Romsey Belbins
Some notes on the small rural hamlet at Romsey, Hampshire known as Belbins
Since my earliest years, I have always known about the Romsey BELBINs, because that was the name my father’s family gave to the family of my late uncle who lived there for 60 years or so, and still do. My siblings and I, who were the Spiders Island BELBINs, literally grew up with the Romsey BELBINs as we lived so close to them but during those carefree years I never once realised that the BELBIN name has been associated with this small southern Hampshire market town for centuries. When it did eventually dawn on me it piqued my curiosity and so I began to gather what information I could about this place which appears to be the only English community with the BELBIN name.
ROMSEY is a thriving market town in Southern Hampshire approximately 10 miles north-west of the port of Southampton situated on the banks of the River Test and is dominated by its Norman Abbey dating from 1120. The original Abbey was founded by Edward The Elder (son of Alfred The Great) in 907. Important industries such as brewing, tanning and the weaving and finishing of woollen cloth and the ability to export produce through Southampton brought great wealth. The town is closely linked to the 400 acre Broadlands Estate which was the former home of Lord Palmerston and latterly of the cousin of Queen Elizabeth II, LORD MOUNTBATTEN, who was murdered in 1979. As the cousin of the late Queen, Lord Mountbatten was a prominent figure of the British establishment, and was granted his wish for his tomb to be aligned north-south in the South Transept of ROMSEY ABBEY adjacent to the grave of none other than Sarah BELBIN, the wife of Nicholas BELBIN, who died in 1737.
Nicholas Belbin, Sarah Belbin and Belbins
This following extract is taken from the Romsey Advertiser of 10th March 1916 from an article entitled BY-GONE ROMSEY EXTRA in which the place names of Romsey are discussed:
There still remains one other place name that is reminiscent of bygone Romsonians, and that is BELBINS, which probably acquired its name from NICHOLAS BELBIN, haberdasher of Romsey between 1715 and 1769. His marriage took place at Baddesley Church on the 26th of September 1706, to Sarah WARREN. The aspect of the ruined lodge and entrance gates to BELBINS with its mysterious and overgrown drive, usually attracts the notice of strangers, but we have not been able to discover when the house was built or why it has been suffered to decay. The late Mr. Cornelius Medley said that it was “occupied at one time by a Mr. Clark, a gentleman farmer, who came there from Lockerley Manor where he took farming pupils.”
Sarah BELBIN, wife of Nicholas, died on 16 May 1737 and was interred in the same grave as Thomas WARREN, Vicar of Houghton, and brother of John WARREN, Vicar of Romsey, both of whom were forced to resign in 1666 for refusing to accept the Book of Common Prayer as the norm for Anglican worship after the Restoration of Charles II. Possibly Sarah BELBIN might have been a descendant of one of the Warren brothers but there is no indication on the grave as to why she was interred with Thomas. The only known common factor was that before she married her name was Sarah WARREN.
Nicholas BELBIN was probably a native of Ringwood, a Hampshire town some 18 miles from Romsey as he was baptised there on 17th March 1668. He was known to be a haberdasher in Ringwood. As an aside, Nicholas BELBIN issued his own local coin or token. See the Bits & Pieces article on BELBIN 17th CENTURY TRADE TOKENS. Eventually he moved to Romsey, possibly in the 1690s, where he continued his trade as a “haberdasher of hatts” and it is likely that he then acquired his property at the site now named BELBINS. When he died in 1734 and his widow, Sarah, followed him in 1737 they were the last BELBINS known to be in Romsey until the 1960s when Terry BELBIN‘s uncle and family moved there. This is because as far as it can be ascertained, Nicholas BELBIN and Sarah only left two daughters, Jane and Hannah, surviving them and when they married they respectively became Jane NEWLANDS and Hannah READ. In his Will, Nicholas bequeathed “the place I now dwell” to Sarah and presumably after her death the property passed to one or both of their daughters ending the BELBIN connection. One suspects that if Nicholas BELBIN and Sarah lived there for thirty plus years, the small population of Romsey at that time would have enabled people to identify the site by merely referencing the name of the owners, and thus it could have been the reason the place name of BELBINS was eventually adopted.
Nicholas BELBIN‘s Will was dated 18th April 1729 and probate was issued to Sarah BELBIN on 12th November 1735, he having been buried in Romsey on 10th December 1734. The interesting aspect of his Will is that he was a man of property, owning The House in which I now dwell with no indication of which house that was, but perhaps it was the house and land at BELBINS; My Estate Lying near Abbots Wood in the Parish of Rumsey; My Meadow Lying in the parish of Braishfield; a Meadow of Land Near Waldon Bridge and all those Meadows Called St. Johns Meadows near Fishlett. His family are named including his wife Sarah BELBIN, his two daughters Jane BELBIN and Hannah READ and his pre-deceased son, Richard BELBIN.
Belbins House
Although proof is now seemingly lost in time, the origin of BELBINS as a name for this hamlet is, as speculated above, believed to simply derive from Nicholas BELBIN’s family name as his substantial property dominated the area from about the 1690s until the First World War when it was blown up.
