Ealing and Brentford: Other estates

OTHER ESTATES.

At Castlebar Hill Richard Barenger in 1423 held c. 90 a. of copyhold, including 53 a. called Absdonsland, to which Simon Barenger was admitted in 1560. (fn. 1) Absdonsland, then 72 a., passed in turn to Anne Perrott and her son Thomas, who surrendered it in 1574 to Christopher Rythe, (fn. 2) by whom it was settled in 1585 on Joan Southcott, widow. (fn. 3) Edward More surrendered it in 1627 to his wife Philippa, who settled it in 1641 on his son John. (fn. 4) The estate was acquired from George and Rebecca Lamplowe by Sir William Bateman, the purchaser of other property in Ealing, in 1650 and descended in 1664 from Bateman's widow to his son Sir William, (fn. 5) whose youngest son Charles settled it on his son William in 1719. (fn. 6) It descended in turn to William Bateman (d. c. 1797) and his children William (d. 1820) and Mary Bateman (d. 1833), all three of them lunatics, (fn. 7) and included 160 a. in Ealing when it was disputed among Mary's heirs. (fn. 8) Francis Swinden bought out other claimants in 1854, with a view to leasing the estate for building. (fn. 9) The threestoreyed mansion, called Castlebar House or CASTLEBAR PARK in 1824, (fn. 10) stood on the south side of Castlebar Hill. First mentioned in 1641, (fn. 11) it was difficult to let by 1818 (fn. 12) and dilapidated in 1855, when Swinden allowed for its demolition in a lease. (fn. 13) Among tenants were Isabella Cunningham, countess of Glencairn (d. 1796), in 1806, (fn. 14) Lt.-Gen. Sir Frederick Augustus Wetherall (1754-1842) in 1818, and Sir Jonathan Miles in 1819. (fn. 15)

A forerunner of Castle Hill Lodge, north of Castlebar Hill, was sold by Charles Gould in 1763 to Capt. James Cusack. In 1764 it was acquired by John Scott, (fn. 16) who combined 5 freehold closes and 10 a. leased from the Isleworth charity trustees (fn. 17) to form an estate of c. 27 a. The house had been enlarged or rebuilt by c. 1773, (fn. 18) when the estate was bought by Francis Burdett. During the tenure of the Burdetts, Stebbing Shaw (1762-1802), topographer, was tutor there to the politician Sir Francis Burdett, Bt. (1770- 1844). (fn. 19) In 1791 the house was bought by Henry Beaufoy (d. 1795), who improved it and whose brother sold it in 1795 to Mrs. Maria FitzHerbert (1756-1837), (fn. 20) morganatic wife of the prince of Wales. (fn. 21) She sold it in 1801 to Edward Augustus, Duke of Kent (1767-1820), (fn. 22) who called it CASTLE HILL LODGE and commissioned improvements by Wyatt (fn. 23) but lived elsewhere from 1812. (fn. 24) After attempted sales in 1820 and 1827 the estate was bought in 1829 by Gen. Sir F. A. Wetherall, the duke's former aide-decamp. (fn. 25) The general's son, Adm. Frederick Augustus Wetherall (d. 1856), was succeeded by his son Frederick Henry Pakenham Wetherall, (fn. 26) the house being leased from 1856 to Henry Austin. (fn. 27) The property was called the Kent House estate in 1870, when F. H. P. Wetherall sold the house to Thomas Harrison and the rest of the land to Alfred Prest, Ebenezer J. Pearce, and Charles Jones, for building. (fn. 28) Some of the land was later bought by Harrison, who sold it in 1880 to the British Land Co. (fn. 29)

Two-storeyed and in the Grecian style, Castle Hill Lodge was long and low in 1816, when its principal, north, front featured an Ionic portico beneath a pediment. Lacking woodland and water, it was considered a pleasant but not a firstclass seat. (fn. 30) Fittings were sold in 1820 and further materials were removed in 1827. (fn. 31) No house apparently survived in 1840 but a new one had been built by 1845. (fn. 32) As Kent House it was still occupied by Henry Gibbons in 1890 and 1908, (fn. 33) becoming St. David's Home in 1918. (fn. 34)

