William Cubitt [1791 – 1863]

Disambiguations

There are two principal difficulties in researching William Cubitt, of Buxton, 17th April 1791 – 28th October 1863.

Firstly, disambiguating William Cubitt [of Buxton], brother of Thomas Cubitt and later Mayor of London, from his direct contemporary Sir William Cubitt [of Dilham – 10 miles or so from Buxton] the great railway engineer. They are often confused sometimes to quite a crazy extent, as in this extract from Change at Kings Cross, Hunter & Thorne, 1990, pg. 60.

‘When Sir William Cubitt and his son Joseph came to plan the Great Northern Railway from King’s Cross…….The architect, Sir William Cubitt’s nephew Lewis Cubitt…….’

Which neatly mangles up the lineage of the two Cubitt clans that were not at all closely related if at all. And inserts Lewis Cubitt into Sir William Cubitt’s of Dilhams’s close family thus sowing plentiful confusion. Cubitt is a reasonably common name in Norfolk but an interesting attempt to disambiguate the various branches and clans Cubitt [Collection for a History of the Family of Cubitt, of Norfolk, Walter Rye, Samuel Miller & Co, 1873 pg. 16] in which Thomas’ branch is termed The Cubitts of Frettenham.

Secondly, there is an erroneous and widely propagated assumption that it was Thomas Cubitt’s company that was merged into Holland & Hannen and Cubitts Ltd. This is not the case at all as it was infact William Cubitt’s [William Cubitt & Co – sometimes later styled W. Cubitt & Co or Wm. Cubitt & Co] company that was acquired.

This conflation, which seems quite deliberately propagated, started with the publication of the 1920’s book Holland & Hannen and Cubitts Ltd, The Inception and Development of a Great Building Firm, London, 1923. In the front of which is, in pride of place a photo of Thomas Cubitt and not William and goes on to confidently state [pg. 9]

‘Thomas Cubitt, the founder, was the friend and confidant of Queen Victoria…..’

The reasons for this active conflation are pretty clear as Thomas was the better known brother for his development of Belgravia and as builder to the royal family.

This conflation was also further sustained in Hermione Hothouse’s book Thomas Cubitt, Mater Builder, Universal Books, NY, 1971 which is puzzling as she had access to the full Holland & Hannen and Cubitts Ltd archive and in the 1970’s pamphlet that Hobhouse produced for the company. Hobhouse probably relied on the firms complied history as none of the partnership documents survived.

In a personal conversation with Harry, 4th Baron Ashcombe, in around 2013, he made it very clear that this was an error, on Hobhouse’s part, that he could not understand. He further stated that William was the genius and not Thomas.

It has to be suspected that Thomas was unduly credited with some of William’s achievements.

It is also possible that Thomas Cubitt’s business carried on by the Waller family until the late 1800’s was brought back into the fold of Holland & Hannen and Cubitts Ltd.  It is possible this might be reflected in 26 volumes of papers from Holland and Hannen & Cubbits, some from 1856 onwards but none pre 1855, which were deposited in the Wolverhampton City Archives [ref DX-912] in 2003 by Tarmac Construction. These records all relate to William Cubitt & Co and are yet to be the subject of extensive study.

Other than these, as yet, unstudied volumes there is scant extant historical materials on either William or Lewis Cubitt. Which is, of itself, rather strange given the considerable public position of the three brothers.

Hobhouse did opine, in a personal conversation, that ‘we should probably have been studying William Cubitt’. She did repeat this at public lecture given towards the end of her life.

Personal & Family Life

William was baptised in Buxton on 17th April 1791 [Transcript of the Buxton Parish register below]. The date of birth stated by some sources as 7th April 1791 doesn’t appear in any primary sources. As a curiously William is recorded both in the 1791 and 1792 return to the Bishop of Norwich due to the date of his baptism falling near Lady Day. The original Buxton Parish Register survives but has suffered from poor storage and is barely legible so we have not reproduced it here.

On Christmas Day 1814, William married Elizabeth Scarlet (born 1792) [the spelling of the surname clearly has only on ‘t‘ in the marriage register although some sources to use two], daughter of William Scarlett of Norfolk, possibly related to his mother Agnes Scarlet at at St Andrew’s Holborn.

They had one son and at least eight daughters:  Mary (1815) who presumably died in infancy, Mary No 2(1817), Eliza (1818), Thomas (1819), Marianne (1821-?1823), Laura (1823), Rosa (1824), Emma (1826) and Maria (1827), all baptised at St Pancras Old Church except Mary the firstborn, baptised at the church where her parents had married.

Laura married [later Sir] Joseph Francis Oliffe, a distinguished physician, and was one of the executors of William’s estate.

The Carpenters Company records show:-

CUBITT, William

Freeman by Redemption 7 Aug 1827 of Gray’s Inn Road builder

Translated to the Fishmongers Oct 1835

Second son of Jonathan Cubitt of Buxton co Norfolk

Alderman of Langbowen 10 May 1851 – 1863, Sheriff 1847, Lord Mayor 1860 & 1861, MP for Andover 1847-61 & 1862-3, President of St Barts Hosp 1861

William was also an associate of The Institute of Civil Engineers – elected 22 January 1833 [CC/000270 – ICE/S001].

Work as a Contractor

To start with Thomas and William worked together probably out of the Eagle Street premises and then out of the Gray’s Inn Road premises.

However, by 23rd June 1827 the partnership of Thomas, William and Lewis Cubitt had been dissolved [Gazette June 1827 pg. 1404].

However, a partnership between Thomas and Lewis then appears to have continued until that too was dissolved in 1830 [Gazette, May 1830, pg. 1004].

