Register of Leases 1735-1748

Introduction: This is the fourth volume in the series Register of Leases and Deeds. These were the official ledgers for recording legal instruments relating to property at St Helena. It enrolled copies or abstracts of leases and deeds of conveyance, stating the parties, dates, descriptions of land or houses, terms and consideration. These entries served as public notice and evidence of title.

Source: Images of the original records can be viewed on the British Library’s website: https://eap.bl.uk/archive-file/EAP1364-1-7-5.

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Modern Summary and Analysis Each section of text was submitted for AI analysis in order to explain the archaic language in clear, modern UK English. These are not direct sentence by sentence replacements, but explanatory interpretations intended to clarify meaning while preserving the substance of the original. Where a specific individual is named within a section of the original text, that person will generally also be identified within the explanatory interpretation. However, where the original consists largely of lists of names, these are not usually repeated in the explanatory text.

Each text modern summary is followed by two forms of AI-generated analysis. The first, an Interpretations section, draws on wider information located on the internet to provide additional commentary on the material. The second, a Speculations section, offers one or more possible reflections on what the document might further suggest. The value of these notes range from the profound to the trivial or self-evident; time did not permit deletion of the latter.

Referencing Text Locations: A dual numbering system has been adopted, combining the British Library film number with the manuscript’s original page number. These are presented in the format: British Library Film No. / Document Page No.

Content: This volume includes several land boundary sketches. Due to the faint appearance of these sketches on darkened pages, the contrast has been increased to improve visibility. To keep the overall file size manageable, these images are provided at a limited resolution and cannot be scaled without quality loss. For much higher quality versions, please access the original film images on the British Library website.

Pagination: Pages are numbered in the top corners, beginning with page 1 on film No. 4 [4/1], as confirmed by the first clearly legible number, page 4, on film No. 7 [7/4]. The sequence maintains an initial offset where film No. 186 corresponds to page 183 [186/183]; film No. 187 then skips directly to page 186 [187/186], after which sequential numbering resumes with the adjusted offset maintained through to the end of the volume.

Dates: During the period covered by this volume, England and its colonies followed the Old-Style Julian calendar, under which the legal new year began on 25 March (Lady Day). The earliest instrument recorded in this volume was sealed on 23 March 1731. That date falls two days before Lady Day, so it answers to 1732 in modern reckoning. The latest instrument recorded is dated 31 October 1748, and the final grant on the last leaf breaks off before any date was entered. The great body of the register lies between 1735 and 1748, with a very large group of leases sealed at the single sitting of 30 September 1738. One earlier date appears by recital only, a Council meeting of 2 August 1722 at which the Company resumed Sexton's Ground.

The period spanned by this volume includes the closing days of Edward Byfield's second administration (1727-1731), and then those of Captain Isaac Pyke in his second term (1731-1738), John Goodwin (1738-1740), Duke Crispe as acting governor (1740-1741), Robert Jenkins (1741-1742), Thomas Lambert (1742), George Gabriel Powell as acting governor (1742-1744), David Dunbar (1744-1747) and Charles Hutchinson (1747-1764).

AI Generated Summary

Introduction

This account draws on counterparts of East India Company leases, trusts and transfers entered in the land register of St Helena. The earliest instrument was sealed on 23 March 1731 for Stephen Luffkin senior, and a lease of 1 April 1735 to Orlando Bagley senior opens the sequence as it survives. The record then runs without serious break to a trust sealed on 31 October 1748, with older grants and later dealings recited throughout for context. Its centre of gravity is the great sitting of 30 September 1738, but its substance is spread across nearly two decades. [Film No. 6, 12, 206, 271]

The evidence is formulaic and one-sided. Almost every lease repeats an identical body of wording, so entries differ only in names, acreages, boundaries and rates. The register existed to protect the Company's title rather than to describe island life, and everything it reveals about families, labour, water and money is incidental to that purpose. No entry records a fence actually built, a tree actually planted or a charge actually paid. The historian therefore learns a great deal about the Company's intentions and very little about whether they were met. [Film No. 107-113, 131-134]

Clerical practice compounds the difficulty. Boundary descriptions were left unfinished, one Sandy Bay grant breaking off with the western neighbour unnamed and Henry Multon's 15 acres stopping after the word north. James Vaughan's lease of 30 September 1738 was signed and sealed with the acreage blank and the witness line never filled, and the lease to William Seale and John Hayes of 1747 gives neither day nor month nor witness. A marginal insertion elsewhere supplies a furze clause the scribe had omitted. Sealing, rather than description, was evidently the act that bound the parties. [Film No. 34, 42, 51, 117, 118, 248]

Two further cautions govern any use of this material as a chronology. Entries were copied out of order, the clerk grouping documents by family and by quarter of the island, so the grant to Thomas Reynolds of 1 December 1747 stands after a lease of 5 September 1748. Under the old calendar the year turned on 25 March, so any date between January and March must be adjusted before it can be compared with another. Regnal years were miscounted repeatedly, and the calendar date is the safer reading throughout. [Film No. 116, 120, 190, 192, 255, 269]

Governance and administration

Authority on the island ran through two linked bodies. The Company styled itself Lords Proprietors and set its common seal to every counterpart, while the Governor and Council exercised the practical power on the spot. No tenant could sell, let or assign any part of his ground without their leave, a requirement resting on the framework introduced in 1711 and forcing every later assignment to recite a dated grant of permission. The register shows that veto used rather than merely reserved, since Luffkin's executors had to obtain consent before passing his lease to Richard Bagley in 1745. [Film No. 6, 9, 12, 186, 199]

Every grant opened with a promise of loyalty to King George and his successors, followed at once by loyalty to the Company and obedience to the island's rules. That order of words put the Crown first and the chartered body immediately after, which reflects the constitutional position of a trading company governing British subjects overseas. The royal style naming the king as king of France was a survival kept in formal documents until 1801 rather than a claim to anything. [Film No. 107, 118, 129, 192]

Office and landholding overlapped completely. John Goodwin appears as gentleman and deputy governor in the grants of 30 September 1737 and 25 October 1737, and as governor by 30 September 1738, when he took 9 acres and a half in his own name. He stood as trustee over three parcels of the late John Alexander's estate and appears as a neighbour to James Draper, a tenant taking only 5 acres at the same sitting. John Goodwin junior attested a trust as clerk of the council while dealing privately in James Valley property. [Film No. 9, 21, 25, 40, 88]

The sitting of 30 September 1738 was an administrative operation rather than a series of separate bargains. On one day the Company let out more than 20 parcels, settled seven family trusts on widows and children, and carved a block of its own ground into equal shares of 9 acres and a half for neighbouring holders. It also cleared the estates of several recently dead men using a single settled form. The uniform acreage is the clearest sign that the ground was divided for convenience rather than surveyed to fit existing bounds. [Film No. 28, 33, 45, 49, 86]

The record shows self-dealing openly rather than concealing it. George Gabriel Powell took Company ground as Governor under the authority of his own Council, and needed that same body's consent before he could pass it on. He witnessed a lease to his kinsman Joseph Powell on 14 December 1743, and Joseph witnessed his in return two months later. John Clark signed the Council's sale of the Vaughans ground to himself on 21 October 1754, and John Adamson did likewise with the Falconer house on 2 May 1757. Openness is not the same as propriety, but no rule against it was thought to exist. [Film No. 135, 136, 153, 155]

Authority on the island remained provisional in the last resort. The Doveton family trust of 30 April 1745 carried a note recording that the arrangement would not stand unless the Company in London approved it, a reservation written onto the face of the deed rather than left understood. The trustees took the ground knowing it might yet be undone, and nothing comparable appears elsewhere. Distance from London shaped island government in practice as much as in constitutional theory. [Film No. 209]

A very small circle underwrote all this business. Joshua Twynam attested the Powell, Desfountain and Nicholls grants of 1744 and 1745, Dixon served as secretary to the Council from 1742, and Robert Wright with Thomas French carried the greater part of the attesting work through 1745, 1746 and 1747. The Bazett family took over that role from September 1748. Francis Wrangham junior, secretary to the Company on the island, witnessed his own father's deeds and both Bazett trusts of October 1748. The men verifying these documents were the men whose families held much of the ground. [Film No. 186, 188, 251, 266, 271]

Business went through in batches rather than singly. At least five instruments were sealed on 12 March 1744, and on 16 April 1745 the Council sealed the Easthope grant, the Mason town plot and the Bazett trust while granting leave to assign at the same sitting. Three grants went out together on 30 April 1745, four on 5 September 1748, and town and country business regularly passed before one pair of witnesses on a single afternoon. Administrative convenience, rather than the needs of any individual tenant, set the rhythm of the register. [Film No. 184, 203, 211, 266]

Military affairs and defence

Soldiers turn into planters across the whole of this material. John Thwaites, a soldier who had taken a timber lease in 1729, witnessed the Doveton grant of 1738. Martin Harper held ground as a soldier in 1726 and is described as planter when the same land was renewed on 5 September 1748. Isaac Wood appears variously as corporal, cooper and free planter, as ensign by 1735 and as sergeant in 1742 and 1745. Ranks attached to men loosely and shifted with the occasion rather than fixing what they were. [Film No. 9, 30, 127, 195, 264]

Garrison men appear throughout as ordinary landholders. John Leech, a sergeant, bought 23 acres of Deep Valley ground for £35 0s 0d on 3 September 1741, and Sergeant David Wilson took an assignment from Edward Bagley in October 1745. Richard Mason's town plot had earlier been granted to Sergeant John Hanson and stood beside the dwelling of another sergeant. James Pritchard, a gunner's mate, took a James Valley plot in December 1746, and John Barton held a lieutenant's commission. Company pay put money steadily into such men's hands where a planter depended on harvests and shipping. [Film No. 145, 165, 212, 226, 259]

Defence otherwise appears only at the edges of the record, yet the traces are real. Several town leases describe ground behind dwelling houses at the Fort in James Valley, so the settlement clustered under the guns. James Vaughn signed his lease at Union Castle on 2 February 1742, the formal title the Company's principal building had acquired by 1716. The ridge under which Samuel Doveton took 21 acres in October 1747 was known as the Two Gun or Alarm Ridge, from the guns set there to sound the alarm. [Film No. 15, 16, 130, 252]

The wars of the period leave their clearest mark in the town. John Barton was required in December 1747 to build a good bridge over the water run facing the Great Barracks and to keep it in repair for his whole term, the growth of the garrison through the war years having pressed more soldiers into James Valley. William Worrall's lieutenancy at Bombay, one of the Company's three presidencies in India, enters the record only because his absence made a debt impossible to pay. [Film No. 237, 259]

What the register does not say about war deserves emphasis. Britain fought Spain from 1739 and France from 1744, and a fortified refreshment station on the Atlantic route mattered far more in those years than in peacetime. Nothing in these entries mentions privateering, convoys or the loss of Madras in 1746. One detail may reflect the strain, the note that no stamped paper was to be had recorded on the face of Mason's assignment of 1745, although that want had been noticed since 1712. Silence in a land register is a limitation of the source rather than evidence that the island stood untouched. [Film No. 17, 25, 196, 199]

Settlement, land and agriculture

The dominant theme of the earlier grants is a timber crisis and the attempt to reverse it. The Council held that nothing had damaged the island more than the quantities of wood burned under stills making strong liquor. Neglect of the planting law made in Governor Roberts's time compounded the loss, and the conversion of every kind of ground to pasture completed it, since cattle browsed young shoots wherever a parcel stood unfenced. The Council judged the remedy nearly too late. [Film No. 6, 8, 11]

The remedy was written into the leases themselves. A tenth of each parcel had to stand planted in redwood, gumwood or cabbage tree wood, properly fenced against stock, and the duty attached to every separate lease rather than to the holder. Tenants habitually pleaded that they held wood enough on other ground, and the Council refused to hear it. That refusal is the sharpest point in the whole scheme, since a man with scattered parcels could otherwise concentrate his trees on one and strip the rest. [Film No. 6, 9, 11, 14]

Supporting covenants show close practical thought. Furze went round the outer face of every fence, where its thorns turned cattle and its roots gripped thin wind-scoured soil, while fruit trees stood inside at 20 feet apart so that they would not crowd one another. Gates of 4 feet served foot traffic and 8 feet between posts admitted carts, and every gate had to be left standing when the term ended. Watercourses were to run free for the Company's benefit without obstruction. [Film No. 7, 8, 11, 13]

Two forms of tenure dominate the whole period. The common lease ran 21 years from the day it was made, at £0 5s 0d an acre due at Michaelmas, with duties of repair, fencing and planting. The alternative ran for as long as any of three named people survived, a fresh name being enterable on each death for half a year's charge, a rate adopted in 1719 in place of the full year charged in December 1717. A family able to find the renewal payment held such ground without any fixed end. [Film No. 72, 106, 107, 119]

The choice between the forms followed the ground rather than the man. Thomas Greentree's 31 acres were measured by himself, his wife Elizabeth and his brother Richard, and William Worrall senior named his sons John and Mathew with his daughter Sarah. Greentree's 3 acres in Sandy Bay Valley and Richard Goodwin's 5 acres and a quarter at the head of Fryer Valley both ran on lives despite their small size, while Greentree held Lemon Valley ground on a plain term in the same period. Robert Wright's 5 acres called Ashleys ran on lives in August 1746. [Film No. 107, 121, 123, 222]

Where the lives were chosen from outside the family the calculation was about longevity rather than inheritance. Francis Wrangham named three young men from other households on both his grants of 30 September 1738, and Richard Goodwin did the same in April 1747, naming his son alongside Matthew Bazett and Jonathan Doveton. Samuel Doveton, John French and Thomas Greentree kept their nominees within the household. John French's son measured the term on two separate estates at one sitting, so he was evidently thought a good life. [Film No. 71, 73, 78, 83, 241]

The planting obligations are the most revealing part of the standard wording, and they narrowed with experience. Earlier grants offered a long alternative run including coffee, coco, date, pompelmous, citron, almond and tamarind where the endemic timbers would not take. By 1738 the list had settled to apple, lemon, mulberry and peach, which records what would actually grow on cool upland ground. The tenth in wood is stated most plainly in Matthew Purling's grant of 18 March 1746 as one acre in every 10, applied without allowance for the size of the holding. [Film No. 7, 13, 22, 85, 219]

A much heavier duty fell on a small group of holders in 1744. Benjamin Pledger had to put all 16 acres of Sexton's Ground under trees in January, James Powell all 6 acres in February, Thomas Greentree all 12 acres and a half in July, and the Reverend Edwin Alcock his single acre in November. Only Powell escaped the charge, holding at a peppercorn an acre, while Greentree paid the full £0 5s 0d for the same obligation. The Company therefore spread the duty widely and the relief narrowly. [Film No. 156, 163, 164, 166]

The most demanding terms of all fell on the Nicholls ground at Old Woman's Valley. Richard Goodwin, holding 21 acres for John Nicholls junior, had to plant an acre in every 10 with timber and to replant every season should the trees fail at the first, second or third attempt. He had also to set lemons round the inside of the fences and 10 further fruit trees for every acre, so that the ground would become a sound orchard or lemon garden. Lemons answered the scurvy that struck ships on the long homeward passage. [Film No. 161, 162]

A further clause protected the soil itself. Holders had to keep the ground in good heart and not let it be worn out, which went beyond the usual duty to keep fences and buildings sound. Yams took heavily from the earth, and a man near the end of his term could crop hard and hand back exhausted land. The clause appears on the Nicholls holding, in the trusts made for the Bazett and Steward children, and again on the 30 acres Thomas Greentree held for the Ryder daughters in August 1747, where trustees had every temptation to take what they could. [Film No. 162, 167, 170, 245]

Consolidation drove much of the letting throughout. Parcels were repeatedly fitted against ground the tenant already held, sometimes surrounded on three or four sides by his own land, so that nobody else could have reached them. Jonathan Doveton took 7 acres ringed entirely by his own ground in 1738, needing no boundary description beyond his own name repeated four times, and James Harding received a tapering sliver of three quarters of an acre. On 12 March 1744 Richard Goodwin and Francis Wrangham senior each received a gap in the middle of the other's fields. [Film No. 67, 101, 175, 177]

Where no neighbour existed the whole cost of enclosure fell on the tenant. Thomas Easthope's 6 acres at Gabriel's Gut, the 3 acres and a half held for the Bazett children, Francis Junge senior's 15 acres and every one of Joseph Whaley junior's parcels stood ringed by Company waste, so no adjoining wall could serve any part of the line. Whaley took 4 acres in Prosperous Bay Valley in March 1745, 2 acres at the bottom of Woody Ridge in February 1746 and 2 acres and a half more in September 1748, each requiring a wall rather than ordinary fencing. [Film No. 127, 157, 195, 216, 231, 265]

Relief from barren ground was granted often enough to show how poor much of the island was, and the Company tried four distinct remedies. Francis Wrangham's 20 acres of 1738 carried a flat charge of £4 0s 0d with no rate named, while Edward Bagley's 39 acres named the acreage he would pay on and left the rate standing. George Gabriel Powell had his rate cut to £0 1s 6d an acre at Peak Hill instead, and Samuel Doveton paid on 2 acres out of 12 at Briers Bottom. Case-by-case bargaining rather than settled policy governed these concessions. [Film No. 95, 100, 122, 128, 155]

The peppercorn was the fourth device and the most precise. Richard Goodwin's 5 acres and a quarter at the head of Fryer Valley were divided in April 1747, with 4 acres and a quarter at the full rate and the remaining rocky acre reserved at one peppercorn a year, fixing exactly which part of the ground was worthless. John French had been allowed in 1738 to enclose seven or eight acres of steep cliff for a peppercorn if ever demanded, which saved him a great deal of wall on ground he could never use. Reserving a token kept the Company's ownership visible on the record. [Film No. 84, 242]

Boundaries rested on drawings rather than on survey. Small plans annexed to the grants show irregular blocks, funnels, curved strips and triangles, each with a compass rose, and several give acreages that differ from the figures written into the text. Where the two disagreed the drawing governed, as with Charles Steward's three pieces recorded as 17 acres in the text and 17 acres and a half on the plan. John Brown's half acre was crossed by diagonals, the ordinary way of reckoning an irregular four-sided parcel before any general survey existed. [Film No. 28, 44, 59, 111, 126]

Survey nonetheless gained ground steadily. William Worrall's 40 acres were described as taken from a recent measurement, and the same phrase runs through John Alexander's parcels at Great Bottom, Samuel Doveton's 21 acres and the Bazett children's trust ground in 1747 and 1748. Since the charge stood at so much an acre, a surveyed figure settled what a man paid and removed the temptation to let his fences creep. Bynames such as Ashleys, the Half Moon, Gargen's and Simons Waterfall nevertheless continued to fix ground where no survey reached. [Film No. 128, 222, 236, 252, 260, 264]

Fences carried a weight far beyond keeping stock out. With no general survey the walls a tenant built became the standing record of where his ground stopped and his neighbour's began, which is why moving one was treated so gravely. Natural features did the same work where they offered themselves, Coles Rock closing the eastern side of Thomas Greentree's 12 acres and a half in July 1744 and reappearing on James Greentree's 37 acres in April 1745. In town the burying place in Chapel Valley had fixed the position of plots since at least 1704. [Film No. 86, 162, 204, 219]

Water shaped tenure as much as soil did. Joseph Powell's 2 acres in Lemon Valley were worth little without the stream on the ground to the south, so the Company let him turn the whole flow or any part of it onto his yams for four days in every six, cutting whatever channels he chose across land he did not hold. Earlier grants to Francis Junge and John Knipe junior in February 1730 had kept springs open for cattle on the common. Water on St Helena was divided by time and by order rather than by ownership. [Film No. 134, 152]

Ground came back to the Company and went out again. Sexton's Ground at the head of Woody Ridge, given up by petition in August 1722, lay in hand for 22 years before being let afresh to Benjamin Pledger in January 1744. The 2 acres at the bottom of Woody Ridge granted to Joseph Whaley junior in 1746 match a parcel let to Joseph Lufkin in November 1725 in every particular, and Martin Harper's 8 acres at the Half Moon were renewed in 1748 as his original term of 1726 expired. The register kept the memory of old surrenders alive to explain how land had returned. [Film No. 165, 193, 231, 264]

Rights of passage were guarded against enclosure throughout. Joseph Whaley junior's three pieces of 1738 were kept apart by strips left open for driving stock, and the common path in Southwark and the foot of the ladder hill were named as boundaries of John Scott's plot rather than as ground the Company could let. The Governor and Council reserved the right to redirect any road across a tenant's land. Enclosure was advancing rapidly, and the island's government was setting limits to it. [Film No. 93, 224]

Supply and provisioning

One exemption reveals the Company's true priorities. None of the planting duties could encroach on ground set aside for yams. Yams fed the island's people and victualled the shipping in the road, so the conservation programme gave way wherever it met the food supply. The clause appears even on parcels of 2 acres, where a tenth in wood came to a fifth of an acre and could hardly have threatened anything, which suggests it had become a fixed part of the form rather than a live calculation on each holding. [Film No. 26, 87, 180, 211, 242]

Timber was managed as a resource in its own right and carried a reduced rate. John Thwaites took two parcels making 10 acres on 3 February 1729, of which 8 acres and a half were reserved wholly for growing timber at £0 2s 6d an acre, with grazing barred and a penalty of £30 0s 0d for failure to fence within 12 months. John Burling held Deep Valley ground for fuel timber at £0 1s 6d an acre, the same figure later allowed to Powell for barren land. A rate designed to secure firewood thus doubled as a device for making poor ground worth holding. [Film No. 130, 155]

The Company also kept pasture in hand for its own use. The lower part of the High Peak pasture fixed the southern boundary of John Alexander's 15 acres at Great Bottom in September 1747, and its edges served as boundaries wherever no private holder adjoined. Grazing for Company cattle and for the victualling of shipping was therefore reserved on the ground as well as in the leases, and Thomas Harper's grant of 1725 bound him expressly to do no damage to the Company's goats in Swanley Valley. [Film No. 228, 246]

Trade, shipping and the town

James Valley ground was let by frontage and depth rather than by acreage, and carried none of the planting duties that fill the country leases. Francis Wrangham paid £0 19s 0d for 3,750 square feet behind his yard in 1737, while Richard Goodwin paid £0 10s 6d for 3,500. Richard Mason's plot on Southwark Street ran 38 feet by 17 and carried a flat £0 5s 0d for 646 square feet, where the same figure bought a whole acre in the country. Position, and what a strip completed, governed the charge rather than area. [Film No. 15, 16, 17, 197, 215]

Town rents bore almost no consistent relation to size. Gabriel Isaack paid £0 15s 0d for 4,500 square feet in August 1746, John Scott £0 8s 0d for 336 square feet in October, Richard Tinsley £0 5s 0d for 800 square feet in November and James Pritchard £0 7s 0d for 2,000 square feet in December. Scott, a victualler, paid roughly seven times Andrew Blinman's rate by area for a strip beside the common path at the foot of the ladder hill, where traffic passed and vessels had to be supplied. [Film No. 221, 224, 225, 226]

The requirement to surrender every building in good repair at the end of 21 years discouraged substantial construction. That is why the more valuable James Valley grants were put on lives, as with Governor John Goodwin's ground of 30 September 1737, assembled from two neighbouring back yards for a stone dwelling. The Reverend Edwin Alcock's acre and a quarter of September 1743 shows the same choice being made during the drafting, the clerk striking out 20 years and substituting the lives of Alcock, his wife Margaret and his daughter Elizabeth. [Film No. 151, 215, 220]

The Company let the upper valley in a rising line of plots, each fixed by the household below it. Thomas Willingham took ground above Elizabeth Newland's house on 13 January 1746, Thomas Jarvis above Willingham on 13 October 1747, Thomas Reynolds above Jarvis on 1 December 1747, and Baron Deloffe above Jarvis again the same day. Fragments of back ground behind existing houses went to the householders in front of them, Thomas Greentree and the executors of the late John Desfountain taking adjoining slivers of identical measurement at one sitting. [Film No. 250, 254, 255, 256, 257]

The valley's water was treated as infrastructure of the first importance. Governor Goodwin's lease barred building within 25 feet of the watercourse running to the crane that supplied the Company's vessels, and Alcock's within 10 feet of the main channel running to the sea by the Great Arch. The same channel closed boundaries of John Aldrich's strip in 1742, John Barton's plot in 1746 and John Leech's in 1748. The victualling of every vessel calling at the island depended on these channels, and the leases protected them by covenant rather than by keeping the ground in hand. [Film No. 21, 22, 145, 151, 229, 262]

Public work occasionally bought private advantage. Jonathan Doveton had cleared ground between his house and the old bridge and turned the watercourse at the Governor's request, spending more than the parcel was worth, and the Company set his rent at £0 19s 0d and threw in an adjoining strip at no further charge. John Barton's grant of December 1747 reversed the exchange, requiring him to build and maintain a public bridge facing the Great Barracks in addition to a rent of £0 18s 0d. Lacking any fund for such outlay, the Company settled accounts in the currency it held in abundance, which was tenure. [Film No. 19, 20, 259]

Town property changed hands rapidly among a small circle, and often ahead of any title. Nathan Sample built his dwelling before he had any right to the ground beneath it, and the Company regularised the position afterwards, as it had for John George Newman and for John Goodwin on 14 November 1738. Richard Mason held his newly leased back yard barely three months before making it over to John Scott, a victualler, for £1 0s 0d on 15 July 1745, the Council having given leave on the day the lease was sealed. [Film No. 137, 198, 199]

Judiciary and legal practice

Enforcement followed a recognisable legal shape. Complaint of waste or neglect allowed the Governor and Council to appoint a suitable person to walk the ground and report back, and only then did penalty follow. Three outcomes stood open: forfeiture of the lease, double rent on the ground concerned, or a fine set at the Council's discretion. That graduated choice mirrors manorial practice in England, where waste was a matter of degree and a single automatic sanction would have forced magistrates either to overlook trifles or to strip a holding unjustly. [Film No. 8, 11, 14]

Bonds ran alongside forfeiture as a separate remedy. Orlando Bagley senior gave a flat bond of £10 0s 0d in 1735, but by 1738 the sum ran at £10 0s 0d an acre, so Samuel Doveton's 27 acres and a half carried £275 0s 0d against a yearly rent of about £6 17s 6d. Forfeiture recovered ground but produced no cash, whereas a bond gave the Company a debt it could sue on at law. John Thwaites faced a penalty of £30 0s 0d for failure to fence his timber ground within 12 months. [Film No. 6, 9, 11, 130]

Courts on the island could and did undo the Company's own grants. James Vaughan's title to 7 acres in Sandy Bay Valley rested on a grant of 26 March 1720 passed to him by John Coles, and a court verdict set that grant aside in June 1724. The Company renewed the ground to him directly in 1729 rather than leaving the matter unresolved, and a further court ruling entered at register folio 212 lay behind the confirmation of Edmund Nichols in 1727. Island tenure was genuinely litigable rather than settled by the Council's word alone. [Film No. 117, 243]

Other procedural safeguards appear in passing. Isaac Leech's 10 acres at the head of Pleasant Valley were confirmed only after public notice by proclamation and beat of drum on 11 October 1740, which implies a period for objection on an island without newspapers. Andrew Blinman's purchase of a Fryer Valley freehold for £50 0s 0d was made with no document drawn at all, and the sellers finally regularised it on 8 April 1758, 13 years later, after his widow had remarried. [Film No. 87, 112, 219]

Family trusts formed the heaviest legal business of these years. Executors held ground for the children of John Alexander, Thomas Harper, Sutton Isaac, John Burling, James Greentree, Joseph Harding and Joseph Hayes at the sitting of 30 September 1738 alone, and afterwards for the children of John Bazett, Charles Steward, Robert Gurling senior, John Boyd, Edmund Nicholls, Jonathan Doveton, James Ryder and John Desfountain. The usual form gave a widow a third for as long as she lived within the term, the children dividing the rest, with any child already provided for named and excluded. [Film No. 39, 45, 90, 167, 200, 208, 245]

Each trustee set his own seal beside his name, since any one of them might later answer for how the others had handled the estate. Four seals stand against the Bazett grant of April 1745 and three against the Steward and Boyd settlements, while a sole executor sealed once. Execution was nonetheless often incomplete. Only two of three trustees sealed the Doveton trust of April 1745, and only two of four sealed each Bazett trust of October 1748, although Richard Beale took his own town plot on the very leaf recording his absence. [Film No. 143, 167, 209, 269, 271]

The trusts also varied in ways that repay attention. The Gurling settlement covered a widow and children together, whereas the Bazett and Boyd trusts name no widow at all and the Bazett children are neither named nor counted. The 16 acres held for the five children of the late Joseph Hayes likewise carved out no widow's third. John Burling's will went furthest, requiring his eldest son to take the whole holding at 21 or on marriage and to farm half of it continuously at his own cost for his mother, so her security rested on his labour rather than on any share of the ground. [Film No. 75, 90, 191, 200]

Practical difficulties of English law surface at the margins. Mason's assignment of 1745 records that no stamped paper was to be had, a note running through the register from 1712, entered to head off any argument that the deed was defective. England required legal instruments to be written on taxed paper, and a colony dependent on shipping for its stationery could not always comply. It is a small but telling instance of metropolitan revenue law meeting a settlement that could not meet it. [Film No. 199]

Economy, finance, currency and accounting

Country rents were strikingly uniform. The charge stood at £0 5s 0d an acre, being £0 4s 0d of rent with £0 1s 0d of duty, and it fell due at Michaelmas. It applied identically to Isaac Wood's 2 acres and to Mary Nicholls's 25, so the Company took no account of soil, position or standing improvements. The two-part form was folded into a flat £0 5s 0d through the later 1730s and early 1740s, then returned in the leases of January 1746 onwards, which shows a clerk drawing on a form the register had largely abandoned. [Film No. 30, 34, 56, 227, 233]

Departures from the standard rate were always explained. Thomas Greentree paid £0 4s 0d on his 31 acres because he surrendered an earlier arrangement at £0 2s 0d with time still to run. Timber ground paid £0 2s 6d and barren ground as little as £0 1s 6d. Three grants across 1744 and 1745 carry the odd figure of £0 5s 3d an acre, on John Goodwin's Taylors Land, the Broad Gully acre and the Boyd trust, and the same rate reappears on the Doveton trust of April 1745 beside grants of the same day charged at £0 5s 0d. [Film No. 106, 185, 200, 202, 211]

Quality governed value in the market even where it did not govern rent. Cabbage tree land lay on the moister high country towards the Main Ridge and consistently fetched more, reaching £30 an acre in 1758, while Bisley under the Main Ridge sold at £19 an acre in 1761 and West Division ground went at £17 10s 0d. Gumwood slopes below were drier and cheaper. The Company's flat charge therefore bore no relation to what its ground was actually worth. [Film No. 63, 88, 206]

Beside these modest charges ran a substantial private land market. George Gabriel Powell sold John Goodwin a whole estate for £5,539 6s 4d on 13 September 1739, settled by bills of exchange drawn on the East India Company, which shows island wealth moving through metropolitan credit rather than coin. Houses in James Valley changed hands at £45 0s 0d, £200 0s 0d and £250 0s 0d in these years, and John Goodwin sold Matthew Bazett a town house for £800 0s 0d on 16 July 1757. Land was a real capital asset in a settlement of a few hundred people. [Film No. 18, 110, 124, 137, 226]

The breaking up of Governor John Goodwin's estate dominates the entries of 1742. The Company held authority to sell whatever part of it would cover what he had taken from Company property while serving on the island. Francis Wrangham bought 32 acres and a half for £204 0s 7½d on 24 August 1742, Samuel Doveton took 24 acres for £295 0s 0d on 7 September, and Powell dealt in the same ground on 31 August. A dead Governor's debt thus redistributed a considerable share of the island's best land among the men who had served under him. [Film No. 133, 136, 138, 147]

A serious inconsistency runs through the accounts of one transaction. Two entries state that Powell bought back 69 acres of Goodwin's estate for £835 0s 0d on 1 February 1742, while a third states that the Governor and Council sold him 69 acres of West Division freehold for £8,035 0s 0d in island money. The parcels are described in nearly identical terms. Either the register uses two currencies without saying so, or one figure is a copying error, and nothing settles which. Any use of these sums as evidence of land values must acknowledge the doubt. [Film No. 120, 128, 147]

Freehold sold outright still carried a small yearly payment of £0 1s 0d an acre, coming to £4 9s 0d across the 89 acres in one cancelled Powell entry, trivial beside the purchase price. Its purpose was visibility rather than revenue. A payment falling due each Michaelmas kept the Company's underlying interest alive on ground it had parted with, and made the difference between island freehold and true absolute ownership plain to every holder. The peppercorns reserved on barren parcels served the same end. [Film No. 148, 242]

Transfers of Company leasehold generally passed at token sums, since what changed hands was only an unexpired term burdened with rent, fencing and planting duties. Richard Mason took £1 0s 0d in July 1745, Edward Bagley the same from Sergeant David Wilson in October, Francis Junge £5 0s 0d in June 1747 and Robert Wright £0 5s 0d from Richard Beale that same month. Where real value stood on the ground the price rose accordingly, as when John Worrall sold James Greentree 5 acres out of an 18-acre holding for £18 0s 0d. [Film No. 199, 212, 234, 235]

Credit on the island ran dearer than in England and was secured on land. Mortgages took the standard form, the conveyance passing outright and becoming void on repayment by a named day, so default left the property with the lender without any further step. John Alexander owed £67 14s 4d to Lieutenant William Worrall at six per cent, the rate also charged in 1722 and promised in 1740, although the legal maximum in England had fallen to five per cent in 1714. Distance and the scarcity of coin kept island rates above the metropolitan ceiling for three decades. [Film No. 237, 238]

Two entries show that machinery under strain. Alexander had his whole debt ready on the day it fell due in April 1747, but nobody on St Helena held Worrall's authority to receive it or grant a discharge, Worrall himself holding a commission at Bombay. He entered a formal protest on the register against any further interest and against any loss falling on his mortgaged land. Captain George Mead of the Denham avoided the same difficulty in 1756 by naming an attorney ashore, and John Bland mortgaged property to the officers of the Egmont in 1758. [Film No. 221, 237, 238]

One loan stands apart from every other in the record. The Governor and Council advanced Robert Wright £20 0s 0d in island money in June 1747, not for the Company but as trustees for the orphan of the late John Bradley, taking two Sandy Bay parcels as security. Interest stood at only two per cent, far below anything else recorded. A rate that low suggests a purpose beyond return, perhaps relieving Wright while keeping the child's capital secured on land rather than idle, and the register offers no other explanation. [Film No. 238]

Social order, women, literacy and family

Women held Company ground in their own names on the same terms as men. Frances Carne, twice widowed, took a James Valley plot in 1738 and held 40 acres jointly with her son Richard Goodwin. Mary Conaway held 30 acres at the head of Dogwood Valley from 1 December 1713, Elizabeth Allis still held Deep Valley ground three decades after her confirmation in 27 acres, and Grace Bates took about an acre in 1744 to complete a holding she was already building up. Mary Nicholls is the most striking case, described simply as planter with no husband named and no mention of widowhood, holding 25 acres. [Film No. 17, 34, 114, 159, 187]

Widowhood evidently conferred a legal capacity that marriage suspended, which matches English practice of the period closely. Elizabeth Purling junior held boundary ground in her own name and confirmed in her own person a sale made by her late husband's executors on 29 March 1741. Bridget Bazett's 20 acres near Diana's Peak had been granted for her benefit and her children's, to pass to them in equal shares at her death. Lydia Harper, widow of the late Thomas Harper, took 11 acres and a quarter and an acre and a half in January 1746 jointly with her eldest son, dealing with the Company directly rather than through the trust that had held ground for her since 1738. [Film No. 210, 227, 228, 241]

Far more often women appear as neighbours by whom men's holdings were fixed. Frances Seale, a widow, bounded two parcels sealed on 30 September 1738 and two more in April 1745 without being party to any of them. Elizabeth Newland's house fixed the position of a Company plot in James Valley while she took nothing under it, Martha Robinson's ground closed the southern edge of the Steward children's 19 acres, and Ann Johnson held pasture on Powell's western boundary. The register locates men's ground by women's occupation and then falls silent about them. [Film No. 96, 148, 172, 210, 230]

Daughters fared better than might be expected in family settlements. Eleanor Burling took an equal share with her brothers, and the three Greentree daughters and three Alexander daughters shared equally with the sons. Sarah Hayes took an equal place beside her four brothers in 16 acres in Fishers Valley, and the whole Harding interest in 15 acres rested on a widow and three daughters. The three Ryder daughters took 30 acres in Swanley Valley between them with no son named at all. The pattern is consistent enough to look like local custom rather than the preference of any one testator. [Film No. 41, 43, 90, 92, 245]

Equality of shares nonetheless sat alongside a complete absence of legal capacity. None of the Harding women could deal with the Company directly, and the ground was held for them by two neighbours. Where tenure was measured by lives, Sarah Worrall was named alongside her brothers and Dorothy Powell alongside her mother, but a life was a measure of duration rather than a share of property. Naming a daughter secured the family's ground rather than her own, and the register does not show what any of these women received when the ground fell in. [Film No. 92, 119, 127, 154]

Marriage moved land between families more reliably than any other mechanism. Richard Gurling, who had married one of the coheiresses of the late James Ryder, sold his wife's share of 5 acres and an eighth to the estate's executor for £14 0s 0d, converting her interest into cash while the ground returned to the trust for her three sisters. Elizabeth Blinman inherited her husband's undocumented purchase, and her second husband Robert Ballard became entitled to the conveyance through the marriage. Women's property rights existed and were routinely exercised by their husbands. [Film No. 219, 239]

The record divides the literate from the rest without regard to wealth. Joshua Johnson, Richard Beale, Richard Mason, Thomas Allis and Gabriel Harper signed in their own hands, while Frances Carne, Charlesworth Powell, Isaac Wood and Mary Nicholls had their counterparts subscribed by others. Ebenezer Leech held 25 acres across two valleys and signed every document with a mark, as did John Aldrich, Richard Tinsley, Gabriel Isaack and John Leech. Joseph Whaley junior marked rather than signed across at least 13 years, although his family carried the courtesy title of esquire. [Film No. 29, 32, 65, 113, 217, 262]

Substitute signing was routine and entirely undocumented. Richard Goodwin signed twice on one page, once for his mother and once for himself, Charles Steward for Charlesworth Powell, Samuel Doveton for Jonathan Doveton, and John Desfountain wrote every name on the Desfountain grant of 1738 including those of his brother and both sisters. Richard Beale signed for Samuel Alexander in 1745 although Alexander set his own seal, and Richard Harper signed for his mother on both January grants of 1746. No power of attorney was recorded in any case, which points to a community where the Company accepted whichever relative or neighbour stood present. [Film No. 31, 68, 86, 214, 227]

Sealing, by contrast, was treated with care, because it bound a person where signing did not. Four separate wax impressions stood against the Desfountain grant though one man had written all four names, since a share sealed in a person's own name descended to that person's family rather than to the survivors. Simon and Joseph Whaley each sealed separately on ground divided in equal halves, so that each share passed to his own heirs. William Seale and John Hayes did the same on 2 acres in Stone Top Valley. [Film No. 86, 248, 249]

The settled population was more varied in origin and trade than a planting society might suggest. John Brown, a surgeon, held half an acre in James Valley, and several of his profession dealt in town houses in the 1750s. The Highams were stone cutters tied to the lime kiln in Sandy Bay Valley, and Giles Smith was a carpenter and joiner confirmed in 30 acres who took the orphan Robert Leech junior as apprentice in March 1716 for a premium of £15 0s 0d. The names Junge, Desfountain, Dubois, Audouart and Deloffe mark continental European households established on the island. [Film No. 66, 110, 134, 232, 255]

Religion, charity and welfare

Parish life surfaces incidentally through the men who held office in it. Richard Goodwin served as chapel warden and overseer of the poor besides acting as lawful attorney for Joseph Coles of Sumatra, and a John Desfountain also acted as chapel warden. The common burying place in James Valley served as one of the few fixed landmarks by which town parcels could be located, recorded from 3 August 1704. Nothing in these entries touches schooling beyond a single apprenticeship, which suggests that education left no mark on the land record rather than that none existed. [Film No. 16, 27, 41, 219]

The clergy enter the record through property rather than practice. The Reverend Edwin Alcock took an acre and a quarter in James Valley on 20 September 1743, hemmed by the Company's slaughter house to the north and the Castle garden watercourse to the east, on the lives of himself, his wife and his daughter. He held about an acre more on a plain 21-year term from November 1744, that parcel carrying the heavy duty of standing wholly under trees. The charge of £1 0s 0d for an acre and a quarter stood far above country rates, so the ground was valued as town land. [Film No. 151, 164, 165]

Charitable provision could be organised privately, and its form is disquieting. William Seale had been confirmed in ground in 1713 and took 6 acres in 1738 and 16 more in April 1745, yet by July 1758 he was aged and destitute. A subscription of £34 12s 1½d raised aboard the Colchester on 15 July 1758 bought a slave named Lewis, whose labour was to support him and his children, and Thomas Greentree held the man for that purpose. Relief for a poor planter was organised by purchasing a person. [Film No. 52, 193, 210]

Slavery and coerced labour

Slaves appear in this material only as property, and always in passing. James Greentree took the slave Oliver with a Sandy Bay purchase in 1703, along with a half share in a still. Joseph Bates settled six slaves and the standing yams on his daughter by deed of gift in 1741. Gabriel Isaack pledged his two slave men Phillip and Somsour alongside his houses and cattle as security for a bond in November 1756, so people stood in the same schedule as livestock and buildings. [Film No. 23, 24, 221]

Two transfers show a slave valued in a single sum with land and crops. Francis Wrangham senior made over to his son William the freehold bought from Francis Mowatt, together with the slave London and the standing yam crop, on 30 October 1758 as an advance against his inheritance, the whole reckoned at £549 10s 0d. Charles Steward had earlier bought a composite estate of freehold, leasehold, cattle and slaves for £280 0s 0d in 1733. Slaveholding had become the ordinary measure of security on the island. [Film No. 21, 124]

The silence elsewhere is more revealing than the mentions. Every lease obliged its holder to fence, plant a tenth in wood, replace dead trees, maintain furze and keep walls sound. Where ground was held in trust for a widow and six children, or by a governor with an island to run, that continuous labour cannot have fallen on the named parties. An account of St Helena built from this material alone would describe an agricultural society with no visible workforce, and the people who performed the work enter the record only when they change hands. [Film No. 18, 45, 52]

Crime, penalty and the discipline of the record

Enforcement worked through money rather than through the courts. The island's government had been contending with unfenced ground since it revived its fencing order on 6 April 1711, which threatened forfeiture for failure to enclose. Penalties such as the £30 0s 0d set on John Thwaites ran many times the yearly charge on the land. Reductions for barren land answered the same difficulty from the other direction, since a holder made to pay on worthless rock would simply leave the whole parcel open and unwalled. [Film No. 122, 130, 95]

The register also disciplined itself, though inconsistently. The Alexander lease of 7 acres and a half was entered twice in the wrong place and voided each time by a note at the foot, the text left fully legible. One entry for Powell's freehold was struck through across the whole page, and a third was cancelled by a note recording that fresh terms had been agreed. Legible cancellation may have been preferred so that a later clerk could copy the terms correctly, but the struck-through page a few leaves later shows that no single practice governed. [Film No. 141, 148, 150]

Comparison of the cancelled and final Alexander entries exposes how much such copies could differ. The voided version charged £0 4s 0d an acre and placed the ledge of rocks along part of the northern side, while the version finally entered charged £0 5s 0d and placed the same rocks to the west. It also named five children where the earlier text spoke only of heirs and representatives. Reading the surviving text as a straightforward record of what was agreed is therefore unsafe, and the suggestion that the rate caused the cancellation remains an inference. [Film No. 141, 142, 143, 144]

Personalities

John Alexander stands out above every other figure in the earlier material. He served as clerk of the council and register from at least 1686, certified copies across decades, and supervised the recopying of the register in December 1707 after rats damaged the original book. He accumulated heavily, paying £480 0s 0d for Elizabeth Haswell's 10 acres and house in 1719. On his death the Governor himself and Richard Beale held three parcels of 19, 16 and 20 acres in trust for his widow Mary and six children, a seventh having been provided for by her marriage. [Film No. 44, 46, 48]

George Gabriel Powell dominates the years around 1740. He signed as secretary in March 1739, sold his whole composite estate to Governor John Goodwin for £5,539 6s 4d that September, and held the governorship by 1742. He then bought back 69 of those same acres when Goodwin's estate was broken up to meet a debt, took further Company ground under his own Council's authority, and saw the ground named Francis's Land return to his hands three years after he parted with it. Few careers show so plainly how office and property reinforced one another. [Film No. 120, 128, 135, 147, 149]

Francis Wrangham senior was the most persistent accumulator of the middle years. He took 40 acres at Stock Hall and 12 in Sarahs Valley on lives in September 1738, negotiated relief on 20 acres of barren rock the same day, and took four separate parcels across 1744, each with its own instrument, term and charge. He named three young men from other families as his lives, a calculation about longevity rather than inheritance, and his son Francis Wrangham junior witnessed his father's deeds as the Company's secretary. He bought 43 acres from his own son for £750 10s 0d in 1756. [Film No. 71, 95, 178, 183, 266]

Thomas Greentree offers a contrasting profile of steady accumulation. He took 31 acres and 3 acres at the sitting of 30 September 1738, gained 2 acres and a half more by order of 25 November 1739, and bought a house from John Goodwin junior for £250 0s 0d on deferred terms in June 1739. He held ground on lives, on plain terms and in trust for others, standing as executor for the Ryder daughters in 1747 and taking a fragment of back ground behind his own James Valley house that December. His name still marked the boundary of Taylors in October 1761. [Film No. 106, 122, 245, 256]

Richard Goodwin appears throughout as the trusted outsider. He took four separate instruments on 30 September 1738 and held ground for the Burling widow and children, for John Nicholls junior at Old Woman's Valley in 1744, for the Doveton children in 1745 and for the heirs of Edmund Nicholls in 1747. He also served as chapel warden and overseer of the poor and acted as attorney for an absent proprietor. His own lives-based lease at the head of Fryer Valley was renewed in April 1747 under three fresh nominees. [Film No. 30, 161, 208, 241, 243]

Robert Wright shows how quickly standing could shift. Having attested the Boyd and Bazett trusts of April 1745, the three grants of 30 April and the town plots of 1746, he took 5 acres in Sandy Bay called Ashleys on lives in August 1746. Within 10 months he had carved an acre and a half out of it for Richard Beale, and by June 1747 he was mortgaging Sandy Bay ground to the Council for £20 0s 0d. A man who had witnessed the island's land business for two years then needed to borrow against his own. [Film No. 222, 223, 235, 238]

Others fill out the picture of a small society with few hands. Benjamin Pledger assembled a holding piece by piece over 20 years, from 8 acres of gumwood in 1726 to Sexton's Ground in 1744, and held 16 acres for the five children of the late Joseph Hayes. Samuel Doveton bought and leased across the West Division for two decades, adding 24 acres of the late Governor Goodwin's estate for £295 0s 0d in 1742 and 50 acres and three quarters from Powell for £650 0s 0d in 1744. Matthew Purling is described as a doctor in the Boyd trust and nowhere else. [Film No. 24, 146, 192, 193]

Joseph Whaley junior represents the opposite extreme, accumulating without literacy or good land. He took 5 acres and three quarters in three pieces in 1738, 4 acres in Prosperous Bay Valley in 1745, 2 acres at the bottom of Woody Ridge in 1746 and 2 acres and a half more in 1748. All of it lay on the dry eastern side, all of it was ringed by Company waste, and all of it had to be walled at his own cost. He sealed by mark every time. Persistence rather than advantage built his holding. [Film No. 93, 216, 231, 265]

Conclusion

Across these 18 years the Company converted open ground on St Helena into a settled pattern of private holdings. Its instruments were the 21-year lease, the lease measured by three lives, the acre rent of £0 5s 0d and an insistent set of duties to fence, plant and maintain. The pattern that emerges is one of consolidation. Parcels were fitted into ground a family already held, fragments nobody else could reach went to the neighbour who could, and the island's better land gathered into a few surnames. [Film No. 106-155]

The Company used its position as landlord to pursue an environmental policy it could not have imposed on freehold alone, binding tenants over ground they already owned as the price of taking more. It pressed hardest on timber, demanding whole parcels under trees from a handful of holders, writing replanting duties that renewed themselves each season and protecting the soil against exhaustion. At the same time it charged a flat rate that ignored quality, abated rents on barren rock, and let awkward fragments go for £0 1s 0d or a peppercorn. Administrative convenience mattered more to it than revenue. [Film No. 8, 26, 162, 202, 242]

It also carried a growing burden of social business. It settled the estates of the recently dead, protected widows against remarriage predation, guarded its watercourse and its footpaths, invested an orphan's portion in a secured loan, and let the upper slopes of James Valley plot by plot as the settlement grew under the pressure of war. Government, witnessing and landholding rested throughout on the same three dozen families, and the register shows a Governor granting land to himself without comment. [Film No. 45, 49, 224, 238, 259]

The record must finally be read against its makers. It shows the Company's intentions rather than the island's practice, since it preserves covenants rather than inspections, and it names holders rather than labourers. Its silences on slave labour, on the garrison and on the sea traffic that gave the settlement its purpose are silences of purpose rather than of fact. Read with that in mind, it remains an exceptionally detailed account of how a small colonial society divided its scarce land and its scarcer water. [Film No. 6-271]

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Modern Summary with Analysis

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EAP 1364 St Helena

Document Name and Date

Register of Leases 1755-1748

Photographer

Lidra

Date photographed

11 th May 2023

Additional comments

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Wood in the Generall part of this Island & such is the [...] & Nec[...]

ary to Improve this [...] That nothing has been more Prejudiciall

than the Past formerly commited by destroying great Quantities of

Wood for Distilling of Strong Liquors & lately by neglecting to Plant

Wood according to the Law made in the time of the late Governour Roberts

& by turning the manner of Land into Pasture Ground whereby the young

Wood is destroyed & prevented from Growing by Stocking the Neat

Ground with Cattle who Eat & Devour the same by hard [...] out

a due Proportion in every one of Leasehold Land, The Governour &

Council therefore though it be almost too late are fully resolved to put

all Laws & Ordinances relating hereunto in Strict Execution & to

Renew no Lease that admits Expiration, that is not so fully Planted with

Wood what Wood shall Serve of in each Parcell of Land Leased out

& not to allow of that Excuse we commonly make use of to Excuse

Neglects herein, that in other Parts of this Land that is in other Places

they have as much Wood as is equall to their Wood Planted in other Place, as is

Ordained to be Planted, yet every Severall Lease shall be Renewed or

assigned shall have its own Proportion of Wood in the same Part thereof

For the due Performance of what appears herein mentioned in this

Lease, he the Said Orlando Bagley his heirs or [...]signs Administrators

or assignes shall be Interested & hold under Penalty of [...]

& Rate Payable to the Lords Proprietors that they will faithfully

Perform, Observe & keep up to every Article & Condition of this Lease

what is here of Recited that in [...] Just [...] inclining the

Penalty, as [...] of Forfeiting their Right to this present

And he the Said Orlando Bagley for himself his heirs & assigns

doth hereby Covenant Promise & agree that he the Said Orlando

Bagley his heirs or assigns shall not alter or Remain the Bounds

& [...] or Limits of the Parcels of Land hereby Set & Demised but they

shall continue & Remain in the Same good state & Condition as

they now are they being the Bounds or Same marks of the Parcells

of Land hereby Granted according to the Plot or Plan hereunto

annexed. Nor shall he the Said Orlando Bagley his heirs or

assigns Set Dispose Let or [...]sign any Part or Parcell of the

Premisses without the Leave & Consent of the Governour & Council

for the time being In Witness whereof he the Said Orlando Bagley

hath hereunto Set his hand & Seal this [...] day of March

in the year of our Lord One Thousand Seven hundred [...] Forty [...]

other Part of these Presents by the Said Hon ble Company

their Common Seal the day & year first before mentioned

Signed Sealed & Delivered Orlando Bagley Senior

in the Presence of

[...] Goodwin

Wood grew across the several parts of the island, and the surest way to improve the ground was to increase it. Nothing had proved more damaging than the earlier waste, when great quantities of timber went to fuel the distilling of strong liquors. Neglect of the planting required under the law made in the time of the late Governor Roberts had compounded the loss. Turning every kind of ground over to pasture had destroyed the young wood and stopped its growth, since the land was stocked with cattle that grazed the shoots away wherever a proper share of each leasehold parcel was left unfenced.

The Governor and Council judged the remedy nearly too late but resolved to enforce every relevant law and ordinance without exception. No lease would be renewed unless the ground stood fully planted at the end of its term, with the wood properly fenced off on each parcel let out. The Council refused to accept the excuse commonly offered for neglect, namely that a tenant held enough wood elsewhere on his other ground to match his due share. Even where that claim was true and the planting had been done in another place as ordered, every separate lease renewed or assigned would still have to carry its own proportion of wood somewhere within its bounds.

To secure performance of the usual conditions set out in the lease, Orlando Bagley, his heirs, assigns and administrators were to enter into a bond of £10 0s 0d payable to the Lords Proprietors. The bond bound them to observe and maintain every article and condition faithfully. Forfeiture of the bond would bring an action at law in addition to the penalty already stated, which was the loss of the whole interest in the holding.

Orlando Bagley undertook for himself, his heirs and assigns not to alter or shift the outer walls or fences of the leased parcel. These were to be kept in the same good condition as they then stood, since they marked the boundaries of the ground granted, as shown on the plan attached to the lease. He further undertook that neither he nor his successors would sell, dispose of, let or assign any part of the property without the leave and consent of the Governor and Council for the time being.

Orlando Bagley senior set his hand and seal to the agreement on 1 April 1735. The Company sealed its own counterpart under the common seal on the same day.

Signed, sealed and delivered in the presence of Governor Goodwin and D[...].

Interpretations

The £10 0s 0d bond operated as a second and separate enforcement mechanism running alongside forfeiture. Losing the holding recovered the ground but produced no cash, and it worked only where the tenant still valued his tenure. A bond gave the Company a debt it could sue on, so a tenant who let his lease lapse in its final years still faced a money judgement. The two penalties together closed the gap that forfeiture alone left open.

The refusal to accept planting done elsewhere on a tenant's other ground reveals what the Council was actually trying to achieve. A man holding several parcels could concentrate his wood on one and strip the rest, satisfying the total requirement while leaving most of his land bare. Tying the obligation to each individual lease rather than to the holder distributed timber across the island's surface, which mattered because wood served as windbreak, soil anchor and local fuel supply as well as a stock of building timber.

Governor Roberts held office by April 1711, and the planting law referred to here belongs to that administration. His personal lease of 1 August 1711 covering an acre in James Valley was framed expressly as a policy lever to encourage others to reclaim barren ground, so the conservation programme and the reclamation programme ran together from the same period.

Distilling consumed timber at a rate out of proportion to its product, since a still must be kept at heat for hours. The island's spirit production drew on local arrack and similar liquors, and the fuel came from slow-growing endemic gumwood and ebony that could not regenerate at anything approaching the rate of consumption.

The requirement that wood be fenced off separately within each parcel addressed the specific mechanism of destruction named earlier in the passage. Cattle turned onto open pasture will browse young shoots to the ground, so replanting without enclosure achieved nothing. The obligation was therefore not simply to plant but to protect, and the leases of this period paired the two duties.

Orlando Bagley senior appears across the register as a major Powell's Valley holder, confirmed in 23 acres and leased 40 more on 4 August 1713, with earlier leasehold interests taken by assignment from John Orchard on 26 September 1711 and from Joseph Tovey on 14 June 1713. He also received the lease sealed 14 September 1731 of four parcels making 8 acres, including 2 acres of hay land, set among the holdings of Samuel Doveton, Richard Finsly, Captain John Alexander and the widow Bridget Bazett below the Main Ridge.

Speculations

The Council could have set a uniform planting quota per acre and applied it evenly across the island, which would have been simpler to administer and easier to check. It chose instead to fix each tenant's share relative to what his own ground already carried, and the passage shows the reasoning. A flat rule would have fallen hardest on holders of stripped land while asking nothing further of those whose parcels remained wooded, so the men who had done most damage would have faced the same demand as those who had done least. The proportional test instead measured each parcel against its own condition, and the accompanying refusal to allow wood on one holding to answer for another closed the obvious route around it.

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[Loss to the outer edge of the leaf, affecting the left-hand margin of the lower portion of the page.]

THE Hon ble The United Company of

Merchants of England Trading to the East Indies, Lords Proprietors

of this Island do hereby Demise Grant Sett & to Farm Lett unto

Samuell Doveton of this Island Planter All that Peice or Parcell of

Land containing Twenty Seven Acres & an half lying in Sandy Bay

Butting & Bounding North & East upon the Hon ble Companies Wast Lands

& West & South upon a Parcell of Leasehold Land now in the Possession of

Orlando Bagley Sen r TO HAVE AND TO HOLD the said hereby

Demised Twenty Seven Acres & an half of Land with all & singular the

Rights & Appurtinances thereunto belonging unto him the Said Samuell

Doveton his heirs Executors Administrators or Assigns from the 25 th

day of March last past for & during all the Space or Term of Twenty

One Years from thence next Ensuing UPON CONDITION that he the

Said Samuell Doveton his heirs Ex rs & Adm rs or Assigns shall & do

always bear true Faith & Allegiance to our Sovereign Lord the King

his heirs and Successours & to the Hon ble Company & their Successours

& shall duely & truely Obey all the Laws & Constitutions of the Said Island

YEILDING and Paying therefore Yearly & every Year during the

Whole Term or Time of Twenty One Years unto them the Said Hon ble Company

their Successours Agents or Assigns the Sum of Four Shillings ⅌ Acre

& One Shilling Duty being in all Five Shillings ⅌ Acre in at or upon

the 29 th day of September Yearly PROVIDED allways that he the

Said Samuell Doveton his heirs Ex rs Administrators or Assigns

shall & do well & Sufficiently keep up Maintain & preserve The

Walls Fences & Enclosures of the Said Parcell of Land in the Same Good

Order & Condition as they now Stand under Penalty of paying double

Rent and Duty for every Neglect or Omission herein And one Tenth

part of the Said Parcell of Land shall be fully and duely Planted with

Wood for Timber & Fuel Such as Red Wood, Gum Wood, or Cabbage Tree Wood

or in default thereof & where Such Trees as are of the Sorts before mentioned

will not or by Art Cannot be made to grow with Coffee, Orange, Lemon,

Lime, Apple, Quince, Pear, Coco, Date, Pomgranate, Walnut, Citron,

Pumplemus, Almond or Tamerind Trees which shall be allways well &

Carefully looked after Preserved & kept up and so often as any die others

of the Same or like Sorts or Such as are most proper for the Soile shall

be duely Planted in their Steads, And where there happens to be a Private or publick

Road or foot Path through any such Parcell of Land a Gate of four

[...]de shall be Erected at each End thereof and where a Cartway

[...] hath here after be or lead through any such Parcell of Land as

[...] said a Gate of Eight feet wide between Post & Post shall be Erected

[...] ch End thereof & all such Gates shall be kept in Good & Sufficient

[...] r during the Whole Term of this Present Lease & shall be so left

[...] in at the Expiration thereof. And in Case the Governour &

Councell of this Island for the Time being shall think it Necessary to

alter any of the Present Publick Roads or Paths for the Benefit of

the Hon ble Company or the Inhabitants of the said Island leading through

this or any other Parcell of Leasehold or Freehold Land now in the

Possession of him the Said Samuell Doveton at the Charge & Expence

The Honourable United Company of Merchants of England Trading to the East Indies, Lords Proprietors of the island, granted and let to farm to Samuel Doveton of the island, planter, a parcel of land of 27 acres and a half lying in Sandy Bay. The ground was bounded north and east by the Company's waste land, and west and south by a parcel of leasehold land then held by Orlando Bagley senior.

Samuel Doveton, his heirs, executors, administrators and assigns were to hold the 27 acres and a half with all rights and appurtenances belonging to it. The term ran from 25 March last past for 21 years from that date.

Samuel Doveton and his successors were required to keep true faith and allegiance to the King, his heirs and successors, and to the Company and its successors, and to obey the laws and constitutions of the island in full.

The yearly rent through the whole 21 years was 4 shillings an acre, together with a duty of 1 shilling an acre, making 5 shillings an acre in all, payable to the Company, its successors, agents or assigns on 29 September each year.

Samuel Doveton and his successors were also to keep up, maintain and preserve the walls, fences and enclosures of the parcel in the same good order and condition as they then stood. Any neglect or failure carried a penalty of double rent and duty.

One tenth of the parcel was to be fully planted with wood for timber and fuel, namely redwood, gumwood or cabbage tree wood. Where trees of those kinds would not or could not be made to grow, the tenant was to plant instead coffee, orange, lemon, lime, apple, quince, pear, coco, date, pomegranate, walnut, citron, pompelmous, almond or tamarind. All such trees were to be well and carefully tended, protected and maintained. Whenever any died, others of the same or similar kinds, or those best suited to the soil, were to be planted in their place without delay.

Where a private or public road or footpath ran through the parcel, a gate of four feet was to be put up at each end. Where a cartway was afterwards made or led through the ground, a gate eight feet wide between post and post was to be erected at each end. Every such gate was to be kept in good and sufficient repair throughout the term and left in that condition when the lease expired.

Should the Governor and Council for the time being judge it necessary to alter any of the existing public roads or paths leading through this or any other parcel of leasehold or freehold land then held by Samuel Doveton, for the benefit of the Company or the inhabitants of the island, the charge and expense [...]

Interpretations

Pompelmous was the shaddock or pomelo, a large thick-rinded citrus brought from South East Asia into the Atlantic trade routes during the seventeenth century. Its value on St Helena lay in the keeping quality of the fruit, since a whole shaddock would survive weeks aboard ship where softer citrus spoiled. The tree also stood the wind better than orange or lemon. Coco in this list refers to the coconut palm rather than to cacao, and the date palm likewise reflects an ambition to establish fruit trees that had reached the island through Company shipping from India and the Cape.

The alternative planting list reveals the Company's real objective more clearly than the timber requirement that precedes it. Redwood, gumwood and cabbage tree wood were the island's endemic species, slow-growing and suited to poor exposed ground. Where they failed, the substitute list is entirely fruit-bearing, so the fallback was not another timber crop but the victualling supply that outward and homeward ships depended on. Citrus in particular answered the scurvy that afflicted long voyages, and distributing lemon and orange planting across many small tenancies gave the island a dispersed supply rather than one concentrated garden vulnerable to a single failure.

The gate specifications carried a practical function beyond convenience. A leaseholder enclosing his ground could otherwise obstruct the paths crossing it, and on an island of steep valleys a blocked route might force a long detour. Fixing widths at four feet for foot and bridle traffic and eight feet between posts for carts guaranteed passage adequate to the vehicle, and the requirement that gates be left standing at the term's end preserved the right of way for the next tenant rather than allowing it to lapse.

Double rent and duty for neglected fences worked as a graduated penalty rather than an outright forfeiture. The Company reserved the loss of the whole holding for serious breaches, but a decayed wall attracted only a doubled charge, which kept the ground in productive hands while making neglect more expensive than repair. Fences also served as the physical record of boundaries, so a collapsed wall threatened the title itself as much as it threatened the crop.

The one-tenth planting proportion places this grant within the conservation framework the Council enforced across these leases, and the requirement to replace dead trees at once turned a single obligation into a continuing duty running the length of the term. Orlando Bagley senior held the adjoining leasehold on two sides, so this parcel was fitted directly against an established neighbour.

Samuel Doveton appears in the register as a steady accumulator of West Division and town ground through the 1730s and 1740s. He bought 21 acres of leasehold and a freehold parcel from Giles Smith for £12 0s 0d and £70 0s 0d on 30 December 1730, and 11 acres and a half from Orlando Bagley senior for £61 17s 6d on 30 September 1731, so the two men had dealt with one another directly before this grant fixed their holdings side by side.

Speculations

The Council could have written the road provision to protect only the paths then in existence, which would have settled the tenant's obligation at the moment of sealing. It reached instead beyond this parcel to bind Samuel Doveton over any leasehold or freehold ground he held then or afterwards, and to routes not yet laid out. The reason lies in the island's terrain, where a track once diverted round an enclosure could not easily be restored, and a holder accumulating parcels across a valley might close a through route by degrees without ever obstructing a path outright. Fixing the liability to the man rather than to the ground meant his growing estate could not be used to shut off passage piece by piece.

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never the less of them the Said Hon ble Company it shall & may be Lawfull for

them so to do, And every such Path or Road which shall be so made

or Altered by the Governour & Councill for the time being as aforesaid shall

be kept up & Repaired & maintained by him the Said Samuell Doveton

his heirs Ex rs Administrators or Assigns in the Same Manner & Good

Order as if the Same had been an Ancient Path or Road. And all Water

Courses now made or that now Run or which hereafter shall be turned

Altered or made to Run by the Governour & Council for the time being

as aforesaid through this or any other Parcell of Land whatsoever now

or which hereafter shall belong to or be in the Possession of him the Said

Samuell Doveton his heirs or Assigns during the Term of this Present

Lease for the use & Benefit of them the Said Hon ble Company shall Run

without any Lett or Hindrance or Interruption whatsoever. And moreover

on the inside of all Plantations and round the Walls & Fences thereof

which now or which during the Term of this Present Lease shall belong to

or be in the Possession of him the Said Samuell Doveton his heirs or Assigns

whether the Same be Leasehold or Freehold shall be Planted Orange, Lemon,

Lime, Pumplemus, Pomgranate, Citron, Apple, Pear, Quince, Coco,

Coffee, Date, Walnutt, Chesnutt, Almond or Tamerind Trees which shall

allways be kept up at Twenty feet Distance from each other, And also

round the outside of all Fences whether Pasture Grounds or Plantations now

in the Possession of him the Said Samuell Doveton his heirs or Assigns,

Furze shall be fully Planted & duely kept up under Penalty of Paying

Double Rent & Duty for every such Parcell of Land where these Several

Conditions of duely Fencing the Said Land &c Planting keeping up &

preserving the Timber & other Trees on the Land & keeping all such parts

and Places duely Fenced in from being Destroyed by Cattle or other Negligence

or Willfull Waste which shall happen by Design or otherwise. And to

avoid all Doubts touching the Said Neglects Wast or Omissions or any

of them as aforesaid it shall & may be lawfull from Time to Time & at all

Times hereafter during the Term of this Present Lease for the Governour

and Council upon Complaint made of such Neglect or Wast as aforesaid

to Appoint some proper Person to view the Premisses & to make Report

to them & in Case there be such Neglect or Wast made either by design or

otherwise he the Said Samuell Doveton his heirs or Assignes shall either

forfeit this present Lease & all manner of Right thereto or else shall pay

double Rent for all the Said Land which shall be so Neglected as afores d

or else he the Said Samuel Doveton his heirs & Assigns shall be fined

& pay to the use of the Hon ble Company such a reasonable Sum as the

Governour & Council of this Place shall think just and proper, And

Whereas it is the General Judgement of most principal Inhabitants

(Confirmed by the Hon ble Companies direct & Positive Orders to the Govern r

and Councill of this Place) that due Care should be taken to Encourage and

Preserve the Growth & Encrease of Wood in the Several Parts of this Island

which is the cheifest & best way to improve this Place and that nothing has

been more destructive than the Wast formerly Committed by Destroying

Great Quantities of Wood for Distilling of Strong Liquors and lately

by Neglecting to plant Wood according to the Law made in the time of the

late Governour Roberts & by Turning all manner of Land into Pasture

The Company was to bear that cost, and it retained full authority to make such alterations. Any path or road laid out or diverted by the Governor and Council was afterwards to be kept up, repaired and maintained by Samuel Doveton and his successors, in the same manner and good order required of a route long established.

All watercourses then running, along with any afterwards diverted or newly cut by the Governor and Council through this or any other parcel held by Samuel Doveton or his successors during the term, were to run freely for the Company's use and benefit without obstruction or interference of any kind.

On the inner side of every plantation and round its walls and fences, whether the ground was leasehold or freehold, Samuel Doveton and his successors were to plant orange, lemon, lime, pompelmous, pomegranate, citron, apple, pear, quince, coco, coffee, date, walnut, chestnut, almond or tamarind trees. These were to be maintained at 20 feet apart from one another. Round the outside of every fence, whether enclosing pasture or plantation, furze was to be fully planted and properly kept up.

Failure in any of these duties carried a penalty of double rent and duty on each parcel affected. The conditions covered fencing the ground properly, planting it, keeping up and preserving the timber and other trees, and maintaining the enclosures so that cattle could not destroy them, whether the damage arose through negligence or through deliberate waste.

To settle any dispute over such neglect or waste, the Governor and Council could at any time during the term appoint a suitable person to inspect the ground on complaint and report back. Where neglect or waste was found, whether intentional or not, Samuel Doveton and his successors would forfeit the lease and every right under it, or pay double rent on all the land concerned, or be fined such reasonable sum for the Company's use as the Governor and Council judged just and proper.

The principal inhabitants held it as their general view, and the Company had confirmed the point in its own orders to the Governor and Council, that care should be taken to encourage and protect the growth and increase of wood across the several parts of the island. That was the chief and best means of improving the place. Nothing had proved more destructive than the earlier waste, when great quantities of timber were consumed in distilling strong liquors, and latterly through neglect of the planting required by the law made in the time of the late Governor Roberts, and through the conversion of every kind of ground to pasture.

Interpretations

Furze, the gorse of British hedgerows, was planted here for a purpose quite unlike the fruit trees named alongside it. Its dense thorny growth makes a stock-proof barrier that no beast will push through, so a furze hedge round the outside of a wall doubled the enclosure at almost no cost. The plant also thrives on thin poor soil and stands salt wind, which suited the exposed margins of St Helena's valleys where little else would hold. Placing fruit inside the wall and furze outside separated the two functions cleanly: the valuable trees sat protected, the defensive hedge took the weather and the cattle.

The 20-foot spacing requirement was not decorative. Fruit trees planted closer compete for light and root space and yield poorly, so fixing the interval turned a bare planting quota into a standard the Company could actually inspect. A tenant might otherwise satisfy a count of trees by crowding them along a short stretch of wall and leaving the rest bare.

The inspection procedure introduced here is the enforcement machinery behind every covenant in the lease. Complaint triggered the appointment of a viewer who reported to the Council, and only then did penalty follow. That structure mattered because waste and neglect are matters of degree rather than fact, and a tenant could always argue that trees died of themselves. An appointed inspector converted a contested judgement into a finding of record.

Three penalties stood available on a finding of neglect: outright forfeiture, double rent, or a discretionary fine. The Council chose among them rather than applying a fixed sanction, which allowed the punishment to match the scale of the breach and left a tenant with some prospect of retaining his ground after a first failure. A single automatic penalty would have forced the Council either to overlook minor breaches or to strip a holding for a trifle.

The requirement that watercourses run without hindrance addressed the island's most contested resource. Water descending a valley passes through many hands before reaching the settlement below, and a tenant could divert or dam a stream to his own advantage while starving those downstream. The register records the arbitration of a Sandy Bay watercourse dispute between John Alexander and John Long referred in December 1724, so the Company had direct experience of what an unresolved claim of that kind produced.

Governor Roberts held office by April 1711, and the planting law named here belongs to his administration. The covenants binding Samuel Doveton reach beyond the parcel demised to every other holding in his hands, whether leasehold or freehold, which extends the Company's regulatory authority over ground it had already parted with outright.

Speculations

The Company could have confined the planting and fencing duties to the 27 acres and a half it was granting, since that was the ground over which it held a landlord's authority. It reached instead across all of Samuel Doveton's holdings, freehold included, and the reason surfaces in the passage itself: the general judgement of the principal inhabitants, confirmed by the Company's own orders, treated the island's wood as a single stock rather than as the separate concern of each tenant. A man whose freehold lay bare while his leasehold stood planted contributed nothing to that stock. Binding the freehold through a leasehold covenant gave the Company a lever over land it could not otherwise reach, the price of taking new ground being the surrender of a free hand on ground already held.

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Grounds whereby the Young Wood is Destroyed & prevented from growing

by Stocking all the Grounds with Cattle who Eat & Devour the Same, by

not fencing out a due Proportion in every Parcell of Leasehold Land

the Governour & Council hereof tho it be almost too late are Fully resolved

to put all Laws and Ordinances relating hereunto in Strict Execution

and to Renew no Lease that at its Expiration shall not be fully planted

with Wood & that Wood duely Fenced off in each Parcell of Land Leased

out & not to allow of that False pretence so commonly made use of to

Execute Neglects herein, that in other parts of their Land (that is in other

Places) they have as much Wood as is Equal to their due Proportion,

but even tho this was true that they had so much Wood planted in other

Places as is Ordained to be planted. Yet every Several Lease that is

Renewed or Assigned shall have its own Proportion or Wood in some

part thereof & for the due Performance of such usefull Articles mentioned

in this Lease, he the Said Samuel Doveton his heirs Administrators

or Assigns shall enter into Bond under Penalty under Penalty of

Ten Pounds ⅌ Acre Payable to the Lords Proprietors that they will

faithfully Perform Observe & keep up to every Article & Condition of this

Lease which Bond if Forfeited shall be put into Suit besides incurring

the Penalty beforementioned of Forfeiting their Right to this Present.

And the said Samuel Doveton for himself his heirs & Assigns

doth hereby Covenant Promise & Agree that he the Said Samuell Doveton

his heirs or Assigns shall not alter or remove the Outward Walls or Fences

of the Parcell of Land hereby Sett & Demised but they shall Continue and

Remain in the Same Good State & Condition as they now are they being

the Bounds & Land Marks of the Parcell of Land hereby Granted

according to the Plott or Plan herein annexed. Nor shall he the Said

Samuel Doveton his heirs or Assigns Sell dispose Lett or Assign

any part or Parcell of the Premisses without the leave & Consent of

the Governour & Councill for the time being IN WITNESS whereof he the

said Samuel Doveton hath hereunto Sett his hand & Seal this thirtieth

day of Septem r in the Year of our Lord one Thousand Seven Hundred

Thirty Eight & to the other part of these Presents they the Said Hon ble

Company have affixed their Common Seale the day & Year just beforemen=

tioned,

Signed Sealed & Delivered Sam l Doveton

in the Presence of,

John Twaits

Th Wrangham Jun r

Grazing had destroyed the young wood and stopped its growth, since the ground was stocked with cattle that ate the shoots wherever a proper share of each leasehold parcel was left unfenced. The Governor and Council judged the remedy nearly too late but resolved to enforce every law and ordinance on the subject without exception. No lease would be renewed unless the ground stood fully planted at its expiry, with the wood properly fenced off on each parcel let out.

The Council refused to accept the excuse commonly offered for such neglect, namely that a tenant held wood on his other ground elsewhere sufficient to match his due share. Even where that claim was true and the required planting had been carried out in another place, every separate lease renewed or assigned would still have to carry its own proportion of wood somewhere within its bounds.

To secure performance of the usual conditions set out in the lease, Samuel Doveton, his heirs, administrators and assigns were to enter into a bond of £10 0s 0d an acre payable to the Lords Proprietors. The bond bound them to observe and maintain every article and condition faithfully. Forfeiture of the bond would bring an action at law in addition to the penalty already stated, which was the loss of the whole interest in the holding.

Samuel Doveton undertook for himself, his heirs and assigns not to alter or shift the outer walls or fences of the leased parcel. These were to remain in the same good condition as they then stood, since they marked the boundaries of the ground granted, as shown on the plan attached to the lease. He further undertook that neither he nor his successors would sell, dispose of, let or assign any part of the property without the leave and consent of the Governor and Council for the time being.

Samuel Doveton set his hand and seal to the agreement on 30 September 1738. The Company affixed its common seal to the counterpart on the same day.

Signed, sealed and delivered in the presence of John Thwaites and Francis Wrangham junior.

Interpretations

The bond here was fixed at £10 0s 0d an acre rather than at a flat £10 0s 0d, which distinguishes it sharply from the Orlando Bagley senior lease sealed 1 April 1735 where the sum stood at £10 0s 0d for the whole. Across 27 acres and a half the exposure came to £275 0s 0d, a sum far exceeding the annual rent of about £6 17s 6d at 5 shillings an acre. Scaling the penalty to acreage meant a large holding carried a proportionately large risk, so a substantial tenant could not treat the bond as a minor charge absorbed into the cost of his ground.

The term ran 21 years from 25 March 1738, yet the sealing took place on 30 September of the same year, so the tenant had already held six months of his term before the instrument was executed. That gap was routine under the framework introduced in 1711, where leases were back-dated to the quarter day and drawn up afterwards. The rent day of 29 September fell the day before sealing, which suggests the document was completed alongside the first payment.

John Thwaites appears in the register as a soldier who took the lease of 3 February 1729 covering two parcels of 10 acres, the larger reserved wholly for growing timber at the reduced rate of 2 shillings and 6 pence an acre under a £30 0s 0d fencing penalty, with stock barred without the Council's permission. His presence as a witness places a man already bound into the timber-conservation regime at the sealing of another such grant.

Francis Wrangham junior served as secretary to the Company on the island, and his attestation alongside Thwaites gives the instrument both an official and a practical witness. The Wrangham family ran through the register across several generations as accumulators of gumwood and cabbage tree ground.

The prohibition on assignment without leave gave the Council control over who held Company ground, and the register shows that control exercised in practice rather than merely reserved. Samuel Doveton bought 24 acres of the late Governor John Goodwin's estate from the Company for £295 0s 0d on 7 September 1742 and 50 acres and three-quarters in the West Division from George Gabriel Powell for £650 0s 0d on 17 May 1744, so his accumulation continued well beyond this grant.

Speculations

The Council could have kept the bond at the flat £10 0s 0d used in the Orlando Bagley senior lease of 1 April 1735, which would have preserved consistency across grants sealed only three years apart. It set the sum per acre instead, and the reason lies in the nature of the breach being guarded against. A tenant neglecting a small parcel wastes little, while the same neglect across 27 acres and a half destroys a substantial stock of timber, so a fixed penalty would have fallen most lightly on the holders whose default cost the island most. Tying the bond to area made the security match the potential damage rather than the paperwork, and it fell hardest on exactly the accumulating holders whose scattered parcels were least likely to receive close attention.

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The Hon ble the United Company of Merchants of England Trading to

the East Indies Lords Proprietors of this Island do hereby Demise Grant Sett & to Farm

Lett unto Stephen Seaphen of this Island Planter, All that Peice or Parcell of Land

Containing Twelve Acres lying in Sandy Bay Butting & Bounding North & upon

the Lands of this Noble [...] & upon the Land of [...] Marsh, East & upon

the Length of their Company & West upon the Hon Companies Wast Lands

TO HAVE AND TO HOLD the Said hereby Demised Twelve Acres of Land with all &

Singular the Rights & Appurtinances thereunto belonging unto him the Said Stephen

Seaphen his heirs Ex rs Adm rs & Assigns from the 25 day of December last past, for

& during all the Space & Term of Twenty One Years from thence next ensuing UPON

CONDITION that he the Said Stephen Seaphen his heirs Ex rs Adm rs or Assigns shall

& always bear true Faith & Allegiance to our Sovereign Lord the King & his heirs &

Successours & to the Said Hon Company & their Successours & shall duely & truely

Obey all the Laws & Constitutions of the Said Island YEILDING & Paying

therefore Yearly & every Year during the Whole Term or Time of the Twenty One Years unto

them the Said Hon ble Company their Successours Agents or Assigns the Sum of Four

Shillings ⅌ Acre & one Shilling Duty being in all Five Shillings ⅌ Acre in at or

upon the 29 th day of September Yearly PROVIDED allways that he the Said

Stephen Seaphen his heirs Ex rs Adm rs or Assigns shall & do well & Sufficiently

keep up, Maintain & preserve the Walls Fences & Enclosures of the said Parcell of

Land in the Same good Order & Condition as they now Stand under Penalty of paying

double Rent & Duty for every Neglect or Omission herein, And one Tenth part hereof the

Said Parcell of Land shall be fully & duely planted with Wood for Timber & Fuel

Such as Red Wood Gum Wood or Cabbage Tree Wood, or in default thereof & where such

Trees as are of the Sorts before mentioned & will not or by Art cannot be made to grow with

Coffee, Orange, Lemon, Lime, Apple, Quince, Pear, Coco, Date, Pomgranate, Walnutt, Citron

Pumplemus, Almond or Tamerind Trees, which shall be allways well & Carefully look

after Preserved & kept up, & so often as any die others of the Same or like Sorts or Such as

are most proper for the Soile shall be duely placed in their Stead, And where there happens

to be a private or publick Road or foot Path through any Such parcell of Land a Gate of

four feet Wide shall be Erected at each End thereof, & where a Cart way or is shall hereafter

be or lead through any such Parcell of Land as aforesaid, a Gate of Eight feet Wide

between Post & Post shall be Erected at each End thereof, & all such Gates shall be

Constantly kept in good & Sufficient Repair during the whole Term of this Present

Lease & shall be so left & Remain at the Expiration thereof. And in Case the Governour

& Councill of this Island for the time being shall think it Necessary to alter any of the

present Publick Roads or Paths for the Benefit of the Hon Company or the

Inhabitants of the Said Island leading through this or any other Parcell of Leasehold

or Freehold Land now in the Possession of him the Said Stephen Seaphen at the Charge &

Expence never the less of them the Said Hon Company it shall & may be Lawfull for them

so to do, And every such Path or Road which shall be so or shall be so Altered by the Govern r

& Councill for the time being as aforesaid shall be kept up & Repaired & Maintained by

him the Said Stephen Seaphen his heirs Ex rs Adm rs or Assigns in the Same manner &

good Order & Repair as if the Same had been an Ancient Path or Road, And all water

Courses now made or that now Run or which hereafter shall be turned Altered or

made to Run by the Said Governor & Councill for the time being as aforesaid through this or any other

Parcell of Land whatsoever now or which hereafter shall belong to or be in the Possession

of him the Said Stephen Seaphen his heirs or Assigns during the Term of this Present Lease

for the use & Benefit of them the Said Hon ble Company shall Run without any Lett or

hindrance or Interuption whatsoever, And moreover on the Inside of all Plantations

The Honourable United Company of Merchants of England Trading to the East Indies, Lords Proprietors of the island, granted and let to farm to Stephen Luffkin of the island, planter, a parcel of land of 12 acres lying on Thompson's Wood. The ground was bounded north and east upon the lands of John Nichols, south upon the lands of Robert Marsh, and west upon the lands of Thomas Cooper. It was also bounded on the Company's waste land.

Stephen Luffkin, his heirs, executors, administrators and assigns were to hold the 12 acres with all rights and appurtenances belonging to it. The term ran from 25 December last past for 21 years from that date.

Stephen Luffkin and his successors were required to keep true faith and allegiance to the King, his heirs and successors, and to the Company and its successors, and to obey the laws and constitutions of the island in full.

The yearly rent through the whole 21 years was 4 shillings an acre, together with a duty of 1 shilling an acre, making 5 shillings an acre in all, payable to the Company, its successors, agents or assigns on 29 September each year.

Stephen Luffkin and his successors were also to keep up, maintain and preserve the walls, fences and enclosures of the parcel in the same good order and condition as they then stood. Any neglect or failure carried a penalty of double rent and duty.

One tenth of the parcel was to be fully planted with wood for timber and fuel. Where trees of the kinds named would not or could not be made to grow, the tenant was to plant instead orange, lemon, lime, apple, quince, pear, coco, date, pomegranate, walnut, citron, pompelmous, almond or tamarind trees. All such trees were to be well and carefully tended, protected and maintained. Whenever any died, others of the same or similar kinds, or those best suited to the soil, were to be planted in their place without delay.

Where a private or public road or footpath ran through the parcel, a gate of four feet was to be put up at each end. Where a cartway was afterwards made or led through the ground, a gate eight feet wide between post and post was to be erected at each end. Every such gate was to be kept in good and sufficient repair throughout the term and left in that condition when the lease expired.

Should the Governor and Council for the time being judge it necessary to alter any of the existing public roads or paths leading through this or any other parcel of leasehold or freehold land then held by Stephen Luffkin, for the benefit of the Company or the inhabitants of the island, the charge and expense fell on the Company, which retained full authority to make such alterations. Any path or road so laid out or diverted was afterwards to be kept up, repaired and maintained by Stephen Luffkin and his successors, in the same manner and good order required of a route long established.

All watercourses then running, along with any afterwards diverted or newly cut by the Governor and Council through this or any other parcel held by Stephen Luffkin or his successors during the term, were to run freely for the Company's use and benefit without obstruction or interference of any kind.

Interpretations

Thompson's Wood appears in the register as ground let under the lease of 14 September 1731 to Richard Mason, covering 16 acres in several parcels at Thompson's Wood and Old Woman's Valley, the larger parcel bounded by the leasehold of Stephen Justin junior. The byname preserves the name of a former holder in the ordinary manner of the island's land records, where parcels were identified by the men who once held them rather than by measurement alone.

The Luffkin name runs through the register under several renderings, including Lufkin and Loffkin, applied to the same family. A Stephen Luffin junior took the lease sealed 21 September 1731 of 2 acres and a half fixed against his father's land to the east and Thomas Harper's to the west, so the family already held ground in that quarter and this grant of 12 acres marks a considerable enlargement.

The term commencing from 25 December rather than the usual 25 March is worth noting, since the great majority of grants under this framework ran from the Lady Day quarter. A Christmas commencement appears elsewhere in the register, notably in the John Cotgrave lease of the Brick Chamber running from 25 December 1726 and in the two John Burling leases of December 1727. The rent day nevertheless remained 29 September, so the first payment fell nine months into the term rather than at its anniversary.

Robert Marsh appears in the register as the son of the deceased William Marsh, confirmed in 10 acres at the head of one branch of James Valley on 4 August 1713 and leased 9 acres at or near the head of Chapel Valley on 1 December 1713. John Nichols senior was confirmed in 40 acres in two parcels at the same 1713 sitting. Both men fixing the bounds here indicates that the neighbouring ground had passed down within established families since the regularisation of that period.

Speculations

The Company could have let this parcel from the Lady Day quarter, which was the standing convention across these grants and which would have aligned the term's start with the rent day of 29 September falling a half year later. It ran the term from Christmas instead, and the choice cost the tenant three months of term before his first payment came due while giving the Company its rent nine months in. A parcel already occupied or already improved will often account for such a start, since the tenure was being regularised from the point where the holder took possession rather than from the next convenient quarter, and the Luffkin family's existing ground beside Thomas Harper's makes prior occupation the probable explanation for backdating past the usual date.

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and round the Walls & Fences thereof which now or which during the Term of this Present Lease

shall belong to or be in the Possession of him the Said Stephen Seaphen his heirs or Assigns

whether the same be Leasehold or Freehold, shall be planted Orange, Lemon, Lime, Pumplemus

Pomgranate, Cittron, Apple, Pear, Quince, Coco, Coffee, Date, Walnutt, Chesnutt, Almond

or Tamerind Trees, which shall be allways kept up at Twenty feet Distance from each

other, And also Round the Outside of all Fences whether Pasture Grounds or Plantations

now in the Possession of him the Said Stephen Seaphen his heirs or Assigns Furze shall be

fully planted & duely kept up under Penalty of Paying double Rent & Duty for every

such Parcell of Land where these Several Conditions of duely fencing the Said Land &c

Planting keeping up & Preserving the Timber & other Trees on the Land & keeping all such

parts & places duely fenced in from being destroyed by Cattle or other Negligence or Willfull

waste which shall happen by design or otherwise, And to avoid all Doubts touching the

Neglects wastes or Omissions or any of them as aforesaid, it shall & may be Lawfull from

time to time & at all times hereafter during the Term of this Present Lease, for the Governour

& Council upon Complaint made of such Neglect or waste as aforesaid to appoint some proper

person to view the Premisses & to make Report to them & in Case there be such Neglect

or waste made either by design or otherwise he the Said Stephen Seaphen his heirs or Assigns

shall either forfeit this present Lease & all manner of Right thereto or Else shall pay

double Rent for all the Said Land which shall be so Neglected as aforesaid or else he the

Said Stephen Seaphen his heirs Ex rs or Assigns shall be fined & pay to the use of the Hon ble

Company such a reasonable Sum as the Governour & Council of this Place shall think

just & proper, And whereas it is the General Judgement of most principal Inhabitants

(Confirmed by the Hon Companies direct & Positive Orders to the Gov r & Councill of this Place)

that due Care should be taken to Encourage & Preserve the Growth & Encrease of Wood in

the Several parts of this Island which is the Cheifest & best way to improve this Place

that nothing has been more destructive than the wastes formerly Committed by destroying

great Quantities of Wood for distilling of Strong Liquors & lately by Neglecting to

plant Wood according to the Law made in the time of the late Gov r Roberts & by turning

all manner of Land into Pasture Grounds whereby the Young Wood is destroyed & prevented

from growing by Stocking all the Grounds with Cattle who Eat & Devour the same, by

not fencing out a due Proportion in every Peice of Leasehold Land, the Governour & Councill

hereof though it be almost too late are fully Resolved to put all Laws & Ordinances

Relating hereunto into Strict Execution & to renew no Lease that at its Expiration

shall not be fully planted with Wood & that Wood duely fenced off in each Parcell of

Land & Land Marks & not to allow of that False pretence so Commonly made use of to

Excuse Neglects herein that in other parts of their Land that is in other places they

have as much Wood as is Equal to their due Proportion, but even though this was true

that they had as much Wood Planted in other places as is Ordained to be planted, yet

every Several Lease that is Renewed or Assigned shall have its own Proportion of

Wood in some part thereof & for the due Performance of such usefull Articles mentioned

in this Lease he the Said Stephen Seaphen his heirs Administrators or Assigns

shall enter into Bond under Penalty of Ten Pounds ⅌ Acre Payable to the Lords

Proprietors that they will faithfully perform Observe & keep up to every Article

& Condition of this Lease which Bond if forfeited shall be put into Suit besides

incurring the Penalty beforementioned of Forfeiting their Right to this Present.

And the said Stephen Seaphen for himself his heirs & Assigns doth hereby

Covenant Promise & agree that he the Said Stephen Seaphen his heirs or Assigns

shall not alter or Remove the Outward Walls or Fences of the Parcell of Land hereby

Sett & Demised but they shall Continue & Remain in the Same good State & Condition

as they are as they being the Bounds or Land Markes of the Parcell of Land

Every watercourse crossing the ground had to keep running freely for the whole of the term. Inside the walls of each plantation Stephen Luffkin held, or came to hold while the lease ran, he had to set out fruit trees and space them 20 feet apart. The kinds named were orange, lemon, lime, pompelmous, pomegranate, citron, apple, pear, quince, coco, coffee, date, walnut, chestnut, almond and tamarind. This applied whether he owned the ground outright or rented it. Round the outer face of every fence, enclosing pasture and plantation alike, he had to grow a full stand of furze and keep it thick.

Slipping on any of these duties doubled both the rent and the extra shilling an acre on whichever parcel had been let go. The duties ran together as a single burden: fence the ground, plant it, look after the timber and the other trees, and keep the enclosures sound enough that cattle could not break in and ruin them. Carelessness and deliberate damage were treated alike.

Arguments about whether a tenant had let his ground slip were settled by inspection. Anyone could complain, and the Governor and Council could then send out a suitable man to walk the ground and report what he found. If he found damage, however it had come about, three outcomes were open. Stephen Luffkin might lose the lease and everything under it. He might pay twice the rent on all the neglected ground. Or he might be fined whatever sum the Governor and Council thought fair, the money going to the Company.

The leading men of the island agreed, and the Company had backed them in its written orders, that growing more wood was the single best thing that could be done for the place. The worst damage had come from two directions. Timber had been burned in enormous quantities under the stills that made strong drink. More recently, planting had simply stopped, though the law from Governor Roberts's day required it. Owners had also turned every sort of ground over to grazing, and cattle loose among the young trees ate the new growth before it could get away. Wherever a fair share of a rented parcel was left open to stock, nothing survived.

The Governor and Council thought the island had nearly left it too late, but they meant to apply every existing rule in full. No lease would be granted again unless the ground came back fully wooded at the end of the term, with the trees properly walled off on each rented parcel. Tenants habitually pleaded that they had plenty of wood standing on their other ground and had therefore done enough. The Council would not hear it. Even a man who had genuinely planted his full share somewhere else still had to carry a proper stand of wood on each separate parcel he renewed or took over.

As security, Stephen Luffkin and those who came after him had to give a bond of £10 0s 0d an acre to the Lords Proprietors, promising to meet every condition. Breaking the bond meant being sued for it, on top of losing the holding altogether.

Stephen Luffkin promised, for himself and his successors, to leave the outer walls and fences exactly where they stood and in the condition they were then in, since those walls were what marked out the boundaries of his ground.

Interpretations

The bond of £10 0s 0d an acre matches the Samuel Doveton lease of 30 September 1738 and departs from the flat £10 0s 0d that Orlando Bagley senior gave on 1 April 1735. Over 12 acres that came to £120 0s 0d, set against a yearly charge of £3 0s 0d at 5 shillings an acre, so the security stood at forty times what the ground cost to hold. Moving from a fixed figure to a rate per acre tied the risk to how much damage a man could actually do.

The fruit trees required inside the walls are not quite the same set allowed earlier as a substitute for timber, since coffee and chestnut appear in this list but not in that one. The two obligations were separate. A tenant who had satisfied his timber quota still owed the boundary planting, and it reached every plantation in his hands rather than only the parcel described in this grant.

Furze earns its place for a reason unlike the fruit. Its thorns turn cattle without any further expense, and it grips thin, wind-scoured soil where an orange or a walnut would die. Putting it outside the wall and the fruit inside gave each plant the job it could do, the hedge absorbing the weather and the stock while the valuable trees sat in shelter.

Offering the Council a choice between forfeiture, doubled rent and a fine of its own choosing left room for judgement. Damage of this kind comes in degrees, and a single fixed punishment would have pushed the Council either to ignore minor lapses or to take a man's whole holding over something trivial.

Governor Roberts held office by April 1711, and the planting law referred to here dates from his time. His own lease of an acre in James Valley, taken on 1 August 1711, was framed as an example meant to draw others into reclaiming barren ground, so the two campaigns began together.

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hereby Granted according to the Plott or Plan hereby Annexed, Nor shall he the Said

Stephen Seaphen his heirs or Assigns Sett dispose Lett or Assign any part or Parcell

of the Premisses without the Leave & Consent of the Governour & Councill for the time

being & Go Witness for order of he the Said Stephen Seaphen shall hereunto set his

hand & Seale this Ninth day of March in the Year of Our Lord One Thousand Seven

hundred Forty five & to the other part of their Presents they the Said Hon Company

have Affixed their Common Seale the day & Year just before mentioned,

Signed Sealed & Delivered

in the Presence of Stephen Seaph

[...]

Island Saint Helena

We the Executors of Stephen Laflin Dec d having first obtained Leave of the Worshipfull

Governour and Councill to dispose of the within quantity of Lease Land Do hereby

Deliver this Said Lease unto Richard Bagley with all the Rights Priveledges & Grants

that he the Said Stephen Laflin had by the Said Lease may more fully appear

as witness our own hands this Sixteenth Day of Feb ry 1744-5

Witness Signed Rich d Beale

Rich d Goodwin Martin Aaron

James Greentree

The Hon ble the United Company of Merchants of England

Trading to the East Indies Lords Proprietors of this Island do hereby Demise

Grant Sett & to Farm Lett unto Stephen Laflin Sen r of this Island Planter, All that

peice or parcell of Land containing Ten Acres lying near Rock Gutts Butting &

Bounding North East & South upon his own Ten Acres of Land & West upon the Hon ble

Companies Wast Lands, TO HAVE & to hold the Said hereby Demised Ten Acres of

Land with all & singular the Rights & Appurtinances thereunto belonging unto him the Said

Stephen Laflin Sen d his heirs Executors Adm rs or Assigns from the 25 th day of December

last past for & during all Space & Term of Twenty & one Years from thence next Ensueing

UPON CONDITION that he the Said Stephen Laflin Sen r his heirs Ex rs Adm rs or

Assigns shall & do always bear true Faith & Allegiance to our Sovereign Lord the King

his heirs & Successours & to the Said Hon ble Company & their Successours & shall duely &

truely obey all the Laws & Constitutions of the Said Island YEILDING & Paying

therefore Yearly & every Year during the Term or Time of Twenty and one Years unto them the

Said Hon ble Company their Successours Agents or Assigns the Sum of Four Shillings

⌗ Acre & one Shilling Duty being in all five Shillings ⌗ Acre in at or upon the 29 th day

of September Yearly PROVIDED allways that he the Said Stephen Laflin Sen r

his heirs Ex rs Adm rs or Assigns shall & do well & Sufficiently keep up maintain &

preserve the Walls Fences & Enclosures of the Said Parcell of Land in the Same good

Order & Condition as they now Stand under Penalty of paying double Rent &

The boundaries stood as the plan attached to the lease showed them. Stephen Luffkin could not sell, let or hand on any part of the ground without leave from the Governor and Council of the day.

Stephen Luffkin put his hand and seal to the agreement on 9 March 1736. The Company sealed its own copy on the same day.

Signed, sealed and delivered before D[...] and D[...].

The executors of the late Stephen Luffkin first obtained permission from the Governor and Council to dispose of the leasehold ground described in the lease. They then made the whole of it over to Richard Bagley, together with every right and interest Stephen Luffkin had held under that lease. They signed on 16 February 1745.

Signed by Richard Beale and Martin Harper, witnessed by Richard Goodwin and James Greentree.

The Honourable United Company of Merchants of England Trading to the East Indies, Lords Proprietors of the island, let to farm to Stephen Luffkin junior of the island, planter, a piece of ground of 6 acres lying near Peak Gut. It was bounded north, east and south by ten acres of his own land, and to the west by the Company's waste.

Stephen Luffkin junior, his heirs, executors, administrators and assigns were to hold the ground with everything belonging to it. The term ran for 21 years from 25 December last past.

He and those who came after him had to stay loyal to the King and his successors and to the Company and its successors, and to keep the island's laws in full.

The yearly charge across the whole 21 years came to 4 shillings an acre with a further shilling an acre of duty, making 5 shillings an acre altogether, payable to the Company, its successors, agents or assigns each 29 September.

He also had to keep the walls, fences and enclosures around the ground in the same sound condition they were then in. Letting them decay doubled the rent.

Interpretations

The assignment recorded here shows how a Company leasehold moved between families after the tenant's death. Stephen Luffkin's executors could not simply sell the remaining term, since every one of these grants forbade transfer without the Council's leave, and the note is careful to record that permission came first and the sale followed. Richard Bagley then stepped into the whole of the unexpired term on the original conditions, which meant taking on the planting, fencing and boundary duties as they stood rather than negotiating fresh ones.

Almost nine years separate the sealing of the lease on 9 March 1736 from the assignment on 16 February 1745, so roughly twelve years of the 21-year term remained when Richard Bagley took it over. He appears in the register as a substantial buyer through the following decades, taking four leasehold assignments from Gabriel Steward on 20 June 1758 and buying fourteen acres called Bagleys and ten called Riches from John Clark on 26 April 1762.

Martin Harper and Richard Beale sealed as the executors. Martin Harper had held the lease of 6 September 1726 covering 8 acres known as the Half Moon near the stone pasture, and later sold his interest in the 25 acres called Robinson's Land to Duke Crispe for £200 0s 0d on 13 November 1734. Richard Beale acted repeatedly in this capacity, later winding up the estates of Elizabeth Ryder and of the late John Bazett.

The second grant runs to Stephen Luffkin junior, and the 6 acres sit surrounded on three sides by ten acres he already held. Fitting a new parcel against a tenant's existing ground appears constantly across these grants, since it saved fencing, reduced boundary disputes and turned scattered holdings into a workable block.

Peak Gut appears through the register from the earliest years, the ten acres there passing from James Eastings to Thomas Goodwin on 18 September 1694 and on to Governor Richard Keeling on 18 February 1700, and later reaching Francis Wrangham through John Keeling on 2 November 1714. Robert Girling was confirmed in 20 acres at Peak Gut on 4 August 1713.

The term again ran from Christmas rather than from Lady Day, with the rent still falling due on 29 September, so the first payment came nine months into the year rather than at its anniversary.

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Duty for every neglect or Omission herein, & one Tenth Part of the Parcell of Land

shall be fully & duely planted with Wood for Timber & Fuel, Such as Red Wood, Gum

Wood, or Cabbage Tree Wood, or in default thereof & where Such Trees as are of the Sorts

beforementioned will not or by art cannot be made to grow with Coffee, Orange,

Lemon, Lime, Apple, Quince, Pear, Coco, Date, Pomgranate, Walnut, Citron

Pumplemous, Almond or Tamerind Trees which shall be allways well and

Carefully look after, Preserved & kept up, & so often as any die others of the Same

or like Sorts, or Such as are most proper for the Soile shall be duely planted in

their Stead, And where happens to be a private or Publick Road, or foot Path

through any Such Parcell of Land a Gate of four feet wide shall be erected at

each end thereof & where a Cartway is or shall hereafter be, or lead through any

Such Parcell of Land as aforesaid a Gate of Eight feet wide between Post & Post

shall be Erected at each End thereof & all such Gates shall be constantly kept in

good & Sufficient Repair during the whole Term of the Present Lease & shall

be so left & Remain at the Expiration thereof & in case the Gov r & Councill of

this Island for the term being, shall think it necessary to alter any of the Present

Publick Roads or Paths for the benefit of the Hon ble Company or the Inhabitants

of the Said Island leading through this or any other parcell of Leasehold or

Freehold Land now in the Possession of him the Said Stephen Laflin Sen r at

the Charge & Expence Nevertheless of them the Said Hon ble Company it shall

& may be Lawfull for them so to do, And every Such Path or Road which shall

be so made or Altered by the Gov r & Councill for the time being as aforesaid shall be

kept up & Repaired & Maintained by him the Said Stephen Laflin Sen r his

heirs Ex rs Adm rs or Assigns in the Same manner & good Order & Repair as if the

Same had been an Ancient Path or Road, And all Water Courses now made or

that now Run or which hereafter shall be turned Altered or made to Run by the

Gov r & Councill for the time being as aforesaid through this or any other Parcell of

Land whatsoever now or which hereafter shall belong to or be in the Possession of

him the Said Stephen Laflin Sen r his heirs or Assigns during the Term of this

Present Lease for the use & Benefit of them the Said Hon ble Company shall Run

without any Lett or Hindrance or Interruption whatsoever, And moreover on the

Inside of all Plantations & round the Walls & Fences thereof which now or which

during the Term of this Present Lease shall belong to or be in the Possession of

him the said Stephen Laflin Sen r his heirs or Assigns whether the same be

Leasehold or Freehold shall be planted Orange, Lemon, Lime, Pumplemous

Pomgranate, Cittron, Apple, Pear, Quince, Coco, Coffee, Date, Walnut, Chesnut,

Almond or Tamerind Trees which shall be allways kept up at Twenty feet

distance from each other And also round the Outside of all Fences whether

Pasture Grounds or Plantations now in the Possession of him the Said Stephen

Laflin Sen r his heirs or Assigns, Furze shall be fully planted & duely kept up

under Penalty of Paying double Rent, & Duty for every Such Parcell of Land where

these Severall Conditions of duely fencing the Said Land & of Planting keeping and

Preserving the Timber & other Trees on the Land & keeping all Such parts & places

duely fenced in from being destroyed by Cattle or other Negligence or willfull waste

which shall happen by design or otherwise. And to avoid all doubts touching

the Said neglects wastes or Omissions or any of them as aforesaid it shall & may be

Lawfull from time to time & at all times hereafter during the Term of this Present

Any lapse doubled the extra shilling an acre as well. A tenth of the ground had to be planted up with wood suitable for timber and firewood, meaning redwood, gumwood or cabbage tree wood. Where none of those would take, or could not be brought on by any means, the tenant had to put in coffee, orange, lemon, lime, apple, quince, pear, coco, date, pomegranate, walnut, citron, pompelmous, almond or tamarind instead. Every tree had to be watched over and kept alive. As soon as one died, another of the same sort, or of a similar kind, or whatever suited that soil best, had to go in its place.

Where a private road, a public road or a footpath crossed the ground, a gate four feet wide had to stand at either end. If a cartway was later cut or brought through, the gate had to be eight feet between the posts, again at both ends. Every gate had to be kept sound throughout the term and left standing in that state when the lease ran out.

The Governor and Council could redirect any existing road or path crossing this ground, or any other ground Stephen Luffkin junior held by lease or outright, wherever they judged it useful to the Company or to the island's people. The cost fell on the Company, and the power to do it rested entirely with them. Once a route had been laid out or shifted, Stephen Luffkin junior and those after him had to keep it up and repair it exactly as if it had run there for generations.

Every stream then flowing across the ground, and any the Governor and Council later diverted or cut afresh through this or any other parcel in his hands during the term, had to run on freely for the Company's benefit with nothing put in its way.

Inside the walls and fences of every plantation he held, or came to hold while the lease ran, whether rented or owned outright, he had to plant orange, lemon, lime, pompelmous, pomegranate, citron, apple, pear, quince, coco, coffee, date, walnut, chestnut, almond and tamarind, keeping them 20 feet apart. Round the outer face of every fence, whether it enclosed pasture or plantation, he had to grow a thick stand of furze and maintain it.

Failing in any of this doubled the rent and duty on the parcel concerned. The duties ran together: fencing the ground properly, planting it, keeping the timber and other trees alive, and holding the enclosures tight enough that cattle could not break in and destroy them, whether the harm came through carelessness or was done on purpose.

To settle any argument about such damage, the Governor and Council could act at any point during the term.

Interpretations

The gate widths track the traffic they were built for. Four feet takes a person, a laden animal or a driven beast in single file, while eight feet between posts clears a cart with an ox on either side of the shaft. Fixing the measurement rather than leaving it to the tenant mattered on ground this steep, since a gate too narrow for a cart forces every load onto men's backs or round by another valley.

Requiring gates to be left standing at the end of the term protected the route for whoever came next. A tenant clearing his ground before handing it back could otherwise pull down the gates as his own property and leave the following holder to argue the right of passage from scratch.

The wood named for the timber tenth was the island's own: redwood, gumwood and cabbage tree wood. All three grow slowly and tolerate thin, exposed ground, which is why they suited hillsides where nothing more valuable would establish. The fallback list is entirely fruit-bearing, so where native timber failed the Company took victualling supply instead. Citrus mattered most, since lemons and oranges answered the scurvy that struck ships on the long run home, and spreading the planting across many small tenancies gave a dispersed supply rather than one garden that a single bad season could wipe out.

Pompelmous is the shaddock or pomelo, a thick-skinned citrus that came into the Atlantic trade through Company shipping from the East. It keeps far longer aboard ship than orange or lemon, and the tree stands wind better than either, which recommended it on exposed ground.

Coco here means the coconut palm rather than cacao. Coffee and the date palm appear alongside it, both introduced through the same shipping routes, and their presence in a standard lease shows the Company still hoping to establish tropical crops on an island whose mild subtropical climate and southern-hemisphere seasons never really suited them.

Binding the road and watercourse duties to every parcel Stephen Luffkin junior held, freehold as well as leasehold, extended the Company's reach onto ground it had already parted with. A man accumulating land across a valley could otherwise close a through route or dam a stream by degrees, and tying the obligation to the man rather than to the parcel shut that off.

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Lease for the Gov r & Councill upon Complaint made of Such neglect or wastes as aforesaid to

Appoint Some proper person to view the Premisses & to make Report to them & in case there be

Such neglect or waste made either by design or otherwise he the Said Stephen Laflin Sen r his

heirs or Assigns shall either forfeit this Present Lease & all manner of Right thereto or else

shall pay double Rent for all the Said Land which shall be so neglected as aforesaid or else he

the Said Stephen Laflin Sen r his heirs or Assigns shall be fined & pay to the use of the

Hon ble Company such a reasonable Sum as the Gov r & Council of this Place shall think

just & Proper, And whereas it is the General Judgment of most Principal Inhabitants

(Confirmed by the Hon ble Companies direct & positive Orders to the Gov r & Council of this Place)

that due care shall be taken to Encourage & Preserve the Growth & Encrease of Wood in the

Severall parts of this Island which is the Cheifest & best way to improve this Place, & nothing

has been more destructive than the wastes formerly Committed with destroying great Quantities

of Wood for distilling Strong Liquors & lately by neglecting to plant Wood according to the

Law made in the time of the late Gov r Roberts & by turning all manner of Land

into Pasture Grounds whereby the Young Wood is destroyed & prevented from growing

by Stocking all the Grounds with Cattle who Eat & devour the Same by not fencing

out a due Proportion of Leasehold Land, the Governour & Councill hereof though

it be almost too late are fully resolved to put all Laws & Ordinances relating

hereunto in Strict Execution & to renew no Lease that at its Expiration shall not

be fully planted with Wood & that Wood duely fenced off in each Parcell of Land

Leased out & not to allow of that false Pretence so commonly made use of to excuse

neglects herein, that in other parts of their Land (that is in other places) they have as

much Wood as is equal to their due Proportion, but even though this was true that they

had as much Wood Planted in other Places as is Ordained to be planted yet every Severall

Lease that is renewed or Assigned shall have its own Proportion of Wood in Some part

thereof & for due Performance of Such usefull Articles mentioned in this Lease, he

the Said Stephen Laflin Sen r his heirs Administrators or Assigns shall enter

into Bond under Penalty of Ten Pounds ⅌ Acre payable to the Lords Proprietors

that they will faithfully Perform Observe & keep up to every Article & Condition

of this Lease which Bond if forfeited shall be put into Suite besides incurring

the Penalty beforementioned of Forfeiting their Right to this Present. And

the Said Stephen Laflin Sen r for himself his heirs & Assigns doth hereby

Covenant Promise & Agree that he the Said Stephen Laflin Sen r his heirs

or Assigns shall not alter or remove the Outward Walls or Fences of the Parcell

of Land hereby Sett & Demised but they shall Continue & Remain in the

Same Good State & Condition as they now are they being the Bounds or Land

Marks of the Parcells of Land hereby Granted according to the Plott or

Plan hereby annexed. Nor shall he the Said Stephen Laflin Sen r his

heirs or Assigns Sell dispose Lett or Assign any part or Parcell of the

Premisses without the Leave & Consent of the Governour & Council for the time

being. IN WITNESS whereof they the Said Hon ble Company have hereunto

Once someone complained of damage or neglect, the Governor and Council could send out a suitable man to walk the ground and report back to them. If he found the ground had been let go or spoiled, whether on purpose or through carelessness, three outcomes were open. Stephen Luffkin junior and those after him might lose the lease and every claim under it. They might pay twice the rent on all the ground concerned. Or they might be fined whatever sum the Governor and Council thought fair, the money going to the Company.

The leading men of the island agreed, and the Company had backed them in its written orders, that growing more wood was the single best thing that could be done for the place. The worst harm had come from two directions. Enormous quantities of timber had gone under the stills that made strong drink. Later, planting simply stopped, though the law from Governor Roberts's day required it. Owners also turned every sort of ground over to grazing, and cattle loose among young trees ate the new growth before it could get away. Wherever a fair share of a rented parcel stood open to stock, nothing survived.

The Governor and Council thought the island had nearly left it too late, but they meant to apply every existing rule in full. No lease would be granted again unless the ground came back fully wooded at the end of the term, with the trees properly walled off on each rented parcel. Tenants habitually pleaded that they had plenty of wood standing on their other ground and had therefore done enough. The Council would not hear it. Even a man who had genuinely planted his full share somewhere else still had to carry a proper stand of wood on each separate parcel he renewed or took over.

As security, Stephen Luffkin junior and those who came after him had to give a bond of £10 0s 0d an acre to the Lords Proprietors, promising to meet every condition. Breaking the bond meant being sued for it, on top of losing the holding altogether.

Stephen Luffkin junior promised, for himself and his successors, to leave the outer walls and fences exactly where they stood and in the condition they were then in, since those walls marked out the boundaries of his ground as the attached plan showed them. Neither he nor those after him could sell, hand over, let or make the ground over to anyone else without leave from the Governor and Council of the day.

Interpretations

The bond ran at £10 0s 0d an acre, matching the rate given by Samuel Doveton on 30 September 1738 and by the elder Stephen Luffkin, rather than the flat £10 0s 0d that Orlando Bagley senior gave on 1 April 1735. Across 6 acres the exposure came to £60 0s 0d against a yearly charge of £1 10s 0d at 5 shillings an acre, so the security stood at forty times the cost of holding the ground. The rate tied the risk to how much damage a man could actually do rather than to the trouble of drawing up the paperwork.

Three possible outcomes on a finding of damage left the Council room to judge. Harm of this kind comes in degrees, and a single fixed punishment would have pushed the Council either to overlook small lapses or to take a man's whole holding over something trivial. Forfeiture recovered the ground but produced no money, the doubled rent produced money without disturbing the tenancy, and the open-ended fine covered whatever fell between.

Refusing to let wood on one parcel answer for another was the sharpest of these conditions. A man holding several pieces of ground could otherwise concentrate his trees on one and strip the rest, meeting the overall figure while leaving most of his land bare. Fixing the duty to each separate lease spread timber across the island's surface, which mattered because wood served as windbreak, soil anchor and local fuel as much as it served as a stock of building material.

Governor Roberts held office by April 1711, and the planting law named here dates from his time. His own lease of an acre in James Valley, taken on 1 August 1711, was framed as an example meant to draw others into reclaiming barren ground, so the two campaigns began together.

15

12

Affixed their Common Seale the Twenty third day of March in the year of our

Lord One Thousand Seven Hundred Thirty Seven & to the other part of these

Presents the Said Stephen Laflin Sen r hath Sett his hand & seale the day &

Year just before Written.

Signed Sealed & Delivered

in the Presence of Stephen Laflin

[...]

The Honourable the Lords Proprietors of the Island St Helena

the Hon ble the United Company of Merchants of England Trading to the

East Indies do hereby Demise & Grant Sett & to farm Lett unto Francis

Wrangham of the Said Island Planter All that peice or parcell of Ground

lying behind the Yard of his dwelling House in the Fort in James Valley

Containing Thirty Seven feet & half feet in width & one Hundred feet

in Depth making in the whole Three Thousand Seven Hundred &

fifty Superficiall Square feet TO HAVE & to HOLD the Said Demised

parcell of Ground unto him the Said Francis Wrangham his heirs

Executors Administrators or allowed Assigns for the Term or Space

of Twenty One years to commence from the Thirtieth day of September

next ensuing the date of these Presents UPON CONDITION that

he the Said Francis Wrangham his heirs Ex rs Adm rs or Assigns shall

& do allways bear true Faith & Allegiance to our Sovereign Lord

King George the Second his heirs & Successours & to the Said Hon ble

Company & their Successours Yeilding & paying therefore yearly &

every Year during the whole Term or Space of Twenty one Years as

aforesaid unto them the Said Hon ble Company their Successours

Agents or Assigns the Sum of Nineteen Shillings of good & current

money in at & upon the thirtieth day of September yearly PROVIDED

that he the Said Francis Wrangham his heirs Executors Adm rs

or Assigns shall & do within one year to be computed from the day

of the date of these Presents fence & inclose the Said peice or parcell of

Ground with a good & Sufficient Fence & within the time set to be so

fenced & Enclosed as aforesaid the whole & every part thereof shall be

kept in good Order & repair & not Suffered to go to ruin or Decay, Nor

shall you the Said Francis Wrangham, your heirs Executors Adm rs

or Assigns Sell or Dispose of this Lease or your Interest therein

without the Leave & Consent of the Worshipfull the Governour & Councill

The Company set its common seal to the counterpart on 23 March 1731, and Stephen Luffkin senior put his hand and seal to his own copy on the same day.

Signed, sealed and delivered before D[...] Cary.

The Lords Proprietors of St Helena, the Honourable United Company of Merchants of England Trading to the East Indies, let to farm to Francis Wrangham of the island, planter, a piece of ground lying behind the yard of his dwelling house at the Fort in James Valley. It measured 37 feet and a half across the front and 100 feet in depth, coming to 3,750 square feet in all.

Francis Wrangham, his heirs, executors, administrators and assigns were to hold the ground for 21 years, the term beginning on 30 September next after the date of the agreement.

He and those after him had to stay loyal to King George the Second and his successors and to the Company and its successors.

The yearly charge across the whole 21 years came to 19 shillings in good current money, payable to the Company, its successors, agents or assigns on 30 September each year.

Within one year of the date of the agreement, Francis Wrangham and his successors had to fence and enclose the whole piece with a sound wall. Once enclosed, every part of it had to be kept in good repair and never allowed to fall into ruin or decay.

Neither he nor those after him could sell or hand on the lease or his interest in it without leave from the Governor and Council.

Interpretations

This grant differs in kind from the rural leases that precede it. The rent of 19 shillings covers a plot of 3,750 square feet, a little under a tenth of an acre, which works out at a rate many times the 5 shillings an acre charged on farm ground. Town land behind the Fort commanded that premium because it carried building value rather than growing value, and none of the planting, fencing-against-cattle or timber duties that dominate the country leases appears here at all.

The single obligation imposed is a wall within twelve months. On a strip 37 feet and a half wide running 100 feet back from an existing yard, an unenclosed plot invites encroachment from neighbours and drifting stock alike, and the deadline forced the tenant to fix his boundary on the ground before any dispute could take root. The requirement to keep it in repair afterwards made the wall a permanent record of where his ground ended.

The dimensions given as frontage and depth follow the standard practice for James Valley plots throughout the register. Gabriel Powell was confirmed on 6 February 1727 in a town plot of 51 feet in front and 100 yards in depth, and Joseph Whaley took a building plot of 35 feet in front and 50 feet in depth near the Castle in 1727, so measurement by frontage rather than acreage marks urban ground consistently.

A rent day of 30 September rather than the usual 29 September separates this grant from the country leases, and the term begins on that same date rather than at a quarter day already past. The plot was therefore newly let rather than a regularisation of ground already occupied, unlike the rural grants back-dated to Lady Day or Christmas.

Francis Wrangham appears across the register as a steady accumulator, taking joint gumwood leases with Captain John Goodwin, Gabriel Powell and Edmund Nichols through the later 1720s, and receiving the lease of 24 July 1731 covering a James Valley strip behind the Session House with liberty to turn a window into a door for his passage. That grant, surrendered to the Council on 11 January 1732, shows the same pattern of taking small awkward town parcels to round out ground he already held.

Stephen Luffkin senior's lease sealed 23 March 1731 fixes the elder holder's tenure in that year, and the assignment of his interest by his executors to Richard Bagley on 16 February 1745 marks the close of the family's hold on that particular ground.

16

13

of this Island for the time being In Witness whereof he the Said

Francis Wrangham hath hereunto Set his hand & Seale this Nineteenth

day of July in the year of our Lord One Thousand Seven Hundred &

Thirty Seven & to the other part of these Presents they the Said Hon ble

Company have affixed their common Seale the day & year just before

written

Signed Sealed & Delivered

in the Presence of

The HONOURABLE the Lords Proprietors of the Island St Helena the Hon ble

the United Company of Merchants of England Trading to the East Indies do

hereby Demise & Grant Sett & to farm Lett unto Richard Goodwin of the Said

Island Planter ALL that peice or parcell of Ground lying behind the yard

of his dwelling House in the Fort or James Valley containing fifty three

feet in Width & one Hundred feet in Depth, making in the whole Five

Thousand and one Hundred & fifty Superficiall Square feet TO HAVE & to

HOLD the Said Demised parcell of Ground unto him the Said Richard

Goodwin his heirs Executors Administrators or allowed Assigns for the

Term or Space of Twenty one Years to commence from the Thirtieth day of

September next ensuing the date of these Presents UPON CONDITION

that he the Said Richard Goodwin his heirs Ex rs Adm rs or Assigns shall &

do allways bear true Faith & Allegiance to our Sovereign Lord King

George the Second his heirs & Successours & to the Said Hon ble Company

& their Successours Yeilding & paying therefore Yearly & every Year

during the whole term or time of Twenty one Years as aforesaid unto them

the Said Hon ble Company their Successours Agents or Assigns the Sum

of Ten Shillings & Sixpence of good & current money in at or upon the

thirtieth day of September yearly PROVIDED that he the Said

Richard Goodwin his heirs Ex rs Adm rs or Assigns shall & do within

one year to be computed from the day of the date of these Presents fence

& inclose the Said peice or parcell of Ground with a good & Sufficient

Fence & within the Same shall be so fenced & Enclosed as aforesaid the

whole & every part thereof shall be kept in good Order & repair & not

Suffered to go to ruin & Decay NOR shall you the Said Richard

Goodwin, your heirs Ex rs & Adm rs or Assigns Sell or Dispose of this

Lease or your Interest therein without the Leave & Consent of the

Worshipfull the Governour & Councill for the time being IN

WITNESS whereof he the Said Richard hath hereunto Set his hand

Margin Notes:

R d Goodwin

Francis Wrangham put his hand and seal to the agreement on 19 July 1737. The Company set its common seal to the counterpart on the same day.

Signed, sealed and delivered before [...].

The Lords Proprietors of St Helena, the Honourable United Company of Merchants of England Trading to the East Indies, let to farm to Richard Goodwin of the island, planter, a piece of ground lying behind the yard of his dwelling house at the Fort in James Valley. It measured 35 feet across and 100 feet in depth, coming to 3,500 square feet in all.

Richard Goodwin, his heirs, executors, administrators and assigns were to hold the ground for 21 years, the term beginning on 30 September next after the date of the agreement.

He and those after him had to stay loyal to King George the Second and his successors and to the Company and its successors.

The yearly charge across the whole 21 years came to 10 shillings and sixpence in good current money, payable to the Company, its successors, agents or assigns on 30 September each year.

Within one year of the date of the agreement, Richard Goodwin and his successors had to fence and enclose the whole piece with a sound wall. Once enclosed, every part of it had to be kept in good repair and never allowed to fall into ruin or decay.

Neither he nor those after him could sell or hand on the lease or his interest in it without leave from the Governor and Council of the day.

Interpretations

The two James Valley grants sit side by side in the register and were plainly drawn from the same form. Francis Wrangham's plot of 3,750 square feet carried a rent of 19 shillings, while Richard Goodwin's slightly smaller 3,500 square feet carried only 10 shillings and sixpence. Rent per square foot therefore differed by almost half between neighbouring parcels let on identical terms, so the charge cannot have rested on area alone. Position on the street, the value of the frontage or some particular advantage attaching to Wrangham's strip must account for the gap.

Both plots run back from the yard of a house the tenant already occupied, which explains why neither carries any of the planting or grazing conditions that fill the country leases. These were infill grants, the Company selling off the awkward ground behind existing dwellings to the men best placed to use it, and the only duty imposed was to wall it within twelve months.

Measurement by frontage and depth rather than by acreage marks town ground throughout the register, as with Gabriel Powell's confirmed plot of 51 feet in front and 100 yards in depth on 6 February 1727 and Joseph Whaley's building plot of 35 feet in front and 50 feet in depth near the Castle in 1727. Richard Goodwin's frontage of 35 feet matches Whaley's exactly, which suggests a standard width for these parcels.

Richard Goodwin appears across the register as a free planter who dealt repeatedly in ground held in right of his wife, selling 40 acres of gumwood in a branch of James Valley to Francis Wrangham for £200 0s 0d on 20 November 1725 and 20 acres called Alexander's Land to James Ryder for £130 0s 0d on 30 November 1725. He later served as chapel warden and overseer of the poor, and acted as lawful attorney for Joseph Coles of Sumatra.

The one-year deadline for walling gave the Company a fixed point at which to judge compliance. On town ground, an unenclosed strip behind a yard invites encroachment from every side, and a boundary fixed early in the term saves a dispute that would otherwise surface years later when memory of the original measurement had faded.

17

14

& Seale this Nineteenth day of Sept r in the year of our Lord One

Thousand Seven Hundred Thirty Eight, & to the other part of these

Presents they the Said Hon ble Company have affixed their common

Seale the day & year beforewritten,

Signed Sealed & delivered

in the Presence of Rich d Goodwin

[...]

The HONOURABLE the Lords Proprietors of the Island St Helena

the Hon ble the United Company of Merchants of England Trading to the

East Indies do hereby Demise & Grant Sett & to farm Lett unto Frances

Carne of the Said Island Widow ALL that peice or parcell of Ground lying

behind the Yard of her dwelling House in the Fort or James Valley

containing forty three feet in width & one Hundred feet in Depth

making in the whole Two Thousand one Hundred & fifty Superficiall

Square feet TO HAVE AND to HOLD the Said Demised parcell of

Ground unto her the Said Frances Carne her heirs Ex rs Adm rs or allowed

Assigns for the Term or Space of Twenty one Years to commence from

the thirtieth day of September next ensuing the date of these

Presents UPON CONDITION that she the Said Frances Carne

her heirs Ex rs Adm rs or Assigns shall & do allways bear true

Faith & Allegiance to our Sovereign Lord King George the Second

his heirs & Successours & to the Said Hon ble Company & their Successours

Yeilding & paying therefore Yearly & every Year during the whole

Term or time of Twenty one Years as aforesaid unto them the Said

Hon ble Company their Successours Agents & Assigns the Sum of Ten

Shillings & Sixpence of good & current Money in at or upon the

thirtieth day of September yearly, PROVIDED that she the Said

Frances Carne her heirs Ex rs Adm rs or Assigns shall & do within one

year to be computed from the day of the date of these Presents fence

& Inclose the Said peice or parcell of Ground with a good & Sufficient

Fence & when the Same shall be so fenced & Enclosed as aforesaid the

whole & every part thereof shall be kept in good order & repair & not

Suffered to go to ruin & Decay NOR shall you the Said Frances Carne

your heirs Executors Administrators or Assigns Sell or Dispose

of this Lease or your Interest therein without the Leave & Consent

of the Worshipfull the Governour & Councill for the time being.

IN WITNESS whereof the Said Frances Carne hath hereunto Set

her hand & Seal this Nineteenth day of Sept r in the year of our

Lord One Thousand Seven Hundred thirty Eight, & to the other part

Margin Notes:

Frances Carne

Richard Goodwin put his hand and seal to the agreement on 19 September 1738. The Company set its common seal to the counterpart on the same day.

Signed, sealed and delivered before Richard Goodwin and [...].

The Lords Proprietors of St Helena, the Honourable United Company of Merchants of England Trading to the East Indies, let to farm to Frances Carne of the island, widow, a piece of ground lying behind the yard of her dwelling house at the Fort in James Valley. It measured 43 feet across and 100 feet in depth, coming to 2,150 square feet in all.

Frances Carne, her heirs, executors, administrators and permitted assigns were to hold the ground for 21 years, the term beginning on 30 September next after the date of the agreement.

She and those after her had to stay loyal to King George the Second and his successors and to the Company and its successors.

The yearly charge across the whole 21 years came to 10 shillings and sixpence in good current money, payable to the Company, its successors, agents and assigns on 30 September each year.

Within one year of the date of the agreement, Frances Carne and her successors had to fence and enclose the piece with a sound fence. Once enclosed, every part of it had to be kept in good order and repair and never allowed to fall into ruin or decay.

Neither she nor those after her could sell or dispose of the lease or her interest in it without leave from the Governor and Council of the day.

Frances Carne put her hand and seal to the agreement on 19 September 1738.

Interpretations

Frances Carne took this grant in her own name as a widow, with no male relative sealing for her. The register shows the same arrangement with Mary Sherwood, who took the lease of 25 February 1727 covering 7 acres and a half in Sandy Bay Valley on the terms set for men, and with Elizabeth Greentree, who received the lease sealed 14 September 1731. Widows appear regularly as parties to Company leases in their own right through this period.

Frances Carne had been widowed twice, first of Captain Thomas Goodwin and afterwards of George Carne, and she signed by mark rather than in her own hand. Her standing in James Valley runs back to the settlement sequence of November 1717 to April 1718, when the family estate was sold to her son John Goodwin at public auction to clear George Carne's debts and returned to her by lease and quit-claim. The register records that her James Valley house adjoined the ground granted to John Goodwin with its Brick Chamber in 1738, and that her backyard wall was shared with the Goodwin plot, which sets this strip in the same run of infill grants.

The permission clause here reads more narrowly than in the neighbouring grants, since the ground was granted to her executors, administrators or allowed assigns rather than to assigns without qualification. Building the Council's approval into the words describing who might hold the ground, as well as into the separate ban on selling without leave, closed the tenure twice over against a transfer the Company had not sanctioned.

Three of these James Valley grants stand together in the register, each made behind the yard of a house the tenant already occupied. Richard Goodwin's 3,500 square feet and this parcel both carried 10 shillings and sixpence, while Francis Wrangham's 3,750 square feet carried 19 shillings, so the rents did not follow area in any straightforward way. Position on the street appears to have counted for more than measurement.

The stated width of 43 feet and depth of 100 feet do not produce the total of 2,150 square feet recorded, which would need a depth of 50 feet. Where the register carries such a difference the fence built within the first twelve months settled the matter on the ground, since the boundary was fixed in practice by the enclosure rather than by the arithmetic on the page.

18

15

of these Presents they the Said Hon ble Company have affixed their

common Seale the day & year beforewritten,

Signed Sealed & Delivered

in the Presence of Rich Goodwin for my

Mother Fra s Carne

The HONOURABLE the Lords Proprietors of the Island St Helena the

Hon ble the United Company of Merchants of England Trading to the East Indies

do hereby Demise Grant & Sett & to farm Lett unto Charles Steward of the Said

Island Planter All that peice or parcell of Ground lying behind the yard of

his dwelling House in the Fort or James Valley containing forty one feet in

width & at the back of his old yard forty one feet in width & the Interspace

Sixty one feet in Depth adjoyning to Jonathan Doveton &

Eighty feet in Depth adjoyning to John Goodwin, making in the

whole Two Thousand nine Hundred & forty Superficiall Square feet TO

HAVE AND to HOLD the Said Demised parcell of Ground unto him

the Said Charles Steward his heirs Executors or allowed Assigns for the Term

or Space of Twenty one Years to commence from the thirtieth day of September

next ensuing the date of these Presents UPON CONDITION that he the

Said Charles Steward his heirs Ex rs Adm rs or Assigns shall & do allways

bear true Faith & Allegiance to our Sovereign Lord King George the

Second his heirs & Successours & to the Said Hon ble Company & their

Successours Yeilding & paying therefore yearly & every year during

the whole Term or time of Twenty one Years as aforesaid unto them

the Said Hon ble Company their Successours Agents or Assigns the Sum

of fourteen Shillings & Sixpence of good & current Money in at or

upon the thirtieth day of September yearly PROVIDED that he the

Said Charles Steward his heirs Ex rs Adm rs or Assigns shall & do

within one year to be computed from the day of the date of these

Presents fence & Inclose the Said peice or parcell of Ground with a good

& Sufficient Fence & when the Same shall be so fenced & Enclosed as

aforesaid the whole & every part thereof shall be kept in good Order &

repair & not Suffered to go to ruin or Decay Nor shall you the Said

Charles Steward your heirs Ex rs Adm rs or Assigns Sell or Dispose of

this Lease or your Interest therein without the Leave & Consent of

the Worshipfull the Governour & Councill of this Island for the time

being IN WITNESS whereof he the Said Charles Steward hath

hereunto Set his hand & Seale this Nineteenth day of July in the

Margin Notes:

Ch Steward

The Company set its common seal to the counterpart on the day and year already given.

Signed, sealed and delivered before D[...]. Richard Goodwin signed on behalf of his mother Frances Carne.

The Lords Proprietors of St Helena, the Honourable United Company of Merchants of England Trading to the East Indies, let to farm to Charles Steward of the island, planter, a piece of ground lying behind the yard of his dwelling house at the Fort in James Valley. It measured 41 feet across at the back of his old yard, 44 feet across at the lower end towards Jonathan Doveton's ground, and 80 feet in depth where it adjoined John Goodwin's land, coming to 2,940 square feet in all.

Charles Steward, his heirs, executors, administrators and permitted assigns were to hold the ground for 21 years, the term beginning on 30 September next after the date of the agreement.

He and those after him had to stay loyal to King George the Second and his successors and to the Company and its successors.

The yearly charge across the whole 21 years came to 14 shillings and sixpence in good current money, payable to the Company, its successors, agents and assigns on 30 September each year.

Within one year of the date of the agreement, Charles Steward and his successors had to fence and enclose the piece with a sound fence. Once enclosed, every part of it had to be kept in good order and repair and never allowed to fall into ruin or decay.

Neither he nor those after him could sell or dispose of the lease or his interest in it without leave from the Governor and Council of the day.

Charles Steward put his hand and seal to the agreement on 19 July [...].

Interpretations

Richard Goodwin signing for his mother settles a point the register leaves open elsewhere. Frances Carne took the neighbouring grant in her own name as a widow, yet she sealed by mark rather than in her own hand, so her son subscribed the counterpart for her. The arrangement gave her the tenure outright while sparing her the writing, and it matches her practice across the earlier Goodwin family settlements where she used the mark F C.

This plot is described by three measurements rather than two, being narrower at the house end than at the lower end towards Jonathan Doveton's ground. The strips behind these James Valley yards were not regular rectangles, and the clerk fixed the shape by naming the neighbours on each side rather than by geometry alone. John Goodwin's land runs along the 80-foot depth, so the parcel sat wedged between the two families whose dealings fill this run of grants.

The rent of 14 shillings and sixpence for 2,940 square feet sits between the 19 shillings Francis Wrangham paid for 3,750 square feet and the 10 shillings and sixpence charged to Richard Goodwin for 3,500 and to Frances Carne. Taken together the four grants show no consistent rate by area, so position and the value of what the strip completed governed the charge rather than measurement.

Charles Steward appears across the register as a substantial Sandy Bay accumulator, confirmed in 17 acres and leased 27 more on 4 August 1713, later buying 21 acres of free land from John Cary for £100 0s 0d on 9 April 1730 and a composite estate of freehold, leasehold, cattle and slaves from Gabriel Steward for £280 0s 0d in 1733. His James Valley house recurs as a boundary through the Goodwin and Powell holdings.

Jonathan Doveton and John Goodwin both hold ground against this parcel, and all four of these town grants were made behind houses whose occupiers already held the yards in front. The Company was letting off the residual ground at the rear of an established row, which explains why none of these leases carries any of the planting or timber conditions that dominate the country grants.

19

16

year of our Lord One Thousand Seven Hundred thirty Seven, & to

the other part of these Presents the Said Hon ble Company have

affixed their common Seale the day & year beforewritten,

Signed Sealed & Delivered

in the presence of

Charles Steward

The HONOURABLE the Lords Proprietors of the Island St Helena

the Hon ble the United Company of Merchants of England Trading to the

East Indies do hereby Demise Grant Sett & to farm Lett unto

Jonathan Doveton of the Said Island Planter ALL those two peices

or parcells of Ground lying behind & adjoyning to his dwelling House

in the Fort or James Valley, The peice of Ground behind his old yard

containing Sixty Eight feet in breadth at the lower end of his yard

Twenty five feet in length next to the Yard of Charles Steward Eighty

feet Wide next the Water Course & Twenty nine feet in width next

his upper Yard or Goar of Ground next the Corkage TO HAVE and

to HOLD the Said Demised parcells of Ground unto him the Said

Jonathan Doveton his heirs Executors Administrators or allowed

Assigns for the Term or Space of Twenty one years to commence

from the thirtieth day of September next ensuing the date of these

Presents UPON CONDITION that he the Said Jonathan

Doveton his heirs Ex rs Adm rs or Assigns shall & do allways bear

true faith & Allegiance to our Sovereign Lord King George

the Second his heirs & Successours & to the Said Hon ble Company &

their Successours Yeilding & paying therefore yearly & every

year during the whole term or time of Twenty one years as

aforesaid unto them the Said Hon ble Company their Successours

Agents or Assigns for the Said two peices or parcells of Ground in

Consideration of the Extraordinary Expence that the Said Jonathan

Doveton has been at in the Clearing of a Small peice or Goar of

Land between his dwelling House & the old Forrage & the widening

of the Water Course which has been of more Expence to him than

the great value of the Said Small Goar of Land but has been taken

in by him at the Governours request only the Sum of Nineteen

Shillings & no more for the Rent of this & the other additional

peice of Land that is between his dwelling House & the Water

Course according to the Draught of the Said Goar of Ground

hereunto annexed, in at or upon the thirtieth day of September Yearly

Margin Notes:

J n Doveton

Charles Steward put his hand and seal to the agreement on 19 July 1737. The Company set its common seal to the counterpart on the same day.

Signed, sealed and delivered before D[...].

The Lords Proprietors of St Helena, the Honourable United Company of Merchants of England Trading to the East Indies, let to farm to Jonathan Doveton of the island, planter, two pieces of ground lying behind and adjoining his dwelling house at the Fort in James Valley. The piece behind his old yard measured 68 feet across, running 25 feet in length at the lower end of his yard next to Charles Steward's yard, 80 feet along the side next to the watercourse, and 29 feet across at his upper yard, being the piece of ground next to the bridge.

Jonathan Doveton, his heirs, executors, administrators and permitted assigns were to hold the two pieces for 21 years, the term beginning on 30 September next after the date of the agreement.

He and those after him had to stay loyal to King George the Second and his successors and to the Company and its successors.

The yearly charge across the whole 21 years came to 19 shillings, payable to the Company, its successors, agents or assigns on 30 September each year. The Company set the rent at that figure in recognition of the unusual cost Jonathan Doveton had borne in clearing a small piece of ground between his dwelling house and the old bridge, and in turning the watercourse. That work had cost him more than the small parcel was worth, and he had only taken it on at the Governor's request. The 19 shillings therefore covered nothing further for the additional piece lying between his house and the watercourse, as shown on the plan of the ground attached to the agreement.

Interpretations

The rent here was fixed by negotiation rather than by measurement, and the register is unusually frank about why. Jonathan Doveton had spent more on clearing the ground and diverting the stream than the parcel was worth, and he had undertaken the work at the Governor's asking rather than for his own benefit. The Company set his charge at 19 shillings and threw in the extra strip between his house and the watercourse at no additional rent, which amounted to paying him back in tenure for expenditure it would otherwise have had to meet itself.

Turning a watercourse in James Valley was a public work rather than a private improvement. Water descending the valley served the town and the shipping below, and a channel running through a man's yard constrains what he can build while flooding threatens everything downstream. The Company's leases elsewhere in this run bind tenants to let streams run without obstruction, so a tenant who moved a channel at the Governor's request was doing something the standing conditions would otherwise have forbidden him to touch.

The bridge named here fixes the parcel against a structure the town would have known without further description. Jonathan Doveton's ground ran from his old yard down past Charles Steward's to the watercourse and up to the bridge, so his two pieces closed the gap between the row of yards and the stream.

The plan attached to the agreement governed the shape of the ground, which mattered more here than in the neighbouring grants. The four measurements given describe an irregular parcel following the line of the watercourse rather than a rectangle, and no arithmetic in square feet appears at all, unlike the Wrangham, Goodwin, Carne and Steward grants that precede it.

Jonathan Doveton appears through the register as a major freeholder under Halley's Mount, confirmed in 50 acres and a quarter in 1711 and massively expanded on 4 August 1713 through a 90-acre confirmation of land formerly Leonard Hunt's and William Marsh's, both bought by the Company and sold on to him. He bought the Chapel Valley dwelling and 10 acres from Robert and Mary Atkins for £50 0s 0d in 1723 before the couple sailed for England.

Speculations

The Company could have charged Jonathan Doveton the going rate for both parcels and left him to recover the cost of the clearing and the diversion some other way, which is what the neighbouring grants in this run suggest was standard. It chose instead to fold the second piece into a single rent of 19 shillings and to record on the face of the lease that the work had cost him more than the ground was worth. The reason lies in who had asked for the work. A tenant who spends beyond the value of a parcel at the Governor's request has no contract to sue on and no obvious means of repayment, and the Company had no ready fund for compensating private outlay on public improvement. Granting the adjoining strip rent-free settled the account in the one currency the Company held in abundance.

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17

PROVIDED that he the Said Jonathan Doveton his heirs Ex rs &

Adm rs shall & do within one year to be computed from the day of the

date of these Presents fence & Inclose the Said two peices or parcells

of Ground with a good & Sufficient Fence & when the Same shall

be so fenced & Inclosed as aforesaid the whole & every part thereof shall

be kept in good Order & repair & not Suffered to go to ruin & decay

NOR shall you the Said Jonathan Doveton your heirs Ex rs

Adm rs or Assigns Sell or dispose of this Lease or your Interest

therein without the Leave & Consent of the Worshipfull the Governour

& Councill for the time being. IN WITNESS whereof he the Said

Jonathan Doveton hath hereunto Set his hand & Seal this

nineteenth day of July in the year of our Lord one Thousand

Seven Hundred thirty Seven, & to the other part of these Presents

the Said Hon ble Company have affixed their Common Seale the day

& year before written,

Signed Sealed & Delivered

in the presence of Jona Doveton

J n Goodwin

Within one year of the date of the agreement, Jonathan Doveton and his successors had to fence and enclose the two pieces of ground with a sound fence. Once enclosed, every part of them had to be kept in good order and repair and never allowed to fall into ruin or decay.

Neither he nor those after him could sell or dispose of the lease or his interest in it without leave from the Governor and Council of the day.

Jonathan Doveton put his hand and seal to the agreement on 19 July 1737. The Company set its common seal to the counterpart on the same day.

Signed, sealed and delivered before John Goodwin and D[...].

Interpretations

John Goodwin witnessing this grant places him at the sealing of a lease whose ground ran directly against his own. The register records that Charles Steward's neighbouring strip was bounded along its 80-foot depth by John Goodwin's land, so the men attesting these James Valley grants were in several cases the immediate neighbours of the parcels being let.

The requirement to fence both pieces within twelve months applied here to ground that included the strip Jonathan Doveton had been granted at no additional rent. He therefore carried the cost of enclosing land the Company had effectively given him in recognition of his earlier outlay on clearing and diverting the watercourse, so the concession came with a continuing obligation attached rather than as a clear gift.

The date of 19 July 1737 places this grant with the Charles Steward and Francis Wrangham leases sealed on the same day, so the Company settled several of these James Valley strips at one sitting. The Richard Goodwin and Frances Carne grants followed on 19 September 1738, which suggests the letting of the ground behind the row proceeded in two stages a little over a year apart.

21

18

Island St Helena THE Hon ble the Lords Proprietors

of this Island the Hon ble United Company of Merchants of England Trading

to the East Indies DO hereby Demise Grant Sett & to Farm Lett unto

John Goodwin of this Island Gentleman & Deputy Governour thereof,

ALL that peice or parcell of Ground or Land, lying in James or Chappel Valley

Situated between the Houses in the S d Valley of Frances Carne Widow,

towards the North, & of Charles Steward Planter towards the South,

containing Sixty feet & one half feet on the Front thereof including half the

Wall of the House of her the S d Frances Carne & the Whole Wall of the House of

him the S d Charles Steward & two hundred & Seventeen feet in length or

Depth reaching to the new Water Course, & Sixty feet in breadth at the lower

end of the S d Parcell of Ground or Land, including half the Rights of the

Ditch, wards or Gardens of them the S d Frances Carne & Charles Steward

aforesaid, together with all that Messuage or Tenement in part built & now

Erecting by him the S d John Goodwin thereon, with all & Singular the

Cellars, Chambers, Rooms, Ways, Entries, & Back sides, Houses, Buildings,

Springs, Wells, Gutters, Water Courses, Easements, Profits, Commodities,

& Appurtenances whatsoever, which now or which hereafter shall belong

unto the S d Ground, Messuage, or Tenement, or shall in any ways thereunto

Appertaine. AND ALSO all that Peice or Parcell of Ground or Land

where so Situated & lying in the S d Valley containing One Acre & two

Roods adjoyning on the North upon the S d Hon ble Comp ies Slaughter House,

& South upon the Common or Wast Land, East upon the Water Course

Running into the Garden belonging to the Castle, & West upon the

main Water Course Running unto the Sea or Ocean through the great

Arch, & not in any Place to come nearer than Ten feet to the Water Course

Running to the Crane for the use, & Supply of them the Hon ble Comp ies Shipping,

TO HAVE & TO HOLD the s d hereby Demised Premisses & every part

& parcell thereof, with all & Singular the Appurtenances to each & every of them

belonging, unto him the S d John Goodwin, his heirs Executors, Adm rs or

Allowed Assigns, from the day of the Date of these Presents, for and

during the Space or Term of the natural Lives of them the S d John

Goodwin, Margaret Goodwin his Wife, & of John Goodwin junior his Son,

& the longest liver of them, Renewable upon the Death of either the S d

Nominees upon Payment of the s d Years Rent in the ordinary way of

each new Life or Renewal UPON CONDITION that he the S d John

Goodwin his heirs Ex rs Administrators or allowed Assigns shall &

do always bear true Faith & Allegiance to our Sovereign Lord King

George his heirs & Successours & to the S d Hon ble Comp y & their Successours,

& shall duely obey all the Laws & Constitutions of the s d Island, &

UPON CONDITION also that he the S d John Goodwin his heirs Ex rs

Adm rs or allowed Assigns shall & do at the end or Determination of

this present Lease Leave, yeild up & Surrender in good Order & repair

unto them the S d Hon ble Comp y their Successours Agents or Assigns all

such Buildings or Edifices which shall hereafter be built or erected

in or upon either of the S d two peices or parcells of Ground or Land as

aforesaid, with all & Singular the Appurtenances thereunto or to either

of them belonging or Appertaining YEILDING & paying therefore

yearly & every year during the Term as aforesaid, unto them the S d Hon ble

Comp y their Successours Agents or Assigns in or upon the Thirtieth day

of Sept r yearly, the Sum of Five Pounds of Current Money, that is to

Say, three Pounds by the year for the Ground & Houses now thereon

The Lords Proprietors of St Helena, the Honourable United Company of Merchants of England Trading to the East Indies, let to farm to John Goodwin of the island, gentleman and deputy governor, a piece of ground in James Valley or Chapel Valley. It lay between the houses in the lower valley belonging to Frances Carne, widow, on the north, and Charles Steward, planter, on the south. The frontage measured 60 feet and a half, taking in half the wall of Frances Carne's house and the whole wall of Charles Steward's. The depth ran 217 feet to the new watercourse, and the parcel widened to 60 feet at its lower end. Half the rights in the back yards or gardens formerly held by Frances Carne and Charles Steward passed with it, together with every building John Goodwin had put up or would put up on the ground, and every cellar, chamber, room, way, entrance, back side, house, outbuilding, spring, well, gutter, watercourse, easement, benefit and advantage attached to it or afterwards belonging to it.

