Thanks for your email.

I’m by no means an expert on Whitehall. I think my grandfather once said he had a memory of sitting on the floor of Whitehall as a small boy in the early 1920′s but he didn’t know anything more.

You’re definitely in the right area – I have a guide book about Whitehall – which says

“An unlikely connection with Nonsuch Palace has sometimes been deduced from the name ‘Maids of Honour House’, which is thought to have been used for Whitehall at one time. Another traditional name , ‘the Council House’ links it to a local legend that Queen Elizabeth I held an impromptu council meeting in the house to sign important papers when she was on a hunting expedition from Nonsuch Palace. A much larger building, West Cheam Manor, which was in royal ownership until 1563, was also close and might have been more suitable for the purpose if the event took place at all. The ‘Council House’ name may give strength to the theory that Whitehall was not a private residence.”

You could try contacting the Friends of Whitehall, a local voluntary group who help towards the upkeep of the house. On their website they also have a history of the house which repeats much of the guidebook’s contents (and has perhaps been updated since).

Thanks again for stopping by. Good luck!

Very interesting your website.

I found you by researching my own family history, specifically James Boeve/Boevey, father of my Elizabeth Boeve who married Sir William Hinton while in Flanders in the mid 1600s. William Hinton was Captain of the ship Adventurer – probably a ship belonging to his merchant father in law.

I found that the Council House in Cheam – and I haven’t found it exactly, but references have been made that the Whitehouse was the Council House – is that correct?

If so, then that is where James Boeve died in 1695 and his wife, a few years later.

This is my first inquiry I placed on the Surrey Rootsweb mail list:

from my over 350 pages of research notes…..

First of all,,,,. Does anyone know about a Council House in Cheam? This is supposed to have been the home of James Boeve/Boevey who lived there for some time before he died in 1695. According to the book (which I cannot buy at almost $400 US) The Perverse Widow by Crowley-Boevey, …. I was able to look at some of the pages of this book on the LDS library (SLC) but with my slow dial up modem – it took me over 2 hours to read just a few pages. Pages 24-38 refer specifically to the immediate family of James Boeve, though it fails to mention or identify his daughter, Elizabeth – the person I really need to find and who just MIGHT be my ancestress – and that would include her father of course.

Pag 37 says: “A house at Cheam, built of timber, now inhabited by Mr. James Klillck (word is fuzzy) is called the ‘Council House’, being supposed to be used for that purpose when Queen Elizabeth resided in Nonesuch. A wall divides the guarden of this house from an adjoining carpenter shop, formerly part of this building…..

There is a tradition that one, Mr. Bovey, who lived and died in this house about 1700….

James Boevey died in Cheam and was buried there 13 January 1695.

The following memorial inscription is quoted in Aubrey’s Antiquities of Surrey .. under the head of Surrey…
“On the north wall, on a fair marble monument, is this inscription, ‘In memory of James Boevey, Esq., who was buried near this place, Jan. 13, 1695 and also of Margaretta, his wife, buried Aug. 3, 1714 in the 76th year of her age.’ ”

So taking this research project one step at a time, this is my first request for Cheam. I would love to learn whether there is any tradition or information about him in the local historical news.

My first question to you is – am I in the right area for the Council House? Could this have been where James and Margretta lived and died?

So many questions – including – where is the monumental stone?

Thanks so much.

Margie Hinton in California