Theodosia Ivie
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Theodosia, Lady Ivie or Ivy (1628–1697) was an aristocratic heiress and a figure of notoriety in the east end of London in the 17th century. Famed for her “wit, beauty and cunning in law above all others,” her claims to own land stretching from
Wapping Wapping () is an area in the borough of Tower Hamlets in London, England. It is in East London and part of the East End. Wapping is on the north bank of the River Thames between Tower Bridge to the west, and Shadwell to the east. This posit ...
to
Ratcliff Ratcliff or Ratcliffe is a locality in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It lies on the north bank of the River Thames between Limehouse (to the east), and Shadwell (to the west). The place name is no longer commonly used. History Etymol ...
led to a constant stream of litigation which ran for almost 75 years. At one particular trial, presided over by
Lord Chief Justice Jeffreys George Jeffreys, 1st Baron Jeffreys (15 May 1645 – 18 April 1689), also known as "the Hanging Judge", was a Welsh judge. He became notable during the reign of King James II, rising to the position of Lord Chancellor (and serving as Lor ...
(later called the Hanging Judge), evidence emerged that Ivie had presented the court with forged deeds on which she made her land claims and Jeffreys subsequently arranged for charges to be brought against her for forgery.


Land disputes

Born Theodosia Stepkin, much of the ancestral land she inherited was in Wapping, on former marsh land which had been drained by the Dutch engineer Cornelius Vanderdelf. Ivie's confidence to challenge so many people over titles to land in this area rested largely on an act of Parliament ( 27 Hen. 8. c. 35) her ancestors had secured which stated the family owned: It was prime land next to central London and the
River Thames The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the The Isis, River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the Longest rivers of the United Kingdom, s ...
, but such was the rapid development in the area that hamlets expanded, and boundaries significantly drifted over time, and hence disputes occurred. By successfully challenging both the boundaries of her land, as well as those holding land contiguous to her own, Lady Ivie built up a portfolio of properties in Wapping alone to over 800 messuages – far in excess of her original inheritance. In neighbouring
Shadwell Shadwell is an area in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets in East London, England. It also forms part of the city's East End of London, East End. Shadwell is on the north bank of the River Thames between Wapping (to the west) and Ratcliff and ...
, where the projector
Thomas Neale Thomas Neale (1641–1699) was an English project-manager and politician who was also the first person to hold a position equivalent to postmaster-general of the North American colonies. Neale was a Member of Parliament for thirty years, Mas ...
had transformed the area by making investments, Ivie claimed his entire development fell within her ancestral inheritance and succeeded in taking the land from him. Neale immediately launched a legal challenge against Lady Ivie and, in the following trial of 1684, he not only succeeded in getting his Shadwell land restored to him but, in the process, demonstrated to the court that Lady Ivie’s deeds – on which her title depended – were entirely false. Two specific deeds Ivie produced were self-evidently forged as they contained elementary and irrefutable errors. For instance, the styling of her deeds of 1555 referred to Philip and Mary as being King and Queen of Spain on a date before that had even happened, when Philip and Mary were still Princes of Spain only. There was also a witness produced who claimed to have personally observed Lady Ivie working on the forgeries, scribing the initial, ornate opening letters on the deeds. At the conclusion of the trial, after Lady Ivie lost Shadwell and faced criminal charges, she took flight, escaping to the Whitefriars
liberty Liberty is the state of being free within society from oppressive restrictions imposed by authority on one's way of life, behavior, or political views. The concept of liberty can vary depending on perspective and context. In the Constitutional ...
