The Mannocks of Giffords Hall: A Jesuit Mission in Books and Archives.
- Lucy Vinten
- Sep 15
- 12 min read
Book owners often write their names in their books. At the British Jesuit Archives, we are attempting to trace the history of each book in the rare book collection, and as we catalogue a book we research its former owners when this is possible. Patterns have started to emerge. This is expected, as some parts of our collection have come to us in bulk, and many of these books had the names of the same former owner inscribed. An example is the books which came from the personal library of Fr Randall Lythgoe SJ (English Jesuit Provincial 1841-1848) many of which contain his personal bookplate. Other books which came from Joseph Stevenson SJ, another nineteenth century Jesuit, have his name and frequently a date inscribed. Both these men were known bibliophiles, but there are different types of ownership patterns as well. One surname inscribed in some of the books is Mannock, a name unusual enough to stand out and be fairly safely attributed to one family. Four books that we have catalogued so far have inscriptions for different members of the Mannock family, suggesting a family that maintained a collection of Catholic books over several generations.
In this blogpost we will start by identifying the Mannock books themselves, and try to establish which members of the family wrote their names in them. We will then go on to look at traces of the Mannock household in the archive, and use these, the books themselves and other sources to shed a little light on East Anglian Catholic life in the late seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Finally we will discuss our theories about how these remnants of the Mannock library ended up in the British Jesuit Archive. Our aims in doing this are twofold; to highlight the possibilities of antiquarian books as useful archival items for historical research, and to show some of the wealth of material in our archive which can be used for family, local and social history, rather than purely Jesuit history.
The Mannock books
The books are of the type one would expect an educated Catholic family to have in their libraries. A copy of the Douai bible, a spiritual book, a work in French (many members of the Mannock family were educated in France or what is now Belgium), and a history of church practices.
The holie Bible faithfully translated into English, out of the authentical Latin. Diligently conferred with the Hebrew, Greeke, and other Editions in divers languages. With arguments of the bookes, and Chapters: Annotations. Tables: and other helpes, for better understanding of the text: for discoverie of Corruptions in some late translations: and for clearing Controversies in Religion. By the English College of Doway. 1st tom. Douai. Printed by Laurence Kellam at the sign of the Holy Lamb. 1609
The inscription on the title page of this copy of the famous Douai bible reads ‘Fran. Mannock G. Hall’, i.e. Francis Mannock, Giffords Hall. The 1st, 2nd, 4th and 7th baronets were all called Francis Mannock, as were numerous other members of the family, so it is hard to identify this individual. However, it is pleasing to have an inscription which ties the book in with their house, Gifford’s Hall in Suffolk.
Fleury, Claude, An historical account of the manners and behaviour of the Christians: and the practices of Christianity throughout the several ages of the church. London. Printed for Thomas Leigh at the Peacock against St Dunstan's Church in Fleet Street. 1698
William Mannock wrote his name on the title page of this book. Unfortunately it is hard to know which of many eighteenth or early nineteenth century William Mannocks this was – possible candidates include the 3rd, 5th and 6th baronets and numerous other members of the family who had the same name . The book was later owned by the Jesuits in Bury St Edmunds.
Segneri, Paolo, Le Chretien instruit des devoirs de sa religion.traduction de l'Italien du P Segnery, de la Compagnie de Jesus, par le P Leau, de la meme Compagnie, Tome Sixieme, Seconde Partie. Lyon. 1713
'John Mannock' is written twice on the title page of this book. It is tempting to equate this individual with the John Mannock who became a Benedictine monk and died in 1764, but the name John seems to have been regularly used in the family, so it is hard to be sure. The two inscriptions are in different hands, so it is possible that the volume belonged to more than one John Mannock – or that someone later merely copied an earlier inscription. The inscription at the top of the page refers to the Jesuit Residence of St George at Worcester.
A short discourse upon the life and death of Mr. Geo. Throckmorton, deceas'd the 5th of April, N.S. 1705, in the 34th year of his age. [London] 1706
Audry Mannock wrote her name and the date on the title page of this book, a devotional account of the life and death of an English Catholic. She seems to have acquired this book hot off the press, on 21 July 1706, the same year it was printed. Audry Mannock (also known as Etheldreda Mannock) married Henry Temperley of nearby Hintlesham Hall in 1711, but died without children in 1714.
