The Old House was built by William Parker in the 1670's and bears a date stone 1678 set just below the cartouche bearing the Parker arms, which fills the open scrolled pediment on carved consoles in the centre of the west front. Why William built such a fine house at this time is not entirely clear but by this article I will try to explore some of the history of the parkers to the depth current available records permit. Rather than quote a series of birth and death dates I have extrapolated pertinent facts and events shown against specific years in the life of the senior Parker at that time.

A William Parker and his wife Agnes are first recorded in the manorial court rolls for Kibworth Harcourt in the 1370's but there is no record from where they originated. However from 1389 to 1397 William was one of the 'supervisores terrarum et tenementorum' (s.t.t.) that is one of six tenants responsible for the day-to-day running of the manor - not dissimilar to our present day parish councils. In 1392 -93 he was an affeeror, persons nominated to set the amount or type of fine levied on village wrongdoers and from here he progressed to the jury of presentment ( 'inquisicio'), a precursor of todays jury.

Notwithstanding these offices of responsibility within the village, in 1396 it is recorded that William was requested to keep the King's peace (Richard 11) against Robert Smyth and others 'sub pena librarum' and vice-versa - obviously a man of some spirit! William's name then appeared through to 1414 as a pledge for land in his sons and heir's name, also William, whom I shall call William 2.

William 2 was married to Emma and he is recorded in 1397 as a member of the s.t.t.; involved in a case of battery in 1398 whereas Emma in 1400 'raised hue' against five villagers. Fists certainly flew at that time. 1403 saw a case of debt against William 2 but by 1407 he was appointed ale taster, was an affeeror and still on the s.t.t. adding jury of presentment in 1410. He then acquired further land holdings through to 1426 and added brewing to ale taster in 1428. By 1444 he held eleven acres, a messuage and a half virgate. Assets had definitely begun to be acquired.

William 2's heir was John who is first mentioned in 1428 taking a similar path to his father, s.t.t., brewer, jury of presentment and by 1474 the acquisition of more land. John was succeeded by Thomas 1 whole life pattern also similarly followed that of his father and whose heir was Thomas 2.

Thomas 2 had a daughter, Emma, and it is interesting to note that from 1473 to 1485 it was Emma who was registered as one of the village bakers and brewers, together with her father, taking over in 1503 all licences of her father, but not his position on the jury of presentment. By his death in 1538 his assets, in addition to land included 'a tenement and le bakeyard; a messuage and le bakeyard; le kylne and le kylneyard" and at least two other buildings.

The heir of Thomas 2 was William 3. Born in 1514 he inherited in 1538, was jury of presentment in 1545 and chief pledge by 1553. His successor in 1570 was Thomas 3 and his daughter, Elizabeth, left Kibworth Harcourt to marry Thomas Newton, of the Isaac Newton family of Woolsthorpe Manor in Lincolnshire. Elizabeth and Thomas lived at Great Gonerby, Lincolnshire and he died in 1640. In the Newton family papers at Woolsthorpe Manor (National Trust) the Parker coat of arms is shown against Elizabeth

William 4 was the heir to Thomas 3 and it was he who in 1609 acquired the land on which The Old House is built. At that time the plot contained several cottages some of which had been replaced by 1635 with a stone house on the present site of The Old House but facing north. The parker's main "mansion house" according to their family papers was another stone "mansion" on the site of the 18th Century house known today as The White House on the A6, Leicester Road.

William 5 who was born in 1645 succeeded William 4 and it was he who built The Old House by 1678. Land had been acquired steadily for the past century though the income from rentals and farming would hardly have been sufficient to support the building and running of such a mansion. Precisely what other means of profession the Parkers had or followed I have as yet not been able to ascertain. Certain clues however are being developed.

William 5 by 1664 had married Alice Champante (from Oakham) and they had seven children who reached maturity. They were Thomas, who is more fully described below; Jeffrey who married Rebecca but who died in 1714; Anna who became Mrs Judd and had two children, Joshua and Rolana; Mary who married John Lamplugh, an attorney of Kibworth and son of a gentleman; Elizabeth who married John Corrance with one daughter Alice;Grace who married John Champante and Alice who became Mrs Pulsford.

