Isaac Newton | Document signed, as witness, 11 November 1719

Isaac Newton

Document signed twice, as a witness, to an indenture by which Thomas Sturgess of the parish of St Martin's in the Fields sells to Robert Newton of Colsterworth, Lincs, for the sum of £270, a messuage or tenement in Colsterworth in the tenure of William Bulliner and also around 70 acres of arable land and pasture in Colsterworth and Woolsthorpe ("Woollstrop") also occupied by the Bulliner family (William, Joan, and son John), also one rood [i.e. quarter acre] of land previously belonging to John Storey of Kneeton, Notts, and other lands, dated 11 November 1719, signed by Thomas Sturgess and with his seal, witnessed twice on the dorse (the sealing of the document and the payment of the £270 witnessed separately) by Newton and also by Richard Cox and James Weston, and also signed again by Sturgess, one vellum membrane (595x770mm)

A RARE AND UNRECORDED DOCUMENT SIGNED BY NEWTON. Newton was in his mid-70s when he witnessed this deed, and was living in London as Master of the Mint. He almost certainly knew both parties to this transaction. His home in St Martin's Street was in the parish of St Martin's in the Fields, which was also the home of Thomas Sturgess, who was selling the land in this transaction. The buyer was his first cousin once removed, Robert Newton of Colsterworth (d.1734). Isaac Newton would also have been familiar with the fields and houses that his cousin was buying: the property in question included land in Newton's native hamlet of Woolsthorpe, as well as in the adjacent village of Colsterworth.

Documents signed by Sir Isaac Newton are rare, and most relate to his work as Master of the Mint. A document closely related to this one was, however, sold at auction in 2015 (RR Auctions, 27 September 2015, lot 8065, $22,500). Dated one day before the current document, that deed recorded the sale of land by Sturgess to Robert Newton for the nominal sum of 5 shillings. It was similarly signed (once) by Isaac Newton as a witness.