The Sale of Oatlands - 30 June 1829
If the contemporary press reports of this sale were correct then it would be a simple matter to detail this sale, sadly they are very, very wrong, though they are have regularly been quoted as a source of 'historical fact' within various publications over many years.
These reports appeared in newspapers covering the length and breath of the country and also in one or two overseas titles and often bore a 'by-line' reading "From an evening newspaper".
We have not yet traced this original report with any certainty but it was most probably a reference to the late edition of one of the local daily newspapers.
According to these press articles, the entire Oatlands Estate was successfully sold by Messrs Driver at the Auction Mart on the 30th of June - in reality only nine of the twenty-nine lots on offer met with a buyer. Of the others, two were withdrawn prior to the sale and the remaining eighteen failed to meet their reserve price and were 'Bought-In'.
Edward Hughes Ball Hughes was hoping that the sale would realise at least £124,790 based upon the reserve prices, sadly for him (and unfortunately for his creditors) the actual figure was a rather lowly £40,730, less than a third of the amount expected.
It is not clear exactly which lot numbers relate to which portions of the estate as the only sale catalogue we have so far encountered is a 'printer's proof' which shows the 3,283 acres estate and the manors divided into 21 lots, rather than the 29 that were actually offered for sale by Messrs Driver. the auctioneers.
Driver's account for the sale, as submitted to Hughes' solicitors, Messrs Freere & Forster confirms the number of lots, the names of the purchasers and the amounts paid.
| Lot No. | Reserve Price | Purchase Price | Purchaser | ||||
| £ | s | d | £ | s | d | ||
| 1 | 50,000 | 0 | 0 | Bought-In | |||
| 2 | 2,250 | 0 | 0 | 2,260 | 0 | 0 | Mr.Walpole-Eyre Esq, |
| 3 | 2,000 | 0 | 0 | Bought-In | |||
| 4 | 200 | 0 | 0 | Bought-In | |||
| 5 | 700 | 0 | 0 | Bought-In | |||
| 6 | 1,200 | 0 | 0 | Bought-In | |||
| 7 | 1,300 | 0 | 0 | Bought-In | |||
| 8 | 4,000 | 0 | 0 | Bought-In | |||
| 9 | 7,000 | 0 | 0 | Bought-In | |||
| 10 | 900 | 0 | 0 | Bought-In | |||
| 11 | 350 | 0 | 0 | Bought-In | |||
| 12 | 560 | 0 | 0 | Bought-In | |||
| 13 | 700 | 0 | 0 | Bought-In | |||
| 14 | 600 | 0 | 0 | Bought-In | |||
| 15 | 180 | 0 | 0 | Bought-In | |||
| 16 | 800 | 0 | 0 | Bought-In | |||
| 17 | 1,000 | 0 | 0 | Bought-In | |||
| 18 | 1,250 | 0 | 0 | Bought-In | |||
| 19 | 1,700 | 0 | 0 | Bought-In | |||
| 20 | 10,000 | 0 | 0 | 10,050 | 0 | 0 | Lord king, 58 Dover Street |
| 21 | 11,500 | 0 | 0 | 12,000 | 0 | 0 | Lord king, 58 Dover Street |
| 22 | 1,200 | 0 | 0 | 1,700 | 0 | 0 | Mr.Atkinson |
| 23 | 1,450 | 0 | 0 | 2,110 | 0 | 0 | Mr.J.Burns?, Byfleet |
| 24 | 1,050 | 0 | 0 | 1,950 | 0 | 0 | Mr.J.Burns?, Byfleet |
| 25 | 200 | 0 | 0 | 210 | 0 | 0 | Mr.James Sparkes |
| 26 | 5,600 | 0 | 0 | 5,650 | 0 | 0 | Mr.J.S.Hulbert, High Street, Portsmouth |
| 27 | 4,600 | 0 | 0 | 4,800 | 0 | 0 | Mr.J.S.Hulbert, High Street, Portsmouth |
| 28 | 8,000 | 0 | 0 | Withdrawn | |||
| 29 | 4,500 | 0 | 0 | Withdrawn | |||
We are confident that lot 1 was the Mansion and its 708 acres including the Grotto, Lot 2 was likely to have been St George's Hill and lots 20 and 21 almost certainly included Brooklands Farm but anything more than that, until we can locate an actual sale catalogue, the plan or some other clear evidence, would be little more than speculation on our part as checking against lots offered at the later sales fails to produce a clear result.
