New River Project

Topic: New River Project

Quoted Source Passages

1. Source: Rudden, The New River: A Legal History, appendix E, 8 May 1612 share issue, document witnesses excerpt cited below.

Quotation:

"Sir Henry Nevill of Billingsbear in the countie of Berks Knight" was "an adventurer in the said worke" and received "two full and intire six and thirtieth partes."

What it proves: The printed legal-history appendix places Sir Henry Neville in the New River share issue with a defined proportional interest. Limit: Rudden is a copyrighted modern printed witness and should be quoted sparingly. The original indenture remains the preferred final witness if located.

1. Source: Hugh Myddelton receipt, 18 May 1612, Doc 47d D EN O 24:45.

Quotation:

"Receaued of S[i]r Henry Nevill of Billingbere ... the sume of ffyftie poundes ... from the springes of Chadwell and Amwell towards the Cittie of London."

What it proves: Direct manuscript receipt evidence ties Neville of Billingbear to the Chadwell/Amwell-to-London New River work. Limit: This receipt records a payment, not advocacy, authorship, or project invention.

1. Source: Henry Myddelton receipt, 2 Dec. 1613, Doc 47d D EN O 24:23.

Quotation:

"Receaued of S[i]r Henry Nevill of Billingbere ... the somme of ffyftie poundes ... according to A Covenant contayned in an Indentur[e] dated the Eight day of May."

What it proves: The payment lane continues into 1613 and explicitly points back to the 8 May 1612 covenant/share issue. Limit: This should stay separate from the Sarum/Salisbury Myddelton records in the same archive bundle.

1. Source: Henry Myddelton receipt for Sarum, 26 Nov. 1610, Doc 47c D EN O 24:40.

Quotation:

"Receaued of S[i]r Henry Nevell Knight vpon his aduenture ... bringing the water from the conditt wall vnto the North gate of the Cittie of Sarum."

What it proves: Neville also dealt with Myddelton in a separate Sarum/Salisbury waterworks lane. Limit: Do not cite this as New River evidence; it is related infrastructure context only.

1. Source: 30 Apr. 1615 feoffment/trust abstract, Doc 01 D EN F6 1 19:58.

Quotation:

"Two full and cleare fiue and thirtie parts of y^e water-works."

What it proves: Neville's waterworks interest persisted as an estate/trust asset shortly before his death. Limit: This is estate-settlement evidence, not a substitute for the 1612 share issue or receipts. Its fiue and thirtie denominator differs from the printed 1612 deed's six and thirtieth; the discrepancy must be preserved rather than silently harmonized.

1. Source: July 1612 estate instructions, Doc 20c D EN F6 1 16 Neville Lawrence Waltham draft:42.

Quotation:

the benefitt of my two parts in the new cut or river

the benefitt of the new cut or waterworke is like to grow & increase much more in time then at the first

What it proves: In the same year as the share instrument and first receipt, Neville incorporated the two-part interest into his family trust planning and expected its benefit to appreciate. Limit: The document itself describes a newly cut river or waterwork but does not name Chadwell, Amwell, Myddelton, or the proper name New River. The exact two-part structure and the separately controlled May 1612 instrument and receipts identify the enterprise; the clause is not evidence of parliamentary advocacy.

14 July 2026 manuscript control for the 1615 abstract

All seven surviving local photographs of D/EN/F6/1/19 were opened at original resolution and the relevant lines were checked directly. The document is an abstract or memorandum of a feoffment, not a letter: Sir Henry Neville is the feoffor, while Winwood, Killigrew, Barlas, Savile, Moore, and Newbery are feoffees. The waterworks line visibly reads:

Two full and cleare fiue and thirtie parts of

y^e water-works.

The same manuscript places this interest beside the one-twelfth share in the sole making of indigo and later provides that the Indico and waterworks interests could be sold or leased if ordinary revenues could not discharge the settlement's obligations. This makes the waterworks share a liquid or income-producing estate asset within Neville's succession planning.