where she was beyond the reach of the law. Her accomplice Stephen Knowles, who inadvertently incriminated himself during the opening minutes of the trial, likewise fled, though in his case to the
Liberty of the Mint The Mint was a district in Southwark, south London, England, on the west side of Borough High Street, around where Marshalsea Road is now located. It was so named because a mint (coin), mint authorised by Henry VIII of England, King Henry VIII was ...
in
Southwark Southwark ( ) is a district of Central London situated on the south bank of the River Thames, forming the north-western part of the wider modern London Borough of Southwark. The district, which is the oldest part of South London, developed ...
. Knowles, under close questioning from Judge Jeffreys, had wholeheartedly vouched for Ivie’s deeds and then had to watch, uncomfortably, as Ivie’s case unravelled before him as those same deeds were dramatically exposed as forgeries. Eventually, Lady Ivie (though not Knowles) came out of the liberty and she immediately set about pacifying her anxious creditors and tenants by publishing a document clarifying her land holding titles. The law quickly caught up with her and she was charged and faced a trial for forgery. The verdict of the trial was a surprise, in one sense, because her deeds were obviously false, but she was found not guilty because it was impossible to bring the crime home to her personally. Afterall, any one of her ancestors could, in theory at least, have created the false deeds and she had simply taken them at face value. Only after Ivie’s not guilty verdict did Knowles leave the Mint. He was in no hurry to leave as, throughout his time there, he had been living with his family who had joined him, and his accommodation was being paid for by Lady Ivie. The contest over Shadwell was the culmination of years of land disputes in Wapping between Ivie and Thomas Neale – Neale having interests in both parishes. Though Ivie did properly inherit many properties and parcels of land in Wapping, the disputes usually occurred with those holding land bordering hers – where there could be some argument about precise boundaries. Vague descriptions in old deeds, or the loss or moving of boundary markers over the years, meant constant challenges and disputes. In 1677 there was such a dispute over 22 acres of land, all of which Ivie claimed was hers by inheritance. The land was held by a certain Mr Bateman and, rather than go to court to challenge the title in the conventional manner, Lady Ivie purchased the lease on five acres of the disputed land via a third party and then simply held on to the land after the lease expired. The onus was then on the land owners to try and evict her. Having secured five acres, she then challenged for the remainder. Her opponents were called Bateman’s Creditors (and included Thomas Neale). One particular creditor was Sir
John Ireton Sir John Ireton (1615 – 1689) was Lord Mayor of London in 1658 and brother of General Henry Ireton. Biography John Ireton was knighted by Oliver Cromwell, and purchased the estate of Radcliffe-on-Soar, in Nottinghamshire from Colonel Hutchinso ...
– an eminent alderman, former mayor of London and brother of the regicide,
Henry Ireton Henry Ireton (baptised 3 November 1611; died 26 November 1651) was an English general in the Parliamentarian army during the Wars of the Three Kingdoms, and a son-in-law of Oliver Cromwell. He died of disease outside Limerick in November 165 ...
(son-in-law of
Oliver Cromwell Oliver Cromwell (25 April 15993 September 1658) was an English statesman, politician and soldier, widely regarded as one of the most important figures in British history. He came to prominence during the Wars of the Three Kingdoms, initially ...
). Ireton engaged a solicitor called George Johnson, who was tasked with exposing as fraudulent the key lease Lady Ivie relied on to make her title claims (Glover’s Lease). This was no easy task when the lease had been endorsed by Sir John Bramston the Elder – former
Lord Chief Justice of England The Lord or Lady Chief Justice of England and Wales is the head of the judiciary of England and Wales and the president of the courts of England and Wales. Until 2005 the lord chief justice was the second-most senior judge of the English an ...
, who happened to be Lady Ivie’s great-uncle and protector of her family.


