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Newgrove Mansion, Brentford

Jane Walker

I am the grand daughter of Harry Davis who owned and converted New Grove Mansions into flats. Harry Davis was the owner of H F Davis builders, followed by my father Leslie Davis and then brother Roger Davis.

I remember New Grove Mansions as I was born there before moving to Brent House Somerset Road. My Aunty and Uncle Eric and Rene (my father's sister) then lived at New Grove Mansions. I do not believe the fire took place whilst it was inhabited. I believe New Grove was sold after my nan died as division of assets and the property at that time was vacant. However, in the prior history of New Grove there had been maybe a fire and I remember as a child the story of the ghost blue boy not girl, which my sister often refers to.

The offices I remember had been rented to Sperry Marine. I believe the title deeds for the land that New Grove Mansions was built on mention Cromwell.

Note from webmistress

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In March 2018 Sandra Graves added her memories of the Cook family that lived here in the 1940s to 1960s.

In February 2018 Jim Storrar sent a detailed history, he adds 'this is still work in progress and in particular I should do a little more digging to establish how and when the building was destroyed by fire in about the late 1960s.'

If you have any memories of Newgrove Mansion / New Grove Mansions, please get in touch.

Sandra Graves

My fathers friends used to live there so I remember going there when small.

They are on the electoral roll, Edith and Leonard Cook living at number 2 in 1946- 48 still there in 1962. They used to have a sweet shop opposite the library in Windmill road which Leonard used to run. Edith was a secretary in the haulage firm at Ham Wharf which was down the Ham, when she died she left my father a vase which I still have.

Also the Gowans that are mentioned as living there: he was the local doctor in the 1940s.

Notes

Patsy Langley

It may or may not have a connection with the underground passages of Inverness Lodge, and Inverness Lodge may have its own ghosts, but the little girl ghost was the spectre of Newgrove, next door.

Newgrove Mansion must have burned down in living memory, for I remember the place as a derelict wreck in the early 1970’s. It was demolished late 70’s when the school took over the site. I remember Newgrove Mansion very well, as my brother, his friend and I used to play ‘hide and seek’ in the ruins when we were kids, until mum told us about the ghost.

It was a very imposing building, even in it’s ruined state. It used to have a portico with Doric columns, huge bay windows and was surrounded by trees and bushes and had a large sign at the entrance. I think it may have enjoyed greater importance in the town in its heyday. I think it may have caught fire in the 1960’s, as I remember the ruins being there in the early 1970’s when I was a pupil at Brentford Girls School, so the ghost is quite modern.

Sharon Balson may be right about the underground passages. The Lodge certainly has a spooky atmosphere to it, even when the place is full of people.

Jim Storrar

The following research draws on a number of sources which are indicated (1) etc - see next paragraph. The sources are listed at the end.

New Grove House, in the style of the Greek Revival, was built immediately to the south of Inverness Lodge in about 1790-1800. (1)

Between 1851 and 1861 New Grove House was divided into North Grove House (No.1) to the north and South Grove House (or No. 2) to the south. The back garden of about 3 acres was divided although the front area was common. From about 1900 North and South Grove House had the addresses of 7 Boston Road and 5 Boston Road respectively.

Timeline

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Thomas and Susannah Smith (née Harrington)

Thomas Harrington was a coal merchant and maltster in Brentford who was born at Brentford in 1725. He married Elizabeth Bryant at St. Mary, Ealing on 19th April 1759 and he died in 1793. In his will be bequeathed his property in Boston Lane to his son Thomas Harrington. Thomas Smith had married Susannah Harrington, Thomas Harrington senior’s daughter, at St. Mary, Ealing on 24th January 1793. (2,3)

It is probable that New Grove House was built during the 1790s and that it took its name from the older Grove House (which later became known as Clifden House).

Thomas Smith died at Brentford in July 1837 although he was still listed in 1838 as occupying the house. In 1840 the Ealing Parish tithe map showed that Susannah Smith owned 2 acres of land including New Grove House, land immediately to the east, and land to the south behind the chapel in Boston Lane.

Susanna Smith died at Brentford during the first quarter of 1840. Her will was proved on 11th April 1840. Almost of her property was bequeathed to her son Thomas Smith with some to her grandchildren: Thomas Challoner Smith, Henry George Smith, Richard James Smith, and Jemima Isabel Smith. (4)

The Smiths were clearly a wealthy family and in 1847 Thomas Smith, who still owned the property in Boston Road, was living at Ramsbury Manor House in Wiltshire. (5)

Following Susannah’s death in 1840 the property was offered for sale or lease. It would appear that the house was let to its new occupants. The newspaper advertisements of the time give a flavour of the grandeur of the house and its contents.

Morning Advertiser 6 July 1840	Morning Advertiser 23 July 1840

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Dr. John Booth Freer

By 1851 New Grove House was occupied by Dr. John Booth Freer (1781-1861), a doctor originally from Leicester, and his family.

