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The Mason family first formally appears in the locality when Kender Mason appears as a voter in Amersham Woodside in 1784, presumably at Beel House which he had bought on 29 June 1769. (1) His eldest son Henry William was born in 1762 in the City of London so was 7 when his father came to Beel House. His younger brother also Kender was 2 years younger. In 1787 Kender Mason the elder also purchases Cokes Farm and other land. (2)

There is an extensive and very interesting history of the Mason family by Wendy Tibbitts on the Amersham Museum website. This page complements that history by adding some specific information about Henry William Pomeroy.

Henry William and Kender's mother and Kender Mason's wife was Mary Pomeroy. She was the only child of Henry Pomeroy a Linen Draper in London and Jane Wheeler his wife. Henry Pomeroy died in 1783 leaving all his property to his wife unconditionally. Jane Pomeroy died in 1789 and it is her Will which leaves her property to her eldest grandson Henry William Mason and his heirs male on condition they adopted the name Pomeroy in place of Mason. This Henry did immediately and was granted a licence by the king in the same year 1789. So Henry William Mason had now become Henry William Pomeroy at the age of 27 and was the owner of substantial property. Most of this appears to have been in Kent around Greenwich. There is more Pomeroy family history on the web. A couple of years later in 1790 Kender Mason senior dies and leaves his Buckinghamshire property to be jointly owned by his 2 sons. All his other property which included estates and slaves in the West Indies, were to be sold and the proceeds to be split equally between the 2 sons.

Henry William Pomeroy never married but his brother Kender Mason Jr married Eliza Lovell in about 1792 and eventually had 6 children. There was now the unusual situation of the 2 brothers jointly owning the same property, Beel House plus a lot of farmland in Amersham and Chalfont St Giles. Presumably Henry William Pomeroy did not live at Beel House. The indications are that he was living somewhere in Chalfont St Peter. However he does not appear to own any property there until mid 1801 when he had a house and land which he added to over the next few years before selling it all off between 1816 and 1818. (3)

This situation with the Amersham estate was resolved in 1817 by a Deed of Settlement (4) where the brothers agreed to split the property. Basically Kender Mason took Beel House and Henry William Pomeroy took Cokes Farm which was let to Joseph Saunders. Slightly before in about 1815, Henry William acquired the site of Hill House and its 20 acres of land and presumably built the house. He would have been 52 years old at the time.

In 1819 his brother Kender Mason died leaving all of his property to his 2nd son Henry William Mason Jr. Presumably prompted by this event Henry William Pomeroy immediately made his Will in which he left his property in Rochester Kent to his nephew Henry William Mason Jr. All the rest of his property including Hill House, Cokes Farm, other property in Bucks, at Brentford and Fulham in Middlesex and in the City of London, and all his personal property except as bequested was given to his Trustees, who were his friends the Rev. William Jones of Chalfont St Giles and the Rev. Freeman the vicar of Chalfont St Peter, who were to sell it all and split the proceeds equally between the children of his deceased brother Kender Mason.

There are however some curious features about the Will. The very first bequest is to Richard Cox Victualler of Chalfont St Peter "who lived many years in my service, all my wearing apparel and linen to be given to him immediately after my decease" and then at the end he directs his executors to arrange an annuity of £25 per annum for the rest of Richard Cox's life. Richard Cox was the occupier of "The White Hart" in Chalfont St Peter however in his death certificate of 29 April 1838 he is described as "formerly a valet". This accounts for the otherwise odd bequests.

Henry William Pomeroy eventually died March 1825 and his Will was proven in the same month. He was buried in the family vault at St Lawrence, New Brentford, Middlesex but a memorial in the form of a hatchment was put up in the north Aisle Chalfont St Giles Church. He and his brother owned a number of properties there which they inherited from their father and possibly added more. (5) It seems possible that their grandfather William Mason, and maybe earlier generations, had links to the parish hence references in Mason Wills asking to be buried in the family vault.

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FOOTNOTES

1) Reference. CBS AR 118/85 Bundle 74

2) Reference CBS D/LO/1/39/34

3) Source. Chalfont St Peter Land Tax and Poor Rates.

4) Reference CBS D/LO/1/39/38

5) Source Land Tax listings for Ealing Parish. LMA.