103
THE ESTATES GAZETTE
January 21, 1899.
and kitchen garden, the whole covering an area of about half an acre. The house was offered with possession, the estimated rental value being £90.	£800 was the highest
offer elicited, and Mr. Biscoe was unable to sell at this figure. It is more than likely, however, that the property will be quickly disposed of privately.
Tuesday.
Good	Ground rents when sold
Securities, under the hammer invariably
attract a good crowd ; but I may state with confidence that seldom have securities of this class been submitted to auction under more favourable circumstances than on Tuesday, when the well-known city firm of Debenham,
I Tewson, Farmer and Bridgewater conducted their first sale of the year. For half an hour the room chartered by them on the ground floor was the centre of attraction; and a fair idea of the celerity with which the business was conducted may be gathered from the fact that within that short time Mr. Bridgewater, who wielded the hammer, had dealt successfully with a dozen lots. These comprised freehold ground rents amounting to over £100, secured upon semidetached residences and terrace houses in Glengall-road and Glengall-terrace, Old Kent-road, placed in the market by order of the devisees under the will of the late Mrs. Southwell. Each of the houses has a good garden both in front and rear, and in announcing this fact the auctioneer thought it advisable to remind his company that in the days when the leases were granted a great deal more ground was given with properties than was the case nowadays. I ought to mention at this point that the purchasers will only have to wait 23 years for the reversions. When Mr. Bridgewater proceeded to deal with the first lot in the particulars of sale, it immediately became evident that there would be a keen and interesting competition amongst the numerous investors present. “ Now, come along, gentlemen, I am not going to repeat the biddings for these lots,” remarked the auctioneer. And they—or rather the bids— did come along, and at a faster rate than Mr. Bridgewater could record them. In a very few minutes Lot 1, a freehold ground rent of £25 4s. per annum, with reversion at Christmas, 1921, to the rack rentals now estimated at £240 a year, had realised £1,320, or over 52J years’ purchase. Other lots were quickly sold at from 48 to 52 years’ purchase ; and when the end of the sale was reached a total of £5,015 had been attained. Mr. Bridgewater made an effort to dispose of the town house, No. 14, Chester-street, Grosvenor-square, W., leasehold for 11 years unexpired, at a ground rent of £31 10s., but £1,850 being the highest offer, the property remained unsold, the price mentioned on behalf of the vendors being £2,250. Other properties submitted included a detached freehold family residence known as Leicester Lodge, Medina-villas, Hove, Brighton, which was bought in by Mr. Wm. H. Dunn (Messrs. Dunn, Soman and Coverdale) at £6,000 ; a freehold building site adjoining, No. 105, Devon-port-road, Uxbridge-road, Shepherd’s Bush, with an area of 4,250ft,, and a frontage of about 15ft., bought in by the same auctioneer at £650; and a family residence, known as Kingsland, No. 21, Carlton-road, Putney-hill, held on a long lease at a ground rent of £21 per annum, and let at £140, bought in by Mr. W. Bennett Rogers (Messrs. Rogers, Chapman and Thomas) at £1,700. Mr. Rogers, however, sold an absolute reversion to one equal 48th share of a sum of about £140,000 invested in Canadian and Australian Government Bonds, receivable upon the decease of the survivor of two lives aged 56 and 71 years, for £1,100. A large number of gas stocks and shares were sold by Mr. Alfred Richards for a total of £12,234.
Wednesday.
Immense interest is always ¿1®® manifested in the disposal by Stock. auction of New River Stocks and Shares. This afternoon the spacious “A” Room was well filled, when Mr. E. H. Bousfield (Messrs. Edwin Fox and Bousfield) submitted £120,000 3 per cent. Debenture Stock “ C,” being the second portion of a sum of £390,000, authorised by the Company’s Act of 1896. This, it
Tavern, at Aucldand-road, Clapham Junction, in one occupation for 12 years, was also withdrawn.
FOR lHUOMUNG SALES
op
LICENSED PROPERTIES
AT
Masons’ Hall, London, E C.