Major Contracts

Unknown project – 1821

This is very curious as this would have been in the time that William was working with Thomas and it was assumed that this was exclusive. It may, of course, be a confusion with another William Cubitt.

Relevant file is in The London Archives:-

1821 – MA/D/G/001 – SPECIFICATIONS OF MILLWRIGHTS WORK; F.H. POWNALL, ARCHITECT; WILLIAM CUBITT [BUILDER];

Covent Garden Market 1828-30

Source: Covent Garden 

‘In 1828, Whig politician John Russell, 6th Duke of Bedford, flush with money from the sale of land near The Strand, petitioned for a government bill “for the improvement and regulation of Covent Garden Market”. The bill allowed the duke to knock down the Piazza’s ramshackle stalls, erect a proper market building and institute a regulated system of rents. Bedford’s chosen architect was Charles Fowler. Fowler took what was then a revolutionary approach to his craft—rather than making his buildings look like fairytale castles or gothic cathedrals, he concentrated instead on making them fit for purpose. Attractive though the Greco-Roman design for Covent Garden Market now seems, at the time it appeared remarkably functional and unadorned. In 1838, the critic JC Loudon wrote that Fowler was “one of the few modern architects who belong to the School of Reason and who design buildings on fundamental principles instead of antiquated rules and precedent”. He described the Covent Garden market building as “so expressive of the purposes for which it is erected, that it cannot by any possibility be mistaken for anything else”.

The market opened in May 1830

Relevant files are in The London Archives:-

1828-1830 – E/BER/CG/E/07/10/008 – Covent Garden Market ACCOUNTS OF WILLIAM CUBITT FOR BUILDING NEW MARKET (‘WEEKLY ACCOUNTS OF DAY WORK ABSTRACTED AND BROUGHT INTO ONE GENERAL ACCOUNT’)

1828-1830 E/BER/CG/E/07/10/009 – ACCOUNTS OF WILLIAM CUBITT FOR ‘MEASURED WORKS’ IN THE COVENT GARDEN MARKET BUILDING

1831 – New Buildings for Mr. Babbage’s Calculating Engine to Decimus Burton’s designs

November 1831, William and Lewis tendered successfully to ‘Erect and Finish the New Buildings for Mr. Babbage’s Calculating Engine in East Street Manchester Square’.

The majority of the papers survive in The National Archives [Work 12/62/8 Folder 2 ff 41-68] and these have been meticulously cataloged by C.J.D. Roberts [click on link for the full Babbage Difference Engine No 1 catalogue].

Folder 2 ff 41-68 contains, inter alia:-

William and Lewis Cubitt (Grays Inn Road) to [Major General] Stephenson 30th November 1831 willing to build for £1890

D[ecimus] Burton’s certificate of 2/3rds completion by the Cubitts February 2nd 1832, £1000 due to them.

D[ecimus] Burton to [Major General] Stephenson 6th February 1832

D[ecimus] Burton’s full “Specification for Erecting and finishing, building to contain Mr Babbage’s Calculating Engine, Workshops &c. and of Alterations and repairs to the adjoining house in East Street Manchester Square”: tender k document dated 12th November 1831.

The catalogue unfortunately notes that ‘Maps and Plans of the Building intended to house the Difference Engine have gone missing’.

We have not retrieved these files and this is an excerpt from the catalogue entry.

Hanwell Pauper Lunatic Asylum – 1830-1

Relevant files are in The London Archives:-

1831 – MJ/SP/1831/11/053 – BILLS FOR WORK DONE AT THE PAUPER LUNATIC ASYLUM, HANWELL, BY WILLIAM AND LEWIS CUBITT

1831 – MA/D/A/01/081/003 – CONTRACT; 1. WILLIAM CUBITT OF GRAYS INN ROAD BUILDER; 2. VISITING JUSTICES; FOR BUILDING WORK FOR HANWELL ASYLUM AS SPECIFIED;

1830 – MA/DCP/005 – MIDDLESEX COUNTY LUNATIC ASYLUM, HANWELL; FIFTEEN PLANS OF FITMENTS; SIGNED: WILLIAM [LEWIS] CUBITT [BUILDER]; ROBERT SIBLEY, SURVEYOR; SCALE: 3¾ INS = 10 FT; SIZE: 56 CM × 74 CM;

1831-2 – St Michael’s Highgate

St Michael’s Highgate, designed by Lewis Vulliamy, was built by Willian & Lewis Cubitt in a remarkably quick eleven months

However, due to a defective interpretation of the 1818 Act another Act was required before St Michaels could be consecrated and so sat empty and unconsecrated for nine months until an enabling Act was passed.

1832-4 Fishmonger’s Hall 1832-4 & 1845-5

The Fishmongers Hall was rebuilt on three distinct contracts:-

• 1832 – concrete raft with Samuel Grinsdell
• 1832-4 – for the shell and core with William & Lewis Cubitt for £27,750 with sureties from Thomas Cubitt of Clapham Common & William Scarlett of New Ormond Street.
• 1845-5 – for the fit-out and finishes again with William & Lewis Cubitt for £17,750[signed by Lewis Cubitt on 31st January 1834].

Gilbert Scott makes it sound like he was the architect of The Fishmonger’s Hall in his reminiscences [Scott’s Recollections, I 257. below]. The reality is that Henry Roberts had solely created the competition drawings of 1831 , which survive, predating Scott’s involvement in 1832.

