Whites Cottages
WHITES COTTAGES,Pickhurst GreenGrade II Listed buildingLate 16th century to early 17th century The entry on the Historic England website for the national listing in 1988 suggests that these cottages may be the earliest surviving example in Hayes of a building with a late Tudor connection. Weatherboarded timber framing; tiled steeply pitched roof to eaves. Square headed windows; small panes. 2 storey gabled projection to centre of block with casement windows and applied timber. Framing visible inside. Nos 1 and 2 appear originally to have been a single 3-bay cottage. Nos 1 and 2 have a roof with raking queen struts and straight wind bracing, set on jowel posts. The structure of the building indicates that parts originally date to the late Tudor or early Stuart period although the first maps on which the cottages are shown are from the middle of the 18th century. OwnersIn the 18th century it became part of the Langley estate. When the lands of Lord Gwydir were put up for sale in 1820 the cottages were bought by Miss Wilhelmina Traill of Hayes Place and later owned by Sir Everard Hambro. They were purchased by Agg-Large after Hambro’s death and when the properties came up for sale in 1931 they were bought by Miss Vera Gilchrist Thompson, the daughter of the Rector Canon Thompson. Later, according to Pamela Nevard, the cottages were given names as well as numbers. No. 1 was called ‘The Glebe’, No.2 ‘The Glade’ and No.3 ‘The Glen’. In 1982 she and her husband Mick bought White Cottages from Miss Thompson and the cottages were modernised internally. He had lived in one of the cottages as a boy. Pamela Nevard researched the history and published “Whites Cottages” in 1999, a very interesting account with many illustrations and memories from the late 19th and 20th centuries. OccupiersThe original cottages were used by labourers whose families were often crammed into the small rooms. In 1931 the sale catalogue stated that Cottages No 1 and No 2 each consisted of one large room and scullery on the ground floor and two bed rooms above. Cottage No 3 had two rooms and a scullery on the ground floor and two bedrooms above. In 1821 there were 23 people living in the cottages including 16 children. Thirty years later the numbers were very similar, a total of 21 people and 13 children. There were no inside toilets, an earth toilet at the bottom of garden, no running water and no adequate heating. Edward White, later to become a Wing Commander, was born in one of the cottages in 1901 and recalled the very deep shared well in the garden of No 2 which he said was 62 feet deep. In summer they would use it as a refrigerator by lowering the pail containing butter, meat or milk to water level. The name Whites Cottages is applied to these buildings in the sale catalogue of 1931. Possibly the name was first used during the occupancy of the White family. Edward White senior married Harriet Dunmall in 1898 and moved into cottage No 1 in which her family had lived for over half a century. ‘Old Cottage at Pickhurst’, photograph taken by Mr E Dewey (Bromley Mercury 1929) When Miss Thompson bought the properties a condition of the sale was that the purchaser had to comply with a sanitary notice that had been served by the local authority. Miss Thompson had the well water sampled and it was found to be infected. She organised for the cottages to be connected to the mains water supply in 1937 and the well to the cottages was filled in in 1938. Until the 1950s there was still no electricity supply, paraffin lamps were used, and Rodney Cottrell remembered how with his friend John Boylan their Saturday job was to carry the rather heavy accumulator [battery] to Rays in Station Approach so that it could be charged up and they could listen to the radio. Comparison of the earliest photographs reveal that probably in the late 1930s a projection was made to the second storey of the middle cottage. In the Second World War the cottages were damaged by a rocket falling nearby in April 1942. It was feared the cottages might need pulling down but post war they were repaired, the existing roof was replaced and the opportunity taken to install bathrooms, although initially the lavatories remained outside.In more recent times some of the outbuildings have been demolished and the properties modernised to meet the current requirements. Although houses have been built to the side and rear of Whites Cottages they still front Pickhurst Green and wooded surroundings Whites Cottages 1953
Hayes Grove Cottage
