Early Eighteenth Century - Extraction of chalk for marling the land was common at this time, and inspection of the O.S. maps shows several marl pits in our area of study. One such was along Chambersbury Lane, another along the Bedmond Road. Arthur Young in his "General View of Agriculture of the County of Hertfordshire" (1804) includes the following description of this process:
"The undermentioned method is persued in chalking land, and the persons employed therein follow it as a trade: a spot is fixed upon nearly centrical to about six acres of land tobe chalked; here apit, about four feet in diameter, is sunk to the chalk, if found within about 20 ft from the surface; if not, the sinkers considering that they are on an earth-pillar, fill up the pit, and sink in fresh places, till their labour is attended with better success. The pit from the surface to the chalk is kept from falling in by a sort of basket-work made with hazel, or willow rods and brushwood, cut green, and manufactured with small boughs and leaves remaining thereon, to make the basket work the closer. The earth and chalk is raised from the pit by a jack rowl on a frame, generally of a very simple and rude construction: to one end of the rowl is fixed a cartwheel, which answers the double purpose of a fly and a stop; an inchrope, of sufficient length, is wound round the rowl, to one end of which is affixed a weight which nearly counterbalances the empty bucket fastened to the other end. This...., a spade, a shovel, and a pick-axe, are all the necessary implements in the trade of the company of chalk-diggers, generally three in number. The pitman digs the chalk and fills the basket, and his companions alternately wind it up and wheel its contents upon the land: when the basket is wound up to the top of the pit, to stop its descent until emptied, the point of a wooden peg, of sufficient length and strength, is thrust by the perpendicular spoke in the wheel into a hole made in the adjoining upright or standard of the frame, to receive it. The pit is sunk from 20 t0 30 feet deep, and then chambered at the bottom, that is the pitman digs or cuts out the chalk horizontally, in three seperate directions.....One pit will chalk six acres, laying on sixty loads to an acre; if more be laid on, and to the full extent of the chalking viz 100 loads, then a proportional less extent of land than six acres is chalked from one pit. Eighteen barrowfulls make a load, and the usual price for chalking is 7d per load, all expenses included; therefore the expense of chalking at 60 loads per acre, is £!. 15s; and at 100 ditto, £2.18s 4d;"
[S167. P.184-185]
Associated with brickmaking and brickworks during the 19th century were: Henry Bennett, William Bennett, Mark Patterson Woods, Thomas Franklin, James. Pratt & son, Daniel Norris and Son, Caroline Pratt( Mrs.) , Charles Dickens, Thomas Doult, Robert R. Norris, John & William Childs and many others.Bricks were made in Leverstock Green, the census returns showing most of the men living in the Tile Kiln area were brick-makers or their labourers. [ S1 - p.108 ]
6th January 1803 - Philip Vaillant was legally admitted as Copyholder of Great and Little Cox Pond Farms after the death of his father Paul Vaillant, who had in turn had inherited the farms from his Grandfather, another Paul Vaillant. [HALS AH177]
1st March 1804 - William Turner acquired the farm lease of Leverstock Green Farm. It is interesting to note that several repairs obviously needed to be undertaken , and that a barn was to be pulled down:
....."take the present repairs of the said Farm upon himself and perform the same according to the Estimates thereof lately taken, such repairs to be completed in good and substancial manner by or before the 24th June next. The said William Turner being also allowed to use the materials from the Old Barn to be pulled down & the building at the End of the House as far as they go and having sufficient Timber assigned for the New Barn Floor & new Lathing where necessary & for Gates and Posts & such weathering Boarding and paling as the materials above mentioned will not supply."
The lease was eventually passed on to William's son Isaac, who didn't release it until 1824. (Further notes and transcription concerning this transaction are contained in a seperate appendix.) [HALS 80782 & 80783]
1807 – Charlotte Grimston, 1st Countess of Verulum, made a sketch of a cottage on Leverstock Green. This is now held at HALS ref: D/EV/F98.[ A2A ] It is difficult to be absolutely certain where the cottage (singular) was or possibly still is, though an educated guess can be made.
