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Reference
X458/8/5
Title
Bill of complaint of Mark Halpen, gentleman and Elizabeth, his wife, commonly called Elizabeth, Lady Lawley, sole executrix of the will of Dr.John Bateman, deceased
Date free text
Trinity Term 5 Geo II [1731]
Production date
From: 1699 To: 1731
Scope and Content
Stating - indenture of mortgage of 15 Mar 1723 from Nicholas Blick to John Bateman - John, late Earl of Bridgewater, executor and residuary legatee of Charles, Duke of Bolton, deceased, leased, on 21 Aug 1699, to James Friend, citizen and clothworker of London, three newly built brick houses then lately tiled but not finished, being 11th-13th houses near the highway from Piccadilly to Hyde Park on East part of land of Duke of Bolton being 60 feet wide and 40 feet deep for 56½ years at a rent of one peppercorn, the premises afterwards being assigned to Nicholas Blick senior - lease of 28 Sep 1706 from Jane, Countess Dowager of Bridgewater, executrix and devisee of late Earl of Bridgewater and Richard Robinson esquire to Nicholas Blick senior of ground near the highway from Piccadilly to Hyde Park containing North to South on East side 120 feet and on West side 121'6", from East-West on South side 56'5" and on North 62'6" with part of a field called Stonebridge for 33¼ years at a peppercorn rent - both pieces of land recited above became vested in Honorable Roger North, esquire as executor and residuary legatee of his brother Montagu North, esquire for securing payment of £1,500 - mortgage of 6 Apr 1713 from Nicholas Blick senior and Honorable Roger North to Elizabeth Hussey of St.Martin's-in-the- Fields [Middlesex] secured by land as noted in lease of 28 Sep 1706 - mortgage of 16 Nov 1713 between (i) Nicholas Blick senior, (ii) Roger North, (iii) Humphrey Hyde to secure land noted in above recited lease of 21 Aug 1699 - transfer of mortgage of 1 Jul 1715 between (i) Nicholas Blick senior, (ii) Humphrey Hyde, (iii) John Bateman to secure £723..7s..8d and £776..13s..4d paid to (ii) by (iii) making £1,500 on the lands noted in the above recited leases of 21 Aug 1699 and 28 Sep 1706 - lease of 10 Jun "then last past" from Nathaniel Curzon of St.Andrew's, Holborne, esquire to Nicholas Blick junior a piece of land in Littlebrook Field, St.Martin's-in-the-Fields for 1,000 years at the rent of a peppercorn for the first two years and £3 for the remainder - since the above recited lease Nicholas Blick junior had erected a stableyard with 8 coachhouses and stabling for 32 horses with rooms over and large vaults - mortgage by demise for 1,000 years of 29 Sep "since last made" from Nicholas Blick junior to Elizabeth Wooton of St.James' Westminster, widow secured on the stableyard and coachhouses - lease of 18 Jun "then last past" from Nathaniel Curzon to Nicholas Blick junior of piece of land of St.Martin's-in-the-Fields for 1,000 years from 29 Aug 1721 at a rent of one peppercorn for the first two years and £1..10s thereafter - lease of 18 Jun "then last past" from Nathaniel Curzon to Nicholas Blick junior of piece of land and unfinished buildings being 6th and 7th houses on the right hand from the stables built by Nicholas Blick junior for 1,000 years at respective rents of £1..10s which leases Nicholas Blick had pledged to Daniel Langhorne, esquire for securing £500 - £1,640 was advanced to Nicholas Blick junior by John Bateman secured on the above recited lands in London - covenant of 7 Jul 1721 from Nathaniel Curzon to lease to Nicholas Blick junior for 1,000 years a piece of land upon part of which (already leased) stood seven houses and upon the other part (unleased) room for a house or houses and on which Nicholas Blick junior covenanted to assign any lease or leases on unbuilt properties to further secure the mortgage monies borrowed from John Bateman - indentures of lease and release of 11 and 12 Sep 1727 between (i) Nicholas Blick junior, (ii) John Thomas Lawley, baronet and Richard Longford of Middle Temple, London, gentleman, (iii) Dr.John Bateman (reciting: mortgage of 20 Sep 1724 from Nicholas Blick junior assigned to John Bateman of all his Bedfordshire property for 99 years and noting that the outstanding debt of mortgages to John Bateman was £5,598..18s..4d over and above £1,200 secured on premises in Houghton Conquest, since redeemed; marriage settlement of Nicholas Blick junior with Dorothy, daughter of John Perkins, deceased by Elizabeth Halpen which had determined on Dorothy's death without issue, Nicholas Blick junior again becoming seized of the properties subject to the settlement) in which, to secure £5,598..18s..4d (i) conveyed to (ii) in trust for (iii) the following premises in Wroxhill, Marston Moretaine, formerly in occupation of Nicholas Price, deceased: (a) Holme