Gen. Wetherall, tenant of the Batemans' seat until 1818, (fn. 35) in 1817 bought the lease and in 1824 the freehold of CASTLEBAR HOUSE, east of Castlebar Hill and newly built in 1790 when leased by John Wey to Richard Meux (d. 1813), brewer. (fn. 36) In 1840 Wetherall held c. 47 a. of freehold, copyhold, and leasehold, (fn. 37) including Castle Hill Lodge. The residue passed to his son Gen. Sir George Augustus Wetherall (1788- 1868), who devised it to his sons Maj.-Gen. Sir Edward Wetherall (d. 1869) and the Revd. A. W. Wetherall, the second of whom intended to sell it in 1870. (fn. 38) Castlebar House belonged to Mr. Bartholomew in 1897, when it was acquired as a Benedictine monastery. It was used as a girls' school successively by Visitation nuns, by nuns of the Holy Child Jesus 1901-10, and by Augustinian nuns 1912-15. In 1976 it was a Roman Catholic men's club and youth club. The principal front of the classical 18th-century house had faced the garden and only three bays had faced the road until c. 1830, when an extension by two bays gave an asymmetrical appearance. (fn. 39)

John Twyford settled three customary tenements and two crofts on his daughter Isabel and her husband Richard Hayward in 1456. (fn. 40) Their daughter Isabel married Thomas Clavell, who held most of the estate in 1492. (fn. 41) It descended to his grandson John Clavell, on whom his greatgrandmother Isabel Hayward settled a homestead and croft in 1518 (fn. 42) and whose coheirs in 1547 were his three sisters Agnes Alderton, later Hore, Elizabeth Cogges, and Alice, later wife of John Living. (fn. 43) Following Elizabeth's death without issue, her sisters sold the estate of c. 160 a. in 1584 to William, later Sir William, Fleetwood, recorder of London, (fn. 44) who in 1588 sold it to Edward Boteler, (fn. 45) who as Sir Edward Boteler of Birchanger (Essex), settled copyhold property on his son John and his wife Jane in 1608. (fn. 46) Probably it was the house and 156 a. called Botelers farm near Drayton Green and Drayton Lane, which they surrendered in 1610 to the lawyer John, later Sir John, Walter (1566-1630). (fn. 47) Sir John's youngest son David was admitted in 1635 (fn. 48) and lived in DRAYTON HOUSE at the north end of Drayton Green. (fn. 49) The estate descended to Sir William Walter, Bt. (d. 1694). In 1698, in accordance with his will, Botelers farm was settled on his second wife Mary and their son Robert, later Sir Robert (d. 1731). (fn. 50) It passed to John Mead, to his widow Jane, and then to his son John, whose grandson Grantham Mead, merchant of London, was admitted in 1712. (fn. 51) Mead surrendered Botelers farm in 1747 to King Gould, (fn. 52) who held at least 225 a. of copyhold and Pitshanger manor at his death in 1756. His son Charles (fn. 53) sold Botelers farm with Pitshanger to Thomas Gurnell in 1765 but retained land west of Northfield Avenue and a house at Little Ealing, (fn. 54) which may however have been Coldhall manor house and leased out. (fn. 55)

PLACE HOUSE, Little Ealing Lane, was reputedly sequestrated as recusants' property during the Interregnum (fn. 56) and had nine hearths in 1664. (fn. 57) It belonged to John Loving (d. 1693) and descended to his son and namesake, who successfully asserted his claim to a pew in Ealing church and his independence of Coldhall manor in 1693. (fn. 58) In 1729 Loving sold the house to Sir Richard Ellis, Bt. (d. 1742), (fn. 59) whose widow Sarah sold 33 a. of copyhold to King Gould before her marriage in 1745 to Sir Francis Dashwood, Bt., later Lord Le Despenser (d. 1781). (fn. 60) The Dashwoods either sold the house or let it on a 1,000-year lease in 1746 to Richard, later Sir Richard, Lyttelton, who in 1760 with his wife Rachel, dowager duchess of Bridgwater, assigned the lease to Francis Greville, Earl Brooke and earl of Warwick (d. 1773), (fn. 61) who assigned it in 1765 to Lord James Manners. (fn. 62) In 1765 and 1777 the tenant of at least part of the estate was the statesman Thomas Thynne, Viscount Weymouth and later marquess of Bath (1734-96). (fn. 63) Manners sold the estate in 1789 to Cuthbert Fisher, (fn. 64) whose widow was owner in 1811, when the estate had been renamed EALING PARK. (fn. 65) Mrs. Fisher was succeeded by 1824 by her husband's devisee Jacob Jeddere, who took the name Fisher (fn. 66) and had died by 1834. (fn. 67) In 1840 Ealing Park belonged to the surgeon William Lawrence, later a baronet (1783-1867), whose 89-a. estate lay mainly between Boston Road, Little Ealing Lane, and Ealing Road (fn. 68) and whose wife Louisa Trevor (d. 1855), a leading social figure, made the gardens. (fn. 69) After her death Ealing Park was leased by 1863 to J. Wainright, and then to James Budgett, before its sale by Sir Trevor Lawrence, Bt. (d. 1913). (fn. 70) Acquired in part in 1882 by the British Land Co., (fn. 71) much of the grounds had been built over by 1898, when the house was a convent of the Ladies of Nazareth; (fn. 72) by 1912 it was a convent of the Sisters of Charity. (fn. 73) Built in the late 18th century and soon extended, the house is two-storeyed and of nine bays, with a pedimented central projection and, on the east front, a single-storeyed Ionic colonnade. (fn. 74)