The pencil sketch shows a single cottage with a picket fence running in front of it, and a small girl standing at the gate to the cottage. The shadowy figure of a women can be seen inside the cottage, through the open doorway. The front of the cottage as it faces the green is single storey, with a double casement window and diamond shaped leaded lights in the centre. The roof holds a small dormer window, with two casements, again showing leaded lights. A large brick chimney stack is built on the right –hand end of the cottage. A lean-to outshut projects behind the chimney stack. To its right is a small wooden barn. The entrance door, immediately in front of the chimneystack, is to the side of the cottage.
There were few cottages on the Green in 1807 and this one bares little resemblance to No 4 Church Cottages. There are vague similarities between this and “Old Leverstock “ but the dormer window in particular is in a different position. From the tithe map, and by looking at a later OS the most likely contender is either Old Leverstock , or more likely a dwelling which has not been evident for well over 100 years. The tithe map ( 1840) shows a property next door to plot 238 which has a similar ground plan to that depicted by the cottage in the sketch. Its position puts it more or less where Rose Cottage and The White Cottage are today at the corner of Curtis Road and Leverstock Green Road. These two cottages, although fairly old, probably do not appear to go back further than the late 19th century or even later. Assuming it is cottage and gardens no 238 on the St. Michael’s Tithe, then 33 years after Charlotte made her sketch, the property was owned and occupied by Thomas Orchard. The present owners of The White Cottage have land registry documents dating to 1840
There is however, a strong resemblance to the Cottage on “Frogs Island”, now a listed building, and further along the Leverstock Green Road. If they were contemporary, then that dates Charlotte’s cottage to the late 17th/early 18th century. [ HALS D/EV/F98. (A2A), S96]
1811 - documents in the possession of Tim Wood, owner of Handpost Lodge Westwick Row, indicate that the original cottage (as seen on 1796 map, tithe map etc..) at the Handpost Lodge site was constructed on "waste ground" of the manor of Gorhambury, Westwick & Pre and was in the vicinity of a Blacksmith's House and Shed. From other documents etc.. this Blacksmith's residence would have been the present day Dell Cottage, known to have belonged to the Hannell family from the 17th century, and they were Blacksmiths. [S326]
22nd April 1811 - Christopher Thomas Tower was admitted at the Manor Court of Abbots Langley, to the copyhold of the best part of Leverstock Green Farm (The rest being either freehold or in the manor of Gorhambury.) The annual quitrent payable of Leverstock Green Farm was 10/7d. The property was also heritable. [HALS D/ELs B900]
1812 - It is thought likely that Benjamin Pope bought the freehold to The Leather Bottle P.H. at this time. [S52]
1813 - There were many reports of "canine madness " ( rabies ) in and around Hemel, and people were ordered to restrain their dogs. e.g. in 1813 "In consequence of the many instances of canine madness which have lately occurred in the neighbourhood, it is ordered that inhabitants do keep their dogs shut or tied up." [ S19 p.30 ]
1813- Under the Toleration Acts of 1688-1852 a place was registered for dissenting worship somewhere in Leverstock Green. Members of the Tarbox family ( this registration was witnessed by Humphrey Tarbox), were later buried in Leverstock Green Churchyard, as despite there being a Baptist chapel in the village from 1841, the registered burial ground was on the Church of England premises.
"Hemel Hempstead. The Tenemant of Humphrey Tarbox, for Protestants, February 4th 1813. Certified by Humphrey Tarbox - his mark witnessed by Joseph Turner." [ S48 ]
4th December 1813 - William Holinshead of Kettlewells died. In accordance with the laws on legacies and duties of revenue at this time, his estate ( i.e. all the farm stock both live and dead 1) was sold and duties payable. The total estate was valued at £4191 19s 3d and duty of £41 18s 4d paid on March 25th 1815. (see entry for that date.) [S343, S340] Click here to find out more about the Holinshead family.
