Register of Leases 1766-1790

Introduction: This is the sixth 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/EAP1364-1-7-7.

Text Transcription This transcription was produced by AI from handwritten document images held on the British Library's website, at about thirty pages per hour. Given the limitations described below, the text should be regarded as unreliable and used only as a search-and-find shortcut: once a relevant section has been located, it must always be checked against the source image via the hyperlinked Film Numbers listed in the main transcription table below.

Three specific problems affected the work. First, AI tends to prioritise meaning and readability at the expense of fidelity to the original, with a strong disposition to normalise spellings, expand abbreviations, and adjust grammar. It is particularly weak with unfamiliar surnames, and scrawled signatures often resist accurate transcription entirely. Transcriptions by eye of documents spanning four centuries have also shown that a single surname could be written in a wide variety of ways: the Crowie family name appears under six different spellings, and the Isaacs family name under sixteen. Searches for surnames are therefore hindered both by genuine variations in the originals and by mistranscriptions introduced by AI, and for this reason are best run phonetically. Second, the AI struggled with the late secretary hand, the script commonly used from the sixteenth to the eighteenth centuries, in which the letter S appears in a form closely resembling a trailing L. Third, occasional passages in these volumes are written in a hand so obscure or poorly formed as to be difficult to read even by eye, sometimes compounded by heavy ink bleed-through from the reverse side or by the loss of sections of pages.

To mitigate these difficulties, a strict protocol was applied to each image, requiring the AI to rely solely on clearly visible ink strokes and to flag any uncertain reading, thereby reducing the risk of inferred or invented text. Two conventions are used. [...] marks text that could not be read with confidence; this may represent a single unreadable word, a full sentence, or occasionally an entire paragraph. Square brackets around letters or words indicate a conjectural reading supplied by the transcriber: brackets around a whole word, for example [Bazett], mean the entire word was unclear and a probable reading has been supplied, while brackets around individual letters within an otherwise readable word, for example B[a]z[e]tt, mean only those specific letters were unclear in the source and the unbracketed letters were legibly present.

Text Loss: All the pages suffered from bleeding of ink from the reverse side. Many of the early pages are torn or tattered.

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: Only a few of the early pages are numbered, and those numbers follow no consistent order. The original numbering has therefore been ignored. The first page of the records (film No. 4) is treated as page 1 (location 1/4) with the numbering running in sequence to the end of the volume.

The first section, a tabulated register of Jamestown and country tenancies, was written across facing pages. The left-hand page lists each tenant, lease and rent; the right-hand page records the renewals and transfers of the same leases. Here the two pages of each opening are combined, so that every lease appears as a single entry under the film number of the left-hand page. The film numbers of the right-hand pages are therefore blank.

Dates: The title of this volume, ‘Leases Register 1766-1790’, is inaccurate. It comprises two sections. The first (Film Nos. 4–17) is a tabulated register of Jamestown and country tenancies, with dates ranging far more widely, from 1738 to 22 April 1833. The second (Film Nos. 28–359) sets out in full the 21-year leases sealed by the Governor and Council from 2 December 1765 to 16 August 1790.

AI Generated Summary

Introduction

Two Company records cover the island's land: a volume of leases sealed by the Governor and Council from 2 December 1765 to 16 August 1790, and a register of Jamestown and country tenancies whose oldest lease dates from 1738 and whose last annotation is dated 22 April 1833. About 50 leases were sealed between 5 October 1767 and 4 December 1769; 41 between 11 December 1769 and November 1776 (31 country, 10 in James's Valley); some 50 between 6 January 1776/7 and 11 February 1781/2; 48 between 11 March 1781/2 and 23 January 1785/6; and 42 between 20 March 1785/6 and about January 1787/8 (30 country, 12 town). Each ran for 21 years and is dated by the regnal year of George III, reckoned correctly from his accession on 25 October 1760. [Film No. 5, 17, 28, 51, 54–153, 154, 198, 204–303, 304, 325, 359]

The entries are clerks' copies that state terms and not reasons, record only what the Company granted and name no slaves, labourers, ships, courts or defences, although the island was farmed largely by slaves. Sales surface incidentally: a lease sealed on 2 November 1778 mentions that William Wrangham Esquire had bought adjoining ground from the widow Elizabeth Kennedy. No lease refers to the Company's credit crisis of 1772, the American conflict of 1776, the war with France from 1778 or the garrison mutiny of December 1783. The accompanying commentary errs: it counts Matthew Purling's lease of 11 November 1771 among those of 30 September 1771, denies a plan to a lease of 1776 whose plan follows on the next film, counts ten marked renewals of 1787 where 12 are entered and places Stephen Young's renewal of 19 November 1787 on 8 October. [Film No. 56, 78, 98, 103, 129–130, 133–137, 145–146, 151–152, 165–166, 219, 236, 250, 253, 258–259, 280–281, 290–292, 302–303]

Governance and Administration

Julio Fabiano's lease of 2 December 1765 set the town form: the Company, as proprietor of the island, bound him to repair all buildings, to leave untouched the fences that served as boundary marks and to make no sale without leave of the Governor and Council, who sealed one copy while the tenant signed the other. Country leases from 10 February 1765/6 required loyalty to George III, faithfulness to the Company, obedience to island law, upkeep of fences and of the full quantity of wood, and rent at Michaelmas, the English quarter day of 29 September. Each form was copied regardless of the ground: John Robinson's strip 15 feet wide, let on 2 March 1766/7, still carried the clause on houses. [Film No. 28–29, 48–49, 54–55]

Matthew Bazett, Secretary of the island, witnessed almost every lease from 2 December 1765 to 9 March 1771/2, though his forename is lost in each entry. Alexander Wright witnessed Bazett's own town lease of 16 February 1766/7 and Captain Thomas Kirkpatrick's on 8 May 1769; Bazett had returned by 10 July 1769. James Desfountain, come to sign for John Desfountain senior, witnessed Bazett's lease of 28 August 1769 and stood in again on 30 September 1771, attesting his kinsman John Desfountain's lease; John Goodwin, the writer, witnessed on 16 July 1770 and William Webber Doveton witnessed Bazett's lease of 17 September 1770. Bazett attested Captain Henry Bazett's lease on 29 August 1768. [Film No. 28–29, 37, 46–47, 69, 87–89, 91–92, 107, 114, 124–129, 133]

Entries were written up in batches and out of order: John Worrall's lease of November 1766 follows William Worrall's of 22 December 1766, and Lieutenant Michael Frost's of 31 August 1767 follows one of 30 November 1767. Sealings clustered on 15 and 22 December 1766, 12 January 1766/7, 16 February 1766/7 and 2 March 1766/7, with none again until 17 August 1767; three followed on 16 November 1767, three on 30 November 1767, four on 20 March 1768/9, seven on 28 August 1769 and four on 4 September 1769. [Film No. 35–38, 42–46, 48–50, 52, 59–63, 81–84, 88, 91–100]

The wording drifted between August 1768 and September 1769. Henry Bazett's town lease of 29 August 1768 forbade buildings to fall into ruin or decay, the plain repair clause returning on 5 December 1768; Lieutenant Samuel Desfountain's lease of 19 December 1768 placed the rent before the loyalty clause; pen strokes filled the blanks in Lieutenant Thomas Leech's lease of 9 January 1768/9; and occupations were dropped from several leases on 4 September 1769. A lease of 11 November 1771 has its acreage and division interlined, and Samuel Knipe's of 30 September 1776 omits the southern boundary. [Film No. 69, 73, 76–77, 97–98, 100, 129–130, 145–146]

No lease was entered between 9 March 1771/2 and 5 April 1773, and only four were sealed in the three years to 27 March 1775, against about 90 in the six years before; the poor ground granted in 1771 points to a shortage of good land. B. Wright witnessed in 1773 without title, Jonathan Doveton on 31 January 1773/4 and Wright as Secretary from 1775, in a lease styling Bazett Esquire. Sittings on 30 September in 1771, 1775 and 1776 gave tenants a full rent year before the first payment, but leases were also sealed in October and November 1776. [Film No. 134–137, 138–146, 148–150]

Wright witnessed as Secretary on 6 January 1776/7 and signed as B. A. Wright from 9 November 1778; a lease of about February 1781/2 names him Britannicus Alexander Wright, executor of Samuel Alexander and so probably a kinsman of that family. Thomas Bazett witnessed on 30 September 1779, John Doveton first signed as sub-secretary on 4 September 1780, Samuel Mason witnessed on 18 December 1780 and 15 January 1780/1 and was probably a clerk, and Nathaniel Kennedy was sub-secretary by 11 February 1781/2. Kennedy attested the two leases of 11 March 1781/2 in which Wright was a trustee, and John Doveton attested Wright's own lease on 15 September 1783. [Film No. 154, 167–168, 181, 190–194, 198, 203–205, 219]

Wright's clerks altered the form. Two town leases of 20 April 1778 recorded the tenant's signing before the Council's, while a country lease of that day kept the old order with the words on the seal interlined; trusts were declared twice, in the opening and in the clause on holding, from a lease entered after 9 November 1778. Lieutenant Robert Gurling's lease was sealed on Michaelmas itself, 29 September 1777, and two trust leases on 30 September 1779; others fell in April and November 1778 and in May, July and September 1780. Seven leases were sealed on 22 May 1780 and more than 20 in that year, none between 15 January 1780/1 and 11 February 1781/2 and only three in 1783. [Film No. 159–164, 166–168, 178–179, 181, 198, 204–253]

Checking grew looser from 1781. Three leases of 15 January 1780/1 had words interlined and one omitted the King's name; every lease of 11 February 1781/2 carried a fault, including a missing western boundary, an acreage in figures, an interlined description and, in Lieutenant Francis Seale's lease, a closing clause stating that John Robinson had signed. Wrangham's lease of 8 April 1782 omitted its western boundary; Benjamin Seale's was first dated May and corrected to 5 June 1782; William Webber Doveton's two leases of February 1783/4 never received a day of sealing; and the rent in a lease of 23 May 1785 was written into a blank left for it. [Film No. 195–196, 198–201, 208, 213, 221–222, 237]

Wright signed nothing between 16 February 1783/4 and 8 August 1785; Robert Leech, John Doveton and John Goodwin, all factors, witnessed instead, Leech for nine of the 12 leases from 30 September 1784 to 23 May 1785. Samuel Mason signed as a writer on 5 June 1782 and as a factor on 13 September 1784; Goodwin, a writer in 1768, was a factor by 10 February 1782/3; six factors were named between 18 March 1781/2 and 30 September 1785, among them William Webber Doveton and James Desfountain. Three leases were sealed on 8 April 1782, three on 30 September 1784 (the first Michaelmas sitting for five years), four on 6 December 1784, four on 23 May 1785, four on 7 November 1785 and three on 28 November 1785. [Film No. 204–206, 210, 213, 216–217, 224–225, 228, 231–234, 236, 239–240, 242–243, 248, 251]

Witnessing had passed to the factors by 20 March 1785/6: Samuel Mason, Leech, John Doveton, Goodwin and Kennedy, who signed as factor on 19 November 1787. Wright witnessed only for Solomon St Maurice on 11 December 1786, for Goodwin and Lieutenant Richard Knipe on 15 January 1786/7, for three renewals on 8 October 1787 and for his kinsman John Alexander's leases of March 1788. J. F. Howard signed without rank from 20 August 1787; Richard Goodwin junior witnessed all five leases of 7 January 1787/8 and was styled writer by June 1789; Gabriel Doveton signed on 21 July 1788 and Francis Robson junior on 15 December 1788; a Doveton and Howard together witnessed a trust lease of 23 November 1789, the first with two witnesses; and Kennedy and Leech witnessed each other's leases on 21 December 1789. John Goodwin was storekeeper by 1790. [Film No. 254, 256, 258, 263–264, 267–268, 272, 274, 276–278, 281, 301, 308–309, 314, 321, 336, 340, 343, 353, 355–356, 358]

Measured plans entered the country leases on 16 November 1767 with Benjamin Mason's 10¾ acres beside the Company's pasture; others followed for St Maurice on 27 June 1768, for William Young, Simon Whaley and Gabriel Harper on 20 March 1768/9 and for William Hayes senior on 27 March 1769, but none for Wrangham's lease beside the pasture on 4 December 1769. Plans returned under Wright with Richard Bagley's lease of 31 January 1773/4, carrying the tenant's name inside the outline; one plan of 30 September 1776 showed the adjoining grants of Gabriel Alexander Harper and Lieutenant Charles Ross Stewart, surveyed together as 17¼ acres; and Bazett's of 18 November 1776 first marked compass points, with south at the top. A five-sided outline of 2 acres, marked N and S, was entered on 6 January 1776/7, though 25¼ acres granted that day had none; Gurling's 6½ acres carried all four letters; Benjamin Seale's plan of 10 July 1780 put north at the top with directions in full. Three plans were drawn for Stephen Young's scattered 3 acres in James's Valley in June 1782, Richard Bagley's of February 1783/4 added bearings between its pieces and Lieutenant Onesiphorus Beale's of 8 August 1785 carried a compass. [Film No. 61, 67, 81, 83–84, 86, 101, 135, 138–146, 148–150, 156, 158–159, 180, 214–215, 221, 242]

Marginal notes began to trace titles. One on Richard Mason's lease of 17 March 1782/3 recorded that 7¼ of his 9¾ acres were a renewal; William Webber Doveton's Friar's Valley lease of February 1783/4 was annotated with its transfer to Leech and then to a third holder; James Desfountain's lease of 30 September 1785 named the dead Richard Bagley as former tenant; John Doveton's of 28 November 1785 noted renewal in book C, page 67; and James Harper's of 28 August 1786 noted renewal on 28 August 1807. The clerk labelled entries as new from 23 October 1786 and as renewals from 8 October 1787, yet three leases of 29 September 1788 replacing grants of 1766 and 1767 carry no label, where John Worrall's of 21 July 1788 does. David Kay's lease of 23 October 1786 gave a rent of 2s 0d without saying whether by the acre, Isaac Doveton's of 3 December 1787 gave no boundaries, and another of that day named its tenant Benjamin Mason in the body and Benjamin Mason senior at the foot; the last lease of the run has no date and is placed in about January 1787/8. [Film No. 218, 222, 243, 249, 256, 258–259, 280–281, 290–292, 302–303, 321, 329–330]

Renewals lagged behind expiry. Bazett's term ended in February 1786/7 and was renewed on 8 October; Purling's lease of 2 September 1766 was renewed on 26 November 1787; sittings on 19 November, 26 November and 3 December 1787 culminated in eight leases, the most at any sitting. Isaac Doveton's term ended in March 1788 and was renewed on 29 September 1788; Lieutenant Wathen Greentree waited 16 months for his 37 acres at Sandy Bay and the heirs of John Price 21 months. Boundaries were copied unrevised, so John Seale senior's 8 acres in Deep Valley still showed waste on the north that had been let in 1769. [Film No. 276, 278, 281, 286, 289, 299, 325, 329–330, 341–342, 350–351]

Six leases to John Alexander in March 1788 were signed, sealed and witnessed by the Secretary with the day blank, only the sixth giving the month; one, for 15 acres at the head of Great Bottom, was entered and executed twice, so the book shows seven leases for 68 acres at £17 0s 0d a year where the ground was 53 acres at £13 5s 0d, and nothing cancels the duplicate. Two leases of November 1788 cite the twenty-eighth regnal year, which ended on 24 October 1788, and leave the day blank; a lease of June 1789 gives the regnal year as the twenty-first; and the Greentree trust lease stands among entries of December 1789 but was sealed on 16 August 1790. [Film No. 310–320, 334, 338, 344, 358–359]

The register kept from about 1815 to 1833 cites the consultation that licensed each transfer: lease 116 passed to S. Clements under one of 19 January 1825/6, William Sales handed his leases to the managers of the Widows' Fund on approval of 17 June 1831, and one consultation of 17 July 1826 moved a town plot and a country plot from the Hodsons to Lieutenant Bennett. Changes to lease 162 in 1821 and 1827 were only said to have "appeared" to occur. Remeasurement at renewal on 17 October 1815 cut lease 148 from 60 feet to 44 feet and raised leases 149 to 151 from 100 feet to 126 feet; lease 138 was found on 4 March 1815/6 to hold 133 feet against 50 feet entered; and 3½ feet among the Yates holdings outside any lease were charged £0 0s 10½d. No lease could be produced for a holding of 1764, so the clerk relied on the lease book for 1749 to 1766; one renewal fee was noted as charged twice in error; and lease numbers 328 to 333 were written in ahead of any grant. [Film No. 4–5, 7, 9, 11, 15, 17]

Tenure: Leases for Lives, Freehold and Term

Two Jamestown leases for lives, dated 1738 and 1743, kept their own terms, the second renewed four times to 10 April 1809. A memorandum of 6 May 1782 recorded the only country lease for lives: John Bagley senior held 34 acres in the South Division on three lives, two of which had failed, and paid £9 0s 0d, half a year's rent for each, to enter William Jenkin Brown and Elizabeth Bagley as nominees for 13 acres. He had sold 16 acres to John Robinson, the master carpenter, and 5 acres to Benjamin Seale, and the Council made both buyers take 21-year leases, Robinson's rent being set afresh at 5s 0d an acre on 14 acres and 1s 0d on 2 acres. [Film No. 5, 9, 211–213]

Neighbouring ground was called leasehold on 6 January 1776/7 and leased on 22 June 1778. William Webber Doveton's town strip of February 1783/4 adjoined his own freehold; Lieutenant Anthony Beale's free land bounded 10 acres let to his trustee on 30 September 1784; Kennedy's free land bounded his leases of 6 December 1784; Benjamin Seale's adjoining ground was called leasehold on 2 October 1786; and Richard Mason's land on two sides of his 15 acres was called freehold on 3 December 1787. Such land probably descended from the Company's free grants to its first settlers in the seventeenth century. Kay, Jonathan Doveton and John Scott each held land before their first recorded lease, and a lease of 3 December 1787 named Bazett's land in the South Division, where no grant to him is recorded. A bill of sale of 1800 called Eleanor Yearbury's ground free land, but the first lease proved only part of it free and the rent of £0 13s 2d stood. [Film No. 7, 156, 164, 221, 227, 233–234, 257–258, 265, 274, 290, 294, 298]

Kennedy, lately sub-secretary and named without office, took 46¼ acres in the South Division in three leases on 6 December 1784, all at 5s 0d an acre and £11 11s 3d a year, the five pieces filling gaps in and around his freehold. The Company kept reserves of its own: Jonathan Doveton's 4 acres of 18 December 1786 bordered its pasture called the Church Ground, and Samuel Knipe's 15 acres of 1787 bore the name Horse Pasture. [Film No. 232–234, 265, 294]

Settlement, Land and Agriculture

Country grants of 1766 mostly pushed existing farms into the Company's waste, the ground being identified by division, farm name and neighbours. Bazett took 8½ acres beside his own land on 10 February 1765/6 at 5s 0d an acre; John Desfountain senior took 23¾ acres at the head of Woody Ridge Valley in July 1766, 16 acres called Sextons at 5s 0d and 7¾ acres at 2s 6d; Thomas Greentree took the farm called Taylors in August 1766; William Worrall received 16¾ acres on 22 December 1766 and John Worrall 16¼ acres in November 1766, each including a matching piece of 7¾ acres; and William Seale senior took 8 acres and then 13½ acres in Deep Valley on 15 December 1766 at 5s 0d, the second enclosed by occupied farms. Matthew Purling Esquire paid 1s 0d on 3 acres of waste on 2 September 1766 and William Wrangham, a gentleman, 1s 6d on 3 acres jutting into the waste in December 1766. [Film No. 29–32, 34–39, 97–98, 101–103]

James Greentree's 37 acres at Sandy Bay, sealed on 16 February 1766/7, touched no waste and were bounded by Coles Rock, so were probably a regrant. Gabriel Isaacke's 8 acres in Lemon Valley, sealed on 17 August 1767 at 5s 0d, lay wholly within the waste. Mary Twaits, an unmarried woman, paid 1s 0d an acre on 30 November 1767 for 4 acres called Highams in the South Division, surrounded by waste yet already named. [Film No. 45, 50–51]

Leases of 16 November 1767 first named the West Division and, in Benjamin Mason's case, distinguished the Company's waste from its pasture. John Worrall that day paid 6d an acre on 6¼ acres and 5s 0d on the adjoining 32¼ acres called Francis's. Lieutenant Solomon St Maurice paid 1s 0d on 6 acres on 12 October 1767 and 3s 0d on 4¾ acres on 27 June 1768; Simon Whaley, a planter, paid 5s 0d on 1 February 1767/8 for 3 acres of pure waste; and Gabriel Harper took the 19½ acres of Powell's Valley at 2s 0d on 22 August 1768, by when seven rates were in use. Upper James's Valley counted as country, Kirkpatrick's 12 acres there paying by the acre on 8 May 1769. [Film No. 57–60, 64, 67–68, 87]

Large tracts were charged in three ways. John Alexander took 40 acres in the West Division on 12 September 1768 at 2s 6d an acre for 14 years and 5s 0d for the last seven; Richard Bagley paid 5s 0d throughout on 30 acres in Swanley Valley on 19 February 1768/9; and James Greentree paid 2s 6d throughout on 26 acres in the West Division on 27 March 1769. [Film No. 72, 80, 85]

Ungranted blocks were shared among surrounding landholders at single sittings. Four planters divided 22½ acres in the East Division on 20 March 1768/9: William Young took 4 acres at 5s 0d, and Robert Gurling, Whaley and Harper 15½, 2¼ and ¾ acres at 2s 0d, each with its own lease. On 28 August 1769 the Council shared 64¾ acres of the East Division at 1s 6d, the largest area let in one day: the trustees of Samuel Knipe's orphans took 16½ acres, John Desfountain senior 13¾ and Bazett and Robinson 17¼ each. Isaac Doveton and Nathan Sampell each paid 5s 0d that day for small pieces beside Purling's cheap ground. [Film No. 81–84, 88, 91–95]

On 4 September 1769 William Seale senior paid 2s 0d an acre on 11½ acres beyond his farm, Orlando Bagley junior the same on 9¾ acres between their Deep Valley farms, and Benjamin Seale, a planter, and Sarah Funge 1s 0d each in the South Division. Wrangham, by then also styled factor, paid 5s 0d on all 13 acres he took in three districts on 4 December 1769. Purling paid 5s 0d on 11 December 1769 for Smiths, a named farm of 20 acres. [Film No. 97–103, 106]

John Alexander took 9 acres below the Company's High Peak Pasture on 27 August 1770 at a flat 5s 0d, and Benjamin Mason paid the same that day for 8 acres in the West Division; Thomas Burnham's 13 acres and Bazett's isolated 1½ acres in Stone Top Valley, both sealed on 17 September 1770, were also charged in full. All four leases of 5 August 1771 charged 5s 0d, on Margaret Alcock's 12 acres in three parcels and Nathan Sampell's 8½ acres in the East Division. The five leases of 30 September 1771 ranged lower: William Young paid 1s 6d on 6¼ acres; Gurling, whose rent is followed by a ruled-through space, Samuel Knipe junior and John Seale paid 1s 0d on 2¾, 23 and 5½ acres; and John Desfountain's 12¾ acres took a new rate of 1s 3d. Purling paid 1s 0d on 4 acres of waste-edge ground on 11 November 1771 and 5s 0d on 16 December 1771 for 1½ acres on the high road to the Long Wood. [Film No. 108–111, 113, 119–131]

Whaley paid 5s 0d on 4 acres in the South Division on 5 April 1773, Richard Bagley 4s 0d on 5¼ acres on 31 January 1773/4 and John Bagley junior 3s 6d on 25¼ acres on 30 September 1775, a rate the country register still charged in 1802, 1818 and 1821. William Seale took 5½ acres against the waste at 1s 6d and 10 enclosed acres at 5s 0d on 27 March 1775. Harper, Stewart and Knipe each paid 2s 6d on 30 September 1776 for 10¼, 7½ and 12¼ acres on the western margin, by when ten rates ran from 6d to 5s 0d. Bazett paid 1s 0d on a narrow, stepped strip of 5½ acres on 18 November 1776. [Film No. 133–146, 151–152]

Richard Bagley's five executors took three leases for his heirs on 6 January 1776/7, all at 5s 0d: 10 acres in Tombstone Wood, 2 acres above High Hill Waterfall in Old Woman's Valley and 25¼ acres beside his farm in the West Division, 37¼ acres in all. Gurling's 6½ acres in the East Division, with waste on three sides, paid 1s 6d in September 1777 against 1s 0d on his adjoining grant of 1771. George Seale paid 5s 0d on 9 November 1778 for 7½ acres alone in the waste of Sandy Bay Valley. [Film No. 153–159, 166–167]

Rents graded within one lease appeared under Wright. Richard Mason paid 5s 0d on 8 acres and 4s 0d on 3 acres of one parcel on 20 April 1778, £2 12s 0d in all; the Harper trustees paid £2 19s 0d on 12 acres in Peak Gut on 30 September 1779, one acre at the lower rate; and Major Henry Bazett's 19¼ acres in the South Division carried three rates and £3 6s 1½d on 22 May 1780, his lease distinguishing his plantation ground from his other land. None says which acres bore which rate. Wrangham took the adjoining 15 acres that day at 2s 6d, and Benjamin Seale paid 1s 0d on 18½ acres beside them on 10 July 1780. John Bagley junior's lease of 11 December 1780 tied 5s 0d to a described 28 acres and 3s 6d to 7 acres; Orlando Bagley's three rents of 15 January 1780/1 went into three leases, 26 acres in Dogwood Valley at 1s 0d, 19 acres at 1s 6d and 10 acres at 5s 0d; and Robinson's lease of 11 February 1781/2 gave £0 3s 9d for ¾ acre, being 5s 0d an acre. [Film No. 163, 169–172, 178–179, 189, 193–196, 199]

Ground enclosed by a single estate was leased from 1780, always at 5s 0d: 25 acres to William Young's heirs on 22 May 1780, 2 acres near the head of Pleasant Valley to Bazett on 27 November 1780 within 4½ acres at the heads of Sharks Valley and Pleasant Valley, 20 acres to John Bagley junior on 11 December 1780 and 7 acres to George Alexander in February 1781/2. James Colgrave took more than 30 acres in the East Division at 5s 0d on 27 November 1780; John Bagley junior's two leases gave him 55 acres; Benjamin Mason senior added 30¼ acres in three leases on 18 December 1780, 13¾ of them on the boundary of the Bagley heirs for whom he was trustee; and George Alexander's 42 acres of 11 February 1781/2, at £10 10s 0d a year within £12 5s 0d on 49 acres that day, formed the largest grant to a planter. Robinson then added 13 acres in the south and 5¾ acres in the east. [Film No. 174, 182, 184–185, 188–196, 198–199, 201–202]

The full 5s 0d governed most grants from 1782 to 1786. Samuel Alexander's heirs received 36 acres in the South Division on 11 March 1781/2; Wrangham paid 5s 0d on 17, 3 and 2 acres in two divisions on 8 April 1782, bringing him to 51 acres in four parts of the island at rates from 1s 6d; William Knipe took 15¼ acres in Fisher's Valley on 21 October 1782; and Goodwin took 49 acres in the West Division on 10 February 1782/3 at £12 5s 0d a year, exceeded only by the chaplain's 61 acres. Richard Mason's lease of 17 March 1782/3 reserved cart ways between his four plots at Whaleys near the Long Wood, the first right of way kept in Company hands. [Film No. 205, 208–210, 215–218]

Richard Bagley took three gaps inside his estate at Sandy Bay, 13½ acres, on 16 February 1783/4, and Thomas Bagley 12 acres enclosed by his own land on 13 September 1784. Thomas Bagley paid 2s 0d on 4¼ acres on 30 September 1784 but 5s 0d on 23 May 1785 for 12 acres with waste on three sides, holding 38¼ acres under four leases by then; John Bagley paid 3s 0d on 21 acres in Peak Gut on 15 November 1784. Lieutenant Thomas Greentree paid £0 0s 6d a year for ½ acre on 30 September 1784, the smallest rent recorded; Stephen Young paid 5s 0d an acre on 6 acres and £0 2s 6d for a further ¾ acre on 23 May 1785, in effect 3s 4d an acre. James Colgrave's 42½ acres at Sandy Bay, let on 11 April 1785 with no waste on any side, were probably a regrant; John Desfountain took 31 and 14 acres in Pleasant Valley on 1 August 1785 at £11 5s 0d a year; and Aaron Lambe took 10 acres in the east branch of Sandy Bay Valley on 7 November 1785 with no land of his own beside it. [Film No. 220, 225–226, 228–229, 235–236, 238–241, 245]

Lieutenant Francis Seale's lease of 23 January 1785/6 let about 40 acres of South Division waste by estimate at 1s 0d an acre, the largest grant at that rate, on condition that he enclose it with a good fence within 12 months. George Hayes had likewise to fence 7½ acres called Fox's Folly, near the head of Rupert's Valley, within 12 months of 4 December 1786; no such duty fell on Scott's unmeasured plot of about 6 acres at Sandy Bay on 20 August 1787 or on Knipe's 4 acres in Lemon Valley on 3 December 1787. [Film No. 253, 261, 274, 294]

New grants of 1786 and 1787 were mostly pockets at 5s 0d: Samuel Knipe senior's 18½ acres in the West Division on 20 March 1785/6, Benjamin Seale's 9¼ acres in Sandy Bay Valley on 2 October 1786, five times the rate of his older land, Richard Goodwin's 27 acres in the West Division on 30 October 1786, probably a regrant, and Bazett's 7 acres in the East Division on 20 August 1787, in a lease naming him a member of the Council. The eight leases of 3 December 1787 included 15 acres and 2 acres enclosed by Richard Mason's own land. Kay, a surgeon, took 4¼ acres near the head of James's Valley on 23 October 1786; Richard Mason paid 1s 6d on 2 acres near the Long Wood that day; and Isaac Doveton paid 1s 0d on 4¼ acres in December 1787. [Film No. 254, 257–260, 270–271, 291–293, 298–299]

Renewals exposed farms older than the record. Benjamin Mason senior renewed 31 acres against the waste in the West Division on 8 October 1787 at 1s 6d an acre, raised by the clerk from 1s 0d above the line, and Robinson renewed 28½ acres in the East Division on 26 November 1787 at 1s 6d, both holdings predating 1765. Bazett renewed 11 acres in Sharks Valley and Pleasant Valley on 8 October 1787 at 5s 0d, including his 8½ acres of 1766, and 15½ acres under a lease older than the volume, 6 acres at 5s 0d and 9½ at 1s 0d, £1 19s 6d in all. Stephen Young renewed 3 acres at 1s 0d and Lieutenant Thomas Greentree 3 acres in the South Division at 5s 0d on 19 November 1787. [Film No. 275–278, 280–281, 284, 286]

Renewals also revealed unrecorded sales. Robinson renewed Purling's 7½ acres of cabbage tree land near Halley's Mount on 26 November 1787 at 5s 0d, with 10 acres called Whaley's in the South Division, holding at least nine leases by that day. Richard Mason took Sextons on 3 December 1787 at the acreages and rents of Desfountain's lease of July 1766, with a farm called Pledgers, after a tenant of 1766. Sarah Harper, a widow, renewed in November 1788 the 6 acres once St Maurice's at his 1s 0d; Captain William Pierie renewed the 32¼ acres of Francis's Plain on 19 January 1788/9; John Sampell took the acre of cabbage tree land once held in trust for the Doveton orphans; and Kennedy took Powell's Valley on 21 December 1789 at Gabriel Harper's 2s 0d. [Film No. 285–289, 296–298, 333–334, 337–338, 340–341, 355–356]

A tract beside the high road to the Long Wood was divided on 7 January 1787/8 at 3s 6d an acre among John Sampell (23½ acres), Robinson (3¾ acres) and William Hayes (13¾ acres). Sampell and Robinson were each bound to maintain one gate on the road, 8 feet 6 inches wide and 4 feet 6 inches high, and to share the cost of a third between their lands; Hayes, off the road, was not. Lieutenant John Taylor's 2 acres in the East Division were let that day at 6d an acre. Lieutenant Richard Knipe's Tobacco Plain in the West Division grew at renewal from 8½ to 10 acres, 3½ acres being marked down to 1s 6d; John Worrall's holding beside Taylor's doubled to 33 acres at 5s 0d, £8 5s 0d a year. [Film No. 300–301, 303–309, 320–321]

John Alexander's six leases of March 1788, all at 5s 0d, fixed the line between his estate and High Peak Pasture: 9 acres renewed a lease of 1770 more than three years early, and pieces of 4, 5, 15, 15½ and 4½ acres lay inside or beside his land, three meeting the pasture on the south. Sarah Isacke renewed 8 acres in Lemon Valley for the heirs of Gabriel Isacke on 21 December 1789, waste still lying on every side, and the executors of James Greentree renewed 26 acres in the West Division in August 1790 at the 2s 6d of 1769. [Film No. 310–318, 357–359]

Country leases 256 to 327, of 1813 to about 1830, were let at 1s 6d to 5s 0d an acre, 2s 6d being commonest; the lower rows of the page for leases 281 to 290 are barely legible. Gabriel Doveton Esquire held 31½ acres at 1s 6d in 1814; William H. Seale held 26 acres at 3d an acre in 1822, a rent the Council then waived. Grants of 1818 to 1822 often ran for seven years only, and the Reverend Richard Boys had his term of 1820 extended to 21 years on 1 September 1823. John Robinson's unexpired lease was cancelled under a consultation of 15 September 1823 once the goodwill of his remaining years was bought. A country village was laid out from 1826: three plots of 200 feet were let at a flat £0 5s 0d in 1826 and 1827 and plots of about 60 feet at £0 2s 6d from 1829, several numbered, including 10, 11 and 12, one passing from Mary Harris to a new holder on 22 April 1833. [Film No. 15, 17, 29]

Wood and Water

A town lease of 1743 required one tenth of the ground to be planted with trees. Purling's 7½ acres of cabbage tree land near Halley's Mount, let on 2 September 1766, and the matching 7½ acres let to Isaac Doveton across their boundary on 2 March 1766/7 paid 5s 0d an acre, as did Mary Doveton's 1 acre of cabbage tree land on 12 October 1767, though held for orphans. Robinson's 17¼ acres of 28 August 1769 fell under the wood clause. Bazett took 28 acres of cabbage tree land in two pieces on 18 November 1776 and 4½ acres under the main ridge, all at 5s 0d; with his strip at 1s 0d the day brought him 38 acres and raised his estate in the East Division to about 65 acres. Cabbage tree land was the native woodland of the high ground. [Film No. 5, 33, 47–48, 55–56, 93, 149–153]

A lease of 4 September 1780 bounded 2½ acres, let to Richard Goodwin for the heirs of Onesiphorus Beale at 5s 0d, with the Company's waste cabbage tree lands. William Webber Doveton, a factor, took 19 acres of cabbage tree land under the main ridge next to Sandy Bay on 29 September 1788, the first such woodland let on that side. [Film No. 154, 171, 180–181, 193, 328]

The Reverend William Bearcroft, the chaplain, took 61 acres in the West Division on 17 September 1770 at 1s 6d an acre, the largest grant in the volume; if neighbours using the adjoining common complained in a dry season that their cattle lacked water, he could not divert the stream to his plantation. The Reverend John Wilson took the bare 12 acres of Clough's Plain on 15 December 1788 at 1s 2d an acre, bound to maintain whatever wood might be planted and to turn his drain back if it was proved to harm the adjoining commonage. [Film No. 112–113, 335–336]

The Town and its Rents

Building ground in James's Valley was let at 3d a foot of frontage, depth disregarded. John Price, the jailer, paid £1 0s 0d for 80 feet on 22 December 1766; James Goudy, a shopkeeper, £0 10s 0d for 40 feet and George Bird, a joiner, £0 15s 0d for 60 feet on 12 January 1766/7, both plots standing alone in the waste; and Lieutenant Michael Frost £0 15s 0d on 31 August 1767 for a plot 20 feet deeper, between the houses of a sentinel and the orphan John Legg. Bazett paid £0 10s 0d on 16 February 1766/7 for a plot about 66 feet wide behind his yard and stable, where 3d a foot called for £0 16s 6d; it had no frontage of its own, and a plan was drawn beneath the signatures. [Film No. 40–43, 46–47, 52]

Small additions were priced by judgement and then by a flat fee. Robinson, a planter with a house in the valley, paid £0 3s 0d on 2 March 1766/7 for a strip 65 feet long between his wall and the watercourse, and Robert Ballard, a planter, £0 8s 0d on 12 October 1767 for 14 feet by 74 feet. A flat £0 5s 0d was charged to Henry Bazett on 29 August 1768, in a lease naming the Southwark side of the valley, to St Maurice and Samuel Desfountain on 19 December 1768, to Thomas Greentree's heirs on 10 July 1769, when Henry Bazett paid £0 4s 6d for 18 feet of frontage, and to Captain Richard Beale for 82 feet by 14 feet on 16 July 1770. Purling and the Society he headed paid £0 4s 0d for two additions on 11 December 1769, in a lease that first described ground as facing up a street. Leech and Jane Willson paid £0 2s 6d for 26 feet square on 29 October 1770, and Bird £0 2s 0d for 53 feet by 14 feet on 18 February 1770/1, his plot of 1767 by then holding a house and yard. [Film No. 48–50, 54–55, 69, 75–76, 89–90, 104–105, 107, 114–116, 118]

Fringe sites were discounted from 1768. Thomas Harper paid £0 10s 0d for 60 feet above the old burying ground on 5 December 1768, when John Worrall took a wedge by the watercourse, 21 feet in front and 50 feet behind, at £0 12s 0d as trustee for James Torbett's orphans, the first town trust. Leech paid £0 12s 0d for 60 feet and Lieutenant John Shirley £0 10s 0d for 43 feet on 9 January 1768/9, while John Preston, a mason's mate who signed his own name, paid £0 15s 0d on 30 January 1768/9 for 60 feet by 60 feet, a plot matching Leech's in size and setting. Mary Harper's 60 feet at £0 12s 0d on 4 March 1770/1 and the Hayes plot of 50 feet at £0 10s 0d on 4 November 1776 matched Leech's rate beside them. Roderick Merchant, a publican, paid £0 5s 0d on 18 February 1770/1 for a gap of 20 feet between two houses; James Pritchard, a tailor, £0 7s 0d on 10 June 1771 for 50 feet at the edge of the Southwark side; and Price the full £0 10s 0d for 40 feet on 9 March 1771/2, with waste on three sides. [Film No. 73–74, 77–79, 116–119, 132, 148–149]

Only remnants were let in 1778. Sergeant Hatton Walker paid £0 5s 0d on 20 April 1778 for a gap 15 feet wide beside Captain Solomon St Maurice's house, and Private Richard Bickerstaff £0 15s 0d for an 80-foot wedge between a passage and the watercourse. Henry Bazett paid £0 6s 0d on 22 June 1778 for 30 feet of a strip 16 feet deep between the road and the watercourse, exactly 1s 0d for every 5 feet; Wright paid £0 3s 6d for 18 feet of it on 15 September 1783, and William Webber Doveton and James Desfountain £0 3s 0d each on 30 September 1785 for 12 feet, the halves of Richard Bagley's former plot. Wrangham's 78 feet at the foot of Ladder Hill Road cost £0 10s 0d in November 1778, about 1½d a foot. [Film No. 160–162, 164–166, 219, 243–244]

Central ground grew dearer in 1780. Price's executors paid £0 15s 0d on 22 May 1780 for 47 feet by 60 feet, close to 4d a foot, and James Harper took an identical plot at the same rent on 15 January 1780/1, a gap of 94 feet being split between neighbours although Harper's house already stood there. Young's heirs paid the minimum £0 5s 0d that May for 17 feet by 13 feet behind their house by the old burying ground. Mrs Elizabeth Lambe, a widow, took 41 feet on 27 November 1780 beside the Company's house occupied by the Lieutenant Governor, at £0 14s 0d in one clause and £0 14s 6d in the next, the latter matching the 41 feet registered to Aaron Lambe in 1802. St Maurice's plot of 4 December 1780 ran 104 feet from the street to the main watercourse beside the slaughterhouse, at £0 15s 0d for 56 feet. [Film No. 175–178, 183–186, 197]

Captain Lieutenant Samuel Desfountain paid £0 12s 0d for 70 feet on 18 March 1781/2, the plot narrowing to 22 feet beside the bridge, the first mention of one over the watercourse; Leech paid £0 7s 0d that day for a back strip 80 feet long. William Webber Doveton paid £0 10s 0d, 8d a foot, in February 1783/4 for 15 feet running 120 feet from the main street to the passage to Munden's Point. On 28 November 1785 John Doveton paid £0 10s 0d for 30 feet and the estate of Lieutenant John Bazett £0 12s 0d for 36 feet, exactly 4d a foot, while Major Bazett paid £0 12s 6d for 58 feet at the open end of the same row; all three houses already stood. [Film No. 206–207, 221, 249–251]

Four plots on the road to the Maldivia Gardens were let with a fence clause last used on 2 December 1765 and were probably regrants: Pritchard, by then a shopkeeper, and William Chamberlain each paid £0 15s 0d for 60 feet on 7 November 1785, Pritchard's copy omitting the repair clause, and John Legg, a joiner, £1 7s 0d for a shallow 148 feet; St Maurice took 60 feet beside Chamberlain's house on 23 January 1785/6 and plots of 50 feet and 60 feet on 11 December 1786 at £0 15s 0d each, 170 feet for £2 5s 0d a year. James Harper's lease of 28 August 1786, the only one letting a building, gave 50 feet of frontage with a dwelling house for £0 2s 6d. [Film No. 246–248, 252, 256, 263–264]

Deep ground behind houses was charged by area from 1786, at 1d for about 14 square feet or roughly £13 0s 0d an acre. Lieutenant Thomas Greentree paid £1 4s 2d for 37 feet by 108 feet on 18 December 1786, Lieutenant Richard Knipe £0 12s 5d for 19 feet by 110 feet on 15 January 1786/7 and Benjamin Mason junior £0 15s 8d for 24 feet by 109 feet on 20 August 1787, his entry omitting the fence clause; Captain Lieutenant Thomas Statham paid £1 0s 3d for 31 feet by 95 feet on 11 August 1787, and the figure in John Goodwin's lease is partly illegible. Thomas Alesworth paid £0 4s 0d for a new piece of 30 feet by 21 feet on 4 December 1786. [Film No. 262, 266–269, 271–272]

Town renewals kept old rents. Lieutenant Onesiphorus Beale renewed 21½ feet by 100 feet behind his house on 19 November 1787 at £0 5s 3d, and Ballard 38 feet by 17 feet that day at £0 5s 0d; Robinson paid the same on 26 November 1787 for a corner of 17 feet by 11 feet. On 29 September 1788 Bazett renewed his plot of 1767 at £0 10s 0d, John Doveton signing for him, and Thomas Lester, the town adjutant, took Bird's 60 feet, between Henry Bazett's house and the school house yard, at £0 15s 0d. Mary Price held Frost's former plot at 3d a foot from 30 September 1789. Leech, a factor, took a strip matching Beale's on 21 December 1789 at Beale's rent. The Jamestown register carried Knipe's and Beale's figures forward and dated Pritchard's 50 feet to 1792, when his first term expired. [Film No. 114–116, 268, 281–283, 285–286, 326–327, 330–331, 348–349, 354–355]

New ground reached unprecedented prices on 29 September 1788. Captain John Torbett paid £2 5s 0d for 45 feet beside the Company's Black House, exactly 1s 0d a foot, and was allowed to fell the trees there on condition that he planted and raised three more; St Maurice paid £0 13s 0d for 28 feet beside the slaughter pound, on the road to the barracks. Mary Goudy paid £0 3s 0d that day for 15 feet by 13 feet behind her house. Two rents rose in 1789: Eleanor Robinson paid £0 5s 0d in June for the strip that had cost John Robinson £0 3s 0d, and the administrators of John Young £0 17s 0d on 23 November for Wrangham's 78 feet, in a lease naming the public street and recording Wrangham's house as occupied by John Newton, a plumber. Hendrick Wilkinson, a cooper, paid £0 5s 0d on 30 September 1789 for 40 feet on the Southwark side under Ladder Hill, and John Charles Dunn, a surgeon's assistant, the same for about ¼ acre between the garrison hospital and the Company's Maldivia Garden. [Film No. 322–324, 330, 332, 343–347, 352–353]

Thomas Yates took 460 feet at 3d a foot on 15 September 1794 and sold it off in slices to at least five buyers, his widow, Mrs Rimmer, keeping the last 59 feet. The theatre stood on 55 feet first leased in 1800 to the Society of Freemasons at £0 14s 6d. Lease 105 was cancelled and regranted on 9 November 1829 in three parts to Daniel, Matthew and Sarah O'Connor; Saul Solomon's lease of 4 June 1832 for 83 feet allowed only sheds for carts, drays, cattle or horses; and Edward Fitzpatrick, in a lease of about 1832, paid 6d a foot on 18 feet of encroachment. [Film No. 4–5, 9, 11]

Finance, Credit and Repurchase

Leases served as security by the 1820s. Thomas O'Connor gave a mortgage bond over lease 138 to W. Carrol, through which the ground reached J. Blunden after a consultation of 13 September 1824; Charles Sampson's two plots passed through O'Connor's executors, Sergeant McCarthy and James Louden to Mr Lambe by mortgage and on to Samuel McCauley on 3 September 1832; and a country lease was transferred on 23 July 1825 on a petition arising from the bankruptcy of William Tracy. Saul Solomon, whose lease dated 1823 was not signed until 16 October 1824, and John Torbett, who bought plots from Government in 1799 and 1801, appear in many chains of title between 1801 and 1832. [Film No. 5, 7, 11, 15, 74]

Robert Statham transferred 3 acres to His Majesty's Government under a consultation of 11 June 1816, the year of the grant and within months of Napoleon's arrival in October 1815. O'Connor's brewhouse premises, 174 feet at £2 3s 6d, went to Walker on 13 September 1826, to Lieutenant Byrne on 27 October 1826 and to the Company on 2 July 1827; two country leases of 210¾ acres, yielding £52 13s 9d a year, were bought on 22 September 1828; and ground absorbed into lease 132 was bought, in or after 1828, for a house of correction and jail. [Film No. 4, 9, 15]

Military Affairs, Trade and Occupations

Officers of the garrison, the Company's own force, became householders and farmers. Four lieutenants took town ground between 19 December 1768 and 9 January 1768/9, two enlarging houses and two taking new plots; St Maurice's four leases gave him a dwelling on his West Division farm and a second house in the valley; and Kirkpatrick paid the full 5s 0d an acre. Officers lived beside a sergeant, a factor, a publican and a mason's mate. St Maurice was a captain by 20 April 1778 and took his lease of 23 January 1785/6 without rank; Henry Bazett was a major by 22 June 1778 and held four town sites by 28 November 1785. [Film No. 57, 69, 75–79, 87, 160, 164, 251–252]

Six men took a slip of ground on 11 December 1769 as members of the Society for the purchase and sale of spirituous liquors: Purling, James Powell, Matthew Bazett, Wrangham, Henry Bazett and Jonathan Doveton. William Hayes kept a public house by 9 January 1768/9, and Henry Bazett owned the Billiard House by 10 July 1769. Merchant's lease of 1771 and the Hayes lease of 1776 concerned public houses, the Hayes plot adjoining the house of John Price, a publican who was perhaps the jailer. [Film No. 69, 74, 78, 89, 104, 116, 148–149]

Company servants of every grade farmed. John Goodwin paid 5s 0d an acre for 5 acres in Friar's Valley on 29 August 1768, and Wrangham took the adjoining 5 acres on 4 December 1769, with a house on the Southwark side. Whaley was a planter in 1768 and 1769 and a carpenter's mate on 5 April 1773, with five scattered holdings beside those of Robinson, the master carpenter; Gurling was a planter in 1769 and a lieutenant on 30 September 1771; Stewart was lieutenant and adjutant on 30 September 1776, though the plan called him Mr Stewart. Jonathan Doveton was named storekeeper on 18 December 1786, and three publicans farmed in 1787: Scott at Sandy Bay, and John Sampell beside William Hayes in the East Division. [Film No. 69–70, 101–103, 124, 133–134, 142–144, 258, 265, 269, 274, 289, 300]

Sons of planting families held commissions by 1784: Thomas Greentree and Onesiphorus Beale, orphans under trustees in 1767, were lieutenants in leases of 30 September 1784 and 8 August 1785. Soldiers dealt in land into the next century: Sergeants John Wright and William Twisdell held 1 acre and 4¾ acres in 1814, Wright's acre passing through the Reverend Boys to Lieutenant Armstrong in January 1816/7; lease 162 belonged from 1821 to an absent captain of the ship Centurion, whose agent sold it in 1827, and reached Sergeant Thomas Brown of the Invalid Company on 3 September 1831. [Film No. 11, 15, 227–228, 242]

Social Order: Trusts, Heirs, Women and Status

Orphans of the Doveton, Burnham and Desfountain families already appear as neighbours in 1766. On 16 February 1766/7 Ruth Colgrave and George Alexander took 15 acres in Deep Valley as trustees for Thomas Colgrave's children, only Alexander signing, and added 14 acres on 12 September 1768. Thomas Greentree was dead within about six months of August 1766; his seven executors, among them Purling, Wrangham and Henry Bazett, took 12½ acres at Sandy Bay for his heirs on 5 October 1767, only James Greentree signing. Mary Doveton, widow and administratrix of an intestate husband, received the same terms on 12 October 1767, and James Greentree took 4 acres and 13½ acres at Sandy Bay for John Twaits's children on 30 November 1767, beside his own 37 acres. All paid 5s 0d an acre. [Film No. 31–32, 34, 43–45, 53–54, 56, 62–63, 71]

The second Colgrave lease moved every condition from the children to the trustees, and the Torbett and Knipe trusts followed it; a town lease for the Greentree heirs on 10 July 1769 reverted to the old form, naming five executors of whom three signed. Thomas Burnham, executor and a child of the late William Burnham, was bound jointly with his siblings on 17 September 1770. Mary Harper, a widow, took her plot on 4 March 1770/1 for the children of her dead husband Thomas Jarvis, and Margaret Alcock on 5 August 1771 settled 12 acres on her named sons David and Edwin. George Bryon Hayes and William Hayes took 4 acres jointly on 18 April 1768, the first joint tenancy in the tenants' own right; William signed twice under two seals, and again for 2½ acres on 28 August 1769. [Film No. 65–66, 71, 74, 88, 90, 96, 110–111, 117–122]

The trusts of 1776 and after again laid loyalty on the heirs. John Worrall and the younger William Hayes took 5½ acres on 14 October 1776 and the public house plot on 4 November 1776 for the heirs of William Hayes. Richard Bagley's executors were Wrangham, Henry Bazett, Benjamin Mason, Leech and John Bagley junior, two of whom had served with Bagley for Thomas Greentree's estate; all five signed and sealed on 6 January 1776/7. Margaret Harper signed alone for Martin Harper's heirs in September 1779, her fellow executor Samuel Alexander being dead by 22 May 1780, when four of William Young's six executors signed, among them Matthew Bazett, Henry Bazett and William Webber Doveton; Mary Price, first among her husband's three executors, left the signing that day to George Bird and John Legg. [Film No. 147–149, 153–155, 168, 171–173, 177–178]

The leases of 11 March 1781/2 for Samuel Alexander's heirs bound the five trustees themselves, only Major Bazett and Wright signing. John Seale's three executors all signed for 21½ acres at Sandy Bay on 9 August 1784, John Worrall acting for a third unrelated estate. Mrs Mary Beale took 10 acres under the main ridge on 30 September 1784 as trustee for the living Anthony Beale and his heirs. Lieutenant John Bazett died intestate, and his widow and two kinsmen took his house plot as administrators on 28 November 1785. Four executors took 1½ acres for Samuel Alexander's heirs on 20 March 1785/6, his widow Mary, John and George Alexander and Wright, who signed alone, Henry Bazett having left that trust and Richard Bagley's. Bagley's four executors took 25 acres at 5s 0d on 20 August 1787, Leech signing alone, and renewed 12¾ acres on 8 October 1787, Benjamin Mason senior signing. [Film No. 203–205, 223, 227, 250, 255, 272–273, 279–280]

Heirs came forward in their own names. Lieutenant Thomas Greentree took 8 acres at Sandy Bay on 4 December 1780; Richard Bagley leased at Sandy Bay in 1784; and Mary Doveton took 7 acres outright on 6 December 1784. Clerks still called such land the orphans' when the children were grown. Robinson was dead by June 1789, when Eleanor Robinson held for his heirs; James Greentree was dead by 16 August 1790, his widow Margaret and Lieutenants Wathen and Thomas Greentree holding as trustees; and Mary Price held one plot outright and her husband's first plot in trust. [Film No. 187, 220, 231, 304, 343, 350–351, 358–359]

Women were named as tenants but rarely signed. Jonathan Doveton signed for Mary Doveton on 12 October 1767, James Greentree for Mary Twaits on 30 November 1767, Benjamin Seale for Sarah Funge on 4 September 1769, Leech for Jane Willson, his joint tenant, on 29 October 1770, George Seale for Mary Harper in 1771 and Wrangham for Margaret Alcock on 5 August 1771. Margaret Harper alone signed for herself, and was treated as owner of the heirs' land in Peak Gut by 15 November 1784. A. Lambe signed for Elizabeth Lambe in November 1780, William Webber Doveton for Mary Beale and John Doveton for Mary Doveton in 1784, John Legg for Mary Goudy on 29 September 1788 and for Mary Price in 1789, kinsmen for Sarah Harper and Sarah Isacke and a Doveton for Eleanor Robinson. A married woman's title stood in her husband's name: in July 1824 Captain Barker held the Sprall lease in right of his wife Mary. [Film No. 7, 51, 56, 62, 100, 114–115, 118, 120–122, 168, 184, 216, 227, 230–231, 333–334, 344, 349–351, 358]

Men were represented too: John Sampell signed for Nathan Sampell in August 1771, William Webber Doveton for William Young on 30 September 1771, John Seale for William Seale on 27 March 1775, Kennedy for John Bagley junior in December 1780, Thomas Bagley for John Bagley, who attended none of his four sealings for 86½ acres, on 15 November 1784, William Seale for Benjamin Seale on 2 October 1786, a man named Broadway for Ballard on 19 November 1787 and Matthew Doveton for Isaac Doveton on 3 December 1787. George Hayes, represented by a kinsman in the 1760s, signed for himself in December 1786. [Film No. 120–124, 136–137, 188–190, 230, 257, 260–261, 283, 291–292, 296]

Literacy did not follow office. Price, the jailer, signed with a mark on 22 December 1766 and 9 March 1771/2 while holding 120 feet of frontage; Gabriel Isaacke made a mark in 1767, where Elisha Isacke senior wrote his name in 1787; William Knipe made his mark on 21 October 1782; Goudy the shopkeeper and Private Bickerstaff signed their names. [Film No. 41–42, 50, 132, 162, 216, 291–292]

A generation passed in the 1770s and 1780s. William Seale lost the style of senior and his land was described as John Seale's on 30 September 1775, when Orlando Bagley dropped the style of junior; Samuel Knipe signed as senior on 20 March 1785/6, having been junior in 1784, and Richard Goodwin as senior on 30 October 1786. Families persisted: a Robert Leech held a town lease of 1782, Chamberlains and Beales held leases into 1810 and 1817, and Knipes took country leases in 1817, 1818 and 1821. [Film No. 77, 88, 136, 139–140, 227, 234, 247–248, 254, 257]

Town ground was open to men of colour and to the lower ranks. A house on the Southwark side, held by Pritchard in 1789, was commonly called Free Harry's, probably after a freed slave. James Williams, a free black, bought frontage first sold by Government to John Torbett in 1801, kept 25 feet and sold 35 feet to Michael Connolly and 30 feet to Dennaught; pieces reached a man of the Royal Artillery on 22 July 1819, Mary Williams on 18 March 1819/20 and Private Charles Allison under a consultation of 19 September 1825. John Handy, described as a black, held 55 feet at £0 3s 0d under a lease of 1789. [Film No. 7, 9, 345]

Personalities

Matthew Bazett's land bounded four other tenants by 1767; he was styled Esquire from 1775 and sat on the Council by 20 August 1787. James Greentree, holder of 37 acres at Sandy Bay from 16 February 1766/7, was trustee for two families and added a farm in the West Division on the best terms given. Henry Bazett served as trustee for the Greentree, Bagley, Young and Alexander estates and on 22 May 1780 appeared both as tenant and as trustee; Purling, Henry Bazett and Wrangham owned adjoining ground in more than one division. [Film No. 28–29, 37, 62–63, 85, 101–103, 154, 172, 203, 270–271]

John Legg, an orphan with his own house in 1767, held the longest town frontage by 7 November 1785 and completed the next lease of Frost's plot on 30 September 1789. Price had left a will with three executors and a house in the valley by May 1780. Wright appears as a landholder at the head of James's Valley in November 1788, under no recorded grant. Thomas Yates was a South Division neighbour of Kennedy on 6 December 1784. [Film No. 177, 227, 234, 247–248, 337, 348–349, 351]

Conclusion

Three kinds of label in the leases are unreliable. Division names shift: Mary Doveton's acre of 12 October 1767 was placed in the East Division and Wrangham's ground with the same neighbours in the South on 4 December 1769, and Peak Gut lay in the West on 30 September 1779 but in the South on 15 November 1784. The styles of senior and junior, and occupational descriptions, were applied too loosely to identify a tenant with certainty. [Film No. 56, 78, 98, 103, 229, 254–303]

Film No

Page No.

OCR Transcription

Modern Interpretation and analysis

1

 

EAP 1364 St Helena

Document Name and Date

Register of Leases 1766-1790

Photcgrapher

Aidan

Date photographed

16th may 2023

Additonal comments

2

 

Book cover

3

 

Blank page

4

1

Renewals Transfers and Remarks

[...] Registered

[...] Book Page To whom

[...] 1796 E 73 William Seale These Leases in one renewed 11 March 1830 to Wm Seale and transfer

from him to Managers of the Widows fund sanctioned upon application

17th June 1831.

9 Jan 1812 E 76&77 Thos Ca[rr] Charged double only for one [contents].

[...] 1824

2 March E 63

1827 &

64 Exors of H Porteous

4 June 1825 E 56 Andrew Darling 101 & 102 transferred to Mr A Darling Cow:

[...] 13th by the Agent of Mrs. Patterson who

July 1826 purchased them from the Agents of Mrs W[...]

now included in one

No 105 transferred to Lieut. D. OConnor the 18 Octr 1825 Cancelled see Lea[...] 9 [...]

13 Thomas Connor

[...]

Thomas E No 106 & 107 transferred [...] from OConnor [...]

Connor do. & Co to W Baker being the Brewhouse premises, Cons 13 Septr

14 1826

& transferred to Lieut. W. J H Burnie [...] 27 Decr 1826.

do & Co Purchased by the Company [...] 2d Feby 1827

31st March E 46 Thos Gr[een] transferred by his Admr. to Thos. Thomas,

1823 by him to James Parrot 17 March 1828

do E 47 Thos Gr[een] [...] do do do do

by him to James Parrot 17 March 1828

[...] included in No 132

Purchased by the Govt. for a House of correction & jail

William Sales held leases entered in register book E at page 73, which were renewed to him on 11 March 1830.

Renewal dated [...] 1796, register book E, page 73, to William Sales: these leases were renewed on 11 March 1830 to William Sales, who handed them over to the managers of the Widows' Fund, a change approved on application on 17 June 1831.

Renewal dated 9 January 18[...], register book E, pages 76 and 77, to Thomas [...]: the fee was charged twice in error.

Renewal dated [...] March 1827, register book E, pages 63 and 64, to the executors of H. Porteous.

Renewal dated 9 June 1826, register book E, page 50, to Andrew Darling: leases 101 and 102 passed to the Reverend [...] through the agent of Lieutenant Patterson, who bought them from the agents of Mr [...], and both were now held as one lease.

Lease 105: passed to Lieutenant D. O'Connor on 10 September 1825 and cancelled on 9 [...].

Leases 106 and 107, register book E, pages 13 and 14: O'Connor and Company assigned the brewhouse premises to Walker on 13 September 1826, Walker passed them to Lieutenant H. J. H. Byrne on 27 October 1826 and the Company bought them on 2 July 1827.

Renewal dated 31 March 1823, register book E, page 46, to Thomas [...]: his attorney passed the lease to Thomas Thomas, who passed it to James Parrott on 17 March 1828.

Renewal dated 31 March 1823, register book E, page 47, to Thomas [...]: his attorney passed the lease to Thomas Thomas, who passed it to James Parrott on 17 March 1828. The holding was absorbed into lease 132 and the Government bought it for a house of correction and jail.

Start of crossed out section

Register book E, pages 13 and 14, Thomas O'Connor, and Thomas O'Connor and Company.

End of crossed out section

Interpretations

The Widows' Fund entry showed that a tenant could not reassign a lease at will. Sales needed approval on application before the managers of the fund could take over on 17 June 1831. Each change of tenant was sanctioned first and then noted against the original renewal, which kept the Company informed of who held its land.

The brewhouse premises changed hands three times in under 10 months before the Company bought them on 2 July 1827. That purchase removed the property from private tenancy, which probably explains why the O'Connor names were struck through. The holding absorbed into lease 132 met a similar end, bought so that a house of correction and jail could stand on it.

A house of correction was a place of confinement and forced labour for minor offenders, distinct from a jail holding prisoners awaiting trial or serving sentences. The purchase of one site for both purposes pointed to a single combined building.

The note of a fee charged twice in error showed that renewals carried a charge and that the entries served as a check on its collection. The mistake was corrected by annotation, so the wrong charge stayed visible beside its correction.

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[Lower left corner of the left-hand page torn away, with further loss along its foot.]

[James Town] Date of Registered Rent P Annum Renewals Transfers and Remarks

No Tenants. Lease Term Book Page feet £ S D Remarks. Consultation Registered Book Page To whom

112 S[...] Jonas Cooper 1799 32 1/2 B 179 8 9 Part of the 147 feet Leased to Saml [Dickens]

explained in No 101.

113 do 1794 30 B 109 5 This is part of T Yates's lease for 460 feet 31 Octr 1816 E 15 Lieut Bennett Transferred to Wm [Peploe] Consult 22d June

13 9 dated the 15 Septr. 1794.

114 William Brabazon. 1788 41 1 Originally Leased to Thos Worsingham. This

is a Lease upon Lives. the last admission

is granted by the Govr & Council 9 Jan 1807

1824

115 Thos Ainsworth 1800 56 B 193 12 6 Original Lease 30 Augt. E 55 Executrix of T. Ainsworth and transferred to Jacob Rich

116 do 1807 50 C 70 12 6 do & Cons 9 June 1828 E 67 116 Transferred from Baker Cole to S. Clements Cons 19 Sept

1826 and renewed to the latter Cons 5th. June 1828.

117 do 1801 [...] 17 6 Bill of Sale from Government.

2 2 6

118 Thomas Carr 1794 42 1/2 B 109 10 7 1/2 Part of T Yates's 460 feet. Bill of Sale Part transferred to B McDunn as p Consult. 14. May 1810

119 John Legg & Publicans 1743 [...] 15 Original Lease on Lives to the [...] Nelson Worth

requiring that one tenth part should be planted

with Wood. Four renewals of Nominees the

last dated 10 April 1809 [...]

1826

120 Charles Sampson 1805 72 15 Bill of Sale from Thos. Yates being part of 20 Novr. E 65 James Louden This ground was sold by C Sampson to T. OConnor

Thomas Yates's Lease of 460 feet. by whose executors, it was sold to Sergeant McCarthy

121 do 1805 [...] 2 do do do on whose decease it was purchased by the present

Lessee at a public sale. Sold to Mr Lambe by Mortgage &

by him transfd [...] 3 Septr 1832 to Saml. Mc Carthy.

1

122 John Bayes 1807 27 1/2 W 151 6 9 Bill of Sale. part of Lease to Thos Yates

for 460 feet

123 Lucas [Vealy] 1795 50 12 6 Bill of Sale from Thos Yates part of his Lease

for 460 feet.

124 Robert Hayes 1799 37 1/2 U 321 5 Bill of Sale from Govt to Robert Hayes.

125 A[mond] Young 1799 37 1/2 U 318 5 do to [...] who

sold it to John Torbett

126 Lt. H. Broadway. 1799 37 1/2 U 320 5 Bill of Sale from Govt. to John Torbett No 126 transferred to James Blunden

sold by his Executor to [...]

by whom sold to Lieut Broadway.

127. Theatre 1800 53 B 184 14 6 Original Lease to the Society of Free

Masons.

[...] Adams 1792 50 B 54 12 6 Original Lease to Joseph Technau. by

whom transferred to Thos Yates. & [...]

to whose Will it appears to have been

bequeathed to Thomas Adams in trust,

for his Children by Thos Yates's Daughter.

129 Aaron Lambe 1802 45 B 233 14 6 Original Lease.

Jamestown tenants numbered 112 to 129 held the following leases, each paying a yearly rent to the Company.

112: [...] Jonas Cooper, lease dated 1799, 23 feet, register book B, page 179, yearly rent £0 8s 9d: part of the 147 feet leased to [...], as explained under lease 101.

113: [...] Jonas Cooper, lease dated 1794, 20 feet, register book B, page 109, yearly rent £0 5s 0d: part of T. Yates's lease for 460 feet dated 15 September 1794.

Total for leases 112 and 113, £0 13s 9d. Lieutenant Bennett renewed on 31 October 1816, register book E, page 15, and the holding passed to William [...] under a Council decision of 22 June.

114: William Brabazon, lease dated 1738, 41 feet, yearly rent £1 0s 0d: first leased to [...] Wrangham. The lease ran for a term of lives, and the Governor and Council granted the latest admission of a new life in January 180[...].

115: Thomas Ainsworth, lease dated 1800, 56 feet, register book B, page [...], yearly rent £0 12s 6d: original lease. The executrix of T. Ainsworth renewed on 30 August 1824, register book E, page 55, and the lease then passed to Jacob Rich.

116: Thomas Ainsworth, lease dated 1807, 50 feet, register book C, page 70, yearly rent £0 12s 6d: original lease. Baker and Cole passed it to S. Clements under a Council decision of 19 January 1826, and Clements renewed on 5 June 1828, register book E, page 67.

117: Thomas Ainsworth, lease dated 1801, 70 feet, yearly rent £0 17s 6d: bill of sale from Government.

Total for leases 115 to 117, £2 2s 6d.

118: Thomas Carr, lease dated 1794, 42½ feet, register book B, page 109, yearly rent £0 10s 7½d: part of T. Yates's 460 feet, held by bill of sale.

119: John Legg and Publicans, lease dated 1743, [...] feet, yearly rent £1 5s 0d: original lease for a term of lives to the Reverend [...], requiring one tenth of the ground to be planted with trees. Four renewals of nominees followed, the latest dated 10 April 1809 [...]. Part of the holding passed to B. McDunn under a Council decision of 14 May 1810.

120: Charles Sampson, lease dated 1805, 72 feet, yearly rent £0 18s 0d: bill of sale from Thomas Yates, being part of Thomas Yates's lease of 460 feet.

121: Charles Sampson, lease dated 1805, [...] feet, yearly rent £0 2s 0d: bill of sale from Thomas Yates, being part of Thomas Yates's lease of 460 feet.

Total for leases 120 and 121, £1 0s 0d. C. Sampson sold this ground to T. O'Connor, whose executors sold it to Sergeant McCarthy. After McCarthy died, James Louden bought it at a public sale and renewed on 20 November 1826, register book E, page 65. The ground came to Mr Lambe through a mortgage, and he passed it on 3 September 1832 to Samuel McCauley.

122: John Bagley, lease dated 1807, 27 feet, register book [...], page 151, yearly rent £0 6s 9d: bill of sale, part of the lease to Thomas Yates for 460 feet.

123: Lucas Tully, lease dated 1795, 50 feet, yearly rent £0 12s 6d: bill of sale from Thomas Yates, part of his lease for 460 feet.

124: Robert Hayes, lease dated 1799, 37½ feet, register book [...], page 321, yearly rent £0 5s 0d: bill of sale from Government to Robert Hayes.

125: Amont Young, lease dated 1799, 37½ feet, register book [...], page 318, yearly rent £0 5s 0d: bill of sale from Government to Thomas Cole, who sold the plot to John Torbett.

126: [...] Broadway, lease dated 1799, 37½ feet, register book [...], page 320, yearly rent £0 5s 0d: bill of sale from Government to John Torbett. His executors sold the plot to [...], who sold it to Lieutenant Broadway. The lease later passed to James Blunden.

127: Theatre, lease dated 1800, 55 feet, register book B, page 184, yearly rent £0 14s 6d: original lease to the Society of Freemasons.

128: [...] Adams, lease dated 1792, 50 feet, register book B, page 54, yearly rent £0 12s 6d: original lease to Joseph [...], who transferred it to Thomas Yates. The will of [...] appeared to leave the plot to Thomas Adams in trust for the children of Thomas Yates's daughter.

129: Aaron Lambe, lease dated 1802, 41 feet, register book B, page 233, yearly rent £0 14s 6d: original lease.

Interpretations

Thomas Yates's lease of 15 September 1794 covered 460 feet of frontage, and at least five later holdings were carved from it. Cooper, Carr, Sampson, Bagley and Tully each held a slice by bill of sale. The rents on those slices ran at a steady 3d a foot, so the Company's income from the ground stayed the same while the single tenancy broke into many. Yates in effect acted as a developer, selling off frontage plot by plot.

Sampson's two plots showed how far such a slice could travel. The ground went from Sampson to O'Connor, through O'Connor's executors to Sergeant McCarthy, by public sale to James Louden, then to Mr Lambe and finally to Samuel McCauley on 3 September 1832. Two of those changes followed a death. The last but one arose from a mortgage, which showed that a town lease was accepted as security for a loan and could be taken by the lender when the debt went unpaid.

Two of the oldest holdings, those of 1738 and 1743, ran for a term of lives. Such a lease lasted as long as certain named people, the nominees, remained alive. When one died, the tenant applied to the Governor and Council to have a new name admitted, which kept the lease going. The four renewals of nominees under lease 119 showed a tenancy carried forward in this way for more than 60 years.

The 1743 lease bound the tenant to plant one tenth of the ground with trees. The condition used the lease to make tenants meet the island's need for timber and fuel at their own cost.

Several transfers were tied to a dated decision of the Council. A tenant therefore needed the Council's consent before handing a lease to someone else, and the date of that consent was noted as the authority for the change.

Ainsworth's executrix renewed lease 115 in her own capacity on 30 August 1824 and only then passed it to Jacob Rich. The title was therefore put in order before the sale, as his property was wound up after his death.

Three adjoining plots of 37½ feet each, leases 124 to 126, were sold by Government in 1799 at a flat 5s 0d each, well under the 3d a foot charged elsewhere. Lease 126 alone passed through Torbett, his executors' buyer, Lieutenant Broadway and James Blunden, which pointed to an active trade in town plots.

The entries distinguished an original lease, granted directly by the Company, from a bill of sale, by which an existing tenant sold on a holding or part of one. The remarks therefore recorded the root of each tenant's title.

The theatre stood on ground first leased in 1800 to the Society of Freemasons, so the lodge was the Company's tenant for the site.

6

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[James Town] Date Registered Rent P Annum Renewals

No Tenants. of Lease Feet Book Page feet £ S D Remarks. Consultation Registered

Book Page

130 Eleanor Yearbury 1800 20 13 2 Bill of Sale J. C. Dunn to Eleanor Yearbury

Original Lease to Rich Bagley in Novr [...]

Sold to Jn Bagley by him to Robt Yearbury

and by whom to J. C. Dunn in the

Bill of Sale is stated to be Free Lime Cost

The aforesaid Lease proves that it is only

in part Free

131 George Mead 1787 19 A 158 13 5 Original Lease to Rich Knipe Sold by

his Executors at Public Auction to George to George Mead 20th Augt 1821 E 32

Mead

132 do 1792 60 B 58 12 Original Lease to M. A. Harper transferred by

him to John Torbett, whose Executors Sold it to George Mead 20th Augt

to George Mead. together with part of No 101 1821 E 31

133 part No [...] 15

1 19 5

134 Richard Thomas 1799 76 B 177 19 Original Lease

135 Joseph Sprall 1792 32 B 46 4 Original Lease to James Pritchard for 50 feet Renewed to Thos. Mc Ritchie 26 [...] 1810 C 99 100 & by him transferred on the 31. Decr. 1810 to Exectrs of

18 of which see No 103. [...] Joseph Sprall and appears now (July 1824) to belong to Capt. Barker in right of his wife Mary Sprall

Wm Oliver

136 Saml Solomon 1801 60 15 Bill of Sale from Govt to Wm Oliver transferred to S Solomon, by him transferred to Chs [...]

sold by him to Saml Solomon. in June 1810 & transferred by his Administratrix to [...]

23 June 1821 by him transferred to Geo: Lamb. 1 Augt. 1824

Cons 17 Septemr 1825.

[...]

137 Josiah Tent 1794 by [...] N 278 14 10 Bill of Sale from Govt. to T. H Brooke and transferred by Col. Hodson to Lieut. Bennett Cons 17 July

J. C. Dunn. In 1800 the latter transferred 1826

his share to T. H Brooke who in 1801

sold it to the present Lessee.

138 Stephen Tent 1791 50 B 16 15 Original Lease to J. C. Dunn assigned by 4th March 1816 4 March 1816 E 12 New Admeasurement 133 feet.

him to J. De Fountain, and by him to to Thomas Connor transferred to Mr Watson Cons 13 Septr 1826 by Mr.

Wm Young Senr with [...] J. Blunden by virtue of a Mortgage Bond to W. Burnie

the present Lessee. from T. OConnor

139 Mary Wyrell 1793 46 B 94 11 6 Original Lease Charles Seawell 23 Jany 1815 E 4 Transferred to Jn. Sherrard 15 May 1815

140 George Leech 1782 A 196 4 Original Lease to Robert Leech part of this 140 & 142 were divided into 3 houses

was sold to Wm Chamberlain [...] to S. Solomon 9 June 1812 E 140 sold at auction to S Solomon [...] by Cons as p [...]

141 James William, a

Free Black 1811 25 6 3 Bill of Sale from Govt. to John Torbett for divided in Four parts Inclosure No 141 containing 25 feet transferred from

90 feet in part (of which G. William and sold by Jas. Williams Molly Bowers to Private Charles Allenson Cons 19th

retains 25) Sold by Torbett to Saml to the follg. persons Vizt Septr 1825. again reverted to Mary Bowers by an

Solomon and by him to James William arrangement with Allenson a part of 141. 142 & 143

it appears was sold by the Sheriff 22d Jany 1819 to Henry

[...] of the Royal Artillery and by him to Mary William

[...] 18 March 1820.

Regist

142 Michael Connolly 1811 35 8 9 Part of No 141. bought from James William see [...] Book W p. 366

Jamestown tenants numbered 130 to 142 held the following leases, each paying a yearly rent to the Company.

130: Eleanor Yearbury, lease dated 1800, 20 feet, yearly rent £0 13s 2d: bill of sale from J. C. Dunn to Eleanor Yearbury. The ground was first leased to Richard Bagley in November 17[...], sold by him to J. Bagley, then to Robert Yearbury and by him to J. C. Dunn. The bill of sale described the ground as free land, but the first lease proved that only part of it was free.

131: George Mead, lease dated 1787, 19 feet, register book A, page 158, yearly rent £0 12s 5d: original lease to Richard Knipe, whose executors sold it at public auction to George Mead. Mead renewed on 20 August 1821, register book E, page 32.

132: George Mead, lease dated 1792, 60 feet, register book B, page 58, yearly rent £0 12s 0d: original lease to Mr A. Hunter, who transferred it to John Torbett, whose executors sold it to George Mead. Mead renewed on 20 August 1821, register book E, page 31, together with part of lease 101.

133: George Mead, part of lease 101, yearly rent £0 15s 0d.

Total for leases 131 to 133, £1 19s 5d.

134: Richard Thomas, lease dated 1799, 76 feet, register book B, page 177, yearly rent £0 19s 0d: original lease.

135: Joseph Sprall, lease dated 1792, 32 feet, register book B, page 46, yearly rent £0 4s 0d: original lease to James Pritchard for 50 feet, of which 18 feet fell under lease 103 [...]. Thomas McRitchie renewed in [...] 1810, register book C, page [...], and transferred the lease on 31 December 1810 to the executors of Joseph Sprall. In July 1824 it appeared to belong to Captain Barker in right of his wife, Mary Sprall.

136: William Oliver, lease dated 1801, 60 feet, yearly rent £0 15s 0d: bill of sale from Government to William Oliver, who sold the ground to Saul Solomon. Solomon transferred it to Charles Stevens in June 1810. Stevens's administrators transferred it to [...] on 23 June 1821, and he transferred it to [...] on 1 August 1824, under a Council decision of 17 September 1825.

137: Josiah Tout, lease dated 1794, 54 feet by 140 feet, register book [...], page 278, yearly rent £0 14s 10d: bill of sale from Government to T. H. Brooke and J. C. Dunn. In 1800 Dunn transferred his share to T. H. Brooke, who sold the ground in 1801 to Josiah Tout. Colonel Hodson later passed it to Lieutenant Bennett under a Council decision of 17 July 1826.

138: Stephen Tout, lease dated 1791, 50 feet, register book B, page 16, yearly rent £0 15s 0d: original lease to J. C. Dunn, who assigned it to J. De Fountain. De Fountain assigned it to William Young, [...] who pledged it to Stephen Tout as security. Thomas O'Connor renewed on 4 March 1816, register book E, page 12, when a new measurement gave 133 feet. The lease passed to Mr Watson under a Council decision of 13 September 1824 and then to J. Blunden under a mortgage bond from T. O'Connor to W. Carrol.

139: Mary Worrall, lease dated 1793, 46 feet, register book B, page 94, yearly rent £0 11s 6d: original lease.

140: George Leech, lease dated 1782, no frontage entered, register book A, page 196, yearly rent £0 4s 0d: original lease to Robert Leech, part of which was sold to William Chamberlain [...]. Charles Seawell renewed on 23 January 1815, register book E, page 4, and transferred the lease to J. Sherrard on 15 May 1815.

141: James Williams, a free black, lease dated 1801, 25 feet, yearly rent £0 6s 3d: bill of sale from Government to John Torbett for 90 feet in [...], of which James Williams kept 25 feet. Torbett sold the ground to Saul Solomon, who sold it to James Williams. Williams divided the ground into four parts and sold them to [...]. The 25 feet under this lease passed from Molly Burns to Private Charles Allison under a Council decision of 19 September 1825, and later returned to Mary Burns by an arrangement with Allison. A part of leases 141, 142 and 143 appeared to have been sold on 22 July 1819 to Henry [...] of the Royal Artillery, who sold it on 18 March 1820 to Mary Williams, then living. The sale was entered in register book W, page 366.

142: Michael Connolly, lease dated 1801, 35 feet, yearly rent £0 8s 9d: part of lease 141, bought from James Williams. Leases 142 and 143 were divided into three leases to S. Solomon, with a renewal dated 9 June 1822 in register book E. Lease 14[...] was sold at auction to S. Solomon in 1826 under a Council decision.

Start of crossed out section

136: Saul Solomon.

End of crossed out section

Interpretations

The remark on lease 130 recorded a title that claimed more than it could support. Dunn's bill of sale to Eleanor Yearbury described the ground as free land, meaning land owned outright and owing no rent. The clerk checked that claim against the first lease to Richard Bagley and found that only part of the ground was free. The rent of £0 13s 2d therefore stayed on the books. The register was being used to test private deeds against the Company's own grants, with the Company's record prevailing where the two disagreed.

James Williams, described as a free black, bought 60 feet of town frontage from Saul Solomon, kept 25 feet and sold 35 feet to Michael Connolly. Both rents worked out at 3d a foot, the rate found on the plots cut from Thomas Yates's 460 feet. The ground was then broken up further, into four parts sold separately, with pieces reaching a private soldier, a man of the Royal Artillery and two women, Molly Burns and Mary Williams. Town frontage was therefore being cut into ever smaller plots, some within reach of the garrison's rank and file, and a free black man could hold, divide and sell it on the same terms as any other tenant.

Lease 138 was twice used to raise money. William Young's interest was pledged to Stephen Tout as security, and Thomas O'Connor later gave a mortgage bond over the same ground to W. Carrol, through which it reached J. Blunden. O'Connor's borrowing had the same result on Charles Sampson's ground under leases 120 and 121, where his executors sold after his death.

The renewal of 4 March 1816 followed a fresh measurement of 133 feet against the 50 feet first entered for lease 138. Since rent was charged by the foot of frontage, measuring again at renewal fixed what the tenant owed and brought any enlarged holding onto the books.

Captain Barker held the Sprall lease in right of his wife. A married woman's leasehold property was under her husband's control during the marriage, so the register named him as holder although the title came through Mary Sprall.

Stevens's lease was transferred by his administrators, the people appointed to settle the estate of someone who died without a will. Executors performed the same task where a will existed, as with Joseph Sprall and John Torbett.

John Torbett and Saul Solomon each appeared in several chains of title, Torbett under leases 125, 126, 132 and 141 and Solomon under leases 136, 141, 142 and 143. Both were dealing in town plots, not simply occupying them.

Lease 132 was the holding into which the ground on page 47 of register book E was absorbed, later bought by the Government for a house of correction and jail.

Lease 136 was first entered under Saul Solomon, whose name was struck out in favour of William Oliver, the original buyer from Government. The entry was therefore corrected to name the root of the title, with Solomon and those after him shown as later holders.

8

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[James Town] Date Registered Front Rent P Annum Renewals Transfers and Remarks

of in Registered

No Tenants. Lease Feet Book Page feet £ S D Remarks. Consultation Book Page To whom

143 Jon[ath] D[...] 1801 30 W 128 7 6 Bill of Sale from Jas William this is also part

of No 141. and completes the quantity of

Land expressed in Lease No 141 No 143.

144 John Handy (Black) 1789 55 N 232 3 Original Lease to Eleanor Robinson transferred

by her Executor to S. P. Ward, by him to

John Handy.

145 Will B[...]man 1801 60 W 104 15 Bill of Sale from the Governor & Council [...]

to Wm [...] transferred by him to

William B[...]man

146 Richard [...]arter 1798 46 1/2 11 7 This is a Bill of Sale for the remaining

part of a Lease for 147 feet to S. P. Ward Transferd to George Mead Vide

No 101 in possession of Lieut Wilson Public Consultation 26 Aug 1818.

Vide also No 112

147 Mrs Rimmer 1794 59 B 109 14 9 Original Lease to Thomas Yates for 460 feet

all was sold excepting this part of 59

feet which Mrs Rimmer inherited

being the Widow of Thomas Yates

148 do 1791 60 B 15 15 Original Lease to Thos Yates her Husband [...] 17 Oct 1815 E 145 Charles Weston: New admeasurement 44 feet.

149 do 1791 20 B 23 5 do do [...]

150 do 1792 06 B 40 15 do do [...] 17 Oct 1815 E 10 Capt Sampson the do do 126 do

151 do 1792 20 B 51 5 do do [...] whole included in No 149

3 1/2 10 1/2 unaccounted for

£ 2 18 7 1/2

Lease Book 1749 to 66.

152 Thos Statham Capt 1764 155 1 3 No Lease produced, but the original was referred

to in Lease Book 1749 to 1766 Page 155

153 Eliz Worsingham 1810 21. C 93 5 3 Original Lease

154 Susan Chamberlain 1810 104 C 97 1 6 do do

155 J Allwright 1810 30 C 103 7 6 do do E 97 now 46 feet [...] No 155 transferred to Estate of W Gahagan Cons 15 Septr

a small part of [...] 1828

156 John De Fountain 1787 24 A 161 15 8 Original to B. Marsden by him transferrd transferred to George Lambe as p Cons 11 Octr 1821

to Mr Ken[nedy] who sold it to present Lessee

157 Benj. Hodson 1783 [...] Part of Lease No 119

158 Charles Hodson 1812 45 C 111 11 3

159 Thos OConnor 1800 40 B 197 10 Original Lessee [...] transferd to G.

[...] & then to Thos OConnor

160 James Torbett 1815 39 1/2 E 5 9 10 1/2 13 Septr 1826 do Transferred by auction from OConnor's Estate to W Baker

161 Thos OConnor & Co 1816 174 E 14 2 3 6 being part of Brewhouse premises & transferred to Messrs

Burnie Cons 27 Decr 1826. Purchased by the Co. Cons 2 Feby 1827

Jamestown tenants numbered 143 to 161 held the following leases, each paying a rent per annum to the Company.

143: tenant [...] Dennaught, date of lease 1801, 30 feet, registered book W, page 128, rent per foot 0 entered, rent per annum £0 7s 6d, remarks: bill of sale from James Williams. The plot was a further part of lease 141 and made up the full extent of ground granted under that lease.

144: tenant John Handy, a black, date of lease 1789, 55 feet, registered book A, page 232, rent per foot 0 entered, rent per annum £0 3s 0d, remarks: original lease to Eleanor Robinson, whose executor transferred it to S. P. Ward, who transferred it to John Handy.

145: tenant William Burman, date of lease 1801, 60 feet, registered book W, page 104, rent per foot 0 entered, rent per annum £0 15s 0d, remarks: bill of sale from the Governor and Council to William Gahagan, who transferred the ground to William Burman.

146: tenant Richard [...], date of lease 1798, 46½ feet, registered book and page 0 entered, rent per foot 0 entered, rent per annum £0 11s 7d, remarks: bill of sale for the remaining part of a lease for 147 feet to S. P. Ward, entered as lease 101 and held by Lieutenant Wilson. Lease 112 formed another part. Transfers and remarks: the plot passed to George Mead [...] under a consultation of 24 August 1818.

147: tenant Mrs Rimmer, date of lease 1794, 59 feet, registered book B, page 109, rent per foot 0 entered, rent per annum £0 14s 9d, remarks: original lease to Thomas Yates for 460 feet. All of it was sold except these 59 feet, which Mrs Rimmer inherited as the widow of Thomas Yates.

148: tenant Mrs Rimmer, date of lease 1791, 60 feet, registered book B, page 15, rent per foot 0 entered, rent per annum £0 15s 0d, remarks: original lease to Thomas Yates, her husband. Renewal: consultation of 17 October 1815, registered book E, page 145, to Charles Weston. Transfers and remarks: a new measurement gave 44 feet.

149: tenant Mrs Rimmer, date of lease 1791, 20 feet, registered book B, page 23, rent per foot 0 entered, rent per annum £0 5s 0d, remarks: original lease to Thomas Yates, her husband.

150: tenant Mrs Rimmer, date of lease 1792, 60 feet, registered book B, page 40, rent per foot 0 entered, rent per annum £0 15s 0d, remarks: original lease to Thomas Yates, her husband.

151: tenant Mrs Rimmer, date of lease 1792, 20 feet, registered book B, page 51, rent per foot 0 entered, rent per annum £0 5s 0d, remarks: original lease to Thomas Yates, her husband.

Leases 149 to 151, renewal: consultation of 17 October 1815, registered book E, page 10[...], to Captain [...], with the whole brought under lease 149. Transfers and remarks: a new measurement gave 126 feet.

Ground unaccounted for, 3½ feet, rent per annum £0 0s 10½d.

Total for leases 147 to 151 and the ground unaccounted for, rent per annum £2 15s 7½d.

152: tenant the executors of Thomas [...], date of lease 1764, feet 0 entered, lease book for 1749 to 1766, page 155, rent per foot 0 entered, rent per annum £1 0s 3d, remarks: no lease was produced, but the original was referred to in the lease book for 1749 to 1766, page 155.

153: tenant Elizabeth Wrangham, date of lease 1810, 21 feet, registered book C, page 93, rent per foot 0 entered, rent per annum £0 5s 3d, remarks: original lease.

154: tenant Susan Chamberlain, date of lease 1810, 104 feet, registered book C, page 97, rent per foot 0 entered, rent per annum £1 6s 0d, remarks: original lease.

155: tenant J. Allwright, date of lease 1810, 30 feet, registered book C, page 103, rent per foot 0 entered, rent per annum £0 7s 6d, remarks: original lease. Renewal: registered book E, page 97, the holding then measuring 46 feet [...] with a small part of lease 156. Transfers and remarks: lease 155 passed to the estate of W. Gahagan under a consultation of 15 September 182[...].

156: tenant John De Fountain, date of lease 1787, 24 feet, registered book A, page 161, rent per foot 0 entered, rent per annum £0 15s 8d, remarks: original lease to B. [...], who transferred it to [...], who sold it to John De Fountain. Transfers and remarks: the lease passed to George Lambe under a consultation of 11 October 1821.

157: tenant Benjamin Hodson, date of lease 1783, feet 0 entered, registered book and page 0 entered, rent per foot 0 entered, rent per annum 0 entered, remarks: part of lease 119.

158: tenant Charles Hodson, date of lease 1812, 45 feet, registered book C, page 111, rent per foot 0 entered, rent per annum £0 11s 3d, remarks: 0 entered.

159: tenant Thomas O'Connor, date of lease 1800, 40 feet, registered book B, page 197, rent per foot 0 entered, rent per annum £0 10s 0d, remarks: the original tenant [...] transferred the lease to D. [...], and it then went to Thomas O'Connor.

160: tenant James Torbett, date of lease 1815, 39½ feet, registered book E, page 5, rent per foot 0 entered, rent per annum £0 9s 10½d, remarks: 0 entered.

161: tenant Thomas O'Connor and Company, date of lease 1816, 174 feet, registered book E, page 14, rent per foot 0 entered, rent per annum £2 3s 6d, remarks: 0 entered. Renewal: consultation of 13 September 1826. Transfers and remarks: sold at auction from O'Connor's estate to Walker, as part of the brewhouse premises. Walker passed it to Byrne under a consultation of 27 October 1826, and the Company bought it under a consultation of 2 July 1827.

Interpretations

Lease 143 closed the account of the 90 feet Government sold to John Torbett in 1801. James Williams kept 25 feet under lease 141, sold 35 feet to Michael Connolly under lease 142 and sold the last 30 feet to Dennaught. The three rents of £0 6s 3d, £0 8s 9d and £0 7s 6d together matched the 3d a foot charged on the whole. The clerk noted that the plot completed the ground in the lease, which showed each subdivision being checked against the original grant so that no frontage slipped out of the rent roll.

The same check produced the line for 3½ feet unaccounted for among the Yates holdings. The frontage on the ground did not match the leases, and the clerk charged the difference at 3d a foot, adding £0 0s 10½d to Mrs Rimmer's total. Rent therefore followed the land actually occupied, whether or not a lease covered it.

The page provided a column for rent per foot, but nothing was entered in it for any lease. The rate could still be worked out from the frontage and the rent per annum, and it stood at 3d a foot on most plots granted from the 1790s onwards.

A consultation was a recorded meeting of the Governor and Council. Each renewal and many transfers were dated by the consultation that approved them, so a tenant needed the Council's consent before a lease was renewed or handed to someone else.

Fresh measurements at the renewals of 17 October 1815 moved in both directions. Lease 148 fell from 60 feet to 44 feet, while leases 149 to 151, entered at 100 feet in all, were measured at 126 feet and merged under one number. Renewal was the occasion on which the Company corrected its record of each holding.

Mrs Rimmer was the widow of Thomas Yates and had since remarried. She kept the last 59 feet of his 460 foot lease of 15 September 1794 after the rest was sold off in plots, together with four earlier leases of his from 1791 and 1792.

Lease 161 was the brewhouse ground. Its passage from O'Connor's estate to Walker on 13 September 1826, to Byrne on 27 October 1826 and to the Company on 2 July 1827 matched the entry for leases 106 and 107 on the first page of the volume. The sale was by auction from O'Connor's estate, which fitted the other disposals of his property after his death under leases 120, 121 and 138.

Lease 146 was the remainder of the 147 feet first granted to S. P. Ward under lease 101, of which Jonas Cooper's 23 feet under lease 112 formed another part. Its transfer to George Mead added to the holdings he already had under leases 131 to 133, the last of which was also cut from lease 101.

No lease could be produced for the 1764 holding under lease 152. The clerk relied instead on a reference in the lease book for 1749 to 1766, so the Company's own early volumes served as proof of title where the tenant's document was lost.

John Handy, described as a black, held 55 feet at £0 3s 0d a year, far below the 3d a foot charged on newer plots. The rent was fixed by the original lease of 1789 to Eleanor Robinson and carried through two transfers unchanged, so older leases kept their lower charges whoever held them.

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[James Town] Renewals

No of Year of Rent p ann No 162 appears to have been transferred in 1821 to Capt Wm

Lease Tenants Lease Feet Book Page. £ S D Consultn Registered Book Page To whom Meade of the Ship Centurion, whose agent transferred it in 1827

to Isab Marling by whom it was transferred 3d Septr 1831 to Serjt.

Thos Brown of the Invalid Co.

162 Thomas Thorn 1817 60 [...] E 19 1 10 " 1818 No 1[2]3.

163 Jacob Rich 1817 F. I. 38-2 E 21 " 14 6 9th March E 23 James Eu[t]ey

164 Diana Rich 1817 36-0 E 22 " 9 "

165 An Beale & C Blake 1819 9- E 25 " 2 3

166 Jno Sherrard 1812 33 C 117 8 3 Original trans[...] Robt Fowler

transferred to T Gyle, & again

transferred to Jno. Sherrard

167 Mackson C orig transferred to Walsh &

again to Sherrard

168 Saul Solomon 1823 69 1/2 E 51 " 17 4 original Executed 16 Octr.

169 Saml. Clements 5th June 1828 21 E 66 " 5 3 do. 1824 [...]

170 Danl. OConnor 9. Nov 1829 F 1. P 7 E 70 " 5 10 1/2 do being part of former Lease No 105 now cancelled

171 Mathew OConnor 9 Nov 1829 - P 16 E 71 " 2 " do do do do No 171 transferred to Capt. OConnor Cons. 26 Apl. 1832.

172 Sarah OConnor 9 Nov. 1829 perches 4 1/2 E 72 " " 6 1/2 do do do do

173 John Rich 3 Augt 1830 L 50 + P 21 E 73 " 12 6 173 do to James Elliott June 1832.

174 Saul Solomon 4 June 1832 83.- E 1 " 9 original - The Lessee is bound to

make no erections on the ground,

but Sheds for Carts, Drays, Cattle or

Horses only.

175 Mrs Margt Torbett 4 Decr 1832 127 feet in front E 89 " 5 " Original Lease (called Robin [...]

176 Edward Fitzpatrick same year 13 feet in front E 91 " 3 3 Formerly part of Lease 81- which is

177 do do do ft in 27. 2 in front E 92 " 6 9 now divided. do do. do

178 do do do 38 feet E 93 " 14 - do do do

Eighteen feet of this Lease, is charged

at 8- being an encroachment on original

Lease

179 Patrick Elwell do. ft. In 25.9 E 94 6 3 Formerly part of Lease No 79

Jamestown tenants numbered 162 to 179 held the following leases, each paying a rent per annum to the Company.

162: tenant Thomas Thorn, year of lease 1817, 60 feet more or less, book E, page 19, rent per annum £1 10s 0d. Renewal: consultation of 9 March 1818, registered book E, page 23, to James Euley. Transfers and remarks: lease 162 appeared to have passed in 1821 to Captain William [...] of the ship Centurion, whose agent transferred it in 1827 to Isaac [...], who transferred it on 3 September 1831 to Sergeant Thomas Brown of the Invalid Company. A reference to lease 123 was noted beside the entry.

163: tenant [...] Rich, year of lease 1817, 58 feet 2 inches, book E, page 21, rent per annum £0 14s 6d.

164: tenant Diana Rich, year of lease 1817, 36 feet 0 inches, book E, page 22, rent per annum £0 9s 0d.

165: tenants A. Beale and C. Blake, year of lease 1819, 9 feet, book E, page 25, rent per annum £0 2s 3d.

166: tenant John Sherrard, year of lease 1812, 33 feet, book C, page 117, rent per annum £0 8s 3d, remarks: original lease to Robert Fowler, who transferred it to T. [...], who transferred it in turn to John Sherrard.

167: tenant Mackson, year of lease 0 entered, feet 0 entered, book C, page 0 entered, rent per annum 0 entered, remarks: the original tenant transferred the lease to Wal[...], who transferred it in turn to Sherrard.

168: tenant Saul Solomon, year of lease 1823, 69½ feet, book E, page 51, rent per annum £0 17s 4d, remarks: original lease. Transfers and remarks: the lease was signed on 16 October 1824.

169: tenant Samuel Clements, year of lease 5 June 1828, 21 feet, book E, page 66, rent per annum £0 5s 3d, remarks: original lease.

170: tenant Daniel O'Connor, year of lease 9 November 1829, [...] feet 7 inches, book E, page 70, rent per annum £0 5s 10½d, remarks: original lease, being part of the former lease 105, now cancelled.

171: tenant Matthew O'Connor, year of lease 9 November 1829, 9 feet [...], book E, page 71, rent per annum £0 2s 0d, remarks: original lease, being part of the former lease 105, now cancelled. Transfers and remarks: lease 171 passed to Captain O'Connor under a consultation of 26 April 1832.

172: tenant Sarah O'Connor, year of lease 9 November 1829, 4½ [...], book E, page 72, rent per annum £0 0s 6½d, remarks: original lease, being part of the former lease 105, now cancelled.

173: tenant John Rich, year of lease 3 [...] 1830, 50 feet in length and 21 feet in depth, book E, page 73, rent per annum £0 12s 6d. Transfers and remarks: lease 173 passed to James Elliott in June 1832.

174: tenant Saul Solomon, year of lease 4 June 1832, 83 feet, book E, page 0 entered, rent per annum £1 0s 9d, remarks: original lease. The tenant was bound to put up nothing on the ground except sheds for carts, drays, cattle or horses.

175: tenant Mrs Margaret Torbett, year of lease 4 December 18[...], 127 feet in front, book E, page 89, rent per annum £0 5s 0d, remarks: original lease, the ground being called Robin [...].

176: tenant Edward Fitzpatrick, year of lease the same as lease 175, 13 feet in front, book E, page 91, rent per annum £0 3s 3d, remarks: formerly part of lease 81, which was now divided.

177: tenant Edward Fitzpatrick, year of lease the same as lease 175, 27 feet 2 inches in front, book E, page 92, rent per annum £0 6s 9d, remarks: formerly part of lease 81, which was now divided.

178: tenant Edward Fitzpatrick, year of lease the same as lease 175, 38 feet, book E, page 93, rent per annum £0 14s 0d, remarks: formerly part of lease 81, which was now divided. Eighteen feet of this lease were charged at 6d a foot, being an encroachment on the original lease.

179: tenant Patrick Elwell, year of lease the same as lease 175, 25 feet 9 inches, book E, page 94, rent per annum £0 6s 3d, remarks: formerly part of lease 79.

Start of crossed out section

163: tenant Jacob Rich.

169: renewal dated [...] 1828, registered book E, page 66.

End of crossed out section

Interpretations

Lease 178 showed how the Company dealt with a tenant who had spread beyond his boundary. Fitzpatrick occupied 18 feet more than the original lease allowed. The Company neither took the ground back nor let it pass at the usual rate. It charged the 18 feet at 6d a foot, double the 3d paid on the remaining 20 feet, and wrote the extra ground into the new lease. The encroachment was thereby made lawful, at a price that marked it as a penalty.

Saul Solomon's lease of 4 June 1832 forbade any building except sheds for carts, drays, cattle or horses. A dray was a low, strong cart for heavy loads. The condition kept 83 feet of town ground as a yard for transport and stock, and prevented it from being turned into houses or shops at a yard's rent.

Lease 105 passed to Lieutenant D. O'Connor on 10 September 1825 and was then cancelled, as the first page of the volume recorded. On 9 November 1829 its ground was regranted in three separate leases to Daniel, Matthew and Sarah O'Connor. A single holding was thus broken up among members of one family by cancelling the old lease and issuing new ones, with Captain O'Connor taking Matthew's share on 26 April 1832.

The Invalid Company was a body of soldiers no longer fit for full duty but kept on for lighter garrison service. Sergeant Thomas Brown's purchase of lease 162 on 3 September 1831 was another instance of garrison men acquiring town ground, alongside Private Allison under lease 141.

Lease 162 was held for six years by a ship's captain who was not on the island, and his agent sold it on his behalf in 1827. The clerk wrote that the lease appeared to have been transferred, which suggested that the changes of 1821 and 1827 were reconstructed from other papers and had not been registered when they took place.

Samuel Clements took lease 169 on 5 June 1828, the same day he renewed lease 116, with the two entries on adjoining pages 66 and 67 of book E. A renewal first written against lease 169 was struck out, probably because it belonged to lease 116.

Solomon's lease 168 was dated 1823 but not signed until 16 October 1824. Rent was therefore entered from the year of the grant, although the deed was completed more than a year later.

Margaret Torbett paid only £0 5s 0d for 127 feet of frontage, well under 3d a foot. Frontage and rent were again in step on the neighbouring plots cut from leases 79 and 81, so the low charge on her ground reflected its own terms and not a general reduction.

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[Lower left corner of the right-hand page torn away, with smaller losses along its top edge and at the lower left edge of the left-hand page.]

Continuation of Leases in the Country

No Tenants Date Acres Book Page Rent per Acre Rent per Annum Remarks Consultn. Registered Book Page To whom

256 Robert Leech Esqre 1813 7 D 2 2/6 17 6 Sold to Serjt McDaniel by whom it was transferred

to Capt Shortis as P Cons. 20 Feby 1820

257 Serjt John Wright 1814 1 D 6 2/6 2 6 No 257 Transferred by John Wright to the Rd Rd Boys

by whom to Lieut Armstrong. Consult. 6 January 1817. then

258 John Jonas [...] 1814 1 D 7 2/6 2 6 numbered on the back of the Lea[...] to Serjt Mc Daniel by whom to Wm Mulhall

No 257 by mistake

259 Gabl Doveton Esqr 1814 31 1/2 D 20 1/6 2 7 3

260 Serjt Wm Tunstall 1814 4 3/4 D 29 2/6 11 10 1/2 No 260 transferred by Wm Tunstall to Thos Coles by whom

transferred to James Jackson Consult. 23 June 1817 [...]

261 Mr W. Brabazon 1814

262 Mr Jn Mellis Senr 1814 2 1/4 D 27 2/6 5 7 1/2

263 John Taylor Senr 1815 2 D 36 2/6 [...] 5

264 Thos Bayley 1815 56 1/4 D 40 2/6 7 7 1/2

265 Richd Bays 1814 9 D 9 2/6 1 2 6

266 Exrs of Richd Beale

John Gordon 1802 1/2 B 225 3/6 1 9

267 Thos [...] 1815 3 3/4 D 52 2/6 transferred to [...] No 267 transferred to Mr Jones Cons 4 Oct. 1819

268 Henry [...] 1815 15 1/2 D 54 2/6 1 10 9 do to Robt Scott Senr. Cons. 26 Octr 1829 268 do to Marcus Robinson 22d. Octr 1827

269 Thomas Charles 1815 5 3/4 D 53

270 M W Doveton Esq 1815 24 D 55 2/6 3 transferred to John [...] No 271 Transferred by Robert Statham to His Majesty's

271 Robert Statham 1816 3 D 63 [...] renewable 25/ p Ann. Government Consult 11 June 1816

272 William Seale Senr 1817 14 1/2 D 73 2/6 1 15 7 1/2

273 Thomas Goff 1814 1/2 D 75 2/. 1 D. 88 Wm Seale for No 124 including Original numbers 125 & 127

274 Richard H Knipe 1817 18 1/2 D 80 3/. 2 15 6 D 90 Thos Greentree No 164.

275 Richard Barker 1817 190 D 85 5/ 47 10 Do 92 John Bagley No 99

276 do 1817 20 3/4 D 86 5/. 5 3 9 [...] purchased by the Co. 22d. Septr 1823 Do 94 John Robinson No 31. Old Lease 28 Acres. New Lease [...] Acres

£ 59 13 9

277 Charles Hudson 1816 1/2 D 77 2/6. [...] transferred to Lieut. Bennett Cons 17 July 1826.

278 D. H. Pritchard 1817 4 3/4 D 87 [...]

279 Anty Beale 1817 8 D 89 2/6 1 Transferred to Charles Seawell

280 John Le Breton 1818 24 1/4 D 91 3/6 4 4 10 1/2 Cancelled as P Cons 4th Febr 18[...] 1818

281 Richd. H Knipe 1818 100 D [...] 3/ 15

282 James Mellis 1818 [...] D 95 [...] 1 2 6 Lease for Seven years only [...] C Harrison. John Robinson having a Lease unexpired for the same piece

283 [...] 1819 2 D 97 [...] 1 5 0 this is part of No 31 which was [...] of land which Lease was however cancelled with [...]

284 [...] Blake 1819 15 D 98 4/ [...] purchasing the good will for the unexpired time as

285 [...] P Consultation 15th Septr 1823.

286 [...] 1821 16 1/4 D 100 5/. 4 1 3

287 [...] 1821 4 1/2 D 103 1/6 6 9

288 James [...] 1821 1 1/2 D 104 1/6 2 [...] transferred to T. Harrington Cons 23 Feb 1827 (289) 22d July 1825 (No 289 transferred to C H Fowler on petition of [...]

289 Willm Tracy 1821 3 1/2 D 105 1/6 5 3 This is a renewal of an old Lease William Tracy Bankrupt

which having been [...] appears to have

290 Robt Knipe Senr 1821 1 1/2 D 106 5/ 7 6 been numbered with the present [...]

The entries for leases 281 to 290 at the foot of the left-hand page are too small to read securely. A larger or clearer image of that part of the opening is requested.

Country leases numbered 256 to 290 were held by the following tenants, each paying a rent per annum reckoned by the acre.

256: tenant Robert Leech Esquire, date 1813, 7 acres, book D, page 2, rent per acre 2s 6d, rent per annum £0 17s 6d. Transfers and remarks: sold to Sergeant McDaniel, who transferred it to Captain Shortis under a consultation of 20 February 1820.

257: tenant Sergeant John Wright, date 1814, 1 acre, book D, page 6, rent per acre 2s 6d, rent per annum £0 2s 6d. Transfers and remarks: John Wright transferred lease 257 to the Reverend Richard Boys, who transferred it to Lieutenant Armstrong under a consultation of [...] January 1817. It then went to Sergeant McDaniel and from him to William Mulhall.

258: tenant John Jonas [...], date 1814, 1 acre, book D, page 7, rent per acre 2s 6d, rent per annum £0 2s 6d, remarks: the back of the lease was numbered 257 by mistake.

259: tenant Gabriel Doveton Esquire, date 1814, 31½ acres, book D, page 20, rent per acre 1s 6d, rent per annum £2 7s 3d.

260: tenant Sergeant William Twisdell, date 1814, 4¾ acres, book D, page 29, rent per acre 2s 6d, rent per annum £0 11s 10½d. Transfers and remarks: William Twisdell transferred lease 260 to Thomas Coles, who transferred it to James Jackson under a consultation of 23 June 1817 [...].

261: tenant Mr W. Brabazon, date 1814, acres 0 entered, book and page 0 entered, rent per acre 0 entered, rent per annum 0 entered.

262: tenant Mr J. Mellis senior, date 1814, 2¼ acres, book D, page 27, rent per acre 2s 6d, rent per annum £0 5s 7½d.

263: tenant John Taylor senior, date 1815, 2 acres, book D, page 36, rent per acre 2s 6d, rent per annum £0 5s 0d.

264: tenant Thomas Bayley, date 1815, 56¼ acres, book D, page 40, rent per acre 2s 6d, rent per annum £7 0s 7½d.

265: tenant Richard B[...], date 1814, 9 acres, book D, page 9, rent per acre 2s 6d, rent per annum £1 2s 6d.

266: tenants Robert [...] and John [...], date 1802, ½ acre, book B, page 225, rent per acre 3s 6d, rent per annum £0 1s 9d.

267: tenant Thomas [...], date 1815, 3¾ acres, book D, page 52, rent per acre 2s 6d, rent per annum [...], remarks: transferred to Michael [...]. Transfers and remarks: lease 267 passed to Mr [...] under a consultation of 4 October 1819.

268: tenant Henry [...], date 1815, 15½ acres, book D, page 54, rent per acre 2s 6d, rent per annum £1 10s 9d. Transfers and remarks: lease 268 passed to Marcus Robinson on 22 October 1827.

269: tenant Thomas [...], date 1815, 5¾ acres, book D, page 53, rent per acre 0 entered, rent per annum 0 entered, remarks: transferred to Robert Scott senior under a consultation of 26 October 1829.

270: tenant M. W. Doveton Esquire, date 1815, 24 acres, book D, page 55, rent per acre 2s 6d, rent per annum £3 0s 0d, remarks: transferred to John [...].

271: tenant Robert Statham, date 1816, 3 acres, book D, page 63, rent per acre 0 entered, rent per annum 0 entered, remarks: [...] renewable [...]. Transfers and remarks: Robert Statham transferred lease 271 to His Majesty's Government under a consultation of 11 June 1816.

272: tenant William [...] senior, date 1817, 14¼ acres, book D, page 73, rent per acre 2s 6d, rent per annum £1 15s 7½d.

273: tenant Thomas [...], date 181[...], ½ acre, book D, page 75, rent per acre 2s 0d, rent per annum £0 1s 0d.

274: tenant Richard H. Knipe, date 1817, 18½ acres, book D, page 80, rent per acre 3s 0d, rent per annum £2 15s 6d.

275: tenant Richard B[...], date 1817, 190 acres, book D, page 85, rent per acre 5s 0d, rent per annum £47 10s 0d.

276: tenant Richard B[...], date 1817, 20¾ acres, book D, page 86, rent per acre 5s 0d, rent per annum £5 3s 9d.

Total for leases 275 and 276, rent per annum £52 13s 9d, remarks: bought by the Company on 22 September 1828.

Renewal: registered book D, page 88, to William [...], for lease 124, including the original leases 123 and 127.

Renewal: registered book D, page 90, to Thomas Greentree, for lease 164.

Renewal: registered book D, page 92, to John Bagley, for lease 99.

Renewal: registered book D, page 94, to John Robinson, for lease 31. The old lease covered 3¾ acres and the new lease three acres.

277: tenant Charles Hodson, date 1816, [...] acres, book D, page 77, rent per acre 2s 6d, rent per annum £0 4s 4½d. Transfers and remarks: passed to Lieutenant Bennett under a consultation of 17 July 1826.

278: tenant D. H. Pritchard, date 1817, 4¼ acres, book D, page 87, rent per acre 0 entered, rent per annum [...].

279: tenant Anthony Beale, date 1817, 8 acres, book D, page 89, rent per acre 2s 6d, rent per annum £1 0s 0d. Transfers and remarks: transferred to Charles Seawell.

280: tenant John [...], date 1818, 24¼ acres, book D, page 91, rent per acre 3s 6d, rent per annum £4 4s 10½d, remarks: cancelled under a consultation of 4 [...] 18[...].

281: tenant Richard H. Knipe, date 1818, 100 acres, book D, page [...], rent per acre 3s 0d, rent per annum £15 0s 0d.

282: tenant James [...], date 1818, [...] acres, book D, page 95, rent per acre [...], rent per annum £1 2s 6d, remarks: a lease for seven years only.

283: tenant [...], date 1819, 2 acres, book D, page 9[...], rent per acre [...], rent per annum £0 5s 0d, remarks: part of lease 31, which [...]. Renewal: consultation of 1818, to C. Harrison. Transfers and remarks: John Robinson held a lease of the same piece of land with time still to run. That lease was cancelled, with [...] buying the goodwill for the remaining time, under a consultation of 15 September 1823.

284: tenant [...], date 1819, 15 acres, book D, page 98, rent per acre [...], rent per annum £0 15s 0d.

285: tenant [...], date [...], [...] acres, book D, page [...], rent per acre [...], rent per annum [...].

286: tenant [...], date 1821, 16¼ acres, book D, page 100, rent per acre 5s 0d, rent per annum £4 1s 3d.

287: tenant James [...], date 1821, 4½ acres, book D, page 103, rent per acre 1s 6d, rent per annum £0 6s 9d.

288: tenant William Tracy, date 1821, [...] acres, book D, page 104, rent per acre 1s 6d, rent per annum [...], remarks: transferred to T. Harrington under a consultation of 23 February 182[...].

289: tenant [...], date 1821, [...] acres, book D, page 105, rent per acre 1s 6d, rent per annum £0 5s 3d, remarks: a renewal of an old lease, which [...] appeared to have been numbered with the current [...]. Transfers and remarks: on 23 July 1825 lease 289 was transferred [...] on the petition of [...] of William Tracy, a bankrupt.

290: tenant Robert Knipe senior, date 1821, 1½ acres, book D, page 106, rent per acre 5s 0d, rent per annum £0 7s 6d.

Interpretations

Country land was let by the acre at rates that varied with the ground, where town plots were charged by the foot of frontage. The rent per acre ran from 1s 6d on Gabriel Doveton's 31½ acres to 5s 0d on the 190 acres of lease 275, with 2s 6d the commonest figure. The Company was therefore pricing each holding on its quality or situation, and the column for the rate, left empty on the Jamestown pages, was filled in here because the rate changed from lease to lease.

Leases 275 and 276 together made up 210¾ acres at £52 13s 9d a year, by far the largest holding on the page. The Company bought them back on 22 September 1828, ending a tenancy that had brought in more rent than all the smaller leases beside it. The same course was followed with the brewhouse ground under lease 161, bought on 2 July 1827.

Robert Statham transferred lease 271 to His Majesty's Government on 11 June 1816, in the same year the lease was granted. The buyer was the Crown and not the Company, so land on the Company's island passed for a time into the hands of the British government.

John Robinson held an unexpired lease of ground that was wanted for a new grant. His lease was cancelled only after the goodwill for the remaining years was bought from him. Goodwill here meant the value of the time still left on the lease, so a sitting tenant was paid for giving up his term early. The renewal in book D, page 94, showed the same holding cut from 3¾ acres to three acres, and lease 283 was described as part of lease 31, which accounted for the difference.

Sergeants appeared as tenants and buyers of small country plots, with Wright and Twisdell holding one acre and 4¾ acres and Sergeant McDaniel buying into leases 256 and 257. Lease 257 changed hands four times, passing through a clergyman and a lieutenant before reaching William Mulhall. Country ground was traded among the garrison much as town plots were.

William Tracy was described as a bankrupt, and a lease was transferred on 23 July 1825 following a petition connected with his affairs. A tenant's lease was thus treated as an asset to be disposed of for the benefit of his creditors.

Lease 282 ran for seven years only, a restriction the clerk thought worth noting. Other leases were renewable, so a fixed short term marked ground the Company was unwilling to commit for longer.

Charles Hodson's country lease 277 passed to Lieutenant Bennett under the consultation of 17 July 1826, the same decision that gave Bennett the Jamestown ground under lease 137 from Colonel Hodson. One approval therefore covered a town plot and a country plot changing hands together.

The lower rows of the tenants page, leases 281 to 290, and the last lines of the transfers page are too small to read with confidence at this size. Larger overlapping images of the bottom third of both pages would allow the gaps to be filled.

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[Lower right corner of the left-hand page torn away, with further loss along its left edge.]

Continuation of Leases in the Country.- Renewals

No Tenants Date Acres Book Page Rent P Acre Rent Pr. Annum Remarks. Consultation Registered Book Page To Whom

291 Revd. R. Boys 1820 1 3/4 D 107 [...] 1 granted for 7 Years only term extended to 21 years (See Cons. 1 Septr 1823)

292 Ann Leech and Mary

Jane Leech 1821 2 1/2 D 109 5/. 12 6 Original Lease

293 Francis Seale 1821 3/4 D 110 5/ 3 9 this was formerly a part of No 130.

294 Willm. Lawrence 1821 16 D 111 3/6 2 16 Original Lease

295 Sarah Thomas 1821 1 1/4 D 112 3/6 4 6 do

296 James Ellick 1821 3 1/2 D 113 2/6 8 9

297 Charles Blake 1821 2 D 114 5/. 10 part of Lease No 38. Payment of this rent remitted, see Cons [...]

298 Thos. Thompson 1822 1 D 117 5 Original Lease for 7 Years

299 Willm. H Seale 1822 26 D 119 /3 6 6 Do

300 Serjt Alexr. Munro [...] 1823 16 D 123 5/ 5 8 original No 300 Transferred to Wm Hickey and by him to Thos Northam July

1828.

301 Nancy Griffin [...] 1823 2 1/4 D 124 5/. 11 3 original

302 Estate of George Leech [...] 1823 3 D 125 1/ 3 original

303 George W. Alexander [...] 10 1/2 D 126 1/. 10 6 do

304 Elizabeth David [...] 1823 2 1/2 D 132 2/6 6 3 do [...] 119 transferred to S. Redman 1827

305 Francis Barrett [...] 1 3/4 D 135 5/. 8 9 do

306 Stephen Bowers [...] 1826 feet 200 D 141 " 5 " do

307 Margt. Francis do feet 200 D 142 " 5 " do

308 Thomas Wood do 2 1/4 D 136 [...] 5 do

309 Thomas Millar do 1 1/2 D 137 5/ 7 6 do

310 Thos. Henry Brooke 1827 [...] 4 3/4 D 138 1/9 8 4 do

311 Scipio Senr do 21 1/2 D 139 1/6 1 12 3 do

312 Robt. Rawlins do. feet 200 D 143 " 5 " do

313 Mary Thomas

314 Chs Blake 1828 [...] 4 1/4 1/. 4 3

315 do do. 35 6d. 17 6

316 Eleanor Maggot 1829 feet 60 159 2 6

317 James (Colrd) 5 Octr [...] 60 D 161 2 6

318 Anne Antony 5 Octr [...] D 163 [...]

319 Colin Brothers 5 Octr [...] 60 D 165 2 6

320 Charles Scipio 8 [...] 3 1/2 D [...] 1/. 3 6 Original Lease

321 Stephen Kennedy [...] 1 D 168 [...] 6 do

322 G. Lorimer [...] 3 1/2 D 169 10 do

323 Richard Phillips [...] D 170

324 William Mace [...] D 172 2 6 [...]

325 [...] Harris [...] D 173 2 6 Being No 11 [...] No 325 transferred to Rebecca Sawyer by Mary

326 William Griffith [...] D 174 2 6 [...] Harris 22d. April 1833.

327 George Young [...] D 175 2 6 [...]

328

329

330

331

332

333

Country leases numbered 291 to 327 were held by the following tenants, each paying a rent per annum reckoned by the acre or, on the smallest plots, by a flat charge.

291: tenant the Reverend R. Boys, date 1820, 1¾ acres, book D, page 107, rent per acre [...], rent per annum £1 0s 0d, remarks: granted for seven years only. Transfers and remarks: the term was extended to 21 years under a consultation of 1 September 1823.

292: tenants Ann Leech and [...] Jane Leech, date 1821, 2½ acres, book D, page 109, rent per acre 5s 0d, rent per annum £0 12s 6d, remarks: original lease.

293: tenant Francis Seale, date 1821, ¾ acre, book D, page 110, rent per acre 5s 0d, rent per annum £0 3s 9d, remarks: formerly a part of lease 130.

294: tenant William Lawrence, date 1821, 16 acres, book D, page 111, rent per acre 3s 6d, rent per annum £2 [...]s 0d, remarks: original lease.

295: tenant Sarah Thomas, date 1821, 1¼ acres, book D, page 112, rent per acre 3s 6d, rent per annum £0 4s 6d, remarks: original lease.

296: tenant James [...], date 1821, 3½ acres, book D, page 113, rent per acre 2s 6d, rent per annum £0 8s 9d.

297: tenant Charles Blake, date 1821, 2 acres, book D, page 114, rent per acre 5s 0d, rent per annum £0 10s 0d, remarks: part of lease 38.

298: tenant Thomas Thompson, date 1822, 1 acre, book D, page 117, rent per acre 0 entered, rent per annum £0 5s 0d, remarks: original lease for seven years.

299: tenant William H. Seale, date 1822, 26 acres, book D, page 119, rent per acre 0s 3d, rent per annum £0 6s 6d, remarks: original lease for seven years. Transfers and remarks: payment of this rent was waived under a consultation.

300: tenant Sergeant Alexander Munro, date 1823, 1¼ acres, book D, page 123, rent per acre 5s 0d, rent per annum £0 5s 8d, remarks: original lease. Transfers and remarks: lease 300 passed to William [...], who transferred it to Thomas [...] in July 1828.

301: tenant Nancy Griffin, date 1823, 2¼ acres, book D, page 124, rent per acre 5s 0d, rent per annum £0 11s 3d, remarks: original lease.

302: tenant the estate of George Leech, date 1823, 3 acres, book D, page 125, rent per acre 1s 0d, rent per annum £0 3s 0d, remarks: original lease.

303: tenant George W. Alexander, date 18[...], 10½ acres, book D, page 126, rent per acre 1s 0d, rent per annum £0 10s 6d, remarks: original lease.

304: tenant Elizabeth David, date 1823, 2½ acres, book D, page 132, rent per acre 2s 6d, rent per annum £0 6s 3d, remarks: original lease.

305: tenant Francis Barrett, date 182[...], 1¾ acres, book D, page 135, rent per acre 5s 0d, rent per annum £0 8s 9d, remarks: original lease. Transfers and remarks: transferred to S. [...] in 1827.

306: tenant Sophia [...], date 1826, 200 feet, book D, page 141, rent per acre 0 entered, rent per annum £0 5s 0d, remarks: original lease.

307: tenant Margaret Francis, date 1826, 200 feet, book D, page 142, rent per acre 0 entered, rent per annum £0 5s 0d, remarks: original lease.

308: tenant Thomas Wood, date 1826, 2¼ acres, book D, page 136, rent per acre [...], rent per annum £0 5s 0d, remarks: original lease.

309: tenant Thomas [...], date 1826, 1½ acres, book D, page 137, rent per acre 5s 0d, rent per annum £0 7s 6d, remarks: original lease.

310: tenant Thomas Henry Brooke, date 1827, 4¾ acres, book D, page 138, rent per acre 1s 9d, rent per annum £0 8s 4d, remarks: original lease.

311: tenant Scipio [...], date 1827, [...] acres, book D, page 139, rent per acre [...], rent per annum £1 12s 3d, remarks: original lease.

312: tenant Robert [...], date 1827, 200 feet, book D, page 143, rent per acre 0 entered, rent per annum £0 5s 0d, remarks: original lease.

313: tenant Mary Thomas, date 0 entered, acres 0 entered, book and page 0 entered, rent per acre 0 entered, rent per annum 0 entered.

314: tenant [...] Blake, date 182[...], 4¼ acres, book and page 0 entered, rent per acre 1s 0d, rent per annum £0 4s 3d.

315: tenant [...] Blake, date 182[...], 35 acres, book and page 0 entered, rent per acre 0s 6d, rent per annum £0 17s 6d.

316: tenant Eleanor [...], date 1829, 60 feet, book 0 entered, page 159, rent per acre 0 entered, rent per annum £0 2s 6d.

317: tenant James [...], date [...], 60 feet, book D, page 161, rent per acre 0 entered, rent per annum £0 2s 6d.

318: tenant [...] Antony, date [...], [...], book D, page 163, rent per acre 1s 0d, rent per annum [...].

319: tenant [...], date [...], 60 feet, book D, page 165, rent per acre 0 entered, rent per annum £0 2s 6d.

320: tenant Charles Scipio, date [...], 3½ acres, book D, page [...], rent per acre 1s 0d, rent per annum £0 3s 6d, remarks: original lease.

321: tenant Stephen Kennedy, date [...], 1 acre, book D, page 168, rent per acre [...], rent per annum £0 [...]s 6d, remarks: original lease.

322: tenant [...], date [...], 3½ acres, book D, page 169, rent per acre [...], rent per annum £0 10s 0d, remarks: original lease.

323: tenant Richard [...], date [...], [...] feet, book D, page 170, rent per acre 0 entered, rent per annum £0 2s 6d.

324: tenant William [...], date [...], [...] feet, book D, page 172, rent per acre 0 entered, rent per annum £0 2s 6d, remarks: being number 11 [...] village.

325: tenant [...], date [...], [...] feet, book D, page 173, rent per acre 0 entered, rent per annum £0 2s 6d, remarks: being number [...] in the same place. Transfers and remarks: Mary Harris transferred lease 325 to Rebecca [...] on 22 April 1833.

326: tenant William [...], date [...], [...] feet, book D, page 174, rent per acre 0 entered, rent per annum £0 2s 6d, remarks: being number 10 in the same place.

327: tenant George Young, date [...], [...] feet, book D, page 175, rent per acre 0 entered, rent per annum £0 2s 6d, remarks: being number 12 in the same place.

328: 0 entered.

329: 0 entered.

330: 0 entered.

331: 0 entered.

332: 0 entered.

333: 0 entered.

Interpretations

The Reverend Boys took lease 291 in 1820 for seven years only, and on 1 September 1823 the Council lengthened the term to 21 years. Short terms of seven years also appeared on leases 298 and 299, and on lease 282 of 1818. The Company was therefore granting new country ground on short terms in these years, keeping the power to take it back or reprice it. The extension to Boys departed from that practice less than half way through his term, which pointed to a tenant able to argue that seven years gave too little security for the outlay the ground needed.

Several plots in this country list were measured in feet and not in acres. Three of 200 feet paid a flat £0 5s 0d, and a run of plots of about 60 feet paid a flat £0 2s 6d. The later entries gave them house numbers in a village. These were building plots laid out together in a country settlement, let at a fixed charge per plot with the column for rent per acre left empty.

Rates per acre spread more widely than on the earlier country page. William Seale paid only 3d an acre for 26 acres, and even that rent was waived by a decision of the Council. Blake paid 6d an acre for 35 acres. At the other end, plots of one to three acres paid 5s 0d an acre. The very low rates on the larger tracts suggested rough or unimproved ground that the Company wanted occupied at almost any price.

Lease 293 was cut from lease 130 and lease 297 from lease 38. Country holdings were thus being subdivided in the same way as town frontage, with each new piece traced back to its parent lease.

The Reverend Boys already appeared as a buyer of lease 257, the one acre plot he passed to Lieutenant Armstrong in January 1817. His own lease of 1820 showed the chaplain continuing to deal in country land.

Lease numbers 328 to 333 were written in ahead of any grant and never filled. The clerk numbered the page in advance, so new leases were given the next free number as they were made.

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[Right-hand edge of the page torn away throughout, with further loss along the top edge, the left edge and the foot.]

[...] the Laws and Constitutions of the said [...]

therefore Yearly and every Year during the said term [...]

unto the said Honorable Company their Successors Agents [...]

Fifteen Shillings P Annum, in at or upon the feast of [...]

Angel Yearly, And upon condition that he the said Julio [...]

Heirs, Executors, Administrators or Assignes, do and shall [...]

sufficiently keep up and maintain in good repair all the Walls [...]

that are or may be hereafter [...] Built or Erected upon the s[...]

or any part thereof and do not alter or remove the Fences they being [...]

or Land marks of the said piece of Ground, and do not sell or dispo[...]

this Lease or his, or their Interest therein without the leave and [...]

of the Governor and Council for the time being In Witness wher[...]

said Governor and Council have to the other part set our Hands [...]

Affixed the Honorable Company's Seal this Second day of De[...]

the sixth Year of the Reign of our Sovereign Lord George the Thi[...]

Grace of God of Great Britain France and Ireland, King D[...]

the Faith and so forth, and in the Year of our Lord 1765 And [...]

Julio Fabiano hath hereunto set his Hand and Seal the [...]

Year abovewritten

Witness

[...] Bazett Giulio F[...]

Island St. Helena

The Lords Proprietors of this Island the [...]

the United Company of Merchants of England, trading to the East Indies Do [...]

Presents Grant Lease and to farm Let unto Matthew Bazett of the said [...]

[...] All those two pieces [...]

Julio Fabiano held his ground subject to the laws and regulations of the island, and paid the Company a rent of £0 15s 0d a year for the length of the term, due each year on the feast of [...].

The lease carried three conditions binding on Fabiano and on anyone who took the ground after him by inheritance or transfer. He had to keep in good repair every wall and building standing on the ground or put up there later. He could not alter or remove the fences, which served as the boundary marks of the plot. He could not sell or part with the lease, or with any interest in it, unless the Governor and Council of the day gave permission.

The Governor and Council signed one copy and fixed the Company's seal to it on 2 December 1765, in the sixth year of the reign of George III. Julio Fabiano signed and sealed the other copy on the same day. [...] Bazett signed as witness.

A second lease, made at St Helena, followed. The Company, as proprietor of the island, let two pieces of ground to Matthew Bazett of the island [...].

Interpretations

The ban on selling or disposing of the lease without the Governor and Council's permission was the rule behind the transfers noted throughout the register. Entries such as the transfer of lease 116 to S. Clements under the consultation of 19 January 1826 recorded that permission being given. A tenant who sold without it broke a condition of his lease, which gave the Company grounds to take the land back.

The fences were treated as the legal boundaries of the plot, and moving them was forbidden outright. On an island where holdings were described by frontage or acreage and seldom mapped, the fence line was the working evidence of what had been granted. The later remeasurements, and the double rent charged on Fitzpatrick's 18 feet of encroachment under lease 178, showed what followed when occupation and grant drifted apart.

The duty to repair fell on the tenant for buildings not yet in existence as well as those already standing. Anything a tenant built therefore became part of what he was bound to maintain, and the Company's interest in the ground gained from his improvements at no cost to itself.

The Company styled itself Lords Proprietors of the island, meaning it owned all the land outright under its charter. Every holding was accordingly granted by lease from the Company, which is why each tenant in the register paid it a yearly rent.

Rent fell due on a named feast day of the church calendar, the customary way of fixing a yearly payment date in English leases of the period.

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[Left-hand edge of the page torn away throughout, with further loss along the top edge, the right-hand edge and the foot.]

[...] of the said Island, eight Acres and one half [...]

[...] butting and bounding East upon the Lands of Susannah Rider

[...] the Lands of Mary Burnham Widow North upon the Lands of John

[...] North upon the Lands [...] West upon the said [...]

[...]taen, and South upon the said Matthew Bazett's own Land, Land [...]

To hold the said hereby Demised parcels of Land, with the appurtenances,

[...] part and parcel thereof, unto him the said Matthew Bazett his Heirs

[...]ors, Administrators, and Assignes from the day of the Date hereof, for and during

the space and term of twenty one Years, from thence next ensuing Upon condition

that he the said Matthew Bazett, his Heirs or allowed Assignes do always bear

[...] faith and allegiance to our Sovereign Lord King George the Third his Heirs and

Successors, and true faith to them the said Honorable Company and their Successors and

[...] duly Obey all the Laws and Constitutions of the said Island, Yielding and

[...]ying therefore Yearly and every Year, during the said term and time of twenty one

[...] unto the said Honorable Company their Successors, Agents, or Assignes the

[...] of five Shillings P Acre in, at, or upon the Feast of St. Michael the Arch

[...]gel Yearly, And upon condition that he the said Matthew Bazett his Heirs,

[...]cutors, Administrators, or Assignes, do and shall well and sufficiently keep up

[...] maintain the Fences to the said Lands, and the full quantity of Wood

[...] and do not nor shall sell or dispose of this Lease or his, or their Interest

therein without the leave and consent of the Governor and Council for the time being

In Witness whereof we the said Governor and Council have to the other part,

set our Hands and Affixed the Honorable Company's Seal this 10th Day of

February in the sixth Year of the Reign of our said Sovereign Lord George

the Third, by the Grace of God of great Britain France and Ireland, King

Defender of the Faith and so forth and in the Year of our Lord 1766 and he the

said Matthew Bazett hath hereunto set his Hand, and Seal the Day and Year

[...]ovewritten

Bazett

Witness

[...] Alexr Wright

The two pieces of ground let to Matthew Bazett contained eight and a half acres. They were bounded on the east by the lands of Susannah Pledger, on [...] by the lands of Mary Burnham, a widow, on the north by the lands of John [...] and on the south by Matthew Bazett's own land [...].

Bazett was to hold the ground and everything belonging to it for 21 years from the date of the lease. The term covered him and anyone who took the ground after him by inheritance or approved transfer.

The lease set out the following conditions. Bazett and his successors had to remain loyal to King George III and faithful to the Company, and had to obey the laws and regulations of the island. They paid the Company a rent of 5s 0d an acre each year, due on the feast of St Michael the Archangel. They had to keep the fences of the land in good repair and maintain the full quantity of wood [...]. They could not sell or part with the lease or any interest in it without the permission of the Governor and Council of the day.

The Governor and Council signed one copy and fixed the Company's seal to it on 10 February 1766, in the sixth year of the reign of George III. Matthew Bazett signed and sealed the other copy on the same day. [...] Wright signed as witness.

Interpretations

The term of 21 years stood in contrast to the seven year leases granted on country ground from 1818 to 1822, such as leases 282, 291, 298 and 299. When the Council extended the Reverend Boys's term to 21 years on 1 September 1823, it restored the length that had been standard in 1766. The short terms of the later period were therefore a tightening of the Company's hold on its land, and the older, longer term remained the measure tenants looked to.

The rent of 5s 0d an acre matched the highest rate on the later country pages, charged on leases 275, 276 and 290. The top rate for country ground thus stood unchanged for more than 50 years, while lower rates of 1s 0d and even 3d an acre were introduced for poorer land.

The tenant had to keep up the full quantity of wood on the ground. The clause served the same end as the 1743 lease under number 119, which required one tenth of the ground to be planted with trees. Timber and fuel were scarce on the island, and the Company used its leases to stop tenants clearing what grew on their holdings.

Loyalty to the King and to the Company was written in as a condition of holding land. A tenant who broke faith with either risked his lease, so the grant of ground doubled as a tie of obedience on a small and isolated settlement governed by a trading company.

The feast of St Michael the Archangel fell on 29 September and was one of the four customary quarter days on which English rents were paid.

Bazett bounded his new ground on the south with land he already held, so the lease enlarged an existing estate. He had also witnessed Julio Fabiano's lease on 2 December 1765, which placed him close to the business of the Council that granted his own.

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Division of the said Island, at the head of Woody Ridge Valley

which known by the name of Sextons butting and bounding [...]

the Lands of Andrew Worrall's Orphans, and the said John Desfountain

Land towards the North and East partly upon the Lands of Matthew Bazett [...] the

partly upon the said John Desfountain's own Land, West upon the Lands [...] the

granted to him the said John Desfountain, the other seven and three Qua[...]

lying at the head of Woody Ridge Valley, butting and bounding East and [...] three

the Honorable Company's Waste Land, and South upon the aforesaid John

Desfountain's sixteen Acres, To have and to hold the said hereby [...]

of Land, and every part and parcel thereof, unto him the said John Desfountain

Heirs, Executors, Administrators, and Assigns from the Day of the Date hereof [...]

and during all the space and term of twenty one Years from thence next ensuing

upon Condition that he the said John Desfountain his Heirs or allowed

Assigns do always bear true Faith and Allegiance to our Sovereign Lord King

George the Third, his Heirs, and Successors, and true Faith to them the said

Honorable Company and their Successors, and shall duly Obey all the Laws and

Constitutions of the said Island Yielding and paying therefore Yearly & every

Year during the said term and time of twenty one Years, unto the said Honorable

Company their Successors Agents or Assigns, the Rent of five Shillings P Acre

for the aforesaid sixteen Acres, and two shillings and sixpence P Acre for the

seven Acres and three Quarters, in at or upon the Feast of Saint Michael

the Arch Angel Yearly And upon Condition that he the said John

Desfountain his Heirs, Executors, Administrators or Assigns do and shall

well and sufficiently keep up and maintain the Fences to the said Lands

the full quantity of Wood thereon, and do not, nor shall sell or dispose of this

Lease or his or their Interest therein, without the leave and consent of the

Governor and Council for the time being. In Witness whereof We the said

Governor and Council have to the other part set our Hands and Affixed the

Honoble Company's Seal this 17 Day of July in the sixth Year of the Reign

of our Sovereign Lord George the third, by the grace of God of great Britain

France and Ireland, King defender of the faith and so forth, and in the

Year of our Lord 1766 and he the said John Desfountain hath hereunto

set his Hand and Seal the Day and Year abovewritten

John Desfountain

Witness

[...] Bazett

Island St. Helena

The Lords Proprietors of this Island the [...]

the United Company of Merchants of England, trading to the East Indies Do[...]

[...]

John Desfountain took a lease of two pieces of ground at the head of Woody Ridge Valley. The first, of 16 acres, lay in the [...] division of the island and was known as Sextons. It was bounded towards [...] by the lands of the orphans of Andrew [...] and by Desfountain's own land, towards the north and east partly by the lands of Matthew [...] and partly by Desfountain's own land, and on the west by lands [...] already granted to Desfountain. The second piece, of seven and three quarter acres, was bounded on the east and [...] by the Company's waste land, and on [...] and the south by the 16 acres.

Desfountain was to hold both pieces, with everything belonging to them, for 21 years from the date of the lease. The term covered him and anyone who took the ground after him by inheritance or approved transfer.

The lease set out the following conditions. Desfountain and his successors had to remain loyal to King George III and faithful to the Company, and had to obey the laws and regulations of the island. They paid the Company a yearly rent of 5s 0d an acre for the 16 acres and 2s 6d an acre for the seven and three quarter acres, due on the feast of St Michael the Archangel. They had to keep the fences of the land in good repair and maintain the full quantity of wood on it. They could not sell or part with the lease or any interest in it without the permission of the Governor and Council of the day.

The Governor and Council signed one copy and fixed the Company's seal to it on 1[...] July 1766, in the sixth year of the reign of George III. John Desfountain signed and sealed the other copy on the same day. [...] Bazett signed as witness.

A further lease, made at St Helena, followed. The Company, as proprietor of the island, [...].

Interpretations

One lease carried two rates. The 16 acres called Sextons paid 5s 0d an acre, the same as Matthew Bazett's ground under his lease of 10 February 1766. The seven and three quarter acres beside them paid half that. The cheaper piece bordered the Company's waste land, meaning ground not yet granted to anyone and lying uncultivated. It was therefore fresh ground taken in from the edge of settlement, and the Company priced it lower than established farmland. The spread of rates on the later country pages, from 5s 0d down to 3d an acre, followed the same principle of charging by the quality of the land.

Desfountain already held land on at least two sides of the 16 acres, and the smaller piece adjoined them in turn. The lease therefore built up a single block at the head of the valley out of separate grants. Bazett's lease did the same, bounding his new ground with his own land on the south.

One of the neighbouring holdings belonged to orphans. Land could thus stand in the names of children after a tenant's death, held for them until they came of age.

A John De Fountain appeared in the Jamestown register under lease 156, dated 1787, and a J. De Fountain took an assignment of lease 138 from J. C. Dunn. The family therefore held both country and town ground.

Bazett witnessed this lease as he witnessed Julio Fabiano's on 2 December 1765. His repeated signature beside the Company's seal suggested that he acted as the regular witness to leases, probably as an officer of the Council.

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[...]mise, Grant Lease and to Farm, Let, unto Thomas Greentree of the said

[...]nd Planter, All that piece, or parcel of Land containing seven Acres,

[...]uate lying and being in the East Division of the said Island, and known by

[...]e Name of Taylors butting and bounding North upon the Lands of John

[...]wetons Orphans, South upon the [Alder] Ridge, East upon the Lands of

Matthew Purling Esqr, and West upon the said Thomas Greentree's own Land,

To have and to hold the said hereby Demised parcel of Land, with the

appurtenances, and every part, and parcel thereof, unto him the said Thomas Greentree

his Heirs, Executors, Administrators, and 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 he the said Thomas Greentree his Heirs or

Allowed Assigns do always bear true faith and Allegiance to our Sovereign

Lord King George the Third, his Heirs and Successors, and true Faith to them

the said Honorable Company, and their successors, and shall duly Obey

all the Laws and Constitutions of the said Island, Yielding and paying

therefore Yearly, and every Year, during the said term and time of twenty

one Years, unto the said Honorable Company, their Successors, Agents or,

Assigns the Rent of five shillings P. Acre, in at or upon the Feast of St.

Michael the Arch Angel Yearly. And upon condition that he the said

Thomas Greentree 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 not nor shall sell or dispose

of this Lease or his or their Interest therein without the leave and consent

of the Governor and Council for the time being, In Witness whereof we the said

Governor and Council have to the other part set our Hands and affixed the Honorable

Company's Seal this 13th Day of August, in the sixth Year of the Reign of our said

Sovereign Lord George the Third by the grace of God of great Britain, France

and Ireland, King Defender of the Faith, and so forth and in the Year of our

Lord 1766 and he the said Thomas Greentree, hath hereunto set his Hand and

Seal the Day and Year abovewritten

Thos Greentree

Witness

John Goodwin

The Company let seven acres of land to Thomas Greentree, a planter of the island. The ground lay in the East Division and was known as Taylors. It was bounded on the north by the lands of the orphans of John [...], on the south by [...] Ridge, on the east by the lands of Matthew [...] Esquire and on the west by Greentree's own land.

Greentree was to hold the ground, with everything belonging to it, for 21 years from the date of the lease. The term covered him and anyone who took the ground after him by inheritance or approved transfer.

The lease set out the following conditions. Greentree and his successors had to remain loyal to King George III and faithful to the Company, and had to obey the laws and regulations of the island. They paid the Company a rent of 5s 0d an acre each year, due on the feast of St Michael the Archangel. They had to keep the fences of the land in good repair and maintain the full quantity of wood on it. They could not sell or part with the lease or any interest in it without the permission of the Governor and Council of the day.

The Governor and Council signed one copy and fixed the Company's seal to it on 1[...] August 1766, in the sixth year of the reign of George III. Thomas Greentree signed and sealed the other copy on the same day. John Goodwin signed as witness.

Interpretations

Greentree's lease repeated the terms of the leases to Matthew Bazett on 10 February 1766 and to John Desfountain in July 1766 almost point for point. All three ran for 21 years, charged 5s 0d an acre on established ground, fell due at Michaelmas and carried the same duties on fences, wood and transfers. The Company was therefore granting country land on a fixed form in 1766, with only the tenant, the acreage and the boundaries changing from one lease to the next.

Greentree was described as a planter, the term for a settler who farmed land on the island as distinct from the Company's officers and soldiers. Like Bazett and Desfountain, he took ground that adjoined land he already held, so the lease enlarged a working farm.

The island was divided into named districts, of which the East Division was one, and individual farms carried their own names, here Taylors. A lease identified its ground by division, farm name and neighbours, since no plan was attached.

A Thomas Greentree later renewed lease 164, entered in book D at page 90 on the country pages of the register. The family therefore remained tenants of the Company into the following century.

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Island St. Helena

The Lords Proprietors of this Island the

Honorable the United Company of Merchants of England trading to the

East Indies Do hereby Demise, Grant, Lease and to Farm Let unto

Matthew Purling Esqr All that piece or Parcel of Land containing three

Acres situate lying and being in the East Division of the said Island

butting and bounding North upon the Honorable Company's Waste Land

East upon the Lands of John Dovetons Orphans South and West upon

the Land of him the said Matthew Purling To have and to hold

the said hereby Demised parcel of Land with the appurtenances and every part and

parcel thereof, unto him the said Matthew Purling his Heirs Executors

Administrators and 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 he the said Matthew Purling his Heirs or

allowed Assigns do always bear true Faith and Allegiance to our

Sovereign Lord King George the Third, his Heirs and Successors, and

true Faith to them the said Honoble Company, and their Successors

and shall duly Obey all the Laws and Constitutions of the said Island

Yielding and paying therefore Yearly, and every Year during the

said term and time of twenty one Years, unto the said Honoble Company

their Successors, Agents, or Assigns the Rent of one Shilling P Acre, in, at, or

upon the Feast of St. Michael the Arch Angel Yearly, And upon

condition that he the said Matthew Purling 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 not, nor shall sell or dispose of this Lease, or

his or their Interest therein, without the leave and consent of the

Governor and Council for the time being, In Witness whereof We the

said Governor and Council have to the other part set our hands, and

Affixed the Honorable Company's Seal this 2d Day of September in the

sixth Year of the Reign of our Sovereign Lord George the Third, by the grace

of God of Great Britain France and Ireland, King Defender of the

Faith and so forth and in the Year of our Lord 1766 and he the said

Matthew Purling hath hereunto set his hand and Seal the Day and Year

abovewritten

M Purling

Witness

[...] Bazett

The Company let three acres of land in the East Division to Matthew Purling Esquire. The ground was bounded on the north by the Company's waste land, on the east by the lands of the orphans of John Doveton and on the south and west by Purling's own land.

Purling was to hold the ground, with everything belonging to it, for 21 years from the date of the lease. The term covered him and anyone who took the ground after him by inheritance or approved transfer.

The lease set out the following conditions. Purling and his successors had to remain loyal to King George III and faithful to the Company, and had to obey the laws and regulations of the island. They paid the Company a rent of 1s 0d an acre each year, due on the feast of St Michael the Archangel. They had to keep the fences of the land in good repair and maintain the full quantity of wood on it. They could not sell or part with the lease or any interest in it without the permission of the Governor and Council of the day.

The Governor and Council signed one copy and fixed the Company's seal to it on 2 September 1766, in the sixth year of the reign of George III. Matthew Purling signed and sealed the other copy on the same day. [...] Bazett signed as witness.

Interpretations

Purling paid 1s 0d an acre, the lowest rent among the leases of 1766. Bazett and Greentree paid 5s 0d an acre, and Desfountain paid 2s 6d for his seven and three quarter acres on the edge of the waste. Purling's three acres also bordered the Company's waste land, so the ground was newly taken in from unoccupied land, yet it was charged at less than half Desfountain's rate for ground of the same kind. The words fixing the rate by the acre were added between the lines, which showed the clerk correcting the figure from a lump sum to a rate. Purling was styled Esquire, a mark of rank the planters did not carry, and the favourable rent perhaps reflected his standing with the Council.

Purling's land and that of John Doveton's orphans were the neighbours named in Thomas Greentree's lease of August 1766, where they lay on the east and north of the farm called Taylors. The two leases therefore dealt with adjoining ground in the same corner of the East Division, granted within weeks of each other. Purling, like Greentree, added the new piece to land he already held on two sides.

The Doveton family remained landholders on the island. Gabriel Doveton Esquire held 31½ acres under lease 259 of 1814, and M. W. Doveton Esquire held 24 acres under lease 270 of 1815.

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Island St. Helena

The Lords Proprietors of this Island the

Honorable the United Company of Merchants of England trading to the East

Indies Do hereby Demise, Grant, Lease and to Farm Let unto Matthew

Purling Esqr. All that piece or parcel of Cabbage tree Land containing

seven Acres and an half situate lying and being in the East Division

of the said Island near Halleys Mount, butting and bounding North, South

and East, upon the said Matthew Purlings own Land, and West upon

the Land of Isaac Doveton Planter, To have and to hold the said

hereby parcel of Land with the appurtenances and every part and parcel

thereof, unto him the said Matthew Purling his Heirs, Executors

Administrators and 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 he the said Matthew Purling his Heirs, or

allowed Assigns do always bear true Faith and Allegiance to our

Sovereign Lord King George the third, his Heirs and Successors and

true Faith to them the said Honorable Company and their Successors, and shall

duly Obey all the Laws and Constitutions of the said Island Yielding

and paying therefore Yearly, and every Year, during the said term and

time of twenty one Years, unto the said Honorable Company their

Successors, Agents or Assigns, the Rent of five Shillings P Acre, in, at,

or upon the Feast of St. Michael the Arch Angel Yearly, And upon

Condition that he the said Matthew Purling 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 not, nor shall sell or dispose of this Lease or, his

or their Interest therein without the leave and Consent of the Governor

and Council for the time being In Witness whereof we the said Governor

and Council have to the other part, set our hands and Affixed the

Honorable Company's Seal this 2d day of September in the sixth

Year of the Reign of our Sovereign Lord George the Third by the grace of

God of great Britain, France and Ireland, King Defender of the

Faith and so forth, and in the Year of our Lord 1766 and he the said

Matthew Purling, hath hereunto set his Hand, and Seal the Day

and Year abovewritten

M Purling

Witness

[...] Bazett

The Company let seven and a half acres of cabbage tree land to Matthew Purling Esquire. The ground lay in the East Division near Halley's Mount. It was bounded on the north, south and east by Purling's own land and on the west by the land of Isaac Doveton, a planter.

Purling was to hold the ground, with everything belonging to it, for 21 years from the date of the lease. The term covered him and anyone who took the ground after him by inheritance or approved transfer.

The lease set out the following conditions. Purling and his successors had to remain loyal to King George III and faithful to the Company, and had to obey the laws and regulations of the island. They paid the Company a rent of 5s 0d an acre each year, due on the feast of St Michael the Archangel. They had to keep the fences of the land in good repair and maintain the full quantity of wood on it. They could not sell or part with the lease or any interest in it without the permission of the Governor and Council of the day.

The Governor and Council signed one copy and fixed the Company's seal to it on 2 September 1766, in the sixth year of the reign of George III. Matthew Purling signed and sealed the other copy on the same day. [...] Bazett signed as witness.

Interpretations

Cabbage tree land was ground covered with the island's native cabbage trees, which grew on the high, damp central ridges and were among the few sources of timber and firewood on St Helena. The lease named the ground by what grew on it, and that gave the standard clause on wood a particular weight here. Purling took land whose whole value lay in its trees, and he was bound to keep the full quantity standing. The Company was thus letting a piece of woodland on terms meant to stop it being cut out.

Purling took two leases on the same day, 2 September 1766, at very different rents. The three acres beside the Company's waste land paid 1s 0d an acre, while this wooded ground paid 5s 0d, the full rate charged on established farms such as Greentree's and Bazett's. Standing timber was therefore valued as highly as cultivated land, and bare ground at the edge of the waste at a fifth of it.

The seven and a half acres were enclosed on three sides by land Purling already held. The grant filled a gap inside his estate, in the same way that the other leases of 1766 extended holdings their tenants already occupied.

Isaac Doveton, the neighbour on the west, was described as a planter, while John Doveton's orphans held land beside Purling's other lease. The Doveton family therefore had several holdings in this part of the East Division.

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Island St. Helena

The Lords Proprietors of this Island

the Honorable the United Company of Merchants of England trading to the

East Indies Do hereby Demise, Grant, Lease and to Farm Let unto

Willm. Worrall Planter; All that piece or parcel of Land containing sixteen

Acres and three Quarters, nine Acres thereof butting and bounding North upon

the Lands of William Burnham's Orphs. West and South upon the Lands of

him the said Willm. Worrall, and East upon the Honorable Company's Waste

Land, the other Seven Acres and three Quarters butting and bounding North

upon the said Willm. Worrall's own Land, South upon the Lands of Joseph

Desfountains Orphans, West upon the Lands of Matthew Bazett, and

East upon the Honorable Company's Waste Land all lying in the East Division To have and to

hold the said hereby Demised parcel of Land with the appurtenances

and every part and parcel thereof unto him the said Willm. Worrall his Heirs

Executors, Administrators and 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 he the said Willm. Worrall his Heirs or

allowed Assigns do always bear true faith and Allegiance to our

Sovereign Lord King George the third, his Heirs and Successors, and tr[...]

Faith to them the said Honorable Company, and their Successors, and

shall duly Obey all the Laws and Constitutions of the said Island

Yielding and paying therefore Yearly and every Year, during the said

term and time of twenty one Years unto the said Honorable Company their

Successors, Agents, or Assigns the Rent of five Shillings P Acre in, at,

or upon the feast of St. Michael the Arch Angel Yearly, And upon

condition that he the said Willm. Worrall, 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 not

nor shall sell or dispose of this Lease, or his or their Interest therein without

the leave [...] and consent of the Governor and Council for the

time being In Witness whereof we the said Governor and Council have to the

other part set our Hands, and Affixed the Honorable Company's Seal

this 22d Day of December in the seventh Year of the Reign of our

said Sovereign Lord George the Third by the grace of God of great

Britain, France and Ireland King defender of the Faith and so

forth, and in the Year of our Lord 1766. and he the said Willm. Worrall

[hath]

The Company let 16¾ acres of land to William Worrall, a planter, in two pieces lying in the [...] Division. The first piece, of nine acres, was bounded on the north by the lands of the orphans of William Burnham, on the west and south by Worrall's own lands and on the east by the Company's waste land. The second piece, of seven and three quarter acres, was bounded on the north by Worrall's own land, on the south by the lands of the orphans of Joseph Desfountain, on the west by the lands of Matthew Bazett and on the east by the Company's waste land.

Worrall was to hold the ground, with everything belonging to it, for 21 years from the date of the lease. The term covered him and anyone who took the ground after him by inheritance or approved transfer.

The lease set out the following conditions. Worrall and his successors had to remain loyal to King George III and faithful to the Company, and had to obey the laws and regulations of the island. They paid the Company a rent of 5s 0d an acre each year, due on the feast of St Michael the Archangel. They had to keep the fences of the land in good repair and maintain the full quantity of wood on it. They could not sell or part with the lease or any interest in it without the permission of the Governor and Council of the day.

The Governor and Council signed one copy and fixed the Company's seal to it on 22 December 1766, in the seventh year of the reign of George III. William Worrall signed and sealed the other copy on the same day.

Interpretations

Both of Worrall's pieces bordered the Company's waste land on the east, yet he paid the full 5s 0d an acre on all 16¾ acres. John Desfountain paid 2s 6d an acre in July 1766 for ground beside the waste, and Matthew Purling paid 1s 0d on 2 September 1766. Position at the edge of unoccupied land did not therefore earn a lower rent as a matter of course. The Council set each rate case by case, and a planter taking in new ground could be charged five times what an Esquire paid for land of the same kind three months earlier.

Three sets of orphans now appeared as landholders in these leases, the children of John Doveton, William Burnham and Joseph Desfountain. Mary Burnham, a widow, was named as a neighbour in Bazett's lease of 10 February 1766. Land was evidently kept in a dead tenant's family and held in the children's names, which pointed to a settled practice of letting holdings descend instead of returning them to the Company.

The neighbours named here overlapped with those in the earlier leases. Bazett's land lay on the west of Worrall's second piece, and the Burnham and Desfountain families bordered both men. The leases of 1766 therefore dealt with one connected group of farms, each tenant pushing his boundary outward into the waste.

The words placing the ground in its division were added between the lines after the boundaries were written out. The clerk treated the division as a necessary part of the description and went back to supply it.

A Mary Worrall later held 46 feet of frontage in Jamestown under lease 139, dated 1793, so the family also became tenants of town ground.

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hath hereunto set his Hand and Seal the Day and Year

abovewritten

William Worrall

Witness

[...] Bazett

Island St. Helena

The Lords Proprietors of this Island the

Honorable the United Company of Merchants of England trading to

the East Indies Do hereby Demise, Grant, Lease, and to Farm Let

unto John Worrall Planter All that piece or parcel of Land containing

sixteen Acres and a quarter, seven Acres and three quarters thereof butting

and bounding towards the North upon the said John Worralls own Land

towards the South upon the Land of Joseph Desfountains Orphans,

towards the West upon the Land of Matthew Bazett, and towards the

East upon the Honorable Company's Waste Land, the other eight Acres and

an half butting and bounding towards the North East and West upon the

Land of John Desfountain Senr. and South upon the said John

Worralls own Land, all lying in the East Division, To have and to

hold the said hereby demised parcel of Land with the appurtenances,

and every part, and parcel thereof, unto him the said John Worrall, his

Heirs, Executors, Administrators and 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 he the said John Worrall, his Heirs,

or allowed Assigns do always bear true faith and Allegiance to our

Sovereign Lord King George the third, his Heirs, and Successors, and

true faith to them the said Honorable Company, and their Successors, and

shall duly Obey all the Laws and Constitutions of the said Island

Yielding and paying therefore Yearly, and every Year, during the said

term and time of twenty one Years, unto the said Honorable Company

their Successors, Agents, or Assigns, the Rent of five shillings P Acre,

in, at, or upon the feast of St. Michael the Arch Angel Yearly, And

upon

William Worrall signed and sealed his copy of the lease of 22 December 1766, and [...] Bazett signed as witness.

A new lease, made at St Helena, followed. The Company let 16¼ acres of land in the East Division to John Worrall, a planter, in two pieces. The first piece, of seven and three quarter acres, was bounded on the north by Worrall's own land, on the south by the land of the orphans of Joseph Desfountain, on the west by the land of Matthew Bazett and on the east by the Company's waste land. The second piece, of eight and a half acres, was bounded on the north, east and west by the land of John Desfountain senior and on the south by Worrall's own land.

John Worrall was to hold the ground, with everything belonging to it, for 21 years from the date of the lease. The term covered him and anyone who took the ground after him by inheritance or approved transfer.

Worrall and his successors had to remain loyal to King George III and faithful to the Company, and had to obey the laws and regulations of the island. They paid the Company a rent of 5s 0d an acre each year, due on the feast of St Michael the Archangel.

Interpretations

John Worrall's first piece matched the second piece in William Worrall's lease of 22 December 1766 in both size and setting. Each was of seven and three quarter acres, with the Desfountain orphans on the south, Matthew Bazett on the west and the Company's waste land on the east. The only difference lay on the north, where each man's piece met his own land. The two Worralls were therefore probably kinsmen farming side by side, and the Council granted them matching shares of the same stretch of ground in separate leases. A single joint lease would have been simpler, but two leases gave each man his own title, which he could pass on or seek leave to sell without the other.

John Worrall's second piece was enclosed on three sides by the land of John Desfountain senior, who took 23¾ acres at the head of Woody Ridge Valley in July 1766. The addition of senior distinguished him from a younger man of the same name, so two generations of that family were on the island by this date.

The rent stood at the full 5s 0d an acre although the first piece bordered the waste, as with William Worrall's ground. The lower rates given to Desfountain and to Matthew Purling on 2 September 1766 remained exceptions among the leases of that year.

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33

upon condition that he the said John Worrall 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 not

nor shall sell or dispose of this Lease, or his or their Interest therein,

without the leave and consent of the Governor and Council for the time being

In Witness whereof We the said Governor and Council have to the other part

set our hands, and Affixed the Honorable Company's Seal this 24

day of November in the seventh Year of the Reign of our said Sovereign

Lord George the Third, by the grace of God of great Britain France

and Ireland, King Defender of the faith and so forth, and in the Year

of our Lord 1766, and he the said John Worrall hath hereunto set his

Hand and Seal the day and Year abovewritten

John Worrall

Witness

[...] Bazett

Island St. Helena

The Lords Proprietors of this Island the

Honorable the United Company of Merchants of England trading to

the East Indies Do hereby Demise, Grant, Lease and to Farm Let

unto William Seale Senr. Planter, All that piece or parcel of Land

containing eight Acres situate lying and being in Days Valley

butting and bounding North upon the Honorable Company's Waste

Lands, West upon the Lands of James Colgrave, South and East

upon the said William Seales own Lands To have and to hold

the said hereby demised parcel of Land with the appurtenances and every

part and parcel thereof, unto him the said William Seale his Heirs,

Executors, Administrators and 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 he the said William Seale

his Heirs or allowed Assigns do always bear true faith and Allegiance

to our Sovereign Lord King George the Third his Heirs and Successors

John Worrall and his successors had to keep the fences of the land in good repair and maintain the full quantity of wood on it. They could not sell or part with the lease or any interest in it without the permission of the Governor and Council of the day. The Governor and Council signed one copy and fixed the Company's seal to it on 2[...] November 1766, in the seventh year of the reign of George III. John Worrall signed and sealed the other copy on the same day, and [...] Bazett signed as witness.

A new lease, made at St Helena, followed. The Company let eight acres of land in [...] Valley to William Seale senior, a planter. The ground was bounded on the north by the Company's waste lands, on the west by the lands of James [...] and on the south and east by Seale's own lands.

Seale was to hold the ground, with everything belonging to it, for 21 years from the date of the lease. The term covered him and anyone who took the ground after him by inheritance or approved transfer. Seale and his successors had to remain loyal to King George III.

Interpretations

John Worrall's lease was sealed in November 1766, yet it was entered in the volume after William Worrall's lease of 22 December 1766. The leases were therefore copied into the book some time after they were made and not strictly in order of date. The volume served as a record of grants already completed, written up in batches, and the date inside each lease remained the only reliable guide to when it took effect.

The matching pieces of seven and three quarter acres granted to the two Worralls were sealed about a month apart. Each man thus applied for and received his share separately, which supported the reading that the Council dealt with them as independent tenants.

Seale's eight acres followed the pattern of the other leases of 1766. The ground lay between land he already held and the Company's waste, so the grant moved his boundary outward into unoccupied country.

The Seale family remained on the land into the next century. Francis Seale held lease 293 of 1821, and William H. Seale held 26 acres under lease 299 of 1822, the rent of which the Council later waived.

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34

and true faith to them the said Honorable Company and their

Successors, and shall duly Obey all the Laws and Constitutions of the

said Island Yielding and paying therefore Yearly and every Year

during the said term and time of twenty one Years unto the said Honorable

Company their Successors, Agents or Assigns, the Rent of five

Shillings P Acre, in at or upon the Feast of St. Michael the Arch

Angel Yearly, And upon Condition that he the said William Seale his

Heirs, Executrs. 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 not nor shall sell or dispose

of this Lease, or his, or their Interest therein without the leave and

consent of the Governor and Council for the time being, In Witness

whereof we the said Governor and Council have to the other part set

our hands, and affixed the Honorable Company's Seal this 15th

Day of December in the seventh Year of the Reign of our said

Sovereign Lord George the Third by the grace of God of great

Britain, France and Ireland, King, Defender of the Faith

and so forth, and in the Year of our Lord 1766, and he the said

William Seale hath hereunto set his Hand and Seal the day and

Year abovewritten

Willm. Seale Senr

Witness

[...] Bazett

Island St. Helena

The Lords Proprietors of this Island

the Honorable the United Company of Merchants of England trading

to the East Indies Do hereby Demise, Grant, Lease, and to Farm

Let unto William Seale Senr. Planter All that piece or parcel of Land

containing thirteen Acres and an half, situate lying and being in Deep

Valley butting and bounding North, East, and South upon the Lands of

Orlando Bagley Junr. and West partly upon the Lands of Matthew

Bazett and partly upon the said William Seales own Lands To

have

William Seale senior and his successors had to remain faithful to the Company and obey the laws and regulations of the island. They paid the Company a rent of 5s 0d an acre each year for the 21 years of the term, due on the feast of St Michael the Archangel. They had to keep the fences of the land in good repair and maintain the full quantity of wood on it. They could not sell or part with the lease or any interest in it without the permission of the Governor and Council of the day.

The Governor and Council signed one copy and fixed the Company's seal to it on 15 December 1766, in the seventh year of the reign of George III. William Seale senior signed and sealed the other copy on the same day, and [...] Bazett signed as witness.

A new lease, made at St Helena, followed. The Company let 13½ acres of land in Deep Valley to William Seale senior, a planter. The ground was bounded on the north, east and south by the lands of Orlando Bagley junior, and on the west partly by the lands of Matthew Bazett and partly by Seale's own lands.

Interpretations

Seale received two grants in succession, each in its own lease, as Matthew Purling did on 2 September 1766. A single lease could carry two pieces, as those of Desfountain and the Worralls showed. Separate leases were used where the pieces did not adjoin or differed in kind, since each lease then stood as its own title and could be renewed, given up or transferred alone. The register's later practice of numbering every lease and tracing each one separately rested on that habit.

The second piece differed from the first in having no boundary with the Company's waste. It was shut in by Orlando Bagley junior on three sides and by Bazett and Seale himself on the fourth. The ground was therefore a pocket left ungranted among occupied farms, and Seale's lease closed it.

Matthew Bazett's land now appeared on the boundaries of four tenants, the two Worralls, Desfountain and Seale, in addition to the eight and a half acres he took on 10 February 1766. The man who witnessed nearly every lease in the volume was also one of the larger landholders in the district those leases described.

The Bagley family later held town ground as well. Richard Bagley was the first tenant under Jamestown lease 130, and John Bagley held lease 122 and renewed country lease 99.

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have and to hold the said hereby demised parcel of Land with

the appurtenances and every part and parcel thereof, unto him the said

William Seale his Heirs, Executors, Administrators, and 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 he the said

William Seale, his Heirs or allowed Assigns do always bear true faith

and Allegiance to our Sovereign Lord King George the Third his Heirs

and Successors, and true faith to them the said Honoble Company, and

their Successors, and shall duly Obey all the Laws and Constitutions

of the said Island, Yielding and paying therefore Yearly and every

Year during the said term and time of twenty one Years unto the said

Honorable Company their Successors, Agents, or Assigns, the Rent

of five shillings P Acre, in, at, or upon the Feast of St. Michael

the Arch Angel Yearly, And upon Condition that he the said

William Seale 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 not nor

shall sell or dispose of this Lease, or his, or their Interest therein

without the leave and consent of the Governor and Council for the time

being In Witness whereof we the said Governor and Council have to

the other part set our hands, and affixed the Honoble Company's Seal

this 15 Day of December in the seventh Year of the Reign of our said

Sovereign Lord George the third, by the grace of God of great Britain

France, and Ireland, King defender of the faith and so forth, and in the

Year of our Lord 1766 and he the said William Seale hath hereunto set his

Hand, and Seal the day and Year abovewritten

Willm. Seale

Witness

[...] Bazett

Island St. Helena

The Lords Proprietors of this Island

[...]

William Seale senior was to hold the 13½ acres in Deep Valley, with everything belonging to them, for 21 years from the date of the lease. The term covered him and anyone who took the ground after him by inheritance or approved transfer.

The lease set out the following conditions. Seale and his successors had to remain loyal to King George III and faithful to the Company, and had to obey the laws and regulations of the island. They paid the Company a rent of 5s 0d an acre each year, due on the feast of St Michael the Archangel. They had to keep the fences of the land in good repair and maintain the full quantity of wood on it. They could not sell or part with the lease or any interest in it without the permission of the Governor and Council of the day.

The Governor and Council signed one copy and fixed the Company's seal to it on 15 December 1766, in the seventh year of the reign of George III. William Seale signed and sealed the other copy on the same day, and [...] Bazett signed as witness.

A further lease, made at St Helena, followed, in which the Company, as proprietor of the island, [...].

Interpretations

Seale's two leases were sealed on the same day, 15 December 1766, and both charged 5s 0d an acre. One piece bordered the Company's waste and the other lay enclosed among occupied farms, yet the rent was identical. Matthew Purling's two leases of 2 September 1766 were likewise sealed together but at 1s 0d and 5s 0d an acre. The comparison showed that separate leases on one day did not in themselves signal different terms. Seale, a planter, paid the standard rate on everything he took, and the reduced rate remained particular to Purling's waste-edge ground.

Three leases were sealed within a week in December 1766, Seale's two on 15 December and William Worrall's on 22 December. The Council was evidently settling a group of applications for country land together at the end of the year.

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36

the Honorable the United Company of Merchants of England

trading to the East Indies, Do hereby, Demise, Grant Lease

and to Farm Let unto William Wrangham Gentlemen, All

that piece, or parcel of Land, containing three Acres, situate lying

and being in Sarahs Valley, butting and bounding, East, West

and North, upon the Honorable Companys Waste Land, and

South upon the said William Wrangham's own Land, To have

and to hold the said hereby Demised parcel of Land, with the

appurtenances and every part, and parcel thereof, unto him the

said William Wrangham, his Heirs, Executors, Administrators and

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 he the said William Wrangham, his

Heirs or Allowed Assigns, do always bear true faith and

Allegiance to our Sovereign Lord King George the Third, his

Heirs and Successors, and true faith to them the said Honorable

Company and their Successors, and shall duly Obey all the

Laws, and Constitutions of the said Island, Yielding and

paying therefore Yearly and every Year, during the said term and

time of twenty one Years, unto the said Honorable Company their

Successors, Agents, or Assigns, the Rent of one Shilling and

Sixpence P Acre, in, at, or upon the Feast of St. Michael the Arch

Angel Yearly, And upon Condition, that he the said William

Wrangham 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

not, nor shall sell or dispose of this Lease, or his, or their Interest

therein without the Leave and Consent of the Governor and Council

for the time being, In Witness whereof, we the said Governor and

Council, have to the other part set our Hands, and Affixed the

Honoble Companys Seal this 23d day of December, in the seventh Year

of the Reign of our said Sovereign Lord George the Third, by the

grace of God of great Britain, France and Ireland, King defender

of the faith and so forth, and in the Year of our Lord 1766 and he the

said William Wrangham hath hereunto set his Hand and Seal

the Day and Year abovewritten

Wm. Wrangham

Witness

[...] Bazett

The Company let three acres of land in Sarah's Valley to William Wrangham, a gentleman. The ground was bounded on the east, west and north by the Company's waste land and on the south by Wrangham's own land.

Wrangham was to hold the ground, with everything belonging to it, for 21 years from the date of the lease. The term covered him and anyone who took the ground after him by inheritance or approved transfer.

The lease set out the following conditions. Wrangham and his successors had to remain loyal to King George III and faithful to the Company, and had to obey the laws and regulations of the island. They paid the Company a rent of 1s 6d an acre each year, due on the feast of St Michael the Archangel. They had to keep the fences of the land in good repair and maintain the full quantity of wood on it. They could not sell or part with the lease or any interest in it without the permission of the Governor and Council of the day.

The Governor and Council signed one copy and fixed the Company's seal to it on 2[...] December 1766, in the seventh year of the reign of George III. William Wrangham signed and sealed the other copy on the same day, and [...] Bazett signed as witness.

Interpretations

Wrangham's rent of 1s 6d an acre was the second lowest among the leases of 1766, after the 1s 0d charged to Matthew Purling Esquire on 2 September 1766. His three acres had waste land on three sides, so the ground jutted out into unoccupied country and touched settled land only along his own boundary. Purling's cheap three acres were of the same size and also bordered the waste. The two Worralls and William Seale, by contrast, paid 5s 0d an acre in the same weeks for ground that met the waste on one side only. The reduced rates thus went to small pieces pushed furthest into the waste, and in both cases to men of rank, one an Esquire and the other a gentleman. The record did not show which of those two features weighed with the Council, but no planter received such a rate.

A rent of 1s 6d an acre reappeared on the later country pages, charged to Gabriel Doveton Esquire on 31½ acres under lease 259 of 1814. The rate set for marginal ground in 1766 was therefore still in use nearly 50 years later.

The Wrangham family also held ground in the town. Jamestown lease 114, dated 1738, was first granted to a Wrangham for a term of lives, and Elizabeth Wrangham took lease 153 in 1810.

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Island St. Helena

The Lords Proprietors of this Island the

Honble the United Compy of Merchants of England trading to the

East Indies do hereby Demise, Grant, Lease, and to farm Let

unto John Price Jailer All that piece or parcel of Ground

Situate lying and being in James's Valley containing eighty

feet in front, and fifty two feet in depth, butting and bounding

North, East, and West, upon the Honble Compys. Waste Ground &

South upon the House of Jeremiah Smith Taylor, To have

and to hold the said hereby, Demised parcel of Ground with

the appurtenances and every part and parcel thereof, unto him

the said John Price, his Heirs, Executors, Administrators &

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 he the Sd. John Price, his

Heirs or allowed Assigns do always bear true faith and

Allegiance to our Sovereign Lord King George the third his

Heirs and Successors, and true faith to them the said Honble

Compy. and their Successors, and shall duly obey all the

Laws and Constitutions of the said Island Yielding and

paying therefore Yearly, and every Year, during the said

term and time of twenty one Years, unto the said Honble

Company their Successors, Agents or Assigns the Rent of

twenty Shillings P Annum, in, at, or upon the Feast of St.

Michael the Arch Angel Yearly And upon condition tha[...]

he the said John Price his Heirs, Executors, Administrat[...]

or Assigns do and shall well and sufficiently keep in good

repair all such Walls and buildings that are, or may hereaf[...]

be built or erected upon the said Ground, or, any part

thereof, and do not, nor shall sell or dispose of this Lease or

his, or their Interest therein, without the Leave and Consent

of the Governor and Council for the time being In Witness

whereof we the said Governor and Council have to the other

part set our hands, and affixed the Honble Companys Seal

this 22d day of decemr. in the seventh Year of the reign of our said

Sovereign Lord George the third by the grace of God of Great

Britain France and Ireland King defender of the Faith

and

The Company let a plot of ground in James's Valley to John Price, the jailer. The plot measured 80 feet across the front and 52 feet in depth. It was bounded on the north, east and west by the Company's waste ground and on the south by the house of Jeremiah Smith, a tailor.

Price was to hold the ground, with everything belonging to it, for 21 years from the date of the lease. The term covered him and anyone who took the ground after him by inheritance or approved transfer.

The lease set out the following conditions. Price and his successors had to remain loyal to King George III and faithful to the Company, and had to obey the laws and regulations of the island. They paid the Company a rent of £1 0s 0d a year, due on the feast of St Michael the Archangel. They had to keep in good repair every wall and building standing on the ground or put up there later. They could not sell or part with the lease or any interest in it without the permission of the Governor and Council of the day.

The Governor and Council signed one copy and fixed the Company's seal to it on 22 December 1766, in the seventh year of the reign of George III.

Interpretations

A rent of £1 0s 0d on 80 feet of frontage came to exactly 3d a foot. That was the rate found throughout the later Jamestown register, on the plots cut from Thomas Yates's 460 feet in 1794 and on James Williams's ground in 1801. The charge of 3d a foot of frontage was therefore already the Company's standard for town ground in 1766 and stood unchanged for at least 60 years. The depth of 52 feet was recorded but played no part in the rent, which explained why the later register gave frontage alone for nearly every plot.

The town lease differed from the country leases of the same weeks in two respects. The rent was a fixed yearly sum instead of a rate per acre, and the clause on fences and wood gave way to a duty to repair walls and buildings. Julio Fabiano's lease of 2 December 1765 carried the same repair clause and a rent of £0 15s 0d, which at 3d a foot pointed to a plot of 60 feet. The Company thus kept two standard forms, one for building ground in the valley and one for farmland.

Price's plot had waste ground on three sides and a tailor's house on the fourth. Jamestown in 1766 therefore still had open, ungranted ground within the valley, and the town was growing plot by plot outward from existing houses.

The tenant was the jailer and his neighbour a tailor. Town plots went to the Company's minor officers and to tradesmen, while the country leases went to planters and to men styled gentleman or Esquire.

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and so forth, and in the Year of our Lord 1766 and he the

said John Price hath hereunto [...] set his Hand

and Seal the Day and Year, abovewritten

The X Mark

of

John Price

Witness

[...] Bazett

Island St. 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,

and to Farm Let unto James Goudy Shopkeeper, all that piece or

parcel of Ground situate, lying, and being, in James's Valley

adjoining every way to the Honoble Company's Waste Land,

Containing forty feet in Front, and fifty feet in Depth, To have

and to hold the said hereby Demised parcel of Ground, with

the appurtenances, and every part and parcel thereof unto him the

said James Goudy his Heirs, Executors, Administrators, and 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 he the said James Goudy, his Heirs, Executors, Administrators

and Assigns, Do and shall bear true Faith, and Allegiance to

our Sovereign Lord King George the Third, his Heirs and Successors

and true Faith to them the said Honoble Company, and their

Successors, and shall duly Obey all the Laws and Constitutions

of the said Island, Yielding and paying therefore Yearly and

every Year, during the said term and time of twenty one Years unto

the said Honoble Company, their Successors, Agents, or Assigns

the Sum of ten Shillings P Annum, in, at, or upon, the Feast

of St. Michael the Arch Angel Yearly, And upon Condition

that he the said James Goudy, his Heirs Executors, Administratrs.

and

John Price completed his lease in 1766 by making his mark in place of a signature and fixing his seal, and [...] Bazett signed as witness.

