ESTATES
DEMESNE ESTATES.
Bethnal Green
lay wholly within Stepney manor. (fn. 36) In 1652
a parliamentary survey was made of the
demesne lands, mostly within Bethnal Green,
sequestrated from the royalist earl of Cleveland. (fn. 37)
Trustees appointed by Act for the sale of
forfeited estates, who included William
Robinson, conveyed in 1653 the former manor
house, Bishop's or Bonner's Hall,
and 93 a. surrounding it between the Hackney
border and Old Ford Lane, (fn. 38) to Mary, widow
of Gen. or Adm. Richard Deane. (fn. 39) In 1654 she
sold the estate to Robinson, a parliamentary
major and former colleague of her husband. (fn. 40)
Cleveland's daughter-in-law Philadelphia, Lady
Wentworth, and her trustees later plausibly
maintained that the conveyance of 1653 was only
in trust for Robinson, who had induced Sir
William Smyth and other mortgagees to
assign the mortgage under threat. (fn. 41) In 1660
Robinson conveyed the estate to Samuel and
Ellis Crisp, relatives of his wife, whose father
Sir Nicholas Crisp had fought as a royalist
under Cleveland. (fn. 42) The Wentworth estates
were heavily encumbered and attempts by
the earl and Lady Wentworth to recover
them were accordingly inhibited. Mary
Deane and Robinson contracted to pay off the
debt on their portion and Lady Wentworth
settled with Robinson's widow in 1672. (fn. 43) An
attempt by a 'great creditor' of the earl of
Cleveland on the Robinson title in 1677 (fn. 44) failed
and Bishop's Hall remained with Robinson's
descendants.
BETHNAL GREEN: ESTATES c. 1700
By will proved 1667 Robinson left all his
estates to his widow with remainder to their
daughter Ann, except Bishop's Hall and 17 a.
adjoining to the south, then leased to John
Bumpstead for £30 a year, which were to be
settled in trust for 'poor godly persons for
ever'. (fn. 45) The trustees of what Robinson's widow
described as a private charity allowed her to
distribute the money, (fn. 46) as may have been done
by her successors, who seem to have treated
the site of the house as their own until well
into the 18th century. (fn. 47) Trustees for Robinson's
charity were appointed in 1711, however (fn. 48) and
in 1842 they conveyed Bonner's Hall and Fields,
17 a., to the Commissioners of Woods to form
part of Victoria Park. (fn. 49)
William Robinson's widow Ann married Francis Howell (d. 1680) c. 1670 and died in 1700. (fn. 50)
In 1674 her daughter Ann (d. 1727) married
James Sotheby (d. 1720), son of James Sotheby
(d. 1685) of Hackney. In 1686 the younger James
bought Dannetts field, 6 a. west of the former
mansion house. Dannetts had been conveyed to
trustees by Lord Wentworth in the 1630s, possibly in another mortgage, and sold to John
Byde in 1642 and to Thomas Hodgkins by Sir
Thomas Byde in 1668. James and Ann Sotheby
succeeded to Bishop's Hall in 1700 and the estate
descended in the Sothebys of Sewardstone (Essex) through Ann's sons James (d.s.p. 1742) and
William (d. 1766), to William's son and namesake (d. 1833), the younger William's son Adm.
Charles (d. 1854), and his sons Charles William
Hamilton (d.s.p. 1887) and Frederick Edward
(d.s.p. 1909). (fn. 51) The eastern 10 a. portion of
Pyotts were added in 1753. (fn. 52) Parts were sold for
canals in 1814 and c. 1830 (fn. 53) and more was sold
to form the bulk of Victoria Park. (fn. 54) A branch of
the Sothebys, descended from the second son of
William (d. 1766), retained some freehold in
1925. (fn. 55)
Most of the remaining demesne lands were
sold in parcels between 1653 and 1660. The
Wentworths later confirmed the sale of their
right to the freehold and most sales were finally
settled in 1669-72. (fn. 56)
Some 16 a. between Mile End and what
became Green Street (Roman Road) and 4½ a.
next to Old Ford Lane and Back Lane (fn. 57) were
sold to 'Lady Windham'. (fn. 58) The sale, not recorded among those made in the 1650s, was
most probably to Barbara, wife of Sir Wadham Wyndham (d. 1668), justice of the King's
Bench. (fn. 59) There seem to have been field
boundary changes, probably as part of the
final inclosure of Eastfield and involving
exchanges with Pyotts and Eastfields estates. (fn. 60)
By 1703 c. 22 a. south of what became Green
Street were called Cradfords (fn. 61) and later
Kings Field and Barwells after the occupiers
of 1703. (fn. 62) The estate was apparently owned by
John Gretton and his wife Sarah in 1768 when
they granted a rent charge from it to Thomas
W. Morgan and his daughter Elizabeth Mary. (fn. 63)
The annuity was included in Elizabeth Mary's
grant in 1813 (fn. 64) and remained with her trust
until it was sold to the L.C.C. c. 1900. (fn. 65) The
Gretton family retained the freehold and during
the 1830s William Walter Gretton was associated with John Butler of Grove House in
developing the western part of the estate. (fn. 66) In
1840 Butler's son Charles Salisbury Butler of
Upper Clapton (Hackney) apparently purchased
the whole estate. (fn. 67) As the building plans collapsed, a private company sought to buy the
undeveloped eastern portion in 1845 for a cemetery, although Butler resumed the freehold in
1853 when the company defaulted. In 1891 his son
the Revd. John Banks Meek Butler of Sussex
conveyed 11½ a. (Victoria Park cemetery) for the
Metropolitan Public Gardens Association. (fn. 68)
BROOMFIELDS, (fn. 69) in the south-east corner
of Bethnal Green, possibly incorporated closes
known in the 14th century as Combfield and
Newland but was mentioned by name c. 1439. (fn. 70)
Described in 1538 as three closes containing 92
a. of arable and pasture, (fn. 71) it was mortgaged with
the rest of Stepney manor for 99 years in 1632.
In 1669 Philadelphia, Lady Wentworth, Sir
William Smyth, and other trustees assigned
the residue of the lease and sold the fee simple
of Broomfields, then 82 a., to Arnold Browne,
a Stepney mariner, who assigned it in 1676 to
trustees for Sir Nathaniel Herne, alderman of
London. (fn. 72) By will proved 1679 Sir Nathaniel
left the estate to his eldest son Frederick, (fn. 73) who
by will proved 1695 left it to his son Nathaniel,
a minor. (fn. 74) Frederick's executors leased out
Broomfields, by then 79 a. in 12 closes, in
1701 (fn. 75) although Lady Herne, presumably Sir
Nathaniel's widow, was considered the owner
in 1694 and 1703. (fn. 76) The younger Nathaniel
apparently died young and the estate passed,
on the marriage in 1705 of his sister Judith to
William Villiers, to the earls of Jersey. (fn. 77) In
1789 Judith's grandson George Bussy Villiers,
earl of Jersey (d. 1805), sold the estate, then
78 a., to Thomas, later Sir Thomas, Coxhead, (fn. 78) who by will proved 1811 left all his
estates, consisting of 17 houses and c. 100 a.
