Finding Mr Wright

Thanks Anne, MR. If the house wasn't being sold because Mr Thomas Wright had died (death duties), perhaps it was an unwanted inheritance from another Mr Wright? Little Park Street had a lot more Georgian buildings than is at first obvious. There were at least 4 buildings set back from the road on the west side. The earliest map is 1749, so there may have been more. There's even an empty plot. I know that it's not Kirby House because the buildings directly to the right of that were half timbered. The castle seems too close to the road but maybe it had an extension at the front? The upper floor could easily be added. It has the moulding for basement windows, although they have been walled up. The castle had a big gateway directly to the right and possibly the building beyond that was 'new' but there doesn't seem like there was enough space at the rear for the gardens. The styling on neither building is a clear match but that may have been changed over a few hundred years. The building directly to the left of the fancy Bridgeman's building was set back but I think that was demolished along with the half timbered wing. Banner House also had a recessed Georgian style building but it was partially behind what has to be a reused half timbered building. There was a gap between Banner House and The Squirrel that might be big enough for the Georgian building and a garden to the right. But that would mean that Mr Wright's house had been removed by 1749. Fire? There was a group of buildings with at least one Georgian mansion between Bridgeman's and St John's Street but the maps don't show a recess. There are possibilities for big houses on the east side of LPS but there is no evidence it might be there. Another contender was a building on Much Park Street. In the photo below the location and remains of a recessed building on the right might be a possibility. There is no clear view of the front of that building although the glimpse of it in another photo doesn't show the styling in the sketch other than the pediment at the top. The rear gardens of that one and the one next to it had been taken over by the Midland Brewery/Phillips & Marriotts. The side garden and the building next door were demolished to create the big building on the right of the picture below. The roadway is to the left of that building and was there in the 1850 map so wasn't a new feature. To the left of that was the very substantial recessed house (also on the 1850 map) which could easily be a similar layout to the one in the sketch.

From what I can work out Helen, we know that the house belonged to Thomas Wright because of the documents we found listed in the British Library. The adverts in the newspapers mostly say to let or sell and also that it is available immediately as Thomas's business is London. If it is the correct Thomas that died in 1748 I have found a marriage on Ancestry with him marrying his second wife Lydia Halfpenny in 1729 in London and it has Thomas Wright of Coventry. She would probably have preferred to stay in London. We also have the intriguing mention in the documents in the British Library of the advert for raffle tickets (what date?). In his will Thomas leaves most of his estate to his daughter Elizabeth Aldridge, just some money to his son James as he says he has had a great expense in his education and he is well provided for. In Coventry Archives there is a document about 7 Little Park Street which says it was built for Thomas Bird, silk ribbon weaver, and in another article I have found there was an extension at the back to store the silk so I think you can dismiss that one. The article does say though that it was designed by William Francis Smith 1720-1726 and that he designed that and 2 others. It does look so similar to the sketch that it is the same architect. So frustrating that nothing we have found mentions where it is. It must have been so prominent that people knew "Mr Wright's House" - where is that time machine? I think, as you said a trip to the British Library! Perhaps Beighton's drawing may have a bit more of the environment around it or a few more clues.

I think that the raffle may have been an act of desperation to shift the property and that the picture was possibly produced for the raffle or for selling to someone further afield. I suspect that the details possibly ended up in George III's possession because his father (he was too young) was tempted to take a punt. I agree that those papers hold the best chance of success. I'll report back if I find anything.

There is a whole catalogue of George III library Helen, there is also plans of Coventry you might find interesting. Good luck. Catalogue.

In the constables presentments there is a Mr Thomas Wright of Much Park Street Ward mentioned in the 1730's several times for "muck" and in 1742 he is mentioned in Midsford Street Ward which I believe is also Much Park Street Ward for a bad pavement.

That's very interesting. I can imagine a neglected property with the owner mostly down in London, failing to keep the pavements clean (as was a requirement at one point). That there was a Mr Thomas Wright on the street at the right era is very relevant. The aerial view seems to show a suitable layout, including a large flat section over what might have been a much older courtyard. ie the 'new' building might have had an older rear, as was often the case. There are disimilarities, most prominent being the main door being at the side but the map is over a 100 years later than the sketch. The front fence line might also be different but there are logical explanations for that. I think that this has strong possibilities.

I was looking at that one as well Helen on my 1750 map. It looks like a courtyard on there which it looks like on the original picture looking at the far roof, you can find it on here, it is in 1750, I sent a copy of this to Rob some time ago, it is under old map scans under the Historic Coventry button Much Park Street On your map you can just see Bell Court. In the newspaper this is mentioned as a ribbon warehouse. Looking at the picture again, don't you think the bit at the back of the house showing on the right hand side of the house looks more like a factory or warehouse, it looks very bland compared to the rest of the house and the windows are odd.

The side wing does look very different but in that day it possibly wouldn't have been a business. The house description doesn't mention it, although people often don't when trying to flog a house as a grand affair. It might have been servants' quarters or just not decorated like the posh front. Very common. Alternatively it might be reconfigured medieval/tudor buildings and plastered or brick clad to disguise its age. The whole of Bell Court was timbered, the front and sides being 2 storey but the rear wing had 3. The north wing of Bell Court made the south edge to the property in question. It would have been something like number 124/125? That map is a 1960s attempt to use the 1890 Ordnance Survey maps and merge the 1750 Bradford map. While it's very useful it has faults and omissions that are the result of the maps they used. Alternatively they might have used maps earlier than the 1850 one and I can't verify them. The Bradford map does show a courtyard and I assumed that there had been one. Addendum - I was misreading the description - the flat roof was over the front not the court (one added later when it became a brewery). Flat roofs being notoriously leaky may have been changed when the whole front was remodelled. In Old Coventry and Lady Godiva it states "Bell Court, no doubt the remains of a large inn (The Bell (later Green Dragon)). It was a very old fashioned building (now being judiciously restored by Mr Marriott as the Midland Brewery, 1870, and other houses near it)." This might explain why the front of the building doesn't look Georgian at all. Although, the front door was at the side by 1850.

