Sale by Sarah Jane (Rivers) GOLDSMITH, daughter-in- law in 1893
The two Tasmanian DAy nieces, Elizabeth Rachel and Mary Sophia, daughters of Captain James DAY
E.H. COUCHMAN COLLECTION OF POSTCARDS, PHOTOGRAPHS, EPHEMERA AND MANUSCRIPTS
Photograph of eastern elevation of Higham Lodge and The Shrubbery, Gravesend Road, Higham
Item | DE402/24/37(L) [1907]
Source: https://cityark.medway.gov.uk/Details/archive/110043798
And https://guildhall.adlibhosting.com/Details/archive/110043797 [buried links]
Before Elizabeth (Day) Goldsmith (1804-1875) and her husband Captain Edward Goldsmith (1808-1869) moved their permanent residence to their estate at Gads Hill, Higham, Kent on her husband's retirement in 1856, they resided on the Lower Deptford Road at Surrey Place, Rotherhithe, London where Edward's father Richard Goldsmith snr (1769-1835) held licenses for two hotels viz. the China Hall public house and adjoining tenements at 1-4 China Hall Place on the Lower Deptford-road, as well as the Victoria Inn, known as the Princess, also on the Lower Deptford-road.
The Captain and Elizabeth's second child Edward Goldsmith the younger was baptised at St Mary Rotherhithe on 24th December 1836, born 12th December 1836. A decade later Edward's first cousin Elizabeth Rachel Day, who would later marry photographer Thomas J. Nevin in 1871 at Hobart, Tasmania, was also baptised at St Mary Rotherhithe, the "Mayflower Church." She was born in 1847 at the same address - Surrey Place, Lower Deptford Road, to parents Rachel (Pocock) Day and Captain James Day, brother of Captain Edward Goldsmith's wife, Elizabeth (Day) Goldsmith. Captain James Day's occupation was listed then as "mate of a ship". He served as navigator and first mate with his brother-in-law Captain Edward Goldsmith in command from the 1830s to the 1850s in the colonial wool trade route to NSW and Van Diemen's Land (Tasmania).
On retirement, Captain Edward Goldsmith returned to the area around Chalk in Kent where he was born, settling back at Higham with Elizabeth his wife to oversee his extensive freehold and leasehold properties. They were resident once more at Gads Hill House, Telegraph Hill, by 1857 when their neighbour Charles Dickens made mention of Captain Goldsmith's "crows nest of a house" in correspondence to Henry Austin, but by the 1861 Census, the Goldsmiths had taken up residence in the smaller house on their Gads Hill estate, Higham Lodge, while renovations were made to the larger house, Gads Hill House. The brick wall of Higham Lodge adjacent to the Sir John Falstaff Inn at the corner of Telegraph Hill and Gravesend Road is visible in postcard views taken in the early 1900s when the inn's wall was plastered with theatrical bills.
1861 UK Census, Higham Parish
No. on Schedule: 20
Higham Lodge 1 House
Edward Goldsmith Head Married Age 56 Retired Master Mariner born Chalk
Elizabeth Goldsmith Wife Age 54 born Yorkshire York
Louise Catton Servant Unmarried Age 21 House servant born Kent Strood
UK Census 1861 Parish of Higham
No. on Schedule: 20
Higham Lodge 1 House
Edward Goldsmith Head Married Age 56 Retired Master Mariner born Chalk
Elizabeth Goldsmith Wife Age 54 born Yorkshire York
Louise Catton Servant Unmarried Age 21 House servant born Kent Strood
Source Citation Class: Rg 9; Piece: 474; Folio: 131; Page: 4; GSU roll: 542645
Source Information Ancestry.com. 1861 England Census [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA:
History of Gads Hill Cottage
Celebrated novelist, social critic and court reporter Charles Dickens (1812-1870) purchased the house at 6 Gads Hill Place, Higham, Kent (UK), on the death of its owner, the Rev. Mr. Lynn in 1857. Several early accounts, including this one (below) by George Layard in 1901, confused the house Dickens purchased with Captain Edward Goldsmith's house, calling Dickens' house "Gad's Hill House", when in fact the residence known as "Gads Hill House" was the name of Captain Edward Goldsmith's house on six acres adjoining the Gravesend Road with the main entrance up Telegraph Hill. The confusion may well have irritated Dickens, added to his general irritation with Captain Goldsmith over the water supply to his house and the location of the village mail box. As Layard retells it in the words of Eliza Lynn Linton, daughter of the Rev. Mr. Lynn in 1901:
Notwithstanding their long literary connection, Mrs. Linton saw but little of her great contemporary. Writing on the subject to Mr. F. G. Kitton, she said —
" I did not know him intimately, and my business relations with All the Year Round as well as Household Words were conducted with Mr. Henry Wills. I first saw Mr. Dickens in private at Mr. Landor's at Bath. He and John Forster came down to dinner when I was staying with the dear old man, and we had, I remember, a delightful evening. Dickens was sweet and kind and gay with me. Forster was snubbing and satirical. I was then about twenty-four years old or perhaps older. When my father died I sold the house, Gad's Hill House, to Charles Dickens." (This was as executrix : she was the only unmarried daughter at the time.) " I used to go to Mr. Dickens's parties, etc., with all the rest of the world, but I never saw Gad's Hill again when it was his. He used to always say I must go down, but as no time was fixed I did not go."
From: MRS. LYNN LINTON
HER LIFE, LETTERS, AND OPINIONS
BY GEORGE SOMES LAYARD
WITH TWELVE ILLUSTRATIONS
METHUEN & CO.- 36 ESSEX STREET W,C. LONDON 1901
Captain Goldsmith's larger house - Gads Hill House and the smaller house Gads Hill Cottage (Higham Lodge) - Lots 1 and 2 respectively on Cobbb's Auction Catalogue 1870 - overlooked Charles Dickens' house down Telegraph Hill and across the Gravesend Road. Dickens wrote to Henry Austin, from Gad's Hill, June 6th 1857: -
"Wild legends are in circulation among the servants how that Captain Goldsmith on the knoll above--the skipper in that crow's-nest of a house--has millions of gallons of water always flowing for him. Can he have damaged my well? Can we imitate him, and have our millions of gallons? Goldsmith or I must fall, so I conceive."
The wall of the smaller residence known as both Higham Lodge and Gads Hill Cottage is visible at extreme right in this postcard view ca. 1905. Captain Goldsmith died there in 1869. His wife Elizabeth (Day) Goldsmith resided there until the Chancery suits began - first as defendant, together with her Tasmanian nieces versus her son Edward the younger as plaintiff in 1871 (Goldsmith v. Goldsmith), and then Edward her son as defendant with his Tasmanian cousin Mary Sophia Day as plaintiff in 1872 (Day v. Goldsmith). The larger house, Gads Hill House, was sold to Robert Lake in 1870.
In the 1881 UK Census, Edward Goldsmith the younger, aged 44 yrs, and his wife Sarah Jane (Rivers) Goldsmith, aged 43yrs, born at Deptford, Kent in 1838, were resident at 13 Upper Clarence Place, Rochester, Kent, next door to the house at No. 11 Upper Clarence Place where Charles Dickens' mistress Ellen Ternan was born. As the principal beneficiary to his family's wealth on his mother's death in 1875, Edward's stated income in the 1881 UK Census was "HOUSES" but by 1883, at 46 yrs old, Edward was dead. He was buried with his parents at St Mary the Virgin Church, known as "Chalk Church", Chalk, Kent, one of Dickens' favoured venues for Sunday worship, daily walks, and fictional settings.
Sarah Jane (Rivers) Goldsmith conveyed the smaller house, Gads Hill Cottage, to Robert Edward Inman on 15 March 1893. See the transcribed indenture in full (below).
Gravesend Road, Higham, Kent: Google maps 2013
ON LOWER RIGHT: in foreground, looking towards the Sir John Falstaff Inn on the corner of Telegraph Hill, Higham Lodge (listed as Lot 2, Gads Hill Cottage, in Cobb's Auction catalogue 1870) inside Captain Goldsmith's 6 acre estate.