The initials ‘U. M.’ with the date 1731 also appear on the title page of this book. It is tempting to equate these with one of two Ursula Mannocks – Ursula Anastasia Mannock who became a Benedictine nun in Brussels and died in 1746, or her niece Ursula Mannock who married James Nihell of Limerick.
Who were the Mannocks?
The Mannocks were a Catholic family who lived near Stoke-by-Nayland on the Essex/Suffolk border, in a house called Giffords Hall. Philip Mannock had bought the house in the 1420s and the family remained there for 500 years. Philip’s great grandson William (died 1588) married Audrey, from Westley in Suffolk, and William’s grandson, also William (died 1617), married Etheldred from Linton on the Suffolk/Cambridgeshire border. His son, Francis, was created baronet by Charles I in 1627, and following him came a series of nine baronets, the last, Fr Sir George Mannock SJ, dying in 1767. The men of the family were mainly named William or Francis, with the occasional George, so disentangling the various generations is tricky.
Giffords Hall
Gifford’s Hall is a Tudor Manor house, described by Nikolaus Pevsner as ‘one of the loveliest houses of its date in England’. It was mostly built in the first part of the sixteenth century, probably by George Mannock (1467-1540 or 1541), replacing an older, medieval building, although some earlier material may be incorporated in the current structure. It was updated by the Georgians, but much of the material from this era was removed in the early twentieth century. The house is in private ownership and is not open to the public.[i]
Recusancy
The Mannocks remained committed to Catholicism. Many members of the family show up in recusancy records – Anne ‘a recusant convicte’ and her two daughters Bridget and Frances were found guilty of recusancy on 4 July 1593[ii], and the family name recurs in these records throughout the seventeenth century. Their commitment to their religion was sustained by sending their children abroad to be educated. Eleven Mannock boys were educated at the Jesuit English College at St Omers & Liege between 1598 and 1776. Of these, ten went to St Omers, and one, William Anthony Mannock, born in 1759, attended St Omers’ successor institution, the English Academy at Liege from 1773-1776. [iii]
It is harder to trace the schooling of the Mannock daughters, but certainly five girls were sent to the continent to be educated. The numbers were probably higher, as between 1619 and 1738 at least ten Mannock women became nuns, joining one or other of the English convents abroad, probably after having been educated in the convent school.
Mannock women joining continental convents, 1619-1738[iv]
Name | Name in Religion | Location | Order | Date professed | Position |
Elizabeth Mannock | Dorothea | Brussels | Benedictine | 1619 | Choir nun |
Teresa Mannock | Elizabeth | Ghent | Benedictine | 1659 | Chantress; Novice mistress |
Dorothy Mannock | Angela | Bruges | Augustinian | 1662 | Choir nun |
Teresa Mannock | Augustina | Bruges | Augustinian | 1665 | Novice mistress |
Margaret Mannock | Constantia Henrietta | Paris | Conceptionists | 1671 | Abbess |
Ursula Mannock * | Anastasia | Brussels | Benedictine | 1697 | Novice mistress |
Faith Mannock | Ursula | Brussels | Benedictine | 1711 | Choir nun |
Ethelrede Mannock |
| Brussels | Benedictine | 1731 | Abbess |
Mary Mannock | Mary Agnes | Brussels | Benedictines | 1733 | Choir nun |
Anne Mannock | Anne Cecily | Brussels | Benedictines | 1738 | Choir nun |
*Ursula first joined the Augustinians in Bruges in 1693, left in 1695 and went to the Benedictines in Brussels
The men in the Mannock family also had vocations. John (1587-1651), the brother of the first baronet was a Jesuit priest, as was Francis (1670-1748), son of the second baronet. John (1681-1764) son of the third baronet became a Benedictine monk and his brother William (1677-1787) became a secular priest. The 9th and final baronet, George (1724-1787) was a Jesuit priest. He was killed in a traffic accident in Dartford, when the Dover mail-coach overturned, an event which led to a comment in a letter written on 4 July 1787 from Fr John Thorpe SJ to Fr Charles Plowden SJ:
‘The accident was truly melancholly but an example of how little we know of what is to be the time, manner or place of our exit from this world’ [v]
Catholic Society in Suffolk
The Mannock family were part of wider recusant society in East Anglia. Other nearby Catholic families included the Gage family of Hengrave, the Rookwood family from Coldham near Bury St Edmunds, the Timperleys of Hintlesham Hall near Ipswich, the Petres of Ingatestone Hall in Essex and the Daniells of Acton near Sudbury.
