DEEDS OF BRIGHTON AND UCKFIELD

These documents, with others relating to Staplehurst and Sutton Vallence in Kent, formed lot 415 in the Hamptons of Goldalming sale of 29 June 1994. No link can be discerned between the three titles which are represented, but research on the later descent of the properties might reveal a connection

Deeds of property in Princes Street, Brighton, [1785]-1827

Land in Brighton was sold by Thomas Kemp to Stephen Gourd and his trustee William Tuppen on 22 & 23 Jul 1785, mortgaged and subsequently sold to Richard Eldridge on 30 Oct 1794. Eldridge mortgaged to William Borrer and to Joseph Molineux, Thomas Johnson and John Bray Cater in 1795. In 1800 Adam Maiben and his wife Elizabeth, perhaps the widow of Richard Eldridge, mortgaged the land to George Grantham. This information is based on a list of deeds subject to a covenant for production (3)

By deeds of 15 & 16 May 1818 to which George Grantham, basketmaker, Edward Martin, draper, Elizabeth Holland, widow, Robert Maiben, gent, Charles Maiben, gent, Sarah Maiben, spinster, William Borrer, esq, Thomas Johnston, gent, John Bray Cater, gent, Richard Hurly, gent and Thomas Beard, gent were parties, land in Brighton was conveyed to William Maiben and his trustee Henry Bellingham, gent (2)

On 19 & 20 Aug 1818, Maiben mortgaged the estate for £1500 to Joseph Allen, a major in the Royal West York militia. Maiben again mortgaged the property for £500 to Mary Skeggs, spinster, on 21 & 22 May 1821, with a further charge of £500 on 1 Dec 1825. A commission of bankruptcy was awarded against Maiben (described as of Brighton, stable-keeper and corn-chandler) on 12 May 1826 to Thomas Partington and John Moore, esqs, Charles Cobby, Thomas Crosweller the younger and William Penfold the younger, gents. By a deed of 3 Jun 1826 enrolled in Chancery, the commissioners assigned Maiben's estate to William Wigney the younger of Brighton, brewer, and Thomas Palmer of Brighton, ironmonger. Joseph Allen and Mary Skeggs reconveyed the estate to the assignees on the payment of their respective mortgages on 27 & 28 Apr 1827 (2)

Maiben's estate was auctioned at the York Hotel, Brighton on 19 Dec 1826, and lots five and six purchased by Thomas Ridley Whittle of Brighton, auctioneer and Thomas Freeman of Brighton, gent, for £740. They subsequently sold to Robert Taylor of Brighton, gent, for £735, and a conveyance was executed to Taylor and his trustee William Brummell of Connaught Terrace, Mx, esq, on 19 & 20 Jul 1827 (1, 2)

The property was described as follows

Land at the north end of the Upper Furlong of Little Laine (part of 2 rods formerly Friend of Portslade, late Nathaniel Kemp, gent) with the coach-houses, stables and buildings upon it (N (21'): Edward Street; E (89' 6"): buildings or ground of Robert Ackerson; S (36'): coachhouse and stables sold by assignees to William Wigney the elder; W (90'): road leading from North Parade and Princes Street into Edward Street), occupied by William Maiben

By deeds of the same day, other land, coach-houses, stables and buildings, also parts of Maiben's estate, were sold to Henry Hurly of Iford, esq. By a deed of 6 Dec 1827, he covenanted to produce deeds of the whole estate, dating from 1785 (3)

On 26 & 27 Dec 1827 Robert Taylor sold the northern part of the site, measuring 52 feet from north the south, with coach-houses, stables and buildings upon it, to William Brewster of Brighton, esq (2)

Deeds of 21 Clifton Terrace, Brighton, 1846-1854

On 1 Jul 1846 Frances Margaretta Kemp and her mortgagees (Thomas Baring, kt, Alexander [Baring] Lord Ashburton, Francis Thornhill Baring, William Bingham Baring and Henry Baring) sold part of the Western or Tenantry Down in Brighton to Richard Edwards of Brighton, surveyor and builder, and his trustee Henry Faithfull of Brighton, gent