The grant also covered a second piece of an acre and a half adjoining, lying in the same valley. It was bounded north by the Company's slaughter house, south by common or waste ground, east by the watercourse running into the garden belonging to the Castle, and west by the main water channel running under or over the great arch. No building on that piece was to stand nearer than 25 feet to the watercourse running to the crane that supplied the Company's shipping.

John Goodwin, his heirs, executors, administrators and permitted assigns were to hold both pieces with all their appurtenances for the lifetimes of John Goodwin, Margaret his wife, and John Goodwin junior his son, and for the life of whichever of the three lived longest. As each life fell in, a new life could be entered on payment of half a year's rent.

John Goodwin and his successors had to stay loyal to King George the Second and his successors and to the Company and its successors, and to obey the island's laws in full.

At the end of the term John Goodwin and his successors had to give up both pieces in good order and repair, together with every building afterwards raised on either of them and everything else belonging to them.

The yearly charge came to £5 0s 0d in current money, payable to the Company, its successors, agents or assigns on 30 September each year. Of that sum, £3 0s 0d a year covered the ground and the houses then standing on it.

Interpretations

This grant runs on lives rather than for a fixed span of years, which sets it apart from the twenty-one-year terms filling the rest of this run. Naming John Goodwin, his wife Margaret and their son as the three measuring lives, with the tenure lasting until the last of them died, gave the family a holding that could run for decades. The renewal mechanism of half a year's rent on entering each new life allowed the arrangement to continue indefinitely, since a fresh name could be added as each fell in. The register records the same half-year fee adopted in the leases of 1719, replacing the full year's rent charged on the Cason lease of December 1717.

The 25-foot standoff from the watercourse running to the crane protected the town's most important piece of infrastructure. The crane loaded and watered the Company's shipping in the road, and a fouled or obstructed channel would have interrupted the victualling of every vessel calling at the island. Barring building within that distance kept the supply line clear without the Company having to retain the ground itself.

The parcel joins together the back ground of two houses already named in this run of grants. Frances Carne's dwelling stood to the north and Charles Steward's to the south, and half the rights in both their back yards passed to John Goodwin along with half of Carne's house wall and the whole of Steward's. The Company was consolidating into one substantial holding the residual strips it had let piecemeal to the neighbours a year or two earlier.

John Goodwin held office as deputy governor when this grant was made, and he later became governor. The register records the great composite sale of 13 September 1739, when George Gabriel Powell sold him a whole estate for £5,539 6s 4d settled by bills of exchange on the East India Company, and the break-up of Goodwin's own estate by the Company in 1742 to recover a debt owed to it.

The second piece bounded by the Company's slaughter house and the Castle garden places it at the working end of the valley, where the Company's own establishments clustered. The great arch carrying the main water channel and the garden watercourse both feature as boundaries, so the parcel sat within the network of channels serving the Castle and the shipping.

Speculations

The Company could have granted this ground on the standard twenty-one year term used for every other James Valley parcel in this run, including those it had let to Frances Carne, Charles Steward, Richard Goodwin and Jonathan Doveton within the preceding two years. It granted lives instead, and the reason surfaces in the covenant requiring every building afterwards raised to be surrendered in good repair at the end of the term. A tenant who expects to lose his ground in twenty-one years builds cheaply or not at all, and this parcel was being assembled from the back yards of two houses specifically so that a substantial dwelling could go up on it. Measuring the term by three named lives instead gave the deputy governor a horizon long enough to justify building in stone, while the surrender clause ensured the Company took the improvement in the end.

22

19

building & Erecting by him the S d John Goodwin, & Forty Shillings by the

year for the One Acre & two Roods of Land hereby Demised & allready

fenced & Planted by him the S d John Goodwin with various Sorts of

Fruit Trees at which Fence shall be kept in constant & Sufficient

Repair according to the Plan hereunto annexed, & so often as any of the

S d Fruit Trees shall Die or Decay, other of the most proper Sorts

Such as Orange, or Lemon Trees shall be planted in their Stead, Nor

shall you the S d John Goodwin your heirs Ex rs Adm rs or allowed

Assigns Sett or Dispose of this Lease or Interest therein, without the

Consent of the Governour & Council for the time being, IN WITNESS

whereof he the S d John Goodwin hath hereunto Set his hand & Seale

this Thirtieth day of September in the year of our Lord One Thousand

Seven Hundred & Twenty Seven & their the S d Hon ble Company to

the other part of these Presents have Affixed their Common Seale

the day & year before written

Signed Sealed & Delivered

in the Presence of

J n Goodwin

That £3 0s 0d covered the ground and the buildings John Goodwin had raised on it. The remaining 40 shillings a year covered the acre and a half, which he was to enclose and plant with orange and lemon trees along the fences. The fence had to be kept in constant and sufficient repair, following the plan attached to the agreement. Whenever any of those fruit trees died or decayed, others of the same sort, or of whatever kind suited the ground best, had to be planted in their place.

Neither John Goodwin nor his heirs, executors, administrators or permitted assigns could sell or dispose of the lease or his interest in it without the consent of the Governor and Council of the day.

John Goodwin put his hand and seal to the agreement on 30 September 1737. The Company set its common seal to the counterpart on the same day.

Signed, sealed and delivered before D[...].

Interpretations

Splitting the £5 0s 0d rent into £3 0s 0d for the built ground and 40 shillings for the acre and a half shows the Company pricing two quite different things under one agreement. The first parcel carried houses already standing and needed no improvement, while the second was open ground let on condition it was planted. Naming the two sums separately kept the accounting clear if either piece later changed hands or fell into dispute.

Requiring orange and lemon along the fences rather than timber marks this as town ground, where the Company wanted fruit rather than fuel. Citrus answered the scurvy that struck ships on the long homeward run, and a stand of it within the valley sat close to the crane and the shipping it was meant to supply. The rural leases in this same run demanded redwood, gumwood or cabbage tree wood first and allowed fruit only where those failed, so the priority is reversed here.

The obligation to replace dead trees at once turned a single planting into a duty running the whole length of the term. On a lease measured by three lives rather than by twenty-one years, that could bind the family for decades, and it meant the Company took back a stocked orchard whenever the last life finally fell in.

John Goodwin held office as deputy governor at the sealing and later became governor. The register records the Company breaking up his estate in 1742 to recover a debt owed to it, the ground sold off in lots to Francis Wrangham, George Gabriel Powell and Samuel Doveton, so the family's hold on this valley ground did not run the full course the three lives might have allowed.

23

20

The Honourable the Lords Proprietors of this Island the

United Company of Merchants of England Trading to the East Indies

Do hereby Demise Grant Sett & to Farm Lett unto John

Goodwin Gentleman & Deputy Governour of the Said Island

ALL that peice or parcell of Ground lying to the Westward on which many

Valley adjoyning on the South to the House in which many

the Wife of George London Joyner hath lately Died of the Said Island

now dwelt, & to the Northward is near & next to the dwelling

House of Joseph Bates Planter, containing Fifty feet in Front

& Seventy five in Depth TO HAVE & to HOLD the Said peice or

parcell of Ground together with all that Small Tenement or

Building thereon in part Erected with all & Singular the Rights

Commodities & Appurtenances thereunto belonging unto him

the Said John Goodwin his heirs Ex rs Administrators or

allowed Assigns for & during all the Term or Space of Twenty

one Years to commence from the 25 day of March next ensuing

the day of the date of these Presents UPON CONDITION that he

the Said John Goodwin his heirs Ex rs Adm rs & Assigns shall

bear true Faith & Allegiance to our Sovereign Lord King

George his heirs & Successours & to the Said Hon ble Company &

their Successours & shall duely obey all the Laws & Constitutions

of the Said Island YEILDING & paying therefore Yearly & every

Year during the term aforesaid unto them the Said Hon ble Company

their Successours Agents or Assigns the Sum of Fifteen Shillings in

at or upon the Thirtieth day of September yearly PROVIDED

that he the Said John Goodwin his heirs or Assigns shall & do

within one year to be computed from the day of the date thereof

fence & Enclose the Premisses aforesaid with a good & Sufficient

Fence & when the Same shall be so fenced & Enclosed the whole

& every part thereof shall be kept in good Order & repair & not

Suffered to go to ruin or decay, Nor shall you the Said John

Goodwin your heirs Executors Administrators or Assigns

Sell or dispose of this Lease or your Interest therein without the

leave & Consent of the Governour & Councill for the time being

IN WITNESS whereof he the Said John Goodwin hath

hereunto Set his hand & Seale this Twenty fifth day of October

in the year of our Lord One Thousand Seven hundred & thirty

Seven, & they the Said Hon ble Company to the other part of these

Presents have affixed their Common Seale the day & year

beforewritten,

Signed Sealed & Delivered

in the presence of J n Goodwin

The Lords Proprietors of the island, the United Company of Merchants of England Trading to the East Indies, let to farm to John Goodwin, gentleman and deputy governor of the island, a piece of ground in James Valley or Chapel Valley. It lay on the main street, where George London had lately kept a shop for the wife of the island's [...] on the south side, and ran north up to the dwelling house of Joseph Bates, planter. It measured 50 feet across the front and 70 feet in depth.

The grant covered the ground and the small tenement or building partly raised on it, together with every advantage and right attached to it.

John Goodwin, his heirs, executors, administrators and permitted assigns were to hold it for 21 years, the term beginning on 25 March next after the date of the agreement.

He and those after him had to stay loyal to King George the Second and his successors and to the Company and its successors, and to obey the island's laws in full.

The yearly charge across the whole term came to 15 shillings, payable to the Company, its successors, agents or assigns on 30 September each year.

Within one year of the date of the agreement, John Goodwin and his successors had to fence and enclose the ground with a sound fence. Once enclosed, every part of it had to be kept in good order and repair and never allowed to fall into ruin or decay.

Neither he nor those after him could sell or dispose of the lease or his interest in it without leave from the Governor and Council of the day.

John Goodwin put his hand and seal to the agreement on 25 October 1737. The Company set its common seal to the counterpart on the same day.

Signed, sealed and delivered before D[...].

Interpretations

This grant returns to the standard twenty-one year term after the lease of 30 September 1737, made to the same man and measured by three lives. The two grants sat only weeks apart, so the Company was plainly choosing between the two forms according to what the ground was for. A parcel already carrying a part-built tenement on the main street did not need the long horizon that justified stone building on the back ground behind Frances Carne's and Charles Steward's houses.

The term ran from 25 March following, yet the rent fell due on 30 September, so the first payment came six months into the year rather than at the anniversary. That September rent day runs through the whole James Valley run in this register, separating the town grants from the country leases, which fell due on 29 September.

A shop kept by George London for a woman of the island fixes the southern boundary by a use rather than by a wall, which is how the register commonly identifies town frontage. The main street ran the length of the valley from the Castle, and a parcel measuring 50 feet along it with 70 feet of depth was a substantial urban plot by the standards of these grants.

Joseph Bates appears through the register as an active dealer in James Valley houses, selling Richard Mason a dwelling for £200 0s 0d on 15 July 1741 and Ebenezer Leech another for £45 0s 0d on 28 May 1742. He also gave his daughter Margaret Bates six slaves and the standing yams on his ground by deed of gift on 20 October 1741.

The building already partly raised on the ground when the lease was granted explains why no planting duty appears. This was a construction plot on the town's principal thoroughfare, and the only continuing obligation the Company imposed was to fence it within twelve months and keep the enclosure sound.

24

21

The Honourable the Lords Proprietors

of this Island, the United Company of Merchants of England Trading

to the East Indies, Do hereby Demise, Grant & Lett, & to Farm Lett unto

Francis Wrangham of the Said Island Planter, ALL that Peice or

Parcell of wast Land or Ground, lying in James Valley, close adjoyning

to the dwelling House of him the Said Francis Wrangham thereon

Situated, containing in Front Forty one feet, & in Depth Two

hundred & one feet, & also all that Peice or Parcell of Ground or wast

Land lying behind the dwelling House, & back yard of him the Said

Francis Wrangham, according to the Plans hereunto annexed, TO

HAVE AND TO HOLD the s d hereby Demised Premisses, & every

part thereof, & all & singular the Appurtinances to each & every of

them belonging unto him the Said Francis Wrangham, his heirs,

Executors, Administrators, or allowed Assigns, from the day of the

Date hereof, for & during all the Space Time, or Term, of the Naturall

Lives of James Wrangham, William Wrangham, & Frances

Wrangham, Children of him the Said Francis Wrangham, & the

longest liver of them, Renewable upon the Death of either of the

Said Nominees, upon Payment of half a Years Rent, at the

Admittance of each Life, or new Nominate, Upon Condition that he

the Said Francis Wrangham, his heirs, Executors, Administrators, or

allowed Assigns, shall, & do allways, bear true Faith & Allegiance, to

our Sovereign Lord, King George, his heirs & Successours, & to the Said

Hon ble Company, & their Successours, & shall duely obey all the Laws

& Constitutions of the s d Island, & Upon Condition also, that he

the Said Francis Wrangham, his heirs, Ex rs Adm rs or allowed

Assigns, shall, & do with convenient Speed, build & Erect upon that part

of the Said two Parcells of Land, commonly called the Top, one House,

or Substantiall Dwelling House, and when the Same shall be so

built, & all other Buildings, or other Edifices, which shall, or may

from time to time, or at any time hereafter, be built or Erected

thereon, together with the aforesaid two Parcells of Land, with all &

Singular, the Appurtenances to them, or either of them, belonging,

shall by him the Said Francis Wrangham, his heirs Ex rs adm rs

or allowed Assigns, at the end, & Expiration, or Determination

of this present Lease, be yeilded up & Surrendered, in good

Order and Repair, unto them the Said Honourable Company

their Successours Agents or Assigns, YEILDING AND PAYING

therefore Yearly & every Year, during the Term afore said

unto them the Said Honourable Company, their Successours

Agents or Assigns, on upon the Feast of St Michael the Arch

Angell, the Sum of One Pound Current money and

UPON FARTHER CONDITION that You the Said

Francis Wrangham, Your heirs, Executors, Administrators,

or Assigns shall not Sell or Dispose of this Lease, or

Your Interest therein, without the Leave & Consent of the

Governour and Council, for the time being IN WITNESS

whereof they the Said Hon ble Company have to these Presents

Margin Notes:

[...]rangham

The Lords Proprietors of the island, the United Company of Merchants of England Trading to the East Indies, let to farm to Francis Wrangham of the island, planter, a piece of waste ground in James Valley lying close beside his own dwelling house. It measured 41 feet across the front and 100 feet in depth. The grant also covered a second piece of waste ground lying behind his dwelling house and back yard, as shown on the plans attached to the agreement.

Francis Wrangham, his heirs, executors, administrators and permitted assigns were to hold both pieces with everything belonging to them. The term ran from the date of the agreement for the lifetimes of James Wrangham, William Wrangham and Frances Wrangham, his children, and for the life of whichever of them lived longest. As each life fell in, a new life could be entered on payment of half a year's rent.

Francis Wrangham and his successors had to stay loyal to King George and his successors and to the Company and its successors, and to obey the island's laws in full.

He and his successors also had to build a substantial dwelling house within a reasonable time on the part of the two parcels commonly called the [...]. Once that house was built, it and any other building afterwards raised there at any time were to be given up in good order and repair at the end of the term, together with both parcels and everything belonging to them.

The yearly charge came to £1 0s 0d in current money, payable to the Company, its successors, agents or assigns at Michaelmas each year.

Neither Francis Wrangham nor his heirs, executors, administrators or permitted assigns could sell or dispose of the lease or his interest in it without leave from the Governor and Council of the day.

Interpretations

The building requirement here is stated as a positive duty rather than left to the tenant's choice, and the term is measured by three lives to match it. A man asked to put up a substantial house needs a horizon long enough to recover what he spends, and twenty-one years would not have answered where the Company also insisted the building be surrendered in repair at the end. Naming his three children as the measuring lives set that horizon well beyond his own likely span, and the half-year renewal fee on each new life allowed the family to extend it further.

Setting the rent at £1 0s 0d for two parcels, one of them 4,100 square feet, undercuts the charges on the neighbouring back-ground grants of the previous year, where Francis Wrangham himself paid 19 shillings for 3,750 square feet alone. The Company was taking a lower return on the ground in exchange for the house it required, so the building obligation stood in place of rent.

Michaelmas as the rent day matches the 29 and 30 September dates running through this register, the feast of St Michael the Archangel falling on 29 September. Naming the feast rather than the date follows older practice and produces the same day.

Francis Wrangham had taken the strip behind his own yard on 19 July 1737 at 19 shillings, so this grant of the ground beside and behind the same dwelling completed a block he was assembling piece by piece. He appears through the register as a steady accumulator, holding joint gumwood leases with Captain John Goodwin, Gabriel Powell and Edmund Nichols through the later 1720s.

His children James, William and Frances Wrangham serve here as the measuring lives, and William Wrangham later received his father's ground by deed of gift on 30 October 1758, when 20 acres and a half of leasehold and 27 acres and four fifths with the slave London passed to him as advances on his inheritance.

Speculations

The Company could have let this waste ground on the ordinary twenty-one year term and left Francis Wrangham to build or not as he chose, which is how it handled the part-built tenement granted to John Goodwin on 25 October 1737. It bound him to raise a substantial dwelling instead, and cut the rent to a level below what it was charging for smaller strips nearby. The choice reveals what the Company wanted from this parcel: waste ground in the middle of the town produced nothing and invited encroachment, while a substantial house on it added to the valley's fabric and would revert to the Company in good repair once the last of the three children died. Forgoing rent bought a building the Company would eventually own outright.

25

22

affixed their Common Seale this Thortieth day of September

in the year of our Lord One Thousand Seven hundred thirty

Eight, & he the Said Francis Wrangham to the other part

hereof hath Set his hand & Seale the day & year beforewritten

Signed Sealed & Delivered

in the presence of

Fran s Wrangham

The Lords Proprietors of this Island The Hon ble the United

Company of Merchants of England Trading to the East Indies Do hereby

Demise Grant Sett and to Farm Lett unto John Goodwin Esq r Governour

of the Said Island All that peice or parcel of Land containing Nine Acres

and an half Butting and Bounding North upon the Lands of Charlesworth

Powell South upon other the Lands of the Said John Goodwin Esq r East upon

the Lands of Francis Wrangham and West upon the Lands of Joshua Johnson

To have and to hold the Said hereby demised parcell of Land & every

part and parcell thereof together with all and Singular the Wood, Water

Water-Courses, Houses, Buildings, Edifices, Sheds, Tenements, Yams and

Plantations of Yams, Fruit-trees, Walls Fences & all other the Singular

the Rights Commodities to them and each and every of them belonging or

Appertaining Unto him the Said John Goodwin Esq r his heirs, Executors

Administrators or Allowed Assigns from the day of the Date hereof for and

during all the Space or Term of Twenty One Years From thence next Ensuing

Upon Condition that he the Said John Goodwin Esq r his Heirs, Execut rs

Adm rs or Allowed Assigns shall and do bear true Faith & Allegiance to Our

Sovereign Lord King George his Heirs & Success rs And to them the said

Hon ble Company & their Successours and shall duly Observe & Obey all the

Laws & Constitutions of the Said Island And upon Condition also that

he the Said John Goodwin Esq r his Heirs Execut rs Administ rs or Allowed Assigns

shall and do from time to time and at all times hereafter during the time

of this present Lease keep up and Maintain in good Order & Sufficient

and legal Repair all such Buildings, Houses Edifices, Sheds, Tenements

Plantations & Fences as now are or hereafter shall be Made Built or

Margin Notes:

Governour

The Company set its common seal to the counterpart on 30 September 1738, and Francis Wrangham put his hand and seal to his own copy on the same day.

Signed, sealed and delivered before D[...].

The Lords Proprietors of the island, the Honourable United Company of Merchants of England Trading to the East Indies, let to farm to John Goodwin, esquire, governor of the island, a parcel of land of 9 acres and a half. It was bounded north by the land of Charlesworth Powell, south by other land of John Goodwin himself, east by the land of Francis Wrangham and west by the land of Joshua Johnson.

The grant covered the whole parcel and every part of it, together with the wood, water and watercourses, the houses, buildings, sheds and tenements, the yams and yam plantations, the fruit trees, the walls and fences, and every other right and benefit belonging to it.

John Goodwin, his heirs, executors, administrators and permitted assigns were to hold it for 21 years from the date of the agreement.

He and those after him had to stay loyal to King George and his successors and to the Company and its successors, and to obey the island's laws in full.

He and his successors also had to keep up and maintain, at all times during the term, every building, house, shed, tenement, plantation and fence then standing on the ground or afterwards raised there, in good order and sound repair.

Interpretations

John Goodwin appears here as governor, where the grant of 30 September 1737 and that of 25 October 1737 both named him deputy governor. His elevation therefore fell between October 1737 and this sealing, which followed the Francis Wrangham lease of 30 September 1738 in the register.

The parcel came already stocked and improved, carrying houses, sheds, standing yams and fruit trees, so this was not waste ground being brought into use. Yams were the island's staple provision crop and the principal victualling supply for shipping in the road, and a plantation of them passing with the ground made the grant a going concern rather than a building plot. The obligation is accordingly to maintain what stood there rather than to plant or build afresh.

Charlesworth Powell on the northern boundary is a name the register has not previously carried, and the Powell family ran through the island's land dealings across several generations, including Gabriel Powell and George Gabriel Powell. Joshua Johnson to the west appears as an active buyer of town and country ground through the 1740s, taking 30 acres at Great Bottom for £410 0s 0d from the attorneys of the absent Thomas Mostyn in 1740.

Francis Wrangham holding the eastern boundary places this parcel beside the man whose James Valley grants immediately precede it in the register. The two appear repeatedly as neighbours and as joint tenants, having held gumwood leases together with Gabriel Powell and Edmund Nichols through the later 1720s.

That the parcel adjoined John Goodwin's own land to the south explains the shape of the transaction. The Company was letting ground that completed a block he already held, a pattern running through these grants where a new parcel is fitted against a tenant's existing holding to save fencing and reduce boundary disputes.

26

23

Erected thereon And shall moreover Plant keep up maintain & preserve in and

upon the said hereby Demised parcell of Land its Full Quantity or proportion of

Wood being One Tenth part of the said parcell of Land & shall likewise Plant &

preserve Furze withinside or without the Fences of the said parcell of Land and

shall Plant Fruit trees such as Apple Lemon, Mulberry or Peach-trees in such

parts thereof wherein they are most likely to Grow and as they shall happen to

decay & die shall Replant others of the like Sorts thereon without hurt or

Prejudice nevertheless to any part of such Land as shall be Sett apart for the Sole

purpose of planting & Raising of Yams Yeilding And Paying therefore Yearly

and every Year during the Term of this present Lease Unto them the Said Hon ble

Company their Success rs Agents or Assigns the Sum of Five Shillings ⅌ Acre

in at or Upon the Feast of S t Michael the Arch Angel yearly and upon farther

Condition that he the Said John Goodwin Esq r his Heirs, Execut rs Administ rs or Allowed

Assigns shall not Alter or Remove the said Fences they being the Limits or Land

Marks of the parcell of Land Aforesaid and shall not sell or dispose of this Lease

or Interest therein without the leave & Consent of the Govern r and Council for

the time being In Witness whereof He the Said John Goodwin Esq r hath hereunto

Sett his Hand & Seal this Thirtieth day of September in the Year of

our Lord 1738 And they the Said Hon ble Company to the other part of these

Presents hath Affixed their Common Seal the day and Year before Written.

Signed Sealed & Delivered

in the presence of

Everything raised on the ground had to be kept up. John Goodwin also had to plant a full tenth of the parcel with wood and keep that stand growing and protected. He had to grow furze either inside or outside the fences of the parcel. He had further to plant fruit trees, meaning apple, lemon, mulberry or peach, wherever on the ground they stood the best chance of taking. As any of them decayed or died, others of the same sorts had to go in their place. None of this was to interfere with any part of the land set aside solely for growing yams.

The yearly charge across the term came to 5 shillings an acre, payable to the Company, its successors, agents or assigns at Michaelmas each year.

John Goodwin was also barred from moving or taking down the fences, since those marked the boundaries of the ground. Neither he nor those after him could sell or dispose of the lease or his interest in it without leave from the Governor and Council of the day.

John Goodwin put his hand and seal to the agreement on 30 September 1738. The Company set its common seal to the counterpart on the same day.

Signed, sealed and delivered before [...].

Interpretations

Mulberry and peach appear here where the earlier leases in this run named a much longer list running from coffee and coco to tamarind and pompelmous. Mulberry carried an ambition beyond fruit, since its leaves feed silkworms and the Company had an interest in whether silk could be raised on the island. Peach and apple both suit a mild subtropical climate with cool upland ground better than the date palms and coconuts of the earlier lists, so the shorter list looks like a narrowing to what the Company had learned would actually grow.

The clause protecting the yam ground from the planting duty is the sharpest thing in this grant. Yams were the island's staple provision and the mainstay of victualling for shipping in the road, and a tenth of the parcel given to timber plus fruit trees scattered across it could easily encroach on the beds. Exempting land set aside for yams meant the conservation programme yielded where it collided with the food supply.

Allowing furze either inside or outside the fence relaxes the earlier requirement, which put fruit within the wall and furze strictly on the outer face. The register shows that stricter arrangement in the Samuel Doveton lease of 30 September 1738 and the Luffkin leases, so the governor's own grant carried the looser form.

The rent of 5 shillings an acre matches the standard country rate that ran through these leases from 1711, being 4 shillings rent with a shilling of duty, though this grant states the figure as a single sum. Across 9 acres and a half that came to £2 7s 6d a year.

Michaelmas as the rent day matches the 29 and 30 September dates running through this register, the feast of St Michael the Archangel falling on 29 September.

27

24

The Lords Proprietors of this Island the Hon ble

the United Company of Merchants of England Trading to the East Indies

Do hereby Demise Grant Sett and to Farm Lett Unto John Desfountain

of the Said Island Planter All that peice or parcell of Land containing

Thirteen Acres lying in Sandy Bay under the Main Ridge Butting and

Bounding North and East upon the Said Main Ridge South upon the Lands

of Alexander's Orphans and West upon the Lands of the s d Orphans aforesaid

To have and to hold the said hereby Demised parcell of Land and every

part & parcell thereof together with all and Singular the Wood Water Water

=Courses, Houses, Buildings, Edifices, Sheds Tenements, Yams and Plantations

of Yams, Fruit-trees, Walls, Fences and all other and Singular the Rights

Commodities to them and each and every of them belonging or Appertaining

Unto him the Said John Desfountain his Heirs, Execut rs Administrators

or Allowed Assigns from the day of the Date hereof for and during all the

Space or Term of Twenty One Years From thence next Ensuing. UPON

CONDITION that he Said John Desfountain his Heirs, Ex rs Administ rs

or Allowed Assigns shall and do bear true Faith and Allegiance to Our

Sovereign Lord King George his Heirs & Successours and to them the

Said Hon ble Company and their Successours and shall duly Observe & Obey

all the Laws and Constitutions of the Said Island, And upon condition

also that he the Said John Desfountain his Heirs Execut rs Administrators

or Allowed Assigns shall and do from time to time and at all times

hereafter during the Term of this present Lease keep up and Maintain

in good Order and Sufficient & legal Repair all such Buildings Houses

Edifices, Sheds, Tenements, Plantations and Fences as now are or hereafter

shall be made, Built or Erected thereon and shall Moreover plant keep up

Maintain & preserve in and upon the Said hereby Demised parcell of Land

its full Quantity or proportion of Wood being One Tenth part of the Said

parcell of Land and shall likewise Plant & preserve Furze withinside

or without the Fences of the said parcell of Land and shall Plant fruit

trees such as Apple, Lemon, Mulberry or Peach trees in such parts thereof

wherein they are most likely to Grow and as they shall happen to decay or die

shall Replant others of the like Sorts thereon without hurt or prejudice

nevertheless to any part of such Land as shall be sett apart for the Sole purpose

of planting and raising Yams, Yeilding and Paying therefore Yearly &

every Year during the Term of this present Lease Unto them the said

Hon ble Company their Success rs Agents or Assigns the Sum of Five Shillings

⅌ Acre in at or Upon the Feast of S t Michael the Arch Angel

Yearly and upon farther Condition that he Said John

Desfountain his Heirs Executors Administrators or Allowed

Assigns shall not Alter or Remove the Said Fences they being the

Limits or Land Marks of the parcell of Land Aforesaid and

shall not Sell or dispose of this Lease or Interest therein without

the leave and Consent of the Governour and Council for the time

being IN WITNESS whereof he the Said John Desfountain hath

Margin Notes:

J n Desfountain

The Lords Proprietors of the island, the Honourable United Company of Merchants of England Trading to the East Indies, let to farm to John Desfountain of the island, planter, a parcel of land of 13 acres lying in Sandy Bay under the Main Ridge. It was bounded north and east by the Main Ridge, south by the land of Alexander's orphans, and west by their orchard and the private ground of the same orphans.

The grant covered the whole parcel and every part of it, together with the wood, water and watercourses, the houses, buildings, sheds and tenements, the yams and yam plantations, the fruit trees, the walls and fences, and every other right and benefit belonging to it.

John Desfountain, his heirs, executors, administrators and permitted assigns were to hold it for 21 years from the date of the agreement.

He and those after him had to stay loyal to King George and his successors and to the Company and its successors, and to obey the island's laws in full.

He and his successors also had to keep up and maintain, throughout the term, every building, house, shed, tenement, plantation and fence then standing on the ground or afterwards raised there, in good order and sound repair.

He had further to plant a full tenth of the parcel with wood and keep that stand growing and protected. Furze had to be grown either inside or outside the fences. Fruit trees, meaning apple, lemon, mulberry or peach, had to go wherever on the ground they stood the best chance of taking, and as any decayed or died others of the same sorts had to replace them. None of this was to interfere with any part of the land set aside solely for growing yams.

The yearly charge across the term came to 5 shillings an acre, payable to the Company, its successors, agents or assigns at Michaelmas each year.

John Desfountain was also barred from moving or taking down the fences, since those marked the boundaries of the ground. Neither he nor those after him could sell or dispose of the lease or his interest in it without leave from the Governor and Council of the day.

Interpretations

This grant follows the John Goodwin lease of 30 September 1738 word for word in its conditions, down to the shorter fruit list of apple, lemon, mulberry and peach and the clause exempting ground kept for yams. The Company was plainly using a single settled form for these Sandy Bay and West Division grants by 1738, with only the acreage, the boundaries and the tenant's name varying between them.

The parcel came already carrying houses, sheds, standing yams and fruit trees, so this was ground in production rather than waste being opened up. Under the Main Ridge in Sandy Bay the land is high and moist, which suited both cabbage tree wood and the yam beds that fed the island and its shipping.

Alexander's orphans hold two of the four boundaries, with their orchard and private ground named separately from their land. That reference points to the family of Richard Alexander, whose children's interests were recorded in consultation book 15 at folio 80, where John Long acted in the maintenance arrangement covering the Alexander, Fassall and French children.

John Desfountain appears through the register as a corporal, husband of Mary, the eldest daughter of John Alexander and granddaughter of Ripin Wills. He took the family settlement of 8 February 1722 by which Wills made over his whole estate to the couple and the heirs of their body, in exchange for £10 0s 0d and a binding promise to maintain Wills and his wife for life. The register also records a John Desfountain who acted as chapel warden and appears as a witness through the 1750s and 1761.

The exemption protecting yam ground from the planting duty matters most on a Sandy Bay parcel of this kind. Yams were the staple provision crop and the mainstay of victualling for shipping in the road, and a tenth given to timber with fruit trees scattered besides could easily have encroached on the beds. The Company let its conservation programme give way where it collided with the food supply.

28

25

hereunto Set his hand and Seale this Thirtieth day of September in the Year

of Our Lord 1738 And they the Said Hon ble Company to the other part of these

Presents have Affixed their Common Seal the day and Year before written

Signed Sealed & Delivered John Desfountaine

in the presence of

C Curling

N E

S

13 Acres.

The Lords Proprietors of this Island the Hon ble the

United Company of Merchants of England Trading to the East Indies

Do hereby Demise Grant Sett and to Farm Lett Unto Charlesworth

Powell of the Said Island Planter All that piece or parcell of Land

Containing Nine Acres and an half Butting and Bounding North upon the

Lands of Joshua Johnson, South upon the Lands of Martin Harper. East upon

the Lands of Francis Wrangham and West upon the Lands of John Goodwin

Esq r Governour, To have and to hold the said hereby Demised parcel of

Land and every part & parcel thereof together with all and Singular the

Wood Water Water Courses, Houses, Buildings Edifices, Sheds, Tenements

Yams & Plantations of Yams, fruit trees Walls, Fences and all other and

Singular the Rights Comodities to them & each & every of them belonging or

appertaining Unto him the said Charlesworth Powell his Heirs Ex rs Admin rs

or Allowed Assigns from the day of the Date hereof for and during all the Space

or Term of Twenty One Years from thence next Ensuing Upon Condition

that he the said Charlesworth Powell his Heirs Execut rs Administ rs or Allowed

Assigns shall and do bear true Faith & Allegiance to Our Sovereign Lord King

George his Heirs & Success rs and to them the said Hon ble Company and their Successors

and shall duly Observe and Obey all the Laws & Constitutions of the said Island

Margin Notes:

C Powell

John Desfountain put his hand and seal to the agreement on 30 September 1738. The Company set its common seal to the counterpart on the same day.

Signed, sealed and delivered before [...]urling.

A plan drawn on the page shows the parcel as an irregular block with a compass rose marking north, east, south-east and the intervening points. The figure is annotated 13 acres.

The Lords Proprietors of the island, the Honourable United Company of Merchants of England Trading to the East Indies, let to farm to Charlesworth Powell of the island, planter, a parcel of land of 9 acres and a half. It was bounded north by the land of Joshua Johnson, south by the land of Martin Harper, east by the land of Francis Wrangham and west by the land of John Goodwin, esquire, governor.

The grant covered the whole parcel and every part of it, together with the wood, water and watercourses, the houses, buildings, sheds and tenements, the yams and yam plantations, the fruit trees, the walls and fences, and every other right and benefit belonging to it.

Charlesworth Powell, his heirs, executors, administrators and permitted assigns were to hold it for 21 years from the date of the agreement.

He and those after him had to stay loyal to King George and his successors and to the Company and its successors, and to obey the island's laws in full.

Interpretations

The plan on the page shows the parcel by its outline rather than by measured sides, with the compass rose fixing its orientation. These annexed plans governed where written acreage and the ground itself disagreed, and the register elsewhere records the Company relying on the surveyor's drawing rather than on textual totals when the two failed to match.

The Powell and Goodwin parcels sit adjacent, and their boundary descriptions confirm one another. The John Goodwin lease sealed on 30 September 1738 gave Charlesworth Powell as its northern boundary, and this grant of the same date gives John Goodwin as its western one, with both parcels running to 9 acres and a half. Francis Wrangham holds the eastern side of each, so the Company was letting a run of adjoining parcels of equal size at a single sitting.

Martin Harper on the southern boundary appears through the register as a soldier who took the lease of 6 September 1726 covering 8 acres known as the Half Moon near the stone pasture, and who sold his interest in the 25 acres called Robinson's Land to Duke Crispe for £200 0s 0d on 13 November 1734. Joshua Johnson to the north was an active buyer of town and country ground through the 1740s.

Charlesworth Powell is a name the register has not previously carried under that form, though the Powell family ran through the island's land dealings across several generations. The parcel granted him is identical in size to the governor's own adjoining lease, and the two were sealed on the same day.

The clause naming yams and yam plantations among what passed with the ground marks this as a working plantation rather than open waste. Yams were the island's staple provision and the mainstay of victualling for shipping in the road, so a parcel carrying standing beds transferred as a going concern.

29

26

And Upon Condition also that he the Said Charlesworth Powell

his Heirs Execut rs Administ rs or Allowed Assigns shall and do from time to

time and at all times hereafter during the Term of this present Lease

keep up & Maintain in good Order and Sufficient and legal Repair all such

Buildings, Houses, Edifices, Sheds, Tenements, Plantations & Fences as now

are or hereafter shall be Made, Built or Erected thereon and shall moreover

Plant keep up Maintain & Preserve in and upon the said hereby Demised

parcell of Land its full Quantity or Proportion of Wood being One tenth

part of the Said parcell of land and shall likewise Plant & preserve Furze

withinside or without the Fences of the said parcell of Land and shall plant

Fruit trees such as Apple Lemon, Mulberry or Peach trees in such parts

thereof wherein they are most likely to Grow and as they shall happen to

Decay or die shall Replant others of the like Sorts thereon without hurt

or Prejudice nevertheless to any part of such Land as shall be sett apart for

the Sole purpose of planting and raising of Yams, YEILDING and Paying

therefore Yearly and every Year during the Term of this present Lease Unto

them the said Hon ble Company their Successours Agents or Assigns the Sum

of Five Shillings ⅌ Acre in at or upon the Feast of S t Michael the Arch

Angel yearly and Upon farther Condition that he the Said Charlesworth

Powell his Heirs, Execut rs Administ rs or Allowed Assigns shall not Alter

or Remove the said Fences they being the Limits or Land Marks of the

parcel of Land aforesaid and shall not Sell or dispose of this Lease or

Interest therein without the leave and Consent of the Governour and Council

for the time being IN WITNESS whereof he the Said Charlesworth Powell

hath sett his hand and Seale this Thirtieth day of September in the Year

of Our Lord 1738 And they the Said Honourable Company to the other

part of these presents hath Affixed their Common Seale the day and

Year beforewritten.

Signed Sealed and Delivered Charles Steward

in the presence of for Charles Powell

Charlesworth Powell and those after him also had to keep up and maintain, throughout the term, every building, house, shed, tenement, plantation and fence then standing on the ground or afterwards raised there, in good order and sound repair.

He had further to plant a full tenth of the parcel with wood and keep that stand growing and protected. Furze had to be grown either inside or outside the fences. Fruit trees, meaning apple, lemon, mulberry or peach, had to go wherever on the ground they stood the best chance of taking, and as any decayed or died others of the same sorts had to replace them. None of this was to interfere with any part of the land set aside solely for growing yams.

The yearly charge across the term came to 5 shillings an acre, payable to the Company, its successors, agents or assigns at Michaelmas each year.

Charlesworth Powell was also barred from moving or taking down the fences, since those marked the boundaries of the ground. Neither he nor those after him could sell or dispose of the lease or his interest in it without leave from the Governor and Council of the day.

Charlesworth Powell put his hand and seal to the agreement on 30 September 1738. The Company set its common seal to the counterpart on the same day.

Signed, sealed and delivered before [...]. Charles Steward signed on behalf of Charles Powell.

Interpretations

Charles Steward subscribing for the grantee raises a difficulty in the name itself, since the body of the lease throughout gives Charlesworth Powell while the subscription reads Charles Powell. Where the register carries a shorter form alongside a fuller one it is ordinarily the same man, and the boundary description in the neighbouring John Goodwin grant of the same date names Charlesworth Powell, which fixes the identity of the holder against the ground.

Signing for another party appears twice in this run of grants. Richard Goodwin subscribed for his mother Frances Carne, who sealed by mark rather than in her own hand, and Charles Steward performs the same service here. The Company accepted a substitute signature on the counterpart without any recorded power of attorney, which suggests the practice was routine where the grantee could not attend the sealing or could not write.

Charles Steward appears through the register as a substantial Sandy Bay accumulator, confirmed in 17 acres and leased 27 more on 4 August 1713, and later taking the James Valley back strip granted on 19 July 1737 at 14 shillings and sixpence. His presence here connects the town grants of the preceding year to the country parcels sealed in September 1738.

Three parcels were let at this single sitting on identical conditions: John Goodwin's 9 acres and a half, John Desfountain's 13 acres in Sandy Bay and this 9 acres and a half. All carry the same tenth in wood, the same short fruit list of apple, lemon, mulberry and peach, the same permission to plant furze on either face of the fence, and the same protection for ground kept in yams.

30

27

Island St Helena

The Lords Proprietors of this

Island the Hon ble the United Company of Merchants of England trading to the East

Indies Do hereby Demise Grant Sett and to Farm Lett Unto Isaac Wood of the

Said Island Planter All that piece or parcell of Land containing Two Acres Butting

and Bounding North upon the Lands of John Desfountain, South and West upon

the Lands of the Heirs of Samuel Desfountain dec d and East upon other the Lands

of him the Said Isaac Wood. To have and to hold the said hereby Demised

parcell of Land and every part and parcell thereof together with all & Singular

the Wood, Water, Water Courses, Houses, Buildings, Edifices, Sheds, Tenements, Yams

and Plantations of Yams, Fruit-trees, Walls, Fences and all other & Singular

the Rights Comodities to them and each and every of them belonging or Appertaining

Unto him the Said Isaac Wood his Heirs Execut rs Administ rs or Allowed Assigns from

the day of the Date hereof for and during all the Space or Term of Twenty

One Years from thence next Ensuing Upon Condition that he the Said

Isaac Wood his Heirs Execut rs Administrat rs or Allowed Assigns shall and do

bear true faith and Allegiance to Our Sovereign Lord King George his Heirs

and Success rs and to them the Said Hon ble Company and their Successours and

shall duely Observe and Obey all the Laws and Constitutions of the Said Island

And upon Condition also that he the Said Isaac Wood his Heirs

Executors Administrat rs or Allowed Assigns shall and do from time to

time and at all times hereafter during the Term of this present Lease

keep up and maintain in good Order and Sufficient & legal repair all

such Buildings, Houses, Edifices Sheds, Tenements Plantations & Fences

as now are or hereafter shall be Made, Built or Erected thereon and shall

Moreover plant keep up maintain & preserve in and upon the said hereby

demised parcell of Land its full Quantity or proportion of Wood being One tenth

part of the Said parcell of Land and shall likewise plant and preserve Furze

withinside or without the Fences of the said parcell of Land and shall

plant fruit trees such as Apple Lemon, Mulberry or Peach trees in such

parts thereof wherein they are most likely to Grow and as they shall

happen to decay or die shall Replant others of the like Sorts thereon

without hurt or prejudice nevertheless to any part of Such Lands as shall

be sett a part for the Sole purpose of planting and raising of Yams

YEILDING and paying therefore Yearly and every Year during the Term

of this present Lease Unto them the Said Hon ble Company their Successours

Agents or Assigns the Sum of Five Shillings ⅌ Acre in at or upon the Feast

of S t Michael the Arch Angel yearly and upon farther Condition that he the

Said Isaac Wood his Heirs Execut rs Administrat rs or Allowed Assigns shall

not Alter or Remove the Said Fences they being the Limits or Land marks

of the parcell of Land Aforesaid and shall not Sell or dispose of this Lease

or Interest therein without the leave and Consent of the Governour & Council

Margin Notes:

Wood.

The Lords Proprietors of the island, the Honourable United Company of Merchants of England Trading to the East Indies, let to farm to Isaac Wood of the island, planter, a parcel of land of 2 acres. It was bounded north by the land of John Desfountain, south and west by the land of the heirs of the late Samuel Desfountain, and east by other land of Isaac Wood himself.

The grant covered the whole parcel and every part of it, together with the wood, water and watercourses, the houses, buildings, sheds and tenements, the yams and yam plantations, the fruit trees, the walls and fences, and every other right and benefit belonging to it.

Isaac Wood, his heirs, executors, administrators and permitted assigns were to hold it for 21 years from the date of the agreement.

He and those after him had to stay loyal to King George and his successors and to the Company and its successors, and to obey the island's laws in full.

He and his successors also had to keep up and maintain, throughout the term, every building, house, shed, tenement, plantation and fence then standing on the ground or afterwards raised there, in good order and sound repair.

He had further to plant a full tenth of the parcel with wood and keep that stand growing and protected. Furze had to be grown either inside or outside the fences. Fruit trees, meaning apple, lemon, mulberry or peach, had to go wherever on the ground they stood the best chance of taking, and as any decayed or died others of the same sorts had to replace them. None of this was to interfere with any part of the land set aside solely for growing yams.

The yearly charge across the term came to 5 shillings an acre, payable to the Company, its successors, agents or assigns at Michaelmas each year.

Isaac Wood was also barred from moving or taking down the fences, since those marked the boundaries of the ground. Neither he nor those after him could sell or dispose of the lease or his interest in it without leave from the Governor and Council of the day.

Interpretations

A grant of 2 acres carried the same tenth in wood, the same fruit-tree duty and the same furze requirement as the 13 acres let to John Desfountain and the parcels of 9 acres and a half taken by John Goodwin and Charlesworth Powell at the same sitting. The Company applied its standard form regardless of size, so a tenth of this parcel amounted to a fifth of an acre while the rent came to only 10 shillings a year.

Isaac Wood already held ground to the east, and the parcel was hemmed in on its other three sides by the Desfountain family. Fitting a small piece against a tenant's existing holding runs through these grants as a settled practice, since it saved fencing, reduced boundary disputes and turned scattered fragments into a workable block.

The heirs of the late Samuel Desfountain holding two boundaries connects this parcel to the family regularised at the sitting of 4 August 1713, when the Desfountain children John, Joseph, Martha and Mary were confirmed in 40 acres of freehold and 28 of leasehold across Fishers Valley, Youngs Valley and Sandy Bay. John Desfountain to the north had taken his own 13-acre lease under the Main Ridge on 30 September 1738.

Isaac Wood appears through the register under several descriptions, as corporal, cooper and free planter, and by 1735 at the rank of ensign. He bought 5 acres in Fishers Valley from Giles Hayes on 5 September 1712 for £30 0s 0d, took a 4-acre gumwood lease near the High Waterfall on 29 September 1724, and sold John Burling 10 acres of East Division freehold for £95 0s 0d on 6 July 1735. As surviving executor of Thomas Burnham he sold 22 acres to Samuel Jesey for £42 0s 0d in June 1726 on behalf of the Burnham orphans.

The clause protecting ground kept for yams appears again here, on a parcel small enough that the planting duties could have consumed a serious share of it. Yams were the island's staple provision and the mainstay of victualling for shipping in the road, so the Company let its timber programme yield wherever it met the food supply.

31

28

for the time being IN WITNESS whereof he the Said Isaac Wood

hath hereunto Sett his hand and Seale this Thirtieth day of September

in the Year of Our Lord 1738 And the Said Honourable Company to

the other part of these presents hath Affixed their Common Seale the

Day and Year beforewritten

Signed Sealed & Delivered John Dessfountain

in the presence of for Isaac Wood

Curling

S W

E N

2 Acres

The Lords Proprietors of this Island the Honourable

the United Company of Merchants of England Trading to the East Indies

Do hereby Demise Grant Sett and to Farm Lett unto Joshua Johnson

of the Said Island Planter All that piece or Parcell of Land containing

Five Acres lying in Broad Bottom Butting and Bounding North upon

the Lands of Elizabeth Greentree Widow, West upon the Lands of Geo Gabriel Powell

South & East upon y Lands of him Said Joshua Johnson To have and to hold

the said hereby Demised parcell of Land and every part and parcell

thereof together with all & Singular the Wood, Water, Water Courses, Houses

Buildings, Edifices, Sheds, Tenements, Yams and Plantations of Yams

Fruit trees, Walls, Fences and all other and Singular the Rights and

Comodities to them and each and every of them belonging or Appertaining

Unto him the Said Joshua Johnson his Heirs, Execut rs Administrators

or Allowed Assigns from the day of the Date hereof for and during all the

Space or Term of Twenty One Years from thence next Ensuing, Upon

Condition that he the said Joshua Johnson his Heirs Execut rs Administ rs

or Allowed Assigns shall and do bear true faith and Allegiance to Our

Sovereign Lord King George his Heirs & Successours and to them the said

Hon ble Company and their Successours and shall duly Observe and Obey all

the Laws and Constitutions of the said Island AND UPON CONDITION

also that he the said Joshua Johnson his Heirs, Execut rs Administrators

or Allowed Assigns shall and do from time to time and at all times

hereafter during the Term of this present Lease keep up and Maintain

Margin Notes:

Johnson

Isaac Wood put his hand and seal to the agreement on 30 September 1738. The Company set its common seal to the counterpart on the same day.

Signed, sealed and delivered before [...]urling. John Desfountain signed on behalf of Isaac Wood.

A plan drawn on the page shows the parcel as a four-sided figure with a compass rose marking north, south, east and west. The figure is annotated 2 acres.

The Lords Proprietors of the island, the Honourable United Company of Merchants of England Trading to the East Indies, let to farm to Joshua Johnson of the island, planter, a parcel of land of 5 acres lying in Broad Bottom. It was bounded north by the land of Elizabeth Greentree, widow, west by the land of Gabriel Powell, and south and east by other land of Joshua Johnson himself.

The grant covered the whole parcel and every part of it, together with the wood, water and watercourses, the houses, buildings, sheds and tenements, the yams and yam plantations, the fruit trees, the walls and fences, and every other right and benefit belonging to it.

Joshua Johnson, his heirs, executors, administrators and permitted assigns were to hold it for 21 years from the date of the agreement.

He and those after him had to stay loyal to King George and his successors and to the Company and its successors, and to obey the island's laws in full.

He and his successors also had to keep up and maintain, throughout the term, everything standing on the ground.

Interpretations

John Desfountain subscribing for Isaac Wood makes the third such substitution in this run of grants, following Richard Goodwin signing for his mother Frances Carne and Charles Steward for Charlesworth Powell. Desfountain held the parcel immediately north of Wood's ground and had sealed his own 13-acre lease the same day, so the man who signed was the neighbour already present at the sitting. The Company recorded no power of attorney in any of the three cases, which places the practice among the ordinary conveniences of a small island where the parties knew one another.

The plan drawn beside the text shows the parcel as a simple quadrilateral, unlike the irregular block of 13 acres sketched for John Desfountain's Sandy Bay ground. These annexed plans governed the extent of the grant where the written acreage and the ground disagreed, so the drawing carried more legal weight than the figures.

Broad Bottom appears through the register as the estate held by Elizabeth Johnson, widow, who was confirmed in 50 acres of freehold and 5 acres of leasehold below the High Peak, both vested jointly with the heirs of her late husband Joshua Johnson. That double vesting protected the first marriage's children, and the ground here passing to a Joshua Johnson of the following generation shows the family still established in the same quarter a quarter of a century later.

Elizabeth Greentree, widow, holding the northern boundary received the lease sealed 14 September 1731 covering 5 acres and a half in Lemon Valley, backdated to 25 September 1724 because she had occupied the ground informally for nearly seven years. She held Company leasehold in her own name on the same terms set for men.

Joshua Johnson already held the ground on two sides, so this grant closed a gap in a block he was assembling. He bought two James Valley houses from the executors of Edmund Nicholes for £25 0s 0d on 2 June 1740 and 30 acres at Great Bottom for £410 0s 0d from the attorneys of the absent Thomas Mostyn in 1740, so his accumulation continued into the following decade.

32

29

in good Order and Sufficient and legal Repair all such Buildings, Houses,

Edifices, Sheds, Tenements, Plantations and Fences as now are or hereafter

shall be made Built or Erected thereon and shall Moreover Plant keep up

Maintain and preserve in and upon the said hereby demised parcell of Land

its full Quantity or proportion of Wood being one tenth part of the said

parcell of Land and shall likewise plant and preserve Furze withinside

or without the Fences of the said parcell of Land and shall plant fruit trees

such as Apple Lemon, Mulberry or Peach trees in such parts thereof wherein

they are most likely to Grow and as they shall happen to decay or die shall

Replant others of the like Sorts thereon without hurt or prejudice nevertheless

to any part of Such Land as shall be sett a part for the Sole purpose of planting

and raising of Yams YEILDING and paying therefore Yearly and every Year

during the Term of this present Lease unto them the Said Hon ble Company their

Successours Agents or Assigns the Sum of Five Shillings ⅌ Acre in at or upon

the Feast of S t Michael the Arch Angel yearly and upon farther Condition

that he the Said Joshua Johnson his Heirs Execut rs Administrat rs or Allowed Assigns

shall not Alter or Remove the Said Fences they being the Limits or land marks

of the parcell of Land Aforesaid And shall not Sell or dispose of this Lease

or Interest therein without the leave and Consent of the Governour & Council

for the time being IN WITNESS whereof he the Said Joshua Johnson

hath hereunto Sett his hand and Seale this Thirtieth day of September

in the Year of Our Lord 1738 And the Said Hon ble Company to the other

part of these presents hath Affixed their Common Seale the day and

Year beforewritten

Signed & Sealed & Delivered Jos: Johnson

in the presence of

Every building, house, shed, tenement, plantation and fence then standing on the ground or afterwards raised there had to be kept in good order and sound repair. Joshua Johnson had further to plant a full tenth of the parcel with wood and keep that stand growing and protected. Furze had to be grown either inside or outside the fences. Fruit trees, meaning apple, lemon, mulberry or peach, had to go wherever on the ground they stood the best chance of taking, and as any decayed or died others of the same sorts had to replace them. None of this was to interfere with any part of the land set aside solely for growing yams.

The yearly charge across the term came to 5 shillings an acre, payable to the Company, its successors, agents or assigns at Michaelmas each year.

Joshua Johnson was also barred from moving or taking down the fences, since those marked the boundaries of the ground. Neither he nor those after him could sell or dispose of the lease or his interest in it without leave from the Governor and Council of the day.

Joshua Johnson put his hand and seal to the agreement on 30 September 1738. The Company set its common seal to the counterpart on the same day.

Signed, sealed and delivered before D[...].

Interpretations

Joshua Johnson signed in his own hand, unlike three of the grantees in this same run whose counterparts were subscribed by others. Frances Carne sealed by mark with her son Richard Goodwin signing for her, Charles Steward signed for Charlesworth Powell, and John Desfountain signed for Isaac Wood. The register therefore separates the literate holders from those who could not write or did not attend, without any recorded power of attorney in the three substituted cases.

Six parcels were let at this one sitting on identical conditions: 9 acres and a half each to Governor Goodwin and to Charlesworth Powell, 13 acres to John Desfountain in Sandy Bay, 2 acres to Isaac Wood, and this 5 acres in Broad Bottom. Every one carries the same tenth in wood, the same short fruit list of apple, lemon, mulberry and peach, the same choice of furze on either face of the fence, and the same protection for ground kept in yams. The Company had settled on a single form by 1738 and varied only the acreage, the boundaries and the name.

The rent of 5 shillings an acre matches the standard country rate running through these grants since 1711, being 4 shillings of rent with a shilling of duty, though the later leases state it as one figure. Across 5 acres that came to £1 5s 0d a year.

Michaelmas as the rent day matches the September dates throughout this register, the feast of St Michael the Archangel falling on 29 September.

33

30

The Lords Proprietors of this Island the Honourable

the United Company of Merchants of England Trading to the East Indies

Do hereby Demise, Grant Sett and to Farm Lett, Unto Martin Harper

of the said Island Planter All that piece or parcell of Land containing

Nine Acres and an half Butting and Bounding North upon the Lands of

Charlesworth Powell, South upon the Lands in Possession of John Hodgkinson

East upon the Lands of Charles Steward and West upon the Lands of John

Goodwin Esq r Governour To have and to hold the said hereby

demised parcells of Land and every part and parcell thereof together with

all and Singular the Wood Water, Water Courses, Houses, Buildings Edifices

Sheds, Tenements Yams and Plantations of Yams, Fruit trees, Walls Fences

and all other and Singular the Rights & Comodities to them and each and every

of them belonging or Appertaining Unto him the Said Martin Harper

his Heirs, Execut rs Administrat rs or Allowed Assigns from the Day of the Date

hereof for and during all the Space or Term of Twenty One Years from thence

next Ensuing UPON CONDITION that he the said Martin Harper

his Heirs, Execut rs Administrat rs or Allowed Assigns shall and do bear true

faith and Allegiance to Our Sovereign Lord King George his Heirs and

Successours and to them the said Hon ble Company and their Successours and

shall duly Observe and Obey all the Laws and Constitutions of the said

Island And upon Condition also that he the said Martin Harper

his Heirs Execut rs Administrat rs or Allowed Assigns shall and do from time

to time and at all times hereafter during the Term of this present Lease

keep up and Maintain in good Order and Sufficient and legal repair

all such Buildings, Houses Edifices, Sheds, Tenements, Plantations and

Fences as now are or hereafter shall be made, Built or Erected thereon

And shall Moreover Plant keep up maintain and preserve in and upon

the said hereby Demised parcell of Land its full Quantity or proportion

of Wood being One tenth part of the said parcell of Land and shall likewise

Plant and preserve Furze withinside or without the Fences of the said

parcell of Land And shall plant Fruit trees such as Apple Lemon

Mulberry or Peach trees in such parts thereof wherein they are most

likely to grow and as they shall happen to decay or die shall Replant

other of the like Sorts thereon without hurt or prejudice nevertheless to

any part of such Land as shall be sett a part for the Sole purpose of

planting and Raising of Yams YEILDING and paying therefore

yearly and every year during the Term of this present Lease unto them

the Said Hon ble Company their Successours Agents or Assigns the Sum of

Five Shillings ⅌ Acre in at or upon the Feast of S t Michael the Arch

Angel yearly and upon farther Condition that he the said Martin Harper

his Heirs, Execut rs Administrat rs or Allowed Assigns shall not Alter or

remove the said Fences they being the Limits or Land Marks of the

parcell of Land Aforesaid and shall not Sell or dispose of this Lease

or Interest therein without the leave and Consent of the Governour and

Margin Notes:

M Harper

The Lords Proprietors of the island, the Honourable United Company of Merchants of England Trading to the East Indies, let to farm to Martin Harper of the island, planter, a parcel of land of 9 acres and a half. It was bounded north by the land of Charlesworth Powell, south by the land then held by John Hodgkinson, east by the land of Charles Steward and west by the land of John Goodwin, esquire, governor.

The grant covered the whole parcel and every part of it, together with the wood, water and watercourses, the houses, buildings, sheds and tenements, the yams and yam plantations, the fruit trees, the walls and fences, and every other right and benefit belonging to it.

Martin Harper, his heirs, executors, administrators and permitted assigns were to hold it for 21 years from the date of the agreement.

He and those after him had to stay loyal to King George and his successors and to the Company and its successors, and to obey the island's laws in full.

He and his successors also had to keep up and maintain, throughout the term, every building, house, shed, tenement, plantation and fence then standing on the ground or afterwards raised there, in good order and sound repair.

He had further to plant a full tenth of the parcel with wood and keep that stand growing and protected. Furze had to be grown either inside or outside the fences. Fruit trees, meaning apple, lemon, mulberry or peach, had to go wherever on the ground they stood the best chance of taking, and as any decayed or died others of the same sorts had to replace them. None of this was to interfere with any part of the land set aside solely for growing yams.

The yearly charge across the term came to 5 shillings an acre, payable to the Company, its successors, agents or assigns at Michaelmas each year.

Martin Harper was also barred from moving or taking down the fences, since those marked the boundaries of the ground. Neither he nor those after him could sell or dispose of the lease or his interest in it without leave from the Governor and Council of the day.

Interpretations

Four adjoining parcels of 9 acres and a half were let in this single run, and their boundary descriptions lock together. Charlesworth Powell's grant named Martin Harper to the south, and this one names Powell to the north. Both name John Goodwin to the west and Francis Wrangham or Charles Steward to the east. The Company was carving a block of Company ground into equal shares and settling them on neighbouring holders at one sitting, which explains the uniform acreage across parcels that would otherwise have been surveyed to fit existing bounds.

Martin Harper appears through the register as a soldier who took the lease of 6 September 1726 covering 8 acres known as the Half Moon near the stone pasture, hemmed in by Company waste running towards Sandy Bay Valley. He later received the lease sealed 18 September 1731 of 3 acres in Swanley Valley beside Thomas Harper's ground, and sold his interest in the 25 acres called Robinson's Land to Duke Crispe for £200 0s 0d on 13 November 1734. He is described here as planter rather than soldier, marking the progression from garrison service to landholding that runs through many of these tenants.

John Hodgkinson holding the southern boundary connects to George Hodgkinson, whose daughter Sheldon married John Cary, late chief mate of the Mary, and brought a 21-acre Sandy Bay parcel into the marriage before the couple sold it to Charles Steward for £100 0s 0d on 9 April 1730. The Hodgkinson name also attaches to a James Valley house that reached John Bazett through James Powell in 1737.

Charles Steward on the eastern boundary took the James Valley back strip granted on 19 July 1737 at 14 shillings and sixpence, and appears throughout the register as a substantial Sandy Bay accumulator confirmed in 17 acres and leased 27 more on 4 August 1713.

The register later records Martin Harper as dead by July 1757, his ground still fixing the northern and eastern boundaries of the 21 acres and a half called French's Gutt that John Goodwin sold Thomas Greentree for £270 0s 0d sterling on 15 July 1757.

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31

Council for the time being IN WITNESS whereof he the Said Martin

Harper hath hereunto Sett his hand and Seale this Thirteeth day of

September in the Year of Our Lord 1738 And the Said Honourable

Company to the other part of these presents hath Affixed their Common

Seale the day and Year beforewritten

Signed Sealed and Delivered Martin Harper

in the presence of

The Lords Proprietors of this Island the Honour ble

The United Company of Merchants of England trading to the East Indies

Do hereby Demise Grant Sett and to Farm Lett unto Mary Nichols of

the Said Island Planteress All that piece or parcell of Land containing

Twenty Five Acres Butting and Bounding North and West upon the Hon ble

Companys Wast Land, East and South upon the Lands of her the Said Mary

Nichols To have and to hold the said hereby Demised parcell

of Land and every part and parcell thereof together with all and Singular

the Wood Water, Water Courses, Houses, Buildings, Edifices, Sheds, Tenements

Yams and Plantations of Yams, Fruit trees, Walls, Fences and all other

and Singular the Rights & Commodities to them and each and every of them

belonging or Appertaining Unto her the said Mary Nichols her Heirs

Executors Administrat rs or Allowed Assigns from the day of the Date

hereof for and during all the Space or Term of Twenty One Years from

thence next Ensuing Upon Condition that She the Said Mary Nichols

her Heirs Execut rs Administrat rs or Allowed Assigns Shall and do bear

true faith and Allegiance to Our Sovereign Lord King George his Heirs

and Success rs and to them the Said Hon ble Company and their Successours and

Shall duly Observe and Obey all the Laws and Constitutions of the said Island

And upon Condition also that She the said Mary Nichols her Heirs

Execut rs Administrat rs or Allowed Assigns shall and do from time to time

and at all times hereafter during the Term of this present Lease keep up &

maintain in good Order and Sufficient and legal Repair all such Buildings

Margin Notes:

M Nicholls

You're right. Here is the full response again.

Martin Harper signed the agreement on 13 September 1738, and the Company sealed its own copy the same day.

Signed before D[...].

The Company, owners of the island, rented 25 acres to Mary Nicholls of the island, planter. The Company's unused land lay to the north and west, and her own ground closed it in on the east and south.

Everything on the parcel passed with it: the timber, the water and its channels, the houses, buildings, sheds and outbuildings, the yam beds, the fruit trees, the walls and fences, and every other benefit attached to the ground.

Mary Nicholls, her children and anyone she was allowed to pass it on to, held the ground for 21 years from the date of the agreement.

She and those after her had to stay loyal to the King and to the Company, and to keep the island's laws.

She also had to keep every building and everything else on the ground in sound repair for the whole 21 years.

Interpretations

Mary Nicholls took this ground in her own name and is called a planter, with no husband named and no mention of widowhood. That marks her out from the other women in the register, who almost always appear as the relict of a named man. A Mary Nichols, single woman and eldest sister of Edmond Nichols, had already taken a lease with her brother on 26 October 1725 for 2 acres of gumwood in Old Woman's Valley above the High Waterfall, and signed it herself. An unmarried woman holding ground from the Company on the same terms as any man was unusual, and 25 acres is a large holding beside most of these grants.

Company waste bounds the parcel on two sides while her own ground closes the other two, so this grant pushed her holding outward into land nobody had yet taken up. The Company repeatedly let its marginal ground to whoever already farmed up against it, which saved building fresh fences on two sides and gave the tenant a single workable block.

Martin Harper's date of 13 September falls a fortnight before the sitting of 30 September that produced the grants to Governor Goodwin, Charlesworth Powell, John Desfountain, Isaac Wood and Joshua Johnson. His parcel belonged to the same block of four equal shares of 9 acres and a half, so the Company sealed that block over several weeks rather than at one meeting.

Edmond Nichols, brother of the Mary Nichols who took the 1725 lease, built up ground steadily in Stonetop Wood and across the West Division, taking 10 acres of gumwood there on 25 March 1725 and again on 8 November 1726, and buying the 10-acre Comstone parcel from Richard Leech for £16 0s 0d on 16 November 1725. His lease of 25 May 1719 names his wife Elizabeth and his children Robert and Elizabeth as the lives it ran on.

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32

Houses, Edifices, Sheds, Tenements Plantations and Fences as now are

or hereafter shall be made, Built or Erected thereon and shall moreover plant

keep up Maintain and preserve in and upon the Said hereby demised parcel

of Land its full Quantity or proportion of Wood being One tenth part of the

said parcell of Land and shall likewise plant and preserve Furze withinside

or without the Fences of the said parcell of Land and shall plant fruit trees

such as Apple Lemon, Mulberry or Peach trees in such parts thereof wherein

they are most likely to grow and as they shall happen to decay or die shall

Replant others of the like Sorts thereon without hurt or prejudice nevertheless

to any part of such land as shall be Sett a part for the Sole purpose of Planting

and raising of Yams YEILDING and Paying therefore Yearly and every

Year during the Term of this present Lease unto them the said Hon ble Company

their Successours Agents or Assigns the Sum of Five Shillings ⅌ Acre in at or

upon the Feast of S t Michael the Arch Angel yearly and upon farther Condition

that She the Said Mary Nichols her Heirs, Execut rs Administrat rs or Allowed

Assigns shall not Alter or Remove the Said Fences they being the Limits

or Land-Marks of the parcell of Land Aforesaid and shall not Sell or

Dispose of this Lease or Interest therein without the leave and Consent

of the Governour and Council for the time being. IN WITNESS

whereof She the Said Mary Nichols hath hereunto Sett her hand

and Seale this Thirtieth day of September in the Year of Our Lord 1738

And they the Said Honourable Company to the other part of these presents

hath Affixed their Common Seale the day and Year before written

Signed Sealed and Delivered Richard Bagley

in the presence of Signed for Mar Nichols

Every house, building, shed, outbuilding, plantation and fence on the ground, then or later, had to be kept in sound repair. Mary Nicholls also had to plant a tenth of the parcel with wood and keep that stand alive and growing. Furze had to go in along the fences, on whichever face suited. Apple, lemon, mulberry and peach trees had to be planted wherever they stood the best chance, and whenever one died another of the same kind had to take its place. None of this could cut into whatever part of the ground she kept for growing yams.

The rent came to 5 shillings an acre a year, due to the Company at Michaelmas.

She could not move or pull down the fences, since those marked out where her ground ended. Neither she nor those after her could sell the lease or hand on her interest in it without leave from the Governor and Council.

Mary Nicholls signed the agreement on 30 September 1738, and the Company sealed its own copy the same day.

Signed before D[...]. Richard Bagley signed for Mary Nicholls.

Interpretations

Richard Bagley signing on her behalf shows Mary Nicholls could not write, which sits oddly beside the Mary Nichols who set her own hand to the joint lease of 26 October 1725 with her brother Edmond. Either two women of the same name held ground on the island, or the earlier signature was itself made by another hand. The register gives no way to settle it.

Substitute signatures run right through this run of grants. Richard Goodwin signed for his mother Frances Carne, Charles Steward for Charlesworth Powell, John Desfountain for Isaac Wood, and now Richard Bagley for Mary Nicholls. Four of the ten or so parcels sealed across September 1737 and 1738 were subscribed by somebody other than the tenant, with no power of attorney recorded in any case. On an island this small the Company evidently took the word of a neighbour or relative present at the sealing.

Richard Bagley appears through the register as a substantial buyer in the following decades. He took the assignment of the elder Stephen Luffkin's leasehold from his executors on 16 February 1745, four leasehold assignments from Gabriel Steward on 20 June 1758, and bought 14 acres called Bagleys and 10 called Riches from John Clark on 26 April 1762.

At 5 shillings an acre the yearly charge on 25 acres came to £6 5s 0d, the largest of the parcels sealed in this run. The rate held steady across every grant here regardless of size, so a woman farming 25 acres paid at exactly the rate charged to Isaac Wood on his 2.

Michaelmas as the rent day matches the September dates throughout the register, the feast of St Michael the Archangel falling on 29 September.

36

33

The Lords Proprietors of this Island the Honourable

the United Company of Merchants of England Trading to the East Indies, DO

HEREBY Demise, Grant, Sett and to Farm Lett Unto Richard Mason of

the said Island Planter All that piece or parcell of Land containing

Thirteen Acres and three Quarters lying in Scanleys Valley Butting and bounding

North & West upon the Lands of Francis Kenge, South upon the Lands of Mary

Nichols & East upon the Lands of James Alps To have and to hold the

Said hereby demised parcell of Land and every part and parcell thereof together

with all and Singular the Wood, Water, Water Courses, Houses Buildings

Edifices, Sheds, Tenements, Yams and Plantations of Yams, Fruit trees, Walls

Fences and all other and Singular the Rights Commodities to them and each and

every of them belonging or Appertaining Unto him the Said Richard Mason

his Heirs Executors, Administrat rs or Allowed Assigns from the day of the date

hereof for and during all the Space or Term of Twenty One Years from

thence next Ensuing UPON CONDITION that he the Said Richard

Mason his Heirs Execut rs Administrat rs or Allowed Assigns do bear true faith

and Allegiance to Our Sovereign Lord King George his Heirs and Successours

and to them the Said Hon ble Company and their Successours and shall duly

Observe and Obey all the Laws and Constitutions of the said Island AND

UPON CONDITION also that he the Said Richard Mason his Heirs

Execut rs Administrat rs or Allowed Assigns shall and do from time to time and at

all times hereafter during the time of this present Lease keep up and maintain

in good Order and Sufficient and legal Repair all such Buildings, Houses

Edifices, Sheds, Tenements, Plantations and Fences as now are or hereafter shall

be made, Built or Erected thereon and shall moreover plant keep up maintain

and preserve in and upon the said hereby demised parcell of Land its full

Quantity or proportion of Wood being One tenth part of the said parcell of Land

and shall likewise plant and preserve Furze withinside or without the Fences

of the said parcell of Land and shall plant fruit trees such as Apple Lemon

Mulberry, or Peach Trees in such parts thereof wherein they are most likely to Grow

and as they shall happen to decay or die shall Replant others of the like Sorts thereon

without hurt or prejudice nevertheless to any part of Such land as shall be sett apart

for the Sole purpose of planting and raising of Yams YEILDING and Paying

therefore Yearly and every Year during the Term of this present Lease Unto them the

Said Hon ble Company their Successours Agents or Assigns the Sum of Five Shillings

⅌ Acre in at or upon the Feast of S t Michael the Arch Angel yearly and upon

farther Condition that he the Said Richard Mason his Heirs Execut rs Administrat rs

or Allowed Assigns shall not Alter or Remove the said Fences they being the

Limits or Land Marks of the parcell of Land Aforesaid and shall not Sell or

dispose of this Lease or Interest therein without the leave and Consent

of the Governour and Council for the time being IN WITNESS

whereof he the Said Richard Mason hath hereunto Sett his hand

and Seale this Thirtieth day of September in the Year of Our Lord 1738

Margin Notes:

[...]on.

The Company, owners of the island, rented 13 acres and three quarters in Swanleys Valley to Richard Mason of the island, planter. Francis Junge's ground lay to the north and west, the land of [...] Nicholls to the south, and James Junge's ground to the east.

Everything on the parcel passed with it: the timber, the water and its channels, the houses, buildings, sheds and outbuildings, the yam beds, the fruit trees, the walls and fences, and every other benefit attached to the ground.

Richard Mason, his children and anyone he was allowed to pass it on to, held the ground for 21 years from the date of the agreement.

He and those after him had to stay loyal to the King and to the Company, and to keep the island's laws.

He also had to keep every house, building, shed, outbuilding, plantation and fence in sound repair for the whole term, whatever stood there then or was put up later. He had to plant a tenth of the parcel with wood and keep that stand alive and growing. Furze had to go in along the fences, on whichever face suited. Apple, lemon, mulberry and peach trees had to be planted wherever they stood the best chance, and whenever one died another of the same kind had to take its place. None of this could cut into whatever part of the ground he kept for growing yams.

The rent came to 5 shillings an acre a year, due to the Company at Michaelmas.

He could not move or pull down the fences, since those marked out where his ground ended. Neither he nor those after him could sell the lease or hand on his interest in it without leave from the Governor and Council.

Richard Mason signed the agreement on 30 September 1738.

Interpretations

Swanleys Valley runs through the register as ground held by a cluster of related tenants. Richard Gurling sold Richard Beale 9 acres of cabbage tree and pasture there along with 10 acres more on 28 December 1727, the orchard part having belonged first to Onesiphorus Steward and last to William Steward. Thomas Harper held leasehold in the valley, and the leases sealed in September 1731 to Martin Harper, Caleb Davis and Stephen Luffin junior all named one another's Swanley Valley ground as boundaries.

Richard Mason had already built up holdings across several quarters before this grant. He bought the Southwark Street house known as William Trenchard's house from John Hanson for £8 0s 0d on 2 October 1723, took 4 acres and a quarter of gumwood in Sandy Bay Valley on 23 August 1726 and 2 acres in Fryer Valley on 3 October 1727, and received the lease of 14 September 1731 covering 16 acres at Thompson's Wood and Old Woman's Valley. He was owed £2 16s 7½d by the great Powell estate in the schedule of 1739.

Francis Junge on two boundaries connects to the man granted half an acre in February 1730 carrying the springs and watercourses on it, who was bound to leave as much water open as the Governor and Council directed for cattle grazing on the common. The register notes Richard Mason as a boundary holder in that grant, so the two men's ground had adjoined for at least eight years by this date.

The Junge family recurs across the register through Francis, John and Samuel Junge, the surname pointing to continental European origins among the garrison and merchant circles of the island. James Junge on the eastern boundary is a further member of that family.

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34

And they the Said Honourable Company to the other part of these

Presents hath Affixed their Common Seale the day and Year

before Written

Signed Sealed and Delivered Rich d Mason

in the presence of

The Lords Proprietors of this Island the Hon ble

the United Company of Merchants of England trading to the East Indies

Do hereby Demise, Grant, Sett and to Farm lett Unto Richard

Beale of the said Island Planter All that piece or parcell of Land

Containing Ten Acres & &c Butting and Bounding North to the

Main Ridge South and West upon the Free land of the Said Richard

Beale and East upon the lands of James Ryder To have

and to hold the Said hereby Demised parcell of Land and

every part and parcell thereof together with all and Singular the Wood

Water, Water Courses, Houses, Buildings Edifices, Sheds, Tenements, Yams

and plantations of Yams Fruit Trees, Walls, Fences & all other & Singular

the Rights Comodities to them and each and every of them belonging or

Appertaining Unto him the Said Richard Beale his Heirs, Executors

Administrators or Allowed Assigns from the day of the Date hereof

for and during all the Space or Term of Twenty One Years from thence

next Ensuing UPON CONDITION that he the Said Richard Beale

his Heirs, Execut rs Administrat rs or Allowed Assigns shall and do bear

true faith and Allegiance to Our Sovereign Lord King George his Heirs

and Successours and to them the Said Hon ble Company and their Successours

And shall duly Observe and Obey all the Laws and Constitutions of the said

Island And upon Condition also that he the Said Richard Beale

his Heirs Execut rs Administrat rs or Allowed Assigns shall and do from

time to time and at all times hereafter during the Term of this present

Lease keep up and Maintain in good Order and Sufficient and legal

Margin Notes:

[...] Beale

The Company sealed its own copy on the same day.

Signed before D[...]. Richard Mason signed his own.

The Company, owners of the island, rented 10 acres to Richard Beale of the island, planter. The Main Ridge lay to the north, Richard Beale's own freehold to the south and west, and James Ryder's ground to the east.

Everything on the parcel passed with it: the timber, the water and its channels, the houses, buildings, sheds and outbuildings, the yam beds, the fruit trees, the walls and fences, and every other benefit attached to the ground.

Richard Beale, his children and anyone he was allowed to pass it on to, held the ground for 21 years from the date of the agreement.

He and those after him had to stay loyal to the King and to the Company, and to keep the island's laws.

He also had to keep everything on the ground in sound repair for the whole term.

Interpretations

Richard Beale held his own freehold on two sides of this parcel, so the grant filled out a block he already owned outright rather than starting him somewhere new. The pattern runs through every grant in this run, where the Company let ground to whoever farmed up against it.

The Main Ridge forms the northern boundary, which places the parcel in the high interior where the ground stays moist and grows cabbage tree wood. Land under the Main Ridge fetched better prices than the dry gumwood slopes lower down, as the sale of Bisley in October 1761 later showed at £19 an acre.

Richard Beale bought steadily through the 1720s. He took a 2-acre parcel with a dwelling house from Michael Swallow for £20 0s 0d on 14 June 1723, 20 acres of cabbage tree with a house from Richard Swallow in 1724, and 9 acres of cabbage tree and pasture with 10 acres more in Swanleys Valley from Richard Gurling for £50 0s 0d on 28 December 1727. That last purchase carried a penalty bond of £100 0s 0d because the title had passed through Richard Swallow and the Steward estate and the chain was tangled. He also received the lease of August 1731 covering 2 acres at Green Hill Gut in Sandy Bay.

James Ryder on the eastern boundary bought 20 acres of cabbage tree and gumwood known as Alexander's Land from Richard Goodwin for £130 0s 0d on 30 November 1725, and took the lease of 30 September 1729 covering 20 acres of gumwood called Beale's Lott in the West Division. The Beale and Ryder families held ground against one another across this quarter for decades.

Richard Beale later acted as an executor several times over, winding up the estate of Elizabeth Ryder with Thomas Greentree in 1753 and that of the late John Bazett with Matthew Purling in 1758, when they sold Matthew Bazett 60 acres in Deep Valley for £520 0s 0d.

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35

Repair all such Buildings Houses, Edifices, Sheds, Tenements Plantations

and Fences as now are or hereafter shall be made, Built or Erected thereon

and shall Moreover plant keep up Maintain and preserve in and upon the

Said hereby Demised parcell of Land its full Quantity or proportion of Wood

being one tenth part of the said parcell of Land and shall likewise plant and

preserve Furze withinside or without the Fences of the said parcell of

Land and shall plant fruit trees such as Apple Lemon, Mulberry or Peach

Trees in such parts thereof wherein they are most likely to grow and as they

shall happen to decay or die shall Replant others of the like sorts thereon

without hurt or prejudice nevertheless to any part of Such land as shall

be sett a part for the sole purpose of planting and Raising of Yams Yeilding

and Paying therefore Yearly and every year during the Term of this

present Lease unto them the Said Hon ble Company their Successours Agents

or Assigns the Sum of Five Shillings ⅌ Acre in at or upon the Feast of

S t Michael the Arch Angel yearly and upon farther Condition that he

Said Richard Beale his Heirs, Executors, Administrators or Allowed Assigns

shall not Alter or Remove the Said Fences they being the Limits or Land

Marks of the parcell of Land Aforesaid and shall not Sell or dispose of this

Lease or Interest therein without the leave and Consent of the Governour

and Council for the time being IN WITNESS whereof he the Said Richard

Beale hath hereunto Sett his hand and Seale this Thirtieth day of

September in the Year of Our Lord 1738 And they the Said Honourable

Company to the other part of these presents hath Affixed their Common

Seale the day and Year beforewritten

Signed Sealed and Delivered Rich d Beale

in the presence of

Every house, building, shed, outbuilding, plantation and fence on the ground, then or later, had to be kept in sound repair. Richard Beale also had to plant a tenth of the parcel with wood and keep that stand alive and growing. Furze had to go in along the fences, on whichever face suited. Apple, lemon, mulberry and peach trees had to be planted wherever they stood the best chance, and whenever one died another of the same kind had to take its place. None of this could cut into whatever part of the ground he kept for growing yams.

The rent came to 5 shillings an acre a year, due to the Company at Michaelmas.

He could not move or pull down the fences, since those marked out where his ground ended. Neither he nor those after him could sell the lease or hand on his interest in it without leave from the Governor and Council.

Richard Beale signed the agreement on 30 September 1738, and the Company sealed its own copy the same day.

Signed before D[...].

Interpretations

Richard Beale signed in his own hand, unlike Frances Carne, Charlesworth Powell, Isaac Wood and Mary Nicholls, whose copies were subscribed by others. The register separates cleanly here between those who could write and those who could not, and Beale's later service as an executor for the estates of Elizabeth Ryder in 1753 and John Bazett in 1758 fits a man able to handle written business.

At 5 shillings an acre the yearly charge on 10 acres came to £2 10s 0d. The rate held identical across every parcel in this run, whether 2 acres or 25, so the Company priced ground purely by area and left position, soil and standing improvements out of the reckoning entirely.

The clause protecting yam ground appears in all of these leases and is the one place the planting programme gives way. Yams fed the island and victualled the shipping in the road, and a tenth given to timber plus fruit trees scattered besides could have eaten into the beds. The Company chose the food supply over the trees wherever the two collided.

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36

The Lords Proprietors of this Island the Honourable

the United Company of Merchants of England trading to the East

Indies DO HEREBY Demise, Grant Sett and to Farm Lett unto Duke

Crispe John Bazett and Matthew Burling Executors of the last Will and

Testament of John Burling dec d All that piece or parcell of Cabbage Tree

Land Containing Two Acres and half Butting and Bounding North and West

upon the Lands late belonging to him the Said John Burling, East upon the

Lands of Benjamin Pleager and South upon the Main Ridge, in trust

and for the use nevertheless of Elizabeth late the Wife of him the Said John

Burling & of all such Children by them begotten being three Sons Vizt

Matthew, Erasmus and John, that is to Say, One third part thereof for

the Use of her the Said Elizabeth Burling Widow during the Term of this

Lease, if She shall so long live, and the other two third parts thereof for

the Use of his Said three Sons, To have and to hold the said

hereby Demised parcell of Land and every part and parcell thereof

together with all & Singular the Wood, Water, Water Courses, Houses

Buildings, Edifices, Sheds, Tenements, Yams and Plantations of Yams

Fruit Trees, Walls Fences and all other and Singular the Rights

Commodities to them and each and every of them belonging or

Appertaining Unto them the Said Duke Crispe John Bazett and

Matthew Burling in trust and for the use of them the Said Several

persons before mentioned their Heirs, Executors, Administrators or

Allowed Assigns from the day of the Date hereof for and during all

the Space or Term of Twenty one years from thence next Ensuing

Upon Condition that they the Said Elizabeth, Matthew

Erasmus and John Burling their heirs, Executors, Administrators or

Allowed Assigns shall and do bear true Faith and Allegiance to Our

Sovereign Lord, King George his heirs and Successours and to them

the Said Honourable Company and their Successours and shall

duly Observe and Obey all the Laws and Constitutions of the Said

Island, And upon Condition also that they the Said

Elizabeth, Matthew, Erasmus, and John Burling their heirs Executors

Administrators or Allowed Assigns shall and do from time to time

and at all times hereafter during the Term of this Present Lease

keep up and Maintain in Good Order and Sufficient and legal Repair

all such Buildings, Houses, Edifices, Sheds, Tenements, Plantations and

Fences as now are or hereafter shall be made, Built or Erected thereon

And shall Moreover Plant keep up and Maintain and preserve in and

upon the Said hereby Demised parcell of Land its full Quantity or

Proportion of Wood being one Tenth part of the Said Parcell of Land and

shall likewise Plant and preserve Furze withinside or without the

Fences of the Said Parcell of Land and shall Plant Fruit Trees Such

as Apple Lemon, Mulberry, or Peach Trees in such parts thereof

wherein they are most likely to Grow and as they shall happen to

decay or die shall Plant others of the like Sort thereon without

Margin Notes:

M Burling

2½

The Company, owners of the island, rented 2 acres and a half of cabbage tree land to Duke Crispe, John Bazett and Matthew Purling, the executors of the will of the late John Burling. Ground lately belonging to John Burling himself lay to the north and west, Benjamin Pledger's land to the east, and the Main Ridge to the south.

The three men held the parcel in trust for Elizabeth Burling, widow of John Burling, and for the three sons of the marriage, Matthew, Erasmus and John. One third went to the widow for as long as she lived within the term of the lease, and the remaining two thirds to the three sons.

Everything on the parcel passed with it: the timber, the water and its channels, the houses, buildings, sheds and outbuildings, the yam beds, the fruit trees, the walls and fences, and every other benefit attached to the ground.

The three trustees held it on behalf of the beneficiaries, their children and anyone the family was allowed to pass it on to, for 21 years from the date of the agreement.

Elizabeth, Matthew, Erasmus and John Burling and those after them had to stay loyal to the King and to the Company, and to keep the island's laws.

They also had to keep every house, building, shed, outbuilding, plantation and fence in sound repair for the whole term, whatever stood there then or was put up later. They had to plant a tenth of the parcel with wood and keep that stand alive and growing. Furze had to go in along the fences, on whichever face suited. Apple, lemon, mulberry and peach trees had to be planted wherever they stood the best chance, and whenever one died another of the same kind had to take its place.

Interpretations

This grant sets up a trust rather than a straight tenancy. The three executors held the legal title while the benefit ran to the widow and the three sons, which kept the ground out of the hands of anyone who might marry Elizabeth Burling later and gave the boys a protected share until they came of age. The register shows the same structure used repeatedly for orphan estates, as with the Desfountain children in 1713 whose freehold vested directly while executors sealed the leasehold on their behalf.

The widow's third ran only for as long as she lived within the 21-year term, so her interest was a life share carved out of the whole rather than an outright portion. The sons took the other two thirds between them. That split follows the customary division of a dead man's estate, a third to the widow and the rest to the children, and the Company simply built the family settlement into the lease itself.

Duke Crispe appears through the register among the Company's senior officers, witnessing grants through 1738 to 1743. He bought the 25-acre Robinson's Land leasehold in Sandy Bay from Martin Harper for £200 0s 0d on 13 November 1734 and passed it to John Burling two days later at the same price, standing as a middleman who took nothing. He and Matthew Purling also served as executors of the late John Purling.

John Bazett appears here as a trustee and elsewhere as a substantial accumulator, styled gentleman and third of Council by 1740. Across 1738 and 1739 he bought back his late father Matthew Bazett's estate piece by piece from his siblings and their families, paying about £25 0s 0d a share for the eighths of the Woody Ridge and Chapel Valley ground.

John Burling had built up a block in this quarter before his death. He took two leases in December 1727, one for 2 acres in Deep Valley formerly held by John Harding and one for 8 acres under the Main Ridge joining Diana's Peak, and later added 10 acres bought from Isaac Wood for £95 0s 0d on 6 July 1735 and about 5 acres called the Flatts from Matthew Mudge for £37 0s 0d on 24 June 1738. This parcel, bounded by his own former ground on two sides, filled a gap in that block.

The register records the same three executors and the widow taking the 21 acres and a half called Bush Farm in trust for the family on 15 July 1738, bought from Joseph Bates for £180 0s 0d, so this grant of 30 September formed part of a wider settlement of the Burling estate made across that year.

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37

hurt or Prejudice nevertheless to any part of Such Land as shall be set apart

for the Sole Purpose of Planting or Raising of Yams YEILDING and

Paying therefore yearly and every Year during the Term of this Present

Lease Unto them the Said Honourable Company & their Successours Agents

or Assigns the Sum of Five Shillings ⅌ Acre in at or upon the Feast of S t

Michael the Arch Angel yearly And upon farther Condition

that they the Said Elizabeth, Matthew, Erasmus, and John Burling their

Heirs, Executors, Administrators or Allowed Assigns shall not Alter or

Remove the Said Fences they being the Limits or Land Marks of the

Parcell of Land Aforesaid and shall not Sell or dispose of this Lease or

Interest therein without the leave and Consent of the Governour and

Council for the time being In Witness whereof the Said Executors

hath sett their hands and Seales this Thirtieth day of September in the

year of Our Lord 1738 And they the Said Honourable Company to the

Other part of these Presents hath Affixed their Common Seale the day

and year beforewritten

Signed Sealed and Delivered D Crispe

in the presence of

J Goodwin Jun r Ch h Cour t John Bazett

Burling

N

E

2½ Acres

None of the planting could cut into whatever part of the ground the family kept for growing yams.

The rent came to 5 shillings an acre a year, due to the Company at Michaelmas.

Elizabeth, Matthew, Erasmus and John Burling and those after them could not move or pull down the fences, since those marked out where the ground ended. Nor could they sell the lease or hand on their interest in it without leave from the Governor and Council.

The three executors signed the agreement on 30 September 1738, and the Company sealed its own copy the same day.

Signed before John Goodwin junior, clerk of the council, and D[...]. Sealed by D[...] Crispe, John Bazett and [...] Purling.

A plan drawn on the page shows the parcel as a triangle with a compass rose marking north, south and east. The figure is annotated 2 acres and a half.

Interpretations

All three trustees sealed separately, each with his own wax, which is why three seals stand in the margin against a single grant. Where one man holds ground his single seal binds him, but a trust requires each trustee to be bound in his own person, since any one of them might later have to answer for the others' handling of the estate.

John Goodwin junior signing as clerk of the council places the Company's own officer at the sealing. He appears through the register as an active dealer in James Valley property, selling Thomas Greentree a dwelling for £250 0s 0d on deferred terms in November 1738 and a strip of freehold to John Bazett for £20 0s 0d in March 1738, so he was witnessing a trust in which a fellow dealer stood as trustee.

The triangular plan matches the awkward shape of a parcel wedged between John Burling's former ground on two sides, Benjamin Pledger's land to the east and the Main Ridge running along the south. A block of 2 acres and a half fitted into such a gap could not be regular, and the drawing rather than the acreage settled its extent.

At 5 shillings an acre the yearly charge came to 12 shillings and sixpence, the smallest rent in this run of grants. The widow's third of that holding therefore represented a share worth a little over 4 shillings a year, which shows how modest the parcel was beside the 21 acres and a half of Bush Farm the same trustees held for the family from 15 July 1738.

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The Lords Proprietors of this Island the Honourable

the United Company of Merchants of England Trading to the East

Indies Do hereby Demise, Grant Sett and to Farm Lett Unto

Richard Goodwin Executor of the last Will and Testament of Solomon

Burling deceas d All that piece or parcell of Land containing Six

Acres Butting and Bounding North & East upon the Said Hon ble Companys Wast Land

South upon the Lands of him the Said Solomon Burling, And West upon the Lands

of Richard Goodwin In trust and for the use nevertheless of

Elizabeth late the Wife of him the Said Solomon Burling and of all such

Children by them begotten Vizt Erasmus, John and Eleanor, that is to say,

One third part thereof for the Use of her the Said Elizabeth Burling Widow

during the Term of this Lease if She shall so long live And the other two

third parts thereof for the use of his Said Three Children To have and

to hold the Said hereby Demised parcell of Land and every part and

parcell thereof together with all and Singular the Wood, Water, Water

Courses, Houses, Buildings, Edifices, Sheds, Tenements, Yams and

Plantations of Yams, Fruit Trees, Walls, Fences and all other and Singular

the Rights Commodities to them and each and every of them belonging

or Appertaining Unto the Said Richard Goodwin in trust and for the

use of them the Said Severall Persons before mentioned their heirs

Executors, Administrators or Allowed Assigns from the day of the date

hereof for and during all the Space or Term of Twenty one Years from

thence next Ensuing Upon Condition that they the said Elizabeth,

Erasmus, John and Eleanor their heirs, Executors, Administrators or

Allowed Assigns shall and do bear true Faith and Allegiance to Our

Sovereign Lord King George his heirs and Successours and to them the

Said Honourable Company and their Successours and shall duly

Observe and Obey all the laws and Constitutions of the said Island

and upon Condition also that they the Said Elizabeth, Erasmus

John and Eleanor their heirs and Executors, Administrators or Allowed

Assigns shall and do from time to time and at all times hereafter

during the Term of this Present Lease keep up and Maintain in good

Order and Sufficient and legall Repair all such Buildings, Houses

Edifices, Sheds, Tenements, Plantations and Fences as now are or

hereafter shall be Made, Built or Erected thereon and shall Moreover

Plant keep up and Maintain and Preserve in and upon the Said

hereby Demised parcell of Land its full Quantity or Proportion of Wood

being one Tenth Part of the Said Parcell of Land and shall likewise plant

and preserve Furze withinside or without the Fences of the said parcell

of Land and shall plant Fruit Trees such as Apple, Lemon, Mulberry or

Peach Trees in such parts thereof wherein they are most likely to Grow and

as they shall happen to decay or die shall Plant others of the like Sorts

thereon without hurt or Prejudice Nevertheless to any part of such

Land as shall be sett apart for the Sole Purpose of Planting or Raising

of Yams, YEILDING and Paying therefore yearly and every year

Margin Notes:

S Burling Jun r

The Company, owners of the island, rented 6 acres to Richard Goodwin, executor of the will of the late Solomon Burling. The Company's own unused land lay to the north and east, Solomon Burling's ground to the south, and Richard Goodwin's own land to the west.

Richard Goodwin held the parcel in trust for Elizabeth, widow of Solomon Burling, and for the three children of the marriage, Erasmus, John and Eleanor. One third went to the widow for as long as she lived within the term of the lease, and the remaining two thirds to the three children.

Everything on the parcel passed with it: the timber, the water and its channels, the houses, buildings, sheds and outbuildings, the yam beds, the fruit trees, the walls and fences, and every other benefit attached to the ground.

Richard Goodwin held it on behalf of the beneficiaries, their children and anyone the family was allowed to pass it on to, for 21 years from the date of the agreement.

Elizabeth, Erasmus, John and Eleanor Burling and those after them had to stay loyal to the King and to the Company, and to keep the island's laws.

They also had to keep every house, building, shed, outbuilding, plantation and fence in sound repair for the whole term, whatever stood there then or was put up later. They had to plant a tenth of the parcel with wood and keep that stand alive and growing. Furze had to go in along the fences, on whichever face suited. Apple, lemon, mulberry and peach trees had to be planted wherever they stood the best chance, and whenever one died another of the same kind had to take its place. None of this could cut into whatever part of the ground the family kept for growing yams.

Interpretations

Two Burling trusts were sealed on the same day, and they name different families. The parcel of 2 acres and a half went to three trustees for Elizabeth, widow of John Burling, and their sons Matthew, Erasmus and John. This 6 acres goes to a single trustee for Elizabeth, widow of Solomon Burling, and the children Erasmus, John and Eleanor. Both widows share a name and both families a pair of sons' names, so the two Burling men were probably brothers whose households the Company settled together at one sitting.

A single trustee here against three for the neighbouring grant marks the difference in what was being protected. The larger trust held ground that formed part of a wider estate settlement including the 21 acres and a half called Bush Farm, bought from Joseph Bates for £180 0s 0d on 15 July 1738, and needed the executors of the will acting jointly. This smaller parcel required only the one executor named in Solomon Burling's will.

The widow's third again ran only while she lived within the 21-year term, so her share was a life interest carved out of the whole rather than an outright portion. That division, a third to the widow and two thirds among the children, follows the customary split of a dead man's estate, and the Company wrote the family settlement straight into the lease.

Eleanor Burling is the one daughter among the six children named across the two trusts, and she takes an equal share with her brothers rather than a lesser one. The register shows the same equal treatment in the will of Onesiphorus Steward, whose 10 acres passed in equal parts to his son Francis and his daughters Mary and Martha.

Richard Goodwin appears through the register as a free planter who dealt repeatedly in ground held in right of his wife, selling 40 acres in a branch of James Valley to Francis Wrangham for £200 0s 0d on 20 November 1725 and 20 acres called Alexander's Land to James Ryder for £130 0s 0d ten days later. He served as chapel warden and overseer of the poor, acted as attorney for Joseph Coles of Sumatra, and took his own James Valley back strip from the Company on 19 September 1738. His land bounding this parcel to the west explains why the trust fell to him.

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39

During the Term of this Present Lease Unto them the Said Honourable

Company their Successours Agents, Assigns the Sum of Five Shillings ⅌ Acre

in at or upon the Feast of S t Michael the Arch Angel yearly And upon

farther Condition that they the Said Elizabeth, Erasmus, John and

Eleanor their heirs, Executors, Administrators or Allowed Assigns shall

not Alter or Remove the said Fences they being the Limits or Land

Marks of the parcell of Land Aforesaid and shall not Sell or dispose of

this Lease or Interest therein without the leave and Consent of the

Governour and Council for the time being In Witness whereof he the

Said Executor hath sett his hand and Seal this Thirtieth day of September

in the year of Our Lord 1738 And they the Said Honourable Company

to the Other part of these Presents hath Affixed their Common Seale the

day and year before written Rich d Goodwin

Signed Sealed and Delivered

in the presence of

Six Acres

N

W

S E

The Lords Proprietors of this Island

the Honourable the United Company of Merchants of England

Trading to the East Indies Do hereby Demise Grant Sett and

to Farm Lett Unto Thomas Greentree and James Ryder Executors of the last

Will and Testament of James Greentree dec d All that piece or parcell of

Land in Sandy Bay Containing Twenty Five Acres Butting and

Bounding North & East upon the Lands of Thomas Greentree, South upon

the Lands in the Possession of Elizabeth Greentree & West upon the Lands belonging to the Company

Margin Notes:

[...]greentree

The rent came to 5 shillings an acre a year, due to the Company at Michaelmas.

Elizabeth, Erasmus, John and Eleanor Burling and those after them could not move or pull down the fences, since those marked out where the ground ended. Nor could they sell the lease or hand on their interest in it without leave from the Governor and Council.

Richard Goodwin signed the agreement on 30 September 1738, and the Company sealed its own copy the same day.

Signed before D[...].

A plan drawn on the page shows the parcel as a long block with a pointed head, alongside a compass rose marking north, south, east and west. The figure is annotated 6 acres.

The Company, owners of the island, rented 25 acres in Sandy Bay to Thomas Greentree and James Ryder, the executors of the will of the late James Greentree. Thomas Greentree's own ground lay to the north and east, land then held by Elizabeth Greentree to the south, and land held by [...] to the west. The two men held the parcel in trust.

Interpretations

The plan drawn beside the text gives the parcel a pointed head at one end, which fits ground running to a corner between the Company's waste on two sides and the neighbouring holdings of Solomon Burling and Richard Goodwin. These annexed drawings settled the extent of a grant where the stated acreage and the ground disagreed, so the shape on the page carried more weight than the figure written into the lease.

Richard Goodwin sealed alone here, where the neighbouring Burling trust of the same day carried the separate seals of Duke Crispe, John Bazett and Matthew Purling. A sole executor binds himself with one seal, while trustees acting jointly each had to be bound in his own person, since any one of them might later answer for the others' handling of the estate.

James Greentree appears through the register as a substantial Sandy Bay accumulator, confirmed in 60 acres across three parcels on 4 August 1713 with a further 25 acres leased the same day. He bought 20 acres in Sandy Bay from Gabriel Powell for £86 0s 0d on 11 March 1703, taking the slave Oliver and a half share in a still with the ground, and Richard Cleve's rebuilt James Valley house for £150 0s 0d on 22 June 1715. His twin leases of 21 May 1719 at Gabriel's Gut and Blood Bottom both ran on the lives of his three sons Thomas, John and James.

Thomas Greentree, one of those three sons, acts here as executor of his father's will while holding the ground on two sides of the parcel. He appears repeatedly in that role through the 1750s, winding up the Ryder estates with Richard Beale in 1753 and acting as trustee of the subscription raised for the aged planter William Seale on 15 July 1758.

Elizabeth Greentree, widow, holding the southern boundary received the lease sealed 14 September 1731 covering 5 acres and a half in Lemon Valley, backdated to 25 September 1724 because she had held the ground informally for nearly seven years. The register later ties one child's share of the Griffith estate to her death, so she survived well into the 1740s.

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In trust and for the use nevertheless of Elizabeth

late the Wife of him the Said James Greentree and of all such Children by

them begotten Excepting Thomas Greentree and Elizabeth the Wife of

James Ryder, being two Sons and three Daughters Vizt James, Richard

Sarah, Mary, and Susannah, that is to Say, one third part thereof for the

Use of her the Said Elizabeth Greentree Widow during the Term of this

Lease if She shall so long live and the Other two third parts thereof for

the Use of his Said five Children To have and to hold the said

hereby Demised parcell of Land and every part and parcell thereof

together with all and Singular the Wood, Water, Water Courses, Houses

Buildings, Edifices Sheds Tenements Yams and Plantations of Yams

Fruit trees Walls Fences and all other and Singular the Rights

Commodities to them and each and every of them belonging or

Appertaining Unto them the Said Thomas Greentree and James Ryder

in trust and for the Use of them the Said Widow and Said Children their

heirs, Executors, Administrators or Allowed Assigns from the day of the

Date hereof for and during all the Space or Term of Twenty one years

from thence next Ensuing UPON CONDITION that they the said

Widow and Said Children their Heirs, Executors, Administrators or Allowed

Assigns shall and do bear true Faith and Allegiance to Our Sovereign

Lord King George his heirs and Successours and to them the Said

Honourable Company and their Successours and shall duly Observe

and Obey all the laws and Constitutions of the said Island AND UPON

CONDITION also that they the Said Widow and Said Children their

heirs and Executors, Administrators or Allowed Assigns shall and do

from time to time and at all times hereafter during the Term of this

Present Lease keep and Maintain in good Order and Sufficient and

legal Repair all such Buildings, Houses, Edifices, Sheds, Tenements

Plantations and Fences as now are or hereafter shall be made, Built

or Erected thereon and shall Moreover Plant keep up Maintain and

preserve in and upon the Said hereby Demised parcell of Land its

full Quantity, or Proportion of Wood being one Tenth Part of the Said

parcell of Land and shall likewise plant and preserve Furze

withinside or without the Fences of the Said parcell of Land and

shall plant Fruit Trees such as Apple, Lemon, Mulberry or Peach

Trees in such parts thereof wherein they are most likely to Grow and as

they shall happen to decay or die, shall Plant others of the like Sorts

thereon without hurt or Prejudice nevertheless to any part of such

Land as shall be sett apart for the Sole Purpose of Planting or

Raising of Yams YEILDING and Paying therefore yearly and

every year during the Term of this Present Lease unto them the

Said Honourable Company their Successours Agents or Assigns the

Sum of Five Shillings ⅌ Acre in at or upon the Feast of S t Michael

the Arch Angel yearly And upon farther Condition

that they the Said Widow and Said Children their heirs, Executors

Administrators or Allowed Assigns shall not Alter or Remove

The two men held the parcel in trust for Elizabeth, widow of James Greentree, and for the children of that marriage other than Thomas Greentree and Elizabeth, wife of James Ryder. Those remaining five were two sons, James and Richard, and three daughters, Sarah, Mary and Susannah. One third went to the widow for as long as she lived within the term of the lease, and the remaining two thirds to the five children.

Everything on the parcel passed with it: the timber, the water and its channels, the houses, buildings, sheds and outbuildings, the yam beds, the fruit trees, the walls and fences, and every other benefit attached to the ground.

Thomas Greentree and James Ryder held it on behalf of the widow and the five children, their heirs and anyone the family was allowed to pass it on to, for 21 years from the date of the agreement.

The widow and the children and those after them had to stay loyal to the King and to the Company, and to keep the island's laws.

They also had to keep every house, building, shed, outbuilding, plantation and fence in sound repair for the whole term, whatever stood there then or was put up later. They had to plant a tenth of the parcel with wood and keep that stand alive and growing. Furze had to go in along the fences, on whichever face suited. Apple, lemon, mulberry and peach trees had to be planted wherever they stood the best chance, and whenever one died another of the same kind had to take its place. None of this could cut into whatever part of the ground the family kept for growing yams.

The rent came to 5 shillings an acre a year, due to the Company at Michaelmas.

The widow and the children and those after them could not move or pull down the fences.

Interpretations

Two of James Greentree's children are named only to be excluded, and both had already been provided for. Thomas Greentree acts here as one of the two trustees and holds his own ground on two sides of the parcel, while Elizabeth had married James Ryder, the other trustee. A daughter's marriage portion and a son's own established holding each counted as a share already taken, so the remaining five split the two thirds between them.

Both trustees stood to gain from the estate they administered, Thomas as a son and James Ryder as a son-in-law. The Company recorded the double role openly on the face of the grant rather than routing it through some disinterested party, which matches the practice running through the register where the island's small circle of substantial men acted as fiduciaries over ground they also held or bordered.

The three daughters Sarah, Mary and Susannah take equal shares with their brothers James and Richard. The register shows the same equal division in the will of Onesiphorus Steward, whose 10 acres passed in equal parts to his son Francis and his daughters Mary and Martha, and in the Burling trusts sealed the same day where Eleanor Burling shared equally with her brothers.

James Greentree's twin leases of 21 May 1719 at Gabriel's Gut and Blood Bottom both ran on the lives of his three sons Thomas, John and James. This grant names James and Richard among the surviving children but not John, so John had probably died in the intervening nineteen years.

James Ryder appears through the register as a free planter who bought 20 acres called Alexander's Land from Richard Goodwin for £130 0s 0d on 30 November 1725 and took the lease of 30 September 1729 covering 20 acres of gumwood called Beale's Lott in the West Division. His marriage into the Greentree family explains his presence as trustee here.

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41

the said Fences they being the Limits or Land Marks of the Said parcell

of Land Aforesaid and shall not Sell or dispose of this Lease or Interest

therein without the leave and Consent of the Governour and Council

for the time being In Witness whereof they the Said Executors hath

set their hand and Seale this Thirtieth day of September in the

Year of Our Lord 1738 And they the Said Honourable Company to

the Other part of these Presents hath Affixed their Common Seale the

day and year before written

Tho Greentree

Signed Sealed and Delivered

in the presence of

25 Acres

E

S

N

W

The Lords Proprietors of this Island the

Honourable the United Company of Merchants of England Trading

to the East Indies Do hereby Demise Grant Sett and to Farm Lett

unto John Goodwin Esq r Governour and Richard Beale Executors of

the last Will and Testament of John Alexander Gent deceas d All that

piece or parcell of Land containing Nineteen Acres, Butting and Bounding

North and East upon the Lands of him the Said John Alexander dec d South

upon the Lands of Joseph Harding dec d and West upon the Lands of John

Bagley In trust and for the use nevertheless of Mary late the Wife of him

the Said John Alexander dec d and of all such Children by them begotten

Excepting Sarah the Wife of James Powell, being three Sons and three

Daughters Vizt Samuel John, George, Mary, Rebeckah and Rachel

that is to Say, one third part thereof for the Use of her the Said Mary Alexander

Widow during the Term of this Lease if She so long live, and the other two third

parts thereof for the Use of his Said Six Children, To have and to

hold the Said hereby Demised parcell of Land and every part and parcell

thereof together, with all and Singular the Wood, Water, Water Courses Houses

Buildings Edifices Sheds Tenements, Yams and Plantations of Yams Fruit

trees, Walls, Fences and all other and Singular the Rights Commodities to them

and each and every of them belonging or Appertaining Unto them the Said

Margin Notes:

Alexander

19 Acres

The fences marked out where the ground ended, so the family could not move or pull them down. Nor could they sell the lease or hand on their interest in it without leave from the Governor and Council.

The executors signed the agreement on 30 September 1738, and the Company sealed its own copy the same day.

Signed before D[...]. Sealed by Thomas Greentree.

A plan drawn on the page shows the parcel as an irregular figure with many sides, alongside a compass rose marking north, south, east and west. The figure is annotated 25 acres.

The Company, owners of the island, rented 19 acres to John Goodwin, esquire, governor, and Richard Beale, the executors of the will of the late John Alexander, gentleman. John Alexander's own ground lay to the north and east, Joseph Harding's land to the south, and John Bagley's to the west.

The two men held the parcel in trust for Mary, widow of John Alexander, and for the children of that marriage other than Sarah, wife of James Powell. Those remaining six were three sons, Samuel, John and George, and three daughters, Mary, Rebeckah and Rachel. One third went to the widow for as long as she lived within the term of the lease, and the remaining two thirds to the six children.

Everything on the parcel passed with it: the timber, the water and its channels, the houses, buildings, sheds and outbuildings, the yam beds, the fruit trees, the walls and fences, and every other benefit attached to the ground.

Interpretations

Four family trusts were sealed at this one sitting, all built on the same pattern. The widow takes a third for her life within the term, the children divide the remaining two thirds, and any child already provided for is named and excluded. Elizabeth Greentree's daughter had married James Ryder and Thomas Greentree held his own ground, so both dropped out. Here Sarah Alexander had married James Powell, and she drops out on the same reasoning. The Company was settling several estates of recently dead men in a single afternoon using one standard form.

John Alexander was the most persistent figure in the whole register. He served as clerk of the council and register from at least 1686, certifying true copies across decades and witnessing an enormous number of transactions, and he supervised the recopying of the register in December 1707 after rats damaged the original book. He also accumulated substantially, buying Elinor Cotgrave's 70 acres in Youngs Valley for £90 0s 0d on 23 May 1712 and Elizabeth Haswell's 10 acres in Sandy Bay with its house and provisions for £480 0s 0d on 16 May 1719.

The governor standing as one of the two executors marks the standing of the dead man rather than any peculiarity of the estate. Richard Beale as the other served repeatedly in that role, later winding up the estates of Elizabeth Ryder in 1753 and John Bazett in 1758.

Alexander's orphans held the ground bounding John Desfountain's 13-acre parcel under the Main Ridge, sealed the same day. John Desfountain had married Mary, the eldest daughter of John Alexander, under the family settlement of 8 February 1722 by which Ripin Wills made over his whole estate to the couple, so the Alexander and Desfountain families held adjoining ground through that marriage.

Joseph Harding on the southern boundary took 17 acres near a parcel formerly Joseph Pledger's when he and his brother James divided their inherited estate by articles in 1729, each taking a defined share in severalty.

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John Goodwin Esq r and Richard Beale in trust and for the Use

of them the Said Widow and Said Children their Heirs Executors

Administrators or Allowed Assigns from the day of the Date hereof

for and during all the Space or Term of Twenty one Years from thence

next Ensuing Upon Condition that they the Said Widow and Said

Children their Heirs, Executors, Administrators or Allowed Assigns

Shall and do bear true Faith and Allegiance to Our Sovereign Lord

King George his Heirs and Successors and to them the Said Honourable

Company and their Successors and Shall duly Observe and Obey all

the Laws and Constitutions of the Said Island And Upon

Condition also that they the Said Widow and Said Children

their heirs, Executors, Administrators or Allowed Assigns

Shall and do from time to time and at all times hereafter during

the Term of this Present Lease keep up and Maintain in good

Order and Sufficient and Legall Repair all Such Buildings,

Houses, Edifices, Sheds, Tenements Plantations and Fences

as now are or hereafter Shall be made, Built or Erected thereon

and Shall Moreover Plant keep up Maintain and Preserve

in and upon the Said hereby Demised parcell of Land its full

Quantity or Proportion of Wood being one Tenth part of the

Said Parcell of Land and Shall likewise Plant and Preserve

Furze within Side or without the Fences of the Said Parcell

of Land and Shall Plant Fruit trees such as Apple, Lemon,

Mulbery or Peach trees in such Parts thereof wherein they

are most likely to Grow and as they Shall happen to Decay

or die, Shall Plant others of the like Sorts thereon without

hurt or Prejudice nevertheless to any Part of Such Land as

as Shall be Sett apart for the Sole Purpose of Planting

or Raising of Yams YEILDING and Paying therefore

Yearly and every Year during the Term of this Present Lease

Unto them the Said Honourable Company Their Successors

Agents or Assigns the Sum of Five Shillings ⅌ Acre in at

or Upon the Feast of S t Michael the Arch Angel Yearly

And Upon farther Condition that they the

Said Widow and Said Children their Heirs, Executors,

Administrators or Allowed Assigns shall not Alter or Remove

the Said Fences they being the Limits or Land Marks of the

Parcell of Land Aforesaid and Shall not Sell or dispose of this

Lease or Interest therein without the leave and Consent of the

Governour and Council for the time being In Witness whereof

they the Said Executors hath Sett their hands and Seales this

Thirtieth day of September in the Year of Our Lord One

Thousand Seven Hundred and Thirty Eight and they the Said

John Goodwin and Richard Beale held the ground on behalf of the widow and the six children, their heirs and anyone the family was allowed to pass it on to, for 21 years from the date of the agreement.

The widow and the children and those after them had to stay loyal to the King and to the Company, and to keep the island's laws.

They also had to keep every house, building, shed, outbuilding, plantation and fence in sound repair for the whole term, whatever stood there then or was put up later. They had to plant a tenth of the parcel with wood and keep that stand alive and growing. Furze had to go in along the fences, on whichever face suited. Apple, lemon, mulberry and peach trees had to be planted wherever they stood the best chance, and whenever one died another of the same kind had to take its place. None of this could cut into whatever part of the ground the family kept for growing yams.

The rent came to 5 shillings an acre a year, due to the Company at Michaelmas.

The widow and the children and those after them could not move or pull down the fences, since those marked out where the ground ended. Nor could they sell the lease or hand on their interest in it without leave from the Governor and Council.

The two executors signed the agreement on 30 September 1738.

Interpretations

At 5 shillings an acre the yearly charge on 19 acres came to £4 15s 0d. The widow's third of that ran to about £1 11s 8d worth of the holding, and the six children divided the balance, so no single child's share amounted to much more than 10 shillings a year in rental terms. What mattered to the family was not the income but the standing crop and the security of a fixed tenure while the children grew up.

The four family trusts sealed on 30 September 1738 cover ground of very different size, from the 2 acres and a half held for the John Burling family to this 19 acres and the 25 acres held for the Greentrees. Every one carries the same conditions word for word, so the Company applied a single settled form regardless of what the estate was worth.

A trust of this kind kept the ground out of the reach of anyone who might later marry the widow. Mary Alexander's third ran only while she lived, and her interest could not be sold or assigned without the Council's leave, so a second husband could not have converted the family's ground into cash. The register shows the same protective structure used for the Beale orphans in 1713, whose estate was ringed by adult holders acting as an institutional perimeter.

The planting duties fell on a widow and six children rather than on an active planter, which raises a practical difficulty the lease does not address. Someone had to work the ground, plant the tenth in wood, keep the furze along the fences and replace dead fruit trees, and the two executors were the only adults named. John Goodwin was governor of the island and Richard Beale a substantial holder in his own right, so the day-to-day work must have fallen to hired hands or slaves rather than to the trustees themselves.

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43

Honourable Company to the other Part of these Presents hath

Affixed their Common Seale the day and Year before written

Signed Sealed and Delivered

in the presence of

Rich d Beale

Nineteen Acres

S N

E

The Lords Proprietors of this Island the Honourable

the United Company of Merchants of England Trading to the East

Indies Do hereby Demise Grant Sett and to Farm Lett Unto John

Goodwin Esq r Governour and Richard Beale Executors of the last Will and

Testament of John Alexander Gent deceas d All that piece or parcell of Land

containing Sixteen Acres lying near the head of Powells Valley Butting and

Bounding North and West upon the Free Lands of him the Said John Alexander

dec d South upon the Lands of Orlando Bagley and East upon the Lands of

Gabriel Harper In trust and for the Use Nevertheless of Mary late the Wife

of him the Said John Alexander dec d and of all such Children by them begotten

Excepting Sarah the Wife of James Powell being three Sons and three

Daughters Vizt Samuel, John, George, Mary, Rebeckah and Rachel, that

is to Say, one Third part thereof for the Use of her the Said Mary Alexander

Widow during the Term of this Lease if She shall so long live and the other

two third parts thereof for the Use of his Said Six Children To have

and to hold the said hereby Demised parcell of land and every part

and parcell thereof together with all and Singular the Wood Water, Water

Courses, Houses, Buildings, Edifices, Sheds, Tenements, Yams & Plantations

of yams, Fruit Trees Walls, Fences and All other and Singular the Rights

Commodities to them and each and every of them belonging or Appertaining

Unto them the Said John Goodwin Esq r and Richard Beale in trust and

for the Use of them the Said Widow and Said Children their Heirs, Executors

Administrators or Allowed Assigns from the day of the Date hereof for and

During all the Space or Term of Twenty one Year from thence next Ensuing

Upon Condition that they the said Widow and Said Children their

Heirs, Executors, Administrators or Allowed Assigns Shall and do bear

Margin Notes:

Alexander

16 Acres

The Company sealed its own copy on the same day.

Signed before D[...]. Sealed by Richard Beale.

A plan drawn on the page shows the parcel as a six-sided figure, alongside a compass mark for south and north. The figure is annotated 19 acres.

The Company, owners of the island, rented 16 acres near the head of Powell's Valley to John Goodwin, esquire, governor, and Richard Beale, the executors of the will of the late John Alexander, gentleman. John Alexander's own free land lay to the north and west, Orlando Bagley's ground to the south, and Gabriel Harper's to the east.

The two men held the parcel in trust for Mary, widow of John Alexander, and for the children of that marriage other than Sarah, wife of James Powell. Those remaining six were three sons, Samuel, John and George, and three daughters, Mary, Rebeckah and Rachel. One third went to the widow for as long as she lived within the term of the lease, and the remaining two thirds to the six children.

Everything on the parcel passed with it: the timber, the water and its channels, the houses, buildings, sheds and outbuildings, the yam beds, the fruit trees, the walls and fences, and every other benefit attached to the ground.

John Goodwin and Richard Beale held it on behalf of the widow and the six children, their heirs and anyone the family was allowed to pass it on to, for 21 years from the date of the agreement.

The widow and the children and those after them had to stay loyal to the King and to the Company.

Interpretations

This is the second parcel settled on the same family at the same sitting, following the 19 acres bounded by Joseph Harding and John Bagley. The Alexander estate was therefore substantial enough to require separate leases for ground lying in different quarters, and the same six children and the same widow take identical shares in both.

Powell's Valley ran through the register as Bagley country. Orlando Bagley was confirmed in 23 acres at the head of the valley on 4 August 1713 and leased 40 more the same day, and Margaret Bagley held 26 acres there under a lease sealed on her behalf by Orlando Bagley as executor. Combined Bagley holdings in the valley reached 89 acres, so the ground bounding this parcel to the south had been in that family for a generation.

Orlando Bagley senior also received the lease sealed 14 September 1731 covering four parcels making 8 acres, including 2 acres of hay land, set among the holdings of Samuel Doveton, Richard Finsly, Captain John Alexander and the widow Bridget Bazett below the Main Ridge. Bagley's leases and the Alexander ground evidently ran together across that quarter.

Gabriel Harper on the eastern boundary is a name the register carries chiefly through his orphans, who held the James Valley house adjoining the dwelling William Turner bought on 13 December 1753. The Harper family ran across the island through Thomas, Martin and Gabriel Harper, holding ground in Swanley Valley, at Hodges Hill and near the stone pasture.

John Alexander is described here as gentleman, the rank he had reached by the end of a career that began as clerk of the council and register by 1686. The register also names a Captain John Alexander holding ground in the same period, and the two are probably the same man at different points in his standing.

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true faith and Allegiance to Our Sovereign Lord King George his heirs

and Successours And to them the Said Honourable Company and their

Successours and shall duly Observe and Obey all Laws and Constitutions of

the said Island And upon Condition also that they the Said Widow

and Said Children their Heirs, Executors, Administrators or Allowed Assigns

shall and do from time to time and at all times hereafter during the Term of

this Present Lease keep up and Maintain in good Order and Sufficient and

Legal Repair all such Buildings, Houses, Edifices, Sheds, Tenements Plantati=

ons and Fences as now are or hereafter shall be made, Built or Erected

thereon and shall Moreover Plant keep up Maintain and preserve in and

upon the Said hereby Demised parcell of Land its full Quantity or proportion

of Wood being One Tenth part of the Said Parcell of Land and shall likewise

Plant and Preserve Furze withinside or without the Fences of the Said

parcell of Land and shall plant fruit trees such as Apple, Lemon, Mulbery

or Peach trees in such parts thereof wherein they are most likely to Grow

and as they shall happen to decay or die, shall Plant Others of the like

Sorts thereon without hurt or Prejudice Nevertheless to any part of such

Land as shall be sett Apart for the Sole Purpose of Planting or Raising of yams

YEILDING and Paying Therefore yearly and every year during the

Term of this present Lease Unto them the Said Honourable Company

Their Successours Agents or Assigns the Sum of Five Shillings ⅌ Acre in

at or upon The Feast of S t Michael the Arch Angel yearly And

upon farther Condition that they the Said Widow and Said Children

their heirs, Executors, Administrators or Allowed Assigns shall not Alter

or Remove the Said Fences they being the Limits or Land Marks of the

Parcell of Land Aforesaid and shall not Sell or dispose of this Lease or

Interest therein without the leave and Consent of the Governour and

Council for the time being In Witness whereof they the Said Executors

hath sett their hand and Seale this Thirtieth day of September in the

year of Our Lord 1738 And they the Said Honourable Company to the

Other part of these Presents hath Affixed their Common Seale the

day and year before written

Signed Sealed and Delivered

in the presence of

Rich d Beale

W

Free Land

S N

E

Margin Notes:

Alex[...]

20 [...]

The widow and children also had to keep the island's laws.

They had to keep every house, building, shed, outbuilding, plantation and fence in sound repair for the whole term, whatever stood there then or was put up later. They had to plant a tenth of the parcel with wood and keep that stand alive and growing. Furze had to go in along the fences, on whichever face suited. Apple, lemon, mulberry and peach trees had to be planted wherever they stood the best chance, and whenever one died another of the same kind had to take its place. None of this could cut into whatever part of the ground the family kept for growing yams.

The rent came to 5 shillings an acre a year, due to the Company at Michaelmas.

The widow and the children and those after them could not move or pull down the fences, since those marked out where the ground ended. Nor could they sell the lease or hand on their interest in it without leave from the Governor and Council.

The two executors signed the agreement on 30 September 1738, and the Company sealed its own copy the same day.

Signed before D[...]. Sealed by Richard Beale.

A plan drawn on the page shows the leased parcel adjoining a larger block marked as free land, with a compass rose giving north, south, east and west.

Interpretations

The plan sets the rented ground against the family's own freehold and labels the second block plainly as free land, which is the only drawing in this run to distinguish the two tenures on the same sheet. The register's text had already given John Alexander's free land as the northern and western boundary, so the surveyor drew both together to show how the leasehold completed a holding the family part owned outright.

Two Alexander parcels were settled at this sitting, 19 acres in one quarter and 16 near the head of Powell's Valley, and both carry identical conditions and identical shares. At 5 shillings an acre the two together produced a yearly charge of £8 15s 0d, so the widow's third across both amounted to a little under £3 0s 0d worth of the holding.

Richard Beale sealed both leases while John Goodwin, as governor, was named a trustee but does not appear among the seals on this page. A single trustee's seal sufficed where the two acted together, unlike the Burling trust of the same day where Duke Crispe, John Bazett and Matthew Purling each sealed separately.

The clause protecting yam ground appears in every one of these grants and marks the one point where the Company's planting programme gave way. Yams fed the island and victualled the shipping lying in the road, so a tenth given to timber with fruit trees scattered besides could not be allowed to eat into the beds.

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The Lords Proprietors of this Island the Honourable

the United Company of Merchants of England Trading to the East

Indies Do hereby Demise Grant Sett and to Farm Lett unto John

Goodwin Esq r Governour and Richard Beale Executors of the last Will

and Testament of John Alexander Gent deceas d All that piece or parcell

of Gumwood Land containing Twenty Acres Butting and Bounding North

East and South upon the Lands of the Said John Alexander dec d and West

Upon the Lands of John Burling dec d In trust and for the use Nevertheless

Mary late the Wife of him the Said John Alexander dec d and of all such

Children by them begotten (Except Sarah the Wife of James Powell) being three

Sons and three Daughters Vizt Samuel, John, George, Mary, Rebeckah and

Rachel that is to Say, One third part thereof for the use of her the Said Mary

Alexander Widow during the Term of this Lease, if She shall so long live and

the other Two third parts thereof for the Use of his Said Six Children To have

and to hold the Said hereby Demised parcell of Land and every part and

Parcell thereof Together with all and Singular the Wood, Water, Water Courses

Houses, Building, Edifices, Sheds Tenements, Yams and Plantations of yams

Fruit Trees Walls, Fences and all other and Singular the Rights

Commodities to them and each and every of them belonging or Appertaining

unto them the Said John Goodwin Esq r and Richard Beale Intrust and for the

use of them the Said Widow and Said Children their Heirs, Executors

Administrators or Allowed Assigns, from the day of the Date hereof for

and during all the space or Term of Twenty one years from thence next

Ensuing Upon Condition that they the Said Widow and Said Children

their Heirs, Executors, Administrators or Allowed Assigns shall and do bear

true Faith and Allegiance to Our Sovereign Lord King George his heirs

and Successours and to them the Said Honourable Company and their

Successours and shall duly Observe and Obey all the Laws and Constitutions

of the Said Island And upon Condition also that they the Said

Widow and Said Children their heirs, Executors, Administrators or Allowed

Assigns shall and do from time to time and at all times hereafter during

the Term of this Present Lease keep up and Maintain in good Order and

Sufficient and legal Repair all such Buildings Houses, Edifices, Sheds

Tenements, Plantations and Fences as now are or hereafter shall be Made

Built or Erected thereon and shall Moreover Plant keep up Maintain & preserve

in and Upon the Said hereby Demised parcell of Land its full Quantity or

Proportion of Wood being One Tenth Part of the Said parcell of Land and shall

likewise Plant and preserve Furze withinside or without the Fences of the

Said parcell of Land and shall Plant Fruit Trees such as Apple Lemon

Mulbery or Peach Trees in such Parts thereof wherein they are most likely

to Grow and as they shall happen to decay or die shall Plant Others of the

like sorts thereon without hurt or Prejudice Nevertheless to any part of such

Land as shall be sett Apart for the Sole Purpose of Planting or Raising

of Yams YEILDING and Paying Therefore yearly and every year

during the Term of this Present Lease Unto them the Said Honourable

Margin Notes:

Alexander

20 Acres

The Company, owners of the island, rented 20 acres of gumwood land to John Goodwin, esquire, governor, and Richard Beale, the executors of the will of the late John Alexander, gentleman. John Alexander's own ground lay to the north, east and south, and the land of the late John Purling to the west.

The two men held the parcel in trust for Mary, widow of John Alexander, and for the children of that marriage other than Sarah, wife of James Powell. Those remaining six were three sons, Samuel, John and George, and three daughters, Mary, Rebeckah and Rachel. One third went to the widow for as long as she lived within the term of the lease, and the remaining two thirds to the six children.

Everything on the parcel passed with it: the timber, the water and its channels, the houses, buildings, sheds and outbuildings, the yam beds, the fruit trees, the walls and fences, and every other benefit attached to the ground.

John Goodwin and Richard Beale held it on behalf of the widow and the six children, their heirs and anyone the family was allowed to pass it on to, for 21 years from the date of the agreement.

The widow and the children and those after them had to stay loyal to the King and to the Company, and to keep the island's laws.

They also had to keep every house, building, shed, outbuilding, plantation and fence in sound repair for the whole term, whatever stood there then or was put up later. They had to plant a tenth of the parcel with wood and keep that stand alive and growing. Furze had to go in along the fences, on whichever face suited. Apple, lemon, mulberry and peach trees had to be planted wherever they stood the best chance, and whenever one died another of the same kind had to take its place. None of this could cut into whatever part of the ground the family kept for growing yams.

Interpretations

This is the third Alexander parcel settled at the same sitting, after the 19 acres bounded by Joseph Harding and John Bagley and the 16 acres near the head of Powell's Valley. Together the three came to 55 acres, all held on identical terms for the same widow and the same six children, which places John Alexander among the more substantial holders on the island at his death.

The ground is specifically described as gumwood land, unlike the other two parcels. Gumwood was one of the island's endemic timbers, slow-growing and tolerant of thin exposed soil, and the leases running through this period name it alongside redwood and cabbage tree wood as the species the Company wanted planted. A parcel already carrying gumwood would have satisfied the requirement to keep a tenth of the ground in wood more readily than open pasture.

John Alexander's own land bounds this parcel on three of its four sides, so the lease filled a gap almost entirely enclosed by ground the family held already. The register shows the Company repeatedly letting such fragments to whoever farmed up against them, which saved fresh fencing and turned scattered pieces into a single block.

John Purling appears through the register as a man whose estate was wound up by Duke Crispe and Matthew Purling as executors. They sold the Purling family's one-eighth share of the Bazett estate to John Bazett in 1738, and Elizabeth Purling, the widow, was herself a daughter of Matthew Bazett. Purling ground also recurs as a boundary through the Deep Valley leaseholds.

The trustees were the same pair across all three Alexander leases, the governor of the island and Richard Beale. Beale's repeated service in this capacity, later winding up the estates of Elizabeth Ryder in 1753 and John Bazett in 1758, marks him as one of the small circle of men the island relied on to manage estates for widows and children.

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Company their Successours Agents or Assigns the sum of Five Shillings

⅌ Acre in at or upon the Feast of S t Michael the Arch Angel yearly

And upon farther Condition that they the Said Widow and Said

Children their heirs, Executors, Administrators or Allowed Assigns shall

not Alter or Remove the said Fences they being the Limits or Land

Marks of the Parcell of Land Aforesaid and shall not sell or dispose of

this Lease or Interest therein without the leave and Consent of the

Governour and Council for the time being In Witness whereof they the

Said Executors hath sett their hands and Seals this Thirtieth day of

September in the year of Our Lord 1738 And they the Said Honourable

Company to the Other part of these Presents hath Affixed their Common

Seale the day and year before written

Signed Sealed and Delivered

in the presence of

Rich d Beale

The rent came to 5 shillings an acre a year, due to the Company at Michaelmas.

The widow and the children and those after them could not move or pull down the fences, since those marked out where the ground ended. Nor could they sell the lease or hand on their interest in it without leave from the Governor and Council.

The two executors signed the agreement on 30 September 1738, and the Company sealed its own copy the same day.

Signed before D[...]. Sealed by Richard Beale.

Interpretations

At 5 shillings an acre the yearly charge on 20 acres came to £5 0s 0d. Across all three Alexander parcels of 19, 16 and 20 acres the family owed £13 15s 0d a year, of which the widow's third fell on a little over £4 11s 8d worth of the holding.

Two seals stand on the page against a single signature. Richard Beale signed and sealed, and the second impression belongs to the Company's common seal on its own copy of the agreement, which the text describes as being affixed the same day.

The three Alexander leases were the last in a run of family settlements sealed at this sitting, following the two Burling trusts and the Greentree parcel of 25 acres. Every one of the six followed the same pattern: a widow's third for life within the term, the rest divided among the children, and any child already married off or otherwise provided for named and excluded. The Company evidently cleared several estates of recently dead men in one afternoon using a single settled form.

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The Lords Proprietors of this Island the Hon ble the United

Company of Merchants of England Trading to the East Indies DO

HEREBY Demise Grant Sett and to Farm Lett unto Frances

Carne & Richard Goodwin of the Said Island, Planter ALL that

Peice or Parcell of Land containing Forty Acres Butting and

Bounding North & West upon the Honourable Companies Wast Land East

upon other the Lands of them the Said Richard Goodwin & Frances

Carne & South upon the Lands of Francis Wrangham Planter

that is to Say one half part for the Use and Benefit of her the

Said Frances Carne & the other half part thereof for the Use &

benefit of him the Said Richard Goodwin & their Severall heirs

Executors, Administrators or allowed Assigns, To have and

to hold the Said hereby Demised Parcell of Land & every part and

Parcell thereof together with all & Singular the Wood Water, Water

Courses Houses & Buildings, Edifices, Sheds Tenements Yams &

Plantations of Yams, Fruit Trees Walls Fences & all other and

Singular the Rights Commodities to them Each & every of them

belonging or Appertaining Unto them the Said Frances Carne

& Richard Goodwin their Heirs Executors Administrators or

allowed Assigns from the day of the date hereof for & during all

the Space or Term of Twenty one Years from thence next ensuing

Upon Condition that they the Said Frances Carne & Richard

Goodwin their Heirs Ex rs Adm rs or allowed Assigns shall & do bear

true Faith and Allegiance to our Sovereign Lord, King George, his

heirs and Successours & to them the Said Hon ble Company & their

Successours & shall duly observe & obey all the Laws & Constitutions

of the Said Island And Upon Condition also that they the Said

Frances Carne & Richard Goodwin their Heirs Ex rs Adm rs or allowed

Assigns shall & do from time to time, & at all times hereafter during

the Term of this Present Lease keep up and Maintain in good Order

& Sufficient & Legal Repair all Such Buildings Houses Edifices

Sheds Tenements, Plantations & Fences as now are or shall be

made, Built or Erected thereon & shall moreover Plant keep up &

maintain in & upon the Said hereby Demised Parcell of Land its

full quantity or Proportion of Wood being one tenth part of the Said

Parcell of Land & shall likewise Plant & preserve Furze withinside

or without the Fences of the Said Parcell of Land & shall Plant Fruit

Trees such as Apple, Lemon, Mulberry or Peach Trees in such

parts thereof wherein they are most likely to Grow, & as they shall

happen to decay or die shall replant thereof the like Sorts thereon

without hurt or Prejudice Nevertheless to any Part of Such Land

as shall be Sett apart for the Sole Purpose of Planting & raising

of Yams YEILDING & paying therefore Yearly & every year

during the Term of this Present Lease unto them the Said Hon ble

Company their Successours Agents or Assigns the Sum of five

Shillings ⅌ Acre in at or upon the Feast of S t Michaell the Arch Angel

And upon farther Condition that they the Said Frances Carne

& Richard Goodwin their Heirs Ex rs Adm rs or allowed Assigns shall

not alter or remove the Said Fences they being the Limits or

Land marks of the Parcell of Land aforesaid & shall not Sell or

dispose of this Lease or Interest therein without the Leave and

Consent of the Governour and Council for the time being In Witness

Margin Notes:

M rs Carne

& R d Goodwin

The Company, owners of the island, rented 40 acres to Frances Carne and Richard Goodwin of the island, planter. The Company's unused land lay to the north and east, 15 acres then held by Richard Goodwin and Frances Carne to the west, and Francis Wrangham's ground to the south. One half of the parcel went to Frances Carne and the other half to Richard Goodwin.

Everything on the parcel passed with it: the timber, the water and its channels, the houses, buildings, sheds and outbuildings, the yam beds, the fruit trees, the walls and fences, and every other benefit attached to the ground.

Frances Carne and Richard Goodwin, their heirs and anyone they were allowed to pass it on to, held the ground for 21 years from the date of the agreement.

They and those after them had to stay loyal to the King and to the Company, and to keep the island's laws.

They also had to keep every house, building, shed, outbuilding, plantation and fence in sound repair for the whole term, whatever stood there then or was put up later. They had to plant a tenth of the parcel with wood and keep that stand alive and growing. Furze had to go in along the fences, on whichever face suited. Apple, lemon, mulberry and peach trees had to be planted wherever they stood the best chance, and whenever one died another of the same kind had to take its place. None of this could cut into whatever part of the ground they kept for growing yams.

The rent came to 5 shillings an acre a year, due to the Company at Michaelmas.

They could not move or pull down the fences, since those marked out where the ground ended. Nor could they sell the lease or hand on their interest in it without leave from the Governor and Council.

Interpretations

Frances Carne and Richard Goodwin already held 15 acres together on the western boundary, so this grant of 40 acres more than trebled a joint holding they were building side by side. The register records the two of them selling John Goodwin six acres for £42 0s 0d on 14 March 1730 in a single deed, which gathered the widow's right and Goodwin's own interest into one instrument, so the pairing had run for at least eight years by this date.

Splitting the ground in equal halves rather than granting it undivided marks a difference from the joint leases elsewhere in the register. The gumwood tenancies taken by Gabriel Powell, Francis Wrangham and Edmund Nichols in 1725 and 1727 were held whole, so the survivor would take everything. Here each party takes a defined half, which keeps the two interests separate and lets each pass to its own heirs.

Frances Carne appears throughout the register as the twice-widowed relict of Captain Thomas Goodwin and George Carne, and she signed by mark rather than in her own hand. Her son Richard Goodwin subscribed her James Valley lease of 19 September 1738 for her. She had made a deed of gift in 1725 conveying to her sons John and Richard Goodwin all her right and interest in every estate she held, so a joint grant to her and Richard formalised an arrangement already running between mother and son.

Richard Goodwin held the neighbouring James Valley back strip granted on 19 September 1738 and acted as trustee for the Solomon Burling family at the sitting of 30 September. He dealt repeatedly in ground held in right of his wife Elizabeth, daughter of Bento Pedro, selling 40 acres in a branch of James Valley to Francis Wrangham for £200 0s 0d on 20 November 1725.

Francis Wrangham on the southern boundary held ground alongside the Goodwin family across several quarters, having taken joint gumwood leases with Captain John Goodwin at Lemon Valley in 1726 and the Horse Pasture in the same year.

51

48

whereof they the Said Frances Carne & Richard Goodwin

have hereunto Set their hands & Seales this Thirtieth day

of September in the year of our Lord One Thousand Seven

hundred Thirty Eight, and they the Said Hon ble Company to

the other part of these Presents have affixed their Common

Seale the day & year beforewritten.

Signed Sealed & Delivered Rich Goodwin for my

in the presence of Mother Fra s Carne

Rich Goodwin

N

35 Acres

W

11 Acres

S E

The Lords Proprietors of this Island the Hon ble the United

Company of Merchants of England Trading to the East Indies DO

HEREBY Demise Grant Sett & to Farm Sett unto Thomas

Greentree of the Said Island Planter All those Peices or

Parcells of Land Situate lying & being in Sandy Bay containing

Acres that is to Say Eight Acres thereof Butting and

Bounding North upon the Hon ble Companies Pasture Land, East upon

the Lands of Elizabeth Greentree Widow West upon the Lands of

& South upon other the Lands of him the

Said Thomas Greentree, also other Acres thereof adjoyning to

the Said Eight Acres & Butting and Bounding North & East upon

the Lands of the Hon ble Company West upon the Lands of

Charles Steward & South upon the Leasehold Land of him the Said

Thomas Greentree & the other Acres thereof Butting

& Bounding North

To have and to hold the Said hereby

Demised Parcells of Land & every part & Parcells thereof

together with all & Singular the Wood Water Water Courses Houses

Buildings Edifices Sheds Tenements Yams & Plantations of

Yams Fruit Trees Walls Fences & all other & Singular the Rights

Commodities to them & each & every of them belonging or

Appertaining unto him the Said Thomas Greentree his Heirs

Ex rs Adm rs or allowed Assigns from the day of the date hereof for

& during all the Space or Term of Twenty one years from thence

Margin Notes:

Th Greentree

Frances Carne and Richard Goodwin signed the agreement on 30 September 1738, and the Company sealed its own copy the same day.

Signed before D[...]. Richard Goodwin signed for his mother Frances Carne, and signed again in his own name.

Two plans drawn on the page show the parcels, one annotated 35 acres and the other 11 acres, with compass marks giving north, south, east and west.

The Company, owners of the island, rented several parcels in Sandy Bay to Thomas Greentree of the island, planter. Eight acres of them were bounded east by the Company's pasture land, west by Elizabeth Greentree's ground, and south by other land of Thomas Greentree himself. A further eight acres adjoined that first piece, bounded north and east by the Company's parcels, west by Charles Steward's land, and south by Thomas Greentree's own leasehold. A third parcel was bounded to the north [...].

Everything on the parcels passed with them: the timber, the water and its channels, the houses, buildings, sheds and outbuildings, the yam beds, the fruit trees, the walls and fences, and every other benefit attached to the ground.

Thomas Greentree, his heirs and anyone he was allowed to pass them on to, held the ground for 21 years from the date of the agreement.

Interpretations

The plans show two blocks of very different size and shape, one long and irregular at 35 acres and a smaller compact figure at 11 acres. Neither figure matches the 40 acres described in the Carne and Goodwin lease immediately above, so the drawings probably belong with grants recorded on adjoining pages rather than with the text they sit beside. The register placed plans wherever space allowed on the leaf.

Richard Goodwin signed twice, once for his mother and once for himself, which fixes Frances Carne's inability to write beyond doubt. The register shows the same hand subscribing her James Valley lease of 19 September 1738, and she used the mark F C across the Goodwin family settlements of the previous decades.

Thomas Greentree appears here taking several parcels at once, all fitted against ground he already held. He was one of the three sons of James Greentree named as lives in the twin leases of 21 May 1719 at Gabriel's Gut and Blood Bottom, and he acted as executor of his father's will in the 25-acre Greentree family trust sealed on 30 September 1738.

Elizabeth Greentree, widow, on the western boundary of the first parcel had received the lease sealed 14 September 1731 covering 5 acres and a half in Lemon Valley, backdated to 25 September 1724 because she had occupied the ground informally for nearly seven years. She was the widow whose third share the Greentree family trust protected.

Charles Steward bounding the second parcel held substantial Sandy Bay ground, confirmed in 17 acres and leased 27 more on 4 August 1713, and took a James Valley back strip from the Company on 19 July 1737.

52

49

next ensuing Upon Condition that he the Said Thomas Greentree

his Heirs Ex rs Adm rs or allowed Assigns shall & do bear true

Faith and Allegiance to our Sovereign Lord King George his heirs

& Successours & to them the Said Hon ble Company & their Successours

and Shall duely observe & obey all the Laws & Constitutions of the

Said Island, And upon Condition also that he the Said

Thomas Greentree his Heirs Ex rs Adm rs or allowed Assigns shall

& do from time to time & at all times hereafter during the Term

of this Present Lease keep up & maintain in good order and

Sufficient & Legal Repair all Such Buildings Houses Edifices

Sheds Tenements Plantations and Fences as now are or hereafter shall

be made Built or Erected thereon & shall moreover Plant keep

up and maintain & Preserve in & upon the Said hereby demised

Parcells of Land its full quantity or Proportion of Wood being

one tenth part of the Said Parcells of Land, & shall Plant &

Fruit Trees Such as Apple Lemon Mulberry or Peach Trees

in Such parts thereof wherein they are most likely to Grow & as

they Shall happen to decay or die shall replant others of the like

Sorts thereon without hurt or Prejudice nevertheless of any part of Such

Land as Shall be set apart for the Sole Purpose of Planting & Raising

of Yams. Yeilding & Paying therefore Yearly & every Year during

the Term of this Present Lease unto them the Said Hon ble Company

their Successours Agents or Assigns the Sum of five Shillings ⅌ Acre

in at or upon the Feast of S t Michaell the Arch Angel Yearly And

upon farther Condition that he the Said Thomas Greentree his

Heirs Ex rs Adm rs or allowed Assigns shall not alter the Said Fences

they being the Limits or Land marks of the Parcells of Land

aforesaid & shall not Sell or dispose of this Lease or Interest therein

without the leave & Consent of the Governour & Council for the

time being. IN WITNESS he the Said Thomas Greentree

hath hereunto Set his hand & Seale this Thirtieth day of September

in the year of our Lord one thousand Seven hundred Thirty Eight

And they the Said Hon ble Company have to the other part of

these Presents affixed their Common Seale the day & Year

beforewritten.

Signed Sealed & Delivered

in the Presence of

Thomas Greentree and those after him had to stay loyal to the King and to the Company, and to keep the island's laws.

He also had to keep every house, building, shed, outbuilding, plantation and fence in sound repair for the whole term, whatever stood there then or was put up later. He had to plant a tenth of the parcels with wood and keep that stand alive and growing. Furze had to go in along the fences, on whichever face suited. Apple, lemon, mulberry and peach trees had to be planted wherever they stood the best chance, and whenever one died another of the same kind had to take its place. None of this could cut into whatever part of the ground he kept for growing yams.

The rent came to 5 shillings an acre a year, due to the Company at Michaelmas.

He could not move the fences, since those marked out where the ground ended. Nor could he sell the lease or hand on his interest in it without leave from the Governor and Council.

Thomas Greentree signed the agreement on 30 September 1738, and the Company sealed its own copy the same day.

Interpretations

A correction runs along the margin of this page, inserted where the clerk had first written the planting clause. The insertion covers the requirement to plant and preserve furze inside or outside the fences, which the original text had omitted, so the standard form was patched into place after the body had been engrossed. Marginal additions of this kind carried the same force as the body of the deed, and the register elsewhere treats a note supplying a missing term as part of the agreement itself.

The words "and fences" appear as a further insertion above the line in the repair clause, again supplying something the clerk had skipped. Two separate corrections on one page suggest the scribe was copying at speed through a long sitting, which fits a day on which the Company sealed at least ten separate grants.

Thomas Greentree held several parcels under this one lease rather than taking them individually, which spread a single rent and a single set of conditions across scattered ground. The tenth in wood was reckoned against the parcels as a whole, so he could concentrate his planting on whichever piece suited it best rather than dividing the obligation across each.

