The borough of Elmbridge in Surrey covers the towns of Weybridge, Walton-on-Thames, Hersham, East and West Molesey, Esher, Cobham, Stoke D’Abernon, Long Ditton, Thames Ditton, Hinchley Wood, Claygate, Weston Green and Oxshott.
I have written several true-life accounts of people and events in Elmbridge from the late fifteenth century to the end of the seventeenth century, which can be found on the following links or websites:
Elmbridge Hundred: Rural Retreat to Forest Law 1492-1548 (opens as Flipbook). To open as a pdf: Click here. The 3 parts were posted as blog posts on the Elmbridge Museum website (see below).
Sir Bartholomew Rede (1457-1505), Lord of the Manor of Oatlands – A biography of the founder of the Oatlands Estate, and eminent local landowner in Weybridge and Walton-on-Thames in the early Tudor period, who was Prime Warden of the Goldsmiths’ Company and Lord Mayor of London.
The Lost Manors of Oatlands and Hundulsham 1505-36 – The story of Sir Bartholomew Rede’s heir, his nephew William, and his personal and legal struggles to retain his inheritance as Oatlands attracts the attention of Thomas Cromwell and his master Henry VIII.
The Enclosure of Elmbridge Hundred 1539-48 – An account of the devastating impact that the creation of Hampton Court Chase had on the inhabitants of Elmbridge for almost a decade.
May Day Remembrances 1536 – The retelling of an violent event in Walton-on-Thames reported in the State Papers, and the reasons why Thomas Cromwell did not respond to his local Justice of the Peace.
The Museum of Melancholy: The Divine Case of Mrs Drake 1615-1647 (Opens as Flipbook). To open as a pdf: Click here.
A retelling of the life of Mrs Joan Drake of Esher Place, the Parsonage of Walton-on-Thames and Shardeloes near Amersham, and wife of Francis Drake (godson of the famous explorer). Extracted from an old book written in 1647 about her struggles with depression and spiritual anxiety and the efforts of a series of Puritan divines to cure her, it is a remarkable story of her intelligence, melancholic charisma and fortitude. It also covers her relationship with Dr John Hart, the ‘Relater’, and the impact of her illness on her son, William Drake, 1st Baronet of Shardeloes.
This story was serialised in an edited form in three parts by Community Life Magazine from May to July 2025. Click here.
The Most Notorious Riot in Oatlands 1617 (Opens as Flipbook). To open as a pdf: Click here. – The true story, based on eyewitness accounts, of the violent abduction of Frances Coke, a fourteen-year-old heiress, from Ashley House in Oatlands by her father, the celebrated Sir Edward Coke who had recently been Lord Chief Justice of the King’s Bench. The subsequent clashes with his wife, the redoubtable Lady Elizabeth Hatton, become a national scandal involving many major figures including King James I, the Duke of Buckingham, and members of the Privy Council.
This story was serialised in an edited form in four parts by Weybridge & Brooklands Community Life Magazine from September to December 2024. To open as a pdf: Click here.
The Ten Day Civil War in Elmbridge: 9th-18th November 1642 (Opens as a Flipbook). To open as a pdf: Click here. – This article focuses on a pivotal week in November at the beginning of the English Civil War when the Royalist army led by King Charles I, including the cavalry led by Prince Rupert of the Rhine, marched down the Thames Valley towards London. Using primary sources, it reveals the forgotten experiences of the local inhabitants of Surrey.