Probate in Greenhithe

We have local consultants in Greenhithe who can visit you in the daytime or evening. Our consultations are free, there is no obligation and no pressure. We provide a sympathetic and personal service to suit your needs. Our advisors are fully trained in subjects such as Probate, Wills, Letters of administrations and much more

To speak to an advisor please call us free of charge on 0800 612 6105, alternatively if you prefer to call a land line number or if calling from a mobile phone call 020 8150 2010

History

The history of Greenhithe owes a great deal to its situation between the River Thames and Watling Street (the London, Dover Road) and it being a suitable landing place for ships. In Roman times known as Gretenrsce, and by 1363 Grenehuth, it appears in the 1778 'History and Topographical Survey of the County of Kent' : "Here there are several wharves for the landing and shipping of corn, wood, and other commodities, but the greatest traffic arises from the chalk and lime, from the chalk pits, the range of which continues with small intermission from Stone to Gravesend, within a very short distance of the shore. Hence not only the City of London, but the adjacent counties, and even those of Suffolk and Norfolk are supplied with this commodity".

The Ingress Estate was a seat in the hamlet of Greenhithe. In 1363 the manor was endowed upon the Prioress and Abbey of the Dominican Sisters in Dartford by Edward III (1307–1377). Legend has it that at the time of the Dissolution of the monasteries the Abbess of Dartford put a curse on Henry VIII and all his male descendants, for confiscating their property (the cash was used to finance Henry's wars). This curse was to pass to all future owners of the estate, to the effect that no male heir should ever live to inherit the estate.

Henry VIII kept the site and rebuilt a country retreat for himself that he used as a stop when travelling to the coast and in 1540 made Sir Richard Long, kt., keeper of the same, with wages of 8d. a day. In 1548 the king, in consideration of the compulsory surrender of certain lands in Surrey, granted to Anne of Cleves the priory and manor of Dartford.

After Henry's death, seven of the nuns who had already been permitted by Queen Mary to re-establish the conventual observance at King's Langley, with Elizabeth Cressener as prioress, were permitted to return to Dartford. However in 1559 visitors from the Privy Council came to Dartford and tendered the oaths of supremacy and uniformity, first to the provincial prior, and then to each of the nuns separately. All refused to take it, whereupon the visitors sold the goods of the convent at a very low rate, paid the debts of the house, divided what little remained among the sisters, and ordered them to leave within twenty-four hours. The band of Dominican exiles, consisting of two priests, the prioress, four choir-nuns, and four lay sisters, and a young girl not yet professed, joined the nuns of Syon House and crossed to the Netherlands. Queen Elizabeth granted the estate to Edward Darbyshire and John Bere, who purchased much of the lands of Dartford Priory made available by the dissolution of the monasteries.