Structure · Built 1788 · Demolished 1960
Martha and Rebecca Wyer House
This small house stood on the west side of the old Boston road (now Pollard Street) just south of the Stephen Barrett House, on a lot of about thirty rods cut from the northeast corner of the William Patten House. The 1853 Walling map labels it "A. Maynard" for Aaron Maynard, the blacksmith who owned it from 1847 to 1857, but the house is older: on January 10, 1789 William Patten, cooper, sold "a House & Barn standing upon the Northeast part of said Patten's Homestead together with about thirty rods of land adjoining said House ... as the fence now stands" to Martha and Rebecca Wyer of Billerica, seamsters, for 150 pounds. A few weeks earlier the sisters had bought a lot "three rods square" directly across the road beside the North burying place from Nathaniel French, blacksmith, and the two lots were sold together for more than a century (see Jones Schoolhouse).
Rebecca Wyer outlived her sister and died in 1822 "seized and possessed" of both lots. Her will left her estate in trust for Sarah Whitwell Bradford of Boston and her children, and her executors, John Bradford and John Tyler, sold the place only in 1847, for $300, to Aaron Maynard of Billerica, blacksmith: thirty rods "with a dwelling house thereon", bounded north by the late Timothy Davis's homestead, east by the road and south and west by William D. Mason. (Their deed miscopies the 1789 grantor as "William Potter".) In 1850 Mason sold Maynard a strip of seven rods running back from the road "along the course of a brook", the brook that still marks the south line of the lot as a ditch and culvert, and the lot became the "thirty-seven rods" of every later deed.
In 1857 Maynard sold both lots for $400 to Rufus R. Russell, taking back a mortgage. Russell, later of Lowell, mortgaged the house in 1880 and 1883, the second time promising to keep "the buildings standing on the land" insured for $300. In 1899 he deeded the property to Rufus A. (R. Alexander) Russell for $500, keeping "the use and improvement of the above granted premises during the rest and remainder of my natural life". In 1905 R. Alexander Russell sold the house lot, with about three quarters of an acre of vacant land behind it between the brook and the Boston Road, to Norman and Maria Macdonald of Lowell. Maria Macdonald, as Norman's widow and survivor, sold both parcels in 1919 to Maurice A. Buck of Billerica, again reserving a life estate.
After Buck died intestate, his administratrix Bessie C. Buck sold "a certain lot of land with a dwelling house thereon containing thirty-seven (37) rods" and the vacant land behind it to Laban M. and Ruth Turner for $1,200 under a probate license of October 1936. In 1947 the Turners put the title in Ruth L. Turner's name alone through a straw deed, and the deed of the Barrett lot that year bounds it south by "land formerly of Aaron Maynard now belonging to one Turner". In 1952 Ruth L. Turner sold the two parcels to James Gerald and Anne H. McCusker, who were assembling the corner of Boston Road and Pollard Street for a diner and supermarket. That is the last deed to mention the dwelling house: the July 1960 survey of the land north of the ditch for Anne McCusker (Plan Book 94, Plan 37B) shows 1.05 acres with no buildings.
Anne H. McCusker sold the 1.05 acres in 1969, and after passing through private owners it was conveyed in 1975 by the R.G.R. Realty Trust to the David S. Shiff Trust, which built the auto parts store of about 1978 on the lot, now 308 Boston Road. The old house site is its Pollard Street end, beside the culvert where the brook passes under the road.
