OXLADE FAMILY HISTORY
"Dwellers in the Valley of the Oaks"
History of Dulwich
A Dulwich Street
Much of the material on this page was kindly supplied by Patrick A. Darby, then Chairman, Local History Section Dulwich Society 10 Raleigh Court Lynier Avenue SE19 ILS in April 1998
Patrick A. Darby had a card index (not yet computerised in April 1998) with about 3,000 names of individuals known to have lived, or owned property, in Dulwich from the early 14th century up to 1808, after which date it gets a bit sketchy. Even before that date he wasn't sure that he had examined all the records, and had only studied entries in the College Chapel Register up to 1710 or thereabouts, so that Williaim Oxlade's baptism in 1768 was news to him. Essentially, the information that he had on him came from two sources: (1) his examination of leases granted by Dulwich College (which used to own the whole of Dulwich, and the successor of which, the Dulwich Estate Trust, still owns a big chunk of the freehold), and College Minute Books, Rental Records, Weekly Account Books, etc, all of which are listed in Sir Francis Bickley's 'Catalogue of [Dulwich] Manuscripts and Muniments' [referred to below as 'BC'], 2nd Series, 1903, but most of which he had studied at first-hand; and (2) notes made by his late father William Darby, also a local historian, in preparation for a series of books he was writing which was only partly completed at his death in 1968, the notes being based on boxes of uncatalogued correspondence still kept in the College archives which he sifted through but which Mr Darby had been able to give only a cursory examination in April 1998. The information that he had come across, however, had been meticulously transferrrd to his card index, and is here (with references cited where he was able to do so), cited in chronological order.
4/3/1779: Ordered [at the College Audit Meeting] that William Oxlade shall have a Lease of the Tile Kyln [sic] and the Buildings adjoining ... on Dulwich Common, together with 32 acres on Arnbrook Hill called the Lops (all in lease to Wm Levens deceased) for 21 years from Lady Day [March 25th next, at £35 p.a., provided he pays the outstanding rent within one month, and fulfils the other broken covenants in the Lease, particularly "Wheresoever the Clay or Loom [i.e. loam] has been dug the same is to be Levelled and made Good", also to repair the fences round the Land, which is "now quite open to the Road", and to covenant not to make any bricks to be carried outside Dulwich without the College's consent. - BC, No 3 1.
29/9/1779 to 29/9/1789. Tables of Rent [BC No's 31 and 32] include William Oxlade at £35 p.a.
1781: William Oxlade suggested that John Willes used earth dug [quite possibly in excavating his ornamental lake] to make bricks for use in the building of his mansion [now called'Belair] - WD's Notes.
1787: 'Widow Oxlade properly sworn in at Union Hall' - WD's Notes. 1 have no idea what that entry means.
1788: An Account of the Oxlade 'Glue Case' is to be found in Dulwich College Library: Oxlade senior (who for a time was confined in King's Bench Prison for debt) made size or glue by boiling the cuttings of vellum or parchment; Messrs Jacques Tiffin & Oxlade junior made size of glue from calves' feet, bones, cuttings etc.
1788: Mr Wm. Oxlade's Glue Manufactury ordered to be removed to Ambroke Hill [at the south-east 'corner' of the Dulwich Estate], but the College offered a £5 reduction in rent. - WD's Notes.
5/3/1790. Ordered that William Oxlade shall have a lease of 5 houses, kiln shed, etc., on the Common, and [on Ambroke Hill] Bushy Pasture(I5a.2r.36p.), a meadow (5a.3r.0p.), a piece of land (8a.3r.2p.) & another part of the same (2a.1r.31p), & another piece of land lately dug for brick earth (1 acre), for 21 years from Michaelmas last, at £45 p.a. clear. Numerous covenants, including (1) to move his digging from the Common to the Laps [sic], (2) to demolish the Tile Kiln and erect no new buildings (except on the 1 acre), (3) to fence the five houses and paint it and them white, and (4) not to be a nuisance to theneighbours. -
BC No 32.25/3/1790 to 29/911795. Tables of Rent,[BC No 321 include William Oxlade at £45 p.a.
15/9/1790: Letter from the College to Wm Oxlade, giving him notice to quit "All those five houses, with the stables, kiln, etc., & all the fields etc." Miscellaneous Papers, BC No 98. We may assume that this was a ploy designed to make him comply with his covenants, as he remained in occupation for several more years.
25/3/1796. Table of Rent [BC No 32] includes William Oxlade at £41 p.a.
29/9/1796 to at least 25/3/1808.* Tables of Rent [BC No 321 include William Oxlade at £36 12s Od p.a. 1 have not been able to trace the reason for this rent reduction, nor why the previous reduction was to £41 instead of £40.