Source: Gilbert Scott website 

Sir George Gilbert Scott was introduced to Henry Roberts, who had been a pupil of Charles Fowler, through his work on Hungerford Market. The old livery hall of the Fishmonger’s Company, which was built after the Great Fire, had to be demolished to make way for the new approaches to London Bridge, and in September 1831, one month after the new bridge had been opened, the City of London Corporation announced that an architectural competition would be held for the design of the new hall. The first prize was awarded, in March 1832, to the twenty-nine year-old Henry Roberts (1803-76). Roberts was a Londoner, who in 1825 became an assistant to the renowned Sir Robert Smirke with whom he stayed for four years, but had so far built nothing of importance by himself. Smirke had a reputation for sound construction using concrete foundations, and he repaired Laing’s ill-fated Custom House after its collapse. Much of the detail of Roberts’ Fishmonger’s Hall resembles Smirke’s classical detailing, particularly the use of Smirke’s favourite Ionic order.

Soon after the announcement of his success in March 1832, Roberts single-handedly set to work to produce all the detailed constructional drawings required to enable the builders to tender precisely for the cost of the building….. This arrangement was only made possible by the emergence of the large general contractors, such as Grissell and Peto, who were capable of producing every part of a building, from brickwork to joinery. But it did give the architect the task of producing all the drawings and specifications for the entire project before tenders could be invited. But by May he was reported as being ill ‘from the effects of over exertion in preparing the Drawings’, so it must have been soon after, that he invited Scott to join him at his office in Suffolk Street, just off the Haymarket. ……

As is often the case with difficult sites, the foundation contract was let in advance of the main contract and Scott, as well as working on the contract drawings, had to go down to the City to inspect the work in progress. By June, it had been cleared, and he saw it as ‘a bed of muddy peat’ with many Tudor oak piles revealed but Roberts ordered the whole site to be covered with a concrete raft. The contract drawings were completed by mid-July and fourteen general contractors were invited to tender by 15 August . These included Grissell and Peto, but it was William and Lewis Cubitt who submitted the lowest price of £27,750, which was accepted. The contract was signed on 24 August 1832, and presumably work began on the superstructure soon afterwards. The work lasted two years, which Scott recalls as an ‘almost a blank in my memory’.

The narrative is also missing the second tender regarding the fitting out of the building which occurred considerably later. So it is possible that Scott was not at all involved in this part of the process.

A better source is likely The Halls of the Fishmoner’s Company, Priscilla Metcalf, Phillimore, London, 1977. This directly cites the Company archives formerly held at Guildhall but now held at London Archives [in the series CLC/L/FE/G/137/MS05843, 1831-1835].

Specifically

Part IV Pg 114 Plates 9, 10, 12, 13, 14 & 15 onwards has some plates of the drawings.

Plate 11: shows the ornate ceilings of the state rooms from New Practical Builder, Vol III, 1837, pl. cvi.

Plate 16: Illustrated London News, 23rd November 1861 showing the decoration of the banqueting hall as decorated by Roberts.

CLC/L/FE/G/137/MS05843

• File 2 – Robert estimated the works 14th August, 1832 and this is compared with actual costs 29th October 1835.

Structural [what would now termed shell & core] portion:-

• File 14 – rough minutes including list of names of the tenderers and discussion on the contract
• File 3 – Draft contract for carcass24th August 1832
• File 17 – Draft specification for the carcass drawings 1-22
• File 11 – Robert’s reports 9th Feb & 20th May 1833

Second tender for fitout:-

• File 17 – rough specifications for fitout
• On the Cubitt’s tendering for the fitout works – Building Committee minutes are cited – without file ref for the dates 29th November, 10th December 1833 & 31st January 1834 – maybe file 14?

After the contact was completed the two Cubitts were elected freemen of The Company of Fishmongers. William later became the Prime Warden of The Company.

Euston Station & Northern Railway – 1835-6

W. & L. Cubitt constructed much of the southern sections of the London and Birmingham Railway, including Euston to Camden and Boxmoor to Tring, as well as Euston Station with its famous Harding designed portico [possibly not true?] and the Camden engine shed.

William and Lewis Cubitt are credited with the construction of Euston Station. This is a documented fact as the contract survives. Sadly, the contract drawings and plans do not appear to have survived so it cannot be stated with 100% certainty, the scope of the works they executed beyond the descriptions in the contract [signature page below].

Some care need to be taken with this as they undoubtedly built the Euston to Chalk Farm extension of the London and Birmingham Railway but the station that initially existed was a two platform affair and it is unlikely that any of the later Hardwick designed flourishes were erected by William.

Birmingham, Bristol and Thames Junction Railway ~1837

Messrs Cubitt have got the contract for the construction of the galley and bridge at Paddington Canal.

London Stock Exchange Rebuild – 1837

Text extracted from Wiki.

This mentions Edward I’Anson being involved but does not name check William Cubitt.

‘The third Royal Exchange building, which still stands today, was designed by Sir William Titeand adheres to the original layout–consisting of a four-sided structure surrounding a central courtyard where merchants and tradesmen could do business. The internal works, designed by Edward I’Anson in 1837, made use of concrete—an early example of this modern construction method.[11] It features pediment sculptures by Richard Westmacott (the younger), and ornamental cast ironwork by Henry Grissell‘s Regent’s Canal Ironworks. It was opened by Queen Victoria on 28 October 1844,[12] though trading did not commence until 1 January 1845.’

Tring Station – 1838

Text from Tring Local History Society website:-

You can see that Sir William Cubitt is conflated with W. & L. Cubitt civil engineers in their text!

Townshend’s [Thomas Townshend, 1771-1846, civil engineer and contractor] section commenced about 200 yards north-west of Tring Station; Cubitt [Sir William Cubitt, 1785-1861, founder of W. & L. Cubitt, civil engineers] taking the nine-mile Kings Langley to Tring section [according to company records, the Cubitt contract terminated at the northern end of Northchurch Tunnel, the short section between the Tunnel and Tring Cutting (contract 6B) being let to Richard Parr].  The bridge at Northfield has always gone by the name of the ‘bird-house bridge’, from the circumstance of a Dwight from ‘the hills’, one of the originators of the pheasant breeding business [Matthew Dwight, game farmer], bringing a hut on wheels or ‘bird-house’ down to that point, where he lived and sold beer to the navvies.

