Name/Title
Property Indenture for Carew's Estate bordering Epsom and Croydon Townships, EnglandEntry/Object ID
2001.01.36Scope and Content
Land Property Indenture
This is a land property indenture or legal contract related to the Carew's Estate bordering Epsom and Croydon Townships (now Boroughs) in Surrey, south of central London, England, dated August 4, 1859.Context
Carew Manor or Beddington Park was the home of the Carew family. The family moved to Beddington in the 14th century, but rose to particular prominence during the Tudor period when it was the country seat of King Henry VIII’s friend and Anne Boleyn's cousin, Sir Nicholas Carew KG (c.1496-1539). Carew was a courtier and diplomat, a favoured and prominent member of King Henry VIII's Court who held the position of Master of the Horse, as well as other prominent offices until he was found guilty of high treason and executed for his alleged part in the Exeter Conspiracy, a plot to depose the King.
It was reported that the King would visit Ann Boleyn at Carew Manor in 1528 before their later marriage. Queen Elizabeth I, Sir Walter Raleigh and Jane Seymour (third wife of Henry VIII after Boleyn) are all said to have had links to Beddington and Carew Manor. Over some 300 years later, the Manor was lost by the last of the Hallowell-Carew family - Captain Charles H. Carew inherited the estates, but debt forced the passing of the Carews' Estate Act in 1857, and the sale of the properties in 1859. It was then home to the Royal Female Orphanage (1866-1968) and now contains council offices and the Carew Manor School.
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This document is called an "indenture" because originally, copies were made for each of the concerned parties on a single piece of parchment that were then separated with an indented wavy cut, so that in the case of dispute the copies of each party could be fitted back together to prove authenticity. An indenture is a legal contract following established legal practice dating from Medieval times.
This indenture is handwritten on parchment, likely on prepared and untanned sheepskin, and is handwritten in iron gall ink made from oak galls. This ink is the most important ink in Western history used for so many purposes from medieval manuscripts to Leonardo da Vinci's notebooks to Bach's musical compositions to Rembrandt's drawings to everyday letter writing. The ink became the standard for royal and legal records from the Middle Ages through to the twentieth century, and in many countries, laws specified the content of the ink.
Iron gall ink initially darkens from a purple-grey-tan colour to a deep, indelible velvet black, and then, over time there is a colour change from black to brown, and sadly, depending on the recipe of the ink and other factors, corrosion can occur causing deterioration of the ink itself, as well as the underlying paper or parchment. However, it was not until the invention of chemically-produced inks and writing fluids in the later 20th century that iron gall ink fell from common use.Archive Details
Date(s) of Creation
Aug 4, 1859Archive Notes
Property indenture document detail re The Carew's Estate
Handwritten in iron gall ink on parchment with unusual red ink border lines, likely red-lead or oxide of iron, previously folded with red wax seals and tax stamp.
The document opens with "This Indenture" in large letters with decorative flourishes and includes introductory and main text (upper left/right) plus a map with scale of chains (lower left, covering nine lots, numbered 12-20 plus surrounding land with text (top and right) - TRUSTEE'S OF "CAREW'S ESTATE ACT 1857 ") and two titled schedules (lower right). There is an embossed blue British Revenue stamp, upper left, on a separate square piece of paper from the parchment, slit twice and a tin band (escutcheon) passed through slits in the stamp and the parchment, plus LONDON stamp beneath. Assumed on the verso of the parchment (not visible) that the ends of the band were folded and secured to the back with a paper seal bearing the monarch's (Queen Victoria) cypher seal. The escutcheon and cypher seal are intended to prevent illegal reuse of the stamp.
On the lower folded margin are eight red wax seals (of the parties' or lawyers' signet rings) over top of paper squares, five with visible signatures. The parchment was folded to form a "gutter" through which a thin cream-coloured ribbon was threaded, partially visible recto left and right sides.
The indenture is...Between Robert Cooper Lee Bevan, Richard Lee Bevan and Augustus Henry Bosanquet...of the first part. John Cumberland Esquire, Alfred Mortimer Esquire and The Right Honorable Sir Benjamin Hall Baronet & the present Trustee of Carew's Estate Oct. 1857....
Signed by Richard Lee [Cooper] Bevan, etc.
Of note, the London, Brighton and South Coast Railway line - Epsom/Croydon is shown traversing the estate (opened to the public in 1847).
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This indenture involved a number of prominent men of the day such as:
- Robert Cooper Lee Bevan (1809-1890), a wealthy and prominent senior partner of Barclays Bank Limited (earlier named Barclay, Bevan, Tritton, Ransom, Bouverie & Co. and Barclay, Bevan & Co.), positioned in the top echelon of Victorian society. Of note, Robert Barclay (1648-90), ancestor of the banking family was the author of the Quaker manifesto "An Apology for the True Christian Divinity".
- Richard Lee Bevan (1811-1900), a Northampton magistrate for over 50 years, elected as Justice to the County's Lunatic Asylums in 1858.
Note: The surname Bevan was first found in Herefordshire, where they held a family seat from ancient times. Welsh counties are found to the west.
- Augustus Henry Bosanquet (1792-1877), brother-in-law of RCL Bevan and nephew of The East India Company's longest-serving director, a wealthy merchant and insurance co. founder.
- The RH Sir Benjamin Hall Baronet (1802-1867) was a Welsh civil engineer and politician who served in various British governments in the 1850s, e.g., First Commissioner of Public Works. He championed the right of people in Wales to have religious services conducted in the Welsh language.Dimensions
Dimension Description
SupportHeight
57.2 cmWidth
69.9 cmAcquisition
Acquisition Method
GiftDate
1999Notes
Legacy collection
Plaque: Donated by Anthony F. Powell 1999 [Former UCBC Member]
![Beddington Park...view of the grounds [Carew Manor to the left, with adjacent parish church of St. Mary], ca. 1855. Etching by Flemming after Thomas Allom (1804-1872): From Wellcome Collection, U.K. (Ref. 24535i)](https://d8e7jbdw4fu0e.cloudfront.net/5457/cf78c770-2047-11ee-a1c6-2528ed07c91f-vQWgQkv.lg@2x.jpg)
