History of Ashwell House St Albans, continued

The original Lease of 1622 was stated to be available for inspection at the offices of Waterhouse and Co, Solicitors, of 1 New Court, Lincoln’s Inn (now at St. Paul’s Churchyard). In his Will, George left the house to his daughter Ann, the wife of Robert Gibson, for her life. The Gibson’s must have moved around somewhat for their children were stated to have been born in a variety of places, Tottenham, Enfield, Cheshunt and Wheathampstead. Ann Gibson lived on at Ashwell House where she died aged eighty-seven years on the 26th March 1925.

Ann and her family had faced serious trouble for on the 16th April 1889 the Chancery Court heard the case dealing with George Ashwell’s estate. As already mentioned, Dr. Drage was one Executor and the crooked Frederick Seale Parker was the other. Parker had disappeared along with a large part of the estate. Dr. Drage was innocent and no suggestions were made against him, but he had been silly enough to sign many papers put before him by Parker. One account was for £40,796.

Dr. Drage tried to excuse himself by explaining to the Court that it was his Co-Executor who had taken the money. He had taken the precaution of adding the following words to his signature “signed for the sake of conformity”. It would appear that the Doctor was already suspicious of his Co-Executor. The Judge was not impressed by Dr. Drage’s attempt to limit the value of his signature. He found him liable for £23,340 of missing assets and in doing so remarked about the reservation added to his signature, observing “for all the legal effect those words may have, you might as well have told him what you had for breakfast….” Dr, Drage filed his petition in bankruptcy and estimated his assets at £1,568. Nevertheless, he seems to have continued to act as Trustee up to the date of his death on 16th February 1922.

Further litigation followed in June 1927 just 2 years after Annie’s death, and the Court ordered that portions of the Ashwell estate then remaining unsold, should be put up for auction by Messrs. Rumball and Edwards and Humbert and Flint of Watford. The Auctioneer was Harry Sutar of 58/60 St. Peters Street, St. Albans.