Paul Sackett

Paul Sackett, yeoman of Ash-next-Sandwich, St John in Thanet, and Wingham, Kent, son of Robert Sackett and Faith Norwood, was baptized at St John in Thanet^G on 10 March 1587/88.¹ He died aged about 79 and was buried at Preston near Wingham, Kent^G, on 19 August 1667.² He married at Canterbury St Martin^G in 1620, Ann (___) Lee, widow of Richard Lee, by licence obtained at Canterbury on 1 February 1619/20.³ Ann was born in about 1594.⁴ She died aged about 76 and was buried at Preston near Wingham^G on 22 June 1670.⁵
     Paul was named as a beneficiary in his father's will made at St John in Thanet^G in October 1622.⁶ He was appointed executor of the will and was to receive the residue of his father's estate after various bequests to his other sons and daughter and to his grandchildren.
     Paul was a churchwarden at St John in Thanet^G in 1640.⁷
     Paul was a defendant in an action in the Court of Chancery, London, in 1632, and the plaintiff in further actions in 1638–39, involving the disputed ownership of some of his father's lands in Ickham and Wingham, Kent. [See Transcript of Proceedings]
The Chancery Court actions
     Paul Sackett was involved, first as a defendant and later as the plaintiff in proceedings in the Chancery Court, London, in 1632 and 1638–39. His brother William Sackett also gave evidence.
     Paul and William's father Robert Sackett had bought lands in Ickham and Wingham, Kent, in 1609 (7th year of the reign of King James) for £60 from William Parker, the parties agreeing that Parker would continue to occupy the lands upon payment of an "annuity" of £6—effectively a sale-and-leaseback arrangement.
     A few years later, William Parker, claiming that he had bought out the annuity, sold parts of the lands to various purchasers.
     Robert Sackett died in 1622 and left the residue of his estate, including the deed of annuity, to his son Paul. Inclusion of the deed in his will implied that Robert believed it was still in force, although it appears that no rent had been received for some years.
     Paul Sackett sought through an action at common law in the Palace of Canterbury to recoup 12 years' rent arrears from Richard Hurlston, who was now in the possession of some of the land, under threat of repossession.
     In 1632, Richard Hurlston actioned Paul Sackett in the Court of Chancery in London, Hurleston claiming that William Parker had discharged the annuity in 1612 by paying to Robert Sackett in the North porch of the parish church of Ashe, as required by the deed of annuity, a capital sum of £63.
     Hurleston disputed that he owed anything to Paul Sackett, but that if he did it would be only his fair share with other holders of the lands once owned by William Parker.
     The matter rested for some years until, in 1638, Paul Sackett actioned, again in the Court of Chancery, William Jones, Henry Austen, Edward Hubberd, Simon Hurlestone, and William Brewer, the then holders of the William Parker lands, for enforcement of the deed of annuity.
     Paul Sackett claimed that William Parker had not only failed to pay the rent due under the deed but had conspired with others to subdivide and sell the lands, rendering some of the lands unidentifiable through change of use and through merging with other land holdings.
     The case became acrimonious, with each side accusing the other of behaving fraudulently.
     The outcome of the case is not known although it must, for many years, have been the cause of a major rift, not least because Paul Sackett's older brother William Sackett was married to Joan Parker, a cousin of William Parker.