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Ann Thwaytes
Ann Thwaytes (2 October 1789 – April 1866), known to contemporaries as Mrs Thwaytes, was the wealthy and eccentric English widow of grocer William Thwaytes, owner of Davison, Newman & Co. She became the benefactress to many causes and funded the construction of the Clock Tower, Herne Bay.
Mrs Thwaytes's mother (d.1803) called herself Mrs Hook, but had no husband. Ann Hook and her sister Sarah were born in London of humble origins either in Islington or near Balls Pond Road, Hackney: Sarah in 1788 and Ann on 2 October 1789. When their mother died, they were obliged, at ages fifteen and fourteen respectively, to take employment. In due course Sarah became housekeeper to William Thwaytes, who was by then the sole owner of Davison, Newman & Co. and a wealthy grocer and tea merchant.
On 19 May 1816 Sarah Hook married Alfred Tebbitt, Thwaytes's chief clerk, at St Martin's in the Fields, Westminster. In 1817 at the age of 28 years Ann married William Thwaytes (1749–1834) who was aged 67. During her marriage, Ann accused her husband of attempting to poison her with mercury. In 1832, during her husband's last illness, Ann developed a mental disorder which began with "low fever" (a 19th-century term for murine typhus) and a subsequent nervous state in which she remained for ten weeks facing the wall whilst believing she was blind. She recovered from the fever, but nevertheless declared that she was "immortal and part of the Trinity," and that she and the couple's family doctor John Simm Smith (1793–1877) had "important work to do." At Guy's Hospital Simm Smith had studied alongside John Keats and had known him well, and was to be the grandfather of Gerard Manley Hopkins.
Ann's sister Sarah's husband Mr Tebbitt died in 1833, leaving her unsupported with seven children. Ann's husband died some months later in 1834 aged 85 years, leaving her a fortune of around £500,000 (equivalent to £56,188,693 in 2025) and no children. William Thwaytes's Will makes her a "joint executrix and main beneficiary" and describes her as his "beloved wife" in spite of her earlier suspicion that he was poisoning her. Ann soon became "very close" to her London surgeon Simm Smith. After her husband died, she paid Smith £2,000 (equivalent to £224,755 in 2025) per year and a total of £50,000 (equivalent to £5,618,869 in 2025) in gifts to temporarily give up his London medical practice to manage her business affairs. Simm was living in Croydon with his family and visiting Ann fortnightly, and Ann sometimes paid him "very large sums of money." Before her husband was even buried she had made her Will, leaving everything to Simm Smith except a small annuity for Sarah Tebbitt and her children. Soon after the funeral she was befriended by Simm's brother Samuel; he was a stockbroker whose wife had died, leaving him with two daughters and a debt of £3,000 (equivalent to £337,132 in 2025) which Ann paid.
Ann bought Cottage House at Clapham Common for herself, her sister Sarah Tebbitt and Sarah's children. She then moved to Finsbury Circus where she lived with her companion Louisa Little between August 1835 and January 1838. When she left Clapham she settled a capital of £30,000 (equivalent to £3,295,561.57 in 2025), and lifetime annuity on Sarah. However, at the 1867 Chancery hearing, Sarah maintained that the settlement was made at the behest of Simm Smith "to keep the family out of her pocket." She left Finsbury Circus around 1840. Meanwhile, between 1834 and 1840 she was spending part of each summer in Herne Bay.
In 1840 she bought her town house, 17 Hyde Park Gardens, Paddington. The drawing room was furnished lavishly in preparation for the Second Coming which she believed would take place there. The 1851 Census finds her at age 63 staying at her town house with her Charmandean lodger Samuel Smith, a butler, footman, three housemaids, a cook and a kitchen maid. She divided her time between her town and country houses until 1866 when she died in her Paddington home.
In 1841 she acquired her country house and estate, Charmandean at Broadwater, West Sussex. She maintained Samuel Smith and his family at Charmandean, funding the education of his daughters until they left to marry. Meanwhile, Samuel managed her accounts. Ann made many additions and improvements to Charmandean. In one room she installed panelling which had been removed from St. Mary's Church, Broadwater during repairs, and in her chapel-room she fitted a stained-glass window from the same church. She added an iron-framed conservatory, and two pairs of wrought iron entrance-gates made as replicas of the former Buckingham Palace gates. The western gates were requisitioned in World War II. The eastern iron gates remained in Charmandean Lane for some years but are now gone, leaving only the carved gateposts. The house was demolished in 1963.
During the 1840s, Ann offered to pay for a cadetship for one of Sarah's sons, but the offer was rejected. Sarah was called to Charmandean and told that Ann had been "advised by friends" to end their connection. A few years later, Ann was visited by one of Sarah's daughters who was received politely, but also told never to return. In 1850 Mrs Cook, another of Sarah's daughters, visited Ann and a friendship began. Ann bought this niece a house in Broadwater, but Mrs Cook too was rejected by Ann due to a financial disagreement, and cut off with a comfortable £450 (equivalent to £52,375.89 in 2025) per annum.