The history of ownership from Sarah BELBIN‘s death in 1737 is very patchy. In the 19th Century the house was rumoured to be owned by a relation of the famous MORGAN FAMILY OF TREDEGAR who was said to have been feckless causing the property to be sold. Later in the 1870s and 1880s it was under the ownership of a Mr CLARK, a gentleman farmer who was from Lockerley Manor (see Romsey Advertiser of 10th March 1916, above) and then his widow, Elizabeth Eales CLARK who died on 19th August 1882. One assumes that the auction of 7th June 1883 took place (see below) but who secured ownership at that point is unknown. It is believed that the BELBINS estate then went to rack and ruin for a period after this before being redeveloped at some point after the end of the First World War.
A detailed description of the property is found in the HAMPSHIRE CHRONICLE of 19 May 1883 when it was advertised for auction:
B E L B I N S
One-and-a-half miles from the Market Town of Romsey and nine miles from Southampton.
A very desirable and compact little ESTATE (all Freehold).
Comprising a Farm of upwards of 40 acres (in a good state of cultivation), with convenient Buildings and comfortable old-fashioned Residence, with Gardens, pleasantly and healthily situated in the above excellent district, affording a favourable opportunity to anyone seeking a small Pleasure Farm for occupation, in addition to a safe investment for capital. The land and buildings are let to a yearly tenant. The remainder of the property is in hand, and will be sold with possession. The Estate (which is well timbered) has a good trout stream running through it, and is well placed in a first rate sporting neighbourhood, within a short distance of the Hursley Hounds.
PERKINS and SONS will offer the above for SALE by AUCTION, on Thursday the 7th of June, 1883, at the White Horse Hotel, Romsey, at two for three o’clock, by order of the Trustees and Exors. of the late Mrs. Clark.
A plan of the property may be seen and further particulars obtained on application to Mr. Wm. Perkins, solicitor, Albion-terrace, or the Auctioneers, Southampton.
This is a little story that might show the worth of conducting spur of the moment enquiries. Between Christmas and New Year not long after the first incarnation of BelbinMania appeared on the web, Terry BELBIN and his now wife, Gill, decided to get away from family Christmas gatherings for a few hours and visited BELBINS to take some photographs of the area. Much to their surprise, the huge wrought iron gates to BELBINS HOUSE were opening as they approached, and the driver of the car leaving the property invited them into the grounds. Much to their consternation, the gates shut automatically as the car left, leaving Terry and Gill trapped there. They had no choice but to march past the huge boulder inside the gate and up the long driveway to the house to explain themselves to the owners who were, not unsurprisingly, suspicious. After some hasty explanation about surnames and house names and so forth, instead of being escorted off the property they were invited into the house for mulled wine and were shown an 1882 auction document which had been in a frame having been recently discovered during the new owners renovation of the house. The document contained a colourful map showing the extent of the BELBINS property and was a discovery that would not otherwise have been made. It is assumed that the 1882 auction didn’t proceed for some reason as the 1883 auction referenced above was only seven months later.
Location and extent of Belbins
Here is a modern map of the area with the location of BELBINS marked. Additionally there is a section of the map showing the detail. Also included below is the coloured plan of the estate which was with the 1882 auction particulars found at BELBINS HOUSE. You can download a copy by clicking on the button below.
The larger map (smaller scale) shows BELBINS in relation to the general area.
The smaller map (larger scale) shows a closer view which also includes BELBINS HOUSE.
Nowadays, BELBINS includes a growing community of houses and bungalows, some of which cost two or three million pounds, a sharp contrast to the £670 4s value of Elizabeth Eales CLARK‘s estate when she died owning the property in 1882. A couple of properties still reference the BELBIN name such as (the current) BELBINS HOUSE and a bungalow called BELBINS VALLEY. There is also a small industrial estate by the name of BELBINS BUSINESS PARK. BELBINS has therefore morphed from the rambling old 10 roomed house of 325 years ago to a modern mix of residential and industrial properties with the main road going through the area also named BELBINS and now labelled as such on current maps. The name has thus become the place with businesses such as BELBINS GARAGE taking their identity from it. One suspects that Nicholas BELBIN has most likely been forgotten by the Romsonians of today.
The Romsey Belbins by the Late Rev. Howard Belben
Howard BELBEN visited Romsey on 5th August 1939 and recorded the information he found out. He never typed his notes up and didn’t pursue his findings as his main genealogical focus was THE BELBINS OF STURMINSTER NEWTON.
The following is a direct transcription of Howard BELBEN‘s notes, although it should be said that with the vast resources available to genealogists nowadays compared to what was available in 1939 it might be possible to add to or correct some of the detail shown, for example, Nicholas BELBIN may in fact be a native of Ringwood rather than Portsmouth as Howard stated:
THE ROMSEY BELBINS
Before 1697 the only reference to a BELBIN in the register at Romsey is:
1651 Athony BELDIN m. Edw. Holloway 10 Feb
This, however, is probably a Belden and so not connected at all.