TUESDAY, JANUARY 24, at One o'clock. FLEURET, SONS and ADAMS, 23, Southampton-row. Old Bull and Bush, North-end, Hampstead, F.L. L.B. & S.O.R. Hotel. Queen’s-road, Peckham, F.L. JONES, SON and DAY. 586, Commercial-road, Stepney. Freemasons’ Arms. Salmon-lane, Limehouse, L. Lord Palmerston, Hewlett-road, Victoria-park, F.L. J. and W. JOHNSON and CO, 3, Hackney-road.
King and Queen, Newington-butts, F.L.
Horse and Groom, High-road. Edmonton, L.
Pine Apple, Graham-street, Pimlico, L.
whether the overseers had the power to reassess I licensed property between the quinquennial assessments when a house changed hands at an increased premium.
Between High-street and the beautiful Heath, when one descends the hill into the town of Hampstead, is seen on the right the famous Hollybush Tavern, which has existed as an inn for nearly two centuries, and is to be offered at the Mart on February 9 by Messrs. Fare-brother and Co. The Hollybush is not at all an uncommon sign in England, and as it is generally found near to a church, we may conclude that it points back to the ancient custom — now so generally practised amongst us—of decking our houses with evergreens at Christmas. It is said that this custom is as old as the time of the Druids.
JVIems fpom the |VIaFt
Monday.
There were only three AT?_re״ery auctioneers engaged at Token-house-yard on the opening day of the week. A large number of gentlemen interested in licensed property were attracted by the offer of the Fenstanton Brewery, St. Ives, Hunts, together with 52 hotels, public and beer-houses, of which, by the way, 41 are freehold, and a number of shops and cottages, with lands adjoining. Messrs. Alfred Thomas Peyer and Miles were the auctioneers concerned, the rostrum beiDg occupied, as usual, by Mr. Peyer, from whose observations I gathered that the tenure of Borough English, under which parts of the properties are held, is a freehold tenure, there being no fines or heriots incident thereto, so far as the borough of Godmanchester is concerned, where the properties are situate. The peculiarity of the tenure is that the customs of Free Bench and the right of the youngest son to inherit in case of an intestacy are incident thereto. It was explained that property held by this tenure may be transferred either by conveyance in the ordinary way, or by surrender, but in the latter case the surrender must be passed before the Mayor of Godmanchester. It is hardly necessary to enter into further particulars concerning the Fenstanton Brewery, but perhaps I should add that the beer sales represent about 3,500 barrels, besides wines, spirits, etc., and that the whole was offered as a going concern in one lot. The general anticipation was that the property would not change hands, and it proved correct, for Mr. Peyer failed to induce anyone to advance upon £35,000, the highest offer. Consequently the property was withdrawn, the reserve not being mentioned.
There appeared to be a
Houses near general desire to secure two Regent’s-park.feagehold hou8eg m
vicinity of Regent’s-park. They were both sold after a very good competition, and I am sure it was the wish of the auctioneer, Mr. Walter Simms (Messrs. J. and R. Kemp and Co.), whom I was glad to see again in the rostrum after his recent indisposition, that he had a dozen more of them to offer. The first, No. 5, Osnaburgh-terrace, with stabling in the rear, held under a Crown lease for an unexpired term of 24 years from October last at a ground rent of £5, and let on a repairiog lease for 21 years from December 25, 1896, determinable by the lessee at the end of seven or fourteen years, at a rental of £95 per annum, the lessee paying rates and taxes, with the addition of £16 a year for the stable, was declared sold at £1,000 ; whilst the second lot, comprising one of the smaller residences in York-ter-race, No. 53, held by an under-lease for 22£ years unexpired, at a ground rent of £21 per annum, and producing £75 a year, fetched £450. In offering a substantial freehold residence situate in Upper Ted-dingfcon, Mr. Francis E. Biscoe (Messrs. Biscoe and Biscoe) was labouring under a great disadvantage, for the audience was a small one. This, however, did not deter Mr. Biscoe from offering the property, and explaining fully its many advantages. The house is known as Ash Lodge, Gloucester-road, and contains an entrance hall, drawing room, dining room, library, six bed and dressing rooms, bath room, etc., whilst in the rear is a full-sized tennis lawn
George Romney, the famous painter, in 1797-98 took great pains in constructing for himself a country house between the Hollybush Inn and the Heath, with a studio adjoining, but his health suffered in consequence of entering the house while it was still wet. He had resolved to paint vast historical conceptions, imagining that a new hour of glory was come; but in 1799 he had to remove. The sisters Agnes and Joanna Baillie, the latter a poetess and dramatic writer of distinction, lived in the central house of a terrace of three mansions facing the Assembly Rooms (converted from Romney’s studio), at the back of the Hollybush Inn.