Prior to this auction there was at least one advertisement for something which, if it had sailed to find a buyer, may have been included in the final list of lots offered by Messrs Driver and there is a letter, dated 28th April 1829, within the collections at Surrey History Centre from a Mr Thomas Hatch, in which he suggests exchanging 65 acres of land "apportioned to their Vicarage" (though it is currently unclear who "they" were) which is situated "adjoining to Mr Hughes' property at St George's Hill" for "a few acres of meadow land adjoining the River Thames".
The mansion was offered for lease subsequent to the auction and was rented for a period of seven years from 1830 by Lord Francis Leverson Gower (he bacame known as Lord Francis Egerton by royal licence from 1833) and this was renewed for a further seven years when it expired. In 1846 he was elevated to the peerage as Viscount Brackley, and Earl of Ellesmere.
The Sale of Oatlands - 1 August 1822
The estate was offered in fifty lots totalling 3,512 acres (about 1421.25 hectares) over two days. According to the auctioneer's notes, only seven lots were sold on each of the two days. these were:
| Day One | Day Two | |||||
| Lot 4 | Byfleet Corn Mills | £3,500 | Lot 22 | The Crown Public House | £730 | |
| Lot 6 | Byfleet Bridge Farm | £3,500 | Lot 23 | A Small Freehold |Estate | £200 | |
| Lot 7 | Island Meadow | £780 | Lot 25 | Two Freehold Allotments of Pasture | £140 | |
| Lot 10 | A Freehold Piece of Pasture Land | £70 | Lot 28 | A Small Freehold Estate | £245 | |
| Lot 15 | A Small Freehold Estate | £140 | Lot 30 | The Manor House [at Walton] | £360 | |
| Lot 16 | A Freehold Allotment |
£55 | Lot 32 | A Freehold Paddock of Grass & Garden | £230 | |
| Lot 19 | Purcroft Lands [part] |
£450 | Lot 33 | A Most Desirable Freehold Meadow | £65 |
This disposed of a total of 169 acres 3 roods 23 perches of land (68.93 hectares) and made £10,465, cosiderably less than the duke was hoping for.
It seems that the Duke of York was not the only one who was unhappy about the sale, as the following appeared a little over a couple of weeks later.
It was highly probable that Mr George Robins and his friends became even more disgruntled when, only three days later, Mr Forrest was back in action again, this time selling off the furniture...
The "Crown Public House" referred to remains today as "The Old Crown" as a wonderful link with the past in Thames Street, Weybridge.
Main Image Source: Surrey History Centre, Goldsworth Road, Woking
The Sale of Oatlands -1 4 August 1846
The was only only one lot on offer at this sale and this comprised the two manors "Byfleet and Weybridge" and "Walton Leigh" and, while we have not yet located the auctioneer's receipts for the sale to put a name to the purchaser, we do know that both manors were successfully disposed of.
The document shown above appears to be a printer's proof for the auction catalogue as there are several annotatons to its content - it would be nice to locate the actual catalogue for the sale but that has, so far, eluded us.
Within what we have for reference, the Manor of Byfleet and Weybridge was offered for sale as follows:
"With all its Quit Rents, Fines Arbitrary, Heriots, Royalties, Rights, Members and Appurtenances thereto pertaining.
All Copyhold Lands held of this Manor pay a fine to the Lord of Two Years Improved Rent upon descent, and one year and a half Improved Rent is usually accepted upon Alienation, and a Heriot is also payable on Death.
The Lord is entitled also to one-third of the Oak Timber felled for sale.
The Quit Rents and Heriots are stated in the Terrier hereafter set set forth.
The valuable Manor of Weybridge and Byfleet extends about ten miles in circumference, and is sold subject to the repairs of the public bridge at Byfleet, which is built with timber, and may be upheld for a great number of years in its present state at a very moderate anual expense, or if it should be thought desirable by the Lord of the Manor, an entirely new Bridge might be constructed with brick, at a sum, it is apprehended not exceeding at any rate £1000
The Manor is also subject to one moiety of the repairs of Crockford Bridge, leading from Weybridge to Addlestone, but this is now a very substantial Brick Bridge, with large arches and will not require any expense for a very long time, except to the repairs of the railing to the Carriage road over it. One moiety of this and of the approach roads is kept in repair by the Lord of this Manor, the other moiety is at the expense of Lord Onslow, as owner of the adjoining Manor."
This manor amounted to 720 acres 3 roods 16 perches (291.84 hectares) and the Manor of Walton Leigh totalled 235 acres 1 rood and 35 perches (95.56 hectares), giviing a combined total of a little over 952 acres which is around 385 hectares.