18th November 1814 This was the date of a letter and other documents currently held at HALS, concerning a Mr Richard Pearce who wrote to Mssrs Grover & Pollard regarding a Mortgage . The notes were hand hand written and very brief. There were four page stapled together, forming an indenture, which typically for the time, was very long winded and complex. It held little of relevance except that one of the properties for the which the mortgage was required, was a ”cottage in Leverstock Green in the parish of Hemel Hempstead” No further clues were given as to the exact location or nature of the cottage. [HALS; D/Els B43]
25th March 1815 - This was the date on which the Duty on the residue of the Personal Estate of William Holinshead of Kettlewells was paid. 2 The official form (held at the Dacorum Heritage Store) stated that it was "An account of the Personal Estate of William Holinshead late of the Parish of St. Michael in the County of Hertford Farmer - who died on the 4th day of December 1813 exhibited by William Holinshead of the said Parish of St. Michael Miller one of the sons and the administrator of the deceased.."
The total estate was valued at £4191 19s 3d, with duty payable being £41 18a 4d. Various expenses were offset against the total value of the estate, and therefore were not taken into account when assessing the amount due. These included the charges for the letters of administration levied by the solicitor - £74 4s 6d ; funeral expenses - £66 11s 8d; the executor's expenses of £21; various debts including rents due etc. at £185 6s 5d and commission paid on the sale of the property £1 16s 6d. William Holinshead was obviously fairly well to do as £600 in cash was found in the house at the time of his death - he also had bank annuities valued at £1800, though in fact they only fetched £1590 7s 6d3 when cashed in on August 19th 1814 for the purposes of assessing the death duties. His household goods had been sold for £360 14s 6d , and his Horses, Carriages, farm stock etc.. sold for a total of £2071 14s 10d. [S340, S343, S344]
Wednesday 4th October 1815 - An auction held on the premises at Kettlewells Farm of "All the Valuable Live & Dead Farming Stock, Implements of Husbandry and effects, late the property of Mr. W. Hollingshead4, deceased" took place at 11 o'clock. A full catalogue was published by W.Kent the auctioneer, an original of which is currently held at the Dacorum Heritage Store. Notes made by someone attending the auction in the margins of the catalogue indicate that the entire farm stock, implements etc.. were sold for a total of £555 11s 6d. The various lots comprised numerous tools connected with farming, together with crops and livestock. Many of the individual animals were listed by their given names e.g.. a large black cart horse called Duke, a large grey cart horse called Captain; a grey cart mare called Badger; a dark brown horse called Punch; a black mare called Depper; a Yorkshire cow called Spot, and her calf; another Yorkshire cow called Spot and her calf and a blind mare fit for machines, called Brown. The catalogue is a superb itinerary of the goods needed to run a mixed farm in the early nineteenth century. This and the auction held on Wednesday May 15th 1816 (see entry for that date) were in connection with assessing the estate duties due as a result of the death of William Holinshead . Research undertaken by Judith White, a decendant of William Hollinshead has established no specific reason for the sale of the property at this time, as William the son of the William who died in 1813, didn't die until 1844 aged 72.. [S335, S343, info supplied by Judith White] A set of photographs taken when Kettlewells was dismantled in the 1980's can be found at her website: http://www.judithwhite.myby.co.uk
Wednesday 15th May 1816 - A sale by auction at 11 o'clock of "The Household Furniture, live & Dead stock and effects, late the property of Mr. W. Holinshead" of Kettlewells Farm, took place at the farm. This was the second half of the sale in order to comply with death duties, the first part of which took place on October 4th 1815. (See entry for that date.) The catalogue which accompanied the sale is of particular interest as firstly it takes each room of the farm house in turn and listing all the effects: The Back Kitchen, Kitchen, Parlour, two chambers and a Brewhouse. Secondly, notes were made in the margin of the sums fetched for each lot, making a grand total of £171 5s 8d. The most expensive individual household item was an eight-day clock in a walnut tree case which fetched £5 12s. The full catalogue (a copy of which is in document album No 6) is well worth perusing. [S336]
1819 – Property belonging to the late William Fellows was sold at auction. The property included the Rose & Crown PH in Hemel Hempstead and a “freehold estate situate at Leverstock Green in the parish of Abbots Langley, and about midway between Hemel Hempstead & St. Albans” The property comprised:
“A large house of brick & tile divided into two tenements; one containing a kitchen, back house, three sleeping rooms, and a store room; and the other, one room below and one above, yard, two gardens, barn stable and cart house boarded and tiles; and the total came to just over 3 acres with timber to be taken at valuation at the time of the sale."