An interesting question as to brewery companies and tied houses was settled at the Wolverhampton County Court, on January 16, when his Honour Judge Young, gave judgment in regard to an action which had been brought in that Court by Messrs. W. Butler and Co., Springfield Brewery, Wolverhampton, to recover £50 from Mr. C. F. Slann, of the Golden Ball Inn, Coven, for an alleged breach of contract. The case was heard a month ago, when Mr. Yachell (instructed by Messrs. Fowler, Langley and Wright) appeared for the plaintiffs, and Mr. O'Connor, of Birmingham, for the defendant. The case for the plaintiffs was that in 1896 Mrs. Mary Ann Vaughan was the tenant on lease of the Golden Ball, and she borrowed from plaintiffs £300, the condition of the loan being that during five years, or until the money was repaid, all malt liquors should be purchased from Messrs. Butler. The mortgage was subsequently called in, the money was paid, and Mrs. Vaughan transferred her lease to Slann. The question was whether the covenant for the sale of the drink between Mrs. Vaughan and Messrs. Butler was binding on Slann. A number of cases were cited on either side, but his Honour now decided that they did not apply to the case before him, and he gave judgment for the defendant with costs.
Among cases dealing with licensed houses in the Law Courts this week was one which came before Mr. Justice Byrne on Thursday. This was “ Chandebois v. Burry,” which was an action for specific performance of a contract for the sale of the Gray’s-inn Larder, a noted dining place, off Holborn. Messrs Hampson and Co., the auctioneers, were the agents authorised to find a purchaser, and there were several interviews between the client they introduced and the owner of the premises. At first £28,000 was suggested as the price, but £32,000 was ultimately required. His Lordship dismissed the action with costs, holding that the terms had not been thoroughly completed, and the contract never concluded.
SALES AT MASONS' HALL TAVERN.
Charing Cross-road.
A good deal of interest centred on Tuesday in Mr. William Rolfe’s offer to auction, at Masons’ Hall Tavern, of the Royal George, at Mo. 133, Charing-cross-road, W.C., and there was a full attendance. The Royal George occupies a commanding corner position in the improving thoroughfare above-named, near to large business places and the theatres, and was oifered by order of the administratix of the late Mr. W. C. Wallace, who spent several thousand pounds on the property, which was built only a few years ago. Mr. Rolfe said that £40,000 had been refused recently for the property. It was held on a free lease for 51 years at £250 per annum, and he believed that at future sales money would be made out of the sale of free leases, as there was no doubt in his mind that all the free leases would ultimately be acquired by the brewers. The valuation was £1,000, and the stock £500. A start was made at £25,000, and biddings continued up to £29,900, when Mr. Rolfe withdrew the property, adding, however, that he thought it would very likely be sold before he left the room. Mr. J. Marks (Messrs. Orgill, Marks and Orgill) brought under the hammer the freehold of the old-established Nag’s Head, better known as White’s, Nos. 9 and 10, Whitechapel-road, for which the highest price offered was £24,950, and £25,500 was the reserve; the Invitation
LICENSED PROPERTY NOTES.
