Reference
QSH2/81-127
Title
Purchase from Whyley 1908: 5 St Paul's Square, Bedford
Date free text
1702 - 1911
Production date
From: 1558 To: 1949
Scope and Content
In 1702 there was a cottage on this site. The house was built sometime before 1756. Like so many other riverside properties, it was for a time (1767-76) owned by a coal merchant, John Mott. After him it was acquired by a plumber, Thomas Empy, who in 1796 sode it to a schoolmaster, William Smith. Smith's school seems to have been short-lived, for he left for Stepney in 1807; then the adjoining owner, Thomas Gadsby, bought the house and let it to three Dennis sisters to whom in 1840 he bequeathed it. Subsequently it was tenanted by Henry Pulley, auctioneer, who was followed by other auctioneers, Galpin & Lovell. The Council acquired it in 1908 for 2,650; and in 1909 acquired from the Corporation the lane between 5 and 6; and built the Council Chamber and education offices on the whole site.
Level of description
sub-file