‘Tring’s temporary terminus was soon replaced by a solid brick building, which the Company designated a ‘first-class’ station.  When the Railway opened throughout in September 1838, its sixteen intermediate stations fell into two categories, first and second class, the distinction being that ‘first-class trains’ (comprising only first-class accommodation) and mail trains stopped only at the first-class stations, while ‘mixed trains’ stopped everywhere.  All the intermediate stations were designed by the Company’s architect, George Aitchison Snr. (1792-1861), who considered his plans for Tring (and also for Rugby) of sufficient merit to exhibit at the Royal Academy Exhibition of 1838.  The building contract, which included an engine shed, was awarded to W. & L. Cubitt for the sum of £1,885’

Warehouse Disaster with Alderman John Humphrey – 1849

Test extracted from: The I’Ansons, a Dynasty of London Architects & Surveyors, Peter Jefferson Smith, Clapham Society, London, 2019 pgs. 183-4.

Smith cites Civil Engineer and Architect’s Journal 1853 pp 257-9 as the sources for this information. You can read the full original text below the extracted text.

‘There is the occasional exception. In 1852, l’Anson did a piece of work, which was sufficiently unusual and sufficient of an achievement for him to publicise it himself. Alderman John Humphery (previously encountered in Chapter 4 outbidding l’Anson’s father for land on the London Bridge Approaches and a Clapham neighbour) owned Hay’s Wharf, and in 1849 had built a warehouse between one of their docks and Mill Lane, between the Thames and Tooley Street. Although the building was architect designed, Humphery had directed the building of the substructure himself, before handing over the erection of the building to the distinguished firm of Wiliam Cubit. It was very large, seven storeys including the basement, and most of the Roors were substantial enough to be virtually fireproof. The width was such that the floors were partially supported by intermediate columns, and it was the weight of the floors on these columns that showed that the foundations below the basement were inadequate. As the loading on them gradually increased, the settlement of some of them reached as much as I0”.

One can imagine the unhappy relationships between the architects, Allen, Smoke and Stock, Humphery and Sir William Cubit, perhaps made worse by the fact that Humphery and Cubitt were related by the marriages of two sons of the former to two daughters of the latter. l’Anson was called in. He described the remedy he adopted in a paper read to the RIBA in May 1853.

The walls of the warehouse, being built on continuous foundations were solid enough; the problem was with the foundations for the intermediate columns.

So as a first step, the warehouse was emptied of its contents, and shored up by girders at basement level. The foundations of the columns could then be got out, and it proved that they were both too shallow and of inadequate material.

New foundations were made, and new arches introduced immediately under the sagging ground floor, which was levelled off and repaved. With the base of the building now sound, it was possible to cut all the upper floors away from the external walls, and insert screw jacks. The floors were then raised. 1/16 to 1/8 of an inch at a time. Little by little, at intervals of a day or so, the floors were raised as high as was considered safe, and then finally secured and made good. The whole operation, l’Anson told the RIBA, from preparation for the screwing to making good after it, occupied two months. It took much labour. The jacks were worked two at a time, sometimes with ten men on each jack, and there was also a lookout man on each floor. Although it had to be conceded that the restoration was ‘not carried out with mathematical precision’, nevertheless apart from in the basement there were few traces to indicate that the settlement had taken place. It cost about £1,000.

The exercise was of sufficient interest to merit a paper to the RIBA, published both in its own Transactions and also in the Civil Engineer and Architects Journal. The main lesson to be drawn was the necessity of making the foundations for storey posts and columns stronger than the continuous foundation of a wall’. 

RIBA members were also interested in strengths of girders and columns for anticipated floor loadings and, always important for warehouses in dock areas, the fireproofing arrangements adopted and their effectiveness. There was still uncertainty how far iron columns would stand the heat of fire …..’

Kelham Hall 1859-61

The timeline for this project and William Cubitt’s personal involvement in it scotches the idea that he retired from his business in 1851-2 to focus on other matters. It would well be that an examination of Sir George Gilbert Scott’s reminiscences would yield more definitive information on William Cubitt’s working life?

The original drawings set survives in The RIBA Archives [PA1702/ScGGS[62]1].

Source: Gilbert Scott Org

‘The apparent death of the Foreign Office scheme in August 1857 meant that Scott could turn his attention to remodelling Kelham, and with the fire two months later, he was thankfully able to avoid any chance of producing another hybrid like Brownsover. The design of the new house was worked out in 1858 and Scott’s office started to produce the numerous working drawings required in January 1859. The contractors appointed were the well-known London firm of William Cubitt & Co., of Gray’s Inn Road. Cubitt attended the meeting at the Office of Works on 24 March 1859, when tendering arrangements for the Foreign Office were discussed, where he not only met his rivals for the work but Scott was also present. It must have been very soon after this meeting that Cubitt was awarded the contract for Kelham, so perhaps Scott had told him about the large and elaborate house that he was designing and Cubitt asked to be considered for the work. Cubitt also probably knew Manners-Sutton as they both entered Parliament at the 1847 General Election as Liberal Conservatives. Otherwise it would seem unlikely that an organisation such as Cubitt’s would have wanted to become involved in a single country house, however big and ornate, so far from London. But for Scott there were obvious advantages in reviving his connection with the, by then, influential Cubitt, who apart from continuing as an M.P. until his death in 1863, was set to become Lord Mayor of London in 1860. Perhaps most significantly in the progress of Scott’s career, it was William Cubitt who, after the death of Prince Albert in December 1861, took the initiative to call a meeting to discuss the provision of a public memorial for the Prince.’