Reverse view:
Gravesend Road, Higham, Kent: Google maps 2024
ON LOWER RIGHT: the Royal Mail box which was originally located on the wall of Captain Edward Goldsmith's Gads Hill estate up Telegraph Hill until Charles Dickens complained about the inconvenience in 1856. It was relocated down the hill to the Gravesend Road, outside Dickens' house, at 6 Gads Hill Place.
ON LEFT: The first building is the Sir John Falstaff Inn, situated on the left-hand corner of Telegraph Hill laneway facing Gravesend Road.
ACROSS the laneway (Telegraph Hill) on the other corner on the same side of Gravesend Road, is Gads Hill Cottage, known also as Higham Lodge, recently renamed "Findhorn" situated on the right-hand corner of Telegraph Hill facing Gravesend Road.
Frontal view and entrance to Telegraph Hill: Google maps March 2026
ON LEFT: view from the Gravesend Road of the Sir John Falstaff Inn
ON RIGHT: the building sold as LOT 2 in 1870, formerly Higham Lodge or Gads Hill Cottage (1850s-1893) where Captain Goldsmith died in 1869; renamed Findhorn (2020s), facing directly across the Gravesend Road to the house and grounds of Dickens' former home, 6 Gads Hill Place, where he died in 1870.
Aerial view: Google maps 2024
The residence and 6 acre estate of Captain Edward Goldsmith and his wife Elizabeth (Day) Goldsmith at auction in 1870.
Lower red circle on the Gravesend Road is Gads Hill Cottage, or Findhorn as it is now known.
The next red circle is the well, the pump, and cesspool
The top red circle is the main house, Gads Hill House, entry up Telegraph Hill
This smaller residence on the estate has been registered with four names since 1856 depending on where the indenture documents were lodged and accessioned: -
2014 Findhorn, a new name, photograph (The Move Market, sold £650,000)
1907 Higham Lodge photograph (Couchman Collection, Medway Archives)
1905 Sir John Falstaff Inn, Gad's Hill, (Published by Hartmann Saxony)
1893 Gads Hill Cottage (Indenture, sale to R. E. Inman, photocopy in private collection 2026)
1869 Gads Hill Cottage (Cobb's auction catalogue of Captain Edward Goldsmith's estate, NAUK)
1861 Higham Lodge (Residence of Captain Edward Goldsmith and wife Elizabeth (UK Census)
1856 Sold to Captain Edward Goldsmith and Alfred Tolhurst by John Townsend and others.
For details see the boxed information above signatures at the end of page 2 (below) of the Indenture 1893.
The schedule above referred to: -
11th July 1856
Indenture of this date made between John Townsend of the first part John Robert Dummelow and Alfred Rhodes Bristow of the second part George Butcher of the third part the said Edward Goldsmith the Elder of the fourth part and Alfred Tolhurst of the fifth part
22nd July 1869
The above recited indenture of this date
1st January 1870
The above recited indenture of this date
22nd February 1876
LOT 1, Gads Hill House (pink) , and LOT 2, (green) Gads Hill Cottage, Cobb's auction Catalogue 1870
Link: https://www.kentarchives.org.uk/collections/getrecord/GB51_U36_2_882_5
KENT ARCHIVES:
These files held at Kent Archives (UK) all deal with the sale of Captain Edward Goldsmith's properties in the parishes of Higham and and Chalk:
House at Telegraph Hill and 1 acre and 25 perches of land called SaltingThe title deed to the parcel of marshland in the Higham Salts, County of Kent (UK), known as "Lady's Tippett" which Captain Edward Goldsmith assumed to be legally his according to his last will and testament prepared in 1865 and proved July 1869 on his death, was not found among his conveyancing documents when his entire estate was prepared for auction by Cobb's in June 1870. "Lady's Tippett" could only be sold legitimately if Captain Goldsmith's widow, Mrs Elizabeth Goldsmith, set forth in Chancery a declaration (oath) that this piece of land's provenance in her husband's estate was the result of an informal arrangement with wine merchant James Saxton in 1857. Read more about this piece of marshland here.
https://www.kentarchives.org.uk/collections/getrecord/GB51_U969_2_2_3_2
Conveyance of saltmarsh in Higham, bought by Robert Lake 1870
https://www.kentarchives.org.uk/collections/getrecord/GB51_U36_2_882_5
Gads Hill House, Higham
https://www.kentarchives.org.uk/collections/getrecord/GB51_U2396_E_597
Re: estate of late Edward Goldsmith. Lot 1: Gads Hill House, Higham with 6 acres; Lot 2: Gads Hill Cottage adjoining lot 1; Lot 3: Freehold fruit plantation adjoining lot 1; Lot 4: 5-9 Higham Place, Gads Hill; Lot 5: 3-4 Higham Place, Gads Hill; Lot 6: 1-2 Higham Place, Gads Hill; Lot 7: 10-11 Vicarage Row, Higham; Lot 8: 6-9 Vicarage Row, Higham; Lot 9: 1-5 Vicarage Row, Higham; Lot 10: freehold marshland known as Lady's Tippett in Higham Mead salt marsh; Lot 11: four freehold cottages, stable and 2 acres, Chalk Street, Chalk; Lot 12: 12-16 Chalk Street, chalk; Lot 13: 7-11 Chalk Street, Chalk; Lot 14: 3-6 Chalk Street, Chalk; Lot 15: 2 Chalk Street; Lot 16: 1, 25-27 Chalk Street, Chalk; Lot 17: freehold dwelling house, Chalk Street; Lot 18: 21-24 Chalk Street, Chalk
Plan attached. Cobb - auctioneer
TIMELINE:Beneficiaries mentioned in the 1893 indenture
Those family members named in the 1893 indenture who were original annuitants of Captain Edward Goldsmith's will dated 1869 were his only surviving son Edward Goldsmith the younger, his wife Elizabeth (Day) Goldsmith, his sister Mary Ann (Goldsmith) Tolhurst, and his two nieces in Tasmania, Elizabeth Rachel (Day) Nevin and Mary Sophia Day, daughters of his wife's brother Captain James Day (1806-1882) and James' wife Rachael Pocock (1812-1857).
In 1869 Sarah Jane Rivers had not yet married Captain Edward Goldsmith's son Edward Goldsmith the younger, so she was not included in his will dated 1869. Captain Edward Goldsmith's sister Mary Ann (Goldsmith) Tolhurst survived him by less than a decade (1876) and with her death her annuity was not reversionary; likewise the annuities of his two Tasmanian nieces Elizabeth Rachel (Day) Nevin and Mary Sophia (Day) Axup) were annulled, both nieces having reached the age of twenty and married by 1893.
*Edward GOLDSMITH the younger (1837-1883)
*His wife Sarah Jane (Rivers) GOLDSMITH (1835-1926)
*His mother Elizabeth (Day) GOLDSMITH (1804-1875)
*His paternal aunt Mary Ann (Goldsmith) TOLHURST (1800-1876)
*His maternal first cousin Elizabeth Rachel (Day) NEVIN (1847-1914)
*His maternal first cousin Mary Sophia (Day) AXUP (1853-1941)
1869: Captain Goldsmith's will & the two nieces
Captain Edward Goldsmith was 65 years old when he died on the 2nd July 1869 at Gadshill, Higham, Kent of “Valvular Disease of heart several years General Dropsy several Months. Certified” in the presence of Emily Weller.
On the death of his father in 1869 at Gadshill, Edward Goldsmith the younger contested the will in a Chancery suit against his mother Elizabeth Goldsmith, widow, and his father’s executors, William Bell Bentley and Alfred Bentley in 1871. He also contested his father’s legacy as plaintiff against his Tasmanian cousins, legatees Mary Sophia Day and her sister Elizabeth Rachel (Day) Nevin but in a cruel turnaround in 1872, both Elizabeth Rachel Nevin and her husband, photographer Thomas Nevin, were named in a Chancery suit as defendants, along with Edward the younger and his mother, this time lodged in the name of Elizabeth’s younger sister, Mary Sophia Day as the plaintiff, pitting sister against sister (Ref: National Archives UK C16/781 C546012).