1820 - Under the Toleration Acts of 1688-1852, a further place of worship was registered for dissenting worship:
"Hemel Hempstead. Stable at Levistock Green for Protestant Dissenters, July 3rd 1820. Certified by Joseph Dodds, Joseph Camfield, James Clerk." [ S48 ] ( Joseph Camfield held land in the area in 1828 -see the plan of Great and Little Cox Pond Farms, HALS ref.AH 682 )
1820's - Hemel Hempstead Parish had for some time appointed a midwife. At this time a Mrs. Mary Troup was appointed, and it was her job to deal with all cases within 4 miles of St. Mary's Hemel.( The centre of Leverstock Green is less than 2 miles as the crow flies!) For this she was paid 7s, for each case, provided that she called a regular surgeon to attend difficult or dangerous cases. In these cases she was expected to reimburse the doctor from her own funds. [ S1, p.201 ]
26th January 1820 - William Jennings of Bennetts End died aged 52. On the same headstone in St. Mary's churchyard, his wife Elizabeth who died in 1855, and two of their sons who died in 1831 and 1851 respectively, are commemorated. [S263]
2nd July 1821- Thomas Orchard died seised of “All that Messuage or Tenement seized of all that messuage or tenement with the Orchard & Garden thereunto belonging situate and being at Leverstock Green within the said Manor then in the tenure or occupation of the Widow Hawkins held of the Lord of the Manor by the annual rent of 1/6 to which he was admitted at Court held for said Manor on 16th & 30th April 1792 as the only son and heir of Thomas Orchard deceased.” This was present day No 4 Church Cottages.[S406]
1822 - Charles Tompkins was the Licensee at The Rose & Crown. (Now a private house called The Elms, near to the Church on the Bedmond Road. [S240]
1822 - Reorganisation within the Hertfordshire Baptist Union took place and included the reorganisation of the work into two districts, Eastern & Western. This included the addition of Leverstock Green in the Western area. [S421]
15th April 1822 - Mrs. Sophia Franklin, first wife of Thomas Franklin of Bennetts End, died aged 36. Her memorial is to be found on her husbands headstone in St. Mary's churchyard Hemel. (See entry for 31 March 1855) [S263]
31st May 1832 – Martha Saunders, widow of John Saunders of Westwick, drew up her will. It was witnessed by J S Story of St. Albans and Thomas Howard of St. Michaels. [See entry for19th July 1781] [) [Will of Martha Saunders of Westwick 1781, transcribed by Tony Harrison]
1823-1828 - During this time Richard Ostler was the Licensee at the Rose & Crown, and George Kingshaw was the Licensee at The Leather Bottle. [S240]
29th June 1824 - John Groom, corndealer, acquired a seven year lease on Leverstock Green Farm.
"Christopher Thomas Towers hath demised leased and farm letten All that Messuage or Tenement Farm and Lands......64 acres more or less.........late in the occupation of Isaac Turner now of the said John Groom."
John Groom had to "effect repairs within three months" of being told they were necessary.
The annual rent was to be £64, i.e. £1 per acre - this rent having remained the same since 1797.
In addition to his annual rent of £64, John Groom had to pay a further £20 per acre for any meadow or woodland which he dug up and tilled, and an additional £10 per acre "for every acre of arable land cropped contrary to the course of husbandry herafter prescribed."
1. He was allowed to sell the wheatstraw.
2. He was "Not to let any turnips stand for seed but to feed them off with sheep on the land wherever they grow."
3. He was "Not to Cross crop any of the said arable land."
4. He was to "cultivate so that in any 1 year there was no more than 26 acres of wheat, oats, barley, or rye, nor was there less than 13 acres of Clover layer or artificial grasses"
5. "Such lands to be sown with turnips or vetches to be fed off or may be clean fallowed but on no account cropped in any other manner."
