Conclusions on Money

So far no record of the use of Banks locally has been found before the twentieth century and then it was more likely to be a Building Society or similar. The Manor of Princes Risborough had historically owned everything, letting out parcels of land. These tenants appear to have been people with money or in a position to borrow money. The Manor itself did not give them mortgages. It was usual for these tenants to buy their Manor tenancy as an investment and promptly sublet the property. The sub-letting tenants and sometimes there were sub-sub-letting tenants, appear to have all borrowed money in the form of mortgages, frequently from the vendor if a small amount. Every purchase for land, for money to build a house thereon, every addition to land was covered by another mortgage. No purchaser had money in hand. The mortgages were often for only a few years, with interest at 5% or so. Most were paid off on time from income earned.