Posted by Adam Quinan on November 19, 2016 at 10:10:59 user Adam.
In Reply to: Re: Beckfoot ownership, was Sammy's fears posted by Alex Forbes on November 19, 2016 at 07:14:57:
You misunderstand me. I am not suggesting it was leased from James Turner, but I am suggesting that the whole house and grounds could have been leased from Lord Mucky-Muck's estate, perhaps by the Turner grandparents. This would allow them to act as "owners" in terms of decorating etc. and also treat it as a family home. The original lessors would have paid a lump sum for the lease equivalent to the value of the house at that time discounted depending on the length of the lease left. They might have to pay a ground rent of a peppercorn a year to the estate, but the lease could be held for many generations. I once "owned" a house in Lancaster which I bought with 997 years of lease left on it. I never paid the peppercorn rent but they didn't evict me for non-payment.
In Thomas Hardy there is a family which leased a farm for three generations and the drama in part turns on the death of the last leaseholder and the eviction of the family.
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