The above image is a detailed drawing by Thomas Malton a well known student of architecture. In the early 1800s he made a series of drawings of London featuring its well known grand buildings. This blog is about the properties owned by William Lingham in the area near the Custom House.
William Lingham was a cooper by trade. He was also the owner of several properties in or near Beer Lane, Tower Street, London. We first became aware of two of these properties when we read his Will in which he set out how they were to be managed following his death.
The Will specifically mentioned the following;
The Public House at 16 Beer Street on the corner of Beer Lane and 52 Lower Thames Street;
This included a suite of rooms occupied by his Daughter Sarah Crowley. She was bequeathed these rooms and also the remaining interest in the Public House after provision for the annuity charged against this property. Sarah lived at Thames Street until around 1851. She died in 1854.
William also provided a payment of 60 pounds per annum to his daughter Harriet Lingham for the rest of her life. This payment was to be charged against the Public House and also against the lease held on the Public House by a Mr Parker. I have assumed he was the manager of the Public House.
2. A leasehold house and vaults at 18 Beer Lane.
This house, where William was living at the time of his death, was bequeathed to his son Thomas. The vaults that are mentioned will be underground cellars. These were common in early London. They were generally used for storing coal. They often extended from under a house to underneath the road adjoining the house. Perhaps in William's case these vaults were used to store the wine and spirits for his business.
Thomas appears to have worked from the business premises at 18 Beer Lane but lived elsewhere. His residential addresses were near Beer Lane until around 1841. I have not found a Will for Thomas. He died 15 January 1855.
I find it interesting that no mention is specifically made of the Lingham Warehouses which were an important part of the property at 16 Beer Street. This could perhaps mean that they were included as part of the "remaining property" that was divided into 7 seven equal shares and was to provide an income for the remaining lifetimes of William's sons Thomas and George and each of his daughters and then to all their children for their lifetimes.
I have recently discovered that William also owned more than just the above properties. This was revealed in the newspaper article below. You can read more about this later in this blog. Note that all of these houses were in the All Hallows area.
The Location of Beer Lane
The map below is reasonably accurate for the early 1800s. It shows the area in which William's buildings were located. Note London Bridge and to the right hand side Tower Hill and The Tower.
Below is a closer view. You can now see clearly the location of the Custom House and Beer Lane to its right on the upper side of Lower Thames Street. Beer Lane goes through to Great Tower Street.
Below is a closer view of Beer Lane showing clearly number 16. Number 18 looks like number 8 because the 1 is obscured. There appears to be a lane between numbers 17 and 18 Beer Lane.
Goods arriving by ship into the nearby docks were stored in the numerous nearby warehouses whilst awaiting customs clearance and payment of any applicable duties. This was a very busy area in the early 1800s. London was expanding rapidly and England's economy was growing thanks to the industrial revolution. It was a time of great opportunity for a smart business person such as William Lingham.
The Custom House
The Custom House has a very long history. Below are extracts from a very detailed description of this history. This is taken from a London History published by the London County Council in 1934.
There is reference in the second paragraph below to the calculation by Customs of "...the Tonnage on Wine.." Tonnage was a duty charged on imported wine. It is perhaps through his engagement with customs on his own Tonnage payments that William may have spotted the business opportunity available to him by operating warehouses for other importers.
CUSTOM HOUSE QUAY AND THE OLD CUSTOM HOUSE
Until the year 1814 the Custom House stood in the parish of All Hallows Barking, and Custom House Quay, which occupied its south-western corner, is for that reason the most important and certainly the most historic of all the quays in the parish. The present Custom House is situated in the parish of St. Dunstan in the East, immediately to the west of the old site, which is now in the occupation of the well-known shipping firm of Muller.
In the early Plantagenet period the Customs Revenue was derived from the Great Custom on exported Wool, the Tonnage on Wine and the Poundage on other goods, and in very early days it was for the purpose of the first-named revenue only that the buildings on this site were used. Hence we find that for many centuries it bore the name of Wool Quay. The present site has a river frontage of approximately 240 feet, and a depth through to Lower Thames Street of just over 160 feet. It embraces three original quays, formerly known as Hartshorn Quay, Old Wool Quay and New Wool Quay.
The Old Wool Quay is that with which the Customs Revenue has the longest connection. Its name indicates that it was the quay on which the wool about to be exported was weighed for Customs purposes, and the King's Troneur or weigher, the equivalent of the Customs Officer of the present day, would necessarily have some sort of office or Custom House on the quay. Old Wool Quay can be traced back well into the 13th century, and probably at least to the third year of Edward I (1275), when the revenue of the King was reformed and put on a settled basis.
The Old Wool Quay, notwithstanding its connection with the Customs Revenue, remained in private hands down to the year 1721, and would seem to have changed ownership very frequently.
Ripley's Custom House which is referred to below is the Custom House that was in existence during William's time at Beer Lane.