Thomas Greentree went on to become one of the more active men in the register. He acted as executor of the Ryder estates in 1753, selling Francis Mowatt eight acres for £70 3s 0d on 24 August and two acres and four fifths for £131 0s 0d six days later, and bought 21 acres and a half called French's Gutt from John Goodwin for £270 0s 0d sterling on 15 July 1757. He also served as trustee of the subscription raised for the aged planter William Seale on 15 July 1758, holding the slave Lewis for Seale's use.

53

50

The Lords Proprietors of this Island the Hon ble the

United Company of Merchants of England Trading to the

East Indies do hereby demise Grant Sett & to Farm Sett unto

Richard Goodwin of the Said Island Planter All that Peice or

Parcell of Cabbage Tree Land containing Five Acres Butting

& Bounding North & East upon the Free Land of him the Said

Richard Goodwin & West & South upon the Lands now in the

Possession of Richard Beale, TO HAVE and to holde the Said

hereby demised Parcell of Land & every part & Parcell thereof

together with all & Singular the Wood Water Water Courses Houses

Buildings Edifices Sheds Tenements Yams & Plantations

of Yams, Fruit Trees Walls Fences & all other & Singular the

Rights Commodities to them & each & every of them belonging

or Appertaining unto them the Said Richard Goodwin his

heirs Executors Administrators or allowed Assigns from the

day of the date hereof for & during all the Space or Term of

Twenty one Years from thence next ensuing, Upon Condition

that he the Said Richard Goodwin his heirs Ex rs Adm rs or allowed

Assigns shall & do bear true faith & allegiance to our Sovereign

Lord King George his heirs & Successours & to them the Said

Hon ble Company & their Successours & shall duely observe &

Obey all the Laws & Constitutions of the Said Island, And

Upon Condition also that he the Said Richard Goodwin

his heirs Ex rs Adm rs or allowed Assigns shall & do from time to

time & at all times hereafter during the Term of this Present

Lease keep up & maintain in good order & Sufficient &

Legal Repair all Such Buildings Houses Edifices Sheds

Tenements Plantations & Fences as now are or hereafter

shall be made Built or Erected thereon and shall Moreover

Plant keep up maintain & Preserve in & upon the Said

hereby demised Parcell of Land its full quantity or

Proportion of Wood being one tenth part of the Said Parcell

of Land & shall likewise Plant & Preserve Furze withinside

or without the Fences of the Said Parcell of Land, & Plant

Fruit Trees Such as Apple Lemon Mulberry or Peach Trees

in Such parts thereof wherein they are most likely to Grow

& as they Shall happen to decay or die shall replant others

of the like Sorts thereon, without hurt or Prejudice

nevertheless to any part of Such Land as Shall be set apart

for the Sole Purpose of Planting or Raising of Yams

YEILDING & Paying therefore Yearly & every Year during

the Term of this Present Lease unto them the Said

Hon ble Company their Successours Agents or Assigns the

Sum of five Shillings ⅌ Acre in at or upon the Feast of S t

Michael the Arch Angel, And upon farther Condition

that he the Said Richard Goodwin his Heirs Ex rs Adm rs

or allowed Assigns shall not alter or Remove the Said

Fences they being the Limits or Land marks of the Said

Parcell of Land aforesaid & shall not Sell or dispose of this

Lease or Interest therein without the Leave & Consent of the

Governour & Council for the time being, In Witness whereof

he the Said Richard Goodwin hath hereunto Set his hand

Margin Notes:

R d Goodwin

The Company, owners of the island, rented 2 acres of cabbage tree land to Richard Goodwin of the island, planter. His own freehold lay to the north and east, and ground then held by Richard Beale to the west and south.

Everything on the parcel passed with it: the timber, the water and its channels, the houses, buildings, sheds and outbuildings, the yam beds, the fruit trees, the walls and fences, and every other benefit attached to the ground.

Richard Goodwin, his heirs and anyone he was allowed to pass it on to, held the ground for 21 years from the date of the agreement.

He and those after him had to stay loyal to the King and to the Company, and to keep the island's laws.

He also had to keep every house, building, shed, outbuilding, plantation and fence in sound repair for the whole term, whatever stood there then or was put up later. He had to plant a tenth of the parcel with wood and keep that stand alive and growing. Furze had to go in along the fences, on whichever face suited. Apple, lemon, mulberry and peach trees had to be planted wherever they stood the best chance, and whenever one died another of the same kind had to take its place. None of this could cut into whatever part of the ground he kept for growing yams.

The rent came to 5 shillings an acre a year, due to the Company at Michaelmas.

He could not move or pull down the fences, since those marked out where the ground ended. Nor could he sell the lease or hand on his interest in it without leave from the Governor and Council.

Interpretations

Cabbage tree land marks this parcel out from the gumwood ground let elsewhere in this run. Cabbage tree grew on the moister high ground towards the Main Ridge, where the soil held water better than the dry lower slopes, and the register consistently shows such land fetching higher prices when sold outright. Richard Beale, whose ground bounds this parcel on two sides, had taken his own 10 acres under the Main Ridge at this same sitting.

Two acres carried the full weight of the standard conditions, so a tenth in wood came to a fifth of an acre and the yearly rent to 10 shillings. The Company made no allowance for size anywhere in this run, applying the same form to Isaac Wood's 2 acres, Richard Goodwin's 2 here, and Mary Nicholls's 25.

This is the third instrument Richard Goodwin took part in on the same day. He held 40 acres jointly with his mother Frances Carne, stood as sole trustee for the Solomon Burling widow and children over 6 acres, and now takes 2 acres of cabbage tree in his own name. He had also received a James Valley back strip from the Company on 19 September 1738, eleven days earlier.

The parcel sits enclosed by Richard Goodwin's freehold on two sides and Richard Beale's ground on the other two, so it filled a gap between two established holdings. The Company let such fragments to whichever neighbour they completed, saving fresh fencing and turning awkward remnants into workable ground.

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51

and Seale this Thirtieth day of September in the year of

our Lord One Thousand Seven hundred Thirty Eight, and they

the Said Hon ble Company to the other part of these Presents

have affixed their Common Seale the day & Year beforewritten

Signed Sealed & Delivered Rich d Goodwin

in the Presence of

The Lords Proprietors of this Island the Honourable the

United Company of Merchants of England Trading to the East

Indies do hereby Demise Grant Sett & to Farm Sett unto

Richard Goodwin of the Said Island Planter, All that Peice or

Parcell of Land containing Two Acres Situate in Fryer

Valley Butting & Bounding North South East & West upon

the Hon ble Companies Wast Land To have and to hold

the Said hereby Demised Parcell of Land & every part & Parcell

thereof together with all & Singular the Wood Water Water Courses

Houses Buildings Edifices Sheds Tenements Yams and

Plantations of Yams & their Fruit Trees Walls Fences & all other &

Singular the Rights Commodities to them & each & every of

them belonging or Appertaining unto him the Said Richard

Goodwin his heirs Executors Administrators or allowed

Assigns from the day of the date hereof for & during all the

Space or Term of Twenty one Years for & thence next Ensuing

Upon Condition that he the Said Richard Goodwin his heirs

Ex rs Adm rs or allowed Assigns shall & do bear true faith & allegiance

to our Sovereign Lord King George his heirs & Successours & to them the

Said Hon ble Company & their Successours & shall duely observe &

obey all the Laws & Constitutions of the Said Island, And Upon

Condition also that he the Said Richard Goodwin his heirs

Ex rs Adm rs or allowed Assigns shall & do from time to time & at all

times hereafter during the Term of this Present Lease keep up and

maintain in good order & Sufficient & Legal repair all Such

Buildings Houses Sheds Tenements Plantations & Fences as

now are or hereafter shall be made Built or Erected thereon & shall

moreover Plant keep up maintain & Preserve in & upon the

Said hereby demised Parcell of Land its full quantity or

Proportion of Wood being one Tenth part of the Said Parcell of

Land & shall likewise Plant & Preserve Furze withinside or

Margin Notes:

R d Goodwin

Richard Goodwin signed the agreement on 30 September 1738, and the Company sealed its own copy the same day.

Signed before D[...].

The Company, owners of the island, rented 2 acres in Fryer Valley to Richard Goodwin of the island, planter. The Company's unused land lay on all four sides, north, south, east and west.

Everything on the parcel passed with it: the timber, the water and its channels, the houses, buildings, sheds and outbuildings, the yam beds, the fruit trees, the walls and fences, and every other benefit attached to the ground.

Richard Goodwin, his heirs and anyone he was allowed to pass it on to, held the ground for 21 years from the date of the agreement.

He and those after him had to stay loyal to the King and to the Company, and to keep the island's laws.

He also had to keep every house, building, shed, outbuilding, plantation and fence in sound repair for the whole term, whatever stood there then or was put up later. He had to plant a tenth of the parcel with wood and keep that stand alive and growing. Furze had to go in along the fences [...]

Interpretations

Company waste bounds this parcel on all four sides, which sets it apart from every other grant in this run. The rest were fitted against ground the tenant already held or against a named neighbour, whereas this 2 acres stands isolated in unallocated land. The register elsewhere records such parcels being taken up at the frontier of settlement, as with John Knipe's 4 acres at the bottom of Pleasant Valley in 1713, bounded entirely by Company waste.

Fencing an isolated parcel fell wholly on the tenant, since no neighbour's wall could serve any part of the boundary. That cost was real on ground of only 2 acres carrying a rent of 10 shillings a year, and it explains why the Company usually preferred to let ground against an established holding.

This is the fourth instrument Richard Goodwin took part in on 30 September 1738. He held 40 acres jointly with his mother Frances Carne, acted as sole trustee for the Solomon Burling family over 6 acres, took 2 acres of cabbage tree land beside Richard Beale, and now takes a further 2 acres in Fryer Valley. Together with the James Valley back strip granted him on 19 September, he came away from that fortnight with five separate holdings.

Fryer Valley runs through the register as ground held by the Goodwin and Carne families across several decades. Captain John Goodwin took 2 acres there formerly Christopher Kell's on 16 January 1724, and was confirmed in 25 acres carrying the bynames Carne's pasture and Worrall's land in 1726, ground later given up to Francis Wrangham on 8 July 1730.

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52

without the Fences of the Said Parcell of Land and shall

Plant Fruit Trees Such as Apple Lemon Mulberry or

Peach Trees in Such parts thereof wherein they are most

likely to Grow & as they Shall happen to decay or die shall

replant others of the like Sorts thereon without hurt or Prejudice

nevertheless to any part of Such Land as Shall be set apart for

the Sole Purpose of Planting or Raising of Yams YEILDING

& Paying therefore yearly & every year during the Term of

this Present Lease unto them the Said Hon ble Company their

Successours Agents or Assigns the Sum of five Shillings ⅌ Acre

in at or upon the Feast of S t Michael the Arch Angel Yearly

And upon farther Condition that he the Said Richard

Goodwin his heirs Ex rs Adm rs or allowed Assigns shall not

alter or Remove the Fences the Limits or Land marks of the Parcell of

Land aforesaid & shall not Sell or dispose of this Lease or

Interest thereof without the leave & Consent of the Governour

& Council for the time being In Witness whereof he the Said

Richard Goodwin hath hereunto Set his hand & Seale this

Thirtieth day of September in the year of our Lord One Thousand

Seven hundred & Thirty Eight, and they the Said Hon ble Company

to the other part of these Presents have affixed their Common

Seale the day & Year beforewritten

Signed Sealed & Delivered Rich Goodwin

in the presence of

S

E W

2 Acres

N

The Lords Proprietors of this Island the Hon ble the United

Company of Merchants of England Trading to the East Indies

DO HEREBY Demise Grant Sett & to Farm Lett unto

Orlando Bagley of the Said Island Planter All that Peice or

Parcell of Land containing Ten Acres Butting & Bounding

North upon the Lands of Gabriel Harper South upon the Hon ble

Companies Wast Land East upon the Said Gabriel Harpers

Land & West upon the Lands of the Orphans of John Alexander

Gent deceas d To have and to hold the Said hereby

Demised Parcell of Land & every part & Parcell thereof together

with all & Singular the Wood Water Water Courses Houses

Buildings Edifices Sheds Tenements Yams & Plantations of

Yams, Fruit Trees Walls Fences & all other & Singular the

Rights Commodities to them & each & every of them belonging or

Appertaining unto him the Said Orlando Bagley his heirs Ex rs

Margin Notes:

O r Bagley

Furze had to go in along the fences, on whichever face suited. Apple, lemon, mulberry and peach trees had to be planted wherever they stood the best chance, and whenever one died another of the same kind had to take its place. None of this could cut into whatever part of the ground Richard Goodwin kept for growing yams.

The rent came to 5 shillings an acre a year, due to the Company at Michaelmas.

He could not move or pull down the fences, since those marked out where the ground ended. Nor could he sell the lease or hand on his interest in it without leave from the Governor and Council.

Richard Goodwin signed the agreement on 30 September 1738, and the Company sealed its own copy the same day.

Signed before D[...].

A plan drawn on the page shows the parcel as a narrow strip running into a broader block below, with a compass rose giving north, south, east and west. The figure is annotated 2 acres.

The Company, owners of the island, rented 10 acres to Orlando Bagley of the island, planter. Gabriel Harper's ground lay to the north, the Company's unused land to the south, Gabriel Harper's land again to the east, and the ground of the orphans of the late John Alexander, gentleman, to the west.

Everything on the parcel passed with it: the timber, the water and its channels, the houses, buildings, sheds and outbuildings, the yam beds, the fruit trees, the walls and fences, and every other benefit attached to the ground.

Interpretations

The plan shows a parcel shaped like a funnel, narrow at the top and widening below, which fits ground squeezed between the Company's waste on all four sides in Fryer Valley. Such a shape would follow the run of a gully or the fall of a slope rather than any straight boundary, and it explains why the surveyor's drawing rather than the acreage settled the extent of the grant.

The Alexander orphans appear here as the western boundary, holding ground that ran alongside Orlando Bagley's new parcel. Three separate leases had been settled on the Alexander widow and her six children earlier the same day, covering 19, 16 and 20 acres, and the 16-acre parcel near the head of Powell's Valley was itself bounded by Orlando Bagley to the south and Gabriel Harper to the east. This grant therefore sits directly against that Alexander ground, with the same two neighbours recurring.

Orlando Bagley senior had held substantial ground at the head of Powell's Valley for a generation, confirmed in 23 acres on 4 August 1713 with 40 more leased the same day. He also received the lease sealed 14 September 1731 covering four parcels making 8 acres, including 2 acres of hay land, set among the holdings of Samuel Doveton, Richard Finsly, Captain John Alexander and the widow Bridget Bazett.

Gabriel Harper holding two boundaries connects to a family running across the island through Thomas, Martin and Gabriel Harper. His orphans later held the James Valley house adjoining the dwelling William Turner bought on 13 December 1753.

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53

Adm rs or allowed Assigns from the day of the date hereof for and

during all the Space or Term of Twenty one Years from thence next

ensuing Upon Condition that he the Said Orlando Bagley his

heirs Ex rs Adm rs or allowed Assigns shall & do bear true faith and

allegiance to our Sovereign Lord King George his heirs & Successours

& to them the Said Hon ble Company & their Successours & shall duely

observe & obey all the Laws & Constitutions of the Said Island And

Upon Condition also that he the Said Orlando Bagley his heirs

Ex rs Adm rs or allowed Assigns shall & do from time to time & at all

times hereafter during the Term of this Present Lease keep up &

maintain in good order & Sufficient & Legal Repair all Such

Buildings Houses Edifices Sheds Tenements Plantations and

Fences as now are or hereafter shall be made Built or Erected thereon

and shall moreover Plant keep up maintain & Preserve in & upon

the Said hereby Demised Parcell of Land its full quantity or Proportion

of Wood being one tenth part of the Said Parcell of Land & shall likewise

Plant & Preserve Furze withinside or without the Fences of the

Said Parcell of Land & shall Plant Fruit Trees Such as Apple

Lemon Mulberry or Peach Trees in Such parts thereof wherein

they are most likely to Grow & as they Shall happen to decay or die

Shall replant others of the like Sorts thereon without hurt or

Prejudice nevertheless to any part of Such Land as Shall be set

apart for the Sole Purpose of Planting or Raising of Yams

YEILDING & Paying therefore Yearly & every Year during the

Term of this Present Lease unto them the Said Hon ble Company

their Successours Agents or Assigns the Sum of five Shillings ⅌ Acre

in at or upon the Feast of S t Michael the Arch Angel Yearly

And upon farther Condition that he the Said Orlando

Bagley his heirs Ex rs Adm rs or allowed Assigns shall not alter

or Remove the Said Fences they being the Limits or Land marks

of the Parcell of Land aforesaid & shall not Sell or dispose of this

Lease or Interest therein without the Leave & Consent of the

Governour & Council for the time being. In Witness whereof

he the Said Orlando Bagley hath hereunto Set his hand &

Seale this Thirtieth day of September in the Year of our Lord

One thousand and Seven hundred & Thirty Eight, & they the Said

Hon ble Company to the other part of these Presents have

affixed their Common Seale the day & Year beforewritten.

Signed Sealed & Delivered Orlando Bagley

in the presence of

Orlando Bagley, his heirs and anyone he was allowed to pass it on to, held the ground for 21 years from the date of the agreement.

He and those after him had to stay loyal to the King and to the Company, and to keep the island's laws.

He also had to keep every house, building, shed, outbuilding, plantation and fence in sound repair for the whole term, whatever stood there then or was put up later. He had to plant a tenth of the parcel with wood and keep that stand alive and growing. Furze had to go in along the fences, on whichever face suited. Apple, lemon, mulberry and peach trees had to be planted wherever they stood the best chance, and whenever one died another of the same kind had to take its place. None of this could cut into whatever part of the ground he kept for growing yams.

The rent came to 5 shillings an acre a year, due to the Company at Michaelmas.

He could not move or pull down the fences, since those marked out where the ground ended. Nor could he sell the lease or hand on his interest in it without leave from the Governor and Council.

Orlando Bagley signed the agreement on 30 September 1738, and the Company sealed its own copy the same day.

Signed before D[...].

Interpretations

At 5 shillings an acre the yearly charge on 10 acres came to £2 10s 0d. That rate held across every parcel sealed at this sitting regardless of size or quality, from Isaac Wood's 2 acres to Mary Nicholls's 25, so the Company took no account of soil, position or standing improvements in setting what it charged.

Orlando Bagley signed in his own hand. The register separates cleanly through this run between those who could write and those who could not, with Frances Carne, Charlesworth Powell, Isaac Wood and Mary Nicholls all having their copies subscribed by others.

This parcel of 10 acres sits against the ground of the Alexander orphans on the west and Gabriel Harper's on two further sides, the same neighbours who bounded the 16 acres settled on the Alexander family earlier the same day near the head of Powell's Valley. The Company let a run of adjoining parcels in that quarter at one sitting, so the boundaries recorded in each lease confirm one another.

Orlando Bagley senior had held ground at the head of Powell's Valley since 1713, when he was confirmed in 23 acres and leased 40 more on 4 August. Combined Bagley family holdings in the valley reached 89 acres, so this grant added to a block the family had worked for a quarter of a century. He later sold Samuel Doveton 11 acres and a half for £61 17s 6d on 30 September 1731 and about 3 acres in Powells Valley for £20 0s 0d on 27 May 1735.

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54

The Lords Proprietors of this Island the Hon ble the

United Company of Merchants of England Trading to the East

Indies do hereby Demise Grant Sett & to Farm Lett unto

Charles Steward of the Said Island Planter All that peice or

Parcell of Land Containing Nine Acres & an half Butting &

Bounding North upon the Lands of Josiah Charlesworth

Powell East upon the Lands of Francis Wrangham West upon

the Lands of Martin Harper & South upon other the Lands of

him the Said Charles Steward TO HAVE AND TO HOLD

the Said hereby Demised Parcell of Land & every part & Parcell

thereof together with all & Singular the Wood Water Water Courses

Houses Buildings Edifices Sheds Tenements Yams and

Plantations of Yams Fruit Trees Walls Fences & all other &

Singular the Rights Commodities to them & each & every of them

belonging or Appertaining unto him the Said Charles Steward

his Heirs Executors Administrators or allowed Assigns from

the day of the date hereof for & during all the Space or Term of

Twenty one Years from thence next Ensuing, Upon Condition

that he the Said Charles Steward his heirs Ex rs Adm rs or allowed

Assigns shall & do bear true faith & allegiance to our Sovereign

Lord King George his heirs & Successours & to them the Said

Hon ble Company & their Successours & shall duely observe &

obey all the Laws & Constitutions of the Said Island And

Upon Condition that he the Said Charles Steward his

heirs Ex rs Adm rs or allowed Assigns shall & do from time to

time & at all times hereafter during the Term of this Present

Lease keep up & maintain in good Order & Sufficient & Legal

repair all Such Buildings Houses Edifices Sheds

Tenements Plantations & Fences as now are or hereafter

shall be made Built or Erected thereon & shall moreover

Plant keep up & maintain & Preserve in & upon the Said

hereby demised Parcell of Land its full quantity or

Proportion of Wood being one tenth part of the Said Parcell

of Land & shall likewise Plant & Preserve Furze withinside

or without the Fences of the Said Parcell of Land & shall

Plant Fruit Trees Such as Apple Lemon Mulberry or

Peach Trees in Such parts thereof wherein they are most

likely to Grow & as they shall happen to decay or die shall

replant others of the like Sorts thereon without hurt or

Prejudice nevertheless to any Part of Such Land as shall be

set apart for the Sole Purpose of Planting or Raising of

Yams YEILDING & Paying therefore Yearly & every Year

during the Term of this Present Lease unto them the

Said Hon ble Company their Successours Agents or Assigns

the Sum of five Shillings ⅌ Acre in at or upon the Feast of

S t Michaell the Arch Angel Yearly And upon farther

Condition that he the Said Charles Steward his heirs Ex rs

Adm rs or allowed Assigns shall not alter or Remove the Said

Fences they being the Limits or Land marks of the Parcell of

Land aforesaid & shall not Sell or dispose of this Lease or

Interest therein without the Leave & Consent of the Governour

& Council for the time being In Witness whereof he the Said

Margin Notes:

Cha s Steward

The Company, owners of the island, rented 9 acres and a half to Charles Steward of the island, planter. Josiah Charlesworth Powell's ground lay to the north, Francis Wrangham's to the east, Martin Harper's to the south, and Charles Steward's own land to the west.

Everything on the parcel passed with it: the timber, the water and its channels, the houses, buildings, sheds and outbuildings, the yam beds, the fruit trees, the walls and fences, and every other benefit attached to the ground.

Charles Steward, his heirs and anyone he was allowed to pass it on to, held the ground for 21 years from the date of the agreement.

He and those after him had to stay loyal to the King and to the Company, and to keep the island's laws.

He also had to keep every house, building, shed, outbuilding, plantation and fence in sound repair for the whole term, whatever stood there then or was put up later. He had to plant a tenth of the parcel with wood and keep that stand alive and growing. Furze had to go in along the fences, on whichever face suited. Apple, lemon, mulberry and peach trees had to be planted wherever they stood the best chance, and whenever one died another of the same kind had to take its place. None of this could cut into whatever part of the ground he kept for growing yams.

The rent came to 5 shillings an acre a year, due to the Company at Michaelmas.

He could not move or pull down the fences, since those marked out where the ground ended. Nor could he sell the lease or hand on his interest in it without leave from the Governor and Council.

Interpretations

This is the fifth parcel of exactly 9 acres and a half let in this run, joining those granted to Governor Goodwin, Charlesworth Powell, Martin Harper and one other. Their boundary descriptions interlock: Martin Harper's grant named Charlesworth Powell to the north and Charles Steward to the east, while this one names Powell to the north and Harper to the south. The Company was dividing a single block of its own ground into equal shares and settling them on neighbouring holders, which explains why five parcels came out at an identical and unlikely acreage.

The grantee named to the north appears here as Josiah Charlesworth Powell, where the earlier grant of the same block gave Charlesworth Powell and its subscription read Charles Powell. The register carries the fuller and shorter forms of the same man's name across different instruments, and the boundaries fix the identity against the ground regardless of which form the clerk used.

Charles Steward held his own land on the western side, so this grant extended a holding already in place. He appears throughout the register as a substantial Sandy Bay accumulator, confirmed in 17 acres and leased 27 more on 4 August 1713, and he had taken a James Valley back strip from the Company on 19 July 1737 at 14 shillings and sixpence.

Francis Wrangham bounding the eastern side had received his own James Valley grants in July 1737 and September 1738, and held the southern boundary of the 40 acres let jointly to Frances Carne and Richard Goodwin at this same sitting. His name recurs on the margins of most of the parcels sealed that day.

At 5 shillings an acre the yearly charge came to £2 7s 6d, matching what Governor Goodwin, Charlesworth Powell and Martin Harper each owed on their equal shares of the same block.

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55

Charles Steward hath hereunto Set his hand & Seale this Thirtieth

day of September in the Year of Our Lord One Thousand Seven

hundred & Thirty Eight, And they the Said Hon ble Company to the

other part of these Presents have affixed their Common Seale the

day & year beforewritten

Signed Sealed & Delivered Charles Steward

in the presence of

The Lords Proprietors of this Island the Hon ble the United

Company of Merchants of England Trading to the East Indies do

hereby Demise Grant Sett & to Farm Lett unto Charles Steward

of the Said Island Planter All those Peices or Parcells of Land

containing Seventeen Acres Situate in Sandy Bay that is to Say

Thirteen Acres thereof Butting & Bounding North upon the Lands

of him the Said Charles Steward East upon the Lands of John Burling dec d

South & West upon the Hon ble Companies Wast Land & other two

Acres & three quarters more Butting & Bounding North & West

upon the Lands of William Worrall East & South upon the Lands

of him the Said Charles Steward & the other two Acres & one quarter

Butting & Bounding North East & West upon the Said Charles

Stewards Lands & South upon the Lands of William Worrall

according to the Severall Plans hereunto annexed To have

and to hold the Said hereby demised Parcells of Land & every

part & Parcells thereof together with all & Singular the Wood Water

Water Courses Houses Buildings Sheds Tenements Yams and

Plantations of Yams Fruit Trees Walls Fences & all other and

Singular the Rights Commodities to them & each & every of them

belonging or Appertaining unto him the Said Charles Steward

his heirs Executors Administrators or allowed Assigns from

the day of the date hereof for & during all the Space or Term of

Twenty one Years from thence next Ensuing, Upon Condition

that he the Said Charles Steward his heirs Ex rs Adm rs or allowed

Assigns shall & do bear true faith & allegiance to our Sovereign

Lord King George his heirs & Successours, & to them the Said

Hon ble Company & their Successours & shall duely observe &

obey all the Laws & Constitutions of the Said Island, And Upon

Condition also that he the Said Charles Steward his heirs Ex rs

Adm rs or allowed Assigns shall & do from time to time & at all

Margin Notes:

Cha s Steward

Charles Steward signed the agreement on 30 September 1738, and the Company sealed its own copy the same day.

Signed before D[...].

The Company, owners of the island, rented several parcels in Sandy Bay to Charles Steward of the island, planter, coming to 17 acres in all. Thirteen acres of that were bounded north by Charles Steward's own land, east by the ground of the late John Purling, south by the Company's unused land, and west by the Company's [...] land. Another 2 acres and three quarters were bounded north and west by William Worrall's land, and east and south by Charles Steward's own. The remaining 2 acres and a quarter were bounded north, east and west by Charles Steward's other ground, and south by William Worrall's, all as set out in the plans attached to the agreement.

Everything on the parcels passed with them: the timber, the water and its channels, the houses, buildings, sheds and outbuildings, the yam beds, the fruit trees, the walls and fences, and every other benefit attached to the ground.

Charles Steward, his heirs and anyone he was allowed to pass them on to, held the ground for 21 years from the date of the agreement.

He and those after him had to stay loyal to the King and to the Company, and to keep the island's laws.

Interpretations

Three separate pieces run together under one lease here, so a single rent and a single set of conditions covered ground lying apart. The tenth in wood was reckoned against the whole 17 acres rather than each fragment, which let Charles Steward concentrate his planting wherever it suited best. Thomas Greentree's grant at the same sitting worked the same way.

Two of the three pieces are almost entirely enclosed by Charles Steward's existing ground, and the third touches it on two sides. These were fragments left over between established holdings, and the Company let them to the neighbour they completed rather than to anyone else, since nobody else could have reached them without crossing his land.

Taking this 17 acres together with the 9 acres and a half granted him earlier the same day, Charles Steward came away from the sitting with 26 acres and a half of fresh leasehold. He already held substantial Sandy Bay ground, confirmed in 17 acres of freehold and 27 acres of leasehold on 4 August 1713, and later bought 21 acres of free land from John Cary for £100 0s 0d on 9 April 1730.

William Worrall bounding two of the pieces appears in the register as a free planter in the Company's pay who took 2 acres and a half of gumwood in the uppermost branch of Sandy Bay Valley on 27 December 1726. He and his wife Martha, a daughter of Matthew Bazett, later sold their eighth share of the Bazett estate to her brother John Bazett.

The ground of the late John Purling on the eastern boundary of the largest piece places this quarter near the Deep Valley leaseholds, where Purling ground recurs as a neighbour to the Worrall and Leech holdings. His estate was wound up by Duke Crispe and Matthew Purling, who sold the Purling eighth of the Bazett estate to John Bazett in 1738.

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56

times hereafter during the term of this Present Lease

keep up & maintain in good order & Sufficient & Legal

Repair all Such Buildings Houses Edifices Sheds Tenem ts

Plantations & Fences as now are or hereafter shall be

made Built or Erected thereon & shall Moreover Plant

keep up maintain & Preserve in & upon the Said hereby

demised Parcells of Land its full quantity or Proportion of

Wood being one tenth part of the Said hereby demised Parcells

of Land & shall likewise Plant & Preserve Furze withinside

or without the Fences of the Said Parcells of Land & shall

Plant Fruit Trees Such as Apple Lemon Mulberry or Peach

Trees in Such parts thereof wherein they are most likely to

Grow & as they shall happen to decay or die shall replant others

of the like Sorts thereon without hurt or Prejudice nevertheless

to any part of Land as Shall be set apart for the Sole Purpose

of Planting & Raising of Yams, YEILDING & Paying therefore

Yearly & every Year during the Term of this Present Lease

unto them the Said Hon ble Company their Successours

Agents or Assigns the Sum of five Shillings ⅌ Acre in at or

upon the Feast of S t Michael the Arch Angel Yearly And

upon farther Condition that he the Said Charles Steward

his heirs Ex rs Adm rs or allowed Assigns shall not alter or

Remove the S d Fences they being the Limits or Land marks

of the Parcells of Land aforesaid & shall not Sell or dispose

of this Lease or Interest therein without the Leave & Consent

of the Governour & Council for the time being. In Witness

whereof he the Said Charles Steward hath hereunto Set his

hand & Seal this Thirtieth day of September in the Year of

our Lord One thousand Seven hundred Thirty Eight, And

they the Said Hon ble Company to the other part of these

Presents have affixed their Common Seale the day & year

beforewritten.

Signed Sealed & Delivered Charles Steward

in the Presence of

N

E

W

1¾ Acres

S

13 Acres

1½ Acres

Charles Steward also had to keep every house, building, shed, outbuilding, plantation and fence in sound repair for the whole term, whatever stood there then or was put up later. He had to plant a tenth of the parcels with wood and keep that stand alive and growing. Furze had to go in along the fences, on whichever face suited. Apple, lemon, mulberry and peach trees had to be planted wherever they stood the best chance, and whenever one died another of the same kind had to take its place. None of this could cut into whatever part of the ground he kept for growing yams.

The rent came to 5 shillings an acre a year, due to the Company at Michaelmas.

He could not move or pull down the fences, since those marked out where the ground ended. Nor could he sell the lease or hand on his interest in it without leave from the Governor and Council.

Charles Steward signed the agreement on 30 September 1738, and the Company sealed its own copy the same day.

Signed before D[...].

A plan drawn on the page shows the three parcels, annotated 13 acres, 2¾ acres and 1¾ acres, with a compass rose giving north, south, east and west.

Interpretations

The plan gives the third parcel as 1 acre and three quarters where the text of the lease describes it as 2 acres and a quarter. The three pieces as drawn come to 17 acres and a half against the 17 acres stated in the body, and the register elsewhere records the annexed plan governing where the written acreage and the drawing disagree. The rent of 5 shillings an acre would have been reckoned on one figure or the other, but the ground itself was fixed by the survey.

The drawing shows how far apart the three pieces lay. The largest sits well to the south east, the middle piece to the north of it, and the smallest to the west, with the compass rose set between them. Fragments scattered like this could only be worked by a man whose existing ground surrounded them, which is why the Company let them together to Charles Steward rather than separately to different tenants.

Steward took 26 acres and a half of fresh leasehold across two grants at this sitting, the largest accumulation by any single tenant that day. He already held 17 acres of freehold and 27 of leasehold in Sandy Bay confirmed on 4 August 1713, so his holding in that quarter was approaching a hundred acres by the end of 1738.

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57

The Lords Proprietors of this Island the Honourable the

United Company of Merchants of England Trading to the East Indies Do

hereby Demise, Grant, Sett and to Farm lett Unto Martin Harper

and Charles Steward Executors of the last Will and Testament of Thomas

Harper dec d All that piece or parcell of Land containing Twelve Acres

Butting and Bounding North, East and South Upon the Said Honourable

Company's West Land, West upon other Lease Land of the Said Thom s Harper

dec d in trust and for the Use nevertheless of Lydia late the Wife of him

the Said Thomas Harper and of all such Children by them begotten being

Three Sons and Two Daughters Vizt Richard, Thomas, Henry, Anne and

Mary, that is to Say, One third part thereof for the Use of her the Said Lydia

Harper Widow during the Term of this Lease if She shall so long live And the

other Two third parts thereof for the Use of his Said Five Children, TO

HAVE AND TO HOLD the Said hereby Demised parcell of Land

and every part and parcell thereof together with all and Singular the

Wood, Water Water Courses, Houses Buildings, Edifices, Sheds, Tenements

Yams and Plantations of Yams, Fruit-Trees, Walls, Fences and all

other and Singular the Rights Commodities to them and each and every

of them belonging or Appertaining Unto them the said Martin Harper

and Charles Steward in trust and for the Use of them the Said Widow

and Said Children their Heirs, Executors, Administrators or Allowed Assigns

from the day of the Date hereof for and during all the Space or Term

of Twenty One Years from thence next Ensuing, UPON CONDITION

that they the Said Widow and Said Children their Heirs, Executors Administ rs

or Allowed Assigns shall & do bear true faith and Allegiance to Our

Sovereign Lord King George his Heirs and Successors and to them the

Said Hon ble Company and their Successours and shall duly Observe & Obey

all the Laws and Constitutions of the said Island, And upon

Condition also that they the Said Widow and Said Children their Heirs

Execut rs Administrat rs or Allowed Assigns shall and do from time to time

and at all times hereafter during the Term of this present Lease keep up

and Maintain in good Order and Sufficient and legal Repair all such

Buildings, Houses, Edifices, Sheds, Tenements, Plantations and Fences as

now are or hereafter shall be made, Built or Erected thereon and shall

Moreover plant keep up maintain and preserve in and upon the said hereby

Demised parcell of Land its full Quantity or Proportion of Wood being One

Tenth part of the said parcell of Land and shall likewise plant & Preserve

Furze withinside or without the Fences of the said parcell of Land and shall

plant Fruit-Trees such as Apple Lemon, Mulberry or Peach Trees in such

parts thereof wherein they are most likely to grow and as they shall happen to

decay or die shall Replant others of the like Sorts thereon without hurt or

prejudice nevertheless to any part of such Land as shall be sett apart for the

Sole purpose of Planting or Raising of Yams Yeilding and paying therefore

yearly & every Year during the Term of this present Lease unto them the said

Hon ble Company their Successours Agents or Assigns the Sum of Five Shillings ⅌

Margin Notes:

Widow Harper

12 Acres

The Company, owners of the island, rented 12 acres to Martin Harper and Charles Steward, the executors of the will of the late Thomas Harper. The Company's unused land lay to the north, east and south, and other leased ground of the late Thomas Harper to the west.

The two men held the parcel in trust for Lydia, widow of Thomas Harper, and for the five children of that marriage, three sons named Richard, Thomas and Henry and two daughters named Anne and Mary. One third went to the widow for as long as she lived within the term of the lease, and the remaining two thirds to the five children.

Everything on the parcel passed with it: the timber, the water and its channels, the houses, buildings, sheds and outbuildings, the yam beds, the fruit trees, the walls and fences, and every other benefit attached to the ground.

Martin Harper and Charles Steward held it on behalf of the widow and the five children, their heirs and anyone the family was allowed to pass it on to, for 21 years from the date of the agreement.

The widow and the children and those after them had to stay loyal to the King and to the Company, and to keep the island's laws.

They also had to keep every house, building, shed, outbuilding, plantation and fence in sound repair for the whole term, whatever stood there then or was put up later. They had to plant a tenth of the parcel with wood and keep that stand alive and growing. Furze had to go in along the fences, on whichever face suited. Apple, lemon, mulberry and peach trees had to be planted wherever they stood the best chance, and whenever one died another of the same kind had to take its place. None of this could cut into whatever part of the ground the family kept for growing yams.

The rent came to 5 shillings an acre a year, due to the Company [...]

Interpretations

This is the fifth family trust sealed at this sitting, following two for the Burlings, one for the Greentrees and three for the Alexanders. Every one carries the same structure: the widow takes a third for her life within the term and the children divide the remaining two thirds. Where an earlier trust excluded a child already married off or otherwise settled, this one names all five, so none of the Harper children had yet been provided for separately.

Martin Harper acts here as executor of Thomas Harper's will while holding his own 9 acres and a half granted a fortnight earlier on 13 September 1738. Charles Steward, his co-trustee, had taken 26 acres and a half across two grants at this same sitting. Both men held ground in the same quarter, so the Company again chose trustees from among the immediate neighbours.

The register carries several men named Thomas Harper across the decades and distinguishes them carefully. One sold 20 acres at the head of Sarahs Valley to James Casthope in March 1694 and died before April 1709. Another took the forward-dated lease of 12 acres under the Main Ridge towards Manatee Bay head on 4 August 1713. A third, a corporal, took 12 acres of gumwood at Hodges Hill joining Stonetop Wood on 22 November 1726. A Thomas Harper also held Swanley Valley ground named as a boundary in the leases of September 1731 to Martin Harper, Caleb Davis and Stephen Luffin junior.

The parcel is bounded by Company waste on three sides and by other leased ground of the dead man on the fourth, so it extended a holding the Harper family already worked. Naming the western boundary as land still described as the late Thomas Harper's shows his leases had not yet been reassigned when this grant was drawn.

Lydia is a name that recurs in the register through Lydea Harding, sister of Richard Harding, who held 10 acres at the head of Oak Gutt in her own right, and through a later Lydea Harding who conveyed her share of the Sandy Bay estate to her brother John for £25 0s 0d in 1720.

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58

Acre in at or upon the Feast of S t Michael the Arch Angel yearly And

upon farther Condition that they the Said Widow and Said Children their

Heirs Execut rs Administrat rs or Allowed Assigns shall not Alter or Remove

the said Fences they being the Limits or Land Marks of the parcell of

Land aforesaid & shall not Sell or Dispose of this Lease or Interest therein

without the leave & Consent of the Governour and Council for the time being

In Witness whereof they the Said Executors hath hereunto Sett their

Hands and Seales this Thirtieth day of September in the year of our Lord

One Thousand Seven Hundred and Thirty Eight and they the said

Hon ble Company to the other part of these presents hath Affixed their Common

Seale the day and year beforewritten

Signed Sealed and Delivered N Martin Harper,

in the presence of W E

S

Twelve Acres

The Lords Proprietors of this Island the Honourable

the United Company of Merchants of England Trading to the East Indies

Do hereby Demise Grant, Sett and to Farm lett unto Henry Mullon

of the said Island Planter All that piece or parcell of Land containing

Fifteen Acres Butting and Bounding North

To have and

to hold the said hereby Demised parcell of Land and every part and

parcell thereof together with all and Singular the Wood Water Water Courses

Houses Buildings, Edifices, Sheds, Tenements Yams and Plantations of

Yams, Fruit-Trees Walls Fences and all other and Singular the Rights

Commodities to them and each and every of them belonging or Appertaining

Unto him the said Henry Mullon his Heirs, Executors, Administrators or

Allowed Assigns from the day of the Date hereof for and during all the Space

or Term of Twenty One Years from thence next Ensuing Upon Condition

that he the said Henry Mullon his Heirs, Execut rs Administrat rs or Allowed

Assigns shall and do bear true faith and Allegiance to Our Sovereign Lord

King George his Heirs and Success rs and to them the Said Hon ble Company

and their Successours and shall duly Observe and Obey all the Laws and

Constitutions of the said Island And upon Condition also that they the

Margin Notes:

Henry Mullon

15 Acres

The rent came to 5 shillings an acre a year, due to the Company at Michaelmas.

The widow and the children and those after them could not move or pull down the fences, since those marked out where the ground ended. Nor could they sell the lease or hand on their interest in it without leave from the Governor and Council.

The executors signed the agreement on 30 September 1738, and the Company sealed its own copy the same day.

Signed before D[...]. Sealed by Martin Harper.

A plan drawn on the page shows the parcel as a block with a notch cut from one corner, alongside a compass rose giving north, south, east and west. The figure is annotated 12 acres.

The Company, owners of the island, rented 15 acres to Henry Multon of the island, planter. The northern boundary was [...], and the remaining sides are not recorded.

Everything on the parcel passed with it: the timber, the water and its channels, the houses, buildings, sheds and outbuildings, the yam beds, the fruit trees, the walls and fences, and every other benefit attached to the ground.

Henry Multon, his heirs and anyone he was allowed to pass it on to, held the ground for 21 years from the date of the agreement.

He and those after him had to stay loyal to the King and to the Company, and to keep the island's laws.

Interpretations

The clerk left the boundary description of Henry Multon's parcel unfinished, breaking off after the word north and resuming with the holding clause further down the page. Blank spaces of this kind appear elsewhere in the register, notably across several instruments of the sitting of 4 August 1713, where documents were drafted in advance and held for later completion. Here the gap suggests the boundaries had not been surveyed or agreed when the deed was engrossed.

Martin Harper sealed alone for the Harper trust, though the text names both him and Charles Steward as executors. A single seal sufficed where trustees acted together, as with the Alexander leases where Richard Beale sealed and the governor did not, while the Burling trust of the same day carried three separate seals.

The notch cut from one corner of the Harper plan shows ground shaped around a neighbouring holding, which fits a parcel bounded on the west by other leased ground of the dead man. The surveyor drew the boundary to follow an existing fence rather than cutting a straight line through it.

Henry Multon appears in the register buying two parcels of Deep Valley leasehold of 15 and 8 acres from Ebenezer Leech for £60 0s 0d on 7 February 1734, carrying houses, plantations and standing wood, and assigning the whole 23 acres to Joseph Desfountain in December 1739. That 15-acre purchase matches the acreage granted here, so this lease probably regularised ground he had bought four years earlier from Leech.

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59

Said Henry Mullon his Heirs, Executors, Administrators or Allowed Assigns

shall and do from time to time and at all times hereafter during the Term of this

Present Lease keep up and maintain in good Order and Sufficient and legal

Repair all such Buildings, Houses, Edifices, Sheds, Tenements, Plantations

and Fences as now are or hereafter shall be made, Built or Erected thereon & shall

Moreover Plant keep up Maintain and preserve in and upon the said hereby demised

parcell of Land its full Quantity or Proportion of Wood being One tenth part of

the said parcell of Land and shall likewise Plant and preserve Furze

withinside or without the Fences of the said parcell of Land and shall Plant

Fruit-Trees such as Apple Lemon, Mulbery or Peach Trees in such parts thereof

wherein they are most likely to grow and as they shall happen to decay or die shall

Replant others of the like Sorts thereon without hurt or Prejudice nevertheless

to any part of such Land as shall be sett apart for the Sole purpose of Planting

and Raising of Yams, YEILDING and Paying therefore Yearly and every Year

during the Term of this present Lease unto them the Said Honourable Company

their Successours Agents or Assigns the Sum of Five Shillings ⅌ Acre in at or

upon the Feast of S t Michael the Arch Angel yearly. And upon farther

Condition that he the said Henry Mullon his Heirs, Execut rs Administrat rs

or Allowed Assigns shall not Alter or Remove the said Fences they being the

Limits or Land-Marks of the parcell of Land Aforesaid And shall not Sell

or Dispose of this Lease or Interest therein without the leave and Consent

of the Governour and Council for the time being IN WITNESS whereof

he the said Henry Mullon hath hereunto Sett his Hand and Seale this

Thirtieth day of September in the Year of Our Lord One Thousand

Seven Hundred and Thirty Eight and they the Said Honourable Company

to the other part of these Presents hath Affixed their Common Seale the

day and Year beforewritten

Signed Sealed & Delivered

in the presence of

Henry Multon and those after him had to keep every house, building, shed, outbuilding, plantation and fence in sound repair for the whole term, whatever stood there then or was put up later. He had to plant a tenth of the parcel with wood and keep that stand alive and growing. Furze had to go in along the fences, on whichever face suited. Apple, lemon, mulberry and peach trees had to be planted wherever they stood the best chance, and whenever one died another of the same kind had to take its place. None of this could cut into whatever part of the ground he kept for growing yams.

The rent came to 5 shillings an acre a year, due to the Company at Michaelmas.

He could not move or pull down the fences, since those marked out where the ground ended. Nor could he sell the lease or hand on his interest in it without leave from the Governor and Council.

Henry Multon signed the agreement on 30 September 1738, and the Company sealed its own copy the same day.

Interpretations

The space left for the witnesses' names stands empty, matching the unfinished boundary description earlier in the same instrument. Two gaps in one deed point to a document drawn up in advance and set aside for completion, the practice the register shows across several instruments of the sitting of 4 August 1713 where dates and witnesses were left blank pending later attendance.

At 5 shillings an acre the yearly charge on 15 acres came to £3 15s 0d. The Company had applied that identical rate to every parcel sealed through this run, whether 2 acres or 25, so a tenant's charge depended on nothing but the measured area.

Henry Multon assigned his 23 acres of Deep Valley leasehold to Joseph Desfountain in December 1739, a little over a year after this grant, and Desfountain sold the same ground on to John Leech, sergeant, for £35 0s 0d under leave of a consultation of 1 September 1741. The parcel granted here therefore passed out of his hands quickly, and the restriction against disposal without the Council's leave shaped how it moved.

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The Lords Proprietors of this Island the Honour ble

the United Company of Merchants of England trading to the East Indies

Do hereby Demise, Grant, Sett and to Farm Lett Unto James

Ryder of the Said Island Planter All that piece or parcell of Land

Containing Twenty Acres & half, Butting and Bounding North

under the Main Ridge, South upon the Lands of him the Said James Ryder

and Alexander's Orphans, East upon the Lands of John Burling dec d

and West upon the Lands of Richard Beale. To have and to hold

the Said hereby Demise Parcell of Land and every part and parcell thereof

together with all and Singular the Wood, Water, Water Courses Houses

Buildings, Edifices, Sheds, Tenements, Yams and Plantations of Yams

Fruit-Trees, Walls, Fences and all other and Singular the Rights Commodities

to them and each and every of them belonging or Appertaining unto him

the Said James Ryder his Heirs, Execut rs Administrat rs or Allowed Assigns

from the day of the Date hereof for and during all the Space or Term

of Twenty One Years from thence next Ensuing Upon Condition

that he the said James Ryder his Heirs Execut rs Administrat rs or Allowed

Assigns shall and do bear true faith and Allegiance to Our Sovereign Lord

King George his Heirs & Successours and to them the Said Honourable

Company and their Successours And shall duly Observe and Obey all

the Laws and Constitutions of the Said Island And upon Condition

also that he the Said James Ryder his Heirs Execut rs Administrat rs or Allowed

Assigns shall and do from time to time and at all times hereafter during

the Term of this present Lease keep up and Maintain in good Order

and Sufficient and Legal Repair all such Buildings, Houses, Edifices

Sheds, Tenements, Plantations and Fences as now are or hereafter shall

be made Built or Erected thereon and shall moreover plant keep up and

Maintain and preserve in and upon the said hereby Demised parcell of

Land its full Quantity or Proportion of Wood being One tenth part of the

Said parcell of Land and shall likewise plant and preserve Furze withinside

or without the Fences of the Said parcell of Land and shall plant fruit trees

such as Apple Lemon, Mulberry or Peach Trees in such parts thereof wherein

they are most likely to grow and as they shall happen to decay or die shall

Replant others of the like Sorts thereon without hurt or Prejudice

Nevertheless to any part of such Land as shall be Sett apart for the

Sole purpose of Planting and Raising of Yams YEILDING and Paying

therefore Yearly and every year during the Term of this present Lease Unto

them the Said Hon ble Company their Successours Agents or Assigns the Sum

of Five Shillings ⅌ Acre in at or Upon the Feast of S t Michael the Arch

Angel yearly And upon farther Consideration that he the Said James

Ryder his Heirs Execut rs Administrat rs or Allowed Assigns shall not Alter

or Remove the said Fences they being the Limits or Land-Marks of the parcell of

Land aforesaid and shall not Sell or dispose of this Lease or Interest therein

without the leave & Consent of the Governour and Council for the time being

Margin Notes:

James Ryder

The Company, owners of the island, rented 20 acres and a half to James Ryder of the island, planter. The Main Ridge lay to the north, James Ryder's own ground and that of the Alexander orphans to the south, the land of the late John Purling to the east, and Richard Beale's ground to the west.

Everything on the parcel passed with it: the timber, the water and its channels, the houses, buildings, sheds and outbuildings, the yam beds, the fruit trees, the walls and fences, and every other benefit attached to the ground.

James Ryder, his heirs and anyone he was allowed to pass it on to, held the ground for 21 years from the date of the agreement.

He and those after him had to stay loyal to the King and to the Company, and to keep the island's laws.

He also had to keep every house, building, shed, outbuilding, plantation and fence in sound repair for the whole term, whatever stood there then or was put up later. He had to plant a tenth of the parcel with wood and keep that stand alive and growing. Furze had to go in along the fences, on whichever face suited. Apple, lemon, mulberry and peach trees had to be planted wherever they stood the best chance, and whenever one died another of the same kind had to take its place. None of this could cut into whatever part of the ground he kept for growing yams.

The rent came to 5 shillings an acre a year, due to the Company at Michaelmas.

He could not move or pull down the fences, since those marked out where the ground ended. Nor could he sell the lease or hand on his interest in it without leave from the Governor and Council.

Interpretations

Four neighbours named here appear across other grants sealed at this same sitting, which fixes the parcel within a closely worked quarter under the Main Ridge. Richard Beale took 10 acres with the Main Ridge to his north on the same day, and the Alexander orphans held three parcels totalling 55 acres settled on the widow and six children. John Purling's ground also bounded the 17 acres let to Charles Steward.

James Ryder married Elizabeth Greentree and acted as one of the two trustees for the Greentree family's 25 acres in Sandy Bay at this sitting, alongside his brother-in-law Thomas Greentree. He therefore took ground in his own name and held ground for his wife's family on the same day.

He had built up his holdings steadily. He bought 20 acres of cabbage tree and gumwood called Alexander's Land from Richard Goodwin for £130 0s 0d on 30 November 1725, the parcel bordering his own ground on two sides, and took the lease of 30 September 1729 covering 20 acres of gumwood known as Beale's Lott in the West Division, bound to a planting reserve of 4 acres and a half of young gumwood at a folded rent of 3 shillings an acre.

Land under the Main Ridge lay in the moist high country where cabbage tree grew and where prices ran above the dry gumwood slopes below. Bisley, twenty acres bounded south by the Main Ridge, later fetched £19 an acre when Francis Wrangham sold it to Benjamin Mason on 12 October 1761.

At 5 shillings an acre the yearly charge on 20 acres and a half came to £5 2s 6d.

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In Witness whereof he the Said James Ryder hath hereunto Sett his Hand

and Seale this Thirtieth day of September in the Year of Our Lord One

Thousand Seven Hundred and Thirty Eight and the Said Honourable Company

to the other part of these Presents hath Affixed their Common Seale the day

and Year beforewritten

Signed Sealed & Delivered Jam s Ryder

in the presence of 1½ acre

18 Acres Leased

20½ Acres Leashold

The Lords Proprietors of this Island the Honourable

the United Company of Merchants of England Trading to the East Indies

Do hereby Demise Grant, Sett and to Farm lett Unto Thomas Allis

of the Said Island Planter All that piece or parcell of Land containing Thirty

Acres Lying in deep Valley Butting & Bounding North upon the Lands of

John Worrall dec d East upon the Said Hon ble Company's Wast Land, South upon

the Lands of the Said Thomas Allis and West upon the Lands of M r John Bazett

To have and to hold the said hereby Demised parcell of Land and

every part and parcell thereof together with all and Singular the Wood

Water, Water Courses, Houses Buildings, Edifices Sheds, Tenements

Yams and Plantations of Yams, Fruit-Trees, Walls, Fences and all other

and Singular the Rights Commodities to them & each and every of them

belonging or Appertaining Unto him the Said Thomas Allis his Heirs Executors

Administrators or Allowed Assigns from the day of the Date hereof for and

during all the Space or Term of Twenty One Years from thence next Ensuing

UPON CONDITION that he the said Thomas Allis his Heirs Executors

Administrat rs or Allowed Assigns shall and do bear true faith & Allegiance

to Our Sovereign Lord King George his Heirs & Successours and to them the

Said Honourable Company and their Successours and shall duly Observe and

Obey all the Laws and Constitutions of the Said Island And upon Condition

also that he the Said Thomas Allis his Heirs Execut rs Administrat rs or Allowed

Assigns shall and do from time to time and at all times hereafter during the

Term of this present Lease keep up and maintain in good order & Sufficient

and legal Repair all such Buildings, Houses Edifices, Sheds, Tenements

Plantations and Fences as now are or hereafter shall be made Built or

Margin Notes:

Thomas Allis

30 Acres

James Ryder signed the agreement on 30 September 1738, and the Company sealed its own copy the same day.

Signed before D[...].

A plan drawn on the page shows two adjoining blocks, one annotated 18 acres leased and the other 20 acres and a half leased, with a smaller piece of 1 acre and a half at the top corner. A compass rose gives north, south, east and west.

The Company, owners of the island, rented 30 acres in Deep Valley to Thomas Allis of the island, planter. The land of the late John Worrall lay to the north, the Company's unused land to the east, Thomas Allis's own ground to the south, and John Bazett's to the west.

Everything on the parcel passed with it: the timber, the water and its channels, the houses, buildings, sheds and outbuildings, the yam beds, the fruit trees, the walls and fences, and every other benefit attached to the ground.

Thomas Allis, his heirs and anyone he was allowed to pass it on to, held the ground for 21 years from the date of the agreement.

He and those after him had to stay loyal to the King and to the Company, and to keep the island's laws.

He also had to keep every house, building, shed, outbuilding, plantation and fence in sound repair for the whole term, whatever stood there then or was put up later.

Interpretations

The plan shows the 20 acres and a half granted to James Ryder drawn alongside a separate 18 acres, both marked as leased, with a fragment of 1 acre and a half at one corner. Only the larger parcel belongs to this lease, so the surveyor drew the neighbouring holdings together to show how the ground fitted. That practice runs through the register, where the annexed plan mattered more than the written acreage in settling what a tenant actually held.

Deep Valley runs through the register as ground held by a cluster of families whose leaseholds bounded one another. John Worrall and Ebenezer Leech took a joint 16-acre gumwood grant at the head of the easternmost branch on 27 December 1726, and John Burling took reduced-rent fuel plantations there in 1730 and 1731. Purling ground also recurs as a neighbour through that quarter.

Thomas Allis belongs to a family established at the head of Deep Valley since the 1680s. Thomas Allis senior bought a stone house from Robert Tomps in January 1689, took an 18-year lease from John Stevens that August, and bought 10 acres from John Hemmons in May 1696 and another 10 from Benjamin Miller in April 1704. He was confirmed in 3 acres and leased 30 more on 4 August 1713, and died between the morning and afternoon instruments of that same day.

John Bazett on the western boundary had been buying back his late father Matthew Bazett's estate through 1738 and 1739, paying about £25 0s 0d a share for the eighths held by his siblings and their families. The Bazett family held 21 acres of freehold with 21 of leasehold at the head of Deep Valley, so this parcel sat directly against that block.

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Erected thereon and shall Moreover Plant keep up maintain & preserve

in and upon the said hereby Demised parcells of Land its full Quantity

or Proportion of Wood being One tenth part of the said parcell of Land and

shall likewise plant & Preserve Furze withinside or without the Fences of

the said parcell of Land and shall Plant Fruit-Trees such as Apple Lemon

Mulberry or Peach Trees in such parts thereof wherein they are most likely

to grow and as they shall happen to Decay or die shall Replant others of

of the like Sorts thereon without hurt or Prejudice nevertheless to any part

of such Land as shall be sell apart for the Sole purpose of Planting and

Raising of Yams YEILDING and Paying therefore Yearly and every

Year during the Term of this present Lease unto them the Said Honourable

Company their Successours Agents or Assigns the Sum of Five Shillings

⅌ Acre in at or Upon the Feast of S t Michael the Arch Angel yearly

And upon farther Condition that he the Said Thomas

Allis his Heirs Executors Administrat rs or Allowed Assigns shall not

Alter or Remove the said Fences they being the Limits or Land-Marks

of the parcell of Land Aforesaid and shall not Sell or Dispose of this Lease

or Interest therein without the leave and Consent of the Governour & Council

for the time being IN WITNESS whereof he the Said Thomas Allis

hath hereunto Sett his Hand and Seale this Thirtieth day of September

in the Year of our Lord One Thousand Seven Hundred and Thirty Eight

And they the said Honourable Company to the other part of these presents

hath Affixed their Common Seale the day and Year beforewritten

Signed Sealed and Delivered Thomas Allis

in the presence of

Thirty Acres

N

W E

S

Thomas Allis also had to plant a tenth of the parcel with wood and keep that stand alive and growing. Furze had to go in along the fences, on whichever face suited. Apple, lemon, mulberry and peach trees had to be planted wherever they stood the best chance, and whenever one died another of the same kind had to take its place. None of this could cut into whatever part of the ground he kept for growing yams.

The rent came to 5 shillings an acre a year, due to the Company at Michaelmas.

He could not move or pull down the fences, since those marked out where the ground ended. Nor could he sell the lease or hand on his interest in it without leave from the Governor and Council.

Thomas Allis signed the agreement on 30 September 1738, and the Company sealed its own copy the same day.

Signed before D[...].

A plan drawn on the page shows the parcel as an irregular figure with many sides, alongside a compass rose giving north, south, east and west. The figure is annotated thirty acres.

Interpretations

At 5 shillings an acre the yearly charge on 30 acres came to £7 10s 0d, the largest rent of any single parcel sealed at this sitting. Mary Nicholls owed £6 5s 0d on her 25 acres and the Greentree family trust the same, so Thomas Allis took the biggest holding of the day.

The many-sided outline of the plan reflects ground fitted between four established neighbours in a valley where holdings had accumulated for fifty years. The Allis family had been at the head of Deep Valley since 1689, and John Bazett was buying back his father's Deep Valley eighths through 1738 and 1739, so the boundaries followed fences already long in place rather than any surveyed line.

Thomas Allis signed in his own hand. His grandfather Thomas Allis senior had also signed rather than marked, so the family maintained a literate line across three generations from the stone house bought from Robert Tomps in January 1689.

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The Lords Proprietors of this Island the

Honourable the United Company of Merchants of England trading to the

East Indies DO HEREBY Demise Grant, Sett and to Farm lett Unto

Isaac Leech of the said Island Planter All that piece or parcell of Land

containing Four Acres Lying at the Bottom of Pleasant Valley Butting

and Bounding North, South West and East Upon the said Honourable

Company's Wast Land, To have and to hold the said hereby

Demised parcell of Land and every part and Parcell thereof together with all

and Singular the Wood, Water, Water Courses Houses, Buildings, Edifices, Sheds

Tenements, Yams and Plantations of Yams, Fruit-Trees, Walls, Fences and all other

and Singular the Rights Commodities to them and each and every of them belonging

or Appertaining Unto him the Said Isaac Leech his Heirs Executors Administrat rs

or Allowed Assigns from the day of the Date hereof for and during all the Space

or Term of Twenty One Years from thence next Ensuing UPON

CONDITION that he the Said Isaac Leech his Heirs, Execut rs Administrat rs

or Allowed Assigns shall and do bear true faith and Allegiance to Our

Sovereign Lord King George his Heirs and Successours and to them the

Said Honourable Company and their Successours and shall duly Observe

and Obey all the Laws and Constitutions of the said Island And upon

CONDITION also that he the Said Isaac Leech his Heirs, Executors

Administrat rs or Allowed Assigns shall and do from time to time and

at all times hereafter during the Term of this present Lease keep up

and Maintain in good Order and Sufficient and legal Repair all such

Buildings, Houses, Edifices, Sheds, Tenements, Plantations and Fences

as now are or hereafter shall be made, Built or Erected thereon and shall

moreover Plant keep up Maintain and preserve in and upon the said hereby

Demised parcell of Land its full Quantity or Proportion of Wood being One

tenth part of the said parcell of Land and shall likewise Plant and preserve

Furze withinside or without the Fences of the said parcell of Land and shall

Plant Fruit-Trees such as Apple Lemon, Mulberry or Peach Trees in such

parts thereof wherein they are most likely to grow and as they shall

happen to Decay or die shall Replant others of the like sorts thereon

without hurt or Prejudice nevertheless to any part of such Land as shall

be Sett apart for the Sole purpose Planting and Raising of Yams

YEILDING and Paying therefore Yearly and every Year during the

Term of this present Lease unto them the Said Honourable Company their

Successours Agents or Assigns the Sum of Five Shillings ⅌ Acre in at or

upon the Feast of S t Michael the Arch Angel yearly And upon

farther CONDITION that he the Said Isaac Leech his Heirs

Executors, Administrators or Allowed Assigns shall not Alter or Remove

the said Fences they being the Limits or Land Marks of the parcell

of Land Aforesaid and shall not Sell or Dispose of this Lease or Interest

therein without the leave and Consent of the Governour and Council for the

time being IN WITNESS whereof he the said Isaac Leech hath

hereunto Sett his hand and Seale this Thirtieth day of September in

Margin Notes:

Isaac Leech

4 Acres

The Company, owners of the island, rented 4 acres at the bottom of Pleasant Valley to Isaac Leech of the island, planter. The Company's unused land lay on all four sides, north, south, east and west.

Everything on the parcel passed with it: the timber, the water and its channels, the houses, buildings, sheds and outbuildings, the yam beds, the fruit trees, the walls and fences, and every other benefit attached to the ground.

Isaac Leech, his heirs and anyone he was allowed to pass it on to, held the ground for 21 years from the date of the agreement.

He and those after him had to stay loyal to the King and to the Company, and to keep the island's laws.

He also had to keep every house, building, shed, outbuilding, plantation and fence in sound repair for the whole term, whatever stood there then or was put up later. He had to plant a tenth of the parcel with wood and keep that stand alive and growing. Furze had to go in along the fences, on whichever face suited. Apple, lemon, mulberry and peach trees had to be planted wherever they stood the best chance, and whenever one died another of the same kind had to take its place. None of this could cut into whatever part of the ground he kept for growing yams.

The rent came to 5 shillings an acre a year, due to the Company at Michaelmas.

He could not move or pull down the fences, since those marked out where the ground ended. Nor could he sell the lease or hand on his interest in it without leave from the Governor and Council.

Isaac Leech signed the agreement on 30 September [...]

Interpretations

Company waste surrounds this parcel entirely, as it did the 2 acres in Fryer Valley let to Richard Goodwin at this same sitting. Fencing such ground fell wholly on the tenant, since no neighbour's wall could serve any part of the boundary, and on 4 acres carrying a rent of £1 0s 0d a year that cost was real. The bottom of Pleasant Valley sat at the outer edge of settled ground, and John Knipe's 4 acres there in 1713 were likewise ringed by Company waste.

Isaac Leech had already taken a Company lease of an acre and a half in two parcels sealed 31 August 1731. He was later confirmed in 10 acres at the head of Pleasant Valley by proclamation and beat of drum on 11 October 1740, the ground bounded by John Bazett, the late John Purling and John Steward, so this grant formed part of a steady accumulation in that valley.

He sold John Bazett 10 acres of freehold at High Hill for £100 0s 0d on 6 December 1740, and the Leech family ran across the island through Robert, Richard, Daniel, Thomas, Joseph, Ebenezer and John Leech. Ebenezer Leech held Deep Valley ground jointly with John Worrall from 27 December 1726.

The Leech name also appears through the earlier records in the apprenticeship of Robert Leech junior, bound to Giles Smith joiner and carpenter on 20 March 1716 for a premium of £15 0s 0d paid by the executors Richard Garling, James Greentree and Jonathan Doveton.

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the Year of Our Lord One Thousand Seven Hundred and Thirty Eight

And they the Said Honourable Company to the other part of these

Presents hath Affixed their Common Seale the day and Year

before written Isaac Leech

Signed Sealed and Delivered

in the presence of

Curling

N

W E

S

Four Acres

The Lords Proprietors of this Island the Hon ble the United

Company of Merchants of England Trading to the East Indies do

hereby Demise Grant Sett & to Farm Lett unto Jonathan Doveton

of the Said Island Planter All that Peice or Parcell of Land containing

Seven Acres Butting & Bounding North, East, West & South upon

the Said Jonathan Dovetons own Land according to the Plan

hereunto annexed To have and to hold the Said hereby demised

Parcell of Land & every part & Parcell thereof together with all and

Singular the Wood Water Water Courses Houses Buildings Edifices

Sheds Tenements Yams and Plantations of Yams Fruit Trees

Walls Fences & all other & Singular the Rights Commodities to them

& each & every of them belonging or Appertaining unto him the Said

Jonathan Doveton his heirs Ex rs Adm rs or allowed Assigns from the

day of the date hereof for & during all the Space or Term of Twenty

one years from thence next Ensuing, Upon Condition that

he the Said Jonathan Doveton his heirs Executors Administrators

or allowed Assigns shall & do bear true faith and allegiance to our

Sovereign Lord King George his heirs and Successours & to them the

Said Hon ble Company & their Successours & shall duely observe

& Obey all the Laws & Constitutions of the Said Island And Upon

Condition also that he the Said Jonathan Doveton his heirs

Ex rs Adm rs or allowed Assigns shall & do from time to time & at all

times hereafter during the Term of this Present Lease keep up &

maintain in good order & Sufficient & Legall Repair all Such

Buildings Houses Edifices Sheds Tenements & Plantations

& Fences as now are or hereafter shall be made Built or Erected

thereon, & shall moreover Plant keep up and maintain & Preserve in

& upon the Said hereby demised Parcell of Land its full quantity or

Proportion of Wood being one tenth part of the Said Parcell of Land

& shall likewise Plant & Preserve Furze withinside or without

the Fences of the Said Parcell of Land & shall Plant Fruit Trees

Such as Apple Lemon Mulberry or Peach Trees in Such parts

thereof wherein they are most likely to Grow & as they shall happen

Margin Notes:

Jon Doveton

7 Acres

Isaac Leech signed the agreement on 30 September 1738, and the Company sealed its own copy the same day.

Signed before [...]urling.

A plan drawn on the page shows the parcel as a long narrow strip curved along its length, with a compass rose giving north, south, east and west. The figure is annotated four acres.

The Company, owners of the island, rented 7 acres to Jonathan Doveton of the island, planter. Jonathan Doveton's own land lay on all four sides, north, east, west and south, as shown on the plan attached to the agreement.

Everything on the parcel passed with it: the timber, the water and its channels, the houses, buildings, sheds and outbuildings, the yam beds, the fruit trees, the walls and fences, and every other benefit attached to the ground.

Jonathan Doveton, his heirs and anyone he was allowed to pass it on to, held the ground for 21 years from the date of the agreement.

He and those after him had to stay loyal to the King and to the Company, and to keep the island's laws.

He also had to keep every house, building, shed, outbuilding, plantation and fence in sound repair for the whole term, whatever stood there then or was put up later. He had to plant a tenth of the parcel with wood and keep that stand alive and growing. Furze had to go in along the fences, on whichever face suited. Apple, lemon, mulberry and peach trees had to be planted wherever they stood the best chance [...]

Interpretations

The curved strip on the plan shows ground following the fall of a valley bottom rather than any straight surveyed line. A parcel of that shape has a long perimeter for its area, so the fencing burden on 4 acres was heavier than the acreage alone suggests, and every yard of it fell on Isaac Leech since Company waste lay on all sides.

Jonathan Doveton's parcel is ringed entirely by his own ground, which makes this the purest example in the whole run of the Company letting a fragment to the only man who could reach it. No boundary description was needed beyond his own name repeated on all four sides, and the plan alone fixed where the ground lay.

Jonathan Doveton appears through the register as a major holder under Halley's Mount, confirmed in 50 acres and a quarter on 17 April 1711 and greatly expanded on 4 August 1713 through a 90-acre confirmation of land formerly Leonard Hunt's and William Marsh's, both bought by the Company and sold on to him. That brought his estate in that quarter to about 140 acres.

He also took the two James Valley pieces granted on 19 July 1737 at a rent of 19 shillings, where the Company recognised the cost he had borne in clearing ground and turning the watercourse at the Governor's request. He bought the Chapel Valley dwelling and 10 acres from Robert and Mary Atkins for £50 0s 0d in 1723 before the couple sailed for England.

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to decay or die shall replant others of the like Sorts thereon, without

hurt or Prejudice nevertheless to any part of Such Land as Shall be Set

apart for the Sole Purpose of Planting & Raising of Yams YEILDING

& Paying therefore Yearly & every Year during the Term of this

Present Lease unto the Said Hon ble Company their Successours

Agents or Assigns the Sum of five Shillings ⅌ Acre in at or upon the

Feast of S t Michael the Arch Angel Yearly AND upon farther

Condition that he the Said Jonathan Doveton his heirs Ex rs Adm rs

or allowed Assigns shall not alter or Remove the Said Fences they

being the Limits or Land marks of the Parcell of Land aforesaid &

shall not Sell or dispose of this Lease or Interest therein without the

Leave & Consent of the Governour & Council for the time being. IN

WITNESS whereof he the Said Jonathan Doveton hath hereunto Set

his hand & Seale this Thirtieth day of September in the Year of our

Lord one thousand Seven hundred Thirty Eight, And they the Said

Hon ble Company to the other part of these Presents have affixed their

Common Seale the day & year beforewritten

Signed Sealed & Delivered Sam Doveton

in the Presence of for Jona Doveton

W N

7 Acres

S E

The Lords Proprietors of this Island the Hon ble the United Company

of Merchants of England Trading to the East Indies Do hereby Demise

Grant Sett and to Farm Lett unto Jonathan Doveton of the Said Island

Planter All that Peice or Parcell of Land containing Two Acres Butting

& Bounding North upon the Comp s Lands, East & West upon other the Lands

of him the Said Jon Doveton & South upon other the Comp s Lands

To have and to hold the Said hereby demised Parcell of Land & every

part & Parcell thereof together with all & Singular the Wood, Water, Water

Courses Houses Buildings Edifices Sheds Tenements Yams & Plantations

of Yams Fruit Trees Walls Fences & all other & Singular the Rights

Commodities to them & each & every of them belonging or Appertaining

unto him the Said Jonathan Doveton his heirs Ex rs Adm rs or allowed

Assigns from the day of the date hereof for & during all the Space or

Term of Twenty one Years from thence next ensuing Upon Condition

that he the Said Jonathan Doveton his heirs Executors Administrators

or allowed Assigns shall & do bear true faith & allegiance to our Sovereign Lord

King George his heirs & Successours & to them the Said Hon ble Company

& their Successours & shall observe & Obey all the Laws & Constitutions

of the Said Island AND upon Condition also that he the Said

Jonathan Doveton his heirs Ex rs Adm rs or allowed Assigns shall enter

Margin Notes:

Jon Doveton

2 Acres

Whenever a fruit tree died another of the same kind had to take its place. None of this could cut into whatever part of the ground Jonathan Doveton kept for growing yams.

The rent came to 5 shillings an acre a year, due to the Company at Michaelmas.

He could not move or pull down the fences, since those marked out where the ground ended. Nor could he sell the lease or hand on his interest in it without leave from the Governor and Council.

Jonathan Doveton signed the agreement on 30 September 1738, and the Company sealed its own copy the same day.

Signed before D[...]. Samuel Doveton signed for Jonathan Doveton.

A plan drawn on the page shows the parcel as a four-sided figure, alongside a compass rose giving north, south, east and west. The figure is annotated 7 acres.

The Company, owners of the island, rented 2 acres to Jonathan Doveton of the island, planter. The Company's own land lay to the north, other ground of Jonathan Doveton to the east and west, and the Company's land again to the south.

Everything on the parcel passed with it: the timber, the water and its channels, the houses, buildings, sheds and outbuildings, the yam beds, the fruit trees, the walls and fences, and every other benefit attached to the ground.

Jonathan Doveton, his heirs and anyone he was allowed to pass it on to, held the ground for 21 years from the date of the agreement.

He and those after him had to stay loyal to the King and to the Company, and to keep the island's laws.

Interpretations

Samuel Doveton signing for Jonathan makes the fifth substitute signature in this run, after Richard Goodwin for Frances Carne, Charles Steward for Charlesworth Powell, John Desfountain for Isaac Wood and Richard Bagley for Mary Nicholls. Family members and neighbours subscribed for one another without any recorded authority, which points to a practice the Company accepted as routine.

Two parcels went to Jonathan Doveton at this sitting, 7 acres ringed entirely by his own ground and 2 acres wedged between his land on two sides and Company waste on the other two. Both were fragments he alone could use, and the Company let them separately rather than under one lease, so each carried its own rent and its own set of conditions.

At 5 shillings an acre the two came to £1 15s 0d and 10 shillings respectively.

Samuel Doveton appears in the register as a steady accumulator of West Division and town ground, buying 21 acres of leasehold and a freehold parcel from Giles Smith for £12 0s 0d and £70 0s 0d on 30 December 1730, and 11 acres and a half from Orlando Bagley senior for £61 17s 6d on 30 September 1731. He later bought 24 acres of the late Governor John Goodwin's estate from the Company for £295 0s 0d in 1742.

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from time to time & at all times hereafter during the Term of

this Present Lease keep up & maintain in good order & Sufficient

& Legall repair all Such Buildings Houses Edifices Sheds

Tenements Plantations & Fences as now are or hereafter shall

be made Built or Erected thereon, and shall moreover Plant up

maintain & Preserve in & upon the Said hereby demised Parcell

of Land its full quantity or Proportion of Wood being one tenth part

of the Said Parcell of Land & shall likewise Plant & Preserve Furze

withinside or without the Fences of the Said Parcell of Land & shall

shall Plant Fruit Trees Such as Apple Lemon Mulberry or

Peach Trees in Such parts thereof wherein they are most likely to

Grow & as they Shall happen to decay or die shall replant others of

the like Sorts thereon without hurt or Prejudice nevertheless to

any part of Such Land as Shall be set apart for the Sole Purpose

of Planting & Raising of Yams, YEILDING & Paying therefore

Yearly & every Year during the Term of this Present Lease unto them

the Said Hon ble Company their Successours Agents or Assigns the

Sum of five Shillings ⅌ Acre in at or upon the Feast of S t Michaels

the Arch Angel Yearly, And upon farther Condition that

he the Said Jonathan Doveton his heirs Ex rs Adm rs or allowed

Assigns shall not alter or Remove the Said Fences they being the

Limits or Land marks of the Parcell of Land aforesaid and shall

not Sell or dispose of this Lease or Interest therein without the

Leave & Consent of the Governour & Council for the time being.

IN WITNESS whereof he the Said Jonathan Doveton hath

hereunto Set his hand & Seale this Thirtieth day of September

in the year of our Lord One thousand Seven hundred Thirty and

they the Said Honourable Company to the other part of these

Presents have affixed their Common Seale the day & year

beforewritten.

Sam Doveton

Signed Sealed & for Jona Doveton

& Delivered in the Presence of

N

2 Acres

W

E

S

Jonathan Doveton also had to keep every house, building, shed, outbuilding, plantation and fence in sound repair for the whole term, whatever stood there then or was put up later. He had to plant a tenth of the parcel with wood and keep that stand alive and growing. Furze had to go in along the fences, on whichever face suited. Apple, lemon, mulberry and peach trees had to be planted wherever they stood the best chance, and whenever one died another of the same kind had to take its place. None of this could cut into whatever part of the ground he kept for growing yams.

The rent came to 5 shillings an acre a year, due to the Company at Michaelmas.

He could not move or pull down the fences, since those marked out where the ground ended. Nor could he sell the lease or hand on his interest in it without leave from the Governor and Council.

Jonathan Doveton signed the agreement on 30 September 1738, and the Company sealed its own copy the same day.

Signed before D[...]. Samuel Doveton signed for Jonathan Doveton.

A plan drawn on the page shows the parcel as a small five-sided figure, alongside a compass rose giving north, south, east and west. The figure is annotated 2 acres.

Interpretations

Samuel Doveton signed for Jonathan on both parcels sealed that day, the 7 acres and this 2, so the older man was either absent from the sitting or unable to write. Jonathan Doveton had signed his own James Valley lease on 19 July 1737 in a hand recorded as Jona Doveton, which points to absence rather than illiteracy.

Two seals of wax appear against the two Doveton grants but only one signature form, since the same substitute subscribed both. The Company treated each parcel as a separate agreement with its own rent and its own conditions rather than folding them into one instrument, which kept the smaller piece able to pass independently if either were later assigned.

The plan shows a compact five-sided block of 2 acres, far smaller than the funnel and strip shapes drawn for other fragments in this run. Ground bounded by Company waste on two sides and Doveton's own land on the other two would take a regular form where no watercourse or slope forced the boundary out of true.

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The Lords Proprietors of this Island the Hon ble the United Company

of Merchants of England Trading to the East Indies DO HEREBY Demise

Grant Sett & to Farm Lett unto Simon Whaley & Joseph Whaley of the

Said Island Planters All that Peice or Parcell of Land containing

Ten Acres Butting and Bounding North East & South upon the Lands

of Jonathan Doveton & West upon the Main Ridge that is to Say, one

half part thereof for the Use & benefit of him the Said Simon Whaley

& the other half part thereof for the Use & benefit of him the Said Joseph

Whaley & their Severall heirs Executors Administrators or allowed

Assigns To have and to hold the Said hereby demised Parcell

of Land & every part & Parcell thereof together with all & Singular

the Wood Water Water Courses Houses Buildings Edifices Sheds

Tenements Yams & Plantations of Yams and all other & Singular

the Rights Commodities to them & each & every of them belonging or

Appertaining unto them the Said Simon Whaley & Joseph Whaley

their heirs Ex rs Adm rs or allowed Assigns from the day of the date

hereof for & during all the Space or Term of Twenty one Years from

thence next ensuing, Upon Condition that they the Said Simon

Whaley & Joseph Whaley his heirs Ex rs Adm rs or allowed Assigns

shall & do bear true faith and allegiance to Our Sovereign Lord

King George his heirs & Successours & to them the Said Hon ble

Company & their Successours & shall duely observe & obey all the

Laws & Constitutions of the Said Island, And upon Condition

also that they the Said Simon Whaley & Joseph their heirs Ex rs

Adm rs or allowed Assigns shall & do from time to time & at all

times hereafter, during the Term of this Present Lease keep up and

maintain in good & Sufficient & Legall Repair all Such Buildings

Houses Edifices Sheds Tenements Plantations & Fences as now

are or hereafter shall be made Built or Erected thereon, & shall

moreover Plant up maintain & Preserve in and upon the Said

hereby demised Parcell of Land its full quantity or Proportion of

Wood being one tenth part of the Said Parcell of Land & shall likewise

Plant & Preserve Furze withinside or without the Fences of the

Said Parcell of Land And shall Plant Fruit Trees Such as Apple

Lemon Mulberry or Peach Trees in Such parts thereof wherein

they are most likely to Grow, & as they Shall happen to decay or die

Shall replant others of the like Sorts thereon, without hurt or

Prejudice nevertheless to any part of Such Land as Shall be Set a

part for the Sole Purpose of Planting and Raising of Yams

YEILDING & Paying therefore Yearly & every Year during the

Term of this Present Lease unto them the Said Hon ble Company

their Successours Agents or Assigns the Sum of five Shillings ⅌ Acre

in at or upon the Feast of S t Michael the Arch Angel Yearly

And upon farther Condition that they the Said Simon

Whaley & Joseph Whaley their Heirs Ex rs Adm rs or allowed Assigns

shall not alter or Remove the Said Fences they being the Limits

or Land marks of the Parcell of Land aforesaid and shall not

Sell or dispose of this Lease or Interest therein without the

Leave & Consent of the Governour & Council for the time being

In Witness whereof they the Said Simon Whaley & Joseph Whaley

have hereunto Set their hands & Seales this Thirtieth day of

September in the Year of our Lord One Thousand Seven hundred Thirty

Margin Notes:

Sim Whaley

Jos Whaley

10 Acres

The Company, owners of the island, rented 10 acres to Simon Whaley and Joseph Whaley of the island, planters. Jonathan Doveton's ground lay to the north, east and south, and the Main Ridge to the west. One half of the parcel went to Simon Whaley and the other half to Joseph Whaley.

Everything on the parcel passed with it: the timber, the water and its channels, the houses, buildings, sheds and outbuildings, the yam beds, the fruit trees, the walls and fences, and every other benefit attached to the ground.

Simon Whaley and Joseph Whaley, their heirs and anyone they were allowed to pass it on to, held the ground for 21 years from the date of the agreement.

They and those after them had to stay loyal to the King and to the Company, and to keep the island's laws.

They also had to keep every house, building, shed, outbuilding, plantation and fence in sound repair for the whole term, whatever stood there then or was put up later. They had to plant a tenth of the parcel with wood and keep that stand alive and growing. Furze had to go in along the fences, on whichever face suited. Apple, lemon, mulberry and peach trees had to be planted wherever they stood the best chance, and whenever one died another of the same kind had to take its place. None of this could cut into whatever part of the ground they kept for growing yams.

The rent came to 5 shillings an acre a year, due to the Company at Michaelmas.

They could not move or pull down the fences, since those marked out where the ground ended. Nor could they sell the lease or hand on their interest in it without leave from the Governor and Council.

Simon Whaley and Joseph Whaley signed the agreement on 30 September 1738.

Interpretations

Splitting the ground in equal halves rather than leaving it undivided follows the arrangement used for Frances Carne and Richard Goodwin at this same sitting. Each brother takes a defined half that passes to his own heirs, unlike the joint gumwood tenancies of 1725 and 1727 where Gabriel Powell, Francis Wrangham and Edmund Nichols held whole so the survivor would take everything.

Jonathan Doveton's ground surrounds this parcel on three sides, and he had taken two of his own fragments at the same sitting, 7 acres ringed entirely by his own land and 2 acres more. The Company was clearing a whole quarter of leftover ground in one afternoon, letting each piece to whichever neighbour it completed.

Simon Whaley was confirmed in 10 acres in Fishers Valley on 4 August 1713 with a further 10 leased at the head of the same valley, and sealed by mark on that occasion. He married Margaret, a daughter of Matthew Bazett, and the couple sold their one-eighth share of the Bazett Chapel Valley house and 15 acres to her brother John Bazett for £25 0s 0d on 13 January 1738, eight months before this grant.

Joseph Whaley appears in the register first as a sergeant, selling John Young a James Valley house in Southwark Street for £24 0s 0d on 3 May 1722, and later as esquire, taking a James Valley building plot of 35 feet in front and 50 feet in depth near the Castle in 1727. A Joseph Whaley junior, planter, sold his brother Simon a parcel of freehold of ten acres in a staged purchase closing on 15 September 1733.

That earlier sale between the same two brothers, for about £37 0s 0d, covered ten acres as this lease does. The brothers had therefore been dealing in ground of that size between themselves for five years before taking this parcel jointly from the Company.

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Eight and they the Said Hon ble Company to the other part of

these Presents have affixed their Common Seale the day &

year beforewritten

Simon Whaley

Signed Sealed & Delivered

in the Presence of

the 7 mark

Joseph Whaley

N

10 Acres

The Lords Proprietors of this Island the Hon ble the United

Company of Merchants of England Trading to the East Indies DO

HEREBY Demise Grant Sett & to Farm Lett unto Francis Wrangham

of the Said Island Planter All those Peices or Parcells of Land

Situate lying & being in Blackhall & on the Hangings thereof

containing Thirty Acres that is to Say Eleven Acres thereof

Butting & Bounding North & West upon the Lands of the Hon ble

Company and East & South upon the Lands of him the Said

Francis Wrangham also other Six Acres thereof Butting and

Bounding North & West upon the Lands of him the Said Francis

Wrangham & South & East upon the Hon ble Companies Wast Land

also nine Acres more Butting & Bounding North upon the Lands

of him the Said Francis Wrangham & also Butting South East

& West upon the Lands of him the Said Francis Wrangham also

other two Acres thereof Butting & Bounding North East West &

South upon the Lands of him the Said Francis Wrangham & the

other two Acres Butting & Bounding North upon this other

Lands, West upon the Lands of Josiah Charlesworth Powell &

South & East upon the Hon ble Companies Wast Land according

to the Severall Plans hereunto annexed To have and to hold

the Said hereby demised Parcells of Land & every part & Parcells

thereof together with all & Singular the Wood Water Water Courses

Houses & Buildings Edifices Sheds Tenements Yams & Plantations

of Yams Fruit Trees Walls Fences and all other & Singular the

Rights Commodities to them & each & every of them belonging or

Appertaining unto them the Said Francis Wrangham his Heirs

Executors Administrators or allowed Assigns from the day of the

date hereof for & during all the Space Time or Term of the naturall

Lives of Matthew Burling John Doveton, and Richard Goodwin

Junior Son of Richard Goodwin of this Island Planter & the

Margin Notes:

Fran s Wrangham

30 Acres.

The Company sealed its own copy on the same day.

Signed before D[...]. Sealed by Simon Whaley and by Joseph Whaley, the second seal marked as covering 7 acres.

A plan drawn on the page shows the parcel as a wedge-shaped block set within a larger dotted outline, with a compass mark. The figure is annotated 10 acres.

The Company, owners of the island, rented several parcels in Stock Hall and on the slopes below it to Francis Wrangham of the island, planter, coming to 40 acres in all. Eleven acres of that were bounded north and west by the Company's land, and east and south by Francis Wrangham's own ground. A further 6 acres were bounded north and west by his own land, and south and east by the Company's. Another 9 acres were bounded north by his own ground and south east and west by the same. A further 2 acres were bounded north, east, west and south by his own land. The remaining 12 acres were bounded north by his other ground, west by the land of Josiah Charlesworth Powell, and south and east by the Company's unused land, all as set out in the plans attached to the agreement.

Everything on the parcels passed with them: the timber, the water and its channels, the houses, buildings, sheds and outbuildings, the yam beds, the fruit trees, the walls and fences, and every other benefit attached to the ground.

Francis Wrangham, his heirs and anyone he was allowed to pass them on to, held the ground for the lifetimes of Matthew Bushing, John Doveton and Richard Goodwin junior, son of Richard Goodwin of the island, planter, and for the life of whichever of them lived longest.

Interpretations

This grant runs on lives rather than for a fixed term of years, unlike every other lease sealed at this sitting. The register shows the same form used for Governor Goodwin's James Valley ground on 30 September 1737, measured by his own life and those of his wife and son, and for Francis Wrangham's own waste ground on 30 September 1738, measured by the lives of his three children. Naming three lives with the tenure running until the last died could carry a holding well beyond twenty-one years.

The three lives named here are not Wrangham's own children but young men from other families, Matthew Bushing, John Doveton and Richard Goodwin junior. Choosing outsiders rather than kin was a calculation about longevity rather than inheritance, since the lease lasted as long as the healthiest of them survived. Richard Goodwin junior is identified by his father precisely so the right person could be traced years later.

Five separate pieces run together under one lease, four of them almost wholly enclosed by Wrangham's existing ground. He was assembling a solid block at Stock Hall from fragments that only he could reach, which is why the Company let them together rather than offering them separately.

Francis Wrangham had already taken James Valley ground from the Company on 19 July 1737 and further waste ground beside his dwelling on 30 September 1738. He held joint gumwood leases with Captain John Goodwin at Lemon Valley and the Horse Pasture in 1726, and with Gabriel Powell and Edmund Nichols at the High Hill in 1727.

At 5 shillings an acre the yearly charge on 40 acres would come to £10 0s 0d, the largest single rent in this run, though a lives-based lease ordinarily carried a renewal fee of half a year's rent as each new life was entered.

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longest liver of them Renewable upon the Death of either of the Said

Nominees upon Payment of half a Years Rent at the admittance of each

Life or new Nominee Upon Condition that he the Said Francis

Wrangham his heirs Ex rs Adm rs or allowed Assigns shall & do allways

bear true Faith & Allegiance to Our Sovereign Lord King George his

heirs & Successours & to them the Said Hon ble Company & their

Successours & shall duely observe & obey all the Laws & Constitutions

of the Said Island And upon Condition also that he the Said Francis

Wrangham his heirs Ex rs Adm rs or allowed Assigns shall & do from

time to time & at all times hereafter during the Term of this Present

Lease keep up & maintain in Good Order & Sufficient & Legal Repair all

Such Buildings Houses Edifices Sheds Tenements Plantations & Fences

as now are or hereafter shall be made Built or Erected thereon, & shall

moreover Plant keep & maintain & Preserve in & upon the Said hereby

demised Parcells of Land its full quantity or Proportion of Wood being one

tenth part of the Said Parcells of Land & shall likewise Plant & Preserve

Furze withinside or without the Fences of the Said Parcells of Land & shall

Plant Fruit Trees Such as Apple Lemon Mulberry or Peach Trees in

Such parts thereof wherein they are most likely to Grow, & as they shall

happen to decay or die shall replant others of the like Sorts thereon without

hurt or Prejudice nevertheless to any part of Such Land as Shall be set apart

for the Sole Purpose of Planting & Raising of Yams YEILDING & Paying

therefore Yearly & every Year during the Term of this Present Lease unto

them the Said Hon ble Company their Successours Agents or Assigns the Sum

of five Shillings ⅌ Acre in at or upon the Feast of S t Michael the Arch

Angel And upon farther Condition that he Said Francis Wrangham

his heirs Ex rs Adm rs or allowed Assigns shall not alter or Remove the

Said Fences they being the Limits or Land marks of the Parcells of Land

aforesaid & shall not Sell or dispose of this Lease or Interest therein

without the Leave & Consent of the Governour & Council for the time

being In Witness whereof he the Said Francis Wrangham hath

hereunto Set his hand & Seale this Thirtieth day of September in the

Year of our Lord One thousand Seven hundred Thirty Eight, and they the

Said Hon ble Company to the other part of these Presents have affixed

their Common Seale the day & year beforewritten.

Signed Sealed & Delivered Fran s Wrangham

in the Presence of

N

6 Acres

W

S

11 Acres

S

S

9 Acres

E

S

N

2 Acres

E

N

W 2 Acres E

S

As each of the three lives fell in, a new name could be entered on payment of half a year's rent.

Francis Wrangham and those after him had to stay loyal to the King and to the Company, and to keep the island's laws.

He also had to keep every house, building, shed, outbuilding, plantation and fence in sound repair for the whole term, whatever stood there then or was put up later. He had to plant a tenth of the parcels with wood and keep that stand alive and growing. Furze had to go in along the fences, on whichever face suited. Apple, lemon, mulberry and peach trees had to be planted wherever they stood the best chance, and whenever one died another of the same kind had to take its place. None of this could cut into whatever part of the ground he kept for growing yams.

The rent came to 5 shillings an acre a year, due to the Company at Michaelmas.

He could not move or pull down the fences, since those marked out where the ground ended. Nor could he sell the lease or hand on his interest in it without leave from the Governor and Council.

Francis Wrangham signed the agreement on 30 September 1738, and the Company sealed its own copy the same day.

Signed before D[...].

Five plans drawn on the page show the parcels, annotated 6 acres, 11 acres, 9 acres, 2 acres and 12 acres, each with its own compass marks giving north, south, east and west.

Interpretations

The renewal fee of half a year's rent as each life fell in is what made a lives-based lease effectively perpetual. On 40 acres that fee came to £5 0s 0d, a modest price for extending a tenure that might otherwise have ended with a single death. The register shows the Company adopting this half-year rate in the leases of 1719, replacing the full year's rent charged on the Cason lease of December 1717.

The five plans laid out together show how scattered the holding was, ranging from a compact 11 acres to a long narrow strip of 2 acres. Four of the pieces sat almost entirely within Wrangham's existing ground, so the drawings record the Company clearing out awkward remnants rather than granting any continuous block.

Wrangham took this 40 acres on lives while every other tenant that day took twenty-one years, which marks him out among the men sealing at that sitting. He had also taken the James Valley waste beside his dwelling on lives earlier the same day, measured by his three children James, William and Frances, so both of his 1738 grants ran on the longer form.

The rate of 5 shillings an acre held even here, so a lives-based tenure cost no more per acre than a fixed term. What the Company took instead was the renewal fee at each admittance, which produced income at unpredictable intervals rather than a higher annual charge.

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The Honourable the Lords Proprietors of this Island the United

Company of Merchants of England Trading to the East Indies DO

HEREBY Demise Grant Sett & to Farm Lett unto Francis Wrangham

of the Said Island Planter All those Peices or Parcells of Land

Situate lying & being in Sarahs Valley containing Twelve Acres

that is to Say Eight Acres thereof Butting & Bounding upon two

Acres of the Said Gumwood Land formerly Granted unto Captain

John Goodwin East West & South upon the Hon ble Companies Wast

Lands also other two Acres thereof lying in two Parcells one of the

Said Parcells thereof Butting & Bounding North & the other Butting

South upon other the Lease Land of him the Said Francis Wrangham

more Peiceable & on all other Sides or Ports Butting & Bounding

upon the Hon ble Companies Wast Lands & the other two Acres

thereof Butting & Bounding North upon the Lands of him the

Said Francis Wrangham East West & South upon the Hon ble Comp s

Wast Land according to the Severall Plans hereunto annexed

TO HAVE AND TO HOLD the Said hereby demised Parcells of

Land & every part & Parcells thereof together with all & Singular

the Wood Water Water Courses Houses & Buildings Edifices Sheds

Tenements Yams & Plantations of Yams Fruit Trees Walls

Fences & all other & Singular the Rights Commodities to them &

each & every of them belonging or Appertaining unto him the

Said Francis Wrangham his heirs Executors Administrators

or allowed Assigns from the day of the date hereof for & during

all the Space Time or Term of the naturall Lives of Matthew

Burling John Doveton & Richard Goodwin Junior Son of

Richard Goodwin Planter & the longest liver of them Renewable

upon the death of either of the Said Nominees upon Payment of half

a Years Rent at the admittance of each Life or new Nominee

Upon Condition that he the Said Francis Wrangham his

heirs Ex rs Adm rs or allowed Assigns shall & do allways bear true

Faith & Allegiance to Our Sovereign Lord King George his heirs

& Successours & to them the Said Hon ble Company & their Successours

& shall duely observe & obey all the Laws & Constitutions of the

Said Island And upon Condition also that he the Said

Francis Wrangham his heirs Ex rs Adm rs or allowed Assigns

shall & do from time to time & at all times hereafter during the

Term of this Present Lease keep up & maintain in good order &

Sufficient & Legal Repair all Such Buildings Houses Edifices

Sheds Tenements Plantations & Fences as now are or hereafter

shall be made Built or Erected thereon, & shall moreover Plant

keep up & maintain & Preserve in & upon the Said hereby demised

Parcells of Land its full quantity or Proportion of Wood being one

tenth part of the Said Parcells of Land & shall likewise Plant & Preserve

Furze withinside or without Fences of the Said Parcells of Land & shall

shall Plant Fruit Trees Such as Apple Lemon Mulberry or Peach

Trees in Such parts thereof wherein they are most likely to Grow & as they

shall happen to decay or die shall replant others of the like Sorts

thereon without hurt or Prejudice nevertheless to any part of Such Land

as Shall be set apart for the Sole Purpose of Planting and Raising

of Yams YEILDING & Paying therefore Yearly & every Year during

the Term of this Present Lease unto them the Said Hon ble Company

Margin Notes:

Fran s Wrangham

12 Acres

The Company, owners of the island, rented several parcels in Sarahs Valley to Francis Wrangham of the island, planter, coming to 12 acres in all. Eight acres of that adjoined two acres of gumwood land formerly granted to Captain John Goodwin, which lay to the east, and the Company's waste land to the south. A further 2 acres lay in two separate pieces, one bounded north and the other bounded south by other leased ground of Francis Wrangham himself, with the Company's waste on their remaining sides. The last 2 acres were bounded north by his own land and south by the Company's waste, all as set out in the plans attached to the agreement.

Everything on the parcels passed with them: the timber, the water and its channels, the houses, buildings, sheds and outbuildings, the yam beds, the fruit trees, the walls and fences, and every other benefit attached to the ground.

Francis Wrangham, his heirs and anyone he was allowed to pass them on to, held the ground for the lifetimes of Matthew Bunling, John Doveton and Richard Goodwin junior, son of Richard Goodwin, planter, and for the life of whichever of them lived longest. As each life fell in, a new name could be entered on payment of half a year's rent.

Francis Wrangham and those after him had to stay loyal to the King and to the Company, and to keep the island's laws.

He also had to keep every house, building, shed, outbuilding, plantation and fence in sound repair for the whole term, whatever stood there then or was put up later. He had to plant a tenth of the parcels with wood and keep that stand alive and growing. Furze had to go in along the fences, on whichever face suited. Apple, lemon, mulberry and peach trees had to be planted wherever they stood the best chance, and whenever one died another of the same kind had to take its place. None of this could cut into whatever part of the ground he kept for growing yams.

Interpretations

The same three lives carry this lease as the 40 acres at Stock Hall sealed the same day, so Francis Wrangham took both holdings on a single demographic clock. Using identical nominees across separate grants simplified management, since one death triggered renewal on both at once rather than forcing him to track two sets of lives. The register shows James Greentree doing the same on 21 May 1719, naming his three sons as the lives in twin leases at Gabriel's Gut and Blood Bottom.

The first nominee appears here as Matthew Bunling where the Stock Hall lease gave Matthew Bushing, the clerk's rendering differing between two instruments sealed on one afternoon. The register carries a Matthew Burling as one of the executors of John Burling's will, and the Burling family held ground in the same period, so the name probably belongs to that line under a variant hand.

Sarahs Valley runs through the register from the earliest years. Thomas Harper sold 20 acres at its head to James Casthope for £30 0s 0d on 27 March 1694 and a different 20-acre parcel to Thomas Goodwin for £35 0s 0d that May, having bought ground there from William Fox in January. Governor Keeling's land also bordered the valley.

Captain John Goodwin's two acres of gumwood, named here as the eastern boundary, connects to the cluster of leases he took in the 1720s, including 2 acres in Fryer Valley formerly Christopher Kell's and 8 acres at Sarah's Ladder in the east branch of Lemon Valley, both dated 16 January 1724.

Three of the four pieces sit against Wrangham's own ground with Company waste on their other sides, so this grant pushed his holding outward into unallocated land while tying the fragments to what he already worked.

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their Successours Agents or Assigns the Sum of five Shillings ⅌ Acre in

at or upon the Feast of S t Michael the Arch Angel. And upon farther

Condition that he the Said Francis Wrangham his heirs Ex rs Adm rs

or allowed Assigns shall not alter or Remove the Said Fences they

being the Limits or Land marks of the Parcells of Land aforesaid &

shall not Sell or dispose of this Lease or Interest therein without

the leave & Consent of the Governour & Council for the time being In

Witness whereof he the Said Francis Wrangham hath hereunto

Set his hand & Seale this Thirtieth day of September in the Year of our

Lord One Thousand Seven hundred Thirty Eight, & they the Said Hon ble

Company to the other part of these Presents have affixed their Common

Seale the day & year beforewritten

Signed Sealed & Delivered Fran s Wrangham

in the Presence of

N

N

One Acre

S

One Acre

W 8 Acres E

N

2 Acres

W E

S

S

The Honourable the Lords Proprietors of this Island the United

Company of Merchants of England Trading to the East Indies Do

HEREBY Demise Grant Sett & to Farm Lett unto Duke Crispe and John

Bazett of the Said Island Gentlemen, Executors of the last Will & Testament

of John Burling deceas d All those two Peices or Parcells of Land lying

& being in Sandy Bay one Peice or Parcell thereof being the Ground

upon which the Hollow Stands containing Twenty Acres of Gumwood

Land Butting & Bounding North upon S. E. the Lands of Charles

Steward East upon the Lands of the Orphans of John Alexander

Gent dec d South upon the Lands of Charles Steward aforesaid & West

upon the Lands of William Worrall, & the other Peice or Parcell thereof

containing fourteen Acres of Cabbage Tree Land Butting & Bounding

North upon the Main Ridge East upon the Lands of Mary Bagley Widow

& John Alexander Gent dec d & South & West upon the Lands of James

Ryder according to the Severall Plans hereunto Annexed To have

and to hold the Said hereby demised Parcells of Land & every part

Margin Notes:

M Burling

34 Acres.

The rent came to 5 shillings an acre a year, due to the Company at Michaelmas.

Francis Wrangham could not move or pull down the fences, since those marked out where the ground ended. Nor could he sell the lease or hand on his interest in it without leave from the Governor and Council.

Francis Wrangham signed the agreement on 30 September 1738, and the Company sealed its own copy the same day.

Signed before D[...].

Four plans drawn on the page show the parcels, annotated 8 acres, 2 acres and two pieces of one acre each, with compass marks giving north, south, east and west.

The Company, owners of the island, rented two parcels in Sandy Bay to Duke Crispe and John Bazett, the executors of the will of the late John Burling, coming to 34 acres in all. One piece was the ground on which the buildings stood, containing 30 acres of unenclosed land. Charles Steward's land lay to the north, the ground of the orphans of the late John Alexander, gentleman, to the east, land formerly Charles Steward's to the south, and William Worrall's to the west. The other piece contained 4 acres of cabbage tree land, bounded north by the Main Ridge, east by the land of Mary Hoyle, widow, and the late John Alexander, south by John Smith's, and west by James Ryder's, all as set out in the plans attached to the agreement.

Interpretations

Two men act as executors here where the earlier Burling trust of 30 September 1738 had three, Duke Crispe, John Bazett and Matthew Purling. Purling's absence from this instrument may mark a division of duties across the estate rather than any change in the trust, since the two grants cover different ground and the register elsewhere shows executors acting in varying combinations.

This 34 acres dwarfs the 2 acres and a half held in trust for the Burling widow and her three sons in the earlier grant, so the family's estate was substantial. The buildings stood on the larger piece, which makes this the working heart of the holding rather than an outlying fragment, and the description of 30 acres as unenclosed indicates ground still open to the Company's waste.

John Burling had accumulated steadily before his death. He took 2 acres in Deep Valley formerly held by John Harding and 8 acres under the Main Ridge joining Diana's Peak in December 1727, reduced-rent fuel plantations of 10 acres in 1730 and 9 in 1731, the 25-acre Robinson's Land leasehold from Duke Crispe for £200 0s 0d in November 1734, 10 acres from Isaac Wood for £95 0s 0d in July 1735 and about 5 acres called the Flatts from Matthew Mudge for £37 0s 0d in June 1738.

Mary Hoyle, widow, is a name the register has not previously carried. She held cabbage tree ground under the Main Ridge alongside the late John Alexander, whose orphans also bound the larger parcel to the east, so the Alexander family's holdings ran through both pieces of this grant.

Charles Steward appears on two boundaries of the larger parcel, one as current holder and one as former, which shows ground passing out of his hands in that quarter even as he took 26 acres and a half of fresh leasehold elsewhere at this same sitting.

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and Parcells thereof together with all & Singular the Wood Water

Water Courses Houses Buildings Edifices Sheds Tenements Yams

& Plantations of Yams Fruit Trees Walls Fences & all other and

Singular the Rights Commodities to them & each & every of them

belonging or Appertaining unto them the Said Duke Crispe and

John Bazett in trust & for the Use nevertheless of Elizabeth Burling

Widow & the Children of him the Said John Burling dec d their &

each of their heirs Executors Administrators, or allowed Assigns

for & during all the Space Time or Term of the naturall Lives

of Matthew Burling & John Burling Sons of him the Said

dec d John Burling and of John Fanch Son of John Feench

of this Island Gentleman, & the Longest liver of them, Renewable

upon the Death of either of the Said Nominees, upon Payment

of half a Years Rent at the Admittance of each Life or new

Nominee Upon Condition that they the Said Elizabeth

Burling Matthew Burling Erasmus Burling & John Burling

their & each of their Heirs Executors Administrators or allowed

Assigns shall & do allways bear true Faith and Allegiance to

our Sovereign Lord King George his heirs & Successours & to them

the Said Hon ble Company & their Successours & shall duely

observe & Obey all the Laws & Constitutions of the Said Island

And upon Condition also that in Conformity & Agreable

to the Tenour Purport meaning & Intent of him the Said John

Burling dec d as expressed & sett forth in his last Will & Testament

Matthew Burling Eldest Son of the Said dec d John Burling

shall at the Age of Twenty one Years or Marriage enter upon

Possess and Enjoy in his own Right the & benefit and Advantage

all & Singular the Premisses hereby granted or intended to

be granted he the Said Matthew Burling observing keeping

fullfilling & Compleating all & Singular the Severall Clauses

Provisions & Limitations mentioned and incerted in the last

Will and Testament of him the Said John Burling his Father

dec d as aforesaid that is to Say, that he the Said Matthew Burling

shall take keep and Possess the Premisses aforesaid as part of

his Right or Share to the Estate of the Said Father dec d but that

the Same shall be valied deemd & taken as part of his Said

Share or Interest in the Estate late belonging to his Said

Father & shall observe keep fullfill & Compleat the following

Limitation & Condition Likewise mentioned in the Said

last Will & Testament of his Said Father that is to Say

that one half part of the Plantation Ground & the Produce

thereof both of the old & new Plantations shall be Possessed

by Elizabeth Burling Widow of the Said dec d John Burling

& mother of him the Said Matthew Burling during the Term

of her naturall Life if this Present Lease shall so long last

continue & be of force & that the Same shall be Constantly

kept filled & Planted at the Trouble & Charge of him the Said

Matthew Burling his heirs Executors Administrators or allowed

Assigns AND upon Condition also that they the Said

Duke Crispe John Bazett & Matthew Burling & the heirs

Ex rs Adm rs or allowed Assigns of him the Said Matthew Burling

shall & do from time to time & at all times hereafter during

the Term of this Present Lease, keep up & maintain in good

Everything on the parcels passed with them: the timber, the water and its channels, the houses, buildings, sheds and outbuildings, the yam beds, the fruit trees, the walls and fences, and every other benefit attached to the ground.

Duke Crispe and John Bazett held the ground in trust for Elizabeth Burling, widow, and the children of the late John Burling. The tenure ran for the lifetimes of Matthew Burling and John Burling, sons of the dead man, and John French, son of John French of the island, gentleman, and for the life of whichever of them lived longest. As each life fell in, a new name could be entered on payment of half a year's rent.

Elizabeth, Matthew, Erasmus and John Burling and those after them had to stay loyal to the King and to the Company, and to keep the island's laws.

The Company also framed the grant to match what John Burling had set out in his will. Matthew Burling, his eldest son, was to take possession of the whole holding on reaching twenty-one or on marrying, and to enjoy every benefit and advantage from it, provided he kept and carried out every condition and limitation the will imposed. Whatever he took was to count as part of his share of his father's estate rather than as anything additional.

He also had to observe one further condition set out in the will. Half of the plantation ground, both the older and the newer parts, together with everything it produced, was to go to Elizabeth Burling, widow of John Burling and mother of Matthew, for as long as she lived, if the lease ran that long. That half was to be kept planted and tilled continuously at Matthew Burling's own cost and trouble.

Duke Crispe, John Bazett, Matthew Burling and those after them also had to keep everything on the ground in good order.

Interpretations

This trust departs from the four sealed earlier at this sitting, where a widow simply took a third for life and the children divided the rest. Here the will imposed a working obligation on the son: he takes the whole holding at twenty-one or on marriage, but must farm half of it for his mother's benefit at his own expense for as long as she lives. She receives produce rather than rent, so her security rests on his labour rather than on a share of the ground itself.

Requiring the mother's half to be kept planted and tilled continuously guards against the obvious risk in such an arrangement. A son who resented the burden could let that half fall idle and leave his mother with nothing, so the will made active cultivation a condition of his own title.

The lease runs on lives rather than years, like Francis Wrangham's two grants of the same day. Naming Matthew and John Burling alongside John French, the son of another family, spread the tenure across three young men so the holding could survive the death of any one of them.

Two Burling trusts were sealed on 30 September 1738, this 34 acres in Sandy Bay and 2 acres and a half elsewhere, with Matthew Purling joining Crispe and Bazett as a third executor on the smaller grant. The register also records the same executors and the widow taking the 21 acres and a half called Bush Farm in trust from Joseph Bates for £180 0s 0d on 15 July 1738, so the estate was settled across several instruments through that year.

John French, gentleman, whose son stands as the third life, appears in the register as gunner of the island and chief gunner of Fort James garrison, and later as a free planter who took 3 acres of gumwood in Stonetop Valley near Hancocks Hole on 23 October 1724.

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Order & Sufficient & Legal Repair all Such Buildings Houses Edifices Sheds

Tenements Plantations & Fences as now are or hereafter shall be

made Built or Erected thereon, & shall Moreover Plant keep up and

maintain & Preserve in and upon the Said hereby demised Parcells of

Land its full quantity or Proportion of Wood being one tenth part

of the Said Parcells of Land & shall Plant Furze withinside or without

the Fences of the Said Parcells of Land & shall Plant Fruit Trees

Such as Apple Lemon Mulberry or Peach Trees in Such parts thereof

wherein they are most likely to Grow and as they Shall happen to

decay or die Shall replant others of the like Sorts thereon, without

hurt or Prejudice nevertheless to any part of Such Land as Shall

be Set apart for the Sole Purpose of Planting and raising of

Yams, YEILDING & Paying therefore yearly & every year

during the Term of this Present Lease unto them the Said Hon ble

Company their Successours Agents or Assigns the Sum of five

Shillings ⅌ Acre in at or upon the Feast of S t Michael the Arch

Angel And upon farther Condition that they the Said

Duke Crispe John Bazett & Matthew Burling and the Heirs

Executors Administrators or allowed Assigns of him the Said

Matthew Burling shall not alter or Remove the Parcells Fences

they being the Limits or Landmarks of the Parcells of Land

aforesaid and shall not Sell or dispose of this Lease or Interest

therein without the Leave & Consent of the Governour & Council

for the time being In Witness whereof they the Said Executors

have hereunto Set their hands & Seals this Thirtieth day of

September in the Year of our Lord One Thousand Seven hundred

Thirty Eight. And they the Said Honourable Company to the

to the other part of these Presents have affixed their Common

Seale the day & year beforewritten

Signed Sealed & Delivered D Crispe

in the Presence of

John Bazett

J Goodwin Jun r Ch h Cour t

20 Acres Gumwood

W

N

E

S

14 Acres Cabbage Tree

Every house, building, shed, outbuilding, plantation and fence had to be kept in sound repair for the whole term, whatever stood there then or was put up later. A tenth of the parcels had to be planted with wood and that stand kept alive and growing. Furze had to go in along the fences, on whichever face suited. Apple, lemon, mulberry and peach trees had to be planted wherever they stood the best chance, and whenever one died another of the same kind had to take its place. None of this could cut into whatever part of the ground was kept for growing yams.

The rent came to 5 shillings an acre a year, due to the Company at Michaelmas.

Duke Crispe, John Bazett, Matthew Burling and those after them could not move or pull down the fences, since those marked out where the ground ended. Nor could they sell the lease or hand on their interest in it without leave from the Governor and Council.

The executors signed the agreement on 30 September 1738, and the Company sealed its own copy the same day.

Signed before John Goodwin junior, clerk of the council. Sealed by Duke Crispe and John Bazett.

A plan drawn on the page shows two parcels, one annotated 20 acres gumwood and the other 14 acres cabbage tree, with a compass rose giving north, south, east and west.

Interpretations

The plan divides the 34 acres by the timber growing on it, 20 acres of gumwood and 14 of cabbage tree, where the text of the lease had described 30 acres of unenclosed ground carrying the buildings and 4 acres of cabbage tree. The two accounts of the same holding differ in both the split and the total, and the register elsewhere treats the annexed plan as governing where the written acreage and the drawing disagree.

Gumwood and cabbage tree grew on quite different ground. Gumwood tolerated the dry lower slopes while cabbage tree needed the moister high country towards the Main Ridge, which is where the smaller piece lay according to the boundary description. Marking each parcel by its timber on the plan told the Company at a glance what kind of ground it had let and what the tenth in wood would have to consist of.

Matthew Burling appears in the sealing clause alongside the two executors even though he was not yet of age, which ties his future obligations into the instrument from the outset. He was to take the whole holding at twenty-one or on marriage, subject to farming half of it for his mother, so naming him here bound him before he could act for himself.

John Goodwin junior signing as clerk of the council places the Company's own officer at this sealing as he had been at the smaller Burling trust of the same day. He appears through the register as an active dealer in James Valley property, selling Thomas Greentree a dwelling for £250 0s 0d on deferred terms in November 1738.

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The Lords Proprietors of this Island the Hon ble the United

Company of Merchants of England Trading to the East Indies DO

HEREBY Demise Grant Sett & to Farm Lett unto Edward Bagley

of the Said Island Planter all that Peice or Parcell of Land

containing Two Acres Situate in Powles Valley Butting and

Bounding North South East & West upon the Hon ble Companies

Wast Lands To have and to hold the Said hereby demised

Parcell of Land & every part & Parcell thereof together with all &

Singular the Wood Water Water Courses Houses Buildings Edifices

Sheds Tenements Yams & Plantations of Yams Fruit Trees

Walls Fences and all other & Singular the Rights Commodities

to them & each & every of them belonging or Appertaining unto

him the Said Edward Bagley his heirs Ex rs Adm rs or allowed Assigns

from the day of the date hereof for & during all the Space or Term

of Twenty one Years from thence next ensuing, Upon Condition

that he the Said Edward Bagley his heirs Ex rs Adm rs or allowed

Assigns shall & do bear true Faith & allegiance to our Sovereign

Lord King George his heirs & Successours & to them the Said

Hon ble Company & their Successours & shall duely observe and

Obey all the Laws & Constitutions of the Said Island And

Upon Condition also that he the Said Edward Bagley

his heirs Ex rs Adm rs or allowed Assigns shall & do from time

to time & at all times hereafter during the Term of this Present

Lease keep up & maintain in good order & Sufficient & Legal

repair all Such Buildings Houses Edifices Sheds Tenements

Plantations & Fences as now are or hereafter shall be made

Built or Erected thereon, & shall moreover Plant keep up

maintain & Preserve in & upon the Said hereby demised

Parcell of Land its full quantity or Proportion of Wood being

one tenth part of the Said Parcell of Land & shall Plant

& Preserve Furze withinside or without the Fences of the Said

Parcell of Land & shall Plant Fruit Trees Such as Apple

Lemon Mulberry or Peach Trees in Such parts thereof

wherein they are most likely to Grow & as they Shall happen

to decay or die shall replant others of the like Sorts thereon,

without hurt or Prejudice nevertheless to any part of Such

Land as Shall be Set apart for the Sole Purpose of Planting

and Raising of Yams, YEILDING & Paying therefore Yearly

& every year during the Term of this Present Lease unto

them the Said Hon ble Company their Successours Agents or

Assigns the Sum of five Shillings ⅌ Acre in at or upon the

Feast of S t Michael the Arch Angel Yearly And upon

farther Condition that he the Said Edward Bagley his

heirs Ex rs Adm rs or allowed Assigns shall not alter or Remove

the Said Fences they being the Limits or Land marks of

the Parcell of Land aforesaid and shall not Sell or dispose

of this Lease or Interest therein without the Leave and

Consent of the Governour and Council for the time being

In Witness whereof he the Said Edward Bagley hath

hereunto Set his hand & Seale this Thirtieth day of September

in the Year of our Lord One thousand Seven hundred Thirty

Eight and they the Said Hon ble Company to the other part

Margin Notes:

Ed d Bagley

2 Acres

The Company, owners of the island, rented 2 acres in Coles Valley to Edward Bagley of the island, planter. The Company's unused land lay on all four sides, north, south, east and west.

Everything on the parcel passed with it: the timber, the water and its channels, the houses, buildings, sheds and outbuildings, the yam beds, the fruit trees, the walls and fences, and every other benefit attached to the ground.

Edward Bagley, his heirs and anyone he was allowed to pass it on to, held the ground for 21 years from the date of the agreement.

He and those after him had to stay loyal to the King and to the Company, and to keep the island's laws.

He also had to keep every house, building, shed, outbuilding, plantation and fence in sound repair for the whole term, whatever stood there then or was put up later. He had to plant a tenth of the parcel with wood and keep that stand alive and growing. Furze had to go in along the fences, on whichever face suited. Apple, lemon, mulberry and peach trees had to be planted wherever they stood the best chance, and whenever one died another of the same kind had to take its place. None of this could cut into whatever part of the ground he kept for growing yams.

The rent came to 5 shillings an acre a year, due to the Company at Michaelmas.

He could not move or pull down the fences, since those marked out where the ground ended. Nor could he sell the lease or hand on his interest in it without leave from the Governor and Council.

Edward Bagley signed the agreement on 30 September 1738.

Interpretations

Company waste rings this parcel on all four sides, as it did Richard Goodwin's 2 acres in Fryer Valley and Isaac Leech's 4 acres at the bottom of Pleasant Valley, both sealed at this same sitting. Fencing an isolated parcel fell wholly on the tenant, since no neighbour's wall could serve any part of the line, and on 2 acres carrying a rent of 10 shillings a year that burden was disproportionate to the holding.

An earlier Edward Bagley appears through the register as a free planter at the head of Lemon Valley, dead by 1713. He bought 10 acres with a dwelling house from John and Margaret Bagley for £19 0s 0d on 10 August 1705, entered the composite arrangement with William and Mary French on 4 March 1708 for grazing rights and first refusal, and acted as joint mortgagee with Charles Steward in August 1709. His children held ground named as a boundary in Richard Gurling's confirmation of 4 August 1713, in the possession of Thomas Smithen.

The Bagley family ran across the island through John, Peter, Thomas, Orlando senior and junior, Margaret and Richard Bagley. Orlando Bagley senior took 10 acres at this same sitting, bounded by Gabriel Harper and the Alexander orphans, so two Bagleys received Company ground on 30 September 1738.

Coles Valley connects to the Coles family of the earlier records, including John Coles the elder whose Fryer Valley lot passed to his son, and the John Coles confirmed in 30 acres across three parcels with 25 more leased on 4 August 1713. Joseph Coles of Sumatra later sold three parcels of freehold through his attorney Richard Goodwin in February 1742.

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of these Presents have affixed their Common Seale the day & year

beforewritten.

Signed Sealed & Delivered E Bagley

in the Presence of

N

W E

2 Acres

S

The Lords Proprietors of this Island the Hon ble the United

Company of Merchants of England Trading to the East Indies

DO HEREBY Demise Grant Sett & to Farm Lett unto Samuel Doveton

of the Said Island Planter All that Peice or Parcell of Land containing

Twenty Seven Acres & an half lying in Sandy Bay Butting & Bounding

North & East upon the Hon ble Companies Wast Lands West & South

upon the Leasehold of Gabriel Harper To have and to hold the Said

hereby demised Parcell of Land & every part & Parcell thereof together

with all & Singular the Wood Water Water Courses Houses Buildings

Edifices Sheds Tenements Yams & Plantations of Yams Fruit

Trees Walls Fences and all other & Singular the Rights Commodities

to them & each & every of them belonging or Appertaining unto him

the Said Samuel Doveton his heirs Ex rs Adm rs or allowed Assigns

from the day of the date hereof for & during all the Space of the

naturall Lives of him the Said Samuel Doveton, Richard Doveton

& Jonathan Doveton Sons of him the Said Samuel Doveton &

the longest liver of them Renewable upon the Death of either of the

Said Nominees upon Payment of half a Years Rent at the

admittance of each Life or new Nominee, Upon Condition

that he the Said Samuel Doveton his heirs Ex rs Adm rs or allowed

Assigns shall & do bear true Faith & allegiance to our Sovereign Lord

King George his heirs & Successours & to them the Said Hon ble Company

& their Successours & shall duely observe & obey all the Laws and

Constitutions of the Said Island AND UPON Condition also that

he the Said Samuel Doveton his heirs Ex rs Adm rs or allowed Assigns

shall & do from time to time & at all times hereafter during the Term

of this Present Lease keep up & maintain in good & Sufficient &

Legal repair all Such Buildings Houses Edifices Sheds Tenements

Plantations & Fences as now are or hereafter shall be made

Built or Erected thereon & shall moreover Plant keep up maintain

Margin Notes:

Sam l Doveton

27½ Acres

The Company sealed its own copy on the same day.

Signed before D[...]. Sealed by Edward Bagley.

A plan drawn on the page shows the parcel as a narrow strip bent at an angle along its length, with a compass rose giving north, south, east and west. The figure is annotated 2 acres.

The Company, owners of the island, rented 27 acres and a half in Sandy Bay to Samuel Doveton of the island, planter. The Company's unused land lay to the north and east, and Gabriel Harper's leased ground to the west and south.

Everything on the parcel passed with it: the timber, the water and its channels, the houses, buildings, sheds and outbuildings, the yam beds, the fruit trees, the walls and fences, and every other benefit attached to the ground.

Samuel Doveton, his heirs and anyone he was allowed to pass it on to, held the ground for the lifetimes of Samuel Doveton himself and his sons Richard Doveton and Jonathan Doveton, and for the life of whichever of them lived longest. As each life fell in, a new name could be entered on payment of half a year's rent.

He and those after him had to stay loyal to the King and to the Company, and to keep the island's laws.

He also had to keep every house, building, shed, outbuilding, plantation and fence in sound repair for the whole term, whatever stood there then or was put up later.

Interpretations

The bent strip on the plan runs a long perimeter for only 2 acres, so Edward Bagley's fencing burden was heavy in proportion to what he held. Ground of that shape follows a watercourse or the foot of a slope, and with Company waste on every side no neighbour's wall relieved any part of the line.

Samuel Doveton takes his ground on lives rather than years, naming himself and his two sons Richard and Jonathan. Keeping the tenure within one household differs from Francis Wrangham's choice at this same sitting, where he named three young men from other families to spread the risk of early death across unrelated lines.

Gabriel Harper's leased ground bounds this parcel on two sides, the same neighbour who bounded Orlando Bagley's 10 acres sealed the same day. Both grants sat against Harper ground in a quarter where the Company was letting several parcels at one sitting.

Samuel Doveton had already bought heavily before this grant. He took 21 acres of leasehold and a freehold parcel from Giles Smith for £12 0s 0d and £70 0s 0d on 30 December 1730, 11 acres and a half from Orlando Bagley senior for £61 17s 6d on 30 September 1731, and about 3 acres in Powells Valley from the same man for £20 0s 0d on 27 May 1735. He later bought 24 acres of the late Governor John Goodwin's estate from the Company for £295 0s 0d in 1742.

His son Jonathan Doveton later assigned fractions of the Tailors parcel to Thomas Greentree on 4 September 1760 and 30 September 1761, and Samuel Doveton of the following generation made over five acres of leasehold to the same buyer on 13 August 1759.

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and Preserve in & upon the Said hereby demised Parcell of Land its

full quantity or Proportion of Wood being one tenth part of the Said

Parcell of Land & shall likewise Plant & Preserve Furze withinside

or without the Fences of the Said Parcell of Land & shall Plant

Fruit Trees Such as Apple Lemon Mulberry or Peach Trees in

Such parts thereof wherein they are most likely to Grow & as they

Shall happen to decay or die shall replant others of the like Sorts

thereon without hurt or Prejudice nevertheless to any part of

Such Land as Shall be Set apart for the Sole Purpose of Planting

and Raising of Yams, YEILDING & Paying therefore Yearly

& every year during the Term of this Present Lease unto them

the Said Hon ble Company their Successours Agents or Assigns

the Sum of five Shillings ⅌ Acre in at or upon the Feast of

S t Michael the Arch Angel Yearly, And upon farther

Condition that he the Said Samuel Doveton his heirs

Ex rs Adm rs or allowed Assigns shall not alter or Remove the

Said Fences they being the Limits or Land marks of the

Parcell of Land aforesaid and shall not Sell or dispose of this

Lease or Interest therein without the Leave & Consent of the

Governour & Council for the time being In Witness whereof

he the Said Samuel Doveton hath hereunto Set his hand

& Seale this Thirtieth day of September in the year of our Lord

One thousand Seven hundred Thirty Eight, And they the Said

Hon ble Company to the other part of these Presents have

affixed their Common Seale the day & year beforewritten.

Signed Sealed & Delivered Sam Doveton

in the Presence of

26 Acres.

S

N

E

W

W

S 1½ Acre N

E

Samuel Doveton also had to plant a tenth of the parcel with wood and keep that stand alive and growing. Furze had to go in along the fences, on whichever face suited. Apple, lemon, mulberry and peach trees had to be planted wherever they stood the best chance, and whenever one died another of the same kind had to take its place. None of this could cut into whatever part of the ground he kept for growing yams.

The rent came to 5 shillings an acre a year, due to the Company at Michaelmas.

He could not move or pull down the fences, since those marked out where the ground ended. Nor could he sell the lease or hand on his interest in it without leave from the Governor and Council.

Samuel Doveton signed the agreement on 30 September 1738, and the Company sealed its own copy the same day.

Signed before D[...].

Two plans drawn on the page show the parcels, one annotated 26 acres and the other 1 acre and a half, each with its own compass marks giving north, south, east and west.

Interpretations

The plans give 26 acres and 1 acre and a half, coming to 27 acres and a half in two pieces, where the text of the lease described a single parcel of that total. The larger block sits within a dotted outline showing the neighbouring ground, and the smaller piece lies detached below it. The register elsewhere treats the annexed plan as governing where the drawing and the written description differ, so Samuel Doveton held two separate pieces rather than one.

At 5 shillings an acre the yearly charge came to £6 17s 6d, and on a lives-based lease the renewal fee of half a year's rent would have added £3 8s 9d as each of the three names fell in.

Samuel Doveton was one of only three tenants at this sitting to take ground on lives rather than for twenty-one years, alongside Francis Wrangham on his two Stock Hall and Sarahs Valley grants and the Burling trustees. All the rest took the fixed term, so the longer form went to men holding substantial acreage where the investment justified a horizon beyond a single generation.

Naming his own two sons as the second and third lives kept the tenure within the household. Richard and Jonathan Doveton would each have been young men in 1738, and the register shows a Jonathan Doveton still active in 1760 and 1761, assigning fractions of the Tailors parcel to Thomas Greentree, so at least one of the lives ran more than twenty years beyond the sealing.

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The Lords Proprietors of this Island the Hon ble the United Company

of Merchants of England Trading to the East Indies Do hereby Demise

Grant Sett & to Farm Lett unto John Desfountain Executor of the

last Will & Testament of Sutton Jacke dec d All that Peice or Parcell

of Land containing Five Acres Butting & Bounding North upon

the Hon ble Companies Wast Land East upon the Free Land of him the

Said Sutton Jacke dec d South & West upon the Lands of Joseph Hayes

dec d in trust & for the Use nevertheless of Penelopy late the Wife of him

the Said Sutton Jacke, & of all Such Children by them begotten being

Eight now living that is to Say, One third part thereof for the Use of

her the Said Penelopy Jacke Widow during the Term of this Lease if

She Shall so long live & the other two third parts thereof for the Use

of his Said Eight Children To have and to hold the Said hereby

demised Parcell of Land & every part & Parcell thereof together with

all & Singular the Wood Water Water Courses Houses Buildings

Edifices Sheds Tenements Yams & Plantations of Yams Fruit

Trees Walls Fences & all other & Singular the Rights Commodities

to them & each & every of them belonging or Appertaining unto him

the Said John Desfountain in trust & for the Use of them the Said

Severall Persons beforementioned their heirs Executors Administrat rs

or allowed Assigns from the day of the date hereof for & during all the

Space or Term of Twenty one Years from thence next ensuing, Upon

Condition that the Said Penelopy Jacke Widow & the Said

Children their heirs Ex rs Adm rs or allowed Assigns shall & do bear

true faith & allegiance to our Sovereign Lord King George his

heirs & Successours & to them the Said Hon ble Company & their

Successours & shall observe & obey all the Laws & Constitutions of the

Said Island. And upon Condition also that they the Said Widow

& Children their heirs Ex rs Adm rs or allowed Assigns shall & do from

time to time & at all times hereafter during the Term of this Present

Lease keep up & maintain in good order & Sufficient & Legal Repair

all Such Buildings Houses Edifices Sheds Tenements Plantations

& Fences as now are or hereafter shall be made Built or Erected

thereon and shall moreover Plant keep up maintain & Preserve

in & upon the Said hereby demised Parcell of Land its full quantity

or Proportion of Wood being one tenth part of the Said Parcell of

Land & shall likewise Plant & Preserve Furze withinside or

without the Fences of the Said Parcell of Land & shall Plant

Fruit Trees Such as Apple Lemon Mulberry or Peach Trees in

Such parts thereof wherein they are most likely to Grow & as they

Shall happen to decay or die shall replant others of the like

Sorts thereon without hurt or Prejudice nevertheless to any part

of Such Land as Shall be Set apart for the Sole Purpose of Planting

and Raising of Yams, YEILDING & Paying therefore Yearly

& every year during the Term of this Present Lease unto them

the Said Hon ble Company their Successours Agents or Assigns the

Sum of five Shillings ⅌ Acre in at or upon the Feast of S t Michael

the Arch Angel Yearly And upon farther Condition that

they the Said Widow & Children their heirs Ex rs Adm rs or allowed

Assigns shall alter or Remove the Said Fences they being the

Limits of Land marks of the Parcell of Land aforesaid & shall

not Sell or dispose of this Lease or Interest therein without

Margin Notes:

Wid Jacke

The Company, owners of the island, rented 5 acres to John Desfountain, executor of the will of the late Sutton Isaac. The Company's unused land lay to the north, Sutton Isaac's own free land to the east, and Joseph Hayes's ground to the south and west.

John Desfountain held the parcel in trust for Penelope, widow of Sutton Isaac, and for the eight children of that marriage. One third went to the widow for as long as she lived within the term of the lease, and the remaining two thirds to the eight children.

Everything on the parcel passed with it: the timber, the water and its channels, the houses, buildings, sheds and outbuildings, the yam beds, the fruit trees, the walls and fences, and every other benefit attached to the ground.

John Desfountain held it on behalf of the widow and the eight children, their heirs and anyone the family was allowed to pass it on to, for 21 years from the date of the agreement.

The widow and the children and those after them had to stay loyal to the King and to the Company, and to keep the island's laws.

They also had to keep every house, building, shed, outbuilding, plantation and fence in sound repair for the whole term, whatever stood there then or was put up later. They had to plant a tenth of the parcel with wood and keep that stand alive and growing. Furze had to go in along the fences, on whichever face suited. Apple, lemon, mulberry and peach trees had to be planted wherever they stood the best chance, and whenever one died another of the same kind had to take its place. None of this could cut into whatever part of the ground the family kept for growing yams.

The rent came to 5 shillings an acre a year, due to the Company at Michaelmas.

The widow and the children and those after them could not move or pull down the fences, since those marked out where the ground ended. Nor could they sell the lease or hand on their interest in it [...]

Interpretations

Eight children share two thirds of a holding of only 5 acres, so each child's portion amounted to less than half an acre. The rent came to £1 5s 0d a year for the whole, of which the children's share stood at about 16 shillings and eightpence. A trust of this size protected very little in cash terms, but it secured the family's occupation of ground they were already farming and kept it out of the reach of any man who might later marry the widow.

The Sutton Isaac name runs through the register across three generations from the 1690s. Sutton Isaack senior gave an acre and the right to build on common free ground to his grandson Stephen Audouart on 29 October 1698, was father-in-law to Bartrant Audouart the Company smith, and held 5 acres in Fishers Valley adjoining Isaac Wood's purchase from Giles Hayes. He was confirmed in 20 acres on 4 August 1713 as his former allotment, and his son Sutton Isaac junior took a 5-acre lease adjoining his father's freehold the same day.

A later Sutton Isaac bought the orphan house from the Swallow trustees for £50 0s 0d in 1725 and joined Dorothy Atkins in selling a Southwark side dwelling to Elizabeth Marsh. His former land under Great Wood Ridge supplied the parcel Giles Smith sold to James Draper in 1725 against £40 0s 0d earlier paid to Isaac.

John Desfountain acts here as sole executor while holding his own 13-acre lease under the Main Ridge sealed on the same day. He was a corporal, husband of Mary, eldest daughter of John Alexander and granddaughter of Ripin Wills, and took the family settlement of 8 February 1722 by which Wills made over his whole estate to the couple in exchange for maintaining him and his wife for life.

Joseph Hayes bounding two sides connects to the Hayes family running through Giles Hayes the montross, Thomas Hayes the carrier, and William Hayes of Wiltshire whose 20-acre Fishers Valley estate was regularised on 4 August 1713 under his will.

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78

the Leave & Consent of the Governour & Council for the time

being IN WITNESS whereof the Said Executor hath hereunto

Set his hand & Seale this Thirtieth day of September in the

year of our Lord One thousand Seven hundred Thirty Eight

& they the Said Hon ble Company to the other part of these

Presents have affixed their Common Seale the day &

year beforewritten

John Desfountain

Signed Sealed & Delivered

in the Presence of

Curling

5 Acres.

The Lords Proprietors of this Island the Hon ble the United

Company of Merchants of England Trading to the East Indies Do

hereby Demise Grant Sett & to Farm Lett unto Robert Curling

of the Said Island Planter All those Peices or Parcells of Land containing

Ten Acres & half Situate in Oak Bank Butting & Bounding North upon

East upon the Hon ble Comp s Wast Land & South & West upon the Lands

of Stephen Laflin Senior To have and to hold the Said

hereby demised Parcell of Land & every part & Parcell thereof use

together with all & Singular the Wood Water Water Courses Houses

Buildings Edifices Sheds Tenements Yams & Plantations of

Yams Fruit Trees Walls Fences & all other & Singular the Rights

Commodities to them & each & every of them belonging or Appertaining unto

the Said Robert Curling his heirs Executors Administrators or

allowed Assigns from the day of the date hereof for & during all the

Space or Term of Twenty one Years from thence next ensuing

Upon Condition that he the Said Robert Curling his heirs Ex rs

Adm rs or allowed Assigns shall & do bear true Faith & Allegiance

to our Sovereign Lord King George his heirs & Successours & to

them the Said Hon ble Company & their Successours & shall

duely observe & obey all the Laws & Constitutions of the Said Island

AND upon Condition also that he the Said Robert Curling

his heirs Ex rs Adm rs or allowed Assigns shall & do from time to

time & at all times hereafter during the Term of this Present Lease

keep up & maintain in good order & Sufficient & Legall Repair all

Such Buildings Houses Edifices Sheds Tenements Plantations

& Fences as now are or hereafter shall be made Built or Erected

thereon & shall Moreover Plant keep up maintain & Preserve

in & upon the Said hereby demised Parcell of Land its full quantity or

Margin Notes:

Rob Curling

6 Acres.

The family could not sell the lease or hand on their interest in it without leave from the Governor and Council.

John Desfountain signed the agreement on 30 September 1738, and the Company sealed its own copy the same day.

Signed before [...]urling.

A plan drawn on the page shows the parcel as a compact block set within a dotted outline of the neighbouring ground, with the whole tilted on the page. The figure is annotated 5 acres.

The Company, owners of the island, rented 10 acres and a half in Oak Gut to Robert Gurling of the island, planter. The Company's unused land lay to the north, east and west, and Stephen Luffkin senior's ground to the south.

Everything on the parcel passed with it: the timber, the water and its channels, the houses, buildings, sheds and outbuildings, the yam beds, the fruit trees, the walls and fences, and every other benefit attached to the ground.

Robert Gurling, his heirs and anyone he was allowed to pass it on to, held the ground for 21 years from the date of the agreement.

He and those after him had to stay loyal to the King and to the Company, and to keep the island's laws.

He also had to keep every house, building, shed, outbuilding, plantation and fence in sound repair for the whole term, whatever stood there then or was put up later.

Interpretations

The tilted plan sets the 5 acres within a dotted square running at an angle to the page, which shows the surveyor recording the parcel's true orientation rather than squaring it up for convenience. The dotted line marks the wider block of Sutton Isaac's freehold and Joseph Hayes's ground that enclosed it on three sides.

Oak Gut appears in the register from the earliest years. Richard Harding sold William French 10 acres at its head for £4 10s 0d on 25 July 1691, the parcel having come to him from his sister Lydea Harding who held it in her own right.

Stephen Luffkin senior bounding the southern side had taken his own Company lease sealed on 23 March 1731, and his executors later assigned that ground to Richard Bagley on 16 February 1745. The Luffkin name runs through the register under the variants Lufkin and Loffkin, covering John, Stephen and Joseph Luffkin, with a Stephen Luffkin junior taking 6 acres near Peak Gut on a term running from Christmas.

The Gurling name attaches to the same family as Girling in the register's earlier hands. Robert Girling, freemason, was confirmed in 20 acres at Peak Gut on 4 August 1713 with 6 more leased the same day, and a Robert Gurling took 2 acres of gumwood at the head of Sandy Bay Valley on 8 August 1726. An earlier Robert Gurling, gentleman, bought 20 acres at Peak Gut from Gabriel Powell for £100 0s 0d on 11 May 1704 and sold 15 acres in Fryer Valley to George Carne for £55 0s 0d on 1 April 1709.

Richard Gurling, the more prominent of the family, died intestate before October 1754, and his 10 acres in the East Division known as Vaughans passed by Company sale to John Clark for £164 15s 0d on 21 October 1754.

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Proportion of Wood being one tenth part of the Said Parcell of Land

& shall likewise Plant & Preserve Furze withinside or without the

Fences of the Said Parcells of Land & shall Plant Fruit Trees Such as

Apple Lemon Mulberry or Peach Trees in Such parts thereof wherein

they are most likely to Grow & as they shall happen to decay or die shall

replant others of the like Sorts thereon without hurt or Prejudice

nevertheless to any part of Such Land as Shall be Set apart for the Sole

Purpose of Planting & Raising of Yams, YEILDING & Paying

therefore Yearly & every Year during the Term of this Present Lease

unto them the Said Hon ble Company their Successours Agents or

Assigns the Sum of five Shillings ⅌ Acre in at or upon the Feast of

S t Michael the Arch Angel Yearly And upon farther Condition

that he the Said Robert Curling his heirs Ex rs Adm rs or allowed Assigns

shall not alter or Remove the Said Fences they being the Limits or

Land marks of the Parcells of Land aforesaid & shall not Sell or

dispose of this Lease or Interest therein without the Leave & Consent

of the Governour & Council for the time being In Witness whereof

he the Said Robert Curling hath hereunto Set his hand & Seale this

Thirtieth day of September in the Year of our Lord One Thousand

Seven hundred Thirty Eight & they the Said Hon ble Company to the

part of these Presents have affixed their Common Seale the day & year

beforewritten.

Robert Curling

Signed Sealed & Delivered

in the Presence of

S

E

N

6 Acres

W

S W N

4½ Acres

E

Robert Gurling also had to plant a tenth of the parcel with wood and keep that stand alive and growing. Furze had to go in along the fences, on whichever face suited. Apple, lemon, mulberry and peach trees had to be planted wherever they stood the best chance, and whenever one died another of the same kind had to take its place. None of this could cut into whatever part of the ground he kept for growing yams.

The rent came to 5 shillings an acre a year, due to the Company at Michaelmas.

He could not move or pull down the fences, since those marked out where the ground ended. Nor could he sell the lease or hand on his interest in it without leave from the Governor and Council.

Robert Gurling signed the agreement on 30 September 1738, and the Company sealed its own copy the same day.

Signed before D[...].

Two plans drawn on the page show the parcels, one annotated 6 acres and set within a dotted outline of the neighbouring ground, and the other annotated 4 acres and a half. Compass marks give north, south, east and west on each.

Interpretations

The two plans give 6 acres and 4 acres and a half, coming to 10 acres and a half in two pieces, where the body of the lease described a single parcel of that total. As with Samuel Doveton's grant at this same sitting, the drawing shows the ground lay in separate pieces though the text spoke of one, and the register treats the annexed plan as governing in such cases.

At 5 shillings an acre the yearly charge came to £2 12s 6d.

The clerk's signature on this instrument, and on many others through this run, appears as an elaborate flourish that renders the name unrecoverable. Only where a witness signed plainly, as with John Goodwin junior on the two Burling trusts and the name ending in urling on three others, can the attesting hand be identified.

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80

The Lords Proprietors of this Island the Honourable the

United Company of Merchants of England Trading to the East

Indies Do hereby Demise Grant Sett & to Farm Lett unto

John Feench of the Said Island Gent All those Peices or

Parcells of Land containing Thirty one Acres that is to Say

Twenty four Acres thereof Situated in Pleasant Valley

Butting & Bounding North upon the Leasehold Lands in

the Possession of Edward Bazett & Frances Beale W. & now

West upon the Leasehold Land of him the Said John Feench

South upon the Leasehold Lands in the Possession of Ensign

Leech & East part upon the Hon ble Companies Wast Lands &

part upon the Said John Feenches Free Land & one John

Bampes, the other Parcell thereof containing Seven Acres

lying in Sandy Bay Butting & Bounding North East

West & South upon the Hon ble Companies Wast Lands

according to the Severall Plans hereunto annexed To have

and to hold the Said hereby demised Parcells of Land & every

part & Parcells thereof together with all & Singular the Wood &

Water Water Courses Houses Buildings Edifices Sheds

Tenements Yams & Plantations of Yams Fruit Trees

Walls Fences & all other & Singular the Rights Commodities

to them & each & every of them belonging or Appertaining

unto him the Said John Feench his heirs Ex rs Adm rs or

allowed Assigns from the day of the date hereof for & during

all the Space Time or Term of the naturall Lives of John

Feench & Thomas Feench Sons of them the Said John Feench

& Margaret Feench Daughter of him the Said John Feench

& the Longest liver of them Renewable upon the Death of either

of the Said Nominees upon Payment of half a Years Rent at

the admittance of each Life or new Nominee. Upon Condition

that he the Said John Feench his heirs Executors Administrators

or allowed Assigns Shall & do bear true Faith & Allegiance to our

Sovereign Lord King George his heirs & Successours & to them the

Said Hon ble Company & their Successours & shall duely observe

& obey all the Laws & Constitutions of the Said Island And

upon Condition also that he the Said John Feench his heirs

Ex rs Adm rs or allowed Assigns shall & do from time to time & at

all times hereafter during the Term of this Present Lease keep

up & maintain in good order Sufficient & Legal Repair all

Such Buildings Houses Edifices Sheds Tenements Plantations

& Fences as now are or hereafter shall be made Built or Erected

thereon & shall Moreover Plant keep up maintain & Preserve

in & upon the Said hereby demised Parcells of Land its full

quantity or Proportion of Wood being one tenth part of the Said

Parcells of Land & shall likewise Plant & Preserve Furze

withinside or without the Fences of the Said Parcells of Land

& shall Plant Fruit Trees Such as Apple Lemon Mulberry

or Peach Trees in Such parts thereof wherein they are most

likely to Grow & they Shall happen to decay or die shall

replant others of the like Sorts thereon, without hurt or

Prejudice nevertheless to any part of Such Land as Shall be

Set apart for the Sole Purpose of Planting & Raising of Yams

Margin Notes:

J n Feench

31 Acres

The Company, owners of the island, rented two parcels to John French of the island, gentleman, coming to 31 acres in all. Twenty-four acres of that lay in Pleasant Valley, bounded north by leased ground then held by Edward Bazett and Frances Steward, west by John French's own leasehold, south by leased ground held by Ebenezer Leech, and east partly by the Company's waste and partly by John French's own land and John Pumpee's. The other 7 acres lay in Lemon Valley, bounded north, east, west and south by the Company's waste, all as set out in the plans attached to the agreement.

Everything on the parcels passed with them: the timber, the water and its channels, the houses, buildings, sheds and outbuildings, the yam beds, the fruit trees, the walls and fences, and every other benefit attached to the ground.

John French, his heirs and anyone he was allowed to pass them on to, held the ground for the lifetimes of John French, Thomas French and Margaret French, his children, and for the life of whichever of them lived longest. As each life fell in, a new name could be entered on payment of half a year's rent.

He and those after him had to stay loyal to the King and to the Company, and to keep the island's laws.

He also had to keep every house, building, shed, outbuilding, plantation and fence in sound repair for the whole term, whatever stood there then or was put up later. He had to plant a tenth of the parcels with wood and keep that stand alive and growing. Furze had to go in along the fences, on whichever face suited. Apple, lemon, mulberry and peach trees had to be planted wherever they stood the best chance, and whenever one died another of the same kind had to take its place. None of this could cut into whatever part of the ground he kept for growing yams.

Interpretations

John French names his own three children as the lives, following Samuel Doveton's choice at this sitting rather than Francis Wrangham's. Wrangham had reached outside his family for nominees, taking Matthew Bunling, John Doveton and Richard Goodwin junior, but French keeps the tenure within the household so the ground stays with the children who would inherit it anyway.

His son John French appears in the Burling trust sealed the same day as the third of the three lives named there, alongside Matthew and John Burling. The same young man therefore measured the term on two separate estates, which suggests he was thought a good life, young and healthy enough to carry both holdings for many years.

