Lot 305 , A George II Grant by letters patent of the estate of Petley Garnham of Chieveley in Berkshire, a lunatic; 28 Jan 1746, with wax great seal, 82cms wide x 68cms high

A George II Grant by letters patent of the estate of Petley Garnham of Chieveley in Berkshire, a lunatic; 28 Jan 1746, with wax great seal, 82cms wide x 68cms high Grant to Frances Garnham, wife of Petley Garnham of Chieveley in Berkshire, gentleman, of the custody of his person, tuition, regulation and government
And to Philip Barton of the University of Oxford, Doctor of Laws, and Charles Long of Chieveley, Doctor of Divinity, of the regulation, occupation, disposition and receipt of his real and personal property in Berkshire and Oxfordshire
Recites: inquisition taken (under a writ of de lunatico inquirendo) at the mansion house of Petley Garnham, finding him to be a lunatic and of unsound mind, 3 January 1745; that sureties have been provided by Philip Barton and Charles Long
Steel-engraved portrait of George II, royal symbols and decorative borders; great seal (inverted)

Commissions de lunatico inquirendo and the returns made to them established whether persons were lunatics.
The early inquisitions were conducted by local men who were instructed to discover whether the subject was 'sufficient for the government of himself' and his property; when and how he had become a lunatic; whether he had alienated any land while not lucid, and if so what and to whom; what property remained to him, and who was his heir.

For commissions and inquisitions into the lunacy of Petley Garnham, 13 December 1744 and 6 February 1762, see TNA C211/10/G36 and G47; Charles Long of Christchurch, ordained priest in 1711, served as vicar of Chieveley with Winterbourne and Oare between 1725 and his death in 1753; Philip Barton of New College, ordained in 1720, became a canon of Chichester Cathedral in 1730, doctor of laws by 1732 and served as rector of Buriton in Hampshire 1732-1751.
£100-150

Sold for £80