The Dartmouth Residences of Thomas Newcomen and his Family

REFERENCES

• J. S. Allen, "Thomas Newcomen (1663/4-1729) and his Family", T.N.S., Vol. 51(1979–80), pp. 11–24.
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• Dartmouth Chronicle, 14 Dec. 1896. Lecture report on Mayoral chain by William Smith.
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• Granville Smith lived in the house on the north side of the property in Lower/Higher Street later leased by Thomas Newcomen.
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• SM 192034. Bathsheba's lease, No. 40. The leasebook data show that this was a lease of 1590 renewed in the general renewal of 1655.
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• Elizabeth must have been 21 by 1647 in order to take out a lease by that date (see DD 62732) of the New Quay premises. This house retained its original 16th century façade unchanged until the very end of the 19th century.
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• Dartmouth Corporation property was held on standard leases of 80 years until the end of the 17th century. With the introduction of new-style dating the period was reduced to 79 years.
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• SM 2034. The Holdsworth lease was No. 520 (29 Sept. 1810).
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• For Elias's inheritance see J. S. Allen, op. cit.(1), p. 12.
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• J. S. Allen, op. cit.(1), p. 13. Also notes in rating books for assessment of site of Hawley's Haw (or Hoe), DD 63553/63577.
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• Foley family trading accounts (1694–1700), included in J. S. Allen, "Bromsgrove and the Newcomen engine", T.N.S., Vol. 43 (1970–71), pp. 183–198.
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• The Dottin family are mentioned in SM 2034 with reference to a number of properties, including the lease of the property adjoining the Calley house in Duke Street.
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• R. Freeman, Dartmouth: a New History (Harbour Books, Dartmouth, 1983).
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• The site of Hawley's Haw (or Hoe) is shown on the town map of 1886, drawn to a scale of 1:500. It is also indicated on the maps drawn in 1619 (or purported to be of that date, but probably dating from c. 1590). See R. Freeman, op. cit. (12), pp. 58 and 59.
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• Dartmouth Chronicle file for 1882, various dates.
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• SM 2034.
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• Frontages replaced: Plumleigh house in 1885, and Cranfords in 1873. Both are in Lower Street at the corner with Spithead. Dartmouth Chronicle files, 1873 and 1885.
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• The width of Lower Street in 1855 was 6 ft. There was a proposal in that year to put down cartways approx. 2 ft wide on the sides. Dartmouth Improvement Commissioners minute book, DRO 62710.
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• SM 192034. William Beavis lease, No. 290; to Alexander Taige (or Teague) in 1703 (No. 182).
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• The house had been leased in 1605 to a merchant, Thomas Ball (DD 61737); in 1622 to Roger Matthews (leased for period 1622–1702, DD 62082); and in 1655 to Joanne Matthews (lease 19, for period 1655–1735).
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• J. S. Allen, op. cit. (1), p. 16, a) and b), describes properties as being of Newcomin and Evans. This refers to another branch of the Newcomen family, probably that descended from William Newcomen, uncle to Thomas the inventor. The leaseholder would have been Charles Newcomen. The property was, as far as the author can determine, located at the northern end of Higher Street, near the pillory there.
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• It is most probable that Thomas Newcomen set up here as an ironmonger on completing his apprenticeship; say, in the late 1680s.
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• SM 192034. There is an endorsement on lease 7, regarding terms of possession of the property by William Lee. This lease ran from 1627 and 1707 and was renewed by Thomas Newcomen in 1707. (See also note 29.)
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• The shop (a) and the house (b) can be seen on the town plan of central Dartmouth drawn c. 1860 for the General Board of Health in London, scale 1:1056. Here the shop is shown to be separated by a passageway from the house (i.e. the Teague/Beavis portion, lying to the east). Dark(e) Lane ran from Higher Street to Lower Street under the Guildhall (situated to the south of Newcomen's workshop). In the early 19th century an antiquated sewer ran along its length. SM 2034 shows that all these properties were held on leases which extended beyond 1705. See also note 19.
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• The facts concerning Roger and Joanne Matthews are to be found in J. J. Alexander, "Dartmouth as a Parliamentary Borough", Transactions of the Devonshire Association, Vol. XLIII (1911), p. 369.
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• Leases of Corporation property were for 80 years (later 79 years). Renewals were for the balance of the original term. Thus Joanne renewed Roger Matthews lease of 1622 for the expired period of 33 years. Hence the expiry date, originally 1702 (i.e. 1622 + 80), became 1735.
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• Assignment of Dark(e) Lane entry to Feoffees of Dartmouth by Joanne Matthews, 1 August 1655. DD 63225.
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• Dartmouth Council Minute Book, 8 March 1836. SM 2006.
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• PRO, file MH 13/60. Mr. Perry's Report is dated 3 October 1853.
