1358 Nov. 26. Westminster. The like [commission of oyer and terminer to William Notton, Andrew de Sakevill and Simon de Kegworth], on complaint by the abbot [of Begehamme] that Thomas Wallere of Lamberherst, John Saperton, Richard de Molton, John Dongate, John Mapelherst and others, besieged his close at Begehamme and so threatened him and his canons that for a great time they dared not leave the close to further business of the abbey and assaulted his men and servants at Wadeherst. By K.
1358 Nov. 28. Westminster. Commission of oyer and terminer to William Notton, Andrew de Sakevill and Simon de Kegworth, on complaint by Thomas Chaumpeneys that Thomas Wallere of Lamberherst, John Saperton, Richard de Multon, John Dungate, John Mapelherst and others, assaulted him at Wadeherst, co. Sussex. By K. [1]
1381 June 20. London. The like [appointment] of Thomas Wallere, John Wallere, and Thomas Mapelhurst to arrest John Couherst of Wadeherst, Thomas Palmere of Lambherst, Richard Elford of Lambherst. By K. [2][This could be Thomas and his son John, or it could be Thomas' sons Thomas and John.]
In the time of Henry IV (c. 1399-1413) Thomas Waller of Lamberhurst, Sussex, purchased the manor of Groombridge in Tunbridge Wells, Kent from Lord Clinton and Saye, grandson of Sir John de Clinton. There had been manor houses on the site of the present Groombridge for centuries. The earliest mention of one of these is from 1239, when the Lordship of Groomsbridge was granted to William Russell. William and his wife Haweis built a small moated castle at Groombridge, and, later that year, were granted a charter by Henry III of England to build a chantry. When William died in 1261, lordship was granted to Henry de Cobham, 1st Baron Cobham. By the mid 14th century, the lands were held by Sir John de Clinton. The Wallers held Groombridge for over two centuries until it was sold in the early seventeenth century (1604).
According to Mackinnon and Mackinnon, [3], a brass plaque erected in Speldhurst Church in 1826 by Sir T. W. Waller, Bart. states:
To the memory of the Waller family (descended from Alured de Waltur of Newark, Notts, who died A.D. 1183), who were settled at Groombridge in this parish from 1360 to 1604, and were lords not only of the manor of Speldhurst but also of Hollenden, Barnes, Shaliscourt, Nackington, Rusthall, Hadlow, Hollands, Ashurst and Ferbies, all in this county, many of whom besides those whose names are hereon inscribed, were buried in the old church of Speldhurst; but all their monuments and other memorials were totally destroyed together with that edifice by lightning on the 20th of Oct. 1791.
David de Waller, Master of the Rolls to King Edw. III. ob. 1360.
Thomas Waller, ob. Dec. 1391.
Sir Richard Waller, Knt. who at the battle of Agincourt, 1415, took prisoner Charles Duke of Orleans, ob. Oct. 1429.
Richard Waller, ob. May, 1470.
Sir John Waller, Knt. ob. Dec. 1510.
William Waller, ob. Feb. 1525.
William Waller, ob. Aug. 1555.
John Waller, ob. Sept. 1574.
Thomas Waller, ob. Nov. 1586.
Sir Walter Waller, X"- ob. July, 1599.
Lady Waller, ob. Sep. 1624.
Research Notes:
Part of Lamberhurst was in Sussex, but now it is entirely in Kent.
[1] Calendar of the Patent Rolls, Edward III, Vol. 11, 1358-1361 (London: HMSO, 1911), 158.
[2] Calendar of the Patent Rolls, Richard II, Vol. 2, 1381-1385 (London: HMSO), 23, [GoogleBooks], [HathiTrust].
[3] Donald Dimsdale Mackinnon and Alan Mackinnon, History of Speldhurst (H. G. Groves, 1902), 16-17, [GoogleBooks].