Hayes Grove Cottage 1987 Hayes Grove CottageWest Common RoadGrade II Listed BuildingFrom end 18th century Hayes Grove Cottage started its life as two cottages that seem to have been built towards the end of the 18th century on Churchfield, land owned by the Parish, by a journeyman bricklayer George Kadwell who occupied one of the cottages. Thomas Kelly, a shepherd, and his family were in the other cottage in 1794. An additional larger cottage was built by 1810 and occupied by Mrs White. The Grade II listing made in 1973 suggests that part of the original cottage was 17th century but that it was altered in the 19th century. Its description of the building is‘2 storey brick with tiled roof and half-timbered upper storey. Brick dentil eaves cornice. Three 19th century windows. Ground floor cambered arches.’ Early OccupantsMrs White, who lived in the more substantial cottage died in 1824 and her place was taken by Mr Cook. A small painting of his house was made in the 1840s and provides a good illustration of how the property looked. Painting of Mr J Cook’s house in the early 1840s (Kadwell Portfolio, Bromley Historic Collections) The neighbouring cottage formerly occupied by George Kadwell and Backett Chapman was painted about the same time. Cottages formerly occupied by George Kadwell and Backett Chapman (Kadwell Portfolio, Bromley Historic Collections) The area was beginning to change as the Poor Law Amendment Act of 1834 resulted in local Parish workhouses being amalgamated into the Bromley Union, administered by a Board of Guardians. The Parish owned Churchfield on which these cottages were built. The lease expired in 1853 and it was agreed that the Bromley Board of Guardians could sell all the land and its cottages to Lady Pilkington in 1856. It included the cottages occupied by Mrs Mary Cook, Thomas Smith and William Davis that later formed the single dwelling known today as Hayes Grove Cottage. The conveyance map of 1856 shows the cottages occupied by Mrs Mary Cook, Thomas Smith and William Davis Lady Pilkington allowed Mary Cook to continue as a tenant until her death in 1867. On 24 June 1872 she granted a 21 years lease at £58 a year to Horace Mann, a barrister. He became Secretary of the Civil Service Commission in December 1875 and retired on pension in 1887. Included in the lease was permission to convert the nearby cottage which had lately been used by the Common Ranger, John Spraggs, into a stable. Considerable improvements were made by Horace Mann as the cottages were made into one building. By 1892, however, he seems to have moved to the Reform Club, Pall Mall. In September 1892 Lady Pilkington’s heir, Louisa Lee, leased Hayes Grove Cottage to Thomas Duncombe Mann, also a barrister, for 21 years at £95 a year. He was married to Marie with two sons,Thomas Basil aged 10 and Frederick aged 7. However, the following year Louisa Lee died and in her will she instructed her executors to sell certain real estate including Hayes Grove Cottage. Sale of Hayes Grove Cottage 1893Horace Mann bought the property for £1700. Thomas Duncombe Mann, who had been appointed clerk to the Metropolitan Asylum Board in 1891, continued to be the leaseholder. The upper storey of part of the house went over the public footpath and became a nuisance as it was used by vagrants. A new footpath was created to the north of the building and in 1893 permission was eventually granted to close the old footpath under the house. A painting shows the old path and later photographs shows how the footpath was filled in and additional accommodation obtained in the house. Hayes Grove Cottage showing footpath under part of Hayes Grove Cottage 1876 (G W Smith) Hayes Grove Cottage in the 1890s (G W Smith) Footpath by Hayes Grove Cottage 1912 (G W Smith) Thomas Mann’s daughter Margaret was born in 1898 and baptised in Hayes Church. In 1901 the census recorded that his son Thomas was still living with them and had become a stockbroker’s clerk. They employed three servants, a cook, housemaid and nurse. When Margaret was older a governess, Hilda Plant, the daughter of the local school headmaster, was appointed. In 1910 Grove Cottage was describes as an ‘old detached brick & tile house. It is really two cottages converted into a house. Low-pitched rooms and some of these are approached through others. Roof defective. The land has a road frontage, also two staircases.’ In 1915 Thomas was knighted for his ‘many years of strenuous and able work in the public service’. In the same year his son Frederick married Vincenzia Chiappini from Cape Colony in Hayes Parish Church. He was an engineer but at that time was an acting Lieutenant, an Inspector of Ordnance, in the Army Ordnance Corps. His older brother Thomas, who had become a stockjobber, joined up in July 1915 and was a Major with the 10th Battalion London Regiment. An impressive house has been created from the original three cottages Part of Hayes Court SchoolHorace died in 1917 and his will gave Sir Thomas Duncombe Mann, one of his executors, the right to buy Hayes Grove Cottage within three months of his death. He bought the property but on 3 April 1919 he sold Hayes Grove Cottage to Arthur Kilpin Bulley, who purchased it on behalf of his niece, Katherine Cox, who established an exclusive girls’ boarding school at Hayes Court. Over the next 20 years Hayes Grove Cottage was used for staff accommodation and later for pupils. Post War historyIt is unclear how Hayes Grove Cottage was used in the Second World War but after the war it returned to private accommodation. Mrs Clipston was followed by the Misses Clark and then George Proctor, an estate agent, lived there from 1967 to 1976. During this time the property was sympathetically restored and became listed. Mr Jones followed and the property was put up for sale in 1987 at a price of £395,000. It was described as ‘a dream house’ with three/four elegant reception rooms, six bedrooms, three
MOYSEY, Frederick
Moysey, Frederick20 February 1781 – June 1863Barrister Frederick Moysey was the son of Abel Moysey and called to the bar on 22 November 1808. His sister, Charlotte Moysey of Pickhurst Mead, who died in 1846, left him £5000 in her will, Although she left her house to her nephew Henry Gorges Moysey, it was agreed that Frederick would live at Pickhurst Mead with his wife Laura. He moved from West Wickham and appears on the Hayes churchwardens’ rates from 1848 until 1863. He was very interested in education, an active supporter of the Anglican National Society and immediately became involved in the administration of the village school. He was a trustee from 1849, treasurer in 1851 and by 1860 was chairman of the governors. His sister Charlotte had left a legacy of £50 to the school. Frederick found it extremely difficult to understand the view of the Rector of Hayes, Revd Thomas John Hussey, who was very hesitant to provide him with the relevant information to apply for grants to help with plans for a proposed extension. The Rector did not like any interference in the running of the Church School which he had managed for the previous 18 years. He refused to have anything more to do with the school and fell out with Frederick who wrote to the Rector on 15 August 1849: I observe your desire that your communication may be final and I much regret to have to acknowledge such an answer on your part to my colleagues, the Governors of the School.’ However, largely through the support of the Moysey and Fraser families two new school rooms were added at the rear of the school in 1850. Frederick was a firm supporter of the Established Church and whilst in West Wickham had been churchwarden in 1844 when the Church tower of St John the Baptist was restored. As soon as Revd Hussey was replaced by Revd George Varenne Reed in 1854 plans were made to enlarge Hayes Church. Frederick Moysey was one of the local landowners on the committee set up to agree the extension and to commission the architect George Gilbert Scott to design the North Aisle. He donated £100 to the project and in spite of the Rural Dean’s reservations sufficient funds were raised for its completion in 1856. When the church was enlarged again in 1878 the first stained glass window to be installed in the south aisle was in memory of him, his sister Charlotte and his wife Laura née Bowles. Laura was eight years younger than Frederick but suffered from increasing health problems in the early 1850s both with her breathing and sight. They employed six resident servants to help them and were also assisted by Laura’s niece, Anne Sturges Bourne, who was a frequent visitor and sometimes stayed for several months. Laura died 20 May 1854 and was buried near the ancient yew tree in Hayes churchyard, close to the grave of Abel and Charlotte Moysey. Anne was very worried about whether Frederick could look after himself but she knew he liked solitude and meditation. He was a deep reader, keen on his garden and his charity work. His particular hobby was talking military tactics and strategy and he enjoyed using his model soldiers to re-enact the Peninsular War battles with his friends and family. Anne and his nephew Henry frequently visited him and after one visit when he was over 80 years old Anne wrote ‘if he had become a little more odd or forgets to eat his lunch it is no great matter at his age’. Letters from Frederick, (Uncle Fred), in 1861-2 discussed letting Pickhurst Mead and going to live at Testwood, Hampshire with Anne but he died in Hayes in June 1863. He was interred with his wife Laura in Hayes churchyard.