The ELM GROVE estate, earlier called Hicks on the Heath, lay on the west of Ealing common, of which it may once have been part. A copyhold toft and 20 a. of woodland called Hickes atte Hethe, late of Richard atte Hethe, were leased in 1458 to John Merryweather and others, who immediately assigned them to Thomas and Henry Frowyk. (fn. 75) The estate apparently descended with Gunnersbury until Henry Frowyk's death in 1520, when it reverted to the lord, who farmed it in 1520 to John Basset. (fn. 76) In 1578 Christopher Rythe held Hickes atte Hethe, which he surrendered in 1584 to Joan Southcott, with Abdonsland. (fn. 77) It belonged in 1613 to Edward More (fn. 78) and in 1667 to Thomas Talbot, (fn. 79) who surrendered it in 1670 to Sarah Baker of Holborn. (fn. 80) Robert Newdigate, admitted in 1677, (fn. 81) was succeeded in 1684 by Sir William Trumbull (1639-1716), Secretary of State, who leased it c. 1688 to the lawyer and politician Dr., later Sir Charles, Hedges (d. 1714) (fn. 82) and sold it in 1696 to Samuel Cox. (fn. 83) In 1721 the Hon. George Watson was owner or occupier, (fn. 84) between 1730 and 1753 it belonged to Charles Scholes, (fn. 85) and in 1764 William Turner surrendered it to Anne Cotesworth. (fn. 86) She surrendered it in 1769 to William Birch, (fn. 87) who had let it by 1777 to Dr. John Egerton, bishop of Durham (1721-87), to whom he surrendered it next year. (fn. 88) The bishop's son John Egerton sold it in 1787 to Frederick Augustus Barnard, (fn. 89) who sold it in 1795 to George Kinnaird, Lord Kinnaird (d. 1805). Kinnaird devised it to his wife Elizabeth (d. 1806), who devised it to their daughters, several of whom were minors. Under an Act of 1808 the estate, described as the mansion called Elm Grove and 35 a., was sold (fn. 90) to Spencer Perceval (1762-1812), prime minister, on whose assassination it was held by his widow Jane, who later married Sir Henry Carr. In 1821 the estate was settled on Lady Carr and her son Spencer Perceval (d. 1859), (fn. 91) and on Lady Carr's death in 1864 it passed to her daughter-in-law Anna Elizabeth Perceval, who enfranchised it. (fn. 92) The house was occupied by Dr. W. R. Vines as a boys' school c. 1861, (fn. 93) by the Revd. Charles Scott in 1864, (fn. 94) and by the Royal India Asylum 1870- 92. (fn. 95) After Leopold de Rothschild had bought the estate for building, Elm Grove was demolished in 1894. (fn. 96) The house, first mentioned in 1696, (fn. 97) was improved by Frederick Barnard (fn. 98) and was a large, plain, stuccoed building of three storeys and attics. (fn. 99)

From 1734 Thomas Barratt of Old Brentford (d. 1762) (fn. 100) was building up a substantial copyhold estate on both sides of Boston and Ealing roads, mainly from open field strips. In 1760 he settled some on his daughter Anne and her husband Thomas Edwards, later Sir Thomas Edwardes, Bt. (d. 1790), and by will dated 1760 left the rest to Anne and her issue. On Sir Thomas's death all descended to his daughter Ellen Hester Mary (d. 1836) (fn. 101) and in 1794 was settled on her and her husband John Thomas Hope. (fn. 102) In 1840 J. T. Hope held 155 a., mainly at Brentford but some north of Haven Green. (fn. 103) Part was enfranchised in 1849 and 1851, when the tenant for life was Frederick Hope. (fn. 104)

The adjoining houses and estates of EALING HOUSE and EALING GROVE, east of St. Mary's Road, originated in the freehold and copyhold capital messuage and house held in 1593 by Joan, widow of William Frost. (fn. 105) Following her marriage to Matthew Grey, Joan sold her estate in 1598 to Thomas Soame, (fn. 106) who was admitted in 1605 to the copyhold estate consisting of Crowchmans tenement, Cooper's homestead, and 55 a. (fn. 107) A second house already stood on an adjoining orchard by 1616, when a wall was erected around it, (fn. 108) suggesting, with later evidence, (fn. 109) that it was the future Ealing House and that Crowchmans was the future Ealing Grove. The two houses probably descended in the Soame family until the Interregnum, when they were divided.

