William Wright Stonemason Charing Cross

William Wright fl. 1610 - 1660

9 and 10 Charing Cross.

To be continued.

"All that Tenemt built wth Tymber and Flemish Walle and Covered wth Tyle scituate … neere unto Cheringcrosse … consistinge of one Shopp and a Seller underneath the same, and behinde the said Shopp one Kitchen paved wth Purbeck stone well fitted and Joynted, alsoe one Court yard well paved. And above stayres in the first story one dyneinge Roome Wainscoted, and one other Roome behinde the same, And in the second story two Chambers, and over the same two Garretts. The ground wheron the said house standeth wth the Courtyard contayneth in Length 55 feete and in breadth 14 feete, nowe in the occupation of one Mr Wright, (fn. n117) a Stone cutter, and is worth per annum xxxiiijli.

https://www.british-history.ac.uk/survey-london/vol16/pt1/pp240-257

Sir Henry Cheere and Sir Robert Taylor at Mermaid Court, Spring Gardens, Charing Cross.

Some notes

https://www.british-history.ac.uk/survey-london/vol16/pt1/pp131-135

The ratebook for 1746 shows Robert Taylor appearing in a house which in 1757 was merged with the adjoining house to the west to form what was afterwards numbered 34 in Spring Gardens (altered in 1866 to No. 3). 

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The other part had, on 14th July, 1668, been demised to Thomas Crawley under the description of "all that Messuage… containing one Cellar, or Citchen, three Chambers, a Garrett and one long entry or passage leading out of the street into the said Messuage… one little yard paved and one House of Office in the said yard, the said Entry… then being in length from the said street fourteen foot… and eight inches and in Breadth between wall and wall three foot… and then divided by a wall sett up between the said Entry… and the shop belonging to the said House wherein the said Walter Furnis then dwelt, and the Room within the said entry… containing Twelve foot and four inches." Walter Furness had rebuilt the premises, which had previously been called The Whalebone, as part of his house "then called… the Windsor Castle …now [1737] called… the Cock and Bottle." On 13th September, 1737, John Crawley (son of John, cousin of Thomas Crawley) sold (fn. n13) this portion of the premises to Samuel Cranmer. From 1736 to 1745 the house is shown by the ratebooks as empty, and in 1746 Robert Taylor appears. 

On 4th November, 1743, Taylor had obtained leases  for 21 and 63 years respectively of both portions (specified as the front and back portions) of the house, and on the site he built a new house, the freehold of which he subsequently purchased. 

Indentures between (1) William King and William Watkinson, (2) Thomas and Charles Murray, and (3) Robert Taylor (Middx. Register, 1743, III, 259), and (1) William Watkinson and Thomas Ford, (2) Thomas Murray, and (3) Robert Taylor. (Ibid., 1743, III, 260.)

 (i) Indenture, dated 18th November, 1757, between Thomas Murray and Robert Taylor, concerning "All that Moiety… or Front part of the Messuage… heretofore known by the Sign of the Cock and Bottle… formerly… in the Tenure… of Walter Furnis" (ibid., 1757, IV, 253), and (ii) indenture, dated 15th January, 1762, between (1) James Cranmer, (2) Thomas Ford, (3) William Watson, and (4) Robert Taylor, concerning "All that Toft… and so much of that Messuage… formerly called… the Windsor Castle… formerly Erected by Walter Furnis." (Ibid., 1762, I, 123.) - https://www.british-history.ac.uk/survey-london/vol16/pt1/pp138-140#anchorfn8

In 1778 Taylor purchased the premises from Conyers Dunlop. In the indenture the frontage to Spring Gardens is given as 37 feet 4 inches, and the abuttals are described as north, partly on the freeholds of Robert Taylor, Robert Blount and Sir Henry Cheere and partly on Mermaid Court; west, on the freeholds of Francis Plumer, Robert Taylor and Robert Blunt; and east, on the freehold of Conyers Dunlop and Mermaid Court. 

It was perhaps in this house that Taylor's son Michael Angelo Taylor  was born in 1757, and there Taylor (then Sir Robert)  died in 1788. His widow continued to reside at the house until her death in 1803.

In 1805 "Dr. Maton" is shown as occupying the house. He resided there for 30 years, dying on 30th March, 1835, "at his house in Spring Gardens, London." 

27th December, 1803 (Annual Register.) "At Spring-gardens, Charing-cross, aged 80, Lady Taylor, relict of the late sir Robert T., knight and architect."

Sir Henry Cheere, born in 1703, was a pupil of Scheemakers, and acquired a great reputation as a statuary. He was knighted in 1760, and became a baronet in 1766. He died in 1781. His will (P.C.C., 12 Webster) dated 9th June, 1779, mentions his "freehold estate situate at Charing Cross, consisting of five houses."

Nos. 60 and 61 Charing Cross were sold by Henry Cheere on 25th March, 1865, to the Sun Fire Office