From Kelly’s Post Office Directory of Essex, Herts, Middlesex, Kent, Surrey and Sussex, 1867
Easebourne, with the Hamlet of South Ambersham
EASEBOURNE is a pleasantly situated village and parish adjoining Midhurst, giving name to the hundred, in the Western division of the county, Midhurst union, county court district and deanery, Chichester rape, diocese and archdeaconry. The manor was given with the rest of the rape to Earl Montgomery after the Conquest. In the reign of Richard I. De Bohun held it as parcel of the lordship of Midhurst: it is now the property of the Earl of Egmont. The church of St. Margaret is an ancient building, with spire, tower with 4 bells, nave, north and south aisles, chancel, and organ; also a curious monument in alabaster to Sir David Owen. The register commences in 1538. The living is a perpetual curacy, annual value £106, in the gift of the Right Hon. the Earl of Egmont, and held by the Rev. Edward Tufnell, M.A., of Trinity Hall, Cambridge. A small religious house formerly stood here, having been founded in the reign of Henry III. by the Baron of Midhurst, for a prioress and six nuns of the order of St. Benedict: at the Dissolution the site was granted by Henry VIII. to the Montague family. There are some very interesting remains of this priory preserved by Mr. Brown, whose residence, bearing the name, forms part of the original structure. The Midhurst Union House is in this parish. The Right Hon. Earl of Egmont is lord of the manor, and has a handsome seat here, called Cowdray Lodge, surrounded by a spacious park, having an avenue of chesnut trees about a mile in length: according to ancient documents this parish was formerly called Essebourne. The population in 1861 was 859, and the area is 4,043 acres.
Parish Clerk, George Road.
SOUTH AMBERSHAM adjoining Easebourne, is a small hamlet, originally part of the parish of Steep, in Hampshire, but since the passing of the Act of Parliament for settling the boundaries of counties (7 and 8 Vict., cap. 61), the small slip of land running down from Hampshire into Sussex was severed from the former and added to the latter, and consequently Ambersham became part of Sussex. For purposes ecclesiastical (having no church) it was divided into two divisions, north and south; the former was given to Farnhurst, and the latter to Easebourne. The Earl of Egmont is lord of the manor and owner of the land. In 1861 there was a population of 143, and the acreage is returned at 1,506.
POST OFFICE.- Anthony Terry, receiver. Letters delivered at 7 a.m.; dispatched at 7.40 p.m. The nearest money order office is at Midhurst
Midhurst Union House, George Henry Grossmith, master; Mrs. Mary A. Grossmith, matron
Village School (girls), Mrs. Ann Stone, mistress
Easebourne.
Alcock Misses
Appleton Misses
Baber Mrs. Rose cottage
Brown Alexander, esq. Priory
Bull Rev. Robert Cooke
Egmont Rt. Hon. Earl of, Cowdray lodge
Greenhill Mrs
Sanders Mrs. Ivy cottage
Sanders Mrs. James
Shotter Mrs
Tufnell Rev. Edward, M.A. [incumbent]
Wells Miss
COMMERCIAL.
Brown Alexander, land agent, Priory
Brown Edward Thomas, farmer, Great Todham farm
Dabbs George, shopkeeper
Damer James, blacksmith
Damer William, shopkeeper
Dilloway John, shopkeeper
Gosden John, miller, North mills
Harper Edward, carpenter
Hoad George, wheelwright
Howick John & Thomas, farmers, Madam’s farm
James Robert, farmer, Verdley
Knight Richard, farmer
Lickfold Edward, wheelwright
Mallam Thomas, registrar of births, deaths & marriages for the district
Martin William, shopkeeper
May Mark, butcher
Nash Joseph, farmer, Buddington
Purser Arthur, farmer, Todham farm
Puttick Thomas, shopkeeper, Henley hill
Puttick William, accountant, & agent to the General Hailstorm & Norwich & London Accidental & Casualty Fire & Life Assurance Offices
Sanders Mary Ann (Mrs.), farmer
Shepperd James, White Horse
Stubbington Joseph, farmer
Tipper Elizabeth (Mrs.), farmer, Hollist farm
Vennes David, beer retailer, Henley hill
Winter Thomas, farmer
South Ambersham.
COMMERCIAL.
Barnes Thomas, farmer
Challen James, farmer, Hoyle farm
Hale George, blacksmith
Powell Joseph, shoe maker
Soane James, beer retailer