The Butterwalk,
Mrs L. Walton
Wstbourne
4 Vicarage Hill 9/28/2004
Dear Mrs Walton,
Your query to the Museum for any information about the
history of your house has been passed to me, and I enclose a summary of what is
available in documents in my possession.
The best way to find out the sequence of owners is to
consult the deeds of the house, which you say are with your
solicitors. When Miss Roberts lived
there she kindly allowed me to see the earliest deeds and I made notes on them,
a summary of which I attach. I did not see anything after 1905. If you wish I would be pleased to go
through the later deeds and “interpret” them for you as the legal language is
rather daunting to laymen but I am used to it, having seen hundreds of these
documents in the course of researching the history of
The second source of information are
the Directories which came out every few years (at irregular intervals) in the
19th and early 20th centuries. These
list private residents alphabetically, then tradesmen. If one does not know the surname it is
difficult to find a particular house name as one has to look through all
the entries. There is also the
possibility that the house name has been changed. However, I attach a list of what I have
discovered.
The third source of information is the Census
returns. I have copies at home of those
of 1861, 1881 and 1891, the latest published.
In the 1861 census I could find no reference to Westbourne, and as I was
not sure of the name of the then owner I could not trace it. However I attach copies of the 1881 and 1891
entries which are of interest as showing the complete family living there at
that time.
The fourth source of information is living memory of
local people, which
I gather you already have tried from your stories about wine cellars and
doctors’ parking places. You should
persevere with these enquiries. I can
only confirm that Mrs F. Cawthorne remembers several
doctors over the last 70 years.
I hope this will be helpful. I do not charge for what I do, but the Museum
is always grateful for donations to its funds!
Yours sincerely,
Ray Freeman
SUMMARY OF DEEDS OF WESTBOURNE
1. 1764 Conveyance from
1. Arthur Holdsworth, late of Opporto
now of
to 2.
Robert Holdsworth of
Description:
Garden situateed in
between: the lands of Edward Yarde,
afterwards Thom. Roope, on the west parte,
the King’s
highway on the north parte,
the lands of
Nicholas Adams, now Robert Gallop on the east parte,
And also another garden situated
near
Julian his wife of whom Arthur Holdsworth aforesaid purchased same. The last
mentioned
garden is bounded with:
- the beforementioned garden on the east parte,
- Newport Street on the south parte
- the lane
leading to
Which said two gardenss are now converted into one garden and are now in
the possession
of William Hunt of
.. paying
1 peppercorn rent to Arthur Holdsworth.
2. (Similar Document, not summarised here)
3. 1840 Lease for year between 1.
Elizabeth Holdsworth, wid., only child &
heiress of Robert
Holdsworth, deceased., and Arthur Hunt, of the first part
and
2. Henry Perryman, builder, of
the other part.
Consideration: Five shillings to each of first part.
Description: Piece of ground formerly two gardens but
sometime converted into one,
situated
in
length
from east to west on the south boundary including the small piece
of
ground above mentioned 112 ft,
and
in breadth, north to south on eastern side 54 ft,
bounded
on east by garden late of William Cholwich Hunt,
deceased,
on
south by
on
north and sest by the hill leading to
4. 1803 Copy of Will of
Mary Hunt, widow,
conveying above property to son William C. Hunt.
5. 1840 Conveyance of
property described in 3 to Henry Perryman for £120 in fee simple [i.e. freehold]
[Note by RF:
A common legal fiddle then to avoid tax was for a would-be purchaser
to take a lease for one year of the property, at
a nominal rent such as 5/-, and then,
as occupier, he could buy
it in fee simple without paying the usual stamp duty. Nothing changes!]
6. 1840 Henry Perryman
mortgages the property to Arthur Bailey Harris for £150.
[A.B. Harris was a merchant, shipowner and banker.
He was on the Councill
and
was mayor 1844-5] His bank was in
7. 1840 Henry Perryman takes a
further mortgage of £150 from A. B. Harris:
- “Whereas H. Perryman has erected a dwelling house on part of the
said garden.”
8. 1841, Aug. Henry
Perryman takes a further mortgage of £50 from A. B. Harris.
9. 1859, Oct. Arthur
White Ford takes over mortgage on above property of dwelling house
and
garden, from A. B. Harris - mortgage £350.
10 1905 Abstract
of Title. [not fully
recorded by RF]
Mention lease from A.B. Harris to
Vincent.
SUMMARY OF ENTRIES IN DIRECTORIES, 1844-1939.
[The problem was that
Perryman was not listed as living in the house in any of the early directories,
and he may only have been the builder.
No one else was listed in the house either, and it is possible that it
had another name. Arthur B. Harris was
technically the owner, as holding the mortgage, but he is always listed as
living in Rose Villa.(later
1844 (Pigot) No Perryman. No
Westbourne. A.B.
Harris in Rose Villa.
1850 (White) No Perryman. No Westbourne. A.B. Harris in Rose Villa.
1856 (P.O. Directory) “ “ “ “
“ “ “
1866 (P.O. )
Charles Vincent lives in Westbourne.
[He was an Estate Agent and had various
public jobs.]
1869 (P.O.)
Charles Vincent
in Westbourne
1870 (Morris)
Charles Vincent at “New Road”. No Westbourne
1873 (P.O.) Mrs Vincent in Westbourne.
Dr. Davson at
1878 (White)
Percy Hockin, solicitor, in Westbourne. [ He was also Town Clerk.]
1881 CENSUS
See separate printout. Percy Hockin in Westbourne.
1883 (Kelly) Charles Luxmore
Hockin, son of Percy, in Westbourne.
1890 (Kelly) Dr. Davson in
Westbourne.
1891 CENSUS
See separate printout for Dr. Davson in
Westbourne.
1897 (Kelly)
Thomas Whiteway Eales
in Westbourne. [Dr. Davson in
[A magistrate
for
1902 (Kelly) Thomas Whiteway
Eales in Westbourne.
1914 (Kelly) Dr. J. H. Harris in Westbourne. [Medical officer of Health for
1919 (Kelly) “
“ “
1923 (Kelly) “ “ “
1930 (Kelly) “ “ “
1939 (Kelly) Dr. John Gunn Warren, B.A. Cantab.,
B. Ch. in Westbourne.
[I have no more
Directories available. Mrs. Frankie Cawthorne remembers Dr. Warren (above) and after him
Dr. Green, then Dr. Aucutt
as living at the house. Miss Roberts
was the owner after Dr. Aucutt.]