Edwards sold part of the land, on Church Hill, to Thomas Turpin of Brighton, merchant, for £293 17s, and Turpin built a house on the land, which was conveyed to him and his trustee William John Faithfull of Brighton, gent, on 31 Dec 1846. It was described as

A dwellinghouse built on a piece of land on Church Hill (N (36'): a footpath in front of Vine Place; E (119'): messuage occupied by John Fabian; W (115'): messuage occupied by Benjamin Wood; S (36'): a terrace or road), with the use (along with Edwards and his assigns) of the road and of an acre of land intended to be laid out as a lawn or pleasure ground

The deed also includes restrictive covenants against trade and buildings (4)

The property, although conveyed to Turpin alone, belonged to him in partnership with John Lewis of Brighton, merchant. On 30 Oct 1847 they mortgaged it for £800 with power of sale to William Borrer the younger of Cowfold, esq, Dawson Borrer of Henfield, esq and Edward Cornford of Brighton, gent (5)

On 5 Aug 1854 the fixtures and fittings of the house were valued by Samuel Akehurst, auctioneer, and the property conveyed for £1262 by Lewis and Turpin, described as former partners, to Robert Prescott of York, esq, Justin McCarty the younger of Cork in Ireland, esq, John Fuller Maitland of Gloucester Place, Mx, esq and Thomas Fuller Maitland of Wargreave in Berkshire, esq, on 15 Aug 1854 (6, 7)

Deeds of The Grange, Uckfield, 1859-1910

Introduction

The area on which The Grange, formerly known as Molesey Gore, was built, is shown on a map of the estate of Richard Hart, drawn by Thomas Weller in 1784. The fields in question, Barn Field and Fair Field, were open land, part of a holding called White Rails. The map is annotated in pencil with details of sales of parts of the estate to Lidbetter, Hart and Smith (SAS/A4)

For printed particulars including the house and land to the south of The Grange, for sale as a result of an order in Lidbetter v Smith in Chancery, 1840, see AMS1688

By 1841 a large house had been built on Barn Field, shown as owned and occupied by William Henry Lidbetter on the Uckfield tithe apportionment of that year (TD 33)

The site for the new Uckfield Police Station, marked on the 1874 OS map (see over) was bought in 1841, described as 'a piece of ground immediately in front of Mr Lidbetter's corn warehouse'. For plans of a larger station, built in 1860, see R/A2/524 (1), (2)

Frederick Maryon Wilson, who bought the property in 1876, was the fourth son of John Maryon Wilson of Fitz Johns in Essex and Searles in Fletching, bart, and was born in 1833. He was a clerk in the State Paper Office between 1852 and 1866, and is mentioned on pages 195, 211 and 237 of J D Cantwell's The Public Record Office, 1838-1958 (HMSO, 1991)

For a printed programme for private theatricals at The Grange, with the part of Dr Dumont in the duel scene from The Corsican Brothers taken by F Maryon-Wilson, 5 Dec 1883, see AMS6005/73

The site as shown on the 1874, 1898 and 1908 editions of OS sheet 40.4, the first showing an observatory, appears overleaf. For a discussion of the history of the estate and of Frederick Brodie's astronomical interests and friendship with Dr Charles Leeson Prince, written by Frank Sellens and published in The Kent & Sussex Courier of 12 Jun 1992, see 19 below

The Grange was demolished and the site redeveloped by Wealden District Council in 1991; an outline narrative of its history after Denman's acquisition, based on deeds held by WDC, appears at the end of this list

I should like to thank Brian Phillips of Uckfield and John Saunders of Wealden District Council for their help in the compilation of this list