Pickhurst Mead
Pickhurst Mead (Bromley Historic Collections, Kadwell Portfolio) Pickhurst Mead1833 – 1934 Owner Charlotte MoyseyIn 1833 Charles Kadwell described the very pretty rural residence in the Swiss Cottage style of architecture that Charlotte Moysey was building on seven acres of land to the south of Pickhurst Green. The architect was Robert Wallace of Westminster. On its completion she moved from Hayes Grove, where she had lived with her father Abel who died in 1831, to Pickhurst Mead until her death in 1846. She left the property to the son of her elder brother Charles, Henry Gorges Moysey, who agreed that his uncle Frederick Moysey, a barrister, could live there for the rest of his life. When Frederick died in 1863 the estate was put up for sale, although the family kept some land. House sale details 1863By 1863 the house and land covered 24 acres and its estimated rental value was £350 a year. It was described as an exceedingly comfortable and well arranged substantial brick-built family residence. The house had four bedrooms on the second floor, three bedrooms with two dressing rooms and a bathroom with hot and cold water on the first floor, a large drawing room, dining room, library, housekeeper’s and butler’s rooms on the ground floor. Outside were farm buildings, a four-stall stable, a double coach house and two kitchen gardens. Worthy of note were the pretty ornamental porch at the front entrance and the ornamental lodge at the entrance gate. Ellen Hall recorded in her diary that, ‘Mr Moysey’s house at Pickhurst is to be sold … but the price is so ridiculously high that I don’t think anyone will buy it … they will sell at £12,000!’. Pickhurst Mead (Bromley Historic Collections Overseers’ Map) Jonathan Crocker, a merchant and wholesale dealer in cotton, silk and woollen manufacture, moved to Pickhurst Mead from his house in Camberwell and stayed seven years. He was followed by Samuel Herman de Zoete, a retired stockbroker and chairman of the Stock Exchange, who lived there with his wife Ellen, two daughters, four sons (also in the Stock Exchange or allied professions) and seven servants. Ten years later his son Charles and daughter Matilda were still unmarried and living with their parents at Pickhurst Mead. Samuel de Zoete died in 1884 and a banker and army agent with Messrs Cox & Co, Arthur Hammersley, occupied the house from 1886 with his wife and young daughter. By 1891 they had two more daughters and 11 resident servants. He left in 1902. It is possible that Everard Hambro who had both family and banking connections with Arthur Hammersley may have purchased the house about this time. Fires at Pickhurst MeadBetween 1902 and 1911 the house was leased from Everard Hambro by racing car driver Arthur Huntley Walker at £440 per annum. Several tragic events occurred.His three-month-old daughter, Queenie, died and was buried in Hayes Churchyard in 1904 and the house suffered two serious fires. The first fire occurred on 25 June 1905 and damage was limited to the main wing but the loss was estimated at £15,000; the library was burnt out and the value of the books destroyed amounted to £5,000. Fortunately the family were able to get out through the servants’ staircase. This fire became known as the ‘Red Tape Fire’ and received extensive publicity in the newspapers, because Beckenham firemen refused to attend the fire as it was outside their district. Hayes Parish Council had previously declined to pay towards the maintenance of the Beckenham Brigade. Pickhurst Mead (Bromley Record August 1905) He continued his racing career and competed at the first Brooklands meeting in 1907 with a Darrack. Mr Huntley-Walker’s second fire occurred early on 4 January 1909 when Pickhurst Mead suffered even more damage; estimated at £30,000. There were twelve people in the house at the time and the local police constable had to break open a door to rescue three women from a bedroom. Fortunately no one suffered any injuries.Fourteen cars were destroyed in the fire including a new 90 hp. Darracq that had been specially built to compete in the 1909 Grand Prix, two Napier touring cars, two Mercedes cars, four Weigel cars and two 120hp Darracq racing cars, one which won the Vanderbilt Cup in 1906 and 1907, the other a winner of the Italian