1870: Sarah Jane Rivers marries Edward Goldsmith the younger
Edward Goldsmith's marriage to Sarah Jane Rivers
Morning Post London 18 July 1870
TRANSCRIPT
GOLDSMITH-RIVERS. - On the 14th inst., at St. Margaret's -next-Rochester, by the Rev. H. F. Rivers, M. A., brother of the bride, Mr. Edward Goldsmith, of Higham, to Sarah Jane, only daughter of W. T. Rivers, Esq., Rochester.
1871: Goldsmith v. Goldsmith
When the administration of Captain Edward Goldsmith’s will was listed in 1871 (National Archives UK Ref: C 16/715/G18) William Bell Bentley was named as defendant along with Captain Edward Goldsmith’s widow, Elizabeth Goldsmith versus their son Edward Goldsmith the younger and Sarah Jane (Rivers) Goldsmith, his wife. William Bell Bentley and his brother Alfred Bentley were the named executors of the will, the latter better known as the father of William Owen Bentley, founder of Bentley Motors Ltd (1919) whose mother Emily Waterhouse was born in South Australia. Another of Alfred Bentley’s sons, Alfred Hardy Bentley was added to the amendment in 1922.
Elizabeth Goldsmith’s only son Edward issued this summons to his mother as an annuitant of his father’s estate, even though both mother and son were listed as residents of the same address, 14 Piers Road, Rosherville, known for its fabulous pleasure gardens in Northfleet, Gravesend and close to St. Botolph’s Church Northfleet Kent. Elizabeth Goldsmith had vacated and put up for auction her two freehold houses at Higham – LOT 1: Gads Hill House and LOT 2: Gads Hill Cottage in May 1870 (see Cobb's auction list below).
1872: Day v. Goldsmith
In May 1872, Elizabeth Goldsmith was in Chancery again, this time as defendant in a suit against plaintiff Mary Sophia Day in Tasmania, named as a beneficiary of her uncle’s will. This suit set sister against sister, Mary Sophia Day as the plaintiff and her elder sister Elizabeth Rachel (Day) Nevin as defendant, both daughters of Captain James Day, nieces of Captain Edward Goldsmith’s wife Elizabeth (Day) Goldsmith.
TRANSCRIPT
Page 1
1872. D. - No. 50
Filed the 4th day of April 1872
In Chancery
LORD CHANCELLOR
VICE-CHANCELLOR WICKENS
Between MARY SOPHIA DAY (an infant under the age of 21 years) by THOMAS BUTLER her next friend ....PLAINTIFF
AND
ELIZABETH GOLDSMITH
WILLIAM BELL BENTLEY
ALFRED BENTLEY
EDWARD GOLDSMITH and SARAH JANE his wife
CAROLINE TOLHURST
MATILDA TOLHURST
EDWARD TOLHURST
RICHARD TOLHURST and
THOMAS NEVIN and ELIZABETH RACHEL his wife (the four last named defendants being out of the jurisdiction of this Honorable Court) .... DEFENDANTS
BILL OF COMPLAINT
TO THE RIGHT HONORABLE WILLIAM PAGE BARON HATHERLEY of Down Hatherley in the county of Gloucester Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain. [78]
Page 2
HUMBLY COMPLAINING sheweth unto his Lordhip Mary Sophia Day of Hobart Town Tasmania spinster an infant under the age of 21 years by Thomas Butler of No. 9 The Grove Gravesend in the county of Kent gentleman her next friend the above named plaintiff as follows - 1. Edward Goldsmith late of Gadshill Higham in the county of Kent gentleman deceased duly made his last will dated the 15th day of February 1865 and thereby gave devised and bequeathed all his real and personal estate whatsoever and wheresoever unto his wife the defendant Elizabeth Goldsmith and the defendants William Bell Bentley and Alfred Bentley their heirs executors administrators and assigns respectively according to the nature thereof respectively upon the trusts and for the purposes following (that is to say) - Upon trust to permit the said Elizabeth Goldsmith to appropriate and select for her own use and enjoyment during her life so much and such part of the testator's household furniture and effects plate linen china books pictures and prints as she should require and to get in and convert the residue of his said personal estate into money and after and subject to the payment of the testator's debts funeral and testamentary expenses to invest the same in the names of his trustees for the time being in the public funds of Great Britain or on mortgage of freehold or long leasehold property or in other real securities. And the testator declared that the trustees for the time being of his said will should stand seised and possessed of his said real and personal estates upon and for the trusts ends intents and purposes thereinafter expressed and declared of concerning the same (that is to say)- Upon trust by and out of the rents issues and profits dividends interest and annual produce thereof to pay unto Mary Tolhurst [ed. note: sister of Captain Edward Goldsmith] then and now residing at Number 18 Hill Street Peckham in the county of Surrey widow the sum of 1 pound monthly during her life free from the debts control and engagements of any husband with whom she might intermarry. And upon further trust by and out of the same rents issues and profits dividends interest and annual profits to pay unto the defendant Elizabeth Rachel Nevin (at the date of the said will and therein described as Elizabeth Rachel Day) and the plaintiff Mary Sophia Day (in the said will called Mary Day) the nieces of the testator's said wife then and now living at Hobart Town aforesaid and the survivor of them an annuity or yearly sum of 10 pounds until the youngest of them the said Elizabeth Rachel Nevin and Mary Sophia Day should if living have attained the age of 21 years or if the youngest of them should die under that age until she would if living have attained the said age and the same annuity of yearly sum of 10 pounds the testator authorized to be paid to the parents or guardians as the case might be of the said Elizabeth Rachel Nevin and Mary Sophia Day and to be by them applied for or towards their respective maintenance advancement and education and the receipt of such parents and guardians was to be a full and&
Page 3
complete discharge to the testator's trustees for the time being for the same annuity or yearly sum and upon further trust by and out of the same rents issues and profits dividends interest and annual produce to pay during the life of the testator's said wife one annuity or clear yearly sum of 100 pounds unto the testator's son the defendant Edward Goldsmith for his life by four equal quarterly payments on the 25th day of March the 24th day of June the 29th day of September and the 25th day of December in every year the first of such quarterly payments to be made on the first of such quarterly days which should happen after the testator's decease and subject to such monthly sum of 1 pound and yearly sum of 10 pound and to such annuity or yearly sum of 100 pounds as aforesaid upon trust that they the trustees and trustee for the time being of the said should pay unto or permit the testator's said wife to receive and take for her own absolute use and benefit the said rents issues and profits dividends interest and annual produce of his said real and personal estate subject nevertheless to the expenses of repairs and insurance and incidental to the general management and control of the said estates and effects during her life free from the debts control or engagements of any husband or husbands with whom she might intermarry and from and immediately after her decease. Upon trust to deliver unto the testator's said son the defendant Edward Goldsmith the said household furniture and effects plate linen china books pictures and prints which the testator's said wife should have had in use during her lifetime for his own absolute use and benefit and to pay unto or permit the testator's said son to receive and take for his own use and benefit the said rents issues and profits dividends interest and annual produce of the testator's real and personal estates as aforesaid subject nevertheless to the expenses of repairs and insurance and incidental to the general management or control of the said estate during his life and from and immediately after his decease. Upon trust to convey and assure pay transfer and divide the same real and personal estate subject as aforesaid unto between and amongst all and every the children of the defendant Edward Goldsmith who being sons or a son should live to attain the age of 21 years or being daughters or a daughter should live to attain that age or marry under that age in equal shares and to their respective heirs executors and administrators as tenants in common and not as joint tenants and if there should be but one such child then the whole of the said real and personal estate subject as aforesaid should go to such only child his or her heirs executors and administrators and in the will now in statement were contained powers for the advancement and maintenance of the children of the defendant Edward Goldsmith and in case there should be no son of the defendant Edward Goldsmith who should live to attain the age of 21 years or being daughters or a daughter should live to attain that age or be married under that age. And in case the defendant Edward
