Theodosia Ivie

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 to Ratcliff led to a constant stream of litigation which ran for almost 75 years. At one particular trial, presided over by Lord Chief Justice Jeffreys (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 her ancestors had secured which stated the family owned:

It was prime land next to central London and the River Thames, 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, where the projector Thomas Neale 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 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 in Southwark. 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 – an eminent alderman, former Mayor of London and brother of the regicide, Henry Ireton (son-in-law of Oliver Cromwell). 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). Thid was no easy task when the lease had been endorsed by Sir John Bramston the Elder – former Lord Chief Justice of England, 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. At least two trials took place on aspects of his subornation: the first was King v Johnson which took place at the Guildhall in 1677-78 Hilary term

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