Grand Prix. Apparently a gas explosion in the rebuilt library was the cause of the fire. Charles Eric Hambro, owner 1909 – 1933Sir Everard’s son, Charles Eric, was the owner by 1909 of the house, grounds and stables that covered 13 acres. The house was extensively repaired and he took up residence from 1913 until 1924. It was valued with its land at £9,300 and described as ‘a large detached house built of red brick, stone and tiles, old but recently overhauled and a considerable sum spent on improvements and decoration’. On the 2nd floor there were 7 bedrooms, a bathroom, W.C. & a lumber room, on the first floor 5 good bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, 2 W.C.s, a day & night nursery, dressing room, housemaid’s parlour, butler’s room & linen room. On the ground floor were the drawing room, dining room, library, ‘boudoir’ room & smoke room, and in the grounds a cottage with 2 bedrooms, a one bedroom bothy and a garage for 2 motor cars with a cement floor Pickhurst Mead (National Archives IR58/142070) First World WarCharles Eric Hambro worked in the Central Intelligence Service during the First World War and was knighted for his services. An anti-aircraft gun was set up in the grounds of Pickhurst Mead and formed part of the outer defence of London. After his father Everard’s death in 1924 he moved to Hayes Place and his eldest son Charles Jocelyn occupied the house for a couple of years. Edward Thomas John, tenant 1927 – 1931The last tenant in 1927 was the Welsh nationalist Edward Thomas John and his family who leased the property for five years at a rent of £300 a year. He had followed his
FRASER, Marianne
Marianne Fraser Fraser, Marianne1788 – 21 December 1852 Marianne Fraser was born in Scotland and was the eldest daughter of Lt. General Mackenzie Fraser. She was 14 years old when her mother Helen died in 1802. Her father wanted to try to keep all the family, her brothers Charles and Frederick and sister Helen, in Edinburgh but his plans were unsuccessful. He was therefore very grateful for the offer from Vicary Gibbs, whose wife was Helen’s sister, to have all the children at Hayes Court and look after them while he was on his military campaigns. Marianne arrived with her younger sister Helen 12, brothers Charles 10 and Frederick 6. A governess Miss Jones was engaged for them. With her sister Helen she was amongst the 12 persons confirmed in Hayes Church on 7 August 1806. Their preparation instruction was undertaken by the Rector of Hayes, Revd John Till, whose executor she became on his death in 1827. Neither Helen nor Marianne married although Helen eventually lived in Gloucestershire. Marianne remained in Hayes and became very well known for her active interest in the health and welfare of those who lived in the village. She read widely, studied Greek, Hebrew, Latin, Italian and French for her own improvement, kept countless diaries and commonplace books and detailed records of her accounts. She also assisted the Revd John Till as he became infirm in his old age. She kept her brother Charles informed of events in Hayes including times when John Till fainted in the pulpit. She showed great concern for the Rector who came to rely on her to handle his affairs, to ensure the money was distributed correctly to the poor in the Parish and with him she paid for the extension in 1821 to the Charity School that had been set up in 1791. She also paid the fees for several children to be able to attend that school. On Revd Till’s death she had the task of allocating £100 to the villagers and her comments on each recipient show that she was well aware of those who needed and were deserving of a legacy and those who she felt had not tried to help themselves or indeed aggravated their poverty by their actions. She also felt that those who were wealthy, as she became after the death of her father in 1809, should use their money wisely. She administered the contributions from the wealthy for the poor stating ‘I shall therefore continue distributing it as nearly as possible in the manner in which he [Revd Till] disposed of it’. In 1820 after the death of her Uncle Gibbs she became the owner for her life time of Hayes Grove. For many years she rented the property out whilst living with and looking after her aunt Lady Gibbs who