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Title References
| Date | Type | Grantor | Grantee | Summary | Recorded |
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| 1690 | Will | Thomas Patten of Billerica | His widow Sarah (half the dwelling house for her widowhood); sons William and Kendall (their portions out of the homestead); eldest son Thomas and son Nathaniel (other lands) | 1690: will of Thomas Patten; the Patten homestead, from whose northeast corner this lot was later cut | Probate #17030 |
Will dated Jan. 14, 1689/90, inventory Mar. 10, 1689/90, exhibited Apr. 15, 1690. Thomas Patten gives his wife Sarah half his dwelling house and barn with the orchard for her widowhood, and directs that "my sons William and Kendall shall have their portions out of my homestead with suitable meadow to it," William to stay with his mother until he is twenty-one; his eldest son Thomas takes the second-division lot and meadows, Nathaniel the land at Loes Plain. The inventory begins "the house barn & orchard, about one acre of land," with seven acres behind Samuel Frosts house, and lists a quarter part of a saw mill. Hazen places Thomas Pattens house west of Long Street and his son Deacon William "near the corner"; that Williams homestead grew out of this portion is the most likely reading but is not stated in any deed. Papers read, pages 1-4.
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| 1747 | Administration and Division | Estate of Thomas Patten of Billerica, cooper, intestate | William Patten, eldest son (the homestead); Thomas Patten, second son (18 acres); the widow Hannah (later Hannah Stickney) and the other children | 1747: division of Thomas Patten's estate; the homestead to his son William Patten | Probate #17031 |
Thomas Patten died in 1747; Jeremiah Abbot, then the widow Hannah, administered. The inventory of Oct. 28, 1747 begins with "the Home Stead About Twenty Seven acres & three quarters with the Buildings thereon standing bounded East & North by the high way west by Concord River & South by the land of Oliver Farmer," 1,100 pounds old tenor, with 18 acres near it by Ensign Sheds land, also running to the river. The accounts of 1749 pay for 132 squares of glass, window frames, boards and clapboards "all used about ye house." The real estate inventory of Feb. 4, 1754 describes "the Homestead Containing about forty one acres Bounded East and north on the Road that leads from Billerica to Chelmsford, west on Concord River, South on the Land of Oliver Farmer ... Together with all the buildings," and the committee settled it on William, the eldest son, the 18 acres north of "the Bridge Lane" going to the second son Thomas. Papers read, pages 2-17.
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| January 16, 1789 | Deed | Nathaniel French of Billerica, blacksmith (wife Susanna releasing dower, her mark) | Martha Wyer and Rebecca Wyer of Billerica | 1788: the Wyer sisters buy the three-rod lot across the road by the North burying place | 98/441 (South) |
Billerica town book 8, pages 173-174. For 20 pounds, "One certain peice of land ... adjoining to the North burying place (so called) containing three rods square of Land be the same more or less, bounded ... West on the Road North on said burying Yard South & East by Timothy Foster's land as the fence now stands with all the appurtenances & the Buildings thereon standing". Signed December 15, 1788 (witnesses Isaac Hurd, Samuel Fletcher), acknowledged January 16, 1789 before Edward Farmer. The price had risen sevenfold in two years, so French had built on the lot. The Wyer sisters owned it when the town sited its squadron schoolhouses in 1791.
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| January 16, 1789 | Deed | William Patten of Billerica, cooper (wife Rebecca releasing dower) | Martha Wyer and Rebecca Wyer of Billerica, seamsters | 1789: William Patten sells the house and barn on the northeast corner of his homestead to Martha and Rebecca Wyer | 98/441 (South) |
Billerica town book 8, pages 175-176 (the registry margin gives Book 98, Page 441, the same page as the French deed to the sisters). Signed January 10, 1789 (witnesses Samuel Fletcher and Edward Farmer), acknowledged the same day before Edward Farmer, recorded at Cambridge January 16, 1789. For 150 pounds, "a House & Barn standing upon the Northeast part of said Patten's Homestead together with about thirty rods of land adjoining said House be the same more or less as the fence now stands with all the appurtenances". No title recital: the land was part of the Patten homestead.