Page 4
Goldsmith should have been married with the testator's consent he should be dead with the consent of his said wife or having been married after the decease of both the testator and his said wife should have left a widow him surviving then upon trust to pay unto or permit any such widow of the testator's said son to receive and take for her own absolute use and benefit the net annual rents and profits dividends interest and annual proceeds of the testator's real and personal estate and effects subject as aforesaid and subject to the expenses of repairs and insurance and incidental to the general management and control of the said estates and effects during her life free from the debts control or engagements of any husband or husbands with whom she might intermarry and from and immediately after her decease upon trust that they the trustees or trustee for the time being of the said will should convey and assure the testator's eleven cottages and hereditaments known as Vicarage Row Higham in the county of Kent unto the said Elizabeth Rachel Nevin and the plaintiff Mary Sophia Day their respective heirs and assigns as tenants in common and upon further trust that they the trustees or trustee for the time being of the said will should convey and assure pay transfer and devise all the rest and residue of the testator's said real and personal estate unto between and amongst all and every the children of the said Mary Tolhurst who should be living at the time of the testator's decease and their heirs executors administrators and assigns respectively according to the nature thereof respectively as tenants in common and in the said will was contained a proviso and the testator thereby directed that in case either his said wife his said son (except as to the household furniture and effects plate linen china books pictures and prints given and bequeathed to him at the decease of the testator's wife ) or the said son's widow (if any) should at any time or times do permit or suffer any act default or process whatsoever which but for the proviso now in statement would have the effect of vesting the right to receive the rents issues and profits dividends interest and annual produce or the said annuity of 100 pounds thereinbefore directed to be paid as aforesaid or any part thereof respectively or any interest therein respectively in any other person or persons whomsoever then and thenceforth the trusts thereinbefore declared for the benefit of such person or persons doing committing or suffering any such act default or process as aforesaid should cease and become void should immediately thereafter be paid or payable to or applicable in such manner as they the said trustees in their uncontrolled discretion should see fit either for the benefit of the person or persons who should have been entitled to the same respectively by virtue of the trusts powers and authorities in the said will contained in case
Page 5
the testator's said wife his said son or the said son's widow (if any) as the case might be had departed this life or for the benefit of the person or persons respectively who should so respectively do commit or suffer such act default or process as aforesaid and in the said will was contained a proviso that it should be lawful for the trustees or trustee for the time being of the said will at their discretion from time to time to sell the said real estate or any part thereof in manner therein mentioned and to make or enter into and execute all such acts deeds assignments and assurances whosoever as should be necessary or be deemed expedient by the said trustees their heirs executors or administrators and the testator thereby declared that the trustees or trustee for the time being of his said will should hold the monies to arise from any such sale or sales as aforesaid.
The final clause of the Bill of Complaint in which Mary Sophia Day as plaintiff had sought redress for the Vicarage Row legacy - No.3. on Page 11 - stated that "the plaintiff may have such further or other relief as the nature of the cause may require". There is no further indication of what might have constituted that "relief" unless it entailed payment of legal costs, or compensation by way of gifts and family memorabilia. Mary Sophia Day did inherit books from her cousin Edward Goldsmith's estate, but little else. No account of a substantial inheritance from Captain Goldsmith's estate has passed into family legend.
1872-1874: the Vicarage Row cottages
Of special interest to the nieces of Captain Edward Goldsmith – Elizabeth Rachel (Day) Nevin and her sister Mary Sophia Day as daughters of his wife Elizabeth (Day) Goldsmith’s brother Captain James Day back in Hobart, Tasmania – was the sale of the eleven cottages in Vicarage Row, Higham which their uncle had set aside as a bequest to them in his will. Photographer Thomas J. Nevin, Elizabeth Rachel Nevin’s husband was named as an additional beneficiary.
Eleven Cottages, Vicarage Row, School Lane, Higham, Kent, UK
Sold in 1872 from the estate of Captain Edward Goldsmith to the Rev. Joseph Hindle
Screenshot: Google Earth 2021
Whata Whata Surprise
Despite the catalogue’s inclusion at Kent Archives of “Vicarage Row” along with the sale of Lady’s Tippett to Robert Lake in the file #U36/T1810/5, he did not acquire those eleven cottages, marked off as LOTS 7, 8, and 9 on the insert in Cobb’s catalogue 1870 for the sale of Captain Edward Goldsmith’s estate. Those eleven cottages, still standing today and displaying a little plaque with the number and name "Vicarage Row," located on School Lane, were still unsold when Mary Sophia Day unsuccessfully contested the will in Chancery in 1872. They were sold to the Rev. Joseph Hindle, the former owner of the house which Charles Dickens bought at 6 Gadshill Place in 1856, but he died two years later in 1874, whereon his heir, David Burn Hindle, a farmer of WhataWhata, south of Auckland (near Hamilton) in the north island of New Zealand, became the sole owner of these cottages, nine of which Captain Goldsmith had built in the 1850s.
Above: Deed of sale of the Vicarage Row cottages to the Rev. Joseph Hindle
File no. U969_T15_1870_1_Aug_image_1
NOTES from Kent Archives:
U969/T15 ‘Nos. 1-11 Vicarage Row, Higham, 1805-1870’Information and copies of the above documents courtesy of KENT ARCHIVES, February 2023
1805 Release, Walter Mitchel to Thomas Flockton
1812 Release Thomas Flockton, John Cook
1812 Copy of the will of John Cook
1847 Robert Stevens to James Saxton (3 images)
1857 Conveyance James Saxton to Edward Goldsmith (1 image)
1857 James Saxton, includes burial certificates for Mary Cook, Mary Ann Saxton and Henry James Stevens (5 images)
1869 Goldsmith to Hindle, declaration of Robert Lake Cobb, with a copy of Edward Goldsmith’s death certificate attached (4 images)
1870 Two copies of printed sales particulars, identical to (U86/T1810/5), but with additional notes and completed memorandum (U86_T1810_5_image_21) as lots 7, 8 and 9 purchased by Joseph Hindle, and total purchase price (2 images only of manuscript notes and memorandum)
1870 Abstract of title, freehold of cottages, Elizabeth Goldsmith – name struck and replaced with Hindle. All pages struck with many notes (22 images)
1870 Goldsmith to Hinkton draft – name struck and replaced by Hindle, and Goldsmith’s trustees to Hindle (5 images)
1870 Costs related to Hindle’s purchases (3 images)
1870 Elizabeth Goldsmith to Hindle (2 images)
1872 Inland Revenue and Land tax – includes correspondence (8 images)
18 Various correspondence (18 images) – includes ‘Mr Goldsmith has certainly made a mistake in the collecting of last week’s rents’.
Archives@kent.gov.uk
Mary Ann (Goldsmith) Tolhurst (1800-1876)
Captain Edward Goldsmith's sister Mary Ann (Goldsmith) Tolhurst is mentioned in this indenture dated 1893 for the sale of Gads Hill Cottage as an annuitant of his will drawn up in 1869 shortly before his death, but as she had died in 1876, her annuity was annulled with no reversionary benefits to her heirs. Her annuity had been arranged by their father Richard Goldsmith snr (1769-1839) in his will and had been held in trust by her brother Edward Goldsmith until his death 1869.
Mary Ann (Goldsmith) Tolhurst was born in 1800 in Northfleet, Kent, to Richard Goldsmith, age 31, and mother Mary Whetland, age 32. She married Jeremiah Solomon Tolhurst (1791–1857) on 16 June 1817 at Christ Church, Southwark, London. They had 11 children in 21 years. They lived at Milton Gravesend, Kent, England in the 1840s and 1850s. In the 1841 census Jeremiah Tolhurst was registered as a stock dealer, and on the birth of his daughter Elizabeth Deborah in 1835 his occupation was listed as butcher. He died in 1857.
