The Roles of William and John Henry Royle in the Development of ...

Corporation’s increased desire to acquire land for development, as witnessed by the
rise of the ‘Garden City’ of Wythenshawe in the 1920s, where a massive social housing
project was begun, with the intention of re - housing an overspill population away from
the slums of inner city Manchester. There were also other smaller urban developments,
particularly across south Manchester and including Flixton. William and John Henry
Royle were to profit from a similar, localised, pre - war boom, which saw the
expansion of housing along Carrington Road in Flixton. The legal manoeuvres
surrounding this development began as far back as the 13 th April 1876, when George
Prescott Bent and John Royle Junior entered into an agreement for the sale of land at
Flixton known as Pool Plat, which is recorded in the Catalogue of Archives of the
Harper, Fielden and Royle Families, of Flixton, at the Greater Manchester County
Record Office (E/18/24) George Prescott Bent was aged 44 on the 1881 Census, born
in Flixton and a nursery man. His wife, Mary Bent, aged 27, was born in Manchester
and they were married in the March quarter of 1877, with the marriage registered at
Shardlow, on the borders of Derbyshire, Leicestershire and Nottinghamshire. They had
a son, George H. Bent, aged 1, born in Flixton, a daughter, Mary, born in 1883 and
they resided at Ambleside House, Flixton (RG11 3889/88 No.20) George Prescott Bent
was baptised at Cathedral, Manchester, on the 13 th March 1836, to Eliza Bent. Around
this time and certainly at the time that Flixton’s Tithe Apportionment Book was written
in 1842, Pool Plat, described as meadow land, was owned by Henry Bent. Henry also
owned Further Field, Middle Field and Barn Field, which were all pasture land. Rood
Lunt, which was arable land, an Orchard, House, Gardens and Lane, which formed
part of the junction at Four Lane Ends and was on the west side of this junction,
according to QSD 579 and a “patch up to the river.” In all, the land area totalled 6
acres, 1 rood and 22 perches, with a total value of 17s. ¼ d. The Survey and
Measurement of the Township of Flixton, of 1818, lists some further Bent family
landowners and farmers, including William Bent; James Bent Senior; James Bent
Junior; Richard Bent; Thomas Bent; as well as Henry Bent.
Henry Bent was baptised on the 1 st March 1801, at Flixton, to Henry Bent and Betty
Taylor, who were married on the 13 th June 1797, at Cathedral, Manchester. Eliza Bent
was baptised on the 3 rd April 1808, at Flixton, to Henry Bent and Betty Taylor, with her
sister, Betty Bent, baptised on the 29 th April 1810, also at Flixton. Henry Bent Senior
was baptised on the 14 th October 1787, at Flixton, to John Bent and Betty. There
appears to be no record of a marriage for Eliza Bent and with no record of a father for
George Prescott Bent, it is probable that he was born outside of wedlock. This situation
can be further confirmed through George’s baptism at Cathedral, Manchester, which
was the parish of Betty Taylor, Eliza’s mother. This parish was doubtless chosen as an
alternative venue to avoid any awkward questions in a small, village community.
Therefore, with Henry Bent Junior and Eliza Bent brother and sister, George Prescott
Bent had inherited his uncle; Henry Bent Junior’s, land on his death, aged 72 and
registered at Barton - Upon - Irwell, in the June quarter of 1873. This land included
Pool Plat, which was eventually sold to John Royle Junior on the 8 th May 1876
(E/18/25)
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