John Luke Iselin
John Luke Iselin was born in Basel, Switzerland, in 1746 but became an English national with his wife Margaret in 1772. He was a partner in the Norwich firm of Woodstaplers, Patteson and Iselin, and, in 1783, was living in St Giles in Norwich. He played an active part in the campaign for land enclosure and it was after the Enclosure Act in 1798 that he owned a cottage known as Lynch Green Cottage but also a mansion - Hethersett Hall. Woodstaplers were dealers in wool.
Lynch Green Cottage became Cedar Grange. The early inhabitants of the property are not known but Iselin also built Hethersett Hall.
Hethersett Hall had a coach house, stables, cottage, lawn and gardens, a total of around 30 acres. He also had part of the Great Common allotted to him under the Enclosure Award, which he sold to Sir John Lombe, of Great Melton, in 1800.
"After his death in 1816, at the age of 70, the cottage, by then updated to a farm, the mansion house and a further small cottage were auctioned. By the terms of his will, most of the proceeds of his estate went to his family in Switzerland, but he left some of the money for his old housekeeper, Sarah Addey, and some to a farmer and his wife by the name of Eke in Hethersett (we still have an Eke's Farm in the village). He also requested that his coffin be not screwed down until putrefaction had set in! A memorial stone to him can be seen in the floor of the parish church.
"In 1838, 110 acres of Cedar Grange land was gifted by Spooner Nash to his daughter Ann Nash.
"Occupiers of the house in the twentieth century included the Bainbridges from 1908 until 1916 and Judge Charles Herbert-Smith from 1922 until 1934."
Lynch Green Cottage became Cedar Grange. The early inhabitants of the property are not known but Iselin also built Hethersett Hall.
Hethersett Hall had a coach house, stables, cottage, lawn and gardens, a total of around 30 acres. He also had part of the Great Common allotted to him under the Enclosure Award, which he sold to Sir John Lombe, of Great Melton, in 1800.
"After his death in 1816, at the age of 70, the cottage, by then updated to a farm, the mansion house and a further small cottage were auctioned. By the terms of his will, most of the proceeds of his estate went to his family in Switzerland, but he left some of the money for his old housekeeper, Sarah Addey, and some to a farmer and his wife by the name of Eke in Hethersett (we still have an Eke's Farm in the village). He also requested that his coffin be not screwed down until putrefaction had set in! A memorial stone to him can be seen in the floor of the parish church.
"In 1838, 110 acres of Cedar Grange land was gifted by Spooner Nash to his daughter Ann Nash.
"Occupiers of the house in the twentieth century included the Bainbridges from 1908 until 1916 and Judge Charles Herbert-Smith from 1922 until 1934."