Vol 3 - Lackham Countryside Centre

The Manor of Lackham Vol 3 : The Montagu family
that in the Domesday survey Lackham had two mills, whether these were
the same two is not known but it is possible).
The total figure given for the 1812 valuation is slightly different from
the tithe returns at 2,180 acres, 1 rod 31 poles, and was valued at £5,
526 2s 4d, but it was proposed that 191 acres would be let separately
from the rest of the estate.
The Trustees in overall control of the estate were appointed by Court of
Chancery; for example in 1813 the Court appointed Robert Ashe and
William Hughes to be charged with this duty.
George CC Montagu had a roving eye. His wife eventually found out
about his illegitimate children in 1823, when she “commence[d] divorce
proceedings against him in this court for the furtherance of obtaining a
divorce from Bed Board and mutual cohabitation with her husband on 10
May 1824” 465 ; George defended himself by declaring that the marriage
wasn’t legal in the first place, hence the court case referred to. The
Court found the marriage lawful and proved on Thursday 7 July 1825.
It is interesting to note that George may have tried to disappear in 1819.
The local paper carried an obituary for him “On Friday last,[late August]
aged 43, suddenly George Conway Montagu esq of Lackham House in this
county 466 , which agrees with Vernon and also with an article about
George Conway Montagu published in the Wiltshire Times by Kite 467 but
he didn’t die then and continues in the record for some considerable
time. 468
Ray Cloth and Gryst Mill 28, 2, 12 Robert Wiggle and Robert Ray
These were actually separate mills, Robert Wiggle ran the Cloth Mill and Robert Ray
the Gryst Mill,
465 W&SHC 44/1, Preamble
466 Devizes and Wilts Gazette September 2nd 1819
467 Wiltshire Times February 7 th and 14 th , 1929
468 The story of George Montagu and his son is complicated, for further details
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