An acquaintance of mine bought a year ago six property deeds on eBay which were for 75 and 76 Marina, covering the years 1850 to 1895. These terrace houses are located on the seafront between St Leonards Church and Sussex Road, and are mirror images of each other, with adjoining tunnelbacks (rear extensions). They continue to have a close relationship today, with the five floors consisting of seven flats for 75-76, a ground floor flat for 75, and basement flats.
They are written on vellum. This is calfskin, so quite thick and tough, unlike the more flimsy feeling parchment (lambskin). Vellum is normal for deeds of any sort, and it has been joked that the larger the deed the less important the transaction.
These are quite large. They unfold to about 70 cm across, with sheets fastened by a pink ribbon. The signatures and seals are at the bottom of the front sheet, which is actually the end of the deed ! The early deeds bear a blue pasted paper clipped to show a silver background. This shows that tax has been paid, probably about £6. The 1895 deed has a different paper which shows that £10 10s was paid.
They presumably came at some point from a lawyer’s office, and all have on their backs a red stamp showing that they were registered at the Land Registry on the 11 May 1933 as properties HT4996 (75 Marina) and HT4008 (76 Marina). These continue to be their unique numbers. For a price the Land Registry will sell what information they have on a property which may include briefer information similar to the above. From anecdotes such information appears to vary.
The following is my attempt, from a relatively quick look at the deeds, plus some background knowledge and census and other records, to make sense of them. Also, I’m no lawyer and it can be hard to understand what a deed is about, so the following is not an accurate analysis — life is too short, and I came close to losing the will to live trying to understand what they were all about. It has been said that lawyers traditionally made legal documents as long and complicated as possible so that their interpretative skills would always be in demand.
The celebrated architect Decimus Burton, son of St Leonards’ founder James Burton, sold the land as building plots to a partnership of two local builders for them to build on, and his signature is on the first deed. Because in 1895 there was talk of restrictive covenants, the implication is that it was probably a 500 years leasehold, which was normal for the Burtons at the time (though not in the initial years of building the town, when the Burtons only sold 90 year leases). If sold as leasehold, at some point the freehold was sold, apparently between 1895 and 1933.
The architectural plans were presumably thrown in as part of the initial 1850 deal, as the terrace was and is relatively consistent in its design. I see no reason why what happened to these houses should not have been typical of what was happening elsewhere on Marina, except for the houses being associated with each other. The six deeds are included in the chronological listing below in bold, with some other details such as residents in the 1851 census also included.
Note to above illustration. The plan shows that no. 77 and perhaps beyond had been agreed to be sold to the same Hughes and Hunter partnership, while the land for no. 74 belonged to John Gorey. Note the outline of the actual buildings within the blue which presumably followed the architectural plans. An oddity is that the plan indicates that the land to the west belonged to James Burton, who had been dead for over eleven years. The land to the northeast belong to his son Decimus.
- Conveyance, 26 March 1850 (4 sheets), from Decimus Burton of Spring Gardens, London, Esquire, a bachelor. to Henry Hughes of St Leonards on Sea, builder, and William Hunter, of St Leonards on Sea, builder, of [the plots of] 75 and 76 Marina for £550 [this is the only deed with an actual plan, see the illustration above].
- Conveyance, 1 May 1850 (6 sheets), Henry Hughes of St Leonards on Sea, builder, and William Hunter of St Leonards on Sea, builder, Henry William Schneider of Broad Street Mews, City of London, Esquire, James Coxon Richardson of Swansea, Glamorgan, Esquire, and Andrew Ferguson Moore of Brunswick Buildings, Liverpool, Esquire. Loan of £2500 by Schneider etc., presumably to carry out the actual construction [Henry William Schneider died at Windermere in 1887. He left to his heirs £204000, equivalent to £22 million today. James Coxon Richardson died at Cairo, Egypt in 1874. Andrew Ferguson Moore, of Forest Hill, Kent, ship and insurance broker, died in 1875, age 58. Both Richardson and Moore left a more modest £30000, equivalent to £3 million today. It was not until 1898 that real estate was included in the probate valuation, making it liable to tax for the first time].
