The Bacon family owned extensive estates in the Finchley, Friern Barnet and Hornsey areas. See A History of the County of Middlesex: Volume 6: Friern Barnet, Finchley, Hornsey with Highgate (1980) for more information (available online).
Ruislip parish included a large number of open fields to the south of Eastcote Road. These comprised around 2,200 acres when they were enclosed.
From: A History of the County of Middlesex: Volume 4: Harmondsworth, Hayes, Norwood with Southall, Hillingdon with Uxbridge, Ickenham, Northolt, Perivale, Ruislip, Edgware, Harrow with Pinner (1971), pp. 127-134.
The Wood family settled at Littleton in Middlesex c 1663 and remained there until 1873/4, when the original mansion (built by Edward Wood 1663-5) was largely burnt down and Thomas Wood built a new one at Gwernyfed, Brecon, Wales. The present mansion was partially rebuilt on the same site by Richard Burbidge, who purchased the property from the Wood family.
A manuscript Pedigree Book of the Wood family was drawn up in the nineteenth century and this traces the family back to the fifteenth century, when they were living in Fulbourne, Cambridgeshire. Sir John Wood (1536-1633) sold the family estates in Fulbourne and settled in Beeston, Yorkshire, while his brother Nicholas settled in Norfolk.
The material catalogued in this collection relates to the Norfolk branch of the family, and in particular to Nicholas' son, Edward Wood, (c 1604-1667), Edward's son, Thomas Wood (1641-1723), and Thomas' family. Edward Wood was born in Suffolk c 1604 (Will: PCC.Carr 83) and came to London some time before 1634 when the Burial Register of St. Dunstan's in the East has an entry for an unbaptised child of his.
From 1636 onwards there is a steady flow of entries for the baptisms and burials of his children, Susanna, Edward, John, Nicholas and Thomas. Of these, only Thomas survived infancy. Further evidence of Edward's early years in London is sparse. According to The Inhabitants of London in 1638 (an edition of MS 272 at Lambeth Palace Library), he was living in Thames Street in 1638. Then there have survived among the family papers two account sheets for money collected by Edward Wood for Fairfax's army 1647- 9 in the St. Dunstan's in the East and Billingsgate area. In 1657 he was an Alderman for Billingsgate Ward, and he was on the Committee of the East India Company 1655-7 (Beaven: The Alderman of London).
In his will, dated 1658, Edward describes himself as Citizen and Grocer of London (PCC.CARR 83). It seems probable that Edward Wood's London residence was the house in Thames Street, later occupied by his business partners and agents, John Pack and Joseph Stapley. He was certainly familiar with the house in 1663, and still stayed there on his visits to London. In a letter dated 5th September, 1665, instructing Pack to shut up the house and flee from the plague he wrote, "remove my two trunkes, the one goinge into my chamber and the other by my beds side. In my Closet are the Keyes of all the Chests. In the Cyprus chest in my Chamber is a Long Guilt Cupp." (262/43/58).
Many of the surviving letters sent by Edward Wood to John Pack are endorsed with an address. The earliest, dated 4th September, 1663, has "For Mr John Pack, these, in Thames St." Another, dated 18th October, 1663, gives more information: "For Mr John Pack at the Signe of the Shipp over against beare key in Thames St." (262/43/7), and on a letter dated 26th October: "For Mr John Pack at the signe of the shipp in Thames (sic) neere the Costome house." (262/43/8). It might be supposed that Pack merely collected the letters from the Ship Inn and did not necessarily live close at hand. However, some Assessments at the LMA clearly show that the house was in Tower Ward in "Bear Key Precinct", off Thames Street. In the 1663 subsidy list there is the name of Edward Wood alone. In the 1663/4 Militia Tax there are the names of Edward Wood, Joseph (sic) Pack and Joseph "Stapli", bracketed together as "Partners". In the 1671 subsidy the names of John Pack and Joseph Stapley appear alone.
The latest reference to the house before the Fire of London in October, 1666, is in a letter dated 22nd March, 1665/6 where the endorsement reads..."over against Bare Key neere the Custom House" (262/43/104). Unfortunately there is a long gap in the correspondence at this point, and the first reference to the house after the fire is the 1671 subsidy as above.
The house must have been rebuilt, since the whole of that area of Thames Street was destroyed, but it was obviously rebuilt on the same site. Later references to the house indicate that the Inn was also rebuilt but was renamed as the Cross Keys (September 18th, 1684) or the Porter and Key (March 31st, 1689). In his will, dated 10th January, 1695/6, John Pack bequeathed to Thomas Wood "all my terme and interest in those two messuages or houses situate and being in Thame Street in the said parish of St. Dunstan's in the East, and all my right and title in and to the same being three and twenty years yett to come." (PCC Bond 238). Edward Wood was still living in London in December 1659, since in the negotiations with Nicholas Townley the elder for the purchase of property called "Ipwells" in Littleton he was doubtful about a clause leasing back the house to Townley for four years, saying, "for anything I know, may be forced to hyer a house my selfe for have thoughts of leaving London" (262/43/17). He was still in London in April, 1662 when a bond includes a clause for the repayment of the loan to Edward "att his now dwelling house in Thames Street in London" (262/43/113). In all the surviving deeds of his earliest purchases in Littleton and Laleham his name appears as "Edward Wood of London" from 1660 until as late as April 1664. (928/15/2,4,& 5; 262/34/30).
The earliest reference to Edward Wood actually living in the Littleton area is a Gamekeeper's Licence dated 2nd May, 1663. The first surviving letter written from Edward Wood at Littleton to John Pack is dated 4th September, 1663 (262/43/1). This is in fact the beginning of a good series of letters. Between 4th September, 1663 and 26th March, 1665/6 a total of 112 letters sent by Edward Wood to Pack have survived. (262/43/1-105; 262/35/22-24). There are also two letters within this period sent by Edward's son, Thomas Wood, to John Pack, dated October 12th, 1663 and 10th July, 1665. A further two letters sent by John Pack to Edward Wood have survived dated 28th June, 1666 and 15th June, 1665. All these letters were between Littleton and London, and concerned both business matters in London and domestic requirements at Littleton. They were often conveyed by John Loton's barge. The correspondence was apparently quite regular and it seems that both Edward Wood and John Pack sent two letters each per week.
In 1665, when this was disrupted by the plague, Edward wrote that two of his letters had been returned although he had received Pack's "Tuesday letter" and "Frydayes letter" (262/43/47). Pack frequently sent domestic goods down to Littleton by John Loton and on occasion quite valuable pieces of plate, sums of cash, etc. On at least one occasion, one of Edward's sisters travelled down to Littleton by Loton's barge (262/43/39). It is clear from the letters that Edward Wood was engaged in building at Littleton during the period approximately October, 1663 to June, 1665. In a letter dated 3rd December he specifically mentioned that he was building (262/43/12), and his other letters include orders for building materials such as timber, nails, pantiles, lime, etc. On 28th March, 1664 he requests "scaffolding ropes" (262/43/32 & 3) and on 29th December, 1663 instructs Pack to pay the Wharfinger of Bear Key 5 "for the plummer for work donn at Litleton." (262/43/16). On 14th April, 1664 he asks Pack to enquire "the honest price of Slit deales such as ar fitt to board the out side of a stable or barne." (262/43/34). In May, 1665 he asks Pack to send down the Glazier and Joiner "for I would fayne have my house finished". (262/43/38). He obviously felt bound to supervise the building himself and gave this as his reason for not coming up to London in June, 1665 (262/34/21). In another letter in the same month he writes, "I have men and women at worke three or four and twenty at least", and requests some Suffolk cheese "for breakfast meale for my workmen". (262/43/41). As late as November, 1665 Wood mentions in a letter to Robert Dicer that his house is "a ruinous place in respect of the times that I could not finish nor furnish it". (262/34/134).
In addition to this information derived from Edward's letters to John Pack there have survived depositions by Aron Dies of Clerkenwell, Bricklayer, and Thomas Laurence of St. Brides, London, Labourer, that they were employed by Edward Wood in bricklaying work at Littleton and Laleham from the beginning of August to the end of October, 1663. (262/34/28). There has also survived an Award, dated 1st May, 1661 by which Edward Wood agreed to pay quitrents on his property in Littleton, and in return was allowed by Gilbert Lambell, the Lord of the Manor, "soe much brick earth upon that part of the common of Littleton...as may make five hundred thousand of bricks", and the right to have a kiln there. (262/34/5 and 928/9/1). These bricks may well have been used to build Edward Wood's mansion at Littleton. It was apparently quite a large house. There are several later references to it as a "mansion" and the 1664 Hearth Tax for Littleton shows that Edward Wood was assessed for sixteen fire hearths.
