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Paradise Street

C

Cane

New Member
The attached photograph relates to Paradise Street in central Birmingham. The document consists of two parchment pages and is dated 1766. This is a lease entered into by Sir Thomas Gooch (son in law of the then Bishop of Ely) and a local Birmingham builder, Mr Thomas Saul. It concerns a number of proposed buildings on the land and there is considerable detail in one part about the materials and the requirement for an outside toilet! I hope this will be of interest to someone. If so, I will endeavour to include more.
 

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Certainly of interest, but difficult to read. The c1824 map below shows the entire area south of Paradise St to Swallow St belonging to Thomas Gooch, the northern side being part of the Colmore Estate. So presumably your documen t refers to the south side

ScreenHunter 5986.jpg
 
mikejee said:
Certainly of interest, but difficult to read. The c1824 map below shows the entire area south of Paradise St to Swallow St belonging to Thomas Gooch, the northern side being part of the Colmore Estate. So presumably your documen t refers to the south side

View attachment 173223
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I believe you are correct. From memory, the area on your map shown as offices, was a Cherry orchard and this is mentioned also in the document.

Given the limitations of the photo option size, I will have to see if I can write out the whole document and add it here. Quite difficult because of its size, lack of flexibility and difficulty in reading some of the words. A winter project perhaps!
 
“Sir Thomas acquired Benacre Estate in 1743. It is said that ‘he settled down to consolidate his Estate, even though the anticipated income from wrecked ships along the coast did not live up to his expectations! In 1761 Sir Thomas inherited an even greater fortune from (his uncle) Bishop Sherlock which included land in Birmingham, and it was this that became the principle source of income over the next two hundred years, allowing the enhancement of the Benacre Hall and lands….”
 
Pedrocut said:
“Sir Thomas acquired Benacre Estate in 1743. It is said that ‘he settled down to consolidate his Estate, even though the anticipated income from wrecked ships along the coast did not live up to his expectations! In 1761 Sir Thomas inherited an even greater fortune from (his uncle) Bishop Sherlock which included land in Birmingham, and it was this that became the principle source of income over the next two hundred years, allowing the enhancement of the Benacre Hall and lands….”
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so i assume this is where the name benacre st came from
 
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