Sir Simon Harvey
Courtier
c1585 - 1628

In 1632 Simon's widow Ursula sold two cottages and land to Edmund Cooke. The Harveys may have lived in another house, which they sold to Martin Boothby in 1621. This was the Blew House (later Blue House) probably where what has become known as Whitton Manor stood - if not that same house, or parts of it. It can be seen on Moses Glover's map of 1635.

Ursula was his second wife and she bore him at least six children, the last when she was 41. This was Susanna (1627-1709) who married Richard Hopton. In his will, Simon's brother Sir John left “To his nephew Symon Harvey, eldest son of his late brother Sir Simon Harvey, knight of London, 500 pounds; and 200 pounds to each of the two daughters of the said Sir Simon”.

Glover's map shows that Harvey had started a 22 acre rabbit warren on land to the north of the Crane River at the west end of the parish, opposite Fulwell Lodge ("A Warrin planted by Sr Simond Harvey Kt"). Perhaps, as the Royal Grocer, he supplied rabbits to the Household. This warren came to be known as Whitton Warren. The map also shows their earlier house, now occupied by Martin Boothby.

The warren land had, earlier, been in the possession of the York family of Twickenham. It later was owned by Lord John Belasyse*, then Sir John Webb, who sold it to Thomas Vernon whose family in turn sold it to John Chunn whose family were warreners in the parish and sometime occupiers of Fulwell Lodge where there was another warren.

Further reading