Honor Wayte was born in Wymering in nearby Cosham in 1550 to William Wayte and Anne Mompesson.
Wayte Cottages (above) off Chidham Lane is named after her as she left money to the poor of the local area in a generous bequest in her will when she died. Despite being born near Cosham Hampshire, about 10 miles to the west, she lived much of her life in Chidham.
Honor Wayte was one of six daughters of William Wayte of Wymering. Her father was rich and died in 1561, leaving Wymering Manor (below) and other lands in Hampshire to be equally divided between all of his daughters. Wymering Manor is very old, being mentioned in the Domesday Book in 1086.
Did You Know?
Wymering Manor is claimed to be the oldest and most haunted building in Portsmouth area and special ghost hunts are organised for small groups throughout the year. When it was up for auction in 2010 security guards refuse to work alone there at night because of its reputation for ghosts!
Honor Wayte married her cousin, another William Wayte, and had three children with him. William pre-deceased her in 1581.
Did you know?
People in rich families sometimes married their first or second cousins, partly to keep their possessions within the same family, but also because they already knew them well. We now know that the children of first cousin marriages have twice the risk of recessive genetic disorders, and this is why what is called ‘inbreeding’ is no longer legally allowed.
Honor died in her ancestral home of Wymering Manor in 1600, aged 50. In her will she requested that ten local women attend her funeral dressed in the best clothing money could buy. Four poor women from Cosham, two poor women from Wymering and four poor women from Chidham had gowns made of the finest cloth at sixteen shillings a yard.
Did you know?
At the time sixteen shillings a yard would have been some of the most expensive cloth available in England, and is £220 a metre in today’s money!
When she died, she granted her interest in a 5,000 year lease she acquired in 1594 to her trustees for a ‘messuage’, orchard and garden in Cosham in Hampshire.
Did you know?
A messuage is a legal term for a plot of land and any house on it, together with all its associated buildings and outbuildings.
Honor built a poor house for four poor women with the intent that the premises should remain forever a dwelling house for the poor women of Wymering or Wickham. In addition, she left a legacy paying 30 shillings a year, forever, to each of the poor women who was resident in her poor house in Cosham. Wayte Street in Cosham is named after her and is where the poor house was built, using part of her generous will when she died.
She left a bequest of 20 shillings a year, forever, for the relief of the poor of the parish of Wymering to paid out of her manor of Denmead, on condition that the Overseers or Churchwardens only pay relief to those ‘poor, aged, impotent, needy and sick that are of honest conversation and behaviour and not to any lewd people.’
She also left a similar bequest of 20 shillings a year, forever, for the relief of the poor of Chidham, the poor of Southwick and the poor of Wickham under the same legal conditions. Remarkably, after over 400 years, Honor Wayte’s current trustees are still paying the bequest to Chidham Church.
Her last will and testament is a fascinating document with a large number of bequests to family and friends of money, clothes, jewellery and other precious metal items. A lengthy part of Honor Wayte’s will deals with ensuring that her last wishes are all carried out. It is an unusually large document but is a very interesting read.
- Read more about Honor Wayte’s home Wymering Manor – click here
- Experience a ghost hunt for yourself at Wymering Manor – click here
- Read more about what was in fashion from 1550 to 1600 – click here