Thomas Lane of Leyton Grange

30th Sep 1754 - 10th Jan 1824

Slave-owner and antecedent of claimant or beneficiary

Biography

London solicitor and son of John Lane (1723-1782) and Sarah Fowler, brother of John (1752-1824).  With brother John, he inherited Seawells and Newtons from his mother's cousins Lady Sarah Holte and Elizabeth Newton in 1794. (Sarah and Jane's mother was Elizabeth Fowler.) The compensation for the two estates went to Thomas's son Richard Lane (q.v.) and his nephew John Newton Lane. Bought The Grange, Leyton 1796.

  1. Will of Thomas Lane of Leyton Grange, Essex proved 21/02/1824. Under the will he left his property in Essex to his son John subject to a charge of £5000 for another son Charles. He left his lands in Staffordshire in trust (his trustees were his nephew George Lucy and his son-in-law William Cotton, later Governor of the Bank of England) for John for his life and then John's male heirs under entail; and his land in Barbados 'and all the negroes and stock on the last-mentioned estate' to his son Richard for life and then Richard's male heirs, again under entail. His residuary heir for his personalty was his son Charles.

Sources

D.I. Chapman, 'The Grange' (Leyton & Leytonstone Historical Society, 2007) p. 11-13. Inherited with brother John the Newton Estate, Barbados (Barbados No. 3245) and Seawells (Barbados 3204); the brothers left them in turn to their families and their respective sons (Richard Lane and John Newton Lane) appear as awardees; Hannah Young, 'Gender and absentee slave-ownership in late eighteenth and early nineteenth-century Britain' (unpublished PhD thesis, University College London, forthcoming).

  1. PROB 11/1681/356.

Further Information

Absentee?
British/Irish
Spouse
Barbara Fowler (d. 1823)
Children
Thomas Goldsmith (1786-1819); John (1788-1852); Sarah (1790-1872); Charles (1793-1879); Richard 1794-1870
Occupation
Lawyer

Associated Estates (1)

The dates listed below have different categories as denoted by the letters in the brackets following each date. Here is a key to explain those letter codes:

  • SD - Association Start Date
  • SY - Association Start Year
  • EA - Earliest Known Association
  • ED - Association End Date
  • EY - Association End Year
  • LA - Latest Known Association
1794 [EA] - 1824 [LA] → Owner

Legacies Summary

Cultural (1)

Paintings
Portrait of Thomas Lane by Sir William Beechey: a mezzotint (1814) by Charles Turner is in the NPG, whose catalogue shows him as 'Secretary to the Goldsmith's Company' [NPG D37156] ... 
notes →
<a...

Physical (1)

Gardens
The Grange [Purchased] 
description →
Lane purchased The Grange in 1796: his commissioning of Humphry Repton <1809 is shown as inconclusively documented. Gazetteer compiled with John Phibbs’ in Stephen Daniels, Humphry Repton,...

Relationships (4)

Uncle → Nephew
Brothers
Father → Son
Legatee → Testator
Notes →
Elizabeth Newton was the first cousin of Thomas Lane's mother Sarah nee Fowler. John and Thomas Lane were the executors and residuary legatees under the will of Elizabeth...

Addresses (1)

The Grange, Leytonstone, Leyton, Essex, South-east England, England