Britannia Square House Histories
14 Albany Terrace
by Ian Terry
Our house has had 23 owners since it was first leased by John Rowlands, a coal merchant & Henry Wilding, a gentleman of Hall Stretton to John Wilson of Wolverhampton on 21 May 1827. The first lease was for one year in the sum of 5 shillings. At this point it was defined as plots 35 & 36 of Three Pound Field (subsequently plots 37 & 38) of 140 sq. yards with a frontage of 26’ and a depth of 56’ 9”.
In 1838 it was described as being in Albany Row and in 1849 it was called 7 Albany Road and included plot 5 on the other side of the road (now occupied by nos. 13 & 15 Albany Terrace). In 1905 it was numbered 22 and by 1950 it had been renumbered again to 14.
Its most interesting resident was the purchaser in 1849, Henry Harris Lines who paid £600. He was a member of the famous Lines family of artists based in Birmingham, first moving to Worcester in 1832 to escape the cholera epidemic in Birmingham. The Lines family featured in an exhibition in the City Art Gallery in 2009 based on a PhD thesis by Dr Connie Wan on Henry’s father, Samuel Lines, who founded the Royal Birmingham Society of Artists.
Henry painted picturesque views and buildings across the country, many of which can be found in the City Art Gallery. They were bequeathed to the Worcester Victoria Institute by his daughter, Elizabeth Lines, who continued to live in 14 Albany Terrace until her death in 1905.
Henry also became fascinated by the topography and archaeology of the Malvern Hills and his daughter published his work as a booklet, “The Ancient Camps of The Malvern Hills”.
British Camp & Herefordshire Beacon, HH Lines 1872, Worcester City Art Gallery
Worcester Beacon & Colwall Oaks, HH Lines 1877, Lines family sketchbook, Royal Birmingham Society of Artists
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