There was an animated appearance about Masons’ Hall Tavern on Tuesday, when three licensed properties were offered to auction. Chief interest centred in the Royal George, a house in Charing-cross-road, submitted by Mr. W. Rolfe, who stated at the close of the biddings that he believed the house would change hands before he left the room, so close was the last bid to the reserve.
A property which is described as one of the finest hotels in the famous old town of Plymouth is the exceptionally valuable fully-licensed house, known as the Mount Pleasant Hotel, which Mr. Rowland Hambly will sell by auction, on the premises, on the 31st inst. It faces the Millbay railway ■station, which, when the enlargement now in progress is completed, will afford considerable facilities for the development of business in the immediate neighbourhood. The house is in excellent repair, ^ and a good, sound, first-class business is carried on. The interior accommodation is extensive and complete. The property has a frontage of 75ft. in Millbay-road, and a depth to a lane behind of 150ft.
With respect to proposed widening of High-street, Kensington, Messrs. H. and R. Powell, of Bayswater, point out that ■the width of the road between the Civet Cat public-house and Barker’s shops opposite is already 50ft., and, consequently, it is not actually necessary to take down that■ house. Many thousands of pounds would be saved by allowing it to stand, and by commencing to widen the road with the house next door, No. 72. Fifty feet is sufficient for a great amount of traffic, being the width of Moorgate-street, King William-street, and the average width of Cheapside.
At the Oxfordshire Quarter Sessions recently, some appeal cases were heard from Henley, which raised an interesting point as to the assessment of licensed property. The first• was that ■of the Sun public-house, Northfield-end, belonging to Messrs. Brakspear, where the assessment had been increased from £18 to £30. The rent was £14, and the tenant told the Court that he did not live by the house, but carried on a small coal merchant’s business. For the respondents, Mr. W. Anker Simmons, of Henley, said property in Henley had doubled in value during the last few years. There were 31 fully-licensed houses in Henley, only three of which were free, two being riverside hotels. He considered the Sun worth £35 as unlicensed property. Two other surveyors were called, who confirmed Mr. Simmons, and counsel for the appellants argued that in the case of a tied house the extra amount paid for beer and spirits must be taken into account in the assessment. The appeal was dismissed with costs, as was the case of the Duke of Cumberland Inn, Henley, where the assessment had been raised from £15 to £28, the rent paid Messrs. Brakspear was £10.
^ The prosperous village of Rowley Regis, Staffordshire, possesses undeniable attractions as a trading centre. Coal, ironstone, building stone, and excellent clay abound in the locality. Ironworks, collieries, potteries, agricultural implement works, and malting establishments in various parts, give employment to the greater part of the thriving population. In this highly advantageous situation is the valuable and important free beer and wine house, known as the Bull’s Head Inn, Hales Owen main road, White Heath Gate, which Mr. George Sidney Gough, will offer for sale at the Talbot Hotel, Oldbury, ■on the 24th inst. The accommodation comprises bar, tap room, large club room, and a front room (used, as a butcher’s shop doing a good business), together with brew-house, slaughterhouse, etc. The inn is well known as a house of call, and by its important position on the main road must always command a large share of the trade of the district.
The City Licensed V ictuallers and Restaurant Keepers Protection Society held their annual meeting at the Com Exchange Hotel, Mark-lane, on Monday week, Mr. Charles Deakin, the chairman, presiding. From the annual report it appeared that the membership had increased during the year. The Hon. G. H. Allsopp, M.P., had consented to preside over the next annual dinner, to be held at. the Cannon-street Hotel, on Friday, 24th prox. Reference was also made to the fact that the sittings of the Royal Commission were now closed, and that, the society was looking with keen interest to its report, which it was hoped would not harass the trade by further restrictions. The assessment of licensed property had also received the careful ,attention of the committee. A satisfactory financial report was read by Mr. T. J. Knight. The chairman, in moving the adoption of the report, touched upon the matter of assessments, and said an appeal was now pending which would settle the question of