It seems, therefore, that Edward Wood moved down to Littleton during 1663, possibly as early as August, but certainly by the beginning of September. There he built a large new mansion for himself and his family. It is tempting to think that the first letters that have survived from Edward Wood to John Pack were in fact the first letters sent, and were occasioned by Edward's removal from London.
Edward apparently started to farm his land at Littleton immediately on arrival. In one of the first letters to Pack that have survived, dated 14th October, 1663 he asks him to get "a brand to marke sheepe E.W. (262/43/1), and on 28th October, enough iron to "shoe a payre of Cart Wheeles." (262/43/4). On 2nd November he requested "20 fathum of white rope of this size of the straw in the letter, for plowraces." (262/43/5). Orders for oats and "pease" are a recurrent item in the letters, and were used for fodder for cattle. On 29th February, 1663/4 Edward requested "50 or 60 cash "as I have much business here as cowes, horses, and seeds, barley and teares to buy besids my building." (262/43/27). In March, 1663/4 he says "my sowing of pease and tares is soe that I cannot be absent." (262/43/29). In the following summer he asked Pack to send down 10 cash to pay the harvest men (262/43/48).
Edward Wood, Citizen and Merchant of London had apparently decided to become a gentleman farmer. He still retained, however, his business connections in London. Probably between 1660 and 1663 he came to some arrangement with John Pack and Joseph Stapley that they should occupy his London house after he left for Littleton, and should act as his partners and agents in London. In his will, written in January, 1658/9, Edward describes John Pack as "my late servant" (i.e. former servant) and appoints him as one of his executors. Probably Pack was already an occupant of the house in Thames Street at the date that Edward moved to Littleton, and simply took over the management of all Edward Wood's affairs in London. There are several references in the letters to "the partable account" which was the joint account of John Pack, Joseph Stapley and Edward Wood.
In a letter dated 8th February, 1663/4 Edward writes with regard to a loan to a Dr. Turner, "if you and Joseph thinke fitt to let him have it out of the partable account I am contented to adventure my halfe part." (262/43/24). From this it seems that Edward had a half share, and Pack and Stapley a quarter share each in the account. In another letter dated 7th August, 1665 he suggested that the penalty clause in an indenture should be "double what our Stock is, which you and Joseph knowes best what it is, which I leave to you to put in the wrightinge." (262/43/52). Edward Wood also had an account of his own, which was kept at London in the care of John Pack.
In a letter dated 5th September, 1665 he urged Pack to shut up the house and flee the plague. Among his other instructions he wrote, "pray putt upp all my wrightings in my closett and all them in your closett below and all my bookes and the bookes which belong to the partable account into a sack and seale them upp and leave them at my Cozen alsoe. As for what moneys you have in the house which concern the partable account I pray dispose of it as you shall thinke fitt." (262/43/58) It is difficult to tell from the letters what was the purpose of the joint account. Loans and mortgages to friends and acquaintances both from the joint account and Wood's own account seem to have been very frequent, but a remark in one of Edward Wood's letters suggests that this was not regarded as desirable. Concerning Nicholas Townley he said, "I thinke I shall never be quitt of hime and others for borrowing money." (262/43/38). He must have profited considerably from the loans he made, however, since he charged high interest rates. On one occasion at least he charged 6% interest on a bond for repayment in twelve months. (262/43/88). There are also clear indications that some of the capital was invested, as for example, with the East India Company. (262/43/54 and 61). It seems also that the three partners may well have been concerned in some sort of rope business. The house in Thames Street was either attached to or very near a warehouse and shop.
In September, 1665 Edward Wood advised Pack to "keepe the shopp dores shutt" and "tis better to loose the warehouse rent than to hazard your health." (262/43/63). In August 1665 Edward refers to "the spinning upp the hempe at ould Gravell Lane" and suggests that for safety's sake Pack should lock it up together with the yarn. (262/43/52). There is also a reference to "our workemen" (262/43/52). Other evidence is supplied by a letter from J.S. (Joseph Stapley) to Henry Leigh of Boston with regard to a shipment of "Marline" or double stranded rope, and another letter from William Greene dated 24th August, 1665. Finally, an undated letter from Mr Dingley to Thomas Wood is endorsed, "To be left at Mr Pack's a rope shop."
Edward Wood died in March, 1666/7 and was buried at St. Dunstan's in the East on March 20 th. (Parish Register). Among the family papers has survived a printed invitation to the funeral: "by Eight or Nine of the Clock in the Morning, by reason that the Corps is to be carried to London that day". There is also a list of 102 names, written in John Pack's handwriting, headed, "The names of those that are to be invited to the funerall on 20th March, 1666." This is endorsed with a further list of twenty-three names headed, "Ringes to be provided for the persons hereunder mentioned." This list includes both John Pack and Joseph Stapley. It seems surprising that Edward Wood was buried in London at St. Dunstan's, when this church had been partly destroyed by the Fire of London, and when Edward's last years had been devoted to building a new mansion in the country and acquiring land in that area. In his will, however, he shows that his main motive was a desire to be buried with his wife who had died in 1652. He left £50 to the poor of the parish of St Dunstan's provided "that I may have at an indifferent vallue the same vault for a burying place for my selfe and family where my late deceased wife lyeth interred." He mentions elsewhere that this was "the new vault in the South Chappell" but it is important to note that this will was drawn up in 1658, before the Fire.
The relationship between John Pack and Edward Wood is difficult to assess. Edward's letters are definitely businesslike in character and usually consist almost entirely of orders for goods to be sent and errands to be done. Pack may have been a "partner" but to Edward he was still the former servant, as he described him in his will of 1658. On the other hand, Pack was obviously trusted completely by Wood. All his money and deeds were kept in chests in the London house, and probably also the "plate and jewells" mentioned in his will. One definitely gets the impression from the letters that Edward Wood was a rather hard man, close-fisted and dominated by the profit motive. In his letters to Pack no small detail of weight or price is too trivial for his attention. Every penny is accounted for; every half per cent interest a matter of vital concern. His loans to friends were never made purely out of the goodness of his heart. He charged his cousin William Bowyer, for example, an interest rate of 5%. Charity was given to the poor, but only moderately. At the height of the plague in 1663 he instructed Pack to relieve the workmen, giving 2/6d., 2/- or 1/6d. each, and later he told Pack to give 5 to the parish of St. Dunstan's. (262/43/60 and 66). This seems to have been the sum total of his charity during the plague, and compared with these sums it is interesting to note that Edward purchased property in Littleton in 1660 for 6,800, and property in Middleham, Yorkshire, in 1661 for 7,500. During the plague too, he expressed fears for Pack's health and safety on many occasions, but still asked him to get various commodities to be sent down to Littleton; for example, on 14th August, 1665, tobacco "if these houses be clere" (262/43/53) and vinegar and candles on 21st September (262/43/62). He invited Pack and Stapley to stay over Christmas 1665, but made it clear that both should not come at once . . . "I shal be glad to see you here, one of you may come and stay one weeke, an d Joseph another." (262/43/80). This was presumably so that the shop need not be closed. On another occasion Edward commented on the death of a friend, William Chambers "whoe it hath pleased God to call out of this world so soone after he had setled his business." (8th Jan. 1665/6. 262/43/85). Edward was a merchant, heart and soul. One can only admire John Pack for his accuracy and efficiency to please such a demanding partner.
Thomas Wood, Edward's son, seems to have been on closer terms with Pack. In a letter dated 10th July, 1665, Thomas agreed to be his Executor but said "at the Reading of thy letter and writeing to the now my tears stand in my eyes." Thomas also asked Pack to stand as Godfather to his son, born in 1683 (April 30th). In his reply Pack wrote: "were it onely your request I should not deny it you, therefore for want or in stead of a better I shall, God permittinge, stand a wittenes to answer for your younge sonne, be it of what name so ever that you please to give him." This reply seems again to be that of a servant rather than an equal, and this is underlined by Pack's own note, added to an Account Sheet, August 1683, sent to Thomas Wood: "This first Account sent to my Master." John Pack remains a rather elusive figure. In the 1695 Marriage Assessment he was listed as a Bachelor with more than 600. He died in January, 1695/6 and in his will described himself as Citizen and Skinner of London. His body, he said, was to be "decently but privately buried in the vault in the churchyard in the parish of St. Dunstan's in the East . . . adjoining to the South side . . . where my late deceased freind Mr Joseph Stapley was buryed." (PCC. Bond 238). He left substantial bequests to Thomas Wood himself, including property in Wetheringsett cum Brockford in Suffolk; and his stock with the East India Company. He also left a total of 370 to Thomas Wood's children. The most interesting feature of his will, however, is the reference to another John Pack and his children. No clue is given as to relationships.