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| 1822 | Will | Estate of Rebecca Wyer of Billerica, singlewoman | John Bradford and John Tyler of Boston, executors (in trust for Sarah Whitwell Bradford and her children) | 1822: will of Rebecca Wyer; her executors to sell her estate | Probate #25795 |
Will signed February 18, 1820 (witnesses Josiah Stevens, Zadok Howe, Samuel S. Lawrence): the executors to "make sale of all my estate, real, personal & mixed" and invest the proceeds; the income for life to "my well beloved friend Sarah Whitwell Bradford wife of John Bradford of Boston ... Merchant", free of her husband's control, the remainder to the Bradford children Sarah, Frances, Rebecca and John Jr. Proved at Cambridge November 12, 1822, the court finding that she had "no relations who by law would inherit her estate"; John Bradford and John Tyler, merchants of Boston, executors. Under this power they sold the Corner lots in 1847.
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| July 26, 1847 | Executors' Deed | John Bradford and John Tyler of Boston, gentlemen, executors of the will of Rebecca Wyer | Aaron Maynard of Billerica, blacksmith | 1847: Rebecca Wyer's executors sell the house lot and the three-rod lot to Aaron Maynard, blacksmith | 514/412 (South) |
Billerica town book 20, pages 7-8. Signed June 25, 1847, acknowledged at Boston July 13, 1847. For $300, two parcels "of which the said Rebecca died seized and possessed": 30 rods "with a dwelling house thereon" west of the road (north by land late of Timothy Davis, south and west by William D. Mason), from William Potter to Martha and Rebecca Wyer in 1789; and "another piece of land situate on the Easterly side of said Road and opposite the above described premises containing three rods square of land more or less, bounded ... West on said road North by the old burying ground so called East and South by land late of said Timothy Davis", the lot Nathaniel French sold the Wyers in 1788. By now the Boston-road ground is "the old burying ground", the Salem-road ground of 1816 being the newer one.
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| 1850 | Quitclaim | William D. Mason of Billerica, farmer (wife Mary Ann releasing dower) | Aaron Maynard of Billerica, blacksmith | 1850: William D. Mason adds a seven-rod strip along the brook to Maynard's lot | 595/434 (South) |
Billerica town book 18, pages 468-469. Signed April 13, 1850 (witness Dudley Foster). For $8, a strip added to the south side of Maynard's house lot: "Commencing on the old Boston road, at the dividing line between the lands of said Mason and said Maynard and running Westerly one hundred and fifteen feet three inches along the course of a brook thence running Northerly thirty two feet two inches to the land of said Maynard thence Easterly along said Maynard's line one hundred and twenty feet five inches to the starting point containing seven rods more or less." With it the 30-rod lot became the 37 rods of later deeds.
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| March 20, 1857 | Deed | Aaron Maynard of Billerica (wife Nabby releasing dower) | Rufus R. Russell of Billerica | 1857: Aaron Maynard sells the house lot and the three-rod lot to Rufus R. Russell | 9/42 |
Signed March 17, 1857, before Dudley Foster. For $400, two parcels: 37 rods "with a dwelling house thereon" on the west side of the road (north by Ebenezer Cowdry, east by the road, south and west by Wm. D. Mason), and "one other tract of land situate on the Easterly side of said Road and opposite the above described premises containing three rods square of land more or less bounded as follows viz: West on said road, North by the old North burying place (so called), East and south by land of B M Cann". Title: "conveyed to me by John Bradford and John Tyler by deed dated June 25 A.D. 1847 and by deed from Wm. D. Mason dated April 13th 1850" (Middlesex South Book 514, Page 412 and Book 595, Page 434). No school house is named on this small east-side lot, near the Jones Schoolhouse site.
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| March 20, 1857 | Mortgage | Rufus R. Russell of Billerica | Aaron Maynard of Billerica | 1857: Russell's mortgage back to Maynard | 9/43 |
Signed March 17, 1857. Mortgage back for $200, payable in $50 yearly instalments from March 17, 1858 with interest at six percent, on the same two parcels: the 37-rod house lot west of the road and the "three rods square" tract on the east side, "North by the Old North burying place (so called) East and South by land of B M Cann". Assigned to Daniel Floyd in 1862 (Book 30, Page 336).
