"Bleak House" 6 De Warrenne Road, Lewes:
Part of the Wallands Park Estate
"Bleak House" 6 De Warrenne Road:
first occupied 1894 and also known as "Pedmore" 1920-1935
Planning applications:
Plan of Freehold Building Land comprising the remaining portions of the Wallands Park Estate, Lewes, Sussex
ADA/ACC2933/1/6/2 · 29 Sep 1905 · East Sussex Record Office
Plan to deed dated 29 Sep 1905 (SX 2017); includes Prince Edwards Road, King Henrys Road, De Warrenne Road, Gundreda Road, Ferrers Road, Fitzjohns Road, De Clares Road, Leicester Road, and Valence Road
DL/A/25/110 Nov 1895
Stabling at rear of Bleak House, 6 De Warrenne Road, Lewes for Harry Escott by Powell and Company, St Swithuns Estate Office, Lewes, estate agents and H[enry] Cruse, [51] New Road, Lewes, builder
Harry Escott from Hull, Yorkshire; trainer & jockey; b.1859 [1891 Census]
1901 Census: "Bleak House" as occupiers: George F Way (58) Chalk Merchant (whiting & putty manfacturer) employer; his wife, Lizzie E[leanor] Way (45); their children: Madoline R[ose] Way (20) & Andrew B[enjamin] Way (4); two servants: Annie Durrant (26) a cook from Surrey and Jessie Baldwin (16) a housemaid from Lewes.
George Way married Lizzie Eleanor Linney in 1879 in Hampstead.
Will: George Francis Way of 28 Rugby Road, Brighton d.08.12.1915 (aged 72) Probate to Lizzie Eleanor Way widow, Charles Guy Adams brewer's manager & Arthur George Way electrician. Effects £7,613
1911 Census: as "Pedmore"; occupiers: Hubert James Hillman (39) solicitor; his wife Florence Maud Hillman (33) and two children: Rex Anthony Edward Hillman (8) & Barbara Gertrude Hillman (10) [John Michael Hillman arrives 1911/4]; two servants: May Annie Ingram (25) a cook from Eastbourne & Harriett Maria Bennett (26) a house parlourmaid from Lewes.
This household can be found at "Chudleigh" 14 King Henry's Road in the 1901 Census: so they have just moved around the corner! In 1911 Hubert Hillman's mother was living at "Chudleigh" and Hubert Hillman's wife was pregnant with the next baby.
Will: Hubert James Hillman of 30 The Avenue, Lewes, died 10.12.1939 at "Westholme", Pedmore, Stourbridge, Worcestershire. Probate to [his sons] Rex Anthony Edward Hillman & John Michael Hillman solicitors.
Effects £15,977 6s 0d
Will: Florence Maud Hillman of The White Cottage, 30 The Avenue, Lewes, died 01.06.1961. Probate to Rex Anthony Edward Hillman & John Michael Hillman solicitors. Effects £13,133 2s 4d
nb Pedmore was a village, but is now a residential suburb of Stourbridge in Worcestershire, where Florence Maud Hillman was born.
1921 Census: "Pedmore" [nb.street address wrongly recorded as Prince Edward's Road] Alfred Percy Haines (46) owner of a Draper & Outfitters in Lewes High Street; his wife Anne Emma Haines (38); their two sons: Keith Percy (8) at school and Peter (1); a visitor Fanny Kettle (69) and one general domestic servant, Bessie Baker (18) from Lewes.
"Pedmore" De Warrenne Road
Planning applications:
DL/A/25/739 6 Jul 1927 East Sussex Record Office
Re: 13 Gundreda Road, Lewes for Percy Haines, 'Pedmore', De Warrenne Road, (my italics) Lewes, draper by E[rnest] H[enry] Fuller, 19 High Street, Lewes, architect
DL/A/25/1309 30 Oct 1935 · East Sussex Record Office
Bathroom, 6 De Warrenne Road, Lewes for Claude A Ridley by Messrs Alfred King and Son, Joinery Works, Smallfield, Horley, Surrey, builders and contractors
1939 Registers: as "Bleak House": Lilias E Ridley b.21.02.1900 (39) married; her son Robert L Ridley b.26.06.1926 (13) at school; her daughters Elizabeth L Ridley b.03.11.1927 (11) at school and Eleanor J Ridley b.1934 (5) at school.