in Bethnal Green and Mile End Old Town, to
Thomas Coxhead Marsh, natural son of Sarah
Marsh (and presumably of Coxhead). The
estate passed in 1847 to T.C. Marsh's brother
William Coxhead Marsh and William's son
Thomas Coxhead Chisenhale Marsh. (fn. 79) In 1851
William had 55 a., after surrenders for the
canals and Victoria Park in the 1830s and
1840s. (fn. 80) From 1857 William and Thomas sold
building land to the Revd. George Driffield
and others (fn. 81) and in 1874 Thomas was considering selling land for a gasworks. (fn. 82)
RUSH MEAD, 15 a. between Hackney Road
and Old Bethnal Green Road, (fn. 83) formed part of
demesne lands sold by Lord Cleveland to James
Ravenscroft in 1640 (fn. 84) and which Sir William
Smyth claimed had been sold to him by
Ravenscroft in 1643. In 1652 Smyth sold the
99-year mortgage term and the reversion he
acquired in 1651 to Florentine Tainturier of
Blackfriars, a tailor, and his daughter Mary,
who also acquired the equity of redemption
in 1654. (fn. 85) By 1703 it was called Cuthberd's and
owned by Ossery, (fn. 86) who had been assessed for
'Cuthberds' in 1694 (fn. 87) and was probably John
Ossery, oilman of Holborn, a freeholder
in 1697. (fn. 88) By will proved 1732 Elizabeth Sheldon
left Rush Mead to her son Cuthbert Sheldon,
whose daughter Elizabeth married James
Durham, guardsman, in 1779. They granted
building leases from 1792 (fn. 89) and Col. Durham
was apparently the owner in 1831, (fn. 90) although the
Sheffield family possessed at least part of the
estate in 1876. (fn. 91)
One of the earl of Cleveland's creditors, Edmund Denton, William Smyth's brother-in-law,
was assigned the equity of SICKLE PENFIELD and Six Acre Close, (fn. 92) together 13 a. west
of Rush Mead, by the parliamentary trustees in
1653. (fn. 93) He conveyed it to John Smyth, William's
brother, who sold it to Richard Knight of St.
Giles without Cripplegate, armourer, in 1654. (fn. 94)
The field was marked as Willett's land in 1679 (fn. 95)
but as Knight's land in 1703. Richard Knight's
grandson Peter Knight, of Essex, took out several
mortgages between 1711 and 1717 with Samuel
Payne, gentleman, of Shoreditch, and Edward
Carnell, sadler of London. Carnell's father
occupied the estate, (fn. 96) from c. 1751 to c. 1794
called Carnell's land, (fn. 97) and Samuel Carnell was
making leases there in 1795. (fn. 98)
MILKHOUSE BRIDGE and Birding Bush
fields and Crabtree and Three Acre closes
formed a 27-a. estate in the north-west. (fn. 99) A
99-year lease was assigned in 1651 by Thomas
Dunstervile, haberdasher, to Edward Trussell
and in 1654 by Trussell to Humphrey Blake. (fn. 1) In
1680 Blake's children Robert and Ann, wife of
Christopher Todd, sold the lease to James
Smithsby, woollen draper of Westminster,
who bought the freehold from the Wentworths
in 1681. Smithsby was soon succeeded by
his daughters Margaret, wife of Sir Francis
Head, and Ann, wife of Sir Hans Hamilton,
Bt., whose portion, the easternmost, was in
1703 'Hambletons land'. (fn. 2) Ann's daughter Ann
(d. 1771), wife of James Campbell, left her
moiety to Margaret's descendants. Margaret
(d. 1732) was succeeded by her son Sir John
Head (d. 1769), whose moiety passed to his
widow Jane and then to the daughters of his
sister Ann Egerton, Charlotte (d. 1770), wife
of William Hammond, and Jemima, wife of
Edward Brydges, who inherited Ann Campbell's
portion. Some 6½ a. were sold to John Allport
in 1789 but most of the estate was still held in
fractions by members of the Hammond and
Brydges families in 1848, when they gave the
site for St. Thomas's church in Nova Scotia
Gardens. (fn. 3)
Some 15-16 a. on the Shoreditch borders, (fn. 4)
later divided by Virginia Row, were among
lands sold by Cleveland to Ravenscroft in 1640
and by him to Sir William Smyth in 1643. (fn. 5) They
were sold with other lands to Thomas Willett
in 1653 (fn. 6) and were still Willett's in 1669 (fn. 7) but
probably lost after 1672 when his widow had to
raise portions for his children. (fn. 8) By 1694 Ann,
widow of Sir Thomas Fytche, Bt., held at least
part, (fn. 9) presumably the fields south of Virginia
Row described as 'Lady FITCH'S land' in
1703. (fn. 10) Her son Sir Comport Fytche, Bt. (d.
1720), was listed as a freeholder in Bethnal
Green from 1709 to 1719. (fn. 11) From 1723 to 1734
building leases, mostly for Virginia Row, were
made by Richard Ordway, draper of London,
and Thomas Coates, farmer of Bethnal Green. (fn. 12)
William Gascoigne (or Gascoyne), probably son
of the mapmaker, was the owner by 1780. (fn. 13) He
left all his freeholds in Bethnal Green by will
proved 1793 to provide for the education of his
children and pass after his wife's death to his son
William. (fn. 14) Harriet, née Gascoigne, wife of Thomas
Smith Child was the owner in 1852. (fn. 15)
Annotation 744
Among the lands bought by Ravenscroft in
1640 was a 14-a. field south of Milkhouse
Bridge field, (fn. 16) which he conveyed to two
charities in his native Chipping or High
Barnet (Herts.) in 1679, when himself living
in High Holborn. (fn. 17) Subsequently known as
BARNET CHARITY estates, most of the
field, 10¾ a. south-east of Birdcage Walk, was
given to support Jesus Hospital, while the
other 3¼ a. were to maintain the church and
the tombs of Ravenscroft's parents (the
Chancel charity). The charities retained the
estates until the 20th century. Part of the
portion belonging to Jesus Hospital was compulsorily purchased by the L.C.C. and the rest
was sold in 1980. (fn. 18)
TURNEY or Comonfield was one of two
closes, (fn. 19) 21 a. in all, south-east of Ravenscroft's,
which by 1679 was held by Patient Ward (fn. 20) and
in 1687 by John Ward, merchant of London. (fn. 21)
Called Wards land in 1703, (fn. 22) it remained
with the Warde family of Squerryes Court,
Westerham (Kent), until 1920 when John
Roberts O'Brien Warde sold it to William
Parrish (d. 1925). (fn. 23)
To the east lay SAFFRON CLOSE, 12 a.