6. He was to "Ash his Clovers and soot such of his wheat crops as have not been dunged in the previous year."
7. He was to "dung his meadow or pasture ground well."
8. He was "not to cut the underwood in the wood called Fox Howletts till January 1st 1825 nor of the wood called Hobbs Hill till after January 1st 1826". It is interesting to note that the woods were refered to as Hobbs Hill for the first time, and not Hobb Gill or Hobb Jo. As late as the present time elderly residents of the area still refered to the woods as Hobb (pronounced'obb) Gill or Hobb Jo. I believe the name Hobbs Hill came about by a clerk miscopying the name from an older document.
9. He was to be fined £5 a tree for any tree or pollard cut down.
Other clauses were similar to those quoted in Herts. Record office document no 80779 (see transcript). [HALS 80783]
item: [no title] - ref. QSR/27/1825/303 [n.d.]
\_ [from Scope and Content] Examinations and depositions: Information of Jn. Roberts, Leighton Buzzard, blacksmith; missed a cast iron wheel which he had left in Jn. Proctor's rickyard. Hearing that Jas. Stevens, dealer in old iron, of Leighton Buzzard, had lately been in the Hemel Hempstead area with a cart and two donkeys, he went to the house of Jos. Harris, Leverstock Green, there, who was a farmer and dealer in rags and old iron and found approximately half of the wheel. Harris said he had bought it from Stevens and also a wrought iron spindle, which Roberts also claimed.
1826-1828 - Obediah Child was the Licensee of The Red Lion. [S240]
21st October 1826. - There was a Sale by Auction at the Blue Boar Inn, St. Albans of various Freehold Estates. This sale included 3 Freehold Cottages and premises situated at Westwick Row. (From the description I would imagine them to be what is now Westwick Cottage.)
These cottages made up Lot 2 in a series of 11 lots to be sold by auction by Mr. Page; Land agent, auctioneer and valuer. The sale was to start at 2 p.m.
Lot 2 comprised:
"Three timber and tiled freehold messuages, situated at Westwick Row, in the parish of St. Michael in the county of Hertfordshire. With good Gardens, Barn, Pig-sties, Oven, Well of Water and a large orchard, containing by estimation half an acre, in the several occupations of Martindale, Sears and Coleman; at the very low old Rents of £17 per annum. Land Tax Redeemed."
Mr. Page went on in time honoured estate -agent's fashion:
"This lot is situate in a GOOD neighbourhood, and the spot well calculated for a private residence, being capable of great improvement at a small expense."
Written by hand in ink in the margin next to this description was the amount of £275; the sum I assume the lot of three cottages fetched at auction. (It would be interesting to know what value would be put on the cottage(s) today!!) Conditions of sale included "no person to advance less at any bidding than £5", and "that every purchaser shall immediately pay down a deposit, in the proportion of £20 for every £100 of his or her purchase money, " and...."full payment was to be made by December 24th next." If this payment wasn't made, the purchaser was liable to interest.
Particulars of the cottages could be "had from J.S.Storey Esq. Solicitor, and Mr. Page Land-agent - also 10 days prior to the sale at the principle inns in the neighbourhood." [ S35 ]
3rd November 1826 - John Hudson wrote his will. It specified that:
"the Copyhold of the Property Meads - in Westy Crow (Westwick Row)- be sold."
