Charles Henry Blake was to be the most successful developer in Notting Hill, although he had some close shaves along the way.
Blake was born in Calcutta in 1794. His father was a sea captain who then became an indigo plantation owner in Bengal. Blake ultimately inherited the business, and expanded it into the manufacture of rum and sugar. His business continued in India although Blake himself left India for England in 1842.
Richard Roy of Roy Blunt and Johnstone was his solicitor. In 1843 Blake bought William Chadwick’s lands west of Ladbroke Grove. In 1850 he bought 20 acres from Richard Roy (as trustee of Duncan's creditors), followed by another 5 acres in 1851. This was all land to the north of Lansdowne Rise and Lansdowne Crescent, and it was the remainder of the land in Duncan’s original building agreement after Phillips had bought the north-western part from Roy in 1848.
In a 1851 Blake granted building leases of plots in Lansdowne Road Clarendon Road and Elgin Crescent, many of them to David Allan Ramsay, his favoured building lessee. But in March 1852, Blake sold the whole lot to Dr Walker for the price he had paid two years earlier. This might seem like a lousy bargain – especially as the roads and sewers had now been constructed. But the price per acre was £1,333. As Blake’s subsequent purchase show, he had paid too much and was lucky to offload it to the unfortunate Dr Walker (for whom Roy also acted).
In June 1852 Blake was ready to start again. He bought the land for Stanley Crescent, Stanley Gardens and the south side of Ladbroke Gardens at £450 per acre from Felix Ladbroke. In 1853 he bought more land in Kensington Park Gardens and Ladbroke Grove. Again Roy acted as his solicitor. Blake also leased from Ladbroke land on the north side of Kensington Park Gardens.
Most of his building work was sub-contracted to Ramsay. But Ramsay went bankrupt in 1854 leaving many of the houses half-built and Blake had to bring in new builders. Up to this point Blake had financed his operations with his own cash, but from 1854 onwards he had to borrow. In 1855 he bought land on the east side of Kensington Park Road from Thomas Pocock.
By 1856 the property market in Notting Hill had almost collapsed. Many of his houses were still unfinished and he was running out of money so he had to insist on repayment of the £12,000 still owing from Dr Walker on the 1852 sale. But Walker was also in severe financial trouble by now and in 1856 Blake exercised his security and arranged to sell 10 acres of the land by auction. But things were so bad that nobody bid. So three months later Blake agreed with Walker’s trustees to buy the land at £795 per acre (which effectively meant he paid himself, and gambled that an upturn in the market would allow him to develop the land at a profit).
Blake became further in debt from taking a legal action against his co-directors of the Portsmouth Railway Company, of which Roy was one. He felt Roy had deceived him and he stopped using him as his solicitor. Blake lost the case and had to pay one co-director, Francis Mowatt, £20,000 in damages. Fortunately, he was able to borrow the money.
By the late 1850s land values were again beginning to rise in Notting Hill and Blake was able sell land at a profit to reduce his borrowings. The growth in demand continued throughout the 1860s and he was able to turn his land-bank to profit. He granted builders leases of the plots they agreed to build on the land he had bought back from Dr Walker. When the houses were built, Blake bought them back from the builders and sold them at a profit to investors.
Blake continued buying and developing land beyond the Ladbroke estate and became one of the largest developers in Notting Dale. In the estate itself, he kept his Stanley Gardens and Stanley Crescent houses and derived considerable rent from them.
He died in Bournemouth in 1872, a very rich man.