Claude Ridley & Lilias McAlpine were married in 1925 (at St George's Hanover Square).
Will: Claude Alward Ridley [DSO Squadron Leader RAF] of "Bleak House" De Warrenne Road, Lewes d.27.06.1942 at the Dorchester Hotel, Park Lane, London . Probate to Lillias Elizabeth Ridley widow , Doris Muriel Sanderson widow & May Edderlyne Ramsay Midgley (wife of William Alexander Lewis Midgley). Effects £11,215 8s 1d.
DL/A/25/1886 20 Aug 1941 · East Sussex Record Office
Fuel store and tool shed, ‘The Round House’, Pipe Passage, Lewes for A C Broadbent by Henry J Rusbridger, ‘Bleak House’, De Warrenne Road, Lewes, architect and Messrs C and C J Pannett, Eastgate Wharf, Lewes, builders
History of the legal ownership of 6 de Warrenne Road
based on property deeds.
Grateful thanks to the present owner of "Bleak House" who compiled this list for the website.
07.01.1873 William Baxter, owner of land in De Warrenne Road and King Henry's Road in Wallands Park Estate, dies. His wife, Anne Baxter, inherits.
01.08.1893 Anne Baxter sells plot 189 in de Warrenne Road to Charles Errey, builder.
15.09.1894 For £950, Charles Errey sells plot 189 and house on it to George John Wightman, ironmonger of King Henry's Road.
22.03.1895 For £423.2s.6d Anne Baxter releases GJ Wightman from rent charges on plots 177 and 186 in King Henry's Road.
15.05.1895 For £1175 GJ Wightman sells to Harry Escott trainer of horses plot 189 and the house thereon AND part of plot 186 adjoining the bottom of the garden of the house on plot 189.
03.03.1898 For £1400 Harry Escott sells plot 189, and the adjoining part of plot 186, all now called Bleak House, to Reverend Henry Ruck Keene and Reverend James William Scarlett as trustees under the marriage settlement of John Edward Ruck Keene, Major General in her Majesty's army, and Charlotte Ruck Keene (nee Scarlett).
15.04.1920 For £1600, trustee sale of by William George Elmhirst Ruck Keene, Naval Commander, (with consent of occupying life tenant John Edward Ruck Keene, following the death of his wife Charlotte) to Alfred Percy Haines (draper and outfitter of 37-38 High Street Lewes.) Conveyance refers to house as "formerly known as Bleak House now Pedmore."
26.05.1927 For £2575 Land together with dwelling house, stables, outbuildings known as Pedmore, sold by Alfred Percy Haines to Harmer Steele solicitor in Lincolns Inn, Herbert Ivor Powell Edwards DSO Lieutenant General in His Majesty's army, and Augustus Colvile solicitor in Lincoln's Inn.
27.05.1927 Full repairing lease for 21 years at yearly rent of £155, to Matthew Herbert Woods of Lewes and his wife Emma Louisa. No trade or business to be carried on at the property, to be occupied only as private dwelling or flats, no sale by auction on the premises.
01.10.1928 For £2750, Harmer Steele having died on 05.07.1928. Sale of Pedmore by Herbert I.P.Edwards and Augustus Colvile to Arthur William Farndell, solicitor of St Michael's Lewes.
24.09.1935 For £1850 AW Farndell sells the property now known as Bleak House to Claude Alward Ridley DSO Squadron Leader in his Majesty's Air Force, of the City of Westminster.
28.07.1947 For £6000. Claude Alward Ridley having died at the Dorchester Hotel, Park Lane, London, on 27.6.42, his widow Lillias E. Ridley sells Bleak House to Norman Maurice Vincent Blackburn Accountant.
25.07.1957 Ruby Austin Turquand of 2 de Warrenne Road sells to Norman M V Blackburn plot of land fronting on to Gundreda Road 63 feet in length, and adjoining rear of properties fronting upon de Warrenne Road, (on which NMV Blackburn subsequently built a property now known as New Place, 2 Gundreda Road.)
10.12.1964 For £9750. Norman M V Blackburn sells Bleak House to Anne Muir (wife of John Hepburn Muir). Vendor to brick up access from Bleak House garden to land conveyed to him on 25.07.1957 which is to be retained by the Vendor.