bounded on two sides by Rogue Lane, (fn. 24) which
William Smyth and others sold in 1655 to Isaac
Joyce (d. 1676), clothworker of London. (fn. 25) In
1694 and 1703 it was owned by Mr. Bailey
(presumably Arthur Bailey of Mile End
Green, a Virginia merchant) and occupied
by Hemmons or Hemonds. (fn. 26) It descended to
Arthur's daughter Katharine (d. 1727) who in
1713 married Thomas Heath (d. 1741), East
India merchant, and to her eldest son Bailey
Heath (d. 1760). All the Heath estates were sold
under a lunacy order in 1772. Philip James May
purchased Saffron Close on behalf of David
Wilmot, who sold parts for building. (fn. 27) Most of
the estate was held in 1843 by Samuel Mills
and on the death of John Remington Mills in
1865 was divided between his daughters,
Florence Sophia and Marion Jane, later wife of
Maj. George Malcolm Fox (d. 1918). The Fox
family retained the freehold in 1955. (fn. 28)
A block of c. 36 a. south and west of Saffron
Close (fn. 29) was among land sold by Smyth to
Thomas Willett of London in 1653. (fn. 30) After
Willett's death c. 1672 the estate, by 1703 called
Willett's
(fn. 31) land, passed to his widow Martha
(d. 1713) and to their surviving child Martha
(d. c. 1716), widow of Richard Wightwick,
merchant of London. (fn. 32) Martha's son Thomas
Wightwick (fn. 33) was succeeded in 1722 by his
sister Martha and her husband Charles White
of the Inner Temple, who paid off a mortgage
of 1713. (fn. 34) By Charles's will, proved 1754, the
estate was left to his brother William, with
remainder in tail male. A younger Charles, son
of the testator's younger brother Thomas,
bought out his cousins' interests in 1771 and
his grandson John was in possession in 1823. (fn. 35)
Some building had taken place by 1703 (fn. 36) and
Charles White negotiated 99-year building
leases in 1789. (fn. 37)
Some 18½ a. south of Bethnal Green Road, on
either side of Brick Lane and centred on the
RED COW or Milkhouse, (fn. 38) were described by
1703 as Slaughter's Land. (fn. 39) Thomas Sclater or
Slaughter of Gray's Inn and later of Catley
(Cambs.) in 1711 offered Harefield or Crossfield,
the land east of Brick Lane, as a site for a church (fn. 40)
and in 1716 leased a plot next to Club Row, part
of Swanfield, the land west of Brick Lane. (fn. 41)
Negotiations for the church site collapsed
because of 'some defect' in the title, (fn. 42) but
Thomas (d. 1736), who adopted his wife's
surname Bacon, continued in possession. He
left his estates to Sarah (d. c. 1738), wife of his
coachman Edward King and his putative mistress, with remainder to her sons Robert (d.
1749) and Thomas Sclater King (d. 1777). (fn. 43) In
1770 the estate was settled in trust on the
marriage of T.S. King's daughter Elizabeth (d.
1778) to Henry Busby of Hanover Square, (fn. 44) the
profits to provide an annuity for Martha King
and the rest to be divided between T. S. King
and Busby. (fn. 45) Busby (d. 1792) having left one
third of the estate to his son Edward Sclater
Busby and the rest to his four daughters as tenants
in common, an Act of 1809 divided the estate
into five. (fn. 46) It was further fragmented when
the portion of one daughter, Margaret, wife of
Edward Augustus Butcher, was divided among
their six children in accordance with his will,
proved 1838. (fn. 47)
Most of HARE MARSH in the south-west,
in 1652 19 a. in three closes east of Brick Lane, (fn. 48)
was acquired by Sir William Smyth in 1643. (fn. 49)
In 1653 he sold it to Ansell Carter (d. 1661), (fn. 50)
a London grocer, who left it to his sons George,
who died shortly after his father, (fn. 51) and John,
also grocers. John (d. 1687) administered one
moiety for his brother's children and left the
united estate to George's surviving son George,
gentleman of Hackney, the holder in 1704. (fn. 52)
Elizabeth Carter of Hackney, presumably
George's daughter, made building leases from
1721 to 1745 (fn. 53) and in 1740 sold the southernmost portion, south of Carter's Rents, to Joseph
Cooper, glazier of London. (fn. 54) The rest, 18½ a.
south of Hare Street, passed c. 1752 under her
will to Charles Petley of Kent. (fn. 55) Charles Robert
Carter Petley still owned what was called the
Petley estate in 1887. (fn. 56)
Some 9 a. in two closes (fn. 57) abutting Markhams
and Colemans copyhold were sold by Smyth
and others to David Murray of St. Clement's,
Middlesex, and his daughter Temperance in
1653 (fn. 58) and in 1657 by Temperance, wife of
Edmund Phillips, and her siblings to trustees
for Mary Brett with remainder to William
Lowe. (fn. 59) William died in or before 1681 (fn. 60) and
in 1703 the estate was called JARVIS'S land. (fn. 61)
It passed to Lydia Jarvis (d.s.p. 1751), who
married Peter Mews in 1719 and left property
in Hampshire to Jarvis Clerke, son of her
sister Agnes, whence it passed in 1778 to
George Ivison Tapps, descendant of her sister
Elizabeth. (fn. 62) The Bethnal Green property,
however, may have been left to Elizabeth's
family in 1751, when it was described as
'Tapp's land'. (fn. 63) It was owned in 1812 by
George Ivison Tapps of Hinton House (Hants),
created a baronet in 1791, (fn. 64) whose son Sir
George William Tapps Gervis, Bt., leased it to
developers in the 1840s. (fn. 65)
A 4-a. close on the borders with Mile End,
occupied in 1652 by Jeremy Chalker, (fn. 66) and 2 a.
of Mill Hill field farther north, fronting the
Cambridge Road, (fn. 67) were both sold in 1654 to
Laurence Chalker, a local cowkeeper. (fn. 68) Chalker
sold Mill Hill field in 1654 to Thomas Coling
(Coleing), (fn. 69) tenant in 1652 of a house in Dog
Row, (fn. 70) and it later became Penn's nursery. (fn. 71)
Chalker was in possession of the southern close
in 1672 (fn. 72) but by 1694 it was held by Thomas
Blackett (d. 1701) who left it to his widow until
his son Thomas was of age. Joshua NAYLOR,
a London cheesmonger, whom Blackett's widow
married within the year, gave his name to the
estate which was occupied by Henry Collier in
1703. The younger Thomas Blackett and his
sister, still minors, accused Naylor of defrauding
them in 1704 (fn. 73) but Blackett had apparently
regained the estate by 1727. (fn. 74) For most of the
18th century it formed the core of the farm held
by the Farmer family, possibly as lessees. (fn. 75)
OTHER ESTATES.
The estate belonging to
the dean and chapter of ST. PAUL'S, (fn. 76) deriving
from the fee of Brice of Shadwell, consisted in
1649 (fn. 77) of a close of 4½ a. west of the green,
abutting south on a common way from the green
to meadow, which was leased in 1638 to the
dean's sister. Earlier the southern abutment was
described as a lane from the green to Conduit
close. (fn. 78) Another 5-a. close, occupied by Thomas
Hart, lay to the west of demesne land in 1641. (fn. 79)
One close was 'Bowes land', in 1703 west of
Cambridge Road and north of what became
Three Colts Lane. (fn. 80) Paul Bowes of the Middle
Temple was among those interested in preserving the green in 1678. (fn. 81) In 1707 Martin Bowes
conveyed copyhold land (also called Bowes
Land in 1703) (fn. 82) in Old Ford Road to Charles
Boon, which descended in the Boon family
until 1765 or later. (fn. 83) The dean leased the close
in Cambridge Road to Stephen Boon for life
in 1775 and to Stephen's son Thomas, surgeon
of Sunbury, in 1803. (fn. 84) Building began soon
afterwards, since by 1809 the estate abutted
on Parliament and Abingdon streets. It was
apparently auctioned c. 1822. (fn. 85) The second close
probably lay to the north, adjoining the first or
beyond, next to Stainers land, (fn. 86) but it may have
been east of the green, in the area south of Old
Ford Lane.