was increasingly frail and became blind as she grew older. In 1835 Marianne’s brother Charles, his wife Jane with ten of their children came to stay at Hayes Grove while major work was being carried out at Castle Fraser which he had inherited. Sadly, eight of the children caught chicken pox and the youngest Caroline aged one and a half died and was buried in Hayes. Slowly the other children recovered and with their aunt visited Madame Tussaud’s, the London Zoo, and more locally the Bromley Horticultural Show. The house was much quieter once they returned to Scotland but Marianne continued to have responsibility for her nephews when they were sent to England for their education and also became involved in the debts which her brother Frederick and sister Helen incurred. Marianne was 55 when Lady Gibbs died and for the rest of her life she lived at the Grove with two resident servants. In her will she left legacies to her family and to the SPCK and SPG but being uncertain of the direction in which the school was going under the Rector Revd Thomas Hussey she revoked her £60 gift to it. She left £20 each to Timothy Tilden and his wife and £50 to her gardener Benjamin Bunny. She gave clear instructions that she should be buried in the south east corner of Hayes Churchyard in the plainest manner. The undertaker should be the carpenter Thomas Smith who lived in one of her cottages and the coffin bearers were to live in the village of Hayes and each be paid £1. Her tomb includes the following inscription: ‘died Dec 21st 1852 aged 64 long known in the Parish of Hayes for her active benevolence and the genuine interest she took in the welfare of the inhabitants.’ Further information:Lavinia Smiley, The Frasers of Castle Fraser, 1988Aberdeen University Library & Special Collections, Fraser Papers:MS3470
GUINNESS, Henry Seymour
Guinness, Henry Seymour & daughter Heather1858 – 1945Irish politician, banker, engineer, Assistant Managing director of Arthur Guinness, Son & Company 1924-30 After his retirement from his business activities Henry Seymour Guinness bought Hayes Grove in Prestons Road in 1933. He moved here with his wife Marie and his two younger daughters Patricia and Heather Seymour, known as Judy. Heather was second in fencing at the 1932 Olympic Games, won the British Women’s Fencing Championship in 1933 and was runner up the following year. She became engaged to Clifton Penn-Hughes, a racing driver who came second in the Italian Mille Miglia. He flew his own plane and in August 1935 amazed villagers when he landed it in fields in George Lane in order to visit Judy at the Grove. They married at St Clement Danes in October 1935 and her sister Patricia was a bridesmaid. Sadly Clifton Penn Hughes did not live to see the birth of his daughter in February 1940 as his plane crashed at Lympne in July 1939 .
MOYSEY, Abel
MOYSEY, Abel1743 – 1831Judge, MP for Bath, Deputy Remembrancer of the Court of Exchequer Abel Moysey took over the lease of Hayes Grove in 1823. He and his family had known both Vicary and Lady Gibbs for many years before they moved to Hayes and in the correspondence there are frequent references to meetings. Abel had four children and his sons, Abel and Frederick, followed their father’s legal career and qualified for the bar. Another son Charles entered the church and became Archdeacon of Bath from 1820-39. His daughter Charlotte, a gifted artist, lived with him at The Grove. There is a remarkable book of her paintings of the plants and flowers found around Hayes and on the Common between 1824 and 1828 in the Fraser Archives in Aberdeen. She and Marianne Fraser were clearly friends and in 1812, for instance, played a piano duet at a musical evening. Charles Fraser also referred to Charlotte’s exceptional musical talent and they often shared evening entertainments at each other’s houses. It is therefore not surprising that when Samuel Nevil Ward left Hayes Grove in 1823 that Marianne should offer to let the house to Charlotte and her father Abel. After Abel’s death at Hayes in 1831 Charlotte remained at Hayes Grove with all the furniture which she inherited until her new house, Pickhurst Mead, was ready for her in 1834. Charlotte continued to help the poor of Hayes as her father Abel had done during his time at Hayes Grove.