The Royal Berkshire Archives catalogue independently places D/EN/F6/1 within Sir Henry Neville's miscellaneous correspondence and papers and explicitly notes estate-disposal instructions dated 1612 and 1615. It does not print an item-level transcription. In the 1615 abstract the manor is now controlled as Hartoke/Hertoke, paired with Ashridge woods; the final photographed line continues beyond the visible edge.

The denominator problem is now sharper, not weaker. The 8 May 1612 printed share issue gives Neville two thirty-sixths; the 30 April 1615 manuscript abstract visibly gives two thirty-fifths. Possible explanations include a later redivision, a different accounting base, or a scribal mistake. No checked evidence yet chooses among them.

1. Verified Sourced Facts

• The old local wiki page is only a source trail. It identifies New River, a Legal History as the relevant source for Neville's New River connection, but it does not itself provide evidence beyond that link.
• Leslie Tomory's The History of the London Water Industry, 1580-1820 summarizes the earliest New River share evidence as the sale of two shares to Sir Henry Neville in 1612 for £100 each, with further sums due if company expenses exceeded £6,400.
• Tomory's note identifies the underlying agreement as 1612-05-08 and cites Bernard Rudden's The New River: A Legal History, appendix E, pp. 274-278.
• Rudden appendix E prints a Share Issue dated 8 May 1612.
• The printed share issue is between Hugh Middleton, citizen and goldsmith of London, and Sir Henry Nevill of Billingsbear in the countie of Berks Knight.
• Rudden's printed text says Sir Henry Nevill "is and hathe beene an adventurer in the said worke."
• The printed text says Sir Henry Nevill had paid two hundred pounds to Hugh Middleton before the sealing and delivery of the instrument.
• The printed text grants Sir Henry Nevill two full and intire six and thirtieth partes of the waterworks, river, new cut, and profits, after the King's half-share is excepted.
• The printed text requires Neville to bear a proportional charge if the work cost more than £3,200; this is expressed as a full sixteenth parte of the surplus charge.
• The printed witnesses on the share issue are Ni: Hyde, Will: Staverton, and Wm: Neast.
• A newly recovered public sale-catalogue description adds a separate New River

receipt. Myers & Co.'s An Illustrated Catalogue of Rare Books (1917), item 129, describes a Hugh Myddelton document signed 27 June 1612, acknowledging £50 from Sir Henry Nevill of Billingbear toward bringing water from Chadwell and Amwell to London. The catalogue says it was witnessed by Will. Staverton and John Otwyn. This date is distinct from the locally photographed 18 May 1612 and 2 December 1613 receipts. The original's present location is not yet known. Public Internet Archive scan, catalogue p. 30.

• BRO/Royal Berkshire D/EN/O24 now gives direct manuscript-transcription support for the payment lane. Doc 47d D EN O 24 preserves two receipts tied to the New River project:
• 18 May 1612: Hugh Myddelton receives £50 from Sir Henry Nevill of Billingbear toward bringing a river or water stream from the springs of Chadwell and Amwell toward London, according to an indenture dated 8 May last past.
• 2 December 1613: Henry Myddelton receives another £50 from Sir Henry Nevill of Billingbear toward a further supply for the same work, explicitly referring to an indenture dated 8 May in James's tenth regnal year.
• The two Doc_47d receipt images, IMG_8425 and IMG_8424, were visually spot-checked on 2026-05-29; the key names, dates, £50 sums, Chadwell/Amwell wording, and 8 May indenture references are visible in the images.
• Direct comparison on 15 July 2026 shows that Will: Staverton also signed

Neville's 14 February 1606/7 bond to Sir William Pole (D/EN/F6/1/13). His name and closely corresponding signature recur on Henry Myddelton's 2 December 1613 receipt (IMG_8424). Together with the printed 8 May share issue and Myers's 27 June receipt description, this establishes William Staverton as a recurrent witness to Neville's executed financial and investment transactions from 1607 through 1613. His exact office remains unresolved.