We have not yet discovered the price paid for the two manors.
When the total for these two manors is added to the 980 acres of the first sale, this gives a total of 1,932 acres. We know that Ball Hughes sold a one third share of the Manor of Walton on Thames to Durley Grazebrook sometime earlier, but we can't believe that this would have accounted for the 'missing' 1580 acres from the original purchase of 3,512 acres. It may be that, in the compilation of this web-page we have overlooked something that we should have remembered (at the time of writing, there is a lot of pressure on a very limited number of people), but if anyone can help us work this out, please contact our Research Coordinator.
Image Source: Surrey History Centre, Goldsworth Road, Woking
The Sale of Oatlands - 19 May 1846
This sale is, far and away, the most important single event in the history of Oatlands as a village. It marks the 'birth of Oatlands' as a village - every building in what we would now consider to be "Old Oatlands", as a community seperate from the mansion, is built on a plot that changed hands on the 19th of May 1846 or immediately afterwards.
Fortunately virtually all the information necessary to to determine exactly what happened at this sale has been preserved, though some of it lies well hidden within the large number of boxes containing the uncatalogued documents known as "The Ball Hughes Papers" at Surrey History Centre.
Of the 64 lots offered, only nine do not have a purchaser listed against them in the book of sale agreements - these were:
Lot 1 - Oatlands. A Renowned & Magnificent Mansion House with 97 Acres
Lot 2 - Oatlands Farm.
Lot 36 - A very desirable & valuable Plot of Building Ground.
Lot 37 - Another very desirable Plot for Building.
Lot 40 - A very valuable Parcel of Walled Kitchen Garden.
Lot 41 - A valuable and compact Parcel of Rich Arable and Meadow Land.
Lot 61 - A valuable Parcel of meadow land and eyot.
The remaing two lots were sold shortly after the sale, as the do not appear in subsequent sales:
Lot 28 - A valuable Plot for Building. Purchased after the sale by W G Lyle - the actual date is currently unknown.
Lot 29 - ,Another similar Plot, adapted for Building.. Purchased after the sale by J W Peppercorne - the actual date is currently unknown.
Once again the newspaper reports of the sale in the press were a little wide of the mark, reporting that the entire estate as sold for a total of £64,496, exclusive of the timber which was claimed to have raised a further total of £6,142. The actual total according to the book of Sales Agreements was £41,610 with the timber accounting for a further £3,615
The Sale of Oatlands - 18 September 1846
The fourth and final sale of 1864 must have been a relativly simple process for the auctioneers, Messrs Shuttleworth and Sons - there was only the Estate Farm, divided into six lots, and there was one bidder who was determined to own it all.
James Watts Peppercorne had already acquired the mansion and its grounds, five lots at the second sale on the 4th of August (though it seems highly probable that he purchased more afterwards) and now he had his mind set on adding the farm to his list.
All six lots became his when the hammer fell, as follows:
| Timber | |||
| Lot 1 | Farm House - 5 Acres and 30 Perches | £1,200 | £57 |
| Lot 2 | Adjoining Lot 1 on the West - 4 Acres 2 Roods and 22 Perches | £430 | £42 |
| Lot 3 | Adjoining Lot 1 on the East - 3 Acres 2 Roods and 28 Perches | £320 | £20 |
| Lot 4 | Adjoining Lot 3 - comprising 3 Acres 2 Roods and 24 Perches | £340 | £28 |
| Lot 5 | In the rear of Lots 1 & 2 - 4 Acres 3 Roods and 16 Perches | £440 | £40 |
| Lot 6 | Adjoining Lot 5 - 5 Acres and 18 Perches | £470 | £41 |
Fortunately, the plan for this sale exists and is simple to follow.
The farmhouse and its outbuildings were soon demolished and a large and imposing house named "The Hollies" was constructed, along with an ornamental lake, as a home for the Peppercorne family, with an entrance lodge to the property situated in York Road.
A large and ornate house mamed "Swiss Cottage" (not to be confused with the 'tea rooms' of the same name on St George's Hill) was constructed close to the Oatlands Avenue / Queen's Road junction (bottom left of plan) and this was home to Louisa Harriet Wilkes and her family. Louisa was the eldest daughter of James Watts Peppercorne.
The Hollies was later renamed "Westernhay" and until relatively recently, stood on the opposite side of the road to its lake in High Pine Close.Image Source: Surrey History Centre, Goldsworth Road, Woking