ROW EIGHTY THREE
[1]
Bailiff Cowper's
Row, 1609,18,28;M.P.1623[2]
Bailiff Carter's
Row, 1641 *2
J.D.Palmer's
Row, Mayor 1821,33*2
Sayer the
Attorney's Row *2
Aldred's Row*2
From
South Quay to Middlegate Street:
The
fine residence now nos.3 and 4 South
Quay, at the north‑west
corner, has been made famous for two reasons. Firstly,
by its rich carvings, ceilings, and an association with Benjamin Cowper, and also
for the tradition that one of the many
secret meetings connected with the execution of Charles I was held here. Charles John Palmer the local historian
and compiler of the Perlustration, resided
here. This row is especially
worth a visit.[3]
At
the north‑west corner there stood in the reign of Queen Elizabeth a very old house in a ruinous condition, the
property of Benjamin Cowper, a prosperous merchant, who in the year 1596 pulled
it down, and on the site erected a spacious and magnificent mansion
fronting the quay, and surrounding on all sides a square interior court
with a large garden towards the east. It had a red brick front with a range
of gabled dormer windows on the second floor. The house still stands, although
considerable alteration was made
to adapt it for the requirements
of two
residences, it now being nos. 3
and 4 South Quay. The whole interior was modernised by casing the ancient front with white
brick, and adding an additional storey to no. 3, and a high parapet to no.4. Cowper was Bailiff in 1609, 1618, and 1628,
and in 1620 and 1623 was Member of Parliament for the Borough. [4]
The
house at the south‑west corner was in the 18th.century, the property of
William Kett, sailmaker, who sold it to James Sayers, who eventually died and was buried at Hopton,
aged 69, having built Hopton House. His burial in St.Margaret's church, Hopton
is also recorded in Suckling's History of
Suffolk
Hopton
house was subsequently enlarged and
improved by James Henry Orde, who built the new church at Hopton, when
the old was destroyed by fire. Sayers memorial was of course in the old
church.
Palmer's
account of the Sayers family is rather muddled and I am unable to decide from it whether the caricaturist was the
same James Sayers or not, or otherwise how he was related to the famous
caricaturist, who Palmer says died in 1823 and was buried in Holborn. Palmer
certainly seems (at the least)
muddled here, and this will be worthy
of further investigation.
The Occupants,
Row Eighty Three, 1886
( from
Middlegate to South Quay )
Dingle, Mrs.
Holmes, E.,
fishmerchant
The Occupants,
Row Eighty Three, 1913
( from
Middlegate to South Quay )
7. Harvey, Henry
8. Wince, Robert
The Occupants,
Row Eighty Three, 1927
( from
Middlegate to South Quay )
3. Watson,
William
6. Duncan, Mrs.
7. Duck, Mrs.
8. Foulsham,
Thomas
9. Whitwood,
William James
Weights and measures office
The
Occupants, Row Eighty Three, 1936
(from 181 Middlegate
Street to 4 South Quay )
6. Duncan, Mrs.
7. Duck, Mrs.
8. Duffield,
Mrs.
Weights and measures office, R.J.Hammond,
inspector