Edward Hendon was the third son of Symon Henden, clothier of Benenden, Kent and was baptised in 1566. As his elder brother was heir to their father’s property and business, Edward was destined for the legal profession. After attending Grammer School, he was admitted to Gray’s Inn (the law training school) in 1586 to read Law, which became his great passion. He wrote several great works and was widely consulted. He became Reader at Gray’s Inn during the reign of James I, with whom he was personally acquainted. In 1614 he entered politics and was elected Member of Parliament for Rye. Two years later he was made Sergeant of Law, practicing in the Court of Common Pleas. During his time his coat of arms were placed in the semicircular window of Gray’s Inn Hall (being Azure, a lion passant, between three escallop shells).

At about this time he began purchasing property in several villages in Kent, including the Manor of East Court in Detling, and in 1619 he purchased farmland at Biddenden (see Kent Archives). By this date he may have acquired The Place House from Sir Anthony Maney, whose family home it had been for many generations. As a sign of new ownership, Sir Edward decided to enlarge the house and make it grander, in keeping with his status. The date “1624” above the main entrance may therefore indicate the date by which these plans were realized.

For twenty-two years, Sir Edward was a successful lawyer, and after the death of James I, who knighted him on Jan. 22, 1639 and appointed him Baron of the Exchequer. By this time his nephew, Sir John Henden, was also Sheriff of Kent and in local politics, having moved from London to look after his uncle’s affairs at The Place House ( today’s Biddenden Place House), Biddenden. Sir Edward, in his seventies but still active in law, was comforted in old age by having his nephew and family around him. Sir John’s wife, Elizabeth, was in fact Sir Edward’s niece, being the daughter of Thomazine Henden and her husband, Edmund Crich, and the house was full of the children of her first marriage and the three sons of her marriage to Sir John.

At the outset of the Civil War, the Hendens were in a difficult position. Kent was largely for Cromwell, but the Hendens were Royalists. Their estates were situated in hostile territory. Landowners such as Sir Edward were expected tp pay a proportion, usually one twentieth, of the value of their properties towards the defense of towns and ports against the King’s forces. Sir Edward was designated to pay for Poole and Lyme, and the amount was calculated at 2000 pounds in the autumn of 1642. Sir Edward’s estates would have been valued around 40,000 pounds, making him a millionaire by today’s standards. Sir Edward retreated to Biddenden and declined to pay, citing illness as the reason. On Dec. 23, 1642, the House of Commons directed proceedings against him for non-payment, but Sir Edward was determined. Nursed by his niece and protected from unwanted visitors by his nephew, he languished at The Place House and finally expired on Feb. 1, 1643.

Sir Edward’s Will could not be be fully executed and it was not until the Restoration of the Monarchy in 1660 that Probate was granted, giving historians the false impression that he actually died in 1660. Confusingly, a great-nephew of the same name also died and was buried at Biddenden in 1660. However, Sir Edward was laid to rest somewhere in the chancel in February 1643, leaving the fortune he had amassed to his nephew, Sir John Henden.