_Our English Scudder Heritage
A Talk given by Simon Skudder at the Scudder Association AGM/Reunion, Hyannis, Mass. 1996
_I first became interested in research into the Skudder name as a result
of the records started in our Family Bible by my Great Great
Grandfather Job Skudder, who was born in Kent in 1825, and had also been
intrigued by the question often put to us in East Africa "Were we
related to the Scudders of India?", we did not think so was the reply.
I eventually discovered that my Father's ancestors had migrated around 1800 to Deptford, then in North Kent, from Kemsing at the southern end of the Darenth valley and whilst searching around various churchyards one day in 1992 the Rector at South Darenth told me that there had been Scudders over at Horton, needless to say I got lost in the country lanes near Fawkham and decided to turn round, it was then that I realised that I had stopped on Scudders Hill right opposite Scudders Farm - it took me some time to quiet my excitement and I knocked on the door of the house to be greeted by "What are you selling?" from the owner, who was not at all surprised when I told her of my interest; she kindly showed me over the old part of the house and said that they had received a number of visits over the years from the Scudder Association of America, but did not know how to contact them. Finding your address took some considerable time but eventually I received a letter from Cy Sherman and was put in touch with David B Scuder, who wrote "Scudder Searches" and from then on we have made great strides into finding out more about our English Heritage.
I eventually discovered that my Father's ancestors had migrated around 1800 to Deptford, then in North Kent, from Kemsing at the southern end of the Darenth valley and whilst searching around various churchyards one day in 1992 the Rector at South Darenth told me that there had been Scudders over at Horton, needless to say I got lost in the country lanes near Fawkham and decided to turn round, it was then that I realised that I had stopped on Scudders Hill right opposite Scudders Farm - it took me some time to quiet my excitement and I knocked on the door of the house to be greeted by "What are you selling?" from the owner, who was not at all surprised when I told her of my interest; she kindly showed me over the old part of the house and said that they had received a number of visits over the years from the Scudder Association of America, but did not know how to contact them. Finding your address took some considerable time but eventually I received a letter from Cy Sherman and was put in touch with David B Scuder, who wrote "Scudder Searches" and from then on we have made great strides into finding out more about our English Heritage.
I do not know if my family is directly related to the Scudders of Horton, of whom Thomas and his wife Elizabeth and their children, his nephew John and John's sister Elizabeth, and their Mother Elizabeth Chamberlain together with her two children by her second marriage, settled in Massachusetts in the 1630's, but it is likely, as I believe that my family probably came from the village of Stanstead close by to Horton. It is likely that the Stansted Skudders descended from Robert a son of Henry of Horton, who died in 1504 whose original will I was fortunate enough to purchase from a book seller in Kent. I am certain that the Horton family did descend from Henry and there is a remarkable similarity between the two families in the use of the Christian names of William, Henry, John and Thomas. It has been said that it was common practice to name the first son after his Grandfather and other sons after their father and then uncles, but of course this was by no means always the case.
Who were the Skudders, where did they come from - it has been stated in Scudder Family Records by J.B.Dorrinton, that the name applied to one in the tanning trade who removed the 'scud' from hides, this is a possibility but other authorities give numerous meanings for the name from second-hand clothes dealers to scouts, shooters or even Scots, our research has shown that the name is peculiar to North and North West Kent and to my mind that tends to rule out the previous suggestions. We must ask ourselves what is peculiar about North West Kent and the answer is that it was the land settled by the people called the Jutes by the British. In the 5th Century Hengest, the Stallion, probably a nickname, and his Brother Horsa, little horse, were the leaders of a band of mercenaries invited by Vortigern a Romano-British King to settle in Thanet in return for defending Kent from the Saxons - it seems that they fell out, and possibly with the immediate threat over the King sought to renege on the deal and refused to give up all the land he had promised. There was according to the Chronicles a terrible battle at Crayford on the Darenth in which 4,000 Britons were said to have been slain, and the Welsh fled in panic to London. In any event Hengest, who was apparently half Danish invited over other members of his' tribe' who had probably been pushed out of Denmark by the Norsemen, including folk from Friesland and probably a collection of Angles, Saxons and Franks, who were under pressure from the Germans to the East. It is also important to remember that these peoples never called themselves Jutes, this may have been a British term for foreigners as in the German auslander, but the Kentingas - the family of Kent. It is said that the Friesians settled in the North West, west of the River Medway and the original bands east of the Medway giving rise to the difference between Kentish Men and Men of Kent.