RIBA Archives also have some drawings by Lewis Cubitt for Kelham Hall but these are unrealised as are those of Lewis Vulany.

Personal name:Cubitt, Lewis, 1799-1883Title:[Collection of drawings]Contents:Kelham (Nottinghamshire): Kelham Hall, designs for an extension, 1855 [PB690/5(1-2)]Call/Ref. no.:CUBITT

1861 – Noel House Estate, Kensington Gore, Palace Gate development

Noel house, whose site is now wholly occupied by Palace Gate, was built in 1804 for George Aust, Secretary to the Royal Hospital at Chelsea. The architect was George Byfield. Its three-and-a-half-acre site was leased to Aust for ninety-nine years in February 1805. Six years later Aust bought the freehold. In November 1861 the building firm of William Cubitt and Company purchased the estate, demolished the house and laid out the site for building.

Text and image extracted from British History Online – references are to the British History Online website.

‘Until c. 1865 Gloucester Road continued northward from Kensington Gate to the Kensington Road, this northern portion being a narrow lane bounded on the west side by the curtilage of Noel House (see page 15) and on the east by the Campden Charities trustees’ estate in Hyde Park Gate (fig. 9). But in 1861 the building firm of W. Cubitt and Company had bought Noel House and its grounds for redevelopment. (fn. 2) At first the company intended to build a road down the length of this land, parallel with the narrow northern portion of Gloucester Road, to which it would be joined at the southern boundary of the company’s property. (fn. 3) By January 1862, however, Cubitts were proposing to the Campden trustees ‘that a great public benefit would result if instead of there being two narrow roads close together and leading to the same place, one fine street was made by adding to our road the width of Gloucester Road and doing away with the latter altogether’. (fn. 4) The Campden trustees agreed, and in July 1865 Cubitts obtained the necessary Act of Parliament. This provided for the closure of the northern portion of Gloucester Road and the division of the area of the former road between Cubitts and the Campden Charities trustees. (fn. 5)

Cubitts had not, however, waited until 1865 before starting to build. The position of the west side of the road, which would have served as well for their original intention if the Act had not been secured, was fixed in 1862, and during the next four to five years they erected ten large terraced houses there. These are now numbered 1–15 (odd) Palace Gate (as the new street was called), and 58 and 59 Hyde Park Gate. Additionally they built under contract a partially detached house at No. 1A (now completely remodelled, see below). Stables were provided in Canning Place Mews which Cubitts laid out at the same time. (fn. 6)

The elevational design of these houses was probably produced in Cubitts’ own office, and is rather French in character, particularly in its treatment of the dormer windows (fig. 13). At first an unattractive yellow brick was used in building but later houses, south of No. 1A, have wholly stuccoed fronts.

Cubitts appear to have disposed of the houses on long leases with an option to purchase the freehold. No. 1, the first to be taken, was sold in 1863 for £8,400 on a ninety-nine-year lease at £100 a year, with an option on the freehold (which was taken up) for £2,500. But to judge from the very slow rate of occupancy the houses were not popular, especially those in Palace Gate itself, prospective customers being perhaps deterred by the unfinished state of the road. In 1871 only four of the ten houses were occupied, including a clerk of works at No. 15. (fn. 7) At any event Cubitts did not develop any of the remaining sites on this side themselves. In 1869 the triangular plot at the corner of Palace Gate and Canning Place was taken for a large private house (see below), and the rest of the ground on the west side, between No. 15 and the outside wall of the mews, was filled up with red-brick houses and flats erected by the builder C. A. Daw in the 1880’s. (fn. 8)’

Westminster Bridge, repairs – date unknown

1845/6 Graving dock at Southampton

Railway Times 11th July, 1846 [below] on the new Southampton Docks.

The wording is a little confusing but it implies that the dry dock is still in build and that the tidal dock is now in active use.

It is suggestive that Messrs W Cubitt & Co built two  graving docks [one opened in 1846 @ 60,000l and one opened in 1848 @ £19,000] form The Illustrated London News article [below].

The Illustrated London News has more details including an engraving.

Further potential references

It is possible that the original plans for the docks may survive in Hampshire Archives  ‘Southampton Docks Graving Dock leading out of Tidal Dock’, catalogue number DP/100 date of deposit 1844 in the series of deposited plans and documents relating to Acts of Parliament. 

It is likely that the tender returns and possibly some other information is contained in ‘The Minutes of Minutes of the Southampton Dock Company’ [TNA RAIL 870 series]. For instance ‘Court of Directors’ – 1843-1845 – [TNA RAIL 870/8] & 1845-1847 – [TNA RAIL 870/9] & 1847-1850 [TNA RAIL 870/10].

The plan prepared by Alfred Giles who was the names engineering in the press clipping [above] ‘Plan of the Southampton Docks, showing their connection with the South Western Railway.’ Map showing the original South Western Railway terminus, docks with dimensions, and named buildings inside dock walls. Scale: 1 inch to 300 feet. Alfred Giles, Engineer 1858. Lithographed plan by Warrington and Company, 27 Strand, [London] – [TNA RAIL 1033/103].

Article on new graving dock at Southampton (foundation stone laid 1853) & good illustration [Southampton Archives D/S/2/1/16].

It is possible that this might have useful information in it but the run of annual reports stops short of the dates required. Prospectus & Annual Reports of the Southampton Dock Company, Notices of calls etc – By Francis Giles, civil engineer. With maps in DE/Tm/25063 – C 1835 – 1843 [Hertfordshire Archives DE/Tm/25062-25102]. It is possible that there is a fuller run contained in the poorly catalogued TNA RAIL 870 series as it is very likely that the proposed plans would have been put to shareholders prior to the raise and that reports of tenders and progress reports would have been contained in the relevant years.