The 8½ a. west of Cambridge Road and south
of Old Bethnal Green Road, part of the lands of
St. Mary without Bishopsgate, was granted after
the Dissolution to Sir Ralph Warren as part of
BURGOYNS (Burganes), (fn. 87) a freehold estate
centred in Shoreditch and named after Thomas
Burgoyn, who held most of it, although not the
Bethnal Green part, in 1472. Sir John Lee held
it by 1652 and Thomas Lee and his son Baptist
by 1717. (fn. 88) Baptist Lee (d. 1768) of Suffolk leased
the Bethnal Green portion in 1758 (fn. 89) and left the
estate in trust for his niece's widower Nathaniel
Acton (d. 1795) with remainder to Nathaniel's
son Nathaniel Lee Acton (d. 1836). N. L. Acton
was succeeded by his sisters Caroline (d.s.p. by
1838) and Harriot, wife of Sir William Middleton, Bt. In 1838 Harriot and her son Sir William
Fowle Fowle Middleton, Bt., broke the entail
and in 1842 sold 3½ a. to the bishop of London
and William Cotton for the site of St. Jude's
church. (fn. 90) In 1845 and 1858 Sir William (d. 1860)
leased out the rest of the estate, previously a
nursery, for building. (fn. 91)
The 12-a. portion of Haresmarsh east of that
belonging to the demesne, sometimes called
GREAT HARESMARSH, had belonged to St.
Helen's Bishopsgate and was granted in 1545 to
John Pope, whose successor was said to hold it
of the Crown in free socage. (fn. 92) Following litigation in 1646, it was held in 1652 by John and
Susan Godowne, (fn. 93) who initiated further litigation to eject the other party, the Richardsons,
who still held the deeds. Sir John Clarke of
Twickenham acquired the estate from Humphrey
Turkey and Walter Carnaby and his wife Mary,
possibly trustees, in 1664. (fn. 94) Sir John Clarke was
in possession in 1694 (fn. 95) of what by 1703 was
'Clarks Land', divided into a western garden and
an eastern field. (fn. 96) Clarke (d. 1712) left the estate
to his niece Judith, wife of Arthur Foresight, a
London apothecary. (fn. 97) By 1745 it was in the
hands of Sir Philip Hall, (fn. 98) who sold it in 1761 to
Peter Bigot of Essex. (fn. 99) James Goden Bigot sold it
in 1794 to Michael Pope of Finsbury Square, (fn. 1)
whose descendants held it in 1842. (fn. 2)
Some 6 a., part of 30 a. of mainly demesne land
south of Rogue Lane, was from the mid 17th
century and possibly earlier held by the
THICKNESS family, which had held property
in Whitechapel since the 1580s. (fn. 3) The Bethnal
Green estate was freehold (fn. 4) and in 1703 formed
9½ a. in two fields, (fn. 5) later described as 'near the
ducking pond'. Ralph Thickness (d. 1718) was
succeeded by five daughters (fn. 6) and between 1755
and 1775 the estate passed to Samuel Scott, a
brick merchant who leased other land nearby. (fn. 7)
A Samuel Scott was listed as the holder in 1821-
2 and 1835 (fn. 8) and A. J. Scott in the 1880s. (fn. 9)
In 1652 John Stint (d. 1660) possessed an
estate bounded south by the later Church Street
or Bethnal Green Road and on the other sides
by demesne land, later Fitches and Turneys. (fn. 10)
It derived from a 12-a. freehold close in the
Hyde which Thomas Wyndham's wife Elizabeth
inherited from her cousin Robert Weston, a
London mercer, and which the Wyndhams sold
in 1529 to Thomas Armorer, (fn. 11) who held it in
1550. (fn. 12) By 1657 it had been divided into two
fields with different lessees, one of them Robert
Satchwell. (fn. 13) In 1709 the whole estate, presumably
freehold, was in the hands of the TYSSEN
family (fn. 14) from whom the Satchwells leased part
in the 1760s. (fn. 15) The family was an offshoot of the
Tyssens of Hackney, the Bethnal Green estate (fn. 16)
passing from Francis Tyssen of Shacklewell (d.
1710) (fn. 17) to his fifth son Samuel (d. 1748) and to
Samuel's widow Sarah (d. 1778) and their son
William (d. 1788), then to William's widow
Mary and their daughter Sarah and her husband
John Tyrell (from 1809 Sir John Tyrell, Bt.). (fn. 18)
From their son Sir John Tyssen Tyrell (d. 1877)
it passed to trustees for John Lionel Tufnell, son
of their daughter Eliza Isabella, who assumed
the name Tyrell. (fn. 19)
In 1678 Thomas Rider and others bought
11½ a. of waste, later called the POOR'S LANDS, (fn. 20)
mostly east of Cambridge Road, to prevent building
and relieve the poor. The waste was inclosed into
three closes, treated as freehold, which were leased
out and the rents applied in charity. Trustees were
appointed in 1689 but because of delay in enrolling
the deed the process was repeated in 1690, usually
quoted as the foundation date. They sold plots for
St. John's church in 1825 (fn. 21) and Vicarage in 1849,
and for Bethnal Green Museum in 1868. Plans
in the 1880s to erect municipal buildings on the
Poor's Land were defeated. (fn. 22) Under a Scheme
of 1891, 2½ a. north of St. John's and 6½ a. south
of Roman Road were conveyed to the L.C.C. for
public gardens, which were opened in 1895. (fn. 23) In
1892 a small strip was sold to the Warburton
trustees who ran the asylum bordering the
Poor's Land, of which they had long been
lessees.
The freehold NICHOL (Nicoll or Nicholl)
estate, a compact 5 a. bounded west and south
by Cock Lane (later Boundary Street and
Bethnal Green Road respectively), was possibly
the barn, garden, and 3 a. held by the hospital
of St. Mary without Bishopsgate in 1538. (fn. 24) It
took its name from John Nichol of Gray's Inn
who leased, or possibly mortgaged, it for 180
years to Jon Richardson in 1680. (fn. 25) In 1725 his
son John Nichol of Hendon sold the estate,
which he called Nichol Street, to his wealthy
cousin (fn. 26) John Nichol the elder (d. 1731) (fn. 27) of
Colney Hatch. It passed through that John's son
and namesake (d. 1747) (fn. 28) to the younger John's
only child Margaret, who in 1753 married James
Brydges, later duke of Chandos (d. 1789). (fn. 29) The
estate descended with the rest of the Chandos
lands (fn. 30) until 1827 when, crowded with 237 houses,
it was put up for sale. (fn. 31) The Chandos estate still
owned c. 50 houses in 1836 (fn. 32) and Mary, Baroness
Kinloss, who succeeded in 1889, was still one of
the principal landowners when the whole area was
purchased by the L.C.C. for the Boundary Street
scheme of 1900. (fn. 33)
Two freehold estates at the northern end of
Bethnal Green, east and west respectively of
Cambridge Heath, may have derived from Cobhams (Rumbolds) manor. (fn. 34) In 1688 George
Hockenhill paid 2s. 8d. rent for a freehold estate
'sometime Jones's', which by 1689 was held by Mr.
