Landowner, Developer and Builder

Landowner: The Westcotes Estate Limited

The first entry on the Land Registry title for 141 Upperton Road is a land conveyance dated 5th April 1910 between The Westcotes Estate Limited and Isaac Hopkins and Henry Newitt. The conveyance contains the following covenants (summarised) upon Isaac Hopkins as to the development of the land:

  • The first entry on the Land Registry title for 141 Upperton Road is a land conveyance dated 5th April 1910 between The Westcotes Estate Limited and Isaac Hopkins and Henry Newitt. The conveyance contains the following covenants (summarised) upon Isaac Hopkins as to the development of the land:
  • to erect and maintain an open iron fence and gate along the southern [front] boundary of a height, material and design to be approved by The Westcotes Estate Limited;
  • not to erect any buildings within the space 10 feet from the boundary fronting Upperton Road, except a bay window not to project more than two feet six inches from the face of the front wall of the buildings;
  • no hotel, inn, tavern or beerhouse or any club to be erected or opened on the land and no spirituous or fermented liquors shall be sold without the approval of The Westcotes Estate Limited;
  • all buildings erected on the land shall front Upperton Road and that elevation of the buildings with their appurtenances shall be approved by The Westcotes Estate Limited; and
  • that The Westcotes Estate Limited reserve the right to alter the mode of laying out streets or roads, the number and area of the lots, the site rental building line and class of buildings, and any of the general or special conditions of sale.

Developer: Isaac Hopkins

Isaac Hopkins was born 17th March 1844 in Knighton. His parents were framework knitters and evidence suggests that they were both illiterate1. Sadly, Isaac’s father, Isaac Hopkins senior, died and was buried when Isaac was just ten days old2. On 30th April 1844 Isaac was baptised in the Leicester Wesleyan Methodist Circuit3.

On 12th November 1866 Isaac married Elizabeth Marriott4 at St. Mary’s Parish Church, Knighton; at that time Isaac’s occupation was recorded as a carpenter. I can find no record that Isaac and Elizabeth went on to have any children. Isaac and Elizabeth moved to Leicester and, in 1871, Isaac’s occupation was recorded as a joiner-carpenter (indicating some possible connection with the building trade). By 1881 and again through 1891 his occupation was recorded as beer seller/agent, and by 1901 he was a recorded as a beer agent. It seems reasonable to assume that this was more lucrative than carpentry not least because, by 1901, Isaac and Elizabeth were living in a handsome dwelling ‘Inglewood’ on Fosse Road South, and were able to afford a live-in servant.

Inglewood, Fosse Road South

Isaac’s wife Elizabeth died 26th November 1908. By 1911 Isaac had retired and was living at 63 Hinckley Road, and had the support of a live-in housekeeper.

Leicester Chronical and Leicestershire Mercury, November 28th 1908

The records suggest that throughout their married life Isaac and Elizabeth had a close relationship with Elizabeth’s sister, Esther, and her husband William Pick and their children5 and grandchildren6. The late 19th Century censuses find the families living in close proximity to one another and that Isaac and Elizabeth were closely involved in the upbringing of the Pick’s children7.

Isaac died on 25th May 1914 at Bow Bridge House8. By the time of his death Isaac had accumulated an estate valued at £8,140, 14s and 7d. His will made financial provisions for his executors and his latter-years housekeeper, and shows that he had accumulated 25 houses around the Westcotes area. The houses were distributed among two of his nieces9 and (in trust, upon attaining the age of 25) one of his niece’s sons, Leslie Montague Haddon10, who also inherited shares in Officers’ Brewery Company and all household furniture and effects. Some details of the will were reported in the Leicester Daily Post on 24th July 1914:

Isaac Hopkins was buried at Welford Road Cemetery. The monument inscription at his grave shows that he is buried alongside his wife, mother and stepfather, and records the death of his father Isaac Hopkins senior:

Builder: Henry Newitt

Henry Newitt was born in Long Buckby, Northamptonshire, in 1856. Henry’s father, John Newitt, a labourer, was born in 1796 and his wife had died in 1852. Henry’s mother is unknown and John Newitt would have been 64 in the year of Henry’s birth. I have been unable to find documentary evidence relating to Henry’s early life (nor indeed John’s at this time) but, by 1871, both Henry and John were residing in Hinckley with one of John’s daughters and her husband and children11. On 12th December 1874 Henry married Louisa Garratt at St. Mary’s Parish Church, Hinckley; at that time Henry’s occupation was recorded as bricklayer. Henry and Louisa went on to have two children and remained in Hinckley through until at least 189112. However, by 1901 they had moved to Leicester13, with Henry’s occupation still recorded as a bricklayer and their son Arthur was now a bricklayer’s apprentice. By 1906 father and son were listed14 under ‘Builders & Contractors’ in the trade section of C. N. Wright’s Directory of Leicester, 1906. By 1911 both children had left home leaving Henry and Louisa residing at 77 Barclay Street. Henry’s occupation was now recorded as a ‘builder of houses’.