03.04.1967 Anne Muir gifts Bleak House to herself and John Hepburn Muir.
17.12.1982 The property is sold to the current owners.
Planning applications:
Plan of Freehold Building Land comprising the remaining portions of the Wallands Park Estate, Lewes, Sussex
ADA/ACC2933/1/6/2 · 29 Sep 1905 · East Sussex Record Office
Plan to deed dated 29 Sep 1905 (SX 2017); includes Prince Edwards Road, King Henrys Road, De Warrenne Road, Gundreda Road, Ferrers Road, Fitzjohns Road, De Clares Road, Leicester Road, and Valence Road
DL/A/25/110 Nov 1895
Stabling at rear of Bleak House, 6 De Warrenne Road, Lewes for Harry Escott by Powell and Company, St Swithuns Estate Office, Lewes, estate agents and H[enry] Cruse, [51] New Road, Lewes, builder
Harry Escott from Hull, Yorkshire; trainer & jockey; b.1859 [1891 Census]
1901 Census: "Bleak House" as occupiers: George F Way (58) Chalk Merchant (whiting & putty manfacturer) employer; his wife, Lizzie E[leanor] Way (45); their children: Madoline R[ose] Way (20) & Andrew B[enjamin] Way (4); two servants: Annie Durrant (26) a cook from Surrey and Jessie Baldwin (16) a housemaid from Lewes.
George Way married Lizzie Eleanor Linney in 1879 in Hampstead.
Will: George Francis Way of 28 Rugby Road, Brighton d.08.12.1915 (aged 72) Probate to Lizzie Eleanor Way widow, Charles Guy Adams brewer's manager & Arthur George Way electrician. Effects £7,613
1911 Census: as "Pedmore"; occupiers: Hubert James Hillman (39) solicitor; his wife Florence Maud Hillman (33) and two children: Rex Anthony Edward Hillman (8) & Barbara Gertrude Hillman (10) [John Michael Hillman arrives 1911/4]; two servants: May Annie Ingram (25) a cook from Eastbourne & Harriett Maria Bennett (26) a house parlourmaid from Lewes.
This household can be found at "Chudleigh" 14 King Henry's Road in the 1901 Census: so they have just moved around the corner! In 1911 Hubert Hillman's mother was living at "Chudleigh" and Hubert Hillman's wife was pregnant with the next baby.
Will: Hubert James Hillman of 30 The Avenue, Lewes, died 10.12.1939 at "Westholme", Pedmore, Stourbridge, Worcestershire. Probate to [his sons] Rex Anthony Edward Hillman & John Michael Hillman solicitors.
Effects £15,977 6s 0d
Will: Florence Maud Hillman of The White Cottage, 30 The Avenue, Lewes, died 01.06.1961. Probate to Rex Anthony Edward Hillman & John Michael Hillman solicitors. Effects £13,133 2s 4d
nb Pedmore was a village, but is now a residential suburb of Stourbridge in Worcestershire, where Florence Maud Hillman was born.
1921 Census: "Pedmore" [nb.street address wrongly recorded as Prince Edward's Road] Alfred Percy Haines (46) owner of a Draper & Outfitters in Lewes High Street; his wife Anne Emma Haines (38); their two sons: Keith Percy (8) at school and Peter (1); a visitor Fanny Kettle (69) and one general domestic servant, Bessie Baker (18) from Lewes.
"Pedmore" De Warrenne Road
Planning applications:
DL/A/25/739 6 Jul 1927 East Sussex Record Office
Re: 13 Gundreda Road, Lewes for Percy Haines, 'Pedmore', De Warrenne Road, (my italics) Lewes, draper by E[rnest] H[enry] Fuller, 19 High Street, Lewes, architect
DL/A/25/1309 30 Oct 1935 · East Sussex Record Office
Bathroom, 6 De Warrenne Road, Lewes for Claude A Ridley by Messrs Alfred King and Son, Joinery Works, Smallfield, Horley, Surrey, builders and contractors
1939 Registers: as "Bleak House": Lilias E Ridley b.21.02.1900 (39) married; her son Robert L Ridley b.26.06.1926 (13) at school; her daughters Elizabeth L Ridley b.03.11.1927 (11) at school and Eleanor J Ridley b.1934 (5) at school.
Claude Ridley & Lilias McAlpine were married in 1925 (at St George's Hanover Square).