John French appears in the register as gunner of the island and chief gunner of Fort James garrison, later as a free planter. He bought a messuage and 7 acres and a half from Edward Heath for £50 0s 0d on 13 March 1705, assigned a lease to Thomas Burnham for £80 0s 6d on 26 September 1707, and took 3 acres of gumwood in Stonetop Valley near Hancocks Hole on 23 October 1724, later enlarged by a memorandum adding an acre.

He married Mary, a daughter of the late Matthew Bazett. The couple sold their one-eighth share of the Bazett Deep Valley freehold and leasehold to her brother John Bazett for about £27 6s 0d on 12 June 1739, with a receipt for near £52 0s 0d folding in earlier shares.

Ebenezer Leech, bounding the Pleasant Valley parcel to the south, held Deep Valley ground jointly with John Worrall from 27 December 1726 and sold Henry Multon two parcels there for £60 0s 0d on 7 February 1734.

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81

YEILDING & Paying therefore Yearly & every Year during the Term

of this Present Lease unto them the Said Hon ble Company their

Successours Agents or Assigns the Sum of five Shillings ⅌ Acre in at or

upon the Feast of S t Michael the Arch Angel And upon farther

Condition that he the Said John Feench his heirs Ex rs Adm rs or allowed

Assigns shall not alter or Remove the Said Fences they being the Limits or

Land marks of the Parcell of Land aforesaid and shall not Sell or dispose

of this Lease or Interest therein without the Leave & Consent of the Gov r

& Council for the time being. In Witness whereof he the Said John

Feench hath hereunto Set his hand & Seale this Thirtieth day of September

in the Year of our Lord One thousand Seven hundred Thirty Eight, &

they the Said Hon ble Company to the other part of these Presents have

affixed their Common Seale the day & Year beforewritten.

Memorandum, that is Sea or Eight Acres of Steep Rocky

Barren Land to the Northward of the Twenty four Acres which lies

upto a Steep Point & which he the Said John Feench for the

Conveniency of Fencing is allowed to take in also without the

Payment of any Rent or other Consideration except a Pepper Corn

yearly if the Same shall be demanded J n Feench

Signed Sealed & Delivered

in the Presence of

7 Acres

N

24 Acres.

N

W E

S

The rent came to 5 shillings an acre a year, due to the Company at Michaelmas.

John French could not move or pull down the fences, since those marked out where the ground ended. Nor could he sell the lease or hand on his interest in it without leave from the Governor and Council.

John French signed the agreement on 30 September 1738, and the Company sealed its own copy the same day.

A note added to the agreement allowed him to take in a further seven or eight acres of steep rocky barren ground lying north of the 24 acres, which ran up to a sheer cliff. He could enclose it for the convenience of fencing without paying any rent or giving anything else in return, beyond a peppercorn each year should the Company ever ask for it.

Signed before D[...].

Two plans drawn on the page show the parcels, one annotated 7 acres and the other 24 acres, with compass marks giving north, south, east and west.

Interpretations

The extra seven or eight acres cost nothing because the ground was worth nothing. Steep rock running up to a cliff carried no timber, no yams and no pasture, so the Company gained nothing by withholding it and lost nothing by giving it away. What made the arrangement worth recording was fencing: a boundary drawn along the foot of a cliff wanders with every outcrop, while a line drawn along the clifftop runs straight. Letting John French enclose the whole face saved him a great deal of wall for ground he would never use.

The peppercorn reserved yearly if ever demanded kept the Company's ownership visible in the record without extracting anything. A holding granted for no return at all could in time be mistaken for the tenant's own, and the token rent prevented that. The register shows the same device used in Orlando Bagley senior's lease sealed 1 April 1735.

Barren rock of this kind runs through St Helena's interior, where the valleys cut deep and the ground rises sharply to ridges. The register's grants repeatedly show the Company letting workable ground while its waste stood on every side, so a tenant's fences often followed the line where cultivation stopped rather than any surveyed boundary.

The two plans show the 24 acres as a blocky figure with several right angles and the 7 acres as a long ragged strip running down the page, the latter shape following the fall of a valley in Lemon Valley where Company waste lay on all four sides.

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82

The Lords Proprietors of this Island the Hon:ble the

United Company of Merchants of England Trading to the

East Indies Do hereby demise Grant Sett & to Farm Lett

unto John Desfountain & Joseph Desfountain Sons of Martha

Long & Mary Scale (the Wife of John Scale) Daughters of

Samuel Desfountain dec:d All that Piece or Parcell of Land

containing fifteen Acres lying in the East Division of the

said Island Butting & Extending North & West upon their Leas:d

Land now in the Possession of Isaac Wink &c: & abuttith upon their

Lands other ways To Have and to Hold the said hereby demised

Parcell of Land & every part & Parcell thereof together with all

& Singular the Tree & Trees Water Courses Watches Buildings

Edifices Sheds Tenements Barns & Plantations of Yams Fruit

Trees Walls Fences & all other & Singular the Profits Commodities

to them & each & every of them belonging or apphertaining unto

them the said John Desfountain & Joseph Desfountain

Martha Long & Mary Scale their & each of their heirs Ex:ors

Adm:rs or allowed Assigns from the day of the date hereof for &

during all the Space or Term of Twenty one Years from thence

next Ensueing. Upon Condition that they the said John

Desfountain Joseph Desfountain Martha Long & Mary

Scale their & each of their heirs Ex:ors Adm:rs or allowed Assigns

Shall & do bear true Faith & Allegiance to Our Sovereign Lord

King George his heirs & Successors & to them the said Hon:ble

Company & their Successors & shall duely observe & obey all

the Laws & Constitutions of the said Island. And upon

Condition also that they the said John Desfountain & Jos:h

Desfountain Martha Long & Mary Scale their heirs Ex:ors

Adm:rs or allowed Assigns shall & do from time to time & at

all times hereafter during the Term of this present Lease

keep up & maintain in good Order & Sufficient & Legal Repair

all such Buildings Houses Edifices Sheds Tenements

Plantations & Fences as now are or hereafter shall be made

Built or Erected therein, & shall moreover Plant keep up

maintain & Preserve in & upon the Land hereby demised

Parcells of Wood in full quantity or Proportion of Wood being

one tenth part of the said Parcell of Land & shall likewise

Plant & Preserve Furze within side or without the Fences of

the said Parcel of Land & shall Plant Forest Trees such as

Apple Lemon Mulberry or Peach Trees in such parts thereof

wherein they are most likely to grow & as they shall happen to

decay or die shall Plant others of the like sorts thereon

without hurt or Prejudice nevertheless to any part of such

Land as shall be set apart for the sole Culture of Planting

& Raising of Yams. Yielding & Paying therefore yearly &

every year during the Term of this Present Lease unto them

the said Hon:ble Company their Successors Agents or Assigns

the Sum of five Shillings & Now is to say upon the Feast of

St Michaell the Arch Angele yearly And upon farther Condition

that they the said John Desfountain & Joseph Desfountain

Martha Long & Mary Scale their heirs Ex:ors Adm:rs or allowed

Assigns shall not alter or Remove the said Fences they being

Margin Notes:

heirs of Sam:l

Desfountain

15 Acres

The East India Company, owner of the island, rented out fifteen acres in the East Division to four children of the late Samuel Desfountain. His sons John and Joseph Desfountain took the ground together with his daughters Martha Long and Mary Seale, the wife of John Seale. Their own rented ground, then occupied by Isaac Wood, ran along the northern and western edges of the fifteen acres.

Everything standing on the ground went with it. The four took the trees, the water and the channels carrying it, the houses, sheds and outbuildings, the yam beds, the fruit trees, the walls and the fences, and every other benefit belonging to any part of the block. All four held it in common, each share passing to that person's own family and successors, and the arrangement was to run for twenty-one years from the day it was made.

Loyalty came first among the things asked of them. The four and those following them had to remain faithful to King George and his successors, and to the Company and its successors, and to keep to the rules in force on the island.

Upkeep came next. Every house, shed, outbuilding, planted enclosure and fence had to be kept sound throughout the whole period, whether already standing when the ground changed hands or put up later.

Planting ran alongside the repairs. A tenth of the fifteen acres had to be under trees and kept that way, with furze grown along the fences on whichever side suited the ground. Apple, lemon, mulberry or peach were to be set wherever they were most likely to thrive, and fresh trees of the same sorts put in as older ones failed. None of this was to eat into whatever part of the ground the four set aside for growing yams.

The charge came to £0 5s 0d an acre each year, paid to the Company or to whoever acted for it, falling due at Michaelmas.

One further point closed the arrangement. Neither the four nor anyone coming after them could shift or take away the fences.

Interpretations

The four named here are the Desfountain children who appear in the register as minors forty years earlier. On 4 August 1713 the Company confirmed John, Joseph, Martha and Mary, children of the deceased Samuel Desfountain, in forty acres of freehold and twenty-eight of rented ground across Fishers Valley, Youngs Valley and Sandy Bay, and Matthew Bazett and James Gregory sealed the rented portion for them because the children could not act for themselves. Here the same four act in their own names, the two daughters under married surnames, so the family holding has moved out of the hands of the men who once managed it and into adult ownership within a single generation.

Furze is the spiny yellow-flowered shrub that grows on thin poor soil. Planted along a boundary it made a living barrier that turned stock more reliably than loose stone and cost far less to keep up, while also breaking the wind and yielding rough fuel. The grants of this period left each holder free to set it on the inner or outer face of the fence as the ground allowed.

The short list of apple, lemon, mulberry and peach places this among the forms the Company settled on between 1735 and 1738. Earlier grants had named a long alternative run of coffee, orange, lime, quince, pear, coco, date, pomegranate, walnut, citron, pompelmous, almond and tamarind for use wherever redwood, gumwood and cabbage tree would not take, and the narrowing to four marks what the Company had learned would actually grow on the island's cool upland. Mulberry carried an ambition beyond its fruit, since silkworms feed on the leaves.

Ground kept for yams escaped the planting duties altogether. Yams fed the island and supplied the shipping in the road, so the Company let its timber programme give way wherever the two came into conflict, even on a holding this size where a tenth in wood amounted to only an acre and a half.

Fences carried a weight here beyond keeping animals out. The bar on moving them treats each wall and hedge as the standing record of where one holding stopped and the next began, which mattered a great deal on ground fixed by a drawing rather than by surveyed markers, since shifting a wall shifted the boundary itself.

Isaac Wood on two sides had dealt with this family for years. He and John Desfountain held four acres and a half on the Main Ridge together under the grant of 2 February 1730, and John Desfountain signed for him at the sitting of 30 September 1738 when Wood took two acres, so the two households had been sharing ground and acting for one another well before Desfountain land came into Wood's occupation.

Speculations

Martha Long and Mary Seale were named in their own persons, each share running to her own family afterwards. The usual course would have put the ground in the husbands' hands through their wives, the route by which Gabriel Powell came to hold thirty acres through the widow of Jonathan Beale in 1713 and by which Richard Goodwin held and sold land through two marriages in November 1725. John Seale appears here only to show which Mary was meant, and takes nothing. Naming the daughters directly kept half the fifteen acres from drifting into the Long and Seale families, and it left all four shares descending on identical terms, which mattered on an undivided block where one rent and one set of duties had to answer for the whole.

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83

the Limits or Land marks of the Parcele of Land aforesaid as

shall not Sell or dispose of this Lease or Interest therein without the

Leave & Consent of the Gov:nor & Councill for the time being In Witness

whereof they the said Persons beforementioned have hereunto set

their hands & Seales this thirtieth day of September in the year

of Our Lord One thousand Seven hundred Thirty Eight, & they the

said Hon:ble Company to the other part of these Presents have

affixed their Common Seale the day & year beforewritten

Signed Sealed & Delivered

in the Presence of

M Curling

John Desfountain

John Desfountain for

Joseph Desfountain

Jn:o Desfountain for

Martha Long

Jn:o Desfountain for

Mary Scale

15 A[...]

The fences and walls served as the markers showing where the fifteen acres began and ended, and the four holders were barred from shifting them. They were equally barred from selling the arrangement, or any share in it, without permission from the Governor and Council in office at the time.

All four put their hands and seals to the document on 30 September 1738, and the Company set its own seal to the matching copy on the same day. Four separate wax impressions stood beside the names, though a single hand wrote them all.

Witness to the signing and sealing: M Burling

John Desfountain, signing in his own name

John Desfountain, signing for Joseph Desfountain

John Desfountain, signing for Martha Long

John Desfountain, signing for Mary Seale

A drawing set below the names showed the shape of the ground, a narrow arm running up from a wider base with the western edge cut back at an angle. The figure carried the note 15 acres along its inner line. A compass beside it fixed the four intermediate points of north-east, south-east, south-west and north-west rather than the cardinal ones.

Interpretations

John Desfountain wrote every name on the page, adding his own and then signing separately for his brother Joseph and for both his sisters, with no authority to do so recorded anywhere on the document. The practice runs right through the grants of this period. At the same sitting Richard Goodwin subscribed for his mother Frances Carne, Charles Steward for Charlesworth Powell, Richard Bagley for Mary Nicholls and Samuel Doveton for Jonathan Doveton, and John Desfountain himself signed for Isaac Wood. On an island of this size the Company evidently took the word of whichever family member or neighbour stood present when the wax was warmed.

The bar on passing the holding to anyone else without permission had governed every Company grant since the framework of 1711. It gave the Company a veto over who ended up occupying its ground, preventing a holding from being broken up, sold to a stranger or gathered into the hands of a single large accumulator without the island's government being consulted first.

The drawing carried more authority than the words. Boundaries on the island were fixed by the plan attached to each grant and by the fence built within the first year, not by measured survey, which is why the figure was drawn to shape rather than squared up for convenience and why moving a wall was treated as so serious a matter. Several grants of this same sitting show acreages in the drawing that differ from the acreage written in the text, and in every such case the ground was settled by the drawing.

Placing the compass on the intermediate points rather than on north, south, east and west matched how the boundary descriptions were framed. Ground on this island was commonly fixed by ridges, valley falls and neighbours' walls running at an angle to the cardinal directions, so a compass turned to the corners sat more usefully against the lines actually drawn.

The date puts this among the large body of grants sealed on 30 September 1738, a single day on which the Company let out more than twenty parcels, settled seven family trusts on widows and children, and divided a block of its own ground into equal shares among four neighbouring holders. The Desfountain fifteen acres formed one item in that clearance.

Speculations

Four seals were pressed onto a document that only one man had signed. The straightforward course would have been for John Desfountain to seal once as the person actually present, since he was writing every name in any case and the ground was held as a single undivided block under one rent. Instead each of the four shares received its own impression. Sealing was the act that bound a person, and a share sealed in Joseph's name or Martha's name descended to that person's own family rather than to the survivors of the group. Four seals kept the fifteen acres from quietly becoming John Desfountain's alone as his brother and sisters died.

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The Lords Proprietors of this Island the

Honourable the United Company of Merchants of England Trading

to the East Indies Do hereby Demise Grant Sett and to Farm

Lett unto Isaac Leach of the said Island Planter All that Piece

or Parcell of Land containing Two Acres Butting and Bounding

North & East upon the Lands now in the Possession of Frances Seale

Widow & upon the North & West upon the Lands late belonging to

John Sterling deceased on the South upon the Lands of John Bryan

Esq:r & partly towards the East upon the Lands of John

[...] Gentleman [...] To have and to hold

the said hereby Demised Parcell of Land and every part and parcell

thereof together with all and Singular the Wood Water Water Courses

Houses Buildings Edifices Sheds Tenements Yams and Plantations

of Yams Fruit Trees Walls Fences and all other and Singular

the Rights Commodities to them and each and every of them

belonging or Appertaining unto him the said Isaac Leach his

Heirs Executors Administrators or Allowed Assigns from the day of

Date hereof for and during all the Space or Term of Twenty One

Years from thence Next Ensuing Upon Condition that he the

said Isaac Leech his Heirs Executors Administrators or Allowed

Assigns shall and do bear true Faith and Allegiance to Our

Sovereign Lord King George his Heirs and Successors and to them

the said Honourable Company and their Successors and shall duely

Observe and Obey all the Laws and Constitutions of the said Island

And upon Condition also that he the said Isaac Leech his

Heirs Executors Administrators or Allowed Assigns shall and do

from time to time and at all times hereafter during the Term of

this Present Lease keep up and Maintain in good Order and

Sufficient and legal Repair all such Buildings Houses Edifices

Sheds Tenements Plantations and Fences as now are or hereafter

shall be Made Built or Erected thereon and shall Moreover Plant

keep up Maintain and preserve in and Upon the said hereby Demised

parcell of Land its full Quantity or Proportion of Wood being one tenth

part of the said parcell of Land and shall likewise plant & preserve Furze

within side or without the Fences of the said parcell of Land and shall plant

Fruit Trees such as Apple Lemon Mulberry or Peach trees in such parts

thereof wherein they are most likely to grow and as they shall happen to

decay or die shall Replant others of the like sorts thereon without hurt

or prejudice Nevertheless to any part of such Land as shall be set apart

for the sole purpose of Planting & Raising of Yams Yielding and

Paying therefore yearly and every Year during the term of this present

Lease Unto them the said Hon:ble Company their Successors Agents or

Assigns the Sum of Five Shillings of Uere in at or upon the Feast of St

Michael the Arch Angel yearly And upon Further Condition that

he the said Isaac Leech his Heirs Execut:rs Administrat:rs or Allowed Assigns

shall not Alter or Remove the said Fences they being the Limits or Land

Margin Notes:

Isaac Leech

Two Acres

The East India Company, owner of the island, rented ten acres to Isaac Leech, a planter living there. Frances Seale, a widow, occupied the ground running along the northern and eastern edges. Land once belonging to the late John Pusling closed the parcel to the north-west, John Draper's ground lay to the south, and the holding of John Nichols, gentleman, ran along part of the eastern side.

Everything on the ground passed with it. Leech took the trees, the water and the channels carrying it, the houses, sheds and outbuildings, the yam beds, the fruit trees, the walls and the fences, together with every other benefit belonging to any part of the block. The arrangement ran to him and to those who came after him, for twenty-one years from the day it was made.

Loyalty came first among the things asked of him. Leech and his successors had to stay faithful to King George and those following him, and to the Company and its successors, and to keep to the rules in force on the island.

Upkeep followed. Every house, shed, outbuilding, planted enclosure and fence had to be held in sound order throughout the whole period, whether standing at the outset or raised later.

Planting ran alongside. A tenth of the ten acres had to be under trees and kept so, with furze grown along the fences on whichever face suited. Apple, lemon, mulberry or peach were to be set wherever they were most likely to thrive, and fresh trees of the same kinds put in as older ones failed. None of this was to encroach on whatever part of the ground Leech set aside for growing yams.

The charge came to £0 5s 0d an acre each year, paid to the Company or to whoever acted for it, falling due at Michaelmas.

One further point closed the arrangement. Neither Leech nor anyone coming after him could shift or take away the fences, since these marked where the ground began and ended.

Interpretations

Isaac Leech had been settling ground at the head of Pleasant Valley across the preceding decade. He took an acre and a half in two pieces under the grant sealed on 31 August 1731 and four acres at the bottom of the same valley on 30 September 1738, and the Company confirmed him in ten acres at the head of Pleasant Valley on 11 October 1740 after public notice by beat of drum produced no rival claim. The ten acres here fit that pattern of steady building-up, and John Pusling, recorded as dead on one boundary of the 1740 confirmation, appears on a boundary again.

Furze is the spiny yellow-flowered shrub that grows on poor thin soil. Set along a boundary it made a living barrier that turned stock more reliably than loose stone and cost far less to maintain, while also breaking the wind and giving rough fuel. Each holder chose the inner or outer face according to the lie of the ground.

The four named fruits place this within the standard form the Company settled on between 1735 and 1738. Earlier grants had listed coffee, orange, lime, quince, pear, coco, date, pomegranate, walnut, citron, pompelmous, almond and tamarind as alternatives wherever redwood, gumwood and cabbage tree would not take, and cutting the list to apple, lemon, mulberry and peach records what had proved able to grow on the island's cool upland. Mulberry served a purpose beyond its fruit, its leaves being the food of silkworms.

Ground kept for yams escaped every planting duty. Yams fed the island and supplied the ships lying in the road, so the Company let its timber programme give way wherever the two collided, even here where a tenth in trees came to a single acre.

Treating the fences as the record of the boundary gave them a weight beyond keeping animals in. Holdings on the island were fixed by the drawing attached to each grant and by the wall built within the first year rather than by surveyed markers, so moving a fence moved the limit of the ground itself.

Frances Seale held on two sides in her own name as a widow, one of a line of women appearing in the register as holders in their own right, from Mary Sherwood taking gumwood ground on 25 February 1727 to Elizabeth Greentree taking five acres and a half in Lemon Valley under the grant sealed on 14 September 1731 and Bridget Bazett taking twenty acres near Diana's Peak on the same day.

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Marks of the parcell of Land Afsresaid and shall not sell or dispose of this

Lease or Interest therein without the leave and Consent of the Governour

and Council for the time being In Witness whereof he the said Isaac Leech

hath hereunto set his hand and Seale this Thirtieth day of September in the

year of Our Lord One Thousand Seven Hundred Thirty Eight and they the

said Hon:ble Company to the other Part of these presents hath Affixed their Common

Seale the day and Year beforewritten

Signd Sealed & Delivered

in the presence of

M Curling

N:o

Isaac Leach

W:t

E:t

S:o

The Lords Proprietors of this Island the Honourable

the United Company of Merchants of England Trading to the East Indies

Do hereby Demise Grant Sett and to Farm Lett unto James Draper

of the said Island Planter All that Piece or Parcell of Land containing

Five Acres Butting and Bounding North Upon the Lands late belonging

to Joseph Harding Deceased East under the Main Ridge & South and West

Upon the Lands of John Goodwin Esq:r Governour To have and to

Hold the said hereby Demised parcell of Land and every part and

parcell thereof together with all and Singular the Wood Water Water

Courses Houses Buildings Edifices Sheds Tenements Yams and

Plantations of Yams Fruit Trees Walls Fences and All Other and Singular

the Rights Commodities to them and each and every of them belonging or

Appertaining unto him the said James Draper his Heirs Executors

Administrators or Allowed Assigns from the day of the Date hereof for

and during all the Space or Term of Twenty One Years from thence next

Ensuing Upon Condition that he the said James Draper his Heirs

Executors Administrators or Allowed Assigns shall and do bear true

Faith and Allegiance to Our Sovereign Lord King George his Heirs &

Successours and to them the said Honourable Company and their

Successours and shall duely Observe and Obey all the Laws and

Constitutions of the said Island And upon Condition also that he

the said James Draper his Heirs Executors, Administrators or Allowed

Assigns shall and do from time to time and at all times hereafter

during the Term of this Present Lease keep up and Maintain in good

Order and Sufficient and Legal Repair all such Buildings Houses

Edifices & Sheds Tenements Plantations and Fences as now are or

hereafter shall be Made Built or Erected thereon and shall Moreover

Margin Notes:

James Draper

five Acres

The fences stood as the markers showing where Isaac Leech's ten acres began and ended, and he was barred from moving them. He was equally barred from parting with the arrangement, or any share in it, without permission from the Governor and Council in office at the time.

Leech put his hand and seal to the document on 30 September 1738, and the Company set its own seal to the matching copy on the same day.

Witness to the signing and sealing: Burling

Isaac Leech, signing in his own name

A drawing set beside the names showed the ground as a triangle, with a dotted line dropped from the apex to the base and the four intermediate compass points marked around it.

The Company also rented five acres to James Draper, a planter living on the island. Ground once belonging to the late Joseph Harding lay along the northern edge, the Main Ridge closed the parcel to the east, and the holding of John Goodwin, esquire and Governor, ran along the southern and western sides.

Everything on the ground passed with it. Draper took the trees, the water and the channels carrying it, the houses, sheds and outbuildings, the yam beds, the fruit trees, the walls and the fences, together with every other benefit belonging to any part of the block. The arrangement ran to him and to those coming after him for twenty-one years from the day it was made.

Loyalty came first among the things asked of him. Draper and his successors had to stay faithful to King George and those following him, and to the Company and its successors, and to keep the rules in force on the island.

Upkeep followed. Every house, shed, outbuilding, planted enclosure and fence had to be held in sound order throughout the whole period, whether standing at the outset or raised later.

Interpretations

Draper's five acres sat directly against ground held by Governor Goodwin himself on two sides, so the Governor was a neighbour to a tenant taking a small parcel at the same sitting where he took a share of the divided block and stood as trustee over three parcels of the late John Alexander's estate. The register shows the same overlap repeatedly, the men who sealed the grants also holding ground on their boundaries.

The Main Ridge on the eastern edge places the parcel in the moist high country, where the ground held water better than the dry gumwood slopes below and where cabbage tree grew. Land in that quarter fetched the higher prices in the record, the twenty acres called Bisley reaching £19 an acre when sold on 12 October 1761.

Joseph Harding, recorded on the northern boundary as dead, appears in the register as a son of the deceased Richard Harding who divided the family's inherited ground with his brother James by articles of 1729, taking seventeen acres near a parcel once Joseph Pledger's. Draper's own family had held in the same quarter, the James Draper confirmed in twenty acres in Fishers Valley on 4 August 1713 taking a further five acres of Sandy Bay ground the same day, and a James Draper appearing as dead on a boundary in the grant of 2 February 1730.

Both grants on this leaf rested on drawings rather than on measured survey. The triangle attached to Leech's ten acres carried a dotted line from the apex to the base, the mark of ground divided or measured off within a single figure, and the compass turned to the corners rather than to north, south, east and west because boundaries on the island followed ridges and valley falls running at an angle to the cardinal points.

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Plant keep up Maintain and Preserve in and upon the said

hereby Demised parcell of Land its full Quantity or Proportion of

Wood being One Tenth Part of the said parcell of Land and shall

likewise plant and preserve Furze within side or without the Fences

of the said parcell of Land and shall Plant Fruit Trees such as Apple

Lemon Mulberry or Peach Trees in such parts thereof wherein they are

most likely to Grow and as they shall happen to decay or die shall

Replant others of the like sorts thereon without hurt or Prejudice

Nevertheless to any part of such Land as shall be set Apart for the

sole Purpose of Planting and Raising of Yams Yielding and

Paying therefore Yearly and every Year during the Term of this

Present Lease unto them the said Honourable Company their

Successours Agents or Assigns the Sum of Five Shillings p Acre

in Aver upon the Feast of St Michael the Arch Angel Yearly And

upon farther Condition that he the said James Draper his

Heirs Executors, Administrators or Allowed Assigns shall not Alter

or Remove the said Fences they being the Limits or Land Marks

of the parcell of Land Aforesaid and shall not sell or dispose of this

Lease or Interest therein without the leave and Consent of the

Governour and Council for the time being In Witness whereof

he the said James Draper hath hereunto set his hand and

Seale this Thirtieth day of September in the year of Our Lord

One Thousand Seven Hundred Thirty Eight and they the said

Honourable Company to the other part of these Presents hath

Affixed their Common Seale the day and Year beforewritten

Signd Sealed and Delivered

in the presence of

[...]

James Draper

N:o

E:t

W:t

S:o

Planting duties ran alongside the repairs on James Draper's five acres. A tenth of the ground had to be under trees and kept so, with furze grown along the fences on whichever face suited. Apple, lemon, mulberry or peach were to be set wherever they were most likely to thrive, and fresh trees of the same kinds put in as older ones failed. None of this was to encroach on whatever part of the ground Draper set aside for growing yams.

The charge came to £0 5s 0d an acre each year, paid to the Company or to whoever acted for it, falling due at Michaelmas.

The fences stood as the markers showing where the five acres began and ended, and Draper was barred from moving them. He was equally barred from parting with the arrangement, or any share in it, without permission from the Governor and Council in office at the time.

Draper put his hand and seal to the document on 30 September 1738, and the Company set its own seal to the matching copy on the same day.

Witness to the signing and sealing: [...]

James Draper, signing in his own name

A drawing set below the names showed the ground as a four-sided figure, its outline running unevenly, set within a dotted square turned at an angle to the page. The compass points marked around the drawing were the four intermediate ones rather than north, south, east and west.

Interpretations

Setting the parcel inside a dotted square running at an angle recorded the true bearing of the ground rather than squaring it up for the convenience of the page. The same device appears in the drawing attached to the five acres held for the widow and eight children of the late Sutton Isaac, sealed at this same sitting on 30 September 1738. A holding wedged between the Main Ridge to the east and Governor Goodwin's ground to the south and west lay along the fall of the high country, and the tilted frame showed a reader how the figure sat against the compass.

Two seals stand beside Draper's single name, one large and one much smaller. The register shows separate impressions used at this period to bind separate persons or separate shares, as with the four seals set against the Desfountain children's fifteen acres sealed on the same day.

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The Lords Proprietors of this Island the Honourable

the United Company of Merchants of England Trading to the East Indies Do

hereby Demise Grant Sett and to Farm Lett Unto Benjamin Pledger

Administrator upon the Estate of Joseph Hayes Deceased All that Piece

or parcell of Land containing Sixteen Acres Butting & Bounding North on

the Lands of John Burling dec:d East upon the Lands of Sutton Yeache Dec:d

South on the Lands of Isaac Wood West upon the Lands of John Desfountaine

being and lying in Fishers Valley, in trust & for the Use nevertheless of the

Children of the said Joseph Hayes Dec:d being Four Sons and One Daughter

Viz:t Francis, Robert, Joseph William and Sarah. To have and

to hold the said hereby demised parcell of Land and every part and

parcell thereof together with all & Singular the Wood Water Water Courses

Howses, Buildings, Edifices, Sheds, Tenements Yams, and Plantations of

Yams, Fruit Trees, Walls, Fences and all other & Singular the Rights

Commodities to them and each & every of them belonging or Appertaining

Unto him the said Benjamin Pledger in trust and for the Use of them the

said Children, from the day of the Date hereof for and during all the Space

or Term of Twenty One Years from thence next Ensuing. Upon Condition

that they the said Children their Heirs Executors Administrators or Allowed

Assigns shall and do bear true faith and Allegiance to Our Sovereign

Lord King George his heirs and Successours and to them the said Honourable

Company and their Successours & shall duely Observe and Obey all the Laws

and Constitutions of the said Island And upon Condition also that

they the said Children their Execut:rs Administrat:rs or Allowed Assigns

shall and do from time to time and at all times hereafter during the Term

of this present Lease keep up and Maintain in good Order and Sufficient

& legal Repair all such Building Howses Edifices, Sheds, Tenements

Plantations and Fences as now are or hereafter shall be made Built

or Erected thereon and shall Moreover Plant keep up Maintain and

preserve in and upon the said hereby Demised parcell of Land its full

Quantity or Proportion of Wood being One tenth part of the said parcell

of Land and shall likewise Plant & preserve Furze within side or without

the Fences of the said parcell of Land and shall Plant Fruit Trees such

as Apple Lemon Mulberry or Peach Trees in such parts thereof wherein

they are most likely to grow and as they shall happen to decay or Die

shall Replant others of the like sorts thereon without hurt or prejudice

Nevertheless to any part of such Land as shall be set apart for the Sole

purpose of Planting & Raising of Yams Yielding and paying therefore

Yearly & every Year during the Term of this present Lease Unto them

the said Hon:ble Company their Successours Agents or Assigns the Sum of Five

Shillings p Acre in at or upon the Feast of St Michael the Arch Angel

yearly And upon farther Condition that they the said Children

their Heirs Execut:rs Administrators or Allowed Assigns shall not Alter or

Remove the said Fences they being the Limits or Land Marks of the parcell

of Land Aforesaid and shall not Sell or dispose of this Lease or Interest therein

Margin Notes:

Ben Pledger

or

Hayes Orphans

Sixteen Acres

The East India Company, owner of the island, rented sixteen acres in Fishers Valley to Benjamin Pledger, who was settling the affairs of the late Joseph Hayes. Pledger took the ground not for himself but on behalf of the dead man's five children, four sons named Francis, Robert, Joseph and William, and one daughter named Sarah. Land once belonging to the late John Burling lay along the northern edge, ground of the late Sutton Isaac closed the parcel to the east, Isaac Wood's holding ran along the south, and John Desfountain's land bounded it to the west.

Everything on the ground passed with it. Pledger took the trees, the water and the channels carrying it, the houses, sheds and outbuildings, the yam beds, the fruit trees, the walls and the fences, together with every other benefit belonging to any part of the block. He held it for the children's benefit for twenty-one years from the day the arrangement was made.

Loyalty came first among the things asked of them. The children and their successors had to stay faithful to King George and those following him, and to the Company and its successors, and to keep the rules in force on the island.

Upkeep followed. Every house, shed, outbuilding, planted enclosure and fence had to be held in sound order throughout the whole period, whether standing at the outset or raised later.

Planting ran alongside. A tenth of the sixteen acres had to be under trees and kept so, with furze grown along the fences on whichever face suited. Apple, lemon, mulberry or peach were to be set wherever they were most likely to thrive, and fresh trees of the same kinds put in as older ones failed. None of this was to encroach on whatever part of the ground was set aside for growing yams.

The charge came to £0 5s 0d an acre each year, paid to the Company or to whoever acted for it, falling due at Michaelmas.

The fences stood as the markers showing where the sixteen acres began and ended, and the children were barred from moving them. They were equally barred from parting with the arrangement, or any share in it, [...].

Interpretations

The whole holding was placed in the hands of one man for the children's benefit, with none of it vested in them directly. The arrangement matches the pattern running through the grants sealed on 30 September 1738, where the estates of John Burling, Solomon Burling, James Greentree, John Alexander, Thomas Harper and Sutton Isaac were each settled on a trusted holder for a widow and her children. What differs here is that no widow appears at all, so the whole of the sixteen acres was held for the five children alone rather than a third being carved out for a mother's lifetime.

Sarah Hayes took an equal place beside her four brothers, the daughters in these arrangements sharing on the same footing as the sons throughout the register. Eleanor Burling took an equal share with her brothers in the six acres settled on the same day, and the three Greentree daughters shared equally with their brothers in the twenty-five acres in Sandy Bay sealed at the same sitting.

Three of the four neighbours are recorded as dead. John Burling to the north had his own estate settled by two arrangements at this same sitting, one of two acres and a half held for his widow Elizabeth and three sons and another of thirty-four acres in Sandy Bay. Sutton Isaac to the east had five acres held for his widow Penelope and eight children by John Desfountain, who himself holds the western boundary here. The Fishers Valley quarter was passing through a generation of deaths within a very short span, and the same handful of men were acting as trustees for one another's families while holding ground on the boundaries.

Isaac Wood on the southern side connects the parcel to the long-settled Fishers Valley cluster. He bought five acres there from Giles Hayes, a junior artillery soldier, on 5 September 1712 for £30 0s 0d, that ground being half of a twenty-acre holding once William Hayes of Wiltshire's, so the Hayes family had been dividing and selling in this quarter for a generation before these sixteen acres were settled on Joseph Hayes's children.

Furze is the spiny yellow-flowered shrub of poor thin soil, planted along a boundary to make a living barrier that turned stock better than loose stone and cost far less to keep up, while breaking the wind and yielding rough fuel. The four named fruits mark the shortened list the Company settled on between 1735 and 1738, replacing a much longer run that had included coffee, orange, lime, quince, pear, coco, date, pomegranate, walnut, citron, pompelmous, almond and tamarind, and recording what had actually proved able to grow on the island's cool upland. Mulberry carried a purpose beyond its fruit, since silkworms feed on the leaves.

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without the leave and Consent of the Governour & Council for the time being

In Witness whereof he the said Benjamin Pledger Administrator

hath hereunto set his hand and Seale this Thirtieth Day of September

in the year of Our Lord One Thousand Seven Hundred Thirty Eight

and they the said Hon:ble Company to the other part of these presents hath

Affixed their Common Seale the day and Year beforewritten

Signed Sealed & Delivered

in the presence of

[...]

Benj:n Pledger

Sixteen Acres

Twenty Acres

Free hold

N:o

W:t

E:t

S:o

The Lords Proprietors of this Island the Honourable

the United Company of Merchants of England Trading to the East Indies

Do hereby Demise Grant Set and to Farm Let unto Thomas Greentree

and Gabriel Harper Executors of the Last Will and Testament of

Joseph Harding Deceased All that piece or Parcell of Land

containing Fifteen 44 Acres Butting and Bounding North and

East upon the Lands of the said Joseph Harding Dec:d South and

West upon the Lands of Francis Wrangham. in trust and for the Use

Nevertheless of Elizabeth late the Wife of him the said Joseph

Harding and all such Children by them begotten being three

Daughters Viz:t Mary Ann and Elizabeth that is to say One third

part thereof for the Use of her the said Elizabeth Harding Widow

during the Term of this Present Lease if She shall so long live

and the other two third parts thereof for the use of his said three

Children To have and to hold the said hereby Demised parcell

of Land and every part and parcell thereof together with all and

Singular the Wood Water Water Courses Houses Buildings Edifices

Sheds Tenements Yams and Plantations of Yams Fruit Trees

Walls Fences and All Other and Singular the Right Commodities

Margin Notes:

Eliz:h Harding Wid:w

& Children

Neither the Hayes children nor those coming after them could part with the arrangement without permission from the Governor and Council in office at the time.

Benjamin Pledger, acting for the estate, put his hand and seal to the document on 30 September 1738, and the Company set its own seal to the matching copy on the same day.

Witness to the signing and sealing: [...]

Benjamin Pledger, signing as the man settling the estate

A drawing set below the names showed two blocks of ground lying against one another, both with irregular many-sided outlines. The rented sixteen acres formed the western block. A holding of twenty acres already owned outright ran along its eastern side and tailed away to the south. A compass beside the figure marked north, south, east and west.

The Company also rented fifteen acres to Thomas Greentree and Gabriel Harper, who were settling the affairs of the late Joseph Harding. Ground still recorded as Harding's own closed the parcel to the north and east, and Francis Wrangham's land ran along the southern and western sides. The two men held it not for themselves but for the dead man's family. Elizabeth Harding, his widow, was to take a third of the ground for as long as she lived within the period of the arrangement, and the remaining two thirds went to the three daughters of the marriage, Mary, Ann and Elizabeth.

Everything on the ground passed with it. The two took the trees, the water and the channels carrying it, the houses, sheds and outbuildings, the yam beds, the fruit trees, the walls and the fences, together with every other benefit belonging to any part of the block.

Interpretations

Setting the rented sixteen acres beside a further twenty acres held outright shows why the drawing was needed at all. The two blocks touched along their whole eastern edge, and the tenures ran on entirely different terms, one carrying rent, planting duties and a bar on selling without permission and the other carrying none of these. Only a drawing could fix which obligations attached to which side of a line running through a single worked holding.

The Harding arrangement follows the standard shape of the family settlements sealed on 30 September 1738, with a widow taking a third for her lifetime and the children dividing the rest. The three Harding daughters share the two thirds between them with no son named, so the whole of the family's interest in this ground rested on a widow and three girls, and the two men holding it for them stood as the only adults able to deal with the Company.

Joseph Harding appears on the northern and eastern boundaries as still holding ground of his own, and his name also closed the northern edge of the five acres let to James Draper at this same sitting. He was one of the two sons who divided the inherited Harding estate by articles of 1729, taking seventeen acres in his own right near a parcel once Joseph Pledger's.

Placing the trust in the hands of Thomas Greentree and Gabriel Harper matched the practice running through the whole sitting, where trustees were drawn from the immediate neighbours. Harper's own ground fixed the boundaries of several parcels sealed that day, bounding sixteen acres settled on the Alexander widow and children near the head of Powell's Valley, ten acres let to Orlando Bagley, and twenty-seven acres and a half let to Samuel Doveton in Sandy Bay.

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to them and each and every of them belonging or Appertaining unto

them the said Thomas Greentree and Gabriel Harper in trust and for the

use of them the said Widow and Children from the day of the Date hereof

for and during all the Space or Term of Twenty One Years from thence next

Ensuing Upon Condition that they the said Widow and said Children

their Heirs Executors, Administrators or Allowed Assigns shall and do

bear true Faith and Allegiance to Our Sovereign Lord King George his

Heirs and Successours and to them the said Honourable Company and

their Successours and shall duely Observe and Obey all the Laws and

Constitutions of the said Island And upon Condition also that they

the said Widow and said Children their Heirs Executors Administrators or

Allowed Assigns shall and do from time to time and at all times hereafter

during the Term of this present Lease keep up and Maintain in good Order

and Sufficient and Legal Repair all such Buildings Houses Edifices

Sheds Tenements Plantations and Fences as now are or hereafter shall be

Made Built or Erected thereon and shall Moreover Plant keep up Maintain

and Preserve in and upon the said hereby Demised parcell of Land its full

Quantity or Proportion of Wood being One Tenth part of the said parcell of Land

and shall likewise plant and preserve Furze within side or without the

Fences of the said parcell of Land and shall plant Fruit Trees such as Apple

Lemon & Mulberry or Peach Trees in such parts thereof wherein they are most

likely to grow and as they shall happen to decay or die shall Replant others

of the like sorts thereon without hurt or Prejudice nevertheless to any part of

such Land as shall be set Apart for the Sole Purpose of Planting or Raising

of Yams Yielding and paying therefore yearly and every year during the

Term of this Present Lease unto them the said Honourable Company their

Successours Agents or Assigns the Sum of Five Shillings p Acre in at or upon

the Feast of St Michael the Arch Angel Yearly And upon farther

Condition that they the said Widow and Children their Heirs Executors

Administrators or Allowed Assigns shall not Alter or Remove the said Fences

they being the Limits or Land Marks of the Parcell of Land Aforesaid and

shall not sell or Dispose of this Lease or Interest therein without the Leave &

Consent of the Governour and Council for the time being In Witness whereof

they the said Executors hath hereunto set their hand & Seal this Thirtieth day

of September in the Year of Our Lord 1738 and they the said Honourable

Company to the Other part of these presents hath Affixed their Common Seale

the day and Year beforewritten

Signed Sealed and Delivered

in the Presence of

N

Tho:s Greentree

11 Acres

W

2 Acres

S

2 Acres

Everything belonging to the fifteen acres passed to Thomas Greentree and Gabriel Harper, who held it for the benefit of Elizabeth Harding and her three daughters for twenty-one years from the day the arrangement was made.

Loyalty came first among the things asked of the family. The widow, the daughters and those coming after them had to stay faithful to King George and his successors, and to the Company and its successors, and to keep the rules in force on the island.

Upkeep followed. Every house, shed, outbuilding, planted enclosure and fence had to be held in sound order throughout the whole period, whether standing at the outset or raised later.

Planting ran alongside. A tenth of the fifteen acres had to be under trees and kept so, with furze grown along the fences on whichever face suited. Apple, lemon, mulberry or peach were to be set wherever they were most likely to thrive, and fresh trees of the same kinds put in as older ones failed. None of this was to encroach on whatever part of the ground was set aside for growing yams.

The charge came to £0 5s 0d an acre each year, paid to the Company or to whoever acted for it, falling due at Michaelmas.

The fences stood as the markers showing where the fifteen acres began and ended, and the family was barred from moving them. They were equally barred from parting with the arrangement, or any share in it, without permission from the Governor and Council in office at the time.

The two men settling the estate put their hands and seals to the document on 30 September 1738, and the Company set its own seal to the matching copy on the same day.

Witness to the signing and sealing: [...]

Thomas Greentree, signing as one of the men settling the estate

A drawing set below the names showed the ground lying in three separate pieces. The largest, marked as eleven acres, formed a broad block with an uneven outline. Two much smaller pieces sat below it, each marked as two acres. A compass beside the figure marked north, south, east and west.

Interpretations

The drawing shows the fifteen acres split across three separate pieces of ground rather than lying as one block. Both the pieces of two acres sat clear of the eleven-acre block, so the widow's third and the daughters' two thirds ran across scattered land, and the fencing burden fell far heavier than on a single holding of the same size, since three perimeters had to be built and kept up instead of one.

A widow taking a third for her lifetime with the children dividing the rest matches the shape used across the whole run of family arrangements sealed on 30 September 1738, covering the households of John Burling, Solomon Burling, James Greentree, John Alexander, Thomas Harper and Sutton Isaac. What sets the Harding household apart is that all three children were daughters, so the family's whole interest in the ground rested on four women, none of whom could deal with the Company directly.

Thomas Greentree and Gabriel Harper both held ground on the boundaries of parcels sealed at the same sitting, which was how the Company chose the men to hold family arrangements throughout that day. Harper's land fixed the eastern edge of sixteen acres settled on the Alexander widow and children near the head of Powell's Valley, the northern and eastern edges of ten acres let to Orlando Bagley, and the western and southern edges of twenty-seven acres and a half let to Samuel Doveton in Sandy Bay. Greentree took several Sandy Bay pieces in his own name that day and stood as one of two men holding twenty-five acres for the widow and children of the late James Greentree.

Two seals stand beside a single name on the page. Sealing was the act that bound a person, and each man holding ground for a family had to be bound separately, since either might later have to answer for how the other had handled the estate. The same practice appears in the arrangement of two acres and a half settled on the Burling widow and sons at this sitting, where all three holders sealed apart.

93

90

The Lords Proprietors of this Island the

Honourable the United Company of Merchants of England Trading to the

East Indies Do hereby Demise Grant Set and to Farm Let Unto Joseph

Whaley Junior of the said Island Planter All they Three Severall

Pieces or Parcells of Land being nearly Adjoyning and only Separated

by Passages left for a Drift way Containing in the Whole Five Acres

and Three Quarters [...]

[...] Butting and Bounding on all Sides upon the

Wude Lands of them the said Honourable Company To have and

to hold the said hereby Demised Parcells of Land and every part and

Parcell thereof together with all & Singular the Wood, Water Water Courses

Houses Buildings Edifices, Sheds, Tenements, Yams and Plantations

of Yams, Fruit Trees Walls, Fences and all other & Singular the Rights

Commodities to them and each and every of them belonging or Appertaining

Unto him the said Joseph Whaley his Heirs Executors Administrators or

Allowed Assigns from the day of the Date hereof for and during all the

Space or Term of Twenty One Years from thence next Ensuing Upon Condition

that he the said Joseph Whaley his Heirs Execut:rs Administrators or Allowed

Assigns shall and do bear true Faith and Allegiance to Our Sovereign Lord

King George his Heirs and Successours and to them the said Honourable

Company and their Successours and shall duely Observe and Obey all the

Laws & Constitutions of the said Island And upon Condition also

that he the said Joseph Whaley his Heirs Executors Administrators or

Allowed Assigns shall and do from time to time and at all times hereafter

during the Term of this present Lease keep up and Maintain in good order

and Sufficient and legal Repair all such Buildings, Houses, Edifices

Sheds, Tenements Plantations and Fences as now are or hereafter shall be

Made Built or Erected thereon & shall Moreover Plant keep up Maintain

and preserve in and upon the said hereby demised parcells of Land its full

Quantity or Proportion of Wood being one tenth part of the said parcells

of Land and shall likewise Plant & Preserve Furze within side or without

the Fences of the said parcells of Land and shall Plant Fruit Trees such

as Apple Lemon Mulbery, or Peach Trees in such parts thereof wherein

they are most likely to grow and as they shall happen to decay or die

shall Replant others of the like sorts thereon without hurt or prejudice

nevertheless to any part of such Land as shall be set apart for the sole

purpose of Planting and Raising of Yams Yielding and Paying

therefore Yearly and every Year during the Term of this present Lease unto

them the said Hon:ble Company their Successours Agents or Assigns the Sum

of Five Shillings p Acre in at or Upon the Feast of St Michael the Arch

Angel yearly And upon farther Condition that he the said Joseph

Whaley his Heirs Executors, Administrators or Allowed Assigns shall not

Alter or Remove the said Fences they being the Limits or Land Marks of the

parcells of Land Aforesaid and shall not sell or dispose of this Lease or

Margin Notes:

Joseph Whaley

One Acre & a Quart:r

The East India Company, owner of the island, rented five acres and three quarters to Joseph Whaley junior, a planter living there. The ground lay in three separate pieces which nearly touched one another, kept apart only by strips left open as a track for driving stock. Unallocated Company ground surrounded all three pieces on every side.

Everything on the ground passed with it. Whaley took the trees, the water and the channels carrying it, the houses, sheds and outbuildings, the yam beds, the fruit trees, the walls and the fences, together with every other benefit belonging to any part of the three pieces. The arrangement ran to him and to those coming after him for twenty-one years from the day it was made.

Loyalty came first among the things asked of him. Whaley and his successors had to stay faithful to King George and those following him, and to the Company and its successors, and to keep the rules in force on the island.

Upkeep followed. Every house, shed, outbuilding, planted enclosure and fence had to be held in sound order throughout the whole period, whether standing at the outset or raised later.

Planting ran alongside. A tenth of the ground had to be under trees and kept so, with furze grown along the fences on whichever face suited. Apple, lemon, mulberry or peach were to be set wherever they were most likely to thrive, and fresh trees of the same kinds put in as older ones failed. None of this was to encroach on whatever part of the ground Whaley set aside for growing yams.

The charge came to £0 5s 0d an acre each year, paid to the Company or to whoever acted for it, falling due at Michaelmas.

The fences stood as the markers showing where the three pieces began and ended, and Whaley was barred from moving them. He was equally barred from parting with the arrangement, or any share in it, [...].

Interpretations

The strips left open between the three pieces were routes for driving animals from one part of the island to another. Company cattle and the stock of other holders had to reach grazing and water across ground that private enclosure was steadily closing off, so a run of open land was kept clear between the parcels rather than allowing Whaley to fence the whole into one block. The grants of this period bind holders to leave gates of four feet where a path crosses and eight feet between posts where a cart passes, and to accept any road the Governor and Council chose to redirect across their land, so the island's government was guarding passage against exactly the kind of consolidation this arrangement would otherwise have produced.

Unallocated Company ground on every side of all three pieces threw the whole fencing burden onto Whaley, since no neighbour's wall could serve any part of any boundary. Three separate perimeters had to be built within the first year and kept up thereafter, on a holding of under six acres carrying a yearly charge of a little under £1 9s 0d. Three parcels sealed at the same sitting on 30 September 1738 stood in the same position, being two acres in Fryer Valley let to Richard Goodwin, four acres at the bottom of Pleasant Valley let to Isaac Leech and two acres in Coles Valley let to Edward Bagley.

Joseph Whaley junior appears in the register buying and selling within his own family. He sold his brother Simon Whaley ten acres of ground held outright in a staged purchase that closed on 15 September 1733, signing by mark throughout despite the family's rising standing, and the two brothers took ten acres together in equal halves at this same sitting on 30 September 1738, each sealing separately so that his share passed to his own children rather than to the survivor.

Furze is the spiny yellow-flowered shrub of thin poor soil, set along a boundary to make a living barrier that turned stock better than loose stone and cost far less to maintain, while breaking the wind and giving rough fuel. Its value here was particular, since ground bordered on every side by open land and cut through by a stock route needed a barrier that animals would not push through.

94

91

Interest therein without the leave and Consent of the Governour and Council

for the time being In Witness whereof he the said Joseph Whaley hath

hereunto set his hand & Seale this Thirtieth day of September in the Year

of Our Lord One Thousand Seven Hundred Thirty Eight and they the said

Honourable Company to the other part of these presents hath Affixed their

Common Seale the day and year beforewritten

Signed Sealed & Delivered

in the presence of

D:l Chipple

The + Mark

Jos: Whaley

N

W

E

One Acre and a Quarter

S

The Lords Proprietors of this Island the Honourable

the United Company of Merchants of England Trading to the East Indies

Do hereby Demise Grant Set and to Farm let Unto Francis Wrangham

of the said Island Planter All those Pieces or Parcells of Land containing

in the whole Twenty Acres Butting and Bounding North & East upon

the Hon:ble Companies Wast Lands & South & West upon other the

Leasehold Lands of him the said Francis Wrangham

To have and to hold the said hereby Demised parcell of Land and

every part and parcell thereof together with all and Singular the Wood Water

Water Courses Houses Buildings, Edifices Sheds Tenements Yams and

Plantations of Yams, Fruit Trees Walls Fences and all Other and

Singular the Rights Commodities to them and each and every of them

belonging or Appertaining Unto him the said Francis Wrangham his

Heirs Executors Administrators or Allowed Assigns from the day of the

Date hereof for and during all the Space or Term of Twenty One Years from

thence next Ensuing Upon Condition that he the said Francis

Wrangham his Heirs Executors, Administrators or Allowed Assigns shall

and do bear true Faith and Allegiance to Our Sovereign Lord King George

his Heirs and Successours and to them the said Honourable Company and

their Successours and shall duely Observe and Obey all the Laws and

Constitutions of the said Island And upon Condition also that

he the said Francis Wrangham his Heirs Executors Administrators or

Allowed Assigns shall and do from time to time and at all times hereafter

during the Term of this Present Lease keep up and Maintain in good Order

and Sufficient and legal Repair all such Buildings, Houses, Edifices

Margin Notes:

Fran:s Wrangham

Neither Joseph Whaley junior nor those coming after him could part with the arrangement without permission from the Governor and Council in office at the time.

Whaley put his hand and seal to the document on 30 September 1738, and the Company set its own seal to the matching copy on the same day. He could not write and made his mark.

Witness to the signing and sealing: [...]

Joseph Whaley, by his mark

A drawing set below the names showed a long narrow strip running from the lower left to the upper right of the page, marked as one acre and a quarter. A compass beside it marked north, south, east and west.

The Company also rented twenty acres to Francis Wrangham, a planter living on the island. The parcel lay in several pieces. Unallocated Company ground closed it to the north and east, while Wrangham's own rented land ran along the western and southern sides.

Everything on the ground passed with it. Wrangham took the trees, the water and the channels carrying it, the houses, sheds and outbuildings, the yam beds, the fruit trees, the walls and the fences, together with every other benefit belonging to any part of the block. The arrangement ran to him and to those coming after him for twenty-one years from the day it was made.

Loyalty came first among the things asked of him. Wrangham and his successors had to stay faithful to King George and those following him, and to the Company and its successors, and to keep the rules in force on the island.

Upkeep followed. Every house, shed and outbuilding had to be held in sound order throughout the whole period.

Interpretations

The drawing shows one of Whaley's three pieces as a long narrow band rather than a compact block, its length running many times its width. Ground of that shape follows a watercourse, the foot of a slope or the edge of a stock route, and it carries a far longer boundary for its size than a squared parcel would. A strip of an acre and a quarter drawn this way needed more wall than several compact acres, which sharpened the burden already falling wholly on Whaley through having open Company ground on every side.

Wrangham's twenty acres met his own rented land on two sides and open Company ground on the other two, so the parcel filled out a block he was already building up. He took two further holdings on lives at this same sitting on 30 September 1738, forty acres at Stock Hall in five pieces and twelve acres in Sarahs Valley, four of the Stock Hall pieces lying almost wholly enclosed by ground he already held, so the Company was letting him fragments that no other holder could reach.

Both arrangements on this leaf are marked as running twenty-one years rather than on lives, which separates them from the small group at the same sitting where the period was measured by the survival of three named people. Wrangham's Stock Hall and Sarahs Valley holdings ran on the lives of Matthew Bushing, John Doveton and Richard Goodwin junior, three young men from families other than his own, and a fresh name could be entered on payment of half a year's charge as each died, which made those effectively permanent. The twenty acres here carried no such provision.

95

92

Sheds Tenements, Plantations and Fences as now are or hereafter

shall be Made Built or Erected therein and shall Moreover Plant keep

up Maintain and Preserve in and upon the said hereby Demised parcell

of Land its full Quantity or Proportion of Wood being one tenth part of the

said parcell of Land and shall likewise Plant and Preserve Furze

within side or without the Fences of the said Parcell of Land and shall

plant Fruit Trees such as Apple Lemon Mulbery or Peach Trees in

such Parts thereof wherein they are most likely to grow and as they

shall happen to decay or die shall Replant Others of the like sorts

thereon without hurt or Prejudice Nevertheless to any part of such

Land as shall be set Apart for the sole Purpose of Planting or Raising

of Yams Yielding and paying therefore yearly and every year

during the Term of this present Lease Unto them the said Honourable

Company their Successours Agents or Assigns the Sum of Five Shillings

p Acre in at or upon the Feast of St Michael the Arch Angel Yearly

And upon farther Condition that he the said Francis Wrangham

his Heirs Executors, Administrators or Allowed Assigns shall not

Alter or Remove the said Fences they being the Limits or Land

Marks of the parcells of Land Aforesaid and shall not seller dispose

of this Lease or Interest therein without the leave and Consent of the

Governour and Council for the time being In Witness whereof he

the said Francis Wrangham hath hereunto set his hand and Seale

this Thirtieth day of September in the year of our Lord One Thousand

Seven Hundred Thirty Eight and they the said Honourable Company

to the Other part of these presents hath Affixed their Common Seale

the day and year beforewritten

Signed Sealed and Delivered

in the presence of

[...]

Fran: Wrangham

E:t

W:t

3/4 Acres

16 1/4 Acres

S:o

Memorandum that in Consideration great part of the beforementioned

parcells of Land is barren Rocky wee have agreed the said Francis

Wrangham, the Rent of four Acres yearly during the Term of this present

Lease, & he is to pay Rent only for Sixteen Acres [...] In Witness

whereof wee the under written the Governour & Council of the said Island

have hereunto Set our hands this 30th day of September One Thousand

Seven Hundred and Thirty Eight

Fran: Wrangham

Witness

[...]

Every shed, outbuilding, planted enclosure and fence on Francis Wrangham's twenty acres had to be held in sound order, whether standing at the outset or raised later.

Planting ran alongside the repairs. A tenth of the ground had to be under trees and kept so, with furze grown along the fences on whichever face suited. Apple, lemon, mulberry or peach were to be set wherever they were most likely to thrive, and fresh trees of the same kinds put in as older ones failed. None of this was to encroach on whatever part of the ground Wrangham set aside for growing yams.

The charge came to £0 5s 0d an acre each year, paid to the Company or to whoever acted for it, falling due at Michaelmas.

The fences stood as the markers showing where the twenty acres began and ended, and Wrangham was barred from moving them. He was equally barred from parting with the arrangement, or any share in it, without permission from the Governor and Council in office at the time.

Wrangham put his hand and seal to the document on 30 September 1738, and the Company set its own seal to the matching copy on the same day.

Witness to the signing and sealing: [...]

Francis Wrangham, signing in his own name

A drawing set below the names showed the ground in two pieces. The larger, marked as sixteen acres and a quarter, formed a broad block to the south-west of a compass circle drawn across its corner. A smaller piece marked as three quarters of an acre lay to the north-east, shaped like an arrowhead.

A note added beneath recorded that much of the ground was barren and rocky. The Governor and Council therefore fixed Wrangham's charge at £4 0s 0d a year for the whole period, so that he paid on sixteen acres only rather than on the full extent. Wrangham signed the note, the Governor and Council set their hands to it, and it was witnessed on 30 September 1738.

Interpretations

The note cuts the charge by matching it to what the ground could actually yield. At the standard rate of £0 5s 0d an acre the twenty acres would have carried £5 0s 0d a year, and the Governor and Council reduced this to £4 0s 0d by charging only on sixteen. Barren rock grows no yams and carries no timber, so a holder made to pay on it would either walk away or let the whole parcel lie unfenced, and the island's government had been contending with unfenced land since the order revived on 6 April 1711 threatened forfeiture for failure to enclose.

Two figures in the drawing sit oddly against the twenty acres named in the body, the larger piece being marked as sixteen acres and a quarter and the smaller as three quarters of an acre, coming to seventeen acres in all. The drawings attached to several holdings sealed on 30 September 1738 differ from the acreages written out in the same documents, and the register settles such differences by the drawing and by the fence built within the first year rather than by the arithmetic on the page.

The compass here is set as a full circle divided into segments and drawn across the corner of the larger piece rather than standing clear beside it. The device fixed the bearing of the boundary lines themselves, useful on ground whose edges ran at an angle to the cardinal points, and it appears on this leaf where the two neighbouring boundaries were Wrangham's own rented land rather than any surveyed marker.

Speculations

Reducing the charge to £4 0s 0d and leaving the barren ground inside the arrangement was not the obvious course. The Company could simply have measured out the sixteen acres worth having and let those alone, keeping the rock as open ground and charging the standard rate on what it granted. Instead the whole twenty acres passed to Wrangham while he paid on sixteen. Fencing explains the choice. A boundary drawn to exclude every outcrop wanders and doubles back, costing far more wall than a line run straight across the rock, and the same reasoning appears in the note attached to John French's thirty-one acres at the same sitting, where seven or eight acres of steep barren ground running up to a cliff were thrown in for nothing beyond a token payment if ever demanded. The Company gave away ground it valued at nothing to get a straight fence and a tenant who would build it.

96

93

The Lords Proprietors of this Island the

Honourable the United Company of Merchants of England Trading to the

East Indies Do hereby Demise Grant Set and to Farm Set unto William

Seale of the said Island Planter All that Piece or Parcell of Land

Containing Six Acres Butting and Bounding North upon the Lands of Wm

Burnham, West & South upon the Lands now in the Possession of

Frances Seale Widow & East upon the Hon:ble Comp:s Wast Lands

[...]

To have and to hold the said hereby Demised parcell of Land and

every part & Parcell thereof together with all and Singular the Wood Water

Water Courses, Houses, Buildings, Edifices, Sheds, Tenements Yams and

Plantations of Yams, Fruit Trees, Walls, Fences and all other & Singular the

Rights Commodities to them and each and every of them belonging or Appertaining

Unto him the said William Seale his Heirs Executors, Administrators or

Allowed Assigns from the day of the Date hereof for and During all the

Space or Term of Twenty One Years from thence next Ensuing Upon

Condition that he the said William Seale his heirs Executors Administrators

or Allowed Assigns shall and do bear true faith & Allegiance to Our

Sovereign Lord King George his Heirs and Successours and to them the said

Hon:ble Company and their Successours and shall duely Observe and Obey all

the Laws and Constitutions of the said Island And upon Condition

also that he the said William Seale his Heirs Executors Administrations

or Allowed Assigns shall and do from time to time and at all times hereafter

during the Term of this present Lease keep up and maintain in good

Order and Sufficient and legal Repair all such Buildings, Houses, Edifices

Sheds, Tenements, Plantations and Fences as now are or hereafter shall be

Made Built or Erected thereon and shall Moreover Plant keep up maintain

and preserve in and upon the said hereby Demised parcell of Land its full

Quantity or Proportion of Wood being One tenth part of the said parcell of

Land and shall likewise Plant and Preserve Furze within side or without

the Fences of the said parcell of Land and shall Plant Fruit Trees such

as Apple Lemon Mulbery or Peach Trees in such parts thereof wherein

they are most likely to grow and as they shall happen to decay or Die shall

Replant others of the like sorts thereon without hurt or Prejudice

Nevertheless to any part of such Land as shall be set apart for the sole

Purpose of Planting and Raising of Yams Yielding and Paying

therefore Yearly and every Year during the Term of this present Lease unto

them the said Honourable Company their Successours Agents or Assigns the

Sum of Five Shillings p Acre in at or upon the Feast of St Michael the

Arch Angel Yearly And upon farther Condition that he the

said William Seale his Heirs Executors, Administrators or Allowed Assigns

shall not Alter or Remove the said Fences they being the Limits or

Land Marks of the Parcell of Land Aforesaid and shall not Sell or

dispose of this Lease or Interest therein without the leave and Consent of

the Governour and Council for the time being In Witness whereof he

the said William Seale hath hereunto Set his Hand & Seale this Thirtieth

Margin Notes:

William Seale

Six Acres

The East India Company, owner of the island, rented six acres to William Seale, a planter living there. William Burnham's land ran along the northern edge. Ground then occupied by Frances Seale, a widow, closed the parcel to the west and south, and Company land bounded it to the east, the remaining detail of that side standing as [...].

Everything on the ground passed with it. Seale took the trees, the water and the channels carrying it, the houses, sheds and outbuildings, the yam beds, the fruit trees, the walls and the fences, together with every other benefit belonging to any part of the block. The arrangement ran to him and to those coming after him for twenty-one years from the day it was made.

Loyalty came first among the things asked of him. Seale and his successors had to stay faithful to King George and those following him, and to the Company and its successors, and to keep the rules in force on the island.

Upkeep followed. Every house, shed, outbuilding, planted enclosure and fence had to be held in sound order throughout the whole period, whether standing at the outset or raised later.

Planting ran alongside. A tenth of the six acres had to be under trees and kept so, with furze grown along the fences on whichever face suited. Apple, lemon, mulberry or peach were to be set wherever they were most likely to thrive, and fresh trees of the same kinds put in as older ones failed. None of this was to encroach on whatever part of the ground Seale set aside for growing yams.

The charge came to £0 5s 0d an acre each year, paid to the Company or to whoever acted for it, falling due at Michaelmas.

The fences stood as the markers showing where the six acres began and ended, and Seale was barred from moving them. He was equally barred from parting with the arrangement, or any share in it, without permission from the Governor and Council in office at the time. He set his hand and seal to the document on 30 September 1738.

Interpretations

Frances Seale held the ground on two sides in her own name as a widow, and the same woman closed the northern and eastern edges of the ten acres let to Isaac Leech at this same sitting on 30 September 1738. Two of the parcels sealed that day therefore ran against land she occupied, and she appears in neither as a party, only as the neighbour by whom other holdings were fixed. Women held in their own right across the register, from Mary Sherwood taking gumwood ground on 25 February 1727 to Elizabeth Greentree taking five acres and a half in Lemon Valley and Bridget Bazett taking twenty acres near Diana's Peak, both under grants sealed on 14 September 1731.

William Seale had been building up ground in the East Division for more than a decade. The Company let him fifteen acres and a half in Stick's Valley on 22 November 1726, that parcel rounding out land he already held and sitting among the holdings of John Pinching and the widow Bridget Bazett, and he had been confirmed near the head of Sharks Valley and in Stocks Valley as far back as 4 August 1713. Twenty years after this arrangement he was destitute, and a subscription raised aboard by Captain Lucius O'Bryen of the Colchester on 15 July 1758 bought a slave man named Lewis to support him and his children in his old age.

William Burnham on the northern edge belonged to a family long settled in that quarter. He bought nine acres held outright in Sharks Valley from John Hayes senior for £33 0s 0d on 5 December 1753, that parcel bounded on its northern side by his own rented ground and on its other three sides by open Company land.

97

94

Day of September in the Year of Our Lord One Thousand Seven

Hundred Thirty Eight and they the said Honourable Company to the

other part of these presents hath Affixed their Common Seale the day

and Year beforewritten

Signed Sealed and Delivered

in the presence of

D:l Chipple

Will:m Seales

Six Acres

N

W

E

S

The Lords Proprietors of this Island the

Honourable the United Company of Merchants of England Trading to

the East Indies Do hereby Demise Grant, Set and to Farm let unto

John Desfountaen of the said Island Planter All that piece or Parcell of

Land Containing Seven Acres and an half Butting and Bounding North

East, South and West upon the Wast Lands of them the said Hon:ble Company

being and lying near the head of Rupert's Valley To have and to

hold the said hereby Demised parcell of Land and every part and

Parcell thereof together with all & Singular the Wood, Water Water Courses

Houses, Buildings, Edifices, Sheds, Tenements, Yams & Plantations of

Yams, Fruit Trees Walls Fences and all other and Singular the Rights

Commodities to them and each and every of them belonging or

Appertaining unto him the said John Desfountain his Heirs Executors

Administrators or Allowed Assigns from the day of the Date hereof

for and during all the Space or Term of Twenty One Years from thence

next Ensuing Upon Condition that he the said John

Desfountain his Heirs Executors Administrators or Allowed Assigns

shall and do bear true faith and Allegiance to Our Sovereign Lord

King George his Heirs and Successours and to them the said Honourable

Company and their Successours and shall duely Observe and Obey all the

Laws and Constitutions of the said Island And upon Condition

also that he the said John Desfountain his Heirs Executors

Administrators or Allowed Assigns shall and do from time to time

and at all times hereafter during the Term of this present Lease keep

up and Maintain in good Order and Sufficient and legal Repair

all such Buildings Houses, Edifices, Sheds, Tenements, Plantations and

Margin Notes:

John Desfountain

Seven Acres and

an half

The Company set its own seal to the matching copy of William Seale's arrangement on the same day, 30 September 1738.

Witness to the signing and sealing: [...]

William Seale, signing in his own name

A drawing set below the names showed the six acres as a five-sided block, its outline running unevenly. A compass beside it marked north, south, east and west.

The Company also rented seven acres and a half to John Desfountain, a planter living on the island. The parcel sat near the head of Rupert's Valley, with open Company ground closing it to the east, south and west.

Everything on the ground went with it. Desfountain took the trees, the water and the channels carrying it, the houses, sheds and outbuildings, the yam beds, the fruit trees, the walls and the fences, along with every other benefit belonging to any part of the block. He and those coming after him held it for twenty-one years from the day the arrangement was made.

Loyalty came first among the things asked of him. Desfountain and his successors had to stay faithful to King George and those following him, and to the Company and its successors, and to keep the rules in force on the island.

Upkeep followed. Every house, shed, outbuilding, planted enclosure and fence had to be held in sound order throughout the whole period.

Interpretations

Rupert's Valley runs down to the sea just north of James Valley, and the head of it lies well up in the interior on the dry northern side of the island. Ground in that quarter appears in the register only occasionally, Joseph Hause the drummer taking twelve acres near the Great Wood there under the arrangement sealed on 9 October 1727 and Grace Hause, a widow, taking a single acre in the easternmost branch on 2 December 1725 against ground inherited from her father.

Open Company land on three sides threw the fencing burden almost wholly onto Desfountain, since no neighbour's wall could serve those boundaries. Only the fourth side, left unstated on the page, could have carried a shared line.

John Desfountain had been holding and acting across the island for at least a decade. He shared four acres and a half on the Main Ridge with Isaac Wood under the arrangement sealed on 2 February 1730, took thirteen acres in Sandy Bay under the Main Ridge on 30 September 1738, and at that same sitting held five acres for the widow and eight children of the late Sutton Isaac while signing the matching copy of Isaac Wood's two acres on his behalf. His marriage to Mary, eldest daughter of John Alexander, tied him to the Alexander holdings that bounded his Sandy Bay ground.

98

95

Fences as now are or hereafter shall be Made Built or Erected thereon and

shall Moreover Plant keep up Maintain and preserve in and upon the

said hereby demised parcell of Land its full Quantity or Proportion of

Wood being one tenth part of the said parcell of Land and shall likewise

Plant and Preserve Furze within side or without the Fences of the said

Parcell of Land and shall Plant Fruit Trees such as Apple Lemon

Mulberry or Peach Trees in such parts thereof wherein they are most likely

to grow and as they shall happen to decay or die shall Replant others of

the like sorts thereon without hurt or prejudice Nevertheless to any part of

such Land as shall be set apart for the sole purpose of Planting and

Raising of Yams Yielding and Paying therefore Yearly and every

Year during the Term of this present Lease unto them the said Honourable

Company their Successours Agents or Assigns the sum of Five Shillings

p Acre in at or upon the Feast of St Michael the Arch Angel yearly

And upon farther Condition that he the said John Desfountain

his Heirs Executors Administratorr or Allowed Assigns shall not

Alter or Remove the said Fences they being the Limits or Land Marks

of the parcell of Land Aforesaid and shall not Sell or Dispose of this

Lease or Interest therein without the leave and Consent of the Governour

and Council for the time being In Witness whereof he the said John

Desfountain hath hereunto Set his Hand and Seale this Thirtieth

day of September in the Year of Our Lord One Thousand Seven

Hundred Thirty Eight and they the said Honourable Company to the other

part of these presents hath Affixed their Common Seale the Day and

Year beforewritten

Signed Sealed & Delivered

in the presence of

D:l Chipple

Jn:o Desfountain

N

W

E

Seven Acres

and an half

S

Fences already standing on John Desfountain's seven acres and a half had to be kept sound, along with any put up later.

Planting ran alongside the repairs. A tenth of the ground had to be under trees and kept that way, with furze grown along the fences on whichever side suited. Apple, lemon, mulberry or peach were to be set wherever they stood the best chance, and fresh trees of the same sorts put in as older ones failed. None of this was to eat into whatever part of the ground Desfountain kept for growing yams.

The charge came to £0 5s 0d an acre each year, paid to the Company or to whoever acted for it, falling due at Michaelmas.

One further point closed the arrangement. Neither Desfountain nor anyone coming after him could shift or take away the fences, since these showed where the ground began and ended, and none of them could hand the arrangement on without permission from the Governor and Council in office at the time.

Desfountain put his hand and seal to the document on 30 September 1738, and the Company set its own seal to the matching copy on the same day.

Witness to the signing and sealing: [...]

John Desfountain, signing in his own name

A drawing set below the names showed the seven acres and a half as a block roughly square at its foot and narrowing to a point at the top. A compass beside it marked north, south, east and west.

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96

The Lords Proprietors of this Island the

Honourable the United Company of Merchants of England Trading

to the East Indies Do hereby Demise Grant Set and to Farm

Let Unto Edward Bagley of the said Island Planter All that pieces or

Parcell of Land Containing Thirty Nine Acres Butting and Bounding

North upon the Land of Joseph Hadding Deceasd. East upon the Lands

of Alexanders Orphans South and West upon the Wast Lands of them the

said Honourable Company To have and to hold the said

hereby Demised parcell of Land and every part and parcell thereof

together with all and Singular the Wood, Water, Water Courses, Houses

Buildings, Edifices, Sheds, Tenements, Yams and Plantations of Yams

Fruit Trees, Walls, Fences and all other and Singular the Rights

Commodities to them and each and every of them belonging or Appertaining

Unto him the said Edward Bagley his Heirs Executors Administrators

or Allowed Assigns from the day of the Date hereof for and During

all the Space or Term of Twenty One Years from thence next Ensuing

Upon Condition that he the said Edward Bagley his Heirs

Executors, Administrators or Allowed Assigns shall and do bear true

Faith and Allegiance to Our Sovereign Lord King George his Heirs and

Successours and to them the said Honourable Company and their Successours

and shall duely Observe and Obey all the Laws and Constitutions of the

said Island And upon Condition also that he the said

Edward Bagley his Heirs Executors Administrators or Allowed Assigns

shall and do from time to time and at all times hereafter during the

Term of this present Lease keep up and Maintain in good Order and

Sufficient and legal Repair all such Buildings, Houses, Edifices, Sheds

Tenements, Plantations & Fences as now are or hereafter shall be made

Built or Erected thereon and shall Moreover Plant keep up maintain

and preserve in and upon the said hereby Demised parcell of Land its

full Quantity or Proportion of Wood being One tenth part of the said

parcell of Land and shall likewise Plant and preserve Furze within side

or without the Fences of the said parcell of Land and shall Plant Fruit

Trees such as Apple Lemon Mulberry or Peach Trees in such parts

thereof wherein they are most likely to grow and as they shall happen

to decay or die shall Replant others of the like sorts thereon without hurt

or prejudice Nevertheless to any part of such Land as shall be set apart

for the Sole purpose of Planting and Raising of Yams Yielding and

Paying therefore Yearly and every Year during the Term of this present

Lease unto them the said Hon:ble Company their Successours Agents or

Assigns the Sum of Five Shillings p Acre in at or upon the Feast of

St Michael the Arch Angel yearly And upon farther

Condition that he the said Edward Bagley his Heirs Executors

Administrators or Allowed Assigns shall not Alter or Remove the said

Fences they being the Limits or Land Marks of the parcell of Land aforesaid

and shall not sell or dispose of this Lease or Interest therein without the

Margin Notes:

Edward Bagley

The Company, owner of the island, rented thirty-nine acres to Edward Bagley, a planter living there. Ground once belonging to the late Joseph Harding lay along the northern edge. Land held for the Alexander orphans closed the parcel to the east, and open Company ground ran along the southern and western sides.

Everything standing on the ground went with it. Bagley took the trees, the water and the channels carrying it, the houses, sheds and outbuildings, the yam beds, the fruit trees, the walls and the fences, along with every other benefit belonging to any part of the block. He and those coming after him held it for twenty-one years from the day the arrangement was made.

Loyalty came first among the things asked of him. Bagley and his successors had to stay faithful to King George and those following him, and to the Company and its successors, and to keep the rules in force on the island.

Upkeep followed. Every house, shed, outbuilding, planted enclosure and fence had to be held sound throughout the whole period, whether standing at the outset or put up later.

Planting ran alongside. A tenth of the thirty-nine acres had to be under trees and kept that way, with furze grown along the fences on whichever side suited. Apple, lemon, mulberry or peach were to be set wherever they stood the best chance, and fresh trees of the same sorts put in as older ones failed. None of this was to eat into whatever part of the ground Bagley kept for growing yams.

The charge came to £0 5s 0d an acre each year, paid to the Company or to whoever acted for it, falling due at Michaelmas.

One further point closed the arrangement. Neither Bagley nor anyone after him could shift or take away the fences, since these showed where the ground began and ended, and none of them could hand the arrangement on [...].

Interpretations

Thirty-nine acres makes this the largest single parcel let at the sitting of 30 September 1738. Thomas Allis took thirty acres in Deep Valley at a yearly charge of £7 10s 0d, the heaviest on any one holding that day, and this one carried £9 15s 0d at the same rate. An Edward Bagley also took two acres in Coles Valley at the same sitting, ringed on all four sides by open Company ground, so the family came away from that day with holdings at opposite ends of the scale.

The Alexander orphans on the eastern side held ground under three separate arrangements sealed that same day, covering nineteen acres, sixteen acres near the head of Powell's Valley and twenty acres, fifty-five acres in all. Governor Goodwin and Richard Beale held the whole for the widow Mary Alexander and six of the children, a third going to her for as long as she lived within the period and the rest to the sons Samuel, John and George and the daughters Mary, Rebeckah and Rachel.

Joseph Harding on the northern edge appears repeatedly as a boundary on this leaf and the ones before it, his ground closing the northern side of James Draper's five acres and the northern and eastern sides of the fifteen acres held for his widow Elizabeth and their three daughters. Land recorded in a dead man's name went on fixing the bounds of his neighbours' holdings for years after his death.

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Leave and Consent of the Governour and Council for the time being In

Witness whereof he the said Edward Bagley hath hereunto set his Hand

and Seale this Thirtieth day of September in the Year of Our Lord One Thousand

Seven Hundred Thirty Eight and they the said Honourable Company to the

other part of these presents hath Affixed their Common Seale the day and

Year beforewritten

Signed Sealed and Delivered

in the presence of D:l Chipple

Edward Bagley

Memorandum that in Consideration of the Barrenness & Unnecessary

of great part of the beforementioned parcell of Land the said Bagley

is to pay Rent for only Thirty Acres thereof at the Rate of five

Shillings p Acre

Edward Bagley

Witness D:l Chipple

N

W

E

39 Acres

S

The Lords Proprietors of this Island the Honourable

the United Company of Merchants Trading to the East Indies Do hereby

Demise Grant Set and to Farm Let Unto James Harding of the said Island

Planter All they Two pieces or Parcells of Land containing in the Whole

Two Acres and three Quarters of an Acre Viz:t the first piece two Acres and

the other Piece Three Quarters being nearly Adjoyning Butting & Bounding

North and South upon them the said Honourable Companies Wast Land, East

and West upon him the said James Hardings own land, To have and

to hold the said hereby Demised parcells of Land and every part and

Parcell thereof together with all and Singular the Wood, Water Water Courses

Howses Buildings, Edifices, Sheds Tenements, Yams and Plantations of

Yams, Fruit Trees, Walls, Fences and all other and Singular the Rights

Commodities to them and each and every of them belonging or Appertaining

Unto him the said James Harding his Heirs Executors, Administrators or

Allowed Assigns from the day of the Date hereof for and during all the Space

or Term of Twenty One Years from thence next Ensuing Upon Condition

that he the said James Harding his Heirs Executors Administrators or Allowed

Assigns shall and do bear true faith and Allegiance to Our Sovereign Lord

King George his Heirs and Successours and to them the said Honourable

Company and their Successours and shall duely Observe and Obey all the Laws

Margin Notes:

James Harding

2 3/4 Acres

Edward Bagley could not hand his arrangement on without permission from the Governor and Council in office at the time. He put his hand and seal to the document on 30 September 1738, and the Company set its own seal to the matching copy on the same day.

A note added beneath recorded that much of the thirty-nine acres was barren and stony. The Company therefore charged Bagley on thirty acres only, at £0 5s 0d an acre, so his yearly payment came to £7 10s 0d rather than the £9 15s 0d the full extent would have carried. Bagley signed the note and it was witnessed.

Witness to the signing and sealing: [...]

Edward Bagley, signing in his own name

Witness to the note reducing the charge: [...]

Edward Bagley, signing the note in his own name

A drawing set below the names showed the ground as one large block with a ragged outline, narrowing at the top and broadening below, marked as thirty-four acres. A compass beside it marked north, south, east and west.

The Company also rented two acres and three quarters to James Harding, a planter living on the island. The ground lay in two pieces which nearly touched, one of two acres and the other of three quarters of an acre. Open Company ground closed both to the north and south, and Harding's own land ran along their eastern and western sides.

Everything on the ground went with it. Harding took the trees, the water and the channels carrying it, the houses, sheds and outbuildings, the yam beds, the fruit trees, the walls and the fences, along with every other benefit belonging to any part of either piece. He and those coming after him held them for twenty-one years from the day the arrangement was made.

Loyalty came first among the things asked of him. Harding and his successors had to stay faithful to King George and those following him, and to the Company and its successors, and to keep the rules in force on the island.

Interpretations

The reduction on Bagley's charge follows the same course taken for Francis Wrangham at this sitting, where twenty acres carried payment on sixteen because much of the ground was rock. Both notes were witnessed by the same hand on the same day, so the Company was applying a settled practice rather than making a single exception. Barren land yields nothing, and a holder made to pay on it would let the whole parcel lie unfenced rather than carry the cost.

Three separate figures for one holding appear across this leaf and the last, the body of the document naming thirty-nine acres, the note charging on thirty, and the drawing marked as thirty-four. The register settles such differences by the drawing and by the fence built within the first year rather than by the arithmetic written out, so the ground on the hillside governed rather than the numbers on the page.

James Harding had held ground in this quarter for a decade. He and his brother Joseph divided their late father's inherited land between them by an agreement of 1729, each taking a defined seventeen acres, and he sold his share of a further seventeen acres to Richard Pyke that same year. His rented ground fixed the eastern boundary of a single acre let to John Bazett under the arrangement sealed on 31 August 1731. A year after this sitting he handed on his interest in thirty-one acres of Sandy Bay ground to Joshua Worrall for £122 0s 0d, holding permission granted at a meeting of 24 July 1739.

Speculations

Bagley's two pieces of relief were handled quite differently from Wrangham's. Wrangham's note fixed his payment as a flat £4 0s 0d a year, a single sum with no rate attached, while Bagley's named the acreage he would pay on and left the rate standing at £0 5s 0d. The straightforward course would have been to write both the same way. Naming the rate rather than the total kept Bagley's charge tied to the standard applied across every holding let that day, so that the concession read as a reduction in the ground counted rather than as a special price. On a parcel of thirty-nine acres, the largest let at the sitting, a flat sum would have set a figure other substantial holders could point to when their own arrangements came up for renewal.

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98

and Constitutions of the said Island And upon Condition

also that he the said James Harding his Heirs Executors Administrat:rs

or Allowed Assigns shall and do from time to time and at all times

hereafter during the Term of this present Lease keep up and Maintain

in good Order and Sufficient and legal Repair all such Buildings

Howses, Edifices, Sheds, Tenements, Plantations and Fences as now are

or hereafter shall be Made Built or Erected thereon and shall moreover

Plant keep up maintain and preserve in and upon the said hereby demised

Parcells of Land its full Quantity or proportion of Wood being one tenth

part of the said parcells of Land and shall likewise plant and preserve

Furze within side or without the Fences of the said parcells of Land and

shall plant Fruit Trees such as Apple Lemon Mulberry or Peach trees

in such parts thereof wherein they are most likely to grow and as they

shall happen to decay or Die shall Replant others of the like sorts thereon

without hurt or prejudice Nevertheless to any part of such Land as shall

be set apart for the sole purpose of Planting and Raising of Yams

Yielding and paying therefore Yearly and every Year during the

Term of this present Lease unto them the said Honourable Company

their Successours Agents or Assigns the Sum of Five Shillings p Acre

in at or upon the Feast of St Michael the Arch Angel Yearly

And upon farther Condition that he the said James

Harding his Heirs Executors Administrators or Allowed Assigns shall

not Alter or Remove the said Fences they being the Limits or Land marks

of the parcells of Land Aforesaid and shall not Sell or Dispose of this

Lease or Interest therein without the leave and Consent of the Governour

and Council for the time being In Witness whereof he the said

James Harding hath hereunto set his Hand and Seale this Thirtieth

day of September in the year of Our Lord One Thousand Seven Hundred

Thirty Eight and they the said Honourable Company to the other part

of these presents hath Affixed their Common Seale the day and

Year beforewritten

Signed Sealed & Delivered

in the presence of

D:l Chipple

James Harding

N

Two Acres

Three Quarters

W

E

S

Upkeep followed the promise of loyalty. James Harding and his successors had to keep every house, shed, outbuilding, planted enclosure and fence in sound order throughout the whole period, whether standing at the outset or put up later.

Planting ran alongside. A tenth of the two pieces had to be under trees and kept that way, with furze grown along the fences on whichever side suited. Apple, lemon, mulberry or peach were to be set wherever they stood the best chance, and fresh trees of the same sorts put in as older ones failed. None of this was to eat into whatever part of the ground Harding kept for growing yams.

The charge came to £0 5s 0d an acre each year, paid to the Company or to whoever acted for it, falling due at Michaelmas.

One further point closed the arrangement. Neither Harding nor anyone after him could shift or take away the fences, since these showed where the ground began and ended, and none of them could hand the arrangement on without permission from the Governor and Council in office at the time.

Harding put his hand and seal to the document on 30 September 1738, and the Company set its own seal to the matching copy on the same day.

Witness to the signing and sealing: [...]

James Harding, signing in his own name

A drawing set below the names showed the ground in two pieces. The larger, marked as two acres, formed an uneven block. The smaller, marked as three quarters of an acre, lay to the south-west as a long thin wedge. A compass beside them marked north, south, east and west.

Interpretations

The smaller piece is drawn as a narrow tapering sliver, a shape that carries a very long boundary for its size. Three quarters of an acre in that form needed more wall than the two-acre block beside it, and since Harding's own ground lay along its eastern and western sides, the arrangement handed him a fragment nobody else could have reached or worked. The Company let out such awkward remnants to the neighbour they completed rather than offering them separately, and the same reasoning produced Jonathan Doveton's seven acres ringed entirely by his own land at this same sitting on 30 September 1738.

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The Lords Proprietors of this Island the

Honourable the United Company of Merchants of England Trading to the

East Indies Do hereby Demise Grant Set and to Farm Let Unto

Gabriel Harper of the said Island Planter All that piece or parcell of

Land containing Thirty Two [...] Acres Butting and Bounding North and

East upon the Wast Lands of them the said Hon:ble Company, West upon the Lands of

Alexanders Orphans & South upon other Lands of him the said Gabriel Harper

To have and to hold the said hereby Demised parcell of Land

and every part and parcell thereof together with all and Singular the Wood

Water, Water Courses, Howses, Buildings, Edifices, Sheds, Tenements, Yams and

Plantations of Yams, Fruit Trees, Walls, Fences and all other and Singular

the Rights Commodities to them and each and every of them belonging or

Appertaining Unto him the said Gabriel Harper his Heirs Executors

Administrators or Allowed Assigns from the day of the Date hereof for

and during all the Space or Term of Twenty One Years from thence next

Ensuing Upon Condition that he the said Gabriel Harper his Heirs

Executors Administrators or Allowed Assigns shall and do bear true faith

and Allegiance to Our Sovereign Lord King George his Heirs and

Successours and to them the said Honourable Company and their Successours

and shall duely Observe and Obey all the Laws and Constitutions of the

said Island. And upon Condition also that he the said Gabriel

Harper his Heirs Executors Administrators or Allowed Assigns shall and

do from time to time and at all times hereafter during the Term of this

present Lease keep up and Maintain in good Order and Sufficient and

legal Repair all such Buildings, Howses, Edifices, Sheds, Tenements

Plantations and Fences as now are or hereafter shall be Made Built

or Erected thereon and shall Moreover Plant keep up Maintain and

preserve in and upon the said hereby Demised parcell of Land its full

Quantity or proportion of Wood being one tenth part of the said parcell of

Land and shall likewise Plant and Preserve Furze within side or

without the Fences of the said parcell of Land and shall plant Fruit

Trees such as Apple Lemon Mulberry or Peach Trees in such parts thereof

wherein they are most likely to Grow and as they shall happen to decay

or die shall Replant others of the like Sorts thereon without hurt or

prejudice Nevertheless to any part of such Land as shall be set a

part for the Sole purpose of Planting and Raising of Yams Yielding

and paying therefore Yearly and every Year during the Term of this

present Lease unto them the said Honourable Company their Successours

Agents or Assigns the Sum of Five Shillings p Acre in at or upon the

Feast of St Michael the Arch Angel yearly And upon farther

Condition that he the said Gabriel Harper his heirs Executors

Administrators or Allowed Assigns shall not Alter or Remove the said

Fences they being the Limits or Land Marks of the parcel of Land aforesaid

and shall not Sell or dispose of this Lease or Interest therein without the

leave and Consent of the Governour and Council for the time being

Margin Notes:

Gab:l Harper

The Company, owner of the island, rented thirty-two acres to Gabriel Harper, a planter living there. Open Company ground closed the parcel to the north and east. Land held for the Alexander orphans ran along the western side, and Harper's own other ground bounded it to the south.

Everything on the ground went with it. Harper took the trees, the water and the channels carrying it, the houses, sheds and outbuildings, the yam beds, the fruit trees, the walls and the fences, along with every other benefit belonging to any part of the block. He and those coming after him held it for twenty-one years from the day the arrangement was made.

Loyalty came first among the things asked of him. Harper and his successors had to stay faithful to King George and those following him, and to the Company and its successors, and to keep the rules in force on the island.

Upkeep followed. Every house, shed, outbuilding, planted enclosure and fence had to be held sound throughout the whole period, whether standing at the outset or put up later.

Planting ran alongside. A tenth of the thirty-two acres had to be under trees and kept that way, with furze grown along the fences on whichever side suited. Apple, lemon, mulberry or peach were to be set wherever they stood the best chance, and fresh trees of the same sorts put in as older ones failed. None of this was to eat into whatever part of the ground Harper kept for growing yams.

The charge came to £0 5s 0d an acre each year, paid to the Company or to whoever acted for it, falling due at Michaelmas.

One further point closed the arrangement. Neither Harper nor anyone after him could shift or take away the fences, since these showed where the ground began and ended, and none of them could hand the arrangement on without permission from the Governor and Council in office at the time.

Interpretations

Gabriel Harper took thirty-two acres in his own name at the same sitting where he held fifteen acres for the widow and three daughters of the late Joseph Harding, so he stood on both sides of the day's business. His ground fixed the bounds of several other holdings sealed on 30 September 1738, closing the eastern edge of the sixteen acres settled on the Alexander widow and children near the head of Powell's Valley, the northern and eastern sides of ten acres let to Orlando Bagley, and the western and southern sides of twenty-seven acres and a half let to Samuel Doveton in Sandy Bay.

The Alexander orphans on the western side held fifty-five acres across three separate arrangements at this sitting, Governor Goodwin and Richard Beale holding the whole for the widow Mary Alexander and six of the children. Their ground and Harper's therefore met along a line where a man who held for one family bordered land held for another, both parcels answerable to trustees rather than to the people who would use them.

At £0 5s 0d an acre the thirty-two acres carried £8 0s 0d a year, the second heaviest charge on any single holding let that day after the thirty-nine acres taken by Edward Bagley. Harper's ground carried no reduction for barren land, unlike Bagley's parcel and Francis Wrangham's twenty acres, so the whole extent was reckoned worth paying on.

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100

In Witness whereof he the said Gabriel Harper have hereunto set

his hand and Seale this Thirtieth day of September in the Year of

Our Lord One Thousand Seven Hundred Thirty Eight and they the

said Honourable Company to the other part of these presents hath

Affixed their Common Seale the day and Year beforewritten

Signed Sealed & Deliverd

in the presence of

D:l Chipple

Gabriell Harper

The Lords Proprietors of this Island

the Honourable the United Company of Merchants of England Trading

to the East Indies Do hereby Demise Grant Sett and to Farm

Let unto Thomas Easthope of the said Island Planter All that

piece or parcell of Land containing Twenty Eight Acres being and

lying in Sandy Bay Butting and Bounding North and East upon

the Lands of Elizabeth Greentree Widow, South and West upon the

Lands of him the said Thomas Easthope. To have and to

hold the said hereby Demised parcell of Land and every part and

Parcell thereof together with all and Singular the Wood Water

Water Courses, Houses, Buildings, Edifices, Sheds, Tenements, Yams

and Plantations of Yams, Fruit Trees, Walls, Fences and all other and

Singular the Rights Commodities to them and each and every of them

belonging or Appertaining Unto him the said Thomas Easthope his

Heirs, Executors, Administrators or Allowed Assigns from the day of the

Date hereof for and during all the Space or Term of Twenty One Years

from thence next Ensuing Upon Condition that he the

said Thomas Easthope his Heirs Executors, Administrators or Allow'd

Assigns shall and do bear true faith and Allegiance to Our Sovereign

Lord King George his Heirs and Successours and to them the said

Honourable Company and their Successours and shall duely Observe

and Obey all the Laws and Constitutions of the said Island. And

Upon Condition also that he the said Thomas Easthope his

Margin Notes:

Thomas Easthope

28 Acres

Gabriel Harper put his hand and seal to the document on 30 September 1738, and the Company set its own seal to the matching copy on the same day.

Witness to the signing and sealing: [...]

Gabriel Harper, signing in his own name

The Company also rented twenty-eight acres in Sandy Bay to Thomas Easthope, a planter living on the island. Land held by Elizabeth Greentree, a widow, ran along the northern and eastern edges, and Easthope's own ground closed the parcel to the south and west.

Everything on the ground went with it. Easthope took the trees, the water and the channels carrying it, the houses, sheds and outbuildings, the yam beds, the fruit trees, the walls and the fences, along with every other benefit belonging to any part of the block. He and those coming after him held it for twenty-one years from the day the arrangement was made.

Loyalty came first among the things asked of him. Easthope and his successors had to stay faithful to King George and those following him, and to the Company and its successors, and to keep the rules in force on the island.

Interpretations

Elizabeth Greentree held ground on two sides in her own name as a widow. The Company had let her five acres and a half in Lemon Valley under an arrangement sealed on 14 September 1731, the period backdated nearly seven years to bring an informal occupation under proper terms after the ground had been left unfenced. Her land also fixed the northern boundary of five acres in Broad Bottom let to Joshua Johnson at this same sitting on 30 September 1738, and the smaller of her two Lemon Valley pieces carried the name Tobacco Plain from an earlier use.

Thomas Easthope belonged to a family whose name runs through the register in several forms across half a century. He appears as a gunner witnessing the arrangement made with Mary Sherwood on 25 February 1727, and a James Easthope sold ten acres at the head of Fisher Valley to John Coole on 25 October 1687, the same man's name attaching to parcels in Chapel Valley and Peak Gut under variant spellings for decades afterwards.

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101

Heirs Executors Administrators or Allowed Assigns shall and do from time

to time and at all times hereafter during the Term of this present Lease keep up

and maintain in good Order and Sufficient and legal Repair all such Buildings

Houses, Edifices, Sheds, Tenements Plantations and Fences as now are or

hereafter shall be made Built or Erected thereon and shall Moreover Plant keep

up Maintain and Preserve in and upon the said hereby Demised parcell of Land

its full Quantity or Proportion of Wood being one tenth part of the said parcell of

Land and shall likewise plant and Preserve Furze within side or without the

Fences of the said parcell of Land and shall Plant Fruit Trees such as Apple

Lemon Mulberry or Peach Trees in such parts thereof wherein they are most

likely to grow and as they shall happen to decay or die shall Replant others

of the like Sorts thereon without hurt or Prejudice Nevertheless to any part

of such Land as shall be set apart for the sole purpose of planting and Raising

of Yams. Yielding and paying therefore Yearly and every Year during

the Term of this Present Lease unto them the said Honourable Company their

Successours Agents or Assigns the Sum of Five Shillings p Acre in at or

upon the Feast of St Michael the Arch Angel Yearly And upon

farther Condition that he the said Thomas Easthope his

Heirs Executors Administrators or Allowed Assigns shall not Alter or

Remove the said Fences they being the Limits or Land Marks of the

Parcell of Land Aforesaid and shall not Sell or dispose of this Lease or

Interest therein without the leave and Consent of the Governour and Council

for the time being In Witness whereof he the said Thomas Easthope

have hereunto Set his hand and Seale this Thirtieth day of September

in the year of Our Lord One Thousand Seven Hundred Thirty Eight

and they the said Honourable Company to the other part of these presents

hath Affixed their Common Seale the day and Year beforewritten

Signed Sealed and Deliverd

in the presence of

D:l Chipple

N

W

E

Tho:s Easthope

S

Twenty Eight Acres

Upkeep followed the promise of loyalty. Thomas Easthope and his successors had to keep every house, shed, outbuilding, planted enclosure and fence in sound order throughout the whole period, whether standing at the outset or put up later.

Planting ran alongside. A tenth of the twenty-eight acres had to be under trees and kept that way, with furze grown along the fences on whichever side suited. Apple, lemon, mulberry or peach were to be set wherever they stood the best chance, and fresh trees of the same sorts put in as older ones failed. None of this was to eat into whatever part of the ground Easthope kept for growing yams.

The charge came to £0 5s 0d an acre each year, paid to the Company or to whoever acted for it, falling due at Michaelmas.

One further point closed the arrangement. Neither Easthope nor anyone after him could shift or take away the fences, since these showed where the ground began and ended, and none of them could hand the arrangement on without permission from the Governor and Council in office at the time.

Easthope put his hand and seal to the document on 30 September 1738, and the Company set its own seal to the matching copy on the same day.

Witness to the signing and sealing: [...]

Thomas Easthope, signing in his own name

A drawing set below the names showed the twenty-eight acres as a single block with a ragged many-sided outline, narrowing at the top and broadening towards the foot. A compass beside it marked north, south, east and west.

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102

The Lords Proprietors of this Island the Hon:ble

the United Company of Merchants of England Trading to the

East Indies Do hereby Demise Grant Sett and to Farm

Lett unto Thomas Greentree of the said Island Planter All

those two Piece or Parcells of Land containing Thirty one

Acres Situated at or [...] the head of Sandy bay & partly near

Lemon Valley That is to say one Piece or Parcell

thereof containing Thirty Acres Butting & Bounding

North upon the Hon:ble Companies Land East & West and

part upon the Lands of Elizabeth Greentree Widow & partly upon

the Lands of Charles Siedard & South part upon the Lands

of him the said Thomas Greentree & part upon other the

Lands of her the said Elizabeth Greentree, the other piece or

Parcell thereof containing one Acre Butting & Bounding North

& West upon other the Lands of him the said Thomas Greentree

East upon the Lands of Joseph Bate & South upon the Hon:ble

Companies Wast Land To have and to hold the said hereby

Demised Parcells of Land & every part & parcell thereof together

with all & Singular the Wood Water, Water Courses, Howses

Buildings Edifices Sheds Tenements Plantations of Yams

Fruit Trees Walls Fences and all other & Singular the Rights

Commodities to them & each & every of them belonging or

Appertaining unto him the said Thomas Greentree his

heirs Executors Administrators or allowed Assigns from

the day of the Date hereof for & during all the Space or

Term of the natural Lives of him the said Thomas Greentree

Elizabeth Greentree his Wife & Richard Greentree his Brother

& the longest liver of them Renewable Upon the Death of

either the said Nominees upon Payment of half a years

Rent at the admittance of each Life or new nominee

Upon Condition that he the said Thomas Greentree his

heirs Ex:rs Adm:rs or allowed Assigns shall & do bear true

Faith & Allegiance to Our Sovereign Lord King George his

Heirs & Successours & to them the said Hon:ble Company &

their Successours & shall duely Observe & obey all the Laws

& Constitutions of the said Island And upon Condition

also that he the said Thomas Greentree his heirs Ex:rs Adm:rs

or allowed Assigns shall & do from time to time & at all times

hereafter during the Term of this present Lease keep up and

maintain in good Order & Sufficient & Legal Repair all such

Buildings Howses Edifices Sheds Tenements Plantations

& Fences as now are or hereafter shall be made Built or

Erected thereon and shall Moreover Plant keep up Maintain,

& Preserve in and upon the said hereby demised Parcells of

Land its full Quantity or Proportion of Wood being one

tenth part of the said Parcell of Land & shall likewise Plant

& Preserve Furze within side or without the Fences of the

said Parcell of Land & shall Plant Fruit Trees such as Apple

Lemon Mulberry or Peach Trees in such parts thereof

wherein they are most likely to Grow and as they shall happen

to decay or die shall replant others of the like Sorts thereon

without hurt or Prejudice nevertheless to any part of such

Margin Notes:

Tho: Greentree

31 Acres

The Company, owner of the island, rented thirty-one acres to Thomas Greentree, a planter living there. The ground lay in two pieces near the head of Sandy Bay Valley and near Lemon Valley.

The larger piece came to thirty acres. Company land closed it to the north, ground held by Elizabeth Greentree, a widow, ran along its eastern side, part of Charles Steward's land bounded it on the same side, Greentree's own ground lay to the south, and the widow's land closed part of that side too. The smaller piece came to one acre, with Greentree's own land to the north and west, Joseph Bates's ground to the east, and open Company land to the south.

Everything on the ground went with it. Greentree took the trees, the water and the channels carrying it, the houses, sheds and outbuildings, the yam beds, the fruit trees, the walls and the fences, along with every other benefit belonging to any part of either piece.

The arrangement was measured not by a fixed span of years but by three lives, running for as long as any of the three survived. Those named were Thomas Greentree himself, Elizabeth Greentree his wife, and Richard Greentree his brother. On the death of any one of them a fresh name could be entered on payment of half a year's charge.

Loyalty came first among the things asked of him. Greentree and his successors had to stay faithful to King George and those following him, and to the Company and its successors, and to keep the rules in force on the island.

Upkeep followed. Every house, shed, outbuilding, planted enclosure and fence had to be held sound throughout the whole period, whether standing at the outset or put up later.

Planting ran alongside. A tenth of the ground had to be under trees and kept that way, with furze grown along the fences on whichever side suited. Apple, lemon, mulberry or peach were to be set wherever they stood the best chance, and fresh trees of the same sorts put in as older ones failed. None of this was to eat into whatever part of the ground was kept for growing yams.

Interpretations

Measuring the period by three lives rather than by twenty-one years set this apart from most of the holdings let at the sitting of 30 September 1738. A fresh name could be entered as each died, on payment of half a year's charge, which made the arrangement effectively permanent so long as the family kept adding lives. The Company reserved this longer form for holders with substantial ground or a reason to build, and only a handful of others took it that day, among them Francis Wrangham on two parcels, Samuel Doveton on twenty-seven acres and a half, John French on thirty-one acres and the men holding thirty-four acres for the Burling family.

Naming his own wife and brother as the two other lives kept the arrangement inside the household, the course taken by Samuel Doveton with his two sons and by John French with his three children at the same sitting. Francis Wrangham chose differently, naming three young men from families other than his own, which was a calculation about who would live longest rather than about who would inherit.

Elizabeth Greentree appears here both as a life named in the arrangement and as the holder of ground on two boundaries of the larger piece. A widow of that name held five acres and a half in Lemon Valley under an arrangement sealed on 14 September 1731 and closed the northern edge of five acres let to Joshua Johnson at this sitting, and Thomas Greentree acted at this same sitting as one of two men holding twenty-five acres in Sandy Bay for the widow Elizabeth Greentree and five children of the late James Greentree.

Speculations

The one-acre fragment was drawn into the same arrangement as the thirty acres rather than being let separately. Two pieces lying apart, one near the head of Sandy Bay Valley and the other near Lemon Valley, would ordinarily have carried their own documents, their own charges and their own conditions, as the Company did with Jonathan Doveton's seven acres and two acres at this sitting. Folding both into one measured by lives extended the long form to a single acre it would never have been granted on its own, and it meant the whole thirty-one acres renewed together as each life fell in, so the family never had to track two separate sets of names.

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103

Land as shall be Set apart for the Sole Purpose of Planting &

Raising of Yams Yielding & Paying therefore Yearly & every

year during the Term of this Present Lease in Consideration of his

Surrender of a Lease for Twenty Acres in which there is Ten years

& upwards yet to come at two Shilling p Acre unto them the said

Hon:ble Company their Successours Agents or Assigns the Sum of

Four Shillings p Acre only in at or upon the Feast of St Michaell

the Arch Angell yearly And upon farther Condition that

he the said Thomas Greentree his heirs Ex:rs Adm:rs or allowed

Assigns Shall not alter or Remove the said Fences they being

the Limits or Land marks of the Parcell of Land aforesaid and

shall not Sell or dispose of this Lease or Interest therein without

the Leave & Consent of the Governour & Councill for the time

being In Witness whereof he the said Thomas Greentree

hath hereunto Set his Hand & Seale this Thirtieth day of

September in the year of Our Lord One Thousand Seven hundred

Thirty Eight & they the said Hon:ble Company to the other part

of these Presents have affixed their Common Seale the day

& year beforewritten

Signed Seald & Delivered

in the presence of

D:l Chipple

Tho:s Greentree

2 1/2 Acres

1 Acre

2 Acres

within

this Square

30 Acres without

this square

Mem:dm that since the Signing & Sealing

the [...] Lease to Tho:s Greentree two & a half

Acres more hath been granted & Surveyed to him

Tho:s of the Greentree in [...] by [...]

of 20 Nov:r 1739 which in the whole [...] 33 1/2

Acres as is [...] Witness Our hands

this 2 day of December 1739

G. G. Powell for [...]

N:o

W:t

E:t

S:o

Ground kept for growing yams stood clear of every planting duty on Thomas Greentree's thirty-one acres.

The charge came to £0 4s 0d an acre rather than the usual £0 5s 0d, paid to the Company or to whoever acted for it, falling due at Michaelmas. The reduction rested on Greentree giving up an earlier arrangement covering twenty acres, which had a year or more still to run at £0 2s 0d an acre.

One further point closed the matter. Neither Greentree nor anyone after him could shift or take away the fences, since these showed where the ground began and ended, and none of them could hand the arrangement on without permission from the Governor and Council in office at the time.

Greentree signed the document on 30 September 1738, and the Company sealed its own copy the same day.

Witness to the signing: [...]

Thomas Greentree, signing in his own name

A drawing set below the names showed the ground in three parts. A piece of two acres and a half formed the northern end, a separate piece of one acre lay to the east, and the main block ran south, marked as thirty acres outside a small square drawn within it. That square, marked as two acres, sat inside the larger block and was counted apart from it. A compass beside the figure marked north, south, east and west.

A note added beneath recorded that a further two acres and a half were granted to Greentree after he signed, under an order made at a meeting of 25 November 1739. The whole came to thirty-two acres and a half, and the addition was confirmed on 4 December 1739 by G. G. Powell.

Interpretations

The reduced rate of £0 4s 0d an acre bought out an earlier arrangement rather than granting a favour. Greentree had been paying £0 2s 0d an acre on twenty acres with time still to run, and giving that up meant surrendering a bargain worth keeping. The Company met him halfway by shaving a shilling an acre off the new charge across the whole thirty-one acres, so his loss on the old ground was set against a gain on the new, and both parcels came under a single arrangement measured by lives.

The square of two acres drawn inside the larger block and counted separately marks ground of a different tenure standing within the rented parcel. The register shows such enclaves elsewhere, John Goodwin selling Richard Beale an eighth of an acre held outright that lay wholly enclosed within five acres of rented ground on 13 July 1757, that fragment having no value to anyone but the holder of the land around it.

George Gabriel Powell signed the addition of December 1739 in his own name. He had by then risen through the island's government and would hold the governorship within three years, and the great sale of his composite estate to Governor John Goodwin for £5,539 6s 4d had been sealed on 13 September 1739, less than three months before he added his name to this note.

107

104

The Lords Proprietors of this Island the Hon:ble the

United Company of Merchants of England Trading to the

East Indies do hereby Demise Grant Sett & to Farm Lett

unto Thomas Greentree of the said Island Planter All

that Piece or Parcell of Land containing Three Acres

Scituated in Sandybay Valley Butting & Bounding

North upon the Lands of the Orphans of John alexander

Gent dec: South upon the Lands of Richard Tinsley East

upon the Hon:ble Companies Wast Land & West part upon

the Hon:ble Companies Wast Land & part upon the Lands

of Joshua Johnson To have and to hold the said

hereby demised Parcell of Land & every part & parcell

thereof together with all & Singular the Wood Water Water

Courses, Howses Buildings Edifices, Sheds, Tenements

Yams and Plantations of Yams, Fruit Trees Walls Fences

and all other & Singular the Rights Commodities to them

& each & every of them belonging or Appertaining unto him

the said Thomas Greentree his heirs Executors Administrators

or allowed Assigns from the day of the date hereof for and

during all the Space or Term of the natural Lives of them

the said Thomas Greentree, Elizabeth Greentree his Wife, &

Richard Greentree, his Brother, and the longest liver of

them Renewable upon the Death of either the said Nominees

upon Payment of half a Years Rent at the Admittance

of each Life or new Nominee. Upon Condition that he

the said Thomas Greentree his heirs Executors Adm:rs or allowed

Assigns shall & do bear true Faith & Allegiance to Our

Sovereign Lord King George his heirs & said Successours

& to them the said Hon:ble Company & their Successours &

shall duely observe & obey all the Laws & Constitutions of the

said Island And upon Condition also that he the said

Thomas Greentree his heirs Ex:rs Adm:rs or allowed Assigns

shall & do from time to time & at all times hereafter during

the term of this Present Lease keep up & maintain in

good Order & Sufficient & Legal Repair all such Buildings

Houses Edifices Sheds Tenements Plantations & Fences

as now are or hereafter shall be made Built or Erected

thereon and shall Moreover Plant keep up Maintain

& Preserve in & upon the said hereby demised Parcell

of Land its full Quantity or Proportion of Wood being one

tenth part of the said Parcell of Land & shall likewise

Plant & Preserve Furze within side or without the Fences

of the said Parcell of Land & shall Plant Fruit Trees such

as Apple Lemon Mulberry or Peach Trees in Such parts

thereof wherein they are most likely to Grow & as they shall

happen to decay or die shall replant others of the like sorts

thereon without hurt or Prejudice nevertheless to any part

of such Land as shall be set apart for the Sole Purpose of

Planting & raising of Yams. Yielding & Paying

therefore yearly & every year during the term of this

Present Lease unto them the said Hon:ble Company

their Successours Agents or Assigns the Sum of five

Margin Notes:

Tho: Greentree

3 Acres

The Company, owner of the island, rented three acres in Sandy Bay Valley to Thomas Greentree, a planter living there. Ground held for the orphans of the late John Alexander lay along the northern edge. Richard Tinsley's land closed the parcel to the south, Company land ran along the eastern side, and the western side met Company land in part and Joshua Johnson's ground in part.

Everything on the ground went with it. Greentree took the trees, the water and the channels carrying it, the houses, sheds and outbuildings, the yam beds, the fruit trees, the walls and the fences, along with every other benefit belonging to any part of the block.

The arrangement was measured by three lives rather than by a span of years, running for as long as any of the three survived. Those named were Thomas Greentree himself, Elizabeth Greentree his wife, and Richard Greentree his brother. On the death of any one of them a fresh name could be entered on payment of half a year's charge.

Loyalty came first among the things asked of him. Greentree and his successors had to stay faithful to King George and those following him, and to the Company and its successors, and to keep the rules in force on the island.

Upkeep followed. Every house, shed, outbuilding, planted enclosure and fence had to be held sound throughout the whole period, whether standing at the outset or put up later.

Planting ran alongside. A tenth of the three acres had to be under trees and kept that way, with furze grown along the fences on whichever side suited. Apple, lemon, mulberry or peach were to be set wherever they stood the best chance, and fresh trees of the same sorts put in as older ones failed. None of this was to eat into whatever part of the ground Greentree kept for growing yams.

The charge came to £0 5s 0d an acre each year, paid to the Company or to whoever acted for it.

Interpretations

Three acres carried the same three lives as the thirty-one acres granted to Greentree at this same sitting, so the long form was extended to a very small parcel because it belonged to the same family arrangement. The charge here stood at the full £0 5s 0d an acre rather than the £0 4s 0d allowed on the larger holding, since the reduction there rested on Greentree surrendering an earlier arrangement and no such trade applied to this ground.

The Alexander orphans on the northern edge held fifty-five acres across three separate arrangements sealed on 30 September 1738, Governor Goodwin and Richard Beale holding the whole for the widow Mary Alexander and six of the children. Their ground appears repeatedly on the boundaries of parcels let that day, closing the eastern side of Edward Bagley's thirty-nine acres and the western side of Gabriel Harper's thirty-two.

Richard Tinsley to the south belonged among the Sandy Bay holders whose ground fixed the bounds of several arrangements in that quarter. A leasehold running through James Harding to Joshua Worrall and on to Thomas Colgrove in 1742 was bounded by Tinsley's land, alongside that of John Bazett, Samuel Doveton and Thomas Alley.

108

105

Shillings p acre in at or upon the Feast of St Michael the Arch

Angel yearly and upon farther Condition that he the said Thomas

Greentree his heirs Ex:rs Adm:rs or allowed Assigns shall not

alter or Remove the said Fences they being the Limits or Land

Marks of the Parcell of Land aforesaid and shall not sell or

dispose of this Lease or Interest therein without the leave &

Consent of the Governour & Councill for the time being In

Witness whereof he the said Thomas Greentree hath hereunto

Set his hand & Seale this Twentieth day of September in the year

of Our Lord one Thousand Seven Hundred & Thirty Eight & so

they the said Hon:ble Company to the other part of these presents

have affixed their Common Seale the day & year beforewritten

Signed Sealed & Delivered

in the presence of

D:l Chipple

Tho:s Greentree

3 Acres

The Lords Proprietors of this Island the Hon:ble the United

Company of Merchants of England Trading to the East Indies do

hereby demise Grant Sett & to Farm Lett unto Joshua Johnson of the

said Island Planter All that Piece or Parcell of Land containing

Six Acres & a quarter lying in Sandy bay Valley Butting &

Bounding North upon the Lands of Joseph Bate East & West upon

the Lands of the Hon:ble Company & South upon the Lands of Thomas

Greentree To have and to hold the said hereby demised Parcell

of Land & every part & parcell thereof together with all & Singular

the Wood, Water Courses Houses Buildings Edifices Sheds Tenements

Yams & Plantations of Yams Fruit Trees Walls Fences and other &

Singular the Rights Commodities to them & each & every of them

belonging or Appertaining unto him the said Joshua Johnson

his heirs Executors Administrators or allowed Assigns from the day

of the date hereof for & during all the Space or Term of Twenty one

Years from thence next Ensuing Upon Condition that he the said

Joshua Johnson his heirs Ex:rs Adm:rs or allowed Assigns shall & do

bear true Faith & allegiance to Our Sovereign Lord King George his

heirs & Successours & to them the said Hon:ble Company & their

Successours & shall duely observe & obey all the Laws & Constitutions

of the said Island. And upon Condition also that he the said Joshua

Johnson his heirs Ex:rs Adm:rs or allowed Assigns shall & do from

time to time & at all times hereafter during the term of this Present

Lease keep up & maintain in good Order & Sufficient & Legal Repair

all such Buildings Houses Edifices Sheds Tenements Plantations

Margin Notes:

Jos: Johnson

6 1/4 Acres

The charge on Thomas Greentree's three acres fell due at Michaelmas.

One further point closed the arrangement. Neither Greentree nor anyone after him could shift or take away the fences, since these showed where the ground began and ended, and none of them could hand the arrangement on without permission from the Governor and Council in office at the time.

Greentree signed the document on 30 September 1738, and the Company sealed its own copy the same day.

Witness to the signing: [...]

Thomas Greentree, signing in his own name

A drawing set below the names showed the three acres as a single block with a jagged outline, a narrow neck running up from its northern corner and a deep notch cut into the eastern side.

The Company also rented six acres and a quarter in Sandy Bay Valley to Joshua Johnson, a planter living on the island. Joseph Bates's land lay along the northern edge, Company ground closed the parcel to the east and west, and Thomas Greentree's holding ran along the south.

Everything on the ground went with it. Johnson took the trees, the water and the channels carrying it, the houses, sheds and outbuildings, the yam beds, the fruit trees, the walls and the fences, along with every other benefit belonging to any part of the block. He and those coming after him held it for twenty-one years from the day the arrangement was made.

Loyalty came first among the things asked of him. Johnson and his successors had to stay faithful to King George and those following him, and to the Company and its successors, and to keep the rules in force on the island.

Upkeep followed. Every house, shed, outbuilding, planted enclosure and fence had to be held sound throughout the whole period.

Interpretations

Johnson's six acres and a quarter met Greentree's ground on the south, and Greentree's three acres had met Johnson's on part of the west, so the two parcels were let out to neighbours whose holdings ran into one another. The Company was clearing a stretch of Sandy Bay Valley into private hands at this sitting, fitting each fragment against the ground its taker already held.

Joshua Johnson had been building up land across the island for years. He took four acres of gumwood near the Great Bottom under an arrangement of 25 November 1725, fifteen acres at the head of Great Bottom on 30 August 1726, eight acres on the west side of Gabriel's Gut in Sandy Bay on 8 November 1726, and five acres in Broad Bottom at this same sitting on 30 September 1738, that last parcel closing a gap in a block he was assembling.

The drawing of Greentree's three acres shows a narrow neck running north from the main block. Ground of that shape follows a watercourse or a gully rather than any straight boundary, and it carries a long perimeter for its size, so the fencing burden on three acres ran heavier than the acreage alone suggests.

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106

and Fences as now are or hereafter shall be made Built or

Erected thereon, & shall Moreover Plant keep up maintain & Preserve

in & upon the said hereby demised Parcell of Land its full

Quantity or Proportion of Wood being one tenth part of the said

Parcell of Land and shall likewise Plant & Preserve Furze within

side or without the Fences of the said Parcell of Land and shall

Plant Fruit Trees Such as Apple Lemon Mulberry or Peach

Trees in Such parts thereof wherein they are most likely to Grow

and as they shall happen to decay or die shall replant others

of the like sorts thereon without hurt or Prejudice nevertheless

to any part of such Land as shall be Set apart for the Sole

Purpose of Planting & Raising of Yams. Yielding & Paying

therefore yearly & every year during the Term of this Present

Lease unto them the said Hon:ble Company their Successours

Agents or Assigns the Sum of five Shillings p acre in at or upon

the Feast of St Michaell the Arch Angel yearly and upon

farther Condition that he the said Joshua Johnson & his

heirs Ex:rs Adm:rs or allowed Assigns shall not alter or remove

the said Fences they being the Limits or Land Marks of the

Parcell of Land afresaid & shall not Sell or dispose of this Lease

or [...] Interest therein without the leave & Consent of

the Governour & Councill for the time being In Witness

whereof he the said Joshua Johnson hath hereunto Set his

hand & Seale this Thirtieth day of September in the year

of Our Lord One Thousand Seven hundred & Thirty Eight

& they the said Hon:ble Company to the other part of these Presents

have affixed their Common Seale the day & year beforewritten

Signed Seald Delivered

in the presence of

M Curling

Jos: Johnson

Every fence on Joshua Johnson's six acres and a quarter had to be kept sound, along with any put up later.

Planting ran alongside the repairs. A tenth of the ground had to be under trees and kept that way, with furze grown along the fences on whichever side suited. Apple, lemon, mulberry or peach were to be set wherever they stood the best chance, and fresh trees of the same sorts put in as older ones failed. None of this was to eat into whatever part of the ground Johnson kept for growing yams.

The charge came to £0 5s 0d an acre each year, paid to the Company or to whoever acted for it, falling due at Michaelmas.

One further point closed the arrangement. Neither Johnson nor anyone after him could shift or take away the fences, since these showed where the ground began and ended, and none of them could hand the arrangement on without permission from the Governor and Council in office at the time.

Johnson signed the document on 30 September 1738, and the Company sealed its own copy the same day.

Witness to the signing: Burling

Joshua Johnson, signing in his own name

A drawing set below the names showed the ground in two pieces. The larger, marked as five acres, ran as a broad irregular band with a narrow tail reaching westward. The smaller, marked as one acre and a quarter, lay to the south as a rough arrowhead. Each carried its own compass marking north, south, east and west.

Interpretations

Two compasses were drawn, one against each piece. Ground lying apart could sit at quite different angles to the cardinal points, so a single bearing would have served only one of them, and the register fixed each parcel to the direction it actually ran.

The tail reaching west from the larger piece narrows almost to a point, the shape ground takes when it follows a gully or the edge of a watercourse. A perimeter of that kind runs long for the acreage it encloses, and Johnson had to fence both pieces separately within the first year, so six acres and a quarter carried a heavier burden of wall than a single compact block of the same size.

110

107

The Honourable the Lords Proprietors of this

Island the United Company of Merchants of England Trading to the

East Indies do hereby Demise Grant Sett & to Farm Lett unto

John Brown of the said Island Surgeon All that Piece or Parcell of

Ground or Land Scituated in James Valley containing half an

Acre Butting & Bounding North upon the Lands of Thomas Easthope, East

West & South upon the Lands of the Hon:ble Company, To have and

to hold the said hereby demised Parcell of Land & every part & parcell

thereof together with all & Singular the Wood, Water Water Courses, Howses

Buildings Edifices Sheds Tenements Yams & Plantations of Yams

Fruit Trees Walls Fences & all other & Singular, the Rights Commodities

to them & each & every of them belonging or Appertaining unto them the

said John Brown his heirs Executors Administrators or allowed Assigns

from the day of the date hereof for & during all the Space or Term of the

natural Lives of John Cotgreen, Mathew Bowling and Thomas

Greentree all of this Island & the longest liver of them Renewable upon

the Death of either the said Nominees upon Payment of half a years

Rent at the admittance of each Life or new Nominee. Upon

Condition that he the said John Brown his heirs Ex:rs Adm:rs or

allowed Assigns shall & do bear true Faith & Allegiance to Our

Sovereign Lord King George, his heirs & Successours & to them

the said Hon:ble Company & their Successours & shall duely observe

& obey all the Laws & Constitutions of the said Island And upon

Condition also that he the said John Brown his heirs Ex:rs

Adm:rs or allowed Assigns shall & do from time to time & at all

times hereafter during the Term of this Present Lease keep up &

maintain in good Order Sufficient & Legal Repair all such

Buildings Houses Edifices Sheds Tenements Plantations and

Fences as now are or hereafter shall be made Built or Erected

thereon, and shall Moreover Plant keep up Maintain & Preserve

in & upon the said hereby demised its full Quantity or Proportion

of Wood being one tenth part of the said Parcell of Land and shall

likewise Plant & Preserve Furze within side or without the

Fences of the said Parcell of Land & shall Plant Fruit Trees such

as Apple Lemon Mulberry or Peach Trees in Such parts thereof

wherein they are most likely to Grow & as they shall happen to

decay or die shall replant others of the like sorts thereon without

hurt or Prejudice nevertheless to any part of such Land as shall

be set apart for the sole Purpose of Planting & Raising of

Yams. Yielding & Paying therefore yearly & every year during the

Term of this Present Lease unto them the said Hon:ble Company their

Successours Agents or Assigns the Sum of Twenty Shillings in at or

upon the Feast of St Michael the Arch Angel yearly. And upon

farther Condition that he the said John Brown his heirs Ex:rs

Adm:rs or allowed Assigns shall not alter or Remove the said Fences

they being the Limits or Land marks of the Parcell of Land aforesaid

& shall not Sell or dispose of this Lease or Interest therein without

the Leave & Consent of the Governour & Councill for the time being

In Witness whereof he the said John Brown hath hereunto

Set his hand & Seale this Thirtieth day of September in the year

of Our Lord One Thousand Seven hundred Thirty Eight And they

the said Honourable Company to the other part of these Presents

Margin Notes:

John Brown

Surg:n 1/2 acre

The Company, owner of the island, rented half an acre in James Valley to John Brown, a surgeon living there. Thomas Ashton's land lay along the northern edge, and Company ground closed the parcel to the east, west and south.

Everything on the ground went with it. Brown took the trees, the water and the channels carrying it, the houses, sheds and outbuildings, the yam beds, the fruit trees, the walls and the fences, along with every other benefit belonging to any part of the block.

The arrangement was measured by three lives rather than by a span of years, running for as long as any of the three survived. Those named were John Desfountain, Matthew Purling and Thomas Greentree, all of them living on the island. On the death of any one of them a fresh name could be entered on payment of half a year's charge.

Loyalty came first among the things asked of him. Brown and his successors had to stay faithful to King George and those following him, and to the Company and its successors, and to keep the rules in force on the island.

Upkeep followed. Every house, shed, outbuilding, planted enclosure and fence had to be held sound throughout the whole period, whether standing at the outset or put up later.

Planting ran alongside. A tenth of the half acre had to be under trees and kept that way, with furze grown along the fences on whichever side suited. Apple, lemon, mulberry or peach were to be set wherever they stood the best chance, and fresh trees of the same sorts put in as older ones failed. None of this was to eat into whatever part of the ground Brown kept for growing yams.

The charge came to £0 1s 0d each year, paid to the Company or to whoever acted for it, falling due at Michaelmas.

One further point closed the arrangement. Neither Brown nor anyone after him could shift or take away the fences, since these showed where the ground began and ended, and none of them could hand the arrangement on without permission from the Governor and Council in office at the time.

Brown signed the document on 30 September 1738.

Interpretations

The three men named as lives were all outside Brown's own household, which set this apart from the arrangements sealed the same day where holders named their wives, brothers or children. John Desfountain, Matthew Purling and Thomas Greentree were substantial island figures in their own right, each holding or acting on ground let at the same sitting, and choosing them was a calculation about who would live longest rather than about who would inherit. Francis Wrangham took the same course that day with three young men from other families.

Half an acre in James Valley carried a charge of £0 1s 0d, so the ground was reckoned at little more than a token. Town parcels elsewhere in this run were measured by frontage and depth and priced by position, Francis Wrangham paying £0 19s 0d for 3,750 square feet behind his own yard, so a rural-style measure in acres suggests this parcel lay at the upper end of the valley rather than among the built frontages.

A surgeon holding island ground places Brown among the salaried men whose Company pay put money in their hands outside the planting families. The register shows several of the same profession buying and holding property, Samuel Falconer taking a house from James Greentree for £60 0s 0d on 2 April 1751, John Ingles paying £160 0s 0d for a James Valley house on 18 April 1754, and Robert Barclay selling one for £200 0s 0d on 1 August 1757.

Speculations

Applying the full planting duties to half an acre made little practical sense, since a tenth of that ground came to a twentieth of an acre and the charge stood at a single shilling. The Company could have written a short form for a parcel of this size, as it did for the James Valley strips behind existing yards let across 1737 and 1738, where the only obligation was a sound wall within twelve months. Keeping the whole rural framework on a town half acre held the arrangement to the same terms as every other grant of the day, so no holder could later point to a lighter set of conditions when his own ground came up.

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108

have affixed their Common Seale the day & year beforewritten

Signed Sealed & Delivered

in the presence of

M Curling

N:o

John Brown.

W:t

E:t

1/2 Acre

S:o

The Honourable the Lords Proprietors

of this Island the United Company of Merchants of England Trading

to the East Indies do hereby Demise Grant Sett & to Farm Lett

unto James Bowdes of the said Island Planter All that Piece

or Parcell of Land containing Two Acres Butting & Bounding

North part upon the Lands of John Goodwin Esq:r Gov:r North & upon

the Hon:ble Companies Wast Lands East upon his own Land

West upon the Hon:ble Companies Land South upon the Lands

of Tho: Greentree To have and to hold the said hereby Demised

Parcell of Land & every part & Parcell thereof together with all &

Singular the Wood Water Water Courses Howses Buildings

Edifices Sheds Tenements Yams & Plantations of Yams Fruit

Trees Walls Fences & all other Singular the Wood Water Water Courses

Howses Buildings Edifices Sheds Tenements Yams & Plantations

of Yams Fruit Trees Walls Fences & all other Singular the Rights

Commodities to them & each & every of them belonging or

Appertaining unto them the said James Bowdes his heirs

Executors Administrators or allowed Assigns from the day

of the date hereof for & during all the Space or Term of

Twenty one Years from thence next Ensuing. Upon Condition

that he the said James Bowdes his heirs Ex:rs Adm:rs or allowed

Assigns shall & do bear true Faith & Allegiance to Our Sovereign

Lord King George, his heirs & Successours & to them the said Hon:ble

Company & their Successours and shall observe and obey all the

Laws & Constitutions of the said Island And upon Condition

also that he the said James Bowdes his heirs Ex:rs Adm:rs or

allowed Assigns shall & do from time to time & at all times

hereafter during the Term of this Present Lease keep up &

maintain in good Order & Sufficient & Legal Repair all Buildings

Houses Edifices Sheds Tenements Plantations & Fences as now

are or hereafter shall be made Built or Erected thereon, & shall

Moreover Plant keep up Maintain & Preserve in and upon the

said hereby Demised Parcell of Land its full Quantity or

Proportion of Wood being one tenth part of the said Parcell of

Margin Notes:

Ja:s Bowde

2 Acres

The Company sealed its own copy of John Brown's arrangement on the same day, 30 September 1738.

Witness to the signing: Burling

John Brown, signing in his own name

A drawing set below the names showed the half acre as a narrow four-sided figure tapering to a long point at its southern end, with lines drawn across it from corner to corner. A compass beside it marked north, south, east and west.

The Company also rented two acres to James Bowles, a planter living on the island. Ground held by John Goodwin, esquire and Governor, lay along part of the northern edge, with Company land closing the rest of that side. Bowles's own ground ran along the east, Company land bounded the south, and William Greentree's land closed the western side.

Everything on the ground went with it. Bowles took the trees, the water and the channels carrying it, the houses, sheds and outbuildings, the yam beds, the fruit trees, the walls and the fences, along with every other benefit belonging to any part of the block. He and those coming after him held it for twenty-one years from the day the arrangement was made.

Loyalty came first among the things asked of him. Bowles and his successors had to stay faithful to King George and those following him, and to the Company and its successors, and to keep the rules in force on the island.

Upkeep followed. Every house, shed, outbuilding, planted enclosure and fence had to be held sound throughout the whole period, whether standing at the outset or put up later.

Planting ran alongside. A tenth of the two acres had to be under trees and kept that way.

Interpretations

The lines drawn corner to corner across Brown's half acre served to fix the area rather than to divide the ground. A four-sided figure of that shape has no simple measure, and splitting it into triangles was the ordinary way of reckoning the acreage of an irregular parcel before any general survey existed on the island.

Governor Goodwin's own ground closed part of the northern edge of Bowles's two acres, so the Governor stood as neighbour to a small holder at the same sitting where he took a share of the divided block, held three parcels for the widow and children of the late John Alexander, and set his hand to the day's grants. His land also bounded James Draper's five acres on two sides.

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109

Land & shall likewise Plant & Preserve Furze within side or without

the Fences of the said Parcell of Land and shall Plant Fruit Trees such as

Apple Lemon Mulberry or Peach Trees in Such parts thereof wherein they

are most likely to Grow & as they shall happen to decay or die shall

replant others of the like Sorts thereon without hurt or Prejudice

nevertheless to any part of such Land as shall be Set apart for the sole

Purpose of Planting & raising of Yams. Yielding & Paying

therefore yearly & every year during the Term of this Present Lease

unto them the said Hon:ble Company & their Successours Agents or Assigns

the Sum of five Shillings p acre in at or upon the Feast of St Michaell

the Arch Angell yearly. And upon farther Condition that he the

said James Bowdes his heirs Ex:rs Adm:rs or allowed Assigns shall

not alter or Remove the said Fences they being the Limits or

Land marks of the Parcell of Land aforesaid & shall not Sell or

dispose of this Lease or Interest & therein without the Leave &

Consent of the Governour & Councill for the time being In

Witness whereof he the said James Bowdes hath hereunto Set

his hand & Seale this Twentieth day of September in the year of

Our Lord One thousand Seven hundred Thirty Eight and they

the said Hon:ble Company to the other part of these Presents

have affixed their Common Seale the day & year beforewritten

Signed Sealed & Delivered

in the Presence of

D:l Chipple

Jam:s Bowdes

N:o

2 Acres

E:t

W:t

S:o

The Lords Proprietors of this Island the Hon:ble the United

Company of Merchants of England Trading to the East Indies do

hereby Demise Grant Sett & to Farm Lett unto Ebenezar Beech of

the said Island Planter, All that Piece or Parcell of Land lying in Pleasant

Valley containing Fourteen Acres Butting & Bounding North &

West upon the Lands of John Bagnall South & East upon the Hon:ble

Companies Wast Land To have and to hold the said hereby

Demised Parcell of Land & every part & Parcell thereof together with

all & Singular the Wood Water, Water Courses Howses Buildings

Edifices Sheds Tenements Yams & Plantations of Yams Fruit Trees Walls

& Fences & all other & Singular the Rights Commodities to them & each

& every of them belonging or Appertaining unto him the said

Ebenezar Beech his heirs Executors Administrators or allowed

Assigns from the day of the Date hereof for & during all the Space

or Term of Twenty one Years from thence next Ensuing. Upon

Condition that he the said Ebenezar Beech his heirs Executors

Adm:rs or allowed Assigns shall & do bear true Faith & Allegiance to

Our Sovereign Lord King George his heirs & Successours & to them the

Margin Notes:

Eben: Beech

14 Acres

Furze had to be grown along the fences of James Bowles's two acres on whichever side suited. Apple, lemon, mulberry or peach were to be set wherever they stood the best chance, and fresh trees of the same sorts put in as older ones failed. None of this was to eat into whatever part of the ground Bowles kept for growing yams.

The charge came to £0 5s 0d an acre each year, paid to the Company or to whoever acted for it, falling due at Michaelmas.

One further point closed the arrangement. Neither Bowles nor anyone after him could shift or take away the fences, since these showed where the ground began and ended, and none of them could hand the arrangement on without permission from the Governor and Council in office at the time.

Bowles signed the document on 30 September 1738, and the Company sealed its own copy the same day.

Witness to the signing: [...]

James Bowles, signing in his own name

A drawing set below the names showed the two acres as a narrow four-sided figure tapering to a point at its northern end. A compass beside it marked north, south, east and west.

The Company also rented fourteen acres in Pleasant Valley to Ebenezer Leech, a planter living on the island. John Lynch's ground lay along the northern and western edges, and Company land closed the parcel to the south and east.

Everything on the ground went with it. Leech took the trees, the water and the channels carrying it, the houses, sheds and outbuildings, the yam beds, the fruit trees, the walls and the fences, along with every other benefit belonging to any part of the block. He and those coming after him held it for twenty-one years from the day the arrangement was made.

Loyalty came first among the things asked of him. Leech and his successors had to stay faithful to King George and those following him, and to the Company and its successors.

Interpretations

Ebenezer Leech had been holding ground in the eastern valleys for more than a decade. He and John Worrall took sixteen acres together at the head of the easternmost branch of Deep Valley under an arrangement sealed on 27 December 1726, Worrall signing his own name while Leech made his mark, and Leech held forty acres bounding William Worrall's parcel of the same day. Six years after this sitting he sold two pieces of Deep Valley ground of fifteen and eight acres to Henry Multon for £60 0s 0d on 7 February 1734, that land carrying houses, planted enclosures and standing timber, and it ran on afterwards to Joseph Desfountain and then to John Leech.

Pleasant Valley appears through the register as a quarter of small holdings rather than large estates. Isaac Leech held ten acres at its head, confirmed after public notice on 11 October 1740, and took four acres at the bottom of the valley at this same sitting on 30 September 1738, that parcel ringed on all four sides by open Company ground.

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said Hon:ble Company & their Successours & shall duely observe

& obey all the Laws & Constitutions of the said Island And

upon Condition also that he the said Ebenezar Leech his heirs

Ex:rs Adm:rs or allowed Assigns shall & do from time to time & at

all times hereafter during the Term of this Present Lease keep up

& maintain in good Order & Sufficient & Legal Repair all such

Buildings Houses Edifices Sheds Tenements Plantations and

Fences as now are or hereafter shall be made Built or Erected

thereon and shall Moreover Plant keep up Maintain & Preserve

in & upon the said hereby demised Parcell of Land its full Quantity

or Proportion of Wood being one tenth of the said Parcell of Land

and shall likewise Plant & Preserve Furze within side or without

the Fences of the said Parcell of Land and shall Plant Fruit Trees

Such as Apple Lemon Mulberry or Peach Trees in Such parts

thereof wherein they are most likely to Grow & as they shall happen

to decay or die shall replant others of the like sorts thereon without

hurt or Prejudice to any part of such Land as shall be Set apart

for the Sole Purpose of Planting & raising of Yams. Yielding

& Paying therefore yearly & every year during the Term of this

Present Lease unto them the said Hon:ble Company their Successours

Agents or Assigns the Sum of five Shillings p acre in at or

upon the Feast of S:t Michaell the Arch Angel yearly. And

upon farther Condition that he the said Ebenezar Leech

his heirs Ex:rs Adm:rs or allowed Assigns shall not alter or

Remove the said Fences they being the Limits or Land marks

of the Parcell of Land aforesaid and shall not Sell or dispose of

said Lease or Interest therein without the Leave & Consent of

the Governour & Councill for the time being In Witness

whereof he the said Ebenezar Leech hath hereunto Set his

hand & Seale this Twentieth day of September in the year of

Our Lord One Thousand Seven hundred Thirty Eight And

they the said Hon:ble Company to the other part of these

Presents hath affixed their Common Seale the day &

year beforewritten

Signed Sealed & Delivered

in the presence of

D:l Chipple

The + Mark

Eben Leech

N:o

14 Acres

W:t

E:t

S:o

Ebenezer Leech and his successors had to keep the rules in force on the island.

Upkeep followed. Every house, shed, outbuilding, planted enclosure and fence had to be held sound throughout the whole period, whether standing at the outset or put up later.

Planting ran alongside. A tenth of the fourteen acres had to be under trees and kept that way, with furze grown along the fences on whichever side suited. Apple, lemon, mulberry or peach were to be set wherever they stood the best chance, and fresh trees of the same sorts put in as older ones failed. None of this was to eat into whatever part of the ground Leech kept for growing yams.

The charge came to £0 5s 0d an acre each year, paid to the Company or to whoever acted for it, falling due at Michaelmas.

One further point closed the arrangement. Neither Leech nor anyone after him could shift or take away the fences, since these showed where the ground began and ended, and none of them could hand the arrangement on without permission from the Governor and Council in office at the time.

Leech signed the document on 30 September 1738, and the Company sealed its own copy the same day. He could not write and made his mark.

Witness to the signing: [...]

Ebenezer Leech, by his mark

A drawing set below the names showed the fourteen acres as a broad block with a stepped and uneven outline, a narrower arm running east from its side. A compass beside it marked north, south, east and west.

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111

The Lords Proprietors of this Island the Hon:ble the United

Company of Merchants of England Trading to the East Indies do hereby

Demise Grant Sett & to Farm Lett unto Ebenezar Beech of the said Island

Planter All that Piece or Parcell of Land containing Eleven Acres

lying in Bagwell Valley Butting & Bounding North & West upon the

Lands of John Suenoh South part upon the Lands Eleanor Warmslo

Widow & part upon the Lands of Henry Mutton & East part upon

the Hon:ble Companies Wast Land & part upon the Lands of Henry

Mutton To have and to hold the said hereby Demised Parcell

of Land & every part & parcell thereof together with all & Singular the

Wood Water Water Courses Howses Buildings Edifices Sheds Tenements

Yams & Plantations of Yams Fruit Trees Walls Fences & all other &

Singular the Rights Commodities to them & each & every of them

belonging or Appertaining unto him the said Ebenezar Beech his

heirs Executors Administrators or allowed Assigns from the

day of the Date hereof for & during all the Space or Term of Twenty

one Years from thence next ensuing. Upon Condition that he

the said Ebenezar Beech his heirs Ex:rs Adm:rs or allowed Assigns shall

& do bear true Faith & Allegiance to Our Sovereign Lord King George

his heirs & Successours & to them the said Hon:ble Company & their

Successours & shall duely observe & obey all the Laws & Constitutions

of the said Island. And upon Condition also that he the said

Ebenezar Beech his heirs Ex:rs Adm:rs or allowed Assigns shall & do

from time to time & at all times hereafter during the Term of this

Present Lease keep up & maintain in good Order & Sufficient &

Legal Repair all such Buildings Howses Edifices Sheds Tenements

Plantations & Fences as now are or hereafter shall be made Built

or Erected thereon, & shall Moreover Plant keep up maintain &

Preserve in & upon the said hereby Demised Parcells of Land its full

Quantity or Proportion of Wood being one tenth part of the said

Parcell of Land and shall likewise Plant and Preserve Furze

within side or without the Fences of the said Parcell of Land and

shall Plant Fruit Trees Such as Apple Lemon Mulberry or

Peach Trees in Such parts thereof wherein they are most likely to

Grow and as they shall happen to decay or die shall replant others of

the like Sorts thereon without hurt or Prejudice nevertheless

to any part of such Land as shall be Set apart for the Sole

Purpose of Planting & raising of Yams Yielding and Paying

therefore Yearly & every year during the Term of this Present

Lease unto them the said Hon:ble Company & their Successours

Agents or Assigns the Sum of five Shillings p acre in at or upon

the Feast of S:t Michaell the Arch Angel yearly And upon

farther Condition that he the said Ebenezar Beech his

heirs Executors Administrators or allowed Assigns shall not

alter or Remove the said Fences they being the Limits or Land

marks of the Parcell of Land aforesaid & shall not Sell or

dispose of this Lease or Interest therein without the Leave &

Consent of the Governour & Councill for the time being In

Witness whereof he the said Ebenezar Beech hath hereunto

Set his hand & Seale this Thirtieth day of September in the

year of Our Lord One thousand Seven hundred Thirty Eight &

and they the said Hon:ble Company to the other part of these

Margin Notes:

Eben: Beech

11 Acres

The Company, owner of the island, rented eleven acres in Dogwood Valley to Ebenezer Leech, a planter living there. John French's land lay along the northern and western edges. Eleanor Wormlet's ground closed part of the southern and eastern sides, Henry Multon's land ran along another part of the same sides, and Company ground bounded the remainder.

Everything on the ground went with it. Leech took the trees, the water and the channels carrying it, the houses, sheds and outbuildings, the yam beds, the fruit trees, the walls and the fences, along with every other benefit belonging to any part of the block. He and those coming after him held it for twenty-one years from the day the arrangement was made.

Loyalty came first among the things asked of him. Leech and his successors had to stay faithful to King George and those following him, and to the Company and its successors, and to keep the rules in force on the island.

Upkeep followed. Every house, shed, outbuilding, planted enclosure and fence had to be held sound throughout the whole period, whether standing at the outset or put up later.

Planting ran alongside. A tenth of the eleven acres had to be under trees and kept that way, with furze grown along the fences on whichever side suited. Apple, lemon, mulberry or peach were to be set wherever they stood the best chance, and fresh trees of the same sorts put in as older ones failed. None of this was to eat into whatever part of the ground Leech kept for growing yams.

The charge came to £0 5s 0d an acre each year, paid to the Company or to whoever acted for it, falling due at Michaelmas.

One further point closed the arrangement. Neither Leech nor anyone after him could shift or take away the fences, since these showed where the ground began and ended, and none of them could hand the arrangement on without permission from the Governor and Council in office at the time.

Leech signed the document on 30 September 1738.

Interpretations

Two separate parcels went to Ebenezer Leech at this sitting, fourteen acres in Pleasant Valley and eleven here in Dogwood Valley, twenty-five acres in all at a yearly charge of £6 5s 0d. The Company let them under separate documents rather than folding both into one, so each carried its own conditions and could be handed on independently, and the same course was taken with Jonathan Doveton's seven acres and two acres on the same day.

Henry Multon on two boundaries bought Deep Valley ground from Leech himself four years earlier, taking two pieces of fifteen and eight acres for £60 0s 0d on 7 February 1734 with houses, planted enclosures and standing timber. He passed the whole twenty-three acres to Joseph Desfountain in December 1739, and Multon also took fifteen acres at this sitting under a document the clerk left unfinished, the boundary description breaking off after the word north and the space for witnesses left empty.

Dogwood Valley enters the register with the thirty acres let to Mary Conaway, a widow, at its head on 1 December 1713, that ground bounded on three sides by open Company land and on the fourth by Elizabeth Smith and William Worrall. William Worrall later sold twelve acres of Dogwood Valley ground together with a Pleasant Valley holding to John Worrall for £428 0s 0d on 22 October 1719, so the two valleys had been worked together by one family before Leech took parcels in both on the same day.