A new lease, made at St Helena, followed. The Company let a plot of ground in James's Valley to James Goudy, a shopkeeper. The plot measured 40 feet across the front and 50 feet in depth, and the Company's waste land adjoined it on every side.

Goudy was to hold the ground, with everything belonging to it, for 21 years from the date of the lease. The term covered him and anyone who took the ground after him by inheritance or approved transfer.

Goudy and his successors had to remain loyal to King George III and faithful to the Company, and had to obey the laws and regulations of the island. They paid the Company a rent of £0 10s 0d a year, due on the feast of St Michael the Archangel.

Interpretations

John Price signed with a mark, a cross made by someone who could not write his name, with the clerk writing the name beside it. The jailer was therefore unable to write, yet he held a Company post and took a lease of 80 feet of town frontage in his own right. A mark made before a witness bound the tenant as fully as a signature, so the lease lost nothing in force.

Goudy's rent of £0 10s 0d on 40 feet of frontage again came to 3d a foot, the same rate as Price's £1 0s 0d on 80 feet under the lease of 22 December 1766. Two town leases entered together thus confirmed the charge as a fixed rate applied by measurement, with depth disregarded.

Goudy's plot touched no other holding. Waste land lay on all four sides, so the ground was marked out in open country within the valley and stood apart from existing houses. Price's plot at least adjoined a tailor's house on the south. The Company was therefore willing to grant building ground wherever a tenant asked for it in the valley, without requiring new plots to continue an existing street.

The tenant was a shopkeeper, which added a retail trader to the jailer and the tailor already named as occupiers of town ground.

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39

and Assigns, do, and shall well and sufficiently keep in good repair, all

such Houses, and Buildings, that are or may be hereafter Built, or

Erected, upon the said Ground, or any part thereof, and do not, nor shall

sell, or dispose of this Lease, or his or their Interest therein without

the leave and consent of the Governor and Council for the time being,

In Witness whereof we the said Governor and Council have to the

other part set our hands and Affixed the Honoble Company's Seal

this, 12 day of January in the seventh Year of the Reign of our

Sovereign Lord George the Third, by the grace of God, of great

Britain, France and Ireland, King Defender of the Faith and so

forth, and in the Year of our Lord 1767, and he the said James

Goudy, hath hereunto, set his Hand and Seal the day and Year

abovewritten

James Goudy

Witness

[...] Bazett

Island St. 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, and to Farm, Let

unto George Bird Joiner all that piece or parcel of Ground situate lying

and being in James's Valley, adjoining every way to the Honorable

Company's Waste Land, containing in Front sixty Feet, and in depth

fifty five feet, To have and to hold the said hereby Demised parcel

of Ground with the appurtenances, and every part and parcel thereof,

unto him the said George Bird, his Heirs, Executors, Administrators

and 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 he the said George Bird his Heirs, Executors,

Administrators and Assigns do and shall bear true Faith and

Allegiance to our Sovereign Lord King George the Third, his Heirs

and Successors, and true faith to them the said Honorable Company

and

James Goudy and his successors had to keep in good repair every house and building standing on the ground or put up there later. They could not sell or part with the lease or any interest in it without the permission of the Governor and Council of the day. The Governor and Council signed one copy and fixed the Company's seal to it on 12 January 1767, in the seventh year of the reign of George III. James Goudy signed and sealed the other copy on the same day, and [...] Bazett signed as witness.

A new lease, made at St Helena, followed. The Company let a plot of ground in James's Valley to George Bird, a joiner. The plot measured 60 feet across the front and 55 feet in depth, and the Company's waste land adjoined it on every side.

Bird was to hold the ground, with everything belonging to it, for 21 years from the date of the lease. The term covered him and anyone who took the ground after him by inheritance or approved transfer. Bird and his successors had to remain loyal to King George III and faithful to the Company.

Interpretations

Bird's plot was the second in succession to stand wholly within the Company's waste land, after Goudy's 40 feet under the lease of 12 January 1767. Neither lease named a street, a neighbour or any landmark, so the ground was identified only by its measurements and by lying in the valley. A plot described in that way could not be located again from the lease alone. The clause in Julio Fabiano's lease of 2 December 1765 forbidding any change to the fences, as the boundary marks of the ground, met that difficulty, since the fence on the spot was the only lasting evidence of where an isolated plot lay.

The three town tenants entered together were a jailer, a shopkeeper and a joiner, with a tailor as a neighbour. Building ground in the valley was thus being taken up in the winter of 1766 to 1767 by working tradesmen, each on a plot of 40 to 80 feet.

Goudy signed his own name, where John Price, the jailer, made a mark on the lease of 22 December 1766. The shopkeeper could write and the Company's jailer could not.

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and their Successors, and shall duly Obey all the Laws and Constitutions

of the said Island Yielding and paying therefore Yearly, and every

Year during the term and time of twenty one Years unto the said Honoble

Company their Successors, Agents, or Assigns the Sum of fifteen

Shillings P Annum in, at, or upon the feast of St. Michael the Arch

Angel Yearly, And upon condition that he the said George Bird

his Heirs, Executors, Administrators and Assigns do and shall well

and sufficiently keep in good repair all such Houses and

Buildings that are or may be hereafter Built, or Erected upon

the said Ground or any part thereof, and do not, nor shall sell or

dispose of this Lease, or his or their Interest therein without the Leave

and Consent of the Governor and Council for the time being, In

Witness whereof We the said Governor and Council have to the other

part set our hands and Affixed the Honoble Company's Seal this

12 Day of January in the seventh Year of the Reign of our

Sovereign Lord George the Third by the grace of God of great Britain,

France, and Ireland King Defender of the faith and so forth, and

in the Year of our Lord 1767 and he the said George Bird hath

hereunto set his Hand and Seal the day and Year abovewritten

George Bird

Witness

[...] Bazett

Island St. 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, and to

Farm, Let unto Ruth Colgrave Executrix, and George Alexander

Executor, to the last Will and Testament of Thos Colgrave

Deceased All those two pieces, or parcels of Land, containing in

both parcels fifteen Acres, situate lying and being at, or near the head

of Deep Valley, in the East Division of the said Island, thirteen

Acres of which butting and bounding South upon the Honoble

Companys

George Bird and his successors had to obey the laws and regulations of the island. They paid the Company a rent of £0 15s 0d a year for the 21 years of the term, due on the feast of St Michael the Archangel. They had to keep in good repair every house and building standing on the ground or put up there later. They could not sell or part with the lease or any interest in it without the permission of the Governor and Council of the day.

The Governor and Council signed one copy and fixed the Company's seal to it on 12 January 1767, in the seventh year of the reign of George III. George Bird signed and sealed the other copy on the same day, and [...] Bazett signed as witness.

A new lease, made at St Helena, followed. The Company let two pieces of land to Ruth Colgrave and George Alexander, the executrix and executor of the will of Thomas Colgrave, who had died. The two pieces together contained 15 acres and lay at or near the head of Deep Valley in the East Division. Thirteen of those acres were bounded on the south by land of the Company.

Interpretations

The Colgrave lease was granted to a dead man's executors in that capacity. They took the ground on behalf of his estate and not for themselves, so the land stood to pass to whoever was entitled under his will. The Company was therefore prepared to make a fresh grant to an estate still being settled, which kept a farm in the family through the gap between a tenant's death and the division of his property. The holdings in the names of the Doveton, Burnham and Desfountain orphans in the leases of 1766 probably arose in the same way.

Bird's rent of £0 15s 0d on 60 feet of frontage came to 3d a foot, in line with Goudy's £0 10s 0d on 40 feet and Price's £1 0s 0d on 80 feet. Julio Fabiano also paid £0 15s 0d under his lease of 2 December 1765. All four town leases in the volume thus fitted the same rate.

Goudy's and Bird's leases were both sealed on 12 January 1767 for plots surrounded by waste. Two tradesmen taking open ground in the valley on the same day suggested that the Council had approved a group of applications for building plots together, as it did for country land in December 1766.

The lease placed Deep Valley in the East Division, the district that also contained the ground let to Greentree, Purling and John Worrall. William Seale senior's two leases of 15 December 1766 lay in the same valley.

A George W. Alexander later held 10½ acres under country lease 303, so the executor's family remained among the Company's tenants.

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41

Companys Waste Land, East, West and North upon the Land belonging to

the Orphans of the said Thomas Colgrave, the other two Acres butting and

bounding East, North & South, upon the Honoble Company's Waste Land

and West upon the aforesaid Orphans Land, To have and to hold

the said hereby parcels of Land, with the appurtenances and every part

and parcel thereof, unto the said Ruth Colgrave, and George Alexander

their Heirs Executrs. Administrs. or Assigns, In trust nevertheless, and

to the Use of the Children of the said Thos. Colgrave Deceased, 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 they the said

Children of the said Thomas Colgrave, their Heirs Executors, Administrs.

and Assigns, do and shall bear true faith and Allegiance to our

Sovereign Lord King George the Third, his Heirs and Successors, and true

faith to them the said Honoble Company, and their Successors, and shall

duly Obey all the Laws and Constitutions of the said Island, Yielding

and paying therefore Yearly and every Year, during the said term and time of

twenty one Years, unto the said Honoble Company, their Successors, Agents

or Assigns, the Rent of five shillings P Acr. in, at or upon, the Feast of

St. Michael the Arch Angel Yearly, And upon condition, that they the said

Ruth Colgrave, and George Alexander, their Heirs Executrs. Administrs. or

Assigns, do and shall well and sufficiently keep up and maintain the

Fences to the said Lands, and the full quantity of Wood thereon, and do not,

nor shall sell or dispose of this Lease, or their Interest therein, without the

Leave and Consent of the Governor, and Council for the time being, In

Witness whereof we the said Governor and Council, have to the other part

set our hands and Affixed the Honoble Company's Seal 16th day of

February in the seventh Year of the Reign of our said Sovereign

Lord George the Third by the grace of God of Great Britain, France and

Ireland, King Defender of the faith and so forth, and in the Year of our

Lord 1767 and they the said Ruth Colgrave, and George Alexander,

hath hereunto set their Hands, and Seals, the day and Year

abovewritten

Geo. Alexander Executor

Witness

[...] Bazett

The 13 acres let to Ruth Colgrave and George Alexander were bounded on the south by the Company's waste land and on the east, west and north by land belonging to the orphans of Thomas Colgrave. The other two acres were bounded on the east, north and south by the Company's waste land and on the west by the orphans' land.

Ruth Colgrave and George Alexander were to hold both pieces for 21 years from the date of the lease, but only as trustees. The ground was held for the benefit of the children of Thomas Colgrave.

The lease divided its conditions between the children and the trustees. The children and their successors had to remain loyal to King George III and faithful to the Company, and had to obey the laws and regulations of the island. A rent of 5s 0d an acre was payable to the Company each year on the feast of St Michael the Archangel. Ruth Colgrave and George Alexander had to keep the fences of the land in good repair and maintain the full quantity of wood on it. They could not sell or part with the lease or any interest in it without the permission of the Governor and Council of the day.

The Governor and Council signed one copy and fixed the Company's seal to it on 16 February 1767, in the seventh year of the reign of George III. The other copy was to be signed and sealed by both trustees on the same day. George Alexander signed it as executor, and [...] Bazett signed as witness.

Interpretations

The lease created a trust, an arrangement in which one person held the legal title to property while another was entitled to its benefit. Ruth Colgrave and George Alexander were named as tenants, yet every advantage of the land belonged to Thomas Colgrave's children. The obvious course was to grant the ground to the executors outright, as the opening of the lease appeared to do. The Council instead wrote the children's interest into the lease itself. The executors could not then treat the 15 acres as their own or leave them to anyone else, and the Company had on record whom the land was really for.

The conditions were split to match. Loyalty and obedience were laid on the children, who were the true holders and would occupy the land as adults. Upkeep of the fences and wood, and the ban on selling, were laid on the trustees, who had control of the ground in the meantime. Each duty therefore fell on whoever was in a position to perform it.

The orphans already held the land surrounding the 13 acres on three sides. The new grant enlarged an estate that stood in the children's names, taking in ground from the waste on their behalf while they were still under age. A dead tenant's farm was thus not merely preserved for his heirs but extended.

Both trustees were named as signing, but only George Alexander's signature appeared on the copy. The executor acted for the pair, and the Council accepted the lease on his signature.

The rent was the full 5s 0d an acre although both pieces bordered the waste. The orphans' estate received no concession, in keeping with the rates charged to the Worralls and William Seale in December 1766.

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Island St. 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, and to Farm, Let unto James

Greentree Planter, All that piece or parcel of Land, containing thirty seven

Acres situate lying and being in Sandy Bay, butting and bounding South

upon the Land of John Swaits Orphans, West upon the Land of Elizabeth

Greentree Widow, North upon Coles Rock and East upon the Land of

John Worralls Orphans, To have and to hold the said hereby

Demised parcel of Land, with the appurtenances, and every part and

parcel thereof, unto him the said James Greentree, his Heirs, Executors

Administrators and 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 he the said James Greentree, his Heirs or

allowed Assigns, do always bear true faith and Allegiance to our Sovereign

Lord King George the Third, his Heirs and Successors, and true faith to

them the said Honoble Company and their Successors, and shall duly Obey

all the Laws, and Constitutions of the said Island, Yielding and paying

therefore Yearly and every Year, during the said term and time of twenty one

Years, unto the said Honoble Company, their Successors, Agents, or,

Assigns, the Rent of five shillings P Acre, in, at, or upon the Feast

of St. Michael the Arch Angel Yearly, And upon Condition that he the

said James Greentree, his Heirs, Executors, Administrs. 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 not

nor shall sell, or dispose of this Lease, or his, or their Interest therein

without the leave and Consent of the Governor and Council for the time

being, In Witness whereof We the said Governor and Council have to

the other part set our Hands and affixed the Honoble Companys Seal this

16th. day of February in the seventh Year of the Reign of our said Sovereign

Lord George the Third, by the grace of God of Great Britain, France and

Ireland, King Defender of the faith, and so forth, and in the Year of our

Lord 1767. and he the said James Greentree hath hereunto, set his hand, and

Seal the day and Year abovewritten

James Greentree

Witness

[...] Bazett

The Company let 37 acres of land in Sandy Bay to James Greentree, a planter. The ground was bounded on the south by the land of the orphans of John [...], on the west by the land of Elizabeth Greentree, a widow, on the north by Coles Rock and on the east by the land of the orphans of John Worrall.

Greentree was to hold the ground, with everything belonging to it, for 21 years from the date of the lease. The term covered him and anyone who took the ground after him by inheritance or approved transfer.

The lease set out the following conditions. Greentree and his successors had to remain loyal to King George III and faithful to the Company, and had to obey the laws and regulations of the island. They paid the Company a rent of 5s 0d an acre each year, due on the feast of St Michael the Archangel. They had to keep the fences of the land in good repair and maintain the full quantity of wood on it. They could not sell or part with the lease or any interest in it without the permission of the Governor and Council of the day.

The Governor and Council signed one copy and fixed the Company's seal to it on 16 February 1767, in the seventh year of the reign of George III. James Greentree signed and sealed the other copy on the same day, and [...] Bazett signed as witness.

Interpretations

Greentree's 37 acres made the largest single grant among the leases of 1766 and 1767, more than twice the 16¾ acres let to William Worrall. Unlike nearly every other country lease in the volume, the ground touched no waste land. Occupied holdings lay on three sides and a natural feature, Coles Rock, on the fourth. So large a block could not have lain ungranted in the middle of settled farms. The lease was therefore probably a fresh grant of land already farmed, made to a new holder or on the expiry of an earlier term, and not an advance into unoccupied country.

A rock served as the northern boundary where the other leases named a neighbour or the waste. A fixed natural landmark gave a more lasting line than a fence, and the lease used one where it was available.

Three of the four boundaries belonged to a widow or to orphans. Elizabeth Greentree, on the west, shared the tenant's surname, so James Greentree was farming beside a kinswoman, perhaps his mother or a brother's widow. Thomas Greentree took the farm called Taylors in the East Division in August 1766, which placed the family in two separate parts of the island.

The orphans of a John Worrall held the land on the east. A John Worrall, planter, took 16¼ acres in the East Division in November 1766. The two were perhaps different men of the same name, since the lease of three months earlier was made to a living tenant.

This lease and the Colgrave trust lease were both sealed on 16 February 1767. The Council again dealt with country grants in a group, as it did in December 1766.

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Island St. Helena

The Lords Proprietors of this

Island, the Honorable the United Company of Merchants of England

trading to the East Indies Do hereby Demise, Grant, Lease, and to Farm

Let, unto Matthew Bazett of the said Island Secretary; All that piece or

parcel of Ground situate lying and being in James's Valley, butting and bounding

North upon the Yard of Richard Beale Senr. South upon the Yard of John

Pritchard, and the said Matthew Bazetts Stable, West upon the Yard of him

the said, Matthew Bazett, and East upon the Honoble Company's Waste

Ground, containing in breadth, next to the said Matthew Bazett, sixty six

feet, or thereabouts, in Depth, next to the said Richard Beale eighty one

feet or thereabouts, in Depth next to the said John Pritchard, sixty feet or

thereabouts, and backwards, next to the Honorable Company, seventy one

feet, or thereabouts, together with all and singular, the appurtenances

thereunto belonging, To have and to hold the said hereby Demised piece, or

parcel of Ground, and premises, with their, and every of their appurtenances, unto him

the said Matthew Bazett, his Heirs, Executors, Administrators, and 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 he the said, Matthew

Bazett, his Heirs, or allowed Assigns, do always bear true Faith, and Allegiance,

to our Sovereign Lord King George the Third, his Heirs, and Successors and true

faith to them the said Honoble Company and their Successors, and shall duly

obey all the Laws and Constitutions of the said Island, Yielding and paying

therefore Yearly and every Year, during the said Term and time of twenty one Years

unto the said Honoble Company, their Successors, Agents, or Assigns, the Rent of

ten shillings P Annum, in, at or upon the Feast of St. Michael the Arch Angel

Yearly, And upon condition, that he the said Matthew Bazett, his Heirs,

Executors, Administrators, or Assigns, do, and shall well, and sufficiently,

keep in good repair, all such Houses, or Buildings, that are, or may be hereafter

built, or erected, upon the said Ground, or any part thereof, and do not, nor

shall sell, or dispose of this Lease, or his or their Interest therein, without the

leave and Consent of the Governor and Council for the time being In Witness

whereof We the said Governor and Council have to the other Part set our Hands

and Affixed the Honoble Company's Seal this 16 Day of February in the

seventh Year of the Reign of our said Sovereign Lord George the Third, by the

grace

The Company let a plot of ground in James's Valley to Matthew Bazett, the Secretary of the island. The plot was bounded on the north by the yard of Richard Beale senior, on the south by the yard of John Pritchard and by Bazett's own stable, on the west by Bazett's own yard and on the east by the Company's waste ground. It measured about 66 feet across where it met Bazett's yard and about 71 feet across at the back, where it met the Company's ground. The depth was about 81 feet along Beale's side and about 60 feet along Pritchard's side.

Bazett was to hold the ground, with everything belonging to it, for 21 years from the date of the lease. The term covered him and anyone who took the ground after him by inheritance or approved transfer.

The lease set out the following conditions. Bazett and his successors had to remain loyal to King George III and faithful to the Company, and had to obey the laws and regulations of the island. They paid the Company a rent of £0 10s 0d a year, due on the feast of St Michael the Archangel. They had to keep in good repair every house and building standing on the ground or put up there later. They could not sell or part with the lease or any interest in it without the permission of the Governor and Council of the day.

The Governor and Council signed one copy and fixed the Company's seal to it on 16 February 1767, in the seventh year of the reign of George III.

Interpretations

The lease named Bazett's office. He was the Secretary of the island, the officer who kept the Council's records and prepared its documents. That explained his signature as witness on nearly every lease in the volume since Julio Fabiano's of 2 December 1765. The man who drew up and witnessed the Company's grants was also receiving them, in the town here and in the country under his lease of 10 February 1766.

Bazett paid £0 10s 0d for a plot about 66 feet wide. At the 3d a foot charged to Price, Goudy and Bird in the preceding weeks, that width called for £0 16s 6d. Goudy paid the same £0 10s 0d for only 40 feet. The ground differed from theirs in one respect, since it lay behind Bazett's existing yard and stable and reached the open valley only at the back. It was an extension of his premises with no frontage of its own, which gave a reason for charging less. The reduction nonetheless went to the Company's own Secretary, and the lease gave no explanation for it.

The plot was measured on all four sides because it was not square. Each dimension was qualified as approximate, and each was tied to the neighbour along that side. The earlier town leases gave only a front and a depth for plots standing alone in the waste. Ground fitted in among existing yards needed a fuller description to fix its shape.

The neighbours showed a part of the valley already built up, with yards belonging to Richard Beale senior and John Pritchard and a stable of Bazett's own. Both surnames recurred among later tenants, Anthony Beale under country lease 279 and James Pritchard as first holder of Jamestown lease 135.

Three leases were sealed on 16 February 1767, this one together with the Colgrave trust lease and James Greentree's 37 acres at Sandy Bay.

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grace of God of great Britain, France and Ireland, King Defender of the

Faith and so forth, and in the Year of our Lord 1767, and he the said Matthew

Bazett, hath hereunto set his Hand, and Seal, the day and Year abovewritten

M Bazett

Witness

[...] Alexr. Wright

71 feet

81 feet

60 feet

66 feet adjoining to ye Yard of M Bazett

Island St. Helena

The Lords Proprietors of this Island

the Honorable the United Company of Merchants of England

trading to the East Indies, Do hereby Demise, Grant, Lease and

to Farm Let unto Isaac Doveton Planter All that piece or parcel

of Land, containing seven Acs. and an half, situate lying and

being in the East Division of this Island, butting and bounding,

East upon the Land of Matthew Purling Esqr, West, North and

South upon the said Isaac Dovetons own Land, To have

and to hold the said hereby Demised parcel of Land, with

the appurtenances, and every part and parcel thereof, unto him the

said Isaac Doveton, his Heirs Executors, Administrators and

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

Matthew Bazett signed and sealed his copy of the lease in 1767, and [...] Alexander Wright signed as witness. A plan of the plot was drawn beneath the signatures, showing a four-sided figure with the following measurements.

Side adjoining the yard of Mr Bazett, 66 feet

Side opposite, 71 feet

Longer side, 81 feet

Shorter side, 60 feet

A new lease, made at St Helena, followed. The Company let seven and a half acres of land in the East Division to Isaac Doveton, a planter. The ground was bounded on the east by the land of Matthew Purling Esquire and on the west, north and south by Doveton's own land.

Doveton was to hold the ground, with everything belonging to it, for 21 years from the date of the lease. The term covered him and anyone who took the ground after him by inheritance or approved transfer.

Interpretations

Bazett could not witness a lease to which he was himself a party, so Alexander Wright signed in his place. Wright also witnessed Bazett's country lease of 10 February 1766. On every other lease in the volume the witness was Bazett, apart from John Goodwin on Thomas Greentree's lease of August 1766. The Secretary thus stepped aside only when he was the tenant, and the rule that a party could not attest his own deed was observed even though he prepared the document.

The plan was the only drawing among the leases so far. Plots standing alone in the waste were described by a front and a depth, and country ground by its neighbours. A four-sided plot with no two sides equal, wedged between existing yards, could not be fixed in words alone, and the sketch recorded its shape for anyone later needing to settle the boundary. The figures on the plan matched those in the text of the lease of 16 February 1767.

Doveton's seven and a half acres mirrored the cabbage tree land let to Matthew Purling on 2 September 1766. That piece was also of seven and a half acres, with Isaac Doveton on its west and Purling's own land on the other three sides. Doveton's piece had Purling on its east and his own land on the other three. Two pieces of identical size thus lay on either side of the boundary between the two estates, each granted to the man whose land enclosed it. The Council appeared to have divided a strip of ungranted ground between the neighbours in equal shares, settling the line between them by giving each his half under a separate lease.

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upon condition that he the said Isaac Doveton his Heirs or allowed

Assigns, do always bear true faith and Allegiance to our Sovereign Lord

King George the Third his Heirs and Successors, and true faith to them the

said Honoble Compy. and their Successors, and shall duly Obey all the

Laws and Constitutions of the said Island, Yielding and paying therefore

Yearly and every Year during the said term and time of twenty one Years

unto the said Honoble Compy. their Successors, Agents, or Assigns the

rent of five shills. P Acre in, at, or upon the feast of St. Michael the

Arch Angel Yearly, And upon Condition that he the said Isaac

Doveton, his Heirs, Executrs. Adminrs. 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 not, nor shall sell or

dispose of this Lease, or his or their Interest therein without the leave

and Consent of the Governor and Counl. for the time being, In Witness

whereof we the said Governor and Council, have to the other part set our

Hands and thereon Affixed the Honoble Compys. Seal this 2 day of March

in the seventh Year of the Reign of our said Sovereign Lord George the

Third by the Grace of God of great Britain France and Ireland

King Defender of the faith and so forth, and in the Year of our Lord

1767, and he the said Isaac Doveton, hath hereunto set his hand

and Seal the day and Year abovewritten

Isaac Doveton

Witness

[...] Bazett

Island St. Helena

The Lords Proprietors of this Island the

Honoble. the United Compy. of Merchants of England trading to the East

Indies Do hereby Demise, Grant, Lease and to Farm Let unto John

Robinson Planter, All that piece or parcel of Ground containing sixty

five feet in length, and fifteen feet in breadth, situate, in James's

Valley, and joining to the said John Robinsons House, and the Water

Course, To have and to hold the said hereby Demised parcel of

Ground, with the appurtenances and every part and parcel thereof, unto

him

Isaac Doveton and his successors had to remain loyal to King George III and faithful to the Company, and had to obey the laws and regulations of the island. They paid the Company a rent of 5s 0d an acre each year for the 21 years of the term, due on the feast of St Michael the Archangel. They had to keep the fences of the land in good repair and maintain the full quantity of wood on it. They could not sell or part with the lease or any interest in it without the permission of the Governor and Council of the day.

The Governor and Council signed one copy and fixed the Company's seal to it on 2 March 1767, in the seventh year of the reign of George III. Isaac Doveton signed and sealed the other copy on the same day, and [...] Bazett signed as witness.

A new lease, made at St Helena, followed. The Company let a strip of ground in James's Valley to John Robinson, a planter. The strip measured 65 feet in length and 15 feet in breadth, and adjoined Robinson's house and the watercourse.

Interpretations

Doveton paid 5s 0d an acre for his seven and a half acres, the same rate Matthew Purling paid for the matching seven and a half acres of cabbage tree land on 2 September 1766. The two halves of the ground between their estates were thus granted on identical terms. The leases were sealed six months apart, however, so the division was not completed in a single sitting. Purling took his share first, and Doveton's followed after an interval in which the remaining half presumably lay ungranted beside his land.

Robinson's strip was only 15 feet wide and ran between his house and the watercourse, the stream that flowed down James's Valley and supplied the town. Ground of that shape was of no use as a building plot. It gave Robinson the land between his wall and the water, and with it access to the stream along 65 feet of his property. The Company treated even a narrow margin of that kind as its own to grant, and a householder who wanted it had to take a lease.

Robinson was described as a planter although the ground lay in the town. A man who farmed in the country therefore also kept a house in the valley, in the same way that Bazett held both a country lease and a yard and stable in James's Valley.

A John Robinson later held country lease 31, renewed in book D at page 94, and gave up an unexpired lease when the goodwill was bought from him under the consultation of 15 September 1823. The name thus continued among the Company's tenants for more than 50 years.

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unto him the said John Robinson, his Heirs, Executrs. Administrs.

and 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 he the said John Robinson his Heirs or

allowed Assigns, do always bear true faith and Allegiance to our

Sovereign Lord King George the Third, his Heirs and Successors,

and true faith to them the said Honoble Compy. and their

Successors and shall duly Obey all the Laws & Constitutions of

the said Island, Yielding and paying therefore Yearly, and

every Year during the said term and time of twenty one Years, unto

the said Honoble. Compy. their Successors, Agents or Assigns, the

rent of three shills. P Ann, in, at, or upon the Feast of St. Michael

the Arch Angel Yearly, And upon condition that he the said John

Robinson, his Heirs, Executrs. Administrs. or Assigns, do and shall well

and sufficiently keep up and maintain all such Houses and Buildings

that are or may hereafter be built or Erected upon the said piece of Ground,

or any part thereof, and do not, nor shall sell or dispose of this Lease

or his, or their Interest therein without the leave and Consent of the

Governor and Council for the time being, In Witness whereof we

the said Governor and Counl. have to the other part set our hands, and

Affixed the Honoble Companys Seal this 2d Day of March in the

Seventh Year of the Reign of our said Sovereign Lord George the

Third by the grace of God of Great Britain France and Ireland,

King Defender of the faith and so forth, and in the Year of our

Lord 1767, and he the said John Robinson, hath hereunto set

his Hand and Seal the day and Year abovewritten

John Robinson

Witness

[...] Bazett

Island St. Helena.

The Lords Proprietors of this Island the Honoble

the United Compy. of Merchants of England trading to the East Indies Do

hereby Demise, Grant, Lease and to Farm, Let unto Gabl. Isacke Planter

All that piece or parcel of Land containing eight Acs. Situate lying and

being

John Robinson was to hold the strip of ground, with everything belonging to it, for 21 years from the date of the lease. The term covered him and anyone who took the ground after him by inheritance or approved transfer.

The lease set out the following conditions. Robinson and his successors had to remain loyal to King George III and faithful to the Company, and had to obey the laws and regulations of the island. They paid the Company a rent of £0 3s 0d a year, due on the feast of St Michael the Archangel. They had to keep in good repair every house and building standing on the ground or put up there later. They could not sell or part with the lease or any interest in it without the permission of the Governor and Council of the day.

The Governor and Council signed one copy and fixed the Company's seal to it on 2 March 1767, in the seventh year of the reign of George III. John Robinson signed and sealed the other copy on the same day, and [...] Bazett signed as witness.

A new lease, made at St Helena, followed. The Company let eight acres of land to Gabriel [...], a planter.

Interpretations

Robinson paid £0 3s 0d a year for a strip 65 feet long. At the 3d a foot charged to Price, Goudy and Bird, that length called for £0 16s 3d. The strip was only 15 feet wide and lay between his house and the watercourse, so it offered no room for a separate building and no new frontage. The Council therefore set the rent well below the standard, at under a fifth of the usual charge. Together with Bazett's back plot of 16 February 1767, let at £0 10s 0d for 66 feet, the lease showed that 3d a foot applied to ordinary building plots and that ground of less use was priced by judgement.

The lease still bound Robinson to repair any houses and buildings on the ground, although the strip could hardly hold one. The clause came from the standard town form and was copied in without regard to the shape of the plot. The same habit carried the fences and wood clause into every country lease, whatever grew on the land.

Robinson's lease and Isaac Doveton's were both sealed on 2 March 1767, one for town ground and one for country. The Council dealt with both kinds of grant at the same sitting.

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being in Lemon Valley, butting and bounding North, South, East and West

upon the Honoble Compys. Waste Land, To have and to hold the said

hereby Demised parcel of Land with the appurtenances, and every part and

parcel thereof, unto him the said Gabl. Isacke his Heirs, Executrs. Administrs.

and 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 he the said Gabl. Isacke his Heirs or allowed Assigns, do always

bear true faith and allegiance to our sovereign Lord King George the Third

his Heirs and Successors, and true faith to the said Honoble Compy and

their Successors, and shall duly obey all the Laws and Constitutions

of the said Island, Yielding and paying therefore Yearly and every Year

during the said term and time of twenty one Years, unto the said Honoble

Compy. their Successors, Agents or Assigns the Rent of five shillings P Acr.,

in at or upon the feast of St. Michael the Arch Angel Yearly, And upon

Condition that he the said Gabl. Isacke his Heirs, Executrs. Administrs. 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

not nor shall sell or dispose of this Lease or his or their Interest therein

without the leave and Consent of the Governor and Counl. for the time being

In Witness whereof we the said Governor and Council have to the

other part set our hands and Affixed the Honoble Compys. Seal this 17th

Day of August in the seventh Year of the reign of our said Sovereign

Lord George the Third by the grace of God of great Britain, France

and Ireland, King Defender of the faith and so forth, and in the

Year of our Lord 1767 and he the said Gabl. Isacke hath hereunto

set his Hand, and Seal the Day and Year abovewritten

The X Mark

of

Gabriel Isacke

Witness

[...] Bazett

Island St. 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 and to Farm let

unto Mary Swaits Spinster. All that piece or parcel of Land, containing

four

Gabriel Isaacke's eight acres lay in Lemon Valley, with the Company's waste land on the north, south, east and west.

Isaacke was to hold the ground, with everything belonging to it, for 21 years from the date of the lease. The term covered him and anyone who took the ground after him by inheritance or approved transfer.

The lease set out the following conditions. Isaacke and his successors had to remain loyal to King George III and faithful to the Company, and had to obey the laws and regulations of the island. They paid the Company a rent of 5s 0d an acre each year, due on the feast of St Michael the Archangel. They had to keep the fences of the land in good repair and maintain the full quantity of wood on it. They could not sell or part with the lease or any interest in it without the permission of the Governor and Council of the day.

The Governor and Council signed one copy and fixed the Company's seal to it on 17 August 1767, in the seventh year of the reign of George III. Gabriel Isaacke completed the other copy on the same day by making his mark and fixing his seal, and [...] Bazett signed as witness.

A new lease, made at St Helena, followed. The Company let a piece of land to Mary [...], an unmarried woman.

Interpretations

Isaacke's eight acres stood entirely within the waste, touching no other holding on any side. Every other country lease in the volume adjoined land the tenant or a neighbour already held. This was therefore a new farm started on open ground, and its tenant, who signed with a mark, could not write. He nonetheless paid the full 5s 0d an acre. William Wrangham, a gentleman, paid 1s 6d an acre in December 1766 for three acres with waste on three sides, and Matthew Purling Esquire paid 1s 0d on 2 September 1766. Ground cut wholly out of the waste thus earned no reduction for a planter. The comparison weighed towards the view that the low rates of 1766 followed the standing of the tenant more than the nature of the land.

The lease of a farm with no neighbours raised the same difficulty as the isolated town plots let to Goudy and Bird on 12 January 1767. Nothing in the description fixed where in Lemon Valley the eight acres lay. The duty to keep up the fences therefore carried particular weight, since the enclosure Isaacke made was the only record of his boundary.

The next tenant was an unmarried woman taking land in her own name. Single women and widows could hold the Company's leases directly, as Elizabeth Greentree and Mary Burnham did, whereas a married woman's holding stood in her husband's name, as with Captain Barker and Mary Sprall under Jamestown lease 135.

Five months separated this lease from those of 2 March 1767. Grants of land were evidently made in clusters with long intervals between them, and not as a steady flow.

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four Acs. situate lying and being in the South Division of this Island, and

known by the name of Highams, butting and bounding North, South

East and West every way upon the Honoble Compys. Waste Land, To

have and to hold the said hereby Demised parcel of Land, with

the appurtenances, and every part and parcel thereof, unto her the said

Mary Swaits, her Heirs, Executrs. Administrs. and 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 she the said

Mary Swaits, her Heirs, or allowed Assigns, do always bear true faith

and Allegiance to our Sovereign Lord King George the Third, his Heirs

and Successors and true Faith to them the said Honoble Company

and their Successors, and shall duly obey all the Laws and Constituts.

of the said Island Yielding and paying therefore Yearly and every

Year during the said term and time of twenty one Years unto the said

Honoble Compy. their Successors, Agents or Assigns, the Rent of One

shilling P Acr., in, at or upon the Feast of St. Michael the Arch

Angel Yearly, And upon Condition that she the said Mary

Swaits, her Heirs, Executrs. Administrs. 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 not nor shall sell

or dispose of this Lease or her or their Interest therein without the leave

and Consent of the Governor and Council for the time being, In

Witness whereof we the said Governor and Council have to the other

part set our Hands and Affixed the Honoble Compys. Seal this

30th Day of November in the Eighth Year of the Reign of our said

Sovereign Lord George the third, by the Grace of God of Great Britain

France and Ireland, King Defender of the faith and so forth and

in the Year of our Lord, one thousand seven hundred and sixty seven,

and she the said Mary Swaits, hath hereunto set her hand and

Seal the day and Year abovewritten

James Greentree

for Mary Swaits

Witness

[...] Bazett

Mary Twaits's four acres lay in the South Division and were known as Highams, with the Company's waste land on the north, south, east and west.

Twaits was to hold the ground, with everything belonging to it, for 21 years from the date of the lease. The term covered her and anyone who took the ground after her by inheritance or approved transfer.

The lease set out the following conditions. Twaits and her successors had to remain loyal to King George III and faithful to the Company, and had to obey the laws and regulations of the island. They paid the Company a rent of 1s 0d an acre each year, due on the feast of St Michael the Archangel. They had to keep the fences of the land in good repair and maintain the full quantity of wood on it. They could not sell or part with the lease or any interest in it without the permission of the Governor and Council of the day.

The Governor and Council signed one copy and fixed the Company's seal to it on 30 November 1767, in the eighth year of the reign of George III. James Greentree signed and sealed the other copy on Mary Twaits's behalf, and [...] Bazett signed as witness.

Interpretations

Twaits paid 1s 0d an acre, the lowest rate in the volume and the same as Matthew Purling Esquire paid on 2 September 1766. Her ground, like Gabriel Isaacke's eight acres in Lemon Valley, lay wholly within the waste. Isaacke was charged 5s 0d an acre on 17 August 1767, only three months earlier. Two tenants taking ground of the same description thus paid rents five times apart, and the cheaper went to an unmarried woman of no stated rank. The low rates could not therefore be explained by standing alone, as the leases to Purling and William Wrangham had suggested. The Council evidently weighed each application on its own circumstances, which the leases did not record, and may have favoured a single woman with small means as readily as a gentleman.

The four acres already bore a name, Highams, although no occupied land adjoined them. A named farm in the middle of the waste was probably ground once held and since given up, which had fallen back to the Company. Land that had gone out of cultivation would have been worth less than a working farm, and that offered a second reason for the rent.

James Greentree signed for Twaits, so she did not complete the lease herself. He took 37 acres at Sandy Bay on 16 February 1767, bounded on the south by the land of the orphans of a John whose surname was perhaps the same as hers. Greentree was thus probably acting for a neighbour's daughter, as her guardian or agent, and the grant may have been made to provide for an orphan who had come of age.

The lease placed Highams in the South Division. With the East Division of the earlier leases, that showed the island's country districts named by the points of the compass.

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Island St. Helena

The Lords Proprietors of this Island

the Honorable the United Company of Merchants of England trading to

the East Indies, Do hereby, Demise, Grant, Lease, and to farm Let

unto Michael Frost Lieutenant, All that piece or parcel of Ground

containing sixty feet in Front, and seventy five feet in depth, situate

lying and being in James's Valley, between the Houses of John Jacks

Centinel, and John Legg an Orphan, To have and to hold the

said hereby Demised parcel of Ground, with the appurtenances, and

every part and parcel thereof, unto him the said Michl. Frost, his Heirs,

Executors, Administrs. and 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 he the said Michael Frost his Heirs,

or allowed Assigns, Do always bear true faith and Allegiance, to our

Sovereign Lord King George the Third his Heirs and Successors, and true

Faith to them the said Honoble Compy. and their Successors, and shall

duly Obey all the Laws & Constitutions of the said Island Yielding and

paying therefore Yearly and every Year during the said term and time of twenty

one Years, unto the said Honoble Compy, their Successors, Agents or Assigns

the Rent of fifteen shillings, P Ann, in, at, or upon the feast of St. Michael

the Arch Angel Yearly, And upon Condition, that he the said Michael

Frost, his Heirs, Executrs. Administrs. or Assigns, do, and shall well &

sufficiently, keep up and maintain in good repair, all such Houses and

buildings that are, or may hereafter, be built or erected, upon the said piece

of Ground, or any part thereof, and do not, nor shall sell or dispose of

this Lease, or his, or their Interest therein, without the leave & Consent

of the Governor & Councl. for the time being, In Witness whereof, we

the said Governor and Council hath to the other part set our Hands and

Affixed the Honoble Compys. Seal this 31st Day of August in the

Seventh Year of the Reign of our, Sovereign Lord George the third, by the

grace of God of great Britain, France and Ireland, King defender

of the Faith and so forth & in the Year of our Lord 1767 and he the said

Michael

The Company let a plot of ground in James's Valley to Michael Frost, a lieutenant. The plot measured 60 feet across the front and 75 feet in depth. It lay between the houses of John [...], a sentinel, and John Legg, an orphan.

Frost was to hold the ground, with everything belonging to it, for 21 years from the date of the lease. The term covered him and anyone who took the ground after him by inheritance or approved transfer.

The lease set out the following conditions. Frost and his successors had to remain loyal to King George III and faithful to the Company, and had to obey the laws and regulations of the island. They paid the Company a rent of £0 15s 0d a year, due on the feast of St Michael the Archangel. They had to keep in good repair every house and building standing on the ground or put up there later. They could not sell or part with the lease or any interest in it without the permission of the Governor and Council of the day.

The Governor and Council signed one copy and fixed the Company's seal to it on 31 August 1767, in the seventh year of the reign of George III.

Interpretations

Frost's rent of £0 15s 0d on 60 feet of frontage came to 3d a foot, the rate charged to Price, Goudy and Bird in the winter of 1766 to 1767. George Bird paid the same sum for the same frontage on 12 January 1767, although his plot was 55 feet deep and Frost's 75 feet. The extra depth cost nothing, which confirmed that the Company charged ordinary building ground by frontage alone. An officer received no better and no worse terms than a joiner.

A sentinel was a private soldier of the garrison, the lowest rank. Frost's plot lay between a sentinel's house and an orphan's, so a lieutenant, a common soldier and a child holding a dead parent's property were to be neighbours on one stretch of the valley. Town ground was not divided by rank, and a soldier of the lowest grade could own a house on it.

The plot filled a gap between two existing houses. Goudy's and Bird's plots of 12 January 1767 stood alone in the waste, and Price's had a house on one side only. The valley was thus being built up in two ways at once, by new plots set out on open ground and by the filling of spaces left between older houses.

John Legg held his house as an orphan. A John Legg appeared as tenant of Jamestown lease 119, a lease for a term of lives first granted in 1743 and kept alive by four renewals of nominees to 10 April 1809. The house beside Frost's plot was probably held under that lease, with the child's own life among those named in it.

Frost's lease was sealed on 31 August 1767 but entered after Mary Twaits's of 30 November 1767. The leases were therefore copied into the volume out of order, as with John Worrall's of November 1766.

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Michael Frost, hath hereunto set his Hand and Seal the Day & Year

abovewritten

Michael Frost

Witness hereto

[...] Bazett

Island St. Helena

The Lords Proprietors of this Island the

Honorable, the United Company of Merchants of England trading to

the East Indies, Do hereby Demise, Grant, Lease and to Farm

Let unto Elizabeth Greentree Executrix and Matthew Purling Esqr, James

Greentree, Richard Bagley, William Wrangham, Richard Goodwin

and Henry Bazett Executors to the last Will and Testament of

Thomas Greentree deceased All that piece or parcel of Land containing

twelve Acres and an half, situate lying & being in Sandy Bay butting

& bounding North and West upon the Lands of the said Elizabeth Greentree

South & East upon the aforesaid James Greentree's Land, To have and

to hold the said hereby Demised parcel of Land with the appurtenances

& every part & parcel thereof unto them the said Elizabeth Greentree, Matthew

Purling, James Greentree, Richard Bagley, Willm. Wrangham Richard

Goodwin & Henry Bazett, Executrix & Executors aforesaid, their Heirs

Executors, Administrators and Assigns In trust nevertheless and to the

use of the Heirs of the said Thomas Greentree Deceased 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 they the said Heirs of the

said Thomas Greentree, their Heirs, Executrs. Administrs. & Assigns Do and

shall bear true Faith and Allegiance to our Sovereign Lord King George

the Third, his Heirs & Successors, & true faith to them the said Honoble

Compy. & their Successors, and shall duly Obey all the Laws & Constitu=

tions of the said Island, Yielding & paying therefore Yearly & every

Year unto the said Honoble Company their Successors, Agents or Assigns the

Rent

Michael Frost signed and sealed his copy of the lease of 31 August 1767, and [...] Bazett signed as witness.

A new lease, made at St Helena, followed. The Company let 12½ acres of land in Sandy Bay to the executors of the will of Thomas Greentree, who had died. They were Elizabeth Greentree, the executrix, and Matthew Purling Esquire, James Greentree, Richard Bagley, William Wrangham, Richard Goodwin and Henry Bazett. The ground was bounded on the north and west by the lands of Elizabeth Greentree and on the south and east by James Greentree's land.

The seven executors were to hold the ground for 21 years from the date of the lease, but only as trustees for the heirs of Thomas Greentree. Those heirs and their successors had to remain loyal to King George III and faithful to the Company, and had to obey the laws and regulations of the island. A yearly rent was payable to the Company.

Interpretations

Thomas Greentree took the farm called Taylors in August 1766 and was dead when James Greentree's lease was sealed on 16 February 1767, since Elizabeth Greentree was already described there as a widow. He therefore died within about six months of receiving his own lease. The present grant used the trust form first seen in the Colgrave lease of 16 February 1767, with the executors named as tenants and the benefit reserved to the family. The Council had thus settled on a standard way of granting land to a dead tenant's estate within a year of first using it.

Seven executors was a large number for a planter's will, where the Colgrave estate had two. They included Purling, styled Esquire, Wrangham, a gentleman, and a Bazett who shared the Secretary's surname. Several were tenants under the leases of 1766. Greentree had evidently named a wide circle of the island's leading landholders to oversee his estate, and the Company required all of them to be parties to the lease. A grant to so many trustees made it hard for any one of them to deal with the land alone.

The 12½ acres lay between Elizabeth Greentree's land and James Greentree's 37 acres. The ground thus filled the space between the widow's holding and her kinsman's, and the three together formed a family block at Sandy Bay. James was both a neighbour and a trustee, and he also signed for Mary Twaits on 30 November 1767, which showed him acting repeatedly on behalf of others in the district.

The benefit was reserved to the heirs of Thomas Greentree, where the Colgrave lease named the children. The wider term covered whoever was entitled under the will, whether or not they were his children, and left the shares to be settled by the will itself.

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Rent of five shillings P Acr. in at or upon the Feast of St. Michael

the Arch Angel Yearly And upon Condition that they the said Elizabeth

Greentree Matthew Purling James Greentree Richd. Bagley William

Wrangham Richd. Goodwin & Henry Bazett Executrix & Executors

aforesaid shall well and sufficiently keep up & maintain the Fences to

the said Land & the full quantity of Wood thereon & do not nor shall sell

or dispose of this Lease or their Interest therein, without the leave &

Consent of the Governor & Council for the time being, In Witness whereof

we the said Governor & Council have to the other part set our Hands &

Affixed the Honoble Compys. Seal this 5th Day of October in the seventh

Year of the Reign of our said Sovereign Lord George the Third, by the

grace of God of great Britain France & Ireland King Defender of the

Faith and so forth, & in the Year of our Lord 1767, and they the said

Executrix & Executors have hereunto set their Hands and Seals the day

& Year abovewritten

James Greentree Exr.

Witness hereto

[...] Bazett

Island St. Helena

The Lords Proprietors of this Island

the Honorable the United Company of Merchants of England trading to the

East Indies Do hereby Demise, Grant, Lease & to Farm Let unto Robert

Ballard Planter All that piece or parcel of Ground, containing fourteen feet

in width or breadth & seventy four feet in length or Depth situate lying &

being in James's Valley on the back part of the said Robert Ballards

House with the appurtenances To have and to hold the said hereby

demised parcel of Ground & premisses with their & every of their appurtenances

unto him the said Robert Ballard his Heirs, Executors, Administrators &

Assigns from the day of the Date hereof for & during all the space & term

of twenty one Years from thence next ensuing upon condition that he

the

The executors of Thomas Greentree's will owed the Company a rent of 5s 0d an acre each year, due on the feast of St Michael the Archangel. Elizabeth Greentree, Matthew Purling, James Greentree, Richard Bagley, William Wrangham, Richard Goodwin and Henry Bazett had to keep the fences of the land in good repair and maintain the full quantity of wood on it. They could not sell or part with the lease or any interest in it without the permission of the Governor and Council of the day.

The Governor and Council signed one copy and fixed the Company's seal to it on 5 October 1767, in the seventh year of the reign of George III. The other copy was to be signed and sealed by the executrix and executors on the same day. James Greentree signed it as executor, and [...] Bazett signed as witness.

A new lease, made at St Helena, followed. The Company let a strip of ground in James's Valley to Robert Ballard, a planter. The strip measured 14 feet in width and 74 feet in length, and lay at the back of Ballard's house.

Ballard was to hold the ground, with everything belonging to it, for 21 years from the date of the lease. The term covered him and anyone who took the ground after him by inheritance or approved transfer.

Interpretations

Seven trustees were named in the Greentree lease, yet only James Greentree signed it. The Colgrave trust lease of 16 February 1767 was likewise signed by one executor of two. The Council therefore accepted a single signature as binding the whole body, which made so large a group workable in practice. James was the trustee with land beside the 12½ acres and the one most likely to farm them for the heirs, so the duties on fences and wood fell in effect on him.

The estate paid the full 5s 0d an acre. Neither the trust for a dead tenant's heirs nor the presence of Purling and Wrangham among the trustees brought any reduction, and the Colgrave orphans paid the same rate.

Ballard's strip closely resembled the one let to John Robinson on 2 March 1767. Each was about 15 feet wide, ran the length of the tenant's house and was taken by a planter who kept a house in the valley. Robinson's lay beside the watercourse and Ballard's behind his house. Householders were thus applying for the narrow margins of open ground around buildings they already occupied, and the Company granted them as separate leases instead of treating them as part of the original plots.

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the said Robert Ballard his Heirs or allowed Assigns do always bear

true faith & allegiance to our Sovereign Lord King George the Third his

Heirs & Successors & true faith to them the said Honorable Company and

their Successors, & shall duly obey all the Laws & Constitutions of the

said Island, Yielding & paying therefore Yearly & every Year during

the said Term & time of twenty one Years unto the said Honorable Compy

their Successors Agents or Assigns the Rent of Eight shillings P Ann

in at or upon the Feast of St. Michael the Arch Angel Yearly, And upon

condition that he the said Robt. Ballard his Heirs, Executors, Adminrs.

or Assigns do and shall well & sufficiently keep up & maintain in good

repair all the Walls & buildings that are or may be hereafter Built or

Erected upon the said Ground or any part thereof & do not nor shall sell

or Dispose of this Lease or his or their Interest therein without the

leave & consent of the Governor & Council for the time being In Witness

whereof we the said Governor & Council have to the other part set our Hands

& affixed the Honoble Companys Seal this 12th Day of October in the

seventh Year of the reign of our said sovereign Lord George the Third,

by the grace of God of Great Britain France & Ireland King

Defender of the faith & so forth, & in the Year of our Lord 1767, and

he the said Robt. Ballard hath hereunto set his Hand & Seal the

Day & Year abovewritten

Robt. Ballard

Witness hereto

[...] Bazett

Island St. Helena

The Lords Proprietors of this Island

the Honorable the United Company of Merchants of England trading to

the East Indies Do hereby Demise Grant Lease & to Farm Let unto

Mary Doveton Widow & Administratrix of John Doveton Deceased All that

piece or parcel of Land containing one Acre of Cabbage tree Land lying in

the

Robert Ballard and his successors had to remain loyal to King George III and faithful to the Company, and had to obey the laws and regulations of the island. They paid the Company a rent of £0 8s 0d a year for the 21 years of the term, due on the feast of St Michael the Archangel. They had to keep in good repair every wall and building standing on the ground or put up there later. They could not sell or part with the lease or any interest in it without the permission of the Governor and Council of the day.

The Governor and Council signed one copy and fixed the Company's seal to it on 12 October 1767, in the seventh year of the reign of George III. Robert Ballard signed and sealed the other copy on the same day, and [...] Bazett signed as witness.

A new lease, made at St Helena, followed. The Company let one acre of cabbage tree land to Mary Doveton, the widow of John Doveton and the administratrix of his estate.

Interpretations

Ballard paid £0 8s 0d a year for a strip 14 feet by 74 feet. John Robinson paid £0 3s 0d on 2 March 1767 for a strip 15 feet by 65 feet. The two pieces were almost the same size and were both margins of open ground beside a planter's town house, yet one cost well over twice the other. Neither figure matched 3d a foot on the long side or on the short. The Council was therefore fixing the rent of such strips by judgement in each case. Robinson's lay along the watercourse, where little could be built, while Ballard's lay behind his house, where it could serve as a yard or carry outbuildings. The difference in use offered the most probable ground for the difference in price.

Mary Doveton took her lease as administratrix, the person appointed to settle the estate of someone who died without leaving a will. The orphans of John Doveton were named as neighbours in the leases to Thomas Greentree in August 1766 and to Matthew Purling on 2 September 1766, so he was dead by then. The Colgrave and Greentree estates, where wills existed, received their land through executors holding as trustees for the family. Here the widow who administered an estate without a will took the grant.

The land was again described as cabbage tree land, the term used for Purling's seven and a half acres near Halley's Mount on 2 September 1766. A single acre of such ground was a small wood lot, valuable for its timber and firewood. The Doveton holdings lay beside Purling's in the East Division, so the acre was probably part of the same stretch of native woodland on the high ground.

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the East Division of the said Island at the head of one branch of James's

Valley butting & bounding East upon the Land of Matthew Purling Esqr

South upon the Land of Captain Henry Bazett North upon the Land

of Isaac Doveton Planter & West upon the said Mary Dovetons own

Land To have and to hold the said hereby Demised parcel of Land

with the appurtenances & every part & parcel thereof unto her the said Mary

Doveton Widow & Administratrix aforesaid her Heirs Executors Adminis-

trators & Assigns, In trust nevertheless & to the use of the Orphans of the

said John Doveton Deceased, from the day of the date hereof for & during

all the space & term of twenty one Years from thence next ensuing upon

condition that they the said Orphs. of the said John Doveton, their

Heirs, Executors, Administrs. & Assigns do & shall bear true faith &

Allegiance to our Sovereign Lord King George the Third, his Heirs &

Successors & true faith to them the said Honoble Company & their

Successors & shall duly Obey all the Laws & Constitutions of the said

Island, Yielding & paying therefore Yearly & every Year during the

said Term & time of twenty one Years unto the said Honoble Company

their Successors Agents or Assigns the Rent of five shillings P Acre, in

at or upon the Feast of St. Michael the Arch Angel Yearly, And upon

condition that she the said Mary Doveton Widow & Administratrix

aforesaid, shall well & sufficiently keep & maintain the Fences to the

said Land & the full quantity of Wood thereon, & do not nor shall sell

or dispose of this Lease or her Interest therein, without the leave & Consent

of the Governor & Council for the time being In Witness whereof we the

said Governor & Council have to the other part set our hands & Affixed

the Honorable Companys Seal this 12 Day of October in the seventh

Year of the reign of our said Sovereign Lord George the third by the

grace of God of Great Britain France & Ireland King Defender of

the Faith & so forth, & in the Year of our Lord 1767 and she the said

Mary Doveton hath hereunto set her hand & Seal the day & Year

abovewritten

Jona. Doveton for Mary Doveton

Witness hereto

[...] Bazett

Mary Doveton's acre of cabbage tree land lay in the East Division, at the head of one branch of James's Valley. It was bounded on the east by the land of Matthew Purling Esquire, on the south by the land of Captain Henry Bazett, on the north by the land of Isaac Doveton, a planter, and on the west by Mary Doveton's own land.

Mary Doveton was to hold the ground for 21 years from the date of the lease as widow and administratrix, but only as trustee for the orphans of John Doveton.

The lease divided its conditions between the orphans and their mother. The orphans and their successors had to remain loyal to King George III and faithful to the Company, and had to obey the laws and regulations of the island. A rent of 5s 0d an acre was payable to the Company each year on the feast of St Michael the Archangel. Mary Doveton had to keep the fences of the land in good repair and maintain the full quantity of wood on it. She could not sell or part with the lease or her interest in it without the permission of the Governor and Council of the day.

The Governor and Council signed one copy and fixed the Company's seal to it on 12 October 1767, in the seventh year of the reign of George III. Jonathan Doveton signed and sealed the other copy on Mary Doveton's behalf, and [...] Bazett signed as witness.

Interpretations

The trust form was applied here to an estate with no will. The Colgrave lease of 16 February 1767 and the Greentree lease of 5 October 1767 were made to executors acting under a will. John Doveton left none, so his widow held as administratrix, and the Council wrote the same trust for the children into her lease. The Company thus secured the children's interest in the land whether or not their father had provided for it himself. An administratrix who took the acre outright could have treated it as her own, and the trust prevented that.

Mary Doveton's own land lay on the west of the acre. The widow therefore held some ground in her own right and other ground for her children, and the lease kept the two apart. The distinction mattered on her remarriage, since a new husband would gain control of her own leasehold but not of land held in trust for the orphans.

A man signed for the woman named as tenant, as James Greentree did for Mary Twaits on 30 November 1767. Jonathan Doveton shared her surname and was probably a brother or grown son of the dead man. Neither woman completed her own lease, although each was named in it as the holder.

The lease identified Henry Bazett as a captain. He was one of the seven executors of Thomas Greentree's will under the lease of 5 October 1767 and held land beside the Dovetons and Purling. The Bazett family thus included both the island's Secretary and an officer, each a landholder.

The acre lay at the head of a branch of James's Valley yet fell within the East Division. The valley that held the town ran up into the country districts, where the same ground was reckoned as farmland and wood.

Three leases were sealed within a week, the Greentree trust on 5 October 1767 and those of Ballard and Mary Doveton on 12 October 1767.

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Island St. Helena

The Lords Proprietors of this Island the

Honorable the United Company of Merchants of England trading to the East

Indies Do hereby Demise Grant Lease & to Farm Let unto Lieutenant

Solomon St. Maurice All those two parcels of Land containing in the

whole six Acs. three Acres of which situate lying & being behind his

Dwelling House butting & bounding North & East upon the Honoble

Companys Waste Land West & South upon the said St. Maurices own

Land, the other three Acs. butting & bounding North & East & partly

West upon the Honorable Company's Waste Land, South & partly West upon

the Lands of him the said Solomon St. Maurice, To have and to

hold the said hereby Demised two parcels of Land, with the appurtenances

and every part & parcel thereof, unto him the said Solomon St. Maurice his

Heirs, Executrs. Administrators & Assigns from the day of the Date hereof,

for & during all the space & term of twenty one Years from thence next

ensuing upon condition that he the said Solomon St. Maurice his

Heirs or allowed Assigns do always bear true faith & Allegiance to our

Sovereign Lord King George the Third, his Heirs and Successors, and

true faith to them the said Honoble Company and their Successors, and

shall duly Obey all the Laws & Constitutions of the said Island Yielding

& paying therefore Yearly & every Year during the said term & time of twenty

one Years unto the said Honoble Company their Successors, Agents or Assigns

the Rent of one shilling P Acr. in at or upon the Feast of St. Michael the

Arch Angel Yearly, And upon condition that he the said Solomon St. Maurice

his Heirs, Executors, Administrators or Assigns do & shall well & sufficiently

keep up & maintain the Fences to the said Lands, & the full quantity of Wood

thereon, & do not nor shall sell or dispose of this Lease or his or their Interest,

therein without the leave & Consent of the Governor & Council for the time being

In Witness whereof we the said Governor & Councl. have to the other part

set our Hands & Affixed the Honorable Companys Seal this 12th Day of

October in the seventh Year of the Reign of our said Sovereign Lord George

the Third by the Grace of God of great Britain France & Ireland King

Defender of the Faith & so forth and in the Year of our Lord 1767 & he the

said Solomon St. Maurice hath hereunto set his hand & Seal the Day

The Company let two pieces of land, six acres in all, to Lieutenant Solomon St Maurice. The first three acres lay behind his dwelling house and were bounded on the north and east by the Company's waste land and on the west and south by St Maurice's own land. The other three acres were bounded on the north, on the east and partly on the west by the Company's waste land, and on the south and partly on the west by St Maurice's lands.

St Maurice was to hold both pieces, with everything belonging to them, for 21 years from the date of the lease. The term covered him and anyone who took the ground after him by inheritance or approved transfer.

The lease set out the following conditions. St Maurice and his successors had to remain loyal to King George III and faithful to the Company, and had to obey the laws and regulations of the island. They paid the Company a rent of 1s 0d an acre each year, due on the feast of St Michael the Archangel. They had to keep the fences of the land in good repair and maintain the full quantity of wood on it. They could not sell or part with the lease or any interest in it without the permission of the Governor and Council of the day.

The Governor and Council signed one copy and fixed the Company's seal to it on 12 October 1767, in the seventh year of the reign of George III.

Interpretations

St Maurice paid 1s 0d an acre, the lowest rate in the volume, on two pieces of three acres taken from the edge of the waste. The leases at reduced rates now formed a clear group. Matthew Purling Esquire paid 1s 0d on three acres on 2 September 1766, William Wrangham, a gentleman, paid 1s 6d on three acres in December 1766 and Mary Twaits paid 1s 0d on four acres on 30 November 1767. Every one was a piece of three or four acres cut from unoccupied ground. The planters charged 5s 0d for waste-edge land took larger pieces, from Gabriel Isaacke's eight acres to William Worrall's 16¾. The Council thus appeared to let small additions from the waste at a nominal rent and to charge the full rate once a grant reached the size of a working farm. Three of the four favoured tenants were nonetheless an Esquire, a gentleman and an officer, so rank and the size of the grant pointed the same way.

St Maurice took his six acres as two pieces of three, described separately within one lease. A single piece of six acres would have fallen closer to Isaacke's eight. Whether or not the division was made for that purpose, each half matched the size of the other cheap grants exactly.

The rate depended on the land and not on the day. Mary Doveton's acre of cabbage tree land was sealed on the same 12 October 1767 at 5s 0d an acre. Standing wood was charged in full even on a single acre held for orphans, while bare ground from the waste went to a lieutenant at a fifth of that price.

Lieutenant Michael Frost paid the standard 3d a foot for his town plot on 31 August 1767. An officer's rank brought no reduction on building ground in the valley, where the rate by frontage was applied without exception to ordinary plots.

The first three acres lay behind St Maurice's dwelling house, so he lived on his country land. Bazett, Robinson and Ballard, by contrast, held farms and kept separate houses in James's Valley.

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and Year abovewritten

Sol St. Maurice

Witness hereto

[...] Bazett

Island St. 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 & to Farm Let unto John

Worrall Planter, All that piece or parcel of Land containing six Acs. &

one Quarter situate lying & being in the West Division of the said Island,

butting & bounding South upon the Honoble Company's Waste Land East

upon the Land of Onesiphs. Yarbury Orphs. North upon the said Jno. Worralls

own Land & West partly upon the Land of Lieut. Solomon St. Maurice, &

partly upon the Land of him the said Jno. Worrall To have & to hold

the said hereby Demised parcel of Land with the appurtenances, & every part

& parcel thereof, unto him the said John Worrall, his Heirs, Executrs. Administrs.

& Assigns from the day of the date hereof for & during all the space & term

of twenty one Years, from thence next ensuing upon condition that he

the said Jno. Worrall his Heirs or allowed Assigns do always bear true

faith & Allegiance to our Sovereign Lord King George the Third, his Heirs

& Successors & true faith to them the said Honorable Compy. & their Successors,

& shall duly Obey all the Laws & Constitutions of the said Island

Yielding & paying therefore Yearly & every Year during the said term &

time of twenty one Years unto the said Honoble Company their Successors

Agents or Assigns, the Rent of Six Pence P Acr. in at or upon the Feast of

St. Michael the Arch Angel Yearly, And upon condition that he the said

Jno. Worrall, his Heirs Executrs. Administrs. or Assigns do & shall well &

sufficiently keep up & maintain the Fences to the said Land, & the full

quantity of Wood thereon, & do not nor shall sell or dispose of this Lease

or his or their Interest therein without the leave & Consent of the Governor

and

Lieutenant Solomon St Maurice signed and sealed his copy of the lease of 12 October 1767, and [...] Bazett signed as witness.

A new lease, made at St Helena, followed. The Company let six and a quarter acres of land in the West Division to John Worrall, a planter. The ground was bounded on the south by the Company's waste land, on the east by the land of the orphans of Onesiphorus [...], on the north by Worrall's own land and on the west partly by the land of Lieutenant Solomon St Maurice and partly by Worrall's own land.

Worrall was to hold the ground, with everything belonging to it, for 21 years from the date of the lease. The term covered him and anyone who took the ground after him by inheritance or approved transfer.

The lease set out the following conditions. Worrall and his successors had to remain loyal to King George III and faithful to the Company, and had to obey the laws and regulations of the island. They paid the Company a rent of 6d an acre each year, due on the feast of St Michael the Archangel. They had to keep the fences of the land in good repair and maintain the full quantity of wood on it. They could not sell or part with the lease or any interest in it without the permission of the Governor and Council of the day.

Interpretations

Worrall paid 6d an acre, half the lowest rate found until now and a tenth of the 5s 0d charged on most country ground. He was a planter, and his six and a quarter acres were larger than the three and four acre pieces let cheaply to Purling, Wrangham, Twaits and St Maurice. Neither rank nor the small size of a grant could therefore account for the reduction. The ground did share one feature with St Maurice's six acres, let at 1s 0d an acre on 12 October 1767. The two holdings adjoined, and both lay in the West Division on the edge of the waste. The cheapest land in the volume was thus concentrated in one district, which pointed to poor ground there as the reason. The Council was pricing by the quality of the land, and the earlier low rates to men of standing probably reflected where their additions lay more than who they were.

A rent of 6d an acre reappeared on the later country pages, charged on 35 acres under lease 315. The rate fixed for the poorest ground in 1767 thus remained in the Company's scale for some 60 years.

The John Worrall who took 16¼ acres in the East Division in November 1766 paid 5s 0d an acre there. If the same man took this lease, he was charged the full rate on good land in one district and a tenth of it on poor land in another, which fitted pricing by quality. The orphans of a John Worrall were also named beside James Greentree's land at Sandy Bay on 16 February 1767, so more than one man of the name held land on the island.

The lease named a third country district, the West Division, alongside the East and South Divisions of the earlier leases.

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and Council for the time being In Witness whereof we the said Governor

& Council have to the other part set our hands & affixed the Honorable

Companys Seal this 16th Day of November in the eighth Year of the Reign

of our Sovereign Lord George the Third, by the Grace of God of great Britain

France & Ireland King defender of the faith & so forth, & in the Year of our

Lord 1767 & he the said Jno. Worrall, hath hereunto set his Hand & Seal

the day & Year abovewritten

John Worrall

Witness hereto

[...] Bazett

Island St. Helena

The Lords Proprietors of this Island the

Honorable the United Company of Merchants of England trading to the

East Indies, Do hereby Demise Grant, Lease & to Farm Let unto John

Worrall Planter All that piece or parcel of Land containing in the whole

thirty two Acs. & one quarter, Situate lying and being in the West Division

of the said Island, known by the name of Francis's butting & bounding East,

West & North upon the Honorable Company's Waste Land & South partly upon

the said John Worralls own Land, & partly upon the Land of Lieutenant

Solomon St. Maurice To have and to hold the said hereby Demised

parcel of Land with the appurtenances & every part & parcel thereof unto him

the said Jno. Worrall, his Heirs Executrs. Administratrs. & Assigns from the day of

the date hereof for & during all the space & term of twenty one Years, from

thence next ensuing, upon condition that he the said Jno. Worrall his

Heirs or allowed Assigns do always bear true Faith & Allegiance to our sovereign

Lord King George the Third his Heirs & Successors, & true faith to them the

said Honoble Company & their Successors, and shall duly Obey all the

Laws & Constitutions of the said Island, Yielding & paying therefore

Yearly & every Year during the said term & time of twenty one Years unto the

said Honoble Company their Successors Agents or Assigns, the Rent of five

shillings P Acr. in at or upon the Feast of St. Michael the Arch Angel

Yearly And upon Condition that he the said Jno. Worrall his Heirs,

The Governor and Council signed one copy of John Worrall's lease of six and a quarter acres and fixed the Company's seal to it on 16 November 1767, in the eighth year of the reign of George III. John Worrall signed and sealed the other copy on the same day, and [...] Bazett signed as witness.

A new lease, made at St Helena, followed. The Company let 32¼ acres of land in the West Division to John Worrall, a planter. The ground was known as Francis's. It was bounded on the east, west and north by the Company's waste land, and on the south partly by Worrall's own land and partly by the land of Lieutenant Solomon St Maurice.

Worrall was to hold the ground, with everything belonging to it, for 21 years from the date of the lease. The term covered him and anyone who took the ground after him by inheritance or approved transfer.

Worrall and his successors had to remain loyal to King George III and faithful to the Company, and had to obey the laws and regulations of the island. They paid the Company a rent of 5s 0d an acre each year, due on the feast of St Michael the Archangel.

Interpretations

Worrall's second lease charged 5s 0d an acre on 32¼ acres in the same district as the six and a quarter acres he held at 6d. Both pieces lay in the West Division, both bordered the waste and both adjoined St Maurice's land and his own. One planter thus paid ten times as much an acre for one holding as for the other beside it. The district could not therefore explain the low rate, any more than rank or the size of the grant. The Council priced each piece of ground on its own merits, and good and poor land lay side by side. Francis's was a named farm of some size and was probably productive ground, while the smaller piece was presumably rough land on its margin.

The two grants were kept in separate leases although they went to the same man in the same place. A single lease could carry two rates, as John Desfountain's did in July 1766 with 16 acres at 5s 0d and seven and three quarters at 2s 6d. Matthew Purling's two pieces of 2 September 1766 were likewise split between two leases at 1s 0d and 5s 0d. The Council's usual practice was thus to give ground at a reduced rent its own lease, so that the cheap piece and the dear one could each be renewed, surrendered or transferred without the other.

Francis's was the second largest grant in the volume, after James Greentree's 37 acres at Sandy Bay on 16 February 1767. Unlike that holding, it had waste on three sides. So large a farm standing out into unoccupied country, yet already bearing a name, suggested ground that was settled earlier and was now granted afresh.

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Executors, Administrators or Assigns do & shall well & sufficiently keep

up & maintain the Fences to the said Land & the full quantity of

Wood thereon, & do not nor shall sell or dispose of this Lease, or his, or

their Interest therein, without the leave & Consent of the Governor &

Council for the time being In Witness whereof we the said Governor &

Council have to the other part set our Hands, & Affixed the Honorable

Company's Seal this 16 Day of November in the eighth Year of the

Reign of our, Sovereign Lord George the Third, by the grace of God of

great Britain, France & Ireland, King Defender of the Faith and

so forth, & in the Year of our Lord 1767 and he the said Jno. Worrall hath

hereunto set his Hand & Seal the Day & Year abovewritten

John Worrall

Witness hereto

[...] Bazett

Island St. Helena

The Lords Proprietors of this Island the

Honorable the United Company of Merchants of England trading to the

East Indies Do hereby Demise, Grant, Lease & to Farm Let unto Benjamin

Mason Planter All that piece or parcel of Land containing ten Acres and

three Quarters, situate lying & being in the West Division of the said Island,

butting & bounding East & South upon the Honoble Company's Pasture

Land, North partly upon the Honoble Companys Waste Land, & partly

upon the said Benjamin Masons own Land & West upon the Land of

him the said Benjn. Mason, To have and to hold the said hereby

Demised parcel of Land with the appurtenances & every part & parcel

thereof, unto him the said Benjn. Mason his Heirs Executrs. Administrs.

& Assigns, from the day of the date hereof, for & during all the space &

term of twenty one Years from thence next ensuing upon condition that

he the said Benjamin Mason, his Heirs or allowed Assigns do always

bear true faith & allegiance to our Sovereign Lord King George the Third

his Heirs & Successors & true faith to them the said Honoble Company &

their Successors & shall duly Obey all the Laws & Constitutions of the

said

John Worrall and his successors had to keep the fences of Francis's in good repair and maintain the full quantity of wood on the land. They could not sell or part with the lease or any interest in it without the permission of the Governor and Council of the day. The Governor and Council signed one copy and fixed the Company's seal to it on 16 November 1767, in the eighth year of the reign of George III. John Worrall signed and sealed the other copy on the same day, and [...] Bazett signed as witness.

A new lease, made at St Helena, followed. The Company let 10¾ acres of land in the West Division to Benjamin Mason, a planter. The ground was bounded on the east and south by the Company's pasture land, on the north partly by the Company's waste land and partly by Mason's own land, and on the west by Mason's land.

Mason was to hold the ground, with everything belonging to it, for 21 years from the date of the lease. The term covered him and anyone who took the ground after him by inheritance or approved transfer. Mason and his successors had to remain loyal to King George III and faithful to the Company, and had to obey the laws and regulations of the island.

Interpretations

Mason's lease distinguished the Company's pasture land from its waste land, naming each on a different boundary. Waste was ground the Company had not granted and did not use. Pasture was ground it kept in its own hands for grazing its stock. The Company was therefore a working landholder in the West Division as well as the owner of everything else, and a tenant's fence there marked the edge of land the Company itself farmed. The duty to keep up fences carried a practical purpose on such a boundary, since it kept a planter's animals and the Company's apart.

Both of John Worrall's leases in the West Division were sealed on 16 November 1767, the six and a quarter acres at 6d an acre and the 32¼ acres of Francis's at 5s 0d. The Council thus fixed two very different rents for adjoining ground at one sitting and for one tenant. The gap between them was a deliberate valuation of two kinds of land, made with both pieces under consideration together.

Mason's ground lay between his own land and the Company's, with waste on part of one side only. Like most country grants in the volume, it extended an existing farm outward, here up to the edge of the Company's grazing.

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said Island Yielding & paying therefore Yearly & every Year during

the said term & time of twenty one Years unto the said Honoble Compy.

their Successors Agents or Assigns, the Rent of five shillings P Acr. in, at

or upon the feast of St. Michael the Arch Angel Yearly, And upon

Condition that he the said Benjn. Mason his Heirs Executrs. Administrs.

or Assigns do and shall well & sufficiently keep up & maintain the

Fences to the said Land, & the full quantity of Wood thereon, & do not,

nor shall sell or dispose of this Lease, or his, or their Interest therein

without the leave & Consent of the Governor & Councl. for the time being

In Witness whereof we the said Governor & Council have to the other part

set our Hands & Affixed the Honoble Company's Seal this 16 Day of

November in the eighth Year of the Reign of our said Sovereign Lord

George the Third by the Grace of God of great Britain, France and

Ireland, King defender of the Faith & so forth, & in the Year of our Lord

1767 & he the said Benjn. Mason hath hereunto set his Hand & Seal

the Day & Year abovewritten

Benjn. Mason

Witness hereto

[...] Bazett

10 3/4 Acres

Benjamin Mason and his successors paid the Company a rent of 5s 0d an acre each year for the 21 years of the term, due on the feast of St Michael the Archangel. They had to keep the fences of the land in good repair and maintain the full quantity of wood on it. They could not sell or part with the lease or any interest in it without the permission of the Governor and Council of the day.

The Governor and Council signed one copy and fixed the Company's seal to it on 16 November 1767, in the eighth year of the reign of George III. Benjamin Mason signed and sealed the other copy on the same day, and [...] Bazett signed as witness.

A plan of the ground was drawn beneath the signatures. It showed an irregular outline of many sides, marked as containing 10¾ acres.

Interpretations

Mason's was the first country lease in the volume to carry a plan. The only earlier drawing was of Matthew Bazett's town plot under the lease of 16 February 1767. Every other grant of farmland was described by its neighbours alone. Mason's ground differed in that two of its sides met the Company's own pasture. A boundary between two tenants was their concern to keep, but a boundary with land the Company itself grazed touched the Company's direct interest. Recording the outline in the register gave the Council a means of checking later whether the planter's fence had crept into its pasture.

The plan gave the shape and the total area but no lengths along the sides, where Bazett's town plan gave four measurements and no area. The difference followed the basis of the rent. Town ground was charged by the foot, so the lengths mattered. Country ground was charged by the acre, so the area was the figure that fixed what Mason owed.

An outline of so many angles, with an area stated to a quarter of an acre, could not have been estimated by eye. The ground was therefore measured on the spot before the lease was drawn. The acreages given to a quarter or a half in the other leases of 1766 and 1767 pointed to the same practice, even where no plan was entered.

Three leases were sealed on 16 November 1767, John Worrall's two and Mason's, all in the West Division. The Council dealt with one district's applications together, and at 5s 0d an acre Mason's ground was valued with Francis's as good land.

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Island St. Helena

The Lords Proprietors of this Island the

Honble. the United Compy. of Merchants of England trading to the East

Indies Do hereby Demise, Grant, Lease & to Farm Let unto James

Greentree Executr. to the last Will & Testament of Jno. Swaits Decd. All

that piece or parcel of Land containg. four Acs. situate in Sandy Bay

butting & bounding, North East & West upon the Honoble Compys. Waste Land &

South upon the Land of Benjn. Seale Planter To have and to hold

the said hereby Demised parcel of Land wth. the appurtenances & every part &

parcel thereof, unto him the said James Greentree his Heirs Executrs. Administrs.

& Assigns, In trust nevertheless & to the use of the Children of the said John

Swaits Decd. from the day of the date hereof for & during all the space & term

of twenty one Years from thence next ensuing upon condition that they the

said Children of the sd. Jno. Swaits their Heirs Executrs. Administrs. or Assigns do

always bear true faith & Allegiance to our Sovereign Lord King George the

Third his Heirs & Successors & true faith to them the said Honble Compy.

& their Successors & shall duly Obey all the Laws & Constitutions of the said

Island Yielding & paying therefore Yearly & every Year during the said

Term & time of twenty one Years unto the said Honorable Compy. their Successrs.

Agents or Assigns the Rent of five shillings P Acr. in, at, or upon the Feast of

St. Michael the Arch Angel Yearly And upon Condition that he the said

James Greentree his Heirs Executrs. Administrs. or Assigns Do & shall well &

sufficiently keep up & maintain the Fences to the said Land & the full

quantity of Wood thereon & do not nor shall sell or dispose of this Lease or

his or their Interest therein, without the leave & consent of the Governor and

Council for the time being, In Witness whereof we the said Govr. & Council

have to the other part set our hands & Affixed the Honoble Compys. Seal

this 30th Day of November in the eighth Year of the Reign of our Sovereign

Lord George the Third by the grace of God of Great Britain France &

Ireland King Defender of the Faith & so forth, & in the Year of our Lord

1767 & he the said James Greentree hath hereunto set his Hand & Seal the day &

Year abovewritten

James Greentree Exr.

Witness hereto

[...] Bazett

The Company let four acres of land in Sandy Bay to James Greentree, as executor of the will of John Twaits, who had died. The ground was bounded on the north, east and west by the Company's waste land and on the south by the land of Benjamin Seale, a planter.

Greentree was to hold the ground for 21 years from the date of the lease, but only as trustee for the children of John Twaits.

The lease divided its conditions between the children and the trustee. The children and their successors had to remain loyal to King George III and faithful to the Company, and had to obey the laws and regulations of the island. A rent of 5s 0d an acre was payable to the Company each year on the feast of St Michael the Archangel. James Greentree had to keep the fences of the land in good repair and maintain the full quantity of wood on it. He could not sell or part with the lease or any interest in it without the permission of the Governor and Council of the day.

The Governor and Council signed one copy and fixed the Company's seal to it on 30 November 1767, in the eighth year of the reign of George III. James Greentree signed and sealed the other copy as executor on the same day, and [...] Bazett signed as witness.

Interpretations

The lease explained why James Greentree signed for Mary Twaits on 30 November 1767. He was the executor of John Twaits's will, and the two leases were sealed on the same day. Mary, an unmarried woman, took four acres at Highams in her own name. The other children received four acres at Sandy Bay through Greentree as trustee. The executor thus obtained equal grants for the family in one sitting, one for a daughter old enough to hold land herself and one held in trust for those still under age. The orphans of John Twaits were the neighbours on the south of Greentree's own 37 acres under his lease of 16 February 1767, so he was acting for the family next door.

The two grants of four acres carried very different rents. Mary paid 1s 0d an acre for Highams in the South Division, and the children's land at Sandy Bay was charged at 5s 0d. Both pieces had waste on three or four sides, and both went to the same family through the same man on the same day. The gap repeated what the Council did for John Worrall on 16 November 1767, when adjoining pieces were let at 6d and 5s 0d. Each piece of ground was valued separately, and a family's circumstances earned no general allowance.

Greentree was now a party to four leases in the volume. He held 37 acres himself, was one of seven trustees for Thomas Greentree's heirs under the lease of 5 October 1767, signed for Mary Twaits and stood as sole trustee here. A planter of standing in Sandy Bay was evidently relied on to manage the affairs of dead neighbours and their children, and the Council dealt with him in each capacity.

The trust followed the form of the Colgrave lease of 16 February 1767, with loyalty required of the children and upkeep of the trustee. Four estates in the volume were now provided for in this way, those of Colgrave, Greentree, Doveton and Twaits.

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Island St. Helena

The Lords Proprietors of this Island the

Honoble the United Compy. of Merchants of England trading to the East

Indies, Do hereby Demise, Grant, Lease & to Farm, Let unto James

Greentree Executr. to the last Will & Testament of Jno. Swaits Deceased

All that piece or parcel of Land containg. thirteen Acs. & an half situate

in Sandy Bay, butting & boundg. South upon the Land of the Orphs.

of the sd. Jno. Swaits, North upon the Land of Jno. Worralls Orphs. West,

upon the said Jams. Greentree's Land, & East upon the Honorable

Compys. Waste Land, To have and to hold the said hereby parcel

of Land wth. the appurtenances & every part & parcel thereof unto him the

said James Greentree his Heirs, Executrs. Administrs. & Assigns, In trust,

nevertheless and to the use of the Children of the said Jno. Swaits Decd,

from the day of the date hereof for & during all the space & term of twenty

one Years from thence next ensuing upon condition that they the said

Children of the said Jno. Swaits their Heirs Executrs. Administrs. or Assigns

do always bear true faith & allegiance to our Sovereign Lord King George

the Third his Heirs & Successrs. & true faith to them the said Honble Compy.

& their Successors & shall duly Obey all the Laws & Constitutions of the said

Island Yielding & paying therefore Yearly & every Year during the said

term & time of twenty one Years unto the said Honble Compy. their Successrs.

Agents or Assigns the Rent of five shillings P Acr. in at or upon the Feast,

of St. Michael the Arch Angel Yearly, And upon condition that he the

said Jams. Greentree his Heirs, Executrs. Administrs. or Assigns do & shall

well & sufficiently keep up & maintain the Fences to the said Land and

the full quantity of Wood thereon & do not nor shall sell or dispose of

this Lease or his or their Interest therein without the leave & Consent of the

Govr. & Council for the time being, In Witness whereof we the said Govr.

& Council have to the other part set our Hands & affixed the Honorable

Compys. Seal this 30th Day of Novembr. in the eighth Year of the Reign of our

Sovereign Lord George the Third by the grace of God of Great Britain

France & Ireland King defender of the faith and so forth, & in the

Year of our Lord 1767 and he the said James Greentree hath

hereunto set his Hand & Seal the day & Year abovewritten

James Greentree Exr.

Witness hereto

[...] Bazett

The Company let a second piece of land in Sandy Bay to James Greentree, as executor of the will of John Twaits. It contained 13½ acres and was bounded on the south by the land of the orphans of John Twaits, on the north by the land of the orphans of John Worrall, on the west by James Greentree's own land and on the east by the Company's waste land.

Greentree was to hold the ground for 21 years from the date of the lease, but only as trustee for the children of John Twaits.

The lease divided its conditions between the children and the trustee. The children and their successors had to remain loyal to King George III and faithful to the Company, and had to obey the laws and regulations of the island. A rent of 5s 0d an acre was payable to the Company each year on the feast of St Michael the Archangel. James Greentree had to keep the fences of the land in good repair and maintain the full quantity of wood on it. He could not sell or part with the lease or any interest in it without the permission of the Governor and Council of the day.

The Governor and Council signed one copy and fixed the Company's seal to it on 30 November 1767, in the eighth year of the reign of George III. James Greentree signed and sealed the other copy as executor on the same day, and [...] Bazett signed as witness.

Interpretations

Three leases for the Twaits family were sealed on 30 November 1767. Mary Twaits took four acres at Highams, and the children received four acres and 13½ acres at Sandy Bay through their father's executor. The two trust grants went to the same trustee, for the same children, at the same rent and on the same day, yet they were kept in separate leases. The four acres lay apart, bounded by Benjamin Seale and the waste, while the 13½ acres adjoined land the orphans already held. The Council thus gave each distinct piece of ground its own lease even where nothing else differed, so that the title to one parcel never depended on another.

The 13½ acres lay between the Twaits orphans' existing land and that of the Worrall orphans, with the executor's own 37 acres on the west. Greentree's lease of 16 February 1767 named the same two sets of orphans on his south and east. The new grant therefore filled ground beside his own farm on behalf of the children next door. A trustee who was also the adjoining landholder was well placed to work the land for them, and equally well placed to benefit from controlling it. The trust written into the lease kept the children's title distinct from his.

With these grants the orphans' estate grew by 17½ acres within a year or so of their father's death. As with the Colgrave children on 16 February 1767, a dead planter's holding was enlarged from the waste while his heirs were still under age, at the full rent of 5s 0d an acre.

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Island St. Helena.

The Lords Proprietors of this

Island the Honorable the United Company of Merchants of

England trading to the East Indies Do hereby Demise Grant, Lease

and to Farm Let unto Simon Whaley Planter All those two

pieces, or parcels of Land containing in both parcels three Acres,

situate lying & being in the East Division of the said Island, two

Acs. of which situate, in Woody Ridge Valley butting & bounding every

way on the Honble. Companys Waste Land, the other Acr. lying

under Prosperous Bay Valley Water-fall, butting and bounding

likewise every way on the Honoble Compys. Waste Land To have

and to hold the said hereby Demised two parcels of Land with

the appurtenances, & every part and parcel thereof, unto him the said

Simon Whaley his Heirs, Executrs. Administrs. & 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 he the said

Simon Whaley, his Heirs, Executrs. Administrs. & Assigns, do always

bear true faith & Allegiance, to our Sovereign Lord King George the

Third, his Heirs & Successors, and true faith to them the said Honble.

Company & their Successors, and shall duly Obey all the Laws and

Constitutions of the said Island Yielding and paying therefore Yearly

and every Year during the said term & time of twenty one Years unto

the said Honorable Company, their Successrs. Agents or Assigns, the

Rent of five shillings P Acr. in, at, or upon the Feast of St. Michael

the Arch Angel Yearly, And upon Condition that he the said Simon

Whaley his Heirs or allowed Assigns do & shall well & sufficiently

keep up & maintain the Fences to the said Lands, and the full

quantity of Wood thereon, & do not, nor shall sell or dispose of

this Lease, or his, or their Interest therein, without the leave &

consent of the Governor & Council for the time being, In Witness

whereof we the sd. Governor & Council have to the other part set our

Hands & affixed the Honorable Companys Seal this 1st Day of

February, in the eighth Year of the Reign of our said Sovereign

Lord George the Third, by the Grace of God of Great Britain

France

The Company let two pieces of land in the East Division, three acres in all, to Simon Whaley, a planter. Two acres lay in Woody Ridge Valley, with the Company's waste land on every side. The remaining acre lay below the waterfall in Prosperous Bay Valley and was likewise surrounded by the Company's waste land.

Whaley was to hold both pieces, with everything belonging to them, for 21 years from the date of the lease. The term covered him and anyone who took the ground after him by inheritance or approved transfer.

The lease set out the following conditions. Whaley and his successors had to remain loyal to King George III and faithful to the Company, and had to obey the laws and regulations of the island. They paid the Company a rent of 5s 0d an acre each year, due on the feast of St Michael the Archangel. They had to keep the fences of the land in good repair and maintain the full quantity of wood on it. They could not sell or part with the lease or any interest in it without the permission of the Governor and Council of the day.

The Governor and Council signed one copy and fixed the Company's seal to it on 1 February 1768, in the eighth year of the reign of George III.

Interpretations

Whaley paid the full 5s 0d an acre for three acres taken wholly from the waste. Four earlier grants of the same kind and size were let far more cheaply. Matthew Purling Esquire paid 1s 0d an acre on three acres on 2 September 1766, William Wrangham, a gentleman, paid 1s 6d on three acres in December 1766 and Lieutenant Solomon St Maurice paid 1s 0d on two pieces of three acres on 12 October 1767. Among tenants taking three acres of unoccupied ground, the Esquire, the gentleman and the officer paid a fifth or less of what the planter paid. John Worrall's 6d an acre on 16 November 1767 showed that a planter could also obtain a low rate, so standing was not the only consideration. The run of three acre grants nonetheless suggested that it counted, and the leases themselves gave no reason for any of the rates.

The two pieces lay in different valleys and touched no other holding, yet they were granted in one lease. The Twaits children's two parcels at Sandy Bay were split between two leases on 30 November 1767 although both went to one trustee at one rent. The Council's practice on combining or separating parcels was therefore not uniform, and a tenant taking small detached plots at a single rate could have them joined.

One acre lay beneath a waterfall. A plot of that size, alone in the waste, was too small for a farm and was chosen for its position. Ground below a fall had a constant supply of water, which made it suited to a garden or to watering stock. The larger piece lay in Woody Ridge Valley, where John Desfountain took 23¾ acres at the head of the valley in July 1766.

The lease was sealed in February, two months after the group of 30 November 1767. Grants continued to come in clusters separated by intervals.

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France and Ireland King Defender of the faith, and so forth and

in the Year of our Lord 1768, and he the said Simon Whaley

hath hereunto set his Hand & Seal the day and Year abovewritten.

Simon Whaley

Witness hereto

[...] Bazett

Island St. 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 George Bryon Hayes and William Hayes Planters All that piece

or parcel of Land containing four Acres situate lying & being in the

East Division of the said Island butting & bounding East North & South

upon the Honorable Companys Waste Land & West upon the said

Hayes's own Land To have and to hold the said hereby demised

parcel of Land with the appurtenances, & every part & parcel thereof

unto them the said George Bryon Hayes & William Hayes their Heirs

Executrs. Administrs. & 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 they the said George Bryon Hayes &

William Hayes their Heirs or allowed Assigns do always bear true faith

& Allegiance to our Sovereign Lord King George the Third his Heirs

& Successors and true faith to them the said Honble Company and their

Successors & shall duly obey all the Laws & Constitutions of the said

Island Yielding 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 Rent of five shillings P Acr. in

at or upon the feast of St. Michael the Arch Angel Yearly, And

upon Condition that they the said George Bryon Hayes & Willm. Hayes

their Heirs, Executrs. Administrs. or Assigns, do & shall well and sufficiently

keep up & maintain the Fences to the said Land & the full quantity

of Wood thereon and do not nor shall sell or dispose of this Lease

or

Simon Whaley signed and sealed his copy of the lease in 1768, and [...] Bazett signed as witness.

A new lease, made at St Helena, followed. The Company let four acres of land in the East Division to George Bryon Hayes and William Hayes, planters. The ground was bounded on the east, north and south by the Company's waste land and on the west by the Hayeses' own land.

The two men were to hold the ground together, with everything belonging to it, for 21 years from the date of the lease. The term covered them and anyone who took the ground after them by inheritance or approved transfer.

The lease set out the following conditions. George Bryon Hayes and William Hayes and their successors had to remain loyal to King George III and faithful to the Company, and had to obey the laws and regulations of the island. They paid the Company a rent of 5s 0d an acre each year, due on the feast of St Michael the Archangel. They had to keep the fences of the land in good repair and maintain the full quantity of wood on it.

Interpretations

This was the first lease in the volume made to two tenants holding in their own right. Earlier leases with more than one name were trusts, in which executors held for a dead man's family. The Hayeses took the four acres jointly for themselves, and the land they already held on the west was described as their own in common. William and John Worrall, by contrast, received matching pieces of seven and three quarter acres under separate leases in November and December 1766. Kinsmen farming together could thus choose between a shared title and separate ones. A joint lease kept a family farm whole, but neither man could deal with his share without the other, whereas the Worralls' arrangement left each free to act alone.

The Hayeses paid 5s 0d an acre for four acres with waste on three sides. Mary Twaits paid 1s 0d an acre on 30 November 1767 for four acres surrounded by waste. Simon Whaley's three acres of 1 February 1768 were also charged in full. Planters extending into the waste early in 1768 thus paid the standard rate regardless of how small the piece was.

A Robert Hayes later bought a Jamestown plot from Government in 1799, entered as lease 124. The surname therefore continued among the Company's tenants in the town.

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or their Interest therein without the leave & consent of the Governor

& Council for the time being In Witness whereof we the said

Governor & Council have to the other part set our Hands & Affixed

the Honble Companys Seal this 18 day of April in the eighth Year

of the Reign of our said Sovereign Lord George the Third by the

Grace of God of great Britain France & Ireland King defender

of the faith and so forth & in the Year of our Lord 1768, & they

the said George Bryon Hayes & William Hayes have hereunto set

their Hands & Seals the Day and Year abovewritten

William Hayes for George Bryon Hayes

William Hayes

Witness

[...] Bazett

Island St. 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, Let unto Lieut.

Solomon St. Maurice All that piece or parcel of Land containing four Acs. &

three Quarters situate lying and being in the West Division of the said Island

butting & bounding East, West & South upon the said Solomon St. Maurice's

own Land, and North upon the Land of Simon Whaley Planter, To

have and to hold the said hereby Demised parcel of Land with the

appurtenances and every part and parcel thereof, unto him the said Solomon

St. Maurice, his Heirs, Executrs. Administrs. and 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 he the said Solomon St. Maurice

his Heirs or allowed Assigns do always bear true faith and allegiance to

our Sovereign Lord King George the Third, his Heirs and Successors, & true

faith to them the said Honble Company, & their Successors, and shall duly

Obey all the Laws & Constitutions of the said Island, Yielding & paying

therefore Yearly and every Year during the said term and time of twenty one

Years, unto the said Honorable Company their Successrs. Agents, or Assigns

the

George Bryon Hayes and William Hayes could not sell or part with the lease or any interest in it without the permission of the Governor and Council of the day. The Governor and Council signed one copy and fixed the Company's seal to it on 18 April 1768, in the eighth year of the reign of George III. William Hayes signed the other copy twice on the same day, once for George Bryon Hayes and once for himself, and a separate seal was fixed beside each signature. [...] Bazett signed as witness.

A new lease, made at St Helena, followed. The Company let four and three quarter acres of land in the West Division to Lieutenant Solomon St Maurice. The ground was bounded on the east, west and south by St Maurice's own land and on the north by the land of Simon Whaley, a planter.

St Maurice was to hold the ground, with everything belonging to it, for 21 years from the date of the lease. The term covered him and anyone who took the ground after him by inheritance or approved transfer. St Maurice and his successors had to remain loyal to King George III and faithful to the Company, and had to obey the laws and regulations of the island.

Interpretations

William Hayes signed for his co-tenant as well as for himself, and two seals were fixed although one man made both signatures. A joint lease bound each tenant separately, so each had to seal it. The form was kept even with one of them absent. The trust leases were handled differently. One executor signed alone for seven on the Greentree lease of 5 October 1767, under a single seal, because the trustees acted as one body. Joint tenants in their own right were treated as two parties, each needing his own mark of consent.

St Maurice's new ground was shut in on three sides by land he already held, with a planter on the fourth and no waste on any boundary. His six acres of 12 October 1767 lay on the edge of the waste. This piece was therefore a gap inside or beside his estate, like the 13½ acres William Seale senior took among his neighbours on 15 December 1766.

Simon Whaley appeared here as a landholder in the West Division. His lease of 1 February 1768 gave him two small plots in the East Division, in Woody Ridge Valley and below the waterfall in Prosperous Bay Valley. A planter's holdings could thus be scattered across the island's districts, and his detached plots in the east were additions to a farm that lay elsewhere.

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the Rent of three Shillings P Acr., in, at, or upon the Feast of St. Michael

the Arch Angel Yearly, And upon condition that he the said Solomon St.

Maurice, his Heirs, Executrs. Administrs. 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, & do not, nor shall sell or dispose of this

Lease, or his, or their Interest therein without the leave and Consent of the

Governor and Council for the time being, In Witness whereof we the

said Governor and Council have to the other part set our hands and affixed

the Honorable Company's Seal this 27 day of June in the eight Year of the

Reign of our said Sovereign Lord George the Third by the grace of God

of great Britain, France and Ireland King defender of the faith &

so forth, & in the Year of our Lord 1768, and he the said Solomon St.

Maurice hath hereunto set his hand and Seal the day and Year above

written

Solm. St. Maurice

Witness

[...] Bazett

4 3/4 Acres

Lieutenant Solomon St Maurice and his successors paid the Company a rent of 3s 0d an acre each year, due on the feast of St Michael the Archangel. They had to keep the fences of the land in good repair and maintain the full quantity of wood on it. They could not sell or part with the lease or any interest in it without the permission of the Governor and Council of the day.

The Governor and Council signed one copy and fixed the Company's seal to it on 27 June 1768, in the eighth year of the reign of George III. Solomon St Maurice signed and sealed the other copy on the same day, and [...] Bazett signed as witness.

A plan of the ground was drawn beneath the signatures. It showed a long, narrow outline of irregular shape, marked as containing 4¾ acres.

Interpretations

The rent of 3s 0d an acre was a new figure in the volume. The leases until now charged 5s 0d on most ground, 2s 6d on John Desfountain's waste-edge piece of July 1766 and 1s 6d, 1s 0d or 6d on the cheapest land. St Maurice paid 1s 0d an acre on 12 October 1767 for six acres bordering the waste, and now three times that for ground enclosed by his own land and Simon Whaley's. The Council thus valued the two parts of his estate differently and placed the new piece between the rough margin and the best farmland. The rates formed a graded scale, with at least six steps in use by 1768, and each lease placed its ground on that scale.

A rent of 3s 0d an acre recurred on the later country pages, charged to Richard H. Knipe on 18½ acres under lease 274 of 1817 and on 100 acres under lease 281 of 1818. The intermediate rate was therefore kept in the Company's scale for 50 years.

The plan was the second for country land, after Benjamin Mason's of 16 November 1767. Mason's ground bordered the Company's pasture, which gave a particular reason to record its line. St Maurice's touched no Company land at all. The drawing was therefore probably owed to the shape of the piece, a long irregular strip that words could not describe. Plans also became more frequent as the volume went on, with none among the country leases of 1766, which suggested that measured surveys were coming to be entered as a matter of course.

The strip ran between St Maurice's holdings on either side. Its narrow shape and position pointed to a leftover band of ground separating two parts of his estate, which the lease joined into one.

68

65

Island St. 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 Let unto Gabriel Harper Planter All that

piece or parcel of Land containing nineteen Acres and an half situate lying and

being in the South Division of this Island and known by the name of Powells

Valley, butting and bounding, West & South upon the Honorable Company's

waste Land, East upon the Land of George Alexander Planter, and North partly

upon the Land of the aforesaid George Alexander, and partly upon the Land of

Thos. Harpers Orphans To have & to hold the said hereby Demised parcel of

Land, with the appurtenances and every part and parcel thereof, unto him the sd.

Gabriel Harper, his Heirs, Executors, Administrators & 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 he the said Gabriel Harper

his Heirs or Allowed, Assigns, do always bear true faith and allegiance to Our

Sovereign Lord King George the Third, his Heirs and Successors, and true faith

to them the said Honoble Company and their Successors, and shall duly Obey

all the Laws and Constitutions, of the said Island. Yielding and paying

therefore Yearly and every Year, during the said term & time of twenty one

Years, unto the said Honoble Company their Successors Agents or Assigns

the Rent of two Shillings P Acre, in, at, or upon the Feast of St. Michael

the Arch Angel Yearly, And upon condition that he the said Gabl. Harper

his Heirs Executors, Administrs. 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 not nor shall sell or dispose of

this Lease or his, or their Interest therein, without the Leave and Consent

of the Govr. & Council for the time being, In Witness whereof we the said

Governor & Council have to the other part set our Hands and affixed the Honble

Company's Seal this 22d. day of August, in the Eighth Year of the reign of our said

Sovereign Lord George the third by the grace of God [...] of great Britain

France and Ireland King defender of the Faith & so forth and in the Year of

Our Lord 1768, & he the said Gabl. Harper hath hereunto set his Hand & Seal

the day and Year abovewritten

Gabl. Alexander Harper

Witness

[...] Bazett

The Company let 19½ acres of land in the South Division to Gabriel Harper, a planter. The ground was known as Powell's Valley. It was bounded on the west and south by the Company's waste land, on the east by the land of George Alexander, a planter, and on the north partly by George Alexander's land and partly by the land of the orphans of Thomas Harper.

Harper was to hold the ground, with everything belonging to it, for 21 years from the date of the lease. The term covered him and anyone who took the ground after him by inheritance or approved transfer.

The lease set out the following conditions. Harper and his successors had to remain loyal to King George III and faithful to the Company, and had to obey the laws and regulations of the island. They paid the Company a rent of 2s 0d an acre each year, due on the feast of St Michael the Archangel. They had to keep the fences of the land in good repair and maintain the full quantity of wood on it. They could not sell or part with the lease or any interest in it without the permission of the Governor and Council of the day.

The Governor and Council signed one copy and fixed the Company's seal to it on 22 August 1768, in the eighth year of the reign of George III. The tenant signed and sealed the other copy on the same day as Gabriel Alexander Harper, and [...] Bazett signed as witness.

Interpretations

Harper's 2s 0d an acre added a further step to the Company's scale of rents, which now ran at 6d, 1s 0d, 1s 6d, 2s 0d, 2s 6d, 3s 0d and 5s 0d. His 19½ acres made the largest grant yet let below the full rate. The cheap leases of 1766 and 1767 were all of six and a quarter acres or less, which suggested that only small pieces were discounted. A holding of farm size at well under half the standard charge showed otherwise. The rate followed the Council's view of the ground, and a whole valley on the edge of the waste in the South Division was judged to be of middling worth.

The grants of 1768 used the intermediate rates more freely than those of the two years before. St Maurice's strip was let at 3s 0d on 27 June 1768 and Harper's valley at 2s 0d, where the leases of 1766 and 1767 fell almost entirely at 5s 0d or at 1s 6d and under. The Council was grading land more finely as it went on, perhaps because the best ground near existing farms was already taken and what remained varied more in quality.

The tenant signed with a middle name, Alexander, that the lease omitted, and his neighbour on two sides was George Alexander. A family connection between the two was probable. George Alexander was the executor of Thomas Colgrave's will under the lease of 16 February 1767, and he held land here in the South Division as a planter in his own right.

The orphans of Thomas Harper held land on part of the northern boundary. Gabriel Harper was therefore taking ground beside the estate of a dead kinsman, as James Greentree did beside Elizabeth Greentree's land at Sandy Bay. He took the lease in his own name and not as a trustee, so the new valley was his and stood apart from the orphans' inheritance.

69

66

Island St. Helena

The Lords Proprietors of the Island the Honble the

United Company of Merchants of England trading to the East Indies do hereby demise

grant Lease and to Farm Let unto Captn. Henry Bazett All that piece or parcel of

Ground containing twenty feet in Width and forty feet in Depth, situate lying and being

in James's Valley on Southwark Side, bounding East on the said Henry Bazett West

on the Honoble Company's Waste Land, South on a House now in the possession of

William Wrangham Factor, and North on a House now in the possession of John

Whitchurch Serjt, To have & to hold the said hereby demised parcel of Ground

with the appurtenances & every part and parcel thereof unto him the said Henry

Bazett, his Heirs, Executors, Administrs. & 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 he the said Henry Bazett, his Heirs or allowed

Assigns do always bear true faith and allegiance to our Sovereign Lord King

George the third his Heirs and Successors & true faith to them the said Honoble

Company and their Successors, and shall duly obey all the Laws and

Constitutions of the said Island Yielding and paying therefore Yearly and

every Year during the said term and time of twenty one Years Unto the said

Honble Company their Successors agents, or assigns the Rent of five Shillings P

Annum in, at, or upon the Feast of St. Michael the Arch Angell Yearly. And upon

condition that he the said Henry Bazett his Heirs, Executors, Administrators or

Assigns do and shall well and sufficiently keep up and maintain the said Ground

& premisses in good repair not suffering the same or any building that are or may be thereon to run to ruin

or decay & do not nor shall sell or dispose of this Lease or his or their Interest therein without the [...] &

consent of the Governor & Council for the time being, In Witness whereof

we the said Governor and Council have to the other part set our Hands &

affixed the Honble Company's Seal this 29th day of Augst. in the Eighth Year

of the reign of our, Sovereign Lord George the third by the grace of God of Great

Britain, France and Ireland, King defender of the Faith and so forth and in

the Year of our Lord 1768 and he the said Henry Bazett hath hereunto set his

Hand & Seal the day and Year abovewritten

Henr. Bazett

Witness

[...] Bazett

The Company let a plot of ground in James's Valley to Captain Henry Bazett. The plot measured 20 feet in width and 40 feet in depth and lay on the Southwark side of the valley. It was bounded on the east by Henry Bazett's own ground, on the west by the Company's waste land, on the south by a house occupied by William Wrangham, a factor, and on the north by a house occupied by John [...], a sergeant.

Henry Bazett was to hold the ground, with everything belonging to it, for 21 years from the date of the lease. The term covered him and anyone who took the ground after him by inheritance or approved transfer.

The lease set out the following conditions. Bazett and his successors had to remain loyal to King George III and faithful to the Company, and had to obey the laws and regulations of the island. They paid the Company a rent of £0 5s 0d a year, due on the feast of St Michael the Archangel. They had to keep the ground and premises in good repair and could not let them, or any building put up there, fall into ruin or decay. They could not sell or part with the lease or any interest in it without the permission of the Governor and Council of the day.

The Governor and Council signed one copy and fixed the Company's seal to it on 29 August 1768, in the eighth year of the reign of George III. Henry Bazett signed and sealed the other copy on the same day, and [...] Bazett signed as witness.

Interpretations

Henry Bazett paid £0 5s 0d for 20 feet, exactly 3d a foot. Matthew Bazett, the Secretary, paid £0 10s 0d on 16 February 1767 for a back plot about 66 feet wide, well under that rate. Both pieces were additions to ground the tenant already held, and both went to a Bazett. The captain's plot differed in fronting open waste on the west, so it had a face of its own towards the valley, where the Secretary's lay behind his yard and stable. The standard charge was thus applied where a plot had usable frontage, even a narrow one taken by an officer of the same family, and the reduction of 1767 was not repeated.

The Secretary witnessed the lease although the tenant shared his surname. He stood aside for Alexander Wright only on the leases to which he was himself a party, on 10 February 1766 and 16 February 1767. Kinship with the tenant was no bar to acting as witness.

A factor was one of the Company's commercial officers, ranking above a writer and below a merchant in its civil service. William Wrangham was styled a gentleman in his country lease of December 1766 and one of Thomas Greentree's executors on 5 October 1767. The present lease gave his office, which showed that the man who paid 1s 6d an acre for three acres from the waste was a serving Company official.

The repair clause was worded more strictly than in the town leases of 1766 and 1767. Those required the tenant to keep buildings in good repair. This one added that nothing was to be left to fall into ruin or decay. The Council was tightening the standard form, probably after finding neglected buildings on leased ground.

The plot stood between houses occupied by a factor and a sergeant, with a captain as tenant. As with Lieutenant Frost's plot of 31 August 1767, set between a sentinel and an orphan, civil officers and soldiers of different ranks lived side by side in the valley.

The lease placed the ground on a named side of James's Valley. Earlier town leases located plots only by their neighbours or by the waste, so parts of the town were coming to have recognised names by 1768.

70

67

Island St. 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 Let unto John Goodwin Writer All that piece or parcel of Land containing

five Acres situate, lying, and being in Friars Valley butting and bounding North

and South partly upon the said John Goodwin's own Land and partly upon the Land of

Onesiphorus Beales Orps. West upon the Land of William Wrangham Factor and

East upon the said John Goodwins own Land To have and to hold the

said hereby demised parcel of Land with the appurtenances and every part &

parcel thereof unto him the said John Goodwin his Heirs, Executors, Administrs. &

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 he the said

John Goodwin his Heirs or Allowed Assigns do always bear true faith and

Allegiance to our Sovereign Lord King George the Third his Heirs and Successors

and true faith to them the said Honoble Company and their Successors and shall

duly obey all the Laws and Constitutions of the said Island Yielding and

paying therefore Yearly and every during the said term and time of twenty one

Years unto the said Honble Company their Successors, Agents or Assigns the

Rent of five Shillings P Acr. in at or upon the Feast of St. Michael the Arch

Angel Yearly. And upon Condition that he the said John Goodwin his Heirs

Executors, Administrs. or Assigns do and shall well and sufficiently keep up &

maintain the Fences to the said Land & the full quantity of wood thereon & do

not nor shall sell or dispose of this Lease or his or their Interest therein without

the Leave and Consent of the Govr. & Council for the time being In Witness

whereof we the said Governor and Council have to the other part set our

Hands and affixed the Honble Compys. Seal this 29th day of August in the

Eighth Year of the reign of our said Sovereign Lord George the third by the grace

of God of Great Britain, France and Ireland, King defender of the Faith &

so forth and in the Year of our Lord 1768 and he the said John Goodwin Hath

hereunto set his Hand and Seal the day and Year abovewritten

John Goodwin

Witness

[...] Bazett

The Company let five acres of land in Friar's Valley to John Goodwin, a writer. The ground was bounded on the north and south partly by Goodwin's own land and partly by the land of the orphans of Onesiphorus Beale, on the west by the land of William Wrangham, a factor, and on the east by Goodwin's own land.

Goodwin was to hold the ground, with everything belonging to it, for 21 years from the date of the lease. The term covered him and anyone who took the ground after him by inheritance or approved transfer.

The lease set out the following conditions. Goodwin and his successors had to remain loyal to King George III and faithful to the Company, and had to obey the laws and regulations of the island. They paid the Company a rent of 5s 0d an acre each year, due on the feast of St Michael the Archangel. They had to keep the fences of the land in good repair and maintain the full quantity of wood on it. They could not sell or part with the lease or any interest in it without the permission of the Governor and Council of the day.

The Governor and Council signed one copy and fixed the Company's seal to it on 29 August 1768, in the eighth year of the reign of George III. John Goodwin signed and sealed the other copy on the same day, and [...] Bazett signed as witness.

Interpretations

A writer was the most junior grade in the Company's civil service, a clerk who copied and kept its records. John Goodwin witnessed Thomas Greentree's lease in August 1766, the only lease in the volume not attested by Bazett or Alexander Wright. He was therefore probably a clerk in the Secretary's office, and may have written out some of the leases entered here. Like the Secretary he served under, he was also a country landholder, with ground on three sides of the five acres already his.

Goodwin paid the full 5s 0d an acre. His neighbour on the west, William Wrangham, was a factor, a higher grade in the same service, and paid 1s 6d an acre for three acres in December 1766. The two pieces differed in kind, since Wrangham's stood out into the waste while Goodwin's was enclosed by occupied farms and touched no waste at all. Ground in the middle of settled land was good land, and the rent reflected that. Employment by the Company brought a junior clerk no concession on it.

The orphans of Onesiphorus Beale held land beside Goodwin here and beside John Worrall's six and a quarter acres in the West Division under the lease of 16 November 1767. One dead tenant's estate thus lay in more than one part of the island and was kept together for his children. A Richard Beale senior had a yard in James's Valley beside Matthew Bazett's plot of 16 February 1767, so the family held town ground as well.

Two leases were sealed on 29 August 1768, this one and Captain Henry Bazett's town plot, and Gabriel Harper's valley followed a week after on the record of 22 August 1768. The Council again dealt with grants in a cluster at the end of the southern winter.

71

68

Island St. Helena

The Lords Proprietors of the Island the Honble the

United Company of Merchants of England trading to the East Indies do hereby,

Demise, Grant, Lease, and to farm Let unto Ruth Colgrave Executrix & George

Alexander Executor to the last Will and Testament of Thomas Colgrave decd. All those

two pieces or parcels of Land containing fourteen Acres, twelve Acres and an half

Butting and Bounding South on the Land of George Alexander, East on the Land of

the decd. Thomas Colgrave, North and West, on the Honble Company's Waste Land, &

the other one Acre and an half called Simons Waterfall bounding East on the Land

of Orlando Bagley Junr. North, West, and South on the Honble Company's Waste

Land To have and to hold the said hereby Demised parcels of Land with the

appurtenances, and every part and parcel thereof unto them the said Ruth Colgrave

& George Alexander their Heirs, Executors, Administrators, and Assigns, In trust

nevertheless and to the use of the Children of the said Thomas Colgrave decd. 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 they the said Ruth Colgrave

and George Alexander their Heirs, Executors, Administrators, and Assigns do always

bear true faith and Allegiance to our sovereign Lord King George the Third his

Heirs and successors, and true faith to them the said Honoble Company and their

successors, and shall duly obey all the Laws & Constitutions of the said Island

Yielding and paying therefore Yearly and every Year during the said term and time

of twenty one Years unto the said Honble Compy. their Successors, Agents, or Assigns

the Rent of five shillings P Acre in at, or upon the Feast of St. Michael the Arch

Angell Yearly, And upon Condition that they the said Ruth Colgrave and George

Alexander, their Heirs, Executors, Administrators, or Assigns do and shall well &

sufficiently keep up and maintain the Fences to the said Lands and the full

quantity of Wood thereon, & do not nor shall sell or dispose of this Lease or his, or

their Interest therein without the Leave and Consent of the Governor & Council for the

time being In Witness whereof we the said Govr. & Council have to the other part set

Our Hands and affixed the Honble Company's Seal this 12th. day of September in the

Eighth Year of the Reign of our said Sovereign Lord George the Third by the Grace of

God of great Britain, France and Ireland, King defender of the Faith and so forth

and in the Year of Our Lord 1768 and they the sd. Ruth Colgrave and Geo. Alexander Hath

hereunto set their Hands and Seals the day and Year above-written

Geo. Alexander Executor

Witness

[...] Bazett

The Company let two pieces of land, 14 acres in all, to Ruth Colgrave and George Alexander, the executrix and executor of the will of Thomas Colgrave, who had died. The first piece, of 12½ acres, was bounded on the south by the land of George Alexander, on the east by the land of the dead Thomas Colgrave and on the north and west by the Company's waste land. The second piece, of one and a half acres, was called Simon's Waterfall. It was bounded on the east by the land of Orlando Bagley junior and on the north, west and south by the Company's waste land.

Ruth Colgrave and George Alexander were to hold both pieces for 21 years from the date of the lease, but only as trustees for the children of Thomas Colgrave.

The lease set out the following conditions. Ruth Colgrave and George Alexander and their successors had to remain loyal to King George III and faithful to the Company, and had to obey the laws and regulations of the island. They paid the Company a rent of 5s 0d an acre each year, due on the feast of St Michael the Archangel. They had to keep the fences of the land in good repair and maintain the full quantity of wood on it. They could not sell or part with the lease or any interest in it without the permission of the Governor and Council of the day.

The Governor and Council signed one copy and fixed the Company's seal to it on 12 September 1768, in the eighth year of the reign of George III. The other copy was to be signed and sealed by both trustees on the same day. George Alexander signed it as executor, and [...] Bazett signed as witness.

Interpretations

The duty of loyalty and obedience was laid on the trustees in this lease. In the first Colgrave trust of 16 February 1767 it fell on the children, as it did in the Greentree, Doveton and Twaits trusts of 1767. The trustees there answered only for the fences, the wood and the ban on selling. The change put every condition on the two adults who signed and controlled the land. A promise of loyalty made in the name of young children could not be enforced against them, and a breach by those actually working the farm would have escaped the clause. The Council thus corrected a weakness in the form it had been using for a year and a half, making the trustees answerable for the whole lease.

This was the second grant to the Colgrave estate. The lease of 16 February 1767 gave 15 acres at the head of Deep Valley, and the present one added 14 more. A dead planter's children thus gained 29 acres of new ground within 19 months, all at the full rent of 5s 0d an acre. The executors were building up the inheritance on a scale no other estate in the volume matched.

George Alexander's own land bounded the 12½ acres on the south. He was a trustee for the Colgrave children and their neighbour, in the same position as James Greentree with the Twaits orphans on 30 November 1767. Gabriel Harper's lease of 22 August 1768 described Alexander as a planter with land in the South Division, so his holdings and the Colgrave estate lay in separate districts as well as side by side here.

The smaller piece bore the name Simon's Waterfall. Simon Whaley took an acre below the waterfall in Prosperous Bay Valley on 1 February 1768, also surrounded by waste. The plot beside it may have taken its name from him. Orlando Bagley junior, the neighbour on the east, held the land around William Seale senior's 13½ acres in Deep Valley under the lease of 15 December 1766.

72

69

Island St. 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 Let, unto John Alexander Planter. All that piece or Parcel of Land

containing forty Acres, situate, lying and being in the West Division of the said

Island, butting and bounding West upon the Honble Compys. Waste Land, East

North and South upon the Land of the said John Alexander To have and to

hold the said hereby Demised parcel of Land with the appurtenances and every

part and parcel thereof unto him the said John Alexander his Heirs, Executors

Administrs. and 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 he the sd. John Alexander his Heirs or Allowed Assigns do always bear true faith &

Allegiance to our sovereign Lord King George the Third his Heirs and Successors &

true faith to them the said Honble Company and their Successors, and shall duly

obey all the Laws and Constitutions of the said Island, Yielding and paying

therefore Yearly and every Year during the term of fourteen Years unto the said

Honble Company their Successors, Agents or Assigns the Rent of two shillings & six

pence P Acre, and for the remaining seven Years five shillings P Acre in, at or upon the

Feast of St. Michael the Arch Angel Yearly. And upon Condition that he the said

John Alexander his Heirs, Executors, Administrators or Assigns do and shall well &

sufficiently keep up and maintain the Fences to the said Land and the full quantity

of Wood thereon and do not, nor shall sell or dispose of this Lease or his or their

Interest therein, without the leave and Consent of the Governor and Council for

the time being, In Witness whereof we the said Governor & Council have to

the other part set our Hands and affixed the Honble Company's Seal this 12th. day of

Septr. in the Eighth Year of the reign of our said sovereign Lord George the third

by the grace of God of Great Britain France and Ireland King defender of the

faith and so forth, and in the Year of our Lord 1768 and he the said John Alexander

have hereunto set his Hand and Seal the day and Year abovewritten

John Alexander

Witness

[...] Bazett

The Company let 40 acres of land in the West Division to John Alexander, a planter. The ground was bounded on the west by the Company's waste land and on the east, north and south by Alexander's own land.

Alexander was to hold the ground, with everything belonging to it, for 21 years from the date of the lease. The term covered him and anyone who took the ground after him by inheritance or approved transfer.

The lease set out the following conditions. Alexander and his successors had to remain loyal to King George III and faithful to the Company, and had to obey the laws and regulations of the island. They paid the Company a rent of 2s 6d an acre each year for the first 14 years and 5s 0d an acre each year for the remaining seven, due on the feast of St Michael the Archangel. They had to keep the fences of the land in good repair and maintain the full quantity of wood on it. They could not sell or part with the lease or any interest in it without the permission of the Governor and Council of the day.

The Governor and Council signed one copy and fixed the Company's seal to it on 12 September 1768, in the eighth year of the reign of George III. John Alexander signed and sealed the other copy on the same day, and [...] Bazett signed as witness.

Interpretations

Alexander's rent rose during the term, from 2s 6d an acre for 14 years to 5s 0d for the last seven. Every earlier lease in the volume fixed one rate for the whole 21 years. Where the Council judged ground to be worth less than the standard, it had simply charged less throughout, as with John Desfountain's seven and three quarter acres at a flat 2s 6d in July 1766. The stepped rent took a different view of the same kind of land. It treated the low value as temporary, the condition of ground not yet brought into use, and allowed the tenant two thirds of his term at half rate to clear, fence and stock it. Once the land was in working order the Company took the full rent. The arrangement gave a planter the means to take on a large tract without paying in full for acres that yielded nothing at first, while ensuring that the benefit of his improvements reached the Company before the lease ran out.

The 40 acres made the largest grant in the volume, exceeding James Greentree's 37 acres at Sandy Bay on 16 February 1767. The size of the grant probably prompted the new device. A flat 5s 0d an acre on 40 acres of unimproved ground was a heavy charge from the first year, and a flat 2s 6d for 21 years gave away half the rent of a holding that would be a full farm long before the term ended.

The ground lay between Alexander's own land on three sides and the waste on the fourth. He was therefore an established planter in the West Division extending his estate westward. George Alexander, the Colgrave executor, held land in the South Division, and Gabriel Harper signed with Alexander as a middle name on 22 August 1768, so the family was spread across several districts.

This lease and the second Colgrave trust were both sealed on 12 September 1768. Each contained a change to the standard form, the trustees' liability in one and the rising rent in the other. The Council was revising its leases in that month, not merely repeating them.

73

70

Island St. 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 let unto Thos. Harper of the said Island All that

piece or parcel of Ground situate lying & being above the old Burying Ground in James's

Valley containing forty feet in Depth and sixty feet in Front or width, with all and

singular the appurtenances thereunto belonging To have and to hold the said

hereby Demised piece of Ground with the appurtenances and every part and parcel

thereof unto him the said Thos. Harper his Heirs Executrs. Administrs. and Assigns

from the day of the date hereof for and during all the space & term of twenty one Years

from thence next ensuing upon condition that he the said Thos. Harper his Heirs

or allowed Assigns do always bear true faith and allegiance to our Sovereign Lord

King George the Third his Heirs & Successors, & true faith to them the said Honble

Company & their Successors and shall duly Obey all the Laws & Constitutions of

the said Island Yielding & paying therefore Yearly and every Year during the said

term and time of twenty one Years unto the said Honble Company their Successors Agents

or Assigns the Rent of ten shillings P Ann, in at or upon the feast of St. Michael

the Arch Angel Yearly, And upon condition that he the said Thos. Harper his Heirs

Executrs. Administrs. or Assigns do and shall well and sufficiently keep in good repair all

such Houses or Buildings that are or may be hereafter built or Erected upon the said

Ground or any part thereof, & do not nor shall sell or dispose of this Lease or his or their

Interest therein without the leave & Consent of the Governor & Council for the time being

In Witness whereof we the said Governor & Council have [...] to the other part set our

hands & Affixed the Honble Company's Seal this 5 day of December in the ninth Year

of the Reign of our said Sovereign Lord George the Third by the grace of God of great

Britain France & Ireland King Defender of the faith and so forth, & in the Year of

our Lord 1768, and he the said Thos. Harper hath hereunto set his hand & Seal the

Day and Year abovewritten

Thos. Harper

Witness hereto

[...] Bazett

The Company let a plot of ground in James's Valley to Thomas Harper of the island. The plot lay above the old burying ground and measured 60 feet across the front and 40 feet in depth.

Harper was to hold the ground, with everything belonging to it, for 21 years from the date of the lease. The term covered him and anyone who took the ground after him by inheritance or approved transfer.

The lease set out the following conditions. Harper and his successors had to remain loyal to King George III and faithful to the Company, and had to obey the laws and regulations of the island. They paid the Company a rent of £0 10s 0d a year, due on the feast of St Michael the Archangel. They had to keep in good repair every house or building standing on the ground or put up there later. They could not sell or part with the lease or any interest in it without the permission of the Governor and Council of the day.

The Governor and Council signed one copy and fixed the Company's seal to it on 5 December 1768, in the ninth year of the reign of George III. Thomas Harper signed and sealed the other copy on the same day, and [...] Bazett signed as witness.

Interpretations

Harper paid £0 10s 0d for 60 feet of frontage, or 2d a foot. George Bird on 12 January 1767 and Lieutenant Michael Frost on 31 August 1767 each paid £0 15s 0d for the same frontage, at the standard 3d. Harper's plot was a full building plot with its own front, unlike the narrow strips and back ground let cheaply to Robinson, Ballard and Matthew Bazett. It differed from Bird's and Frost's in two ways. It was only 40 feet deep against their 55 and 75 feet, and it lay above the old burying ground, up the valley from the houses. Either a shallow plot or a position beside a graveyard at the far end of the town could account for a third off the usual rent. The lease showed that the rate of 3d a foot, applied without variation to ordinary plots in 1766 and 1767, could be lowered for a full frontage where the site was inferior.

The burying ground was described as old, which implied that it was no longer the place of burial in use. The plot above it showed building reaching beyond a part of the valley that once lay at the edge of the settlement.

The orphans of a Thomas Harper held land in the South Division beside Gabriel Harper's valley under the lease of 22 August 1768. The tenant here was alive, so two men of the name were known on the island, perhaps a father who had died and a son. The lease gave this Thomas Harper no occupation or rank, describing him only as of the island.

The repair clause returned to the plain wording of 1766 and 1767. Captain Henry Bazett's lease of 29 August 1768 added that nothing was to be left to fall into ruin or decay. The stricter wording was therefore not carried into every later town lease, and the clerk drew on more than one version of the form.

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71

Island St 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 Let Unto John Worrall Executor

to the last Will and Testament of James Torbett Deceased. All that piece or

parcel of Ground containing twenty one feet in front, eighty feet in depth, and

fifty feet in back, situate in James's Valley, butting and bounding South East and

North on the said James Torbetts Orphans own Land and West on the Water course

together with all and singular the Appurtenances thereunto belonging To have

and to hold the said hereby Demised piece of Ground with the Appurtenances

and every part and parcel thereof unto him the said John Worrall, his Heirs

Executors Administrators and Assigns. In trust nevertheless and to the use of the

Children of the said James Torbett 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 he the said John Worrall his Heirs or allowed Assigns do always

bear true faith and Allegiance to our Sovereign Lord King George the third 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, Yielding and paying therefore Yearly and every Year during the said

term and time of twenty one Years unto the said Honble Company their Successors

Agents or Assigns the Rent of twelve Shillings P Annum in or upon the feast of St.

Michael the Arch Angel Yearly, And upon condition that he the said John

Worrall his Heirs, Executors, Administrators or Assigns do and shall well and

sufficiently keep in good repair all such Houses or Buildings that are or may be

hereafter built or erected upon the said Ground or any part thereof, and do not

nor shall sell or dispose of this Lease or his or their Interest therein without the Leave and consent of the

Governor and Council for the time being In Witness whereof we the said Governor

and Council have to the Other part set our Hands and Affixed the Honorable

Company's Seal this 5th day of December in the ninth Year of the Reign of our said sovereign

Lord George the third by the grace of God of Great Britain France and Ireland

King Defender of the Faith and so forth and in the of our Lord 1768 and He the

said John Worrall as Executor aforesaid hath hereunto set his Hand and Seal

the day and Year abovewritten

John Worrall Executor

Witness hereto

[...] Bazett

The Company let a plot of ground in James's Valley to John Worrall, as executor of the will of James Torbett, who had died. The plot measured 21 feet across the front, 80 feet in depth and 50 feet across the back. It was bounded on the south, east and north by land belonging to James Torbett's orphans and on the west by the watercourse.

Worrall was to hold the ground for 21 years from the date of the lease, but only as trustee for the children of James Torbett.

The lease set out the following conditions. Worrall and his successors had to remain loyal to King George III and faithful to the Company, and had to obey the laws and regulations of the island. They paid the Company a rent of £0 12s 0d a year, due on the feast of St Michael the Archangel. They had to keep in good repair every house or building standing on the ground or put up there later. They could not sell or part with the lease or any interest in it without the permission of the Governor and Council of the day.

The Governor and Council signed one copy and fixed the Company's seal to it on 5 December 1768, in the ninth year of the reign of George III. John Worrall signed and sealed the other copy as executor on the same day, and [...] Bazett signed as witness.

Interpretations

This was the first trust lease for ground in the town. The Colgrave, Greentree, Doveton and Twaits trusts all concerned farmland. The Torbett orphans already held the land on three sides of the plot, and their father's executor now took the remaining wedge down to the watercourse for them. The lease placed the duty of loyalty and every other condition on Worrall as trustee. That followed the revised form introduced in the second Colgrave trust of 12 September 1768, where liability moved from the children to the adults in control. The change was therefore a settled practice by December and applied to town and country trusts alike.

The plot was a wedge, 21 feet wide at one end and 50 feet at the other. At 3d a foot the narrow front called for £0 5s 3d and the wide back for £0 12s 6d. The rent of £0 12s 0d sat close to the higher figure. The Council thus charged the ground nearly as if its full width were frontage, and did not let a narrow face reduce the rent of a plot that opened out behind. John Robinson paid only £0 3s 0d on 2 March 1767 for a strip 65 feet long beside the same watercourse, but that strip was 15 feet wide throughout and could carry no building. The Torbett wedge was 80 feet deep and broad enough at the back for a house, and it was priced as building ground.

The Torbett family became prominent among the tenants of Jamestown in the following generation. John Torbett bought plots from Government in 1799 and 1801 and took Hunter's lease of 1792, appearing in the chains of title to leases 125, 126, 132 and 141. James Torbett held lease 160 and Mrs Margaret Torbett lease 175. The orphans whose town property was being rounded out in 1768 were probably the same people, or their close kin, who later dealt in building plots on a large scale.

John Worrall acted here as executor for a townsman, while holding farms of his own in the East and West Divisions. Like James Greentree at Sandy Bay, a planter of standing was entrusted with a dead man's estate and dealt with the Council on the children's behalf.

Two town leases were sealed on 5 December 1768, this one and Thomas Harper's plot above the old burying ground.

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72

Island St. 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 Let unto Lieut.

Solomon St. Maurice of the said Island All that piece or parcel of Ground

situate lying & being in James's Valley adjoining to the House of the said

Solomon St. Maurice, containing sixty feet in Width and sixteen feet in

depth with all & singular the appurtenances thereunto belonging To have and to

hold the said hereby Demised piece of Ground with the appurtenances & every part

and parcel thereof unto him the said Solomon St. Maurice his Heirs Executrs.

Administrs. & Assigns from the day of the date hereof for and during all the space

& Term of twenty one Years from thence next ensuing upon condition that he

the said Solomon St. Maurice his Heirs or allowed Assigns do always bear true

faith & Allegiance to our Sovereign Lord King George the Third his Heirs &

Successors and true faith to them the said Honble Company & their Successors &

shall duly Obey all the Laws & Constitutions of the said Island Yielding and

paying therefore Yearly and every Year during the said term & time of twenty

one Years unto the said Honble Company their Successors Agents or Assigns

the Rent of five shillings P Ann, in at or upon the Feast of St. Michael

the Arch Angel Yearly And upon condition that he the said Solomon St.

Maurice his Heirs, Executrs. Administrs. or Assigns do and shall well and

sufficiently keep in good repair all such Houses or Building that are or may

hereafter be built or erected upon the said Ground or any part thereof & do not nor

shall sell or dispose of this Lease or his or their Interest therein without the

leave & consent of the Governor & Council for the time being In Witness

whereof we the said Governor and Council have to the other part set our

hands and affixed the Honble Company's Seal this 19th day of December

in the ninth Year of the Reign of our said Sovereign Lord George the Third

by the Grace of God of great Britain France and Ireland King Defender of

the faith and so forth & in the Year of our Lord 1768 & he the said Solomon

St. Maurice hath hereunto set his hand and Seal the day and Year

abovewritten

Soln. St. Maurice

Witness

[...] Bazett

The Company let a strip of ground in James's Valley to Lieutenant Solomon St Maurice of the island. The strip adjoined St Maurice's house and measured 60 feet in width and 16 feet in depth.

St Maurice was to hold the ground, with everything belonging to it, for 21 years from the date of the lease. The term covered him and anyone who took the ground after him by inheritance or approved transfer.

The lease set out the following conditions. St Maurice and his successors had to remain loyal to King George III and faithful to the Company, and had to obey the laws and regulations of the island. They paid the Company a rent of £0 5s 0d a year, due on the feast of St Michael the Archangel. They had to keep in good repair every house or building standing on the ground or put up there later. They could not sell or part with the lease or any interest in it without the permission of the Governor and Council of the day.

The Governor and Council signed one copy and fixed the Company's seal to it on 19 December 1768, in the ninth year of the reign of George III. Solomon St Maurice signed and sealed the other copy on the same day, and [...] Bazett signed as witness.

Interpretations

Three strips of almost the same size were now let beside town houses at three different rents. John Robinson paid £0 3s 0d on 2 March 1767 for 65 feet by 15 feet along the watercourse. Robert Ballard paid £0 8s 0d on 12 October 1767 for 74 feet by 14 feet behind his house. St Maurice paid £0 5s 0d for 60 feet by 16 feet adjoining his. None matched 3d a foot on the long side, which called for between £0 15s 0d and £0 18s 6d. The Council thus treated a strip some 15 feet deep as worth far less than a building plot, and set each rent by judgement somewhere between a fifth and a half of the frontage rate. The measurements alone did not explain the spread, so the position of each strip against its house and its neighbours evidently decided the figure.

This was St Maurice's fourth lease in the volume. He took six acres on the edge of the waste in the West Division on 12 October 1767 and a further four and three quarter acres there on 27 June 1768. The first of those lay behind his dwelling house, so he lived on his country land. The present lease showed that he also had a house in James's Valley. An officer of the garrison thus kept a farm with a house in the country and a second house in the town, as the Secretary and the planters Robinson and Ballard did.

The repair clause again followed the plain wording of 1766 and 1767, as in the two leases of 5 December 1768. The stricter form used for Captain Henry Bazett on 29 August 1768, forbidding buildings to fall into ruin or decay, remained an isolated instance.

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73

Island St. Helena

The Lords Proprietors of this Island the Honorable

the United Company of Merchants of England trading to the East Indies Do hereby Demise

Grant Lease & to Farm Let unto Lieut. Saml. Desfountain. All that piece or parcel of

Ground situate behind and adjoining to the said Saml. Desfountains House in James's

Valley containing in depth on the South part forty feet on the North part thirty eight

feet in breadth on the East part nine feet, & on the West part eleven feet with the

appurtenances To have and to hold unto the said Samuel Desfountain his Heirs

Executors Administrs. and Assigns from the day of the date hereof for & during the term of

twenty one Years from thence next ensuing Yielding and paying therefore Yearly &

every Year during the said term unto the said Honble Company their Successors Agents

or Assigns the Rent of five shillings P Ann. at or upon the feast of St. Michael

the Arch Angel Yearly upon condition that he the said Saml. Desfountain his

Heirs or allowed Assigns do always bear true faith & Allegiance to our Sovereign Lord

King George the Third his Heirs & Successors & true Faith to them the said Honorable

Company and their Successors and shall duly Obey all the Laws and Constitutions

of the said Island And upon condition that he the said Samuel Desfountain

his Heirs, Executrs. Administrs. or Assigns do and shall well & sufficiently keep in

good repair all such Houses or Buildings that are or may hereafter be built or

erected upon the said Ground or any part thereof, and do not nor shall sell or

dispose of this Lease or his or their Interest therein without the leave and Consent of

the Governor & Council for the time being In Witness whereof we the said Governor

& Council have to the other part set our hands and Affixed the Honorable Compys.

Seal this 19 day of Decemr. in the ninth Year of the Reign of our said Sovereign

Lord George the Third by the grace of God of Great Britain France & Ireland King

Defender of the faith and so forth & in the Year of our Lord 1768 and he the said

Samuel Desfountain hath hereunto set his hand & Seal the day and Year

abovewritten

Saml Desfountain

Witness

[...] Bazett

The Company let a small piece of ground in James's Valley to Lieutenant Samuel Desfountain. The ground lay behind his house and adjoined it. It measured 40 feet in depth on the south side and 38 feet on the north, and nine feet in breadth at the east end and 11 feet at the west.

Desfountain was to hold the ground, with everything belonging to it, for 21 years from the date of the lease. The term covered him and anyone who took the ground after him by inheritance or approved transfer.

The lease set out the following conditions. Desfountain and his successors paid the Company a rent of £0 5s 0d a year, due on the feast of St Michael the Archangel. They had to remain loyal to King George III and faithful to the Company, and had to obey the laws and regulations of the island. They had to keep in good repair every house or building standing on the ground or put up there later. They could not sell or part with the lease or any interest in it without the permission of the Governor and Council of the day.

The Governor and Council signed one copy and fixed the Company's seal to it on 19 December 1768, in the ninth year of the reign of George III. Samuel Desfountain signed and sealed the other copy on the same day, and [...] Bazett signed as witness.

Interpretations

Desfountain paid £0 5s 0d for a piece about 40 feet by 10 feet. Lieutenant Solomon St Maurice paid the same sum on the same day, 19 December 1768, for a strip 60 feet by 16 feet, well over twice the area. Captain Henry Bazett also paid £0 5s 0d on 29 August 1768 for 20 feet by 40 feet. Three additions to officers' houses, all of different sizes, thus carried one identical rent within four months. The earlier strips let to Robinson and Ballard in 1767 were priced individually at £0 3s 0d and £0 8s 0d. By late 1768 the Council appeared to have settled on a flat charge of £0 5s 0d for a small piece of ground added to an existing house, whatever its exact measurements. A fixed fee spared the Council from valuing each scrap of land separately, at the cost of charging the smallest piece as much as the largest.

The ground was measured on all four sides because no two were equal, as with Matthew Bazett's plot of 16 February 1767. No plan was entered this time. A piece so small, tucked behind the tenant's own house, could hardly be confused with any other ground.

The lease placed the rent before the clause on loyalty, reversing the order used in every earlier lease. The substance was unchanged. The clerk was evidently writing the form from memory or from a different copy, which fitted the variations already seen in the wording of the repair clause.

Samuel Desfountain was a lieutenant. John Desfountain senior took 23¾ acres as a planter in July 1766, and the orphans of Joseph Desfountain held land beside the Worralls. The family thus included planters and a garrison officer, and held ground in both the country and the town.

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74

Island St. 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 Lieut. Thos. Leech

All that

piece or parcel of Ground situate lying & being in James's Valley butting and bounding

East, West, & South upon the Honble Company's Waste Land, & North upon the

House now in possession of Henry Harper containing sixty feet in Front, & sixty

feet in Depth with the appurtenances To have and to hold unto the said Thomas

Leech his Heirs, Executors, Administrators and 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 he the said Thos. Leech his Heirs or allowed Assigns Do

always bear true faith & allegiance to our Sovereign Lord King George the Third his

Heirs & Successors and true faith to them the said Honble Company & their Successors

and shall duly Obey all the Laws & Constitutions of the said Island Yielding &

paying therefore Yearly and every Year during the said term & time of twenty one Years

unto the said Honble Company their Successors Agents or Assigns the Rent of

twelve shillings P Ann, in at or upon the feast of St. Michael the Arch Angel Yearly and

upon condition that he the said Thos. Leech his Heirs, Executors, Administrs. or Assigns

do and shall well & sufficiently keep in good repair all such Houses or Buildings that

are or may hereafter be built or erected upon the said Ground or any part thereof, & do

not nor shall sell or dispose of this Lease or his or their Interest therein without the

leave & Consent of the Governor & Council for the time being In Witness whereof we

the said Governor and Council have to the other part set our hands & Affixed the

Honble Company's Seal this 9th day of January in the ninth Year of the Reign of

our said Sovereign Lord George the Third by the grace of God of great Britain

France & Ireland King Defender of the faith and so forth, and in the Year of our

Lord 1769 and he the said Thos. Leech hath hereunto

set his hand and Seal the day & Year abovewritten

Thos. Leech

Witness

[...] Bazett

The Company let a plot of ground in James's Valley to Lieutenant Thomas Leech. The plot measured 60 feet across the front and 60 feet in depth. It was bounded on the east, west and south by the Company's waste land and on the north by the house occupied by Henry Harper.

Leech was to hold the ground, with everything belonging to it, for 21 years from the date of the lease. The term covered him and anyone who took the ground after him by inheritance or approved transfer.

The lease set out the following conditions. Leech and his successors had to remain loyal to King George III and faithful to the Company, and had to obey the laws and regulations of the island. They paid the Company a rent of £0 12s 0d a year, due on the feast of St Michael the Archangel. They had to keep in good repair every house or building standing on the ground or put up there later. They could not sell or part with the lease or any interest in it without the permission of the Governor and Council of the day.

The Governor and Council signed one copy and fixed the Company's seal to it on 9 January 1769, in the ninth year of the reign of George III. Thomas Leech signed and sealed the other copy on the same day, and [...] Bazett signed as witness.

Interpretations

Leech paid £0 12s 0d for 60 feet of frontage, a little under 2½d a foot. Thomas Harper paid £0 10s 0d for the same frontage on 5 December 1768, or 2d a foot. George Bird and Lieutenant Michael Frost each paid £0 15s 0d for 60 feet in 1767, at the full 3d. Two full building plots in succession were thus let below the rate that applied without exception two years earlier, and at two different figures. Leech's plot was 60 feet deep, more than Bird's 55 feet, so shallow depth could not explain his reduction as it might Harper's 40 feet. Both of the cheaper plots lay at the edge of the built ground, Harper's above the old burying ground and Leech's with waste on three sides. The Council had evidently begun to price town plots by position as it priced country land by quality, and the single rate of 3d a foot no longer held for sites on the fringe of the town.

A line of pen strokes filled the space after the tenant's name and again after it near the end of the lease. The clerk left room for more wording than was needed, perhaps a second tenant or a fuller description of the first, and then ruled the gap through. Filling an unused space in that way prevented anything being added to a sealed lease afterwards.

The Leech family held land on the island for generations. A Robert Leech was the first tenant of the ground under Jamestown lease 140, dated 1782, and Robert Leech Esquire held seven acres under country lease 256 of 1813. The estate of George Leech took country lease 302 in 1823.

Henry Harper occupied the house on the north. With Gabriel Harper in the South Division and Thomas Harper above the old burying ground, three men of the name held or occupied property under leases entered within five months.

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75

Island St. Helena

The Lords Proprietors of this Island the Honorable the

United Company of Merchants of England trading to the East Indies Do hereby

Demise, Grant, Lease & to Farm Let unto Lieut. Jno. Shirley All that piece or

parcel of Ground situate lying and being in James's Valley, butting & bounding, North

East & West upon the Honble Company's Waste Land, & South upon the House

of William Hayes Publican containing in Front forty three feet & in depth sixty

feet with the appurtenances To have and to hold unto the said John Shirley

his Heirs Executrs. Administrs. & Assigns from the day of the date hereof for &

during all the space & term of twenty one Years from thence next ensuing upon

condition that he the said John Shirley his Heirs or allowed Assigns Do

always bear true faith & Allegiance to our Sovereign Lord King George the Third

his Heirs & Successors and true faith to them the said Honble Company & their

Successors, & shall duly obey all the Laws & Constitutions of the said Island

Yielding and paying therefore Yearly and every Year during the said term and time of

twenty one Years unto the said Honble Company their Successors Agents or Assigns

the Rent of Ten shillings P Ann, at or upon the Feast of St. Michael the Arch

Angel Yearly, And upon condition that he the said John Shirley his Heirs

Executrs. Administrs. or Assigns do and shall well and sufficiently keep in good repair

all such Houses or buildings that are or may hereafter be built or erected upon the

said Ground or any part thereof & do not nor shall sell or dispose of this Lease or

his or their Interest therein without the leave & Consent of the Governor & Council

for the time being In Witness whereof we the said Governor & Council have to the

other part set our hands and Affixed the Honble Company's Seal this 9 day

of January in the ninth Year of the Reign of our said Sovereign Lord George

the Third by the grace of God of Great Britain France & Ireland King

Defender of the faith and so forth, & in the Year of our Lord 1769 and he the

said John Shirley hath hereunto set his hand and Seal the day and Year

abovewritten

John Shirley

Witness

[...] Bazett

The Company let a plot of ground in James's Valley to Lieutenant John Shirley. The plot measured 43 feet across the front and 60 feet in depth. It was bounded on the north, east and west by the Company's waste land and on the south by the house of William Hayes, a publican.

Shirley was to hold the ground, with everything belonging to it, for 21 years from the date of the lease. The term covered him and anyone who took the ground after him by inheritance or approved transfer.

The lease set out the following conditions. Shirley and his successors had to remain loyal to King George III and faithful to the Company, and had to obey the laws and regulations of the island. They paid the Company a rent of £0 10s 0d a year, due on the feast of St Michael the Archangel. They had to keep in good repair every house or building standing on the ground or put up there later. They could not sell or part with the lease or any interest in it without the permission of the Governor and Council of the day.

The Governor and Council signed one copy and fixed the Company's seal to it on 9 January 1769, in the ninth year of the reign of George III. John Shirley signed and sealed the other copy on the same day, and [...] Bazett signed as witness.

Interpretations

Shirley and Lieutenant Thomas Leech took plots on the same day, 9 January 1769, each 60 feet deep, each with waste on three sides and a house on the fourth. Leech paid £0 12s 0d for 60 feet of frontage and Shirley £0 10s 0d for 43 feet. Shirley's rent came to a little under 3d a foot and Leech's to a little under 2½d. Two officers taking matching ground at one sitting were thus charged at different rates by the foot. Both rents were round sums, as were Thomas Harper's £0 10s 0d on 5 December 1768 and the flat £0 5s 0d charged on three house additions in late 1768. The exact reckoning of 1766 and 1767, when every plot paid 3d for each foot of its front, had given way to rents fixed in convenient figures by judgement. The rate by the foot survived as a rough guide and no longer as a rule.

Four leases of town ground went to lieutenants within three weeks, St Maurice and Samuel Desfountain on 19 December 1768 and Leech and Shirley on 9 January 1769. The first two enlarged houses the officers already had, and the second two were new building plots on open ground. The garrison's officers were evidently establishing themselves as householders in the valley in that season, on ground beside tradesmen and publicans.

William Hayes kept a public house on the south side of the plot. A William Hayes, planter, took four acres in the East Division jointly with George Bryon Hayes on 18 April 1768. If the two were the same man, he farmed in the country and sold drink in the town, as the planters Robinson and Ballard kept town houses beside their farms.

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76

Island St. 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 John Preston Masons Mate All that

piece or parcel of Ground situate, lying and being in James's Valley, butting &

bounding, East, West, & South, upon the Honoble Company's Waste Land &

North upon the House of Lieut. Solomon St. Maurice, containing sixty feet in

Front, and sixty feet in Depth, To have and to hold the said hereby Demised

Piece or Parcel of Ground and premises with the appurtenances & every part

and parcel thereof unto him the said Jno. Preston his Heirs, Executrs. Administrs.

& Assigns from the day of the date hereof for and during all the space &

term of twenty one Years from thence next ensuing, upon Condition that

he the said John Preston his Heirs or Allowed Assigns do always bear true

faith and Allegiance to Our Sovereign Lord King George the third, his Heirs &

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 Yielding

and paying therefore Yearly and every Year during the said term and time of

twenty one Years unto the said Honble Company their Successors, Agents or

Assigns the Rent of fifteen Shillings P Ann. at, or upon the Feast of St. Michael

the Arch Angel Yearly And upon Condition that he the said John Preston his

Heirs Executrs. Administrs. or Assigns do and shall well and sufficiently keep in

good repair all such Houses or buildings that are or may hereafter be

Built or Erected upon the said Ground or any part thereof, and do not

nor shall sell or dispose of this Lease or his or their Interest therein

without the Leave and Consent of the Governor and Council for the time being

In Witness whereof we the said Governor, & Council have to the other part set our

Hands and Affixed the Honoble Company's Seal this 30 day of January in

the ninth Year of the Reign of our said Sovereign Lord George the third by the

grace of God of great Britain, France, & Ireland King defender of the Faith

and so forth, and in the Year of our Lord 1769, and he the said John Preston

hath hereunto set his Hand and Seal the day and Year abovewritten

John Preston

Witness

[...] Bazett

The Company let a plot of ground in James's Valley to John Preston, a mason's mate. The plot measured 60 feet across the front and 60 feet in depth. It was bounded on the east, west and south by the Company's waste land and on the north by the house of Lieutenant Solomon St Maurice.

Preston was to hold the ground, with everything belonging to it, for 21 years from the date of the lease. The term covered him and anyone who took the ground after him by inheritance or approved transfer.

The lease set out the following conditions. Preston and his successors had to remain loyal to King George III and faithful to the Company, and had to obey the laws and regulations of the island. They paid the Company a rent of £0 15s 0d a year, due on the feast of St Michael the Archangel. They had to keep in good repair every house or building standing on the ground or put up there later. They could not sell or part with the lease or any interest in it without the permission of the Governor and Council of the day.

The Governor and Council signed one copy and fixed the Company's seal to it on 30 January 1769, in the ninth year of the reign of George III. John Preston signed and sealed the other copy on the same day, and [...] Bazett signed as witness.

Interpretations

Preston's plot matched Lieutenant Thomas Leech's of 9 January 1769 in every recorded respect. Each was 60 feet by 60 feet, with the Company's waste on the east, west and south and an occupied house on the north. Leech paid £0 12s 0d and Preston, three weeks later, paid £0 15s 0d. The difference could not be traced to size, depth or setting, since the leases described the two pieces of ground in the same terms. The officer paid a fifth less than the workman. The reductions in town rents that began in December 1768 thus did not reach a mason's mate, who was charged the full 3d a foot of 1766 and 1767. Among the country leases the evidence for favour by rank was mixed. Here the comparison was as close as the record allowed, and it told against equal treatment.

A mason's mate was an assistant to a mason, a skilled labourer in the building trade and probably employed on the Company's works. Preston signed his own name, unlike John Price, the jailer, and Gabriel Isaacke, the planter, who made marks. A working man of modest station could thus write, take a lease of 60 feet of town ground and undertake to build on it.

Preston's neighbour on the north was Lieutenant St Maurice, who added a strip to that house on 19 December 1768. A mason's mate and an officer were to live side by side, as the sentinel and the orphan did beside Lieutenant Frost's plot of 31 August 1767. The valley was not divided by rank in where people built, even if the rents they paid for like ground were not the same.

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77

Island St. 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 let unto Richard Bagley Planter All that piece or parcel of Land

Containing thirty Acres situate in Swanley Valley butting on the North, South &

East upon the Honoble Company's Waste Land and West upon the said Richd. Bagleys

own Land To have and to hold the said hereby Demised parcel of Land with the

appurtenances and every part and parcel thereof unto him the said Richard Bagley

his Heirs, Executors, Administrs. & 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 he the said Richard Bagley his Heirs or Allowed Assigns do always

bear true faith and Allegiance to our Sovereign Lord King George the Third 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

Yielding and paying therefore Yearly and every Year, during the said term and time

of twenty one Years unto the said Honoble Company their Successors Agents

or Assigns the Rent of five Shillings P Acre, at or upon the Feast of St. Michael

the Arch Angell Yearly And upon Condition that he the said Richard Bagley

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 not nor shall sell or dispose of this

Lease or his or their Interest therein without the Leave and Consent of the Govr.

& Council for the time being In Witness whereof we the said Governor & Council

have to the other part set our Hands and Affixed the Honoble Compys. Seal

this 19th. day of February in the ninth Year of the Reign of our said Sovereign

Lord George the Third by the Grace of God of great Britain France and

Ireland King defender of the faith and so forth and in the Year of our Lord

1769 and he the said Richard Bagley hath hereunto set His Hand &

Seal the day and Year above written

Richd Bagley

Witness

[...] Bazett

The Company let 30 acres of land in Swanley Valley to Richard Bagley, a planter. The ground was bounded on the north, south and east by the Company's waste land and on the west by Bagley's own land.

Bagley was to hold the ground, with everything belonging to it, for 21 years from the date of the lease. The term covered him and anyone who took the ground after him by inheritance or approved transfer.

The lease set out the following conditions. Bagley and his successors had to remain loyal to King George III and faithful to the Company, and had to obey the laws and regulations of the island. They paid the Company a rent of 5s 0d an acre each year, due on the feast of St Michael the Archangel. They had to keep the fences of the land in good repair and maintain the full quantity of wood on it. They could not sell or part with the lease or any interest in it without the permission of the Governor and Council of the day.

The Governor and Council signed one copy and fixed the Company's seal to it on 19 February 1769, in the ninth year of the reign of George III. Richard Bagley signed and sealed the other copy on the same day, and [...] Bazett signed as witness.

Interpretations

Bagley took 30 acres out of the waste and paid the full 5s 0d an acre from the first year. John Alexander's 40 acres in the West Division, let on 12 September 1768, lay in the same position, with waste on one side and the tenant's own land on the others. Alexander was given 14 years at 2s 6d before the rent rose to 5s 0d. The rising rent offered an obvious model for another large tract of unimproved ground five months later, and the Council did not use it. Bagley's lease returned to a single rate for the whole term, at the top of the scale. The stepped rent was therefore a concession made for one tenant or one piece of land, not a new policy for large grants. Since the lease recorded no reason for either course, the difference lay in the Council's view of the ground in Swanley Valley or of the applicant, neither of which was stated.

The 30 acres made one of the largest grants in the volume, after Alexander's 40 acres, James Greentree's 37 at Sandy Bay and John Worrall's 32¼ at Francis's. At 5s 0d an acre it also carried one of the heaviest yearly charges. A planter willing to take on that rent for ground bordering waste on three sides evidently expected it to pay, which suggested that the valley held good land not yet taken up.

Richard Bagley was one of the seven executors of Thomas Greentree's will under the lease of 5 October 1767. A Richard Bagley was also the first tenant of the ground under Jamestown lease 130, where the register later tested a claim that the land was free against his original lease. Orlando Bagley junior held land in Deep Valley beside William Seale senior and beside the Colgrave estate. The family thus ranked among the established landholders of the island in both country and town.

81

78

Island St. 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 Let unto William Young Planter All that piece or Parcel of Land

situate lying and being in the East Division of the said Island, containing four

Acres butting & bounding East and South upon the said William Youngs own Land

West upon the Land of Gabriel Harper Planter and North upon the Land of Robert

Yearling Planter To have and to hold the said hereby Demised parcel of Land with

the appurtenances and every part and Parcel thereof unto him the said William Young

his Heirs, Executors, Administrs. & Assigns, from the day of the date hereof for &

during all the space and term of twenty one Years from thence next ensuing

upon condition that he the said William Young his Heirs or Allowed Assigns

do always bear true faith and Allegiance to Our Sovereign Lord King George the

third his Heirs & Successors, & true faith to them the said Honoble Compy. and their

Successors, and shall duly obey all the Laws and Constitutions of the sd. Island

Yielding and paying therefore Yearly and every Year during the said Term & time

of twenty one Years unto the said Honoble Company their Successors Agents or Assigns

the Rent of five shillings P Acre, at or upon the Feast of St. Michael the Arch

Angel Yearly, And upon Condition that he the said William Young his Heirs

Executors Administrs. or Assigns do & shall well and sufficiently keep up and

maintain the Fences to the said Land and the full quantity of Wood thereon &

do not nor shall sell or dispose of this Lease or his or their Interest therein

without the Leave and Consent of the Governor and Council for the time being In

Witness whereof we the said Governor & Council have to the other part set

our Hands & affixed the Honoble Company's Seal this 20th. day of March in the

ninth Year of the Reign of our said Sovereign Lord George the third by the

Grace of God of great Britain France & Ireland King defender of the faith

and so forth & in the Year of our Lord 1769 & he the said William Young hath

hereunto set his Hand and Seal the day and Year above written

Wm. Young

Witness

[...] Bazett

4 Acres

The Company let four acres of land in the East Division to William Young, a planter. The ground was bounded on the east and south by Young's own land, on the west by the land of Gabriel Harper, a planter, and on the north by the land of Robert [...], a planter.

Young was to hold the ground, with everything belonging to it, for 21 years from the date of the lease. The term covered him and anyone who took the ground after him by inheritance or approved transfer.

The lease set out the following conditions. Young and his successors had to remain loyal to King George III and faithful to the Company, and had to obey the laws and regulations of the island. They paid the Company a rent of 5s 0d an acre each year, due on the feast of St Michael the Archangel. They had to keep the fences of the land in good repair and maintain the full quantity of wood on it. They could not sell or part with the lease or any interest in it without the permission of the Governor and Council of the day.

The Governor and Council signed one copy and fixed the Company's seal to it on 20 March 1769, in the ninth year of the reign of George III. William Young signed and sealed the other copy on the same day, and [...] Bazett signed as witness.

A plan of the ground was drawn beneath the signatures. It showed a four-sided outline close to a rectangle, marked as containing four acres.

Interpretations

The plan showed a plain, nearly rectangular piece of four acres. Benjamin Mason's plan of 16 November 1767 recorded a boundary with the Company's own pasture, and Lieutenant St Maurice's of 27 June 1768 recorded a long irregular strip. Each of those had a particular reason for a drawing. Young's ground had none. It touched no Company land and its shape could have been stated in a line. A plan entered for so simple a piece showed that drawings were no longer kept for difficult cases. By 1769 the outline from the survey was being copied into the register as a regular part of a country lease, where the leases of 1766 relied on the names of neighbours alone.

The four acres were enclosed on every side by occupied land, with planters on the north and west and Young himself on the east and south. No waste adjoined them. The piece was therefore a pocket left ungranted among working farms, and it paid the full 5s 0d an acre charged on good land in the middle of settled country, as John Goodwin's five acres in Friar's Valley did on 29 August 1768.

Gabriel Harper held the land on the west. His lease of 22 August 1768 gave him 19½ acres in the South Division, so he farmed in two districts.

A William Young later took an assignment of the ground under Jamestown lease 138, first let to J. C. Dunn in 1791, and pledged it to Stephen Tout. The name thus continued among the Company's tenants in the town as well as the country.

82

79

Island St. 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 Let unto Robert Yearling Planter All that piece or parcel of Land situate lying

& being in the East Division of the said Island containing fifteen Acres & an half butting

& bounding East upon the Land of him the said Robert Yearling, West upon the Land of

Gabriel Harper Planter, North upon the Land of Simon Whaley Planter, & South upon

the Land of William Young Planter To have and to hold the said hereby Demised

parcel of Land with the appurtenances and every part & parcel thereof unto him

the said Robert Yearling his Heirs, Executors, Administrs. & 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 he the said Robert Yearling his Heirs, or

Allowed Assigns do always bear true faith and Allegiance to Our Sovereign Lord

King George the Third his Heirs and Successors, and true faith to them the said, Honble

Company and their Successors & shall duly Obey all the Laws and Constitutions of the

said Island Yielding and paying therefore Yearly and every Year during the said

term and time of twenty one Years unto the said Honble. Company their Successors

Agents or Assigns the Rent of two shillings P Acre at or upon the Feast of St Michael

the Arch Angel Yearly. And upon condition that he the said Robert Yearling his

Heirs, Executors Administrs. or Assigns do and shall well & sufficiently keep up &

maintain the Fences to the said Land and the full quantity of Wood thereon, & do

not, nor shall sell or dispose of this Lease or his or their Interest therein without

the Leave and Consent of the Governor and Council for the time being In Witness

whereof we the said Governor and Council have to the other part set Our Hands &

Affixed the Honorable Companys Seal this 20th. day of March in the ninth Year of

the Reign of our said Sovereign Lord George the third by the Grace of God of great

Britain, France and Ireland King defender of the faith & so forth & in the Year

of our Lord 1769 and he the sd. Robt. Yearling hath hereunto set his Hand and Seal

the day and Year above written

Robert Yearling

Witness

[...] Bazett

The Company let 15½ acres of land in the East Division to Robert Gurling, a planter. The ground was bounded on the east by Gurling's own land, on the west by the land of Gabriel Harper, a planter, on the north by the land of Simon Whaley, a planter, and on the south by the land of William Young, a planter.

Gurling was to hold the ground, with everything belonging to it, for 21 years from the date of the lease. The term covered him and anyone who took the ground after him by inheritance or approved transfer.

The lease set out the following conditions. Gurling and his successors had to remain loyal to King George III and faithful to the Company, and had to obey the laws and regulations of the island. They paid the Company a rent of 2s 0d an acre each year, due on the feast of St Michael the Archangel. They had to keep the fences of the land in good repair and maintain the full quantity of wood on it. They could not sell or part with the lease or any interest in it without the permission of the Governor and Council of the day.

The Governor and Council signed one copy and fixed the Company's seal to it on 20 March 1769, in the ninth year of the reign of George III. Robert Gurling signed and sealed the other copy on the same day, and [...] Bazett signed as witness.

Interpretations

Gurling and William Young took adjoining ground on the same day, 20 March 1769. Young's four acres lay immediately south of Gurling's 15½, and Gabriel Harper bounded both on the west. Young paid 5s 0d an acre and Gurling 2s 0d. Both pieces were enclosed on every side by occupied farms, with no waste on any boundary. The leases to Young and to John Goodwin on 29 August 1768 had suggested that ground in the middle of settled country was good land charged in full. Gurling's lease showed that position among other farms did not settle the matter. A tract hemmed in by four planters could still be valued at well under half the standard, presumably because it was steep, stony or otherwise poor ground that its neighbours had left alone. The Council judged the soil and not the surroundings, and it did so at one sitting for two pieces that shared a boundary.

The rate of 2s 0d matched Gabriel Harper's on 22 August 1768 for 19½ acres in the South Division. Harper now appeared as the western neighbour of land let at the same figure in the East Division. Tracts of 15 to 20 acres at that rate formed a distinct class by 1769, larger than the scraps let at 1s 0d or 1s 6d in 1766 and 1767.

Young's lease carried a plan and Gurling's did not, although both were sealed on one day for neighbouring ground and Gurling's was nearly four times the size. Plans were therefore becoming common without yet being entered for every country grant.

Simon Whaley held the land on the north. His lease of 1 February 1768 gave him detached plots in Woody Ridge Valley and Prosperous Bay Valley, and Lieutenant St Maurice's lease of 27 June 1768 named him as a neighbour in the West Division. He thus had ground in several parts of the island, including this corner of the East Division.

83

80

Island St. 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 Let unto Simon Whaley Planter All that piece or

parcel of Land containing two Acres & a quarter situate lying and being in the

East Division of the said Island, butting and bounding East, North, and South

upon the Land of Robert Yearling Planter & West upon the said Simon Whaley's

own Land, To have & to hold the said hereby Demised parcel of Land with the

appurtenances & every part & parcel thereof unto him the said Simon Whaley

his Heirs, Executors, Administrs. & Assigns from the day of the date hereof for &

during all the space and term of twenty one Years from thence next ensuing

upon condition that he the said Simon Whaley his Heirs or Allowed Assigns

do always bear true faith and Allegiance to our Sovereign Lord King George

the third his Heirs and Successors and true faith to them the said Honoble Compy.

and their Successors, and shall duly Obey all the Laws and Constitutions of the

said Island, Yielding and paying therefore Yearly & every Year during the sd.

term and time of twenty one Years unto the said Honorable Company their

Successors Agents or Assigns the Rent of two shillings P Acre, at or upon

the Feast of St. Michael the Arch Angel Yearly, And upon Condition

that he the said Simon Whaley his Heirs, Executors, Administrs. or Assigns

do & shall well and sufficiently keep up and maintain the Fences to the said

Land & the full quantity of Wood thereon & do not nor shall sell or dispose

of this Lease or his or their Interest therein without the Leave and

Consent of the Governor and Council for the time being In Witness whereof we

the said Govr. & Council have to the other Part set our Hands and Affixed the

Honble Company's Seal this 20th. day of March in the ninth Year of the

Reign of our said Sovereign Lord George the Third by the Grace of God of

great Britain France & Ireland, King defender of the faith and so forth

and in the Year of our Lord 1769 and he the said Simon Whaley hath

hereunto set his Hand and Seal the day & Year above written

Simon Whaley

Witness

[...] Bazett

2 1/4 Acres

The Company let two and a quarter acres of land in the East Division to Simon Whaley, a planter. The ground was bounded on the east, north and south by the land of Robert Gurling, a planter, and on the west by Whaley's own land.

Whaley was to hold the ground, with everything belonging to it, for 21 years from the date of the lease. The term covered him and anyone who took the ground after him by inheritance or approved transfer.

The lease set out the following conditions. Whaley and his successors had to remain loyal to King George III and faithful to the Company, and had to obey the laws and regulations of the island. They paid the Company a rent of 2s 0d an acre each year, due on the feast of St Michael the Archangel. They had to keep the fences of the land in good repair and maintain the full quantity of wood on it. They could not sell or part with the lease or any interest in it without the permission of the Governor and Council of the day.

The Governor and Council signed one copy and fixed the Company's seal to it on 20 March 1769, in the ninth year of the reign of George III. Simon Whaley signed and sealed the other copy on the same day, and [...] Bazett signed as witness.

A plan of the ground was drawn beneath the signatures. It showed an irregular outline tapering to a point, marked as containing two and a quarter acres.

Interpretations

Three leases were sealed on 20 March 1769 for ground in one corner of the East Division. William Young took four acres, Robert Gurling 15½ and Simon Whaley two and a quarter. Each piece adjoined the tenant's own farm on one side and the other two men's land on the rest, and the leases named one another as neighbours. The Council was therefore dividing a single block of about 21¾ acres, left ungranted among four farms, between the planters around it. Each received the part lying against his own boundary. The same method was used for the strip between Matthew Purling and Isaac Doveton, shared in equal halves under the leases of 2 September 1766 and 2 March 1767. Here the shares were unequal and were settled in one sitting, which avoided leaving any remnant in the Company's hands.

The division was not made at one rent. Gurling and Whaley paid 2s 0d an acre and Young 5s 0d. The block thus contained better and worse ground, and the best of it fell to Young's four acres on the south. Whaley paid 5s 0d an acre on 1 February 1768 for his detached plots in the waste, and now 2s 0d for land enclosed by farms. The rate followed the ground in each case and not the tenant.

Whaley's piece tapered to a point, a wedge driven into Gurling's land on three sides. Such a shape was the natural leftover when a block was parcelled out along existing boundaries. The plan recorded an outline that the bare statement of neighbours could not convey, and it was entered for the two smaller pieces of the three and not for the largest.

84

81

Island St. Helena

The Lords Proprietors of this Island the Honoble the United

Compy. of Merchants of England trading to the East Indies do hereby demise Grant

Lease and to farm Let unto Gabriel Harper Planter All that piece or parcel of Land contg.

three Quarters of an Acre situate, lying and being in the East Division of the said Island

butting & bounding East upon the Land of Robert Yearling Planter West upon the sd.

Gabriel Harpers own Land North upon the Land of Simon Whaley Planter &

South upon the Land of William Young Planter, To have & to hold the said

hereby Demised Parcel of Land with the appurtenances and every part & parcel

thereof unto him the said Gabl. Harper his Heirs, Executors Administrs. & 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 he the said Gabriel Harper

his Heirs or Allowed Assigns do always bear true faith and Allegiance to Our

Sovereign Lord King George the Third his Heirs & Successors & true Faith to

them the said Honble Compy & their Successors and shall duly obey all the Laws

and Constitutions of the said Island Yielding and paying therefore Yearly and

every Year during the said term and time of twenty one Years unto the said Honble

Compy their Successors, Agents or Assigns the Rent of two shillings P Acre at or upon

the Feast of St. Michael the Arch Angel Yearly, And upon Condition that he the

said Gabl. Harper his Heirs, Executors Administrs. or Assigns do and shall well &

sufficiently keep up and maintain the Fences to the said Land & the full

quantity of Wood thereon & do not nor shall sell or dispose of this Lease or his

or their Interest therein without the Leave & Consent of the Govr. & Council for

the time being In Witness whereof we the said Govr. & Council have to the

other part set our Hands and Affixed the Honoble Compys. Seal this 20th. day of

March in the ninth Year of the Reign of our said Sovereign Lord George the Third

By the Grace of God of great Britain France and Ireland King defender of the

Faith & so forth & in the Year of our Lord 1769 and he the said Gabriel Harper

hath hereunto set his Hand and Seal the day and Year above written

Gabl. Alexander Harper

Witness

[...] Bazett

3/4 Acres

The Company let three quarters of an acre of land in the East Division to Gabriel Harper, a planter. The ground was bounded on the east by the land of Robert Gurling, a planter, on the west by Harper's own land, on the north by the land of Simon Whaley, a planter, and on the south by the land of William Young, a planter.

Harper was to hold the ground, with everything belonging to it, for 21 years from the date of the lease. The term covered him and anyone who took the ground after him by inheritance or approved transfer.

The lease set out the following conditions. Harper and his successors had to remain loyal to King George III and faithful to the Company, and had to obey the laws and regulations of the island. They paid the Company a rent of 2s 0d an acre each year, due on the feast of St Michael the Archangel. They had to keep the fences of the land in good repair and maintain the full quantity of wood on it. They could not sell or part with the lease or any interest in it without the permission of the Governor and Council of the day.

The Governor and Council signed one copy and fixed the Company's seal to it on 20 March 1769, in the ninth year of the reign of George III. The tenant signed and sealed the other copy on the same day as Gabriel Alexander Harper, and [...] Bazett signed as witness.

A plan of the ground was drawn beneath the signatures. It showed a long, thin sliver tapering to a point at one end, marked as containing three quarters of an acre.

Interpretations

Harper's lease completed the division of 20 March 1769. Four planters whose farms surrounded one ungranted block each received a share on the same day, William Young four acres, Robert Gurling 15½, Simon Whaley two and a quarter and Harper three quarters of an acre. Every one of the four neighbours was given something, down to a sliver worth 1s 6d a year in rent. The Council could have let the whole block to the largest applicant and left the smaller margins with him. It chose instead to carry each man's boundary forward to meet the others. That left no owner with a claim to ground on a neighbour's side of the natural line, and no strip of Company land shut in between farms where it could be neither used nor watched.

The smallest share still received a full lease, with its own seal, witness and plan, on the same terms as a farm of 30 or 40 acres. The Company's form made no allowance for the size of the grant. A piece too small to matter as land mattered as title, since the lease fixed where Harper's farm ended and Gurling's began.

Three of the four shares paid 2s 0d an acre and only Young's paid 5s 0d. Harper already held 19½ acres at 2s 0d in the South Division under his lease of 22 August 1768. His scrap here was valued with Gurling's and Whaley's as part of the poorer ground in the block.

Plans were entered for Young, Whaley and Harper and not for Gurling, who took by far the largest share. The three drawn pieces were the ones fitted against it, so their outlines between them fixed the limits of his.

85

82

Island St. Helena

The Lords Proprietors of this Island the Honorable the United

Company of Merchants of England trading to the East Indies, do hereby Demise Grant

Lease and to farm Let unto James Greentree Planter All that piece or parcel of

Land containing twenty six Acres, situate lying and being in the West Division of

the said Island, butting & bounding East partly upon the Land of Richard Goodwin

Planter and partly upon the Land of John Goodwin Writer. North & West upon the

Honble Companys waste Land and South upon the said James Greentrees own Land

To have and to hold the said hereby Demised parcel of Land with the

appurtenances and every part & parcel thereof unto him the said James Greentree

his Heirs, Executors, Administrators and 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 he the said James Greentree his Heirs, or Allowed

Assigns do always bear true faith and allegiance to our Sovereign Lord King George

the third his Heirs, and Successors, and true faith to them the said Honble Compy.

and their Successors, and shall duly Obey all the Laws and Constitutions of the

said Island Yielding and paying therefore Yearly and every Year during the

said term and time of twenty one Years unto the sd. Honble Company their

Successors, Agents or Assigns the Rent of two shillings & six pence P Acre, at

or upon the Feast of St. Michael the Arch Angle Yearly, And upon

Condition that he the said James Greentree his Heirs, Executors, Administrs. 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 not nor

shall sell or dispose of this Lease or his or their Interest therein without the

Leave and Consent of the Governor and Council for the time being In Witness

whereof we the said Governor & Council have to the other part set Our Hands

and Affixed the Honble Company's Seal this 27th. day of March in the Ninth

Year of the Reign of our said Sovereign Lord George the third by the Grace

of God of great Britain, France, & Ireland King defender of the Faith &

so forth and in the Year of our Lord 1769 and he the said James Greentree

hath hereunto set his Hand & Seal the day and Year abovewritten

James Greentree

Witness

[...] Bazett

The Company let 26 acres of land in the West Division to James Greentree, a planter. The ground was bounded on the east partly by the land of Richard Goodwin, a planter, and partly by the land of John Goodwin, a writer. The Company's waste land lay on the north and west, and Greentree's own land on the south.

Greentree was to hold the ground, with everything belonging to it, for 21 years from the date of the lease. The term covered him and anyone who took the ground after him by inheritance or approved transfer.

The lease set out the following conditions. Greentree and his successors had to remain loyal to King George III and faithful to the Company, and had to obey the laws and regulations of the island. They paid the Company a rent of 2s 6d an acre each year, due on the feast of St Michael the Archangel. They had to keep the fences of the land in good repair and maintain the full quantity of wood on it. They could not sell or part with the lease or any interest in it without the permission of the Governor and Council of the day.

The Governor and Council signed one copy and fixed the Company's seal to it on 27 March 1769, in the ninth year of the reign of George III. James Greentree signed and sealed the other copy on the same day, and [...] Bazett signed as witness.

Interpretations

Three large tracts on the edge of the waste were let within seven months, each on a different footing. John Alexander's 40 acres in the West Division, on 12 September 1768, paid 2s 6d an acre for 14 years and 5s 0d for the last seven. Richard Bagley's 30 acres in Swanley Valley, on 19 February 1769, paid 5s 0d throughout. Greentree's 26 acres now paid 2s 6d throughout. His ground lay in the same district as Alexander's and in the same position, with waste on two sides and the tenant's own farm behind it. The rising rent was the obvious precedent and was passed over a second time, here in the tenant's favour. Greentree kept the half rate for the whole term, where Alexander lost it after 14 years. The Council thus had three ways of charging a big unimproved grant and applied each once. The leases gave no grounds for the choice, and a tenant's bargaining or the Council's opinion of the land may equally have decided it.

Greentree was the most active figure in the volume. He held 37 acres at Sandy Bay from 16 February 1767, served as a trustee for Thomas Greentree's heirs on 5 October 1767 and for the Twaits children on 30 November 1767, and signed for Mary Twaits on the same day. This lease showed him with a farm in the West Division as well. The man the Council dealt with repeatedly on behalf of others obtained the most favourable terms yet given on a tract of this size.

Two Goodwins bounded the ground on the east. Richard Goodwin, a planter, was a fellow executor of Thomas Greentree's will. John Goodwin, the writer, took five acres in Friar's Valley on 29 August 1768 and witnessed Thomas Greentree's own lease in August 1766. The Company's clerk and his kinsman thus farmed beside the tenant whose family's affairs they had helped to settle.

86

83

Island St. 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 Let unto William Hayes Senr. Planter All that piece or parcel of

Land containing three Acres, situate, lying and being in the East Division of the said

Island butting and bounding, East, West and North, upon the Honoble Compys.

Waste Land, and South upon the said William Hayes's own Land, To have and

to hold the said hereby Demised, parcel of Land with the appurtenances and every part

and parcel thereof unto him the said William Hayes his Heirs, Executors, Administrs.

and Assigns, from the day of the date hereof, for and during all the space & term

of twenty one Years from thence next ensuing upon condition that he the said

William Hayes his Heirs or Allowed Assigns do always bear true faith and

Allegiance to our Sovereign Lord King George the third his Heirs, and Successors

& true faith to them the said Honoble Company and their Successors, & shall

duly Obey all the Laws and Constitutions of the said Island Yielding and

Paying therefore Yearly and every Year during the said term and time of twenty

one Years unto the said Honble Company their Successors, Agents or Assigns

the Rent of five shillings P Acre at or upon the Feast of St. Michael the

Arch Angel Yearly And upon Condition that he the said William Hayes Senr.

