Elizabeth Gertrude Clark

  Noted events in her life were:

• source. Gerald Dennett

• fact. Gerald Dennett records about Jail Lane Cudham:
Two cottages and a piece of land called Jail Field containing about 8 acres were conveyed 14th October 1850 to William Lewis of Down, Kent, Brewer. William Lewis with his trustee George Blundell paid the sum of £280 to Mrs. Kitty Anne St. John Mildmay of Westerham, widow. She had previously purchased this property for £267 from the surviving Devisee in trust of the Will of the late John Warde esq. on 15th December 1849.
Between 1850 and 1855 William Lewis converted the two cottages into a beerhouse and erected the adjoining Brewery. This is then referred to when on 25th March 1855 William Lewis obtained a mortgage of £150 from Mr. George Crane of Cudham, victualler (but later described as a carpenter & builder) using the premises as security. On 25th March 1858, the mortgage was further endorsed with a loan of £100 from George Crane to William Lewis. The property was to remain encumbered with this principal mortgage of £250 until 17th April 1917 when the property was conveyed to Bushell, Watkins & Smith for £1,620.
The mortgagee George Crane died 22nd March 1875, in his Will (dated 22nd March 1875 and proved 20th May 1875) his widow Caroline Merry Crane was appointed his executor. The mortgage of £250 was transferred from Caroline Merry Crane on 4th August 1875 to Miss Mary Buckeridge of Reading, spinster. A year later, on 2nd June 1876 the mortgage was transferred from Mary Buckeridge to Henry John Lane of Cannon Street, City of London.
William Lewis died 6th January 1880 leaving three surviving children, Thomas, Kezia Peacock and Sarah Frances Butler, all of whom were tenants in common in the property. Under his Will (proved 26th February 1880), the property was left to his son Thomas Lewis for life then to his son Christopher Lewis for life, then to his daughters Sarah Frances Butler and Kezia Peacock for life and upon their death the property to be sold and equally divided between the testator's grandchildren then living. However, Christopher Lewis died 12th December 1879 at the age of 40 from Bright's Disease, heart disease and chronic bronchitis.
As a tenant for life, Thomas Lewis was able to lease the property to Messrs Fox & Sons for a 21-year term, from 29th September 1884 for a rent of £55 a year. In 1884 Thomas Lewis was described as the innkeeper of the "Jail Inn". A second lease for a further 21 years was granted to Thomas Hamilton Fox and Walter St. John Fox of Oak Brewery, Farnborough, Kent, from 29 September 1905 at a yearly rent of £75. Sarah Frances Butler and her husband Charles granted this. Thomas Lewis had died 12th June 1892 and Kezia Peacock had died 12th June 1904. During the term of the first lease, Messrs Fox as landlords appointed Richard Cowland as tenant of the "Jail Inn", in an agreement dated 10th December 1891.
Before the expiry of the second lease, Messrs Fox & Sons had taken out mortgages with Francis Robert Middleton Phillips of No.3 Finsbury Circus, London of the firm of solicitors "Gush, Phillips, Walters & Williams". One of the properties used as security, on 13th March 1906 was the leasehold of the "Jail Inn". Messrs Fox and their mortgagees for £450 assigned the residue of the term's lease to Bushell, Watkins & Smith, on 26th August 1909.
With the mortgage on the freehold, this was transferred again on 30th November 1892. The mortgagee Henry John Lane expressed the desire to sell the property to recover his money, although all interest had been paid in full. As Sarah Frances Butler and Kezia Peacock held a life interest following the death of their brother Thomas Lewis, they found a new mortgagee to discharge the incumbency of £328 (principal mortgage plus costs and expenses) to Henry John Lane. The Rev.'d Charles Howard Thompson of Bournemouth, Hants., provided the necessary money.
The next mortgage transfer to take place was 30th November 1900. During this time the Rev.'d Charles Howard Thompson died 20th November 1899, in his will (dated 20th June 1891); Alexander Frederick Rooke was appointed sole executor. However he died 26th July 1900 without having administered the estate of Rev.'d Thompson. A. F. Rooke's own Will (dated 22nd May 1900) appointed Ernest Wallace Rooke and Mortimer Rooke as executors. These two then transferred the mortgage to the widow Edith Harriet Rooke, as she was beneficially entitled to the principal sum of £328.
Similarly on 28th April 1909, Edith Harriet Rooke wanted the mortgage discharged. Kezia Peacock had died 12th June 1904 leaving Sarah Frances Butler the sole survivor and tenant of the "Jail Inn". She was required to pay £14-0s-3d estate duty in November 1908, as the estate of Kezia Peacock (namely the "Jail Inn") had been valued at £800. The new mortgagee was William Oram of Woodlands Road, Redhill. He died 5th December 1913 appointing his wife Annie Oram as executor. On 5th December 1913 she transferred the mortgage to Herbert Arthur Howe, a solicitor and his wife Fanny, of 43 Friends Road, Croydon and George Frederick Howe, a barrister of 53 Lee Park Blackheath, Kent.
Following the death of Sarah Frances Butler 19th February 1918, Thomas Lewis's daughter Annie appointed her husband Thomas Frederick Gatland, a gardener as trustee for the property. He, with the mortgagees H.A. Howe, Fanny Howe and G.F. Howe conveyed the freehold to Bushell, Watkins & Smith, on 17th April 1919 for £1,620, out of this sum, £365 was paid to the mortgagees.