Moor End Green House

[Moor End Lad]

What a lot of property and land they had (well in the 1860s judging by John Whitehouses will). The 'Moors' is mentioned in JW's will as the name of 3 pieces of meadow land with 2 cottages and garden.

The 'Moors' were three fields in Moor End Lane immediately to the East of a pair of old cottages known as 'Shipley Cottages', which stood on the land currently occupied by #163 to #167 MEL. This collection of properties was acquired by Daniel Whitehouse prior to 1848, and was subsequently bequeathed by his son John in 1868 to one of his granddaughters Jane Diana Ann Whitehouse. The cottages were demolished in 1936 in favour of an infill development by Dare Homes in 1937 up to the corner of Berkswell Road. We are in luck, as I have a photo dating from c1930:



PS1: The cottages nominally date from c1600 coincident with the date of the Moat House, but note the much earlier cruck frame, which may have been moved from elsewhere.

PS2: Interestingly, JDAW left these cottages to her maid Annie Marie Harvey conditional on certain events, but I don't think that the maid remained to satisfy them, and so didn't get the cottages.

 

[Moor End Lad]

Up to the 1901 Census and JW (50) with wife Mary (50) and down as a farmer. Also living there is son John (5) and daughter Louisa (9) plus a servant.

In another dwelling there is Jane W (51) and sister Luisa (52)

In a further dwelling is William W (45) as a farmer

Whitehouse Buildings have now appeared, and named cottages are appear regularly.

John Daniel, Mary, Louisa Diana and John Bullivant II lived at Moor End Green House. Louisa Elizabeth and Jane Diana Ann lived together as spinsters at Poplar Cottage, and William lived at the Moat House.

 

[Vivienne14]

Great additions to this thread MoorEndLad. Thank you. Viv.

 

[Moor End Lad]

just posting this again in the hopes someone can find a map showing moors house which according to the caption was in moor end lane erdington..the photographer was more interested in the large barn in this photo as the caption says "large barn near moors house..moor end lane" ive had a good look now and there is definately what appears to be a substantial house to the right of the barn with a gate leading (so could this be moors house?) with the lane turning sharpish at the barn..

This photo was I think taken by Sir Benjamin Stone in 1894, and shows Moat Farm barn, which stood on the southern side of Moor End Lane just to the West of what is now Berkswell Road. The georgian cottage in the foreground is Chestnut Cottage aka 'The Chestnuts', which was demolished in 1973. Moat Farm together with the elizabethan Moat House were demolished in 1934 in an act of egregious vandalism to make way for the Berkswell Road estate. Moat House was noted for its elizabethan wooden staircase and panelling; moreover, it was itself built on a mediaeval moated site. I hate developers.

One building that did survive development was the part of the barn with the sloping roof back to but excluding the dark area in the centre of the barn. This stood alone as half-timbered 'Moat Cottage' up until 1962, whereupon it was demolished in favour of an MEB substation. When I was learning to ride my first bike, Moat Cottage was so close to the pavement that I used to lean my hand against it in order to dismount!

Here is a better photo:

 

[Moor End Lad]

Louisa died in 1919 but her address is not Moor End Green House

She died at Poplar Cottage, which she owned but shared with her sister Jane Diana Ann.

 

[Moor End Lad]

Janice, John Daniel had at least one brother, William. Haven't found out what happened to him yet. John Daniel's son John Bullivant Jnr went to live with his aunt, John D's sister, Jane Diane Ann, mentioned in one of the posts together with his sister Louisa Diane Mary. I think they had been orphaned by now and they are all at Poplar Cottage in 1911. John B is definitely in Erdington until 1935 as he is a churchwarden. He then pops up in the West Cotswolds in 1974 where I presume he died.

I would think that the farm was probably sold after Elizabeth's death. There's also a Moat House and Ash Tree Cottage on the census where some of the family live.

William was born in 1854 and died 25/6/1906 after farming Moat Farm. He left everything. which included Moat House, barn, stables and outbuildings, Moat Cottage and 5 fields to his three younger siblings Louisa Elizabeth, Jane Diana Ann and John Daniel.

John Bullivant II died in Gloucestershire in 1974.

I've never been able to definitively identify Ash Tree Cottage. According to Meacham it was an earlier name for Chestnut Cottage, but I don't accept that. It may be an earlier name of Oak Tree Cottage that is associated with Harry Wager and his daughter prior to demolition c1925. Alternatively, it may have been on the North side where 'Seville' now stands at the bottom of Edwards Road.

 

[Moor End Lad]

December 1915 the Lichfield Mercury carried a story of an attempted murder and a suicide at 9 Whitehouse cottages, Moor End Lane.

"A block of four cottages standing by themselves in a meadow, at the rear of Erdington Church, and adjoining Moor End Lane."

So it looks like Whitehouse may also have been a property owner and a landlord?

John Whitehouse did describe himself as a builder. Whitehouse Cottages stood in the South-East corner of what is now the church burial ground extension. From what I can make out they were nothing more than nine single room hovels for the poor. They were built c1870 and demolished c1938, When I investigated there over 20 years ago, bricks could still be unearthed in that SE corner.

 

[Moor End Lad]

Note that the first mention of Poplar Cottage is 1871, and there is no mention of Moor End Green House. The House may have been an unofficial name by the Whitehouse family? After the death of JW in 1868 the House is advertised to Let, and the name seems to go missing.

Was Poplar Cottage built by the builder Whitehouse and eventually used for the family’s?

The Whitehouses did not build Poplar Cottage. By inspection it is a Georgian cottage dating from 1760 - 1790, and according to Meacham it is first associated with one Max Barker. It was later extended and dated EB 1824. EB presumably represents Edward or Esther Butler. John Whitehouse acquired the cottage some time before 1848 following the deaths of Edward and Esher Butler. He bequeathed it to his granddaughter Louisa Elizabeth in 1868.