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| September 13, 1880 | Mortgage | Rufus R. Russell of Lowell (wife Elizabeth A. releasing dower and homestead) | Eben Baker of Billerica | 1880: Russell mortgages the house lot to Eben Baker | 141/384 |
Signed and recorded September 13, 1880, acknowledged before George F. Richardson. For $200 at six percent in one year, "all that lot of land and buildings thereon which was conveyed to me by Aaron Maynard by deed dated March 17th A.D. 1857 ... Book Nine Page Forty-two" (the house lot west of the road and the three-rod lot east of it beside the old North burying place), with a lot from Jane L. Farmer, guardian, in 1872 (Book 86, Page 417); the building to be kept insured. Discharged on the margin by Eben Baker. Russell still held the lot at the mapped schoolhouse site ten years after the district system ended.
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| 1883 | Mortgage | Rufus R. Russell of Lowell | Ann E. Baker of Billerica, a married woman | 1883: Russell mortgages the house lot to Ann E. Baker | 162/571 |
Signed September 12, 1883. To secure $300 in one year at six percent, "all that lot of land and buildings thereon which was conveyed to me by Aaron Maynard by deed dated March 17 A.D. 1857 recorded ... Book 9 Page 42", with the lot from Jane L. Farmer, guardian (Book 86, Page 417); he was to "keep the buildings standing on the land aforesaid insured against fire in a sum not less than three hundred dollars". Power of sale. The margin notes a discharge in Book 385 (1905). It replaced the 1880 mortgage to Eben Baker.
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| May 17, 1899 | Warranty Deed | Rufus R. Russell of Billerica (wife Elizabeth A. releasing dower and homestead) | Rufus A. Russell of Billerica | 1899: Rufus R. Russell deeds the house to Rufus A. Russell, keeping a life estate | 307/327 |
Signed May 12, 1899 before Herbert A. King. For $500, "three certain parcels of land with the buildings thereon": the first "containing thirty seven rods more or less with a dwelling house thereon", bounded north by land formerly of Eben'r Cowdrey, east by the road, south and west by land formerly of Wm. D. Mason; the second the three-rod lot on the east side of the road by "the old North burying place, so called", "Both these tracts of land being conveyed to me by Aaron Maynard by deed dated March 27 [17], 1857 ... Book 9 Page 42"; the third five acres 64 rods on the road to Tewksbury (Book 86, Page 417). Subject to the $300 mortgage to Ann E. Baker (Book 162, Page 571), and "I the said Rufus R. Russell shall have and enjoy the use and improvement of the above granted premises during the rest and remainder of my natural life."
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| November 28, 1905 | Warranty Deed | R. Alexander Russell of Lowell (wife Belle releasing dower and homestead) | Norman Macdonald and Maria Macdonald of Lowell, joint tenants | 1905: the vacant land behind the house lot to the Macdonalds | 385/77 |
Signed November 27, 1905. For $1, "a certain lot of vacant land ... containing about three-fourths of an acre": from a stone bound on the easterly side of the Boston Road on the southerly line of "a ditch crossing said road", northerly by the Boston Road to land formerly of one McElligott, easterly by McElligott and land formerly of one Burton "to land formerly of one Russell", southerly and easterly around Russell's land to the road to North Billerica, and back along the ditch and by land of Alfred Brown. "Being the same premises conveyed to me by Albert H. Jones by deed dated May 6th 1904 ... Book 365 Page 203." This is the land west of and behind the house lot, sold with it until 1952.
