58 THE ESSEX NATURALIST
formation, gave the name of Holmes Island to the whole island,
but that the local people with better knowledge continued to
speak of one part as Skippers Island till yet another map-maker
gave the name of Skippers Island to the whole.
My next line of enquiry has been an attempt to examine the
copyhold records and the parish boundaries. Unfortunately all
the title deeds were destroyed by enemy action during the War
of 1939-44 and Captain Leigh Pemberton, from whom I bought
the island in 1945, had none to hand over to me. This added
much to my difficulties. I did however receive a document which
shows that the south-western part of the Island, up to the inner
sea wall, was until recently in separate ownership from the rest,
and belonged to a member of the Rothschild family. On 8th June
1899 and 7th May 1917 there were admissions to:—
"One field called Sea Field containing by estimation 11
acres or thereabouts with a certain island or marsh thereto
belonging containing by estimation 18 acres thereabouts".
By a Compensation Agreement of 7th May 1935 made between
Clara Freeman and Owen Warner of the one part and N. M. V.
Rothschild of the other part, this land was enfranchised, that is
to say made freehold, and the rights of the lord of the manor
extinguished. The name of the manor is not stated, but it is
clear that it was not Birch Hall, as the Court Rolls of that Manor
up to 1903 are at the Essex Record Office, where I examined them,
and do not include the admission of 8th June 1899. It follows
that this south-western part was in a different manor from the
rest of the Island which, as appears from the Court Rolls of 1758,
was in the Manor of Birch Hall. The existence of the two cross-
ings from the mainland further supports this. Perhaps the south-
western part was copyhold of the Manor of Moze, or of Beaumont-
cum-Moze. The Court Rolls of both these manors are at the
Essex Record Office, but my examination of them yielded no
result*.
*In a later note dated April 1950 Mr. Sampson wrote:
I am able to clear up some of the doubts above mentioned through
the fortunate accident of my having mentioned them to my friend
J. L. Beaumont the Coggeshall and Colchester solicitor who at
once said that he and his father had been Stewards of several
manors in this area for many years. He has now shown me the
Court Rolls of the Manor of "Kirby within the Soken" since 1894
and searched the earlier Rolls for me. He has most kindly sup-
plied the attached results of his searches (see Appendix II). There
is attached to the admission of N. C. Rothschild on 7 May in this
Manor of Kirby a large scale tracing from the Ordnance survey
map of the S.W. end of the island up to the inner sea wall. It
shows also that he was at the same time admitted to the fields
O.S. Nos 410/1/2 on the South Side of the western crossing.
Consequently it is now clear that this Heronry part of the island
was held of the Manor of Kirby within the Soken.