Accounting records indicate that Henry Newitt was one of a number of local builders regularly purchasing land, and raising mortgages from, The Westcotes Estates Limited15. As at 30th September 1910 Henry Newitt had paid a total of £21 2s. 6d. and outstanding debt totalling £22 18s. 10d. in interest on land16 purchased from the company, and had accrued a debt of £102 8s. 4d. in interest on mortgages & advances17. Thus, it appears that Henry Newitt had by 1910 become a speculative housebuilder, acquiring plots from the company on ‘hire purchase’ terms and drawing on advances from the company to fund the construction of houses, with the completed houses presumably sold-on to landlords or owner-occupiers.

As noted above, however, the 5th April 1910 land conveyance suggests that 141 Upperton Road was constructed by Henry Newitt as a commission for the first owner/landlord, Isaac Hopkins. It is reasonable to assume that 141 Upperton Road was constructed during the summer of 191018 and that 141 & 143 Upperton Road were built together19.

Early 20th Century electoral register records show that 77 Barclay Street was owned by Henry & Louisa’s son, Arthur Newitt20 and that Henry owned houses in Bismark Street21, Fosse Road and Upperton Road. The precarious nature of Victorian/Edwardian speculative house building, which transferred much financial liability associated with development and exposure to the risk of fluctuations in market demand for housing from the landowner to the builder, is illustrated well in Henry Newitt’s case22: by 1912 he had suffered a reversal of fortune as reported in the Leicester Evening Mail:

Louisa died in 1919. In 1920 Henry re-married, to Emma S. Hawkins (b. 1855), and the 1921 Census finds Henry and Emily residing at 13 Metcalf Street in the (subsequently slum-cleared) Wharf Street area of Leicester. Henry’s occupation is recorded as a jobbing builder, working on his own account. Henry lived on until 1931.

Henry’s son, Arthur, was living at 41 Minehead Street, Leicester, in 1921 with his wife Marie Newitt and their son, Arthur Henry Newitt (b. 1911, Leicester).