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 not nor shall sell or dispose of this Lease or his or their Interest

therein without the Leave and Consent of the Governor & Council, for the time being

In Witness whereof we the said Govr. & Council have to the other part set our Hands

and Affixed the Honble Company's Seal this 27th. day of March in the ninth

Year of the Reign of our said Sovereign Lord George the third by the Grace of God

of great Britain, France, and Ireland King defender of the Faith and so forth

and in the Year of Our Lord 1769 and he the said William Hayes hath hereunto

set his Hand and Seal the day and Year abovewritten

Wm Hayes

Witness

[...] Bazett

3 Acres

The Company let three acres of land in the East Division to William Hayes senior, a planter. The ground was bounded on the east, west and north by the Company's waste land and on the south by Hayes's own land.

Hayes was to hold the ground, with everything belonging to it, for 21 years from the date of the lease. The term covered him and anyone who took the ground after him by inheritance or approved transfer.

The lease set out the following conditions. Hayes and his successors had to remain loyal to King George III and faithful to the Company, and had to obey the laws and regulations of the island. They paid the Company a rent of 5s 0d an acre each year, due on the feast of St Michael the Archangel. They had to keep the fences of the land in good repair and maintain the full quantity of wood on it. They could not sell or part with the lease or any interest in it without the permission of the Governor and Council of the day.

The Governor and Council signed one copy and fixed the Company's seal to it on 27 March 1769, in the ninth year of the reign of George III. William Hayes signed and sealed the other copy on the same day, and [...] Bazett signed as witness.

A plan of the ground was drawn beneath the signatures. It showed a long, narrow strip of irregular outline, marked as containing three acres.

Interpretations

Hayes and James Greentree were granted land on the same day, 27 March 1769, each taking ground from the waste beside his own farm. Greentree paid 2s 6d an acre on 26 acres and Hayes 5s 0d on three. The small grant thus paid twice the rate of the large one at a single sitting. In 1766 and 1767 the position was the reverse, when three acre pieces went to Purling, Wrangham and St Maurice at 1s 0d or 1s 6d while planters taking whole farms paid in full. Size of grant was therefore no guide to the rent in either direction. Hayes's lease joined Simon Whaley's of 1 February 1768 as a second case of a planter charged the top rate for three acres of unoccupied ground.

The tenant was styled senior, which distinguished him from a younger William Hayes. The joint lease of 18 April 1768 to George Bryon Hayes and William Hayes gave no such addition, and a William Hayes kept a public house beside Lieutenant Shirley's plot under the lease of 9 January 1769. At least two men of the name were thus active, a father and a son, between them farming in the East Division and trading in the town.

The plan showed a narrow strip. With Hayes's own land on the south and waste on the other three sides, the ground ran as a band along the outer edge of his farm. The lease moved his boundary a short distance into the waste along its whole length, the kind of adjustment a planter sought when his fence had been set a little short of ground worth enclosing.

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84

Island St. 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, and to Farm Let Unto Capt. Thomas Kirkpatrick, All that piece or parcel of

Land containing twelve Acres, situate, lying and being in James's Valley, butting &

bounding, East, West, and South upon the Honoble Company's Waste Land and North,

partly upon the Land of him the said Thomas Kirkpatrick & partly upon the Land of

Stephen Young Planter, To have and to hold the said hereby, demised, parcel of

Land with the appurtenances, and every part and parcel thereof, unto him the sd.

Thomas Kirkpatrick his Heirs, Executors, Administrators & Assigns from the day

of the day hereof for and during all the space and term of twenty one Years

from thence next ensuing upon condition that he the said Thomas Kirkpatrick his

Heirs, or Allowed Assigns do always bear true faith and Allegiance to our Sovereign

Lord King George the Third his Heirs and Successors and true faith to them the said

Honoble Company and their Successors, and shall duly obey all the Laws and

Constitutions of the said Island Yielding and paying therefore Yearly and every

Year during the said term and time of twenty one Years, unto the said Honoble Company

their Successors, Agents or Assigns the Rent of five shillings P Acre, at or upon the

Feast of St. Michael the Arch Angel Yearly, And upon Condition that he the sd.

Thomas Kirkpatrick 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 not nor shall sell or dispose of this

Lease or his or their Interest therein, without the Leave and Consent of the

Governor & Council for the time being, In Witness whereof we the said Governor

& Council have to the other part set Our Hands & Affixed the Honorable Company's

Seal this 8th. day of May in the ninth Year of the Reign of our said Sovereign

Lord George the Third by the Grace of God of great Britain France and Ireland

King defender of the faith and so forth & in the Year of Our Lord 1769 & he the

said Thomas Kirkpatrick hath hereunto set his Hand and Seal the

day and Year abovewritten

Thos. Kirkpatrick

Witness

[...] Alexr. Wright

The Company let 12 acres of land in James's Valley to Captain Thomas Kirkpatrick. The ground was bounded on the east, west and south by the Company's waste land, and on the north partly by Kirkpatrick's own land and partly by the land of Stephen Young, a planter.

Kirkpatrick was to hold the ground, with everything belonging to it, for 21 years from the date of the lease. The term covered him and anyone who took the ground after him by inheritance or approved transfer.

The lease set out the following conditions. Kirkpatrick and his successors had to remain loyal to King George III and faithful to the Company, and had to obey the laws and regulations of the island. They paid the Company a rent of 5s 0d an acre each year, due on the feast of St Michael the Archangel. They had to keep the fences of the land in good repair and maintain the full quantity of wood on it. They could not sell or part with the lease or any interest in it without the permission of the Governor and Council of the day.

The Governor and Council signed one copy and fixed the Company's seal to it on 8 May 1769, in the ninth year of the reign of George III. Thomas Kirkpatrick signed and sealed the other copy on the same day, and [...] Alexander Wright signed as witness.

Interpretations

Alexander Wright witnessed this lease, and Matthew Bazett was not a party to it. Until now Wright signed only on the two leases made to Bazett himself, on 10 February 1766 and 16 February 1767, where the Secretary could not attest his own deed. Every other lease from 2 December 1765 to 27 March 1769 bore Bazett's signature, apart from one witnessed by John Goodwin in August 1766. The change on 8 May 1769 thus had a different cause. Bazett was absent, unwell or no longer acting as Secretary when the lease was sealed, and the man who had stood in for him before did so again. Wright was evidently the recognised deputy for the duty.

The ground lay in James's Valley yet was let as farmland. The lease used the country form, with a rent by the acre and the clause on fences and wood, where plots in the town paid a yearly sum and carried a duty to repair buildings. Mary Doveton's acre of 12 October 1767 lay at the head of a branch of the same valley and was treated in the same way. The valley thus contained the town at its lower end and open country above, and the form of a lease followed the use of the ground and not the name of the place.

A captain paid the full 5s 0d an acre for 12 acres with waste on three sides. Lieutenant St Maurice paid 1s 0d an acre on 12 October 1767 for six acres at the edge of the waste, and William Wrangham, a factor, paid 1s 6d in December 1766. An officer's rank therefore did not secure a low rent on country land as a matter of course. The reductions of 1766 and 1767 to men of standing were not repeated for Kirkpatrick, in keeping with the full rate charged to William Hayes senior on 27 March 1769.

Stephen Young, a planter, held land on part of the northern boundary. William Young took four acres in the East Division on 20 March 1769, so the family farmed in more than one part of the island.

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85

Island St. Helena

The Lords Proprietors of this Island the

Honorable the United Company of Merchants of England trading to the East

Indies Do hereby Demise Grant Lease & to Farm Let unto Sarah Beale Executrix

& Samuel Knipe Executor to the last Will and Testament of Samuel Knipe Deceased

All that piece or parcel of Land containing sixteen Acres & an half situate lying

and being in the East Division of the said Island butting and bounding East and

South upon the Land of John Desfountain Senr. West upon the said Samuel Knipes

Orphans own Land, and North partly upon the aforesaid John Desfountain Senrs. Land

and partly upon the said Samuel Knipes Orphans Land. To have and to hold

the said hereby Demised parcel of Land with the Appurtenances and every part and

parcel thereof unto Her the said Sarah Beale Executrix & Samuel Knipe Executor In

trust nevertheless & for the use of the said Samuel Knipes Orphans their Heirs Executors

Administrators & 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 she the said Sarah Beale Executrix & Samuel Knipe Executor aforesaid their

Heirs or Allowed Assigns Do always bear true faith & allegiance to our Sovereign Lord

King George the Third his Heirs and Successors and true faith to them the said

Honorable Company and their Successors, & shall duly obey all the Laws and

Constitutions of the said Island Yielding and paying therefore Yearly and every

Year during the said term and time of twenty one Years unto the said Honorable

Company their Successors Agents or Assigns the Rent of one Shilling and Sixpence

P Acre at or upon the Feast of St. Michael the Arch Angel Yearly And upon

condition that she the said Sarah Beale & Samuel Knipe aforesaid their Heirs Executors

Administrators or Assigns do and shall well & Sufficiently keep up and maintain the

Fences to the said Lands and the full Quantity of Wood thereon: & do not nor shall

sell or dispose of this Lease or their Interest therein without the leave & consent of

the Governor and Council for the time being In Witness whereof we the said Governor

& Council have to the other part set our Hands & Affixed the Honorable Companys

Seal this 28 day of August in the tenth Year of the Reign of our said Sovereign Lord

George the third by the grace of God of Great Britain France and Ireland King

Defender of the faith and so forth and in the Year of our Lord 1769 and she the

said Sarah Beale & Samuel Knipe Executrix & Executor aforesaid have hereunto

set their Hands & Seals the day & Year abovewritten

Samuel Knipe

Witness

[...] Bazett

The Company let 16½ acres of land in the East Division to Sarah Beale and Samuel Knipe, the executrix and executor of the will of Samuel Knipe, who had died. The ground was bounded on the east and south by the land of John Desfountain senior, on the west by land belonging to Samuel Knipe's orphans, and on the north partly by John Desfountain senior's land and partly by the orphans' land.

Sarah Beale and Samuel Knipe were to hold the ground for 21 years from the date of the lease, but only as trustees for the orphans of Samuel Knipe.

The lease set out the following conditions. Sarah Beale and Samuel Knipe and their successors had to remain loyal to King George III and faithful to the Company, and had to obey the laws and regulations of the island. They paid the Company a rent of 1s 6d an acre each year, due on the feast of St Michael the Archangel. They had to keep the fences of the land in good repair and maintain the full quantity of wood on it. They could not sell or part with the lease or any interest in it without the permission of the Governor and Council of the day.

The Governor and Council signed one copy and fixed the Company's seal to it on 28 August 1769, in the ninth year of the reign of George III. The other copy was to be signed and sealed by both trustees on the same day. Samuel Knipe signed it, and [...] Bazett signed as witness.

Interpretations

The Knipe orphans' land was let at 1s 6d an acre. Every earlier trust for a dead tenant's family paid the full 5s 0d, including the two Colgrave grants of 16 February 1767 and 12 September 1768, the Greentree lease of 5 October 1767, Mary Doveton's acre of 12 October 1767 and both Twaits leases of 30 November 1767. Those grants established that an orphans' estate earned no allowance. The Knipe lease was the first to depart from that. The ground did not border the waste, the usual mark of cheap land, since John Desfountain senior and the orphans' own holding enclosed it entirely. A tract of 16½ acres among settled farms at under a third of the standard was also lower than the 2s 0d charged to Robert Gurling on 20 March 1769 for enclosed land of similar size. The lease gave no reason. The land may have been poor, or the Council may for once have eased the charge on an estate held for children. The record could not separate the two, but the departure from six earlier trusts was plain.

The trustees carried every condition, including loyalty. The form introduced on 12 September 1768 and used for the Torbett orphans on 5 December 1768 was thus followed again, and the older version that laid loyalty on the children did not return.

The executor bore the dead man's name. Samuel Knipe was therefore probably a grown son acting for younger brothers and sisters. Sarah Beale, the executrix, had a different surname and was perhaps a married daughter, or the widow after a second marriage. As with the Colgrave and Greentree trusts, one trustee signed for both.

Bazett witnessed this lease, after Alexander Wright attested Captain Kirkpatrick's on 8 May 1769. The Secretary's absence in May was therefore temporary.

The Knipe family remained substantial tenants. Richard Knipe was the first holder of Jamestown lease 131, dated 1787. Richard H. Knipe took 18½ acres under country lease 274 in 1817 and 100 acres under lease 281 in 1818, and Robert Knipe senior held lease 290 of 1821.

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86

Island St. Helena

The Lords Proprietors of this Island

the Honorable the United Company of Merchants of England trading to the East

Indies Do hereby Demise Grant, Lease & to Farm, Let unto Captain

Henry Bazett of the said Island All that piece or parcel of Ground

containing eighteen feet in front situate in James's Valley, butting and bounding

North upon the said Henry Bazetts House called the Billiard House,

East West and South upon the Honorable Companys Waste Ground To have

and to hold the said hereby parcel of Ground with the appurtenances and

every part and parcel thereof unto him the said Henry Bazett his Heirs

Executors Administrators and Assigns from the day of the date hereof for and

during all the space & term of twenty one Years from thence next ensuing

Upon condition that he the said Henry Bazett his Heirs or allowed Assigns

do always bear true faith and Allegiance to our Sovereign Lord King

George the Third his Heirs and Successors and true faith to them the said

Honorable Company and their Successors and shall duly obey all the Laws

and Constitutions of the said Island Yielding and paying therefore

Yearly and every Year during the said term and time of twenty one Years

unto the said Honorable Company their Successors Agents or Assigns the

Rent of four Shillings and Sixpence P Annum in at or upon the Feast of

St. Michael the Arch Angel Yearly And upon condition that he the said

Henry Bazett his Heirs Executors Administrators or Assigns do and shall well

and Sufficiently keep and maintain all such Houses or Buildings in good

repair that are or may hereafter be built or Erected on the said piece of

Ground or on any part thereof and do not nor shall sell or dispose of this

Lease or his or their Interest therein without the leave and consent of the

Governor and Council for the time being In Witness whereof we the said

Governor and Council have to the other part set our Hands and Affixed the

Honorable Companys Seal this 10th day of July in the nineth Year of the Reign

of our said Sovereign Lord George the Third by the Grace of God of Great Britain

France and Ireland King Defender of the Faith and so forth, and in the

Year of our Lord 1769 and he the said Henry Bazett hath hereunto

[...] set his Hand and Seal the day & Year abovewritten

Henr. Bazett

Witness

[...] Bazett

The Company let a plot of ground in James's Valley to Captain Henry Bazett of the island. The plot measured 18 feet across the front. It was bounded on the north by Henry Bazett's house, called the Billiard House, and on the east, west and south by the Company's waste ground.

Henry Bazett was to hold the ground, with everything belonging to it, for 21 years from the date of the lease. The term covered him and anyone who took the ground after him by inheritance or approved transfer.

The lease set out the following conditions. Bazett and his successors had to remain loyal to King George III and faithful to the Company, and had to obey the laws and regulations of the island. They paid the Company a rent of £0 4s 6d a year, due on the feast of St Michael the Archangel. They had to keep in good repair every house or building standing on the ground or put up there later. They could not sell or part with the lease or any interest in it without the permission of the Governor and Council of the day.

The Governor and Council signed one copy and fixed the Company's seal to it on 10 July 1769, in the ninth year of the reign of George III. Henry Bazett signed and sealed the other copy on the same day, and [...] Bazett signed as witness.

Interpretations

The rent of £0 4s 6d was exactly 3d a foot on 18 feet of frontage. In the months before, small additions to officers' houses were let at a flat £0 5s 0d whatever their size, to St Maurice and Samuel Desfountain on 19 December 1768 and to Henry Bazett himself on 29 August 1768. New building plots were charged in round sums of £0 10s 0d and £0 12s 0d. A rent that was not a round figure, and that matched the old rate to the penny, showed the Council reckoning by the foot again. The flat fee offered the simpler course for a narrow piece beside an existing house, and at £0 5s 0d would have cost the captain sixpence more. The exact charge suggested that the Council had gone back to measurement as the basis of town rents, whether on its own motion or because a tenant pressed for the lower figure.

The lease gave the frontage and no depth. Every earlier town lease stated both dimensions, even though depth never affected the rent. The later Jamestown register recorded frontage alone for almost every plot. This lease was the first to describe ground in that way, with the one measurement that fixed the charge and nothing more.

The captain's house was known as the Billiard House, which meant that it held a billiard table and was kept at least partly for play. A house with that name in the valley was probably a place of resort for the island's officers and for those passing through on ships. Henry Bazett thus owned a property with a recognised use and a name of its own, and he was adding ground on its open side. His plot of 29 August 1768 lay on the Southwark side between a factor's house and a sergeant's, so he held at least two sites in the town.

The lease was sealed on 10 July 1769 but entered after the Knipe trust of 28 August 1769. The Secretary witnessed it, so his absence on 8 May 1769, when Alexander Wright attested Captain Kirkpatrick's lease, had ended by July.

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87

Island St. Helena

The Lords Proprietors of this Island

the Honorable the United Company of Merchants of England trading to the East

Indies Do hereby Demise Grant Lease and to farm Let unto Matthew Purling Esqr

James Greentree William Wrangham Henry Bazett and Richard Goodwin of the said

Island Executors to the last Will and Testament of Thomas Greentree deceased All that

piece or parcel of Ground situate behind and adjoining to the House of the said

Thomas Greentree Deceased 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 Lieutenant Samuel

Desfountain North on the said Thos. Greentree Deceased & West on the Honorable Companys

Waste Land with the Appurtenances To have and to hold unto the said Matthew

Purling James Greentree William Wrangham Henry Bazett & Richard Goodwin

Executors aforesaid their Heirs Executors Administrators and Assigns in trust nevertheless

and to the use of the Heirs of the said Thomas Greentree Deceased, 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 Heirs of the said Thos. Greentree decd. their Heirs Executors

Administrators and Assigns do and shall bear true Faith and Allegiance to our Sovereign

Lord King George the Third his Heirs & Successors & true Faith to them the said

Honorable Company and their Successors and shall duly obey all the laws and

Constitutions of the said Island Yielding and paying therefore Yearly and every

Year during the said term and time of twenty one Years unto the said Honorable

Company their Successors Agents or Assigns the Rent of five Shillings P Annum

at or upon the Feast of St. Michael the Arch Angel Yearly And upon condition

that they the said Matthew Purling James Greentree William Wrangham Henry Bazett

& Richard Goodwin Executors aforesaid, do and shall well & sufficiently keep in good

repair all such Houses or Buildings that are or may hereafter be built or Erected on

the said piece of Ground or any part thereof & do not nor shall sell or dispose of

this Lease or their Interest therein without the leave & consent of the Governor

and Council for the time being In Witness whereof we the said Governor & Council

have to the other part set our Hands & Affixed the Honorable Companys Seal this 10 day

of July in the ninth Year of the Reign of our said Sovereign Lord George the Third

[...] the grace of God of Great Britain France and Ireland King Defender of the

Faith & so forth and in the Year of our Lord 1769 & they the said Matthew Purling

James Greentree William Wrangham Henry Bazett & Richard Goodwin Executors

aforesaid have hereunto set their Hands and Seals the day and Year above

written

M Purling

Henr Bazett

James Greentree

Witness

[...] Bazett

The Company let a small piece of ground in James's Valley to five executors of the will of Thomas Greentree, who had died. They were Matthew Purling Esquire, James Greentree, William Wrangham, Henry Bazett and Richard Goodwin, all of the island. The ground lay behind the dead man's house and adjoined it. It measured nine feet in length at the east end and 11 feet at the west, and 34 feet in breadth on the north side and 38 feet on the south. It was bounded on the east and south by the ground of Lieutenant Samuel Desfountain, on the north by Thomas Greentree's property and on the west by the Company's waste land.

The five executors were to hold the ground for 21 years from the date of the lease, but only as trustees for the heirs of Thomas Greentree.

The lease divided its conditions between the heirs and the trustees. The heirs and their successors had to remain loyal to King George III and faithful to the Company, and had to obey the laws and regulations of the island. A rent of £0 5s 0d was payable to the Company each year on the feast of St Michael the Archangel. The five executors had to keep in good repair every house or building standing on the ground or put up there later. They could not sell or part with the lease or any interest in it without the permission of the Governor and Council of the day.

The Governor and Council signed one copy and fixed the Company's seal to it on 10 July 1769, in the ninth year of the reign of George III. The other copy was to be signed and sealed by all five trustees on the same day. Matthew Purling, James Greentree and Henry Bazett signed it, each with a seal, and [...] Bazett signed as witness.

Interpretations

The lease laid the duty of loyalty on the heirs and left the trustees answerable only for repairs and for the ban on selling. That was the form of the first Greentree trust of 5 October 1767. The Council changed it on 12 September 1768, making trustees liable for every condition, and kept to the new version for the Torbett orphans on 5 December 1768 and the Knipe orphans on 28 August 1769. A lease for the Greentree heirs in July 1769 thus fell between two that used the revised form, yet it went back to the old one. The clerk evidently drew the new lease from the estate's earlier one, changing only the description of the ground. A correction adopted for new trusts was therefore not carried into further grants to an estate already on the books, and the weakness the Council had noticed survived wherever an old lease served as the pattern.

Five executors were named where the lease of 5 October 1767 had seven. Elizabeth Greentree, the widow and executrix, and Richard Bagley no longer appeared. The widow had perhaps died or remarried in the interval, either of which would have ended her part in the estate. Three of the five signed, each under his own seal, where James Greentree signed alone in 1767. The Council now took the signatures of a majority instead of a single trustee.

The ground matched the piece let to Lieutenant Samuel Desfountain on 19 December 1768 almost exactly. His measured 40 feet and 38 feet by nine and 11 feet, lay behind his house and paid £0 5s 0d. The Greentree piece, of 34 and 38 feet by nine and 11 feet, lay behind the neighbouring house, was bounded by Desfountain on two sides and paid the same. The two leases divided a narrow band of open ground running behind adjoining houses, giving each householder the part at his own back wall.

The flat £0 5s 0d was charged here on the same day, 10 July 1769, that Captain Henry Bazett paid an exact £0 4s 6d for 18 feet beside the Billiard House. Both methods of fixing a rent were thus in use at one sitting. The piece behind a house, with no front to measure, took the fixed fee, and the piece with a frontage was reckoned at 3d a foot.

Thomas Greentree, described as a planter when he took the farm called Taylors in August 1766, also owned a house in James's Valley. His heirs' estate therefore included town property as well as the 12½ acres at Sandy Bay.

91

88

Island St. Helena

The Lords Proprietors of this Island the Honorable the United Company

of Merchants of England trading to the East Indies do hereby demise Grant

Lease and to farm Let unto Matthew Bazett of the said Island Secretary All those

two pieces or parcels of Land containing in the Whole seventeen Acres and a quarter

situate lying and being in the East Division of the said Island eight Acres and

three quarters, butting and bounding East upon the said Matthew Bazett's own

Land, & North, South and West upon the Land of John Desfountain Senr. the

other eight Acres and an half butting and bounding North upon the Honble

Company's Waste Land, East, West, & South upon the said Matthew Bazetts

own Land, To have and to hold the said hereby Demised parcels of Land

with the appurtenances and every part and parcel thereof unto him the said

Matthew Bazett his Heirs, Executors, Administrators and 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 he the said

Matthew Bazett his Heirs or allowed Assigns do always bear true faith

& Allegiance to our Sovereign Lord King George the third his Heirs and

Successors and true faith to them the said Honorable Company and their

Successors, and shall duly obey all the Laws and Constitutions of the said

Island Yielding and paying therefore Yearly and every Year during

the said term and time of twenty one Years unto the said Honoble Compy.

their Successors Agents or Assigns the Rent of one Shilling and six pence

P Acre at or upon the Feast of St. Michael the Arch Angel Yearly And

upon Condition that he the said Matthew Bazett his Heirs Executors,

Administrs. or Assigns do and shall well and sufficiently keep up and

maintain the Fences to the said Lands and the full quantity of Wood

thereon, and do not nor shall sell or dispose of this Lease or his or their

Interest therein without the Leave and Consent of the Governor & Council

for the time being In Witness whereof we the said Governor and Council

have to the other part set Our Hands and Affixed the Honoble Compys. Seal

this 28th. day of August in the ninth Year of the Reign of our said

Sovereign Lord George the Third by the Grace of God of great Britain

France and Ireland King defender of the Faith and so forth and in the

Year of our Lord 1769 and he the said Matthew Bazett hath hereunto

set his Hand and Seal the day and Year abovewritten

M Bazett

Witness

James Desfountain

The Company let two pieces of land in the East Division, 17¼ acres in all, to Matthew Bazett, the Secretary of the island. The first piece, of eight and three quarter acres, was bounded on the east by Bazett's own land and on the north, south and west by the land of John Desfountain senior. The second piece, of eight and a half acres, was bounded on the north by the Company's waste land and on the east, west and south by Bazett's own land.

Bazett was to hold both pieces, with everything belonging to them, for 21 years from the date of the lease. The term covered him and anyone who took the ground after him by inheritance or approved transfer.

The lease set out the following conditions. Bazett and his successors had to remain loyal to King George III and faithful to the Company, and had to obey the laws and regulations of the island. They paid the Company a rent of 1s 6d an acre each year, due on the feast of St Michael the Archangel. They had to keep the fences of the land in good repair and maintain the full quantity of wood on it. They could not sell or part with the lease or any interest in it without the permission of the Governor and Council of the day.

The Governor and Council signed one copy and fixed the Company's seal to it on 28 August 1769, in the ninth year of the reign of George III. Matthew Bazett signed and sealed the other copy on the same day, and James Desfountain signed as witness.

Interpretations

Two leases were sealed on 28 August 1769 at 1s 6d an acre, this one and the trust for the Knipe orphans. Both concerned ground in the East Division beside the land of John Desfountain senior, which enclosed Bazett's first piece on three sides and the orphans' 16½ acres on two. The Knipe lease stood out as the first orphans' estate let below the full rate, and its terms alone could not show whether the land was poor or the children were being favoured. Bazett's lease supplied the missing comparison. Neighbouring ground, valued on the same day, was charged at the same low figure to a tenant who was no orphan. The rate therefore belonged to that stretch of country and not to the circumstances of the Knipe family, and the general practice of charging estates in full was left intact.

The same evidence bore on the Secretary's own position. He paid 5s 0d an acre on 10 February 1766 for eight and a half acres, and now 1s 6d on twice as much. His town plot of 16 February 1767 was also let below the standard. A grant of 17¼ acres at under a third of the top rate, to the officer who drew up the Council's leases, would have invited doubt had it stood alone. The matching rent charged to the Knipe trustees on adjoining land gave it some support as a fair valuation.

Bazett could not witness his own lease, and James Desfountain signed in his place. Alexander Wright attested the two earlier leases to Bazett and stood in for him on 8 May 1769. A third person now performed the duty, so no single deputy held it. The witness shared a surname with John Desfountain senior, whose land bounded the ground, and with Lieutenant Samuel Desfountain.

Both pieces closed gaps in or beside Bazett's estate. One lay between his land and Desfountain's, and the other filled the space between three sides of his own holding and the waste. By 1769 the Secretary's farm in the East Division was large enough to surround a piece of eight and a half acres on three sides.

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89

Island St. Helena

The Lords Proprietors of this Island the Honoble the United Compy.

of Merchants of England trading to the East Indies do hereby demise, Grant Lease

& to farm Let unto John Desfountain Senr. of the said Island Planter All those two

pieces or parcels of Land containing thirteen Acres and three quarters situate lying

and being in the East Division of the said Island thirteen Acres and a half butting

and bounding East and South upon the Land of Matthew Bazett Secretary

North and West upon the Land of Samuel Knipes Orps. the other quarter of an

Acre butting and bounding South upon the said John Desfountain's own Land

East, West, and North upon the aforesaid Samuel Knipes Orphs. Land To have

and to hold the said hereby demised parcels of Land with the appurtenances

and every part and parcel thereof unto him the said John Desfountain his

Heirs Executors, Administrators & 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 he the said John Desfountain his Heirs or

Allowed Assigns do always bear true faith and Allegiance to our Sovereign

Lord King George the third his Heirs and Successors, and true faith to them

the said Honoble Company and their Successors and shall duly Obey all the

Laws and Constitutions of the said Island Yielding and paying therefore

Yearly and every Year during the said term and time of twenty one Years unto

the said Honoble Compy. their Successors Agents or Assigns the Rent of one

Shilling & Six pence P Acre at or upon the Feast of St. Michael the Arch Angel

Yearly And upon condition that he the said John Desfountain his Heirs

Executors, Administrs. or Assigns do and shall well and sufficiently keep up

and maintain the Fences to the said Lands and the full quantity of Wood

thereon, and do not nor shall sell or dispose of this Lease or his or their Interest

therein without the Leave and Consent of the Governor and Council for the time

being In Witness whereof we the said Governor and Council have to the other

part set our Hands & Affixed the Honoble Company's Seal this 28th. day of

August in the ninth Year of the Reign of our said Sovereign Lord George the

third by the Grace of God of great Britain, France and Ireland King defender

of the Faith and so forth and in the Year of our Lord 1769 and he the said John

Desfountain hath hereunto set his Hand and Seal the day and Year above

written

James Desfountain for Jno. Desfountain Senr.

Witness

[...] Bazett

The Company let two pieces of land in the East Division, 13¾ acres in all, to John Desfountain senior, a planter of the island. The first piece, of 13½ acres, was bounded on the east and south by the land of Matthew Bazett, the Secretary, and on the north and west by the land of Samuel Knipe's orphans. The second piece, of a quarter of an acre, was bounded on the south by Desfountain's own land and on the east, west and north by the land of Samuel Knipe's orphans.

Desfountain was to hold both pieces, with everything belonging to them, for 21 years from the date of the lease. The term covered him and anyone who took the ground after him by inheritance or approved transfer.

The lease set out the following conditions. Desfountain and his successors had to remain loyal to King George III and faithful to the Company, and had to obey the laws and regulations of the island. They paid the Company a rent of 1s 6d an acre each year, due on the feast of St Michael the Archangel. They had to keep the fences of the land in good repair and maintain the full quantity of wood on it. They could not sell or part with the lease or any interest in it without the permission of the Governor and Council of the day.

The Governor and Council signed one copy and fixed the Company's seal to it on 28 August 1769, in the ninth year of the reign of George III. James Desfountain signed and sealed the other copy on behalf of John Desfountain senior, and [...] Bazett signed as witness.

Interpretations

Three leases were sealed on 28 August 1769 for adjoining ground in the East Division, all at 1s 6d an acre. The Knipe trustees took 16½ acres, Matthew Bazett 17¼ and John Desfountain senior 13¾. Each lease named the other two parties as neighbours. The Council was thus dividing a tract of some 47½ acres among the three estates that surrounded it, as it divided a smaller block among four planters on 20 March 1769. The earlier division used two rates, 5s 0d and 2s 0d, for better and worse parts. This one applied a single low figure throughout. The whole tract was therefore judged poor ground, and the question raised by the Knipe lease was settled. The orphans paid 1s 6d because the land was worth no more, and their two neighbours paid the same on the same day.

The equal rate also answered any doubt over the Secretary's share. Bazett took the largest of the three portions, at a price he recorded himself. A planter and a trust for children were charged identically beside him, so his terms were those of the division and not a private advantage.

Desfountain's second piece was a quarter of an acre, enclosed on three sides by the orphans' land. It was a scrap left over when the boundaries were drawn, and it was assigned to the neighbour whose farm it touched. Gabriel Harper's three quarters of an acre on 20 March 1769 arose in the same way. The Council again preferred to dispose of every fragment at the time of a division.

James Desfountain signed for John Desfountain senior and also witnessed Bazett's lease on the same day. He was therefore present at the sealing as the old planter's representative, probably his son, and was called on to attest the Secretary's deed while there. That explained why a new witness appeared in place of Alexander Wright. The choice fell on a man already in the room on his family's business.

John Desfountain senior took 23¾ acres at the head of Woody Ridge Valley in July 1766, part at 5s 0d and part at 2s 6d. With this grant his holdings in the East Division carried three different rates, each fixed for the piece concerned.

93

90

Island St. 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 and to farm Let unto John Robinson Master Carpenter of the said

Island All that piece or parcel of Land containing seventeen Acres and a quarter

situate lying and being in the East Division of the said Island butting and

bounding East & North upon the Honoble Company's Waste Land, West upon the

said John Robinsons own Land and South partly upon the Land of

John Desfountain Senr. & partly upon the said John Robinsons own Land To

have and to hold the said hereby Demised parcel of Land with the

appurtenances and every part and parcel thereof unto him the said John

Robinson his Heirs, Executors, Administrs. & 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 he the said John Robinson his Heirs or

allowed Assigns do always bear true faith and allegiance to our Sovereign

Lord King George the Third his Heirs and Successors, and true faith to them

the said Honoble Company and their Successors & shall duly Obey all the

Laws and Constitutions of the said Island Yielding and paying therefore

Yearly and every Year during the said term and time of twenty one Years

unto the said Honoble Compy. their Successors Agents or Assigns the

Rent of one shilling and six pence P Acre at or upon the Feast of St. Michael

the Arch Angel Yearly And upon condition that he the said John Robinson

his Heirs, Executors Administrs. 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, & do not nor shall sell or dispose of this Lease or his or

their Interest therein without the Leave and Consent of the Governor & Council

for the time being In Witness whereof we the said Governor and Council have

to the other part set our Hands and Affixed the Honoble Company's Seal this 28th.

day of August in the Ninth Year of the Reign of our said Sovereign Lord

George the Third by the grace of God of great Britain France and Ireland

King defender of the faith and so forth, and in the Year of our Lord 1769

and he the said John Robinson hath hereunto set his Hand and Seal

the day and Year abovewritten

Jno. Robinson

Witness

[...] Bazett

The Company let 17¼ acres of land in the East Division to John Robinson, the master carpenter of the island. The ground was bounded on the east and north by the Company's waste land, on the west by Robinson's own land and on the south partly by the land of John Desfountain senior and partly by Robinson's own land.

Robinson was to hold the ground, with everything belonging to it, for 21 years from the date of the lease. The term covered him and anyone who took the ground after him by inheritance or approved transfer.

The lease set out the following conditions. Robinson and his successors had to remain loyal to King George III and faithful to the Company, and had to obey the laws and regulations of the island. They paid the Company a rent of 1s 6d an acre each year, due on the feast of St Michael the Archangel. They had to keep the fences of the land in good repair and maintain the full quantity of wood on it. They could not sell or part with the lease or any interest in it without the permission of the Governor and Council of the day.

The Governor and Council signed one copy and fixed the Company's seal to it on 28 August 1769, in the ninth year of the reign of George III. John Robinson signed and sealed the other copy on the same day, and [...] Bazett signed as witness.

Interpretations

Robinson's was the fourth lease sealed on 28 August 1769 at 1s 6d an acre in this part of the East Division, after those of the Knipe trustees, Matthew Bazett and John Desfountain senior. The four grants together came to 64¾ acres, by far the largest area disposed of at one sitting in the volume. Robinson's share reached the Company's waste on the east and north, so the tract ran from the settled farms out to the edge of unoccupied country. The Council had evidently opened a whole stretch of poor ground and shared it among the neighbouring landholders in one operation, at a uniform rent.

Robinson and Bazett each received exactly 17¼ acres. Two shares of identical size, given to the Secretary and the master carpenter, did not arise from the lie of existing boundaries. The Council appeared to have measured out equal portions for its two officers, with the planter and the orphans' trustees taking what lay against their own farms.

The master carpenter was the head of the Company's carpenters, responsible for the timber work of its buildings and stores. A John Robinson, styled a planter, took a strip beside his house and the watercourse in James's Valley on 2 March 1767. If the same man was meant, his description changed with the capacity in which he held land, a planter in one lease and a Company tradesman of senior rank in another. Like the Secretary, the writer John Goodwin and the factor William Wrangham, a salaried servant of the Company was also farming on his own account.

Ground let at 1s 6d on the understanding that the wood on it would be kept up had a particular use for a carpenter. The standard clause bound Robinson to maintain the full quantity of wood, on land granted to the man whose trade depended on timber.

94

91

Island St. 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 Isaac Doveton Planter All that piece

or parcel of Land containing one Acre situate Lying & being in the

East Division of the said Island butting and bounding North

upon the Honble Companys Waste Land East upon the Land of

Matthew Purling Esqr. South & West upon the said Isaac Dovetons

own Land To have and to hold the said hereby Demised parcel

of Land with the Appurtenances & every part and parcel thereof unto

him the said Isaac Doveton his Heirs Executors Administrators and

Assigns from the Day of the Date hereof for & during all the space

and Term of Twenty one Years from thence next ensuing Upon

Condition that he the said Isaac Doveton his Heirs or Allowed

Assigns do always bear true faith & Allegiance to our Sovereign Lord

King George the Third his Heirs & Successors & true faith to them

the said Honble Company & their Successors & shall duly Obey all

the Laws & constitutions of the said Island Yielding and

paying therefore Yearly & every Year during the said term and time

of twenty one Years unto the said Honble Company their Successors

Agents or Assigns the Rent of five shillings P Acre at or upon the

Feast of St. Michael the Arch Angel Yearly And upon condition

that he the said Isaac Doveton his Heirs Executors Administrators

or Assigns do & shall well and sufficiently keep up and maintain

the Fences to the said Land & the full quantity of Wood thereon

and do not nor shall sell or dispose of this Lease or his Interest

therein without the leave & consent of the Governor & Council

for the time being In Witness whereof we the said Governor

& Council have to the other part set our Hands and affixed the

Honorable Companys Seal this 28 day of August in the ninth

Year of the Reign of our said Sovereign Lord George the third by

the Grace of God of Great Britain France & Ireland King

Defender of the Faith and so forth and in the Year of our Lord

1769 & he the said Isaac Doveton hath hereunto set his Hand &

Seal the day and Year abovewritten

Isaac Doveton

Witness

[...] Bazett

The Company let one acre of land in the East Division to Isaac Doveton, a planter. The ground was bounded on the north by the Company's waste lands, on the east by the land of Matthew Purling Esquire and on the south and west by Doveton's own land.

Doveton was to hold the ground, with everything belonging to it, for 21 years from the date of the lease. The term covered him and anyone who took the ground after him by inheritance or approved transfer.

The lease set out the following conditions. Doveton and his successors had to remain loyal to King George III and faithful to the Company, and had to obey the laws and regulations of the island. They paid the Company a rent of 5s 0d an acre each year, due on the feast of St Michael the Archangel. They had to keep the fences of the land in good repair and maintain the full quantity of wood on it. They could not sell or part with the lease or any interest in it without the permission of the Governor and Council of the day.

The Governor and Council signed one copy and fixed the Company's seal to it on 28 August 1769, in the ninth year of the reign of George III. Isaac Doveton signed and sealed the other copy on the same day, and [...] Bazett signed as witness.

Interpretations

Doveton's acre lay beside ground that Matthew Purling took on 2 September 1766. Purling's three acres had the Company's waste on the north and his own land on the south and west, and paid 1s 0d an acre. Doveton's acre, three years later, had the waste on the north, Purling on the east and his own land on the south and west, and paid 5s 0d. The two pieces thus stood side by side along the same edge of the waste, each taken as an addition to an adjoining farm. One was let to an Esquire at a fifth of what the planter next to him was charged. The four leases at 1s 6d sealed on this same day showed the Council valuing a whole tract by its quality and treating every tenant alike. Here the comparison ran the other way. Land of the same description on one boundary carried two rents, and the lower went to the man of higher standing. Unless Purling's three acres were markedly worse ground than the acre beside them, his rate of 1766 was a favour.

Five leases were sealed on 28 August 1769, the largest number on any day in the volume. Four belonged to the division of poor ground among the Knipe trustees, Bazett, Desfountain and Robinson. Doveton's was separate business from another part of the East Division, dealt with at the same sitting at the full rate. The Council was therefore not applying a general reduction that day, and each piece was still priced on its own.

Doveton and Purling had divided ground between them before. Each took seven and a half acres on either side of their common boundary, Purling on 2 September 1766 and Doveton on 2 March 1767, both at 5s 0d. The present acre extended Doveton's farm northward to the waste along the line where their estates met.

95

92

Island St. 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 Let unto

Nathan Sampell Planter All that piece or parcel of Land

containing two Acres and an half situate lying and being in

the East Division of the said Island butting and bounding West

and South upon the Honble Companys Waste Land. East upon the

Land of Matthew Purling Esqr. & North upon the said Nathan

Sampells own Land To have and to hold the said

hereby Demised parcel of Land with the Appurtenances & every

part & parcel thereof unto him the said Nathan Sampell his

Heirs Executors Administrators & Assigns from the day of the date

hereof for & during all the space and term of twenty one Years

from thence next ensuing Upon condition that he the said

Nathan Sampell his Heirs or allowed Assigns do always bear

true faith and Allegiance to our Sovereign Lord King George

the Third his Heirs & Successors, & true faith to them the said

Honorable Company & their Successors & shall duly Obey all the

Laws & Constitutions of the said Island Yielding & 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 Rent of five shillings P Acre at or upon

the Feast of St. Michael the Arch Angel Yearly And upon

condition that he the said Nathan Sampell his Heirs Executors

Administrators or Assigns do and shall well & sufficiently keep

up & maintain the Fences to the said Land & the full quantity

of Wood thereon, & do not nor shall sell or dispose of this Lease

or his Interest therein without the leave & consent of the Govr.

& Council for the time being. In Witness whereof we the

said Governor & Council have to the other part set our Hands

& affixed the Honble Companys Seal this 28 day of August in

the ninth Year of the Reign of our said Sovereign Lord George

the third by the Grace of God of Great Britain France & Ireland

King Defender of the Faith & so forth & in the Year of our Lord

1769 & he the said Nathan Sampell hath hereunto set his

Hand & Seal the day and Year abovewritten

Nathan Sampell

Witness

[...] Bazett

The Company let two and a half acres of land in the East Division to Nathan Sampell, a planter. The ground was bounded on the west and south by the Company's waste land, on the east by the land of Matthew Purling Esquire and on the north by Sampell's own land.

Sampell was to hold the ground, with everything belonging to it, for 21 years from the date of the lease. The term covered him and anyone who took the ground after him by inheritance or approved transfer.

The lease set out the following conditions. Sampell and his successors had to remain loyal to King George III and faithful to the Company, and had to obey the laws and regulations of the island. They paid the Company a rent of 5s 0d an acre each year, due on the feast of St Michael the Archangel. They had to keep the fences of the land in good repair and maintain the full quantity of wood on it. They could not sell or part with the lease or any interest in it without the permission of the Governor and Council of the day.

The Governor and Council signed one copy and fixed the Company's seal to it on 28 August 1769, in the ninth year of the reign of George III. Nathan Sampell signed and sealed the other copy on the same day, and [...] Bazett signed as witness.

Interpretations

Sampell was the second planter on 28 August 1769 to take a small piece at the edge of the waste beside Matthew Purling's land and pay 5s 0d an acre for it. Isaac Doveton's acre lay on one side of Purling's estate and Sampell's two and a half acres on another. Purling's own three acres on that margin were let at 1s 0d on 2 September 1766. Two neighbours, on different sides, were thus charged five times his rate for ground of the same kind and smaller size. A single contrast could be put down to a difference in the soil between adjoining pieces. Two, on separate boundaries of the same estate, made that explanation harder to sustain. The Esquire's rent of 1766 stood apart from what the Council asked of the planters around him.

Six leases were now sealed on 28 August 1769. Four shared out the poor tract beside John Desfountain senior at 1s 6d, and two, those of Doveton and Sampell, extended planters' farms to the waste near Purling at 5s 0d. The Council applied the low rate where it judged a whole stretch of ground to be poor and the full rate elsewhere, at one sitting. That consistency within the day made the older exception in Purling's favour the more conspicuous.

Sampell's ground had waste on two sides and his own farm on the north. Like most of the small country grants in the volume, it pushed an existing boundary a short way outward, here at a corner where his land, Purling's and the unoccupied country met.

96

93

Island St. 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 George

Hayes & William Hayes Planters All that piece or parcel of Land

containing two Acres & an half situate lying & being in the East

Division of the said Island butting & bounding East & North upon the

Honble Companys Waste Land, South & West upon the said George & William

Hayes own Land To have and to hold the said hereby Demised

parcel of Land with the Appurtenances & every part & parcel thereof

unto them the said George & William Hayes their Heirs Executors

Administrators & Assigns from the day of the date hereof for & during

all the space & term of twenty one Years from thence next ensuing

Upon condition that they the said George & William Hayes their

Heirs or allowed Assigns do always bear true faith & Allegiance to

our Sovereign Lord King George the Third his Heirs & Successors &

true faith to them the said Honble Company & their Successors & shall

duly Obey all the Laws & Constitutions of the said Island Yielding

& 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 Rent of five shillings P Acre at or upon the

Feast of St. Michael the Arch Angel Yearly And upon condition

that they the said George & William Hayes their Heirs Executors

Administrators or Assigns do & shall well & sufficiently keep up &

maintain the Fences to the said Land & the full quantity of Wood

thereon & do not nor shall sell or dispose of this Lease or their

Interest therein without the leave & Consent of the Governor & Council

for the time being In Witness whereof we the said Governor &

Council have to the other part set our Hands and affixed the Honble

Companys Seal this 28th. day of August in the ninth Year of the Reign

of our said Sovereign Lord George the Third by the grace of God of

Great Britain France & Ireland King Defender of the Faith & so

forth & in the Year of our Lord 1769 & they the said George &

William Hayes have hereunto set their Hands & Seals the day

and Year abovewritten

William Hayes for George

Hayes

William Hayes

Witness.

[...] Bazett

The Company let two and a half acres of land in the East Division to George Hayes and William Hayes, planters. The ground was bounded on the east and north by the Company's waste land and on the south and west by land the two men already held.

The Hayeses were to hold the ground together, with everything belonging to it, for 21 years from the date of the lease. The term covered them and anyone who took the ground after them by inheritance or approved transfer.

The lease set out the following conditions. George and William Hayes and their successors had to remain loyal to King George III and faithful to the Company, and had to obey the laws and regulations of the island. They paid the Company a rent of 5s 0d an acre each year, due on the feast of St Michael the Archangel. They had to keep the fences of the land in good repair and maintain the full quantity of wood on it. They could not sell or part with the lease or their interest in it without the permission of the Governor and Council of the day.

The Governor and Council signed one copy and fixed the Company's seal to it on 28 August 1769, in the ninth year of the reign of George III. William Hayes signed the other copy twice on the same day, once for George Hayes and once for himself, with a separate seal beside each signature. [...] Bazett signed as witness.

Interpretations

William Hayes signed for George as well as for himself, exactly as he did on their first joint lease of 18 April 1768. George was thus absent from the sealing on two occasions 16 months apart. He was named as a tenant and bound by every condition, yet he took no part in completing either lease. A co-tenant who never appeared was probably away from the island or unable to act, and the farm was in practice run by William alone. The joint form kept George's share in the land alive during that absence. Had William taken the new ground by himself, the addition would have been his and the earlier four acres shared, splitting one farm between two titles. Taking it jointly kept the whole holding on the same footing for whenever George returned or his heirs claimed.

This was the second piece the Hayeses added from the waste at 5s 0d an acre, after the four acres of 18 April 1768. Their farm in the East Division was growing by small steps on its eastern and northern sides, each enclosed and leased as it was taken in. William Hayes senior took a strip of three acres from the waste in the same division on 27 March 1769, also at the full rate.

Seven leases were sealed on 28 August 1769. Three of them, those of Isaac Doveton, Nathan Sampell and the Hayeses, were small extensions of planters' farms into the waste at 5s 0d, beside the four shares of the poor tract at 1s 6d. The Council evidently cleared a backlog of applications for country land at that sitting, towards the end of the southern winter, as it did in late August and September of 1768.

97

94

Island St. Helena

The Lords Proprietors of this

Island the Honorable the United Company of Merchants of

England trading to the East Indies Do hereby Demise Grant

Lease & to Farm Let unto Orlando Bagley Junr. All that piece

or parcel of Land containing nine Acres & three quarters situate

lying & being in the East Division of the said Island, butting &

bounding East on the Honorable Companys Waste Land. West

partly upon the Honorable Companys Waste Land, & partly on the

Land of William Seale Senr. South on the said Orlando Bagleys

own Land & North on the Land of the said William Seale To have

and to hold the said hereby Demised parcel of Land with the

appurtenances & every part & parcel thereof unto him the said

Orlando Bagley his Heirs Executors Administrators & Assigns

from the day of the date hereof for & during all the space & term

of twenty one Years from thence next ensuing Upon condition

that he the said Orlando Bagley his Heirs or allowed Assigns

do always bear true faith and Allegiance to our Sovereign Lord

King George the Third his Heirs & Successors & true faith to

them the said Honble Company & their Successors & shall duly

Obey all the Laws & constitutions of the said Island Yielding

& 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 Rent of two shillings P Acre

at or upon the Feast of St. Michael the Arch Angel Yearly And

upon condition that he the said Orlando Bagley his Heirs

Executors Administrators or Assigns do & shall well & sufficiently

keep up & maintain the Fences to the said Land & the full

quantity of Wood thereon & do not nor shall sell or dispose of

this Lease or his Interest therein without the leave & consent of the

Governor & Council for the time being In Witness whereof we

the said Governor & Council have to the other part set our hands

& affixed the Honble Company's seal, this 4 day of September

in the nineth Year of the Reign of our said Sovereign Lord George

the Third by the Grace of God of Great Britain France & Ireland

King Defender of the Faith & so forth & in the Year of our Lord

1769 & he the said Orlando Bagley hath hereunto set his Hand

& Seal the Day and Year abovewritten

Orlando Bagley Junr

Witness

[...] Bazett

The Company let nine and three quarter acres of land in the East Division to Orlando Bagley junior. The ground was bounded on the east by the Company's waste land, on the west partly by the Company's waste land and partly by the land of William Seale senior, on the south by Bagley's own land and on the north by William Seale's land.

Bagley was to hold the ground, with everything belonging to it, for 21 years from the date of the lease. The term covered him and anyone who took the ground after him by inheritance or approved transfer.

The lease set out the following conditions. Bagley and his successors had to remain loyal to King George III and faithful to the Company, and had to obey the laws and regulations of the island. They paid the Company a rent of 2s 0d an acre each year, due on the feast of St Michael the Archangel. They had to keep the fences of the land in good repair and maintain the full quantity of wood on it. They could not sell or part with the lease or any interest in it without the permission of the Governor and Council of the day.

The Governor and Council signed one copy and fixed the Company's seal to it on 4 September 1769, in the ninth year of the reign of George III. Orlando Bagley junior signed and sealed the other copy on the same day, and [...] Bazett signed as witness.

Interpretations

Bagley and William Seale senior were neighbours in Deep Valley. Seale took two pieces there on 15 December 1766, one of them 13½ acres with Bagley's land on three sides, and paid 5s 0d an acre on both. Bagley now took ground lying between his own farm and Seale's, with waste on the east, at 2s 0d. Land in the same valley, bounded by the same two men, was thus rented at 5s 0d in 1766 and at well under half that in 1769. In the earlier year the Council let almost all country ground at the top rate or at a nominal one. By 1769 it was using the middle of the scale freely, with 2s 0d charged to Gabriel Harper on 22 August 1768, to Gurling, Whaley and Harper on 20 March 1769 and now to Bagley. The change suggested that the ground still ungranted beside established farms was poorer than what was taken first, and that the Council had come to price it accordingly instead of holding to 5s 0d.

Richard Bagley took 30 acres in Swanley Valley at the full 5s 0d on 19 February 1769. Two members of the family thus paid very different rates within seven months, each for the particular ground he took. The name brought no uniform treatment, which fitted valuation by the land.

The lease gave Orlando Bagley junior no occupation, where nearly every other country tenant was styled a planter or given an office. He was identified only as the younger of two men of the name, so an Orlando Bagley senior was living or lately dead. He was already a landholder in 1766, when Seale's lease named him.

The lease followed the seven of 28 August 1769 by a week. The run of country grants at the end of that winter was therefore spread over at least two sittings of the Council.

98

95

Island St. Helena

The Lords Proprietors of this Island the

Honorable the United Company of Merchants of England trading to

the East Indies Do hereby Demise Grant Lease & to Farm Let unto

William Seale Senr. All that piece or parcel of Land containing

Eleven Acres & an half, situate lying & being in the East Division of

the said Island butting & bounding East West & North upon the Honble

Company's Waste Land & South upon the said William Seales own Land

To have and to hold the said hereby Demised parcel of Land

with the appurtenances & every part & parcel thereof unto him the said

William Seale his Heirs Executors Administrators & Assigns from the

day of the date hereof for & during all the space & term of twenty

one Years from thence next ensuing Upon condition that he

the said William Seale his Heirs or allowed Assigns do always bear

true faith and Allegiance to our Sovereign Lord King George the

Third his Heirs & Successors & true faith to them the said Honble

Company & their Successors & shall duly Obey all the Laws and

constitutions of the said Island Yielding & 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 Rent of two Shillings P Acre at or upon the Feast of

St. Michael the Arch Angel Yearly And upon condition that he the

said William Seale his Heirs Executors, Administrators or Assigns

do & shall well & sufficiently keep up and maintain the Fences to

the said Land & the full quantity of Wood thereon & do not nor

sell or dispose of this Lease or his Interest therein without the

leave and consent of the Governor & Council for the time being

In Witness whereof we the said Governor and Council have to the

other part set our Hands & affixed the Honble Company's Seal

this 4th day of September in the ninth Year of the Reign of our

said Sovereign Lord George the Third by the grace of God of great

Britain France & Ireland King Defender of the Faith & so forth

& in the Year of our Lord 1769 & he the said William Seale hath

hereunto set His Hand & Seal the day and Year abovewritten

Willm. Seale

Witness.

[...] Bazett

The Company let 11½ acres of land in the East Division to William Seale senior. The ground was bounded on the east, west and north by the Company's waste land and on the south by Seale's own land.

Seale was to hold the ground, with everything belonging to it, for 21 years from the date of the lease. The term covered him and anyone who took the ground after him by inheritance or approved transfer.

The lease set out the following conditions. Seale and his successors had to remain loyal to King George III and faithful to the Company, and had to obey the laws and regulations of the island. They paid the Company a rent of 2s 0d an acre each year, due on the feast of St Michael the Archangel. They had to keep the fences of the land in good repair and maintain the full quantity of wood on it. They could not sell or part with the lease or any interest in it without the permission of the Governor and Council of the day.

The Governor and Council signed one copy and fixed the Company's seal to it on 4 September 1769, in the ninth year of the reign of George III. William Seale signed and sealed the other copy on the same day, and [...] Bazett signed as witness.

Interpretations

Seale's first lease, of 15 December 1766, gave him eight acres with the Company's waste on the north and his own land on the south, at 5s 0d an acre. The present grant lay in the same relation to his farm, north of his own land and running out into the waste, and paid 2s 0d. He was thus taking a second band of ground beyond the first, further from the settled part of the valley. The Council charged the inner band in full and the outer one at two fifths of that. Each step outward from the established farms reached ground worth less, and the rent fell with it. The same reasoning accounted for the general drift of country rents between 1766 and 1769. The early leases took in the nearest and best of the unoccupied land at 5s 0d, and the later ones dealt with what lay behind it.

Seale and Orlando Bagley junior were sealed on the same day, 4 September 1769, at the same 2s 0d. Bagley's nine and three quarter acres lay between the two men's farms with waste on the east, and Seale bounded it on the north and west. The two leases together disposed of 21¼ acres along the outer edge of their holdings in Deep Valley. As with the four planters on 20 March 1769 and the four estates on 28 August 1769, neighbours were dealt with together and at one rate, so that neither gained ground on terms the other was refused.

Seale now held at least 33 acres under three leases, the eight acres and 13½ acres of 1766 and this addition. His lease of 1766 styled him a planter, and the present one gave only his name and the word senior. The clerk's descriptions of tenants were becoming briefer, as with Bagley on the same day.

99

96

Island St. 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

Benjamin Seale Planter All that piece or parcel of Land containing

six Acres & three quarters situate lying & being in the South Division

of the said Island butting & bounding East West and North upon

the Honble Companys Waste Land & South upon the said Benjamin

Seales own Land To have and to hold the said hereby

Demised parcel of Land with the appurtenances & every part &

parcel thereof unto him the said Benjamin Seale his Heirs

Executors Administrators & Assigns from the day of the date hereof

for & during all the space & term of twenty one Years from thence

next ensuing Upon condition that he the said Benjamin

Seale his Heirs or allowed Assigns do always bear true faith

& Allegiance to our Sovereign Lord King George the Third his Heirs

& Successors & true faith to them the said Honble Company & their

Successors, & shall duly Obey all the Laws & Constitutions of the said

Island Yielding & 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 Rent of One

shilling P Acre at or upon the Feast of St. Michael the Arch Angel

Yearly And upon condition that he the said Benjamin Seale his

Heirs Executors Administrators or Assigns do & shall well and

sufficiently keep up and maintain the Fences to the said Land &

the full quantity of Wood thereon & do not nor shall sell or

dispose of this Lease or his Interest, therein without the leave & consent

of the Governor and Council for the time being In Witness

whereof we the said Governor & Council have to the other part

set our Hands & affixed the Honble Company's Seal this 4th day

of September in the ninth Year of the Reign of our said Sovereign

Lord George the Third by the grace of God of Great Britain

France & Ireland King defender of the Faith & so forth & in the

Year of our Lord 1769 and he the said Benjamin Seale hath

hereunto set his Hand & Seal the day & Year abovewritten

Benjn. Seale

Witness.

[...] Bazett

The Company let six and three quarter acres of land in the South Division to Benjamin Seale, a planter. The ground was bounded on the east, west and north by the Company's waste land and on the south by Seale's own land.

Seale was to hold the ground, with everything belonging to it, for 21 years from the date of the lease. The term covered him and anyone who took the ground after him by inheritance or approved transfer.

The lease set out the following conditions. Seale and his successors had to remain loyal to King George III and faithful to the Company, and had to obey the laws and regulations of the island. They paid the Company a rent of 1s 0d an acre each year, due on the feast of St Michael the Archangel. They had to keep the fences of the land in good repair and maintain the full quantity of wood on it. They could not sell or part with the lease or his interest in it without the permission of the Governor and Council of the day.

The Governor and Council signed one copy and fixed the Company's seal to it on 4 September 1769, in the ninth year of the reign of George III. Benjamin Seale signed and sealed the other copy on the same day, and [...] Bazett signed as witness.

Interpretations

A planter here paid 1s 0d an acre, the rate given to Matthew Purling Esquire on 2 September 1766 and to Lieutenant St Maurice on 12 October 1767. The contrast between Purling's 1s 0d and the 5s 0d charged to his neighbours Doveton and Sampell on 28 August 1769 suggested that the lowest rents went to men of standing. Benjamin Seale's lease showed that an ordinary planter could obtain the same figure, as John Worrall obtained 6d on 16 November 1767. The cheapest rates were therefore not confined to any rank. Where the Council thought ground was worth little, it let it for little to whoever applied. That did not explain why Purling's piece was valued so far below those beside it, but it removed the simpler reading that only an Esquire or an officer could have such terms.

The South Division produced several of the lowest rents in the volume. Mary Twaits paid 1s 0d for Highams on 30 November 1767 and Gabriel Harper 2s 0d for Powell's Valley on 22 August 1768. Seale's 1s 0d fitted that pattern, and pointed to much of the unoccupied land in the south being rough.

Benjamin Seale's farm lay on the south of the four acres at Sandy Bay let to James Greentree for the Twaits children on 30 November 1767. That piece had waste on three sides and Seale on the fourth, and paid 5s 0d an acre. Seale's new ground also had waste on three sides, and lay north of his own land. Two pieces in the same neighbourhood, of the same description, thus carried rents of 5s 0d in 1767 and 1s 0d in 1769. The fall matched what happened in Deep Valley, where William Seale senior paid 5s 0d in 1766 and 2s 0d on this same day for a further band of waste.

Three leases were sealed on 4 September 1769, to Orlando Bagley junior, William Seale senior and Benjamin Seale, at 2s 0d, 2s 0d and 1s 0d. None reached the old standard of 5s 0d. Two of the three tenants were Seales, in different divisions of the island, so the family was extending its farms in the east and the south at the same sitting.

100

97

Island St. 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 Sarah

Fringe All that piece or parcel of Land containing three Acres situate

lying & being in the South Division of the said Island butting and

bounding East partly upon the Land of Capt. Bazett, & partly upon

the said Sarah Fringes own Land. West & South upon the Honble

Companys Waste Land & North partly upon the said Sarah Fringes

Land aforesaid & partly upon the Land of Richd. Bagley Planter To

have and to hold the said hereby Demised parcel of Land with

the Appurtenances & every part & parcel thereof unto her the said

Sarah Fringe her Heirs Executors Administrators & Assigns from

the day of the date hereof for & during all the space and Term of

twenty one Years from thence next ensuing Upon condition

that she the said Sarah Fringe her Heirs or Allowed Assigns do always

bear true faith & Allegiance to our Sovereign Lord King George

the Third his Heirs & Successors & true faith to them the said Honble

Company & their Successors & shall duly Obey all the Laws and

Constitutions of the said Island Yielding & 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

Rent of one shilling P Acre at or upon the Feast of St. Michael the

Arch Angel Yearly. And upon condition that she the said Sarah

Fringe her Heirs Executors Administrators or Assigns do & shall

well & sufficiently keep up & maintain the Fences to the said Land &

the full quantity of Wood thereon & do not nor shall sell or dispose

of this Lease or her Interest therein without the leave & consent of the Governor

& Council for the time being In Witness whereof we the said Govr.

& Council have to the other part set our Hands & affixed the Honble

Companys Seal this 4 day of September in the ninth Year of the

Reign of our said Sovereign Lord George the Third by the grace

of God of Great Britain France & Ireland King Defender of the

Faith & so forth & in the Year of our Lord 1769 and she the said

Sarah Fringe hath hereunto set her Hand and Seal the day &

Year abovewritten Benjn. Seale for Sarah Fringe

Witness.

[...] Bazett

The Company let three acres of land in the South Division to Sarah Funge. The ground was bounded on the east partly by the land of Captain Bazett and partly by her own land, on the west and south by the Company's waste land, and on the north partly by her own land and partly by the land of Richard Bagley, a planter.

Sarah Funge was to hold the ground, with everything belonging to it, for 21 years from the date of the lease. The term covered her and anyone who took the ground after her by inheritance or approved transfer.

The lease set out the following conditions. Sarah Funge and her successors had to remain loyal to King George III and faithful to the Company, and had to obey the laws and regulations of the island. They paid the Company a rent of 1s 0d an acre each year, due on the feast of St Michael the Archangel. They had to keep the fences of the land in good repair and maintain the full quantity of wood on it. They could not sell or part with the lease or her interest in it without the permission of the Governor and Council of the day.

The Governor and Council signed one copy and fixed the Company's seal to it on 4 September 1769, in the ninth year of the reign of George III. Benjamin Seale signed and sealed the other copy on Sarah Funge's behalf, and [...] Bazett signed as witness.

Interpretations

Benjamin Seale signed for Sarah Funge on the day he completed his own lease, 4 September 1769. Both grants lay in the South Division, both took ground from the waste beside land the tenant already held, and both paid 1s 0d an acre. He thus attended the sealing on his own business and acted for a woman landholder of the same district while there. Every lease in the volume made to a woman in her own name was completed by a man. James Greentree signed for Mary Twaits on 30 November 1767 and Jonathan Doveton for Mary Doveton on 12 October 1767. The women were named as tenants, held the land and bore the conditions, yet none appeared before the Council. The practice was consistent enough across three leases to indicate a custom that women did not attend to seal their own deeds, and sent a kinsman or neighbour.

The lease gave Sarah Funge no description. Mary Twaits was styled an unmarried woman and Mary Doveton a widow and administratrix. A woman holding land in her own right, and already owning ground on two sides of the new piece, was either single or widowed, since a married woman's leasehold stood in her husband's name. The clerk's omission fitted the shorter descriptions of tenants in the other leases of this day.

The equal rate for Seale and Funge again showed neighbours dealt with on the same terms at one sitting. A woman with no stated rank paid the lowest common rent in the volume, alongside a planter. That added to the evidence from Seale's own lease that 1s 0d an acre was what the Council asked for rough ground in the south, from anyone.

Captain Bazett and Richard Bagley were named as neighbours. Henry Bazett held land beside the Dovetons in the East Division under the lease of 12 October 1767, and Richard Bagley took 30 acres in Swanley Valley on 19 February 1769. Both men therefore had holdings in the South Division as well, or the valley lay within it.

Four leases were sealed on 4 September 1769, two at 2s 0d in the East Division and two at 1s 0d in the South.

101

98

Island St. 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 William Wrangham of the said Island Gentleman

All that piece or parcel of Land containing Five Acres situate

lying and being in one branch of Fryar Valley butting and

bounding East upon the Honble Companys Pasture Land North

upon the Land of John Goodwin Writer. West and South upon

the said William Wranghams own Land To have and to

hold the said hereby Demised parcel of Land with the

appurtenances and every part and parcel thereof unto him the

said William Wrangham his Heirs Executors Administrators and

Assigns from the day of the date hereof for and during all the

space & term of twenty one Years from thence next ensuing

Upon condition that he the said William Wrangham his

Heirs or allowed Assigns do always bear true faith & Allegiance

to our Sovereign Lord King George the Third his Heirs & Successors

& true faith to them the said Honble Company & their Successors &

shall Duly obey all the Laws & constitutions of the said Island

Yielding & 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 Rent of five shillings P Acre

at or upon the Feast of St. Michael the Arch Angel Yearly And

upon condition that he the said William Wrangham his Heirs

Executors Administrators or Assigns do & shall well & sufficiently

keep up and maintain the Fences to the said Land & the full

quantity of Wood thereon, & do not nor shall sell or dispose of this

Lease or his or their Interest therein without the leave & consent of the

Governor & Council for the time being, In Witness whereof we

the said Governor & Council have to the other part set our Hands

& affixed the Honble Company's Seal this 4 day of December in the

tenth Year of the Reign of our Sovereign Lord George the Third by the

Grace of God of Great Britain France & Ireland King defender of

the faith & so forth & in the Year of our Lord 1769 & he the said

William Wrangham hath hereunto set his Hand & Seal the

day & Year abovewritten

Willm. Wrangham

Witness

[...] Bazett

The Company let five acres of land in one branch of Friar's Valley to William Wrangham of the island, a gentleman. The ground was bounded on the east by the Company's pasture land, on the north by the land of John Goodwin, a writer, and on the west and south by Wrangham's own land.

Wrangham was to hold the ground, with everything belonging to it, for 21 years from the date of the lease. The term covered him and anyone who took the ground after him by inheritance or approved transfer.

The lease set out the following conditions. Wrangham and his successors had to remain loyal to King George III and faithful to the Company, and had to obey the laws and regulations of the island. They paid the Company a rent of 5s 0d an acre each year, due on the feast of St Michael the Archangel. They had to keep the fences of the land in good repair and maintain the full quantity of wood on it. They could not sell or part with the lease or any interest in it without the permission of the Governor and Council of the day.

The Governor and Council signed one copy and fixed the Company's seal to it on 4 December 1769, in the tenth year of the reign of George III. William Wrangham signed and sealed the other copy on the same day, and [...] Bazett signed as witness.

Interpretations

Wrangham paid the full 5s 0d an acre. His lease of December 1766 gave him three acres in Sarah's Valley at 1s 6d, one of the cheap grants to men of standing that raised the question of favour. Here the same gentleman, by then a factor in the Company's service, was charged the top rate. The ground lay in Friar's Valley among occupied land, where John Goodwin paid 5s 0d on 29 August 1768. A man of rank thus received a low rent on ground jutting into the waste and the standard one on ground in settled country, exactly as planters did in 1769. His two leases together supported valuation by the land. They left Matthew Purling's 1s 0d of 2 September 1766, beside neighbours later charged 5s 0d, as the one case the quality of the ground did not readily explain.

Wrangham and Goodwin each took five acres in Friar's Valley, on either side of a common boundary. Goodwin's lease named Wrangham as his neighbour on the west, and Wrangham's now named Goodwin on the north. Two pieces of equal size, granted 15 months apart to the men whose farms enclosed them, repeated the division between Purling and Isaac Doveton of 1766 and 1767. A strip left between two estates was again shared equally, each half going to the adjoining holder under his own lease and at the same rent.

The ground met the Company's pasture on the east. Benjamin Mason's lease of 16 November 1767 in the West Division also bordered pasture the Company kept for its own stock, and carried a plan. No plan was entered here, although the boundary with the Company's grazing gave the same reason for one. The practice of recording outlines, frequent in the leases of March 1769, was therefore not applied consistently.

The lease was the first dated in the tenth year of the reign. Three months separated it from the sittings of 28 August and 4 September 1769, in keeping with the long intervals between clusters of grants throughout the volume.

102

99

Island St. 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 William Wrangham of the

said Island Gentleman All that piece or parcel of Land containing five Acres

situate lying & being in the West Division of the said Island butting

and bounding West on the Honoble Company's Waste Land. North East

& South upon the said William Wrangham's own Land To have and

to hold the said hereby demised parcel of Land with the appurtenances

and every part & parcel thereof unto him the said William Wrangham

his Heirs Executors Administrators & Assigns from the day of the date

hereof for and during all the space & term of twenty one Years from

thence next ensuing Upon condition that he the said William Wrangham

his Heirs or allowed Assigns do always bear true faith & Allegiance to our

Sovereign Lord King George the Third his Heirs & Successors & true faith

to them the said Honble Company & their Successors & shall duly Obey all the Laws

& Constitutions of the said Island Yielding 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 Rent of

five shillings P Acre at or upon the Feast of St. Michael the Arch Angel

Yearly. And upon condition that he the said William Wrangham 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. & do not nor shall sell or dispose of this

Lease or his or their Interest therein without the leave & Consent of the

Governor & Council for the time being In Witness whereof we the

said Governor & Council have to the other part set our Hands and

Affixed the Honorable Company's Seal this 4 day of December in the

tenth Year of the Reign of our Sovereign Lord George the Third by

the Grace of God of Great Britain France & Ireland King defender of

Faith and so forth. & in the Year of our Lord 1769 & he the said William

Wrangham hath hereunto set his Hand & Seal the day and Year

abovewritten

Willm. Wrangham

Witness

[...] Bazett

The Company let five acres of land in the West Division to William Wrangham of the island, a gentleman. The ground was bounded on the west by the Company's waste land and on the north, east and south by Wrangham's own land.

Wrangham was to hold the ground, with everything belonging to it, for 21 years from the date of the lease. The term covered him and anyone who took the ground after him by inheritance or approved transfer.

The lease set out the following conditions. Wrangham and his successors had to remain loyal to King George III and faithful to the Company, and had to obey the laws and regulations of the island. They paid the Company a rent of 5s 0d an acre each year, due on the feast of St Michael the Archangel. They had to keep the fences of the land in good repair and maintain the full quantity of wood on it. They could not sell or part with the lease or any interest in it without the permission of the Governor and Council of the day.

The Governor and Council signed one copy and fixed the Company's seal to it on 4 December 1769, in the tenth year of the reign of George III. William Wrangham signed and sealed the other copy on the same day, and [...] Bazett signed as witness.

Interpretations

Wrangham took two leases on 4 December 1769, each of five acres at 5s 0d an acre. One lay in a branch of Friar's Valley beside John Goodwin and the Company's pasture, and the other in the West Division against the waste. The tenant, the acreage, the rent and the day were the same, and a single lease could have carried both pieces at one rate, as Simon Whaley's did for two detached plots on 1 February 1768. The Council issued two. Its usual course, seen with William Seale senior on 15 December 1766 and with the Twaits children on 30 November 1767, was to give each separate parcel a title of its own. Whaley's combined lease remained the exception. Separate leases meant that Wrangham could later seek leave to transfer or renew one farm's addition without touching the other.

This piece bordered the waste and still paid the full rate. Wrangham's three acres in Sarah's Valley, let at 1s 6d in December 1766, had waste on three sides. The present ground had it on one side only and was otherwise enclosed by his own farm. The more a piece stood out into unoccupied country, the less the Council charged, and ground tucked into an existing estate was valued with the estate.

Wrangham's own land surrounded the five acres on the north, east and south. A gentleman in the Company's service thus held a farm in the West Division large enough to enclose a gap of that size, in addition to his ground in Friar's Valley and Sarah's Valley and a house in the town on the Southwark side. With three country leases and a seat among Thomas Greentree's executors, he ranked with Bazett, Purling and James Greentree among the principal landholders in the volume.

103

100

Island St. 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 & to

Farm Let unto William Wrangham of the said Island Gentleman

All that piece or parcel of Land containing three Acres situate

lying & being in the South Division of the said Island, butting &

bounding West upon the Land of Matthew Purling Esqr. South

upon the Land of Capt. Henry Bazett East & North upon the said

William Wranghams own Land To have & to hold the said

hereby Demised parcel of Land with the appurtenances & every

part & parcel thereof unto him the said William Wrangham his

Heirs Executors Administrators & Assigns from the day of the date

hereof for and during all the space & term of twenty one Years from

thence next ensuing Upon condition that he the said

William Wrangham his Heirs or allowed Assigns do always bear

true faith & Allegiance to our Sovereign Lord King George the

Third his Heirs & Successors & true faith to them the said Honble

Company & their Successors and shall duly Obey all the Laws &

Constitutions of the said Island Yielding & 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 Rent of five shillings P Acre at or upon the Feast

of St. Michael the Arch Angel Yearly And upon condition that

he the said William Wrangham his Heirs Executors Administrators

or Assigns do & shall well & sufficiently keep up & maintain

the Fences to the said Land & the full quantity of Wood thereon

& do not nor shall sell or dispose of this Lease or his or their

Interest therein without the leave & consent of the Governor &

Council for the time being In Witness whereof we the said

Governor & Council have to the other part set our Hands and

affixed the Honorable Company's Seal this 4 day of December

in the tenth Year of the Reign of our Sovereign Lord George

the Third by the Grace of God of Great Britain France & Ireland

King Defender of the Faith & so forth & in the Year of our Lord 1769

and he the said William Wrangham hath hereunto set his Hand

and Seal the day and Year abovewritten

Willm. Wrangham

Witness

[...] Bazett

The Company let three acres of land in the South Division to William Wrangham of the island, a gentleman. The ground was bounded on the west by the land of Matthew Purling Esquire, on the south by the land of Captain Henry Bazett and on the east and north by Wrangham's own land.

Wrangham was to hold the ground, with everything belonging to it, for 21 years from the date of the lease. The term covered him and anyone who took the ground after him by inheritance or approved transfer.

The lease set out the following conditions. Wrangham and his successors had to remain loyal to King George III and faithful to the Company, and had to obey the laws and regulations of the island. They paid the Company a rent of 5s 0d an acre each year, due on the feast of St Michael the Archangel. They had to keep the fences of the land in good repair and maintain the full quantity of wood on it. They could not sell or part with the lease or any interest in it without the permission of the Governor and Council of the day.

The Governor and Council signed one copy and fixed the Company's seal to it on 4 December 1769, in the tenth year of the reign of George III. William Wrangham signed and sealed the other copy on the same day, and [...] Bazett signed as witness.

Interpretations

Wrangham took three leases on 4 December 1769, for five acres in Friar's Valley, five in the West Division and three in the South Division. No other tenant in the volume received grants in three separate parts of the island at one sitting. Each piece adjoined land he already held, so he was farming in all three places before that day. A gentleman in the Company's service had thus built up scattered holdings across the island, and the Council dealt with every addition to them together. All three paid 5s 0d an acre, 13 acres in all at the top of the scale.

The South Division produced the cheapest rents of the previous sitting. Benjamin Seale and Sarah Funge each paid 1s 0d an acre there on 4 September 1769 for ground taken from the waste. Wrangham's three acres in the same division paid five times as much. His piece touched no waste. It was enclosed by his own land and by the estates of Purling and Captain Henry Bazett. The division therefore contained both rough margin let for almost nothing and good ground in the middle of established estates charged in full, as the West Division did when John Worrall paid 6d and 5s 0d for neighbouring land on 16 November 1767.

The neighbours were an Esquire and a captain, with a gentleman as tenant. The three acres lay in a block held by the island's leading men, and each of them appeared repeatedly elsewhere in the volume. Purling held land in the East Division near Halley's Mount, and Henry Bazett beside the Dovetons there and in the town. The same small group of officials and officers owned adjoining ground in more than one district.

Two of the three boundaries here, Purling on one side and Henry Bazett on the south, were also named for Mary Doveton's acre of cabbage tree land on 12 October 1767. That acre was placed in the East Division, at the head of a branch of James's Valley. Wrangham's ground with the same neighbours was placed in the South. The two estates evidently ran across the line between the divisions, or the clerk's assignment of ground near that line was not fixed.

104

101

Island St. Helena.

The Lords Proprietors of

this Island the Honorable the United Company of Merchants of

England trading to the East Indies Do hereby Demise Grant Lease

& to Farm Let unto Matthew Purling Esqr. James Powell Matthew

Bazett William Wrangham Henry Bazett & Jonathan Doveton all of

the said Island & Members of the Society for the purchase & sale of

Spirituous Liquors All that small Gore or Slip of Ground situate lying

& being in James's Valley containing forty feet in Front next to the

Water course & four feet in depth & thirty six feet in front facing up the

Street & six feet in depth butting & bounding East & South upon the Honble

Companys Waste Land. West & North upon the Land of them the said Society

To have and to hold the said hereby demised parcel of Ground with

the appurtenances & every part & parcel thereof unto them the said Society their

Heirs Executors Administrators & Assigns from the day of the date hereof for

& during all the space & term of twenty one Years from thence next ensuing

Upon condition that they the said Society their Heirs or Allowed Assigns do

always bear true faith & Allegiance to our Sovereign Lord King George the Third

his Heirs & Successors & true faith to them the said United Company & their

Successors & shall Duly Obey all the Laws & Constitutions of the said Island Yielding

& paying therefore Yearly & every Year during the said term & time of twenty

one Years unto the said United Company their Successors Agents or Assigns

the Rent of four shillings P Annum at or upon the Feast of St. Michael the

Arch Angel Yearly And upon condition that they the said Society their Heirs

Executors Administrators or Assigns do & shall well & sufficiently keep in

good repair all such buildings that are or may hereafter be built or erected

upon the said Ground & do not nor shall sell or dispose of this Lease or their

Interest therein without the leave & consent of the Governor & Council for the

time being In Witness whereof we the said Governor & Council have to the

other part set our Hands & affixed the Honble Companys Seal this 11 day

of December in the tenth Year of the Reign of our Sovereign Lord George the

Third by the Grace of God of Great Britain France & Ireland King defender

of the Faith & so forth & in the Year of our Lord 1769 & they the said Society

have hereunto set their Hands & Seals the day & Year abovewritten

M Purling

M Bazett

Witness

John Goodwin

The Company let a small tapering slip of ground in James's Valley to six men of the island, as members of the Society for the purchase and sale of spirituous liquors. They were Matthew Purling Esquire, James Powell, Matthew Bazett, William Wrangham, Henry Bazett and Jonathan Doveton. The slip measured 40 feet along the side next to the watercourse, where it was four feet deep, and 36 feet along the side facing up the street, where it was six feet deep. It was bounded on the east and south by the Company's waste land and on the west and north by land the Society already held.

The members were to hold the ground, with everything belonging to it, for 21 years from the date of the lease. The term covered them and anyone who took the ground after them by inheritance or approved transfer.

The lease set out the following conditions. The members and their successors had to remain loyal to King George III and faithful to the Company, and had to obey the laws and regulations of the island. They paid the Company a rent of £0 4s 0d a year, due on the feast of St Michael the Archangel. They had to keep in good repair every building standing on the ground or put up there later. They could not sell or part with the lease or their interest in it without the permission of the Governor and Council of the day.

The Governor and Council signed one copy and fixed the Company's seal to it on 11 December 1769, in the tenth year of the reign of George III. Matthew Purling and Matthew Bazett signed the other copy for the Society, each with a seal, and John Goodwin signed as witness.

Interpretations

The Society for the purchase and sale of spirituous liquors was a partnership formed to trade in spirits, buying in bulk and selling on the island. Its six named members were an Esquire, the Secretary, a factor, a captain and two others, among them the men who appeared most often in the volume as tenants, trustees and neighbours. The island's senior officials and officers were thus in business together in the liquor trade, on their own account, and held premises in the town for it. The lease showed the Company's servants combining private commerce with their posts, and doing so openly enough to take ground from the Council in the Society's name.

The Society had no legal existence apart from its members, so the lease could not be made to it as a body. The Council named all six individually and let the ground to them and their heirs, adding their membership as the capacity in which they held. The form resembled a trust, with several people named for a common purpose, and two of the six signed for the rest. The cost of that arrangement was that the title rested in particular men. If the membership changed, the lease stayed with those named until the Council approved a transfer.

A gore was a narrow, tapering strip left between boundaries. This one was four to six feet deep and ran along the watercourse and the street beside the Society's existing land. It could hold no building of its own. The grant squared off the Society's premises to the edge of the water and the roadway, so that no sliver of Company ground lay between its walls and either. The rent of £0 4s 0d fell a little below the flat £0 5s 0d charged for small additions to houses in 1768 and 1769, and far below 3d a foot on 40 feet.

The lease mentioned a street. Earlier town leases located plots by neighbouring houses, the waste or the watercourse, and Captain Henry Bazett's of 29 August 1768 by a named side of the valley. The valley now had a roadway recognised as such, with ground described as facing up it.

Matthew Bazett was a party, so he could not witness. John Goodwin, the writer, signed instead, as he did on Thomas Greentree's lease in August 1766. Alexander Wright and James Desfountain had each served on earlier occasions when Bazett could not act, so the duty passed to whoever was available.

105

102

Island St. Helena

The Lords Proprietors of this Island

the Honorable the United Company of Merchants of England trading

to the East Indies Do hereby Demise Grant Lease & to Farm Let unto

Matthew Purling Esqr. of the said Island All that piece or parcel of Ground situate lying

& being in James's Valley butting & bounding North & East on the

Honble Company's Waste Land. South on the House of John Robinson

Master Carpenter & West on the House of the said Matthew Purling

containing in Depth twelve feet & in Length twenty Eight feet To

have & to hold the said hereby Demised parcel of Ground with

the appurtenances & every part & parcel thereof unto him the said

Matthew Purling his Heirs Executors Administrators & Assigns

from the day of the date hereof for & during all the space & term of

twenty one Years from thence next ensuing Upon condition

that he the said Matthew Purling his Heirs or Allowed Assigns do

always bear true Faith & Allegiance to our Sovereign Lord King

George the Third his Heirs & Successors & true faith to them the said

Honble Company & their Successors & shall duly Obey all the Laws

& Constitutions of the said Island Yielding & 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 Rent of four shillings P Annum at or upon the Feast of St.

Michael the Arch Angel Yearly And upon condition that he the

said Matthew Purling his Heirs Executors Administrators or Assigns

do & shall well & sufficiently keep in good repair all such Houses or

Buildings that are or may hereafter be built or Erected upon the

said Ground & do not nor shall sell or dispose of this Lease or his or

their Interest therein without the leave & consent of the Governor &

Council for the time being In Witness whereof we the said Govr.

& Council have to the other part set our hands & affixed the Honble

Company's Seal this 11 day of December in the tenth Year of the

Reign of our Sovereign Lord George the Third by the Grace of God of

Great Britain France & Ireland King Defender of the Faith & so forth

& in the Year of our Lord 1769 & he the said Matthew Purling hath

hereunto set his Hand & Seal the day & Year abovewritten

M Purling

Witness

[...] Bazett

The Company let a small piece of ground in James's Valley to Matthew Purling Esquire of the island. The ground measured 28 feet in length and 12 feet in depth. It was bounded on the north and east by the Company's waste land, on the south by the house of John Robinson, the master carpenter, and on the west by Purling's own house.

Purling was to hold the ground, with everything belonging to it, for 21 years from the date of the lease. The term covered him and anyone who took the ground after him by inheritance or approved transfer.

The lease set out the following conditions. Purling and his successors had to remain loyal to King George III and faithful to the Company, and had to obey the laws and regulations of the island. They paid the Company a rent of £0 4s 0d a year, due on the feast of St Michael the Archangel. They had to keep in good repair every house or building standing on the ground or put up there later. They could not sell or part with the lease or any interest in it without the permission of the Governor and Council of the day.

The Governor and Council signed one copy and fixed the Company's seal to it on 11 December 1769, in the tenth year of the reign of George III. Matthew Purling signed and sealed the other copy on the same day, and [...] Bazett signed as witness.

Interpretations

Two small additions to town premises were let on 11 December 1769, and each paid £0 4s 0d. The Society's slip ran 40 feet by four to six feet, and Purling's piece 28 feet by 12 feet. The two differed in shape and in area, yet the rent was the same. The pieces added to officers' houses on 19 December 1768 and to the Greentree house on 10 July 1769 all paid a flat £0 5s 0d. The Council thus still charged a fixed sum for a scrap of ground beside an existing building, without regard to its measurements, but the sum had dropped by a shilling. Both beneficiaries of the lower fee were Purling, alone here and as first-named member of the Society. Whether the fee was reduced generally or for these two grants could not be told from one day's leases.

The lease placed John Robinson's house in James's Valley and called him the master carpenter. A John Robinson, described as a planter, took a strip beside his house and the watercourse in the valley on 2 March 1767, and the master carpenter took 17¼ acres in the East Division on 28 August 1769. The house named here tied the three together. One man was a planter with a farm, a senior Company tradesman and a householder in the town, and the clerk used whichever description suited the lease in hand.

Purling's house stood next door to Robinson's. An Esquire and the head carpenter were neighbours in the valley, in the same way that a lieutenant's house adjoined a mason's mate's plot under the lease of 30 January 1769. Purling held farms near Halley's Mount in the East Division and land in the South Division, and the present lease added a town house to what was known of his property.

The words describing Purling as of the island were written in between the lines. The clerk supplied a phrase that the form required and that he had first left out, as he did with the division in William Worrall's lease of 22 December 1766.

106

103

Island St. 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

Matthew Purling Esqr. of the said Island All that piece or parcel of Land

containing twenty Acres situate lying & being in the East Division of the

said Island & known by the Name of Smiths, butting & bounding South

& West upon the Land of Isaac Doveton Planter East & North upon the

said Matthew Purling's own Land To have and to hold the said

hereby Demised parcel of Land with the appurtenances & every part &

parcel thereof unto him the said Matthew Purling His Heirs Executors

Administrators & Assigns from the day of the date hereof for & during

all the space & term of twenty one Years from thence next ensuing Upon

condition that he the said Matthew Purling his Heirs or Allowed

Assigns do always bear true faith & Allegiance to our Sovereign Lord

King George the Third his Heirs & Successors & true faith to them the

said Honble Company & their Successors & shall duly Obey all the Laws

& constitutions of the said Island Yielding & 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

Rent of five shillings P Acre at or upon the Feast of St. Michael the Arch

Angel Yearly And upon condition that he the said Matthew Purling

his Heirs Executors Administrators or Assigns do & shall well and

sufficiently keep up and maintain the Fences to the said Land & the

full quantity of Wood thereon, & do not nor shall sell or dispose of this

Lease or his or their Interest therein without the leave & consent of

the Governor & Council for the time being In Witness whereof we

the said Governor & Council have to the other part set our Hands

& affixed the Honble Company's Seal this 11 day of December in the

tenth Year of the Reign of our Sovereign Lord George the Third by the

Grace of God of Great Britain France & Ireland King Defender of the

Faith & so forth & in the Year of our Lord 1769 and he the said

Matthew Purling hath hereunto set his Hand & Seal the day &

Year abovewritten

M Purling

Witness

[...] Bazett

The Company let 20 acres of land in the East Division to Matthew Purling Esquire of the island. The ground was known as Smiths. It was bounded on the south and west by the land of Isaac Doveton, a planter, and on the east and north by Purling's own land.

Purling was to hold the ground, with everything belonging to it, for 21 years from the date of the lease. The term covered him and anyone who took the ground after him by inheritance or approved transfer.

The lease set out the following conditions. Purling and his successors had to remain loyal to King George III and faithful to the Company, and had to obey the laws and regulations of the island. They paid the Company a rent of 5s 0d an acre each year, due on the feast of St Michael the Archangel. They had to keep the fences of the land in good repair and maintain the full quantity of wood on it. They could not sell or part with the lease or any interest in it without the permission of the Governor and Council of the day.

The Governor and Council signed one copy and fixed the Company's seal to it on 11 December 1769, in the tenth year of the reign of George III. Matthew Purling signed and sealed the other copy on the same day, and [...] Bazett signed as witness.

Interpretations

Purling paid the full 5s 0d an acre on 20 acres. His three acres beside the waste were let at 1s 0d on 2 September 1766, a rate that looked like a favour once Isaac Doveton and Nathan Sampell were charged 5s 0d on 28 August 1769 for ground next to it. The present lease showed the Esquire paying the top rate on a substantial farm, a week after William Wrangham, a gentleman, did the same on all three of his grants. Neither man received any general allowance for his standing by 1769. Purling's 1s 0d therefore belonged to one small piece in 1766 and to nothing else he held, including the seven and a half acres of cabbage tree land he took on the same day at 5s 0d. The record still did not show why that piece was valued so low, but it ruled out a standing privilege.

Smiths was a named farm of 20 acres with no waste on any side. It lay between Purling's estate and Doveton's. Land of that size, enclosed by working farms and already bearing a name, was not new ground. The name was probably that of an earlier tenant, and the farm had come back to the Company through the end of a lease or the lack of an heir. The Council then let it to the neighbour on two sides. As with Francis's in the West Division, let to John Worrall on 16 November 1767, and Taylors, let to Thomas Greentree in August 1766, a farm kept its old name when it passed to a new holder.

Purling and Doveton shared a long boundary and had divided ground along it before, each taking seven and a half acres under the leases of 2 September 1766 and 2 March 1767. Doveton added an acre beside Purling on 28 August 1769. With Smiths, Purling's estate now reached round Doveton's on the north and east.

Purling was a party to three leases on 11 December 1769, the Society's slip, the piece beside his town house and this farm. Together with Wrangham's three of 4 December 1769, six grants in eight days went to two of the island's leading officials.

107

104

Island St. 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 let unto Captain Richard Beale of

the said Island All that piece or parcel of Ground, containing Eighty two feet in Depth

and fourteen feet in breadth situate lying and being in James's Valley butting

and bounding West on the said Richard Beale South on Matthew Bazett North

on James Greentree and East on the Honble Company's Waste Land To have

and to hold the said hereby Demised parcel of Ground with the appurtenances

and every part and parcel thereof unto him the said Richard Beale his Heirs

Executors, Administrators and 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 he the said Richard Beale his Heirs or allowed Assigns

do always bear true faith and allegiance to our Sovereign Lord King George the

Third his Heirs and Successors and true faith to them the said Company

and their Successors and shall duly Obey all the Laws and constitutions of the

said Island Yielding and paying therefore Yearly and every Year during the

said term and time of twenty one Years unto the said Company

their Successors Agents or Assigns the Rent of five shillings P Annum at or upon

the Feast of St. Michael the Arch Angel Yearly. And upon condition that

he the said Richard Beale his Heirs, Executors Administrators or Assigns do &

shall well and sufficiently keep in good repair all such Houses or Buildings

that are or may hereafter be built or Erected upon the said Ground or any part

thereof and do not nor shall sell or dispose of this Lease or his or their

Interest therein without the leave and consent of the Governor and Council for

the time being In Witness whereof we the said Governor and Council have

to the other part set our hands & Affixed the Honble Company's Seal this

16 day of July in the tenth Year of the Reign of our said Sovereign Lord

George the Third by the grace of God of great Britain France and Ireland

King Defender of the faith and so forth and in the Year of our Lord 1770

and he the said Richard Beale hath hereunto set his hand and Seal the

Day and Year abovewritten

Richd. Beale

Witness

John Goodwin

The Company let a strip of ground in James's Valley to Captain Richard Beale of the island. The strip measured 82 feet in depth and 14 feet in breadth. It was bounded on the west by Beale's own property, on the south by that of Matthew Bazett, on the north by that of James Greentree and on the east by the Company's waste land.

Beale was to hold the ground, with everything belonging to it, for 21 years from the date of the lease. The term covered him and anyone who took the ground after him by inheritance or approved transfer.

The lease set out the following conditions. Beale and his successors had to remain loyal to King George III and faithful to the Company, and had to obey the laws and regulations of the island. They paid the Company a rent of £0 5s 0d a year, due on the feast of St Michael the Archangel. They had to keep in good repair every house or building standing on the ground or put up there later. They could not sell or part with the lease or any interest in it without the permission of the Governor and Council of the day.

The Governor and Council signed one copy and fixed the Company's seal to it on 16 July 1770, in the tenth year of the reign of George III. Richard Beale signed and sealed the other copy on the same day, and John Goodwin signed as witness.

Interpretations

Beale paid £0 5s 0d for a strip added to his existing property. That was the flat sum charged for such additions on 19 December 1768 and 10 July 1769. On 11 December 1769 two additions were let at £0 4s 0d, one to Matthew Purling and one to the Society of which he was the first-named member. The return to £0 5s 0d seven months later showed that the fee had not been lowered generally. The shilling less was particular to the two grants made to Purling on that one day. The difference was small in money, but it marked the second occasion on which the Esquire was charged below what others paid for the same thing, after his 1s 0d an acre of 2 September 1766.

The strip ran 82 feet along the open side of Beale's property. Robert Ballard paid £0 8s 0d on 12 October 1767 for a strip of 74 feet by 14 feet behind his house. Beale's was longer and of the same width, and cost less. The individual pricing of 1767 had by then given way to the fixed fee, which worked in favour of anyone taking a larger piece.

Matthew Bazett's plot of 16 February 1767 was bounded on the north by the yard of Richard Beale senior and on the east by waste. Beale's strip now had Bazett on the south and waste on the east. The two leases described the same corner of the valley, with the Secretary's yard and the captain's side by side and each man extending eastward into open ground. James Greentree, the Sandy Bay planter, held the property on the north, so he too had premises in the town.

John Goodwin witnessed the lease although Bazett was not a party to it. Goodwin signed on 11 December 1769 because the Secretary was a member of the Society. Here Bazett was only a neighbour, which had not prevented him from witnessing before. He was therefore absent on 16 July 1770, as on 8 May 1769, and the writer from his office acted for him.

The lease followed the last of December 1769 by seven months, the longest gap between entries since the volume's leases began in December 1765.

108

105

Island St. Helena

The Lords Proprietors of this Island the

Honorable the United Company of Merchants of England trading to the

East Indies Do hereby demise grant Lease & to Farm let unto John

Alexander Planter All that piece or parcel of Land containing nine

Acres situate near the head of great Bottom Under the said Companys high

Peak Pasture butting and bounding South North & East on the said John

Alexanders own Land & West on the Company's Waste Land To have

and to hold the said hereby demised parcel of Land with the

appurtenances & every part and parcel thereof unto him the said John

Alexander his Heirs Executors Administrators and 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 he the said

John Alexander his Heirs or allowed, Assigns do always bear true faith

and Allegiance to our Sovereign Lord King George the third his Heirs

& Successors and true faith to them the said Company and their

Successors & shall duly Obey all the Laws & Constitutions of the said

Island Yielding and paying therefore Yearly and every Year

during the said term and time of twenty one Years unto the said Company

their Successors, Agents or Assigns the Rent of five Shillings P Acre at or

upon the Feast of St. Michael the Arch Angel Yearly And upon

condition that he the said John Alexander 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 not nor shall Sell or dispose of this Lease or his or their

Interest therein without the leave and consent of the Governor & Council

for the time being In Witness whereof we the said Governor & Council

have to the other part set our Hands and Affixed the Companys Seal this 27

day of August in the tenth Year of the Reign of our said Sovereign

Lord George the Third by the Grace of God of Great Britain France

and Ireland King defender of the Faith and so forth and in the Year

of our Lord 1770 & he the said John Alexander hath hereunto set his

hand & seal the day and Year above written

John Alexander

Witness

[...] Bazett

The Company let nine acres of land to John Alexander, a planter. The ground lay near the head of Great Bottom, below the Company's High Peak Pasture. It was bounded on the south, north and east by Alexander's own land and on the west by the Company's waste land.

Alexander was to hold the ground, with everything belonging to it, for 21 years from the date of the lease. The term covered him and anyone who took the ground after him by inheritance or approved transfer.

The lease set out the following conditions. Alexander and his successors had to remain loyal to King George III and faithful to the Company, and had to obey the laws and regulations of the island. They paid the Company a rent of 5s 0d an acre each year, due on the feast of St Michael the Archangel. They had to keep the fences of the land in good repair and maintain the full quantity of wood on it. They could not sell or part with the lease or any interest in it without the permission of the Governor and Council of the day.

The Governor and Council signed one copy and fixed the Company's seal to it on 27 August 1770, in the tenth year of the reign of George III. John Alexander signed and sealed the other copy on the same day, and [...] Bazett signed as witness.

Interpretations

Alexander's lease of 12 September 1768 gave him 40 acres in the West Division with the waste on the west and his own land on the other three sides. The rent there rose from 2s 6d an acre for 14 years to 5s 0d for the last seven. The nine acres let now lay in the same relation to his farm, with waste on the west and his land on the south, north and east. The tenant who alone had been given a rising rent was thus applying again for ground of the same description two years later. The Council charged him a flat 5s 0d from the start. The stepped rent of 1768 was therefore not repeated even for the man it was devised for. A piece of nine acres was a modest addition that a working farm could carry at once, where 40 acres of unimproved ground was a heavy charge in its first years. The device evidently answered the size of that one grant and was not a term Alexander could claim again.

The lease located the ground by landmarks and gave no division. It lay near the head of Great Bottom, below High Peak Pasture. Every earlier country lease named the East, West or South Division or a valley. Here the Company's own named pasture served as the reference point. Benjamin Mason's lease of 16 November 1767 and William Wrangham's of 4 December 1769 also bordered pasture the Company kept for its stock. High Peak Pasture was the first such ground to be named, which showed that the Company's grazing was organised into distinct tracts known by their own titles.

Bazett witnessed this lease after John Goodwin attested Captain Beale's on 16 July 1770. The Secretary was thus back at the Council's sealings by late August, as he was after his absence of May 1769.

109

106

Island St. Helena

The Lords Proprietors of this Island the

Honorable the United Company of Merchants of England trading

to the East Indies Do hereby demise grant lease & to farm let.

unto Benjamin Mason Planter All that piece or parcel of Land

containing eight Acres situate lying and being in the West Division

of the said Island butting and bounding North partly upon the

Land of John Alexander Planter & partly upon the said Benjamin

Masons own Land South upon the Land of Richard Bagley Planter

West upon the said Benjamin Masons own Land, & East upon the said

Honble Company's Land To have and to hold the said hereby

demised parcel of Land with the Appurtenances & every part and

parcel thereof unto him the said Benjamin Mason his Heirs Executors

Administrators & 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 he the said Benjamin Mason his Heirs

or allowed Assigns do always bear true faith & Allegiance to our

Sovereign Lord King George the Third his Heirs & Successors &

true faith to them the said Company & their Successors & shall duly

Obey all the Laws & Constitutions of the said Island Yielding and

paying therefore Yearly & every Year during the said term & time of

twenty one Years unto the said Company their Successors Agents or

Assigns the Rent of five Shillings P Acre at or upon the Feast of St.

Michael the Arch Angel Yearly And upon condition that he the

said Benjamin Mason his Heirs Executors, Administrators or Assigns

do & shall well & sufficiently keep up & maintain the Fences to the said

Land & the full quantity of Wood thereon & do not nor shall sell or dispose

of this Lease or his or their Interest therein without the leave & consent

of the Governor & Council for the time being In Witness whereof we the

said Governor & Council have to the other part set our Hands and

affixed the said Company's Seal this 27th day of August in the tenth Year

of the Reign of our said Sovereign Lord George the Third by the grace

of God of Great Britain France & Ireland King defender of the

faith & so forth & in the Year of our Lord 1770 and he the said

Benjamin Mason hath hereunto set his hand & Seal the Day and

Year above written

Benjn. Mason

Witness

[...] Bazett

The Company let eight acres of land in the West Division to Benjamin Mason, a planter. The ground was bounded on the north partly by the land of John Alexander, a planter, and partly by Mason's own land, on the south by the land of Richard Bagley, a planter, on the west by Mason's own land and on the east by land of the Company.

Mason was to hold the ground, with everything belonging to it, for 21 years from the date of the lease. The term covered him and anyone who took the ground after him by inheritance or approved transfer.

The lease set out the following conditions. Mason and his successors had to remain loyal to King George III and faithful to the Company, and had to obey the laws and regulations of the island. They paid the Company a rent of 5s 0d an acre each year, due on the feast of St Michael the Archangel. They had to keep the fences of the land in good repair and maintain the full quantity of wood on it. They could not sell or part with the lease or any interest in it without the permission of the Governor and Council of the day.

The Governor and Council signed one copy and fixed the Company's seal to it on 27 August 1770, in the tenth year of the reign of George III. Benjamin Mason signed and sealed the other copy on the same day, and [...] Bazett signed as witness.

Interpretations

Mason's first lease, of 16 November 1767, gave him 10¾ acres in the West Division with the Company's pasture on the east and south. A plan was entered to record that boundary. His new eight acres again had Company ground on the east, described this time simply as the Company's land. The lease did not say whether it was waste or pasture. Every other country lease named unoccupied ground as waste, and the earlier lease to Mason took care to separate the two. Ground the clerk called neither was probably the pasture, the Company's working land, which he had no reason to call waste. If so, Mason was advancing a second time along the edge of the Company's grazing, and no plan was drawn although the reason for one in 1767 applied equally here.

John Alexander's lease of the same day placed his nine acres below the Company's High Peak Pasture near the head of Great Bottom, without naming a division. Mason's lease named Alexander as a neighbour and put the ground in the West Division. The two grants of 27 August 1770 thus lay close together, and the pasture bordering Mason was probably High Peak Pasture. The Council again dealt with adjoining tenants at one sitting and at one rate, here the full 5s 0d.

Richard Bagley held the land on the south. He took 30 acres in Swanley Valley on 19 February 1769 and was named as a neighbour of Sarah Funge in the South Division on 4 September 1769. A holding beside Mason gave him ground in a further part of the island. Like Simon Whaley and William Wrangham, a planter of means farmed scattered pieces across several districts.

The lease twice referred to the Company without the title of honour that earlier leases attached to it throughout. The clerk's wording grew plainer in the leases of 1770, as his descriptions of tenants did in 1769.

110

107

Island St. 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 Thomas Burnham Executor to

the late William Burnham All those two pieces or parcels of Land containing

in both pieces thirteen Acres situate lying & being in the East Division of the

said Island Eleven Acres & an half butting & bounding East upon the Honble

Companys Waste Land North upon the Land of Matthew Bazett Secretary South

upon the said Thomas Burnhams own Land & West upon the Land of John

Worrall Planter the other Acre & an half butting & bounding West on the Land

of Matthew Purling Esqr. East & South on the Land of Matthew Bazett

Secretary & North on the said Thomas Burnhams own Land To have and

to hold the said hereby demised parcels of Land with the Appurtenances

and every part & parcel thereof unto him the said Thomas Burnham his

Heirs Executors Administrators and Assigns In trust nevertheless and to the

use of the Children of the said William Burnham Deceased from the

day of the Date hereof for and during all the space & term of twenty one

Years from thence next ensuing Upon condition that he the said

Thomas Burnham & the other Children of the said William Burnham their

Heirs or Allowed Assigns do always bear true faith & Allegiance to our

Sovereign Lord King George the Third his Heirs & Successors & true faith to them

the said Company & their Successors & shall duly Obey all the Laws & constitutions

of the said Island Yielding and paying therefore Yearly & every Year

during the said, Term & time of twenty one Years unto the said Company their

Successors Agents or Assigns the Rent of five Shillings P Acre at or upon the

Feast of St. Michael the Arch Angel Yearly And upon condition that he the

said Thomas Burnham his Heirs Executors, Administrators or Assigns do &

shall well & sufficiently keep up & maintain the Fences to the said Lands & the

full quantity of Wood thereon & do not nor shall sell or dispose of this Lease or

his or their Interest therein without the leave & consent of the Governor and

Council for the time being In Witness whereof we the said Governor and

Council have to the Other part set our Hands & affixed the Honble Company's

Seal this 17 day of September in the tenth year of the Reign of our said

Sovereign Lord George the Third by the Grace of God of Great Britain

France & Ireland King Defender of the faith & so forth & in the Year of our

Lord 1770 & he the said Thomas Burnham hath hereunto set his hand

& Seal the day & Year above written

Thomas burnham

Witness.

[...] Bazett

The Company let two pieces of land in the East Division, 13 acres in all, to Thomas Burnham, as executor of the late William Burnham. The first piece, of 11½ acres, was bounded on the east by the Company's waste land, on the north by the land of Matthew Bazett, the Secretary, on the south by Thomas Burnham's own land and on the west by the land of John Worrall, a planter. The second piece, of one and a half acres, was bounded on the west by the land of Matthew Purling Esquire, on the east and south by the land of Matthew Bazett, the Secretary, and on the north by Thomas Burnham's own land.

Thomas Burnham was to hold both pieces for 21 years from the date of the lease, but only as trustee for the children of William Burnham.

The lease set out the following conditions. Thomas Burnham and the other children of William Burnham, and their successors, had to remain loyal to King George III and faithful to the Company, and had to obey the laws and regulations of the island. A rent of 5s 0d an acre was payable to the Company each year on the feast of St Michael the Archangel. Thomas Burnham had to keep the fences of the land in good repair and maintain the full quantity of wood on it. He could not sell or part with the lease or any interest in it without the permission of the Governor and Council of the day.

The Governor and Council signed one copy and fixed the Company's seal to it on 17 September 1770, in the tenth year of the reign of George III. Thomas Burnham signed and sealed the other copy on the same day, and [...] Bazett signed as witness.

Interpretations

The loyalty clause named Thomas Burnham and the other children of William Burnham. The executor was thus himself one of the children for whom he held the land. Earlier trusts kept the two roles apart, with an outsider such as James Greentree or George Alexander acting for a neighbour's orphans. Here a son who had come of age took charge of the estate for himself and his younger brothers and sisters. The wording answered a difficulty the Council had met before. The first trusts laid loyalty on the children, who could not be held to it. The revised form of 12 September 1768 laid it on the trustees. This lease bound both at once, the grown child who signed and the others through him, which fitted a trustee who was also a beneficiary.

The orphans of William Burnham were named as neighbours in William Worrall's lease of 22 December 1766, so their father was dead at least four years before this grant. Mary Burnham, a widow, appeared beside Matthew Bazett's land on 10 February 1766. An estate was thus kept for the children through a long minority and was still receiving new land from the Council in 1770. Thomas Burnham also had ground of his own, named on the boundary of both pieces, held apart from what he managed in trust.

The estate paid the full 5s 0d an acre. The Knipe orphans' 1s 6d of 28 August 1769 was shown to follow the poor quality of a whole tract. The Burnham lease returned to the rule seen in every other trust, that land held for a dead tenant's children was charged like any other.

Matthew Bazett's land bounded both pieces, on the north of one and on the east and south of the other. The Secretary's estate in the East Division, enlarged by 17¼ acres on 28 August 1769, now adjoined the Burnhams, Purling, Desfountain, Robinson and the Knipe orphans.

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108

Island St. 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 Thomas Burnham Executor to

the late William Burnham All those two pieces or parcels of Land containing

in both pieces thirteen Acres situate lying & being in the East Division of the

said Island Eleven Acres & an half butting & bounding East upon the Honble

Companys Waste Land North upon the Land of Matthew Bazett Secretary South

upon the said Thomas Burnhams own Land & West upon the Land of John

Worrall Planter the other Acre & an half butting & bounding West on the Land

of Matthew Purling Esqr. East & South on the Land of Matthew Bazett

Secretary & North on the said Thomas Burnhams own Land To have and

to hold the said hereby demised parcels of Land with the Appurtenances

and every part & parcel thereof unto him the said Thomas Burnham his

Heirs Executors Administrators and Assigns In trust nevertheless and to the

use of the Children of the said William Burnham Deceased from the

day of the Date hereof for and during all the space & term of twenty one

Years from thence next ensuing Upon condition that he the said

Thomas Burnham & the other Children of the said William Burnham their

Heirs or Allowed Assigns do always bear true faith & Allegiance to our

Sovereign Lord King George the Third his Heirs & Successors & true faith to them

the said Company & their Successors & shall duly Obey all the Laws & constitutions

of the said Island Yielding and paying therefore Yearly & every Year

during the said, Term & time of twenty one Years unto the said Company their

Successors Agents or Assigns the Rent of five Shillings P Acre at or upon the

Feast of St. Michael the Arch Angel Yearly And upon condition that he the

said Thomas Burnham his Heirs Executors, Administrators or Assigns do &

shall well & sufficiently keep up & maintain the Fences to the said Lands & the

full quantity of Wood thereon & do not nor shall sell or dispose of this Lease or

his or their Interest therein without the leave & consent of the Governor and

Council for the time being In Witness whereof we the said Governor and

Council have to the Other part set our Hands & affixed the Honble Company's

Seal this 17 day of September in the tenth year of the Reign of our said

Sovereign Lord George the Third by the Grace of God of Great Britain

France & Ireland King Defender of the faith & so forth & in the Year of our

Lord 1770 & he the said Thomas Burnham hath hereunto set his hand

& Seal the day & Year above written

Thomas burnham

Witness.

[...] Bazett

The Company let two pieces of land in the East Division, 13 acres in all, to Thomas Burnham, as executor of the late William Burnham. The first piece, of 11½ acres, was bounded on the east by the Company's waste land, on the north by the land of Matthew Bazett, the Secretary, on the south by Thomas Burnham's own land and on the west by the land of John Worrall, a planter. The second piece, of one and a half acres, was bounded on the west by the land of Matthew Purling Esquire, on the east and south by the land of Matthew Bazett, the Secretary, and on the north by Thomas Burnham's own land.

Thomas Burnham was to hold both pieces for 21 years from the date of the lease, but only as trustee for the children of William Burnham.

The lease set out the following conditions. Thomas Burnham and the other children of William Burnham, and their successors, had to remain loyal to King George III and faithful to the Company, and had to obey the laws and regulations of the island. A rent of 5s 0d an acre was payable to the Company each year on the feast of St Michael the Archangel. Thomas Burnham had to keep the fences of the land in good repair and maintain the full quantity of wood on it. He could not sell or part with the lease or any interest in it without the permission of the Governor and Council of the day.

The Governor and Council signed one copy and fixed the Company's seal to it on 17 September 1770, in the tenth year of the reign of George III. Thomas Burnham signed and sealed the other copy on the same day, and [...] Bazett signed as witness.

Interpretations

The loyalty clause named Thomas Burnham and the other children of William Burnham. The executor was thus himself one of the children for whom he held the land. Earlier trusts kept the two roles apart, with an outsider such as James Greentree or George Alexander acting for a neighbour's orphans. Here a son who had come of age took charge of the estate for himself and his younger brothers and sisters. The wording answered a difficulty the Council had met before. The first trusts laid loyalty on the children, who could not be held to it. The revised form of 12 September 1768 laid it on the trustees. This lease bound both at once, the grown child who signed and the others through him, which fitted a trustee who was also a beneficiary.

The orphans of William Burnham were named as neighbours in William Worrall's lease of 22 December 1766, so their father was dead at least four years before this grant. Mary Burnham, a widow, appeared beside Matthew Bazett's land on 10 February 1766. An estate was thus kept for the children through a long minority and was still receiving new land from the Council in 1770. Thomas Burnham also had ground of his own, named on the boundary of both pieces, held apart from what he managed in trust.

The estate paid the full 5s 0d an acre. The Knipe orphans' 1s 6d of 28 August 1769 was shown to follow the poor quality of a whole tract. The Burnham lease returned to the rule seen in every other trust, that land held for a dead tenant's children was charged like any other.

Matthew Bazett's land bounded both pieces, on the north of one and on the east and south of the other. The Secretary's estate in the East Division, enlarged by 17¼ acres on 28 August 1769, now adjoined the Burnhams, Purling, Desfountain, Robinson and the Knipe orphans.

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109

Island St. Helena

The Lords Proprietors of this

Island the Honorable the United Company of Merchants of England

trading to the East Indies Do hereby Demise Grant Lease and to Farm

let unto the Reverend William Bearcroft Chaplain All that piece or

parcel of Land containing sixty one Acres situate lying and being in

the West Division of the said Island butting and bounding East

North and South on the Honorable Company's Land and West partly on the

said Companys Land & partly on the

Land of Onesiphorus Beales Orphans To have and to hold the said

hereby Demised parcel of Land with the appurtenances and every part

and parcel thereof unto him the said William Bearcroft his Heirs

Executors Administrators and Assigns from the day of the date hereof

for and during all the space & term of twenty one Years from thence next

ensuing Upon condition that he the said William Bearcroft his

Heirs or allowed Assigns do always bear true Faith and Allegiance to

our Sovereign Lord King George the Third his Heirs and Successors and

true faith to them the said United Company and their Successors and

shall duly obey all the Laws and Constitutions of the said Island

Yielding and paying therefore Yearly and every Year during the said

term and time of twenty one Years unto the said Company their

Successors Agents or Assigns the Rent of one Shilling and six pence P

Acre at or upon the feast of St. Michael the Arch Angel Yearly And

upon condition that he the said William Bearcroft 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 not nor shall sell or dispose of this Lease or

his or their Interest therein without the leave and Consent of the Governor

and Council for the time being And upon further condition in case

of a dry Season and an application made to the Governor & Council by

the Neighbours of the Common adjoining to the said Land of the want

of Water for the Cattle you are in that case not to divert the Water out

of the direct Course through your Land over any Plantation you

your Heirs or Assigns may think proper to make on the said

Land but let the said Water run in the Usual Channel down the Valley

In Witness whereof we the said Governor and Council have to

the other Part set our Hands and Affixed the said Company's

Seal this 17th day of September in the tenth year of the Reign of

our said Sovereign Lord George the Third by the Grace of God of

Great

The Company let 61 acres of land in the West Division to the Reverend William Bearcroft, the chaplain. The ground was bounded on the east, north and south by the Company's land, and on the west partly by the Company's land and partly by the land of the orphans of Onesiphorus Beale.

Bearcroft was to hold the ground, with everything belonging to it, for 21 years from the date of the lease. The term covered him and anyone who took the ground after him by inheritance or approved transfer.

The lease set out the following conditions. Bearcroft and his successors had to remain loyal to King George III and faithful to the Company, and had to obey the laws and regulations of the island. They paid the Company a rent of 1s 6d an acre each year, due on the feast of St Michael the Archangel. They had to keep the fences of the land in good repair and maintain the full quantity of wood on it. They could not sell or part with the lease or any interest in it without the permission of the Governor and Council of the day.

A further condition dealt with water. In a dry season the neighbours who used the common beside the land might apply to the Governor and Council because their cattle lacked water. Bearcroft and his successors were then barred from turning the stream out of its direct course through the land to water any plantation made there. The water had to be left to run in its usual channel down the valley.

The Governor and Council signed one copy and fixed the Company's seal to it on 17 September 1770, in the tenth year of the reign of George III.

Interpretations

The water clause was the first condition in the volume written for a single lease. Every earlier grant carried the standard terms and nothing more. A stream crossed Bearcroft's 61 acres on its way down to a common where neighbouring planters watered their cattle. The Council could have forbidden him to touch the stream, or said nothing and left the neighbours to complain afterwards. It took neither course. The lease let him draw water for his own cultivation in ordinary years and cut that right off only when two things coincided, a dry season and a complaint from those who used the common. The chaplain thus kept the benefit of the stream most of the time, and the cattle of the district kept first claim on it when water ran short. The clause also made the Governor and Council the judges of when that point was reached, since the restriction came into force on an application to them.

The common was land left open for the shared grazing of the neighbourhood. The lease treated the watering of stock there as a recognised right, strong enough to limit what a tenant upstream could do on his own ground. On an island with few permanent streams, water for cattle ranked above water for a private plantation, a word then used for any planted or cultivated ground.

The clause addressed the tenant directly, where every other part of the lease spoke of him by name. It was evidently copied from the terms in which the Council stated its decision to Bearcroft, and the clerk did not recast it into the language of the form. The condition was therefore settled first in the Council's dealings with the chaplain and added to the standard lease afterwards.

The 61 acres made the largest grant in the volume, half as large again as John Alexander's 40 acres of 12 September 1768. The rent of 1s 6d an acre was among the lowest. Company ground lay on three sides and part of the fourth. The lease did not call it waste, and a common adjoined it, so the tract was probably open grazing on the high ground of the West Division, poor land of the kind let at 1s 6d on 28 August 1769. A tenant taking so large a piece from land others had used had reason to be bound not to harm their water.

The tenant was the Company's chaplain. The Reverend Richard Boys held country leases 257 and 291 half a century later, so successive chaplains farmed on their own account. Bearcroft joined the Secretary, a factor, a writer and several officers among the salaried servants of the Company who appeared in the volume as planters.

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110

Great Britain France and Ireland King Defender of the Faith and

so forth & in the year of our Lord 1770 and he the said William Bearcroft

hath hereunto set his Hand and Seal the day and Year above written

Will. Bearcroft

Witness

[...] Bazett

Island St. Helena

The Lords Proprietors of this Island the

Honorable the United Company of Merchants of England trading to the

East Indies Do hereby demise grant Lease and to Farm let unto

Matthew Bazett Secretary All that piece or parcel of Land containing

one Acre & an half situate lying and being in Stone Top Valley butting

and bounding East West North & South on the Honorable Company's

Waste Land To have and to hold the said hereby demised parcel

of Land with the Appurtenances and every part and parcel thereof unto

him the said Matthew Bazett his Heirs Executors Administrators

& 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 he the said Matthew Bazett his Heirs or allowed

Assigns do always bear true faith and Allegiance to our Sovereign

Lord King George the Third his Heirs & Successors and true faith to

them the said United Company & their Successors & shall duly Obey

all the Laws & Constitutions of the said Island Yielding and

paying therefore Yearly & every Year during the said term & time

of twenty one Years unto the said Company their Successors Agents

or Assigns the Rent of five Shillings P Acre at or upon the Feast

of St. Michael the Arch Angel Yearly And upon condition

that he the said Matthew Bazett his Heirs Executors, Administrators

or Assigns do and shall well & sufficiently keep up and

maintain the Fences to the said Land and the full quantity of

Wood thereon and do not nor shall sell or dispose of this Lease

or his or their Interest therein without the leave & consent of

the Governor & Council for the time being In Witness whereof

we the said Governor & Council have to the other part set our hands

and Affixed the said Company's Seal this 17th day of

September

The Reverend William Bearcroft signed and sealed his copy of the lease in 1770, and [...] Bazett signed as witness.

A new lease, made at St Helena, followed. The Company let one and a half acres of land in Stone Top Valley to Matthew Bazett, the Secretary. The Company's waste land bounded the ground on the east, west, north and south.

Bazett was to hold the ground, with everything belonging to it, for 21 years from the date of the lease. The term covered him and anyone who took the ground after him by inheritance or approved transfer.

The lease set out the following conditions. Bazett and his successors had to remain loyal to King George III and faithful to the Company, and had to obey the laws and regulations of the island. They paid the Company a rent of 5s 0d an acre each year, due on the feast of St Michael the Archangel. They had to keep the fences of the land in good repair and maintain the full quantity of wood on it. They could not sell or part with the lease or any interest in it without the permission of the Governor and Council of the day. The Governor and Council sealed their copy on 17 September 1770.

Interpretations

The Secretary took a plot of one and a half acres standing alone in the waste and paid the full 5s 0d an acre for it. His 17¼ acres of 28 August 1769 were let at 1s 6d, as part of a tract valued low for every tenant who shared in it. Here he was charged the top rate on ground that touched no farm at all. A plot so small and so placed could not be worked as a farm. Simon Whaley's detached acre below the waterfall in Prosperous Bay Valley, let on 1 February 1768 at the same rent, was chosen for its water. Bazett's piece in Stone Top Valley was probably picked for a similar advantage, a spring, a sheltered hollow or a stand of trees, and the Council priced it as good ground on that account. The lease showed the officer who drew up the Council's grants paying in full where the land warranted it, which supported the fairness of his cheaper lease of the year before.

Three leases were sealed on 17 September 1770, to Thomas Burnham for his father's children, to the chaplain and to the Secretary. The rents were 5s 0d, 1s 6d and 5s 0d. Bearcroft's 61 acres carried the low rate and the special clause on water, while the two smaller grants followed the standard form. The Council thus dealt on one day with the largest lease in the volume and one of the smallest.

Bazett witnessed the chaplain's lease immediately before his own was entered. He prepared and attested the day's other grants and then appeared as tenant in the next.

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111

September in the tenth Year of the Reign of our said Sovereign Lord George

the Third by the Grace of God of Great Britain France & Ireland King

Defender of the Faith and so forth and in the Year of our Lord 1770 and he

the said Matthew Bazett hath hereunto set his hand & Seal the day and

Year above written

M Bazett

Witness

Willm. Webbr. Doveton

Island St. Helena

The Lords Proprietors of this Island

the Honorable the United Company of Merchants of England trading to the

East Indies Do hereby demise grant Lease & to farm let unto Robert Leech

& Jane Willson All that piece or parcel of Ground situate lying and being in

James's Valley adjoining to the House of the said Robt. Leech & Jane Willson

containing twenty six feet Square To have and to hold the said hereby

demised piece or parcel of Ground with the appurtenances and every part and

parcel thereof unto them the said Robert Leech and Jane Willson their Heirs

Executors Administrators and Assigns from the day of the date hereof for and during

all the space & term of twenty one Years from thence next ensuing Upon

condition that they the said Robert Leech & Jane Willson their Heirs

or allowed Assigns do always bear true faith & allegiance to our Sovereign Lord

King George the Third his Heirs & Successors & true faith to them the said United

Company & their Successors & shall duly Obey all the Laws & Constitutions of the said

Island Yielding & paying therefore Yearly & every Year during the said term &

time of twenty one Years unto the said Company their Successors Agents or Assigns

the Rent of two Shillings and six pence P Annum at or upon the Feast of St. Michael

the Arch Angel Yearly And upon condition that they the said Robert Leech and

Jane Willson their Heirs Executors Administrators or Assigns do and shall well and

sufficiently keep in good repair all such Houses or Buildings that are or may

hereafter be built or erected upon the said piece of Ground or any part thereof & do not

nor shall sell or dispose of this Lease or their Interest therein without the leave

and consent of the Governor and Council for the time being In Witness

whereof we the said Governor and Council have to the other part set our

Hands and Affixed the Company's Seal this 29 day of October in the

Eleventh Year of the Reign of our said Sovereign Lord George the Third

by

Matthew Bazett signed and sealed his copy of the lease of one and a half acres in Stone Top Valley, dated 17 September 1770, and William Webber Doveton signed as witness.

A new lease, made at St Helena, followed. The Company let a piece of ground in James's Valley to Robert Leech and Jane Willson. The ground adjoined the house the two of them held and measured 26 feet square.

Leech and Willson were to hold the ground together, with everything belonging to it, for 21 years from the date of the lease. The term covered them and anyone who took the ground after them by inheritance or approved transfer.

The lease set out the following conditions. Robert Leech and Jane Willson and their successors had to remain loyal to King George III and faithful to the Company, and had to obey the laws and regulations of the island. They paid the Company a rent of £0 2s 6d a year, due on the feast of St Michael the Archangel. They had to keep in good repair every house or building standing on the ground or put up there later. They could not sell or part with the lease or their interest in it without the permission of the Governor and Council of the day.

The Governor and Council signed one copy and fixed the Company's seal to it on 29 October 1770, in the eleventh year of the reign of George III.

Interpretations

Leech and Willson paid £0 2s 6d for a piece added to their house. Additions of that kind cost a flat £0 5s 0d on 19 December 1768, 10 July 1769 and 16 July 1770, and £0 4s 0d in the two grants to Matthew Purling on 11 December 1769. The present rent was half the usual fee. At 26 feet square the piece was no smaller than several of those charged in full, and larger than the slip let to Lieutenant Samuel Desfountain. The Council thus departed from its fixed charge a second time, and more sharply than it did for Purling. The lease gave these two tenants no rank or office, so the reduction could not be put down to standing. The flat fee for house additions was evidently a customary figure the Council felt free to lower, not a rule it was bound by.

The tenants were a man and a woman of different surnames who held a house together and took the new ground jointly. The Hayes leases of 18 April 1768 and 28 August 1769 were joint grants to two kinsmen. This was the first to a man and a woman as equal tenants. A wife's property stood in her husband's name, so Jane Willson was not married to Leech. She held her share in her own right, perhaps as his sister or widowed kinswoman, or as a partner in whatever business the house served. The lease recorded her as a full party to every condition.

William Webber Doveton witnessed Bazett's lease, since the Secretary could not attest his own. Alexander Wright, James Desfountain and John Goodwin had each stood in before. A fourth witness now appeared, so the duty still fell to whoever was at hand. Doveton shared a surname with Isaac, Jonathan and Mary Doveton of the East Division.

A Robert Leech was the first tenant of the ground under Jamestown lease 140, which the later register dated 1782 and described as partly sold on to William Chamberlain. Lieutenant Thomas Leech took a building plot on 9 January 1769. The family thus held several properties in the valley.

The lease was the first dated in the eleventh year of the reign, which began on 25 October 1770, four days before it was sealed.

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112

by the Grace of God of Great Britain France & Ireland King defender of

the faith & so forth and in the Year of our Lord 1770 & they the said Robt.

Leech & Jane Willson have hereunto set their Hands and Seals the

Day and Year above written

Robt. Leech

Robt. Leech for Jane Willson

Witness

[...] Bazett

Island St. 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 let unto George

Bird of the said Island Joiner All that piece or parcel of Ground situate

in James's Valley adjoining to the back Yard of the House of him the said

George Bird containing fifty three feet in length and fourteen feet in depth

To have and to hold the said hereby demised parcel of Ground with

the appurtenances and every part and parcel thereof unto him the said George

Bird his Heirs Executors Administrators and Assigns from the day of the date

hereof for and during all the space & term of twenty one Years from thence

next ensuing Upon Condition that he the said George Bird his Heirs

or allowed Assigns do always bear true faith and allegiance to our Sovereign

Lord King George the Third his Heirs and Successors and true faith to them

the said United Company & their Successors and shall duly Obey all the

Laws and Constitutions of the said Island Yielding and paying therefore

Yearly & every Year during the said Term and time of twenty one Years

unto the said Company their Successors Agents or Assigns the Rent of

two Shillings P Annum at or Upon the Feast of St. Michael the

Arch Angel Yearly And upon Condition that he the said George

Bird his Heirs Executors Administrators or Assigns do and shall well

and sufficiently keep up and maintain in good repair all such Houses

or Buildings that are or may hereafter be Built or erected upon

the said piece of Ground or any part thereof and do not nor shall sell

or dispose of this Lease or his or their Interest therein without the

leave and consent of the Governor and Council for the time being In

Witness whereof we the said Governor and Council have to the other part

set Our

Hands

Robert Leech and Jane Willson completed their lease in 1770. Robert Leech signed the other copy twice, once for himself and once for Jane Willson, with a separate seal beside each signature, and [...] Bazett signed as witness.

A new lease, made at St Helena, followed. The Company let a strip of ground in James's Valley to George Bird of the island, a joiner. The strip adjoined the back yard of Bird's house and measured 53 feet in length and 14 feet in depth.

Bird was to hold the ground, with everything belonging to it, for 21 years from the date of the lease. The term covered him and anyone who took the ground after him by inheritance or approved transfer.

The lease set out the following conditions. Bird and his successors had to remain loyal to King George III and faithful to the Company, and had to obey the laws and regulations of the island. They paid the Company a rent of £0 2s 0d a year, due on the feast of St Michael the Archangel. They had to keep in good repair every house or building standing on the ground or put up there later. They could not sell or part with the lease or any interest in it without the permission of the Governor and Council of the day.

Interpretations

Bird paid £0 2s 0d for a strip behind his yard, following the £0 2s 6d charged to Leech and Willson on 29 October 1770. Two additions to town houses in succession were thus let at half the old flat fee of £0 5s 0d or less. The lower rent to Leech and Willson might have been taken for an exception. A second, lower still and given to a joiner, showed the Council reducing its charge for such pieces generally in late 1770. Bird's strip of 53 feet by 14 feet was close in size to Robert Ballard's of 74 feet by 14 feet, which cost £0 8s 0d on 12 October 1767. Within three years the price of a narrow strip behind a house had fallen to a quarter. Ground of that kind was of use only to the householder beside it, and the Council had evidently come to accept a nominal rent in return for having every such margin under lease.

Bird took a plot of 60 feet by 55 feet on 12 January 1767, when it stood alone in the Company's waste with no building on it. The present lease described a house there with a back yard. He had therefore built within four years of his first grant. The duty in the town leases to repair buildings that were or might later be put up assumed that tenants would build, and Bird's case showed the expectation met. A plot marked out on open ground in 1767 was a householder's premises by 1770, and its owner was already enlarging it.

Robert Leech signed for Jane Willson as well as for himself. She was a joint tenant with an equal share, yet she did not complete the lease. Men had signed for Mary Doveton, Mary Twaits and Sarah Funge in the same way. Four leases now named a woman as tenant, and in none did she sign. The two seals preserved the form that each joint tenant was a separate party, as with William Hayes signing for George on 18 April 1768.

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113

Hands and Affixed the Company's Seal this 18th day of February in

the eleventh Year of the Reign of our said Sovereign Lord George the Third by the

grace of God of Great Britain France and Ireland King defender of the faith and

so forth and in the Year of our Lord 1771 and he the said George Bird hath

hereunto set his Hand & Seal the day and Year above written

George Bird

Witness

[...] Bazett

Island, St. Helena

The Lords Proprietors of the Island the

Honorable the United Company of Merchants of England trading to the East

Indies Do hereby demise grant lease and to farm let unto Roderick Merchant

of the said Island Publican All that piece or parcel of Ground situate in James's

Valley between the Houses of Elizabeth Kennedy Widow and Richard Harpers Orphans

containing twenty feet in front and sixty feet in depth To have and to hold

the said hereby demised parcel of Ground with the appurtenances & every part and

parcel thereof unto him the said Roderick Merchant his Heirs Executors

Administrators and 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 he the said Roderick Merchant his Heirs or allowed

Assigns do always bear true faith and Allegiance to our Sovereign Lord King

George the Third his Heirs and Successors and true faith to them the said

United Company and their Successors and shall duly obey all the Laws and

Constitutions of the said Island Yielding and paying therefore Yearly and

every Year during the said term and time of twenty one Years unto the said

Company their Successors Agents or Assigns the Rent of five Shillings P

Annum at or upon the Feast of St. Michael the Arch Angel Yearly And

upon condition that he the said Roderick Merchant his Heirs Executors

Administrators or Assigns do and shall well and sufficiently keep up

and maintain in good repair, all such Houses or buildings that are or

may hereafter be built or erected upon the said piece of Ground or any part

thereof and do not nor shall sell or dispose of this Lease or his or their

Interest therein without the leave and consent of the Governor and Council

for the time being In Witness whereof we the said Governor & Council

have to the other part set our Hands and Affixed the Companys Seal this

18 day of February in the eleventh Year of the Reign of our said Sovereign

Lord

George Bird's lease of the strip behind his yard was sealed by the Governor and Council on 18 February 1771, in the eleventh year of the reign of George III. Bird signed and sealed his copy on the same day, and [...] Bazett signed as witness.

A new lease, made at St Helena, followed. The Company let a plot of ground in James's Valley to Roderick Merchant of the island, a publican. The plot lay between the houses of Elizabeth Kennedy, a widow, and the orphans of Richard Harper. It measured 20 feet across the front and 60 feet in depth.

Merchant was to hold the ground, with everything belonging to it, for 21 years from the date of the lease. The term covered him and anyone who took the ground after him by inheritance or approved transfer.

The lease set out the following conditions. Merchant and his successors had to remain loyal to King George III and faithful to the Company, and had to obey the laws and regulations of the island. They paid the Company a rent of £0 5s 0d a year, due on the feast of St Michael the Archangel. They had to keep in good repair every house or building standing on the ground or put up there later. They could not sell or part with the lease or any interest in it without the permission of the Governor and Council of the day.

The Governor and Council sealed their copy on 18 February 1771.

Interpretations

Two town leases were sealed on 18 February 1771. George Bird paid £0 2s 0d for a strip 53 feet long behind his yard, and Roderick Merchant paid £0 5s 0d for a plot with 20 feet of frontage. Merchant's rent was exactly 3d a foot, the rate of 1766 and 1767 and the one Captain Henry Bazett paid for 20 feet on 29 August 1768. The Council thus kept the old charge by the foot for ground with a front on which a house could be built, on the same day that it let a much larger area of back ground for less than half the money. By 1771 the two kinds of town grant were priced on plainly separate footings. A building plot paid by its frontage. A margin behind or beside an existing house paid a token sum, which had fallen from £0 5s 0d to about £0 2s 0d in the space of a few months.

Merchant's plot was only 20 feet wide and lay between two standing houses. It was a gap in a built-up row, deep enough at 60 feet for a house and yard but narrow across the front. Lieutenant Frost's plot of 31 August 1767 also filled a space between houses, at 60 feet wide. The gaps left by 1771 were smaller, which suggested that the lower part of the valley was filling up and that what remained along the street was the leftover space between older buildings.

The tenant was a publican, the second in the volume after William Hayes, whose house stood beside Lieutenant Shirley's plot on 9 January 1769. A site 20 feet wide in an occupied row suited a drinking house, which needed a door on the street more than ground around it.

The neighbours on both sides were a widow and a dead man's children. Elizabeth Kennedy held her house in her own name, and the orphans of Richard Harper held theirs. Three Harpers, Gabriel, Thomas and Henry, appeared in leases of 1768 and 1769, and the orphans of a Thomas Harper held land in the South Division. Property kept for the families of dead tenants thus lined the street as well as the country boundaries.

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Lord George the Third by the Grace of God of Great Britain France

and Ireland King defender of the Faith and so forth and in the Year

of our Lord 1771 and he the said Roderick Merchant hath hereunto set

his Hand, and Seal the day and Year above written

Rodk. Merchant

Witness.

[...] Bazett

Island St. 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 let unto Mary Harper Widow all that piece or

parcel of Ground containing sixty feet in front and sixty feet in

Depth situate lying and being in James's Valley butting and bounding

East and West upon the Honble Company's Waste Land South upon

the House of Lieutenant Thomas Leech, & North upon the House of

William Hayes Publican To have and to hold the said hereby

parcel of Ground with the appurtenances and every part and parcel

thereof unto her the said Mary Harper her Heirs Executors Admini-

strators and Assigns in trust nevertheless and to the use of the

Children of her deceased Husband Thomas Jarvis 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 she the said Mary Harper

and the Children of the aforesaid Thomas Jarvis Decd. their Heirs or

allowed Assigns do always bear true faith and Allegiance to our

Sovereign Lord King George the Third his Heirs and Successors and true

faith to them the said United Company and their Successors and

shall duly obey all the Laws and Constitutions of the said Island

Yielding and paying therefore Yearly and every Year during the

said term and time of twenty one Years unto the said Company

their Successors Agents or Assigns the Rent of twelve Shillings P Annum

at or upon the Feast of St. Michael the Arch Angel Yearly And upon

condition that she the said Mary Harper her Heirs Executors Admini-

strators or Assigns do and shall well and sufficiently keep in good

repair all such Houses or Buildings that are or may hereafter be

Erected

Roderick Merchant signed and sealed his copy of the lease in 1771, and [...] Bazett signed as witness.

A new lease, made at St Helena, followed. The Company let a plot of ground in James's Valley to Mary Harper, a widow. The plot measured 60 feet across the front and 60 feet in depth. It was bounded on the east and west by the Company's waste land, on the south by the house of Lieutenant Thomas Leech and on the north by the house of William Hayes, a publican.

Mary Harper was to hold the ground for 21 years from the date of the lease, but only as trustee for the children of her dead husband Thomas Jarvis.

The lease set out the following conditions. Mary Harper and the children of Thomas Jarvis, and their successors, had to remain loyal to King George III and faithful to the Company, and had to obey the laws and regulations of the island. A rent of £0 12s 0d was payable to the Company each year on the feast of St Michael the Archangel. Mary Harper had to keep in good repair every house or building standing on the ground or put up there later.

Interpretations

Mary Harper was described as a widow, and the children she held for were those of her dead husband Thomas Jarvis. She bore a different surname from them, so she had married again after Jarvis died and had since lost her second husband, a Harper. The trust tied the plot to the children of the first marriage. A widow who remarried brought her leasehold property under her new husband's control, and on his death it could pass to his family. Writing the Jarvis children into the lease as the persons entitled put the ground beyond any claim from the Harper side. The Council thus used the trust, first devised for executors of a will, to keep one family's town property separate through a mother's second marriage.

The plot lay immediately north of Lieutenant Thomas Leech's. His lease of 9 January 1769 named the house on his northern boundary as occupied by Henry Harper. The ground between Leech and the publican was therefore the site of that house. Mary Harper was probably Henry Harper's widow, and the lease gave a formal title to ground on which the household was already living. A house that stood on the Company's land without a recorded grant was in this way brought onto the books when its occupier died.

The rent of £0 12s 0d for 60 feet of frontage matched what Leech paid for the adjoining plot of the same size. John Preston, a mason's mate, paid £0 15s 0d on 30 January 1769 for ground of the same dimensions. Two neighbouring plots thus carried the lower figure and one elsewhere the full 3d a foot, which suggested that the rate attached to that stretch of the valley and that Leech's reduction of 1769 owed less to his rank than first appeared.

Leech's plot was open ground with waste on three sides when he took it. The present lease described a house there. Like George Bird, he had built within two or three years of his grant.

The loyalty clause bound the trustee and the children together, as in the Burnham lease of 17 September 1770. Both were cases where the person holding the land belonged to the family that benefited.

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Erected upon the said Ground or any part thereof, and do not nor shall sell

or dispose of this Lease or her or their Interest therein without the leave and

consent of the Governor and Council for the time being In witness whereof

we the said Governor and Council have to the other part set our Hands and

Affixed the Company's Seal this 4th day of March in the eleventh year of

the Reign of our said Sovereign Lord George the Third by the Grace of God

of Great Britain France and Ireland King defender of the faith and so

forth, and in the Year of our Lord 1771 and she the said Mary Harper hath

hereunto set her Hand and Seal the day and year abovewritten

George Seale for Mary Harper

Witness

[...] Bazett

Island St. Helena

The Lords Proprietors of this

Island the Honorable the United Company of Merchants of England trading

to the East Indies Do hereby demise grant lease and to farm let unto

James Pritchard of the said Island Taylor, All that piece or parcel of Ground

situate lying and being in James's Valley on Southwark side butting and

bounding South upon the House of John Whitchurch Serjeant East West

and North upon the Honble Company's Waste Ground containing fifty feet

in front and forty feet in depth To have and to hold the said hereby

demised parcel of Ground with the appurtenances and every part and

parcel thereof unto him the said James Pritchard his Heirs, Executors

Administrators and 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 he the said James Pritchard his Heirs & allowed

Assigns do always bear true faith and allegiance to our Sovereign Lord

King George the Third his Heirs and Successors and true faith to them the

said United Company and their Successors and shall duly obey all the Laws

and constitutions of the said Island Yielding and paying therefore

Yearly and every Year during the said term and time of twenty one Years

unto the said Company their Successors Agents or Assigns the Rent of seven

Shillings P Annum at or upon the Feast of St. Michael the Arch Angel

Yearly And upon condition that he the said James Pritchard his

Heirs, Executors, Administrators or Assigns do and shall well and

sufficiently

Mary Harper could not sell or part with the lease or her interest in it without the permission of the Governor and Council of the day. The Governor and Council signed one copy and fixed the Company's seal to it on 4 March 1771, in the eleventh year of the reign of George III. George Seale signed and sealed the other copy on Mary Harper's behalf, and [...] Bazett signed as witness.

A new lease, made at St Helena, followed. The Company let a plot of ground in James's Valley to James Pritchard of the island, a tailor. The plot lay on the Southwark side of the valley and measured 50 feet across the front and 40 feet in depth. It was bounded on the south by the house of John [...], a sergeant, and on the east, west and north by the Company's waste ground.

Pritchard was to hold the ground, with everything belonging to it, for 21 years from the date of the lease. The term covered him and anyone who took the ground after him by inheritance or approved transfer.

Pritchard and his successors had to remain loyal to King George III and faithful to the Company, and had to obey the laws and regulations of the island. They paid the Company a rent of £0 7s 0d a year, due on the feast of St Michael the Archangel.

Interpretations

The later Jamestown register recorded lease 135 as an original lease to James Pritchard for 50 feet, dated 1792. The present lease gave a James Pritchard 50 feet of frontage for 21 years from 1771. A term of 21 years from that date ran out in 1792. The entry in the register was therefore the fresh grant made when this lease expired, to the same tenant or his heir, for the same frontage. The register treated the 1792 document as the origin of the title and took no account of the 21 years before it. The leases in this volume were thus the first terms of holdings that the later register picked up only at their renewal, and many of its dates in the 1780s and 1790s probably marked the end of a first term begun in the 1760s and 1770s.

Pritchard paid £0 7s 0d for 50 feet, well under 2d a foot, against £0 12s 6d at the old rate. Roderick Merchant paid a full 3d a foot on 18 February 1771 for a gap in a built-up row. Pritchard's plot was shallow, at 40 feet, and had waste on three sides at the edge of the Southwark side. Thomas Harper's plot above the old burying ground, also 40 feet deep, was let at 2d a foot on 5 December 1768. Shallow plots on the fringe of the town were thus consistently charged below the standard, and the discount had grown by 1771. Ground in an established street still commanded the full rate.

The sergeant's house on the south was the one named on the north of Captain Henry Bazett's plot of 29 August 1768. Pritchard's ground therefore lay beyond it, one step further along the Southwark side, and the line of houses there was advancing into the waste plot by plot.

George Seale signed for Mary Harper. Five leases now named a woman as tenant or trustee, and a man completed every one. Seale shared a surname with William Seale senior and Benjamin Seale, and was perhaps her kinsman by her first or second marriage.

A John Pritchard had a yard beside Matthew Bazett's plot on 16 February 1767, so the family was already settled in the valley. The tenant here was a tailor, as was Jeremiah Smith, whose house adjoined the jailer's plot of 22 December 1766.

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sufficiently keep in good repair all such Houses or Buildings that are or

may hereafter be built or erected upon the said Ground or any part

thereof and do not nor shall sell or dispose of this Lease or his or their

Interest therein without the leave and consent of the Governor and

Council for the time being. In Witness whereof we the said Governor

and Council have to the other part set our hands and affixed the

Company's Seal this 10th day of June in the eleventh Year of the Reign

of our said Sovereign Lord George the Third by the Grace of God of Great

Britain, France and Ireland King defender of the faith and so forth

and in the Year of our Lord 1771 and he the said James Pritchard hath

hereunto set his Hand and Seal, the day and Year above written

James Pritchard

Witness

[...] Bazett.

Island. St. 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 let unto Margart. Alcock

Widow All that piece or parcel of Land containing seven Acres situate

lying and being in the South Division of the said Island butting and

bounding South & West on the Honble Company's Waste Land East on the

Land of Thomas Harpers Orphans and North on the said Margt. Alcocks

own Land To have and to hold the said hereby demised parcel of

Land, with the appurtenances and every part and parcel thereof unto her

the said Margaret Alcock her Heirs Executors, Administrators & Assigns

in trust nevertheless, & to the use of her the said, Margaret, Alcocks two

Sons David & Edwin Alcock from the day of the date hereof for &

during all the space & term of twenty one Years from thence next

ensuing Upon condition that she the said Margaret Alcock & her

aforesaid two Sons their Heirs or allowed Assigns do always bear true

faith and Allegiance to our Sovereign Lord King George the Third his

Heirs and Successors and true faith to them the said United Company &

their Successors, and shall duly obey all the Laws and constitutions of

the said Island Yielding and paying therefore Yearly and every Year

during the said term and time of twenty one Years unto the said

Company

James Pritchard and his successors had to keep in good repair every house or building standing on the ground or put up there later. They could not sell or part with the lease or any interest in it without the permission of the Governor and Council of the day. The Governor and Council signed one copy and fixed the Company's seal to it on 10 June 1771, in the eleventh year of the reign of George III. James Pritchard signed and sealed the other copy on the same day, and [...] Bazett signed as witness.

A new lease, made at St Helena, followed. The Company let seven acres of land in the South Division to Margaret Alcock, a widow. The ground was bounded on the south and west by the Company's waste land, on the east by the land of the orphans of Thomas Harper and on the north by Margaret Alcock's own land.

Margaret Alcock was to hold the ground for 21 years from the date of the lease, but only as trustee for her two sons, David and Edwin Alcock.

Margaret Alcock and her two sons, and their successors, had to remain loyal to King George III and faithful to the Company, and had to obey the laws and regulations of the island. A yearly rent was payable to the Company for the 21 years of the term.

Interpretations

Margaret Alcock took new ground beside land she already held in her own name, and had it granted in trust for her two sons. She was not described as an executrix or administratrix, so the lease did not arise from the settling of her husband's estate. A widow could hold a lease outright, as Sarah Funge did on 4 September 1769 for three acres in the same division. Alcock chose instead to have her sons written into the grant as the persons entitled. Land in her own name would fall under a second husband's control if she remarried, as Mary Harper's case showed on 4 March 1771, where a trust kept a plot for the children of a first marriage. By taking the seven acres as trustee, Alcock settled them on David and Edwin from the start. The trust, devised in 1767 for executors, was here used by a living parent to provide for particular children.

The lease named the two beneficiaries. Every earlier trust spoke of the children, the orphans or the heirs of a dead tenant as a group. Naming the sons fixed exactly who was to benefit and left out anyone else, including any daughters or any children of a later marriage. A trust for a class could be argued over when the time came to divide the land. One for two named sons could not.

The loyalty clause bound the mother and both sons together, as the Burnham lease of 17 September 1770 and the Harper lease of 4 March 1771 bound a trustee who belonged to the family along with the children. That had become the settled wording where the trustee was a parent or sibling of those entitled.

The orphans of Thomas Harper held the land on the east. Gabriel Harper's lease of 22 August 1768 named the same orphans on the north of Powell's Valley, so Alcock's farm lay in that part of the South Division, among holdings kept for more than one dead planter's family.

Pritchard's lease was sealed on 10 June 1771, more than three months after Mary Harper's of 4 March 1771. The leases of that year came singly at long intervals, unlike the clusters of 1769.

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Company their Successors Agents or Assigns the Rent of five shillings

P Acre, at or upon the Feast, of St. Michael the Arch Angel, Yearly

And upon condition that she the said Margaret Alcock her 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, & do not nor shall sell or dispose of this Lease or her or their

Interest therein without the Leave and consent of the Governor & Council

for the time being In Witness whereof we the said Governor & Council

have to the other part set our Hands & affixed the Company's Seal this

5 day of August in the eleventh Year of the Reign of our said Sovereign

Lord George the Third by the grace of God of Great Britain, France and

Ireland King Defender of the faith and so forth and in the Year of our

Lord 1771 and she the said, Margaret, Alcock hath hereunto set Her Hand

and Seal the day & Year abovewritten

Willm. Wrangham

for

Margt. Alcock

Witness

[...] Bazett

Island. St. 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 let unto Margaret Alcock Widow

All that piece or parcel of Land containing four Acres situate lying & being in

the South Division of the said Island butting & bounding North partly upon

the Honble Company's Land called Pokehoss and partly upon the said

Margaret Alcocks own Land East upon the said Company's Pokehoss Land

South upon the said Margaret Alcocks own Land and West upon the Land

of Samuel Alexander Planter To have and to hold the said hereby

Demised parcel of Land with the Appurtenances and every part and parcel

thereof unto her the said Margaret Alcock her Heirs Executors, Administra-

tors & Assigns In trust nevertheless & to the use of her the said Margaret

Alcocks two Sons David & Edwin Alcock 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 she the said Margaret Alcock and her

aforesaid two sons their Heirs or allowed Assigns do always bear true

faith and Allegiance to our Sovereign Lord King George the Third

his Heirs & Successors & true faith to them the said United Company &

their Successors and shall duly obey all the Laws and Constitutions of the

said

Company their Successors Agents or Assigns the Rent of five shillings

P Acre, at or upon the Feast, of St. Michael the Arch Angel, Yearly

And upon condition that she the said Margaret Alcock her 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, & do not nor shall sell or dispose of this Lease or her or their

Interest therein without the Leave and consent of the Governor & Council

for the time being In Witness whereof we the said Governor & Council

have to the other part set our Hands & affixed the Company's Seal this

5 day of August in the eleventh Year of the Reign of our said Sovereign

Lord George the Third by the grace of God of Great Britain, France and

Ireland King Defender of the faith and so forth and in the Year of our

Lord 1771 and she the said, Margaret, Alcock hath hereunto set Her Hand

and Seal the day & Year abovewritten

Willm. Wrangham

for

Margt. Alcock

Witness

[...] Bazett

Island. St. 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 let unto Margaret Alcock Widow

All that piece or parcel of Land containing four Acres situate lying & being in

the South Division of the said Island butting & bounding North partly upon

the Honble Company's Land called Pokehoss and partly upon the said

Margaret Alcocks own Land East upon the said Company's Pokehoss Land

South upon the said Margaret Alcocks own Land and West upon the Land

of Samuel Alexander Planter To have and to hold the said hereby

Demised parcel of Land with the Appurtenances and every part and parcel

thereof unto her the said Margaret Alcock her Heirs Executors, Administra-

tors & Assigns In trust nevertheless & to the use of her the said Margaret

Alcocks two Sons David & Edwin Alcock 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 she the said Margaret Alcock and her

aforesaid two sons their Heirs or allowed Assigns do always bear true

faith and Allegiance to our Sovereign Lord King George the Third

his Heirs & Successors & true faith to them the said United Company &

their Successors and shall duly obey all the Laws and Constitutions of the

said

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said Island Yielding and paying therefore Yearly and every Year during

the said term and time of twenty one Years unto the said Company their

Successors Agents or Assigns the Rent of five shillings P Acre at or upon the

Feast of St. Michael the Arch Angel Yearly And upon condition that

she the said Margaret Alcock her Heirs Executors Administrators or Assigns

do and shall well and sufficiently keep up and maintain the Fences to

the said Land & the full quantity of Wood thereon & do not nor shall sell

or dispose of this Lease or her or their Interest therein without the leave

& consent of the Governor & Council for the time being In Witness whereof

we the said Governor & Council have to the other part set our Hands &

Affixed the Company's Seal this 5 day of August in the eleventh Year

of the Reign of our said Sovereign Lord George the Third by the Grace

of God of Great Britain France & Ireland King Defender of the Faith

and so forth and in the Year of our Lord 1771 & she the said Margaret

Alcock hath hereunto set her Hand & Seal the day and Year

abovewritten

Willm. Wrangham

for

Margt. Alcock

Witness

[...] Bazett

Island St. 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 let

unto Margaret Alcock Widow All that piece or parcel of Land

containing one Acre situate lying and being in James's Valley butting &

bounding East West & South upon the Honble Company's Waste Land &

North upon the Land of her the said Margaret Alcock To have and

to hold the said hereby Demised parcel of Land with the appurtenances

& every part and parcel thereof unto her the said Margaret Alcock her

Heirs Executors Administrators & Assigns. In trust nevertheless & to the

use of her the said Margaret Alcocks two Sons David & Edwin Alcock

from the day of the date hereof for and during all the space & term of twenty

one Years from thence next ensuing Upon condition that she the

said Margaret Alcock & her aforesaid two Sons their Heirs or allowed Assigns

do always bear true faith & Allegiance to our Sovereign Lord King

George the Third his Heirs & Successors and true faith to them the said

United Company & their Successors and shall duly obey all the Laws &

Constitutions

Margaret Alcock's four acres in the South Division paid the Company a rent of 5s 0d an acre each year, due on the feast of St Michael the Archangel. She had to keep the fences of the land in good repair and maintain the full quantity of wood on it. She could not sell or part with the lease or any interest in it without the permission of the Governor and Council of the day. The Governor and Council signed one copy and fixed the Company's seal to it on 5 August 1771, in the eleventh year of the reign of George III. William Wrangham signed and sealed the other copy on Margaret Alcock's behalf, and [...] Bazett signed as witness.

A new lease, made at St Helena, followed. The Company let one acre of land in James's Valley to Margaret Alcock, a widow. The ground was bounded on the east, west and south by the Company's waste land and on the north by her own land.

Margaret Alcock was to hold the ground for 21 years from the date of the lease, but only as trustee for her two sons, David and Edwin Alcock. She and her two sons, and their successors, had to remain loyal to King George III and faithful to the Company, and had to obey the laws and regulations of the island.

Interpretations

Three leases to Margaret Alcock were entered in succession, for seven acres and four acres in the South Division and one acre in James's Valley. Each lay beside land she already held in her own name, and each was granted in trust for the same two sons. She thus owned ground in at least three separate places before 5 August 1771 and added to every one of them on her sons' behalf. The result was a divided estate. The older land in each place remained hers outright, and the new piece next to it belonged in law to David and Edwin. A widow who meant her sons to have everything might have been expected to place all her land in trust. The leases dealt only with what the Council was granting that day, since the Company could attach a trust to a new lease but had no part in rearranging land already let. The settlement on the sons therefore reached the additions alone, and her existing holdings stayed open to whatever happened if she married again.

The acre in James's Valley was measured by area and bounded by waste, in the manner of country land. Captain Thomas Kirkpatrick's 12 acres of 8 May 1769 and Mary Doveton's acre of 12 October 1767 lay in the same valley and were treated in the same way. The upper valley above the town was thus farmland, let by the acre, and Alcock held ground there as well as in the South Division.

No tenant in the volume apart from William Wrangham on 4 December 1769 took three leases at one sitting, and he was the man who signed for her. A widow with scattered holdings, represented by a leading official and securing 12 acres for named sons in one day, was plainly a person of substance among the island's landholders.

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Constitutions of the said Island Yielding and paying therefore Yearly and every

Year during the said term and time of twenty one Years unto the said Company

their Successors Agents or Assigns the Rent of five shillings P Acre at or upon

the Feast of St. Michael the Arch Angel Yearly And upon condition that

she the said Margaret Alcock her Heirs Executors Administrators or Assigns

do & shall well and sufficiently keep up and maintain the Fences to the said

Land & the full quantity of Wood thereon & do not nor shall sell or dispose of

this Lease or her or their Interest therein without the leave and consent of the

Governor & Council for the time being In Witness whereof we the said Govr.

and Council have to the other part set our Hands & Affixed the Company's Seal

this 5 day of August in the eleventh Year of the Reign of our said Sovereign

Lord George the Third by the Grace of God of Great Britain France & Ireland

King Defender of the faith & so forth and in the Year of our Lord 1771 and she

the said Margaret Alcock hath hereunto set her Hand and Seal the day &

Year abovewritten

Willm. Wrangham

for

Margt. Alcock

Witness

[...] Bazett

Island. St. 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 Nathan Sampell of the said Island

Planter All that piece or parcel of Land containing Eight Acres & an half

situate lying and being in the East Division of the said Island butting &

bounding North East and South on the Honble Company's Waste Land

& West partly on the Land of Matthew Purling Esqr. and partly on the said

Nathan Sampells own Land To have and to hold the said hereby

demised parcel of Land with the appurtenances & every part & parcel

thereof unto him the said Nathan Sampell his Heirs Executors

Administrators & Assigns from the day of the date hereof for & during all

the space & term of twenty one Years from thence next ensuing Upon

condition that he the said Nathan Sampell his Heirs Executors

Administrators or Assigns do always bear true faith and Allegiance

to our Sovereign Lord King George the Third his Heirs & Successors & true

faith to them the said United Company & their Successors & shall duly

obey all the Laws and Constitutions of the said Island Yielding and

paying therefore Yearly & every Year during the said term and time of

twenty

Margaret Alcock's acre in James's Valley paid the Company a rent of 5s 0d an acre each year, due on the feast of St Michael the Archangel. She had to keep the fences of the land in good repair and maintain the full quantity of wood on it. She could not sell or part with the lease or any interest in it without the permission of the Governor and Council of the day. The Governor and Council signed one copy and fixed the Company's seal to it on 5 August 1771, in the eleventh year of the reign of George III. William Wrangham signed and sealed the other copy on Margaret Alcock's behalf, and [...] Bazett signed as witness.

A new lease, made at St Helena, followed. The Company let eight and a half acres of land in the East Division to Nathan Sampell of the island, a planter. The ground was bounded on the north, east and south by the Company's waste land, and on the west partly by the land of Matthew Purling Esquire and partly by Sampell's own land.

Sampell was to hold the ground, with everything belonging to it, for 21 years from the date of the lease. The term covered him and anyone who took the ground after him by inheritance or approved transfer. Sampell and his successors had to remain loyal to King George III and faithful to the Company, and had to obey the laws and regulations of the island.

Interpretations

All three of Margaret Alcock's leases of 5 August 1771 charged 5s 0d an acre, on seven acres and four acres in the South Division and one acre in James's Valley. The three pieces lay in different places and bordered the waste to different degrees, yet none was rated below the top of the scale. In 1769 the Council graded almost every country grant, and few of the leases of that August and September reached 5s 0d. A widow's 12 acres in three parcels, all at the full rate, stood against that pattern. Either each piece happened to be good ground, or the Council was by 1771 leaning back towards its old standard. The leases of 1770 pointed the same way, with John Alexander, Benjamin Mason, Thomas Burnham and the Secretary all charged 5s 0d and only the chaplain's 61 acres let low.

Sampell took two and a half acres on 28 August 1769, where his farm, Purling's land and the waste met. The present ground lay in the same quarter, with Purling and his own land on the west and waste on the other three sides. He was thus returning two years later for a second and much larger piece beyond the first. William Seale senior did the same in Deep Valley, taking eight acres on 15 December 1766 and a further band of 11½ acres on 4 September 1769. A planter's farm commonly grew by successive bites into the waste, each leased as it was enclosed, and the Council met each application as it came instead of granting a large tract at the outset.

Purling's estate appeared on Sampell's boundary again. The Esquire's land in the East Division now adjoined Sampell on two occasions, Isaac Doveton on several and the Secretary and the Burnhams elsewhere, which marked it as one of the most extensive holdings in the district.

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twenty one Years unto the said Company their Successors Agents or Assigns

the Rent of five Shillings P Acre at or upon the Feast of St. Michael the

Arch Angel Yearly And upon condition that he the said Nathan Sampell

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 not nor shall sell or dispose of this Lease

or his or their Interest therein without the leave and consent of the Govr.

& Council for the time being In Witness whereof we the said Governor

& Council have to the other part set our Hands & Affixed the said

Companys Seal this 5th day of August in the eleventh Year of the

Reign of our said Sovereign Lord George the Third by the Grace of God of

Great Britain France & Ireland King Defender of the Faith & so forth

& in the Year of our Lord 1771 & he the said Nathan Sampell hath

hereunto set his Hand & Seal the day & Year abovewritten

John Sampell. For Nathan

Sampell

Witness

[...] Bazett

Island. St. 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 let unto William Young Planter All that piece or

parcel of Land containing six Acres & a quarter butting and

bounding East on the Honble Company's Waste Land. North upon

the Land of Lieut. Yearling West & South on the said William

Young's own Land To have and to hold the said hereby

demised parcel of Land with the appurtenances & every part &

parcel thereof unto him the said William Young his Heirs

Executors Administrators & Assigns from the day of the date hereof

for and during all the space & term of twenty one Years from thence

next ensuing Upon condition that he the said William

Young his Heirs or allowed Assigns do always bear true faith

and

Nathan Sampell and his successors paid the Company a rent of 5s 0d an acre each year for the 21 years of the term, due on the feast of St Michael the Archangel. They had to keep the fences of the land in good repair and maintain the full quantity of wood on it. They could not sell or part with the lease or any interest in it without the permission of the Governor and Council of the day. The Governor and Council signed one copy and fixed the Company's seal to it on 5 August 1771, in the eleventh year of the reign of George III. John Sampell signed and sealed the other copy on Nathan Sampell's behalf, and [...] Bazett signed as witness.

A new lease, made at St Helena, followed. The Company let six and a quarter acres of land to William Young, a planter. The ground was bounded on the east by the Company's waste land, on the north by the land of [...] Gurling and on the west and south by Young's own land.

Young was to hold the ground, with everything belonging to it, for 21 years from the date of the lease. The term covered him and anyone who took the ground after him by inheritance or approved transfer.

Interpretations

John Sampell signed for Nathan Sampell, a planter named as sole tenant. Six earlier leases were completed by a man on behalf of a woman, and the consistency of that practice suggested a custom that women did not appear to seal their own deeds. Nathan's case showed a man represented in the same way. William Hayes likewise signed for George Hayes on 18 April 1768 and 28 August 1769, and James Desfountain for John Desfountain senior on 28 August 1769. The Council therefore accepted a kinsman's signature for any tenant who did not attend, whatever the reason. The women's leases fitted that general allowance. They still stood out in that no woman signed for herself on any occasion, but the practice was a matter of who came before the Council and not a rule confined to them.

Sampell paid the full 5s 0d an acre for eight and a half acres with waste on three sides. His two and a half acres of 28 August 1769, on the same edge of the waste, paid the same. A second and larger piece further out thus brought no reduction. William Seale senior, by contrast, paid 5s 0d for his first band of waste in Deep Valley and 2s 0d for the second on 4 September 1769. Whether rent fell as a farm advanced into unoccupied ground depended on what the further land was like, and Sampell's was evidently as good as the first.

Four leases were sealed on 5 August 1771, three to Margaret Alcock and one to Sampell, all at 5s 0d. The Council again dealt with country grants together at the end of the southern winter, as it did in late August of 1768, 1769 and 1770.

William Young's new ground adjoined his own land and Gurling's, with waste on the east. He, Gurling, Simon Whaley and Gabriel Harper divided a block in the East Division between them on 20 March 1769, when Young took four acres at 5s 0d. The present lease named no division. It probably concerned the same neighbourhood, where the farms of Young and Gurling met, and extended Young's holding eastward to the waste.

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and Allegiance to our Sovereign Lord King George the Third his

Heirs and Successors & true faith to them the said United Company and

their Successors & shall duly obey all the Laws and constitutions of the

said Island Yielding & paying therefore Yearly & every Year during

the said term & time of twenty one Years unto the said Company their

Successors Agents or Assigns the Rent of one shilling and six pence

P Acre at or upon the Feast of St. Michael the Arch Angel Yearly

And upon condition that he the said William Young his Heirs

Executors, Administrators or Assigns do & shall well and sufficiently

keep up and maintain the Fences to the said Land & the full quantity of

Wood thereon & do not nor shall sell or dispose of this Lease or his or

their Interest therein without the leave and consent of the Governor

and Council for the time being In Witness whereof we the said

Governor & Council have to the other part set our Hands & Affixed the

said Company's Seal this 30 day of September in the Eleventh Year of

the Reign of our said Sovereign Lord George the Third by the Grace of

God of Great Britain France & Ireland King defender of the faith

and so forth & in the Year of our Lord 1771 and he the said William

Young hath hereunto set his Hand & Seal. the day & Year abovewritten

Willm. Webber Doveton

for

William Young

Witness

James Desfountain

Island St. 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

Robert Yearling Lieutenant All that piece or parcel of Land containing

two Acres & three quarters situate lying & being in the East Division

of the said Island butting & bounding East on the Honble Company's

Waste Land. South on the Land of William Young Planter. North and

West on the said Robert Yearlings own Land To have and to

hold

William Young and his successors had to remain loyal to King George III and faithful to the Company, and had to obey the laws and regulations of the island. They paid the Company a rent of 1s 6d an acre each year for the 21 years of the term, due on the feast of St Michael the Archangel. They had to keep the fences of the land in good repair and maintain the full quantity of wood on it. They could not sell or part with the lease or any interest in it without the permission of the Governor and Council of the day.

The Governor and Council signed one copy and fixed the Company's seal to it on 30 September 1771, in the eleventh year of the reign of George III. William Webber Doveton signed and sealed the other copy on William Young's behalf, and James Desfountain signed as witness.

A new lease, made at St Helena, followed. The Company let two and three quarter acres of land in the East Division to Lieutenant Robert Gurling. The ground was bounded on the east by the Company's waste land, on the south by the land of William Young, a planter, and on the north and west by Gurling's own land.

Interpretations

Robert Gurling was styled a planter when he took 15½ acres on 20 March 1769 and a lieutenant here. The neighbours and the district were the same, so one man was meant. A planter could thus hold an officer's rank, and the clerk used one description or the other as he saw fit, as he did with John Robinson, called a planter in 1767 and master carpenter in 1769. The earlier leases had seemed to set planters on one side and officers and officials on the other, and the comparison of their rents rested on that division. Gurling's case showed the line was not firm. Men described as lieutenants or captains might be farmers who held commissions, and men described as planters might hold rank that a given lease did not mention. Any conclusion about favour to officers drawn from the titles in these leases had to allow for that.

Young paid 1s 6d an acre for six and a quarter acres lying between his own land and the waste. His four acres in the same neighbourhood, let on 20 March 1769, paid 5s 0d. The second piece, further out, cost less than a third of the first. That matched William Seale senior's experience in Deep Valley and differed from Nathan Sampell's on 5 August 1771, whose second bite into the waste was charged in full. The Council was still grading ground piece by piece in 1771, and the run of leases at 5s 0d earlier that year did not mark a return to a single rate.

Neither the tenant nor the Secretary took part in completing Young's lease. William Webber Doveton signed for Young, and James Desfountain witnessed in place of Bazett, who was not a party. Bazett was therefore absent on 30 September 1771, as on 8 May 1769 and 16 July 1770. The two men who acted had each witnessed one of Bazett's own leases, Desfountain on 28 August 1769 and Doveton on 17 September 1770. A small circle of regular attenders at the Council's sealings thus supplied both witnesses and stand-ins for absent tenants. Doveton was no kinsman of Young, so a tenant could be represented by an acquaintance as well as by a relative.

Young and Gurling again took adjoining ground together, each extending eastward to the waste along their common boundary, as they did in the division of 20 March 1769.

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hold the said hereby demised parcel of Land with the appurtenances &

every part and parcel thereof unto him the said Robert Yearling his

Heirs Executors Administrators & Assigns from the day of the date

hereof for and during all the space & term of twenty one Years from

thence next ensuing Upon condition that he the said Robert

Yearling his Heirs or allowed Assigns do always bear true faith &

allegiance to our Sovereign Lord King George the Third his Heirs &

Successors & true faith to them the said United Company and their

Successors, and shall duly Obey all the Laws & Constitutions of the

said Island Yielding & paying therefore Yearly & every Year

during the said Term & time of twenty one Years unto the said

Company their Successors, Agents or Assigns the Rent of one shilling

P Acre at or upon the Feast of St.

Michael the Arch Angel Yearly, & upon condition that he the said

Robert Yearling his Heirs Executors, Administrators or Assigns do &

shall well & sufficiently keep up and maintain the Fences to the said

Land & the full quantity of Wood thereon, & do not nor shall sell or

dispose of this Lease or his or their Interest therein without the leave

& consent of the Governor & Council for the time being In Witness

whereof we the said Governor & Council have to the other part set our

Hands & Affixed the said Company's Seal this 30th day of September

in the Eleventh Year of the Reign of our said Sovereign Lord George

the Third by the Grace of God of Great Britain France & Ireland

King Defender of the Faith & so forth, & in the Year of our Lord 1771

and he the said Robert Yearling hath hereunto set his Hand and

Seal. the day and Year abovewritten

Robert Yearling

Witness

James Desfountain

Lieutenant Robert Gurling was to hold the two and three quarter acres in the East Division, with everything belonging to them, for 21 years from the date of the lease. The term covered him and anyone who took the ground after him by inheritance or approved transfer.

The lease set out the following conditions. Gurling and his successors had to remain loyal to King George III and faithful to the Company, and had to obey the laws and regulations of the island. They paid the Company a rent of 1s 0d an acre each year, due on the feast of St Michael the Archangel. They had to keep the fences of the land in good repair and maintain the full quantity of wood on it. They could not sell or part with the lease or any interest in it without the permission of the Governor and Council of the day.

The Governor and Council signed one copy and fixed the Company's seal to it on 30 September 1771, in the eleventh year of the reign of George III. Robert Gurling signed and sealed the other copy on the same day, and James Desfountain signed as witness.

Interpretations

Gurling and William Young took adjoining ground on 30 September 1771. Each piece lay between the tenant's own farm and the waste on the east, and each lease named the other man as a neighbour. Young paid 1s 6d an acre and Gurling 1s 0d. The clerk left a space after the words fixing Gurling's rent and then ruled it through with pen strokes, as he did after the tenant's name in Lieutenant Leech's lease of 9 January 1769. The gap was wide enough for a further sum. Young's lease, written immediately before, read one shilling and sixpence, and the same wording was probably expected here. The rent was instead completed at one shilling and the unused space closed against later additions. The lower figure was therefore settled after the lease was begun, and it went to the tenant described as a lieutenant, while the planter beside him paid half as much again for the same kind of ground on the same day.

When the two men last took neighbouring land, on 20 March 1769, the difference ran the other way. Young paid 5s 0d on four acres and Gurling, then called a planter, paid 2s 0d on 15½. On both occasions Gurling had the lower rate. Two pieces sharing a boundary could differ in quality, and the leases gave no reasons, but the same neighbour was favoured twice.

James Desfountain witnessed this lease as well as Young's. Bazett was thus absent for the whole sitting of 30 September 1771, and Desfountain attested both of the day's grants.

Gurling held 15½ acres at 2s 0d from 1769 and now two and three quarter acres at 1s 0d. Like John Desfountain senior and William Seale senior, he farmed under several leases at different rents, each recording what the Council judged a particular piece to be worth when it was taken in.

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Island St. 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 Samuel

Knipe Junr. Planter. All that piece or parcel of Land containing twenty

three Acres situate lying & being in the East Division of the said Island

butting & bounding North upon the Honble Companys Waste Land West

upon the Land of John Robinson Planter, East and South upon the

said Samuel Knipes own Land To have and to hold the said

hereby demised parcel of Land with the appurtenances & every part &

parcel thereof unto him the said Samuel Knipe his Heirs Executors

Administrators & Assigns from the day of the date hereof for & during all

the space & term of twenty one Years from thence next ensuing Upon

condition that he the said Samuel Knipe his Heirs or allowed

Assigns do always bear true faith & Allegiance to our Sovereign Lord

King George the Third his Heirs & Successors & true faith to them the

said United Company & their Successors & shall duly obey all the Laws

& Constitutions of the said Island Yielding & paying therefore

Yearly & every Year during the said Term & time of twenty one Years unto

the said Company their Successors Agents or Assigns the Rent of one shilling

P Acre at or upon the Feast of St. Michael the Arch Angel Yearly

And upon condition that he the said Samuel Knipe his Heirs

Executors Administrators or Assigns do & shall well & sufficiently keep up

and maintain the Fences to the said Land & the full quantity of Wood thereon

& do not nor shall sell or dispose of this Lease or his or their Interest,

therein without the leave & consent of the Governor & Council for the time

being. In Witness whereof we the said Governor & Council have to the other

part set our Hands & Affixed the said Company's Seal this 30th day of

September in the eleventh Year of the Reign of our said Sovereign Lord George

the Third by the Grace of God of Great Britain France & Ireland King

Defender of the faith & so forth & in the Year of our Lord 1771 & he the said

Saml. Knipe hath hereunto set his hand & Seal the day & year abovewritten

Samuel Knipe

Witness

James Desfountain

The Company let 23 acres of land in the East Division to Samuel Knipe junior, a planter. The ground was bounded on the north by the Company's waste land, on the west by the land of John Robinson, a planter, and on the east and south by Knipe's own land.

Knipe was to hold the ground, with everything belonging to it, for 21 years from the date of the lease. The term covered him and anyone who took the ground after him by inheritance or approved transfer.

The lease set out the following conditions. Knipe and his successors had to remain loyal to King George III and faithful to the Company, and had to obey the laws and regulations of the island. They paid the Company a rent of 1s 0d an acre each year, due on the feast of St Michael the Archangel. They had to keep the fences of the land in good repair and maintain the full quantity of wood on it. They could not sell or part with the lease or any interest in it without the permission of the Governor and Council of the day.

The Governor and Council signed one copy and fixed the Company's seal to it on 30 September 1771, in the eleventh year of the reign of George III. Samuel Knipe signed and sealed the other copy on the same day, and James Desfountain signed as witness.

Interpretations

Three leases were sealed on 30 September 1771, to William Young at 1s 6d an acre and to Lieutenant Robert Gurling and Samuel Knipe junior at 1s 0d. Gurling's rate, a third below that of the planter beside him, suggested that the man with a lieutenant's rank was favoured. Knipe's lease qualified that reading. He was styled a planter, took 23 acres and paid the same 1s 0d as Gurling. The lowest rent of the day thus went to a planter on a large tract as well as to an officer on a small one, and Young's 1s 6d was the exception among the three. The space ruled through after the figure in Gurling's lease still showed his rent being settled at less than the clerk first allowed for. It did not show that the reduction was owed to rank, since a planter received the same terms at the same sitting.

The 23 acres made the largest grant in the volume at 1s 0d an acre. In 1766 and 1767 that rate was confined to pieces of three to six acres. Gabriel Harper's 19½ acres at 2s 0d on 22 August 1768 and the four shares at 1s 6d on 28 August 1769 carried middling rates onto tracts of farm size. Knipe's lease took the lowest common rate onto a grant larger than any of those. The ground still available on the edge of the waste in the East Division was evidently poorer than what earlier tenants had taken, and the Council by 1771 was letting whole farms of it for a fifth of the old standard.

Knipe's ground lay next to John Robinson's 17¼ acres, one of the four shares let at 1s 6d on 28 August 1769, and reached the waste on the north. It was thus a further stretch of the same poor country, beyond the tract divided two years before, and it was rated a step lower.

Samuel Knipe junior was the executor who signed the trust lease for his father's orphans on 28 August 1769. He appeared here on his own account, with land of his own on two sides. The addition of junior confirmed that he was the son of the Samuel Knipe whose will he carried out. He held one estate for his younger brothers and sisters and was building another for himself beside it.