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| November 28, 1905 | Warranty Deed | Rufus A. Russell of Lowell (wife Belle releasing dower and homestead) | Norman Macdonald and Maria Macdonald of Lowell, joint tenants | 1905: Rufus A. Russell sells the house lot to Norman and Maria Macdonald | 385/78 |
Signed November 27, 1905 before John J. Harvey. For $1, "three certain parcels of land with the buildings thereon": "The first lot containing thirty-seven rods, more or less, with a dwelling house thereon and bounded northerly by land formerly of Eben'r Cowdrey, easterly by the road southerly and westerly by land formerly of William D. Mason"; the three-rod lot on the east side of the road by "the old North burying place, so called"; and the five acres 64 rods on the road to Tewksbury. "Being the same premises conveyed to me by Rufus R. Russell by deed dated May 12th 1899 ... Book 307 Page 327", subject to the rights of way in that deed.
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| July 17, 1919 | Quitclaim | Maria Macdonald of Billerica, widow and survivor of Norman Macdonald | Maurice A. Buck of Billerica | 1919: the widow Maria Macdonald sells to Maurice A. Buck, keeping a life estate | 608/348 |
Signed July 14, 1919 before William A. Wilson. For consideration paid, "two certain parcels of land, with the buildings thereon": "The first lot containing thirty-seven rods, more or less, with a dwelling house thereon", bounded as before (Cowdrey north, the road east, Mason south and west), "Being a part of the premises conveyed to Norman Macdonald and Maria Macdonald by Rufus A. Russell ... November 27, 1905 ... Book 385, page 78"; and the three-quarter acre of vacant land of Book 385, Page 77. "Reserving, however, to myself the use and occupation of all said above described premises for the term of my natural life." The three-rod lot across the road is not in this deed.
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| March 5, 1937 | Administrator's Deed | Bessie C. Buck of Billerica, administratrix of the estate of Maurice A. Buck, late of Billerica, intestate | Laban M. Turner and Ruth Turner of Billerica, husband and wife, tenants by the entirety | 1936: the Buck estate sells the house to Laban M. and Ruth Turner | 896/104 |
Signed and acknowledged December 18, 1936 before Forrest F. Collier; recorded March 5, 1937 with the Probate Court license (decree of October 26, 1936, notice in The Billerica News). For $1,200, "Two certain parcels of land with the buildings thereon": "A certain lot of land with a dwelling house thereon containing thirty-seven (37) rods, more or less", north by land formerly of Eben'r Cowdrey, east by the road, south and west by land formerly of William D. Mason (Book 385, Page 78), and the three-quarter acre of vacant land (Book 385, Page 77), "being the same premises conveyed to said Maurice A. Buck by deed of Maria Macdonald dated July 14, 1919 ... Book Number 608, Page 348."
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| October 7, 1947 | Quitclaim | Laban M. Turner and Ruth Turner of Billerica, husband and wife | Frederick J. Finnegan of Lowell | 1947: the Turners convey to Frederick J. Finnegan (straw) | 1078/494 |
Signed and acknowledged September 26, 1947. For less than $100, "Two certain parcels of land with the buildings thereon": "A certain lot of land with a dwelling house thereon containing thirty-seven (37) rods", bounded north by land formerly of Eben'r Cowdrey, east by the road, south and west by land formerly of William D. Mason, and the three-quarter acre of vacant land by the ditch and the Boston Road; "Being the same premises conveyed to us by Bessie C. Buck, administratrix of the estate of Maurice A. Buck, by her deed dated December 18, 1936", subject to a $1,500 mortgage of October 15, 1946 to the City Institution for Savings of Lowell (Book 1055, Page 176). A straw deed, reconveyed the same day to Ruth alone.
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| October 7, 1947 | Quitclaim | Frederick J. Finnegan of Lowell, unmarried | Ruth L. Turner of Billerica | 1947: Finnegan reconveys to Ruth L. Turner alone | 1078/495 |
Signed September 26, 1947. For consideration paid, the same two parcels "with the buildings thereon", the first "A certain lot of land with a dwelling house thereon containing thirty-seven (37) rods", "Being the same premises conveyed to me by Laban M. Turner and Ruth Turner by their deed dated this day and to be recorded herewith." The straw deed put the title in Ruth L. Turner alone.
