Rev. Edward Whitehead: St John's House, Chichester

[Tom Piper]

Jan,

I wonder who the current owner is and whether he knows his house is on Roots chat and why!!

Tom

[Tom Piper]

Edward ended up being the Rector of Winchelsea according to the Derby Mercury of 1872. The bankruptcy that was marked against his name in 1871 was annulled in 1876 and he died in August 1883, at Winchelsea according to the Times, The Times Wednesday, Aug 22, 1883; pg. 1; Issue 30905; col A.

I wonder if there is anyone out there in Sussex, near Winchelsea who would be able to locate his grave in the graveyard, that is if he was buried there, but I would think he would be buried at the church.

Tom

[janan]

Hi Tom

Glad I tracked the right house down.

Apparently Friary Close now does Bed and Breakfast, see

http://www.friaryclose.co.uk/

for a better picture than I could get without getting too close! It tells you who now owns it.

Re Winchelsea grave, probably best to post a separate request.

Jan

[Tom Piper]

Jan,

Well now that 's interesting, I could do with a place to stay if I come to watch cricket at Arundel!

I'll post a separate message re Winchelsea as you suggest.

Tom

[janan]

I'm still a bit puzzled as to how the Rev Edward ended up owning the place. I haven't checked it out but I'm guessing Mrs Willan died between 1861 and 71 so I would have imagined the house would have gone to family in her will. Unless perhaps the house was rented to Edward when she died and then later sold on by the family? Still wonder how he afforded it though - perhaps he was left some money at some point.

Anyway it looks like a nice place to stay

Jan

[Tom Piper]

Jan,

Yes that's a puzzle. Together with another researcher who has done more work on the Whitehead family than I, we have been looking at the likelihood of him inheriting large sums of money from his family-his father died around that time, also in the Anglican Church, as was his brother, and many of the family, were all in the church. His father left a lot of land, but no cash to his son, so how Edward managed to buy it etc we don't know.

I also see that in the Archives there is this record:Lease for 7 years Add Mss 19830
a) Rev. Stephen Barbut of Chichester (b) Rev. Edward Whitehead of Chichester Dwellinghouse, stable, coach-house and garden at the S. end of New Town or St. John's Street, Chichester, late in the occupation of Mrs. Willan, now of (b) Rent: £80. [West Date: 1862.

but also this:
Information relating to document ref. no. C 16/695/B67
Cause number: 1871 B67. Short title: Barbutt v Whitehead. Documents: Two bills. Plaintiffs: Maria Rachael Barbut widow and others. Defendants: Revd Edward Whitehead. . Cause number: 1871 B67. Short title: Barbutt v Whitehead. Documents: Two bills. Plaintiffs: Date: 1871.
Source: The Catalogue of The National Archives

So is this  Maria Rachael Barbut is the widow of Stephen Barbut, former incumbent of St John's chapel, Chichester, the first one apparently who stayed in the job for some 56 years, according to Hampshire Telegraph and Sussex Chronicle etc (Portsmouth, England), Saturday, September 25, 1869; Issue 3872.

He died September 17th, 1869 according to the same newspaper.

Maybe he lived at this house first of all, the advert for the B & B states it circa around 1810. 

Who is this Mrs Willan in the 1861 census, I can't find her in Ancestry?

Tom

[janan]

Her full name is

Isabella M Douglas Willan born Marylebone c1789 she is a widow occupation Land Proprietor

If you have no luck finding her I will post full census entry this evening - unfortunately I have to go to work now.

jan

[Tom Piper]

Thanks Jan, I found her just fine, quite a property magnate it would seem.

Lots more to discover it would seem as always

Tom

[Tom Piper]

Jan,

In an earlier message before we referred to the national Archives documents, you mentioned that you thought that St. John's House as mentioned in the sale in 1871, may well be Stride and Sons Estate Agents. Well...., I put St John's House into The Times archive and it came up with two results, one was the death announcement of Fanny Eyre Smith:

On the 13th Feb., at St John’s House, Chichester, Fanny Eyre Smith, wife of the late Rev. Henry Smith, M.A., vicar of Firle and Prebendary of Marden in Chichester cathedral, daughter of the late Sir William Burnett, M.D., K.C.B. Director General of the Medical Department of the Navy, aged 76.

So I looked on 1891 census, and found under the below reference :
RG12; Piece: 846; Folio 150; Page 10; GSU roll: 6095956
St. John’s House, Fanny E. Smith, widow, 73, born Chichester. Next door on either side of St. John’s House is St. John’s Mews (coach house and stables maybe)

The other advert was    The Times Friday, Mar 28, 1969; pg. 16; Issue 57521; col A

This was for a house for sale by an estate agent called Stride & Sons, St. John's House, Chichester.

As for the money to buy it, well that may well have come from Edward's second wife, Charlotte Willes, daughter of wealthy churchman-her father died 1847 and she and Edward married 1849, just after he came back from Madras.

So maybe St John's House after all your photographs may in fact be Stride and Sons.

Tom