ROBINSON, Elizabeth
ROBINSON, Elizabeth formerly Pickard and Martin (née Winder)Hayes Grove 1773 – 1803 Elizabeth was married three times. She moved to Hayes in 1773 when her husband Joseph Martin purchased the Grove, a red brick substantial house that bordered on the Common. Her son Joseph William was born in 1776 and was ten months old when his father died. He left all his possessions to her. Her second marriage was to a Yorkshire man, William Pickard, who was living in Ludgate, London. He moved into Hayes Grove. In 1782 they lived at the Grove with her son Joseph William and four servants.Their coachman William Brown lived nearby in Elm Cottage.William Pickard came from Great Osborne in Yorkshire where he was buried in 1783. He left legacies of £1000 to his brother Thomas, a clergyman, and £200 to his brother Leonard and £400 each to Mary and Margaret, Leonard’s daughters. Other large bequests were made to his cousins and £200 to the poor of Great Osborne. Elizabeth was left £200 and all his plate, linen, carriages and horses and Joseph William was given £500 and his books. The interest on her marriage settlement of £5600 was to continue and on her death the sum was to be divided equally between Joseph William and the children of his brother Leonard. After William Pickard’s death Elizabeth married Edward Robinson who lived with her at the Grove until her death in 1805. Regular donations were made to support the poor but he was not considered fit enough to rase support when called upon during the Napoleonic wars. In 1790 they employed three resident domestic servants and a gardener and a coachman who lived in separate cottages. In 1803 Revd Till wrote ‘Mr Robinson is much in the same precarious state of health, as usual, though I think upon the whole rather better this winter than the last. Mrs Robinson … is not proof against the general influenza and the day before yesterday I saw her with every symptom of its approach.’ The illness greatly weakened her but she persevered with her main ambition of building and furnishing her son Joseph’s parsonage house at Keston. Revd Till felt that she would not live long after its completion. ‘She has now but one more piece of furniture to provide for him and then, I think, she may contentedly assume to herself the line and lesson of every country churchyard, ‘Farewell, vain world, I’ve had enough of thee.’ She died and was buried near her first husband in West Wickham in September 1805.
MARTIN, Joseph
MARTIN, JosephAbout 1740 – 1777 Joseph Martin was born about 1740 and married Elizabeth Winder in October 1763. Described as a gentleman from Downe they moved to Hayes Grove in 1773. Their son Joseph William was born 9 August 1776 and baptised in Hayes Church. Joseph was keen to extend the grounds of his new house and he was granted permission to enclose about one acre of Hayes Common which bordered his shrubbery and garden. Charles Kadwell said that here he planted the avenue of lime trees, some of which survive today. He died at the young age of 36 on 8 April 1777 leaving his widow his estate which in addition to Hayes Grove included three crofts and annuities worth £5700. His widow Elizabeth remarried first William Pickard and then Edward Robinson. His son Joseph William Martin was ordained in 1800 and became Rector of Keston where he died 12 November 1858.