It was occupied by Thomas Barber and Richard Monk, and was to be "sold either as 1 lot or split up." The will was proved 7th December 1826. [ HALS 1M78A ]
22nd June 1827 – Joseph Orchard was admitted as the copyholder of the original Church Cottage (Now No 4) at an annual quit rent of 1/6d. Widow Hawkins was held to have been the late occupier.[S406]
8th September 1827 - The Leather Bottle P.H. was put up for sale in this year by George Holloway, a brewer from Hemel Hempstead. It seems unlikely that it was sold at this time, as it still belonged to Holloway in 1843. [ S52; Hemel Hempstead Gazette, page 1/ HALS online services catalogue of Newspapers & Magazine articles which can be downloaded, (https://www.hertsdirect.org/ufs/ufsmain?esessionid=19353BC4582D103D35DC0C4A4D39185D_1 ) checked 8th June 2010]
Thursday 27th September 1827 – An auction was held at 12 noon at Garraway’s Coffee House, Change Alley Cornhill, by Mr Robinson, of a large estate in Hertfordshire, part of which was a 260 acre estate based upon Great & Little Cox Pond Farms. As the map which was drawn up the following year, was commissioned by the Duchess of Bridgewater who then held the estate, it can be presumed that Cox Pond Farms were added to the Bridgewater Estate (Ashridge) following the auction. [HALS AH683, AH 682]
1828 - The Alehouse Act was passed. This licensed properties to sell strong liquor, the necessary fee for the license making it difficult for gin and other spirits to be bought as cheaply and freely as before. Licensees had to meet certain requirements. [ S52 ]
1828 - A plan of Great and Little Cox Pond Farms, surveyed by Creed & Griffin of Hemel Hempstead in this year, is held at the County Record Office; reference AH 682. The map itself, charmingly executed shows the land belonging to the farms ( shaded in green), and the names of all the neighbouring land owners. Click here for further details of the plans and what we can learn from them, including photographs of the original documents.
July 1828 - At the Court Baron of Gorhambury etc.. the widow of John Hudson testified that she had conveyed the copyhold of the Meads to Edmond Fearnley Whittingstall and Simon Child. Whittingstall paid £167 10/- for the copyhold. [HALS 1M78A]
November 27th,1829 - The children of the parish of St. Michael's were offered free vaccination against smallpox ( using Cowpox). To obtain this they had to attend the Poor House in St. Michael's on Monday 27th or Friday 31st. I don't know if any children living in Westwick Row or along the Hemel Hempstead Road took advantage of this offer.[ S32]
30th June 1830 - Henry Smith of Northend Farm, a farmer, and Joseph Smith of Leverstock Green, his son, acquired the lease on Leverstock Green Farm. It is unclear whether or not Mr. Smith senior kept his interest in the neighbouring Northend Farm, or if the two farms were managed together as one unit. Their lease was renewed in 1839 for a further 9 years, but with an increase in rent. [HALS 80784]
1831 - Confirmation was given, at the Easter Sessions of the Court of the Liberty of St. Albans, of the Rules and Regulations of a Friendly Society, to be held at Leverstock Green. [ S60; Draft Sessions Book X/260 and Sessions Book V/205]
31st May 1832 – Martha Saunders, widow of John Saunders of Westwick, drew up her will. It was witnessed by J S Story of St. Albans and Thomas Howard of St. Michaels. [See entry for 19th July 1781] [Will of Martha Saunders of Westwick 1822, transcribed by Tony Harrison]
27th September 1831 - A Headstone in St. Mary's churchyard Hemel commemorates the death at this time of Mrs. Ann Franklin, second wife of Mr. Thomas Franklin of Bennetts End Kiln, who died aged 51. [S263]
1832 - The Beerhouse Act was passed which permitted the general sale of beer and cider in England. Any householder could now obtain ( on payment of two guineas ) a license to sell beer for consumption "on" or "off" the premises. These licenses were obtained from the brewers. It was this piece of legislation which led to the very large number of beer houses which sprang up everywhere, and Leverstock Green was no exception. Labourers and agricultural workers drank beer or ale as part of their staple diet. By the end of the century Leverstock Green had many beer houses, in addition to the Public Houses which were licensed to sell spirits as well. [ S52 ]
1832- At the Easter Sessions of the County Court, John Johnson, a labourer from Hemel Hempstead parish, was acquitted of stealing 3 eggs, to the value of a penny half-penny, from William Jennings, a farmer from Bennetts End. [S59] (William Jennings' holdings show very clearly on the plan of Great and Little Cox Pond Farms, HRO reference AH682)
26th July 1832 – An auction sale of the Copyhold of Little Cox Pond Farm took place at the Rose & Crown Inn Hemel Hempstead at 2pm. The sale was on the orders of the executors of the late Mr. Joseph Camfield. The estate was divided into five lots. [D/EX 7 T1] See seperate web-page.