Chambers, a scrivener in Lombard Street. (fn. 35) Chambers was the owner in 1694 and in 1703 when
CHAMBERS'S land, occupied by William
Hawkins, was 8 a. in two closes between Cambridge
Heath and Bishop's Hall estate. (fn. 36) From John
Chambers, a London draper, the estate descended
by c. 1711 to his daughter Mary and her husband
John Dorrill and to their son John Chambers
Dorrill, who conveyed it in trust in 1795 for
Michael Pope of Finsbury Square (d. by 1808). (fn. 37)
Ownership was fragmented after the death of
Pope's son Michael before 1848 but had been
reunited in the hands of Maria Pope of
Kensington Gardens by 1896. (fn. 38)
In 1694 Thomas Ivery was assessed for BULLOCK'S land, identifiable in 1703 as 12½ a. in
two closes west of Cambridge Heath. (fn. 39) From
1747 to 1835 the estate was said to be freehold,
held for 10s. by Thomas Plumer Byde. (fn. 40) The
Pritchard family, rated for nearby property from
the mid 18th century (fn. 41) and for Bullock's land,
then called Clay Pitfield, in 1794 (fn. 42) and probably in 1778, (fn. 43) may have originally been lessees
but were presumably the owners for most of the
19th century. Successive Andrew Pritchards
held the land, (fn. 44) and issued 99-year leases from
the 1850s, until Clive Fleetwood Pritchard, eldest son of Andrew (fl. 1889) sold part or all of
the estate to Bethnal Green M.B. in 1902-4. (fn. 45)
An estate, (fn. 46) mostly treated as copyhold but
sometimes as freehold, (fn. 47) may have been a mixture
of both; (fn. 48) from c. 1643 to 1775 it was held for
£1 4s. or £1 4s. 1d. quitrent. (fn. 49) Part at least
originated in a customary estate held in 1404 by
John Reyson (d. 1421). (fn. 50) In 1538 the royal
favourite Anthony Denny (d. 1549) of the Privy
Chamber held a house and lands which he
conveyed in 1544 to Sir Ralph Warren (d.
1553), (fn. 51) lord mayor of London, who acquired
Burgoyns and was leased St. George's chapel
for 99 years from 1547. (fn. 52) Successive holders
were Sir Ralph's widow, his son Sir Richard (d.
1597) from 1572, and his grandsons, sons of his
daughter Joan (d. 1586), wife of Sir Henry
Cromwell. In 1601 they sold the estate, first
described in full, to Richard Pyott (d. 1620),
a London grocer and alderman. Thereafter
commonly called PYOTTS, it consisted of a
house at Bethnal green, 6 a. in two parcels nearby,
4½ a. at Cambridge Heath, Conduit close (7 a.),
¾ a. and 10 a. in parcels next Old Ford Lane, and
4 a. 'towards the spitle'. (fn. 53) Richard left the estate
to his younger son William (d. 1643), (fn. 54) who by will
proved 1645 left his copyholds in Bethnal Green
to his wife Jane, with remainder to his brother
John, (fn. 55) but in 1648-9 they were disputed between
Jane and her second husband, John Christmas,
and William's elder brother Richard, who claimed
the remainder for his son William. (fn. 56) John Pyott
(d. 1689), probably the son of the elder William's
brother John, paid the quitrent in 1688 (fn. 57) and in
1703 'Piots land' consisted of 38 a. east of Cambridge Road in blocks near Cambridge Heath
and south of Old Ford Lane. (fn. 58)
The estate presumably descended to the second John's sons John and then Robert (both
d.s.p.), to be divided in 1734 between the children
of his daughters Ann and Susan. Ann, wife of
John Gubbs, had a daughter Jane (d. 1739) who
married Henry Winteringham and had a daughter Martha, who died aged 16. Jane having
left her moiety to Martha with remainder to her
nearest relative of the name Pyott, her executors
conveyed it to Richard Pyott (d.s.p. 1747), heir
in the direct male line of the first Richard Pyott
(d. 1620). He left his estates in trust for his wife
Pyarea, but his father's siblings claimed as the
nearest Pyotts. (fn. 59) John Pyott's other daughter
Susan married William Cockram and had a son
Sigismund, who left his moiety in 1741 to his
wife Rebecca, with remainder to Henry Smith
of St. Clement Danes. In 1746 Rebecca conveyed
her interest to Smith in return for an annuity.
The rights of all the Pyott siblings, Charles and
his sisters Ann Righton, Blanch Hinckley, and
Caroline Malie, were upheld in 1749, when a
partition apparently assigned the estates in
Bethnal Green to the Pyott heirs, with instructions
for their sale. The Bethnal Green property
consisted of a capital house, three new houses,
two stables, and 30½ a.
The Pyott family drew rents from the estate
until its sale in 1753. The 10 a. adjoining
Broomfields in the east, being separate, were
sold to William Sotheby and thereafter
descended with Bishop's Hall. (fn. 60) Old buildings
on 1 a. in the south-west corner of Conduit field
were sold to Anthony Natt. (fn. 61) The rest, c. 21 a.
which included the mansion, three other houses,
and the rest of Conduit field, was sold to Ebenezer
Mussell (d. 1764), lessee of the mansion. (fn. 62) Mussell
paid the full quitrent in 1755 (fn. 63) and left his
portion to his second wife Sarah, as guardian for
his infant son. (fn. 64) Both the son and Elizabeth,
Mussell's daughter by his first wife, were
apparently dead by 1768, when Sarah and her
second husband John Gretton conveyed the land
but not the house to Thomas Wilkins Morgan,
with remainder to Elizabeth Mary Morgan,
respectively Mussell's son-in-law and granddaughter. (fn. 65) Elizabeth Mary (d. 1835), who had
married Ely Bates in 1788, was a widow by 1813
when she settled the estate on the Moravian
Church. Thereafter the estate was administered
as the Elizabeth Mary Bates Trust. Sales of land,
mostly in Conduit field and including the site of
Globe board school, took place between 1815
and 1906. Much was sold to the East End Dwellings Co. in 1934 and most of the rest to the
Elizabeth Mary Bates Housing Association before
1974 and to individual lessees from the 1970s. (fn. 66)
A house recorded in 1538 and 1601 was by
1622 'the great house called the Corner House'. (fn. 67)
Leased in 1599 to Lady Katharine St. John (fn. 68) and
occupied in 1622 by Richard Pyott's son-in-law
Humfry Robinson, of the East India Co., (fn. 69) it
stood opposite St. George's chapel, in the angle
between Old Ford Lane and what was later
called Victoria Park Square. (fn. 70) The house had
been 'newly built' in 1643 (fn. 71) and was occupied in
1683 by Sir John Goldsborough, (fn. 72) a wealthy sea
captain in the service of the East India Co., who
died in India in 1693. (fn. 73) In 1694 the house, which
was sublet, contained a great and little parlour,
withdrawing room, hall, piazza, and numerous
chambers with painted wainscots, tapestry, Indian chintz hangings and Dutch painted tiles. (fn. 74)
The three-gabled building depicted in 1703 was
perhaps a different house, (fn. 75) since the Corner House
in the mid 18th century, when leased to 'Justice
Mussell', had three storeys and two wings. (fn. 76)
Mussell, an antiquarian, purchased the reliefs
from the façade of Aldgate on its demolition in
1760 and rebuilt them into an addition to the
house, which then became Aldgate House. (fn. 77)
He also incorporated bricks from a wharf at
Richborough Castle (Kent) into the paving of
a courtyard. (fn. 78) The house was occupied by
prominent Jews in 1765 and 1769, (fn. 79) pulled down
in 1806, and replaced by Ebenezer chapel and
some small tenements in 1811. (fn. 80)
William SEBRIGHT, town clerk of London
in 1574, accumulated an estate around the
City, which he left by will proved 1620 for the
foundation of a grammar school in Wolverley
(Worcs.), his birthplace. (fn. 81) The endowment included 12 a. in Markhams field in the centre of
Bethnal Green and 8 a. on the northern borders.
