(RICHMOND). ~ Lease of the Bakehouse and Ground at Richmond Green to Sir Matthew Decker. 4 January, 1731 [enrolled 10 January 1731].
Manuscript on vellum (620 × 800 mm), engraved headpiece with portrait, green wax seal of the Exchequer (broken) in original skippet, cords just holding. Signed by or on behalf of William Gardner and William Lowndes, auditor of the Exchequer. Damp and dust-staining.
An original lease granted by George II to Sir Matthew Decker of lands once part of the royal park of Richmond at Richmond Green, formerly known as the Bakehouse. Sir Charles Hedges (died 1714), Secretary of State to Queen Anne had built a fine house here, which was enlarged by Decker (1679-1749), a wealthy Dutch merchant, who settled in London in 1702, becoming and MP and director of the East India Company. He created a celebrated garden on this land, widely commented on by contemporaries and the site of the first successful cultivation of the pineapple in Britain.