John Pack of London left property in Mickfield, Suffolk, to his kinsman, Thomas Watts, with the provise that he pay an annuity of 16 to Elias Cooper of Hingham, Norfolk "or to such other person or persons as shall have the Guardianshipp or tuition of the two youngest children, (being a son and a daughter) of John Pack late of Marche Ganger deceased, during their minority", and also of the two eldest children of "John Pack late Ganger deceased." He also bequeathed a moiety of all the money owed to him from Sir Robert Viner and Edward Backwell to Thomas Wood, provided he pay the other half "to and amongst my Relations as the said Thomas Wood the Elder shall think stand most in need thereof." Thomas was also the sole Executor of the will. This was clearly no light task. Among the family papers there is a receipt dated March 5th, 1714/15 for 10 paid by Thomas Wood to Francis Pack "being part of the money left by Mr John Pack's will to be distributed to his poor relations."
There is also a rather pathetic letter from Elias Cooper to Thomas Wood dated February 8th, 1702/3, concerning the legacy due to Thomas Pack, son of John Pack the Younger, deceased. Elias said, "but how I shall come in for my owne money that I disboursed for these children when nobody would doe for them in their Minority I know not." In addition, as late as January, 1720/21 there is an entry in an Account Sheet sent to Thomas Wood "Paid your order to the three Packs...10." (262/43/147). It is interesting to note that John Pack held land in Suffolk. Is it mere coincidence that Edward Wood was himself born in Suffolk, and that both Edward Wood's and John Pack's families seem to have been living in Norfolk at the beginning of the seventeenth century? There is also an Apprenticeship Indenture dated 1st June, 1632 among the Littleton Park Records (928/29/4) for the apprenticeship of a John Pack, son of Thomas Pack of Ockwood, Suffolk, Gent., to Thomas Frere, Citizen and Skinner of London. The date of this seems very early, since John Pack, Wood's agent, did not die until 1695. However, he described himself in his will as a skinner and he certainly held land in Suffolk at that date, so that it seems that this indenture may well refer to John Pack, Wood's agent.
The other occupant of the house in Thames Street was Joseph Stapley, who appears in the Assessments of 1663/4, 1671 and 1673/4. He died in July, 1685 and was buried at St. Dunstan's in the East. His will has been preserved (262/44/20) and in this he describes himself as Citizen and Ironmonger of London. He appointed his "trusty and well beloved friends", Thomas Wood and Daniel Proctor, as his Executors and bequeathed to each of them 40. Other bequests included 50 to each of his cousins, Tomson Stapley and Jane Stapley, who figure prominently in the Littleton Park Records (Acc/0928/22 - 24). To John Pack he left 10. It seems from the letters that probably two of Edward's elderly sisters lived near or with Pack and Stapley in London. In a letter dated 4th February, 1663/4 Edward writes, "I understand that my sister Ann is a trouble to the house with her base and scurrulus language, pray tell her from me that if she doe not behave herselfe better I will with-draw my hand and allow her nothing." (262/43/22). In the letter dated September, 1665 Wood invites "all three of you" to escape the plague, so presumably this includes Ann. (262/43/58). Edward's sister Katherine was living with a Cousin, Robert Thurkettle, at the time Edward wrote his will in 1658. Presumably this was fairly close at hand since both Edward and Thomas commission Pack with messages for her. For example, in March, 1665/6 Pack was to ask her to knit a pair of fine hose for her brother. (262/43/102). Both sisters are among the persons listed to receive memorial rings in 1666/7. It is also interesting to note that Joseph Stapley in his will, dated 1685, left 50 to Mrs Katherine Smith, widow. (262/44/20). Possibly Ann was already dead or living permanently at Littleton by this date.
The family letters and papers also reveal much of Thomas Wood, son of Edward Wood. In 1663 when he first appears in the letters, he was only aged twenty-one, and in fact his father made provision for his minority in his will dated 1658. The negotiations for his marriage to Dorothy Dicer in 1666 are clearly reflected. (262/43/44 - 7). Apparently both sides endeavoured to strike a good bargain, and this caused some bitterness. In a letter dated 15th June, 1665 Edward wrote, "my son's affections are much towards Sir Robert Dicer's daughter" but by July the question of a settlement was already in dispute. In a letter dated 17th July, Edward protested indignantly to Pack, "you do wright that Sir Robert Dicer thinkes I keepe my sonn too hardly to it. I know not what he meanes by it unles he thinkes tis I stand for soe much money for his daughter's portion. Tell him I ever gave my sonn that liberty to please himselfe both as to person and portion." (262/43/47) The marriage actually took place on 3rd June, 1666 at St. Dunstan's. (Parish Register). The couple seem to have lived at Littleton with Edward Wood from the beginning. Considerable care was taken over some tapestry hangings purchased from Mr Cox the Upholsterer, who made a visit to Littleton and apparently gave his advice. When it came to the point, however, Edward was unwilling to pay the bill and asked Pack to suggest to Lady Dicer that she pay for them. "You may tell her that I have and must lay out uppon the house soe much money that I am unwilling to lay out 100 uppon the hangings". (262/43/101). Glimpses of the household at Littleton from 1666 until 1704 when Dorothy Dicer died are revealed in various family letters and papers, but particularly in the letters of Stephen Penton, Principal of Wadham College, Oxford, and a close friend of Thomas Wood.
In a letter dated September, 19th, 1689 he wrote, "of all places in the world I guess I could bee most Easy att your house where a man hath leav to love and bee beloved in his own way, where Curtesy is not starch'd and stiffened with Formality and a man is not forc'd to go to Dancinge Schoole a month before he Enters the threshold." The material also provides an interesting picture of the domestic requirements at Littleton. Coal, sugar, wine and tobacco were regularly sent down from London. Other items are only mentioned once or twice, such as mace, cloves, ginger, Sugar Candy, "Licoras" and items of equipment such as "a copper pot to warme drinkes in," and "a warming pan".
There are fairly frequent references to family ailments, and medicines and drugs were sent from London, as, for example, diascordium, methridatum, a "bitter draught", pills for purging, and steel powder "for one of the maids, a stirring wench which hath the green sicknes" (262/43/92). Wigs are also mentioned in various letters. One of the chief problems in the management of the house-hold was undoubtedly that of servants. John Pack knew someone called "Dutch Sarah" who provided several maids and servants for Littleton. Pack wrote in a letter dated February 3rd, 1681/2, "Dutch Sarah saith she hath now a Couple of little prittey likely Chamber maids...and they say they can doe well as to dressinge, raisinge paste etc." A rather desperate letter has survived written from Dorothy Wood to John Pack, undated: "I woold desier you to speke to the Duch wooman to helpe me to a cook maid for I think that wich shee helped me to last hath ben mad." Other cook maids also presented a problem. In a letter dated 30th June, 1684 Thomas Wood wrote, "The Cook Maid came here on Saturday night but she hath got a great Cough" and "appeares to be very infirme and sickly." John Westley, a friend, wrote to Dorothy Wood, in another undated letter, "I make it my business to enquire oute a Silent Cooke maid which I suppose is a rarity in the house." (WFP.H) It seems as though other friends also helped to find servants. Dorothy Spencer, for example, wrote in a letter of 3rd February, 1681/2 recommencing a housekeeper, "a stayed sivell well conditioned body that hath knowledge in all things that pertaine to a good huswife ...and one that can preserve, conserve etc. and is well skilled in making all manner of sweetmeats and the like for pastery."
There are also a number of letters sent to Thomas Wood from his sons Robert and Edward at Eton, and subsequently at Oxford. The earliest of these is dated 21st July, 1687 when Edward was seventeen and Robert fifteen years old. On August 18th Robert wrote home requesting a study ... "it is an ungrateful object to me to have my books lye in a confused manner upon my Chamber table." His request was apparently satisfied, since in a letter dated 1687 Edward explained that their candle consumption has risen since my Brother has had a study." Edward went up to Oxford in 1680 and his tutor there, Charles Whiting, made several reports on his progress. On Christmas Eve, 1688 he wrote, "he has shown himself publickly in the Hall since he came by a speech made before the whole house and he quitted himself very handsomely." A letter from Edward dated March, 31st, 1689 gives an interesting account of his current debts, including payments to a Bedmaker 6/-; Tutor 2 guineas; 31/6d "for a new set of maps"; chamber rent 16/6d. and books and shoes 20/-. At this date Edward was receiving an allowance of 80 per annum. Robert also sent accounts to his father later, and it must be presumed that Thomas kept a close check on the expenditure of both his sons. Robert was always a more enthusiastic scholar than Edward. At Eton Charles Roderick commented to their father that "the elder is coming off a little lazinesse that he was fallen into" and Edward's tutor at Oxford wrote in a letter dated July 6th, 1690, "I cannot say he is idle, as on the other hand I will not tell you he studies very hard."