Although the will described the estate as held in
free socage by deed of Lord Wentworth at 13s.
4d. a year, (fn. 82) rentals from 1688 to 1835 listed it
as copyhold, albeit at the same rent; possibly
it was early enfranchised copyhold. (fn. 83) In 1813
the trustees obtained an Act to grant 99-year
building leases, (fn. 84) at whose expiry Wolverley
Grammar school was said to have become the
richest in the county. (fn. 85) A strip of land on the
northern borders was sold to Bethnal Green and
Shoreditch M.B.s in 1909 and sales to the
L.C.C. were made in the 1930s under housing
Acts: blocks between Pritchard's Road, Gillman
Street, and Spencer Passage in 1930, between
Teale, Kay, and Gillman streets and Garner
Passage in 1934, and between Canrobert and
Wolverley streets and Minto Place in 1939. The
trustees retained many rents in 1952 (fn. 86) but the
remaining freehold, except for a few sites sold
privately, was compulsorily purchased by the
L.C.C. in the late 1950s and early 1960s. (fn. 87)
The copyhold estate called KIRBY'S CASTLE was built up by John Kirby or Kirkby (d.
1578). Its core was a house and 3½ a. held by
Sir John Gresham, the most highly assessed
person in Bethnal Green in 1545-6. (fn. 88) He conveyed the estate in 1553 to James Alton, whence
it passed to John Cheyney, in 1556/7 to Robert
Offley, in 1557/8 to Sir Thomas Offley, in
1559/60 to Cuthbert Tunstall, and in 1561 to Sir
Thomas Grey, on whose death in 1570 (fn. 89) the
house and the lease of the adjoining farmhouse
were sold to John Walsh (d. 1572), justice of the
Common Pleas. Walsh's executors sold them to
Kirby, (fn. 90) who acquired 2¾ a. called Stonerock (fn. 91)
in 1575 and the farmhouse, by then a cottage,
and 3 a. which he probably already held on lease,
in 1577. The combined estate passed to his three
daughters Ann, wife of Michael Lenton, Margaret, wife of William Thompson, and
Elizabeth, wife of John Watson. Between 1589
and 1600 the Watsons acquired the other portions and in 1609 they sold the whole estate to
William Palmer, whose sons Robert and William
sold it in 1630 to William Dormer. (fn. 92) Dormer, a
man of 'great fortune', died in 1652, (fn. 93) having
recently settled it in remainder for three years
on his two daughters, then on his son Barnard
for 60 years, with remainder equally divided
between his daughters and their heirs. The
daughters, Ann Gill and Mary Deccombe, were
admitted in 1652. Barnard, admitted in 1655,
had conveyed his interest to Thomas Marsh by
1656 and, after controversy over the deeds, all
the Dormer family interests were conveyed to
Marsh by 1661. (fn. 94) Marsh conveyed the estate in
1661 to Sir William Rider (d. 1669), a hemp
merchant, who left all his property to his wife
Priscilla, with remainder to his eldest son
Thomas. (fn. 95) In 1685 Thomas Rider surrendered
the estate to James Alpha, who surrendered it to
Col. Joseph Jorey (or Jorye) in 1698. (fn. 96) Jorey's
niece Frances Foche, later wife of Martin
Bladen, succeeded in 1726 (fn. 97) and was followed in
1748 by her cousin and heir George Hodges. A
dispute between Hodges and Mary Helden,
named as devisee in Frances's will, was resolved
in 1750 when Hodges took Jorey's other estate
(Goosefields, below) and Mary Helden was admitted to Kirby's Castle. By will dated 1752 she
left the estate to her daughter Mary, wife of
Thomas Foster, with remainder to a kinsman
John Notcutt, an Ipswich linen draper, who was
admitted in 1770. (fn. 98) Under his will, proved 1778,
the estate, with adjoining property in Mile End,
was to be sold to provide for his children. (fn. 99)
Trustees, admitted in 1779, (fn. 1) conveyed it to
James Stratten in 1780. (fn. 2) The southern part was
sold in 1787 to William and John Kilbinton (fn. 3) and
Stony Rockfield had been split up for building
by 1835. (fn. 4) Kirby's Castle was sold by Stratten's
executors in 1800 to Thomas Warburton, who
sold part to Samuel Preston Child in 1817.
The rest descended to Thomas's son Dr. John
Warburton (d. 1845) and then to John Abernethy
Warburton (d. 1850), whose trustees obtained
its enfranchisement in 1866. (fn. 5)
A house existed by 1547, when Sir John
Gresham was granted waste to the west of it. (fn. 6) The
'mansion house' was inhabited by Sir Thomas
Grey, who died there, (fn. 7) and by John Walsh. (fn. 8) It
was rebuilt and in 1578 William Fleetwood,
Recorder of London, referred to 'John Kirby
that builded the fair house upon Bethnal
Green'. (fn. 9) It was known as Kirby's Castle by 1592
when leased to Noel de Caron, who was accused
by John Watson of destroying the garden, orchard, and 'fair walk' made of boards and plaster
of Paris; de Caron was more interested in
vegetables. Watson referred to a castle-like
house, its turrets falling into decay. (fn. 10) The garden
was presumably restored by Sir Hugh Platt (d.
