Sir Josiah Child (1631 - 1699) was the successful son of a London merchant. He made a large fortune as a brewer and victualler and having rented Wanstead House for several years, he purchased the estate in 1673 and lavished money on it, embellishing the grounds.

He was a founder member of the Royal African Company and entered into partnership with a merchant in Jamaica to provide slaves for a large plantation. Child was active in local politics and sat as an MP. Having become a major shareholder in the East India Company, he served nearly 25 years as a company director, with two periods as governor. However, he was universally disliked and distrusted by politicians on all sides and by those inside and outside the East India Company. He was described as ruthless, astute, ostentatious, intelligent, and avaricious.

This Is Local London: Sir Josiah Child by John Riley.Sir Josiah Child by John Riley. (Image: Georgina Green)

Sir Josiah Child died an extremely rich man and his will ensured that his wealth and his property would stay in the family. He had married three times and had several children, a daughter and a granddaughter marrying into the aristocracy. However, he did not leave much to his daughter Mary: “I give unto my said daughter Mary the sume of Five pounds and noe more because she hath married not only without my consent but expressly against my command and contrary to her own repeated promisses and lett others learne by her example.”

This Is Local London: Josiah’s memorial in St Mary’s Church, Wanstead.Josiah’s memorial in St Mary’s Church, Wanstead. (Image: Georgina Green)

He also disapproved of his son and heir “…my said sonn Sir Josiah and my said daughter Mary have both of them behaved undutifully to me and broake many promises made to me in a high and ungratefull contempt of me their Father who have bin to kinde to them.”

Mary was born on May 20, 1672 and was betrothed to John Barrington of Hatfield Broad Oak. He was the grandson and heir of Sir John Barrington, 3rd Bt but he died of smallpox soon after coming of age in November 1691, before the marriage could take place. We will never know if this was a love match or just arranged by their families as a political and financial alliance.

This Is Local London: Wanstead House, looking east c1712 (Knuff & Kip drawing, cropped). This is the house where Mary grew up. It was her step brother, Richard, Lord Castlemain, who replaced the old Tudor house with a Palladian mansion.Wanstead House, looking east c1712 (Knuff & Kip drawing, cropped). This is the house where Mary grew up. It was her step brother, Richard, Lord Castlemain, who replaced the old Tudor house with a Palladian mansion. (Image: Georgina Green)

On February 23, 1693 Mary married Edward Bullock of Faulkbourne, Essex, by licence at St Botolph Aldgate, London. Edward was a widower, his first wife Elizabeth (née Guyon) having died in childbirth in 1691. Mary’s quiet wedding in London was very different from the magnificent celebration at Wanstead on June 5, 1682 when her sister Rebecca married Charles Somerset, Lord Herbert (later Marquess of Worcester) and the Bantam ambassador and his entourage were amongst the guests.

For Mary to go against her father must have taken great courage, but her husband was certainly not a pauper. Edward Bullock was a wealthy landowner who later became an MP. His house, Faulkbourne Hall, is a magnificent 15th century brick mansion set in extensive parkland. The couple presumably had a happy marriage as Mary had eight children. She did not fall out with her siblings either and interestingly, by 1794 a descendent, William Bullock of Shelley, was managing Wanstead and other estates in Essex for Mary’s great nephew, Sir James Tylney-Long who was based in Wiltshire.

This Is Local London: A Bank Holiday Monday in the Glade. The Palladian mansion would have stood at the top of the clearing, glowing white in the sunlight. The site is on the golf course.A Bank Holiday Monday in the Glade. The Palladian mansion would have stood at the top of the clearing, glowing white in the sunlight. The site is on the golf course. (Image: Georgina Green)

After Edward’s death on December 6, 1705, Mary spent nearly 20 years as a widow before marrying Edward Hutchinson at Faulkbourne in 1724. Hutchinson was an Army Captain and the grandson of Sir Josiah’s sister Anna. The couple lived at Faulkbourne Hall with Mary’s son Josiah Bullock and his wife Hannah, daughter of Sir Thomas Cooke. Edward Hutchinson died shortly after making his will in December 1734, leaving £200 to be invested to buy bread every Sunday for the poor of Faulkbourne who attended church. Mary died in 1748 aged 76.

  • Georgina Green has been involved with local history in Redbridge, Waltham Forest and the Epping Forest area for 40 years and is the author of several local history books. She was elected a fellow of the Royal Historical Society in 2021.