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• The initials could refer to the Lee family or the Lidstone family, who were also builders. However, it was not standard to put the initial of the surname first. Houses on the New Quay built in the 1580s have the surname indicated by the first letter, as can be seen on No. 1 New Quay: WG (for George Weekes) 1581.
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• The lease to William Lee is No. 7 (SM 2034). The terms of possession were noted by Ray Freeman during her studies of the Dartmouth deeds and pointed out to the author by her.
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• J. S. Allen, op. cit. (1), p. 16, d), refers to a property as being late Proope's. This is almost certainly a mis-reading of the 18th century script. The wealthy family of Roope owned several large Dartmouth houses. Newcomen's house was undoubtedly a merchant's house, and the most likely Roope would have been Nicholas, so Proope's' should read 'Roope's'. William Lee's renewal of 1655 would have run till 1707. It would not be mandatory for Roope to have renewed the lease on purchasing it from the Lee family.
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• Thomas Newcomen's lease for this property is numbered 205 (SM 2034); the garden was a piece of land in South Ford Lane. Annotations entered by later Town Clerks and historians are often misleading and care is needed to interpret correctly what was meant by the original clerk in placing properties.
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• After the death of Thomas Newcomen in 1729, his widow Hannah became administratrix of his estate (A. Smith, "Steam and the City", T.N.S., Vol. 49 (1977), pp. 5–20). However, the renewal leases for the properties were taken out by Thomas Newcomen, son of the inventor, in 1735 (SM 2034, lease 278, dated 24 June 1735). The two cellars were not renewed, but the workshop was.
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• Manuscript note in Newcomen Papers, DRO, ref. 2753.
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• Hannah, widow of Elias, renewed the leases of the workshop and the main house on 27 August 1768 (lease 351). This lease is in two parts, which suggests an intention to dispose of the workshop independently of the domestic accommodation. The term was for 79 years in both cases.
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• DD 65492..
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• SM 2034. Elizabeth Martin did not take out a new lease in 1786: she continued with that of Hannah (lease 351), but only in so far as the main house was involved. The implication is that Hannah was carrying on her business as an ironmonger in the old workshop in Higher Street. See also note 33.
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• Elizabeth Martin sold three quarters of the leasehold property in May 1810. She appears to have lived in the north-east portion in Lower Street for a further seven years, possibly using the same domestic premises as the widow Hannah. The upper portion was leased by Edward Hamlin on lease 515 for a period extending till 28 May 1847. John Wood's lease (No. 516) was for 42 years till 1890. Both were extensions of Hannah's lease, No. 351. In 1817, John and Martha Webber renewed Hannah's lease from 27 August 1847 until 1895.
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• Dartmouth Council minute book, 13 March 1855 et seq. DRO.
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• See obituary of William Bell, Proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers, Vol. 54 (1892), pp. 390–392. William Bell was elected a Member of the I.C.E. on 1 December 1863 and was for many years an Associate of the Institution of Naval Architects.
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• No copy of William Bell's plan has been traced. A copy of his report to the Dartmouth Local Board is in the possession of the author.
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• The details of the purchase of Newcomen's house and the adjoining properties can be found in PRO file MH 13/60 on a schedule dated 13 August 1865.
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• Details of some leases relating to the South Town property are in SM 192034. Lease 40, dated 10 January 1655, is to Bathsheba for the lease of 1590. Bathsheba renewed this lease in the general renewal of 1655. The object of this renewal would have been to raise funds to make good Civil War damage. In these circumstances fines on renewal would have been made attractive to encourage leaseholders.
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• After her death in 1670, Bathsheba's lease passed to Arthur Holdsworth on 26 September 1675. The lease is endorsed 'for the full term of 20 years, viz. 1675 +20=1695'. A further endorsement notes '1670 + 65=1735'. This was the expiry date of Bathsheba's original lease. The Newcomen property was then combined with an adjacent property held on lease 297 (SM 2034), which had also been leased in 1655. On 29 September 1810 the combined properties were leased for 78 years from 1861 (lease 520, SM 2034), in continuance of a lease of 1783, by Walter Prideaux. Previous leaseholders were given as Bathsheba Newcomen, Revd. Henry Holdsworth, decd., then Dame Elizabeth Hunt. The Holdsworths and the Hunt family were related by marriage, business and also by Corporation matters. The combined site of the property became the site of the Manor House and gardens; below it, on the river bank, was the site of the Preventative Watch House (Coastguard Station).
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• The lease of 1810 became the property of Sir Henry Paul Seale, Bt., of Mount Boone in Dartmouth, who held it until the expiry in 1889. After this a renewal was refused by the Trustees of Dartmouth, who wished to demolish the building in order to widen South Town Road.
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• There are some references to the removal of parts of the Newcomen house and their whereabouts in the 1952 edition of the booklet published by the Dartmouth Newcomen Association. In relating the story of Newcomen and his steam engine, this draws on the Transactions of the Devonshire Association, Vol. 46 (1914), pp. 455–477 and the T.N.S., Vol. IV, p. 113.
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