 

[Pedrocut]

Thanks for those notes Penny. I believe that the book 'A Historical Tour Around Erdington' is based upon the work of N C Meacham, who was an enthusiastic and productive Erdington historian. After his death, his son had his comprehensive notes collated and typed up into the book to which you refer. This work has become a very complete bible on Erdington to later historians.

I borrowed the book from Erdington Library over 20 years ago, and photocopied some 20 pages from it concerning my areas of special interest. In retrospect I wish I'd copied the whole of it. However, there is a big WARNING in relation to the copious detail extracted and collated from various directories in relation to people and times and places. At risk of sounding bitchy only 50% of what I double check in my areas of knowledge turns out to be correct; the remainder always has a kernel of veracity but applies to someone or somewhere else. It is vital that later historians check everything for themselves rather than repeating from this work else it perpetuates historical inaccuracy. Notice that wherever I have not checked something for myself, I use the phrase 'According to Meacham', which translates as 'You need to check this yourself'.

That said, let me correct a couple of things. I don't think Daniel and Ann ever owned Moat House Farm; it seems to have entered the family's ownership within the dynasty of their son John. John and his wife Elizabeth remained in the family home at Moor End Green, but they installed their only son John Bullivant into Moat House. JB predeceased his father by 3 years, so in 1868 Moat House Farm was bequeathed by John to his eldest grandson William. William farmed until his death in 1906, whereupon his estate was divided between his younger siblings Louisa Elizabeth, Jane Diana Ann and John Daniel. JD's son John Bullivant II may have lived at Moat House, but certainly not until 1952, because it was demolished in 1934. Indeed, he lived at 'Holcombe' in Spring Lane until retiring to Moreton in the Marsh in I believe 1944.

Interestingly, you cite Moor End Green Farm as #60 Moor End Lane, whereas I seem to have it as #76.

I'll now try to answer some of the questions that have been raised in earlier posts.

The contributors who provide the copious details are only trying to help. It is up to the person who has particular interest to provide the rigour in the inquiry.

 

[Pedrocut]

Hello Penny. All I know of Daniel and Ann Whitehouse is probably what you have already picked up from the censuses. Daniel was born c1775 and Ann c1780 and they had an only son John in 1803. They were a family of farmers who took over Moor End Green Farm from c1833 (according to Meacham). Prior to this they may have lived towards the High Street end of Bell Lane (now Orphanage Road) (again according to Meacham).

Moor End Green Farm and farmhouse stood on the North side of Moor End Lane immediately to the West of Dunvegan Road. Indeed, the farm buildings and fields were released c1934 for the building of the Dunvegan Road estate. The farmhouse itself survived to 1968 until vacant and vandalised. It was then demolished in favour of a couple of incongruous 1970s houses. I used to pass it as a child on the way to the Palace Cinema. Prior to 1935 the farm was under the stewardship of dairyman Simeon Braggington.

My working assumption has always been that references to 'Moor End Green House' are references to the farmhouse. However, I've always been puzzled by the lack of references to the large property just to the East, which shows clearly on maps and was demolished c1904 as part of the Edwards Road development. It is conceivable that such property may have been 'Moor End Green House' or a capacious 'Ash Tree Cottage'.

I have to clarify that I have no great interest in the history of the Whitehouse family itself other than who owned and inhabited what and when within this area of Erdington.

According to Aris’s of March 1832...

 

[Moor End Lad]

The contributors who provide the copious details are only trying to help. It is up to the person who has particular interest to provide the rigour in the inquiry.

Absolutely.

 

[Moor End Lad]

According to Aris’s of March 1832...

View attachment 151395

That's interesting; Mr Hailstone must have superseded Simeon Braggington for a time. Coincidentally, an elderly Mrs Hailstone was a lay preacher at the church and used to run meetings during the 1950s at the Church House in the High Street opposite the church. She presented me with a book for attendance at sunday school (bible class) when I was very young.

There is a photo dated 1931 looking towards the rear of Moor End Green Farm from what is now the Coop car park titled 'Braggington Fields' in the first edition of 'Erdington - Antique Photographs' by Marian Baxter and Peter Drake page 12. I identified and provided a more complete caption for this and other photos for the second edition, but, annoyingly, received no acknowledgment.

 

[Moor End Lad]

An excerpt from the Rates Book for 1906. I was looking for this when your last two posts came through so will now look at those!

This has proved extremely useful Penny, because it finally locates Ash Tree Cottage and confirms it as being 'Harry Wager's Cottage'. Here is an annotated transcript:

Home / Freeholder / Occupant

Ash Tree Cottage / John Whitehouse / Harry Wager
< Spring Lane >
The Briars / Miss JDA Whitehouse / William Henry Locke
Poplar Cottage / Miss JDA Whitehouse / Jane Diana Ann Whitehouse
(Chestnut Cottage) / Miss JDA Whitehouse / Ann Morris
(Moat Cottage) / William Whitehouse / James Turner
Moat House / William Whitehouse / William Whitehouse
(Shipley Cottages) / Miss JDA Whitehouse / Peter Bird + Arthur Snape
(Hutton Cottage) / William ? Hutton / Harold Wells
Yew Tree Cottage / Daniel Causer / Daniel Causer
< Holly Lane >

It would be further useful to see the Rate Book for the Western half of Moor End Lane if that is available Penny.

 

[Lady Penelope]

Unfortunately I had only kept the extract that I posted, however I went back to source and found the Whitehouses. I'm attaching the entries for the Rate Books as mentioned for 1906 and also 1901 in case there is additional information. Hope these help.

 

[Moor End Lad]

I can only describe this as a revelation Penny. I'll re-post transcripts of these when I've been through them.