Johnson subornation

Accounts vary as to what happened next. Lady Ivie claimed that solicitor Johnson offered £500 to anyone who had evidence that her deed was forged. When she discovered this, Ivie brought his fraudulent actions to the attention of the authorities and he was subsequently charged with
subornation of perjury In United States law, American law, Scots law, and under the laws of some English-speaking Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth nations, subornation of perjury is the crime of persuading or permitting a person to commit perjury, which is the swe ...
. At least two trials took place on aspects of his subornation: the first was King v Johnson which took place at the
Guildhall A guildhall, also known as a guild hall or guild house, is a historical building originally used for tax collecting by municipalities or merchants in Europe, with many surviving today in Great Britain and the Low Countries. These buildings commo ...
in 1677-78
Hilary term Hilary term is the second academic term of the University of OxfordThomas Duffett Thomas Duffet (fl. 1673 – 1676), or Duffett, was an Irish playwright and songwriter active in England in the 1670s. He is remembered for his popular songs and his burlesques of the serious plays of John Dryden, Thomas Shadwell, Elkanah Set ...
. Duffett was the first of Ivie’s two accomplices. After confessing to forging, Duffett mysteriously vanished and gave no evidence against Ivie at Johnson’s trials. Her opponents claimed that Johnson was devastated by these verdicts against him as, now his career was over, his spirits sank low and he faded away, dying shortly afterwards. From Lady Ivie’s point of view, however, Johnson was justly punished by the courts for breaking the law.


Salkeld mortgage

Thomas Duffett’s confession to forging documents for Lady Ivie throws light on an earlier incident of false documents which occurred in 1670. Ivie was living in the household of one of her trustees, Sir William Salkeld, a man who happened to die shortly after her arrival. Ivie then proceeded to present Salkeld’s widow with a mortgage deed for £1,500 and claimed the Salkeld house was now hers. Not only was her claim vehemently rejected by the Salkeld family but also another distinguished person residing there – Sir
Charles Cotterell Sir Charles Cotterell (7 April 1615 – 7 June 1701), was an English courtier and translator knighted in 1644, after his appointment as master of ceremonies to the court of King Charles I in 1641, a post he held until the execution of Charle ...
, Master of Ceremonies to both King Charles I and II. Cotterell later gave evidence against Lady Ivie in the 1684 trial where she was charged with forgery. The uproar which followed was only quelled when Lady Ivie surrendered her supposed mortgage to the Salkeld’s daughter, Lucy. Lady Ivie only escaped forgery charges by further conciliatory action by another of her trustees, Colonel
Edward Grosvenor Edward Grosvenor was an English soldier and politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1656 to 1659. He served in the Parliamentary army in the English Civil War. Grosvenor was quartermaster-general in the Parliamentary army. He was create ...
, who was obliged to enter into a £1,000 surety bond for Lady Ivie’s future good behaviour, and an assurance that she would never again meddle in the Salkeld family’s affairs. Grosvenor also acted as arbitrator in Ivie’s matrimonial separation from her husband. It is significant to note that the person Ivie surrendered the false mortgage to, Lucy Salkeld, was the wife of Ivie’s accomplice,
Thomas Duffett Thomas Duffet (fl. 1673 – 1676), or Duffett, was an Irish playwright and songwriter active in England in the 1670s. He is remembered for his popular songs and his burlesques of the serious plays of John Dryden, Thomas Shadwell, Elkanah Set ...
. The Duffetts would later separate before Thomas fled the country to escape justice. The ''quid pro quo'' between Ivie and Duffett was that, in return for Ivie promoting his career as a playwright, he wrote out and altered deeds to help her win title claims. Critics have not been kind to his writing. The
Dictionary of National Biography The ''Dictionary of National Biography'' (''DNB'') is a standard work of reference on notable figures from British history, published since 1885. The updated ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' (''ODNB'') was published on 23 September ...
entry for Thomas Duffett calls him a “dramatist … who unfortunately took to play-writing … as literature, his productions are beneath criticism”. Duffett’s plays were bawdy
burlesque A burlesque is a literary, dramatic or musical work intended to cause laughter by caricaturing the manner or spirit of serious works, or by ludicrous treatment of their subjects.
, which was popular at the time, but the language used was sometimes so offensive that some audience members walked out during performances.