1833 The Hemel Hempstead Vestry considered the subject of Smallpox vaccination ( somewhat behind their counterpart in St. Michael's parish.) Unlike the authorities in St. Michaels, they decided that general vaccination against the disease was "not at present required." However, discretion was given to overseers to order the Medical Officer to vaccinate children in the neighbourhood where smallpox existed and to publish the day when children could be taken to the infirmary for vaccination. Vaccination was not to be made compulsory in the UK until 1853. [ S1 p.200; Chamb. News, September 1995]
1833- Leverstock Green got its first school, known as St. Michael's Leverstock Green, according to the National Society records. It was a small building on a piece of manor land in Bedmond Road. ( The building is still there today, and known as The Old School House.) It consisted of one large room with a bedroom above for the teacher. [ S50, 26/4/85 ]
1834 - The Easter Sessions of the County Court Rolls show that "an order for the diversion of certain parts " of several highways was given. These included "part of a certain highway in the said parish ( Abbots Langley ), leading from the turnpike road towards Leverstock." [ S59 ]
1834 – George Blake, a labourer from Leverstock Green was a witness in a robbery. James Stuart and Archibald Thomson, both from Scotland, stole a purse and some money from Catherine Norwood at Hemel Hempstead. She was bargaining for some thread when she felt Thompson’s hand inside her gown. She thought her money was safe but later discovered that he had taken it. George Blake saw what happened and saw one of the prisoners put something in his pocket, and followed him to the Bell PH. Another witness, Ann Harrison, saw Thompson give the purse to Stuart and they ran off down the street in the direction of St. Albans. Fordham, a butcher, went after Stuart and overtook him 3 miles from Hemel Hempstead and brought him back to Hemel Hempstead. The prisoners in their defence said nothing. [Information passed me by speaker at HHLH&MS meeting December 2007 who has researched into the criminals of Hertfordshire – mostly using court records and Newspaper articles.]
14 August 1835 - The Freehold of Bottom House Farm (otherwise known as Lawrence Farm), together with Crackabone Farm and Six Tunnel Farm in Redbourne and Great Gaddesden, were put up for sale. The farms were to be sold by auction by a Mr. Hoggart at The Auction Mart , although no mention was made of where this was! The copy of the bill of sale advertising the auction describing the farm is shown on a seperate page, click here to view.Sadly, the accompanying plan for the bill of sale does not seem to have survived. It is clear, however, from a comparison of field names listed in documents concerning Lawrence Farm, the previous name for Bottom House, from the seventeenth century, and shown precisely on the Gorhambury Estate map of 1769 and the Tithe Map for 1840, that the lands associated with the farm remained stable. The four acres of road was the stretch of Green Lane from Leverstock Green up to the farm itself, and the fields stretched from Upper and Lower Green Field (previously Upper and Lower Newlands) and the stretch of land presently occupied by the school and the houses between the school and The Leaside; right up to Broadfield, which today is occupied by the M1 and land beyond the M1. To view a map of the Bottom Farm/Lawrence Farm holding click here.
John Samuel Story, agent of the Earl of Verulam, attended the auction and bought it on behalf of the Earl. Written on the reverse of one of the small handbills giving particulars of the three farms sold that day, was the following: "I the within named Charles Hoggart do hereby acknowledge to have sold, and I the undersigned John Samule Story(as Agent on the part of and for the Earl of Verulam)to have purchased this day by Auction the premises comprised in Lots 1 & 2 of the within Particulars of Sale at the Sums of Three thousand seven hundred pounds amd the said John Samuel Story has paid and the said Charles Hoggart received a Deposit of Seven Hundred and forty pounds and the further sum of Fifty Three pounds nineteen shillings and two pence for the purchasors Moiety of the Auction Duty And we eventually agree to complete such Sale and Purcheses agreeably to the within Conditions of Sale. As Witness our hands the 14th day of August 1835.