Ealing House, already so called, and c. 40 a., including land leased from the rector, were sold in 1657 by John Wadlowe and other Londoners to Sir John Barkstead, (fn. 110) whose widow in 1663 surrendered the estate to Nicholas Bonfoy, merchant of London. (fn. 111) On the death of Bonfoy's widow, their son Hugh was admitted in 1691 and surrendered it to Richard Lascelles, goldsmith of London. (fn. 112) In 1715 William Kingsford and Joseph Denys sold the estate to the lawyer Sir James Montagu (1666-1723) (fn. 113) whose widow sold it in 1724 to Sir Thomas Gery, master in Chancery. (fn. 114) Gery's widow sold it to Nathaniel Oldham of Holborn, (fn. 115) who conveyed it in 1735 to Thomas Bale, (fn. 116) who sold it in 1747 to Hugh Bethel. Hugh's brother Alderman Slingsby Bethel was admitted in 1748 (fn. 117) and sold it in 1751 to Richard Coope, (fn. 118) who surrendered it in 1753 to Lt.-Gen. John Huske (1692?-1761). Huske, who died there, (fn. 119) devised it to William Adair, who devised it in 1780 to trustees. (fn. 120) In 1803 it was acquired for Anne, dowager countess of Galloway, who released it in 1813 to Col. Patrick Douglas. (fn. 121) He sold it in 1817, probably to Mason Gerard Streetford, (fn. 122) and in 1830 William Johnson surrendered it to his brother John (d. 1848), who devised it to his widow for sale. Bought in 1851 by Ambrose Brown of London and Robert Shorter of Ealing, (fn. 123) it belonged in 1860 to the Ragged School trust. (fn. 124) Ealing House had a gatehouse by 1657 and was of brick, containing two storeys with projecting mullioned windows and attics in a steeply pitched roof, in 1795, before alterations. (fn. 125)

Ealing Grove, formerly Crowchmans tenement, adjoined Ealing House to the north and Grove Road to the south. It was leased from 1608 to Sir William Fleetwood (fn. 126) and later to John Maynard. In 1657 Sir Thomas Soame and his eldest son Stephen surrendered it, another house, and 27 a. to Joseph and Sarah Wadlowe, who surrendered it in 1675 to Robert Welstead, goldsmith of London. (fn. 127) The soldier Richard Savage, Earl Rivers, lived at Ealing Grove for several years and died there in 1712, (fn. 128) leaving it to his illegitimate daughter Bessy, wife of Frederick Nassau de Zuylestein, earl of Rochford, owner in 1722. (fn. 129) Their son Richard Savage Nassau sold it in 1746, probably in trust for Sir Hildebrand Jacob. (fn. 130) Mary Swift and Amy Peters were admitted to the copyhold estate in 1750 and Capt. Edward Hughes, R.N., in 1754; Hughes and Charles Guild conveyed the estate in 1755 to Joseph Gulston, M.P. (d. 1766), (fn. 131) whose son Joseph (1744?-86), the collector, sold Ealing Grove to George Spencer, duke of Marlborough (d. 1817), in 1775. (fn. 132) It was bought from him by John Campbell, duke of Argyll (d. 1806), who sold it in 1791 to James Baillie (d. 1793). Baillie devised Ealing Grove to his wife Colin for life, but she immediately conveyed it to their eldest son Alexander. (fn. 133) The tenant from 1799 to 1802 was Edward Harley, earl of Oxford (d. 1848). (fn. 134) Under an Act of 1805 the estate, described as a mansion house and 64 a., (fn. 135) was sold by 1811 to Charles Wyatt, still the owner in 1845. (fn. 136) The house was converted into an Italianate villa, at great expense, by Joseph Gulston the younger (fn. 137) and c. 1800 was a three-storeyed classical mansion of nine bays, with a pedimented central projection, set among trees. (fn. 138)