Family

Lady Ivie was the direct descendant of Thomas Stepkyn and Macheline c. 1510-67 – German immigrants who settled at the Wapping Marshes in lower
Whitechapel Whitechapel () is an area in London, England, and is located in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It is in east London and part of the East End of London, East End. It is the location of Tower Hamlets Town Hall and therefore the borough tow ...
. Stepkyn was the King’s beer maker and had a lucrative role supplying the Navy from his home/business at the Hermitage (or Swansnest) just east of the
Tower of London The Tower of London, officially His Majesty's Royal Palace and Fortress of the Tower of London, is a historic citadel and castle on the north bank of the River Thames in central London, England. It lies within the London Borough of Tower Hamle ...
. With increasing prosperity, Stepkyn acquired many hundreds of acres of land from the nearby
Cistercian Abbey The Cistercians (), officially the Order of Cistercians (, abbreviated as OCist or SOCist), are a Catholic religious order of monks and nuns that branched off from the Benedictines and follow the Rule of Saint Benedict, as well as the contri ...
of
St Mary Graces Eastminster, also known as New Abbey, St Mary Graces, and other variants, was a Cistercian abbey on Tower Hill at East Smithfield in London. History The abbey was founded by Edward III in 1350 immediately outside the Roman London Wall in what ...
, as well as from the Lord of the Manor (
Baron Wentworth Baron Wentworth is a title in the Peerage of England. It was created in 1529 for Thomas Wentworth, who was also ''de jure'' sixth Baron le Despencer of the 1387 creation. The title was created by writ, which means that it can descend via female ...
) and the Dean and Chapter of
St Paul's Cathedral St Paul's Cathedral, formally the Cathedral Church of St Paul the Apostle, is an Anglican cathedral in London, England, the seat of the Bishop of London. The cathedral serves as the mother church of the Diocese of London in the Church of Engl ...
. These
free Free may refer to: Concept * Freedom, the ability to act or change without constraint or restriction * Emancipate, attaining civil and political rights or equality * Free (''gratis''), free of charge * Gratis versus libre, the difference betw ...
,
lease A lease is a contractual arrangement calling for the user (referred to as the ''lessee'') to pay the owner (referred to as the ''lessor'') for the use of an asset. Property, buildings and vehicles are common assets that are leased. Industrial ...
and
copyhold Copyhold was a form of customary land ownership common from the Late Middle Ages into modern times in England. The name for this type of land tenure is derived from the act of giving a copy of the relevant title deed that is recorded in the ...
lands were eventually to become Lady Ivie’s inheritance and the subject of her litigation. Part of the area was later demolished and redeveloped into
St Katharine Docks St Katharine Docks is a former dock in the St Katherine and Wapping ward of the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It lies in the East End of London, East End on the north bank of the River Thames, immediately downstream of the Tower of London an ...
. Lady Ivie’s mother was Judith Atwood 1605-34 (daughter of Dr Thomas Atwood, a renowned oculist of
Worcester Worcester may refer to: Places United Kingdom * Worcester, England, a city and the county town of Worcestershire in England ** Worcester (UK Parliament constituency), an area represented by a Member of Parliament * Worcester Park, London, Engl ...
) and her father was John Stepkin 1605-52, was a Catholic
Royalist A royalist supports a particular monarch as head of state for a particular kingdom, or of a particular dynastic claim. In the abstract, this position is royalism. It is distinct from monarchism, which advocates a monarchical system of gove ...
and oculist to King Charles I and his wife. Lady Ivie had two brothers and she only became her father’s heir after one brother died and the second was disinherited by the father. After her mother’s death when she was young, Ivie’s welfare was in the hands of an assortment of female relations who would have tried to instil in her the expectation that she would be obedient and compliant – to defer to male relations in business matters. From her Bramston relations, she acquired knowledge of the law and from the Atwoods, knowledge of eye care. Lady Ivie married at least three times: firstly, to George Garratt (son of Sir George Garratt) in 1647; secondly to
Thomas Ivie Thomas Ivie was an English colonial administrator, the third agent of Madras after Andrew Cogan and Francis Day. He served in his post from 1644 to 1648. During Ivie's period, the English got a confirmation of the grant of Madras from Damarla ...
(later knighted) in 1649 and, finally, to James Bryan in 1674. Thomas Ivie, before meeting Theodosia, had been an agent for the
East India Company The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company that was founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to Indian Ocean trade, trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (South A ...
in
Madras Chennai, also known as Madras ( its official name until 1996), is the capital and largest city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost state of India. It is located on the Coromandel Coast of the Bay of Bengal. According to the 2011 Indian ce ...
. With George Garratt, she had one son (George 1647-67) and with Thomas Ivie, she had one daughter (Theodosia 1661-68). Also, she had a step-daughter from her marriage to James Bryan (Frances Bryan b.1666 – married to Sir Robert Clerke). Lady Ivie outlived all her husbands and her biological children. Lady Ivie’s grandmother was Mary Bramston, daughter of John Bramston the Elder
Lord Chancellor of England The Lord Chancellor, formally titled Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain, is a senior minister of the Crown within the Government of the United Kingdom. The lord chancellor is the minister of justice for England and Wales and the highest-r ...
in 1635. The Bramstons of Skreens in
Essex Essex ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East of England, and one of the home counties. It is bordered by Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Kent across the Thames Estuary to the ...
took an active role in supporting their Stepkin relations – acting as trustees for the Stepkin estate, giving pivotal and authoritative testimony in support of both Lady Ivie and her father in their legal battles.