C.L. HoggartJohn Story."
It is interesting to note from the original advertising material, that Crackabone Farm, which was Lot 1 in the auction, was also occupied by Mrs. Orchard, and although in the parish of Redbourne, this 53 acre farm was "Intersected by the Estates of the Earl of Verulam, and within a short distance of the park." It must indeed have been very close to Broadfield, the most northerly part of Bottom House Farm. [HALS IC12, S96, S194 & 195]
1835 - Ann Field, nee Pope, and widow of Thomas Field, late of Chambersbury, died at Kings Langley. She gave the copyhold of Bunkers to her son John. [S366]
1836 - The record of the Michaelmas Sessions of the County Court for 1836 gives confirmation of an order dated September 8th 1836, for diverting part of highway from Frogmore End to Leverstock Green. From the description given of the road, which was "very circuitous and narrow", and its location, the stretch of road to be diverted was in the Apsley/Nash Mills area. [ S59 ]
31st March 1836 – A Licence was granted for Thomas Cromack to demise to Edmund Fearnley Whittingstall numerous pubs and beerhouses including The Red Lion, Leverstock Green. (Both Cromack and Whittingstall were brewers>) The lease for the Red Lion “ situate standing and being in Leverstock Green in the parish of St. Michael” was for 14 years till 1849. [HALS D/ELs B747]
D/Els B55 license renewed for 7 years till Michaelmas 1856
26th November 1836: Martha Saunders, widow of John Saunders died. She was buried on 5th December at Hemel Hempstead Baptist Church burial ground. Her will was proved 24th May 1837 [Will of Martha Saunders of Westwick 1822 , transcribed by Tony Harrison] See entry for 31 May 1822
29th July 1837 – Ann Luck of Leverstock Green married James How of Hemel Hempstead at St. Lawrence’s Church Hemel Hempstead. [Online document check at HALS of Leverstock Green 25 June 2009 – document available to purchase online]
1838 – The following HALS document QS/Misc/B/56/11, refers to the removal of Friendly Society Lands in Leverstock Green. [A2A]
20th January 1838 – Caroline fountain of Leverstock Green married James Seabrook at St. Laurence’s Church Abbots Langley. [Online document check at HALS of Leverstock Green 25 June 2009 – document available to purchase online]
24th February 1838 – Charlotte Martin of Leverstock Green married William Dolt at St. Lawrence’s Church Abbots Langley. [Online document check at HALS of Leverstock Green 25 June 2009 – document available to purchase online]
9th December 1838 – George Bradbury of Leverstock Green married Ann Osler at St. Lawrence’s Church Abbots Langley. [Online document check at HALS of Leverstock Green 25 June 2009 – document available to purchase online]
1839 - It would appear from the renewal of Henry and Joseph Smith's lease of Leverstock Green Farm, that either inflation had started to take a hold, or else land values had risen considerably. This was because the annual rent of the 64 acre farm was increased from £64 to £77 10s.0d..[HALS 80784].
1840 – Tithe map shows there to be two cottages built on the Green (now Church Cottages) at the time, given the number 236. The apportionment says: Land Owned by John Orchard and occupied by John Barnes & another 236 Cottage & Gardens.
29th September 1840 - At the Michaelmas Session of the Court at St. Albans, an order was given to "divert, turn or stop up part of a public highway or carriage road leading from Nash Mills to Leverstock Green and Bedmont". ( A further order was made concerning a footpath from Nash Mills to Hyde Farm, Bedmond.) It would seem likely that the road in question is either Chambersbury Lane or Bunkers Lane. Bearing in mind the way Chambersbury Lane digresses from its Medieval field boundary line as it nears Nash Mills, it would seem possible that this might be the case. If the plans are still held at St. Albans I may be able to verify this. The consent of the owners of the property concerned, Charles Stratham of Amersham, and his wife Sarah (from whom the right to the said property had come) had been sought and given. A certificate of completion would be given. [ S60 ] Sessions Roll CCXIX/ 213 - 228, & Sessions Book VI/ 364 - 367.
