JOHN CORKILL WATTERSON COWLEY from John Kerruish (Lockman)

Purchase - 1894 (Douglas)

Whereas at a sitting of the Common Law Division of Her Majesty's High Court of Justice of the Isle of Man holden at Douglas on the twenty second day of October one thousand eight hundred and ninety four, His Honour Sir William Leece Drinkwater, Knight, Deemster, and judge of such court duly granted an execution in favour of Eleanor Kew of the town of Peel, widow, against William Maltby-Kerruish, trustee of Thomas Cowin, a bankrupt, and the said Thomas Cowin for the sum of seven pounds ten shillings with one pound nineteen shillings and ten pence costs of the said suit, the sum of seven pounds ten shillings being one half year's interest due on the twenty fifty day of September one thousand eight hundred and ninety four under a Deed of Bond and Security granted and passed by the said Thomas Cowin and wife to the said Eleanor Kew for the principal sum of three hundred pounds, and bearing date the twenty fifth day of March one thousand eight hundred and ninety two and secured and made chargeable upon the property hereby conveyed and hereinafter more particularly described and set forth

And whereas the said execution was duly placed in the hands of John Kerruish, lockman of Onchan, to be enforced against the property and effects of the said Thomas Cowin

And whereas the said John Kerruish after the period prescribed by law and after due advertisement put up the said property hereby conveyed and hereinafter more particularly described for sale by public auction on the twenty eight day of December one thousand eight hundred and ninety four

And whereas at such auction after several bids had been made for the said property, John Corkhill Watterson Cowley of number seventeen Stephen Terrace in the town of Douglas bade the sum of three hundred and twenty two pounds and no higher bid having been made therefore, the same was knocked down to him and he was declared the purchaser thereof at that price

And whereas the said John Corkill Watterson Cowley has called upon the said John Kerruish, lockman aforesaid, for a conveyance of the said property to him, and the said John Kerruish has agreed to execute this Deed

This Deed therefore witnesseth that the said John Kerruish as such Lockman of Onchan aforesaid and by virtue of the said execution or judgement in consideration of the said sum of three hundred and twenty two pounds to him in hand paid by the said John Corkill Watterson Cowley, the receipt whereof is hereby acknowledged

Doth hereby grant, bargain and forever absolutely sell and convey unto the said John Corkill Waterson Cowley all and singular the property described in the schedule at end hereof and hereby conveyed with all ways, waters, watercourses, easements, liberties, rights, members, privileges, and appurtenances to the same belonging or in any wise appertaining

To have and to hold the same unto the said John Corkill Watterson Cowley, his heirs and assigns from this date absolutely and forever, subject nevertheless to the payment of the annual Lord's rent and all rates, taxes and burdens legally chargeable thereon. And it is hereby declared that this sale is granted by the said John Kerruish in his capacity as such Lockman of Onchan and he doth not in any wise guarantee any title to the property hereby conveyed, and neither he nor his heirs, executors, or administrators shall be held liable or responsible for any defect in title thereto or otherwise

In witness hereof the said John Kerruish as such Lockman as aforesaid hath hereunto subscribed his name this eighteenth day of January one thousand eight hundred and ninety five

Schedule within referred to all and singular a certain dwelling house and premises situate in Park Road (off Derby Road) in the said town of Douglas, erected on a certain plot or parcel of land numbered fifty four (54) on a plan of a portion of the Woodbourne Estate annexed to a certain Deed of Sale from William Todhunter and Ann his wife to the said Thomas Cowin, bearing date the twenty fourth day of February one thousand eight hundred and ninety two and coloured pink on the said plan, such dwelling house and premises being bounded on the north by a dwelling house and premises lately owned by the said Thomas Cowin, on the south by a lane, on the east by a new road called Park Road and on the west by Woodbourne Estate. John Kerruish, Lockman of Onchan

Signed and delivered in presence of Wm M. Kerruish, E Mylroie

[REF: Jan 1895 #43 ONC]

NOTES

  1. Cronk Urleigh
  2. John Corkhill Watterson Cowley married Mary Ann Mylrea in 1891. He was a theology teacher at the time but was later inter alia a teacher
  3. Mary Ann was the daughter of John Mylrea and Margaret Barrie als Brew
  4. Cowley purchased this Park Road property on his own account, despite being married to Mary Ann
  5. This appears to be his first solo excursion into owning property, although a few months earlier, he and Mary Ann had sold off their share of 12 James Street, left to Mary Ann in her father's will in 1887
  6. Economically, the proceeds from the James St sale was £84/3/- while the cost of Park Road was £322/-/-
  7. In addition to his property transactions, there are other oddities in JRS Cowley:
    • his address in this contract was given as 17 Stephen Terrace whereas he had given a Bucks Road address just months earlier, despite the fact he was married to Mary Ann and llved at Cronk Urleigh
    • he styled himself as a teacher in this contract but months later, he said he was a gentleman. In later years he would say he was a farmer, and when he married Mary Ann he was a theology student
    • he maintained the fiction that he had been born in 1859 although in fact he was born in 1857
  8. In his will in 1900, John Corkill Watterson Cowley left the Park Road dwelling to his wife in her lifetime, then to pass to his son William Mylrea Cowley. He also mentions "the remainder of my property in Douglas" and presumably the property to which he refers was jointly held with his wife Mary Ann as a result of her father's will
  9. As other documents show, Mary Ann's husband (in the decade they were married) had multiple land dealings in Douglas including this current one, as well as at least two in Michael. His purchases and mortgages amounted to about £1,000 and the sales considerably less
  10. In 1896, Cowley paid £650 for a tenancy adjacent to the Mylrea holding which effectively doubled the size of Cronk Urleigh. He also arranged a mortgage for £250, all of which Mary Ann had to pay off after Cowley's death
    • Mary Ann repaid £150 (14th March 1913) (not transcribed)
    • Mary Ann repaid the outstanding £100 (1st May 1916) (not transcribed)
  11. The Park Road property was sold to Ernest Richards in 1923 for £600. At the time, Mary Ann had to supply an affidavit (not transcribed) stating the chain of ownership of the property that allowed her and her surviving son to sell the property

Associated Documents

Last updated: Nov 2024