Lease of Wesley’s Chapel
2015/14584
1750-1800 / Certificate / Document / John Wesley / Vellum / Wesley's Chapel
Ink on vellum
1779
This is the original Chapel lease signed by John Wesley and the trustees of the Chapel on 9th June, 1779. By its terms, Wesley leased the Chapel and grounds for "59 years from Ladyday 1779 at the cost of £76 and 14 shillings for the first year and... £96 and 14 shillings for the residue of the term".
'Lady Day' was an old fashioned term even in 1779. It was the traditional day on which year-long contracts between landowners and tenant farmers would begin and end in England and the old start of the Julian legal year, technically phased out in 1752. In 1779, in the new Gregorian calendar and with various date adjustments, it would have referred to the 5th April. A remnant of this arrangement remains in the start and end of the tax year in Britain (i.e. 6th April).
1779
This is the original Chapel lease signed by John Wesley and the trustees of the Chapel on 9th June, 1779. By its terms, Wesley leased the Chapel and grounds for "59 years from Ladyday 1779 at the cost of £76 and 14 shillings for the first year and... £96 and 14 shillings for the residue of the term".
'Lady Day' was an old fashioned term even in 1779. It was the traditional day on which year-long contracts between landowners and tenant farmers would begin and end in England and the old start of the Julian legal year, technically phased out in 1752. In 1779, in the new Gregorian calendar and with various date adjustments, it would have referred to the 5th April. A remnant of this arrangement remains in the start and end of the tax year in Britain (i.e. 6th April).