Thomas was born 27 May 1674 and admitted as a pensioner to St, John's Cambridge on 8 May 1691 aged 17 being the "son of William Parker Esq., Gentleman, of Kibworth, Leicestershire; school Kibworth- Mr Dend". Thus Thomas followed the then accepted practice taken by the sons of gentlemen of firstly Kibworth grammar School then the puritan St. John's or other university colleges. It does however indicate that William did not expect his eldest son to be educated entirely locally. William 5 died in 1699 and Thomas who was then 25 placed a memorial to his father which is still represented in St Wilfrid's Kibworth. The inscription, which differs in various records, on this memorial reads in St Wilfrid's "hoc qualecunque monumentum pietas ergo patri amantissimo Gulielo Parker genroso Thomas Parker posuit armigeri filius natu maximus obit ho 1.2 1699". This I translate as :- 'Thomas Parker eldest son of an esquire (one entitled to bear arms) placed this poor memorial as a sense of duty then to a most loving noble (excellent) father William Parker. He died 1 February 1699'. Thomas however died shortly thereafter, on 21 February 1702 leaving Jeffrey as the male heir. On Jeffrey's death, in 1714, his estate in Kibworth included two mansions (The Old House and the stone Mansion on the site of The White House), 3 cottages, 2 gardens, 2 orchards, 100 acres of land, 30 acres of meadow, 15 acres of pasture and common pasture for all cattle of Kibworth Harcourt. Rebecca, his widow, had by 1716 remarried, to Joshua Reynolds, and they ran the former Parker stone mansion (the site of the present White House) as the Crown Inn.

Jeffrey was the last recorded male heir and with his death the parker name in Kibworth died. In 1743 Joshua and Rolana (Judd), Mary Lamplugh, Alice Corrance, Grace Champante and Alice Pulsford as surviving legatees sold the total estate to Thomas Peach, attorney at Market Harborough. This in fact was the final act of the Parkers recorded in their family papers which are in the Leicestershire Records Office, Wigston. A copy of the abstract of title to The Old House and supporting deeds from 1674 to 1756 are also held at The Old House.

The Parkers left in 1743 but Mr Peach, from a plan of the village and comments of the artist thereon, held in Merton College archives, seems to have let The Old House to"Mr Aiken, master" and it is probable that some teaching took place in the upper rooms of the house as "Mr Aiken" could well have been Dr John Aiken of the non-conformist school, Kibworth. Whilst sorting through discarded woodwork in 1992 I discovered that what appeared to be a rotting door was in fact two oak panels held together by rotted pine framework to form a door. One side had been thickly overpainted with varnish over many decades, but under the varnish was a lining paper which concealed firstly a wallpaper, white with small sprigs of flowers in blue and the duty mark and crown of George III on the reverse. Under this paper was another, in pieces, which when put together formed a very bold 'lace' pattern in blue and yellow. On the reverse the duty mark and crown of George II. These papers are dated as George III of circa 1820 and George II of circa 1750, the latter being identified as a paper produced by Wright and Elwick of Wakefield at that time. Wright and Elwick were suppliers of interior decorative materials to the renowned architect John Carr of York. Both papers are now in the National Wallpaper Collection at Temple Newsam Museum., Leeds.

Returning to the master, under the important 1750 wallpaper are neat ink drawings on the oak, of sailing ships and a well executed ships bow figure. At the top of one of the panels however and in a very neat hand is the name John Coleman. Whilst it is difficult to presume that John was the artist, J Nichols in his History and Antiquities of Leicestershire records that in 1743 John Coleman gave to the village "£20 for ever". The oak panels fit precisely a cupboard in the top room of The Old House; 1743 predates the wallpaper but what John was doing on cupboard doors will, I fear, remain a mystery.

In March 1756 the estate was sold by Mr Peach to John Bale in trust for Mrs Fishes and Mr Hish(?) for £1500 and I will leave readers to calculate what that is worth today. Suffice to say that another chapter in the history of The Old House had begun.

© Peter Burfoot 1995

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 © Kibworth & District Chronicle 1998