It is possible that this series is in fact ‘General meetings’ – 1836-1851 TNA RAIL RAIL 870/1 & 1852-1869 RAIL 870/2.

‘Copies of early Dock Company documents – 1836-1887’ [Southampton Archives SC/TCBox/101/8].

Alterations to the Bank of England – date unknown

Queried BoE archives 31/12/14. Responded Feb 25 that they were looking into it and would revert.

Extensions to the National Gallery – uncertain of scope

There doesn’t appear to be anything in the National Gallery archives to back this assertion up.

However, there are more minor works listed Various alterations and additional rooms. Construction and Heating Contract. W. Cubitt and Company – 1856-1861 [TNA WORK 17/10/2].

1861-2 Works to Buckingham Palace private chapel

From conservatory to private chapel

The building that originally stood on the site of the current King’s Gallery was designed by John Nash as one of Buckingham Palace’s three identical conservatories or pavilions in the form of Ionic temples. It was constructed on the south-west corner of the Palace, facing the garden, and was completed in 1831. The conservatory was converted into a private chapel for Queen Victoria in 1843.

The building was reworked in 1861 to a design by the well known architect James Pennethorne. A large section of the drawings survive in The National Archives [listed below].

Wm. Cubitt & Co were the contractors.

It is possible that the 1840’s iteration of the private chapel was the work of Thomas Cubitt as it appear to have been mentioned in the Diary of John Watson, builder, 1 January – 29 December 1849 [Westminster Archives 2282].

1855-7  Shadwell Docks

These works would have been carried out for the London Dock Company.

So far we only have this indirect report from court report in The Morning Post, 31st October 1873 so it is not contemporaneous but hopefully it gives enough to the timeline to focus a search of the archives at the Port River Archives.

Port River Archives – PLA/LDC/1/1/3/10 – This Committee met at irregular intervals, possibly as business required; there was usually at least one meeting per month between December and July, with none in the remainder of the year. Its business was focused upon financial and property questions, and the Minutes include statements of accounts. Indexed.

Port River Archives – PLA/LDC/1/1/1/10 – The Minutes document meetings of the Directors of the Company, conducted at approximately weekly intervals. Their discussions focus upon staffing and financial questions, and in macro terms the operation of the Docks. The volumes are indexed except where noted.

Port River Archives – PLA/LDC/1/1/2/3 – The volumes document meetings with the Subscribers of the Company. These were held twice a year, with more “Special” meetings as the occasion required; there are more such meetings earlier in the Company’s history. The primary purpose of the meetings was to consider the financial status of the Company and confirm the dividend. Indexed.

Cubitt Town

Like his brother Thomas, William also did some speculative building, reclaiming and developing a large area in the Thameside Isle of Dogs (still known as “Cubitt Town”) in order to house workers in the adjacent shipyards, docks and factories.  William also created many local businesses, and the firm had its own extensive works there covering 25 acres.

It is beyond the scope of our work to look at Cubitt Town which is one of the few areas of William’s work that is well covered by others.

British History Online covers this quite well anyway.

Professional Life: Railway Director

William had considerable involvement both as a railway contractor and railway director. Practical experience of getting project done was valued by victorian investors.

William was amongst other posts a director of The West London Railway.

William Cubitt MP as well as William Cubitt FRS on the same directory page!

Interestingly this does throw up another address for William Cubitt which is Wilbury Park, Cholderton, Wilts. It is possible that he may have rented this property for a time but it remained in the Malet family until the 1930’s.

Personal Life

In 1843 William bought Bedford Hill House in Balham [shown on the map below in the second row 4th fold], only a mile or so from his brother’s house at Clapham, and in the Post Office Directory of 1851, his address was Clapham Common South Side, when he was described as “Builder”. 

Text adapted from Tooting History:-

‘The lands originally belonged to the Dukes of Bedford. Abraham Pitches, who was a wealthy City merchant and who died in
1792 bought the lands from the Dukes of Bedford who had in turn sold the lands to William Borradaile who in turn sold part of them to Richardson Borradaile [heir of William] died in 1835 and his estate was bought by William Cubitt; a builder, he enlarged Borradaile’s property, Bedford Hill House, which was located on the western edge of Tooting Bec common. This property would be blighted, a casualty of the nearby new LBCSR line, in the 1860s. Which presumably forced William to vacate it for a new home in Clapham close to his brother Thomas. 

In 1835, after Borradaile’s death, the property was purchased by the famous builder Sir William Cubitt [N.B. this of course is likely heading towards the usual confusion of the two unrelated Cubitt clans!], who enlarged the house.

In 1855, the West End and Crystal Palace line of the London, Brighton, and South Coast Railway cut across the northern edge of Tooting Bec Common.

The views from the desirable Bedford Hill Estate were thus spoilt by the embankment, prompting the eventual abandonment of that property and its redevelopment as higher- density housing.

The house stood empty from c.1891-7 and the Heaver Estate was gradually developed around it. The house was demolished in 1897 to make way for Veronica Road (originally to be called Corisande Road).’

Extracted from https://herrylaw.blogspot.com/2011/11/view-larger-map-much-of-18c-balham-was.html

‘Much of 18C Balham was owned by the Duke of Bedford, including 150 acres of prime farmland known as ‘Charringtons’. A century later, with farming in decline, the Bedford family sold the land to Richardson Borradaile, a wealthily merchant and MP, who built Bedford Hill House – a beautiful ivy-clad mansion situated where Veronica Road is now, roughly between Nos 12 and 18.

In 1843 the house and its estate were sold to William Cubitt, brother of the builder Thomas Cubitt. Together [is there any actual evidence that Thomas was involved in this – it seems unlikely??] they improved the house and grounds, adding an ornamental lake which lay by Elmbourne Road – between Manville and Huron.

