Transcript of the letter
The letter from Samuel Heyhoe Le Neve Gilman is addressed to “Thomas Starr Esq, Auditor of the Dean & Chapter, Canterbury”.
Sir,
Your letter of the 26th ult. was forwarded immediately from ‘Hingham’ to Mr. Bence of Beccles, but the Interval did not allow the Parties interested to decide upon any Answer before your second Letter of the 11th Instant arrived.
Mr. Bence (the Trustee under the late Mrs Amyas’s Will) now desires me to request a further Time for Consideration & to explain the Circumstances which have occasioned this Request and the preceding Delay. Mr. Bence was at the last Renewal a Trustee for 2 Brothers & 2 Sisters, all Minors; of whom the eldest Son is since dead, the 2d Son is a Minor & it is feared will be an Idiot & the youngest Daughter still also remains a Minor. By the Death of the eldest Son his Father acquired an Interest in the Leasehold part of the Trust Property, and he has also unfortunately been so embarrassed that his Estates have been vested in the Hands of Trustees, This short Account of our Difficulties may probably convey a sufficient Apology for any supposed Inattention to your Letters.
All the Parties here consider the proposed Terms of Renewal as exceedingly high & as these Parties live at a considerable Distance from each other, a Meeting hath been proposed & will most probably take place in the second Week in January. In the mean Time they desire to observe that a heavy Fine was paid upon the last Renewal under Conditions which were then provisionally settled in Case an Inclosure of the Commons should take place. It is of Course therefore the Hope of the Lessees that the Disappointment in the Expectation of an Inclosure should be taken into consideration in estimating the present Fine & that a similar Agreement should provide for an Inclosure in Case any should take place. The Agreement I allude to was put into Writing & signed by Mr Benson under the Authority of a Chapter at which I had the Honor to be present & lest the terms of it should not be now before You I beg to send a Copy on the other Side. It appears very hard for the Trust to have incurred Expences with a View to Inclosure & now have to pay a greater Fine than the Dean & Chapter had pledged themselves to take if the Inclosure had been accomplished.
I am also desired to inform You that since the last Renewal our Trust has expended £2501 in a new Barn and other new Buildings and substantial Repairs upon the Leasehold towards which Barn only the Dean & Chapter made any Allowance (viz. £502).
With these Observations I am desired to enquire whether my Attendance at Canterbury or at any other Place to explain any of the above Circumstances more particularly, or to shew the actual Produce of the Leasehold, will procure for our Trust a Reconsideration of the proposed Fine & of our particular Circumstances: and whether also the Reverend Gentlemen for whom You are concerned intend to enter into such a Provisional Agreement as before, in Case any Inclosure should take place before the next Renewal.
Requesting the Favor of your Answer.
I remain Sir
Your very obedient Servant
S.H.L.N. Gilman
19. Dec. 1807
1800 lease addendum
Mr. Gilman then included a copy of the agreement from 1800 referred to above:
Deopham Manor and Rectory
Canterbury 8th December 1800
The Revd Bence Sparrow1 of Beccles Suffolk (Devisee in Trust named in the Will of Mrs Anne Amyas deceased) pays to the Dean and Chapter of Canterbury £215 for a Renewal of the Lease upon the following Terms:
That if an Inclosure of the Commons takes place, the Dean and Chapter shall at the End of seven Years from the Date of the Lease now to be granted, grant a new Lease for Twenty one Years including all the Advantages to be derived from the said Inclosure – The Lessee paying Two Hundred and fifteen Pounds for such second Renewal and also paying the Expence of fencing, ditching, draining and improving the Land which shall be allotted to the Dean and Chapter. The Expence of obtaining the Act of Parliament, of the Commissioners, of making the Roads, and otherwise putting the Act in Execution, to be defrayed by the Sale of Common Land sufficient for these Purposes.
Chapter of Canterbury Archives AL 415
Transcription © G. Sankey
The original letter
Reproduced courtesy of the Chapter of Canterbury; their ref AL 415
Footnotes
- The figure of £250 for constructing a new barn is at variance with the invoice attached to Mr. Gilman’s letter of 1802 where the cost of the barn is shown as £176:2s:6d. ↩︎
- The deal was that the Dean & Chapter would pay one third of the cost – i.e. nearly £59 – see here. Mr Gilman seems to be rounding down. ↩︎
- The Rev. Bence Sparrow later changed his name by deed poll to Bence Bence. His mother’s maiden name was Bence. ↩︎
| Date | Change |
|---|---|
| 7/1/24 | Published |
Deopham History 