January 21, 1899.
THE ESTATES GAZETTE,
101
Motts b!j tbz Mag.
Arrangements are in progress at Arundel Castle for a tenants’ ball on a large scale. This ־will be the first function of the kind since the death of the Duchess of Norfolk in. 1887.
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Lord Harlech has remitted 10 per cent, on the rentals of his tenants on the Brogyntyn Estate; and the Duke of Westminster has returned five per cent, to his Halkyn tenants in Flintshire.
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We understand that the Pilmore Estate, near Darlington, an extensive sporting property, lately belonging to Mr. J. E. Backhouse, has been purchased for £60,000 by Captain Forster, or Kineton, Warwickshire.
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An Association Football Club, known as the Meteors F.C., has recently been formed by some of the past and present members of Mr. !Richard Park’s classes. Mr. Parry is the president, and the committee contains some names well known in the surveying profession: — Messrs. E. H. Blake (chairman), C. J. B. Bridgewater, S. A. Carter, G. P. Knowles, A. Morris, H. M. !Rogers, and E. F. Stimson. The hon. sec. (Mr. W. H. Pain, of 140, Palace-chambers, Bridge-street, Westminster) will be glad to hear from any gentlemen in the profession, desirous of joining the club, others than pupils being eligible. The first match was played on Saturday last, when the following team met Enfield Lock (winners of North Middlesex League last season), and suffered defeat by four goals to two : —A. E׳. Parry, D. Mills, W. H. Pain, H. Thomas, H. P. Stimson, H. G. !Russell, H. Clarke, A. Morris, E. F. Stimson, A. S. Ginger, and C. J. B. Bridge water. To-day (Saturday) the Meteors, whose colours are red and white, are playing the Bal-ham Wanderers’ !Reserves, at Hyde Farm, Bal-ham.
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“ Sweet, gentle Oalne,” as one of the poets has said of the little Wiltshire׳ town, is a; delightfully quaint old place, with, however, a goodly number of modern houses intermingled with the dwellings of ancient times. It is charmingly situated on the banks of the little rn er Marden, and its environs display a glorious mingling of dale and hill. Amid these charms lies the little village׳ of Stockley, where is situated a small freehold estate of 74 acres, which is to be submitted to auction at the Bear Hotel, Devizes, on January 26, by Mr. T. Lavington, in conjunction with Messrs. Waters and! Rawlenee. The estate, which is three miles from Caine station, and five from the market town of Devizes, oonsists of some two-thirds of fine old pasture, and there is a convenient dwelling house, and range of farm buildings, cottage, etc. Apart from its value as a compact agricultural holding of very moderate extent, the property has many advantages, lying as it does amid such pleasant surroundings. It offers considerable facilities for sport, being in close proximity to the downs in a good sporting district, whilst the meets of the Avondale and Badminton hounds take place in the vicinity.
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Professor J. W. Hales has exploded the theory or tradition that the well-known house of rest and refreshment on Hampstead Heath, Jack Straw’s Castle, which we recently described in an illustrated article, was in any way connected with Jack Straw, the conspirator. In a recent lecture before the members of the local Antiquarian and Historical Society, Professor Hales said it was almost certain that from early times an earthwork stood on the site of the present building, and hence the name of “ Castle.” Jack Straw, a leader of the revolt of the peasants in 1381, was credited with having made a camp on the spot, but historical authorities were against it. On Wednesday, June 12, Wat Tyler, at the head of the Kentish men, was encamped on Blackheath ; while Jack Straw, with the Essex contingent, was at Mile End. On Saturday, Wat Tyler was slain at Smithfield, and the insurrection was over. Jack Straw was taken and executed on the Sunday, and it was hardly possible that he could have found his way to the part of the heath which now bore his name. It was quite clear, however, that Jack Straw and his men went to Highbury, and there attacked the country seat of the Prior of the Knights’ Hospitallers, against which order the peasants entertained a great hatred. Highbury Barn was the grange connected with the ancient priory, and Highbury could lay claim to a genuine “Jack Straw’s Castle.” The hostelry was originally a private house, built at the be-ginning of the last century, and it was a curious fact that the wood of the gallows on which a highwayman was hanged, in 1673, was built into the wall. About the middle of the last century it became a public-house, and seemed to have been merely known as the Castle Inn. The first literary mention of it as Jack Straw’s Castle was in a book called “ The Cabinet of Curiosities,” published in 1822.
