The Hessle lands

Through its long history the Charterhouse has derived a large part of its income from the endowment of lands by the de la Pole family.  Michael, the 1st Earl of Suffolk, gave land in Hull and Cottingham.  His son increased the gift.  On 6 June 1408 King Henry IV gave a licence to Michael de la Pole, 2nd Earl of Suffolk, to give "four tofts, one garden, three oxgangs and eighteen acres of land, seven acres of meadow, six acres of pasture, six acres of wood and thirty-five shillings of rent with the appurtenances in Hesill" to the Maison Dieu or hospital which his father, the 1st Earl, had built.  Michael followed this on 1 September that year with a deed granting those lands to the "Master and poor persons" of the hospital.  The grant differed slightly from the original licence and specified that the lands were in "Hesill, Westelvele, Miton, Willardeby, Feriby and Traneby" (Hessle, West Ella, Myton, Willerby, Ferriby and Tranby).  Both these gifts were conferred by "license in mortmain", which meant that they were a permanent transfer of property.  They could not be confiscated by the crown if the other de la Pole lands were seized.  This was to be vital in our history.
There are no early maps to show the exact boundaries of these lands.  The first we have is a sketch of the enclosure map of Hesslewood made in 1793.  The name "Charterhouse Wood" had stuck.

In 1822 a set of accounts, published by James Acland, shows the use of the land.  

A large acreage was rented by Mark Green as farmland.  Green was also a publican.  The other large lease-holder was Joseph Pease, whose land included the stone-pit i.e. the chalk quarry.

Chalk appears to have been quarried from early medieval times, and through the centuries the operation was developed into a thriving industry.  A windmill was built to grind the chalk into powder known as whiting, which was used in processes such as paint-making.  According to the Humber Bridge Country Park's records, over 5,000 tons of our chalk was shipped to San Francisco, California every year in the early 1900s for processing into paint and putty.  No doubt a great deal was also shipped to other parts of the world.  The quarrying went on until around 1964.  The area was sold for the building of the Humber Bridge. 

 The workforce in 1905.

The chalk mill.

In the early days the collection of rents and other property transactions were left to the Master, presumably overseen by the agents of the de la Pole family.  When they were no longer in the picture, and certainly after the dissolution of the Priory, it was all down to him.  He had to handle all the income and expenses of the hospital, and it proved too much to expect of either his honesty or competence.  By 1571 the Aldermen of the Bench decided to take an interest; the Mayor, after all, was supposed to be the ultimate authority, according to the founding document.  An enquiry determined that the Master, Thomas Turner, had been guilty of all kinds of neglect and of what amounted to embezzlement, and he was made to agree to a long list of regulations.  These included having to get the agreement of the Bench to any property transactions and an annual audit.  All the rents and leases of the lands which supplied the hospital's income were re-negotiated.  

A scattering of houses on the lands throughout the centuries became the start of real development in the mid 19th century.  The grandest was West Hill House, which was the home of businessman (and owner of the Hull Daily Mail) Frederick Grotrian.  He moved in in the 1860s, and although he moved away, by 1901 he still rented or leased three large properties in the Hessle lands from the Charterhouse.  

In 1840 a slice of the Hessle land was sold to the Hull and Selby Railway Company for over £506.  

The Charterhouse lands in Willerby saw little development until the 20th century, mainly bringing in rents from farmland.

In 1850 a "farmstead" was built "the Charter-House Estate at Willerby".  The architects were the firm of the famous Cuthbert Brodrick.  The first tenant or lease-holder was John Dixon.  Some early records refer to this farm as De La Pole Farm, but it later became known as Low Farm.  Like other Charterhouse property the building carried the badge of the charity.  It's scruffy now but it's the same coat of arms as appears in mosaic in our portico.

The Charterhouse's first major venture into property development came in 1867, with a plan to build 8 villas for lease on the Hessle lands.  These were on West Hill off Woodfield Lane, and the leases were signed before the houses had even been built.  They went to:

• James Reckitt (apparently two leases)
• John Lumsden
• Francis Reckitt
• Martin Samuelson
• Richard Wilbe
• William Maxwell Johnson
• Anthony Bannister

All of these were substantial businessmen, and for some the villa was an investment rather than a place to live.  James Reckitt, founder of Hull's most famous company but then on the census as a biscuit and starch manufacturer, did live at what was known as Mentone House.  This still stands, but most of the others are gone.

A schedule of Charterhouse properties in 1901 shows that the most lucrative one in Hessle was the farm of 58 acres held by Thomas Henry Richardson, which brought in £140 p.a.  Frederick Grotrian's three holdings were worth, together, more than £76 p.a., and there was also a cricket club paying £18.14.10 a year.

1890s map

While the nature of the Hessle lands has changed vastly in over 600 years, they remain a source of income for the Charterhouse, thanks to the foresight of the de la Pole family.

1948 map

(Thanks to Michael Free and the excellent Hessle Local History Society for a great deal of this information.)

