Land in Woolwich, Plumstead and Greenwich

[MasonT78]

Hi everyone,

In the early 1830's my grandfather leased some land in woolwich, plumstead and/or greenwich for the purpose of building houses.

There is a long story around it, and i have the relevant names, im just wondering is there anywhere i can look to find where that land was located? (As in the address and its current day location). in other words, land ownership records.

Many thanks.

[Andy J2022]

If you are looking for historic maps of the area go to the National library of Scotland collection. You can use their side-by-side feature to compare an 1830s map with a modern map of the same area.
If you are are looking for land ownership records, then I would start with tithe maps for the area. You may find these in the Kent Archives in Maidstone, although it is possible that given the proximity of Plumstead etc to London (and obviously today they are part of London), the London Archives may also hold relevant records. The London Archives are currently closed for their annual stocktaking. And one other archive which might be worth checking is at Charlton House in Greenwich. This is the official archive for Greenwich Borough Council.

[AlanBoyd]

If you give your ancestor's name I can have a look at tithe records (~1840) although there is no guarantee that the relevant area was included in the survey.

Tithe records record the names of owner and (often) occupier, and it is possible to locate plots in relation to modern maps.

Added: I just had a quick look and that area does seem to have excellent coverage.

[MasonT78]

If you give your ancestor's name I can have a look at tithe records (~1840) although there is no guarantee that the relevant area was included in the survey.

Tithe records record the names of owner and (often) occupier, and it is possible to locate plots in relation to modern maps.

Added: I just had a quick look and that area does seem to have excellent coverage.

Great thanks you.

My Grandfather was Robert Mason, originally from Great yarmouth he moved to Kent to work for Henyr Mason (unsure if a relative or not). The following is an except for his petition for clemency when nhe was found guilty of fraud:

In 1831 or 1832 he took a lease of some building ground of Mr Borrett of Greenwich with an understanding tha the would be supplied with money by a Mr Calvert, as the buildings progressed, on mortgage, to the amount of £500. The first house was built for a Mr Fry, for which he was to pay £46 per annum, the second house was building for a Mr Heymer, for which he was to have had a premium of £100, and a rental of £36. Unfortunately for Mason, Mr Heymer died before his house was half built and Mr Fry threw his house upon Masons hands because it was not finished at the time appointed.


Due to being handritten i may have the names incorrect, but this is the best i can make out. Im in Australia, so visiting physical locations isnt possible.

Thank you so much
Cheers

[MasonT78]

If you are looking for historic maps of the area go to the National library of Scotland collection. You can use their side-by-side feature to compare an 1830s map with a modern map of the same area.
If you are are looking for land ownership records, then I would start with tithe maps for the area. You may find these in the Kent Archives in Maidstone, although it is possible that given the proximity of Plumstead etc to London (and obviously today they are part of London), the London Archives may also hold relevant records. The London Archives are currently closed for their annual stocktaking. And one other archive which might be worth checking is at Charlton House in Greenwich. This is the official archive for Greenwich Borough Council.

Great thanks for all those links. I have used the Scottish one before but for WW1 trench maps, i didnt even think to look there too. In in Australia, so visiting archives offices isnt possible, im just relying on what I can find online, and being different records I wasnt sure what they were called over there in the mother country.

Thanks a lot for that

[AlanBoyd]

I'm afraid that I haven't found anything in the tithe records.

Looking for a landowner called Borrett seemed like the most likely option since the events happened well before the tithe survey date.

An exact search for landowner = 'Borrett' gave 255 results mainly in Norfolk and Suffolk.
There were none in Kent and I also looked further afield (Sussex, Surrey, Middlesex) without finding any. There are some Borrett records from Essex/Dagenham, but looking more closely I couldn't see any evidence that they were relevant.

If I broaden the matching criteria then a search for 'Borrett' in Kent turns up lots of 'Barratt', 'Barrett', 'Burt' etc. However if I focussed this broad search I got:

Kent/Greenwich/ 0
Kent/Woolwich/ 0

Was the case reported fully  in newspapers? Such a report may give more details about Borrett's full name. When exactly was the conviction?

I can see a couple of prison records around that time for a Robert Mason, Kent, and I saw newspaper reports from March of a man of that name being convicted at Greenwich of 'uttering a forged bill of exchange for £30' and later being transferred to a prison hulk at Sheerness.

[hanes teulu]

There's a separate thread re Robert Mason. I recall checking out the address "Village, Plumstead".

[AlanBoyd]

Yes, there is a Henry Mason in the tithe records at Plumstead who seems to correspond (from the names of his neighbours) to the Henry Mason, carpenter, in the 1841 census being discussed in the other thread.

His landlord is not Borrett, or anything like it.

[hanes teulu]

Possible Borrett?

Kentish Mercury, 20 Mar 1841
LIFE GOVERNORS OF THE ROYAL KENT DISPENSARY