On 23 Dec 1859 George John [Sackville-West], lord De la Warr, was joined by his wife Elizabeth, his son Charles Richard [Sackville-West] and the trustees of his settlement of 15 Mar 1854 to enfranchise two copyhold tenements of the manor of Framfield for £43 15s 9d. The tenant was Frederick Brodie of Eastbourne, esq, and the land was described as follows

1 bondland of the yard of Vile (2r 29p) in Uckfield (E,S: 2 below, late Richard Hart; N: [blank] Markwick, before Mary Brunsden; W: Uckfield High Street), late Croft, before Lidbetter, before Brunsden, formerly Lulham, rent 1d

2 bondland of the yard of Vile (5a 2r 6p) on the east side of Uckfield High Street, comprising land formerly called The Barn Field and part of The Fair Field, late Croft, late part of a tenement late Lidbetter, formerly Hart, rent 1s 2d by apportionemnt

With the capital messuage, stables and buildings on both pieces, in all 6a 1r 14p, consisting of numbers 286, 289, 319-321, 288, 317, 318 and 290 on the Uckfield tithe apportionemnt, occupied by Major [Joshua] Eddlestone [of the Royal Marines] (8)

As a result of a failure to witness one of the signatures, the enfranchisement was again executed (by endorsement on the original deed) by Reginald Windsor (Sackville-West), lord De la Warr (who has succeeded his brother Charles Richard, Lord De la Warr, on 22 Apr 1873) on 16 Oct 1876 (8)

Part of The Malthouse Mead, purchased from Francis Vernon Harcourt in 1860

On 8 Feb 1860 a small piece of land, part of The Malthouse Mead, was sold to Brodie (now of Uckfield) for £15 by Francis Vernon Harcourt of Buxted Place, esq, who undertook to execute a legal conveyance when requested (9)

The whole estate

On 19 Oct 1876 Brodie, now of Wimpole Street, Mx, esq, sold the messuage and land, now called Molesey Gore, to Frederick Maryon Wilson of Blackheath in Kent, esq, for £4250; the deed also grants a right of road through a small piece of the land of William Henry Lidbetter into the lane between Uckfield and Hempstead (10)

Part of the Malthouse Field, purchased from by Egerton Vernon Harcourt in 1883

By a deed of 6 Feb 1883, William Stewart Forster of 28 Lincolns Inn Fields, esq, and Egerton Vernon Harcourt of Whitwell Hall in Yorkshire, esq (the surviving trustee for sale of the Buxted Park estate, which had been settled on the marriage of Francis Vernon Harcourt and Catherine Julia Jenkinson on 18 Nov 1837, augmented by purchase in 1841 and enfranchised on 15 Mar 1856), conveyed part of The Malthouse Field (3r 29¾p, plan on deed) to Frederick Maryon Wilson, now of The Grange, Uckfield, for £467 19s 6d (11)

Land purchased from the executors of George Cheale in 1887

Alexander Cheale of Uckfield, builder, was admitted to the copyhold estate of the manor of Framfield of which his father Alexander Cheale the elder had died seised on 27 Jun 1864. The property, described in detail, included four messuages on the E side of Uckfield High Street occupied by Stephen Fleming, James Best, John Whapham and Thomas Fisher, a messuage occupied by Edward Baker on Hempstead Lane with a messuage (formerly an oasthouse, then a granary), stable and the remainder of a 3½a garden, of which 1a 2r 32p had been sold off. He immediately sold the estate for £3523 15s to George Cheale, in obedience to a Chancery Order of 28 May 1864 (15)

George Cheale died on 17 Feb 1881, and his will of 14 Feb was proved on 26 Mar 1881. On 19 Jun 1885 his widow Helen Cheale, who lived in the house formerly occupied by Stephen Fleming, was admitted to the copyhold, on whose death George Cheale's devisees were admitted to an eleven-twelfths share on 24 Jun 1887. The remaining share was vested in Stanley Daynes Ross, an infant, and Charles Leeson Prince of Crowborough, surgeon, and John Tooth of Brighton, gent, were appointed trustees on his behalf by an order of the Chancery Division on 7 May 1887 (15)