Alimony battle

Alimony Alimony, also called aliment (Scotland), maintenance (England, Republic of Ireland, Northern Ireland, Wales, Canada, New Zealand), spousal support (U.S., Canada) and spouse maintenance (Australia), is a legal obligation on a person to provide ...
was a new notion, only becoming law on 22 June 1649 and so, long before she became engulfed in high-profile land disputes, Lady Ivie had already gained notoriety when details of her tortuous marriage, and a novel attempt to extract alimony, became public knowledge. Husband and wife fought each other, fought each other’s relatives, fought each other’s trustees and friends, through every type of court at their disposal:
Court of Chancery The Court of Chancery was a court of equity in England and Wales that followed a set of loose rules to avoid a slow pace of change and possible harshness (or "inequity") of the Common law#History, common law. The Chancery had jurisdiction over ...
,
Court of King's Bench The Court of King's Bench, formally known as The Court of the King Before the King Himself, was a court of common law in the English legal system. Created in the late 12th to early 13th century from the '' curia regis'', the King's Bench initi ...
,
Court of Equity A court of equity, also known as an equity court or chancery court, is a court authorized to apply principles of Equity (law), equity rather than principles of law to cases brought before it. These courts originated from petitions to the Lord Cha ...
,
Ecclesiastical Court In organized Christianity, an ecclesiastical court, also called court Christian or court spiritual, is any of certain non-adversarial courts conducted by church-approved officials having jurisdiction mainly in spiritual or religious matters. Histo ...
and the
Arches Court The Arches Court or Court of Arches, presided over by the Dean of Arches, is an ecclesiastical court of the Church of England covering the Province of Canterbury. Its equivalent in the Province of York is the Chancery Court. It takes its name fr ...
. Often cases overlapped and conflicted with one other. Eventually, the estranged husband, Sir
Thomas Ivie Thomas Ivie was an English colonial administrator, the third agent of Madras after Andrew Cogan and Francis Day. He served in his post from 1644 to 1648. During Ivie's period, the English got a confirmation of the grant of Madras from Damarla ...
, submitted an appeal to the highest authority in the land, the
Lord Protector Lord Protector (plural: ''Lords Protector'') is a title that has been used in British constitutional law for the head of state. It was also a particular title for the British heads of state in respect to the established church. It was sometime ...
,
Oliver Cromwell Oliver Cromwell (25 April 15993 September 1658) was an English statesman, politician and soldier, widely regarded as one of the most important figures in British history. He came to prominence during the Wars of the Three Kingdoms, initially ...
, and begged him to overturn his wife’s alimony award. He failed. Thomas Ivie’s family hailed from
Malmesbury Malmesbury () is a town and civil parish in north Wiltshire, England, which lies approximately west of Swindon, northeast of Bristol, and north of Chippenham. The older part of the town is on a hilltop which is almost surrounded by the upp ...
in
Wiltshire Wiltshire (; abbreviated to Wilts) is a ceremonial county in South West England. It borders Gloucestershire to the north, Oxfordshire to the north-east, Berkshire to the east, Hampshire to the south-east, Dorset to the south, and Somerset to ...
and the antiquarian
John Aubrey John Aubrey (12 March 1626 – 7 June 1697) was an English antiquary, natural philosopher and writer. He was a pioneer archaeologist, who recorded (often for the first time) numerous megalithic and other field monuments in southern England ...
attended school at Malmesbury and knew the family well. Aubrey came to read a copy of Ivie’s Appeal to Cromwell and said it contained “As much baudry and beastliness as can be imagined”. Lady Ivie had, earlier, tried to extract matrimonial compensation from the family of her first husband. When she was just 20 years old she petitioned (through her father John Stepkin) the
House of Lords The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the lower house, the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster in London, England. One of the oldest ext ...
following the death of her husband George Garrett. Ivie claimed her husband’s family had promised her an estate for her widowhood. She failed, though her infant son was granted an
annuity In investment, an annuity is a series of payments made at equal intervals based on a contract with a lump sum of money. Insurance companies are common annuity providers and are used by clients for things like retirement or death benefits. Examples ...
.


