Hundred of Whitstable.

The Hundred of Whitstable, which includes the parishes of Whitstable, Swalecliffe and Blean, is mentioned in Doomsday Book, and is there written Witenestaple, and also Witestaple. The Manor of Whitstable, though called in some ancient records the Manor of Northwood alias Whitstaple, seems to have lost its first alternative name, though there are about 250 acres in the adjoining parish of Herne, known by the name of "Northwood." The Manor, together with the Hundred and the Church of Whitstable appendant to the Manor, formed, in very early times, part of the possessions of the owners of the Barony of Chilham, being included among lands granted by William the Conqueror to Fulbert, under an arrangement for the defence of Dover Castle.

Manor of Whitstable.

In the 23rd year of Queen Elizabeth, Thomas Heneage, with the royal license, alienated the Manor of Whitstable, and ten messuages in Whitstable, to Thomas Smith of Westenhanger, whose arms may be seen on the font cover in the present church. His grandson was, in 1628, created Viscount Strangford of Ireland, and in 1709 the Manor passed to Henry Roper, Lord Teynham, who had married a daughter of the grandson of the above-named Viscount Strangford.

He sold it to Sir Henry Furness, Baronet, of Waldershare. His grandson dying in 1735, under age and unmarried, the Manor became vested in his three sisters as co-heirs, and on a partition of the estates anno 9, George II., was allotted to Anne, the eldest daughter, wife of John, Viscount St. John, and thence passed to their grandson, George St. John, Lord Viscount Bolingbroke, who was Lord of the Manor in 1790.

Inrollment Books.

The history of Whitstable is most closely interwoven with its fishermen, who have a history and ancestry reaching back into the dim ages long past, of which they have just cause to be proud, though they are little given to boasting. It is not surprising that we can trace some of the family names such as Reeves, Kemp, and Ougham (pronounced Okum in Whitstable, and Uffum in some other parts of Kent), back for centuries in the Inrollment Books preserved by the present Whitstable Oyster Fishery Company. We now come to a period when an opportunity occurred for them to grasp more firmly than ever their long-established rights.

Marine part of Manor.

In 1792 that portion of the Manor covered by the sea, and over which the Company of Dredgers had, from time immemorial, under licence from the Lord of the Manor, the exclusive right of dredging and fishing, was separated from the dry portion. The marine portion of the Manor was, in that year, sold with the royalty of fishing and oyster beds to Thomas Foord, who afterwards conveyed the same to the Company of Dredgers, who thus became the proprietors, an Act of Parliament having been obtained in 1793 by which they were incorporated under the title of "The Company of Free Fishers and Dredgers of Whitstable," with a Common Seal.

Water Court.

The Act gave them power to hold a yearly Water Court by their steward and water bailiff, for the admission of Freemen, and for regulating the fishery. From that time forward for over a hundred years, the business of the company was managed by a foreman, deputy-foreman, and twelve jurymen, with a water-bailiff, all of whom were elected annually at the court held in July. At the same court the treasurer, auditor, and salesmen were appointed.

Free Dredgers and Apprentices.

This Water Court, previous to their incorporation, was held by the Lord of the Manor, and in those days the sons of strangers were admitted as Free Dredgers, after an apprenticeship of seven years. For some years after the formation of the company the eldest son of every freeman of the company was admitted to membership at the age of sixteen, while the younger sons, after serving an apprenticeship of seven years, received their freedom at twenty-one. Many incon­veniences arising from this rule, not the least being the rapid growth in the number of freemen, caused the rescindment of it, and in 1881 it was arranged that only the eldest sons of freemen were to be enrolled for member­ship at the age of twenty-one. As only the services of a certain number of the freemen were required to work the fishery, a class of non-working members rapidly increased in numbers, and had to find other occupations, though they received one-third of a member's share of the profits, the additional two-thirds, which the active members received, representing the actual payment for their labours. The widows of members, who also multi­plied as time went on, by a charitable rule received the same proportion as the non-working members, while sick members obtained very nearly full pay.