• Other D/EN/O24 documents belong in a related but distinct lane:
• Doc 47c D EN O 24 is a 26 November 1610 Henry Myddelton receipt to Sir Henry Neville for a Sarum/Salisbury water project, not direct New River evidence.
• Doc 47b D EN O 24 is a 29 July 1613 Henry Myddelton letter from Sarum about the Close watercourse, trench, fountain, cistern, and lead pipes. It is related Myddelton/waterworks evidence, not a New River receipt.
• Doc 47a D EN O 24 is an 28 April 1614 rent receipt for a house in Salisbury Close paid by John Aldworth; it is contextual for the Sarum property/waterworks cluster, not New River evidence.
• The 1612 Sir Henry Nevill in the share issue and receipts is most likely the elder Sir Henry Neville of Billingbear, not Henry Neville III. The younger Neville was knighted by this point, but the elder was alive until July 1615 and is the controlling identification unless a source says otherwise.
• Duncan's 1974 dissertation adds useful secondary context for the New River political-network lane. Citing Neville MSS, D/En/O24, ff. 1-3, Duncan says Neville purchased two shares on 8 May 1612 for £200, had additional liability for surplus charges, paid at least £300 into the company according to receipts, and sold £67 worth of elms for use as water pipes.
• Duncan also connects this business relationship to the 1614 Commons context through Robert Middleton, brother of Hugh Myddelton. This is a suggestive political-network interpretation; the direct evidence still proves investment/payment and timber sale, not parliamentary advocacy for the New River.
• Local BRO website verification: the O24 New River and Sarum/Salisbury records are present in the local website data with images and no missing-image flags. The verified split is Doc_47d for direct New River receipts, and Doc_47a-Doc_47c for Salisbury/Sarum context. IMG_8425.jpeg was visually spot-checked for the Hugh Myddelton receipt.
• The estate-settlement lane adds two related controls outside O24. Doc 20c D EN F6 1 16 Neville Lawrence Waltham draft, directly endorsed July 1612, gives primary-image-controlled clauses for Neville's two parts in the new cut or river, his expectation that the new cut or waterworke would grow, his request not to sell it if debts could be paid otherwise, and its intended use for William and Neville's other sons. Doc 01 D EN F6 1 19, a 30 April 1615 feoffment/trust abstract, later treats water-works shares as trust assets alongside Indico and family provision.

2. Evidence Lanes

3. Ken Feinstein Twitter and Blog Information

• No Ken Feinstein Twitter/blog material is isolated in this packet at present.

4. Quoted Source Text

Rudden appendix E

• "E. Share Issue"
• "8 May 1612"
• "Sir Henry Nevill of Billingsbear in the countie of Berks Knight"
• "is and hathe beene an adventurer in the said worke"
• "two hundred pounds"
• "two full and intire six and thirtieth partes"
• "a full sixteenth parte"

Tomory

• "the sale of two shares to Sir Henry Neville in 1612 for £100 each"
• "Agreement with Sir Henry Neville to sell shares. (1612-05-08)"

BRO / Royal Berkshire D/EN/O24

• Doc_47d: "Sir Henry Nevill of Billingbere"
• Doc_47d: "ffyftie poundes"
• Doc_47d: "from the springes of Chadwell and Amwell towards the Cittie of London"
• Doc_47d: "according to a Covenant contayned in an Indenture dated the Eight day of May last past"
• Doc_47d: "according to A Covenant contayned in an Indentur[e] dated the Eight day of May"
• Doc_47b: "the water course runne through"
• Doc_47b: "The fountayne is also built"
• Doc_47c: "the North gate of the Cittie of Sarum"

BRO / Royal Berkshire estate-waterwork controls

• Doc_01: "Two full and cleare fiue and thirtie parts of y^e water-works"
• Doc_01: "the Indico and water-workes"
• Doc_20c: "the benefitt of my two parts in the new cut or river"
• Doc_20c: "the benefitt of the new cut or waterworke is like to grow & increase"

Duncan dissertation

• "Neville purchased two shares"
• "29 adventurers who shared 36 shares"
• "£67 worth of elms"

