There are two documents in this lot: a historical manuscript detailing land admissions in England and marriage intentions between Charles Hornby and Elizabeth Draper, and an English Indenture Servant contract from 1817.
The first document is five pages long and contains Copies of Admissions of Charles Hornby and William Hornby, Esquires, to certain Copyhold premises in the Manor of Stebunheath, otherwise known as Stepney. (A Copyhold was a form of English tenure where land was held according to the custom of the local manor, and Admissions were records of transfer entered into the court rolls of the manor.) There were three copies of Admissions, the first dated December 10, 1765, the second copy of Admissions was dated December 4th, 1781, and the last copy of Admissions was dated April 17th, 1787, they were considered an official record from a manorial court meeting (a Court Baron) held in London in 1785, and it seems like the terms of the first agreement were renewed twice between 1781 and 1787.
(A Court Baron was a local manorial court that handled land transfers, property inheritances, disputes, and duties related to a specific manor's tenants. Interestingly, the court was not held in a dedicated courthouse, but in the Angel & Crown Tavern in Whitechapel, which was common practice for manorial business in 18th century London.)
Stebunheath (Stepney) was also a large historic manor in Middlesex which managed extensive Copyhold properties, and Stebunheath (also recorded as Stybbanhythe or Stebunheath) is the ancient Anglo-Saxon name for the manor and parish of Stepney in East London and the Tower Hamlets. Dating back over a millennium, the manor was famously mentioned in the Domesday Book and spanned a vast territory including modern day Stepney, Hackney, and parts of Shoreditch, Islington, and Bethnal Green.
The document also spells out marriage intentions between Charles Hornby and Elizabeth Draper and who was going to benefit from the rent and profits of Charles's property after he died, and if they had kids, who inherited the property after he died.
Charles and William Hornby were likely members of the Hornby family holding manorial property or legal rights to these specific premises across the three dates listed in the documents (1765, 1781, and 1787), and historical records gathered between 1787-1788, indicate Charles Hornby was probably the ship commander of a British slave ship the Mary. A wealthy gentleman named William Hornby held extensive property in the Tottenham Lower Ward (Middlesex) starting in 1781. He inherited substantial wealth from his great-uncle, Charles Hornby (of Fryerning, Essex), whose large estate passed down to his nephews and nieces.
The second paragraph introduces a legal entry regarding Elizabeth Draper, a spinster (unmarried woman) living on Mansfield Street in Goodman's Fields, Middlesex. It references a past transaction where she was admitted to the manor decades earlier, on December 22, 1756, and as time went on, feelings between Charles and Elizabeth probably developed, which led to marriage intentions later on.
We believe the document is on parchment paper and in good condition for its age. It measures about 16 1/2 x 13 inches wide, each of the five manuscript pages have a blank page on the verso, and there is a blank page at the rear. There is a ribbon or bow in the upper left corner of the first page to tie all the pages together, the front page has browned over time, there are vertical and horizontal folds probably made by the person who recorded the document, with light wear on the edges, folds and creases on the lower left side of the cover, and a fascinating document for people who appreciate land ownership and how it was passed on in England in the 1700's.
The second document is an indenture between John Wakefield and his wife Margaret and Frances Burley, the landowner, to last for one year. John and Margaret would pay Frances five shillings a year in exchange for their living in a building on the land and keeping a portion of whatever crops they grew and the rest going to Frances, who would sell those crops at a profit, and the document was registered in 1817.
In 1817, five shillings was equal to about £27.80 today (about $37 today in dollars), and five shillings was often issued as one large single silver coin called a crown. That was a meaningful amount of money for an ordinary person at the time, representing roughly two to three days' wages for an average agricultural laborer or unskilled worker.
There are four red wax seals at the bottom and a revenue tax stamp with the seal of King George the Third of England on the back side of the document, and the revenue tax stamp sparked the Revolutionary War started with America in the 1770's.
The document is on vellum, with red double-lined borders near the edges, it measures 19 3/4 x 27 inches wide and is in very good condition for its age. The top edge has diagonal corners - we believe the paper came that way and there are long scalloped edges along the top to prevent unscrupulous people from copying the document. The writing is strong, with holes on the first horizontal fold, and the document would look great framed and hanging on a wall.
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