Some honour was nevertheless conferred on Edward in March, 1689 when he was chosen to speak some verses entitled Legis Restitutae in the Theatre on Coronation Day. Robert stayed at Oxford for a longer period and became a Fellow of All Souls in April, 1695, on the basis of kinship with the founder, Thomas Chicheley. A large number of the letters preserved at this date reflect the negotiations and difficulties involved. One side effect of the Fellowship was to rouse the interest of Thomas and Robert in their own family history. The College of Arms was consulted for a pedigree, and someone was also sent to study the monuments in Fulburn Church, Cambridgeshire, for Wood ancestors. (April 21st, 1694.) Robert eventually became a Doctor of Laws.
Edward, as the elder son, moved from his house at Hampton, where he had been living since his marriage in 1695, into the mansion at Littleton on his father's death in 1723. He did much to extend the family holdings in the Littleton area, purchasing, for example, the Chantry House and the Malthouse in Littleton. (928/5 & 7) His son, Thomas, was the one who finally purchased the Manor of Littleton itself from Gilbert Lambell in 1749. (928/2/7) It then remained in the hands of the Wood family until 1873.
Christopher Wordsworth (1807-1885), nephew of the poet William Wordsworth, was appointed headmaster of Harrow School in 1836 and was consecrated Bishop of Lincoln in 1869.
Lease and release was the most common method of conveying freehold property from the later seventeenth century onwards, before the introduction of the modern conveyance in the late nineteenth century. The lease was granted for a year (sometimes six months), then on the following day the lessor released their right of ownership in return for the consideration (the thing for which land was transferred from one party to another, usually, of course, a sum of money).
A marriage settlement was a legal arrangement which secured certain property for an intended wife and sometimes also for any children of an intended marriage.
From the British Records Association "Guidelines 3 - Interpreting Deeds: How To Interpret Deeds - A Simple Guide And Glossary".
The Cross Keys Inn, Uxbridge, was in existence by 1548.
Lease and release was the most common method of conveying freehold property from the later seventeenth century onwards, before the introduction of the modern conveyance in the late nineteenth century. The lease was granted for a year (sometimes six months), then on the following day the lessor released their right of ownership in return for the consideration (the thing for which land was transferred from one party to another, usually, of course, a sum of money).
An 'indenture' was a deed or agreement between two or more parties. Two or more copies were written out, usually on one piece of parchment or paper, and then cut in a jagged or curvy line, so that when brought together again at any time, the two edges exactly matched and showed that they were parts of one and the same original document. A 'right hand indenture' is therefore the copy of the document which was on the right hand side when the parchment was cut in two.
A 'fine' was a fee, separate from the rent, paid by the tenant or vassal to the landlord on some alteration of the tenancy, or a sum of money paid for the granting of a lease or for admission to a copyhold tenement.
Common Recovery was a process by which land was transferred from one owner to another. It was a piece of legal fiction involving the party transferring the land, a notional tenant and the party acquiring the land; the tenant was ejected to effect the transfer. An exemplification was a formal copy of a court record issued with the court's seal.
From the British Records Association "Guidelines 3 - Interpreting Deeds: How To Interpret Deeds - A Simple Guide And Glossary".
The manor of Enfield is first recorded as held by Ansgar the staller in 1066. In 1086 it was owned by Geoffrey de Mandeville and stayed in his family until 1419 when it became the property of King Henry V. Subsequently it was assigned to various female members of the Royal family, including Margaret of Anjou; and was leased out until the lease was acquired by the Duke of Chandos in 1742.
John Pardoe, by deed of 1757, left his great tithes on some 230 acres in Hendon to ten poor widows aged 40 or over on Stanmore. A rent-charge payable in lieu of great tithes was gradually redeemed for stock between 1909 and 1943.
Source: A History of the County of Middlesex: Volume 5: Hendon, Kingsbury, Great Stanmore, Little Stanmore, Edmonton, Enfield, Monken Hadley, South Mimms, Tottenham, 1976, (available online).
Charles Frederick de Coetlogon (d 1836) was the son of clergyman Charles Edward de Coetlogon ([1746]-1820), who was a preacher and writer as well as the vicar of Godstone, Surrey. Early in his career Charles Frederick was His Majesty's naval store-keeper at St Domingo in the West Indies. He married Miss Emeline Edkins of Newbury at St George's Church, Hanover Square, on 5 March 1800. Their daughter, Elizabeth Charlotte, was born at West Green Cottage, Tottenham, on 19 December 1800 and baptised in the parish church on 17 January 1801, (ref. Gentleman's Magazine Vol. LXX parts 1 and 2; DRO.15/A1/9). The family occupied premises in the Wood Green ward of Tottenham in 1800 and 1801 (ref. MR/PLT/209-210).
In 1817 de Coetlogon was living apart from his family in a succession of lodgings in London. By 1822 he was residing, with one servant, in Ashford, and the same year he purchased three copyhold cottages and land in Ashford. The Land Tax Assessments for 1823 to 1826 list him as both owner and occupier of property, (ref. MR/PLT/6238-6240). He left Ashford in 1828, not without regrets; "Though I have passed here such dreary hours yet the prospect of leaving a place where I have lived so many years is depressing to my mind,"" (ref. Acc/0268/7; 31 March). From May 1828 he resided at No. 11 Wilton Street, Grosvenor Place, St. George Hanover Square.
A deed is any document affecting title, that is, proof of ownership, of the land in question. The land may or may not have buildings upon it. Common types of deed include conveyances, mortgages, bonds, grants of easements, wills and administrations.
Conveyances are transfers of land from one party to another, usually for money. Early forms of conveyance include feoffments, surrenders and admissions at manor courts (if the property was copyhold), final concords, common recoveries, bargains and sales and leases and releases.
Lease and release was the most common method of conveying freehold property from the later seventeenth century onwards, before the introduction of the modern conveyance in the late nineteenth century. The lease was granted for a year (sometimes six months), then on the following day the lessor released their right of ownership in return for the consideration (the thing for which land was transferred from one party to another, usually, of course, a sum of money).
Feoffment was an early form of conveyance involving a simple transfer of freehold land by deed followed by in a ceremony called livery of seisin.
Source: British Records Association Guidelines 3: How to interpret deeds (available online).
The Manor of Friern Barnet was also known as the Manor of Whetstone. In 1336 it was owned by the Knights of Saint John of Jerusalem. In 1540, when the Order of St John was closed, the lands passed to the Crown. In 1544 the Crown granted the manor to the Chapter of St Paul's Cathedral, London. The Chapter sold the lands in 1800, while the manorial rights passed to the Ecclesiastical Commissioners.
Information from 'Friern Barnet: Manors', A History of the County of Middlesex: Volume 6: Friern Barnet, Finchley, Hornsey with Highgate (1980), pp. 15-17 (available online).
An 'indenture' was a deed or agreement between two or more parties. Two or more copies were written out, usually on one piece of parchment or paper, and then cut in a jagged or curvy line, so that when brought together again at any time, the two edges exactly matched and showed that they were parts of one and the same original document. A 'right hand indenture' is therefore the copy of the document which was on the right hand side when the parchment was cut in two.
Sir George Stephen, lawyer and slavery abolitionist, was born on 17 January 1794 on St Kitts, West Indies. His parents returned to England with him when he was an infant. He was educated at private schools at Clapham Common and Cheam. He was placed in the office of J. W. Freshfield, afterwards solicitor to the Bank of England. On 17 March 1821 he married Henrietta (1797-1869), the daughter of Revd William Ravenscroft; they had seven children.
During five years' articles, Stephen managed his firm's extensive bankruptcy business and, when he began practice on his own, the firm handed much of that business to him. During the parliamentary inquiry in 1820 into the conduct of Queen Caroline he was employed by the government to collect evidence against her on the continent.
In 1826, declining remuneration, Stephen was retained by the House of Commons to investigate allegations that slaves were being traded at Mauritius. That had been made unlawful in 1807, but slavery itself was still prevalent in some British colonies, notably in the West Indies. Stephen, following his father, had become prominent in the Anti-Slavery Society and was its honorary solicitor. Hitherto, the committee had worked towards abolition by direct persuasion of parliamentarians; in 1831 Stephen proposed appealing to the people. His proposal was rejected by the committee but taken up by James Cropper and others, who provided funds. A small working group, including Stephen, employed agents to arrange and address public meetings and to inspire press publicity, the formation of local societies, and the promotion of petitions. The ensuing agitation persuaded the government: the act to abolish slavery in British colonies was passed in 1833. Stephen was knighted in 1838 for his services.
Stephen was solicitor in a scheme for the relief of paupers in contempt of court, without remuneration, and also acted for a society for the purchase of reversions; however, he quarrelled with the directors and was dismissed, losing a considerable sum. Disliking aspects of his profession, resenting its inferior social status, and struggling somewhat in his practice, he decided in 1847 to abandon it. He was called to the bar at Gray's Inn on 6 June 1849 and settled at Liverpool, where he acquired a fair practice in bankruptcy cases.