1608), the horticulturalist, described in his son's
epitaph of 1637 as 'of Kirby's Castle'. (fn. 11) Platt,
previously at Bishop's Hall, was a lessee but the
owner Sir William Rider was resident in 1663,
when Pepys found 'a fine place', which he
considered 'the very house . . . built by the
blind beggar of Bednall Green'. (fn. 12) Pepys was
among those who stored valuables there during
the Great Fire in 1666. (fn. 13) The house was assessed at 16 hearths, the largest in Bethnal
Green, in 1664, (fn. 14) was known as Bethnal Green
or Bethnal House by 1698, (fn. 15) and depicted in
1703 as having a tower and several gables. (fn. 16) It
had been used as an asylum for many years in
1795, when two turrets at the end of the court
wall were where the blind beggar was said to
have deposited his gains. (fn. 17) A ramshackle
building, it was characterized c. 1800 by numerous gables, tiled roofs, and some
weatherboarding, although most was stuccoed,
and was by then known as the White House. (fn. 18)
Recent repairs in 1816 had uncovered painted
panels and carved chimney pieces. (fn. 19) The Red
House was added to the asylum before 1831 and
another block in 1896. In 1920 the patients were
moved to Salisbury and in 1921 the site was sold
to the M.B., which demolished all the old buildings, only the 1896 block being converted into
Bethnal Green library. (fn. 20)
John Hunt was admitted in 1621 to a copyhold
estate which included a house at Bethnal Green
and 10 a. of pasture near CAMBRIDGE
HEATH, (fn. 21) probably the 10 a. in Rush croft
surrendered by Roger Bramston to William
Rider, haberdasher of London, in 1581. (fn. 22) Hunt's
sons John and Nathaniel succeeded in 1662 (fn. 23)
and soon sold the estate to John Stonier (or
Stonyer). (fn. 24) Ruth, wife of William Assiter
(Ossiter) succeeded under Stonier's will in
1684 (fn. 25) and her son John Assiter under her
will in 1705. (fn. 26) The house, which in 1662
had become a tenement and two cottages,
formerly one called the Wheatsheaf, was sold
to Samuel Holland in 1707 and the 10 a. were
sold to George Leeds in 1711. (fn. 27) Leeds was
a cowkeeper at Dog Row and from at least
1694 leased other land in Bethnal Green. (fn. 28)
He or his son in 1749 left a son George, a
minor who succeeded in 1755 and obtained
enfranchisement in 1774. By will dated 1785
George left all his estates to his widow
Elizabeth, with remainder to his nephew
Richard, who had succeeded by 1798 (fn. 29) and
concluded a a 99-year building lease with Joseph
Brown of Durham Place, Hackney Road, in
1807. After Richard Leeds's death without issue
in 1831, trustees sold most of the estate to John
Joseph Tanner (d. 1873), who sold part to the
Great Eastern Railway in 1871. The rest was put
up for sale in 14 lots by Tanner's trustees in
1887. (fn. 30)
MARKHAMS, originally an open field west
of the green, consisted of several closes before
1620, when the western part belonged to William
Sebright. (fn. 31) The 12 a. to the east, together with
the 'Blind Beggar', formed a copyhold estate,
of which Patrick Roberts held a quarter
from 1653, (fn. 32) Waldrof Lodowick and his wife
Elizabeth half on the surrender of Matthew
Kenrick, Elizabeth's father, from 1654, (fn. 33) and the
daughters of Christopher Bowman a quarter
from 1663. (fn. 34) Roberts surrendered his portion in
1658 to William Haynes, whence it passed in
1659 to William's son Joseph, (fn. 35) in 1669 to
Bridget Haynes, and in 1672 to Joseph Blissett
and his wife Sarah. (fn. 36) Bowman's daughters conveyed their quarter in 1675 to Thomas Coling
and his wife Bridget, with remainder to Bridget's
daughter Sarah and her husband Joseph Blissett. (fn. 37) Blissett's executors succeeded in 1708 and
held on behalf of his descendants, successively
named Joseph. (fn. 38) Lodowick, who probably died
c. 1684, left his share to his wife, with remainder
to his sons Charles and Thomas. Elizabeth
Lodowick had apparently remarried by 1685
when she and David Clarkson were admitted for
life. (fn. 39) David Clarkson's sons David, Matthew,
and Robert were admitted in 1688 (fn. 40) but by
1692 had surrendered their interests to Charles
and Thomas Lodowick. (fn. 41) Thomas Lodowick conveyed part of his lands to Joseph Blissett in
1693 (fn. 42) and Charles Lodowick and Elizabeth
Clarkson, presumably his mother, surrendered
part in 1700. (fn. 43) The rest, a moiety of Markhams,
was left by Charles Lodowick by will dated 1723
to his son Charles, who conveyed it to his sister
Elizabeth and her husband George Streatfield in
1734. (fn. 44) George, a London merchant tailor,
conveyed it to Joseph Blissett in 1748. (fn. 45) The
united estate remained with the Blisset(t) family until it was sold in lots after the death of
the Revd. George Blisset of Hereford in
1889. (fn. 46) Development started with a building
lease of 9 a. to David Wilmot in 1766. (fn. 47)
FULLMORE CLOSE, a long field next to
Dog Row, originated in Foulmere, where
strips of customary land were held in the 14th
and 15th centuries. (fn. 48) By 1652, when called
Mrs. Coleman's land, (fn. 49) it was an 8-a. copyhold. In 1656 it was divided between John and
Robert (I) Coleman. John left his moiety to his
widow Elizabeth, who was admitted in 1662.
Elizabeth Dallock, probably their daughter,
succeeded in 1690 (fn. 50) and in 1694, when wife
of Robert Allan, she conveyed it to Robert
Coleman. (fn. 51) The other moiety was divided on
Robert Coleman (I)'s death in 1665 between
his sons Robert (II) and Stephen. Robert (II)'s
son Robert (III) succeeded in 1672 to his
father's 2 a. (fn. 52) which he settled in 1699 on
himself and his wife Anne, with remainder to
his son Robert (IV). (fn. 53) The whole estate was
reunited by 1712, Robert (III) having purchased
the first 4 a. in 1694 and Stephen Coleman's
2 a. in 1712. (fn. 54) Robert (IV), who had apparently
succeeded by 1735 when he made a marriage
settlement for his son John, died in 1745. Robert
(IV)'s son Henry inherited his moiety (4 a.) and
2 a. of John's moiety as heir to his childless
brother. The other 2 a., under the settlement of
1735, passed to John's widow Martha. (fn. 55) In 1755
Martha, by then Martha Banfield, conveyed her
2 a., at the northern end of the estate, to William
Fortescue during her life (fn. 56) and between 1775 and
1821 they passed to Brown, the holder in 1835. (fn. 57)
In 1750 Henry Coleman's widow Catherine was
admitted to John's other 2 a. and in 1755 she
and her husband Harry Drake conveyed them
to Isaac Coxe, (fn. 58) who sold them in 1759 to
Anthony Malpas (d. 1777). (fn. 59) His son Anthony
conveyed them in 1778 to Edward Barnard, (fn. 60)
who already held the southern 4 a. which had
passed from Henry Coleman to John Nickleson
in 1749, (fn. 61) from Nickleson's widow Sarah to
Joshua Thomas in 1764, (fn. 62) and to Edward Barnard in 1767. (fn. 63) The combined 6 a. were sold in
1818 to William Green, builder, of Brick Lane, (fn. 64)
and owned by Elizabeth Green in 1841. (fn. 65)
A copyhold estate of c. 24 a., mainly inclosed
pieces of EASTFIELD, (fn. 66) was held in 1655 by
William Pyott, who surrendered it to his father
Richard Pyott of Streethay (Staffs.). (fn. 67) In 1658
Richard surrendered it to Francis Andrews and
his wife Susanna, (fn. 68) whose daughter Susanna,
wife of James Grunwin, succeeded under her
mother's will in 1683. (fn. 69) Under Susanna Grunwin's
will, James Grunwin was admitted in 1690 with
remainder to Francis Grunwin, (fn. 70) who sold the
estate in 1715 to John Walker, who sold it in
1718 to Sir Edward Gould and his