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Presents have affixed their Common Seale the day & year

beforewritten

Signed Seald & Delivered

in the presence of

D:l Chipple

The + Mark

of

Eben Leech

N:o

11 Acres

W:t

E:t

S:o

The Honourable the Lords Proprietors

of this Island the United Company of Merchants of England

Trading to the East Indies do hereby Demise Grant Sett &

to Farm Lett unto John Goodwin Jun:r of the said Island All

that Piece or Parcell of Land lying at the head of Bagwell Valley

Butting & Bounding North upon the Lands of John Bagwell East

upon other the Lands of him the said John Goodwin Jun:r West

upon the Hon:ble Companies Desmes Lands known by the

Name of Church Ground & North upon the Lands of George Gabriel

Powell To have and to hold the said hereby Demised

Parcell of Land & every part & parcell thereof with all & Singular

the Woods Water Water Courses Howses Buildings Edifices

Sheds Tenements Yams & Plantations of Yams Fruit Trees

Walls Fences & all other & Singular the Rights Commodities to

them & each & every of them belonging or Appertaining unto

him the said John Goodwin Jun:r his heirs Executors

Administrators or allowed Assigns from the day of the Date

hereof for & during all the Space or Term of Twenty one years

from thence next Ensuing Upon Condition that he the

said John Goodwin Jun:r his heirs Ex:rs Adm:rs or allowed Assigns

shall & do bear true Faith & Allegiance to Our Sovereign Lord King

George his heirs & Successours & to them the said Hon:ble Company

& their Successours & shall duely observe & obey all the Laws &

Constitutions of the said Island. And upon Condition also

that he the said John Goodwin his heirs Ex:rs Adm:rs or allowed

Assigns shall & do from time to time & at all times hereafter

during the Term of this Present Lease keep up & maintain

in good Order & Sufficient & Legal Repair all such Buildings

Houses Edifices Sheds Tenements Plantations & Fences as

now are or hereafter shall be made Built or Erected thereon, &

shall Moreover Plant keep up maintain and Preserve in and

Margin Notes:

J:n Goodwin Jun:r

4 Acres

The Company sealed its own copy of Ebenezer Leech's Dogwood Valley arrangement on the same day, 30 September 1738. Leech could not write and made his mark.

Witness to the signing: [...]

Ebenezer Leech, by his mark

A drawing set below the names showed the eleven acres as a broad block running east and west, wider at its eastern end and dipping to a point along its southern edge. A compass beside it marked north, south, east and west.

The Company also rented four acres at the head of Wrangham's Valley to John Goodwin junior, living on the island. Ground held by John Goodwin senior lay along the northern edge, John Goodwin junior's own land closed the parcel to the east, and Company ground bounded the west, known there by the name of Goodwin's ground, with land held by George Goodwin closing part of the southern side.

Everything on the ground went with it. Goodwin took the trees, the water and the channels carrying it, the houses, sheds and outbuildings, the yam beds, the fruit trees, the walls and the fences, along with every other benefit belonging to any part of the block. He and those coming after him held it for twenty-one years from the day the arrangement was made.

Loyalty came first among the things asked of him. Goodwin and his successors had to stay faithful to King George and those following him, and to the Company and its successors, and to keep the rules in force on the island.

Upkeep followed. Every house, shed, outbuilding, planted enclosure and fence had to be held sound throughout the whole period, whether standing at the outset or put up later.

Interpretations

Three men named Goodwin fixed three sides of this small parcel, the senior to the north, the junior himself to the east and George Goodwin to part of the south. The Company was letting four acres into the middle of ground the family already worked, so no other holder could have reached it, and the same practice appears across this sitting with Jonathan Doveton's seven acres ringed entirely by his own land.

John Goodwin junior served as clerk of the council and signed the two Burling family arrangements sealed on 30 September 1738 in that capacity. He also stood as the third life in his father's James Valley arrangement of 30 September 1737, and he dealt actively in town property, selling Thomas Greentree a house for £250 0s 0d on deferred terms in June 1739 and a strip of James Valley ground to John Bazett for £20 0s 0d in March 1738.

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upon the said hereby Demised Parcell of Land its full Quantity or

Proportion of Wood being one tenth part of the said Parcell of Land &

shall likewise Plant & Preserve Furze within side or without the

Fences of the said Parcell of Land & shall Plant Fruit Trees Such as

Apple Lemon Mulberry or Peach Trees in Such parts thereof wherein

they are most likely to Grow & as they shall happen to decay or die

shall replant others of the like Sorts thereon without hurt or

Prejudice nevertheless to any part of such Land as shall be Set

apart for the Sole Purpose of Planting & Raising of Yams.

Yielding & Paying therefore yearly & every year during the

Term of this Present Lease unto them the said Hon:ble Company

their Successours Agents or Assigns the Sum of five Shillings

p acre in at or upon the Feast of S:t Michaell the Arch Angell

yearly. And upon farther Condition that he the said

John Goodwin Jun:r his heirs Ex:rs Adm:rs or allowed Assigns

shall not alter or Remove the said Fences they being the Limits

or Landmarks of the Parcell of Land aforesaid and shall not

Sell or dispose of this Lease or Interest therein without the

Leave & Consent of the Governour & Councill for the time being

In Witness whereof he the said John Goodwin Jun:r hath

hereunto Set his hand & Seale this Thirteenth day of January

in the year of Our Lord One Thousand Seven hundred & Thirty Eight,

& they the said Hon:ble Company to the other part of these Presents

have affixed their Common Seale the day & year beforewritten

Signed Sealed & Delivered

in the Presence of

M Curling

J: Goodwin Jun:r

Planting duties ran alongside the repairs on John Goodwin junior's four acres. A tenth of the ground had to be under trees and kept that way, with furze grown along the fences on whichever side suited. Apple, lemon, mulberry or peach were to be set wherever they stood the best chance, and fresh trees of the same sorts put in as older ones failed. None of this was to eat into whatever part of the ground Goodwin kept for growing yams.

The charge came to £0 5s 0d an acre each year, paid to the Company or to whoever acted for it, falling due at Michaelmas.

One further point closed the arrangement. Neither Goodwin nor anyone after him could shift or take away the fences, since these showed where the ground began and ended, and none of them could hand the arrangement on without permission from the Governor and Council in office at the time.

Goodwin signed the document on 13 January 1738, and the Company sealed its own copy the same day.

Witness to the signing: Burling

John Goodwin junior, signing in his own name

Interpretations

The date of 13 January 1738 sets this apart from the run of arrangements around it, almost all of which were sealed on 30 September 1738. Under the old calendar the year turned on 25 March, so a document dated January 1737 in the register belongs to January 1738 by modern reckoning, and this one was made some eight months before the great sitting whose grants fill the surrounding leaves. The clerk entered it here out of order, among ground let in the same quarter to the same family.

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The Lords Proprietors of this Island the Hon:ble the United

Company of Merchants of England Trading to the East Indies do

hereby Demise Grant Sett & to Farm Lett unto James Vaughn of

the said Island Planter All that Piece or Parcell of Land

containing Acres Butting & Bounding North upon

the Lands of

To have and to hold the said hereby demised Parcell of

Land & every part & Parcell thereof together with all & Singular

the Wood Water Water Courses Howses Buildings Edifices Sheds

Tenements Yams & Plantations of Yams Fruit Trees Walls

Fences & all other & Singular the Rights Commodities to them &

each & every of them belonging or Appertaining unto him the

said James Vaughn his heirs Ex:rs Adm:rs or allowed Assigns

from the day of the Date hereof for & during all the Space or

Term of Thirty one Years from thence next Ensuing. Upon

Condition that he the said James Vaughn his heirs Ex:rs

Adm:rs or allowed Assigns shall & do bear true Faith & Allegiance

to Our Sovereign Lord King George his heirs & Successours & to

them the said Hon:ble Company & their Successours & shall

duely observe & obey all the Laws and Constitutions of the

said Island And upon Condition also that he the said

James Vaughn his heirs Ex:rs Adm:rs or allowed Assigns shall &

do from time to time & at all times hereafter during the

Term of this Present Lease keep up & maintain in good Order &

Sufficient & Legal Repair all Such Buildings Howses Edifices

Sheds Tenements Plantations & Fences as now are or hereafter

shall be made Built or Erected thereon and shall Moreover

Plant keep up maintain & Preserve in & upon the said hereby

demised Parcell of Land its full Quantity or Proportion of

Wood being one tenth part of the said Parcell of Land & shall

likewise Plant & Preserve Furze within side or without the

Fences of the said Parcell of Land & shall Plant Fruit

Trees Such as Apple Lemon Mulberry or Peach Trees in

Such parts thereof wherein they are most likely to Grow &

as they shall happen to decay or die shall replant others of the

like sorts thereon without hurt or Prejudice nevertheless to

any part of such Land as shall be Set apart for the Sole

Purpose of Planting & raising of Yams. Yielding &

Paying therefore yearly & every year during the Term of this

Present Lease unto them the said Hon:ble Company their

Successours Agents or Assigns the Sum of five Shillings p acre

in at or upon the Feast of S:t Michael the Arch Angell yearly

And upon farther Condition that he the said James Vaughn his

heirs Ex:rs Adm:rs or allowed Assigns shall not alter or Remove

the said Fences they being the Limits or Land marks of

the Parcell of Land aforesaid & shall not Sell or dispose of

Margin Notes:

Jam: Vaughn

The Company, owner of the island, rented ground to James Vaughan, a planter living there. The clerk left the acreage blank, wrote only that the parcel was bounded on the north by the land of, and then broke off, leaving the whole boundary description unwritten and a clear space on the page before the document resumed.

Everything on the ground went with it. Vaughan took the trees, the water and the channels carrying it, the houses, sheds and outbuildings, the yam beds, the fruit trees, the walls and the fences, along with every other benefit belonging to any part of the block. He and those coming after him held it for thirty-one years from the day the arrangement was made.

Loyalty came first among the things asked of him. Vaughan and his successors had to stay faithful to King George and those following him, and to the Company and its successors, and to keep the rules in force on the island.

Upkeep followed. Every house, shed, outbuilding, planted enclosure and fence had to be held sound throughout the whole period, whether standing at the outset or put up later.

Planting ran alongside. A tenth of the ground had to be under trees and kept that way, with furze grown along the fences on whichever side suited. Apple, lemon, mulberry or peach were to be set wherever they stood the best chance, and fresh trees of the same sorts put in as older ones failed. None of this was to eat into whatever part of the ground Vaughan kept for growing yams.

The charge came to £0 5s 0d an acre each year, paid to the Company or to whoever acted for it, falling due at Michaelmas.

One further point closed the arrangement. Neither Vaughan nor anyone after him could shift or take away the fences, since these showed where the ground began and ended, and none of them could sell or hand the arrangement on [...].

Interpretations

The clerk engrossed the standard wording and left the acreage and the whole boundary description to be filled in later, a practice the register shows repeatedly. Henry Multon's fifteen acres at the sitting of 30 September 1738 were written out with the boundary breaking off after the word north and the witness line left empty, and several documents from the great sitting of 4 August 1713 carried blank dates and blank witness panels for the same reason. Ground was measured and its bounds settled on the hillside afterwards, so the clerk prepared the common form in advance and the particulars waited on the survey.

Thirty-one years marks this out from the twenty-one that ran through almost every other arrangement of the period. The Company used a longer horizon where a holder was expected to build or to improve substantially, and the alternative it favoured was to measure by three named lives rather than to extend the count of years, so a fixed span of this length is unusual on the island.

James Vaughan had held ground in Sandy Bay Valley for some years. The Company renewed to him seven acres near the lower part of that valley in 1729, ground once called the Jingle and the garden and formerly held by the late John Tenter, that renewal cancelling an earlier grant of 26 March 1720 which John Coles had passed to him and which a court verdict had set aside in June 1724. He took a further six acres in February 1730, bounded by Elizabeth Marsh's ground to the south and by James Ryder's land, and he was the grandson of Elizabeth Drant, first in line under her gift of 10 May 1730 through his marriage to Mary, eldest daughter of John Alexander.

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Lease or Interest therein without the Leave & Consent of the Governour

& Councill for the time being. In Witness whereof he the said James

Vaughn hath hereunto Set his hand & Seale this Thirtieth day of

September in the year of Our Lord One thousand Seven hundred

& Thirty Eight & they the said Hon:ble Company to the other part of

these Presents have affixed their Common Seale the day & year

beforewritten.

Signed Seald & Delivered

in the presence of

The Lords Proprietors of this

Island the Honourable the United Company of Merchants of

England Trading to the East Indies do hereby Demise, Grant

Sett & to Farm Lett unto William Worrall Sen:r of this Island

Planter All that peice or Parcell of Land Scituate Lying &

being in the South Division of this Island containing Forty

Acres by measurartion Butting & Bounding North upon the

Lands now in the Possession of Joseph Bates East upon the

Lands of Mathew Purling West upon the Lands now in the

Possession of said Bates And upon the South on the Lands of

Charles Ichward To have and to Hold the said hereby Demised

Parcell of Land And every part & Parcell thereof together with

all & Singular the Wood. Water. Water Courses, Houses, Buildings

Edifices, Sheds, Tenements, Yams & Plantations of Yams,

Fruit trees, Walls, Fences. And all other & Singular, the Rights

Commodities to them & each & every of them belonging or

Appertaining unto him the said William Worrall from the Day

Margin Notes:

W:m Worrall Sen:r

James Vaughan could not sell or hand his arrangement on without permission from the Governor and Council in office at the time. He signed the document on 30 September 1738, and the Company sealed its own copy the same day. The space left for witnesses stayed empty.

The Company also rented forty acres in the South Division to William Worrall senior, a planter living on the island, the extent taken from a recent measurement. Ground then held by Joseph Bates lay along the northern edge. Mathew Purling's land closed the parcel to the east, Bates's ground ran along the west, and Charles Steward's land bounded it to the south.

Everything on the ground went with it. Worrall took the trees, the water and the channels carrying it, the houses, sheds and outbuildings, the yam beds, the fruit trees, the walls and the fences, along with every other benefit belonging to any part of the block.

Interpretations

Two blanks stand in Vaughan's document, the acreage and boundaries never filled in and the witness line left empty, though the date, the signature and the Company's seal were all completed. A grant could be signed and sealed with its most basic particulars still unwritten, which shows the sealing as the act that bound the parties and the description as something the clerk expected to add once the ground had been walked and measured.

Joseph Bates held ground on two sides of Worrall's forty acres. He had taken half an acre at Yam Gut in the westernmost branch of Sandy Bay Valley under an arrangement sealed on 27 December 1726 and seven acres and a half at Hartley near the Main Bridge on 15 January 1728, and by this date he was dealing actively in James Valley houses, selling Richard Mason one for £200 0s 0d on 15 July 1741 and Ebenezer Leech another for £45 0s 0d on 28 May 1742.

Taking the extent from a recent measurement marks a change from the older practice of fixing ground by its bounds alone. Several arrangements of the 1726 run carry the same note, and the shift matters because the charge stood at so much an acre, so a surveyed figure settled what the holder paid rather than leaving it to the reach of the fences.

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of the date of these Presents for & during all the time space, and

term of the Natural Lives of John & Mathew the sons of William

Worrall & Sarah the Daughter of said William Worrall And the

Longest Liver of either of them Renewable after the death

of any of the said Nominees upon the payment of half a years

rent at the Admittance of each Life or New Nominee. Upon

Condition that the said William Worrall his Heirs Executers

Administrators or Allowed Assigns shall and do bear true faith

And Allegiance to our Sovereign Lord King George his Heirs

And Successours & to them the said Honourable. Company &

their Successours & shall Duly observe & obey all the Laws and

Constitutions of the said Island. And upon Condition

also that the said William Worrall his Heirs Executors

Administrators or Allowed Assigns shall & do from time to

time & at all times hereafter during the term of this Present

Lease keep up & Maintain in good Order. & Sufficient and

Legal repair all such Buildings. Edifices, Sheds, Tenements

Plantations & Fences as now are or hereafter shall be made

Built or Erected thereon & shall Moreover Plant keep up

Maintain & preserve in and upon the said Hereby Demised

Parcells of Land its full Quantity or proportion of Wood being

one tenth part of the said Parcells of Land & shall Likewise

plant & preserve furse within Side or without the Fences of

the said Parcells of Land or shall Plant Fruit trees such as

Apple Lemon Mulbery or Peach trees in such parts thereof

as they are most Likely to grow & as they shall happen to

Decay or die shall replant others of the like sort thereon

without hurt or Prejudice Nevertheless to any part of such

Land as shall be set a part for the sole Purpose of Planting

of Yams Yielding & paying therefore Yearly & every

Year during the term of this present Lease Unto them the said

Honourable Company their Successours Agents or Assigns

the sum of five Shillings p Acre in at or upon the Feast of

S:t Michael the Arch Angel And upon farther

Condition that he the said William Worrall his Heirs

Executors, Administrators or Allowed Assigns shall not

altar or remove the said Fences they being the Limits or

Land marks of the Parcell of Land Aforesaid, And shall

not sell or dispose of this Lease. or Interest therein without

the Leave of the Governour & Councill for the time being

In Witness whereof he the said William Worrall hath

William Worrall senior's forty acres ran not for a fixed span of years but for as long as any of three named people survived. Those chosen were his sons John and Mathew Worrall and his daughter Sarah. On the death of any one of them a fresh name could be entered on payment of half a year's charge.

Loyalty came first among the things asked of him. Worrall and his successors had to stay faithful to King George and those following him, and to the Company and its successors, and to keep the rules in force on the island.

Upkeep followed. Every building, shed, outbuilding, planted enclosure and fence had to be held sound throughout the whole period, whether standing at the outset or put up later.

Planting ran alongside. A tenth of the forty acres had to be under trees and kept that way, with furze grown along the fences on whichever side suited. Apple, lemon, mulberry or peach were to be set wherever they stood the best chance, and fresh trees of the same sorts put in as older ones failed. None of this was to eat into whatever part of the ground Worrall kept for growing yams.

The charge came to £0 5s 0d an acre each year, paid to the Company or to whoever acted for it, falling due at Michaelmas.

One further point closed the arrangement. Neither Worrall nor anyone after him could shift or take away the fences, since these showed where the ground began and ended, and none of them could sell or hand the arrangement on without permission from the Governor and Council in office at the time.

Interpretations

Naming his own two sons and his daughter as the three lives kept the arrangement inside the household, the course taken by Samuel Doveton with his sons and by John French with his children at the sitting of 30 September 1738. Sarah Worrall stands alongside her brothers on the same footing, and the register shows the same pattern of daughters counting equally in the Burling, Greentree and Alexander family arrangements sealed that day.

The three names here are the same three who measured Thomas Cason's forty-five acres at Roebleys Land under the arrangement of 4 February 1718, where Martha, wife of William Worrall, and her children John and Sarah were the lives. Cason handed the whole holding to William Worrall on 25 March 1718 with the Governor and Council's consent, so the family had been building tenure measured by the lives of these same children for twenty years, with Mathew now added to the count.

At forty acres and £0 5s 0d an acre the yearly charge came to £10 0s 0d, and the renewal payment of half a year's charge stood at £5 0s 0d as each name fell in. Fresh lives could be entered indefinitely, so a family able to find £5 0s 0d at each death held the ground without any fixed end, which is why the Company reserved this form for substantial holdings.

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Hereunto set his hand & Seal this Eleventh day of September

in the Year of our Lord one thousand Seven Hundred and

Thirty nine. & they the said Honourable Company to the other

part of these presents have Affixed their Common Seal the

day & Year beforewritten

Signd Seald & Delivered

in the presence of

G: G: Powell.

Fra: Wrangham Jun:r

W:m Worrall

The Lords Proprietors of this Island the Hon:ble

the United East India Company of Merchants of England Trading to the

East Indies do hereby Demise, Grant, sett, And to Farm Lett unto

Richard Goodwin of the said Island Planter all that Peece or Parcell of

Land Containing five & 1/2 Acres Scituate at the head of Fryar Valley

butting & Bounding North upon the Lands of Elizabeth Purling Jun:r

Widow East upon the Lands of the Hon:ble Company. West upon the Lands

of him the said Richard Goodwin & South upon the Lands of the

Hon:ble Company. To have & to hold The said hereby Demised

Parcell of Land & every part & Parcell thereof together with all &

Singular the Wood. Water. Water Courses. Houses. Buildings. Edifices.

Sheds. Tenements. Yams & Plantations of Yams. Fruit trees. Walls.

Fences. And all other & Singular the Rights Commodites to them & each

& every of them belonging or Appertaining unto him the said Richard

Goodwin his Heirs. Executors. Administrators or Allowed Assigns from

the day of the date hereof for & during all the space or Term of the

Natural Lives of Elizabeth Goodwin his Wife. his sons Thomas &

Richard. And the longest Liver of either of them Renewable

upon the death of either the said Nominees upon payment of

half a Years rent at the Admittance of each Life or new Nominee

Upon Condition that he the said Richard Goodwin his Heirs.

Executors. Administrators or allowed Assigns shall & do from time to

time & at all times hereafter bear true faith & Allegiance to Our

Sovereign Lord King George his Heirs And Successors. And

William Worrall senior signed the document on 11 September 1739, and the Company sealed its own copy the same day.

Witnesses to the signing: G. G. Powell and Francis Wrangham junior

William Worrall, signing in his own name

The Company also rented five acres and a quarter at the head of Fryer Valley to Richard Goodwin, a planter living on the island. Ground held by Elizabeth Purling junior, a widow, lay along the northern edge. Company land closed the parcel to the east, Goodwin's own ground ran along the west, and Company land bounded it to the south.

Everything on the ground went with it. Goodwin took the trees, the water and the channels carrying it, the houses, sheds and outbuildings, the yam beds, the fruit trees, the walls and the fences, along with every other benefit belonging to any part of the block.

The arrangement ran for as long as any of three named people survived. Those chosen were Elizabeth Goodwin his wife and his sons Thomas and Richard. On the death of any one of them a fresh name could be entered on payment of half a year's charge.

Loyalty came first among the things asked of him. Goodwin and his successors had to stay faithful to King George and those following him.

Interpretations

The date of 11 September 1739 places Worrall's forty acres nearly a year after the great sitting whose grants fill the preceding leaves, so the clerk entered it here among the same run rather than in date order.

George Gabriel Powell witnessed the signing two days before the sale of his own composite estate to Governor John Goodwin for £5,539 6s 4d, sealed on 13 September 1739, the largest sum recorded in the register. He rose to the governorship within three years and bought back sixty-nine of those same acres from the Company for £835 0s 0d on 1 February 1742, after Goodwin died leaving a debt unpaid.

Elizabeth Purling junior held ground on the northern boundary as a widow in her own name. She was a daughter of Matthew Bazett and the widow of the late John Purling, and she confirmed in her own person the sale her husband's executors made of the Purling children's eighth share of the Bazett estate to her brother John Bazett, that confirmation acknowledged on 29 March 1741.

Richard Goodwin named his wife and two sons as the three lives, keeping the arrangement inside his household as Worrall had done on the preceding leaf. His son Richard Goodwin junior also stood as one of the three lives in both of Francis Wrangham's arrangements sealed on 30 September 1738, so the boy measured tenure on ground belonging to two separate families.

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shall duely Observe & obey all the Laws & Constitutions of the

said Island And upon Condition also that he the said

Richard Goodwin his Heirs. Executors, Administrators or allowed

Assigns shall & do from time to time & at all times hereafter during

the term of this Present Lease keep up and Maintain in good order

& Sufficient & Legal Repair all such buildings, houses, Edifices

Sheds, Tenements, plantations & fences as now are or hereafter shall

be made, built, or Erected thereon. And shall moreover Plant, keep

up & Maintain & Preserve in and the said hereby Demised Parcell

of Land its full Quantity or Proportion of Wood being one tenth

part of the said Parcell of Land And shall likewise plant and

Preserve Furze within side & without the Fences of the said Parcell

of Land and shall Plant Fruit trees such as apple Trees Lemon

Mulberry or Peach Trees in such parts thereof wherein they are most

likely to grow & as they shall happen to Decay or die shall replant

others in their room without hurt or Prejudice nevertheless to any

part of such Land as shall be set apart for the sole Purpose of

Planting or Raising Yams. Yeilding & Paying therefore

Yearly & every Year during the Term of this Present Lease unto

them the said Hon:ble Company their Successours. Agents & Assigns

the sum of five Shillings p Acre in at or upon the feast of St

Michael the Arch Angel yearly. And upon further

Condition that he the said Richard Goodwin his Heirs.

Executors, Administrators or allowd Assigns shall not alter or

remove the said Fences they being the Limits or Land marks of

the said Parcell of Land aforesaid and shall not sell or Dispose

of this Lease or Interest therein without the leave & Consent of

the Governour and Council for the time being. In Witness

whereof he the said Richard Goodwin hath hereunto set his

hand & Seal this 4 day of December in the Year of Our

Lord one thousand seven hundred & Thirty nine. And they

the said Hon:ble Company to the other part of these presents

have Affixed their Common Seal the Day & Year before

Writen.

Signed Sealed & Delivered

in the Presence of

Richard Goodwin and his successors had to keep the rules in force on the island.

Upkeep followed. Every building, shed, outbuilding, planted enclosure and fence had to be held sound throughout the whole period, whether standing at the outset or put up later.

Planting ran alongside. A tenth of the five acres and a quarter had to be under trees and kept that way, with furze grown along the fences on whichever side suited. Apple, lemon, mulberry or peach were to be set wherever they stood the best chance, and fresh trees of the same sorts put in as older ones failed. None of this was to eat into whatever part of the ground Goodwin kept for growing yams.

The charge came to £0 5s 0d an acre each year, paid to the Company or to whoever acted for it, falling due at Michaelmas.

One further point closed the arrangement. Neither Goodwin nor anyone after him could shift or take away the fences, since these showed where the ground began and ended, and none of them could sell or hand the arrangement on without permission from the Governor and Council in office at the time.

Goodwin signed the document on 4 December 1739, and the Company sealed its own copy the same day.

Interpretations

Ground measured by lives went to a parcel of only five acres and a quarter, where the register usually reserved that form for substantial holdings. Thomas Greentree's three acres at the sitting of 30 September 1738 took the same treatment, and in both cases the ground fitted against land the holder already worked, so the long form followed the family rather than the acreage.

The date of 4 December 1739 sits three days before George Gabriel Powell confirmed an addition to Thomas Greentree's holding on the same page range, and the two entries show the clerk gathering documents of the same kind together rather than keeping to any order of time.

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5 1/2 Acres

E

N:o

S

W:t

Memorandom that in Consideration great part of the

beforementioned Parcell of Land is Barren & Rockey Wee have

abated the said Richard Goodwin the rent of one Acre & one Quarter

Yearly during the term of this Present Lease And is to pay rent

only for four Acres. In Witness whereof we the Under written

the Governour & Council of the said Island have hereunto sett our

hands this 4:th day of December A:o 1739

Witness.

The Lords Proprietors of this Island the

Hon:ble the United Company of Merchants of England Trading to the East

Indies do hereby Demise, Grant, sett & to Farm Lett unto Thomas

Greentree. of the said Island Planter All that Peice or Parcell of

Land containing Acres Scituate at the head of Lemon

Valley Butting & Bounding North & East upon the Lands of the

Hon:ble Company. West upon the Lands of Charles Steward & South

upon the Lands of said Thomas Greentree. To have & to hold

the said hereby Demised Parcell of Land & every part & parcell

thereof together with all & Singular the Wood Water Water

Courses. Houses. Buildings. Edifices. Sheds. Tenements. Yams &

Plantations of Yams. Fruit Trees. Walls. Fences. & all & Singular

A drawing set at the head of the leaf showed Richard Goodwin's ground as a long block running from the south-west to the north-east, broad through its middle and narrowing to a crooked arm at the upper end, marked as five acres and a quarter. A compass beside it marked north, south, east and west.

A note added beneath recorded that much of the ground was barren and rocky. The Governor and Council therefore reduced Goodwin's charge by one acre and a quarter, so he paid on four acres only throughout the whole period. The Governor and Council put their names to the note on 4 December 1739, and the space left for a witness stayed empty.

The Company also rented ground at the head of Lemon Valley to Thomas Greentree, a planter living on the island. The clerk left the acreage blank. Company land closed the parcel to the north and east, Charles Steward's ground ran along the west, and Greentree's own land bounded it to the south.

Everything on the ground went with it. Greentree took the trees, the water and the channels carrying it, the houses, sheds and outbuildings, the yam beds, the fruit trees, the walls and the fences, along with every other benefit belonging to any part of the block.

Interpretations

The reduction on Goodwin's ground follows the practice already applied to Francis Wrangham's twenty acres and Edward Bagley's thirty-nine at the sitting of 30 September 1738, both of which carried notes cutting the charge where the land was rock. Barren ground yields nothing, and a holder made to pay on it would leave the whole parcel unfenced rather than carry the cost, which is what the island's government had been contending with since it revived the order on fencing on 6 April 1711.

The shape of Goodwin's parcel explains why so much of it was reckoned worthless. A long narrow block running down a slope with a crooked arm at its upper end follows the fall of a gully, and the rock lay in that upper reach where the ground steepened, so the four acres he paid on were the flatter land at the lower end.

Charles Steward's land closing the western side of Greentree's Lemon Valley ground appears repeatedly on the boundaries of parcels let at this period. He took nine acres and a half in the divided block and seventeen acres across three Sandy Bay pieces at the sitting of 30 September 1738, and his ground also bounded the thirty acres Greentree took near the head of Sandy Bay Valley under the arrangement measured by three lives.

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the Rights Commodites to them & each & every of them belonging

or Appertaining unto him the said Thomas Greentree his Heirs.

Executors. Administrators or allowed Assigns from the day of

the Date hereof for & during all the space or term of twenty

one Years from thence next Ensuing Upon Condition

that he the said Thomas Greentree. his Heirs. Executors.

Administrators or allowed Assigns shall & do bear true faith.

& Allegiance to Our Sovergn Lord King George his Heirs

& Successours & to them the said Hon:ble Company And

their Successours & shall duly observe & obey all the Laws

& Constitutions of the said Island. And upon Condition

also that he the said Thomas Greentree his Heirs. Executors.

Administrators or allowed Assigns shall & do from time to

time & at all times hereafter During the term of this present

Lease keep up & Maintain in good order & Sufficient & Legall

Repair all such Buildings. Houses. Edifices. Tenements.

Sheds. Plantations or Fences as now are or hereafter shall

be made built or Erected thereon And shall moreover Plant

keep up Maintain & Preserve in & upon the said hereby

Demised Parcell of Land its full Quantity or Proportion

of Wood being one Tenth part of the said hereby Demised

Parcell of Land & shall likewise plant & Preserve

Furze withinside & without the Fences of the said Parcell

of Land. And shall Plant Fruit Trees Such as Apple Lemon.

Mulberry or Peach Trees in such parts thereof wherein

they are most likely to grow & as they shall happen to decay

or die shall replant others of the like sort thereon without

hurt or Prejudice. Nevertheless to any part of Land as shall

be set a part for the sole Purpose of Planting & raising of

Yams, Yeilding & Paying therefore Yearly & every Year

During the Term of this Present Lease. unto them the said

Hon:ble Company their Successours Agents or Assigns the

sum of five Shillings p Acre in at or upon the feast of St

Michael the Arch Angel Yearly. And upon Farther

Condition that he the said Thomas Greentree his Heirs

Executors. Administrators or allowed Assigns shall not

alter or Remove the said Fences they being the Limits

or Land marks of the Parcell of Land Aforesaid. And

shall not sell or Dispose of this Lease or Interest

therein without the leave & Consent of the Governour

& Council for the time being. In Witness whereof he

Thomas Greentree and those coming after him held the Lemon Valley ground for twenty-one years from the day the arrangement was made.

Loyalty came first among the things asked of him. Greentree and his successors had to stay faithful to King George and those following him, and to the Company and its successors, and to keep the rules in force on the island.

Upkeep followed. Every building, shed, outbuilding, planted enclosure and fence had to be held sound throughout the whole period, whether standing at the outset or put up later.

Planting ran alongside. A tenth of the ground had to be under trees and kept that way, with furze grown along the fences on whichever side suited. Apple, lemon, mulberry or peach were to be set wherever they stood the best chance, and fresh trees of the same sorts put in as older ones failed. None of this was to eat into whatever part of the ground Greentree kept for growing yams.

The charge came to £0 5s 0d an acre each year, paid to the Company or to whoever acted for it, falling due at Michaelmas.

One further point closed the arrangement. Neither Greentree nor anyone after him could shift or take away the fences, since these showed where the ground began and ended, and none of them could sell or hand the arrangement on without permission from the Governor and Council in office at the time.

Interpretations

A fixed span of twenty-one years governed this parcel, unlike the thirty-one acres and the three acres Greentree took at the sitting of 30 September 1738, both of which ran on the lives of himself, his wife Elizabeth and his brother Richard. The Company applied the two forms to the same man in the same period, so the choice rested on the ground rather than on the holder.

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the said Thomas Greentree hath hereunto set his hand & seal

this fourth, day of December in the year of our Lord one

Thousand seven Hundred & Thirty nine. And they the said

Hon:ble Company to the other part of these presens hath

Affixed their Common seal the day & Year Beforewritten.

Signd Sealed & Deliverd

in the Presence of

This Lease is Wrong Entred in

this place it being already Ent:d

in fol: 102

& Memorandom that since the Signing & Sealing the aforesd Lease to

Thomas Greentree two & a half Acres more hath been granted & Measured to him the said

Tho:s Greentree by Approve in Consultation of 20 Feb:y 1739 which in the whole makes

33 1/2 Acres as is [...] Witness Our hand this 4 day of Decem:r 1739

The Lords Proprietors of

This Island the Hon:o the United East India Company of Merchants

of England Trading to the East Indies do hereby Demise

Grant, Sett, And to Farm Lett unto Frances Wrangham Sen:r

of the said Island Planter all that Peice or Parcell of

Land Containing Thirty three Acres Scituate in the

West Division of the said Island Butting & Bounding

South & East upon the Lands of the Hon:o Company

West upon the Lands of Rich:d Goodwin & North upon

the Lands of him the said Francis Wrangham To

have & to hold the said hereby Demised Parcell

of Land & every part & Parcell thereof Together with all

& Singular the Wood, Water, Water Courses, Houses. Buildings

Edifices. Sheds, Tenements, Yams & Plantations of Yams

Fruit Trees, Walls, Fences And all other and Singular the

Rights Commodites to them & each every of them

belonging or Appertaining unto him the said Francis

Wrangham his Heirs, Executors. Administrators or

allowed Assigns. from the day of the date hereof for

& During all the space or Term of the Naturall Lives

of Francis. James & William the sons of said Fran:s

Wrangham & the Longest Liver of either of them

Renewable upon the Death of either the said

Thomas Greentree signed the Lemon Valley document on 4 December 1739, and the Company sealed its own copy the same day. The clerk added beside the signature that no drawing was attached, one having already been entered at folio 108.

A note added beneath recorded that a further two acres and a half were granted and measured out to Greentree after he signed, under an order made at a meeting of 20 February 1739. The whole came to thirty-two acres and a half of ground that had not been enclosed, and the note was signed on 4 December 1739.

The Company also rented thirty-three acres in the West Division to Francis Wrangham senior, a planter living on the island. Company land closed the parcel to the south and east, Richard Goodwin's ground ran along the west, and Wrangham's own land bounded it to the north.

Everything on the ground went with it. Wrangham took the trees, the water and the channels carrying it, the houses, sheds and outbuildings, the yam beds, the fruit trees, the walls and the fences, along with every other benefit belonging to any part of the block.

The arrangement ran for as long as any of three named people survived. Those chosen were his sons Francis, James and William Wrangham. On the death of any one of them a fresh name could be entered.

Interpretations

The clerk noted that no drawing accompanied this document because one already stood at folio 108, so a single figure served two separate arrangements covering the same ground. Since boundaries on the island were settled by the drawing rather than by any written measure, the cross-reference tied this parcel to a plan the register already held instead of copying it out again.

Wrangham named his own three sons here, a different course from the two arrangements he took at the sitting of 30 September 1738. Those ran on Matthew Bushing, John Doveton and Richard Goodwin junior, three young men from families other than his own, chosen as a calculation about who would live longest. He had also taken James Valley waste ground on 30 September 1738 measured by the lives of these same three children, bound to raise a substantial dwelling on it within a reasonable time.

Francis Wrangham the younger became secretary to the Company on the island, and William Wrangham received both the ground his father bought from Francis Mowatt in 1756, the freehold with the slave London and the standing yam crop being made over on 30 October 1758 as an advance against his eventual inheritance and reckoned at £549 10s 0d.

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Nominees upon Payment of half a Years Rent at the

Admittance of each Life or new Nominee Upon

Condition that he the said Francis Wrangham his Heirs

Executors, Administrators or Allowed Assigns shall from

time to time & at all times hereafter bear true faith and

Allegiance to Our Sovereign Lord King George his

Heirs & Successours. and shall duely observe & obey all the

Laws & Constitutions of the said Island And Upon

Condition also that he the said Francis Wrangham

his Heirs, Executors. Administrators or Allowed Assigns

shall & do from time to time & at all times hereafter

During the Term of this Present Lease. keep up and

Maintain in good Order And Sufficient & Legal Repair

all such Buildings, Houses, Edifices, Sheds, Tenements,

Plantations & Fences as now are or hereafter shall be

made, built, or Erected thereon And shall moreover plant

keep up Maintain & Preserve in & upon the said hereby

Demised Parcell of Land its full Quantity or Proportion

of Wood being one tenth part of the said Parcell of Land &

shall likewise plant & Preserve furze withinside and

without the fences of the said Parcell of Land and shall

plant Fruit trees such as Apple, Lemon, Mulberry or

Peach trees in such part thereof wherein they are most

Likely to Grow & as they shall happen to Decay or Die shall

Replant others in their Room without hurt or Prejudice

Nevertheless to any part of Such Land as shall be set a

part for the sole Purpose of Planting & Raising of

Yams Yeilding And Paying therefore Yearly & every Year

During the Term of this Present Lease unto them the

said Hon:o Company their Successours. Agents & Assigns

the sum of five Shillings p Acre in at or upon the feast

of St Michael the Arch Angel Yearly And Upon

further Condition that he the said Francis

Wrangham his Heirs. Executors. Administrators or

Allowed Assigns shall not alter or Remove. the said

Fences they being the Limits or Land Marks of

the Parcell of Land Aforesaid And shall not sell

or Dispose of this Lease or his Interest therein

without the Leave & Consent of the Governour

And Council for the time being. In Witness

whereof he the said Francis Wrangham hath

A fresh name could be entered on Francis Wrangham senior's thirty-three acres as each of the three named people died, on payment of half a year's charge.

Loyalty came first among the things asked of him. Wrangham and his successors had to stay faithful to King George and those following him, and to keep the rules in force on the island.

Upkeep followed. Every building, shed, outbuilding, planted enclosure and fence had to be held sound throughout the whole period, whether standing at the outset or put up later.

Planting ran alongside. A tenth of the thirty-three acres had to be under trees and kept that way, with furze grown along the fences on whichever side suited. Apple, lemon, mulberry or peach were to be set wherever they stood the best chance, and fresh trees of the same sorts put in as older ones failed. None of this was to eat into whatever part of the ground Wrangham kept for growing yams.

The charge came to £0 5s 0d an acre each year, paid to the Company or to whoever acted for it, falling due at Michaelmas.

One further point closed the arrangement. Neither Wrangham nor anyone after him could shift or take away the fences, since these showed where the ground began and ended, and none of them could sell or hand the arrangement on without permission from the Governor and Council in office at the time.

Interpretations

At thirty-three acres and £0 5s 0d an acre the yearly charge came to £8 5s 0d, and the payment for entering a fresh name stood at £4 2s 6d. A family able to find that sum at each death held the ground without any fixed end, which is what separated arrangements measured by lives from the twenty-one year form used across most of the register.

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123

Hereuto set his Hand & Seal this Eighth Day of January in

the Year of Our Lord One Thousand Seven Hundred and

Thirty nine. And they the said Hon:o Company to the other

part of these Presents have Affixed their Common Seal

the day & Year before Writen.

Signed Sealed & Deliverd

in the Presence of

Fran:s Wrangham

W:t

S:o

N:o

33 Acres

E:t

Francis Wrangham senior signed the document on 8 January 1739, and the Company sealed its own copy the same day. The space left for witnesses stayed empty.

Francis Wrangham, signing in his own name

A drawing set below the signature showed the thirty-three acres as a broad block with a ragged outline, tapering to a point at its western end and notched along the lower edge. A compass beside it marked north, south, east and west, the bearings turned so that north lay to the right of the page.

Interpretations

The compass here is set with north pointing right rather than up, so the drawing was made to fit the shape of the ground on the leaf rather than to any fixed orientation. A reader had to take the bearings from the marks themselves, and the same practice appears in the tilted frame drawn around the five acres held for the widow and children of the late Sutton Isaac at the sitting of 30 September 1738.

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The Lords Proprietors of this Island the Hon:o

the United Company of Merchants of England Trading to the

East Indies. do hereby Demise, Grant, Sett, & To Farm

Lett unto Samuel Doveton of the said Island Planter All

that peice or Parcell of Land Containing Twelve Acres

Scituate at the head of James Valley Butting & Bounding

E: W: & S:o upon the Hon:o Companys Waist Lands & N:o upon

the Lands of Joseph Desfountain To have and to

hold the said hereby Demised Parcell of Land & every

part and Parcell. thereof together with all & Singular the

Wood, Water, Water Courses, Houses, Buildings, Edifices

Sheds, Tenements, Yams & Plantations of Yams, Fruit

Trees, Walls, Fences, & all other & Singular the Rights

Commodities to them & each & every of them belonging or

Appertaining unto him the said Samuel Doveton his Heirs

Executors. Administrators or allowed Assigns from the day

of the date. hereof for & During all the space or Term of

the Natural Lives of John, Samuel & Mary Doveton

the Son & Daughter of him the said Samuel Doveton

& the Longest Liver of either of them renewable upon

the Death of either the said Nominees upon Payment

of half a Years Rent at the Admittance of eacsh Life or

new Nominee. Upon Condition that he the said

Samuel. Doveton his Heirs Executors Administrators

or allowed Assigns shall & do bear true faith and

Allegiance to Our Sovereign Lord King George his

Heirs & Successours & to them the said Hon:o Company

& their Successours & shall Duely observe & Obey all the

Laws & Constitutions of the said Island. and upon

Condition also that he the said Samuel Doveton

his Heirs, Executors Administrators or allowed Assigns

shall & do from time to time & all times hereafter During

the Term of this Present Lease Keep up & Maintain in

good Order & Sufficient & Legal Repair all such

Buildings, Houses, Edifices, Sheds, Tenements Plantations

and Fences as now are or hereafter shall be made built

or Erected thereon & shall Moreover Plant Keep up

Maintain & Preserve in & upon the said hereby

Demised Parcell of Land its full Quantity or

Proportion of Wood being one tenth of the said

Parcell of Land & shall likewise plant & Preserve

Furze withinside. & without the Fences of the said

The Company, owner of the island, rented twelve acres at the head of James Valley to Samuel Doveton, a planter living there. Open Company ground closed the parcel to the east, west and south, and Joseph Desfountain's land ran along the northern side.

Everything on the ground went with it. Doveton took the trees, the water and the channels carrying it, the houses, sheds and outbuildings, the yam beds, the fruit trees, the walls and the fences, along with every other benefit belonging to any part of the block.

The arrangement ran for as long as any of three named people survived. Those chosen were John and Samuel Doveton, his sons, and Mary Doveton, his daughter. On the death of any one of them a fresh name could be entered on payment of half a year's charge.

Loyalty came first among the things asked of him. Doveton and his successors had to stay faithful to King George and those following him, and to the Company and its successors, and to keep the rules in force on the island.

Upkeep followed. Every building, shed, outbuilding, planted enclosure and fence had to be held sound throughout the whole period, whether standing at the outset or put up later.

Planting ran alongside. A tenth of the twelve acres had to be under trees and kept that way, with furze grown along the fences on whichever side suited.

Interpretations

Doveton named two sons and a daughter as the three lives here, where the arrangement he took at the sitting of 30 September 1738 for twenty-seven acres and a half in Sandy Bay ran on himself and his sons Richard and Jonathan. Five children therefore appear across his two holdings, and Mary Doveton stands on the same footing as her brothers, matching the equal place daughters take through the Burling, Greentree, Alexander and Worrall arrangements of the same period.

Open Company ground on three sides threw the whole fencing burden onto Doveton, since no neighbour's wall could serve any of those boundaries. Only the northern side, where Joseph Desfountain's land ran, could have carried a shared line.

Joseph Desfountain held Chapel Valley ground under an arrangement of 2 February 1730, three parcels granted in place of two acres he had given back to the Company, with half an acre of hay land and a further acre meeting his own land below the Chub Spring. He later took twenty-three acres of Deep Valley ground from Henry Multon in December 1739 and passed it to John Leech, a sergeant, for £35 0s 0d on 3 September 1741.

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Parcell of Land & shall Plant fruit Trees such as Apple. Lemon

Mulberry or Peach Trees in such parts thereof wherein they are

most likely to grow & as they shall Happen to Decay or die shall

Replant others of the like sorts thereon without hurt or prejudice

Nevertheless to any part of such Land as shall be sett a part

for the sole Purpose of Planting & raising of Yams Yeilding

& Paying therefore Yearly & every year During the Term of this

Present Lease unto them the said Hon:o Company their

Successours Agents or Assigns the sum of five Shillings p Acre

in at or upon the feast of S:t Michael the Arch Angel Yearly

and upon further Condition that he the said Samuel

Doveton his Heirs, Executors. Administrators or allowed Assigns

shall not altar or Remove the said Fences they being the Limits

or Land Marks of the Parcell of Land Aforesaid and shall not

sell or Dispose of this Lease or Interest therein without the

Leave & Consent of the Governour & Council. for the time being

In Witness whereof he the said Samuel Doveton hath

Hereunto Sett his Hand & Seal this Eleventh Day of March

in the Year of Our Lord One Thousand seven Hundred Thirty

nine. And they the said Hon:o Company to the other part of

these presents hath sett their Common Seal the day

and Year before written.

Signd Seald & Deliverd

in the Presence of

G: Powell

Sam: Doveton

W:t

S:o

N:o

Brotes Cont:g 12 Acres

E:t

Mem:dm Great part of this Lease being Exceeding Rockey & Barren the Tenant is Excused

the Yearly Rent of two Acres, as p Consultation of Tuesday 11 of March 1739

G: G: Powell Sec:ry

Apple, lemon, mulberry or peach were to be set on Samuel Doveton's twelve acres wherever they stood the best chance, and fresh trees of the same sorts put in as older ones failed. None of this was to eat into whatever part of the ground he kept for growing yams.

The charge came to £0 5s 0d an acre each year, paid to the Company or to whoever acted for it, falling due at Michaelmas.

One further point closed the arrangement. Neither Doveton nor anyone after him could shift or take away the fences, since these showed where the ground began and ended, and none of them could sell or hand the arrangement on without permission from the Governor and Council in office at the time.

Doveton signed the document on 11 March 1739, and the Company sealed its own copy the same day.

Witness to the signing: G. Powell

Samuel Doveton, signing in his own name

A drawing set below the names showed the twelve acres as a long low block running east and west, its northern edge broken by a rise and its southern edge cut by a deep square notch. The ground was marked as Briers Bottom, twelve acres. A compass beside it marked north, south, east and west, with north lying to the right of the page.

A note added beneath recorded that much of the ground was very rocky and barren. The Company therefore charged Doveton on two acres only, under an order made at a meeting held on Tuesday 11 March 1739. George Gabriel Powell signed the note as secretary.

Interpretations

Charging on two acres out of twelve cut the yearly payment from £3 0s 0d to £0 10s 0d, the sharpest reduction of its kind in this run. Francis Wrangham's twenty acres had carried payment on sixteen, Edward Bagley's thirty-nine on thirty and Richard Goodwin's five and a quarter on four, so barely a sixth of Doveton's ground was reckoned worth anything at all. The name Briers Bottom fits that reading, briers taking hold on stony ground where nothing else will grow.

The order allowing the reduction was made on the same day the document was signed. Doveton did not take the ground and then apply for relief afterwards, so the Company had already seen the parcel and settled what he would pay before he put his name to anything.

George Gabriel Powell signed here as secretary, six months before he sold his whole composite estate to Governor John Goodwin for £5,539 6s 4d on 13 September 1739. He rose to the governorship within three years and bought sixty-nine of those same acres back from the Company for £835 0s 0d on 1 February 1742.

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The Lords Proprietors of this Island the Hon:ble

the United Company of Merchants of England Trading to the East Indies

do hereby Demise. Grant. Sett and to Farm let unto James Vaughn of the

said Island All that Peice or Parcel of Land Containing Nine Acres Scituate

at or near the head of James Valley Butting and Bounding North upon a

Parcel of Free Land belonging to John Goodwin lately Purchased of the said

James Vaughn, West upon other the Lands of said John Goodwin and South &

East upon the Lands of Jonathan Doveton, To have and to hold the

said hereby demised Parcel of Land and every part and Parcel thereof

together with all and Singular the Wood, Water, Water Courses Houses

Buildings, Edifices, Sheds, Tenements Yams & Plantations of Yams

Fruit Trees. Walls. Fences. and all other and Singular the Rights

Commodities to them and each and every of them belonging or

appertaineing unto him the said James Vaughn his Heirs Executors

Administrators or allowed Assigns from the Day of the date hereof

for and during all the space or Term of Twenty one Years from thence

next Ensuing. Upon Condition that he the said James Vaughn his

Heirs. Executors. Administrators or allowed Assigns shall and do bear

true faith and Allegiance to our Sovereign Lord King George his

Heirs and Successors and to them the said Honoble Company and their

Successors and shall duly Observe and Obey all the Laws and

Constitutions of the said Island. And upon Condition also

that he the said James Vaughn, his Heirs, Executors, Administrators

or allowed Assigns shall & do from time to time and at all times

hereafter during the Term of this Present Lease keep up and

Maintain in good Order and Sufficient and Legal Repair all such

Buildings. Houses. Edifices. Sheds. Tenements, Plantations and

Fences. as now are or hereafter shall be made Built or Erected thereon

and shall Moreover Plant keep up Maintain & Preserve in and upon

the said hereby Demised Parcel of Land its full Quantity or

Proportion of Wood being one Tenth part of the said Parcel of Land

and shall likewise Plant and Preserve Furze withinside and

without the Fences of the said Parcell of Land and Shall Plant

Fruit Trees such as Apple. Lemon, Mulberry or Peach Trees on

such Parts thereof wherein they are most likely to grow and as they

shall happen to Decay or Die shall Replant others of the like Sorts

thereon without hurt or Prejudice Nevertheless to any part of such

Land as shall be sett apart for the Sole Purpose of Planting and

Raising of Yams Yeilding and Paying therefore Yearly and every

Year during the Term of this Present Lease unto them the said

Honoble Company & their Successors Agents or Assigns the Sum

The Company, owner of the island, rented nine acres near the head of James Valley to James Vaughn, a planter living there. Ground held outright by John Goodwin, bought from Vaughn himself not long before, lay along the northern edge. More of Goodwin's land closed the parcel to the west, and Jonathan Doveton's ground ran along the south and east.

Everything on the ground went with it. Vaughn took the trees, the water and the channels carrying it, the houses, sheds and outbuildings, the yam beds, the fruit trees, the walls and the fences, along with every other benefit belonging to any part of the block. He and those coming after him held it for twenty-one years from the day the arrangement was made.

Loyalty came first among the things asked of him. Vaughn and his successors had to stay faithful to King George and those following him, and to the Company and its successors, and to keep the rules in force on the island.

Upkeep followed. Every building, shed, outbuilding, planted enclosure and fence had to be held sound throughout the whole period, whether standing at the outset or put up later.

Planting ran alongside. A tenth of the nine acres had to be under trees and kept that way, with furze grown along the fences on whichever side suited. Apple, lemon, mulberry or peach were to be set wherever they stood the best chance, and fresh trees of the same sorts put in as older ones failed. None of this was to eat into whatever part of the ground Vaughn kept for growing yams.

Interpretations

Vaughn had sold the neighbouring ground to John Goodwin shortly before taking these nine acres, so he parted with land held outright and took rented ground beside it. He later sold Goodwin nine acres of rented ground for £10 0s 0d on 13 February 1741 under permission granted at a meeting of 22 December 1740, and a further ten acres held outright with fifteen of rented land in the East Division for £88 0s 0d on 5 April 1742, that ground bounded by Company waste, Jonas Doveton, John Goodwin and the Young orphans, the receipt settling every account between the two men.

Jonathan Doveton on two sides had taken seven acres ringed entirely by his own land and two acres wedged between his ground and the Company's at the sitting of 30 September 1738, both fragments nobody else could have reached. His family had held under Halley's Mount since the confirmation of 4 August 1713 brought his estate to a hundred and forty acres.

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127

of five Shillings p Acre in at or upon the feast of S:t Michael the Arch Angel

yearly And upon further Condition that he the said James Vaughn

his Heirs Executors. Administrators or allowed assigns shall not alter or

Remove the said Fences they being the Limitts or Land Marks of the parcel

of Land afforesaid and shall not sell or dispose of this Lease or Interest

therein without the Leave and Consent of the Governour & Council for

the time being, In Witness whereof he the said James Vaughn

have hereunto seth his hand & Seal at the United Castle in James

Valley this Second Day of February, in the Year of our Lord 1741/2

and they the said Honourable Company to the other part of these Presents

have affixed their Common Seal the Day & year above written

Witness

G: G: Powell

F: Wrangham Jun:r

James Vaughn

The Lords Proprietors of this Island the Hon:ble the United

Company of Merchants of England trading to the East Indies. do hereby Demise

Grant, Sett and to Farm let unto John Swaites of the said Island All that Peice or

Parcel of Land Containing four Acres Situate in Sandy Bay, Butting & bounding

North, East & West upon the Hon:ble Companys Waste Lands and Southward upon the

Lands of Joshua Johnson. To have and to hold the said hereby demised

Parcel of Land and every part and Parcel thereof together with all and Singular the

Wood Water. Water Courses, Houses, Buildings, Edifices, Sheds. Tenements, Yams

and Plantations of Yams. Fruit Trees. Walls. Fences. and all other and Singular

the Rights, Commodity: to them and each and every of them belonging or

appertaining unto him the said John Swaites, his Heirs Executors Administrators

or allowed Assigns from the Day of the Date hereof for and during all the space

or Term of Twenty one Years from thence next Ensuing, Upon Condition

that he the said John Swaites his Heirs Executors Administrators or allowed

Assigns shall and do bear true faith and Allegiance to our Sovereign Lord King

George his Heirs and Successors and to them the said Hon:ble Company and

their Successors and shall duly Observe and obey all the Laws & Constitutions of

the said Island. And upon Condition also that he the said John

Swaites his Heirs. Executors. Administrators or allowed Assigns shall and do

from time to time and at all times hereafter during the Term of this Present Lease

keep up and Maintain in good Order and Sufficient and Legal Repair all such

Buildings. Houses. Edifices. Sheds. Tenements. Plantations and Fences as now are

The charge on James Vaughn's nine acres came to £0 5s 0d an acre each year, falling due at Michaelmas.

One further point closed the arrangement. Neither Vaughn nor anyone after him could shift or take away the fences, since these showed where the ground began and ended, and none of them could sell or hand the arrangement on without permission from the Governor and Council in office at the time.

Vaughn signed the document at Union Castle in James Valley on 2 February 1742, and the Company sealed its own copy the same day.

Witnesses to the signing: G. G. Powell and F. Wrangham junior

James Vaughn, signing in his own name

The Company also rented four acres in Sandy Bay to John Thwaites, living on the island. Open Company ground closed the parcel to the north, east and west, and Joshua Johnson's land ran along the southern side.

Everything on the ground went with it. Thwaites took the trees, the water and the channels carrying it, the houses, sheds and outbuildings, the yam beds, the fruit trees, the walls and the fences, along with every other benefit belonging to any part of the block. He and those coming after him held it for twenty-one years from the day the arrangement was made.

Loyalty came first among the things asked of him. Thwaites and his successors had to stay faithful to King George and those following him, and to the Company and its successors, and to keep the rules in force on the island.

Upkeep followed. Every building, fence, shed and outbuilding had to be held sound throughout the whole period.

Interpretations

Union Castle is named as the place of signing, the formal title the Company's principal building in James Valley acquired by February 1716. The register shows it under several names across the decades, the Castle, the Castle in James Valley and the United Castle among them, before Union Castle settled into use.

John Thwaites had already been drawn into the Company's timber programme. He took two parcels making ten acres under an arrangement of 3 February 1729, the larger eight acres and a half reserved wholly for growing timber at a reduced charge of £0 2s 6d an acre, backed by a penalty of £30 0s 0d if he failed to fence within twelve months and a bar on grazing animals there without permission. He also witnessed Samuel Doveton's twenty-seven acres and a half in Sandy Bay at the sitting of 30 September 1738.

Joshua Johnson on the southern side had been assembling ground across the island for years, taking six acres and a quarter in Sandy Bay Valley and five acres in Broad Bottom at the sitting of 30 September 1738, the latter closing a gap in a block he was building up.

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or hereafter shall be made Built or Erected thereon, and shall moreover Plant

keep up Maintain & Preserve in and upon the said hereby Demised Parcel of Land

its full Quantity or Proportion of Wood being one tenth part of the said Parcel

of Land and shall likewise Plant & Preserve Furze withenside and without

the Fences of the said Parcel of Land, and Shall Plant Fruit Trees such as

Apple, Leomon, Mulberry or Peach Trees in such parts thereof wherein they

they are most likely to grow and as they shall happen to Decay or die shall

Replant others of the like Sorts thereon, without Hurt or Prejudice

Nevertheless to any part of such Land as shall be Sett apart for the Sole

Purpose of Planting & Raising of Yams. Yeilding and Paying therefore

Yearly & every Year during the Term of this Present Lease unto them the said

Honourable Company & their Successors Agents or assigns the Sum of five

Shillings p Acre in at or upon the feast of S:t Michael the Arch Angel

Yearly. And upon further Condition that he the said John

Swaites his Heirs. Executors. Administrators or allowed Assigns shall not alter or

Remove the said Fences they being the Limitts or Land marks of the Parcel of

the Parcel of Land afforesaid and shall not Sell or dispose of this Lease or

Interest therein without the Leave and Consent of the Governour & Council for

the time being. In Witness Whereof he the said John Swaites hath

hereunto Sett his hand & Seal this 23 day of February in the Year of our

Lord One Thousand Seven Hundred & forty one two & they the said Honoble

Company to the other part of these Presents have affixed their Common Seale

the Day & Year above written.

Witness

G: G: Powell

F: Wrangham Jun:r

John Swaits

Planting duties ran alongside the repairs on John Thwaites's four acres. A tenth of the ground had to be under trees and kept that way, with furze grown along the fences on whichever side suited. Apple, lemon, mulberry or peach were to be set wherever they stood the best chance, and fresh trees of the same sorts put in as older ones failed. None of this was to eat into whatever part of the ground Thwaites kept for growing yams.

The charge came to £0 5s 0d an acre each year, paid to the Company or to whoever acted for it, falling due at Michaelmas.

One further point closed the arrangement. Neither Thwaites nor anyone after him could shift or take away the fences, since these showed where the ground began and ended, and none of them could sell or hand the arrangement on without permission from the Governor and Council in office at the time.

Thwaites signed the document on 23 February 1742, and the Company sealed its own copy the same day.

Witnesses to the signing: G. G. Powell and F. Wrangham junior

John Thwaites, signing in his own name

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The Lords Proprietors of this Island The

Honourable United Company of Merchants of England Trading to the East Indies

Do hereby Demise Grant Sett and to Farm Lett unto Francis Wrangham

Senior of the said Island Planter. All those pieces or Parcells of Land containing

in the whole Fourteen Acres that is to say Nine Acres thereof Scituate in the West

Division of this Island Butting and Bounding West upon the Lands of Joshua

Johnson North upon the Lands of Joseph Powell East upon the Lands of

Martin Harper and South on the Lands of him the said Francis Wrangham

Also other Four Acres Scituate in the South Division of this Island Butting

and Bounding West on the Lands of Samuel Doveton South on the Lands

of Captain John Alexander Deceased North on the Lands of John Bagelt

and East on the Lands of him the said Frances Wrangham And the other one

Acre Scituate in the said South Division of this Island Butting and

Bounding South and East on the Lands of the said John Bagley West on

the Lands of the said Captain John Alexander Deceased and North on

the Lands of him the said Francis Wrangham To have and to

Hold the said hereby Demised Parcells of Land and every part and

parcell thereof together with all and Singular the Wood, Water, Water

Courses, Houses, Buildings, Edifices, Sheds, Tenements, Yams and

Plantations of Yams, Fruit Trees, Walls Fences and all other and

Singular the Rights Commodities to them and each and every of them

belonging or Appertaining unto him the said Francis Wrangham his

Heirs Executors Administrators or allowed Assigns from the Day of the

Date hereof for and During all the Space or Term of Twenty one Years

from thence next ensuing Upon Condition that he the said

Francis Wrangham his heirs Executors Administrators or Allowed

Assigns shall and do bear true Faith to our Sovereign Lord King

George his Heirs and Successors and to them the said Honourable

Company and their Successors and shall Duly Obey all the Laws and

Constitutions of the said Island And upon Condition

also that he the said Francis Wrangham his heirs Executors

Administrators or Allowed Assigns shall and do from time to time and at

all times hereafter During the Term of this present Lease keep up and

Maintain in good Order and Sufficient and Legall repair all such

Buildings, Houses, Edifices, Sheds Tenements, Plantations and

Fences as now are or hereafter shall be made Built or Erected thereon

and shall moreover Plant keep up maintain and preserve in and upon

the said Hereby Demised parcell of Land its full Quantity or proportion

of Wood being One Tenth part of the said parcell of Land and shall likewise

Plant and preserve Furze within side and without the Fences of the said

The Company, owner of the island, rented fourteen acres to Francis Wrangham senior, a planter living there. The ground lay in three separate pieces.

The first came to nine acres in the West Division. Joshua Johnson's land closed it to the west, Joseph Powell's ground lay to the north, Martin Harper's land ran along the east, and Wrangham's own ground bounded it to the south.

The second came to four acres in the South Division. Samuel Doveton's land closed it to the west, ground of the late Captain John Alexander lay to the south, John Bazett's land ran along the north, and Wrangham's own ground bounded it to the east.

The third came to one acre, also in the South Division. John Bagley's land closed it to the south and east, ground of the late Captain John Alexander ran along the west, and Wrangham's own land bounded it to the north.

Everything on the ground went with the three pieces. Wrangham took the trees, the water and the channels carrying it, the houses, sheds and outbuildings, the yam beds, the fruit trees, the walls and the fences, along with every other benefit belonging to any part of them. He and those coming after him held them for twenty-one years from the day the arrangement was made.

Loyalty came first among the things asked of him. Wrangham and his successors had to stay faithful to King George and those following him, and to the Company and its successors, and to keep the rules in force on the island.

Upkeep followed. Every building, shed, outbuilding, planted enclosure and fence had to be held sound throughout the whole period, whether standing at the outset or put up later.

Planting ran alongside. A tenth of the ground had to be under trees and kept that way, with furze grown along the fences on whichever side suited.

Interpretations

All three pieces met Wrangham's own ground on one side, so each filled a gap in land he already worked and nobody else could conveniently have reached them. The register shows the same practice repeatedly across the sitting of 30 September 1738, where four of the five parcels making up his forty acres at Stock Hall lay almost wholly enclosed by his existing ground.

Martin Harper and Captain John Alexander are both recorded as dead on the boundaries, and their names go on fixing the bounds of their neighbours' holdings years afterwards. Harper had taken nine acres and a half in the divided block on 13 September 1738 and sold his interest in twenty-five acres of Sandy Bay ground called Robinson's Land to Duke Crispe for £200 0s 0d on 13 November 1734. John Alexander's estate was settled by three arrangements at the sitting of 30 September 1738, covering fifty-five acres held for his widow Mary and six of the children.

Splitting fourteen acres across three pieces in two divisions of the island made the fencing burden heavier than the acreage suggests, since three separate perimeters had to be built and kept up. The Company nonetheless drew all three into one document under a single charge, so the tenth to be kept in trees was reckoned against the whole rather than against each fragment.

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Parcell of Land and shall Plant Fruit Trees such as Apple, Lemmon

Mulberry or peach Trees in such Parts thereof wherein they are most likely to

Grow and as they shall happen to Decay or Dye shall Replant others of the

like Sorts thereon without Hurt or prejudice Nevertheless to any part of such

Land as shall be sett apart for the Sole purpose of Planting and Raising of

Yams Yeilding and Paying therefore Yearly and every Year during

the Term of this Present Lease unto them the said Honourable Company their

Successors Agents and Assigns the sume of Five Shillings p Acre in at or upon

the Feast of S:t Michall the Arch Angell Yearly And upon further

Condition that he the said Francis Wrangham his Heirs Executorrs

Administrators or Allowed Assigns shall not alter or Remove the said

Fences they being the Limitts or Land marks of the Parcell of Land aforesaid

and shall not sell or Dispose of this Lease or Interest therein without the

Leave and Consent of the Governour and Council for the time being In

Witness whereof he the said Francis Wrangham have hereunto set

his Hand and Seal this Twenty Fourth Day of August Anno Domini

One Thousand Seven Hundred and Forty two And they the said

Honourable Company to the other part of these Presents have Affixed

their Common Seal the Day and Year Abovewritten

Fran: Wrangham Sen:r

Apple, lemon, mulberry or peach were to be set on Francis Wrangham senior's fourteen acres wherever they stood the best chance, and fresh trees of the same sorts put in as older ones failed. None of this was to eat into whatever part of the ground he kept for growing yams.

The charge came to £0 5s 0d an acre each year, paid to the Company or to whoever acted for it, falling due at Michaelmas.

One further point closed the arrangement. Neither Wrangham nor anyone after him could shift or take away the fences, since these showed where the ground began and ended, and none of them could sell or hand the arrangement on without permission from the Governor and Council in office at the time.

Wrangham signed the document on 24 August 1742, and the Company sealed its own copy the same day.

Francis Wrangham senior, signing in his own name

Interpretations

The date of 24 August 1742 places this on the same day the Governor and Council sold Wrangham thirty-two acres and a half in three pieces for £204 0s 7½d out of the estate of the late Governor John Goodwin, broken up to meet a debt he had left owing to the Company. Two of those pieces lay beside ground Wrangham already held, so he took land outright and rented further land on the same day, both transactions rounding out holdings he had been assembling for years.

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The Lords Proprietors of this Island The Honourable

the United Company of Merchants of England Trading to the East Indies Do

hereby Dimise Grant Sett and to Farm Lett unto Francis Tunge Senior

of the said Island All that Piece or Parcell of Land Containing Fifteen Acres

Scituate Lying and being in the West Division of the said Island Butting and

Bounding North East South and West every way upon the said Honourable

Companys Wast Land To have and to Hold the said hereby

Demised parcell of Land and every part and parcell thereof together with all and

Singular the Woods, Water Water Courses, Houses Buildings Edifices Sheds

Tenements Yams and Plantations of Yams Fruit Trees Walls Fences and all

other and Singular the Rights Commodityes to them and each and every of them

belonging or appertaining unto him the said Francis Tunge his Heirs

Executors Administrators or Allowed Assigns from the Day of the Date

hereof for and During all the space or Term of Twenty One Years from

thence next ensuing Upon Condition that he the said Francis

Tunge his Heirs Executors Administrators or allowed Assigns shall and do

bear Faith and Allegiance to our Sovereign Lord King George

his Heirs and Successors and to them the said Honourable Company and

their Successors and shall Duly Obey all the Laws and Constitutions of

the said Island and upon Condition also that he the said Francis Tunge

his heirs Executors Administrators or Allowed Assigns shall and do from

time to time and at all times hereafter During the Term of this present Lease

keep up and maintain in good Order and Sufficient and Legal Repaire all

such Buildings Houses Edifices Sheds Tenements Plantations and Fences

as now are or hereafter shall be made Built or Erected thereon and shall

moreover Plant keep up maintain and preserve in and upon the said

hereby Demised Parcell of Land its full Quantity or proportion of Wood

being One Tenth part of the said parcell of Land and shall likewise Plant

and preserve Furze within side and without the Fences of the said parcell of

Land and shall Plant Fruit Tree such as Apple Lemmon Mulberry or

Peach Trees in such parts thereof wherein they are most likely to grow and

if they shall happen to Decay or Dye shall Replant others of the Like sorts

thereon without hurt or Prejudice Nevertheless to any Part of such Land as

shall be set apart for the Sole Purpose of planting and Raising of Yams

Yeilding and paying therefore Yearly and every Year During the

Term of this present Lease unto them the said Honourable Company their

Successors Agents or Assigns the Sume of Five Shillings p Acre in at or upon

the Feast of S:t Michael the Archangell Yearly And upon further

Condition that he the said Francis Tunge his Heirs Executors

Administrators or Allowed Assigns shall not alter or Remove the said Fences they

The Company, owner of the island, rented fifteen acres in the West Division to Francis Junge senior, a planter living there. Open Company ground closed the parcel on every side, north, east, south and west.

Everything on the ground went with it. Junge took the trees, the water and the channels carrying it, the houses, sheds and outbuildings, the yam beds, the fruit trees, the walls and the fences, along with every other benefit belonging to any part of the block. He and those coming after him held it for twenty-one years from the day the arrangement was made.

Loyalty came first among the things asked of him. Junge and his successors had to stay faithful to King George and those following him, and to the Company and its successors, and to keep the rules in force on the island.

Upkeep followed. Every building, shed, outbuilding, planted enclosure and fence had to be held sound throughout the whole period, whether standing at the outset or put up later.

Planting ran alongside. A tenth of the fifteen acres had to be under trees and kept that way, with furze grown along the fences on whichever side suited. Apple, lemon, mulberry or peach were to be set wherever they stood the best chance, and fresh trees of the same sorts put in as older ones failed. None of this was to eat into whatever part of the ground Junge kept for growing yams.

The charge came to £0 5s 0d an acre each year, paid to the Company or to whoever acted for it, falling due at Michaelmas.

One further point closed the arrangement. Neither Junge nor anyone after him could shift or take away the fences.

Interpretations

Open Company ground on all four sides threw the whole fencing burden onto Junge, since no neighbour's wall could serve any part of the boundary. Fifteen acres carried a yearly charge of £3 15s 0d, and building a full perimeter within the first year on a parcel that size ran well beyond that in cost. Three parcels at the sitting of 30 September 1738 stood in the same position, being two acres in Fryer Valley let to Richard Goodwin, four acres at the bottom of Pleasant Valley let to Isaac Leech and two acres in Coles Valley let to Edward Bagley.

Francis Junge had held ground on the island for many years. The Company let him half an acre in February 1730 carrying the springs and watercourses on it, and bound him to leave open as much water as the Governor and Council directed so that cattle grazing on the common land could drink. His ground bounded Richard Mason's thirteen acres and three quarters in Swanleys Valley on two sides at the sitting of 30 September 1738, and he witnessed several instruments across the 1714 to 1716 period, a family name marking one of the continental European households settled on the island alongside the Desfountains and the Duboises.

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being the Limitts or Land marks of the Parcell of Land aforesaid and shall not sell

or Dispose of his Lease or Interest therein without the Leave and Consent of

the Governour and Council for the time being In Witness Whereof the

said Francis Tunge have hereunto set his Hand and Seal this 31: Day of

August Anno Domini One Thousand Seven Hundred and Forty two and they

the said Honourable Company to the other part of these Presents have affixed

their Common Seal the Day and Year Abovewritten

Fran:s Tunge

W

N

15 Acres

E

S

The Lords Proprietors of this Island the Honourable

the United Company of Merchants of England Trading to the East Indies Do

hereby Demise Grant Sett and to Farm Lett unto George Gabriel Powell

Esq:r Governour of the said Island All those Pieces or Parcells of Land

Containing in the whole Twenty Eight Acres Scituate in the West Division of

the said Island Commonly Called or known by the Name of Francis Land Twenty

Acres thereof Butting and Bounding North upon the Companys Waste Land

East partly upon the Honourable Companys Waste Land and partly upon the

Lands of him the said George Gabriel Powell Esq:r South partly upon the

Honourable Companys Waste Land and partly upon the Lands of him the said

George Gabriel Powell Esq:r The other Eight Acres thereof Butting and

Bounding North South and West upon the Honourable Companys Waste Land

and East upon the Lands of him the said George Gabriel Powell Esq:r To

Have and to Hold the said hereby Demised Parcell of Land and every

part and parcell thereof together with all and Singular the Wood Water, Water

Courses Houses, Buildings Edifices Sheds Tenements Yams and Plantations

of Yams Fruit Trees Walls Fences and all other and Singular the Rights

Commodities to them and each and every of them belonging or appertaining unto

unto him the said George Gabriel Powell Esq:r his Heirs Executors Administrators or

Fences marked where Francis Junge senior's fifteen acres began and ended, and neither he nor anyone after him could sell or hand the arrangement on without permission from the Governor and Council in office at the time.

Junge signed the document on 31 August 1742, and the Company sealed its own copy the same day.

Francis Junge, signing in his own name

A drawing set below the signature showed the fifteen acres as a broad block with a ragged outline, notched deeply along its southern edge. A compass beside it marked north, south, east and west, with west lying to the upper left of the page.

The Company also rented twenty-eight acres in the West Division to George Gabriel Powell, esquire and Governor of the island. The ground lay in two pieces.

The larger came to twenty acres, known by the name of Francis's Land. Open Company ground closed it to the north, Company ground and Powell's own land ran along the east, and the southern side met Company ground in part and Powell's land in part.

The smaller came to eight acres. Open Company ground closed it to the north, south and west, and Powell's own land bounded it to the east.

Everything on the ground went with both pieces. Powell took the trees, the water and the channels carrying it, the houses, sheds and outbuildings, the yam beds, the fruit trees, the walls and the fences, along with every other benefit belonging to any part of them.

Interpretations

The name Francis's Land appears in the schedule of the great composite estate Powell sold to Governor John Goodwin for £5,539 6s 4d on 13 September 1739, where the ground held outright was described piece by piece under names including the Bull Post, Francis's Land, Longs and Sufferers. Ground carrying that name therefore returns to Powell's hands here, three years after he parted with an estate of which it formed a part.

Powell took this ground as Governor while holding the office that granted it, having risen from planter to esquire and to the governorship by 1742. He had bought back sixty-nine acres of the late Governor Goodwin's estate from the Company for £835 0s 0d on 1 February 1742, the very acres he had sold Goodwin in 1739, and he was granted three acres of Company waste in Chapel Valley for £3 0s 0d on 7 February 1743.

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Allowed Assigns from the Day of the Date hereof for and During all the Space or

Term of Twenty one Years from thence next Ensuing Upon Condition

that he the said George Gabriel Powell Esq:r his Executors Administrators or

Allowed Assigns shall and Do bear true Faith and Allegiance to our Sovereign

Lord King George his Heirs and Successors and to them the said

Honourable Company and their Successors and shall Duly Observe and Obey all

the Laws and Constitutions of the said Island And upon Condition

also that he the said George Gabriel Powell Esq:r his Heirs Executors

Administrators or Allowed Assigns shall and Do from time to time and at all times

hereafter during the Term of this present Lease keep up and Maintain in good

Order and Sufficient and Legal Repair All such Buildings Houses Edifices Sheds Tenements

Plantations and Fences as now are or hereafter shall be made Built or Erected

thereon and shall moreover Plant keep up maintain and preserve in and upon the

said hereby Demised Parcells of Land its full Quantity or Proportion of Wood being

one Tenth part of the said parcells of Land and shall Likewise Plant and preserve

Furze within side and without the Fences of the said Parcells of Land and shall Plant

Fruit Trees such as Apple Lemmon Mulberry or Peach Trees in such parts

thereof wherein they are most likely to grow And as they shall happen to Decay or

Dye shall Replant others of the Like Sorts thereon without hurt or Prejudice

Nevertheless to any Part of such Land as shall be sett a part for the Sole

Purpose of Planting and Raising of Yams Yeilding and paying

therefore Yearly and every Year during the Term of this Present Lease unto

them the said Honourable Company their Successors Agents or Assigns

the sume of Five Shillings p Acre in at or upon the Feast of S:t Michael the

Arch Angel Yearly And upon furthur Condition that

he the said George Gabriel Powell Esq:r his Heirs Executors Administrators

or Allowed Assigns shall not alter or Remove the said Fences they being the

Limitts or Land marks of the said parcell of Land and shall not sell or Dispose

of this Lease or Interest therein without the Leave and Consent of the

Governour and Council for the time being In Witness whereof the said

George Gabriel Powell Esq:r have hereunto sett his Hand and Seal this 31: Day

of August Anno Domini One Thousand Seven Hundred and Forty two and

they the said Honourable Company to the other Part of these presents have

Affixed their Common Seal the Day and Year Abovewritten

G: G: Powell

George Gabriel Powell and those coming after him held the twenty-eight acres for twenty-one years from the day the arrangement was made.

Loyalty came first among the things asked of him. Powell and his successors had to stay faithful to King George and those following him, and to the Company and its successors, and to keep the rules in force on the island.

Upkeep followed. Every building, shed, outbuilding, planted enclosure and fence had to be held sound throughout the whole period, whether standing at the outset or put up later.

Planting ran alongside. A tenth of the ground had to be under trees and kept that way, with furze grown along the fences on whichever side suited. Apple, lemon, mulberry or peach were to be set wherever they stood the best chance, and fresh trees of the same sorts put in as older ones failed. None of this was to eat into whatever part of the ground Powell kept for growing yams.

The charge came to £0 5s 0d an acre each year, paid to the Company or to whoever acted for it, falling due at Michaelmas.

One further point closed the arrangement. Neither Powell nor anyone after him could shift or take away the fences, since these showed where the ground began and ended, and none of them could sell or hand the arrangement on without permission from the Governor and Council in office at the time.

Powell signed the document on 31 August 1742, and the Company sealed its own copy the same day.

G. G. Powell, signing in his own name

Interpretations

Powell held the governorship and took this ground under his own Council's authority, needing that same body's permission before he could ever hand it on. The register shows the arrangement openly rather than routing it through another name, as it does elsewhere when John Clark signed the Council's sale of the Vaughans ground to himself on 21 October 1754 and John Adamson did the same with the Falconer house on 2 May 1757.

The date of 31 August 1742 places this on the same day Powell traded parcels with John Goodwin, a planter, out of the estate the Company had broken up to recover Governor Goodwin's debt. He sold Goodwin sixteen acres for £204 10s 0d, close to what he had paid the Company for the same ground, handed over twenty-eight acres of rented land for a token £0 10s 0d, and took three acres called the Pound, hemmed by his own house and ground on three sides, for £21 0s 0d.

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The Lords Proprietors of this Island the

Honourable the United Company of Merchants of England Trading to the East Indies

Do hereby Demise Grant Sett and to Farm Lett unto Nathan Sample of the said

Island All that Peice or Parcel of Ground lying in James Valley Scituated between the

Houses of Richard Mason and George Knight Deceased Containing fifty foot in

the Front and Sixty foot in the Length or Depth together with all and Singular

that Messuage or Tenement now Built or Erected by the said Nathan Sample

Together with all and Singular the Cellars, Chambers, Rooms, Ways, Entries

Backsides, Houses, Buildings, Easements, Proffits, Commodities and

Appertenances whatsoever which now do, or which hereafter shall belong unto the

said Ground Messuage or Tenement or shall in any wise thereunto appertain

To have and to hold the said hereby Demised Premisses and every part and

Parcel thereof and all and Singular the appertenances thereunto belonging unto

him the said Nathan Sample, his Heirs, Executors Administrators or allowed

Assigns from the day the Date of these Presents for and During all the

space or Term of Twenty one Years from thence next Ensuing Upon

Condition that he the said Nathan Sample. his Heirs, Executors Administrators

or allowed Assigns shall and do bear true faith and Allegiance to our Sovereign

Lord King George, his Heirs and Successors and to them the said Honoble

Company and their Successors and shall Duely Obey all the Laws and

Constitutions of the said Island and upon Condition also that he the

said Nathan Sample, his Heirs, Executors, Administrators or allowed Assigns

shall and do at the End or Determination of this Present Lease. Leave, Yeild

up and Surrender in good Order and Repair unto them the said Honourable

Company their Successors Agents or Assigns all such Buildings or Edifices

which shall hereafter be built or Erected in or upon the said Peice of Ground

with all and Singular the Appertenances thereunto belonging or Appertaining

Yeilding and Paying therefore, Yearly and every Year During the

Term of this Present Lease, unto them the said Honourable Company their

Successors Agents or Assigns the Sum of Two Shillings and Six pence in at

or upon the Feast of S:t Michael the Arch Angel Yearly and upon

further Condition that he the said Nathan Sample, his Heirs

Executors, Administrators or allowed Assigns shall not sell or Dispose of this

Lease or Interest therein without the Leave and Consent of the Governour

& Council for the time being, In Witness Whereof he the said Nathan Sample

have hereunto sett his hand and Seal this Seventh day of September in the Year

of our Lord One Thousand Seven Hundred and Forty two and they the said

Honourable Company to the other part of these Presents have Affixed their

Common Seal the Day and Year above Written.

Nathan Sampell

The Company, owner of the island, rented a plot of ground in James Valley to Nathan Sample, living there. The plot stood between the houses of Richard Mason and the late George Knight, measuring fifty feet across the front and sixty feet in depth. A dwelling Sample had already built stood on it, and the arrangement carried the cellars, chambers, rooms, passages, entrances, back ground, houses, outbuildings, rights of use, and every benefit belonging to the ground or the building then or later.

Sample and those coming after him held the plot for twenty-one years from the day the arrangement was made.

Loyalty came first among the things asked of him. Sample and his successors had to stay faithful to King George and those following him, and to the Company and its successors, and to keep the rules in force on the island.

At the close of the period he had to hand back the ground in good repair, along with every building put up on it and everything belonging to them.

The charge came to £0 2s 6d each year, paid to the Company or to whoever acted for it, falling due at Michaelmas.

One further point closed the arrangement. Neither Sample nor anyone after him could sell or hand it on without permission from the Governor and Council in office at the time.

Sample signed the document on 7 September 1742, and the Company sealed its own copy the same day.

Nathan Sample, signing in his own name

Interpretations

Town ground carried none of the planting, fencing or timber duties that fill every rural arrangement in this run. The single obligation was to give back the ground and the buildings in good repair at the end, and the charge stood at a flat £0 2s 6d rather than at so much an acre, since a plot measured in feet of frontage could not be reckoned by acreage. The register handles James Valley parcels this way throughout, Francis Wrangham paying £0 19s 0d for 3,750 square feet behind his own yard in July 1737 and Charles Steward £0 14s 6d for 2,940 square feet.

Sample built the house before he had any title to the ground beneath it. The Company regularised the position afterwards, as it did when the men settling William Dufton's affairs gave John George Newman a house and ground he had already built on, and when John Goodwin took a Company grant on 14 November 1738 for a James Valley plot where his own dwelling already stood.

Requiring the buildings to be surrendered at the end shows why a twenty-one year span discouraged substantial building. Anything Sample raised passed to the Company when the period closed, which is the reason the arrangement made with John Goodwin on 30 September 1737 for James Valley ground ran instead on three lives, giving a horizon long enough to justify building in stone.

Richard Mason next door had bought a house from Joseph Bates for £200 0s 0d on 15 July 1741, that dwelling standing between his own house and Sample's, so the same stretch of the valley was changing hands among a small circle within a year of this arrangement.

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The Lords Proprietors of this Island the Honourable the

United Company of Merchants of England Trading to the East Indies Do hereby Demise

Grant sett and to Farm Lett unto John Goodwin of the said Island Planter All that Peice or Parcell

of Land Containing three Acres Scituate in the South Division of this Island Butting and Bounding

South upon the Lands of Charles Steward North East and West upon the Lands of James Cranfield

Deceased To have and to Hold the said hereby Demised parcell of Land and every part and

Parcell thereof together with all and singular the Wood Water Water Courses Howses Buildings

Edifices Sheds Tenements Yams and Plantation of Yams Fruit Trees Walls Fences and all other

and Singular the Rights Commodityes to them and each and every of them belonging or appertaining

unto him the said John Goodwin his Heirs Executors Administrators or Allowed Assigns from

the Day of the Date hereof for and During All the space or Term of Twenty One Years from thence

next Ensuing Upon Condition that he the said John Goodwin his Heirs Executors Administrators

or Allowed Assigns shall and do bear true faith and Allegiance to our Sovereign Lord King

George his Heirs and Successors and to them the said Honourable Company and their

Successors and shall Duly Observe and Obey all the Laws and Constitutions of the said Island

and upon Condition also that he the said John Goodwin his Heirs Executors Administrators

or Allowed Assigns shall and do from time to time and at all times hereafter during the Term

of this Lease Keep up and Maintain in good Order and sufficient and legal Repair all such

Buildings Houses Edifices Sheds Tenements Plantations and Fences as now are or hereafter

shall be made Built or Erected thereon and shall moreover Plant keep up maintain and

preserve in and upon the said hereby Demised Parcell of Land its full Quantity or proportion

of Wood being One Tenth part of the said Parcell of Land and shall Likewise Plant and

preserve Furze within side and without the fences of the said parcell of Land and shall

Plant Fruit Trees such as Apple Lemmon Mulberry or Peach Trees in such parts thereof

wherein they are most likely to grow and as they shall happen to Decay or Dye shall Replant

others of the like Sorts thereon without hurt or Prejudice Nevertheless to any part of such

Land as shall be sett a part for the sole purpose of Planting and raising of Yams Yeilding

and paying therefore Yearly and every Year during the Term of this present Lease

unto them the said Honourable Company their Successors Agents or Assigns the Sume of five

Shillings p Acre in at or upon the Feast of S:t Michael the Arch Angell Yearly And

upon further Condition that he the said John Goodwin his heirs Executors

Administrators or Allowed Assigns shall not Alter or Remove the said Fences they being the

Limitts or Landmarks of the parcell of Land aforesaid and shall not sell or dispose of this

Lease or Interest therein without the Leave and Consent of the Governour and Council for the

time being In Witness whereof he the said John Goodwin have hereunto sett his Hand and

Seal this Seventh Day of September in the Year of our Lord One Thousand Seven Hundred and

Forty two And they the said Honourable Company to the other Part of these Presents have affixed

their Common Seal this Day and Year Abovewritten

John Goodwin

Witness

F: Wrangham Jun:r

The Company, which owned the island, rented three acres in the South Division to John Goodwin, a planter living there. Charles Steward's land ran along the southern edge, and ground belonging to the late James Craufurd surrounded the parcel on the other three sides.

Goodwin got the trees, the water and its channels, the houses, sheds and outbuildings, the yam beds, the fruit trees, the walls and the fences, and anything else that came with the land. He and his heirs could use it for twenty-one years.

He first had to promise loyalty. Goodwin and those after him were to stay true to King George and his successors, and to the Company and its successors, and to follow the island's rules.

Keeping the place in order came next. Every building, shed, outbuilding, planted enclosure and fence had to be kept sound throughout, whether it stood there already or went up later.

Planting went with the upkeep. A tenth of the three acres had to be under trees and stay that way, with furze grown along the fences on whichever side worked best. Apple, lemon, mulberry or peach were to go in wherever they had the best chance of thriving, and new trees of the same sort planted as old ones died off. None of this was to cut into any part of the ground Goodwin used for yams.

He paid £0 5s 0d an acre a year to the Company or its agents, due at Michaelmas.

One last point rounded off the agreement. Goodwin could not move or pull down the fences, since they showed where the land started and stopped, and nobody could pass the agreement on to anyone else without the Governor and Council's say-so.

Goodwin signed on 7 September 1742, and the Company sealed its copy that day.

Witness to the signing: F. Wrangham junior

John Goodwin, signing in his own name

Interpretations

James Craufurd is noted as dead on three sides of this small parcel. His name turns up in the list of West Division ground the Company sold George Gabriel Powell for £835 0s 0d on 1 February 1742, where the late James Crafford is one of the neighbours marking the bounds, so his land kept fixing other people's edges after he died.

The date of 7 September 1742 puts this on the same day the Governor and Council sold Samuel Doveton twenty-four acres in the West Division for £295 0s 0d out of the late Governor John Goodwin's estate, which was broken up to cover what he owed the Company. The clerk copied several of that week's papers in together, and the John Goodwin taking these three acres is the planter who got ground back from Powell in the same round of dealings, not the Governor whose estate was being sold off.

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136

The Lords Proprietors of this Island The

Honourable the United Company of Merchants

of England Trading to the East Indies Do hereby

Demise Grant Sett and to Farm Lett unto Robert Gurling Senior of the said Island Planter

All that Peice or Parcel of Land Containing One Acre and half of an Acre Scituate in the South

Division of this Island Butting and Bounding North East South and West upon the Honourable

Companys Waste Lands To have and to hold the said hereby Demised Parcell of

Land and every part and Parcell thereof together with all & Singular the Wood Water Water

Courses Houses Buildings Edifices Sheds Tenements Yams & Plantations of Yams Fruit

Trees Walls Fences and all other & Singular the Rights Commodityes to them and each and

every of them belonging or appertaineing unto him the said Robert Gurling his Heirs Executors

Administrators or allowed Assigns from the Day of the Date hereof for and During all the

space or Term of Twenty One Years from thence next Ensuing Upon Condition that

he the said Robert Gurling his Heirs Executors Administrators or allowed Assigns shall and

do bear true faith and Allegiance to our Sovereign Lord King George his Heirs and

Successors and to them the said Honourable Company and their Successors and shall Duly

Observe & Obey all the Laws and Constitutions of the said Island And upon

Condition also that he the said Robert Gurling his Heirs Executors Administrators

or allowed Assigns shall and do from time to time and at all times hereafter During the

Term of this Present Lease keep up and maintain in good Order and sufficient and legall

Repair all such Buildings Houses Edifices Sheds Tenements Plantations and Fences as

now are or hereafter shall be made Built or Erected thereon and shall Moreover Plant

keep up maintain and Preserve in and upon the said hereby Demised Parcell of Land its

full Quantity or Proportion of Wood being One Tenth part of the said parcell of Land and

shall Likewise Plant and preserve Furze within side and without the Fences of the

said Parcell of Land and shall Plant Fruit Trees such as Apple Lemmon Mulberry or

Peach Trees in such Parts thereof wherein they are most Likely to grow and as they shall

happen to Decay or Dye shall Replant others of the Like sorts thereon without hurt

or Prejudice Nevertheless to any Part of such Land as shall be sett a part for the

sole Purpose of Planting & Raising of Yams Yeilding & paying therefore

Yearly and every Year during the Term of this Present Lease unto them the said

Honourable Company their Successors Agents or Assigns the Sume of Five Shillings p

Acre in at or upon the Feast of S:t Michael the Arch Angell And upon further

Condition that he the said Robert Gurling his Heirs Executors Administrators or Allowed

Assigns shall not Alter or Remove the said Fences they being the Limitts or Land Marks of the

Parcell of Land aforesaid & shall not Sell or Dispose of this Lease or Interest therein without

the Leave and Consent of the Governour & Council for the time being In Witness

whereof he the said Robert Gurling have hereunto sett his Hand and Seal this Fifth

Day of October in the Year of our Lord One Thousand Seven Hundred and Forty two &

they the said Honourable Company to the other Part of these Presents have Affixed their

Common Seal the Day & Year Abovewritten

Robert Gurling

The Company, which owned the island, rented an acre and a half in the South Division to Robert Gurling senior, a planter living there. Open Company ground closed the parcel in on all four sides.

Gurling got the trees, the water and its channels, the houses, sheds and outbuildings, the yam beds, the fruit trees, the walls and the fences, and anything else that came with the land. He and his heirs could use it for twenty-one years.

He first had to promise loyalty. Gurling and those after him were to stay true to King George and his successors, and to the Company and its successors, and to follow the island's rules.

Keeping the place in order came next. Every building, shed, outbuilding, planted enclosure and fence had to be kept sound throughout, whether it stood there already or went up later.

Planting went with the upkeep. A tenth of the ground had to be under trees and stay that way, with furze grown along the fences on whichever side worked best. Apple, lemon, mulberry or peach were to go in wherever they had the best chance of thriving, and new trees of the same sort planted as old ones died off. None of this was to cut into any part of the ground Gurling used for yams.

He paid £0 5s 0d an acre a year to the Company or its agents, due at Michaelmas.

One last point rounded off the agreement. Gurling could not move or pull down the fences, since they showed where the land started and stopped, and nobody could pass the agreement on without the Governor and Council's say-so.

Gurling signed on 10 October 1742, and the Company sealed its copy that day.

Robert Gurling, signing in his own name

Interpretations

Company ground on every side meant Gurling had to build the whole fence himself, with no neighbour's wall to take any part of the line. An acre and a half brought in only £0 7s 6d a year, so the cost of walling it ran well past what the Company got from it.

Robert Gurling had taken Company ground before. He got two acres of gumwood at the head of Sandy Bay Valley on 8 February 1726, land that sat against John Goodwin's ground, and ten acres and a half at Oak Gut at the sitting of 30 September 1738, where the drawings showed the ground as two pieces of six acres and four and a half though the writing described one parcel.

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137

The Lords Proprietors of this Island The

Honourable the United Company of Merchants

of England Trading to the East Indies Do hereby

Demise Grant sett and to Farm Lett unto Ebenezar Leach of the said Island All that Peice or parcell

of Land containing about Twenty Six foot square Butting and Bounding North South and West upon

the Hon:ble Companys Waste Land and East upon the Land of the said Ebenezar Leach To have

and to Hold the said hereby Demised Premises and every Part and parcel thereof and all and

singular the Appurtenances thereunto belonging unto him the said Ebenezar Leach his Heirs

Executors Administrators or allowed Assigns from the Day of the Date of these presents for and

During all the space or Term of Twenty One Years from thence next Ensuing Upon

Condition that he the said Ebenezar Leach his Heirs Executors Administrators or

allowed Assigns shall and do bear true faith and Allegiance to our Sovereign Lord King

George his heirs and Successors and to them the said Honourable Company and their

Successors and shall duly Obey all the Laws and Constitutions of the said Island And upon

Condition also that he the said Ebenezar Leach his Heirs Executors Administrators or

allowed Assigns shall and do at the End or Determination of this Present Lease Leave Yeild up

and Surrender in good Order and repair unto them the said Honourable Company their Successors

Agents or Assigns all such Buildings or Edifices which shall hereafter be Build or Erected in or

upon the said Parcell of Ground with all and singular the Appurtenances thereunto belonging

or appertaining Yeilding and paying therefore yearly and every Year during the

Term of this present Lease unto them the said Hon:ble Company their Successors Agents or

Assigns the sume of Two Shillings and six pence in at or upon the Feast of S:t Michael the

Archangell yearly And upon further Condition that he the said Ebenezar

Leach his Heirs Executors Administrators or Allowed Assigns shall not sell or Dispose of this

Lease or Interest therein without the Leave and Consent of the Governour and Council for the time

being In Witness whereof he the said Ebenezar Leach have hereunto sett his Hand and

Seal this 19th Day of October in the Year of our Lord one Thousand Seven Hundred

and Forty two and they the said Hon:ble Company to the other Part of these Presents have

affixed their Common Seal the Day and year abovewritten

Signed Sealed & delivered

in the Presence of us

Dixon

Powell

The Mark of

Ebenezar Leach

The Company, which owned the island, rented a plot of about twenty-six feet square to Ebenezer Leach, living there. Open Company ground closed it in to the north, south and west, and Leach's own land ran along the east.

Leach got the plot with everything belonging to it. He and his heirs could use it for twenty-one years.

He first had to promise loyalty. Leach and those after him were to stay true to King George and his successors, and to the Company and its successors, and to follow the island's rules.

At the end of the period he had to hand the plot back in good repair, along with any buildings put up on it and everything that went with them.

He paid £0 2s 6d a year to the Company or its agents, due at Michaelmas.

One last point rounded off the agreement. Nobody could sell it or pass it on without the Governor and Council's say-so.

Leach signed on 19 October 1742, and the Company sealed its copy that day. He could not write and made his mark.

Witnesses to the signing: Dixon and [...]

Ebenezer Leach, by his mark

Interpretations

A plot of twenty-six feet square comes to under a sixteenth of an acre, and the Company charged for it the same flat £0 2s 6d it charged Nathan Sample for his James Valley house plot five weeks earlier. Ground this small carried none of the planting or fencing duties that ran through the rural agreements, only the promise to give it back in repair, which marks it as a building plot rather than land for growing anything.

Ebenezer Leach had held rural ground for years and signed with a mark each time. He shared sixteen acres at the head of the easternmost branch of Deep Valley with John Worrall from 27 December 1726, Worrall writing his own name while Leach made his mark, and he took fourteen acres in Pleasant Valley and eleven in Dogwood Valley at the sitting of 30 September 1738. He had already sold two Deep Valley pieces of fifteen and eight acres to Henry Multon for £60 0s 0d on 7 February 1734, so a man handling holdings of that size still could not write his name.

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138

The Lords Proprietors of this Island The

Honourable the United Company of Merchants of

England Trading to the East Indies Do hereby

Demise Grant sett and to Farm Lett unto the Heirs and Representatives of Cap:t

John Alexander Deceased all that Peice or Parcell of Land containing Seven

Acres & an half scituate lying and being in the East Branch of Sandy Bay Valley

in the South Division of the said Island butting and Bounding towards the South

upon a small Parcell of Land hired by Thomas Greentree Planter scituate in the

said Valley & towards the North East & West upon the said Hon:ble Companys Waste

Land & Ledge of Rocks which serves for a Natural fence on part of the said West

side of the said Demised Land To have and to Hold the said

hereby Demised Parcell of Land and every Part and Parcell thereof together

with all and Singular the Wood Watter Watercourses Houses Buildings

Edifices Sheds Tenements Yams and Plantation of Yams Fruit Trees

Walls Fences and all other and Singular the Rights Commodityes to them and

each and every of them belonging or appertaining unto them the said

Representatives, their Heirs Executors Administrators or allowed Assigns

from the Day of the Date hereof for and during all the Space or Term of

Twenty one years from thence next During Upon Condition

that they the said Representatives their Heirs Executors Administrators or

allowed Assigns shall and do bear true faith and Allegiance to our Sovereign

Lord King George, his heirs and Successors and to them the said Hon:ble

Company and their Successors and shall Duly observe and obey all the Laws

and Constitutions of the said Island And upon Condition also that

they the said Representatives their Heirs Executors & Administrators or allowed

Assigns shall and do from time to time and at all times hereafter during the

Term of this Lease keep up and maintain in good Order and sufficient

and Legall repair all such Buildings Houses Edifices Sheds Tenements

Plantations and Fences as now are or hereafter shall be made Built or

Erected thereon and shall moreover Plant keep up maintain and preserve

in and upon the said hereby Demised Parcell of Land its full Quantity or

Proportion of Wood being one Tenth Part of the said parcell of Land and shall

Likewise Plant and preserve Furze within side and without the Fences of

the said parcell of Land and shall Plant Fruit Trees such as Apple Lemon

Mulberry or Peach Trees in such Parts thereof wherein they are most Likely

Memorandum That this Lease being wrong Entered makes

it of no Signification

The Company, which owned the island, rented seven acres and a half in the east branch of Sandy Bay Valley to the heirs and representatives of the late Captain John Alexander. The ground lay in the South Division. A small parcel rented by Thomas Greentree, a planter, ran along the southern edge. Company ground closed it to the east and west, and to the north the parcel ran up against Company ground and a ledge of rocks, which served as a natural boundary along part of that side.

They got the trees, the water and its channels, the houses, sheds and outbuildings, the yam beds, the fruit trees, the walls and the fences, and anything else that came with the land. They and their heirs could use it for twenty-one years.

They first had to promise loyalty. The family and those after them were to stay true to King George and his successors, and to the Company and its successors, and to follow the island's rules.

Keeping the place in order came next. Every building, shed, outbuilding, planted enclosure and fence had to be kept sound throughout, whether it stood there already or went up later.

Planting went with the upkeep. A tenth of the ground had to be under trees and stay that way, with furze grown along the fences on whichever side worked best. Apple, lemon, mulberry or peach were to go in wherever they had the best chance of thriving.

A note at the foot of the page recorded that the clerk had entered the agreement in the wrong place, so it counted for nothing as written.

Interpretations

The ledge of rocks doing the work of a fence on part of the northern edge was worth writing down, since these agreements bound holders to build and keep up walls right round their ground. A rock face that stock could not cross saved that stretch of walling, and the same reasoning lay behind the Company letting John French enclose seven or eight acres of barren cliff for nothing on 30 September 1738, a line along the clifftop running straight where one along its foot would wander.

The Alexander family's ground appears across this whole run of agreements. Three separate arrangements at the sitting of 30 September 1738 covered nineteen acres, sixteen near the head of Powell's Valley and twenty of gumwood, fifty-five in all, held by Governor Goodwin and Richard Beale for the widow Mary Alexander and six of the children. Their land also marked the eastern edge of Edward Bagley's thirty-nine acres and the western edge of Gabriel Harper's thirty-two.

Speculations

The clerk cancelled the whole entry by a note rather than striking it through or cutting the leaf out. Crossing it out would have been the plainer course and appears elsewhere in the register, but the words stayed legible with only a line at the foot to say they carried no force. Leaving the text standing kept the terms readable for whoever copied the agreement into its proper place, and it left a record of what had gone wrong rather than a blank the next clerk would have to puzzle over.

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Grow and as they shall happen to Decay or Dye shall Replant others of the like sorts

thereon without Hurt or Prejudice Nevertheless to any part of such Land as shall be set

apart for the Sole Purpose of Planting and raising of Yams Yeilding and

Paying therefore yearly and every Year during the Term of this present Lease

unto them the said Hon:ble Company their Successors Agents or Assigns the sume of

Four Shillings p Acre in at or upon the Feast of S:t Michael the Archangell yearly

And upon further Condition That they the said Representatives

their Heirs Executors Administrators or allowed Assigns shall not Alter or Remove

the said Fences they being the Limitts or Land marks of the parcell of Land aforesaid

and shall not sell or Dispose of this Lease or Interest therein without the Leave and

Consent of the Governour and Council for the time being In Witness whereof

they the said Representatives have hereunto set his hand & Seal this Ninth Day

of November in the year of our Lord one Thousand Seven Hundred and Forty two

and they the said Hon:ble Company to the other Part of these Presents have Affixed

their Common Seal the Day and year abovewritten

Memorandum That the above Lease being wrong enterd is of no signification

New trees of the same sort had to go in on the Alexander family's seven acres and a half as old ones died off, and none of the planting was to cut into any part of the ground kept for yams.

They paid £0 4s 0d an acre a year to the Company or its agents, due at Michaelmas.

One last point rounded off the agreement. The family could not move or pull down the fences, since they showed where the land started and stopped, and nobody could sell it or pass it on without the Governor and Council's say-so.

They signed on 9 November 1742, and the Company sealed its copy that day.

A note at the foot of the page repeated that the clerk had entered the agreement in the wrong place, so it counted for nothing.

Interpretations

The charge here stood at £0 4s 0d an acre rather than the £0 5s 0d running through almost every other agreement of this period. Thomas Greentree got the same reduced figure on his thirty-one acres at the sitting of 30 September 1738, but only because he gave up an earlier holding to get it, and no such trade appears here.

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140

The Lords Proprietors of this Island The Honourable

the United Company of Merchants of England Trading

to the East Indies, Do hereby demise grant sett and to Farm lett

unto Richard Beale and Samuel Alexander Executors of the Last Will and

Testament of Cap:t John Alexander deceased. All that piece or parcell of

Land containing Seven Acres and an half Scituate Lying and being in the

East Branch of Sandy Bay Valley in the South Division of the said Island

Butting and bounding towards the South upon a small parcell of Land hired

by Thomas Greentree. Planter Scituate in the said Valley and towards the

North East and West upon the Honourable Companys Wast Land and Ledge of

Rocks which serves for a Natural Fence on part of the said West side of the

said Demised Land in Trust and for the use nevertheless of Mary late the Wife

of him the said John Alexander and all such Children by them begotten

being Two Sons and three Daughters Viz:t John, George, Mary, Rebecca and

Rachael. That is to say one third part thereof for the use of her the said

Mary Alexander Widdow during the Term of this present Lease if she shall

so long live and the other two Third parts thereof for the use of his said

Five Children, To have and to hold the said hereby Demised

Parcell of Land and Every part and Parcell thereof together with all

and singular the Wood Water Water Courses Howses Buildings Edifices Sheds

Tenements Yams and Plantation of Yams Fruit Trees Walls Fences and

all other and singular the rights Commodityes to them and each and Every

of them the said Richard Beale and Samuel Alexander in trust and for

the use of them the said Widdow and Children from the Day of the Date hereof

for and during all the space or Term of twenty one Years from thence next

ensuing Upon Condition that they the said Widdow and

said Children their Heirs Executors, Administrators or allowed Assigns

shall and do bear true faith and Allegiance to our Sovereign Lord

King George his Heirs and Successors and to them the said Honourable

Company and their Successors and shall duly observe and obey all the

Laws and Constitutions of the said Island And upon condition

also that they the said Widow and Children their Heirs Executors

Administrators or allowed Assigns shall and do from time to time and at all

times hereafter During the Term of this present Lease keep up and maintain

in good order and Sufficient and Loyal repair all such Buildings Howses

Edifices & Sheds Tenements Plantations and Fences as now are or hereafter

shall be made Built or Erected thereon and shall moreover Plant keep up

maintain and preserve in and upon the said hereby demised parcell of Land

its full Quantity or proportion of Wood being one tenth part of the

The Company, which owned the island, rented seven acres and a half in the east branch of Sandy Bay Valley to Richard Beale and Samuel Alexander, the two men settling the affairs of the late Captain John Alexander. The ground lay in the South Division. A small parcel rented by Thomas Greentree, a planter, ran along the southern edge. Company ground closed it to the north, east and west, and a ledge of rocks served as a natural boundary along part of the western side.

The two took the land not for themselves but for the dead man's family. Mary Alexander, his widow, was to have a third of it for as long as she lived within the period of the agreement, and the remaining two thirds went to his five children, the sons John and George and the daughters Mary, Rebeca and Rachael.

They got the trees, the water and its channels, the houses, sheds and outbuildings, the yam beds, the fruit trees, the walls and the fences, and anything else that came with the land, held for the widow and children for twenty-one years.

Loyalty came first among the things asked of them. The widow, the children and those after them were to stay true to King George and his successors, and to the Company and its successors, and to follow the island's rules.

Keeping the place in order came next. Every building, shed, outbuilding, planted enclosure and fence had to be kept sound throughout, whether it stood there already or went up later.

Planting went with the upkeep. A tenth of the ground had to be under trees and stay that way.

Interpretations

This is the same seven acres and a half the clerk had already copied twice into the wrong place, cancelling both entries by a note at the foot. Here it appears properly, with the two men settling the estate named as the takers and the family's shares spelled out, which the earlier attempts had left as a bare reference to the heirs and representatives.

Five children share the two thirds here, where the three arrangements sealed at the sitting of 30 September 1738 named six, the sons Samuel, John and George and the daughters Mary, Rebeckah and Rachel, with a seventh child Sarah left out because her marriage to James Powell had already provided for her. Samuel Alexander appears in this document not as one of the children taking a share but as one of the two men settling the estate, so a son had come of age and stepped into the handling of his father's affairs in the four years since.

The widow taking a third for her lifetime and the children dividing the rest follows the pattern running through every family arrangement of this period, covering the households of John Burling, Solomon Burling, James Greentree, Thomas Harper, Sutton Isaac and Joseph Harding.

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141

the said Parcell of Land and shall likewise plant and preserve Furze withinside or

without the Fences of the said Parcell of Land and shall plant Fruit Trees such as Apple

Lemon Mulberry or Peach trees in such parts thereof wherein they are most likely to

Grow and as they shall happen to Decay or dye shall replant others of the like sorts

thereon without hurt or Prejudice nevertheless to any part of such Land as shall be sett

a part for the Sole purpose of Planting or raiseing of Yams Yeilding and

paying therefore Yearly and every Year during the Term of this present Lease

unto them the said Honourable Company there Successors Agents or assigns the Sum

of five shillings p Acre in at or upon the Feast of S:t Michael the Archangell

yearly. And upon further Condition that they the said Widdow and

Children their Heirs Executors & Administrators or allowed assigns shall not alter or

remove the said Fences they being the Limitts or Land Marks of the Parcell of Land aforesaid

and shall not sell or dispose of this Lease or Interest therein without the Leave and

consent of the Governour and Council for the time being. In Witness whereof

we the said Executors have hereunto set our Hand and Seal this ninth Day of

November one Thousand Seven Hundred and Forty two and they the said Honourable

Company to the other part of these presents have affixed their Common Seal the Day

and Year abovewritten

Signed Sealed & Delivered

in the Presence of

Dixon

F: Wrangham Jun:r

Rich:d Beale

Sam: Alexander.

7 1/2 Acres in Sandy Bay Valley

N:o

S.

E.

Furze had to be grown along the fences of the Alexander family's seven acres and a half on whichever side worked best. Apple, lemon, mulberry or peach were to go in wherever they had the best chance of thriving, and new trees of the same sort planted as old ones died off. None of this was to cut into any part of the ground kept for yams.

The charge came to £0 5s 0d an acre a year, paid to the Company or its agents, due at Michaelmas.

One last point rounded off the agreement. The widow and children could not move or pull down the fences, since they showed where the land started and stopped, and nobody could sell it or pass it on without the Governor and Council's say-so.

Richard Beale and Samuel Alexander signed on 9 November 1742, and the Company sealed its copy that day. Each of them set a separate seal beside his name.

Witnesses to the signing: Dixon and F. Wrangham junior

Richard Beale, signing as one of the two men settling the estate

Samuel Alexander, signing as one of the two men settling the estate

A drawing set below the names showed the ground as a long low block running east and west, dipping to a point along its lower edge and narrowing towards the eastern end, marked as seven acres and a half in Sandy Bay Valley. A compass beside it marked north, south and east.

Interpretations

The charge here reads £0 5s 0d an acre where the cancelled copy of the same agreement carried £0 4s 0d, so the earlier figure was among the errors that led the clerk to void that entry and write the whole thing out afresh.

Two seals stand beside two names, each man bound in his own person. Anyone holding land for a family might later have to answer for how the other had handled it, which is why the register shows separate seals wherever more than one person took ground in this way, as with the three men holding two acres and a half for the Burling widow and her sons at the sitting of 30 September 1738.

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142

The Lords Proprietors of this Island The Honourable

the United Company of Merchants of England Trading to the

East Indies Do hereby demise grant sett and to Farm lett unto John

Aldrich of the said Island All that Peice or Parcell of Ground Containing

sixteen foot in Breadth and Thirty Eight foot in Length Scituate Lying

and being in James Valley on the Back Part of the said John Aldricks

dwelling House and Adjoyning to the East Corner of his Back Yard next

to the main Watter Course To have and to Hold the said hereby

demised premises and every Part and parcell thereof and all and Singular

the Appurtenances thereunto belonging unto him the said John Aldrich his

Heirs Executors Administrators or allowed Assigns from the day of the

date of these presents for and during all the space or Term of Twenty

one Years from thence next Ensuing Upon Condition that he the

said John Aldrich his Heirs Executors Administrators or allowed Assigns

shall and Do bear true Faith and Allegiance to our sovereign Lord

King George his Heirs and Successors and to them the said Honourable

Company and their Successors and shall Duly Obey all the Laws and Constitutions

of the said Island and upon Condition also that he the said John Aldrich

his Heirs Executors Administrators or allowed Assigns shall and do at the End or

determination of this Present Lease Leave Yeildup and Surrender in good order

in good Order and repair unto them the said Honourable Company their Successors

Agents and assigns all such Buildings or Edifices which shall hereafter be Build or

Erected in or upon the said Parcell of Ground with all and Singular the Appurtenances

thereunto belonging or appertaining Yeilding and paying therefore Yearly and

every Year during the Term of this Present Lease unto them the said Honourable Company

their Successors Agents or Assigns the sum of two Shillings and six pence in at or

upon the Feast of S:t Michael the Archangel Yearly. And upon further

Condition that he the said John Aldrich his Heirs Executors Administrators

or allowed Assigns shall not sell or dispose of this Lease or Interest therein without

the Leave and Consent of the Governour and Council for the time being In Witness

whereof he the said John Aldrich have hereunto set his Hand and Seal this

Ninth Day of November in the Year of our Lord one Thousand Seven Hundred

and Forty two, and they the said Honourable Company to the other part of these

presents have affixed their Common Seal the Day and Year abovewritten

Signed Sealed and Delivered

in the Presence of

Dixon

Powell

The mark + of

John Aldrich

The Company, which owned the island, rented a strip of ground in James Valley to John Aldrich, living there. It measured sixteen feet across and thirty-eight feet long, lying behind his house and running from the eastern corner of his back yard to the main watercourse.

Aldrich got the strip with everything belonging to it. He and his heirs could use it for twenty-one years.

He first had to promise loyalty. Aldrich and those after him were to stay true to King George and his successors, and to the Company and its successors, and to follow the island's rules.

At the end of the period he had to hand the ground back in good repair, along with any buildings put up on it and everything that went with them.

He paid £0 2s 6d a year to the Company or its agents, due at Michaelmas.

One last point rounded off the agreement. Nobody could sell it or pass it on without the Governor and Council's say-so.

Aldrich signed on 9 November 1742, and the Company sealed its copy that day. He could not write and made his mark.

Witnesses to the signing: Dixon and [...]

John Aldrich, by his mark

Interpretations

The strip ran back from an existing yard to the watercourse, so the Company was letting out the leftover space behind a row of houses. Several such parcels appear across this run, the four pieces of back ground sold to William Gaa on 31 March 1730, the narrow strip granted Thomas Greentree on 23 September 1740, and the plots let behind the yards of Francis Wrangham, Charles Steward, Richard Goodwin and Frances Carne across 1737 and 1738.

Running the boundary to the watercourse rather than to a wall or a neighbour tied the plot to the channel carrying water down the valley. Agreements of this period bound holders to leave streams flowing freely for the Company's use, since the water supplied the town and the shipping in the road, so a strip ending at the main channel could not be built out to block it.

A sergeant named Aldrich appears in the register some years later, his earlier occupation of a James Valley house being used to fix the bounds when John Bland sold that dwelling to John Robinson on 18 August 1756, by which date he is recorded as dead.

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143

The Lords Proprietors of this Island The Honourable the United

Company of Merchants of England trading to the East

Indies Do hereby demise grant sett and to Farm let unto Benjamin Pledger

of the said Island Planter all that Peice or parcell of Land Containing Seven Acres

Scituate Lying and being in Shirks Valley Butting and Bounding towards the North upon the

Pasture Land of Isaac Wood Sergeant towards the East upon the Eleven Acres of Gumwood

Land Lately hired William Seal Planter towards the West upon the Eight Acres and

half Land hired by Bodget Bazett and towards the South upon the said Pledgers

own Land formerly Jonathan Higham Seniors To have and to hold the

said hereby demised Parcell of Land and every part and parcell thereof together

with all and singular the Wood Watter Watter Courses Howses Buildings

Edifices Sheds Tenements Yams and Plantations of Yams Fruit Trees Walls Fences

and all other and singular the rights Commodityes to them and each and Every

of them Belonging or Appertaining unto him the said Benjamin Pledger

his Heirs Executors Administrators or allowed Assigns from the Day of the Date

hereof for and During all the Space or term of twenty one years from thence

next ensuing Upon Condition that he the said Benjamin Pledger

his Heirs Executors Administrators or Allowed Assigns shall and do bear True

faith and Alleagiance to our Sovereign Lord King George His Heirs and

Successors and to them the said Honourable Company and their Successors and

shall duly observe and obey all the Laws and Constitutions of the said Island

and upon Condition also that He the said Benjamin Pledger

his Heirs Executors Administrators or allowed Assigns shall and do from Time

to Time and at all Times hereafter during the Term of this Lease keep up and

maintain in good order and Sufficient and Ligal repair all such Buildings Howses

Edifices Sheds Tenements Plantations and Fences as now are or hereafter shall

be made Built or Erected thereon and shall moreover plant keep up maintain and

preserve in and upon the said hereby demised parcell of Land its full quantity or

proportion of Wood being one tenth part of the said Parcell of Land and shall

Likewise plant and preserve Furze withinside and without the Fences of the said

Parcell of Land and shall plant Fruit trees such as Apple Lemon Mulberry

or Peach trees in Such parts thereof wherein they are most Likely to Grow and

as they shall Happen to decay or dye shall replant others of the Like Sorts

thereon without Hurt or prejudice nevertheless to any part of such Land as shall

be set apart for the sole purpose of Planting and raising of Yams Yeilding

and paying therefore Yearly and every Year during the term of this

Present Lease unto them the said Honourable Company their Successors Agents or

Assigns the Sum of Five Shillings p Acre in at or upon the feast of Saint

Michaell the Archangel yearly And upon further Condition

that he the said Benjamin Pledger his Heirs Executors Administrators or

allowed assigns shall not alter or remove the said Fences they being the Land

The Company, which owned the island, rented seven acres in Sharks Valley to Benjamin Pledger, a planter living there. Pasture ground held by Isaac Wood, a sergeant, lay along the northern edge. Eleven acres of gumwood land lately rented by William Seal, a planter, closed the parcel to the east, eight acres and a half rented by Prideot Bazett ran along the west, and Pledger's own ground, once Jonathan Higham senior's, bounded it to the south.

Pledger got the trees, the water and its channels, the houses, sheds and outbuildings, the yam beds, the fruit trees, the walls and the fences, and anything else that came with the land. He and his heirs could use it for twenty-one years.

He first had to promise loyalty. Pledger and those after him were to stay true to King George and his successors, and to the Company and its successors, and to follow the island's rules.

Keeping the place in order came next. Every building, shed, outbuilding, planted enclosure and fence had to be kept sound throughout, whether it stood there already or went up later.

Planting went with the upkeep. A tenth of the seven acres had to be under trees and stay that way, with furze grown along the fences on whichever side worked best. Apple, lemon, mulberry or peach were to go in wherever they had the best chance of thriving, and new trees of the same sort planted as old ones died off. None of this was to cut into any part of the ground Pledger used for yams.

He paid £0 5s 0d an acre a year to the Company or its agents, due at Michaelmas.

One last point rounded off the agreement. Pledger could not move or pull down the fences, since they marked where the land started and stopped.

Interpretations

Isaac Wood appears here as a sergeant, a rank above the ensign recorded when he sold John Burling ten acres in the East Division for £95 0s 0d on 6 July 1735. The register gives him as corporal, cooper and free planter at earlier dates, so the descriptions attached to him shifted with each occasion rather than fixing what he was.

Benjamin Pledger had been gathering ground in this quarter for years. He bought fifteen acres in Prosperous Bay Valley from John and Naomi Bradley for £5 0s 0d in November 1733, took eight acres of gumwood in Youngs Valley from the Company on 8 November 1726, and was confirmed in two further pieces of freehold in the East Division on 14 January 1738, both adjoining ground he already had. He also held the sixteen acres in Fishers Valley for the five children of the late Joseph Hayes under the arrangement of 30 September 1738.

Ground once Jonathan Higham senior's now stands in Pledger's own hands on the southern side. The Highams were stone cutters tied to the lime kiln in Sandy Bay Valley, and the orphans of Jonathan Higham junior appear on a boundary in 1729, so the family's land was passing to others within a generation.

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marks of the Parcell of Land afforesaid and shall not sell or dispose

of this Lease or intrest therein without the Leave and Consent of the

Governour and Councill for the time being In Witness where of

He the said Benjamin Pledger have hereunto set his Hand and Seal this

Ninth Day of November one Thousand seven Hundred and Forty Two

and they the said Honourable Company to the other part of these

Presents have affixed their Common Seal the Day and Year abovewritten

Signed Sealed & Delivered

in the presence of us

Dixon

F: Wrangham Jun:r

Benj:n Pledger

W.

S

7 Acres

N.

E

Know all Men by these presents that Wee the

Governour and Council of the Island S:t Helena Do by virtue of Power

and Authority Given us by the Honourable the United Company

of Merchants of England Trading to the East Indies

to make Sale of such part or parts of the Estate of the Deceased John Goodwin

Esq:r late their Servant at this Island as will be sufficient to answer and make

good such sums of Money as it hath appeared the Late John Goodwin Esq:r

hath Imbezzelled of the property or belonging to the Estate of the said

Honourable, the United Company of Merchants of England trading to the

East Indies, Have for and in Consideration of the Sum of Eight Hundred

and Thirty five pounds of good and Current Money of the said Island Have

given granted Bargained Sold and Delivered and Do by these Presents give

grant Bargain Sell and Deliver unto George Gabriel Powell Esq:r Governour

of the said Island his Heirs Executors Administrators and Assigns All that

piece or parcel of Land Containing Sixty nine Acres of five Wild Land Scituate in

the West Division of the said Island Butting and Bounding North partly upon

the Honourable Companys Pasture Land and partly upon the Lands of John Goodwin

South partly upon the Lands of Samuel Doveton, and the Lands late belonging to

James Grafford Dec:d East partly upon the Lands of James Crafford Dec:d Charles Steward

Deceased Joseph Powell and John Youngs Orphants and West partly upon

Benjamin Pledger could not sell his seven acres in Sharks Valley or pass them on without the Governor and Council's say-so. He signed on 9 November 1742, and the Company sealed its copy that day.

Witnesses to the signing: Dixon and F. Wrangham junior

Benjamin Pledger, signing in his own name

A drawing set below the names showed the seven acres as a four-sided block, wider at the top and tapering towards the foot. A compass beside it marked north, south, east and west, with west lying at the top of the page.

The Governor and Council of St Helena, acting on authority the Company had given them, sold sixty-nine acres of freehold in the West Division to George Gabriel Powell, esquire and Governor of the island. They held that authority to sell whatever part of the late John Goodwin's estate would raise enough money to cover what he had taken from the Company's property while serving it on the island. Powell paid £8,035 0s 0d in island money.

Company pasture ground and John Goodwin's land closed the parcel to the north. Samuel Doveton's ground and land once belonging to the late James Crafford lay to the south. To the east it met the land of the late James Crafford, the late Charles Steward, Joseph Powell and the orphans of John Young, and the western side ran against further ground.

Interpretations

The Company sold off the late Governor's estate to recover what he had taken from it, so the island's government was turning on the property of the man who had lately led it. He had bought Powell's whole composite estate for £5,539 6s 4d on 13 September 1739, and after his death the ground came back piece by piece, this being the largest lot.

Powell signed as Governor while standing as the buyer, taking under his own Council's authority land he had sold Goodwin three years earlier. The register records the double role openly, as it does when John Clark signed the Council's sale of the Vaughans ground to himself on 21 October 1754 and John Adamson did the same with the Falconer house on 2 May 1757.

The names fixing the eastern boundary run through the same estate. James Crafford, Charles Steward, Joseph Powell and the Young orphans appear in the list of ground Goodwin had bought in 1739, so the parcel returning to Powell here was described by the very neighbours recited when he first parted with it.

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The Honourable Company Ann Johnson and Sam:l Doveton's Pasture Lands Likewise

Twenty Acres of Free hold Land known by the Name of Longe Butting and Bounding North and

East upon the Honourable Companys Wast Land South upon the Lands of John Youngs

Orphants and West partly upon the Honourable Companys Wast Lands and partly upon

the Lands of John Goodwin with all and Singular the rights Previledges Commodityes

and Appertenances thereto belonging or appertaining to have and to hold the said

hereby bargained premises to him the said George Gabriel Powell Esq:r his Heirs Executors

Administrators and Assigns for Ever to do and dispose thereof as he they or either of

them shall think fitt or proper Upon Condition that he the said George Gabriel

Powell Esq:r his Heirs Executors Administrators or assigns shall and do bear true

faith and Allegiance to our Sovereign Lord King George his Heirs and Successors

and to them the said Honourable Company and their Successors and shall duly observe and

obey all the Laws and Constitutions of the said Island And Wee the Governour and Council

of the said Island aforesaid for and in behalf and in the name of the Honourable Company

their Heirs and Successors do Covenant promise and agree to and with him the said George

Gabriel Powell Esq:r his Heirs Executors Administrators and Assigns that he they and every

of them shall peacibly and Quietly possess and Enjoy from henceforth and at all times hereafter

all and every part and parcel thereof Yeilding and Paying therefore Yearly and Every Year

unto them the said Honourable Company their Successors Agents and Assigns the sum of one

Shilling p:r Acre in at or about the Feast of S:t Michael the Arch Angel yearly together

with all and Singular the rights Previledges Commodityes and Appertenances thereunto

belonging or appertaining without any Lett Hindrance Molutation or Disturbance by

of or from the said Honourable Company or their Successors or of from by or under any

other Persons Whatsoever by our or their means Consent Privity or procurements In

Witness where of he the said George Gabriel Powell Esq:r have here unto Sett his hand

and Seal this Day of February in the Year of our Lord one Thousand Seven Hundred

and forty two And they the said Honourable Company to the other part of these Presents

have Affixed their Common Seal the Day and Year above Written.

Signed Sealed and Delivered

in the Presence of us

Start of crossed out section

The Company's pasture ground, together with the pasture of Ann Johnson and Samuel Doveton, closed the western side of the sixty-nine acres George Gabriel Powell bought.

The sale took in a further twenty acres of freehold known as Longs. Company ground closed that parcel to the north and east, land held for the orphans of John Young lay to the south, and the western side ran against Company ground in part and John Goodwin's land in part.

Everything attached went with both parcels, and Powell and his heirs held them outright, to use or dispose of as they thought fit.

He had to promise loyalty. Powell and his successors were to stay true to King George and his successors, and to the Company and its successors, and to follow the island's rules.

The Governor and Council, speaking for the Company and for its successors, undertook to Powell and his heirs that he and every one of them would hold the ground quietly and peaceably from that time on and at all times afterwards, and would enjoy every part of it. He paid £0 1s 0d an acre a year, due at Michaelmas, and took with the land every right, privilege and benefit belonging to it, free of any interference, trouble or disturbance from the Company, its successors or anyone acting through them, whether openly or otherwise.

Powell signed in February 1742, the clerk leaving the day blank, and the Company sealed its copy the same day. The space left for witnesses stayed empty.

End of crossed out section

Interpretations

Strokes run the length and breadth of the whole page, so the clerk voided the entire entry rather than any part of it, taking out the boundaries, the terms, the payment and the signature together. The Company had used the same remedy a few leaves earlier when the Alexander family's seven acres and a half went into the register twice in the wrong place, both attempts cancelled by a note before the agreement was written out properly.

The name Longs on the twenty-acre parcel appears in the schedule of the great estate Powell sold Governor John Goodwin for £5,539 6s 4d on 13 September 1739, where the ground was listed piece by piece under names including the Bull Post, Francis's Land, Longs and Sufferers. That ground comes back to him here under the same name it carried when he parted with it.

Ann Johnson holds pasture on the western boundary in her own name, a daughter of Joshua Johnson. Her land also marked the edge of the fifty acres and three quarters Powell sold Samuel Doveton for £650 0s 0d on 17 May 1744.

The yearly payment of £0 1s 0d an acre came to £4 9s 0d across the eighty-nine acres, small against the £8,035 0s 0d purchase price, and it kept the Company's ownership visible on ground it had sold outright.

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The Lords Proprietors of this Island The Honourable the

United Company of Merchants of England Traiding to

the East Indies Do hereby Demise grant sett and to Farm Lett unto George

Gabriel Powell Esq:r of the said Island Governour All that peice or parcel of

Land containing Nine acres Scituate in the West Division of the said Island Lying

and being under high Hill Butting and Bounding towards the North upon the Lands

of Francis Wrangham Planter towards the East West and South upon the Honourable

Companys Waste land Likewise Five Acres of Land known by the Name of Tay tons Scituate

in the East Division of the said Island Butting and Bounding North upon the Lands of

John Goodwin South upon the Lands of James Powel East upon the Lands of Jonathan

Doveton and West upon the Land of Joseph Powell Likewise Seven Acres and a half Acres

of Land known by the name of Longs Butting and Bounding North East and south upon

the Honourable Companys Waste Land and West upon the Lands of John Goodwin

to have and to hold the said hereby demised parcells of Lands and Every

Part and Parcel there of together with all and Singular the Wood Water Water

Courses Howses Buildings Edifices Sheds Tenements Yams and Plantation of Yams

Fruit Trees Walls Fences and all other and singular the Rights Commodityes to them

and Each and every of them belonging or appertaining unto him the said George

Gabriel Powell Esq:r his Heirs Executors Administrators or Allowed Assigns

from the Day of the Date hereof for and during all the space or Term of Twenty one

Years from thence next Ensuing Upon Condition that the said George

Gabriel Powell Esq:r his Heirs Executors Administrators or allowed Assigns

shall and Do bear true faith and Allegiance to our Sovereign Lord King

George his Heirs and Successors and to them the said Honourable Company and

their Successors and shall duly observe and obey all the Laws and Constitutions

of the said Island And upon Condition, also that he the said George

Gabriel Powell Esq:r his Heirs Executors Administrators or Allowed Assigns shall

and Do from time to time and at all times hereafter During the Term of this Lease,

keep up and mentain in good order and sufficient and Legal repair all such

Buildings Howses Edifices Sheds Tenements Plantations and Fences as now are

or hereafter shall be made Built or Erected thereon and shall Moreover Plant

keep up maintain and reserve in and upon the said hereby Demised parcels of

Lands its full quantity or proportion of Wood being the one tenth part of

the said parcels of Lands and shall likewise plant and preserve Furze within

side and without the Fences of the said Parcells of Lands and shall plant Fruit

Trees such as Apple Lemon Mulberry or Peach Trees in such parts there of

wherein they are most likely to grow and as they shall happen to decay or Dye

shall replant other of the like Sorts thereon without hurt or prejudice nevertheless

to any part of Such Land as shall be set a part for the sole purpose of planting and

The Company, which owned the island, rented three separate pieces of ground to George Gabriel Powell, esquire and Governor of the island.

The first came to nine acres in the West Division, lying under High Hill. Francis Wrangham's land ran along the northern edge, and open Company ground closed it to the east, west and south.

The second came to five acres in the East Division, known as Taylors. John Goodwin's land lay to the north, James Powell's ground to the south, Jonathan Doveton's land to the east, and Joseph Powell's ground to the west.

The third came to seven acres and a half, known as Longs. Open Company ground closed it to the north, east and south, and John Goodwin's land ran along the west.

Powell got the trees, the water and its channels, the houses, sheds and outbuildings, the yam beds, the fruit trees, the walls and the fences, and anything else that came with the three pieces. He and his heirs could use them for twenty-one years.

He first had to promise loyalty. Powell and those after him were to stay true to King George and his successors, and to the Company and its successors, and to follow the island's rules.

Keeping the place in order came next. Every building, shed, outbuilding, planted enclosure and fence had to be kept sound throughout, whether it stood there already or went up later.

Planting went with the upkeep. A tenth of the ground had to be under trees and stay that way, with furze grown along the fences on whichever side worked best. Apple, lemon, mulberry or peach were to go in wherever they had the best chance of thriving, and new trees of the same sort planted as old ones died off. None of this was to cut into any part of the ground kept for yams.

Interpretations

Longs turns up here as seven acres and a half rented for twenty-one years, where the cancelled entry on the leaf before described twenty acres of the same name sold outright. The Company was breaking the late Governor John Goodwin's estate into pieces of different sizes under different terms, so a name attaching to a stretch of ground covered whatever part of it was in question at the time.

Taylors runs on in the register long after this. Thomas Greentree held ground of that name by October 1761, taking fractions of a five-acre parcel from Jonathan Doveton on 4 September 1760 and 30 September 1761, and it marked the eastern edge of the twenty acres called Bisley when Francis Wrangham sold them to Benjamin Mason on 12 October 1761. The name traces back to Samuel Tayler, confirmed in twenty-nine acres of Fryer Valley gumwood on 8 February 1726.

Three men named Powell appear on this page, George Gabriel taking the ground while James Powell and Joseph Powell hold land on two sides of the Taylors parcel. The family had spread across the island's dealings for a generation, James selling John Bazett a James Valley house for £50 0s 0d on 22 June 1737 and Joseph selling Joshua Johnson another for £200 0s 0d on 27 March 1744.

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147

Raising of Yams Yeilding and paying therefore yearly and Every Year During the Term

of this present Lease unto them the said Honourable Company their Successors Agents or Assigns The

Sum of five Shillings p Acre in at or upon the Feast of S:t Michael the Arch Angel Yearly

And upon further Condition that the said George Gabriel Powell Esq:r his Heirs Executors

Administrators or Allowed Assigns shall not alter or remove the said Fences they being the Limitts

or Land marks of the Parcels of Lands aforesaid And shall not sell or Dispose of this Lease or Intrest

therein with out the Leave and Consent of the Governour and Councils for the time being In

Witness where of He the said George Gabriel Powel Esq:r hath hereunto sett his Hand and seal

this Day of February in the Year of our Lord one Thousand Seven Hundred and forty

two and they the said Honourable Company to the other part of these Presents hath Affixed

their Common seal the Day and Year above Written

Signed sealed and Delivered

in the Presence of us.

Dixon

G: G: Powell

NB this Lease is of no Consiquence it being Renewed on Other terms with an Addition

of Land, on Peak Hill, And the Land under High Hill fling up.

George Gabriel Powell paid £0 5s 0d an acre a year on his three pieces, due at Michaelmas.

One last point rounded off the agreement. Powell could not move or pull down the fences, since they marked where the land started and stopped, and nobody could sell it or pass it on without the Governor and Council's say-so.

Powell signed in February 1742, the clerk leaving the day blank, and the Company sealed its copy the same day.

Witness to the signing: Dixon

G. G. Powell, signing in his own name

A note added at the foot recorded that the agreement no longer counted for anything. It had been made afresh on different terms, taking in more ground at Peak Hill, and the land under High Hill had been given back.

Interpretations

Powell gave back the nine acres under High Hill and took ground at Peak Hill in their place, so the Company was moving a holder from one stretch of country to another rather than simply adding to what he had. Joseph Desfountain had been treated the same way in February 1730, handing back two acres and receiving three in Chapel Valley to keep his block together.

Both this page and the one before carry cancellations, the earlier struck through in full and this one voided by a note. Two attempts to settle Powell's ground therefore came to nothing within days of each other, which points to the terms being reworked more than once before the arrangement finally stood.

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The Lords Proprietors of this Island The

Honourable the United Company of

Merchants of England Trading to the East

Indies Do hereby Demise Sett & to farm Lett unto the Reverend Edwin

Alcock of this Island all that peice or Parcell of Land Scituate in James Valley

containing one Acre and one quarter, adjoyning on the North upon the said Hon:ble

Companys Slaughter house South upon the Common or Waste Land East upon the

Water Course running into the Garden belonging to the Castle & West upon the

Main Water Course running into the Sea or Ocean this the Great Sluce &

not in any place to come nearer than Ten foot to the Water Course, running to

the Grand for the use & Supply of the said Hon:ble Companys Shipping To have

and to hold the said hereby demised parcel of Land & every part & parcel

thereof & all & Singular the Appurtenances thereunto belonging unto him the

said Reverend Edwin Alcock his heirs Executors or Allowed Assigns from

the Day of the date hereof for and during all the Space or Term of Twenty

one Years from thence next Ensuing Upon Condition that he the

Reverend Edwin Alcock his heirs Executors, or allowed Assigns shall and do

bear true faith & Allegiance to our Sovereign Lord King George

his heirs & Successors and to them the said Honourable Company and their

Successors & shall duly observe & Obey all the Laws & Constitutions of the said

Island and upon Condition also that he the said Reverend Edwin

Alcock his heirs Ex:rs Adm:rs or Allowed Assigns shall & do from time to

time & at all times hereafter during the Term of this present Lease keep up &

maintain in good order & sufficient & Legal repair all such Buildings Houses

Edifices Sheds Tenements Plantations and Fences as now are or hereafter

shall be made built or erected thereon, & shall moreover Plant keep up

maintain & preserve in and upon the said hereby Demised parcells of Land

its full quantity of Wood being one Tenth part of the said parcel of Land

Yeilding & Paying therefore Yearly and every Year during the Term of

this present Lease unto them the said Honourable Company their Successors

Agents or Assigns the Sume of Twenty Shillings in at or upon the feast of S:t

Michael the Archangel Yearly And upon further Condition that he the said

Reverend Edwin Alcock shall not sell Dispose of said Lease or Interest

therein without the Leave and Consent of the Governour & Council for the time

being In Witness whereof he the said Reverend Edwin Alcock hath

hereunto Sett his hand & Seal this 20:th day of September in the Year of our

Lord one Thousand Seven hundred & forty three & they the said Honourable

Company to the other part of these presents hath affixed their Common Seal

the Day & year abovewritten

Signed Sealed & Delivered

in the presence of

W:m Newfeld

Edwin Alcock

Margin Notes:

for natural Lives

renewable upon

the Death of either

after 3 Rejoined

upon payment

of half a year

Rent at the

Admittance of

each Life or

new Nominee

The Company, which owned the island, rented an acre and a quarter in James Valley to the Reverend Edwin Alcock, living there. The Company's slaughter house lay along the northern edge. Common ground closed the parcel to the south, the watercourse running into the Castle garden bounded it to the east, and the main channel running down to the sea by the Great Arch closed it to the west. No building was to stand within ten feet of that channel anywhere along its length, since it carried the water supplying the Company's shipping.

Alcock got the parcel with everything belonging to it.

The clerk first wrote that he and his heirs could use it for twenty years, then struck that out and put the arrangement on lives instead. It was to run for as long as any of three people lived, those being Alcock himself, Margaret Alcock his wife, and Elizabeth his daughter. A note in the margin recorded that a fresh name could be entered as each of them died, on payment of half a year's charge.

He first had to promise loyalty. Alcock and those after him were to stay true to King George and his successors, and to the Company and its successors, and to follow the island's rules.

Keeping the place in order came next. Every building, shed, outbuilding, planted enclosure and fence had to be kept sound throughout, whether it stood there already or went up later. A tenth of the ground had to be under trees and stay that way.

He paid £1 0s 0d a year to the Company or its agents, due at Michaelmas.

One last point rounded off the agreement. Nobody could sell it or pass it on without the Governor and Council's say-so.

Alcock signed on 20 September 1743, and the Company sealed its copy that day.

Witness to the signing: [...]

Edwin Alcock, signing in his own name

Interpretations

The ten-foot clearance from the main channel protected the town's most important piece of plumbing. Water running down James Valley to the Great Arch and on to the sea supplied the ships lying in the road, so a blocked or fouled channel would have interrupted the victualling of every vessel calling at the island. Governor John Goodwin's arrangement of 30 September 1737 carried the same protection over an acre and a half in the same quarter, keeping buildings twenty-five feet clear of the channel running to the crane.

Changing the arrangement from twenty years to three lives on the face of the document shows the decision taken while the clerk was writing. A span of years ends whatever happens, where lives with a right of renewal go on as long as the family can find the payment, so the change gave a clergyman and his household a settled position rather than a fixed term.

The parcel sat among the Company's own working buildings, the slaughter house to the north and the Castle garden's water supply to the east. Ground of that kind in James Valley was scarce and closely held, and the charge of £1 0s 0d for an acre and a quarter stood far above the £0 5s 0d an acre paid on country land.

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The Lords Proprietors of this Island The Hon:ble the

United Company of Merchants of England Trading to

the East Indies Do hereby demise & to farm Lett unto Joseph Powell of

this Island Free Planter all that piece or parcel of Land Scituate & being in Lemon

Valley adjoyning Northwards to the Drift way & Southwards to the Lands of the

Hon:ble Company lately possessed by Eliz:h Greentree dec:d containing two Acres & Likewise

the Land known by the Name of the Tobacco Springs containing Two & half

Acres To have and to hold the said hereby demised parcells of Land

& every part & parcel thereof & all & Singular the Appurtenances thereunto belonging

And in Consideration that the said Two Acres in Lemon Valley can be of no

Service to the said Joseph Powell he intending to Plant Yams thereon Unless

he hath the use of the Water running into the Lands adjoyning to the Southwards

of him We therefore Grant him full power right & Liberty to Turn the Water

four days in every Six Days either in whole quantity or any part upon the

aforesaid demised two Acres of Land through such Course or Courses as he

shall think proper to make from time to time on in or upon the af:d Land

adjoyning Southward & possessed by Elizabeth Greentree deceased without any

hindrance or Disturbanse from any person or persons whatsoever Unto him

the said Joseph Powell his heirs Ex:ors or Allowed Assigns from the date

hereof for & during all the Space or Term of the natural Lives of him the

the said Joseph Powell, James Powell & Josiah Charlesworth Powell

& the Longer Liver of them Renewable upon the Death of either of

the said Nominees upon Payment of half a Years Rent at the Admitance

of each Life or new Nominee, Upon Condition that he the

said Joseph Powell his heirs Ex:ors or Allowed Assigns shall & do

bear true faith & allegiance to our Sovereign Lord King George his

heirs & Successors & to them the said Hon:ble Company and their Successors

& shall duly observe & obey all the Laws & Constitutions of the said Island

And upon Condetion also that the said Joseph Powell his

heirs Ex:ors or Allowed Assigns shall & do from time to time & at all

times hereafter during the Term of this present Lease keep up & maintain

in good order & Sufficient & Legal repair all such Buildings Houses Edifices

Sheds Tenements Plantations & fences as now are or hereafter shall

be made Built or Erected thereon & shall moreover Plant keep up

maintain & preserve in & upon the said hereby Demised parcell of Land

its full Quantity of Wood being one Tenth part of the said parcel of

The Company, which owned the island, rented two pieces of ground to Joseph Powell, a free planter living there.

The first came to two acres in Lemon Valley. The stock route ran along the northern edge, and ground once held by the late Elizabeth Greentree lay to the south.

The second came to two acres and a half, known as the Tobacco Springs.

Powell got both pieces with everything belonging to them.

Water settled the terms of the first piece. The two acres in Lemon Valley were worth little to him unless he could draw on the stream running through the ground to the south, since he meant to plant yams there. The Company therefore let him turn the water onto those two acres for four days in every six, either the whole flow or any part of it, by whatever channels he chose to cut from time to time across the neighbouring ground that Elizabeth Greentree had held, and nobody was to hinder him in doing so.

The arrangement ran for as long as any of three people lived, those being Powell himself, James Powell and Josiah Charlesworth Powell. A fresh name could be entered as each of them died, on payment of half a year's charge.

He first had to promise loyalty. Powell and those after him were to stay true to King George and his successors, and to the Company and its successors, and to follow the island's rules.

Keeping the place in order came next. Every building, shed, outbuilding, planted enclosure and fence had to be kept sound throughout, whether it stood there already or went up later. A tenth of the ground had to be under trees and stay that way.

Interpretations

Four days in every six is a share of the water rather than a right to all of it, so the stream was being divided by time between neighbouring holders rather than by any physical splitting of the flow. Water was the scarce thing on the island, and the register shows the Company reserving rights over it repeatedly, keeping springs open for cattle on the common in the arrangements made with Francis Junge and John Knipe junior on 2 February 1730, and holding back enough for its own herds when it granted Richard Goodwin the ground called Carne's Gutt on 4 October 1727.

Letting Powell cut whatever channels he thought fit across ground he did not hold gave him a working right over his neighbour's land. The ground to the south had been Elizabeth Greentree's, a widow who held Company land in Lemon Valley under the arrangement sealed on 14 September 1731, and she is recorded here as dead, so the Company was granting the right across land whose new occupier had no say in the matter.

The Tobacco Springs takes its name from an earlier use, as the smaller of Elizabeth Greentree's two Lemon Valley pieces had carried the name Tobacco Plain. Tobacco had evidently been grown in that quarter at some point, and the name stuck to the ground long after the crop had gone.

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150

Land Yeilding and Paying therefore yearly and every

Year during the Term of this present Lease unto them the said Hon:ble

Company their Successors Agents or Assigns the Sume of five Shillings p Acre

in at & upon the feast of S:t Michael the Archangel Yearly and Upon

further Condetion that he the said Joseph Powell shall not Sell or

dispose of this Lease or Interest thereain without the Leave & Consent of

the Governour & Council for the time being In Witness whereof he the

said Joseph Powell hath hereunto set his hand and Seal this Fourteenth

December in the year of our Lord one Thousand Seven hundred and

Forty three and they the said Honourable Company to the other part of

these Presents hath Affixed their Common Seal the day & year

abovewritten

Joseph Powell

Signed Sealed

and delivered

in the Presence of

Jos: Powell.

Joseph Powell paid £0 5s 0d an acre a year on the two pieces, due at Michaelmas.

One last point rounded off the agreement. Nobody could sell it or pass it on without the Governor and Council's say-so.

Powell signed on 14 December 1743, and the Company sealed its copy that day.

Witness to the signing: G. G. Powell

Joseph Powell, signing in his own name

Interpretations

George Gabriel Powell witnessed as Governor of the island while a member of his own family took the ground. The register records the connection openly rather than putting another name to it, and the same overlap runs through the sitting of 30 September 1738, where trustees held land for families whose boundaries touched their own.