in an appearance, a circumstance which, however, is not altogether unusual. The only property offered was in the hands of Messrs. Giddy and Giddy, and comprised the town residence, No. 5, Lower Berkeley-street, Portman-square, which, together with stabling, is held on a direct Portman lease for an unexpired term of 28 years from Lady-day of this year, at a nominal ground rent of £18 13s. The house, which, by the way, was offered with possession, did not attract a purchaser. Mr. Osman Giddy asked for a bid of £3,000, but there was no response, and to use the auctioneer’s own words, it seemed “ incomprehensible what the gentlemen present had come for.” There are prospects of a fairly busy time next week, for the list includes many important sales of small investments, which will be duly noticed by
Onlooker.
(№iitar|j.
ME. CHAELES HEARN.
The death occurred, on the 15th inst., of Mr. Charles Hearn, auctioneer and public-house valuer, at his residence, No. 219, New-cross-road, S.E. The deceased for many years carried on business at No. 11, Duke-street, London-bridge. The funeral took place on Friday.
ALD. J. C. T. CHEESMAN.
We regret to announce the sudden death, on Friday, January 13, of Mr. Alderman J. C. T. Cheesman (Messrs. Cheesman and Co., auctioneers and estate agents, of Brighton and Hove), a member of the Hove Town Council. Only the previous day the deceased was in his accustomed place at the Council meeting in Hove Town Hall, and he retired to rest cheerful and apparently well. On Friday morning, however, he was found dead in bed. For some time past Mr. Cheesman has been in a precarious׳ state of health. Two years ago he had a paralytic seizure, but after a while he recovered, and resumed his active public life. He was one of the oldest inhabitants of Hove, and has been successively a! Commissioner, an urban councillor and a town councillor, whilst he was one of the first aldermen elected when the town became a borough. He was a prominent worker for the incorporation of Hove, and was connected with pretty well every public movement in the town. Great success attended his management of the military concerts on the Lawns—the resort of fashion on a summer afternoon. Mr. Cheesman was a good speaker, and courteous and genial in temperament, and his loss will be greatly felt in both Hove and Brighton.
aks bg fîribate featç.
Messrs. Alfred Best and Adams have sold the leasehold residence, No. 26, Alexandra-road, Finsbury-park, N., offered by them at the Mart on the 10th inst.
The attractive residential property known as St. Mary’s Lodge, Kidlington, Oxon, has been sold for the sum of £1,000 by Messrs. Hamlet and Dulake, of Oxford.
The leasehold interest in No. 27, King-street, Cheapside, unexpired term 57 years, ground rent £500 per annum, has just been disposed of by Messrs. Daniel Smith, Son and Oakley.
Messrs. S. !R. Force and Son, of Exeter, have now sold the freehold residence, No. 71, Pennsylvania-road there, recently offered at auction, for £550. Messrs. Reed and Goss, of Exeter, acted on behalf of the vendors.
The Corporation lease of No. 149, New Bond-street, held in perpetuity at a ground rent of £10 per annum, has been sold by Messrs. White, Druce and Brown, the price realised being an exceptionally good one. They Lave also disposed of the extensive premises, Nos. 212 and 214, Regent-street, with premises in the rear, at an excellent price.
Messrs. W. J. Winsley and Co., of Exeter and Honiton, have recently disposed of the following freehold properties : —Summerdown, Northleigh, near Honiton, a compact little estate of just over 30 acres, offered at auction in October last, the purchaser being a London gentleman, at the sum of £600 ; and a modern dwelling house, Maryland, Well-street, Exeter, for £260, being the same figure realised for the property two years ago by this firm.