John Healey Bromby

One of the most colourful Masters of the Charterhouse, John Healey Bromby was also the longest lived. 
He was born in Hull in October 1770 and after Cambridge and ordination he became Vicar of Holy Trinity in Hull in 1797.  As early as 1792 he was involved in the cultural life of Hull, as a founder member of an early Hull literary society, a "Society for the purpose of Literary Information", which had its first meeting on 19 June 1792. Other founder members included Dr. Alderson. In 1806 he married Jane Amis in London. One of their sons, Charles, became Bishop of Tasmania. Bromby gave lectures to the newly-formed Mechanics' Institute; three of them were published in a pamphlet in 1833, on “Time and its Uses” and “The Terraqueous Globe”. They were more moral than scientific. Bromby's career in the Church seems to have been limited by his politics, and one of his sermons provoked the displeasure of the Archbishop of York for its liberal views. According to his obituary: "In politics he was an advanced Reformer, at a time when the Liberal cause was an unpopular one, and during the first thirty years of the present century he was rarely absent from any meeting held to discuss public affairs, and usually spoke with vigour on behalf of his cause.” As well as his published sermons he also wrote an English translation of Plutarch's Treatise on Music, which was not published until after his death.

The portrait of Bromby (above) was painted by Hull artist Thomas Brooks in 1843.  The Hull Packet of 15 September described the likeness as "absolutely startling".  A limited number of engravings were made from it, one of which is in the National Portrait Gallery's collection.  The painting was bought by the Charterhouse in the 1980s and now hangs in the Master's house.

In 1849 Bromby's parishioners at Holy Trinity presented him with this silver inkstand (recently gifted to the Charterhouse) to commemorate his 50 years of incumbency.  It can just be seen in the portrait of him, on the right.  It has an inscription which notes their "unfeigned esteem" for him and that "a purse of 300 guineas" accompanied it.  It reads very much like a retirement present.  But Bromby had no intention of retiring; he stayed on as Vicar of Holy Trinity until 1867.

Perhaps it was the politics which were the problem when the Mastership of the Charterhouse became vacant in 1847.  Days after the death of Thomas Dikes an anonymous letter was circulated to the Council advocating Bromby for the job.  In his favour was supposedly the fact that he was “venerable” i.e. elderly, and deserved a less onerous job. He had also, the letter said, suffered financially because of his politics, which were now back in vogue. Perhaps the problem was Bromby's age - he was 78.  A month later the Council had two candidates to consider; Bromby, and George Moore Carrick.  They chose Carrick.
Carrick died two years later.  Bromby was quick to offer himself for the job. Even before Carrick was buried he wrote to the Mayor saying that he would be honoured to be appointed (and that his financial position was not as bad as had been said two years earlier). The Mayor, Thomas Palmer, passed the letter to the Hull Packet newspaper with a covering note to the effect that Bromby was announcing his candidacy. The editor was not enthusiastic about the prospect, saying, in effect, that Bromby was too old for a job which involved “active duties”. Bromby was not the only man to throw his hat in the ring with such speed. Six others declared themselves candidates, including John Scott, Vicar of St. Mary's, Hull. There was a remarkable amount of public interest in the contest, for reasons which seem to have been political.  The Council meeting at which the election was to take place had a full attendance, and the public gallery was crowded. The voting was by a system common at the time; after each round the person with the fewest votes was eliminated, until finally Bromby beat Scott by 4 votes. Bromby was 80 at the time.

Although he already held three livings, Bromby seems to have taken his role as Master seriously.  When inmates were fined for damaging water closets, the Master personally cancelled the order.  He produced a set of rules for the inmates, copies of which survive.  They seem rather tyrannical today, but were reasonable enough at the time.
In May 1866 Bromby wrote to the Advisers pointing out that there were currently 70 rooms in the Charterhouse, with the inmates receiving 6s. a week, coal, turves, water and medical assistance, and there was not enough
revenue to pay these allowances to an increased number of inmates. He proposed that part of the land at Hessle be developed as “villa residences”, leased out at £20 per acre per annum. To the annoyance of the advisors, who felt he was overstepping his authority, Bromby already had the plans drawn and lessees signed up. One of the leases was to go to Mr. Francis Reckitt, “biscuit manufacturer”, another next door to Mr. James Reckitt, “starch and biscuit  manufacturer”.  The increased income paid for 12 new rooms to be built.
John Healey Bromby's longevity created some startling records. On 28 November 1862 the bells of Holy Trinity Church “rang a merry peal” because he had “completed the 65th year of his office as Vicar of Holy Trinity parish.”  Two years later the paper reported another “merry peal” as the “Venerable Vicar” embarked on his 68th year in the job.  However, he resigned as Vicar in 1867 and bowed out of public affairs - but remained Master of the Charterhouse, becoming in 1868 the oldest clergyman in the Church of England.  He died of bronchitis on 25 March 1868.  His obituary says, “All who had the pleasure of his acquaintance to the end of his life will acknowledge that the cheerfulness and affability which were ever salient points in his character never deserted him.”  He was buried in North Ferriby, after a funeral procession which started at the Charterhouse. The newspaper reported that although no special announcement was made, “the inhabitants [spontaneously] left their places of business at the busiest time of the day, and lined the route of the cortege.”