POND COTTAGES
This picturesque cluster of houses lying to the immediate south of the Mill Pond was not originally intended for residential use, as might be deduced from its somewhat eccentric lay-out and lack of any coherent style of architecture. Comparison of old leases reveals that from 1663 (and possibly much earlier - there were at least four 'tylemakers' in Dulwich between 1400 and 1420) until the 1780's the site was used for manufacturing tiles and, later on bricks. Apart from the two Regency cottages fronting College Road, and in allowing for necessary rebuilding and renewing of brickwork, etc., the structures which now comprise Pond Cottages can be identified with the various outbuildings used in the tile business. The lease to William Levens in 1758 is particularly interesting, in that the property is described as "a Tile Kiln, Mill House, Pillowing House, Lathing House and Tile House", together with a tenement adjoining the kiln - a total, note, of five houses apart from the kiln itself
Thereafter the Tile Kiln seems to have declined, so that Levens' successor, William Oxlade, chose to diversify into manufacturing glue. His raw materials were vellum and parchment cuttings, harmless enough, but when he was imprisoned for debt and the business taken over by his son (in partnership with one Jacques Tiffin), trouble ensued. They used calves feet, bones, cuttings from the butchers and so on, which, according to the chief sufferer, Robert Clemmons of Hambledon House, were putrid when they were bought and intolerable when steeped in lime and boiled. Oxlade was obliged to remove his glue factory to a more remote part of Dulwich, opposite Sydenham Common. When his lease was renewed in 1790, he was instructed to demolish the Tile Kiln itself and to fence off the remaining five houses and paint them and the surrounding fence white.
The five houses, converted into ten dwellings (and a butchers shop, long demolished), were the nucleus of Pond Cottages. They are no longer painted white, although the fence still is. Of the many features which add to their considerable charm, perhaps the most appropriate are the attractive and distinctive tiles which adorn the roof of each cottage.
POND HOUSE
The 1599 lease of 'Lyndenhurst'to George Hethersall also included'a messuage and backside'which stood on the site of 'Pond House'. Edward Alleyn acquired the freehold of this property some years earlier than that of 'Lyndenhursf, and on Hethersall's surrender of his lease in 1607 was able to grant a new one of the house and about 40 acres of land to one Mathew Withers, described as a Camberwell gardener. The 40 acres were in three ...
'THE OLD BLEW HOUSE'
This is reputedly the oldest house in Dulwich, but just how old is an interesting question. The present building apparently dates mostly from 1776, and this ties in well with a lease in 1796 of a small plot "adjoining those two messuages formerly erected by Dr Joseph Allen, held by him from St Botolph's". Only the Blew House on Dulwich Common (now called the Old Blew House to distinguish it from the College boarding house in College Road) fits this reference, since we know that in Edward Alleyn's will of 1626 he gave the property to the parish of his birth, St Botolphs without Bishopsgate, and the freehold was purchased by the Estates Governors only as recently as 1927. Alleyn's will refers to "the Blew House, now in the occupation of Edward Kipping", and in that same year of 1626 Kipping was presented at the manor court for keeping an unlicensed "victualling howse" and serving after hours. The surprising inference is, therefore, that this long-time residence was once an inn or tavern. Alleyn had bought the property from the three daughters of Elizabeth Friend of Farnham Royal, who had owned it in 1599, and there may have been a house there since before the 15th century, although this has yet to be definitely established.The earliest surviving lease by Bishopsgate parish is to one John Siston in1690. We know of later ones, to Elizabeth Wakeham (a close friend of James Allen, founder of what became J.A.G.S.) in 1731, and in 1773 to Elizabeth Plaw (an even closer friend of Dr Joseph Allen, since he married her on resigning as Master
LYNDENHURST
The history of the site of 'Lyndenhurst can be traced back a good deal further than 1758, when the house was built. It originally stood at the apex of a 31/2 acre field, known in the later middle ages as 'Carter's Hall', and part of the Dove family's extensive copyhold properties. The road on the south-west was referred to in 1599 as'Mathews'Lane', leading to Greenstreet Common (now Half Moon Lane), and that on the east was called Ashpole Lane (now Red Post Hill). When George Hethersall from Mitcham leased it in 1599 it was still just a field, but by 1611, when Edward Alleyn bought the freehold, George's son Walter Hethersall had built a house there, and this must have been the 'very disordered alehouse' for the keeping of which he was fined 1 0/- in 163 1. Later tenants (all of whom held other lands in Dulwich as well) were Nicholas Badger, Dam'el Badger, Thomas Dodd and Thomas Pinckard (1 744). In 175 8 William Price, who was already in occupation, was granted a new lease, and promptly set about rebuilding the house entirely, complete with mansard roof By 18 1 0 the property had passed (via Robert Woodmass, John Doughty, and William Clarke) to Charles Clarke, who remained as tenant until the 1840's. The ornamental green by the signpost opposite lyndenhurst was known, until the present century, as 'Clarke's Green', but it is more probably named after Richard Henry Clarke (possibly a relation), who lived at'St. Austins' (which it fronts) in the early 19th century, than after Charles Clarke.
Dulwich College
The large public school now situated in extensive fields adjoining the South Circular was founded on 21st June 1619 by Edward Alleyn, one of the greatest actors of the Elizabethan age. Originally sited in the centre of the village, the old buildings now serve partly as almhouses - home of the elderly - and lie next to the Dulwich Picture Gallery. The college moved to its impressive Victorian buildings in 1870 and is now one of the famous public schools in this country. By virtue of its own success, the college has helped spawn, through the Alleyn foundation, two other large public schools, James Allen's Girls' School (originally reading classes held in a pub by the then master of the college), and Alleyn's School, a mixed school since 1975.
Further information:
1.See the Trial at the Old Bailey regarding the theft of books from William Oxlade's Stall.
2.Will of William Oxlade, Yeoman of Dulwich 1807
3.The story of John Oxlade ,Book Seller of 10 Peter Street, Cowcross, in Trial of members of the London Corresponding Society.
Dulwich Old College
Lordship Lane with Congregational Church in background.
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