Will: Claude Alward Ridley [DSO Squadron Leader RAF] of "Bleak House" De Warrenne Road, Lewes d.27.06.1942 at the Dorchester Hotel, Park Lane, London . Probate to Lillias Elizabeth Ridley widow , Doris Muriel Sanderson widow & May Edderlyne Ramsay Midgley (wife of William Alexander Lewis Midgley). Effects £11,215 8s 1d.
DL/A/25/1886 20 Aug 1941 · East Sussex Record Office
Fuel store and tool shed, ‘The Round House’, Pipe Passage, Lewes for A C Broadbent by Henry J Rusbridger, ‘Bleak House’, De Warrenne Road, Lewes, architect and Messrs C and C J Pannett, Eastgate Wharf, Lewes, builders
History of the legal ownership of 6 de Warrenne Road
based on property deeds.
Grateful thanks to the present owner of "Bleak House" who compiled this list for the website.
07.01.1873 William Baxter, owner of land in De Warrenne Road and King Henry's Road in Wallands Park Estate, dies. His wife, Anne Baxter, inherits.
01.08.1893 Anne Baxter sells plot 189 in de Warrenne Road to Charles Errey, builder.
15.09.1894 For £950, Charles Errey sells plot 189 and house on it to George John Wightman, ironmonger of King Henry's Road.
22.03.1895 For £423.2s.6d Anne Baxter releases GJ Wightman from rent charges on plots 177 and 186 in King Henry's Road.
15.05.1895 For £1175 GJ Wightman sells to Harry Escott trainer of horses plot 189 and the house thereon AND part of plot 186 adjoining the bottom of the garden of the house on plot 189.
03.03.1898 For £1400 Harry Escott sells plot 189, and the adjoining part of plot 186, all now called Bleak House, to Reverend Henry Ruck Keene and Reverend James William Scarlett as trustees under the marriage settlement of John Edward Ruck Keene, Major General in her Majesty's army, and Charlotte Ruck Keene (nee Scarlett).
15.04.1920 For £1600, trustee sale of by William George Elmhirst Ruck Keene, Naval Commander, (with consent of occupying life tenant John Edward Ruck Keene, following the death of his wife Charlotte) to Alfred Percy Haines (draper and outfitter of 37-38 High Street Lewes.) Conveyance refers to house as "formerly known as Bleak House now Pedmore."
26.05.1927 For £2575 Land together with dwelling house, stables, outbuildings known as Pedmore, sold by Alfred Percy Haines to Harmer Steele solicitor in Lincolns Inn, Herbert Ivor Powell Edwards DSO Lieutenant General in His Majesty's army, and Augustus Colvile solicitor in Lincoln's Inn.
27.05.1927 Full repairing lease for 21 years at yearly rent of £155, to Matthew Herbert Woods of Lewes and his wife Emma Louisa. No trade or business to be carried on at the property, to be occupied only as private dwelling or flats, no sale by auction on the premises.
01.10.1928 For £2750, Harmer Steele having died on 05.07.1928. Sale of Pedmore by Herbert I.P.Edwards and Augustus Colvile to Arthur William Farndell, solicitor of St Michael's Lewes.
24.09.1935 For £1850 AW Farndell sells the property now known as Bleak House to Claude Alward Ridley DSO Squadron Leader in his Majesty's Air Force, of the City of Westminster.
28.07.1947 For £6000. Claude Alward Ridley having died at the Dorchester Hotel, Park Lane, London, on 27.6.42, his widow Lillias E. Ridley sells Bleak House to Norman Maurice Vincent Blackburn Accountant.
25.07.1957 Ruby Austin Turquand of 2 de Warrenne Road sells to Norman M V Blackburn plot of land fronting on to Gundreda Road 63 feet in length, and adjoining rear of properties fronting upon de Warrenne Road, (on which NMV Blackburn subsequently built a property now known as New Place, 2 Gundreda Road.)
10.12.1964 For £9750. Norman M V Blackburn sells Bleak House to Anne Muir (wife of John Hepburn Muir). Vendor to brick up access from Bleak House garden to land conveyed to him on 25.07.1957 which is to be retained by the Vendor.
03.04.1967 Anne Muir gifts Bleak House to herself and John Hepburn Muir.
17.12.1982 The property is sold to the current owners.
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