Beech-Hill-Park, the Seat of Charles Jack Esq

Charles Jack (1810 – 22 April 1896) was an Irish farmer and landowner who was primarily responsible for the construction of

Hadley Wood Hadley Wood is an affluent suburb in the north of Greater London, close to the border with Hertfordshire. It appears to be a stand-alone village surrounded by Green Belt land, however, under the Local Government Act 1972 it is part of the ...

from the late 1880s, and the building of

Hadley Wood railway station Hadley Wood railway station is in the London Borough of Enfield in north London, England. It is down the line from , in Travelcard Zone 6, and serves the suburb of Hadley Wood; it is managed and served by Great Northern. History The station w ...

Hadley Wood

Jack was born in

Ballinasloe Ballinasloe ( ; ) is a town in the easternmost part of County Galway in Connacht. Located at an ancient crossing point on the River Suck, evidence of ancient settlement in the area includes a number of Bronze Age sites. Built around a 12th-ce ...

, Ireland. He was the tenant of Beech Hill Park and estate outside

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

. The estate was created in 1777 by Francis Russell, secretary to the

Duchy of Lancaster The Duchy of Lancaster is the private estate of the Monarchy of the United Kingdom, British sovereign as Duke of Lancaster. The principal purpose of the estate is to provide a source of independent income to the sovereign. The estate consists of ...

, when

Enfield Chase Enfield Chase is an area of Enfield that is named for a former royal hunting ground. Much of the former area of the Chase has been developed, but a large part survives between Cockfosters in the west and Enfield in the east as Trent Country ...

was broken up."Hadley Wood" in Seeing the potential of the area, Jack developed plans for a housing estate on the land that he owned and adjacent land that he leased from the Duchy. The estate was originally to be known as Beech Hill Park Estate, but became Hadley Wood after the

railway station Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a pre ...

opened under that name in April 1885.Clark, 1978, pp. 37-38. Jack negotiated with the Duchy for the grant of a building lease, which he received for 99 years from 20 March 1882 on 20 March 1884. In return he surrendered his original lease with the Duchy which had been taken out in 1838 and assigned to Jack by George Barnes in 1854. Jack also negotiated with the Great Northern Railway for the construction of a station on the estate between the existing stations of

New Barnet New Barnet is a neighbourhood on the north east side of the London Borough of Barnet. It is a largely residential North London suburb located east of Chipping Barnet, west of Cockfosters, south of the village of Monken Hadley and north of Oaklei ...

to the south and

Potters Bar Potters Bar is a town in Hertfordshire, England,in the historic County of Middlesex Hertsmere Borough Council – Community Strategy First Review (PDF) north of central London. In 2011, it had a population of 21,882. In 2022 the population was ...

to the north, both of which had opened in 1850.

Family

Jack was married to Mary and had sons Arthur Joseph Jack and Thomas Godfrey Jack, and several daughters.

Death and legacy

Jack died on 22 April 1896 after which his business interests passed into the hands of trustees.Clark, Nancy. (1978) ''Hadley Wood: Its Background and Development''. 2nd revised edition. p. 40. Beech Hill Lake in

Monken Hadley Common Monken Hadley Common lies within the Monken Hadley Conservation Area, and is listed as a “ Site of Borough Importance for Nature Conservation, Grade I,” by the London Borough of Barnet. It is registered common land, and it is owned by the Tr ...

is still more commonly known locally as Jack's Lake, one of the three lakes originally created in the 1880s as estate lakes.

References

External links

1810 births 1896 deaths 19th-century English landowners 19th-century English farmers Real estate and property developers Date of birth missing Hadley Wood People from Ballinasloe 19th-century British businesspeople {{England-bio-stub