More family trees for mortgagees

In December 2015 I added Family Trees on Prior to Now and I have now added more family trees.

The first ones were of the gentry who owned the large houses in the area – Prior Park, Combe Grove, Midford Castle and the other early movers in the development of Combe Down.

This batch are for the Owners of 109, 113, 115 & 117 Church Road, Combe Down before 1850 or, at least, those that I can identify with some level of certainty and then find some of the details of their families.

Deed dated 29th October 1862 for 115 Church Road, Combe Down, Bath for 115 Church Road, Combe Down, Bath
Deed dated 29th October 1862 for 115 Church Road Combe Down Bath for 115 Church Road Combe Down Bath

Those concerned, where I have been able to establish something of their family tree, are:

The Owners of 109, 113, 115 & 117 Church Road, Combe Down before 1850 were the mortgagees but they were, in reality, nominal owners as long as the mortgage interest was paid.

In the 19th century there were no building societies as we know them today. Property was still a good and secure investment, even though possession of land and its economic and political importance was diminishing as trade became more important. Like today, however, buying a house outright was beyond the means of most people. Mortgages were arranged privately and a mortgage was, primarily, a way of raising money (for the mortgagor or debtor) and investing money at interest (for the mortgagee). 

Even so, one might assume that the balance of power was weighted heavily in favour of the mortgagee, especially when looking at the wording of deeds for mortgages and property. These show that mortgagors gave ownership of land to the mortgagee until he repaid a debt the owed by a certain time. If he repaid the debt the mortgagee would re-convey the land to the mortgagor. If the mortgagor failed to repay the debt by the time that was specified in the mortgage, the land became the mortgagee’s.

However from the 16th century onwards the English equity courts intervened on the side of the mortgagor. Equity gave the mortgagor a right to redeem the land by paying the amount that was owing, even after he had defaulted on the debt, so long as he did so within a “reasonable time.” In order to clear their title to the land after the mortgagor had defaulted, mortgagees brought actions in equity to foreclose the mortgagor’s “equity of redemption.” In a foreclosure, equity gave the mortgagor a right to the proceeds of the sale of the land to the extent that the sale realized more than the outstanding amount of the debt. Legislation in the 19th century extended the mortgagor’s right to redeem to a fixed period after the mortgagee had foreclosed.

So, whilst the Owners of 109, 113, 115 & 117 Church Road, Combe Down before 1850 were indeed the owners they were not landlords. If they ‘wanted out’, then they would assign their interest in a mortgage to another person, who would pay him the money he was owed. Now the mortgagor had a new person to deal with, to pay interest to every year, and eventually, to repay the capital sum. This can be seen in the deeds.

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thecassyput Founder
Experience   Prior to Now, Founder, 2013 - Present - Local history research and Wₑbₛᵢₜₑ & bₗₒg ₐbₒᵤₜ Cₒₘbₑ DₒwSeₑₒₚₗₑ, bᵤᵢₗdᵢₙgₛ, ᵢₙₛₜᵢₜᵤₜᵢₒₙₛ ₒᵥₑᵣ ₜₕₑ ₗₐₛₜ ₂₅₀ yₑₐᵣₛ₊. #cₒₘbₑdₒwₙ #ₘₒₙₖₜₒₙcₒₘbₑ #ₚᵣᵢₒᵣₚₐᵣₖ #ₗₒcₐₗₕᵢₛₜₒᵣy #ₜwᵢₜₜₑᵣₛₜₒᵣᵢₐₙₛWₑbₛᵢₜₑ & bₗₒg ₐbₒᵤₜ Cₒₘbₑ Dₒwₙ ₚₑₒₚₗₑ, bᵤᵢₗdᵢₙgₛ, ᵢₙₛₜᵢₜᵤₜᵢₒₙₛ ₒᵥₑᵣ ₜₕₑ ₗₐₛₜ ₂₅₀ yₑₐᵣₛ₊. #cₒₘbₑdₒwₙ #ₘₒₙₖₜₒₙcₒₘbₑ #ₚᵣᵢₒᵣₚₐᵣₖ #ₗₒcₐₗₕᵢₛₜₒᵣy #ₜwᵢₜₜₑᵣₛₜₒᵣᵢₐₙₛ   Member Board Of Trustees & Director, Museum of Bath Stone - (Combe Down Stone Legacy Trust) Nov 2017 - Apr 2018 6 mos The Museum of Bath Stone tells the story of Combe Down Stone, the material from which the Georgian City of Bath was built and Ralph Allen, the man behind the enterprise. Non executive director Innovecom - Mar 2002 - Dec 2017 15 yrs 10 mos. IT and ebusiness.   Director, E-CRM Solutions - Feb 1999 - Jan 2014 15 yrs. Internet and direct marketing agency dealing with SME clients.Internet and direct marketing agency dealing with SME clients usaing coding partners in Sofia, Bulgaria.   Non Executive Chairman, Innovantage - Mar 1999 - Aug 2012 · 13 yrs 6 mos Recruitment information.   Managing Director, Person to Person Services Ltd - 2002 - 2004 · 2 yrs London, United Kingdom and Canada Set up.   Partner & Director RPM Business Strategies & Solutions - 1997 - 2002 5 yrs Implementation consultancy.   Chief Executive Officer, CGA Group - 1996 - 1997 1 yr Turnround and £20m MBO in insurance.   Non Executive Director, Firstline Insurance -1996 - 1997 1 yr Bermuda captive insurance company.   Director, Oriel Group plc -1994 - 1996 2 yrs. Insurance broker.   General Manager, Royal Insurance -1987 - 1994 7 yrs. Created major direct insurer. Chairman, The Insurance Service plc - 1987 - 1994 7 yrs Set up and ran. Managing Director, Cavendish Insurance plc - 1987 - 1994 7 yrs Set up and ran.   Vice President, Director of Business Development, Citibank - 1986 - 1987 1.5 yr Created JV with Storehouse. Marketing Director, Storecard -1986 - 1987 1.5 yr. Set up and grew.   Marketing Director, Welbeck Finance plc -1981 - 1985 4 yrs. Created marketing machine.   Marketing Executive, American Express, -1978 - 1981 3 yrs. Doubled UK Corporate Card division.   Sales Executive, Sherry House Ltd. 1974 - 1976 2 yrs Represented international brands to major accounts.   Cellar & Shop Manager Pearl Vintners -1972 - 1974 2 yrs. Shipped and bottled wine imports, ran wholesale and direct distribution & onsite retail outlet.   Resort Representative, Martlet Travel - 1970 - 1971 · 1 yr. Brighton and Jersey, Telemarketing Adviser for holidays then Resort Representative   Founder Member: Institute of Direct Marketing. Member: Chartered Institute of Marketing. Chartered Management Institute. The Marketing Society. Association of MBAs. Institute of Directors. Also: Member of (B.) D.M.A.Council for 5 years. Member of D.M.C. (now I.D.M.) Council for 5 years. External Examiner for (B.) D.M.A. Diploma for 3 years. Helped to found the Telephone Preference Service. Entrepreneur then retired family man with a real interest in local history