Stephen Scott first leased Hayes Place from the heirs of Robert Hall. He then bought it in 1624 with his brother Edmund who left his half to Stephen when he died in 1638.

Described as a gentleman pensioner to the king, Stephen remained at Hayes Place until the execution of the King in 1648.  He was careful to pay his dues during the Civil War between Parliament and the King, contributing £30 in 1642 towards the defence of the County and £6 for the April 1644 tax.  In 1647 he was appointed sheriff of Kent at a time when there was considerable discussion about the way forward and the moderate petition from Kent presented the following year was seen as inflammatory by Parliament.

Stephen chose to leave Hayes for Cheshunt where he died at the age of almost 80. However, he was buried in Hayes Church where his ledger stone remains.

Twice married, his five children by his second wife, Elizabeth Brograve, were all born and baptised in Hayes. He bequeathed Hayes Place and his property in Hayes to his wife and after her death to his son John.

Descendants of Stephen Scott

SCOTT, John
baptised 6 Jan 1627 – 8 April 1670 
‘Gentleman of his Majesty’s Privy Chamber in ordinary,  Justice of the Peace in corum for Kent’

John Scott inherited Hayes Place on his mother’s death in 1667 but died three years later.  On his ledger stone, it says that he had married Sir Humphrey Style’s widow, Dame Hester Style. He may have moved to Beckenham but when Dame Hester was buried in Beckenham Church in 1671 there is no mention of the marriage.  He had no children and Hayes Place was left to his younger brother Stephen.

SCOTT, Stephen
1641 – 1712
Knighted

Stephen Scott married Elizabeth Butler in 1670 and lived at Hayes Place, which he inherited from his brother John. A daughter Arabella in 1684 and a son William in 1688 were baptised in Hayes Church. In the 1680s difficulties arose regarding the preacher at Hayes Church and in June 1681 an unlicensed minister Mr Alsop preached in the open air to a large crowd assembled in Mr Scott’s farmyard.  The meeting was timed to coincide with Revd Robert Bourne’s reading of the service in Church.

Stephen Scott supported efforts to allow Mr Alsop to preach in the Church and when the curate Mr Metcalf barred the doors against him it is reported that Stephen Scott threatened to beat the Curate if he continued to come to Hayes.

Stephen Scott like many gentlemen had taken out loans on Hayes Place to finance his lifestyle.  In 1695 he mortgaged all the property and two years later sold it to John Harrison. He then lived in London until his death in 1712 when he was buried at Hayes on 20 March.