He owned land in what is now Lower Holloway from at least 1806 when he owned Jacobin Field and others. These were probably hay fields and/or pasture. Some of this land was dug up for brick manufacture in the 1860's-1880's before being developed as housing in the Victorian building boom.
In 1813 he bought Hilmarton Manor, near Calne in Wiltshire and this property was held in the family until 1914. There is now a 'Poynder Place' in Hilmarton and a 'Poynder Road' in Corsham. I have also found a reference to 'THA Poynder of Hartham Park' inferred to the initials THAP inscribed in the stone porch of 'The White Horse' pub in Biddestone! There are a pair of cottages in Biddestone built by Poynder's great nephew(?), John Dickson Poynder who became Lord Islington.
Purely conjecture at this stage - did Thomas Poynder make his money out of building materials?? -
There is an underground stone quarry in Hartham Park in Corsham (the Hartham Park Stone Company produced Oolitic limestone similar to Bath stone until 1964) and an old sand pit between Hilmarton and Quemerford (Calne), plus the family seemed adept at taking advantage of the brick-making boom in north London (as well as selling the land for development). Need to do further research on this!
Thomas Poynder died in xxxx.
His sons were xxx and xxx. Sir John Poynder Dickson Poynder was his great nephew?
and was MP for Chippenham from 1892 to 1910 (first Tory, later as Liberal).
He was Governer of New Zealand from 1910 to 1912 (interestingly there is a small
village between Hilmarton and Lyneham called New Zealand!). He then became Baron
of Islington from 1912 until his death in 1936. note: can't remember where
I got this from: In 1888 the then head of the family, Sir John Dickson,
assumed by royal licence the additional name and arms of Poynder. His mother
was Sarah Matilda, third daughter of Thomas Poynder, of Hilmanston (sic)
Manor, Wiltshire.
This from Richard Poynder - thanks:
Hi, There were several Thomas Poynders. One was born in 1750 and died in 1837, and married to Mary Wix. He had seven children, including another Thomas. I believe his father was also called Thomas! Does he sound likely? He was buried at Wooton St Lawrence near Basingstoke, where there are quite a few Poynders.
According to Timothy Jardine from Basingstoke - thanks:
Thomas Poynder of Hilmarton made his money by trading in the East India Company. I'm afraid I don't know the specifics of his role in East India trade.This from Antonia Nicol of Holloway - thanks:
Here is some more information about Thomas Poynder....not much
1. Poynder, John Poynder
Dickson- (1866-1936) 1st Baron Islington
2. Nursted church in Kent has a brass. The East window replaces one which bore
the inscription The gift of Thomas H.A. Poynder
and Mary Ann his wife 1854.
3. Surnames found at St. Laurence Church, Hilmarton
- Thomas Henry Allen. The church was restored in 1840 at the expense of Thomas
Poynder.
4. Hilmarton Estate was purchased from Colonel
Ainslie in 1813 by Thomas Poynder whose grandson Thomas Henry Allen Poynder
of Hartham Park is now the owner.
note: - I guess when I have time to go to the Wiltshire record office, there will be plenty more information. Apparently they have all this:... (thanks to Jeff Settle for pointing this out).
POYNDER DICKSON of Hartham Park, Calne. Deeds Hilmarton, 1781-1914, Biddestone 1751-1914, Box and Colerne 1863-1908, Calne 1866-1912, Corsham 1868-1916 Court books and papers, manor of Hilmarton 1749-1890, estate papers Hilmarton, 1789-1802, Estate rentals and wage books Hartham Park 1918-1948. Estate maps various places including Ednam Roxburghshire Scotland 1844-1891; family papers 1762-1888. (498)
Theodore Jones - I received the following correspondence from John Etor (thanks!), giving some fascinating detail on the first resident of the house in Hartham Road:
I was intensely interested to see your "History of an Ordinary House in Lower Holloway" because the Theodore Jones, "lunatic", who occupied this house was a member of one of the more interesting families of 18th/19th century accountants. I knew his great grandson personally when I was teaching at Hull University in the 1970s, and subsequently spent many hours digging out the family story, which can be traced back to the birth in Bristol in 1767 of his well known father, Edward Thomas Jones (who later lived in Coleman Street in the City).
Not only is the place and date of birth given in the Census right, but the entry also ties in with the description of him in a Chancery case as being of "unsound mind but not so found" (which presumably means suffering from dementia but not certified as insane).
I am not clear, without digging out my old research papers, whether I have a note of TJ's address in 1881. I certainly remember walking down an Islington street where either TJ or his brother once resided, but the family tended to move around as their fortunes improved, and I believe that the house I was looking at was one they lived in somewhat earlier than 1877/81.
The Joneses' story is quite incredible, in its own way - the family achievements ranged from bookkeeping (with a massive influence on accounting in the early textile industry) to pioneer mining in Wales, major arguments with Customs and Excise, discovering how to extract starch from rice, etc. etc. They even built an early (horse?) railway in Wales of some interest.
James Keene - I received the following from Martin Willis of Australia - thanks!:
Probate entry in his father's Will (Jan 1876) as Executor: "James Boddeley KEENE of 38 Hartham-road...
From 1881 Census - 38 Hartham Road - James Boddeley KEENE b c.1822 Bath, Somerset, widow (sic), 'Officer in H M Customs'; with daughter, Dionysia Dora KEENE b c.1855 Islington, London, unmarried and sister-in-law Catherine M. SMITH b c.1826 Bath, widow, living with him.
I know him to be a son of one Rev. James KEENE (1797-1875), Minister of the New Church, Henry Street, Bath (Swedenborgian) and editor and proprietor of (Keene's) Bath Journal, an early provincial newspaper (begun 1742 by Thomas BODDELEY, continued by his son-in-law John KEENE then owned by three or four generations of the KEENE family). After the death of his father in 1875, I believe James B. took up ownership of the business in conjunction with his cousin Alfred KEENE (c.1820-1893) an Artist, landscape Painter and Journalist who still resided in Bath, but the paper was apparently absorbed into the Bath Herald in March 1916. I believe James B. may have left Bath for London by 1851, though his younger brother Henry Wykeham was then a Printer's Clerk in the family business conducted at 7 Kingsmead Street, Bath.
Editor's ramblings....I wonder... if the Keenes were a 'good' Bath family, it seems possible that they would have known the Poynders, just 20-odd miles away near Chippenham. Perhaps Keene was offered a good price for the first ("and best"??) house on Hartham Road - "can't go wrong you know old boy, investing in London property - only a short ride from Islington and away from all the stink of the City..."