Royal Scottish Arboricultural Society. —The 46th annual general meeting of this society takes place at the hall of the Young Men’s Christian Association, Edinburgh, on Tuesday next, the 24th inst. Colonel Bailey, the president, will occupy the chair.
F. Field (Messrs. Field and Sons), who, within a very short time, had disposed of every lot in his list. The transactions included the sale of a house and shop, No. 14, Laneaster-street, Bavswater-road, Hyde-park, the adjoining dwelling house, No. 14a, Laneaster-street, and adjacent stabling, all let and producing a gross rental of £190 a year, and held by leases for 89 years unexpired at ground rents amounting to £28 per annum, for £1,330 ; of three modern leasehold residences in Avondale-square, Old Kent-road, gross rental £160 per annum, unexpired term 56 years, ground rents amounting to £16 10s., for £930, and of a freehold dwelling house, No. 7, Bennett-street, Stamford-street, Blackfriars, let to weekly tenants at rents amounting to £94 5s., for £960. Mr. W. B. Oranfield (Messrs. H. E. Foster and Oranfield) attended for the purpose of offering a leasehold residence, known as York House, No. 13, Richmond-terrace, Clapham-road, estimated rental £50 a year, unexpired term 29J years, ground rent £7 10s.,which was purchased for £310 ; whilst Mr. Harry G. Beard (Messrs. Beard and Son) sold a number of leasehold ground rents, secured upon properties at West-bourne-grove, and also leasehold property at Bayswater, at prices which will be found published in another column.
Thursday.
There was much activity in Freehold and about the auction rooms Shadwell” afternoon. The largest share of the business was transacted in the large “A” room, occupied on this occasion by Mr. H. J. Bliss (Messrs. H. J. Bliss and Sons), where a very heavy batch of small East-end properties was dealt with. These comprised principally leasehold houses in Edmonton, Yictoria-park and Hackney, and many of the prices realised were highly satisfactory, as will be seen from the record elsewhere. Excellent prices were also obtained by Mr. Daniel Watney (Messrs. Daniel Watney and Sons), who, in dealing with freehold shop and house property in Shadwell, was particularly successful in regard to a number of four-roomed weekly houses in Albert-street. Three of these, together producing £78 a year, were sold in one lot for £660, whilst nine others, of the gross rental value of £234, fell into the hands of a dealer at £1,940. Two shops and dwelling houses, occupying a corner position in Cable-street, annual rental £56, were sold with possession for £920. I may also mention the sale of four freehold ground rents, amounting to £50 per annum, secured upon a large block of modern property, extending from Cable-street to Lowood-street, reversion to the rack rentals estimated at about £400 a year in 64 years. These, which were undoubtedly the “ plum ” of the sale, together realised £1,320. The properties sold by Mr. Watney comprised the whole of Albert-street, and extends from Cable-street to High-street. Stuart House, Cadogan-square, 8.W., which is built in the Tudor and Stuart style of architecture, and overlooks three ornamental gardens, was offered under the hammer of Mr. H. C. Trollope (Messrs. Trollope), but, as is usual when high-class town residences are brought to the Mart, the attendance was very poor. The mansion•—which occupies a corner position—and the stabling are long-leasehold, being held for terms expiring on March 25, 1973, at ground rents of £18 and £7 per annum respectively. The property was bought in at £12,000. Messrs. H. E. Foster and Oranfield held their periodical sale of reversions and policies, and among the lots sold by Mr. Oranfield were the absolute reversion to one-eighth share of seven-tenths of a trust estate, of the present estimated value of £63,436, life aged 67, together with a present income of £81, which realised £8,500, and the reversion to one-seventh share of the proceeds and investments to arise from the conversion into money of the real and personal estate of a testatrix, of the present estimated value of upwards of £90,000, receivable on decease of the reversionist’s father, a gentleman aged 55. This last-mentioned lot fetched £4,600.