But Stephen's work fell away on a change in the system, and in 1855 he emigrated to Melbourne, Victoria, where he joined his two younger sons. He was admitted to practise as a barrister there on the same day (9 August 1855) as was his eldest son, James Wilberforce (1822-1881), who emigrated with him and afterwards became a judge of the supreme court of Victoria. Stephen died on 20 June 1879 and was buried in St Kilda cemetery, Melbourne, on 23 June.
Source: Leslie Stephen, 'Stephen, Sir George (1794-1879)', rev. Peter Balmford, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004 [http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/26371, accessed 6 July 2009].
Lease and release was the most common method of conveying freehold property from the later seventeenth century onwards, before the introduction of the modern conveyance in the late nineteenth century. The lease was granted for a year (sometimes six months), then on the following day the lessor released their right of ownership in return for the consideration (the thing for which land was transferred from one party to another, usually, of course, a sum of money).
From the British Records Association "Guidelines 3 - Interpreting Deeds: How To Interpret Deeds - A Simple Guide And Glossary".
'Feoffment' was an early form of conveyance involving a simple transfer of freehold land by deed followed by a ceremony called livery of seisin.
An 'indenture' was a deed or agreement between two or more parties. Two or more copies were written out, usually on one piece of parchment or paper, and then cut in a jagged or curvy line, so that when brought together again at any time, the two edges exactly matched and showed that they were parts of one and the same original document. A 'right hand indenture' is therefore the copy of the document which was on the right hand side when the parchment was cut in two.
A 'fine' was a fee, separate from the rent, paid by the tenant or vassal to the landlord on some alteration of the tenancy, or a sum of money paid for the granting of a lease or for admission to a copyhold tenement.
From the British Records Association "Guidelines 3 - Interpreting Deeds: How To Interpret Deeds - A Simple Guide And Glossary".
Sir Lancelot Shadwell, the last Vice Chancellor of England, bought Northolt manor from George Villiers, Earl of Jersey, in 1827. The manor comprised 269 acres. The Shadwell family owned the manor until the early 20th century when the estate was broken up and sold.
From: 'Northolt: Manors and other estates', A History of the County of Middlesex: Volume 4: Harmondsworth, Hayes, Norwood with Southall, Hillingdon with Uxbridge, Ickenham, Northolt, Perivale, Ruislip, Edgware, Harrow with Pinner (1971), pp. 113-116 (available online).
A History of the County of Middlesex notes that "in 1853 Henry Merceron leased out no. 21 Victoria Park Square as a store for the Queen's Own Light Infantry Regiment of the Tower Hamlets militia. The site stretched to Globe Street and by the 1860s included a barracks".
From: 'Bethnal Green: Building and Social Conditions from 1837 to 1875', A History of the County of Middlesex: Volume 11: Stepney, Bethnal Green (1998), pp. 120-126.
A deed is any document affecting title, that is, proof of ownership, of the land in question. The land may or may not have buildings upon it. Common types of deed include conveyances, mortgages, bonds, grants of easements, wills and administrations.
Conveyances are transfers of land from one party to another, usually for money. Early forms of conveyance include feoffments, surrenders and admissions at manor courts (if the property was copyhold), final concords, common recoveries, bargains and sales and leases and releases.
Lease and release was the most common method of conveying freehold property from the later seventeenth century onwards, before the introduction of the modern conveyance in the late nineteenth century. The lease was granted for a year (sometimes six months), then on the following day the lessor released their right of ownership in return for the consideration (the thing for which land was transferred from one party to another, usually, of course, a sum of money).
Source: British Records Association Guidelines 3: How to interpret deeds (available online).
The Breakspears Estate was the foremost manor in Harefield, Middlesex. It took its name from William Breakspear who owned it in 1376. It belonged to the Ashby family from 1447. In 1769 the last male Ashby died without a male heir and the house passed to a daughter, Elizabeth, who was married to Joseph Partridge. Their son left the estate to a relative of his wife. By 1877 the property belonged to Alfred Henry Tarleton, whose widow sold the house to the county council in 1942. The estate land was used as a park while the house became an old people's home.
Source of information: 'Harefield: Manors', A History of the County of Middlesex: Volume 3: Shepperton, Staines, Stanwell, Sunbury, Teddington, Heston and Isleworth, Twickenham, Cowley, Cranford, West Drayton, Greenford, Hanwell, Harefield and Harlington (1962), pp. 240-246.
Henry Jermyn, 3rd Baron Dover (1636-1708), was a prominent figure at the Restoration Court. He was a Roman Catholic in the household of James Duke of York and, on James' accession, began to take part in public affairs. In 1685 was raised to the peerage as Baron Dover of Dover and in 1636 became a member of the Privy Council. He followed James into exile in France and was given "Jacobite peerages". After the Battle of the Boyne, where he commanded a troop, Dover was eventually pardoned by William III and spent the rest of his life quietly at his home in Albermarle Buildings near St. James's Park or at his country seat at Cheveley near Newmarket. In 1703 he succeeded his brother as 3rd Baron Jermyn of St. Edmundsbury. He died at Cheveley on 6 April 1708 and his body was taken to Bruges to be buried in the church of the Carmelites. His wife, whom he married in 1675, was Judith daughter of Sir Edmund Poley of Badley, Suffolk.
Sir Thomas Saunders Sebright, 4th baronet, of Flamstead, Herts., was born 11 May 1692 and died 12 April 1736. He succeeded to the baronetcy on the death of his father in 1702, and was M.P. for Hertfordshire from 1715 until his death.
The nunnery of Saint Helen was founded in the early part of the thirteenth century by William son of William the goldsmith, in the place where a church of Saint Helen had already existed in the reign of Henry II. Edward I gave to the priory in 1285 a piece of the True Cross which he had brought from Wales, and went on foot accompanied by earls, barons, and bishops to present the relic. The nuns about this time seem to have been in need of financial help. They petitioned the king to examine their charters and allow them to hold in frankalmoign henceforth, and it was no doubt in consequence of the inquiry he had ordered that he gave them the right to hold a market and fair at Brentford.
The manor of Boston had a common boundary with the township of New Brentford. The manor is recorded in 1157 as belonging to the abbot of Westminster. By 1179 the vill had been subinfeudated to Ralph Brito, whose son Robert had granted it by 1194 to Geoffrey Blund. After 1216 he granted a quitrent from it to his son-inlaw Henry, son of Rainier, who later held Boston. By 1294 it was held by the prioress of Saint Helen's, Bishopsgate, as tenant of Westminster, which claimed Boston as part of its liberty.
From: A History of the County of Middlesex: Volume 7: Acton, Chiswick, Ealing and Brentford, West Twyford, Willesden (1982), pp. 123-128 and A History of the County of London: Volume 1: London within the Bars, Westminster and Southwark (1909), pp. 457-461 (both available online).
No historical information can be found for this document.
A marriage settlement was a legal agreement drawn up before a marriage by the two parties, setting out terms with respect to rights of property and succession.
Yeoveney Farm was a manor in Staines, formed in the 13th century. It comprised 200-300 acres situated east of Staines Moor. The land was usually farmed by tenants and the manorial rights lapsed soon after 1758. The land passed to the Ecclesiastical Commissioners.
The History of the County of Middlesex mentions a 'Batcher Field', comprising 63 acres, as situated east of Northolt village.
Source of information: 'Staines: Manors', A History of the County of Middlesex: Volume 3: Shepperton, Staines, Stanwell, Sunbury, Teddington, Heston and Isleworth, Twickenham, Cowley, Cranford, West Drayton, Greenford, Hanwell, Harefield and Harlington (1962), pp. 18-20; and 'Northolt: Introduction', A History of the County of Middlesex: Volume 4: Harmondsworth, Hayes, Norwood with Southall, Hillingdon with Uxbridge, Ickenham, Northolt, Perivale, Ruislip, Edgware, Harrow with Pinner (1971), pp. 109-113.
Jonathan Passingham, a farmer from Heston, died in 1833, leaving most of his estate at Heston in trust for his wife Elizabeth and, after her death, to be divided between his two daughters. Ellen, who married Jonathan Passingham of Cornwall in December 1833, was to receive Heston Farm estate (143a 29p), and Emma, wife of James Basire, engraver of Chancery Lane, was to receive North Hyde Farm estate (132a 2r 3p). After their deaths the property was to be divided between their respective heirs. The executors and trustees of the will were Francis Sherborn, gentleman of Bedfont, and Charles Farnell, brewer of Isleworth.
