A History of Eastbury Manor House

The Sysley Family

Eastbury Manor House has a complex history of ownership, tenancy and usage.

The man generally believed to have built the impressive house in the 16th century was Clement Sysley, a prosperous merchant in the City of London.

He purchased the Eastbury Estate in May 1557, and by 1560 had taken up residency in Barking Parish. By 1574, Sysley was referring to his new home as 'Estbery Hall'.

Clement Sysley was the son of Richard Sysley of Sevenoaks who was a descendent of the Sysleys of Founteynes in Yorkshire.

Clement was a wealthy merchant with lands in the surrounding area including in East Ham. Of his 3 wives, Frances Fleming, Mandley Chambley and Anne Argall, only Mandley and Anne could have had any association with Eastbury.

Clement had 11 children but as far as we can tell only 3 reached maturity.

Anne brought connections with the Argall family of Walthamstow and outlived Clement, who died in 1578, by 32 years. He bequeathed the manor to his wife Anne, for life, with reversion to their son, Thomas.

Anne subsequently married Augustine Steward and Thomas Sysley became his ward.

In 1592 Thomas granted a 500 year lease of Eastbury to his stepbrother, Augustine Steward the younger, ending the Sysley family connection with Eastbury.

The name survives in nearby Sisley Road, on a municipal housing development built after World War I.

The Sysley coat of arms