Ripley's Custom House served sufficiently well till the end of the eighteenth century, but with the growing trade, the opening of the docks and the vast increase in the Customs Duties in the period of the French wars, it had by that time become insufficient for the business of the revenue. Under the authority therefore of a special Act of Parliament (52 George III, Cap. 49) the Legal Quays to the west were purchased by the Crown for the express purpose of providing a site for a new building which should serve its purpose for many generations. The preamble of this Act states that the Custom House was then "inadequate, ruinous and dilapidated."
The first stone of the new building on a site immediately to the west of the old building was laid on 25th October, 1813, David Laing being the architect. Four months later, on 12th February, 1814, the Old Custom House was completely destroyed by fire. This broke out in the quarters of the housekeeper on the top floor, but, owing to the fear caused by the knowledge that gunpowder was stored in the basement, no adequate steps were taken to suppress the outbreak. It burned slowly down all through the night and throughout the next day, at the end of which the flames finally reached the small amount of powder in the quarters occupied by the Custom House Volunteers, and also the very considerable quantity of spirit stored in the King's Warehouse. The final explosion of this demolished the major part of the walls then standing, and scattered multitudes of customs papers far over the metropolis, so that later they were brought back from as far away as Hackney Marshes.
Great Fire At The Custom House 12 February 1814
The Bells Weekly Messenger of 20 February 1814 reported on the great fire that destroyed the Custom House in 1814. William Lingham and his two sons are mentioned.
The second Custom House referred to above as the one burned down in 1814 is depicted in the drawing at the beginning of this blog.
The Ship Afloat Inn
In his Will William refers to the Public House at 16 Beer Lane. This was the Ship Afloat Inn
I regret to say the above is not the Ship Afloat. It is another Inn called simply the Ship Inn. It is probably of the same era and it still stands in central London. I have not been able to find any images of the Ship Afloat.
I did find several interesting articles which are below. It does seem that the Ship Afloat operated as a Public House for many years after William's death.
The sale of 16 Beer Lane
Below is the advertisement I recently came across for the sale of all of William's property located at 16 Beer Lane. There is no mention of on behalf of whom it is being sold. The fact the advertisement was placed by a firm of solicitors is intriguing.
I think the part described as the 6000 square feet of Bonded Warehouse might be the structure that shows on the map below as a shaded area running from the back of number 16 and around what looks a bit like a courtyard and finishing behind number 17.
My question on finding the for sale advertisement was what had occurred between William's death in 1825 and the sale of this property in 1869? We know that Thomas was bequeathed number 18. Daughter Sarah Cowley was bequeathed the suite of rooms she occupied in the house at number 16 plus the Public House at number 16. We know she died in 1854. Who owned this property in 1869? Did it pass to one of her children or just get sold either before or after her death?
We now know that I William also owned another 5 houses in Horn- Court and 7 houses in Gloucester- Court. Given they are not mentioned in William's Will I assume they have been sold at some point between 1821 and his death in 1825.
Another interesting find was the advertisement below dated 10 May 1825. This follows William's death and is the sale of his personal furniture and working items. His properties are not mentioned.
William left all his plate, linen and china to his daughter Harriet. His other effects were left jointly in equal shares to all of his 7 surviving children. It looks like they decided to sell all the various items and then distribute the shares of the proceeds.
The items described are quite fascinating. A laundaulet is a type of carriage that has a fold down hood. In other words the old equivalent of a soft top sports car! Also note the Piano-forte. There were also a significant number of items that appear to relate to the wines and spirits business e.g. malt mill, glass bottles, empty casks, liquor cranes and pumps. The other items seems to be miscellaneous collections of "stuff"- I think its very typical of all the stuff any bloke would collect in his shed over a lifetime- although I will conceed that not many of us would have 220 lancewood spars!
Below is a Laundaulet with its top down. Perhaps this is how the successful London businessman William Lingham Esquire travelled around the city.
A Court Case in respect of the Lingham Warehouses
My next find was a court case concerning certain leases connected to the Lingham Warehouses. This court case which arose in 1857, many years after William's death, provides insights into how William had financed his businesses.
Mention is made in the advertisement shown earlier in this blog of the sale of 16 Beer Lane which includes 6000 square feet of warehousing.
The street address of the property that is the subject of this legal case is not stated. There is however specific reference to the property concerned containing the premises referred to as "....the Lingham's Warehouses". I believe that means the legal case concerns 16 Beer Lane.
Below is an extract from the very lengthy account of the legal case.
The report shown above is dated 21 February 1857. William had died in 1825. The case is connected to arrangements that William had made in 1811 in connection with leases on his properties. These historic arrangements were complex and had a bearing on the matter of the payment of ongoing rents and how certain expenses relating to the Lingham properties were to be met.
Before going into the details I should explain that William raised funds for his properties and associated costs through the granting of annuities on the lives of parties from whom he was borrowing money. This was a reasonably common way of borrowing money in the 1700s and 1800s. It arose from the historic negative attitude to what is described as "usery" and the payment to money lenders of interest.
