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the history of Leyton and Leytonstone
from . dot to … dots – with plenty of spaces
1688 to 1727, the reigns of William and Mary, Anne and George I
landowners
Nathaniel Tench had a house in Leyton by 1684 2. The name has been given as medieval England aristocracy and as of French, German and Jewish origins. Nathaniel Tench was one of the of the founders & first directors of the Bank of England, and therefore seems to have been a supporter of William III and the Glorious Revolution.
Sir Gilbert Heathcote at Forest House from 1703, one of the wealthiest men in England, was commercially powerful but his loyalty to the Church of England was suspect. As a staunch Whig he was a reliable supporter of William of Orange, and later of the Hanoverian kings for whom many landowners had even less affection or even loyalty. (Heathcote had a difficult relationship with Queen Anne.) Heathcote was a founder of the Bank of England, member of the syndicate which bought the largest amount of government securities 3 bought Forest House in 1703 and still owned it when he died in 1733, though he had made his main residence at Normanton in Rutland. Heathcote opposed the monopoly of the East India Company which was closely connected with Sir Josiah Child of Wanstead House (rebuilt from 1715 to an imposing design). Land was still a requirement for the exercise of political and judicial power. Successful businessmen like Heathcote were usually very anxious to buy land and convert themselves into gentry. They were a new political force, and more visible in Leyton than England generally.
Sir William Hicks, 2nd baronet, inherited the lordship, house and lands of the manor of Ruckholt when his father of the same name died in 1680. He was declared insane in 1699 1. Before this the chancel of the parish church of St Mary’s was rebuilt and the large monument to the 1st and 2nd baronets was planned, and perhaps completed, for the north wall of the chancel, to face the repositioned monument to Michael Hicks. (Both Hicks monuments are now at the bottom of the tower.)
2 William Holcroft His Booke, Local office-holding in late Stuart Essex edited by J A Sharpe, published by the Essex Record Office