Personal

Like her father and grandfather, Lady Ivie was renowned for skill in healing eye problems. She also had a close interest in theatre and was related to William Killigrew and his son Robert (William’s brother Thomas ran the King’s Playhouse on Drury Lane). Both William and Robert acted as trustees for Lady Ivie’s estate. She had a keen interest in mystical matters and regularly consulted with fortune-tellers. She was called “The Catholic Patroness of alchemy” and owned a
bezoar A bezoar stone ( ) is a mass often found trapped in the gastrointestinal system, though it can occur in other locations. A pseudobezoar is an indigestible object introduced intentionally into the digestive system. There are several varieties o ...
, a stone thought to have magical healing properties, including being an antidote to poison. In addition to land and property acquisitions, Ivie dabbled in a range of business ventures including paper-making and salvaging shipwrecks for treasure. She was also sufficiently acquainted with both
King James II James II and VII (14 October 1633 – 16 September 1701) was King of England and Ireland as James II and King of Scotland as James VII from the death of his elder brother, Charles II, on 6 February 1685, until he was deposed in the 1688 Glori ...
and the great Quaker,
William Penn William Penn ( – ) was an English writer, religious thinker, and influential Quakers, Quaker who founded the Province of Pennsylvania during the British colonization of the Americas, British colonial era. An advocate of democracy and religi ...
, to act as liaison between them and her friend
Goodwin Wharton Goodwin Wharton (8 March 1653 – 28 October 1704) was an English Whig politician and autobiographer, as well as an avid mystic, alchemist and treasure hunter. His unpublished manuscript autobiography, in the British Library, "ranks high in the a ...
, who needed access to the King to get his permission for his treasure-hunting voyage to a wreck in Jersey in 1688.British Library, London, Vol 1, Add. MSS 20006, fol 6 verso, The Autobiography of Goodwin Wharton 1653-1704 Ivie invested £300 in the scheme, which failed, however, to find any trove.