Bedford Hill House enjoyed uninterrupted views towards Balham until 1855, when a railway embankment was built along Balham High Road and Bedford Hill. A year later Balham Station opened.

Alfred Heaver was an ambitious and visionary house builder when he acquired the now empty house and parkland.’

Political life

William Cubitt was returned as MP for Andover in 1847 [The Gazette, Vol 20763, Pg. 2921, 1847 – below].

William Cubitt was returned as MP for Andover in 1852 [The London Gazette, Vol 21345, Page 2130 – below].

Curiously the Gazette lists him being called to

Crown-Office, May 3, 1859.
MEMBERS returned to serve in the PARLIAMENT summoned to be holden at Westminster, the 31st May, 1859.

Borough of Andover.
William Cubitt, of Penton Lodge, in the county
of Southampton, Esq.

William bought Penton Lodge near Andover in Hampshire, renovating the building and adding wings around 1852 around the time he was reelected as MP for Andover.

A 1851 sale plan of Penton Lodge survives in Hampshire Record Office [66A18/1] described as:-

‘A Map of the Freehold Estate known as Penton Lodge situate in the Parish of Penton Mewsey, Hants, Survey’d by Frederick Ellen of Andover, June 1851’

A 2006 sale catalogue of Penton Lodge [165A06/168] with photographs, which makes an interesting comparison of state, also survives described as:-

‘Described as comprising a house built in 1852 by William Cubitt MP for himself, and used as a school until 2006, offered with 7.37 acres of land; and the former stable block built in 1865 and in part converted for nursery school use, c2004, offered with 0.95 acres; in 1985 it comprised a house, flats and the chapel converted from the former stables. Includes floor plans and colour photographs of the interior and exterior of both buildings, and aerial photograph.’

William Cubitt vacates his seat in the Commons in 1861 and access the office of Steward of Baliff of Her Majesty’s Manor of Hemphole, in the county of York [Gazette Issue 22534, Pg. 3193 1861 -v below].

William Cubitt’s  vacation of his Andover seat appears to be related to an attempt to gain a London seat vacate by John Russell being elevated to the peerage.

This failed and he was lampooned in an article and cartoon in the magazine Punch [10th August 1861 edition].

Lord Mayor of London

William Cubitt was twice elected Lord Mayor of London in 1860 & 1861. Before that he was one of the two Sheriffs of London in 1847.

London Archives

1861 – CLC291 – Books and papers relating to the re-election of Lord Mayor William Cubitt, September-October 1861.

Watercolour

1862 – SC/GL/POR/C/008/M0027485CL

London Picture Archive #11037 described as “William Cubitt”; MP for Andover, 1847-61, Sheriff of London, 1847, Lord Mayor of London, 1860-61 and 1861-62. Artist: Boxall, Sir William (1800-1879)

Punch compares the election of The Mayor of London by the Livery Companies to the Election of The Pontiff by the College of Cardinals in what would have been seen as a pretty outrageous comparison at the time.

Photographs

1863(?unlikley date?) – SC/GL/DAV/001/M0004835CL

1871 copy of photograph on Royal Collection Trust website [RCIN 2911316] misdescribed as Sir William Cubitt (1785-1861) although clear inscribed Alderman Cubitt.

Albert Memorial

The text below is extracted from British History Online and the references link to that:-

‘The memorial to the 1851 Exhibition had been sponsored by the Lord Mayor in 1853 and now the present Lord Mayor, William Cubitt, assumed a similar role. He called a meeting on 14 January 1862 and a committee was appointed to raise a subscription for building a memorial to a design to be approved by the Queen. (fn. 18) Cole was one of this committee, but his influence was not to be placed behind any attempt to make it the instrument for procuring a design. (fn. 19) He was in close touch with the Queen’s secretary, General Charles Grey (formerly the Prince’s secretary), and it was to be around Grey and his colleague Sir Charles Phipps, keeper of the privy purse, that ideas for the memorial were to be effectively discussed. Grey and Phipps, recalling that the Prince’s qualities had been more readily appreciated by the middle classes than by the political aristocracy, did not share the irritation at the Mansion House initiative……..Cubitt himself proved amenable, (fn. 22) and although a faction of the Mansion House committee led by George Godwin, the editor of The Builder, was restive, the committee disclaimed participation in the choice of design in February. (fn. 23) The Builder continued to grumble for many years at the relegation of the Mansion House committee to a fund-raising role. (fn. 24) But henceforward the overall direction was firmly in the hands of the Queen’s servants, Grey, Phipps, and (after their deaths in 1870 and 1866) Sir Henry Ponsonby and Sir Thomas Biddulph.

The first settled idea for the personal memorial was that it should feature an obelisk on the site of the 1851 Exhibition. Grey was favourable……It appears that the Queen was less favourable to an obelisk than Grey supposed, but her wish for this form was communicated to the Lord Mayor in February. (fn. 27) In the same month a four-man committee was appointed to pursue the matter. To respect ‘Mansion House’ opinion the Lord Mayor had a place upon it (fn. 28)although his successor was deliberately not chosen to replace him when he died in 1863. (fn. 29)’

There was a completion, likely, by invitation.

In December 1862 designs were submitted by (the links lead to archives images of the competition entries on web.archive.org originally on the RIBA site):-

• Charles Barry Junior and E.M. Barry, (sons of Sir Charles Barry who designed the Houses of Parliament)
• Thomas Leverton Donaldson
• Philip Charles Hardwick  (son of Philip Hardwick whom Cubitt worked with on Euston station)
• James Pennethorne
• George Gilbert Scott
• Matthew Digby Wyatt

William Cubitt died before the memorial’s was built but he would not have been displeased with the selection of Sir George Gilbert Scott with whom he had worked closely and successfully or even the runner up Philip James Hardwick.