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| November 17, 1952 | Quitclaim | Ruth L. Turner of Billerica | James Gerald McCusker and Anne H. McCusker, husband and wife, tenants by the entirety | 1952: Ruth L. Turner sells the house lot to James Gerald and Anne H. McCusker | 1210/305 |
Signed October 30, 1952, recorded November 17, 1952 (pages 305-306). For consideration paid, "Two certain parcels of land with the buildings thereon": "Parcel 1. A certain lot of land with a dwelling house thereon containing thirty-seven (37) rods more or less", north by land formerly of Eben'r Cowdrey, east by the road, south and west by land formerly of William D. Mason; "Parcel 2. Another certain lot of vacant land containing about three-quarters of an acre" from the ditch on the Boston Road. "Being the same premises to me conveyed by Frederick J. Finnegan by his deed dated September 26, 1947 ... Book 1078, Page 495." The last deed to mention the dwelling house: the McCuskers added the land to their Boston Road holdings.
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| 1960 | Will | Estate of James Gerald McCusker of Billerica | Anne H. McCusker, his widow | about 1960: will of James Gerald McCusker; the land to his widow | Probate #354056 |
Middlesex Probate Court docket no. 354056. James Gerald McCusker died about 1960 (a plan of July 23, 1960, Plan Book 94, Plan 37B, was already surveyed for Anne McCusker), and his widow took the Boston Road and Pollard Street land under his will: her mortgages of 1964 and 1966 say "For my title see Will of said James Gerald McCusker, duly probated in Middlesex Probate Court," and her deeds of 1969 and 1983 cite "Estate of James Gerald McCusker, Middlesex Probate Court Docket No. 354056." The probate papers themselves (twentieth century, not in the online index) have not been read.
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| October 17, 1969 | Quitclaim | Anne H. McCusker (also known as Ann H. McCusker) of Billerica, unmarried | George A. Carpenter and Edward Carpenter of Billerica, as tenants in common | 1969: the 1.05 acres north of the ditch, including the old house lot, sold by Anne H. McCusker | 1903/99 |
For $20,000, the 1.05 acres north of the ditch, on Plan Book 94, Plan 37B (July 23, 1960): northerly by land of Brown and Ohlson 448 feet, easterly by Pollard Street 76.35 feet, southerly by "other land of McCusker" 334.95 feet and westerly by Boston Road 197.5 feet; title from Ruth L. Turner, 1952 (Book 1210, Page 305). It is a row here because it grants "the right to pipe, repair and maintain the ditch on the southerly side of the above described premises, and blacktop the same if desired," reserving to the grantor, her heirs and lessees "the right to pipe into said ditch in the location where the pipe now enters," an easement every later deed of 312 Boston Road recites. Acknowledged October 14, 1969.
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| July 28, 1975 | Quitclaim | Anthony, Robert and Ronald Erbetta, Trustees of R.G.R. Realty Trust | David S. Shiff, Trustee of the David S. Shiff Trust | 1975: the 308 Boston Rd lot to the David S. Shiff Trust, owner in 2026 | 2158/487 |
Signed July 25, 1975. For $100,000, a parcel "with the buildings thereon" on the easterly side of Boston Road and the westerly side of Pollard Street (written "312 Boston Post Road"), shown on Plan Book 94, Plan 37B (July 23, 1960, surveyed for Ann McCusker): north by land of Brown and land now or formerly of Ohlson 448 feet, east by Pollard Street 76.35 feet, south by other land of McCusker 334.95 feet, west by Boston Road 197.5 feet, 1.05 acres; "being the same conveyed by Anthony Erbetta" December 30, 1972 (Book 2090, Page 478). Between 1969 and 1972 the lot passed through private owners. The trust built the auto parts store of about 1978 that stands on the lot (308 Boston Rd) and still held it in 2026 under this deed.
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Recorded is Book/Page at the Middlesex North Registry of Deeds unless noted; Probate # is a Middlesex probate case, Ctf a Land Court certificate of title.