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Island, St. 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

John Seale Planter. All that piece or parcel of Land containing five

Acres & an half situate lying & being in the South Division of the said

Island butting & bounding East partly upon the Land of Richard Bagley

Planter & partly upon the Land of John Worralls Orphans West partly

upon the Honble Company's Waste Land & partly upon the said John Seales

own Land. North upon the said Richard Bagley's & John Worralls Orphans

Land & the Land of James Greentree, Planter & South upon the said

John Seales own Land To have and to hold the said hereby demised

parcel of Land with the appurtenances & every part and parcel thereof unto

him the said John Seale his Heirs Executors Administrators & Assigns

from the day of the date hereof for & during all the space & term of

twenty one Years from thence next ensuing Upon condition that

he the said John Seale his Heirs or allowed Assigns do always bear true

faith and allegiance to our Sovereign Lord King George the Third his

Heirs & Successors & true faith to them the said United Company and

their Successors & shall duly obey all the Laws & Constitutions of the

said Island Yielding & paying therefore Yearly & every Year during

the said term & time of twenty one Years unto the said Company their

Successors Agents or Assigns the Rent of one shilling P Acre at or upon

the Feast of St. Michael the Arch Angel Yearly And upon condition

that he the said John Seale his Heirs Executors Administrators or

Assigns do and shall well & sufficiently keep up & maintain the

Fences to the said Land & the full quantity of wood thereon, and do not

nor shall sell or dispose of this Lease or his or their Interest therein

without the leave and Consent of the Governor and Council for

the time being In Witness whereof we the said Governor and

Council have to the other part set our Hands and Affixed the

the said Company's Seal this 30 day of September in the Eleventh

Year of the Reign of our said Sovereign Lord George the Third by

the

The Company let five and a half acres of land in the South Division to John Seale, a planter. The ground was bounded on the east partly by the land of Richard Bagley, a planter, and partly by the land of the orphans of John Worrall. On the west it met partly the Company's waste land and partly Seale's own land. On the north lay the land of Richard Bagley, of the Worrall orphans and of James Greentree, a planter, and on the south Seale's own land.

Seale was to hold the ground, with everything belonging to it, for 21 years from the date of the lease. The term covered him and anyone who took the ground after him by inheritance or approved transfer.

The lease set out the following conditions. Seale and his successors had to remain loyal to King George III and faithful to the Company, and had to obey the laws and regulations of the island. They paid the Company a rent of 1s 0d an acre each year, due on the feast of St Michael the Archangel. They had to keep the fences of the land in good repair and maintain the full quantity of wood on it. They could not sell or part with the lease or any interest in it without the permission of the Governor and Council of the day.

The Governor and Council sealed their copy on 30 September 1771, in the eleventh year of the reign of George III.

Interpretations

Seale's five and a half acres were almost entirely enclosed by occupied land. Bagley, the Worrall orphans, James Greentree and Seale himself surrounded them, and the waste touched only part of the west side. The rent was nonetheless 1s 0d an acre, the lowest in common use. In the leases of 1768 and early 1769, ground shut in among working farms was charged in full, as with John Goodwin's five acres in Friar's Valley on 29 August 1768 and William Young's four on 20 March 1769. Robert Gurling's 2s 0d on the latter day showed that such ground could be poor. Seale's lease went further, placing an enclosed pocket at the bottom of the scale. A piece that four neighbours had left untaken while they farmed all round it was evidently the worst land in the locality, and the Council priced it so. By 1771 the remaining gaps among settled farms were being let for whatever they would bear.

Three of the four leases sealed on 30 September 1771 charged 1s 0d an acre, to Gurling, Samuel Knipe junior and Seale, in two different divisions. The fourth, to William Young, charged 1s 6d. No grant that day approached 5s 0d. The four leases of 5 August 1771, to Margaret Alcock and Nathan Sampell, all paid the full rate. The Council thus applied the two ends of its scale at successive sittings eight weeks apart, which confirmed that it was still judging each piece and had adopted neither a general reduction nor a return to one standard.

James Greentree and the orphans of John Worrall were the neighbours named around Greentree's 37 acres at Sandy Bay on 16 February 1767 and the Twaits children's land there on 30 November 1767. Their appearance beside Seale's ground placed Sandy Bay within the South Division. Richard Bagley also bordered Sarah Funge's three acres in that division on 4 September 1769.

John Seale was the third planter of the name to take land in the volume, after William Seale senior in Deep Valley and Benjamin Seale in the South Division. Benjamin's farm lay beside the Twaits land at Sandy Bay, so the two were near neighbours and probably close kin.

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the Grace of God of Great Britain France & Ireland King Defender of the

Faith & so forth and in the Year of our Lord 1771 & he the said John Seale hath

hereunto set his Hand & Seal the day & Year abovewritten

John Seale

Witness

Js. Desfountain

Island. St. 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 John Desfountain Planter

All those two pieces or parcels of Land containing twelve Acres & three quarters

situate lying & being in the East Division of the said Island six Acres & three

quarters butting & bounding North and West upon the Honble Company's

Waste Land East & South upon the said John Desfountain's own Land

the other six Acres butting and bounding East on the Honble Company's Waste

Land. South partly upon the Land of William Seale Planter and partly upon

the said John Desfountain's own Land. North & West upon the Land of him

the said John Desfountain To have and to hold the said hereby

demised parcels of Land with the appurtenances & every part and parcel

thereof unto him the said John Desfountain his Heirs Executors Adminis-

trators & Assigns from the day of the date hereof for & during all the space

& term of twenty one Years from thence next ensuing Upon condition

that he the said John Desfountain his Heirs or allowed Assigns do always

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

Third his Heirs & Successors & true faith to them the said United Company

and their Successors & shall duly Obey all the Laws & Constitutions of

the said Island Yielding & paying therefore Yearly & every Year during

the said term & time of twenty one Years unto the said Company their

Successors Agents or Assigns the Rent of one shilling & three pence P

Acre at or upon the Feast of St. Michael the Arch Angel Yearly And

upon

John Seale signed and sealed his copy of the lease in 1771, and James Desfountain signed as witness.

A new lease, made at St Helena, followed. The Company let two pieces of land in the East Division, 12¾ acres in all, to John Desfountain, a planter. The first piece, of six and three quarter acres, was bounded on the north and west by the Company's waste land and on the east and south by Desfountain's own land. The second piece, of six acres, was bounded on the east by the Company's waste land, on the south partly by the land of William Seale, a planter, and partly by Desfountain's own land, and on the north and west by Desfountain's land.

Desfountain was to hold both pieces, with everything belonging to them, for 21 years from the date of the lease. The term covered him and anyone who took the ground after him by inheritance or approved transfer.

Desfountain and his successors had to remain loyal to King George III and faithful to the Company, and had to obey the laws and regulations of the island. They paid the Company a rent of 1s 3d an acre each year, due on the feast of St Michael the Archangel.

Interpretations

The rent of 1s 3d an acre was a figure not used before in the volume. It fell between the 1s 0d charged to Gurling, Knipe and John Seale on 30 September 1771 and the 1s 6d charged to William Young on the same day. The Council's scale now ran at 6d, 1s 0d, 1s 3d, 1s 6d, 2s 0d, 2s 6d, 3s 0d and 5s 0d. In 1766 it used four of those steps, and almost every lease fell at 5s 0d or at 1s 6d and below. A rate set at threepence between two others showed the Council distinguishing grades of poor land more closely than it had ever distinguished grades of good. The ground left to grant by 1771 lay mostly at the bottom of the scale, and the effort of valuation had moved there with it.

Both pieces went into one lease at one rate, although they were described separately and lay on different sides of Desfountain's farm, one against the waste on the north and west and the other against it on the east. The Council's usual practice was a lease for each parcel, as with Margaret Alcock's three on 5 August 1771. Simon Whaley's two detached plots of 1 February 1768 were combined. Desfountain's were likewise joined, perhaps because both adjoined the same holding and were judged to be land of the same worth.

The tenant was called John Desfountain without the addition of senior. The leases of July 1766 and 28 August 1769 were made to John Desfountain senior, and on the second occasion James Desfountain signed for him. The man named here was either the same planter, with the distinction dropped, or the younger John from whom the addition once separated him. James Desfountain witnessed all four leases of 30 September 1771 and was at the Council on what was partly his own family's business.

William Seale's land bounded the second piece on the south. Seale farmed in Deep Valley, so Desfountain's estate, which began with 23¾ acres at the head of Woody Ridge Valley in 1766, had spread far enough across the East Division to meet it.

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upon condition that he the said John Desfountain his Heirs

Executors, Administrators or Assigns do & shall well & sufficiently keep

up and maintain the Fences to the said Lands and the full quantity of

Wood thereon & do not nor shall sell or dispose of this Lease or his or their

Interest therein without the leave & consent of the Governor & Council

for the time being In Witness whereof we the said Governor & Council

have to the other part set our Hands & Affixed the said Company's Seal

this 30th day of September in the Eleventh Year of the Reign of our

said Sovereign Lord George the Third by the Grace of God of Great

Britain France & Ireland King Defender of the Faith & so forth

& in the Year of our Lord 1771 and he the said John Desfountain

hath hereunto set his Hand & Seal the day & Year abovewritten

John Desfountain

Witness

James Desfountain

Island St. 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 let unto Matthew

All that piece or parcel of Land containing four Acres situate lying & being in the East Division

of the said Island

Purling Esqr. of the said Island butting and bounding East, South & North

upon the Honble Companys Waste Land and West upon the Land of him

the said Matthew Purling To have and to hold the said hereby

demised parcel of Land with the appurtenances and every part and parcel

thereof unto him the said Matthew Purling his Heirs Executors

Administrators and 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 he the said Matthew Purling his

Heirs or Allowed Assigns do always bear true faith and Allegiance to

our

John Desfountain and his successors had to keep the fences of the land in good repair and maintain the full quantity of wood on it. They could not sell or part with the lease or any interest in it without the permission of the Governor and Council of the day. The Governor and Council signed one copy and fixed the Company's seal to it on 30 September 1771, in the eleventh year of the reign of George III. John Desfountain signed and sealed the other copy on the same day, and James Desfountain signed as witness.

A new lease, made at St Helena, followed. The Company let four acres of land in the East Division to Matthew Purling Esquire of the island. The ground was bounded on the east, south and north by the Company's waste land and on the west by Purling's own land.

Purling was to hold the ground, with everything belonging to it, for 21 years from the date of the lease. The term covered him and anyone who took the ground after him by inheritance or approved transfer. Purling and his successors had to remain loyal to King George III.

Interpretations

The words giving the acreage of Purling's ground and placing it in the East Division were written in small script between the lines. The clerk first passed straight from the tenant's name to the boundaries and left out what was being let. He then went back and fitted the missing description into the space above. An error of that kind arose in copying, when the eye skipped from one phrase to a similar one further on. The entries in this volume were therefore transcribed from leases already drawn up, and were not the documents the parties signed. That agreed with the leases entered out of date order, such as John Worrall's of November 1766 after William Worrall's of 22 December 1766. The signatures and seals in the book were made on the copy, so each tenant or his representative signed twice, once on the lease he took away and once in the Company's record.

John Desfountain signed his own lease. On 28 August 1769 James Desfountain signed for John Desfountain senior, who did not attend. The planter present on 30 September 1771 was thus either the same man on a day when he came himself, or the younger John. James witnessed the lease although the tenant was his kinsman, as Matthew Bazett witnessed Captain Henry Bazett's on 29 August 1768. Relationship to the tenant did not disqualify a witness, and only being a party did.

Purling's four acres had waste on three sides and his own land on the fourth. His three acres of 2 September 1766 lay in the same relation to his estate and were let at 1s 0d an acre, a rate that set him apart from the neighbours who later paid 5s 0d beside him. He was now taking a further piece along the same margin, at a sitting where every lease so far fell between 1s 0d and 1s 6d.

Five leases were entered for 30 September 1771 before this one, to Young, Gurling, Knipe, John Seale and Desfountain. Purling's made a sixth, a number matched only by the seven of 28 August 1769.

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our Sovereign Lord King George the Third his Heirs, and Successors & true

faith to them the said United Company & their Successors, and shall duly

obey all the Laws & Constitutions of the said Island Yielding and

paying therefore Yearly & every Year during the said term and time of

twenty one Years unto the said Company their Successors, Agents or Assigns

the Rent of one shilling P Acre, at or upon the Feast of St. Michael the

Arch Angel Yearly, And upon condition that he the said Matthew

Purling his Heirs Executors Administrators or Assigns do & shall well and

sufficiently keep up and maintain the Fences to the said Land & the full

quantity of Wood thereon and do not nor shall sell or dispose of this Lease or

his or their Interest therein without the leave and consent of the Governor

& Council for the time being In witness whereof we the said Governor &

Council have to the other part set our Hands and affixed the said Company's

Seal this 18 day of November in the twelfth year of the Reign of our said

Sovereign Lord George the Third by the Grace of God of Great Britain

France & Ireland King defender of the faith and so forth and in the Year of

our Lord 1771. and he the said Matthew Purling hath hereunto set his

Hand and Seal the day and Year abovewritten

M Purling

Witness

[...] Bazett

Island St. 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

Matthew Purling Esqr. All that piece or parcel of Land containing one

Acre & an half situate lying and being in the East Division of the said

Island butting and bounding South upon the High Road leading to the

Long Wood. West upon the Land of him the said Matthew Purling. East and

North upon the Land of Nathan Sampell Planter To have and to

hold

Matthew Purling and his successors had to be faithful to the Company and obey the laws and regulations of the island. They paid the Company a rent of 1s 0d an acre each year for the 21 years of the term, due on the feast of St Michael the Archangel. They had to keep the fences of the land in good repair and maintain the full quantity of wood on it. They could not sell or part with the lease or any interest in it without the permission of the Governor and Council of the day.

The Governor and Council signed one copy and fixed the Company's seal to it on 11 November 1771, in the twelfth year of the reign of George III. Matthew Purling signed and sealed the other copy on the same day, and [...] Bazett signed as witness.

A new lease, made at St Helena, followed. The Company let one and a half acres of land in the East Division to Matthew Purling Esquire. The ground was bounded on the south by the high road leading to the Long Wood, on the west by Purling's own land and on the east and north by the land of Nathan Sampell, a planter.

Interpretations

Purling paid 1s 0d an acre for four acres with waste on three sides. His three acres on the same margin were let at that rate on 2 September 1766, when planters taking ground from the waste paid 5s 0d, and his neighbours Doveton and Sampell were still charged 5s 0d beside him on 28 August 1769. That contrast made his early lease look like a favour. By late 1771 the position had changed. Robert Gurling, Samuel Knipe junior and John Seale each paid 1s 0d on 30 September 1771, two of them planters, and John Desfountain paid 1s 3d. Purling's new rate was the going price that season for rough ground at the edge of the waste, charged to an Esquire and to working farmers alike. What was exceptional in 1766 had become ordinary five years later, and his second lease on that margin gave no sign of special treatment.

The lease was sealed in November, six weeks after the sitting of 30 September 1771, and was the first dated in the twelfth year of the reign. Bazett witnessed it. James Desfountain attested every lease of the September sitting, so the Secretary's absence then had ended by November.

The next lease used a road as a boundary. Purling's one and a half acres lay along the high road leading to the Long Wood. Country leases until now were bounded by neighbours, the waste, the Company's pasture or, once, a rock. A public road running through the East Division was here treated as a fixed line that needed no further description. The Long Wood was named only as the place the road led to, a recognised destination in the east of the island.

Nathan Sampell held the land on the east and north of the new piece. He took ground beside Purling on 28 August 1769 and again on 5 August 1771. The two estates were thus interlocked along the road, and the acre and a half was a pocket between them that the Council assigned to Purling.

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hold the said hereby demised parcel of Land with the appurtenances

and every part and parcel thereof unto him the said Matthew Purling

his Heirs Executors Administrators & Assigns from the day of the

date hereof for and during all the space & term of twenty one Years

from thence next ensuing Upon condition that he the said

Matthew Purling his Heirs Executors Administrators or allowed

Assigns do always bear true faith and Allegiance to our Sovereign

Lord King George the Third his Heirs and Successors & true faith

to them the said United Company & their Successors and shall duly

obey all the Laws and Constitutions of the said Island Yielding

& paying therefore Yearly & every Year during the said term and

time of twenty one Years unto the said Company their Successors

Agents or Assigns the Rent of five Shillings P Acre at or upon the

Feast of St. Michael the Arch Angel Yearly And upon condition

that he the said Matthew Purling his Heirs Executors Administrs.

or Assigns do and shall well & sufficiently keep up and maintain

the Fences to the said Land, and the full quantity of Wood thereon

and do not nor shall sell or dispose of this Lease or his or their

Interest therein without the leave and consent of the Governor

& Council for the time being In Witness whereof we the said

Governor & Council have to the other part set our Hands and

Affixed the Company's Seal this 16 day of December in the

twelfth Year of the Reign of our said Sovereign Lord George the

Third by the Grace of God of Great Britain France & Ireland

King defender of the faith and so forth and in the Year of our

Lord 1771 & he the said Matthew Purling hath hereunto set

his Hand and Seal the day & Year abovewritten.

M Purling

Witness

[...] Bazett

Matthew Purling was to hold the one and a half acres beside the high road, with everything belonging to them, for 21 years from the date of the lease. The term covered him and anyone who took the ground after him by inheritance or approved transfer.

The lease set out the following conditions. Purling and his successors had to remain loyal to King George III and faithful to the Company, and had to obey the laws and regulations of the island. They paid the Company a rent of 5s 0d an acre each year, due on the feast of St Michael the Archangel. They had to keep the fences of the land in good repair and maintain the full quantity of wood on it. They could not sell or part with the lease or any interest in it without the permission of the Governor and Council of the day.

The Governor and Council signed one copy and fixed the Company's seal to it on 16 December 1771, in the twelfth year of the reign of George III. Matthew Purling signed and sealed the other copy on the same day, and [...] Bazett signed as witness.

Interpretations

Purling took two pieces in the East Division within five weeks and paid the two ends of the Company's scale for them. The four acres of 11 November 1771, standing out into the waste, cost 1s 0d an acre. The one and a half acres of 16 December 1771, enclosed by his own land and Nathan Sampell's and fronting the high road to the Long Wood, cost 5s 0d. The pattern of his first two leases, both sealed on 2 September 1766 at 1s 0d and 5s 0d, was thus repeated exactly. On each occasion the cheap piece was bare ground at the margin and the dear one was land of settled value, cabbage tree wood in 1766 and a roadside plot among farms in 1771. Taken together, his five country leases showed the Council charging an Esquire by the ground like anyone else, and the doubt raised by his rent of 1766 rested on that one piece alone.

Ground lying along a public road was rated at the top of the scale even at a size of an acre and a half. A road gave access for carts and stock, and land beside it was worth more than the same soil behind other farms. Roderick Merchant's town plot of 18 February 1771, with a door on the street, paid the full rate by the foot at a time when back ground was let for a token. The Council valued frontage on a road in the country as it valued frontage on the street in the town.

The lease was sealed a month after Purling's last and stood alone on its day. The grants of late 1771 came singly, in November and December, after the six of 30 September 1771.

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Island. St. Helena

The Lords Proprietors of this Island

the Honorable the United Company of Merchants of England trading

to the East Indies Do hereby demise grant Lease and to farm let

unto John Price Jailer All that piece or parcel of Ground situate lying

and being in James's Valley butting and bounding North East & West

upon the Honble Company's Waste Ground & South upon the said John

Prices own Ground containing in Front forty feet & in depth fifty feet

To have and to hold the said hereby demised piece or parcel of

Ground with the appurtenances and every part & parcel thereof unto him

the said John Price his Heirs, Executors Administrators and Assigns

from the day of the date hereof for and during all the space & term of

twenty one Years from thence next ensuing Upon Condition

that he the said John Price his Heirs or allowed Assigns do always bear

true faith and allegiance to our Sovereign Lord King George the Third

his Heirs and Successors & true faith to them the said United Company

and their Successors & shall duly obey all the Laws & constitutions of the

said Island Yielding & paying therefore Yearly & every Year

during the said term and time of twenty one Years unto the said Company

their Successors. Agents or Assigns the Rent of ten Shillings P Ann.

at or upon the Feast of St. Michael the Arch Angel Yearly And

upon condition that he the said John Price his Heirs Executors

Administrators or Assigns do & shall well & sufficiently keep in Good

Repair all such Houses or Buildings that are or may be hereafter

built or erected upon the said piece of Ground or any part thereof

& do not nor shall sell or dispose of this Lease or his or their Interest

therein without the leave & consent of the Governor & Council for the

time being In Witness whereof we the said Governor & Council have

to the other part set our Hands and Affixed the Company's Seal

this 9 day of March in the twelfth Year of the Reign of our said

Sovereign Lord George the Third by the Grace of God of Great

Britain

The Company let a plot of ground in James's Valley to John Price, the jailer. The plot measured 40 feet across the front and 50 feet in depth. It was bounded on the north, east and west by the Company's waste ground and on the south by Price's own ground.

Price was to hold the ground, with everything belonging to it, for 21 years from the date of the lease. The term covered him and anyone who took the ground after him by inheritance or approved transfer.

The lease set out the following conditions. Price and his successors had to remain loyal to King George III and faithful to the Company, and had to obey the laws and regulations of the island. They paid the Company a rent of £0 10s 0d a year, due on the feast of St Michael the Archangel. They had to keep in good repair every house or building standing on the ground or put up there later. They could not sell or part with the lease or any interest in it without the permission of the Governor and Council of the day.

The Governor and Council sealed their copy on 9 March 1772, in the twelfth year of the reign of George III.

Interpretations

Price paid £0 10s 0d for 40 feet of frontage, exactly 3d a foot. His first plot, of 80 feet, was let at the same rate on 22 December 1766, and James Goudy paid the same £0 10s 0d for 40 feet by 50 feet on 12 January 1767. The new plot had waste on three sides and stood at the edge of the built ground. Plots so placed were let below the standard from late 1768. Lieutenant Thomas Leech paid about 2½d a foot on 9 January 1769, Thomas Harper 2d on 5 December 1768 and James Pritchard, a tailor, well under 2d on 10 June 1771. The jailer was charged the full rate of five years earlier for ground of the same description. John Preston, a mason's mate, likewise paid 3d a foot on 30 January 1769 while an officer beside the same kind of waste paid less. Pritchard's case showed that a tradesman could obtain a reduction, so the discount did not go by rank alone. It was nonetheless not given to everyone, and the Company's own jailer was among those who went without.

The plot lay north of ground Price already held. His lease of 1766 gave him 80 feet with waste on the north, east and west. He was thus extending his holding in the one direction still open, adding half as much frontage again after five years. George Bird and Lieutenant Leech each built on plots taken in 1767 and 1769. A second grant beside the first suggested that Price too had made use of his ground and needed more.

Price signed his first lease with a mark, being unable to write. He remained the jailer in 1772 and had by then held a town plot for more than five years. A minor officer of the Company without schooling could keep and enlarge a property in the valley on the same legal footing as the Secretary or an Esquire, though not always at the same price.

The lease followed Purling's of 16 December 1771 by nearly three months. No grant of country land had been entered since that date, and the business of early 1772 began with the town.

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Britain, France & Ireland King defender of the Faith and so

forth and in the Year of our Lord 1772 and he the said John Price

hath hereunto set his Hand & Seal the day & Year abovewritten

The Mark

of John X Price

Witness

[...] Bazett

Island St. 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, and to farm Let unto Simon

Whaley Carpenters Mate All that piece or parcel of Land containing

four Acres, situate lying and being in the South Division of the said

Island, butting and bounding East upon the Land of Thomas Harpers

Orps. West and South upon the Land of John Robinson Carpenter and

North upon the Honorable Company's Waste Land To have and to

hold the said hereby demised parcel of Land with the appurtenances

and every part and parcel thereof unto him the said Simon Whaley

his Heirs, Executors, Administrators and 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 he the said

Simon Whaley his Heirs or Allowed Assigns do always bear true

faith and allegiance to our Sovereign Lord George the third his Heirs

and Successors and true faith to them the said Honorable Company and

their Successors and shall duly Obey all the Laws and Constitutions of the

said Island Yielding and paying therefore Yearly and every Year during

the said term and time of twenty one Years unto the said Honorable

Company their Successors Agents or Assigns the Rent of five Shillings P Acre at or

upon the Feast of St. Michael the Arch Angel Yearly and upon

Condition that he the said Simon Whaley his Heirs Executors Administrators

or Assigns, do and shall well and sufficiently keep up and maintain the

Fences to the sd. Land and the full quantity of Wood thereon and do not

nor shall sell or dispose of this Lease or his or their Interest therein

without

John Price completed his lease in 1772 by making his mark in place of a signature and fixing his seal, and [...] Bazett signed as witness.

A new lease, made at St Helena, followed. The Company let four acres of land in the South Division to Simon Whaley, a carpenter's mate. The ground was bounded on the east by the land of the orphans of Thomas Harper, on the west and south by the land of John Robinson, a carpenter, and on the north by the Company's waste land.

Whaley was to hold the ground, with everything belonging to it, for 21 years from the date of the lease. The term covered him and anyone who took the ground after him by inheritance or approved transfer.

The lease set out the following conditions. Whaley and his successors had to remain loyal to King George III and faithful to the Company, and had to obey the laws and regulations of the island. They paid the Company a rent of 5s 0d an acre each year, due on the feast of St Michael the Archangel. They had to keep the fences of the land in good repair and maintain the full quantity of wood on it.

Interpretations

Simon Whaley was called a planter in his leases of 1 February 1768 and 20 March 1769 and a carpenter's mate here. His neighbour on two sides was John Robinson, described as a carpenter and elsewhere as the master carpenter, who was likewise styled a planter in 1767. The mate thus farmed beside the master he worked under. The two men's relation in the Company's workshop was repeated on the land, with the senior tradesman holding the larger estate and his assistant taking four acres along its edge. The lease also added Whaley to the list of men for whom planter was only one of two descriptions. Robinson, Robert Gurling and Whaley were each a planter in one lease and a tradesman or officer in another. Many of the island's farmers were evidently the Company's paid servants, working its timber or serving in its garrison and cultivating leased ground as well.

Whaley's holdings were the most scattered in the volume. He had plots in Woody Ridge Valley and Prosperous Bay Valley in the East Division, a share of the block divided on 20 March 1769, land beside Lieutenant St Maurice in the West Division and now four acres in the South. A carpenter's mate could not have worked five separate pieces himself while employed by the Company. Ground held in that way was presumably cultivated by others on his behalf, or kept for grazing and wood.

The four acres paid the full 5s 0d an acre, although the waste lay on the north. Whaley's small plots of 1 February 1768 were also charged in full. A tradesman of junior grade received no cheap ground in either year, while his share of poorer land in 1769 was let at 2s 0d with the planters beside him.

John Price again made a mark. He could not write in 1766 and had not learned to in the five years since, though he remained the jailer and had become the holder of 120 feet of frontage in the valley.

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without the Leave and Consent of the Governor and Council for the time

being In Witness whereof we the said Governor & Council have to the other part set

Our Hands and Affixed the Honorable Companys Seal this 5 day of April in the

thirteenth Year of the Reign of our said Sovereign Lord George the third by

the Grace of God of great Britain, France and Ireland King defender of

the faith and so forth and in the Year of our Lord 1773 and he the said

Simon Whaley hath hereunto set his Hand & Seal the day and Year abovewritten

Simon Whaley

Witness

B Wright

Island St. 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 & Farm Let unto Richard Bagley Planter

All that piece or Parcell of Land containing five Acres and a Quarter

situate Lying and being in the South Division of the said Island butting

and Bounding South upon the Honoble Company's Waste Land North

and West upon the Lands of him the said Richard Bagley and East upon

the Land of Captain Henry Bazett To have and to hold the said

hereby demised parcell of Land with the appurtenances and every part

and parcell thereof unto him the said Richard Bagley his Heirs, Executors

Administrators & Assigns from the day of the date hereof for and during

all the space & term of twenty one Years from thence next ensuing

Upon Condition that he the said Richard Bagley his Heirs or

Allowed Assigns do allways bear true faith and Allegiance to our

Sovereign Lord George the third his Heirs and Successors & true faith

to them the said Honoble Company and their Successors, and shall

duly Obey all the Laws and Constitutions of the said Island

Yielding and paying therefore Yearly and every Year during

the said term & time of twenty one Years unto the said Honoble

Company their Successors, Agents or Assigns the Rent of four

Shillings P Acre, at or upon the Feast of St. Michael the Arch

Angell Yearly, And upon condition that he the said Richard

Bagley his Heirs Executors, Administrators, or Assigns do and shall

Well

Simon Whaley could not sell or part with the lease or any interest in it without the permission of the Governor and Council of the day. The Governor and Council signed one copy and fixed the Company's seal to it on 5 April 1773, in the thirteenth year of the reign of George III. Simon Whaley signed and sealed the other copy on the same day, and B. Wright signed as witness.

A new lease, made at St Helena, followed. The Company let five and a quarter acres of land in the South Division to Richard Bagley, a planter. The ground was bounded on the south by the Company's waste land, on the north and west by Bagley's own lands and on the east by the land of Captain Henry Bazett.

Bagley was to hold the ground, with everything belonging to it, for 21 years from the date of the lease. The term covered him and anyone who took the ground after him by inheritance or approved transfer.

Bagley and his successors had to remain loyal to King George III and faithful to the Company, and had to obey the laws and regulations of the island. They paid the Company a rent of 4s 0d an acre each year, due on the feast of St Michael the Archangel.

Interpretations

Whaley's lease was sealed on 5 April 1773, more than a year after John Price's of 9 March 1772. No lease was entered for the whole of the intervening 13 months. The longest earlier gap was seven months, between December 1769 and July 1770, and most sittings fell within three or four months of the last. Applications for land were made in every year from 1765 to 1771, at the rate of ten to 20 leases a year. A year without any grant was therefore not a lull in demand. The Council had stopped letting land for a time, or the leases it made were not copied into this volume. The record gave no reason for either.

The witness changed with the resumption. Matthew Bazett attested almost every lease from 2 December 1765 to 9 March 1772, missing only the sittings of 8 May 1769, 16 July 1770 and 30 September 1771 and the leases to which he was a party. B. Wright signed here, the man who witnessed Bazett's own leases in 1766 and 1767 and stood in for him in May 1769. If Wright continued as witness in the leases that followed, the duty had passed to him, and Bazett had ceased to act as Secretary during the year in which no leases were entered. The break in the record and the change of witness would then share a cause in a change at the Secretary's office.

Bagley's rent of 4s 0d an acre was a figure not used before. The scale until now jumped from 3s 0d to 5s 0d. A step just below the top showed the Council shading the full rate for ground it thought nearly but not quite the best, as the 1s 3d of 30 September 1771 shaded the bottom. Nine rates were now in use, from 6d to 5s 0d.

Bagley's land in the South Division lay beside Captain Henry Bazett's. Sarah Funge's lease of 4 September 1769 named both men on her boundaries in that division, so the present ground was in the same neighbourhood. Bagley also held 30 acres in Swanley Valley and land beside Benjamin Mason in the West Division.

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Well and sufficiently keep up and Maintain the Fences to the said Land

and the full quantity of Wood thereon, and do not nor shall sell or dispose

of this Lease or his or their Interest therein without the Leave and Consent of

the Governor and Council for the time being. In Witness whereof we the said

Governor and Council have to the other part set Our hands and affixd the

Honoble Company's seal this 31st day of January in the fourteenth Year

of the Reign of our said Sovereign Lord George the third by the Grace of

God of Great Britain, France and Ireland King defender of the Faith

and so forth and in the Year of Our Lord 1774 and he the said Richard

Bagley hath hereunto set his hand and Seal the day and Year above

Written.

Richd Bagley

Witness

Jn. Doveton

5 1/4 Acres

Island St. Helena

The Lords Proprietors of this Island

the Honorable the United Company of Merchants of England trading to the

East Indies Do hereby Demise, Grant, Lease, and to Farm Let unto

William Seale of the said Island Planter, All that piece or parcel of

Land containing five and an half Acres situate, lying and being

in the East Division of the said Island, butting and bounding East

on the Honoble Compys. Waste Land South on James Colgraves Land and

North and West on the said William Seales own Land To have

and to hold the said hereby demised parcel of Land with the appurtenances

and every part and parcel thereof, unto him the said William Seale

his

Richard Bagley and his successors had to keep the fences of the land in good repair and maintain the full quantity of wood on it. They could not sell or part with the lease or any interest in it without the permission of the Governor and Council of the day. The Governor and Council signed one copy and fixed the Company's seal to it on 31 January 1774, in the fourteenth year of the reign of George III. Richard Bagley signed and sealed the other copy on the same day, and Jonathan Doveton signed as witness.

A plan of the ground was drawn beneath the signatures. It showed a five-sided outline, marked as containing five and a quarter acres.

A new lease, made at St Helena, followed. The Company let five and a half acres of land in the East Division to William Seale of the island, a planter. The ground was bounded on the east by the Company's waste land, on the south by James Colgrave's land and on the north and west by Seale's own land.

Interpretations

Bagley's lease was sealed on 31 January 1774, nearly ten months after Simon Whaley's of 5 April 1773, which itself followed a blank of 13 months. Two leases thus covered a period of almost two years from March 1772. The volume recorded ten to 20 grants in each year from 1766 to 1771. The falling away was too sharp and too prolonged to be an accident of timing. The Council was letting very little land in those years. The country leases of 1771 were mostly of poor ground at 1s 0d to 1s 6d, which suggested that little worth having remained beside the settled farms, and a shortage of land to grant may have slowed the business as much as any change of policy.

The witness changed again. B. Wright attested Whaley's lease, and Jonathan Doveton attested Bagley's. Matthew Bazett had witnessed nothing since 9 March 1772. Had the duty passed to a new Secretary, the same name would have appeared on both leases. Two different witnesses in succession pointed instead to an office without a settled holder, with whoever was present at the sealing asked to sign. Jonathan Doveton signed for Mary Doveton on 12 October 1767 and was a member of the Society for the purchase and sale of spirituous liquors on 11 December 1769.

A plan was entered for Bagley's five and a quarter acres, a plain five-sided piece. No plan appeared among the many country leases of 1770 and 1771, including the chaplain's 61 acres and the two that bordered the Company's pasture. Plans were common in March 1769 and then lapsed. Their return in 1774 fitted a change in who was keeping the register, since the practice depended on the habits of the person copying the leases.

James Colgrave's land bounded William Seale's new ground on the south. Seale's first lease, of 15 December 1766, also named a James as his neighbour, on the west of eight acres in Deep Valley. The present five and a half acres therefore lay in the same quarter, a third addition to that farm after the grants of 1766 and of 4 September 1769.

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his Heirs, Executors, Administrators and 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 he the said William Seale his Heirs

or allowed Assigns, do always bear true faith and Allegiance to Our, Sovereign

Lord King George the Third his Heirs and Successors and true faith to

them the said Honorable Company and their Successors and shall duly

obey all the Laws and Constitutions of the said Island, Yielding

and paying therefore Yearly, and every Year during the said term and time of

twenty one Years, unto the said Honorable Company their Successors,

Agents or Assigns the Rent of one Shilling and six pence P Acre in, at,

or upon the Feast of St. Michael the Arch Angel Yearly, And upon

Condition that he the said William Seale, 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 not nor shall sell, or dispose of this Lease or his or their

Interest therein without the leave and Consent of the Governor and

Council for the time being. In Witness whereof We the said Governor

and Council have to the other part set Our hands and affixd the Honble

Companys Seal this 27 day of March in the fifthteenth Year of the

Reign of our said Sovereign Lord George the Third, by the Grace of

God, of Great Britain, France and Ireland King defender of the

Faith and so forth, and in the Year of Our Lord 1775, And he the said

William Seale hath hereunto set his Hand and Seal the day and

Year above Written

John Seale for Wm. Seale

Witness

B Wright Secy.

Island St. Helena

The Lords Proprietors of this Island

The Honorable the United Company of Merchants of England trading

to the East Indies, Do hereby demise, Grant, Lease and to Farm

Let unto William Seale of the said Island Planter, All that

piece or parcel of Land containing ten Acres situate lying and being

in the East Division of the said Island, butting and bounding

East upon the Lands of Orlando Bagley, West upon the said William

Seales

William Seale was to hold the five and a half acres in the East Division, with everything belonging to them, for 21 years from the date of the lease. The term covered him and anyone who took the ground after him by inheritance or approved transfer.

The lease set out the following conditions. Seale and his successors had to remain loyal to King George III and faithful to the Company, and had to obey the laws and regulations of the island. They paid the Company a rent of 1s 6d an acre each year, due on the feast of St Michael the Archangel. They had to keep the fences of the land in good repair and maintain the full quantity of wood on it. They could not sell or part with the lease or any interest in it without the permission of the Governor and Council of the day.

The Governor and Council signed one copy and fixed the Company's seal to it on 27 March 1775, in the fifteenth year of the reign of George III. John Seale signed and sealed the other copy on William Seale's behalf, and B. Wright signed as witness, adding his office of Secretary.

A new lease, made at St Helena, followed. The Company let ten acres of land in the East Division to William Seale of the island, a planter. The ground was bounded on the east by the lands of Orlando Bagley and on the west by William Seale's own land.

Interpretations

Wright signed as Secretary. Matthew Bazett held that office from the first lease in the volume and last witnessed on 9 March 1772. Wright attested Simon Whaley's lease of 5 April 1773 without a title, and Jonathan Doveton attested Richard Bagley's of 31 January 1774. The present lease settled what those two entries left open. Bazett had gone, and the man who witnessed his leases in 1766 and 1767 and deputised for him in May 1769 had succeeded him. Wright was thus the Secretary's assistant for at least nine years before taking the post. The office passed to the deputy already familiar with the work, and the long blank in the register from March 1772 fell across the period of the change.

The leases remained few under the new Secretary. Seale's was sealed 14 months after Bagley's, which followed Whaley's by ten months and Price's by a further 13. Four leases were entered in the three years from March 1772, against some 90 in the six years before. The slowing therefore outlasted the change of Secretary and could not be put down to disorder in the office alone. Land beside the settled farms was running short, or the Council had grown unwilling to grant it.

Seale's farm in Deep Valley grew by three steps into the waste, each cheaper than the last. He paid 5s 0d an acre for eight acres on 15 December 1766, 2s 0d for 11½ acres on 4 September 1769 and now 1s 6d for five and a half. Every advance took in ground further from the valley floor and worth less. The three leases, read in order, traced the gradient of the land's value as plainly as any survey.

John Seale signed for William. The leases of 1766 and 1769 styled the tenant senior and he signed them himself. Here the addition was dropped and a kinsman acted. John Seale took land in the South Division on 30 September 1771 as a planter in his own right. He was probably the old planter's son, attending the Council for a father no longer able to come.

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Seales own Land and south upon the Land of Matthew Bazett Esqr.

To have and to hold the said hereby demised parcel of Land with

the appurtenances and every part and parcel thereof unto him the said

William Seale, His Heirs Executors, Administrators and 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 he, the said

William Seale his Heirs or allowed Assigns do always bear true faith

and Allegiance to our Sovereign Lord King George the Third His Heirs

and Successors, and true faith to them the said Honorable Company

and their Successors, and shall duly obey all the Laws and Constitutions

of the said Island. Yielding and paying therefore Yearly and every

Year during the said term and time of twenty one Years, unto the said

Honble Company their Successors, Agents or Assigns the Rent of five

shillings P Acre, in, at, or upon, the Feast of, St. Michael the arch

Angel Yearly And upon Condition that he the said William Seale

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 not nor shall sell or dispose of this

Lease, or His or their Interest therein without the leave and consent

of the Governor and Council for the time being. In Witness whereof

We the said Governor and Council have to the other part set Our hands

and affixed the Honorable Companys Seal this 27 day of March in the

fifthteenth Year of the Reign of Our said Sovereign Lord George the

Third, by the grace of God, of Great Britain, France and Ireland King

Defender of the Faith and so forth, and in the Year of Our Lord 1775,

And he the said William Seale hath hereunto set his Hand and Seal the

day and Year above Written.

John Seale for

Wm. Seale

Witness

B Wright Secy.

William Seale's ten acres in the East Division were bounded on the east by the lands of Orlando Bagley, on the west by Seale's own land and on the south by the land of Matthew Bazett Esquire.

Seale was to hold the ground, with everything belonging to it, for 21 years from the date of the lease. The term covered him and anyone who took the ground after him by inheritance or approved transfer.

The lease set out the following conditions. Seale and his successors had to remain loyal to King George III and faithful to the Company, and had to obey the laws and regulations of the island. They paid the Company a rent of 5s 0d an acre each year, due on the feast of St Michael the Archangel. They had to keep the fences of the land in good repair and maintain the full quantity of wood on it. They could not sell or part with the lease or any interest in it without the permission of the Governor and Council of the day.

The Governor and Council signed one copy and fixed the Company's seal to it on 27 March 1775, in the fifteenth year of the reign of George III. John Seale signed and sealed the other copy on William Seale's behalf, and B. Wright signed as witness, adding his office of Secretary.

Interpretations

The lease named Matthew Bazett as an Esquire. Every earlier reference called him the Secretary, in his own leases and as a neighbour, down to Thomas Burnham's lease of 17 September 1770. Wright now held that office and signed with its title on the same page. Bazett had therefore not left the island or lost his land when he ceased to be Secretary. He remained a landholder in the East Division and was given a style of rank that the volume otherwise reserved for Matthew Purling and one or two others. The change from an official title to Esquire pointed to advancement, probably to a higher place in the Company's service on the island, and not to retirement in disfavour. The break in the register from March 1772 thus coincided with a promotion that moved him out of the office that kept it.

Seale took two pieces on 27 March 1775, five and a half acres at 1s 6d an acre and ten acres at 5s 0d. The cheap piece lay against the waste. The dear one was enclosed by Bagley, Bazett and Seale himself, with no waste named on any side. One tenant thus paid both a low rate and the full one on the same day, under separate leases, as John Worrall did on 16 November 1767 and Purling on 2 September 1766. The Council under the new Secretary was valuing ground exactly as it had before, by position and quality, and keeping pieces at different rents apart.

The ten acres lay between Seale's farm and Orlando Bagley's in Deep Valley. Seale's 13½ acres of 15 December 1766 were surrounded by Bagley on three sides, and Bagley took ground between the two farms on 4 September 1769. This further piece showed that ungranted land still remained among them in 1775, nine years after the first leases in the valley. Pockets within settled country were thus being taken up slowly, one at a time, long after the farms around them were established.

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Island St. Helena

The Lords Proprietors of this

Island the Honorable the United Company of Merchants of England

trading to the East Indies Do hereby Demise Grant Lease and to Farm

Let unto John Bagley Junr. of the said Island Planter all that piece

or Parcel of Land containing twenty five Acres and a quarter situate

lying and being in the South Division of the aforesaid Island butting

and bounding East upon the Land of Henry Easthope, North and West

upon the said John Bagley's own Land and South upon the Honorable

Companys Waste Land To have and to hold the said hereby demised

parcel of Land with the appurtenances and every part and parcel thereof

unto him the said John Bagley his Heirs Executors, Administrators

and 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 he the said John Bagley His Heirs or allowed Assigns

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

George the Third, 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 Yielding and paying therefore

Yearly and every Year during the said term and time of twenty one Years

unto the said Honble Company their Successors Agents or Assigns the Rent

of three shillings and six pence P Acre in. at or upon the Feast of St.

Michael the Arch Angel Yearly And upon condition that he the

said John Bagley his Heirs Executors. Administrators or Assigns, do &

shall well and sufficiently keep up and maintain the Fences to

the said Land, with the full quantity of Wood thereon and do not nor shall

sell or dispose of this Lease or His or their Interest therein without the

leave and Consent of the Governor and Council for the time being

In Witness whereof we the said Governor and Council have to the

other part set our hands and affixed the Honble Company's Seal this

30 day of September in the fifteenth Year of the Reign of our Sovereign

Lord George the Third by the Grace of God of Great Britain France

and Ireland King, Defender of the Faith and so forth and in the

Year of Our Lord 1775 and he the said John Bagley hath hereunto

set his Hand and Seal in the Day and Year above Written

John Bagley Junr.

Witness

B Wright Secy

The Company let 25¼ acres of land in the South Division to John Bagley junior of the island, a planter. The ground was bounded on the east by the land of Henry [...], on the north and west by Bagley's own land and on the south by the Company's waste land.

Bagley was to hold the ground, with everything belonging to it, for 21 years from the date of the lease. The term covered him and anyone who took the ground after him by inheritance or approved transfer.

The lease set out the following conditions. Bagley and his successors had to remain loyal to King George III and faithful to the Company, and had to obey the laws and regulations of the island. They paid the Company a rent of 3s 6d an acre each year, due on the feast of St Michael the Archangel. They had to keep the fences of the land in good repair and maintain the full quantity of wood on it. They could not sell or part with the lease or any interest in it without the permission of the Governor and Council of the day.

The Governor and Council signed one copy and fixed the Company's seal to it on 30 September 1775, in the fifteenth year of the reign of George III. John Bagley junior signed and sealed the other copy on the same day, and B. Wright signed as witness, adding his office of Secretary.

Interpretations

The rent of 3s 6d an acre was another figure not seen before. Richard Bagley's 4s 0d on 31 January 1774 was the first step entered between 3s 0d and 5s 0d, and this was the second. Under Matthew Bazett the upper part of the scale had three points, at 2s 6d, 3s 0d and 5s 0d, and the fine distinctions were made at the bottom, where 1s 3d appeared on 30 September 1771. Both leases to a Bagley sealed under the new Secretary used rates in the gap below the top. The Council was now grading its better land as closely as it had come to grade its worse. Ground that would once have been charged 5s 0d as a matter of course was being marked down by a shilling or 18 pence where it fell a little short.

The rate of 3s 6d lasted. The later country register charged it on lease 266 of 1802, on 24¼ acres under lease 280 of 1818 and on leases 294 and 295 of 1821. A step introduced in 1775 thus remained in the Company's scale for nearly half a century, as the 1s 6d, 3s 0d and 6d of the 1760s did.

The 25¼ acres made the largest grant since the chaplain's 61 acres of 17 September 1770, and the largest to a planter since Richard Bagley's 30 acres on 19 February 1769. Substantial pieces of fair land could therefore still be had in the South Division in 1775, although the leases had become rare. Three were sealed in that year, two to William Seale on 27 March and this one six months later.

A John Bagley renewed country lease 99, entered in the later register in book D at page 92, and a John Bagley held Jamestown lease 122. The tenant here was styled junior, so an older John Bagley was living. With Richard and Orlando Bagley junior, at least four men of the family held the Company's land in these years, in the east, the south and Swanley Valley.

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Island St. Helena

The Lord Proprietors of this

Island the Honorable the United Company of Merchants of England trading

to the East Indies. Do hereby demise, Grant Lease, and to Farm let

unto Orlando Bagley of the said Island Planter all that peice or parcel

of

The Company, as proprietor of the island, let a piece of land to Orlando Bagley of the island, a planter.

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of Land containing eight Acres situated lying and being in the East Division

of the aforesaid Island butting and bounding South upon the Land of

James Colgrave East upon the Land of John Seale, and North and

West upon the said Orlando Bagleys own Land To have and to

hold the said hereby demised parcel of Land with the appurtenances

and every part and parcel thereof unto him the said Orlando Bagley his

Heirs, Executors, Administrators and 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 he the said Orlando

Bagley his Heirs or allowed Assigns Do always bear true faith and

allegiance to our Sovereign Lord King George the third His Heirs and

Successors, and true faith to them the said Honorable Company and their

Successors, and shall duly obey all the Laws and Constitutions of the said

Island Yielding and paying therefore Yearly and every Year during the

said term and time of twenty one Years unto the said Honorable Company

their Successors Agents, or Assigns the Rent of five Shillings P Acre

in, at or upon the Feast of St. Michael the Arch Angel Yearly, And

upon Condition that he the said Orlando Bagley his Heirs

Executors, Administrators and 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 not, nor shall sell or dispose of this Lease, or his,

or their Interest therein without the leave and Consent of the Governor

and Council for the time being. In Witness whereof We the said

Governor and Council have to the other part set our Hands and affixed the Honorable

Companys Seal this 30th Day of September in the fifteenth Year of the Reign

of our said Sovereign Lord George the Third by the Grace of God of Great

Britain, France and Ireland King defender of the faith and so forth, and

in the Year of Our Lord 1775, and he the said Orlando Bagley hath

hereunto set his Hand and Seal, the Day and Year above written

O Bagley

Witness

B Wright Secy

Orlando Bagley's ground contained eight acres in the East Division. It was bounded on the south by the land of James Colgrave, on the east by the land of John Seale and on the north and west by Bagley's own land.

Bagley was to hold the ground, with everything belonging to it, for 21 years from the date of the lease. The term covered him and anyone who took the ground after him by inheritance or approved transfer.

The lease set out the following conditions. Bagley and his successors had to remain loyal to King George III and faithful to the Company, and had to obey the laws and regulations of the island. They paid the Company a rent of 5s 0d an acre each year, due on the feast of St Michael the Archangel. They had to keep the fences of the land in good repair and maintain the full quantity of wood on it. They could not sell or part with the lease or any interest in it without the permission of the Governor and Council of the day.

The Governor and Council signed one copy and fixed the Company's seal to it on 30 September 1775, in the fifteenth year of the reign of George III. Orlando Bagley signed and sealed the other copy on the same day, and B. Wright signed as witness, adding his office of Secretary.

Interpretations

The lease named John Seale as the neighbour on the east. Bagley's farm lay beside William Seale's in Deep Valley, and every earlier lease in that quarter named William, most recently his own two of 27 March 1775. Those were signed by John Seale on William's behalf. Six months later the land beside Bagley was described as John's. The old planter had therefore died or handed over his farm in the interval, and the son who signed for him in March was in possession by September. No transfer was entered in this volume, which recorded only the Company's new grants. A change of holder by inheritance or approved sale showed here only through the name a later lease gave to a neighbour.

The tenant was called Orlando Bagley without the addition of junior. His lease of 4 September 1769 and William Seale's of 15 December 1766 both styled him the younger of two men of the name. The distinction was dropped by 1775, which suggested that the elder Orlando Bagley was dead and the need for it gone. William Seale's leases showed the same change, from senior in 1766 and 1769 to the bare name in 1775. A generation of planters who took the first leases in the volume was passing by the mid 1770s.

Two leases to members of the Bagley family were sealed on 30 September 1775. John Bagley junior paid 3s 6d an acre for 25¼ acres against the waste in the South Division, and Orlando paid 5s 0d for eight acres enclosed by Colgrave, Seale and himself in the East. The enclosed piece among settled farms took the full rate and the larger one on the margin a reduced one, in keeping with the Council's practice throughout.

Ground was still being found between the farms of Deep Valley. William Seale took ten acres between his land and Bagley's on 27 March 1775, and Bagley now took eight between his own, Seale's and Colgrave's. The two neighbours were closing the last gaps along their common boundaries.

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Island St. Helena

The Lords Proprietors of this Island the

Honorable the United Company of Merchants of England trading

to the East Indies Do hereby Demise, Grant, Lease and to Farm

Let unto Gabriel Alexander Harper of the said Island Planter

All that Piece or Parcel of Land containing ten Acres and a

Quarter situate lying and being in West Division of the aforesaid Island

butting and bounding East upon the Land of him the said

Gabriel Alexander Harper, West upon the Honorable Companys

Land North upon the Land of Charles Ross Stewart and south

upon the Honorable Companys Waste Land. To have and to

hold the said hereby demised parcel of Land with the

appurtenances and every part and Parcel thereof unto him the

said Gabriel Alexander Harpers his Heirs, Executors.

Administrators and 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 he the

said Gabriel Alexander Harper his Heirs or allowed Assigns

do always bear true faith and Allegiance to Our Sovereign Lord

King George the Third his Heirs and Successors and true Faith

to them the said Honorable Company, their Successors and shall

duly obey all the Laws and Constitutions of the said Island

Yielding and paying therefore Yearly and every Year during

the said term and time of twenty one Years unto the said Honorable

Company their Successors Agents or Assigns the Rent of two

Shillings and sixpence P Acre in at or upon the Feast of St.

Michael the Arch Angel Yearly And Upon Condition

that he the said Gabriel Alexander Harper his Heirs, Executors

Administrators and 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 not, nor shall sell or dispose of this

Lease or His or their Interests therein without the Leave and

Consent of the Governor and Council for the time being. In

Witness whereof We the said Governor and Council have to the

other part sett Our Hands and affixed the Honorable Companys

Seal this 30th. Day of September, in the sixteenth Year of Reign

of

The Company let 10¼ acres of land in the West Division to Gabriel Alexander Harper of the island, a planter. The ground was bounded on the east by Harper's own land, on the west by land of the Company, on the north by the land of Charles Ross Stewart and on the south by the Company's waste land.

Harper was to hold the ground, with everything belonging to it, for 21 years from the date of the lease. The term covered him and anyone who took the ground after him by inheritance or approved transfer.

The lease set out the following conditions. Harper and his successors had to remain loyal to King George III and faithful to the Company, and had to obey the laws and regulations of the island. They paid the Company a rent of 2s 6d an acre each year, due on the feast of St Michael the Archangel. They had to keep the fences of the land in good repair and maintain the full quantity of wood on it. They could not sell or part with the lease or any interest in it without the permission of the Governor and Council of the day.

The Governor and Council sealed their copy on 30 September 1776, in the sixteenth year of the reign of George III.

Interpretations

The lease was dated 30 September, as were both leases of 1775 and all those of the large sitting of 1771. The feast of St Michael, on which every country rent fell due, was 29 September. A lease sealed the next day began with a full year to run before its first payment, and its 21 years coincided exactly with 21 rent years. Under Matthew Bazett leases were sealed on whatever day the Council dealt with them, in February, March, August or December, and the first rent fell due after a broken period. The grouping of the later leases on 30 September suggested that the Council, by 1775 and 1776, held applications over to that date and granted them together at the turn of the rent year. That would also account for the long silences in the register, since leases made once a year left the rest of the year blank.

A full year separated this lease from the two of 30 September 1775, with nothing entered between. Whatever the reason for the yearly date, grants remained few. The Council sealed 14 leases in the single year 1769 and a handful in the five years from 1772.

The lease gave the tenant's full name, Gabriel Alexander Harper. His leases of 22 August 1768 and 20 March 1769 called him Gabriel Harper, and only his signature supplied the middle name. The clerk under the new Secretary copied the name as the tenant wrote it. Harper now held land in three divisions, 19½ acres in the South, three quarters of an acre in the East and this piece in the West, each beside ground already his.

The western boundary was described as the Company's land and the southern as the Company's waste land. The lease thus separated the two, as Benjamin Mason's did on 16 November 1767 with pasture and waste. Ground the Company kept in use lay on one side of Harper's new piece and unoccupied country on another. The rent of 2s 6d placed it in the middle of the scale, as fair land on the outer edge of the West Division.

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of Our said Sovereign Lord George the Third, by the Grace of God of Great

Britain France and Ireland King Defender of the Faith and so forth

and in the Year of Our Lord 1776. and he the said Gabriel Alexander

Harper hath hereunto sett his Hand and Seal the Day and Year

above Written

Gab. Alexr. Harper

Witness

B Wright Secy

Island St. Helena

The Lords Proprietors of this Island

the Honorable the United Company of Merchants of England trading

to the East Indies Do hereby demise, Grant Lease and to Farm let

unto Charles Ross Stewart of the said Island Lieut. and Adjutant

All those two pieces or parcels of Land containing Seven Acres and

a half situate lying and being in the West Division of the aforesaid

Island seven Acres butting and bounding East upon the said

Charles Ross Stewarts own Land West and North upon the Honorable

Companys Waste Land and South upon the Land of Gabriel

Alexander Harper Planter, the other half of an Acre butting and

bounding East North and South upon the Lands of him the said

Charles Ross Stewart and West upon the Honorable Companys

Waste Land To have and to hold the said hereby demised

parcels of Land with the appurtenances and every part and parcel

thereof unto him the said Charles Ross Stewart his Heirs Executors

Administrators and 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 he the said Charles Ross

Stewart His Heirs or Allowed Assigns do always bear true

faith and Allegiance to Our Sovereign Lord King George the

Third 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 Yielding and

paying therefore Yearly and every Year during the said term and

time

Gabriel Alexander Harper signed and sealed his copy of the lease in 1776, and B. Wright signed as witness, adding his office of Secretary.

A new lease, made at St Helena, followed. The Company let two pieces of land in the West Division, seven and a half acres in all, to Charles Ross Stewart of the island, a lieutenant and adjutant. The first piece, of seven acres, was bounded on the east by Stewart's own land, on the west and north by the Company's waste land and on the south by the land of Gabriel Alexander Harper, a planter. The second piece, of half an acre, was bounded on the east, north and south by Stewart's lands and on the west by the Company's waste land.

Stewart was to hold both pieces, with everything belonging to them, for 21 years from the date of the lease. The term covered him and anyone who took the ground after him by inheritance or approved transfer. Stewart and his successors had to remain loyal to King George III and faithful to the Company, and had to obey the laws and regulations of the island.

Interpretations

Harper and Stewart were neighbours, and each lease named the other on its boundary. Harper's 10¼ acres had Stewart on the north, and Stewart's seven acres had Harper on the south. Both men were extending westward from their own farms into the waste along a shared line, and their leases were entered together under the date of 30 September 1776. The Council under the new Secretary thus kept the practice of the 1760s, dealing with adjoining applicants at one sitting so that the boundary between their new ground was fixed for both at once. The same was done for Young and Gurling on 30 September 1771 and for William Seale senior and Orlando Bagley junior on 4 September 1769.

An adjutant was the officer who assisted the commander of a garrison with its orders, rolls and discipline. Stewart held that staff post as well as his rank of lieutenant. He was the latest of several garrison officers to appear as a country landholder, after St Maurice, Gurling, Kirkpatrick and the two Bazett officers. His lands in the West Division were already large enough to enclose the half acre on three sides.

The half acre was a pocket between parts of Stewart's own holding and the waste. Scraps of that size were dealt with before, a quarter of an acre to John Desfountain senior on 28 August 1769 and three quarters of an acre to Harper on 20 March 1769. Each of those went into a lease with or beside a larger grant. The Council still disposed of every fragment when it drew a new boundary, leaving no sliver of its own ground shut in behind a tenant's fence.

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time of twenty one Years unto the said Honorable Company their

Successors Agents or Assigns the Rent of two shillings and six pence

P Acre in, at or upon the Feast of St. Michael the Arch Angel Yearly

And upon Condition that he the said Charles Ross Stewart

his Heirs Executors Administrators or Assigns do and shall well

and sufficiently keep up and maintain the Fences to the said Lands

and the full quantity of Wood thereon, and do not nor shall sell or dispose

of this Lease or his or their Interest therein without the leave

and Consent of the Governor and Council for the time being

In Witness whereof We the said Governor and Council have to

the other part Set Our Hands and affixed the Honorable Companys

Seal this 30th Day of September in the sixteenth Year of the Reign

of Our said Sovereign Lord George the third by the Grace of God of Great

Britain, France and Ireland King defender of Faith and so forth

and in the Year of Our Lord 1776 and he the said Charles Ross

Stewart, hath hereunto Set his Hand and Seal the Day and

Year above Written.

Chas. Ross Stewart

Witness

B Wright Secy.

Lieutenant Charles Ross Stewart and his successors paid the Company a rent of 2s 6d an acre each year for the 21 years of the term, due on the feast of St Michael the Archangel. They had to keep the fences of the land in good repair and maintain the full quantity of wood on it. They could not sell or part with the lease or any interest in it without the permission of the Governor and Council of the day.

The Governor and Council signed one copy and fixed the Company's seal to it on 30 September 1776, in the sixteenth year of the reign of George III. Charles Ross Stewart signed and sealed the other copy on the same day, and B. Wright signed as witness, adding his office of Secretary.

Interpretations

Stewart and Gabriel Alexander Harper paid the same 2s 6d an acre on 30 September 1776 for adjoining ground on the western edge of their farms. One tenant was a lieutenant and adjutant of the garrison and the other a planter. On 30 September 1771 Lieutenant Robert Gurling paid 1s 0d beside William Young's 1s 6d, which raised the question of favour to an officer. Here an officer and a planter taking neighbouring land at one sitting were charged alike. The Council under the new Secretary gave no sign of rating ground by the standing of the man who applied for it.

Both pieces in Stewart's lease, the seven acres and the half acre, carried the one rate and went into one document. They lay on the same side of his holding against the same waste. The Council joined parcels in a single lease where they adjoined one estate and were judged of equal worth, as with John Desfountain's two pieces on 30 September 1771, and kept them apart where the rents differed, as with William Seale's two leases of 27 March 1775.

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Mr. Stewarts 7 Acres

Mr. Harpers 10 1/4 Acres

Mr. Stewarts

1/2 Acre

A plan was drawn of the ground let to Gabriel Alexander Harper and Lieutenant Charles Ross Stewart on 30 September 1776. It showed their two larger pieces as adjoining plots divided by a single line, with Stewart's small piece drawn separately to one side.

Mr Stewart's piece, 7 acres

Mr Harper's piece, 10¼ acres

Mr Stewart's small piece, ½ acre

Interpretations

The plan showed two tenants' ground on one drawing. Every earlier plan in the volume recorded a single lease, entered beneath that tenant's signature. Here Harper's 10¼ acres and Stewart's seven were drawn side by side as parts of one figure, with the boundary between them marked. The two leases named each other as neighbours and were sealed on the same day. A joint plan fixed their common line in a way that two separate outlines could not, since each man's drawing would have shown only his own side. If the boundary was later disputed, the register held one record binding on both.

The plan was the product of a single survey of the whole 17¼ acres, afterwards divided between the two applicants. The Council therefore had the tract measured as a unit before granting it, and split it along a line agreed or imposed at that time. The divisions of 20 March 1769 and 28 August 1769, among four neighbours on each occasion, were probably made in the same way, although only individual outlines were entered then.

Stewart's half acre was drawn apart from the main figure. His lease described it as enclosed by his own lands on three sides, so it did not touch the seven acres. The plan confirmed that the two pieces in his lease were separate parcels, joined in one document only because they shared a tenant and a rent.

The plan named the tenants as Mr Harper and Mr Stewart. The lease gave Stewart his rank of lieutenant and his post of adjutant, while the surveyor's drawing used the plain civil form for both men.

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Island St. Helena

The Lords Proprietors of this

Island the Honorable the United Company of Merchants of England

trading to the East Indies, Do hereby Demise Grant Lease and to

Farm Let unto Samuel Knipe of the said Island Planter all

that piece or parcel of Land containing twelve Acres and a quarter

situate lying and being in the West Division of the said

Island, butting and bounding East upon the Land of John

Alexander West partly upon the Honorable Companys Waste

Land and partly upon the said Samuel Knipes own Land North

partly upon the Land of John Alexander aforesaid and partly

upon the Land of him the said Samuel Knipe To have

and to hold the said hereby demised parcel of Land with

the appurtenances and every part and parcel thereof unto him

the said Samuel Knipe his Heirs Executors Administrators

and 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 he the said Samuel Knipe his Heirs

or allowed Assigns do always bear true faith and Allegiance to

Our Sovereign Lord King George the Third his Heirs and Successors

and true Faith to them the said United Company and their

Successors and shall duly Obey all the Laws and Constitutions of

the said Island Yielding and Paying therefore Yearly and

every Year during the said term and time of twenty one Years

unto the said Honorable Company their Successors Agents or

Assigns the Rent of two shillings and six pence P Acre, at or upon

the Feast of St. Michael the Arch Angel Yearly And

upon condition that he the said Samuel Knipe 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 not nor

shall sell or dispose of this Lease or His or their Interest therein

without the leave and consent of the Governor and Council

for the time being In Witness whereof We the said Governor

and Council have to the other part set Our Hands and

affixed the Honorable Company's Seal this 30th Day of

September

The Company let 12¼ acres of land in the West Division to Samuel Knipe of the island, a planter. The ground was bounded on the east by the land of John Alexander, on the west partly by the Company's waste land and partly by Knipe's own land, and on the north partly by John Alexander's land and partly by Knipe's own land.

Knipe was to hold the ground, with everything belonging to it, for 21 years from the date of the lease. The term covered him and anyone who took the ground after him by inheritance or approved transfer.

The lease set out the following conditions. Knipe and his successors had to remain loyal to King George III and faithful to the Company, and had to obey the laws and regulations of the island. They paid the Company a rent of 2s 6d an acre each year, due on the feast of St Michael the Archangel. They had to keep the fences of the land in good repair and maintain the full quantity of wood on it. They could not sell or part with the lease or any interest in it without the permission of the Governor and Council of the day.

The Governor and Council sealed their copy on 30 September.

Interpretations

The lease gave boundaries on the east, west and north and none on the south. Every other country lease in the volume named what lay on all four sides. The clerk evidently dropped a phrase in copying, as he did with the acreage in Matthew Purling's lease of 11 November 1771, and did not go back to supply it. A description with one side missing left the extent of the ground uncertain in that direction. The register was the Company's own record of what it had let, and an omission there could not be corrected from the lease the tenant took away unless that copy was produced. The later Jamestown register noted more than once that no lease could be found and that the clerk relied on an old book, which showed how much came to rest on entries of this kind.

Knipe paid 2s 6d an acre, the rate charged to Gabriel Alexander Harper and Lieutenant Charles Ross Stewart on 30 September 1776 for ground in the same division. Three grants on the western edge of settled land thus carried one figure. In the West Division of 1767 the Council let neighbouring pieces at 6d, 1s 0d and 5s 0d. A uniform middle rate across three leases suggested that the outer land then being taken was of an even, moderate quality, or that the Council under the new Secretary graded less sharply between one piece and the next.

Samuel Knipe held land in the East Division under his lease of 30 September 1771, when he was styled junior. He appeared here without that addition and with a farm of his own in the West Division beside John Alexander. Like Harper, Whaley and Richard Bagley, he had spread his holdings into a second district. Alexander took 40 acres in the West Division on 12 September 1768 and nine more on 27 August 1770, so his estate there was among the largest on that side of the island.

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September in the sixteenth Year of the Reign of Our said

Sovereign Lord George the third by the Grace of God of Great

Britain France and Ireland King defender of the Faith

and so forth and in the Year of Our Lord 1776. and he the said

Samuel Knipe hath hereunto set his Hand and seal the Day

and year above written.

Saml. Knipe.

Witness

B Wright Secy.

12 1/4 Acres Mr. Samuel Knipes

The Governor and Council signed one copy of Samuel Knipe's lease and fixed the Company's seal to it on 30 September 1776, in the sixteenth year of the reign of George III. Samuel Knipe signed and sealed the other copy on the same day, and B. Wright signed as witness, adding his office of Secretary.

A plan of the ground was drawn beneath the signatures. It showed an irregular outline of many sides, marked as 12¼ acres belonging to Mr Samuel Knipe.

Interpretations

The plan made good the gap in the wording of Knipe's lease, which named neighbours on the east, west and north and left out the south. The drawing recorded the whole outline of the 12¼ acres, including the side the clerk failed to describe. A boundary that could not be settled from the text could be settled from the figure beneath it. The entry thus showed the practical value of a plan in the register. Words were copied by hand and could lose a phrase, while a surveyed outline carried every side at once.

Each country lease entered under the new Secretary since 31 January 1774 for which a later page survived carried a plan, Richard Bagley's five and a quarter acres, the joint drawing for Harper and Stewart and now Knipe's. Under Matthew Bazett plans appeared for about a dozen leases between 1767 and 1769 and then ceased, with none for the 61 acres let to the chaplain on 17 September 1770. Wright appeared to enter one as a regular part of the record. The plans of 1776 also bore the tenant's name inside the outline, which the earlier ones did not. A drawing so labelled could be identified without reading the lease above it.

Three leases were sealed on 30 September 1776, to Harper, Stewart and Knipe, all in the West Division and all at 2s 6d an acre. They were the only grants entered for that year. The Council was by then dealing with country land once a year, at the turn of the rent year, and the day's business in 1776 was the opening of a stretch of moderate ground on the western margin to the three landholders whose farms adjoined it.

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144

Island St. Helena

The Lords Proprietors of this Island, the

Honorable the United Company of Merchants of England, trading to

the East Indies. Do hereby demise, Grant, Lease and to farm

Let unto John Worrall and William Hayes of the said Island

Executors to the last Will and Testament of William Hayes Deceased

All those two Pieces or Parcels of Land containing five and a half

Acres, situate lying and being in the East Division of the said

Island, four and a half Acres of which butting and bounding

East, West, North and South, upon the Honorable Company's

Waste Land the other one Acre butting and bounding North

upon the Land of the said William Hayes Deceased and East

West and South upon the Honorable Companys Waste Land

To have and to hold the said hereby demised Parcels of Land,

with the appurtenances and every part and Parcel thereof

unto them the said John Worrall and William Hayes Executors

aforesaid, their Heirs, Executors, Administrators and Assigns in

trust, nevertheless, and to the use of the Heirs of the said

William Hayes Deceased 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 Heirs of the said

William Hayes Deceased their Heirs, Executors, Administrators and

Assigns do and shall bear true Faith and allegiance to Our

Sovereign Lord King George the third his Heirs and successors

and true faith to them the said Honorable Company and their

Successors, and shall duly obey all the Laws and Constitutions

of the said Island Yielding and paying therefore Yearly,

and every Year, during the said term and time of twenty one Years,

unto the said Honorable Company their Successors, Agents or

Assigns, the Rent of five shillings P Acre, at, or upon the

Feast of Saint Michael the Arch Angel Yearly. And

upon Condition that they the said John Worrall and

William Hayes Executors, aforesaid 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 not nor

shall sell or dispose of this Lease or their Interest therein

without

The Company let two pieces of land in the East Division, five and a half acres in all, to John Worrall and William Hayes of the island, the executors of the will of William Hayes, who had died. The first piece, of four and a half acres, was bounded on the east, west, north and south by the Company's waste land. The second piece, of one acre, was bounded on the north by the land of the dead William Hayes and on the east, west and south by the Company's waste land.

Worrall and Hayes were to hold both pieces for 21 years from the date of the lease, but only as trustees for the heirs of William Hayes.

The lease divided its conditions between the heirs and the trustees. The heirs and their successors had to remain loyal to King George III and faithful to the Company, and had to obey the laws and regulations of the island. A rent of 5s 0d an acre was payable to the Company each year on the feast of St Michael the Archangel. John Worrall and William Hayes had to keep the fences of the land in good repair and maintain the full quantity of wood on it. They could not sell or part with the lease or their interest in it without the permission of the Governor and Council of the day.

Interpretations

The lease laid loyalty and obedience on the heirs and left the trustees answerable only for the fences, the wood and the ban on selling. That was the form of the first trust leases of 1767. The Council revised it on 12 September 1768 so that the trustees, the adults in control of the land, bore every condition, and it kept to the revised form for the Torbett and Knipe orphans. Where a trustee was one of the family, as with the Burnham and Alcock leases of 1770 and 1771, the clause bound trustee and children together. The present lease used none of those later versions. One of the two trustees, William Hayes, was himself a member of the family, which was exactly the case the joint wording was devised for. The improvement made under Matthew Bazett had thus been lost by the time B. Wright kept the register. The clerk drew on the oldest pattern in the book, and a weakness the Council had identified and corrected eight years earlier came back with the change of Secretary.

William Hayes senior took three acres in the East Division on 27 March 1769. He was dead by the date of this lease, and the executor who shared his name was presumably the younger William Hayes, who signed the joint leases of 18 April 1768 and 28 August 1769 for himself and for George Hayes. The family's land was thus held under three kinds of title, the father's own leases, the sons' joint leases and this trust for the heirs.

John Worrall acted as executor a second time. He was the trustee for the Torbett orphans on 5 December 1768. Like James Greentree at Sandy Bay, he was a planter whom neighbours named to manage their estates after death, and the Council dealt with him in that capacity on behalf of two unrelated families.

The larger piece stood wholly in the waste, touching no farm, and the smaller touched only the dead man's land. Both paid the full 5s 0d an acre. Ground for a dead planter's heirs was charged at the top rate in keeping with almost every earlier trust, and the uniform 2s 6d of 30 September 1776 in the West Division did not extend to this grant.

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145

without the leave and consent of the Governor and Council for the

time being. In Witness whereof We the said Governor and

Council have to the other part set Our Hands and affixed the

Honorable Companys Seal this 14th Day of October, in the

sixteenth Year of the Reign of Our said Sovereign Lord George the

Third by the Grace of God of Great Britain, France and Ireland

King, defender of the Faith and so forth, and in the Year of

Our Lord 1776 and they the said John Worrall and William

Hayes have hereunto Set their Hands and Seals the Day and

Year above Written.

John Worrall

W Hayes

Witness

B Wright Secy.

Island St. Helena

The Lords Proprietors of this Island the Honorable

the United Company of Merchants of England trading to the East Indies

Do hereby demise, Grant, Lease and Farm, Let unto John Worrall

and William Hayes of the said Island Executors to the last Will and Testament

of William Hayes Deceased, All that piece or parcel of Ground situate lying and

being in James's Valley, butting and bounding East and West upon the

Honorable Companys Waste Land North upon the House of Lieut. John

Shirley and South upon the House of John Price Publican, containing

in Front fifty Feet and in Depth sixty Feet with the appurtenances

thereunto belonging. To have and to hold unto the said John Worrall

and William Hayes Executors aforesaid, their Heirs Executors, Administrators

and Assigns, in trust nevertheless and to the use of the Heirs of the

said William Hayes Deceased 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 Heirs of the said William Hayes Deceased

their Heirs, Executors, Administrators and Assigns. Do and shall bear

true faith and Allegiance to Our Sovereign Lord King George the

Third

John Worrall and William Hayes could not sell or part with the lease of the five and a half acres without the permission of the Governor and Council of the day. The Governor and Council signed one copy and fixed the Company's seal to it on 14 October 1776, in the sixteenth year of the reign of George III. John Worrall and William Hayes both signed the other copy on the same day, each with a seal, and B. Wright signed as witness, adding his office of Secretary.

A new lease, made at St Helena, followed. The Company let a plot of ground in James's Valley to John Worrall and William Hayes of the island, as executors of the will of William Hayes. The plot measured 50 feet across the front and 60 feet in depth. It was bounded on the east and west by the Company's waste land, on the north by the house of Lieutenant John Shirley and on the south by the house of John Price, a publican.

Worrall and Hayes were to hold the ground for 21 years from the date of the lease, but only as trustees for the heirs of William Hayes. Those heirs and their successors had to remain loyal to King George III.

Interpretations

Lieutenant John Shirley's lease of 9 January 1769 placed the house of William Hayes, a publican, on the south of his plot. The ground now let to Hayes's executors had Shirley's house on its north. The plot was therefore the site of the public house itself. The dead man was thus the publican as well as the planter who took land in the East Division, which the earlier leases left uncertain. No lease of the ground beneath his house appeared in the volume before this one. As with Mary Harper's plot on 4 March 1771, a house that stood on the Company's land without a recorded grant was given a formal title when its occupier died and the estate had to be settled. The executors took the lease so that the heirs held the premises by right.

The trust covered both parts of the estate under separate leases, the country land on 14 October 1776 and the town plot here. Thomas Greentree's heirs were provided for in the same way, with 12½ acres at Sandy Bay on 5 October 1767 and ground behind his house in the valley on 10 July 1769. A planter who also traded in the town left property of two kinds, and each needed its own lease in the form suited to it.

Both trustees signed the country lease, each under his own seal. In the trusts of 1767 to 1769 one executor commonly signed for all, with a single seal. The Greentree lease of 10 July 1769 carried three signatures out of five. Two signatures for two trustees was the full form, and the Council under the new Secretary required it.

The leases were sealed on 14 October, a fortnight after the three of 30 September 1776. The yearly sitting at the turn of the rent year was thus not the only occasion for grants. An estate needing settlement was dealt with when it arose.

John Price, a publican, occupied the house on the south. A John Price was the Company's jailer and took plots in the valley on 22 December 1766 and 9 March 1772. If the two were the same man, the jailer had turned to keeping a public house, or did both. Either way, two drinking houses stood side by side on that stretch of the valley.

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Third his Heirs and Successors and true faith to them the said Honorable

Company and their Successors and shall duly obey all the Laws and

Constitutions of the said Island. Yielding and paying therefore

Yearly and every Year during the said term and time of twenty one

Years unto the said Honorable Company their Successors Agents or

Assigns the Rent of ten shillings P Annum, at, or upon the Feast of

St. Michael the Arch Angel Yearly. And upon Condition that they

the said John Worrall and William Hayes Executors aforesaid Do and

shall well and sufficiently keep in Good Repair all such Houses

or Buildings that are or may hereafter be built or erected upon the

said Ground or any part thereof and do not nor shall sell or dispose

of this Lease [...] or their Interests therein without the leave and

Consent of the Governor and Council for the time being In

Witness whereof We the said Governor and Council have to the other

part Set Our Hands and affixed the Honorable Company's Seal

this 4th Day of November in the seventeenth Year of the Reign of

Our said Sovereign Lord George the Third by the Grace of God of

Great Britain, France and Ireland King, Defender of the Faith

and so forth, and in the Year of Our Lord 1776 and they the said

John Worrall and William Hayes have hereunto Set their Hands

and Seals the Day and Year above Written

John Worrall

W Hayes

Witness

B Wright Secy.

Island St. Helena

The Lords Proprietors of this Island

the Honorable the United Company of Merchants of England trading

to the East Indies Do hereby demise Grant Lease and to Farm Let unto

Matthew Bazett Esqr. of the said Island All those two pieces or parcels

of Cabbage tree Land containing in the whole twenty eight Acres

situate lying and being in the East Division of this Island Butting

and bounding East, North and West, on the Lands of the said

Matthew

The heirs of William Hayes had to be faithful to the Company and obey the laws and regulations of the island. A rent of £0 10s 0d was payable to the Company each year for the 21 years of the term, due on the feast of St Michael the Archangel. John Worrall and William Hayes, the executors, had to keep in good repair every house or building standing on the ground or put up there later. They could not sell or part with the lease or their interest in it without the permission of the Governor and Council of the day.

The Governor and Council signed one copy and fixed the Company's seal to it on 4 November 1776, in the seventeenth year of the reign of George III. John Worrall and William Hayes both signed the other copy on the same day, each with a seal, and B. Wright signed as witness, adding his office of Secretary.

A new lease, made at St Helena, followed. The Company let two pieces of cabbage tree land in the East Division, 28 acres in all, to Matthew Bazett Esquire of the island.

Interpretations

The public house plot paid £0 10s 0d for 50 feet of frontage, or a little under 2½d a foot. Lieutenant Thomas Leech paid £0 12s 0d for 60 feet on 9 January 1769 and Mary Harper the same on 4 March 1771, both at the identical rate by the foot. The three plots lay in one row, with Leech on the south, the Harper house next and the publican's beyond it, running up to Lieutenant Shirley's. Leech's lease, set against the £0 15s 0d charged to a mason's mate for a plot of the same size elsewhere, looked like a concession to an officer. Mary Harper's matching rent suggested instead that the figure belonged to that part of the valley. The Hayes lease confirmed it. A publican's heirs paid exactly what the lieutenant and the widow paid before them, seven years apart and under two Secretaries. The Council thus applied a settled local rate of about 2½d a foot along that stretch, below the 3d charged in the older streets, and the reduction owed nothing to rank.

The town trust followed the country one in laying loyalty on the heirs and repairs on the executors. Both Hayes leases therefore used the oldest version of the form, although one of the trustees belonged to the family.

Matthew Bazett, lately the Secretary and now styled Esquire, was taking 28 acres of cabbage tree land. That was nearly four times the seven and a half acres of such woodland let to Matthew Purling on 2 September 1766 and far more than Mary Doveton's single acre of 12 October 1767. Native wood on the high ground was among the most valuable land on the island for its timber and fuel. A grant of that size to the former Secretary showed that his holdings were still growing after he left the office, and that large tracts of standing wood remained in the Company's hands in the East Division as late as 1776.

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147

Matthew Bazett and South upon the Main Ridge, To have

and to hold the said hereby demised parcels of Land with all

and singular the appurtenances thereunto belonging unto him

the said Matthew Bazett his Heirs Executors Administrators and

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 he the said Matthew Bazett his Heirs

or Allowed Assigns Do always bear true Faith and Allegiance

to Our Sovereign Lord King George the Third his Heirs and Successors

and true Faith to them the said Honorable Company and their

Successors and shall duly obey all the Laws and Constitutions of

the said Island Yielding and paying therefore Yearly and

every Year, during the said term and time of twenty one Years unto

the said Honorable Company their Successors Agents or Assigns

the Yearly Rent of five shillings P Acre, in at or upon the Feast

of St. Michael the Arch Angel Yearly. And upon condition that

he the said Matthew Bazett 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 not nor shall sell or dispose of this Lease or His or their

Interest therein without the leave and consent of the Governor

and Council for the time being In Witness whereof We the said

Governor and Council have to the other part set Our hands and affixed

the Honorable Companys Seal this 18 Day of November in the seventeenth

Year of the Reign of Our said Sovereign Lord George the Third, by the

Grace of God of Great Britain France and Ireland King Defender

of the Faith and so forth and in the Year of Our Lord 1776, and he

the said Matthew Bazett hath hereunto set his Hand and Seal the

Day and Year above written

M Bazett

Witness

B Wright Secy.

S W

20 Acres

E N

8 Acres

Matthew Bazett's two pieces of cabbage tree land were bounded on the east, north and west by his own land and on the south by the main ridge.

Bazett was to hold the ground, with everything belonging to it, for 21 years from the date of the lease. The term covered him and anyone who took the ground after him by inheritance or approved transfer.

The lease set out the following conditions. Bazett and his successors had to remain loyal to King George III and faithful to the Company, and had to obey the laws and regulations of the island. They paid the Company a rent of 5s 0d an acre each year, due on the feast of St Michael the Archangel. They had to keep the fences of the land in good repair and maintain the full quantity of wood on it. They could not sell or part with the lease or any interest in it without the permission of the Governor and Council of the day.

The Governor and Council signed one copy and fixed the Company's seal to it on 18 November 1776, in the seventeenth year of the reign of George III. Matthew Bazett signed and sealed the other copy on the same day, and B. Wright signed as witness, adding his office of Secretary.

A plan of the ground was drawn beneath the signatures, showing two separate irregular outlines.

Larger piece, 20 acres, with the letters S, W, E and N marked on its sides

Smaller piece, 8 acres

Interpretations

The plan carried the points of the compass, with a letter on each side of the larger piece. No earlier plan in the volume was oriented. The outlines of 1767 to 1769 and those of 1774 and 1776 showed a shape and an area and left the reader to work out from the lease which side faced which neighbour. The letters here tied the drawing to the wording, so that the side marked S could be matched to the main ridge and the others to Bazett's land. The plan was drawn with south towards the top of the page, which showed that the surveyor followed no fixed convention and set the figure down as he had walked it. Lettered sides made a plan usable on its own, and the addition marked a further step in the care taken over the register under the new Secretary.

The ground ran up to the main ridge on the south. That was the high central spine of the island, where the native cabbage trees grew. Purling's cabbage tree land of 2 September 1766 lay near Halley's Mount and Mary Doveton's acre at the head of a branch of James's Valley, both on the same high ground. Bazett's estate in the East Division thus reached from the farmland he took in 1766 and 1769 to the crest of the island, and the present lease gave him the wooded slope below the ridge on three sides of which he already held land.

The rent was the full 5s 0d an acre. Cabbage tree land was charged at the top rate in every lease that named it, in 1766, 1767 and here. Bazett paid 1s 6d an acre on 28 August 1769 for 17¼ acres of poor ground shared out among four neighbours. Standing wood was valued at more than three times that, and the former Secretary was charged in full for 28 acres of it.

The clause binding the tenant to keep up the full quantity of wood had its plainest application on such ground. Bazett took woodland whose worth lay in its trees and was obliged to preserve them. The Company thus let the timber of the ridge without giving up its interest in keeping the island wooded.

B. Wright witnessed the lease of the man he succeeded. Nine years earlier, on 16 February 1767, he witnessed a lease to the same tenant because Bazett, as Secretary, could not attest his own.

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Island St. Helena

The Lords Proprietors of this Island

the Honorable the United Company of Merchants of England

trading to the East Indies Do hereby demise Grant Lease and to Farm

Let unto Matthew Bazett Esqr. of the said Island, All that piece

or parcel of Land containing five Acres and an half situate lying

and being in the East Division of the said Island, butting and

bounding East upon the Lands of John Desfountain North upon

the Lands of John Worrall and South and West upon the Lands

of him the said Matthew Bazett To have and to hold the said

hereby demised parcel of Land with the appurtenances and every

part and parcel thereof unto him the said Matthew Bazett his

Heirs Executors Administrators and 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 he the

said Matthew Bazett his Heirs Executors Administrators or allowed

Assigns do always bear true Faith and allegiance to Our

Sovereign Lord King George the Third his Heirs and Successors and

true Faith to them the said Honorable Company and their

Successors and shall duly obey all the Laws and Constitutions

of the said Island Yielding and paying therefore Yearly and

every Year during the said term and time of twenty one Years

unto the said Honorable Company their Successors Agents or

Assigns the Rent of one shilling P Acre in at or upon the

Feast of St. Michael the Arch Angel Yearly, And upon

Condition that he the said Matthew Bazett 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 not nor shall sell or dispose

of this Lease or his or their Interest therein, without the Leave

and consent of the Governor and Council for the time being

In Witness whereof we the said Governor and Council have

to the other part Set Our hands and affixed the Honorable

Company's Seal this 18 Day of November in the seventeenth

Year of the Reign of Our said Sovereign Lord George the Third

by the Grace of God of great Britain France and Ireland

King Defender of the Faith and so forth and in the Year of

Our Lord 1776 and he the said Matthew Bazett hath hereunto

set his Hand and Seal the Day and Year above written

M Bazett

Witness

B Wright Secy.

The Company let five and a half acres of land in the East Division to Matthew Bazett Esquire of the island. The ground was bounded on the east by the lands of John Desfountain, on the north by the lands of John Worrall and on the south and west by Bazett's own lands.

Bazett was to hold the ground, with everything belonging to it, for 21 years from the date of the lease. The term covered him and anyone who took the ground after him by inheritance or approved transfer.

The lease set out the following conditions. Bazett and his successors had to remain loyal to King George III and faithful to the Company, and had to obey the laws and regulations of the island. They paid the Company a rent of 1s 0d an acre each year, due on the feast of St Michael the Archangel. They had to keep the fences of the land in good repair and maintain the full quantity of wood on it. They could not sell or part with the lease or any interest in it without the permission of the Governor and Council of the day.

The Governor and Council signed one copy and fixed the Company's seal to it on 18 November 1776, in the seventeenth year of the reign of George III. Matthew Bazett signed and sealed the other copy on the same day, and B. Wright signed as witness, adding his office of Secretary.

Interpretations

Bazett took two leases on 18 November 1776, at opposite ends of the Company's scale. His 28 acres of cabbage tree land below the main ridge paid 5s 0d an acre, and these five and a half acres paid 1s 0d. The cheap piece was not waste-edge ground. Desfountain, Worrall and Bazett himself enclosed it on every side. Land shut in among farms was usually charged in full, and where it was not, as with Robert Gurling's 2s 0d on 20 March 1769, the rate still stood well above the bottom. One precedent matched the present case. John Seale paid 1s 0d on 30 September 1771 for an enclosed pocket in the South Division, ground evidently so poor that four neighbours had left it alone. Bazett's piece lay in the same position between three estates and had gone untaken through ten years of leases in that district. The lowest rate for it was therefore consistent with the Council's treatment of a planter in like circumstances, and the full charge on his woodland the same day told against any general indulgence to the former Secretary.

The two grants were kept in separate leases, as the difference in rent required. Matthew Purling's two leases of 2 September 1766 paired cabbage tree land at 5s 0d with a small piece at 1s 0d in exactly the same way. The two most prominent officials in the volume thus each held prized woodland at the top rate and a scrap of poor ground at the bottom.

No plan was entered for this lease, although one was drawn for the 28 acres sealed with it. Plans under the new Secretary were frequent but not invariable, and a small piece wholly defined by three neighbours was left to the wording.

Bazett's estate in the East Division now included eight and a half acres from 1766, 17¼ from 1769, one and a half in Stone Top Valley from 1770 and 33½ from this day. He had left the Secretary's office and continued to add to his land, and by 1776 was among the largest holders in the district he had spent a decade recording.

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149

5 1/2 Acres

Island St. Helena

The Lords Proprietors of this Island the

Honorable the United Company of Merchants of England trading

to the East Indies Do hereby demise grant Lease and to Farm Let

unto Matthew Bazett Esqr. of the said Island, All that piece or

parcel of Land containing Four and half Acres situate lying

and being in the East Division of the aforesaid Island, Butting

and Bounding East West and North on the Land of him the said

Matthew Bazett and South on the Main Ridge. To have and

to hold the said hereby demised parcel of Land with the

appurtenances and every part and parcel thereof unto him the

said Matthew Bazett his Heirs Executors, Administrators and

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 he the said Matthew Bazett his Heirs or allowed

Assigns do always bear true faith and allegiance to Our Sovereign

Lord King George the Third his Heirs and Successors and true faith

to them the said Honorable Company and their Successors and shall duly obey all the

Laws and Constitutions of the said Island Yielding and paying

therefore Yearly and every Year during the said term and time of

twenty one Years unto the said Honorable Company their Successors

Agents or Assigns the Rent of five shillings P Acre in at or upon the

Feast of St. Michael the Arch Angel Yearly. And upon condition

that he the said Matthew Bazett 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 not nor shall sell or dispose of this Lease or his or their

Interest therein without the leave and consent of the Governor

and

A plan of Matthew Bazett's five and a half acres was drawn beneath his lease of 18 November 1776. It showed a long, narrow outline with a step in one side, marked as containing five and a half acres.

A new lease, made at St Helena, followed. The Company let four and a half acres of land in the East Division to Matthew Bazett Esquire of the island. The ground was bounded on the east, west and north by Bazett's own land and on the south by the main ridge.

Bazett was to hold the ground, with everything belonging to it, for 21 years from the date of the lease. The term covered him and anyone who took the ground after him by inheritance or approved transfer.

The lease set out the following conditions. Bazett and his successors had to remain loyal to King George III and faithful to the Company, and had to obey the laws and regulations of the island. They paid the Company a rent of 5s 0d an acre each year, due on the feast of St Michael the Archangel. They had to keep the fences of the land in good repair and maintain the full quantity of wood on it.

Interpretations

The plan showed the five and a half acres as a long strip with a step in it, running between the farms of Desfountain, Worrall and Bazett. A piece of that shape was the leftover between boundaries drawn at different times, too narrow and awkward to farm by itself. That fitted its rent of 1s 0d an acre and explained why three neighbours had let it lie for a decade. The outline supported the reading that the low rate reflected the ground and not the tenant.

Every lease to Bazett of November 1776 was given a plan, the 28 acres of cabbage tree land and this strip alike. Under the new Secretary a drawing was thus entered for small and simple pieces as well as large ones. The plans of 1767 to 1769, made while Bazett himself kept the register, were kept for particular cases.

The four and a half acres had the same boundaries as the 28 acres of cabbage tree land let on 18 November 1776, with Bazett's land on three sides and the main ridge on the south, and paid the same 5s 0d an acre. The lease did not call the ground cabbage tree land. It was nonetheless a further piece on the wooded slope under the ridge, granted separately from the two pieces in the earlier lease. Three parcels along the ridge thus went to Bazett in two leases at one rate. The Council's practice on joining or separating parcels remained as variable under B. Wright as it had been before, and no rule could be drawn from it beyond the separation of pieces at different rents.

With this grant Bazett held 32½ acres along the main ridge, all at the top of the scale. The former Secretary had secured the greater part of a stretch of the island's native woodland, bounded by his own estate below and the crest above.

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150

and Council for the time being In Witness whereof We the said

Governor and Council have to the other part Set their Hands and affixed

the Honorable Companys Seal this 18th Day of November in the

seventeenth Year of the Reign of Our said Sovereign Lord George the

Third by the Grace of God of Great Britain France and Ireland

King Defender of the Faith and so forth and in the Year of Our

Lord 1776. and he the said Matthew Bazett hath hereunto set

his Hand and seal the Day and Year above written

M Bazett

Witness

B Wright Secy.

4 1/2 Acres

Island St. Helena

The Lords Proprietors of this Island the

Honorable the United Company of Merchants of England trading to the East

Indies. Do hereby demise Grant Lease and to Farm Let unto William

Wrangham, Henry Bazett, Benjamin Mason Robert Leech and John

Bagley Junr. of the said Island Executors to the last Will and Testament

of Richard Bagley Deceased All that piece of Parcel of Land containing

ten Acres situate lying and being in Tomstone Wood in the West Division

of the said Island butting and bounding North, East and West upon the

Honorable Companys Waste Land and South upon the Land of him the said

Richard Bagley Decd. To have and to hold the said hereby demised parcel

of Land with the appurtenances and every part and Parcel thereof unto

them the said William Wrangham, Henry Bazett, Benjamin Mason,

Robert Leech and John Bagley Junr. Executors aforesaid, their Heirs

Executors, Administrators and Assigns, in trust nevertheless and to the

use of the Heirs of the said Richard Bagley Deceased 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 Heirs of the said

Richard Bagley Deceased their Heirs, Executors, Administrators and

Assigns do, and shall bear true faith and Allegiance to Our Sovereign

Lord King George the Third, his Heirs and Successors and true faith to

them the said Honorable Company and their Successors and shall duly

Obey

Matthew Bazett could not sell or part with the lease of the four and a half acres without the permission of the Governor and Council of the day. The Governor and Council signed one copy and fixed the Company's seal to it on 18 November 1776, in the seventeenth year of the reign of George III. Matthew Bazett signed and sealed the other copy on the same day, and B. Wright signed as witness, adding his office of Secretary. A plan drawn beside the signatures showed a four-sided outline, marked as containing four and a half acres.

A new lease, made at St Helena, followed. The Company let ten acres of land to five executors of the will of Richard Bagley, who had died. They were William Wrangham, Henry Bazett, Benjamin Mason, Robert Leech and John Bagley junior, all of the island. The ground lay in Tombstone Wood in the West Division. It was bounded on the north, east and west by the Company's waste land and on the south by the land of the dead Richard Bagley.

The five executors were to hold the ground for 21 years from the date of the lease, but only as trustees for the heirs of Richard Bagley. Those heirs and their successors had to remain loyal to King George III and faithful to the Company.

Interpretations

Richard Bagley took five and a quarter acres in the South Division on 31 January 1774 and was dead by the date of this lease. His will named five executors. Two of them, William Wrangham and Henry Bazett, also served among the seven executors of Thomas Greentree's will under the lease of 5 October 1767, where Bagley himself was a third. The same handful of leading men thus acted for one another's estates in turn. A planter of substance chose his executors from the officials and officers who were his fellow landholders, and at his death those who survived took on his affairs. Benjamin Mason held land beside Bagley's in the West Division under his lease of 27 August 1770, and John Bagley junior, who took 25¼ acres in the South Division on 30 September 1775, was presumably the son.

The trust followed the oldest form, with loyalty laid on the heirs. The Hayes trusts of 14 October and 4 November 1776 did the same. All three trust leases entered under the new Secretary thus reverted to the wording of 1767, including this one with five trustees, where the revised form of 12 September 1768 was most needed. The regular use of the older pattern in 1776 confirmed that the change made under Matthew Bazett had not survived him.

The ground lay in Tombstone Wood, a name not met before in the volume. With waste on three sides, it extended Bagley's farm in the West Division outward, in the way his 30 acres in Swanley Valley were taken on 19 February 1769. His executors were adding to the estate after his death, as the Colgrave and Twaits trustees did for the children in their charge.

Bagley's holdings lay in three places, Swanley Valley, the South Division and the West. His heirs' trust concerned only the new ten acres. The land he already held passed under his will without any entry here, since the volume recorded the Company's grants and not the descent of existing leases.

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151

Obey all the Laws and Constitutions of the said Island Yielding and

paying therefore Yearly and every Year during the said term and time of

twenty one Years unto the said Honorable Company their Successors Agents or

Assigns the Rent of five Shillings P Acre, at, or upon the Feast of St.

Michael the Arch Angel Yearly And upon Condition that they

the said William Wrangham, Henry Bazett, Benjamin Mason, Robert

Leech and John Bagley Junr. Executors aforesaid 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 not nor shall sell or dispose of this

Lease or their Interest therein without the leave and Consent of the

Governor and Council for the time being. In Witness whereof We the

said Governor and Council have to the other part Set their Hands

and affixed the Honorable Companys Seal this 6 day of January in the

seventeenth Year of the Reign of Our said Sovereign Lord George the Third by

the Grace of God of Great Britain, France and Ireland King Defender

of the Faith and so forth and in the Year of Our Lord 1777 and they

the said William Wrangham, Henry Bazett, Benjamin Mason,

Robert Leech and John Bagley Junr. hath hereunto Set their

Hands and Seals the day and Year above written.

Wm. Wrangham

Henr Bazett

Benjn. Mason Senr.

John Bagley

Robt. Leech

Witness

B Wright Secy.

Island St. Helena

The Lords Proprietors of this Island the Honorable

the United Company of Merchants of England trading to the East Indies

Do hereby Demise Grant, Lease and to Farm, Let unto

William

The heirs of Richard Bagley had to obey the laws and regulations of the island. A rent of 5s 0d an acre was payable to the Company each year for the 21 years of the term, due on the feast of St Michael the Archangel. The five executors, William Wrangham, Henry Bazett, Benjamin Mason, Robert Leech and John Bagley junior, had to keep the fences of the land in good repair and maintain the full quantity of wood on it. They could not sell or part with the lease or their interest in it without the permission of the Governor and Council of the day.

The Governor and Council signed one copy and fixed the Company's seal to it on 6 January 1777, in the seventeenth year of the reign of George III. All five executors signed the other copy on the same day, each with a seal, and B. Wright signed as witness, adding his office of Secretary.

A further lease, made at St Helena, followed, in which the Company, as proprietor of the island, let land to a tenant named William [...].

Interpretations

All five trustees signed, and five seals were fixed beside their names. When Thomas Greentree's seven executors took a lease on 5 October 1767, James Greentree signed alone under one seal. Three of five signed for that estate on 10 July 1769. The Hayes trusts of 14 October and 4 November 1776 carried both trustees' signatures. The Bagley lease completed the change, with every trustee party to the deed in person. Under Matthew Bazett the Council accepted one signature as binding a body of trustees. Under B. Wright it required each to sign and seal. A lease executed by all could not afterwards be disowned by a trustee who claimed he had taken no part, and the Company had every one of them bound by his own hand to the fences, the wood and the ban on selling.

The stricter practice on signatures sat beside the older and weaker wording on loyalty, which this lease left with the heirs. The new Secretary tightened the formalities of execution and loosened the substance of the trust clause. Both changes probably followed from a clerk working to the letter of an early lease in the book, which named the heirs as owing allegiance and called for the hands and seals of all the executors, where his predecessor had adjusted the wording and relaxed the signing in practice.

The estate paid the full 5s 0d an acre on ten acres bounded by waste on three sides. The three leases of 30 September 1776 in the same West Division were let at 2s 6d. Bagley's heirs were thus charged twice the rate of neighbouring grants made three months earlier. Ground in a wood, like the cabbage tree land let to Bazett on 18 November 1776, was valued at the top of the scale for what grew on it.

One signature added a mark of seniority after Benjamin Mason's name. A younger man of the same name was therefore living by 1777, as with the Seales, the Bagleys and the Desfountains, whose leases distinguished father from son.

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152

William Wrangham, Henry Bazett, Benjamin Mason, Robert Leech and

John Bagley Executors to the last Will and Testament of Richard Bagley

Deceased All that Piece or Parcel of Land containing two Acres situate lying

and being in Old Womans Valley above High Hill Water Fall near the

bottom of High Hill in the West Division of the said Island, butting

and bounding North, South, East and West upon the Honorable Companys

Waste Land. To have and to hold the said hereby demised parcel of

Land with the appurtenances and every part and parcel thereof unto them

the said William Wrangham, Henry Bazett, Benjamin Mason, Robert

Leech and John Bagley Executors aforesaid, their Heirs, Executors, Administrators

and Assigns in trust nevertheless and to the use of the Heirs of the said

Richard Bagley Deceased 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 Heirs of the said Richard

Bagley Deceased their Heirs, Executors, Administrators and Assigns, do

and shall bear true Faith and Allegiance to Our Sovereign Lord King

George the Third his Heirs and Successors, and true faith to them the

said Honorable Company and their Successors, and shall duly Obey

all the Laws and Constitutions of the said Island. Yielding

and paying therefore Yearly and every Year during the said term

and time of twenty one Years unto the said Honorable Company their

Successors, Agents, or Assigns, the Rent of five shillings P Acre at or

upon the Feast Michael the Arch Angel Yearly. And upon

Condition that they the said William Wrangham, Henry Bazett

Benjamin Mason, Robert Leech and John Bagley Executors, aforesaid

do and shall well sufficiently keep up and maintain the Fences to

the said Land and the full quantity of Wood thereon and do not nor shall

sell or dispose of this Lease or their Interest therein without the leave

and Consent of the Governor and Council for the time being. In Witness

whereof We the said Governor and Council, hath to the other part Set

Our Hands and affixed the Honorable Company's Seal this 6 Day of

January in the seventeenth Year of the Reign of our said

Sovereign Lord George the Third by the Grace of God

of Great Britain, France and Ireland King

Defender of the Faith and so forth, and in the Year

of Our Lord, one thousand seven hundred and seventy seven and

they the said William Wrangham, Henry Bazett, Benjamin

Mason

The Company let two acres of land to the five executors of Richard Bagley's will, William Wrangham, Henry Bazett, Benjamin Mason, Robert Leech and John Bagley. The ground lay in Old Woman's Valley in the West Division, above High Hill Waterfall and near the foot of High Hill. The Company's waste land bounded it on the north, south, east and west.

The five executors were to hold the ground for 21 years from the date of the lease, but only as trustees for the heirs of Richard Bagley.

The lease divided its conditions between the heirs and the trustees. The heirs and their successors had to remain loyal to King George III and faithful to the Company, and had to obey the laws and regulations of the island. A rent of 5s 0d an acre was payable to the Company each year on the feast of St Michael the Archangel. The five executors had to keep the fences of the land in good repair and maintain the full quantity of wood on it. They could not sell or part with the lease or their interest in it without the permission of the Governor and Council of the day.

The Governor and Council sealed their copy on 6 January 1777, in the seventeenth year of the reign of George III.

Interpretations

The two acres stood alone in the waste, joined to no land the dead man held. The other grant to his executors, ten acres in Tombstone Wood, adjoined his farm and enlarged it. A detached plot was a different matter. Trustees for an estate had reason to round off the land in their charge, but little to seek out a fresh piece in open country for heirs who had never worked it. The more probable account was that Richard Bagley applied for both pieces himself and died before the leases were sealed. His executors then completed what he had begun, and the Council granted to them in trust what it had agreed to grant to him. Both leases bore the same date, 6 January 1777, which fitted two pending applications carried through together.

The plot was chosen for its position, above a waterfall near the foot of a hill. Simon Whaley took an acre below the waterfall in Prosperous Bay Valley on 1 February 1768, and the Colgrave trust held a small piece called Simon's Waterfall under the lease of 12 September 1768. Small isolated grants in the volume clustered at falls of water. A planter with scattered farms valued a watered spot for a garden or for stock, and paid the full 5s 0d an acre for it, as Bagley's heirs did here.

The lease fixed the ground by three landmarks, the valley, the waterfall and the hill. Gabriel Isaacke's eight acres of 17 August 1767 were described only as lying in Lemon Valley with waste on every side, which gave no means of finding them. A plot with no neighbours could be located only by natural features, and the clerk under the new Secretary supplied them in detail. The plans entered for other leases of 1776 served the same end of making each grant identifiable from the register alone.

The lease gave the final executor as John Bagley, without the addition of junior that the Tombstone Wood lease carried in its text. He signed that lease as John Bagley. The distinction was thus used or dropped within a single day's entries, and its absence in any one lease was no proof that an elder man of the name had died.

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153

Mason, Robert Leech and John Bagley have hereunto Set their

Hands and Seals the Day and Year above Written.

Wm. Wrangham

Henr Bazett

Benjn. Mason Senr.

Robt Leech

John Bagley

Witness

B Wright Secy.

N.

2 Acres

S.

Island St. Helena

The Lords Proprietors of this Island

the Honorable the United Company of Merchants of England

trading to the East Indies, Do hereby demise, Grant Lease and

to Farm Let unto William Wrangham, Henry Bazett, Benjamin

Mason, Robert Leech, and John Bagley Junr. of the said

Island Executors to the last Will and Testament of Richard

Bagley deceased, all those two pieces or parcels of Land containing

in the whole twenty five Acres and a Quarter situate lying

and being in the West Division of the said Island,

fourteen Acres Butting and bounding, North East and West

upon the Honorable Company's Waste Land and South

upon the Lease hold Land of the said Richard Bagley

deceased, the other eleven and a Quarter Acres Butting and

bounding, South upon the Honorable Companys Waste

Land and East. West, and North upon the said Richard

Bagleys

All five executors of Richard Bagley's will signed their copy of the lease of the two acres in Old Woman's Valley, each with a seal, and B. Wright signed as witness, adding his office of Secretary. A plan drawn beneath the signatures showed a five-sided outline marked as containing two acres, with the letters N and S against two of its sides.

A new lease, made at St Helena, followed. The Company let two further pieces of land in the West Division, 25¼ acres in all, to the same five executors, William Wrangham, Henry Bazett, Benjamin Mason, Robert Leech and John Bagley junior. The first piece, of 14 acres, was bounded on the north, east and west by the Company's waste land and on the south by the leasehold land of the dead Richard Bagley. The second piece, of 11¼ acres, was bounded on the south by the Company's waste land and on the east, west and north by Richard Bagley's land.

Interpretations

The lease described the dead man's adjoining ground as his leasehold land. Every earlier lease called a neighbour's holding simply his land. The added word marked the ground as held from the Company for a term and at a rent. It was needed only if some land on the island was held on another footing. The later Jamestown register recorded, under lease 130, a bill of sale that described ground as free land, meaning land owned outright and owing no rent, and the clerk there found that only part of it was free. Free land therefore existed alongside leasehold. The wording here suggested that Richard Bagley held both kinds, and that the clerk specified which of his holdings bounded the new 14 acres. The Company's leases thus did not account for all the land in private hands, and a planter's estate could include ground that never appeared in this volume.

The executors now held three leases for the heirs, ten acres in Tombstone Wood, two in Old Woman's Valley and these 25¼, a total of 37¼ acres in the West Division. No estate in the volume received so much after its owner's death. The Colgrave children gained 29 acres across two leases in 1767 and 1768. Grants on that scale, sealed within days of one another, supported the view that Bagley had applications before the Council when he died and that the executors were carrying them through.

The plan of the two acres carried the letters N and S on two sides. Matthew Bazett's plan of 18 November 1776 marked all four points. Two were enough to orient a figure, and the surveyor gave no more. For a plot that touched no neighbour, the compass bearing was the only means of setting the outline on the ground in the right direction, since the lease described waste on every side.

All five trustees signed again, each under his own seal. The requirement was applied to every lease for the estate, including one for two acres.

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154

Bagley's own Land To have and to hold the said hereby

Demised parcels of Land with the appurtenances and every

part and parcel thereof unto them the said William Wrangham

Henry Bazett, Benjamin Mason, Robert Leech and John

Bagley Executors aforesaid, their Heirs Executors

Administrators and Assigns in Trust nevertheless and to the

use of the Heirs of the aforesaid Richard Bagley deceased 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 Heirs of the said Richard Bagley

deceased their Heirs Executors Administrators and Assigns

do and shall bear true faith and allegiance to Our

Sovereign Lord King George the third his Heirs and

Successors, and true faith to them the said Honorable

Company and their Successors, and shall duly obey

all the Laws and Constitutions of the said Island

Yielding and paying therefore Yearly and every Year

during the said Term and time of twenty one Years unto

the said Honble Company their Successors Agents or Assigns

the Rent of five shillings P Acre, at or upon the Feast

of St. Michael the Arch Angel Yearly. And upon

condition that they the said William Wrangham

Henry Bazett, Benjamin Mason Robert Leech & John

Bagley Junr. Executors aforesaid, do and shall well and

sufficiently keep up and maintain the Fences to the said

Land and the full quantity of Wood thereon & do not nor shall

sell or dispose of this Lease or their Interest therein without

the leave and consent of the Governor and Council for the

time being In Witness, whereof we the said Governor and

Council have to the other part set our Hands and affixed

the Honble Company's Seal this 6th Day of January in the

seventeenth year of the Reign of Our said Sovereign Lord George

the third by the Grace of God of Great Britain France and

Ireland King defender of the faith and so forth and

in the Year of Our Lord 1777 and they the said

William Wrangham Henry Bazett Benjamin Mason

Robert Leech, & John Bagley Junr. have hereunto

Set

The five executors of Richard Bagley's will were to hold the 25¼ acres in the West Division for 21 years from the date of the lease, but only as trustees for his heirs.

The lease divided its conditions between the heirs and the trustees. The heirs and their successors had to remain loyal to King George III and faithful to the Company, and had to obey the laws and regulations of the island. A rent of 5s 0d an acre was payable to the Company each year on the feast of St Michael the Archangel. William Wrangham, Henry Bazett, Benjamin Mason, Robert Leech and John Bagley junior had to keep the fences of the land in good repair and maintain the full quantity of wood on it. They could not sell or part with the lease or their interest in it without the permission of the Governor and Council of the day.

The Governor and Council sealed their copy on 6 January 1777, in the seventeenth year of the reign of George III.

Interpretations

Three leases were sealed for Richard Bagley's heirs on 6 January 1777, each made to the same five trustees and each charging 5s 0d an acre. Together they covered 37¼ acres in the West Division, all bordering the waste. Three months earlier, on 30 September 1776, Harper, Stewart and Knipe took waste-edge ground in the same division at 2s 6d. The estate's land was thus charged at twice the rate of the nearest comparable grants. Tombstone Wood and the plot above the waterfall had features that explained a full rent. The 25¼ acres were described only as lying between the dead man's holdings and the waste. Bagley's own leases showed a planter prepared to take large pieces at the top of the scale, with 30 acres in Swanley Valley at 5s 0d on 19 February 1769. The executors accepted the same terms for his heirs. An estate managed by five trustees, none of whom would farm the land himself, was in a weaker position to argue down a rent than a planter applying on his own account.

The 14 acres and the 11¼ acres went into one lease, while the ten acres and the two acres each had their own. All four parcels shared the same trustees, rent and date. The pair that were joined both adjoined the dead man's land, one on its north and one on its south. The clerk thus combined pieces that belonged to the same farm and kept apart those that lay elsewhere, a distinction of place and not of terms.

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155

Set their Hands and Seals the Day and Year above

written

Wm. Wrangham

Henr Bazett

Benjn. Mason Senr.

Robt. Leech

John Bagley

Witness

B Wright Secy.

Island St. Helena

The Lords Proprietors of this Island

the Honorable the United Company of Merchants of England

trading to the East Indies, Do hereby demise Grant Lease and

to Farm let unto Robert Yearling Lieutenant, All that piece

or parcel of Land containing six and a half Acres situate lying

and being in the East division of the said Island, butting and

bounding East, North, and South, on the Honble Company's

Waste Land, and West upon the Land of him the said Robert

Yearling. To have and to hold the said hereby demised parcel

of Land with the appurtenances and every part and parcel

thereof unto him the said Robert Yearling his Heirs Executors

Administrators and 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

he the said Robert Yearling his Heirs or allowed Assigns, do

always bear true faith and allegiance to Our Sovereign

Lord King George the third his Heirs, and Successors, and

true faith to them the said Honorable Company and their

Successors, and shall duly obey all the Laws and Constitutions

of the said Island. Yielding and paying therefore Yearly

and every Year, during the said term and time of twenty

one Years unto the said Company their Successors, Agents

or Assigns the Rent, of one shilling and sixpence P Acre, at

or upon the Feast of St. Michael the Arch Angel Yearly. And

upon

All five executors of Richard Bagley's will signed their copy of the lease of the 25¼ acres, each with a seal, and B. Wright signed as witness, adding his office of Secretary.

A new lease, made at St Helena, followed. The Company let six and a half acres of land in the East Division to Lieutenant Robert Gurling. The ground was bounded on the east, north and south by the Company's waste land and on the west by Gurling's own land.

Gurling was to hold the ground, with everything belonging to it, for 21 years from the date of the lease. The term covered him and anyone who took the ground after him by inheritance or approved transfer.

Gurling and his successors had to remain loyal to King George III and faithful to the Company, and had to obey the laws and regulations of the island. They paid the Company a rent of 1s 6d an acre each year, due on the feast of St Michael the Archangel.

Interpretations

Gurling paid 1s 6d an acre for ground reaching out from his farm into the waste. On 30 September 1771 he took two and three quarter acres on the same eastern edge at 1s 0d, while William Young, beside him, paid 1s 6d. The clerk left a space after Gurling's figure in that lease and ruled it through, which suggested that 1s 6d was first expected and the lower sum settled afterwards. The present piece lay further out than the one of 1771, with waste on three sides instead of one. Ground more exposed to unoccupied country was normally rated lower, as William Seale's three leases in Deep Valley showed, falling from 5s 0d to 2s 0d to 1s 6d. Gurling's rent moved the other way, from 1s 0d up to 1s 6d. The later lease therefore placed his land at the figure his neighbour paid five years earlier, and left the 1s 0d of 1771 looking like the departure from what that ground was worth. Whatever earned him the lower rate then, under Matthew Bazett, was not repeated under the new Secretary.

Gurling now held three pieces in the East Division at three rents, 15½ acres at 2s 0d from 20 March 1769, two and three quarter acres at 1s 0d and these six and a half at 1s 6d. Each lease fixed its rate for 21 years, so the differences between them would stand until the 1790s whatever the Council later thought of the land.

No plan followed the signatures on the lease of Bagley's 25¼ acres, although plans were drawn for the two acres above the waterfall on the same day and for most other country leases of 1776. The largest of the estate's three grants was thus left to the wording alone, and the Secretary's practice of entering a drawing was not invariable.

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upon condition that he the said Robert Yearling 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 not nor shall sell or dispose of this

Lease or his or their Interest therein, without the leave and consent

of the Governor and Council for the time being In Witness whereof

We the said Governor and Council have to the other part set our

Hands and affixed the Honorable Company's Seal this 29th Day

of September in the seventeenth Year of the Reign of Our said Sovereign

Lord George the Third by the Grace of God of Great Britain, France

and Ireland King, defender of the Faith and so forth, and in the

Year of Our Lord 1777. and he the said Robert Yearling hath

hereunto set his Hand and seal the Day and Year above written

R Yearling

Witness

B Wright Secy.

W

S

6 1/2 Acres

N

E

Lieutenant Robert Gurling and his successors had to keep the fences of the land in good repair and maintain the full quantity of wood on it. They could not sell or part with the lease or any interest in it without the permission of the Governor and Council of the day. The Governor and Council signed one copy and fixed the Company's seal to it on 29 September 1777, in the seventeenth year of the reign of George III. Robert Gurling signed and sealed the other copy on the same day, and B. Wright signed as witness, adding his office of Secretary.

A plan of the ground was drawn beneath the signatures. It showed a long, narrow outline marked as containing six and a half acres, with the letters W, S, N and E against its four sides.

Interpretations

The lease was sealed on 29 September, the feast of St Michael itself, on which every country rent fell due. The leases of 1771, 1775 and 1776 clustered on 30 September, the day after. A lease dated on the feast began its term at the exact turn of the rent year, with the first payment owing 12 months later and the last on the day the 21 years ran out. The date confirmed that the Council, in these later years, timed its grants of country land to Michaelmas. Whether a lease bore the 29th or the 30th evidently depended on the day the Council sat. The practice under Matthew Bazett before 1771, of sealing leases in any month, had given way to a yearly occasion tied to the Company's rent day.

The plan carried all four points of the compass. Its long sides were marked W and E and its short ends S and N, so the strip ran north and south with its length against Gurling's farm on the west. The lease stated that his own land lay on the west and the waste on the other three sides. The drawing and the wording thus agreed, and each could be checked against the other. A strip of six and a half acres laid along the outer edge of a farm moved the whole eastern boundary a short way into the waste, as William Hayes senior's three acres did on 27 March 1769.

No lease was entered between the three for Richard Bagley's heirs on 6 January 1777 and this one nearly nine months later. Gurling's was the only grant recorded at Michaelmas 1777 so far, where three were sealed at the same season in 1776 and six in 1771. The annual sitting continued, with little business brought to it.

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Island St. Helena

The Lords Proprietors of this Island, the

Honorable the United Company of Merchants of England trading to

the East Indies Do hereby demise, Grant, Lease and to Farm, Lett

unto Hatton Walker Serjeant of the said Island. All that piece

or parcel of Ground situate lying and being in James's Valley

adjoining to the Houses of Capt. Solomon St. Maurice and Martha

Jacks containing fifteen Feet in Width and sixty Feet in depth

with all and singular the appurtenances thereunto belonging

To have and to hold the said hereby demised piece of Ground

with the appurtenances and every part and parcel thereof unto

him the said Hatton Walker, his Heirs Executors Administrators

and 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 he the said Hatton Walker

his Heirs or allowed Assigns do always bear true Faith and

Allegiance to Our Sovereign Lord King George the Third his

Heirs and Successors and true Faith to them the said Honorable

Company, and their Successors, and shall duly obey all the Laws

and Constitutions of the said Island. Yielding and paying

therefore Yearly and every Year during the said term and time

of twenty one Years unto the said Honorable Company their

Successors Agents or Assigns the Rent of five shillings P Annum

in at or upon the Feast of St. Michael the Arch Angel Yearly

And upon Condition that he the said Hatton Walker his

Heirs, Executors, Administrators or Assigns shall and do well

and sufficiently keep in good repair all such Houses or buildings

that are or may be hereafter Built or Erected upon the said

Ground or any part thereof and do not nor shall sell or dispose of

this Lease, or his or their Interest therein without the leave and

Consent of the Governor and Council for the time being. In

Witness whereof he the said Hatton Walker hath hereunto Set

his Hand an Seal this 20 day of April in the eighteenth Year of

the Reign of Our said Sovereign Lord George the Third by the Grace of

God, of Great Britain France and Ireland King Defender

of the Faith and so forth and in the Year of Our Lord 1778

and

The Company let a plot of ground in James's Valley to Hatton Walker, a sergeant of the island. The plot adjoined the houses of Captain Solomon St Maurice and Martha [...], and measured 15 feet in width and 60 feet in depth.

Walker was to hold the ground, with everything belonging to it, for 21 years from the date of the lease. The term covered him and anyone who took the ground after him by inheritance or approved transfer.

The lease set out the following conditions. Walker and his successors had to remain loyal to King George III and faithful to the Company, and had to obey the laws and regulations of the island. They paid the Company a rent of £0 5s 0d a year, due on the feast of St Michael the Archangel. They had to keep in good repair every house or building standing on the ground or put up there later. They could not sell or part with the lease or any interest in it without the permission of the Governor and Council of the day.

Hatton Walker signed and sealed the lease on 20 April 1778, in the eighteenth year of the reign of George III.

Interpretations

The closing clause recorded only the tenant's signing and sealing. Every earlier lease in the volume stated first that the Governor and Council had signed the other copy and fixed the Company's seal to it, and then that the tenant had signed his. Here the Council's part was left out. A lease was made in two matching copies, one executed by the Company and kept by the tenant, the other executed by the tenant and kept by the Company. The entries in this book were the Company's record, signed by the tenant. Under the old wording each entry nonetheless recited what the Council had done on the copy it gave away. The new clause described only what happened on the page itself. The clerk had thus stopped reproducing the tenant's copy word for word and begun writing the entry as what it was, the tenant's undertaking to the Company.

Walker paid £0 5s 0d for 15 feet of frontage, or 4d a foot. The standard for a building plot was 3d, which called for £0 3s 9d, and Roderick Merchant paid exactly 3d a foot for 20 feet between two houses on 18 February 1771. The sum of £0 5s 0d was the flat fee charged in 1768 and 1769 for small additions to houses. A plot 15 feet wide, squeezed between two standing houses, was evidently treated as too small to reckon by the foot and was charged the customary minimum. The effect was that the narrowest building plot in the volume paid the highest rate for its width.

Solomon St Maurice was a lieutenant in his four leases of 1767 and 1768 and a captain here. He was promoted in the ten years between, and his house in the valley, enlarged by a strip on 19 December 1768, now had a sergeant building against it. Officers and other ranks continued to live wall to wall.

The lease was sealed in April, the first for town ground since John Price's of 9 March 1772. The grants of country land in these years were held to Michaelmas. A building plot carried a fixed yearly sum and no crop, and the Council dealt with it when the application came.

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and the Governor and Council hath to the other part set

their Hands, and affixed the Honorable Company's Seals

the day and Year above written

Hatton Walker

Witness

B Wright Secy.

Island St. Helena

The Lords Proprietors of this Island the Honorable

the United Company of Merchants of England trading to the East Indies

Do hereby demise Grant, Lease and to farm, let unto Richard Bickerstaff

Private. All that piece or parcel of Ground, situate lying and being

in James's Valley containing eighty feet in Front, and sixteen feet in

Depth on the upper end of the said piece of Ground and 38 feet on

the lower, butting and bounding North upon the Passage above the

Houses of Julio Fabiano, East upon the Water course, and South

and West upon the Honorable Companys Waste Land. To have

and to hold the said hereby demised parcel of Ground with the

appurtenances and every part and parcel thereof unto him the

said Richard Bickerstaff, his Heirs, Executors, Administrators and

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 he the said Richard Bickerstaff his Heirs

or allowed Assigns, do always bear true faith and Allegiance

to Our Sovereign Lord King George the third, his Heirs, and Successors

and true faith to them the said Honorable Company, and their

Successors and shall duly obey all the Laws and Constitutions

of the said Island. Yielding and paying therefore Yearly and

every Year during the said term and time of twenty one Years

unto the Honble Company their Successors, Agents, or Assigns

the Rent of fifteen shillings P Annum in at or upon the

Feast of St. Michael the Arch Angel Yearly. And upon condition

that

Hatton Walker's lease of 20 April 1778 closed by recording that the Governor and Council signed the other copy and fixed the Company's seal to it on the same day. Hatton Walker signed and sealed his copy, and B. Wright signed as witness, adding his office of Secretary.

A new lease, made at St Helena, followed. The Company let a plot of ground in James's Valley to Richard Bickerstaff, a private. The plot measured 80 feet across the front, with a depth of 16 feet at the upper end and 38 feet at the lower. It was bounded on the north by the passage above the houses of Julio Fabiano, on the east by the watercourse and on the south and west by the Company's waste land.

Bickerstaff was to hold the ground, with everything belonging to it, for 21 years from the date of the lease. The term covered him and anyone who took the ground after him by inheritance or approved transfer.

Bickerstaff and his successors had to remain loyal to King George III and faithful to the Company, and had to obey the laws and regulations of the island. They paid the Company a rent of £0 15s 0d a year, due on the feast of St Michael the Archangel.

Interpretations

Walker's lease reversed the order of the closing clause. Every earlier lease stated first that the Governor and Council had signed and sealed, and then that the tenant had done so. Here the tenant's act came first, with its date, and the Council's followed as a matter done on the same day. The entry in the book was the copy the tenant signed and the Company kept. Putting his signing first made the wording fit the document, where the old form was written from the Company's side throughout. The clerk under the new Secretary was thus recasting the standard clause, not merely copying it.

The tenant was a private soldier, the lowest rank in the garrison. A sentinel owned a house beside Lieutenant Frost's plot on 31 August 1767, but no lease in the volume until now was made to a man of that rank. Bickerstaff took 80 feet of frontage, as much as the jailer's first plot of 22 December 1766 and more than any officer's. The later register recorded Private Charles Allison taking 25 feet under lease 141 on 19 September 1825. Common soldiers thus held town ground from the Company across half a century, and one of them here took one of the widest plots let.

The rent of £0 15s 0d on 80 feet came to 2¼d a foot, against £1 0s 0d at the old standard. The plot was a wedge only 16 feet deep at one end, squeezed between a passage and the watercourse at the edge of the waste. Shallow ground on the margin of the town was let below 3d a foot from 1768, and Bickerstaff's awkward shape earned the same allowance.

Julio Fabiano's lease of 2 December 1765 was the first in the volume, at a rent of £0 15s 0d. The present lease referred to his houses in the plural and to a passage running above them. In 12 years his single plot had come to hold more than one building, with a recognised way past it, and new ground was being let on the far side.

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that he the said Richard Bickerstaff his Heirs, Executors Administrators

or Assigns do and shall well and sufficiently keep in good repair all

such Houses or Buildings that are or may be hereafter Built or Erected

upon the said Ground or any part thereof and do not, nor shall sell

or dispose of this Lease or his or their Interest therein without the leave

and consent of the Governor and Council for the time being. In Witness

whereof he the said Richard Bickerstaff hath hereunto set his Hand

and Seal this 20 day of April in the eighteen Year of the Reign of

Our said Sovereign Lord George the Third by the Grace of God of

Great Britain, France and Ireland King, Defender of the Faith

and so forth and in the Year of Our Lord 1778 and the said Governor

and Council hath to the other part set their Hands, and affixed the

the Honorable Companys Seal the day and Year above Written

Rd. Bickerstaff

Witness

B Wright Secy.

Island St. Helena

The Lord 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 Let unto

Richard Mason of the aforesaid Island Planter. All that

piece or parcel of Land containing eleven Acres situate lying

and being in the East Division of the said Island butting and

bounding North partly upon the said Richard Masons own

Land and partly upon the Land of Samuel Knipe, South

partly upon the Lands of John Worrall and partly upon

the Land of him the said Richard Mason, East partly upon

the Lands of Matthew Bazett Esqr. and partly on him the

said Richard Mason, To have and to hold the said hereby

demised parcel of Land with the appurtenances and every part

and parcel thereof unto him the said Richard Mason his

Heirs, Executors Administrators and Assigns from the day of the

date hereof for during all the space and term of twenty one

Years

Richard Bickerstaff and his successors had to keep in good repair every house or building standing on the ground or put up there later. They could not sell or part with the lease or any interest in it without the permission of the Governor and Council of the day. Bickerstaff signed and sealed the lease on 20 April 1778, in the eighteenth year of the reign of George III, and the Governor and Council signed the other copy and fixed the Company's seal to it on the same day. B. Wright signed as witness, adding his office of Secretary.

A new lease, made at St Helena, followed. The Company let 11 acres of land in the East Division to Richard Mason of the island, a planter. The ground was bounded on the north partly by Mason's own land and partly by the land of Samuel Knipe, on the south partly by the lands of John Worrall and partly by Mason's own land, and on the east partly by the lands of Matthew Bazett Esquire and partly by Mason's own land.

Mason was to hold the ground, with everything belonging to it, for 21 years from the date of the lease. The term covered him and anyone who took the ground after him by inheritance or approved transfer.

Interpretations

Bickerstaff signed his own name. John Price, the Company's jailer, made a mark on his leases of 22 December 1766 and 9 March 1772, and Gabriel Isaacke, a planter, did the same on 17 August 1767. A private soldier of the garrison could thus write when a minor officer and a farmer could not. Rank and occupation were no guide to schooling among the island's tenants. The Council took a mark and a signature alike, and a man in the lowest grade of its service completed a lease for 80 feet of frontage in his own hand.

Two town leases were sealed on 20 April 1778, to Sergeant Walker and Private Bickerstaff. No building plot had been let since March 1772. Both tenants were soldiers below commissioned rank, and both took ground beside existing houses, one in a gap 15 feet wide and the other on a wedge between a passage and the watercourse. The plots still available in the valley by 1778 were the awkward remnants, and those applying for them were men of modest standing who would take what was left.

Mason's 11 acres lay among land he already held on three sides, with Knipe, Worrall and Bazett as his other neighbours. No waste was named on any of the boundaries given. The piece was thus another pocket inside settled country in the East Division, of the kind William Seale and Orlando Bagley were still closing in Deep Valley in 1775. Richard Mason had not appeared before as a tenant. A Benjamin Mason farmed in the West Division from 1767 and signed as the elder of two men of his name on 6 January 1777.

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Years from thence next ensuing. Upon Condition that he the said

Richard Mason his Heirs or Allowed Assigns Do always bear true

faith and allegiance to Our Sovereign Lord King George the Third 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. Yielding and paying thereof Yearly and every

Year during the said term and time of twenty one Years unto the said

Honble Company their Successors, Agents or Assigns the Rent of

five shillings P Acre, for eight Acres of the abovementioned Land

and four shillings P Acre for the remaining three Acres, at or

upon the Feast of St. Michael the Arch Angel Yearly. And

upon Condition that he the said Richard Mason 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 not, nor shall sell

or dispose of this Lease or his or their Interests therein without

the leave and Consent of the Governor and Council for the time being

In Witness whereof We the said Governor and Council have to the other

part set their hands and Affixed the Honorable Company Seal this 20th day of April, in the eighteen Year

of the Reign of Our said Sovereign, Lord George the Third by the

Grace of God of Great Britain France and Ireland King,

defender of the faith, and so forth and in the Year of Our Lord

1778 & he the sd. Richd. Mason hath hereunto set his Hand & Seal

the day and Year abovewritten.

Richard Mason

Witness

B Wright Secy.

Richard Mason and his successors had to remain loyal to King George III and faithful to the Company, and had to obey the laws and regulations of the island. They paid the Company a yearly rent of 5s 0d an acre for eight of the 11 acres and 4s 0d an acre for the remaining three, due on the feast of St Michael the Archangel. They had to keep the fences of the land in good repair and maintain the full quantity of wood on it. They could not sell or part with the lease or any interest in it without the permission of the Governor and Council of the day.

The Governor and Council signed one copy and fixed the Company's seal to it on 20 April 1778, in the eighteenth year of the reign of George III. Richard Mason signed and sealed the other copy on the same day, and B. Wright signed as witness, adding his office of Secretary.

Interpretations

The lease charged two rates on a single piece of ground. Eight acres paid 5s 0d and three paid 4s 0d, yet the 11 acres were described as one parcel with one set of boundaries. John Desfountain senior's lease of July 1766 also carried two rates, but for two pieces separately described, 16 acres at 5s 0d and seven and three quarters at 2s 6d. Where the Council had judged parts of a holding to differ in worth, it normally divided them, into separate descriptions or separate leases. Here it graded the land within one boundary and left the parts undivided. The lease did not say which three acres were the cheaper. The distinction therefore existed only in the reckoning of the rent, which came to £2 12s 0d a year for the whole. The Council evidently valued the ground on inspection, found a portion of it slightly inferior and made an allowance in the sum, without troubling to mark that portion out. The method gave a fair total at the cost of a rate that could not be traced to any particular ground if the piece was later split.

The step of 4s 0d was the one first used for Richard Bagley on 31 January 1774. Its reappearance beside 5s 0d in one lease showed how finely the Council under the new Secretary shaded the top of its scale, taking a shilling an acre off three acres out of 11.

The lease was sealed in April with the two town leases of the same day. The country grants of 1775 to 1777 were all dated at Michaelmas. Mason's showed that the yearly occasion was a habit and not a rule, and that farmland could still be let at another season when the Council sat for other business. His first rent, due on 29 September 1778, covered a little over five months.

The closing clause returned to the older order, with the Council's signing first and the tenant's second. The two town leases of 20 April 1778 reversed it. The words recording the fixing of the Company's seal were written in above the line, having been left out at first. The clerk was thus working between two versions of the clause on one day and did not copy either cleanly.

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Island St. Helena

The Lords Proprietors of this Island

the Honorable the United Company of Merchants of England trading to

the East Indies do hereby Demise Grant Lease and to farm Let unto

Major Henry Bazett of the said Island All that piece or parcel of Ground

containing thirty Feet in length and sixteen in breadth situate lying and

being in James's Valley on the East side of the Road near the Water Course

and adjoining to the Lease Ground of James Desfountain and John

Bagley Junr. to have and to hold the said hereby Demised parcel

of Ground with the Appurtenances and every part and parcel thereof

unto him the said Henry Bazett his Heirs Executors Administrators

and Assigns from the day of Date hereof for and during all the space

and term of twenty one Years from thence next ensuing upon

condition that he the said Henry Bazett his Heirs or Allowed Assigns

do always bear true faith and allegiance, to our Sovereign Lord King

George the Third, his Heirs and Successors, and true faith to them

the said Honorable Company and their Successors and shall duly obey

all the Laws, and constitutions of the said Island Yielding and

paying therefore Yearly and every Year during the said term and time

of twenty One Years, unto the said Honorable Company their Successors

Agents or Assigns the Rent of six Shillings P Annum in, at, or upon the

Feast of St. Michael the Arch Angel Yearly and upon condition

that he the said Henry Bazett his Heirs Executors, Administrators or

Assigns do and shall well and sufficiently keep up and maintain

in good repair all the buildings that are or may be hereafter built

or erected on the said Piece of Ground or any part thereof and do

not nor shall sell or dispose of this Lease or his or their Interest therein

without the leave and consent of the Governor and Council for the time

being. In Witness whereof we the said Governor and Council have

to the other part set our Hands and affixed the Honorable Company's

Seal this 22d Day of June in the eighteenth Year of the Reign of Our

said Sovereign Lord George the Third by the Grace of God of great

Britain France and Ireland King defender of the faith and so forth

and in the Year one thousand seven hundred and seventy eight

and he the said Henry Bazett hath hereunto set his Hand and

Seal

The Company let a piece of ground in James's Valley to Major Henry Bazett of the island. The ground measured 30 feet in length and 16 feet in breadth. It lay on the east side of the road, near the watercourse, and adjoined the leased ground of James Desfountain and John Bagley junior.

Henry Bazett was to hold the ground, with everything belonging to it, for 21 years from the date of the lease. The term covered him and anyone who took the ground after him by inheritance or approved transfer.

The lease set out the following conditions. Bazett and his successors had to remain loyal to King George III and faithful to the Company, and had to obey the laws and regulations of the island. They paid the Company a rent of £0 6s 0d a year, due on the feast of St Michael the Archangel. They had to keep in good repair every building standing on the ground or put up there later. They could not sell or part with the lease or any interest in it without the permission of the Governor and Council of the day.

The Governor and Council signed one copy and fixed the Company's seal to it on 22 June 1778, in the eighteenth year of the reign of George III.

Interpretations

Bazett paid £0 6s 0d for 30 feet, which came to one shilling for every five feet of frontage. Lieutenant Thomas Leech paid £0 12s 0d for 60 feet on 9 January 1769, Mary Harper the same on 4 March 1771 and the Hayes executors £0 10s 0d for 50 feet on 4 November 1776. Each of those rents worked out at exactly a shilling for five feet. Four leases across nine years thus followed one rule, a little under 2½d a foot. The old standard of 3d was a shilling for four feet. The Council had evidently adopted a second measure for parts of the valley, a shilling for five feet, and applied it as exactly as it once applied the first. Rents that looked like round sums fixed by judgement were in fact reckoned by frontage at a lower fixed rate. The piece was 16 feet deep, no more than the strips let for a flat fee in 1768, yet it was charged by its length, which confirmed that measurement had again become the basis of town rents.

Henry Bazett was a captain in every earlier reference, from 12 October 1767 to his signature as an executor on 6 January 1777. He was a major here. His promotion fell within the 18 months between, and it followed Solomon St Maurice's rise from lieutenant to captain. The officers who took land in the 1760s were advancing in rank as the volume went on.

The lease located the ground by the road, placing it on the east side. Earlier town leases used a neighbour's house, the watercourse or a named side of the valley. A reference to one side of the road assumed a single main street running up the valley, with the watercourse beside it, as the fixed line of the town.

The neighbouring plots were called leased ground. The phrase matched the leasehold land of Richard Bagley's estate in the lease of 6 January 1777. The clerk under the new Secretary regularly marked ground as held by lease, a distinction that had point only if other ground in the valley was held outright.

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Seal the Day and Year above written

Henr Bazett

Witness

B Wright Secy.

Island St. Helena

The Lords Proprietors of this Island the

Honorable the United Company of Merchants of England trading to the

East Indies Do hereby demise grant Lease and to Farm, let, unto William

Wrangham Esqr. All that piece or parcel of Ground containing seventy

eight feet in length and forty feet in breadth, situate lying and being

in James's Valley at the Foot of Ladder Hill Road, and adjoining the

Ground of him the said William Wrangham, lately purchased of Elizth.

Kennedy Widow To have and to hold the said hereby demised parcel

of Ground with the appurtenances and every part and parcel thereof,

unto him the said William Wrangham, his Heirs Executors, Administrators

and 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 he the said William Wrangham his Heirs or allowed

Assigns do always bear true faith and Allegiance to our Sovereign

Lord King George the Third his Heirs and Successors and true faith to

them the said Honorable Company and their Successors, and shall

duly obey all the Laws and Constitutions of the said Island Yielding

and paying therefore Yearly and every Year during the said term and

time of twenty one Years, unto the said Honorable Company their

Successors Agents or Assigns the Rent of ten shillings P Annum

at or upon the Feast of St. Michael the Arch Angel Yearly, And

upon Condition that he the said William Wrangham his Heirs

Executors Administrators or Assigns do and shall well and

sufficiently keep up and maintain in good repair all the buildings

that are or may hereafter be built, or erected on the said piece of

Ground, or any part thereof, and do not, nor shall sell or dispose of

this Lease, or his or their Interest, therein, without the leave

and

Major Henry Bazett signed and sealed his copy of the lease of 22 June 1778, and B. Wright signed as witness, adding his office of Secretary.

A new lease, made at St Helena, followed. The Company let a plot of ground in James's Valley to William Wrangham Esquire. The plot measured 78 feet in length and 40 feet in breadth. It lay at the foot of Ladder Hill Road and adjoined ground Wrangham had lately bought from Elizabeth Kennedy, a widow.

Wrangham was to hold the ground, with everything belonging to it, for 21 years from the date of the lease. The term covered him and anyone who took the ground after him by inheritance or approved transfer.

The lease set out the following conditions. Wrangham and his successors had to remain loyal to King George III and faithful to the Company, and had to obey the laws and regulations of the island. They paid the Company a rent of £0 10s 0d a year, due on the feast of St Michael the Archangel. They had to keep in good repair every building standing on the ground or put up there later.

Interpretations

The lease mentioned that Wrangham had bought the adjoining ground from Elizabeth Kennedy. Her house stood beside Roderick Merchant's plot under the lease of 18 February 1771. A private sale between two tenants thus surfaced in the Company's record, though only in passing, to explain where the new plot lay. No entry for the sale itself appeared in the volume. Every lease forbade a tenant to sell without the permission of the Governor and Council, so the purchase had to be approved, and the approval was evidently recorded elsewhere. The volume was a register of what the Company granted. The trade in existing holdings, which the later Jamestown register traced through one bill of sale after another, was already active in 1778 and left its mark here only where a new grant touched a plot that had changed hands.

Wrangham was styled Esquire. He was a gentleman in his lease of December 1766, a factor on 29 August 1768 and a gentleman again in the three leases of 4 December 1769. The new style marked a rise in standing over the following nine years, of the kind seen in Matthew Bazett's change from Secretary to Esquire and Henry Bazett's from captain to major. He had bought a widow's house in the town and was now adding the ground beside it.

The rent of £0 10s 0d on 78 feet came to about 1½d a foot. That was well below both the old standard of a shilling for four feet and the lower measure of a shilling for five, applied to Major Bazett's 30 feet on 22 June 1778. The plot was 40 feet deep and lay at the foot of the road up Ladder Hill, at the western edge of the valley floor where the ground began to rise. James Pritchard's plot of 10 June 1771, also 40 feet deep and on the fringe of the Southwark side, paid a similar rate. Shallow ground under the hillside was the cheapest building land in the town, and an Esquire paid for it what a tailor did.

The lease named Ladder Hill Road. With the road up the valley in Bazett's lease and the high road to the Long Wood in Matthew Purling's of 16 December 1771, the island's principal ways were coming to be used as landmarks, and each had a recognised name by the late 1770s.

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and Consent of the Governor and Council for the time being. In

Witness whereof We the said Governor and Council, have to the other

part set our Hands and Affixed the Honorable Companys Seal

this 9 day of November in the nineteenth Year of the Reign of our

said Sovereign Lord George the Third by the Grace of God of Great

Britain France and Ireland King, Defender of the Faith and so

forth and in the Year of our Lord 1778, and he the said William

Wrangham hath hereunto set his Hand and Seal the day and Year

above written

Wm. Wrangham

Witness

B Wright Secy.

Island St. Helena

The Lords Proprietors of this Island the Honorable

the United Company of Merchants of England trading to the East Indies

Do hereby demise Grant Lease and to Farm let unto George Seale

Planter, All that piece or parcel of Land containing seven Acres

and an half situate lying and being in Sandy Bay Valley in the

South Division of the said Island butting and bounding on all sides

on the Honorable Company's Waste Land To have and to hold the

said hereby demised parcel of Land with the appurtenances and every

part and parcel thereof unto him the said George Seale his Heirs

Executors Administrators and 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 he the said George

Seale his Heirs or allowed Assigns do always bear true faith and

Allegiance to our Sovereign Lord King George the Third his Heirs and

Successors and true faith to them the said Honorable Company and

their Successors and shall duly obey all the Laws and Constitutions

of the said Island Yielding and paying therefore Yearly and

every Year during the said term and time of twenty one Years

unto the said Honorable Company their Successors Agents or Assigns

the Rent of five shillings P Acre at or upon the Feast of St. Michael

the Arch Angel Yearly And upon Condition that he the said

George Seale his Heirs Executors Administrators or Assigns do

and shall well and sufficiently keep up and maintain the

Fences

William Wrangham could not sell or part with the lease or any interest in it without the permission of the Governor and Council of the day. The Governor and Council signed one copy and fixed the Company's seal to it on 2 November 1778, in the nineteenth year of the reign of George III. William Wrangham signed and sealed the other copy on the same day, and B. Wright signed as witness, adding his office of Secretary.

A new lease, made at St Helena, followed. The Company let seven and a half acres of land to George Seale, a planter. The ground lay in Sandy Bay Valley in the South Division, and the Company's waste land bounded it on all sides.

Seale was to hold the ground, with everything belonging to it, for 21 years from the date of the lease. The term covered him and anyone who took the ground after him by inheritance or approved transfer.

Seale and his successors had to remain loyal to King George III and faithful to the Company, and had to obey the laws and regulations of the island. They paid the Company a rent of 5s 0d an acre each year, due on the feast of St Michael the Archangel.

Interpretations

Seale's seven and a half acres stood alone in the waste, touching no other farm, and paid the full 5s 0d an acre. Gabriel Isaacke's eight acres in Lemon Valley, let on 17 August 1767, were the nearest parallel, a holding of almost the same size cut wholly from unoccupied ground at the same rate. In the 11 years between, the Council let most waste-edge land well below the top of the scale, and by 1771 was charging 1s 0d for much of it. A planter who went out into open country in 1778 and marked off a new farm was nonetheless charged as Isaacke was. A tenant chose such a site because it was worth having, a stretch of good ground lying apart from the settled farms, and the Council priced it on that footing. The low rates of 1769 to 1771 went to the rough margins of existing holdings, which neighbours took because they were adjacent, not because they were good.

The lease placed Sandy Bay Valley in the South Division. John Seale's lease of 30 September 1771 pointed to the same conclusion through the neighbours it named, and the present wording settled it.

George Seale signed for Mary Harper on 4 March 1771. He appeared here as a planter on his own account, the fourth of the name to take land in the volume after William, Benjamin and John. Benjamin and John both farmed in the South Division at Sandy Bay, so George was settling beside his kin.

The lease was sealed in November with Wrangham's town plot and was the first country grant dated in the nineteenth year of the reign. Richard Mason's lease of 20 April 1778 was likewise sealed out of season. In 1778 the Council let farmland at whatever sitting dealt with other leases, and the Michaelmas occasion of 1775 to 1777 was not kept.

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Fences to the said Land and the full quantity of Wood thereon, and

do not nor shall sell or dispose of this Lease or his or their Interest

therein without the leave and Consent of the Governor and Council

for the time being, In Witness whereof we the said Governor and

Council have to the other part set our Hands and Affixed the

Honorable Company's Seal this 9 day of November in the

nineteenth Year of the Reign of our said Sovereign Lord George

the Third by the Grace of God of Great Britain France and

Ireland King, Defender of the Faith and so forth, and in the

Year of our Lord 1778, and he the said George Seale hath

hereunto set his Hand and Seal the day and Year above written

George Seale

Witness

B Wright Secy.

Island St. 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 let unto

Margt. Harper and Saml. Alexander of the aforesaid Island Executrix

and Executor to the last Will and Testament of Martin Harper Decd.

in trust nevertheless and to and for the proper use and Benefit of the

Heirs of the sd. Martin Harper, All those two pieces or parcels of Land

containing in the whole eleven Acres, situate lying and being at a

place called, the Half Moon and Smoaky Gut in the West Division of the sd. Island

Butting and Bounding North, East, West and South upon the

Honble Companys Waste Land. To have and to hold unto the

said Margt. Harper and Saml. Alexander Executrix & Executor

aforesaid, their Heirs Executors Administrators and Assigns, in

trust nevertheless and to and for the proper use of the Heirs of

the sd. Martin Harper Decd. 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 Heirs of the

sd. Martin Harper Decd. their Heirs Executors Administrators and

Assigns do and shall bear true faith and allegiance to our

Sovereign Lord King George the Third his Heirs and Successors

and

George Seale and his successors had to keep the fences of the land in good repair and maintain the full quantity of wood on it. They could not sell or part with the lease or any interest in it without the permission of the Governor and Council of the day. The Governor and Council signed one copy and fixed the Company's seal to it on 9 November 1778, in the nineteenth year of the reign of George III. George Seale signed and sealed the other copy on the same day, and B. A. Wright signed as witness, adding his office of Secretary.

A new lease, made at St Helena, followed. The Company let two pieces of land, 11 acres in all, to Margaret Harper and Samuel Alexander of the island, the executrix and executor of the will of Martin Harper, who had died. The ground lay at a place called the Half Moon in the West Division, and the Company's waste land bounded it on the north, east, west and south.

Margaret Harper and Samuel Alexander were to hold the ground for 21 years from the date of the lease, but only as trustees for the heirs of Martin Harper. Those heirs and their successors had to remain loyal to King George III.

Interpretations

The lease stated the trust twice. It named the executrix and executor as taking the land in trust for the proper use and benefit of Martin Harper's heirs, and then repeated the same limitation in the clause fixing the term. Earlier trusts declared it once, in the clause on holding. The opening words of a lease were what a reader saw first and what the later register was likely to copy as the tenant's name. Declaring the trust there as well meant that no summary of the grant could present the two executors as owners in their own right. The clerk under the new Secretary thus strengthened the statement of who was entitled, even while keeping the older clause that laid loyalty on the heirs and not on the trustees.

Both pieces lay wholly in the waste at a named place, joined to no land of the dead man's. Richard Bagley's executors took a detached plot above High Hill Waterfall on 6 January 1777 in the same circumstances. Ground of that kind was a fresh venture, not the rounding off of an estate. As with Bagley, the likelier account was that Martin Harper applied for the land in his lifetime and his executors completed the grant.

The executor was Samuel Alexander, and the executrix bore the dead man's surname and was probably his widow. The Harper and Alexander families were linked before. Gabriel Harper signed with Alexander as a middle name on 22 August 1768 and farmed beside George Alexander in the South Division. Samuel Alexander was named as a planter on the boundary of Margaret Alcock's land on 5 August 1771. An Alexander acting for a Harper's heirs fitted a connection by marriage between the two.

The witness signed with two initials, as B. A. Wright. The leases of 1766 and 1767 that he attested for Matthew Bazett gave his second name as Alexander. The Secretary of 1778 was thus certainly the deputy of a dozen years before.

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and true faith to them the sd. Honble Company and their Successors

and shall duly obey all the Laws and Constitutions of the said

Island Yielding and paying therefore Yearly and every Year

during the said term and time of twenty one Years unto the said

Honorable Company their Successors Agents or Assigns the Rent of

five shillings P Acre, at or upon the Feast of St. Michael the Arch

Angel Yearly And upon Condition, that they the sd. Margt. Harper

and Samuel Alexander, Executrix and Executor aforesaid 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 not nor shall

sell or dispose of this Lease or their Interest, therein, without the

leave and Consent, of the Governor and Council for the time being

In Witness whereof We the sd. Governor and Council have to the

other part set our hands and affixed the Honorable Company's Seal

this 30 day of September in the nineteenth Year of Reign of our sd.

Sovereign Lord George the Third by the Grace of God of Great

Britain France and Ireland King Defender of the Faith and so

forth and in the Year of our Lord 1779. and We the said Margt.

Harper and Saml. Alexander Executrix and Executor aforesaid have

hereunto set our hands and Seals the day and Year above-written

Margaret Harper

Witness

Thos. Bazett

Island St. 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 let unto Margaret Harper

and Saml. Alexander of the aforesaid Island Executrix and Executor

to the last Will and Testament of Martin Harper Decd. in trust

nevertheless and to and for the proper use and benefit, of the

Heirs of the sd. Martin Harper All those two pieces or parcels of Land

containing in the whole twelve Acres, situate lying and being in

Peak-Gut in the West Division of the sd. Island, Butting and

Bounding East on the Land of the Orphans of Orlando Bagley

Decd. West on the Honble Company's Waste Land, North on the Land

of the Heirs of Richard Bagley Decd. and South on the Land of the

said

The heirs of Martin Harper had to be faithful to the Company and obey the laws and regulations of the island. A rent of 5s 0d an acre was payable to the Company each year for the 21 years of the term, due on the feast of St Michael the Archangel. Margaret Harper and Samuel Alexander, the executrix and executor, had to keep the fences of the land in good repair and maintain the full quantity of wood on it. They could not sell or part with the lease or their interest in it without the permission of the Governor and Council of the day.

The Governor and Council signed one copy and fixed the Company's seal to it on 30 September 1779, in the nineteenth year of the reign of George III. Margaret Harper signed and sealed the other copy, and Thomas Bazett signed as witness.

A new lease, made at St Helena, followed. The Company let two further pieces of land, 12 acres in all, to Margaret Harper and Samuel Alexander, as executrix and executor of Martin Harper's will and as trustees for his heirs. The ground lay in Peak Gut in the West Division. It was bounded on the east by the land of the orphans of Orlando Bagley, who had died, on the west by the Company's waste land and on the north by the land of the heirs of Richard Bagley.

Interpretations

Margaret Harper signed the lease herself. Six earlier leases named a woman as tenant or trustee, Mary Doveton, Mary Twaits, Sarah Funge, Jane Willson, Mary Harper and Margaret Alcock, and a man signed for every one. The consistency of that record suggested a custom that women did not appear before the Council to complete their own deeds. Margaret Harper's signature showed that no rule prevented it. A woman could attend, sign and seal like any other party, and the Council accepted the lease on her hand. The earlier women had therefore sent representatives by choice or convenience and not because they were barred. She also signed alone. Samuel Alexander, named with her as executor, did not sign, so the executrix acted for both trustees.

A single signature for two trustees departed from the practice of B. A. Wright, under whom both Hayes executors signed on 14 October 1776 and all five of Richard Bagley's on 6 January 1777. Wright did not witness this lease. Thomas Bazett signed in his place and added no office. The Secretary was thus absent on 30 September 1779, and with him went the requirement that every trustee sign. The stricter form of the previous three years depended on the man who enforced it.

Thomas Bazett had not appeared in the volume before. Matthew Bazett, now Esquire, and Major Henry Bazett were the family's known members. A third Bazett attending the Council's sealing and witnessing its leases suggested a younger kinsman employed in the Secretary's office, as John Goodwin, the writer, was in the 1760s.

The second lease named the orphans of Orlando Bagley. He took eight acres in the East Division on 30 September 1775 and was dead four years later. With the heirs of Richard Bagley on another side, two Bagley estates were being held for families in the same part of the West Division, and the Harper trust took ground between them.

The lease was dated 30 September. After the out of season grants of April and November 1778, the Council returned in 1779 to sealing country leases at Michaelmas.

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Heirs of the sd. Martin Harper Decd., To have and to hold unto the

said Margaret Harper and Saml. Alexander Executrix and Executor

aforesaid, their Heirs Executors Administrators and Assigns in trust

nevertheless, and to and for the proper use of the Heirs of the said

Martin Harper Decd. 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 Heirs of the sd. Martin Harper Decd. their

Heirs Executors Administrators and Assigns, do and shall bear true

faith and Allegiance to our Sovereign Lord King George the Third

his Heirs and Successors and true faith to them the sd. Honorable

Company and their Successors, and shall duly obey all the Laws and

Constitutions of the sd. Island, Yielding and paying therefore Yearly

and every Year during the sd. term and time of twenty one Years

unto the sd. Honorable Company their Successors Agents or Assigns

the Rent of five shillings P Acre for eleven Acres, and four

shillings for the other Acre of the above-mentioned Land, at or

upon the Feast of St. Michael the Arch Angel Yearly, And upon

Condition, that they the said Margt. Harper and Saml. Alexander

Executrix and Executor aforesaid. Do and shall well and

sufficiently keep up and maintain the Fences to the sd. Land and

the full quantity of Wood thereon and do not, nor shall sell or

dispose of this Lease, or their Interest therein without the leave

and Consent of the Governor and Council for the time being.

In Witness whereof we the said Governor & Council have to the

other part set our Hands and affixed the Honble Companys Seal

this 30 day of September in the nineteenth Year of the Reign

of our said Sovereign Lord George the Third by the Grace of

God of Great Britain France and Ireland King Defender of

the Faith and so forth, and in the Year of our Lord 1779, and they

the sd. Margaret Harper and Saml. Alexander Executrix and

Executor aforesaid, have hereunto set our Hands and Seals the

day and Year above written

Margaret Harper

Witness

Thos. Bazett

The 12 acres in Peak Gut were bounded on the south by the land of the heirs of Martin Harper. Margaret Harper and Samuel Alexander were to hold the ground for 21 years from the date of the lease, but only as trustees for those heirs.

The lease divided its conditions between the heirs and the trustees. The heirs and their successors had to remain loyal to King George III and faithful to the Company, and had to obey the laws and regulations of the island. A yearly rent of 5s 0d an acre for 11 of the acres and 4s 0d for the remaining acre was payable to the Company on the feast of St Michael the Archangel. Margaret Harper and Samuel Alexander had to keep the fences of the land in good repair and maintain the full quantity of wood on it. They could not sell or part with the lease or their interest in it without the permission of the Governor and Council of the day.

The Governor and Council signed one copy and fixed the Company's seal to it on 30 September 1779, in the nineteenth year of the reign of George III. Margaret Harper signed and sealed the other copy, and Thomas Bazett signed as witness.

Interpretations

The lease charged 5s 0d on 11 acres and 4s 0d on the twelfth. Richard Mason's lease of 20 April 1778 did the same within a single parcel, with eight acres at the higher rate and three at the lower. A second lease on that pattern showed the split rate to be a method and not a single expedient. The Council valued the ground, found a part of it a little below the best and took a shilling an acre off that part in the reckoning. Under Matthew Bazett a difference in quality between two portions of a grant was met by separate descriptions or separate leases, often with a wide gap between the rents. Under B. A. Wright the differences recognised were narrow, a shilling in five, and were handled inside one lease. The allowance on one acre in 12 was worth a shilling a year, and the rent of the whole came to £2 19s 0d. A reduction so small showed how closely the land was now being assessed.

The lease described the 12 acres as two pieces without giving separate boundaries for each. The odd acre at 4s 0d was probably the smaller of the two. If so, the clerk recorded the difference in rent between them but did not trouble to set out their limits apart, relying on the single description to cover both.

The southern boundary was the land of Martin Harper's heirs. The estate thus already held ground beside Peak Gut, and this grant enlarged it, where the 11 acres at the Half Moon let on the same day stood apart in the waste. The executrix obtained 23 acres for the heirs at one sitting, an addition to the family farm and a separate new holding.

Margaret Harper signed this lease as she signed the first, alone and in her own hand, and Thomas Bazett again witnessed without B. A. Wright. Both of the day's leases for the estate were thus completed by the executrix with no signature from her fellow trustee.

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Island St. 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 Let, unto William Wrangham Esqr. All that piece or

parcel of Land containing fifteen Acres situate, lying and being

in the South Division of the said Island, butting and Bounding, North

upon the Lands of him the said William Wrangham East upon the

Lands of Thos. Harpers decd. West upon the Lands of, Major Henry

Bazett and South upon the Honorable Companys Waste Land

To have and to hold the said hereby Demised parcel of Land

with the Appurtenances and every part and parcel thereof Unto him

the said Wm. Wrangham, his Heirs Executors, Administrators

and 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 he the said Willm. Wrangham his Heirs

Executors, Administrators or Assigns, do and shall, bear true faith

and Allegiance to Our Sovereign Lord King George the third 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. Yielding and Paying

therefore Yearly and every Year during the said term and time of

twenty one Years, unto the Honble Company, their Successors

Agents or Assigns the Rent of two Shillings and Six pence P

Acre at or upon the Feast of St. Michael the Arch Angel Yearly

And upon Condition that he the said Wm. Wrangham his Heirs

Executors Administrators or Assigns Do and shall well and suffici-

ently keep up and Maintain the Fences of the said Land and the

full quantity of Wood thereon and do not nor shall dispose of this

Lease or his or their Interest therein, without the Leave and

Consent of the Governor and Council for the time being, In

Witness whereof we the said Governor and Council have to the

other Part set our Hands and affixed the Honorable Companys

Seal this 22 day of May in the 20th Year of the Reign of our said

Sovereign Lord George the third by the Grace of God of Great Britain

France

The Company let 15 acres of land in the South Division to William Wrangham Esquire. The ground was bounded on the north by Wrangham's own lands, on the east by the lands of Thomas Harper, who had died, on the west by the lands of Major Henry Bazett and on the south by the Company's waste land.

Wrangham was to hold the ground, with everything belonging to it, for 21 years from the date of the lease. The term covered him and anyone who took the ground after him by inheritance or approved transfer.

The lease set out the following conditions. Wrangham and his successors had to remain loyal to King George III and faithful to the Company, and had to obey the laws and regulations of the island. They paid the Company a rent of 2s 6d an acre each year, due on the feast of St Michael the Archangel. They had to keep the fences of the land in good repair and maintain the full quantity of wood on it. They could not sell or part with the lease or any interest in it without the permission of the Governor and Council of the day.

The Governor and Council sealed their copy on 22 May 1780, in the twentieth year of the reign of George III.

Interpretations

Wrangham took three acres in the South Division on 4 December 1769, enclosed by his own land and by the estates of Matthew Purling and Henry Bazett, and paid 5s 0d an acre. The 15 acres let now lay to the south of that holding, between his land and the waste, and paid 2s 6d. He was thus extending the same farm outward, and the outer ground was rated at half the inner. William Seale's leases in Deep Valley followed the same course, from 5s 0d in 1766 to 2s 0d in 1769 and 1s 6d in 1775. A man styled Esquire, who paid the full rate without exception on his three grants of 1769, received a reduction here on the same footing as a planter. The rent followed the position of the ground, and it fell as his boundary moved towards the waste.

Henry Bazett's land again adjoined Wrangham's in the South Division, as it did in 1769. Bazett was a captain then and a major now. The two men were fellow executors for Thomas Greentree in 1767 and for Richard Bagley in 1777, neighbours in the country and householders near one another in the town. The lease showed that association continuing into a third decade, with both advanced in rank.

The eastern boundary was the land of Thomas Harper, described as dead. The orphans of a Thomas Harper held land in the South Division beside Gabriel Harper on 22 August 1768 and beside Margaret Alcock on 5 August 1771. The ground on Wrangham's east was probably that same estate, still identified by the dead man's name a dozen years later and so still undivided among his children.

The lease was sealed in May, eight months after the Harper trusts of 30 September 1779. As in 1778, a country grant was made outside the Michaelmas season. The Council kept to the turn of the rent year in some years and not in others, and no fixed rule governed the date.

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France and Ireland King, defender of the faith and so forth and

in the Year of our Lord 1780 and he the said William Wrangham

hath hereunto set his Hand and Seal the day above written

Wm. Wrangham

Witness.

B Wright Secy

Island St. Helena

The Lords Proprietors of this Island

the Honorable the United Company of Merchants of England trading

to the East Indies Do hereby Demise Grant lease and to farm, let unto

Major Henry Bazett All those two pieces or Parcels of Land

containing in the Whole nineteen Acres and a Quarter, situate

Lying and being in the South division of the said Island, sixteen

acres and an half thereof butting And Bounding East partly

upon the Land of the Late Samuel Alexander and partly upon

the said Henry Bazetts own Land, West partly upon the Land of

Richd. Bagley Decd. and partly upon the Honble Company's waste

Land South upon the Honble Companys Waste Land and

North upon the Land of him the said Henry Bazett The

other two acres and three Quarters butting and Bounding North

and East upon the Land of Willm. Wrangham Esqr. West upon the

said Henry Bazetts Plantation Ground and South upon the Honble

Company's Waste Land. To have and to hold the said hereby demised

Parcels of Land with the Appurtenances and every Part and parcel thereof

unto him the said Henry Bazett his Heirs Executors Administrators

and Assigns from the day of date hereof for and during all the space

and term of twenty one Years from thence next ensuing Upon Condition

that he the said Henry Bazett his Heirs Executors Administrators

and Assigns do and Shall bear true faith and Allegiance to our

Sovereign Lord King George the Third 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 Yielding and paying therefore Yearly and every Year

during the said term and time of twenty one Years unto the

said Honble Company their Successors Agents or Assigns the Rent

of five Shillings P Acre for nine Acres thereof two Shillings and six

Pence

William Wrangham signed and sealed his copy of the lease in 1780, and B. A. Wright signed as witness.

A new lease, made at St Helena, followed. The Company let two pieces of land in the South Division, 19¼ acres in all, to Major Henry Bazett. The first piece, of 16½ acres, was bounded on the east partly by the land of the late Samuel Alexander and partly by Bazett's own land, on the west partly by the land of Richard Bagley, who had died, and partly by the Company's waste land, on the south by the Company's waste land and on the north by Bazett's own land. The second piece, of two and three quarter acres, was bounded on the north and east by the land of William Wrangham Esquire, on the west by Bazett's plantation ground and on the south by the Company's waste land.

Bazett was to hold both pieces, with everything belonging to them, for 21 years from the date of the lease. The term covered him and anyone who took the ground after him by inheritance or approved transfer.

Bazett and his successors had to remain loyal to King George III and faithful to the Company, and had to obey the laws and regulations of the island. The yearly rent was 5s 0d an acre for nine of the acres, with a lower rate for the rest.

Interpretations

The lease referred to the late Samuel Alexander. He was named with Margaret Harper as executor of Martin Harper's will in the two leases of 30 September 1779, and she alone signed them. Eight months later he was dead. His failure to sign in September was therefore probably owed to illness, and the single signature on those trust leases reflected a trustee unable to attend and not a relaxing of the rule that all should sign. The Harper heirs were left with one trustee, the executrix, within a year of the grants made for them.

Wrangham and Henry Bazett took adjoining ground in the South Division at the same sitting. Wrangham's 15 acres of 22 May 1780 had Bazett on the west, and Bazett's smaller piece had Wrangham on the north and east. Both men were pushing south from their existing farms to the waste. As with Harper and Stewart on 30 September 1776, neighbours were dealt with together so that the line between their new holdings was fixed for both at once.

The rent was split, with nine acres at 5s 0d and the remainder lower. Richard Mason's lease of 20 April 1778 and the Harper trust of 30 September 1779 each divided a single grant between 5s 0d and 4s 0d. The method of valuing parts of one lease at different rates was thus applied a third time, here to a major's 19¼ acres.

The lease called part of Bazett's existing holding his plantation ground. The word meant land under cultivation, as it did in the chaplain's lease of 17 September 1770, where water was not to be turned over any plantation he made. The clerk distinguished the major's planted ground from the rest of his land on the same boundary, which indicated that only part of a planter's farm was tilled and the remainder kept as pasture or wood.

Richard Bagley's land adjoined on the west. He took five and a quarter acres in the South Division beside Captain Henry Bazett on 31 January 1774. The two estates were still neighbours in 1780, one now held for a dead man's heirs.

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Pence P Acre for Seven Acres and a Quarter thereof And one

Shilling P Acre for three Acres thereof, at or upon the Feast of

St. Michael the Arch Angel, Yearly And upon condition that he the

said Henry Bazett his Heirs Executors Administrators or Assigns

Do and shall well and Sufficiently keep up and Maintain the Fences

of the said Land and the full Quantity of Wood thereon and do nor

shall sell or dispose of this Lease or his or their Interest therein

without the Leave and Consent of the Governor and Council for

the time being In Witness whereof we the said Governor and

Council have to the other Part set our Hands and Affixed the

Honble Company's Seal this 22d day of May in the twentieth Year

of the Reign of our said Sovereign Lord George the third by the Grace

of God of Great Britain, France, and Ireland King defender of the

Faith and so forth and in the Year of our Lord 1780 and he the

said Henry Bazett hath hereunto set his Hand and Seal the day

and Year above Written.

Henr Bazett

Witness

B Wright

Island St. 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

Mattw. Bazett, Henry Bazett Jonathan Doveton Willm. Webber

Doveton John Doveton and John Young Junr. Executors to the last

Will and Testament of Wm. Young Decd. in trust nevertheless and

to and for the Proper use and Benefit of the Heirs of the said Willm.

Young All that Piece or Parcel of Land containing twenty acres

called and Known by the Name of Beales Hill situate lying and

being in the West Division of the said Island Butting and Bounding

North, East West and South upon the Lands of the said Heirs of

the said Willm. Young deceased To have and to hold the said

hereby Demised Parcel of Land with the Appurtenances and every Part and

parcel thereof unto them the said Mattw. Bazett Henry Bazett

Jonathan Doveton Willm. Webber Doveton John Doveton and John

Young Junr. Executors aforesaid their Heirs Executors Administrators and

Assigns

Major Henry Bazett's 19¼ acres carried three rates of rent. Nine acres paid 5s 0d an acre, seven and a quarter acres paid 2s 6d an acre and three acres paid 1s 0d an acre, all due yearly on the feast of St Michael the Archangel. Bazett and his successors had to keep the fences of the land in good repair and maintain the full quantity of wood on it. They could not sell or part with the lease or any interest in it without the permission of the Governor and Council of the day.

The Governor and Council signed one copy and fixed the Company's seal to it on 22 May 1780, in the twentieth year of the reign of George III. Henry Bazett signed and sealed the other copy on the same day, and B. A. Wright signed as witness.

A new lease, made at St Helena, followed. The Company let 20 acres of land to six executors of the will of William Young, who had died, as trustees for his heirs. They were Matthew Bazett, Henry Bazett, Jonathan Doveton, William Webber Doveton, John Doveton and John Young junior. The ground was known as Beale's Hill and lay in the West Division. The lands of William Young's heirs bounded it on the north, east, west and south.

Interpretations

Henry Bazett's lease graded 19¼ acres into three classes, at 5s 0d, 2s 6d and 1s 0d. The leases to Richard Mason on 20 April 1778 and to the Harper trustees on 30 September 1779 each used two rates a shilling apart. Three rates spanning the whole scale, within one lease, went further than anything before. The yearly rent came to £3 6s 1½d. The acreages at each rate did not match the two pieces as described, of 16½ acres and two and three quarters, so the grading cut across them. The Council had evidently valued the ground in detail, as so much good land, so much middling and so much poor, and charged each portion accordingly without marking any of them out. Under Matthew Bazett three such classes would have meant three leases, as with John Worrall's two of 16 November 1767. Under B. A. Wright they were combined in one document and one sum. The result was a rent that reflected the land closely and a lease from which no later reader could tell which acres were which.

Beale's Hill was a named farm of 20 acres surrounded on every side by land of the dead man's heirs. Ground enclosed entirely by one estate was not a new intake from the waste. It was a holding in the middle of the family's land, and a fresh lease of it to the executors probably replaced a term that had run out or been held by someone else. Smiths, let to Matthew Purling on 11 December 1769, and Francis's, let to John Worrall on 16 November 1767, were named farms taken up in the same way.

William Young took land in the East Division on 20 March 1769 and 30 September 1771, when William Webber Doveton signed on his behalf. Doveton was now one of his executors, with two others of that family, both Bazetts and John Young junior. Six executors for a planter's will matched the seven named by Thomas Greentree and the five by Richard Bagley. The same circle of leading men again undertook a neighbour's estate, and the former Secretary and the major served together.

Henry Bazett thus appeared twice at the sitting of 22 May 1780, as tenant of his own lease and as a trustee in the next.

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Assigns in trust nevertheless and to and for the proper use of the Heirs of the said Willm.

Young deceased 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 Heirs of the said Wm. Young deceased their Heirs

Executors Administrators and Assigns Do and shall bear true faith

and Allegiance to our Sovereign Lord King George the third

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 Yielding and paying

therefore Yearly and every Year during the said term and time of

twenty one Years unto them the said Honble Company their Successors

Agents or Assigns the Rent of three Shillings P acre at or upon the

Feast of St. Michael the Arch Angel Yearly and upon Condition

that they the said Mattw. Bazett Henry Bazett Jonathan Doveton

Willm. Webber Doveton John Doveton and John Young Junr.

Executors aforesaid 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 not nor shall sell or dispose of this Lease

or their Interest therein without the Leave and Consent of the

Governor and Council for the time being In Witness whereof

we the said Governor and Council have to the other part set our Hands

and affixed the Honble Companys Seal the twenty second day of May

in the twentieth Year of the Reign of our said Sovereign Lord George

the third by the Grace of God of Great Britain France and Ireland

King &c. and in the Year of our Lord 1780 and they the said

Mattw. Bazett Henry Bazett Jonathan Doveton William Webber

Doveton John Doveton and John Young Junr. hath hereunto set

their Hands and Seals the day and Year above written.

M Bazett

Henr Bazett

WW Doveton

Jno. Doveton

Witness

B Wright

The six executors of William Young's will were to hold the 20 acres of Beale's Hill for 21 years from the date of the lease, as trustees for his heirs.

The lease divided its conditions between the heirs and the trustees. The heirs and their successors had to remain loyal to King George III and faithful to the Company, and had to obey the laws and regulations of the island. A rent of 3s 0d an acre was payable to the Company each year on the feast of St Michael the Archangel. Matthew Bazett, Henry Bazett, Jonathan Doveton, William Webber Doveton, John Doveton and John Young junior had to keep the fences of the land in good repair and maintain the full quantity of wood on it. They could not sell or part with the lease or their interest in it without the permission of the Governor and Council of the day.

The Governor and Council signed one copy and fixed the Company's seal to it on 22 May 1780, in the twentieth year of the reign of George III. The other copy was to be signed and sealed by all six trustees on the same day. Matthew Bazett, Henry Bazett, William Webber Doveton and one of the other two Dovetons signed it, each with a seal, and B. A. Wright signed as witness.

Interpretations

Four of the six trustees signed. Under B. A. Wright both Hayes executors signed on 14 October 1776 and all five of Richard Bagley's on 6 January 1777, which suggested a rule that every trustee must execute the lease. The Harper trusts of 30 September 1779 carried one signature of two, but Wright was absent then and the missing trustee was dying. Here Wright witnessed, and two trustees were still wanting, among them John Young junior, the only one of the six who bore the dead man's name. The Secretary thus did not insist on a full set. The Council took the signatures of those who attended, as it did under Matthew Bazett, and the complete execution of the Bagley leases reflected five trustees who all happened to come.

The words naming the heirs as the persons entitled were written in above the line. The clerk first wrote that the trustees held for the use of William Young, the dead man, and then corrected it. The trust was declared in the opening of the lease as well, in the manner introduced for Martin Harper's estate on 9 November 1778, so the meaning was never in doubt. The slip nonetheless showed the clause being written out afresh each time, with room for error, and not copied from a fixed form.

Beale's Hill paid 3s 0d an acre. The farm lay wholly inside the heirs' own land, where enclosed ground was commonly charged at or near the top of the scale. A rent two fifths below the full rate on a named farm of 20 acres pointed to hill land of middling quality, as its name suggested. Lieutenant St Maurice's strip of 27 June 1768 was the only earlier lease at exactly that figure, and Richard H. Knipe paid it on 100 acres under lease 281 of 1818.

Matthew Bazett signed first among the trustees. He ceased to witness leases after 9 March 1772 and was styled Esquire from 1775. Eight years after leaving the Secretary's office he was still on the island, acting with his kinsman the major in a neighbour's affairs.

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171

Island St. 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

Mattw. Bazett Henry Bazett Jonathan Doveton William Webber Doveton

John Doveton and John Young Junr. Executors to the last Will and

Testament of Willm. Young Deceased in trust nevertheless and to and for the

proper use and Benefit of the Heirs of the said Wm. Young all that piece or

Parcel of Land Containing five acres situate lying and being in the West

Division of the said Island Butting and bounding North, East, West

and South upon the Lands of the said Heirs of the said Wm. Young decd.

To have and to hold the said hereby demised Parcel of Land with the appur-

tenances and every part and parcel thereof unto them the said Mattw. Bazett

Henry Bazett Jonathan Doveton Willm. Webber Doveton John Doveton

and John Young Junr. Executors aforesaid their Heirs Executors Administrators

and Assigns in trust nevertheless and to and for the Proper use of the Heirs

of the said Willm. Young Deceased 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 Heirs of the said Willm. Young deceased

their Heirs, Executors Administrators and Assigns do and shall bear true

faith and Allegiance to our Sovereign Lord King George the third 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 Yielding and paying therefore yearly and every Year

during the said term and time of twenty one Years unto them the said

Honble Company their Successors Agents or Assigns the Rent of five Shillings

P Acre at or upon the Feast of St. Michael the arch Angel Yearly and

upon Condition that they the said Mattw. Bazett Henry Bazett Jonathan

Doveton Willm. Webber Doveton John Doveton and John Young Junr.

Executors aforesaid 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 not nor shall sell or dispose of this Lease or their

Interest therein without the Leave and Consent of the Governor and Council

for the time being. In Witness Whereof We the said Governor

and Council have to the other Part set our Hands and affixed the Honble

Companys Seal the 22nd day of May in the twentieth Year of the

Reign of of our said Sovereign Lord George the third by the Grace of

God

The Company let a further five acres of land in the West Division to the six executors of William Young's will, Matthew Bazett, Henry Bazett, Jonathan Doveton, William Webber Doveton, John Doveton and John Young junior, as trustees for his heirs. The lands of William Young's heirs bounded the ground on the north, east, west and south.

The six executors were to hold the ground for 21 years from the date of the lease, for the benefit of those heirs.

The lease divided its conditions between the heirs and the trustees. The heirs and their successors had to remain loyal to King George III and faithful to the Company, and had to obey the laws and regulations of the island. A rent of 5s 0d an acre was payable to the Company each year on the feast of St Michael the Archangel. The six executors had to keep the fences of the land in good repair and maintain the full quantity of wood on it. They could not sell or part with the lease or their interest in it without the permission of the Governor and Council of the day.

The Governor and Council sealed their copy on 22 May 1780, in the twentieth year of the reign of George III.

Interpretations

The Young estate received two leases on 22 May 1780, 20 acres at Beale's Hill at 3s 0d an acre and these five acres at 5s 0d. Both pieces lay in the West Division, both were enclosed entirely by the heirs' own land and both went to the same six trustees. On the same day Major Henry Bazett's 19¼ acres were let in a single lease at three rates, 5s 0d, 2s 6d and 1s 0d. The Council thus used both of its methods at one sitting. Where land at different rents formed separate parcels, each with its own boundaries, it issued a lease for each, as it had done since 1766. Where the differences ran through ground that was not divided, it wrote several rates into one lease. Bazett, as a trustee here and a tenant there, was party to both forms on the same day. The split rate was therefore not a replacement for separate leases but a device for the case they did not fit, a tract of mixed quality with no internal boundary.

The five acres paid the full rate while the named farm beside them paid three fifths of it. Within one family's estate, on land surrounded by their own holdings, the Council still distinguished a small piece of good ground from a larger stretch of hill. An estate held for heirs was valued as closely as any tenant's.

