another well known Kent family. He was one of the Commissioners appointed to confiscate the land of the Recusants. Sir Thomas Twisden, 3rd Bart. (Plate XI), who married Anne Musters, an heiress, largely rebuilt the house, in the style of Sir Christopher Wren, in 1714, especially the West Front. Their eldest son, Sir Thomas Twisden, 4th Bart., spent most of his time travelling abroad, and is supposed to have collected some of the Dutch and German stained glass about 1729. He came to a violent end at Grenada, eloping with a nun. The younger son, Sir Roger Twisden, 5th Bart. (Plate XI), was country gentleman first and last. He lived extravagantly, courted the heiress of Addington Park, Elizabeth Bartholomew, in a coach and four, and added to the amenities of the park. In his curious will (which tried to exclude his second son, Lieutenant William Twisden because he had made a marriage, unapproved and unrecognized by the family, with Mary Kirk, who had nursed him back to health) he laid the foundations of a family dispute which brought about the dissolution of the Bradbourne Estate.
   His eldest son, Sir Roger Twisden, duly succeeded as 6th Bart., and was decorator of the house, making many internal and external alterations. He left only a daughter, Rebecca, who married Thomas Law Hodges, of whom more later. Sir Roger was not on speaking terms with his disinherited brother, and on one occasion they fought with swords all down Malling High Street.

   In due course, the youngest brother, John Papillon Twisden (Plate XII), who to his intimates subsequently confessed that he was a "usurper", wrongfully succeeded as 7th Bart. He was always in pecuniary difficulties and it was during his time that Clare Park had to be sold off from the estate. He travelled to Italy and is said to have brought back the marble mantlepieces. By his wife, Elizabeth Geary (Plate XII), he had one son, John, who was weakly and simple. He succeeded as Sir John Twisden, 8th Bart., but had no issue. His wife's father, the Rev. William Coppard, tried to establish himself at Bradbourne but Sir John defeated these attempts. At his death the title fell into abeyance and the future of the estate came into dispute. Though it was generally recognized that Captain John Twisden (Plate XIII), son of the disinherited William, was the legitimate heir to the title and should have been de jure 7th Bart., instead of Sir John Papillon Twisden, he never consistently laid claim to it. Thomas Law Hodges, however, pressed the claims of his wife, Rebecca, to possession of the estate under the will of Roger, 5th Bart., their common grandfather. At one period the rival claimants, Captain John Twisden and his family and the Law Hodges, occupied different apartments in Bradbourne at the same time, meeting only for meals in the Great Hall.
   After dramatic plots and interminable legal enquiries, the estate was divided up. Captain John Twisden retained Bradbourne with