What has this do with the Skudders, well it is interesting to note that in Anglo Saxon the pronunciation of sc was a 'sh', whereas in old friesian the equivalent was a hard 'sk'. What is also interesting is that near Sittingbourne in North Kent is a Manor called 'Scuttington' but referred to as 'Scuddington' in Canon Horsley's book on Kentish Place Names, in the oldest records the name was recorded as 'Scunington', the settlement of the sons of Scuna, who may have been a compatriot of Hengest and was granted certain lands for his family. I believe that it is possible for the Skudders to have descended from that family or people living under their protection.
Unfortunately early records are very few and far between for ordinary folk but we have over a number of years obtained copies of various wills one of the earliest being that of Thomas Skudder of Horton dated 15th May 1492 - this is one of my favourites for in the year that Columbus discovered the Americas this man took care to make particular bequests to his family and godchildren - " to Agnes Butler my daughter, one cow of Ivory Colour, five quarters of barley, two pairs of linen sheets, one pair of new blankets of white cloth, one coverlet of white cloth, two pillows, one hanging, one chicken dish, one gallon cooking pot, one small skellet bowl" quite a list and to John Skudder his kinsman he left a property called Olde Skudders with adjacent lands totalling 14 acres. Evidently the Skudders had lived in Horton for some time and had some standing in the local community, they had probably amassed quite a considerable wealth for country yeoman and more extensive lands, which are not shown in the will because under the Kentish system of Gavelkind lands were automatically divided between surviving sons. What is interesting is that he left to his wife Joan 6s 8d (just one third of a pound) for each year. The will indicates that these Skudders were farmers raising both sheep and cattle and probably some arable crops on the fertile lands around Horton - which incidentally means a 'muddy enclosure'.
Henry of Horton's death in 1504 was followed by that of his wife Agnes in 1508, another remarkable will in that the writer was barely literate and charged the then immense sum of 2s for drawing it up, why was this? possibly Agnes had the plague a very common occurrence and nobody would come near her to record her dying wishes without exceptional payment.
it is fortunate that so many wills have survived from the 16th and 17th Centuries for it was only from these that we were able to build up a picture of the Scudder family around the beginning of the 17th Century as parish registers do not exist prior to 1538 and most of those for the areas in which we are interested have been lost or destroyed.
There are other records referring to Scudders, we know from the accounts of the repairs to Dartford Priory by King Henry VIII that in 1541 Tallwoods for scaffolding were supplied by John Scudder of Horton and 4 loads were carried by Robert Scudder also of Horton, and in that same year John Moys broke into the house of Thomas Scudder at Horton and stole 4 bushels of barley and 3 bushels of oats value 8s. In 1555 Robert Skudder of Lenham took part in the rebellion against Mary Tudor and was eventually pardoned when Elizabeth came to the throne. In 1557 John Scudder of Stanstead broke into the mansion house of Nicholas Orwell at Cliff stealing £32.10s and was sentenced to be hanged but later pardoned on condition that he repay the money. Jane Skudder of Stanstead is mentioned in Hasted's History of Kent written in the 18th Century as marrying John Knowe, Gentleman, of Forde Place, near Wrotham.
There is little evidence of the Skudders left behind on the land there was a Scudders Row in Lewisham, Scudders Hill at Fawkham and of course Scudders, the House on the Fawkham Valley Road, in which John Scudder lived from 1676, his Heraldic Ledger Stone still lies in St. Mary's Church, Fawkham and that of his brother is in the nave aisle at neighbouring St. Peter and St. Paul's Church, Ash. There is also a small brass in the floor of St. Mary's, Stanstead, to John Skudder and Annes his wife , which is believed to date from 1500. There are however no early surviving monuments in the churchyards. Littlebrook Farm near Dartford mentioned in the will of John Scudder of Stone who died in 1566, still exists but most of the land has been used for a power station near the Dartford crossing of the Thames, Gills Farm near Horton also mentioned in this will and Homefield Farm, Horton, mentioned in the will of Thomas Scudder 1492 still exist and also Rabbits mentioned in the will of Rev Henry Scudder 1652 is now a nursery. What of the mansion house at Chalk Down mentioned in the will of Henry of Horton who died in 1594, I have been unable to trace this but think the answer may lie underneath a Victorian House called South Down at South Darenth in the parish of Horton. Forde Place at Wrotham still stands and we were shown over it and Scudders by the current owners during last years visit.
