Following Alicea's death and Robert's departure there were four claimants to the
copyhold title of the Manor House. John Ball was husband of Robert’s sister Alice (d. 1724) and they were probably living in
Sedgefield and possibly in the Manor House. Alice died in 1724 and John Ball may have continued living there until his death in 1732.
Robert Wright made a title surrender which was probably the Manor House to John Ball for a payment of £1600 plus interest on 10 October 1717. George Wheler was the son of
Sir George Wheler who was a canon of Durham Cathedral and rector of a school in
Houghton le Spring. On 12 May 1719
Robert Wright surrendered a title in
Sedgefield to
Sir George Wheler for a sum of £750 plus interest. As the consideration for both of the surrenders to John Ball and
Sir George Wheler included payment of interest, it implies that the actual surrenders were expected to be at some point in the future, which seems to indicate that
Robert Wright was making his future plans.
Charles Monson MP was deputy Paymaster General and brother of
Lord Monson, Commissioner for Trade and Plantations including those in
Carolina, and it is likely both were involved in arranging for
Robert Wright to acquire a plantation when he arrived in
Carolina in 1725. Fourthly, John Cotton who was
Lord Proprietor of
Carolina and was likely involved in
Robert Wright's appointment as Chief Justice of the colony. The dispute concerning the ownership of the title of Robert Wright’s mansion house was not resolved until 1756 in the
Court of Chancery in London, when the titles held by
Robert Wright were sold and the title of the Manor House was bought by John Burdon of the
Hardwick Estate. After his purchase of the Manor House in 1756 John Burdon's sister Isobel and her husband James Muncaster became residents from 11 October 1757. The records are confusing but it appears that John Burdon retained the title until 11 May 1791 when, due to financial difficulties, he sold the
Hardwick Estate and probably the Manor House also to
William Russell of
Brancepeth Castle in County Durham. After this a number of individuals are mentioned in the
Halmote Court records in
Durham as being involved in the title to the Manor House, these include(2); • Robert Roper of the Roper family of
Trimdon estates, which had valuable mineral deposits. •
Roper Stote Donnison Roper, a lawyer of
Lincoln's Inn and legal writer of
Gray's Inn, who took the title on 14 June 1815 from Robert Roper. • George Anthony Lambert, a lawyer of
Lincoln's Inn who had a solicitors’ practice at 19 Dean Street,
Newcastle upon Tyne and Thomas Wrightson Junior of
Thirsk, who took the title together on 18 December 1817. • John Barugh of
Runswick in the parish of Fingale in the county of York who took the title on 16 May 1834. John Barugh's sons Thomas Barugh of
Runswick and William Barugh of
Ripon inherited the title. • Joseph Johnson (d 6 May 1884) a
Durham builder of
Hetton-le-Hole, took the title from Thomas Barugh on 16 May 1860 and his wife Jane inherited the title from him. • Lucretia Lockwood Kane became a tenant of Jane Johnson sometime in the 1880s or 1890s, and Thomas Adam Beresford Kane a doctor of
Byers Green and John Reay manager of the gas works in
Norton became tenants on 23 April 1897. On 9 December 1897 Mitcheson Reay, a timber merchant from
Norton and Henry Harcus a merchant of 48 Osborne Road,
Newcastle upon Tyne took the title from Jane Johnson. • William Snowdon and his wife Alice bought the title from Thomas Beresford Kane and John Reay for £800 on 13 May 1901 and became the last domestic occupiers of the house. William died in 1904 and Alice died in 1907. The property laws of England were undergoing changes in the later half of the 19th and early years of the 20th century, and it is likely that the status of
copyhold was no longer sustainable for the Manor House. Thus it seems convenient that the building was taken as the council offices for Sedgefield Rural District Council from 1907 while the Poor Union of
Sedgefield took the title and thereby benefited from the rent paid by the council. This carried on until
copyhold was abolished in 1927 and Sedgefield Rural District Council took the freehold by conveyance. The Manor House continued to be used as the head office of Sedgefield Rural District Council until local government reorganisation in 1974, after which it became
Sedgefield Magistrates' Court until 1990. One notable event during council ownership was the fire which destroyed the council chamber and much of the north block of the building including the renowned wood carving attributed to
Grinling Gibbons in November 1947. In 1936 an 18th-century cottage which adjoined the south gable of the Manor House and which was in poor condition was demolished, and in 1937 a three-storey building which formed additional adjoining offices accessed from inside the Manor House, and a separate council caretaker’s cottage was built in its place. In 1990 the building was sold to private owners and then renovated and has been used as offices since. From 2015 it has also been used for weddings and events. ==Notes==