Why would Greenwich Hospital grant someone property?

[Richard Knott]

At the end of Robert Pratt's will (unproved; but he died in 1836) he writes:

I likewise leave and bequeath to my son John Pratt the lease of the house and premises granted to John Watson by Greenwich Hospital which he granted to me.

I have no idea of the connection between Robert Pratt and John Watson, although he may be a relative of Robert's wife, Rebecca Mather Watson, whom he married in 1791. Robert was a clerk to a brewer and later owned several pubs, but had no connection to the navy as far as I know. Rebecca, however, was the daughter of a successful navy shipwright.

I am interested to know the circumstances under which John Watson might have been granted the leasehold of the building.

Richard

[mckha489]

https://hansard.parliament.uk/commons/1815-06-07/debates/e2ccaa34-e18d-475d-868c-e98129faf235/GreenwichHospitalEstates


Page 8 of this document

https://www.greenwichhospital.co.uk/sites/default/files/uploads/Greenwich%20Hospital%20Accounts%202022-2023.pdf

[Richard Knott]

Thanks - interesting.
So the suggestion is that John Pratt probably had nothing to do with Greenwich Hospital; he just bought some property from them.
Richard

[mckha489]

Had a long term lease he was able to pass on is the conclusion I would make.

[Richard Knott]

I do have a candidate for John Watson: a master mariner who came from Stockton in Durham but now lives in Wapping. Robert Pratt's wife's family of Pratts came from near Stockton, were shipwrights and there is an overlap of unusual names such as Ralph.

It's a longshot but the will was written in 1787 yet not proved until 1828. I imagine that John and his wife died long before that as they started having children in 1752, so 41 years seem a long time to prove a will.

Richard