Both pieces were islands inside the heirs' land. William Young's own leases in the volume, of 20 March 1769 and 30 September 1771, concerned the East Division. His estate in the West Division, large enough to surround 25 acres, was held under titles that did not appear here. Much of what a planter owned thus lay outside the record of new grants, in older leases or in land held outright.

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God of Great Britain France and Ireland King &c. and in the

Year of our Lord 1780 and they the said Mattw. Bazett Henry Bazett

Jonathan Doveton, William Webber Doveton John Doveton and

John Young Junr. Executors aforesaid hath hereunto set their Hands and

Seals the day and Year above written.

M Bazett

Henr Bazett

WW Doveton

Jno. Doveton

Witness

B Wright

Island St. 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 Mattw. Bazett Henry Bazett Jonathan Doveton Willm.

Webber Doveton John Doveton and John Young Junr. Executors

to the Last Will and Testament of William Young Deceased in trust

nevertheless and to and for the Proper use and Benefit of the Heirs of

the late Wm. Young Deceased. All that Piece or Parcel of Ground

containing Seventeen feet in length and thirteen feet in Breadth situate

lying and being in James's Valley next to the old Burying Ground and

Adjoining to the Back Part or end of a Dwelling House the property of

the said Heirs of the said Wm. Young deceased near to the Main Water

Course and the lower Corner of the said Burying Ground To have

and to hold the said Hereby demised Parcel of Ground with

the Appurtenances and every Part and Parcel thereof unto them the

said Mattw. Bazett Henry Bazett Jonathan Doveton Willm. Webber

Doveton John Doveton and John Young Junr. Executors aforesaid

their Heirs Executors Administrators and Assigns in trust nevertheless

and to and for the Proper use of the Heirs of the said William Young

deceased from the Day of the date hereof for and during all the space

and

The six executors of William Young's will completed the lease of the five acres in 1780. Matthew Bazett, Henry Bazett, William Webber Doveton and one of the other two Dovetons signed it, each with a seal, and B. A. Wright signed as witness.

A new lease, made at St Helena, followed. The Company let a small piece of ground in James's Valley to the same six executors, Matthew Bazett, Henry Bazett, Jonathan Doveton, William Webber Doveton, John Doveton and John Young junior, as trustees for the heirs of William Young. The ground measured 17 feet in length and 13 feet in breadth. It lay next to the old burying ground and adjoined the back of the dwelling house belonging to William Young's heirs, near the main watercourse and the lower corner of the burying ground.

The six executors were to hold the ground for 21 years from the date of the lease, for the benefit of those heirs.

Interpretations

The piece measured 17 feet by 13 feet, the smallest grant in the volume. The slip let to Lieutenant Samuel Desfountain on 19 December 1768, of about 40 feet by 10, was nearly twice its area. Six trustees were nonetheless named as tenants, and the lease recited the trust for the heirs in full, twice over, as it did for the 20 acres of Beale's Hill. The Company's form took no account of the size of what was let. A scrap of yard behind a house was conveyed with the same parties, the same conditions and the same term as a farm. The reason lay in what a lease secured. Without one, any building the heirs put on the ground stood on the Company's land at its pleasure. With one, the back of their house had a title for 21 years.

The same four trustees signed the lease of the five acres as signed for Beale's Hill, and the same two were missing. Those absent on 22 May 1780 were thus absent for the whole of the estate's business that day, and the Council completed every lease on the signatures of the four who came.

The lease called the dwelling house the property of the heirs. Neighbouring ground in the leases of 1777 and 1778 was described as leasehold or leased. A house spoken of as property, with no mention of a lease, was probably held outright, as free ground of the kind the later Jamestown register tested under lease 130. William Young's family thus owned their house in the valley and took a lease only for the strip of the Company's ground behind it.

The house stood by the old burying ground, near its lower corner and the main watercourse. Thomas Harper took a plot above the same burying ground on 5 December 1768. The lease distinguished the main watercourse from any lesser channel, the first in the volume to do so. Three leases were thus made for the Young estate on 22 May 1780, two for farmland in the West Division and one for the town, covering every part of what the heirs held from the Company.

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and During all the space and term of twenty one Years from thence next ensuing

Upon Condition that the Heirs of the said Wm. Young, deceased their

Heirs Executors Administrators and Assigns do and shall bear true

faith Allegiance to our Sovereign Lord King George the third 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 Yeilding and paying therefore Yearly and every

Year during the said term and time of twenty one Years unto them the

said Honble Company their Successors Agents & Assigns the Rent

of five Shillings P Annum in at or upon the Feast of St. Michael

the Arch Angel Yearly And upon Condition that they the said Mattw.

Bazett, Henry Bazett, Jonathan Doveton, Willm. Webber Doveton, John

Doveton, and John Young Junr. Executors aforesaid Do and shall

well and sufficiently Keep and Maintain in good Repair all the Buildings

that are or may hereafter be Built or Erected on the said piece of Ground

or any part thereof and do not nor shall sell or dispose of this Lease or

their Interest therein without the Leave and Consent of the Governor and

Council for the time being. In Witness whereof we the said Governor

and Council have to the other Part set our Hands and affixed the Honble

Companys Seal the 22d day of May in the twentyth Year of the

Reign of our Sd. Sovereign Lord George the third by the Grace of God of

Great Britain France and Ireland King &c. and in the Year of our

Lord 1780, and they the said Mattw. Bazett, Henry Bazett Jonathan

Doveton, William Webber Doveton, John Doveton, and John

Young, Junr. Executors aforesaid hath hereunto set their Hands and

Seals the Day and Year above written

M Bazett

Henr Bazett

WW Doveton

Jno. Doveton

Witness.

B Wright

The heirs of William Young had to remain loyal to King George III and faithful to the Company, and had to obey the laws and regulations of the island. A rent of £0 5s 0d was payable to the Company each year for the 21 years of the term, due on the feast of St Michael the Archangel. The six executors had to keep in good repair every building standing on the ground or put up there later. They could not sell or part with the lease or their interest in it without the permission of the Governor and Council of the day.

The Governor and Council signed one copy and fixed the Company's seal to it on 22 May 1780, in the twentieth year of the reign of George III. Matthew Bazett, Henry Bazett, William Webber Doveton and one of the other two Dovetons signed the other copy, each with a seal, and B. A. Wright signed as witness.

Interpretations

The estate paid £0 5s 0d a year for ground 17 feet by 13 feet. That was the flat fee charged for additions to houses in 1768 and 1769, on pieces as large as 60 feet by 16 feet. In the last years of Matthew Bazett's time as Secretary the fee was cut. Robert Leech and Jane Willson paid £0 2s 6d for 26 feet square on 29 October 1770, and George Bird paid £0 2s 0d for 53 feet by 14 feet on 18 February 1771. The Young heirs now paid twice Leech's rent for a third of his area. Sergeant Hatton Walker was likewise charged £0 5s 0d on 20 April 1778 for a plot 15 feet wide. Under B. A. Wright the old minimum was thus restored, and no town grant was let for less however small. The reductions of 1770 and 1771 were a passing relaxation that the new Secretary did not continue.

Reckoned by its length at a shilling for five feet, the measure applied to Major Henry Bazett's 30 feet on 22 June 1778, the piece would have cost under four shillings. The fixed fee therefore operated as a floor beneath the rate by the foot. Ground too small to reach £0 5s 0d by measurement was charged that sum regardless. The smallest tenants paid most for what they got, a consequence that fell here on an estate held for a dead man's family.

The repair clause was laid on the six trustees, although only four signed. Each condition of a trust lease bound every person named as tenant, whether or not he put his hand to it. A trustee who stayed away could not escape the duty to keep buildings in repair or the ban on selling, since the lease was made to all six and the Council's own copy was sealed to them all.

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Island St. Helena

The Lords Proprietors of this Island

the Honorable the United Company of Merchants of England trading

to the East Indies Do hereby Demise Grant Lease and to Farm

Let unto Mary Price, George Bird and John Legg Executrix and

Executors to the last Will and Testament of John Price deceased in

trust nevertheless and to and for the proper use and benefit of the

Heirs of the said John Price deceased All that piece or parcel of

Ground containing forty seven feet in breadth and sixty feet in

Depth situate lying and being in James's Valley butting and bounding

North upon the House of James Harper and South upon the

House of the Heirs of the said John Price To have and to hold

the said hereby Demised parcel of Ground with the appurtenances

and every part and parcel thereof unto them the said Mary

Price, George Bird and John Legg Executrix and Executors aforesaid

their Heirs Executors Administrators and Assigns in trust

nevertheless and to and for the proper use and benefit of the

Heirs of the said John Price deceased 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 Heirs of the said John Price deceased their Heirs, Executors

Administrators and Assigns Do and shall bear true faith

and Allegiance to our Sovereign Lord King George the

third, 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

Yielding and paying therefore Yearly and every Year during

the said term and time of twenty one Years unto them the

said Honble Company their Successors Agents or Assigns the

Rent of fifteen shillings P Annum in at or upon the

Feast of St. Michael the Arch Angel Yearly And upon

Condition that they the said Mary Price, George Bird

and John Legg Executrix and Executors aforesaid Do and

shall well and sufficiently keep up and maintain in good

Repair all the Buildings that are or may hereafter be

Erected or Built upon the said piece of Ground or any part

thereof and do not nor shall sell or dispose of this Lease or their

Interest therein without the leave and Consent of the Governor

and Council for the time being In Witness whereof we the

said

The Company let a plot of ground in James's Valley to Mary Price, George Bird and John Legg, the executrix and executors of the will of John Price, who had died, as trustees for his heirs. The plot measured 47 feet in breadth and 60 feet in depth. It was bounded on the north by the house of James Harper and on the south by the house belonging to John Price's heirs.

The three were to hold the ground for 21 years from the date of the lease, for the benefit of those heirs.

The lease divided its conditions between the heirs and the trustees. The heirs and their successors had to remain loyal to King George III and faithful to the Company, and had to obey the laws and regulations of the island. A rent of £0 15s 0d was payable to the Company each year on the feast of St Michael the Archangel. Mary Price, George Bird and John Legg had to keep in good repair every building standing on the ground or put up there later. They could not sell or part with the lease or their interest in it without the permission of the Governor and Council of the day.

Interpretations

The estate paid £0 15s 0d for 47 feet of frontage, close to 4d a foot. The old standard of 3d called for £0 11s 9d, and the lower measure of a shilling for five feet, applied elsewhere in the valley from 1769, for under £0 10s 0d. John Price himself paid exactly 3d a foot on his plots of 22 December 1766 and 9 March 1772. No full building plot in the volume was charged at so high a rate. The sum of £0 15s 0d was what 60 feet of frontage cost at 3d, and the plot was 60 feet deep. The rent thus matched the depth and not the breadth. Either the plot faced the street along its longer side, with the clerk's two measurements standing the other way about, or the Council fixed a figure above its usual scale for ground between two standing houses in an established row. In either case the heirs of the Company's jailer paid more for 47 feet than Lieutenant Leech did for 60.

John Price was the jailer who signed with a mark in 1766 and 1772, and probably the publican whose house stood beside the Hayes plot on 4 November 1776. He left a will naming three executors, and a house in the valley described as belonging to his heirs. A man who could not write his name thus died with property enough to need formal administration, and his executors added a further plot to it. His widow, Mary Price, stood first among them.

The other two executors were old neighbours in the valley. George Bird was the joiner who took a plot on 12 January 1767 and a strip behind his house on 18 February 1771. John Legg was named as an orphan with a house of his own beside Lieutenant Frost's plot on 31 August 1767. He had since come of age and was acting for another family's children. The townsmen thus chose executors among their fellow tradesmen and householders, as the planters chose among theirs.

The trust was declared in the opening words and again in the clause on holding, and loyalty was laid on the heirs. The lease followed the pattern used for every trust since the Martin Harper leases of 9 November 1778 and 30 September 1779.

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said Governor and Council have to the other part set our Hands

and affixed the Honble Company's Seal, the 22d day of May in

the twentieth Year of the Reign of our Sovereign Lord George

the Third by the Grace of God of Great Britain France and

Ireland King Defender of the Faith and so forth and in the Year

of our Lord 1780 and they the said Mary Price George Bird and

John Legg Executrix and Executors aforesaid have hereunto

set their Hands and Seals the Day and Year above written

Geo: Bird

Jno. Legg

Witness

B Wright

Island St. 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 Benjamin Seale Planter. All that Piece or

Parcel of Land containing eighteen Acres and an half situate lying and

being in the South Division of the said Island butting and bounding

North Partly upon the Lands of the Heirs of Richd. Bagley decd.

and partly upon the Lands of Major Henry Bazett, East upon the Lands

of him the said Benjamin Seale, South upon the Honble Companys

Waste Land West partly upon the Honble Companys waste Land and partly upon the Lands of the Heirs of said Richd.

Bagley deceased. To have and to hold the said hereby Demised Parcel

of Land with the appurtenances and every part and parcel thereof unto

him the said Benjamin Seale his Heirs Executors Administrators

and 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 he the said Benjn. Seale his Heirs Executors Adminis-

trators and Assigns Do and shall bear true Faith and Allegiance

to our Sovereign Lord King George the third his Heirs and Successors

and true faith to them the said Honble Company and their Successors

and

The Governor and Council signed one copy of the lease for John Price's heirs and fixed the Company's seal to it on 22 May 1780, in the twentieth year of the reign of George III. George Bird and John Legg signed the other copy, each with a seal, and B. A. Wright signed as witness.

A new lease, made at St Helena, followed. The Company let 18½ acres of land in the South Division to Benjamin Seale, a planter. The ground was bounded on the north partly by the lands of the heirs of Richard Bagley and partly by the lands of Major Henry Bazett, on the east by Seale's own lands, on the south by the Company's waste land, and on the west partly by the Company's waste land and partly by the lands of Richard Bagley's heirs.

Seale was to hold the ground, with everything belonging to it, for 21 years from the date of the lease. The term covered him and anyone who took the ground after him by inheritance or approved transfer. Seale and his successors had to remain loyal to King George III and faithful to the Company.

Interpretations

The two executors signed the Price lease and the executrix did not. Mary Price was named first among the three trustees and was presumably the dead man's widow. Margaret Harper, in the same position, signed both leases for her husband's heirs on 30 September 1779, the only woman in the volume to complete a lease herself. Her example was not followed here. With two men to act, the widow stayed away, as six women did before Margaret Harper. Her signing was thus the exception it first appeared to be, made necessary because her fellow executor was too ill to come. Where a man was available, the Council's leases continued to be signed by men.

Seven leases were sealed on 22 May 1780, to William Wrangham, Major Henry Bazett, the Young estate three times, the Price estate and, as the next entry showed, a further country tenant. No sitting had produced so many since the six of 30 September 1771. Four of the seven were trusts for the heirs of dead tenants. Wrangham and Bazett each took land for themselves, and Bazett also stood as a trustee for the Youngs. The day's business thus lay largely with the settling of estates and with the two leading landholders of the South Division.

Benjamin Seale took six and three quarter acres in the South Division on 4 September 1769 at 1s 0d an acre, with waste on three sides. His new ground was nearly three times as large and lay between his own land, the Bagley heirs and Major Bazett, with waste on the south and part of the west. Bazett's 16½ acres of the same day were bounded by Bagley on the west and the waste on the south. Seale, Bazett and Wrangham were therefore all extending southward along one front at this sitting, each into the unoccupied ground below his farm.

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and duly obey all the Laws and Constitutions of the said Island

Yielding and paying therefore Yearly and every Year during

the said term and time of twenty one Years unto the said Honble

Company their Successors Agents or Assignees the Rent of one Shilling

P Acre in at or upon the Feast of St. Michael the Arch Angel Yearly

And upon Condition that he the said Benjn. Seale his

Heirs Executors Administrators or Assignees 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 not nor

shall sell or dispose of this Lease or his or their Interest therein

without the Leave and Consent of the Governor and Council for the time

being In Witness whereof we the said Govr. & Council have

to the other part set our hands and affixed the Honble Companys Seal

the 10 day of July in the twentieth Year of the Reign of our said

Sovereign Lord George the third by the Grace of God of Great

Britain France and Ireland King defender of Faith and so forth

and in the Year of our Lord 1780 and he the said Benjn. Seale

hath hereunto set his Hand and Seal the Day and Year above

Written

Benjn. Seale

Witness.

B Wright

Benjamin Seale and his successors had to obey the laws and regulations of the island. They paid the Company a rent of 1s 0d an acre each year for the 21 years of the term, due on the feast of St Michael the Archangel. They had to keep the fences of the land in good repair and maintain the full quantity of wood on it. They could not sell or part with the lease or any interest in it without the permission of the Governor and Council of the day.

The Governor and Council signed one copy and fixed the Company's seal to it on 10 July 1780, in the twentieth year of the reign of George III. Benjamin Seale signed and sealed the other copy on the same day, and B. A. Wright signed as witness.

Interpretations

Seale paid 1s 0d an acre on the whole of his 18½ acres. Seven weeks earlier, on 22 May 1780, two neighbours took ground along the same southern edge of the settled land. William Wrangham Esquire paid 2s 6d an acre for 15 acres, and Major Henry Bazett paid 5s 0d, 2s 6d and 1s 0d on three portions of 19¼ acres, of which only three acres fell at the lowest rate. Seale's land adjoined Bazett's and shared the Bagley heirs as a neighbour. A planter thus obtained the bottom of the scale on every acre, where an Esquire and a major, on the same front and in the same season, paid more than twice as much on most of theirs. The comparison was the reverse of the one that raised doubts in 1766, when Matthew Purling Esquire paid 1s 0d beside planters at 5s 0d. Whatever weight rank carried under the first Secretary, the leases of 1780 gave no sign of it. The Council charged its two most prominent tenants the higher rents and let the cheapest ground of the three to the farmer.

Seale's first lease in the South Division, of 4 September 1769, also charged 1s 0d an acre, on six and three quarter acres with waste on three sides. His farm thus grew by 25¼ acres in 11 years, all of it at the lowest common rate. The ground beyond his boundary was evidently poor throughout, and he took it in quantity because it was cheap.

Bazett's lease graded his land in three classes, and Seale's applied one rate to a piece of similar size next to it. The Council therefore used the split rent where it found real differences within a grant and a single figure where the ground was uniform. The method was a matter of what the survey showed, not a form applied to every lease alike.

The lease was sealed on 10 July 1780, between the large sitting of 22 May and the Michaelmas season. Country grants in that year thus fell in May and July, and the yearly occasion of 1775 to 1777 and 1779 was again set aside.

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North

West

18 1/2 Acres

East.

South

Island St. 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 let unto Richd. Goodwin Executor to the last will and Testament

of Onesiphorus Beale deceased in trust nevertheless and to and for

the Proper use and benefit of the Heirs of the said Onesiphorus Beale deceased

All that Piece or Parcel of Land containing two acres and an

half

A plan of Benjamin Seale's ground was drawn beneath his lease of 10 July 1780. It showed an irregular outline of many sides, marked as containing 18½ acres, with the words North, East, South and West written against the four sides.

A new lease, made at St Helena, followed. The Company let two and a half acres of land to Richard Goodwin, as executor of the will of Onesiphorus Beale, who had died, to hold as trustee for Beale's heirs.

Interpretations

The plan was drawn with north at the top of the page, and the four directions were written out in full. Matthew Bazett's plan of 18 November 1776 was the first in the volume to carry compass points, as single letters, and it placed south at the top. Lieutenant Gurling's of 29 September 1777 had west at the top. The surveyor in those years set each figure down as he happened to draw it. Seale's plan followed what later became the fixed rule of mapping. Whether that was chance or a deliberate choice, the words in place of letters showed more care for the reader, and a plan so drawn could be laid beside another and compared without turning the page.

The plan agreed with the lease. Seale's own land lay on the east, where the outline showed its most broken edge, stepped in and out as it followed an existing fence. The south side, against the waste, ran in a nearly straight line, as a new boundary set out by survey would. The shape of each side thus reflected what lay beyond it, an old irregular farm boundary on one hand and a fresh measured line on the other.

The orphans of Onesiphorus Beale were named as neighbours in John Worrall's lease of 16 November 1767, in John Goodwin's of 29 August 1768 and in the chaplain's of 17 September 1770. Their father was therefore dead by 1767. Thirteen years later his executor was still taking land for the estate, which was still undivided and now described as belonging to his heirs. A trust for a dead tenant's children could thus run for a generation, with the same executor adding to it long after those children were grown.

Richard Goodwin was one of the seven executors of Thomas Greentree's will under the lease of 5 October 1767, and a planter with land beside James Greentree's in the West Division. He acted here alone, where the estates of Greentree, Bagley and Young had five to seven trustees each.

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Situate lying and being in the South Part of the said Island butting

and Bounding East upon the Leasehold Lands of the Heirs of the

said Onesiphorus Beale deceased and North, West and South upon

the Honble Companys waste Cabbage Tree Lands To have and

to hold the said hereby demised Parcel of Land with the appurtenances

and every part and Parcel thereof unto him the said Richd. Goodwin

Executor aforesaid his Heirs Executors Administrators and

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 Heirs of the said Onesiphorus

Beale deceased their Heirs Executors Administrators and

Assigns do and shall bear true faith and allegiance to our

Sovereign Lord King George the third 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 Yielding and paying

therefore Yearly and every Year during the said term and time

of twenty one Years unto the said Honble Company their Successors

Agents or Assigns the Yearly Rent of five Shillings P acre

in at or upon the Feast of St. Michael the arch Angel Yearly

And Upon Condition that he the said Richd. Goodwin

Executor aforesaid 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 not nor shall sell or dispose of this

Lease or their interest therein without the Leave and Consent

of the Governor and Council for the time being In Witness

whereof we the said Governor and Council have to the other part set our

Hands and affixed the Honble Company's Seal the 4 day of September

in the twentieth Year of the Reign of our Sovereign Lord George

the third by the Grace of God of Great Britain France and Ireland

King defender of the faith and so forth and in the Year of our Lord

1780 and he the said Richd. Goodwin Executor aforesaid hath hereunto

set his hand and Seal the Day and Year above written.

Richd. Goodwin

Witness.

Jno. Doveton

Sub Secy

The two and a half acres let to Richard Goodwin lay in the south part of the island. They were bounded on the east by the leasehold lands of the heirs of Onesiphorus Beale and on the north, west and south by the Company's waste cabbage tree lands.

Goodwin was to hold the ground for 21 years from the date of the lease, as executor and as trustee for Beale's heirs.

The lease divided its conditions between the heirs and the trustee. The heirs and their successors had to remain loyal to King George III and faithful to the Company, and had to obey the laws and regulations of the island. A rent of 5s 0d an acre was payable to the Company each year on the feast of St Michael the Archangel. Richard Goodwin had to keep the fences of the land in good repair and maintain the full quantity of wood on it. He could not sell or part with the lease or any interest in it without the permission of the Governor and Council of the day.

The Governor and Council signed one copy and fixed the Company's seal to it on 4 September 1780, in the twentieth year of the reign of George III. Richard Goodwin signed and sealed the other copy as executor on the same day, and John Doveton signed as witness, adding his office of sub-secretary.

Interpretations

The witness signed as sub-secretary. Until now, when the Secretary could not attest a lease, whoever was present did so, Alexander Wright, John Goodwin, James Desfountain, William Webber Doveton, Jonathan Doveton and Thomas Bazett in turn, and none gave a title. Wright himself deputised for Matthew Bazett for years before succeeding him and signed without one. A named office of sub-secretary showed the arrangement made formal. The Company's administration on the island now had a recognised deputy to the Secretary, entitled to act in his absence, where it had relied on the nearest clerk or bystander. John Doveton was one of the six executors of William Young's will on 22 May 1780. A member of one of the island's leading families thus held the junior post in the office that kept its land records.

The ground was bounded on three sides by the Company's waste cabbage tree lands. Earlier leases spoke of waste land, meaning ground ungranted and unused, and of cabbage tree land as a kind of ground let to tenants. The phrase here joined the two. It described native woodland on the heights that the Company had not yet let to anyone. The clerk treated it as a class of its own, distinct from bare waste. The Beale heirs' two and a half acres were cut from the edge of that wood and paid the full 5s 0d an acre, the rate charged on cabbage tree land in every lease that named it, most recently Matthew Bazett's 32½ acres along the main ridge in November 1776.

The lease placed the ground in the south part of the island, where every earlier lease said the South Division. The neighbouring holding was again called leasehold, as in the leases of 1777 and 1778. The wording under B. A. Wright's office thus varied in small ways from lease to lease, while its substance stayed the same.

The trust left loyalty with the heirs, in the form used for every estate since 1776. The lease was sealed on 4 September, the fourth date on which country land was let in 1780, after 22 May and 10 July and before Michaelmas.

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Island St. Helena

The Lords Proprietors of this

Island the Honorable the united Company of Merchants of England trading to

the East Indies, do hereby demise Grant Lease and to Farm let unto

Mattw. Bazett Esqr. of the said Island All those Pieces or parcels of

Land containing in the whole four acres and an half situate lying and

being in the East division of said Island two acres and an half thereof

at the Head of Sharks Valley butting and bounding North, East and

West upon the Lands of him the said Mattw. Bazett and South upon the

Main Ridge. The other two acres butting and bounding, East, North

South and west upon the Lands of him the said Mattw. Bazett and

lying near the Head of Pleasant Valley. To have and to hold

the said hereby demised parcels of Land, with the appurtenances and every

part and Parcel thereof, unto him the said Mattw. Bazett his Heirs

Executors, Administrators and 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 he the said Mattw. Bazett his Heirs

or allowed Assigns do always bear true faith and allegiance to our Sovereign

Lord King George the third 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 Yielding

and Paying therefore Yearly and every Year during the said term and time

of twenty one Years, unto the said Honble Company their Successors

Agents or assigns the Rent of five Shillings P Acre in at or upon the

Feast of St. Michael the arch angel Yearly And upon

condition that he the said Mattw. Bazett 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 not nor shall sell or dispose of this Lease or his or their

Interest therein without the Leave and Consent of the Governor and

Council for the time being. In Witness whereof We the said Governor

and Council have to the other part set our hands and affixed the Honorable

Companys Seal this 27th day of November in the twenty first Year

of the Reign of our Sovereign Lord George the third by the Grace of

God of Great Britain France and Ireland King defender of the

Faith and so forth and in the year of our Lord one thousand seven Hundred

and

The Company let two pieces of land in the East Division, four and a half acres in all, to Matthew Bazett Esquire of the island. The first piece, of two and a half acres, lay at the head of Sharks Valley. It was bounded on the north, east and west by Bazett's own lands and on the south by the main ridge. The second piece, of two acres, lay near the head of Pleasant Valley and was bounded on the east, north, south and west by Bazett's own land.

Bazett was to hold both pieces, with everything belonging to them, for 21 years from the date of the lease. The term covered him and anyone who took the ground after him by inheritance or approved transfer.

The lease set out the following conditions. Bazett and his successors had to remain loyal to King George III and faithful to the Company, and had to obey the laws and regulations of the island. They paid the Company a rent of 5s 0d an acre each year, due on the feast of St Michael the Archangel. They had to keep the fences of the land in good repair and maintain the full quantity of wood on it. They could not sell or part with the lease or any interest in it without the permission of the Governor and Council of the day.

The Governor and Council sealed their copy on 27 November 1780, in the twenty-first year of the reign of George III.

Interpretations

The second piece was surrounded on all four sides by Bazett's own land. Two acres of the Company's ground thus lay wholly inside his estate, reachable only across his farm. No one else could have used it, and the Company could not have let it to another tenant without giving him a way through Bazett's fences. The lease regularised what was already the position on the ground, that the pocket formed part of his holding. He nonetheless paid the full 5s 0d an acre for it. The Council made no allowance for the fact that only one man could be the tenant, and charged the land at its worth as part of a good farm.

The first piece ran up to the main ridge at the head of Sharks Valley, with his land on the other three sides. Bazett took 32½ acres along the ridge in three pieces in November 1776, all bounded by his own estate below and the crest above. The present grant closed a further gap on the same line. Four years after those leases, pieces of ungranted ground still remained between his holdings and the ridge, and he was taking them up as they were found.

The lease placed parts of his estate at the head of two named valleys, Sharks Valley and Pleasant Valley. His earlier leases located his land only as in the East Division, with neighbours such as Desfountain, Worrall, Purling and the Burnhams. An estate reaching the heads of two valleys and the ridge between them extended across a broad stretch of the high ground. The former Secretary, who began in the volume with eight and a half acres on 10 February 1766, held one of the largest connected estates on the island by 1780.

Two pieces in different valleys went into one lease at one rate, as Simon Whaley's did on 1 February 1768. Both adjoined the same tenant's land and paid the same rent, the circumstances in which the Council throughout was readiest to combine parcels.

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and eighty, and he the said Mattw. Bazett hath hereunto set his Hand

and Seal the day and Year above written

M Bazett

Witness

B Wright

Island St. Helena

The Lords Proprietors

of this Island the Honorable the United Company of Merchants of England

trading to the East Indies, Do hereby demise grant lease and to farm let

unto Mrs. Elizabeth Lambe Widow All that Piece or Parcel of Ground

containing forty one feet in Width and eighty feet in depth situate lying and

being in James's Valley butting and bounding East upon the Ground of her

the said Elizabeth Lambe, West upon the Water Course, South upon the Back

Yard of Robt. Leech and North upon the Honorable Company's House wherein

the Lieutenant Governor resides, To have and to hold the said hereby

Demised Parcel of Ground with the Appurtenances and every Part and Parcel

thereof unto her the said Elizabeth Lambe Her Heirs, Executors Administrators

and 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 she the said Elizabeth Lambe her Heirs or allowed assigns do always

Bear true faith and Allegiance to our Sovereign Lord King George the

third His Heirs and Successors and true faith to them the said Honorable

Company and their Successors, and shall duly obey all the Laws and

Constitutions of said Island Yielding and paying therefore Yearly and

every Year during the said term and time of twenty one Years unto the

said Honble Company their Successors agents or assigns the Rent of fourteen

Shillings

Matthew Bazett signed and sealed his copy of the lease in 1780, and B. A. Wright signed as witness.

A new lease, made at St Helena, followed. The Company let a plot of ground in James's Valley to Mrs Elizabeth Lambe, a widow. The plot measured 41 feet in width and 80 feet in depth. It was bounded on the east by Elizabeth Lambe's own ground, on the west by the watercourse, on the south by the back yard of Robert Leech and on the north by the Company's house in which the Lieutenant Governor lived.

Elizabeth Lambe was to hold the ground, with everything belonging to it, for 21 years from the date of the lease. The term covered her and anyone who took the ground after her by inheritance or approved transfer.

Elizabeth Lambe and her successors had to remain loyal to King George III and faithful to the Company, and had to obey the laws and regulations of the island. They paid the Company a rent of £0 14s 0d a year for the 21 years of the term.

Interpretations

Elizabeth Lambe paid £0 14s 0d for 41 feet of width, a little over 4d a foot. The heirs of John Price paid close to 4d a foot on 22 May 1780 for 47 feet between two houses. The standard of the 1760s was 3d, and from 1769 plots on the fringes were let at a shilling for five feet or less. Two leases within six months now exceeded the old standard by a third. Both concerned ground in the built-up heart of the valley, one between standing houses and the other between a householder's yard and the Lieutenant Governor's residence. The Price lease alone could be read as a rent matched to the plot's depth. A second at the same level pointed to a change in the Council's scale. Central building ground had become scarce, and by 1780 the Company was charging more for it than it ever asked in the years when open plots were still to be had.

The northern boundary was a house belonging to the Company, occupied by the Lieutenant Governor, the officer next in rank to the Governor. The lease thus recorded one of the Company's own buildings in the town, kept as an official residence, and a widow's plot was let against its wall. The valley's mixing of ranks reached the top of the island's establishment. Private ground adjoined the second officer's house as it adjoined a sergeant's.

The tenant was styled Mrs, the first use of that form in the volume. Earlier leases named a woman and added widow or spinster. She already held the ground on the east in her own right and was extending it to the watercourse.

The Lambe family later appeared in the Jamestown register. Aaron Lambe held lease 129, dated 1802, and a Mr Lambe took ground through a mortgage and passed it on 3 September 1832. Robert Leech, whose back yard lay on the south, took a piece beside his house jointly with Jane Willson on 29 October 1770.

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Shillings and sixpence P Annum, in at, or upon the Feast of St. Michael

the arch Angel Yearly and upon Condition that she the said Elizabeth Lambe

Her Heirs Executors, Administrators or Assigns do and shall well and sufficiently

keep up and maintain in good repair all the Buildings that are or may hereafter

be Built or erected upon the said Piece of Ground or any Part thereof and do not nor

shall sell or dispose of this Lease or Her Interest therein without the Leave and

Consent of the Governor and Council for the time being In Witness whereof

We the said Governor and Council have to the other Part set our hands and Affixed

the Honorable Companys Seal this 27th day of November in the twenty first year

of the Reign of our Sovereign Lord George the third by the Grace of God of great

Britain France and Ireland King Defender of the faith and so forth and in the

Year of our Lord One thousand seven Hundred and Eighty, and she the said Elizth.

Lambe hath hereunto set her Hand and Seal the day and Year above written.

A Lambe for Elizth. Lambe

Witness

Jno. Doveton

Island St. 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 let unto James Colgrave of the

said Island Planter All that Piece or parcel of Land lying in the East

Division of the said Island containing thirty [...] Acres Butting and Bounding

East upon the Honble Companies Waste Land and upon the Lease hold Land of

Lieut. Francis Seale, West upon the Land of John Robinson South upon the

Honble Companys Waste Land and North Partly upon the Honble Companys

Waste Land and partly upon the Land of Jno. Seales Orphans To have

and to hold the said hereby Demised Parcel of Land with the appurtenances

and every Part and Parcel thereof unto him the said James Colgrave his Heirs

Executors Administrators or Assigns from the day of the date hereof for and during

all the space and term of twenty one Years from thence next ensuing Yielding

and

Elizabeth Lambe's rent for the plot of 41 feet beside the Lieutenant Governor's house was £0 14s 6d a year, due on the feast of St Michael the Archangel. She and her successors had to keep in good repair every building standing on the ground or put up there later. They could not sell or part with the lease or her interest in it without the permission of the Governor and Council of the day.

The Governor and Council signed one copy and fixed the Company's seal to it on 27 November 1780, in the twenty-first year of the reign of George III. A. Lambe signed and sealed the other copy on Elizabeth Lambe's behalf, and John Doveton signed as witness.

A new lease, made at St Helena, followed. The Company let thirty [...] acres of land in the East Division to James Colgrave of the island, a planter. The ground was bounded on the east by the Company's waste land and by the leasehold land of Lieutenant Francis Seale, on the west by the land of John Robinson, on the south by the Company's waste land and on the north partly by the Company's waste land and partly by the land of the orphans of John Seale.

Colgrave was to hold the ground, with everything belonging to it, for 21 years from the date of the lease. The term covered him and anyone who took the ground after him by inheritance or approved transfer.

Interpretations

The later Jamestown register entered lease 129 to Aaron Lambe as an original lease dated 1802, for 41 feet at £0 14s 6d a year. Elizabeth Lambe's lease of 27 November 1780 was for 41 feet at £0 14s 6d, and a term of 21 years from that date ran out at the end of 1801. The entry of 1802 was therefore the fresh grant made when this lease expired. The frontage and the rent were carried over unchanged, to the penny, and the new tenant was the A. Lambe who signed for the widow here, presumably her son. The register called the 1802 lease original and took no notice of the 21 years before it. The same was found for James Pritchard's 50 feet, let on 10 June 1771 and entered as lease 135 under 1792. Two cases now showed that the dates in the later register marked renewals, and that the rent fixed in the first term was simply repeated in the second. The 4d a foot the Council began to charge for central ground in 1780 thus stayed attached to this plot for at least 40 years.

A man again signed for a woman named as sole tenant. Margaret Harper, who completed her own leases on 30 September 1779, remained the only exception in the volume.

John Doveton witnessed without B. A. Wright, as he did on 4 September 1780 with the title of sub-secretary. Wright attested Matthew Bazett's lease of the same day, so both men were at the sitting and the deputy took some of the entries.

The orphans of John Seale held land on Colgrave's north. John Seale signed for William Seale on 27 March 1775 and was named as holder of that farm on 30 September 1775. He was dead within five years of succeeding to it, and the land was now held for his children. Three generations of the family thus passed through the Deep Valley farm in the course of the volume. A Lieutenant Francis Seale held leasehold land on the east, and a Francis Seale took country lease 293 in 1821.

James Colgrave was named as a neighbour of William Seale in 1766 and again in 1774 and 1775. He appeared here as a tenant for the first time, taking one of the larger grants of these later years beside the waste.

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and paying therefore Yearly and every Year during the said term and time

of twenty One Years unto the said Honble Company their Successors Agents

or assigns the sum of five shillings P Acre in at or upon the Feast of

St. Michael the arch Angel Yearly Upon Condition that he the said

James Colgrave his Heirs Executors Administrators or Allowed assigns

Do and shall bear true faith and Allegiance to our Sovereign Lord King

George the third 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 this Island. And also upon Condition that

he the said James Colgrave his Heirs Executors administrators and

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 not nor shall sell or dispose of this Lease or his or their Interest therein

without the Leave and Consent of the Governor and Council for the time being

In Witness whereof we the said Governor and Council have to the other part set

our hands and affixed the Honble Companys Seal the twenty seventh day of

November in the twenty first Year of the Reign of our Sovereign Lord George

the third by the Grace of God of Great Britain France and Ireland King &c.

and in the Year of our Lord 1780 and he the said James Colgrave hath

to this Part set his Hand and Seal the day and Year above written

James Colgrave

Witness

B Wright

Island St. Helena

The Lords Proprietors of

Island the Honble the united Company of Merchants of England, Trading

to the East Indies Do hereby demise Grant Lease and to farm Let unto Capt.

Solomon St. Maurice. All that Piece or Parcel of Ground Containing fifty

six feet in front and one Hundred and four in Depth situate lying and being

in

James Colgrave and his successors paid the Company a rent of 5s 0d an acre each year for the 21 years of the term, due on the feast of St Michael the Archangel. They had to remain loyal to King George III and faithful to the Company, and had to obey the laws and regulations of the island. They had to keep the fences of the land in good repair and maintain the full quantity of wood on it. They could not sell or part with the lease or any interest in it without the permission of the Governor and Council of the day.

The Governor and Council signed one copy and fixed the Company's seal to it on 27 November 1780, in the twenty-first year of the reign of George III. James Colgrave signed and sealed the other copy on the same day, and B. A. Wright signed as witness.

A new lease, made at St Helena, followed. The Company let a plot of ground to Captain Solomon St Maurice, measuring 56 feet across the front and 104 feet in depth.

Interpretations

Colgrave paid the full 5s 0d an acre on a grant of more than 30 acres with the waste on the east, the south and part of the north. Benjamin Seale took 18½ acres against the waste in the South Division on 10 July 1780 at 1s 0d, and William Wrangham 15 acres there on 22 May 1780 at 2s 6d. Richard Bagley's 30 acres in Swanley Valley on 19 February 1769 were the nearest parallel to Colgrave's lease, a large tract on the edge of unoccupied country charged at the top of the scale from the first year. Ground of that worth, in that quantity, was still to be had in the East Division in 1780. The poor rates of the South Division in the same year were therefore a matter of the land there and not of a general exhaustion of good ground. The Council went on valuing each tract on its merits, and a planter taking one of the largest grants of the decade paid for all of it in full.

The Colgrave family's place in the volume went back to its early leases. Thomas Colgrave's executors took 15 acres for his children at the head of Deep Valley on 16 February 1767 and 14 more on 12 September 1768. James Colgrave was a neighbour of William Seale in that valley from 1766. He farmed beside the land held for the orphans and was probably their kinsman. His own grant now exceeded both of the trust leases together.

The lease placed the rent before the clause on loyalty, where the standard form put loyalty first. Lieutenant Samuel Desfountain's lease of 19 December 1768 made the same change. The substance was untouched. The entries were written out one by one, and the order of the clauses shifted with the clerk.

Four leases were sealed on 27 November 1780, to Matthew Bazett, Elizabeth Lambe, Colgrave and, as the next entry began to show, Captain St Maurice. Country and town grants were again dealt with together at a sitting late in the year.

St Maurice's plot was 104 feet deep, the greatest depth of any town plot in the volume. Building plots of the 1760s ran 40 to 75 feet back from the front.

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in James's Valley butting and Bounding North upon the Ground belonging

to the said Solomon St. Maurice East next to the Main Water Course West

upon the Street and South upon the Slaughter House, To have and To hold

the appurtenances and every Part and Parcel thereof unto him the said Solomon

St. Maurice his Heirs, Executors, Administrators and 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 he the said Solomon St.

Maurice his Heirs Executors administrators and assignees Do and shall

Bear true faith and allegiance To our Sovereign Lord King George the third

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 Yielding and Paying therefore Yearly and every Year

during the said term and time of twenty one Years unto them the said Honble

Company their Successors agents or assignees the Rent of fifteen Shillings

P Annum in at or upon the feast of St. Michael the Arch Angel Yearly

And upon Condition that he the said Solomon St. Maurice his Heirs Executors

Administrators or assigns Do and shall well and sufficiently Keep up and

maintain in good Repair all the Buildings that may or hereafter be erected or

Built upon said Piece of Ground or any part thereof and do not nor shall sell

or dispose of this Lease or his or their Interest therein without the Leave and

Consent of the Governor and Council for the time being. In Witness

Whereof we the said Governor and Council have to the other Part set our Hands and

affixed the Honble Companys Seal the fourth day of December in the twenty first

Year of our said Sovereign Lord George the third by the Grace of God of Great

Britain, France and Ireland King defender of the faith and so forth and in

the Year of our Lord 1780 and he the said Solomon St. Maurice hath hereunto

Set his Hand and Seal the day and Year above written.

Soln. St. Maurice

Witness

Jno. Doveton

Captain Solomon St Maurice's plot lay in James's Valley. It was bounded on the north by ground already belonging to St Maurice, on the east by the main watercourse, on the west by the street and on the south by the slaughterhouse.

St Maurice was to hold the ground, with everything belonging to it, for 21 years from the date of the lease. The term covered him and anyone who took the ground after him by inheritance or approved transfer.

The lease set out the following conditions. St Maurice and his successors had to remain loyal to King George III and faithful to the Company, and had to obey the laws and regulations of the island. They paid the Company a rent of £0 15s 0d a year, due on the feast of St Michael the Archangel. They had to keep in good repair every building standing on the ground or put up there later. They could not sell or part with the lease or any interest in it without the permission of the Governor and Council of the day.

The Governor and Council signed one copy and fixed the Company's seal to it on 4 December 1780, in the twenty-first year of the reign of George III. Solomon St Maurice signed and sealed the other copy on the same day, and John Doveton signed as witness.

Interpretations

The plot ran from the street on the west to the main watercourse on the east, a depth of 104 feet. It thus took in the whole width of the ground between the roadway and the stream. Earlier plots in the valley were 40 to 75 feet deep and commonly left waste behind them, which householders later took up in strips at a flat fee. St Maurice himself paid £0 5s 0d on 19 December 1768 for such a strip beside his house. A grant reaching from street to water at the outset left no margin to be leased afterwards. By 1780 the Council was letting the full depth of a block in one piece, which suggested that the pattern of the town had settled into a single street with plots running back to the stream on that side.

The rent of £0 15s 0d on 56 feet came to a little over 3d a foot. The heirs of John Price on 22 May 1780 and Elizabeth Lambe on 27 November 1780 paid close to 4d a foot for ground in the centre of the valley. St Maurice's plot fronted the street and adjoined his own property, but its southern neighbour was the slaughterhouse. A site beside the place where the island's cattle were killed was less desirable than one beside the Lieutenant Governor's residence, and the rate fell back towards the old standard. The Council's charge for town ground in 1780 thus ranged from about 1½d a foot under Ladder Hill to 4d in the best positions, where a single 3d applied to every plot in 1766.

The slaughterhouse was named as a landmark needing no further description. With the Lieutenant Governor's house in Elizabeth Lambe's lease, it was the second public building of the town to appear in the volume. Both served as fixed points for locating private plots.

John Doveton witnessed alone, as he did for Elizabeth Lambe a week earlier. The sub-secretary was by then attesting town leases regularly, while B. A. Wright signed those for country land at the same sittings.

St Maurice first appeared on 12 October 1767 as a lieutenant with six acres in the West Division. Thirteen years later he was a captain, with farms in that division, a house in the valley and now a full building plot beside it.

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Island St. Helena

The Lords Proprietors of

this Island the Honble United Company of Merchants of England, Trading

to the East Indies Do hereby demise Grant Lease and to farm lett unto

Thos. Greentree Lieutenant All that Piece or parcel of Land containing

Eight Acres situate lying and being in Sandy Bay Butting and Bounding

North and East upon the Lands of the said Thos. Greentree, South upon the

Lands of James Easthope and West upon the Lands of Mr. Wm. Wrangham

To have and to hold the said hereby demised parcel of Land with the

Appurtenances and every part and Parcel thereof unto him the said Thos. Greentree

his Heirs Executors, Administrators, and Assignees 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 he the said Thos. Greentree his

Heirs, Executors, Administrators and assignees Do and shall bear true

faith and Allegiance to our Sovereign Lord King George the third 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 Yielding and paying therefore Yearly and every Year during

the said term and time of twenty One Years unto them the said Honble Company

their Successors Agents or Assignees the Rent of five Shillings P Acre, in at

or upon the feast of St. Michael the Arch Angel Yearly And upon Condition

that he the said Thos. Greentree 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 not nor shall sell

or dispose of this Lease or his or their Interest therein without the Leave and Consent

of the Governor and Council for the time being In Witness whereof

We the said Governor and Council have to the other Part set our hands

and affixed the Honble Companys Seal the fourth day of December in the

twenty first Year of the Reign of our Sovereign Lord George the third by

the Grace of God of great Britain France and Ireland King, &c. and in

the Year of our Lord 1780 and he the said Thos. Greentree hath hereunto set his

Hand and Seal the day and Year above written

Thos. Greentree

Witness.

B Wright Secy

The Company let eight acres of land at Sandy Bay to Lieutenant Thomas Greentree. The ground was bounded on the north and east by Greentree's own lands, on the south by the lands of James [...] and on the west by the lands of Mr William Wrangham.

Greentree was to hold the ground, with everything belonging to it, for 21 years from the date of the lease. The term covered him and anyone who took the ground after him by inheritance or approved transfer.

The lease set out the following conditions. Greentree and his successors had to remain loyal to King George III and faithful to the Company, and had to obey the laws and regulations of the island. They paid the Company a rent of 5s 0d an acre each year, due on the feast of St Michael the Archangel. They had to keep the fences of the land in good repair and maintain the full quantity of wood on it. They could not sell or part with the lease or any interest in it without the permission of the Governor and Council of the day.

The Governor and Council signed one copy and fixed the Company's seal to it on 4 December 1780, in the twenty-first year of the reign of George III. Thomas Greentree signed and sealed the other copy on the same day, and B. A. Wright signed as witness, adding his office of Secretary.

Interpretations

A Thomas Greentree, planter, took the farm called Taylors in August 1766 and died within months. On 5 October 1767 seven executors took 12½ acres at Sandy Bay in trust for his heirs, and on 10 July 1769 five of them took ground behind his house in the valley on the same footing. The tenant here bore the dead man's name, held lands of his own at Sandy Bay and was a lieutenant. He was in all probability the heir for whom those trusts were made, a child in 1767 and by 1780 a grown man and an officer. The lease was made to him directly, with no trustee. The estate that the Council and seven leading landholders kept together through his minority had thus reached him, and he was adding to it in his own name. The volume, which recorded the trust at its creation, here showed its purpose fulfilled 13 years later.

William Wrangham's lands bounded the new ground on the west. Wrangham was one of the seven executors of 1767 and one of the five of 1769. The trustee who helped manage the estate was the heir's neighbour at Sandy Bay, as James Greentree was in 1767. The men who took on a dead planter's affairs were those with land beside his, and the connection outlasted the trust.

The eight acres were enclosed by occupied land on every side, two of them the tenant's own, and paid the full 5s 0d an acre. Ground among settled farms at Sandy Bay was good land, as the 37 acres let to James Greentree on 16 February 1767 at the same rate had indicated. The poor ground of the South Division, let at 1s 0d to Benjamin Seale on 10 July 1780, lay out on the margin against the waste.

The later country register recorded a renewal of lease 164 to Thomas Greentree, entered in book D at page 90. The family thus held land from the Company from the first leases in this volume into the following century.

Two leases were sealed on 4 December 1780, this one and Captain St Maurice's town plot. B. A. Wright witnessed the country lease and the sub-secretary the other, the division of work between them seen at the sitting of 27 November 1780.

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Island St. 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 Jno. Bagley Junr.

of the said Island Planter All those Pieces or Parcels of Land containing

twenty Acres situate lying and being in the South division of the said

Island, butting and Bounding every way upon the Lands of him the said

John Bagley To have and to hold the said hereby Demised parcels of Land

with the appurtenances and every part and parcel thereof unto him the said

John Bagley his Heirs Executors Administrators and 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 he the said John

Bagley his Heirs or allowed assignees do always bear true faith and

Allegiance to our Sovereign Lord King George the third 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 Yielding and paying therefore Yearly and every Year during

the said term and time of twenty one Years unto the said Honble Company

their Successors, agents or assigns the Rent of four Shillings P Acre in at

or upon the Feast of St. Michael the arch Angel Yearly and upon Condition

that he the said John Bagley 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

not nor shall sell or dispose of this Lease or his or their Interest therein

without the Leave and Consent of the Governor and Council for the time

being. In Witness whereof we the said Governor and Council have

to the other Part set our Hands and Affixed the Honble Companys seal

this 11th day of December in the twenty first Year of the Reign of Our

Sovereign Lord George the third by the Grace of God of great Britain France

and Ireland King defender of the faith and so forth and in the Year of

our Lord 1780 and he the said John Bagley hath hereunto set his

Hand and seal the day and Year above written

Nathl. Kennedy for Jno. Bagley Junr.

Witness

Jno. Doveton

Sub Secry

The Company let 20 acres of land in the South Division, in more than one piece, to John Bagley junior of the island, a planter. Bagley's own land bounded the ground on every side.

Bagley was to hold the ground, with everything belonging to it, for 21 years from the date of the lease. The term covered him and anyone who took the ground after him by inheritance or approved transfer.

The lease set out the following conditions. Bagley and his successors had to remain loyal to King George III and faithful to the Company, and had to obey the laws and regulations of the island. They paid the Company a rent of 5s 0d an acre each year, due on the feast of St Michael the Archangel. They had to keep the fences of the land in good repair and maintain the full quantity of wood on it. They could not sell or part with the lease or any interest in it without the permission of the Governor and Council of the day.

The Governor and Council signed one copy and fixed the Company's seal to it on 11 December 1780, in the twenty-first year of the reign of George III. Nathaniel Kennedy signed and sealed the other copy on John Bagley junior's behalf, and John Doveton signed as witness, adding his office of sub-secretary.

Interpretations

Twenty acres of the Company's land lay inside John Bagley's estate, surrounded by his own holdings on every side. Matthew Bazett's two acres near the head of Pleasant Valley, let on 27 November 1780, and the 25 acres let to William Young's executors on 22 May 1780 were enclosed in the same way. Three leases in seven months thus dealt with ground that only one tenant could reach. Pockets of that size did not go unnoticed by the farmer whose land ringed them. He was in all probability already grazing or cultivating them, and the leases brought land in use onto the rent roll. The run of such grants in 1780 suggested that the Council was then having estates checked against what their holders actually occupied, and requiring a lease for every piece found to be enclosed without one. The remeasurements recorded at renewals in the later register, such as those of 17 October 1815, were the same exercise carried out a generation afterwards.

The ground was described as pieces in the plural, with no separate boundaries or acreages. Since each was enclosed by Bagley's land, a single phrase covered them all. The lease gave no means of telling how many there were or where they lay. For ground that could not be confused with anyone else's, the Council evidently thought a total and a rate enough.

Bagley paid the full 5s 0d an acre. His 25¼ acres of 30 September 1775, with the waste on the south, were let at 3s 6d. Land in the middle of his estate was valued above land on its edge, in keeping with the Council's practice throughout, and the fact that he was the only possible tenant earned him nothing.

Nathaniel Kennedy signed for him. The representative shared no surname with the tenant, as when William Webber Doveton signed for William Young on 30 September 1771. An Elizabeth Kennedy, widow, owned a house in the valley until William Wrangham bought it.

The sub-secretary witnessed a country lease here. At the sittings of 27 November and 4 December 1780 he attested the town leases and B. A. Wright those for farmland. The division between them was therefore a matter of who was present and not of a fixed allotment of duties.

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Island St. Helena

The Lords Proprietors of this Island

Honble the united Company of Merchants of England trading to the East

Indies Do hereby demise, grant, Lease and to farm, lett unto John

Bagley Junr. of the said Island Planter All that Piece or Parcels

of Land containing in the whole thirty five Acres, situate lying

and being in the South division of the said Island, twenty Eight

Acres thereof butting and Bounding North and East upon the Lands

of James Easthope, and South, and West upon the Lands of him the

said John Bagley, the other seven Acres butting and Bounding, South

upon the Honble Company's waste Land and East west and North

upon the said John Bagleys own Land To have and to hold

the said hereby demised Parcels, of Land with the appurtenances and every

part and Parcel thereof unto him the said John Bagley his Heirs

Executors Administrators, and 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 he the said John

Bagley, His Heirs or allowed assigns do always bear true faith and

Allegiance to our Sovereign Lord King George the third his Heirs

and Successors and true faith to them the said Honble Company & their

Successors and shall duly obey all the Laws and Constitutions of the

said Island Yielding and Paying therefore Yearly and every Year during

the said term and time of twenty one Years unto the said Honble Company

their Successors, agents or assigns the rent of five Shillings P Acre

for twenty Eight acres thereof and three Shillings and Sixpence for the

other Seven Acres in, at or upon the Feast of St. Michael the arch angel Yearly,

And upon Condition that he the said John Bagley his Heirs

Executors, administrators and 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 not nor shall sell or dispose of this Lease, or his or

their interest therein without the Leave and Consent of the Governor and

Council for the time being. In Witness Whereof we the said

Governor and Council have hereunto set their Hands and affixed the Honble

Companys Seal this 11th day of December in the twenty first Year of the

Reign of Our said Sovereign Lord George the third by the Grace of God of

Great

The Company let two further pieces of land in the South Division, 35 acres in all, to John Bagley junior of the island, a planter. The first piece, of 28 acres, was bounded on the north and east by the lands of James [...] and on the south and west by Bagley's own land. The second piece, of seven acres, was bounded on the south by the Company's waste land and on the east, west and north by Bagley's own land.

Bagley was to hold both pieces, with everything belonging to them, for 21 years from the date of the lease. The term covered him and anyone who took the ground after him by inheritance or approved transfer.

The lease set out the following conditions. Bagley and his successors had to remain loyal to King George III and faithful to the Company, and had to obey the laws and regulations of the island. They paid the Company a yearly rent of 5s 0d an acre for the 28 acres and 3s 6d an acre for the other seven, due on the feast of St Michael the Archangel. They had to keep the fences of the land in good repair and maintain the full quantity of wood on it. They could not sell or part with the lease or any interest in it without the permission of the Governor and Council of the day.

The Governor and Council sealed their copy on 11 December 1780, in the twenty-first year of the reign of George III.

Interpretations

The lease joined two pieces at two rents, and here each rate belonged to a piece with its own boundaries. The 28 acres among occupied land paid 5s 0d and the seven acres against the waste paid 3s 6d. The split rents of 1778 to 1780, in the leases to Richard Mason, the Harper trustees and Major Henry Bazett, divided ground that was not separately described, so that no one could say which acres carried which rate. This lease avoided that defect. It was in substance two grants of the kind Matthew Bazett's office would have entered as two leases, as with John Worrall's pair of 16 November 1767, written into a single document. The clerk under B. A. Wright thus used one lease for several rates both where the land was undivided and where it was not. The saving was in parchment and fees. The cost, where the pieces were described, was nothing, and the tenant held 35 acres under one title that would be renewed or transferred as a whole.

Bagley took 55 acres on 11 December 1780, 20 enclosed by his own land in the preceding lease and these 35. Together with his 25¼ acres of 30 September 1775, he held more than 80 acres in the South Division under leases entered in this volume. He was one of five executors of Richard Bagley's will on 6 January 1777 and was presumably the heir to much of that estate as well. By 1780 the younger Bagley ranked with Matthew Bazett and Wrangham among the largest landholders recorded here.

The seven acres at the waste paid 3s 6d, the rate his 25¼ acres on that margin carried in 1775. The Council valued the outer edge of his farm at the same figure five years on. Benjamin Seale's ground on the southern margin of the same division was let at 1s 0d on 10 July 1780, so the quality of the waste-edge land varied widely from one part of the South Division to another.

The 20 acres wholly inside his estate went into a separate lease at 5s 0d, while the 28 acres at the same rate were joined here with the cheaper seven. No principle accounted for which pieces were combined. The pieces enclosed on every side were perhaps identified by a different survey from the two on the edge of his land, and each survey produced its own lease.

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Great Britain, France and Ireland, King defender of the faith and

so forth and in the Year of our Lord 1780 and he the said John Bagley

hath to the other Part set his Hand and Seal the day and Year above

Written.

Nathl. Kennedy for John Bagley Junr.

Witness

Jno. Doveton

Sub Secry

Island St. 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 Let unto

Benjamin Mason Senr. of the said Island Planter All that piece or

Parcel of Land Containing thirteen Acres and three Quarters Butting

and Bounding North upon the Lands of him the said Benjn. Mason Senr.

West upon the Lands of John Alexander and South and East upon the

Lands of the Heirs of Richd. Bagley Decd. To have and to hold

the said hereby demised Parcel of Land with the Appurtenances and

every Part and Parcel thereof unto him the said Benjn. Mason Senr. his

Heirs, Executors Administrators or 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 he the said Benjn.

Mason Senr. his Heirs Executors or allowed assigns Do always

bear true faith and allegiance to our Sovereign Lord King George the

third 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 Yielding and Paying therefore

Yearly and every Year during, the said term and time of twenty one

Years unto the said Honble Company their Successors Agents or assigns

the Rent of five Shillings P Acre in at or upon the Feast of St. Michael

the Arch Angel Yearly, And upon Condition that he the said Benjn.

Mason Senr. his Heirs Executors, Administrators and 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 not nor shall

sell

John Bagley junior's lease of the 35 acres was completed in 1780. Nathaniel Kennedy signed and sealed it on his behalf, and John Doveton signed as witness, adding his office of sub-secretary.

A new lease, made at St Helena, followed. The Company let 13¾ acres of land to Benjamin Mason senior of the island, a planter. The ground was bounded on the north by Mason's own lands, on the west by the lands of John Alexander and on the south and east by the lands of the heirs of Richard Bagley.

Mason was to hold the ground, with everything belonging to it, for 21 years from the date of the lease. The term covered him and anyone who took the ground after him by inheritance or approved transfer.

The lease set out the following conditions. Mason and his successors had to remain loyal to King George III and faithful to the Company, and had to obey the laws and regulations of the island. They paid the Company a rent of 5s 0d an acre each year, due on the feast of St Michael the Archangel. They had to keep the fences of the land in good repair and maintain the full quantity of wood on it.

Interpretations

Mason was one of the five executors of Richard Bagley's will, who took 37¼ acres in the West Division in trust for the heirs on 6 January 1777. The ground he now took for himself was bounded on the south and east by those heirs' lands. A trustee was thus obtaining, in his own name, a piece lying between his farm and the estate in his charge. James Greentree stood in the same position at Sandy Bay in 1767, with his 37 acres beside the Twaits orphans' land. The arrangement held an obvious risk, since the man who managed the heirs' boundary also had an interest in where it ran. The Council met it in its usual way. Mason's lease was a separate grant from the Company, with its own description, and the heirs' trust leases stood on the register with theirs. Whatever passed between a trustee and the family, the title to each piece was fixed by the Company's record and not by the trustee's word.

The 13¾ acres had occupied land on all four sides, his own, Alexander's and the Bagley heirs'. Ground enclosed among established farms paid the full 5s 0d an acre, as it generally did. Mason's two earlier leases in the West Division, of 16 November 1767 and 27 August 1770, were also at 5s 0d. He had farmed good land beside the Company's pasture for 13 years and paid the top rate throughout.

The lease named no division, giving only the neighbours. Mason, Alexander and the Bagley estate all lay in the West Division by the evidence of earlier leases. The clerk evidently took the district as understood from the names, an omission the form under Matthew Bazett did not allow.

Nathaniel Kennedy signed both of John Bagley's leases of 11 December 1780, for 55 acres in all. A planter taking one of the largest additions of the decade did not attend the sealing of either. The Council's readiness to accept a representative extended to its most substantial business.

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Sell or dispose of this Lease or his or their Interest therein without the leave

and Consent of the Governor and Council for the time being. In Witness

whereof we the said Governor and Council have to the other Part set their Hands

and affixed the Honble Companys Seal the 18th day of December in the

twenty first Year of the Reign of our said Sovereign Lord George the third

by the Grace of God of great Britain France and Ireland King defender

of the faith and so forth and in the Year of Our Lord 1780 and he the said

Benjamin Mason Senr. hath Hereunto set his Hand and Seal the day

and Year above Written.

Benjn. Mason Senr.

Witness

Saml. Mason

Island St. 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 Let unto Benjn.

Mason Senr. of the said Island Planter All that Piece or Parcel of Land

containing nine acres and an half Butting and Bounding North upon the

Lands of John Alexander South and West upon the Lands of Orlando

Bagleys Orphans and East upon the Lands of Willm. Wrangham To

have and to hold the said hereby Demised Parcel of Land with the

appurtenances and every part and Parcel thereof unto him the said Benjn.

Mason his Heirs Executors administrators and 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 he the said Benjamin

Mason his Heirs Executors Administrators or allowed Assigns Do always

bear true faith and Allegiance to our Sovereign Lord King George the third

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 Yielding and paying therefore Yearly and every

Year during the said term and time of twenty one Years unto the said Honble

Company their Successors, agents or assigns the Rent of five Shillings P Acre

in at or upon the Feast of St. Michael the Arch Angel Yearly And upon

Condition that he the said Benjn. Mason his Heirs, Executors

Administrators

Benjamin Mason senior could not sell or part with the lease of the 13¾ acres without the permission of the Governor and Council of the day. The Governor and Council signed one copy and fixed the Company's seal to it on 18 December 1780, in the twenty-first year of the reign of George III. Benjamin Mason senior signed and sealed the other copy on the same day, and Samuel Mason signed as witness.

A new lease, made at St Helena, followed. The Company let a further nine and a half acres of land to Benjamin Mason senior of the island, a planter. The ground was bounded on the north by the lands of John Alexander, on the south and west by the lands of the orphans of Orlando Bagley and on the east by the lands of William Wrangham.

Mason was to hold the ground, with everything belonging to it, for 21 years from the date of the lease. The term covered him and anyone who took the ground after him by inheritance or approved transfer.

Mason and his successors had to remain loyal to King George III and faithful to the Company, and had to obey the laws and regulations of the island. They paid the Company a rent of 5s 0d an acre each year, due on the feast of St Michael the Archangel.

Interpretations

Samuel Mason witnessed the lease. He held no office that the entry mentioned and shared the tenant's surname. Every lease since 1773 was attested by B. A. Wright as Secretary, by John Doveton as sub-secretary or, once, by Thomas Bazett. Kinsmen of a tenant witnessed before, as James Desfountain did for John Desfountain on 30 September 1771, but he was then standing in for an absent Secretary across a whole sitting. Here neither the Secretary nor his deputy signed, although Doveton attested John Bagley's leases a week earlier. The witness was evidently someone who came with the tenant. A lease attested only by a member of the tenant's own family gave the Company a weaker assurance that it was properly executed, and the entry suggested that the office was less strictly kept at the end of 1780 than in the years just before.

Mason took two pieces on 18 December 1780, 13¾ acres and nine and a half, both at 5s 0d an acre. The first adjoined his own land. The second touched none of it and lay between Alexander, Wrangham and the Bagley orphans. Each went into its own lease. Pieces at one rent beside the same farm were commonly combined, as with John Bagley's on 11 December 1780, and pieces in different places were kept apart even at the same rate, as with William Wrangham's three leases of 4 December 1769. Mason's pair followed the second pattern.

The nine and a half acres were enclosed on every side by other men's land. Mason was therefore taking a pocket among his neighbours' farms and not rounding off his own. Ground so placed went to whoever applied for it, and a planter of the district who was a trustee for one adjoining estate and a neighbour of another was well placed to know it was there.

Wrangham's lands bounded the piece on the east. He held ground in the West Division under his lease of 4 December 1769 and was Mason's fellow executor for Richard Bagley. The orphans of Orlando Bagley were first named on 30 September 1779, beside the Harper trust's land in Peak Gut.

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Administrators or assigns Do and shall well and sufficiently keep up

and maintain the Fences of the said Land and the full Quantity of wood

thereon and do not nor shall sell or dispose of this Lease or his or their Interest

therein without the Leave and Consent of the Governor and Council for the

time being In Witness whereof We the said Governor and Council

have to the other Part set our hands and affixed the Honble Companys Seal

the 18 day of December in the twenty first Year of the Reign of Our said

Sovereign Lord George the third by the Grace of God of Great Britain

France and Ireland King Defender of the faith and so forth and in the

Year of our Lord 1780 and he the said Benjn. Mason hath to the other Part

set his Hand and Seal the day and Year above Written

Benjn. Mason Senr.

Witness

Saml. Mason.

Island St. Helena

The Lords Proprietors of this

Island the Honble United Company of Merchants of England trading to the

East Indies Do hereby demise Grant Lease and to farm Let unto Benjn.

Mason Senr. of the said Island Planter All that Piece or Parcel of Land

Containing Seven Acres situate lying and being in the west division of said

Island Butting and Bounding North and East on the Honble Companys waste

Land West on the Lands of Jno. Alexander and south on the said Benjn. Masons

own Land, To have and to hold the said hereby demised Parcel of Land

with the Appurtenances and every part and Parcel thereof unto him the said

Benjn. Mason his Heirs, Executors, Administrators and 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 he the said Benjamin

Mason his Heirs or allowed assigns Do always bear true faith and

Allegiance to our Sovereign Lord King George the third 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, Yielding and paying therefore Yearly and every Year during the said

term and time of twenty one Years unto them the said Honble Company their

Successors agents or Assigns the Rent of five Shillings P Acre in at or upon

the

Benjamin Mason senior and his successors had to keep the fences of the nine and a half acres in good repair and maintain the full quantity of wood on the land. They could not sell or part with the lease or any interest in it without the permission of the Governor and Council of the day. The Governor and Council signed one copy and fixed the Company's seal to it on 18 December 1780, in the twenty-first year of the reign of George III. Benjamin Mason senior signed and sealed the other copy on the same day, and Samuel Mason signed as witness.

A new lease, made at St Helena, followed. The Company let a further seven acres of land in the West Division to Benjamin Mason senior of the island, a planter. The ground was bounded on the north and east by the Company's waste land, on the west by the lands of John Alexander and on the south by Mason's own land.

Mason was to hold the ground, with everything belonging to it, for 21 years from the date of the lease. The term covered him and anyone who took the ground after him by inheritance or approved transfer.

Mason and his successors had to remain loyal to King George III and faithful to the Company, and had to obey the laws and regulations of the island. They paid the Company a rent of 5s 0d an acre each year.

Interpretations

Mason took three leases on 18 December 1780, for 13¾ acres, nine and a half and seven, all at 5s 0d an acre. The first two were enclosed by occupied land. The third had the Company's waste on the north and east. On 30 September 1776 the Council let three pieces on the western margin of the same division, to Harper, Stewart and Knipe, at a uniform 2s 6d. Mason's waste-edge ground four years later paid twice that. His two earlier leases, of 16 November 1767 and 27 August 1770, lay beside the Company's own pasture near High Peak and were both charged in full. His farm evidently stood on some of the best land in the West Division, and what adjoined it was valued with it, whether it faced other farms or open country. The rate of 2s 6d in 1776 belonged to a different and poorer stretch of the same district.

The three leases added 30¼ acres to his holding in one day. With 10¾ acres from 1767 and eight from 1770, he held 49 acres under grants entered in this volume, every one at the top of the scale. No other tenant paid 5s 0d on so much land without a single reduced rate among his leases.

This third lease named the West Division, where the two before it gave only neighbours. The clerk supplied the district for ground that bordered the waste and left it out where the piece was fixed by surrounding farms. A lease bounded on two sides by unoccupied country needed the division to place it at all.

Samuel Mason witnessed the second lease as he did the first. The whole of Benjamin Mason's business on 18 December 1780 was thus attested by his own kinsman, with neither the Secretary nor the sub-secretary signing any part of it.

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the Feast of St. Michael the arch Angel Yearly And upon Condition that he

the said Benjn. Mason 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 not nor shall sell or

dispose of this Lease or his or their Interest therein without the Leave and

consent of the Governor and Council for the time being In Witness whereof

We the said Governor and Council have to the other part set our Hands and

affixed the Honble Companys Seal the 18 day of December in the

twenty first Year of the Reign of our Sovereign Lord George the third by the

Grace of God of Great Britain France and Ireland, King defender of

the Faith and so forth and in the Year of our Lord 1780 and he the said

Benjamin Mason hath hereunto set his Hand and Seal the day and Year

above Written

Benjn. Mason Senr.

Witness.

Saml. Mason

Island St. 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 Let unto Orlando Bagley

of the said Island Planter, All those Pieces or Parcels of Land containing

in the whole twenty Six Acres Situate Lying and being in the West

Division of the said Island in Dog wood Valley, Eleven Acres thereof butting

and Bounding North upon the Lands of John Desfountain South upon

the Lands of John Seales Orphans, West upon the Lands of Mattw.

Bazett and East upon the said Orlando Bagleys own Land, the other

fifteen acres butting and Bound East upon the Honble Companys Waste Land

West, part upon the Lands of him the said Orlando Bagley and part upon the

Lands of John Seales Orphans aforesaid and North and South, upon the said

Orlando Bagleys Own Land To have and to hold the said hereby Demised parcels

of

Benjamin Mason senior's rent for the seven acres fell due each year on the feast of St Michael the Archangel. He and his successors had to keep the fences of the land in good repair and maintain the full quantity of wood on it. They could not sell or part with the lease or any interest in it without the permission of the Governor and Council of the day. The Governor and Council signed one copy and fixed the Company's seal to it on 18 December 1780, in the twenty-first year of the reign of George III. Benjamin Mason senior signed and sealed the other copy on the same day, and Samuel Mason signed as witness.

A new lease, made at St Helena, followed. The Company let two pieces of land in Dogwood Valley in the East Division, 26 acres in all, to Orlando Bagley of the island, a planter. The first piece, of 11 acres, was bounded on the north by the lands of John Desfountain, on the south by the lands of the orphans of John Seale, on the west by the lands of Matthew Bazett and on the east by Bagley's own lands. The second piece, of 15 acres, was bounded on the east by the Company's waste land, on the west partly by Bagley's own land and partly by the land of John Seale's orphans, and on the north and south by Bagley's own land.

Interpretations

The lease was made to a living Orlando Bagley. The Harper trust lease of 30 September 1779 and Benjamin Mason's of 18 December 1780 both named the orphans of an Orlando Bagley who had died, with land in the West Division. Two men of the name were therefore involved. The leases of 1766 and 1769 distinguished an Orlando Bagley junior, and the one of 30 September 1775 dropped the addition. One of the pair died before September 1779 leaving children, and the other was farming in the East Division at the end of 1780. The neighbours named here, Desfountain, Matthew Bazett and the Seale family, were those of the Deep Valley farm in every earlier lease, so the tenant was the man who held that farm, or his heir of the same name. The volume gave no means of telling father from son once the word junior ceased to be used, and a holding could pass from one to the other without any entry.

Samuel Mason witnessed the third of Benjamin Mason's leases, as he did the other two. No officer of the Company attested any of the 30¼ acres granted to Mason that day.

Bagley's 26 acres were among the larger grants of 1780, after James Colgrave's thirty-odd acres of 27 November and John Bagley's 55 of 11 December. The East Division, where leases began in 1766, was still yielding sizeable pieces 14 years later. The 11 acres were enclosed among four estates, and the 15 acres ran out to the waste on the east. Farms in that district were thus still closing internal gaps and still advancing at the edge.

The orphans of John Seale held land on two of the boundaries. James Colgrave's lease of 27 November 1780 named them on his north. The estate of the man who took over William Seale's farm in 1775 was by then a fixed feature of the neighbourhood, held for children under age.

The lease named Dogwood Valley, a place not met before in the volume. Dogwood was one of the island's native trees. With the cabbage tree land of earlier leases and Tombstone Wood in the West Division, the names attached to country ground often recorded what grew on it.

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of Land with the appurtenances and every part and Parcel thereof unto him

the said Orlando Bagley his Heirs, Executors, Administrators and 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

he the said Orlando Bagley his Heirs, Executors Administrators or allowed

Assigns do always bear true faith and allegiance to Our Sovereign Lord

King George the Third 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 Yielding and Paying therefore Yearly

and every Year, during the said term and time of twenty one Years unto the said

Honble Company their Successors, Agents, or assigns the Rent of one Shilling

P Acre in at or upon the feast of St. Michael the Arch Angel Yearly,

And upon Condition that he the said Orlando Bagley his Heirs or allowed

Assigns do and shall well and Sufficiently keep up and Maintain the

Fences to the said Lands and the full Quantity of Wood thereon, and do

not nor shall sell or dispose of this Lease or his or their Interest therein

without the Leave and Consent of the Governor and Council for the time being

In Witness whereof we the said Governor and Council have to the other Part

set our Hands and Affixed the Honble Companys Seal this fifteenth day

of January in the twenty first Year of the Reign of our said Sovereign Lord

George the third by the Grace of God of great Britain France and Ireland

King, defender of the faith and so forth and in the Year of our Lord one

thousand seven Hundred and eighty one, and he the said Orlando Bagley

hath hereunto set his Hand and seal the day and Year above Written.

Orlando Bagley

Witness

Saml. Mason

Island St. Helena

The Lords Proprietors of

this

Orlando Bagley was to hold the 26 acres in Dogwood Valley, with everything belonging to them, for 21 years from the date of the lease. The term covered him and anyone who took the ground after him by inheritance or approved transfer.

The lease set out the following conditions. Bagley and his successors had to remain loyal to King George III and faithful to the Company, and had to obey the laws and regulations of the island. They paid the Company a rent of 1s 0d an acre each year, due on the feast of St Michael the Archangel. They had to keep the fences of the land in good repair and maintain the full quantity of wood on it. They could not sell or part with the lease or any interest in it without the permission of the Governor and Council of the day.

The Governor and Council signed one copy and fixed the Company's seal to it on 15 January 1781, in the twenty-first year of the reign of George III. Orlando Bagley signed and sealed the other copy on the same day, and Samuel Mason signed as witness.

Interpretations

Samuel Mason witnessed a lease to a tenant who was no relation of his. On 18 December 1780 he attested three leases to Benjamin Mason senior, and his surname suggested a kinsman brought along by the tenant, which would have been a loosening of the Company's practice. His signature on Orlando Bagley's lease a month later pointed elsewhere. A man who witnessed for the Masons in December and for a Bagley in January was acting for the office and not for a family. He was probably a clerk under the Secretary, as John Goodwin, the writer, was when he witnessed in 1766 and 1769 and Thomas Bazett in 1779. That he first appeared on a kinsman's leases was then a coincidence, or the occasion on which a young man of a planter's family, newly employed, was first given the task. Neither B. A. Wright nor the sub-secretary signed any lease from 18 December 1780 to this date, so the junior clerk carried the work across two sittings.

Bagley paid 1s 0d an acre on all 26 acres. One piece ran out to the waste, where low rents were usual. The other, of 11 acres, was enclosed by Desfountain, Matthew Bazett, the Seale orphans and Bagley himself. James Colgrave took more than 30 acres in the same district on 27 November 1780, with John Seale's orphans on his boundary too, at the full 5s 0d. Two tenants in one neighbourhood, seven weeks apart, thus paid the top and the bottom of the scale. Bazett's enclosed strip of five and a half acres between Desfountain and Worrall was let at 1s 0d on 18 November 1776, and the plan showed it as an awkward leftover. Dogwood Valley evidently held ground of the same poor kind in larger quantity, lying among good farms that had been taken up around it.

The two pieces were joined in one lease at one rate. They lay on different sides of Bagley's land, one to its west among neighbours and one to its east against the waste. Where the Council judged pieces beside the same farm to be of equal worth it combined them, as with John Desfountain's two on 30 September 1771.

The lease was the first dated in 1781 and followed Benjamin Mason's three by four weeks. Country grants at the end of 1780 and the start of 1781 thus came at short intervals through the southern summer, with no regard to Michaelmas.

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this Island the Honorable the united Company of Merchants of England

trading to the East Indies Do hereby demise grant Lease and to Farm

Let unto Orlando Bagley of the said Island Planter All that Piece

or Parcel of Land containing nineteen Acres Situate Lying and being

in the West division of the said Island butting and Bounding, East and

west upon the Honble Company's Waste Land, North upon the Lands

of Francis Seale, and South upon the Lands of him the said Orlando Bagley

To have and to hold the said Hereby demised Parcel of Land with the

appurtenances and every part and Parcel thereof unto him the said Orlando

Bagley his Heirs Executors, Administrators and 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 he the said Orlando

Bagley his Heirs, Executors, Administrators, or Allowed Assigns Do

always bear true faith and Allegiance to our Sovereign Lord King George the

third his Heirs and Successors and true faith to them the said Honorable

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 Honble Company their Successors Agents or assigns the

Rent of one Shilling and sixpence P Acre in at or upon the feast of

St. Michael the arch Angel Yearly and upon Condition that he the said

Orlando Bagley his Heirs or allowed 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 not nor shall sell or dispose of this Lease

or his or their Interest therein without the Leave and Consent of the Governor and Council for the time

being In Witness Whereof we the said Governor and Council have to the

other Part set our Hands and Affixed the Honble Companys Seal this

fifteenth day of January in the twenty first Year of the Reign of our

said Sovereign Lord George the third by the Grace of God of great Britain

France and Ireland King, defender of the faith and so forth and in the

Year of our Lord One thousand seven Hundred and Eighty one, and

he the said Orlando Bagley hath hereunto set his Hand and seal the

day and Year above written.

Orlando Bagley

Witness

Saml. Mason

The Company let 19 acres of land in the East Division to Orlando Bagley of the island, a planter. The ground was bounded on the east and west by the Company's waste land, on the north by the lands of Francis Seale and on the south by Bagley's own lands.

Bagley was to hold the ground, with everything belonging to it, for 21 years from the date of the lease. The term covered him and anyone who took the ground after him by inheritance or approved transfer.

The lease set out the following conditions. Bagley and his successors had to remain loyal to King George III and faithful to the Company, and had to obey the laws and regulations of the island. They paid the Company a rent of 1s 6d an acre each year, due on the feast of St Michael the Archangel. They had to keep the fences of the land in good repair and maintain the full quantity of wood on it. They could not sell or part with the lease or any interest in it without the permission of the Governor and Council of the day.

The Governor and Council signed one copy and fixed the Company's seal to it on 15 January 1781, in the twenty-first year of the reign of George III. Orlando Bagley signed and sealed the other copy on the same day, and Samuel Mason signed as witness.

Interpretations

Bagley took two leases on 15 January 1781, 26 acres at 1s 0d an acre and these 19 at 1s 6d. The difference of sixpence was kept in separate documents. On 11 December 1780 John Bagley's 28 acres at 5s 0d and seven at 3s 6d were written into one lease, and on 22 May 1780 Major Henry Bazett's three rates were combined in the same way. The clerk who entered Orlando Bagley's leases went back to the older method of one lease for each rent. The split rent was thus never adopted as a rule. It appeared in the entries of some sittings and not others, and its use seems to have depended on who drew the lease. The leases attested by Samuel Mason, in December 1780 and January 1781, each carried a single rate.

Together the two leases gave Bagley 45 acres, none of it above 1s 6d. That was the largest quantity of cheap land let to one tenant at a sitting. The 23 acres taken by Samuel Knipe junior at 1s 0d on 30 September 1771 was the nearest earlier case. Wide stretches of poor ground thus remained beside the farms of the East Division, and a planter prepared to fence them could have them for a small rent. James Colgrave's full rate on a neighbouring tract seven weeks before showed how sharply the land varied within one district.

The words requiring the permission of the Governor and Council were written in above the line, having been left out of the clause on selling. Without them the lease forbade the tenant to sell or part with his interest without leave, and did not say whose. The correction restored the sense. As with the omitted boundary in Samuel Knipe's lease of 30 September 1776, the entries in these later years were copied with less care than the form required.

Francis Seale held the land on the north. James Colgrave's lease named a Lieutenant Francis Seale on his east, with leasehold land. The Seale family's holdings in that quarter thus included an officer's as well as those kept for John Seale's orphans.

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Island St. 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 Orlando

Bagley Planter all those two Pieces or Parcells of Land containing in the whole

ten acres situate Lying and being in the East Division of the said Island

two Acres thereof butting and Bounding East, North, West and South on the

Honble Companys Waste Land and the Other eight acres butting and Bounding

North on the said Orlando Bagleys own Land, South and West on Lands now

in the Possession of the Orphans of John Seale deceased and East on the Honble

Companys Waste Land To have and to hold the said hereby Demised

Parcels of Land with the appurtenances and every Part and Parcel thereof unto

him the said Orlando Bagley his Heirs, Executors, Administrators and

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

he the said Orlando Bagley his Heirs Executors, Administrators and

Assigns Do always bear true faith and Allegiance to our Sovereign

Lord the King, 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 Yielding and Paying

therefore Yearly and every Year during the said term and time of twenty

one Years unto them the said Honble Company their Successors agents or

Assigns the Yearly Rent of five Shillings P Acre in at or upon the Feast

of St. Michael the Arch Angel Yearly And upon Condition that he the

said Orlando Bagley his Heirs Executors, administrators and 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 not nor shall

sell or dispose of this Lease or his or their Interest therein without the Leave and Consent

of the Governor and Council for the time being In Witness whereof

We the said Governor and Council have to the other Part set our hands and affixed the

Honble Companys Seal the fifteenth day of Jany in the twenty first Year

of the Reign of our Sovereign Lord George the third by the grace of God of great Britain France & Ireland King defender of the

faith and so forth and in the Year of our Lord 1781 and he the said Orlando

Bagley hath hereunto set his Hand and Seal the day and Year above Written

Orlando Bagley

Witness

Saml. Mason

The Company let two further pieces of land in the East Division, ten acres in all, to Orlando Bagley, a planter. The first piece, of two acres, was bounded on the east, north, west and south by the Company's waste land. The second piece, of eight acres, was bounded on the north by Bagley's own land, on the south and west by lands in the possession of the orphans of John Seale and on the east by the Company's waste land.

Bagley was to hold both pieces, with everything belonging to them, for 21 years from the date of the lease. The term covered him and anyone who took the ground after him by inheritance or approved transfer.

The lease set out the following conditions. Bagley and his successors had to remain loyal to the King and faithful to the Company, and had to obey the laws and regulations of the island. They paid the Company a rent of 5s 0d an acre each year, due on the feast of St Michael the Archangel. They had to keep the fences of the land in good repair and maintain the full quantity of wood on it. They could not sell or part with the lease or any interest in it without the permission of the Governor and Council of the day.

The Governor and Council signed one copy and fixed the Company's seal to it on 15 January 1781, in the twenty-first year of the reign of George III. Orlando Bagley signed and sealed the other copy on the same day, and Samuel Mason signed as witness.

Interpretations

Bagley took three leases on 15 January 1781, at 1s 0d, 1s 6d and 5s 0d an acre, covering 26 acres, 19 and ten. Each rent had its own lease. Major Henry Bazett's 19¼ acres of 22 May 1780 carried three rates almost as far apart, 5s 0d, 2s 6d and 1s 0d, within one document that did not say which acres paid which. Bagley's three leases showed the same range of land handled in the manner of the 1760s, with every piece described and every rate attached to identifiable ground. The older method cost three leases where the newer cost one, and it left a record from which each parcel could later be renewed, surrendered or transferred alone. The two methods were in use within eight months of each other under the same Secretary, and the choice between them followed no stated rule.

The 55 acres made Bagley's the largest addition by one tenant at a single sitting, equal to John Bagley's of 11 December 1780. Only ten of them paid the full rate. The Council thus let him a little good land and a great deal of poor, and the three rents together described the country round his farm more exactly than any single figure could.

The two acres stood alone in the waste and paid 5s 0d. Simon Whaley's detached plots of 1 February 1768, Matthew Bazett's one and a half acres in Stone Top Valley and the Bagley heirs' two acres above High Hill Waterfall were all small isolated pieces charged at the top of the scale. A planter went out of his way for such ground only where it had water or shelter, and the rent reflected the advantage. Bagley's 45 acres of cheap land lay beside his farm, and the dearest acre he took that day lay apart from it.

The lease described the neighbouring ground as in the possession of John Seale's orphans, where earlier leases spoke of an orphan's land. The phrase was the one used in town leases for a house occupied but not necessarily owned. The clerk stopped short of calling the land theirs, which suited an estate still held for children whose title awaited their coming of age.

Several words were supplied above the line, and the King was not named in the clause on loyalty. The three leases of 15 January 1781 were written quickly and corrected afterwards.

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Island St. 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 James Harper of the said Island all that Piece or Parcel of the

Honble Companys waste Land with the appurtenances lying in James's

Valley Butting and Bounding North upon the House of Thos. Leech, South

upon Ground belonging to the Heirs of Jno. Price decd. East and west upon

the Honble Companys waste Land, containing in front forty seven feet and

in depth sixty feet To have and to hold the said hereby demised Parcel of Ground

and every part and Parcel thereof unto him the said Jas. Harper His Heirs

Executors Administrators and 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 he the said Jas. Harper his Heirs

Executors Administrators and assigns Do and shall bear true faith

and allegiance to our Sovereign Lord King George the third, his Heirs

and successors and true faith to them the said Honble Company and their

Successors, and shall duly obey all the Laws and Constitution of the said

Island Yielding and Paying therefore Yearly and every Year unto

them the said Honble Company their Successors, Agents, or assigns the Rent

of fifteen Shillings P Annum in at or upon the Feast of St. Michael the

arch Angel, Yearly And upon Condition that he the said Jas. Harper

do well and sufficiently keep up and Maintain in good Repair all the Buildings

that are or may hereafter be Erected or Built upon the said Ground, or any

Part thereof and Do not nor shall sell or dispose of this Lease or his

Interest therein without the Leave and Consent of the Governor and Council for

the time being In Witness whereof we the said Governor and Council

have to the other Part set our Hands and affixed the Honble Companys

Seal the 15th day of January in the twenty first Year of the Reign of our

said Sovereign Lord George the third by the grace of God of Great Britain

France and Ireland King defender of the faith and so forth, and in the

Year of our Lord 1781 and he the said Jas. Harper hath hereunto set his

Hand and Seal, the day and Year above written.

James Harper

Witness

Nathl. Kennedy

The Company let a plot of its waste land in James's Valley to James Harper of the island. The plot measured 47 feet across the front and 60 feet in depth. It was bounded on the north by the house of Thomas Leech, on the south by ground belonging to the heirs of John Price and on the east and west by the Company's waste land.

Harper was to hold the ground, with everything belonging to it, for 21 years from the date of the lease. The term covered him and anyone who took the ground after him by inheritance or approved transfer.

The lease set out the following conditions. Harper and his successors had to remain loyal to King George III and faithful to the Company, and had to obey the laws and regulations of the island. They paid the Company a rent of £0 15s 0d a year, due on the feast of St Michael the Archangel. They had to keep in good repair every building standing on the ground or put up there later. They could not sell or part with the lease or any interest in it without the permission of the Governor and Council of the day.

The Governor and Council signed one copy and fixed the Company's seal to it on 15 January 1781, in the twenty-first year of the reign of George III. James Harper signed and sealed the other copy on the same day, and Nathaniel Kennedy signed as witness.

Interpretations

The plot matched the one let to John Price's executors on 22 May 1780 in every figure. Each measured 47 feet by 60 feet and paid £0 15s 0d. The Price plot had the house of James Harper on its north and the Price heirs' house on its south. Harper's plot had the Price heirs' ground on its south and Thomas Leech's house on its north. The two therefore lay side by side, filling a gap of 94 feet between Leech's house and the Price family's. The Council divided that gap into equal halves and let one to each neighbour at the same rent. The strip between Matthew Purling and Isaac Doveton was shared in the same way in 1766 and 1767, and the band behind the Greentree and Desfountain houses in 1768 and 1769. An equal split between the adjoining holders was the Council's standing method for leftover ground, in town and country alike.

The Price lease of May 1780 already spoke of James Harper's house on its northern boundary. A house therefore stood on this ground eight months before Harper had a lease of it, and the present grant still called the ground the Company's waste land. He had built first and obtained his title afterwards. Mary Harper's plot of 4 March 1771 and the Hayes public house plot of 4 November 1776 were regularised in the same way, in both cases after the occupier's death. Here the Council dealt with a living householder, and charged him the same rate as the estate beside him.

The rent of £0 15s 0d on 47 feet, a little under 4d a foot, looked like an anomaly in the Price lease, where it matched the plot's depth at the old 3d. A second plot at the identical figure, with Elizabeth Lambe's 4d a foot of 27 November 1780, confirmed that the Council was by then charging about that rate for ground between standing houses.

Nathaniel Kennedy witnessed the lease. He signed for John Bagley junior on both leases of 11 December 1780. Samuel Mason attested the three country leases of this same day. Two men outside the offices of Secretary and sub-secretary thus acted as witnesses at one sitting, which pointed to several clerks or regular attenders sharing the duty at the start of 1781.

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Island St. 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

Let unto John Robinson of the said Island Carpenter All that

Piece or Parcel of Land containing 13 Acres, Situate Lying and

being in the South Division of the said Island, butting and Bounding

East upon the Lands, of the late Capt. Wm. Bagley West upon the Lands of Onesiphorus Beales Orphans, South upon

the Lands of John Alexander and North upon the Honble Companys

Waste Land To have and to hold the said hereby Demised Parcel

of Land with the appurtenances and every Part and Parcel thereof

unto him the said John Robinson his Heirs Executors Administrators

or Allowed Assigns, do and shall bear true faith and Allegiance

to Our Sovereign Lord King George the third His Heirs and

Successors and true faith to them the said Honble Company and

their Successors and shall duly Obey all Laws and Constitutions

of the said Island Yielding and Paying therefore Yearly

and every Year during the said term and time of twenty One Years

unto the said Honble Company their Successors Agents or Assigns the

Rent of five Shillings P Acre at or upon the Feast of St. Michael

the Arch Angel Yearly And upon Condition that the said John

Robinson, 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 not nor shall

sell or dispose of this Lease or his or their Interest therein without the

Leave and Consent of the Governor and Council for the time being

In Witness whereof We the said Governor and Council have

to the other Part set Our Hands and Affixed the Honble Companys

Seal this 11th day of February in the twenty second Year of the Reign

of Our Sovereign Lord George the third by the grace of God of Great

Britain France and Ireland King defender of the faith and so forth

and in the Year of Our Lord 1782 and he the said John Robinson

hath hereunto set his Hand and Seal the day and Year above

written

John Robinson

Witness

Nathl. Kennedy

Sub Secry

The Company let 13 acres of land in the South Division to John Robinson of the island, a carpenter. The ground was bounded on the east by the lands of the orphans of the late Onesiphorus Beale, on the south by the lands of John Alexander and on the north by the Company's waste land.

Robinson was to hold the ground, with everything belonging to it, for 21 years from the date of the lease. The term covered him and anyone who took the ground after him by inheritance or approved transfer.

The lease set out the following conditions. Robinson and his successors had to remain loyal to King George III and faithful to the Company, and had to obey the laws and regulations of the island. They paid the Company a rent of 5s 0d an acre each year, due on the feast of St Michael the Archangel. They had to keep the fences of the land in good repair and maintain the full quantity of wood on it. They could not sell or part with the lease or any interest in it without the permission of the Governor and Council of the day.

The Governor and Council signed one copy and fixed the Company's seal to it on 11 February 1782, in the twenty-second year of the reign of George III. John Robinson signed and sealed the other copy on the same day, and Nathaniel Kennedy signed as witness, adding his office of sub-secretary.

Interpretations

Nathaniel Kennedy signed as sub-secretary. John Doveton held that office when he witnessed on 4 September and 11 December 1780. Kennedy signed for John Bagley junior on the second of those days and witnessed James Harper's lease on 15 January 1781 without a title. By February 1782 he had the deputy's post. His earlier appearances were therefore those of a clerk in the Secretary's office, as Samuel Mason's probably were, and the witnesses of late 1780 and early 1781 who seemed to be outsiders were its junior staff. The office of sub-secretary thus changed hands within 18 months of first being named, and the man who took it rose from within.

The lease followed the four of 15 January 1781 by 13 months, with nothing entered between. The year from March 1772 was the only earlier gap of that length. After the busy sittings of 1780, when more than 20 leases were sealed, the register again fell silent for a year. Grants of land on the island came in bursts, in 1766 to 1771 and in 1780, with long intervals in which the Council let almost nothing.

The lease gave boundaries on the east, south and north and none on the west. Samuel Knipe's lease of 30 September 1776 left out a side in the same way. The acreage was written in figures, where every earlier lease spelled it out in words. Figures were quicker to write and easier to alter, and the form had always avoided them for that reason. Both changes pointed to entries made with less formality than before.

Simon Whaley's lease of 5 April 1773 placed his four acres in the South Division beside the land of John Robinson, carpenter, on the west and south. Robinson was the Company's master carpenter in the leases of 28 August and 11 December 1769, with 17¼ acres in the East Division and a house in the valley. The present grant added to a second farm of his in the south, at the full 5s 0d an acre, with the waste on the north.

The orphans of Onesiphorus Beale held the land on the east. Richard Goodwin took two and a half acres for that estate in the south part of the island on 4 September 1780. The lease now called Beale the late, and his children were still described as orphans some 15 years after his death.

199

196

Island St. 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 Let unto John Robinson of the said Island Carpenter All

those two Pieces or Parcels of Land containing in the Whole five

Acres an three Quarters situate lying and being in the East Division

of the sd. Island Five Acres thereof Butting and Bounding East & North upon the Lands of him the sd.

John Robinson & West & South upon the Honble Company's Waste Land. The other three Quarters of an

Acre butting & Bounding, every way on the said John Robinson's own Land To have

and to hold the said hereby Demised Parcels

of Land with the appurtenances and

every Part and parcel thereof unto him the said John Robinson his

Heirs Executors Administrators and 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 he

the said John Robinson his Heirs, Executors Administrators or

Allowed assigns do and shall Bear true faith and Allegiance

to Our Sovereign Lord King George the third 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 Yielding and Paying therefore Yearly and every

Year during the said term and time of twenty one Years unto the

said Honble Company their Successors agents, or assigns the Rent of

two Shillings P Acre for the five Acres thereof and three and nine

Pence for the other three Quarters of an acre thereof at, or upon the feast

of St. Michael the arch Angel Yearly And upon Condition

that he the said John Robinson 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 not nor shall sell or Dispose of this Lease or His or their

Interest therein without the Leave and Consent of the Governor and

Council for the time being, In Witness whereof We the said

Governor and Council have to the other Part set our Hands and affixed

the Honble Companys Seal this 11th Day of February in the 22d Year

of the reign of Our Sovereign Lord George the third by the grace of

God of great Britain France or Ireland King, Defender of the faith

and so forth, and in the Year of Our Lord one thousand seven Hundred &

Eighty two and he the said John Robinson hath hereunto set his Hand

and Seal the Day and year above written

John Robinson

Witness

Nathl. Kennedy

Sub Secry

The Company let two pieces of land in the East Division, five and three quarter acres in all, to John Robinson of the island, a carpenter. The first piece, of five acres, was bounded on the east and north by Robinson's own lands and on the west and south by the Company's waste land. The second piece, of three quarters of an acre, was bounded on every side by Robinson's own land.

Robinson was to hold both pieces, with everything belonging to them, for 21 years from the date of the lease. The term covered him and anyone who took the ground after him by inheritance or approved transfer.

The lease set out the following conditions. Robinson and his successors had to remain loyal to King George III and faithful to the Company, and had to obey the laws and regulations of the island. They paid the Company a yearly rent of 5s 0d an acre for the five acres and a sum of £0 3s 9d for the three quarters of an acre, due on the feast of St Michael the Archangel. They had to keep the fences of the land in good repair and maintain the full quantity of wood on it. They could not sell or part with the lease or any interest in it without the permission of the Governor and Council of the day.

The Governor and Council signed one copy and fixed the Company's seal to it on 11 February 1782, in the twenty-second year of the reign of George III. John Robinson signed and sealed the other copy on the same day, and Nathaniel Kennedy signed as witness, adding his office of sub-secretary.

Interpretations

The rent was stated in two forms, a rate for the five acres and a fixed sum for the fraction. The sum of £0 3s 9d was exactly what three quarters of an acre came to at 5s 0d an acre. Both pieces were thus charged at the same rate, and the clerk worked out the amount for the smaller one and wrote it in. Every earlier lease gave a rate by the acre and left the reckoning to whoever collected the rent, even for Gabriel Harper's three quarters of an acre on 20 March 1769 and John Desfountain's quarter acre on 28 August 1769. A sum already calculated spared the collector the arithmetic on an awkward fraction. The lease looked at first like one of the split rents of 1778 to 1780, with two figures in one clause. It was in fact a single rate, and the second figure was a convenience.

The whole description of the two pieces, with their acreages and boundaries, was written in small script between the lines. The clerk passed from the total acreage straight to the clause on holding and then had to fit the missing words into the space above. Matthew Purling's lease of 11 November 1771 was corrected in the same way. The entry for Robinson's 13 acres on the same day omitted one boundary altogether. The leases of February 1782 were thus copied with several slips, some caught and one not.

The three quarters of an acre lay wholly inside Robinson's own land. Pockets enclosed by a single estate were leased to Matthew Bazett on 27 November 1780, to John Bagley junior on 11 December 1780 and to the Young heirs on 22 May 1780. Robinson's was the smallest of them. The Council went on bringing such ground onto the rent roll down to pieces worth a few shillings a year.

Robinson took 17¼ acres in the East Division on 28 August 1769 at 1s 6d an acre, as his share of a tract of poor ground. The five acres let now, between that farm and the waste, paid 5s 0d. Land on the outer side of his holding was thus rated above the holding itself, the reverse of the usual pattern. The quality of the ground in that part of the division evidently did not fall away steadily towards the waste.

200

197

Island St. 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 let unto

Lieutenant Francis Seale of the said Island All those three Pieces or

Parcels of Land containing in the whole four Acres and three Quarters

Situate, lying and being in the East Division of the said Island, Two and three

Quarter Acres thereof Butting and Bounding North and South upon the

Honble Company's Waste Land and East and West upon the Land of him the

said Francis Seale One Acre thereof Butting and Bounding on all sides upon

the Honble Companys Waste Land and the other one acre thereof Butting and

Bounding North and East upon the lands of him the said Francis Seale West

upon the Lands of Benjn. Mason and south upon the lands of Jas. Colgrave

To have and to hold the said hereby Demised Parcels of Land, with the

Appurtenances and every Part and Parcel thereof unto him the said Francis

Seale 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 Ensuing Upon Condition that he the said Francis

Seale His Heirs Executors Administrators or Assigns do and shall bear

true faith and Allegiance to Our Sovereign Lord King George the third 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 Yielding and Paying therefore Yearly and Every Year during

the said Term and time of twenty one Years unto the said Honble Company

their Successors agents or assigns the rent of five Shillings P Acre, at or

upon the Feast of St. Michael the arch Angel Yearly, And upon

Condition that he the said Francis Seale His Heirs Executors Administrators

or assigns do and shall Well and sufficiently keep up and maintain the

Fences to the said Lands and the full Quantity of Wood thereon and do

not nor shall sell or Dispose of this lease or his or their Interest therein

without the leave and Consent of the Governor and Council for the time

being In Witness whereof We the said Governor and Council have

to the other part set Our Hands and affixed the Honble Companys

Seal this 11th Day of February in the Twenty Second Year of the reign

of Our sovereign Lord George the Third by the grace of God of Great

Britain France and Ireland King defender of the faith and so forth and in the Year

of Our Lord one thousand seven Hundred and Eighty two and he the said John

Robinson hath hereunto set his Hand & seal the Day and Year above written

Francs. Seale

Witness.

Nathl. Kennedy

Sub Secry

The Company let three pieces of land in the East Division, four and three quarter acres in all, to Lieutenant Francis Seale of the island. The first piece, of two and three quarter acres, was bounded on the north and south by the Company's waste land and on the east and west by Seale's own land. The second piece, of one acre, was bounded on all sides by the Company's waste land. The third piece, of one acre, was bounded on the north and east by Seale's own land, on the west by the lands of Benjamin Mason and on the south by the lands of James Colgrave.

Seale was to hold the three pieces, with everything belonging to them, for 21 years from the date of the lease. The term covered him and anyone who took the ground after him by inheritance or approved transfer.

The lease set out the following conditions. Seale and his successors had to remain loyal to King George III and faithful to the Company, and had to obey the laws and regulations of the island. They paid the Company a rent of 5s 0d an acre each year, due on the feast of St Michael the Archangel. They had to keep the fences of the land in good repair and maintain the full quantity of wood on it. They could not sell or part with the lease or any interest in it without the permission of the Governor and Council of the day.

The Governor and Council signed one copy and fixed the Company's seal to it on 11 February 1782, in the twenty-second year of the reign of George III. Francis Seale signed and sealed the other copy on the same day, and Nathaniel Kennedy signed as witness, adding his office of sub-secretary.

Interpretations

The closing clause of the lease stated that John Robinson had signed and sealed it. Robinson was the tenant of the two leases entered immediately before, on the same day. The tenant here was Francis Seale, who was named correctly everywhere else and whose signature stood beneath the clause. The clerk evidently wrote the ending from the lease he had just finished, changing nothing, and did not notice the wrong name. A slip of that kind showed how the entries were produced. The standard clauses were carried from one lease to the next, with the tenant's name and the particulars of the land substituted, and when the substitution was missed the previous tenant survived in the text. The signature and seal were Seale's, so the lease bound him. The Company's own record nonetheless declared that another man had executed it, an error that would have needed explaining if the lease was ever disputed.

The three leases of 11 February 1782 each contained a fault of copying. One left out a boundary, one had its whole description added between the lines and this one named the wrong tenant at the close. Under Matthew Bazett an omitted phrase was written in above the line when noticed. The entries made under the new sub-secretary were less carefully checked, and one error here went uncorrected.

Three pieces went into one lease at the full 5s 0d an acre. One lay between parts of Seale's own land, one stood alone in the waste and one was fitted among his land, Mason's and Colgrave's. Each was no more than an acre or two. The lieutenant was tidying the edges and gaps of his farm, in the way Matthew Bazett did along the main ridge on 27 November 1780. The single acre surrounded by waste paid the top rate, like every other small detached plot in the volume.

James Colgrave's lease of 27 November 1780 named the leasehold land of Lieutenant Francis Seale on his east. The present lease named Colgrave on the south of Seale's third piece. The two men's farms thus adjoined along more than one line, and each lease confirmed the other.

201

198

Island St. 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 Let unto

George Alexander Planter All those two Pieces or Parcels of Land adjoining

each other containing in the Whole forty two Acres situate lying and being

in the south Division of the said Island butting and Bounding East upon the

Lands of Jas. Colgrave, West upon the Lands of him the said Geo. Alexander

North upon the Lands of Benjn. Mason and South upon the Honble Companys

Waste Land, To have and to hold the said hereby Demised Parcels of Land with the appurtenances and every Part and Parcel thereof

unto him the said Geo. Alexander 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 ensuing

Upon Condition that he the said George Alexander his Heirs

Executors Administrators or Assigns do and shall bear true faith

and Allegiance to Our sovereign Lord King George the Third 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 Yielding and Paying therefore Yearly and every

Year During the said term and time of twenty One Years unto the

said Honble Company their Successors agents or assigns the Rent of

five Shillings P Acre at or upon the Feast of St. Michael the arch

Angel Yearly And upon Condition that he the said George

Alexander 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 not nor shall sell or

dispose of this Lease or his or their Interest therein without the leave

and Consent of the Governor and Council for the time being In

Witness whereof We the said Governor and Council have to the other part

set our hands and affixed the Honble Companys Seal this 11th Day of

February in the twenty Second Year of the reign of Our sovereign Lord

George the third by the grace of God of Great Britain France and Ireland

King Defender of the faith and so forth and in the Year of Our Lord

1782 and he the said George Alexander hath hereunto set his Hand

and Seal the Day and Year above Written

Georg Alexander

Witness

Nathl. Kennedy

Sub Secry

The Company let two adjoining pieces of land in the South Division, 42 acres in all, to George Alexander, a planter. The ground was bounded on the east by the lands of James Colgrave, on the west by Alexander's own lands, on the north by the lands of Benjamin Mason and on the south by the Company's waste land.

Alexander was to hold the ground, with everything belonging to it, for 21 years from the date of the lease. The term covered him and anyone who took the ground after him by inheritance or approved transfer.

The lease set out the following conditions. Alexander and his successors had to remain loyal to King George III and faithful to the Company, and had to obey the laws and regulations of the island. They paid the Company a rent of 5s 0d an acre each year, due on the feast of St Michael the Archangel. They had to keep the fences of the land in good repair and maintain the full quantity of wood on it. They could not sell or part with the lease or any interest in it without the permission of the Governor and Council of the day.

The Governor and Council signed one copy and fixed the Company's seal to it on 11 February 1782, in the twenty-second year of the reign of George III. George Alexander signed and sealed the other copy on the same day, and Nathaniel Kennedy signed as witness, adding his office of sub-secretary.

Interpretations

The 42 acres made the largest grant to a planter in the volume, exceeding John Alexander's 40 acres of 12 September 1768 and second only to the 61 acres let to the chaplain on 17 September 1770. The two earlier grants of that size were both eased. John Alexander paid 2s 6d an acre for his first 14 years before rising to 5s 0d, and the chaplain paid 1s 6d throughout. George Alexander was charged the full 5s 0d from the first year on every acre, a rent of £10 10s 0d a year. The ground ran out to the waste on the south, where reduced rates were common. The Council made no allowance for the size of the undertaking, as it did once in 1768 for a kinsman of this tenant. A tract that large, taken at the top of the scale, was evidently good land, and a planter of long standing was judged able to bear the charge at once.

George Alexander was the executor who signed both trust leases for the children of Thomas Colgrave, on 16 February 1767 and 12 September 1768, and his own land bounded the second of those grants. James Colgrave's lands lay on the east of the present ground. The executor of 1767 and a Colgrave of the next generation were thus neighbours 15 years later, the connection between the two families having outlasted the trust.

The lease placed the ground in the South Division. Lieutenant Francis Seale's lease of the same day named the same two neighbours, Benjamin Mason and James Colgrave, on a piece in the East Division, and Colgrave's own lease of 27 November 1780 put his land in the East. The three holdings therefore lay about the line between the two districts. Mary Doveton's acre of 12 October 1767 and William Wrangham's of 4 December 1769 raised the same point with Matthew Purling and Henry Bazett as neighbours. The divisions were named in every lease but had no boundary that the clerks applied consistently.

The clause on holding the land was written in between the lines. All four leases of 11 February 1782 thus carried a correction or an error, an omitted boundary, an interlined description, a wrong name in the closing clause and here a clause first left out. The sitting dealt with some 65 acres in four grants, and the entries were made in haste.

202

199

Island St. 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 let unto

George Alexander of the said Island Planter all that piece or parcel of Land

Containing in Seven acres situate lying and being in the south Division of the

said Island Butting and Bounding every way upon the Lands of him

the said George Alexander To have and to hold the said hereby

Demised Parcel of Land with the Appurtenances and every Part and Parcel

thereof unto him the said George Alexander 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 ensuing Upon

Condition that he the said George Alexander His Heirs Executors

Administrators and Assigns do and shall bear true faith and Allegiance

to Our Sovereign Lord King George the third 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

Yielding and Paying therefore Yearly and every Year during the

said term and time of twenty one Years unto the said Honble Company

their successors agents or assigns the Rent of five shillings P Acre

at or upon the Feast of St. Michael the arch Angel Yearly and upon

Condition that he the said George Alexander His Heirs Executors

Administrators or Assigns shall Well and sufficiently keep up and

Maintain the Fences to the said Land and the full Quantity of Wood

thereon, and do not nor shall sell or dispose of this lease or his or their Interest

therein without the leave and Consent of the Governor and Council for the

for the time being In Witness whereof We the said Governor and

Council have to the other part set our Hands and affixed the Honble

Companys Seal this 11th day of February in the 22d Year of the Reign

of Our Sovereign Lord George the third by the grace of God of Great

Britain France and Ireland King Defender of the faith and so forth

and in the Year of Our Lord 1782 and he the said George Alexander

hath hereunto set his hand and Seal the Day and Year above

Written

George Alexander

Witness

Nathl. Kennedy

Sub Secry

The Company let seven acres of land in the South Division to George Alexander of the island, a planter. Alexander's own lands bounded the ground on every side.

Alexander was to hold the ground, with everything belonging to it, for 21 years from the date of the lease. The term covered him and anyone who took the ground after him by inheritance or approved transfer.

The lease set out the following conditions. Alexander and his successors had to remain loyal to King George III and faithful to the Company, and had to obey the laws and regulations of the island. They paid the Company a rent of 5s 0d an acre each year, due on the feast of St Michael the Archangel. They had to keep the fences of the land in good repair and maintain the full quantity of wood on it. They could not sell or part with the lease or any interest in it without the permission of the Governor and Council of the day.

The Governor and Council signed one copy and fixed the Company's seal to it on 11 February 1782, in the twenty-second year of the reign of George III. George Alexander signed and sealed the other copy on the same day, and Nathaniel Kennedy signed as witness, adding his office of sub-secretary.

Interpretations

Alexander took two leases on 11 February 1782, 42 acres beside his farm and these seven acres inside it, both at 5s 0d an acre. The rent, the tenant, the division and the day were the same, yet the enclosed piece was given its own lease. John Bagley junior's grants of 11 December 1780 were arranged in the same way. His 20 acres surrounded by his own land went into one lease, and his 35 acres on the edge of the estate into another, although most of the second paid the same rate as the first. On both occasions the clerk kept apart the ground found inside a tenant's holding from the ground added at its boundary. The practice supported the view that enclosed pockets were identified by a separate process, a check of each estate against the land its holder occupied, and were leased on the strength of that finding, while additions arose from the tenant's own application.

Leases of ground wholly enclosed by one estate were made to the Young heirs on 22 May 1780, to Matthew Bazett on 27 November 1780, to John Bagley on 11 December 1780, to John Robinson on this same day and now to Alexander. Five tenants in under two years were thus charged for land inside their own fences. Before 1780 the volume recorded hardly any grant of that kind. The Council was evidently reviewing the larger estates in those years and bringing every unleased piece within them onto the rent roll, at the full rate.

With the 42 acres, Alexander's leases of the day came to 49 acres at 5s 0d, a yearly rent of £12 5s 0d. Gabriel Harper's lease of 22 August 1768 described him as a planter with land in the South Division, on two sides of Powell's Valley. Fourteen years later that farm was large enough to surround seven acres of the Company's ground, and he was extending it southward to the waste by one of the biggest grants in the volume.

203

200

Island St. 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 Let unto Mary Alexander Henry

Bazett, John Alexander, George Alexander and Britannicus Alexander Wright

Executrix and Executors to the last Will and Testament of Samuel Alexander

Deceased in trust nevertheless to and for the proper use and benefit of the

Heirs of the said Samuel Alexander All that piece or parcel of Land

containing seventeen Acres situate lying and being in the South Division

of the said Island butting and bounding West partly

in the Lands of Henry Bazett aforesaid and partly on the Lands of the

said Samuel Alexander Deceased North and South on the Lands

of John Scott and East on the Lands of him the said Samuel

Alexander Deceased To have and to hold the said hereby Demised parcel

of Land with the Appurtenances and every part and parcel thereof

unto them the said Mary Alexander, Henry Bazett, John Alexander

George Alexander, and Britannicus Alexander Wright Executrix and

Executors aforesaid their Heirs, Executors, Administrators and 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 they the said Mary Alexander, Henry Bazett, John Alexander, George

Alexander and Britannicus Alexander Wright, Executrix and Executors

aforesaid their Heirs, Executors, Administrators or Allowed Assigns do

and shall bear true faith and Allegiance to Our Sovereign Lord King

George the Third His Heirs and Successors and true Faith to them

the said Honble Company and their Successors and shall duly obey

and the Laws and Constitutions of the said Island Yielding and

paying therefore Yearly and every Year during the said term and

time of twenty one Years unto the said Honble Company their

Successors, Agents or Assigns the Rent of five shillings P Acre

at or upon the Feast of St. Michael the Arch Angel Yearly

And Upon Condition that they the said Mary Alexander

Henry Bazett, John Alexander, George Alexander and

Britannicus

The Company let 17 acres of land in the South Division to five executors of the will of Samuel Alexander, who had died, as trustees for his heirs. They were Mary Alexander, the executrix, and Henry Bazett, John Alexander, George Alexander and Britannicus Alexander Wright. The ground was bounded on the west partly by the lands of Henry Bazett and partly by the lands of the dead Samuel Alexander, on the north and south by the lands of John Scott and on the east by Samuel Alexander's lands.

The five were to hold the ground, with everything belonging to it, for 21 years from the date of the lease.

The lease set out the following conditions. Mary Alexander, Henry Bazett, John Alexander, George Alexander and Britannicus Alexander Wright, and their successors, had to remain loyal to King George III and faithful to the Company, and had to obey the laws and regulations of the island. They paid the Company a rent of 5s 0d an acre each year, due on the feast of St Michael the Archangel.

Interpretations

The lease gave the Secretary's name in full. He signed every lease from 1773 as B. Wright or B. A. Wright, and the entries of 1766 and 1767 recorded his second name as Alexander. Here he was Britannicus Alexander Wright, one of five executors of Samuel Alexander's will, alongside John and George Alexander. His middle name was the dead man's surname, and he was named among the family's own members to manage the estate. The Secretary was therefore a kinsman of the Alexanders, probably through his mother. The officer who kept the Company's register of leases belonged by blood to one of the island's most widespread planting families, as Matthew Bazett before him belonged to a family of officers and landholders.

The lease laid loyalty and obedience on the five trustees. Every trust entered since 1776, for the Hayes, Bagley, Harper, Young, Price and Beale estates, placed that duty on the heirs, the form of 1767 that the Council corrected on 12 September 1768 and that returned when Wright took over the register. In the one trust lease to which Wright was himself a party, the corrected form reappeared. The trustees were made answerable for every condition, as the Council intended in 1768. Whether Wright drew this lease with more care because he was to sign it, or another clerk prepared it from a different pattern, the entry showed that the stronger wording was still known in the office. Its absence from the other trusts of his time was thus a matter of habit and not of ignorance.

Samuel Alexander was named with Margaret Harper as executor of Martin Harper's will on 30 September 1779 and did not sign. Major Henry Bazett's lease of 22 May 1780 called him the late Samuel Alexander. His own estate now came before the Council, with his widow as executrix and four men beside her. Henry Bazett's lands adjoined the 17 acres, and he again served as a trustee for a neighbour, as he did for Thomas Greentree, Richard Bagley and William Young.

The trust for the heirs was declared in the opening words. The ground was enclosed by the dead man's lands, Bazett's and John Scott's, and paid the full 5s 0d an acre, the usual charge on an addition among settled farms and on almost every estate held for heirs.

204

201

Britannicus Alexander Wright Executrix and Executors aforesaid their

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 not nor shall sell or Dispose

of this Lease or their Interest therein without the leave and consent

of the Governor and Council for the time being. In Witness whereof

We the said Governor and Council have to the other part set Our hands

and affixed the Honble Seal this 11 Day of March in the twenty

Second Year of the Reign of Our said Sovereign Lord George the third

by the Grace of God of Great Britain France and Ireland King

Defender of the Faith and so forth and in the Year of Our Lord 1782

And they the said Mary Alexander, Henry Bazett John Alexander,

George Alexander and Britannicus Alexander Wright Executrix and

Executors aforesaid have hereunto set their Hands and Seals the

Day and Year above Written.

Henr Bazett

B A Wright

Witness

Nathl. Kennedy

Sub Secry

Island St. 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, Let unto, Mary Alexander

Henr. Bazett John Alexander, George Alexander and Britannicus Alexander

Wright, Executrix and Executors to the last Will and Testament of Samuel

Alexander Deceased in trust nevertheless to and for the proper use and benefit

of the Heirs of the said Samuel Alexander, All that piece or parcel of land

containing nineteen acres situate lying and being in the South Division of the

said Island butting and bounding North upon the lands of the said Samuel

Alexander Decd. East upon the lands of George Alexander South upon the lands

of Thomas Harpers Orphs. and West upon the lands of John Bagley Senr.

To have and to hold the said hereby demised parcel of land with the appurtenances

and every part and parcel thereof unto them the said Mary Alexander, Henry

Bazett, John Alexander George Alexander and Britannicus Alexander Wright

Executrix and Executors aforesaid their Heirs, Executors, Administrs. and

Assigns from the day the day of the date hereof for and during all the

The five executors of Samuel Alexander's will had to keep the fences of the 17 acres in good repair and maintain the full quantity of wood on the land. They could not sell or part with the lease or their interest in it without the permission of the Governor and Council of the day.

The Governor and Council signed one copy and fixed the Company's seal to it on 11 March 1782, in the twenty-second year of the reign of George III. The other copy was to be signed and sealed by all five trustees on the same day. Henry Bazett and B. A. Wright signed it, each with a seal, and Nathaniel Kennedy signed as witness, adding his office of sub-secretary.

A new lease, made at St Helena, followed. The Company let a further 19 acres of land in the South Division to the same five executors, Mary Alexander, Henry Bazett, John Alexander, George Alexander and Britannicus Alexander Wright, as trustees for the heirs of Samuel Alexander. The ground was bounded on the north by the lands of the dead Samuel Alexander, on the east by the lands of George Alexander, on the south by the lands of the orphans of Thomas Harper and on the west by the lands of John Bagley junior.

The five were to hold the ground, with everything belonging to it, for 21 years from the date of the lease.

Interpretations

Two of the five trustees signed, and neither bore the family's name. Mary Alexander, the widow and executrix, did not sign, nor did John or George Alexander. The lease was completed by the major and the Secretary, the two officials among the executors. On 6 January 1777, with Wright as witness, all five of Richard Bagley's executors signed each of three leases, which suggested that he required a full execution. As a trustee himself five years later, he signed with one colleague and let the lease stand on two hands out of five. The practice of 1777 was therefore not a rule he imposed. The Council took whatever signatures were offered, and where officials of standing were among the trustees it was content with theirs.

Wright could not witness a lease to which he was a party, and the sub-secretary signed in his place. Matthew Bazett stood aside in the same way in 1766, 1767, 1769 and 1770, when Wright and others attested for him. The rule that a party did not attest his own deed was thus observed by both Secretaries across 16 years, whatever else in the form varied.

George Alexander was both a trustee for the heirs and the holder of the land on the east of the second piece. He took 49 acres in the South Division for himself on 11 February 1782, a month before. Benjamin Mason stood in the same double position towards Richard Bagley's estate on 18 December 1780. The family's own members managed the trust and farmed beside it, and the Company's separate leases kept each title distinct.

The neighbours of the 19 acres were the Alexanders, the orphans of Thomas Harper and John Bagley junior. Those three families, with Major Bazett and William Wrangham, held most of the land named in the South Division leases of 1780 to 1782. The district was by then in the hands of a few connected estates, several of them held for heirs.

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space & term of twenty one Years from thence next Ensuing Upon condition

that they the sd. Mary Alexander, Henr. Bazett, John Alexander Geo. Alexander & Britts. Alexr. Wright

Executrix and Executors aforesaid, their Heirs Executors Administrators

or allowed assigns do and shall bear true faith and Allegiance to Our

Sovereign Lord King George the third His Heirs and Executors 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 Yielding

and paying therefore Yearly and every Year during the said term and time

of twenty one Years unto the said Honble Company their Successors, Agents

or Assigns the rent of five Shillings P Acre, at or upon the feast of St.

Michael the Arch Angel Yearly And upon Condition that they the

said Mary Alexander Henry Bazett, John Alexander, George Alexander

and Britannicus Alexander Wright Executrix and Executors aforesaid

their 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 not nor shall sell or Dispose of this

Lease or their Interest therein without the leave and Consent of the Governor

and Council for the time being In Witness whereof We the said Governor

and Council have to the other part Set Our hands and affixed the Honble

Companys Seal this 11th day of March in the twenty Second Year of the

Reign of Our said Sovereign Lord George the third by the grace of God of

great Britain France and Ireland King Defender of the faith and so forth

and in the Year of Our Lord 1782 and they the said Mary Alexander

Henry Bazett, John Alexander George Alexander and Britannicus

Alexander Wright, Executrix and Executors aforesaid have hereunto

set their Hands and Seals the day and Year above written

Witness

Nathl. Kennedy

Sub Secry

Henr Bazett

B A Wright

The five executors of Samuel Alexander's will were to hold the 19 acres in the South Division for 21 years from the date of the lease.

The lease set out the following conditions. Mary Alexander, Henry Bazett, John Alexander, George Alexander and Britannicus Alexander Wright, and their successors, had to remain loyal to King George III and faithful to the Company, and had to obey the laws and regulations of the island. They paid the Company a rent of 5s 0d an acre each year, due on the feast of St Michael the Archangel. They had to keep the fences of the land in good repair and maintain the full quantity of wood on it. They could not sell or part with the lease or their interest in it without the permission of the Governor and Council of the day.

The Governor and Council signed one copy and fixed the Company's seal to it on 11 March 1782, in the twenty-second year of the reign of George III. The other copy was to be signed and sealed by all five trustees on the same day. Henry Bazett and B. A. Wright signed it, each with a seal, and Nathaniel Kennedy signed as witness, adding his office of sub-secretary.

Interpretations

The second lease for Samuel Alexander's heirs repeated the first in every term. Both were sealed on 11 March 1782, both charged 5s 0d an acre and both went to the same five trustees. The 17 acres and the 19 acres together gave the estate 36 acres in the South Division at a yearly rent of £9 0s 0d. The two pieces had different neighbours and did not adjoin, so each received its own lease, although nothing but the description of the ground distinguished them. Pieces at one rent beside the same farm were often joined in a single document in these years, as with John Bagley junior's on 11 December 1780. The Council here kept to its older course of a separate title for each separate parcel.

Every condition again fell on the trustees, including loyalty and obedience. The corrected form of 12 September 1768 was therefore used in both leases for this estate and was no slip of one entry. The trusts for the Hayes, Bagley, Harper, Young, Price and Beale heirs, all entered while Wright was Secretary, left that duty with the heirs. The only two trust leases of his time to bind the trustees in full were the two he signed as a trustee himself.

The same two men signed as on the first lease, the major and the Secretary, and the three Alexanders named with them signed neither. The widow and the dead man's two kinsmen were thus bound by leases for 36 acres that none of them executed. George Alexander attended the Council on 11 February 1782 to sign two leases of his own, so his absence a month later was not for want of opportunity. The family evidently left the formal business of the estate to the two officials among the executors.

The heirs paid the full rate on all 36 acres, as George Alexander did on his 49 acres of 11 February 1782. The Alexander family's additions in the South Division in those two months came to 85 acres, every one at the top of the scale. Benjamin Seale's 18½ acres on the southern margin of the same division were let at 1s 0d on 10 July 1780, which showed how far the family's ground stood above the poorest land of the district.

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[A patch at the left-hand edge of the page covers the start of five lines in the middle of the text.]

Island St. 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 Let unto Robert Leech Factor All

that piece or parcel of Ground situate lying and being in James's Valley

behind and adjoining his Dwelling house containing eighty feet next to the Water

Course and seventy five feet next to the Yard Wall of Elizabeth Lambe

Widow and twenty four Feet in depth next to the lease ground of Captain

Lieutenant Samuel Desfountain To have and to hold the said hereby demised

parcel of ground with the appurtenances and every part and parcel thereof unto

him the said Robert Leech 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 ensuing upon Condition that

he the said Robert Leech His Heirs Executors Administrators or assigns do

always bear true faith and Allegiance to Our Sovereign Lord King George the

[...] Heirs and Successors and true faith to them the said Honble Company

[...] Successors and shall duly obey all the laws and Constitutions of the said

[...] Yielding and paying therefore Yearly and every year during the

[...] term and time of twenty one Years unto the said Honble Company and their

[...]sors Agents or Assigns the rent of seven Shillings P Annum, at or

upon the feast of Saint Michael the arch Angel Yearly and upon

Condition that he the said Robert Leech His Heirs Executors Administrators

or Assigns do and shall well and sufficiently keep up and maintain in good

repair all such Buildings that are or may be hereafter built or erected on the

said piece of ground or any part thereof and do not nor shall sell or dispose of

this Lease or his or their Interest therein without the leave and Consent of the

Governor and Council for the time being In Witness whereof We the said

Governor and Council have to the other part set our hands and affixed the

Honble Companys Seal this 18th day of March in the twenty second year

of the reign of Our said Sovereign Lord George the third by the grace of God

of great Britain, France and Ireland, King defender of the faith and so forth

and in the Year of Our Lord 1782 and he the said Robert Leech hath hereunto

set his Hand and Seal the Day and Year above Written

Robt. Leech

Witness

B A Wright

The Company let a piece of ground in James's Valley to Robert Leech, a factor. The ground lay behind his dwelling house and adjoined it. It measured 80 feet along the side next to the watercourse and 75 feet along the side next to the yard wall of Elizabeth Lambe, a widow. Its depth was 20 feet on the side next to the leased ground of Captain Lieutenant Samuel Desfountain.

Leech was to hold the ground, with everything belonging to it, for 21 years from the date of the lease. The term covered him and anyone who took the ground after him by inheritance or approved transfer.

The lease set out the following conditions. Leech and his successors had to remain loyal to King George III and faithful to the Company, and had to obey the laws and regulations of the island. They paid the Company a rent of £0 7s 0d a year, due on the feast of St Michael the Archangel. They had to keep in good repair every building standing on the ground or put up there later. They could not sell or part with the lease or any interest in it without the permission of the Governor and Council of the day.

The Governor and Council signed one copy and fixed the Company's seal to it on 18 March 1782, in the twenty-second year of the reign of George III. Robert Leech signed and sealed the other copy on the same day, and B. A. Wright signed as witness.

Interpretations

Leech paid £0 7s 0d for a strip some 80 feet long and 20 feet deep behind his house. The flat fee for such additions stood at £0 5s 0d in 1768 and 1769, fell to about £0 2s 0d in 1770 and 1771 and was restored to £0 5s 0d under B. A. Wright, when the Young heirs paid it on 22 May 1780 for 17 feet by 13 feet. A rent above the fee, on a piece many times that size, showed that £0 5s 0d had become a minimum and no longer a fixed charge. Larger pieces of back ground were now priced upward from it. The figure still fell far below the rate by the foot, which called for £1 0s 0d on 80 feet at the old standard. Ground behind a house, with no face on the street, thus remained a separate and much cheaper class of town land, graded by size above a floor.

Elizabeth Lambe's lease of 27 November 1780 placed her plot between the watercourse on the west and Robert Leech's back yard on the south. The present lease named her yard wall and the watercourse as two of the limits of Leech's new ground. The two leases described the same corner from either side. Within 16 months of her grant the widow had walled her yard, and her neighbour was taking the open strip that remained between his house, her wall and the stream.

Leech was styled a factor. He and Jane Willson took a piece beside their house on 29 October 1770 with no description given, and he served as one of Richard Bagley's executors on 6 January 1777. William Wrangham was a factor on 29 August 1768 and an Esquire ten years later. Leech had reached the same grade in the Company's civil service, the rank next above a writer.

Samuel Desfountain was a lieutenant when he took a slip behind his house on 19 December 1768. He appeared here as captain lieutenant, the officer who commanded a company on behalf of its nominal captain and ranked between the two grades. His ground was called leased ground, in the wording the Secretary's office used from 1777 for land held from the Company.

Wright witnessed this lease a week after signing as a trustee for Samuel Alexander's heirs on 11 March 1782, when the sub-secretary attested in his place.

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Island St. 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 let unto Captain

Lieutenant Samuel Desfountain all that piece or parcel of Ground situate Lying

and being in James's Valley containing seventy feet in front Twenty Two

feet in Depth next to the Bridge ninety five feet next to the Water Course

and eighty five feet in depth next to the dwelling House of Robert Leech

Factor To have and to hold the said hereby demised parcel of ground with

the appurtenances and every part and parcel thereof unto him the said

Samuel Desfountain 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 ensuing Upon Condition that

he the said Samuel Desfountain His Heirs Executors, Administrators or

Assigns Do always bear true faith and allegiance to Our Sovereign Lord

King George the third 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 Yielding and paying therefore

Yearly and every Year, during the said term and time of twenty one Years

unto the said Honble Company their Successors agents or assigns the rent of

twelve Shillings P Annum, at or upon the Feast of St. Michael the

Arch Angel Yearly and upon Condition that he the said Samuel

Desfountain his Heirs Executors administrators or assigns do and shall

well and sufficiently keep up and maintain in good repair all such

Buildings that are or may be hereafter Built or erected on the said piece

of ground or any part thereof and do not nor shall sell or dispose of this

Lease or his or their Interest therein without the leave and Consent of the

Governor and Council for the time being In Witness whereof We

the said Governor and Council have to the other part set Our hands and

affixed the Honble Companys Seal this 18th day of March in the twenty

Second Year of the reign of our Said Sovereign Lord George the third by

the grace of God of great Britain France and Ireland King defender

of the faith and so forth and in the Year of Our Lord 1782 and he the

Said Samuel Desfountain hath hereunto set his hand and Seal the

day and Year above written

Saml. Desfountain

Witness

B A Wright

The Company let a plot of ground in James's Valley to Captain Lieutenant Samuel Desfountain. The plot measured 70 feet across the front. Its depth was 22 feet on the side next to the bridge and 85 feet on the side next to the dwelling house of Robert Leech, a factor. The side next to the watercourse measured 95 feet.

Desfountain was to hold the ground, with everything belonging to it, for 21 years from the date of the lease. The term covered him and anyone who took the ground after him by inheritance or approved transfer.

The lease set out the following conditions. Desfountain and his successors had to remain loyal to King George III and faithful to the Company, and had to obey the laws and regulations of the island. They paid the Company a rent of £0 12s 0d a year, due on the feast of St Michael the Archangel. They had to keep in good repair every building standing on the ground or put up there later. They could not sell or part with the lease or any interest in it without the permission of the Governor and Council of the day.

The Governor and Council signed one copy and fixed the Company's seal to it on 18 March 1782, in the twenty-second year of the reign of George III. Samuel Desfountain signed and sealed the other copy on the same day, and B. A. Wright signed as witness.

Interpretations

Desfountain paid £0 12s 0d for 70 feet of frontage, a little over 2d a foot. Ground between standing houses in the centre of the valley cost close to 4d a foot in 1780, in the leases to the Price heirs, Elizabeth Lambe and James Harper. Captain St Maurice paid just over 3d on 4 December 1780 for a plot beside the slaughterhouse. Desfountain's plot had a full front on the street, yet it was charged at about half the highest rate. Its shape accounted for the difference. The ground narrowed from 85 feet deep at one end to 22 feet at the other, squeezed between the street and the line of the watercourse where the two converged at the bridge. A third of the frontage had too little depth behind it to build on. The Council thus priced the plot by what could be used and not by the length of its face, as it did for Private Bickerstaff's wedge of 20 April 1778.

Desfountain and Robert Leech were neighbours, and both took ground on 18 March 1782. Leech's strip of 80 feet lay behind his house against the watercourse, with Desfountain's leased ground at one end. Desfountain's plot had Leech's dwelling house on one side and the watercourse on another. The two leases between them disposed of the open ground lying around the two houses down to the stream. Adjoining householders were again dealt with at one sitting, with the limits of each grant fixed against the other.

The lease named a bridge over the watercourse. No earlier lease mentioned one. The street evidently crossed the stream at that point, and the crossing served as a landmark needing no further description, as the slaughterhouse and the Lieutenant Governor's house did in the leases of late 1780.

Desfountain's rank was first written as captain, with the word lieutenant added above the line. Leech's lease of the same day gave the rank in full. The clerk corrected the entry to match, which showed the two leases being checked against each other.

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Island St. 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 Let unto Willm.

Wrangham Esqr. All that piece or parcel of Land containing seventeen acres

situate lying and being in the south Division of the said Island butting and bounding

North upon the lands of Orlando Bagleys Orphans East partly upon the lands

of Lieutenant Thomas Greentree and partly upon the lands of Saml. Harper

Planter and South upon the Lands of John Bagley and Jas. Easthope Planters

To have and to hold the said hereby demised parcel of Land with the appurtenances

and every part and parcel thereof unto him the said Willm. Wrangham His Heirs

Executors administrators and 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 he the said William Wrangham His Heirs Executors

Administrators or assigns do and shall bear true faith and allegiance to Our

Sovereign Lord King George the third 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 Yielding and paying

therefore Yearly and every Year during the said term and time of twenty

One Years unto the said Honble Company their Successors Agents or assigns

the rent of five Shillings P Acre at or upon the feast of St. Michael the

Arch Angel Yearly and upon Condition that he the said William Wrangham

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 not nor shall Sell or dispose of this lease or his or their Interest

therein without the leave and Consent of the Governor and Council for the time being In Witness whereof we

the said Governor and Council have to the other part set our Hands and affixed the

Honble Companys Seal this 8th day of April in the twenty second Year of the

Reign of Our said Sovereign Lord George the Third by the grace of God of great

Britain France and Ireland King Defender of the faith and so forth and in the

Year of Our Lord 1782 and he the said William Wrangham hath hereunto

set his hand and seal the day and Year above written

Wm. Wrangham

Witness

B A Wright

The Company let 17 acres of land in the South Division to William Wrangham Esquire. The ground was bounded on the north by the lands of the orphans of Orlando Bagley, on the east partly by the lands of Lieutenant Thomas Greentree and partly by the lands of Samuel Harper, a planter, and on the south by the lands of John Bagley and James [...], planters.

Wrangham was to hold the ground, with everything belonging to it, for 21 years from the date of the lease. The term covered him and anyone who took the ground after him by inheritance or approved transfer.

The lease set out the following conditions. Wrangham and his successors had to remain loyal to King George III and faithful to the Company, and had to obey the laws and regulations of the island. They paid the Company a rent of 5s 0d an acre each year, due on the feast of St Michael the Archangel. They had to keep the fences of the land in good repair and maintain the full quantity of wood on it. They could not sell or part with the lease or any interest in it without the permission of the Governor and Council of the day.

The Governor and Council signed one copy and fixed the Company's seal to it on 8 April 1782, in the twenty-second year of the reign of George III. William Wrangham signed and sealed the other copy on the same day, and B. A. Wright signed as witness.

Interpretations

Wrangham paid the full 5s 0d an acre on 17 acres. His 15 acres in the same division, let on 22 May 1780, ran south from his farm to the waste and paid 2s 6d. The present ground touched no waste on any side named. Occupied land lay to the north, east and south. One tenant thus held two pieces of similar size in one district at rents a clear half apart, the lower on the margin and the higher among settled farms. The pair repeated what his leases of 1766 and 1769 showed, with 1s 6d on ground jutting into the waste and 5s 0d on ground enclosed. Across 16 years and two Secretaries the Council valued his land on the same principle.

The lease gave no boundary on the west. Lieutenant Thomas Greentree's lease of 4 December 1780 placed Wrangham's lands on the west of his eight acres at Sandy Bay, and the present lease put Greentree on Wrangham's east. The new 17 acres therefore lay beside ground Wrangham already held, and the missing side was probably his own land. An omitted boundary also occurred in John Robinson's lease of 11 February 1782 and Samuel Knipe's of 30 September 1776. The fault recurred often enough in these years to show that descriptions were no longer checked side by side as they were under Matthew Bazett.

The words requiring the permission of the Governor and Council were written in above the line, as in Orlando Bagley's lease of 15 January 1781. The clerk twice dropped the same phrase from the clause on selling and twice had to restore it.

The neighbours placed the ground at Sandy Bay, among the Greentree, Bagley and Harper holdings. Wrangham was a trustee for Thomas Greentree's heirs in 1767 and 1769 and for Richard Bagley's in 1777. He was now extending his own farm between the land of the Greentree heir, grown to a lieutenant, and that of two Bagley estates, one still held for orphans.

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Island St. 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, Let unto Willm.

Wrangham Esqr. All that piece or parcel of land containing three Acres

situate lying and being in the south division of the said Island butting and

bounding North partly upon the lands of him the said Willm. Wrangham

and partly upon the Honble Companys Waste lands, East upon the lands

of him the said Willm. Wrangham West upon the lands of the Honble

Company and south upon the lands of William Greentree To have and

to hold the said hereby demised parcel of Land with the appurtenances and

every part and parcel thereof unto him the said Willm. Wrangham His

Heirs Executors Administrators and 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 he the said Willm.

Wrangham His Heirs Executors Administrators or assigns do and shall

always bear true faith and allegiance to Our Sovereign Lord King George

the Third 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 Yielding and paying therefore Yearly

and every Year during the said term and time of twenty one Years unto

the said Honble Company their Successors agents or assigns the rent of five

Shillings P acre at or upon the feast of St. Michael the Arch angel Yearly

And upon Condition that he the said William Wrangham 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 not nor shall sell or dispose of this Lease or his or their

Interest therein without the leave and Consent of the Governor and Council

for the time being In Witness whereof We the said Governor and Council

have to the other part set our Hands and affixed the Honble Companys Seal

this 8th. day of April in the twenty second year of the reign of our said

Sovereign Lord George the third by the grace of God of great Britain France

and Ireland King defender of the faith and so forth and in the Year of

Our Lord 1782 and he the said William Wrangham hath hereunto set his

Hand and Seal the Day and year above Written

Wm. Wrangham

Witness

B A Wright

The Company let three acres of land in the South Division to William Wrangham Esquire. The ground was bounded on the north partly by Wrangham's own lands and partly by the Company's waste land, on the east by Wrangham's own lands, on the west by land of the Company and on the south by the lands of William Greentree.

Wrangham was to hold the ground, with everything belonging to it, for 21 years from the date of the lease. The term covered him and anyone who took the ground after him by inheritance or approved transfer.

The lease set out the following conditions. Wrangham and his successors had to remain loyal to King George III and faithful to the Company, and had to obey the laws and regulations of the island. They paid the Company a rent of 5s 0d an acre each year, due on the feast of St Michael the Archangel. They had to keep the fences of the land in good repair and maintain the full quantity of wood on it. They could not sell or part with the lease or any interest in it without the permission of the Governor and Council of the day.

The Governor and Council signed one copy and fixed the Company's seal to it on 8 April 1782, in the twenty-second year of the reign of George III. William Wrangham signed and sealed the other copy on the same day, and B. A. Wright signed as witness.

Interpretations

Wrangham took two leases on 8 April 1782, 17 acres and these three, both in the South Division and both at 5s 0d an acre. The pieces had different neighbours and did not adjoin, and each received its own lease. His three grants of 4 December 1769 were handled in the same way, with one rate and three documents. The Council kept a separate title for each separate parcel, as it did for Samuel Alexander's heirs on 11 March 1782.

This piece met the waste on part of its north side and Company land on the west, yet it paid the full rate. Wrangham's 15 acres of 22 May 1780, with waste along the whole of the south, paid 2s 6d. A small piece mostly enclosed by his own farm was thus valued with the farm, although it touched unoccupied ground on two sides. The Council judged the three acres by the land they lay among and not by the fact of a boundary with the waste.

The lease named waste land on the north and simply the Company's land on the west. Benjamin Mason's lease of 27 August 1770 and Gabriel Alexander Harper's of 30 September 1776 drew the same distinction. Ground the Company kept in its own use, as pasture or wood, therefore lay beside Wrangham's farm in the South Division, as it did beside his five acres in Friar's Valley on 4 December 1769.

William Greentree held the land on the south. He was the fourth of that family named in the volume, after the two Thomases, James and Elizabeth. Lieutenant Thomas Greentree bounded Wrangham's other grant of the same day, so the family's holdings lay on more than one side of his estate.

With these two grants Wrangham added 20 acres at the top of the scale. His leases in the volume by then covered 51 acres in four parts of the island, taken between 1766 and 1782 at rates from 1s 6d to 5s 0d.

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Island St. 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 let unto Willm. Wrangham Esqr.

All that piece or parcel of Land containing two acres situate lying and being

in the West Division of the said Island butting and bounding North partly

on the lands of Richard Goodwin and partly on the lands of Jas. Greentree

East upon the lands of the said Richd. Goodwin and West and South upon the

Lands of him the said Willm. Wrangham To have and to Hold the said

hereby demised parcel of Land with the appurtenances and every part and

parcel thereof unto him the said Willm. Wrangham His Heirs Executors

Administrators and 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 he the said Willm. Wrangham His Heirs Executors

Administrators or assigns do and shall bear true faith and Allegiance to

Our sovereign Lord King George the Third 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 Yielding and

paying therefore Yearly and every Year during the said term and time

of twenty one Years unto the said Honble Company and their Successors

Agents or assigns the Rent of five Shillings P Acre at or upon the feast of

St. Michael the Arch Angel Yearly and upon Condition that he the said

Willm. Wrangham 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 not nor shall sell or Dispose of this lease

or his or their Interest therein without the leave and Consent of the Governor and

Council for the time being In Witness Whereof We the said Governor and

Council have to the other part set Our hands and affixed the Honble Companys

Seal this 8th day of April in the Twenty Second Year of the reign of Our said

Sovereign Lord George the Third by the grace of God of Great Britain France

and Ireland King defender of the faith and so forth and in the Year of Our Lord

1782 and he the said William Wrangham hath hereunto set his Hand and Seal

the Day and Year above Written

Wm. Wrangham

Witness

B A Wright

The Company let two acres of land in the West Division to William Wrangham Esquire. The ground was bounded on the north partly by the lands of Richard Goodwin and partly by the lands of James Greentree, on the east by Richard Goodwin's lands and on the west and south by Wrangham's own lands.

Wrangham was to hold the ground, with everything belonging to it, for 21 years from the date of the lease. The term covered him and anyone who took the ground after him by inheritance or approved transfer.

The lease set out the following conditions. Wrangham and his successors had to remain loyal to King George III and faithful to the Company, and had to obey the laws and regulations of the island. They paid the Company a rent of 5s 0d an acre each year, due on the feast of St Michael the Archangel. They had to keep the fences of the land in good repair and maintain the full quantity of wood on it. They could not sell or part with the lease or any interest in it without the permission of the Governor and Council of the day.

The Governor and Council signed one copy and fixed the Company's seal to it on 8 April 1782, in the twenty-second year of the reign of George III. William Wrangham signed and sealed the other copy on the same day, and B. A. Wright signed as witness.

Interpretations

Wrangham took three leases on 8 April 1782, for 17 acres and three acres in the South Division and two in the West. On 4 December 1769 he likewise took three at one sitting, in Friar's Valley, the West Division and the South. On both occasions every piece adjoined land he already held, every piece paid 5s 0d an acre and each had its own lease. Twelve years apart, he brought the additions to all his scattered farms before the Council together. A landholder with ground in several districts evidently saved his applications for one day, and the Council dealt with the whole of his estate at once.

The two acres were enclosed by occupied land on every side, his own on two and Goodwin's and Greentree's on the others. A pocket of that size among three farms was the kind of leftover the Council let at the full rate to whichever neighbour applied. Benjamin Mason took nine and a half acres so placed in the same division on 18 December 1780.

James Greentree's lease of 27 March 1769 gave him 26 acres in the West Division, bounded on the east by Richard Goodwin, a planter, and John Goodwin, a writer. John Goodwin's five acres in Friar's Valley, let on 29 August 1768, had Wrangham on the west, and Wrangham's five acres there on 4 December 1769 had Goodwin on the north. The present lease named Richard Goodwin and James Greentree beside Wrangham's land. The same three estates thus met in one neighbourhood across 14 years of leases, and Friar's Valley lay within or beside the West Division. John Goodwin, the writer, was no longer named, and Richard held the land on that side.

Wrangham, Richard Goodwin and James Greentree were all executors of Thomas Greentree's will under the lease of 5 October 1767. Three of that dead planter's seven trustees were neighbours in the West Division 15 years later.

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Memorandum.

Island St. Helena 6 May 1782

John Bagley Senr. having had leave from the Governor

and Council to Dispose of his right to 21 Acres of this Lease now

in his possession, sixteen Acres of which is now in the possession

of John Robinson and five in the possession of Benjamin Seale

for which seperate Parcels of Land the Governor and Council

have at the prayer of said John Robinson and Benjamin Seale

in their Petitions dated this Day Granted New Leases for the term

of twenty one Years in lieu of that upon Lives, and have also

at the Prayer of the said John Bagley Senr. inserted the Names

of William Jenkin Brown and Elizabeth Bagley in the stead

of John and Orlando Bagley the two Deceased Nominees for

the remaining 15 Acres, he paying the usual fine of half a

Years Rent for the Renewal of Each Nominee amounting to

Nine pounds.

Island St. 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

Let unto John Robinson Master Carpenter of the Island aforesaid, All that

piece or parcel of land containing sixteen acres situate lying and

being in the South Division of the said Island butting and Bounding

East upon the Lands of Saml. Alexander decd. West upon the

Lands of John Alexander Planter North partly upon the Lands of

Thomas Harpers Orphans and partly upon the Lands of Benjn.

Mason planter, and South upon the Lands of Benjn. Seale

Planter To have and to hold the said hereby demised parcel of

Land with the appurtenances and every part and parcel thereof

unto him the said John Robinson 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 ensuing

Upon Condition that he the said John Robinson His Heirs

Executors administrators or assigns do and shall bear true faith

and

A memorandum dated 6 May 1782 recorded changes to a lease for lives held by John Bagley senior. The Governor and Council had given Bagley permission to part with his right to 21 acres of the land under that lease. Sixteen of those acres were by then in the hands of John Robinson and five in the hands of Benjamin Seale. Robinson and Seale each petitioned on that day, and the Governor and Council granted them new leases of their portions for 21 years in place of the lease for lives. At Bagley's request the Council also entered the names of William Jenkin Brown and Elizabeth Bagley in place of John and Orlando Bagley, the two nominees who had died, for the remaining 13 acres. Bagley paid the usual fee of half a year's rent for the renewal of each nominee, amounting to £9 0s 0d.

A new lease, made at St Helena, followed. The Company let 16 acres of land in the South Division to John Robinson, the master carpenter of the island. The ground was bounded on the east by the lands of Samuel Alexander, who had died, on the west by the lands of John Alexander, a planter, on the north partly by the lands of the orphans of Thomas Harper and partly by the lands of Benjamin Mason, a planter, and on the south by the lands of Benjamin Seale, a planter.

Robinson was to hold the ground, with everything belonging to it, for 21 years from the date of the lease. The term covered him and anyone who took the ground after him by inheritance or approved transfer.

Interpretations

The memorandum was the first entry in the volume to record a lease for lives and the first to record a sale between tenants. Every lease from 2 December 1765 ran for a fixed 21 years. An older form of tenure was thus still in force beside them in 1782. A lease for lives lasted as long as certain named people, the nominees, remained alive, and when one died the tenant paid to have a new name admitted. The later Jamestown register showed the same tenure under leases 114 and 119, dated 1738 and 1743, the second with four renewals of nominees. Bagley's lease stood on three lives, of which two had failed. Only one life then kept the whole holding in being, and he paid to restore the other two.

The fee for admitting a nominee was half a year's rent. The memorandum called it the usual charge, so it was a settled rate. A tenant for lives therefore paid a small sum at each death to extend his title indefinitely, where a tenant for years faced a fresh grant on whatever terms the Council chose when his 21 years ran out. The older tenure was much the more favourable to the holder.

The Council did not let the lease for lives pass to the buyers. Robinson and Seale each bought part of Bagley's land, and each might have expected to step into his position on the acres he took. The Council instead required new leases for 21 years in place of the tenure for lives. The sale was thus the occasion for converting 21 of the 34 acres from the old form to the new. Bagley kept his privileged tenure on the 13 acres that stayed with him, and the land that changed hands lost it. The Company in this way reduced the area held on the older terms each time such land was sold, without disturbing any sitting tenant.

Both buyers were already in possession when they petitioned. The sale had taken effect on the ground before the Council regularised it, as with the houses of James Harper and Mary Harper in the town. Permission to sell had been given to Bagley beforehand, so the condition against selling without leave was met, and the new leases completed the transfer.

One of the dead nominees was Orlando Bagley and the other John. The orphans of an Orlando Bagley were named from 30 September 1779. A nominee was commonly a child or young kinsman of the tenant, chosen because a young life was expected to last. Two of Bagley's three chosen lives had failed before his own. He replaced them with Elizabeth Bagley and with William Jenkin Brown, who did not share his name.

The tenant was John Bagley senior. John Bagley junior took 25¼ acres on 30 September 1775 and 55 acres on 11 December 1780, and the distinction in those leases was now explained by a father still living.

Robinson's 16 acres had Benjamin Seale on the south, the buyer of the other five. His lease of 11 February 1782 gave him 13 acres in the same division beside John Alexander and the Beale orphans. The master carpenter was thus enlarging his southern farm by purchase from a neighbour as well as by grant from the Company.

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and allegiance to Our Sovereign Lord King George the Third 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 Yielding and paying therefore yearly and

every Year during the said term and time of twenty one Years, unto

the said Honble Company and their Successors agents or Assigns

the rent of five Shillings P Acre for fourteen Acres thereof and one

Shilling P Acre for the other two Acres, at or upon the feast of St.

Michael the Arch Angel Yearly And Upon Condition that he

the said John Robinson 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 not nor shall sell or dispose of this Lease or his or their

Interest therein without the leave and Consent of the Governor

and Council for the time being In Witness whereof We the said

Governor and Council have to the other part set Our Hands and

affixed the Honble Companys Seal this 17 day of May in the twentieth

Second Year of the reign of Our said Sovereign Lord George the third

By the Grace of God of Great Britain France and Ireland King

Defender of the faith and so forth and in the Year of Our Lord 1782

and he the said John Robinson hath Hereunto set his Hand and

Seal the day and Year above Written

John Robinson

Witness

B A Wright

Island St. 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 let unto Benjn. Seale of the Island Planter All that piece

or parcel of Land containing five acres situate lying and being in

the South Division of the Island aforesaid butting and bounding

East upon the lands of Saml. Alexander decd. and John Bagley

West

John Robinson and his successors had to remain loyal to King George III and faithful to the Company, and had to obey the laws and regulations of the island. They paid the Company a yearly rent of 5s 0d an acre for 14 of the 16 acres and 1s 0d an acre for the other two, due on the feast of St Michael the Archangel. They had to keep the fences of the land in good repair and maintain the full quantity of wood on it. They could not sell or part with the lease or any interest in it without the permission of the Governor and Council of the day.

The Governor and Council signed one copy and fixed the Company's seal to it on 6 May 1782, in the twenty-second year of the reign of George III. John Robinson signed and sealed the other copy on the same day, and B. A. Wright signed as witness.

A new lease, made at St Helena, followed. The Company let five acres of land in the South Division to Benjamin Seale of the island, a planter. The ground was bounded on the east by the lands of Samuel Alexander, who had died, and of John Bagley.

Interpretations

The 16 acres were not new ground. Robinson bought them from John Bagley senior, who held them under a lease for lives, and the memorandum of 6 May 1782 recorded that the Council granted a lease for 21 years in its place. The rent in the new lease was therefore set afresh by the Council at the moment of conversion. It valued the land as it would a new grant, placing 14 acres at the top of the scale and two at 1s 0d. The two fees Bagley paid for his nominees came to £9 0s 0d, each being half a year's rent, so the whole holding for lives paid about £9 0s 0d a year. Robinson's share was charged £3 12s 0d. The change of tenure thus gave the Council the opportunity to reassess land whose rent had been fixed, perhaps generations earlier, for as long as the named lives lasted.

The split rent was used again, with two acres in 16 marked down and no indication of which they were. The method appeared in 1778, 1779 and 1780 at steps of a shilling or of half the rate. Here the gap ran from the highest common rate to the lowest within one undivided piece. A small patch of very poor ground, probably rock or steep bank, lay inside an otherwise good farm, and the Council allowed for it in the reckoning without describing it.

The lease bore the date of the memorandum. Robinson's petition, the Council's decision and the sealing of the new lease all fell on 6 May 1782. Country leases at other times waited for Michaelmas or for a general sitting. A purchase already completed on the ground was evidently dealt with at once, so that the buyer's title did not rest on a lease for lives made to another man.

Seale's five acres were the other portion sold out of Bagley's holding. They lay south of Robinson's 16 acres and were bounded by Samuel Alexander's estate and by John Bagley, who kept the remaining 13 acres on his original tenure.

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West upon the Lands of John Alexander Planter North upon

the Lands of John Robinson Master Carpenter and South

upon the Lands of John Bagley Planter To have and

to hold the said hereby demised Parcel of Land with the appurtenances

and every part and parcel thereof unto him the Said Benjn.

Seale 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 ensuing Upon

Condition that he the said Benjn. Seale His Heirs Executors

Administrators or assigns do and shall bear true faith and

allegiance to Our Sovereign Lord King George the Third 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 Yielding and

paying therefore Yearly and every Year during the said term

and time of twenty one Years unto the said Honble Company

their Successors agents or assigns the rent of five Shillings

P Acre at or upon the feast of St. Michael the arch Angel Yearly

And upon Condition that he the said Benjn. Seale 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 not nor shall sell or dispose of this

Lease or his or their Interest therein without the leave and Consent

of the Governor and Council for the time being In Witness

Whereof We the said Governor and Council have to the Other part

Set our Hands and affixed the Honble Companys Seale this

17th Day of June in the Twenty Second Year of the reign of our

Said Sovereign Lord George the Third by the grace of God of great

Britain France and Ireland King, Defender of the faith and so

forth and in the Year of Our Lord 1782 and he the Said Benjn.

Seale hath hereunto set his Hand and Seal the Day and Year

above Written

Wm. Seale for Benjn. Seale

Witness

Saml. Mason Writer

Benjamin Seale's five acres in the South Division were bounded on the west by the lands of John Alexander, a planter, on the north by the lands of John Robinson, the master carpenter, and on the south by the lands of John Bagley, a planter.

Seale was to hold the ground, with everything belonging to it, for 21 years from the date of the lease. The term covered him and anyone who took the ground after him by inheritance or approved transfer.

The lease set out the following conditions. Seale and his successors had to remain loyal to King George III and faithful to the Company, and had to obey the laws and regulations of the island. They paid the Company a rent of 5s 0d an acre each year, due on the feast of St Michael the Archangel. They had to keep the fences of the land in good repair and maintain the full quantity of wood on it. They could not sell or part with the lease or any interest in it without the permission of the Governor and Council of the day.

The Governor and Council signed one copy and fixed the Company's seal to it on 5 June 1782, in the twenty-second year of the reign of George III. William Seale signed and sealed the other copy on Benjamin Seale's behalf, and Samuel Mason signed as witness, adding his position of writer.

Start of crossed out section

The lease was first dated in May.

End of crossed out section

Interpretations

Samuel Mason signed as a writer, the junior grade of the Company's civil service. He witnessed seven leases in December 1780 and January 1781 without any title, three of them to Benjamin Mason senior, which first suggested a kinsman brought by the tenant. His later signature on Orlando Bagley's leases pointed instead to a clerk in the Secretary's office. The present entry confirmed that reading. He was a salaried clerk of the Company, as John Goodwin was when he witnessed in 1766 and 1769, and the leases he attested were properly witnessed by an officer.

The month in the date was changed from May to June. The memorandum of 6 May 1782 recorded that the Council granted new leases to both buyers of John Bagley's land on that day, and John Robinson's lease was sealed then. The clerk began Seale's lease with the same month and corrected it. Seale's was therefore completed about a month after Robinson's, although both were approved together. The delay probably lay with the tenant, who did not attend even in June and sent William Seale to sign for him. The Council's decision and the sealing of a lease were thus separate steps, and the date in a lease marked the second.

Seale paid 5s 0d an acre on the five acres he bought. His two earlier leases in the South Division, of 4 September 1769 and 10 July 1780, gave him 25¼ acres from the waste at 1s 0d. Land bought out of an established holding, enclosed by Alexander, Robinson and Bagley, was valued at five times the rough margin he had taken from the Company. He was evidently willing to pay a neighbour for good ground as well as the higher rent that came with it.

The lease named the boundaries left unfinished at the foot of the preceding page and so fixed the layout of Bagley's former holding. Robinson's 16 acres lay to the north, Seale's five in the middle and the 13 acres Bagley kept to the south. The land for lives was thus cut into three bands, and the seller retained the southernmost.

A William Seale signed for Benjamin. William Seale senior of Deep Valley was dead or retired by 30 September 1775, so a younger man of the name was acting here for his kinsman.

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Island St. 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 Let unto Stephen Young of

the said Island Planter, All those three Pieces or Parcels of Land containing in

the whole three Acres situate lying and being in James's Valley. One

Acre and a half thereof butting and bounding South on the said Stephen

Young's own Land and North East and West upon the Honble Companys

Waste Land, Half an Acre thereof Butting and bounding on all sides

by the said Honble Companys Waste Land. The other one Acre of Land

butting and bounding North upon the Lands of him the said Stephen

Young and South, East, and West upon the said Honble Companys Waste

Land To have and to hold the said hereby Demised parcels of Land

with the appurtenances and every part and parcel thereof unto

him the said Stephen Young 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 ensuing

Upon Condition that he the said Stephen Young, His Heirs Executors

Administrators and Assigns do and shall bear true faith & Allegiance

to Our Sovereign Lord King George the Third 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 Yielding and paying therefore Yearly and every Year

during the said term and time of twenty one Years unto the said

Honble Company their Successors, Agents or Assigns the Rent of

five shillings P Acre at or upon the Feast of St. Michael the

Arch Angel Yearly And upon Condition that he the said Stephen

Young 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 not

nor shall sell or dispose of this Lease or his or their Interest

therein without the leave and Consent of the Governor and Council

for the time being. In Witness whereof We the said Governor

and Council have to the other Part set Our Hands and Affixed

the Honble Companys Seal this 17 Day of June in the Twenty

Second Year of the Reign of Our Sovereign Lord George the Third by the

Grace of God of Great Britain France and Ireland King Defender of the Faith

and so forth and in the Year of Our Lord 1782 And he the said

Stephen Young hath hereunto set his Hand & Seal the Day & Year above Written

[...]

Witness.

Nathl. Kennedy

The Company let three pieces of land in James's Valley, three acres in all, to Stephen Young of the island, a planter. The first piece, of one and a half acres, was bounded on the south by Young's own land and on the north, east and west by the Company's waste land. The second piece, of half an acre, was bounded on all sides by the Company's waste land. The third piece, of one acre, was bounded on the north by Young's own lands and on the south, east and west by the Company's waste land.

Young was to hold the three pieces, with everything belonging to them, for 21 years from the date of the lease. The term covered him and anyone who took the ground after him by inheritance or approved transfer.

The lease set out the following conditions. Young and his successors had to remain loyal to King George III and faithful to the Company, and had to obey the laws and regulations of the island. They paid the Company a rent of 5s 0d an acre each year, due on the feast of St Michael the Archangel. They had to keep the fences of the land in good repair and maintain the full quantity of wood on it. They could not sell or part with the lease or any interest in it without the permission of the Governor and Council of the day.

The Governor and Council signed one copy and fixed the Company's seal to it on [...] June 1782, in the twenty-second year of the reign of George III. The other copy was signed and sealed by [...], and Nathaniel Kennedy signed as witness.

Interpretations

Captain Thomas Kirkpatrick's lease of 8 May 1769 gave him 12 acres in James's Valley, bounded on the north partly by the land of Stephen Young, a planter. Young thus farmed in the upper valley for at least 13 years before this lease, on ground held under a title not entered in the volume. His three new pieces lay on the north and south of that farm and out in the waste beyond it. All were let by the acre with the clause on fences and wood. The valley above the town was still treated as country in 1782, as it was for Kirkpatrick, for Mary Doveton on 12 October 1767 and for Margaret Alcock on 5 August 1771.

Three pieces of an acre or so each, two against his farm and one standing alone, all paid the full 5s 0d an acre. Every small detached plot in the volume carried the top rate, from Simon Whaley's on 1 February 1768 to Orlando Bagley's two acres of 15 January 1781. Ground in James's Valley had the further advantage of lying near the town and its stream. Scraps of waste there were worth more to a planter than broad tracts on the margins of the South Division, let at 1s 0d.

The three pieces went into one lease at one rate, with each separately bounded. Lieutenant Francis Seale's lease of 11 February 1782 dealt with three small pieces in the same way. Where a tenant tidied the edges of one farm with several fragments at a single rent, the Council under B. A. Wright regularly combined them.

The half acre touched no other holding. Its position could not be recovered from the lease, which gave only the valley and the waste on every side. The plans that accompanied most country leases of 1776 and 1777 would have fixed it, but none was entered here, and none appeared with any lease of 1780 to 1782. The practice of drawing each grant lapsed a second time.

Nathaniel Kennedy witnessed without adding his office of sub-secretary, which he used on every lease of February and March 1782.

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[...]

One Acre

W

One Acre and a half

E

Half an Acre

S

Island. St. 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

Let unto William Knipe Planter All that piece or parcel of Land

containing in the Whole fifteen Acres and one Quarter Situate lying

and being in Fishers Valley in the East division of the said Island

butting and Bounding North and West upon the Lands of John Robinson

Master Carpenter and South and East upon the Lands of him the said

William Knipe To have and to hold the said hereby Demised

parcel of Land with the Appurtenances and every part and parcel

thereof unto him the said William Knipe his Heirs Executors

Administrators and 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 he the said William Knipe his

Heirs or allowed Assigns do always bear true faith and Allegiance to

Our Sovereign Lord King George the third, 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

Yielding and paying therefore Yearly and every Year during the

said term and time of twenty one Years unto the said Honble Company

their Successors agents or Assigns the Rent of five shillings P Acre, in at

or upon the feast of St. Michael the Arch Angel Yearly And upon

Condition that he the said William Knipe 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 not nor shall sell or Dispose of this lease or his or their

Interest therein without the leave and Consent of the Governor

and Council for the time being In Witness whereof We the

said Governor and Council have to the other Part set Our Hands

Three plans of Stephen Young's ground in James's Valley were drawn after his lease of June 1782, one for each piece.

First plan, a four-sided outline, 1 acre

Second plan, an irregular outline of many sides, 1½ acres, with the letters W and E against two of its sides

Third plan, an irregular outline tapering at each end, ½ acre, with the letter S against one side

A new lease, made at St Helena, followed. The Company let 15¼ acres of land in Fisher's Valley in the East Division to William Knipe, a planter. The ground was bounded on the north and west by the lands of John Robinson, the master carpenter, and on the south and east by Knipe's own lands.

Knipe was to hold the ground, with everything belonging to it, for 21 years from the date of the lease. The term covered him and anyone who took the ground after him by inheritance or approved transfer.

The lease set out the following conditions. Knipe and his successors had to remain loyal to King George III and faithful to the Company, and had to obey the laws and regulations of the island. They paid the Company a rent of 5s 0d an acre each year, due on the feast of St Michael the Archangel. They had to keep the fences of the land in good repair and maintain the full quantity of wood on it. They could not sell or part with the lease or any interest in it without the permission of the Governor and Council of the day.

Interpretations

Young's three pieces were each given a plan. No drawing accompanied any lease from 1780 to May 1782, including George Alexander's 42 acres and the 36 acres let to Samuel Alexander's heirs. The practice had seemed to lapse after 1777, as it did once before after 1769. Its return for three scraps totalling three acres showed that plans were still made where the ground needed them. Two of Young's pieces were irregular, and the half acre stood alone in the waste, where nothing in the wording of his lease could locate it. The outline, with a compass letter against one side, supplied what the description lacked. Plans in these years were thus kept for awkward or isolated ground and omitted for large pieces defined by their neighbours, a return to the selective use of 1767 to 1769.

The three figures were drawn separately, each with its own acreage. The lease described the pieces as lying on different sides of Young's farm and out in the waste, and the drawing confirmed that none adjoined another.

Samuel Knipe junior's lease of 30 September 1771 gave him 23 acres in the East Division, with John Robinson on the west and his own land on the east and south. William Knipe's ground had the same two neighbours in almost the same positions. The earlier lease charged 1s 0d an acre and this one 5s 0d. Robinson's own leases in that quarter showed the same spread, with 17¼ acres at 1s 6d on 28 August 1769 and five acres at the full rate on 11 February 1782. Good and poor ground evidently lay closely mixed along the boundary between the Knipe and Robinson farms, and each piece was rated as it was found.

The lease named Fisher's Valley, which had not appeared before. Robinson's and the Knipes' land in the East Division was until now placed only by its neighbours. The valley gave a location for the tract of 64¾ acres shared out on 28 August 1769 among Robinson, Matthew Bazett, John Desfountain senior and the Knipe orphans.

William Knipe had not appeared as a tenant before. The land on two sides was already his, so he held a farm under an older title, perhaps as one of the orphans for whom Samuel Knipe and Sarah Beale took 16½ acres in trust on 28 August 1769.

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and Affixed the Honble Companys Seal this 21st Day of October

in the twenty second Year of the Reign of Our said Sovereign Lord

George the third by the Grace of God of Great Britain France and

Ireland King Defender of the faith and so forth and in the Year of

Our Lord 1782 and he the said William Knipe Hath hereunto

set his Hand and Seal the Day and Year above Written

his

William X Knipe

Mark

Witness

Nathl. Kennedy

Island St. 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,

Let unto John Goodwin Factor All that piece or parcel of Land

containing 19 Acres situate lying and being in the West Division

of the said Island butting and Bounding North upon the Honble

Companys Waste Land, West upon the Lands of Jas. Greentree

and South and East upon the Lands of Richard Goodwin

Planter To have and to hold the said hereby Demised parcel of

Land with the appurtenances and every part and parcel thereof

unto him the said John Goodwin his Heirs Executors Administrators

and 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 he the said John Goodwin his Heirs or

allowed assigns do always bear true faith and allegiance to Our

Sovereign Lord King George the third 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 Yielding and paying therefore Yearly and every Year

during the said term and time of twenty One Years unto the said

Honble Company their successors agents or assigns the Rent of

five Shillings P Acre in at or upon the feast of St. Michael the

Arch

The Governor and Council signed one copy of William Knipe's lease and fixed the Company's seal to it on 21 October 1782, in the twenty-second year of the reign of George III. William Knipe completed the other copy on the same day by making his mark and fixing his seal, and Nathaniel Kennedy signed as witness.

A new lease, made at St Helena, followed. The Company let 49 acres of land in the West Division to John Goodwin, a factor. The ground was bounded on the north by the Company's waste land, on the west by the lands of James Greentree and on the south and east by the lands of Richard Goodwin, a planter.

Goodwin was to hold the ground, with everything belonging to it, for 21 years from the date of the lease. The term covered him and anyone who took the ground after him by inheritance or approved transfer.

Goodwin and his successors had to remain loyal to King George III and faithful to the Company, and had to obey the laws and regulations of the island. They paid the Company a rent of 5s 0d an acre each year, due on the feast of St Michael the Archangel.

Interpretations

John Goodwin was a writer when he took five acres in Friar's Valley on 29 August 1768 and when he witnessed leases in 1766, 1769 and 1770. He appeared here as a factor, the grade above. Robert Leech was styled a factor on 18 March 1782, and William Wrangham held that rank in 1768 before becoming an Esquire. The Company's civil servants on the island thus moved up a regular ladder over the years the volume covered, and each kept adding to his land as he rose. Goodwin's grant of 49 acres was the largest to any tenant in the volume apart from the chaplain's 61 acres of 17 September 1770, and it paid the full 5s 0d an acre, a rent of £12 5s 0d a year.

The clerk who once copied leases into the register took more land in one grant than any planter recorded in it. George Alexander's 42 acres of 11 February 1782 and John Alexander's 40 of 12 September 1768 were the nearest. The largest holdings of the early 1780s went to Goodwin, Matthew Bazett, Wrangham and Major Henry Bazett, all of them the Company's officers or officials, alongside a few planting families of long standing.

Richard Goodwin, a planter, bounded the ground on the south and east, and James Greentree on the west. James Greentree's lease of 27 March 1769 named both Goodwins on his east, and Wrangham's lease of 8 April 1782 named Richard Goodwin and Greentree beside his two acres. John Goodwin was therefore extending northward to the waste from a block of family land in the West Division.

William Knipe signed with a mark. John Price, the jailer, and Gabriel Isaacke, a planter, did so in 1766, 1767 and 1772. Knipe belonged to one of the island's established planting families, whose other members, Samuel Knipe senior's executor among them, signed their names. He took 15¼ acres at the top of the scale and could not write. Schooling was thus uneven within a single landholding family.

Knipe's lease was sealed on 21 October 1782, more than four months after Stephen Young's. The acreage in Goodwin's lease was written in figures, as in John Robinson's of 11 February 1782, where the form of the 1760s required words.

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214

Arch Angel Yearly. And upon Condition that he the said John

Goodwin 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 not nor shall sell or

Dispose of this lease or his or their Interest therein without the leave

and Consent of the Governor and Council for the time being In

Witness whereof We the said Governor and Council have to the other

part set Our hands and affixed the Honorable Companys Seal this 10th Day

of February in the twenty third Year of the Reign of Our said

Sovereign Lord George the third by the Grace of God of Great Britain

France and Ireland King Defender of the faith and so forth and in

the Year of Our Lord 1783 and he the said John Goodwin hath

hereunto set his Hand and Seal the Day and Year above written

John Goodwin

Witness

Saml. Mason

Island St. 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

Let unto Richard Mason Planter All those five several pieces or

parcels of Land containing in the whole nine acres and three

Quarters, situate, lying and being in the East Division of the said

Island Four pieces or parcels of Land containing five acres and three

Quarters nearly adjoining each other, only seperated by Passages

left for Cross ways, situated in a Valley near the Long Wood

and known by the name of Whaleys. The other four acres lying

in Prosperous Bay Valley below the high water fall, each Piece

or parcel of the abovementioned Land butting and Bounding on

all sides upon the Honble Companys Waste Land, To have and

to hold the said hereby Demised parcels of Land with the appurtenances

and every part and parcel thereof unto him the said Richd. Mason

his Heirs Executors Administrators and assigns from the Day of the

Date

Margin Notes:

[...]

John Goodwin and his successors had to keep the fences of the land in good repair and maintain the full quantity of wood on it. They could not sell or part with the lease or any interest in it without the permission of the Governor and Council of the day. The Governor and Council signed one copy and fixed the Company's seal to it on 10 February 1783, in the twenty-third year of the reign of George III. John Goodwin signed and sealed the other copy on the same day, and Samuel Mason signed as witness.

A new lease, made at St Helena, followed. The Company let five pieces of land in the East Division, nine and three quarter acres in all, to Richard Mason, a planter. Four of the pieces together contained five and three quarter acres. They lay close to one another in a valley near the Long Wood, at a place known as Whaleys, and were separated only by passages left as cart ways. The fifth piece, of four acres, lay in Prosperous Bay Valley below the high waterfall. The Company's waste land bounded every piece on all sides.

Interpretations

Simon Whaley's lease of 1 February 1768 gave him two acres in Woody Ridge Valley and one acre below the waterfall in Prosperous Bay Valley, both surrounded by waste. Fifteen years later Richard Mason took ground at a place called Whaleys and a piece below the same waterfall. The earlier tenant had given his name to the spot he first enclosed, as Smiths, Taylors and Francis's recorded the men who once held those farms. A plot of two acres marked out in open country in 1768 had become a named locality by 1783, with several further pieces let around it.

The four pieces at Whaleys were divided by passages left for carts. The Company kept those strips out of the lease, so that the ways between the plots stayed its own ground and remained open. No earlier country lease reserved a right of way. Margins and pockets were normally granted to the adjoining tenant so that no sliver of Company land was shut in. Here the opposite course was taken deliberately. A tenant holding all four pieces could otherwise have closed the tracks across them, and anyone needing to pass that way, to the Long Wood or to plots beyond, would have depended on his consent. Keeping the cart ways in the Company's hands secured passage for everyone. The lease showed tracks for wheeled traffic crossing that part of the East Division and treated as public.

The high road to the Long Wood bounded Matthew Purling's acre and a half on 16 December 1771. The present lease again used the Long Wood as a landmark, placing a valley by its nearness to it.

Goodwin's 49 acres were sealed on 10 February 1783, nearly four months after William Knipe's lease of 21 October 1782. The lease was the first dated in 1783 and in the twenty-third year of the reign.

Samuel Mason, the writer, witnessed Goodwin's lease. Goodwin held that same junior post when he witnessed leases himself in the 1760s. The duty of attesting the Company's grants had passed down to a clerk of the next generation, while the earlier clerk appeared as a factor and a tenant of 49 acres.

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215

Date hereof for and During all the space and term of twenty one Years

from thence next ensuing Upon Condition that he the said

Richd. Mason His Heirs or allowed assigns do always bear true

faith and allegiance to Our sovereign Lord King George the Third

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 Yielding and Paying therefore

Yearly and every Year During the said term and time of twenty

One Years unto the said Honble Company their successors agents

or assigns the Rent of five shillings P Acre in at or upon the feast

of St. Michael the Arch Angel Yearly and upon condition that

he the said Richd. Mason 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 not nor shall sell or dispose of this Lease or his or their Interest

therein without the leave and Consent of the Governor and Council

for the time being In Witness whereof We the said Governor and

Council have to the other part set our Hands and affixed the Honble

Company's Seal this 17 day of March in the twenty third Year of the

Reign of our said Sovereign Lord George the Third by the Grace of God of

Great Britain France and Ireland King, Defender of the Faith and so

forth and in the Year of our Lord 1783 and he the said Richard

Mason hath hereunto set his Hand and Seal the day and Year

abovewritten

Richd. Mason

Witness

B A Wright

Margin Notes:

[...]

7 1/4 renewed

2 1/2 more Land

9 3/4

Richard Mason was to hold the five pieces of land for 21 years from the date of the lease. Of the nine and three quarter acres, seven and a quarter acres were a renewal of ground held before and two and a half acres were additional land.

The lease set out the following conditions. Mason and his successors had to remain loyal to King George III and faithful to the Company, and had to obey the laws and regulations of the island. They paid the Company a rent of 5s 0d an acre each year, due on the feast of St Michael the Archangel. They had to keep the fences of the land in good repair and maintain the full quantity of wood on it. They could not sell or part with the lease or any interest in it without the permission of the Governor and Council of the day.

The Governor and Council signed one copy and fixed the Company's seal to it on 17 March 1783, in the twenty-third year of the reign of George III. Richard Mason signed and sealed the other copy on the same day, and B. A. Wright signed as witness.