The inheritance became a cause in Chancery in 1836 when the heirs accused Francis Sherborn of "a series of frauds, misconduct, negligence and breaches of trust", and Charles Farnell of "gross negligence" in failing to take steps to prevent this. Farnell stated he had been "a mere cypher in the business", as Sherborn had been the active trustee (see ACC/0328/033). The main charge of the plaintiffs concerned the mismanagement of Heston and North Hyde Farms which, soon after the death of Jonathan Passingham, had been leased by the trustees to Francis Sherborn and his brother Matthew as tenants in common. The plaintiffs claimed that the terms of the lease, which was drawn up by Henry Farnell, brother of Charles, were fraudulent, and resulted in "acts of waste and destruction" by the Sherborns. These were specified as ploughing up valuable meadow and pasture land, denuding the estate of timber, and allowing buildings to fall into decay and, in some cases, pulling them down. A further charge related to the sale of a brickfield called Tentlows in which the trustees had a beneficial interest. The decree in Chancery in 1839 discharged Sherborn and Farnell from their trusteeship.
George Robert Rowe, M.D. of Chigwell, Essex, and Francis Passingham of Truro, Cornwall, were subsequently appointed new trustees, to be accountable for the estate to the Master of the Rolls. An Act of Parliament in 1844 (7 and 8 Vict. c.22) enabled the trustees to grant leases for digging brick earth on the estate. The royalties from brick making were to be paid into two accounts at the Bank of England, one for Heston Farm and one for North Hyde Farm, in the name of the Accountant General of the Court of Chancery. Another act in 1847 (see ACC/0328/058) authorised the construction of a canal link for transporting bricks. This, however, was not undertaken, a tramway being built instead.
The Depot Estate was land originally purchased by HM Ordnance in 1814 from several owners. Three small pieces of land, copyhold of the manor of Heston, were added to the estate in 1817. When it was sold in 1832, the estate comprised barracks, storehouses, dwelling houses, lands and a private canal. Most of the Depot Estate was purchased in 1845 by Messrs. Allen and Holmes, solicitors to the Passingham trustees, and conveyed to the trustees in 1848. James Basire, widower of Emma, the daughter of Jonathan Passingham, held the life interest in the rents and profits of North Hyde Farm and the Depot Estate. When he died in 1869 the Basire heirs brought a further cause in Chancery for the sale or partition of the North Hyde Estates, and in 1871-2 the property was sold in twenty one lots, primarily for building development, (see ACC/0328/105-106).
The Manor of Osterley in Heston was purchased by property developer Nicholas Barbon in 1683. Barbon conveyed the Manor to two co-mortgagees including the banker Sir Francis Child the elder (1642-1718). Child took possession of the Manor on Barbon's death in 1698, while his son Robert Child (d 1721) bought out the co-mortgagee, so that the Child family owned the whole estate. The family expanded the estates by purchasing nearby Manors and commissioned Robert Adam to redesign the house.
The estates and Child's Bank were inherited by Sarah Anne (1764-1793), daughter and sole heir of Robert Child (d 1782). Under the terms of Robert Child's will the estates passed to Sarah Anne's daughter Lady Sarah Sophia Fane (1785-1867), who was said to have an income of £60,000 a year. Lady Sarah married George Villiers, the fifth Earl of Jersey (1773-1859) who took the name Child-Villiers in 1812. Osterley Park stayed in the Jersey family until 1949 when it was sold to the National Trust.
In 1800 the Manor of Hayes was sold to the executors of Robert Child's will and was therefore added to Osterley and passed to Lady Sarah Sophia Fane and her husband the Earl of Jersey. They sold the Manor in 1829 to Robert Willis Blencowe.
The Manors of Norwood and Southall were united in 1547. In 1754 they were sold to Agatha Child who left them to her son Francis Child. They were united with the Manor of Hayes and followed the same descent-passing to the Jersey family and then sold to Robert Willis Blencowe.
For more information about Osterley Park and Manor see 'Heston and Isleworth: Osterley Park', and 'Heston and Isleworth: Manors', A History of the County of Middlesex: Volume 3: Shepperton, Staines, Stanwell, Sunbury, Teddington, Heston and Isleworth, Twickenham, Cowley, Cranford, West Drayton, Greenford, Hanwell, Harefield and Harlington (1962), pp. 100-111 (available online).
See also 'Hayes: Manors and other estates' and 'Norwood, including Southall: Manors', A History of the County of Middlesex: Volume 4: Harmondsworth, Hayes, Norwood with Southall, Hillingdon with Uxbridge, Ickenham, Northolt, Perivale, Ruislip, Edgware, Harrow with Pinner (1971), pp. 26-29 and pp. 43-45.
The manor of Hendon is listed in the Domesday Book as belonging to the Abbey of Westminster. At the Dissolution it passed to the Crown, who granted it to the new Bishopric of Westminster. However, it returned to the Crown when the Bishopric was suppressed in 1550. It was granted to the Earl of Pembroke, William Herbert, and remained in the Herbert family until 1650 when it was sequestrated as the Herberts were Royalists. At the Restoration it was restored to the family. In 1757 the manor was purchased by James Clutterbuck who conveyed it to his friend David Garrick in 1765. It was left to Garrick's nephew but sold after his death and subsequently passed through various hands. The estate was described as 1226 acres in 1754.
Source of information: 'Hendon: Manors', A History of the County of Middlesex: Volume 5: Hendon, Kingsbury, Great Stanmore, Little Stanmore, Edmonton, Enfield, Monken Hadley, South Mimms, Tottenham (1976), pp. 16-20 (available online).
Francis J Kent was acting as a solicitor based on High Street, Hampton, by 1847. He was also the solicitor to and director of the Hampton Court Gas Company, founded in 1850 to supply gas to Hampton and the surrounding area. By 1855 Francis had been joined in the business by his sons and the name of the business was changed to Kent and Sons. In 1908 Kent and Sons was described as a 'solicitors and perpetual commissioners' run by Charles William Kent. The business was situated on High Street, Hampton, until at least 1937.
The manor of Ealing or Ealingbury was presumably the 10 hides at Ealing granted in 693 by Ethelred, king of Mercia, to the bishop of London for the augmentation of monastic life in London. The manor passed through various owners until 1906 when most or all of the land was sold to the Prudential Assurance Company.
The Middlesex Regiment originated in the 57th and 77th Regiments of Foot, founded in 1755 and 1787. In 1782 and 1807 these regiments were designated the 57th West Middlesex Regiment and the 77th East Middlesex Regiment. In 1881 they were joined and given the name The Duke of Cambridge's Own (Middlesex Regiment); which was changed in 1921 to The Middlesex Regiment (Duke of Cambridge's Own).
Information from Middlesex by Sir Clifford Radcliffe (2 editions, 1939 and 1954), LMA Library reference 97.09 MID.
A deed is any document affecting title, that is, proof of ownership, of the land in question. The land may or may not have buildings upon it. Common types of deed include conveyances, mortgages, bonds, grants of easements, wills and administrations.
Conveyances are transfers of land from one party to another, usually for money. Early forms of conveyance include feoffments, surrenders and admissions at manor courts (if the property was copyhold), final concords, common recoveries, bargains and sales and leases and releases.
Probate (also called proving a will) is the process of establishing the validity of a will, which was recorded in the grant of probate.
Abstract of title is a summary of prior ownership of a property, drawn up by solicitors. Such an abstract may go back several hundred years or just a few months, and was usually drawn up just prior to a sale.
Lease and release was the most common method of conveying freehold property from the later seventeenth century onwards, before the introduction of the modern conveyance in the late nineteenth century. The lease was granted for a year (sometimes six months), then on the following day the lessor released their right of ownership in return for the consideration (the thing for which land was transferred from one party to another, usually, of course, a sum of money).
Feoffment was an early form of conveyance involving a simple transfer of freehold land by deed followed by in a ceremony called livery of seisin.
A bargain and sale was an early form of conveyance often used by executors to convey land. The bargainee, or person to whom the land was bargained and sold, took possession, often referred to as becoming 'seised' of the land.
Source: British Records Association Guidelines 3: How to interpret deeds (available online).
A Thomas Dewell is noted as a leader of non-established religions in Old Brentford; organising meetings of Independents and acting as trustee of a Baptist congregation in Old Brentford, founded in 1819.
Source: 'Ealing and Brentford: Protestant nonconformity', A History of the County of Middlesex: Volume 7: Acton, Chiswick, Ealing and Brentford, West Twyford, Willesden (1982), pp. 158-162.
An assignment of term, or assignment to attend the inheritance, was an assignment of the remaining term of years in a mortgage to a trustee after the mortgage itself has been redeemed. An assignment of a lease is the transfer of the rights laid out in the lease to another party, usually for a consideration (a sum of money).
A demise is the conveyance or transfer of an estate by means of a will or lease.
A marriage settlement was a legal agreement drawn up before a marriage by the two parties, setting out terms with respect to rights of property and succession.
A demise is the conveyance or transfer of an estate by means of a will or lease.
Lease and release was the most common method of conveying freehold property from the later seventeenth century onwards, before the introduction of the modern conveyance in the late nineteenth century. The lease was granted for a year (sometimes six months), then on the following day the lessor released their right of ownership in return for the consideration (the thing for which land was transferred from one party to another, usually, of course, a sum of money).