Mary Ann (Goldsmith) Tolhurst was registered in the 1871 census as widow, annuitant, resident of Peckham, Surrey, England. She died on 23 August 1876, age 76 years and was buried at St Saviour Southwark, London. Foreseeing the likelihood that her husband would attempt to control the monies he was leaving her, her father Richard Goldsmith snr used the strongest wording as a warning in his will:
... to my daughter Mary Tolhurst for her own use and that of her children I desire that my request be complied with that Mr Jeremiah Tolhurst may have no control over one shilling of her money left by me to her [Will 1836]... I am desirous that the property bequeathed to my daughter Mary in my will dated August 28th 1836 shall be entirely for the benefit of herself and her children and I therefore appoint my Executors named in the Will above mentioned Trustees to the said property that they may see my intention fulfilled [Codicil 1839]
His concern extended to a daughter of that marriage, his granddaughter Caroline Tolhurst. Richard Goldsmith snr was unequivocal in wishing to entrust the future of his daughter Mary Tolhurst and her daughter Caroline to his sons and executors John and Edward Goldsmith and their sister Deborah Meopham to see that "Jeremiah Tolhurst may have no control over one shilling of her money left by me to her".... Read more here: The Will of Richard Goldsmith snr (1769-1839).
1870: Gads Hill Cottage retained
At the time of his death, Captain Edward Goldsmith was resident with his wife Elizabeth (Day) Goldsmith at Gads Hill Cottage, situated inside their six acre estate on Telegraph Hill. They had leased the main house, Gads Hill House, to Andrew Chalmers Dods, Esq., at a rental of £165 per annum, to be renewed for 14 years at the time of the auction (see Cobb's notice below, 14th June, 1870).
Lot 2: Gads Hill Cottage
The cottage was retained as the residence for Captain Edward Goldsmith's wife Elizabeth Goldsmith in his will (dated 1865) as Lot 2:
Above: Inset: LOTS 7, 8 & 9, Vicarage Row cottages sold to the Rev. Joseph Hindle
Below: descriptions of LOTS 1 & 2.
TRANSCRIPT
Lot 2
A COMFORTABLE AND WELL-ARRANGED
F R E E H O L D R E S I D E N C E
Known as "Gads Hill Cottage,"
With Stable, Garden and Orchard, in extent about 1a, 32p., pleasantly situate at Gads Hill, adjoining Lot 1, having a frontage of about 170 feet to the Turnpike Road.
The House is brick-built and cemented with a slated roof.It contains
ON THE BASEMENT - Four Cellars;
ON THE GROUND FLOOR - Dining Room 20ft by 13ft 6 in., with a Bay Window,a Breakfast Room, Butler's Pantry, China Closet, Kitchen, Scullery and Water Closet;
ON THE FIRST FLOOR - A Drawing Room, 20ft. by 13ft., and Three Bed Rooms, and
ON THE UPPER FLOOR - Four Bed Rooms.
In the Yard there is a timber-built and slated two-stall Stable with Saddle Room and Loft, and adjoining the House a leanto Chaise-house.
In the rear there is a productive Kitchen Garden and a fruitful Orchard and Paddock.
This Lot is in hand and possession will be given on completion of the purchase.
It will be sold subject to the Owners and Occupiers of Lot 1 using the Pump and Well in the Orchard during the remainder of a Lease granted for 14 years from Michaelmas.
Land Tax Redeemed.
Messrs. Cobb, Surveyors and Land Agents
Catalogue of Captain Edward Goldsmith's properties for sale at auction, June 1870
Source: Kent History and Library Centre
Link: https://www.kentarchives.org.uk/collections/getrecord/GB51_U36_2_882_5
1893: sale of Gads Hill Cottage by Sarah Jane Goldsmith
Photographed copies of the two-page document detailing Sara Jane Goldsmith's conveyance of the freehold property Gads Hill Cottage to Robert Inman dated 15 March 1893 were kindly emailed to this weblog on 14 March 2026 by Brendan Monahan who discovered this file among others pertaining to the Goldsmith family when he recently purchased the property formerly known as Gads Hill Cottage and Higham Lodge, known now as "Findhorn" on the Gravesend Road. We have provided a transcript of the indenture below.
A NOTE on the TRANSCRIPT
Please note: this word in brackets [illegible] appears in the transcript for these reasons:
the ink is too faint or too smeared on the paper (which was photographed with a phone);
the orthography itself is too archaic to discern modern equivalents;
the word or phrase is archaic legalese and unfamiliar in a modern context;
the paper is too crumpled to even guess the hidden word(s);
and there is a point at which all transcribers reach their limit.
Cover: Conveyance 15 March 1893
Conveyance of Gads Hill Cottage to Robert Edward INMAN dated 15 March 1893
Photographic images (3) courtesy of Brendan Monahan 14 March 2026.
TRANSCRIPT
Dated 15th March 1893
Mrs Sarah Jane Goldsmith & Others
to
Robert Edward Inman Esqr
Conveyance
of freehold premises known as Gads Hill
Cottage, Higham in the County of Kent
Page 1 of Indenture
TRANSCRIPT
This indenture is made the 15th day of March, 1893 between Sarah Jane Goldsmith of Springfield Road, St Leonards on Sea in the county of Sussex Widow of the first part William Bell Bentley of No. 24 Abbey Road St John's Wood in the county of Middlesex Esquire Alfred Bentley of No. 78 Avenue Road Regents Park in the said county of Middlesex Esquire and George Matthews Arnold of Milton Hall near Gravesend in the county of Kent Esquire of the third part and Robert Edward Inman of Gads Hill Cottage Higham in the said county of Kent Surgeon of the fourth part Whereas at the date of his will and of his death, hereundermentioned Edward Goldsmith, late of Higham in the county of Kent Esquire deceased here unto called Edward Goldsmith The elder was [illegible] or otherwise well entitled of and to the hereditaments, hereditary hereditaments, hereunta, here, here, herein And herein After, described and intended to be hereby conveyed for an estate in fee simple in possession, free from encumbrances except assert equitable charge in favor of the said George Matthews Arnold Esquire and monies and costs and whereby Return, principal and interest, monies, law, costs, charges and expenses due to him from the said Edward Goldsmith, the Elder and here unto mentioned well occurred upon [illegible ditto ditto] the said hereditaments, and whereas the said Edward Goldsmith the elder, by His will, dated the 15th day of February, 1865 this deceased, and bequeathed all his real and personal estate unto his wife, Elizabeth Goldsmith and The said William Bell Bentley and Alfred Bentley upon [illegible] out of the [illegible] profits and Annual proceeds thereof to something to pay to [illegible, ditto] therein mentioned the monthly sum of one pound during her life. [iIlegible] to pay to Mary Tolhurst thereon, therein mentioned the monthly sum of one pound during her life, and upon further Bentley, upon out of the profits and annual proceeds. And further. [illegible ditto ditto ] There to to Mary Tolhurst there, therein mentioned the monthly sum of one pound during her life and during the life of his two nieces of his said wife, therein mentioned an annuity of 10 pounds until the youngest of them should gain the age of 20 years and further [illegible] during the life of [illegible] pay an annuity of 100 pounds. Edward Goldsmith, here under Edward Goldsmith, younger and subject to the payments aforesaid upon trust to pay unto or permit his said wife, the said Elizabeth Goldsmith, to the profits and annual proceeds of his said real and personal estate during her life and after her death, upon to pay unto or permit the said Edward Goldsmith the younger, this have not taken effect. And in the event which happened of there being no children of the said Edward Goldsmith the younger who should live to attain the age of 21 years and on the said Edward the younger should have attained, should have been married with his consent, or after The death, with the known, with the [illegible] of his said wife, or having been married after the decease of both of them should have left a widow, turn surviving, then upon Trust to pay unto or permit such widow of the said Edward Goldsmith the younger to receive for her absolute something and benefits The annual [illegible] profits and proceeds of the testator, said, real and personal, has stayed during her life and after her decease, upon [illegible] therein declared of and Concerning this same and the said Will contained a power of sale executionable by the said Elizabeth Goldsmith, William Bell Bentley and Alfred Bentley, As therein mentioned, and the said testator appointed [illegible] wife Elizabeth Goldsmith and the said William Bell Bentley and Alfred Bell Bentley executress and executors, executrix and executors of his said Will, and whereas, by a codicil to the said Will dated the 13th day of June, 1869 the said Edward Goldsmith the elder, empowered his said wife, during her life to Raise such a sum of money as she might think or might think necessary for the purpose of improving his freehold