Footnotes

  1. Isaac Hopkins senior married Esther Manning on 17th March 1844 at St. Mary’s Parish Church, Knighton. Both the bride and groom signed their marriage certificate with a cross. It appears that they already had a daughter at the time of their wedding: Eliza Hopkins Manning, daughter of Isaac & Esther of Knighton, was born 1st March 1843 and was baptised in the Leicester Wesleyan Methodist Circuit on 2nd May 1843 (https://www.bishopstreetchurch.org.uk/ – Baptisms in the Leicester Wesleyan Methodist Circuit, 4th September 1837 – 29th August 1855). ↩︎
  2. Isaac Hopkins senior died aged just 26 and was buried at St. Mary’s Parish Church, Knighton, on 27th March 1844. Esther went on to re-marry, Richard Towers – a widower and a labourer – on 15th June 1848 at All Saints Church, Leicester. Richard also had a child form his first marriage, Elizabeth Towers (b. 1841, Aylestone). Elizabeth went on to marry Joseph Marriott (b. 1842, Knighton) in 1860 and in 1861 they had a daughter, Ann Marriott. ↩︎
  3. https://www.bishopstreetchurch.org.uk/ – Baptisms in the Leicester Wesleyan Methodist Circuit, 4th September 1837 – 29th August 1855 ↩︎
  4. This is Elizabeth Marriott (b. 1845) sister of Joseph Marrott, who married Isaac’s step sister Elizabeth Towers. On 22nd November 1869 Elizabeth’s sister Esther Marriott married William Pick, a shoemaker, at St. Mary’s Parish Church, Knighton. The marriage was witnessed by Isaac Hopkins and, another of the Marriott siblings, Sarah-Ann Marriot. ↩︎
  5. Kate Lavinia Pick, Florence Amelia Pick, Edward H Pick and Margaret E Pick. ↩︎
  6. Leslie Montague Haddon and Mabel Kathleen Haddon. ↩︎
  7. In 1871 Isaac & Elizabeth Hopkins were living at 11 Holme Street whilst William & Esther Pick were at 9 Holme Street. In 1881 the Hopkins were at 33 Leamington Street with niece Kate Lavinia Pick whilst the Picks were at 46 Leamington Street. In 1891 the Hopkins were at 63 Hinckley Road, the Picks were to be found at 98 Leamington Street and, now married, Kate Lavinia and her husband John Haddon were living with their son Leslie Montague Haddon at The Leamington House, 49 Leamington Street. ↩︎
  8. Based on electoral register records Bow Bridge House, 1 King Richard’s Road, appears to have been the home of John Edward Haddon (and presumably also family) from 1914. Bow Bridge House appears to have been part of the Bow Bridge Works elastic web manufactory adjacent to the River Soar, and it is noted that other records record John as a commercial traveller, elastic web. On 2nd December 1915 Leslie Montague Haddon, now aged 25, married Ada Elizabeth Gore at St. Paul’s Church, Leicester. Leslie Montague’s residence at the time of the wedding is recorded as Bow Bridge House and his occupation as a bank clerk. John Edward Haddon’s occupation is recorded on the certificate as manager, suggesting perhaps that he had risen through the ranks at the elastic web manufactory. ↩︎
  9. To Florence Amelia Pick of 7 Wilberforce Road: 23, 25, 27 & 29 Latimer Street; and to Kate Lavinia Haddon of The Bracken, Cropston: 43, 45, 47, 51, 53, 55 & 57 Luther Street, 28 & 30 Stuart Street and 63 Hinckley Road. ↩︎
  10. To Leslie Montague Haddon of The Bracken, Cropston, upon obtaining the age of 25 and in the meantime trustees to collect the rent therefrom and put towards the maintenance, education or benefit of Leslie Montague Haddon: 39 Bruce Street, 36 Noel Street, 108, 110, 112, 114, 118, 120 & 122 Wilberforce Road, and ‘Elm Park View’ and ‘The Firs’ Upperton Road. ↩︎
  11. The Huckle family at Fox Yard, Bond Street, Hinckley. ↩︎
  12. The 1891 Census finds them living at 13 Manor Street, Hinckley, with their children Arthur and Ada. ↩︎
  13. The 1901 Census finds them living at 325 Tudor Road with son Arthur, a bricklayer’s apprentice, and ‘boarders’ John & Ada Williamson. I surmise that this is their daughter Ada, now married, and her husband. ↩︎
  14. As Henry Newitt & Son, 77 Barclay Street. ↩︎
  15. Other names frequently appearing in the accounting records in September 1910 were: W. Tyrell, T. Wood, J. T.  Richardson, E. L. Jones and J. Blackwell. ↩︎
  16. The trading accounts for interest on land seem to record the monies paid and owing by plot numbers. On this basis it appears that Henry Newitt had outstanding accounts on eight plots during the accounting period ending 30th September 1910. ↩︎
  17. The trading accounts for interest on mortgages & advances seem to record monies owing by each mortgage/ advance made. On this basis it appears that Henry Newitt had outstanding accounts on eleven mortgages/ advances during the accounting period ending 30th September 1910. ↩︎
  18. As noted earlier, the first entry on the Land Registry title for 141 Upperton Road is a land conveyance dated 5th April 1910. It has been suggested that Victorian construction work was seasonal, such that builders and associated tradesmen could expect “…fifty-hour weeks in summer and little or no work in winter”. Kit Webb Victorian Housebuilding, Shire Library, 2012. ↩︎
  19. Since both were in the ownership of Isaac Hopkins and the Land Registry title for 141 Upperton Road cross refers to The Firs, 143 Upperton Road. ↩︎
  20. Of 40 Cambridge Street, and later Haddenham Road. ↩︎
  21. Now Beaconsfield Road. ↩︎
  22. Henry Newitt was not the only one. On 29th November 1911 the Leicester Daily Post reported the bankruptcy of John Blackwell, builder, of 115 Upperton Road, with debts totalling £3,646 8s. 2d. Listed assets included interests in eight houses in Cambridge Street in the course of construction (£400) and in eight houses in the course of construction in Sykefield Avenue (£400), and the report later refers to (in addition to these 16 houses) a total of 39 houses constructed by the debtor, of which 15 had been sold and 24 remained in hand (but with possession of rents and property claimed by the mortgagees). The report cites the debtor’s defence thus: “I do not consider myself insolvent. I attribute my present position to the stagnant state of the house property market, and also to my inability to obtain advances due under building agreements”. By December 1911 newspaper notices declared that John Blackwell was bankrupt. ↩︎