Over generations, there were marriages between members of these families; Mary Mannock, who died in 1689, was married to John Petre – on her death John Petre joined the Jesuits; Etheldreda (also known as Audry, and the owner of one books featured above) Mannock married Henry Temperley in 1711. There were, of course, more informal relations between these families. Servants worked for first one family and then another, moving from working for Jesuits to lay families and back again. In a letter of 2 February 1764 written at Bury St Edmunds the Jesuit Fr John Gage SJ recommends a servant to Fr Edward Galloway SJ in Norwich:
‘I hope Mrs Suffield’s man, Robt. Walker delivered you the 4 books I sent you by him. I must recommend this man to your care … He was formerly my boy & you may remember to have seen him serv[an]t at Sir W[illia]m Mannock’s’[vi]
The Suffields of Norwich were a Catholic family who were wine merchants. It is likely that Robert Walker, the servant, was also Catholic.
There were visits between the Catholic households. In a letter of July 1766 George Mannock mentioned members of the Coldham household, home to the Rookwood family and then the Rookwood Gages, visiting Gifford's Hall 'on a little excursion from Coldham', and there was another visit mentioned in a letter the following May. [vii]
Catholic priests and some of their activities
Catholic priests, often Jesuit, but also secular priests, or Benedictines or Dominicans[viii] lived in the Catholic houses, alongside the Catholic families. We have already noted how many members of the Mannock family joined religious institutions, and similar numbers were provided from other local Catholic families. Many of the men then came back to serve in their own communities. Here, they would live with the family they were based with as priest, and also the wider Catholic community at a time that there was no parish system.
Indeed Fr George Mannock SJ served as Jesuit missioner in his own sister’s house, and on the death of his brothers became baronet himself. He was a Jesuit hiding in plain sight and played his part well:
‘Sir George generally dressed like a gentleman of rank of that period, rather, perhaps, overshooting the mark, as people are apt to do when a motive exists for dissembling their true position. He wore silk or velvet coats, made in the most fashionable style, ruffles of the finest lace, bag-wig, diamond ring, pin, and buckles, with his sword conspicuous – in fact his appearance, according to his intention (and as at that time was but prudent) was the remotest possible from that of a priest and a Jesuit.’[ix]
A Jesuit missioner based in a Catholic household might have a room in the house, and perhaps a chapel. In July 1766, Fr George Mannock SJ wrote to Fr Edward Galloway SJ in Norwich:
‘I am now busy in repairing my chap[el] and room & if you are not in a hurry to come I should be glad you would favour me with a visit when I have finished that I might have the pleasure of showing you my new works’ [x]
It is unclear whether the chapel mentioned by George Mannock in this letter was inside Gifford’s Hall, but it may well have been a free-standing structure. Catholics were not allowed to erect buildings for the purpose of celebrating Mass until 1791, but on occasion they appear to have done so earlier than this date and to have got away with it, as when Fr John Gage SJ built a chapel in Bury St Edmunds in 1763. At the back of the Gifford’s Hall estate is a Catholic Chapel, dedicated to Our Lady Immaculate and St Edmund, built after the Catholic Relief Act of 1827. This appears to have replaced a mid-eighteenth-century chapel, [xi] which may well have been built by George Mannock, perhaps influenced by John Gage’s new chapel in Bury.
Gifford’s Hall was used as a base by at least four other Jesuit priests in the century between the 1690s and the 1790s. These were Fr William Copley SJ, who was there in 1697, Fr James Farrar SJ in 1750, Fr Nicholas Porter SJ who was there around 1754, and the last missioner, Fr Charles Thompson SJ, who was there until the 1790s. There are glimpses of these in the Jesuit Archive.