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The Lords Proprietors of this Island The

Hon:ble the United Company of Merchants of

England Trading to the East Indies Do hereby

Demise sett & to farm Lett unto George Gab:l Powell Esq:r of the s:d Island Gov:r All

that peice or parcel of Land Containing 14 Acres Nine Acres whereof Scituate &

being upon Peak hill butting & bounding South upon the free Land of him the said

G: G: Powell Esq:r West upon the Lands of John Goodwin & North & West upon the

Waste Lands of the Hon:ble Company The other five Acres known by the Name of

Taylors Butting & bounding North upon the Lands of John Goodwin South

upon the Lands of James Powell Esq:r upon the Lands of Jon:a Doveton & West

upon the Lands of Joseph Powell To have & to hold the s:d hereby

demised parcel of Land & every part & parcell thereof together with all &

Singular the Wood Water Water Curses House Buildings Edifices Sheds &

Tenem:ts Yams & plantations of Yams Fruit Trees Walls Fences and

all other & Singular the Rights Commodityes to them & each & every of them

belonging or appertaining unto him the s:d G: G: Powell Esq:r his heirs

Ex:ors Adm:ors or allowed Assigns from the day of the date hereof for & during

all the space or Term of the natural Lives of the s:d G: G: Powell Sarah

Powell his Wife, & Dorothy Powell his Daughter, & the longest Liver of

either of them renewable upon the death of either the s:d Nominees upon

Payment of half a years Rent at the admittance of each Life or new

Nominees Upon Condition that he the said George Gab:l Powell his

heirs Executors or allowed Assigns shall & do bear true faith & Alleganance to

our Sovereign Lord King George his heirs & Successors & to them the said

Hon:ble Comp:y & their Successors & shall duly observe & obey all the Laws

and Constitutions of the s:d Island And upon Condition

also that he the s:d G: G: Powell Esq:r his heirs Ex:ors Adm:ors or allowed

Assigns shall & do from time to time, & at all times hereafter during the

Term of this present Lease keep & maintain in good order & Sufficient

& Legal repair all such Buildings Houses Edifices Sheds Tenem:ts

Plantations & Fences as now are or hereafter shall be made built or

erected thereon & shall moreover plant keep up Maintain & preserve in

& upon the s:d hereby demised parcell of Land its full quantity or

Proportion of Wood being one Tenth part of the s:d parcel of Land &

shall Likewise plant & preserve Furze within side & without the

fences of the s:d parcells of Land & shall Plant fruit Trees such as

Apple Lemon & Mulberry or peach Trees in such Parts thereof wherein

The Company, which owned the island, rented fourteen acres at Peak Hill to George Gabriel Powell, esquire and Governor of the island. The ground lay in two pieces.

The first came to nine acres. Powell's own land held outright lay to the south, John Goodwin's ground closed it to the west, and open Company ground bounded it further west.

The second came to five acres, known as Taylors. John Goodwin's land ran along the northern edge, James Powell's ground lay to the south, Jonathan Doveton's land to the east, and Joseph Powell's ground to the west.

Powell got the trees, the water and its channels, the houses, sheds and outbuildings, the yam beds, the fruit trees, the walls and the fences, and anything else that came with either piece.

The arrangement ran for as long as any of three people lived, those being Powell himself, Sarah Powell his wife, and Dorothy Powell his daughter. A fresh name could be entered as each of them died, on payment of half a year's charge.

He first had to promise loyalty. Powell and those after him were to stay true to King George and his successors, and to the Company and its successors, and to follow the island's rules.

Keeping the place in order came next. Every building, shed, outbuilding, planted enclosure and fence had to be kept sound throughout, whether it stood there already or went up later.

Planting went with the upkeep. A tenth of the ground had to be under trees and stay that way, with furze grown along the fences on whichever side worked best. Apple, lemon, mulberry or peach were to go in wherever they had the best chance of thriving.

Interpretations

This is the arrangement the note on the earlier page pointed to. Powell had held nine acres under High Hill together with Taylors and Longs for twenty-one years, and that agreement was struck out because he gave back the High Hill ground and took land at Peak Hill in its place. Here the exchange stands recorded, with Taylors carried across and the new Peak Hill acres added, and the whole put on lives rather than on a fixed span.

Naming his wife and daughter as the other two lives kept the ground within his own household, the course taken by Samuel Doveton with his children and by William Worrall senior with his sons and daughter. Sarah and Dorothy Powell appear nowhere else in the register, so a Governor's family enters the record only through the tenure of his land.

Taylors ran on in the island's dealings for another twenty years. Thomas Greentree held ground of that name by October 1761, taking fractions of a five-acre parcel from Jonathan Doveton on 4 September 1760 and 30 September 1761 under a lives-based agreement dated February 1743, which is very probably this one.

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they are most likely to grow & as they shall happen to decay or dye, shall

replant others of the like Sorts thereon without hurt or prejudice

Nevertheless to any part of such Land as shall be set apart for the

Sole purpose of Planting & raising of Yams Yeilding

and Paying therefore Yearly & Every Year during the Term

of this present Lease, unto them the s:d Hon:ble Company their

Successors Agents or Assigns the sume of one Shilling & Sixpence p

Acre & no more in Consideration of the great Quantity of Barken

upon the said Land in at or upon the feast of S:t Michaell the Arch

angel Yearly And upon further Condition that

he the said George Gabriel Powell Esq:r his heirs Executors Adm:rs

or allowed Assigns shall not alter or remove the said fences they being

the Limits or Land marks of the parcell of Land aforesaid & shall not

sell or dispose of this Lease or Interest therein with:t the leave of the

Gov:r & Councill for the time being In Witness whereof he the s:d

George Gabriel Powell Esq hath hereunto set his hand & Seale this 7:th

Day of Feb:y 1743. And they the s:d Hon:o Comp:y to the other

part of these presents hath Affixed their Common Seal

the Day & Year above Written

Signed Sealed &c:a

in the presence of

Joseph Powell

G: G: Powell

The Lords Proprietors of this Island the

Honourable the United Company of Merchants of England

Traiding to the East Indies Do hereby Demise, Grant,

Sett, and to Farm unto James Powell of this Island Planter

All that peice or parcell of Land Containing Six Acres

three Acres whereof Scituate and being behind his Dwelling House

butting & bounding North and East upon the Waste Land of the

Honourable Company and West & South upon the Lands of him

the said James Powell The other three Acres Adjoyning to

ten Acres of him the said James Powells free hold Land And

known by the Name of the Bean Ground Butting & Bounding

North East & partly West upon the Honourable Companys

New trees of the same sort had to go in on George Gabriel Powell's fourteen acres as old ones died off, and none of the planting was to cut into any part of the ground kept for yams.

He paid £0 1s 6d an acre a year and no more, the reduced figure allowed because so much of the ground was barren. Payment fell due at Michaelmas.

One last point rounded off the agreement. Powell could not move or pull down the fences, since they marked where the land started and stopped, and nobody could sell it or pass it on without the Governor and Council's say-so.

Powell signed on 17 February 1743, and the Company sealed its copy that day.

Witness to the signing: Joseph Powell

G. G. Powell, signing in his own name

The Company also rented six acres to James Powell, a planter living on the island. The ground lay in two pieces.

The first came to three acres behind his house. Open Company ground closed it to the north and east, and his own land bounded it to the west and south.

The second came to three acres adjoining ten acres of his own ground held outright, known as the Bean Ground. Company ground ran along the north and east and part of the west.

Interpretations

Powell paid £0 1s 6d an acre where the standard charge across this whole run stood at £0 5s 0d, so barren ground brought the figure down to under a third. The register handled the same problem differently elsewhere, charging Edward Bagley on thirty acres out of thirty-nine and Samuel Doveton on two out of twelve while leaving the rate untouched. Here the acreage stayed whole and the rate itself was cut.

The reduced figure of £0 1s 6d an acre matches what the Company charged John Burling for ten acres in Deep Valley kept solely for growing fuel timber under the arrangement of 26 January 1730 and nine acres more on 17 August 1731. A rate the Company used to secure a supply of wood served here to make poor ground worth holding at all.

Joseph Powell witnessed his kinsman's agreement two months after George Gabriel Powell had witnessed his, so the two men attested for one another in turn within the same family and the same few weeks.

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Waste Lands South and partly West upon the Lands of him the

said James Powells To have and to hold the said hereby

Demised Parcells of Land and every part and parcell thereof

together with all and singular the Wood Water Water Courses

Howses Buildings Edifices Sheds Tenements Yams and

Plantations of Yams Fruit Trees Walls Fences and all other

and Singular the Rights Commodityes to them and each and

every of them belonging or Appertaining unto him the said

James Powell his Heirs Executors Administrators or Allowed

Assigns from the Day of the Date hereof for and during all

the space or Term of twenty one Years from thence next Ensuing

Upon Condition That he the said James Powells his Heirs

Executors Administrators or allowed Assigns shall and do bear

true faith to our Sovereign Lord King George his Heirs

and Successors and shall duly obey all the Laws and Constitutions

of the said Island And upon Condition also that he

the said James Powell his Heirs Executors Administrators or

allowed Assigns shall and do from time to time and at all times

hereafter During the term of this present Lease keep up and

maintain in good order and Sufficient and legall repair all such

Buildings, Houses, Edifices, Sheds, Tenements, Plantations &

Fences as now are or hereafter shall be made Built or Erected

thereon and shall moreover Plant keep and preserve in and

upon the said hereby Demised Parcels of Lands the whole

Quantity of Wood or as much as it can conveniently contain

And shall likewise plant and preserve Furze within side and

without the Fences of the said parcells of Lands and shall plant Fruit

Trees in such parts thereof wherein they are most likely to Grow

and as they shall happen to Decay or Dye shall replant others of the

like sorts thereon without hurt or prejudice nevertheless to any part

of such Land as shall be sett apart for the sole purpose of Planting

and Raising of Yams Yeilding and paying therefore Yearly

and every Year During the Term of this present Lease unto them

the said Honourable Company their Successors Agents & Assigns

One pepper Corn p Acre and no more in Consideration of its being

for the sole purpose of Raising and Planting of Wood in at

or upon the Feast of S:t Michael the Arch Angell And upon

further Condition that he the said James Powells his

Heirs Executors Administrators or allowed Assigns shall not

alter or Remove the said Fences they being the Limitts

James Powell's own land closed the second piece to the south and part of the west.

He got the trees, the water and its channels, the houses, sheds and outbuildings, the yam beds, the fruit trees, the walls and the fences, and anything else that came with either piece. He and his heirs could use them for twenty-one years.

He first had to promise loyalty. Powell and those after him were to stay true to King George and his successors, and to follow the island's rules.

Keeping the place in order came next. Every building, shed, outbuilding, planted enclosure and fence had to be kept sound throughout, whether it stood there already or went up later.

Planting went much further here than on ordinary ground. Powell had to put the whole six acres under trees, or as much of it as would take them, rather than the tenth asked of every other holder in this run. Furze was to grow along the fences on whichever side worked best, and fruit trees to go in wherever they had the best chance of thriving, with new ones of the same sort planted as old ones died off. None of this was to cut into any part of the ground he kept for yams.

He paid one peppercorn an acre a year and no more, since the ground was granted purely for raising and planting timber. Payment fell due at Michaelmas.

One last point rounded off the agreement. Powell could not move or pull down the fences, since they marked where the land started and stopped.

Interpretations

A peppercorn an acre is no payment at all, and the Company said plainly why it asked for nothing. The whole six acres were to be given over to growing timber, so instead of taking money it took the trees, reckoning a supply of wood worth more than £1 10s 0d a year in charges. The register shows the same trade at reduced rates elsewhere, John Burling paying £0 1s 6d an acre on ten acres in Deep Valley kept solely for fuel timber on 26 January 1730 and nine more on 17 August 1731, and John Thwaites paying £0 2s 6d an acre on eight acres and a half reserved for timber on 3 February 1729.

Reserving a peppercorn rather than nothing at all kept the Company's ownership on the record. Ground handed over for no return whatever could in time be mistaken for the holder's own, and the same device appears in the note attached to John French's arrangement of 30 September 1738, where seven or eight acres of barren cliff were thrown in against a peppercorn if ever demanded.

Timber had been the island's running difficulty for half a century. The Company recited in Orlando Bagley senior's agreement of 1 April 1735 that nothing had harmed the island more than wood burned under the stills that made strong drink, and that turning every sort of ground over to grazing had destroyed the young growth, cattle eating the shoots before they could take hold.

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or Land marks of the Parcells of Lands aforesaid and shall not

sell or Dispose of this Lease or Interest therein without the leave

and Consent of the Governour and Council for the time being

In Witness whereof he the said James Powell hath hereunto

sett his hand and Seale this twenty first Day of February

in the Year of our Lord one thousand Seven Hundred & Forty

three, four. And they the said Honourables Company to

the other part of these Presents hath affixed their Common

Seale the Day & Year above Written

Signed Sealed & Delivered

in the Presence of

Joshua Twynam

James Powell

The Lords Proprietors of this Island the

Hon:ble the United Company of Merchants of England trading

to the East Indies Do Hereby Demise & Grant Sett & to

farm Lett unto Joseph Desfountain of this Island Planter

All that Piece or Parcel of Land containing one Acre & half

of an Acre Scituate Lying and being in James Valley below

Purling Bridge Butting & Bounding North East & West upon

the Hon:ble Companys Waste Land & South upon the Lands

of him the said Joseph Desfountain together with one

Acre Scituate Lying & being under the high Water

fall at the head of James Valey Butting & Bounding North

South East & West upon the Hon:ble Companys waste

Lands To have and to hold the said hereby demised

Parcells of Land & every part & Parcel thereof together with

all & Singular the Water Water Courses Wood Houses

Buildings Edifices Sheds Tenemets Yams & Plantations

of Yams Fruit Trees Walls Fences & all other & Singular

the Rights Commodites appurtenances to them & each

& every of them belonging or appurtaining unto him the

said Joseph Desfountain from the Day of the Date of

these Presents for & During all the Space or Term of the

Natural Lives of the said Joseph Desfountain Samuel

Desfountain & William Desfountain & the Longest

Nobody could sell James Powell's six acres or pass them on without the Governor and Council's say-so.

Powell signed on 21 February 1744, and the Company sealed its copy that day.

Witness to the signing: Joshua Twynam

James Powell, signing in his own name

The Company also rented two pieces of ground to Joseph Desfountain, a planter living on the island.

The first came to an acre and a half in James Valley, below the Purslane Beds. Open Company ground closed it to the north, east and west, and Desfountain's own land bounded it to the south.

The second came to four acres at the head of James Valley, lying below the high waterfall. Open Company ground surrounded it on every side.

He got the water and its channels, the trees, the houses, sheds and outbuildings, the yam beds, the fruit trees, the walls and the fences, and anything else that came with either piece.

The arrangement ran for as long as any of three people lived, those being Desfountain himself, Samuel Desfountain and William Desfountain.

Interpretations

The Purslane Beds appear in the register as far back as December 1707, when the Company let Paul Graton the Lemon Garden together with an acre and a half of waste ground below the Purslane Bed then held by the Beale orphans. Purslane is a low creeping herb that takes to poor stony soil, and the name marked ground of little use for planting, which is why Francis Mowatt sold ten acres of it to Onesiphorus Beale for only £8 0s 0d on 23 June 1756.

Joseph Desfountain held ground in Chapel Valley under the arrangement of 2 February 1730, three parcels granted in place of two acres he had handed back, taking in half an acre of hay land and ground below the Chub Spring. He later bought twenty-three acres of Deep Valley ground from Henry Multon in December 1739 and sold it on to John Leech, a sergeant, for £35 0s 0d on 3 September 1741.

The second piece sat below the high waterfall with Company ground on every side, so Desfountain had to build the whole fence himself with no neighbour's wall to serve any part of the line.

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Liver of either of them Renewable after the Death

of any the said Nominee upon the payment of half a years

rent at the admittance of each Life or new Nominee

Upon Condition that he the said Joseph Desfountain

his Heirs Executors Administrators or allowed Assigns Shall

& do bear true faith & Allegiance to our Sovereign Lord

King George his Heirs and Successors & to them the

said Hon:ble Company & their Successors and Shall duly

Observe and Obey all the Laws & Constitutions of the said

Island And upon Condition also that he the

said Joseph Desfountain his heirs Executors Administra:

tors or allowed Assigns shall & do from time to time and at

all times hereafter during the term of this Present Lease

keep up and maintain in Good Order & Sufficient & Legal

repair all such Buildings Edifices Sheds Tenements & Plantations

and Fences as now are or hereafter shall be made built or

Erected thereon and Shall moreover Plant keep up maintain

& Preserve in & upon the said hereby demised Parcells of

Land its full quantitys or Proportion of Wood Being one tenth

Part of the said Parcells of Land and Shall Likewise Plant

& Preserve Furze within Side or with out the Fences of the

said Parcells of Land & Shall Plant fruit trees Such as

Apple Lemon Mulbery or Peach trees in Such parts thereof

Wherein they are most likely to grow & as they shall happen

decay or die Shall replant others of the like sorts thereon

without hurt or Prejudice nevertheless to any Part of Such

Land as Shall be sett apart for the Sole purpose of Planting

and Raising of Yams Yeilding and Paying therefore

yearly and every year during the Term of this Present Lease

unto them the said Hon:ble Company their Successors

Agents or Assigns the Sum of five Shillings p Acre in at or

upon the feast of S:t Michael the Arch Angel And upon

further Condition that he the said Joseph Desfou:

ntain his Heirs Executors Administrators or allowed Assigns

Shall not alter or remove the said Fences they being the

Limitts or Land marks of the parcells of Land aforesaid &

shall not sell or Dispose of this Lease or Intrest therein

Without the Leave and Consent of the Governour & Council

for time being In Witness whereof he the said Joseph

Desfountain hath hereunto sett his hand & Seale this

Eight day of February in the Year of our Lord one thousand

Seven hundred & forty three four And they the said Hon:ble

Company to the other Part of these Presents hath affixed their

Common Seale the Day and year abovewritten

Signed Sealed and Delivered

in the Presence of

Joshua Twynam

Jos: Desfountain

A fresh name could be entered on Joseph Desfountain's two pieces as each of the three died, on payment of half a year's charge.

He first had to promise loyalty. Desfountain and those after him were to stay true to King George and his successors, and to the Company and its successors, and to follow the island's rules.

Keeping the place in order came next. Every building, shed, outbuilding, planted enclosure and fence had to be kept sound throughout, whether it stood there already or went up later.

Planting went with the upkeep. A tenth of the ground had to be under trees and stay that way, with furze grown along the fences on whichever side worked best. Apple, lemon, mulberry or peach were to go in wherever they had the best chance of thriving, and new trees of the same sort planted as old ones died off. None of this was to cut into any part of the ground he kept for yams.

He paid £0 5s 0d an acre a year to the Company or its agents, due at Michaelmas.

One last point rounded off the agreement. Desfountain could not move or pull down the fences, since they marked where the land started and stopped, and nobody could sell it or pass it on without the Governor and Council's say-so.

Desfountain signed on 8 February 1744, and the Company sealed its copy that day.

Witness to the signing: Joshua Twynam

Joseph Desfountain, signing in his own name

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The Lords Proprietors of this Island The Honourable the United

Company of Merchants of England Trading to the East Indies Do hereby

Give Grant Sett & to Farm Lett unto Grace Bates All that peice or Parcell

of Land Containing about One Acre Butting and Bounding East upon

Wast Land belonging to the Hon:ble Company West upon Lease Land

belonging to the said Grace Bates North upon the Hon:ble Company's Wast Land and

South upon Freehold Land belonging to Thomas Hayes & Every part & Parcell thereof with the Appurtenances

To have and to hold the said hereby demised premisses and Every part

and Parcell thereof And all & Singular the Appurtenances thereunto

belonging unto her the said Grace Bates her Heirs Executors Administrators

or Assigns from the day of the date of these presents for and during the

full Term of Twenty One Years from thence next Ensueing Upon

Condition that She the said Grace Bates her Heirs Executors Administrators

and Assigns do and shall bear true faith [...] to our Sovereign

Lord King George the third His Heirs and Successors And to them the said

Honourable Company and to their Successors And Shall duely Obey all

the Laws and Constitutions of the said Island And Upon Condition

Also that She the said Grace Bates her Heirs Executors Administrators

or Assigns do and Shall at the End or determination of this present

Lease Yeild up and Surrender in Good Order and Repair unto them

the said Honourable Company their Successors Agents or Assigns

All the said Parcell of Ground with all and Singular the Appurtenances

thereunto belonging or Appertaining Yeilding and Paying

Therefore Yearly and Every Year during the Term hereby Granted

Unto them the said Honourable Company their Successors Agents

Or Assigns the Sum of Five Shillings in at or Upon the Feast of Saint

Michaell the Arch Angell Yearly And Upon further Condition

That She the said Grace Bates her Heirs Executors or Allowed

Assigns Shall not Sell or dispose of this Lease or Interest therein

Without the Leave and Consent of the Governour and Council for the

time being In Wetness Whereof She the said Grace Bates hath

hereunto Sett her hand & Seal this day of in the Year

of our Lord One Thousand Seven Hundred and Forty four And the said

Honourable Company to the Other part of these presents have Affixed

their Common Seal the day and Year Abovewritten.

Signed Sealed and Delivered

in the presence of Us

The Company, which owned the island, rented about one acre to Grace Bates. Open Company ground closed the parcel to the east and north, ground Grace Bates already rented ran along the west, and freehold land belonging to Thomas Hayes bounded it to the south.

She got the parcel with everything belonging to it. She and her heirs could use it for twenty-one years.

She first had to promise loyalty. Grace Bates and those after her were to stay true to King George and his successors, and to the Company and its successors, and to follow the island's rules.

At the end of the period she had to hand the ground back in good repair, along with everything that went with it.

She paid £0 2s 0d a year to the Company or its agents, due at Michaelmas.

One last point rounded off the agreement. Nobody could sell it or pass it on without the Governor and Council's say-so.

Grace Bates signed in 1744, the clerk leaving the day and month blank, and the Company sealed its copy the same day. The space left for witnesses stayed empty.

Interpretations

The parcel carried none of the planting duties that ran through almost every other agreement of this period, no tenth in trees, no furze along the fences and no fruit trees. Only the promise to give the ground back in repair stood in their place, the same short form the Company used for James Valley building plots, so about an acre here was treated as ground to occupy rather than to cultivate.

Grace Bates already rented the land along the western edge, so this filled out a holding she was building up. Women appear as holders in their own names throughout the register, Mary Sherwood taking gumwood ground on 25 February 1727, Elizabeth Greentree five acres and a half in Lemon Valley under the agreement sealed on 14 September 1731, and Bridget Bazett twenty acres near Diana's Peak on the same day.

The Bates family had been holding ground across the island for two decades. Joseph Bates took half an acre at Yam Gut on 27 December 1726 and seven acres and a half at Hartley on 15 January 1728, and by the 1740s he was dealing actively in James Valley houses, selling Richard Mason one for £200 0s 0d on 15 July 1741. He also gave his daughter Margaret six slaves and the standing yams on his ground on 20 October 1741, settling property on her in his lifetime rather than leaving it to pass at his death.

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Island Saint Helena

The Lords Proprietors of this Island The Honourable the United

Company of Merchants of England Trading to the East Indies Do hereby

Give Grant Sett and to Farm Lett unto James Greentree of the said Island

Planter All that peice or parcell of Land Containing 2 Acres be the same more

or Less Scituate Lying and being in Lemon Valley in the said Island Bounding

North on Land belonging to Joseph Powell and East West & South on

Wast Land belonging to the Honourable East India Company And All

Ways Waters Watercourses Woods & Appurtenances to the said two Acres

of Land belonging or Appertaining To have and to hold the said

Hereby demised two Acres of Land with the Appurtenances and Every

Part and Parcell thereof unto him the said James Greentree his Heirs

Executors Administrators or Allowed Assigns from the day of the Date

of these presents for and during All the Term of Twenty One Years

from thence next Ensueing Upon Condition That He the said James

Greentree his Heirs Executors Administrators and Assigns do and shall

bear true faith [...] to our Sovereign Lord King George his

Heirs and Successors and to them the said Honourable Company and to their

Successors And Shall duely Obey All the Laws and Constitutions of the said

Island And upon Condition Also that He the said James Greentree his

Heirs Executors Administrators or Assigns do and Shall at the End or

Determination of this present Lease Yeild up and Surrender in Good Order

and repair unto them the said Honourable Company their Successors Agents

or Assigns All the said parcell of Ground with all and Singular the

Appurtenances thereunto belonging or Appertaining Yeilding and

Paying therefore Yearly and Every Year during the Term hereby

Granted unto them the said Honourable Company their Successors Agents or

Assigns the Sum of Five Shillings For Every Acre in at or Upon the

Feast of Saint Michael the Archangell Yearly And Upon further

Condition That He the said James Greentree his Heirs Executors or Allowed

Assigns Shall not Sell or dispose of this Lease or Interest therein without

the Leave and Consent of the Governour and Councill for the time being

In Witness Whereof He the said James Greentree hath hereunto set his

Hand and Seal This Tenth day of July [...] in the Year of our Lord

One Thousand Seven Hundred and forty four And the said Honourable

Company to the Other part of these presents have Affixed their Common

Seal the day and Year Abovewritten

Signed Sealed and delivered

in the presence of us

T: Wright

Tho: French

James Greentree

The Company, which owned the island, rented two acres in Lemon Valley to James Greentree, a planter living there. Joseph Powell's land ran along the northern edge, and open Company ground closed the parcel to the east, west and south.

Greentree got the paths, the water and its channels, the trees, and anything else that came with the two acres. He and his heirs could use them for twenty-one years.

He first had to promise loyalty. Greentree and those after him were to stay true to King George and his successors, and to the Company and its successors, and to follow the island's rules.

At the end of the period he had to hand the ground back in good repair, along with everything that went with it.

He paid £0 5s 0d an acre a year to the Company or its agents, due at Michaelmas.

One last point rounded off the agreement. Nobody could sell it or pass it on without the Governor and Council's say-so.

Greentree signed on 10 July 1744, and the Company sealed its copy that day.

Witnesses to the signing: Wright and Thomas French

James Greentree, signing in his own name

Interpretations

Neither planting nor fencing appears among the terms, only the promise to hand the ground back in repair. Two acres of Lemon Valley therefore came without the tenth in trees, the furze along the fences or the fruit trees that ran through nearly every country agreement of this run, so the Company was letting ground here as a plain holding rather than as land to be improved.

Joseph Powell on the northern edge had taken two acres in Lemon Valley himself under the arrangement of 14 December 1743, together with two acres and a half known as the Tobacco Springs, and he had been granted the right to turn the stream onto his ground for four days in every six. The Company was letting out that stretch of the valley piece by piece within a few months.

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Island S:t Helena

The Lords Proprietors of this Island the Honourable United

Company of Merchants of England Trading to the East Indies Do demise

Grant Sett and to Farm Lett unto Richard Goodwin Executor of the Last

Will and Testament of Edmund Nicholls deceased Att that Peice or Parcell

of Land Containing Twenty One Acres Scituate Lyeing & being in the West

Dowision of this Island at or near the Head of Old Womans Valley Butting

towards the South West upon the Free Lands Late of John Nicholls Senior

and towards the North and East upon the Honourable Company's Wast

Land To have and to hold the said hereby demised Twenty One

Acres of Land with the Appurtenances and Every Part thereof unto him

the said Richard Goodwin in Trust and for the Use of John Nicholls Jun:r

son of the said Edmund Nicholls from the day of the date hereof for and during All the time

space and Term of the Naturall Lives of the said John Nicholls

Martin Harper of this Island Planter and Matthew Bazett of the same

And the Longest Liver of them Renewable Upon the deaths of either of the

said Nominees Upon the payment of half a Years rent at the Admittance

of Each Life or new Nominee Upon Condition that He the said John

Nicholls his Heirs Executors Administrators or Assigns do and shall

bear true faith [...] unto our Sovereign Lord King George y:e second

his Heirs and Successors And to them the said Honourable Company and

to their Successors and Shall duely Obey att the Laws and Constitutions

of the said Island and upon Condition also that He the said John Nicholls

his Heirs Executors Adm:ors or Assigns do and Shall well & Sufficiently

fence the said Land and plant One Acre in Ten and so proportionably

for a Greater or Lesser Quantity with Such plants of Timber Trees or Such

Other Wood as he or they Can get to Grow best thereon And Upon failure

of the Woods Growing Upon the first Second or third planting He the said

John Nicholls his Heirs Executors Adm:ors or Assigns Shall Yearly at

the proper Seasons of the Year replant the same with the best plants of

Timber or Other thriving Trees as he or they can get as aforesaid

And that He the said John Nicholls his Heirs Ex:ors Adm:ors or Assigns

Shall Likewise plant Lemon Trees Round all & Every the Inside of the

said Fences besides ten more Lemon or Other Good fruit Trees for

Every One Acre of the aforesaid demised Land and to plant Others in

The Company, which owned the island, rented twenty-one acres near the head of Old Woman's Valley in the West Division to Richard Goodwin, the man settling the affairs of the late Edmund Nicholls. Freehold ground once belonging to John Nicholls senior lay to the south-west, and open Company ground closed the parcel to the north and east.

Goodwin took the land not for himself but for John Nicholls junior, the dead man's son.

The arrangement ran for as long as any of three people lived, those being John Nicholls himself, Martin Harper, a planter on the island, and Matthew Bazett of the same place. A fresh name could be entered as each of them died, on payment of half a year's charge.

Loyalty came first among the things asked of him. Nicholls and those after him were to stay true to King George and his successors, and to the Company and its successors, and to follow the island's rules.

Fencing and planting came next, and both went well beyond what the Company asked of ordinary holders. Nicholls had to fence the ground soundly and plant one acre in every ten with timber trees or whatever other wood would grow best there. If the trees failed at the first, second or third attempt, he had to replant every year at the right season with the best stock of timber or other thriving trees he could get. He had also to set lemon trees all round the inside of the fences, and ten more lemon or other good fruit trees for every acre of the ground, replacing any that died.

Interpretations

The three-attempt rule turned an obligation to plant into an obligation to keep planting. Young trees on exposed upland fail often, and a holder who set them once and watched them die had met the letter of an ordinary agreement, so the Company wrote in a duty that renewed itself every season until something took hold. The same clause appears in the arrangements made from 1717 onward, including the ground let to Samuel Price at Manatee Bay in April 1717 and to Antipas Tovey on 6 February 1719.

Ten fruit trees an acre with lemons right round the fences went far past the tenth in wood asked elsewhere in this run. Lemons answered the scurvy that struck ships on the long homeward passage, and the Company had been spreading their cultivation across many holders since the Lemon Garden was let to Paul Graton in December 1707, so it no longer depended on a single supply.

Martin Harper and Matthew Bazett stood as the second and third lives though neither was a Nicholls, so the family's tenure rested on two men outside the household. Choosing lives that way was a calculation about who would live longest rather than who would inherit, and Francis Wrangham took the same course at the sitting of 30 September 1738 with three young men from other families.

Edmund Nicholls had held Company ground across the West Division for years, taking ten acres of gumwood in Stonetop Wood on 25 March 1725 and confirming it on 31 October 1727, twenty-one acres at Mr Flemon's Valley on 25 May 1719, and a joint holding at Kingson with Gabriel Powell and Francis Wrangham on 25 November 1725. His widow Elizabeth and Richard Goodwin sold two James Valley houses to Joshua Johnson for £25 0s 0d on 2 June 1740, the money having been paid to Nicholls in his lifetime.

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Room or Stead as any of them shall decay so as the same may be a

Good fruit Bearing Orchard or Lemon Garden And the whole Twenty

One Acres of Land do well and Sufficiently keep in Good Heart and

Repair and not Suffer the Ground to be run out nor alter the fences after

they are well made Which are the Land Marks Nor Shall Sell or dispose

of this Lease or Interest in the same without the Knowledge and Consent

of the Governour and Councill for the time being And do and Shall Yearly

and Every Year well and truly pay unto the said Honourable Company their

Successors Agents or Assigns during the Term hereby Granted the sum of

Five Shillings for Every One Acre on the Feast of Saint Michael the Archangell

in Every Year In Witness Whereof the said Richard Goodwin as Executor

aforesaid hath hereunto Sett his hand Seal the 17:th day of July

in the Year of our Lord One Thousand Seven Hundred and forty four

And the said Honourable Company have to the Other part hereof

Affixed their Common Seal the day and Year abovewritten

Sealed and delivered in

the presence of Us

T: Wright

Jos:a Twynam

S

W

Rich:d Goodwin

E

N

The Lords Proprietors of this Island the Hon:ble the

United Company of Merchants of England Trading to the East Indies

Do hereby Demise Grant Sett and to Farm Lett to Tho: Greentree

of this Island Planter All that Piece or Parcell of Land Containing

Twelve and half Acres of Land Scituate Lying and being in Sandy

Bay Valley Butting and Bounding North Part upon James Greentrees

Land and Part upon Richard Greentrees East upon the High Ledge

and Rock Called Coles Rock South Greentrees Land and West upon Free

Land belonging to the said Tho: Greentree with the Appurtenances

To have and to hold the said hereby Demised Parcells of

Land and every Part and Parcell thereof together with all and Singular

Fresh trees had to replace any that died on the Nicholls twenty-one acres, so that the ground would become a sound fruit orchard or lemon garden. The whole twenty-one acres had to be kept in good heart and repair, the soil not worn out, and the fences left where they stood once properly built, since they marked where the land began and ended.

Nobody could sell the arrangement or pass it on without the Governor and Council's knowledge and agreement.

The charge came to £0 5s 0d an acre a year, due at Michaelmas.

Richard Goodwin signed on 17 July 1744, and the Company sealed its copy that day.

Witnesses to the signing: B. Wright and Joshua Twynam

Richard Goodwin, signing as the man settling the estate

A drawing set below the names showed the ground as a long narrow strip running east and west, bent sharply at its middle and narrowing at the western end. A compass beside it marked north, south, east and west, with west at the upper right of the page.

The Company also rented twelve acres and a half in Sandy Bay Valley to Thomas Greentree, a planter living on the island. James Greentree's land ran along part of the northern edge and Richard Greentree's along the rest. A high ledge of rock called Coles Rock closed the parcel to the east, Greentree's own ground lay to the south, and freehold land of his own bounded it to the west.

Interpretations

Not letting the ground be worn out went beyond the usual duty to keep fences and buildings sound. Yams took heavily from the soil, and a holder near the end of his period could crop hard and hand back exhausted land, so the Company wrote in a duty covering the condition of the earth itself rather than only what stood on it.

Coles Rock served as the eastern boundary, a rock face doing the work of a wall. The same reasoning appears in the ledge of rocks marking part of the Alexander family's seven acres and a half in the east branch of Sandy Bay Valley, and in the Company letting John French enclose barren cliff for nothing on 30 September 1738 so that his fence could run straight along the top.

Three men named Greentree hold ground on three sides of this parcel, James and Richard to the north and Thomas himself to the south and west. Thomas Greentree's holdings across Sandy Bay Valley and Lemon Valley had been building up since the sitting of 30 September 1738, when he took thirty-one acres on the lives of himself, his wife Elizabeth and his brother Richard, along with three acres more.

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the Wood Water Watercourses House Buildings Edifices Sheds

Tenements Yams and Plantations of Yams Fruit trees Ways Fences

and all other and Singular the Rights Commodityes to them and

Each and every of them belonging or appertaining unto him

the said Tho:s Greentree His Heirs Executors Adm:ors or Allowed

assigns from the Day of the date hereof for and during all the

Space or Term of Twenty one Years from thence next ensuing Upon

Condition That he the said Tho:s Greentree his Heirs Executors

Adm:ors or Allowed Assigns shall and do bear true faith to our

Sovereign Lord King George the Second his Heirs and Successors

and to them the said Hon:ble Company and to their Successors and shall

duly Obey all the Laws and Constitutions of the said Island And

Upon Condition Also that he the said Thomas

Greentree his Heirs Executors Adm:ors or Allowed Assigns shall &

do from time to time and all times hereafter During the term of this

Present Lease keep up and Maintain in Good order and Sufficient &

Legall Repair all Such Buildings Houses Edifices Sheds Tenements

Plantations and Fences as now are or hereafter shall be made built

or Erected thereon and shall moreover Plant keep and Preserve in and

upon the said hereby Demised Parcells of Land the Whole Quantity of

Wood or as much as it can conveniently contain And Shall Likewise

Plant and Preserve furze within side and without the Fences of the

said Parcells of Land and Shall Plant fruit trees in such Parts

thereof Wherein they are most Likely to Grow and as they shall happen

to decay or Dye replant others of the Like sort thereon without hurt

or Prejudice nevertheless to any part of Such Lands as shall be sett

apart for the sole Purpose of Planting and Raising of Yams

Yeilding and Paying therefore Yearly and every Year during

the Term of this Present Lease unto them the said Honoble Company

their Successors Agents and Assigns the sum of five Shillings p:r Acre

in at or upon the Feast of S:t Michael the Arch Angel Yearly And

Upon further Condition. That he the said Tho:s Greentree his heirs

Executors or Allowed Assigns shall not sell or dispose of this Lease

or Interest therein without the Leave and Consent of the Gov:r

and Councill for the time being In Witness whereof the

the said Governour and Council have to the Other part hereof set their hands

and Affixed the Hon:ble Companys Seal in S:t Helena aforesaid this 17:th

Seventeenth day of July in the Year of our Lord one Thousand Seven

Hundred & Forty four and the said Tho:s Greentree to these Presents hath

set his hand and Seale the day and Year abovewritten

Sealed and delivered in

Presence of us T: Wright Tho: French

Tho: Greentree

Thomas Greentree got the trees, the water and its channels, the houses, sheds and outbuildings, the yam beds, the fruit trees, the paths, the fences, and anything else that came with the twelve acres and a half. He and his heirs could use them for twenty-one years.

He first had to promise loyalty. Greentree and those after him were to stay true to King George the Second and his successors, and to the Company and its successors, and to follow the island's rules.

Keeping the place in order came next. Every building, shed, outbuilding, planted enclosure and fence had to be kept sound throughout, whether it stood there already or went up later.

Planting went much further here than on ordinary ground. Greentree had to put the whole parcel under trees, or as much of it as would take them, rather than the tenth asked of most holders. Furze was to grow along the fences on whichever side worked best, and fruit trees to go in wherever they had the best chance of thriving, with new ones of the same sort planted as old ones died off. None of this was to cut into any part of the ground he kept for yams.

He paid £0 5s 0d an acre a year to the Company or its agents, due at Michaelmas.

One last point rounded off the agreement. Nobody could sell it or pass it on without the Governor and Council's say-so.

The Governor and Council set the Company's seal and their own hands to the document at St Helena on 17 July 1744, and Greentree signed that day.

Witnesses to the signing: B. Wright and Thomas French

Thomas Greentree, signing in his own name

Interpretations

Greentree paid the full £0 5s 0d an acre while having to put the whole twelve acres and a half under trees. James Powell had taken six acres on the same terms of planting five months earlier and paid only a peppercorn an acre, so where the Company let ground purely for timber it charged nothing, and where it asked for the same planting on ordinary terms it charged the ordinary rate.

King George the Second is named in full here, where the agreements running through this whole run give only King George. The register begins distinguishing the reigns as the second king's years lengthened, and the practice sharpens further after his death in October 1760, when documents start counting by the years of his grandson.

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Island S:t Helena

The Lords Proprietors of this Island the Honourable the United

Company of Merchants of England Trading to the East Indies Do

hereby Demise Grant Sett and to Farm Lett to the Reverend Edwin

Alcock of this Island Clark All that Peice or Parcell of Land Containing

one Acre more or Less Scituate Lying and being in James Valley Butting

and Bounding South upon the Common Wast Land belonging

to the Honourable Company North upon Land now in the Possession of

the said Edwin Alcock and East & West on the said Honourable Companys

Wast Land with the Appurtenances To have and to hold the

said hereby Demised Parcells of Land and every Part and Parcell

thereof together with all and Singular The Wood Water Watercourses

Howse buildings Edifices Sheds Tenements Yams and Plantations

of Yams Fruit Trees Ways Fences and all other and Singular the

Rights & Commodityes to them and each and every of them belonging

or Appertaining unto him the said Edwin Alcock His Heirs Executors

Administrators or Allowed Assigns from the day of the date hereof for

and All the Space or Term of Twenty one Years from thence next ensuing

Upon Condition that he the said Edwin Alcock his heirs

Executors Administrators & Allowed Assigns shall and do bear true

faith to our Sovereign Lord King George the Second his Heirs

and Successors and to them the said Honourable Company and

to their Successors and Shall duly Obey all the Laws and Constitutions

of the said Island And Upon Condition Also that the

said Edwin Alcock his Heirs Executors Administrators or Allowed Assigns

Shall and do from time to time and all times hereafter During the

term of this Present Lease keep up and Maintain in Good Order and

Sufficient and Legall Repair all such Buildings Houses Edifices

Tenements Plantations and Fences as now are or hereafter shall be Made

Built or Erected thereon and Shall moreover Plant keep and Preserve in

and upon the hereby Demised Parcells of Land the Whole Quantity of

Wood or as much as it can Conveniently contain and Shall Likewise

Plant and Preserve furze within side and without the Fences of the

said Parcell of Land and Shall Plant fruit Trees in Such Parts

thereof Wherein they are most Likely to Grow and as they shall happen

to decay or dye Replant others of the Like Sort thereon without hurt

or Prejudice Nevertheless to any of such Lands be sett apart for the

sole Purpose of Planting and Raising of Yams Yeilding and Paying

therefore Yearly and every Year during the term of this Present Lease

The Company, which owned the island, rented about an acre in James Valley to the Reverend Edwin Alcock, a clergyman living there. Common ground belonging to the Company closed the parcel to the south, land Alcock already occupied lay to the north, and Company waste ground bounded it to the east and west.

Alcock got the trees, the water and its channels, the houses, sheds and outbuildings, the yam beds, the fruit trees, the paths, the fences, and anything else that came with the acre. He and his heirs could use it for twenty-one years.

He first had to promise loyalty. Alcock and those after him were to stay true to King George the Second and his successors, and to the Company and its successors, and to follow the island's rules.

Keeping the place in order came next. Every building, shed, outbuilding, planted enclosure and fence had to be kept sound throughout, whether it stood there already or went up later.

Planting went much further here than on ordinary ground. Alcock had to put the whole acre under trees, or as much of it as would take them, rather than the tenth asked of most holders. Furze was to grow along the fences on whichever side worked best, and fruit trees to go in wherever they had the best chance of thriving, with new ones of the same sort planted as old ones died off. None of this was to cut into any part of the ground he kept for yams.

Interpretations

Alcock already held ground to the north, so this acre filled out a holding beside the acre and a quarter he took near the Company's slaughter house on 20 September 1743. That earlier arrangement had been changed as the clerk wrote it, the twenty years first set down being struck out and replaced with three lives, his own, his wife Margaret's and his daughter Elizabeth's. This one runs on a plain twenty-one years, so the two pieces sat side by side under different forms of tenure.

Putting the whole acre under trees rather than a tenth of it matches the terms Thomas Greentree took on twelve acres and a half in Sandy Bay Valley on the same page range, and James Powell on six acres in February 1744. The Company was pressing that heavier duty on a small number of holdings while leaving the ordinary tenth on the rest.

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Lease unto them the said Honourable Company their Successors Agents

and Assigns the sum of five Shillings p:r Acre in at or upon the Feast

of S:t Michael the Arch Angell Yearly and Upon further Condition

That he the said Edwin Alcock his Heirs Executors or Allowed Assigns

shall not seller dispose of this Lease or Intrest therein without the

Leave and Consent of the Governour and Council for the time being

In Witness Whereof We said Governour and Council have set their

Hands and affixt the Honourable Companys Seale in S:t Helena

aforesaid this Sixth day of November in the Year of our Lord one

Thousand Seven hundred and forty four And the said Edwin Alcock

to the said [...] hath set his Hand and Seal the Day and Year above written

Sealed and Delivered

in the Presence of.

Dixon

Joshua Twynam

Edwin Alcock

The Lords Proprietors of this Island the Honourable the

United Company of Merchants of England Trading to the East Indies Do

hereby Demise Grant Sett and to Farm Lett to Benjamin Pledger of this

Island Planter all that Peice or Parcell of Gumwood Land Containing Sixteen

Acres Commonly called and Known by the Name of Sextons Ground Scituate

and being at the Head of Woody Ridge and Part of Which Sixteen Acres was

formerly in the Possession of Arthur Bradly of the Island Planter and

Edmund Bradley Mattress But Vacated upon their Petition to be Prevented

and Enterd in Consultation of the 2:d day of August 1722 Butting and Bounding

towards the South upon the said Honourable Companys Wast Land next to the

before named Arthur Bradleys Land Toward the South upon the Lands now

in the Possession of William Seale Planter Towards the West upon the

Lands in Possession of Robert Bell Planter on Woody Ridge and Towards

the East upon the Lands of Isaac Wood Sergeant and all Scituated in the East

Division of the said Island To have and to hold the hereby Demised

Parcell of Land and every Part and Parcell thereof together with all and

Singular the Wood Water Watercourses Howses buildings Edifices Sheds

Tenements Yams and Plantations of Yams Fruit Trees Ways Fences

The Reverend Edwin Alcock paid £0 5s 0d an acre a year, due at Michaelmas.

One last point rounded off the agreement. Nobody could sell it or pass it on without the Governor and Council's say-so.

The Governor and Council set their hands and the Company's seal to the document at St Helena on 6 November 1744, and Alcock signed that day.

Witnesses to the signing: Dixon and Joshua Twynam

Edwin Alcock, signing in his own name

The Company also rented sixteen acres of gumwood land to Benjamin Pledger, a planter living on the island. The ground lay at the head of Woody Ridge in the East Division and went by the name of Sexton's Ground. Arthur Bradley, a planter, had held it in his lifetime, and Edmund Bradley and Matthew But had held it after him, before they gave it up by petition and the Company took it back at a meeting held on 2 August 1722.

Company waste ground closed the parcel to the south, next to Arthur Bradley's former land. Ground then occupied by William Seale, a planter, also lay to the south. Land held by Robert Bell, a planter, on Woody Ridge ran along the west, and Isaac Wood's ground, a sergeant, bounded it to the east.

Pledger got the trees, the water and its channels, the houses, sheds and outbuildings, the yam beds, the fruit trees, the paths and the fences that came with the land.

Interpretations

Sexton's Ground appears in the register twenty-seven years earlier, when the Company let William Alexander fifteen acres of gumwood at the head of Woody Ridge under that name on 7 May 1717. His father John Alexander held thirty acres of gumwood to the north, and Robert Bell and Isaac Wood held ground on the other sides then as they do here, so two of the same neighbours still marked the bounds a generation later.

Ground given up by petition and taken back by the Company shows a holder handing land in rather than losing it for failure to keep the terms. The Company then held it for twenty-two years before letting it afresh, so the register kept the record of an old surrender alive to explain how the land came back into its hands.

Isaac Wood appears as a sergeant here, where he was an ensign when he sold John Burling ten acres for £95 0s 0d on 6 July 1735 and a corporal, cooper or free planter at earlier dates. The descriptions attached to him shifted with the occasion rather than fixing what he was.

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Fences and all other and Singular the Rights & Commodityes to them and Each and

every of them belonging or appertaining unto him the said Benjamin Pledgerd

His Heirs Executors Administrators or Allowed Assigns from the Day of the date

hereof for and during all the Space or Term of Twenty one Years from thence

next ensuing Upon Condition That he the said Benjamin Pledgerd His

Heirs Executors Administrators or Allowed Assigns shall and do bear true faith to our

Sovereign Lord King George the Second His Heirs and Successors and

to them the said Hon:ble Company and their Successors and shall duly Obey

all the Laws and Constitutions of the said Island And Upon Condition

Also that he the said Benjamin Pledgerd His Heirs Executors Administra:

tors or Allowed Assigns Shall and do from time to time and all times hereafter During

the term of this Present Lease keep up and Maintain in good Order and Sufficient

and Legall Repair all such Buildings Howses Edifices Sheds Tenements

Plantations and Fences as now are or hereafter shall be made Built or Erected

thereon and shall Moreover Plant keep and Preserve in and upon the said Hereby

Demised Parcells of Land the Whole Quantity of Wood or as Much as it can

Conveniently contain And Shall Likewise Plant and Preserve furze within side

and without the Fences of the said Parcells of Land and Shall Plant Fruit Trees

in Such Parts thereof Wherein they are most Likely to Grow and as they shall

happen to decay or Dye replant others of the Like Sort thereon without hurt

or Prejudice nevertheless to any Part of Such Lands as shall be sett apart for

the sole Purpose of Planting and Raising of Yams Yeilding and Paying

therefore Yearly and every Year during the term of this Present Lease unto

them the said Honourable Company their Successors Agents and Assigns the

sum of five Shillings p:r Acre in at or upon the Feast of S:t Michael the Arch

Angell Yearly And Upon further Condition that he the said Benjamin

Pledgerd his Heirs Executors or Allowed Assigns shall not sell or dispose

of this Lease or Intrest therein without the Leave and Consent of the Gov:r

and Council for the time being In Witness Whereof the said Governour

and Council have set their Hands and affixt the Hon:ble Companys

Seale in S:t Helena aforesaid this fifteenth day of January in the Year of

our Lord one Thousand Seven Hundred and forty four and the said Benjamin

Pledgerd to these Presents heath set his hand and Seale the day and Year

above written

Sealed and Delivered

the presence of us.

Dixon

Tho: French

Benj:n Pledgerd

Benjamin Pledger and his heirs could use the sixteen acres for twenty-one years.

He first had to promise loyalty. Pledger and those after him were to stay true to King George the Second and his successors, and to the Company and its successors, and to follow the island's rules.

Keeping the place in order came next. Every building, shed, outbuilding, planted enclosure and fence had to be kept sound throughout, whether it stood there already or went up later.

Planting went much further here than on ordinary ground. Pledger had to put the whole sixteen acres under trees, or as much of it as would take them, rather than the tenth asked of most holders. Furze was to grow along the fences on whichever side worked best, and fruit trees to go in wherever they had the best chance of thriving, with new ones of the same sort planted as old ones died off. None of this was to cut into any part of the ground he kept for yams.

He paid £0 5s 0d an acre a year, due at Michaelmas.

One last point rounded off the agreement. Nobody could sell it or pass it on without the Governor and Council's say-so.

The Governor and Council set their hands and the Company's seal to the document at St Helena on 15 January 1744, and Pledger signed that day.

Witnesses to the signing: Dixon and Thomas French

Benjamin Pledger, signing in his own name

Interpretations

Sixteen acres under full planting at £0 5s 0d an acre gave Pledger a yearly charge of £4 0s 0d while requiring him to put every acre under trees. The register shows four holders taking that heavier duty within eleven months, James Powell in February 1744 at a peppercorn an acre, Thomas Greentree on twelve acres and a half in July at the full rate, the Reverend Edwin Alcock on an acre in November, and Pledger here in January. Only Powell escaped the charge, so the Company was applying the planting duty widely and the relief narrowly.

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Island Saint Helena

The Lords Proprietors of this Island the Hon:ble

United Company of Merchants of England Trading to the East Indies Do

hereby Demise grant Lease Sett and to Farm Lett unto Matthew Purling

Samuel Doveton John Desfountain and Richard Beale Executors to the Last

will and Testament of John Bazett Deceased all that Peice or Parcell of Cabbage

Tree Land Containing Eight Acres and half Scituate lying and being in Sharks

Valley in the East Division of the said Island Butting and Bounding towards

the East upon Seven Acres of Land Sett in the Possession of Robert Bell

towards the West upon the Lands Late of Samuell Jefery and formerly John

Mudge deceased towards the North upon the Lands Late of Isaac Wood

Sergeant and towards the South upon the said John Bazett deceased own

Free Land in the East Division of the said Island To have and to

hold the said Hereby Demised Eight and half Acres of Land with the

Appurtenances and every Part thereof unto them the said Matthew Purling

Samuel Doveton John Desfountain Richard Beale their Heirs

Executors Administrators or Allowed Assigns from the 25 day of March

Last for and during all the time Space and term of Twenty one Years

from thence next ensuing In Trust nevertheless and to the Use of the Children

of the said John Bazett deceased Upon Condition that they

said Children and Each of them their and each of their Heirs Executors

Administrators or Allowed Assigns Shall allways bear true faith and Allegiance

to our Sovereign Lord King George the second his Heirs and

Successors and shall bear true faith to the Hon:ble Company and their Successors and shall

always duely Obey all the Laws and Constitutions of the said Island Yeilding

and Paying therefor Yearly and every Year during the said Term of Twenty

one Years unto the said Hon:ble Company their Successors Agents or Assigns

the Yearly Rent of five Shillings p Acre in at or upon the feast of S:t

Michaell the Arch Angell Yearly and upon further Conditions that they

the [...] said Matthew Purling

Samuell Doveton John Desfountain Richard Beale their Heirs Executors

Administrators or Allowed Assigns Shall and do keep and Maintain the

said Demised Land and Fences in good heart and Repair when and often

as need Shall require so that the Whole Premisses and every Part thereof

Shall be always Tenantable and no ways Suffered to run to Ruin or

The Company, which owned the island, rented eight acres and a half of cabbage tree land in Sharks Valley to Matthew Burling, Samuel Doveton, John Desfountain and Richard Beale, the four men settling the affairs of the late John Bazett. The ground lay in the East Division. Seven acres then occupied by Robert Bell closed it to the east. Land once belonging to Samuel Jefsey and to the late Jonathan Mudge lay to the west, ground once Isaac Wood senior's ran along the north, and freehold land that had been John Bazett's own bounded it to the south.

The four took the land not for themselves but for the dead man's children. They and their heirs held it for twenty-one years from 25 March last.

Loyalty came first among the things asked of the children. They and those after them were to stay true to King George the Second and his successors, and to the Company and its successors, and to follow the island's rules.

The charge came to £0 5s 0d an acre a year, due at Michaelmas.

Keeping the place in order came next. The four men had to hold the ground and the fences in good heart and repair whenever repair was needed, so that the whole of it stayed fit to occupy and nothing was allowed to run down or fall into decay.

Interpretations

Four men held this ground for the Bazett children, where most family arrangements in the register named one or two. John Bazett had spent 1738 and 1739 buying back the eighth shares of his late father Matthew Bazett's estate from his brothers and sisters and their families, drawing a holding split eight ways across three valleys back into single ownership, so an estate reassembled at such cost had reason to be watched by several hands at once.

No widow appears here, so the whole eight acres and a half went to the children rather than a third being set aside for a mother's lifetime as in the Burling, Greentree, Alexander, Harper and Isaac families. Nor are the children named or counted, which the register usually does.

The duty to keep the ground fit and let nothing run down goes beyond the ordinary promise to keep buildings and fences sound. Men holding land for children who cannot yet work it themselves have every temptation to take what they can and hand back an exhausted holding, and the same phrasing appears in the twenty-one acres Richard Goodwin held for John Nicholls junior on 17 July 1744.

Richard Beale and Matthew Purling later wound up John Bazett's affairs, selling Matthew Bazett sixty acres of Deep Valley cabbage tree ground for £520 0s 0d on 12 October 1758, that undertaking covering any claim from the Bazett orphans.

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Decay and Shall Also keep up and Preserve the Wood and Other Trees that now

are growing thereon so that it shall hereafter be Planted Pursuant to the Laws for

Planting of Wood in that Case Made and Provided and upon Condition Also

that they the said Matthew Purling Samuell Doveton John Desfountain

Richard Beale [...]

[...] Shall not Sell or any other way dispose of this

Lease or Interest in the Same without the Knowledge and Consent of the

Governour and Council of this Island for the time being In Witness

Whereof We Governour and Council have hereunto set our Hon:ble Companys

Seale in S:t Helena aforesaid this Twelfth day of February in the Year of

our Lord one Thousand Seven Hundred and Forty four and the Executors

have to these Presents set their hands and Seales the day and Year

abovewritten

Sealed & Delivered

in the presence of

Dixon

Tho: French

Curling

Sam: Doveton

Island S:t Helena

The Lords Proprietors of this Island the Hon:ble

the united Company of Marchants of England trading to the East

Indies Do hereby give, grant, Sett and to farm lett unto John Goodwin

Gentleman all that Peice or parcell of Land containing about three

Acres Butting and Bounding, North upon the Hon:ble Companys

Wast Land East upon the Lands of the late Jonathan Doveton dec:d

and South and west upon Land belonging to the said John Goodwin

and Every part and parcell thereof with the Appurtnances to have

and to hold the said hereby Demised premises and every part

and Parcell thereof and all and Singular the Appurtenances

thereunto belonging unto him the said John Goodwin his Heirs Executors

administrators and Assigns from the Day of the Date of these Presents

for and during the full term of Twenty one Years from hence next

Nothing on the Bazett children's eight acres and a half was to be allowed to fall into decay. The four men had also to keep the trees then growing there, and to plant more as the island's rules on timber required.

One last point rounded off the agreement. None of them could sell it or pass it on in any way without the Governor and Council's knowledge and agreement.

The Governor and Council set their hands and the Company's seal to the document at St Helena in February 1744, the clerk leaving the day blank, and the four men signed and sealed that day. Two seals stand beside the names.

Witnesses to the signing: Dixon and Thomas French

Burling, signing as one of the men settling the estate

Samuel Doveton, signing as one of the men settling the estate

The Company also rented about three acres to John Goodwin, a gentleman living on the island. Company waste ground closed the parcel to the north, land once belonging to the late Jonathan Doveton lay to the east, and Goodwin's own ground bounded it to the south and west.

He got the parcel with everything belonging to it. He and his heirs could use it for twenty-one years.

Interpretations

Only two of the four men holding the Bazett children's ground put their names to the page, though all four were named as takers. Each set his own seal beside his signature, since anyone holding land for a family might later have to answer for how the others had handled it, and the register shows separate seals wherever more than one person took ground this way.

Ground kept for timber sat inside a family arrangement here rather than in a plain agreement between the Company and a single holder. Whoever held for children had to preserve what stood on the land under the island's timber rules, so the duty followed the ground rather than the person, and the children would inherit both the trees and the obligation.

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ensuing Upon Condition that he the said John Goodwin

his Heirs, Executors, Administrators, and Assigns, Do and shall

bear true Faith and Allegiance to our Sovereign Lord King

George the Second his Heirs and Successors and true faith to them

the said Hon:ble Company and their Successors and shall duely obey

all the Laws and Constitutions of the said Island, and upon Condition

also that he the said John Goodwin his Heirs, Executors, Administrators

or assigns, do and shall at the End or determination of this present

Lease, leave, Yeild up, and Surrender in Good Order and repair

unto them the said Hon:ble Company their Successors Agents

or assigns, all the said & the Parcell of Ground with all and

Singular the Appurtenances thereunto belonging or appertaining

Yeilding and paying therefore Yearly and Every year, during

the term hereby granted unto them the said Hon:ble Company

their Successors, Agents, or Assigns, the Sum of one Shilling in,

at, or upon the Feast of S:t Michael the Arch Angell yearly And

upon farther Condition that he the said John Goodwin

his Heirs Executors, or allowed Assigns, shall not sell or dispose

of this Lease or Intrest therein without the Leave and Consent

of the Gov:r and Council for the time being In Witness whereof

he the said John Goodwin hath hereunto set his Hand and Seal this

twelveth Day of Febry in the year of our Lord one Thousand

Seven hundred and forty four, and the said Hon:ble Company have

to the other part affixed their common Seal the Day and Year

above written

Sealed and Delivered

in the Presence of us.

Dixon

Tho: French

John Goodwin

John Goodwin first had to promise loyalty. He and those after him were to stay true to King George the Second and his successors, and to the Company and its successors, and to follow the island's rules.

At the end of the period he had to hand the ground back in good repair, along with everything that went with it.

He paid £0 1s 0d a year to the Company or its agents, due at Michaelmas.

One last point rounded off the agreement. Nobody could sell it or pass it on without the Governor and Council's say-so.

Goodwin signed on 12 February 1744, and the Company sealed its copy that day.

Witnesses to the signing: Dixon and Thomas French

John Goodwin, signing in his own name

Interpretations

A single shilling covered three acres, where the standard charge across this run stood at £0 5s 0d an acre and would have brought £0 15s 0d. No planting, fencing or timber duties appear either, only the promise to hand the ground back in repair. Goodwin's own land closed two sides of the parcel, so the Company was letting a fragment nobody else could reach at a figure that kept its ownership on the record rather than raising anything from it.

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167

Island S:t Helena

The Lords Proprietors of this Island the

Honourable United Company of Merchants of England Trading to the East Indies

Do hereby Demise grant Lease Sett & to Farm Lett unto John Goodwin

Francis Wrangham Sen:r & Fra: Wrangham Jun:r Executors to the Last will and

Testament of Carles Steward dec:d all that Peice or Parcell of Gumwood Land

Containing One Acre Scituate lying and being in the South Division

of the said Island in the West Branch of Sandy Bay Valley Butting and

Bounding towards the North and West upon the Lease Land formerly

Moses to the said dec:d Charles Steward and towards the South & East upon

the said Honourable Company Wast Land in the said South Division

To have and to hold the said Hereby demised One Acre of Gumwood

Land with the Appurtenances and every Part thereof unto them the said

John Goodwin Francis Wrangham & Fra: Francis Wrangham Jun:r

their Heirs Executors Administrators or Allowed Assigns from the day of

the date hereof for and during all the time Space and Term of Twentyone

Years from thence next ensuing In Trust Nevertheless and to the Use

of the Children of the said Charles Steward dec:d Upon Conditions

that the said Children and Each of them their and Each of their Heirs Executors

Administrators or Allowed Assigns shall allways bear true faith and

Allegiance to our Sovereign Lord King George the Second his

Heirs and Successors and true faith to the said Hon:ble Company and

their Successors and Shall allways duely Obey all the Laws and Constitutions

of the said Island Yeilding and Paying therefore Yearly and

every year during the said Term of twenty one Years unto the Hon:ble

Company their Successors or Assigns the Yearly Rent of five Shillings

p Acre in at or upon the Feast of S:t Michael the Arch Angel Yearly

and upon further Condition that they the said John Goodwin Francis

Wrangham Sen:r Francis Wrangham Jun:r their Heirs Executors

Administrators or Allowed Assigns Shall and do keep and Maintain the

said Demised Land and fences in good heart and Repair when and

as often as need Shall Repair so that the whole Premisses and every Part

thereof shall be always tenantable and no ways Suffered to run to ruin

or decay and Shall also keep up and Reserve the Wood and other Trees that

now are Growing thereon or that Shall hereafter be Planted Pursuant

to the Laws for Planting of Wood in that Case Made and Provided

The Company, which owned the island, rented one acre of gumwood land to John Goodwin, Francis Wrangham senior and Francis Wrangham junior, the three men settling the affairs of the late Charles Steward. The ground lay in the West Branch of Sandy Bay Valley in the South Division. Land the dead man had himself rented closed the parcel to the north and west, and open Company ground in the South Division bounded it to the south and east.

The three took the acre not for themselves but for Steward's children. They and their heirs held it for twenty-one years.

Loyalty came first among the things asked of the children. They and those after them were to stay true to King George the Second and his successors, and to the Company and its successors, and to follow the island's rules.

The charge came to £0 5s 0d an acre a year, due at Michaelmas.

Keeping the place in order came next. The three men had to hold the ground and the fences in good heart and repair whenever repair was needed, so that the whole of it stayed fit to occupy and nothing ran down or fell into decay. They had also to keep the trees then growing there, along with any planted later, as the island's rules on timber required.

Interpretations

A single acre carried the same weight of terms as the largest holdings in this run, the full charge of £0 5s 0d, the duty to keep the soil in heart, and the obligation to preserve the timber. The Company made no allowance for size anywhere across these arrangements, and a tenth of an acre in trees was as much a duty as a tenth of forty.

Charles Steward's ground closed two sides of the parcel, so this acre was a fragment left over between his own holdings and open Company land. He had taken nine acres and a half in the divided block and seventeen acres across three Sandy Bay pieces at the sitting of 30 September 1738, two of those three lying almost wholly enclosed by ground he already held.

Two men named Francis Wrangham stand among the three. The younger became secretary to the Company on the island, and his father had been assembling ground across the West and South Divisions for years, taking thirty-three acres on the lives of his three sons on 8 January 1739 and fourteen acres in three pieces on 24 August 1742.

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and upon Condition also that they the said John Goodwin Francis Wrangham

Sen:r & Francis Wrangham Jun:r Shall not sell or any other way dispose

of this Lease or Interest in the same without the Knowledge and Consent

of the Governour and Council of this Island for the time being In Witness

Whereof we the said Governour and Council have sett our hands and Affixt

the Honourable Companys Seale in S:t Helena aforesaid this Twelfth

day of March in the Year of our Lord one Thousand Seven hundred

and forty four and the Executors have to these Presents set their hands

and Seales the day and Year above Written

Sealed & Delivered

in the Presence of us

Dixon

John Goodwin

Fra: Wrangham

F: Wrangham Jun:r

The Lords Proprietors of this Island the

Honourable United Company of Merchants of England Trading to the East

Indies Do hereby Demise Grant Lease Sett and to Farm Lett unto

John Goodwin Francis Wrangham Sen:r Francis Wrangham Jun:r

Executors to the Last will and Testament of Charles Steward dec:d all

that Peice or Parcell of Cabbage Tree Land Containing Nineteen

Acres Scituate Lying and being under the Main Ridge North of Sandy

None of the three men holding the acre for the Steward children could sell it or pass it on in any way without the Governor and Council's knowledge and agreement.

The Governor and Council set their hands and the Company's seal to the document at St Helena on 12 March 1744, and the three signed and sealed that day. Each set his own seal beside his name.

Witness to the signing: Dixon

John Goodwin, signing as one of the men settling the estate

Francis Wrangham senior, signing as one of the men settling the estate

Francis Wrangham junior, signing as one of the men settling the estate

The Company also rented nineteen acres of cabbage tree land to the same three men, again for the children of the late Charles Steward. The ground lay under the Main Ridge, north of Sandy Bay.

Interpretations

Three seals stand beside three names, each man bound in his own person rather than the group being bound together. Anyone holding ground for children might later have to answer for how the others had handled it, so the register shows separate seals wherever more than one person took land in that way, as with the two men holding the Alexander family's seven acres and a half on 9 November 1742.

Cabbage tree marks this second parcel as high ground. The moister country up towards the Main Ridge held water better than the dry gumwood slopes below, and land of that sort fetched the better prices in the record, twenty acres called Bisley reaching £19 an acre when sold on 12 October 1761.

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Bay Butting and Bounding toward the North upon Pasture Land belonging

to Charles Steward dec:d formerly Joseph Fares towards the South upon

the Lands of Margetta Roberson towards the West upon the Lands of

William Worrell and towards the East upon the said Stewards dec:d Cabbage

Tree Pasture Land To have and to hold the said hereby

Demised Nineteen Acres of Land with the Appurtenances and Every

Part thereof unto them the said John Goodwin Francis Wrangham

Sen:r & Francis Wrangham Jun:r their Heirs Executors Administrators or

Allowed Assigns from the day of the date hereof [...] for and during all the

time Space and Term of twenty one Years from thence next [...] In trust Nevertheless

and to the use of the Children of the said Charles Steward dec:d Upon Condi:

tion that the said Children and Each of them their and each of their Heirs Executors

Administrators or Allowed Assigns Shall allways bear true faith and Allegiance

to our Sovereign Lord King George the Second his Heirs & Successors & true faith

to the said Hon:ble Company & their Successors Shall allways duely Obey all the Laws &

Constitutions of the said Island Yeilding & Paying therefore Yearly & every years

during the said term of twenty one Years unto the said Hon:ble Company their Successors

Agents or Assigns the Yearly Rent of five Shillings p Acre in at or upon the Feast of S:t Michael

Arch Angel Yearly and Upon farther Condition that they the said John Goodwin Francis

Wrangham & Francis Wrangham Jun:r their Executors Administrators or Allowed Assigns Shall

and do keep and Maintain the said demised Land and Fences in good heart and Repair

when and as often as need Shall Require so that the whole Premisses and Every

Part thereof shall be always Tenantable and no Ways Suffered to Run to

Ruin or decay and Shall Also keep up and Preserve the Wood and other Trees

that now are Growing thereon or that shall hereafter be Planted Pursuant to the

Laws for Planting of Wood in that Case Made and Provided and upon Condition

Also that they the said John Goodwin Francis Wrangham Sen:r and Francis

Wrangham Jun:r Shall not sell or any other way dispose of this Lease or

Interest in the same without the Knowledge and Consent of the Governour

and Council of this Island for the time being In Witness whereof we the

Governour and Council have set our hands and Affixed the Hon:ble Companys Seale

in S:t Helena aforesaid this Twelfth day of March in the Year

of our Lord one Thousand Seven Hundred and forty four and the Executors

have to these Presents set their hands and Seales the day and Year abovewritten

Sealed & Delivered

in the Presence of Us.

Dixon

John Goodwin

Fra: Wrangham

F: Wrangham Jun:r

Pasture ground belonging to the late Charles Steward, once Joseph Fox's, closed the nineteen acres to the north. Martha Robinson's land lay to the south, William Worrall's ground ran along the west, and Steward's own cabbage tree pasture bounded it to the east.

John Goodwin, Francis Wrangham senior and Francis Wrangham junior held the ground with everything belonging to it for twenty-one years, taking it for the children of the late Charles Steward.

Loyalty came first among the things asked of the children. They and those after them were to stay true to King George the Second and his successors, and to the Company and its successors, and to follow the island's rules.

The charge came to £0 5s 0d an acre a year, due at Michaelmas.

Keeping the place in order came next. The three men had to hold the ground and the fences in good heart and repair whenever repair was needed, so that the whole of it stayed fit to occupy and nothing ran down or fell into decay. They had also to keep the trees then growing there, along with any planted later, as the island's rules on timber required.

One last point rounded off the agreement. None of them could sell it or pass it on in any way without the Governor and Council's knowledge and agreement.

The Governor and Council set their hands and the Company's seal to the document at St Helena on 12 March 1744, and the three signed and sealed that day. Each set his own seal beside his name.

Witness to the signing: Dixon

John Goodwin, signing as one of the men settling the estate

Francis Wrangham senior, signing as one of the men settling the estate

Francis Wrangham junior, signing as one of the men settling the estate

Interpretations

Martha Robinson holds ground on the southern edge in her own name. She appears in the register as a holder in the South Division on 25 March 1719, when her land marked the western boundary of eight acres let to James Vesey at the foot of the Main Ridge, so a woman's holding fixed the bounds of neighbouring parcels across a quarter of a century.

Joseph Fox is named as the earlier holder of the pasture to the north. He and his wife Martha had mortgaged eighteen acres in Sandy Bay together with a Fort James Valley house, a second house, a weir and growing crops to Charles Steward and Orlando Bagley for £32 0s 0d on 18 August 1709, that arrangement running for Martha's lifetime. The ground therefore passed from the Foxes to Steward and now stands recorded under both names.

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170

Island S:t Helena.

The Lords Proprietors of this Island the

Hon:ble united Company of Merchants of England Trading to the East Indies Do

hereby Demise Grant Lease sett and to Farm Lett unto John Goodwin Francis

Wrangham Sen:r and Francis Wrangham Jun:r Executors to the Last will and Testament

of Charles Steward dec:d all that Peice or Parcell of Gumwood Land Containing one

Acre Scituate Lying and being in the South Division of the said Island in the

West Branch of Sandy Bay Valley Butting and Bounding towards the North

upon the Lease Land of Charles Steward dec:d towards the East South and West every

way upon the said Hon:ble united Companys Wast Land in the said South Division

aforesaid To have and to hold the said hereby demised one Acre of Land

with the Appurtenances & every Part thereof unto them the said John Goodwin

Francis Wrangham Sen:r & Francis Wrangham Jun:r their Heirs Executors Administrators

or Allowed Assigns from the day of the date hereof [...] for and during all the

time Space and term of Twenty one Years from thence next ensuing In trust

Nevertheless & to the use of the Children of the said Charles Steward dec:d Upon

Condition that the said Children and Each of them their & each of their

The Company, which owned the island, rented one acre of gumwood land to John Goodwin, Francis Wrangham senior and Francis Wrangham junior, the three men settling the affairs of the late Charles Steward. The ground lay in the West Branch of Sandy Bay Valley in the South Division. Steward's own land closed the parcel to the north, and open Company ground in the South Division bounded it on every other side.

The three took the acre not for themselves but for Steward's children. They and their heirs held it for twenty-one years.

Loyalty came first among the things asked of the children. They and each of them, along with their heirs, were bound by that promise.

Interpretations

This acre is described in nearly the same words as the acre the same three men took for the same children on 12 March 1744, but the boundaries differ. That parcel had Steward's rented land to the north and west with Company ground to the south and east, where this one has his land only to the north and Company ground on the other three sides, so two separate single acres were being settled on the Steward children within the same run of pages.

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Heirs Executors Administrators or Allowed Assigns Shall Always bear true faith

& Allegiance to our Sovereign Lord King George the Second his Heirs Successors

& true faith to the said Hon:ble Company & their Successors and Shall allways duely

Obey all the Laws and Constitutions of the said Island Yeilding & Paying

therefor Yearly and every Year during the said Term of twenty one Years to the said

Hon:ble Company their Successors Agents or Assigns the Yearly Rent of five Shillings p Acre

in at or upon the feast of S:t Michaell the Arch Angell Yearly and upon further Condition that

they the said John Goodwin Francis Wrangham Sen:r and Francis Wrangham Jun:r their Executors

Administrators or Allowed Assigns Shall and do keep & Maintain the said Demised Land

& Fences in good heart & Repair when & as often as need Shall Require so that the whole

Premisses & every Part thereof Shall be Always Tenantable and no ways Suffered to

run to Ruin or decay & Shall Also keep up and Preserve the Wood & other Trees that now

are growing thereon or that Shall hereafter be Planted Pursuant to the Laws for

Planting of Wood in that Case Made & Provided & upon Condition also that they

the said John Goodwin Francis Wrangham Sen:r and Francis Wrangham Jun:r Shall

not Sell or any other way dispose of this Lease or Interest in the same without the

Knowledge & Consent of the Gov:r & Council of this Island for the time being In Witness

whereof we the said Gov:r & Council have set our hands & affixed the Hon:ble Companys

Seale in S:t Helena aforesaid this Twelfth day of March in the Year of our

Lord one Thousand Seven Hundred & forty four & the Executors have to these Presents

Sett their Hands & Seales the day and Year above Written

Sealed & Delivered

in the Presence of Us

Dixon

John Goodwin

Fra: Wrangham

F: Wrangham Jun:r

The Steward children and those after them were to stay true to King George the Second and his successors, and to the Company and its successors, and to follow the island's rules.

The charge came to £0 5s 0d an acre a year, due at Michaelmas.

Keeping the place in order came next. John Goodwin and the two Wranghams had to hold the ground and the fences in good heart and repair whenever repair was needed, so that the whole of it stayed fit to occupy and nothing ran down or fell into decay. They had also to keep the trees then growing there, along with any planted later, as the island's rules on timber required.

One last point rounded off the agreement. None of them could sell it or pass it on in any way without the Governor and Council's knowledge and agreement.

The Governor and Council set their hands and the Company's seal to the document at St Helena on 12 March 1744, and the three signed and sealed that day. Each set his own seal beside his name.

Witness to the signing: Dixon

John Goodwin, signing as one of the men settling the estate

Francis Wrangham senior, signing as one of the men settling the estate

Francis Wrangham junior, signing as one of the men settling the estate

Interpretations

Three separate agreements went through for the Steward children on the same day, covering one acre, nineteen acres and this further acre, each written out in full with its own signatures and its own three seals. The Company kept the parcels apart rather than drawing them into a single document, so each could later be dealt with on its own, and the children's inheritance stood recorded piece by piece.

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172

Island S:t Helena

The Lords Proprietors of this Island

the Hon:ble the United Company of Merchants of England Trading to the East

Indies Do hereby Demise Grant sett and to Farm Lett unto

Richard Goodwin of the said Island Planter All that Peice or Parcell of Land

containing Five Acres Scituate lying and being towards the North South

upon Richard Goodwin and Solleman Bosleys West upon Lands of

Francis Wrangham Sen:r East upon Lands of the said Richard Goodwin

To have and to hold the said hereby Demised Parcell

of Land and every Part and Parcell thereof together with all and Singular

the Wood Water Watercourses House Buildings Edifices Sheds tenement

Yams and Plantations of Yams Fruit Trees Walls Fences and all other

and Singular the Rights Commodityes to them and Each and every of them

belonging or Appertaining unto him the said Richard Goodwin

Goodwin his Heirs Executors Administrators or Allowed Assigns

from the Day of the date hereof for and during all the Space or Term

of Twentyone Years from thence next Ensuing Upon Cond:

ition that he the said Richard Goodwin his Heirs Executors

Administrators or Allowed Assigns Shall and do bear true faith

and Allegiance to our Sovereign Lord King George

his Heirs and Successors and true faith to them the said Hon:ble

Company and their Successors and Shall duely Obey all the Laws

and Constitutions of the said Island and Upon Condition

also that he the said Richard Goodwin his Heirs Executors Administrators

or Allowed Assigns shall and Do from time to time and at all

times hereafter during the Term of this Lease keep up and Maintain

in Good Order and Sufficient Repair all such Buildings Howses

Edifices Sheds Tenements Plantations and Fences as now are

or hereafter Shall be Made Built or Erected thereon and Shall

Moreover Plant keep up Maintain and Preserve in and upon the

said hereby demised Parcell of Land its full Quantity or

Proportion of Wood being one tenth Part of the said Parcell of Land

and Shall Likewise Plant and Preserve Furze within Side

and without side the said Fences of the said Parcell of Land

and Shall Plant Fruit Trees such as Apple Lemons Mulbery

The Company, which owned the island, rented five acres to Richard Goodwin, a planter living there. Ground held by Goodwin himself and by Solomon Barling lay to the north and south, Francis Wrangham senior's land closed the parcel to the west, and Goodwin's own ground bounded it to the east.

He got the trees, the water and its channels, the houses, sheds and outbuildings, the yam beds, the fruit trees, the walls and the fences, and anything else that came with the land. He and his heirs could use it for twenty-one years.

He first had to promise loyalty. Goodwin and those after him were to stay true to King George and his successors, and to the Company and its successors, and to follow the island's rules.

Keeping the place in order came next. Every building, shed, outbuilding, planted enclosure and fence had to be kept sound throughout, whether it stood there already or went up later.

Planting went with the upkeep. A tenth of the five acres had to be under trees and stay that way, with furze grown along the fences on whichever side worked best, and apple, lemon or mulberry to go in as fruit trees.

Interpretations

Goodwin's own ground closed three of the four sides, so the Company was letting him a gap in the middle of land he already worked and nobody else could have reached it.

Solomon Barling appears here holding ground alongside Goodwin. Richard Goodwin had acted as the man settling Solomon Burling's affairs at the sitting of 30 September 1738, taking six acres for the widow Elizabeth and the three children Erasmus, John and Eleanor, so the two families' land lay together and the connection between them ran back at least six years.

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or Peach Trees in Such Part thereof wherein they are most likely to Grow

and as they shall happen to decay or dye shall replant others of the Like

Sorts thereon without Prejudice nevertheless to such Part of the said Land

as shall be sett apart for the sole Purpose of Planting and Raising

of Yams Yeilding and Paying thereof Yearly and every

Year during the term of this Present Lease unto them the said Hon:ble

Company their Successors Agents or Assigns the sum of five Shillings

p Acre in at or upon the Feast of Saint Michael the Arch Angell

Yearly And Upon further Condition that he the said

Richard Goodwin his Heirs Executors Administrators or Allowed

Assigns shall not alter or remove the said Fences they being the

Limitts or Land Markes of the Parcell of Land aforesaid and

Shall not sell or dispose of this Lease or Interest therein without

the Leave and Consent of the Gov:r and Council for the time being

In Witness whereof we the said Governour and Council have sett our

hands and Affixed the Hon:ble Companys Seale in S:t Helena aforesaid

this 12 day of March in the Year of our Lord one Thousand

Seven hundred & forty four and the said Richard Goodwin to these Presents

hath sett his hand and Seale the day and Year above Written

Sealed & Delivered

In the Presence of Us

Dixon

T: Wright

Rich: Goodwin

Peach trees were to go in on Richard Goodwin's five acres wherever they had the best chance of thriving, alongside the apple, lemon and mulberry, and new ones of the same sort planted as old ones died off. None of this was to cut into any part of the ground he kept for yams.

He paid £0 5s 0d an acre a year to the Company or its agents, due at Michaelmas.

One last point rounded off the agreement. Goodwin could not move or pull down the fences, since they marked where the land started and stopped, and nobody could sell it or pass it on without the Governor and Council's say-so.

The Governor and Council set their hands and the Company's seal to the document at St Helena on 12 March 1744, and Goodwin signed that day.

Witnesses to the signing: Dixon and Wright

Richard Goodwin, signing in his own name

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Island S:t Helena

The Lords Proprietors of this Island the Hon:ble the United

Company of Merchants of England Trading to the East Indies do hereby demise

Grant sett and to Farm Lett unto Francis Wrangham Sen:r of the said Island Planter

all that peice or parcell of Land containing five Acres Scituate Lying and being in

one Branch of Fryer Valley Butting and Bounding towards the North and South

on Land of Richard Goodwin toward the West on Lands of the said Francis

Wrangham Sen:r & toward the East on the Hon:ble Companys Pastage Land

To have and to hold the said hereby demised parcell of Land and every part

& parcell thereof together with all and Singular the wood water watercourses

Houses, Buildings, Edifices, Sheds, Tenements, Yams and Plantations of

Yams, Fruit Trees Walls Fences and all other & Singular the rights Commodityes

to them & Each and every of them belonging or appurtaining unto him the

said Francis Wrangham Sen:r his Heirs, Executors, Administrators, or Allowed

Assigns from the day of the date hereof for and during all the Space or Term of

Twenty one Years from thence next ensueing upon Condition that he the said

Francis Wrangham Sen:r his Heirs, Executors, Administrators or Allowed Assigns

shall and do bear true faith and Allegiance to our Sovereign Lord King George the Second

his Heirs and Successors & true faith to them the said Hon:ble Company & their Successors

& shall duly observe and obey all the Laws & Constitutions of the said Island and upon

Condition also that he the said Francis Wrangham Sen:r his Heirs Executors Adm:ors

or allowed Assigns shall and do from time to time and at all times hereafter

during the Term of this Lease keep up and maintain in good Order and Sufficient

repair all such Buildings, Houses, Edifices, Sheds, Tenements Plantations and

fences as now are or hereafter shall be made Built or Erected thereon and shall

moreover plant keep up maintain and preserve in & upon the said hereby demised

Parcell of Land its full Quantity Proportion of Wood being one tenth Part of

of the said Parcell of Land and shall Likewise Plant and Preserve Furze

within side & without side the said Fences of the said Parcell of Land and shall

Plant Fruit Trees such as Apple Lemmon Mulberry or Peach Trees

in Such Part thereof wherein they are most Likely to grow and as they shall

happen to decay or dye shall Replant others of the Like sorts thereon

without Prejudice nevertheless to such Part of the said Land as shall be

sett apart of the said Land as shall be sett apart for the sole purpose of

Planting and Raising of Yams Yeilding and Paying therefore

The Company, which owned the island, rented five acres in a branch of Fryer Valley to Francis Wrangham senior, a planter living there. Richard Goodwin's land closed the parcel to the north and south, Wrangham's own ground ran along the west, and the Company's pasture land bounded it to the east.

He got the trees, the water and its channels, the houses, sheds and outbuildings, the yam beds, the fruit trees, the walls and the fences, and anything else that came with the land. He and his heirs could use it for twenty-one years.

He first had to promise loyalty. Wrangham and those after him were to stay true to King George the Second and his successors, and to the Company and its successors, and to follow the island's rules.

Keeping the place in order came next. Every building, shed, outbuilding, planted enclosure and fence had to be kept sound throughout, whether it stood there already or went up later.

Planting went with the upkeep. A tenth of the five acres had to be under trees and stay that way, with furze grown along the fences on whichever side worked best. Apple, lemon, mulberry or peach were to go in wherever they had the best chance of thriving, and new trees of the same sort planted as old ones died off. None of this was to cut into any part of the ground he kept for yams.

Interpretations

Richard Goodwin's land closes this parcel on two sides, and Wrangham's own ground closed three sides of the five acres Goodwin took on 12 March 1744, so the Company was letting each man a gap in the middle of the other's holdings within the same run of pages.

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Yearly and every during the Term of this Present Lease unto them the said Hon:ble

Company their Successors Agents or Assigns the sum of five Shillings p Acre in at

or upon the Feast of Saint Michael the Arch Angell Yearly and upon

further Condition that he the said Francis Wrangham Sen:r

his Heirs Executors Administrators or Allowed Assigns shall not alter or

remove the said Fences they being the Limitts or Land Marks of the Parcell of

Land aforesaid and shall not sell or dispose of this Lease or Interest therein

without the Leave and Consent of the Governour and Council for the time being

In Witness whereof we the said Governour and Council have sett our

Hands and Affixed the Honourable Companys Seale in S:t Helena aforesaid this Twelfth

Day of March in the Year of our Lord one Thousand Seven Hundred and Forty four

and the said Francis Wrangham to these Presents heath sett his hand and Seale

the day and Year above Written

Sealed and Delivered

In the Presence of Us

F: Wrangham Jun:r

Tho: French

Fra:s Wrangham

Francis Wrangham senior paid £0 5s 0d an acre a year, due at Michaelmas.

One last point rounded off the agreement. Wrangham could not move or pull down the fences, since they marked where the land started and stopped, and nobody could sell it or pass it on without the Governor and Council's say-so.

The Governor and Council set their hands and the Company's seal to the document at St Helena on 12 March 1744, and Wrangham signed that day.

Witnesses to the signing: F. Wrangham junior and Thomas French

Francis Wrangham senior, signing in his own name

Interpretations

Francis Wrangham junior witnessed his own father's agreement, as he had done for the sale of an acre in the East Division on 4 September 1751 while holding the land on its northern boundary. Family members standing as witnesses run right through the register without any suggestion that it mattered.

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Island Saint Helena

The Lords Proprietors of this Island

the United Company of Merchants of England trading to the East

Indies Do hereby Demise Grant Lease and let to Farm Lett unto

Francis Wrangham Sen.r of this Island Planter All that Peice Parcell of

Gunnered Land containing seven Acres situate lying and being in Sandy

Bay in the south Division of this Island and near the [...] of James Well

Butting and bounding towards the North on Lands of the said Francis Wrangham

Sen.r South and West on the Hon.ble Companys wast Land and East on Lands

late in the Possession of John Harding Dec.d To have and to

hold the said hereby Demised Parcell of Land and every part and

Parcell thereof together with all and Singular the W[...] Wells Water

courses Houses Buildings Edifices Wells Tenements Yeams and Plantations

of Yams Fruit Trees Walks Fences and All other and Singular the Rights

Commodys [...] and Each and every of them belonging or Appertaining

unto him the said Francis Wrangham Sen.r his Heirs Executors Administrat.rs

or Allowed Assigns from the day of the date hereof for and during All the

Space and Term of Twenty one Years from thence next Ensuing Upon

Condition that the said Francis Wrangham Sen.r his Heirs

Executors Administrators or Allowed Assigns Shall and Do bear True

Faith and Allegiance to our Soveraign Lord King George [...]

the second his Heirs and Successors And bear faith to them the said

Honoble Company and their Successors And Shall duly observe and obey

All the Laws and Constitutions of the said Island and Upon Condi-

tion Also that the said Francis Wrangham Sen.d his Heir Executors

Administrators or Allowed Assigns Shall and do from time to time and

at All times hereafter during the Term of this Lease keep up and

Maintain in Good Order and Sufficient and Legall Repair all such

Buildings Houses Edifices Walls Tenements Plantations and Fences

as are or are or hereafter shall be made Built or Erected and shall moreover

plant keep up maintain and preserve in and upon the said demised parcell of Land

the full quantity or proportion of wood being one tenth part of the said parcell of

Land and shall likewise plant Furze or Gorze within side or without the said Fences

of the said parcell of Land and shall plant Fruit Trees such as apple Lemon

Mulberry or peach Trees in such parts thereof as they are most Likely to Grow

The Company held St Helena outright and let out its land as landlord. Under this grant, seven acres of gumwood ground in Sandy Bay, in the island's South Division, went to Francis Wrangham senior, a planter there. His own fields lay along the northern edge. Open Company ground ran along the south and west. The eastern side met land that John Harding had held before his death.

The seven acres came with everything on them. Wrangham took the standing timber, the wells and streams, the buildings and sheds, the yam beds and the trees already planted, the walls and every other benefit that went with the ground. His tenure ran twenty-one years from the day the papers were signed, and would pass to his heirs or to anyone the Company approved as a successor.

Several duties came attached. Wrangham and those after him owed loyalty to King George the Second and to the Company, and had to keep the island's rules. They had to maintain every structure and boundary on the land in good condition for the whole term, whatever stood there at the start or went up later. A tenth of the seven acres had to be kept under trees. Furze had to be grown along the boundaries, on whichever side worked better. Apples, lemons, mulberries and peaches had to be planted wherever each was most likely to thrive.

Interpretations

Gumwood was one of the island's native trees, slow-growing and able to survive on thin, wind-exposed soil. The Company guarded its supply carefully throughout this period, which is why a tenth of every leased parcel had to stay wooded. Ground already carrying gumwood met that requirement far more easily than bare pasture. Furze, a thick spiny shrub, earned its place by doing two jobs at once: it strengthened a boundary against wandering animals and gave shelter to whatever grew behind it.

The four fruits listed here help date the grant. Leases of the 1720s, and the one Samuel Doveton took on 30 September 1738, named a long alternative list stretching through coffee, orange, lime, quince, pear, coco, date, pomegranate, walnut, citron, pompelmous, almond and tamarind. Grants made later at that same sitting cut the choice back to apple, lemon, mulberry and peach. The shorter list reflects what experience had shown would genuinely take root on cool upland ground.

John Harding, named as the eastern neighbour, had died by this point. He appears repeatedly in the register as the planter who spent 1720 pulling the split nineteen-acre Harding estate on the Green Hill back into single hands, buying out his brother Richard, his brothers in law John Young and Joseph Bates, and his sister Lydea. He added seventeen acres bought from Mary Swallow for £100 0s 0d on 27 September 1721 and took two leases at the Graves on 11 October 1726. Here his name serves only to mark a boundary, which is what happened across these records once a family's leading men were gone.

Open Company ground on two sides meant Wrangham had to build and maintain those stretches of fence entirely at his own cost, with no neighbour's wall to share. He had faced this before. His twenty acres of 30 September 1738 also sat against open ground on two sides, and a note added to that grant fixed his yearly charge at a flat £4 0s 0d so he paid on sixteen acres rather than twenty. Nothing in what survives here suggests he got a similar reduction.

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and as they shall happen to decay or dye shall replant others of the like sort thereon

without without hurt or prejudice nevertheless to any part of such Land as shall be

sett apart for the Sole purpose of planting and raising of Yams Yeilding and

paying therefore Yearly and every year during the Term of this present Lease

unto them the said Honble Company their Successors Agents or Assigns the sum

of five Shillings p.r Acre in at or upon the feast of Saint Michael the Arch Angell

Yearly and upon further condition that he the said Francis Wrangham

Sen.r his Heirs Executors Administrators or Allowed Assigns shall not Alter or

remove the said fences they being the Limitts or Land Marks of the parcells of

Land aforesaid & shall not sell or dispose of this Lease or Interest therein without

the Leave and Consent of the Governour & Council for the time being In Witness

whereof we the said Governour, Council have sett our hands and affixt the Honble

Companyes Seale On Saint Helena this 1.st day of March in the Year of our Lord one

thousand Seven hundred and Forty four and the said Francis Wrangham Sen.r hath

to these presents sett his hand and Seale the day and Year above written

Signd Sealed & Delivered Fran.s Wrangham

In presence of us.

Fr. Wrangham Jun.r

Jno French

Under the closing terms of the seven-acre Sandy Bay lease, Francis Wrangham senior took on a continuing duty to keep the ground planted. Any tree that failed or died had to be replaced with another of the same kind. That obligation stopped short of interfering with whatever part of the land he chose to reserve entirely for growing yams.

Payment came to £0 5s 0d for each acre, due once a year to the Company, its successors or its agents, on the feast of Michaelmas. Across seven acres the yearly charge worked out at £1 15s 0d.

Two further restrictions closed the grant. Wrangham and anyone who came after him could not shift or take down the fences, since those lines marked out where the parcel began and ended. Nor could he sell or hand on his interest without the Governor and Council first agreeing.

The Governor and Council signed and applied the Company's seal at St Helena on 1 March 1744. Wrangham signed and sealed the same day. Francis Wrangham junior and John French attended as witnesses.

Interpretations

Michaelmas falls on 29 September, and country leases across this period consistently fell due then, while the town plots let behind James Valley yards were payable on 30 September instead. The single day's difference ran through the whole run of grants and kept two classes of tenant apart in the Company's books.

Yams mattered more than anything else the island grew. They fed the population and supplied the ships anchored in the road, which is why every lease of this period lifted the planting duties from ground kept for them. Trees demanded space, and a tenth of a parcel under wood with fruit trees scattered besides could easily have eaten into the beds. The Company let its timber programme give way wherever the two collided.

Fences carried a weight here beyond keeping animals out. With no general survey of the island, the walls a tenant built became the working record of where his ground ended, so moving one would have unsettled the boundary itself. That is why the grant treats a shifted fence as a serious matter rather than a maintenance question.

Francis Wrangham junior witnessed his own father's deed. He held the post of secretary to the Company on the island, the office earlier filled by Antipas Tovey and John Alexander, and he appears in the same role attesting his father's sale of an acre to William Young on 4 September 1751. John French, the second witness, had taken thirty-one acres in Pleasant Valley and Lemon Valley on the lives of his three children at the sitting of 30 September 1738.

The date places this beside two other grants Wrangham took that month, since the Company also let him five acres in a branch of Fryer Valley on 12 March 1744, with Richard Goodwin's land closing two sides of it.

Speculations

The Company gave Wrangham a flat twenty-one years here, though it had repeatedly done otherwise for him. On 30 September 1738 it measured his forty acres at Stock Hall and his twelve in Sarahs Valley by the lives of Matthew Bushing, John Doveton and Richard Goodwin junior, and on 8 January 1739 it set thirty-three acres in the West Division on the lives of his own three sons. Tenure by lives could run on indefinitely, each name replaced for half a year's rent, and Wrangham plainly knew how to obtain it. Seven acres of gumwood explains the difference. The longer form went where a tenant had to build or held enough ground to justify looking past his own lifetime, and this parcel required neither. A fixed span cost the Company nothing in a holding that would come back within a generation anyway.

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Island S.t Helena.

The Lords proprietors of this Island the Honble the United

Company of Merchants of England Trading to the East Indies do hereby demise

Grant Lease & Lett and to farm Lett unto Francis Wrangham Sen.r of this Island

Planter All that peice or parcell of Land containing four Acres Situate lying &

being in Sandy Bay in the South division of the said Island Butting & Bounding

North & South upon Lands belonging to the said Francis Wrangham Sen.r toward the

North & East upon the lower part of the Lands known by the name of Sperrings

now in the possession of the Honble Company West on Lands belonging to the late

John Alexanders Orpham To have and to hold the said hereby Demised parcell

of Land and every part and parcell thereof together with all and singular the wood

water watercourses Houses Buildings Edifices Wells Tenements Yams and

plantations of Yams Fruit Trees Walks Ifences and all other and singular the rights

Commodities to them and each and every of them belonging and appurtaining unto him

the said Francis Wrangham Sen.r his Heirs Executors Administrators or Allowed

Assigns from the day of the date hereof for and during all the Space and Term of

Twenty one Years from thence next ensueing Upon condition that he the said

Francis Wrangham Sen.r his Heirs Executors, Administrators or Allowed Assigns shall

and do bear true faith and allegiance to our Sovereign Lord King George the Second

his Heirs and Successors and true faith to them the said Honble Company and their

Successors and shall duly obey all the Laws and Constitutions of the said Island

and upon Condition also that he the said Francis Wrangham Sen.r his Heirs Executors

Administrators or Allowed Assigns shall and do from time to time and at all times

hereafter during the Term of this Lease keep up and maintain in good Order &

Sufficient and Legall repair all such Buildings Houses, Edifices Wells Tenements

Plantation & fences as now are or hereafter shall be made Built or Erected thereon

and shall moreover plant keep up maintain and preserve in and upon the said

hereby demised parcell of Land its full quantity or proportion of wood being

one tenth part of the said parcell of Lands and shall Likewise plant and preserve

Gorze withinside and without the fences of the said parcell of Land & shall plant

Fruit Trees such as apple, Lemon, Mulberry or peach Trees in such parts thereof as

they are most likely to grow and as they shall happen to decay or dye shall replant

others of the like sort thereon without hurt or prejudice nevertheless to any part of

such Land as shall be sett apart for the sole purpose of raiseing & planting of Yams

Yeelding & paying therefore Yearly and every year during the Term of

The Company, owner of St Helena, let a second parcel to Francis Wrangham senior, a planter on the island. This one held four acres in Sandy Bay, in the South Division. Wrangham's own land ran along the north and south sides, reaching towards the northern boundary. To the east lay the lower part of ground known as Perkins, then in the Company's own hands. Land that had belonged to the late John Alexander Copham closed the western edge.

Everything on the four acres passed with them. Wrangham took the timber, the water and watercourses, the houses and other buildings, the sheds and dwellings, the yams and yam beds, the fruit trees, the walls and boundaries, and every other benefit attached to the ground. He held it for twenty-one years from the date of the grant, together with his heirs, executors, administrators or any successor the Company approved.

The conditions matched those on his neighbouring seven acres. Wrangham and those following him owed loyalty to King George the Second, to his heirs and successors, and to the Company. They had to keep the island's rules. For the whole term they had to maintain every building, shed, dwelling, planting and boundary on the land in sound repair, whatever stood there already or was put up later. A tenth of the four acres had to be kept planted with trees. Furze had to be grown on the fences, inside or out. Apples, lemons, mulberries and peaches had to be set wherever each was most likely to grow, and anything that died had to be replaced with the same kind. None of these duties touched whatever part of the ground Wrangham chose to keep solely for growing yams. Payment fell due once a year for the whole term.

Interpretations

Perkins survives here as a name attached to Company ground rather than to a private holding. The name goes back to Thomas Perkins senior, who took a thirty-acre lease of cabbage tree and gumwood on 20 July 1711 with a plan distinguishing his parcel from twenty acres of free land once Mary Beach's and thirty acres held for Paul Charles's children. The Perkins name was still fixing boundaries in the South Division more than forty years later, when it marked the eastern side of the eight acres sold to Francis Mowatt on 24 August 1753.

The eastern neighbour being the Company itself is worth noting. Ground labelled Perkins had come back into Company hands and sat unallocated, so Wrangham's four acres pressed against land the Company could let afresh whenever it chose. Two of his four boundaries met his own fields, which is the pattern running through these grants: the Company handed awkward fragments to the one man whose existing ground made them workable.

Only a tenth of four acres came to two fifths of an acre under trees, and the yearly charge at the standard rate would have run to £1 0s 0d. The Company applied identical terms whatever the size of a parcel, making no concession for small holdings anywhere across this run of grants, so a tenant of four acres carried the same weight of duties as one holding thirty.

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this Present Lease unto them the said Honourable Company their Successors Agents

or Assigns the sum of five Shillings p.r Acre in at or upon the feast of S.t Michael

the Arch Angell Yearly And upon Further Condition

that he the said Francis Wrangham Sen.r his Heirs Executors Administrators

or Allowed Assigns shall not Alter or remove the said fences they being the Limitts

or Land Marks of the Parcell of Land aforesaid and shall not sell or dispose

of this Lease or Interest therein without the Leave and Concord of Goo.r and

Council for the Time being In Wittness whereof we the said Governour

and Council have sett our hands & Affixed the Honble Company Seale this twelfth

day of March in the Year of our Lord one Thousand Seven hundred and forty four

and the said Francis Wrangham Sen.r hath to these Presents sett his hand

and Seale the day and Year above Written

Signd Sealed & Delivered Fra.s Wrangham

in the Presence of us

Fr. Wrangham Jun.r

Tho French

The Company, owner of St Helena, let a second parcel to Francis Wrangham senior, a planter on the island. This one held four acres in Sandy Bay, in the South Division. Wrangham's own land ran along the north and south sides, reaching towards the northern boundary. To the east lay the lower part of ground known as Perkins, then in the Company's own hands. Land that had belonged to the late John Alexander Copham closed the western edge.

Everything on the four acres passed with them. Wrangham took the timber, the water and watercourses, the houses and other buildings, the sheds and dwellings, the yams and yam beds, the fruit trees, the walls and boundaries, and every other benefit attached to the ground. He held it for twenty-one years from the date of the grant, together with his heirs, executors, administrators or any successor the Company approved.

The conditions matched those on his neighbouring seven acres. Wrangham and those following him owed loyalty to King George the Second, to his heirs and successors, and to the Company. They had to keep the island's rules. For the whole term they had to maintain every building, shed, dwelling, planting and boundary on the land in sound repair, whatever stood there already or was put up later. A tenth of the four acres had to be kept planted with trees. Furze had to be grown on the fences, inside or out. Apples, lemons, mulberries and peaches had to be set wherever each was most likely to grow, and anything that died had to be replaced with the same kind. None of these duties touched whatever part of the ground Wrangham chose to keep solely for growing yams. Payment fell due once a year for the whole term.

Interpretations

Perkins survives here as a name attached to Company ground rather than to a private holding. The name goes back to Thomas Perkins senior, who took a thirty-acre lease of cabbage tree and gumwood on 20 July 1711 with a plan distinguishing his parcel from twenty acres of free land once Mary Beach's and thirty acres held for Paul Charles's children. The Perkins name was still fixing boundaries in the South Division more than forty years later, when it marked the eastern side of the eight acres sold to Francis Mowatt on 24 August 1753.

The eastern neighbour being the Company itself is worth noting. Ground labelled Perkins had come back into Company hands and sat unallocated, so Wrangham's four acres pressed against land the Company could let afresh whenever it chose. Two of his four boundaries met his own fields, which is the pattern running through these grants: the Company handed awkward fragments to the one man whose existing ground made them workable.

Only a tenth of four acres came to two fifths of an acre under trees, and the yearly charge at the standard rate would have run to £1 0s 0d. The Company applied identical terms whatever the size of a parcel, making no concession for small holdings anywhere across this run of grants, so a tenant of four acres carried the same weight of duties as one holding thirty.

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Island Saint Helena

The Lords Proprietors of this Island the Honoble

the United Company of Merchants of England Trading to the East Indies Do

hereby Demise Grant sett and to Farm Lett unto Frances Wrangham Sen.r

of the said Island Planter All that Peice of Parcell of Land Containing five

Acres Sentuate lying and being towards the west East and South upon

his own 32 Acres of Land and towards the West upon the Honoble Company

Wast Land To have and to hold the said hereby Demised

Parcell of Land and every Part and Parcell thereof together with all and

Singular the Wood Water Watercourses Houses Buildings Edifices Wells

Tenements Yams and Plantations of Yams Fruit Trees Walks Fences and

all other and Singular the Rights Commoditys to them and Each and

every of them belonging or Appertaining unto him the said Francis

Wrangham Sen.r his Heirs Executors Administrators Allowed Assigns from the

Day of the date hereof for and during all the Space or Term of Twenty one

Years from thence next ensuing Upon Condition that he the

said Francis Wrangham Sen.r his Heirs Executors Administrators or allowed

Assigns Shall and do bear true Faith and Allegiance to our Soveraign Lord

King George the Second his Heirs and Successors and true faith to

them the said Honoble Company and their Successors and Shall duely observe

and Obey all the Laws and Constitutions of the said Island and Upon

Condition also that the said Francis Wrangham Sen.r his Heirs

Executors Administrators or Allowed Assigns Shall and do from time to Time

and at All times hereafter during the Term of this Lease Keep up and

Maintain in Good Order and Sufficient Repair all such Buildings Houses

Edifices Wells Tenements Plantations and Fences as now are or hereafter Shall

be made Built or Erected thereon and Shall Moreover Plant Keep up

Maintain and Preserve in and Upon the said hereby demised Parcell

of Land its full Quantity of Wood being one Tenth Part of the said

Parcell of Land and Shall Likewise Plant and Preserve Gorze within

side and without side the Fences of the said Parcell of Land and Shall

Plant Fruit Trees such as Apple Lemmon Mulberrey or Peach trees

in such Part thereof wherein they are most Likely to Grow and as they

Shall happen to decay or dye shall replant others of the Like Sort

thereon without Prejudice never the Less to such Part of the said Land

A third parcel went to Francis Wrangham senior from the Company, which owned St Helena. This one held five acres. His own thirty-two acres lay along the north, east and south sides. The Company's unallocated ground closed the western edge.

The five acres came with everything on them: the timber, the water and its channels, the houses and other buildings, the sheds and dwellings, the yams and yam beds, the fruit trees, the walls and boundaries, and every other benefit belonging to the ground. Wrangham held it for twenty-one years from the date of the grant, along with his heirs, executors, administrators or any successor the Company allowed.

The terms repeated those on his other parcels. Wrangham and those after him owed loyalty to King George the Second, to his heirs and successors, and to the Company, and had to keep the island's rules. Throughout the term they had to maintain every building, shed, dwelling, planting and boundary on the ground in sound repair, whatever stood there at the start or went up afterwards. A tenth of the five acres had to be kept under trees. Furze had to be grown on the fences, on either side. Apples, lemons, mulberries and peaches had to be planted wherever each stood the best chance, and any that died had to be replaced with the same kind. None of this reached whatever part of the ground Wrangham set aside purely for yams.

Interpretations

Wrangham's own thirty-two acres wrapped this parcel on three of its four sides, leaving only the western edge open to Company ground. Five acres in that position could be farmed by nobody else, and the Company let such fragments to the neighbour they completed rather than offering them separately. The same reasoning appears throughout these grants, most plainly in the seven acres let to Jonathan Doveton on 30 September 1738 with his own land named on all four sides.

The thirty-two acres named here mark a substantial holding, and this grant sits within a wider accumulation. On 8 January 1739 Wrangham took thirty-three acres in the West Division on the lives of his sons Francis, James and William. He had earlier taken forty acres at Stock Hall in five pieces and twelve acres in Sarahs Valley at the sitting of 30 September 1738, four of the Stock Hall pieces likewise almost wholly enclosed by ground he already held. He was building solid blocks out of pieces only he could reach.

Taken with his seven acres and his four acres in Sandy Bay, this five-acre grant shows the Company clearing several leftover parcels to one man in the same period. Each carried its own instrument, its own term and its own charge, so any one of them could later be dealt with separately, which a single combined lease would have prevented.

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as Shall Sett apart for the sole Purpose of Planting and Raising of Yams

Yealding and Paying therefore Yearly and every Year during

the Term of this Present Lease unto them the said Honble Companys their

Successors Agents or Assigns the Sum of Five Shillings p.r Acre in at or upon

the Feast of S.t Micheal the Arch Angell Yearly and Upon

Further Condition That he the said Francis Wrangham Sen.r

his Heirs Executors Administrators or Allowed Assigns shall not Alter or remove

the said Fences they being the Limitts or Land Marks of the Parcell of Land

aforesaid and shall not sell or dispose of this Lease or Interest therein without

the Leave and Consent of the Governour and Council for the time being In

Wittness whereof we the said Gov.r and Council have sett our hands and

Affixed the Honoble Company Seale in S.t Helena this 12 day of March

in the Year of our Lord one Thousand Seven Hundred and Forty Four and

the said Francis Wrangham Sen.r hath to these Presents sett his hand and

Seale the day and Year above Written

Sealed and Delivered Fran.s Wrangham

In the Presence of Us

Fr. Wrangham Jun.r

Tho. French

Whatever ground Francis Wrangham senior chose to keep entirely for growing yams stood outside the planting duties on the five-acre parcel. He owed the Company, its successors or its agents £0 5s 0d for each acre every year, due at Michaelmas, which came to £1 5s 0d on the five acres.

Two further limits ran with the grant. Wrangham and anyone succeeding him could not move or pull down the fences, since those marked out the parcel's limits. He could not sell his interest or hand it on without the Governor and Council agreeing first.

The Governor and Council signed and applied the Company's seal at St Helena on 12 March 1744. Wrangham signed and sealed on the same day. Francis Wrangham junior and Thomas French witnessed.

Interpretations

Thomas French appears here as witness where John French had attested the seven-acre grant of 1 March 1744. Both belonged to the family of John French, the gentleman who took thirty-one acres in Pleasant Valley and Lemon Valley on 30 September 1738 on the lives of his three children John, Thomas and Margaret French. Thomas French later acted as attorney for Thomas Manning Taylor of Bencoolen, selling a James Valley house to William Turner on 13 December 1753, and sold John Goodwin a stable plot of fourteen feet and a half square for twenty shillings on 25 July 1754.

The date sets this grant alongside two others of the same day. On 12 March 1744 the Company also let Richard Goodwin five acres closed in on three sides by his own ground, and Wrangham senior five acres in a branch of Fryer Valley with Goodwin's land on two sides. The Company was settling small awkward pieces on two neighbouring holders at one sitting, each man taking a gap in the middle of the other's fields.

Wrangham's charge across his three Sandy Bay parcels ran to £4 0s 0d a year for sixteen acres, and the sums stayed separate because each grant stood as its own document. Splitting them meant any single parcel could later be assigned or surrendered without disturbing the rest, an arrangement that mattered where the Governor and Council had to approve every transfer.

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182

Island Saint Helena

The Lords Proprietors of this Island the Honoble

the United Company of Merchants of England trading to the East Indies

Do hereby give grant Sell and to Farm Lett unto John Goodwin

Gentleman All that peice or Parcell of Cabbage tree Land containing five

Acres more or Less Sictuate Lying and being Under the Main Ridge

known by the Name of Taylors Land Butting and Bounding towards

the North upon Lands of Jonathan Doveton towards the South rightly said

Main Ridge next Land of Wey towards the East upon Lands Late of Samuell

Ivory & towards the West upon Twenty Acres of Land Late of Gabriel Powell

& Bought of Richard Beale and every Part and Parcell thereof with

the Appurtenances To have and to hold the said

hereby demised Premises and every Part and Parcell thereof and all &

Singular the Appurtenances thereunto belonging unto him the said John

Goodwin his Heirs Executors Administrators and Assigns from the day of

the date of these presents for and during the Term of Twenty one Years from

thence next Ensuing Upon Condition That the said Honoble

Company Shall Approve of the Same And Upon Condition

that he the said John Goodwin his Heirs Executors Administrators and

Assigns do and Shall bear true faith and Allegiance to our Soveraign Lord

King George the Second his Heirs and Successors and true Service to them

the said Honoble Company and Successors and duly Obey All Laws

and Constitutions of the said Island And Upon Condition Also that he

the said John Goodwin his Heirs Executors Administrators or Assigns do

and Shall well and Sufficiently Keep up & Maintain the Fences

to the said Land & the full Quantity of Wood thereon and do and Shall

at the End or Sooner determination of this Lease Yeilding and Surrender

in Good Order & Repair unto them the said Honoble Company their

Successors Agents or Assigns All the said hereby demised Land &

Premisses with the Appurtenances Yeilding and

Paying therefore Yearly & every Year during the Term of this

Present Lease unto them the said Honoble Company their Successors

Agents or Assigns the Sum of Five Shillings p.r Acre in at or Upon

the Feast of Saint Michael the Arch Angell Yearly And Upon

Further Condition that he the said John Goodwin his

The Company let five acres of cabbage tree land, more or less, to John Goodwin, a gentleman of the island. The parcel lay under the Main Ridge and went by the name of Taylors Land. Jonathan Doveton's ground closed it to the north. The Main Ridge itself and the land near Sandy Bay formed the southern boundary. To the east lay ground once held by Samuel Jesey. To the west stood twenty acres that had belonged to Gabriel Powell and were afterwards bought by Richard Beale.

Goodwin took the parcel with everything attached to it, holding for twenty-one years from the date of the grant, together with his heirs, executors, administrators and assigns. The Company reserved the right to approve any transfer.

Several duties came with the land. Goodwin and those following him owed loyalty to King George the Second, to his heirs and successors, and to the Company, and had to keep the island's rules. They had to build good fences around the parcel and keep them sound, and to maintain the full share of trees on the ground. At the end of the term, or whenever it closed earlier, everything was to be handed back to the Company or its agents in good order and repair. Payment ran at £0 5s 3d for each acre every year, due at Michaelmas.

Interpretations

Cabbage tree land marks this as high ground. Cabbage tree grew on the moister country towards the Main Ridge, where the soil held water better than the dry gumwood slopes lower down, and such parcels consistently fetched more across the register. Bisley sold at £19 an acre on 12 October 1761 with the Main Ridge on its southern edge, and the cabbage tree ground John Bland bought on 28 July 1758 ran to £30 an acre.

Taylors Land carries a history the register records in detail. Richard Beale sold the twelve-acre cabbage tree parcel of that name to Gabriel Powell for £180 0s 0d in February 1721, together with twenty acres of Beale's adjoining ground, and Powell took a Company lease of the twelve acres sealed on 27 February 1721. The twenty acres on the western boundary here are the very parcel that moved from Powell to Beale. The name itself reaches back to Samuel Tayler, confirmed in twenty-nine acres of Fryer Valley gumwood on 8 February 1726, and it survived long afterwards, marking the eastern edge of Bisley when Francis Wrangham sold that ground to Benjamin Mason on 12 October 1761.

The rate of £0 5s 3d an acre departs from the £0 5s 0d running through nearly every other grant of this period. Three pence more per acre added just over one shilling to the yearly charge on five acres, a difference too small to be commercial and more probably a folding of some separate duty into the single figure.

The obligation to hand the ground back in good order at the term's end, whether it ran its course or closed sooner, appears here as an express term. The Company took the improvement in the end, which is precisely why a twenty-one year span discouraged substantial building and why grants measured by lives went to men expected to build in stone.

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183

Executors Administrators or Allowed Assigns Shall not Sell or dispose of the Lease

or his or their Interest therein without the Leave and Consent of the Governour

and Council for the Time being In Wittness Whereof We the said Gov.r

and Council have sett our hands and Affixed the Honoble Companys Seal this

this Twelfth day of March in the Seventeenth Year of the Reign of our said

Soveraign Lord George the second by the Grace of God of Great Brittain France

and Ireland King Defendor of the faith and so forth And in the Year of our

Lord 1744 and the said John Goodwin hath to these Presents sett his hand and

Seal the Day and Year above Written

Signed Sealed & Delivered John Goodwin

In the Presence of Us

Joshua Twynam

Tho French

A final restriction closed the grant of Taylors Land. John Goodwin and anyone succeeding him could not sell or hand on the lease, or any share in it, without the Governor and Council agreeing first.

The Governor and Council signed and applied the Company's seal at St Helena on 12 March 1744, in the seventeenth year of the reign of King George the Second, King of Great Britain, France and Ireland and Defender of the Faith. Goodwin signed and sealed on the same day. Joshua Twynam and Thomas French witnessed.

Interpretations

The date places this alongside the other grants sealed that day, when the Company also let Richard Goodwin five acres ringed on three sides by his own ground and Francis Wrangham senior five acres in a branch of Fryer Valley. Three separate parcels went out at one sitting, each fitted against land the holder already farmed.

Joshua Twynam appears repeatedly among the witnesses of this period, attesting the six acres granted to James Powell on 21 February 1744, the acre and a half at the Purslane Beds let to Joseph Desfountain on 8 February 1744, and the twenty-one acres held for John Nicholls junior at Old Woman's Valley on 17 July 1744. He belonged to the small circle of men whose signatures underwrote nearly every Company grant of these years.

Thomas French witnessed here as he had done for Wrangham senior's five acres on the same day. The requirement for the Governor and Council's consent before any transfer had governed Company leases since the framework introduced in 1711, and it is what forced every later assignment in the register to recite a dated grant of leave.

The claim to France in the royal style was a survival rather than a statement of fact. English monarchs had styled themselves kings of France since the fourteenth century and kept the title in formal documents until 1801, long after any territorial basis for it had gone.

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186

Island Saint Helena

The Lords Proprietors of this Island the

Honoble United Company of Merchants of England trading to the East Indies

Do hereby Demise Grant sett and to Farm Lett unto Joshua Worrall

of the said Island Planter All that Peice or Parcell of Land Containing Eight

Acres Sictuate lying and being in one Branch of deep Valley in the East

Division of the said Island Butting and Bounding towards the North

upon the said Honoble Company Wast Land to the West South and East

upon Part of the said Joshua Worrall free Land and toward the West upon

Lease Land now in Possession of Elizabeth Ellis Widow Sictuate in deep

Valley To have and to hold the said hereby demised

Parcell of Land and Every Part and Parcell thereof together with all and

Singular the Wood Water Water courses Houses Buildings Edifices Wells

Tenements Yams Plantations of Yams Fruit Trees Walls Fences and All

other and Singular the Rights Commoditys to them and Each and every

of them belonging or Appertaining unto him the said Joshua Worrall

his Heirs Executors Administrators or Allowed Assigns from the day

of the date hereof for and during all the Space or Term of Twenty one

Years from thence next Ensuing Upon Condition that he the

said Joshua Worrall his Heirs Executors Administrators or Allowed

Assigns Shall and do bear true Faith and Allegiance to our Soveraign

Lord King George the second his Heirs and Successors

and true Faith to them the said Honoble Company and their Successors

and Shall duely Observe and obey all the Laws and Constitutions of the

said Island and Upon Condition also that he the said Joshua

Worrall his Heirs Executors Administrators or Allowed Assigns

Shall and do from time to time and at all times hereafter During

the Term of this Lease keep up and Maintain in Good Order and

Sufficient Repair all Such Buildings Houses Edifices Wells

Tenements Plantations and Fences as now are or hereafter Shall be

Made Built or Erected thereon and Shall Moreover Plant Keep up

and Maintain and Preserve in and Upon the said hereby Demised

Parcell of Land its full Quantity or Proportion of Wood being one

tenth Part of the said Parcell of Land and Shall Likewise Plant

and Preserve Furze within Side and Without Side the said Fences

of the said Parcell of Land and Shall Plant Fruit Trees such as Apple

The Company let eight acres to Joshua Worrall, a planter of St Helena. The parcel lay in one branch of Deep Valley, in the East Division. The Company's own unallocated ground closed it to the north and west. To the south and east lay Worrall's own freehold. On the western side stood leased ground that Elizabeth Allis, a widow, then occupied, lying in the same valley.

Everything on the eight acres passed with them. Worrall took the timber, the water and its channels, the houses and other buildings, the sheds and dwellings, the yams and yam beds, the fruit trees, the walls and boundaries, and every other benefit attached. He held the ground for twenty-one years from the date of the grant, together with his heirs, executors, administrators or any successor the Company allowed.

The usual duties came with it. Worrall and those after him owed loyalty to King George the Second, to his heirs and successors, and to the Company, and had to keep the island's rules. For the whole term they had to maintain every building, shed, dwelling, planting and boundary on the land in sound repair, whatever stood there already or was raised later. A tenth of the eight acres had to be kept planted with trees. Furze had to be grown along the fences, inside and out. Apples and lemons were among the fruit trees to be planted.

Interpretations

Deep Valley had been settled for more than half a century by this date, which explains why the parcel sits wedged between Worrall's own freehold, a widow's leasehold and Company ground. Thomas Allis was buying land at the head of the valley from 1689 onwards, and the Bazett, Worrall, Burling and Leech families had accumulated holdings there ever since. Thomas Allis took thirty acres in the valley at the sitting of 30 September 1738, that parcel likewise fitted between four established neighbours.

Elizabeth Allis appears here still holding ground in her own name. The Company confirmed her in twenty-seven acres in Deep Valley on 4 August 1713, vested jointly with the heirs of her late husband Thomas Allis senior under his will, whose death the register places between the morning and afternoon instruments of that same long sitting. Her name marking a boundary three decades later shows how long a widow's holding could persist as a fixed point in the landscape.

Joshua Worrall belonged to the family spread across Deep Valley and Sandy Bay. He took James Harding's assignment of thirty-one acres of Sandy Bay leasehold carrying houses, plantations and watercourses for £122 0s 0d in 1739, under leave of a council sitting of 24 July that year, and sold the ground on to Thomas Colgrove for £150 0s 0d in 1742. Holding freehold on two sides of this parcel placed him in the position the Company preferred when letting small pieces, since nobody else could work ground so enclosed.

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187

Lemmon Mulberry or Peach Trees in Such Part thereof wherein they are

Most Likely to Grow and as they Shall happen to decay or dye Shall

replant the Like Sort thereon without prejudice never the Less to such

Part of the said Land as Shall be Sett apart for the sole purpose of

Planting and Raising of Yams Yealding and Paying

therefore Yearly and Every Year during the Term of this Present Lease

unto them the said Honoble Company their Successors Agents or Assigns

the Sum of five Shillings p.r Acre in at or upon the Feast of S.t Micheal

the Arch Angell Yearly And Upon Further Condit-

ion that he the said Joshua Worrall his Heirs Executors Administrators

or Allowed Assigns Shall not Alter or Remove the said Fences they

being the Limitts or Land Markes of the Parcell of Land Aforesaid and

Shall not sell or dispose of this Lease or Interest therein without the

Leave and Consent of the Gov.r and Councill for the time being In

Wittness whereof we the said Governour and Councill have sett

our hands and Affixed the Honoble Company Seal in S.t Helena this

12.th day of March in the Year of our Lord 1744 and the said Joshua Worrall

hath to these Presents Sett his hand and Seal the day and Year above

Written

Sealed and Delivered Jos Worrall

In the Presence of Us

C Lixon

Tho. French

Lemons, mulberries and peaches joined apples among the trees Joshua Worrall had to plant on the eight acres, each set wherever it stood the best chance of taking. Anything that failed or died had to be replaced with the same kind. None of this touched whatever part of the ground he chose to reserve solely for growing yams.

Worrall owed the Company, its successors or its agents £0 5s 0d for each acre every year, due at Michaelmas, which came to £2 0s 0d across the eight acres.

Two further limits ran with the grant. Worrall and those succeeding him could not move or take down the fences, since those lines marked out the parcel's boundaries. He could not sell his interest or hand it on without the Governor and Council agreeing first.

The Governor and Council signed and applied the Company's seal at St Helena on 12 March 1744. Worrall signed and sealed the same day. Dixon and Thomas French witnessed.

Interpretations

Mulberry carried an ambition beyond fruit. Its leaves feed silkworms, and its appearance on the standard planting list from the mid 1730s onwards suggests the Company had more than orchards in view. The shortened list of apple, lemon, mulberry and peach replaced a far longer run of alternatives that had included coconut, date and tamarind, none of which suited the island's cool upland ground.

This grant sits within a busy day. The Company sealed at least four instruments on 12 March 1744: this one to Worrall, five acres to John Goodwin at Taylors Land, five acres to Richard Goodwin ringed by his own ground, and five acres in a branch of Fryer Valley to Francis Wrangham senior. Thomas French witnessed three of the four.

Dixon appears among the Company's officers through this period, attesting grants from 1742 onwards, including the leases to Samuel Junge and to the Alexander family trustees of 9 November 1742 and the Steward estate trusts of 12 March 1744. He served as secretary to the Council and signed in that capacity on the sale of West Division ground to George Gabriel Powell on 1 February 1742.

189

188

Island S.t Helena

The Lords Proprietors of this Island the

the United

Honoble Company of Merchants of England Trading to the East Indies

Do hereby give Grant Sett and to Farm Lett unto James Powell Planter

All that Peice & Parcell of Cabbage Tree Land containing two Acres More or Less

Sictuate Lying and being under the Main Ridge Known by the Name of Taylors

Land Butting and Bounding towards the North upon the Lands of Jonathan Doveton

towards the South on the said Main Ridge next Sandy Bay towards the East upon

Land late of Samuell Ivory and towards the West upon twenty Acres of Land late

of Gabriel Powell and Bought of Richard Beale and Every Part and Parcell

thereof with the Appurtenances To have and to hold the said

hereby demised Premisses and every Part and Parcell thereof and All and Singular

the Appurtenances thereunto belonging unto him the said James Powell his Heirs

Executors Administrators and Assigns from the day of the date of these Presents for and

during the Term of Twenty one Years from thence next Ensuing Upon

Condition that the said Honoble Company Shall Approve of the same And

Upon Condition that he the said James Powell his Heirs Executors

Administrators and Assigns do and Shall bear true Faith and Allegiance to our

Soveraign Lord King George the Second his Heirs and Successors and

true faith Faith to them the said Honoble Company and their Successors and Shall

duely Obey All the Laws and Constitutions of the said Island And Upon

Condition also that he the said James Powell his Heirs Executors Administrators

or Assigns do and Shall well and Sufficiently keep up and Maintain the Fences

to the said Land and the full Quantity of Wood thereon and do and Shall at the End

or Sooner determination of this Lease Yeild up and Surrender in good Order

Repair unto them the said Honoble Company their Successors Agents or Assigns

all the said hereby demised Land and Premisses with the Appurtenances Yeilding

and Paying therefore Yearly and every Year during the Term of this Present Lease unto

them the said Honoble Company their Successors Agents or Assigns the sum

of Five Shillings p.r Acre in at or Upon the Feast of S.t Michael the Arch

Angell Yearly And Upon Further Condition

that he the said James Powell his Heirs Executors Administrators or Allowed

Assigns Shall not Sell or dispose of this Lease or his or their Interest therein

without the Leave and Consent of the Governour and Council for the time being

In Wittness Whereof we the said Governour and Council have sett our

Hand and Affixed the Honourable Companys Seal this second day of

April in the Seventeenth Year of the Reign of our said Soveraign Lord

Island S.t Helena

The Lords Proprietors of this Island the

the United

Honoble Company of Merchants of England Trading to the East Indies

Do hereby give Grant Sett and to Farm Lett unto James Powell Planter

All that Peice & Parcell of Cabbage Tree Land containing two Acres More or Less

Sictuate Lying and being under the Main Ridge Known by the Name of Taylors

Land Butting and Bounding towards the North upon the Lands of Jonathan Doveton

towards the South on the said Main Ridge next Sandy Bay towards the East upon

Land late of Samuell Ivory and towards the West upon twenty Acres of Land late

of Gabriel Powell and Bought of Richard Beale and Every Part and Parcell

thereof with the Appurtenances To have and to hold the said

hereby demised Premisses and every Part and Parcell thereof and All and Singular

the Appurtenances thereunto belonging unto him the said James Powell his Heirs

Executors Administrators and Assigns from the day of the date of these Presents for and

during the Term of Twenty one Years from thence next Ensuing Upon

Condition that the said Honoble Company Shall Approve of the same And

Upon Condition that he the said James Powell his Heirs Executors

Administrators and Assigns do and Shall bear true Faith and Allegiance to our

Soveraign Lord King George the Second his Heirs and Successors and

true faith Faith to them the said Honoble Company and their Successors and Shall

duely Obey All the Laws and Constitutions of the said Island And Upon

Condition also that he the said James Powell his Heirs Executors Administrators

or Assigns do and Shall well and Sufficiently keep up and Maintain the Fences

to the said Land and the full Quantity of Wood thereon and do and Shall at the End

or Sooner determination of this Lease Yeild up and Surrender in good Order

Repair unto them the said Honoble Company their Successors Agents or Assigns

all the said hereby demised Land and Premisses with the Appurtenances Yeilding

and Paying therefore Yearly and every Year during the Term of this Present Lease unto

them the said Honoble Company their Successors Agents or Assigns the sum

of Five Shillings p.r Acre in at or Upon the Feast of S.t Michael the Arch

Angell Yearly And Upon Further Condition

that he the said James Powell his Heirs Executors Administrators or Allowed

Assigns Shall not Sell or dispose of this Lease or his or their Interest therein

without the Leave and Consent of the Governour and Council for the time being

In Wittness Whereof we the said Governour and Council have sett our

Hand and Affixed the Honourable Companys Seal this second day of

April in the Seventeenth Year of the Reign of our said Soveraign Lord

190

189

George the Second by the grace of God of Great Brittain France and Ireland

King Defender of the faith and so forth And in the Year of our Lord 1745 and

the said James Powell hath to these Presents Sett his hand and Seal the day

and Year above Written

Signed Sealed & Delivered

In the Presence of Us

The royal style closing the grant to James Powell named King George the Second, King of Great Britain, France and Ireland and Defender of the Faith. The Governor and Council sealed on 2 April 1745. Powell signed and sealed on the same day. The space left for the witnesses' names stands empty.

Interpretations

The year given here is 1745, not 1744, so the grant was sealed on 2 April 1745. That reading fits the regnal year already recited, since the seventeenth year of King George the Second ran from June 1743 to June 1744 but the calendar date governs across the register. Old-style dating changed the year on 25 March, so a document sealed on 2 April fell in the first days of the new year and the clerk was working across the turn.

The blank witness line matches a pattern running through these grants. James Vaughan's parcel sealed on 30 September 1738 carried its acreage unwritten and its boundary description broken off, with the witness space likewise empty, and Henry Multon's fifteen acres of the same sitting did the same. Grace Bates's grant of 1744 carries a year but no day or month. Clerks engrossed the standard wording ahead of time and left particulars to be filled in later, which shows the sealing rather than the completed text as the act that bound the parties.

191

190

Island S.t Helena

The Lords Proprietors of this Island the Honoble the United

Company of Merchants of England to the East Indies Do herby

Demise Grant Lease sett and to Farm Lett unto Gabriel Harper &

Richard Gurling Executors to the Last will and Testament of Robert

Gurling Sen.r dec.d All that Peice or Parcell of Gumwood Land containing

one Acre Sictuate lying and being at the Head of Broad Gutt &

Under the High Waterfall at the Bottom of Peak Gutt in the South

Division of the said Island Butting & Bounding towards the North

South East & west every way upon the said Honoble Companys Wast

Land and near the Broad Gutt To have & hold the said hereby

Demised one Acre of Land with the Appurtenances & every Part thereof unto

them the said Gabriel Harper & Richard Gurling their Heirs Executors

Ad.rs or Allowed Assigns from the 25.th day of March Last passed

Nevertheless & to the Use of the Children of the said Robert Gurling Sen.r

dec.d for & during all the time Space & Term of Twenty one Years from

thence next ensuing Upon Condition that the said Children &

Each of them their & Each of their Heirs Executors Administrators

Allowed Assigns Shall Alwayes Bear true Faith & Allegiance to our

Soveraign Lord King George the Second his Heirs & Successors

and true faith to them the said Honoble Company their Successors &

Shall duly Obey all the Laws & Constitutions of the said Island

Yeelding & Paying therefore Yearly & every year during the said

Term of Twenty one Years unto them the Honoble Company & their Successors

Agents or Assigns the Yearly Rent of five Shillings p.r Acre in at or

Upon the Feast of S.t Michael the Arch Angell Yearly And

Upon Further Condition that they the said Gabriel Harper

Richard Gurling their Heirs Executors Ad.rs or Allowed Assigns

Shall and do keep and Maintain the said demised Land & Fences in Good

Order and Sufficient and Legall Repair all such Buildings Houses

Edifices Wells Tenements Plantations & Fences as now are or hereafter

Shall be Made built or Erected thereon & Shall Moreover Plant Keep up

Maintain and Preserve in and Upon the said hereby demised parcell

of Land its full Quantity of Wood in Proportion being one tenth Part

of the said Land & Shall Likewise Plant & Preserve Furze within

Side and without the fences of the said Parcell of Land & Shall plant

Fruit Trees in Such Parts thereof as they are most Likely to Grow

and as they Shall happen to decay or dye Shall replant & others

of the like Sort thereon without hurt or Prejudice neverthelesss to any Part

of Such Land as Shall be sett apart for the sole Purpose of Planting and

The Company let one acre of gumwood land to Gabriel Harper and Richard Gurling, acting as executors under the will of the late Robert Gurling senior. The parcel lay at the head of Broad Gully, below the High Waterfall at the bottom of Peak Gully, in the South Division. The Company's unallocated ground surrounded it on the north, south and east, and on every other side, running along and near Broad Gully.

The acre passed with everything attached. Harper and Gurling took it, together with their heirs, executors, administrators or any successor the Company allowed, from 25 March last. They held it not for themselves but for the widow and children of Robert Gurling senior, and the term ran twenty-one years from the date of the grant.

Conditions attached. The two executors, the widow and children, and each of their heirs and successors owed loyalty to King George the Second, to his heirs and successors, and to the Company, and had to keep the island's rules. Payment ran at £0 5s 3d for the acre every year, due at Michaelmas. Throughout the term they had to keep every building, shed, dwelling, planting and boundary on the ground in sound repair, whatever stood there already or was raised later. A tenth of the acre had to be planted with trees. Furze had to be grown along the fences, inside and out. Apples, lemons, mulberries and peaches had to be set wherever each was most likely to grow, and any that died had to be replaced with the same kind. Nothing in these duties reached whatever part of the ground was kept solely for raising yams.

Interpretations

The arrangement puts the land in trustees' hands while the benefit runs to the family, the form used across the register wherever a man died leaving a widow and young children. The register holds a run of such settlements from the sitting of 30 September 1738, when the Company sealed seven at once for the households of John Burling, Solomon Burling, James Greentree, John Alexander, Thomas Harper and Sutton Isaac. Placing the title in executors kept the ground beyond the reach of anyone who might later marry the widow, since her interest could not be sold or handed on without the Council's leave.

Robert Gurling had been building holdings for two decades. He took two acres of gumwood at the head of Sandy Bay Valley on 8 February 1726 against John Goodwin's ground, one acre near the Broad Gully towards the High Peak side on 6 March 1724, ten acres and a half at Oak Gut at the sitting of 30 September 1738, and an acre and a half in the South Division on 10 October 1742. The Broad Gully acre of 1724 lay in this same quarter, so the family's ground there had been accumulating for twenty years before his death.

A tenth of a single acre came to a tenth of an acre under trees, and the yearly charge to £0 5s 3d. The Company applied the whole weight of its planting and fencing duties to the smallest holdings exactly as to the largest, making no allowance for size anywhere in this run.

Gabriel Harper stood as trustee here while holding substantial ground of his own. He took thirty-two acres at the sitting of 30 September 1738 at a yearly charge of £8 0s 0d, the second heaviest on any single holding that day, and acted at the same sitting with Thomas Greentree as executor for the widow and three daughters of the late Joseph Harding. His name fixed the boundaries of the Alexander family's sixteen acres near the head of Powell's Valley, of Orlando Bagley's ten acres and of Samuel Doveton's twenty-seven acres and a half in Sandy Bay.

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191

Raising of Yams Upon Condition that they the said Gabriel

Harper & Richard Gurling their Heirs Executors Administrators or Allowed

Assigns Shall not Alter or remove the said Fences they being their Limitts or Land

Marks of the Parcell of Land aforesaid & Shall not sell or dispose of this

Lease or Interest in the same without the Leave Lease and Consent of the

Governour and Council of this Island for the time being In Wittness

whereof We the said Governour and Council have sett our Hands and Affixed

the Honoble Companys Seal this Second day of April in the Fourteenth

Year of the Reign of our said Soveraign Lord George the Second by the Grace

of God of Great Brittain France and Ireland King Defender of the faith

and so forth & in the Year of our Lord 1745 & they the said Gabriel Harper

Richard Gurling to the other Part have sett their Hands & Seals the day

and Year Above Written

Signed Sealed & Delivered Rich.d Gurling

In the Presence of Us

Sam.l Alexander

Tho. French

Ground kept solely for raising yams stood outside the planting duties on the Broad Gully acre. Two further limits closed the grant to Gabriel Harper and Richard Gurling. Neither they nor those succeeding them could move or take down the fences, since those lines marked out where the parcel began and ended. Nor could they sell the lease or any share in it without the Governor and Council agreeing first.

The Governor and Council signed and applied the Company's seal on 2 April 1745, in the fourteenth year of the reign of King George the Second, King of Great Britain, France and Ireland and Defender of the Faith. Harper and Gurling signed and sealed on the same day. Samuel Alexander and Thomas French witnessed. Richard Gurling's signature appears above two seals.

Interpretations

The regnal year given as the fourteenth does not match 1745, which fell in the eighteenth year of King George the Second, and the calendar date is the safer reading throughout the register. The clerk had already recited the seventeenth year on the grant to James Powell sealed the same day, so two different regnal figures went onto instruments issued at a single sitting.

Two seals stand beside a single name because each executor had to bind himself in his own person. A trustee could later be called to answer for how his co-trustee handled the estate, which is why the register shows the executors of John Burling's will sealing separately on 30 September 1738 and each of the three Steward trustees setting his own seal on 12 March 1744.

Samuel Alexander appears here as witness. He was named among the six children sharing two thirds of the three Alexander parcels settled on 30 September 1738, and by 9 November 1742 had come of age and acted with Richard Beale as executor of his late father's will, holding seven acres and a half in the east branch of Sandy Bay Valley for his mother Mary Alexander and five of the children. He also witnessed James Greentree's sale of a house to Samuel Falconer on 2 April 1751.

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192

Island S.t Helena

The Lords Proprietors of this Island the

Honoble the United Company of Merchants of England Trading to the

East Indies do hereby demise Grant Lease sett and to farm

Lett unto Benjamin Seale of the said Island Planter all that Peice or

Parcel of Land containing Sixteen Acres & quarter 7 & 3/4 Acres thereof

lying in Sharks Valley Butting and Bounding towards the North

and every way adjoyning to and upon the Lands late in Possession of Wm

Seale dec.d towards the south upon the Lands formerly in the Possession

of John Knipe dec.d towards the West upon the Gumwood Lands late in

the Possession of Bridgett Bezant Widow dec.d and the East upon the

said Honoble Companys wast Land & the other Eight Acres

lying in Sistins Valley Butting & Bounding towards the North on the

Ridge and Head of Sexton ground and tillastwee Lands late in the

Possession of Isaac Wood towards the south on Lands late in the Possession

of the said William Seale dec.d towards the East upon Lands late in

Possession of Robert Bell dec.d formerly Bellhards & towards the West

upon the Lease Lands of the Robert Bell all in the East Division

of the said Island To have and to hold the said hereby

demised Parcel of Land & every Part and Parcel thereof together with all

and Singular the Wood Water Watercourses Houses Buildings Edifices

Sheds tenements Yams and Plantations of Yams Fruit trees Walks

Fences & all other & Singular the Rights Commoditys to them & each

and every of them belonging or Appertaining unto him the said Benjamin

Seale his Heirs Executors Administrators or Allowed Assigns from the day

of the date hereof for and during all the Space & term of Twenty one

Years from thence Next & Ensueing Upon condition that he the said

Benjamin Seale his Heirs Extors Ad.ors or Allowed Assigns shall and

do bear true faith and Allegiance to our Soveraign Lord King George the

Second his Heirs & Sucessors & true faith to them the said Honble Company

and their & their Successors & shall duely Observe & obey All the Laws

and Constitutions of the said Island and Upon condition also that

he the said Benjamin & Seale his Heirs Executors Administrators or

Allowed Assigns Shall and do from time to time and at All times

hereafter during the term of this Lease Keep up and Maintain in good

The Company let sixteen acres and a quarter to Benjamin Seale, a planter of St Helena. The ground came in two separate pieces, both in the East Division.

Eight acres and a quarter lay in Sharks Valley. Ground once held by the late William Seale closed the northern edge, running alongside it. To the south lay land formerly occupied by the late John Knipe. Gumwood ground once in the hands of the late Bridget Bazett, widow, stood to the west. The Company's own unallocated ground closed the eastern side.

The remaining eight acres lay in Coles Valley. The ridge at the head of Sexton's Ground and cattle pasture once held by Grace Wood formed the northern boundary. Land last held by William Seale, since deceased, closed the south. To the east lay ground formerly occupied by the late Robert Bell, before that called Bellards. Robert Bell's leased ground stood to the west.

Everything on both pieces passed with them. Seale took the timber, the water and its channels, the houses and other buildings, the sheds and dwellings, the yams and yam beds, the fruit trees, the walls and boundaries, and every other benefit attached. He held the ground for twenty-one years from the date of the grant, along with his heirs, executors, administrators or any successor the Company allowed.

Duties came with it. Seale and those following him owed loyalty to King George the Second, to his heirs and successors, and to the Company, and had to keep the island's rules. Throughout the term they had to maintain everything on the ground in sound repair.

Interpretations

Four of the seven neighbours named across the two pieces are recorded as dead. William Seale appears twice, once on each parcel, so Benjamin Seale was taking ground that ran alongside land his own family had held. The William Seale of the register was confirmed near the head of Sharks Valley and in Stocks Valley on 4 August 1713, took fifteen acres and a half in Stick's Valley on 22 November 1726 and six acres at the sitting of 30 September 1738, and by July 1758 was aged and destitute, a subscription raised aboard the Colchester buying a slave named Lewis to support him and his children.

Bridget Bazett, the widow of Captain Matthew Bazett, had died before 14 January 1738, when her land already stood recorded as the late Bridget Bazett's on the boundaries of Benjamin Pledger's confirmed East Division parcels. She held twenty acres near Diana's Peak under a lease sealed 14 September 1731, granted for the joint benefit of herself and her children with the ground to pass to them in equal shares after her death.

Sexton's Ground on the northern boundary of the Coles Valley piece carries a long record. The Company let sixteen acres of gumwood there at the head of Woody Ridge to William Alexander on 7 May 1717, with Robert Bell holding land on two sides. Edmund Bradley and Matthew But surrendered the ground by petition and the Company took it back on 2 August 1722, holding it for twenty-two years before letting it afresh to Benjamin Pledger on 15 January 1744. Robert Bell appears here as a boundary holder on the Coles Valley piece as he had on Sexton's Ground a generation earlier, though now recorded as dead.

Coles Valley enters the register with the two acres let to Edward Bagley on 30 September 1738, ringed on all four sides by Company ground. The name connects to the Coles family, including the John Coles confirmed in thirty acres across three parcels with twenty-five more leased on 4 August 1713.

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and Sufficient & Legall repair all such Buildings Houses Edifices Sheds tenements

Plantations and Fences as now are or hereafter Shall be Made built or Erected

thereon and Shall moreover Plant keep up maintain and Preserve in and upon

the said hereby demised Parcell of Land its full Quantity or Proportion

of Wood being one tenth Part of the said Parcel of Land & Shall likewise

Plant and Preserve Gorze within side and without the Fences of the said Parcel

of Land & Shall Plant Fruit Trees such as Apple Lemon Mulberry or Peach

in such Parts thereof as they are most Likely to grow and as they shall

happen to decay or dye Shall replant others of the like Sort thereon without

hurt or Prejudice neverthelesss to any Part of Such Land as Shall be sett

apart for the sole Purpose of Planting and Raising of Yams Yeelding

and Paying therefore Yearly and every Year during the term of this

Present Lease unto them the said Honoble Company their Successors

Agents or Assigns the sum of five Shillings p.r Acre in at or upon the feast of

S.t Michael the Arch Angell Yearly and upon Further condition

that he the said Benjamin his Heirs Executors Administrators or Allowed

Assigns shall not alter or remove the said Fences they being the Limitts or

Land Marks of the Parcell of Land aforesaid and Shall not sell or dispose

of this Lease or Interest therein without the Leave and Consent of the Gov.r

& Council for the time being In Wittness whereof we the said Gov.r

and Council have sett our hands & Affixed the Honoble Companys Seal

this Second day of Aprill in the Seventeenth Year of the reign

of our said Soveraign Lord George the second by the Grace of God of Great Brittain

France and Ireland King defender of the faith and so forth and in the

Year of our Lord 1745 and the said Benjamin Seale to these Presents

hath sett his hand and Seale the day and Year above Written

in the presence

of us

Benj.n Seale

Th. Lixon

The Company let sixteen acres and a quarter to Benjamin Seale, a planter of St Helena. The ground came in two separate pieces, both in the East Division.

Eight acres and a quarter lay in Sharks Valley. Ground once held by the late William Seale closed the northern edge, running alongside it. To the south lay land formerly occupied by the late John Knipe. Gumwood ground once in the hands of the late Bridget Bazett, widow, stood to the west. The Company's own unallocated ground closed the eastern side.

The remaining eight acres lay in Coles Valley. The ridge at the head of Sexton's Ground and cattle pasture once held by Grace Wood formed the northern boundary. Land last held by William Seale, since deceased, closed the south. To the east lay ground formerly occupied by the late Robert Bell, before that called Bellards. Robert Bell's leased ground stood to the west.

Everything on both pieces passed with them. Seale took the timber, the water and its channels, the houses and other buildings, the sheds and dwellings, the yams and yam beds, the fruit trees, the walls and boundaries, and every other benefit attached. He held the ground for twenty-one years from the date of the grant, along with his heirs, executors, administrators or any successor the Company allowed.

Duties came with it. Seale and those following him owed loyalty to King George the Second, to his heirs and successors, and to the Company, and had to keep the island's rules. Throughout the term they had to maintain everything on the ground in sound repair.

Interpretations

Four of the seven neighbours named across the two pieces are recorded as dead. William Seale appears twice, once on each parcel, so Benjamin Seale was taking ground that ran alongside land his own family had held. The William Seale of the register was confirmed near the head of Sharks Valley and in Stocks Valley on 4 August 1713, took fifteen acres and a half in Stick's Valley on 22 November 1726 and six acres at the sitting of 30 September 1738, and by July 1758 was aged and destitute, a subscription raised aboard the Colchester buying a slave named Lewis to support him and his children.

Bridget Bazett, the widow of Captain Matthew Bazett, had died before 14 January 1738, when her land already stood recorded as the late Bridget Bazett's on the boundaries of Benjamin Pledger's confirmed East Division parcels. She held twenty acres near Diana's Peak under a lease sealed 14 September 1731, granted for the joint benefit of herself and her children with the ground to pass to them in equal shares after her death.

Sexton's Ground on the northern boundary of the Coles Valley piece carries a long record. The Company let sixteen acres of gumwood there at the head of Woody Ridge to William Alexander on 7 May 1717, with Robert Bell holding land on two sides. Edmund Bradley and Matthew But surrendered the ground by petition and the Company took it back on 2 August 1722, holding it for twenty-two years before letting it afresh to Benjamin Pledger on 15 January 1744. Robert Bell appears here as a boundary holder on the Coles Valley piece as he had on Sexton's Ground a generation earlier, though now recorded as dead.

Coles Valley enters the register with the two acres let to Edward Bagley on 30 September 1738, ringed on all four sides by Company ground. The name connects to the Coles family, including the John Coles confirmed in thirty acres across three parcels with twenty-five more leased on 4 August 1713.