On 1 Sep 1887 Cheale's devisees (Mary Elizabeth Cheale of The Cedars in Uckfield spinster, Sidney Alexander Cheale of Tunbridge Wells, gent, Lena Lidbetter Cheale, spinster, Miriam Rose Cheale, spinster, Montague Cheale, gent, Ada Susan Cheale, spinster (all of The Cedars), Richard Alexander Ross of Gordano Pill in Somerset, surgeon, Edith Catherine, wife of George Frederick Attree of 8 Hanover Crescent, Brighton, auctioneer, Allan Howard Ross gent, Douglas Ross, gent and Herbert Henry Ross, gent (all of 17 Park Crescent, Brighton), joined the trustees to sell a field on the north side of Hempstead Lane (plan on deed) to Frederick Maryon Wilson of The Grange, esq, for £575. The plan is labelled lot 5, and shows land sold by the same vendors to Samuel Stapleyhurst Avis, against which the purchaser had the obligation to fence (12)

The field was part of a copyhold tenement late Cheale, before Whapham, before Lidbetter, before Whapham, which paid a rent of 2d by apportionement; the several out-of-court surrenders of the vendors were presented at a court on 6 Oct 1887, and the tenement was enfranchised by Lord De la Warr and his trustees for £26 5s on 8 Mar 1888 (13, 14)

By a deed of 5 Aug 1887, Wilson leased a garden called Tainters Market Garden (2a) to Thomas Thorne from year to year at £20; Thorne had the right of building a stable on the NE side of the garden. It is not clear whether the garden was that conveyed by the devisees of George Cheale the following month (15)

The whole estate

By his will of 18 Jan 1888, Frederick Maryon Wilson bequeathed his estate to his wife Mary Angelina Wilson, [his brother-in-law] Fraser Selby and [younger brother] the Rev George Maryon Wilson as trustees for sale subject to his wife's life estate in The Grange (15)

The whole estate

He died 14 Mar 1888, the will was proved on 31 May 1888 and Mary Angelina died on 20 Jul 1894. In 1896 an abstract of title was drawn by Tatham & Procter of 36 Lincolns Inn Fields, and the estate was conveyed to Samuel Denman on 20 Jan 1897 (15, 18)

On 24 Feb 1898 the tithe rentcharge payable in respect of the Grange estate was redeemed by a payment of £45 (16)

At some point after his purchase, Denman sold parts of the garden N of Hempstead Lane to [blank] Streatfeild, whose name is written over the land on an undated map, which shows the unredeemed parts of the estate (tithe numbers 203 and 298), and the apportionemnt of the rentcharge of £2 2s between Eade, Avis (houses on the High Street), Streatfeild and Denman (17)

The deeds of the estate were delivered on 16 Nov 1910 to Samuel Denman, who sent a copy of the schedule to Nye & Donne [of Brighton, solicitors] on 18 Nov 1910 (18)

An article by Frank Sellens in the Kent and Sussex Courier of 12 Jun 1992 discusses Dr Charles Leeson Prince and his shared astronomical interest with his neighbour Frederick Brodie of The Grange (19)

Denman sold part of the property, called Molesey House, to Andrew Bickford on 19 Apr 1904. A further portion, 1 The Grange, was sold to Thomas Barford in 1920. Wealden District Council bought 1 The Grange in 1978, and 2 The Grange from East Sussex County Council (which had purchased in 1972) in 1979. Wealden bought Molesey House from Mr Stone (who had bought it from Mrs Chilton in 1946) in 1990, thus reassembling the larger part of the original estate. The Council demolished the house and built The Grange (for homeless families) and Molesey Court (flats for elderley people) on the site. This paragraph is based on Wealden District Council deed packets 1833 (The Grange) and 2635 (Molesey House)

Documents given 11 August 1994 (ACC 6411)