The Delme-Radcliffe family were the holders of Hitchin Priory in Hertfordshire. Through various marriages the family estates grew to include land in Cambridgeshire, West Sussex, Bedfordshire, Essex, Croydon and Hampshire as well as the Middlesex and London lands featured in this collection.
The manor of Finchley was owned by the Bishop of London. However, 2 smaller sub-manors, Bibbesworth and Marches, were held separately. In 1622 they were purchased by Edward Allen, an alderman from London, who left the estate to his son Sir Thomas Allen. In 1674 Sir Thomas left the estates to his son Edward, entailing them to the male line. When Edward died childless in 1692 the estates went to Thomas, his nephew. Thomas's son Edward died in 1774 and broke the entail by leaving the manor to his brother Thomas, who had the surname Greenhalgh until 1774. He died in 1780 and left the estate to his son, also Thomas, who died childless in 1830.
The estates were disputed between Edward Cooper under the will of Edward Allen who died in 1774; and descendants of Edward Allen who died in 1692 under the will of Thomas Allen who died in 1780. Cooper's title passed to his son Edward Philip Cooper who bought out the other claimants and settled the Finchley estates on his daughters, who both died in 1888. The estate passed to their cousin Albert Henry Arden, who was succeeded by his son Edward Cooper Arden.
Source of information: 'Finchley: Manors', A History of the County of Middlesex: Volume 6: Friern Barnet, Finchley, Hornsey with Highgate (1980), pp. 55-59 (available online).
A fine was a fee, separate from the rent, paid by the tenant or vassal to the landlord on some alteration of the tenancy, or a sum of money paid for the granting of a lease or for admission to a copyhold tenement.
Lease and release was the most common method of conveying freehold property from the later seventeenth century onwards, before the introduction of the modern conveyance in the late nineteenth century. The lease was granted for a year (sometimes six months), then on the following day the lessor released their right of ownership in return for the consideration (the thing for which land was transferred from one party to another, usually, of course, a sum of money).
Terrier refers to a register of landed property, formerly including lists of vassals and tenants, with particulars of their holdings, services, and rents. It can also refer to a rent-roll; or, in later use, a book in which the lands of a private person or corporation, are described by their site, boundaries, acreage, and so on. It can also mean an inventory of property or goods.
From the British Records Association "Guidelines 3 - Interpreting Deeds: How To Interpret Deeds - A Simple Guide And Glossary".
The manor of Isleworth or Isleworth Syon seems to have included land in Heston, Isleworth and Twickenham. In 1086 it belonged to Walter of Saint Valery, one of William the Conqueror's companions. The land subsequently passed into royal possession and was granted to Queen Isabel in 1327 and Queen Philippa in 1330. In 1421 the king granted Isleworth to the newly created abbey of Syon, in whose possession it remained until 1539. The Abbey was suppressed in 1539 and in 1547 the Duke of Somerset secured a grant of the estate to himself, which he held until his execution in 1552, although his widow continued to live at the manor until ordered to leave in 1554. The Crown leased the lands to various tenants until 1598 when Henry Percy, Earl of Northumberland, secured the tenancy rights. In 1604 he received a grant in fee of the house and manor with the park. The property descended to his heirs including Charles, Duke of Somerset (died 1748) and his son the Earl of Northumberland. Their descendants still owned Syon in 1958.
In 1801 Harry Hart, then living in Princes Street in the parish of Saint James Westminster and described as a Pastry Cook, took a lease of a house in Arabella Row Pimlico for £335 but in 1803 he had evidently retired from his occupation of pastry cook and was now described in deeds as "gentleman" while his brother Robert who lived or carried on business in the Strand continued work as pastry cook and confectioner. For the next 23 years Harry Hart, sometimes alone and sometimes with his brother, leased a number of small properties in various parts of London to people of various descriptions.
In 1807 however, Robert Salmon, of Woburn, Bedfordshire, invented a truss for the treatment of rupture and requiring capital to market his invention he took into partnership Harry Hart and John Ody, previously a dyer. Salmon died in 1821 and in 1825 Hart sold his interest in the partnership to Ody in return for an annuity of £250 payable for 12 years In 1813 Hart was living in Flask Lane in the Parish of Saint George Hanover Square but in 1816 he had moved to Brixton Hill. Robert Hart married a Miss Norris.
Teddington Manor was originally part of Staines, but was independent by the 13th century. It was owned by Westminster Abbey who also owned Staines. In 1536 the Abbey swapped the manor with king Henry VIII for land at Berkshire; and Teddington was added to the honour of Hampton Court.
Both the Abbey and the Crown leased the manor out; it was taken by various families. The estate was sold in 1861 and all the copyhold land was enfranchised by 1874, after which the manor ceased to exist. The manor house had been pulled down by 1913.
'Teddington: Manors', A History of the County of Middlesex: Volume 3: Shepperton, Staines, Stanwell, Sunbury, Teddington, Heston and Isleworth, Twickenham, Cowley, Cranford, West Drayton, Greenford, Hanwell, Harefield and Harlington (1962), pp. 69-71.
Highgrove House in Eastcote, Ruislip, was constructed in 1881 for to designs Sir Hugh and Lady Juliana Hume-Campbell after the existing house was ruined by fire. The house was designed by E S Prior in an early Georgian style. It is now Grade II listed. Winston Churchill is believed to have honeymooned there. The house was later used by the Middlesex County Council to accommodate homeless families.
Blome, Richard (baptised 1635?, died 1705), cartographer and bookseller, may have been the son of Jacob Blome and his wife, Mary, baptized at St Ann Blackfriars, London, on 10 July 1635. Beginning his career as a heraldic painter, developing an expertise in arms-painting for funerals and other solemn occasions, Blome became a publisher and was among the first to use the advance subscription method to finance many projects. He had a shop in London between 1668 and 1679 and sold his own books at Mr Kid's at the corner of Lincoln's Inn Fields, where he lodged. In 1694 his address is given as New Weld Street near Clare-Market, according to Thomas Chubb. Much of Blome's work was heraldic and geographical, specializing in topographical works.
With his more famous rival, the cartographer and mapseller John Ogilby, Blome has been given credit for inaugurating a new period of activity in English cartography, if not geography. Blome acted more as compiler or editor than as author of his best-known work outside of the cartographic field, "The Gentleman's Recreation" (1686), which treats the utility of the liberal arts and sciences, and includes some of the earliest illustrations published of British field sports. Among Blome's other publications is "A Description of the Island of Jamaica" (1672), while his most intriguing secular study is a translation of Anthony le Grand's "Institutio philosophiae" entitled "An Entire Body of Philosophy" (1694), containing half-baked dissertations on demonology and other curious pieces. Blome also wrote on biblical themes.
By 1700 it appears that Blome's affairs generally and presumably his finances more particularly were in some disarray, although he continued to publish until near the time of his death. Already ill, he made his will on 7 May 1705, desiring to be buried in the church of Harlington, near Uxbridge. He left a total of 40 shillings to the poor of St Martin-in-the-Fields and Harlington, while the residue of his estate passed to Jane Hilton, with whom he lived for many years. His exact date of death is unknown, but as sole executor she proved the will on 22 October 1705. Recent reassessment of his work gives Blome an enigmatic reputation ranging from that of a farcical, petulant sycophant, to that of an opportunistic, business-like cultivator of both patronage and the mapmaker's art.
Source: S. Mendyk, 'Blome, Richard (bap. 1635?, d. 1705)', Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004
Yates, James (1789-1871), Unitarian minister and scholar, was born in Toxteth Park, Liverpool, on 30 April 1789. His father was minister (1777-1823) of the dissenting congregation in Kaye Street and later in Paradise Street, Liverpool. In 1811 Yates became the unordained minister of a Unitarian congregation in Glasgow, for which a new chapel was opened on 15 November 1812 in Union Place.
In 1827 Yates spent a semester at the University of Berlin studying classical philology. In 1819 he was elected a Fellow of the Geological Society, in 1822 of the Linnean Society, and in 1831 of the Royal Society. In 1832 Yates succeeded John Scott Porter as minister of Carter Lane Chapel, Doctors' Commons, London. However, in 1834 he left the ministry and, being unordained, gave up using the title Reverend. His interest in denominational history and controversy was unabated. From 1831 to 1861 he served as a trustee of Dr Williams's foundations, among other great services introducing the system of competitive examinations for scholarships.
Except for Leonhard Schmitz, Yates was the largest contributor to the "Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities" (1842) edited by William Smith (1813-1893); he supplied drawings for one-half of the woodcuts and wrote one-eighth of the text. His "Textrinum antiquorum" (1843), of which only the first part, with valuable appendices, was published, illustrates the minuteness and accuracy of his research. Numerous papers on archaeological subjects were contributed by him to the learned societies of London and Liverpool, and he became a strong advocate of the decimal system.