estate at home, aforesaid, and declared that any such securities executed for that purpose by her should be as effectual if executed by himself. And whereas the said Edward Goldsmith the elder died on the second day of July in eighteen hundred and sixty nine without having revoked or altered his said Will, except in so far, if at all as the same was revoked or altered by the said codicil and without having revoked or altered the said codicil and the said Will and codicil were on the 7/27, day of July, 1869 duly proved by all the said executors in the principal probate registry, and whereas by an indenture dated the 22nd day of July, 1869 and made between the said Elizabeth Goldsmith of the one part, and the said George Matthews Arnold of the other part, the said Elizabeth Goldsmith, in pursuance of the power in that behalf given to her by the hereunbefore mentioned codicil granted and conveyed unto the said her [illegible] interest required by The said Elizabeth Goldsmith for the purpose of erecting buildings for the improvement of the said hereditaments In manner referred to in the said codicil, [illegible] and whereas by an indenture dated the first day of January, 1870 made between the said Elizabeth Goldsmith of the one part and the said George Matthews Arnold of the other part, the said Elizabeth Goldsmith [illegible]with the said covet and covented with the said judge, George Matthews Arnold, that inter alia, the 100, the hereditaments. Hereunto, [illegible ditto ditto ], to be conveyed. [illegible], in the said, [illegible] this. There's a fold in the paper here of the said 830 shilling. Shillings, being as to the part there of monies due to the said George Matthews Arnold, in respect of principal and [illegible] monies, [illegible] charges and expenses, very bleak here, [illegible] being the principal and unpaid monies, costs and [illegible] costs, charges and expenses incurred as herein before, mentioned by the [illegible] charge herein before referred to and as to further part thereof occurred by and then, owing under the lastly here and before rented, recited indenture and as to the Balance thereof of further monies therein advance to the said Elizabeth Goldsmith by the said George Matthews Arnold in order to enable her to complete the said works and improvements provided for by the said codicil of the said Edward Goldsmith the Elder and whereas the said Edward Goldsmith the Younger, on the 14th day of July, 1870 with THE CONSENT OF THE said Elizabeth Goldsmith, and in mentioned with the said Elizabeth Goldsmith, [illegible] with the said Sarah Jane Goldsmith, (then Sarah Jane Rivers, spinster). And whereas the said Elizabeth Goldsmith died on the 18th of January, 1875 and whereas by an indenture dated the 22nd day of February, 1876 and made between the said William Bell Bentley with Alfred Bentley of the one part And the said George Matthews Arnold of the other part, the said George Matthews Arnold was in pursuance of a power for that purpose contained in the second [illegible] will of the said Edward Goldsmith the Elder duly appointed a trustee of the said Will jointly with the said William Bell Bentley and Alfred Bentley, and in the place of said Elizabeth Goldsmith And by the indenture, now in recital, all the real estate, [illegible] by the said Will and then subject to the Something thereof, concluding the hereditum, including the hereditaments both described, and intended to be hereby conveyed was duly assured so as to [illegible] in the said George Matthews armored jointly with the said William Bell Bentley and Alfred Bentley and whereas the said Mary Tolhurst died on the 23rd day of August, 1870 And whereas the said Edward Goldsmith, the younger died ...(continued next page - on The 8th day of May 1883...)
Page 2 of Indenture continued with map of Lot 2, Gads Hill Cottage
Page 2 of Indenture continued ...
The eighth day of May One thousand eight hundred and eighty three [1883] without having had any issue And whereas the said two nieces of the said Elizabeth Goldsmith to whom the said Annuity was bequeathed as aforesaid by the said recited Will of the said Edward Goldsmith the Elder have both long since attained the age of twenty years And whereas under or by virtue of the said recited will of the said Edward Goldsmith the Elder the said hereditaments and premises hereinafter described and intended to be hereby conveyed are together with the other trust premises held upon trusts under which the said Sarah Jane Goldsmith is now beneficially entitled to the possession or receipt of the rents and profits during her life And whereas all principal interest and other monies secured by or owing under or by virtue of the said equitable charge and the hereinbefore recited Indentures of the twenty second day of July One thousand eight hundred and sixty nine [1869] and the first day of January One thousand eight hundred and seventy [1870] respectfully or other of those Indentures were long since paid by the said Elizabeth Goldsmith and have been satisfied in full as the said George Matthews Arnold hereby acknowledges, but no reconveyance of the mortgaged premises has yet been made And whereas the said Sarah Jane Goldsmith by virtue of the powers vested in her under the Settled Land Act 1882 and any Act or Acts amending or extending that Act has agreed with the said Robert Edward Inman for the absolute sale to him of the said hereditaments hereinafter described and intended to be hereby conveyed and the inheritance thereof in fee simple in possession (subject to such reservation as is hereinafter contained of rights of user and access to the pump well and cesspool hereinafter mentioned and to the obligation hereinafter mentioned of contributing to the repair and cleansing thereof) for the sum of two hundred pounds And whereas the several deeds and documents specified in the Schedule hereunder written which are in the possession of the said William Bell Bentley Alfred Bentley and George Matthew Arnold relate as well to the hereditaments hereby conveyed as also to other hereditaments and it has been agreed that the said William Bell Bentley Alfred Bentley and George Matthews Arnold shall retain the said deeds and documents and shall give much acknowledgement in relation thereof as is herein after contained And whereas, the said George Matthews Arnold has also agreed to join in the presents in manner hereinafter appearing and for the purpose of releasing and assuring the hereditaments described and intended to be hereby conveyed free from the equitable charge and the said recited Indentures of the twenty second day of July One thousand eight hundred and sixty nine [1869] and the first of January One thousand eight hundred and seventy [1870] respectively and from all moneys from the equitable charge and the said Indentures or either of them secured. Now this Indenture witnesseth that in pursuance of the said recited Agreement and in consideration of the sum of Five hundred pounds now paid by the said Robert Edward Inman by the said Sarah Jane Goldsmith to the said William Bell Bentley Alfred Bentley and George Matthews Arnold (the receipt whereof they the said William Bell Bentley Alfred Bentley and George Matthew Arnold do hereby acknowledge and the payment whereof in manner aforesaid the said Sarah Jane Goldsmith doth hereby acknowledge) The said Sarah Jane Goldsmith As Beneficial Owner by virtue of the powers vested in her by the Settled Land Act and any Act or Acts amending or [illegible] or extending that act and every other power of what nature or kind over her in this behalf, enabling doth hereby grant and convey and the said George Matthews Arnold, by the direction of the said Sarah Jane Goldsmith, For the like consideration and on consideration of all monies due or owing, under or secured by the said equitable charge and the said recited indentures of the 22nd day of July, 1869 and the first day of January, 1870 having been paid and discharged as aforesaid, doth hereby as mortgagee grant, convey and so and release unto the said Robert Edward Inman, all that piece of or parcel of land situate at Gadshill Higham in the county of Kent with the messuage or tenement stable and appurtenances there unto belonging, standing and being upon the said piece or parcel of land so upon or upon some part thereof, known as Gad's Hill cottage, [illegible] aforesaid, together With the garden and orchard there to belonging and occupied there, with which said premises contain, by AD measurement, one acre And 30 to purchase or thereabouts, and are now in the occupation of the said Robert Edward Inman, and are now particularly delineated and described in the map or plan drawn in the margin of these presents thereon colored green, what to hold the same premises unto and to the use of the said Robert Edward Inman, his heirs and assignee and assigns in fee simple, paid and discharged from all the limitations powers and provisions of the will