To help with the income of poor clergy, the Queen Anne’s Bounty was a sum of money used to buy land. This land was then rented out and this rental income was used to support the clergy.

In 1734, £200 of this Royal Bounty was used to buy an area of land from Charles Dubois in Mitcham, to support the vicar at the parish church.

Source: An Account of the Augmentation of Small Livings by “The Governors of the Bounty of Queen Anne for the Augmentation of the Maintenance of the poor Clergy” published in 1856, by Christoper Hodgson, M.A.

Eric Montague, in his Mitcham Histories : 12 Church Street and Whitford Lane, page 107, said that more land was bought in 1762 from Mary Gellibrand.

This OS map of 1867 shows areas marked as ‘Glebe’. Note that the London Road was, as shown on this map, known as Whitford Lane.

1867 OS map

Later, parts of this land was sold off to developers to build houses. Montague, page 108, ibid., said that in 1790 a substantial plot was sold to build a house which became Glebelands.

In the Land Registry title for a house in Preshaw Crescent for example, a conveyance was made in 1897:

A Conveyance of the land in this title and other land dated 2 September 1897 made between (1) The Reverend Frederick Wilson Clerk (the Incumbent) (2) The Governors of The Bounty of Queen Anne for the Augmentation of The Maintenance of The Poor Clergy (the Governors) (3) The Right Reverend Father in God Edward Stuart (the Ordinary) (4) Francis Charles Simpson (the Patron) (5) The Right Honourable and Most Reverend Frederick By Divine Providence Lord Archbishop of Canterbury (the Archbishop) and (6) Richard Arthur Bush (the Purchaser) contains covenants details of which are set out in the schedule of restrictive covenants hereto.

See also Queen Anne’s Bounty on wikipedia.

Maps are reproduced with the permission of the National Library of Scotland.