About 1820 Yates had married Dorothea (d. 1884), daughter of John William Crompton of Edgbaston, Birmingham; there were no children. With his inherited wealth he passed his later years in learned leisure at Lauderdale House, Highgate, where he had a fine library, a valuable collection of works of art, and a noted garden. Though his own habits were simple, he was noted for his extensive hospitality, and his conversation, aided by a marvellous memory, was deeply interesting. He was small in stature with a courtly dignity in his bearing; his power of caustic remark was all the more effective, given the unvarying calmness of his measured speech. He died at Lauderdale House on 7 May 1871, and was buried at Highgate cemetery on 11 May. His will left considerable benefactions, including endowments for chairs in University College, London, but his property did not realize the estimated amount.
From: Alexander Gordon, 'Yates, James (1789-1871)', rev. R. K. Webb, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004; online edn, May 2007 [http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/30192, accessed 10 Nov 2009]
Adelaide House was built in 1828 on the west side of Forty Green at a time when the area was fashionable. The house has since been destroyed. Forty Green is now known as Forty Hill.
The Bridgen Hall estate was situated between Carterhatch Lane and Goat Lane. It was sold in 1868 and was divided between a housing estate, gravel digging, and open parkland.
Assignment refers to the transfer of a right, usually a lease, or a mortgage.
Surrender of a lease is the return of property held by lease or by copyhold to the lessor or the lord of the manor.
From the British Records Association "Guidelines 3 - Interpreting Deeds: How To Interpret Deeds - A Simple Guide And Glossary".
Cowley Peachey was a small manor which sat within the lands of Colham Manor. Ownership of the estate was often the same as other small manors in the area, such as Cowley Hall and Hayes Park Hall.
Source of information: 'Hillingdon, including Uxbridge: Manors and other estates', A History of the County of Middlesex: Volume 4: Harmondsworth, Hayes, Norwood with Southall, Hillingdon with Uxbridge, Ickenham, Northolt, Perivale, Ruislip, Edgware, Harrow with Pinner (1971), pp. 69-75 (available online).
A militia force was raised from the civilian population of a county, in order to supplement the regular army in cases of emergency. In Middlesex they were called out at times of unrest. There were around 300 militiamen in Middlesex in 1802. During the Napoleonic Wars this number rose to over 2000 by 1808 and 12,000 by 1812.
The origins of the Justices of the Peace lie in the temporary appointments of 'conservators' or 'keepers' of the peace made at various times of unrest between the late twelfth century and the fourteenth century. In 1361 the 'Custodis Pacis' were merged with the Justices of Labourers, and given the title Justices of the Peace and a commission (see MJP). The Commission (of the Peace) gave them the power to try offences in their courts of Quarter Sessions, appointed them to conserve the peace within a stated area, and to enquire on the oaths of "good and lawfull men" into "all manner of poisonings, enchantments, forestallings, disturbances, abuses of weights and measures" and many other things, and to "chastise and punish" anyone who had offended against laws made in order to keep the peace.
During the sixteenth century the work of the Quarter Sessions and the justices was extended to include administrative functions for the counties. These were wide ranging and included maintenance of structures such as bridges, gaols and asylums; regulating weights, measures, prices and wages, and, probably one of their biggest tasks, enforcing the Poor Law. The bulk of the administrative work was carried out on one specific day during the court's sitting known as the County Day (see MJ/O, MJ/SP and MA). By the beginning of the nineteenth century, it was clear that the Quarter Session's structure was unable to cope with the administrative demands on it, and it lost a lot of functions to bodies set up specifically to deal with particular areas - the most important of these was the Poor Law, reformed in 1834. By the end of the century, when the Local Government Act of 1889 established county councils, the sessions had lost all their administrative functions. The judicial role of the Quarter Sessions continued until 1971, when with the Assize courts they were replaced by the Crown Courts.
According to the History of the County of Middlesex: "Small areas of the waste and village greens were inclosed from the early 16th century onwards. By 1700 there is evidence that the old pattern of open-field arable cultivation was being replaced by inclosure for pasture and hay farming. ... A further 700 acres were inclosed in 1835 under an Act of 1825, and the transition to large-scale hay farming continued slowly".
From: 'Northolt: Introduction', A History of the County of Middlesex: Volume 4: Harmondsworth, Hayes, Norwood with Southall, Hillingdon with Uxbridge, Ickenham, Northolt, Perivale, Ruislip, Edgware, Harrow with Pinner (1971), pp. 109-113. URL: http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=22426&strquery=clos. Date accessed: 25 August 2010.
Court baron was an assembly of the freehold tenants of a manor under the presidency of the lord or his steward. Such a court had a jurisdiction in civil actions arising within the manor, especially in such as related to freehold land. This jurisdiction began to decay at an early date, and is now practically obsolete.
Before the Norman Conquest the manor of Ruislip was held by Wlward Wit, a thegn of King Edward, who also held the manors of Kempton and Kingsbury in Middlesex and considerable estates elsewhere. By 1086 it had passed to Ernulf of Hesdin (de Hesding), who granted it to the Abbot and Convent of the Benedictine Abbey of Bec in Normandy. Bec enjoyed possession of it until 1211 when King John sequestrated the properties of the abbey, and were fully confiscated in 1404, when Henry IV granted Ruislip manor, with reversion to the king and his heirs, jointly to his third son John, later Duke of Bedford. On his death in 1435 the manor reverted to the Crown, and although Bec petitioned the king for the restoration of their property, Henry VI in 1437 leased Ruislip manor, with a plot called Northwood, for seven years, later extended to a grant for life, to his chancellor John Somerset. In 1438 the king granted the reversion on this estate to the University of Cambridge. The University surrendered its interest in 1441, and the king granted the reversion to his new foundation, the College of St. Mary and St. Nicholas, later King's College, Cambridge. In 1451, shortly after a Commons petition requesting the dismissal of Somerset, Ruislip manor was granted outright to King's College. In 1461, however, Henry VI was defeated by Edward of York and the Lancastrian grants were declared void. King's College was not included in the list of exemptions; but in the following year Edward IV granted Ruislip manor, with Northwood, in free alms to King's College, in whose possession it remained until the break-up of the college estates in the early 20th century.
From: A History of the County of Middlesex: Volume 4: Harmondsworth, Hayes, Norwood with Southall, Hillingdon with Uxbridge, Ickenham, Northolt, Perivale, Ruislip, Edgware, Harrow with Pinner (1971), pp. 134-137 (available online).
Harrow manor was owned by Archbishop Wulfred, who gave the Harrow lands to his kinsman, Werhard, a priest, for life. Werhard in 845 devised the land to the monks of Christ Church, Canterbury. Harrow was held by King Harold's brother, Earl Leofwine, in 1066, but Canterbury regained it after the Conquest. When the Canterbury lands were divided by Lanfranc between the archbishop and Christ Church, Harrow and Hayes were allotted to the former. Except sede vacante, when it was administered by the Crown, Harrow manor was held by the archbishops until Cranmer was forced to exchange it with Henry VIII on 30 December 1545. Six days later, the king sold it to Sir Edward (later Lord) North (d. 1564), Chancellor of the Court of Augmentations. Dudley (d. 1666), the 3rd baron, sold Harrow manor in 1630 to Edmund Phillips and George and Rowland Pitt. In 1636, after Phillips's death, Rowland Pitt quitclaimed his interest to George Pitt and his heirs. George Pitt's son, Edmund, was dead by 1666 and the manor descended to Edmund's daughter, Alice, and her successive husbands, Edward Palmer and Sir James Rushout. The manor remained with the Rushouts, until the 3rd baron, Sir George Rushout-Bowles, died in 1887. His widow, Lady Elizabeth Augusta, sold some of the estate but on her death in 1912 the bulk passed to her grandson, Capt. E. G. Spencer-Churchill. He sold the remaining land in the 1920s but retained the manorial rights until his death in 1964, when they passed to his executors.
'Harrow manor' described both manorial rights over the whole area and the chief demesne farm in the centre of the parish. To distinguish it from the Rectory estate at Harrow-on-the-Hill, the demesne was, from the 14th century, called Sudbury manor or Sudbury Court. Its descent followed that of Harrow manor.
From: A History of the County of Middlesex: Volume 4: Harmondsworth, Hayes, Norwood with Southall, Hillingdon with Uxbridge, Ickenham, Northolt, Perivale, Ruislip, Edgware, Harrow with Pinner (1971), pp. 203-211 (available online).
Fulham House (or Hall), otherwise known as Stourton House, was occupied by Thomas Winter. It was situated in Bear Street, on the west side, just north of the Swan Inn. A portion of the site is now occupied by Cambridge House, number 156 High Street, and the houses northward. The approach to Putney Bridge covers most of the site. The house was demolished by M Henry Scarth in 1842.