Interpretations

A note beside the lease broke the nine and three quarter acres into seven and a quarter renewed and two and a half newly added. No earlier entry in the volume marked a lease as a renewal. The leases from 2 December 1765 onwards were written as fresh grants, and each ran for 21 years, so none of those had yet expired by 1783. The renewed ground here was therefore held under an older lease, made before this volume began, whose term had now run out. The lease itself said nothing of it. It described all five pieces in the same words as any new grant and gave no sign that most of the land was already in the tenant's hands. Only the clerk's working note preserved the distinction. The later Jamestown register treated leases of 1792 and 1802 as original although they replaced terms begun in 1771 and 1780. The same habit was at work here, with a renewal drawn in the form of a first grant and its history left out of the text.

The note also showed how the Council used the end of a term. Mason came for a new lease of seven and a quarter acres and left with two and a half more. The plots at Whaleys and below the waterfall stood in open waste, and a tenant who had enclosed a little beyond his bounds, or wished to, had the excess measured and written in when the lease was remade. Renewal was the occasion for bringing the lease into line with the ground, as the remeasurements of 17 October 1815 in the later register did a generation afterwards.

The ground at Whaleys and the piece below the waterfall in Prosperous Bay Valley matched the two sites let to Simon Whaley on 1 February 1768, at three acres in all. That lease had 21 years to run and would not expire until 1789. Mason's renewed seven and a quarter acres were thus other ground at the same two places, held on an earlier term, and Whaley's name already attached to the valley through an occupation older than his lease of 1768.

The renewed land and the added land paid the same 5s 0d an acre. Whatever rent the expired lease carried, the Council set the new one at its current top rate for small watered plots in the waste.

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216

Island St. 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 Let unto Britannicus

Alexander Wright, of the said Island, All that Piece or Parcel of Ground containing

Eighteen feet in length and sixteen in breadth situate lying and being in James's

Valley on the East side of the Road near the Water Course and adjoining to the

Lease Ground of Saml. Desfountain and Jno. Bagley Junr. To have and to hold

the said hereby Demised parcel of Ground with the appurtenances and every part and

Parcel thereof unto him the said Britannicus Alexander Wright his Heirs

Executors administrators and 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 he the said Britannicus Alexander Wright his Heirs

or allowed assigns Do Always Bear true Faith and allegiance to Our Sovereign

Lord King George the Third 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 Yielding and Paying therefore Yearly and

every Year during the said term and time of twenty One Years unto the said

Honble Company their Successors agents or assigns the Rent of three Shillings

and six Pence P Annum in at or Upon the Feast of St. Michael the Arch

Angel Yearly And upon Condition that he the said Britannicus

Alexander Wright his Heirs Executors Administrators and Assigns Do

and shall well and sufficiently keep up and Maintain in good Condition and

Repair all the Buildings that are or may be hereafter Built or erected on the

said piece of Ground or any part thereof and do not nor shall sell or dispose

of this Lease or his or their Interest therein without the leave and Consent of

the Governor and Council for the time being In Witness whereof We the

said Governor and Council have to the other part set Our Hands and affixed the

Honble Companys Seal the 15 Day of September in the twenty third Year of the

Reign of Our said Sovereign Lord George the Third by the Grace of God of Great

Britain France, and Ireland, King Defender of the Faith and so forth and

in the Year of Our Lord one Thousand seven Hundred and Eighty three and he

the said Britannicus Alexander Wright hath hereunto set his Hand and Seal

the Day and Year above Written.

B A Wright

Witness

Jno. Doveton

The Company let a piece of ground in James's Valley to Britannicus Alexander Wright of the island. The ground measured 18 feet in length and 16 feet in breadth. It lay on the east side of the road, near the watercourse, and adjoined the leased ground of James Desfountain and John Bagley junior.

Wright was to hold the ground, with everything belonging to it, for 21 years from the date of the lease. The term covered him and anyone who took the ground after him by inheritance or approved transfer.

The lease set out the following conditions. Wright and his successors had to remain loyal to King George III and faithful to the Company, and had to obey the laws and regulations of the island. They paid the Company a rent of £0 3s 6d a year, due on the feast of St Michael the Archangel. They had to keep in good condition and repair every building standing on the ground or put up there later. They could not sell or part with the lease or any interest in it without the permission of the Governor and Council of the day.

The Governor and Council signed one copy and fixed the Company's seal to it on 15 September 1783, in the twenty-third year of the reign of George III. Britannicus Alexander Wright signed and sealed the other copy on the same day, and John Doveton signed as witness.

Interpretations

The Secretary paid £0 3s 6d for a piece 18 feet long. Under his own keeping of the register, no town grant was let for less than £0 5s 0d. Sergeant Hatton Walker paid that sum on 20 April 1778 for a plot 15 feet wide, and the heirs of William Young paid it on 22 May 1780 for 17 feet by 13 feet. Both pieces were smaller than Wright's or close to it. The fixed minimum, which bore hardest on the smallest tenants, was thus not applied to the officer who administered it. His rent was instead reckoned by length. Major Henry Bazett's lease of 22 June 1778 covered 30 feet by 16 feet at the same spot, on the east side of the road beside the same two neighbours, and paid £0 6s 0d, a shilling for five feet. Wright's 18 feet at that measure came to just over £0 3s 7d, and he was charged £0 3s 6d. The rate was therefore the one already set for the adjoining ground and no invention for his benefit. The departure lay in letting it run below the floor. A sergeant and an estate held for heirs were charged the minimum, and the Secretary was charged the exact measure.

Wright's piece and Bazett's were of the same depth, on the same side of the road and described by the same neighbours. They were two lengths of one strip between the road and the watercourse, 48 feet in all, taken five years apart by the major and the Secretary. The two men served together as trustees for Samuel Alexander's heirs on 11 March 1782.

Wright could not witness his own lease, and John Doveton signed. Doveton was sub-secretary in 1780, and Nathaniel Kennedy held that title in 1782. Doveton attested here without one. The rule that a party did not attest his own deed was kept, as it was for Matthew Bazett from 1766.

The lease was sealed six months after Richard Mason's of 17 March 1783 and was the only town lease entered since those to Robert Leech and Samuel Desfountain on 18 March 1782.

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217

Island St. 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 let and to farm let to Richard Bagley of the

said Island Planter all those pieces or parcels of Land situate in Sandy Bay

containing thirteen Acres and an half, that is to say nine and an half acres

Butting and Bounding North and West upon other the lands of him the said Richd.

Bagley South upon the Lands of John Scott and East upon the Lands of Willm.

Seale Also one acre and three Quarters more Butting and Bounding East and

South upon the Lands of him the said Richard Bagley and North and West

upon the Lands of James Colgrave And the other two Acres and one Quarter

Butting and Bounding North, East, and West, upon the Lands of him the said

Richard Bagley and South upon the Lands of the aforesaid James Colgrave

To have and to hold the said hereby demised parcels of Land with the

appurtenances and every part and parcel thereof unto him the said Richard

Bagley his Heirs Executors, Administrators, and 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 he the said Richard Bagley his Heirs

or allowed assigns do always bear true faith and Allegiance to Our

Sovereign Lord King George the third 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 Yielding and paying therefore

Yearly and every Year, during the said Term and time of twenty one Years

unto the said Honble Company their Successors Agents or assigns the Rent of

five Shillings P Acre in at or upon the Feast of St. Michael the Arch Angel

Yearly. And upon Condition that He the said Richard Bagley His Heirs

Executors Administrators or Assigns do and shall well and sufficiently

keep up and maintain the fences to the said Lands and the full Quantity of

Wood thereon and do not nor shall sell or dispose of this Lease or his or their

Interest therein without the leave and Consent of the Governor and Council

for the time being In Witness whereof We the said Governor and

Council have to the other part set our Hands and affixed the Honble Companys

Seal this sixteenth day of February in the twenty fourth Year of the Reign

of Our Sovereign Lord George the third by the grace of God of Great Britain

France and Ireland King defender of the Faith &c. And in the Year of Our

Lord One thousand seven Hundred and Eighty four. And he the said

Richard Bagley hath hereunto set his Hand and Seal the Day and

Year above written

Richard Bagley

Witness

B A Wright

The Company let three pieces of land at Sandy Bay, 13½ acres in all, to Richard Bagley of the island, a planter. The first piece, of nine and a half acres, was bounded on the north and west by Bagley's own lands, on the south by the lands of John Scott and on the east by the lands of William Seale. The second piece, of one and three quarter acres, was bounded on the east and south by Bagley's own lands and on the north and west by the lands of James Colgrave. The third piece, of two and a quarter acres, was bounded on the north, east and west by Bagley's own lands and on the south by James Colgrave's lands.

Bagley was to hold the three pieces, with everything belonging to them, for 21 years from the date of the lease. The term covered him and anyone who took the ground after him by inheritance or approved transfer.

The lease set out the following conditions. Bagley and his successors had to remain loyal to King George III and faithful to the Company, and had to obey the laws and regulations of the island. They paid the Company a rent of 5s 0d an acre each year, due on the feast of St Michael the Archangel. They had to keep the fences of the land in good repair and maintain the full quantity of wood on it. They could not sell or part with the lease or any interest in it without the permission of the Governor and Council of the day.

The Governor and Council signed one copy and fixed the Company's seal to it on 16 February 1784, in the twenty-fourth year of the reign of George III. Richard Bagley signed and sealed the other copy on the same day, and B. A. Wright signed as witness.

Interpretations

A Richard Bagley, planter, was dead by 6 January 1777, when five executors took 37¼ acres in the West Division in trust for his heirs. Seven years later a Richard Bagley held lands at Sandy Bay and took this lease in his own name, with no trustee. He was in all probability the heir, grown to full age, as Lieutenant Thomas Greentree was when he took land at Sandy Bay on 4 December 1780 after a minority spent under his father's executors. The trust leases of 1777 named the heirs only as a class. The appearance of a tenant bearing the dead man's name, in possession of land beside the family's neighbours, showed the estate passing to him. The volume recorded the start of such trusts and never their end, which could be inferred only when the heir came forward as a tenant himself.

None of the three pieces touched the waste. Each lay between Bagley's own land and that of Scott, Seale or Colgrave. Three separate gaps along the edges of one farm were thus found and leased together, at the full 5s 0d an acre. The leases of 1780 and 1782 to Matthew Bazett, John Bagley junior, John Robinson and George Alexander dealt with ground enclosed by the tenant's own estate in the same way. The Council was still checking holdings against what their owners occupied in 1784, and still charging the top rate for whatever it found inside them.

The lease placed the ground at Sandy Bay and named no division. John Scott bounded the 17 acres let to Samuel Alexander's heirs in the South Division on 11 March 1782. James Colgrave took more than 30 acres on 27 November 1780 in what that lease called the East Division, and bounded George Alexander's 42 acres in the South. Colgrave's land thus lay near enough to Sandy Bay to adjoin Bagley's on two sides, which fitted a position about the line between the two districts.

The lease followed the Secretary's own of 15 September 1783 by five months and was the first dated in 1784. Three leases were entered in the whole of 1783. After the busy sittings of 1780 and early 1782, grants had again become rare.

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218

Plot R. Bagleys Land

[...] Acres

[...] Acres

[...]

1 3/4 Acres

[...]

Island St. 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, Let unto William

Webber Doveton Factor, in the service of the said Honble Company, All that

piece or parcel of Ground situate lying and being in James's Valley containing

fifteen feet in Breadth and one Hundred and Twenty feet in Depth, Butting

and Bounding North upon the freehold Ground of him the said William

Webber Doveton, East upon the Passage leading to Mundens Point West

upon the Main Street and South upon the Dwelling House of Richard

Goodwin Planter, To have and to hold the said hereby Demised Parcel

of Ground with the appurtenances and every part and Parcel thereof unto

him the said William Webber Doveton 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 ensuing Upon

Condition that he the said William Webber Doveton His Heirs Executors

Administrators or assigns Do always bear true faith and Allegiance to

Our Sovereign Lord King George the third, 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 Yielding

and paying therefore Yearly and every Year during the said Term and

time of twenty one Years unto the said Honble Company their Successors

Agents or Assigns the Rent of ten shillings P Annum at or upon the Feast

of St. Michael the Arch Angel Yearly, And upon Condition that

he the said William Webber Doveton His Heirs Executors Administrators or

Assigns, Do and shall well and sufficiently keep up and Maintain in

good Repair All such Buildings as are, or may hereafter be Built or

Erected on the said Piece of Ground or any part thereof, and do not nor shall

sell or dispose of this Lease or his or their Interest therein without the leave and

Consent of the Governor and Council for the time being In Witness whereof We

the said Governor and Council have to the other part set Our Hands and affixed

the Honble Company's Seal this day of February in the twenty fourth Year

of

Margin Notes:

[...]

A plan of Richard Bagley's land at Sandy Bay was drawn after his lease of 16 February 1784. It showed the three pieces as separate outlines, each marked with its area, and dotted lines giving the bearings between them.

Largest piece, an irregular outline of many sides, 9½ acres

Second piece, a five-sided outline, 1¾ acres

Third piece, a four-sided outline, 2¼ acres

A new lease, made at St Helena, followed. The Company let a strip of ground in James's Valley to William Webber Doveton, [...] in the Company's service. The strip measured 15 feet in breadth and 120 feet in depth. It was bounded on the north by Doveton's own freehold ground, on the east by the passage leading to Munden's Point, on the west by the main street and on the south by the dwelling house of Richard Goodwin, a planter.

Doveton was to hold the ground, with everything belonging to it, for 21 years from the date of the lease. The term covered him and anyone who took the ground after him by inheritance or approved transfer.

The lease set out the following conditions. Doveton and his successors had to remain loyal to King George III and faithful to the Company, and had to obey the laws and regulations of the island. They paid the Company a rent of £0 10s 0d a year, due on the feast of St Michael the Archangel. They had to keep in good repair every building standing on the ground or put up there later. They could not sell or part with the lease or any interest in it without the permission of the Governor and Council of the day.

The Governor and Council sealed their copy in February 1784, in the twenty-fourth year of the reign of George III, with the day of the month left blank.

Interpretations

The lease called Doveton's adjoining ground freehold. From 1777 the Secretary's office described neighbouring land as leasehold or leased, and the house of William Young's heirs on 22 May 1780 was called their property. Those phrases implied that some ground on the island was held outright. The present lease said so directly. Freehold was land owned in full, owing the Company no rent and running for no term. The later Jamestown register recorded a bill of sale under lease 130 that claimed ground as free land, and found only part of it to be so. Doveton thus owned a town plot outright and took a lease only for the Company's strip beside it. The Company was proprietor of the island, yet by 1784 it recognised private freeholds within the town, and its register of leases covered only what it still owned.

Doveton paid £0 10s 0d for 15 feet of frontage, or 8d a foot. That was twice the highest rate charged before, the 4d or so paid by the Price heirs, Elizabeth Lambe and James Harper in 1780 and 1781. Sergeant Walker paid 4d a foot for a gap of the same width on 20 April 1778. Doveton's strip differed from all of them in running the full 120 feet from the main street to the passage behind. It opened onto a public way at each end. A narrow piece between a man's freehold and his neighbour's house, giving through access from the street to the back lane, was worth far more than its width suggested, and the Council charged for the position.

The plan of Bagley's land was the first to show how separate pieces lay in relation to one another. The plans for Stephen Young in June 1782 drew three pieces side by side with no indication of the distance or direction between them. Here dotted lines with bearings linked the outlines. Three gaps along the edges of one farm could thus be placed on the ground from the register alone.

The lease named the main street and a passage leading to Munden's Point, the headland at the seaward end of the valley. The town's ways now had fixed names, where the leases of the 1760s located plots only by the nearest house or the waste.

The day of sealing was left blank. The clerk wrote the lease ahead of the sitting and did not return to fill in the date, a further sign of the looser checking of entries in these years.

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219

of the Reign of Our said Sovereign Lord George the third by the Grace of God of

Great Britain, France, and Ireland, King Defender of the faith and so forth

and in the Year of Our Lord 1784, And he the said William Webber Doveton

hath hereunto set his Hand and Seal the day and Year above written

W.W. Doveton

Witness

Robt. Leech

Island St. 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, Let unto

William Webber Doveton Factor in the service of the said Honble Company All

that piece or parcel of Land containing two Acres situate lying and being

in Fryers Valley in the said Island Butting and Bounding on all sides on the

Honble Company's Waste Land To have and to hold the said hereby Demised

parcel of Land with the Appurtenances and every part and Parcel thereof unto him

the said William Webber Doveton his Heirs Executors Administrators and 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 he the said

William Webber Doveton his Heirs Executors Administrators and Assigns do,

and shall bear true faith, and allegiance to Our Sovereign Lord King George

the third 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 Yielding and Paying therefore Yearly and every Year

during the said Term and time of twenty one Years unto the said Honble

Company their Successors Agents or assigns the Rent of five Shillings P Acre at

or upon the Feast of St. Michael the Arch Angel Yearly And Upon

Condition that he the said William Webber Doveton his Heirs Executors

Administrators and 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 not nor shall sell or dispose of this Lease or his or their Interest therein

without the Leave and Consent of the Governor and Council for the time being

In Witness Whereof We the said Governor and Council have to the other

part set Our hands and affixed the Honble Company's Seal this day

of February in the twenty fourth Year of the Reign of Our said Sovereign Lord

George the third by the Grace of God of Great Britain, France and Ireland King

Defender of the faith and so forth, and in the Year of Our Lord 1784. And he

the said William Webber Doveton hath hereunto set his Hand and Seal

the Day and Year above written

W.W. Doveton

Witness

Robt. Leech

Margin Notes:

Transferred

to R Leech

& by him

to W. Kennedy

William Webber Doveton signed and sealed his copy of the lease of the strip between the main street and the passage in 1784, and Robert Leech signed as witness.

A new lease, made at St Helena, followed. The Company let two acres of land in Friar's Valley to William Webber Doveton, a factor in the Company's service. The Company's waste land bounded the ground on all sides. A later note recorded that the lease was transferred to R. Leech and by him to W. [...].

Doveton was to hold the ground, with everything belonging to it, for 21 years from the date of the lease. The term covered him and anyone who took the ground after him by inheritance or approved transfer.

The lease set out the following conditions. Doveton and his successors had to remain loyal to King George III and faithful to the Company, and had to obey the laws and regulations of the island. They paid the Company a rent of 5s 0d an acre each year, due on the feast of St Michael the Archangel. They had to keep the fences of the land in good repair and maintain the full quantity of wood on it. They could not sell or part with the lease or any interest in it without the permission of the Governor and Council of the day.

The Governor and Council signed one copy and fixed the Company's seal to it in February 1784, in the twenty-fourth year of the reign of George III, with the day of the month left blank. William Webber Doveton signed and sealed the other copy, and Robert Leech signed as witness.

Interpretations

The note of transfer was the first of its kind in the volume. Until now the register recorded only the Company's grants, and a change of tenant showed only when a later lease named a new neighbour. Here the clerk wrote beside the entry that the lease passed to R. Leech and from him to a third holder. The later Jamestown register was built on exactly that practice, with a column for transfers and remarks set against each lease. The annotation showed the habit beginning in this volume, where a sale approved by the Council was noted against the original grant so that the current holder could be traced from the Company's own book.

The first buyer was the man who witnessed the lease. Robert Leech, a factor, attested both of Doveton's leases and afterwards took over the two acres. A colleague present at the sealing thus knew the ground and its terms, and acquired it when Doveton gave it up. The lease required the Council's permission for each sale, and the note recorded two.

Robert Leech witnessed in place of the Secretary and his clerks. He held no post in the Secretary's office and was a factor like the tenant. B. A. Wright attested Richard Bagley's lease of 16 February 1784, so he was available that month. Both of Doveton's leases also lacked the day of sealing. Two leases to one official, witnessed by a fellow official and left undated, were evidently completed apart from the Council's ordinary sitting and never brought back to be finished.

The two acres stood alone in the waste and paid the full 5s 0d an acre, like every other small detached plot in the volume. John Goodwin and William Wrangham each took five acres in Friar's Valley in 1768 and 1769, among occupied land. Doveton's plot lay out beyond those farms.

The lease left a gap in the Company's title in its opening words, which the clerk did not fill. With the blank dates, it was one more sign of entries written in haste in 1784.

Doveton signed for William Young on 30 September 1771, witnessed Matthew Bazett's lease on 17 September 1770 and was one of Young's executors on 22 May 1780. He appeared here for the first time as a tenant, with a freehold in the town and the rank of factor.

223

220

Island St. 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

Let unto William Seale, John Worrall and John Desfountain of

the Island Executors to the last Will and Testament of John Seale

Deceased All that piece or parcel of Land containing twenty one

and an half Acres situate lying and being in Sandy Bay in the

South Division of the said Island butting and Bounding North

upon the Main Ridge south upon the other lands of the said [...]

John Seales Orphs. and East and West upon the lands of Mrs. Mary

Beale To have and to hold the said hereby demised parcel of Land

with the appurtenances and every part and parcel thereof unto them

the said William Seale John Worrall and John Desfountain their

Heirs Executors, administrators, and assigns, in trust nevertheless

and for the use of the Children of the said John Seale Deceased 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 they the

said William Seale, John Worrall and John Desfountain their Heirs

Executors Administrators and Assigns do always bear true faith and

Allegiance to Our Sovereign Lord King George the third 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

of the said Island Yielding and paying therefore Yearly and every

Year during the said term and time of twenty One Years unto the said

Honble Company their Successors Agents or assigns the Rent of five

Shillings P Acre in at or upon the Feast of St. Michael the Arch

Angel Yearly And upon condition that they the said William

Seale, John Worrall and John Desfountain their 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 not nor shall sell or dispose of this Lease or his

or their Interest therein without the leave and Consent of the Governor

and Council for the time being In Witness whereof We the said

Governor and Council have to the other part set Our Hands and affixed the

Honble Companys Seal the 9th day of August in the 24th Year of the

Reign of Our said Sovereign Lord George the third by the grace

of God of Great Britain France and Ireland King defender of the

faith and so forth and in the Year of Our Lord 1784 and they the said

William Seale John Worrall and John Desfountain have hereunto

set Our Hands and Seales the Day and Year above Written

Willm. Seale

John Worrall

John Desfountain

Witness

Saml. Mason

The Company let 21½ acres of land at Sandy Bay in the South Division to William Seale, John Worrall and John Desfountain of the island, the executors of the will of John Seale, who had died. The ground was bounded on the north by the main ridge, on the south by other lands of John Seale's orphans and on the east and west by the lands of Mrs Mary Beale.

The three executors were to hold the ground for 21 years from the date of the lease, but only as trustees for the children of John Seale.

The lease set out the following conditions. William Seale, John Worrall and John Desfountain, and their successors, had to remain loyal to King George III and faithful to the Company, and had to obey the laws and regulations of the island. They paid the Company a rent of 5s 0d an acre each year, due on the feast of St Michael the Archangel. They had to keep the fences of the land in good repair and maintain the full quantity of wood on it. They could not sell or part with the lease or their interest in it without the permission of the Governor and Council of the day.

The Governor and Council signed one copy and fixed the Company's seal to it on 9 August 1784, in the twenty-fourth year of the reign of George III. William Seale, John Worrall and John Desfountain all signed the other copy on the same day, each with a seal, and Samuel Mason signed as witness.

Interpretations

The lease laid every condition on the three trustees, loyalty included. That was the corrected form of 12 September 1768, which lapsed in 1776 and reappeared in the two leases for Samuel Alexander's heirs on 11 March 1782, where the Secretary was himself a trustee. Those two could be put down to his personal care over a deed he signed. The Seale trust had no official among its trustees and was witnessed by a junior clerk, yet it followed the same form. The stronger wording had therefore returned to general use by 1784. The six trusts of 1776 to 1780 that bound only the heirs were an interval, and the office came back to the rule that the adults in control of the land answered for the whole lease.

All three trustees signed, each under his own seal. The Alexander leases carried two signatures of five, and the Young leases four of six. A full execution again depended on who attended, and here every trustee came.

The orphans of John Seale were named as neighbours from 27 November 1780, beside James Colgrave and Orlando Bagley in Deep Valley in the East Division. Their father took over William Seale senior's farm there in 1775 and also held five and a half acres near Sandy Bay under his own lease of 30 September 1771. The present lease showed the children's estate in the South Division as well, with land of theirs already on the south of the new ground. The trustees were adding 21½ acres to it some four years after his death, in the way the Colgrave and Bagley executors enlarged the estates in their charge.

The ground ran up to the main ridge on the north. Matthew Bazett's woodland in the East Division met the same ridge on its south under the leases of November 1776. Sandy Bay lay on the far side of the island's central spine from Bazett's estate, and the Seale children's land climbed to the crest from the southern slope.

John Worrall acted as executor a third time, after the Torbett orphans on 5 December 1768 and the Hayes heirs on 14 October 1776. No other planter in the volume was named to so many unrelated estates. John Desfountain's family farmed beside the Seales in Deep Valley from 1766, and William Seale signed for Benjamin Seale on 5 June 1782.

Mrs Mary Beale held the land on both the east and west. The orphans of Onesiphorus Beale had land in the south of the island from 1767. She was styled Mrs, the form first used for Elizabeth Lambe on 27 November 1780, and held in her own name.

224

221

Island St. 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, Let unto Saml. Knipe Senr.

of the said Island Planter All that piece or parcel of Land situate lying and

being in the West division of the said Island containing Nine Acres and an half

Buting and Bounding North upon the Lands of Benjn. Mason Senr. East upon the

Lands of Willm. Wrangham Esqr. West upon the Lands of Orlando Bagleys Orphs.

and South upon said Samuel Knipes own Land

To have and to hold the said hereby demised parcel of Land with the appurtenances

and every part and parcel thereof unto him the said Saml. Knipe His Heirs

Executors Administrators and 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 he the said Saml. Knipe, his Heirs or allowed assigns do always

bear true true faith and allegiance to Our Sovereign Lord King George the Third 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

Yielding and Paying therefore Yearly and every Year, during the said term

and time of twenty One Years, unto the said Honorable Company their Successors

Agents or Assigns the Rent of five Shillings P Acre in, at or upon the Feast of

St. Michael the Arch Angel Yearly and upon Condition that he the said Saml.

Knipe 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 not nor shall sell or dispose of this Lease or

his or their Interest therein without the Leave and Consent of the Governor and

Council for the time being In Witness whereof We the said Governor and

Council have to the other part, set our hands and affixed the Honble Companys

Seal this 13 day of September in the 24th Year of the Reign of Our said Sovereign

Lord, George the third by the Grace of God of Great Britain, France

and Ireland King defender of the faith and so forth and in the Year of

Our Lord 1784. And he the said Saml. Knipe hath hereunto set his Hand

and Seal the day and Year abovewritten

Saml. Knipe Senr.

Witness

Saml. Mason

Factor

The Company let nine and a half acres of land in the West Division to Samuel Knipe junior of the island, a planter. The ground was bounded on the north by the lands of Benjamin Mason junior, on the east by the lands of William Wrangham Esquire, on the west by the lands of the orphans of Orlando Bagley and on the south by Knipe's own land.

Knipe was to hold the ground, with everything belonging to it, for 21 years from the date of the lease. The term covered him and anyone who took the ground after him by inheritance or approved transfer.

The lease set out the following conditions. Knipe and his successors had to remain loyal to King George III and faithful to the Company, and had to obey the laws and regulations of the island. They paid the Company a rent of 5s 0d an acre each year, due on the feast of St Michael the Archangel. They had to keep the fences of the land in good repair and maintain the full quantity of wood on it. They could not sell or part with the lease or any interest in it without the permission of the Governor and Council of the day.

The Governor and Council signed one copy and fixed the Company's seal to it on 13 September 1784, in the twenty-fourth year of the reign of George III. Samuel Knipe junior signed and sealed the other copy on the same day, and Samuel Mason signed as witness, adding his rank of factor.

Interpretations

Benjamin Mason senior's lease of 18 December 1780 gave him nine and a half acres in the West Division with William Wrangham on the east and the orphans of Orlando Bagley on the south and west. Knipe's ground was of the same size, with the same neighbours on the east and west, and had the lands of Benjamin Mason junior on its north. The two pieces therefore lay one above the other in a strip between Wrangham's farm and the Bagley orphans' land. The gap was divided into equal halves and let to the holders at either end, Mason from the north in 1780 and Knipe from the south four years later. The Council shared ground between Matthew Purling and Isaac Doveton in the same way in 1766 and 1767, with the second half following some months after the first. Both halves here paid the full 5s 0d an acre.

The land on the north was now described as belonging to Benjamin Mason junior. In 1780 the senior man took it and signed for it. Within four years it stood in the son's name, by inheritance or by handing over. As with John Seale's succession to William Seale's farm in 1775, the change appeared in the volume only through the name given to a neighbour.

Samuel Mason signed as a factor. He was a writer on 5 June 1782 and gave no rank when he witnessed for the Seale trust on 9 August 1784. His promotion from the junior grade thus fell within a little over two years. John Goodwin made the same step between 1770 and 1782. Clerks who attested the Company's leases moved up its civil service while continuing to perform that duty.

Samuel Knipe took 12¼ acres in the West Division on 30 September 1776 beside John Alexander, signing without the addition of junior. He used it again here, as he did on 30 September 1771. The word came and went with the clerk and gave no evidence of whether an elder Samuel Knipe was still alive, since the man of that name had been dead since before 28 August 1769.

Several words were struck out or added above the line, among them a repeated word in the clause on loyalty and the King's title. A row of pen strokes filled the space left after the boundaries, closing it against later additions.

225

222

Island St. 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 Thomas Bagley

Planter all those two Pieces or Parcels of Land situate lying and being in the West

division of the said Island containing twenty two Acres, Ten Acres thereof butting

and Bounding North upon the Honble Companys Waste Land and South East

and West upon the said Thos. Bagleys Own Land and the other twelve Acres

butting and Bounding every way upon the said Thos. Bagleys own Lands

To have and to hold the said hereby Demised Parcels of Land with the

appurtenances and every part and Parcel thereof unto him the said Thomas Bagley

his Heirs Executors Administrators and 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 he the said Thomas Bagley his Heirs or allowed assigns

do always bear true faith and allegiance to our Sovereign Lord King George

the third 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 Yielding and Paying therefore Yearly and every Year

during the said Term and time of twenty one Years unto the said Honble Company

their Successors Agents or assigns the Rent of five Shillings P Acre in at or

upon the Feast of St. Michael the Arch Angel Yearly And upon Condition

that he the said Thos. Bagley 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 not nor shall sell or dispose

of this Lease or his or their Interest therein Without the leave and Consent of

the Governor and Council for the time being In Witness Whereof We the said

Governor and Council have to the other part set our Hands and affixed the Honble

Companys Seal this 13th Day of September in the twenty fourth Year of the Reign of

Our said Sovereign Lord George the third by the Grace of God of Great Britain

France and Ireland King defender of the faith and so forth and in the Year

of Our Lord one Thousand seven Hundred and eighty four and he the said

Thos. Bagley hath hereunto set his Hand and Seal the Day and Year above

Written

Thomas Bagley

Witness

Jno. Doveton

Factor

The Company let two pieces of land in the West Division, 22 acres in all, to Thomas Bagley, a planter. The first piece, of ten acres, was bounded on the north by the Company's waste land and on the south, east and west by Bagley's own land. The second piece, of 12 acres, was bounded on every side by Bagley's own lands.

Bagley was to hold both pieces, with everything belonging to them, for 21 years from the date of the lease. The term covered him and anyone who took the ground after him by inheritance or approved transfer.

The lease set out the following conditions. Bagley and his successors had to remain loyal to King George III and faithful to the Company, and had to obey the laws and regulations of the island. They paid the Company a rent of 5s 0d an acre each year, due on the feast of St Michael the Archangel. They had to keep the fences of the land in good repair and maintain the full quantity of wood on it. They could not sell or part with the lease or any interest in it without the permission of the Governor and Council of the day.

The Governor and Council signed one copy and fixed the Company's seal to it on 13 September 1784, in the twenty-fourth year of the reign of George III. Thomas Bagley signed and sealed the other copy on the same day, and John Doveton signed as witness, adding his rank of factor.

Interpretations

Twelve acres of the Company's ground lay wholly inside Thomas Bagley's estate. Leases of land enclosed by a single tenant's holding were made to the Young heirs, Matthew Bazett, John Bagley junior, John Robinson, George Alexander and Richard Bagley between 1780 and February 1784. Thomas Bagley's was the seventh in four years. The Council was thus still working through the larger estates, finding what their holders occupied without a lease and charging the full rate for it. An estate large enough to surround 12 acres, in a district where the family's recorded grants went to Richard Bagley's heirs, was held under titles that this volume did not contain.

Thomas Bagley had not appeared as a tenant before. Richard Bagley's executors took 37¼ acres in the West Division for his heirs on 6 January 1777, and the orphans of Orlando Bagley held land there from 1779. A Bagley with an established farm in the same division was probably one of those heirs, in possession on his own account. Richard Bagley took land at Sandy Bay as a grown heir on 16 February 1784. Two members of the family thus came forward as tenants in their own names within seven months, as the trusts made for them reached their end.

John Doveton signed as a factor. He was sub-secretary in 1780 and witnessed the Secretary's own lease on 15 September 1783 without a title. Samuel Mason signed as a factor on the same day as this lease. Two witnesses of 13 September 1784 thus gave that rank, and both had served as clerks under the Secretary. With John Goodwin, Robert Leech and William Webber Doveton, at least five factors were named in the leases of 1782 to 1784.

The enclosed 12 acres and the ten acres against the waste went into one lease at one rate. John Bagley junior's enclosed and marginal pieces of 11 December 1780 were split between two leases, as were George Alexander's on 11 February 1782. The practice of keeping ground found inside an estate apart from additions at its edge was therefore not followed here.

The day of the month was added above the line after the lease was written. Both leases of 13 September 1784 were prepared ahead of the sitting, and this one was completed with its date, where William Webber Doveton's two of February were left blank.

226

223

Island St. Helena

The Lords Proprietors of this

Island the Honble the Honble the United Company of Merchants of England

trading to the East Indies Do hereby Demise Grant Lease and to farm Let unto

Thomas Bagley of the Said Island Planter All that piece or parcel of Land

situate lying and being in the West division of the said Island containing four

Acres and a Quarter, Butting and Bounding North and West upon the Honorable

Companys Waste land and East and South upon the said Thos. Bagleys own Land

To have and to hold the said hereby parcel of land with the appurtenances

and every part and parcel thereof unto him the said Thomas Bagley His Heirs

Executors Administrators and 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 he the said Thomas Bagley his Heirs or allowed Assigns do

always bear true faith and Allegiance to Our Sovereign Lord King George the

third 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 Yielding and paying therefore Yearly and every Year during the

said Term and time of twenty One Years unto the said Honorable Company their

Successors Agents or Assigns the Rent of two Shillings P Acre in at or upon the

Feast of St. Michael the Arch Angel Yearly And upon Condition that he

the said Thomas Bagley 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 not nor shall sell or dispose of this Lease or his or their

Interest therein without the leave and Consent of the Governor and Council for the time

being In Witness Whereof We the said Governor and Council have to the other

Part set Our Hands and affixed the Honble Companys Seal this 30 day of September

in the twenty fourth Year of the Reign of our Said Sovereign Lord George the

third by the Grace of God of Great Britain, France and Ireland, King

Defender of the faith and so forth and in the Year of Our Lord 1784 and he the

said Thomas Bagley, hath hereunto set his Hand and Seal the Day and Year

above Written

Thomas Bagley

Witness

Jno. Doveton

Factor

The Company let four and a quarter acres of land in the West Division to Thomas Bagley of the island, a planter. The ground was bounded on the north and west by the Company's waste land and on the east and south by Bagley's own land.

Bagley was to hold the ground, with everything belonging to it, for 21 years from the date of the lease. The term covered him and anyone who took the ground after him by inheritance or approved transfer.

The lease set out the following conditions. Bagley and his successors had to remain loyal to King George III and faithful to the Company, and had to obey the laws and regulations of the island. They paid the Company a rent of 2s 0d an acre each year, due on the feast of St Michael the Archangel. They had to keep the fences of the land in good repair and maintain the full quantity of wood on it. They could not sell or part with the lease or any interest in it without the permission of the Governor and Council of the day.

The Governor and Council signed one copy and fixed the Company's seal to it on 30 September 1784, in the twenty-fourth year of the reign of George III. Thomas Bagley signed and sealed the other copy on the same day, and John Doveton signed as witness, adding his rank of factor.

Interpretations

Bagley's ground at 2s 0d an acre went into a lease of its own. His 22 acres at 5s 0d were let on 13 September 1784 in a single lease covering two pieces. All three pieces adjoined the same farm in the same division. The Council joined the two that shared a rent and separated the one that did not. Under B. A. Wright's office from 1778 to 1782, several rates were often written into one lease, as with Major Henry Bazett's three on 22 May 1780 and John Robinson's 5s 0d and 1s 0d on 6 May 1782. The leases to Orlando Bagley on 15 January 1781 and to Thomas Bagley here kept to one rate for each document. Both methods thus remained in use to the end of the leases entered so far, and the older one, which tied every rent to described ground, was never given up.

The ten acres let on 13 September 1784 met the waste on the north and paid 5s 0d. The four and a quarter acres met it on the north and west and paid 2s 0d. A corner piece, open to unoccupied country on two sides, was thus valued at two fifths of a piece open on one. William Wrangham's leases showed the same gradation from 1766 onward. The more of its boundary a piece shared with the waste, the less the Council asked for it.

The lease was dated 30 September, the day after the rent fell due. Leases clustered on that date in 1771, 1775, 1776 and 1779, and the practice was then abandoned through 1780 to 1783, when country land was let in every season. Bagley's first lease that month was sealed on the 13th and this one held to the turn of the rent year. The Michaelmas date had not been forgotten, though it governed only some of the grants.

The clerk wrote the Company's title of honour twice in the opening line and struck out the first. Small slips of that kind marked nearly every entry of 1784.

227

224

Island St. 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 Let unto Mrs. Mary Beale of the

said Island Trustee of the Estate of Lieut. Anty. Beale, All that piece or Parcel

of Land containing ten Acres situate lying and being in the south Division of the

said Island, Butting and Bounding North to the Main Ridge, South and West upon

the free Land of him the said Antony Beale and East upon the Lands of the Orphans

of John Seale Deceased To have and to hold the said hereby demised Parcel of Land

with the Appurtenances and every part and parcel thereof unto her the said Mary Beale

in trust nevertheless and to and for the proper use of him the said Antony Beale his

Heirs Executors Administrators and 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 she the said Mary Beale Trustee aforesaid, her Executors Administrators

or assigns do and shall bear true faith and allegiance to our Sovereign Lord King

George the third 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 Yielding and Paying therefore Yearly and every Year

during the said term and time of twenty one Years unto the said Honble Company

their Successors Agents or assigns the Yearly Rent of five shillings P Acre

in at or upon the feast of St. Michael the Arch Angel Yearly And Upon

Condition that she the said Mary Beale Trustee aforesaid 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 not nor shall sell or dispose of this Lease or her

or his Interest therein without the leave and consent of the Governor and Council

for the time being In Witness whereof We the said Governor and Council have

to the other Part set Our hands, and affixed the Honble Companys Seal this 30th Day

of September in the twenty fourth Year of the Reign of our Sovereign Lord

George the third by the Grace of God of Great Britain France and Ireland

King defender of the faith and so forth and in the Year of Our Lord 1784 and

she the said Mary Beale Trustee aforesaid hath hereunto set her hand and Seal

the Day and Year above Written

W.W. Doveton

for Mary Beale

Witness

Robt. Leech

The Company let ten acres of land in the South Division to Mrs Mary Beale of the island, as trustee of the estate of Lieutenant Anthony Beale. The ground was bounded on the north by the main ridge, on the south and west by Anthony Beale's free land and on the east by the lands of the orphans of John Seale, who had died.

Mary Beale was to hold the ground for 21 years from the date of the lease, but only as trustee for Anthony Beale and his heirs.

The lease set out the following conditions. Mary Beale, as trustee, and her successors had to remain loyal to King George III and faithful to the Company, and had to obey the laws and regulations of the island. They paid the Company a rent of 5s 0d an acre each year, due on the feast of St Michael the Archangel. Mary Beale had to keep the fences of the land in good repair and maintain the full quantity of wood on it. She could not sell or part with the lease or her interest in it without the permission of the Governor and Council of the day.

The Governor and Council signed one copy and fixed the Company's seal to it on 30 September 1784, in the twenty-fourth year of the reign of George III. William Webber Doveton signed and sealed the other copy on Mary Beale's behalf, and Robert Leech signed as witness.

Interpretations

Every earlier trust in the volume was made for the family of a dead tenant. This one was made for a living man. Anthony Beale was named without any word that he had died, and the benefit was reserved to him and his heirs. Mary Beale was not an executrix or administratrix but the trustee of his estate. A lieutenant whose property was managed by another was probably away from the island on service, or under age. He could not apply for land or sign a lease himself, and a grant made outright to Mary Beale would have been hers. The trust, devised in 1767 for the settling of estates, was here used to let an absent owner's farm grow in his name. The lease of 9 August 1784 to John Seale's executors described the land on its east and west as Mrs Mary Beale's. The present lease showed in what capacity she held it.

Anthony Beale's adjoining ground was called free land. William Webber Doveton's lease of February 1784 named his freehold ground in the town. This was the first country land in the volume to be so described. Freehold thus existed in the farming districts as well as in James's Valley, and a planter's estate could consist of land owned outright with leased additions round it. The ten acres ran from that freehold up to the main ridge, so the Company still owned the higher slope above ground it had long since parted with.

The ground and the Seale children's 21½ acres, let seven weeks earlier, lay side by side under the ridge at Sandy Bay, each bounded by the other. Both paid the full 5s 0d an acre. The two estates were advancing together up the southern slope of the island's spine, one held for orphans and one for an absent officer.

William Webber Doveton signed for Mary Beale and Robert Leech witnessed. The same two factors completed Doveton's own leases of February 1784 between them. A woman named as trustee again did not sign, as with every woman in the volume except Margaret Harper. Neither the Secretary nor a clerk of his office took part.

An Anthony Beale held eight acres under country lease 279 of 1817 in the later register, and A. Beale shared Jamestown lease 165 of 1819. The name thus continued among the Company's tenants for another generation.

228

225

Island. St. 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 Lieutenant

Thomas Greentree of the said Island All that piece or parcel of Land situate lying

and being in the south division of the said Island containing half an acre, butting

and Bounding East West and South upon the Honble Companys Waste Land and

North upon the said Thomas Greentrees own Land To have and to hold the said

hereby demised parcel of Land with the appurtenances and every part and parcel

thereof unto him the said Thomas Greentree His Heirs Executors Administrators

and 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 he the said

Thomas Greentree his Heirs or allowed assigns Do always bear true faith and

Allegiance to Our Sovereign Lord King George the third 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 Yielding and paying

therefore Yearly and every Year during the said term and time of twenty one Years

unto the said Honble Company their Successors Agents or assigns the Rent of six

Pence P Annum in at or upon the Feast of St. Michael the Arch Angel And

Upon Condition that he the said Thomas Greentree 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 not nor shall sell or dispose of this Lease or his or their Interest therein without

the leave and Consent of the Governor and Council for the time being In

Witness whereof We the said Governor and Council have to the Other Part

set Our Hands and affixed the Honble Companys Seal this 30 Day of September

in the twenty fourth Year of the Reign of our said Sovereign Lord George the

third by the Grace of God of Great Britain France and Ireland King defender

of the faith and so forth and in the Year of Our Lord 1784 and he the said

Thomas Greentree hath hereunto set his Hand and Seal the day and Year

above Written

Thomas Greentree

Witness

Robt. Leech

The Company let half an acre of land in the South Division to Lieutenant Thomas Greentree of the island. The ground was bounded on the east, west and south by the Company's waste land and on the north by Greentree's own land.

Greentree was to hold the ground, with everything belonging to it, for 21 years from the date of the lease. The term covered him and anyone who took the ground after him by inheritance or approved transfer.

The lease set out the following conditions. Greentree and his successors had to remain loyal to King George III and faithful to the Company, and had to obey the laws and regulations of the island. They paid the Company a rent of £0 0s 6d a year, due on the feast of St Michael the Archangel. They had to keep the fences of the land in good repair and maintain the full quantity of wood on it. They could not sell or part with the lease or any interest in it without the permission of the Governor and Council of the day.

The Governor and Council signed one copy and fixed the Company's seal to it on 30 September 1784, in the twenty-fourth year of the reign of George III. Thomas Greentree signed and sealed the other copy on the same day, and Robert Leech signed as witness.

Interpretations

The rent of £0 0s 6d a year was the smallest sum charged in the volume. It was stated as a yearly amount and not as a rate, the first country lease to be so written. On half an acre it came to 1s 0d an acre, the usual figure for rough ground against the waste. John Robinson's lease of 11 February 1782 likewise gave a worked sum, £0 3s 9d, for three quarters of an acre. The clerk under B. A. Wright thus set down the amount due where the acreage was a fraction, leaving nothing to be calculated at collection.

A full lease was made for sixpence a year. It carried the Company's seal, a witness and every standard condition, and ran for 21 years like a grant of 40 acres. The Company's form never bent to the size of what was let, as the Young heirs' scrap of yard showed on 22 May 1780. The value of such a lease lay in the boundary. Half an acre taken in below Greentree's farm was his by title from that day, and the rent mattered less to the Company than having the enclosure on its books.

In town, the Secretary's office kept a minimum charge of £0 5s 0d for the smallest pieces from 1778. No such floor applied in the country. A scrap of farmland paid its exact share at the rate for its quality, down to a few pence. The smallest holders of town ground thus paid ten times what the smallest piece of country land cost.

Greentree took eight acres at Sandy Bay on 4 December 1780 at 5s 0d an acre, enclosed by occupied land. The half acre lay on the outer edge of his farm, open to the waste on three sides, at a fifth of that rate. His two leases followed the Council's constant practice of valuing ground by its position.

Three leases were sealed on 30 September 1784, to Thomas Bagley, Mary Beale and Greentree, at 2s 0d, 5s 0d and the equivalent of 1s 0d an acre. Robert Leech witnessed two of them. The sitting at the turn of the rent year, kept in 1771, 1775, 1776 and 1779, was thus held again after an interval of five years.

229

226

Island St. 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, Let unto Mr. John Bagley of the

said Island Planter All that Piece, or Parcel, of Land in Peak Gut containing

twenty One Acres situate lying and being in the south division of the said Island

Butting, and Bounding, East, West, and South, upon the Honble Company's Waste

Land, and North, upon the said John Bagleys own Land, To have and

to hold the said hereby demised Parcel of Land, with the Appurtenances and

every part, and parcel, thereof unto him the said John Bagley, his Heirs

Executors, Administrators, and 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 he the said John Bagley his Heirs, or allowed assigns, do

always bear true faith and Allegiance to Our Sovereign Lord George the Third,

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, Yielding and Paying therefore Yearly and every Year

during the said Term and time of twenty One Years unto the said Honble

Company their Successors Agents or assigns the rent of three Shillings P Acre in

at or upon the feast of St. Michael the Arch Angel Yearly, And upon

Condition that he the said John Bagley 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 not

nor shall sell or dispose of this Lease or his or their Interest therein without

the Leave and Consent of the Governor and Council for the time being In

Witness whereof We the said Governor and Council have to the Other part

set Our Hands, and affixed the Honble Companys Seal this 15 Day of

November in the twenty fifth Year of the Reign of Our said Sovereign

Lord George the Third, by the Grace of God of Great Britain, France, and

Ireland, King defender of the faith and so forth and in the Year of Our Lord

One Thousand seven Hundred and eighty four and he the said John Bagley

hath hereunto set his Hand and Seal the Day and Year above Written

Thomas Bagley for John Bagley

Witness

Robt. Leech Factor

The Company let 21 acres of land in Peak Gut in the South Division to Mr John Bagley of the island, a planter. The ground was bounded on the east, west and south by the Company's waste land and on the north by Bagley's own land.

Bagley was to hold the ground, with everything belonging to it, for 21 years from the date of the lease. The term covered him and anyone who took the ground after him by inheritance or approved transfer.

The lease set out the following conditions. Bagley and his successors had to remain loyal to King George III and faithful to the Company, and had to obey the laws and regulations of the island. They paid the Company a rent of 3s 0d an acre each year, due on the feast of St Michael the Archangel. They had to keep the fences of the land in good repair and maintain the full quantity of wood on it. They could not sell or part with the lease or any interest in it without the permission of the Governor and Council of the day.

The Governor and Council signed one copy and fixed the Company's seal to it on 15 November 1784, in the twenty-fifth year of the reign of George III. Thomas Bagley signed and sealed the other copy on John Bagley's behalf, and Robert Leech signed as witness, adding his rank of factor.

Interpretations

The lease placed Peak Gut in the South Division. The trust lease for Martin Harper's heirs on 30 September 1779 placed it in the West, with the orphans of Orlando Bagley and the heirs of Richard Bagley as neighbours. One named place was thus assigned to two districts within five years. The same uncertainty arose over James Colgrave's land, put in the East in 1780 and beside ground in the South in 1782, and over the Purling and Bazett estates in 1767 and 1769. Every lease named a division, yet the divisions had no lines that the clerks applied alike. A valley or gully on the border went into whichever district the writer thought of first. A place name such as Peak Gut fixed the ground far better than the division attached to it.

John Bagley's rent of 3s 0d an acre lay between his earlier rates. His 25¼ acres against the waste, let on 30 September 1775, paid 3s 6d, and his seven acres on that margin on 11 December 1780 paid the same. The 48 acres enclosed by his own and his neighbours' land in 1780 paid 5s 0d. A further 21 acres, open to the waste on three sides, were now valued sixpence lower than the outer ground he took before. Each step outward from his farm brought a slightly lower figure, as with William Seale in Deep Valley from 1766 to 1775. With this lease he held more than 100 acres under grants entered in the volume.

Thomas Bagley signed for him. Thomas took 26¼ acres in the West Division under his own leases of 13 and 30 September 1784. A kinsman with business before the Council that season thus acted for John, who did not attend the sealing of this lease or of his two on 11 December 1780.

The tenant was styled Mr, a form not given to a planter before. Mrs appeared for Elizabeth Lambe in 1780 and Mary Beale in 1784. The clerk also dropped the addition of junior, although John Bagley senior was alive on 6 May 1782.

Robert Leech witnessed and gave his rank. He attested William Webber Doveton's leases in February and two of the three sealed on 30 September 1784. A factor with no post in the Secretary's office had become a regular witness, and B. A. Wright had signed no lease since 16 February 1784.

The lease was the first dated in the twenty-fifth year of the reign.

230

227

Island St. 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 Let unto Mr. John

Bagley of the said Island Planter All those two pieces or parcels of Land in Peak

Gut containing ten Acres and an half Butting and Bounding North and

East upon the Honble Company's Waste Land and South and West upon the

Lands of Mrs. Margaret Harper Widow, To have and to hold the said

hereby demised Parcels of Land with the appurtenances and every part and

and parcel thereof unto him the said John Bagley His Heirs Executors

Administrators and 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 he the said John Bagley His Heirs or allowed Assigns do

always bear true faith and Allegiance to Our Sovereign Lord King George the

third 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 Yielding and Paying therefore Yearly and every Year during

the said Term and time of twenty One Years unto the said Honble Company their

Successors, Agents or assigns the Rent of five Shillings P Acre in at or upon

the feast of St. Michael the Arch Angel Yearly And upon Condition

that he the said John Bagley His Heirs, Executors, Administrators or assigns

do and shall well and sufficiently keep up and Maintain the fences to the said

Lands and the full Quantity of Wood thereon and do not nor shall sell or dispose

of this Lease or his or their Interest therein without the leave and Consent of the

Governor and Council for the time being In Witness Whereof We the said

Governor and Council have to the other part set our Hands and affixed the

Honble Company's Seal this 15th Day of November in the twenty fifth year of

the Reign of Our said Sovereign Lord George the third by the Grace of God

of Great Britain, France and Ireland King, defender of the faith and so forth

and in the Year of Our Lord One Thousand Seven Hundred and Eighty four

and he the said John Bagley hath hereunto Set his Hand and Seal the Day

and Year above Written

Thomas Bagley for John Bagley

Witness

Robt. Leech Factor

The Company let a further ten and a half acres of land in Peak Gut, in more than one piece, to Mr John Bagley of the island, a planter. The ground was bounded on the north and east by the Company's waste land and on the south and west by the lands of Mrs Margaret Harper, a widow.

Bagley was to hold the ground, with everything belonging to it, for 21 years from the date of the lease. The term covered him and anyone who took the ground after him by inheritance or approved transfer.

The lease set out the following conditions. Bagley and his successors had to remain loyal to King George III and faithful to the Company, and had to obey the laws and regulations of the island. They paid the Company a rent of 5s 0d an acre each year, due on the feast of St Michael the Archangel. They had to keep the fences of the land in good repair and maintain the full quantity of wood on it. They could not sell or part with the lease or any interest in it without the permission of the Governor and Council of the day.

The Governor and Council signed one copy and fixed the Company's seal to it on 15 November 1784, in the twenty-fifth year of the reign of George III. Thomas Bagley signed and sealed the other copy on John Bagley's behalf, and Robert Leech signed as witness, adding his rank of factor.

Interpretations

Bagley took two leases in Peak Gut on 15 November 1784, 21 acres at 3s 0d an acre and these ten and a half at 5s 0d. Each rate had its own lease, as with Thomas Bagley's grants of 13 and 30 September 1784 and Orlando Bagley's three of 15 January 1781. The office had by then returned fully to the practice of the 1760s. No lease after John Robinson's of 6 May 1782 carried more than one rate, and the split rent of 1778 to 1782 was not used again in the entries that followed.

The dearer piece lay against the waste on two sides and touched none of Bagley's own land. The cheaper one adjoined his farm and met the waste on three. Ground open on two sides was thus valued above ground open on three, in keeping with the Council's constant rule. The ten and a half acres stood apart from his holding, beside another estate, and he paid the top rate for a foothold there.

The neighbour on the south and west was Mrs Margaret Harper, a widow. On 30 September 1779 she and Samuel Alexander took 12 acres in Peak Gut as trustees for the heirs of Martin Harper, and the land on the south of that grant was described as the heirs'. Five years later the Harper land in the same gully was called hers. Samuel Alexander died within months of that lease, leaving her the only trustee. A widow in sole control of an estate held for her husband's heirs was evidently treated as its owner in ordinary description, whatever the trust said. The care taken in 1778 and 1779 to declare the trust twice in each lease guarded against exactly that drift.

She signed both of the 1779 leases herself, the only woman in the volume to complete a lease in her own hand. Her lands in Peak Gut now bounded one of the largest landholders of the district on two sides.

Thomas Bagley signed both of John Bagley's leases of the day, for 31½ acres in all. John did not attend the sealing of any of his four leases from 11 December 1780 onward, which together gave him 86½ acres.

231

228

Island St. 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 Let unto Mary Doveton of the said

Island All that Piece or parcel of Land lying and being in the East division of the

said Island containing seven Acres Butting and Bounding North and East

upon the Lands of Isaac Doveton and South and West upon other the Lands of Mary

Doveton and Heirs of John Doveton Deceased. To have and to hold the said hereby

demised Parcel of Land with the appurtenances and every part and parcel thereof

unto her the said Mary Doveton her Heirs Executors, Administrators and 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 she the said Mary Doveton

her Heirs or allowed assigns Do always bear true faith and allegiance to Our

Sovereign Lord King George the Third 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 Yielding and paying therefore Yearly and every

Year during the said term and time of twenty One Years unto the said Honble Company

their Successors Agents or assigns the Rent of five shillings P Acre in at or upon the Feast

of St. Michael the arch Angel Yearly And upon Condition that she the said Mary

Doveton her 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 not nor shall sell or dispose of this Lease or her or their Interest therein without the

leave and Consent of the Governor and Council for the time being In Witness

whereof We the said Governor and Council have to the other Part set Our Hands and

Affixed the Honble Company's Seal the 6th Day of December in the twenty fifth

Year of the Reign of Our said Sovereign Lord George the Third by the Grace of God

of Great Britain France and Ireland King defender of the faith and so forth and in

the Year of Our Lord One Thousand seven Hundred and Eighty four, And she the

said Mary Doveton hath hereunto set her Hand and Seal the Day and Year above

Written.

Jno. Doveton

for

Mary Doveton

Witness

Robt. Leech Factor

The Company let seven acres of land in the East Division to Mary Doveton of the island. The ground was bounded on the north and east by the lands of Isaac Doveton, and on the south and west by other lands of Mary Doveton and of the heirs of John Doveton, who had died.

Mary Doveton was to hold the ground, with everything belonging to it, for 21 years from the date of the lease. The term covered her and anyone who took the ground after her by inheritance or approved transfer.

The lease set out the following conditions. Mary Doveton and her successors had to remain loyal to King George III and faithful to the Company, and had to obey the laws and regulations of the island. They paid the Company a rent of 5s 0d an acre each year, due on the feast of St Michael the Archangel. They had to keep the fences of the land in good repair and maintain the full quantity of wood on it. They could not sell or part with the lease or any interest in it without the permission of the Governor and Council of the day.

The Governor and Council signed one copy and fixed the Company's seal to it on 6 December 1784, in the twenty-fifth year of the reign of George III. John Doveton signed and sealed the other copy on Mary Doveton's behalf, and Robert Leech signed as witness, adding his rank of factor.

Interpretations

Mary Doveton took an acre of cabbage tree land on 12 October 1767 as widow and administratrix of John Doveton, and that lease made her a trustee for his orphans. The Council wrote the children's interest into it so that she could not treat the ground as her own. Seventeen years later she took seven acres beside the same estate, and the lease was made to her outright. It named no trust and reserved nothing to anyone else. The children of 1767 were by then of full age, and the lease called them the heirs of John Doveton, no longer orphans. With no minors to protect, the Council had no reason to impose a trust, and a widow adding to her holding was granted the land in her own right.

The southern and western boundary was described as land of Mary Doveton and of the heirs together. The lease of 1767 took care to separate her own land from what she held for the children. Here the two were run into one phrase. The family's ground was evidently farmed as a single estate, part hers and part theirs, and the clerk did not attempt to say where one ended and the other began. The new seven acres, in her name alone, added a third element to it.

Isaac Doveton held the land on the north and east. He was named as a planter beside this family's ground on 12 October 1767 and took land of his own in the East Division in 1767 and 1769. The piece thus lay enclosed among three Doveton holdings and paid the full 5s 0d an acre, the usual charge on ground within settled farms.

John Doveton signed for her, as Jonathan Doveton did in 1767. He bore the dead man's name and was probably one of the heirs, grown up and lately sub-secretary and a factor in the Company's service. A son thus completed the lease for his mother, on land bounded by his own inheritance.

Robert Leech witnessed again. He attested every lease entered from 30 September 1784 apart from Thomas Bagley's, and the Secretary's signature had not appeared since 16 February 1784.

232

229

Island St. 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 Let unto Nathl. Kennedy of the said Island

All that piece or Parcel of Land lying and being in the South Division of the said Island

containing twenty six and a Quarter acres, Butting and Bounding East on the Lands

of George Alexander, West partly on the Lands of William Wrangham and partly

upon the Honble Company's Waste Lands, And North and South upon the Lands of him

the said Nathl. Kennedy To have and to hold the said hereby demised parcel of Land

with the appurtenances and every part and parcel thereof unto him the said Nathl.

Kennedy, His Heirs Executors Administrators and 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 he the said Nathl. Kennedy his Heirs or allowed

assigns Do always bear true faith and allegiance to Our Sovereign Lord King

George the third 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 Yielding and Paying therefore Yearly and every during

the said term and time of twenty One Years unto the said Honble Company their

Successors Agents or assigns the Rent of five Shillings P Acre in at or upon the

Feast of St. Michael the Arch Angel Yearly And upon Condition that he the said

Nathl. Kennedy 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 not nor shall sell or dispose of this Lease or his or their Interest

therein without the leave and consent of the Governor and Council for the time being

In Witness whereof We the said Governor and Council have to the other part set our

hands and affixed the Honble Companys Seal the 6 Day of December in the

twenty fifth Year of the Reign of our said sovereign Lord George the Third by the

grace of God of Great Britain France and Ireland King defender of the Faith and

so forth, and in the Year of our Lord, One thousand Seven Hundred and eighty four

and he the said Nathl. Kennedy hath hereunto set his Hand and Seal the Day and

Year above Written.

Nathl. Kennedy

Witness

Robt. Leech Factor

The Company let 26¼ acres of land in the South Division to Nathaniel Kennedy of the island. The ground was bounded on the east by the lands of George Alexander, on the west partly by the lands of William Wrangham and partly by the Company's waste lands, and on the north and south by Kennedy's own lands.

Kennedy was to hold the ground, with everything belonging to it, for 21 years from the date of the lease. The term covered him and anyone who took the ground after him by inheritance or approved transfer.

The lease set out the following conditions. Kennedy and his successors had to remain loyal to King George III and faithful to the Company, and had to obey the laws and regulations of the island. They paid the Company a rent of 5s 0d an acre each year, due on the feast of St Michael the Archangel. They had to keep the fences of the land in good repair and maintain the full quantity of wood on it. They could not sell or part with the lease or any interest in it without the permission of the Governor and Council of the day.

The Governor and Council signed one copy and fixed the Company's seal to it on 6 December 1784, in the twenty-fifth year of the reign of George III. Nathaniel Kennedy signed and sealed the other copy on the same day, and Robert Leech signed as witness, adding his rank of factor.

Interpretations

Nathaniel Kennedy signed for John Bagley junior on 11 December 1780, witnessed leases in 1781 and held the office of sub-secretary through 1782. He appeared here as a tenant for the first time, with land of his own on the north and south of the new ground. A man who was a junior clerk four years earlier thus already held two blocks of land in the South Division, wide enough apart to take 26¼ acres between them. No lease in the volume gave him either block. He acquired them by purchase or inheritance from other tenants, through transfers the Council approved and this register did not record. An Elizabeth Kennedy, widow, owned a house in the valley until William Wrangham bought it before 2 November 1778, so the family had property before he entered the office.

Every Secretary and clerk named in the volume became a landholder. Matthew Bazett, B. A. Wright, John Goodwin, John Doveton and now Kennedy each kept or witnessed the register and each took the Company's land. Kennedy's grant was among the larger of 1784 and paid the full 5s 0d an acre, a rent of £6 11s 3d a year. The office that recorded the leases gave its members a close knowledge of what ground lay ungranted, and they used it, though at the same rents as other tenants.

The lease gave Kennedy no rank or office, although he signed as sub-secretary in 1782. Robert Leech and John Doveton, who witnessed in 1784, both added the rank of factor. The omission suggested that he no longer held the deputy's post.

George Alexander took 49 acres in the South Division on 11 February 1782, and Wrangham took 15 acres there on 22 May 1780 and 20 more on 8 April 1782. Kennedy's ground lay between those two estates. The South Division by the end of 1784 was held in large blocks by a few men, the Alexanders, the Bagleys, Wrangham, Major Henry Bazett and now a former clerk.

Two leases were sealed on 6 December 1784, to Mary Doveton and Kennedy, both at the full rate and both witnessed by Leech.

233

230

Island St. 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, Let unto Nathaniel Kennedy of

the said Island All those two pieces or Parcels of Land lying and being in the

South Division of the said Island containing in the Whole thirteen Acres Butting

and Bounding as hereafter mentioned that is to say One Pce. or Parcel thereof

containing Eleven acres Buting and Bounding South and West on his the said

Nathl. Kennedy's own Free Land East on the Lands of George Alexander

and North upon the lands of Jno. Bagley Senr. and Saml. Alexander

Deceased and the other Piece or Parcel thereof containing two Acres Butting

and Bounding South on the Lands of William Wrangham West and North upon

the lands of the said Jno. Bagley Senr. and East on the lands of him the said

Nathl. Kennedy To have and to hold the said hereby demised two pieces or Parcels of Land

with the appurtenances and every part and parcel thereof unto him the said Nathl.

Kennedy His Heirs Executors Administrators and Assigns from the Day of the

Date hereof for and During all the term and time of twenty One Years from

thence next ensuing Upon Condition that he the said Nathl. Kennedy his

Heirs or allowed Assigns Do always bear true faith and Allegiance to Our Sovereign

Lord King George the third 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 Yielding and Paying therefore Yearly

and every Year during the said term and time of twenty One Years unto the

said Honble Company their Successors Agents or assigns the Rent of five shillings

P Acre in at or upon the Feast of St. Michael the Arch Angel Yearly And

Upon Condition that he the said Nathl. Kennedy 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 not nor shall sell

or dispose of this Lease or his or their Interest therein Without the leave and Consent

of the Governor and Council for the time being In Witness Whereof We the

said Governor and Council have to the other Part set our Hands and affixed the Honble

Companys Seal the 6 Day of December in the twenty fifth Year of the Reign of our

said Sovereign Lord George the third by the Grace of God of Great Britain France

and Ireland King defender of the faith and so forth, And in the Year of Our Lord

One Thousand seven Hundred and Eighty four. And he the said Nathl. Kennedy hath

hereunto set his Hand and Seal the Day and Year above Written

Nathl. Kennedy

Witness

Robt. Leech Factor

The Company let two further pieces of land in the South Division, 13 acres in all, to Nathaniel Kennedy of the island. The first piece, of 11 acres, was bounded on the south and west by Kennedy's own free land, on the east by the lands of George Alexander and on the north by the lands of John Bagley senior and of Samuel Alexander, who had died. The second piece, of two acres, was bounded on the south by the lands of William Wrangham, on the west and north by the lands of John Bagley senior and on the east by Kennedy's own lands.

Kennedy was to hold both pieces, with everything belonging to them, for 21 years from the date of the lease. The term covered him and anyone who took the ground after him by inheritance or approved transfer.

The lease set out the following conditions. Kennedy and his successors had to remain loyal to King George III and faithful to the Company, and had to obey the laws and regulations of the island. They paid the Company a rent of 5s 0d an acre each year, due on the feast of St Michael the Archangel. They had to keep the fences of the land in good repair and maintain the full quantity of wood on it. They could not sell or part with the lease or any interest in it without the permission of the Governor and Council of the day.

The Governor and Council signed one copy and fixed the Company's seal to it on 6 December 1784, in the twenty-fifth year of the reign of George III. Nathaniel Kennedy signed and sealed the other copy on the same day, and Robert Leech signed as witness, adding his rank of factor.

Start of crossed out section

The name of George Alexander was written a second time after the eastern boundary of the 11 acres.

End of crossed out section

Interpretations

The lease called Kennedy's adjoining ground his free land. His first lease of the day showed him holding blocks on the north and south of 26¼ acres, under no grant recorded in the volume. The present wording explained why. The land was freehold, owned outright and owing the Company no rent, so it never needed a lease. Mary Beale's lease of 30 September 1784 named Anthony Beale's free land in the same division, and William Webber Doveton's of February 1784 a freehold in the town. Three leases within ten months thus recorded private freeholds. A former clerk of the Secretary's office owned an estate of that kind in the South Division by 1784, and the Company's ground lay in pieces between and around it.

The 39¼ acres Kennedy took that day were therefore the Company's remaining land inside and beside a freehold estate. The leases to Matthew Bazett, the two John Bagleys, George Alexander and Thomas Bagley from 1780 dealt with ground enclosed by a tenant's own holding in the same way. Where the surrounding land was freehold, the effect went further. Every acre the owner leased from the Company brought a rent where his own land paid none, and the Council charged the full 5s 0d for it.

John Bagley senior held land on the north and west. The memorandum of 6 May 1782 showed him keeping 13 acres on a lease for lives after selling 21 to John Robinson and Benjamin Seale. Samuel Alexander's estate, for whose heirs 36 acres were let on 11 March 1782, lay beside it. Kennedy's holding thus sat among the oldest tenures and the largest families of the district.

Two leases were made to Kennedy on one day at one rent, 26¼ acres in the first and these 13 in the second. The pieces here lay on a different side of his freehold, among different neighbours, and the clerk kept them apart from the larger block.

234

231

Island St. 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 Let unto Nathl. Kennedy of the said Island

All those two Pieces or Parcels of Land, lying and being in the South Division of the said Island Containing Seven Acres, Butting and Bounding

as hereafter mentioned that is to say one Piece or Parcel thereof containing five Acres

Butting and Bounding East on the Lands of Benjn. Mason Senr. West on the Lands of

Jno. Alexander North on the Lands of Thos. Yates And South on the Land of him the

said Nathl. Kennedy And the Other piece or Parcel thereof containing two Acres

Butting and Bounding South on the Land of Jno. Robinson, North Under the Main Ridge

East on the Free Lands of him the said Nathl. Kennedy, And West on the Lands of Jno.

Alexander To have and to hold the said hereby demised two pieces or Parcels of Land

with the appurtenances and every part and parcel thereof unto him the said Nathl.

Kennedy his Heirs Executors Administrators and 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 he the said Nathl. Kennedy His Heirs or allowed assigns

Do always Bear true faith and Allegiance to Our Sovereign Lord King George

the third 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 Yielding and paying therefore Yearly and every Year during the said

term and time of twenty One Years unto the said Honble Company their Successors Agents

or assigns the Rent of five Shillings P Acre in at or upon the Feast of St. Michael the

Arch Angel Yearly And Upon Condition that he the said Nathl. Kennedy 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 not nor shall sell or dispose of this Lease or his or their Interest therein without

the leave and Consent of the Governor and Council for the time being. In Witness

Whereof We the said Governor and Council have to the other Part set Our Hands and

affixed the Honble Companys Seal the 6 Day of December in the Twenty fifth Year

of the Reign of Our said Sovereign Lord George the third by the Grace of God of

Great Britain France and Ireland King defender of the faith and so forth, And in the

Year of Our Lord One Thousand seven Hundred and Eighty four and he the said

Nathl. Kennedy hath hereunto set his Hand and Seal the Day and Year above

Written.

Nathl. Kennedy

Witness

Robt. Leech Factor

The Company let two more pieces of land in the South Division, seven acres in all, to Nathaniel Kennedy of the island. The first piece, of five acres, was bounded on the east by the lands of Benjamin Mason junior, on the west by the lands of John Alexander, on the north by the lands of Thomas Yates and on the south by Kennedy's own land. The second piece, of two acres, was bounded on the south by the land of John Robinson, on the north by the main ridge, on the east by Kennedy's own free lands and on the west by the lands of John Alexander.

Kennedy was to hold both pieces, with everything belonging to them, for 21 years from the date of the lease. The term covered him and anyone who took the ground after him by inheritance or approved transfer.

The lease set out the following conditions. Kennedy and his successors had to remain loyal to King George III and faithful to the Company, and had to obey the laws and regulations of the island. They paid the Company a rent of 5s 0d an acre each year, due on the feast of St Michael the Archangel. They had to keep the fences of the land in good repair and maintain the full quantity of wood on it. They could not sell or part with the lease or any interest in it without the permission of the Governor and Council of the day.

The Governor and Council signed one copy and fixed the Company's seal to it on 6 December 1784, in the twenty-fifth year of the reign of George III. Nathaniel Kennedy signed and sealed the other copy on the same day, and Robert Leech signed as witness, adding his rank of factor.

Interpretations

Kennedy took three leases on 6 December 1784, for 26¼ acres, 13 acres and seven, all in the South Division and all at 5s 0d an acre. Together they came to 46¼ acres at a yearly rent of £11 11s 3d. Only William Wrangham, on 4 December 1769 and 8 April 1782, Margaret Alcock on 5 August 1771 and Orlando Bagley on 15 January 1781 took three leases at one sitting. Five separate pieces were described across the three, each fitted against his freehold or his other land and against a different set of neighbours. The Council evidently had his whole estate examined and let him every piece of its own ground lying within or beside it on one day. The same exercise was carried out for the large leasehold estates from 1780. Here it was applied to a freeholder, whose own land paid nothing and whose title to the gaps in it had to be bought by lease.

The pieces were grouped by where they lay and not by rent, since the rent was the same throughout. A single lease could have carried all five. Three were made, and each would later be renewed or sold as a unit. The clerk's grouping thus fixed how the estate could be divided in future.

Kennedy's freehold reached the main ridge. The two acres lay under the crest with his free land on the east. Mary Beale's ten acres of 30 September 1784 and the Seale children's 21½ of 9 August 1784 also ran up to the ridge from the south. Three leases in four months thus dealt with the last of the Company's ground along the upper southern slope.

Thomas Yates held land on the north of the five acres. The later Jamestown register recorded his lease of 15 September 1794 for 460 feet of frontage in the town, which he sold off in plots to Cooper, Carr, Sampson, Bagley and Tully. He appeared here ten years earlier as a country landholder in the South Division.

Benjamin Mason junior was named as a neighbour, as in Samuel Knipe's lease of 13 September 1784 in the West Division. The words placing the ground in the South Division were added above the line, and John Robinson's farm of 1782 and 1773 lay there. The younger Mason thus held land in more than one district within months of succeeding his father.

235

232

Island St. 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 Mr. James Colgrave of the said Island

Planter All that piece or Parcel of Land containing forty two Acres and an half

situate lying and being in Sandy Bay in the South Division of this Island, Butting

and Bounding East upon the Lands of William Seale Junior South upon the

Lands of Richard Bagley North and West upon the Lands of Wathin Greentree

To have and to hold the said hereby demised Parcel of Land with the appurtenances

and every part and parcel thereof unto him the said James Colgrave His Heirs

Executors administrators and 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 he the said James Colgrave His Heirs Executors administrators

and Assigns do always bear true faith and Allegiance to Our Sovereign Lord King

George the third 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, Yielding and paying therefore yearly and every Year

during the said term and time of twenty one Years unto the said Honble Company

their Successors Agents or assigns the Yearly Rent of five Shillings P Acre in at or upon

the feast of St. Michael the Arch Angel Yearly And Upon Condition that he the

said James Colgrave 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 not nor shall sell or dispose of this Lease or his

or their Interest therein without the leave and Consent of the Governor and

Council for the time being In Witness whereof We the said Governor and

Council have to the other Part set Our Hands and affixed the Honble Companys

Seal this 11th day of April in the twenty fifth Year of the Reign of Our said

Sovereign Lord George the third by the Grace of God of Great Britain France

and Ireland King defender of the faith and so forth and in the Year of Our

Lord 1785. And he the said James Colgrave hath hereunto set his hand

and Seal the Day and Year above Written.

James Colgrave

Witness

John Goodwin

Factr.

The Company let 42½ acres of land at Sandy Bay in the South Division to Mr James Colgrave of the island, a planter. The ground was bounded on the east by the lands of William Seale junior, on the south by the lands of Richard Bagley and on the north and west by the lands of Wat[...] Greentree.

Colgrave was to hold the ground, with everything belonging to it, for 21 years from the date of the lease. The term covered him and anyone who took the ground after him by inheritance or approved transfer.

The lease set out the following conditions. Colgrave and his successors had to remain loyal to King George III and faithful to the Company, and had to obey the laws and regulations of the island. They paid the Company a rent of 5s 0d an acre each year, due on the feast of St Michael the Archangel. They had to keep the fences of the land in good repair and maintain the full quantity of wood on it. They could not sell or part with the lease or any interest in it without the permission of the Governor and Council of the day.

The Governor and Council signed one copy and fixed the Company's seal to it on 11 April 1785, in the twenty-fifth year of the reign of George III. James Colgrave signed and sealed the other copy on the same day, and John Goodwin signed as witness, adding his rank of factor.

Interpretations

Colgrave's 42½ acres had occupied land on all four sides and no waste on any. Richard Bagley's lease of 16 February 1784 named Colgrave as his neighbour at Sandy Bay on two of three pieces, and William Seale bounded another. The present ground lay among those same holdings. A tract of that size could not have stood ungranted in the middle of farms that had surrounded it for years. George Alexander's 42 acres of 11 February 1782 ran out to the waste, and John Goodwin's 49 of 10 February 1783 met it on the north. Colgrave's did neither. The lease was therefore in all probability a new grant of land already farmed, made on the expiry of an older term or on its passing to a new holder, as with James Greentree's 37 acres at Sandy Bay on 16 February 1767. Richard Mason's lease of 17 March 1783 showed a renewal written in the form of a first grant, with only a clerk's note to reveal it. No such note stood here, and the wording gave nothing away.

The grant was one of the largest in the volume and paid the full 5s 0d an acre, a rent of £10 12s 6d a year. Colgrave took more than 30 acres in the East Division on 27 November 1780 at the same rate. He thus held over 70 acres under two leases, every acre at the top of the scale, and farmed on both sides of the line between the two districts.

John Goodwin witnessed, signing as a factor. He attested leases as a writer in 1766, 1769 and 1770 and took 49 acres himself on 10 February 1783. Robert Leech, also a factor, witnessed every lease but one from 30 September to 6 December 1784. The duty had passed from the Secretary's clerks to the Company's senior civil servants, and B. A. Wright had signed nothing for 14 months.

William Seale junior held the land on the east. A William Seale signed for Benjamin Seale on 5 June 1782 and was an executor for John Seale's children on 9 August 1784. The addition of junior marked him as the younger of two men of the name within living memory, the elder being the planter of Deep Valley who last appeared in 1775.

The lease followed the three to Nathaniel Kennedy by four months and was the first dated in 1785.

236

233

Island St. 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 Let unto Thomas Bagley Planter of the said Island All that

piece or parcel of Land situate lying and being in the South division of the said

Island containing twelve Acres butting and Bounding North East and South upon

the Honble Company's Waste land and West upon the Lands of him the said Thomas

Bagley To have and To hold the said hereby demised Parcel of Land with the

Appurtenances and every part and parcel thereof unto him the said Thomas Bagley

His Heirs Executors Administrators and 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 he the said Thomas Bagley his Heirs or allowed Assigns do always

bear true faith and allegiance to Our Sovereign Lord King George the Third 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

Yielding and Paying therefore Yearly and every Year during the said term and

time of twenty one Years unto the said Honble Company their Successors Agents

or assigns the Yearly Rent of five Shillings P Acre in at or upon the Feast of St.

Michael the Arch Angel And Upon Condition that he the said Thomas Bagley

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 not nor shall sell or dispose of this Lease or his or their Interest

therein without the leave and Consent of the Governor and Council

for the time being In Witness Whereof We the said Governor and Council

have to the other part set Our Hands and affixed the Honble Companys Seal

this 23 Day of May in the twenty fifth Year of the Reign of Our said Sovereign

Lord King George the Third by the Grace of God of Great Britain France and

Ireland King defender of the Faith and so forth and in the Year of Our Lord

1785 and he the said Thomas Bagley hath hereunto set his Hand and Seal

the Day and Year abovewritten.

Thomas Bagley

Witness

Robt. Leech Factor

The Company let 12 acres of land in the South Division to Thomas Bagley of the island, a planter. The ground was bounded on the north, east and south by the Company's waste land and on the west by Bagley's own lands.

Bagley was to hold the ground, with everything belonging to it, for 21 years from the date of the lease. The term covered him and anyone who took the ground after him by inheritance or approved transfer.

The lease set out the following conditions. Bagley and his successors had to remain loyal to King George III and faithful to the Company, and had to obey the laws and regulations of the island. They paid the Company a rent of 5s 0d an acre each year, due on the feast of St Michael the Archangel. They had to keep the fences of the land in good repair and maintain the full quantity of wood on it. They could not sell or part with the lease or any interest in it without the permission of the Governor and Council of the day.

The Governor and Council signed one copy and fixed the Company's seal to it on 23 May 1785, in the twenty-fifth year of the reign of George III. Thomas Bagley signed and sealed the other copy on the same day, and Robert Leech signed as witness, adding his rank of factor.

Interpretations

Bagley paid the full 5s 0d an acre for 12 acres with the waste on three sides. On 30 September 1784 he paid 2s 0d for four and a quarter acres in the West Division with waste on two sides, and his ten acres there with waste on one side paid 5s 0d. Those two leases fitted the Council's usual gradation, the rent falling as a piece lay more open to unoccupied country. The present lease ran against it. Ground jutting into the waste, joined to his farm only on the west, was charged at the top of the scale. Benjamin Seale's 18½ acres on the southern margin of the same division paid 1s 0d on 10 July 1780, and John Bagley's 21 acres in Peak Gut, with waste on three sides, paid 3s 0d on 15 November 1784. The South Division's outer land thus ranged from the lowest rate to the highest within five years. Exposure to the waste was a rough guide to the rent and no more, and the Council still judged each tract by what it found there.

Bagley's leases of September 1784 gave him 26¼ acres in the West Division, 12 of them enclosed by his own estate. This lease showed him with lands in the South Division as well. Within eight months of first appearing as a tenant he held 38¼ acres under four grants in two districts, in each case beside land already his. Like Richard Bagley at Sandy Bay on 16 February 1784, he had evidently come into a share of a family estate that lay in several parts of the island.

Robert Leech witnessed, as he did for nine of the 12 leases entered from 30 September 1784. John Goodwin, another factor, attested James Colgrave's on 11 April 1785. The Secretary's office took no part in any of them.

The words describing Bagley as a planter were added above the line, and a phrase in the clause on selling was written twice and struck out. The lease was sealed six weeks after Colgrave's, and the grants of 1785 came singly.

237

234

Island St. 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 Let unto Thomas

Bagley Planter of the said Island All that piece or Parcel of Land containing

One Acre and an half situate lying and being in or near the lower part

of Swanley Valley in the West division of this Island butting and Bounding

every Way on the Honble Company's Waste Land To have and to hold the

said hereby demised parcel of Land with the appurtenances and every part and

parcel thereof unto him the said Thomas Bagley his Heirs Executors Administrators

and 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 he

the said Thomas Bagley his heirs or allowed assigns do always bear true faith

and allegiance to Our Sovereign Lord King George the third 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 this Island Yielding

and paying therefore Yearly and every Year during the said term and time

of twenty One Years unto the said Honble Company their Successors agents or

Assigns the Rent of five Shillings P Acre in at or upon the feast of St.

Michael the Arch Angel Yearly And upon Condition that he the said Thos.

Bagley 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 not nor shall sell or Dispose of this Lease or

his or their Interest therein without the leave and Consent of the Governor and

Council for the time being In Witness Whereof We the said Governor and

Council have to the other part set Our Hands and Affixed the Honble Company's

Seal this 23 Day of May in the twenty fifth Year of the Reign of Our

said Sovereign Lord George the Third by the Grace of God of Great Britain

France and Ireland King defender of the faith and so forth and in the Year

of Our Lord 1785 and he the said Thomas Bagley hath hereunto set his Hand and

Seal the Day and Year above Written.

Thomas Bagley

Witness

Robt. Leech Factor

The Company let one and a half acres of land to Thomas Bagley of the island, a planter. The ground lay in or near the lower part of Swanley Valley in the West Division, and the Company's waste land bounded it on every side.

Bagley was to hold the ground, with everything belonging to it, for 21 years from the date of the lease. The term covered him and anyone who took the ground after him by inheritance or approved transfer.

The lease set out the following conditions. Bagley and his successors had to remain loyal to King George III and faithful to the Company, and had to obey the laws and regulations of the island. They paid the Company a rent of 5s 0d an acre each year, due on the feast of St Michael the Archangel. They had to keep the fences of the land in good repair and maintain the full quantity of wood on it. They could not sell or part with the lease or any interest in it without the permission of the Governor and Council of the day.

The Governor and Council signed one copy and fixed the Company's seal to it on 23 May 1785, in the twenty-fifth year of the reign of George III. Thomas Bagley signed and sealed the other copy on the same day, and Robert Leech signed as witness, adding his rank of factor.

Interpretations

Richard Bagley took 30 acres in Swanley Valley on 19 February 1769, bounded by his own land on the west and the waste elsewhere. That lease named no division. The present one placed the valley in the West Division, where his executors took 37¼ acres for his heirs on 6 January 1777 and where Thomas Bagley's estate lay in September 1784. Thomas was thus taking a plot in the valley where the dead planter's largest grant was made, which strengthened the reading that he was one of Richard's heirs.

The plot stood alone in the waste in the lower part of the valley and paid the full 5s 0d an acre. Every small isolated piece in the volume carried that rate, and those whose position was described lay by water, below a fall or in a valley bottom. The lower end of a valley was where its stream ran and where ground was most sheltered. A planter with farms on higher land took such a spot for a garden or for watering stock, and the Council charged it as its best ground.

The lease located the plot only as in or near the lower part of the valley. The clerk's own wording admitted that the description was loose. With waste on every side there was no neighbour to fix it, and no plan was entered. The plans drawn for Stephen Young's isolated half acre in June 1782 and for Richard Bagley's three pieces in February 1784 were not repeated here, although the need was the same.

The figure for the rent was written into a space left for it. The clerk prepared the lease before the rate was settled and filled it in afterwards, as with Lieutenant Robert Gurling's lease of 30 September 1771. The tenant's surname was also added above the line in the closing clause.

Bagley took two leases on 23 May 1785, 12 acres in the South Division and this plot in the West, both at 5s 0d. Pieces in different districts were kept in separate leases, as they were for William Wrangham in 1769 and 1782.

238

235

Island St. 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 let Unto Mr. Stephen Young of the said Island

Planter all that Piece or parcel of Land containing nine Acres situate lying and

being in the East division of the said Island near the Head of James's Valley butting

and bounding North and West upon the lands of him the said Stephen Young South

and East upon the Lands of Jno. Dovetons Orphans To have and to hold the said

hereby demised parcel of Land with the Appurtenances and every part and parcel

thereof unto him the said Stephen Young his Heirs Executors Administrators and

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 he the said

Stephen Young His Heirs or allowed Assigns do always bear true faith and

Allegiance to Our Sovereign Lord King George the Third 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 Yielding and Paying

therefore Yearly and every Year during the said term and time of twenty One Years

unto the said Honble Company their Successors Agent or assigns the Yearly Rent

of five Shillings P Acre in at or upon the feast of St. Michael the Arch Angel Yearly

And Upon Condition that he the said Stephen Young His Heirs Executors Administrators

or assigns do and shall Well and truly Keep Up and Maintain the fences to the said Land and

the full Quantity of Wood thereon and Do not nor shall sell or dispose of this

Lease or his or their Interest therein without the leave and Consent of the Govr.

and Council for the time being In Witness Whereof We the said Governor

and Council have to the Other part Set Our Hands and affixed the Honble

Companys Seal this 23 day of May in the twenty fifth Year of

the Reign of Our said Sovereign Lord King George the third by the Grace of

God of Great Britain France and Ireland King defender of the Faith and so

forth and in the Year of Our Lord 1785 and he the said Stephen Young hath

hereunto Set his Hand and Seal the Day and Year above Written

Stephen Young

Witness

Robt. Leech Factor

The Company let nine acres of land to Mr Stephen Young of the island, a planter. The ground lay in the East Division near the head of James's Valley. It was bounded on the north and west by Young's own lands and on the south and east by the lands of the orphans of John Doveton.

Young was to hold the ground, with everything belonging to it, for 21 years from the date of the lease. The term covered him and anyone who took the ground after him by inheritance or approved transfer.

The lease set out the following conditions. Young and his successors had to remain loyal to King George III and faithful to the Company, and had to obey the laws and regulations of the island. They paid the Company a rent of 5s 0d an acre each year, due on the feast of St Michael the Archangel. They had to keep the fences of the land in good repair and maintain the full quantity of wood on it. They could not sell or part with the lease or any interest in it without the permission of the Governor and Council of the day.

The Governor and Council signed one copy and fixed the Company's seal to it on 23 May 1785, in the twenty-fifth year of the reign of George III. Stephen Young signed and sealed the other copy on the same day, and Robert Leech signed as witness, adding his rank of factor.

Interpretations

Mary Doveton's acre of cabbage tree land, let on 12 October 1767, lay in the East Division at the head of one branch of James's Valley and was held in trust for the orphans of John Doveton. Young's nine acres lay near the head of the same valley and met those orphans' lands on the south and east. His three small pieces of June 1782 were placed simply in James's Valley. The two leases together showed his farm reaching from the upper valley to its head, where the town's valley ran up into the country districts and the Doveton estate began.

The lease still called the Doveton land the orphans'. Mary Doveton's own lease of 6 December 1784 named the heirs of John Doveton, a man dead since before August 1766. His children were grown by 1785, and one of them was probably the John Doveton who signed for her. The estate kept the description it had carried for nearly 20 years. The orphans of Onesiphorus Beale were likewise so called on 11 February 1782, some 15 years after their father's death. In the clerks' usage the word marked land that came down from a dead tenant and remained undivided, whatever the age of those entitled to it.

The nine acres were enclosed by Young's land and the Doveton estate, with no waste on any side, and paid the full 5s 0d an acre. Young signed the lease himself. His lease of June 1782 was completed by another hand.

Three leases were sealed on 23 May 1785, two to Thomas Bagley and this one, all at the top rate and all witnessed by Robert Leech. The sitting dealt with ground in the South, West and East Divisions together. Young was styled Mr, as John Bagley and James Colgrave were in the leases of November 1784 and April 1785. The form had become the clerk's regular address for a planter of substance.

239

236

Island St. 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 let Unto Stephen Young of

the said Island Planter all that piece or parcel of land Containing Six acres

and three Quarters situate lying and being in the East Division of the said

Island near the head of James's Valley butting and bounding South upon

the lands of John Dovetons Orphs. North and East upon the Honble Companys

Waste land and West partly upon the Honble Companys waste Land & partly Upon the Lands of William Youngs Orphs. To

have and to hold the said hereby demised parcel of land with the appurtenances

and every part and parcel thereof unto him the said Stephen Young his

Heirs Executors Administrators and 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 he the said Stephen Young his Heirs or allowed Assigns

do always bear true faith and allegiance to Our Sovereign Lord King George

the Third his Heirs & 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 Yielding

and Paying therefore Yearly and every Year during the said term and time

of twenty One Years unto the said Honble Company their Successors Agents

or assigns the Rent of five Shillings P Acre for six Acres thereof and two Shillings

and six pence P Annum for the remaining three Quarters of an Acre in at or

upon the feast of St. Michael the Arch Angel Yearly And upon Condition

that he the said Stephen Young 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 not nor shall

sell or dispose of this Lease or his or their Interest therein without the leave

and Consent of the Governor and Council for the time being In Witness

whereof We the said Governor and Council have to the other Part set Our Hands

and affixed the Honble Companys Seal this 23 day of May in the twenty fifth

Year of the Reign of Our said Sovereign Lord George the Third by the Grace

of God of Great Britain France and Ireland King Defender of the Faith and

so forth and in the Year of Our Lord 1785 and he the said Stephen Young

hath hereunto set his Hand and Seal the Day and Year above Written

Stepn. Young

Witness

Robt. Leech Factor

Margin Notes:

[...]

P Annum

The Company let six and three quarter acres of land to Stephen Young of the island, a planter. The ground lay in the East Division near the head of James's Valley. It was bounded on the south by the lands of the orphans of John Doveton and on the north and east by the Company's waste land. On the west it met partly the Company's waste land and partly the lands of the orphans of William Young.

Young was to hold the ground, with everything belonging to it, for 21 years from the date of the lease. The term covered him and anyone who took the ground after him by inheritance or approved transfer.

The lease set out the following conditions. Young and his successors had to remain loyal to King George III and faithful to the Company, and had to obey the laws and regulations of the island. They paid the Company a yearly rent of 5s 0d an acre for six of the acres and a sum of £0 2s 6d for the remaining three quarters of an acre, due on the feast of St Michael the Archangel. They had to keep the fences of the land in good repair and maintain the full quantity of wood on it. They could not sell or part with the lease or any interest in it without the permission of the Governor and Council of the day.

The Governor and Council signed one copy and fixed the Company's seal to it on 23 May 1785, in the twenty-fifth year of the reign of George III. Stephen Young signed and sealed the other copy on the same day, and Robert Leech signed as witness, adding his rank of factor. A note beside the closing lines recorded [...] a year.

Interpretations

The rent was given as a rate for six acres and a fixed sum for the odd three quarters. John Robinson's lease of 11 February 1782 used the same form, and there the sum of £0 3s 9d was exactly three quarters of an acre at 5s 0d, so both parts paid one rate. Young's £0 2s 6d was not. At the full rate the fraction came to £0 3s 9d. He was charged a third less, equal to 3s 4d an acre. The lease thus carried two rates after all, the lower stated as a round half crown for the small remainder. It was the first lease since John Robinson's of 6 May 1782 to grade ground within a single undivided piece. The split rent had seemed to be given up from 1783. Its return here, for a difference of 1s 3d a year, showed the method still available where a corner of a grant fell short of the rest.

Young took two leases on 23 May 1785, nine acres enclosed by his own land and the Doveton estate and these six and three quarter acres beyond the Doveton land against the waste. The enclosed piece paid 5s 0d throughout. The outer one paid the full rate on most of its area and less on the margin. Both lay near the head of James's Valley, yet they did not adjoin, since the Doveton orphans bounded the first on the south and east and the second on the south. Each had its own lease.

The orphans of William Young held land on part of the west. William Young's six executors took 25 acres in the West Division and a scrap in the town for his heirs on 22 May 1780. His own leases of 1769 and 1771 lay in the East Division, and the estate there was still held for his children five years after those trust leases. Stephen Young was named as a planter beside Captain Kirkpatrick's land in 1769 and was probably their kinsman, farming next to the land kept for them.

The words placing part of the western boundary on the waste were added above the line. Four leases were sealed on 23 May 1785, two each to Thomas Bagley and Stephen Young.

240

237

Island St. 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 Let unto John Desfountain

of the said Island Planter All that piece or parcel of Land containing thirty one

acres situate lying and being in Pleasant Valley in the East division of the

Island aforesaid butting and bounding North upon the land of Matthew Bazett

Esqr. and John Worrall Planter West upon the said John Desfountains own

Land, South upon the Lands of Orlando Bagleys Orphans and East upon the

lands of him the said John Desfountain To have and to hold the said hereby

demised Parcel of Land with the appurtenances and every part and Parcel

thereof unto him the said John Desfountain his Heirs, Executors administrators

and 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 he the

said John Desfountain his Heirs or allowed assigns do always bear true faith

and allegiance to Our Sovereign Lord King George the Third his Heirs and

successors and true faith to them the said Honble Company and their Successors

and shall duly obey all the laws and Constitution of the said Island Yielding

and Paying therefore Yearly and every Year during the said Term and time of

twenty one Years unto the said Honble Company their Successors Agents or assigns

the Yearly rent of five Shillings P Acre in at or upon the feast of St. Michael the

Arch Angel Yearly and Upon Condition that he the said John Desfountain his

Heirs Executors Administrators or assigns do and shall well and truly Keep up

and maintain the fences to the said Land and the full Quantity of Wood thereon

and do not nor shall sell or dispose of this Lease or his or their Interest therein without

the leave and consent of the Governor and Council for the time being In Witness

whereof We the said Governor and Council have to the other Part set Our Hands

and affixed the Honble Companys Seal the 1 day of August in the 25 Year of the

Reign of Our Sovereign Lord George the third by the grace of God of Great Britain

France and Ireland, King defender of the faith and so forth, and in the Year of our

Lord 1785 and he the said John Desfountain hath hereunto set his Hand

and Seal the day and Year abovewritten

John Desfountain

Witness

Jno. Doveton Factor

The Company let 31 acres of land in Pleasant Valley in the East Division to John Desfountain of the island, a planter. The ground was bounded on the north by the lands of Matthew Bazett Esquire and of John Worrall, a planter, on the west and east by Desfountain's own land and on the south by the lands of the orphans of Orlando Bagley.

Desfountain was to hold the ground, with everything belonging to it, for 21 years from the date of the lease. The term covered him and anyone who took the ground after him by inheritance or approved transfer.

The lease set out the following conditions. Desfountain and his successors had to remain loyal to King George III and faithful to the Company, and had to obey the laws and regulations of the island. They paid the Company a rent of 5s 0d an acre each year, due on the feast of St Michael the Archangel. They had to keep the fences of the land in good repair and maintain the full quantity of wood on it. They could not sell or part with the lease or any interest in it without the permission of the Governor and Council of the day.

The Governor and Council signed one copy and fixed the Company's seal to it on 1 August 1785, in the twenty-fifth year of the reign of George III. John Desfountain signed and sealed the other copy on the same day, and John Doveton signed as witness, adding his rank of factor.

Start of crossed out section

The month of sealing was first written as another month.

End of crossed out section

Interpretations

The 31 acres lay between two parts of Desfountain's own land, with Bazett and Worrall on the north and the Bagley orphans on the south. No waste adjoined them. Matthew Bazett's lease of 18 November 1776 gave him a strip of five and a half acres bounded by Desfountain on the east and Worrall on the north, and his lease of 27 November 1780 placed two acres of his near the head of Pleasant Valley. Those three estates had met in that valley for at least nine years. A tract of 31 acres lying among them, untouched by any earlier grant, was not unoccupied ground. As with James Colgrave's 42½ acres at Sandy Bay on 11 April 1785, the lease was probably a fresh grant of land already farmed, made as an older term ran out. John Desfountain senior took 23¾ acres on 21 year terms in July 1766, at the head of Woody Ridge Valley, and those leases were due to expire within two years of this date. The first terms recorded in the volume were by then approaching their end, and large grants of enclosed land with no stated history began to appear.

The orphans of Orlando Bagley held the land on the south. Orlando Bagley took 55 acres in the East Division on 15 January 1781, in Dogwood Valley and beside it, signing for himself. Orphans of a man of that name were recorded in the West Division from 30 September 1779. The present lease placed such orphans in the East as well. Either the one family's inheritance lay in both districts, or the Orlando Bagley of 1781 had since died in his turn. The leases gave no means of deciding, since the two men ceased to be distinguished after 1769.

The rent was the full 5s 0d an acre, £7 15s 0d a year. Desfountain's 12¾ acres of 30 September 1771 in the same division paid 1s 3d, and his 13¾ of 28 August 1769 paid 1s 6d. Ground in the middle of his estate was valued at four times the margins he took in those years.

John Doveton witnessed, as a factor. He, Robert Leech and John Goodwin, all of that rank, attested every lease from 30 September 1784. The Secretary had not signed since 16 February 1784.

241

238

Island St. 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 Let unto John Desfountain of

the Island aforesaid Planter All that Piece or Parcel of Land containing fourteen

Acres situate lying and being in pleasant Valley in the East division of the said

Island butting and bounding every way upon the lands of him the said John

Desfountain To have and to hold the said hereby demised Parcel of Land with the

appurtenances and every part and parcel thereof unto him the said John Desfountain

his Heirs Executors administrators and 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 he the said John Desfountain his Heirs or allowed assigns

do always bear true faith and allegiance to Our Sovereign Lord King George the

Third 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 Yielding and paying therefore Yearly and every Year during the said

term and time of twenty One Years from thence next ensuing unto the said Honble

Company their Successors agents or assigns the Yearly Rent of five Shillings P

Acre in at or upon the feast of St. Michael the Arch Angel Yearly, And

Upon Condition that he the said John Desfountain 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 not nor shall sell or dispose of this Lease or his or their Interest therein without

the leave and Consent of the Governor and Council for the time being In Witness

whereof We the said Governor and Council have to the other part set Our Hands

and affixed the Honble Company's Seale this 1 Day of August in the Twenty fifth

Year of the Reign of our said Sovereign Lord George the Third by the Grace of

God of Great Britain France and Ireland, King defender of the faith and so

forth and in the Year of Our Lord 1785 and he the said John Desfountain hath

hereunto set his Hand and Seal the Day and Year above Written.

John Desfountain

Witness

Jno. Doveton

Factor

The Company let a further 14 acres of land in Pleasant Valley in the East Division to John Desfountain of the island, a planter. Desfountain's own lands bounded the ground on every side.

Desfountain was to hold the ground, with everything belonging to it, for 21 years from the date of the lease. The term covered him and anyone who took the ground after him by inheritance or approved transfer.

The lease set out the following conditions. Desfountain and his successors had to remain loyal to King George III and faithful to the Company, and had to obey the laws and regulations of the island. They paid the Company a rent of 5s 0d an acre each year, due on the feast of St Michael the Archangel. They had to keep the fences of the land in good repair and maintain the full quantity of wood on it. They could not sell or part with the lease or any interest in it without the permission of the Governor and Council of the day.

The Governor and Council signed one copy and fixed the Company's seal to it on 1 August 1785, in the twenty-fifth year of the reign of George III. John Desfountain signed and sealed the other copy on the same day, and John Doveton signed as witness, adding his rank of factor.

Start of crossed out section

The month of sealing was first written as another month.

End of crossed out section

Interpretations

Desfountain took two leases in Pleasant Valley on 1 August 1785, 31 acres between two parts of his farm and these 14 acres wholly inside it, both at 5s 0d an acre. The enclosed piece had its own lease. John Bagley junior's 20 enclosed acres on 11 December 1780 and George Alexander's seven on 11 February 1782 were likewise kept apart from the larger grants made beside their estates on the same day at the same rent. Thomas Bagley's enclosed 12 acres of 13 September 1784 were joined with another piece. Three cases out of four thus separated ground found within a holding from ground at its edge, which pointed to a distinct process for identifying the enclosed pieces.

The lease was the eighth since 1780 for land surrounded entirely by one tenant's estate. Desfountain's 14 acres were the largest such pocket after John Bagley's 20 and the Young heirs' Beale's Hill. An estate able to enclose 14 acres, and to flank a further 31, was among the largest in the East Division. The family's recorded grants began with 23¾ acres in July 1766 and added 13¾ in 1769 and 12¾ in 1771. The 45 acres of this day nearly doubled what the volume showed, at a yearly rent of £11 5s 0d.

Matthew Bazett's lease of 27 November 1780 gave him two acres near the head of Pleasant Valley, enclosed by his own land. Desfountain's estate now proved to hold the middle of the same valley. The two families had been neighbours since the first country leases in the volume, when Bazett bounded the Worralls and Desfountain bounded Bazett.

The month in the date was altered in both of the day's leases in the same way. The clerk wrote the two entries together with one month and corrected each when the sealing took place in August.

242

239

Island St. Helena

The Lords Proprietors of the Island the Honble

the United Company of Merchants of England trading to the East Indies Do hereby demise

grant lease and to farm Let unto Lieutenant Onesiphorus Beale in the service of

the said Honble Company All that piece or parcel of Land containing six acres

situate lying and being in the West division of the said Island, butting and bounding

East upon the lands of William Wrangham Esqr. West upon the lands of John Goodwin

North upon the Honble Company's Waste land and South upon the Lands of him

the said Onesiphorus Beale, To have and to hold the said hereby demised parcel

of Land with the appurtenances and every part and parcel thereof unto him the said

Onesiphorus Beale his Heirs Executors administrators and 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 he the said Onesiphorus Beale his Heirs Executors

Administrators or assigns do and shall bear true Faith and allegiance to Our

Sovereign Lord King George the third 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 Yielding and paying therefore Yearly and every

Year during the said term and time of twenty one Years unto the said Honble Company

their Successors Agents or assigns the Yearly Rent of five Shillings P Acre in at or

upon the feast of St. Michael the Arch Angel Yearly. And upon Condition

that he the said Onesiphorus Beale 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 not nor shall sell or dispose of this Lease or his or their Interest therein

without the leave and consent of the Governor and Council for the time being

In Witness whereof We the said Governor and Council have to the other Part

set Our Hands and affixed the Honble Companys Seal this 1 Day of August

in the twenty fifth Year of the Reign of Our Sovereign Lord George the

third by the grace of God of Great Britain France and Ireland King defender

of the Faith and so forth and in the Year of Our Lord 1785, and he the said

Onesiphorus Beale hath hereunto set his Hand and Seale the Day and Year above

Written

Onis Beale

Witness

B A Wright

6 Acres

[...]

The Company let six acres of land in the West Division to Lieutenant Onesiphorus Beale, an officer in the Company's service. The ground was bounded on the east by the lands of William Wrangham Esquire, on the west by the lands of John Goodwin, on the north by the Company's waste land and on the south by Beale's own land.

Beale was to hold the ground, with everything belonging to it, for 21 years from the date of the lease. The term covered him and anyone who took the ground after him by inheritance or approved transfer.

The lease set out the following conditions. Beale and his successors had to remain loyal to King George III and faithful to the Company, and had to obey the laws and regulations of the island. They paid the Company a rent of 5s 0d an acre each year, due on the feast of St Michael the Archangel. They had to keep the fences of the land in good repair and maintain the full quantity of wood on it. They could not sell or part with the lease or any interest in it without the permission of the Governor and Council of the day.

The Governor and Council signed one copy and fixed the Company's seal to it on 8 August 1785, in the twenty-fifth year of the reign of George III. Onesiphorus Beale signed and sealed the other copy on the same day, and B. A. Wright signed as witness.

A plan of the ground was drawn beneath the signatures. It showed a long six-sided outline marked as containing six acres, with a pair of crossed lines beside it giving the points of the compass.

Interpretations

The orphans of Onesiphorus Beale were named as landholders from 16 November 1767, when their father was already dead. John Goodwin's lease of 29 August 1768 placed their land beside his five acres in Friar's Valley, with William Wrangham on the west. The tenant here bore the dead man's name, held land of his own between Wrangham and Goodwin and was a lieutenant in the Company's service. He was one of those orphans, grown to manhood and in possession of the family's ground. Richard Goodwin took two and a half acres for the estate as executor on 4 September 1780, and John Robinson's lease of 11 February 1782 still spoke of the orphans. Three years later the son applied in his own name, with no trustee. The estate had been kept for the children for some 18 years, and the volume now showed an heir holding it, as it did for Lieutenant Thomas Greentree in 1780 and Richard Bagley in 1784.

The same three estates met at that spot in 1768 and in 1785. Wrangham, Goodwin and the Beale family were neighbours across the whole span of the volume, the first two rising from gentleman and writer to Esquire and factor, and the third passing from orphans to an officer. Land in the West Division stayed with the families that held it in the 1760s.

The Secretary witnessed. His signature had been absent since 16 February 1784, a gap of 18 months in which three factors attested every lease. His return showed that he remained in office through that time, and that the witnessing by others reflected his absence from the sealings and no change of Secretary.

A plan was entered, the first since Richard Bagley's of February 1784. It carried a compass drawn as crossed lines beside the outline, where earlier plans marked letters against the sides. The two leases to John Desfountain a week before, for 45 acres, had none. Plans again accompanied the entries the Secretary himself witnessed, as they did from 1774 to 1777.

The six acres ran north from Beale's land to the waste and paid the full 5s 0d an acre. John Goodwin's 49 acres on the same northern edge, sealed on 10 February 1783, were charged at that rate as well.

243

240

Island St. 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 Let unto James

Desfountain Factor in the said Honble Companys Service, All that Piece

or Parcel of Ground containing twelve feet in front and sixteen feet in depth

situate lying and being in James's Valley on the East side of the Road leading to the

side Path near the Water Course, Butting and Bounding East towards the said

Water Course West towards the said Road North upon the Leasehold Ground of

Mr. William Webber Doveton and South upon the Lease hold Ground of Mr.

Britannicus Alexander Wright being one half of a Piece of Ground formerly let

unto Mr. Richard Bagley Deceased To have and to hold the said hereby

demised parcel of Ground with the appurtenances and every part and parcel

thereof unto him the said James Desfountain his Heirs Executors Administrators

and 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 he the

said James Desfountain his Heirs or allowed assigns Do always bear true

faith and Allegiance to Our Sovereign Lord King George the Third 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 Yielding and Paying therefore Yearly and every Year during

the said Term and time of twenty one Years unto the said Honble Company

their Successors Agents or Assigns the Rent of three Shillings P Annum in at or

upon the Feast of St. Michael the Arch Angel Yearly And Upon

Condition that he the said James Desfountain his Heirs Executors

Administrators or assigns do and shall well and sufficiently keep up and

maintain in Good repair all the Buildings that are already or may

hereafter be built or erected on the said Ground or any part thereof

And shall not sell or dispose of this Lease or his or their Interest therein

without the leave and Consent of the Governor and Council for the time

being In Witness Whereof We the said Governor and Council have

to the other part set Our Hands and affixed the Honble Companys Seal

this 30 Day of September in the twenty fifth Year of the Reign of Our said

Sovereign Lord George the third by the Grace of God of Great Britain, France

and Ireland, King defender of the Faith and so forth, and in the Year

of Our Lord 1785 and he the said James Desfountain hath hereunto

set his Hand and Seal the Day and Year above written

James Desfountain

Witness

Robt. Leech Factor

Margin Notes:

[...]

The Company let a piece of ground in James's Valley to James Desfountain, a factor in the Company's service. The ground measured 12 feet across the front and 16 feet in depth. It lay on the east side of the road leading to the side path, near the watercourse, with the watercourse on its east and the road on its west. On the north it adjoined the leasehold ground of Mr William Webber Doveton and on the south the leasehold ground of Mr Britannicus Alexander Wright. The piece was one half of a plot formerly let to Mr Richard Bagley, who had died.

Desfountain was to hold the ground, with everything belonging to it, for 21 years from the date of the lease. The term covered him and anyone who took the ground after him by inheritance or approved transfer.

The lease set out the following conditions. Desfountain and his successors had to remain loyal to King George III and faithful to the Company, and had to obey the laws and regulations of the island. They paid the Company a rent of £0 3s 0d a year, due on the feast of St Michael the Archangel. They had to keep in good repair every building standing on the ground or put up there later. They could not sell or part with the lease or any interest in it without the permission of the Governor and Council of the day.

The Governor and Council signed one copy and fixed the Company's seal to it on 30 September 1785, in the twenty-fifth year of the reign of George III. James Desfountain signed and sealed the other copy on the same day, and Robert Leech signed as witness, adding his rank of factor.

Interpretations

The lease stated its own history. The ground was half of a plot once let to Richard Bagley, since dead. No earlier lease in the volume said who had held the land before. Renewals and regrants were written as first grants, and only a clerk's note beside Richard Mason's lease of 17 March 1783 betrayed one. Here the previous tenant was named in the text. A dead man's town plot had come back to the Company and was divided in two, each half let afresh. The later Jamestown register recorded the origin of every title in its remarks, as an original lease or as part of another man's. The present lease was the first in this volume to do the same.

The strip between the road and the watercourse was 16 feet deep along its whole length. Major Henry Bazett took 30 feet of it on 22 June 1778 and the Secretary 18 feet on 15 September 1783, each described as adjoining the leased ground of James Desfountain and John Bagley junior. Desfountain's 12 feet now lay between Wright's piece and William Webber Doveton's. The strip was thus held in short lengths by a major, the Secretary and two factors, side by side. The Company's officers and senior servants had taken up the whole of that frontage near the stream, a few feet at a time.

The rent of £0 3s 0d on 12 feet was exactly 3d a foot, the standard of 1766. Bazett and Wright paid a shilling for five feet on the same strip, which called for under £0 2s 6d here. All three rents fell below the minimum of £0 5s 0d that the office charged a sergeant and an estate held for heirs on pieces no larger. Three leases to officials on one strip were now reckoned by the foot beneath that floor. The minimum was evidently not applied along this frontage, or not to these tenants.

James Desfountain signed for John Desfountain senior and witnessed leases on 28 August 1769 and 30 September 1771, with no rank given. He was a factor by 1785, the sixth man of that grade named since 1782.

The lease was dated 30 September, the day after the rent fell due, although it concerned town ground at a fixed yearly sum.

244

241

Island St. 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 Let unto Willm. Webber

Doveton Factor in the said Honble Companys Service, All that piece or

Parcel of Ground containing twelve feet in front and sixteen feet in Depth

situate lying and being in James's Valley on the East side of the Road

leading to the side Path near the Water Course, Butting and Bounding East

towards the said Water Course, West towards the said Road North upon the

Lease hold Ground of Major Henry Bazett and South upon the

Lease hold Ground of Mr. James Desfountain being one half

of a Piece of Ground formerly let unto Mr. Richard Bagley Decd. To have

and to Hold the said hereby demised Parcel of Ground with the appurtenances

and every part and parcel thereof unto him the said Willm. Webber Doveton his

Heirs Executors Administrators and 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 he the said Willm. Webber Doveton

his Heirs or Allowed Assigns Do always bear true faith and Allegiance

to Our Sovereign Lord King George the third 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 Yielding

and Paying therefore Yearly and every Year during the said term and

time of twenty one Years unto the said Honble Company their Successors

Agents or Assigns the Rent of three Shillings P Annum in at or upon the

Feast of St. Michael the Arch Angel Yearly, And upon Condition that

he the said William Webber Doveton his Heirs Executors Administrators or

Assigns do and shall well and sufficiently keep up and maintain in good

repair all the buildings that are already or may hereafter be built or Erected

on the said Ground or any part thereof And shall not sell or dispose of

this Lease or his or their Interest therein without the leave and Consent of the

Governor and Council for the time being In Witness whereof We the said

Governor and Council have to the other part set our Hands and affixed

the Honble Company's Seal this 30 Day of September in the twenty fifth

Year of the Reign of Our said Sovereign Lord George the third by the Grace of

God of Great Britain France and Ireland King defender of the faith and

so forth and in the Year of Our Lord 1785 and he the said Willm. Webber

Doveton hath hereunto set his Hand and Seal the Day and Year above Written

W.W. Doveton

Witness

Saml. Mason

The Company let a piece of ground in James's Valley to William Webber Doveton, a factor in the Company's service. The ground measured 12 feet across the front and 16 feet in depth. It lay on the east side of the road leading to the side path, near the watercourse, with the watercourse on its east and the road on its west. On the north it adjoined the leasehold ground of Major Henry Bazett and on the south the leasehold ground of Mr James Desfountain. The piece was one half of a plot formerly let to Mr Richard Bagley, who had died.

Doveton was to hold the ground, with everything belonging to it, for 21 years from the date of the lease. The term covered him and anyone who took the ground after him by inheritance or approved transfer.

The lease set out the following conditions. Doveton and his successors had to remain loyal to King George III and faithful to the Company, and had to obey the laws and regulations of the island. They paid the Company a rent of £0 3s 0d a year, due on the feast of St Michael the Archangel. They had to keep in good repair every building standing on the ground or put up there later. They could not sell or part with the lease or any interest in it without the permission of the Governor and Council of the day.

The Governor and Council signed one copy and fixed the Company's seal to it on 30 September 1785, in the twenty-fifth year of the reign of George III. William Webber Doveton signed and sealed the other copy on the same day, and Samuel Mason signed as witness.

Interpretations

Doveton's lease was the other half of the division begun in James Desfountain's. Richard Bagley's former plot, 24 feet along the road, was cut into two equal lengths of 12 feet and let to two factors on the same day at the same rent. The Council divided leftover ground equally between adjoining holders throughout the volume, in the country between Matthew Purling and Isaac Doveton and in the town behind the Greentree and Desfountain houses. Here the ground was not a leftover but a dead tenant's holding returned to the Company. It was shared out in the same way, and neither half went to his family, although his heirs held 37¼ acres in trust from 6 January 1777 and Richard Bagley the younger took land in his own name on 16 February 1784. A town plot evidently did not descend with the farms as a matter of course. When the lease fell in, the Company let the ground to whoever applied.

The two leases fixed the order of holdings along the strip between the road and the watercourse. Major Henry Bazett's 30 feet lay to the north, then Doveton's 12 feet, then Desfountain's 12 and the Secretary's 18 to the south. All four were 16 feet deep. A run of 72 feet beside the stream was thus held by four of the Company's officers and officials under four leases made between 1778 and 1785, each reckoned by the foot at a few shillings a year.

Bazett's and Wright's leases named James Desfountain and John Bagley junior as the adjoining leaseholders. Desfountain was therefore in occupation beside them before he had a lease in his own name, and John Bagley junior, one of Richard Bagley's executors, held the plot in the interval after the death. The grants of 30 September 1785 replaced that arrangement with two regular titles.

Samuel Mason witnessed Doveton's lease and Robert Leech the other. Two leases written together, in the same words and for adjoining ground, were attested by different men at one sitting.

Doveton held a freehold on the main street with a strip beside it, let in February 1784. This piece gave him a second small holding in the town, on the far side of the valley floor by the watercourse.

245

242

Island St. 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, Let unto Aaron Lambe

of the said Island Planter All that piece or parcel of Land containing ten

Acres, Situate lying and being in the East Branch of Sandy Bay Valley

in the South division of the said Island, butting and Bounding North East

and West upon the Honble Company's Waste Land and South upon the

Lands of Jno. Alexander Planter To have and to hold the said hereby

demised Parcel of Land with the appurtenances and every Part and parcel

thereof unto him the said Aaron Lambe, His Heirs Executors Administrators

and 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

he the said Aaron Lambe, His Heirs or allowed assigns do always bear true

faith and Allegiance to Our Sovereign Lord King George the third 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, Yielding and paying therefore Yearly and every Year during

the said Term and time of twenty one Years unto the said Honble Company

their Successors agents or assigns the Rent of five Shillings P Acre in at or

upon the feast of St. Michael the Arch Angel Yearly. And upon

Condition that he the said Aaron Lambe 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 not

nor shall sell or dispose of this Lease or his or their Interest therein

without the leave and Consent of the Governor and Council for the time

being In Witness Whereof We the said Governor and Council have

to the other Part set our Hands and affixed the Honble Company's Seal this

7 Day November in the twenty Sixth Year of the Reign of Our said

Sovereign Lord George the third by the Grace of God of Great Britain

France and Ireland King defender of the faith and so forth and in the Year

of our Lord 1785 and he the said Aaron Lambe hath hereunto set his

Hand and Seal the Day and Year above Written

A Lambe

Witness

Jno. Doveton

Factor

The Company let ten acres of land to Aaron Lambe of the island, a planter. The ground lay in the east branch of Sandy Bay Valley in the South Division. It was bounded on the north, east and west by the Company's waste land and on the south by the lands of John Alexander, a planter.

Lambe was to hold the ground, with everything belonging to it, for 21 years from the date of the lease. The term covered him and anyone who took the ground after him by inheritance or approved transfer.

The lease set out the following conditions. Lambe and his successors had to remain loyal to King George III and faithful to the Company, and had to obey the laws and regulations of the island. They paid the Company a rent of 5s 0d an acre each year, due on the feast of St Michael the Archangel. They had to keep the fences of the land in good repair and maintain the full quantity of wood on it. They could not sell or part with the lease or any interest in it without the permission of the Governor and Council of the day.

The Governor and Council signed one copy and fixed the Company's seal to it on 7 November 1785, in the twenty-sixth year of the reign of George III. Aaron Lambe signed and sealed the other copy on the same day, and John Doveton signed as witness, adding his rank of factor.

Interpretations

Lambe's ten acres touched no land of his own. Waste lay on three sides and another man's farm on the fourth. Almost every country lease in the volume extended a holding the tenant already had. This one started a new farm, as George Seale's seven and a half acres in Sandy Bay Valley did on 9 November 1778 and Gabriel Isaacke's eight in Lemon Valley on 17 August 1767. All three paid the full 5s 0d an acre. A man who went out to open country for his first piece of ground chose it for its worth and was charged accordingly, where the cheap rates of the volume went to rough margins that a neighbour took because they adjoined him.

An A. Lambe signed for Elizabeth Lambe, a widow, on her town plot of 27 November 1780, and the later Jamestown register entered that plot under Aaron Lambe from 1802 at the same frontage and rent. He was thus probably her son, a townsman by inheritance. The lease styled him a planter on the strength of this first country grant. A family settled in the valley was moving onto the land, the reverse of the planters who kept town houses beside their farms in the 1760s.

Seven years after George Seale, a second new holding was marked out in Sandy Bay Valley, in its east branch. Good unoccupied ground was still to be found in the valleys of the South Division in 1785, beyond farms long established.

The lease was the first dated in the twenty-sixth year of the reign, which began on 25 October 1785. John Doveton witnessed, and the Secretary, who attested Lieutenant Beale's lease on 8 August 1785, did not.

246

243

Island St. Helena

The Lords Proprietors of this Island

the Honorable the United Company of Merchants of England trading to the East Indies

Do hereby demise grant Lease and to farm Let unto Mr. James Pritchard of the

said Island Shopkeeper All that Piece or Parcel of Ground containing sixty feet in

front and sixty seven feet in Deapth situate lying and being in James's Valley

on the East side of the Road leading up towards the Maldavia Gardens To have and

to hold the said hereby demised Parcel of Ground with the appurtenances and every

part and Parcel thereof unto him the said James Pritchard His Heirs Executors

Administrators and 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 he the said James Pritchard His Heirs or allowed assigns, do

always bear true faith and allegiance to Our Sovereign Lord King George

the third, His Heirs and Successors and true faith to them the said Honorable

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 Honorable Company their Successors agents or assigns the Rent of fifteen

Shillings P Annum, in at or upon the feast of St. Michael the arch Angel

Yearly, And upon Condition that he the said James Pritchard His

Heirs Executors Administrators or assigns shall not alter or remove the Fences

they being the limits or Land Marks of the said piece of Ground, And

shall not sell or dispose of this Lease or his or their Interest therein without

the leave and Consent of the Governor and Council for the time being In

Witness Whereof We the said Governor and Council have to the other

part set Our Hands and affixed the Honble Company's Seal this 7

day of November in the twenty Sixth Year of the Reign of Our said

Sovereign Lord George the third, by the grace of God of Great Britain

France, and Ireland King defender of the faith and so forth and in the

Year of Our Lord 1785 and He the said James Pritchard hath

hereunto set his Hand and Seal the day and Year above Written

Jas. Pritchard

Witness

Jno. Doveton

Factor

The Company let a plot of ground in James's Valley to Mr James Pritchard of the island, a shopkeeper. The plot measured 60 feet across the front and 67 feet in depth. It lay on the east side of the road leading up towards the Maldivia Gardens.

Pritchard was to hold the ground, with everything belonging to it, for 21 years from the date of the lease. The term covered him and anyone who took the ground after him by inheritance or approved transfer.

The lease set out the following conditions. Pritchard and his successors had to remain loyal to King George III and faithful to the Company, and had to obey the laws and regulations of the island. They paid the Company a rent of £0 15s 0d a year, due on the feast of St Michael the Archangel. They could not alter or remove the fences, which served as the boundary marks of the plot. They could not sell or part with the lease or any interest in it without the permission of the Governor and Council of the day.

The Governor and Council signed one copy and fixed the Company's seal to it on 7 November 1785, in the twenty-sixth year of the reign of George III. James Pritchard signed and sealed the other copy on the same day, and John Doveton signed as witness, adding his rank of factor.

Interpretations

The lease forbade any change to the fences as the boundary marks of the ground and said nothing about keeping buildings in repair. Every town lease from 22 December 1766 carried the repair clause and no clause on fences. The only earlier lease with this condition was the first in the volume, to Julio Fabiano on 2 December 1765, which had both. Fabiano's rent was £0 15s 0d, the sum charged here. A clause unused for 20 years thus returned together with the same rent on a plot of the same frontage. Fabiano's lease ran for 21 years and was due to expire at the end of 1786. The present lease was probably drawn from an old one of that kind, for ground first let in the 1760s and now passing to a new tenant as the term ran out. The clerk copied the fence clause from his pattern and left out the repair clause in doing so, where the lease of 1765 carried both.

The omission mattered. A tenant bound only to leave his fences alone owed the Company nothing if he let his house fall down. The repair clause was the Company's security for the value of what stood on its ground, and Captain Henry Bazett's lease of 29 August 1768 strengthened it. Its absence here was a slip of the same kind as the trust leases of 1776 to 1780, which lost a correction through being copied from an older form.

The lease gave no neighbours on any side. Town plots from 1768 onwards were bounded by named houses, the watercourse or the street. A plot located only by its road was identified, as the fence clause implied, by the enclosure on the ground. The description suited a plot already fenced and long occupied.

The rent of £0 15s 0d on 60 feet was exactly 3d a foot, the standard of 1766, where central plots in 1780 and 1781 paid about 4d.

A James Pritchard, tailor, took 50 feet on the Southwark side on 10 June 1771, entered in the later register as lease 135. The tenant here was a shopkeeper. He was the same man in a new trade or a kinsman of the same name, and was styled Mr.

The lease named the Maldivia Gardens, at the upper end of the valley, as the place the road led to. The town's street was thus described by its destination up the valley, as the high road in the country was by the Long Wood.

247

244

Island St. 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 Let

unto William Chamberlain of the said Island All that piece or

parcel of Ground containing sixty feet in front and seventy nine

feet in Depth situate lying and being in James's Valley on the East side

of the Road leading up towards the Maldavia Gardens To have and to

hold the said hereby demised parcel of Land with the Appurtenances and

every part and parcel thereof unto him the said William Chamberlain

His Heirs Executors Administrators and 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 he the said William

Chamberlain his Heirs or allowed assigns do always bear true faith

and allegiance to Our Sovereign Lord King George the third 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 Yielding and paying therefore Yearly and every

Year during the said Term and time of twenty One Years unto the

said Honble Company their Successors Agents or assigns the Rent of

fifteen Shillings P Annum in at or Upon the Feast of St. Michael

the Arch Angel Yearly And Upon Condition that he the said Willm.

Chamberlain his Heirs Executors Administrators or assigns do and

shall Well and sufficiently keep up and Maintain in good repair all

the Walls, buildings and Edifices that are or may be hereafter Built

or Erected on the said piece of Ground or any part thereof And upon

further Condition that he the said William Chamberlain his Heirs

Executors Administrators or assigns shall not alter or remove the

fences they being the Limits or Land marks of the said piece of Ground

And shall not sell or dispose of this Lease or his or their Interest

therein without the leave and Consent of the Governor and Council for

the time being In Witness Whereof We the said Governor and Council

have to the Other Part Set Our Hands and affixed the Honble

Companys Seal this 7 day of November in the twenty Sixth Year

of the Reign of Our said Sovereign Lord George the third by the

Grace of God of Great Britain France and Ireland, King defender

of the faith and so forth and in the Year of Our Lord 1785 and He the

said Willm. Chamberlain hath hereunto set his Hand and Seal the

Day and Year above Written

Willm. Chamberlain

Witness

Jno. Doveton

Factor

The Company let a plot of ground in James's Valley to William Chamberlain of the island. The plot measured 60 feet across the front and 79 feet in depth. It lay on the east side of the road leading up towards the Maldivia Gardens.

Chamberlain was to hold the ground, with everything belonging to it, for 21 years from the date of the lease. The term covered him and anyone who took the ground after him by inheritance or approved transfer.

The lease set out the following conditions. Chamberlain and his successors had to remain loyal to King George III and faithful to the Company, and had to obey the laws and regulations of the island. They paid the Company a rent of £0 15s 0d a year, due on the feast of St Michael the Archangel. They had to keep in good repair every wall and building standing on the ground or put up there later. They could not alter or remove the fences, which served as the boundary marks of the plot. They could not sell or part with the lease or any interest in it without the permission of the Governor and Council of the day.

The Governor and Council signed one copy and fixed the Company's seal to it on 7 November 1785, in the twenty-sixth year of the reign of George III. William Chamberlain signed and sealed the other copy on the same day, and John Doveton signed as witness, adding his rank of factor.

Interpretations

Chamberlain's lease carried both conditions, repair of walls and buildings and the ban on moving the fences. That was the exact form of Julio Fabiano's lease of 2 December 1765, down to the mention of walls, which later town leases dropped. James Pritchard's lease, sealed on the same day for the neighbouring kind of plot at the same rent, had the fence clause alone. The two were plainly drawn from one old pattern. Chamberlain's reproduced it in full, and Pritchard's lost the repair clause in copying. What looked in Pritchard's lease like a possible change of terms was therefore a clerk's omission, and it left one of two tenants on the same road free of a duty the other bore.

Both plots had 60 feet of frontage, lay on the east side of the road towards the Maldivia Gardens and paid £0 15s 0d, the 3d a foot of the 1760s. Neither lease named a neighbour. Two plots of standard width, let together on old terms and identified by their fences, pointed to ground laid out and enclosed long before. Leases of 1765 and 1766 were reaching the end of their 21 years. The Council appeared to be regranting plots from that first generation to new tenants, on the wording and at the rent of the leases they replaced. The higher rates charged for central ground in 1780 were not applied to them.

The depths differed, 67 feet for Pritchard and 79 for Chamberlain, with no difference in rent. Depth never entered the reckoning of town rents, and the later Jamestown register recorded frontage alone.

The later register noted under lease 140 that part of Robert Leech's ground was sold to William Chamberlain, and Susan Chamberlain took lease 154 in 1810. The family thus became established tenants in the town from this first grant.

Three leases were sealed on 7 November 1785, to Aaron Lambe in the country and to Pritchard and Chamberlain in the town. John Doveton witnessed all three.

248

245

Island St. 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 let unto John Legg

of the said Island Joiner All that piece or parcel of Ground containing one

Hundred and forty eight feet in Front nineteen feet in depth on the lower

end and forty three on the Upper end situate lying and being in James's Valley

on the East Side of the Road leading up towards the Maldavia Gardens To have

and to hold the said hereby demised parcel of Ground with the appurtenances and

every part and parcel thereof unto him the said John Legg, his Heirs Executors

administrators and 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 he the said John Legg His Heirs or allowed assigns do always

bear true faith and allegiance to Our Sovereign Lord King George the third 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 Yielding and Paying therefore Yearly and every Year during

the said Term and time of twenty one Years unto the said Honble Company

their Successors Agents or assigns the Rent of One pound seven Shillings P

Annum in at or upon the feast of St. Michael the Arch Angel Yearly And

upon Condition that he the said John Legg His Heirs Executors administrators

and Assigns do and shall well and sufficiently keep up and maintain

in good repair all the Walls buildings and Edifices that are or may be

hereafter Built or erected on the said Piece of Ground or any part

thereof And upon further Condition that he the said John Legg

his Heirs Executors Administrators or assigns shall not alter or remove

the fences they being the Limits or Land Marks of the said piece of Ground

And shall not sell or dispose of this Lease or his or their Interest

therein without the leave and Consent of the Governor and Council

for the time being In Witness whereof We the said Governor and

Council have to the other part set Our Hands and affixed the Honble

Companys Seal this 7 Day of November in the twenty Sixth Year

of the Reign of Our said Sovereign Lord George the third, by the

Grace of God of Great Britain France and Ireland King defender

of the Faith and so forth and in the Year of Our Lord 1785 And He

the said John Legg hath hereunto set his Hand and Seal the

Day and Year abovewritten

John Legg

Witness

Saml. Mason Factor

The Company let a plot of ground in James's Valley to John Legg of the island, a joiner. The plot measured 148 feet across the front, with a depth of 19 feet at the lower end and 43 feet at the upper. It lay on the east side of the road leading up towards the Maldivia Gardens.

Legg was to hold the ground, with everything belonging to it, for 21 years from the date of the lease. The term covered him and anyone who took the ground after him by inheritance or approved transfer.

The lease set out the following conditions. Legg and his successors had to remain loyal to King George III and faithful to the Company, and had to obey the laws and regulations of the island. They paid the Company a rent of £1 7s 0d a year, due on the feast of St Michael the Archangel. They had to keep in good repair every wall and building standing on the ground or put up there later. They could not alter or remove the fences, which served as the boundary marks of the plot. They could not sell or part with the lease or any interest in it without the permission of the Governor and Council of the day.

The Governor and Council signed one copy and fixed the Company's seal to it on 7 November 1785, in the twenty-sixth year of the reign of George III. John Legg signed and sealed the other copy on the same day, and Samuel Mason signed as witness, adding his rank of factor.

Interpretations

Legg's 148 feet made the longest frontage of any town plot in the volume, nearly twice the 80 feet let to John Price in 1766 and to Private Bickerstaff in 1778. The rent of £1 7s 0d came to a little over 2d a foot. James Pritchard and William Chamberlain, on the same side of the same road on the same day, paid 3d a foot for plots 67 and 79 feet deep. Legg's ground was a long shallow wedge, 19 feet deep at one end and 43 at the other, running beside the road where the valley side closed in. Bickerstaff's wedge of 20 April 1778, 16 to 38 feet deep, was let at almost the same rate by the foot. The Council thus kept a consistent lower charge for frontage with little ground behind it, about three quarters of the standard, and applied it to a joiner in 1785 as to a private soldier seven years before.

Three plots along the east side of the road towards the Maldivia Gardens were let on 7 November 1785, of 60, 60 and 148 feet. Together they covered 268 feet of roadside. All three leases carried the fence clause of 2 December 1765, unused in the 20 years between, and none named a neighbour. The Council was evidently dealing with a whole stretch of the upper road at one sitting, on a form taken from the oldest lease in the book. Whether the ground was newly laid out or regranted at the end of earlier terms, the three were treated as one piece of business.

John Legg was an orphan with a house of his own beside Lieutenant Frost's plot on 31 August 1767, and an executor of John Price's will on 22 May 1780. The later Jamestown register entered lease 119 under John Legg and Publicans, a lease for lives first granted in 1743 and renewed for the fourth time on 10 April 1809. He appeared here with a trade, as a joiner, the craft George Bird followed when he took a plot on 12 January 1767 and with whom Legg served as Price's executor.

Samuel Mason witnessed this lease and John Doveton the other three of the day. Both signed as factors.

249

246

Island St. 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 Let unto John Doveton Factor All that

Piece or parcel of Ground containing thirty feet in front adjoining on the North

the House of Mary Bazett Widow and the Heirs of the late Lieut. John Bazett

Deceased and on the South the House of Major Henry Bazett situate lying and

being in James's Valley To have and to hold the said hereby demised Parcel of

Ground with the appurtenances and every part and parcel thereof unto him the said

John Doveton His Heirs Executors Administrators and 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 he the said John Doveton His Heirs

or allowed assigns Do always bear true faith and allegiance to Our Sovereign

Lord King George the Third 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 Yielding and paying therefore

Yearly and every Year during the said term and time of twenty one Years

unto the said Honble Company their Successors agents or assigns the Rent of

ten Shillings P Annum in at or upon the Feast of St. Michael the Arch

Angel Yearly And upon Condition that he the said John Doveton His

Heirs Executors Administrators or assigns Do and shall well and sufficiently

keep up and maintain in good repair all the Walls and Buildings that are

or may hereafter be Built or Erected on the said piece of Ground or any part

thereof And shall not sell or dispose of this Lease or his or their Interest

therein without the leave and Consent of the Governor and Council for the

time being In Witness whereof We the said Governor and Council have

to the other part set Our Hands and affixed the Honble Company's Seal the 28th

Day of November in the twenty sixth Year of the reign of Our said Sovereign Lord George

the third by the Grace of God of Great Britain France and Ireland King

defender of the Faith and so forth and in the Year of Our Lord 1785

and he the said John Doveton hath hereunto set his Hand and Seal the Day

and Year above Written

Jno. Doveton

Witness

Robt. Leech Factor

Margin Notes:

Renewed

See Book

C

page 67.

The Company let a plot of ground in James's Valley to John Doveton, a factor. The plot measured 30 feet across the front. It adjoined on the north the house of Mary Bazett, a widow, and of the heirs of the late Lieutenant John Bazett, and on the south the house of Major Henry Bazett. A later note recorded that the lease was renewed, with a reference to book C, page 67.

Doveton was to hold the ground, with everything belonging to it, for 21 years from the date of the lease. The term covered him and anyone who took the ground after him by inheritance or approved transfer.

The lease set out the following conditions. Doveton and his successors had to remain loyal to King George III and faithful to the Company, and had to obey the laws and regulations of the island. They paid the Company a rent of £0 10s 0d a year, due on the feast of St Michael the Archangel. They had to keep in good repair every wall and building standing on the ground or put up there later. They could not sell or part with the lease or any interest in it without the permission of the Governor and Council of the day.

The Governor and Council signed one copy and fixed the Company's seal to it on 28 November 1785, in the twenty-sixth year of the reign of George III. John Doveton signed and sealed the other copy on the same day, and Robert Leech signed as witness, adding his rank of factor.

Interpretations

The note of renewal gave a volume and page. The later Jamestown register keyed every lease to a register book and page, with books A to E named in its columns, and book C held leases of about 1807 to 1812. A term of 21 years from 28 November 1785 ran out at the end of 1806. The note therefore recorded the fresh grant made when this lease expired, entered in the next volume but one. A clerk went back to the old entry and marked where its successor could be found. The present volume was thus one of that lettered series, and it was still being consulted and annotated more than 20 years after its last leases were written. The note also confirmed directly what the entries for James Pritchard and Elizabeth Lambe showed by inference, that leases in this volume were followed at the end of their terms by renewals in later books.

Doveton paid £0 10s 0d for 30 feet, or 4d a foot. That was the rate charged for ground between standing houses in 1780 and 1781, to the Price heirs, Elizabeth Lambe and James Harper. Three plots on the road towards the Maldivia Gardens were let at 3d a foot on 7 November 1785, on the terms of the 1760s. The plot here lay between two Bazett houses in the built-up part of the valley. The Council thus kept two rates for full building plots in 1785, the old standard on the upper road and a third more in the centre.

The lease named a Lieutenant John Bazett, lately dead, whose widow Mary and heirs held the house on the north. Major Henry Bazett's house stood on the south. With Matthew Bazett Esquire and the Thomas Bazett who witnessed in 1779, five members of the family appeared in the volume. Two of their houses stood 30 feet apart, and a factor who had served as sub-secretary took the gap between them.

The repair clause mentioned walls as well as buildings, the wording of 2 December 1765 revived in the leases of 7 November 1785. The fence clause that accompanied it in those leases was not used here. The clerk was again drawing on the old pattern and taking from it what suited a plot bounded by houses.

Doveton was a party, and Robert Leech witnessed in his place.

250

247

Island St. 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 Let unto Mary Bazett Widow

Administratrix and Henry Bazett and Thomas Bazett Administrators to the

Estate of the late Lieut. John Bazett Deceased and for the Use and benefit of the

Heirs of the said Lieut. John Bazett Deceased All that piece or parcel of Ground

containing thirty feet in front and sixty eight feet in Depth adjoining on the North

side to the House of William Hayes Senior and on the South to the House of John

Doveton situate lying and being In James's Valley To have and to hold

the said hereby demised parcel of Ground with the appurtenances and every part

and parcel thereof unto them the said Mary Bazett Henry Bazett and Thomas Bazett

Administratrix and Administrators as aforesaid and for the use and benefit of

the Heirs of the said Lieut. John Bazett Deceased their Heirs Executors Administrators

and 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

they the said Mary Bazett, Henry Bazett and Thomas Bazett, Administratrix

and Administrators as aforesaid their Heirs or allowed assigns, do always

bear true faith and allegiance to Our Sovereign Lord King George the third

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 Yielding and Paying therefore Yearly and every

Year during the said Term and time of twenty one Years unto the said

Honble Company their Successors Agents or assigns the Rent of twelve Shillings

P Annum in at or upon the Feast of St. Michael the Arch Angel Yearly.

And upon Condition that they the said Mary Bazett Henry Bazett and

Thomas Bazett Administratrix and Administrators as aforesaid their

Heirs Executors Administrators or assigns Do and shall Well and sufficiently

keep up and Maintain in good Repair the Buildings that are or may be

hereafter erected on the said Piece of Ground or any part thereof. And

shall not sell or dispose of this Lease or her or their Interest therein, without

the leave and Consent of the Governor and Council for the time being in

Witness Whereof We the said Governor and Council have to the other

part set Our Hands and affixed the Honble Companys Seal this 28 Day of

November in the twenty Sixth Year of the Reign of Our said Sovereign Lord

George the third by the Grace of God of Great Britain France and Ireland

King defender of the faith and so forth and in the Year of Our Lord 1785

and they the said Mary Bazett Henry Bazett and Thomas Bazett

Administratrix and Administrators as aforesaid hath hereunto set our

Hands and Seals the Day and Year above Written

Henr Bazett

Thos. Bazett

Witness

Robt. Leech

The Company let a plot of ground in James's Valley to Mary Bazett, a widow, Henry Bazett and Thomas Bazett, the administratrix and administrators of the estate of the late Lieutenant John Bazett, for the benefit of his heirs. The plot measured 36 feet across the front and 68 feet in depth. It adjoined on the north the house of William Hayes senior and on the south the house of John Doveton.

The three were to hold the ground for 21 years from the date of the lease, for the benefit of the heirs of John Bazett.

The lease set out the following conditions. Mary Bazett, Henry Bazett and Thomas Bazett, and their successors, had to remain loyal to King George III and faithful to the Company, and had to obey the laws and regulations of the island. They paid the Company a rent of £0 12s 0d a year, due on the feast of St Michael the Archangel. They had to keep in good repair every building standing on the ground or put up there later. They could not sell or part with the lease or their interest in it without the permission of the Governor and Council of the day.

The Governor and Council signed one copy and fixed the Company's seal to it on 28 November 1785, in the twenty-sixth year of the reign of George III. Henry Bazett and Thomas Bazett signed the other copy, each with a seal, and Robert Leech signed as witness.

Interpretations

John Doveton's lease of the same day placed the house of Mary Bazett and of John Bazett's heirs on the north of his 30 feet. The present lease placed Doveton's house on the south of the Bazett plot. The ground let here was therefore the site of the family's house. Lieutenant Bazett had lived on the Company's land without a recorded lease, and at his death the estate took one so that his heirs held the house by right. The same was done for the Hayes public house on 4 November 1776 and for Mary Harper on 4 March 1771. A death was regularly the occasion on which an unrecorded occupation in the town was brought onto the register.

Doveton's ground was already called his house, although his lease was sealed that day. He too had built before he had a title, as James Harper did before 15 January 1781. Two adjoining householders were thus given leases together, one for a living tenant and one for a dead man's estate.

Both plots paid exactly 4d a foot, £0 12s 0d on 36 feet and £0 10s 0d on 30. The rate found on central plots in 1780 and 1781 was here applied to the penny on two frontages at once. By 1785 it stood as a fixed measure for building ground in the middle of the valley, a shilling for three feet, beside the old shilling for four still charged on the upper road.

John Bazett left no will, and his estate was in the hands of administrators. The lease reserved the benefit to his heirs and laid every condition on the three who held for them, the form the Council settled on 12 September 1768 and returned to in 1782 and 1784. His widow was named first and did not sign. The major and Thomas Bazett completed the lease, as two men did for Mary Price on 22 May 1780.

Thomas Bazett witnessed the Harper trust leases on 30 September 1779 and was taken then for a young kinsman in the Secretary's office. He appeared here as an administrator of a Bazett estate beside the major.

William Hayes senior's house stood on the north. The publican of that name was dead by 14 October 1776, and his executor was the younger William Hayes. The style of senior had by 1785 passed to that son, which implied a third William Hayes in the next generation.

251

248

Island St. 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 Let unto

Major Henry Bazett All that Piece or Parcel of Ground containing

fifty eight feet in front adjoining on the North the House of John Doveton

and on the South the Honble Companys Waste Ground situate lying and

being In James's Valley To have and to hold the said hereby Demised

parcel of Ground with the appurtenances and every part and parcel

thereof unto him the said Henry Bazett His Heirs Executors Administrators

and 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 he the said Henry Bazett his Heirs or allowed assigns

Do always bear true faith and allegiance to Our Sovereign Lord King

George the third 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 Yielding and paying therefore Yearly and every Year

during the said Term and time of twenty One Years unto the said Honble Company

their Successors Agents or assigns the Rent of twelve Shillings and six pence P

Annum in at or upon the Feast of St. Michael the Arch Angel Yearly And upon

Condition that he the said Henry Bazett his Heirs Executors Administrators or

Assigns Do and shall Well and sufficiently keep up and maintain in good repair

all the Walls and Buildings that are or may be hereafter Built or erected on the

said piece of Ground or any Part thereof And shall not sell or dispose of this

Lease or his or their Interest therein without the leave and Consent of the

Governor and Council for the time being In Witness whereof We the said

Governor and Council have to the Other Part set Our Hands and Affixed

the Honble Company's Seal this 28 Day of November in the twenty sixth Year

of the Reign of Our said Sovereign Lord George the Third by the Grace of God

of Great Britain France and Ireland King defender of the faith and so forth

and in the Year of Our Lord 1785 and he the said Henry Bazett hath

hereunto set his Hand and Seal the Day and Year above Written

Henr Bazett

Witness

Jno. Doveton

Factor

Margin Notes:

[...]

The Company let a plot of ground in James's Valley to Major Henry Bazett. The plot measured 58 feet across the front. It adjoined on the north the house of John Doveton and on the south the Company's waste ground. A note beside the entry recorded [...].

Bazett was to hold the ground, with everything belonging to it, for 21 years from the date of the lease. The term covered him and anyone who took the ground after him by inheritance or approved transfer.

The lease set out the following conditions. Bazett and his successors had to remain loyal to King George III and faithful to the Company, and had to obey the laws and regulations of the island. They paid the Company a rent of £0 12s 6d a year, due on the feast of St Michael the Archangel. They had to keep in good repair every wall and building standing on the ground or put up there later. They could not sell or part with the lease or any interest in it without the permission of the Governor and Council of the day.

The Governor and Council signed one copy and fixed the Company's seal to it on 28 November 1785, in the twenty-sixth year of the reign of George III. Henry Bazett signed and sealed the other copy on the same day, and John Doveton signed as witness, adding his rank of factor.

Interpretations

Three leases of 28 November 1785 covered one row of houses. From north to south stood William Hayes senior's house, the plot of Lieutenant John Bazett's heirs at 36 feet, John Doveton's at 30 feet and the major's at 58 feet, with waste beyond. Doveton's lease already named the major's house on his south. All three plots were built on before that day, and the Council gave each occupier a title at one sitting. The row measured 124 feet, taken up without leases by two Bazett households and a factor. The exercise matched what was done in the country from 1780, when estates were checked and every unleased piece inside them brought onto the rent roll. The town was now being gone over in the same way.

The two plots to the north paid exactly 4d a foot. The major's 58 feet paid £0 12s 6d, a little over 2½d. His was the end plot, with waste on its south, where the other two stood between houses. Ground at the edge of the built row had been let below the central rate since 1768, and Lieutenant Leech's and Mary Harper's plots paid a shilling for five feet in such a position. Bazett's rent fell close to that measure. Neighbours in one row thus paid different rates according to whether a plot was enclosed or open on one side, and the lowest went to the largest frontage, held by the senior officer.

John Doveton witnessed the major's lease and Robert Leech witnessed Doveton's. The two factors each attested a lease for the tenant next door at a sitting where both were parties. The rule that a man did not witness his own deed was kept, and nothing more was asked.

Henry Bazett held a plot on the Southwark side from 29 August 1768, ground beside the Billiard House from 10 July 1769 and a length of the strip by the watercourse from 22 June 1778. The present lease gave him a fourth site in the town, and he signed that day also as an administrator for John Bazett's heirs next door but one.

252

249

Island St. 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 Let unto Solomon

St. Maurice of the Said Island All that piece or parcel of Ground

containing Sixty feet in front and ninety five feet in Depth situate

lying and being in James's Valley on the East side of the Street leading

up towards the Maldavia Garden between the Houses of him the

said Solomon St. Maurice and William Chamberlain To have

and to hold the said hereby demised parcel of Ground with the

appurtenances and every part and parcel thereof unto him the said

Solomon St. Maurice his Heirs Executors Administrators and 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 he the said Solomon St. Maurice his Heirs or allowed Assigns

do always bear true faith and allegiance to Our Sovereign Lord

King George the third 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 Yielding and paying

therefore Yearly and every Year, during the said Term and time of

twenty one Years unto the said Honble Company their Successors Agents

or Assigns the Rent of fifteen Shillings P Annum in at or upon the

Feast of St. Michael the Arch Angel Yearly And upon Condition

that he the said Solomon St. Maurice his Heirs Executors Administrators

or Assigns do and shall Well and sufficiently keep up and maintain

in good repair all the Walls and buildings that are or may be hereafter

built or erected on the said piece of ground or any part thereof And

upon further Condition that he the said Solomon St. Maurice his Heirs

Executors Administrators or Assigns shall not alter or remove the

Fences they being the Limits or Land-marks of the said piece of

Ground And shall not sell or dispose of this lease or his or their

Interest therein without the leave and Consent of the Governor and Council

for the time being In Witness whereof We the said Governor and Council

have to the other Part set Our Hands and Affixed the Honble Company's

Seal this 23 day of January in the Twenty Sixth Year of the Reign

of Our said Sovereign Lord George the Third by the Grace of God

of Great Britain France and Ireland King defender of the faith and

and so forth and in the Year of Our Lord 1786. and he the said

Solomon St. Maurice hath hereunto set his Hand and Seal the day

and Year above Written

Soln. St. Maurice

Witness

Robt. Leech Factor

The Company let a plot of ground in James's Valley to Solomon St Maurice of the island. The plot measured 60 feet across the front and 95 feet in depth. It lay on the east side of the street leading up towards the Maldivia Garden, between the houses of St Maurice himself and of William Chamberlain.

St Maurice was to hold the ground, with everything belonging to it, for 21 years from the date of the lease. The term covered him and anyone who took the ground after him by inheritance or approved transfer.

The lease set out the following conditions. St Maurice and his successors had to remain loyal to King George III and faithful to the Company, and had to obey the laws and regulations of the island. They paid the Company a rent of £0 15s 0d a year, due on the feast of St Michael the Archangel. They had to keep in good repair every wall and building standing on the ground or put up there later. They could not alter or remove the fences, which served as the boundary marks of the plot. They could not sell or part with the lease or any interest in it without the permission of the Governor and Council of the day.

The Governor and Council signed one copy and fixed the Company's seal to it on 23 January 1786, in the twenty-sixth year of the reign of George III. Solomon St Maurice signed and sealed the other copy on the same day, and Robert Leech signed as witness, adding his rank of factor.

Interpretations

The lease placed the plot beside the house of William Chamberlain. Chamberlain's lease of 60 feet on the same side of the same road was sealed on 7 November 1785, 11 weeks earlier, and named no building. A house could not have gone up in that time. It was standing when his lease was made. The three leases of that day, with their revived fence clause, their rent of the 1760s and their silence about neighbours, had suggested ground already enclosed and occupied. The present lease confirmed it for one of them. Chamberlain took a title to a plot with a house on it, whether he had built without a lease or succeeded an earlier tenant whose term had ended.

St Maurice's lease followed the same pattern exactly, with 60 feet of frontage, £0 15s 0d a year, the repair of walls and buildings and the ban on moving the fences. A fourth plot along the east side of the road towards the Maldivia Gardens was thus let on the form of 2 December 1765 and at 3d a foot. The stretch now covered 328 feet under four leases. The Council was working up that side of the road plot by plot, applying one set of terms to all.

John Preston's lease of 30 January 1769 gave him 60 feet with St Maurice's house on the north and waste on the other three sides. St Maurice's house therefore stood near the edge of the built ground in 1769. By 1786 the road ran on past it with plots and houses on the same side, and he was taking the gap between his own house and the next. The upper valley had filled in during the 17 years between.

The tenant was given no rank. He was a lieutenant in 1767 and 1768 and a captain on 20 April 1778 and 4 December 1780. The plain name suggested that he had left the garrison's service. His plot of 1780 lay beside the slaughterhouse between the street and the main watercourse, so this was at least his third holding in the town.

The lease was the first dated in 1786. The road was here called a street, where the leases of 7 November 1785 called it a road.

253

250

Island St. 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 let unto Lieut.

Francis Seale All that piece or parcel of Land containing by Estimation

forty Acres situate lying and being in the South division of the said

Island butting and Bounding East upon the Honble Company's Waste

Land, West upon the Lands of George Alexander planter and North & South upon [...]

To have and to hold the said hereby demised parcel of Land with the

Appurtenances and every part and parcel thereof unto him the

said Francis Seale his Heirs Executors Administrators and 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 he the said Francis Seale his Heirs or allowed Assigns do always

bear true faith and allegiance to Our Sovereign Lord King George

the third 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 Yielding and Paying therefore

Yearly and every Year during the said term and time of twenty one

Years unto the said Honble Company their Successors Agents or assigns

the Rent of one Shilling P Acre, P Annum in at or upon the Feast of St. Michael

the Arch Angel Yearly And upon Condition that he the said

Francis Seale his Heirs Executors Administrators or assigns Enclose

the said Land with a good and sufficient Fence in the space of twelve

Months and do and shall keep up and Maintain the same and the

full quantity of Wood thereon and do not nor shall sell or dispose

of this Lease or his or their Interest therein without the leave and

consent of the Governor and Council for the time being In Witness

whereof We the said Governor and Council have to the other part set

Our Hands and affixed the Honble Companys Seal this 23 day of

January in the twenty Sixth Year of the Reign of Our said

Sovereign Lord George the Third by the grace of God of Great Britain

France and Ireland King defender of the faith and so forth and in

the Year of Our Lord 1786 and he the said Francis Seale hath

hereunto set his Hand and Seal the Day and Year above Written

Frans. Seale

Witness

Saml. Mason Factor

Margin Notes:

[...]

The Company let about 40 acres of land in the South Division to Lieutenant Francis Seale, the area being given by estimate. The ground was bounded on the east, north and south by the Company's waste land and on the west by the lands of George Alexander, a planter.

Seale was to hold the ground, with everything belonging to it, for 21 years from the date of the lease. The term covered him and anyone who took the ground after him by inheritance or approved transfer.

The lease set out the following conditions. Seale and his successors had to remain loyal to King George III and faithful to the Company, and had to obey the laws and regulations of the island. They paid the Company a rent of 1s 0d an acre each year, due on the feast of St Michael the Archangel. They had to enclose the land with a good and adequate fence within 12 months, and then keep up that fence and the full quantity of wood on the land. They could not sell or part with the lease or any interest in it without the permission of the Governor and Council of the day.

The Governor and Council signed one copy and fixed the Company's seal to it on 23 January 1786, in the twenty-sixth year of the reign of George III. Francis Seale signed and sealed the other copy on the same day, and Samuel Mason signed as witness, adding his rank of factor.

Interpretations

The lease required the tenant to fence the land within a year. Every country lease from 10 February 1766 bound the tenant to keep up the fences, wording that took an enclosure for granted. None set a time by which one had to be made. The standard clause was written for additions to working farms, where the new piece was taken into ground already fenced. Seale's 40 acres ran out into the waste on three sides and touched only another man's land on the fourth. Nothing marked it off. The Council could have let it on the usual words and left the fencing to the tenant's convenience. It fixed a deadline instead. A tenant who paid a low rent for a large tract and never enclosed it could graze the open country beyond his bounds at will, and no one could say where his holding ended. The clause obliged him to turn a grant on paper into a marked piece of ground within 12 months, or stand in breach of his lease.

The acreage was stated as an estimate. Every earlier lease gave a measured area, often to a quarter of an acre, and from 1767 many carried a surveyor's plan. Here the land was let before it was measured. The rent was nonetheless fixed by the acre, so the yearly sum of about £2 0s 0d rested on a figure the lease itself admitted was approximate. The fence, once built, would supply what the survey had not. The later register recorded holdings remeasured at renewal and found larger or smaller than first entered. A lease by estimate invited that correction.

The rent of 1s 0d an acre on 40 acres made the largest grant at that rate in the volume, above Orlando Bagley's 26 acres of 15 January 1781. The Council evidently wanted a broad stretch of poor waste in the South Division occupied and bounded, and accepted a nominal rent in return for the tenant's outlay on fencing. John Alexander's lease of 12 September 1768 met the cost of bringing 40 unimproved acres into use by halving the rent for 14 years. This lease met it by a low rate throughout and made the improvement itself a condition.

Francis Seale held leasehold land in the East Division beside James Colgrave in 1780 and took three small pieces there on 11 February 1782, all at 5s 0d. He now took a tract ten times as large in another district, beside George Alexander's 49 acres of 1782.

Two leases were sealed on 23 January 1786, this one and Solomon St Maurice's town plot.

254

251

Island St. 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 let unto Samuel Knipe planter

of the said Island All those two pieces or Parcels of Land containing in the Whole

eighteen Acres and an half situate lying and being in the West Division of the said

Island nine acres thereof butting and bounding West upon the lands of John

Alexander North upon the lands of Benjamin Mason Senr. East upon the lands

of the said Saml. Knipe and South upon the lands of Thomas Greentree, The

other nine acres and an half butting and bounding North upon the lands

of the aforesaid Benjn. Mason upon the other Lands of the said Samuel

Knipe East and South, and West upon the aforesaid Thomas Greentree's Land

To have and to hold the said hereby demised parcel of Land with the appurtenances

and every part and parcel thereof unto him the said Samuel Knipe His Heirs

Executors Administrators and 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 he the said Samuel Knipe his Heirs or allowed assigns do always

bear true faith and allegiance to Our Sovereign Lord King George the third 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

Yielding and paying therefore Yearly and every Year during the said Term

and time of twenty One Years unto the said Honble Company their Successors

agents or assigns the Rent of five Shillings P Acre Yearly in at or upon the

Feast of St. Michael the Arch Angel And upon Condition that he the said Saml.

Knipe His Heirs Executors Administrators or assigns do and shall well and

sufficiently keep up and Maintain the fences to the said Lands and the full

Quantity of Wood thereon and do not nor shall sell or dispose of this lease or

his or their Interest therein without the leave and Consent of the Governor

and Council for the time being In Witness Whereof We the said Governor

and Council have to the other Part set Our Hands and affixed the Honble

Company's Seal this 20th day of March in the twenty sixth Year of the

Reign of Our said Sovereign Lord George the third by the Grace of God of

Great Britain France and Ireland King defender of the faith and so forth

and in the Year of Our Lord 1786 and he the said Samuel Knipe

Senior hath to the other Part set his Hand & Seal the Day and Year above

Written

Saml. Knipe Senr.

Witness

Saml. Mason Factor

The Company let two pieces of land in the West Division, 18½ acres in all, to Samuel Knipe of the island, a planter. The first piece, of nine acres, was bounded on the west by the lands of John Alexander, on the north by the lands of Benjamin Mason senior, on the east by Knipe's own lands and on the south by the lands of Thomas Greentree. The second piece, of nine and a half acres, was bounded on the north by Benjamin Mason's lands, on the east and south by Knipe's other lands and on the west by Thomas Greentree's land.

Knipe was to hold both pieces, with everything belonging to them, for 21 years from the date of the lease. The term covered him and anyone who took the ground after him by inheritance or approved transfer.

The lease set out the following conditions. Knipe and his successors had to remain loyal to King George III and faithful to the Company, and had to obey the laws and regulations of the island. They paid the Company a rent of 5s 0d an acre each year, due on the feast of St Michael the Archangel. They had to keep the fences of the land in good repair and maintain the full quantity of wood on it. They could not sell or part with the lease or any interest in it without the permission of the Governor and Council of the day.

The Governor and Council signed one copy and fixed the Company's seal to it on 20 March 1786, in the twenty-sixth year of the reign of George III. Samuel Knipe senior signed and sealed the other copy on the same day, and Samuel Mason signed as witness, adding his rank of factor.

Interpretations

The tenant signed as Samuel Knipe senior, and the closing clause gave him that style. He was Samuel Knipe junior in his leases of 30 September 1771 and 13 September 1784, the son of the Samuel Knipe whose will he carried out in 1769. Within 18 months the addition changed from junior to senior. His father was long dead, so the earlier word had by 1784 no elder man to distinguish him from. The change marked the arrival of a younger Samuel Knipe, a son now old enough to be confused with him in the Company's books. The Hayes family showed the same turn, with William Hayes senior named on 28 November 1785 after the publican of that style had died. These additions tracked the living generations of a family and shifted as each came of age.

Both pieces were enclosed by occupied land, with no waste on any side, and paid the full 5s 0d an acre. Knipe's nine and a half acres of 13 September 1784 lay in the same neighbourhood, between William Wrangham and the Bagley orphans with the Mason land on the north. He was closing further gaps round his farm in the West Division, where the last leases to mention waste were Thomas Bagley's of September 1784. That district, opened at 2s 6d on its margin in 1776, was by 1786 being let piece by piece at the top rate from the ground left among its farms.

The lease named Benjamin Mason senior on the north of the first piece. Knipe's lease of 1784 named Benjamin Mason junior as the holder there. Either father and son held adjoining land, or the clerk used the two styles loosely. As with the Bagleys and the Knipes, the words senior and junior were applied without consistency from one entry to the next.

Thomas Greentree held land on the south and west. Lieutenant Thomas Greentree's leases of 1780 and 1784 lay at Sandy Bay in the South Division. His family's interests in the West Division went back to James Greentree's 26 acres of 27 March 1769, and the heir now appeared as a landholder there as well.

The two pieces went into one lease at one rate, each separately bounded, in the form used for Lieutenant Francis Seale on 11 February 1782 and Nathaniel Kennedy on 6 December 1784.

255

252

Island St. 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 let unto Mary Alexander

Executrix, John Alexander George Alexander and Britannicus Alexander

Wright Executors of the last Will and Testament of Saml. Alexander

Deceased for the Use and benefit of the Heirs of the said Saml. Alexander

deceased All that piece or Parcel of Land containing one Acre and an

half situate lying and being in the south division of the said Island butting

and bounding East North and South upon the lands of him the said Samuel

Alexander Decd. and West upon the lands of John Seale's Orphs. To have and

to hold the said hereby demised Parcel of Land with the appurtenances

and every part and parcel thereof unto them the said Mary Alexander

Executrix, John Alexander George Alexander and Britannicus Alexander

Wright Executors aforesaid for the proper Use and benefit of the Heirs aforesaid

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 they

the said Mary Alexander Executrix and John Alexander George Alexander

and Britannicus Alexander Wright Executors aforesaid their Heirs or allowed

assigns do always bear true faith and allegiance to Our Sovereign Lord King

George the third his Heirs and successors and true faith to the said Honble

Company and their Successors and shall duly obey all the laws and

Constitutions of the said Island Yielding and paying therefore Yearly

and every Year during the said term and time of twenty one Years unto the

said Honble Company their successors Agents or assigns the Yearly

Rent of five shillings P Acre in at or upon the feast of St. Michael the

Arch Angel And upon Condition that they the said Mary Alexander

John Alexander George Alexander, and Britannicus Alexander Wright

Executors aforesaid their 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 not nor

shall sell or dispose of this Lease or their Interest therein without the

leave and Consent of the Governor & Council for the time being In

Witness whereof We the said Governor and Council have to the other

part set Our Hands and affixed the Honble Companys Seal this 20

day of March in the twenty Sixth Year of the Reign of our said Sovereign

Lord George the third by the Grace of God of Great Britain France and

Ireland King defender of the faith and so forth and in the Year of our Lord

1786 and they the said Mary Alexander Executrix and John Alexander

George Alexander And Britts. Alexr. Wright Executors have hereunto set

their Hands & Seals the Day and Year above Written

B A Wright Exr.

Witness

Saml. Mason Factor

Margin Notes:

[...]

The Company let one and a half acres of land in the South Division to four executors of the will of Samuel Alexander, who had died, for the benefit of his heirs. They were Mary Alexander, the executrix, and John Alexander, George Alexander and Britannicus Alexander Wright. The ground was bounded on the east, north and south by the lands of the dead Samuel Alexander and on the west by the lands of the orphans of John Seale.

The four were to hold the ground for 21 years from the date of the lease, for the benefit of those heirs.

The lease set out the following conditions. Mary Alexander, John Alexander, George Alexander and Britannicus Alexander Wright, and their successors, had to remain loyal to King George III and faithful to the Company, and had to obey the laws and regulations of the island. They paid the Company a rent of 5s 0d an acre each year, due on the feast of St Michael the Archangel. They had to keep the fences of the land in good repair and maintain the full quantity of wood on it. They could not sell or part with the lease or their interest in it without the permission of the Governor and Council of the day.

The Governor and Council signed one copy and fixed the Company's seal to it on 20 March 1786, in the twenty-sixth year of the reign of George III. The other copy was to be signed and sealed by all four trustees. B. A. Wright signed it as executor, under a single seal, and Samuel Mason signed as witness, adding his rank of factor.

Interpretations

Four executors were named where the two leases of 11 March 1782 for the same estate had five. Henry Bazett, who signed both of those with Wright, no longer appeared. He was alive, since he took a town plot as a major on 28 November 1785. An executor could not simply be left out of a later lease for the estate while he remained in office, so he had given up the trust in the four years between. The estate was by then in the hands of the widow, two of the dead man's kinsmen and the Secretary, himself an Alexander by descent. The one trustee from outside the family had withdrawn.

Wright signed alone. In 1782 two trustees signed of five, and the three Alexanders signed neither lease. Here the Secretary's single signature stood for all four. On 6 January 1777, with Wright as witness, every one of Richard Bagley's five executors signed each lease. His own practice as a trustee was the opposite of what those entries suggested he required of others. For a lease of an acre and a half, the family again left the formal act to the official among them, and the Council accepted it on one hand.

The trustees carried every condition, loyalty included, as in the leases of 1782 for this estate. The wording corrected on 12 September 1768 was thus used in all three of the leases to which Wright was a party, and in the Seale and Bazett trusts of 1784 and 1785.

The ground was enclosed on three sides by the dead man's own land. It was a pocket inside the estate, of the kind leased to the Young heirs in 1780 and to seven living tenants since. The Council's review of holdings reached an estate held for heirs as it reached any other, and charged the full rate for a piece worth £0 7s 6d a year.

The orphans of John Seale held land on the west. Their executors took 21½ acres at Sandy Bay on 9 August 1784, bounded by other land of theirs. The Alexander and Seale estates in the South Division, both held for heirs, lay side by side.

Two leases were sealed on 20 March 1786, this one and Samuel Knipe's, both witnessed by Samuel Mason.

256

253

Island St. 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 Let unto

James Harper Inhabitant of the said Island All that piece of Ground

lying in James's Valley situate between the House of William Wrangham

Esqr. and a piece of Ground belonging to him the said James Harper

containing fifty feet in front and sixty feet in Length or depth together

with all and singular that Messuage or Tenement now Built and

Erected upon the said piece of Ground with the appurtenances and every

part and Parcel thereof To have and to hold the said hereby demised

parcel of Ground aforesaid with the appurtenances thereunto belonging

unto him the said James Harper His Heirs Executors Administrators

and 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 he the said James Harper his Heirs Executors Administrators

and assigns do and shall bear true faith and allegiance to Our

Sovereign Lord King George the third 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

Yielding and paying therefore Yearly and every Year unto the said

Honble Company their Successors agents or Assigns the Rent of twelve shillings

and Six pence P Annum in at or upon the Feast of St. Michael the Arch

Angel Yearly And upon Condition that he the said James Harper

do well and sufficiently keep up and Maintain in good repair all the

Buildings that are or may hereafter be built or erected on the said piece

of Ground or any part thereof And upon further condition that he the

said James Harper his Heirs Executors Administrators and assigns

shall not alter or remove the fences to the said Piece of Ground they being

the limits or land Marks thereof And shall not sell or dispose of this

Lease or their Interest therein, without the leave and Consent of the

Governor and Council for the time being In Witness whereof We the

said Governor and Council have to the other part set Our Hands and

affixed the Honble Company's Seal this 28th day of August in the Twenty

sixth Year of the Reign of our Sovereign Lord George the third by the

grace of God of Great Britain France and Ireland King defender of

the faith and so forth and in the Year of Our Lord 1786.

James Harper

Witness

Robt. Leech Factor

Margin Notes:

[...] of

this

Lease

renewed

to Thomas

[...]

25 Augt.

1807

The Company let a plot of ground in James's Valley to James Harper, an inhabitant of the island. The plot lay between the house of William Wrangham Esquire and a piece of ground already belonging to Harper. It measured 50 feet across the front and 60 feet in depth. The lease included the dwelling house then standing on the ground. A later note recorded that the lease was renewed to Thomas [...] on 28 August 1807.

Harper was to hold the ground, with everything belonging to it, for 21 years from the date of the lease. The term covered him and anyone who took the ground after him by inheritance or approved transfer.

The lease set out the following conditions. Harper and his successors had to remain loyal to King George III and faithful to the Company, and had to obey the laws and regulations of the island. They paid the Company a rent of £0 2s 6d a year, due on the feast of St Michael the Archangel. They had to keep in good repair every building standing on the ground or put up there later. They could not alter or remove the fences, which served as the boundary marks of the plot. They could not sell or part with the lease or any interest in it without the permission of the Governor and Council of the day.

The Governor and Council signed one copy and fixed the Company's seal to it on 28 August 1786, in the twenty-sixth year of the reign of George III. James Harper signed and sealed the other copy, and Robert Leech signed as witness, adding his rank of factor.

Interpretations

The lease granted a house together with the ground. Every earlier town lease let bare ground and bound the tenant to repair whatever he built, so that buildings were his work on the Company's land. Here a dwelling already stood, and the Company included it in what it let. The house was therefore the Company's to grant. It had probably come back with the ground at the end of an earlier term or on a tenant's default, since the lease named no previous holder. The repair clause, which in other leases protected the Company's future interest in a tenant's buildings, here protected property it was handing over.

The rent was £0 2s 6d for 50 feet of frontage with a house on it, little more than a halfpenny a foot. Building plots that year paid 3d a foot on the upper road and 4d in the centre. William Wrangham's plot next door, let on 2 November 1778 at the foot of Ladder Hill Road, paid about 1½d a foot and was the cheapest full plot in the volume until now. Harper paid a third of that rate and received a building as well. Ground under the hillside at the western edge of the valley was poor building land, but no feature of the site explained a rent so far below the neighbour's. The lease gave no reason. A house in bad repair, taken on by the man who held the adjoining ground and was bound to restore it, would account for a nominal rent, and the repair clause was the one condition that made the grant worth the Company's while.

The note of renewal was dated 28 August 1807, 21 years to the day after the lease was sealed. The term ran its full length and was followed at once by a new lease, to a different tenant. The clerk of 1807 went back to this entry and wrote the renewal against it, as was done for John Doveton's lease of 28 November 1785. The volume was thus used as a working record at the expiry of its leases, and renewals were timed to the exact end of the old term.

The lease carried the fence clause revived on 7 November 1785 with the repair clause beside it. Harper was described only as an inhabitant, with no trade or rank. He took 47 feet beside the Price heirs on 15 January 1781 at close to 4d a foot.

257

254

Island St. 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, Let unto Benjn.

Seale of the said Island Planter All those two Pieces or parcels of Land

containing in the Whole nine acres and a quarter lying and being in

Sandy Bay Valley Six acres and a Quarter thereof Butting and bounding

North upon the Lands of John Seales Orphan's East and West upon the

Honble Company's Waste Lands and South upon the Lands of John

Alexander, the other three Acres, North and East upon the Honble Company's

Waste Lands, South and West upon the Lease Hold Lands of him the

said Benjamin Seale To have and to hold the said hereby demised

parcel of Lands with the Appurtenances and every part and Parcel

thereof unto him the said Benjamin Seale His Heirs 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

he the said Benjamin Seale, His Heirs Executors Administrators or

allowed assigns do alway's bear true faith and allegiance to Our

Sovereign Lord King George the third his Heirs and Successors and

true faith to them the said Honble Company and their Successors

Yielding and Paying therefore Yearly and every during the said

term and time of twenty one Years unto the said Honble Company their

Successors agents or assigns the Rent of five Shillings P Acre in at or

upon the Feast of St. Michael the Arch Angel Yearly And upon

Condition that he the said Benjamin Seale 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 not nor shall sell or dispose of this Lease or his or their

Interest therein without the leave and Consent of the Governor and

Council for the time being In Witness whereof We the said Governor

and Council have to the other Part Set our Hands and affixed the Honble

Company's Seal this 2 day of October in the twenty six Year of

the Reign of Our Sovereign Lord George the Third by the Grace of God

of Great Britain, France, and Ireland, King defender of the faith and

so forth and in the Year of Our Lord 1786 and he the said Benjamin

Seale hath hereunto set his Hand and Seal the day and Year above

Written

Wm. Seale for

Benjn. Seale

Witness

Robt. Leech Factor

Margin Notes:

[...]

The Company let two pieces of land in Sandy Bay Valley, nine and a quarter acres in all, to Benjamin Seale of the island, a planter. The first piece, of six and a quarter acres, was bounded on the north by the lands of the orphans of John Seale, on the east and west by the Company's waste lands and on the south by the lands of John Alexander. The second piece, of three acres, was bounded on the north and east by the Company's waste lands and on the south and west by Seale's own leasehold lands.

Seale was to hold both pieces, with everything belonging to them, for 21 years from the date of the lease. The term covered him and anyone who took the ground after him by inheritance or approved transfer.

The lease set out the following conditions. Seale and his successors had to remain loyal to King George III and faithful to the Company, and had to obey the laws and regulations of the island. They paid the Company a rent of 5s 0d an acre each year, due on the feast of St Michael the Archangel. They had to keep the fences of the land in good repair and maintain the full quantity of wood on it. They could not sell or part with the lease or any interest in it without the permission of the Governor and Council of the day.

The Governor and Council signed one copy and fixed the Company's seal to it on 2 October 1786, in the twenty-sixth year of the reign of George III. William Seale signed and sealed the other copy on Benjamin Seale's behalf, and Robert Leech signed as witness, adding his rank of factor.

Interpretations

Seale paid the full 5s 0d an acre on ground open to the waste on two sides. His leases of 4 September 1769 and 10 July 1780 gave him 25¼ acres on the southern margin of the same division at 1s 0d, the lowest common rate. For 17 years the land beyond his farm was valued as rough waste. The three acres let now lay north and east of his leasehold, where the earlier pieces ran south, and the six and a quarter acres stood apart in the valley between the Seale orphans and John Alexander. Both were rated five times as high as anything the Company had let him before. The direction made the difference. Ground down towards the coast was poor, and ground up the valley among other farms was good. His own lease of 5 June 1782, for five acres bought out of John Bagley's holding, already showed him paying the top rate for land of that kind.

The first piece touched none of Seale's land. Aaron Lambe took ten acres in the east branch of Sandy Bay Valley on 7 November 1785 with John Alexander on the south and waste elsewhere, and George Seale seven and a half acres in the valley on 9 November 1778. Seale's six and a quarter acres had Alexander on the south as well. The valley was thus being taken up by separate plots along the edge of Alexander's land, each at the full rate.

The lease called Seale's adjoining ground leasehold. The Secretary's office used that word from 1777 for land held from the Company, and from 1784 it named freeholds in the same district, Anthony Beale's and Nathaniel Kennedy's. In the South Division by 1786 the two tenures lay side by side, and a boundary description had to say which was meant.

William Seale signed for Benjamin, as he did on 5 June 1782. Benjamin signed his own leases in 1769 and 1780 and attended neither sealing in the 1780s. A younger kinsman was by then doing his business before the Council, as John Seale did for the elder William in 1775.

The lease was sealed three days after Michaelmas, at the turn of the rent year.

258

255

Island St. 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 Let unto David

Kay of the said Island Surgeon All that piece or parcel of Land containing

Four and one Quarter Acres situate lying and being in the East Division of the said

Island butting and bounding, West upon the Lands of Stephen Young Planter

North upon the Honble Company's Waste Land and South and East upon

the said David Kay's own Land To have and to hold the said hereby

demised parcel of Land with the appurtenances and every part and parcel

thereof unto him the said David Kay his Heirs Executors administrators and

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 he

the said David Kay, His Heirs or allowed assigns do always bear true

faith and Allegiance to Our Sovereign Lord King George the third

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 Yielding and paying therefore Yearly and every

Year during the said term and time of twenty One Years unto the said

Honble Company their Successors Agents or assigns the Rent of two Shillings

at or upon the Feast of St. Michael the Arch Angel Yearly and upon

Condition that he the said David Kay his Heirs Executors Administrators

or Assigns shall and do well and sufficient keep up and Maintain the

Fences to the said Land and the full Quantity of Wood thereon and do

not nor shall sell or dispose of this Lease or his or their Interest

therein without the leave and Consent of the Governor and Council for

the time being In Witness whereof We the said Governor and Council

have to the other Part set Our Hands and affixed the Honble Company's

Seal this 23 day of October in twenty sixth Year of the Reign of Our said

Sovereign Lord George the third by the Grace of God of Great Britain

France and Ireland King defender of the faith and so forth and in

the Year of Our Lord 1786. and he the said David Kay hath

hereunto set his Hand and Seal the Day and Year above Written

Dav. Kay

Witness

Jno. Doveton Factor

Margin Notes:

[...]