wife Frances. (fn. 71) Under Sir Edward's will of 1724,
the estate passed to his widow for life, with
remainder in tail male. His great-nephew Edward Thorston Gould, who succeeded in 1769,
sold the estate in 1771 to Charles Digby, father
and son, of Mile End. They sought enfranchisement in 1772 and sold the land in parcels for
building in 1790. (fn. 72)
In 1668 Ursula Cock or Cox acquired 24 a. of
copyhold in four closes (GOOSEFIELDS and
Burton field) on the north-eastern borders of
Bethnal Green from Sir Thomas Byde of Ware
Park (Herts.). All but 6 a. had been recently
purchased by Byde from Robert and Ann Sweet;
the 6 a. had been bought from John Meure or
Meare. (fn. 73) Robert Haughton or Horton of
Shoreditch, Ursula's nephew, succeeded under
her will in 1687 (fn. 74) and conveyed the estate in 1700
to Col. Joseph Jorey. (fn. 75) In 1703 the estate formed
a single field called Hortons field. (fn. 76) It descended
to Frances Foche and in 1748 to George
Hodges. (fn. 77) In the settlement of 1750 Hodges
secured Goosefields in return for surrendering
his interest in Kirby's Castle. (fn. 78) In 1753 he
conveyed Goosefields to Alexander Mackrabie
and John Nightingale (fn. 79) who conveyed it in 1754
to Stephen Leach of Bread Street (Lond.). (fn. 80) In
1772, as two fields, it passed to Stephen's sons
Thomas and Samuel, both linen drapers, (fn. 81) who
obtained enfranchisement. (fn. 82) The estate was
occupied by Richard Monksfield and probably
owned by Robert Withers in 1780 and occupied
by Thomas Hollingshead in 1794 and by Samuel
Ridge in 1800, when the owner may have been
Hobson. (fn. 83) William Hobson was the owner in
1831. (fn. 84) William Bradshaw had 15 a. c. 1840,
when 7 a. in the north formed part of an estate
mostly in Hackney, owned by the Polish and
Portugese Jews. Both estates were absorbed into
Victoria Park. (fn. 85)
Between Bishop's Hall and Goosefields lay
some 10 a., part of the Cass estate in Hackney. (fn. 86)
Two small copyhold estates bordering
Shoreditch were important in the building
history of Bethnal Green. The AUSTEN estate
existed by 1550 when John Austen's lands near
Collier's Lane abutted the demesne. (fn. 87) In 1582
Richard Austen, monier of Hoxton, was licensed to lease land abutting south on
Crabtree Lane. (fn. 88) Thomas Austen's land abutted demesne land in the area in 1652. (fn. 89) On
Thomas's death in 1658 his copyholds, then a
house, two cottages, and 4 a. of garden and
pasture, were divided between his sons
Thomas and Robert, both minors. (fn. 90) He left
money to St. Leonard's, Shoreditch, which was
used in 1671 and 1674 to purchase ½ a. next to
the churchyard from the two sons. (fn. 91) In 1674
Robert surrendered the rest of his moiety to
Thomas (fn. 92) , who was licensed in 1675 to lease
3 a. bounded east and south by the estates of
Thomas Willett (Fitches) and Snow (below)
respectively. (fn. 93) Thomas Austen moved to South
Mimms and by will proved 1701 left the copyhold estate to his eldest son (later Sir John
Austen, Bt.) (d. 1742) and other lands to his
younger son Thomas. (fn. 94) Austen's name was not
recorded in 1703, probably because the land was
either garden ground, leased since 1683 to John
Sharp and Daniel Brown, (fn. 95) or built-up. In 1740
Sir John Austen settled the estate on himself
for life, then successively on Mary Wright and
Peter Storer. (fn. 96) Storer held it in 1751 and by
will proved 1759 left it to his sister Martha, wife
of William Baker. (fn. 97) Martha was succeeded in 1775
by her son Peter William Baker, (fn. 98) who paid a
quitrent of 1s. 10d. for the copyholds in Castle and
Austin streets and 4s. 10d. for 2 a. enfranchised,
part of 6 a. (recte 4 a.). (fn. 99) In 1788 Baker conveyed
the whole estate, including 112 houses in Austin
and Castle streets, bounded by Shoreditch churchyard, Cock Lane and Kemp (Snow) and
Gascoigne (Fitches) estates, to Benjamin Godfrey of Bishopsgate Street, (fn. 1) who had leased it since
the death in 1758 of his uncle Dr. Benjamin
Godfrey, the lessee since 1736. (fn. 2) Edward William
Windus (d. 1832), admitted to the copyhold estate
under Godfrey's will in 1813, (fn. 3) sold part for the
enlargement of Shoreditch burial ground in 1824 (fn. 4)
and left the rest to his son Benjamin Godfrey
Windus. (fn. 5) It was split up in 1863 among 6 or 7
people, of whom the chief were Edward Bird
Wearing, Henry Frederick Wearing, and George
Trist. Most of the Wearings' portion was enfranchised from 1873. (fn. 6) James Bishop, who acquired
part of Trist's portion in 1880 and Edward
Wearing's in 1883, enfranchised them in 1935
and 1931 respectively. (fn. 7)
The SNOW copyhold estate, south of Austens,
was held in 1652 by Mrs. Joan Noble (fn. 8) and
possibly in 1640 by Thomas Noble, then
headborough for Bethnal Green. (fn. 9) In 1664 she
conveyed two tenements, 1 a. 1 r. adjoining their
gardens, 1 a. (le Homestall), and a parcel of land
(Pickfield) to Thomas and Elizabeth Snow. (fn. 10) On
Thomas's death in 1665 Elizabeth inherited two
tenements and 1 a. 1 r. 'lately made into a garden'
near Halliwell Street and 3 a. 'in Stepney' converted to a garden and two tenements. (fn. 11) She
conveyed the two tenements and 2 a. 1 r. near
Halliwell Street in 1666 to Richard Turville and
on her death in 1686 the 3 a. and three tenements
were divided into three portions among her
descendants. (fn. 12) The tenements had disappeared
by 1693 when Turville was succeeded by his son
George, (fn. 13) who was in turn succeeded in 1730 by
his sons George (d. 1735), Lytrott (d. 1731), and
William. (fn. 14) By 1735 when the Turville estate was
reunited, it consisted of 9 tenements and 2 a. in
Cock Lane. (fn. 15) William Turville conveyed it in
1741 (fn. 16) to Ellen Turville (d. 1769), whose nephews William Halhead and John Caswell succeeded
as tenants in common. In 1789 Nathaniel Brassey
Halhead, Robert William Halhead, and John Halhead were admitted in trust under the will of
William Halhead. (fn. 17) Part of the land, bounded
west by Cock Lane, south by Nichol Street and
north by the rest of Snow's estate (fn. 18) , was represented by New Turville Street; part to the east
was represented by Turville Street. (fn. 19)
The rest of Elizabeth Snow's estate was divided in 1686, one third each to her daughters
Anne Harford and Elizabeth West, and one
third between her grandsons Edward, John, and
Thomas Kemp. (fn. 20) Anne sold her share in 1687
to Thomas Dawbane, (fn. 21) who was succeeded in
1720 by his son Thomas, (fn. 22) and Elizabeth left
hers to James Dawbane in 1723. (fn. 23) The Kemp
brothers' third was united in the hands of John
Kemp in 1693, (fn. 24) whose sons Thomas and Matthew succeeded in 1754. (fn. 25) A quitrent of 2s. 4d.
for a copyhold 'garden behind Shoreditch church'
was paid in 1747 by Mrs. Kemp and in 1755
and 1775 by Kemp and Hill. (fn. 26) The estate, north
of Turville's portion and south of Austens, (fn. 27)
was presumably that depicted in 1703 as
Kemp's garden. (fn. 28) Thomas Kemp ran it as a
garden in 1789 (fn. 29) and 1800 (fn. 30) but 73 houses had
been built there by 1810. (fn. 31) In 1814 Thomas and
John Kemp sold the 3 a. to George Woolley
of Hollywell Street (fn. 32) but the estate had
presumably split up by 1821 when the quitrent was divided among George Woolley, who
paid 1s. 4d., and Samuel Martin, William Atkinson, and John C. Hodgson, who each paid 4d. (fn. 33)
G. J. Woolley owned the largest section in 1891,
when the estate was included in the Boundary
Street scheme. (fn. 34)