Death, Will and Probate

William Cubitt died at Penton Lodge on 28th October 1863 aged 72 and was buried on 2nd November.

His will [click link to read full PDF] was nowhere near as long as his brother Thomas’ epic.

William’s estate was quite modest at around £200,000 in 1863 monies. However, it is likely that the majority of the assets had been placed into trust as this does not make any sense in the context of the scale of Cubitt Estates Limited later holdings in Belgravia and Pimlico.

1864 Obituary – Institute of Civil Engineers 

‘MR. ALDERMAN WILLIAM CUBITT, M.P., who was born in the year 1791, began life in the Royal Navy, but he soon abandoned the sea and joined his brother, the late Mr. Thomas Cubitt (Assoc. Inst. C.E.), as a builder, and for many years he carried on a very successful business in Gray’s Inn Road, covering large tracts of land, in the north-west of the metropolis, with fine houses, and also executing some extensive railway contracts, amassing a large fortune, which he used in a most praiseworthy manner.

At an early period he became interested in City affairs, and in 1847 he served the office of Sheriff of London and Middlesex.

In the same year he was elected the representative in Parliament of the borough of Andover, of which place he continued to be the sitting Member until the period of his decease, with the exception of a short interval in 1861-62.

On the decease of Sir John Key, in 1851, he was elected Alderman of the Ward of Langbourne, and in 1861 he was elected Lord Mayor of the City of London, the duties of which post he performed with so much uprightness, intelligence, and hospitality, that he was re-elected for the year 1862. During this double tenure of office he commanded in an extraordinary degree the respect and confidence of the Court of Common Council and of the citizens generally, and he was enabled, by his munificent example, to raise larger sums of money, as contributions to public charities, than had ever been previously subscribed.

He took a very prominent part in originating the public subscription towards the erection of a memorial to the late Prince Consort, and was, by Her Majesty, nominated to serve upon the Committee for assisting in the decision of the form of the Memorial.

Mr. Cubitt was also President of St. Bartholomew’s Hospital, Prime Warden of the Fishmongers’ Company, and a magistrate for Middlesex and Surrey.

He was elected an Associate of the Institution of Civil Engineers January 22nd, 1833; served on the Council for the Session 1842-43; contributed, in 1840, an original communication to the Society, ‘On a new mode of covering Roofs with Planking,’ which was published in the Minutes of Proceedings, and was a frequent attendant at the Meetings, taking much interest in the proceedings and welfare of the Society.

He was essentially the architect of his own fortune, rising to distinction and a very honourable position entirely by his own exertions.

He was justly popular, and was highly esteemed for his good sense, probity, and suavity of manner, and his decease, which occurred on the 28th of October, 1863, at his seat, Panton Lodge, Andover, in his seventy-third year, was a source of deep regret to his family and to a large circle of attached friends.’

Car Manufacture

Well after William Cubitt’s time, in the inter-war era, Cubitts entered car making! This was seemingly as a result of result having helped the war effort with machining aircraft parts and wondering what to do with the accumulation of machine tools and skilled machinists.

This is set out in some detail by the Tring Local History Society in their web pages with some interesting photos.

Current Work

[The Builder to try and build a timeline.

LMA files to pull:-

1821 – MA/D/G/001 – SPECIFICATIONS OF MILLWRIGHTS WORK; F.H. POWNALL, ARCHITECT; WILLIAM CUBITT [BUILDER];

1831 – MJ/SP/1831/11/053 – BILLS FOR WORK DONE AT THE PAUPER LUNATIC ASYLUM, HANWELL, BY WILLIAM AND LEWIS CUBITT

1831 – MA/D/A/01/081/003 – CONTRACT; 1. WILLIAM CUBITT OF GRAYS INN ROAD BUILDER; 2. VISITING JUSTICES; FOR BUILDING WORK FOR HANWELL ASYLUM AS SPECIFIED;

1830 – MA/DCP/005 – MIDDLESEX COUNTY LUNATIC ASYLUM, HANWELL; FIFTEEN PLANS OF FITMENTS; SIGNED: WILLIAM [LEWIS] CUBITT [BUILDER]; ROBERT SIBLEY, SURVEYOR; SCALE: 3¾ INS = 10 FT; SIZE: 56 CM × 74 CM;

1843-1844 – A/FH/A/16/030/017 – MISCELLANEOUS ESTATE PAPERS: BUILDING ACCOUNTS OF WILLIAM CUBITT – FOUNDLING HOSPITAL –

1851-1859 – ACC/2636/053 – LEASES WITH WILLIAM CUBITT, WITH PLAN

1851-1859 – ACC/2636/054 – LEASES WITH WILLIAM CUBITT, WITH PLAN

1837 – SC/GL/PR/H4/GRA/ROA/p5439918] – TO THE CONSERVATIVES OF THE UNITED KINGDOM, THIS VIEW … REPRESENTING THE PAVILION ERECTED ON THE PREMISES OF MESSRS CUBITT, GRAY’S INN ROAD … FOR THE ANNIVERSARY BANQUET … 14TH JUNE 1837 … / [G. SCHARF DEL.], R. MARTIN & CO LITH; … PUBLISHED BY I. WILLIAMS ….

1] William’s estate was quite modest at around £200,000 in 1863 monies. However, it is likely that the majority of the assets had been placed into trust as this does not make any sense in the context of the scale of Cubitt Estates Limited later holdings in Belgravia and Pimlico.

2] Although it is very hard to understand how this ever made any money as the high end houses never took off and there were significant issues with damp in some of the lower floors of the houses even when recently built. Belgravia it was not.