Portrayal in fiction

In 1659, at the time when her alimony battle was raging, a comedy play appeared called ‘Lady Alimony, or, The Alimony Lady’ which was fortuitous. It was anonymous in origin and quite likely based on Lady Ivie herself. There are reasons for believing that
Thomas Duffett Thomas Duffet (fl. 1673 – 1676), or Duffett, was an Irish playwright and songwriter active in England in the 1670s. He is remembered for his popular songs and his burlesques of the serious plays of John Dryden, Thomas Shadwell, Elkanah Set ...
made reference to the Ivies in at least one of the early plays he wrote: '' The Amorous Old Woman: or, tis well if it takes'' concerns an heiress having a stump (wooden leg). Lady Ivie, of course, was significantly older than Duffett and Sir Thomas Ivie’s first wife was from the Stump family of Wiltshire. In a similar vein, a comedy written in 1676 by Thomas Rawlins called '' Tom Essence, or, The Modish Wife'' seems to parody our principal characters. Lead character Tom Essence was a perfume seller and milliner of New Exchange – exactly as Thomas Duffett had been (he too had been a milliner of New Exchange) and two ladies were fighting over this man. The two characters were named Theodosia and Lucy in the play. Lady Theodosia Ivie and Duffett’s wife Lucy Duffett/Salkeld were rivals for Thomas Duffett’s affections at the time. In "
A Neighbour's Landmark "A Neighbour's Landmark" is a short story by M. R. James, first published in ''The Eton Chronic'' on 17 March 1924. Plot summary The story opens with the unnamed narrator visiting his friend Reginald Philipson at Betton Court one August to help ...
", an
M. R. James Montague Rhodes James (1 August 1862 – 12 June 1936) was an English medievalist scholar and author who served as provost of King's College, Cambridge (1905–1918), and of Eton College (1918–1936) as well as Vice-Chancellor of the Univers ...
short story published 17 March 1924 in the magazine ''The Eton Chronic'' , the ghost of Lady Ivie is depicted wandering eternally back and forth over land she stole from some orphaned children.


Downfall

As the 1680s progressed, Lady Ivie’s fortunes began to spiral downwards. The loss of Shadwell (and the credit such an acquisition had briefly brought), her absence in a liberty for so long and the serious nature of the charges against her had unnerved her many creditors. She also suffered significant losses during the Wapping Fire of 1682 and had, briefly, fled overseas at the
Glorious Revolution The Glorious Revolution, also known as the Revolution of 1688, was the deposition of James II and VII, James II and VII in November 1688. He was replaced by his daughter Mary II, Mary II and her Dutch husband, William III of Orange ...
in 1688, though she returned a few weeks later only to find bailiffs waiting who narrowly missed seizing her person and had to satisfy themselves by taking all her personal possessions. It made no difference that the trial verdict was ‘not guilty’ because her opponents now gained momentum against her and began to overwhelm her with litigation and challenges to all her land titles. Ivie began losing her remaining Wapping properties in such a rapid succession that, by the time of her death, her one solitary property in Wapping was on the point of being taken from her as Thomas Neale declared her in contempt because she had failed to return papers to the court. With her death ended five generations of Stepkin descendants holding prime Wapping land.The Stepkin Family of Tudor London, Karen Proudler, 2018, None of the bequests in her will were able to be met and the majority of her numerous creditors received nothing from her estate; the legal battles continued for 30 years after her demise.


Notes


References


External links


The famous tryal in B.R. between Thomas Neale, Esq. and the late Lady Theadosia Ivy the 4th of June, 1684, before the Right Honourable the late Lord Jeffreys, lord chief justice of England, for part of Shadwell in the county of MiddlesexText of M.R. James' Lady Ivie ghost story ''A Neighbour's Land Mark''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ivie, Theodosia 1628 births 1697 deaths Wives of knights Wapping 1682 in England People of the Glorious Revolution Divorce law in the United Kingdom Forgers History of London Whitechapel Shadwell British theatre people