The annuities entered into by William provided him with a sum of money, subject to his personal guarantee of the regular payments he would in turn make to the person providing him with money. His payments to that lender were to be made so long as that lender was alive. In fact William had entered into annuities that were subject to the lives of more than one person.
The background to the legal case includes the fact that William Lingham held two very long term leases ".... dated 15 August 1794 and 19th January 1795 for two certain terms of years expiring Midsummer of 1854, for certain premises, of which certain warehouses formed part.." The owner of the land is the nearby church of All Hallows Barking. The land in question is that on which both of William's Beer Lane properties are sited.
It is not clear exactly when William and his wife Sarah started living in Beer Lane. Their marriage record gives an address for William in 1772 of All Hallows. The christening records for their children which give their place of baptism as All Hallows suggest they were in that area from at least the 1780s. William states in his Will in 1825 that he lived at 18 Beer lane. He was giving this as his address as a vintner in the 1790s as evidenced below. William Junior's Indenture record gives Beer Lane as his father's address in 1791.
I have also seen reference to William being a warder of All Hallows church in 1793.
In summary William completed his apprenticeship as a cooper in 1771, married Sarah Ansell in 1772 and then built up his business over the succeeding years so that he was in a position to at least own the premises at 18 Beer Lane by the 1790s.
The news article below appeared in the Hampshire Chronicle of 17 February 1800. It tells us that "......a fire broke out in the newly built extensive warehouses of Mr Lingham in Thames Street opposite the Custom House..."
In 1811 William was in need of further funds for his business. He entered into two separate agreements providing him with a total of 4000 pounds. The first agreement was dated 10th January 1811 and was with John Thackeray, Elizabeth Yearnold and Samuel Thackeray. In return for the sum of 2000 pounds Willliam undertook to make annuity payments for as long as any of the three persons named was alive. The second agreement was dated 11th January 1811 and was with Ralph Ellis for another 2000 pounds and his two sons Ralph and Henry were included in the annuity deed.
In 1817 William required some more funds. He owed a significant amount to the Bank of England. He entered into another annuity agreement. This was with John and William Kew and was dated 14 March 1817. The total sum was 6480 pounds which Kew was to pay to the Bank of England on behalf of William.
When William died at age 75 in 1825 he left the leasehold house and vaults at 18 Beer lane to his son Thomas. Unfortunately it is apparent that by this time William had become burdened with significant debts relating to his warehouse business. He had not been making full payment of the ground rent owed to ground landlord i.e. the church at All Hallows. There were also some complications that had arisen in relation to the various annuity arrangements.
An interesting indication of William's financial affairs is the article below that appeared in the New Times (London) of 24 February 1825. It concerns a dispute between William and the church of All Hallows Barking over the amount of his Church Rate. This article reveals that William owned more properties than we had until now known about. He also seems to have been earning some healthy rents from the properties he had rented out.
Under the terms of the loans and associated annuity arrangements that William had made with the parties Thackeray and Ellis, who had lent William a total of 4000 pounds, they in fact came into "possession" of the property at 16 Beer Lane in 1825 as a consequence of the non-payment of the annuity funds. Subsequent to this Thomas and George managed to negotiate an agreement for settling the arrears on the ground rent and other expenses relating to the properties. The negotiations included provision for Thomas to be able to regain possession of the property as a tenant.
The other party to the loans, namely Kew, had financial difficulties of his own. Thomas and his brother George were able to make an arrangement with Kew to settle that debt for a partial payment of the amount owed to him.
Thomas and his brother George also had their own financial difficulties. They were both declared bankrupt during 1825. Their financial positions would not have been helped by their involvement in the importation of fur and oils from Van Diemens Land and the very long and no doubt very expensive subsequent court case , which was the subject of an earlier blog.
The notice below published in 1841 indicates that Thomas was insolvent in 1841. It also shows his address at that time as in St Mary-at-Hill. This street is in the same general area as All Hallows.
The court case was initiated by Thomas and George when it was discovered that 6 years of rental agreement payments had been made by Thomas to Mr Thackeray after the date Thackeray had died in 1851. Under the original terms of the annuity deed put in place by William Lingham in 1811, any payments to Thackeray ended on his death. The action was taken against John Thackeray's estate.
The final judgement on the case was in favour of Thomas. However the component of the tenancy payments made in error by Thomas that was ground rents paid to the church as landlord and taxes payable on the property, was able to be deducted from the amount of refund payable to Thomas.
It is not clear what subsequently happened to the ownership of the properties at 16 and 18 Beer Lane. Given Thomas was insolvent in 1841 I think it is likely 18 was sold to pay his debts. As mentioned above the other property at 16 Beer Lane was advertised for sale in June 1869. I have not found any information regarding whether this property was then in the hands of one of Sarah's children or had already been sold to someone else.
This is likely to be my final blog on the Lingham family for now. It has been a fascinating exercise with many surprises in respect of new information about our ancestors. I have learned a lot about England in the 18th and 19th centuries and the lives lived by members of the Lingham, Thomas, Teale and Ansell families.
Now which branch of the family tree can I explore next?
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