The Company let four and a quarter acres of land in the East Division to David Kay of the island, a surgeon. The ground was bounded on the west by the lands of Stephen Young, a planter, on the north by the Company's waste land and on the south and east by Kay's own land.

Kay was to hold the ground, with everything belonging to it, for 21 years from the date of the lease. The term covered him and anyone who took the ground after him by inheritance or approved transfer.

The lease set out the following conditions. Kay and his successors had to remain loyal to King George III and faithful to the Company, and had to obey the laws and regulations of the island. They paid the Company a rent of 2s 0d each year, due on the feast of St Michael the Archangel. They had to keep the fences of the land in good repair and maintain the full quantity of wood on it. They could not sell or part with the lease or any interest in it without the permission of the Governor and Council of the day.

The Governor and Council signed one copy and fixed the Company's seal to it on 23 October 1786, in the twenty-sixth year of the reign of George III. David Kay signed and sealed the other copy on the same day, and John Doveton signed as witness, adding his rank of factor.

Interpretations

The rent clause gave a figure of 2s 0d and did not say whether it was charged by the acre or for the whole. Every country lease in the volume fixed a rate an acre, apart from two that stated a worked sum for a fraction, Lieutenant Thomas Greentree's £0 0s 6d of 30 September 1784 and Stephen Young's £0 2s 6d of 23 May 1785. The words that would settle it were left out here. Read as a rate, the rent came to £0 8s 6d a year. Read as a sum, it was 2s 0d in all, under 6d an acre. Thomas Bagley's four and a quarter acres of 30 September 1784, of exactly this size and also against the waste, paid 2s 0d an acre, which made the rate the more probable meaning. The lease as entered nonetheless left the tenant and the Company with a figure open to two readings more than four times apart.

The acreage was also missing from the body of the lease and was written in the margin beside the line. The clerk passed over the area of the ground and the basis of the rent in one entry, and caught only the first. The copying faults that marked the leases of 1782 and 1784 continued, and here one of them touched the sum the Company was owed.

The tenant was a surgeon, the first of that profession in the volume. The Company's chaplain took 61 acres on 17 September 1770, and its Secretaries, factors, writers, officers and master carpenter all held land. Its medical officer now joined them. Kay's own land already lay on the south and east, under no lease entered here, so he held a farm near the head of James's Valley before this addition.

Stephen Young's leases of 23 May 1785 placed his land in the East Division near the head of James's Valley, beside the Doveton orphans and the waste. Kay's ground adjoined Young's on the west. The upper end of the valley, close to the town, was held by a planter, a surgeon and the Doveton family.

The month was added above the line. The lease was sealed two days before the end of the twenty-sixth year of the reign.

259

256

Island St. 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 Let

unto Mr. Richard Mason planter, All those two pieces or Parcels of

Land containing in the Whole two acres, situate lying and being in the

East division of the said Island, near long Wood; One and a Quarter Acres

thereof Butting and Bounding, East, North, and South upon the Honble

Company's Waste Land, and West upon him the said Richard Mason the

other three Quarters of an Acre, North West and South upon the Honble

Company's Waste Land and East upon his own Land, To have and to

hold the said hereby demised Parcels of Land with the Appurtenances

and every part and parcel thereof unto him the said Richard Mason His

Heirs Executors Administrators and 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 he the said Richard Mason his Heirs or

allowed assigns do alway's bear true faith and allegiance to Our

Sovereign Lord King George the third 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

Yeilding and Paying therefore Yearly and every Year during the

said Term and time of twenty one Years unto the said Honble Company

their Successors Agents or assigns the Rent of One Shilling and Six

pence P Acre in at or upon the Feast of St. Michael the Arch Angel

Yearly. And upon Condition that he the said Richard Mason 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 not nor shall sell or dispose of

this Lease or his or their Interest therein without the leave and Consent

of the Governor and Council for the time being In Witness Whereof

We the said Governor and Council have to the other part set our Hands

and affixed the Honble Company's Seal this 23 day of October

in the twenty sixth Year of the Reign of Our said Sovereign Lord

George the third, by the Grace of God of Great Britain France and

Ireland King defender of the faith and so forth and in the Year of

Our Lord 1786 and he the said Richd. Mason hath hereunto set his

Hand and Seal the Day and Year above Written

Richd. Mason

Witness

Jno. Doveton Factor

Margin Notes:

[...]

The Company let two pieces of land in the East Division near the Long Wood, two acres in all, to Mr Richard Mason, a planter. The first piece, of one and a quarter acres, was bounded on the east, north and south by the Company's waste land and on the west by Mason's own land. The second piece, of three quarters of an acre, was bounded on the north, west and south by the Company's waste land and on the east by Mason's own land. A note beside the closing lines marked the lease as new.

Mason was to hold both pieces, with everything belonging to them, for 21 years from the date of the lease. The term covered him and anyone who took the ground after him by inheritance or approved transfer.

The lease set out the following conditions. Mason and his successors had to remain loyal to King George III and faithful to the Company, and had to obey the laws and regulations of the island. They paid the Company a rent of 1s 6d an acre each year, due on the feast of St Michael the Archangel. They had to keep the fences of the land in good repair and maintain the full quantity of wood on it. They could not sell or part with the lease or any interest in it without the permission of the Governor and Council of the day.

The Governor and Council signed one copy and fixed the Company's seal to it on 23 October 1786, in the twenty-sixth year of the reign of George III. Richard Mason signed and sealed the other copy on the same day, and John Doveton signed as witness, adding his rank of factor.

Interpretations

A single word beside the lease marked it as new, and the same word stood beside David Kay's lease of the same day. Richard Mason's lease of 17 March 1783 carried a note dividing its acreage into land renewed and land added. The clerk was thus sorting leases into two classes in the margin, fresh grants and renewals of terms that had run out. The text of a lease never said which it was. The need to tell them apart arose in 1786 for a plain reason. The first leases in the volume, of December 1765 and 1766, were reaching the end of their 21 years. From then on the Council had two kinds of business, land let for the first time and land let again, and the office began to label each entry. The large grants of enclosed ground to James Colgrave and John Desfountain in 1785 carried no such word, which fitted the reading that they replaced older terms.

Mason's lease of 1783 gave him four plots at Whaleys, in a valley near the Long Wood, each surrounded by waste and separated from the others by cart ways. His own land now bounded each of these two pieces on one side. He was widening those plots at their edges, one to the east and one to the west. The rent was 1s 6d an acre, against the 5s 0d charged on the plots themselves. The Company's best rate went to the watered ground a tenant first chose in the waste, and the strips taken in beside it afterwards were valued as ordinary margin.

The two pieces together paid £0 3s 0d a year. A lease for that sum was drawn and sealed in full, like Lieutenant Greentree's half acre at sixpence on 30 September 1784. In the country no grant was too small for its own title.

Two leases were sealed on 23 October 1786, to Kay and to Mason, both for small pieces against the waste in the East Division and both witnessed by John Doveton.

260

257

Island St. Helena

The Lords Proprietors of this

Island the Honorable United Company of Merchants of England trading

to the East Indies Do hereby demise Grant Lease and to farm Let

unto Richard Goodwin of the said Island Planter all those two Pieces

or Parcels of Land containing Twenty seven Acres situate Lying

and being in the West division of the said Island, butting and Bounding

North upon the Land of John Goodwin West partly upon the

Honble Companys Waste Land and partly upon the Lands of James

Greentree East partly upon the said Richard Goodwins other Land

and partly upon the Lands of the said John Goodwin and South

upon the Lands of William Wrangham To have and to hold

the said Hereby demised Parcel of Land with the appurtenances and

every part and parcel thereof unto him the said Richard Goodwin

his Heirs Executors Administrators and 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 he the

said Richard Goodwin his Heirs or Allowed assigns do always

bear true faith and Allegiance to Our Sovereign Lord King George

the third 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 Yielding and Paying

therefore Yearly and every Year, during the said Term and time

of twenty one Years unto the said Honble Company their Successors

Agents or assigns the Rent of five Shillings per Acre in at or upon

the feast of St. Michael the Arch Angel Yearly And upon Condition

that he the said Richard Goodwin 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 not

nor shall sell or dispose of this Lease or his or their Interest therein

without the leave and Consent of the Governor and Council for the

time being In Witness whereof We the said Governor and Council have

to the other part set Our Hands and Affixed the Honble Companys Seal

this 30th Day of October in the 27th Year of the Reign of Our said

Sovereign Lord George the third by the Grace of God of Great

Britain France and Ireland King defender of the Faith and so forth

and in the Year of Our Lord 1786 and he the said Richard Goodwin

hath hereunto set his Hand and Seal the Day and Year above

Written.

Richd. Goodwin Senr.

Witness

Jno. Doveton Factor

The Company let two pieces of land in the West Division, 27 acres in all, to Richard Goodwin of the island, a planter. The ground was bounded on the north by the land of John Goodwin, on the west partly by the Company's waste land and partly by the lands of James Greentree, on the east partly by Richard Goodwin's other land and partly by John Goodwin's lands, and on the south by the lands of William Wrangham.

Goodwin was to hold the ground, with everything belonging to it, for 21 years from the date of the lease. The term covered him and anyone who took the ground after him by inheritance or approved transfer.

The lease set out the following conditions. Goodwin and his successors had to remain loyal to King George III and faithful to the Company, and had to obey the laws and regulations of the island. They paid the Company a rent of 5s 0d an acre each year, due on the feast of St Michael the Archangel. They had to keep the fences of the land in good repair and maintain the full quantity of wood on it. They could not sell or part with the lease or any interest in it without the permission of the Governor and Council of the day.

The Governor and Council signed one copy and fixed the Company's seal to it on 30 October 1786, in the twenty-seventh year of the reign of George III. Richard Goodwin senior signed and sealed the other copy on the same day, and John Doveton signed as witness, adding his rank of factor.

Interpretations

Richard Goodwin was a planter with land in the West Division on 27 March 1769, when James Greentree's lease named him as a neighbour. He served as an executor for Thomas Greentree in 1767 and for Onesiphorus Beale's heirs in 1780, and his farm bounded William Wrangham's two acres on 8 April 1782 and John Goodwin's 49 acres on 10 February 1783. In all those years no lease in the volume was made to him. His first now came at 27 acres, among neighbours who had surrounded his land for at least 17 years. Ground of that size, shut in by John Goodwin, Greentree, Wrangham and himself, had not lain vacant since the 1760s. The lease was in all probability a regrant of land he held on an earlier term, made before this volume began and now expired. The two leases of 23 October 1786 were marked as new. This one, a week later, carried no such word.

The lease described two pieces and gave one set of boundaries for both. Each side but the north and south was shared between two neighbours, which was how the clerk covered ground in two parts with a single description. No one could tell from the wording where one piece ended and the other began. Lieutenant Francis Seale's three pieces of 11 February 1782 and Samuel Knipe's two of 20 March 1786 were each bounded separately. A regrant of land already fenced and long occupied had less need of that care.

The rent of 5s 0d an acre came to £6 15s 0d a year. All the land let in that neighbourhood since 1768, to John Goodwin, Wrangham and Lieutenant Onesiphorus Beale, paid the top rate.

The tenant signed as Richard Goodwin senior, although the lease did not style him so. A younger man of the name was therefore living. John Goodwin, the factor, held the land on the north and part of the east, and the two estates were interlocked along several boundaries, as those of close kin commonly were.

The lease was the first dated in the twenty-seventh year of the reign, which began on 25 October 1786. It was sealed 21 years, less a few weeks, after the first lease in the volume.

261

258

Island St. 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

Let unto George Hayes of the said Island planter All that Piece or

parcel of Land containing seven Acres and an half, situate lying

and being in the East division of this Island near the Head of Ruperts

Valley, and known by the Name of Foxes folly, butting and Bounding

North, East, South, and West upon the Honble Companys Waste Lands

To have and to hold the said hereby demised parcel of land with the

Appurtenances and every part and parcel thereof unto him the said George

Hayes his Heirs Executors Administrators and 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 he the said George

Hayes his Heirs or Allowed assigns do always bear true faith and

Allegiance to Our Sovereign Lord King George the third, 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 Yielding and Paying therefore Yearly and every

Year during the said term and time of twenty one Years unto the

said Honble Company their Successors Agents or Assigns the Rent of

five Shillings Pr. Acre in at or Upon the Feast of St. Michael the Arch

Angel Yearly And upon Condition that he the said George Hayes

his Heirs, Executors, Administrators and Assigns do and shall

Enclose the said Land with a good and sufficient Fence in the space

of twelve Months from the Date hereof Keeping up and Maintaining

the same and the full quantity of Wood thereon and do not nor shall sell

or dispose of this Lease or his or their Interest therein without the leave

and Consent of the Governor and Council for the time, being In Witness whereof

We the said Governor and Council have to the other Part set Our Hands

and affixed the Honble Companys Seal this 4th day of December

in the twenty Seventh Year of the Reign of Our said Sovereign Lord

George the third by the Grace of God of Great Britain, France and

Ireland King defender of the faith and so forth and in the Year of Our

Lord 1786 And he the said George Hayes hath hereunto set his Hand

and Seal the Day and Year above Written

George Hayes

Witness

Saml. Mason Factor

Margin Notes:

[...]

The Company let seven and a half acres of land to George Hayes of the island, a planter. The ground lay in the East Division near the head of Rupert's Valley and was known as Fox's Folly. The Company's waste lands bounded it on the north, east, south and west. A note beside the closing lines marked the lease as new.

Hayes was to hold the ground, with everything belonging to it, for 21 years from the date of the lease. The term covered him and anyone who took the ground after him by inheritance or approved transfer.

The lease set out the following conditions. Hayes and his successors had to remain loyal to King George III and faithful to the Company, and had to obey the laws and regulations of the island. They paid the Company a rent of 5s 0d an acre each year, due on the feast of St Michael the Archangel. They had to enclose the land with a good and adequate fence within 12 months of the date of the lease, and then keep up that fence and the full quantity of wood on the land. They could not sell or part with the lease or any interest in it without the permission of the Governor and Council of the day.

The Governor and Council signed one copy and fixed the Company's seal to it on 4 December 1786, in the twenty-seventh year of the reign of George III. George Hayes signed and sealed the other copy on the same day, and Samuel Mason signed as witness, adding his rank of factor.

Interpretations

The lease required Hayes to fence the ground within 12 months. That condition first appeared in Lieutenant Francis Seale's lease of 23 January 1786, for 40 estimated acres open to the waste on three sides. It was not used in the leases between, to Samuel Knipe, the Alexander heirs, Benjamin Seale, David Kay, Richard Mason and Richard Goodwin, every one of which adjoined land the tenant or a neighbour already held. Hayes's ground stood wholly in the waste, touching nothing. The clause was thus applied a second time to the one kind of grant that needed it. The office now kept two forms for country land. Where a piece joined an existing farm, the old words on keeping up fences served. Where it lay open, the tenant was given a year to enclose it. Gabriel Isaacke's eight acres of 17 August 1767 and George Seale's seven and a half of 9 November 1778, both islands in the waste, carried no such duty. The Council had come to see that an unfenced plot in open country was a title to an undefined area, and wrote the remedy into the lease.

The ground was marked as new, and its name confirmed that no one held it. A folly was an enterprise thought foolish, and Fox's Folly recorded some earlier attempt to make a farm near the head of Rupert's Valley that failed or was given up. The land had since fallen back into the waste on every side. Highams, let to Mary Twaits on 30 November 1767, was a named plot in the same position and paid 1s 0d an acre. Hayes was charged the full 5s 0d. Either the ground was better than its name allowed, or the Council no longer discounted abandoned land as it did 20 years before.

George Hayes was named as joint tenant with William Hayes on 18 April 1768 and 28 August 1769, and on both occasions William signed for him. He appeared here in person, 17 years after the second of those leases, taking land in his own name and completing it with his own hand. Whatever kept him from the sealings of the 1760s had ended.

Rupert's Valley, the next valley east of the town, had not been named in the volume before.

262

259

Island St. 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, Let unto Thos.

Ailsworth of the said Island All that Piece or Parcel of Ground containing

thirty feet in length and twenty one in Breadth situate lying and being in

James's Valley butting and bounding, East upon the Water course, West upon

the Ground of him the said Thomas Ailsworth and North and South upon

the Honble Company's Waste Ground To have and to hold the said

hereby demised parcel of Ground with the appurtenances and every part and

parcel thereof unto him the said Thomas Ailsworth His Heirs Executors

administrators and 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 he the said Thomas Ailsworth His Heirs or allowed Assigns

do alway's bear true faith and Allegiance to Our Sovereign Lord King

George the third 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 Yeilding and paying therefore

Yearly and every Year during the said term and time of twenty one Years unto

the said Honble Company their Successors Agents or Assigns the Rent of four

Shillings Pr. Annum in, at or upon the Feast of St. Michael the arch Angel

Yearly And upon Condition that he the said Thomas Ailsworth his

Heirs Executors Administrators or assigns do and shall Well and sufficiently

keep up and maintain in good repair all the Buildings that are or may be

hereafter built or Erected on the said piece of Ground or any part thereof and

do not nor shall sell or dispose of this lease or his or their Interest therein without

the leave and Consent of the Governor and Council for the time being In Witness

whereof We the said Governor and Council have to the other part set Our Hands

and affixed the Honble Company's Seal this 4th day of December in the

twenty Seventh Year of the Reign of Our Sovereign Lord George the third

by the Grace of God of Great Britain France and Ireland King defender of

the faith and so forth and in the Year of Our Lord One Thousand seven Hundred

and Eighty Six and he the said Thomas Ailsworth hath hereunto set his Hand

and Seal the day and Year above Written

Thos. Ailesworth

Witness

Saml. Mason Factor

Margin Notes:

[...]

The Company let a piece of ground in James's Valley to Thomas Alesworth of the island. The ground measured 30 feet in length and 21 feet in breadth. It was bounded on the east by the watercourse, on the west by Alesworth's own ground and on the north and south by the Company's waste ground. A note beside the closing lines marked the lease as new.

Alesworth was to hold the ground, with everything belonging to it, for 21 years from the date of the lease. The term covered him and anyone who took the ground after him by inheritance or approved transfer.

The lease set out the following conditions. Alesworth and his successors had to remain loyal to King George III and faithful to the Company, and had to obey the laws and regulations of the island. They paid the Company a rent of £0 4s 0d a year, due on the feast of St Michael the Archangel. They had to keep in good repair every building standing on the ground or put up there later. They could not sell or part with the lease or any interest in it without the permission of the Governor and Council of the day.

The Governor and Council signed one copy and fixed the Company's seal to it on 4 December 1786, in the twenty-seventh year of the reign of George III. Thomas Alesworth signed and sealed the other copy on the same day, and Samuel Mason signed as witness, adding his rank of factor.

Interpretations

Alesworth paid £0 4s 0d for a piece behind his ground, running down to the watercourse. From 1778 the Secretary's office charged no less than £0 5s 0d for any town grant, to a sergeant for a gap 15 feet wide and to the heirs of William Young for 17 feet by 13 feet. Three leases then fell below that floor, to the Secretary himself on 15 September 1783 and to two factors on 30 September 1785, all on one strip by the stream and all reckoned by the foot. Those could be read as a favour to officials. Alesworth was given no rank or office, and he too paid under the minimum. The floor had therefore gone by 1786. Small pieces of back ground were again priced below £0 5s 0d for an ordinary tenant, as they were for George Bird and for Robert Leech and Jane Willson in 1770 and 1771. The officials' leases of 1783 and 1785 were the first signs of a general easing and no privilege of their own.

The rent was a round sum fixed by judgement. At a shilling for five feet, the measure used on the strip by the watercourse, 30 feet came to £0 6s 0d, and Robert Leech paid £0 7s 0d on 18 March 1782 for 80 feet by 20 behind his house. Alesworth's piece was charged above Leech's rate by area and below the rate by length. Ground between a man's plot and the stream, with waste to either side, was still valued case by case.

The plot extended a holding eastward to the water, as John Robinson's strip did on 2 March 1767 and Elizabeth Lambe's plot on 27 November 1780. Householders along the stream had been taking the margin between their ground and its bank for 20 years, and unleased lengths of it remained in 1786.

Two leases were sealed on 4 December 1786, to George Hayes in the country and to Alesworth in the town. Both were marked as new, and Samuel Mason witnessed both. The clerk's note distinguished them from the renewals that the expiry of the first leases in the volume, from the end of 1786, was about to bring.

263

260

Island St. 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 Let unto

Solomon St. Maurice of the said Island All that piece or parcel of Ground

containing fifty feet in front and ninety five in Depth situate lying and

being in James's Valley butting and bounding East and West upon the

Honble Companys Waste Ground and North and South upon the Ground

of him the said Solomon St. Maurice To have and to hold the said

hereby demised parcel of Ground with the appurtenances and every part

and parcel thereof unto him the said Solomon St. Maurice his Heirs Executors

Administrators and 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 he the said Solomon St. Maurice his Heirs or allowed

Assigns do always bear true faith and allegiance to Our Sovereign Lord

King George the third 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 Yielding and

Paying therefore Yearly and every Year during the said term and time

of twenty one Years unto the said Honble Company their Successors

Agents or assigns the Rent of fifteen Shillings P Annum in at or upon

the feast of St. Michael the Arch Angel Yearly and upon Condition

that he the said Solomon St. Maurice his Heirs Executors Administrators

and assigns do and shall well and sufficiently keep up and maintain

in Good repair all the Walls and Buildings that are or may be

hereafter Built or erected on the said Piece of Ground or any part

thereof And upon further Condition that he the said Solomon St.

Maurice his Heirs Executors Administrators or assigns shall not

alter or remove the fences they being the Limits or Land Marks of the said

Piece of Ground And shall not sell or dispose of this Lease or his or

their Interest therein without the leave and Consent of the Governor and

Council for the time being In Witness Whereof We the said Governor

and Council have to the other part set Our Hands and affixed the

Honble Companys Seal this 11 day of December in the twenty seventh

Year of the Reign of Our said Sovereign Lord George the third by the Grace

of God of Great Britain France and Ireland King defender of the faith

and so forth and in the Year of Our Lord 1786 and he the said Solomon

St. Maurice hath hereunto set his Hand and Seal the Day and Year

above Written

Soln. St. Maurice

Witness

B A Wright Secy.

The Company let a plot of ground in James's Valley to Solomon St Maurice of the island. The plot measured 50 feet across the front and 95 feet in depth. It was bounded on the east and west by the Company's waste ground and on the north and south by St Maurice's own ground.

St Maurice was to hold the ground, with everything belonging to it, for 21 years from the date of the lease. The term covered him and anyone who took the ground after him by inheritance or approved transfer.

The lease set out the following conditions. St Maurice and his successors had to remain loyal to King George III and faithful to the Company, and had to obey the laws and regulations of the island. They paid the Company a rent of £0 15s 0d a year, due on the feast of St Michael the Archangel. They had to keep in good repair every wall and building standing on the ground or put up there later. They could not alter or remove the fences, which served as the boundary marks of the plot. They could not sell or part with the lease or any interest in it without the permission of the Governor and Council of the day.

The Governor and Council signed one copy and fixed the Company's seal to it on 11 December 1786, in the twenty-seventh year of the reign of George III. Solomon St Maurice signed and sealed the other copy on the same day, and B. A. Wright signed as witness, adding his office of Secretary.

Interpretations

St Maurice took a plot on 23 January 1786 on the east side of the street towards the Maldivia Garden, 60 feet wide and 95 deep, between his own house and William Chamberlain's, at £0 15s 0d. The present plot was of the same depth, lay between two pieces of his own ground and paid the same sum for 50 feet. The four plots let on that road since 7 November 1785 were all charged 3d a foot, or less for a shallow wedge. This one came to a little over 3½d. The Council did not reckon the rent afresh from the measurement. It charged the figure the neighbouring plot carried, and a frontage ten feet shorter cost the tenant nothing less. Round sums repeated from one lease to the next had displaced exact reckoning once before, in 1768 and 1769.

His own ground lay on both the north and the south. With the plot of January and the house beside it, St Maurice held a run of adjoining frontage along the upper road, and this lease closed a gap within it. No other tenant in the volume assembled so long a stretch of town ground under separate leases. A former officer of the garrison was thus the principal holder on the road towards the Maldivia Gardens, as the Bazetts were in the row let on 28 November 1785.

The Secretary witnessed and gave his title. His signature last stood on Lieutenant Beale's lease of 8 August 1785, and before that on Richard Bagley's of 16 February 1784. Three factors attested every other lease of those three years. He remained in office throughout, appearing at long intervals.

The lease bore no note marking it as new, where the two sealed a week earlier did. A plot enclosed by the tenant's own ground, on a road where houses stood before their leases were made, was probably occupied already.

The lease was sealed 21 years and nine days after Julio Fabiano's of 2 December 1765, the first in the volume, whose term had by then run out. Its two conditions, on walls and buildings and on fences, were those of that first lease.

264

261

Island St. 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 Let unto Solomon St. Maurice

of the said Island All that piece or parcel of Ground containing sixty

feet in front and sixty in depth situate lying and being in James's Valley

butting and Bounding East and West upon the Honble Companys Waste

Ground North upon the House of Martha Jackes and South upon the

lease Ground of him the said Solomon St. Maurice To have and to hold

the said hereby demised parcel of Land with the appurtenances and every

part and parcel thereof unto him the said Solomon St. Maurice His Heirs

Executors Administrators and 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 he the said Solomon St. Maurice His

Heirs or allowed assigns do always bear true faith and allegiance to Our

Sovereign Lord King George the third 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 Yielding

and Paying therefore Yearly and every Year during the said term and

time of twenty one Years unto the said Honble Company their Successors

Agents or assigns the Rent of fifteen Shillings P Annum in at or upon

the feast of St. Michael the Arch Angel Yearly And upon Condition

that he the said Solomon St. Maurice His Heirs Executors administrators

or Assigns do and shall well and sufficiently keep up and Maintain

in good repair all the Walls and Buildings that are or may be hereafter

Built or Erected upon the said Ground or on any part thereof and do

not alter or remove the fences they being the limits or land marks of the

said piece of Ground, and do not nor shall sell or dispose of this Lease

or his or their Interest therein without the leave and Consent of the Governor

and Council for the time being In Witness Whereof We the said Governor

and Council have to the other Part set their Hands and affixed the Honble

Companys Seal this 11 day of December in the twenty seventh Year of the

Reign of Our said Sovereign Lord George the third by the Grace of God

of Great Britain France and Ireland King defender of the faith and so

forth and in the Year of Our Lord 1786 and he the said Solomon St. Maurice

hath hereunto Set his Hand and Seal the day and Year above written

Soln. St. Maurice

Witness

B A Wright Secy.

The Company let a plot of ground in James's Valley to Solomon St Maurice of the island. The plot measured 60 feet across the front and 60 feet in depth. It was bounded on the east and west by the Company's waste ground, on the north by the house of Martha Jackes and on the south by St Maurice's own leased ground.

St Maurice was to hold the ground, with everything belonging to it, for 21 years from the date of the lease. The term covered him and anyone who took the ground after him by inheritance or approved transfer.

The lease set out the following conditions. St Maurice and his successors had to remain loyal to King George III and faithful to the Company, and had to obey the laws and regulations of the island. They paid the Company a rent of £0 15s 0d a year, due on the feast of St Michael the Archangel. They had to keep in good repair every wall and building standing on the ground or put up there later. They could not alter or remove the fences, which served as the boundary marks of the plot. They could not sell or part with the lease or any interest in it without the permission of the Governor and Council of the day.

The Governor and Council signed one copy and fixed the Company's seal to it on 11 December 1786, in the twenty-seventh year of the reign of George III. Solomon St Maurice signed and sealed the other copy on the same day, and B. A. Wright signed as witness, adding his office of Secretary.

Interpretations

St Maurice took two plots on 11 December 1786, one of 50 feet between two pieces of his own ground and this one of 60 feet between his leased ground and Martha Jackes's house. Each paid £0 15s 0d. With the 60 feet let on 23 January 1786 at the same sum, he took three building plots in 11 months, 170 feet of frontage in all, for £2 5s 0d a year. Each had its own lease although the first two of them adjoined his other ground and all carried identical terms. The Council's habit of a separate title for each parcel held in the town as in the country, and each plot could later be sold or renewed alone.

Sergeant Hatton Walker's lease of 20 April 1778 gave him 15 feet between the houses of Captain St Maurice and a woman named Martha. Her house stood on the north of the present plot. St Maurice's property thus lay on both sides of that group of houses, and the leases of 1786 were filling the ground around a house he had held since before 1768. His holdings by the end of the year ran along the road in several pieces, broken only by a sergeant's narrow plot and a neighbour's house.

Three leases in the name of one tenant, with no rank given, on the terms of 1765 and without the clerk's mark for new land, fitted the pattern on that road since 7 November 1785. The plots were probably fenced and in use before their leases were sealed, and the Council was putting titles to them one after another.

The Secretary witnessed both of the day's leases to St Maurice and no others that month. Samuel Mason attested the two of 4 December 1786. Wright's rare appearances in these years fell on leases to men of standing, Lieutenant Beale in 1785 and a former captain here.

265

262

Island St. 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 let unto Jonathan

Doveton of the said Island Storekeeper All that piece or parcel of Land

containing four Acres situate lying and being in the West division of the

said Island butting and Bounding North upon the Lands of Mrs. Sarah

Harper East upon the other lands of him the said Jonathan Doveton, West

upon the Honble Companys Pasture lands known by the Name of the Church

Ground and South upon the lands of Capt. William Pierce To have

and to hold the said hereby demised Parcel of Land with the appurtenances

and every part and parcel thereof unto him the said Jonathan Doveton

His Heirs Executors Administrators and 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 he the said Jonathan Doveton his Heirs or

allowed assigns do always bear true faith and allegiance to Our Sovereign

Lord George the third His Heirs and Successors & true Faith to them the said Honble Co. & Succrs. and shall duly Obey all

the laws and Constitutions of the said Island Yielding and Paying

therefore Yearly and every Year during the said term and time of twenty

one Years unto the said Honble Company their Successors agents or assigns

the Rent of five shillings Pr. Acre in at or upon the feast of St. Michael the

Arch Angel Yearly and Upon Condition that he the said Jonathan Doveton

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 not nor shall sell or dispose of this Lease or his or their

Interest therein without the leave and Consent of the Governor and Council for

the time being In Witness whereof We the said Governor and Council have

to the other Part set Our Hands and affixed the Honble Companys Seale

this 18th day of December in the twenty seventh Year of the Reign of Our

said Sovereign Lord George the third by the grace of God of Great Britain

France and Ireland King defender of the faith and so forth and in the Year

of Our Lord 1786 and he the said Jonathan Doveton hath hereunto set

his Hand and Seal the day and Year above Written

Jon. Doveton

Witness

Jno. Doveton Factor

The Company let four acres of land in the West Division to Jonathan Doveton of the island, the storekeeper. The ground was bounded on the north by the lands of Mrs Sarah Harper, on the east by Doveton's own other lands, on the west by the Company's pasture lands known as the Church Ground and on the south by the lands of Captain William P[...].

Doveton was to hold the ground, with everything belonging to it, for 21 years from the date of the lease. The term covered him and anyone who took the ground after him by inheritance or approved transfer.

The lease set out the following conditions. Doveton and his successors had to remain loyal to King George III and faithful to the Company, and had to obey the laws and regulations of the island. They paid the Company a rent of 5s 0d an acre each year, due on the feast of St Michael the Archangel. They had to keep the fences of the land in good repair and maintain the full quantity of wood on it. They could not sell or part with the lease or any interest in it without the permission of the Governor and Council of the day.

The Governor and Council signed one copy and fixed the Company's seal to it on 18 December 1786, in the twenty-seventh year of the reign of George III. Jonathan Doveton signed and sealed the other copy on the same day, and John Doveton signed as witness, adding his rank of factor.

Interpretations

The western boundary was the Company's pasture, known as the Church Ground. Benjamin Mason's lease of 16 November 1767 bordered pasture the Company kept for its stock, and John Alexander's of 27 August 1770 named its High Peak Pasture. This was the second such tract to be given a name. A pasture called the Church Ground was probably land whose grazing or income was set aside for the upkeep of the church or its chaplain, held in the Company's hands for that purpose. The Company thus kept named reserves in the West Division for more than one use, and a tenant's fence against them marked the limit of what could be granted.

The storekeeper had charge of the Company's stores on the island, the goods sent out for sale and for the garrison's supply. It was one of the senior civil posts, ranking with the Secretary's. Jonathan Doveton signed for Mary Doveton on 12 October 1767, was a member of the Society for the purchase and sale of spirituous liquors on 11 December 1769, witnessed a lease on 31 January 1774 and served as an executor for William Young on 22 May 1780. His office was named here for the first time. With him, the Company's Secretary, storekeeper, surgeon, chaplain, factors and master carpenter were all recorded as its tenants.

His own land lay on the east, under no lease entered in the volume. Like Nathaniel Kennedy and David Kay, he held an estate before his first recorded grant, by purchase, inheritance or freehold. The four acres ran from it to the edge of the Company's pasture and paid the full 5s 0d an acre. Mason's first piece beside pasture in 1767 was given a plan to record the boundary. None was entered here.

John Doveton witnessed for a tenant of his own surname, probably a close kinsman. Relationship to the tenant never barred a witness in this volume.

The words binding the tenant to be faithful to the Company were added between the lines, having been left out of the loyalty clause. The clerk again dropped part of the standard form and restored it afterwards.

Mrs Sarah Harper held the land on the north. A captain not named before held the land on the south, a further garrison officer among the landholders of the West Division.

266

263

Island St. 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 Let unto Thomas Greentree of the

said Island Lieutenant All that piece or parcel of Ground containing thirty

seven feet in Width and one Hundred and Eight feet in Depth situate lying

and being in James's Valley behind the Dwelling House of him the said Thomas

Greentree To have and to hold the said hereby demised parcel of Ground

with the Appurtenances and every part and parcel thereof unto him the said

Thomas Greentree his Heirs Executors Administrators and 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 he the said Thomas Greentree his

Heirs or allowed assigns do always bear true faith and allegiance to Our Sovereign

Lord King George the third 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 Yielding and Paying therefore Yearly and

every Year during the said term and time of twenty one Years unto the said Honble

Company their Successors Agents or assigns the Rent of twenty four Shillings

and two pence P Annum in at or Upon the Feast of St. Michael the Arch

Angel Yearly And upon Condition that he the said Thomas Greentree

his Heirs his Heirs Executors Administrators or Assigns shall Well and

sufficiently keep up and maintain in good repair all the Walls and

buildings that are or may be hereafter built or Erected on the said Piece of

ground or any part thereof And upon further Condition that he the said

Thomas Greentree His Heirs Executors Administrators or Assigns shall not

Alter or remove the fences they being the limits or land Marks of the said Piece

of Ground And shall not sell or dispose of this Lease or his or their

Interest therein without the leave and Consent of the Governor and Council

for the time being In Witness whereof We the said Governor and Council

have to the other Part set Our Hands and affixed the Honble Company's

Seal this 18th day of December in the 27th Year of the Reign of Our said

Sovereign Lord 1786 and he the said Thomas Greentree hath hereunto

set his Hand and Seal the day and Year above Written

Thomas Greentree

Witness

Saml. Mason Factor

The Company let a piece of ground in James's Valley to Lieutenant Thomas Greentree of the island. The ground lay behind his dwelling house and measured 37 feet in width and 108 feet in depth.

Greentree was to hold the ground, with everything belonging to it, for 21 years from the date of the lease. The term covered him and anyone who took the ground after him by inheritance or approved transfer.

The lease set out the following conditions. Greentree and his successors had to remain loyal to King George III and faithful to the Company, and had to obey the laws and regulations of the island. They paid the Company a rent of £1 4s 2d a year, due on the feast of St Michael the Archangel. They had to keep in good repair every wall and building standing on the ground or put up there later. They could not alter or remove the fences, which served as the boundary marks of the plot. They could not sell or part with the lease or any interest in it without the permission of the Governor and Council of the day.

The Governor and Council signed one copy and fixed the Company's seal to it on 18 December 1786, in the twenty-seventh year of the reign of George III. Thomas Greentree signed and sealed the other copy on the same day, and Samuel Mason signed as witness, adding his rank of factor.

Interpretations

The rent of £1 4s 2d was no round figure, and it did not follow from the frontage. At 4d a foot, the highest rate in use, 37 feet came to £0 12s 4d. The sum matched exactly 2d a foot on the width and the depth together, 145 feet in all. No earlier town lease was reckoned on that basis. Frontage alone fixed the rent of building plots from 1766, and ground behind a house paid a flat fee or a small sum set by judgement. Here the Council charged for both dimensions. The piece lay behind Greentree's house and so had no front on the street to measure, yet at 108 feet deep it was far larger than any back strip let before. Robert Leech's 80 feet by 20 on 18 March 1782 cost £0 7s 0d. Greentree's ground held more than twice that area and was charged well over three times as much. The Council had evidently decided that a large piece of back ground could no longer go for a token, and devised a measure that took its size into account.

The result was one of the highest town rents in the volume. Only John Legg's £1 7s 0d for 148 feet of frontage on 7 November 1785 exceeded it, and John Price's £1 0s 0d for 80 feet in 1766 fell below. Ground behind a house, which cost £0 2s 0d in 1771 and a minimum of £0 5s 0d from 1778, was now priced above most building plots.

On 10 July 1769 five executors took a slip behind the house of the dead Thomas Greentree, about 36 feet by ten, in trust for his heirs at £0 5s 0d. The present ground lay behind the dwelling house of Lieutenant Thomas Greentree, 37 feet wide. The width matched. The heir had come into the family's town house, as he came into its land at Sandy Bay by 1780, and he was now taking the ground behind it to a depth of 108 feet. The trust lease of 1769 had three and a half years still to run.

The lease carried the clauses on walls and on fences from the pattern of 2 December 1765. That form, revived on the road towards the Maldivia Gardens in November 1785, was by the end of 1786 used for town ground elsewhere in the valley.

Two leases were sealed on 18 December 1786, to Jonathan Doveton and to Greentree.

267

264

Island St. 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 Let unto John Goodwin of the said

Island Gentleman All that piece or Parcel of Ground containing twenty two

feet in Breadth and one Hundred and one feet in Depth situate lying and being in

James's Valley behind the Dwelling House of him the said John Goodwin To

have and to hold the said hereby demised Parcel of Ground with the

appurtenances and every part and Parcel thereof unto him the said John

Goodwin His Heirs Executors Administrators and 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 he the said John Goodwin

his Heirs or allowed assigns do always bear true faith and allegiance to our

said Sovereign Lord King George the third 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 Yielding and paying

therefore Yearly and every Year during the said term and time of twenty

one Years unto the said Honble Company their Successors agents or Assigns

the Rent of fourteen Shillings and four Pence P Annum in at or upon the

Feast of St. Michael the Arch Angel Yearly And upon Condition

that he the said John Goodwin his Heirs Executors Administrators and assigns

shall well and sufficiently keep up and Maintain in good repair all the

Walls and Buildings that are or may be hereafter Built or Erected on the

said Piece of Ground or any part thereof And upon further Condition

that he the said John Goodwin his Heirs Executors Administrators or

Assigns shall not alter or Remove the fences they being the Limits or

Land marks of the said Piece of Ground And shall not sell or dispose

of this Lease or his or their Interest therein without the leave and consent

of the Governor and Council for the time being In Witness whereof

We the said Governor & Council have to the other Part set Our Hands

and affixed the Honble Companys Seal this 15th day of January in

the twenty Seventh Year of the Reign of Our said Sovereign Lord George

the third by the Grace of God of Great Britain France and Ireland

King defender of the Faith and so forth and in the Year of Our Lord 1787

and he the said John Goodwin hath hereunto set his Hand and Seal the

Day and Year above Written

Jno. Goodwin

Witness

B A Wright Secy.

The Company let a piece of ground in James's Valley to John Goodwin of the island, a gentleman. The ground lay behind his dwelling house and measured 22 feet in breadth and 101 feet in depth.

Goodwin was to hold the ground, with everything belonging to it, for 21 years from the date of the lease. The term covered him and anyone who took the ground after him by inheritance or approved transfer.

The lease set out the following conditions. Goodwin and his successors had to remain loyal to King George III and faithful to the Company, and had to obey the laws and regulations of the island. They paid the Company a rent of £0 [...]s 4d a year, due on the feast of St Michael the Archangel. They had to keep in good repair every wall and building standing on the ground or put up there later. They could not alter or remove the fences, which served as the boundary marks of the plot. They could not sell or part with the lease or any interest in it without the permission of the Governor and Council of the day.

The Governor and Council signed one copy and fixed the Company's seal to it on 15 January 1787, in the twenty-seventh year of the reign of George III. John Goodwin signed and sealed the other copy on the same day, and B. A. Wright signed as witness, adding his office of Secretary.

Interpretations

Goodwin's lease followed Lieutenant Thomas Greentree's of 18 December 1786 in every particular but the figures. Each was for a narrow piece more than 100 feet deep behind the tenant's dwelling house, each carried the clauses on walls and fences, and each paid a rent ending in odd pence. Greentree's £1 4s 2d was reckoned on the width and depth together. A second rent of the same kind within a month, falling short of a round sum by a few pence, showed the Council again working the charge out from the measurements. Deep back ground was now assessed by calculation where a flat fee served for 20 years. Two householders in succession thus paid well over the old £0 5s 0d for the land behind their houses.

Both pieces ran back about 100 feet from the rear of a house. Captain St Maurice's plot of 4 December 1780 reached 104 feet from the street to the main watercourse. Ground of that depth behind a house on the street took in the whole space to the stream or to the foot of the valley side. The householders of 1786 and 1787 were securing everything behind them at once, where their predecessors of the 1760s took a strip of 14 or 16 feet.

John Goodwin was a writer in 1768 and a factor when he took 49 acres on 10 February 1783 and witnessed on 11 April 1785. He was styled a gentleman here. William Wrangham moved between gentleman and factor in the leases of 1766 to 1769 and became Esquire by 1778. The plainer style for Goodwin may have marked the same kind of change in standing, or simply the clerk's choice of words for a senior servant of the Company.

The lease showed that Goodwin kept a dwelling house in the town beside his farms in the West Division, as the Secretary, the storekeeper and most of the Company's officials did.

The Secretary witnessed, as he did for St Maurice on 11 December 1786. The lease was the first dated in 1787. It was not marked as new.

268

265

Island St. 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 Let unto Richard

Knipe of the said Island Lieutenant All that piece or Parcel of Ground

containing nineteen feet in breadth and one Hundred and ten feet in Depth

situate lying and being in James's Valley behind the Dwelling House of him the said

Richard Knipe To have and to hold the said hereby demised Parcel of Ground with

the Appurtenances and every part and parcel thereof unto him the said Richard

Knipe his Heirs Executors Administrators and 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 he the said Richard Knipe his Heirs or

allowed assigns do always bear true faith and allegiance to Our said Sovereign

Lord King George the third 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 Yielding and paying therefore Yearly and every

Year during the said term and time of twenty one Years unto the said Honble

Company their Successors Agents or assigns the Rent of twelve Shillings

and five Pence Pr. Annum in at or upon the Feast of St. Michael the Arch

Angel Yearly And upon Condition that he the said Richd.

Knipe His Heirs Executors Administrators or assigns do and shall well &

sufficiently keep up and maintain in good Repair All the Walls and

Buildings that are or may be hereafter built or erected on the said Piece

of Ground or any part thereof And upon further Condition that

he the said Richard Knipe His Heirs Executors Administrators and assigns

shall not alter or Remove the fences they being the Limits or Landmarks of

the said Piece of Ground And shall not sell or dispose of this Lease

or his or their Interest therein without the leave and Consent of the

Governor and Council for the time being In Witness Whereof We

the said Governor and Council have to the other Part set Our Hands and

Affixed the Honble Company's Seal this fifteenth day of January

in the twenty seventh Year of the Reign of Our said Sovereign Lord

George the third by the grace of God of Great Britain France and Ireland

King defender of the faith and so forth and in the Year of Our Lord 1787

and he the said Richard Knipe hath to the other Part set his Hand and

seal the Day and Year above Written

Richd. Knipe

Witness

B A Wright Secy.

The Company let a piece of ground in James's Valley to Lieutenant Richard Knipe of the island. The ground lay behind his dwelling house and measured 19 feet in breadth and 110 feet in depth.

Knipe was to hold the ground, with everything belonging to it, for 21 years from the date of the lease. The term covered him and anyone who took the ground after him by inheritance or approved transfer.

The lease set out the following conditions. Knipe and his successors had to remain loyal to King George III and faithful to the Company, and had to obey the laws and regulations of the island. They paid the Company a rent of £0 12s 5d a year, due on the feast of St Michael the Archangel. They had to keep in good repair every wall and building standing on the ground or put up there later. They could not alter or remove the fences, which served as the boundary marks of the plot. They could not sell or part with the lease or any interest in it without the permission of the Governor and Council of the day.

The Governor and Council signed one copy and fixed the Company's seal to it on 15 January 1787, in the twenty-seventh year of the reign of George III. Richard Knipe signed and sealed the other copy on the same day, and B. A. Wright signed as witness, adding his office of Secretary.

Interpretations

Three leases within a month let deep pieces behind dwelling houses, to Lieutenant Thomas Greentree on 18 December 1786 and to John Goodwin and Knipe on 15 January 1787. Greentree's 37 feet by 108 paid £1 4s 2d and Knipe's 19 feet by 110 paid £0 12s 5d. Greentree's rent matched 2d a foot on width and depth added together, but that reckoning did not fit Knipe's, which would have come to £1 1s 6d. The two rents did stand in almost exactly the proportion of the two areas. Knipe's piece was a little over half the size of Greentree's and paid a little over half the rent. The Council was therefore charging these pieces by their extent, at about a penny for every 14 square feet. No town ground was priced by area before. Frontage alone governed building plots from 1766, and back ground paid a fee unrelated to its size. Rents in odd pence, which had no place under either of the old methods, were the mark of the new one.

The three pieces were all about 100 to 110 feet deep and lay behind the houses of a lieutenant, a gentleman and another lieutenant. Their widths, 37, 22 and 19 feet, were those of the houses in front. A row of adjoining householders was evidently taking the ground behind it together, each to the full depth available, as the Bazetts and John Doveton took their row on 28 November 1785. The Council measured the whole strip and divided the charge among them by what each received.

The Secretary witnessed both leases of 15 January 1787. The clauses on walls and on fences were those of the lease of 2 December 1765, used for every town lease from December 1786 onward.

Richard Knipe was a lieutenant with a dwelling house in the town. The later Jamestown register recorded that Richard Knipe was the first tenant under lease 131, dated 1787, for 19 feet at £0 12s 5d a year, and that his executors sold it at public auction to George Mead. The frontage, the rent and the year all matched. The present lease was the original of that entry, and the register carried its figures forward unchanged for more than 30 years.

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Island St. Helena

The Lords Proprietors of this Island the

Honorable the United Company of Merchants of England trading to the

East Indies Do hereby Demise Grant Lease and to farm Let unto Thomas

Statham of the said Island, Captn. Lieutenant All that piece or parcel of

ground containing thirty one feet in breadth and ninety five feet in

Depth situate lying and being in James's Valley behind the

Dwelling House of him the said Thomas Statham To have and to

hold the said hereby demised parcel of ground with the

appurtenances and every part and parcel thereof unto him the

said Thomas Statham his Heirs Executors Administrators and

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 he the said Thomas Statham his

Heirs or allowed Assigns do always bear true faith and

Allegiance to our Sovereign Lord George the third his Heirs and

Successors and true faith to them the said Honorable Company and

their Successors and shall duly obey all the Laws and Constitutions

of the said Island Yielding and paying therefore Yearly and

every Year during the said term and time of twenty one Years unto the

said Honorable Company their Successors Agents or Assigns the

Rent of twenty Shillings and three Pence P Annum in at or

upon the Feast of St. Michael the Arch Angel Yearly and upon

Condition that he the said Thomas Statham his Heirs

Executors Administrators or Assigns do and shall well and

sufficiently keep up and maintain in good repair all the Walls

and Buildings that are or may be hereafter Built or Erected

on the said piece of Ground or any part thereof And upon

further Condition that he the said Thomas Statham his Heirs

Executors, Administrators or Assigns shall not alter or remove

the Fences they being the Limits or Landmarks of the said

Piece of Ground. And shall not sell or dispose of this

Lease or his or their Interest therein without the leave and

consent of the Governor and Council for the time being In

Witness whereof we the said Governor and Council have to

the other part set our Hands and affixed the Honble

Companys Seal this 11 day of August in the twenty

seventh

The Company let a piece of ground in James's Valley to Captain Lieutenant Thomas Statham of the island. The ground lay behind his dwelling house and measured 31 feet in breadth and 95 feet in depth.

Statham was to hold the ground, with everything belonging to it, for 21 years from the date of the lease. The term covered him and anyone who took the ground after him by inheritance or approved transfer.

The lease set out the following conditions. Statham and his successors had to remain loyal to King George III and faithful to the Company, and had to obey the laws and regulations of the island. They paid the Company a rent of £1 0s 3d a year, due on the feast of St Michael the Archangel. They had to keep in good repair every wall and building standing on the ground or put up there later. They could not alter or remove the fences, which served as the boundary marks of the plot. They could not sell or part with the lease or any interest in it without the permission of the Governor and Council of the day.

The Governor and Council sealed their copy on 11 August 1787, in the twenty-seventh year of the reign of George III.

Interpretations

Statham's was the fourth lease of deep ground behind a dwelling house, after those to Lieutenant Thomas Greentree, John Goodwin and Lieutenant Richard Knipe between 18 December 1786 and 15 January 1787. All four gave a breadth of 19 to 37 feet and a depth of 95 to 110, and all four paid rents in odd pence. Statham's £1 0s 3d fell between Knipe's £0 12s 5d and Greentree's £1 4s 2d, as his area did. The rent again rose with the size of the piece. It stood a little higher for its area than the other two, at about a penny for 12 square feet against a penny for 14. The Council was plainly charging by extent, though not at a single fixed figure. A valuation of each piece, checked against its measurements, would produce rents of this kind, close to a common rate and not identical.

Seven months separated this lease from the three before it. The form had not changed in the interval. The same two clauses on walls and fences, the same description of ground behind a named tenant's house and the same manner of rent were used. A way of dealing with back ground devised at the end of 1786 was thus settled practice by the middle of 1787.

Statham was a captain lieutenant, the rank Samuel Desfountain held on 18 March 1782. The word marking him as captain was added above the line, as it was in Desfountain's lease, where the clerk first wrote lieutenant alone. Four of the five tenants of this kind of ground were officers of the garrison or a senior servant of the Company. The houses with deep ground behind them stood in the part of the valley where such men lived.

A Robert Statham later held three acres under country lease 271 of 1816 in the later register, which he transferred to His Majesty's Government on 11 June 1816. The name had not appeared in this volume before.

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seventh Year of the Reign of said Sovereign Lord George the

third by the grace of God of great Britain France and

Ireland King defender of the faith and so forth and in the

Year of our Lord 1787 and he the said Thomas Statham

hath hereunto set his hand and Seal the Day and Year above

Written

Thos. Statham

Witness

Robt. Leech Factor

Island St. Helena

The Lords Proprietors of

this Island the Honorable the United Company of Merchants of

England trading to the East Indies Do hereby Demise Grant Lease and to

Farm Let unto Matthew Bazett, Esqr. of this Island of Council all that

Piece or Parcel of Land containing seven Acres situate lying and being

in the East Division of the Island aforesaid, butting and bounding

North upon the Land of Richard Mason East upon the Land of John

Worrall, and South and West upon the said Matthew Bazetts own Land

To have and to hold the said hereby Demised Parcel of Land

with the appurtenances and every part and parcel thereof unto him

the said Matthew Bazett his Heirs Executors Administrators and

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 he the said Matthew Bazett his Heirs or allowed

Assigns do always bear true faith and Allegiance to our Sovereign Lord

King George the third his Heirs and Successors and true faith to them

the said Honorable Company and their Successors and shall duly Obey

all the Laws and Constitutions of the said Island Yielding and

paying therefore Yearly and every Year during the said term and time

of Twenty one Years unto the said Honorable Company and their Successors

Agents or Assigns the Rent of five Shillings P Acre in at or upon

the Feast of St. Michael the Arch Angel Yearly and upon

condition that he the said Matthew Bazett his Heirs, Executors

Administrators or Assigns, do and shall well and sufficiently

keep up and maintain the Fences to the said Land and the

[...] Wood thereon, and do not nor shall sell or

Thomas Statham signed and sealed his copy of the lease in 1787, and Robert Leech signed as witness, adding his rank of factor.

A new lease, made at St Helena, followed. The Company let seven acres of land in the East Division to Matthew Bazett Esquire of the island, a member of the Council. The ground was bounded on the north by the land of Richard Mason, on the east by the land of John Worrall and on the south and west by Bazett's own land.

Bazett was to hold the ground, with everything belonging to it, for 21 years from the date of the lease. The term covered him and anyone who took the ground after him by inheritance or approved transfer.

Bazett and his successors had to remain loyal to King George III and faithful to the Company, and had to obey the laws and regulations of the island. They paid the Company a rent of 5s 0d an acre each year, due on the feast of St Michael the Archangel. They had to keep the fences of the land in good repair and maintain the full quantity of wood on it.

Interpretations

The lease named Bazett as a member of the Council. He was Secretary from the first lease in the volume until 9 March 1772 and was styled Esquire from 27 March 1775. The change of style suggested advancement to a higher place in the Company's service. The present lease stated what that place was. The officer who recorded the Council's grants for seven years had become one of the men who made them. Every lease in the volume was granted by the Governor and Council and sealed by them. Bazett now took land from a body on which he sat, and the lease recorded the fact openly in describing him.

He paid the full 5s 0d an acre. As Secretary he was charged 5s 0d in 1766 and 1770 and 1s 6d on 28 August 1769 on ground let to three neighbours at the same figure. After leaving that office he paid 5s 0d on 32½ acres of woodland in November 1776 and on four and a half acres on 27 November 1780, and 1s 0d on an awkward strip. A councillor's seven acres, enclosed by his own land and by Mason and Worrall, took the rate that enclosed ground among good farms took for everyone. No lease in 22 years showed him paying less than a neighbour for land of the same kind.

Richard Mason's lease of 20 April 1778 gave him 11 acres in the East Division bounded partly by Matthew Bazett on the east and by John Worrall on the south. Bazett's new ground had Mason on the north and Worrall on the east. The same three estates met at that point nine years apart, and a further pocket among them was only now being leased. Gaps between long-settled farms in that district were still being found in 1787, as they were in Deep Valley in 1775.

Robert Leech witnessed Statham's lease. The Secretary attested those to Goodwin and Knipe in January 1787, and a factor again signed in August.

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dispose of this Lease or his or their Interest therein, without the leave

and consent of the Governor and Council for the time being, In Witness

whereof we the said Governor and Council have to the other part set our

hands and Affixed the Honble Companys Seal this 20 day of

August in the Twenty Seventh Year of of the Reign of our said

Sovereign Lord George the third by the Grace of God of great Britain

France and Ireland King defender of the Faith and so forth and in

the Year of our Lord 1787 and he the said Matthew Bazett hath

hereunto set his hand and Seal the day and Year above Written

M Bazett

Witness

Jno. Doveton Factor

Island St. Helena

The Lords Proprietors of this

Island the Honorable the United Company of Merchants of

England trading to the East Indies Do hereby Demise Grant Lease

and to Farm Let unto Benjamin Mason Senr. of the said Island

Planter All that piece or parcel of Ground containing twenty four

feet in breadth and one hundred and nine feet in Depth Situate

lying and being in James's Valley behind the Dwelling House of him

the said Benjamin Mason To have and to hold the said hereby

Demised parcel of ground with the appurtenances and every

part and parcel thereof unto him the said Benjamin Mason

his Heirs Executors Administrators and 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 he the said Benjamin Mason his Heirs or allowed

Assigns do always bear true faith and Allegiance to

our Sovereign Lord King George the third his Heirs and

Successors and true faith to them the said Honorable

Company and their Successors and shall duly Obey all

the Laws and Constitutions of the Island Yielding and

paying therefore Yearly and every Year during the said term and

time of twenty one Years unto the said Honble Company their

Successors Agents or Assigns the Rent of fifteen Shillings and eight

Pence P Annum in at or upon the Feast of St. Michael the

Arch Angel Yearly and upon condition that he the said

Margin Notes:

[...]

Matthew Bazett could not sell or part with the lease of the seven acres without the permission of the Governor and Council of the day. The Governor and Council signed one copy and fixed the Company's seal to it on 20 August 1787, in the twenty-seventh year of the reign of George III. Matthew Bazett signed and sealed the other copy on the same day, and John Doveton signed as witness, adding his rank of factor.

A new lease, made at St Helena, followed. The Company let a piece of ground in James's Valley to Benjamin Mason junior of the island, a planter. The ground lay behind his dwelling house and measured 24 feet in breadth and 109 feet in depth.

Mason was to hold the ground, with everything belonging to it, for 21 years from the date of the lease. The term covered him and anyone who took the ground after him by inheritance or approved transfer.

Mason and his successors had to remain loyal to King George III and faithful to the Company, and had to obey the laws and regulations of the island. They paid the Company a rent of £0 15s 8d a year, due on the feast of St Michael the Archangel.

Interpretations

Mason's rent of £0 15s 8d for 24 feet by 109 stood in the same proportion to its area as Lieutenant Thomas Greentree's £1 4s 2d for 37 feet by 108 and Lieutenant Richard Knipe's £0 12s 5d for 19 feet by 110. Each came to a penny for about 14 square feet. Three leases made over eight months, to three tenants, thus fitted one rate to within a penny or two. The charge on deep ground behind a house was therefore a fixed rate by area, and Captain Lieutenant Statham's slightly higher figure of 11 August 1787 was the one departure from it. A rate by area was a new principle for the town. It had always governed country land, let by the acre. The Council now applied the country's method to the largest pieces of town ground, while building plots continued to pay by the foot of frontage.

At that rate an acre came to about £13 0s 0d a year, more than 50 times the 5s 0d charged on the best farmland. The comparison showed what ground in the valley was worth to the Company by 1787, even where it had no face on the street.

Mason was the fifth tenant to take such a piece, and the first who was a planter and not an officer or official. The depth of 109 feet matched Greentree's 108 and Knipe's 110. Those three lay in one row, running back the same distance to a common limit, and Mason's house stood among those of the two lieutenants.

Benjamin Mason junior was named as a landholder in the West Division on 13 September 1784 and in the South Division on 6 December 1784. He appeared here as a tenant for the first time, with a dwelling house in the town. The addition of junior was written above the line. The clerk first set down the bare name and then marked which of the two men was meant.

The Secretary of 1765 to 1772 signed his lease as a member of the Council, and the sub-secretary of 1780 witnessed it as a factor.

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Benjamin Mason his Heirs Executors, Administrators, and Assigns

do and shall well and sufficiently keep up and maintain in good

repair all the Walls and Buildings that are or may be hereafter built

or Erected on the said piece of ground or any part thereof And

upon further Condition that he the said Benjamin Mason his Heirs

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 Governor and Council for the time being In Witness whereof

we the said Governor and Council have to the other Part set our

Hands and affixed the Honble Companys Seal this 20 day of

August in the Twenty seventh Year of the Reign of our

said Sovereign Lord George the third by the grace of God of Great

Britain France and Ireland King defender of the faith and so

forth and in the Year of our Lord 1787 and he the said Benjamin

Mason hath hereunto set his hand and Seal the Day and Year

above Written

Benjn. Mason

Witness

Jno. F. Howard

Island St. Helena

The Lords Proprietors of

this Island the Honorable the United Company of Merchants of

England trading to the East Indies Do hereby Demise, Grant Lease

and to farm Let unto William Wrangham Benjamin Mason Senr.

John Bagley Junr. and Robert Leech, Executors to the last Will and

Testament of Richard Bagley deceased All that piece or parcel

of Land containing twenty five Acres situate lying and being

in the West Division of the said Island butting and bounding

North and West upon the Honorable Companys Waste Land and

East and South upon the Lands of the Heirs of the said Richard

Bagley decd. To have and to hold the said hereby Demised

parcel of Land with the appurtenances and every part and parcel

thereof unto them the said William Wrangham, Benjamin

Mason, John Bagley and Robert Leech their Heirs, Executors

Admin

Benjamin Mason junior and his successors had to keep in good repair every wall and building standing on the ground or put up there later. They could not sell or part with the lease or any interest in it without the permission of the Governor and Council of the day. The Governor and Council signed one copy and fixed the Company's seal to it on 20 August 1787, in the twenty-seventh year of the reign of George III. Benjamin Mason signed and sealed the other copy on the same day, and J. F. Howard signed as witness.

A new lease, made at St Helena, followed. The Company let 25 acres of land in the West Division to William Wrangham, Benjamin Mason senior, John Bagley junior and Robert Leech, the executors of the will of Richard Bagley, who had died. The ground was bounded on the north and west by the Company's waste land and on the east and south by the lands of Richard Bagley's heirs.

Interpretations

Four executors were named for Richard Bagley's estate where the three leases of 6 January 1777 had five. Henry Bazett was the one no longer listed. He also ceased to be named among Samuel Alexander's executors between 11 March 1782 and 20 March 1786, although he took a town plot as a major on 28 November 1785. He had thus withdrawn from two estates within a few years, while remaining on the island and acting for his own family as an administrator for Lieutenant John Bazett's heirs. The major had served as a trustee for Thomas Greentree, Richard Bagley, William Young and Samuel Alexander since 1767. By the mid 1780s he was giving up those duties to the families concerned.

Ten years after their first leases, Bagley's executors were still taking land for his heirs. Richard Bagley took land at Sandy Bay in his own name on 16 February 1784 and Thomas Bagley in the West Division from 13 September 1784, and both were taken for heirs come of age. The estate was nonetheless still in the hands of trustees in 1787. Either some of the heirs remained under age, or the will kept the land together under its executors after the eldest had grown. A trust for a planter's family could thus run for a decade and more, with some of those entitled farming for themselves beside it.

The 25 acres ran out to the waste on two sides from land the heirs already held. The executors' leases of 1777 added 37¼ acres to the estate in the same division. The trustees were thus still extending it into unoccupied country, as they did in the year after his death.

Mason's lease omitted the clause forbidding any change to the fences. The other four leases of deep ground behind houses, from 18 December 1786 to 11 August 1787, all carried it beside the clause on walls and buildings. James Pritchard's lease of 7 November 1785 lost the repair clause in the same way. The clerk again copied one of the two conditions and dropped the other, and the tenant so favoured was free of a restriction his neighbours bore.

A witness not named before attested Mason's lease, and gave no rank or office. The addition of junior in the text of that lease was not repeated in the signature, which gave the bare name.

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Administrators and Assigns; In trust nevertheless and for

the Use and benefit of the Heirs of the said Richard Bagley

deceased 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 they the said Heirs of the said Richard

Bagley their Heirs Executors and Administrators do and shall

bear true faith and Allegiance to Our Sovereign Lord George the

third 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 Yielding and

paying therefore Yearly and every Year unto the said Honble

Company their Successors Agents or Assigns the Rent of five

Shillings P Acre in at or upon the Feast of St. Michael the Arch

Angel Yearly and upon condition that they the said William

Wrangham Benjamin Mason John Bagley and Robert Leech

Executors aforesaid their Heirs Executors Administrators or Assigns

do and shall well and sufficiently keep and maintain the Fences

to the said Land and the full Quantity of Wood thereon and do not

nor shall sell or dispose of this Lease or their Interest therein

without the leave and consent of the Governor and Council for the

time being In Witness whereof we the said Governor and

Council have to the other part set our Hands and affixed the

Honble Companys Seal this 20 day of August in the Twenty

Seventh year of the Reign of our said Sovereign Lord George

the third by the Grace of God of great Britain, France, and

Ireland, King defender of the Faith and so forth and in the

Year of our Lord 1787 and they the said William Wrangham

Benjamin Mason John Bagley and Robert Leech have

hereunto set their Hands & Seals the Day and Year

above Written.

Robt. Leech

Witness

Jno. Doveton

Factor

The four executors of Richard Bagley's will were to hold the 25 acres in the West Division for 21 years from the date of the lease, but only as trustees for his heirs.

The lease divided its conditions between the heirs and the trustees. The heirs and their successors had to remain loyal to King George III and faithful to the Company, and had to obey the laws and regulations of the island. A rent of 5s 0d an acre was payable to the Company each year on the feast of St Michael the Archangel. William Wrangham, Benjamin Mason, John Bagley and Robert Leech had to keep the fences of the land in good repair and maintain the full quantity of wood on it. They could not sell or part with the lease or their interest in it without the permission of the Governor and Council of the day.

The Governor and Council signed one copy and fixed the Company's seal to it on 20 August 1787, in the twenty-seventh year of the reign of George III. The other copy was to be signed and sealed by all four trustees. Robert Leech signed it, under a single seal, and John Doveton signed as witness, adding his rank of factor.

Interpretations

The lease laid loyalty and obedience on the heirs and left the trustees answerable only for the fences, the wood and the ban on selling. That was the form of the three leases made for this estate on 6 January 1777. The Council corrected it on 12 September 1768 so that the adults in control bore every condition, and the corrected wording was used for the Alexander heirs in 1782 and 1786, for John Seale's children on 9 August 1784 and for Lieutenant John Bazett's heirs on 28 November 1785. A lease for the Bagley heirs in 1787 fell after all of those, yet it returned to the weaker form. The Greentree lease of 10 July 1769 did the same, reverting to that estate's own first lease after the correction was made. Each estate's later leases were evidently drawn from its earlier ones. An improvement adopted for new trusts never reached an estate already on the books, and the Bagley heirs' land was let in 1787 on the wording of 1777.

One trustee signed for four. On 6 January 1777 all five of this estate's executors signed each of three leases, every one under his own seal, and that full execution was the strictest in the volume. Ten years later the same estate's lease stood on a single hand. Robert Leech was a factor and a regular witness of the Council's leases in these years, and he was present at its sittings as a matter of course. The other three, a councillor's colleague styled Esquire, a planter and the dead man's kinsman, did not attend. The practice had come full circle to that of 5 October 1767, when James Greentree signed alone for seven.

The estate paid 5s 0d an acre on 25 acres open to the waste on two sides, as it did on all 37¼ acres of 1777. Francis Seale's 40 acres against the waste in the South Division were let at 1s 0d on 23 January 1786. The Bagley land in the West Division was thus still valued at the top of the scale, and the heirs' trustees took it at that price as before.

Three leases were sealed on 20 August 1787, to Matthew Bazett, Benjamin Mason junior and the Bagley executors. Benjamin Mason senior was a trustee in the third, and the younger man of his name the tenant in the second.

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Island St. 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 Let unto John

Scott of the said Island Publican All that piece or parcel of Land

containing six Acres more or less, situate lying and being in Sandy Bay

butting and bounding North upon the lands of the Heirs of Saml.

Alexander Decd. West upon the said John Scotts own Land, and East

and South upon the Honble Companys Waste Land To have and

to hold the said hereby Demised parcel of Land with the

appurtenances and every part and parcel thereof unto him the

said John Scott his Heirs Executors, Administrators and 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 he the said John Scott his Heirs or allowed

Assigns do always bear true faith and Allegiance to our

Sovereign Lord King George the third 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 Yielding and paying therefore Yearly and every Year during

the said term and time of Twenty one Years unto the said Honble

Company their Successors, Agents, or Assigns the Rent of Five Shillings

P Acre, in at or upon the Feast of St. Michael the Arch Angel

Yearly And upon Condition that he the said John Scott 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 not

nor shall sell or dispose of this Lease or his or their Interest

therein without the leave and consent of the Governor and Council

for the time being In Witness whereof we the said Governor and

Council have to the other part set our Hands and affixed the

Honble Company's Seal this 20 Day of August In the Twenty

Seventh Year of the Reign of Our said Sovereign Lord George the

third by the Grace of God of great Britain France and Ireland

King defender of the Faith and so forth and in the Year of

our Lord 1787 and he the said Jno. Scott hath hereunto set

his hand and Seal the day and Year above Written

John Scott

Witness

Jno. Goodwin Factr.

The Company let about six acres of land at Sandy Bay to John Scott of the island, a publican. The ground was bounded on the north by the lands of the heirs of Samuel Alexander, who had died, on the west by Scott's own land and on the east and south by the Company's waste land.

Scott was to hold the ground, with everything belonging to it, for 21 years from the date of the lease. The term covered him and anyone who took the ground after him by inheritance or approved transfer.

The lease set out the following conditions. Scott and his successors had to remain loyal to King George III and faithful to the Company, and had to obey the laws and regulations of the island. They paid the Company a rent of 5s 0d an acre each year, due on the feast of St Michael the Archangel. They had to keep the fences of the land in good repair and maintain the full quantity of wood on it. They could not sell or part with the lease or any interest in it without the permission of the Governor and Council of the day.

The Governor and Council signed one copy and fixed the Company's seal to it on 20 August 1787, in the twenty-seventh year of the reign of George III. John Scott signed and sealed the other copy on the same day, and John Goodwin signed as witness, adding his rank of factor.

Interpretations

The area was given as six acres more or less. Lieutenant Francis Seale's lease of 23 January 1786 let 40 acres by estimate, and that lease bound him to fence the land within a year, so that the enclosure would fix what the survey had not. Scott's ground was likewise let without an exact measure, and it met the waste on two sides, yet his lease carried only the standard words on keeping up fences. The rent was fixed by the acre on a figure the lease admitted was approximate. A tenant so placed could push his boundary east or south into the waste and still pay for six acres. The Council evidently judged the risk small on a piece of that size joined to his own farm, and reserved the fencing condition for tracts standing open on three sides or all round, as with Seale and George Hayes.

Scott was a publican. William Hayes, Roderick Merchant and John Price kept public houses in the valley, and Hayes also farmed in the East Division. Scott was named as a neighbour of the Alexander heirs on 11 March 1782 and of Richard Bagley on 16 February 1784, so his farm at Sandy Bay was of some years' standing. The trade of the town and the land of the South Division were again in the same hands. His own land on the west lay under no lease entered in the volume.

The six acres paid the full 5s 0d an acre, although the waste lay on the east and south. Ground beside the Alexander estate at Sandy Bay was good land, charged at the top rate in every lease from 1780.

Four leases were sealed on 20 August 1787, to Matthew Bazett, Benjamin Mason junior, the Bagley executors and Scott. Three different men witnessed them, John Doveton, J. F. Howard and John Goodwin. The sitting fell late in the southern winter, the season of the large sittings of 1768 and 1769.

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Island St. 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, Let unto Matthew Bazett Esqr.

of the Island aforesaid of Council All that piece or parcel

of Land containing fifteen Acres and an half situate

lying and being in the East Division of the said Island

butting and Bounding North partly upon the Companys

Waste Land and partly upon the said Matthew

Bazetts own Land East upon the Honble Companys waste

Land, West upon the Land of Richard Mason and

South partly upon the Land of John Worrall and partly

upon the Land of Thomas Burnham To have and

to hold the said hereby Demised parcel of Land

with the appurtenances and every part and parcel

thereof unto him the said Matthew Bazett his Heirs

Executors Administrators and 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 he the said Matthew Bazett

his Heirs or allowed Assigns Do always bear true

Faith and allegiance to our Sovereign Lord King

George the third 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 Yielding and Paying

therefore Yearly and every Year during the said term and

time of twenty one Years unto the said Honble Company

their Successors Agents or Assigns the Rent of five

Shillings P Acre for Six Acres of the abovementioned

Land and one Shilling P Acre for the remaining nine

and an half Acres in at or upon the Feast of

St. Michael the Arch Angel Yearly And upon

Condition that he the said Matthew Bazett his

Heirs Executors Administrators and 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 not nor shall sell or

dispose of this Lease or his or their Interest therein

without the leave and Consent of the Governor

and

Margin Notes:

Renewal

The Company let 15½ acres of land in the East Division to Matthew Bazett Esquire of the island, a member of the Council. A note beside the opening lines marked the lease as a renewal. The ground was bounded on the north partly by the Company's waste land and partly by Bazett's own land, on the east by the Company's waste land, on the west by the land of Richard Mason and on the south partly by the land of John Worrall and partly by the land of Thomas Burnham.

Bazett was to hold the ground, with everything belonging to it, for 21 years from the date of the lease. The term covered him and anyone who took the ground after him by inheritance or approved transfer.

The lease set out the following conditions. Bazett and his successors had to remain loyal to King George III and faithful to the Company, and had to obey the laws and regulations of the island. They paid the Company a yearly rent of 5s 0d an acre for six of the acres and 1s 0d an acre for the remaining nine and a half, due on the feast of St Michael the Archangel. They had to keep the fences of the land in good repair and maintain the full quantity of wood on it. They could not sell or part with the lease or any interest in it without the permission of the Governor and Council of the day.

Interpretations

This was the first lease in the volume to be marked as a renewal. Two leases of late 1786 were marked as new, and the clerk's labels thus covered both kinds of business. Bazett's first lease, of 10 February 1766, gave him eight and a half acres in the East Division for 21 years, beside the Burnham family's land, and its term ended in February 1787. Thomas Burnham's lease of 17 September 1770 placed Bazett's land on his north, and the present ground had Burnham on its south. The renewal was therefore in all probability of that first lease, made six months after it ran out. The expiry of the leases of 1766 had begun, and the volume now recorded their successors beside fresh grants.

The renewed lease did not repeat the old one. It covered 15½ acres where the lease of 1766 covered eight and a half. Richard Mason's renewal of 17 March 1783 likewise added two and a half acres to seven and a quarter. On both occasions the Council used the end of a term to bring the lease into line with what the tenant then occupied, and the new document described the enlarged holding as a single piece with no sign of which part was old.

The rent was split, six acres at 5s 0d and nine and a half at 1s 0d, a total of £1 19s 6d a year. The lease of 1766 charged 5s 0d on all eight and a half acres, £2 2s 6d. Bazett thus held nearly twice the land for slightly less rent. The ground ran out to the waste on the east and part of the north, and the added acres were evidently rough margin of the kind let at 1s 0d throughout the volume. Even so, the area valued at the top rate fell from eight and a half acres to six. A renewal reopened the valuation of the whole holding, and here it went in the tenant's favour, for a tenant who sat on the Council that granted it. Major Henry Bazett's 19¼ acres of 22 May 1780 were graded in the same manner, and John Robinson's on 6 May 1782, so the method was not peculiar to this lease.

The split rent, unused since Stephen Young's lease of 23 May 1785, returned here with the widest gap between its rates. The lease did not say which six acres paid in full.

Thomas Burnham took land in trust for his father's children in 1770. He appeared here as a landholder in his own name.

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and Council for the time being In Witness whereof We the

said Governor and Council have to the other part set our

Hands and affixed the Honble Companys Seal the 8

Day of October in the twenty seventh Year of the Reign of our

Sovereign Lord George the Third by the Grace of God of

Great Britain France and Ireland King, Defender of

the Faith and so forth and in the Year of our Lord 1787

and he the said Matthew Bazett hath hereunto set his

Hand and Seal the Day and Year above written.

M Bazett

Witness

B A Wright

Island St. 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

Let unto Matthew Bazett Esqr. of the Island aforesaid of Council

All those two pieces or parcels of Land containing Eleven

Acres situate lying and being in the East Division of the

said Island eight and an half Acres thereof, lying in Sharks

Valley butting and bounding East West and South upon

the Lands of him the said Matthew Bazett and North

upon the Lands of Richard Mason, the other two Acres

and an half lying in pleasant Valley butting and

bounding East upon the Lands of John Desfountain and

North South and West upon the Lands of him the said

Matthew Bazett To have and to hold the said

hereby Demised parcels of Land with the appurtenances

and every part and parcel thereof unto him the said

Matthew Bazett his Heirs Executors, Administrators

and 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 he the said

Matthew Bazett His Heirs or allowed Assigns Do

always bear true Faith and allegiance to our Sovereign

Lord King George the Third 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 Yielding and paying

therefore

Margin Notes:

Renewal

The Governor and Council signed one copy of Matthew Bazett's lease of the 15½ acres and fixed the Company's seal to it on 8 October 1787, in the twenty-seventh year of the reign of George III. Matthew Bazett signed and sealed the other copy on the same day, and B. A. Wright signed as witness.

A new lease, made at St Helena, followed. The Company let two pieces of land in the East Division, 11 acres in all, to Matthew Bazett Esquire of the island, a member of the Council. A note beside the opening lines marked this lease also as a renewal. The first piece, of eight and a half acres, lay in Sharks Valley. It was bounded on the east, west and south by Bazett's own lands and on the north by the lands of Richard Mason. The second piece, of two and a half acres, lay in Pleasant Valley. It was bounded on the east by the lands of John Desfountain and on the north, south and west by Bazett's own lands.

Bazett was to hold both pieces, with everything belonging to them, for 21 years from the date of the lease. The term covered him and anyone who took the ground after him by inheritance or approved transfer.

Bazett and his successors had to remain loyal to King George III and faithful to the Company, and had to obey the laws and regulations of the island.

Interpretations

Two renewals to Bazett were entered in succession. The first piece of the second was of eight and a half acres, exactly the area let to him on 10 February 1766 for 21 years. That term ended in February 1787, and this piece was the more probable successor to it. The lease of 1766 described the ground by the neighbours of that day, Susannah Pledger, Mary Burnham and another, with his own land on the south. Twenty-one years later his own land lay on three sides and Richard Mason on the fourth. The estate had grown round the original grant until it was enclosed. The renewal of 15½ acres sealed on 8 October 1787 then replaced a different lease, one older than this volume and expiring about the same time. Bazett held land in the East Division before 1766, since his first recorded lease already named his own land as a boundary.

The renewals placed the eight and a half acres in Sharks Valley. No lease of the 1760s named that valley. Bazett's lease of 27 November 1780 put two and a half acres at its head, under the main ridge. The first ground he took in the volume thus lay in the valley whose upper end he secured 14 years afterwards.

The Secretary witnessed the first renewal. His signature appeared on few leases after February 1784, and those were to Lieutenant Beale, Solomon St Maurice, John Goodwin, Lieutenant Knipe and now a member of the Council. A renewal to the man he succeeded as Secretary, by then his superior, was attested by Wright himself.

Leases expiring in 1787 were not renewed on the day their terms ended. Bazett's ran out in February and its successor was sealed in October. James Harper's lease of 28 August 1786 was later renewed 21 years to the day. The practice in 1787 was looser, and a tenant evidently stayed in possession for some months between the old term and the new.

Both renewals went to a councillor at one sitting. The volume's first tenant of country land was the first whose leases were recorded as renewed, and he remained on the island, by then in its government, to take them.

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therefore Yearly and every Year during the said term and

time of twenty one Years unto the said Honble Company

their Successors, Agents or Assigns the Rent of Five

Shillings P Acre, in at or upon the Feast of St. Michael

the Arch Angel Yearly. And upon Condition that he

the said Matthew Bazett his Heirs, Executors

Administrators or Assigns Do and shall well and

sufficiently keep up and maintain the Fences to

the said Lands and the full quantity of Wood thereon

and do not nor shall sell or dispose of this Lease or

his or their Interest therein without the leave and

Consent of the Governor and Council for the time

being In Witness whereof We the said Governor

and Council have to the other part set our Hands

and Affixed the Honble Companys Seal this Eighth

Day of October in the twenty seventh Year of the

Reign of our said Sovereign Lord George the third

by the Grace of God of Great Britain France and

Ireland King Defender of the Faith and so forth

and in the Year of our Lord 1787 and he the said

Matthew Bazett hath hereunto set his Hand

and Seal the Day and Year above written,

M Bazett

Witness

B A Wright

Island St. 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 Let unto Benjamin Mason Senr. of

the Island aforesaid Planter All that piece or parcel

of Land containing Thirty one Acres situate lying

and being in the West Division of the said Island

butting and bounding North and West upon the

Honble Companys Waste Land South upon the Land

of the Heirs of Richard Bagley Deceased and East

upon the said Benjamin Masons own Land, To have

and to hold the said hereby Demised parcel of

Land with the appurtenances and every part and

parcel thereof unto him the said Benjamin

Mason

Margin Notes:

Renewal

Matthew Bazett and his successors paid the Company a rent of 5s 0d an acre each year on the 11 acres in Sharks Valley and Pleasant Valley, due on the feast of St Michael the Archangel. They had to keep the fences of the land in good repair and maintain the full quantity of wood on it. They could not sell or part with the lease or any interest in it without the permission of the Governor and Council of the day.

The Governor and Council signed one copy and fixed the Company's seal to it on 8 October 1787, in the twenty-seventh year of the reign of George III. Matthew Bazett signed and sealed the other copy on the same day, and B. A. Wright signed as witness.

A new lease, made at St Helena, followed. The Company let 31 acres of land in the West Division to Benjamin Mason senior of the island, a planter. A note beside the opening lines marked the lease as a renewal. The ground was bounded on the north and west by the Company's waste land, on the south by the land of the heirs of Richard Bagley, who had died, and on the east by Mason's own land.

Interpretations

The eight and a half acres let to Bazett on 10 February 1766 paid 5s 0d an acre. The renewal charged the same rate on the same area. Twenty-one years on, the Council asked for that ground exactly what it asked at first. The scale of country rents fixed in the 1760s was still in force in 1787, with 5s 0d at its head, and a renewal of good land simply repeated the old figure. The later register showed the same rates, from 6d to 5s 0d, still charged on country leases of 1813 to 1823. The Company's rents for farmland thus stood unchanged for more than half a century, through every renewal.

Bazett's two renewals of 8 October 1787 were handled differently. The 15½ acres were regraded, with only six acres left at the full rate. The 11 acres kept it throughout. The first holding ran out to the waste and took in rough ground on its margin. The second was enclosed by his own land, Mason's and Desfountain's. A renewal reopened the valuation only where the land itself had changed, by the addition of poorer acres at its edge.

Benjamin Mason's leases in this volume began on 16 November 1767, and none had yet run its 21 years. The 31 acres now renewed were therefore held under a lease older than the volume, like the larger of Bazett's two renewals. Mason's own land, named as a boundary in his first recorded lease, included this ground. With waste on the north and west, it was the outer part of the farm he had worked beside the Company's pasture since before 1767.

Three renewals were entered together under the date of 8 October 1787 or beside it, two to a member of the Council and one to a planter who was an executor of Richard Bagley's will. The clerk marked each in the margin. The Council had begun to deal with expiring leases in groups, as it dealt with new grants at its yearly sittings.

The heirs of Richard Bagley bounded Mason's land on the south. He took 25 acres for them as a trustee on 20 August 1787, also against the waste in the West Division.

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Mason his Heirs Executors, Administrators and 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 he the said Benjamin Mason his

Heirs or allowed Assigns Do always bear true Faith and

allegiance to our Sovereign Lord King George the Third

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 Yielding and paying therefore Yearly and every

Year during the said term and time of twenty one Years

unto the said Honble Company, their Successors Agents

or Assigns the Rent of One Shilling & sixpence P Acre in, at, or

upon the Feast of St. Michael the Arch Angel Yearly

And upon Condition that he the said Benjamin Mason

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 not nor shall sell or dispose of this

Lease or his or their Interest therein without the leave

and Consent of the Governor and Council for the time being

In Witness whereof We the said Governor and Council have

to the other part set our Hands and Affixed the Honble Companys

this 8th Day of October. in the twenty seventh Year of the

Reign of our Sovereign Lord George the Third by the

Grace of God of Great Britain France and Ireland

King, Defender of the Faith and so forth and in the

Year of our Lord 1787 and he the said Benjamin Mason

hath hereunto set his Hand and Seal the Day and

Year before written,

Benjn. Mason Senr.

Witness

B A Wright

Benjamin Mason senior was to hold the 31 acres in the West Division for 21 years from the date of the lease. The term covered him and anyone who took the ground after him by inheritance or approved transfer.

The lease set out the following conditions. Mason and his successors had to remain loyal to King George III and faithful to the Company, and had to obey the laws and regulations of the island. They paid the Company a rent of 1s 6d an acre each year, due on the feast of St Michael the Archangel. They had to keep the fences of the land in good repair and maintain the full quantity of wood on it. They could not sell or part with the lease or any interest in it without the permission of the Governor and Council of the day.

The Governor and Council signed one copy and fixed the Company's seal to it on 8 October 1787, in the twenty-seventh year of the reign of George III. Benjamin Mason senior signed and sealed the other copy on the same day, and B. A. Wright signed as witness.

Interpretations

Mason paid 1s 6d an acre on the 31 acres he renewed. Every other lease to him in the volume, from 16 November 1767 to 18 December 1780, charged 5s 0d, on 49 acres in five grants. No tenant paid the top rate on so much land without exception. The renewal showed that his farm was not all of that quality. Its outer part, against the waste on the north and west, was valued at under a third of the rest. The ground he added in 1767, 1770 and 1780 lay beside the Company's pasture and among neighbouring farms, and that was the good land. What he held from before the volume began included the rough margin. A tenant's recorded leases thus gave a partial picture of his estate, weighted towards the pieces he took later.

The words making the rent 1s 6d were completed above the line. The clerk first wrote one shilling an acre and then added the sixpence. On 31 acres the difference was 15s 6d a year, a rent of £2 6s 6d against £1 11s 0d. Lieutenant Robert Gurling's lease of 30 September 1771 showed the reverse, a space left for more and closed at 1s 0d. The figure for a renewal was evidently settled at the sitting, and here it was raised after the lease was written. Whether the old lease paid 1s 0d and the Council increased it, or the clerk simply miscopied, the entry did not say.

Three renewals were sealed on 8 October 1787, two to Matthew Bazett and this one, and the Secretary witnessed all three. Wright attested no ordinary grant between January and October of that year. The renewal of expired leases was treated as business for the Secretary himself, where new leases were left to the factors.

The day fell nine days after Michaelmas. Rent on the old leases was due on 29 September, and the new terms began with the new rent year. The Council thus let expired leases run on to the next Michaelmas and renewed them together at the turn of the year, which accounted for the months between the end of Bazett's term in February and its renewal in October.

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276

Island St. 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 Let, unto William Wrangham, Benjamin

Mason Senr. John Bagley Junr. and Robert Leech Executors

to the last Will and Testament of Richard Bagley deceased

All that piece or parcel of Land containing Twelve and

three Quarter Acres, situate lying and being in the West

Division of the said Island, Butting and Bounding East

upon the Land of Thomas Bagley, West partly upon the

Honble Companys Waste Land and partly on the Land

of Richard Bagley aforesaid, North upon the Land of

Benjamin Mason Senr. and South partly upon the

Honble Companys Waste Land and partly upon the Land

of the Heirs of the said Richard Bagley deceased To

have and to hold the said hereby Demised parcel

of Land with the appurtenances and every part and

parcel thereof unto them the said William Wrangham

Benjamin Mason John Bagley and Robert Leech

their Heirs, Executors, Administrators and Assigns

in trust nevertheless and for the use and benefit

of the Heirs of the said Richard Bagley deceased

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 they the said

Heirs of the said Richard Bagley their Executors

Administrators and Assigns Do and shall bear true

Faith and Allegiance to our Sovereign Lord King

George the Third 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. Yielding and paying

therefore Yearly and every Year unto them the

said Honble Company their Successors Agents

or Assigns the Rent of two Shillings P Acre, in, at

or upon the Feast of St. Michael the Arch Angel

Yearly And upon Condition that they the said

William Wrangham, Benjamin Mason, John Bagley

and Robert Leech Executors aforesaid their 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

Margin Notes:

Renewal

The Company let 12¾ acres of land in the West Division to William Wrangham, Benjamin Mason senior, John Bagley junior and Robert Leech, the executors of the will of Richard Bagley, who had died. A note beside the opening lines marked the lease as a renewal. The ground was bounded on the east by the land of Thomas Bagley, on the west partly by the Company's waste land and partly by Richard Bagley's land, on the north by the land of Benjamin Mason senior and on the south partly by the Company's waste land and partly by the land of Richard Bagley's heirs.

The four executors were to hold the ground for 21 years from the date of the lease, but only as trustees for the heirs of Richard Bagley.

The lease divided its conditions between the heirs and the trustees. The heirs and their successors had to remain loyal to King George III and faithful to the Company, and had to obey the laws and regulations of the island. A rent of [...]s 0d an acre was payable to the Company each year on the feast of St Michael the Archangel. William Wrangham, Benjamin Mason, John Bagley and Robert Leech had to keep the fences of the land in good repair and maintain the full quantity of wood on it.

Interpretations

The lease renewed a holding of the dead man's. Richard Bagley's leases in this volume, of 19 February 1769 and 31 January 1774, had years still to run, and the trust leases of 6 January 1777 were only ten years old. The 12¾ acres were therefore held under a lease he took before the volume began, which ran out a decade after his death. The renewal was made to his executors in trust. A lease that expired while an estate was still in trustees' hands was thus renewed to them and not to any one heir, although Thomas Bagley, named as the neighbour on the east, and Richard Bagley the younger were by then farming in their own names. The trust kept the old holding undivided through its renewal.

Three kinds of title to the family's land in the West Division now stood side by side. The executors held this renewal and the grants of 1777 and 20 August 1787 for the heirs. Thomas Bagley held 26¼ acres under his own leases of September 1784. Benjamin Mason senior, an executor, held the land on the north under the renewal sealed on 8 October 1787. One lease named all three as parties or neighbours.

The trust again left loyalty with the heirs, the wording of this estate's leases of 1777. The renewal followed the estate's own pattern, as the grant of 20 August 1787 did.

Four renewals were entered together, to Matthew Bazett twice, to Mason and to the Bagley executors. None of the leases they replaced appeared in the volume except Bazett's of 10 February 1766. Country leases granted just before the volume opened were thus reaching their end in 1787, and the Council renewed them in a group at the turn of the rent year. The clerk's note distinguished each from the fresh grants around it.

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Wood thereon, and do not nor shall sell or dispose of this

Lease or of their Interest therein without the leave and

Consent of the Governor and Council for the time being

In Witness whereof We the said Governor and Council have

to the other part set their Hands and Affixed the Honble

Companys Seal this 8 Day of October in the twenty seventh

Year of the Reign of our said Sovereign Lord George the

Third by the Grace of God of Great Britain France and

Ireland King Defender of the Faith and so forth and in

the Year of our Lord 1787 and they the said William Wrangham

Benjamin Mason John Bagley and Robert Leech have

hereunto set their Hands and Seals the Day and Year

above Written,

Benjn. Mason Senr.

Witness

Nathl. Kennedy

Island St. 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, Let

unto Stephen Young of the said Island Planter All that piece or

parcel of Land containing three Acres situate lying being in the

East Division of the said Island, butting and bounding North

upon the Honble Companys Waste Land, East upon the Lands

of David Kay and South and West upon the Lands of him the

said Stephen Young. To have and to hold the said hereby Demised

parcel of Land with the Appurtenances and every part and parcel

thereof unto him the said Stephen Young, his Heirs Executors

Administrators and 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 he the said Stephen Young

his Heirs or Allowed Assigns Do always bear true faith and

Allegiance to Our Sovereign Lord King George the Third 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. Yielding and paying

therefore Yearly and every Year during the said term and time

of twenty one Years, unto the said Honble Company their Successors

Agents or Assigns the Rent of one shilling P Acre in at or upon

the

Margin Notes:

Renewal

[...]

The four executors of Richard Bagley's will could not sell or part with the lease of the 12¾ acres without the permission of the Governor and Council of the day. The Governor and Council signed one copy and fixed the Company's seal to it on 8 October 1787, in the twenty-seventh year of the reign of George III. The other copy was to be signed and sealed by all four trustees. Benjamin Mason senior signed it, and Nathaniel Kennedy signed as witness.

A new lease, made at St Helena, followed. The Company let three acres of land in the East Division to Stephen Young of the island, a planter. A note beside the opening lines marked the lease as a renewal. The ground was bounded on the north by the Company's waste land, on the east by the lands of David Kay and on the south and west by Young's own lands.

Young was to hold the ground, with everything belonging to it, for 21 years from the date of the lease. The term covered him and anyone who took the ground after him by inheritance or approved transfer.

Young and his successors had to remain loyal to King George III and faithful to the Company, and had to obey the laws and regulations of the island. They paid the Company a rent of 1s 0d an acre each year.

Interpretations

Benjamin Mason senior signed alone for the four trustees. On 20 August 1787 Robert Leech signed alone for the same four. Two leases for one estate, seven weeks apart, were thus each completed by a single trustee, and by a different one. Whoever among them had business before the Council that day put his hand to the estate's lease. Mason attended on 8 October 1787 to renew his own 31 acres, and Leech was at the August sitting as a witness. The Council required no particular trustee and no fixed number, only that one of those named should sign.

Stephen Young was named as a planter beside Captain Kirkpatrick's land in James's Valley on 8 May 1769, with ground already his. His first leases in the volume were of June 1782. The three acres renewed here were part of that older holding, let before the volume began. David Kay's lease of 23 October 1786 gave him four and a quarter acres with Young on the west and waste on the north. Young's renewed piece had Kay on the east and waste on the north. The two lay side by side along the edge of the waste near the head of James's Valley.

Kay's ground was let at a rent of 2s 0d, with the words that would show whether that was a rate or a sum left out. Young's adjoining piece, in the same position, paid 1s 0d an acre. The neighbour's rate supported reading Kay's figure as a rate by the acre, the usual form, and showed the margin at that spot valued at the bottom of the scale.

Five renewals were now entered for 8 October 1787, to Matthew Bazett twice, to Mason, to the Bagley executors and to Young. Nathaniel Kennedy witnessed the fourth. He had attested nothing since June 1782, when he was sub-secretary, and took 46¼ acres himself on 6 December 1784. The Secretary witnessed the first three renewals of the day and his former deputy the next.

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of St. Michael the Arch Angel Yearly, And upon Condition

that he said Stephen Young 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 not nor shall sell or dispose of this Lease

or his or their Interest therein without the leave and Consent of the

Governor and Council for the time being. In Witness whereof We

the said Governor and Council have to the other part Set their Hands

and Affixed the Honble Companys Seal this 19 Day of November

in the twenty Eight Year of the Reign of Our Sovereign Lord

George the Third by the Grace of God of Great Britain France and

Ireland King Defender of the Faith and so forth and in the Year

of Our Lord 1787 And he the said Stephen Young hath

hereunto Set his Hand and Seal the Day and Year above

Written

S. Young

Witness

Nathl. Kennedy Factor

Island St. 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 Let

unto Lieut. Onesiphorus Beale, All that piece or parcel of Ground

containing twenty one Feet and an half in Width and one hundred

Feet in Depth situate lying and being behind the Dwelling House

of him the said Onesiphorus Beale in James's Valley To have and

to hold the said hereby Demised parcel of Ground with the

Appurtenances and every part and parcel thereof unto him the

said Onesiphorus Beale his Heirs Executors, Administrators and

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 he said Ones. Beale his Heirs or

Allowed Assigns Do always bear true Faith and Allegiance to

Our Sovereign Lord King George the third his Heirs & Successors

and

Margin Notes:

Renewal

Stephen Young's rent for the three acres fell due each year on the feast of St Michael the Archangel. He and his successors had to keep the fences of the land in good repair and maintain the full quantity of wood on it. They could not sell or part with the lease or any interest in it without the permission of the Governor and Council of the day. The Governor and Council signed one copy and fixed the Company's seal to it on 19 November 1787, in the twenty-eighth year of the reign of George III. Stephen Young signed and sealed the other copy on the same day, and Nathaniel Kennedy signed as witness, adding his rank of factor.

A new lease, made at St Helena, followed. The Company let a piece of ground in James's Valley to Lieutenant Onesiphorus Beale. A note beside the opening lines marked the lease as a renewal. The ground lay behind Beale's dwelling house and measured 21½ feet in width and 100 feet in depth.

Beale was to hold the ground, with everything belonging to it, for 21 years from the date of the lease. The term covered him and anyone who took the ground after him by inheritance or approved transfer.

Beale and his successors had to remain loyal to King George III.

Interpretations

Beale's lease was marked as a renewal, and it concerned a deep piece of ground behind a dwelling house. Five such pieces were let between 18 December 1786 and 20 August 1787, to Greentree, Goodwin, Knipe, Statham and Benjamin Mason junior. Each was about 100 feet deep and as wide as the house in front, and each was charged by its area. None of those was marked as new, and the first two of November 1786 to carry that label were other ground. If Beale's piece of the same kind was a renewal, the others probably were as well. Long plots behind the houses of that part of the valley were therefore held under leases older than this volume, running out in 1786 and 1787. The new method of charging by area was the Council's reassessment of them at renewal. Ground that had perhaps paid a trifle under leases of the 1760s was measured and rated afresh as each term ended.

The orphans of Onesiphorus Beale held land from before 1767, and Richard Beale senior had a yard in James's Valley on 16 February 1767. The family's town property went back to the years before the volume began. Lieutenant Beale, who took country land as the grown heir on 8 August 1785, now renewed the ground behind the family's house.

Kennedy signed as a factor. He was sub-secretary in 1782, took land without any title in 1784 and witnessed without one on 8 October 1787. Six weeks later he gave that rank. With Leech, Goodwin, both Dovetons, James Desfountain and Samuel Mason, he was the eighth factor named in the volume, and the third former clerk of the Secretary's office to reach the grade.

Young's renewal was the first lease dated in the twenty-eighth year of the reign. It followed the four renewals of 8 October 1787 by six weeks, so the expiring leases of that season were dealt with at more than one sitting.

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and true faith to them the said Honorable Company and their Successors

and shall duly obey all the Laws and Constitutions of the said Island

Yielding and paying therefore Yearly and every Year during the

term and time of twenty one Years unto the Honble Company their

Successors Agents or Assigns the Rent of five shillings and three pence

P Annum, in at or upon the Feast of St. Michael the Arch

Angel Yearly And upon Condition that he said Ones. Beale his Heirs

Executors Administrators or Assigns Do and shall well and sufficiently

keep up and maintain in good Repair all the Walls and Buildings

that are or may be hereafter built or Erected upon the said Ground

or any part thereof, and do not alter or remove the Fences, they being

the limits or Land marks of the said piece of Ground, And do

not sell or dispose of this Lease or his or their Interest therein

without the leave and consent of the Governor and Council for the time

being. In Witness whereof We the said Governor and Council have

to the other part set their Hands and Affixed the Honble Company's

Seal this 19 Day of November in the twenty Eight Year of the Reign

of Our Sovereign Lord George the Third by the Grace of God of Great

Britain France and Ireland King Defender of the Faith and so

forth And in the Year of Our Lord 1787. And he the said Onesiphorus

Beale hath hereunto Set his Hand and Seal the Day and Year

above Written

Onis Beale

Witness

Jno. F. Howard

Island St. 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 Let unto Robert

Ballard Planter All that piece or parcel of Ground containing thirty

Eight Feet in length and seventeen Feet in breadth situate lying and

being in the back part of the said Robert Ballards Dwelling House, with

the

Margin Notes:

Renewal

Lieutenant Onesiphorus Beale and his successors had to be faithful to the Company and obey the laws and regulations of the island. They paid the Company a rent of £0 5s 3d a year for the 21 years of the term, due on the feast of St Michael the Archangel. They had to keep in good repair every wall and building standing on the ground or put up there later. They could not alter or remove the fences, which served as the boundary marks of the ground. They could not sell or part with the lease or any interest in it without the permission of the Governor and Council of the day.

The Governor and Council signed one copy and fixed the Company's seal to it on 19 November 1787, in the twenty-eighth year of the reign of George III. Onesiphorus Beale signed and sealed the other copy on the same day, and J. F. Howard signed as witness.

A new lease, made at St Helena, followed. The Company let a piece of ground to Robert Ballard, a planter. A note beside the opening lines marked the lease as a renewal. The ground measured 38 feet in length and 17 feet in breadth and lay at the back of Ballard's dwelling house.

Interpretations

Beale paid £0 5s 3d for ground 21½ feet wide and 100 feet deep. The five pieces of that shape let from 18 December 1786 to 20 August 1787 were charged by area at about a penny for 14 square feet, which on Beale's ground came to some £0 12s 9d. His rent was well under half of that. It matched 3d a foot on a width of 21 feet, the standard of the 1760s for frontage. The renewal thus carried forward an old rent reckoned in the old way, where the other five paid by the new measure. That difference bore on what those five were. Beale's lease was marked as a renewal and theirs were not. Had they also replaced expired leases, they would presumably have kept their old rents as his did. They were therefore fresh grants, and the charge by area was the Council's price for new ground of that kind, not a reassessment at renewal. A tenant with an old lease of the plot behind his house kept the rate of 20 years before. His neighbours taking the same depth for the first time paid more than twice as much.

The result was that renewal preserved a privilege. Bazett's eight and a half acres kept their 5s 0d an acre on 8 October 1787, which was the Company's standing top rate. In the town, where the price of ground had risen since 1766, repeating the old figure left an old tenant far better off than a new one beside him.

The later Jamestown register entered lease 153 to Elizabeth Wrangham, dated 1810, for 21 feet at £0 5s 3d. The frontage and the rent were those of Beale's lease. A term of 21 years from 19 November 1787 ended late in 1808, and the entry of 1810 was probably its successor in other hands, with the figures unchanged once more.

Robert Ballard took a strip 74 feet by 14 behind his house on 12 October 1767 at £0 8s 0d, a lease with a year still to run. The piece renewed here was 38 feet by 17, so it was other ground at the back of the same house, held under an older lease. He was a planter with a town house in 1767 and remained one 20 years later.

J. F. Howard witnessed Beale's lease, as he did Benjamin Mason junior's on 20 August 1787.

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the Appurtenances. To have and to hold the said hereby Demised parcel

of Ground with the Appurtenances and every part and parcel thereof

unto him the said Robert Ballard his Heirs Executors Administrators

and 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 he the said Robert Ballard his Heirs or Allowed

Assigns Do always bear true Faith and Allegiance to Our Sovereign

Lord King George the Third 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.

Yielding and paying therefore Yearly and every Year during

the said term and time of twenty one Years unto the said Honble

Company their Successors Agents or Assigns the Rent of five

shillings P Annum, in at or upon the Feast of St. Michael

the Arch Angel Yearly. And upon Condition that he the said

Robert Ballard, His Heirs, Executors Administrators or Assigns

Do and shall well and sufficiently keep up and maintain in

good Repair all the Walls and Buildings that are or may be

hereafter Built or Erected upon the said Ground or any part thereof

And do not alter or remove the Fences, they being the Limits or

Land Marks of the said piece of Ground, And do not sell or dispose

of this Lease or his or their Interest therein without the leave and

consent of the Governor and Council for the time being. In

Witness whereof We the said Governor and Council have to the

other part set Our Hands and Affixed the Honble Companys

Seal this 19 Day of November in the twenty Eight Year of the

Reign of Our said Sovereign Lord George the Third by the Grace

of God of Great Britain France and Ireland King Defender

of the Faith and so forth And in the Year of Our Lord 1787 And

he the said Robert Ballard hath hereunto Set his hand and

Seale the Day and Year abovewritten.

Broadway

for

Robt. Ballard

Witness

Jno. F. Howard

Robert Ballard was to hold the piece of ground behind his dwelling house, with everything belonging to it, for 21 years from the date of the lease. The term covered him and anyone who took the ground after him by inheritance or approved transfer.

The lease set out the following conditions. Ballard and his successors had to remain loyal to King George III and faithful to the Company, and had to obey the laws and regulations of the island. They paid the Company a rent of £0 5s 0d a year, due on the feast of St Michael the Archangel. They had to keep in good repair every wall and building standing on the ground or put up there later. They could not alter or remove the fences, which served as the boundary marks of the ground. They could not sell or part with the lease or any interest in it without the permission of the Governor and Council of the day.

The Governor and Council signed one copy and fixed the Company's seal to it on 19 November 1787, in the twenty-eighth year of the reign of George III. A man named Broadway signed and sealed the other copy on Robert Ballard's behalf, and J. F. Howard signed as witness.

Interpretations

Ballard paid £0 5s 0d on the renewal of a piece 38 feet by 17 behind his house. That was the flat fee charged for additions to houses in 1768 and 1769 and again as a minimum from 1778. His strip of 12 October 1767, 74 feet by 14, was priced individually at £0 8s 0d. The renewed piece was about half that size and paid the customary round sum. Lieutenant Beale's renewal of the same day kept a rent reckoned at 3d a foot. Both renewals thus repeated charges of an older kind, a fee in one case and a frontage rate in the other, and neither was assessed by area like the new grants of 1786 and 1787. The Council renewed town ground at whatever the expired lease had paid, and the mixture of methods in the old leases passed unchanged into the new.

The renewal showed that Ballard held two pieces behind his house under two leases, one older than the volume and one of 1767. The second had a year to run and would come up for renewal in its turn. A householder's premises in the valley were commonly made up of several small grants taken at different dates, each with its own term, and the Company renewed them one at a time.

The renewals of 19 November 1787 used the clauses on walls and on fences from the lease of 2 December 1765. Ballard's lease of 1767 required the repair of walls and buildings and said nothing of fences. The form revived in November 1785 was by then applied to every town lease, new or renewed, so a renewal carried old rents on new conditions.

Broadway signed for Ballard, who did not attend. The later Jamestown register recorded a Lieutenant Broadway as tenant of lease 126, a plot Government sold in 1799. The name appeared here for the first time.

Three renewals were sealed on 19 November 1787, to Stephen Young for country land and to Beale and Ballard for ground behind their houses. Kennedy witnessed the first and Howard the other two.

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Island St. 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 Let unto

Lieut. Thomas Greentree All that piece or parcel of Land containing

three Acres situate lying and being in the South Division of the said

Island butting and bounding North upon the Land of him the said

Thomas Greentree, West upon the Lands of James Easthope Planter

and South and East upon the Honble Companys Waste Land. To

have and to hold the said hereby Demised parcel of Land with the

Appurtenances and every part and parcel thereof unto him the said

Thomas Greentree his Heirs Executors, Administrators and 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

he the said Thomas Greentree his Heirs or Allowed Assigns Do always

bear true Faith and Allegiance to Our Sovereign Lord King George

the Third 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 Yielding 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

Rent of five shillings P Acre, in at or upon the Feast of St. Michael

the Arch Angel Yearly. And upon Condition that he the said Thomas

Greentree his Heirs Executors, Administrators and 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 not nor

shall sell or Dispose of this Lease or his or their Interest therein, without

the leave and Consent of the Governor and Council for the time being.

In Witness whereof We the said Governor and Council have to

the other part set our hands and Affixed the Honble Companys Seal

this 19 Day of November in the twenty Eight Year of the Reign of

Our said Sovereign Lord George the Third by the Grace of God of

Great Britain France and Ireland King Defender of the Faith

and so forth, And in the Year of Our Lord 1787. And he the said

Thomas

Margin Notes:

Renewal

The Company let three acres of land in the South Division to Lieutenant Thomas Greentree. A note beside the opening lines marked the lease as a renewal. The ground was bounded on the north by Greentree's own land, on the west by the lands of James E[...], a planter, and on the south and east by the Company's waste land.

Greentree was to hold the ground, with everything belonging to it, for 21 years from the date of the lease. The term covered him and anyone who took the ground after him by inheritance or approved transfer.

The lease set out the following conditions. Greentree and his successors had to remain loyal to King George III and faithful to the Company, and had to obey the laws and regulations of the island. They paid the Company a rent of 5s 0d an acre each year, due on the feast of St Michael the Archangel. They had to keep the fences of the land in good repair and maintain the full quantity of wood on it. They could not sell or part with the lease or any interest in it without the permission of the Governor and Council of the day.

The Governor and Council sealed their copy on 19 November 1787, in the twenty-eighth year of the reign of George III.

Interpretations

Greentree was a child when his father died in 1766 or early 1767, and the family's land was held for him by executors under the trust leases of 5 October 1767 and 10 July 1769. The three acres renewed here were let before the volume began, so the expired lease was his father's or an earlier holder's. Its term ran through his whole minority and ended after he came of age. The renewal was made to him alone, with no trustee. The Bagley executors' renewal of 8 October 1787 was made in trust, because that estate was still in their hands. Whether an expiring lease was renewed to trustees or to the heir thus depended on whether the trust had ended, and for the Greentree estate it had.

The trust leases of 1767 and 1769 themselves had about a year and nearly three years to run. They too would fall to be renewed, and the same question would arise for each.

The three acres lay on the outer edge of his farm, with waste on the south and east, and paid the full 5s 0d an acre. His half acre against the waste, let new on 30 September 1784, paid the equivalent of 1s 0d. The renewal kept whatever rate the old lease carried, and in the 1760s ground taken from the waste by a planter was charged at the top of the scale as a matter of course. The Council's later readiness to rate rough margins low did not reach back to land already under lease. Matthew Bazett's renewal of 8 October 1787 was regraded where it took in new acres. Greentree's three, renewed as they stood, were not.

Four renewals were entered for 19 November 1787, to Stephen Young, Lieutenant Beale, Robert Ballard and Greentree, with the four of 8 October. Eight leases older than the volume thus came up within six weeks at the turn of the rent year. On 18 December 1786 Greentree took the deep ground behind his town house as a new grant charged by area. His business with the Council in those 11 months covered both kinds of lease.

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Thomas Greentree hath hereunto set his hand and Seal

the Day and Year above Written

Thos. Greentree

Witness

Jno. F. Howard

Island St. 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 Let unto John

Robinson of the said Island, All that piece or parcel of Ground containing

seventeen Feet in length and eleven feet in Breadth situate lying and

being in James's Valley, on the back part of the said John Robinsons

Dwelling House adjoining to the East Corner of his Back yard next to

the Water Course To have and to hold the said hereby Demised parcel of

Ground with the Appurtenances and every part and parcel thereof

unto him the said John Robinson his Heirs, Executors Administrators

and 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 he the said John Robinson his Heirs or Allowed Assigns

Do always bear true faith and Allegiance to Our Sovereign Lord King

George the Third 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 Yielding and

paying therefore Yearly and every Year during the said term and

time of twenty one Years unto the said Honble Company their

Successors Agents or Assigns the Yearly Rent of five shillings

P Annum, in at or upon the Feast of St. Michael the Arch

Angel Yearly. And upon Condition that he the said John Robinson

his Heirs Executors Administrators or Assigns Do and shall well and

sufficiently keep up and maintain in good Repair, all the

Buildings that are or may be hereafter Built or Erected on the said

Ground or any part thereof. And upon further Condition that he

the said John Robinson his Heirs Executors, Administrators or Assigns

shall not alter or Remove the Fences they being the Limits or Land

marks

Margin Notes:

Renewal

Thomas Greentree signed and sealed his copy of the renewal of the three acres, and J. F. Howard signed as witness.

A new lease, made at St Helena, followed. The Company let a small piece of ground in James's Valley to John Robinson of the island. A note beside the opening lines marked the lease as a renewal. The ground measured 17 feet in length and 11 feet in breadth. It lay at the back of Robinson's dwelling house, adjoining the east corner of his back yard, next to the watercourse.

Robinson was to hold the ground, with everything belonging to it, for 21 years from the date of the lease. The term covered him and anyone who took the ground after him by inheritance or approved transfer.

Robinson and his successors had to remain loyal to King George III and faithful to the Company, and had to obey the laws and regulations of the island. They paid the Company a rent of £0 5s 0d a year, due on the feast of St Michael the Archangel. They had to keep in good repair every building standing on the ground or put up there later, and they could not alter or remove the fences that marked its limits.

Interpretations

Robinson paid £0 5s 0d on the renewal of a corner 17 feet by 11. His strip of 2 March 1767, 65 feet by 15 along the watercourse beside the same house, paid £0 3s 0d. The smaller piece thus cost more than the larger, each at the figure fixed when it was first let. Robert Ballard's two pieces showed the same on 19 November 1787, with £0 5s 0d on the renewal of 38 feet by 17 and £0 8s 0d on his strip of 1767. The rents on scraps of back ground had never followed their size. A fee of £0 5s 0d was evidently the Company's charge for such a piece before 1766, the strips let in 1767 were priced one by one, and the fee returned in 1768. Renewal froze each of those accidents for a further 21 years. Thomas Alesworth, taking 30 feet by 21 as a new grant on 4 December 1786, paid £0 4s 0d, less than Robinson paid to renew a piece a third of the size.

The renewal confirmed that Robinson's house stood by the watercourse before the volume began. He was called a planter in 1767, master carpenter in 1769 and a carpenter in 1773 and 1782. The lease gave him no description. Matthew Purling's lease of 11 December 1769 placed the master carpenter's house beside Purling's in the valley. His premises there were made up of the house, a back yard, a corner beside it under one lease and a strip along the stream under another, with the second due to expire in March 1788.

Five renewals were entered for 19 November 1787 and beside it, three of them for small pieces behind town houses. Leases of that kind, made in the early 1760s at a few shillings, were coming in together. J. F. Howard witnessed three of the five.

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marks of the said Ground. And shall not sell or dispose of this Lease

or his or their Interest therein, without the leave and Consent of the Governor

and Council for the time being. In Witness whereof We the said

Governor and Council have to the other part set Our Hands and Affixed

the Honble Companys Seal this 26 Day of November, in the twenty Eight

Year of the Reign of Our said Sovereign Lord George the Third by the

Grace of God of Great Britain France and Ireland King Defender

of the Faith and so forth And in the Year of Our Lord 1787. And

he the said John Robinson hath hereunto set his hand and Seal the

Day and Year above Written

John Robinson

Witness

Nathl. Kennedy

Island St. 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 let unto John Robinson

Planter, All that piece or parcel of, Land containing twenty Eight Acres

and an half situate lying and being in the East Division of the said

Island butting and bounding North and West upon the Honble Companys

Waste Land and East and South upon the said John Robinsons own Land

To have and to hold the said hereby Demised parcel of Land with the

Appurtenances and every part and parcel thereof unto him the said

John Robinson his Heirs Executors Administrators and 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 he the sd.

John Robinson his Heirs or Allowed Assigns Do always bear true faith

and Allegiance to Our Sovereign Lord King George the Third his

Heirs and Successors And true Faith to them the sd. Honble Company

and their Successors, and shall duly Obey all the Laws and Constitutions of the

said Island. Yielding and paying therefore Yearly and every Year

during the said term and time of twenty one Years unto the said Honble

Company their Successors Agents or Assigns the Rent of one shilling &

Six pence P Acre in at or upon the Feast of St. Michael the Arch

Angel Yearly, And upon Condition that he the said John Robinson

his Heirs Executors Administrators or Assigns Do and shall well and

sufficiently

Margin Notes:

Renewal

John Robinson could not sell or part with the lease of the corner behind his house without the permission of the Governor and Council of the day. The Governor and Council signed one copy and fixed the Company's seal to it on 26 November 1787, in the twenty-eighth year of the reign of George III. John Robinson signed and sealed the other copy on the same day, and Nathaniel Kennedy signed as witness.

A new lease, made at St Helena, followed. The Company let 28½ acres of land in the East Division to John Robinson, a planter. A note beside the opening lines marked the lease as a renewal. The ground was bounded on the north and west by the Company's waste land and on the east and south by Robinson's own land.

Robinson was to hold the ground, with everything belonging to it, for 21 years from the date of the lease. The term covered him and anyone who took the ground after him by inheritance or approved transfer.

Robinson and his successors had to remain loyal to King George III and faithful to the Company, and had to obey the laws and regulations of the island. They paid the Company a rent of 1s 6d an acre each year, due on the feast of St Michael the Archangel.

Interpretations

Robinson's first country lease in the volume, of 28 August 1769, gave him 17¼ acres in the East Division at 1s 6d an acre, bounded by his own land on the west and part of the south. He therefore had a farm there before that date. The renewal showed what it was, 28½ acres against the waste on the north and west, let under a lease older than the volume. That holding also paid 1s 6d. The Council's valuation of 1769, when it shared a tract of poor ground among Robinson, Matthew Bazett, John Desfountain senior and the Knipe orphans at that rate, thus matched what the adjoining farm already paid. The rate belonged to the country round Fisher's Valley and was set there before 1766.

Benjamin Mason senior's renewal of 8 October 1787 was likewise for a large piece against the waste, 31 acres, at 1s 6d. Two planters' original farms, each held from before the volume, were renewed at the same low figure. The leases of 1766 and 1767 charged 5s 0d on almost every country grant, and low rents then seemed rare exceptions. The renewals corrected that impression. Rates well below the top were in use before the volume opened, on whole farms, and the run of 5s 0d leases in its first years reflected the good pockets then being taken up beside them.

The same man renewed a corner of 17 feet by 11 in the town and a farm of 28½ acres on consecutive pages. The first cost £0 5s 0d a year and the second £2 2s 9d. A few square yards behind a house in the valley thus paid as much as three and a third acres of his farm.

Robinson was described with no office in the town lease and as a planter in the country one. He was the Company's master carpenter in 1769 and on 6 May 1782. The clerk again chose the description to suit the land.

The town renewal was sealed on 26 November 1787, a week after the group of 19 November. Renewals that season were made at four sittings, on 8 October and on 19 and 26 November among them.

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sufficiently keep up and maintain the Fences to the said Land

and the full quantity of Wood thereon, And do not nor shall sell or

dispose of this Lease or his or their Interest therein without the leave

and Consent of the Governor and Council for the time being.

In Witness whereof We the said the Governor and Council have to

the other part set Our Hands and Affixed the Honble Companys

Seal this 26 Day of November in the twenty Eight Year of the

Reign of Our said Sovereign Lord George the Third by the grace

of God of Great Britain France and Ireland King, Defender

of the Faith and so forth, And in the Year of Our Lord 1787, And

he the said John Robinson hath hereunto set his Hand and

Seal the Day and Year above Written.

John Robinson

Witness

Nathl. Kennedy

Island St. 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

let unto John Robinson of the said Island Planter, All that

piece or parcel of Land containing ten Acres, called Whaley's

situate lying and being in the South Division of the said

Island Butting and bounding East, North and South upon the

Lands of him the sd. John Robinson and West upon the

Main Ridge To have and to hold the said hereby Demised

parcel Land with the Appurtenances and every part and parcel

thereof unto him the said John Robinson his Heirs Executors

Administrators and Assigns from the Day of the Date hereof for

and during all the space and term of twenty one Years from thence

Ensuing Upon Condition that he said John Robinson His Heirs

or allowed Assigns Do always bear true faith and Allegiance to

Our

Margin Notes:

Renewal

John Robinson and his successors had to keep the fences of the 28½ acres in good repair and maintain the full quantity of wood on the land. They could not sell or part with the lease or any interest in it without the permission of the Governor and Council of the day. The Governor and Council signed one copy and fixed the Company's seal to it on 26 November 1787, in the twenty-eighth year of the reign of George III. John Robinson signed and sealed the other copy on the same day, and Nathaniel Kennedy signed as witness.

A new lease, made at St Helena, followed. The Company let ten acres of land in the South Division to John Robinson of the island, a planter. A note beside the opening lines marked the lease as a renewal. The ground was called Whaley's. It was bounded on the east, north and south by Robinson's own lands and on the west by the main ridge.

Robinson was to hold the ground, with everything belonging to it, for 21 years from the date of the lease. The term covered him and anyone who took the ground after him by inheritance or approved transfer.

Interpretations

Robinson renewed three leases within a week, a corner behind his town house, 28½ acres in the East Division and ten acres in the South. None of the three appeared in the volume when first made. The man described in 1767 as a planter with a house by the watercourse thus already held a farm in each of two country districts before 1766. His recorded grants, of 17¼ acres in 1769 and of 13, five and three quarters and 16 acres in 1782, were additions to an estate whose core lay outside the register. The renewals of 1787 were the first entries to show how much land the established tenants of the 1760s held on older leases.

The ten acres were called Whaley's. Simon Whaley, a carpenter's mate, took four acres in the South Division on 5 April 1773 with John Robinson, a carpenter, on the west and south. Richard Mason's lease of 17 March 1783 named a place called Whaleys in the East Division near the Long Wood. Whaley's name was thus attached to ground in two districts. A piece in the South Division that bore it before 1766 and was by 1787 held by Robinson had passed from the mate to his master, or from an older Whaley, by a transfer the volume did not record. The farm kept the earlier holder's name through the change, as Smiths, Taylors and Francis's did.

The ground met the main ridge on the west. Nathaniel Kennedy's two acres of 6 December 1784 lay under the ridge with John Robinson on the south, and Mary Beale's ten acres of 30 September 1784 ran up to it from Sandy Bay. Robinson's southern farm lay on that same upper slope, enclosed on three sides by land already his.

Kennedy witnessed both of Robinson's renewals of 26 November 1787. He and Robinson were neighbours under the ridge in the South Division.

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Our Sovereign Lord King George the Third 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

Yielding and paying therefore Yearly and every Year during the

said term and time of twenty one Years unto the said Honble

Company their Successors Agents or Assigns the Rent of five shillings

P Acre, in at or upon the Feast of St. Michael the Arch Angel

Yearly. And upon Condition that he the said John Robinson 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 not nor shall

sell or dispose of this Lease or his or their Interest therein without

the leave and Consent of the Governor and Council for the time

being In Witness whereof We the said Governor and Council

have to the other part set Our Hands and Affixed the Honble

Companys Seal this 26 Day of November in the twenty eight Year

of the Reign of our said Sovereign Lord George the Third by the

Grace of God of Great Britain France and Ireland King

Defender of the Faith and so forth, And in the Year of Our Lord

1787. And he the said John Robinson hath hereunto

Set his Hand and Seal the Day and Year above Written

John Robinson

Witness

Nathl. Kennedy

Island St. 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, Let unto

John Robinson Planter, All that piece or parcel of Land in the

Cabbage Trees containing nine Acres and an half situate lying &

being in the East Division of the sd. Island near Halleys Mount

butting and bounding North South & East upon the said John

Robinsons own Land and West upon the Land of Isaac Doveton Planter

Margin Notes:

Renewal

John Robinson and his successors paid the Company a rent of 5s 0d an acre each year on the ten acres called Whaley's, due on the feast of St Michael the Archangel. They had to keep the fences of the land in good repair and maintain the full quantity of wood on it. They could not sell or part with the lease or any interest in it without the permission of the Governor and Council of the day.

The Governor and Council signed one copy and fixed the Company's seal to it on 26 November 1787, in the twenty-eighth year of the reign of George III. John Robinson signed and sealed the other copy on the same day, and Nathaniel Kennedy signed as witness.

A new lease, made at St Helena, followed. The Company let seven and a half acres of cabbage tree land to John Robinson, a planter. A note beside the opening lines marked the lease as a renewal. The ground lay in the East Division near Halley's Mount. It was bounded on the north, south and east by Robinson's own land and on the west by the land of Isaac Doveton, a planter.

Interpretations

The lease renewed one that stood in this volume, and under another man's name. On 2 September 1766 the Company let seven and a half acres of cabbage tree land in the East Division near Halley's Mount to Matthew Purling Esquire, bounded on the north, south and east by Purling's own land and on the west by Isaac Doveton, a planter. The description here matched it in every word, with one change. The land on three sides was now John Robinson's. Purling's 21 years ended on 2 September 1787, and the renewal went to Robinson. The estate near Halley's Mount, which Purling built up through five leases from 1766 to 1771, had therefore passed to the master carpenter, the wooded piece and the land round it together. The two men's houses stood side by side in James's Valley on 11 December 1769. No entry in the volume recorded the sale, which the Council must have approved. Only the renewal, by repeating the old boundaries with a new name, showed that it had happened.

Purling was the island's leading landholder in the volume's first years, styled Esquire throughout, first-named in the Society for the purchase and sale of spirituous liquors and an executor for Thomas Greentree. His last lease was of 16 December 1771. He was named as a living neighbour in William Wrangham's lease of 4 December 1769 and not after the early 1770s. By 1787 his principal farm belonged to a tradesman in the Company's service.

The renewal was Robinson's fourth in a week, and the first to concern land he acquired from another tenant. A buyer took over the remainder of the seller's term and renewed in his own name when it ran out. The register of leases thus caught up with a change of ownership only at the end of the 21 years.

Cabbage tree land was native woodland on the high ground, charged at 5s 0d an acre in every lease that named it. A carpenter now held the timber Purling took in 1766, with the clause on keeping up the full quantity of wood attached to it.

Whaley's paid the full 5s 0d an acre, against the 1s 6d of Robinson's 28½ acres in the East Division renewed on the same day. His two old farms stood at opposite ends of the scale.

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To have and to hold the said hereby Demised parcel of Land with

the Appurtenances and every part and parcel thereof unto him the

said John Robinson his Heirs Executors Administrators and Assigns

from the Day of the Date hereof for and during all the space &

term of twenty one Years from thence next Ensuing. Upon

Condition that he the said John Robinson his Heirs or Allowed

Assigns Do always bear true faith and Allegiance to Our Sovereign

Lord King George the Third 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. Yielding and paying therefore Yearly

and every Year during the said term and time of twenty

one Years unto the said Honble Company their Successors.

Agents or Assigns the Rent of five shillings P Acre in at or

upon the Feast of St. Michael the Arch Angel Yearly.

And upon Condition that the said John Robinson 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 not nor shall sell or

dispose of this Lease or his or their Interest therein without the leave

and Consent of the Governor and Council for the time being.

In Witness whereof We the said Governor and Council have

to the other part set their hands and affixed the Honble Companys

Seal this 26 Day of November in the twenty Eight of the Year of

the Reign of Our said Sovereign Lord George the Third by the Grace

of God of Great Britain France and Ireland King Defender

of the Faith and so forth, And in the Year of Our Lord 1787

And he the said John Robinson hath hereunto set his Hand

and Seal the Day and Year above Written

John Robinson.

Witness

Nathl. Kennedy

John Robinson was to hold the seven and a half acres of cabbage tree land near Halley's Mount for 21 years from the date of the lease. The term covered him and anyone who took the ground after him by inheritance or approved transfer.

The lease set out the following conditions. Robinson and his successors had to remain loyal to King George III and faithful to the Company, and had to obey the laws and regulations of the island. They paid the Company a rent of 5s 0d an acre each year, due on the feast of St Michael the Archangel. They had to keep the fences of the land in good repair and maintain the full quantity of wood on it. They could not sell or part with the lease or any interest in it without the permission of the Governor and Council of the day.

The Governor and Council signed one copy and fixed the Company's seal to it on 26 November 1787, in the twenty-eighth year of the reign of George III. John Robinson signed and sealed the other copy on the same day, and Nathaniel Kennedy signed as witness.

Interpretations

The renewal repeated the lease of 2 September 1766 in its terms as well as its boundaries. Matthew Purling paid 5s 0d an acre on the seven and a half acres of cabbage tree land, and Robinson paid 5s 0d. The term, the day on which rent fell due, the duty to keep up the wood and the ban on selling were all carried over. The tenant alone had changed. A lease was thus renewed to whoever held the land when it expired, on the conditions it bore before, and a purchaser stepped into the seller's place without any fresh bargain over the rent. The Company's income from the ground was the same in 1787 as in 1766, whoever paid it.

Purling's lease ended on 2 September 1787 and its successor was sealed on 26 November, 12 weeks later. Matthew Bazett's ran out in February and was renewed on 8 October. In both cases the Michaelmas rent day fell in the interval. The tenant evidently paid the year's rent on 29 September under the old lease and received the new one at a sitting soon after. No lease in that season was renewed on the day its term ended.

Robinson renewed four leases on 26 November 1787, the corner behind his house, 28½ acres in the East Division, Whaley's in the South and this woodland. Three paid at the old rate of ground long held, and the fourth came from Purling. With his grants of 1769 and 1782 he held land under at least nine leases, in the town and in two country divisions. The master carpenter of the Company had by then one of the largest estates recorded in the volume, part inherited from before 1766, part granted and part bought from the man once styled the island's leading Esquire.

The clerk struck out a repeated word in the clause on loyalty and added one above the line in the clause on selling. Kennedy witnessed all four of the day's renewals to Robinson.

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Island St. 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 let unto Benjn.

Mason of the said Island Planter, All that piece or parcel of Land

containing four Acres situate lying and being in the South Division

of the said Island, butting and bounding North on the Lands of Matthew

Bazett Esqr. South on the Lands of Samuel Alexander Deceased and East

and West on the said Benjamin Masons own Land To have and to

hold the said hereby Demised parcel of Land with the Appurtenances

and every part and parcel thereof unto him the said Benjamin

Mason his Heirs Executors, Administrators and 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 he the

said Benjamin Mason his Heirs or Allowed Assigns Do always

bear true faith and Allegiance to Our Sovereign Lord King the Third

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. Yielding and paying therefore Yearly

and every Year during the said term and time of twenty one Years, unto

the said Honble Company their Successors Agents or Assigns the Rent of

five shillings P Acre in at or upon the Feast of St. Michael the Arch

Angel Yearly And upon Condition that he the said Benjamin

Mason 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 not nor shall sell

or dispose of this Lease or his or their Interest therein without the leave

and Consent of the Governor and Council for the time being. In

Witness whereof We the said Governor and Council have to the

other part Set their Hands and Affixed the Honble Companys

Seal this 8 Day of December in the twenty eight Year of the Reign

of Our said Sovereign Lord George the Third by the Grace of God

of Great Britain France and Ireland King Defender of the Faith

and so forth And in the Year of Our Lord 1787. And he the said

Benjamin

The Company let four acres of land in the South Division to Benjamin Mason of the island, a planter. The ground was bounded on the north by the lands of Matthew Bazett Esquire, on the south by the lands of Samuel Alexander, who had died, and on the east and west by Mason's own land.

Mason was to hold the ground, with everything belonging to it, for 21 years from the date of the lease. The term covered him and anyone who took the ground after him by inheritance or approved transfer.

The lease set out the following conditions. Mason and his successors had to remain loyal to the King and faithful to the Company, and had to obey the laws and regulations of the island. They paid the Company a rent of 5s 0d an acre each year, due on the feast of St Michael the Archangel. They had to keep the fences of the land in good repair and maintain the full quantity of wood on it. They could not sell or part with the lease or any interest in it without the permission of the Governor and Council of the day.

The Governor and Council sealed their copy on 3 December 1787, in the twenty-eighth year of the reign of George III.

Interpretations

The lease carried no note of renewal, where the ten entries before it, from 8 October to 26 November 1787, all did. The clerk marked each lease of that season according to its kind, and this one was a fresh grant. The four acres lay between two parts of Mason's own land, with Bazett on the north and the Alexander estate on the south. A gap inside a tenant's holding, let for the first time at the full 5s 0d an acre, matched the leases made from 1780 to Matthew Bazett, the two John Bagleys, George Alexander, Thomas Bagley and John Desfountain. The Council's review of estates for unleased ground within them continued alongside the renewal of expired leases.

Matthew Bazett's land bounded the piece on the north, in the South Division. Every lease to him in the volume concerned the East Division, where his estate reached the heads of Sharks Valley and Pleasant Valley and the main ridge. Henry Bazett, the major, was the family's landholder in the south. The councillor thus held ground in a second district under no recorded grant, acquired by purchase or held from before 1766. As with Nathaniel Kennedy, Jonathan Doveton and John Robinson, the volume's leases showed only part of what its leading men owned.

The lease named the tenant as Benjamin Mason, with no addition of senior or junior. The renewal of 8 October 1787 was made to Benjamin Mason senior, for land in the West Division, and Benjamin Mason junior was named as a landholder in the South Division on 6 December 1784. The tenant here was probably the younger man, on the strength of where the land lay. The clerk's omission left the Company's own record unable to say which of two living men held the lease.

The King's name was left out of the clause on loyalty, as in Orlando Bagley's lease of 15 January 1781.

The sittings of that season fell a week apart, on 19 and 26 November and 3 December 1787. The Council was evidently meeting weekly and sealing leases at each meeting as the year's renewals and applications came forward.

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Benjamin Mason Senr. hath hereunto set his hand and Seal

the Day and Year above Written

Benjn. Mason Senr.

Witness

Jno. F. Howard

Island St. 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 Let

unto Isaac Doveton of the said Island Planter, All that piece or

parcel of Land containing two Acres situate lying and being in

the East Division of the said Island butting and bounding North

and South upon the Honble Company's Waste Land and East

and West upon the Lands of him the said Isaac Doveton

To have and to hold the said hereby Demised parcel of Land with

the Appurtenances and every part and parcel thereof unto him

the said Isaac Doveton his Heirs Executors, Administrators and

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 he the said Isaac Doveton his Heirs or

Allowed Assigns, Do always bear true faith and Allegiance to

Our Sovereign Lord King George the Third 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 Yielding and paying therefore

Yearly and every Year during the said term and time of

twenty one Years unto the said Honble Company their Successors

Agents or Assigns the Rent of five shillings P Acre in at or upon

the Feast of St. Michael the Arch Angel Yearly. And upon

Condition that he the sd. Isaac Doveton his Heirs Executors

Administrators or Assigns do and shall well & sufficiently

keep

Benjamin Mason senior signed and sealed his copy of the lease of the four acres in the South Division, and J. F. Howard signed as witness.

A new lease, made at St Helena, followed. The Company let two acres of land in the East Division to Isaac Doveton of the island, a planter. The ground was bounded on the north and south by the Company's waste land and on the east and west by Doveton's own lands.

Doveton was to hold the ground, with everything belonging to it, for 21 years from the date of the lease. The term covered him and anyone who took the ground after him by inheritance or approved transfer.

Doveton and his successors had to remain loyal to King George III and faithful to the Company, and had to obey the laws and regulations of the island. They paid the Company a rent of 5s 0d an acre each year, due on the feast of St Michael the Archangel.

Interpretations

The closing clause and the signature named the tenant of the four acres as Benjamin Mason senior. The body of that lease gave the bare name, and the position of the land in the South Division, where the younger Mason was recorded on 6 December 1784, pointed to the son. The end of the lease settled it for the father. The elder Mason thus held land in the South Division as well as his farm in the West, beside Matthew Bazett and the Alexander estate. A lease that identified its tenant differently at its head and its foot showed again how loosely the two styles were applied, and how much rested on the signature.

Isaac Doveton was a planter in the East Division on 2 September 1766, when Matthew Purling's lease named him as a neighbour, and he took seven and a half acres on 2 March 1767 and one acre on 28 August 1769. He appeared here 21 years after that first mention, still a planter and still adding to the same farm. Few of the tenants of 1766 were alive and active at the volume's later leases. Bazett, John Robinson, William Wrangham and Doveton were among them.

The two acres lay between two parts of Doveton's own land, with waste to the north and south. The piece joined holdings of his that stood on either side of it, as Lieutenant St Maurice's strip did on 27 June 1768. It paid the full 5s 0d an acre. His lease of 2 March 1767 was due to expire in three months and would come up for renewal in its turn.

John Robinson's renewal of 26 November 1787 placed Isaac Doveton on the west of the cabbage tree land near Halley's Mount, as Purling's lease did in 1766. Doveton's neighbour on that boundary had changed from the Esquire to the master carpenter, while his own farm stayed where it was.

J. F. Howard witnessed Mason's lease. He attested five leases between 20 August and 3 December 1787 and gave no rank on any.

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keep up and maintain the Fences to the said Land and the full

quantity of Wood thereon, and do not nor shall sell or dispose of this

Lease or his or their Interest therein without the leave and Consent of

the Governor and Council for the time being. In Witness whereof

We the said Governor and Council have to the other part set Our

Hands and affixed the Honble Companys Seal this 3d Day of

December in the twenty Eight Year of the Reign of Our said

Sovereign Lord George the Third by the Grace of God of Great

Britain France and Ireland King Defender of the Faith and

so forth And in the Year of our Lord 1787. And he the said

Isaac Doveton hath hereunto set his Hand and Seal the Day

and Year above Written

Matthew Doveton

For Isaac Doveton

Witness

Jno. F. Howard

Island St. 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 Let unto

Isaac Doveton of the said Island Planter. All that piece or parcel

of Land containing four Acres and a quarter situate lying and

being in the East Division of the said Island. To have and to

hold the said hereby demised parcel of Land with the Appurtenances

and every part and parcel unto him the said Isaac Doveton his

Heirs Executors, Administrators and 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 he

the said Isaac Doveton his Heirs or Allowed Assigns Do always

bear true faith and Allegiance to Our Sovereign Lord George

the Third his Heirs and Successors And true faith to them the

said

Isaac Doveton and his successors had to keep the fences of the two acres in good repair and maintain the full quantity of wood on the land. They could not sell or part with the lease or any interest in it without the permission of the Governor and Council of the day. The Governor and Council signed one copy and fixed the Company's seal to it on 3 December 1787, in the twenty-eighth year of the reign of George III. Matthew Doveton signed and sealed the other copy on Isaac Doveton's behalf, and J. F. Howard signed as witness.

A new lease, made at St Helena, followed. The Company let four and a quarter acres of land in the East Division to Isaac Doveton of the island, a planter.

Doveton was to hold the ground, with everything belonging to it, for 21 years from the date of the lease. The term covered him and anyone who took the ground after him by inheritance or approved transfer. Doveton and his successors had to remain loyal to King George III.

Interpretations

The second lease gave no boundaries. It stated the acreage and the division and passed straight to the clause on holding. Every country lease in the volume named what lay on each side of the ground, and where a side was dropped, as in Samuel Knipe's lease of 30 September 1776 and John Robinson's of 11 February 1782, three remained. Here the whole description was missing. The Company's record of the grant said only that Isaac Doveton held four and a quarter acres somewhere in the East Division. Nothing in it could distinguish the piece from any other ground he farmed, or show where it met a neighbour or the waste. The lease bound him to a rent on land the register could not locate. If his own copy carried the boundaries, the fault lay in the entry alone. If it did not, the title rested on the fence and on memory.

The omissions in the entries had grown from single words to a boundary, a rent basis in David Kay's lease of 23 October 1786 and now an entire description. No correction was made between the lines, so the gap went unnoticed when the lease was signed.

Matthew Doveton signed for Isaac. Jonathan Doveton signed for Mary Doveton in 1767 and John Doveton for her in 1784. Isaac completed his own leases in 1767 and 1769. Twenty years on, a younger kinsman attended for him, as William Seale did for Benjamin Seale in the 1780s and John Seale for William in 1775. The planters of the volume's first years were by 1787 sending sons or nephews to the Council.

Three leases were sealed on 3 December 1787, to Benjamin Mason senior and two to Isaac Doveton. J. F. Howard witnessed the first two. None was marked as a renewal.

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said Honble Company and their Successors, And shall duly obey

all the Laws and Constitutions of the said Island. Yielding

and paying therefore Yearly and every Year during the said term

and time of twenty one Years unto the said Honble Company

their Successors, Agents or Assigns the Rent of one shilling P Acre

in at or upon the Feast of St. Michael the Arch Angel Yearly.

And upon Condition that he the said Isaac Doveton 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 not nor shall

sell or dispose of this Lease or his or their Interest therein.

without the leave and Consent of the Governor and Council for

the time being. In Witness whereof We the said Governor and

Council have to the other part set Our hands and Affixed the

Honble Companys Seal this 3d Day of December in the twenty

Eight Year of the Reign of Our said Sovereign Lord George

the Third by the Grace of God of Great Britain France and

Ireland King, Defender of the Faith and so forth And in the

Year of Our Lord 1787. And he the said Isaac Doveton hath

hereunto set his Hand and Seal the Day and Year above Written

Matthew Doveton

For Isaac Doveton

Witness

Jno. F. Howard

Island St. 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

Isaac Doveton and his successors had to be faithful to the Company and obey the laws and regulations of the island. They paid the Company a rent of 1s 0d an acre each year on the four and a quarter acres in the East Division, due on the feast of St Michael the Archangel. They had to keep the fences of the land in good repair and maintain the full quantity of wood on it. They could not sell or part with the lease or any interest in it without the permission of the Governor and Council of the day.

The Governor and Council signed one copy and fixed the Company's seal to it on 3 December 1787, in the twenty-eighth year of the reign of George III. Matthew Doveton signed and sealed the other copy on Isaac Doveton's behalf, and J. F. Howard signed as witness.

Interpretations

Doveton took two leases on 3 December 1787, two acres at 5s 0d an acre and these four and a quarter at 1s 0d. Each rate had its own lease, as with Thomas Bagley in September 1784, John Bagley on 15 November 1784 and Orlando Bagley on 15 January 1781. Matthew Bazett's renewal of 8 October 1787 put the same two rates into one document. Fresh grants at different rents were thus kept apart to the end of the leases entered so far, and the split rent survived only where a single holding was being regraded.

The cheaper lease was the one entered without boundaries. The two acres at the full rate lay between parts of his farm, with waste on the north and south. Ground at 1s 0d an acre was, throughout the volume, rough land at the margin against the waste. The four and a quarter acres were probably of that kind, on the outer side of his holding. The entry gave no means of confirming it. The piece whose position mattered most to the Company, since an unfenced margin could be pushed outward, was the one its record failed to describe.

On 28 August 1769 Doveton paid 5s 0d for an acre between his land, Purling's and the waste, when the Esquire beside him held three acres on that margin at 1s 0d. That contrast raised the question of favour. Eighteen years later the planter himself obtained the lowest common rate on a piece of similar position. The Council by 1787 let rough margins cheaply to anyone, as it had done from 1769 onward.

The King's title was first written twice in the dating clause and one word struck out. Matthew Doveton signed both of the day's leases for Isaac, and J. F. Howard witnessed all three leases of 3 December 1787.

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to Farm, Let unto Samuel Knipe Senr. of the said Island Planter,

All those pieces or parcels of Land containing Nineteen Acres situate

lying and being in the West Division of the said Island, fifteen Acres

of which known by the Name of Horse Pasture, butting & bounding

North and West upon the Honble Companys Waste Land, East upon

the Land of John Alexander Planter and South upon the said

Samuel Knipes own Land. The other four Acres lying in Lemon

Valley butting and bounding every way on the Honble Companys

Waste Land. To have and to hold the said hereby demised parcels

of Land with the Appurtenances and every part and parcel

thereof together with all and singular the Rights Commodities

and Appurtenances thereunto belonging unto him the said

Samuel Knipe, his Heirs Executors, Administrators or 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 he the said Saml. Knipe his Heirs or

Allowed Assigns do always bear true faith and Allegiance

to Our Sovereign Lord, King George the Third 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. Yielding and paying therefore Yearly and every Year

during the said term and time of twenty one Years unto the said

Honble Company their Successors Agents or Assigns the Rent of five

shillings P Acre in at or upon the Feast of St. Michael the

Arch Angel Yearly. And upon Condition that he the said Saml.

Knipe 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 not nor shall sell or dispose of this Lease or his or their

Interest therein without leave and Consent of the Governor and

Council for the time being. In Witness whereof We the sd.

Governor and Council hath to the other part set Our hands

and Affixed the Honble Companys Seal this 3d. Day of December

in twenty Eight Year of the Reign of Our said Sovereign Lord

[...] of Great Britain France

The Company let two pieces of land in the West Division, 19 acres in all, to Samuel Knipe senior of the island, a planter. The first piece, of 15 acres, was known as Horse Pasture. It was bounded on the north and west by the Company's waste land, on the east by the land of John Alexander, a planter, and on the south by Knipe's own land. The second piece, of four acres, lay in Lemon Valley, and the Company's waste land bounded it on every side.

Knipe was to hold both pieces, with all the rights and advantages belonging to them, for 21 years from the date of the lease. The term covered him and anyone who took the ground after him by inheritance or approved transfer.

The lease set out the following conditions. Knipe and his successors had to remain loyal to King George III and faithful to the Company, and had to obey the laws and regulations of the island. They paid the Company a rent of 5s 0d an acre each year, due on the feast of St Michael the Archangel. They had to keep the fences of the land in good repair and maintain the full quantity of wood on it. They could not sell or part with the lease or any interest in it without the permission of the Governor and Council of the day.

The Governor and Council sealed their copy on 3 December 1787, in the twenty-eighth year of the reign of George III.

Interpretations

The four acres in Lemon Valley stood wholly in the waste. George Hayes's seven and a half acres at Fox's Folly, let on 4 December 1786, and Lieutenant Francis Seale's 40 acres of 23 January 1786 were each bound to be fenced within 12 months, a condition devised that year for ground lying open. Knipe's detached plot carried only the old words on keeping up fences. The clause was not applied to it, a year after it was used for exactly such a piece. The fencing condition was therefore no settled rule for isolated grants. It appeared in two leases of 1786 and was passed over here, at a sitting whose entries were among the least careful in the volume.

The lease placed Lemon Valley in the West Division. Gabriel Isaacke's eight acres there, let on 17 August 1767, were described only by the valley and by waste on all sides. Twenty years later a second plot was marked out in the same valley, still with nothing but waste round it. Lemon Valley was thus very thinly taken up, and what was let there paid the full 5s 0d an acre.

The larger piece bore the name Horse Pasture. Ground so called was grazing land in use before this grant. The Company's own reserved grazing was named in leases as High Peak Pasture and the Church Ground, and those tracts were kept out of tenants' hands. A named pasture let to a planter at the top rate, beside his own farm and John Alexander's, was either part of that reserve released by the Council or common grazing brought under lease.

The clause on holding added the rights and advantages of the land to the usual wording. No earlier lease in the volume used the phrase. For ground called a pasture, with its water and its grazing, the clerk may have meant to make plain that those went with the soil.

Knipe's lease of 30 September 1776 gave him 12¼ acres in the West Division beside John Alexander. He signed as senior on 20 March 1786 and was so styled here. Four leases were entered for 3 December 1787.

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and Ireland King, Defender of the Faith and so forth, And in

the Year of Our Lord 1787. And he the said Saml. Knipe hath

hereunto set his hand and Seal the Day and Year above

Written

Sam Knipe Senr.

Witness

Jno. F. Howard.

Island St. 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, Let unto Elisha

Isacke Senr. of the said Island Planter All that piece or parcel of

Land containing five Acres situate lying and being in the East

Division of the said Island butting and bounding North upon

the Lands of John Robinson, East upon the Lands of him the said

Elisha Isacke and South and West upon the Lands of Samuel

Desfountain. To have and to hold the said hereby Demised parcel of

Land with the Appurtenances and every part and parcel thereof unto

him the said Elisha Isacke his Heirs, Executors, Administrators and

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 Conditions that he the said Elisha Isacke his Heirs or

Allowed Assigns Do always bear true faith and Allegiance to

Our Sovereign Lord King George the Third his Heirs and

Successors And true faith to them the said Honble Company and

their Successors and shall duly obey all the Laws & Constitutions

of the said Island. Yielding and paying therefore Yearly

and every Year during the said term and time of twenty

one Years unto the said Honble Company their Successors

Agents

Samuel Knipe senior signed and sealed his copy of the lease of the 19 acres in 1787, and John F. Howard signed as witness.

A new lease, made at St Helena, followed. The Company let five acres of land in the East Division to Elisha Isacke senior of the island, a planter. The ground was bounded on the north by the lands of John Robinson, on the east by Isacke's own lands and on the south and west by the lands of Samuel Desfountain.

Isacke was to hold the ground, with everything belonging to it, for 21 years from the date of the lease. The term covered him and anyone who took the ground after him by inheritance or approved transfer.

Isacke and his successors had to remain loyal to King George III and faithful to the Company, and had to obey the laws and regulations of the island.

Interpretations

Gabriel Isacke took eight acres in Lemon Valley on 17 August 1767, a new farm cut wholly from the waste, and signed with a mark. No one of that surname appeared again for 20 years. Elisha Isacke senior now took land in the East Division, with ground of his own already on the east. The style of senior meant that a younger Elisha was living, so the family had reached a further generation on the island by 1787. Samuel Knipe's lease of the same day gave him a plot in Lemon Valley with waste on every side, and named no Isacke land there. The farm of 1767 had evidently been given up or had changed hands, and the family's holding lay in another district.

The five acres were enclosed by Robinson, Desfountain and Isacke himself, with no waste named. Ground of that kind in the East Division was a pocket among long-settled farms, of which leases were still being made in every year from 1775. John Robinson's land on the north lay beside his 28½ acres renewed on 26 November 1787.

Samuel Desfountain held the land on the south and west. He was a lieutenant with a house in the valley on 19 December 1768 and a captain lieutenant on 18 March 1782. The lease gave him no rank. John Desfountain's 45 acres of 1 August 1785 lay in Pleasant Valley in the same division. The officer of the family thus held country land there as well, under no lease recorded in the volume.

John F. Howard witnessed Knipe's lease, his sixth since 20 August 1787. He attested every lease of 3 December 1787 for which a witness was entered.

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Agents or Assigns the Rent of five shillings P Acre in at or upon the

Feast of St. Michael the Arch Angel Yearly. And upon Condition

that he the said Elisha Isacke his Heirs, Executors Administrators or Assigns

Do and shall well and sufficiently keep up and maintain the Fences

to the said Land and full quantity of Wood thereon, and do not nor

shall sell or dispose of this Lease or his or their Interest therein

without the leave and Consent of the Governor and Council for the time

being. In Witness whereof We the said Governor and Council have

to the other part set Our Hands and Affixed the Honble Companys

Seal this 3 Day of December in the Twenty Eight Year of the

Reign of Our said Sovereign Lord George the Third by the Grace of

God of Great Britain France and Ireland King Defender of the

Faith and so forth And in the Year of Our Lord 1787. And he

the said Elisha Isacke hath hereunto set his Hand and Seal the

Day and Year above Written

Elisha Isacke Senr.

Witness

Jno. F. Howard

Island St. 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 let unto Richard Mason of the said

Island Planter, All those pieces or parcels of Land containing in the whole

Twenty three Acres and three quarters situate lying and being in the

East Division of the said Island at the head of Woody Ridge Valley, sixteen

Acres of which known by the Name of Sextons butting and bounding

towards the South on the Lands of John Worrall Planter and the said

Richard Masons own Land, towards the North and East partly on the

Lands of Matthew Bazett and partly on the said Richard Masons own

Land, And West upon the Lands of him the said Richard Mason

The other Seven and three quarter Acres lying at the Head of Woody

Ridge Valley Butting and bounding East and North upon the Honble

Companys

Margin Notes:

[...]

Elisha Isacke senior and his successors paid the Company a rent of 5s 0d an acre each year on the five acres in the East Division, due on the feast of St Michael the Archangel. They had to keep the fences of the land in good repair and maintain the full quantity of wood on it. They could not sell or part with the lease or any interest in it without the permission of the Governor and Council of the day.

The Governor and Council signed one copy and fixed the Company's seal to it on 3 December 1787, in the twenty-eighth year of the reign of George III. Elisha Isacke senior signed and sealed the other copy on the same day, and John F. Howard signed as witness.

A new lease, made at St Helena, followed. The Company let two pieces of land at the head of Woody Ridge Valley in the East Division, 23¾ acres in all, to Richard Mason of the island, a planter. The first piece, of 16 acres, was known as Sextons. It was bounded on the south by the lands of John Worrall, a planter, and by Mason's own land, on the north and east partly by the lands of Matthew Bazett and partly by Mason's own land, and on the west by Mason's lands. The second piece, of seven and three quarter acres, was bounded on the east and north by land of the Company.

Interpretations

The lease repeated one made in July 1766. John Desfountain then took two pieces at the head of Woody Ridge Valley, 16 acres called Sextons and seven and three quarter acres beside them, with Matthew Bazett on the north and east and the Company's waste beyond the smaller piece. The acreages, the name and the place were the same here. That term of 21 years ended in July 1787, and the ground was now let to Richard Mason, with Mason's own land where Desfountain's once lay. Desfountain's first farm in the volume had therefore passed to Mason, by a sale the register did not record, and Mason took the new lease when the old one ran out. John Robinson's renewal of Matthew Purling's cabbage tree land on 26 November 1787 arose in the same way. Two of the earliest country leases in the volume were renewed that season to men who had bought out the original tenants.

Richard Mason first appeared on 20 April 1778, taking 11 acres in the East Division among land already his, with Bazett and Worrall as neighbours. That land of his own was Sextons. He was farming Desfountain's old ground by 1778, 12 years into its term, and held it for the remaining nine before the lease came up. A buyer thus sat on the seller's lease, named in the register under another man, for as long as the term had to run.

The Desfountain family did not leave the district. John Desfountain took 45 acres in Pleasant Valley on 1 August 1785, among land of his own. The farm at the head of Woody Ridge Valley was given up and another built elsewhere in the East Division.

Elisha Isacke signed his own name. Gabriel Isacke, the only earlier tenant of that family, made a mark on 17 August 1767.

Five leases were entered for 3 December 1787 before this one, to Benjamin Mason senior, Isaac Doveton twice, Samuel Knipe senior and Isacke. John F. Howard witnessed them all.

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Companys Waste Land and West and South upon the aforesaid

sixteen Acres belonging to him the said Richard Mason. To have and

to hold the said hereby Demised parcels of Land with the Appurtenances

and every part and parcel thereof unto him the said Richard Mason

His Heirs Executors, Administrators and 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 he the

said Richard Mason his Heirs or Allowed Assigns do always

bear true faith and Allegiance to Our Sovereign Lord King George

the Third 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 Yielding and paying

therefore Yearly and every Year during the said term and time of

twenty one Years unto the said Honble Company their Successors

Agents or Assigns the Rent of five shillings P Acre for the

aforesaid Sixteen Acres, and two shillings and six pence P Acre

for the seven and three quarters Acres in, at or upon the Feast

of St. Michael the Arch Angel Yearly And upon

Condition that he the said Richard Mason 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 not nor shall sell or

dispose of this Lease or his or their Interest therein without the

leave and Consent of the Governor and Council for the time being.

In Witness whereof We the said Governor and Council have

to the other part set their Hands and Affixed the Honble Companys

Seal this 3d Day of December in the twenty Eight Year. of the

Reign of Our said Sovereign Lord George the Third by the

Grace of God of Great Britain France and Ireland King

Defender of the Faith and so forth, And in the Year of Our Lord

1787 And he the said Richard Mason hath hereunto

set his Hand and Seal the Day and Year above Written.

R. Mason.

Witness

Nathl. Kennedy Factor

The seven and three quarter acres let to Richard Mason were bounded on the east and north by the Company's waste land and on the west and south by the 16 acres called Sextons.

Mason was to hold both pieces, with everything belonging to them, for 21 years from the date of the lease. The term covered him and anyone who took the ground after him by inheritance or approved transfer.

The lease set out the following conditions. Mason and his successors had to remain loyal to King George III and faithful to the Company, and had to obey the laws and regulations of the island. They paid the Company a yearly rent of 5s 0d an acre for the 16 acres and 2s 6d an acre for the seven and three quarter acres, due on the feast of St Michael the Archangel. They had to keep the fences of the land in good repair and maintain the full quantity of wood on it. They could not sell or part with the lease or any interest in it without the permission of the Governor and Council of the day.

The Governor and Council signed one copy and fixed the Company's seal to it on 3 December 1787, in the twenty-eighth year of the reign of George III. Richard Mason signed and sealed the other copy on the same day, and Nathaniel Kennedy signed as witness, adding his rank of factor.

Interpretations

The rents were those of July 1766. John Desfountain paid 5s 0d an acre on the 16 acres called Sextons and 2s 6d on the seven and three quarter acres beside the waste, and Richard Mason paid the same two rates on the same two pieces. The yearly rent of £4 19s 4½d stood unchanged after 21 years and a change of owner. The smaller piece still bordered waste on the east and north, as it did in 1766. Two decades of leases all round had left that edge of the Company's unoccupied ground where it was.

The lease of 1766 was the first in the volume to carry two rates, and it did so for two pieces separately described. The renewal kept that form. The split rents of 1778 to 1782 and of 1787, which divided undescribed ground between rates, were a later device. An old lease renewed on its own terms preserved the clearer method, and each rate here could still be tied to its piece.

With the 11 acres of 20 April 1778, the plots at Whaleys renewed and enlarged on 17 March 1783 and the two acres added there on 23 October 1786, Mason held some 46 acres under four leases, most of it bought or inherited from earlier tenants. He was not named in the volume before 1778. Within ten years he had Desfountain's first farm, land at a place called after Simon Whaley and ground beside Matthew Bazett.

Kennedy witnessed this lease, where John F. Howard attested the other five of the day. Kennedy witnessed every renewal sealed on 26 November 1787. The entry replaced an expired lease of 1766, and the witness assigned to that season's renewals signed it.

Six leases were sealed on 3 December 1787, the largest number at one sitting since 22 May 1780.

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Island St. 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, Let unto Richard Mason

Planter All that piece or parcel Land containing fifteen Acres situate

lying and being in the East Division of the said Island butting and

bounding North and West on the sd. Richard Masons Freehold Land,

Also East and South on the Lands of him the sd. Richard Mason called

Hodges. To have and to hold the said hereby Demised parcel of Land

with the Appurtenances and every part and parcel thereof unto him

the said Richard Mason his Heirs Executors Administrators and 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 he the said Richard Mason his Heirs or Allowed

Assigns Do always bear true faith and Allegiance to Our Sovereign

Lord King George the Third 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.

Yielding and paying therefore Yearly and every Year during the

said term and time of twenty one Years unto the said Honble Company

their Successors Agents or Assigns the Rent of five shillings P Acre

in at or upon the Feast of St. Michael the Arch Angel Yearly.

And upon Condition that he the said Richard Mason 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 not nor shall sell or dispose of

this Lease or his or their Interest therein, without the leave and consent

of the Governor and Council for the time being In Witness

whereof We the said Governor and Council hath to the other part

set their Hands and Affixed the Honble Company's Seal this 3d Day

of December in the twenty Eight Year of the Reign of our said

Sovereign Lord George the Third by the Grace of God of Great

Britain France and Ireland King Defender of the Faith and

so forth And in the Year of Our Lord 1787 And he the said

Richard

The Company let 15 acres of land in the East Division to Richard Mason, a planter. The ground was bounded on the north and west by Mason's own freehold land and on the east and south by his lands called Pledgers.

Mason was to hold the ground, with everything belonging to it, for 21 years from the date of the lease. The term covered him and anyone who took the ground after him by inheritance or approved transfer.

The lease set out the following conditions. Mason and his successors had to remain loyal to King George III and faithful to the Company, and had to obey the laws and regulations of the island. They paid the Company a rent of 5s 0d an acre each year, due on the feast of St Michael the Archangel. They had to keep the fences of the land in good repair and maintain the full quantity of wood on it. They could not sell or part with the lease or any interest in it without the permission of the Governor and Council of the day.

The Governor and Council sealed their copy on 3 December 1787, in the twenty-eighth year of the reign of George III.

Interpretations

Matthew Bazett's lease of 10 February 1766 named the lands of Susannah Pledger on the east of his eight and a half acres. Twenty-one years later a farm in the same division was called Pledgers and belonged to Richard Mason. Her holding had passed to him and kept her name, as Sextons did when it went from John Desfountain to the same man and as Whaley's did when it reached John Robinson. Mason had by 1787 gathered up the farms of at least two tenants of the 1760s. The volume recorded none of those transfers. It showed them only through old names attached to a new owner's land.

The lease called the ground on the north and west his freehold. Mason thus held land of three kinds, freehold owning no rent, the farm called Pledgers and the Company's leases. The 15 acres lay enclosed by his own holdings on every side, so the piece could have no tenant but him. Leases of ground wholly within one estate were made to nine tenants from 1780. Here the surrounding land was partly freehold, as with Nathaniel Kennedy on 6 December 1784. The Company kept title to a block in the middle of land it had long since parted with, and charged the full 5s 0d an acre for it.

Freehold was now named in the East Division as well as in the South and in the town. The leases of February 1784 to 1787 mentioned it for William Webber Doveton, Anthony Beale, Kennedy and Mason. Before 1784 the volume never used the word. The clerks of the later years distinguished a neighbour's tenure where those of the 1760s wrote simply of his land, and private ownership outright was evidently more widespread than the earlier descriptions revealed.

Mason took two leases on 3 December 1787, Sextons with its adjoining piece and these 15 acres, 38¾ acres in all. Seven leases were entered for that day.

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Richard Mason hath hereunto Set his Hand Seal the Day and

Year above Written

R. Mason.

Witness

Nathl. Kennedy Factor

Island St. 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 Let unto Richard

Mason of the said Island Planter, All that piece or parcel of Land

containing two Acres situate lying and being in the East Division of

the said Island butting and bounding on all sides on the Lands of him

the said Richard Mason, To have and to hold the said hereby

Demised parcel of Land with the appurtenances and every part &

parcel thereof, unto him the said Richard Mason his Heirs Executors

Administrators and 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 he the said Richard Mason

his Heirs or Allowed Assigns Do always bear true faith and

Allegiance to Our Sovereign Lord King George the Third 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. Yielding and paying therefore

Yearly and every Year during the said term and time of twenty

one Years unto the said Honble Company their Successors

Agents or Assigns the Rent of five shillings P Acre, in at or upon

the Feast of St. Michael the Arch Angel Yearly. And upon

Condition that he the said Richard Mason 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 not nor shall sell or dispose of this Lease

or his or their Interest therein without the leave and consent of the

Governor

Richard Mason signed and sealed his copy of the lease of the 15 acres, and Nathaniel Kennedy signed as witness, adding his rank of factor.

A new lease, made at St Helena, followed. The Company let two acres of land in the East Division to Richard Mason of the island, a planter. Mason's own lands bounded the ground on all sides.

Mason was to hold the ground, with everything belonging to it, for 21 years from the date of the lease. The term covered him and anyone who took the ground after him by inheritance or approved transfer.

The lease set out the following conditions. Mason and his successors had to remain loyal to King George III and faithful to the Company, and had to obey the laws and regulations of the island. They paid the Company a rent of 5s 0d an acre each year, due on the feast of St Michael the Archangel. They had to keep the fences of the land in good repair and maintain the full quantity of wood on it. They could not sell or part with the lease or any interest in it without the permission of the Governor and Council of the day.

Interpretations

Two pieces enclosed entirely by Mason's own land were let in succession, 15 acres and two acres, both at 5s 0d an acre. Each had its own lease. The pieces did not adjoin, since each was ringed by his holdings, and the clerk followed the old course of a separate title for every separate parcel. Mason's leases of the day thus numbered three, for Sextons with its neighbouring piece, for the 15 acres and for these two. A single document at one rent would have served, as it did for Thomas Bagley's enclosed 12 acres on 13 September 1784. The office under the factors who kept it in 1787 returned to the stricter habit.

Seventeen acres of the Company's ground thus lay inside the estate of a man who first appeared in the volume in 1778. His farm was assembled from Desfountain's Sextons, Susannah Pledger's land and a freehold, and the Company's remaining pockets within it were found and leased together. The same exercise was carried out for Nathaniel Kennedy's freehold on 6 December 1784, when three leases covered five pieces. An estate built up by purchase from several earlier holders left gaps where their boundaries had not met, and the Council's review picked them up.

Kennedy witnessed all three of Mason's leases and John F. Howard the other five of 3 December 1787. The two witnesses divided the sitting between them by tenant. Eight leases were entered for the day, the most at any sitting in the volume, exceeding the seven of 28 August 1769 and of 22 May 1780.

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Governor and Council for the time being. In Witness whereof We

the said Governor and Council have to the other part set Our Hands

and Affixed the Honble Company's Seal this 3 Day of December in the

twenty Eight Year of the Reign of Our said Sovereign Lord George

the Third by the grace of God of Great Britain France and Ireland

King Defender of the Faith and so forth And in the Year of Our Lord

1787 And he the said Richard Mason hath hereunto Set his

Hand and Seal the Day and Year above Written.

R. Mason

Witness

Nathl. Kennedy Factor

Island St. 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

Let unto John Sampell of the said Island Publican All that

piece or parcel of Land containing twenty three & an half Acres

situate lying and being in the East Division of the said Island

Butting and Bounding North upon the Honble Companys

Waste Land East upon the Land of John Robinson Planter, West

upon the Lands of William Hayes Publican and South upon the

Land of him the said John Sampell To have and to hold the

said hereby Demised parcel of Land with the Appurtenances

and every part and parcel thereof unto him the said John

Sampell his Heirs Executors Administrators and 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 he the said John Sampell his Heirs or

Allowed Assigns Do always bear true faith and Allegiance to Our

Sovereign

The Governor and Council signed one copy of Richard Mason's lease of the two acres and fixed the Company's seal to it on 3 December 1787, in the twenty-eighth year of the reign of George III. Richard Mason signed and sealed the other copy on the same day, and Nathaniel Kennedy signed as witness, adding his rank of factor.

A new lease, made at St Helena, followed. The Company let 23½ acres of land in the East Division to John Sampell of the island, a publican. The ground was bounded on the north by the Company's waste land, on the east by the land of John Robinson, a planter, on the west by the lands of William Hayes, a publican, and on the south by Sampell's own land.

Sampell was to hold the ground, with everything belonging to it, for 21 years from the date of the lease. The term covered him and anyone who took the ground after him by inheritance or approved transfer.

Interpretations

John Sampell signed for Nathan Sampell on 5 August 1771, when Nathan took eight and a half acres in the East Division beside Matthew Purling's land and the waste. Nathan's two leases, of 28 August 1769 and 1771, gave him 11 acres there. John now took 23½ acres with land of his own on the south and the waste on the north. He was in all probability Nathan's son and successor on that farm, extending it a third time into unoccupied ground. Nathan was styled a planter. John was a publican. The family that farmed in the 1760s had a public house in the town by 1787, while keeping and enlarging its land.

John Robinson, a planter, bounded the ground on the east. Nathan Sampell's leases named Purling on that side, and the high road to the Long Wood ran between the two estates on 16 December 1771. Robinson renewed Purling's cabbage tree land on 26 November 1787 with his own land on three sides of it. The present lease confirmed the change from another direction. Purling's estate beside the Sampells had become Robinson's.

Two publicans held adjoining farms. William Hayes, on the west, kept the house his father kept before 1776 and held land in the East Division from the joint leases of 1768 and 1769. John Scott, a publican, took six acres at Sandy Bay on 20 August 1787. Three of the island's innkeepers were thus recorded as country landholders in a single year. The trade of the valley, which depended on the shipping, went together with a farm in the country that supplied it.

Kennedy witnessed the last of Richard Mason's three leases. The entries for 3 December 1787 now numbered nine with Sampell's, if it bore that date.

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Sovereign Lord King George the Third 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 Yielding and paying therefore yearly and every Year

during the said term and time of twenty one Years unto the sd.

Honble Company their Successors Agents or Assigns the Rent

of three shillings and six pence P Acre in at or upon the

Feast of St. Michael the Arch Angel Yearly And upon

condition that he the said John Sampell 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 upon further Condition

that he the said John Sampell his Heirs Executors, Administrators

or Assigns keep in good and sufficient Repair one of the

Gates and Jambs situate in the Road leading to the Long

Wood being F. I. 8. 6 feet Wide and F. I. 4. 6 Feet hight Also

one half of the other Gate of like dimentions situate on

said Road and Divides the Land of the said John Sampell

from the Lands of John Robinson Planter who is to be at

the other half of the Expence of keeping the sd. Gate in

Repair, And do not nor shall sell or dispose of this Lease

or his or their Interest therein without the leave and Consent

of the Governor and Council for the time being. In

Witness whereof We the said Governor and Council have to the

other part set Our Hands and Affixed the Honble Companys

Seal this 7th Day of January in the Twenty Eight Year of

the Reign of Our said Sovereign Lord George the Third by

the Grace of God of Great Britain France and Ireland

King Defender of the Faith and so forth, And in the

Year of Our Lord 1788, And he the sd. John Sampell hath

hereunto set his Hand & Seal the Day and Year above Written

John Sampell

Witness

Richd. Goodwin Junr.

John Sampell and his successors had to remain loyal to King George III and faithful to the Company, and had to obey the laws and regulations of the island. They paid the Company a rent of 3s 6d an acre each year on the 23½ acres, due on the feast of St Michael the Archangel. They had to keep the fences of the land in good repair and maintain the full quantity of wood on it.

A further condition dealt with two gates on the road leading to the Long Wood. Sampell and his successors had to keep one gate and its posts in good repair, the gate being 8 feet 6 inches wide and 4 feet 6 inches high. They also had to bear half the cost of repairing a second gate of the same size on that road, which divided Sampell's land from the lands of John Robinson, a planter. Robinson was to bear the other half.

Sampell could not sell or part with the lease or any interest in it without the permission of the Governor and Council of the day. The Governor and Council signed one copy and fixed the Company's seal to it on 7 January 1788, in the twenty-eighth year of the reign of George III. John Sampell signed and sealed the other copy on the same day, and Richard Goodwin junior signed as witness.

Interpretations

The gates clause was the second condition in the volume written for a single lease, after the water clause in the chaplain's lease of 17 September 1770. The high road to the Long Wood crossed Sampell's land, and gates stood across it where it entered and left his fences. A public road through enclosed farmland needed gates to keep stock in, and gates on a public road had to be kept working by someone. The Council could have maintained them at the Company's cost, or left the matter to custom between neighbours. It did neither. It made the upkeep of the gates a condition of the lease, so that a tenant who let them fall into ruin put his land at risk. The clause gave their width and height, which fixed the standard to which they had to be kept and made a narrower or lower replacement a breach.

The road ran on from Sampell's land into John Robinson's, and the gate between them served both. The lease divided its cost equally and named Robinson as liable for the other half. Robinson was no party to this lease and could not be bound by it. The statement recorded an obligation the Council evidently meant to attach to his land as well, when his own lease there was made or renewed. The clerk's wording treated it as settled.

The gate's width of 8 feet 6 inches was that of a cart road. Richard Mason's lease of 17 March 1783 kept passages for carts open between his plots near the Long Wood. The two leases together showed wheeled traffic passing regularly along that road and the Council taking steps, on separate occasions, to keep it unobstructed.

The rent of 3s 6d an acre was the rate first used for John Bagley junior on 30 September 1775. Ground running north to the waste beside the high road was valued in the upper middle of the scale.

Richard Goodwin junior witnessed. Richard Goodwin signed as senior on 30 October 1786, and the younger man now appeared in his own right. The lease was the first dated in 1788.

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300

Island St. Helena.

The Lords Proprietors of this Island

the Honorable the United Company of Merchants of England

trading to the East Indies Do hereby Demise Grant Lease

and to Farm Let unto Jno. Robinson of the said Island

Planter. All that piece or Parcel of Land containing three

and three Quarters of an Acre. Situate lying and being in

the East Division of the said Island butting and bounding

East and South on the Land of him the said Jno. Robinson

and North and West upon the Lands of Isaac Doveton

Planter. To have and to hold the said hereby Demised

Parcel of Land with the appurtenances and every part

and parcel thereof, unto him the said Jno. Robinson his

Heirs Executors Administrators and 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 he the said Jno. Robinson his Heirs

or Allowed Assigns Do always bear true faith and Allegiance

to Our Sovereign Lord King George the Third 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. Yielding and

paying therefore Yearly and every Year During the

said term and time of twenty One Years unto the said

Honble Company their Successors Agents or Assigns the

Rent of three Shillings and Six pence P Acre in at or

upon the Feast of St. Michael the Arch Angel Yearly

And upon Condition that he the said Jno. Robinson

his Heirs Executors Administrators & Assigns Do and

shall

The Company let three and three quarter acres of land in the East Division to John Robinson of the island, a planter. The ground was bounded on the east and south by Robinson's own land and on the north and west by the lands of Isaac Doveton, a planter.

Robinson was to hold the ground, with everything belonging to it, for 21 years from the date of the lease. The term covered him and anyone who took the ground after him by inheritance or approved transfer.

Robinson and his successors had to remain loyal to King George III and faithful to the Company, and had to obey the laws and regulations of the island. They paid the Company a rent of 3s 6d an acre each year, due on the feast of St Michael the Archangel.

Interpretations

The ground lay between Robinson's land and Isaac Doveton's. Robinson's renewal of 26 November 1787 gave him the seven and a half acres of cabbage tree land near Halley's Mount, with Doveton on the west, which Matthew Purling first took on 2 September 1766. Purling and Doveton shared that boundary for 20 years and divided ground along it more than once, each taking seven and a half acres in 1766 and 1767 and Doveton adding an acre on 28 August 1769. The man who bought Purling's estate now took a further piece on the same line. A change of owner did not end the slow closing of gaps between the two farms. Robinson simply continued it from Purling's side.

The rent of 3s 6d an acre matched what John Sampell paid on 7 January 1788 for 23½ acres beside Robinson's land on the high road to the Long Wood. Every earlier lease along the Purling and Doveton boundary charged 5s 0d or, for one piece at the edge of the waste, 1s 0d. A rate of 3s 6d on two neighbouring grants at the start of 1788 showed the Council placing that stretch of the East Division a step below the top of the scale. Ground that would have been charged in full as a matter of course in the 1760s was by then marked down by 18 pence an acre.

Sampell's lease named Robinson as bound to pay half the cost of the gate between their lands on the road. Robinson was no party to that lease. His own lease for ground in the same quarter followed it in the volume, which gave the Council the occasion to attach the matching duty to him.

Robinson was styled a planter. He renewed four leases on 26 November 1787 and now took a fresh grant, his sixth entry in two months. With Purling's estate added to his own, his land in the East Division reached from Fisher's Valley to Halley's Mount.

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shall Well and Sufficiently keep up and maintain the Fences

to the Said Land and the full Quantity of Wood thereon

And upon further Condition that he the said Jno. Robinson

his Heirs Executors. Administrators or Assigns keep in Good

and Sufficient Repair one of the Gates and Jambs Situate in

the Road Leading to the Long Wood being 8 feet 6 Inches

Wide and 4 feet 6 Inches high. Also one half of the other

Gate of like Dimensions and Situated in said Road and

Divides the Land of said Jno. Robinson from the Lands of

Jno. Sampell Publican who is to be at the other half

of the Expence of keeping said Gate in Repair. and do not

nor shall sell or Dispose of this Lease, or his or their Interest

therein without the leave and Consent of the Governor &

Council for the time being. In Witness whereof we

the said Governor & Council have to the other Part set

our Hands and Affixed the Honble Companys Seal this 7th

January in the Twenty Eight Year of the Reign of Our

said Sovereign Lord George the third by the Grace of God of

Great Britain France & Ireland King Defender of

the Faith and so forth and in the Year of Our Lord 1788

and he the said Jno. Robinson hath hereunto set his Hand

and Seal the Day and Year above Written

John Robinson

Witness

Richd. Goodwin Junr.

3 3/4 Acres

John Robinson and his successors had to keep the fences of the three and three quarter acres in good repair and maintain the full quantity of wood on the land.

A further condition dealt with two gates on the road leading to the Long Wood. Robinson and his successors had to keep one gate and its posts in good repair, the gate being 8 feet 6 inches wide and 4 feet 6 inches high. They also had to bear half the cost of repairing a second gate of the same size on that road, which divided Robinson's land from the lands of John Sampell, a publican. Sampell was to bear the other half.

Robinson could not sell or part with the lease or any interest in it without the permission of the Governor and Council of the day. The Governor and Council signed one copy and fixed the Company's seal to it on 7 January 1788, in the twenty-eighth year of the reign of George III. John Robinson signed and sealed the other copy on the same day, and Richard Goodwin junior signed as witness.

A plan of the ground was drawn beneath the signatures. It showed an irregular outline of many sides, narrowing towards one end, marked as containing three and three quarter acres.

Interpretations

Robinson's lease carried the same gates clause as John Sampell's, sealed on the same day, with the names exchanged. Each tenant was bound to keep one gate on the road to the Long Wood wholly at his own cost and to pay half for the gate between them. Sampell's lease stated that Robinson would bear the other half of the shared gate, although Robinson was no party to it. The present lease supplied the missing obligation. The Council thus bound both neighbours by matching conditions in separate leases made at one sitting, so that each man's duty was enforceable against his own land. A promise written only into one lease would have left the second tenant free.