Still trying to trace where Mr Wright lived and if the property he owned was the one we think. I have found out he was a trustee for the Thomas White Charity that had something to do with property. While tracing property on the Coventry Collections search, I have discovered that the coaching inn The Coach and Horses was originally based in Broad Yard (partially shown in map above). It makes sense because it has a massive entrance gateway and extensive buildings at the back. It later moved down and across the road to the place we see in the photos of the Whitefriars gatehouse.

Helen F, I have a book with a front view of the Coach and Horses in Much Park Street, the morning after the raid. There's a car head first in the crater right outside the front door.The driver died. The arched doorway is a smaller building at the left-hand side. Much meant 'great' in the old days. I guess you know all this?

Yes thanks Kaga. The photo you've got is of the second Coach and Horses in Much Park Street. The first was on the other side of the road closer to town and was a proper coaching inn, complete with a very high entrance and all sorts of buildings including a smithy and a malting house. The roof on that had a dovecot set into it. Beer with extra body...

My sister kindly went to the British Library and looked up Mr Wright's house. Alas the paperwork didn't give an address either. It did say - The House of Mr Thomas Wright, in the City of Coventry, being a new-built Brick House in the Doric and Corinthian Order; has Eight Rooms on a Floor besides Dressing-rooms and Closets. The Hall is very neat, being Wainscotted with Norway Oak, and the best Stair-Case is of the same, with a neat private Inner Court, into which looks a Gallery, the whole Length of the Court, having Nine Sash Windows; of which nothing can be seen in the foregoing Draught. There are good Offices, Stables, Coach-house and Brew-house; also two good Gardens planted with the best of Fruit; excellent good Vaults, and several other Conveniences fit for a very large Family. Most of the Rooms in the said House are also Wainscotted, and fitted up with handsome Marble Chimney-Pieces. The whole Premisses are Freehold, and cost L.560 and above L.2000 Building, and pay no Chief Rent whatsoever. PROPOSED, To sell 1799 Shares at One Guinea per Share. That the Purchasers shall, among themselves, Raffle for the said House, etc with the Machine commonly known by the Name of Fourbert's Patent Mathematical Machine, after the same Manner as was practiced in the Raffle for the Musical Clock. That the said Raffle shall be made in St. Mary's Hall in the city of Coventry. That good Assurances in Law shall be made to the Winner of the said House by Council Learned, free from all Incumbrances. I copy the spellings as they are written. As you see, not very enlightening. I also visited the Herbert to try and determine who owned the property on Much Park Street before the Brewery. Argghhhhh! It was very frustrating. I think the the Brewery got number 124/125 Much Park Street on 31st Dec 1878 from William (at that point deceased) and Emma Brain (in 1896 described as of "Arthurlie", Crick Road, Oxford). But that leaves a very big gap back to 1738.

I've recently been passed a great collection of old photos and papers by a lady named Angela Bolton via FB - there are some new crackers turning up. This is the rear of the old Phillips & Marriott Brewery in its last days. It says its taken in 1971 but I was under the impression it had gone by the late 60's? States the property on the right dated from 1720 (wouldn't this have been the rear of the Hammerton's building, Helen?). That was known as Ashleigh House apparently and says that Mr Phillips from the Brewery lived in it? Great rare shot anyway. 'Auto Repairs' can be seen using an old section of the brewery as their garage. Post copied from topic Much Park Street on 6th Dec 2020 11:13 am

A great photo Neil but it's actually a view from the front. The building on the right was relatively new, which is why it survived the war, I'm guessing. The destroyed buildings fronting the left side were older, although they had been re-fronted. If my guess is correct, it was originally Mr Wright's house. A grand Georgian town house, built in the 1720s by one of the Smiths of Warwick - a very well respected firm headed by Frances Smith. He was renown for building on time, to budget, although his work wasn't considered trend setting. I want to get hold of a book about him and his descendants to see if it is one of his designs - like Kirby House. The roadway on the right was partly over the original coach way to the rear (true no matter who built the house) and the buildings on the right are over the front garden plus houses to the north of it. Post copied from topic Much Park Street on 6th Dec 2020 11:12 am

I've copied the two posts above from the Much Park Street topic because they are relevant to Mr Wright's house. I'd already wondered if Ashleigh House was one and the same but Neil confirming that it dated to the 1720s pretty much confirms it. It also fits that Mr Phillips lived there because it is included in the deeds for the Brewery. The big brewery buildings were constructed in what had been a grand garden. I know that the building on the right, that survived the war, was not the 1720s building because it wasn't there before at least the 1850s. The left hand half was built over the front garden of Ashleigh House. The bomb damage pictures indicate that the remains of Ashleigh House still had features consistent with it being a home, even if it might have been later used as offices. The connection to Frances Smith of Warwick isn't proven but the detailing on the house and the timeframe is perfect for him and his family. There are similarities with Kirby House, The Castle and 11 Priory Row. I still don't know much about the possibilities of different Coventry houses being designed by the Smiths but Mr Wright's house seems to link those 3 better than they link to each other.