Born in 1731, Richard Neave, the eldest son of James Neave of Walthamstow and London, had made his fortune trading (including slaves) in the West Indies and America. At various times he was chairman of the Ramsgate Harbour Trust, the West Indian Merchants and of the London Dock Company, as well as a director of the Hudson’s Bay Company. In 1780 he was appointed Governor of the Bank of England, (a position also held by his grandson Sheffield Neave in 1851).

The purchase of Dagnams in 1772 marked the beginning of Richard Neave’s transition from merchant to country gentleman. At this time he was the tenant of the Bower House at Havering-atte-Bower where he remained until 1776. The intervening four years saw the house that was once visited visited by Pepys, pulled down and the Georgian mansion, which stood until 1950, erected in its place. Neave further established his position among the local gentry with a land purchase policy, begun in 1785 and continued by his successors throughout the next century, which saw the Dagnam Park estate swell to 1,600 acres.
Richard Neave’s social ambitions were realised with his appointment as High Sheriff of Essex in 1794 and more importantly in 1795 when he was created a baronet. He died in 1814 and was succeeded by his son Sir Thomas.

Sir Thomas’s additions to the Neave estate included the Bear public house bought in 1820 and the Manor of Gooshays in 1829. He was Steward of the Liberty of Havering-atte-Bower in 1806 and 1809 and a magistrate under the charter of the Liberty in 1826 and 1828. Neave was appointed sheriff of Essex in 1828. The Church of St. Thomas and the Priory were both built for Sir Thomas in the 1840’s. The school at Noak Hill, built by subscription and government grant opened in 1848 - the year Sir Thomas died.
Dagnams was then inherited by Sir Richard Digby Neave, grandson of Sir Thomas, who was a close friend of John Constable, the great landscape artist, and who purchased Brick Kiln Farm and Spice Pitts Farm before his death in 1863. The fourth baronet, Sir Arundell Neave was responsible for the acquisition through marriage, of the Neave’s estate in Anglessey. He lived until 1877 when he was succeeded by his son Sir Thomas, then only 3 years old.

This mansion depicted below existed at the same site as the one above. It is the building that Samuel Pepys visited in 1665. This building faced the Lily pond as opposed to the Neave building which faced away from the pond. The water colour is from the Georgian Society's Pardoe collection, below that is an engraving which looks like it may well have been taken from the water colour original. This work was commisioned by Henry Muilman, he lived in Dagnams for about twenty years uup until it was sold to Richard Neave in 1772. Note the fisherman in red, nothing really changes, the mansion has gone, the fine elms are no more, but the Brookside Angling Club continues the tradition.

Return to "Guide to Dagnam Park"