30 March 1851 census:
75 Marina
Randall White, head, M, 41, lodg ho keeper, born Bedford Thurleigh [?]
Charlotte White, wife, M, 42, wife, born Norfolk Gurleston
Grace Clark, servant, U, 18, house servant, born Ewhurst Sussex
Mary Erle, visitor, M, 50, visitor, born Sussex Cuckfield
Jane E. Erle, visitor, U, 21, visitor, born London
Jessie H. Erle, visitor, U, 17, visitor, born Hampsted Middlesex
Julia Brasier, servant, U, 17, servant, born Sussex Hastings
Caroline Maule, visitor, M, 62, visitor, born London
Mary Maule, visitor, U, 26, visitor, born London
Clement Maule, visitor, U, 16, visitor, born London
Harriet Churcoton, servant, U, 18, G servant, born Isle of Whight
76 Marina
Tycho Wing, head, M, 56, JP and landed proprietor, born Thorney Cambridge
Adelaide Wing, wife, M, 54, wife, born London
Jane Wing, dau, U, 13, daug, born Thorney
Isidore Gassonitz, visitor, U, 21, visitor, born Dresden
John Knightley, servant, U, 30, groom, born Norfolk Barton
Frances Bishop, servant, U, 30, ladys maid, born London
Rachael Bray, servant, U, 29, house maid, born Norfolk Lynn
Elizabeth Maine, servant, U, 28, cook, born Norfolk Necton
Fanny Skerry, servant, U, 20, house maid, born Norfolk Bilney
Emily Wratling, servant, U, 16, house maid, born Sussex Hurstmonceux
[In the 1871 census Randall White was still at no. 75, but in the 1881 census he was alone in the Hastings Union Workhouse in Ore. Also in 1871, no. 76 was occupied by Mary Pank, widow, ‘superintendent of the insane’, with a servant, two attendants, and four ‘lunatics’, disguised by initials: an army officer, a civil servant, an Anglican clergyman and a company secretary. The first two were also said to be Lords].3. Transfer of mortgage, 7 April 1854 (7 sheets), between Henry William Schneider late of Broad Street Mews, City of London, but now of 17 Gracechurch Street, City of London, Esquire, James Coxon Richardson of Swansea, Glamorgan, Esquire, and Andrew Ferguson Moore of Brunswick Buildings, Liverpool, Esquire of the first part, Henry Hughes of St Leonards on Sea, builder, second part, William Hunter, of St Leonards on Sea, builder, third part, Robert Shuttleworth Gregson of Angel Court, Throgmorton Street, City of London, gentleman, fourth part, and Robert Ogilby Moore of Ingram Court, Fenchurch Street, City of London, merchant, the Rev. Edward Bowen of Bogay, county Londonderry, Ireland, clerk, and the said Henry Wiliam Schneider, fifth part. The £2500 mortgage was required in payment by the first part from the second and third parts. The fifth part was apparently bailing them out [I repeat, I am no lawyer as to the precise goings on].
4. Mortgage, 30 September 1857 (2 sheets), Henry Hughes and William Hunter of St Leonards, builders, and George Hinde, late of Ashford, Kent, but now of 17 Middleton Square, London, Esquire. Hinde was lending Hughes and Hunter £1300.
5. Conveyance, 3 June 1862 (1 sheet), from William Hunter of St Leonards, builder, Henry Hughes of St Leonards, builder, and William Blackman Young of Hastings, gentleman, of 75 Marina. £1300 still due to George Hinde from the 1857 mortgage. Hunter and Hughes had been business partners but the partnership had been dissolved 4 May 1861, the business to be carried on by Henry Hughes [The back of the deed indicates that Young was a solicitor].
