Charlestown Deed History Home : Manor of Bilton Home Use the links at the left to return.

Manor of Bilton Deed History

When William Penn started selling land in Pennsylvania he reserved about a third of the land for his own use. Two of these parcels of land, called ‘manors’, were located on either side of Valley Creek. Penn gave the Manor of Mount Joy on the east side of the creek to his daughter Letitia. On the west side of the creek he gave the Manor of Bilton to his niece, Margaret Lowther. This web site describes the deed history of this Manor of Bilton.

Deed Tables

Survey D89-237, Manor of Bilton, Source: Pennsylvania State Archives

Table 1 Manor of Bilton (from deeds from F-326 & 332)

From	To	Date	Area	Cost	Reference

William Penn	William & Margaret Lowther	10/23/1681	5,000a		Philadelphia deeds C2-109,114,116 Part of Manor of Bilton
John & Margaret Nichol (latter heir to Margaret Lowther)	Joseph Stanvix	9/24/1731	5,000a		Quoted in V-118
Joseph Stanvix	John Simpson	1/18/1731/2	5,000a		Phila. G2-120
John Lowther	Joseph Turner	8/30/1731	5,000a		Phila. E5-551
Warrant	John Simpson		4920a (½ of ?)
Warrant	Joseph Turner		4920a (½ of ?)
	Resurveyed	9/19/1733	2850a
John Simpson	William Allen	2/23/1736	½ of 2850a		Phila. G2-120
Joseph Turner	William Allen		½ of 2850a		Phila. G2-123
William Allen	John Parry	1739	½ of 2850a		F-4
F-4 Release. On 25 July 1739 William Allen of the City of Philadelphia, Esq., & Margret his wife to John Parry of Haverford, gentleman. Whereas William Penn by deed dated 23 Oct 1681 granted to William Lowther & Margret Lowther 5,000 acres in the province, recorded in Philadelphia, Book B, Vol 2, Page 109. William Lowther died & John Nichols & Margot his wife the only daughter of Margret who survived the said William Lowther by deed dated 24 Sep 1731 granted 5,000 acres to Joseph Stanwix. Joseph Stanwix by deed dated 14 Jan 1731 granted 5,000 acres to John Simpson, recorded Book F, Vol 5, Page 557. Whereas William Penn by deed dated 23 Oct 1681 granted to John Lowther & Ann Sharlot Lowther 5,000 acres in the province. Whereas Ann Sharlot died intestate & without issue, John Lowther by deed dated 13 Aug 1731 granted to Joseph Turner the 5,000 acres. By virtue of a warrant 4,920 acres was laid out John Simpson called Bilton Manor & by virtue of another warrant 4,920 acres was laid out to Joseph Turner. Whereas 1/2 of the said Bilton Manor was resurveyed & was bounded by the Schuylkill River, Valley Creek, the manor called Mount Joy, land formerly of Charles Pickering & Company & land of William Moore containing 2,850 acres. Whereas John Simpson by deed dated 9 Mar 1737 granted to William Allen a half part of Bilton Manor containing 2,850 acres & whereas Joseph Turner deed dated 23 Feb 1736 granted to William Allen all the last mentioned 5,000 acres. Now William Allen & Margret his wife for £1400 grant to John Parry all the tract of 2,850 acres. Signed William Allen & Margret Allen. Delivered in the presence of William Carsons & James Bingham. Recorded 17 Sep 1739.
For an alternative early history see Table 1b
Futhey and Cope, History of Chester County, give the following distribution of the Parry tract. Click on on name for a detail deed history. William John Adam, 500 acres - no deed found Widow Matthias, 263 acres John Jones, 500 acres William Griffith, 174 acres Cadwalader Hugh, 176 acres Griffith Thomas, 235 acres Thomas James, George Rees, and William Lloyd 430 acres Thomas Howell, 366 acres Jenkin David, 200 acres Katherine Rees, 151 acres Not included in Futhey and Cope’s list is: Thomas David tract, 175 acres These tracts total 3170 acres The following deeds followed John Parry’s death: Thomas James, 140 acres George Martin, 140 acres John Jacobs, 388.75 acres