The Cazeneuve Family Part V

-
According to John Cazeneuve's death notice in the Kentish Gazette on 5 August 1791, he was 'for many years a [wine?] and brandy merchant of this town [Chatham], but had retired from business'. He was 64 years old. His baptism date was 29 September 1726, so he must have been nearly 65 at his death.

In his will, John described himself as a gentleman.

John Cazeneuve had at least £7,000 invested at 4% in Consolidated Bank Annuities, issue of 6 April 1780.


Consols, as they were known, were Bank of England stock, a means of managing the National Debt. Subscribers or investors lent their money to the government and received an annual return or annuity. Consols were popular with cautious investors, as they received a safe and guaranteed return of between 3% and 5% on their invested capital, depending on when they invested. These interest rates were low; much greater returns could be obtained on other investements such as canal stock, but canals were also much riskier investments.

John Cazeneuve owned and lived in a 'new built brick messuage [with] outhouses offices yards gardens and appurtenances' in Roam Lane (otherwise Rome Lane or Roome Lane) in Chatham.  Possibly this house replaced the seven tenements in Rome Lane owned by hs father Jacob. The house does not survive; there are no eighteenth century buildings in what is now Railway Street. 

Rome Lane was about to change in appearance at the time of John Cazeneuve's death in 1791. The construction of New Road, as a bypass for Chatham High Street, began that year, and the viaduct which carried it over Rome Lane was completed in 1794.


View of the arch under the new road in Room Lane, Chatham.
From the British Library archive

Rome Lane and Rome House are remembered today in Rome Terrace, a short road which runs parallel to Chatham High Street, not towards it, as Rome Lane did.


Rome Terrace, Chatham

John Cazeneuve had no known children. He distributed his estate more widely than his father and grandfather had done. He left goods and money to his wife Caroline and legacies to his nephew Jacob Kite, son of his sister Susanna, to relatives of his wife, and to the children of his nephew Jacob Cazeneuve Troy, but his principal legatee was Jacob Cazeneuve Troy himself.

John Cazeneuve was survived by his wife Caroline, formerly Hart. In her will, other than small bequests to her executors, she divided her estate between nieces and nephews on her own side of the family. Jacob Cazeneuve Troy was originally named as an executor, but he predeceased Caroline. She died in 1808 and was buried in Chatham.

John was the only surviving male descendant of John, or Jean, who migrated to England from France in the late seventeenth century. After a hundred years or so, the Cazeneuve family died out.

The descendants of Jacob Cazeneuve Troy will be discussed in a future post.


Next: The Story So Far

_________________________

See my historical mystery fiction on Amazon Kindle here


The author has lived all her life in Kent, apart from a few years elsewhere as a student. She has a lifelong interest in local history, especially the history of Kent, and has been researching family history for decades. This blog brings together those interests in an ongoing study of the history of a small area of a smallish English city. The author also writes historical mystery fiction, which can be found on Amazon Kindle: see links at the foot of each blog post.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Jacob Cazeneuve Troy Part III His Will

-
Image
Jacob Cazeneuve Troy inherited substantial amounts in money and property from his grandfather Jacob Cazeneuve and his uncle John Cazeneuve. His first wife, Mary, was also a considerable heiress; she inherited one thousand pounds from her father Richard Cooke.  It's not known how successful any of Jacob's own business ventures were, but at the time of his death in 1798 he seems to have been a well-to-do man. J acob's will was made on 14 April 1798 and proved on 18 April 1799. In his will, Jacob described himself as 'distiller and wine merchant'.  The will is long, verbose and repetitive, to take account of all the eventualites that could arise.  The principal provisions were: His freehold estates were to be sold and the proceeds invested in government stock or other secure stock by the trustees, William Lovell Ruffin, surgeon of Chatham, and Stephen Simson, gentleman of Deptford.  One half of the proceeds or income were to be paid to 'his dear wife' Smart Bra...
Read more

King Street

-
Image
King Street, sometimes King's Street, is named after the King's Field, one of the names of the piece of land on which it was built.  Nothing of the original King Street remains; the only buildings that pre-date the First World War are those at the junction with Delce Road. 47 King Street, at junction with Delce Road, original (c.1900?) shop front still visible Thanks to sale notices in the local newspapers, we do have some idea what the original, late eighteenth century, buildings were like. The Kentish Gazette 16 August 1793: To be SOLD by AUCTION Under a Commission of Bankruptcy A very substantial new-built Brick DWELLING-HOUSE, 20 feet in front, 100 feet deep, situated next the PORTLAND ARMS, in King Street, Troy Town, and contains an excellent butcher's shop and slaughter-house, a parlour, four chambers, kitchen &c, &c. The east end of King Street in 1909. Portland Arms indicated in blue, 47 King Street in red. Reproduced with permission of the National Librar...
Read more

'It was the best of times, it was the worst of times'

-
Image
When the development of Troy Town was underway, Britain, and Europe, were undergoing rapid change. In 1786, when the building of Troy Town began, King George III was not yet half way through his long reign. He had begun to suffer from the periods of 'madness' that would eventually incapacitate him permanently and lead to the establishment of the Regency.  Men still wore knee-breeches and stockings. Powdered hair and wigs became less popular after a hair powder tax was introduced in 1795. Women's fashions were becoming simpler, as they moved towards the high-waisted styles associated with the Regency period.  The French Revolution broke out in 1789. It was initially welcomed by many in Britain, who recognised the need to limit the power of the French monarchy, to introduce a genuinely representative assembly or parliament, and to end the condition of serfdom under which many French peasants still lived.  However, the mood in Britain changed in 1792 with the execution of...
Read more