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Island S.t Helena

The Lords Proprietors of this Island the Honoble

the United Company of Merchants of England Trading to the East Indies

do hereby Demise Grant sett and to Farm Lett unto Thomas Eastlope

of the said Island All that Peice or Parcel of Land Containing two Parcels of

Gumwood Six Acres Situate Lying and being in one Branch of Sandy Bay

Valley Commonly called and known by the name of Gabriells Gutt Butting &

Bounding towards the North South East and West every way upon the said Honoble

Companys Wast Land that lies Adjoining to Several of Parcels of Land now

in the Possession of William Worrall and Joseph Bates formerly Granted to

Jonathan Higham Jun.r & the Land that lies Wast under the two Hills below

below the Lands of Joshua Johnson and that now in the Possession of Tho.s

Greentree To have & to hold the said hereby demised Parcels

of Lands & every Part & Parcel thereof together with all & Singular

the Wood Water Wate courses Houses Building Edifices Sheds Tenements

Yams & Plantations of Yams Fruit trees Walls Fences and All other and

Singular the Rights Commoditys to them and Each and every of them belonging

or Appertaining unto him the said Tho.s Eastlope his Heirs Executors

Administrators or Allowed Assigns from the day of the date hereof for

& during All the Space or Term of Twenty one Years from thence next

The Company let six acres of gumwood land, in two pieces, to Thomas Easthope of St Helena. The ground lay in a branch of Sandy Bay Valley commonly known as Gabriel's Gut. The Company's unallocated ground surrounded it on the north, south, east and west. That waste land ran alongside several parcels then held by William Worrall and Joseph Bates, which had earlier been granted to Jonathan Higham junior. It also touched land lying to the west, below the two hills and below Joshua Johnson's ground, which Thomas Greentree then held.

Everything on the six acres passed with them. Easthope took the timber, the water and its channels, the houses and other buildings, the sheds and dwellings, the yams and yam beds, the fruit trees, the walls and boundaries, and every other benefit attached. He held the ground for twenty-one years from the date of the grant, together with his heirs, executors, administrators or any successor the Company allowed.

Interpretations

Gabriel's Gut appears in the register from 21 May 1719, when the Company let twelve acres there to James Greentree on the lives of his three sons Thomas, John and James, with Joshua Johnson's land on the western side. Johnson himself took eight acres on the west side of the same gut on 8 November 1726, adjoining ten acres he already held at its head. His name still fixes a boundary here nearly two decades later.

Jonathan Higham junior, named as the earlier grantee of the parcels now held by Worrall and Bates, was the stone cutter whose trade tied him to the lime kiln in Sandy Bay Valley. He took three acres near the upper lime kiln on 28 October 1724, a renewed lease of seven acres there on 5 March 1729, and four acres on 3 February 1729 bound to leave the head of a spring open for the neighbourhood. He was dead by the time of the James Vaughn renewal of 1729, which records his orphans on the boundary.

Company waste on all four sides threw the whole fencing burden onto Easthope, with no neighbour's wall to serve any part of the line. Three parcels sealed at the sitting of 30 September 1738 stood in the same position, and the same difficulty ran through the fifteen acres let to Francis Junge senior on 31 August 1742.

Thomas Easthope had been building ground in Sandy Bay for years. He took twenty-eight acres there at the sitting of 30 September 1738, with Elizabeth Greentree's land on two sides and his own on the others, and appears earlier as a gunner witnessing Mary Sherwood's lease of 25 February 1727. The Easthope name runs through the register in several forms across half a century, back to the James Easthope who sold ten acres at the head of Fisher Valley to John Coole on 25 October 1687.

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Ensuing Upon Condition that he the said Tho.s Eastlope his Heirs Executors

Administrators or Allowed Assigns Shall and do bear True faith and Allegiance

to our Soveraign Lord King George the Second his Heirs Successors and

true faith to them the said Honoble Company & their Successors & Shall duely

Observe and Obey All the Laws & Constitutions of the said Island & Upon

Condition also that he the said Tho.s Eastlope his Heirs Executors Administrators

or Allowed Assigns Shall and do from time to time and at All times hereafter during

the term of this Lease Keep up and Maintain in Good and Sufficient Repair all

such Buildings Houses Edifices Sheds Tenements Plantations & Fences as now are

or hereafter be made Built or erected thereon and Shall Moreover Plant keep up

Maintain & Preserve in & upon the said hereby Demised Parcels of Land its full

Quantity or Proportion of Wood being one tenth Part of the said Parcel of Land and

Shall Likewise Plant and Preserve Furze within side and without side the said fences

of the said Parcel of Land and Shall Plant Fruit Trees such as Apple Lemmon Mulberry

or Peach Trees in such Parts thereof wherein they are most Likely to breed and as they

Shall happen to decay or dye Shall Replant others of the like Sort or thereon

without Prejudice neverthelesss to such Part of the said Land as Shall be sett

apart for the sole Purpose of Planting and Raising of Yams Yeilding &

Paying therefore Yearly & every year during the term of this Present

Lease unto them the said Honoble Company their Successors Agents or

Assigns the sum of five Shillings p.r Acre in at or upon the feast of S.t Michael

the Arch Angel Angell Yearly and Upon Further Condition

that he the said Tho.s Eastlope his Heirs Executors Administrators or Allowed

Assigns Shall not Alter or remove the said fences they being the Limitts or Land

Marks of the Parcel of Land aforesaid and Shall not sell or dispose of this Lease

Interest therein without the Leave and Consent of the Governour & Council for the

time being In Wittness Whereof we the Gov.r and Council have sett our hand

and Affixed the Honoble Companys Seal in S.t Helena this Sixteenth day

of Aprill in the seventeenth Year of the Reign of our Soveraign Lord George the

Second by the Grace of God of Great Brittain France and Ireland King defender

of the faith and so forth and in the Year of our Lord 1745 and the said Tho.s

Eastlope to these Presents sett his hand and Seal the day and Year above

Written

Seald & Delivered Tho.s Eastlope

in the presence of us

Jos. Twynam

Tho. French

Conditions ran with the six acres of gumwood at Gabriel's Gut. Thomas Easthope and those following him owed loyalty to King George the Second, to his heirs and successors, and to the Company, and had to keep the island's rules. Throughout the term they had to maintain every building, shed, dwelling, planting and boundary on the ground in sound repair, whatever stood there already or was raised later. A tenth of the six acres had to be kept planted with trees. Furze had to be grown along the fences, inside and out. Apples, lemons, mulberries and peaches had to be set wherever each stood the best chance, and anything that died had to be replaced with the same kind. None of these duties reached whatever part of the ground Easthope kept solely for growing yams.

Payment came to £0 5s 0d for each acre every year, due at Michaelmas, which ran to £1 10s 0d on the six acres.

Two further limits closed the grant. Easthope and his successors could not move or take down the fences, since those lines marked out the parcel's boundaries. Nor could he sell the lease or any share in it without the Governor and Council agreeing first.

The Governor and Council signed and applied the Company's seal at St Helena on 16 April, in the nineteenth year of the reign of King George the Second, King of Great Britain, France and Ireland and Defender of the Faith, in the year 1745. Easthope signed and sealed the same day. Joshua Twynam and Thomas French witnessed.

Interpretations

The nineteenth regnal year ran from June 1745 to June 1746, so a sealing on 16 April 1745 sits a couple of months ahead of it. The register carries several such mismatches across this run, with the seventeenth year recited on the grant to James Powell of 2 April 1745 and the fourteenth on the Broad Gully acre of the same day, and the calendar date governs throughout.

Joshua Twynam and Thomas French appear together as witnesses here as they did on John Goodwin's Taylors Land grant of 12 March 1744. The same handful of men attested nearly every Company instrument through these years, French witnessing at least five grants across 1744 and 1745 and Twynam signing on the Powell, Desfountain and Nicholls parcels.

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Island S.t Helena

The Lords Proprietors of this Island

the United

The Honoble Company of Merchants of England Trading to the East Indies do

Demise Grant Sett and to farm Lett unto Richard Mason of the said Island

Planter All that Piece or Parcel of Ground Containing Thirty Eight feet in

The Company, owner of St Helena, let a piece of ground to Richard Mason, a planter of the island. The plot measured thirty-eight feet in length.

Interpretations

Measurement by feet rather than acres marks this as town ground. The register handles James Valley and Chapel Valley plots this way consistently, fixing them by frontage and depth where country parcels went by acreage, and such grants carried none of the planting, fencing or timber duties that fill the rural leases. Richard Goodwin's plot of 19 September 1738 ran thirty-five feet across, Francis Wrangham's of 19 July 1737 thirty-seven feet and a half, and Nathan Sample's building plot of 7 September 1742 fifty feet.

Richard Mason had been accumulating ground across the island for two decades. He bought the Southwark Street house known as William Trenchard's house from John Hanson for £8 0s 0d on 2 October 1723, took four acres and a quarter of gumwood in Sandy Bay Valley sealed 23 August 1726, two acres in Fryer Valley on 3 October 1727, sixteen acres at Thompson's Wood and Old Woman's Valley on 14 September 1731, and thirteen acres and three quarters in Swanleys Valley at the sitting of 30 September 1738. He bought a James Valley house from Joseph Bates for £200 0s 0d on 15 July 1741, standing between his own house and Nathan Sample's, so he was already building a foothold in that stretch of the town.

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Length & Depth and Seventeenth feet in Breath or Width already Enclosed for a Yard &

Kitchen and formerly Granted to John Manson of this Island Serjeant Sictuate lying

& being in James Valley Town in Landward Street on the Back Part of the said

Richard Masons house Purchased by him of the said John Manson and is Opposite

to the Levens end of the Stables Carrying Place Adjoining to the dwelling house of John

Young Serjeant & with the Appurtenances To have and to hold the

said hereby demised Thirty Eight feet of Ground & Premisses with their & every of their

Appurtenances unto him the said Richard Mason his Heirs Executors Ad.ors and Assigns

from the day of the date of these Presents for and during the Term of Twenty one Years

Upon Condition that the said Richard Mason his Heirs Executors

Administrators and Assigns do & shall bear true faith & Allegiance to our Soveraign

Lord King George the Second his Heirs & Successors & true faith the said Honoble

Companys & their Successors & shall duely obey All the Laws & Constitutions of

the said Island Yeilding and Paying therefore Yearly & every Year during

the Term hereby by Granted unto the said Honble Company their Successors Agents

or Assigns the Sum of five Shillings p.r Annum in at or upon the day of S.t Michael

the Arch Angell Yearly and Upon Condition that he the said Richard

Mason his Executors Ad.ors & Assigns do and shall Maintain & keep in true Repair

any & every Building Wall or Enclosure that is or may be hereafter Erected or

Built on the said Ground or any Part thereof [...] and as often as need may

Require so that the same shall be Alwayes Enclosed & Kept in good Repair

during the Whole Term of this Lease And at the Expiration hereof the the said

Richard Mason his Executors Administrators or Assigns Shall Leave the

same in the same Condition & good Repair and not Suffer the said Ground

Enclosure or Buildings to run to ruin or decay And Upon Condition

that he the said Richard Mason his Executors Ad.ors or Assigns Shall not Sell or

dispose of this Lease or Interest therein without the Leave & Consent of the Gov.r

& Council for the time being In Wittness Whereof We the said Governour

& Council have sett our hands and Affixed the Honble Companys Seal this

Sixteenth day of April in the seventeenth Year of the Reign of our Soveraign

Lord George the second by the Grace of God of Great Brittain France & Ireland

King defender of the faith and so forth & in the Year of our Lord 1745 and the

Richard Mason to these Presents sett his hand and seal the day and Year

Above Written

Sealed & Delivered in the

Presence of

Rich.d Mason

Th. Dixon

Ja. Wright

The plot let to Richard Mason measured thirty-eight feet in length and seventeen feet in width, already enclosed for a yard and kitchen. The Company had earlier granted it to John Hanson of the island, a sergeant. The ground lay in Chapel Valley, on Southwark Street, behind Mason's house, which he had bought from Hanson. It stood opposite the burying place, next to the dwelling house of John George, another sergeant.

Mason took the plot with everything attached, holding for twenty-one years from the date of the grant, together with his heirs, executors, administrators and assigns.

Conditions ran with it. Mason and those following him owed loyalty to King George the Second, to his heirs and successors, and to the Company, and had to keep the island's rules. Payment came to £0 5s 0d a year, due at Michaelmas. He had to keep every building, yard and enclosure standing there or raised later in good repair for the whole term, mending them as often as needed, and to keep the ground properly enclosed. At the term's end he was to leave everything in the same condition and good repair, allowing nothing to fall into ruin. He could not sell the lease or any share in it without the Governor and Council agreeing first.

The Governor and Council signed and applied the Company's seal on 16 April 1745, in the seventeenth year of the reign of King George the Second, King of Great Britain, France and Ireland and Defender of the Faith. Mason signed and sealed the same day. Dixon and Wright witnessed.

Interpretations

The plot completes a purchase Mason made twenty-two years earlier. He bought the Southwark Street house known as William Trenchard's house from John Hanson for £8 0s 0d on 2 October 1723, Hanson's own title resting on a Company deed of 18 May 1719 entered at register folio 18. What Mason lacked was the ground behind the house, already fenced as a yard and kitchen but still the Company's, so this lease brought the back plot under the same hand as the building in front of it.

The burying place opposite fixes the position. It appears in the register from 3 August 1704, when Jonathan Higham sold Robert Bell a plot twenty-four feet by sixteen in Chapel Valley directly across from it, and served as one of the few permanent landmarks by which town ground could be located.

Town grants of this period carried none of the planting duties that dominate the country leases, no tenth in wood, no furze and no fruit trees. The single continuing obligation was repair. What sets this instrument apart from the plain James Valley plots is the express requirement to hand back the yard, its enclosure and its buildings in the same state, which the Company wrote in because a tenant with only twenty-one years had every reason to let a back yard run down towards the end of his term.

A flat £0 5s 0d covered a plot of six hundred and forty-six square feet, where rural ground went at the same figure for a whole acre. Town land was charged by position and by what the strip completed rather than by area, which is why Francis Wrangham paid £0 19s 0d for three thousand seven hundred and fifty square feet on 19 July 1737 while Richard Goodwin paid £0 10s 6d for three thousand five hundred.

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Know All Men by these presents That the within named Richard

Mason for & in Consideration of the Sum of Twenty shillings of Lawfull

Money of the Island Saint Helena within mentioned to him in hand

paid by John Scott of the said Island Victualler at or before the

Ensealling and delivery hereof (The Receipt Whereof the said Richard

Mason doth hereby Acknowledge) Hath & by these presents Doth

Assign Transfer & sett over (By virtue of Leave & Authority first had

from the Worshipfull the Governour and Councell of the said Island in

Consultation of the Sixteenth day of April Last) All the within mentioned

Land and premisses with the Appurtenances And all his right title

and Interest in and to the same together with the said Lease unto him

the said John Scott his Exors Admors and Assigns To have and

To hold unto him the said John Scott his Exors Admors and Assigns

for and dureing all the Rest and residue of the Term by the said Lease

granted Subject to the Covenants Rents and Condtions therein contained

In Wittness Whereof He the said Richard Mason hath to these presents

Sett his hand and Seal this fifteenth day of July in the Eighteenth

Year of the Reign of our Sovereign Lord George the Second by the

Grace of God of Great Brittain France & Ireland King Defender of

the Faith &c so forth And the Year of our Lord 1745.

Sealed & delivered where no Stamp'd

paper is to be had in the presence of

Rich.d Mason

Ja. Wright.

Tho.s French.

Island S.t Helena

The Lords Proprietors of this Island the Honble the

United Company of Merchants of England Trading to the East Indies Do

hereby give grant & sett and to farm Lett unto Matthew Fowling Sen.r

Doctor John Desfountain and Richard Beale Executors to the Last Will

and Testament of Peter Boyd dec.d all that Peice or Parcell of Cabbage tree

Land containing two Acres and an half Sictuate Lying and being at the

Richard Mason made over the Southwark Street plot and everything on it to John Scott, a victualler of St Helena, for twenty shillings in island money paid before the deed was delivered. Mason acknowledged receiving the sum. The transfer covered the whole of his right and interest in the ground, and Scott, with his heirs, executors, administrators and assigns, was to hold it for whatever remained of the term, subject to the same duties, rent and conditions. The Governor and Council had granted leave at a sitting on 16 April, shortly before.

Mason signed and sealed on 15 July 1745, in the eighteenth year of the reign of King George the Second, King of Great Britain, France and Ireland and Defender of the Faith. No stamped paper was to be had. Wright and Thomas French witnessed.

Interpretations

Three months separate the grant from its disposal. The Company sealed the lease to Mason on 16 April 1745 and gave leave to assign at a sitting on the same date, so permission to hand the ground on came at the very moment the tenure was created. Mason took twenty shillings for a plot he had held for a quarter of a year, which suggests he sought the lease not to occupy the yard but to clear the Company's interest in it before passing house and ground together to a buyer already waiting.

John Scott's trade as victualler tied him directly to the shipping in the road, since victuallers supplied vessels calling at the island with provisions. A yard and kitchen already enclosed behind a Southwark Street house suited that business, and his family recurs in the register through the orphan Elizabeth Scott, whose James Valley house her three guardians sold to Robert Ballard on 1 December 1761, and through the Martha Scott named as a neighbouring householder in April 1754.

The note that no stamped paper could be had runs through the register from 1712 onwards. England required legal instruments to be written on taxed paper, and the island had none, so clerks recorded the want on the face of the document to head off any argument that the deed was defective for that reason.

A second grant follows, in which the Company let two acres and a half of cabbage tree land to Matthew Purling senior, John Desfountain and Richard Beale, acting as executors under the will of the late John Boyd.

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Head of Pleasant Valley Butting North on the Late William Seale South on John

French East on John French and West on the said John Boyd d.d dec.d and every Part

and Parcel thereof with the Appurtenances To have & hold the said hereby

demised Premisses and every Part & Parcel thereof & with Singular the Appurtenances

thereunto belonging unto them the said Matthew Powling Sen.r Doctor John

Desfountain and Richard Beale their Executors Ad.ors or Allowed Assigns for and

Nevertheless and to the Use of the Children of the said John Boyd dec.d and from the day of

the date of these Presents for and dureing the term of Twenty one Years from thence next

Ensuing Upon Condition That the said Honoble Company Shall Approve of

the same and Upon Condition that they the said Children of the said John

Boyd & their Heirs Executors Administrators and Assigns do and Shall bear true faith

and Allegiance to our Soveraign Lord King George the second his Heirs and Successors

and true faith to them the said Honoble Company & their Successors and Shall duely

obey all the Laws and Constitutions of the said Island and Upon Condition

also that they the said Matthew Powling Sen.r Doctor John Desfountain &

Richard Beale their Heirs Executors Ad.ors or assigns do & shall well & sufficiently

keep up & Maintain the fences to the said Land & the full Quantity of Wood thereon

and do and Shall at the end & sooner determination of this Lease Yeild up and

Surrender in Good Order & Repair unto them the said Honble Company their

Successors Agents or Assigns All the said hereby demised Land and Premisses

with the Appurtenances Yeelding & Paying therefore Yearly &

every Year during the Term of this present Lease unto them the said Honoble

Company their Successors Agents or Assigns the sum of five Shillings p.r Acre in

at or upon the Feast of S.t Michael the Arch Angell Yearly & Upon Further

Condition that they the said Matthew Powling Sen.r Doctor John

Desfountain and Richard Beale their Executors Ad.ors or Allowed Assigns Shall not

Sell or dispose of this Lease or their Interest therein without the Leave & Consent of

the Governour & Council for the time being In Wittness Whereof We the said

Gov.r & Council have sett our hands & Affixed the Honoble Companys Seal this 9.th day of

April in the seventeenth Year of the Reign of our said Soveraign Lord George the

Second by the Grace of God of Great Brittain France & Ireland King defender of

the faith and so forth & in the Year of our Lord 1745 and them the said Matthew Powling

John Desfountain and Richard Beale to these Presents have sett their hand and

Seales the day and Year above Written

Sealed and delivered

in the presence of the

Powling

Rich.d Beale

Ja. Wright

Tho French

The two acres and a half of cabbage tree land lay at the head of Pleasant Valley. Ground once the late William Seale's closed the northern edge. John French's land ran along the south and east. To the west lay ground held by the late John Boyd.

Matthew Purling senior, doctor, John Desfountain and Richard Beale took the parcel with everything attached, holding it together with their heirs, executors, administrators or any successor the Company allowed. They held not for themselves but for the children of the late John Boyd, and the term ran twenty-one years from the date of the grant. The Company reserved the right to approve any transfer.

Conditions ran with the land. Boyd's children and those succeeding them owed loyalty to King George the Second, to his heirs and successors, and to the Company, and had to keep the island's rules. The three executors had to build and maintain sound fences around the ground and to keep the full share of trees on it. At the term's end, or whenever it closed earlier, everything was to be handed back to the Company or its agents in good order and repair. Payment came to £0 5s 3d for each acre every year, due at Michaelmas. None of the three could sell the lease or any share in it without the Governor and Council agreeing first.

The Governor and Council signed and applied the Company's seal on 9 April 1745, in the seventeenth year of the reign of King George the Second, King of Great Britain, France and Ireland and Defender of the Faith. Purling, Desfountain and Beale signed and sealed the same day, each setting his own seal. Wright and Thomas French witnessed.

Interpretations

Three seals stand beside the names because each trustee had to bind himself in his own person. Any one of them might later be called to answer for how the others handled the estate, which is why the register shows the same arrangement in the Burling trusts of 30 September 1738 and the Steward trusts of 12 March 1744.

No widow appears in the settlement, so the whole two acres and a half ran to Boyd's children rather than a third being carved out for a mother's life. The register shows the same where Benjamin Pledger held sixteen acres in Fishers Valley for the five children of the late Joseph Hayes on 30 September 1738, and where four executors held eight acres and a half in Sharks Valley for the Bazett children on 8 February 1744.

Matthew Purling is described here as a doctor, a rank not attached to him elsewhere in the register. He appears throughout as executor with Duke Crispe of the will of the late John Purling, selling the Purling eighth of the Bazett estate to John Bazett in 1738 and acknowledging £25 0s 0d on 29 March 1741, and later as executor with Richard Beale of the late John Bazett, selling Matthew Bazett sixty acres in Deep Valley for £520 0s 0d on 12 October 1758.

The rate of £0 5s 3d an acre matches the figure on John Goodwin's five acres at Taylors Land of 12 March 1744, and both stand three pence above the £0 5s 0d running through nearly every other grant of the period. Two instruments carrying the same unusual rate within thirteen months suggests it was deliberate rather than a slip of the clerk's pen.

Pleasant Valley appears in the register as a quarter of small holdings rather than large estates. Isaac Leech took an acre and a half there under the lease sealed 31 August 1731, four acres at the valley bottom on 30 September 1738, and ten acres at the head confirmed by beat of drum on 11 October 1740. John French held twenty-four acres there under his lives-based grant of 30 September 1738, which explains his name closing two sides of this parcel.

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200

Island S.t Helena

The Lords Proprietors of this Island the Honoble the

United Company of Merchants of England Trading to the East Indies Do

hereby Demise Grant Lease & sett unto & sett unto Matthew Powling

Senneth Doctor John Desfountain and Richard Beale Executors to the Last

Will and Testament of John Bazett dec.d all that Piece or Parcel of Gumwood

The Company let a parcel of gumwood land to Matthew Purling, Samuel Doveton, John Desfountain and Richard Beale, acting as executors under the will of the late John Bazett.

Interpretations

The same four men held eight acres and a half of cabbage tree land in Sharks Valley for the Bazett children under a grant sealed in February 1744, so this instrument continues a settlement already begun. Four trustees for one estate stands well above the usual one or two, and the reason lies in what John Bazett had assembled. Across 1738 and 1739 he bought back the eighth shares of his late father Matthew Bazett's estate from his brothers and sisters and their families, drawing a holding split eight ways across three valleys back into single hands. An estate reassembled at that cost gave good reason for several men to watch over it at once.

Three of the four appear elsewhere in this run. Purling, Desfountain and Beale had sealed the Pleasant Valley trust for the children of the late John Boyd on 9 April 1745, so the same small group of men carried the fiduciary business of the island between them.

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201

Land Containing three and an half Acres Sictuate Lying and being in fishers Valley

Bounding Every way on the Companys Wast Land in the East Division of the said

Island To have and to hold the said hereby Demised Parcel of

Land & every Part and Parcel thereof together with all and Singular the Wood Water

Water courses Houses Buildings Edifices Sheds Tenements Yams and Plantations

of Yams Fruit trees Walks Fences and All other and Singular the Rights and Commodity

to them & each and every of them belonging or Appertaining unto them the said Matthew

Powling Sanneth Doctor John Desfountain and Richard Beale their Heirs

Executors Ad.ors or Allowed Assigns from the day of the date hereof for and during

all the space and term of Twenty one Years from thence next Ensuing And to and

Nevertheless and to the Use of the Children of the said John Boyd deceased

Upon Condition that they the said Matthew Powling Sen.r Doctor

John Desfountain and Richard Beale their Heirs Executors Ad.ors or Allowed

Assigns and they the said Children and Each of them their and Each of their Heirs

Executors Administrators or Allowed Assigns Shall and do bear true faith and

Allegiance to our Soveraign Lord King George the Second his Heirs &

Successors and true faith to them the said Honoble Company and their Successors

and duely Observe and Obey All the Laws and Constitutions of the said Island and

Upon Condition also they the said Matthew Powling Samuell Doctor

John Desfountain and Richard Beale their Executors Administrators or Allowed

Assigns Shall and do from time to time and at All times hereafter during

the term of this Lease keep up and Maintain in Good Order and Sufficient and

Legal Repair all Such Buildings Houses Edifices Sheds Tenements & Plantations

and Fences as now are or hereafter Shall be Made built or Erected thereon and shall

Moreover Plant keep and Maintain and Preserve in and Upon the said hereby demised

Parcel of Land its full Quantity or proportion of Wood being one tenth Part of the

said Parcel of Land and Shall Likewise Plant and Preserve Gorze within side

and without side Fences of the said Land and Shall Plant Fruit Trees such as

Apple Lemmon Mulberry or Peach Trees in such Part thereof as they are most

Likely to Grow and as they Shall happen to decay or dye Shall Replant others of

the like sort thereof without hurt or Prejudice neverthelesss to any Part of such

Land as Shall be sett apart for the sole Purpose of Planting and Raising of

Yams Yeilding and Paying therefore Yearly and every Year

during the Term of this Present Lease unto them the said Honoble Company their

Successors Agents or Assigns the sum of five Shillings p.r Acre in at or upon the feast

of S.t Michael the Arch Angell Yearly And Upon Further

Condition that they the said Matthew Powling Samuell Doctor John Desfountain

& Richard Beale their Heirs Executors Ad.ors or Allowed Assigns Shall not Alter or

The parcel held three acres and a half in Fishers Valley. The Company's unallocated ground in the East Division surrounded it on every side.

Matthew Purling, Samuel Doveton, John Desfountain and Richard Beale took it with everything attached: the timber, the water and its channels, the houses and other buildings, the sheds and dwellings, the yams and yam beds, the fruit trees, the walls and boundaries, and every other benefit belonging to the ground. They held it together with their heirs, executors, administrators or any successor the Company allowed, for twenty-one years from the date of the grant. The benefit ran not to them but to the children of the late John Bazett.

Conditions attached. The four trustees, the children and each of their heirs and successors owed loyalty to King George the Second, to his heirs and successors, and to the Company, and had to keep the island's rules. Throughout the term they had to maintain every building, shed, dwelling, planting and boundary on the ground in sound repair, whatever stood there already or was raised later. A tenth of the three acres and a half had to be planted with trees. Furze had to be grown along the fences, inside and out. Apples, lemons, mulberries and peaches had to be set wherever each was most likely to grow, and anything that died had to be replaced with the same kind. None of this touched whatever part of the ground was kept solely for growing yams. Payment came to £0 5s 0d for each acre every year, due at Michaelmas.

Interpretations

Company ground on every side threw the whole fencing burden onto the trustees, with no neighbour's wall to serve any part of the line. Three acres and a half carrying a yearly charge of £0 17s 6d had to be walled entirely at the estate's cost, which fell on the Bazett children's inheritance rather than on any of the four men holding it.

Placing the land in trustees kept it beyond the reach of anyone who might later claim through the family, and the arrangement mattered particularly here because the estate had been so recently reassembled. John Bazett spent 1738 and 1739 buying back the eighths of his father Matthew Bazett's holdings from his siblings, so the ground held for his children represented two generations of deliberate consolidation.

Fishers Valley had been settled since the earliest allotments. Sutton Isaac senior was confirmed there in twenty acres as his former allotment on 4 August 1713, anchoring a cluster that took in the Desfountain children, Dorothy Hayes, James Draper, Simon Whaley, Ripin Wills and Isaac Wood. A parcel wholly surrounded by Company ground three decades later shows the valley had not been taken up as completely as those confirmations might suggest.

The rate here reads £0 5s 0d an acre against the £0 5s 3d on the Boyd trust of 9 April 1745 and on John Goodwin's Taylors Land of 12 March 1744. Two rates ran side by side across grants sealed within months of one another, and the standard figure across the whole run remains five shillings.

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202

Remove the said fences they being the Limitts or Land Marks of the Parcel of Land

aforesaid and Shall not Sell or dispose of this Lease or Interest therein without

the Leave and Consent of the Governour and Council for the time being In Wittness

Whereof We the said Gov.r & Council have sett our hands and Affixed the Honoble

Companys Seal this Sixteenth day of April in the Seventeenth Year of the

Reign of our Said Soveraign Lord George the Second by the Grace of God of Great

Brittain France and Ireland King defender of the faith and So forth and in the Year

of our Lord 1745 and they the said Matthew Powling Samuell Doctor John

Desfountain and Richard Beale to these Presents sett their hands & Seals the

day and Year above Written

Sealed and delivered

in the presence of the

Powling

Rich.d Beale

Ja. Wright.

Tho French

Two further limits closed the Fishers Valley trust. The four executors and those succeeding them could not move or take down the fences, since those lines marked out where the parcel began and ended. Nor could they sell the lease or any share in it without the Governor and Council agreeing first.

The Governor and Council signed and applied the Company's seal on 16 April 1745, in the seventeenth year of the reign of King George the Second, King of Great Britain, France and Ireland and Defender of the Faith. Matthew Purling, Samuel Doveton, John Desfountain and Richard Beale signed and sealed the same day, each setting his own seal. Wright and Thomas French witnessed.

Interpretations

Four seals stand beside the names because a trust binds each holder separately. Any one of the four might later have to answer for how the others managed the Bazett children's ground, and the register shows the same care taken with the three Steward trustees on 12 March 1744 and the three men who sealed the Boyd trust on 9 April 1745.

The sealing on 16 April 1745 places this alongside the Easthope grant at Gabriel's Gut and the Mason plot on Southwark Street, all three sealed that day. The Company was clearing several instruments at one sitting, as it had done throughout this period, and the leave allowing Richard Mason to hand his plot to John Scott came from the same day's business.

204

203

Island Saint Helena

The Lords Proprietors of this Island the Honourable the

United Company of Merchants of England Trading to the East Indies Do hereby

give Grant Sett and to Farm Lett unto James Greentree All that Peice or Parcel of Gumwood

Land Containing Thirty Seven Acres Sictuate Lying & being in Sandy Bay Butting

and Bounding South on the Lands of Isaac Smith East on the Lands of the said Greentree

North on Coles Rock & West on the Lands of the Wall Together with all Wells Waters

Water courses Tenements Buildings fences Rights and Priviledges & all and Singular

the Appurtenances To have and to hold the said hereby demised

Premisses and every Part and Parcel thereof & all and Singular the Appurtenances

thereunto Belonging unto him the said James Greentree his Heirs Executors

Administrators or Allowed Assigns from the day of the date of these Presents

for and during the full Term of Twenty one Years from thence next Ensuing

Upon Condition that he the said James Greentree his Heirs Executors

Administrators or Allowed Assigns Shall and do bear true faith and Allegiance

to our Soveraign Lord King George the Second his Heirs & Successors &

true faith to them the said Honourable Company and Successors and Shall duely

Observe and Obey All the Laws and Constitutions of the said Island and Upon

Condition also that he the said James Greentree his Heirs Executors

Administrators or Allowed Assigns & Shall and do from time to time and at all

times hereafter during the term of this Lease keep up and Maintain in good and

Sufficient Repair all such Buildings Houses Edifices Sheds Tenements Plantations

Fences as now are or hereafter & Shall be Made Built or Erected thereon and Shall

Moreover Plant Keep up and Maintain and Preserve in and Upon the said hereby

Demised Parcel of Land its full Quantity or Proportion of Wood being one tenth

Part of the said Parcel of Land and Shall Plant Likewise Plant and Preserve Furze

within Side and Without Side the said fences of the Parcel of Land and Shall Plant

Fruit trees Such as Apple Lemmon Mulberry or fruit trees in such Part

thereof Wherein they are most Likely to grow and as they Shall happen to decay

or dye Shall Replant others of the like Sort thereon Without Prejudice neverthelesss

to such Part of the said Land as Shall be sett apart for the sole Purpose of Planting

and Raising of Yams Yealding and Paying therefore Yearly and

every Year during the term of this Present Lease unto them the said Honoble Company

their Successors Agents or Assigns the Sum of five Shillings p.r Acre in at or upon

the feast of S.t Michael the Arch Angell And Upon Further Condi-

tion that he the said James Greentree his Heirs Executors Administrators or Allowed

The Company let thirty-seven acres of gumwood land to James Greentree. The parcel lay in Sandy Bay. His own ground closed the southern edge and part of the east. The Company's unallocated ground ran along the rest of the eastern side, along the north and along the west, reaching Coles Rock to the east.

Greentree took the ground with everything attached: the water and its channels, the houses and other buildings, the sheds and dwellings, the fences, the rights and profits, and every other benefit belonging to it. He held for twenty-one years from the date of the grant, together with his heirs, executors, administrators or any successor the Company allowed.

Conditions came with it. Greentree and those following him owed loyalty to King George the Second, to his heirs and successors, and to the Company, and had to keep the island's rules. Throughout the term they had to maintain every building, shed, dwelling, planting and boundary on the ground in sound repair, whatever stood there already or was raised later. A tenth of the thirty-seven acres had to be kept planted with trees. Furze had to be grown along the fences, inside and out. Apples, lemons, mulberries and peaches had to be set wherever each was most likely to grow, and anything that died had to be replaced with the same kind. None of these duties reached whatever part of the ground Greentree kept solely for raising yams. Payment came to £0 5s 0d for each acre every year, due at Michaelmas, which ran to £9 5s 0d across the parcel.

Interpretations

Coles Rock served as a boundary marker rather than a wall. The register records the same feature closing the eastern side of the twelve acres and a half let to Thomas Greentree in Sandy Bay Valley on 17 July 1744, a high ledge that stock could not cross doing the work of fencing and saving a tenant that stretch of walling. The Company recorded such natural limits wherever they occurred, as with the ledge of rocks marking part of the Alexander family's seven acres and a half in the east branch of Sandy Bay Valley.

At thirty-seven acres this stands among the larger parcels the Company let to a single tenant, above the thirty acres in Deep Valley granted to Thomas Allis at the sitting of 30 September 1738 and close to the thirty-nine acres let to Edward Bagley that same day, though Bagley obtained an abatement for barren and stony ground while nothing of the kind appears here.

The Greentree family had been accumulating in Sandy Bay for a generation. James Greentree the elder took twelve acres at Gabriel's Gut and eighteen at Blood Bottom on 21 May 1719, both running on the lives of his three sons Thomas, John and James. By the sitting of 30 September 1738 the family held enough for Thomas Greentree to take several parcels under one lease while acting as trustee of his late father's will, with twenty-five acres held for the widow Elizabeth and five of the children, and the trust naming James and Richard among them. This grant continues that build-up into the next generation.

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204

Assigns Shall not Alter or remove the said fences they being the Limitts or Land

Marks of the Parcel of Land Aforesaid and Shall not Sell or dispose of this Lease

or Interest therein Without the Leave and Consent of the Gov.r and Council

for the time being In Wittness Whereof We the said Governour and Council

have sett our hands and Affixed the Honourable Companys Seal in S.t Helena

this 30.th Day of April in the Seventeenth Year of the Reign of

our said Soveraign Lord George the second by the Grace of God of Great Brittain

France and Ireland King defender of the faith and so forth and in the Year of our

Lord 1745 and he the said James Greentree hath to these Presents sett his

hand and Seal the day and Year Above Written

Sealed & delivered

in the presence of Us

James Greentree

Ja. Wright

Tho French

Two final limits closed the grant to James Greentree. He and his successors could not move or take down the fences, since those lines marked out the parcel's boundaries. Nor could he sell the lease or any share in it without the Governor and Council agreeing first.

The Governor and Council signed and applied the Company's seal at St Helena on 30 April 1745, in the seventeenth year of the reign of King George the Second, King of Great Britain, France and Ireland and Defender of the Faith. Greentree signed and sealed the same day. Wright and Thomas French witnessed.

Interpretations

Greentree signed in his own hand, which places him among the literate holders of the island. The register records his family across several generations of substantial dealings in Sandy Bay, and a man taking thirty-seven acres at a yearly charge of £9 5s 0d stood well within the class of tenants whose sons served as lives on Company leases.

Wright and Thomas French witnessed together here as they had on the Boyd trust of 9 April 1745 and the Bazett trust of 16 April 1745. Three grants in three weeks carry the same two signatures, so the Company drew its attesting witnesses from a very small group through this stretch of the register.

206

205

Island S.t Helena

The Lords Proprietors of this Island the Honoble the

United Company of Merchants of England Trading to the East Indies Do hereby

Demise Grant Lease sett and to Farm Lett unto Thos Capree All that Peice or Parcel

of Cabbage tree Land Sictuate Lying & being at or near the head of deep Valley

Containing thirteen Acres Butting and bounding towards the East and West upon

the Land formerly in the Possession of Richard Smalter dec.d and towards the

South upon the Honoble Companys Wast Land Also two Acres of Land more

Butting and Bounding every Way upon the said Honoble Companys Wast

Land Containing in all Parcels of ten Acres To have and to

hold the said hereby Demised Premisses and every Part and Parcel

thereof and All and Singular the Appurtenances thereunto belonging unto him

the said Tho.s Capree his Heirs Executors Administrators and Assigns from

the day of the date of these Presents for and during the Term of Twenty one Years

from thence next Ensuing Upon Condition that the said Honoble

Company Shall Approve of the same and Upon Condition that

he the said Thomas Capree his Heirs Executors Administrators and Assigns

do and Shall bear true faith and Allegiance to our Soveraign Lord King

George the Second his Heirs and Successors & true faith to them the said Honoble

Company and their Successors and Shall duely Obey All the Laws and Constitutions

of the said Island and Upon Condition also that he the said Thomas

Capree his Heirs Executors Administrators or Assigns do and Shall well and

Sufficiently Keep up and Maintain the fences to the said Land and the full

Quantity of Wood thereon and do and Shall at the End or Sooner determination

of this Lease Yeild up and Surrender in Good Order and Repair unto them the said

Honoble Company their Successors Agents or Assigns All the said hereby demised

Land and Premisses with the Appurtenances Yeilding and Paying

therefore Yearly and every Year during the term of this Present Lease unto them

the said Honoble Company their Successors Agents or Assigns the sum of five

Shillings p.r Acre in at or Upon the feast of S.t Michael the Arch Angell

Yearly and Upon Condition that he the said Capree his Heirs

Executors Administrators or Allowed Assigns Shall not sell or dispose of this Lease

or his or their Interest therein Without the Leave and Consent of the Governour

and Council for the time being In Wittness Whereof We the said Gov.r

and Council have sett our hands and Affixed the Honoble Companys Seal this

The Company let cabbage tree land to Thomas Cleve. The parcel lay at the head of Deep Valley and held thirteen acres. Ground once occupied by the late Richard Slaughter closed it to the east and west. The Company's unallocated ground ran along the south. A second piece of two acres came with it, surrounded on every side by Company waste, bringing the whole to fifteen acres.

Cleve took the ground with everything attached, holding for twenty-one years from the date of the grant, together with his heirs, executors, administrators and assigns. The Company reserved the right to approve any transfer.

Conditions ran with the land. Cleve and those following him owed loyalty to King George the Second, to his heirs and successors, and to the Company, and had to keep the island's rules. They had to build sound fences around the ground and keep them in repair, and to maintain the full share of trees on it. At the end of the term, or whenever it closed earlier, everything was to be handed back to the Company or its agents in good order and repair. Payment came to £0 5s 3d for each acre every year, due at Michaelmas. Cleve could not sell the lease or any share in it without the Governor and Council agreeing first.

The Governor and Council signed and applied the Company's seal.

Interpretations

Cabbage tree grew on the moister high country towards the ridges, where the soil held water better than the dry gumwood slopes below. Ground of that kind fetched consistently more across the register, running to £30 an acre in the cabbage tree parcel John Bland bought on 28 July 1758 against the £17 10s 0d an acre of the West Division sales.

Thomas Cleve took nine acres from the Company under a lease sealed 21 September 1731, eight acres at Doctor's Moor Plain and one in Fryer Valley, both ringed on every side by Company ground. He appears earlier as the free planter who bought a dwelling house from John Worrall in 1722, taking in the share once John Clavering's and the two James Valley dwellings split by the will of Thomas Allis senior. Richard Goodwin assigned him two acres of Fryer Valley leasehold for £21 0s 0d in 1738. This grant of fifteen acres at the head of Deep Valley stands well above anything he had held before.

Deep Valley carried settled holdings reaching back to 1689, when Thomas Allis took an eighteen-year lease of ten acres and a dwelling house at its head from John Stevens. The Allis, Bazett, Worrall, Burling and Leech families had all accumulated there by this date, which makes a parcel with dead men's ground on two sides and Company waste on a third the usual shape of what remained.

The two-acre piece surrounded entirely by Company ground threw the whole of its fencing onto Cleve, with no neighbour's wall to serve any part of the line. The register shows the same difficulty across several grants of this period, and the Company generally preferred to let ground against an established holding for exactly that reason.

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206

this Eighteenth day of March in the Seventeenth Year of the Reign of our

Soveraign Lord George the Second by the Grace of God of Great Brittain France

and Ireland King Defender of the faith and so forth and in the Year of our

Lord 1745 and he the said Tho.s Colgrave to these Presents hath sett his hand and

Seal the day and Year above Written

Sealed and delivered

for the Presence of Us

Tho.s Colgrave

Ja. Wright.

The Governor and Council sealed on 18 March 1743, in the seventeenth year of the reign of King George the Second, King of Great Britain, France and Ireland and Defender of the Faith. Thomas Colgrave signed and sealed the same day. Wright witnessed.

Interpretations

The signature belongs to Thomas Colgrave rather than to Thomas Cleve, so the fifteen acres at the head of Deep Valley passed to Colgrave under this instrument. He appears elsewhere in the register buying Joshua Worrall's interest in thirty-one acres and a quarter of Sandy Bay leasehold, together with two acres and a half called Simons Waste Fall, for £150 0s 0d in 1742, the ground carrying wood and standing improvements and having run from James Harding to Worrall before reaching him. He also attested Company grants of 1742 under the rendering Thomas Cotgrove.

Only one witness signed, where the grants of April 1745 in this run carried two. Wright appears throughout the period among the small circle attesting Company instruments, signing on the Boyd trust of 9 April 1745, the Bazett trust of 16 April 1745 and the Greentree grant of 30 April 1745.

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207

Island S.t Helena

The Lords Proprietors of this Island the Honoble the

United Company of Merchants of England trading to the East Indies Do hereby

Demise grant Lease sett and to Farm Lett unto Richard Goodwin Sam.ll Doveton

and John Doveton Executors to the Last Will and Testament of Johnathan Doveton

dec.d All that Peice or Parcel of Cabbage tree Land containing Seven and an half

Acres Sictuate under the West side of Halleys Mount Butting and Bounding towards

the East upon Seven and an half Acres of Cabbage tree Land Late by Lett unto Samuell

Ivory Planter and towards the West North and South Upon the said Jonathan

Dovetons said Pasture Land lying at the Head or branch of Sandy Valley

Also one Acre more or Less of Cabbage tree Land Butting and Bounding to Northside

Northward the said Jonathan Dovetons dec.d own Land toward the East upon the

Lands of Samuell Ivory and towards the South Upon Lands Called Sanders Land

now in the Possession of Gabriel Powell in the East Division of the said Island

thes two Parcels of Land Containing Eight Acres and an half To have

and to hold the said hereby demised Premisses and every Part and

thereof all and Singular the Appurtenances thereunto belonging unto them

the said Richard Goodwin Samuell Doveton and John Doveton their Heirs

Executors Ad.ors or Allowed Assigns In trust Neverthelesss and to the Use of the

Children of the said Jonathan Doveton dec.d from the day of the date of these

Presents for and during the term of Twenty one Years from thence next Ensueing

Upon Condition that the said Richard Goodwin Sam.ll Doveton

and John Doveton their Heirs Executors Administrators and Assigns do and

Shall bear true faith and Allegiance to our Soveraign Lord King George the

Second his Heirs and Successors and true faith to them the said Honoble Company

and their Successors and Shall duely Obey All the Laws and Constitutions of the

said Island and Upon Condition also that the said

Goodwin Samuel Doveton & John Doveton their Heirs Executors Ad.ors

or Assigns do and Shall well and Sufficient keep up and Maintain the

to the said Land and the full Quantity of Wood thereon and do and Shall at the

End or Sooner determination of this Lease Yeild up and Surrender in Good Order

and Repair unto them the said Honoble Company their Successors Agents or

Assigns all the said hereby Demised Land and Premisses with the Appurtenances

Yeilding and Paying therefore Yearly and Every Year during

the term of this Present Lease unto them the said Honoble Company their

Successors the Sum of five Shillings p.r Acre in at or upon the feast of S.t Michael

The Company let cabbage tree land to Richard Goodwin, Samuel Doveton and John Doveton, acting as executors under the will of the late Jonathan Doveton. The ground came in two pieces, eight acres and a half in all.

The first piece held seven acres and a half, lying under the west side of Halley's Mount. To the east lay seven acres and a half of cabbage tree land recently let to Samuel Jesey, a planter. Jonathan Doveton's own pasture land closed the west, north and south.

The second piece held an acre, more or less, of cabbage tree ground at the head of James Valley. The late Jonathan Doveton's own land bounded it to the north and west. Samuel Jesey's land ran along the east. To the south lay ground called Saye Head, then held by the same Jesey.

The three executors took both pieces with everything attached, together with their heirs, executors, administrators or any successor the Company allowed. They held not for themselves but for the children of the late Jonathan Doveton, and the term ran twenty-one years from the date of the grant.

Conditions attached. Goodwin, Samuel Doveton and John Doveton, together with their heirs and successors, owed loyalty to King George the Second, to his heirs and successors, and to the Company, and had to keep the island's rules. They had to build sound fences and keep them in repair, and to maintain the full share of trees on the ground. At the end of the term, or whenever it closed earlier, everything was to be handed back to the Company or its agents in good order and repair. Payment came to £0 5s 3d for each acre every year, due at Michaelmas.

Interpretations

Halley's Mount takes its name from the astronomer Edmond Halley, who came to St Helena in 1677 to map the southern stars. The register first records the name in the confirmation of ninety acres to Jonathan Doveton on 4 August 1713, ground the Company had bought from the estates of Leonard Hunt and William Marsh and sold on to him, doubling his holding to a hundred and forty acres under the mount at the upper end of Chapel Valley.

The estate being settled here is that same accumulation. Jonathan Doveton was confirmed in fifty acres and a quarter across three parcels on 17 April 1711, expanded to a hundred and forty acres in 1713, and was still taking Company ground at the sitting of 30 September 1738, where seven acres ringed entirely by his own land and two acres wedged between his ground and the Company's went to him under separate instruments. His death brings that long build-up to its settlement.

Two of the three trustees carried the Doveton name, so the family kept control of the ground held for the children. Richard Goodwin stood as the outside trustee, and he acted in the same capacity across these years, taking six acres in trust for the widow and three children of the late Solomon Burling at the sitting of 30 September 1738 and twenty-one acres for John Nicholls junior at Old Woman's Valley on 17 July 1744.

Samuel Jesey holds ground on three of the four sides of the smaller piece and on the east of the larger. He had bought the seized house and land of the debtor Thomas Southern at public sale for £138 0s 0d in 1722, and took twenty-two acres of cabbage tree and gumwood near the Mountain from Isaac Wood for £42 0s 0d on behalf of the Burnham orphans in June 1726. The Company confirmed him in twenty acres in Stick's Valley and the High Valley on 8 November 1726.

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the Arch Angell Yearly and Upon further Condition that them the said Richard

Goodwin Samuell Doveton and John Doveton their Heirs Executors Administrators

or Allowed Assigns Shall and do Sell or dispose of this Lease or them or their Interest

therein Without the Leave and Consent of the Gov.r and Council for the time

being In Wittness Whereof We the said Gov.r and Council have sett

our hands and Affixed the Honoble Companys Seal this Thirtieth day of

April in the Seventeenth Year of the Reign of our said Soveraign

Lord George the Second by the Grace of God of Great Brittain France

and Ireland King Defender of the faith and so forth and in the Year

of our Lord 1745 and them the the said Richard Goodwin Sam.ll Doveton

and John Doveton have to these Present sett their hands and Seals the

Day and Year Above Written

Memorandum that this Lease is not

to be valid Unless the Honble Company

are pleased to Approve of it

Rich Goodwin

Sam Doveton

Sealed & Delivered in the presence

of

Ja. Wright.

Tho French

Payment on the Doveton trust fell due at Michaelmas each year. One further limit closed the grant: Richard Goodwin, Samuel Doveton and John Doveton, together with those succeeding them, could not sell the lease or any share in it without the Governor and Council agreeing first.

The Governor and Council signed and applied the Company's seal on 30 April 1745, in the seventeenth year of the reign of King George the Second, King of Great Britain, France and Ireland and Defender of the Faith. Richard Goodwin and Samuel Doveton signed and sealed the same day, each setting his own seal. Wright and Thomas French witnessed.

A note added beneath recorded that the grant would not stand unless the Company approved it.

Interpretations

The note makes the whole arrangement provisional. The Governor and Council could seal an instrument on the island, but the Company in London held the final word, and here the clerk wrote that reservation onto the face of the deed rather than leaving it understood. Nothing comparable appears on the other grants of this period, so the trustees took the ground knowing it might yet be undone.

Only two of the three trustees signed, John Doveton's name and seal being absent. A trust ordinarily required each holder to bind himself in his own person, which is why the register shows three seals on the Boyd trust of 9 April 1745 and four on the Bazett trust of 16 April 1745. An incomplete execution sits alongside the reservation about the Company's approval, and both point to an instrument left unfinished at the sealing.

The date places this alongside James Greentree's thirty-seven acres in Sandy Bay, sealed the same day before the same two witnesses. Wright and Thomas French carried the attesting business of the Company through the whole of this spring.

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Island S.t Helena

The Lords Proprietors of this Island the Honoble the

United Company of Merchants of England trading to the East Indies Do

hereby Demise Grant Lease sett and to farm Lett unto W.m Seale of the

said Island planter All that peice or parcell of Land Containing Sixteen Acres

& three Quarters Nine Acres thereof Butting & Bounding North upon the Lands of

William Burnham West & South late in the possession of Frances Seale widow

dec.d & East upon the Honourable Companys Wast Land the Other Seven Acres & Three

Quarters Butting & Bounding towards the North & West Adjoyning to & upon the Land

late in possession of William Seale dec.d towards the South upon the Land formerly

in the possession of Jn.o Knipe Sen.r dec.d towards the West upon the Gumwood

Land late in the possession of Bridgett Bazett Widow dec.d & towards the East

upon the said Honble Companys Wast Land All in the East Devission of the

said Island To have & to hold the said hereby demised parcell of Land

& Every part & parcell thereof together with all & Singular the Wood Water

Watercourses Houses Buildings Edifices Sheds Tenements Yams and

Plantations of Yams Fruit Trees Walks fences & all other & Singular

the Rights & Comodities to them & Each & Every of them belonging or

Appertaining unto him the said William Seale his Heirs Ex.ors Ad.ors or

Allowed Assignes from the day of the date hereof for & during All the Space &

Term of 21 Years from thence next Ensueing Upon Condition that he

the said William Seale his Heirs Ex.ors Ad.ors or Allowed Assignes Shall

& do bear true faith & Allegeance to our Sovereign Lord King George the

Second his Heirs & Successors & true faith to them the said Honble

Company & their Successors & Shall duely Observe & Obey All the Laws

& Constitutions of the said Island And Upon Condition Also that he the said

William Seale his Heirs Ex.ors Ad.ors or Allowed Assignes Shall & do from

time to time & at all times hereafter during the Term of this Leave keep up

& Maintain in good Order & Sufficient & Legall Repair All Such Buildings

Houses Edifices Sheds Tenements Plantations & fences as now are or

hereafter Shall be made Built or Erected thereon & Shall Moreover plant

keep up Maintain & preserve in & Upon their hereby demised parcell of

Land its full Quantity or proportion of Wood being One tenth part of the

said parcell of Land & Shall plant Fruit Trees such as Apple Lemon

Mulberry or Peach Trees in Such parts thereof as they are most likely to grow

And as they Shall happen to decay or dye Shall replant Others of the

The Company let sixteen acres to William Seale, a planter of St Helena. The ground came in two pieces, both in the East Division.

Nine acres lay against William Burnham's land to the north. Ground held by Frances Seale, a widow, closed the west and south. The Company's unallocated ground ran along the east.

The remaining seven acres and three quarters adjoined land once occupied by the late William Neale to the north and west. To the south lay ground formerly held by the late John Knipe senior. Gumwood land once the late Bridget Bazett's, a widow, closed the west. The Company's unallocated ground ran along the east.

Seale took both pieces with everything attached: the timber, the water and its channels, the houses and other buildings, the sheds and dwellings, the yams and yam beds, the fruit trees, the walls and boundaries, and every other benefit belonging to the ground. He held for twenty-one years from the date of the grant, together with his heirs, executors, administrators or any successor the Company allowed.

Conditions attached. Seale and those following him owed loyalty to King George the Second, to his heirs and successors, and to the Company, and had to keep the island's rules. Throughout the term they had to maintain every building, shed, dwelling, planting and boundary on the ground in sound repair, whatever stood there already or was raised later. A tenth of the sixteen acres had to be planted with trees. Apples, lemons, mulberries and peaches had to be set wherever each was most likely to grow, and anything that died had to be replaced with the same kind.

Interpretations

Frances Seale holds ground on two sides in her own name as a widow. The register records her doing the same at the sitting of 30 September 1738, where her occupation fixed the northern and eastern edges of the ten acres let to Isaac Leach and the western and southern edges of the six acres let to William Seale himself, appearing in neither grant as a party to it.

Three of the neighbours are recorded as dead. Bridget Bazett, the widow of Captain Matthew Bazett, had died before 14 January 1738, when her land already stood as the late Bridget Bazett's on the boundaries of Benjamin Pledger's confirmed East Division parcels. She had held twenty acres near Diana's Peak under a lease sealed 14 September 1731, granted for her own benefit and her children's, the ground to pass to them in equal shares after her death.

William Seale had been accumulating in the East Division for two decades before this grant. He took fifteen acres and a half in Stick's Valley on 22 November 1726 against his own earlier ground, and six acres at the sitting of 30 September 1738 with Burnham to the north and Frances Seale on two sides, the very neighbours who appear again here. Thirteen years after this lease he was aged and destitute, and gentlemen ashore raised £34 12s 1½d by subscription on 15 July 1758 to buy a slave named Lewis whose labour would support him and his children.

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like Sorts thereon without hurt or prejudice Nevertheless to any part of

Such Land as shall be sett apart for the sole purpose of planting and

raising of Yams Yeilding & paying therefore yearly & Every Year

during the Term of this Present Lease unto them the said Honble Company

their Successors Agents or Assignes the Sum of five Shillings p.r Acre in at or

Upon the feast of Saint Michael the Arch Angell Yearly & Upon further

Condition That he the said William Seale his Heirs Ex.ors Ad.ors or Allowed

Assignes Shall not alter or remove the said fences they being the Limitts or

Land Marks of the Parcell of Land aforesaid And Shall not Sell or

dispose of this Lease or Interest therein without the Leave & Consent of

the Governour & Council for the time being In Wittness Whereof We the

said Gov.r & Council have sett our hands & Affixed the Honourable Comp.s

Seal this Thirtieth day of April in the 17.th Year of the Reign of our

Sovereign Lord George the Second by the Grace of God of Great Brittain

France & Ireland King defender of the faith & so forth And in the Year

of our Lord 1745. And the said William Seale hath to the Other part

Sett his hand & Seal the day & Year abovewritten.

Sealed & Delivered

in the presence of Us

Will.m Seale

Ja. Wright

Tho french

Whatever ground William Seale chose to keep entirely for growing yams stood outside the planting duties on his sixteen acres. He owed the Company, its successors or its agents £0 5s 0d for each acre every year, due at Michaelmas, which came to £4 0s 0d across the parcel.

Two further limits closed the grant. Seale and those succeeding him could not move or take down the fences, since those lines marked out the boundaries. Nor could he sell the lease or any share in it without the Governor and Council agreeing first.

The Governor and Council signed and applied the Company's seal on 30 April 1745, in the seventeenth year of the reign of King George the Second, King of Great Britain, France and Ireland and Defender of the Faith. Seale signed and sealed the same day. Wright and Thomas French witnessed.

Interpretations

Three grants went out on 30 April 1745: this one to Seale, thirty-seven acres in Sandy Bay to James Greentree, and the Doveton family trust of eight acres and a half held by Richard Goodwin and two others. Wright and Thomas French attested all three, so the Company cleared a full afternoon's business before one pair of witnesses.

The charge here reads £0 5s 0d an acre, matching Greentree's grant of the same day, while the Doveton trust sealed alongside them carried £0 5s 3d. Two rates ran side by side on instruments sealed within hours of each other, and the difference cannot rest on the quality of the ground when the higher figure fell on a trust held for orphaned children.

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Know All Men by these Presents That the within named Edward

Bagley for and in Consideration of the Sum of Twenty Shillings of

Lawfull Mony of the said Island to him in hand paid by David

Wilson of the said Island Serjeant at or before the Ensealing and

Delivery hereof (The receipt Whereof the said Edward Bagley doth hereby

Acknowledge) Hath and by these Presents Doth Assign Transferr

& Sett over (by Virtue of Leave and authority first had from the

Worshipfull the Governour and Councill of the said Island in Consultation

of the fifteenth day of October Instant) All the within mentioned Land

and Premisses with the Appurtenances And All his right Title and

Interest in and to the same together with the said Lease unto him the

said David Wilson his Ex.ors Ad.mors and Assigns To have and

to hold unto him the said David Wilson his Ex.ors Ad.mors and

Assigns for and during all the rest & residue of the Term by the said

Lease Granted Subject to the Covenants Rents and Conditions therein

mentioned In Witness Whereof Ye the said Edward Bagley hath to

these Presents Sett his hand and Seal this Twenty Second day of

October in the Nineteenth Year of the Reign of our Sovereign Lord

George the Second by the Grace of God of Great Brittain France

and Ireland King Defender of the Faith and so forth And in the

Year of our Lord 1745.

Edward Bagley

Sealed and Delivered (Where no Stamp'd

Paper is to be had) in the Presence of Us

Ja. Wright.

Jos.h Twynam.

Edward Bagley made over the land covered by his lease, together with everything attached and the whole of his right and interest in it, to David Wilson, a sergeant of St Helena. Wilson paid twenty shillings in island money before the deed was delivered, and Bagley acknowledged receiving it. The Governor and Council had granted leave at a sitting on 15 October. Wilson, with his executors, administrators and assigns, was to hold for whatever remained of the term, subject to the same duties, rent and conditions.

Bagley signed and sealed on 22 October 1745, in the nineteenth year of the reign of King George the Second, King of Great Britain, France and Ireland and Defender of the Faith. No stamped paper was to be had. Wright and Joseph Twynam witnessed.

Interpretations

Seven days separate the Council's permission from the sealing, which stands at the shorter end of the range across the register. Francis Mowatt waited three weeks in 1756, Gabriel Steward's assignments to Henry Bazett were sealed the day after leave was given in June 1758, and Jonathan Doveton's transfer of 1760 rested on a permission granted a full year earlier.

Twenty shillings marks the price as nominal rather than commercial. A tenant handing on the unexpired part of a Company lease passed only the burden of rent, fencing and planting duties along with the ground, and where nothing substantial stood on the parcel the transfer needed a token payment to make it effective. Richard Mason took the same twenty shillings for his Southwark Street plot on 15 July 1745, three months earlier.

Edward Bagley held substantial Company ground from the sitting of 30 September 1738, taking thirty-nine acres, the largest single parcel let that day, with a memorandum cutting his charge to thirty acres because so much of it was barren and stony, and two acres in Coles Valley ringed on all four sides by Company waste. Neither the acreage nor the location appears on this leaf, so which of his holdings passed to Wilson cannot be fixed from the transfer alone.

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Island Saint Helena.

The Lords Proprietors of this Island the Honourable

United Company of Merchants of England trading to the East

Indies Do hereby demise Grant sett and to farm lett unto Richard

Beale and Samuel Alexander Executors of John Alexander

deceased All that Peice or Parcell of Land containing six Acres more

or less Sictuate Lying and being in Sandy Bay Bounding North

Part on Twenty Acres of Lease Land called Yarzens belonging to the

Estate of the said John Alexander and Part on Ten Acres of free Land

in the Possession of the said Samuel Alexander and South East and

West on the Honourable Companys Wast Land with all and Singular

the Waters Watercourses Traffick and Appurtenances thereunto

belonging To have and To hold the said Six Acres of Land and

Premisses and Every Part and Parcell thereof with their and every

of their Appurtenances unto the said Richard Beale and Samuel

Alexander their Executors Administrators and Assigns from the day

of the Date of these Presents for and during and unto the full

End and Term of Twenty one Years from thence next Ensueing and

fully to be compleat and ended In Trust Neverthelesss and to the

Use of the Children of the said John Alexander their Heirs and Assigns

Upon Condition that they the said Children and every of

them do and shall bear true faith and Allegiance unto our

Sovereign Lord George the Second King of Great Brittain &c.a

his Heirs and Successors and true faith to them the said Honble

Company and their Successors and do and shall duely obey

and keep all the Laws and Constitutions of this Island And

Upon Condition that they the said Richard Beale and Samuel

Alexander their Executors and Assigns do and shall keep up

and maintain in good and sufficient Repair All and singular

the fences to the said Land and the full Quantity of Wood and

shall likewise Plant Fruit Trees and Fuirze in the Places

Where they are most likely to grow and shall maintain and

keep up the same Yeilding and Paying therefore Yearly and

Every Year unto them the said Honble Companys their Successors

Agents or Assigns the Sum of five Shillings p.r Acre at or upon

the feast day of Saint Michael the Arch angell in Every Year

And Upon further Condition that they the said Richard

The Company let six acres, more or less, to Richard Beale and Samuel Alexander, acting as executors of the late John Alexander. The parcel lay in Sandy Bay. Its northern edge ran partly against twenty acres of leased ground called Gargen's, belonging to John Alexander's estate, and partly against ten acres of freehold then held by Samuel Alexander. The Company's unallocated ground closed the south, east and west.

The two executors took the six acres with the water, the watercourses, the pathways and everything else attached, holding for twenty-one years from the date of the grant, together with their executors, administrators and assigns. They held not for themselves but for the children of the late John Alexander, and for those children's heirs and successors.

Conditions attached. The children and each of them owed loyalty to King George the Second, King of Great Britain, to his heirs and successors, and to the Company, and had to keep the island's rules. Beale and Alexander, with their executors and successors, had to keep every fence on the ground in sound repair and maintain the full share of trees. They were also to plant fruit trees and furze wherever each stood the best chance of growing, and to keep them going. Payment came to £0 5s 0d for each acre every year, due at Michaelmas.

Interpretations

Gargen's on the northern boundary preserves the name of Thomas Gargen, confirmed in ten acres on 20 July 1711 and leased twenty acres of gumwood in Sandy Bay the same day, his holdings then weighted towards leasehold. His name appears variously as Gargen and Gurgen across the register, and by 1713 he held ground once rented by the late Richard Alexander. Thirty-four years after his own grants the byname still fixed a boundary.

The Alexander estate had been under settlement since 1738. At the sitting of 30 September that year, Governor John Goodwin and Richard Beale held three parcels of nineteen, sixteen and twenty acres in trust for the widow Mary Alexander and six of the children, fifty-five acres in all at a combined charge of £13 15s 0d, with a seventh child excluded as already provided for through her marriage to James Powell. Beale continues here as trustee seven years later.

Samuel Alexander appears on both sides of the arrangement, holding ten acres of freehold on the northern boundary while acting as executor of his father's will. He had been named among the six children sharing two thirds of the 1738 parcels, and by 9 November 1742 had come of age and joined Beale in holding seven acres and a half in the east branch of Sandy Bay Valley for his mother and five of the children. A son growing into the management of the estate he was also entitled to share in runs through the register as a common pattern.

No widow appears in this settlement. Mary Alexander had taken a third for her life in the three parcels of 1738, but the whole six acres here run to the children alone, which places her death between the two grants.

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Beale and Samuel Alexander their Heirs Executors Administrators or

Assigns Shall not sell or dispose of this Lease or their Interest therein

without the Consent of the Governour and Councill for the time being

In Witness Whereof We the said Governour and Councill have hereunto

Sett our Hands And Affixed the Honble Companyies Seal this Thirtieth

day of Aprd in the Seventeenth Year of the Reign of our Sovereign

Lord George the Second by the Grace of God of Great Brittain

France and Ireland King defender of the faith and so forth and

in the Year of our Lord 1745 And the said Richard Beale and

Samuel Alexander have to the other Part as Executors aforesaid sett their

Hands and seals this day and Year abovewritten.

Sealed and Delivered

in the presence of Us

Rich.d Beale

and for

Samuel Alexander

Ja. Wright

Tho. french

Island S.t Helena

The Lords Proprietors of this Island the

Honourable the United Company of Merchants of England trading to the East

Indies do hereby demise grant sett and to farm Lett unto John Goodwin

Gentleman all that peice or parcel of Ground situate Lying and being

in James's Valley in the said Island bounding North on the Honble

Companys Garden South on Land belonging to John French Sen.r West

on Land belonging to the said John Goodwin and East or backwards partly on the

Honble Companys wast Land and partly on the said John French containing

in Breath next the said John Goodwin Sixty Six feet or thereabouts in Depth

next the Honble Companys Garden Eighty one feet or thereabouts in Depth

A final restriction closed the Alexander trust. Richard Beale and Samuel Alexander, together with those succeeding them, could not sell the lease or any share in it without the Governor and Council agreeing first.

The Governor and Council signed and applied the Company's seal on 30 April 1745, in the seventeenth year of the reign of King George the Second, King of Great Britain, France and Ireland and Defender of the Faith. Beale and Alexander signed and sealed the same day as executors, each setting his own seal. Wright and Thomas French witnessed. Beale signed his own name and again on behalf of Samuel Alexander.

The Company then let a piece of ground in James Valley to John Goodwin, a gentleman of the island. Land belonging to John French senior closed it to the north. The Company's garden lay to the south. Goodwin's own ground ran along the west. The back part of the plot met partly the Company's unallocated land and partly John French's ground. It measured sixty feet or thereabouts in width alongside Goodwin's land, and eighty-one feet or thereabouts in depth beside the Company's garden.

Interpretations

Beale signing for Samuel Alexander is worth noting, since both men sealed separately. Substitute signatures run through the register, with Richard Goodwin signing for his mother Frances Carne, Charles Steward for Charlesworth Powell and Samuel Doveton for Jonathan Doveton at the sitting of 30 September 1738, and no power of attorney recorded in any case. Here the arrangement is unusual only in that Alexander's own seal stands beside a name written in another man's hand.

Measurement by feet marks the second grant as town ground, where the register fixes James Valley and Chapel Valley plots by width and depth rather than acreage. Such parcels carried none of the planting or fencing duties that fill the country leases, the single continuing obligation being repair.

The Company's garden fixing the southern edge places the plot within the institutional quarter of the valley. The register records the garden's watercourse in the grants to Governor John Goodwin of 30 September 1737 and to the Reverend Edwin Alcock of 20 September 1743, both of which barred building close to the channel because the water supplied the shipping in the road.

John Goodwin had been assembling James Valley ground for years. He took a strip of six feet by eighty next to the Reform House in 1728, ground between the houses of Frances Carne and Charles Steward on three lives on 30 September 1737, and a main street plot of fifty feet by seventy carrying a part-built tenement on 25 October 1737. The Governor and Council granted him further ground behind his house on 14 November 1738, taking in half the walls of the neighbouring back yards and the messuage he had already built with its brick chamber.

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next the said John French Sixty feet or thereabouts and in the Back seventy one feet

or thereabouts together with all and Singular the appurtenances thereunto

belonging to have and to hold the said hereby demised peice or parcel

of Ground and premises with their and every of their appurtenances unto him

the said John Goodwin his Heirs Executors Administrators and Assigns from

the day of the date of these presents for and during the term of twenty one Years

upon condition that the said John Goodwin his Heirs Executors

Administrators and Assigns do and shall bear true faith and Allegiance to our

Sovereign Lord King George the second his Heirs and Successors and to them

the said Honourable Company and their Successors and shall duly obey all

the Laws and Constitutions of the said Island Yeilding & paying

therefore Yearly and every Year during the term hereby Granted unto the said

Honourable Company their Successors Agents or Assigns the sum of ten

Shillings p.r Annum on the feast day of S.t Michael the Arch Angell Yearly

and upon condition that he the said John Goodwin his Executors

Administrators and Assigns do and shall maintain & keep in good repair

any and every Building Wall and enclosure that is or may be hereafter

erected or Built on the said Ground or any part thereof where and as often

as need may require so that the same shall be and remain enclosed & kept

in good repair during the whole term of this Lease and at the expiration

hereof he the said John Goodwin his Executors Administrators or Assigns shall

leave the same in the same Condition and good repair and not suffer the said

Ground Inclosure or Buildings to run to ruin or decay and upon

condition that the said John Goodwin his Executors Administrators

or Assigns shall not sell or dispose of this Lease or Interest therein without

the leave and consent of the Governour and Council for the time being

In Witness Whereof he the said John Goodwin hath sett his hand and

Seal this Seventeenth day of December in the Nineteenth Year of the

Reign of our Sovereign Lord George the second by the Grace of God of

Great Brittain France and Ireland King defender of the faith and

so forth and in the Year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred & forty

five

Seald & Delivered John Goodwin

in the presence of us

Dixon

Jos. Twynam

The James Valley plot let to John Goodwin measured sixty feet or thereabouts alongside John French's ground, and seventy-one feet or thereabouts across the back. Goodwin took it with everything attached, holding for twenty-one years from the date of the grant, together with his heirs, executors, administrators and assigns.

Conditions ran with it. Goodwin and those following him owed loyalty to King George the Second, to his heirs and successors, and to the Company, and had to obey the island's rules. Payment came to ten shillings a year, due at Michaelmas. He had to keep every building, wall and enclosure standing on the ground or raised later in good repair, mending them as often as needed, so that the plot stayed properly enclosed for the whole term. At the term's end he was to leave everything in the same condition and good repair, allowing nothing to fall into ruin. He could not sell the lease or any share in it without the Governor and Council agreeing first.

Goodwin signed and sealed on 16 December 1745, in the nineteenth year of the reign of King George the Second, King of Great Britain, France and Ireland and Defender of the Faith. Dixon and Joseph Twynam witnessed.

Interpretations

The depth is given twice with different figures, eighty-one feet beside the Company's garden and seventy-one feet across the back, so the plot narrowed or widened along its length rather than running as a regular rectangle. The register handles such shapes by naming the neighbour along each side, as with Charles Steward's plot of 19 July 1737, described by three separate measurements because it ran wider at the lower end than at the house.

Ten shillings covered roughly four thousand two hundred square feet, where country ground went at five shillings for a whole acre. Town land was charged by position and by what a strip completed rather than by area, which is why Francis Wrangham paid nineteen shillings for three thousand seven hundred and fifty square feet on 19 July 1737 while Richard Goodwin paid ten shillings and sixpence for three thousand five hundred.

The obligation to hand the ground back in the same state, with nothing left to decay, appears here as an express term. That requirement explains why a twenty-one year span discouraged substantial building in James Valley, and why the Company measured Governor John Goodwin's grant of 30 September 1737 by three lives instead when a stone dwelling was to go up on ground assembled from two neighbouring back yards.

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Island Saint Helena

The Lords Proprietors of this Island the Honourable the United

Company of Merchants of England trading to the East Indies Do hereby

Demise Grant sett and to farm Lett unto Joseph Whaley Junior of the said

Island Planter All that peice or Parcell of Gumwood Land containing four

Acres Sictuate Lyeing and being in a Valley called and known by the name

of Prosperous Bay Valley in the East Division of the said Island and below

the high Waterfall butting and bounding towards the North South East and

West Every way upon the said Honourable Companys Wast Land in and near

the said Prosperous bay Valley in the said East Division To have and

to hold the said hereby demised four Acres of Gumwood Land with the

Appurtenances and Every Part thereof unto him the said Joseph Whaley

his Heirs Executors Administrators and Assigns from the day of the date

hereof for and during the Term of Twenty One Years from thence next

Ensueing Upon Condition that he the said Joseph Whaley Junior

his Heirs Executors Administrators or Assigns shall and do bear

true faith and Allegiance to our Sovereign Lord King George the Second

his Heirs and Successors and true faith to them the said Honourable

Company and their Successors and shall duely Obey all the Laws and

Constitutions of the said Island Yeilding and paying therefore

Yearly and Every Year during the Term hereby Granted unto the said

Honourable Company their Successors Agents or Assigns the Yearly

rent of Five Shillings p.r Acre at or upon the feast of Saint Michael

the Archangell in Every Year And Upon Condition that he the

said Joseph Whaley his Heirs Executors Administrators or Assigns

shall and do imediately sett about and ffence in the said hereby

demised four Acres of Land with a good and Sufficient Wall ffence

and when so fenced the same shall keep in good repair when and as

often as need shall require so that the whole Premisses and Every

Part thereof shall be alwayes tenantable and no wayes suffered to run

to ruin or decay And shall also keep up and preserve the full quantity

and proportion of Wood and Other trees that are growing thereon or

may be hereafter planted Pursuant to the Law for planting of Wood

And Also shall plant ffurze round such Parts of the said ffences as

will best take in and at all Proper times and Seasons of the Year to make

Experiment thereof and after the said hereby demised Land is Enclosed and

ffenced shall not alter the ffences And upon Condition that he the

The Company let four acres of gumwood land to Joseph Whaley junior, a planter of St Helena. The parcel lay in Prosperous Bay Valley, in the East Division, below the High Waterfall. The Company's unallocated ground surrounded it on the north, south, east and west, running through and near the valley.

Whaley took the four acres with everything attached, holding for twenty-one years from the date of the grant, together with his heirs, executors, administrators and assigns.

Conditions came with it. Whaley and those following him owed loyalty to King George the Second, to his heirs and successors, and to the Company, and had to obey the island's rules. Payment ran at £0 5s 0d for each acre every year, due at Michaelmas, which came to £1 0s 0d across the parcel.

He had to fence the whole four acres at once with a good, sound wall, and afterwards keep it in repair as often as needed, so the ground stayed fit to occupy throughout and nothing was allowed to fall into ruin. He had to maintain the full share of trees already growing there, together with any planted later under the island's timber rules. Furze had to be set around whichever parts of the fences would take it best, planted at the right times and seasons to give it the best chance. Once the ground was enclosed and fenced, he could not shift the boundaries.

Interpretations

Prosperous Bay Valley lies on the dry eastern side of the island, and the register treats its ground as marginal. John and Naomi Bradley sold Benjamin Pledger fifteen acres there for £5 0s 0d on 20 November 1733, a price that reflects exposed and unrewarding land, and John Thwaites took an acre and a half in the same valley under his grant of 3 February 1729.

A wall was specified here rather than ordinary fencing. The Company asked the same of William Beale on 8 February 1726 for two acres on the side of Peak Hill, ground earlier held by the late Daniel Griffeth, where an exposed hillside made a stone barrier the only kind that would hold. Prosperous Bay Valley sits similarly open to the wind.

Company ground on all four sides threw the whole fencing burden onto Whaley, since no neighbour's wall could serve any part of the line. Four acres carrying a charge of £1 0s 0d a year had to be walled entirely at his own cost, and the register shows the same difficulty on Richard Goodwin's two acres in Fryer Valley, Isaac Leech's four acres at the bottom of Pleasant Valley and Edward Bagley's two acres in Coles Valley, all sealed at the sitting of 30 September 1738.

Joseph Whaley junior had held Company ground before. He took five acres and three quarters in three pieces at that same sitting of 30 September 1738, kept apart by strips left open as a drift way for driving stock and ringed on every side by Company waste, signing by mark. He sold his brother Simon ten acres of freehold in a staged purchase closing on 15 September 1733, and the two brothers took ten acres together in equal halves in 1738, each sealing separately so that his share passed to his own heirs.

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said Joseph Whaley his Heirs Executors Administrators or Assigns

shall not sell or dispose of this Lease or his or their Interest therein

without the Knowledge and consent of the Governour and Councill

for the time being In Witness Whereof We the said Governour and

Councill have hereunto sett our hands and Affixed the Honourable

Companys Seal this Eighteenth day of March in the Nineteenth Year

of the reign of our Sovereign Lord George the Second by the Grace

of God of Great Brittain France and Ireland King Defender of the

Faith and so forth and in the Year of our Lord 1745 And the

said Joseph Whaley to the Other Part hath sett his hand and seale

the day and Year abovementioned the Mark of

Joseph Whaley Jun.r

Sealed & delivered in

the Presence of Us

Ja. Wright.

Tho French.

A final restriction closed the grant to Joseph Whaley junior. Neither he nor those succeeding him could sell the lease or any share in it without the Governor and Council knowing of it and agreeing.

The Governor and Council signed and applied the Company's seal on 18 March 1745, in the nineteenth year of the reign of King George the Second, King of Great Britain, France and Ireland and Defender of the Faith. Whaley sealed on the same day, making his mark rather than signing.

Wright and Thomas French witnessed.

Interpretations

Whaley signed by mark here as he had on his five acres and three quarters at the sitting of 30 September 1738 and throughout the staged sale of ten acres of freehold to his brother Simon, which closed on 15 September 1733. The family had been rising in standing over that period, Joseph Whaley the elder appearing first as a sergeant in 1722 and later under the courtesy title of esquire, yet the younger man still could not write his name.

The requirement that the Council know of any transfer as well as consent to it is worded more tightly here than in most grants of the run, which ask only for leave and consent. Knowledge and consent together closed off any argument that a tenant had obtained permission on an incomplete account of what he meant to do.

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Island Saint Helena

The Lords Proprietors of this Island the Honble the United

Company of Merchants of England trading to the East Indies Do hereby

Demise Grant sett and to farm Lett unto Matthew Durling of this Island

Gentleman and John Durling late of the same their Executors

Administrators and Assigns All That Peice or Parcell of Cabbage

tree Land Sictuate lying and being on or near a Place commonly called

or known by the Name of Halleys mount next the Main ridge butting

towards the North upon the Lands late in the possession of John

Durling deceased called the Hutts Pasture towards the West upon the

Lands late of Jonathan Doveton & towards the South and East upon

the Free Land late belonging to Thomas Burnham and Thomas

Fowler containing Seven Acres and an half with the Appurtenances

And Also All that Peice or Parcell of Cabbage tree Land containing

four Acres Sictuate Lying and being under the main ridge next to

sandy Bay butting and bounding towards the North and West

upon the Leased Cabbage tree Land late in the possession of Isaac

Wood towards the South upon Lease Land late in the possession of

James Draper and towards the East to the said Main ridge near to

Diana's Peak with the Appurts To have and to hold the said hereby

demised Premisses with the Appurtenances and Every Part thereof

unto them the said Matthew Durling and John Durling their Executors

Administrators and Assigns from the day of the Date hereof for and

during and unto the full End and Term of Twenty One Years from

thence next Ensueing Yeilding and paying therefore Yearly and

Every Year during the Term hereby granted unto them the said Honble

Company their Successors Agents or Assigns the sum of five

Shillings p.r Acre at or upon the feast of Saint Michael the

Archangell Yearly Upon Condition the Honble Company shall

Approve of the same And Upon Condition that they the said

Matthew Durling and John Durling their Executors Administrators

and Assigns Do and shall bear true faith and Allegiance to our

Sovereign Lord King George the Second his Heirs and Successors

and true faith to them the said Honourable Company and their

Successors And upon Condition that they the said Matthew Durling and

John Durling their Executors Administrators or Assigns do and shall

imediately sett about and ffence the said hereby demised Premisses

The Company let cabbage tree land to Matthew Purling, a gentleman of St Helena, and to John Purling, late of the same place, together with their executors, administrators and assigns. The ground came in two pieces.

Seven acres and a half lay at or near Halley's Mount, next to the Main Ridge. Ground once held by the late John Purling, known as the Hutts Pasture, closed the northern edge. Land formerly Jonathan Doveton's ran along the west. To the south and east lay freehold that had belonged to Thomas Burnham and Thomas Fowler.

Four acres lay under the Main Ridge next to Sandy Bay. Cabbage tree land once occupied by Isaac Wood closed the north and west. Leased ground formerly held by James Draper lay to the south. The Main Ridge itself, near Diana's Peak, ran along the east.

Both pieces passed with everything attached. The Purlings held them, together with their executors, administrators and assigns, for twenty-one years from the date of the grant. Payment came to £0 5s 0d for each acre every year, due at Michaelmas, which ran to £2 17s 6d across the eleven acres and a half. The Company reserved the right to approve the arrangement.

Conditions attached. Matthew and John Purling, with their executors and successors, owed loyalty to King George the Second, to his heirs and successors, and to the Company. They had to fence the ground at once.

Interpretations

The Hutts Pasture on the northern boundary preserves a name the register records in detail. The Governor and Council granted John Coulson the forty-acre parcel called the Hutts in the East Division for £190 0s 0d, sealed at Union Castle on 28 April 1726, the ground carrying a little house and bordered by the holdings of Hutton, Knipe, John Hayes and John Defountaine. The name had since attached to pasture running alongside it.

Halley's Mount carries the name of the astronomer Edmond Halley, who came to the island in 1677 to map the southern stars. The register first records it in the confirmation of ninety acres to Jonathan Doveton on 4 August 1713, ground the Company had bought from the estates of Leonard Hunt and William Marsh and sold on to him, which is why Doveton's land closes the western side of this parcel three decades later.

Four of the neighbours named are recorded as former holders rather than current ones. Isaac Wood appears across the register as corporal, cooper, free planter, ensign and sergeant at different dates, holding four acres and a half on the Main Ridge jointly with John Desfountain from 2 February 1730 and selling John Burling ten acres of East Division freehold for £95 0s 0d on 6 July 1735. James Draper took five acres under the Main Ridge on the Sandy Bay side on 4 August 1713 and five more at the sitting of 30 September 1738, and was dead by February 1730, when his freehold stood recorded as the late James Draper's.

Matthew Purling had been managing estates for others for years. He acted with Duke Crispe as executor of the will of the late John Purling, selling that family's eighth share of the Bazett estate to John Bazett in 1738 and acknowledging £25 0s 0d on 29 March 1741. He also held three acres and a half in Fishers Valley for the Bazett children under the trust sealed 16 April 1745 and two acres and a half at the head of Pleasant Valley for the Boyd children on 9 April 1745. Here the arrangement runs the other way, since he takes ground in his own name alongside the estate of a dead man of his own family.

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with a good & Sufficient fence And when fenced do and shall keep the same

in good & sufficient repair And do and shall keep up and Preserve the

full quantity and Proportion of Wood (being One Acre in Every ten Acres)

And upon Condition that they the said Matthew Durling and

John Durling their Exors Admors and Assigns do and shall

duely obey and keep all the Laws and Constitutions of the

said Island shall not sell or dispose of this Lease or his or

their Interest therein without the Leave and consent of the Gov.r

& Councill for the time being In Witness Whereof We the said

Gov.r & Councill have hereunto sett our hands and Affixed the

Honble Companys Seal this Eighteenth day of March in the

Nineteenth Year of the reign of our Sovereign Lord George the

Second by the Grace of God of Great Brittain France and Ireland

King Defender of the Faith and so forth and in the Year of our

Lord 1746 And the said Matthew Durling and John Durling

have to the Other part sett their hands and Seals the day and

Year abovementioned.

Durling

Durling for John Durling

Sealed & Delivered

in the Presence of Us

Ja. Wright

Jos. Twynam

Island S.t Helena

The Lords Proprietors of this Island the Honourable the

United Company of Merchants of England Trading to the East

Indies Do hereby demise grant sett and to farm Lett unto Andrew

Blinman of the same Island All that Peice or Parcell of Ground

situate lying and being above the Common Carrying Place in

James's Valley in the said Island containing forty feet in Depth

and Sixty feet in Front or Wedth with all and Singular the

Appurtenances thereunto belonging To have and to hold unto

the said Andrew Blinman his Executors Administrators and Assigns

Matthew Purling and John Purling had to fence the eleven acres and a half with a good, sound wall and afterwards keep it in proper repair. They also had to maintain the full share of trees on the ground, one acre in every ten. They and those following them had to obey the island's rules, and could not sell the lease or any share in it without the Governor and Council agreeing first.

The Governor and Council signed and applied the Company's seal on 18 March 1746, in the nineteenth year of the reign of King George the Second, King of Great Britain, France and Ireland and Defender of the Faith. Purling signed and sealed the same day, setting a second signature and seal on behalf of John Purling.

Wright and Joseph Twynam witnessed.

The Company then let a piece of ground to Andrew Blinman of the island. The plot lay above the common burying place in James Valley, measuring forty feet in depth and sixty feet across the front. Blinman took it with everything attached, together with his executors, administrators and assigns.

Interpretations

The tenth in wood is set out here as one acre in every ten, the plainest statement of the ratio anywhere in this run of grants. On eleven acres and a half that came to just over an acre under trees, and the Company applied the same proportion whatever the size of a holding, making no allowance for small parcels.

Purling signed twice, once for himself and once for John Purling, with a separate seal for each. The register shows substitute signatures throughout, Richard Beale signing for Samuel Alexander on 30 April 1745 and Samuel Doveton for Jonathan Doveton at the sitting of 30 September 1738, none of them recording any written authority.

Andrew Blinman's name reaches forward thirteen years in the register. He bought a dwelling house and fifteen acres and a half of freehold in Fryer Valley from Elizabeth Gurling and her Bazett sons for £50 0s 0d, but no document was ever drawn up. He died leaving Elizabeth Blinman his widow and sole representative, and she afterwards married Robert Ballard, who through that marriage became entitled to a conveyance. The sellers finally regularised the position on 8 April 1758, thirteen years after this grant, undertaking to bring the two younger Bazett sons forward to release their claims once they came of age.

The common burying place fixes the plot's position in the valley. The register records it from 3 August 1704, when Jonathan Higham sold Robert Bell ground directly opposite it in Chapel Valley, and it served as one of the few fixed landmarks by which town parcels could be located.

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from the day of the date of these presents for and during and unto the

full End and Term of twenty one Years from thence next Ensueing

upon condition that he the said Andrew Blinman his Executors

Administrators and Assigns do and shall bear true faith and

Allegiance to our Sovereign Lord King George the Second his Heirs

and Sucessors and true faith to them the said Honourable Company

and their Successors Yeilding and paying therefore Yearly

and every Year during the Term hereby granted unto the said

Honourable Company their Successors Agents or Assigns the Sum of

ten Shillings on the feast day of S.t Michael the Arch Angel in every

Year And upon Condition that he the said Andrew Blinman his

Executors Administrators and Assigns do and shall maintain and

keep in good repair all and every Building and Buildings that is or

are or may be hereafter Erected or Built on the said Ground or any

part thereof when and as often as need may require and at the

Expiration hereof shall leave the same in the same good Condition and

repair and not suffer the said Ground or Buildings to run to ruin

or decay And upon Condition that he the said Andrew Blinman

his Executors Administrators or Assigns shall not sell or dispose of

this Lease or his or their Interest therein without the leave and

Consent of the Governour and Council for the time being In

Witness We the said Governour and Council have sett our hands

and Affixed the Honourable Companys Seal this fifteenth

day of April in the Nineteenth Year of the Reign of our

Sovereign Lord George the Second by the Grace of God of Great

Brittain France and Ireland King Defender of the Faith and

so forth and in the Year of our Lord one thousand Seven hundred

and forty Six and the said Andrew Blinman have to these

presents sett his hand and Seal the day and Year Abovewritten

Seald and Delivered in

the presence of us

Andrew Blynman

Ja. Wright

Tho French

Andrew Blinman held the James Valley plot for twenty-one years from the date of the grant, together with his executors, administrators and assigns.

Conditions attached. Blinman and those following him owed loyalty to King George the Second, to his heirs and successors, and to the Company. Payment came to ten shillings a year, due at Michaelmas. He had to keep every building standing on the ground or raised later in good repair, mending as often as needed, and at the term's end to leave everything in the same sound condition, allowing nothing to fall into ruin. He could not sell the lease or any share in it without the Governor and Council agreeing first.

The Governor and Council signed and applied the Company's seal on 15 April 1746, in the nineteenth year of the reign of King George the Second, King of Great Britain, France and Ireland and Defender of the Faith. Blinman signed and sealed the same day. Wright and Thomas French witnessed.

Interpretations

Ten shillings covered a plot of two thousand four hundred square feet, where country ground went at five shillings for a whole acre. Town land carried no planting duties at all, and its charge rested on position rather than area, which is why John Goodwin paid the same ten shillings for roughly four thousand two hundred square feet under his grant of 16 December 1745.

The requirement to hand the ground back with its buildings in the same condition governs why a twenty-one year term discouraged permanent building in the valley. A tenant who put up anything substantial surrendered it at the end, which is what pushed the Company towards measuring by lives whenever it wanted a holder to build in stone, as with Governor John Goodwin's grant of 30 September 1737.

Blinman appears here holding town ground in his own name. Thirteen years later the register records that he had bought a dwelling house and fifteen acres and a half of freehold in Fryer Valley from Elizabeth Gurling and her Bazett sons for £50 0s 0d without any document being drawn. He died leaving Elizabeth Blinman his widow and sole representative, and after her remarriage to Robert Ballard the sellers finally put the sale on paper on 8 April 1758.

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Island Saint Helena.

The Lords Proprietors of this Island the Honble the

United Company of Merchants of England Trading to the East Indies

Do hereby demise grant sett and to farm lett unto Gabriel Fraack

of the same Island All that Peice or Parcell of Ground containing Sixty

feet in Front and seventy five feet in Depth Sictuate lying and

being in James Valley on South worke Side above the House belonging

to Andrew Blinman bounded Every Way on the Honble Companys

Waste Land with all and Singular the Appurtenances thereunto

belonging To have and to hold unto the said Gabriel Fraake

his Executors Administrators and Assigns from the day of the date of

these Presents for and during and unto the full End and term of Twenty

one Years from thence next Ensueing Upon condition that

he the said Gabriel Fraack his Executors Administrators and Assigns

do and Shall bear true faith and Allegiance to our Sovereign Lord

King George the Second his Heirs and Successors and true

faith to them the said Honble Company and their Successors

Yeilding and paying therefore Yearly and every Year during

the term hereby granted unto the said Honble Company their Successors

Agents or Assigns the Sum of Fifteen Shillings on the feast day of S.t

Michael the Arch Angel in every Year And upon Condition that he the said

Gabriel Fraack his Executors Administrators and Assigns do and Shall

Maintain and Keep in Good Repair all and every building and Buildings

that is or are or may be hereafter Erected or Built on the said Ground or any

part thereof when and as often as need may require and at the Expiration

thereof shall leave the same in the same good Condition and repair and

not suffer the said Ground or Buildings to run to ruin or decay And

Upon Condition that he the said Gabriel Fraake his Executors

Administrators or Assigns shall not sell or dispose of this Lease or his or their

Interest therein Without Leave and Consent of the Governour and Council

for the time being In Witness Whereof We the said Governour and Council

have sett our hands and Affixed the Honble Companys Seal this 3.d

day August in the twentieth Year of the reign of our Sovereign Lord George

the Second by the Grace of God of Great Brittain France and Ireland

The Company let a piece of ground to Gabriel Isaack of St Helena. The plot measured sixty feet across the front and seventy-five feet in depth. It lay in James Valley, on the Southwark side, above the house belonging to Andrew Blinman, with the Company's unallocated ground on every side.

Isaack took the plot with everything attached, holding for twenty-one years from the date of the grant, together with his executors, administrators and assigns.

Conditions attached. Isaack and those following him owed loyalty to King George the Second, to his heirs and successors, and to the Company. Payment came to fifteen shillings a year, due at Michaelmas. He had to keep every building standing on the ground or raised later in good repair, mending as often as needed, and at the term's end to leave everything in the same condition, allowing nothing to fall into ruin. He could not sell the lease or any share in it without the Governor and Council agreeing first.

The Governor and Council signed and applied the Company's seal on 3 August, in the twentieth year of the reign of King George the Second, King of Great Britain, France and Ireland.

Interpretations

The plot sits directly above the ground the Company let Andrew Blinman on 15 April 1746, which lay above the common burying place on the same side of the valley. Two grants within four months settled adjoining pieces of the Southwark slope, and the register fixes each by the other rather than by any surveyed line.

Fifteen shillings covered four thousand five hundred square feet, against the ten shillings Blinman paid for two thousand four hundred and the ten shillings John Goodwin paid on 16 December 1745 for roughly four thousand two hundred. Rents on town ground bore no consistent relation to area anywhere in the register, so position on the slope governed the charge rather than the size of the plot.

Gabriel Isaack appears repeatedly in the register over the following decade. He bound himself to Captain George Mead of the Denham on 1 November 1756 for £100 0s 0d against a penal sum of £200 0s 0d, pledging his James Valley dwelling, his Lemon Valley house and land, his cattle and his two slave men Phillip and Somsour, and signing with a mark. The Governor and Council made over eight acres of Lemon Valley gumwood to him on 18 April 1757, bought at the public sale of the late Giles Smith's effects, and he discharged the bond to John Adamson on 22 August 1758 with £9 2s 0d interest.

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King Defender of the faith and so forth and in the Year of our Lord one Thousand

Seven Hundred and Forty Six and the Gabriel Fraake hath to these Presents sett

his hand and Seal the day and Year above Written

Seald and Delivered in

the Presence of Us

the Mark of

Gabriel + Fraacke

Ja. Wright

Tho French

Island S.t Helena

The Lords Proprietors

of this Island the Honble the United Company of Merchants of England

trading to the East Indies Do hereby Demise Grant Lease and to farm

Lett unto Robert Wright of the said Island Gentleman All that Peice or

Parcell of Land Containing five Acres Sictuate Lying and being in Sandy

Bay in the said Island Called or known by the Name of Ubleys Butting and

bounding East on Land belonging to the Orphans of John Alexander deceased

West on Land belonging to Matthew Durling South on the Honble Companys

Land and North on Land belonging to Richard Swindy With their and Every

Appurtenances To have and to hold the said hereby Demised

Parcell of Land and Every part and Parcell thereof together with all and

Singular the Wood Water Water Courses Houses Buildings Edifices Sheds

Tenements Yams and Plantations of Yams Fruit trees Walks Fences and

all other and Singular the Rights and Comodities to them to them and each

and every of them belonging or Appertaining unto him the said Robert

Wright his Heirs Executors Administrators or Allowed Assigns from the

day of the date hereof for and during all the space or term of the Natural Lives

of John Worrall the said Robert Wright and Mary his Wife and the Longest

Liver of them Renewable upon the death of either of them and Tenancies on

Payment of half a years Rent at the admittance of each Life or New Tenance

Upon Condition that he the said Robert Wright his Heirs

The royal style closing the grant to Gabriel Isaack named King George the Second as Defender of the Faith, and the year as 1746. Isaack sealed the same day, making his mark rather than signing. Wright and Thomas French witnessed.

The Company then let five acres to Robert Wright, a gentleman of St Helena. The parcel lay in Sandy Bay and carried the name Ashleys. Ground belonging to the orphans of the late John Alexander closed the eastern edge. Matthew Purling's land ran along the west. The Company's unallocated ground lay to the south. Richard Tinsley's land closed the north.

Wright took the five acres with everything attached: the water and its channels, the houses and other buildings, the sheds and dwellings, the yams and yam beds, the fruit trees, the walls and boundaries, and every other benefit belonging to the ground. He held it together with his heirs, executors, administrators or any successor the Company allowed.

The term ran not for a fixed span of years but for the lifetimes of John Worrall, Robert Wright himself and Mary his wife, and for as long as the last of the three survived. A fresh name could be added as each life fell in, on payment of half a year's rent.

Interpretations

Tenure by lives ran on indefinitely where a fixed term did not, since each name that fell in could be replaced for half a year's rent, which made such a lease effectively perpetual for a family able to find the payment. The register shows the Company reserving that form for holders expected to build or working substantial acreage, from the Manatee Bay grant to Samuel Price in April 1717 through the runs of 1737 and 1738.

Five acres is small for a lives-based grant. The Company did the same for Richard Goodwin's five acres and a quarter at the head of Fryer Valley on 4 December 1739 and for Thomas Greentree's three acres at the sitting of 30 September 1738, and in each case the long form followed the family rather than the acreage.

Naming John Worrall as one of the three lives places a man from outside the household at the head of the list. Wright chose his own wife as the third, so the arrangement mixes family with an outside nominee, a calculation about how long each was likely to live rather than about who would inherit. Francis Wrangham had gone further in 1738, naming three young men from other families entirely.

Ashleys joins the run of bynames by which the register fixes ground where no survey existed. Richard Tinsley on the northern boundary appears earlier as a free planter taking eleven acres of gumwood at the head of Porlock Valley under the byname Griffin's land on 30 August 1726, and his name marks boundaries in the Sandy Bay leasehold that passed from James Harding to Joshua Worrall and on to Thomas Colgrove.

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Executors Administrators or Allowed Assigns shall and do bear true faith and

Allegiance to our Sovereign Lord King George the Second his Heirs

and Successors and to them the said Honoble Company and their Successors

and Shall duely Observe and Obey all the Laws and Constitutions of the

said Island Yeilding and Paying therefore Yearly and

every Year during the term thereby Granted unto the said Honoble

Company their Successors Agents or Assigns the Yearly of Five Shillings

p.r Acre at or upon the feast of S.t Michael the Arch Angle in every Year

And Upon Condition that he the said Robert Wright his Executors

Administrators and Assigns Do and Shall bear true faith and Allegiance

to our Sovereign Lord King George the second his Heirs and Successors

and true faith to them the said Honoble Company and their Successors

Upon Condition that the said Robert Wright his Executors

Administrators or Assigns do and Shall imediatly sett about and fence

the said hereby demised Premisses with a good and Sufficient fence and

when fenced do and Shall keep the same in good and Sufficient Repair

and do and shall keep up and Preserve the full Quantity and Proportion

of Wood being one Acre in every ten Acres And Upon Condition

that he the said Robert Wright his Executors Administrators and Assigns

do and Shall duely Obey and keep all the Laws and Constitutions of the

said Island shall not or May dispose of this Lease or his or their Interest

therein Or Without the Leave and Consent of the Governour and Council

for the time being In Witness Whereof we the said Governour and

Council have hereunto sett our hands and Affixed the Honoble Companys

Seale this Nineteenth day of August in the Twentieth Year of the Reign

of Our said Soveraign Lord George the second by the Grace of God of

Great Brittain France and Ireland King defender of the faith and

so forth and in the Year of our Lord one Thousand Seven Hundred and

Forty Six and the said Robert Wright hath to these Presents sett his

hand Seale the day and Year above Written

Sealed and delivered in the

Presence of

Ja. Wright

Ja. Twynam.

Tho French

Robert Wright and those following him owed loyalty to King George the Second, to his heirs and successors, and to the Company, and had to keep the island's rules. Payment came to £0 5s 0d for each acre every year, due at Michaelmas, which ran to £1 5s 0d across the five acres.

He had to fence the ground at once with a good, sound barrier and afterwards keep it in proper repair. He also had to maintain the full share of trees, one acre in every ten. He could not sell the lease or any share in it without the Governor and Council agreeing first.

The Governor and Council signed and applied the Company's seal on 19 August 1746, in the twentieth year of the reign of King George the Second, King of Great Britain, France and Ireland and Defender of the Faith. Wright signed and sealed the same day. Joseph Twynam and Thomas French witnessed.

Interpretations

Robert Wright takes ground here in his own name after appearing across the whole preceding run as the Company's attesting witness. He signed on the Boyd trust of 9 April 1745, the Bazett trust of 16 April 1745, the three grants of 30 April 1745, the Blinman plot of 15 April 1746 and the Isaack plot of August 1746, among others. A man who had witnessed a year and a half of the island's land business now stood on the other side of the transaction, and Twynam and French, his usual companions in that role, attested for him.

The tenth in wood is again stated as one acre in every ten, the same explicit form used in the Purling grant of 18 March 1746, where the earlier instruments of the run leave the proportion unspecified.

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The Lords Proprietors of this Island the Honble the United

Company of Merchants of England trading to the East Indies

Do hereby demise grant Lett & to farm Lett unto John Scott of the said

Island All that Peice or Parcell of Ground Sictuate in James's Valley

in Southwark side Containing Fourteen feet in Bredth & twenty four

in dypth bounded North in the said John Scott Wast South & East on the

Common Path in Southwark aforesaid and upon Ladder Hill with the

Appurtenances thereunto belonging To have and to hold unto

the said John Scott his Exors Admors and Assigns from the day

of the date of these Presents for and during and unto the full

End and Term of Twenty one Years from thence next Ensueing

Upon Condition that he the said John Scott his Exors Admors

and Assigns do and shall bear true faith and allegiance to our

Sovereign Lord King George the Second his Heirs and Successors

& true faith to them the said Honourable Company & their

Successors Yeilding & Paying therefore Yearly & Every Year

during the Term thereby Granted unto the said Honble their

Successors Agents or Assigns the Sum of Eight Shillings p.r Ann

on the feast day of S.t Michael the Archangell in Every Year

And Upon Condition that he the said John Scott his Exors

Admors & Assigns do & Shall Maintain & keep in good repair

All & Every Buildings that is or are or may be hereafter needed

or built on the said ground or any part thereof when & as often as

need may require & at the Expiration hereof shall leave the same

in the same good Condition & Repair & not suffer the said Ground or

Buildings to run to ruin or decay And upon Condition that he the

said John Scott his Exors Admors or Assigns shall not sell or

dispose of this Lease or his or their Interest therein without the

leave & Consent of the Governour & Council for the time being

In Witness Whereof We the said Governour & Council have sett

our hands & Affixed the Honble Companys Seal this fourteenth

day of October in the twentieth Year of the reign of our Sovereign

Lord George the Second by the Grace of God of Great Brittain

France & Ireland King Defender of the faith & so forth & in the

Year of our Lord 1746 And the said John Scott hath hereto

sett his hand & Seal the Year & day abovewritten

Sealed & Delivered

in the Presence of

John Scott

Ja. Wright

Tho French

The Company let a piece of ground to John Scott of St Helena. The plot lay in James Valley on the Southwark side and measured fourteen feet in width and twenty-four feet in depth. Scott's own ground closed the north. To the west lay ground of the same width. The common path in Southwark and the ladder hill ran along the south and east.

Scott took the plot with everything attached, holding for twenty-one years from the date of the grant, together with his executors, administrators and assigns.

Conditions attached. Scott and those following him owed loyalty to King George the Second, to his heirs and successors, and to the Company. Payment came to eight shillings a year, due at Michaelmas. He had to keep every building standing on the ground or raised later in good repair, mending as often as needed, and at the term's end to leave everything in the same condition, allowing nothing to fall into ruin. He could not sell the lease or any share in it without the Governor and Council agreeing first.

The Governor and Council signed and applied the Company's seal on 14 October 1746, in the twentieth year of the reign of King George the Second, King of Great Britain, France and Ireland and Defender of the Faith. Scott signed and sealed the same day. Wright and Thomas French witnessed.

Interpretations

This is the same John Scott, victualler, who took Richard Mason's Southwark Street plot by assignment for twenty shillings on 15 July 1745. Fifteen months later he adds a further strip on the same side of the valley, so the two grants together show a man building a working frontage rather than acquiring scattered pieces.

A plot of three hundred and thirty-six square feet carried eight shillings a year, where Andrew Blinman paid ten shillings for two thousand four hundred square feet on 15 April 1746 and Gabriel Isaack fifteen shillings for four thousand five hundred on 3 August 1746. At roughly seven times Blinman's rate by area, the charge here can only rest on position. Ground beside the common path and the foot of the ladder hill sat where traffic passed, which suited a victualler supplying the ships in the road.

The common path is named as a boundary rather than as ground the Company could let, so the route stayed open. The register shows the same care taken with the drift ways left between the pieces of Joseph Whaley junior's holding at the sitting of 30 September 1738, and with the gates of four and eight feet the country leases required wherever a path or cartway crossed a tenant's ground.

225

224

Isl.d S.t Helena

The Lords Proprietors of this Island the Honble the United

Company of Merchants of England trading to the East Indies Do

hereby demise Lease & to farm Lett unto Richard Timsley all that

Peice or Parcell of Ground containing twenty feet in Wedth and

forty feet in Depth Sictuate Lying and being in James's Valley

in Southwark Side bounding East on the said Richard Timsley West

and North on the Honble Companys Wast Land & South on a house & Yard

late belonging to James Vaughan dec.d with the Appurts To have and

To hold the aforesaid Land & Premisses with the Appurtenances unto

the said Richard Timsley his Heirs Admors & Assignes from the day of the

Date hereof unto the full end & Term of Twenty One Years from thence

next Ensueing Yeilding & paying therefore Yearly & Every Year during

the Term thereby granted unto the said Honble Company their Successors

Agents or Assigns the sum of five Shillings on the feast day of Saint

Michael the Archangell in Every Year Upon Condition that he the said Richard

Timsley his Heirs Executors & Assigns do & shall bear true faith and

Allegiance to our Sovereign Lord George the Second his Heirs and

Successors & true faith to them the said Honble Company & their

Successors And Upon Condition that he the said Richard Timsley his

Exors Admors and Assigns do & shall at the End or sooner Determination

hereof Leave this same Ground & premisses in like good Condition

& repair & not suffer the said Ground or any Building that is or

may be thereon to run to ruin or decay And Upon Condition that he

the said Richard Timsley his Exors Admors or Assigns shall not or

sell or dispose of this Lease or his or their Interest therein without

the Leave and Consent of the Governour and Council for the time

being In Witness Whereof We the said Governour & Council have

sett our hands & the Honble Companys Seal this 1.st day of Nov.r

in the twentieth Year of the reign of our said Sovereign Lord

George the Second by the Grace of God of Great Brittain France &

Ireland King Defender of the Faith & so forth And in the Year of

our Lord 1746 And the said Rich.d Timsley to these presents hath

Sett his hand & Seal the day & Year abovementioned

Sealed and Delivered

in the presence of Us

the mark of

Rich Timsley

Jos. Twynam

Tho French

The Company let a piece of ground to Richard Tinsley. The plot lay in James Valley on the Southwark side and measured twenty feet in width and forty feet in depth. Tinsley's own ground closed the east. The Company's unallocated ground ran along the west and north. To the south lay a house and yard that had belonged to the late James Vaughan.

Tinsley took the plot with everything attached, holding for twenty-one years from the date of the grant, together with his heirs, executors, administrators and assigns.

Conditions attached. Tinsley and those following him owed loyalty to King George the Second, to his heirs and successors, and to the Company. Payment came to five shillings a year, due at Michaelmas. At the end of the term, or whenever it closed earlier, he was to leave the ground and everything on it in good condition and repair, allowing nothing to fall into ruin. He could not sell the lease or any share in it without the Governor and Council agreeing first.

The Governor and Council signed and applied the Company's seal in November 1746, in the twentieth year of the reign of King George the Second, King of Great Britain, France and Ireland and Defender of the Faith. Tinsley sealed the same day, making his mark rather than signing. Joseph Twynam and Thomas French witnessed.

Interpretations

The Company had let Tinsley ground on the Southwark side under a twenty-one year lease dated 14 November 1746, and a house standing on that land afterwards passed through several hands. John Bland sold it to John Clark for £63 0s 0d on 3 June 1756, his own title resting on a note written on the back of Tinsley's original lease. The dwelling reached James Hicks, a labourer, through his marriage to Tinsley's widow, and Bland had bought it from Hicks in January 1756. This grant sits at the head of that chain.

Five shillings covered eight hundred square feet, against the eight shillings John Scott paid for three hundred and thirty-six square feet a month earlier and the fifteen shillings Gabriel Isaack paid for four thousand five hundred in August 1746. Three town grants within four months carry three different rates by area, so position on the slope governed the charge throughout.

James Vaughan is recorded as dead on the southern boundary. He appears across the register from the renewal of seven acres near the lower part of Sandy Bay Valley, ground formerly called the Jingle, through his grant of nine acres at the head of James Valley on 2 February 1742 and his sales of freehold and leasehold to John Goodwin in 1741 and 1742. His marriage to Mary, eldest daughter of John Alexander, made him first taker under Elizabeth Drant's deed of gift of 10 May 1730.

The clerk left the day of the month blank, writing only November. The register carries several such gaps, with Grace Bates's grant of 1744 giving a year but no day or month and George Gabriel Powell's two February 1742 instruments both leaving the day unwritten. Clerks engrossed the standard wording ahead of the sealing and filled in particulars afterwards.

226

225

Island S.t Helena.

The Lords proprietors of this Island the Honble the United Company

of Merchants of England trading to the East Indies Do hereby demise Lease and

to farm Lett unto James Pritchard Gunners Mate All that peice or parcell

of Ground Containing fifty feet in Front and forty feet in depth Sictuate

in James's Valley on Southwark Side bounding North on the Honble Companys

Wast ground with the Appurtenances to have and to hold the aforesaid Land

and Premisses with their and every of their Appurtenances unto the said

James Pritchard his Heirs Admors and Assigns from the day of the date

hereof for and during and unto the full End and Term of twenty One Years

from thence next Ensueing Yeilding and Paying therefore Yearly

and Every Year during the Term hereby Granted unto the said Honble Company

their Successors Agents or Assigns the Sum of Seven Shillings on the feast day

of Saint Michael the Archangell in Every Year Upon Condition That he the

said James Pritchard his Exors Admors and Assigns Do and shall bear true

faith and Allegiance to our Sovereign Lord George the Second his Heirs and

Successors and true faith to them the said Honble Company and their Successors

And upon Condition that he the said James Pritchard his Heirs Admors and

Assigns do and shall at the End or Sooner Expiration hereof Leave the same

Ground and Premisses in like Good Condition and repair and not Suffer the

said Ground or any Building that is or may be thereon to run to ruin or

decay And Upon Condition that he the said James Pritchard his Exors Admors

or Assigns shall not sell or dispose of this Lease or his or their Interest

therein without the Leave and Consent of the Governour and Council for the

time being In Witness Whereof We the said Governour and Council have sett

to this presents our hands and Affixed the Honble Companys Seal this

Second day of December in the Twentieth Year of the reign of our

said Sovereign Lord George the Second by the Grace of God of Great Brittain

France and Ireland King Defender of the Faith and So forth and in

the Year of our Lord 1746 And the said James Pritchard hath hereunto

sett his hand and Seal the day and Year abovementioned.

Sealed and Delivered

in the presence of Us

James Pritchard

Ja. Wright

Tho French

The Company let a piece of ground to James Pritchard, a gunner's mate. The plot lay in James Valley on the Southwark side and measured fifty feet across the front and forty feet in depth. Pritchard's own ground closed the south and east. The Company's unallocated ground ran along the north and west.

Pritchard took the plot with everything attached, holding for twenty-one years from the date of the grant, together with his heirs, executors, administrators and assigns.

Conditions attached. Pritchard and those following him owed loyalty to King George the Second, to his heirs and successors, and to the Company. Payment came to seven shillings a year, due at Michaelmas. At the end of the term, or whenever it closed earlier, he was to leave the ground and everything on it in good condition and repair, allowing nothing to fall into ruin. He could not sell the lease or any share in it without the Governor and Council agreeing first.

The Governor and Council signed and applied the Company's seal on 2 December 1746, in the twentieth year of the reign of King George the Second, King of Great Britain, France and Ireland and Defender of the Faith. Pritchard signed and sealed the same day. Wright and Thomas French witnessed.

Interpretations

Four town plots went out on the Southwark side within five months, to Gabriel Isaack in August, John Scott in October, Richard Tinsley in November and Pritchard here in December. The Company was letting out that slope piece by piece, each parcel fixed against its neighbours rather than by any survey, and Pritchard's own ground already closed two sides before this grant added to it.

Seven shillings covered two thousand square feet, against five shillings for Tinsley's eight hundred and eight shillings for Scott's three hundred and thirty-six. The rates bear no relation to area at all across the four grants, so what a strip completed and where it sat governed the charge.

A gunner's mate held a warrant rank in the garrison, and the register records several such men taking town property. William Turner, gunner's mate, bought a James Valley house for £20 2s 0d on 13 December 1753, and John Clavering, in the same rank, bought two adjoining Chapel Valley dwellings in 1707 and 1709. Company pay reaching such men steadily put money in their hands where a planter depended on harvests and shipping.

Pritchard reappears in the register a decade later. A John Pritchard held the dwelling forming one boundary of the James Valley house John Goodwin sold Matthew Bazett for £800 0s 0d on 16 July 1757, by a wide margin the highest price recorded for a single town house.

227

226

Island Saint Helena

The Lords proprietors of this Island the Honble the United Company

of Merchants of England trading to the East Indies Do hereby demise grant

sett & to farm Lett unto Lydia Harper Widow and Richard Harper All that

Peice or Parcell of Land Containing Eleven Acres and a Quarter Sictuate

lying and being in Thomstone Wood in the said Island bounding North

on Richard Mason and South East and West on the Honble Companys Wast

with the Rights To have and to hold unto the said Lydia Harper and

Richard Harper their Exors Admors and Assigns from the day of the

Date hereof for and during the Term of Twenty One Years from thence

Ensueing Upon Condition that they the said Lydia Harper and Richard

Harper their Heirs Exors Admors or allowed of Assignes shall alwayes

bear true faith and Allegiance to our Sovereign Lord King George the

Second his Heirs and Successors and true faith to the said Honble Company

and their Successors and Shall duely Obey all the Laws and Constitutions

of the said Island Yeilding and paying therefore Yearly and Every

Year during the Term hereby granted unto the said Honble Company their

Successors Agents or Assigns the Yearly rent of four Shillings p.r Acre

besides One Shilling Duty (being in all four Shillings p.r Annum) in at or

Upon the feast of Saint Michael the Archangell Yearly And upon

Condition that they the said Lydia Harper and Richard Harper their

Heirs Exors Admors or Assignes Shall and do imediately sett about and

ffence in the said hereby Granted Parcell of Land with a good and Sufficient

Wall ffence and when so fenced and Inclosed do and Shall keep and

Maintain the same in good Heart & tenantable repair and not suffer

the same or any part thereof to run to ruin or decay and Shall also

plant

keep up & maintain the full Quantity and Proportion of Wood and

Young trees Pursuant to the Laws of this Island in that case made

and Provided And also plant ffurze round the said ffences at such

proper Seasons of the Year as it will best grow in or the Nature of the

Soil produce and Do not nor shall alter the said ffences they being the

Bounds or Landmarks to the said Land And do not nor Shall Sell or

dispose of this Lease or his or their Interest therein without the Leave

and Consent of the Gov.r & Council for the time being In Witness whereof

We the said Gov.r & Council have to these presents their hands and Affixed the Honble

Companys Seal this the fourth day of January in the twentieth Year of the reign

of our said Sovereign Lord George the Second by the Grace of God of Great Brittain

France and Ireland King defender of the faith and so forth and in the Year of our

Lord 1746 and the said Lydia Harper & Richard Harper have hereunto sett their hands

and Seals the day and Year abovewritten.

Rich: Harper for Lydia Harper

Rich: Harper

Sealed and delivered

in the presence of us

Ja. Wright

Ja. Powell

The Company let eleven acres and a quarter to Lydia Harper, a widow, and to Richard Harper. The parcel lay at Thomistone Wood. Richard Mason's land closed the north. The Company's unallocated ground ran along the south, east and west.

The two took the ground with everything attached, holding for twenty-one years from the date of the grant, together with their heirs, executors, administrators and assigns.

Conditions attached. Lydia and Richard Harper, with those following them, owed loyalty to King George the Second, to his heirs and successors, and to the Company, and had to obey the island's rules. Payment came to four shillings for each acre every year, with a further shilling an acre as duty, making five shillings an acre in all, due at Michaelmas.

They had to fence the whole parcel at once with a good, sound wall, and once enclosed to keep it in sound and tenantable repair, allowing no part to fall into ruin. They had to plant and maintain the full share of wood and young trees under the island's timber rules. Furze had to be set around the fences wherever the soil would best carry it, planted at the right seasons. They could not shift the fences, since those lines marked out the boundaries, and could not sell the lease or any share in it without the Governor and Council agreeing first.

The Governor and Council signed and applied the Company's seal on 11 January 1746, in the twentieth year of the reign of King George the Second, King of Great Britain, France and Ireland and Defender of the Faith. Richard Harper signed and sealed twice, once for himself and once on behalf of Lydia Harper. Wright and Powell witnessed.

Interpretations

Lydia Harper is the widow of the late Thomas Harper, for whom Martin Harper and Charles Steward held twelve acres in trust under the grant of 30 September 1738. She took a third of that ground for as long as she lived within the term, the other two thirds passing to her five children, the sons Richard, Thomas and Henry and the daughters Anne and Mary. Here she takes ground directly in her own name alongside her eldest son, which places her outside the trust arrangement of eight years earlier and dealing with the Company herself.

Thomistone Wood is the ground the register elsewhere records as Thompson's Wood. The Company let sixteen acres there and in Old Woman's Valley to Richard Mason under the lease sealed 14 September 1731, and twelve acres more to Stephen Luffkin under a term running from 25 December 1737. Mason's land closing the northern boundary here traces directly to that 1731 grant.

The rent is set out in its two parts rather than as a single figure, four shillings an acre with a shilling of duty. That older form runs through the leases of the 1720s, and the grants of the later 1730s and 1740s generally fold both into a flat five shillings. Its reappearance here shows the clerk drawing on a form the register had largely abandoned.

228

227

Island S.t Helena

The Lords proprietors of this Island the Honble the United Company of Merchants

of England trading to the East Indies Do hereby demise Lease and to farm Lett

unto Lydia Harper Widow and Richard Harper All that peice or Parcell of

Gumwood Land Containing One Acre and an half Sictuate lying and being in

or near the Lower Part of Wrangley Valley in the West Division of the said

Island butting and bounding towards the North South & West Every on the Honble

Companys Wast Land To have and to hold unto the said Richard Harper

and Lydia Harper their Exors Admors and Assignes from the day of the date

hereof for and during the Term of Twenty One Years from thence next Ensueing

Upon Condition that they the said Richard Harper and Lydia Harper their

Exors Admors or Assigns Shall alwayes bear true faith and allegiance to our

Sovereign Lord King George the Second his Heirs and Successors and true faith

to the said Honble Company and their Successors and Shall duely obey all the

Laws and Constitutions of the said Island Yeilding and paying therefore Yearly

and Every Year during the Term hereby Granted unto the said Honble Company

their Successors Agents or Assigns the Yearly rent of four Shillings p.r Acre

besides One Shilling Duty (being in all five Shillings p.r Annum) in at or upon

the feast of S.t Michael the Archangell Yearly And upon Condition that they

the said Lydia Harper and Richard Harper their Heirs Exors Admors or Assigns

Shall and do imediately sett about and fence in the said Parcell of Land with a

good and Sufficient Wall ffence & when so fenced and Enclosed do and Shall

keep & maintain the same in good Heart and Tenantable repair and not

Suffer the same or any part thereof to run to ruin or decay and shall also

plant keep up and maintain the full quantity and proportion of Wood &

Young Trees pursuant to the Law of this Island in that Case made and

Provided and also plant ffurze round the said ffences at such proper

Seasons of the Year as it will best grow in or the Nature of the Soil produce

and do not nor shall alter the said ffences they being the bounds or Land

Marks to the said Land and do not nor Shall sell or dispose of this

Lease or her his or their Interest therein without the Consent of the Lord

& Council for the time being In Witness Whereof the said Gov.r & Council

have to the Other Part sett their hands and the Honble Companys Seal the

15.th day of January in the twentieth Year of the reign of our s.d Sovereign

Lord George the Second by the Grace of God of Great Brittain France and Ireland

King defender of the Faith and so forth And in the Year of our Lord 1746

And the said Lydia Harper and Richard Harper have hereunto sett their hands

& Seals the day and Year abovewritten.

Rich Harper for Lydia Harper

Rich Harper

Sealed and delivered

in the presence of us

Ja. Wright

Ja. Powell

The Company let an acre and a half of gumwood land to Lydia Harper, a widow, and Richard Harper. The parcel lay at or near the lower part of Swanley Valley, in the West Division. The Company's unallocated ground surrounded it on the north, south and west, and on every side.

The two took the ground with everything attached, holding for twenty-one years from the date of the grant, together with their executors, administrators and assigns.

Conditions attached. Richard and Lydia Harper, with those following them, owed loyalty to King George the Second, to his heirs and successors, and to the Company, and had to obey the island's rules. Payment came to four shillings for each acre every year, with a further shilling an acre as duty, making five shillings an acre in all, due at Michaelmas.

They had to fence the parcel at once with a good, sound wall, and once enclosed to keep it in sound and tenantable repair, allowing no part to fall into ruin. They had to plant and maintain the full share of wood and young trees under the island's timber rules. Furze had to be set around the fences wherever the soil would best carry it, planted at the right seasons. They could not shift the fences, since those lines marked the boundaries, and could not sell the lease or any share in it without the Governor and Council agreeing first.

The Governor and Council signed and applied the Company's seal on 13 January 1746, in the twentieth year of the reign of King George the Second, King of Great Britain, France and Ireland and Defender of the Faith. Richard Harper signed and sealed twice, once for himself and once on behalf of Lydia Harper. Wright and Powell witnessed.

Interpretations

Two grants went to the same pair within two days, the eleven acres and a quarter at Thomistone Wood on 11 January 1746 and this acre and a half in Swanley Valley. The Company kept them as separate instruments rather than drawing both into one, so each carried its own charge and its own conditions and either could later be assigned without disturbing the other.

Swanley Valley had been settled in small parcels for fifteen years. Martin Harper took three acres there on 18 September 1731 bounded by Thomas Harper's leasehold, Caleb Davis six acres and a half on 21 September 1731 with Thomas Harper's ground to the south, and Stephen Luffin junior two acres and a half the same day with Harper's land to the west. Thomas Harper himself had held an acre and a half of gumwood near the lower part of the valley under his lease of 26 October 1725, bound by a special covenant to do no damage to the Company's goats grazing in and near the valley. Lydia Harper was his widow, so this parcel returns ground of that size in that quarter to his family.

Company ground on every side threw the whole fencing burden onto the Harpers, with no neighbour's wall to serve any part of the line. An acre and a half brought in seven shillings and sixpence a year against the cost of walling it entirely, and the register shows the same difficulty on Robert Gurling senior's acre and a half in the South Division of 10 October 1742.

229

228

Island S.t Helena

the United

The Lords Proprietors of this Island the Honble Company

of Merchants of England trading to the East Indies Do hereby demise

Lease and to farm Lett unto John Barton S.t All that Peice or Parcell

of Ground Containing Twenty one feet in front Eighty feet in Depth &

fifty in Back Sictuat in James Valley in the said Island bounding South

and East on the Honble Companys Wast Land and North adjoying to this Space

West on the Water Run with the Appurtenances to have and to hold

the aforesaid Land and Premisses with their and Every of their Appurts

unto the said John Barton his Exors Admors and Assignes from the day of the

date hereof for and during and unto the full End and term of twenty one

Years from thence next Ensuing Yeilding and Paying therefore

Yearly and Every year during the term thereby Granted unto the said

Honble Company their Successors Agents or Assignes the sum of

Twelve Shillings p.r Annum on the feast day of Saint Michael the

Archangell in every Year Upon Condition that he the said

John Barton his Executors Admors and Assigns Do and Shall bear

true faith and Allegiance to our Sovereign Lord George the Second his

Heirs and Successors and true faith to them the said Honble

Company and their Successors And Upon Condition that he the

said John Barton his Executors Admors and Assigns do and Shall at

the end or Sooner Expiration thereof Leave the same Ground and

Premisses in like good Condition and Repair and not Suffer the

said Ground or any Building that is or may be thereon to run to

ruin or decay And Upon Condition that he the said John

Barton his Executors Admors or Assigns Shall not Sell or dispose

of this Lease or his or their Interest therein without the Leave and

Consent of the Governour and Council for the time being In Witness

Whereof We the said Governour and Council have to the Other hard sett

their hands and affixed the Honble Companys Seale this Thirteenth

day of January in the twentieth Year of the reign of our said Sovereign

Lord George the second by the Grace of God of Great Brittain France and

Ireland King defender of the faith and so forth and in the Year of our Lord

1746 and the said John Barton have hereunto sett his hand and Seal the

day and Year above Written

Barton

Sealed and Delivered

in the Presence of us

Jos. Twynam

Tho. french

The Company let a piece of ground to John Barton. The plot lay in James Valley and measured twenty-one feet across the front, eighty feet in depth and fifty feet across the back. The Company's unallocated ground closed the south and east. To the north the plot adjoined his own ground. The water run lay to the west.

Barton took the plot with everything attached, holding for twenty-one years from the date of the grant, together with his heirs, executors, administrators and assigns.

Conditions attached. Barton and those following him owed loyalty to King George the Second, to his heirs and successors, and to the Company. Payment came to twelve shillings a year, due at Michaelmas. At the end of the term, or whenever it closed earlier, he was to leave the ground and everything on it in the same good condition and repair, allowing nothing to fall into ruin. He could not sell the lease or any share in it without the Governor and Council agreeing first.

The Governor and Council signed and applied the Company's seal on 13 January 1746, in the twentieth year of the reign of King George the Second, King of Great Britain, France and Ireland and Defender of the Faith. Barton signed and sealed the same day. Joseph Twynam and Thomas French witnessed.

Interpretations

The plot widens sharply from front to back, running twenty-one feet at the street and fifty feet at the rear across a depth of eighty. Town parcels in James Valley rarely came as regular rectangles, and the register handles the difficulty by naming the neighbour along each side, as with Charles Steward's plot of 19 July 1737 and John Goodwin's of 16 December 1745, both described by more than two measurements.

The water run closing the western side marks the channel carrying water down the valley to the shipping in the road. Grants of this period repeatedly protected it, the Company barring building within twenty-five feet of the crane channel in Governor John Goodwin's grant of 30 September 1737 and within ten feet of the main channel in the Reverend Edwin Alcock's grant of 20 September 1743.

Twelve shillings covered a plot of roughly two thousand eight hundred square feet, which sits above the seven shillings James Pritchard paid for two thousand square feet six weeks earlier and below the fifteen shillings Gabriel Isaack paid for four thousand five hundred in August 1746. A frontage on the water run and near the town's centre carried its own value regardless of area.

The sealing on 13 January 1746 places this alongside the acre and a half in Swanley Valley let to Lydia and Richard Harper the same day, and two days after their eleven acres and a quarter at Thomistone Wood. The Company cleared town and country business together at a single sitting.

230

229

Island S.t Helena

The Lords Proprietors of this Island the Honble the United

Company of Merchants of England trading to the East Indies Do hereby demise

Lease and to farm Lett unto Thomas Willingham All that Peice or Parcell

of Ground Containing fifty feet in Front and Sixty feet in Depth Sictuate

Lying and being at the Upper End of James's Valley above the House in the

Possession of Elizabeth Newland bounding Every way on the Honble Companys

Wast Land with the Appurtenances To have and to hold the aforesaid Land

and Premisses with the Appurtenances unto the said Thomas Willingham

his Exors Admors and Assigns from the day of the date thereof for and during and

unto the full End and term of Twenty One Years from thence next Ensuing

Yeilding and Paying therefore Yearly and Every Year during the term

thereby Granted unto the said Honble Company their Successors Agents

or Assigns the Sum of ten Shillings on the feast day of Saint Michael

the Archangell in every Year Upon Condition that he the said Thomas

Willingham his Exors Admors or Assigns do and Shall bear true faith and

Allegiance to our Sovereign Lord George the Second his Heirs and Successors

and true faith to them the said Honble Company and their Successors And

Upon Condition that he the said Thomas Willingham his Exors Admors or Assigns

do and Shall at the End or Sooner Expiration thereof leave the aforesaid Ground

and Premisses in the like Good Condition and Repair and not Suffer the said Ground

or any Building that is or may be thereon to run to ruin or decay And upon

Condition that he the said Thomas Willingham his Exors Admors or Assigns

Shall not sell or dispose of this Lease or his or their Interest therein without

the Leave and Consent of the Governour and Council for the time being In

Witness Whereof We the said Governour and Council have to the other part

sett their hands and Affixed the Honble Companys Seal this thirteenth day of

January in the twentieth Year of the Reign of our said Sovereign Lord George

the Second by the Grace of God of Great Brittain France and Ireland

King Defender of the faith and so forth and in the Year of our Lord 1746

and the said Thomas Willingham have hereunto sett his hand and Seal

the day and Year above Written.

Sealed and Delivered

in the Presence of Us

Tho.s Willingham

Ja. Wright

Jos. Twynam

The Company let a piece of ground to Thomas Willingham. The plot lay at the upper end of James Valley, above the house then occupied by Elizabeth Newland, and measured fifty feet across the front and sixty feet in depth. The Company's unallocated ground surrounded it on every side.

Willingham took the plot with everything attached, holding for twenty-one years from the date of the grant, together with his heirs, executors, administrators and assigns.

Conditions attached. Willingham and those following him owed loyalty to King George the Second, to his heirs and successors, and to the Company. Payment came to ten shillings a year, due at Michaelmas. At the end of the term, or whenever it closed earlier, he was to leave the ground and everything on it in the same good condition and repair, allowing nothing to fall into ruin. He could not sell the lease or any share in it without the Governor and Council agreeing first.

The Governor and Council signed and applied the Company's seal on 13 January 1746, in the twentieth year of the reign of King George the Second, King of Great Britain, France and Ireland and Defender of the Faith. Willingham signed and sealed the same day. Wright and Joseph Twynam witnessed.

Interpretations

Elizabeth Newland is named as the occupier of the house below rather than as a party to anything, so a woman's household fixed the position of a Company grant without her appearing in it. The register repeatedly locates town ground this way, and the same use of a neighbouring occupier serves in the grants to Gabriel Isaack, John Scott and Richard Tinsley across the preceding months.

Ten shillings covered three thousand square feet, sitting between the seven shillings James Pritchard paid for two thousand and the twelve shillings John Barton paid the same day for roughly two thousand eight hundred. Three plots let within six weeks carry three rates that bear no consistent relation to area, so what mattered was where each sat.

The upper end of the valley marks this as ground beyond the built centre, and the Company's unallocated land on every side confirms it. Willingham was taking a plot with no neighbour on any boundary, unlike the strips let behind existing yards further down the valley, which were fixed by the households on either side.

Two town grants and a country lease all went out on 13 January 1746, this plot, John Barton's twenty-one feet by eighty on the water run, and the acre and a half in Swanley Valley to Lydia and Richard Harper. Wright, Twynam and Thomas French attested between them, the same three men carrying the Company's business through this whole stretch of the register.

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Island S.t Helena

The Lords Proprietors of this Island the Honble

the United Company of Merchants of England trading to the East Indies

Do hereby demise Lease and to farm Lett unto Joseph Whaley Jun.r

of the said Island Planter All that Piece or Parcell of Gumwood Land

Containing two Acres Sictuate lying and being in and Near the Lower

end or part of Youngs Valley in the East Division of the said Island

and at the Bottom of Woodyridge Butting and Bounding towards

the East West North and South every way upon the said Honble

Companys Wast Land Sictuate in and Near the said Lower End or part

of Youngs Valley before named Ly East Ward to the Lands of Arthur

Bradley of the said Island Planter To have and to hold unto

the said Joseph Whaley Jun.r his Exors Admors and Assigns from the day

of the date hereof for and during the term of twenty one Years from

thence next Ensueing Upon Condition that he the said Joseph

Whaley Jun.r his Exors Admors or Assigns Shall always bear True

faith and Allegiance to our Sovereign Lord King George the second his

Heirs and Successors and true faith to the said Honble Company

and their Successors and Shall duely obey all the Laws and Constitutions

of the said Island Yeilding and paying therefore Yearly and every

during the term hereby Granted unto the said Honble Company their

Successors Agents or Assigns the Yearly Rent of four Shillings p.r

acre besides one Shilling Duty (being in all five Shillings p.r Annum)

in at or upon the feast of S.t Michael the Arch angell Yearly And

Upon Hereditware that he the said Joseph Whaley Jun.r his Heirs

Executors Admors or Assigns shall and do immediately set about

and Fence in the said Parcell of Land with a good and Sufficient wall

Fence and When so fenced Inclosed do and Shall also Plant keep

up and Maintain the full Quantity and Proportion of Wood and

Young Trees pursuant to the Law of this Island in that Case made

and Provided and also plant Furze round the said Fences at such

Proper Seasons of the Year as it will best Grow in or the Nature

of the Soil produce and do not nor shall alter the said fences they

being the bounds or Land Marks to the said Land and do not nor Shall

The Company let two acres of gumwood land to Joseph Whaley junior, a planter of St Helena. The parcel lay in and near the lower end of Youngs Valley, in the East Division, at the bottom of Woody Ridge. The Company's unallocated ground surrounded it on the east, west, north and south. That waste land ran alongside the lower part of Youngs Valley, reaching eastwards to ground belonging to Arthur Bradley, a planter of the island.

Whaley took the two acres, holding for twenty-one years from the date of the grant, together with his executors, administrators and assigns.

Conditions attached. Whaley and those following him owed loyalty to King George the Second, to his heirs and successors, and to the Company, and had to obey the island's rules. Payment came to four shillings for each acre every year, with a further shilling an acre as duty, making five shillings an acre in all, due at Michaelmas.

He had to fence the parcel at once with a good, sound wall, and once enclosed to plant, keep up and maintain the full share of wood and young trees under the island's timber rules. Furze had to be set around the fences wherever the soil would best carry it, planted at the right seasons. He could not shift the fences, since those lines marked out the boundaries.

Interpretations

The Company had let this same ground before. Joseph Lufkin took two acres of gumwood near the lower part of Youngs Valley at the bottom of Woody Ridge on 25 November 1725, the parcel ringed by Company waste and lying eastward of Arthur Bradley's lands, and signed by mark. The description here matches in every particular, so the parcel had reverted and was being let afresh twenty years later.

Arthur Bradley on the eastern side had held the eighteen acres at Seyloss Ground under his lease of 1719, and the register records him as deceased by 25 November 1725, when the boundary of Stephen Craig Pledger's cabbage tree parcel names the land of Arthur Bradley, since deceased. His name still fixed the ground two decades on.

This is Whaley's second Company parcel within ten months, following four acres in Prosperous Bay Valley sealed 18 March 1745, that ground likewise surrounded on all four sides by Company waste and requiring a wall rather than ordinary fencing. Both grants threw the whole fencing burden onto him, with no neighbour's wall to serve any part of either line.

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sell or dispose of this Lease or his or their Interest therein without the Leave

and Consent of the Governour and Council for the time being In Witness

Whereof we the said Governour and Council have to the other part sett their

hands and Affixed the Honble Companys Seale this Seventeenth day of

February in the twentieth Year of the reign of our said Sovereign Lord

George the second by the Grace of God of Great Brittain France and

Ireland King Defender of the faith and so forth and in the Year of our

Lord 1746 and the said Joseph Whaley Jun.r hath to these Present sett his hand

and Seale the day and Year above Written.

the Mark of

Joseph Whaley Ju.r

Sealed and Delivered

in the presence of Us

Ja. Wright.

Tho French

Island S.t Helena.

The Lords Proprietors of this Island the Honble

the United Company of Merchants of England trading to the East

Indies Do hereby demise Lease and to Farm Lett unto Giles

Smith of the said Island Planter All that Peice or Parcell of Land

Containing three Acres lying in Lemon Valley butting North East

and West upon the Honble Companys Wast Land and South on

Eight Acres of Lease Land hereafter Mentioned and also All that

Peice or Parcell of Gumwood Land Containing Eight Acres Situate

Lying and being in Lemon Valley aforesaid butting and bounding

South on the aforesaid three Acres of Land and South East and West on

the Honble Companys Wast Land With the Appurtenances To

have and to hold unto the said Giles Smith his Executors

Administrators and Assigns from the day of the date hereof for and during the term

of twenty one Years from thence next Ensuing Upon Condition

A final restriction closed the grant to Joseph Whaley junior. Neither he nor those succeeding him could sell the lease or any share in it without the Governor and Council agreeing first.

The Governor and Council signed and applied the Company's seal on 17 February 1746, in the twentieth year of the reign of King George the Second, King of Great Britain, France and Ireland and Defender of the Faith. Whaley sealed the same day, making his mark rather than signing. Wright and Thomas French witnessed.

The Company then let land to Giles Smith, a planter of St Helena, in two pieces. Three acres lay in Lemon Valley, with the Company's unallocated ground closing the north, east and west and eight acres of leased land to the south. Those eight acres of gumwood lay in the same valley, bounded on the south by the three acres just described and on the south east and west by the Company's unallocated ground. Smith took both pieces with everything attached, holding for twenty-one years from the date of the grant, together with his executors, administrators and assigns.

Interpretations

Whaley signed by mark here as he had on his Prosperous Bay Valley grant of 18 March 1745, on his five acres and three quarters at the sitting of 30 September 1738 and throughout the staged sale of ten acres of freehold to his brother Simon closing on 15 September 1733. He remained unlettered across at least thirteen years of dealings, though the family carried the courtesy title of esquire by 1727.

The eleven acres let to Giles Smith here are the same eleven the register records under a Company lease of twenty-one years. He assigned three of those acres to John Goodwin in his lifetime, and after his death the remaining eight went to Gabriel Isaacke at the public sale of his goods and effects, the Governor and Council recording and confirming that assignment on 18 April 1757. This grant is where that divided holding began.

Giles Smith appears across the register as a master craftsman of settled standing, a carpenter and joiner confirmed in ten acres of freehold and twenty of leasehold near the head of Pleasant Valley on 4 August 1713, master to the orphan Robert Leech junior from 20 March 1716, and a life-nominee in the Arthur Bradley lease of 1719. His three acres in Simons Valley of 2 February 1730 carried an unusual clause forbidding him to shelter any person or their goods on pain of losing the holding.

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that he the said Giles Smith his Executors Admors or Assigns Shall always

bear true faith and Allegiance to our Sovereign Lord King George the

the second his Heirs and Successors and true faith to the said Honble

Company and their Successors and Shall duely Obey all the Laws and

Constitutions of the said Island Yeilding and Paying therefore

Yearly and every Year during the term hereby Granted unto the said

Honble Company their Successors Agents or Assigns the Yearly

Rent of Four Shillings p.r Acre besides one Shilling Duty (being

in all five Shillings p.r Annum) in at or upon the feast of S.t Michael

the Archangell Yearly And Upon Condition that he the said

Giles Smith his Executors Admors or Assigns shall and do immediately

set about and fence in the said Parcell of Land with a Good and

Sufficient wall fence and When so fenced and Inclosed do and Shall

keep and Maintain the same in good Heart and tenantable repair and

and do not Suffer the same or any Parts thereof to run to ruin or decay

and Shall also plant keep up and Maintain the full Quantity and

Proportion of Wood and Young Trees Pursuant to the Law of this

Island in that Case made and provided and also plant Furze round

the said fences at such proper seasons of the Year as it will best

grow in or the Nature of the Soil produce and do not nor shall

alter the said fences they being the bounds or Land Marks to the said

Land and do not nor shall sell or dispose of this Lease or his or their

Interest therein without the Leave and Consent of the Governour and

Council for the time being In Witness Whereof we the said Governour and

Council have hereunto sett our hands and Affixed the Honble Companys

Seale this Tenth day of March in the twentieth Year of the reign of

our said Sovereign Lord George the second by the Grace of God of Great

Brittain France and Ireland King Defender of the faith and

so forth and in the Year of our Lord 1746 and the said Giles Smith hath

to these Presents sett his hand and Seale the day and Year above Written

Sealed and Delivered

in the presence of us

Giles Smith

John Alexander

Tho French

Giles Smith and those following him owed loyalty to King George the Second, to his heirs and successors, and to the Company, and had to obey the island's rules. Payment came to four shillings for each acre every year, with a further shilling an acre as duty, making five shillings an acre in all, due at Michaelmas, which ran to £2 15s 0d across the eleven acres.

He had to fence the ground at once with a good, sound wall, and once enclosed to keep it in sound and tenantable repair, allowing no part to fall into ruin. He had to plant and maintain the full share of wood and young trees under the island's timber rules. Furze had to be set around the fences wherever the soil would best carry it, planted at the right seasons. He could not shift the fences, since those lines marked out the boundaries, and could not sell the lease or any share in it without the Governor and Council agreeing first.

The Governor and Council signed and applied the Company's seal on 10 March 1746, in the twentieth year of the reign of King George the Second, King of Great Britain, France and Ireland and Defender of the Faith. Smith signed and sealed the same day. John Alexander and Thomas French witnessed.

Interpretations

The two-part rent of four shillings an acre with a shilling of duty runs through this whole run of grants from January 1746 onwards, appearing on the Harper leases of 11 and 13 January, the Whaley parcel of 17 February and here. The register had largely folded both figures into a flat five shillings across the later 1730s and early 1740s, so the older form returns consistently from the turn of 1746.

Eleven acres in one grant at eleven shillings less than three pounds a year set Smith's Lemon Valley holding as a single tenure with one charge and one set of conditions. That mattered a decade later, when the eleven acres came apart. Smith assigned three of them to John Goodwin during his lifetime, and after his death the remaining eight were bought by Gabriel Isaacke at the public sale of his goods and effects, the Governor and Council confirming that assignment on 18 April 1757, so one lease ended in the hands of two unconnected men on identical terms.

John Alexander witnessed here, the name running through the register across three generations. The Alexander family estate had been settled on the widow Mary and six children under three trusts sealed on 30 September 1738, and the ground held for the orphans still fixed boundaries in Sandy Bay in 1745 and 1746.

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Know all Men by these presents That I the

withinnamed Francis Gunge for and in Consideration of the Sum of five pounds

to me in hand paid by Joseph Powell of S.t Helena Have and by these

presents do Assign Transfer and Sett over unto the said Joseph Powell his

Executors Administrators and Assigns all my right Title and Interest of in and to

the withinmentioned premisses and every part thereof with the Appurtenances

to have and to hold unto the said Joseph Powell his Heirs Executors

Administrators and Assigns upon the Conditions withinmentioned Pursuant to

liberty Given me for So doing by the Governour & Council the 26 day of May last

In Witness whereof I the said Francis Gunge have hereunto Sett my hand

and Seal this first day of June one Thousand Seven hundred and

forty Seven.

Fran.s Gunge

Seald and Delivered

in the presence of us.

Ja. Wright

Tho.s French.

Island S.t Helena

Know all Men by these presents that I John Worrall of S.t Helena for

and in Consideration of the Sum of Eighteen Pounds to me in hand paid by

James Greentree of the said Island Have and Do by these

presents Assign Transfer and Sett over unto the said James Greentree

his Executors Administrators and Assigns all my right Title and

Interest of in and to All those Nine Acres part of the withinmentioned

Eighteen Acres and every part thereof with the Appurtenances to

have and to hold unto the said James Greentree

his Heirs Executors Administrators and Assigns upon the

Conditions withinmentioned Pursuant to liberty Given me

for so doing by the Governour day of

In Witness whereof I the said John Worrall have hereunto

Francis Junge made over the whole of his right and interest in the land covered by his lease to Joseph Powell of St Helena, for £5 0s 0d paid before the deed was delivered. Powell, with his heirs, executors, administrators and assigns, was to hold on the same conditions. The Governor and Council had granted permission on 26 May, shortly before.

Junge signed and sealed in June 1747. Wright and Thomas French witnessed.

The register then records a second transfer. John Worrall of St Helena made over the whole of his right and interest in five acres, part of an eighteen-acre parcel, to James Greentree of the same island, for £18 0s 0d paid before the deed was delivered. Greentree, with his heirs, executors, administrators and assigns, was to hold on the same conditions, under permission the Governor had granted.

Interpretations

Junge's £5 0s 0d marks a token payment rather than a commercial price. Transfers of Company leasehold across the register commonly pass at nominal sums, since what changed hands was only the unexpired term burdened with rent, fencing and planting duties. Richard Mason took twenty shillings for his Southwark Street plot on 15 July 1745, and Edward Bagley the same figure from David Wilson on 22 October 1745.

Francis Junge appears across the register from 1714 as a witness, later taking half an acre in February 1730 that carried the springs and watercourses on it, bound to leave open as much water as the Governor and Council directed for cattle grazing on the common. A Francis Junge senior took fifteen acres in the West Division on 31 August 1742, ringed by Company ground on all four sides, and Junge's land closed two boundaries of the thirteen acres and three quarters let to Richard Mason in Swanleys Valley in 1738.

The Worrall transfer stands on different footing. Eighteen pounds for five acres out of an eighteen-acre holding points to real value on the ground, since a bare term without buildings or standing crops rarely fetched such a sum. Selling a fraction rather than the whole also shows a holder dividing a parcel between himself and a neighbour, the pattern the register records with the Doveton assignments to Thomas Greentree in 1759 and 1760.

