Who lived in a house like this........... A stunning Grade II listed property in the Greyfriars Conservation Area.

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                                                                                  Leicester Chronicle - Saturday 15 June 1889

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                                                  Sell by auction Numbers 39 and 41 Friar Lane.

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Each house had an entrance hall, dining, breakfast, and drawing room, four bedrooms, two attics, kitchen, scullery, larder, w.c., boot house, and cellars. There was a carriage entrance, stable with a hayloft over, a small coach house, and a large vinery connected with number 39. Both houses had a rear garden. The property had a frontage of 47feet 2inches to Friar Lane, a depth of 178 feet, and an area of 983 square yards.

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The houses were once the property of Richard Ward Warren. Richard Ward Warren was born on 2 January 1799 to William and Mary Warren. He was baptised on 8 January 1799 at St Mary De Castro in Leicester. He apprenticed as a carpenter and later became a successful and wealthy builder himself. He was made a Freeman of Leicester in 1814 and, at the time of his death, lived at 39 Friar Lane, Leicester.

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On 9 January 1821, he married Hannah Squelch of Castle View at St Mary De Castro. Just eight days before the wedding, on 1 January 1821, Hannah had a child baptised at the same church. The child, a girl, was baptised Sarah Ann Squelch. After Richard and Hannah were married, Sarah Ann used the surname Warren.

In the 1841 census, the Warrens lived at 101 Southgate Street and had eleven children.

• Sarah Ann Squelch Warren

• George Warren

• John Warren

• William Warren

• Rebecca Warren

• Thomas Warren

• Mary Ann Warren

• Edwin Warren

• James Warren

• Hannah Warren

• Richard Ward Warren

Hannah (Squelch) Warren died on 31 August 1849 at the family home on Southgate Street, aged 51. Hannah is buried in St Mary De Castro Church yard.

By the census of 1851, Richard lived at 39 Friar Lane. He owned a huge amount of property in Leicester and Leicestershire – Transcribed from his will -

• Properties on Southgate Street, Leicester with adjacent shops, buildings and premises

• Properties in Syston and Queniborough

• Property and outbuildings, stable, carriage house, greenhouse and garden containing aviary, birds, summerhouse, plants and grotto at Friar Lane, Leicester

• Properties in or near Upper Hastings Street and Princes Street, Leicester; Properties in Regent Street, Leicester

He also had Shares in the Following Ventures:

• The Leicester Theatre

• The Leicester Waterworks Co

• The Leicester Banking Co

• The Leicester Gas Co

• The Midland Railway Co

The Warren’s were Anglicans and worshipped at St Mary de Castro, and also St Martins (Now Leicester Cathedral). In the 1850's, Richard donated £1,000 to the restoration fund for St Martins Church.

As a businessman and merchant, Richard was also an Assessor of the Borough of Leicester and worked with the Town's Mayors.

Richard Ward Warren died in 1865 at his home on Friar Lane, aged 66. His oak coffin and shell, as well as a brick-lined family grave with marble monument, cost £50. His second-eldest son John Warren followed him to the grave three months later. Both are buried in the same brick lined family plot in Welford Road Cemetery. The total value of Richard Ward Warren's estate when he died is ‘under £3,000’ [equivalent in Economic Power terms to between £1.5m and £1.8m today]. After Richard died, his housekeeper Fanny Ross was given sole and separate use and benefit of the Friar Lane property for life.

The properties were finally put up for auction on 26th June 1889 at the Bulls Head Hotel in Leicester. The property has now been converted into flats.

https://historicengland.org.uk/.../list-entry/1074040...