Nesting on the southern side of the Thames adjacent to the palace of Hampton Court, Thames Ditton was very handy for access to that Royal palace. It lay in the north of Surrey, just downstream of East Molesey, Surrey and upstream of Kingston-upon-Thames, Surrey. Long Ditton lay just to the SE with Chessington, Surrey just beyond it.
St Nicholas Church was the location of a burial chapel built for the HATTON family in 1676 by Sir Richard HATTON. It has been converted into a vestry and is likely to be inaccessible. According to one source the Hatton monuments are now buried beneath its floor, however, transcripts have been preserved by the well known Surrey antiquarians Manning & Bray.
The descendants of Richard HATTON (abt 1544-1616) of Thames Ditton, Esq. and his wife Mary EVELYN (abt 1535-1616) were a prominant family in Thames Ditton, Surrey, Long Ditton, Surrey, Molesey, Surrey and Chessington, Surrey. They married into the TASH family of Iver, Bucks.
Richard's son Robert HATTON (1600-1661) of Thames Ditton, was a prominant lawyer. He married in abt 1620 Alice HAYNES, daughter of William HAYNES of Chessington, who inherited a fourth of her father's Chessington estate. Robert consolidated this by the aquisition of the shares of Alice's three sisters, one of whom (Thomasine) married Sir John EVELYN (1591-1664) of Lee Place, Godstone, Surrey, cousin of the John EVELYN the diarist, who twice mentions him in the diaries.
Somewhat more associated with the Long Ditton area, the descendants of George EVELYN of Wooton (1526-1603) provide two noteworthy bridges between the HATTONs of Thames Ditton and the Burford, Oxon., area. The first is via Sir William HILL of Teddington, Surrey, whose first wife was Jane JORDAN (-abt 1708), daughter of Mr William JORDAN and his wife Jane (nee TRINDER) from Burford, Oxon. (he was one of the JORDANs of Fulbrook, Oxon.) The second link was via Simon HARCOURT of Stanton Harcourt (abt 1685-1720) who married, Elizabeth EVELYN, daughter of John EVELYN (1655-1699) and grandaughter of John EVELYN the diarist.
A selection of links to other sites with information about this place