The clerk left the date of the Governor's permission blank on the Worrall deed. Such gaps run through the register, and the instruments were engrossed in advance with particulars filled in afterwards.

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sett my hand and Seal this Sixth day of October one thousand

Seven hundred and forty Seven

(Signd) John Worrall

Seald and Delivered

in the presence of us.

(Signd) Ja. Wright

Tho.s French

Know All Men by these presents That I Robert Wright for & in

Consideration of the Sum of five Shillings to me in hand paid by Richard

Beale have and by these Presents Do Assign Transfer & Sett over unto

the said Richard Beale his Heirs Admors & Assigns All my right Title and

Interest of in & to One Acre and an half Part of the withinmentioned Land

bounding North on Vesseys South on Land belonging to John Alexanders

Orphans East on Samuel Doveton & West on Matthew Durling with the

Appurtenances To have and To hold unto the said Richard Beale

his Heirs Exors Admors & Assigns upon the Conditions within mentioned

Pursuant to Liberty for so doing Obtained from the Gov.r & Council on the

Second day of June Instant In Witness Whereof I the said Robert

Wright have hereunto Sett my hand & Seal this Second day of June

One thousand Seven hundred & fforty Seven.

R: Wright

Sealed and delivered

in the presence of us

Tho.s French.

John Spencer.

John Worrall signed and sealed the transfer of five acres to James Greentree on 6 October 1747. Wright and Thomas French witnessed.

The register then records a further transfer. Robert Wright made over the whole of his right and interest in an acre and a half, part of the land covered by his lease, to Richard Beale, for five shillings paid before the deed was delivered. Vesey's ground closed the northern edge of the parcel. Land belonging to John Alexander's orphans lay to the south. Samuel Doveton's land ran along the east and Matthew Purling's along the west. Beale, with his heirs, executors, administrators and assigns, was to hold on the same conditions. The Governor and Council had granted permission on 2 June.

Wright signed and sealed on 2 June 1747. Thomas French and John Spencer witnessed.

Interpretations

Wright took five acres in Sandy Bay called Ashleys under a lives-based grant sealed 19 August 1746, the tenure running on the lives of John Worrall, Wright himself and Mary his wife. The boundaries here match that parcel in part, with the Alexander orphans and Matthew Purling named in both, so he was carving an acre and a half out of ground he had held for less than ten months.

Permission and sealing fell on the same day, which stands at the shortest interval anywhere in the register. Francis Junge waited a week in June 1747, Edward Bagley seven days in October 1745, and Jonathan Doveton a full year in 1760. The Council's leave and the deed's execution arriving together suggests the transfer was settled in advance of the sitting that approved it.

Five shillings marks the payment as nominal. What passed was a fraction of an unexpired term burdened with rent, fencing and planting duties, and the register consistently records such transfers at token sums, from the twenty shillings Richard Mason took in July 1745 to the five shillings on each of the seven Steward assignments of June 1758.

Richard Beale acted as trustee for the Alexander children under the grant of 30 April 1745, holding six acres in Sandy Bay with Samuel Alexander. Their ground now closes the southern boundary of a parcel he takes in his own name, so he stood both as fiduciary for one holding and as owner of the next.

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Island S.t Helena

The Lords Proprietors of this Island the Honble the

United Company of Merchants of England trading to the East Indies Do

hereby demise Lease and to Farm Lett unto John Alexander of the said

Island Planter All that Peice or Parcell of Gumwood Land Containing by

Mensuration four Acres Sictuate lying and lying in a Valley known by the

Name of and Commonly called Great Bottom and in or near the head of the

Westermost Branch of Lemmon Valley in the West Devission of the said

Island Butting and Bounding towards the North and East upon the

Free Lands now in the Possession and Occupation of the said John Alexander

and towards the West and South upon the said Honble Companys Wast Land

Situate in and Near the said Great Bottom To have and to hold

unto the said John Alexander his Exors Admors and Assigns from the

date hereof for and during the term of Twenty One Years from thence next

Ensuing Upon Condition that he y said John Alexander his Exors

Admors or Assigns Shall allwayes bear true Faith and Allegiance to our

Soveraign Lord King George the Second his Heirs and Successors and true

faith to the Said Honble Company and their Successors and Shall duely

Obey all the Laws and Constitutions of the said Island Yeilding and

paying therefore Yearly and every Year during the Term hereby Granted

unto the said Honble Company their Successors Agents or Assigns the Yearly

Rent of Five Shillings p.r Acre in at or upon the feast of S.t Michael the

Archangell Yearly And Upon Condition that he the said John

Alexander his Heirs Exors Admors or Assigns shall and do imediately set

about and Fence in the said Parcell of Land with a good and Sufficient

wall Fence and when so Fenced and inClosed do and shall keep and Maintain

same in good heart and Tenantable repair & do not suffer the same or any part thereof to run to ruin or decay and shall also plant

keep up and Maintain the full Quantity and Proportion of Wood and Young trees pursuant to the Law

of this Island in that Case made and Provided and also Plant Furze round

the said Fences at such proper seasons of the year as it will best Grow in or

the Nature of the soil produce and do not or shall alter the said Fences they

being the Bounds or Land Marks to the said Land and do not nor shall

sell or dispose of this Lease or his or their Interest therein without the Leave and

The Company let four acres of gumwood land to John Alexander, a planter of St Helena, the extent taken by a recent measurement. The parcel lay in a valley known as Great Bottom, at or near the head of the westernmost branch of Lemon Valley, in the West Division. Alexander's own freehold, then in his occupation, closed the north and east. The Company's unallocated ground lay to the west and south, running in and near Great Bottom.

Alexander took the four acres, holding for twenty-one years from the date of the grant, together with his executors, administrators and assigns.

Conditions attached. Alexander and those following him owed loyalty to King George the Second, to his heirs and successors, and to the Company, and had to obey the island's rules. Payment came to £0 5s 0d for each acre every year, due at Michaelmas, which ran to £1 0s 0d across the parcel.

He had to fence the ground at once with a good, sound wall, and once enclosed to keep it in sound and tenantable repair, allowing no part to fall into ruin. He had to plant and maintain the full share of wood and young trees under the island's timber rules. Furze had to be set around the fences wherever the soil would best carry it, planted at the right seasons. He could not shift the fences, since those lines marked out the boundaries, and could not sell the lease or any share in it without the Governor and Council agreeing first.

Interpretations

Great Bottom appears in the register from 27 April 1698, when John Greentree sold twenty acres in Lemon Valley to Elizabeth Johnson, widow, adjoining her existing Great Bottom estate. Joshua Johnson took four acres of gumwood near its head on 25 November 1725 against his own free land, and fifteen acres more at the head of the same bottom on 30 August 1726 with a double duty owed on any part left unfenced. The Company sold thirty acres there to Joshua Johnson for £410 0s 0d on 24 July 1740 through the attorneys of the absent Thomas Mostyn.

The recent measurement noted in the grant marks a shift the register shows spreading through these years, ground being taken by survey rather than fixed by its boundaries alone. That mattered where the charge stood at so much an acre, and the same phrasing runs through the Company's grants from the mid 1720s onward.

A correction runs into the body of the instrument, the clerk inserting the requirement to keep the ground in tenantable repair and to allow no part of it to fall into ruin. Such insertions carried the same force as the body of a deed, and the register shows the same on the Thomas Greentree lease of 30 September 1738, where a marginal note supplied the furze clause the clerk had omitted.

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Consent of the Governour and Council for the time being In Witness

whereof I the said Governour have hereunto set my hand and Affixed the

Honble Companys Seal this Eighteenth Day of April in the Twentieth

Year of the Reign of our Sovereign Lord George the second by the Grace

of God of Great Brittain France and Ireland King Defender of the

Faith and so forth and in the Year of our Lord one thousand Sevenhundred

and forty Seven and the said John Alexander hath to these presents sett

his hand and Seal the Day and Year above Written

Sealed and Delivered

in the Presence of

Jn Alexander

Tho.s French

Whereas I John Alexander of S.t Helena am Indebted to

William Worral of Bombay In the East Indies Lieutenant in the Sum of

£67 14 4 with Interest for the Same after the Rate of 6 p.r Cent p.r Annum

from the 1.st August 1745 to the Day of the date hereof for the Payment

Whereof Certain Lands belonging to me lying in Great Bottom in the said

Island S.t Helena are Engaged And Whereas this is the Day

Wherein the said Mortgage becomes due and Payable and I having the

Money ready to Pay off both the Principal and Interest on the Same but

their is no one on the said Island Lawfully Authorized by the said William

Worral to receive the same and Give Propper Discharges therefore Now

Know All Men That I the said John Alexander Do hereby

Protest against Paying any future Interest which shall or may become

Due on the said Mortgage and against any Claim or Demand which

the said William Worral may make for the same and against all Damages

Costs and Charges which may Accrue to the said Lands or any part thereof

one Account of the Nonpayment of the said Mortgage or Interest thereon

Witness my hand this 20.th day of April 1747

(Signed) Jn Alexander

The Governor signed and applied the Company's seal to the Great Bottom grant on 18 April 1747, in the twentieth year of the reign of King George the Second, King of Great Britain, France and Ireland and Defender of the Faith. John Alexander signed and sealed the same day. Thomas French witnessed.

A protest by Alexander follows on the same leaf. He owed £67 14s 4d to William Worrall, a lieutenant then at Bombay in the East Indies, with interest at six per cent a year running from 1 August 1745. Land of his at Great Bottom stood as security for the debt. The money fell due on the day he made the protest, and he had the whole sum ready, both principal and interest. Nobody on the island held Worrall's authority to take the payment or give him a proper discharge for it.

Alexander therefore recorded his objection to paying any further interest that might accrue, to any claim Worrall might afterwards raise, and to any loss, cost or charge that might fall on the land or any part of it because the debt and its interest went unpaid. He signed on 20 April 1747.

Interpretations

The protest is a formal step taken to stop interest running where a debtor cannot pay through no fault of his own. Alexander had the money on the day it fell due but no one authorised to receive it, so he put the fact on the public register to protect himself against a creditor who might later claim arrears from a distance of five thousand miles.

The mortgage was secured on the Great Bottom land, and the Company had sealed his four-acre lease in that same valley two days earlier. Taking fresh ground while a mortgage on adjoining land stood at the point of falling due suggests he was reorganising his holdings there rather than retreating from them.

William Worrall held a lieutenant's commission at Bombay, one of the Company's three presidencies in India. Lending money to an island planter and then sailing east left him unable to collect, and the register shows the same difficulty resolved differently by Captain George Mead of the Denham, whose bond of 1 November 1756 expressly named an attorney to receive payment ashore. Worrall left no such arrangement, which is precisely what forced Alexander to act.

Six per cent matches the rate Henry Francis paid Captain Joseph Tolson under the mortgage bond of 6 June 1722 and the rate Governor John Goodwin promised George Gabriel Powell on 30 June 1740. The legal maximum in England had fallen to five per cent in 1714, and the island's lenders were still charging the older figure three decades later.

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Island S.t Helena

Know All Men by these presents That I Robert Wright of Saint

Helena for and in Consideration of the Sum of twenty pounds of Lawfull money

of the said Island to me in hand paid the receipt whereof is hereby acknowledged

Have and by these Presents Do Assign Transfer and sett over unto the

Governour and Council of the said Island for the time being Trustees for

the Orphan of John Bradley deceased All my right Title and Interest of

in & to All that Peice or Parcell of Planting Land Containing one acre

and an half being part of Seven Acres and an half Granted by One

Lease dated the Ninth day of November in the Year of our Lord One

Thousand Seven hundred and Forty two with the Appurtenances And

Also all my right Title and Interest of in & to All that Peice or Parcell

of Land Containing five acres and Three Quarters part of Twenty

Acres Granted by One Lease dated the Thirtieth day of September

One Thousand Seven hundred and Thirty Eight with the Appurtenances

both which Parcells are Sictuate in Sandy Bay in the aforesaid Island

To have and hold the aforesaid One acre and an half and five acres

and three quarters with their Appurtenances unto the said Governour

and Council and their Successors or Assigns for the Terms and upon

the Conditions in the aforesaid Leases mentioned Pursuant to Liberty for

so doing obtained from the Governour and Council the Second day of June

last Provided Always Nevertheless and it is the true intent and

meaning of these Presents and of the Parties hereto That if the said

Robert Wright his Executors Administrators or Assigns do & shall

well and truly pay or Cause to be paid unto the said Governour and

Council their Successors or Assigns the Sum of twenty pounds of

Lawfull Money aforesaid with Interest for the same after the rate

of Five Pounds p.r Centum p.r Annum on the twenty third day of June

next Ensueing the date hereof without any deduction or abatement

then these presents to be Void and of None Effect Otherwise to be and

remain in full force & Virtue In Witness Whereof I the said Robert

Wright have hereunto sett my hand and seal this Twenty Third

day of June In the Twenty foürst Year of the Reign of our Sovereign

Lord George the Second by the Grace of God of Great Brittain

France and Ireland King Defender of the Faith and so forth and in

the Year of our Lord 1747

R: Wright

Sealed and delivered

in the presence of us

Tho.s French

Ja.o Leech Jun.r

Robert Wright of St Helena received £20 0s 0d in island money from the Governor and Council, acting as trustees for the orphan of the late John Bradley, and acknowledged the payment. In return he made over his whole right and interest in two parcels of land at Sandy Bay.

The first held an acre and a half of planting ground, part of seven acres and a half granted to him under a lease of 9 November 1742. The second held five acres and three quarters, part of twenty acres granted to him under a lease of 30 October 1738. Both passed with everything attached.

The Governor and Council, with their successors and assigns, were to hold both parcels for the remainder of the terms and on the same conditions, under leave granted on 2 June.

The arrangement carried a condition. If Wright or those succeeding him paid the Governor and Council £20 0s 0d in island money, together with interest at £2 0s 0d for each hundred pounds a year, on 23 June next after the date of the deed, without any deduction, the transfer would count for nothing. Otherwise it stood in full force.

Wright signed and sealed on 23 June 1747, in the twenty-first year of the reign of King George the Second, King of Great Britain, France and Ireland and Defender of the Faith. Thomas French and John Leech junior witnessed.

Interpretations

The transfer is a mortgage in the standard form of the period. Land passed outright with the conveyance written to become void on repayment by a named day, so the lender held the property itself rather than a promise, and default left the interest with the Governor and Council without any further step. The register shows the same structure in the mortgage John Leech gave Augustine Balls about 12 July 1753 and in John Bland's transfer to the officers of the Egmont on 30 July 1758.

What makes this unusual is the identity of the lender. The Governor and Council held the money not for the Company but as trustees for a fatherless child, so the island's government was investing an orphan's portion in a secured loan. The register records the Council standing behind children's interests repeatedly, from the bond Samuel Jesey gave for the Mudge orphan on 26 October 1719 to the seven family trusts sealed at the sitting of 30 September 1738, but lending the child's money at interest is a further step.

Interest at two per cent stands far below anything else the register records, against the six per cent of the Tolson bond of 6 June 1722 and the five per cent Gabriel Isaacke paid in 1758. A rate that low on a twelve-month loan suggests the arrangement served some purpose beyond return, perhaps relieving Wright while keeping the orphan's capital secured on land rather than idle.

John Bradley, whose child is provided for here, was the soldier who sold Benjamin Pledger fifteen acres in Prosperous Bay Valley for £5 0s 0d on 20 November 1733 with his wife Naomi joining the deed. He was dead by 1742, when the Governor and Council sold seven acres and a quarter and half a quarter of his freehold to Samuel Junge for £25 0s 0d, his widow having remarried John Spencer who held her dower land in right of his wife.

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238

Know All Men by these Presents That I Richard Gurling of Saint

Helena Who have Intermarried with One of the daughters and Coheiresses

of James Ryder dec.d for and Consideration of the Sum of fourteen

Pounds to me in hand paid by Thomas Greentree of the said Island

Exor of the said James Ryder Have and by these Presents Do Assign

Transfer & Sett over unto the said Thomas Greentree as Exor aforesaid

his Exors Admors & Assignes All my right Title & Interest of in & to

five Acres and One Eighth Part of an acre part of the Land within

mentioned with the Appurts To have and to hold unto the said

Thomas Greentree as Exor aforesaid his Exors Admors and Assigns

upon the Conditions withinmentioned In Trust for Sarah Margaret

& Helena Daughters of the said James Ryder their Exors Admors

& Assigns Pursuant to Liberty given me for so doing by the Governour

& Council the Eleventh day of Febry 1745 In Witness Whereof I have

hereunto sett my hand and Seal this fifteenth day of July One thousand

Seven hundred and forty

Rich.d Gurling

Sealed and delivered

in the presence of Us

Ja. Wright

Richard Gurling of St Helena, who had married one of the daughters and coheiresses of the late James Ryder, made over five acres and an eighth of an acre to Thomas Greentree, an executor of Ryder's estate. Greentree paid £14 0s 0d before the deed was delivered, and Gurling acknowledged receiving it. The parcel formed part of the land covered by the lease and passed with everything attached.

Greentree, acting as executor, was to hold with his executors, administrators and assigns on the same conditions, in trust for Sarah, Margaret and Helena, the daughters of the late James Ryder, and for their heirs, executors and assigns. The Governor and Council had granted leave on 11 February 1745.

Gurling signed and sealed on 15 July 1740. Wright witnessed.

Interpretations

Gurling was selling out of an estate he had married into. As husband of one of Ryder's coheiresses he held a share in his wife's right, and by making it over to the executor he converted that share into £14 0s 0d in cash while the ground returned to the trust for her three sisters. The register records the same route in reverse across the Harding conveyances of 1720, where John Young and Joseph Bates each sold their wives' shares of the Sandy Bay estate to John Harding.

Three daughters take equally and no son appears, so the whole Ryder interest rested on four women. The register shows the same in the trust of fifteen acres held for Elizabeth Harding and her three daughters at the sitting of 30 September 1738, where the family's entire holding depended on four women, none able to deal with the Company directly.

James Ryder had been accumulating in the South and West Divisions for two decades. He bought twenty acres called Alexander's Land from Richard Goodwin for £130 0s 0d on 30 November 1725, took twenty acres of gumwood known as Beale's Lott on 30 September 1729 with a planting reserve of four acres and a half, and twenty acres and a half under the Main Ridge at the sitting of 30 September 1738. He acted as trustee of the Greentree family estate at that same sitting, having married Elizabeth Greentree, which is how Thomas Greentree came to be handling the Ryder estate here.

The date of sealing is written out in words and left incomplete, giving the year as one thousand seven hundred and forty with nothing following. Leave came from the Governor and Council on 11 February 1745, so the sealing cannot have preceded it, and the clerk evidently broke off before completing the figure. Such gaps run through the register, from Grace Bates's grant of 1744 carrying a year but no day or month to George Gabriel Powell's two February 1742 instruments both leaving the day unwritten.

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Island S.t Helena

The Lords Proprietors of this Island the Honble the

United Company of Merchants of England trading to the East Indies

Do hereby demise Lease and to Farm Lett unto Thomas Hayes

Planter All that Peice or Parcell of Land containing four Acres Sictuate

lying & being in the East Devission of the said Island bounding West on

land of the said Thomas Hayes & East North and South on the Honble Comp.s

Wast land with their & Every of their Appurts To have and to hold unto

the said Thomas Hayes his Heirs Admors and Assigns from the day of

the date hereof for and during the Term of twenty One Years from thence

next Ensueing upon Condition that he the said Thomas Hayes his Heirs

Admors or Assigns shall alwayes bear true faith and Allegiance to our

Sovereign Lord King George the Second his Heirs and Successors and

true faith to them the said Honble Company and their Successors and Shall

duely obey all the Laws and Constitutions of the said Island Yeilding and

paying therefore Yearly & Every Year during the term hereby granted

unto the said Honble Company their Successors Agents or Assigns the

Yearly rent of Five Shillings p.r Acre in at or upon the feast of Saint

Michael the Archangell Yearly And Upon Condition that he the said

Thomas Hayes his Heirs Admors or Assigns shall and do imediately

Sett about and fence in the said Parcell of Land with a good and Sufficient

Wall fence & when so fenced & Inclosed do and shall keep and maintain

the same in good Heart and Tenantable repair and do not suffer the

Same or any Part thereof to run to ruin or decay And shall also plant

keep up and Maintain the full Quantity and proportion of Wood and

Young Trees pursuant to the Law of this Island in that Case made

and Provided And also plant Furze round the said Fences at such

proper Seasons of the Year as it will best grow in or the Nature of

the Soil produce and do not nor shall alter the said fences they being

the bounds or Landmarks to the said Land and do not nor shall sell or

dispose of this Lease or his or their Interest therein without the leave &

Consent of the Gov.r & Council for the time being In Witness Whereof

the said Governour hath to the Other Part sett his hand & affixed the

Honble Comp.s Seal this Eleventh day of April in the twentieth Year

of the reign of our said Sovereign Lord George the Second by the Grace

of God of Great Brittain France and Ireland King Defender of the

Faith and so forth and in the Year of our Lord 1747 And the said

Thomas Hayes hath hereunto sett his hand & seal the day &

Year abovementioned

Thomas Hayes

Sealed and delivered

in the Presence of Us

Samuel Schwick

Tho French

The Company let four acres to Thomas Hayes, a planter of St Helena. The parcel lay in the East Division. Hayes's own land closed the west. The Company's unallocated ground ran along the east, north and south.

Hayes took the four acres with everything attached, holding for twenty-one years from the date of the grant, together with his heirs, executors, administrators and assigns.

Conditions attached. Hayes and those following him owed loyalty to King George the Second, to his heirs and successors, and to the Company, and had to obey the island's rules. Payment came to £0 5s 0d for each acre every year, due at Michaelmas, which ran to £1 0s 0d across the parcel.

He had to fence the ground at once with a good, sound wall, and once enclosed to keep it in sound and tenantable repair, allowing no part to fall into ruin. He had to plant and maintain the full share of wood and young trees under the island's timber rules. Furze had to be set around the fences wherever the soil would best carry it, planted at the right seasons. He could not shift the fences, since those lines marked out the boundaries, and could not sell the lease or any share in it without the Governor and Council agreeing first.

The Governor signed and applied the Company's seal on 11 April 1747, in the twentieth year of the reign of King George the Second, King of Great Britain, France and Ireland and Defender of the Faith. Hayes signed and sealed the same day. Samuel Sedgwick and Thomas French witnessed.

Interpretations

The Hayes family had been holding ground in this quarter for a generation. Thomas Hayes, described as carrier in his own lease and soldier in another of the same day, took fifteen acres in Fishers Valley on 4 August 1713, sealing by mark. Grace Bates's grant of 1744 named freehold belonging to a Thomas Hayes on its southern boundary. Joseph Hayes was dead by 30 September 1738, when Benjamin Pledger held sixteen acres in Fishers Valley as administrator for his five children.

The Governor sealed alone here, where the register through this run records the Governor and Council together setting their hands. The same shortened form appears on John Alexander's Great Bottom grant of 18 April 1747, sealed a week later, so the practice was current rather than exceptional in that spring.

Samuel Sedgwick appears as witness in place of the Wright and Twynam pairing that carried the Company's attesting business through the preceding two years. Robert Wright had by this date moved to the other side of such transactions, taking five acres called Ashleys on 19 August 1746 and mortgaging ground to the Council for the Bradley orphan in June 1747.

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240

Island S.t Helena

The Lords Proprietors of this Island the Honble the united

East India Company of Merchants of England trading to the East

Indies Do hereby demise Lease sett & to farm lett unto Richard

Goodwin of the said Island planter all that peice or parcell of Land

Containing five acres and a quarter Situate at the Head of Fryer

Valley butting and bounding North upon the Lands of Elizabeth Durling

Jun.r Widow deceased East upon the Lands of the Honble Company

West upon the Lands of him the said Richard Goodwin & South upon

the Lands of the Honble Company To have and to hold the said

hereby demised Parcell of Land and Every Part and parcell thereof

together with all and Singular the Wood Water Water Courses Houses

Buildings Edifices Sheds Tenements Yams and plantations of Yams

Fruit Trees Walls Fences & all Other and Singular the Rights and

Comodities to them & Each & Every of them belonging or Appurtaining

unto him the said Richard Goodwin his Heirs Exors Admors or Allowed

Assigns from the day of the date hereof for and during all the space

or Term of the Naturall Lives of Richard Goodwin Sen.r Matthew

Bazett & Jonathan Doveton & the longest liver of them renewable

upon the death of either the said Nominees upon payment of half a

Years rent at the Admittance of each Life or new Nominee Upon

Condition that he the said Richard Goodwin his Heirs Exors or

Allowed Assigns shall and do from time to time & at all times hereafter

bear true faith and Allegiance to our Sovereign Lord King George the

Second his Heirs & Successors & true faith to them the said Honble

Company and their Successors and shall duely Observe and Obey all the

Laws and Constitutions of the said Island And Upon Condition

Also that he the said Rich.d Goodwin his Heirs Exors Admors or

Allowed Assigns shall and do from time to time & at all times

hereafter during the Term of this Present Lease keep up and

Maintain in good Order & Sufft & Legal Repair All such Buildings

Houses Edifices Sheds Tenements Plantations & Fences as now

are or hereafter shall be made built or Erected thereon And shall

Moreover Plant keep up Maintain & preserve in & upon the

said hereby demised Parcell of Land its full Quantity or proportion

of Wood being One tenth part of the said parcell of Land and shall

Likewise plant and preserve furze within side & without the fences

of the said Parcell of Land and shall plant fruit Trees such as

Apple Trees Lemmon Mulberry or Peach Trees on such parts

thereof wherein they are most likely to grow and as they shall

The Company let five acres and a quarter to Richard Goodwin, a planter of St Helena. The parcel lay at the head of Fryer Valley. Ground once held by Elizabeth Purling junior, a widow since deceased, closed the north. The Company's unallocated ground ran along the east and south. Goodwin's own land lay to the west.

He took the ground with everything attached: the timber, the water and its channels, the houses and other buildings, the sheds and dwellings, the yams and yam beds, the fruit trees, the walls and boundaries, and every other benefit belonging to it. The term ran not for a fixed span of years but for the lifetimes of Richard Goodwin junior, Matthew Bazett and Jonathan Doveton, and for as long as the last of the three survived. A fresh name could be added as each life fell in, on payment of half a year's rent.

Conditions attached. Goodwin and those following him owed loyalty to King George the Second, to his heirs and successors, and to the Company, and had to obey the island's rules. Throughout the term they had to keep every building, shed, dwelling, planting and boundary on the ground in good order and sound repair, whatever stood there already or was raised later. A tenth of the five acres and a quarter had to be planted with trees and kept up. Furze had to be grown along the fences, inside and out. Apples, lemons, mulberries and peaches had to be set wherever each was most likely to grow.

Interpretations

The Company had let this same parcel to Richard Goodwin before. Under a grant sealed 4 December 1739 he took five acres and a quarter at the head of Fryer Valley on the lives of his wife Elizabeth and his sons Thomas and Richard, with Elizabeth Purling junior's ground on the northern boundary, and a memorandum then cut his charge by an acre and a quarter because so much of the ground was barren and rocky. Eight years later the same land returns to him under fresh lives.

The three nominees are all outside his own household this time, where the 1739 grant had named his wife and two sons. Naming Matthew Bazett and Jonathan Doveton alongside his son marks a calculation about longevity rather than inheritance, since a lease measured by lives runs as long as the healthiest of them survives. Francis Wrangham made the same choice on 30 September 1738, naming three young men from families other than his own.

Elizabeth Purling junior is recorded as dead on the northern boundary. She was a daughter of Matthew Bazett and widow of the late John Purling, and she confirmed in her own person the sale her husband's executors made of the Purling children's eighth share of the Bazett estate to her brother John Bazett, the receipt acknowledged on 29 March 1741. Her death falls between that acknowledgement and this grant.

No abatement for barren ground appears in what stands here, though the 1739 grant of the same parcel carried one reducing his charge to four acres. Whether the Company let the concession lapse on renewal cannot be settled from this leaf alone.

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happen to decay or die shall replant Others in their room without

hurt or prejudice Neverthelesss to any part of such Land as shall

be sett apart for the sole purpose of Planting or raising Yams

Yeilding and paying for four Acres and One Quarter of the said

Land Yearly & Every Year during the Term of this Present Lease

unto them the said Honble Company their Successors Agents or Assigns

the sum of five Shillings p.r Acre in at or Upon the feast of S.t

Michael the Archangell yearly & for the remaining One Acre on

Account of its being Rocky & Barren the rent of One peppercorn

Yearly & no more And upon Condition that he the said Richard

Goodwin his Heirs Exors Admors or Allowed Assigns shall not alter

or remove the said fences they being the Limitts or Land marks of

the said Parcell of Land aforesaid and shall not sell or dispose of

this Lease or his or their Interest therein without the leave and

Consent of the Gov.r and Council for the time being In Witness whereof

the said Gov.r hath to the other part sett his hand and affixed the Honble

Companys Seal this Seventeenth day of March in the twentieth

Year of the reign of our said Sovereign Lord George the Second by

the Grace of God of Great Brittain France and Ireland King

Defender of the Faith and so forth and in the Year of our Lord One

Thousand Seven hundred and forty Seven And the said Richard

Goodwin hath hereunto sett his hand and Seal the day & Year

abovewritten

Rich Goodwin

Sealed and delivered

in the Presence of Us

James Greentree

Tho. French

Anything that died among the fruit trees had to be replaced with the same kind. None of the planting duties reached whatever part of the ground Richard Goodwin kept solely for growing yams.

Payment was split. He owed £0 5s 0d for each of four acres and a quarter every year, due at Michaelmas, coming to £1 1s 3d. On the remaining acre he owed one peppercorn a year and nothing more, the Company allowing that because the ground was rocky and barren.

Two further limits closed the grant. Goodwin and those succeeding him could not move or take down the fences, since those lines marked out the parcel's boundaries. Nor could he sell the lease or any share in it without the Governor and Council agreeing first.

The Governor signed and applied the Company's seal on 17 April 1747, in the twentieth year of the reign of King George the Second, King of Great Britain, France and Ireland and Defender of the Faith. Goodwin signed and sealed the same day. James Greentree and Thomas French witnessed.

Interpretations

The peppercorn on the barren acre marks a fourth way of handling poor ground, distinct from the three the register already records. Francis Wrangham's twenty acres of 30 September 1738 carried a flat charge of £4 0s 0d with no rate named. Edward Bagley's thirty-nine acres of the same day named the acreage he would pay on and left the rate at five shillings. George Gabriel Powell's fourteen acres at Peak Hill of 17 February 1743 kept the whole acreage and cut the rate itself to one shilling and sixpence. Here the parcel divides in two, with the good ground at the full rate and the rock charged at nothing.

Reserving a peppercorn rather than nothing at all kept the Company's ownership visible on the record. The register shows the same device in the note attached to John French's grant of 30 September 1738, where seven or eight acres of steep barren cliff passed for a peppercorn if ever demanded, and in the six acres let to James Powell on 21 February 1744 solely for raising timber. Ground handed over for no return whatever could in time be mistaken for the holder's own.

The 1739 grant of this same parcel handled the difficulty differently, dropping an acre and a quarter from the reckoning so Goodwin paid on four acres only. Eight years later the abatement is expressed as a separate charge on a separate acre rather than as a reduction in the acreage counted, which fixes precisely which part of the ground was worthless rather than leaving it at large.

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242

Island S.t Helena

The Lords Proprietors of this Island the Honble the united

Company of Merchants of England trading to the East Indies

Do hereby demise grant Lease sett and to farm lett unto Rich.d Goodwin

Exor of Edm.d Nicholls deceased All and Singular that peice or

Parcell of Gumwood land containing ten Acres Situate lying

and being in Tomstone Wood in the West Devission of the said

Island butting & bounding towards the North East and West upon

the said Honble Comp.s Wast Land Situate in & near the said

Tomstone Wood and towards the South upon Ten Acres of Land

formerly belonging to Robert Leech To have and to hold

the said hereby demised ten acres of Gumwood Land with the Appurts and

Every part and Parcell thereof unto him the said Richard Goodwin

his Heirs Exors Admors and Assigns for the the and Sole Benyfitt of

the Heirs and Assigns of him the said Edmund Nicholls deceased

from the date hereof for and during All the Space or Term of

twenty One years Upon Condition that he the said Richard Goodwin

as Exor aforesaid his Heirs Exors Admors and Assigns shall bear true

faith and Allegiance to our Sovereign Lord King George the second his

Heirs and Successors and true faith to them the said Honble Company

and their Successors and shall duely obey all the Laws and Constitutions

of the said Island Yeilding and paying therefore Yearly and Every

Year during the Term of Twenty One Years unto the said Honble

Company their Successors Agents or Assigns the Yearly rent of five

Shillings p.r Acre in at or upon the feast day of S.t Michael the

Archangell in Every Year And Upon Condition that he the said

Rich.d Goodwin as Exor aforesaid shall and do imediately sett

about and ffence in the said hereby demised ten acres of Gumwood

Land with a good and Sufficient Fence and When so fenced and

Inclosed the same to keep in good Heart & Repair When and as

often as need shall require so that the whole premisses and Every

Part thereof shall be always Tenantable and no ways suffered

to run to ruin or decay And shall also plant keep up and

Maintain the full quantity and Proportion of Gumwood and

Young Trees pursuant to the Law of this Island in that Case made

and Provided And shall likewise plant ffurze round the said Fences

at such propper times and Seasons of the Year as it will best grow in

or the Nature of the Ground produce and do not nor shall alter the

said ffences they being the bounds or Landmarks to the said Land nor

The Company let ten acres of gumwood land to Richard Goodwin, acting as executor of the late Edmund Nicholls. The parcel lay at Tomstone Wood, in the West Division. The Company's unallocated ground closed the north, east and west, running in and near Tomstone Wood. To the south lay ten acres once belonging to Robert Leech.

Goodwin took the ground with everything attached, holding for twenty-one years from the date of the grant, together with his heirs, executors, administrators and assigns. He held not for himself but for the sole benefit of the heirs and assigns of the late Edmund Nicholls.

Conditions attached. Goodwin, as executor, and those following him owed loyalty to King George the Second, to his heirs and successors, and to the Company, and had to obey the island's rules. Payment came to £0 5s 0d for each acre every year, due at Michaelmas, which ran to £2 10s 0d across the parcel.

He had to fence the ten acres at once with a good, sound barrier, and once enclosed to keep the whole in sound and tenantable repair, mending as often as needed, so that no part fell into ruin. He had to plant and maintain the full share of gumwood and young trees under the island's timber rules. Furze had to be set around the fences wherever the ground would best carry it, planted at the right times and seasons. He could not shift the fences, since those lines marked out the boundaries.

Interpretations

Tomstone Wood is the ground the register records elsewhere as Stonetop Wood. The Company let ten acres there to Edmund Nichols on 25 March 1725, bordering ten acres he had lately bought from Richard Leech that had belonged to his deceased father Robert Leech, and confirmed the same ten acres to him on 31 October 1727 after a court ruling entered at register folio 212. The ten acres of Robert Leech's on the southern boundary here are that adjoining parcel, and the whole arrangement now returns as a trust for Nicholls's heirs.

Edmund Nicholls had been dead since at least 1740, when his widow Elizabeth and Richard Goodwin, acting as his executors, sold two James Valley houses to Joshua Johnson for £25 0s 0d already paid to him in his lifetime. Goodwin also held twenty-one acres at Old Woman's Valley in trust for his son John Nicholls junior under the grant of 17 July 1744, so this is the second Nicholls parcel to pass through his hands as fiduciary.

No widow appears in this settlement and no children are named individually, the benefit running to the heirs and assigns at large. That differs from the seven family trusts sealed at the sitting of 30 September 1738, each of which gave a widow one third for her life and divided the rest among named children. Elizabeth Nicholls was living in 1740, so her omission here points either to her death in the interval or to a settlement already made on her elsewhere.

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sell or dispose of this Lease or his or their Interest therein

without the leave and Consent of the Gov.r & Council of the said

Island for the time being In Witness Whereof the said Gov.r

& Council have to the Other Part sett their Hands and Affixed

the Honble Comp.s Seal this Eighteenth day of August in the

Twenty first Year of the reign of our Sovereign Lord George the

Second by the Grace of God of Great Brittain France and

Ireland King Defender of the Faith and so forth and in the Year of

our Lord 1747 And the said Richard Goodwin as Exor aforesaid

hath hereunto sett his hand & Seal the day & Year abovewritten

Rich Goodwin

Sealed and delivered

in the presence of Us

James Greentree

Tho.s French

A final restriction closed the Nicholls trust. Richard Goodwin and those succeeding him could not sell the lease or any share in it without the Governor and Council agreeing first.

The Governor and Council signed and applied the Company's seal on 18 August 1747, in the twenty-first year of the reign of King George the Second, King of Great Britain, France and Ireland and Defender of the Faith. Goodwin signed and sealed the same day as executor. James Greentree and Thomas French witnessed.

Interpretations

Four months separate this sealing from Goodwin's own lives-based grant of five acres and a quarter at the head of Fryer Valley on 17 April 1747, which James Greentree and Thomas French also attested. The same two men witnessed both, so Goodwin's business as a holder in his own right and as trustee for the Nicholls family passed before one pair of signatures across that spring and summer.

James Greentree witnessing here places him in the attesting circle alongside Thomas French, who carried nearly every Company instrument through these years. Greentree had taken thirty-seven acres of gumwood in Sandy Bay on 30 April 1745 and two acres in Lemon Valley on 10 July 1744, so a substantial holder was serving as witness rather than a clerk or minor officer.

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Island S.t Helena.

The Lords proprietors of this Island the Honble the United Company

of Merchants of England trading to the East Indies Do hereby demise

grant sett and to farm let unto Thomas Greentree planter Executor of

James Ryder deceased All that peice or parcell of land containing

thirty Acres Situate in Sandey Valley butting on the North upon the

Honble Companys Wast land on the South on two Acres of Lease Land

late belonging to Robert Gurling and part upon the Honble Companys

Wast land East upon twenty five Acres of Lease Land late belonging to

Cap.t John Goodwin and West upon the Honble Companys Wast Land next

towards the Lease Land late of Edmund Nicholls To have and to

hold the said hereby demised thirty Acres of Land with the Appurts and

Every part and Parcell thereof unto him the said Thomas Greentree as

Exor aforesaid his Heirs Admors or Assigns from the day of the date

hereof for and during All the term Space and Term of Twenty one Years

from thence next Ensueing In Trust for Sarah Margarett and Ellen

Daurs of the said James Ryder their Heirs Assigns Upon Condition that they the said

Sarah, Margaret, and Ellen their Heirs Exors Admors and Assigns do and

shall bear true faith and Allegeance to our Sovereign Lord King George the

Second his Heirs and Successors and true faith to them the said Honble

Company and their Successors and do and shall duely obey all the Laws

and Constitutions of the said Island Yeilding and paying therefore yearly

and Every Year during the Term hereby granted unto the said Honble

Company their Successors Agents or Assigns the yearly rent of five

Shillings p.r Acre at or upon the feast day of Saint Michael the

Archangell Yearly Provided that he the said Thomas Greentree as

Exor aforesaid his Heirs Admors or Assigns do and shall imediately

sett about and ffence in the said hereby demised premisses with a good &

Sufficient Fence & when so fenced and Enclosed shall keep the same in

good Condition and repair when and as often as need shall be require

& not suffer the Ground to run out nor destroy the Wood thereon but keep up

Preserve and Maintain the proportionable quantity of Wood according to

the Law of this Island for the planting of such Wood in that Case made and

provided Nor do not nor shall alter the said fences after they are well made

they being the Land Marks and bounds of the said hereby demised Land Nor

do not nor shall sell or dispose of this Lease or this or their Interest therein

without the Leave and Consent of the Gov.r & Council for the time being In

Witness Whereof the said Gov.r & Council have to this Other part sett their Hands

and Affixed the Honble Companys Seal the 15.th day of August in the twenty

first Year of the reign of our said Sovereign Lord George the Second by the Grace of God

of Great Brittain France and Ireland King defender of the Faith and so forth And in

the Year of our Lord 1747 And the said Thomas Greentree as Exor afores.d hath hereunto

sett his hand and seal the day and Year lastmentioned

Tho Greentree Ex.or

Seald and delivered

in the Presence of Us

Ja. Wright

Tho. french

The Company let thirty acres to Thomas Greentree, a planter and executor of the late James Ryder. The parcel lay in Swanley Valley. The Company's unallocated ground closed the north. To the south lay two acres of leased land once belonging to Robert Gurling, together with more of the Company's unallocated ground. Twenty-five acres of leased land once held by Captain John Goodwin ran along the east. The Company's unallocated ground closed the west, reaching towards leased ground once Edmund Nicholls's.

Greentree took the thirty acres with everything attached, holding as executor for twenty-one years from the date of the grant, together with his heirs, executors, administrators and assigns. He held not for himself but in trust for Sarah, Margaret and Ellen, the daughters of the late James Ryder.

Conditions attached. The three daughters and those following them owed loyalty to King George the Second, to his heirs and successors, and to the Company, and had to obey the island's rules. Payment came to £0 5s 0d for each acre every year, due at Michaelmas, which ran to £7 10s 0d across the parcel.

Greentree had to fence the ground at once with a good, sound barrier, and once enclosed to keep it in sound condition and repair, mending as often as needed. He was not to let the ground be worn out or to destroy the timber on it, but to maintain the proper share of wood under the island's rules for planting. He could not shift the fences once properly made, since those lines marked the boundaries, and could not sell the lease or any share in it without the Governor and Council agreeing first.

The Governor and Council signed and applied the Company's seal on 25 August 1747, in the twenty-first year of the reign of King George the Second, King of Great Britain, France and Ireland and Defender of the Faith. Greentree signed and sealed the same day as executor. Wright witnessed.

Interpretations

The duty not to let the ground be worn out reaches beyond the ordinary obligation to keep fences and buildings sound. A trustee holding land for children who cannot yet farm it has every incentive to crop hard and hand back exhausted soil, and yams take heavily from the ground. The register writes the same clause into the twenty-one acres Richard Goodwin held for John Nicholls junior on 17 July 1744 and into the Bazett trust of February 1744, both settlements for children.

Three daughters take the whole and no widow appears, so the entire Ryder interest rested on the sisters alone. The same three are named here as in the transfer Richard Gurling made to Greentree, where the third sister is called Helena rather than Ellen. Gurling had married a fourth daughter and sold his wife's share into the trust for £14 0s 0d.

Thirty acres at £7 10s 0d a year makes this among the more substantial trusts in the register, standing alongside the thirty acres in Deep Valley let to Thomas Allis at the sitting of 30 September 1738, which carried the largest rent of any single parcel sealed that day.

Swanley Valley had been let in small parcels since 1725, when Thomas Harper took an acre and a half near its lower part under a covenant not to damage the Company's goats grazing there. Martin Harper, Caleb Davis and Stephen Luffin junior all took ground in the valley in September 1731, and Lydia and Richard Harper an acre and a half on 13 January 1746. Thirty acres in one grant is of a different order altogether, so the Ryder holding must have been assembled over years before the trust settled it.

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Island S.t Helena

The Lords Proprietors of this Island the Honourable the

United Company of Merchants of England Trading to the East Indies Do herby

Demise Grant Sett and to Farm Let Unto John Alexander of the said Island

Planter All that Peice or Parcell of Gumwood Land Containing by Mensuration

fifteen Acres Sictuate Lying and being at the Head of Great Bottom in the

West Devission of the said Island butting and bounding towards the North

upon the Free Lands now in the Possession of the said John Alexander

Sictuate near the Head of the said Great Bottom towards the South upon the

Lower part of the Honourable Company High Death Pasture Lands towards

the West upon their Wast Lands and towards the East upon a parcell of

Lands in the Possessions of Joseph Powell Planter To have and to hold

the said hereby Demised fifteen Acres of Gumwood Land with the Appurtenances

and Every Part and Parcell thereof Unto him the said John Alexander his Heirs

Executors Administrators or Assigns from the

Day of the Date thereof for and during

all the Same Space and Term of Twenty One Years from thence next Ensuing

Upon Condition That he the said John Alexander his Heirs or Allowed

Assigns Do Alwaye bear true faith and Allegiance to our Soveraign Lord

King George his Heirs and His Heirs and Successors and true faith to them

the said Honourable Company and their Successors and shall Duly Obey all

the Laws and Constitutions of the said Island Yeilding and paying therefore

Yearly and Every Year During the said term and time of Twenty One Years Unto

the said Honourable Company their Successors Agents or Assigns the Yearly

Rent of Five Shillings p.r Acre in at or Upon the Feast of S.t Michael the

Achangel Yearly And Upon Condition that he the said John

Alexander his Heirs Executors Admors or Assigns shall and do immediately

sett about and Fence in the said Parcell of Land with a Good and Sufficient

walle fence and when so fenced and inclosed do and shall Keep and Maintain

the same in good heart and Tenantable repair and do not Suffer the same

or any part thereof to run to ruin or Decay and shall also plant keep up and

Maintain the Full Quantity and Proportion of Wood and young Trees

pursuant to the Law of this Island in that Case made and Provided and

also plant Furze round the said Fences at such propper seasons of the

Year as it will best grow in or the Nature of the soil produce and do

The Company let fifteen acres of gumwood land to John Alexander, a planter of St Helena, the extent taken by a recent measurement. The parcel lay at the head of Great Bottom, in the West Division. Alexander's own freehold, then in his occupation near the head of Great Bottom, closed the north. The lower part of the Company's High Peak pasture lay to the south. The Company's unallocated ground ran along the west. To the east lay ground then held by Joseph Powell, a planter.

Alexander took the fifteen acres with everything attached, holding for twenty-one years from the date of the grant, together with his heirs, executors, administrators and assigns. The clerk left the day of the month blank.

Conditions attached. Alexander and those following him owed loyalty to King George the Second, to his heirs and successors, and to the Company, and had to obey the island's rules. Payment came to £0 5s 0d for each acre every year, due at Michaelmas, which ran to £3 15s 0d across the parcel.

He had to fence the ground at once with a good, sound wall, and once enclosed to keep it in sound and tenantable repair, allowing no part to fall into ruin. He had to plant and maintain the full share of wood and young trees under the island's timber rules. Furze had to be set around the fences wherever the soil would best carry it, planted at the right seasons.

Interpretations

Alexander was extending a holding he had begun four months earlier. The Company let him four acres at the head of the westernmost branch of Lemon Valley at Great Bottom on 18 April 1747, that parcel bounded on two sides by his own freehold. Fifteen acres in the same quarter takes his Company ground there to nineteen, and both grants sit against freehold he already occupied.

The High Peak pasture on the southern boundary was Company grazing rather than let ground. The register records the Company keeping pasture in hand across the island for its own cattle and for victualling the shipping, and its edges served as fixed boundaries in grants where no private holder adjoined.

Great Bottom carries a long record in the register. Elizabeth Johnson held an estate there by 27 April 1698, and Joshua Johnson took four acres near its head on 25 November 1725 and fifteen more at the head of the same bottom on 30 August 1726, that second grant carrying a double duty on any part left unfenced. The Company sold thirty acres of the same ground to Joshua Johnson for £410 0s 0d on 24 July 1740 through the attorneys of the absent Thomas Mostyn.

The blank left for the day of the month follows a pattern running through the register. Grace Bates's grant of 1744 carries a year without day or month, Richard Tinsley's plot of November 1746 gives no day, and James Vaughan's parcel of 30 September 1738 was signed and sealed with its acreage and boundaries still unwritten. Clerks engrossed the standard wording in advance and filled in particulars when the ground had been measured.

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not nor shall alter the said fences they being the Bounds or Land Marks

to the said Lands and do not nor shall Sell or Dispose of this Lease

or his or their Interest therein without the Leave and Consent of the

Governour and Council for the time being In Witness Whereof We

the said Governour and Council have to the Other part sett their

hands and Affixed the Honourable Companys Seal this twenty Second Day

of September in the Twenty first Year of the reign of our Sovereign

Lord George the Second by the Grace of God of great Brittain France

and Island King Defender of the faith and so forth and in the year of

our Lord 1747 And the said John Alexander hath hereunto sett his hand

and Seal the Day and year Above written

Sealed and Delivered

in the Presence of Us

Jn Alexander

Tho.s French

Island S.t Helena

The Lords Proprietors of this Island the Honourable the United Company

of Merchants of England Trading to the East Indies Do hereby Demise

Lease and to Farm lett unto William Seale and John Hayes Sen.r of the

said Island Planters all that peice or parcel of Land containing two Acres

situate lying and being at the lower End of Stone Top Valley near the Sea

in the East Division of the said Island Butting and Bounding East North

and South upon the Honble Companys waste Land and West upon Land late

belonging to Praise Pledger of the said Island with the Appurtenances To

have and to hold unto the said William Seale and John Hayes Sen.r

their Executors Administrators and Assigns from the Day of the Date hereof

for and during the Term of Twenty One Years from thence next Ensuing

upon Condition that they the said William Seale and John Hayes their

Executors Administrators or Assigns shall Always bear true Faith and Allegiance

to our Sovereign Lord King George the Second his Heirs and Successors

and true Faith to them the said Honourable Companys & their Successors.

John Alexander could not shift the fences on the Great Bottom parcel, since those lines marked out the boundaries, nor sell the lease or any share in it without the Governor and Council agreeing first.

The Governor and Council signed and applied the Company's seal on 22 September 1747, in the twenty-first year of the reign of King George the Second, King of Great Britain, France and Ireland and Defender of the Faith. Alexander signed and sealed the same day. Thomas French witnessed.

The Company then let two acres to William Seale and John Hayes senior, both planters of the island. The parcel lay at the lower end of Stone Top Valley near the sea, in the East Division. The Company's unallocated ground closed the east, north and south. To the west lay land once belonging to Praise Pledger of the island.

Seale and Hayes took the ground with everything attached, holding for twenty-one years from the date of the grant, together with their executors, administrators and assigns. They and those following them owed loyalty to King George the Second, to his heirs and successors, and to the Company.

Interpretations

Praise Pledger's name reaches back more than half a century. Benjamin Seale gave him ten acres at the head of Sharks Valley on 16 January 1694 as a gift to his son in law, ground once William Rhodes's, bordered by Company waste, John Cotgrave's ten acres and John Knipe's twenty. His Puritan given name recurs in the register through Stephen Praise Pledger, who took two acres at the bottom of Stonetop Valley jointly with Samuel Jesey junior on 2 February 1730, and the family name carries forward through Benjamin and Stephen Craig Pledger.

Two men take this parcel jointly, and Stonetop Valley shows the same arrangement twice. Stephen Praise Pledger and Samuel Jesey junior held two acres at its bottom undivided in 1730, the survivor to take the whole, and the Company noted then that a plot too small to carry its fencing easily alone suited two tenants sharing the burden. Two acres here fall into the same class.

Ground at the lower end of the valley near the sea marks the outer edge of what could be farmed. The register treats such parcels as marginal, and Stonetop Valley appears elsewhere only in small grants, from Stephen Praise Pledger's two acres of 1730 to John French's three acres near Hancocks Hole in one of its branches on 23 October 1724.

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and shall duly obey all the Laws and Constitutions of the said Island Yeilding

and Paying therefore Yearly and Every Year during the Term hereby Granted unto the said

Honble Company their Successors Agents or Assigns the Yearly Rent of Five Shillings

p.r Acre in at or upon the Feast of Saint Michael the Arch Angel Yearly and

upon Condition that they the said William Seale and John Hayes their Executors

Administrators or Assigns shall and do immediately sett about and Fence

in the said Parcell of Land with a good and Sufficient Wall Fence and when

so Fenced and Enclosed do and shall keep and maintain the same in good heart

and Tenantable repair and do not suffer the same or any part thereof to run to Ruin or

Decay and shall also plant keep up and maintain the full Quantity and Proportion of

Wood and Young Trees Pursuant to the Law of this Island in that Case made and

Provided and also plant furze round the said Fences at such proper Seasons of the Year

as it will best grow in or the nature of the Soil Produce and do not nor shall alter

the said Fences they being the bounds or Landmarks to the said Land and do not nor

shall sell or dispose of this Lease or their Interest therein without the Leave & consent

of the Governour and Council for the Time being In Witness whereof we the said Governour

and Council have to the Other Part sett our hands and Affixed the Honourable Companys

Seale this day of in the Twenty First Year of the Reign of our

Sovereign Lord George the Second by the Grace of God of Great Brittain France and

Ireland King defender of the Faith and so forth and in the Year of our Lord 1747 and

they the said William Seale and John Hayes hath to these Presents sett their Hands

and Seales the Day and Year lastmentioned.

William Seale and John Hayes had to obey the island's rules. Payment came to £0 5s 0d for each acre every year, due at Michaelmas, which ran to £0 10s 0d across the two acres.

They had to fence the parcel at once with a good, sound wall, and once enclosed to keep it in sound and tenantable repair, allowing no part to fall into ruin. They had to plant and maintain the full share of wood and young trees under the island's timber rules. Furze had to be set around the fences wherever the soil would best carry it, planted at the right seasons. They could not shift the fences, since those lines marked out the boundaries, and could not sell the lease or any share in it without the Governor and Council agreeing first.

The Governor and Council signed and applied the Company's seal in 1747, in the twenty-first year of the reign of King George the Second, King of Great Britain, France and Ireland and Defender of the Faith. The clerk left the day and month blank. Seale and Hayes signed and sealed the same day, each setting his own seal. The space left for the witnesses' names stands empty.

Interpretations

Two seals stand beside the names because each holder bound himself in his own person. Where two men took ground jointly the register generally records separate seals, as with Simon and Joseph Whaley's ten acres divided in equal halves at the sitting of 30 September 1738, so that each share passed to his own heirs rather than to the survivor.

Two acres at ten shillings a year carried the same weight of duties as the largest parcels in this run: a wall around the whole, the full share of wood, furze along every fence and the bar on moving a boundary. The Company made no allowance for size anywhere across these grants, so a tenth of two acres came to a fifth of an acre under trees while the fencing burden fell on a parcel ringed by Company waste on three sides.

Both the date and the witness line stand unwritten. The register carries several such gaps, from Grace Bates's grant of 1744 to Richard Tinsley's plot of November 1746 and James Vaughan's parcel of 30 September 1738, which was signed and sealed with its acreage and boundary description still unfinished. A grant could bind the parties before its particulars were entered.

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and shall duly obey all the Laws and Constitutions of the said Island Yeilding

and Paying therefore Yearly and Every Year during the Term hereby Granted unto the said

Honble Company their Successors Agents or Assigns the Yearly Rent of Five Shillings

p.r Acre in at or upon the Feast of Saint Michael the Arch Angel Yearly and

upon Condition that they the said William Seale and John Hayes their Executors

Administrators or Assigns shall and do immediately sett about and Fence

in the said Parcell of Land with a good and Sufficient Wall Fence and when

so Fenced and Enclosed do and shall keep and maintain the same in good heart

and Tenantable repair and do not suffer the same or any part thereof to run to Ruin or

Decay and shall also plant keep up and maintain the full Quantity and Proportion of

Wood and Young Trees Pursuant to the Law of this Island in that Case made and

Provided and also plant furze round the said Fences at such proper Seasons of the Year

as it will best grow in or the nature of the Soil Produce and do not nor shall alter

the said Fences they being the bounds or Landmarks to the said Land and do not nor

shall sell or dispose of this Lease or their Interest therein without the Leave & consent

of the Governour and Council for the Time being In Witness whereof we the said Governour

and Council have to the Other Part sett our hands and Affixed the Honourable Companys

Seale this day of in the Twenty First Year of the Reign of our

Sovereign Lord George the Second by the Grace of God of Great Brittain France and

Ireland King defender of the Faith and so forth and in the Year of our Lord 1747 and

they the said William Seale and John Hayes hath to these Presents sett their Hands

and Seales the Day and Year lastmentioned.

William Seale and John Hayes had to obey the island's rules. Payment came to £0 5s 0d for each acre every year, due at Michaelmas, which ran to £0 10s 0d across the two acres.

They had to fence the parcel at once with a good, sound wall, and once enclosed to keep it in sound and tenantable repair, allowing no part to fall into ruin. They had to plant and maintain the full share of wood and young trees under the island's timber rules. Furze had to be set around the fences wherever the soil would best carry it, planted at the right seasons. They could not shift the fences, since those lines marked out the boundaries, and could not sell the lease or any share in it without the Governor and Council agreeing first.

The Governor and Council signed and applied the Company's seal in 1747, in the twenty-first year of the reign of King George the Second, King of Great Britain, France and Ireland and Defender of the Faith. The clerk left the day and month blank. Seale and Hayes signed and sealed the same day, each setting his own seal. The space left for the witnesses' names stands empty.

Interpretations

Two seals stand beside the names because each holder bound himself in his own person. Where two men took ground jointly the register generally records separate seals, as with Simon and Joseph Whaley's ten acres divided in equal halves at the sitting of 30 September 1738, so that each share passed to his own heirs rather than to the survivor.

Two acres at ten shillings a year carried the same weight of duties as the largest parcels in this run: a wall around the whole, the full share of wood, furze along every fence and the bar on moving a boundary. The Company made no allowance for size anywhere across these grants, so a tenth of two acres came to a fifth of an acre under trees while the fencing burden fell on a parcel ringed by Company waste on three sides.

Both the date and the witness line stand unwritten. The register carries several such gaps, from Grace Bates's grant of 1744 to Richard Tinsley's plot of November 1746 and James Vaughan's parcel of 30 September 1738, which was signed and sealed with its acreage and boundary description still unfinished. A grant could bind the parties before its particulars were entered.

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proper Seasons of the Year as it will best grow in or the Nature of the

Soil produce and do not nor shall the said Fences they being the

bounds or Landmarks to the said Land and do not nor shall

sell or dispose of this Lease or his or their Interest therein without the

leave and Consent of the Governour and Council for the time being

In Witness whereof we the said Governour and Council have to the

other part sett our hands and affixed the Honourable Companys Seal

this thirteenth day of October in the Twenty First Year of the Reign

of our Sovereign Lord George the Second by the Grace of God of Great

Brittain France and Ireland King defender of the Faith and so forth

and in the Year of our Lord 1747 and the said Frances Gunge hath

to these Presents sett his hand and Seal the Day and Year last

Mentioned

Fran.s Gunge

Signd Sealed and

Delivered in the presence

of us.

Ja. Wright.

Tho. French

Island S.t Helena

The Lords Proprietors of this Island the Honourable

the United Company of Merchants of England Trading to the

East Indies Do hereby Demise Grant Lease and to Farm lett

unto Thomas Jarvis all that peice or parcel of Ground containing

Sixty feet in Front and Sixty feet in Depth Sictuate lying and

being in James's Valley next above the House now in the Possession

of Thomas Willingham Butting and Bounding North upon the said

Tho.s Willingham and East South and West upon the Honourable

Companys Waste Land with the Appurtenances to have and to

hold the aforesaid Land and premisses with the Appurtenances

unto him the said Tho.s Jarvis his Heirs Executors Administrators

Furze had to be set around the fences at the right seasons, wherever the soil would best carry it. Francis Junge could not shift the fences, since those lines marked out the boundaries, and could not sell the lease or any share in it without the Governor and Council agreeing first.

The Governor and Council signed and applied the Company's seal on 13 October 1747, in the twenty-first year of the reign of King George the Second, King of Great Britain, France and Ireland and Defender of the Faith. Junge signed and sealed the same day. Wright and Thomas French witnessed.

The Company then let a piece of ground to Thomas Jarvis. The plot measured sixty feet across the front and sixty feet in depth. It lay in James Valley, directly above the house then occupied by Thomas Willingham. Willingham's ground closed the north. The Company's unallocated ground ran along the east, south and west. Jarvis took it with everything attached, together with his heirs, executors and administrators.

Interpretations

Junge had made over a leasehold to Joseph Powell for £5 0s 0d in June 1747, under permission granted on 26 May, so he was disposing of one holding and taking another within five months. The register records him across three decades, from his appearances as a witness in 1714 through the half acre of February 1730 carrying the springs and watercourses on it, where he was bound to leave open as much water as the Council directed for cattle on the common.

Thomas Willingham had taken his own plot at the upper end of James Valley on 13 January 1746, fifty feet across the front and sixty in depth, above the house then occupied by Elizabeth Newland. Company ground surrounded that parcel on every side. Twenty-one months later Jarvis takes ground directly above Willingham's, so the Company was letting the upper valley in a line of plots, each fixed by the household below it.

The measurements give a square of three thousand six hundred square feet, larger than Willingham's three thousand. Town rents across this run bear no consistent relation to area, so the charge on this plot, which stands on the following leaf, cannot be inferred from its size.

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and Assigns from the Day of the Date hereof for and during and unto

the full End and Term of Twenty One Years from thence next Ensueing

Yeilding and paying therefore Yearly and every Year during the

Term thereby Granted unto the said Honourable Company thier

Successors Agents or Assigns the Sum of Twelve Shillings on the Feast

Day of S.t Michael the Arch Angel in every Year Upon condition that

he the said Thomas Jarvis his Heirs Execut.rs Admin.rs or Assigns

do and shall bear true faith and Allegiance to our Sovereign Lord

King George the Second his Heirs and Successors and true faith

to them the said Honourable Company and their Successors and shall

duely obey all the Laws and Constitutions of the said Island And upon

Condition that he the said Thomas Jarvis his Execut.rs Admin.rs or Assigns

do and shall at the End or sooner Expiration hereof leave the aforesaid

Ground and premisses in like Good Condition and repair and not

suffer the said Ground or any Building that is or may be thereon to

run to ruin or Decay And upon Condition that he the said

Thomas Jarvis his Execut.rs Admin.rs or Assigns shall not sell or

dispose of this Lease or his or their Interest therein without the

leave and Consent of the Governour and Council for the time being

In Witness whereof We the said Governour and Council have to

the other part sett our hands and Affixed the Honble Companys

Seal the Thirteenth Day of October in the Twenty First Year

of the Reign of our Sovereign Lord George the Second by the

Grace of God of Great Brittain France and Ireland King

Defender of the Faith and so forth and in the Year of our Lord

1747 and the said Thomas Jarvis hath to these presents sett

his hand and Seal the Day and Year above written

Thomas Jarvis

Signed Sealed and

Delivered in the presence

of us.

Ja. Wright.

Tho. French

Thomas Jarvis held the James Valley plot for twenty-one years from the date of the grant, together with his heirs, executors, administrators and assigns.

Conditions attached. Jarvis and those following him owed loyalty to King George the Second, to his heirs and successors, and to the Company, and had to obey the island's rules. Payment came to twelve shillings a year, due at Michaelmas. At the end of the term, or whenever it closed earlier, he was to leave the ground and everything on it in the same good condition and repair, allowing nothing to fall into ruin. He could not sell the lease or any share in it without the Governor and Council agreeing first.

The Governor and Council signed and applied the Company's seal on 13 October 1747, in the twenty-first year of the reign of King George the Second, King of Great Britain, France and Ireland and Defender of the Faith. Jarvis signed and sealed the same day. Wright and Thomas French witnessed.

Interpretations

Twelve shillings covered three thousand six hundred square feet, against the ten shillings Thomas Willingham paid for three thousand on 13 January 1746 for the plot directly below. Two adjoining parcels on the same slope, let twenty-one months apart, carry rates that track area more closely than most town grants in this run, where charges elsewhere varied by several times for comparable ground.

The Company sealed this alongside Francis Junge's country lease the same day, so town and rural business again went through at one sitting. Wright and Thomas French attested both, the pairing that carried nearly every instrument across these years.

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Isl.d S.t Helena

The Lords Proprietors of this Island the Honble the United

Company of Merchants of England trading to the East Indies Do hereby

demise Grant Lease sett and to farm lett unto Sam.ll Doveton of the said

Island planter All that peice or parcel of Land containing by mensuration

twenty Acres Sictuate lying and being under and upon part of the ridge Comonly

called and known by the Name of the two Gum or Allom Ridges in the East

devision of the said Island Butting & bounding towards the North upon the

said Honble Companys Wast Land & next adjoyning to Land late belonging

to Giles Smith towards the South and West upon & next Adjoyning to the

Wast parcells of Land late belonging to Jonathan Doveton and towards the

East upon Lands now in the Possession of Nathan Sample To have and

to hold the said hereby demised twenty Acres of Gumwood Land with the Appurts

and every part thereof unto him the said Samuel Doveton his Heirs Exors Admors

or allowed Assigns from the day of the date hereof for and during all the time

space and term of twenty One Years from thence next ensueing Upon Condition

that he the said Samuel Doveton his Heirs Exors Admors or allowed Assigns

do alwayes bear true faith and allegeance to our Sovereign Lord King George

the Second his Heirs and Successors and true faith to them the said Honble

Company and their Successors and shall duely obey all the Laws and Constitutions

of the said Island Yeilding and paying therefore Yearly and Every Year

during the said Term of twenty One Years unto the said Honble Company

their Successors Agents or assigns the Yearly rent of five Shillings p.r Acre

in at or upon the feast of S.t Michael the Archangell in Every Year

And Upon Condition that he the said Samuel Doveton his Heirs Exors

Admors or Assigns shall and do imediately sett about and ffence in the

said Parcell of Land with a good and sufficient Wall ffence and when so

fenced and Inclosed do and shall keep and maintain the same in good heart

and Tenantable repair and do not suffer the same or any part thereof

to run to ruin or decay and shall also plant keep up and maintain the

full quantity and Proportion of Wood and Young Trees Pursuant to the law

of this Island in that Case made and Provided And also plant ffurze round

the said fences at such Propper Seasons of the Year as it will best grow in

or the Nature of the soil produce And do not nor shall alter the said fences

they being the bounds or Landmarks to the said Land and do not nor

shall sell or dispose of this Lease or his or their Interest therein without

the leave and Consent of the Governour and Council for the time being

In Witness Whereof we the said Gov.r & Council have to the Other part

sett there hands and affixed the Honble Companys Seal the Thirteenth

day of October in the twenty third Year of the reign of our Sovereign

Lord George the Second by the Grace of God of Great Brittain France

and Ireland King Defender of the faith and so forth And in the Year of

our Lord 1749 And the said Samuel Doveton hath hereunto sett his hand

and seal the day and Year abovewritten.

Sam Doveton

Sealed and Delivered

in the Presence of Us

Ja. Wright

Tho French

Memorandum,

Samuel Doveton holds Twenty one Acres and only pays Rent for Twenty on Account of Barreness.

Margin Notes:

Memorandum

Samuel Doveton holds Twenty one Acres and only pays Rent for Twenty on Account of Barreness

The Company let twenty-one acres to Samuel Doveton, a planter of St Helena, the extent taken by a recent measurement. The parcel lay under and against part of the ground commonly known as the Two Gun or Alarm Ridge, in the East Division. The Company's unallocated ground closed the north, next to land once belonging to Giles Smith. To the south and west lay parcels once Jonathan Doveton's, adjoining ground then in the occupation of Bratton Sample to the east.

Doveton took the twenty-one acres with everything attached, holding for twenty-one years from the date of the grant, together with his heirs, executors, administrators and assigns.

Conditions attached. Doveton and those following him owed loyalty to King George the Second, to his heirs and successors, and to the Company, and had to obey the island's rules. Payment came to £0 5s 0d for each acre every year, due at Michaelmas. A note added in the margin recorded that although he held twenty-one acres he paid rent on twenty only, the Company allowing the difference because part of the ground was barren, so his yearly charge came to £5 0s 0d.

He had to fence the parcel at once with a good, sound wall, and once enclosed to keep it in sound and tenantable repair, allowing no part to fall into ruin. He had to plant and maintain the full share of wood and young trees under the island's timber rules. Furze had to be set around the fences wherever the soil would best carry it, planted at the right seasons. He could not shift the fences, since those lines marked out the boundaries, and could not sell the lease or any share in it without the Governor and Council agreeing first.

The Governor and Council signed and applied the Company's seal on 13 October 1747, in the twenty-first year of the reign of King George the Second, King of Great Britain, France and Ireland and Defender of the Faith. Doveton signed and sealed the same day. Wright and Thomas French witnessed.

Interpretations

The Two Gun or Alarm Ridge takes its name from the guns set there to sound the alarm. The Company let Giles Smith twenty acres of gumwood under that same ridge on 6 September 1726, the plan showing his holding in two narrow pieces, with Jonathan Doveton's plots to the west and east and Mudge's land beyond. Both those neighbours reappear here, so this parcel sits directly against ground Smith held twenty-one years earlier and now stands recorded as once his.

Jonathan Doveton is recorded as a former holder on two sides. Richard Goodwin, Samuel Doveton and John Doveton had taken eight acres and a half in trust for his children under the grant of 30 April 1745, and his death runs through the boundaries of the surrounding grants ever since. Samuel Doveton taking ground pressed against parcels once his kinsman's continues the family's long hold on that quarter.

The abatement is written as a marginal note rather than into the body of the deed, and it follows the form the Company used for Edward Bagley's thirty-nine acres at the sitting of 30 September 1738, where a memorandum named the acreage he would pay on and left the rate untouched. Naming the acreage counted rather than fixing a flat sum kept the charge tied to the standard rate applied across every holding.

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Island S.t Helena

The Lords Proprietors of this Island the

Honourable the United Company of Merchants of England Trading

to the East Indies Do herby Demise grant Lease and to

Farm Lett unto John Leech Sen.r of the Said Island Planter All

those two Peices or Parcells of Land Cantaining by Mensuration Ten

Acres Sictuate lying and being in the East Devison of the Said

Island two Acres thereof Butting and Bounding East West

North and South every way on the Honourable Companys

waste Land and the other Eight Acres Butting North on

the said John Leeches own Land South and West on

Land now in the Possession of Joshua Worrall and

East on the Honourable Companys waste Land

To have and to hold the Said hereby Demised Ten Acres

of Land with the Appurtenances and Every Part and Parcell thereof

Unto him the Said John Leech his Heirs Executors Administrators or

Assigns from the Day of the Date hereof and During all the time

Space and Term of twenty One Years from thence Next Ensuing Upon

Condition that he the Said John Leech his Heirs or Allowed Assigns

Do almayes bear True Faith and Allegiance to Our Sovereign Lord

King George the Second His Heirs and Successors and True Faith

to them the Said Honourable Company and there Successors and Shall

duly Obey all the Laws and Constitutions of the Said Island

Yeilding and Paying therefore Yearly and Every Year During

the Said Term and Time of twenty One Years Unto the Said Honourable

Company their Successors Agents or Assigns the Yearly Rent of five

Shillings p.r Acre in at or upon the Feast of S.t Michael the Archangel

Yearly And Upon Condition that he Said John Leech his

Heirs Executors Administrators or assigns shall and do immediately set about and fence

in the said parcel of Land with a good and sufficient Wall fence and when so fenced and

Inclosed do and shall keep and maintain the same in good heart and Tenantable repair

and do not suffer the same or any part thereof to run to ruin or decay and shall also plant

keep up and maintain the full quantity and proportion of Wood and young Trees

pursuant to the Law of this Island in that case made and provided and also plant

Furze round the said Fences at such proper seasons of the Year as it will best grow

in or the Nature of the soil produce and do not nor shall alter the said fences they

being the bounds or Land marks to the said Lands and do not nor shall sell or dispose

The Company let ten acres to John Leech senior, a planter of St Helena, the extent taken by a recent measurement. The ground came in two pieces, both in the East Division.

Two acres lay ringed by the Company's unallocated ground on the east, west, north and south.

The remaining eight acres met Leech's own land to the north. Ground then held by Joshua Worrall closed the south and west. The Company's unallocated ground ran along the east.

Leech took both pieces with everything attached, holding for twenty-one years from the date of the grant, together with his heirs, executors, administrators and assigns.

Conditions attached. Leech and those following him owed loyalty to King George the Second, to his heirs and successors, and to the Company, and had to obey the island's rules. Payment came to £0 5s 0d for each acre every year, due at Michaelmas, which ran to £2 10s 0d across the ten acres.

He had to fence the ground at once with a good, sound wall, and once enclosed to keep it in sound and tenantable repair, allowing no part to fall into ruin. He had to plant and maintain the full share of wood and young trees under the island's timber rules. Furze had to be set around the fences wherever the soil would best carry it, planted at the right seasons. He could not shift the fences, since those lines marked out the boundaries.

Interpretations

The two-acre piece stood surrounded by Company ground on every side, so its whole fencing fell on Leech with no neighbour's wall to serve any part of the line. The eight acres met his own land on one side and Worrall's on two, and the Company drew both into a single grant under one charge, so the tenth to be kept in wood was reckoned against the ten acres together rather than each fragment separately.

Joshua Worrall on two boundaries had taken eight acres in Deep Valley on 12 March 1744, that parcel likewise fitted between his own freehold and Company ground. He bought James Harding's interest in thirty-one acres of Sandy Bay leasehold for £122 0s 0d in 1739 and sold it on to Thomas Colgrove for £150 0s 0d in 1742.

The Leech family ran through the register across several generations, from Robert Leech the free planter, dead by 1716, through Richard, Daniel, Thomas, Isaac and Ebenezer Leech. A John Leech, sergeant, bought twenty-three acres of Deep Valley leasehold from Joseph Desfountain for £35 0s 0d on 3 September 1741, and John Leech junior, yeoman, mortgaged a Southwark side house to Augustine Balls for £50 0s 0d about 12 July 1753 and lost the equity of redemption to John Clark in 1756.

A long line of decorative flourishes fills the gap the clerk left between the boundary description and the body of the grant, closing off the space rather than leaving it open to later insertion.

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of this Lease or his or their Interest therein without the Leave And

Consent of the Governour and Council for the Time being In Witness

Whereof We the Said Governour and Council have to the other hand sett Our

Hands and Affixed the Honourable Companys Seal this 5 Day of

September in the twenty Second Year of the Reign of Our Sovereign

Lord King George the Second by the Grace of God of Great Brittain

France and Ireland King Defender of the Faith and So Forth And

in the Year of Our Lord One Thousand Seven Hundred and Forty Eight

and the Said John Leech hath to these presents Sett his Hand and

Seal the Day and Year above Written

Signed Sealed and

Deliver'd in the Presence

of Us

Island S.t Helena

The Lords Proprietors of this Island the Honourable the United Company of

Merchants of England trading to the East Indies do hereby demise Grant Lease

and to Farm Lett unto Thomas Reynolds of the said Island All that peice or parcell

of Ground Sictuate lying and being in James's Valley butting East and West on the

Honble Companys Wast Land South on Thomas Willingham and North on the said Honble

Companys Wast Land containing in front forty three feet and in depth Sixty feet with the

Appurtenances To have and to hold unto the said Thomas Reynolds his Executors

Administrators and Assigns from the day of the date hereof for and during the Term of

Twenty One Years from thence next ensueing Upon Condition that he the said Thomas

Reynolds his Executors Administrators and Assigns do and shall bear true faith and

Allegiance to our Sovereign Lord King George the Second his Heirs and Successors

and true faith to them the said Honble Company and their Successors and shall

duely obey all the laws and Constitutions of the said Island and Upon Condition that he

the said Thomas Reynolds his Executors Administrators and Assigns do and shall at the

end or other sooner determination of this Lease Surrender and deliver up the aforesaid

Premisses with the Appurtenances and all such Edifices and Buildings as shall or

may be thereon in good Condition and Repair and shall not sell or dispose of this

Lease or his or their Interest therein without the leave and Consent of the Governour

and Council for the time being Yeilding and paying therefore Yearly and every

Year during the Term hereby granted unto them the said Honourable Company their

Successors Agents or Assigns the rent or Sum of Ten Shillings in at or upon the

Feast Day of Saint Michael the Archangell Yearly In Witness Whereof We the

John Leech could not sell his lease or any share in it without the Governor and Council agreeing first.

The Governor and Council signed and applied the Company's seal on 5 September 1748, in the twenty-second year of the reign of King George the Second, King of Great Britain, France and Ireland and Defender of the Faith. Leech signed and sealed the same day. The space left for the witnesses' names stands empty.

The Company then let a piece of ground to Thomas Reynolds of St Helena. The plot lay in James Valley, measuring forty-three feet across the front and sixty feet in depth. The Company's unallocated ground closed the east, west and north. Thomas Willingham's ground lay to the south.

Reynolds took the plot with everything attached, holding for twenty-one years from the date of the grant, together with his executors, administrators and assigns. He and those following him owed loyalty to King George the Second, to his heirs and successors, and to the Company, and had to obey the island's rules. At the end of the term, or whenever it closed earlier, he was to give up the ground with everything on it, including any buildings raised there, in good condition and repair. He could not sell the lease or any share in it without the Governor and Council agreeing first. Payment came to ten shillings a year, due at Michaelmas.

Interpretations

Thomas Willingham's ground now fixes the southern boundary of a third plot on the same slope. He took his own parcel at the upper end of James Valley on 13 January 1746, above the house then occupied by Elizabeth Newland. Thomas Jarvis took ground directly above Willingham's on 13 October 1747, and Reynolds takes ground above him again here. The Company was letting the upper valley in a line, each new plot fixed by the household below it.

Ten shillings covered two thousand five hundred and eighty square feet, against the twelve shillings Jarvis paid for three thousand six hundred and the ten shillings Willingham paid for three thousand. Three plots on the same slope let within thirty-two months carry charges that track area more closely than town rents elsewhere in the register, where comparable ground varied by several times.

The clerk left the witness line blank on the Leech grant, the same gap the register shows on the Seale and Hayes lease of 1747 and on James Vaughan's parcel of 30 September 1738.

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said Governour and Council have to the other part sett our hands and Affixed the Honourable

Companys Seal this First day of December in the Twenty first Year of the reign

of our said Sovereign Lord George the Second by the Grace of God of Great Brittain

France and Ireland King Defender of the Faith and so forth and in the Year

of our Lord 1747 and the said Thomas Reynolds hath to these Presents sett

his hand and Seal the day and Year Above written

Thomas Reynolds

Signed Sealed and

Delivered in the Presence

of Us

Tho French

Bazett

Island S.t Helena

The Lords Proprietors of this Island the Honourable the United Company of

Merchants of England traiding to the East Indies do hereby demise Grant Lease

and to Farm lett unto Baron Deloffe of the said Island all that peice or parcell of

Ground Sictuate lying and being at the upper End of James's Valley butting North

on Thomas Jarvis and East West and South on the Honble Companys Wast

Land Containing Sixty Feet in Front and Sixty Feet in depth with the Appurtenances

To have and to hold unto the said Baron Deloffe his Executors Administrators

and Assigns from the day of the date hereof for and during the Term of Twenty One

Years from thence next ensueing Upon Condition that he the said Baron Deloffe

his Executors Administrators and Assigns do and shall bear true faith and

Allegiance to our Sovereign Lord King George the Second his Heirs and Successors

and true faith to them the said Honble Company and their Successors and shall

duly Obey all the Laws and Constitutions of the said Island And upon Condition

That he the said Baron Deloffe his Executors Administrators and Assigns do and

shall at the End or other sooner determination of this Lease Surrender and deliver

up the aforesaid Premisses with the Appurtenances and all such Edifices and Buildings

as shall or may be thereon in good Condition and repair and shall not sell or dispose

of this Lease or his or their Interest therein without the Leave and Consent of the

Governour and Council for the time being Yeilding and Paying therefore Yearly

and every Year during the Term hereby Granted unto the said Honble Company

The Governor and Council signed and applied the Company's seal to the Reynolds grant on 1 December 1747, in the twenty-first year of the reign of King George the Second, King of Great Britain, France and Ireland and Defender of the Faith. Thomas Reynolds signed and sealed the same day. Thomas French and Bazett witnessed.

The Company then let a piece of ground to Baron Deloffe of St Helena. The plot lay at the upper end of James Valley and measured sixty feet across the front and sixty feet in depth. Thomas Jarvis's ground closed the north. The Company's unallocated ground ran along the east, west and south.

Deloffe took the plot with everything attached, holding for twenty-one years from the date of the grant, together with his executors, administrators and assigns. He and those following him owed loyalty to King George the Second, to his heirs and successors, and to the Company, and had to obey the island's rules. At the end of the term, or whenever it closed earlier, he was to give up the ground with everything on it, including any buildings raised there, in good condition and repair. He could not sell the lease or any share in it without the Governor and Council agreeing first.

Interpretations

The Reynolds grant carries a date of 1 December 1747, which places it ten months before the Leech lease sealed on 5 September 1748 that stands above it on the preceding leaf. The register does not run in strict date order through this stretch, so the clerk entered instruments as they came to hand rather than as they were sealed.

Deloffe's plot continues the line of grants running up the valley slope. Thomas Willingham took ground above Elizabeth Newland's house on 13 January 1746, Thomas Jarvis above Willingham on 13 October 1747, Thomas Reynolds above Jarvis on 1 December 1747, and Deloffe now takes ground above Jarvis again. Four plots in under two years, each fixed by the holder below.

The name Deloffe carries a continental European form, and the register records several such families settled on the island alongside the English planters. The Desfountains were of Huguenot descent, James Dubois likewise, and the Audouart family reaches back to Bartrant Audouart the Company smith of the 1690s. Samuel Des Fountaine, a soldier, bought ten acres at Youngs Valley from Sergeant Thomas Dixon on 24 November 1701.

Bazett witnessed alongside Thomas French, the first appearance of that name among the attesting circle in this run. The Bazett family had held ground since the 1690s through Matthew Bazett the councillor and surveyor, and Henry and Matthew Bazett both appear as substantial holders and witnesses through the 1750s.

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their Successors Agents or Assigns the Yearly Rent or Sum of Twelve Shillings

in at or upon the Feast day of Saint Michael the Archangell Yearly

In Witness Whereof We the said Governour and Council have to the other part sett

our Hands and Affixed the Honble Companys Seal this first day of

December in the Twenty first Year of the Reign of our said Sovereign

Lord George the Second by the grace of God of Great Brittain France

and Ireland King Defender of the Faith and so forth and in the Year of our

Lord 1747 And the said Baron Deloffe hath to these presents sett his hand and

Seale the day and Year above Written.

Signed Sealed and

Delivered in the Presence

of Us.

Island S.t Helena

The Lords Proprietors of this Island The Honourable the United Company

of Merchants of England trading to the East Indies Do hereby demise Grant Lease

and to Farm Lett unto Thomas Greentree of the said Island All that peice or Parcell

of Ground Situate behind and Adjoyning to the House of the said Thomas Greentree

in James's Valley containing in Length on the East Part Nine feet and on the West Part

Eleven feet In Breadth on the North Part thirty four feet and on the South Part thirty

Eight feet butting East and South on John Desfountain North on the said Thomas

Greentree and West on the Honble Companys Wast Land with the Appurtenances

To have and to hold unto the said Thomas Greentree his Executors Administrators

and Assigns from the day of the date hereof for and during all the Time space and

Term of Twenty One Years from thence next Ensueing Yeilding and Paying

therefore Yearly and Every Year during the Term hereby granted unto them the said Honble

Company their Successors Agents or Assigns the Rent or Sum of Five Shillings at or

upon the Feast Day of Saint Michael the Archangell in Every Year Upon Condition

That he the said Thomas Greentree his Executors Administrators and Assigns Do and shall

bear true Faith and Allegiance unto our Sovereign Lord George the Second his Heirs &

Successors and true Faith to them the said Honourable Company and their Successors

Baron Deloffe owed twelve shillings a year for his James Valley plot, due at Michaelmas.

The Governor and Council signed and applied the Company's seal on 1 December 1747, in the twenty-first year of the reign of King George the Second, King of Great Britain, France and Ireland and Defender of the Faith. Deloffe signed and sealed the same day. The space left for the witnesses' names stands empty.

The Company then let a piece of ground to Thomas Greentree of St Helena. The plot lay behind and adjoining his own house in James Valley. It ran nine feet along the east and eleven feet along the west, measuring thirty-four feet across the north and thirty-eight feet across the south. John Desfountain's ground closed the east and south. Greentree's own house lay to the north. The Company's unallocated ground ran along the west.

Greentree took the plot with everything attached, holding for twenty-one years from the date of the grant, together with his executors, administrators and assigns. Payment came to five shillings a year, due at Michaelmas. He and those following him owed loyalty to King George the Second, to his heirs and successors, and to the Company.

Interpretations

The plot is a fragment of back ground behind an existing house, the kind the register records repeatedly. The Company sold William Gaa four such parcels on 31 March 1730, granted Thomas Greentree a strip of eighty-eight feet by thirteen behind his own yard on 23 September 1740, and let plots behind the yards of Francis Wrangham, Charles Steward, Richard Goodwin and Frances Carne across 1737 and 1738. Such ground had no value to anyone but the householder in front of it.

Four measurements describe a plot that widens from east to west and from north to south, so the ground was not a regular rectangle. The register handles such shapes by naming the neighbour along each side, as with Charles Steward's plot of 19 July 1737 and John Barton's of 13 January 1746.

Greentree already held ground behind his James Valley house. The strip granted on 23 September 1740 for £6 0s 0d enlarged the plot of the dwelling he bought from John Goodwin junior on 21 June 1739 for £250 0s 0d, that purchase carrying £178 0s 0d deferred to 24 June 1745. This grant adds a further fragment to the same holding seven years later.

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And shall duely Obey all the Laws and Constitutions of the said Island And Upon

Condition that he the said Thomas Greentree his Executors Administrators and Assigns

do and shall at the End or Sooner determination of this Lease Yeild Up and

Surrender the said peice of Ground and premisses with the Appurtenances togeather

with all Edifices and Buildings that are or may be thereon in Good Order Condition

and repair And Upon Condition that he the said Thomas Greentree his Executors

Administrators or Assigns do not nor shall sell or dispose of this Lease or his or

their Intrest therein without the Leave and Consent of the Governour & Councel

for the Time being In Witness whereof We the said Governour and Council have to

the other part sett our hands and Affixed the Honourable Companys Seale this

First day of December In the Twenty first Year of the Reign of our Sovereign

Lord George the Second by the Grace of God of Great Brittain France and Ireland

King Defender of the faith and so forth and in the Year of Our Lord 1747 And the

said Thomas Greentree hath to these Presents Set his hand and Seale the day and

Year last mentioned

Tho Greentree

Signed Sealed and

Delivered in the Presence

of Us

Tho French

Island S.t Helena

The Lords Proprietors of this Island The Honourable the United Company of

Merchants of England trading to the East Indies Do hereby Demise Grant Lease

and to Farm Lett unto Samuel Doveton Joseph Desfountain and John Desfountain

Executors of John Desfountain Deceased All that Peice or Parcell of Ground Sictuate

behind and Adjoyning to the House of the said John Desfountain deceased in James's

Valley containing in depth on the South part forty feet and on the North part thirty

Eight feet in bredth on the East part nine feet and on the West part Eleven feet

butting South on John Barton North on Thomas Greentree East on the said John

Desfountain deceased and West on the Honble Companys Wast Land with the

Appurtenances To have and to hold unto the said Samuel Doveton

Joseph Desfountain and John Desfountain their Executors Administrators and

Assigns from the day of the date hereof for and during the Term of Twenty One

Thomas Greentree had to obey the island's rules. At the end of the term, or whenever it closed earlier, he was to give up the plot with everything on it, including any buildings raised there, in good order and repair. He could not sell the lease or any share in it without the Governor and Council agreeing first.

The Governor and Council signed and applied the Company's seal on 1 December 1747, in the twenty-first year of the reign of King George the Second, King of Great Britain, France and Ireland and Defender of the Faith. Greentree signed and sealed the same day. Thomas French witnessed.

The Company then let a piece of ground to Samuel Doveton, Joseph Desfountain and John Desfountain, acting as executors of the late John Desfountain. The plot lay behind and adjoining the house of the late John Desfountain in James Valley. It measured forty feet in depth along the south and thirty-eight feet along the north, running nine feet across the east and eleven feet across the west. John Barton's ground closed the south. Thomas Greentree's lay to the north. Ground once the late John Desfountain's ran along the east, and the Company's unallocated land along the west.

The three executors took the plot with everything attached, holding for twenty-one years from the date of the grant, together with their executors, administrators and assigns.

Interpretations

The two plots sealed on this leaf adjoin one another. Greentree's ran nine feet along the east and eleven along the west, with John Desfountain's ground to the east and south, and this parcel carries the identical nine and eleven feet with Greentree named to the north. The Company was dividing a single strip of back ground between two neighbouring householders at one sitting, each taking the part that lay behind his own dwelling.

John Barton on the southern boundary took his own James Valley plot on 13 January 1746, twenty-one feet across the front, eighty in depth and fifty across the back, with the water run to the west. That parcel and these two sit in the same crowded stretch of the valley floor, where the register fixes every holding by the households pressing against it.

John Desfountain the elder had been dead since at least earlier that year. He held ground across the island through the 1730s and 1740s, sharing four acres and a half on the Main Ridge with Isaac Wood from 2 February 1730, taking thirteen acres in Sandy Bay and seven acres and a half near Rupert's Valley at the sitting of 30 September 1738, and acting as executor for the late Sutton Isaac's widow and eight children at that same sitting. His marriage to Mary, eldest daughter of John Alexander, tied him to the Alexander holdings.

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Years from thence next Ensueing Yeilding and paying therefore Yearly and every

Year during the Term hereby granted unto them the said Honble Company their Successors

Agents or Assigns the Rent or Sum of Five Shillings at or upon the Feast Day of

S.t Michael the Archangell In Trust for and for the Use of the Children of the said

John Desfountain deceased their Executors Administrators and Assigns Upon Condition

that the said Children their Executors Administrators and Assigns do and shall bear

true faith and Allegiance to our Sovereign Lord George the Second his Heirs and

Successors and true faith to them the said Honble Company and their Successors and

shall duely Obey all the Laws and Constitutions of the said Island and do and shall

at the End or sooner determination of this Lease Yeild up and Surrender the said peice

of Ground and premisses with the Appurtenances in good Order Condition and Repair

and do not nor shall sell or dispose of this Lease or his or their Intrest therein

without the Leave and Consent of the Governour and Council for the time being In

Witness whereof We the said Governour and Council have to the other part sett our

hands and Affixed the Honble Companys Seale this First day of December In

the Twenty first Year of the Reign of Our Sovereign Lord George the Second by the

Grace of God of Great Brittain France & Ireland King Defender of the faith and

so forth and In the Year of our Lord 1747 And the said Samuel Doveton Joseph

Desfountain and John Desfountain as Executors aforesaid hath to these presents set

their hand and Seales the day and Year above written.

Signed Sealed and

Delivered in the presence

of Us

Tho French

Bazett

John Desfountain

The three executors held the plot for twenty-one years from the date of the grant. Payment came to five shillings a year, due at Michaelmas. They held not for themselves but in trust for the children of the late John Desfountain, and for those children's executors, administrators and assigns.

The children and those following them owed loyalty to King George the Second, to his heirs and successors, and to the Company, and had to obey the island's rules. At the end of the term, or whenever it closed earlier, the ground and everything on it was to be given up in good order and repair. Neither the executors nor those succeeding them could sell the lease or any share in it without the Governor and Council agreeing first.

The Governor and Council signed and applied the Company's seal on 1 December 1747, in the twenty-first year of the reign of King George the Second, King of Great Britain, France and Ireland and Defender of the Faith. Samuel Doveton, Joseph Desfountain and John Desfountain signed and sealed the same day as executors. Thomas French and Bazett witnessed. John Desfountain's signature stands beside four seals.

Interpretations

Four seals appear where three men sealed, so one carries a mark beyond the three executors, possibly the Company's own or a fourth impression set by one of the three. A trust bound each holder in his own person, since any one might later answer for the others' handling of the estate, and the register shows the same on the Boyd trust of 9 April 1745 and the Bazett trust of 16 April 1745.

A back plot of a few hundred square feet held in trust for children is among the smallest settlements in the register. The Company applied the same form to it as to the fifty-five acres held for the Alexander family in 1738, so a fragment behind a town house passed under conditions identical to a substantial country estate.

Joseph and John Desfountain both act as executors of their late father while presumably standing among the children the trust benefits. The register shows the same double position in Samuel Alexander, who came of age and joined Richard Beale as executor of his father's will by 9 November 1742 while remaining one of the six children entitled under the earlier settlement.

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Island S.t Helena

The Lords Proprietors of this Island the Honble the

United Comp.a of Merchants of England trading to the East Indies Do hereby Demise

Lease & to farm lett unto John Barton Lieut all that peice or Parcel of Ground Situate

lying & being in James's Valley Contain.g in Front One hund.d & five feet, in back one

hund.d & five feet bounding East on the path called the side path, West one the Water Run

South on the Honble Comp.s West Land & North on the said John Barton with the Appurtenances

To have & to hold the aforesaid Premisses with their & every of their Appurtenances unto the

said John Barton his Exors Administrators & Assigns from the day of the date hereof for &

during & unto the full End & term of Twenty One Years from thence next Ensuing

Yeilding & paying therefore Yearly & every Year during the Term hereby granted unto

the said Honble Comp.a their Success.rs Agents or Assigns the sum of Eighteen shill p.r Annum on

the feast day of S.t Michael the Arch angle in every Year Upon Condition that

he said John Barton his Exors Admors & Assigns do and shall build a good Bridge on

the Water Run facing the Great Barracks Sufficient for the safe passing & Repassing

of foot passengers & do & shall keep & Maintain the same in good Condition & Repair

And upon Condition that he the said John Barton his Exors Admors & Assigns do & shall

bear true faith & Allegiance to our Sovereign Lord George the Second his Heirs &

Successors & true faith to them the said Honble Comp.s & their Success.rs & upon Condition

that he the said John Barton his Exors Administr.rs & Assigns do & shall at the end or sooner

Expiration hereof leave the same Ground & premisses in like good Condition & Repair and

not suffer the said Ground or any build.g that is or may be thereon to Run to Ruin or decay

And upon Condition that he the said John Barton his Exors Admin.rs & Assigns

shall not sell or Dispose of this Lease or his or their Interest therein without the

Leave & Consent of the Gov.r & Council for the time being In Witness whereof we the

said Gov.r & Council have to the other part sett our hands & affixed the Honble Comp.s Seal

the twenty Second day December in the Twenty first Year of the reign of our said

Sovereign Lord George the Second by the Grace of God of Great Brittain France &

Ireland King defender of the faith & so forth and in the Year of our Lord 1747

and the said John Barton hath to these Presents sett his hand & Seal the

Day & Year above Written

Signd Seald & delivered

In the presence of Us

The Company let a piece of ground to John Barton, a lieutenant. The plot lay in James Valley, measuring one hundred and five feet across the front and one hundred and five feet across the back. The path known as the side path closed the east. The water run lay to the west. The Company's unallocated ground ran along the south, and Barton's own ground along the north.

Barton took the plot with everything attached, holding for twenty-one years from the date of the grant, together with his executors, administrators and assigns. Payment came to eighteen shillings a year, due at Michaelmas.

He had to build a good bridge over the water run, facing the Great Barracks, strong enough to carry foot passengers safely, and to keep it in sound condition and repair throughout the term. He and those following him owed loyalty to King George the Second, to his heirs and successors, and to the Company. At the end of the term, or whenever it closed earlier, he was to leave the ground and everything on it in the same good condition and repair, allowing nothing to fall into ruin. He could not sell the lease or any share in it without the Governor and Council agreeing first.

The Governor and Council signed and applied the Company's seal on 22 December 1747, in the twenty-first year of the reign of King George the Second, King of Great Britain, France and Ireland and Defender of the Faith. Barton signed and sealed the same day.

Interpretations

The bridge is the striking term. Barton took ground on the town side of the water run and was made to build and maintain a public crossing at his own cost, facing the barracks where the garrison lodged. The Company charged him rent as well, so the bridge came as an addition to the eighteen shillings rather than in place of it, and the register shows nothing else quite like it among these town grants.

Barton had taken his first James Valley plot on 13 January 1746, twenty-one feet across the front and eighty in depth, with the water run to the west and his own ground to the north. This second parcel adjoins that one, and the water run again forms a boundary, so he was extending along the same channel that carried water down the valley to the shipping.

The Great Barracks fixing the far side of the bridge marks the growth of the garrison establishment. The register records the Company's barracks as a boundary in James Valley by 5 September 1759, when Mary Burnham bought the house standing between Gabriel Isaacke's dwelling and the barracks, and the increase in troops through the war years pressed more soldiers into the valley.

Eighteen shillings covered a plot of some eleven thousand square feet, which sits well below the rate on the smaller parcels let further up the slope. The bridge accounts for the difference, since the Company took a public work in part payment for the ground.

260

259

Island S.t Helena

The Lords Proprietors of this Island the Honourable the United Company

of Merchants of England trading to the East Indies Do hereby demise grant Lease

& to farm lett unto Tho.s Colgrove of the said Island All those two peices or Parcells of

Ground Containing fourteen Acres, Twelve Acres and an half, Butting & Bound.g South

on Land late belonging to Gab.l Harper East on the said Tho.s Colgroves own Land and

North & West one the Hon.s Companys Waste Land & the other One Acre & an half called by

the Name of Simons Waterfall bound.d East on John Leeches Land North West & South

on the Honble Companys wast Land To have & to hold unto the said Thomas

Colgrove his Execut.rs Administ.rs & Assigns from the day of the date hereof for and during

the Term of Twenty One Years from thence next Ensueing Yeilding & Paying

therefore Yearly & every Year during the Term hereby granted unto them the said Hon.ble

Company their Successors Agents or Assigns the Rent or Sum of Five Shillings p.r Acre

at or upon the Feast Day of S.t Michael the Archangle Yearly Upon Condition

that he the said Tho.s Colgrove his Execut.rs Administ.rs & Assigns Do and shall bear

true faith & Allegiance to our Sovereign Lord King George the Second his Heirs

Successors & true faith to them the said Honble Company & their Successors

& Shall duely obey all the Laws & Constitutions of the said Island And upon

Condition that he the said Tho.s Colgrove his Execut.rs Administ.rs or Assigns do and

shall well & sufficiently fence in the said Land & keep up & Maintain the

same together with the full Quantity of Wood thereon & do & shall at the End

or Sooner determination of this Lease Yeild up & Surrender the Same in good Order

Condition & Repair And upon Condition that he the said Tho.s Colgrove his Heirs

Administ.rs & Assigns do not nor shall sell or dispose of this Lease or his or

their Interest therein without the leave & Consent of the Gov.r & Council for the time

being In Witness Whereof We the said Gov.r & Council have to the other

part sett our hand & Affixed the Hon.r Companys Seal this Twenty Second

Day of March in the Twenty first Year of the Reign of our said Sovereign

Lord George the Second by the Grace of God of Great Brittain France and

Ireland King Defender of the faith and so forth And in the Year of our Lord

One Thousand Seven hundred and forty Seven and the said Tho.s Colgrove

hath to these Presents Sett his hand & Seal the Day & Year above Written

Signd Seald & Delivered

In the presence of Us

Tho Colgrave

Bazett

The Company let fourteen acres to Thomas Colgrave of St Helena, in two pieces.

Twelve acres and a half lay bounded south by land once belonging to Gabriel Harper. Colgrave's own ground closed the east. The Company's unallocated land ran along the north and west.

The remaining acre and a half went by the name of Simons Waterfall, lying behind ground held by John Leech. The Company's unallocated land surrounded it on the north, west and south.

Colgrave took both pieces with everything attached, holding for twenty-one years from the date of the grant, together with his executors, administrators and assigns. Payment came to £0 5s 0d for each acre every year, due at Michaelmas, which ran to £3 10s 0d across the fourteen acres.

Conditions attached. Colgrave and those following him owed loyalty to King George the Second, to his heirs and successors, and to the Company, and had to obey the island's rules. He had to fence the ground properly and keep it up, together with the full share of wood on it. At the end of the term, or whenever it closed earlier, he was to give the whole up in good order and repair. He could not sell the lease or any share in it without the Governor and Council agreeing first.

The Governor and Council signed and applied the Company's seal on 22 March 1747, in the twenty-first year of the reign of King George the Second, King of Great Britain, France and Ireland and Defender of the Faith. Colgrave signed and sealed the same day. Bazett witnessed.

Interpretations

Simons Waterfall reaches back through the register. John Burling took ten acres in Deep Valley on 26 January 1730 reserved solely for growing fuel timber at the near-nominal rate of one shilling and sixpence an acre, that parcel bounded west by leased ground John Worrall held under Simons Waterfall, and the grant carried the water and watercourses rising there. Thomas Colgrave had also bought two acres and a half called Simons Waste Fall together with Joshua Worrall's thirty-one acres and a quarter of Sandy Bay leasehold for £150 0s 0d in 1742.

Colgrave appears earlier taking fifteen acres of cabbage tree land at the head of Deep Valley, sealed 18 March 1743, the ground bounded on two sides by land once Richard Slaughter's. His Sandy Bay purchase of 1742 had run from James Harding through Joshua Worrall before reaching him, bounded by Captain John Bazett, Samuel Doveton, Thomas Alley and Richard Tinsley.

Gabriel Harper is recorded as a former holder on the southern boundary. He took thirty-two acres at the sitting of 30 September 1738 at a yearly charge of £8 0s 0d, the second heaviest on any single holding that day, and acted with Thomas Greentree as executor for the widow and three daughters of the late Joseph Harding. His ground fixed the bounds of several parcels across that sitting, and his orphans held a James Valley house by 1753.

261

260

Island S.t Helena

The Lords Proprietors of this Island the Honble the United

Company of Merchants of England trading to the East Indies Do hereby demise grant

sett & to farm Lett unto Joshua Worrall of the said Island All that peice or Parcell of

Ground Contain.g Seventeen Acres Sictuate lying & being in Deep Valley in the East

Devision of the said Island butting & bounding East upon John Leech North & West upon the

said Joshua Worrall & South upon Land late belong.g to John Boyd dec.d To have and

to hold unto the said Joshua Worrall his Execut.rs Administ.rs & Assigns from the day of

the date hereof for & during the term of Twenty One Years from thence next Ensueing

Upon Condition that he the said Joshua Worrall his Execut.rs Administ.rs & Assigns

do & shall bear true faith & Allegiance to our Sovereign Lord King George the Second

his Heirs & Successors & true faith to them the said Honble Company & their

Successors & shall duely obey all the Laws & Constitutions of the said Island

Upon Condition also that he the said Joshua Worrall his Exors Administ.rs

or Assigns do and shall well & sufficiently fence in the said Land & when so fenced

do & shall well keep up & Maintain the same together with the full Quantity

of Wood thereon & do & shall at the end or sooner Determination of this Lease

Yeild up & Surrender the same in good Order Condition & Repair Yeilding

and Paying therefore yearly & every Year during the Term hereby granted

unto them the said Honble Company their Success.rs Agents or Assigns the Rent

or Sum of Five Shill p.r Acre at or upon the feast day of S.t Michael the

Archangell in Every Year And upon Condition that he the said Joshua

Worrall his Exors Admors or Assigns do not nor shall sell or dispose of this

Lease or his or their Interest therein without the leave & Consent of the Gov.r

& Council for the time being In Witness Whereof we the said Gov.r

& Council have to the other Part sett our hands & Affixed the Honble

Companys Seal this Twenty third day of Feb.ry in the Twenty first Year

of the Reign of our said Sovereign Lord George the Second by the grace of

God of Great Brittain France & Ireland King Defender of the faith and

so forth And in the Year of our Lord 1747 And the said Joshua Worrall

hath to these Presents sett his hand & Seal the day and Year

above Written

Jos Worrall

Signd Seald & Delivered

In the Presence of Us

Bazett

The Company let seventeen acres to Joshua Worrall of St Helena. The parcel lay in Deep Valley, in the East Division. John Leech's land closed the east. Worrall's own ground ran along the north and west. To the south lay land once belonging to the late John Boyd.

Worrall took the seventeen acres, holding for twenty-one years from the date of the grant, together with his executors, administrators and assigns.

Conditions attached. Worrall and those following him owed loyalty to King George the Second, to his heirs and successors, and to the Company, and had to obey the island's rules. He had to fence the ground properly and keep it up, together with the full share of wood on it. At the end of the term, or whenever it closed earlier, he was to give the whole up in good order and repair. Payment came to £0 5s 0d for each acre every year, due at Michaelmas, which ran to £4 5s 0d across the parcel. He could not sell the lease or any share in it without the Governor and Council agreeing first.

The Governor and Council signed and applied the Company's seal on 23 February 1747, in the twenty-first year of the reign of King George the Second, King of Great Britain, France and Ireland and Defender of the Faith. Worrall signed and sealed the same day. Bazett witnessed.

Interpretations

John Leech's land closing the east matches the eight-acre piece the Company let him in the East Division on 5 September 1748, where Worrall's ground formed the southern and western boundaries. The two men held adjoining parcels and each grant fixes the other, so the Company was letting that quarter of Deep Valley between the pair of them.

John Boyd, recorded here as dead on the southern boundary, is the man whose children took two acres and a half of cabbage tree land at the head of Pleasant Valley under the trust sealed 9 April 1745, held for them by Matthew Purling, John Desfountain and Richard Beale. His ground now marks a boundary in a different valley, so his estate had reached across more than one quarter.

Worrall had been building in Deep Valley for some years. He took eight acres there on 12 March 1744, fitted between his own freehold and Company ground, with leased land Elizabeth Allis occupied on the western side. Seventeen acres pressed against that earlier holding takes his ground in the valley to twenty-five, and his own land closes two of the four sides here.

262

261

Island S.t Helena

The Lords Proprietors of this Island the Honble

the United Company of Merchants of England trading to the East Indies

do hereby demise grant Lease & to farm lett unto John Leech of the said

Island all that peice or parcell of Ground situate lying & being in James's

Valley Butting West on the Honble Companys waste Ground East & North on the

Main Water Run & South on Land late belong.g to Ja.s Aldrach contain.g in

Depth twelve Feet & in Length twenty Eight Feet with the Appurtenances

To have & to hold unto the said John Leech his Exors Admin.rs & Assigns

from the day of the date hereof for & during the term of Twenty One Years from

thence next ensueing Upon Condition that he the said John Leech Exors Admin.rs

& Assigns do & shall bear true faith & Allegeance to our Sovereign Lord King George

the Second his Heirs & Success.rs & true faith to them the said Honble Comp.s & their

Success.rs & shall duely obey all the Laws & Constitutions of the s.d Island And upon

Condition that he the s.d John Leech his Exors Admin.rs & Assigns do & shall at

the end or sooner determination of this Lease surrender & deliver up the aforesaid

premisses w.th the Appurtenan.s & All such Edifices & Build.gs as shall or may

be thereon in good Condition & Repair & shall not Sell or dispose of this Lease

or his or their Interest therein without the leave & Consent of the Gov.r & Coun.l

for the time being Yeilding & Paying therefore Yearly & every Year

during the term hereby granted unto them the s.d Hon.r Comp.s their Success.rs

Agents & Assigns the Rent or Sum of four Shill.s in at or upon the Feast

Day of S.t Michael the Archangell Yearly In Witness whereof The

said Gov.r & Council have to the other part sett our hands & Affixed the

Honble Comp.s Seal this twenty third Day of August in the Twenty

Second Year of the Reign of our said Sovereign Lord George the

Second by the Grace of God of Great Brittain France & Ireland King

Defender of the Faith & so forth & in the Year of our Lord 1748 and the

said John Leech hath to these presents sett his hand & Seal the day

& Year above Written

the Mark of

John Leech Sen.r

Signd Seald & Delivered

in the Presence of

Bazett

The Company let a piece of ground to John Leech of St Helena. The plot lay in James Valley and measured twelve feet in depth and twenty-eight feet in length. The Company's unallocated ground closed the west. The main water run ran along the east and north. To the south lay land once belonging to John Aldrich.

Leech took the plot with everything attached, holding for twenty-one years from the date of the grant, together with his executors, administrators and assigns. Payment came to four shillings a year, due at Michaelmas.

Conditions attached. Leech and those following him owed loyalty to King George the Second, to his heirs and successors, and to the Company, and had to obey the island's rules. At the end of the term, or whenever it closed earlier, he was to give up the ground with everything on it, including any buildings raised there, in good condition and repair. He could not sell the lease or any share in it without the Governor and Council agreeing first.

The Governor and Council signed and applied the Company's seal on 23 August 1748, in the twenty-second year of the reign of King George the Second, King of Great Britain, France and Ireland and Defender of the Faith. Leech sealed the same day, making his mark rather than signing. Bazett witnessed.

Interpretations

John Aldrich, recorded as a former holder on the southern boundary, took a strip of James Valley back ground sixteen feet across and thirty-eight feet long on 9 November 1742, running from the eastern corner of his yard to the main watercourse, at a flat two shillings and sixpence a year. He signed by mark. A Sergeant Aldrich was dead by 1756, his earlier occupation of a James Valley house fixing the bounds when John Bland sold that dwelling to John Robinson on 18 August 1756.

Leech signed by mark here, as Aldrich had done on the adjoining strip six years earlier. He held ten acres in the East Division under the grant sealed 5 September 1748, so a man taking country ground of that extent still could not write his name, which the register shows repeatedly among substantial holders.

A plot of three hundred and thirty-six square feet at four shillings a year sits close to the eight shillings John Scott paid for exactly the same area on 14 October 1746. Both parcels were slivers of leftover town ground, and the difference in charge rests on position rather than size.

The main water run closing two sides marks the channel carrying water down the valley to the shipping in the road. Grants of this period repeatedly protected it, and John Barton had been required only eight months earlier to build and maintain a bridge across it facing the Great Barracks.

263

262

Island S.t Helena

The Lords Proprietors of this Island the Honourable

the United Comp.a of Merchants of England trad.g to the East Indies Do hereby

demise grant Lease & to farm Lett unto Martin Harper of the said Island

Planter All that peice or parcel of Ground contain.g Eleven Acres situate

lyeing & being in peak Gutt in the West Devision of the said Island butting

& bounding North on Land late belong.g to Edmund Nicholls dec.d south on Land

formerly in the Possession of Stephen Lufkin dec.d East on Land now

possessed by Orlando Bagley & West on the Hon.r Comp.s waste Land To have

& to hold unto the said Martin Harper his Exors Admin.rs & Assigns from

the Day of the Date hereof for & during the Term of Twenty one Years from

thence next ensueing Yeilding & paying therefore Yearly & every Year

during the term hereby granted unto them the said Hon.ble Company their

Successors Agents or Assigns the Rent or Sum of five Shillings p.r Acre at or

upon the feast of S.t Michael the Archangel Yearly Upon Conditions

that he the said Martin Harper his Exors Admin.rs & Assigns Do and

shall bear true faith & Allegiance to our Sovereign Lord King George the

Second his Heirs & Successors & true faith to them the said Honble Company

& their Success.rs & shall duely obey & keep all the Laws & constitutions of

the said Island & do & shall sett about & fence in the said Land with

a good & Sufficient Fence & when so fenced do & shall well & Sufficiently

keep up & maintain the same togather with the full Quantity of Wood

thereon & do & shall at the end or other Determination of this Lease

Yeild up & Surrender the aforesaid Promisses in good Condition & repair

And do not nor shall Sell or dispose of this Lease or his or their Interest

therein without the Leave & Consent of the Gov.r & Council for the time being

In Witness whereof we the said Gov.r & Council have to the other part

sett our hands & Affixed the Honble Companys Seal this fifth Day of

Sept.r in the Twenty Second Year of the Reign of our Sovereign Lord

George the Second by the grace of God of Great Brittain France & Ireland

King Defender of the Faith & so forth & in the Year of our Lord 1748

& the said Martin Harper hath to these presents sett his hand & seal

the Day & Year above written

Signd Seald and Deliver'd

In the Presence of Us

The Company let eleven acres to Martin Harper, a planter of St Helena. The parcel lay in Peak Gutt, in the West Division. Ground once belonging to Edmund Nicholls closed the north. Land formerly occupied by the late Stephen Luffkin lay to the south. Orlando Bagley's ground ran along the east. The Company's unallocated land closed the west.

Harper took the eleven acres, holding for twenty-one years from the date of the grant, together with his heirs, executors, administrators and assigns. Payment came to £0 5s 0d for each acre every year, due at Michaelmas, which ran to £2 15s 0d across the parcel.

Conditions attached. Harper and those following him owed loyalty to King George the Second, to his heirs and successors, and to the Company, and had to keep the island's rules. He had to fence the ground properly and keep it up, together with the full share of wood on it. At the end of the term, or whenever it closed earlier, he was to give the whole up in good condition and repair. He could not sell the lease or any share in it without the Governor and Council agreeing first.

The Governor and Council signed and applied the Company's seal on 5 September 1748, in the twenty-second year of the reign of King George the Second, King of Great Britain, France and Ireland and Defender of the Faith. Harper signed and sealed the same day.

Interpretations

Peak Gutt appears in the register from the earliest deeds. George Hoskinson sold Gabriel Powell twenty acres there for £32 0s 0d on 11 May 1704, Powell selling the same ground on to Robert Gurling for £100 0s 0d the same day. Robert Girling took twenty acres there under a confirmation of 4 August 1713 with a six-acre lease alongside, and Stephen Luffkin junior six acres near Peak Gut under a term running from 25 December 1737, that parcel bounded on three sides by ten acres of his own land.

Stephen Luffkin is recorded here as dead. His executors Richard Beale and Martin Harper made over his leasehold to Richard Bagley on 16 February 1745, having first obtained the Council's permission, roughly twelve years of the term still unexpired. Harper acted as executor of that estate three years before taking ground that had been in Luffkin's occupation.

Edmund Nicholls, named on the northern boundary, was dead by 1740, when his widow Elizabeth and Richard Goodwin sold two James Valley houses to Joshua Johnson as his executors. Goodwin held twenty-one acres at Old Woman's Valley in trust for his son John Nicholls junior from 17 July 1744 and ten acres at Tomstone Wood for his heirs from 18 August 1747.

Martin Harper had been accumulating for two decades. He took eight acres of gumwood known as the Half Moon on 6 September 1726, nine acres and a half in the divided block on 13 September 1738, and three acres in Swanley Valley on 18 September 1731. He sold Duke Crispe his interest in the twenty-five acres called Robinson's Land for £200 0s 0d on 13 November 1734, and acted with Charles Steward as executor of the will of the late Thomas Harper at the sitting of 30 September 1738.

264

263

Island S.t Helena

The Lords Proprietors of this Island the Honble the United

Comp.a of Merchants of England trading to the East Indies Do hereby

demise Grant Lease & to farm Let unto Martin Harper of the said Island Planter

All that peice or parcell of Ground containing Eight Acres situate lyeing & being

at a place called & known by the Name of the Half Moon in the West Devision

of the said Island Butting & Bounding North South East & West every way on

the Honble Companys waste Land To have & to hold unto the said

Martin Harper his Exors Admin.rs & Assigns from the Day of the date hereof for

& during all the Term of Twenty One Years Yeilding & paying therefore

Yearly & every Year during the Term hereby granted unto the said Hon.ble

Company their Successors Agents or Assigns the Rent or Sum of five Shillings

p.r Acre at or upon the feast Day of S.t Michael the Arch Angell Yearly

Upon Condition that he the said Martin Harper his Exors Admin.rs

& Assigns do & shall bear true faith & Allegiance to our Sovereign Lord

King George the Second his Heirs & Successors & true faith to them the

said Honble Company & their Successors & shall duely obey all the Laws

& Constitutions of the said Island & do & shall fence in the said Land

with a good & Sufficient fence & when so fenced do & shall keep the same

in good & Sufficient Repair & keep up & maintain the full Quantity of

Wood thereon & do & shall at the end or other Determination of this Lease

Yeild up & Surrender the aforesaid Land in good Condition & Repair and

do not nor shall Sell or dispose of this Lease or his or their Interest

therein without the Leave & Consent of the Gov.r & Council for the time

being In Witness Whereof We the said Gov.r & Council have

to the other part Set our hands & Affixed the Honble Companys Seal this

fifth day of Sept.r in the Twenty Second Year of the Reign of our said

Sovereign Lord George the Second by the Grace of God of Great Brittain

France & Ireland King Defender of the faith & so forth & in the Year

of our Lord 1748 & the said Martin Harper hath to these presents

set his hand & Seal the day & Year above written

Signd Seald & Deliver'd

in the Presence of Us

The Company let eight acres to Martin Harper, a planter of St Helena. The parcel lay at a place known as the Half Moon, in the West Division. The Company's unallocated ground surrounded it on the north, south, east and west.

Harper took the eight acres, holding for twenty-one years from the date of the grant, together with his executors, administrators and assigns. Payment came to £0 5s 0d for each acre every year, due at Michaelmas, which ran to £2 0s 0d across the parcel.

Conditions attached. Harper and those following him owed loyalty to King George the Second, to his heirs and successors, and to the Company, and had to obey the island's rules. He had to fence the ground properly and keep it in sound repair once enclosed, and to maintain the full share of wood on it. At the end of the term, or whenever it closed earlier, he was to give the whole up in good condition and repair. He could not sell the lease or any share in it without the Governor and Council agreeing first.

The Governor and Council signed and applied the Company's seal on 5 September 1748, in the twenty-second year of the reign of King George the Second, King of Great Britain, France and Ireland and Defender of the Faith. Harper signed and sealed the same day.

Interpretations

This is a renewal of ground Harper had held for twenty-two years. The Company let him eight acres of gumwood carrying the same name on 6 September 1726, then describing him as a soldier and fixing the parcel near a feature called the stone pasture, hemmed in by Company waste on every side running towards Sandy Bay Valley. Both grants name the identical acreage and the identical position, and both record Company ground on all four sides. His original term would have expired in 1747, so this instrument continues the tenure into a second twenty-one years.

He is described as planter here where the 1726 grant gave him as soldier, marking the progression from garrison service to landholding that runs through many of these tenants. The register shows the same shift with Isaac Wood, recorded variously as corporal, cooper, free planter, ensign and sergeant across four decades.

The byname Half Moon fixed the parcel to a known feature where no neighbour's land could, since Company ground closed every side. That difficulty persists here, with the whole fencing burden falling on Harper and no adjoining wall to serve any part of the line.

Two grants went to Harper on the same day, this eight acres and the eleven acres in Peak Gutt, sealed together but written as separate instruments. Each carried its own charge and its own conditions, so either could later be assigned or surrendered without disturbing the other.

265

264

Island S.t Helena

The Lords Proprietors of this

Island the Honble the United Company of Merchants of

England Trading to the East Indies Do hereby demise grant

Lease & to farm let unto Joseph Whaley Jun.r of the said Island

Planter all those two peices or parcels of Land containing two

Acres, & an half situate lying & being in Prospereous Bay

Valley in the East Division of the said Island one Acre and

a half thereof Butting & Bounding North South and

East on the Honble Companys Waste Land & West on

Land late belonging to John Bazett Dec.d & the other one

Acre Butting North East South & West every way on the

Honble Companys waste Land To have & to hold the

said hereby demised two acres & an half of Land with the

appurtenances & every part & parcel thereof unto him the

said Joseph Whaley his Heirs Exors Admin.rs & Assigns

from the Day of the Date hereof for & during all the time

Space & Term of Twenty One Years from thence next

ensueing upon condition that he the said Joseph Whaley

his Heirs or allowed Assigns do always bear true faith and

Allegiance to our Sovereign Lord King George the Second his

Heirs & Successors & true faith to them the said Honourable

Company & their Successors & shall duely obey all the

Laws and Constitutions of the said Island Yeilding

and paying therefore Yearly & every Year during the said

Term & Time of twenty One Years unto the said Honble Company

their Successors Agents or Assigns the Yearly rent of five

Shillings p.r Acre in at or upon the Feast of S.t Michael the

Arch Angell Yearly And upon Condition that he the said

Joseph Whaley his Heirs Exors Admin.rs or Assigns shall and

do immediately sett about & fence in the said parcels of Land

with a good & Sufficient Wall fence & when so fenced & inclosed

do & shall keep & maintain the same in good Heart and

Tenantable repair & do not Suffer the same or any part

thereof to run to ruin or decay & Shall also plant keep up

& maintain the full quantity & proportion of Wood & Young

The Company let two acres and a half to Joseph Whaley junior, a planter of St Helena, in two pieces. Both lay in Prosperous Bay Valley, in the East Division.

An acre and a half stood bounded north, south and east by the Company's unallocated ground. To the west lay land once belonging to the late John Bazett.

The remaining acre was ringed by the Company's unallocated ground on the north, east, south and west.

Whaley took both pieces with everything attached, holding for twenty-one years from the date of the grant, together with his heirs, executors, administrators and assigns. Payment came to £0 5s 0d for each acre every year, due at Michaelmas, which ran to £0 12s 6d across the two acres and a half.

Conditions attached. Whaley and those following him owed loyalty to King George the Second, to his heirs and successors, and to the Company, and had to obey the island's rules. He had to fence both pieces at once with a good, sound wall, and once enclosed to keep them in sound and tenantable repair, allowing no part to fall into ruin. He had to plant and maintain the full share of wood and young trees on the ground.

Interpretations

Whaley was extending a holding he had begun three years earlier in the same valley. The Company let him four acres of gumwood in Prosperous Bay Valley below the High Waterfall on 18 March 1745, that parcel likewise surrounded on all four sides by Company ground and requiring a wall rather than ordinary fencing. He also took two acres of gumwood at the lower end of Youngs Valley on 17 February 1746, again ringed by Company waste on every side.

A wall was specified here as on his earlier grants. Prosperous Bay Valley lies on the dry eastern side of the island, exposed to the wind, and the register treats its ground as marginal. John and Naomi Bradley sold Benjamin Pledger fifteen acres there for £5 0s 0d on 20 November 1733, a price that reflects how little the quarter was reckoned worth.

John Bazett is recorded as dead on the western boundary. He was the gentleman and third of Council who spent 1738 and 1739 buying back the eighth shares of his late father Matthew Bazett's estate from his siblings and their families, drawing a holding split eight ways across three valleys back into single hands. Four executors held eight acres and a half in Sharks Valley in trust for his children under the grant of February 1744, and three acres and a half in Fishers Valley under the trust of 16 April 1745.

Every side of both pieces except one met Company ground, so the whole fencing burden fell on Whaley with almost no neighbour's wall to serve any part of the line. Two acres and a half at twelve shillings and sixpence a year had to be walled entirely at his own cost, and separate perimeters fell due on each of the two parcels.

266

265

Trees pursuant to the Law of this Island in that case made and

provided & also plant Furze round the said fences at such proper

Seasons of the Year as it will best grow in or the Nature of the Soil

produce & do not nor shall alter the said fences they being the bounds

or Landmarks to the said Lands & do not nor shall Sell or dispose of this

Lease or his or their Interest therein without the leave & Consent of the

Gov.r & Council for the time being In Witness whereof we the said

Gov.r & Council have to the other part Set our hands & Affixed the

Honble Companys Seal this fifth day of Sep.r in the Twenty Second

Year of the Reign of our said Sovereign Lord George the Second by the

Grace of God of Great Brittain France & Ireland King Defender of

the faith & so forth & in the Year of our Lord 1748 & the said Joseph

Whaley hath to these presents set his hand & Seal the Day & Year

above written

Joseph

the mark of

Whaley Jun.r

Signd Seald

& Delivered in the presence of

Bazett

Island S.t Helena

The Lords Proprietors of this Island the Honble

the United Comp.a of Merchants of England trad.g to the East Indies Do

hereby demise Grant Lease & to farm let unto Orlando Bagley of the

said Island Planter all that peice or parcel of Land Contain.g by

mensuration two Acres situate in Cwanly Valley in the West Devision

of the said Island Butt.g & Bound.g towards the North East & West upon

Land belong.g to y.e Orphans of Jam.s Ryder Dec.d & towards the South

upon Land in the Possession of Fra.s Wrangham Sen.r To have &

hold unto the said Orlando Bagley his Exors Admin.rs & Assigns from

the Day of the Date hereof for & during the term of twenty One Years

from thence next ensueing Yeilding & paying therefore Yearly &

every Year during the term hereby granted unto them the said Honble

Comp.a their Success.rs Agents or Assigns the Rent or Sum of five Shillings

p.r Acre at or upon the feast of S.t Michael the Arch Angle Yearly

Upon Condition that he the said Orlando Bagley his Exors Admin.rs

& Assigns do & shall bear true faith & Allegiance to our Sovereign

Furze had to be set around the fences at the right seasons, wherever the soil would best carry it. Joseph Whaley junior could not shift the fences, since those lines marked out the boundaries, nor sell the lease or any share in it without the Governor and Council agreeing first.

The Governor and Council signed and applied the Company's seal on 5 September 1748, in the twenty-second year of the reign of King George the Second, King of Great Britain, France and Ireland and Defender of the Faith. Whaley sealed the same day, making his mark rather than signing. Bazett witnessed.

The Company then let two acres to Orlando Bagley, a planter of St Helena, the extent taken by a recent measurement. The parcel lay in Swanley Valley, in the West Division. Ground belonging to the orphans of the late John Ryder closed the north, east and west. To the south lay land then occupied by Francis Wrangham senior.

Bagley took the two acres, holding for twenty-one years from the date of the grant, together with his executors, administrators and assigns. Payment came to £0 5s 0d for each acre every year, due at Michaelmas, which ran to £0 10s 0d. He and those following him owed loyalty to King George the Second.

Interpretations

The Ryder orphans held the ground on three of the four sides. Thomas Greentree took thirty acres in Swanley Valley on 25 August 1747 as executor of the late James Ryder, holding in trust for his daughters Sarah, Margaret and Ellen. Bagley's two acres sit within that estate, so the Company was letting a fragment enclosed by ground already settled on children.

Francis Wrangham senior closing the south had held in this quarter since at least the sitting of 30 September 1738, and the register records him accumulating steadily across the West and South Divisions through the 1740s and 1750s. He bought forty-three acres from his own son on 29 April 1756 for £750 10s 0d.

Four grants went out on 5 September 1748: two to Martin Harper, one to John Leech and this pair to Whaley and Bagley. Bazett attested three of them, the family carrying the Company's witnessing business through this stretch of the register after Wright and Thomas French had held it for the preceding four years.

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Lord King George the Second his Heirs & Success.rs & true faith to them the

s.d Honble Comp.a & their Success.rs & shall duely obey & keep all the

Laws & Constitutions of the said Island & do & shall set about & fence

in the said Land with a good & Sufficient Fence & when so fenced do

& shall well & Sufficiently keep & maintain the same together with

the full Quantity of Wood thereon & do & shall at the End or other

Determation of this Lease Yeild up & Surrender the aforesaid promisses

in good Condition & repair And do not nor shall Sell or dispose of this

Lease or his or their Interest therein without the leave & Consent of

the Gov.r & Council for the time being In Witness whereof we the

said Gov.r & Council have to the other part Set our hands & Affixed

the Honble Comp.s Seal this Twenty fourth day of October in the

Twenty Second Year of the Reign of our said Sobereign Lord George

the Second by the Grace of God of Great Brittain France & Ireland

King Defender of the faith & so forth & in the Year of our

Lord 1748

Signed Sealed

& Delivered in the presence of

Orlando Bagley

Bazett

Island S.t Helena

The Lords Proprietors of this Island the Honble

the United Company of Merchants of England trading to the East Indies

Do hereby demise grant Lease & to farm let unto Orlando Bagley of

the said Island Planter all that peice or parcel of Land containing

One Acre situate in peak Gutt in the South Devision of the said Island

Butting North upon Land belong.g to y.e said Orlando Bagley East &

West upon Land belong.g to Fra.s Wrangham Sen.r & South upon the

Honble Comp.s waste Land To have & to hold unto the said Orlando

Bagley his Exors Admin.rs & Assigns from the Day of the Date hereof

for & during the term of Twenty One Years from thence next ensueing

Yeilding & paying therefore Yearly & every Year during the term

hereby granted unto them the said Honble Company their Successors Agents

or Assigns the Rent or Sum of five Shillings p.r Acre at or upon the

feast of S.t Michael the Arch Angle Yearly Upon Condition that

Orlando Bagley and those following him owed loyalty to King George the Second, to his heirs and successors, and to the Company, and had to obey the island's rules. He had to fence the two acres properly and keep the enclosure sound, together with the full share of wood on the ground. At the end of the term, or whenever it closed earlier, he was to give the whole up in good condition and repair. He could not sell the lease or any share in it without the Governor and Council agreeing first.

The Governor and Council signed and applied the Company's seal on 24 October 1748, in the twenty-second year of the reign of King George the Second, King of Great Britain, France and Ireland and Defender of the Faith. Bagley signed and sealed the same day. Bazett witnessed.

The Company then let one acre to Orlando Bagley. The parcel lay in Peak Gutt, in the South Division. Bagley's own ground closed the north. Land belonging to Francis Wrangham senior ran along the east and west. The Company's unallocated ground lay to the south.

Bagley took the acre, holding for twenty-one years from the date of the grant, together with his executors, administrators and assigns. Payment came to £0 5s 0d for the acre every year, due at Michaelmas.

Interpretations

Two grants went to Bagley within seven weeks, the two acres in Swanley Valley sealed on 5 September 1748 and this acre in Peak Gutt on 24 October. Both are small parcels wedged among established neighbours, and Francis Wrangham senior's ground closes a side of each, so the Company was fitting Bagley into gaps between larger holdings in two separate divisions.

A single acre carried the same weight of duties as the largest holdings in this run: a proper fence around the whole, the full share of wood, and the ground surrendered in repair at the term's end. The Company made no allowance for size anywhere across these grants, so five shillings a year bought an obligation to enclose and plant a parcel too small to carry the cost easily.

Martin Harper had taken eleven acres in Peak Gutt on 5 September 1748, with Orlando Bagley's ground on the eastern boundary. Bagley's own land closing the north here places this acre in the same quarter, so the Company was letting Peak Gutt piece by piece between two neighbouring holders through that autumn.

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he the said Orlando Bagley his Exors Admin.rs & Assigns do & shall bear

true faith & Allegiance to our Sovereign Lord King George the Second his

Heirs & Successors & true faith to them the said Honble Company & their

Successors & shall duely obey & keep all the Laws & Constitutions of the

said Island & do & shall set about & fence in the said Land with a good

& Sufficient fence & when so fenced do & shall well & Sufficiently keep up

& Maintain the same together with the full Quantity of Wood thereon

& do & shall at the end or other Determination of this Lease Yeild up

& Surrender the aforesaid Premisses in good Condition & repair And do

not nor shall sell or dispose of this Lease or his or their Interest therein

without the leave & Consent of the Gov.r & Council for the time being

In Witness whereof we the said Gov.r & Council have to the other

part set our Hands & Affixed the Honble Company Seal this twenty

fourth day of October in the Twenty Second Year of the Reign of

our said Sovereign Lord George the Second by the Grace of God of

Great Brittain France & Ireland King Defender of the faith & so

forth & in the Year of our Lord 1748.

Signd Seald

& Delivered in the presence of

Orlando Bagley

Bazett

Island S.t Helena

The Lords Proprietors of this Island the Honble

United Company of Merchants of England trading to the East Indies

Do hereby Demise Lease & to farm let unto Matt.w Purling Sam.l Doveton

Rich.d Beale & Matt.w Bazett Exors to y.e last Will & Testament of John

Bazett Dec.d All that piece or parcel of Gumwood Land containing

by mensuration two Acres & an half, Situate lyeing & being at or near

the lower part of that Valley Anteently Named Leshers Valley, next

to the great Wood, & in the East Division of this Island, butting and

Bounding towards the North & West upon the said Honble Companys

waste land, Situate in & near the said Valley, & towards the South

& East upon the three Acres & an half of Gumwood Land, formerly

granted to & now in the Possession & Occupation of the Orphans of

Orlando Bagley and those following him owed loyalty to King George the Second, to his heirs and successors, and to the Company, and had to obey the island's rules. He had to fence the acre properly and keep the enclosure sound, together with the full share of wood on the ground. At the end of the term, or whenever it closed earlier, he was to give the whole up in good condition and repair. He could not sell the lease or any share in it without the Governor and Council agreeing first.

The Governor and Council signed and applied the Company's seal on 24 October 1748, in the twenty-second year of the reign of King George the Second, King of Great Britain, France and Ireland and Defender of the Faith. Bagley signed and sealed the same day. Bazett witnessed.

The Company then let two acres and a half of gumwood land to Matthew Purling, Samuel Doveton, Richard Beale and Matthew Bazett, acting as executors under the will of the late John Bazett, the extent taken by a recent measurement. The parcel lay at or near the lower part of a valley formerly known as Leehors Valley, next to the Great Wood, in the East Division. The Company's unallocated ground in and near that valley closed the north and west. To the south and east lay three acres and a half of gumwood land granted earlier and then occupied by the orphans.

Interpretations

The four executors here are not the four who acted for the Bazett estate in 1745. Matthew Purling, Samuel Doveton, John Desfountain and Richard Beale held three acres and a half in Fishers Valley under the trust sealed 16 April 1745 and eight acres and a half in Sharks Valley in February 1744. Matthew Bazett now stands in place of John Desfountain, so the Company had recorded a change in the trust's membership across the intervening three years.

The three acres and a half already in the orphans' occupation to the south and east are very probably the Fishers Valley parcel of 1745, which carried that exact acreage and likewise ran under Company ground on every side. If so, this grant fits a second parcel directly against the first, doubling the trust's holding in that quarter to six acres.

John Bazett had spent 1738 and 1739 buying back the eighth shares of his father Matthew Bazett's estate from his siblings and their families, drawing a holding split eight ways across three valleys back into single hands. The register shows his children's ground still being added to nearly a decade after his death, and Matthew Bazett of the following generation later bought sixty acres in Deep Valley and twenty-seven at Woody Ridge, both parcels having been his.

The Great Wood was ground the Company watched closely for its timber. Grants along its edge run through the register from John Bazett's own Fryer Valley leases of 1724 and 1726 to Joseph Lufkin's acre and a half near Hancocks Hole in 1726, and the Company applied its planting duties most firmly where its remaining stands of native wood lay.

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John Bazett Dec.d To have & to hold the said hereby Demised two

Acres & an half of Gumwood Land with the Appurtenances & every

part or parcel thereof unto them the said Matt.w Purling Sam.l Doveton

Rich.d Beale & Matt.w Bazett their Heirs Exors Admin.rs or Allowed Assigns

In trust Neverthelesss & to the Use of the Children of the said John Bazett

Dec.d from the day of the date of these presents, for & during the term

of Twenty One Years from thence next ensueing Upon Condition that

they the said Children of the said John Bazett their Heirs Executors

Administr.rs & Assigns do & shall bear true faith & Allegiance to our

Sovereign Lord King George the Second his Heirs & Success.rs & true faith

to them the said Honble Comp.a & their Successors, & shall duely obey

all the Laws & Constitutions of the said Island And upon

Condition also that they the said Matt.w Purling Sam.l Doveton

Rich.d Beale & Matt.w Bazett their Heirs Exors Admin.rs & Assigns do &

shall well & Sufficiently keep up & maintain the fences to the said

Land, & the full Quantity of Wood thereon Yeilding & paying

therefore Yearly & every Year during the term of this present Lease

unto them the said Honble Comp.a their Succe.rs Agents or Assigns the

Sum of five Shillings p.r Acre in at or upon the feast of S.t Michael

the Arch Angle Yearly & upon farther Condition that they the said

Matt.w Purling Sam.l Doveton Rich.d Beale & Matt.w Bazett their Exors

Admin.rs or Allowed Assigns shall not Sell or dispose of this Lease or

their Interest therein without the leave & Consent of the Gov.r & Council

for the time being In Witness whereof we the said Gov.r & Council

have set our hands & Affixed the Honble Company Seal this 21 day

to the other part

of October in the twenty Second Year of the Reign of our Sovereign

Lord George the Second by the grace of God of great Brittain France

& Ireland King Defender of the faith & so forth & in the Year of

our Lord 1748 & they the said Matt.w Purling Sam.l Doveton Rich.d

Beale & Matt.w Bazett have to these presents set their Hand &

Seals the Day & Year abovewritten

Purling

Bazett

Signd Seald

& Delivered in y.e presence of

F Wrangham Jun.r

Matthew Purling, Samuel Doveton, Richard Beale and Matthew Bazett held the two acres and a half with everything attached, together with their heirs, executors, administrators or any successor the Company allowed. They held not for themselves but for the benefit of the children of the late John Bazett, and the term ran twenty-one years from the date of the grant.

Conditions attached. The children and those following them owed loyalty to King George the Second, to his heirs and successors, and to the Company, and had to obey the island's rules. The four executors had to keep the fences on the ground in sound repair, together with the full share of wood on it. Payment came to £0 5s 0d for each acre every year, due at Michaelmas, which ran to £0 12s 6d across the parcel. None of the four could sell the lease or any share in it without the Governor and Council agreeing first.

The Governor and Council signed and applied the Company's seal on 21 October 1748, in the twenty-second year of the reign of King George the Second, King of Great Britain, France and Ireland and Defender of the Faith. Purling and Bazett signed and sealed the same day, each setting his own seal. Francis Wrangham senior witnessed.

Interpretations

Only two of the four trustees signed, Samuel Doveton's and Richard Beale's names being absent from the subscription. A trust ordinarily required each holder to bind himself in his own person, and the register shows three seals on the Boyd trust of 9 April 1745 and four on the Bazett trust of 16 April 1745. The Doveton family trust of 30 April 1745 carried the same incompleteness, two of three trustees sealing where the instrument named all three.

The register places this grant three days before the two Bagley leases sealed on 24 October 1748, though the Bagley instruments stand on the preceding leaf. Entries through this stretch do not run in strict date order, the clerk copying them in as they came to hand.

Francis Wrangham senior witnessed here, one of the few appearances in this run of a witness outside the Bazett and French circle. He had been accumulating ground across the West and South Divisions for years and closed the boundaries of both Bagley parcels sealed that same month.

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Island S.t Helena

The Lords Proprietors of this Island the Honble the

United Comp.a of Merchants of England trading to the East Indies Do

hereby demise lease & to farm let unto Matt.w Purling Sam.l Doveton

Rich.d Beale & Matt.w Bazett Executors to y.e last Will & Testament of

John Bazett Dec.d All those two peices or parcel of Gumwood Land

Contain.g in both parcels two Acres & an half Situate lyeing & being in &

near the lower part of Stone Top Valley in the East Devision of the

said Island butting & bound.g towards the North South East & West every

way upon the said Honble Companys waste Land, situate in & near the said Stone

Top Valley, To have & to hold the said hereby Demised two parcels

of Gumwood Land containing in both parcels two Acres & a half as

aforesaid with all & Singular the Appurtenances thereunto belong.g unto

them the s.d Matt.w Purling Sam.l Doveton Rich.d Beale & Matt.w Bazett their

Heirs Exors Admin.rs or allowed Assigns, In trust Neverthelesss & to the Use of the

Children of the said John Bazett Dec.d from the day of the date of these presents

for & during the term of Twenty One Years from thence next ensueing

Upon Condition that they the said Children of the said John Bazett

their Heirs Exors Admin.rs and Assigns do & shall bear true faith and

Allegiance to our Sovereign Lord King George the Second his Heirs and

Success.rs & true faith to them the said Honble Comp.a & their Successors

& shall duely obey all the Laws & Constitutions of the said Island And

upon Condition also they the said Matt.w Purling Sam.l Doveton

Rich.d Beale & Matt.w Bazett their Heirs Exors Admin.rs or Assigns do

& shall well & Sufficiently keep up & maintain the fences to the

said Land & the full Quantity of Wood thereon Yeilding & paying

therefore Yearly & every Year during the term of this present Lease

unto them the said Honble Company their Successors Agents or Assigns

the Sum of five Shillings p.r Acre in at or upon the feast of S.t

Michael the Arch Angle Yearly upon further Condition that

they the said Matt.w Purling Sam.l Doveton Rich.d Beale and

Matt.w Bazett their Exors Admin.rs or Allowed Assigns shall not

Sell or Dispose of this Lease or their Interest therein without the

leave & Consent of the Gov.r & Council for the time being In

Witness whereof We the said Gov.r & Council have to the other

part set our Hands & Affixt the Honble Companys Seal this

3.d Day of October in the twenty Second Year of the reign of our

The Company let two acres and a half of gumwood land, in two pieces, to Matthew Purling, Samuel Doveton, Richard Beale and Matthew Bazett, acting as executors under the will of the late John Bazett. The ground lay in and near the lower part of Stone Top Valley, in the East Division. The Company's unallocated land in and near that valley surrounded both pieces on the north, south, east and west.

The four held the ground with everything attached, together with their heirs, executors, administrators or any successor the Company allowed. They held not for themselves but for the benefit of the children of the late John Bazett, and the term ran twenty-one years from the date of the grant.

Conditions attached. The children and those following them owed loyalty to King George the Second, to his heirs and successors, and to the Company, and had to obey the island's rules. The four executors had to keep the fences in sound repair, together with the full share of wood on the ground. Payment came to £0 5s 0d for each acre every year, due at Michaelmas, which ran to £0 12s 6d across the parcel. None of them could sell the lease or any share in it without the Governor and Council agreeing first.

The Governor and Council signed and applied the Company's seal on 31 October, in the twenty-second year of the reign of King George the Second.

Interpretations

This is the second parcel of two acres and a half settled on the Bazett children within eleven days, following the grant sealed 21 October 1748 at the lower part of Leehors Valley next to the Great Wood. The same four executors act in both, and the identical acreage suggests the Company was dividing ground of that size between two separate valleys rather than adding to a single block.

Company waste closes every side of both pieces, so the whole fencing burden fell on the estate. The children's inheritance carried the cost of walling two separate perimeters on a holding of two acres and a half at twelve shillings and sixpence a year, with no neighbour's wall to serve any part of either line.

Stone Top Valley appears elsewhere in the register only in small grants. Stephen Praise Pledger and Samuel Jesey junior took two acres at its bottom jointly on 2 February 1730, the survivor to hold the whole, and William Seale and John Hayes senior two acres at its lower end near the sea in 1747. Ground at that end of the valley reached the outer edge of what could be farmed.

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said Sovereign Lord George the Second by the Grace of God of Great

Brittain France & Ireland King Defender of the faith & so forth

& in the Year of our Lord 1748 & they the said Matthew Purling

Samuel Doveton Richard Beale & Matthew Bazett hath to these

presents set their Hands & Seals the Day & Year abovewritten

Signd Seald

& Delivered in the presence of

F Wrangham Jun.r

Purling

Bazett

Island S.t Helena.

The Lords Proprietors of this Island the

Honble the United Company of Merchants of England trading to the East

Indies Do hereby Demise Lease & to farm lett unto Rich.d Beale of the

said Island All that peice or parcel of Ground contain.g Eighty two feet in

Depth & fourteen feet in breadth Situate lying & being in James's Valley

Butting & Bounding West on the said Rich.d Beale South on John Goodwin

& East & North on the Honble Companys wast Land with the Appurtenances

To have & to hold the aforesaid Land & Premisses with y.e Appurtenances

unto the said Rich.d Beale his Exors Admin.rs & Assigns from the day of

the Date hereof unto the full End & Term of Twenty One Years from

thence next ensueing Yeilding & paying there fore Yearly & every Year

during the Term hereby granted unto the said Honble Company their Successors

Agents or Assigns the sum of five Shillings on the feast Day of S.t Michael

the Arch Angel in every Year Upon Condition that he the said Richard

Beale his Exors Admin.rs & Assigns do & shall bear true faith & Allegiance

to our Sovereign Lord George the Second his Heirs & Successors & true faith

to them the said Honble Company & their Successors And upon Condition

that he the said Rich.d Beale his Exors Admin.rs and Assigns do & shall

at the End or sooner Expiration hereof leave the same Ground & Premisses in

like good Condition & Repair, & not Suffer the said Ground or any Build.g

that is or may be thereon to Run to Ruin or Decay And upon Condition

that he the said Rich.d Beale his Exors Admin.rs or Assigns shall not Sell

or Dispose of this Lease or his or their Interest therein without the Leave

& Consent of the Gov.r & Council for the time being In Witness

The Governor and Council sealed the Stone Top Valley trust on 31 October 1748, in the twenty-second year of the reign of King George the Second, King of Great Britain, France and Ireland and Defender of the Faith. Matthew Purling and Matthew Bazett signed and sealed the same day, each setting his own seal. Francis Wrangham junior witnessed.

The Company then let a piece of ground to Richard Beale of St Helena. The plot lay in James Valley and measured eighty-two feet in depth and fourteen feet in width. Beale's own ground closed the west. John Goodwin's land lay to the south. The Company's unallocated ground ran along the east and north.

Beale took the plot with everything attached, holding for twenty-one years from the date of the grant, together with his executors, administrators and assigns. Payment came to five shillings a year, due at Michaelmas.

Conditions attached. Beale and those following him owed loyalty to King George the Second, to his heirs and successors, and to the Company. At the end of the term, or whenever it closed earlier, he was to leave the ground and everything on it in the same good condition and repair, allowing nothing to fall into ruin. He could not sell the lease or any share in it without the Governor and Council agreeing first.

Interpretations

Two of the four Bazett trustees signed again, Samuel Doveton and Richard Beale being absent as they had been from the Leehors Valley grant sealed ten days earlier. Beale takes his own town plot on this same leaf, so his failure to seal the trust cannot have been for want of presence on the island.

Francis Wrangham junior witnessed both Bazett trusts of October 1748. He held the post of secretary to the Company on the island, the office earlier filled by Antipas Tovey and John Alexander, and appears throughout the register attesting his father's transactions and the Council's business alike.

The plot is a narrow strip of one thousand one hundred and forty-eight square feet running back from ground Beale already held. Such fragments carried no value to anyone but the neighbour they completed, and five shillings a year sits at the low end of the town rents in this run, against the twelve shillings Thomas Jarvis paid for three thousand six hundred square feet on 13 October 1747.

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EAP 1364 St Helena

Document Name and Date Register of Leases 1735 - 1748

Dimensions (height x width x depth) (cm) (h) 48 cm x (L) 30 cm x (D) 4 cm

No. written pages: 266

No. blank pages. 4

Spine and cover not original covers

no Spine

Inside pages most Pages are in good Condition with tattered edges

foxing present

Pages are numbered in top Corner of every Page.

Additional comments Pages are not bound to Spine

Time taken to photograph (hours) 6 hours