of the said, Edward Goldsmith the elder, and from all estates in all, and from all As all estates, interest and charges, suborning or to relate or subsisting, or to arrive or to know thereunder and also freed and discharged from the said equitable charge and the monies thereby and the said indentures of the 22nd day of July, 1869 and the first day of January, 1820 respectively. And from all principal interest and other monies compressed, comprised or in or secured by the said equitable charge and those indentures, or either of them, but subject to any [[illegible] to the [illegible] charge and other, easement, if any charged or thereon and also to the right of the owners and occupiers, occupier for the time being, of the adjoining premises known as Gad's Hill House during the [illegible] the tenancy of the said adjoining premises of Herbert Mansfield [i.e. Herbert Mansfield Cobb], whose tenancy will expire at Michaelmas day, 1897 to have the free use of the pump and well shown on the said plan and of the cesspool on the land hereby conveyed with all proper and sufficient means of access there to respectively, and the said Robert Edward Inman for himself, his heirs and a sign hereby covenant With the said William Bell Bentley, Alfred Bentley and George Matthew Arnold's their heirs and assigns that he the said Robert Edward Inman, two times his heirs and assigns will at all times during the said tenancy of the said Herbert Mansfield Cobb pay one equal half part of the costs incurred from time to time of repairing and cleansing the said pump and well and cesspool, respectively, and further that the said Robert Edward Inman, his heirs and assigns will not at any time, use the premises hereby conveyed or permit or suffer the same to be used as an hotel, tavern or beer shop or for the purpose of public entertainment, provided always that as respect the [illegible] or remainder expectant on the life estate of the said Sarah Jane Goldsmith in the premises and the title to and further assurance of the premises After her death, the covenant by the said Sarah Jane Goldsmith, which are implied by law by reason of her being expressed to convey as beneficial owner, shall not extend to the act or default of any person or persons other than and [illegible] herself and her own heir and persons claiming through or in [illegible] for her, them, or any of them. And the said William Bell Bentley, Alfred Bentley and George Matthew Arnold hereby acknowledge the right of the said Robert Edward Inman to production of the deeds and documents mentioned in the schedule here underwritten and to delivery of copies thereof, witness whereof the said pack packet to them. Presents. Presents have here to here unto set their hands and seals the day and year first before written
The schedule above referred to
11th July 1856
Indenture of this date made between John Townsend of the first part John Robert Dummelow and Alfred Rhodes Bristow of the second part George Butcher of the third part the said Edward Goldsmith the Elder of the fourth part and Alfred Tolhurst of the fifth part
22nd July 1869
The above recited indenture of this date
1st January 1870
The above recited indenture of this date
22nd February 1876
The above recited indenture of this date
* Red seals, signatures, Sarah Jane Goldsmith underneath William Bell Bentley in the center, Alfred Bentley, extreme right, George G M Arnold, R E Inman
Information about Alfred Rhodes Bristow (1818-1875)
By the time of the 1857 general election, Bristow – who was described as rather ‘beyond middle-height’, well-proportioned but ‘inclined to bulk’, with features which beamed ‘with intellect and intelligence’ – was said to have the representation of Greenwich ‘in his pocket’Source: https://historyofparliament.com/2025/04/05/alfred-rhodes-bristow-1818-1875
THE PUMP and WELL
The water table level at Gads Hill was a major problem for Charles Dickens. On 6 June 1857 he wrote to Henry Austin: -
GAD'S HILL, Saturday, June 6th, 1857.
MY DEAR HENRY,
Here is a very serious business on the great estate respecting the water supply. Last night, they had pumped the well dry merely in raising the family supply for the day; and this morning (very little water having been got into the cisterns) it is dry again! It is pretty clear to me that we must look the thing in the face, and at once bore deeper, dig,or do some beastly thing or other, to secure this necessary in abundance. Meanwhile I am in a most plaintive and forlorn condition without your presence and counsel. I raise my voice in the wilderness and implore the same!!!
Wild legends are in circulation among the servants how that Captain Goldsmith on the knoll above--the skipper in that crow's-nest of a house--has millions of gallons of water always flowing for him. Can he have damaged my well? Can we imitate him, and have our millions of gallons? Goldsmith or I must fall, so I conceive.
But by August 1857, the water supply problem had been solved with a bore. Dickens informed Mr. Henry Austin with the details: -
GAD'S HILL PLACE, _Saturday, Aug. 15th, 1857.
MY DEAR HENRY,
At last, I am happy to inform you, we have got at a famous spring!! It rushed in this morning, ten foot deep. And our friends talk of its supplying "a ton a minute for yourself and your family, sir, for nevermore."
They ask leave to bore ten feet lower, to prevent the possibility of what they call "a choking with sullage." Likewise, they are going to insert "a rose-headed pipe;" at the mention of which implement, I am (secretly) well-nigh distracted, having no idea of what it means. But I have said "Yes," besides instantly standing a bottle of gin. Can you come back, and can you get down on Monday morning, to advise and endeavour to decide on the mechanical force we shall use for raising the water? I would return with you, as I shall have to be in town until Thursday, and then to go to Manchester until the following Tuesday.I send this by hand to John, to bring to you.
At the 1891 UK Census, farmer and land agent Herbert Mansfield Cobb (1853 -1926) held tenancy of Gads Hill Cottage, Higham, residing there with his wife, five children and four female servants until the expiry of the lease in 1897. The cost of cleansing and repairing the pump and the cesspool was to be shared equally between Robert Inman, owner of the main house Gads Hill House on the estate, and Herbert Mansfield Cobb, as stipulated in the 1893 Indenture. Herbert Mansfield Cobb was the son of Robert Lake Cobb, auctioneer of Captain Edward Goldsmith's estate in 1870.
Inset: Location of the pump and well in the orchard, page 2 of the 1893 Indenture.
A probable cause of the water supply problem for Dickens' house at Glads Hill Place at the bottom of Telegraph Hill is best explained by former resident Carole Turner in the 1980s of Captain Goldsmith's Gads Hill House at the top of Telegraph Hill:
The water table at the top of the hill was very high and the cellars of the house regularly flooded. The strange thing was that they only flooded in times of drought not in times of very wet weather. I researched it and there is a suggestion that in drought times they stopped pumping from Higham marshes and this somehow caused the water table to rise at the top of the hill. Presumably properties at the bottom i.e Dickens' Gads Hill Place would have had empty wells. There were three wells at Gads Hill House and they were always full ... as was the cellar for a good deal of the time! as once flooded the water did not drain away for a very long time. Suddenly in the middle of a very hot summer I would go down to the cellar and find it flooded ... quite bizarre.
Source: courtesy of Carole Turner, personal correspondence, 4th February 2016
1911: Census of England and Wales
Details:
Sarah Jane Goldsmith 75 yrs widow Estate [held in bank or shares?]
Private means
Born Kent Deptford
Years the marriage has lasted - 13 years [married to Edward Goldsmith jnr 1870 to his death in 1883]
No children
Henry Frederick Rivers 81yrs widower Visitor [her brother]
Retired clerk in Holy Orders Born Kent Deptford
Years the marriage has lasted 35 Children born 4 still living 4
Jessie Halestrap Domestic servant born Middlesex [...ham?]
1926: Death of Sarah J. (Rivers) Goldsmith
With no children born to Sarah Jane (Rivers) Goldsmith during her 13 year marriage to Edward Goldsmith the younger, her niece Ethel Marian Rivers (1867-1943) appears in her probate files as a probable nominated beneficiary and executor, one of two daughters of Sarah's brother the Rev. Henry Frederick Rivers; his other daughter was Katharine Elizabeth (1871-1939). Henry's eldest son William Halse Rivers Rivers [sic] was an exceptional anthropologist noted here for his research with Haddon’s Torres Straits Expedition in 1898 which detailed the genealogy of the Torres Strait islanders. The published reports were used to support successful land rights claims against the Australian government (see photo below).