Three gates were therefore accounted for, one at each outer end and one in the middle. The road passed through Sampell's enclosure and then Robinson's, and the leases together secured every barrier a traveller met along that stretch. All three were to be kept at 8 feet 6 inches wide and 4 feet 6 inches high.

The occasion for imposing the duty was a fresh grant to each man. The Council had no means of adding a condition to leases already running, such as Robinson's renewals of 26 November 1787 or Nathan Sampell's leases of 1769 and 1771. It used the next new lease each tenant took for land beside the road, however small. Robinson's three and three quarter acres carried a duty that concerned the whole of his frontage on the highway.

A plan was entered, the first since Lieutenant Beale's of 8 August 1785. The ground was fitted in between Robinson's land and Isaac Doveton's, and its many angles followed the two older boundaries. No plan accompanied Sampell's 23½ acres, six times the size. The drawing was again kept for an awkward shape between neighbours.

Richard Goodwin junior witnessed both leases of 7 January 1788.

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Island St. 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. Let unto Wm. Hayes Publican All that piece

or Parcell of Land containing 13 3/4 Acres Situate lying

and being in the East Division of the said Island butting

and bounding North and West upon the Honble Companys

Waste Land East & South upon the Land of Jno. Sampell Planter

To have and to hold the said hereby Demised Parcel

of Land with the appurtenances and every part and

Parcel thereof, unto him the said Willm. Hayes his

Heirs Executors Administrators and 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 he the said Willm. Hayes his Heirs or

Allowed Assigns Do always bear true faith & Allegiance

to our Sovereign Lord King George the Third his Heirs

and Successors and true faith to them the said Honble

Company and their Successors & shall Duly obey all the

Laws and Constitutions of the said Island Yielding

and paying therefore Yearly and every Year During the

said term and time of Twenty One Years unto the said

Honble Company their Successors, Agents or Assigns the

Rent of Three Shillings and Six pence P Acre in at

or upon the Feast of St. Michael the Arch Angel

Yearly And upon condition that he the said Willm.

Hayes his Heirs. Executors. Administrators & Assigns

Do and shall well and Sufficiently keep up and Maintain

the Fences to the said Land and the full Quantity

of

The Company let 13¾ acres of land in the East Division to William Hayes, a publican. The ground was bounded on the north and west by the Company's waste land and on the east and south by the land of John Sampell, a planter.

Hayes was to hold the ground, with everything belonging to it, for 21 years from the date of the lease. The term covered him and anyone who took the ground after him by inheritance or approved transfer.

Hayes and his successors had to remain loyal to King George III and faithful to the Company, and had to obey the laws and regulations of the island. They paid the Company a rent of 3s 6d an acre each year, due on the feast of St Michael the Archangel. They had to keep the fences of the land in good repair and maintain the full quantity of wood on it.

Interpretations

Three adjoining grants were made at 3s 6d an acre, to John Sampell and John Robinson on 7 January 1788 and now to Hayes. Sampell's 23½ acres had Hayes on the west and Robinson on the east, and Hayes's 13¾ acres had Sampell on the east and south. The Council was dividing a tract along the northern edge of those three farms, beside the high road to the Long Wood, and giving each neighbour the part against his own boundary at a single rate. It shared ground in the same way among four planters on 20 March 1769 and four estates on 28 August 1769. The method was unchanged after nearly 20 years. A stretch of the Company's land was opened, valued as a whole and parcelled out to the holders round it at one sitting.

The whole tract came to 41 acres at 3s 6d. The division of 1769 at 1s 6d dealt with poor ground in Fisher's Valley, and Samuel Knipe junior's 23 acres beyond it paid 1s 0d in 1771. Land towards the Long Wood was rated more than twice as high as either. The waste remaining in the East Division by 1788 thus still included ground of fair quality along the road.

The lease called Sampell a planter. His own lease of the same season called him a publican, and Robinson's named him as one. Hayes's lease named Hayes as a publican, and Sampell's did likewise. The clerk gave a neighbour whichever description came to hand. Both men kept public houses and both farmed, and either word was true of each.

The word placing Sampell's land on the south was added above the line. The acreage was written in figures.

William Hayes held land in the East Division from the joint leases of 18 April 1768 and 28 August 1769 and was executor of his father's will on 14 October 1776. The ground let here touched none of his own. It lay beyond Sampell's farm against the waste, a separate holding beside the land he already had on Sampell's west.

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of Wood thereon and do not nor shall Sell or dispose of this

Lease or his or their Interest therein. without the leave and

consent of the Governor and Council for the time being

In Witness whereof We the said Governor & Council have to

the other Part Set our Hands and Affixed the Honble

Companys Seal. this 7th Day of January in the Twenty

Eight Year of the Reign of our said Sovereign Lord George

the Third by the Grace of God of Great Britain France

and Ireland. King Defender of the faith and so forth

and in the Year of Our Lord 1788. and he the said

Willm. Hayes hath hereunto Set his Hand & Seal. the

Day and Year above Written

Willm. Hayes

Witness.

Richd. Goodwin Junr.

13 3/4 Acres

William Hayes could not sell or part with the lease of the 13¾ acres without the permission of the Governor and Council of the day. The Governor and Council signed one copy and fixed the Company's seal to it on 7 January 1788, in the twenty-eighth year of the reign of George III. William Hayes signed and sealed the other copy on the same day, and Richard Goodwin junior signed as witness.

A plan of the ground was drawn beneath the signatures. It showed an irregular outline of seven sides, marked as containing 13¾ acres.

Interpretations

Hayes's lease carried no clause on gates. John Sampell and John Robinson, whose leases were sealed on the same day at the same rent for adjoining ground, were each bound to keep up one gate on the road to the Long Wood and to share the cost of a third. The Council thus laid that duty only on the two tenants whose fences the road crossed. Hayes's 13¾ acres lay north and west of Sampell's farm against the waste, away from the highway. A burden attached to the road was confined to those who enclosed it, and the third sharer in the same tract was let his portion on the standard terms alone.

Three leases were sealed on 7 January 1788, all at 3s 6d an acre and all witnessed by Richard Goodwin junior. Plans were entered for Robinson's three and three quarter acres and for Hayes's piece, and none for Sampell's 23½ acres, the largest of the three. The division of 20 March 1769 was recorded in the same way, with drawings for the smaller shares and none for the largest. The outlines of the pieces fitted against the main share fixed its limits between them.

Hayes's plan carried no compass points and no names. The plans of 1776 and 1777 marked the sides with letters, and those of 1780 and 1785 gave the directions in words or by crossed lines. The drawings of 1788 returned to a bare outline and an area, as in 1767 to 1769, and had to be read against the boundaries given in the lease.

The words in the closing clause were corrected above the line, where the clerk first left one out.

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Island St. 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 let unto Jno. Taylor of the said Island

Lieutenant All that Piece or Parcel of Land containing

two Acres Situate lying and being in the East Division

of the said Island. butting and bounding East & North

upon the Honble Companys Waste Land. South upon

the Land of Jno. Worrall and West upon the said John

Taylors own Land. To have and to hold. the said

hereby Demised Parcel of Land with the appurtenances and

every Part and parcel thereof, unto him the said Jno.

Taylor his Heirs Executors Administrators and 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 he the said Jno. Taylor

His Heirs or Allowed Assigns Do always bear true

faith and Allegiance to Our Sovereign Lord King George

the Third 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 Yielding and paying therefore Yearly and every

Year During the said term and time of Twenty One

Years unto the said Honble Company. their Successors

Agents or Assigns the Rent of Sixpence P Acre in at

or upon the Feast of St. Michael the Arch Angel Yearly

And upon condition that he the said Jno. Taylor

His Heirs Executors. Administrators or Assigns

Do and shall Well and Sufficiently keep up and

maintain

The Company let two acres of land in the East Division to John Taylor of the island, a lieutenant. The ground was bounded on the east and north by the Company's waste land, on the south by the land of John Worrall and on the west by Taylor's own land.

Taylor was to hold the ground, with everything belonging to it, for 21 years from the date of the lease. The term covered him and anyone who took the ground after him by inheritance or approved transfer.

Taylor and his successors had to remain loyal to King George III and faithful to the Company, and had to obey the laws and regulations of the island. They paid the Company a rent of 6d an acre each year, due on the feast of St Michael the Archangel.

Interpretations

The rent of 6d an acre was the lowest rate in the volume, and it was used only once before. John Worrall paid it on 16 November 1767 for six and a quarter acres in the West Division, beside land let to Lieutenant St Maurice at 1s 0d. For 20 years no other lease fell below 1s 0d, through all the grants of rough margin from 1769 onward. Taylor's two acres brought a yearly rent of one shilling. The three leases of 7 January 1788 in the same division, towards the Long Wood, paid 3s 6d. Ground at a seventh of that rate was evidently close to worthless, rock or steep bank at the corner of his farm where it met the waste on two sides. The Council still thought it worth a lease, since the enclosure fixed his boundary on the Company's books.

Thomas Greentree's lease of August 1766 gave him a farm in the East Division called Taylors, named for an earlier holder. A later John Taylor senior held two acres under country lease 263 of 1815 in the later register. The tenant here was the first of the name to appear in the volume as a living landholder, with a farm of his own already on the west.

Taylor was a lieutenant. The lowest rate in the volume thus went once to a planter and once to an officer, 20 years apart, which fitted the evidence of the later leases that the cheapest ground was let to whoever applied for it.

John Worrall held the land on the south. He was a planter in the East Division from November 1766 and an executor for three unrelated estates, and his farm still bounded new grants in 1788.

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maintain the Fences to the said Land. and the full Quantity

of Wood thereon. and do not nor shall Sell or Dispose of

this Lease or his or their Interest therein without the

leave and Consent of the Governor and Council for the

time being. In Witness whereof We the said Governor

and Council have to the other part Set our Hands and

Affixed the Honble Companys Seal this 7th Day of January

in the Twenty Eight Year of the Reign of our said

Sovereign Lord George the Third. by the Grace of God. of

Great Britain France and Ireland. King. Defender of

the Faith and so forth and in the Year of Our Lord

1788 and he the said Jno. Taylor hath hereunto Set

his Hand and Seal. the Day and Year above Written

Jno. Taylor

Witness.

Richd. Goodwin Junr.

Island St. 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 Let unto Richd. Knipe of the said Island

Lieutenant All that Piece or Parcel of Land containing

Six Acres Situate lying and being in the West Division

of the said Island and Known by the Name of the Tobacco

Plain butting and bounding on all sides on the Honble

Companys Waste Land. To have and to hold the

said

Margin Notes:

2 1/2 Old renewed

3 1/2 New

John Taylor and his successors had to keep the fences of the two acres in good repair and maintain the full quantity of wood on the land. They could not sell or part with the lease or any interest in it without the permission of the Governor and Council of the day. The Governor and Council signed one copy and fixed the Company's seal to it on 7 January 1788, in the twenty-eighth year of the reign of George III. John Taylor signed and sealed the other copy on the same day, and Richard Goodwin junior signed as witness.

A new lease, made at St Helena, followed. The Company let ten acres of land in the West Division to Richard Knipe of the island, a lieutenant. The ground was known as the Tobacco Plain, and the Company's waste land bounded it on all sides. A note beside the opening lines divided the area into eight and a half acres renewed from an old lease and one and a half acres newly added.

Interpretations

The note split the ten acres into eight and a half held before and one and a half new. Richard Mason's lease of 17 March 1783 carried a note of the same kind, and Matthew Bazett's renewal of 8 October 1787 grew from eight and a half acres to 15½ without one. Three times, then, a renewal was the occasion for enlarging the holding. The lease itself described the Tobacco Plain as a single piece of ten acres, with nothing to show that most of it was already in the tenant's hands. Only the clerk's working figures preserved the distinction between old ground and new.

The ground stood wholly in the waste. An isolated plot enclosed 21 years or more earlier had since spread by an acre and a half beyond its first bounds, with no neighbour to object. The renewal brought the lease into line with the fence. The clause requiring open ground to be fenced within 12 months, used twice in 1786, answered the same difficulty at the outset. Here the Council dealt with it at the end of the term, by measuring afresh and charging for what was found.

The name recorded a crop. A plot called the Tobacco Plain, held from before the volume began, pointed to tobacco grown on the island in or before the 1760s, on a level piece of ground in the West Division.

Richard Knipe was the lieutenant who took the ground behind his town house on 15 January 1787. He appeared here with country land as well, on a lease older than the volume.

Four leases were sealed on 7 January 1788, to Sampell, Robinson, Hayes and Taylor, and Richard Goodwin junior witnessed all four.

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said hereby demised Parcel of Land with the appurtenances

and every part and parcel thereof unto him the said Richd.

Knipe his Heirs. Executors Administrators and 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 he the said Richd.

Knipe his Heirs or Allowed Assigns do always bear true

faith and Allegiance to Our Sovereign Lord George the

Third 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 Yielding and Paying therefore Yearly and every

Year During the said term and time of Twenty One Years

unto the said Honble Company their Successors. Agents

or Assigns the Rent of five Shillings P Acre for two &

an half Acre thereof and One Shilling and Sixpence for

the other three and an half Acres. in at or upon the Feast

of St. Michael the Arch Angel Yearly. And upon Condition

that he the said Richd. Knipe 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 not

nor shall Sell or dispose of this Lease or his or their

Interest therein without the leave and Consent of the

Governor and Council for the time being. In Witness

whereof We the said Governor and Council hath to the

other Part set our Hands and Affixed the Honble Companys

Seal this 7th Day of January in the Twenty Eight

Year of the Reign of our said Sovereign Lord George

the Third by the Grace of God of Great Britain France &

Ireland King Defender of the faith and so forth. And

in the Year of Our Lord 1788 and he the said Richard

Knipe hath hereunto Set his hand and Seal the Day and

Year above Written

Richd. Knipe

Witness.

Richd. Goodwin Junr.

Richard Knipe was to hold the ten acres called the Tobacco Plain for 21 years from the date of the lease. The term covered him and anyone who took the ground after him by inheritance or approved transfer.

The lease set out the following conditions. Knipe and his successors had to remain loyal to King George III and faithful to the Company, and had to obey the laws and regulations of the island. They paid the Company a yearly rent of 5s 0d an acre for [...] and a half acres and 1s 6d an acre for the other three and a half acres, due on the feast of St Michael the Archangel. They had to keep the fences of the land in good repair and maintain the full quantity of wood on it. They could not sell or part with the lease or any interest in it without the permission of the Governor and Council of the day.

The Governor and Council signed one copy and fixed the Company's seal to it on 7 January 1788, in the twenty-eighth year of the reign of George III. Richard Knipe signed and sealed the other copy on the same day, and Richard Goodwin junior signed as witness.

Interpretations

The clerk's note divided the ten acres into eight and a half renewed and one and a half added. The rent clause divided them differently, with three and a half acres at 1s 6d and the remainder at 5s 0d. The cheaper portion was therefore larger than the new ground. Two of the old acres were marked down along with the acre and a half taken in from the waste. As with Matthew Bazett's renewal of 8 October 1787, the Council used the end of a term to revalue the whole holding and not merely to price the addition. A tenant renewing an isolated plot thus gained a reduction on part of what he already held, on the Council's fresh view of the ground.

The lease did not say which acres paid which rate. The Tobacco Plain was described as one piece surrounded by waste, and the grading existed only in the sum. Split rents of that kind appeared in new grants from 1778 to 1782 and then lapsed. The renewals of 1787 and 1788 brought the method back, since a holding regraded at renewal had no internal boundary to which separate leases could be tied.

Lieutenant Onesiphorus Beale's renewal of 19 November 1787 kept an old town rent unchanged, far below what new ground of the kind then paid. In the country the opposite happened here, and renewal lowered a rent. Town values had risen since the 1760s and the Council let old tenants keep the old figure. Country rates stood still, and regrading at renewal could only confirm them or bring them down.

Five leases were sealed on 7 January 1788. Richard Goodwin junior witnessed all five.

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Island St. 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 let unto

Jno. Alexander Planter All that piece or parcel of Land containing

nine Acres situate lying and being near the Head of great Bottom

under the said Companys high Peak Pasture butting and bounding

South North and East upon the said Jno. Alexanders own Land

and West upon the Companys waste Land. To have and to hold

the said hereby demised Parcel of Land with the appurtenances and

every part and parcel thereof, unto him the said Jno. Alexander

his Heirs Executors Administrators and Assigns from the Day of

the Date hereof, for and during all the space and term of Twenty

One Years next ensuing Upon Condition that he the said

Jno. Alexander his Heirs or Allowed Assigns Do always bear

true faith and Allegiance to our Sovereign Lord King George

the Third 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 Yielding

and paying therefore Yearly and every Year. During the said

term and time of Twenty One Years unto the said Honble

Company their Successors Agents or Assigns the Rent of 5/.

P Acre. in at or upon the Feast of St. Michael the Arch

Angel. And upon Condition that he the said Jno. Alexander

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 not nor shall Sell or dispose of this Lease or his

or their Interest therein without the leave and consent

of the Governor and Council for the time being In Witness

whereof we the said Governor and Council have to the other part set

Our Hands and Affixed the Honble Companys Seale this

day of in the Twenty Eight Year of the Reign of

our

The Company let nine acres of land to John Alexander, a planter. The ground lay near the head of Great Bottom, below the Company's High Peak Pasture. It was bounded on the south, north and east by Alexander's own land and on the west by the Company's waste land.

Alexander was to hold the ground, with everything belonging to it, for 21 years from the date of the lease. The term covered him and anyone who took the ground after him by inheritance or approved transfer.

The lease set out the following conditions. Alexander and his successors had to remain loyal to King George III and faithful to the Company, and had to obey the laws and regulations of the island. They paid the Company a rent of 5s 0d an acre each year, due on the feast of St Michael the Archangel. They had to keep the fences of the land in good repair and maintain the full quantity of wood on it. They could not sell or part with the lease or any interest in it without the permission of the Governor and Council of the day.

The Governor and Council were to sign one copy and fix the Company's seal to it in the twenty-eighth year of the reign of George III, with the day and the month left blank.

Interpretations

The lease repeated, word for word in its description, the one made to John Alexander on 27 August 1770. That lease let nine acres near the head of Great Bottom, below High Peak Pasture, with his own land on the south, north and east and the waste on the west, at 5s 0d an acre for 21 years. Its term had more than three years still to run when this entry was written, in the twenty-eighth year of the reign. The renewals of 1787 replaced leases that had expired. Here a lease was drawn again while the old one was in force. No note marked it as a renewal, and nothing in it referred to the earlier grant.

Two readings were open. The tenant may have asked for a fresh term early, giving up the three years left in exchange for a new 21, or the clerk may have copied an old lease into the book in preparation for a renewal not yet due. The blank date told in favour of the second. William Webber Doveton's leases of February 1784 lacked the day alone. This one lacked the day and the month, so it was written out before any sitting was fixed for it.

The acreage, boundaries and rent were unchanged after 17 years. The waste still lay on the west of the nine acres, as it did in 1770. Alexander's 40 acres of 12 September 1768, on the same western edge, paid 2s 6d an acre for 14 years and then 5s 0d, and that rise had taken effect in 1782. All his land near High Peak by this date paid the top rate.

The rent was written in figures, where the form of the 1760s and the lease of 1770 used words.

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Our said Sovereign Lord George the Third by the Grace of God

of Great Britain France and Ireland King Defender

of the Faith and so forth. and in the Year of Our Lord

1788 and he the said Jno. Alexander hath hereunto Set

his Hand and Seal. the Day and Year above written

Jno. Alexander

Witness

B A Wright

Island St. 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 Let unto Jno. Alexander Planter. All

that Piece or parcel of Land containing four Acres Situate

lying and being in the West Division. near the head of

a place known by the name of great Bottom butting

and bounding North and East upon the said John

Alexanders Own Land and West and South upon the Lands

of Benjn. Mason Senr. To have and to hold. the said

hereby Demised parcel of Land with the appurtenances and

every part and Parcel thereof, unto him the said Jno.

Alexander his Heirs Executors Administrators and 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 he the said Jno. Alexander

his Heirs or Allowed. Assigns Do always bear true faith

and Allegiance to our Sovereign Lord King George the third

his Heirs and Successors. and true Faith to them the said

Honble Company and their Successors. and shall Duly

Obey

John Alexander signed and sealed his copy of the lease of the nine acres near the head of Great Bottom in 1788, and B. A. Wright signed as witness.

A new lease, made at St Helena, followed. The Company let four acres of land in the West Division to John Alexander, a planter. The ground lay near the head of the place known as Great Bottom. It was bounded on the north and east by Alexander's own land and on the west and south by the lands of Benjamin Mason senior.

Alexander was to hold the ground, with everything belonging to it, for 21 years from the date of the lease. The term covered him and anyone who took the ground after him by inheritance or approved transfer.

Alexander and his successors had to remain loyal to King George III and faithful to the Company.

Interpretations

The lease of the nine acres was completed. Alexander signed and sealed it and the Secretary witnessed it, although the day and month of sealing were left blank in the text. The blank had suggested a draft copied in advance of a renewal not yet due. The signature and seal showed otherwise. A lease made on 27 August 1770 for 21 years was replaced in 1788 by a new one on identical terms, with more than three years of the old term unexpired. The tenant thus gave up the remainder of his first lease for a fresh 21 years, and the Council allowed it. The renewals of late 1787 were all of leases that had run out. This was the first in the volume to be renewed early. A planter who held several leases expiring at different dates had reason to bring them into step, and Alexander took a second lease at the same sitting.

The Secretary witnessed. In that season he attested the renewals of 8 October 1787 and no fresh grant. His signature on this lease fitted its character as a renewal, although the clerk entered no note beside it.

The four acres lay between Alexander's land and Benjamin Mason senior's, near the head of Great Bottom. Mason's lease of 27 August 1770 named Alexander on his north, and his 13¾ acres of 18 December 1780 named him on the west. The two farms had adjoined below High Peak Pasture for 18 years, and a pocket between them was only now leased. The present lease placed Great Bottom in the West Division, which the lease of the nine acres did not state.

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Obey all the Laws and Constitutions of the said Island. Yielding

and Paying therefore Yearly and every Year. During the said

term and space of Twenty One Years. unto the said Honble

Company their Successors Agents or Assigns the Rent of 5/. P

Acre in at or upon the Feast of St. Michael the Arch Angel

and upon condition that he the said Jno. Alexander his Heirs

Executors Administrators and 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 not nor shall

Sell or dispose of this Lease or his or their Interest therein

without the leave and Consent of the Governor and Council

for the time being In Witness whereof We the said Governor

and Council have to the other Part set our hands and

affixed the Honble Companys Seal this Day of

in the Twenty Eight Year of the Reign our said Sovereign

Lord George the Third. by the Grace of God of Great Britain

France and Ireland. King Defender of the faith and

so forth and in the Year of Our Lord 1788. And he the

said Jno. Alexander hath hereunto Set his Hand and

Seal. the Day and Year above written

Jno. Alexander

Witness

B A Wright

Island St. 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 Jno. Alexander of the said Island Planter

all that Piece or parcel of Land containing 5 Acres Situate

lying and being in Broad bottom butting and bounding

North

John Alexander and his successors had to obey the laws and regulations of the island. They paid the Company a rent of 5s 0d an acre each year on the four acres near the head of Great Bottom, due on the feast of St Michael the Archangel. They had to keep the fences of the land in good repair and maintain the full quantity of wood on it. They could not sell or part with the lease or any interest in it without the permission of the Governor and Council of the day.

The Governor and Council signed one copy and fixed the Company's seal to it in 1788, in the twenty-eighth year of the reign of George III, with the day and the month left blank. John Alexander signed and sealed the other copy, and B. A. Wright signed as witness.

A new lease, made at St Helena, followed. The Company let five acres of land in Broad Bottom to John Alexander of the island, a planter.

Interpretations

Two leases to Alexander in succession were signed, sealed and witnessed with the day and month of sealing left blank. A single undated lease could be put down to oversight. Two, both attested by the Secretary himself, showed the entries written up and executed without the date ever being supplied. The twenty-eighth year of the reign ran from 25 October 1787 to 24 October 1788, and the year 1788 was stated, so the leases fell between January and October of that year. Within those limits the Company's record could not say when either term began or when it would end. Rent fell due each Michaelmas whatever the date, but the expiry of a 21 year term, and with it the moment for renewal, rested on a day the register did not give. William Webber Doveton's two leases of February 1784 lacked the day alone. Here the fault went further, on leases witnessed by the officer responsible for the book.

The four acres paid the full 5s 0d an acre. The piece lay enclosed between Alexander's farm and Benjamin Mason senior's below High Peak Pasture, where every lease to either man from 1767 carried the top rate.

Alexander was taking a third lease at the same sitting, for ground in Broad Bottom. The nine acres renewed early, the four acres between his land and Mason's and this further piece were dealt with together. A planter with one of the largest estates in the West Division was bringing his leases there before the Council as a group, as William Wrangham did in 1769 and 1782 and John Robinson on 26 November 1787.

The rent was written in figures, as in the lease before it.

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North upon the Lands of James Greentree. West upon the

Lands of Saml. Knipe and South and East upon the Lands

of him the said Jno. Alexander To have and to hold.

the said hereby demised parcel of Land with the appurtenances

and every part and Parcel thereof unto him the said Jno.

Alexander his Heirs Executors. Administrators and 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 he the said Jno. Alexander his Heirs

or Allowed Assigns Do always bear true Faith and Allegiance

to Our Sovereign Lord King George the Third. 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 Yielding

and paying therefore Yearly and every Year. During the

said term and time of Twenty One Years Unto the said

Honble Company their Successors Agents or Assigns the Rent

of 5/. P Acre in at or upon the Feast of St. Michael the

Arch Angel Yearly. And upon condition that he the

said Jno. Alexander 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 not nor shall sell

or dispose of this Lease or his or their Interest therein

without the leave and Consent of the Governor and Council

for the time being. In Witness whereof We the said

Governor and Council hath to the other Part set our

hands and Affixed the Honble Companys Seal this

Day of in the Twenty Eight Year of the Reign of

our said Sovereign Lord George the Third by the Grace

of God of Great Britain France and Ireland. King

Defender of the Faith and so forth. and in the Year

of

John Alexander's five acres in Broad Bottom were bounded on the north by the lands of James Greentree, on the west by the lands of Samuel Knipe and on the south and east by Alexander's own lands.

Alexander was to hold the ground, with everything belonging to it, for 21 years from the date of the lease. The term covered him and anyone who took the ground after him by inheritance or approved transfer.

The lease set out the following conditions. Alexander and his successors had to remain loyal to King George III and faithful to the Company, and had to obey the laws and regulations of the island. They paid the Company a rent of 5s 0d an acre each year, due on the feast of St Michael the Archangel. They had to keep the fences of the land in good repair and maintain the full quantity of wood on it. They could not sell or part with the lease or any interest in it without the permission of the Governor and Council of the day.

The Governor and Council were to sign one copy and fix the Company's seal to it in the twenty-eighth year of the reign of George III, with the day and the month left blank.

Interpretations

A third lease to Alexander was written with the day and month of sealing left blank. All three of his leases of 1788 thus lacked a date, the nine acres near the head of Great Bottom, the four acres between his land and Benjamin Mason senior's and these five in Broad Bottom. The clerk plainly wrote the group out together before the sitting and left the same space in each. The first two were signed, sealed and witnessed by the Secretary with the gap unfilled. One blank might have been missed. Three in a row, in the same hand, showed that no one went back over the entries once the tenant had signed.

The five acres were enclosed by occupied land on every side and paid the full 5s 0d an acre. Samuel Knipe's lease of 30 September 1776 gave him 12¼ acres in the West Division with John Alexander on the east and part of the north, and his 15 acres called Horse Pasture, let on 3 December 1787, had Alexander on the east as well. Alexander's new piece had Knipe on the west. The two farms met along a boundary recorded from both sides over 12 years, and Broad Bottom lay on it.

James Greentree held the land on the north. He took 26 acres in the West Division on 27 March 1769 and was named beside Richard Goodwin's 27 acres on 30 October 1786. The planter who appeared in the volume's leases from 16 February 1767 was still a landholder there 21 years later.

Alexander's three leases together covered 18 acres at the top rate, £4 10s 0d a year. With his 40 acres of 12 September 1768, by then also at 5s 0d, he held 58 acres below High Peak Pasture under four leases, every one enclosed by his own land on two or three sides.

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of our Lord 1788. and he the said Jno. Alexander hath hereunto

Set his Hand and Seal the Day and Year above. written

Jno. Alexander

Witness

B A Wright

Island St. 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

Let unto Jno. Alexander Planter. All that piece or parcel of Land

containing 15 Acres Situate lying and being at the head of

Great Bottom in the West Division of the said Island &

bounding North, West and East upon the Lands of him

the said Jno. Alexander and South upon the Honble

Companys Pasture Lands. To have and to hold. the

said hereby Demised parcel of Land with the appurtenances

and every part and Parcel thereof, unto him the said Jno.

Alexander his Heirs Executors Administrators and 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 he the said Jno. Alexander his Heirs

or Allowed Assigns do always bear true Faith and Allegiance

to our Sovereign Lord King George the Third. 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 Yielding

and paying therefore Yearly and every Year. During the

said term and time of Twenty One Years. unto the said

Honble

John Alexander signed and sealed his copy of the lease of the five acres in Broad Bottom in 1788, and B. A. Wright signed as witness.

A new lease, made at St Helena, followed. The Company let 15 acres of land at the head of Great Bottom in the West Division to John Alexander, a planter. The ground was bounded on the north, west and east by Alexander's own lands and on the south by the Company's pasture lands.

Alexander was to hold the ground, with everything belonging to it, for 21 years from the date of the lease. The term covered him and anyone who took the ground after him by inheritance or approved transfer.

Alexander and his successors had to remain loyal to King George III and faithful to the Company, and had to obey the laws and regulations of the island.

Interpretations

Alexander took a fourth lease at the same sitting. The 15 acres lay at the head of Great Bottom with his own land on three sides and the Company's pasture on the south. His nine acres near the same spot were described as lying below High Peak Pasture, so the grazing on the southern boundary here was that named reserve. His estate thus ran right up to the edge of ground the Company kept for its own stock, and this lease closed the last gap between the two. Benjamin Mason's first lease, of 16 November 1767, bordered the same pasture and was given a plan to record the line. The fence along such a boundary separated a tenant's animals from the Company's, and the standard clause on keeping it up had a direct purpose.

The four leases of 1788 gave Alexander 33 acres below High Peak Pasture, nine of them renewed early and the rest enclosed by land already his. No tenant before him took four leases at one sitting, apart from John Robinson with his four renewals of 26 November 1787. Leases of ground wholly or largely surrounded by one tenant's holding were made to ten estates from 1780. Alexander's was among the largest in the West Division, begun in the volume with 40 acres on 12 September 1768, and the Council's review of it produced three such pieces together.

The third lease was completed like the first two, signed and sealed by the tenant and witnessed by the Secretary, with the day and month of sealing left blank. The Secretary attested all of Alexander's leases of that sitting. In the months before, he signed only renewals and left fresh grants to the factors and to John F. Howard and Richard Goodwin junior. A planter of Alexander's standing, a fellow executor with Wright of Samuel Alexander's will and his kinsman, was attended to by the Secretary in person.

The acreage was written in figures, as in the other leases of the group.

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Honble Company their Successors Agents or Assigns the Rent of

Five Shillings P Acre in at or Upon the Feast of St. Michael

the Arch Angel Yearly And upon Condition that he the said

Jno. Alexander his Heirs Executors. Administrators or Assigns

do and shall Well and Sufficiently keep up & maintain

the Fences to the said Land and the full quantity of Wood

thereon and do not nor shall Sell or dispose of this Lease

or his or their Interest therein without the leave and consent

of the Governor and Council for the time being. In Witness

whereof. We the said Governor and Council have to the other

Part Set our Hands. and Affixed the Honble Companys Seal

this day of in the Twenty eight Year of the Reign

of our said Sovereign Lord George the third. by the Grace

of God of Great Britain France and Ireland. King

Defender of the faith and so forth. And in the Year

of our Lord. 1788. and he the said Jno. Alexander hath

hereunto Set his Hand an Seal. the Day and Year

above Written

Jno. Alexander

Witness

B A Wright

Island St. 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 Let unto Jno. Alexander Planter

All that piece or parcel of Land containing fifteen Acres. and an

half Situate lying and being in the West Division of the

said Island. butting and bounding South partly on the

Companys

John Alexander and his successors paid the Company a rent of 5s 0d an acre each year on the 15 acres at the head of Great Bottom, due on the feast of St Michael the Archangel. They had to keep the fences of the land in good repair and maintain the full quantity of wood on it. They could not sell or part with the lease or any interest in it without the permission of the Governor and Council of the day.

The Governor and Council signed one copy and fixed the Company's seal to it in 1788, in the twenty-eighth year of the reign of George III, with the day and the month left blank. John Alexander signed and sealed the other copy, and B. A. Wright signed as witness.

A new lease, made at St Helena, followed. The Company let 15½ acres of land in the West Division to John Alexander, a planter. The ground was bounded on the south partly by land of the Company.

Interpretations

Four leases to Alexander were now completed with the date of sealing left blank, and a fifth was begun. Each was signed and sealed by the tenant and witnessed by the Secretary. The whole group was evidently executed at one sitting from entries written out beforehand, and the space for the day and month was never filled in any of them. Together they covered 33 acres at £8 5s 0d a year, with the fifth still to add. For none of that land could the Company's register state the day on which the 21 years began.

The 15 acres beside the Company's pasture paid the full 5s 0d an acre, as did every piece in the group. Ground enclosed by Alexander's own land below High Peak Pasture was rated uniformly at the top of the scale, where his first 40 acres there, on 12 September 1768, began at 2s 6d. The land he had taken in from the waste 20 years earlier was by 1788 the settled core of a farm, and what lay within it was valued accordingly.

The fifth lease, of 15½ acres, again touched land of the Company on the south. Two of the five pieces thus bordered the Company's own ground. Alexander's estate lay along the edge of the reserved pasture for some distance, and the Council was fixing that line piece by piece in his leases.

The rent in the fourth lease was written in words, where the three before it used figures. The clerk's practice varied within a single group of entries.

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Companys Pasture Land and partly upon the Land of him the

said Jno. Alexander also East. North and West upon the

said Jno. Alexanders own Land. To have and to hold the

said hereby demised parcel of Land with the appurtenances

and every part and parcel thereof unto him the said John

Alexander his Heirs Executors Administrators and 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 he the said Jno. Alexander his Heirs or allowed

Assigns Do always bear true faith and Allegiance to our

Sovereign Lord King. George the Third his Heirs and

Successors and true Faith to them the said Honble Company

and their Successors. and shall Duly obey all the Laws &

constitutions of the said Island Yielding and paying

therefore Yearly and every Year During the said term &

time of twenty One Years unto the said Honble Company

their Successors Agents or Assigns the Rent of 5/. P Acre in

at or upon the Feast of St. Michael the Arch Angel Yearly

And upon condition that he the said Jno. Alexander his heirs

Executors Administrators and 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 not nor

shall Sell. or dispose of this Lease or his or their Interest

therein without the leave and consent of the Governor &

Council for the time being. In Witness whereof We the said

Governor and Council hath to the other part Set our Hands

and Affixed the Honble Companys Seal this day of

in the Twenty eight Year of the Reign of our said

Sovereign. Lord George the Third by the Grace of God of

great Britain France and Ireland King Defender of

the faith and so forth. and in the Year of our Lord 1788

and he the said Jno. Alexander hath hereunto Set his Hand

and Seal the Day and Year abovewritten

Jno. Alexander

Witness

[...]

John Alexander's 15½ acres in the West Division were bounded on the south partly by the Company's pasture land and partly by his own land, and on the east, north and west by his own land.

Alexander was to hold the ground, with everything belonging to it, for 21 years from the date of the lease. The term covered him and anyone who took the ground after him by inheritance or approved transfer.

The lease set out the following conditions. Alexander and his successors had to remain loyal to King George III and faithful to the Company, and had to obey the laws and regulations of the island. They paid the Company a rent of 5s 0d an acre each year, due on the feast of St Michael the Archangel. They had to keep the fences of the land in good repair and maintain the full quantity of wood on it. They could not sell or part with the lease or any interest in it without the permission of the Governor and Council of the day.

The Governor and Council signed one copy and fixed the Company's seal to it in 1788, in the twenty-eighth year of the reign of George III, with the day and the month left blank. John Alexander signed and sealed the other copy.

Interpretations

Alexander's five leases of 1788 covered 48½ acres, all at 5s 0d an acre, a yearly rent of £12 2s 6d. Nine acres were a lease of 27 August 1770 renewed early. The other four pieces, of four, five, 15 and 15½ acres, were each enclosed by his own land on two, three or nearly four sides. The Council's review of large estates, which from 1780 brought unleased ground inside them onto the rent roll, here found almost 40 acres within one farm. No earlier case approached that figure. John Bagley junior's 20 acres on 11 December 1780 and John Desfountain's 14 on 1 August 1785 were the largest before it. Land in such quantity, ringed by a planter's own fences beside the Company's pasture, had plainly been grazed or worked by him for years without rent.

Each piece received its own lease, although the tenant, the rate and the sitting were the same. The pieces did not adjoin, since each was described as surrounded by his land. The office kept to a separate title for every parcel, as it did for Richard Mason's two enclosed pieces on 3 December 1787.

This piece and the 15 acres at the head of Great Bottom both met the Company's pasture on the south. Some 30 acres of his new leasehold thus ran along the edge of the reserved grazing below High Peak. The leases fixed, for the first time, where his estate ended and the Company's own ground began along that line.

All five leases were left without a day or month. Words were added above the line in the clause on the term and in the closing clause, and the rent was again written in figures.

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Island St. 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. let unto Jno. Alexander Planter of the said Island. All

that piece or parcel of Land containing four & an half Acres

Situate lying and being in the West Division of the said

Island butting and bounding South upon the Honble Companys

Pasture Land. West upon the Honble Companys Waste

Land. and North and East upon the Lands of him the

said Jno. Alexander. To have and to hold the said

hereby Demised parcel of Land with the appurtenances

and every part and Parcel thereof, unto him the said

Jno. Alexander his Heirs Executors. Administrators and

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 he the said Jno.

Alexander his Heirs or allowed Assigns Do always bear

true faith and Allegiance to our Sovereign Lord King

George the Third 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. Yielding and paying

therefore Yearly and every Year During the said term

and time of Twenty One Years. unto the said Honble

Company their Successors Agents or Assigns. the Rent

of five Shillings P Acre in at or upon the Feast

of Saint Michael the Arch Angel Yearly And upon

Condition that he the said Jno. Alexander his Heirs

Executors Administrators or Assigns do and shall well

and

The Company let four and a half acres of land in the West Division to John Alexander of the island, a planter. The ground was bounded on the south by the Company's pasture land, on the west by the Company's waste land and on the north and east by Alexander's own lands.

Alexander was to hold the ground, with everything belonging to it, for 21 years from the date of the lease. The term covered him and anyone who took the ground after him by inheritance or approved transfer.

Alexander and his successors had to remain loyal to King George III and faithful to the Company, and had to obey the laws and regulations of the island. They paid the Company a rent of 5s 0d an acre each year, due on the feast of St Michael the Archangel.

Interpretations

Alexander took a sixth lease in the same group. The four and a half acres lay at the corner where his farm, the Company's pasture and the waste met, with the pasture on the south and the waste on the west. Three of his six pieces now bordered the reserved grazing below High Peak, the 15 acres at the head of Great Bottom, the 15½ acres and this one. Between them they carried his leasehold along the whole northern edge of the pasture to the point where the waste began. The Council was not merely picking up stray pockets inside his estate. It was settling, in a run of leases at one sitting, the full length of the boundary between a planter's land and ground the Company kept for its own stock.

A corner piece open to the waste on one side and the pasture on another paid the full 5s 0d an acre. Thomas Bagley's four and a quarter acres in the same division, open to the waste on two sides, paid 2s 0d on 30 September 1784. Ground beside the Company's own grazing was good land, and nearness to the waste brought no reduction there. Every lease along that pasture, from Benjamin Mason's of 16 November 1767 onward, carried the top rate.

The six leases together came to 53 acres, the largest quantity let to one tenant at a single sitting in the volume. Orlando Bagley's 55 acres of 15 January 1781 and John Bagley junior's of 11 December 1780 were of similar size, but were spread over two or three leases at mixed rates. Alexander's were all at 5s 0d, a yearly rent of £13 5s 0d.

The rent was written in words, as in the fourth lease of the group, where the others used figures.

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and Sufficiently keep up and maintain the Fences to the said

Land and the full Quantity of Wood thereon. and do not

nor shall Sell or dispose of this Lease or his or their

Interest therein without the leave and Consent of the Governor

and Council for the time being. In Witness whereof

We the said Governor and Council have to the other

part Set our Hands. and affixed the Honble Companys

Seal this Day of March in the Twenty Eight

Year of the Reign of our said Sovereign Lord George

the Third by the grace of God of Great Britain. France

and Ireland. King Defender of the faith and so forth

and in the Year of our Lord 1788. and he the said

Jno. Alexander hath hereunto set his Hand and Seal

the Day and Year above written.

Jno. Alexander

Witness.

B A Wright

Island St. 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. let unto

Jno. Alexander Planter. All that Piece or Parcel of

Land containing fifteen Acres Situate lying and being

at the Head of Great Bottom in the West Division of

the said Island. butting and bounding North. West

and East upon the Lands of him the said Jno. Alexander

and

John Alexander and his successors had to keep the fences of the four and a half acres in good repair and maintain the full quantity of wood on the land. They could not sell or part with the lease or any interest in it without the permission of the Governor and Council of the day.

The Governor and Council signed one copy and fixed the Company's seal to it in March 1788, in the twenty-eighth year of the reign of George III, with the day of the month left blank. John Alexander signed and sealed the other copy, and B. A. Wright signed as witness.

A new lease, made at St Helena, followed. The Company let 15 acres of land at the head of Great Bottom in the West Division to John Alexander, a planter. The ground was bounded on the north, west and east by Alexander's own lands.

Interpretations

The sixth lease supplied the month. Alexander's five earlier leases of the group left both the day and the month blank, and stated only the year 1788 and the twenty-eighth year of the reign. This one was dated in March, with the day alone missing. The whole group was written out and executed together, so the others belonged to March 1788 as well. The Company's record of 53 acres thus rested, for its date, on a single word in the last lease of six.

The lease that followed described 15 acres at the head of Great Bottom in the West Division, bounded on the north, west and east by Alexander's own lands. The fourth lease of the group used exactly those words, and went on to place the Company's pasture on the south. That lease was completed, signed and witnessed. The same ground was therefore being entered a second time. The clerk, copying a run of similar leases to one tenant, evidently wrote one of them out twice. A duplicate entry of that kind, if completed like the first, left the register showing two leases and two rents for one piece of land.

The Secretary witnessed all six of Alexander's leases. No other witness appeared in the group, and no note of renewal or of new ground was entered beside any of them, although the clerk marked every lease of the preceding autumn in that way.

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and South upon the Honble Companys Pasture Lands. To

have and to hold the said hereby demised parcel of Land

with the appurtenances and every part and parcel thereof

unto him the said Jno. Alexander his Heirs Executors

Administrators and 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 he the said Jno. Alexander his Heirs or allowed

Assigns do always bear true faith and Allegiance to

Our Sovereign Lord George the Third 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

Yielding and paying therefore Yearly and every Year

during the said term and time of Twenty One Years

unto the said Honble Company their Successors Agents

or Assigns the Rent of five Shillings P Acre. in at or

upon the Feast of St. Michael the Arch Angel Yearly

And upon condition that he the said Jno. Alexander

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 not nor shall sell or dispose

of this Lease or his or their Interest therein. without

the leave and consent of the Governor and Council for

the time being. In Witness whereof we the said

Governor and Council hath to the other Part set our

Hands and affixed the Honble Companys Seal this

day of March in the Twenty Eight Year of the

Reign of our said Sovereign Lord George the Third

by

The 15 acres at the head of Great Bottom were bounded on the south by the Company's pasture lands.

John Alexander was to hold the ground, with everything belonging to it, for 21 years from the date of the lease. The term covered him and anyone who took the ground after him by inheritance or approved transfer.

The lease set out the following conditions. Alexander and his successors had to remain loyal to King George III and faithful to the Company, and had to obey the laws and regulations of the island. They paid the Company a rent of 5s 0d an acre each year, due on the feast of St Michael the Archangel. They had to keep the fences of the land in good repair and maintain the full quantity of wood on it. They could not sell or part with the lease or any interest in it without the permission of the Governor and Council of the day.

The Governor and Council were to sign one copy and fix the Company's seal to it in March 1788, in the twenty-eighth year of the reign of George III, with the day of the month left blank.

Interpretations

The entry matched the fourth lease of Alexander's group in every particular. Both let 15 acres at the head of Great Bottom in the West Division, bounded on the north, west and east by his own lands and on the south by the Company's pasture, at 5s 0d an acre. The earlier entry was signed, sealed and witnessed by the Secretary. The same ground was thus written into the register twice within a few pages. A planter could hold two separate pieces of equal size, but two pieces could not each be enclosed by his land on the same three sides at the same spot against the same pasture. The clerk, copying a run of near-identical leases to one tenant, entered one of them again.

The consequence depended on whether the second entry was executed. If signed like the first, the book showed 30 acres and £7 10s 0d a year where the ground was 15 acres at £3 15s 0d. The later register was compiled from volumes such as this, lease by lease, and a duplicate once sealed would pass into it as a holding of its own.

The repeated entry carried the month of March, which the first copy of it lacked. Of the seven entries in the group, the two written last gave the month and the five before them did not. The clerk learned the date of the sitting part way through his copying and did not go back to complete the earlier leases.

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by the Grace of God of Great Britain France and Ireland

King. defender of the faith and so forth and in the Year

of our Lord 1788. and he the said Jno. Alexander hath

hereunto Set his hand and Seal. the Day and Year

above written

Jno. Alexander

Witness.

B A Wright

Island St. 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. Let

unto Jno. Worrall Planter All those two Pieces or Parcels of Land

adjoining each other containing in the Whole thirty three Acres

butting and bounding East upon the Lands of Jno. Taylor. West upon

the Lands of said Jno. Worralls own Land North upon the Honble

Companys Waste Land and South on the Lands of Matthew

Bazett Esqr. situate lying and being in the East. Division of this

Island To have and to hold. the said hereby Demised parcels of

Land with the appurtenances and every part and Parcel thereof unto

him the said Jno. Worrall his Heirs. Executors Administrators and

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 he the said Jno. Worrall his Heirs or

allowed Assigns do always bear true Faith and Allegiance to our

Sovereign Lord King George the third. his Heirs and Successors

and true Faith to them the said Honble Company and their

Successors

John Alexander signed and sealed his copy of the repeated lease of the 15 acres at the head of Great Bottom in 1788, and B. A. Wright signed as witness.

A new lease, made at St Helena, followed. The Company let two adjoining pieces of land in the East Division, 33 acres in all, to John Worrall, a planter. The ground was bounded on the east by the lands of John Taylor, on the west by Worrall's own land, on the north by the Company's waste land and on the south by the lands of Matthew Bazett Esquire.

Worrall was to hold the ground, with everything belonging to it, for 21 years from the date of the lease. The term covered him and anyone who took the ground after him by inheritance or approved transfer.

Worrall and his successors had to remain loyal to King George III and faithful to the Company.

Interpretations

The duplicate was executed. Alexander signed and sealed the second entry for the 15 acres at the head of Great Bottom, and the Secretary witnessed it, as both did for the first. Neither man noticed that the same ground, with the same boundaries against the Company's pasture, had been completed a few pages earlier. The register therefore held two sealed leases for one piece of land, each charging 5s 0d an acre. On its face the Company's book now showed seven leases to Alexander in March 1788, for 68 acres at £17 0s 0d a year, where the ground amounted to 53 acres at £13 5s 0d. The tenant signed for a rent of £3 15s 0d twice. Whether he was ever asked to pay it twice depended on the rent roll drawn from these entries, and nothing in the volume cancelled either one.

The error was the most serious of the many copying faults in the later entries. Omitted boundaries, blank dates and a wrong name in a closing clause left individual leases imperfect. A lease entered and sealed twice misstated what the Company had let.

John Worrall's leases of November 1766 gave him 16¼ acres in the East Division for 21 years, and that term ended in November 1787. The 33 acres let now adjoined his own land on the west and Matthew Bazett's on the south, the neighbours of his first lease. No note marked the entry as a renewal or as new. Lieutenant John Taylor's lease of 7 January 1788 placed Worrall on the south of his two acres, and Worrall's ground here had Taylor on the east. With the waste on the north, the piece carried his farm outward as well as replacing whatever had expired.

Worrall was a planter in the East Division from the first country leases in the volume, trustee for the Torbett, Hayes and Seale estates and still taking land 22 years on.

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Successors and shall duly obey all the Laws and Constitutions of

the said Island Yielding and paying therefore Yearly and every

Year. during the said term and time of Twenty One Years

unto the said Honble Company their Successors Agents or Assigns

the Rent of five Shillings P Acre. in at or upon the Feast

of St. Michael the Arch Angel. Yearly. And upon condition

that he the said Jno. Worrall 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 not nor shall sell or dispose of this Lease. or his

or their Interest therein without the leave and consent of the Governor

and Council for the time being In Witness whereof We the

said Governor and Council have to the other part Set our Hands

and affixed the Honble Companys Seal this 21 Day of July

in the Twenty eight Year of the Reign of our said Sovereign

Lord George the Third by the Grace of God. of Great Britain

France, and Ireland. King defender of the faith and so forth

And in the Year of our Lord 1788. and he the said Jno. Worrall

hath hereunto set his hand and Seal the Day and Year

above written

John Worrall

Witness.

Gabriel Doveton

Island St. 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 Let unto John Torbett of the said Island Captain

All

Margin Notes:

Rend.

John Worrall and his successors had to obey the laws and regulations of the island. They paid the Company a rent of 5s 0d an acre each year on the 33 acres in the East Division, due on the feast of St Michael the Archangel. They had to keep the fences of the land in good repair and maintain the full quantity of wood on it. They could not sell or part with the lease or any interest in it without the permission of the Governor and Council of the day.

The Governor and Council signed one copy and fixed the Company's seal to it on 21 July 1788, in the twenty-eighth year of the reign of George III. John Worrall signed and sealed the other copy on the same day, and Gabriel Doveton signed as witness. A note beside the closing lines marked the lease as a renewal.

A new lease, made at St Helena, followed. The Company let a piece of ground to John Torbett of the island, a captain.

Interpretations

The clerk's note marked Worrall's lease as a renewal. His two leases of November 1766 gave him 16¼ acres in the East Division, and his lease of 16 November 1767 concerned the West. The renewed holding was of 33 acres, twice what the expired leases covered. The pattern of Matthew Bazett's renewal of 8 October 1787 and Lieutenant Knipe's of 7 January 1788 was repeated, with the end of a term used to take in more ground. Here the lease gave no figures for the old and new portions, and described two adjoining pieces as one. With the waste on the north, the added half was probably land Worrall had enclosed beyond his first bounds during the 21 years.

The whole 33 acres paid the full 5s 0d an acre, £8 5s 0d a year. Bazett's enlarged renewal was regraded, with the added margin at 1s 0d, and Knipe's with three and a half acres at 1s 6d. Worrall's addition against the waste was charged at the top rate with the rest. Lieutenant John Taylor's two acres next to it on the east, on the same edge of the waste, were let at 6d an acre on 7 January 1788. Two neighbours on one margin thus paid the highest and the lowest rates in the volume within seven months. The Council's valuations continued to turn on the particular ground, and a renewal did not always bring a reduction.

The expired leases ran out in November 1787, and the renewal was sealed eight months later. The renewals of the previous season followed within weeks of Michaelmas. Worrall's waited past the turn of the year into the southern winter.

Gabriel Doveton witnessed, a name not seen before among the witnesses. He was the sixth of that family in the volume, after Isaac, Jonathan, John, William Webber and Matthew. A Gabriel Doveton Esquire held 31½ acres under country lease 259 of 1814 in the later register.

John Torbett appeared as a captain. The orphans of James Torbett held ground in James's Valley under the trust lease of 5 December 1768, with Worrall as their trustee. The later Jamestown register showed John Torbett buying plots from Government in 1799 and 1801 and dealing widely in town ground. One of those orphans, or their kinsman, was by 1788 an officer taking a lease in his own name.

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all that Piece or parcel of Ground. Situate lying and being in James's

Valley Butting and Bounding North upon the Honble Companys

Black House. East and South upon the Honble Companys Waste

Ground. and West upon the Street. leading to the Water Course

Containing forty five feet in Front. and One hundred Feet

in Depth together with all and Singular the Appurtenances thereunto

belonging To have and to hold. the said hereby demised Piece

or parcel of Ground and premises with their and every other

Appurtenances unto him the said John Torbett his Heirs Executors

Administrators and 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 he the said John

Torbett his Heirs or Allowed Assigns do always bear true

faith and Allegiance to our Sovereign Lord King George the

third 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 Yielding

and paying therefore Yearly and every Year during the said

term and time of twenty One Years. unto the said Honble

Company their Successors. Agents or Assigns the Rent of forty

five Shillings P Annum in at or upon the Feast of Saint

Michael the Arch Angel Yearly. And upon Condition that

he the said Jno. Torbett. His Heirs Executors Administrators

or Assigns. do and shall well and Sufficiently keep in good

repair all such Houses - Buildings that are or may hereafter

be Built or Erected upon the said Ground. or any part

thereof and do not. nor shall sell. or dispose of this Lease

or his or their Interest therein without the leave and Consent

of the Governor and Council for the time being And upon

further Condition that he the said John Torbett, on account

of his having permission to Cut down three Trees now

standing upon said Ground that he plant and raise

three

Captain John Torbett's ground lay in James's Valley. It was bounded on the north by the Company's Black House, on the east and south by the Company's waste ground and on the west by the street leading to the watercourse. The plot measured 45 feet across the front and 100 feet in depth.

Torbett was to hold the ground and premises, with everything belonging to them, for 21 years from the date of the lease. The term covered him and anyone who took the ground after him by inheritance or approved transfer.

The lease set out the following conditions. Torbett and his successors had to remain loyal to King George III and faithful to the Company, and had to obey the laws and regulations of the island. They paid the Company a rent of £2 5s 0d a year, due on the feast of St Michael the Archangel. They had to keep in good repair every house and building standing on the ground or put up there later. They could not sell or part with the lease or any interest in it without the permission of the Governor and Council of the day.

A further condition arose from the permission given to Torbett to cut down the trees then standing on the ground. In return he had to plant and raise other trees.

Interpretations

The rent of £2 5s 0d was the highest for any town plot in the volume, and it came to exactly a shilling for each foot of frontage. Building plots paid 3d a foot in 1766, about 4d in the centre of the valley from 1780 and, for deep ground behind houses, a rate by area from 1786. Torbett paid three times the highest of those frontage rates. John Legg's £1 7s 0d for 148 feet on 7 November 1785 was the largest town rent before it. A plot 45 feet wide beside one of the Company's own buildings, on a street leading to the watercourse, was thus valued at four times the standard of 22 years earlier. The lease called the ground premises, which suggested that something of value already stood there. Even so, the figure marked a sharp rise in what the Council asked for a good site in the town.

The trees clause was the third condition in the volume written for a single lease, after the chaplain's water clause of 17 September 1770 and the gates clauses of 7 January 1788. Trees stood on the plot, and Torbett wanted them down to build. The Council could have refused, or let him clear the ground as any town tenant might. It gave permission and attached a price, the planting and raising of other trees. Country leases bound every tenant to keep up the full quantity of wood, and the lease of 1743 under Jamestown number 119 required a tenth of the ground to be planted. No town lease in this volume carried any duty about trees until now. The Company's concern for timber and shade was thus extended into the valley, and a tenant who removed trees there had to replace them.

The Black House was a building of the Company's, named as a landmark like the slaughterhouse and the Lieutenant Governor's house in the leases of 1780.

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all that Piece or parcel of Ground. Situate lying and being in James's

Valley Butting and Bounding North upon the Honble Companys

Black House. East and South upon the Honble Companys Waste

Ground. and West upon the Street. leading to the Water Course

Containing forty five feet in Front. and One hundred Feet

in Depth together with all and Singular the Appurtenances thereunto

belonging To have and to hold. the said hereby demised Piece

or parcel of Ground and premises with their and every other

Appurtenances unto him the said John Torbett his Heirs Executors

Administrators and 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 he the said John

Torbett his Heirs or Allowed Assigns do always bear true

faith and Allegiance to our Sovereign Lord King George the

third 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 Yielding

and paying therefore Yearly and every Year during the said

term and time of twenty One Years. unto the said Honble

Company their Successors. Agents or Assigns the Rent of forty

five Shillings P Annum in at or upon the Feast of Saint

Michael the Arch Angel Yearly. And upon Condition that

he the said Jno. Torbett. His Heirs Executors Administrators

or Assigns. do and shall well and Sufficiently keep in good

repair all such Houses - Buildings that are or may hereafter

be Built or Erected upon the said Ground. or any part

thereof and do not. nor shall sell. or dispose of this Lease

or his or their Interest therein without the leave and Consent

of the Governor and Council for the time being And upon

further Condition that he the said John Torbett, on account

of his having permission to Cut down three Trees now

standing upon said Ground that he plant and raise

three

Captain John Torbett had to plant and raise three trees in place of those he was allowed to cut down. The Governor and Council signed one copy of his lease and fixed the Company's seal to it on 29 September 1788, in the twenty-eighth year of the reign of George III. John Torbett signed and sealed the other copy on the same day, and Richard Goodwin junior signed as witness.

A new lease, made at St Helena, followed. The Company let a piece of ground in James's Valley to Solomon St Maurice of the island. The ground was bounded on the east by the slaughter pound, on the west by the road leading to the barracks, on the north by St Maurice's own ground and on the south by the Company's waste ground. It measured 58 feet in length and 28 feet across the front.

St Maurice was to hold the ground and premises, with everything belonging to them, for the term of the lease.

Interpretations

The lease fixed the number of trees. Torbett had to plant and raise three in place of those felled. A general duty to replant could be met in name by a single sapling or disputed without end. A stated number gave the Council something it could count. The word raise mattered as much as the figure, since a tenant who put in three young trees and let them die had not met the condition. The clause bound him to bring them on, in a valley where the summer was dry and young trees needed watering.

The lease did not say how many trees were cut. Three were probably the number standing, replaced one for one. The Company's country leases protected wood by a general clause that was never measured. In the town, where trees were few and each was noticed, the obligation was set out exactly.

The lease was sealed on 29 September, the feast of St Michael, on which the rent fell due. Lieutenant Gurling's lease of 29 September 1777 was the only earlier one dated on the feast itself. Torbett's term thus began at the exact turn of the rent year, with his first £2 5s 0d owing 12 months later.

St Maurice took a plot beside the slaughterhouse on 4 December 1780, 56 feet wide and running 104 feet from the street to the main watercourse, with the slaughterhouse on its south. The present piece lay south of his own ground, with the slaughter pound on the east. A pound was an enclosure for holding animals, here the cattle waiting to be killed. He was extending his holding along the western side of that yard, towards the road, and the ground was called premises, as Torbett's was.

The road was described as leading to the barracks. The town's ways were by 1788 named by what stood at their ends, the barracks, the watercourse, the Maldivia Gardens and Munden's Point.

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their Appurtenances. unto him the said Solomon St. Maurice

his Heirs Executors. Administrators and 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 he the said Solomon St. Maurice his Heirs or

allowed Assigns. do always bear true faith and Allegiance to

Our Sovereign Lord. King George the third 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. Yielding and Paying

therefore Yearly and every Year. during the said term and

time of twenty One Years unto the said Honble Company their

Successors, Agents or Assigns the Rent of 13/ P Annum

in at or upon the Feast of St. Michael the Arch Angel Yearly

And upon Condition that he the said Solomon St. Maurice

his Heirs Executors. Administrators or Assigns Do and shall

well and sufficiently keep in good repair all such Houses

or Buildings that are or may be hereafter Built or Erected

upon the said Ground or any Part thereof and do not nor

shall sell or dispose of this Lease or his or their Interest

therein. without the leave and consent of the Governor & Council

for the time being In Witness whereof We the said

Governor and Council hath to the other Part. set our Hands

and affixed the Honble Companys Seal. this 29th Day of

September in the Twenty Eight Year of the Reign of our

said Sovereign Lord George the third. by the Grace of God of

Great Britain France and Ireland. King Defender

of the Faith and so forth. And in the Year of our Lord 1788

And he the said Solomon St. Maurice hath hereunto set his

hand and Seal the Day and Year above written.

Soln. St. Maurice

Witness.

Gabriel. Doveton

Solomon St Maurice was to hold the ground beside the slaughter pound for 21 years from the date of the lease. The term covered him and anyone who took the ground after him by inheritance or approved transfer.

The lease set out the following conditions. St Maurice and his successors had to remain loyal to King George III and faithful to the Company, and had to obey the laws and regulations of the island. They paid the Company a rent of £0 13s 0d a year, due on the feast of St Michael the Archangel. They had to keep in good repair every house or building standing on the ground or put up there later. They could not sell or part with the lease or any interest in it without the permission of the Governor and Council of the day.

The Governor and Council signed one copy and fixed the Company's seal to it on 29 September 1788, in the twenty-eighth year of the reign of George III. Solomon St Maurice signed and sealed the other copy on the same day, and Gabriel Doveton signed as witness.

Interpretations

Two town leases were sealed on 29 September 1788. Captain John Torbett paid £2 5s 0d for 45 feet of frontage beside the Company's Black House, a shilling a foot. St Maurice paid £0 13s 0d for 28 feet beside the slaughter pound, a little over 5½d a foot. Both rents stood well above anything charged before. The highest frontage rate until that day was the 4d a foot paid for central plots from 1780 to 1785, and St Maurice's own plots on the upper road were let at 3d in 1786. The Council had evidently raised its charge for building ground in 1788, and it did so unevenly. A site next to an official building cost twice as much by the foot as one next to the yard where cattle were held for slaughter. The single rate of 1766 had by then given way to a scale for the town as wide as the one long used in the country.

St Maurice's plot of 4 December 1780, on the other side of the same slaughterhouse, paid a little over 3d a foot. Eight years later the adjoining ground cost nearly twice that. A tenant extending his holding paid the new price for the addition while the old lease beside it ran on at the old one.

The lease dropped the clause on fences and the mention of walls, both used in every town lease from December 1786 to November 1787, including St Maurice's own two of 11 December 1786. It returned to the plain repair clause of the 1770s. Torbett's lease of the same day did likewise. The form revived from the lease of 2 December 1765 was thus given up again after three years.

Both leases were dated on the feast of St Michael itself. Gabriel Doveton witnessed this one and Richard Goodwin junior the other, the two who attested the leases of 1788.

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Island St. 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 let unto Isaac Doveton Planter all that Piece or parcel

of Land containing Seven Acres and a half situate lying and

being in the East Division of this Island. Butting and bounding

every way upon the said Isaac Dovetons own Land To have

and to hold. the said hereby Demised parcel of Land with

the Appurtenances and every part and Parcel thereof unto him the

said Isaac Doveton his Heirs Executors Administrators and 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 he the said Isaac Doveton his Heirs or allowed

Assigns. do always bear true faith and Allegiance to Our Sovereign

Lord. King George the Third 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. Yielding and paying therefore Yearly and every Year

during the said term and time of twenty One Years unto the

said Honble Company their Successors Agents or Assigns. the Rent

of five Shillings P Acre. in at or upon the feast of St. Michael the

Arch Angel Yearly And upon Condition that he the said Isaac

Doveton 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 not nor shall Sell or dispose of this Lease. or his or their

interest therein without the leave and Consent of the Governor

and Council for the time being. In Witness whereof

We the said Governor and Council have to the other Part

Set our Hands. and affixed the Honble Companys Seal

this 29th Day. of September in the Twenty Eight Year of

the

The Company let seven and a half acres of land in the East Division to Isaac Doveton, a planter. Doveton's own land bounded the ground on every side.

Doveton was to hold the ground, with everything belonging to it, for 21 years from the date of the lease. The term covered him and anyone who took the ground after him by inheritance or approved transfer.

The lease set out the following conditions. Doveton and his successors had to remain loyal to King George III and faithful to the Company, and had to obey the laws and regulations of the island. They paid the Company a rent of 5s 0d an acre each year, due on the feast of St Michael the Archangel. They had to keep the fences of the land in good repair and maintain the full quantity of wood on it. They could not sell or part with the lease or any interest in it without the permission of the Governor and Council of the day.

The Governor and Council sealed their copy on 29 September 1788, in the twenty-eighth year of the reign of George III.

Interpretations

The lease replaced one of 2 March 1767. On that day the Company let seven and a half acres in the East Division to Isaac Doveton for 21 years at 5s 0d an acre, bounded on the east by the land of Matthew Purling Esquire and on the west, north and south by Doveton's own land. The term ended in March 1788. The acreage, the division, the rent and the tenant were the same here, and only the eastern boundary differed. In 1767 Purling's land lay on that side. In 1788 the piece was surrounded by Doveton's own. Purling's seven and a half acres of cabbage tree land, which adjoined it across their common line, passed to John Robinson and were renewed to him on 26 November 1787. Some further part of Purling's ground on that boundary had evidently come to Doveton, so that his own land now closed the fourth side. The estate of the Esquire of the 1760s was thus divided between at least two of his neighbours.

The tenant of 1767 renewed in person 21 years later, one of very few in the volume to hold a lease through its whole term and take its successor himself. The rent was unchanged at the top of the scale, as with Matthew Bazett's eight and a half acres on 8 October 1787.

The expired lease ran out in March, and the renewal was dated on the feast of St Michael, six months later. The renewals of 1787 were likewise held to the turn of the rent year. Three leases bore the date of 29 September 1788, two for town ground and this one.

No note marked the entry as a renewal, although the clerk labelled those of the previous season and John Worrall's of 21 July 1788.

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Matthew Doveton signed and sealed the lease of the seven and a half acres on Isaac Doveton's behalf in 1788, and Richard Goodwin junior signed as witness.

A new lease, made at St Helena, followed. The Company let a plot of ground in James's Valley to Matthew Bazett Esquire of the island. The plot was bounded on the north by the yard of Mary Beale, on the south by the yard of William Webber Doveton and by Bazett's own stable, on the west by Bazett's own yard and on the east by the Company's waste ground. It measured about 66 feet across where it met Bazett's yard and about 71 feet across at the back, where it met the Company's ground. The depth was about 81 feet along Mary Beale's side and about 60 feet along Doveton's side.

Bazett was to hold the ground and premises, with everything belonging to them, for 21 years from the date of the lease. The term covered him and anyone who took the ground after him by inheritance or approved transfer.

Interpretations

The lease renewed the one of 16 February 1767. That lease let Matthew Bazett, then Secretary, a plot behind his yard and stable measuring about 66 feet and 71 feet across and about 81 feet and 60 feet deep, and a plan of it was drawn beneath his signature. The four measurements here were the same, each still qualified as approximate, and the stable and yard stood where they did. The term ended in February 1788. Its successor repeated the old description figure for figure, as John Robinson's renewal of the cabbage tree land repeated Purling's.

The neighbours had changed. In 1767 the yard on the north belonged to Richard Beale senior and the yard on the south to John Pritchard. In 1788 Mary Beale held the first and William Webber Doveton the second. The Beale property had passed within the family, to the woman who acted as trustee for Lieutenant Anthony Beale on 30 September 1784. Pritchard's yard had gone to a factor, the man who owned a freehold on the main street. A renewal copied from the old lease thus recorded, in two altered names, 21 years of change on either side of a plot that had not moved.

The eastern boundary was still the Company's waste ground. Open land lay behind Bazett's yard in 1767 and lay there yet, although central plots were by 1788 let at a shilling a foot. The valley floor was not built up evenly, and ground at the back of the oldest premises remained ungranted.

Bazett was styled Esquire, with the words added above the line, and the lease did not name him as a member of the Council, as those of 20 August and 8 October 1787 did. The ground was called premises, the word used in the town leases of 29 September 1788.

Matthew Doveton signed for Isaac Doveton, as he did on both leases of 3 December 1787. The planter who signed his own lease in 1767 did not attend its renewal.

Matthew Doveton signed and sealed the lease of the seven and a half acres on Isaac Doveton's behalf in 1788, and Richard Goodwin junior signed as witness.

A new lease, made at St Helena, followed. The Company let a plot of ground in James's Valley to Matthew Bazett Esquire of the island. The plot was bounded on the north by the yard of Mary Beale, on the south by the yard of William Webber Doveton and by Bazett's own stable, on the west by Bazett's own yard and on the east by the Company's waste ground. It measured about 66 feet across where it met Bazett's yard and about 71 feet across at the back, where it met the Company's ground. The depth was about 81 feet along Mary Beale's side and about 60 feet along Doveton's side.

Bazett was to hold the ground and premises, with everything belonging to them, for 21 years from the date of the lease. The term covered him and anyone who took the ground after him by inheritance or approved transfer.

Interpretations

The lease renewed the one of 16 February 1767. That lease let Matthew Bazett, then Secretary, a plot behind his yard and stable measuring about 66 feet and 71 feet across and about 81 feet and 60 feet deep, and a plan of it was drawn beneath his signature. The four measurements here were the same, each still qualified as approximate, and the stable and yard stood where they did. The term ended in February 1788. Its successor repeated the old description figure for figure, as John Robinson's renewal of the cabbage tree land repeated Purling's.

The neighbours had changed. In 1767 the yard on the north belonged to Richard Beale senior and the yard on the south to John Pritchard. In 1788 Mary Beale held the first and William Webber Doveton the second. The Beale property had passed within the family, to the woman who acted as trustee for Lieutenant Anthony Beale on 30 September 1784. Pritchard's yard had gone to a factor, the man who owned a freehold on the main street. A renewal copied from the old lease thus recorded, in two altered names, 21 years of change on either side of a plot that had not moved.

The eastern boundary was still the Company's waste ground. Open land lay behind Bazett's yard in 1767 and lay there yet, although central plots were by 1788 let at a shilling a foot. The valley floor was not built up evenly, and ground at the back of the oldest premises remained ungranted.

Bazett was styled Esquire, with the words added above the line, and the lease did not name him as a member of the Council, as those of 20 August and 8 October 1787 did. The ground was called premises, the word used in the town leases of 29 September 1788.

Matthew Doveton signed for Isaac Doveton, as he did on both leases of 3 December 1787. The planter who signed his own lease in 1767 did not attend its renewal.

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do always bear true faith and allegiance to Our Sovereign Lord

King George the third 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,

Yielding and paying therefore Yearly and every Year during the

said term and time of twenty one Years unto the said Honble

Companys their Successors Agents or Assigns the Rent of ten

shillings P Annum, in at or upon the Feast of St. Michael the

Arch Angel Yearly And upon Condition that he the said

Matthew Bazett, his Heirs, Executors Administrators or Assigns

Do and shall, well and sufficiently keep in good Repair, all

such Houses or Buildings that are or may be hereafter

built, or erected upon the said Ground, or any part thereof and

do not nor shall sell or dispose of this Lease or his or their

Interest therein without the leave and Consent of the

Governor and Council for the time being In Witness

whereof We the said Governor and Council have to the other part

set their hands and affixed the Honble Company's seal this 29 Day

of September, in the 28th Year of the Reign of Our said

Sovereign Lord George the Third by the Grace of God of Great

Britain, France, and Ireland King Defender of the Faith

and so forth, and in the Year of our Lord 1788, And he

the said Matthew Bazett hath hereunto set

his hand and Seal the Day and Year abovewritten.

Jno. Doveton

for Mattw. Bazett

Witness

Richd. Goodwin Junr.

Island St. 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 Let unto William Webber Doveton Factor

Matthew Bazett and his successors had to remain loyal to King George III and faithful to the Company, and had to obey the laws and regulations of the island. They paid the Company a rent of £0 10s 0d a year on the plot behind his yard and stable, due on the feast of St Michael the Archangel. They had to keep in good repair every house or building standing on the ground or put up there later. They could not sell or part with the lease or any interest in it without the permission of the Governor and Council of the day.

The Governor and Council signed one copy and fixed the Company's seal to it on 29 September 1788, in the twenty-eighth year of the reign of George III. John Doveton signed and sealed the other copy on Matthew Bazett's behalf, and Richard Goodwin junior signed as witness.

A new lease, made at St Helena, followed. The Company let a piece of ground to William Webber Doveton, a factor.

Interpretations

The renewal kept the rent of 16 February 1767. Bazett paid £0 10s 0d then for a plot about 66 feet wide, and £0 10s 0d now. In 1767 that sum already stood below the 3d a foot charged to the tradesmen who took plots in the same weeks, and the lease gave no reason for it. On the day of this renewal, Captain John Torbett was charged a shilling a foot for 45 feet and Solomon St Maurice over 5½d a foot for 28. Bazett's 66 feet came to under 2d. The Council thus raised its price for new town ground sharply in 1788 and, at the same sitting, renewed an old plot at the figure of 21 years before. Lieutenant Beale's renewal of 19 November 1787 showed the same practice. Its effect was greatest here, on ground first let cheaply to the Secretary and now renewed to him as a member of the body that fixed the rents.

The practice was general, and no rule was bent for him. Renewal at the old rent nonetheless meant that the gap between long-established holders and newcomers widened with every rise in the price of new ground. Those who held town plots from the 1760s, most of them the Company's officers and officials, paid a fraction of what a tenant arriving in 1788 was asked.

John Doveton signed for Bazett. A factor completed the lease on behalf of a councillor who did not attend, as kinsmen and neighbours did for planters throughout the volume. Bazett signed his own renewals of 8 October 1787.

Four leases bore the date of 29 September 1788, to Torbett, St Maurice, Isaac Doveton and Bazett. Two were new grants at the new prices and two were renewals on the terms of 1767. Richard Goodwin junior witnessed three of them.

William Webber Doveton, whose yard bounded Bazett's plot on the south, was the tenant of the next lease.

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of the Said Island, All that piece or parcel of Cabbage tree Land

containing nineteen Acres situate lying and being under the Main

Ridge next to Sandy Bay, butting and bounding towards the

North and East upon the Lands of him the said William Webber

Doveton, South upon the Lands of William Seale Junr. Planter

and West upon the Lands of Jas. Colgrave Planter to have

and to hold the said hereby demised parcel of Land with the

appurtenances and every part and parcel thereof unto him the

said William Webber Doveton, his Heirs Executors Administrators

and 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 he the said William Webber

Doveton his Heirs or Allowed Assigns do always bear true Faith

and Allegiance to our Sovereign Lord King George the third, his

Heirs and Successors and true Faith to them the said Honorable

Company and their Successors and shall Duly obey all the

Laws and Constitutions of the said Island Yielding and paying

therefore Yearly and every Year during the said term and time

of twenty one Years, unto the said Honorable Company their

Successors Agents or Assigns, the Rent of Five Shillings P Acre

in at or upon the Feast of St. Michael the Arch Angel Yearly

And upon Condition that he the said William Webber Doveton

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 not nor shall sell

or dispose of this Lease or his or their Interest therein without

the leave and Consent of the Governor and Council for the

time being In Witness whereof we the said Governor

and Council, have to the other part, set their Hands and affixed the

Honble Companys Seal this twenty ninth, Day of September

in the twenty Eighth Year of the Reign of Our said

Sovereign Lord George the third, by the Grace of Great

Britain France and Ireland, King Defender of the Faith

and so forth, and in the Year of Our Lord 1788 and he

the said Willm. Webber Doveton hath hereunto

his hand and Seal the Day and Year abovewritten,

W.W. Doveton

Witness.

Richd. Goodwin Junr.

William Webber Doveton's ground was 19 acres of cabbage tree land lying under the main ridge next to Sandy Bay. It was bounded on the north and east by Doveton's own lands, on the south by the lands of William Seale junior, a planter, and on the west by the lands of James Colgrave, a planter.

Doveton was to hold the ground, with everything belonging to it, for 21 years from the date of the lease. The term covered him and anyone who took the ground after him by inheritance or approved transfer.

The lease set out the following conditions. Doveton and his successors had to remain loyal to King George III and faithful to the Company, and had to obey the laws and regulations of the island. They paid the Company a rent of 5s 0d an acre each year, due on the feast of St Michael the Archangel. They had to keep the fences of the land in good repair and maintain the full quantity of wood on it. They could not sell or part with the lease or any interest in it without the permission of the Governor and Council of the day.

The Governor and Council signed one copy and fixed the Company's seal to it on 29 September 1788, in the twenty-eighth year of the reign of George III. William Webber Doveton signed and sealed the other copy on the same day, and Richard Goodwin junior signed as witness.

Interpretations

Cabbage tree land was native woodland on the high ground, and every earlier lease that named it lay on the northern side of the island's spine. Matthew Purling's seven and a half acres stood near Halley's Mount, Mary Doveton's acre at the head of a branch of James's Valley and Matthew Bazett's 32½ acres along the ridge in the East Division. Richard Goodwin's lease of 4 September 1780 mentioned the Company's waste cabbage tree lands in the south of the island as ground not yet let. Doveton's 19 acres were the first such woodland granted on the Sandy Bay side. The leases of 1784 to the Seale children, Mary Beale and Nathaniel Kennedy carried farms up the southern slope to the ridge. The wood under the crest above them was now passing into private hands as well, and the Company's reserve of native timber was being let from both sides.

The rent was the full 5s 0d an acre, as on every piece of cabbage tree land in the volume. Standing wood was valued at the top of the scale in 1766 and still in 1788, and the clause binding the tenant to keep up the full quantity of wood applied to ground whose worth lay in its trees.

Doveton's own lands bounded the piece on the north and east. His only earlier country lease, of February 1784, gave him two acres in Friar's Valley, which he gave up to Robert Leech. A factor with a freehold in the town thus held an estate under the ridge at Sandy Bay by a title the volume did not record, as Kennedy, Jonathan Doveton and David Kay held theirs.

James Colgrave's 42½ acres at Sandy Bay, let on 11 April 1785, had William Seale junior on the east. Both men bounded Doveton's woodland, Colgrave on the west and Seale on the south. The same neighbours fixed the place from both leases.

Five leases were sealed on 29 September 1788, the feast of St Michael. Richard Goodwin junior witnessed four of them.

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Island St. 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. Let unto John Seale Senr. Planter. All that

piece or Parcel of Land containing Eight Acres. Situate lying

and being in Deep Valley. butting and bounding North

upon the Honble Companys Waste Lands West upon the

Lands of Francis Seale. South and East upon the said

John Seales own Land. To have and to hold. the said hereby demised

parcel of Land with the Appurtenances and every part and Parcel

thereof unto him the said John Seale Senr. his Heirs Executors

Administrators and 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 he the said Jno. Seale Senr.

his Heirs or Allowed Assigns do always bear true Faith and Allegiance

to our Sovereign Lord King George the Third 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 Yielding and paying therefore

Yearly and every Year. during the said term and time of

twenty one Years unto the said Honble Company their Successors

Agents or Assigns the Rent of five Shillings P Acre. in

at or upon the Feast of St. Michael the Arch Angel. Yearly

And upon Condition that he the said Jno. Seale Senr. 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

not nor shall or dispose of this Lease or his or their Interest

therein without the leave and Consent of the Governor and

Council

The Company let eight acres of land in Deep Valley to John Seale senior, a planter. The ground was bounded on the north by the Company's waste land, on the west by the lands of Francis Seale and on the south and east by John Seale's own land.

Seale was to hold the ground, with everything belonging to it, for 21 years from the date of the lease. The term covered him and anyone who took the ground after him by inheritance or approved transfer.

The lease set out the following conditions. Seale and his successors had to remain loyal to King George III and faithful to the Company, and had to obey the laws and regulations of the island. They paid the Company a rent of 5s 0d an acre each year, due on the feast of St Michael the Archangel. They had to keep the fences of the land in good repair and maintain the full quantity of wood on it. They could not sell or part with the lease or any interest in it without the permission of the Governor and Council of the day.

Interpretations

The lease replaced one of 15 December 1766. William Seale senior then took eight acres in a valley of the East Division, with the Company's waste on the north and his own land on the south and east, at 5s 0d an acre for 21 years. The acreage, the rent and three of the four boundaries were the same here, and the valley was now named as Deep Valley. That term ended in December 1787. The western neighbour in 1766 was a man named James, and in 1788 it was Francis Seale, the lieutenant who took small pieces beside James Colgrave on 11 February 1782.

The tenant was John Seale senior. The John Seale who signed for William on 27 March 1775 and held the farm by 30 September 1775 was dead by 27 November 1780, when his orphans were named as neighbours, and three executors took land at Sandy Bay for his children on 9 August 1784. A living John Seale senior could not be that man. The style of senior implied a younger John as well. The family therefore had at least three men of the name within 13 years, and the one renewing here held the Deep Valley farm in his own right, with land of his own on two sides. The renewal went to him and not to the dead man's executors, so the old farm had passed outside the trust made for the orphans. As with the Bagleys, the leases gave the names and left the relationships to be inferred.

The waste still lay on the north of the eight acres, as in 1766. William Seale took a further band beyond it on 4 September 1769 at 2s 0d, so the description was copied from the old lease without regard to what had since been let. A renewal repeated the boundaries of 21 years before, and where the tenant's name had not changed the neighbours were not brought up to date either.

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Council for the time being In Witness whereof We the said

Governor and Council hath to the other Part Set Our Hands

and affixed the Honble Companys Seal this 29th day of September

in the Twenty Eight Year of the Reign of Our said

Sovereign Lord George the Third by the Grace of God of

Great Britain France and Ireland King defender of

the faith and so forth And in the Year of Our Lord

1788. And the said Jno. Seale. Senr. hath hereunto Set his

Hand. and Seal. the day and Year above written

John Seale Senr.

Witness

Richd. Goodwin Junr.

Island St. 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 Let unto Thos. Lester Town

Adjutant all that piece or parcel of Ground Situate lying

and being in James Valley adjoining East and West upon

the Honble Companys Waste Ground. North upon the House

of Henry Bazett and South upon the School House Yard

containing in Front Sixty Feet, and in Depth fifty five feet

To have and to hold. the said hereby demised parcel of Ground

with the Appurtenances and every part and parcel thereof unto

him the said Thos. Lester his Heirs Executors Administrators

and

The Governor and Council signed one copy of John Seale senior's lease of the eight acres in Deep Valley and fixed the Company's seal to it on 29 September 1788, in the twenty-eighth year of the reign of George III. John Seale senior signed and sealed the other copy on the same day, and Richard Goodwin junior signed as witness.

A new lease, made at St Helena, followed. The Company let a plot of ground in James's Valley to Thomas Lester, the town adjutant. The plot was bounded on the east and west by the Company's waste ground, on the north by the house of Henry Bazett and on the south by the school house yard. It measured 60 feet across the front and 55 feet in depth.

Lester was to hold the ground, with everything belonging to it, for 21 years from the date of the lease. The term covered him and anyone who took the ground after him by inheritance or approved transfer.

Interpretations

The plot measured 60 feet by 55 feet, with waste on the east and west. George Bird's lease of 12 January 1767 let a plot of exactly those dimensions, then standing alone in the Company's waste, for 21 years. That term ended in January 1788. Bird had a house and back yard there by 18 February 1771. The ground let to Lester was in all probability the same plot, passed to a new tenant at the end of the joiner's term. In 1767 it had no neighbour on any side. In 1788 Henry Bazett's house stood on the north and a school house yard on the south. Two buildings had risen beside a plot that began in open ground, and the lease recorded the growth of that part of the valley in its changed boundaries.

The school house was named for the first time in the volume. With the Black House, the slaughterhouse, the barracks and the Lieutenant Governor's house, it was one of the public buildings by which town plots were located in the 1780s. A yard attached to it showed an established school in the valley by 1788.

The town adjutant was a garrison staff officer responsible for the routine of the town's guards and duties. Charles Ross Stewart was styled lieutenant and adjutant on 30 September 1776. Lester's was a distinct post, tied to the town.

Six leases were sealed on 29 September 1788. Three replaced leases of 1766 and 1767, to Isaac Doveton, Matthew Bazett and John Seale senior, and none of the three was marked as a renewal. The clerk's notes of the previous season had lapsed.

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and 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 he the said Thomas

Lester his Heirs Executors Administrators and Assigns do

and shall bear true faith and Allegiance to Our Sovereign

Lord King George the Third his Heirs and Successors &

true faith to them the said Honble Company and their

Successors. and shall duly obey all the Laws and Constitutions

of the said Island Yielding and paying therefore

Yearly and every Year. during the said term and time

of Twenty One Years. unto the said Honble Company their

Successors Agents or Assigns the Sum of Fifteen Shillings P

Annum in at or upon the feast of St. Michael the Arch

Angel Yearly. And upon Condition that he the said Thos.

Lester his Heirs Executors. Administrators and Assigns Do and

shall well and Sufficiently keep in good Repair all such

Houses and buildings that are or may be hereafter Built or

Erected upon the said Ground. or any part thereof and do

not nor shall Sell or dispose of this Lease. or his or their

Interest therein. without the Leave and Consent of the Governor

and Council for the time being. In Witness whereof We

the said Governor and Council hath to the other Part set

our hands. and affixed the Honble Companys Seal this

29th Day of September in the Twenty Eight Year of the

Reign of Our Sovereign Lord George the Third by the

Grace of God of Great Britain France. and Ireland. King

defender of the faith and so forth And in the Year of our Lord

1788. And he the said Thomas Lester hath hereunto Set

his hand and Seal. the day and Year above written.

T. Lester

Witness

Richd. Goodwin Junr.

Thomas Lester and his successors had to remain loyal to King George III and faithful to the Company, and had to obey the laws and regulations of the island. They paid the Company a rent of £0 15s 0d a year for the 21 years of the term, due on the feast of St Michael the Archangel. They had to keep in good repair every house and building standing on the ground or put up there later. They could not sell or part with the lease or any interest in it without the permission of the Governor and Council of the day.

The Governor and Council signed one copy and fixed the Company's seal to it on 29 September 1788, in the twenty-eighth year of the reign of George III. Thomas Lester signed and sealed the other copy on the same day, and Richard Goodwin junior signed as witness.

Interpretations

Lester paid £0 15s 0d for 60 feet of frontage, exactly 3d a foot. George Bird paid £0 15s 0d on 12 January 1767 for a plot of 60 feet by 55 feet. The rent matched the dimensions, which confirmed that this was Bird's plot let again at the end of his term. A new tenant thus took over an old holding at the rent of 21 years before. The renewals to Lieutenant Beale on 19 November 1787 and to Matthew Bazett on this same day kept old rents for sitting tenants. Lester's lease showed the old figure passing with the ground to a different man. The rent of a town plot was evidently fixed to the plot at its first letting and repeated at each new lease, whoever held it.

On the same day Captain John Torbett paid a shilling a foot beside the Black House and Solomon St Maurice over 5½d a foot beside the slaughter pound. Lester's plot lay between Henry Bazett's house and the school house yard, in a built-up part of the valley, and cost a quarter of Torbett's rate. The higher prices of 1788 therefore applied only to ground never let before. Three levels of rent stood side by side at one sitting, the standard of the 1760s on old plots, and two much higher figures on new ones.

The effect favoured whoever acquired an old plot. A tenant buying or succeeding to ground first let in 1767 held a central site for a fraction of what the Council charged for the waste next to it, and the Company gained nothing from the rise in the value of land it had already leased.

The lease used the plain repair clause, with no clause on fences, as did the other town leases of 29 September 1788. Seven leases were sealed that day, and Richard Goodwin junior witnessed six of them.

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Island St. 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 Let unto Mary Goudy of the said

Island All that Piece or parcel of Ground containing 15

feet in length and thirteen Feet. in Breadth Situate lying

and being in James's Valley on the back part of the House

of said Mary Goudy To have and to hold. the said hereby

parcel of Ground with the Appurtenances and every part and

Parcel thereof unto her the said Mary Goudy her Heirs

Executors Administrators and 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 she the said Mary Goudy her Heirs or Allowed Assigns

Do always bear true faith and Allegiance to Our Sovereign

Lord King George the Third 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 Yielding and paying therefore

Yearly and every Year. during the said term and time

of twenty one Years. unto the said Honble Company

their Successors. Agents or Assigns the Yearly Rent of three

Shillings P Annum in at or upon the Feast of St. Michael

the Arch Angel Yearly And upon Condition that she the

said Mary Goudy. her Heirs Executors Administrators

or Assigns Do and shall well and Sufficiently keep up

and maintain in good Repair all the Buildings that

is already or may be hereafter Built or Erected on the

said Ground or any Part thereof And upon further

Condition that she the said Mary Goudy her Heirs

Executors

The Company let a small piece of ground in James's Valley to Mary Goudy of the island. The ground measured 15 feet in length and 13 feet in breadth and lay at the back of her house.

Mary Goudy was to hold the ground, with everything belonging to it, for 21 years from the date of the lease. The term covered her and anyone who took the ground after her by inheritance or approved transfer.

Mary Goudy and her successors had to remain loyal to King George III and faithful to the Company, and had to obey the laws and regulations of the island. They paid the Company a rent of £0 3s 0d a year, due on the feast of St Michael the Archangel. They had to keep in good repair every building standing on the ground or put up there later.

Interpretations

James Goudy, a shopkeeper, took a plot of 40 feet by 50 feet in James's Valley on 12 January 1767, standing alone in the Company's waste, for 21 years. That term ended in January 1788. Mary Goudy now held a house in the valley and took the ground behind it in her own name. She was in all probability his widow or daughter, in possession of the house built on that plot. George Bird's plot, let on the same day in 1767, passed to the town adjutant on 29 September 1788. The shopkeeper's stayed with his family. Two plots marked out together in open ground thus went different ways at the end of their first terms, one to a stranger and one by descent.

The rent of £0 3s 0d fell below the old minimum of £0 5s 0d, which the heirs of William Young paid on 22 May 1780 for a piece of 17 feet by 13 feet, almost exactly this size. Thomas Alesworth paid £0 4s 0d on 4 December 1786 for 30 feet by 21. The floor kept by the Secretary's office from 1778 had plainly gone, and a scrap of back ground was again let for a few shillings to an ordinary tenant. A woman of no stated rank paid less for it than an estate with two Bazetts among its trustees did eight years earlier.

The lease was made to a woman in her own right, with no description of her as widow or spinster. Elizabeth Lambe and Mary Beale were styled Mrs in the leases of 1780 and 1784. The clerk here gave the bare name.

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Executors Administrators or Assigns shall not Alter or remove

the Fences they being the limits or Landmarks of the said

Piece of Ground. And shall not Sell or Dispose of this

Lease or her or their Interest therein without the leave

and Consent of the Governor and Council for the time being

In Witness whereof We the said Governor and Council

have to the other Part set Our hands. and affixed the

Honble Companys Seal. this 29th Day of September in

the Twenty Eight Year of the reign of our said Sovereign

Lord George the Third by the Grace of God. of Great Britain

France or Ireland. King Defender of the faith and so forth

And in the Year of Our Lord 1788. And she the said Mary

Goudy hath hereunto Set her hand Seal the Day and

Year above written

John Legg for

Mary Goudy

Witness.

Richd. Goodwin Junr.

Island St. 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, Let unto Sarah Harper Widow All

those two parcels of Land containing in the Whole six Acres

three Acres of which situate Lying and being behind her

dwelling House, butting and bounding North and East upon the

Honble Companys Waste Land, West and South upon the said

Sarah Harpers own Land, the other three Acres butting and

bounding

Mary Goudy and her successors could not alter or remove the fences, which served as the boundary marks of the ground behind her house. They could not sell or part with the lease or any interest in it without the permission of the Governor and Council of the day. The Governor and Council signed one copy and fixed the Company's seal to it on 29 September 1788, in the twenty-eighth year of the reign of George III. John Legg signed and sealed the other copy on Mary Goudy's behalf, and Richard Goodwin junior signed as witness.

A new lease, made at St Helena, followed. The Company let two pieces of land, six acres in all, to Sarah Harper, a widow. The first three acres lay behind her dwelling house. They were bounded on the north and east by the Company's waste land and on the west and south by Sarah Harper's own land.

Interpretations

Sarah Harper's lease repeated one of 12 October 1767. The Company then let Lieutenant Solomon St Maurice two pieces of three acres each, six acres in all, the first lying behind his dwelling house with the Company's waste on the north and east and his own land on the west and south. The description here was the same, with her name in place of his. That term ended on 12 October 1788, and the new lease was sealed about a fortnight before it ran out. St Maurice's country house and farm in the West Division had therefore passed to her. Jonathan Doveton's lease of 18 December 1786 named Mrs Sarah Harper as a landholder on his north in that division, so she held the farm by then. St Maurice, a lieutenant living on his country land in 1767, was by 1786 taking plot after plot in the town with no rank given. He had sold the farm and moved into the valley, and the lease came up for renewal in the buyer's name.

Three of the earliest country leases in the volume were thus renewed to purchasers, Matthew Purling's to John Robinson, John Desfountain's to Richard Mason and St Maurice's to Sarah Harper. In each case the register showed the sale only when the 21 years ended.

Mary Goudy's lease carried the clause on fences, where the other town leases of 29 September 1788 used the repair clause alone. Both forms were in use at one sitting.

John Legg signed for her. He was a joiner with 148 feet on the upper road from 7 November 1785 and an executor for John Price in 1780. A woman named as tenant again did not sign, and a neighbouring tradesman acted for a shopkeeper's family.

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bounding North and East and partly West upon the Honble

Companys Waste Land, South and partly West upon the Lands of

her the said Sarah Harper. To have and to hold the said hereby

demised two parcels of Land with the appurtenances and every part

and parcel thereof unto the said Sarah Harper her Heirs Executors

Administrators and 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 She the said Sarah Harper

her Heirs or Allowed Assigns, do always bear true Faith and Allegi-

ance to Our Sovereign Lord King George the third, 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. Yielding and paying therefore

Yearly and every Year during the said term and time of twenty

one Years unto the said Honble Company their Successors Agents

or Assigns the Rent of One Shilling P Acre in at or upon

the Feast of St. Michael the Arch Angel Yearly. And upon

Condition that She the said Sarah Harper her Heirs Executors Adminis-

trators or Assigns do and shall well and Sufficiently keep up and

maintain the Fences to the said Lands and the full quantity of

Wood thereon, and do not nor shall sell or dispose of this Lease

or her or their Interest therein without the leave and Consent

of the Governor & Council for the time being. In Witness

whereof We the said Governor and Council have to the other part

set Our hands and Affixed the Honble. Company's Seal this

Day of November in the twenty Eight Year of the Reign

of Our said Sovereign Lord George the Third by the

Grace of God of Great Britain France and Ireland

King Defender of the Faith and so forth And in the

Year of Our Lord 1788. And She the said Sarah Harper

hath hereunto set her hand and Seal the Day &

Year above Written.

[...] Harper for

S Harper

Witness

W.W. Doveton

Sarah Harper's second piece of three acres was bounded on the north, on the east and partly on the west by the Company's waste land, and on the south and partly on the west by her own lands.

Sarah Harper was to hold both pieces, with everything belonging to them, for 21 years from the date of the lease. The term covered her and anyone who took the ground after her by inheritance or approved transfer.

The lease set out the following conditions. Sarah Harper and her successors had to remain loyal to King George III and faithful to the Company, and had to obey the laws and regulations of the island. They paid the Company a rent of 1s 0d an acre each year, due on the feast of St Michael the Archangel. They had to keep the fences of the land in good repair and maintain the full quantity of wood on it. They could not sell or part with the lease or any interest in it without the permission of the Governor and Council of the day.

The Governor and Council signed one copy and fixed the Company's seal to it in November 1788, in the twenty-eighth year of the reign of George III, with the day of the month left blank. A man named Harper signed and sealed the other copy on Sarah Harper's behalf, and a member of the Doveton family signed as witness.

Interpretations

The second piece matched the lease of 12 October 1767 as closely as the first, with waste on the north, the east and part of the west and the tenant's land on the south and the remainder of the west. The rent was the 1s 0d an acre that Lieutenant Solomon St Maurice paid. In 1767 that figure stood out as one of the cheap grants to men of rank, set against the 5s 0d charged to planters for ground of the same kind. Twenty-one years later a widow who had bought the farm paid it in her turn. Whatever earned the lieutenant his rate, the benefit went with the land and not with him. A low rent once fixed became part of the holding and passed to any purchaser at renewal, as the old town rents did.

The description still placed the Company's waste round both pieces. St Maurice's lease of 27 June 1768 and John Worrall's of 16 November 1767 let ground beside them, so the boundaries were copied from the lease of 1767 without revision, as in John Seale senior's renewal of 29 September 1788.

The lease stated the month of November and the twenty-eighth year of the reign. That year ended on 24 October 1788, so the two did not agree. The day was left blank. The old term ran out on 12 October, and the entry was evidently written out before then with the regnal year of the time, and completed after it with the month alone.

A man signed for the widow, as for every woman tenant in the volume but Margaret Harper. He bore her surname and was probably her son.

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Island St. 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

Let unto the Revd. Jno. Wilson. All that Piece or Parcel of Land

containing twelve Acres called Ploughs Plain lying in the

West Division of the said Island butting and bounding East

West and North upon the Honble Companys Waste Land and South upon the Lands of Thomas [...]; To have and

to hold. the said hereby Demised Parcel of Land with the

Appurtenances and every part and Parcel thereof unto him

the said Revd. Jno. Wilson his Heirs. Executors. Administrators

and 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 he the said Reverend

Jno. Wilson his Heirs Executors. Administrators and Assigns

Do and shall bear true faith and Allegiance to Our

Sovereign Lord King George the third 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 Yielding and paying therefore

Yearly and every Year during the said term and time of

Twenty One Years unto the said Honble Company their

Successors Agents or Assigns the Rent of One Shilling and Six

Pence Per Acre in at or upon the Feast of St. Michael

the Arch Angel. Yearly and upon Condition that he the said

Revd. Jno. Wilson 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 that may be planted thereon and do not nor shall

Sell or dispose of this Lease. or his or their Interest

therein without the leave and Consent of the Governor

and Council for the time being. And upon further Condition

that

The Company let 12 acres of land in the West Division to the Reverend John Wilson. The ground was called Clough's Plain. It was bounded on the east, west and north by the Company's waste land and on the south by the lands of Thomas [...].

Wilson was to hold the ground, with everything belonging to it, for 21 years from the date of the lease. The term covered him and anyone who took the ground after him by inheritance or approved transfer.

The lease set out the following conditions. Wilson and his successors had to remain loyal to King George III and faithful to the Company, and had to obey the laws and regulations of the island. They paid the Company a rent of 1s 2d an acre each year, due on the feast of St Michael the Archangel. They had to keep the fences of the land in good repair and maintain the full quantity of wood that might be planted on it. They could not sell or part with the lease or any interest in it without the permission of the Governor and Council of the day. A further condition followed.

Interpretations

The clause on wood was reworded. Every country lease from 10 February 1766 bound the tenant to maintain the full quantity of wood on the land, which assumed that trees stood there. Wilson was to maintain the wood that might be planted. The ground was called a plain and lay open to the waste on three sides, so it was evidently bare. The standard words would have bound him to preserve nothing. The Council could have left them as an empty form, as it did in every earlier lease of treeless margin. It changed them to fit the ground, so that any trees he set there came under the Company's protection from the day they were planted. Captain John Torbett's lease of 29 September 1788 required three trees to be planted and raised in the town. The two leases of that season showed the Council turning from the keeping of existing wood to the making of new.

The rent of 1s 2d an acre was a figure not used before, a step between the 1s 0d and 1s 3d of earlier leases. The scale now held ten rates from 6d to 5s 0d. On 12 acres it came to £0 14s 0d a year.

The tenant was a clergyman. The Reverend William Bearcroft, the chaplain, took 61 acres in the West Division on 17 September 1770 at 1s 6d, with a special clause protecting a stream. The Reverend Richard Boys held country leases in the later register. Wilson was the second of three successive clergy recorded as farming the Company's land, and his lease, like Bearcroft's, carried a condition written for it alone.

The southern boundary was added above the line, having been left out when the lease was first written.

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that should the turning the Water by a Drain to Ploughs Plain

by a Drought or otherwise become injurious to the Commonage

adjoining he the said Revd. Jno. Wilson His Heirs Executors

Administrators or Assigns in such Case. on proof being

made thereof shall turn the Water into its former Course

In Witness whereof We the said Governor and Council

have to the other Part Set Our Hands and affixed

the Honble Companys Seal this 15th Day of December

in the Twenty Ninth Year of the Reign of our said

Sovereign Lord George the third by the Grace of God

of Great Britain France and Ireland King Defender

of the faith and so forth. and in the

Year of Our Lord 1788. And he the said Reverend

Jno. Wilson hath Hereunto Set his hand

and Seal the Day and Year above written

Revd. John Wilson.

Witness.

Francis Robson Junr.

S.

Ploughs Plain

E.

12 Acres

W.

N.

The further condition in the Reverend John Wilson's lease dealt with water. Wilson was bringing water to Clough's Plain by a drain. If that diversion harmed the adjoining commonage, through drought or any other cause, he and his successors had to turn the water back into its former course once the harm was proved.

The Governor and Council signed one copy and fixed the Company's seal to it on 15 December 1788, in the twenty-ninth year of the reign of George III. The Reverend John Wilson signed and sealed the other copy on the same day, and Francis Robson junior signed as witness.

A plan of the ground was drawn beneath the signatures. It showed a five-sided outline named Clough's Plain and marked as containing 12 acres, with the letters S, E, W and N against its sides.

Interpretations

The water clause followed the one written for the Reverend William Bearcroft on 17 September 1770, and it reversed the order of events. Bearcroft was forbidden to turn a stream out of its course once neighbours using the common complained in a dry season. Wilson had his drain already, or was allowed to make it, and was bound to undo it if it proved harmful. The Council could have refused the diversion outright to protect the commonage, or allowed it without terms. It let the work go ahead and kept a remedy in reserve. Bare ground on a plain was of little use without water, and the low rent of 1s 2d an acre reflected land that needed such an outlay. The lease gave the tenant his supply and made it conditional on the grazing beside him.

The clause required proof of the harm. Bearcroft's restriction came into force on an application to the Governor and Council. Wilson's wording set a firmer test, since a complaint alone did not oblige him to give up the water. A tenant who had dug a drain at his own cost was thus protected against a neighbour's bare assertion.

The commonage was land left open for shared grazing. Both leases to clergy in the West Division bordered such ground, and both ranked the watering of the district's stock above a private tenant's cultivation.

The plan named the ground and marked all four points of the compass, with south at the top. The drawings of 7 January 1788 gave a bare outline. This one returned to the fuller form of 1776 and 1777, for a plot whose three sides against the waste had no neighbour to fix them.

The lease was the first dated in the twenty-ninth year of the reign. Francis Robson junior had not witnessed before.

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Island St. 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

Let unto John Sampell Planter. All that piece or Parcel of Land

containing One Acre of Cabbage Tree Land lying in the East

Division of the said Island at the head of one branch of

James's Valley Butting and Bounding East and North upon

the Land of Isaac Doveton Planter, South upon the Land

of Elanor Gurling Widow, and West upon the Land of

Britannicus Alexander Wright, Secretary. To have and to

hold the said hereby demised parcel of Land with the

appurtenances and every part and parcel thereof

unto him the said John Sampell, his Heirs Executors

Administrators and 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 he the said John Sampell his Heirs or

allowed Assigns do always bear true faith and Allegiance

to Our Sovereign Lord King George the Third 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 Yielding

and paying therefore Yearly and every Year during

the said term and time of twenty one Years unto the

said Honble Company their Successors Agents or

Assigns the Rent of five Shillings P Acre in at

or upon the Feast of St. Michael the Arch Angel

Yearly. And upon Condition that he the said John

Sampell shall well and sufficiently keep up &

maintain the Fences to the said Land, and the full

Quantity of Wood thereon and do not nor shall sell

or dispose of this Lease or his Interest therein

without the Leave and Consent of the Governor

and

The Company let one acre of cabbage tree land to John Sampell, a planter. The ground lay in the East Division at the head of one branch of James's Valley. It was bounded on the east and north by the land of Isaac Doveton, a planter, on the south by the land of Eleanor Gurling, a widow, and on the west by the land of Britannicus Alexander Wright, the Secretary.

Sampell was to hold the ground, with everything belonging to it, for 21 years from the date of the lease. The term covered him and anyone who took the ground after him by inheritance or approved transfer.

The lease set out the following conditions. Sampell and his successors had to remain loyal to King George III and faithful to the Company, and had to obey the laws and regulations of the island. They paid the Company a rent of 5s 0d an acre each year, due on the feast of St Michael the Archangel. They had to keep the fences of the land in good repair and maintain the full quantity of wood on it. They could not sell or part with the lease or any interest in it without the permission of the Governor and Council of the day.

Interpretations

The lease replaced one of 12 October 1767. Mary Doveton then took one acre of cabbage tree land in the East Division, at the head of one branch of James's Valley, as trustee for the orphans of John Doveton, at 5s 0d an acre for 21 years. The place, the kind of ground, the acreage and the rent were the same here. That term ended on 12 October 1788. The acre was now let to John Sampell, a publican and planter with no connection to the Doveton family. A piece of woodland secured in trust for a dead man's children had left the family by the end of its first term. The trust protected the orphans' interest against their mother. It did not keep the land in their hands once they were grown and free to sell.

Every neighbour had changed but one. In 1767 Matthew Purling lay on the east, Captain Henry Bazett on the south, Isaac Doveton on the north and Mary Doveton on the west. In 1788 Isaac Doveton held the east as well as the north, Eleanor Gurling the south and the Secretary the west. Purling's land on that side had gone to Doveton, which agreed with Doveton's renewal of 29 September 1788, where his own land had replaced Purling's on a boundary. Bazett's ground had passed to the widow of the Gurling family, and Mary Doveton's own land to Wright. Unlike the renewals to John Seale senior and Sarah Harper, this description was brought up to date, since a new tenant among new neighbours could not be described in the words of 1767.

The Secretary appeared as a country landholder for the first time. His only lease in the volume was for 18 feet of town ground on 15 September 1783. He held land at the head of James's Valley by purchase, under no grant recorded here, as his predecessor and his clerks held theirs.

Eleanor Gurling was a widow. Lieutenant Robert Gurling took land in the East Division in 1769, 1771 and on 29 September 1777, and was evidently dead by 1788.

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and Council for the time being In Witness

whereof We the said Governor and Council have

to the other part set our Hands and affixed the Honble

Companys Seal this day of November in the

twenty Eight Year of the Reign of Our said Sovereign

Lord George the third by the grace of God of Great

Britain France and Ireland King Defender of the

faith &c. And in the Year of Our Lord 1788, And he the

said John Sampell hath hereunto set his hand &

Seal the Day and Year abovewritten.

John Sampell

Witness

Rd. Goodwin Junr.

Island St. 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 Let unto Robt. Ballard Planter All

that piece or parcel of Ground containing fourteen feet

in Width or Breadth. and Seventy four feet in Length

and Depth. situate lying and being in James's

Valley on the back Part of the said Robt. Ballards

House with the appurtenances To have and to hold

the said hereby Demised parcel of Ground and premises

with their and every part of their Appurtenances unto

him the said Robt. Ballard his Heirs Executors

Administrators and Assigns from the Day of the Date

hereof

The Governor and Council signed one copy of John Sampell's lease of the acre of cabbage tree land and fixed the Company's seal to it in November 1788, in the twenty-eighth year of the reign of George III, with the day of the month left blank. John Sampell signed and sealed the other copy, and Richard Goodwin junior signed as witness.

A new lease, made at St Helena, followed. The Company let a strip of ground in James's Valley to Robert Ballard, a planter. The strip measured 14 feet in width and 74 feet in length, with a space left blank where a further measurement of depth was to be entered. It lay at the back of Ballard's house.

Ballard was to hold the ground and premises, with everything belonging to them, for 21 years from the date of the lease. The term covered him and anyone who took the ground after him by inheritance or approved transfer.

Interpretations

Ballard's lease replaced the one of 12 October 1767, which let him a strip 14 feet wide and 74 feet long at the back of his house for 21 years. The measurements were the same, and that term ended on 12 October 1788. His renewal of 19 November 1787 concerned a different piece behind the same house, 38 feet by 17, held on an older lease. Both of his back pieces had thus come up within a year, each at the end of its own term. A householder whose premises were assembled from several small grants met the Council repeatedly as each one expired, and the Company kept them as separate titles through renewal.

Sampell's lease gave November with the twenty-eighth year of the reign, which ended on 24 October 1788. Sarah Harper's lease carried the same mismatch and the same blank day. Both replaced leases of 12 October 1767. The two entries were evidently written out together before that date, with the regnal year then current, and completed in November with the month alone. The clerk prepared renewals in batches by the date on which the old leases fell in.

Three leases of 12 October 1767 were thus replaced in the same weeks, Mary Doveton's acre to Sampell, Lieutenant St Maurice's six acres to Sarah Harper and Ballard's strip to Ballard himself. Only the last stayed with its first tenant.

The clerk left a gap in Ballard's description for a figure he did not have. The old lease gave two dimensions only, and the form in use by 1788 expected width, length and depth.

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hereof for and During all the space and term of Twenty One

Years from thence next ensuing. Upon Condition that he

the said Robt. Ballard his Heirs or Allowed Assigns

Do always bear true Faith and Allegiance to our Sovereign

Lord King George the Third 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 Yielding and Paying

therefore Yearly and every Year during the said term

and time of twenty One Years unto the said Honble

Company their Successors Agents or Assigns the Rent of

Eight Shillings P Annum in at or upon the Feast

of St. Michael the Arch Angel. Yearly. And Upon

Condition that he the said Robt. Ballard his Heirs

Executors Administrators or Assigns. Do and shall well

and Sufficiently keep up and maintain in good Repair

all the Walls and Buildings that are or may be hereafter

Built or Erected upon the said Ground or any Part

thereof and Do not nor shall sell or dispose of this

Lease or his or their Interest therein. without the

leave and Consent. of the Governor and Council for the

time being In Witness whereof We the said Governor

and Council have to the other Part Set Our Hands

and Affixed the Honble Companys Seal this 24th Day

of November in the Twenty Ninth Year of our said

Sovereign Lord George the Third by the Grace

of God of Great Britain France and Ireland

King Defender of the Faith and so forth

and

Robert Ballard and his successors had to remain loyal to King George III and faithful to the Company, and had to obey the laws and regulations of the island. They paid the Company a rent of £0 8s 0d a year on the strip behind his house, due on the feast of St Michael the Archangel. They had to keep in good repair every wall and building standing on the ground or put up there later. They could not sell or part with the lease or any interest in it without the permission of the Governor and Council of the day.

The Governor and Council sealed their copy on 24 November 1788, in the twenty-ninth year of the reign of George III.

Interpretations

The rent was the £0 8s 0d of 12 October 1767. That figure was set by judgement in a year when the Council priced each strip of back ground separately, before it settled on a flat fee. John Robinson paid £0 3s 0d in the same year for a strip of almost the same size. Twenty-one years later Ballard's sum was repeated to the penny. His other piece behind the same house, renewed on 19 November 1787, paid £0 5s 0d for about half the area. The two rents bore no relation to each other or to any rate in use in 1788, when new back ground was let for £0 3s 0d or charged by area. Each simply carried forward what its first lease happened to fix. Renewal in the town preserved every inconsistency of the 1760s, the dear with the cheap.

The lease kept the wording of 1767 as well, requiring the repair of walls and buildings and saying nothing of fences. His renewal of 1787 carried the fence clause then in use. The clerk in 1788 copied the expired lease closely, where the clerk of the year before applied the form of the day.

The date gave the twenty-ninth year of the reign, which began on 25 October 1788. The leases to Sarah Harper and John Sampell, also of November, stated the twenty-eighth. This entry, with its day supplied, was written when the lease was sealed and not in advance.

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and in the Year of Our Lord 1788 And he the said

Robt. Ballard hath hereunto Set his hand and Seal

the Day and Year above written

Broadway for

Witness.

Nathl. Kennedy Factor

Island St. 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 Let unto

Captain William Pierce All that piece or parcel of Land contain-

ing in the whole thirty two Acres and one quarter, situate lying

and being in the west Division of the said Island, known by the

Name of Francis Plain butting and bounding East West and North

upon the Honble Companys Waste Land and partly upon the said

William Pierces own Land, and partly upon the Land of Sarah

Harper widow, To have and to hold the said hereby Demised parcel

of Land with the appurtenances and every part and parcel thereof

unto him the said William Pierce, his heirs Executors Administra-

tors and Assigns from the Day of the Date hereof and during

all the space and term of twenty one Years from thence next

ensuing. Upon Condition that he the said William Pierce his

Heirs or allowed Assigns do always bear true faith and allegi-

ance to our Sovereign Lord King George the Third, 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 Yielding and paying therefore

Yearly and every Year during the said term and time of twenty

one Years unto the said Honble Company their Successors

Agents or Assigns the Rent of five Shillings P Acre, in, at, or,

upon the Feast of St. Michael the Arch Angel. Yearly

And upon Condition that he the said Wm. Pierce his Heirs

Executors. Administrators or Assigns [...] shall Well

and Sufficiently keep up and maintain the Fences

to said Land. and the full Quantity of Wood

thereon

A man named Broadway signed and sealed the lease of the strip on Robert Ballard's behalf in 1788, and Nathaniel Kennedy signed as witness, adding his rank of factor.

A new lease, made at St Helena, followed. The Company let 32¼ acres of land in the West Division to Captain William Pierie. The ground was known as Francis's Plain. It was bounded on the east, west and north by the Company's waste land, and elsewhere partly by Pierie's own land and partly by the land of Sarah Harper, a widow.

Pierie was to hold the ground, with everything belonging to it, for 21 years from the date of the lease. The term covered him and anyone who took the ground after him by inheritance or approved transfer.

Pierie and his successors had to remain loyal to King George III and faithful to the Company, and had to obey the laws and regulations of the island. They paid the Company a rent of 5s 0d an acre each year, due on the feast of St Michael the Archangel. They had to keep the fences of the land in good repair and maintain the full quantity of wood on it.

Interpretations

The lease replaced one of 16 November 1767. John Worrall then took 32¼ acres in the West Division known as Francis's, with the Company's waste on the east, west and north, and on the south partly his own land and partly that of Lieutenant Solomon St Maurice, at 5s 0d an acre for 21 years. The acreage, the name, the rent and the three sides against the waste were the same here. That term ended on 16 November 1788. On the fourth side, Pierie's own land stood where Worrall's did and Sarah Harper's where St Maurice's did. Sarah Harper's lease of the same month showed her holding St Maurice's farm. Worrall's large farm beside it had likewise passed to a captain of the garrison. Two neighbouring holdings of 1767, a planter's and a lieutenant's, were both in new hands 21 years later, and the pair of renewals recorded the change on each side of their common boundary.

The clerk left the southern side unnamed, giving the two neighbours without saying where they lay. The lease of 1767 placed them on the south.

Jonathan Doveton's lease of 18 December 1786 named a Captain William P[...] on the south of his four acres in the West Division, with Mrs Sarah Harper on the north. The present lease supplied the surname and confirmed that all three were neighbours beside the Company's pasture called the Church Ground.

Worrall held six and a quarter acres next to Francis's at 6d an acre under his other lease of 16 November 1767. Pierie's own land on the boundary was probably that piece, bought with the farm.

Broadway signed for Ballard, as on 19 November 1787. Ballard attended neither of his renewals.

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thereon and do not nor shall Sell or dispose of this Lease

or his or their Interest therein without the leave and

Consent of the Governor and Council for the time being

In Witness whereof We the said Governor and

Council have to the other Part Set Our Hands &

Affixed the Honble Companys Seal. this 19th Day

of January in the Twenty Ninth Year of the Reign

of our Sovereign Lord George the Third by

the Grace of God of Great Britain France and

Ireland King Defender of the Faith and so forth

and in the Year of Our Lord 1789. And he the said

Willm. Pierce hath hereunto Set his Hand and

Seal. the Day and Year above written

Wm. Pierce

Witness

Richd. Goodwin Junr.

Island St. 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 Let unto Wathn. Greentree, Lieut. all that Piece or

Parcell of Land containing Thirty Seven Acres situate

lying and being in Sandy Bay Butting and bounding

South upon the Land of Jno. Seale. Esqr. West upon the

Land of Thos. Greentree North upon Coles Rock, and

East

Captain William Pierie could not sell or part with the lease of Francis's Plain without the permission of the Governor and Council of the day. The Governor and Council signed one copy and fixed the Company's seal to it on 19 January 1789, in the twenty-ninth year of the reign of George III. William Pierie signed and sealed the other copy on the same day, and Richard Goodwin junior signed as witness.

A new lease, made at St Helena, followed. The Company let 37 acres of land at Sandy Bay to Lieutenant Walter Greentree. The ground was bounded on the south by the land of John Seale Esquire, on the west by the land of Thomas Greentree and on the north by Coles Rock.

Interpretations

The Greentree lease replaced one of 16 February 1767. James Greentree then took 37 acres at Sandy Bay, bounded on the south by the land of the orphans of a John whose surname was not recovered, on the west by the land of Elizabeth Greentree, a widow, on the north by Coles Rock and on the east by the land of the orphans of John Worrall. The acreage, the place and the rock were the same here, and that term ended on 16 February 1788. The tenant was now Walter Greentree, a lieutenant. James Greentree was a living landholder in the West Division on 30 October 1786 and in March 1788, so the Sandy Bay farm had passed from him to a younger kinsman in his lifetime or shortly after. James Colgrave's lease of 11 April 1785 named a Greentree whose forename began in the same way on his north and west at Sandy Bay, which placed Walter there three years before the old term ended.

The western neighbour was Thomas Greentree, where Elizabeth Greentree, the widow, held in 1767. Lieutenant Thomas Greentree was the heir for whom the trusts of 1767 and 1769 were made, and his mother's land had come to him. Two lieutenants of the family thus farmed side by side at Sandy Bay, each on land held by the previous generation in 1767.

The southern neighbour was John Seale Esquire. The earlier lease named orphans there, and the Twaits children's land lay on that side on 30 November 1767. A Seale styled Esquire now held it. John Seale senior renewed the Deep Valley farm on 29 September 1788 as a planter. The style of Esquire, given in the volume to Purling, Bazett and Wrangham, marked a man of higher standing, so two John Seales were again in question.

Pierie's lease was sealed two months after the term of 16 November 1767 ran out, and was the first dated in 1789. Coles Rock still served as the northern boundary after 22 years, the one fixed point in a description whose every neighbour had changed.

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East upon the Land of Jas. Colgrave. To have and to hold the

said hereby demised parcel of Land, with the Appurtenances and

every Part and Parcel thereof unto him the said Wathen Greentree

his Heirs Executors, Administrators and 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 he

the said Wathen Greentree his Heirs or allowed Assigns, do

always bear true faith and Allegiance to Our Sovereign

Lord King George the Third 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

Yeilding and paying therefore Yearly and every Year during

the said term and time of twenty one Years unto the said Honble

Company their Successors Agents or Assigns the Rent of five

shillings P Acre in at or upon the Feast of St. Michael the

Arch Angel Yearly And upon condition that he the said

Wathen Greentree 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 not, nor shall sell or dispose of this Lease or his or their

Interest therein without the Leave and Consent of the Governor

and Council for the time being In Witness whereof We the

said Governor and Council have hereunto set Our hands

and affixed the Honble Companys Seal this 29 Day of June in

the Twenty Ninth Year of the Reign of our Sovereign Lord George

the Third by the Grace of God of Great Britain France and

Ireland King defender of the faith and so forth And in the Year

of Our Lord 1789 And he the said Wathn. Greentree hath

hereunto

Lieutenant Greentree's 37 acres at Sandy Bay were bounded on the east by the land of James Colgrave.

Greentree was to hold the ground, with everything belonging to it, for 21 years from the date of the lease. The term covered him and anyone who took the ground after him by inheritance or approved transfer.

The lease set out the following conditions. Greentree and his successors had to remain loyal to King George III and faithful to the Company, and had to obey the laws and regulations of the island. They paid the Company a rent of 5s 0d an acre each year, due on the feast of St Michael the Archangel. They had to keep the fences of the land in good repair and maintain the full quantity of wood on it. They could not sell or part with the lease or any interest in it without the permission of the Governor and Council of the day.

The Governor and Council sealed their copy on 29 June 1789, in the twenty-ninth year of the reign of George III.

Interpretations

The body of the lease wrote the tenant's forename as Wathen, where the opening lines abbreviated it. James Colgrave's lease of 11 April 1785 named a Greentree with a forename beginning in the same way on his north and west at Sandy Bay. Colgrave now bounded the 37 acres on the east, so each lease confirmed the other.

The eastern boundary in the lease of 16 February 1767 was the land of the orphans of John Worrall. Colgrave held it in 1789. With John Seale Esquire on the south and Thomas Greentree on the west, three of the four sides had new holders and only Coles Rock on the north stood as before. Two of the three changes took land out of the hands of orphans. Estates kept for children in the 1760s had by then been divided, inherited or sold, and the trusts that held them had run their course.

The rent was the 5s 0d an acre of 1767, £9 5s 0d a year. The farm had no boundary with the waste at either date, and the top rate was simply repeated.

The old term ended on 16 February 1788, and its successor was sealed more than 16 months later. The renewals of 1787 followed within weeks of Michaelmas, and those of 1788 within a month or two. This one ran far beyond either. The tenant held over for a year and a half with no lease, paying, presumably, the old rent at the Michaelmas between. The Council's handling of expired leases had grown slower as their number rose.

The lease followed Captain Pierie's of 19 January 1789 by five months, with nothing entered between.

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hereunto set his Hand and Seal the day and Year

above written

Wat. Greentree

Witness.

Richd. Goodwin Junr. Writer

Island St. 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 Let unto Eleanor Robinson for the use

and benefit of the Heirs of John Robinson all that

peice or parcel of Ground containing Sixty five feet

in length and fifteen feet in breadth situate in James's

Valley and joining to said John Robinsons House

and the Water Course To have and to hold the said

hereby demised parcel of Ground with the appurtenances

and every part and parcel thereof unto her the said

Eleanor Robinson her Heirs Executors Administrators

and 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 she the said

Eleanor Robinson her Heirs or allowed Assigns do always

bear true faith and Allegiance to our Sovereign Lord King

George the Third 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 Yeilding and paying therefore

Lieutenant Greentree signed and sealed his copy of the lease of the 37 acres at Sandy Bay, and Richard Goodwin junior signed as witness, adding his position of writer.

A new lease, made at St Helena, followed. The Company let a strip of ground in James's Valley to Eleanor Robinson, for the benefit of the heirs of John Robinson. The strip measured 65 feet in length and 15 feet in breadth, and adjoined John Robinson's house and the watercourse.

Eleanor Robinson was to hold the ground, with everything belonging to it, for 21 years from the date of the lease. The term covered her and anyone who took the ground after her by inheritance or approved transfer.

Eleanor Robinson and her successors had to remain loyal to King George III and faithful to the Company, and had to obey the laws and regulations of the island.

Interpretations

The lease replaced one of 2 March 1767, which let John Robinson a strip 65 feet long and 15 feet wide beside his house and the watercourse for 21 years. The measurements and the position were the same, and that term ended in March 1788. The new lease was made to Eleanor Robinson for the benefit of his heirs. John Robinson was therefore dead. He renewed four leases on 26 November 1787 and took a fresh grant, with the duty to keep up the gates on the road to the Long Wood, on 7 January 1788. Within 18 months of those leases the master carpenter's estate, among the largest in the volume, was in the hands of his heirs. A man who spent the last months of his life putting every one of his titles in order left them newly secured for 21 years.

The lease gave Eleanor Robinson no description as widow, executrix or administratrix, and did not say that Robinson had died. It stated only for whose benefit she held. Earlier trusts named the trustee's office and declared the trust twice. The form here was the barest in the volume, a single phrase in the opening words, although its effect was the same. She held the strip for the heirs and could not treat it as her own.

The later Jamestown register recorded under lease 144 an original lease of 1789 to Eleanor Robinson for 55 feet at £0 3s 0d, whose executor transferred it to S. P. Ward. Robinson's strip of 1767 paid £0 3s 0d. The year, the tenant and the rent matched, and the present lease was in all probability the original of that entry.

Richard Goodwin junior signed as a writer. He witnessed leases from 7 January 1788 without a title. Like John Goodwin, Samuel Mason and Nathaniel Kennedy before him, the clerk who attested the Company's leases held the junior grade of its civil service.

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Yearly and every Year during the said term and time

of twenty one Years unto the said Honble Company

their Successors Agents or Assigns the Rent of five Shillings

P Annum in at or upon the Feast of St. Michael the Arch

Angel Yearly and upon Condition the she the said

Eleanor Robinson her Heirs Executors Administrators or

Assigns do and shall well and Sufficiently keep up and

maintain all such Houses and Buildings that are or may

hereafter be Built or Erected upon the said peice of Ground

or any part thereof, and do not nor shall sell or dispose of

this Lease or her or their Interest therein without the leave

and Consent of the Governor and Council for the time being

in Witness whereof we the said Governor and Council have

hereunto set our hands and affixed the Honble Companys

Seal the 29th day of June in the twenty first Year of the

Reign of Our said Sovereign Lord George the third by the

Grace of God of Great Britain France and Ireland King

Defender of the faith and so forth And in the Year of Our Lord

1789 and she the said Eleanor Robinson hath to the other

part set her hand and Seal the day and Year above written

Jno. Doveton

for Elenr. Robinson

Witness.

Richd. Goodwin Junr.

Eleanor Robinson and her successors paid the Company a rent of £0 5s 0d a year on the strip beside the watercourse, due on the feast of St Michael the Archangel. They had to keep in good repair every house and building standing on the ground or put up there later. They could not sell or part with the lease or any interest in it without the permission of the Governor and Council of the day.

The Governor and Council signed one copy and fixed the Company's seal to it on [...] June 1789, the lease giving the year of the reign as the twenty-first. A member of the Doveton family signed and sealed the other copy on Eleanor Robinson's behalf, and Richard Goodwin junior signed as witness.

Interpretations

The rent was £0 5s 0d. John Robinson's lease of 2 March 1767 charged £0 3s 0d for the same strip of 65 feet by 15 feet. Every other town renewal in the volume repeated the old figure, including Robert Ballard's £0 8s 0d on 24 November 1788, Matthew Bazett's £0 10s 0d on 29 September 1788 and Lieutenant Beale's £0 5s 3d on 19 November 1787. Here the rent rose by two thirds. The sum of £0 5s 0d was the customary fee for a strip of back ground, charged from 1768, and Robinson's £0 3s 0d of 1767 fell below it. The Council evidently brought an unusually cheap lease up to its ordinary charge when the term ended. The occasion was a renewal to a dead man's heirs through a trustee, and no sitting tenant of standing was there to hold the old rate.

The increase also bore on the later Jamestown register, where lease 144 to Eleanor Robinson, dated 1789, paid £0 3s 0d for 55 feet. That entry did not match this rent, so it concerned another of the family's holdings and not this strip.

The lease stated the twenty-first year of the reign with the year 1789. The twenty-first year ran from October 1780. June 1789 fell in the twenty-ninth, as Lieutenant Greentree's lease of 29 June 1789 correctly gave. The clerk miswrote the regnal year, and the error stood in a signed and sealed entry.

A man signed for the woman named as tenant, as throughout the volume with the single exception of Margaret Harper. He was a Doveton and no kinsman by name, so the heirs' trustee was represented by an acquaintance from among the Company's officials.

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Island St. 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 let unto Hendrick Wilkinson Cooper, All that

piece or parcel of Ground situate lying and being in James's

Valley on the Southwark side of the main Water Course

butting and bounding East on the Passage adjoining said Water

Course West on the Honble Companys Waste Land under the

Road leading up Ladder Hill North also on the Honble

Company's Waste Land and South towards the House of

James Pritchard Shopkeeper commonly called Free Harry's

containing in length towards the aforesaid Water Course Forty

Feet and in Depth running on towards Ladder Hill also Forty

Feet. To have and To hold the said hereby demised

parcel of Ground with the appurtenances and every part

and parcel thereof unto him the said Hendrick Wilkinson

His Heirs Executors Administrators and 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 he the said Hendrick Wilkinson

his Heirs or allowed Assigns Do always bear true Faith

and Allegiance to our Sovereign Lord King George the

Third 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 sd. Island

Yielding and paying therefore Yearly and every Year during

the said term and time of twenty one Years unto them

the sd. Honble Company their Successors Agents or Assigns

the Rent of Five Shillings Pr. Annum at or upon the

Feast

The Company let a plot of ground in James's Valley to Hendrick Wilkinson, a cooper. The plot lay on the Southwark side of the main watercourse. It was bounded on the east by the passage adjoining the watercourse, on the west by the Company's waste land under the road leading up Ladder Hill, on the north also by the Company's waste land and on the south towards the house of James Pritchard, a shopkeeper, commonly called Free Harry's. It measured 40 feet in length towards the watercourse and 40 feet in depth running back towards Ladder Hill.

Wilkinson was to hold the ground, with everything belonging to it, for 21 years from the date of the lease. The term covered him and anyone who took the ground after him by inheritance or approved transfer.

Wilkinson and his successors had to remain loyal to King George III and faithful to the Company, and had to obey the laws and regulations of the island. They paid the Company a rent of £0 5s 0d a year.

Interpretations

Wilkinson paid £0 5s 0d for 40 feet of frontage, 1½d a foot. On 29 September 1788 Captain John Torbett was charged a shilling a foot beside the Black House and Solomon St Maurice over 5½d beside the slaughter pound. Those rents suggested a general rise in the price of new town ground. Wilkinson's plot, let new in the following year, cost an eighth of Torbett's rate. It lay on the Southwark side under Ladder Hill, where James Pritchard paid well under 2d a foot on 10 June 1771 and William Wrangham about 1½d on 2 November 1778. The cheapest building land in the valley was thus still let at the figure of ten and 18 years before. The Council had raised its charge for the best sites and left the poorest where it stood, so that the spread of town rents by 1789 ran from 1½d to a shilling a foot.

James Pritchard's house bore a popular name, Free Harry's. A house commonly called after a man described as free pointed to a former owner or occupier who was a freed slave, known by his first name alone. The later Jamestown register recorded James Williams, a free black, holding and selling town ground under lease 141, and John Handy, a black, under lease 144. The name preserved the memory of such a man on the Southwark side before Pritchard had the house. Pritchard took 50 feet there as a tailor in 1771 and was a shopkeeper by 7 November 1785.

A cooper made and repaired casks, a trade tied to the watering and victualling of ships. Wilkinson's forename suggested Dutch or German origin. With joiners, tailors, masons' mates and publicans, he was among the tradesmen who took the outlying plots of the valley.

A passage ran beside the main watercourse on that side, and the road up Ladder Hill passed above the plot. The ground lay between the two.

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Feast of St. Michael the Arch Angel Yearly

And upon Conditions that he the said Hendrick Wilkinson

his Heirs Executors Administrators or Assigns do and shall well

and sufficiently keep up and maintain in good Repair all

such Houses Edifices or Buildings that shall or may hereafter

be built or erected upon the said Ground or any part thereof

and do not nor shall sell or dispose of this Lease or his or their

Interest therein without the leave and Consent of the Governor

and Council for the the time being In Witness whereof

We the sd. Governor & Council have to the other part set Our Hands and

affixed the Honble Company's Seal this Thirtieth day of September

in the twenty ninth Year of the Reign of our sd. Sovereign

Lord George the Third by the Grace of God of Great Britain

France and Ireland King Defender of the faith and so forth. and in the

Year of our Lord 1789. And he the said Hendrick Wilkinson hath

hereunto set his Hand and Seal the Day and Year above

written

Henrich Wilkinson

Witness.

W.W. Doveton

Island St. Helena.

The Lords Proprietors

of this Island the Honorable the United Company of Merchants

of England Trading to the East Indies. Do hereby Demise

Grant Lease and to Farm let unto Jno. Chas. Dunn of the said

Island Surgeons Assistant. All that Piece or Parcel of Ground

containing about One Quarter of an Acre situate lying and

being in James's Valley, butting and bounding East upon the

Garrison Hospital, West and North upon the Honble Companys

Waste

Hendrick Wilkinson's rent fell due each year on the feast of St Michael the Archangel. He and his successors had to keep in good repair every house or building put up on the ground. They could not sell or part with the lease or any interest in it without the permission of the Governor and Council of the day. The Governor and Council signed one copy and fixed the Company's seal to it on 30 September 1789, in the twenty-ninth year of the reign of George III. Hendrick Wilkinson signed and sealed the other copy on the same day, and a member of the Doveton family signed as witness.

A new lease, made at St Helena, followed. The Company let about a quarter of an acre of ground in James's Valley to John Charles Dunn of the island, a surgeon's assistant. The ground was bounded on the east by the garrison hospital and on the west and north by land of the Company.

Interpretations

The repair clause spoke only of buildings that might be put up. Every earlier town lease covered those already standing as well as those to come. Wilkinson's plot under Ladder Hill was bare, and the clerk fitted the wording to it, as the clause on wood was fitted to the treeless ground of the Reverend John Wilson on 15 December 1788. The leases of 1788 and 1789 showed the standard conditions being adjusted to the facts of each grant, where those of the 1760s applied one form to every plot.

Town ground was measured by the acre for Dunn. Every building plot in the volume was given in feet, and the acre was the measure of farmland, used in James's Valley only for the country ground above the town. A quarter of an acre beside the garrison hospital was some 10,000 square feet, larger than any plot let by frontage. The area was also stated as approximate. Ground of that size next to a public building was evidently let as a single enclosure and not as a house plot on a street.

The garrison hospital was named for the first time, the sixth public building to serve as a landmark after the Lieutenant Governor's house, the slaughterhouse, the Black House, the barracks and the school house. Its neighbour was a member of its own staff. David Kay, the surgeon, took country land on 23 October 1786, and the assistant now took ground at the hospital's wall.

The later Jamestown register named J. C. Dunn repeatedly. He was first tenant under lease 138 of 1791, a buyer with T. H. Brooke from Government in 1794 and the seller of ground to Eleanor Yearbury under lease 130. The present lease was his first appearance, as a junior medical officer.

The lease was dated 30 September, the day after the rent fell due, as in 1771, 1775, 1776, 1779 and 1784.

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Waste Land and South upon the Honble Companys

enclosed Ground called the Maldavia Garden To have and

to hold the said hereby Demised Parcel of Ground with the

appurtenances and every part and parcel thereof unto him the

said John Chas. Dunn his Heirs Executors Administrators

and 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 he the said John

Charles Dunn his Heirs or allowed Assigns Do always

bear true faith and allegiance to our Sovereign Lord King

George the third 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 Yielding and paying therefore Yearly and every

Year during the said term and time of twenty One Years

unto them the said Honble Company their Successors

Agents or Assigns the Rent of five shillings Pr. Annum

at or upon the Feast of St. Michael the Arch Angel

Yearly And upon Condition that he the said John

Charles Dunn his Heirs Executors Administrators

or Assigns do and shall well and sufficiently keep up

and Maintain in good order and repair the Fences to the

said Ground, or the Houses, Sheds, Edifices, or Buildings

which may or shall be erected upon the said Ground,

or any part thereof And do not nor shall Sell or

dispose of this Lease or his or their Interest therein

without the leave and Consent of the Governor and

Council for the time being In Witness whereof

We the said Governor and Council have to the other part

set our hands and Affixed the Honble Company's

Seal this thirtieth day of September in the twenty

ninth Year of the Reign of our said Sovereign

Lord George the third by the Grace of God of

Great Britain France and Ireland King Defender

of the faith and so forth and in the Year of Our Lord

1789

John Charles Dunn's ground beside the garrison hospital was bounded on the west and north by the Company's waste land and on the south by the Company's enclosed ground called the Maldivia Garden.

Dunn was to hold the ground, with everything belonging to it, for 21 years from the date of the lease. The term covered him and anyone who took the ground after him by inheritance or approved transfer.

The lease set out the following conditions. Dunn and his successors had to remain loyal to King George III and faithful to the Company, and had to obey the laws and regulations of the island. They paid the Company a rent of £0 5s 0d a year, due on the feast of St Michael the Archangel. They had to keep in good order and repair the fences of the ground and any houses, sheds or other buildings put up on it. They could not sell or part with the lease or any interest in it without the permission of the Governor and Council of the day.

The Governor and Council sealed their copy on 30 September 1789, in the twenty-ninth year of the reign of George III.

Interpretations

Dunn paid £0 5s 0d a year for about a quarter of an acre. Five pieces of deep ground behind houses, let from 18 December 1786 to 20 August 1787, were charged by area at about a penny for 14 square feet, a rate that came to some £13 0s 0d an acre. A quarter of an acre at that rate cost over £3 0s 0d. Dunn's ground was let for a twelfth of it. The plot lay at the top of the town, beyond the hospital and against the Company's own garden, with waste on two sides. Position accounted for much of the difference, as it did for Hendrick Wilkinson's 1½d a foot under Ladder Hill on the same day. The figure was nonetheless the old customary fee for a scrap of back ground, applied to a piece far larger than any that fee had covered. A junior medical officer obtained a sizeable enclosure beside his place of work for the smallest sum the Company commonly charged.

The lease joined the two standard forms. Country leases required fences to be kept up, and town leases required buildings to be kept in repair. Dunn's clause covered both, fences first and then houses and sheds. Ground measured by the acre yet lying in the valley was neither farm nor house plot, and the clerk wrote a condition to suit it. The mention of sheds suggested a yard or garden with outbuildings, the use Saul Solomon's lease of 4 June 1832 later imposed on 83 feet in the town.

The lease described the Maldivia Garden as the Company's enclosed ground. The road up the valley was named after it in the leases of 7 November 1785. It was a garden the Company kept in its own hands at the head of the town, and Dunn's plot lay between it and the hospital.

Two leases were sealed on 30 September 1789, to Wilkinson and to Dunn, each at £0 5s 0d.

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1789 and he the said John Charles Dunn hath

hereunto set his hand and Seal the day and Year

abovewritten.

Jno. C Dunn

Witness

Richd. Goodwin Junr.

Island. St. 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

Let unto Mary Price Widow. All that piece or parcel of Ground

containing 60 Feet in Front and Seventy five feet in Depth situate

lying and being in James's Valley between the Houses of Martha Jacks

and the Heirs of Jno. Price Deceased To have and to hold. the

said hereby Demised Parcel of Ground with the appurtenances and every

part and parcel thereof unto her the said Mary Price her Heirs Executors

Administrators and 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 she the said Mary Price her Heirs

or allowed Assigns Do always bear true faith and Allegiance to our

Sovereign Lord King George the Third 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

Yielding and paying therefore Yearly and every Year during the

said term and time of twenty One Years unto them the said

Honble Company their Successors. Agents or Assigns the

Rent of Fifteen Shillings P Annum at or upon the Feast

of

John Charles Dunn signed and sealed his copy of the lease in 1789, and Richard Goodwin junior signed as witness.

A new lease, made at St Helena, followed. The Company let a plot of ground in James's Valley to Mary Price, a widow. The plot measured 60 feet across the front and 75 feet in depth. It lay between the houses of Martha Jackes and of the heirs of John Price, who had died.

Mary Price was to hold the ground, with everything belonging to it, for 21 years from the date of the lease. The term covered her and anyone who took the ground after her by inheritance or approved transfer.

Mary Price and her successors had to remain loyal to King George III and faithful to the Company, and had to obey the laws and regulations of the island. They paid the Company a rent of £0 15s 0d a year, due on the feast of St Michael the Archangel.

Interpretations

The lease replaced one of 31 August 1767. Lieutenant Michael Frost then took a plot of 60 feet by 75 feet, lying between the houses of a sentinel and of John Legg, an orphan, at £0 15s 0d for 21 years. The dimensions and the rent were the same here, and that term ended on 31 August 1788. The plot had passed from the lieutenant to the widow of the Company's jailer. As with George Bird's plot, let to the town adjutant on 29 September 1788, an old holding went to a new tenant at the rent of its first lease, 3d a foot, in a season when new ground in good positions cost up to a shilling.

Mary Price took the lease in her own name. On 22 May 1780 she was named as executrix with George Bird and John Legg, and that plot was held in trust for John Price's heirs. Here no trust was declared. The house of the heirs stood next door, described separately. She thus held one plot outright beside another kept for her husband's family, the arrangement the Council recorded for Mary Doveton in 1767 and 1784.

The neighbours of 1767 were a sentinel and an orphan. In 1789 they were Martha Jackes and the Price heirs. Martha's house stood beside Sergeant Hatton Walker's plot on 20 April 1778 and Solomon St Maurice's on 11 December 1786. The Price family, whose head signed with a mark in 1766, now held two adjoining properties in that row.

Richard Goodwin junior witnessed Dunn's lease, as he did most of those from January 1788.

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of Saint Michael the Arch Angel Yearly And upon Condition

that she the said Mary Price. her Heirs Executors Administrators

or Assigns Do and shall well and Sufficiently keep up

and maintain in good Order and Repair all such Houses

and Buildings as now are or may hereafter be built or

Erected upon the said Ground or any part thereof And Do

not nor shall sell or dispose of this Lease or her or their Interest

therein without the leave and consent of the Governor and

Council for the time being. In Witness whereof We the

said Governor and Council have to the other part set our Hands

and affixed the Honble Companys Seal this Thirtieth Day of

September in the Twenty Ninth Year of the Reign of our said

Sovereign Lord George the Third by the Grace of God. of Great

Britain France and Ireland King Defender of the Faith

and so forth. and in the Year of our Lord 1789. and she the

said Mary Price hath hereunto set her hand and Seal

the Day and Year abovewritten

John Legg for

Mary Price

Witness.

Richd. Goodwin Junr.

Island St. 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. let unto Mary Price of the said

Island

Mary Price and her successors had to keep in good order and repair every house and building standing on the ground or put up there later. They could not sell or part with the lease or any interest in it without the permission of the Governor and Council of the day. The Governor and Council signed one copy and fixed the Company's seal to it on 30 September 1789, in the twenty-ninth year of the reign of George III. John Legg signed and sealed the other copy on Mary Price's behalf, and Richard Goodwin junior signed as witness.

A new lease, made at St Helena, followed. The Company let a further piece of ground to Mary Price of the island.

Interpretations

John Legg signed for Mary Price. The lease of 31 August 1767, which this one replaced, placed the plot beside the house of John Legg, then an orphan. The child who was a neighbour of the ground in 1767 completed its next lease 22 years later on behalf of the widow who had come to hold it. He was her fellow executor for John Price's will on 22 May 1780, and he signed for Mary Goudy on 29 September 1788. A joiner with property of his own on the upper road thus acted regularly for the widows of the town's tradesmen, as James Greentree and John Worrall acted for the families of dead planters in the country.

The expired term ended on 31 August 1788, and its successor was sealed 13 months later, at the turn of the following rent year. Lieutenant Greentree's renewal of 29 June 1789 ran 16 months late. Leases falling in during 1788 were evidently not all dealt with that Michaelmas, and some waited a full year.

Three leases were sealed on 30 September 1789, to Hendrick Wilkinson, John Charles Dunn and Mary Price, and a fourth to her was begun. Two were new grants on the fringe of the town at £0 5s 0d each. Hers kept the 3d a foot of 1767 on a plot in an established row. The sitting again showed old ground and new priced on separate footings.

The repair clause asked for good order as well as repair, the wording of Dunn's lease on the same day. A word was added above the line in the clause on selling.

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Island Widow in trust nevertheless and to and for the proper use

of the Heirs of Jno. Price Deceased All that piece or

parcel of Ground Situate lying and being in James's Valley

containing Eighty Feet in Front and fifty two feet in Depth

butting and bounding East and West upon the Honble

Companys Waste Land North upon the Leasehold Ground

of the said Heirs of Jno. Price Deceased and South upon the

House of James Pritchard Shopkeeper formerly in the occupation

of one Jeremiah Smith Taylor To have and to hold

the said hereby Demised parcel of Ground with the

appurtenances and every part and parcel thereof unto her

the said Mary Price in trust nevertheless and to and for

the proper use of the said Heirs of Jno. Price Deceased their

Heirs Executors Administrators and 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

she the said Mary Price her Heirs or allowed Assigns in

behalf and on the part of the Heirs of the said Jno. Price

Deceased Do always bear true faith and Allegiance to our

Sovereign Lord King George the Third 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 Yielding and Paying therefore

Yearly and every Year during the said term and time of

Twenty One Years unto the said Honble Company their

Successors, Agents or Assigns the Rent of Twenty Shillings

Pr. Annum at or upon the Feast of Saint Michael

the Arch Angel Yearly And upon Condition that she

the said Mary Price on the part of the said Heirs of John

Price Deceased Do and shall well and Sufficiently keep

up and maintain in good Order and Repair all such

Houses Edifices or Buildings as now are or shall or may

hereafter

Mary Price, a widow, took the second piece of ground as trustee for the heirs of John Price, who had died. The plot lay in James's Valley and measured 80 feet across the front and 52 feet in depth. It was bounded on the east and west by the Company's waste land, on the north by the leasehold ground of John Price's heirs and on the south by the house of James Pritchard, a shopkeeper, formerly occupied by Jeremiah Smith, a tailor.

Mary Price was to hold the ground for 21 years from the date of the lease, but only as trustee for those heirs.

The lease set out the following conditions. Mary Price, on behalf of the heirs, had to remain loyal to King George III and faithful to the Company, and had to obey the laws and regulations of the island. A rent of £1 0s 0d was payable to the Company each year on the feast of St Michael the Archangel. Mary Price, on the heirs' behalf, had to keep in good order and repair every house or building standing on the ground or put up there later.

Interpretations

The lease replaced John Price's first, of 22 December 1766. The jailer then took 80 feet by 52 feet at £1 0s 0d, with the Company's waste on the north, east and west and the house of Jeremiah Smith, a tailor, on the south. The dimensions and the rent were the same here, and that term ended in December 1787. The clerk identified the southern house by both its holders, James Pritchard, who had it now, and Smith, who occupied it then. No earlier renewal linked a present neighbour to the name in the old lease. The wording tied the new description to the old one, so that the two leases could be seen to concern the same ground although the neighbour had changed.

The waste on the north in 1766 was now the heirs' leasehold ground. Price took 40 feet there on 9 March 1772, extending his holding in the one direction then open. The estate's two plots thus lay side by side, 120 feet of frontage in all.

Mary Price took two leases on 30 September 1789 on different footings. Lieutenant Frost's former plot was let to her outright. Her husband's first plot was let to her in trust for his heirs. Ground the dead man held went to his family through a trustee, and ground she acquired herself was hers. The Council kept the distinction it drew for Mary Doveton on 12 October 1767.

The conditions were laid on the trustee, acting on the heirs' behalf. That wording joined the two older forms, one binding the heirs and the other the trustees, in a single phrase. With one executrix remaining of the three named on 22 May 1780, the clause bound the person in control and stated for whom she answered.

The rent stayed at 3d a foot, the standard of 1766, and the heirs of a jailer who signed with a mark kept a central plot at that figure for a further 21 years.

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be built or Erected upon the said Ground. or any part thereof

And Do not nor shall Sell or dispose of this Lease. or

her or their Interest therein without the leave and consent

of the Governor and Council for the time being In

Witness whereof We the said Governor and Council

have to the other part Set our Hands and affixed the

Honble Companys Seal this Thirtieth Day of September

in the twenty ninth Year of the reign of our said Sovereign

Lord George the Third by the Grace of God of Great

Britain France and Ireland King Defender of the

Faith and so forth. and in the Year of our Lord 1789

and she the said Mary Price on the part and in behalf

of the Heirs of the said Jno. Price Deceased hath hereunto

set her Hand and Seal the Day and Year abovewritten

John Legg for

Mary Price

Witness

Richd. Goodwin Junr.

Mary Price could not sell or part with the lease held for John Price's heirs, or any interest in it, without the permission of the Governor and Council of the day. The Governor and Council signed one copy and fixed the Company's seal to it on 30 September 1789, in the twenty-ninth year of the reign of George III. The closing clause recorded Mary Price as signing and sealing the other copy on behalf of the heirs. John Legg signed and sealed it for her, and Richard Goodwin junior signed as witness.

Interpretations

The lease was completed at two removes. Mary Price was named as acting for the heirs, and John Legg signed for Mary Price. Neither the persons entitled to the ground nor their trustee put a hand to the deed. The Council accepted a representative for any tenant who did not attend, and a trustee was treated no differently. Legg was himself one of the three executors named for this estate on 22 May 1780, with Mary Price and George Bird. He signed here only as her proxy, and the lease named her alone as trustee. The estate was thus by 1789 in the widow's sole charge, with her former fellow executor reduced to carrying out the formalities for her.

Both of her leases of 30 September 1789 were signed by Legg, the one she took outright and the one she took in trust. The difference between the two titles lay wholly in the wording of the leases, since the same man completed each in the same way.

The old term ended in December 1787, and the renewal was sealed 21 months later, the longest interval of any in the volume. The heirs held the jailer's first plot for nearly two years on an expired lease. Four leases were sealed on 30 September 1789, and Richard Goodwin junior witnessed three of them.

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Island St. 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, Let unto William Young and Richard

Torbett of the said Island Administrators to the Estate of the

late John Young Deceased, All that piece or parcel of

Ground containing seventy Eight Feet in length and forty

Feet in Breadth situate lying and being in James's Valley

at the Foot of Ladder Hill Road Butting and Bounding

East upon the public Street, West upon the Honble

Companys Waste Land, South upon the House of William

Wrangham Esqr. at present in the occupation of John

Newton Plumber and North upon the Road leading up

Ladder Hill To have and to hold the said hereby Demised

parcel of Ground with the Appurtenances and every

part and parcel thereof unto them the said William

Young and Richard Torbett, Administrators aforesaid in

trust nevertheless, and to and for the use of the Heirs of the

said John Young Deceased, 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 they the

said William Young and Richard Torbett as Administrators

aforesaid in trust for the Heirs of the said John Young Deceased

their Heirs or allowed Assigns, Do always bear true faith

and Allegiance to Our Sovereign Lord King George the

Third 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 Yielding

and

The Company let a plot of ground in James's Valley to William Young and Richard Torbett of the island, the administrators of the estate of the late John Young. The plot measured 78 feet in length and 40 feet in breadth and lay at the foot of Ladder Hill Road. It was bounded on the east by the public street, on the west by the Company's waste land, on the south by the house of William Wrangham Esquire, then occupied by John Newton, a plumber, and on the north by the road leading up Ladder Hill.

The two administrators were to hold the ground for 21 years from the date of the lease, but only as trustees for the heirs of John Young.

William Young and Richard Torbett, as administrators and trustees, and their successors had to remain loyal to King George III and faithful to the Company, and had to obey the laws and regulations of the island.

Interpretations

The plot was the one let to William Wrangham Esquire on 2 November 1778. That lease gave him 78 feet by 40 feet at the foot of Ladder Hill Road, beside ground he had bought from Elizabeth Kennedy, a widow, for 21 years. The measurements and the place were the same here, and Wrangham's house, on the Kennedy ground, stood on the south. His term had ten years still to run. The plot was nonetheless let afresh to the administrators of another man's estate. Wrangham had therefore parted with it to John Young, who died holding it, and the Council made a new lease for a full 21 years in place of the unexpired one. A purchaser normally sat out the seller's term, as Richard Mason did on John Desfountain's land and John Robinson on Matthew Purling's. Here the transfer, or the death that followed it, was the occasion for a new grant. John Alexander's lease of March 1788 was the only earlier case of a lease replaced before its time.

Every condition was laid on the two administrators as trustees, the form settled on 12 September 1768 and used for the Seale and Bazett estates in 1784 and 1785. John Young left no will, as Lieutenant John Bazett did not, and his heirs' interest was written into the lease in the same way.

Wrangham's house was occupied by a plumber. The Esquire owned it and let it to a tradesman, the first clear case in the volume of a house held by one man and lived in by another under him. A plumber worked in lead, on roofs, cisterns and pipes.

The lease named the public street on the east. Earlier leases spoke of the street or the main street. The word marked the roadway as a right of way open to all, against which a private plot ended.

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and paying therefore Yearly and every Year during the said

term and time of twenty One Years unto the said Honble

Company their Successors, Agents or Assigns the Rent of

Seventeen shillings P Annum at or upon the Feast of St.

Michael the Arch Angel Yearly. And upon Condition

that they the said William Young and Richard Torbett

Administrators aforesaid in trust for the Heirs of the said John

Young Deceased Do and shall well and sufficiently keep

up and Maintain in good Order and Repair all the Houses

Edifices or Buildings which now are or may hereafter

be Built or Erected thereon or any part of the said Ground

and do not nor shall sell or dispose of this Lease or their

Interest therein without the leave and Consent of the

Governor and Council for the time being In Witness

We the said Governor and Council have to the other part set

Our hands and Affixed the Honble Companys Seal this

23 day of November in the Thirtieth Year of the Reign

of Our said Sovereign Lord George the Third by the Grace of

God of Great Britain France and Ireland King Defender

of the Faith and so forth, And in the Year of Our Lord 1789

And they the said William Young and Richard Torbett

as Administrators aforesaid have hereunto set their

Hands and Seals the day and Year abovewritten

William Young

Richd. Torbett

Witness

W.W. Doveton

Jno. F. Howard

The administrators of John Young's estate paid the Company a rent of £0 17s 0d a year on the plot at the foot of Ladder Hill Road, due on the feast of St Michael the Archangel. William Young and Richard Torbett, as trustees for the heirs, had to keep in good order and repair every house or building standing on the ground or put up there later. They could not sell or part with the lease or their interest in it without the permission of the Governor and Council of the day.

The Governor and Council signed one copy and fixed the Company's seal to it on 23 November 1789, in the thirtieth year of the reign of George III. William Young and Richard Torbett both signed the other copy on the same day, each with a seal. A member of the Doveton family and John F. Howard signed as witnesses.

Interpretations

The rent was £0 17s 0d. William Wrangham paid £0 10s 0d for the same 78 feet by 40 feet under his lease of 2 November 1778, about 1½d a foot. The new lease raised the charge by seven shillings, to a little over 2½d a foot. Every renewal of town ground in 1787 and 1788 but one repeated the old rent, and George Bird's plot passed to the town adjutant on 29 September 1788 at the figure of 1767. Here the Council did not carry the old rent forward. The lease of 1778 was not expiring. It was being replaced ten years early, on the passing of the plot to another man's estate, and the Council treated the occasion as a fresh grant and priced it afresh. A tenant or estate wanting a new 21 year term before the old one ran out thus paid for it in a higher rent, where one who waited for expiry kept the old figure. Eleanor Robinson's increase in June 1789 was the only other rise on ground already let, and that too fell on an estate held for heirs.

Even at the new rent the plot stood well below the shilling a foot charged to Captain John Torbett on 29 September 1788. Ground under Ladder Hill remained among the cheapest in the valley.

Both administrators signed, each under his own seal, and two witnesses attested the lease. No earlier lease in the volume carried two witnesses. For a trust lease replacing an unexpired term, on behalf of heirs under administrators, the Council took fuller formalities than usual.

Richard Torbett shared a surname with Captain John Torbett, and William Young with the dead man. The Young and Torbett families were thus connected in the settling of this estate.

The lease was the first dated in the thirtieth year of the reign, which began on 25 October 1789.

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Island St. 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 Let unto Robert Leech Factor, All that

piece, or parcel of Ground lying in James's Valley between

the Grounds of the Honble Company and Onesiphorus

Beale, containing twenty one Feet and an half in Width

and One hundred Feet in Depth To have and to hold

the said hereby demised parcel of Ground and premisses

with the Appurtenances unto him the said Robt. Leech

his Heirs, Executors, Administrators and 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 he the said Robert Leech his Heirs or allowed Assigns

do always bear true faith and Allegiance to Our Sovereign

Lord King George the Third, 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. Yielding and paying therefore

Yearly and every Year during the said term and time of

twenty one Years unto the said Honble Company their

Successors Agents or Assigns the Sum of five Shillings

and three pence P Annum, in at or upon the Feast of St.

Michael the Arch Angel Yearly. And upon Condition that

he the said Robt. Leech, his Heirs, Executors, Administrators

or Assigns, do and shall well and sufficiently keep up and

maintain in good Order and sufficient Repair all such

Buildings, Houses, Edifices, Sheds Tenements and Fences as now

are or hereafter shall be made, Built or Erected thereon And

do not, nor shall sell or dispose of this Lease, or his or

their Interest therein without the leave and Consent of

the Governor & Council for the time being In Witness

whereof We the said Governor & Council have to the

other part set Our Hands and affixed the Honble Companys

The Company let a piece of ground in James's Valley to Robert Leech, a factor. The ground lay between land of the Company and the ground of Onesiphorus Beale, and measured 21½ feet in width and 100 feet in depth.

Leech was to hold the ground and premises, with everything belonging to them, for 21 years from the date of the lease. The term covered him and anyone who took the ground after him by inheritance or approved transfer.

The lease set out the following conditions. Leech and his successors had to remain loyal to King George III and faithful to the Company, and had to obey the laws and regulations of the island. They paid the Company a rent of £0 5s 3d a year, due on the feast of St Michael the Archangel. They had to keep in good order and repair every building, house, shed and fence standing on the ground or made there later. They could not sell or part with the lease or any interest in it without the permission of the Governor and Council of the day.

Interpretations

Leech's ground matched Lieutenant Onesiphorus Beale's in both measurements and in rent. Beale renewed a piece 21½ feet wide and 100 feet deep behind his dwelling house on 19 November 1787, at £0 5s 3d. Leech's piece was of the same width and depth, lay next to Beale's and paid the same sum. Beale's rent was an old one, reckoned at 3d a foot on the width and carried over at renewal. The five new grants of deep ground made in 1786 and 1787 were charged by area, at about a penny for 14 square feet, which on a piece this size came to some £0 12s 9d. Leech was charged the neighbour's old figure instead. The Council thus let new ground at well under half its current rate for that kind of land, by matching the plot beside it. St Maurice's plot of 11 December 1786 was priced in the same way, at the sum the adjoining plot paid.

The benefit went to a factor who witnessed many of the Council's leases in these years. Lieutenant Greentree, Lieutenant Knipe, John Goodwin, Captain Lieutenant Statham and Benjamin Mason junior all paid by area for ground of the same depth. Whether the lower charge reflected the position of the strip, beside the Company's own land, or the standing of the tenant, the lease did not say.

The repair clause covered buildings, houses, sheds and fences together. John Charles Dunn's lease of 30 September 1789 first joined fences to buildings in one condition. The combined wording was now used for an ordinary strip in the town, and the separate clause on fences as boundary marks, revived from 1785 to 1787, was not repeated.

The Company's own ground lay on one side of the strip. Leech took a strip of 80 feet by 20 behind his house on 18 March 1782, beside Elizabeth Lambe and the watercourse, so this was a second holding of his in the valley.

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Seal this 21st day of December in the Thirtieth Year

of the Reign of our said Sovereign Lord George the Third

by the Grace of God of Great Britain, France, and

Ireland King defender of the faith and so forth, And in

the Year of our Lord 1789, and he the said Robt.

Leech hath hereunto set his hand and Seal the day

and Year abovewritten.

Robt. Leech

Witness.

Nathl. Kennedy

Island St. 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 Let unto Nathaniel Kennedy

Factor All that piece or parcel of Land Containing

Nineteen Acres and an half, situate Lying and being in

the South Division of this Island, and known by the name

of Powells Valley, Butting, and bounding, West & South upon

the Honble Company's Waste Land, East upon the Lands of

George Alexander Senr. And North partly upon the Land

of the aforesaid George Alexander Senr. and partly upon

the Land of him the said Nathaniel Kennedy To have and

to hold the said hereby Demised parcel of Land with the

Appurtenances and every part & parcel thereof unto him

the said Nathaniel Kennedy his Heirs, Executors,

Administrators and 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 he the said Nathaniel Kennedy his Heirs or

Allowed

The Governor and Council signed one copy of Robert Leech's lease and fixed the Company's seal to it on 21 December 1789, in the thirtieth year of the reign of George III. Robert Leech signed and sealed the other copy on the same day, and Nathaniel Kennedy signed as witness.

A new lease, made at St Helena, followed. The Company let 19½ acres of land in the South Division to Nathaniel Kennedy, a factor. The ground was known as Powell's Valley. It was bounded on the west and south by the Company's waste land, on the east by the lands of George Alexander senior, and on the north partly by George Alexander senior's land and partly by Kennedy's own land.

Kennedy was to hold the ground, with everything belonging to it, for 21 years from the date of the lease. The term covered him and anyone who took the ground after him by inheritance or approved transfer.

Interpretations

The lease replaced one of 22 August 1768. Gabriel Harper then took 19½ acres in the South Division known as Powell's Valley, with the Company's waste on the west and south, George Alexander on the east, and on the north partly George Alexander and partly the orphans of Thomas Harper. The acreage, the name and three of the boundaries were the same here. That term ended on 22 August 1789. The valley was now let to Nathaniel Kennedy, and his own land stood on the north where the Harper orphans' land lay in 1768. Kennedy's leases of 6 December 1784 showed him with a freehold and other land in that part of the South Division, held under no grant in the volume. The present lease showed where some of it came from. He had acquired the Harper orphans' ground and Gabriel Harper's valley beside it, and took the new lease when the old term ran out.

A fourth of the early country leases thus passed to a purchaser at renewal, after those of Matthew Purling, John Desfountain and Lieutenant St Maurice. The buyer here was a former clerk of the Secretary's office, by then a factor.

George Alexander was styled senior. He bounded the valley in 1768 and still did so 21 years later, and a younger man of his name was now living.

Kennedy witnessed Leech's lease, and Leech had witnessed all three of Kennedy's in 1784. The two factors attested each other's grants, as John Doveton and Leech did for the Bazett row on 28 November 1785.

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Allowed Assigns do always bear true Faith and

Allegiance to Our Sovereign Lord King George the

Third 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 Yeilding and paying therefore

Yearly and every Year during the said term and time

of twenty one Years unto the said Honble Company

their Successors, Agents, or Assigns the Rent of two Shillings

P Acre in, at, or, upon, the Feast of St. Michael the

Arch Angel Yearly. And upon Condition that he the

said Nathaniel Kennedy his Heirs, Executors, Administra-

tors 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 not

nor shall sell or dispose of this Lease or his or their

Interest therein without the Leave and Consent of

the Governor and Council for the time being. In

Witness whereof We the said Governor and Council

have to the other part set our hands and Affixed

the Honble Company's Seal this 21 day of December

in the thirtieth Year of the Reign of Our said Sovereign

Lord George the third by the Grace of God of Great

Britain, France, and Ireland King Defender of the

Faith and so forth, and in the Year of our Lord

1789 And the said Nathaniel Kennedy hath to

the other part set his hand and Seal the Day and

Year abovewritten

Nathl. Kennedy

Witness

Richd. Goodwin Junr.

Writer

Nathaniel Kennedy and his successors had to remain loyal to King George III and faithful to the Company, and had to obey the laws and regulations of the island. They paid the Company a rent of 2s 0d an acre each year on the 19½ acres of Powell's Valley, due on the feast of St Michael the Archangel. They had to keep the fences of the land in good repair and maintain the full quantity of wood on it. They could not sell or part with the lease or any interest in it without the permission of the Governor and Council of the day.

The Governor and Council signed one copy and fixed the Company's seal to it on 21 December 1789, in the thirtieth year of the reign of George III. Nathaniel Kennedy signed and sealed the other copy on the same day, and Richard Goodwin junior signed as witness, adding his position of writer.

Interpretations

The rent was the 2s 0d an acre that Gabriel Harper paid under the lease of 22 August 1768, £1 19s 0d a year. In 1768 that figure was a new step in the Company's scale, set for a whole valley of middling ground on the edge of the waste. It passed unchanged to the man who bought the valley. Kennedy's three leases of 6 December 1784, for the Company's ground within and beside his freehold in the same division, all charged 5s 0d. His estate thus combined land at the top rate with a valley at two fifths of it, each figure fixed by the lease under which the piece was first let. A purchaser inherited the Council's valuation of 21 years before, low or high, as Sarah Harper inherited Lieutenant St Maurice's 1s 0d in November 1788.

The waste still bounded the valley on the west and south, as in 1768. No one had taken the ground beyond it in 21 years, which fitted the Council's original judgement that the land there was of modest worth.

The old term ended on 22 August 1789, and the new lease was sealed four months later, after the Michaelmas rent day. The interval was shorter than for the renewals of earlier that year.

Two leases were sealed on 21 December 1789, to Robert Leech and to Kennedy. Each of the two factors took a lease that day, Kennedy witnessed Leech's and the writer witnessed Kennedy's.

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Island St. 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 Let unto Sarah

Isacke Widow for the Use and benefit of the Heirs of

Gabriel Isacke deceased All that piece or parcel of

Land containing Eight Acres, situate, Lying and being

in Lemon Valley Butting and Bounding North, South

East and West upon the Honble Company's Waste Land

To have and to hold the said hereby Demised parcel

of Land with the appurtenances and every part and

parcel thereof unto her the said Sarah Isacke for the

Use and benefit of the Heirs of Gabriel Isacke

aforesaid their Heirs, Executors, Administrators and

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 She the said

Sarah Isacke or the Heirs aforesaid, or their Heirs or

allowed Assigns do always bear true Faith and

Allegiance to our Sovereign Lord King George the

Third his Heirs and Successors and true Faith to

to them the said Honble Company and their Successors

and shall duly obey all the Laws and Constitutions of

the said Island. Yielding and paying therefore

Yearly and every Year during the said term and

time of twenty one Years unto the said Honble

Company their Successors, Agents or Assigns the

Rent of five Shillings P Acre in at or upon the

Feast of St. Michael the Arch Angel Yearly

And upon Condition that she the said Sarah Isacke

or the Heirs aforesaid, or their 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 not nor shall sell or dispose of this

Lease

The Company let eight acres of land in Lemon Valley to Sarah Isacke, a widow, for the benefit of the heirs of Gabriel Isacke, who had died. The Company's waste land bounded the ground on the north, south, east and west.

Sarah Isacke was to hold the ground for 21 years from the date of the lease, for the benefit of those heirs.

The lease set out the following conditions. Sarah Isacke or the heirs, and their successors, had to remain loyal to King George III and faithful to the Company, and had to obey the laws and regulations of the island. They paid the Company a rent of 5s 0d an acre each year, due on the feast of St Michael the Archangel. Sarah Isacke or the heirs had to keep the fences of the land in good repair and maintain the full quantity of wood on it.

Interpretations

The lease replaced one of 17 August 1767. Gabriel Isacke then took eight acres in Lemon Valley, with the Company's waste on every side, at 5s 0d an acre for 21 years, and signed with a mark. The acreage, the valley, the rent and the boundaries were the same here, and that term ended on 17 August 1788. When Elisha Isacke senior took land in the East Division on 3 December 1787, and Samuel Knipe senior a plot in Lemon Valley with no Isacke neighbour named, the farm of 1767 seemed to have been given up. The renewal showed otherwise. The family kept it through the whole term, and Gabriel's widow now renewed it for his heirs. Knipe's four acres simply lay elsewhere in the valley, out of sight of a farm that touched nothing but waste.

Waste still surrounded the eight acres after 22 years. A holding begun alone in open country in 1767 remained alone. Lemon Valley drew two tenants in the whole span of the volume, and each paid the top rate for a plot standing by itself.

The conditions were laid on the widow or the heirs, in the alternative. Earlier trusts bound the heirs, or the trustees, or the trustee on the heirs' behalf. This wording made either answerable, so that a breach could be charged against whoever was in possession. Heirs who were grown and working the land were thus bound directly, without the trust being a shield for them.

The lease gave Sarah Isacke no office as executrix or administratrix, as with Eleanor Robinson in June 1789. The plainer form, naming only the person and the beneficiaries, was by then the clerk's usual way of declaring a trust.

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Lease or his or their Interest therein without

the Leave and consent of the Governor and

Council for the time being. In Witness

whereof We the said Governor and Council have

to the the other part set our hands and affixed

the Honble Company's Seal this 21 Day of December

in the Thirtieth Year of the Reign of our said

Sovereign Lord George the third, by the Grace of

God of Great Britain France and Ireland King

Defender of the faith and so forth, and in the Year

of Our Lord 1789 and She the said Sarah Isacke

hath hereunto set her hand and Seal the Day and

Year abovewritten.

George Isacke

For Sarah Isacke

Witness

Richd. Goodwin

Writer

Island St. 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 Let unto Margaret Greentree

Executrix and Wathen and Thos. Greentree Executors to the last

Will and Testament of James Greentree Decd. All that piece

or parcel of Land, situate, lying and being in the West Division of the said Island butting & bounding East partly upon

the Land of Richd. Goodwin Planter, and partly upon the Land

of John Goodwin Storekeeper North and West upon the

Honble Company's Waste Land and South upon the Land

of the said James Greentree Deceased, To have and to

hold the said hereby Demised parcel of Land with

the appurtenances and every part and parcel thereof unto

them the said Margaret, Wathen & Thos. Greentree Executrix

and Executors aforesaid in trust nevertheless and to and for

the use and benefit of the Heirs of the said Jas. Greentree

Sarah Isacke could not sell or part with the lease of the eight acres in Lemon Valley, or any interest in it, without the permission of the Governor and Council of the day. The Governor and Council signed one copy and fixed the Company's seal to it on 21 December 1789, in the thirtieth year of the reign of George III. George Isacke signed and sealed the other copy on Sarah Isacke's behalf, and Richard Goodwin junior signed as witness, adding his position of writer.

A new lease, made at St Helena, followed. The Company let a piece of land in the West Division to Margaret Greentree, the executrix, and to Wathen Greentree and Thomas Greentree, the executors, of the will of James Greentree, who had died. The ground was bounded on the east partly by the land of Richard Goodwin, a planter, and partly by the land of John Goodwin, the storekeeper, on the north and west by the Company's waste land and on the south by the land of the dead James Greentree.

The three were to hold the ground as trustees for the heirs of James Greentree.

Interpretations

The Greentree lease replaced one of 27 March 1769. James Greentree then took 26 acres in the West Division, bounded on the east partly by Richard Goodwin, a planter, and partly by John Goodwin, a writer, on the north and west by the waste and on the south by his own land. The four boundaries were the same here, and that term had three months still to run. James Greentree was a living neighbour in John Alexander's lease of March 1788, and was dead by December 1789. His executors took a new lease before the old one expired, as the administrators of John Young did on 23 November 1789. An estate passing into the hands of trustees was evidently given a fresh 21 years at once, so that the heirs' title did not depend on a lease about to fall in.

James Greentree was the most active figure in the volume's first years. He held 37 acres at Sandy Bay from 16 February 1767, served as trustee for Thomas Greentree's heirs and for the Twaits children, and signed for Mary Twaits. The lease of 29 June 1789 renewed his Sandy Bay farm to Lieutenant Wathen Greentree. The two lieutenants who then farmed side by side at Sandy Bay were now his executors, with his widow. The man who managed other families' estates in 1767 had his own settled by the next generation 22 years later, in the trust form he helped to bring into use.

John Goodwin was a writer in 1769 and a factor from 1782. The lease now called him the storekeeper, the office Jonathan Doveton held on 18 December 1786. The clerk who witnessed leases in the 1760s had risen to one of the senior civil posts on the island.

The acreage and the division were added above the line, having been left out of the description. George Isacke signed for the widow, a kinsman acting for a woman tenant as throughout the volume.

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Deceased, their Heirs, Executors. Administrators and Assigns from

the day of the Date hereof for and during all the space &

term of twenty one Years from thence next ensuing Upon

Condition that they the said Margaret Wathen & Thos.

Greentree Executrix & Executors aforesaid and the Heirs of the

said James Greentree Decd. their Heirs or allowed Assigns

Do always bear true faith and allegiance to Our

Sovereign Lord King George the third 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 Yielding

and paying therefore Yearly and every Year during the

said term and time of twenty one Years unto the said

Honble Company their Successors, Agents, or Assigns

the Rent of two Shillings & sixpence P Acre at or

upon the Feast of St. Michael the Arch Angel Yearly

And upon condition that they the said Margaret,

Wathen & Thomas Greentree, Executrix and Executors

aforesaid in trust for the Heirs of the said Jas. Greentree

Decd. 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 not, nor shall sell

or dispose of this Lease or their Interest therein without

the leave and consent of the Governor and Council

for the time being. In Witness whereof We the

said Governor and Council have to the other part set

our Hands and affixed the Honble Companys Seal

this 16 day of August in the Thirtieth Year of the

Reign of our said Sovereign Lord George the Third by the

Grace of God of Great Britain, France & Ireland King

Defender of the Faith and so forth and in the Year of

our Lord 1790 and they the said Margaret, Wathen &

Thos. Greentree Executrix and Executors aforesaid have

hereunto set their Hands and Seals, the Day & Year above

written

Watn. Greentree for Margt. Greentree

Watn. Greentree

Tho Greentree

Witness

Richd. Goodwin Junr.

Writer

The executors of James Greentree's will were to hold the land in the West Division for 21 years from the date of the lease, as trustees for his heirs.

The lease set out the following conditions. Margaret Greentree, Wathen Greentree and Thomas Greentree, together with the heirs, and their successors had to remain loyal to King George III and faithful to the Company, and had to obey the laws and regulations of the island. They paid the Company a rent of 2s 6d an acre each year, due on the feast of St Michael the Archangel. The three executors, as trustees, had to keep the fences of the land in good repair and maintain the full quantity of wood on it. They could not sell or part with the lease or their interest in it without the permission of the Governor and Council of the day.

The Governor and Council signed one copy and fixed the Company's seal to it on 16 August 1790, in the thirtieth year of the reign of George III. Wathen Greentree signed the other copy twice, once for Margaret Greentree and once for himself, and Thomas Greentree signed for himself. Richard Goodwin junior signed as witness, adding his position of writer.

Interpretations

The lease was sealed on 16 August 1790. James Greentree's term of 27 March 1769 ended on 27 March 1790, so the new lease followed the expiry by nearly five months and did not anticipate it. The entry stood in the volume after leases of 21 December 1789, which had suggested an early replacement of the kind made for John Young's estate on 23 November 1789. The date corrected that reading. The clerk wrote the lease into the book ahead of its sealing, in the run of entries then being prepared, and the estate held over through the autumn like other tenants whose terms had fallen in.

The rent was the 2s 6d an acre of 1769. That lease stood out in its day as the most favourable given on a large tract, since John Alexander paid the same rate for only 14 years before rising to 5s 0d, and Richard Bagley paid 5s 0d throughout. The executors kept the figure for the heirs for a further 21 years. A rate once fixed passed to an estate at renewal as it passed to a purchaser.

The loyalty clause bound the executors and the heirs together, the wording used from 1770 where a trustee belonged to the family. All three trustees here were Greentrees, and the two lieutenants were probably among the heirs.

Wathen Greentree signed for the widow as well as for himself, and Thomas signed in his own right. The woman named first among the trustees did not sign, in keeping with almost every lease in the volume that named one.

The lease was the first dated in 1790.

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EAP 1364 St Helena

Document Name and Date

Register of Leases 1766-1790

Dimensions

(height x width x depth) (cm)

(h) 48cm x (w) 30 cm x (D) 8 cm

No. written pages:

354

No. blank pages:

4

Spine and cover

not original Covers

no Spine

Inside pages

Most of Pages are in bad Condition

Some Page are in good Condition

Pages are numbered in top Corners of every

Page

Additional comments

Page numbering is not in Correct

order

foxing Present

Time taken to photograph

(hours)

6 hours