This is the second in my series about the deeds to my old house and the people named in them. Here is a link to the first. There is only one Howdles Lane in the world and it seems to have been named after George Howdle.
George Howdle (1799-1885)
The deeds say that George Howdle leased some land in the area from the Marquis of Anglesey in 1877. This did not include the land on which my old house stands; that was leased at the same time to John Dennis, my great grandfather.
A George Howdle is recorded in the 1851-1881 censuses for the area. He was born about 1799 at Hemingborough, Yorkshire. His occupation at these times was recorded as agricultural labourer (1851), proprietor of houses (1861), letter carrier (1871) and no occupation (1881).
In 1873 a George Howdle, of Walsall, owned an area of 4 acres 24 poles generating annual rental of £188 5s. George Howdle (snr) died in 1885 with an estate value £180 3s 10d. His son Henry lived in Howdles Lane (as it is known today) in 1891 and 1901 and was a well sinker.
George’s son, also George, born 1825, could also have been the lessee or inherited the lease, which was up for auction following his death on 12 May 1911. I have found no record of sale of the cottages in the period between 1850 and 1880 – there are no relevant news reports online from the 1860s. From this it seems reasonable to infer that George Howdle (snr) leased land from the Marquis, had the twelve cottages built, benefited from the rent, then passed them on to his son. However, it seems there is evidence, as yet unseen by me, that the cottages were much older, but I will return to that in future.
Almost coincident with the elder George’s death the Ordnance Survey mapped the area in 1882-1883.
The map above is designed to cover future posts as well as this one.
Red: The original 12 cottages belonging to George Howdle in 1861.
Yellow: I think later censuses might have recorded these as Howdles Cottages. I believe second great grandfather Joseph Carter lived on the inside of the bend, at the top of the map.
Blue: Land developed for housing in 1960, leased sometime by both my great grandfather John Dennis and his son John, aka Jack. Number 30 is at the northern end of the southern plot.
Green: H Twist Cottages. The northern pair remains as numbers 36 and 38. Great grandfather John Dennis lived in the southernmost of the four from some time in the 1870s until his death in 1915. His family is pictured below – I have used this before in John I Chapter II.
More to come …
Andrew's Kindred 