Friday.
The official notice board to-* ^.00r day was bare enough. Two n	auctions only were announceed,
and one of the firms mentioned failed to put
appears, may be redeemed by the Company at par at any time after the expiration of 25 years from the date of issue upon 6 months’ previous notice being given to the registered holder. The importance of this sale justifies me in mentioning a few details. The stock offered to-day will rank for interest as from the 1st proximo, and the first half year’s interest thereon will be payable on August 1 next. The Debenture Stock of the Company, having priority over the present issue, amounts to £1,500,000 ; and of the £390,000 Debenture Stock “ C ” authorised by the Act of 1896 there has been already issued £126,809, leaving a balance of £263,191, of which the present issue forms part. It may be added that the interest on Debenture Stocks has priority over dividends on the original capital and new shares of the Company. The original capital expended, as declared by the Act of 1852, amounts to £1,519,958 ; and the new shares (fully paid up) created under the powers of the 1866 Act amount to £500,000. It should also be mentioned that dividends exceeding 13 per cant. per annum, are now paid on the share capital. The auctioneers had included in their particulars a very interesting statement showing the steady and large advance in the gross revenue of the New River Company during the last 25 years. It was observed that this bad increased from £284,203 in 1871, to £588,595 in 1897. From these facts it will be evident to my readers that it is impossible to have an investment more secure in its character. The excellent opportunity now afforded was taken advantage of to the fullest extent by a great many capitalists, large and small, for Mr. Bousfield wielded the hammer with great success, selling every lot offered at prices ranging from 102» per cent, to 1031 per cent.
The auction conducted bv Residences inMr w g. Martin (Messrs'.
Dulwich. w_ Martin and Qo:) provided
an exceptional opportunity for acquiring houses of almost every description in this favourite residential locality. It has been generally noticed that house property in this particular suburb, where villas abound, is seldom in the market, and it was therefore not surprising to find a large and eager assembly on this occasion. Investors bid freely, and the competition in many instances was extremely brisk. Borne of the reserves, however, were evidently considered high ; and there were not a few withdrawals in consequence. For instance, of five semi-detached villas in Ashbourne-grove, all held under long leases, at rentals together amounting to £146 a year, only one—No. 10, containing six rooms, scullery, bathroom, etc., with forecourt and garden, and let at £28 a year, less an unapportioned ground rent of £6—was sold, this realising £300. The others, two of which are let at £30, were withdrawn at the same figure. No. 177, East Dulwicl> grove, a detached double-fronted house with five bedrooms, breakfast room, dining room and drawing room, etc., let at £52 10s. a year, and held for a term of 66 years from Lady-day last at a ground rent of £12, fetched £510 ; whilst three adjoining houses were left unsold. Contracts were signed for No. 18, Elsie-road, East Dulwich, semidetached, estimated rental value £36 per annum, long lease, ground rent £7 10s., sold for £320 ; and also for some houses in Melbourne-grove, East Dulwich, and Walthamstow, sold at prices which appear elsewhere. There was quite a keen competition for two freehold ground rents, secured upon property in Addison-gardens, Kensington, Mr. C. Rawley Cross beiDg the auctioneer. A rent of £30 per annum, arising out of the block ot residential flats, known as Gordon Mansion, reversion in 98 years to the rack rentals, estimated at £250 a year, realised £875 ; whilst a security of £10 upon a corner shop and house, lease 98 years, estimated rack rent £80, sold for £290. Mr. Rawley Cross also sold a long-leasehold residence and stabling, No. 25, Edith-grove, South Kensington, estimated rental £75, ground rent £7 10s., for £625 ; a long-leasehold house, No. 13a, Ashburnham-road, Chelsea, let at £38, ground rent £6 10s., for £365 ; and the house adjoining, let at £40, same ground rent, for £385. Some good and sound investments were submitted by Mr. James