In 1697 at Kensington, 21st Dec, a warrant was issued for the confirmation of charter to Romsey. Among the names of those members of the corporation who desire to be inserted in the new charter“is that of “NICHOLAS BELBEN (sic), capital burgess” [Calendar State Papers, Domestic. Wm III 1697].
Since there is no previous reference to a BELBIN at Romsey, Nicholas does not seem to be a native. He was probably the Nicholas of the Portsmouth BELBINS of whom the following particulars are given in the genealogy in Portsmouth Public Library [Namely the Everitt Collection R9740]:
NICHOLAS BELBIN married Sarah daughter of Richard Wilkes of Titchfield who died 1680 aged 23 (buried in St. Thomas) and had issue:-
MARY BELBIN born 1678
PETER BELBIN born 1679
He was also probably the NICHOLAS BELBIN, Gent, who on 17th July 1689 appealed to the [House of ] Lords for £100 from Thomas Simpkins, scrivener, of London Historical MSS Commission 12th Report (Appendix VI).
Nicholas seems to have married again. The following is copied from a stone in the floor of the South Transept of Romsey Abbey:
Here lyeth the body of Mr. Tho. Warren, a learned, pious, and faithful minister of Christ, a solid and nervous assertor of discriminating grace and breed well, who died Jan the 27, 1623/4 aged 77. Twas Christ he preached lovd livd but now is gon to live with Christ in the heavenly mansioned. May we Christ love and live, so living dye, so dying live in bliss and (to) eternity.
Here lyeth the body of Mrs. Sarah BELBIN wife of Mr. Nicholas BELBIN who dyed May 16, 1737 aged 55.
Thomas WARREN was the well known brother of the incumbent at the Abbey, who himself took Holy Orders but later dissented and joined the Congregational Ministry. There is no indication of the connection between him and SARAH BELBIN. There was about 136 years between the dates of their births. The inscription on this stone is apparently contradicted by the entry in the burial register of the Abbey:
1737 Mrs Hannah BELBIN, widow 22 May
Nicholas may have been married again before he married Sarah (Hannah), as the following entry occurs in the register of Romsey Abbey:
1701 Annah BELLBON [Bellben?] wife of Nicklos, buried 7 Aug
This may well be, as his first wife died in 1680 and Sarah (Hannah) would not have been old enough for him to marry her until about 1700.
The following is also from Romsey Abbey Registers:
1701 Henry BELBONE married Hannah GIFFORD, both of this town 23 Sept.
The following is from Timsbury 92M72 PRI:
1716 Robert READ of Southampton married Hannah BELBEN "of Rumsey" 21 June
The following is from the Hampshire Allegations of Marriage Licences:
1732 Robert NEWLANDS of Romsey, baker and Jane BELBIN of the same, spinster, at Romsey, 27 November
The Peter, son of Nicholas, who was born in 1679 may be the PETER BELBIN, schoolmaster of Lymington, who was bondsman at a marriage at Ringwood 14 October 1726.
BELBINS HOUSE….which contained about 10 rooms was said to be haunted….
Until the 1914-18 war there was standing at Romsey a house known as BELBINS. It was perhaps 220 years old, and no BELBINS seem to have been living in Romsey within living memory, so the name must have been handed down. The house, which contained about ten rooms, was said to be haunted and had been unoccupied for a long time. It was blown up during the 1914-18 war. It was on the site of some gravel pits on the Cupernham Road outside Romsey and the estate of bungalows that was built on the spot is known as BELBINS. One of the bungalows now has that name. There was also some years ago a BELBINS GRAVEL COMPANY which took its name from the place and not from its owners. [Information given by the verger at Romsey Abbey, 5th August 1939.]
In the Apprentices and Masters Index in the SOCIETY OF GENEALOGISTS Library is an entry referring Henry, son of Henry BELBIN of Romsey, Hants, who was apprenticed to Sam Oliver of Romsey, apothecary (£50).
Mrs George Devereux (Joyce) BELBEN, said in a letter to Howard BELBEN: I went to the hamlet of BELBINS near Romsey and found traces of an old bit of the monastary, but was not able to locate ther ….? of the district.
21 June 1716 Hannah BELBIN (of "Rumsey") married Robert READ of Southampton at Timsbury, Hants
There is another reference to a Nicholas BELBIN at Romsey, 8 Oct 1725. Consistory Court Books Post 1700, p.195, Ref C/1/A-3(c)/20. Case of Elisha TURNER at Romsey against Thos. BRINKWORTH of Romsey (Disciplinary Case). Persons cited included Nicholas BELBIN.
BELBINS VALLEY is the name of a house next door to BELBINS HOUSE in the BELBINS hamlet and may once have been a cottage belonging to the main house. A story has been told that the BELBINS VALLEY garden was designed and landscaped by a botanist who had arrived from India in the early 20th century. Unfortunately, not much else is known so please CONTACT BELBINMANIA if you can add to this.
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