6. Conveyance, 30 July 1895 (1 sheet), from John Hughes of 14 East Ascent, gentleman, to William Arthur Beck of 6 East Ascent, baker, for 75 Marina. Price of £2100. Refers to Henry Hughes’ will [who had died 3 Oct 1868, the above John Hughes was his son, another builder, and the surviving executor. William Arthur Beck, still of 6 East Ascent, died 26 January 1912. Although I could not figure out if it was freehold or leasehold, Beck promising to keep to covenants implies it was leasehold].
1911 census [the first to list how many rooms in a household]:
- 19 rooms [5 persons]
Nelly Hillary, 54, single, lodging house keeper, born Chelsea, and sister, also lodging house keeper, and servant
Henry Rogers, 83, single, retired dental surgeon, born Cheapside, and boarder: ‘occupies 8 rooms of this lodging house, and has none of his servants here’
- 18 rooms [7 persons]
Rupert Wontner, 37, single, barrister at law, born London, with great aunt, 86, suffering from ‘senile decay’, two nurses, three servants, visitor
1921 census [both houses have 18 rooms]
- 5 rooms [3 persons]
Charles MacLeod, 62, married, born Edinburgh, manager iron and steel works, tube branch, retired, with wife and ‘wife’s lady help’.
- 11 rooms [7 persons]
Ina Florence Easby, 35, widow, born Crawley, musical gymnast [!], own account, with two sons, sister, two uncles and servant [a musical gymnast probably performed rhythmic gymnastics and so on while a band played].
- 2 rooms [5 persons]
Sidney George Philpott, 44, married, born St Leonards, public lamp attendant for Hastings Corporation, with wife, son and daughter, and father, public lamp lighter for Hastings Corporation
- 18 rooms [7 persons]
Sylvia Fenwick, 56, married, born Westminster, home duties, joint head with Philip Fennelly, 49, single, born Epsom, barrister retired, with [her] mother, [her] sister, and three servants.
5 May 1933, conveyance from Mrs Neve and Mr Beck to Mrs Russell. Noted on a sheet of paper which apparently came with the sale of the deeds. Red stamped data on the deeds indicate that freehold was registered for the first time 11 May 1933. The Land Registry was founded in 1862 to record the ownership of land, and changes in freehold due to sale (only) were at first recorded on a voluntary basis. From 1925 it gradually became compulsory, with all land being so recorded from 1 December 1990. A mystery: if the sale was of the freehold, when did the Burtons sell it on ? At some point Mrs Neve and Mr Beck had acquired the freehold, otherwise registration would not have been possible.
11 Aug 1933. Planning application DH/C/6/1/11833 for 75/76 Marina, alterations, approved [this can be found at The Keep, Falmer]
31 July 1934. Planning application DH/C/6/1/12276 for 75/76 Marina, canopy, approved.
30 September 1939. ‘Register’ of UK civilians for rationing purposes. 75-76 Marina was considered one address, with 10 occupants, including four hotel employees.
I have not traced the history further. I am guessing one reason for keeping the two houses together was the saving in accommodation from only have the one staircase. I have not looked at the 1933 planning application, which perhaps shows when changes such as removing a staircase occurred, since in 1939 the houses were considered one.
It was fun investigating the linked history of the two houses, but I may be wary of repeating the experience…
Addendum. A brief, typed deed had been accidentally overlooked, giving details of what happened in 1933. It was dated 5 May 1933, and was only for 75 Marina. Frances Mary Neve of 33 Bohemia Road, St Leonards, married, and William Arthur Philip Beck of 6 East Ascent, baker, were of the first part, the said William Arthur Philip Beck of the second part, and Daisy Florence Russell of “Barden”, Etchingham, widow, third part. It mentions the will of William Arthur Beck, the ‘testator’, of 6 East Ascent, baker. He died in 1912, and Beck and Neve were his children, and Beck was the surviving executor. No. 75 was sold for £1875 to Mrs Russell. There is a pleasing plan of where the property was located, given below.
In 1939 Daisy Florence Russell was living at Ashbrook Lodge, Sedlescombe Road North, born 1888, a hotel director and manager. She died in 1964 at Hastings, aged 80.
Tremendous work Stephen, well done.