5. Citations

• "New River Project." Henry Neville Research Wiki, 23 Oct. 2019, http://nevilleresearch.com/index.php?title=New_River_Project. Local preservation: wiki new river project.
• Tomory, Leslie. The History of the London Water Industry, 1580-1820. Johns Hopkins University Press, 2017, p. 75 and notes 37-38. document witnesses: TEXTO.06.TheHistLondonWater.pdf.
• Rudden, Bernard. The New River: A Legal History. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1985. Appendix E, Share Issue, 8 May 1612, pp. 274-278. document witnesses excerpt: Rudden_New_River_Appendix_E_Share_Issue_1612.pdf.
• Draft OCR and rendered page images for Rudden appendix E: Rudden New River Appendix E Share Issue 1612 OCR DRAFT and page_images.
• Hugh and Henry Myddelton receipts to Sir Henry Neville, 18 May 1612 and 2 Dec. 1613, D/EN/O24: Doc 47d D EN O 24. Key images spot-checked: IMG_8425.jpeg and IMG_8424.jpeg.
• Duncan, Owen Lowe, Jr. The Political Career of Sir Henry Neville: An Elizabethan Gentleman at the Court of James I. Ph.D. dissertation, The Ohio State University, 1974, esp. ch. 7, p. 276 / book p. 268 in the combined transcription. Original PDF: DUNCAN OL 1974 7424317.pdf. Full Antigravity transcription: DUNCAN OL 1974 7424317 combined.
• Henry Myddelton receipt to Sir Henry Neville, 26 Nov. 1610, D/EN/O24: Doc 47c D EN O 24. Image spot-check path: IMG_8423.jpeg.
• Henry Myddelton to Sir Henry Neville, Sarum, 29 July 1613, D/EN/O24: Doc 47b D EN O 24.
• Henry Myddelton to John Aldworth, rent receipt, 28 Apr. 1614, D/EN/O24: Doc 47a D EN O 24.
• Neville feoffment/trust abstract with water-works and Indico interests, 30 Apr. 1615, D/EN/F6/1/19: Doc 01 D EN F6 1 19.
• Neville Lawrence Waltham / waterwork draft instructions, D/EN/F6/1/16: Doc 20c D EN F6 1 16 Neville Lawrence Waltham draft.
• Local BRO/RBA verification dossier for Duncan leads: DUNCAN BRO LOCAL WEBSITE VERIFICATION 2026 06 10.
• business interests, related business-lanes packet.
• play coriolanus, related play packet for the New River / civic-provision analogy.
• sir henry neville iii 1588 1629, related packet for the elder/younger Neville distinction.
• bro transcriptions source dossier, source map for the BRO/Royal Berkshire transcription corpus.

6. Notes on Access

• This packet now separates direct New River evidence from the Sarum/Salisbury waterworks material in the same BRO D/EN/O24 group.
• Do not cite Doc_47b or Doc_47c as New River evidence. They show Neville dealing with Henry Myddelton on water infrastructure at Sarum/Salisbury.
• The strongest New River evidence is the convergence of Rudden appendix E, Tomory's summary, and the Doc_47d receipts.
• The 1615 Doc_01 trust abstract and Doc_20c draft show the waterwork interest as an estate asset. They strengthen the business/estate context but do not replace New River company/share evidence.
• The claim that Neville was a parliamentary advocate or debater of the New River project remains unverified here. Current checked evidence proves investment/payment, not parliamentary advocacy.
• Duncan supports using New River as a business-and-network context for Neville's 1612-1614 parliamentary world, but this remains secondary interpretation unless the Middleton/Phelips/Berkeley parliamentary links are independently sourced.
• The Rudden appendix is a copyrighted printed source. Use short snippets only unless a final citation apparatus obtains permission or substitutes a public-domain manuscript witness.
• The elder/younger distinction matters. The 1612 share issue and receipts should be assigned to the elder Sir Henry Neville unless contrary evidence appears. Henry Neville III's later New River Company membership remains a separate post-1615 claim.

