Records of FORSTER ESTATE

These records relate to property within the Borough of Lewisham which at one time was part of the estates owned by the Forster family. This family also owned property in Kent, Exbury and Hants.

These records, which chiefly comprise of deeds to property, mainly residential, cover the period 1810-1973. They are arranged in two sections. Both sections are arranged alphabetically by street name, then by the house number, if applicable. Where several records relate to one property, chronological order is then used. Records relating to mills, farms and other categories which would not fit neatly into the above order, are to be found after the street listings. The second section, which is composed of records, which were not listed with the bulk of the archive, is arranged on identical lines. The numbers they have been allocated follow on from the numbers for the records of the same street in the first section.

The following items were received from Messrs Simmonds, Church and Smiles in 17 March 1993.

As a result of being substantial landowners to the south of Lewisham, enclosure between 1810 and 1819 enabled them to acquire much of Sydenham, before proceeding to purchase land further northwards as the century progressed.

Baron Henry William Forster (1866-1936), was the last surviving male heir. His two sons had been killed in the Great War, and in memory of them, he presented Lewisham Metropolitan Council with thirteen acres of land in 1919 to form the Forster Memorial Park. On his death, these estates passed to his son in law, John William Beaumont, later 1st Baron Wardington, who had married his eldest daughter, the Hon. Dorothy Charlotte, in 1923. The estate was then administered by the Forster Estate Development Company. Subsequently, property in the Catford area, Westwood Hill, Jew's Walk, Kirkdale, amongst others, has been sold. Hence some of the properties to which these deeds relate are still held by the Forster Trust, as the Estate was renamed.