Close; Coverhill Close; Ploughed Hill Close; 2 acres of sward in Ridgeway Close; Holy Orchard Close; Newbolds Close, divided into two; Loft Croft Close with coppice of wood adjoining; Horse Close; Inings Pightell; (b) 63 acres of arable and leys in the common fields of Wroxhill, Marston Moretaine; 6/1/-; 3 acres; 1 acre; (c) Over Ravensden Close; Middle Ravensden Close; Perry Hill Close; (d) 48 acres comprising 21 acres in Sexhill Field and 27 acres in Wroxhill Field ((a)-(d) being in occupation of Richard Sawell) (e) cottage in Wootton in occupation of John Shaw [see X458/9/1]; (f) close of pightle of pasture in Wootton in occupation of William Cumberland [see X458/9/1] - Nicholas Blick junior in 1724 mortgaged part of (a)-(f) to Lancelot Stephens for securing £200, most of which had since been paid off - Nicholas Blick junior in 1724 had mortgaged another part of (a)-(f) to Elizabeth Wooton to secure £700, most of which had since been paid off - Mark Halpen asserted that had the two mortgages of 1724 been known to him John Bateman would not have lent money on them as they provided insufficient security - Elizabeth Wooton was now dead, having made Charles Carleton her executor, who now demanded "a large sum of money" by virtue of the mortgages - Nicholas Blick junior about 1723 granted to Daniel Langhorne, esquire an annuity of £100 arising from land and buildings in Curzon Street, otherwise Blick Street, part of Littlebrook Field in St.Martin's-in-the-Fields, which premises were afterwards mortgaged to John Bateman in 1724 - in Feb 1727/8 William Sympson of St.James', Westminster, gentleman, and Joseph Beeton of Long Acre, ironmonger asked Elizabeth Halpen to approach John Bateman, then in possession of property in Bolton Street, Bateman Street also Curzon Street and Burlington Street, to give Nicholas Blick junior power of attorney to receive rents and profits of the houses and to repair them alleging that John Bateman would be saved expenses since Nicholas Blick junior was a master builder. Elizabeth Halpen refused, judging Nicholas Blick junior's circumstances to be "low and mean" and that he might convert the rents etc. to his own use - William Sympson and Joseph Beeton continued to ask Elizabeth Halpen that Nicholas Blick junior might receive power of attorney, stating that they would share that power and indemnify John Bateman against any losses and she persuaded her uncle to agree so that on 14 Feb 1727/8 power of attorney to the three was granted - Nicholas Blick junior, William Sympson and Joseph Beeton continued to receive the rents for some considerable time, refusing to pay anything to John Bateman, despite requests to do so by Elizabeth Halpen as his agent - John Bateman died on 17 Sep 1728 without receiving any rent or having the mortgage he granted redeemed, making Elizabeth Halpen sole executrix of his will, which she duly proved - on 2[?] Feb 1730 Mark Halpen married Elizabeth and both were now entitled to the mortgage and rents formerly due to John Bateman - Power of Attorney of 14 Feb 1727/8 was now revoked by virtue of the death of John Bateman and Mark Halpen instructed Nicholas Blick junior, Edward [?William] Sympson and Joseph Beeton not to receive any more rents, which instruction they ignored until May 1730 when they ordered tenants to pay their rent to Elizabeth Halpen. Nevertheless, William Sympson continued to receive rents - Nicholas Blick junior then went abroad and assigned all his right of redemption etc. to William Sympson and Joseph Beeton - the sum of £5,598..18s..8d is due on the mortgage together with a considerable sum of unpaid interest together with a considerable sum of unpaid rent - William Sympson and Joseph Beeton, on being asked to repay the mortgage stated that there were prior mortgages on the same premises which amounted to more than the premises were worth, which Mark and Elizabeth Halpen alleged to be untrue - William Sympson and Joseph Beeton also alleged that there was very little left to pay on the mortgage to John Bateman, which Mark and Elizabeth Halpen denied, alleging that some £7,500 remained to be paid and that the security for it was scanty since the leasehold element of the security was a wasting asset since the houses were out of repair and the terms of years of the leases were close to expiry - Mark and Elizabeth Halpen alleged that Charles Carleton and Lancelot Stephens pretended that very large sums were due to them on the mortgaged premises, refusing to state how much, and that their claim was prior to that of Mark and Elizabeth Halpen Requesting - Mark and Elizabeth Halpen then set out their detailed requests to the court for justice which amounted to a desire for redemption of the mortgage and receipt of rents
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