Death
Name Sarah J Goldsmith
Death Age 91
Birth Date abt 1835
Registration Date Oct. 1926
[Nov. 1926]
[Dec. 1926]
Registration Quarter Oct-Nov-Dec
Registration District Hastings
Inferred County Sussex
Volume 2b
Page 39
Probate
Name Sarah Jane Goldsmith
Death Date 8 November 1926
Event Type Probate
Event Date 18 December 1926
Event Place St Mary Magdalen, Sussex, England, United Kingdom
Event Place (Original)
St Leonards-On-Sea, United Kingdom
Source: "England and Wales, National Index of Wills and Administrations, 1858-1957",
FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QPL8-P2BQ : Fri Aug 07 19:41:19 UTC 2026)
Entry for Sarah Jane Goldsmith and Ethel Marian Rivers, 18 December 1926.
Sarah's nephew: William H. R. Rivers
Sarah Jane (Rivers) Goldsmith's nephew William Halse Rivers Rivers (1864-1922) was born in 1864 at Constitution Hill, Chatham, Kent (UK). He was the eldest of four children born to Elizabeth (née Hunt) and the Rev. Henry Frederick Rivers. His younger brother was Charles Hay (1865-1939), his sisters were Ethel Marian (1867-1943) and Katharine Elizabeth (1871-1939).
NOTED ANTHROPOLOGIST.
DEATH OF DR, W. W. H. R. WIVERS
LONDON. June 4.
The death Is announced of Dr. W. H. R. Rivers, president of the Royal Anthropological Institute and Folklore Society.
(William Halse R. Rivers, M.D., F.R.S., F.R.C.P., D.Sc., was a notable anthropologist and scientific writer. He was born in 1864. He was formerly lecturer on psychology at Guy's Hospital, lecturer on physiological and experimental psychology at Cambridge University, Croonian lecturer at the Royal College of Physicians, 1906, Fitzpatrick lecturer 1915-1916, president of the Anthropological section of the British Association, 1911. In 1915 he was awarded the Royal Society's royal medal. He was the author of a number of publications including "The History of the Melanesian Society", "The Todas", "Kinship and Social Organisation," "The Influence of Alcohol and other Drugs on Fatigue," Dreams and Primitive Culture," "Instinct and the Unconscious," and various papers in the reports of the Cambridge expedition to Torres Straits, and in scientific journals. Dr. Rivers was 58 years of age.)
Source: NOTED ANTHROPOLOGIST. (1922, June 6). The Telegraph (Brisbane, Qld. : 1872 - 1947), p. 6 (SECOND EDITION).
Link: https://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article177170228
Members of the Cambridge Anthropological Expedition to the Torres Straits, 1898.
Standing (from left to right):
W. H. R. Rivers, Charles Gabriel Seligman, Sidney Herbert Ray, Anthony Wilkin. Seated: Alfred Cort Haddon
Date 1898
Source Cambridge University Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology
Author Cambridge University Torres Straits Expedition
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Torres_Straits_1898.jpg
EXTERNAL REFERENCES: W. H. R. Rivers' family history
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/W._H._R._Rivers
https://www.jameslindlibrary.org/articles/william-halse-rivers-1864-1922/
https://aiatsis.gov.au/collections/search?q=William%20Halse%20Rivers
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/96738810/william-halse_rivers-rivers
https://www.true-echoes.com/1898-torres-strait-and-new-guinea/
Chalk Church Memorial
Photographed here in the graveyard at St Mary the Virgin Church, Chalk Kent (UK) in March 2016 is the grave of Captain Edward Goldsmith, his wife Elizabeth (Day) Goldsmith, his son Edward Goldsmith the younger and Sarah Jane (Rivers) Goldsmith, his wife. Not included on the stone inscription here but included on the marble plaque inside the nave is the name of Richard Sydney Goldsmith (1830-1854), first child of Captain Edward and his wife Elizabeth (Day) Goldsmith, who was born at Western Australia in 1830 and died of fever in 1854 at Hobart Tasmania where he was buried at St. David's Cemetery opposite Captain Goldsmith's house at 19 Davey St. At the time of his death, Richard Sydney Goldsmith was a clerk at the Union Bank, Hobart. See plaque below.
Above: Grave of Captain Edward Goldsmith and family
Large ledger with rocks and horizontal cross
St Mary the Virgin Church, Chalk Kent UK
Photo copyright © Carole Turner March 2016
TRANSCRIPT
IN AFFECTIONATE REMEMBRANCE OFSource: Monumental Inscriptions of St Mary the Virgin Church, Chalk - recorded by D. E. Williams 2013.
EDWARD GOLDSMITH
OF THIS PARISH
WHO DIED AT HIGHAM 2nd JULY 1869 AGED 65 YEARS
ALSO ELIZABETH
WIFE OF THE ABOVE
WHO DIED 18th JANUARY 1875 AGED 73 YEARS
ALSO EDWARD
YOUNGER SON OF THE ABOVE
WHO DIED AT ROCHESTER 8th MAY 1883 AGED 46 YEARS
AND SARAH JANE HIS WIFE
WHO DIED AT ST. LEONARDS ON SEA 8th NOV. 1926 AGED 91 YEARS
"The Lord is my Shepherd"
Link: https://www.kentarchaeology.org.uk/Research/Libr/MIs/CHKb/01.htm
Memorial plaque for Captain Edward Goldsmith and family
Nave of St Mary the Virgin Church, Chalk Kent UK
Photos copyright © Carole Turner March 2016
TRANSCRIPT
IN MEMORY OFAs the inscription on the plaque post-dates the death of Captain Edward Goldsmith's son, Edward jnr in 1883, and the inscription on the gravestone post-dates the death of his wife, Sarah Jane (Rivers) Goldsmith in 1926, headed with the phrase "in affectionate remembrance", she most likely paid for the plaque in 1883, and her estate paid for the inscription on the gravestone in the St Mary the Virgin Church graveyard in 1926 after her burial. Without an heir from her only marriage, her wealth acquired from the Goldsmith family was distributed among her nieces and nephews. Perhaps one of their descendants in the Rivers family has in their possession the twelve-ounce silver goblet presented to Captain Edward Goldsmith, manufactured by Mr. C. Jones, of Liverpool-street, Hobart in 1849 for services rendered to floral and horticultural science in Van Diemen's Land, by importing rare and valuable plants from England. On receiving the goblet, Captain Goldsmith remarked that he would guard it to his death, which occurred on 2 July, 1869, at Gadshill Cottage, Higham, Kent UK. If you know of its whereabouts, please contact us here.
EDWARD GOLDSMITH
OF THIS PARISH AND GAD'S HILL, HIGHAM
WHO DIED JULY 2nd 1869 AGED 65 YEARS
ALSO ELIZABETH WIFE OF THE ABOVE
WHO DIED JANUARY 18th 1875 AGED 73 YEARS
ALSO RICHARD SYDNEY BELOVED SON OF THE ABOVE
WHO DIED IN TASMANIA AUGUST 15th 1854 AGED 24 YEARS
ALSO EDWARD YOUNGER SON
WHO DIED AT ROCHESTER MAY 8th 1883 AGED 46 YEARS
The goblet bears the following inscription:-
"Presented to Captain Goldsmith, of the ship Rattler, as a slight testimonial for having introduced many rare and valuable plants into Van Diemen's Land. January, 1849." The body has a surrounding circlet of vine leaves in relief. The inscription occupies the place of quarterings in a shield supported the emu and kangaroo in bas relief, surmounting a riband scroll with the Tasmanian motto-" Sic fortis Hobartia crevit." The foot has a richly chased border of fruit and flowers. In the manufacture of this cup, for the first time in this colony, the inside has undergone the process of gilding. As heretofore silver vessels of British manufacture have taken the lead in the market through being so gilt, it is satisfactory to find that the process is practically understood in the colony, and that articles of superior workmanship can be obtained with out importation.
Testimonial to Captain Goldsmith
The Courier Hobart Tasmania 20 January 1849
Link: https://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article2967009
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