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Ann Thwaytes
Ann Thwaytes (2 October 1789 – April 1866), known to contemporaries as Mrs Thwaytes, was the wealthy and eccentric English widow of grocer William Thwaytes, owner of Davison, Newman & Co. She became the benefactress to many causes and funded the construction of the Clock Tower, Herne Bay.
Mrs Thwaytes's mother (d.1803) called herself Mrs Hook, but had no husband. Ann Hook and her sister Sarah were born in London of humble origins either in Islington or near Balls Pond Road, Hackney: Sarah in 1788 and Ann on 2 October 1789. When their mother died, they were obliged, at ages fifteen and fourteen respectively, to take employment. In due course Sarah became housekeeper to William Thwaytes, who was by then the sole owner of Davison, Newman & Co. and a wealthy grocer and tea merchant.
On 19 May 1816 Sarah Hook married Alfred Tebbitt, Thwaytes's chief clerk, at St Martin's in the Fields, Westminster. In 1817 at the age of 28 years Ann married William Thwaytes (1749–1834) who was aged 67. During her marriage, Ann accused her husband of attempting to poison her with mercury. In 1832, during her husband's last illness, Ann developed a mental disorder which began with "low fever" (a 19th-century term for murine typhus) and a subsequent nervous state in which she remained for ten weeks facing the wall whilst believing she was blind. She recovered from the fever, but nevertheless declared that she was "immortal and part of the Trinity," and that she and the couple's family doctor John Simm Smith (1793–1877) had "important work to do." At Guy's Hospital Simm Smith had studied alongside John Keats and had known him well, and was to be the grandfather of Gerard Manley Hopkins.
Ann's sister Sarah's husband Mr Tebbitt died in 1833, leaving her unsupported with seven children. Ann's husband died some months later in 1834 aged 85 years, leaving her a fortune of around £500,000 (equivalent to £56,188,693 in 2025) and no children. William Thwaytes's Will makes her a "joint executrix and main beneficiary" and describes her as his "beloved wife" in spite of her earlier suspicion that he was poisoning her. Ann soon became "very close" to her London surgeon Simm Smith. After her husband died, she paid Smith £2,000 (equivalent to £224,755 in 2025) per year and a total of £50,000 (equivalent to £5,618,869 in 2025) in gifts to temporarily give up his London medical practice to manage her business affairs. Simm was living in Croydon with his family and visiting Ann fortnightly, and Ann sometimes paid him "very large sums of money." Before her husband was even buried she had made her Will, leaving everything to Simm Smith except a small annuity for Sarah Tebbitt and her children. Soon after the funeral she was befriended by Simm's brother Samuel; he was a stockbroker whose wife had died, leaving him with two daughters and a debt of £3,000 (equivalent to £337,132 in 2025) which Ann paid.
Ann bought Cottage House at Clapham Common for herself, her sister Sarah Tebbitt and Sarah's children. She then moved to Finsbury Circus where she lived with her companion Louisa Little between August 1835 and January 1838. When she left Clapham she settled a capital of £30,000 (equivalent to £3,295,561.57 in 2025), and lifetime annuity on Sarah. However, at the 1867 Chancery hearing, Sarah maintained that the settlement was made at the behest of Simm Smith "to keep the family out of her pocket." She left Finsbury Circus around 1840. Meanwhile, between 1834 and 1840 she was spending part of each summer in Herne Bay.
In 1840 she bought her town house, 17 Hyde Park Gardens, Paddington. The drawing room was furnished lavishly in preparation for the Second Coming which she believed would take place there. The 1851 Census finds her at age 63 staying at her town house with her Charmandean lodger Samuel Smith, a butler, footman, three housemaids, a cook and a kitchen maid. She divided her time between her town and country houses until 1866 when she died in her Paddington home.
In 1841 she acquired her country house and estate, Charmandean at Broadwater, West Sussex. She maintained Samuel Smith and his family at Charmandean, funding the education of his daughters until they left to marry. Meanwhile, Samuel managed her accounts. Ann made many additions and improvements to Charmandean. In one room she installed panelling which had been removed from St. Mary's Church, Broadwater during repairs, and in her chapel-room she fitted a stained-glass window from the same church. She added an iron-framed conservatory, and two pairs of wrought iron entrance-gates made as replicas of the former Buckingham Palace gates. The western gates were requisitioned in World War II. The eastern iron gates remained in Charmandean Lane for some years but are now gone, leaving only the carved gateposts. The house was demolished in 1963.
During the 1840s, Ann offered to pay for a cadetship for one of Sarah's sons, but the offer was rejected. Sarah was called to Charmandean and told that Ann had been "advised by friends" to end their connection. A few years later, Ann was visited by one of Sarah's daughters who was received politely, but also told never to return. In 1850 Mrs Cook, another of Sarah's daughters, visited Ann and a friendship began. Ann bought this niece a house in Broadwater, but Mrs Cook too was rejected by Ann due to a financial disagreement, and cut off with a comfortable £450 (equivalent to £52,375.89 in 2025) per annum.
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