime and Hawthorn trees. Other
species of interest were Clematis Vitalba L., Sisymbrium orientale L.,
Treacle Mustard (Erysimum cheiranthoides L.), Mountain Cranesbill. Geran-
ium pyrenaicum Burm.f., Shepherd's Needle (Scandix pecten-veneris L.),
Creeping Jenny (Lysimachia nummularia L.), Aaron's Rod (Verbascum
Thapsus L.), Ivy-leaved Toad-Flax (Linaria Cymbalaria Mill.), Caper Spurge
(Euphorbia Lathyris L.), Floating Bur-reed (Sparganium simplex Huds.),
and Arrow-head (Sagittaria sagittifolia L.).
Althorne (924th Meeting)
SUNDAY, 16 JULY 1950
Bright sunshine and a stiff breeze provided almost ideal conditions for
this meeting which produced an attendance of thirty-six members and friends.