Fr William Copley is mentioned in the Jesuit accounts for the district when he was paid £15/18s/ on the 18th May 1697, for clothes and travel expenses to Giffords Hall.[xii]
In 1750 Fr James Farrar SJ travelled from Tynemouth to London by boat and thence to Gifford’s Hall. A note in the accounts for the northern Jesuit District of St John states:
‘N.B. On his arrival in London he was sent to Sir Fran: Mannocks in Suffolk, so the half of the viati[cu]m (travel expenses) is to be paid by that district’.[xiii]
Fr Charles Thompson received high praise for his Catholic industry and zeal from Fr Edward Baptist Newton, who wrote to Fr Charles Plowden in 1788:
‘Good Mr Weld is a person I have the greatest veneration for as I think him the first Catholic in England. I wish it had been my Lot to have lived near him to have profited by his Example. I onely know one other place like it, Lady Mannocks of Giffords Hall where by the Industry & Zeal of Mr Thompson, they live like primitive Christians. I saw him lately here and his Company raised my spirits.’[xiv]
The later lives of the Mannock books
To return to the books owned by the Mannock family – how did they come to be in the Jesuit library in London? The answer is not clear, but there are hints. One of the books, A/278, Claude Fleury’s An historical account of the manners and behaviour of the Christians, published in 1698, was later part of a Catholic lending library in Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk, run by the Jesuits there. Another of the four books, the Douai Bible, A/98, is also likely to have come from the Jesuits in Bury St Edmunds. It seems probable that at some point in the nineteenth century or possibly the early twentieth, the Mannocks gave a donation of their older books to the Jesuit house in Bury, or to the Jesuit administrative district of East Anglia, known as the College of the Holy Apostles, in which Bury was one of the major bases.
The Jesuits withdrew from Bury St Edmunds in 1927. There is no surviving catalogue of the extensive library they had there, but there are bibliographical notes made by Fr Charles Newdigate SJ around the time of their departure, and he lists in these two copies of the Douai Bible.[xv] Given the local, Mannock provenance for A/98 and the fact that another of the Mannock’s books ended up with the Jesuits in Bury, it seems likely that this one arrived there too.
Fr Newdigate’s notes makes it clear that the Bury books were widely dispersed among the English Jesuit houses in 1927. He lists some which were to go to Heythrop College, to St Beuno’s and to Stonyhurst. It seems likely that others went elsewhere, including to the Jesuit residence of St George in Worcester. Seneri’s Le Chretien Instruit A/B/50, has both a bookplate and an inscription for the Jesuits at George’s, Worcester. The Jesuits left Worcester in 1990, and it is probably around then that the book was transferred to the Jesuit Archives in London.
This investigation into one Catholic minor gentry family in Suffolk was sparked by names written in four books. It became a journey through our archive collection, pulling together traces of the Mannocks and their Catholic neighbours and shedding a little light on their lives.
The Antiquarian books in the British Jesuit Archive are still being catalogued, and it is possible that as we do so, we will unearth more books with Mannock provenance marks in them, which can only add to our knowledge of this recusant family and its books, and to late seventeenth and eighteenth century Catholic history more generally.
[i] Spittle, Denys, ‘Giffords Hall, Stoke by Nayland’, Proceedings of the Suffolk Institute of Archaeology and History XXX Part 2 1965. 183-187. P 185
[ii] Nolan, M. M., ‘Essex Quarter Session Rolls - V’, Essex Recusant 20, 1978, 1-11. Page 10
[iii] Holt, Geoffrey, SJ St Omers and Bruges Colleges 1593-1773 Catholic Record Society 1979. Pages 170-171
[iv] Who were the Nuns? Who were the nuns. Accessed 21 August 2025
[v] ABSI/MSB/67 f 28
[vi] ABSI/MSB/19 f 12
[vii] ABSI/MSB/19 f 31, 33
[viii] Young, Francis, The Gages of Hengrave and Suffolk Catholicism 1640-1767. Catholic Record Society. 2015. Pp 99-126, 142-143
[ix] Foley, Henry SJ, Records of the English Province of the Society of Jesus. Volume V. 1879. pp 549-550
[x] ABSI/MSB/19 f 31
[xi] Suffolk Churches The Suffolk Churches Site. Accessed 21 August 2025
[xii] ABSI/MSB/18 f 26
[xiii] ABSI/MSB/28 f41
[xiv] ABSI/MSB/43 f 147
[xv] ABSI/SJ/212/1/6
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