Hayes Grove
Hayes Grove Hayes Grove, Prestons Road Nationally Listed Grade II Built about 1730 The listing for Hayes Grove in 1955 describes it as an 18th century house of red brick with the following features: Stringcourse cornice and Parapet. Segmental-headed windows with glazing bars intact. Consists of a centre and 2 projecting wings. Pilasters flank each of the 3 sections – Behind the parapet of the wings are weatherboarded gables. Central doorway up 5 wide steps with iron handrail, the doorway having fluted Doric pilasters, curved pediment and door of 6 fielded panels. 2 storeys, attic and semi-basement, 9 windows and 5 dormers. The garden front has 2 symmetrical bays of 3 windows on ground and Ist floor, 1 round-headed window and a doorway with flat hood on brackets. Early history 1729 – 1820 At the beginning of King George II’s reign a brewer from Wapping, Thomas Curtis, began to build a mansion in Hayes that was unfinished at his death in 1729. It was sold for £630 to Captain George Wane who completed the house that became known as The Grove. It was the traditional Georgian symmetrical building but did not yet have the projecting wings. George Wane traded ‘as a merchant in buying and selling of wines, brandys, rum and other goods and merchandizes’. To help his cash flow he borrowed £500 from John Roberts of Woodley, Berkshire but in 1735 was behind with the interest and a London merchant, John Small, took over the debt of £562 10s. 0d. Gabriel Neve, a member of the Inner Temple, became the owner by 1751. A daughter Frances was baptised in Hayes Church in November 1752 and a son Edward in 1758. He died in 1773 leaving his estate to his wife Ann. After her death in 1775 his eldest son Philip took over the administration of his late father’s properties. Joseph Martin, the next owner was given permission in 1773 to enclose just over an acre of Common land and plant an avenue of trees [lime trees], most of which survive today. He died in April 1777, leaving his wife Elizabeth with a ten-month-old son Joseph William. Her second husband William Pickard, a wealthy Yorkshire gentleman, died in 1783 and by 1790 Elizabeth had married Edward Robinson and employed three resident domestic servants. A gardener and a coachman lived in separate cottages. Her son Revd Joseph Martin inherited The Grove after her death in 1805. He let it to Samuel Savage and then sold it to William Brown in 1813. Three years later Sir Vicary Gibbs, Chief Justice of the Common Pleas, who lived at Hayes Court bought the Grove. Description of the Grove in 1820 The Grove had four storeys consisting of three attic rooms, four rooms on the first floor and three main rooms heated by stoves – drawing room, dining room and breakfast room – on the ground floor. The kitchen, scullery and wine cellars were In the basement and there was also a laundry, dairy, brewhouse and stable. Hayes Grove (G W Smith) Marianne Fraser, owner 1820 – 1852 Vicary Gibbs died in 1820 and his wife’s niece, Marianne Fraser, was granted the property for her life time. At the time she lived at Hayes Court and she continued to be a companion to her aunt Lady Gibbs who died in 1843. She initially let the property to Samuel Nevil Ward before he bought Baston Manor in 1823 and then to Abel Moysey, whose family were great friends with the Gibbs. After her father’s death in 1831 Abel’s daughter, Charlotte Moysey, remained at Hayes Grove until her new house, Pickhurst Mead, was built on land south of Pickhurst Green. In the drawing room in 1824 there was a Brussels carpet measuring eighteen feet by sixteen feet, in the dining room a Turkish carpet of sixteen feet six inches long by twelve feet nine inches wide, mahogany tables and a handsome sideboard. The breakfast room had two mahogany bookcases and a large map of the world by Arrowsmith.. For insurance purposes the contents were valued, when at £450, about £20,000 today. In 1834 Lord Strathallan stayed there for a few months before Marianne Fraser arranged for her brother Charles Fraser and his large family to stay at the Grove whilst his home, Castle Fraser, was having major alterations. There was considerable correspondence between Marianne and her brother about the arrangements. She described the 5 or 6 little attic rooms going the length of the roof which could be separated by locking a door in the middle. Two back staircases meant that a complete division could be made for staff at one end and children at the other. The kitchen was near the coachhouse with a colonnade approach from it to the house. There was one man’s room over the stable and another small one in the pantry. She also said she had hired a man for the garden & odd jobs on the same term as Lord Strathallan. The next tenant was a Mr Wickham who remained for 34 weeks paying £2 a week. Colonel Cator then wanted to take over the lease but Marianne rejected his plans for alterations as she did not want it to become a ‘hunting establishment’ preferring a quiet tenant like Mr Wickham. In 1838 she moved to the Grove and employed four servants. Various changes were made to the building and towards the end of her life a verandah was removed and some chimneys pulled down and restored. John Buswell Dudin , tenant 1856 – 1884After Marianne Fraser’s death in 1852 the property reverted to Vicary Gibbs’ daughter Maria who had married Andrew Pilkington. She let the Grove to John Buswell Dudin, a wharfinger who lived there with six servants including the dairy maid, gardener and groom. He married Clara Webb Pilcher, 12 years his junior, in January 1865 and their three children were baptised in Hayes Church. They remained at the Grove until his death in 1884 Charles Marston Rose 1884 – 1899Maria