2026-07-12 Instrument-to-Estate Chain

The documentary sequence now supports a continuous, bounded account:

1. The 8 May 1612 instrument names “Sir Henry Nevill of Billingsbear,” says he “is and hathe beene an adventurer,” records £200, and grants “two full and intire six and thirtieth partes.”
2. BRO receipts dated 18 May 1612 and 2 December 1613 each record £50 payments.
3. The 1615 trust schedule includes “Two full and cleare fiue and thirtie parts of y^e water-works” among the estate assets.

The denominator wording has now been checked in all local original images: the 1615 abstract visibly says fiue and thirtie, while the 1612 printed instrument says six and thirtieth. The holding and its continuation are secure. Because all three steps occur before the ambassador's death and the first expressly says Billingbear, the elder Sir Henry is the controlling identity.

The London Archives guide confirms the institutional setting—construction in 1609-1613, Myddelton financing, the Chadwell/Amwell-to-London watercourse, and incorporation in 1619—and points to ACC/2558/NR and ACC/1953/A/155. London Archives guide; Rudden chapter and Appendix E record.

Book use should remain infrastructure investment and estate history. The checked evidence does not show Neville speaking for the project in Parliament. Full audit: 08 NEW RIVER.

2026-07-13 Full Instrument Reading: Rights, Duties, and Construction Risk

All five pages of Rudden's Appendix E were opened and inspected in the current pass. The document is much richer than the short share quotation suggests.

Identity and pre-existing participation

The deed is dated 8 May 1612 and addressed to “Sir Henry Nevill of Billingsbear in the countie of Berks Knight.” It does not describe him as a new subscriber. It says he “is and hathe beene an adventurer in the said work,” records £200 already paid, and also refers to his promise of further payment. This establishes continuity of participation before the deed date, although it does not establish when Neville first joined.

What the two thirty-sixths included

The grant is “two full and intire six and thirtieth partes” of the waterworks and new cut, excluding the king's moiety. Its asset language extends well beyond the channel itself: cisterns, mills, mill-dams, ponds, pools, staiths, pipes, conduits, rents, fines, forfeitures, penalties, and profits are all within the grant. Neville's interest was therefore a fractional claim on an operating utility and its enforcement revenues, not merely a donation toward excavation.

Control and accountability

The instrument requires Hugh Myddelton to employ Neville's £200 and promised further sums in the work and to use his “best and uttermost endeavor” to complete it. Myddelton cannot surrender or relinquish the enabling powers without Neville's written assent. At Neville's request he must make a yearly “true and just account,” and Neville is to receive the full profit of his two thirty-sixths.

Completion and downside exposure

The target date is 1 April 1613. The deed includes repayment mechanics if impossibility prevents completion. It also exposes Neville to cost overruns: if the total charge rises above £3,200, he must bear a full one-sixteenth of the surplus. In addition, royal or Lord Treasurer payments are to be accounted for to Neville at a one-sixteenth rate. These clauses show active risk-sharing, not guaranteed return.

Colthurst contingency

The deed separately states that Edmund Colthurst held four thirty-sixths and provides a contingent redistribution if he died before completion. Neville appears in that contingency for a full seventeenth part of the relevant Colthurst interest. This is not the ordinary size of Neville's base share and should not be used to replace the clear two-thirty-sixths grant.

Documentary chain and denominator problem

The 1612 deed's 2/36 is followed by two local BRO receipt transcriptions of £50 and by the 1615 estate schedule's 2/35 wording. The 1615 manuscript has now been re-opened and the wording fiue and thirtie checked directly. The discrepancy may reflect later restructuring, a different accounting base, or a scribal error; it is no longer properly described as a transcription issue unless another witness is found.

Images: p. 1, p. 2, p. 3, p. 4, p. 5. Witnesses named at the end are Nicholas Hyde, William Staverton, and William Neast.

The strongest future research path is consequently legal and administrative: locate the original deed, reconcile the 36/35 denominator, follow annual accounts and calls, and determine whether Neville's consent right left traces in New River Company papers. No checked source here yet shows parliamentary advocacy.