_The Scudders of North Cray were granted arms in 1574 by Robert Cooke of
the College of Arms, these arms consist of a Red Shield with a Gold
horizontal band, with three white cinqfoils or flowers at the top and
three black roundels on the band. The red of the shield reflects the
Red shield of Kent, the white flowers may reflect the image of Kent as
the Garden of England and the roundels may represent the Invicta legend
that the Kentish bands were never beaten by William, Duke of Normandy in
1066, but came to an agreement that they would be able to keep their
lands and customs, including Gavelkind which survived for many
centuries. These arms are shown on the Heraldic Ledger Stones at Ash
and Fawkham, but there is no evidence that John and his brother Thomas
were entitled to use them and of course they are the arms used by the
Scudder Association today.
We know little of the kind of people the Scudders were, we do know that the Horton Family at the turn of the 17th Century held Presbyterian views and were supporters of the Parliamentarians in the Civil War. Henry the son of Henry of Horton who died 1594, went to Cambridge University where he obtained a degree from Christ's College around 1602, he first became Rector at Drayton, Oxford, and was a close friend of William Whately, who was known as the Roaring Boy of Banbury because of his fiery sermons; he married Elizabeth Hunt daughter of the Rector of Collingbourne Ducis, Wiltshire, whom he succeeded there in 1633. He apparently was called to exhort the troops in London and also preached to the Members of the House of Commons in October 1644. He was also appointed to the Westminster Assembly to reform the faith and wrote a number of books notably a devotional work the 'The Christians Daily Walk in Security and Peace, which starts "Beloved Friend, observing your forwardness and zeal in seeking to know how you might please God", I was fortunate to obtain a copy of the edition published in 1627 at an auction sale in Bath.
We know little of the kind of people the Scudders were, we do know that the Horton Family at the turn of the 17th Century held Presbyterian views and were supporters of the Parliamentarians in the Civil War. Henry the son of Henry of Horton who died 1594, went to Cambridge University where he obtained a degree from Christ's College around 1602, he first became Rector at Drayton, Oxford, and was a close friend of William Whately, who was known as the Roaring Boy of Banbury because of his fiery sermons; he married Elizabeth Hunt daughter of the Rector of Collingbourne Ducis, Wiltshire, whom he succeeded there in 1633. He apparently was called to exhort the troops in London and also preached to the Members of the House of Commons in October 1644. He was also appointed to the Westminster Assembly to reform the faith and wrote a number of books notably a devotional work the 'The Christians Daily Walk in Security and Peace, which starts "Beloved Friend, observing your forwardness and zeal in seeking to know how you might please God", I was fortunate to obtain a copy of the edition published in 1627 at an auction sale in Bath.
_Henry comes across a having been a very just man in his sermon in 1644
he said "I have only this main suit unto you, that you would continue
resolute for God and his true religion, for the Kings Majesties just
rights, for the laws of the kingdom, and the liberties to which we are
all born" he also appealed to them that "men do exceedingly complain
that they cannot have justice, it concerneth you to look to these
things", something which still applies today. Also in his will dated
1651 he writes about his daughters and sons in law "that they will
lovingly accord and not wittingly wrong one another".
The last words recorded in Rev. Henry's book make a very fitting conclusion to this brief look at our English Heritage:
"I thank God I have reaped much benefit to my self in studying and penning these directions. I pray God that you may reap much good in reading of them. Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing. And the God of peace that brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great Shepherd of the sheep, by the blood of the everlasting Covenant, make you perfect in every good work to do his will, working in you that which is well pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory for ever, and ever, Amen"
Copyright 1996 Simon Skudder
The last words recorded in Rev. Henry's book make a very fitting conclusion to this brief look at our English Heritage:
"I thank God I have reaped much benefit to my self in studying and penning these directions. I pray God that you may reap much good in reading of them. Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing. And the God of peace that brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great Shepherd of the sheep, by the blood of the everlasting Covenant, make you perfect in every good work to do his will, working in you that which is well pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory for ever, and ever, Amen"
Copyright 1996 Simon Skudder
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