At some point between 1851 and 1853 New Grove House was divided into North Grove House (No.1) to the north and South Grove House (or No. 2) to the south. The back garden was divided although the front area was common.

North Grove House

	Dr. John Booth Freer and his family lived at North Grove House from about 1852. His first wife, Martha, died at Brentford in 1852 and in July 1853 he married Julia Lewis at St. Mary, Ealing. John Booth Freer died on 15th January 1861 and Julia Freer died in 1865 at Brentford. The contents of the house were then offered at auction.
Morning Advertiser 3 April 1865

By 1870 Samuel Hunt and his family were living at North Grove House. Samuel was a clerk with the India Offices. They were still living at North Grove House in 1899 before Samuel retired to Christchurch in Hampshire and where he died in 1909.

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	In 1873 the entire property (North Grove House and South Grove House) had been advertised for sale. (7)
Pall Mall Gazette 13 June 1873

By 1901 North Grove House was used as a law school under the proprietorship of Charles Falloway. In addition to a tutor and three servants the property was occupied by eight law students from places as far-flung as France, Uruguay, Trinidad and Peru. It would appear that this school was short-lived.

From 1906 to at least 1914 North Grove House was occupied by Henry Pring, a colliery agent from Wales, and his mother Elizabeth Pring. (8)

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South Grove House

By 1853 South Grove House was occupied by George Hunt (1785-1872) and his family. George Hunt died at Brentford on 14th March 1872. (9, 10)

By 1881 William Ruston, a solicitor, and his family was living at South Grove House. William Ruston was a noted local figure and he occupied a number of official posts including clerk to the Hanwell Rural Sanitary Authority, registrar to Brentford County Court, clerk to the New Brentford Burial Board, and clerk to the Twickenham Local Board. (11)

William Ruston died at South Grove House on 31st August 1884 when he left his widow and six children. In 1888 Emily Amelia Ruston, the daughter of William and Sarah Ruston married Stephen Woodbridge junior, the son of Stephen Woodbridge who lived next door at Inverness Lodge. (12)

Following her husband’s death Sarah Ruston continued to live at South Grove House until she died there in 1916. (13)

Brentford Day Nursery

On 7th May 1917 the first children attended the Brentford Day Nursery at New Grove House where Sister Pudsey was the matron. The nursery was established partly through grants from Brentford Council and from the Ministry of Munitions and the main aim was to enable mothers to do work to aid the war effort. (14, 15)

New Grove Mansions It is not known when the day nursery ceased to operate but in 1923 the entire property was offered for sale with the possibility that it could be converted to flats. (16)

By the early 1930s New Grove House had been converted to nine flats and it then became known as New Grove Mansions. Number 1 New Grove Mansions provided accommodation for a caretaker and his family. Horace Charles Young, the manager at Ham Wharfage Co., was living there in 1936 when his nine-year-old son was killed in an accident at his father’s place of work. Margaret Thaup was living there when she died in 1939 at the age of sixty-six. (17, 18, 19, 20, 21)

In 1953 part of New Grove Mansions was used as the offices of Industrial Products (Speco) Ltd., a subsidiary of Sperry Gyroscope and by 1968 the registered offices of the New Holland Machine Company were at New Grove Mansions.

New Grove Mansions was demolished in the early 1970s following a fire in the late 1960s.

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Annex 1: Photographs

Boston Road (circa 1910). The gates to New Grove House are in the middle distance (by courtesy of Local Studies, Chiswick Library)

New Grove Mansions shortly before demolition

New Grove Mansions shortly before demolition (photographs by courtesy of Janet McNamara a Chiswick Library Local Studies Service)

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Annex 2: Maps

1866 Ordnance Survey Map North Grove House and adjoining to the south: South Grove House	1934 Ordnance Survey Map New Grove Mansions a single property next to Inverness Lodge

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Annex 3: Census of Population and Other Data

1841 Census

1851 Census

1861 Census

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1871 Census

1881 Census

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1891 Census

Electoral Rolls 1887 – 1899

1901 Census

Electoral Rolls 1890-1907

Electoral Rolls 1906-1909

1911 Census

The property had 12 rooms.

The property had 13 rooms.

Telephone Directories for 1932 and 1934

Electoral Roll 1932

Electoral Roll 1934-1938

Electoral Roll 1937

'London Gazette 23 June 1944

Electoral Roll 1946-1948

Telephone directories for 1949 and 1956

1963 Electoral Roll

'London Gazette 30 April 1968

Notice of the liquidation of the 'New Holland Machine Company Limited', registered office New Grove Mansions, 7 Boston Manor Road, Brentford
Liquidator: Vivian Rupert Vaughan Cooper, F.C.A., Abacus House, Gutter Lane, Cheapside, London E.C.2.
Date of Appointment: 18th April 1968.

Sources

If you have any memories of New Grove Mansion(s) or even better, a photo, or remember tales of the underground passages, hauntings or occupants, please get in touch.

Page published July 2012; updated January 2019