In W H Blanch’s book Ye Parish of Camerwell: “The wealthy family of Spitta lived [in Peckham House] in great style, giving fêtes, or what would now be termed garden-parties, to their neighbours, and dispensing charity with no niggard hand amongst the poor of the locality.”
Several generations of the family were associated with Peckham:
1. Charles Lewis Spitta (1747-1822)
Charles Lewis Spitta was born Carl Ludewig Spitta on 24 December 1747 in Braunschweig, Lower Saxony, Germany. He moved to England as a young man and became a naturalised British subject in 1775. He later became a partner in a business in Lawrence Pountney Lane. (“Molling, Spitta & Molling, Merchts., 34, Dowgate-hill” in Directory of London and Westminster, & Borough of Southwark. 1794) CLS1 married Ann Cobb (1757-1813) “of Twickenham” on 12 October 1782 at Saint Michael Paternoster in the City of London. They lived in “the fine mansion in the Peckham Road”. (Blanch)
They had eight children who were all baptised at St Giles, Camberwell – so the family were living in the locality at least between 1785 and 1799.
- Catharine Spitta (1785–1839)
- Henry Author Spitta (1787–1864)
- Charles Lewis Spitta (1789–1849)
- Benjamin Spitta (1789–1818)
- Ann Spitta (1790–1821)
- Sophia Spitta (1792– ?)
- Sarah Spitta (1793–1823).
- Francis John Spitta (1799–1887)
Ann died in 1813 and was buried on 3 May 1813 at St Michael Paternoster Royal.
There was a bankruptcy hearing in 1816 (“Charles Lewis Spitta, Frederick Molling, Godfrey Molling, and Henry Author Spitta, of Lawrence-Pountney-Lane, merchants”).
CLS1 retired from the family business and died in 1822 in Colchester, Essex. Two of his daughters also died in Colchester: Ann (1821) and Sarah (1823).
2. Charles Lewis Spitta ‘Junior’ (1789-1849)
Second son of the above. He continued on the family business with brother Henry Author. CLS2 married Mary Colson (1793-1861) on 5 May 1814 at St Giles, Camberwell.
They had the following children:
- Charles Lewis Spitta (1815–1846)
- Robert John Spitta (1819–1900)
On 29 May 1824 Peckham House was put on the market.
CLS2 died on 11 August 1849 in New York, USA (though “formerly of Bishopsgate-street in the City of London”).
3. Charles Lewis Spitta (c1815-1846)
The elder son of Charles Lewis Spitta ‘Junior’ and Mary Colson. He married Harriet Breth (1825-1912) in 1841 in Bengal, India.
They had two children:
- Charles Henry Spitta (1843-1888). Barrister-at- Law, of Lahore, Punjab, India. Died in Surbiton.
- Mary Catherine Spitta (1846-?)
Charles Lewis Spitta, “First Lieutenant of the Corps of Bengal Engineers” died on 18 October 1846 in Berhampur, West Bengal, India. His widow, Harriet, returned to England and married Edwin Morton on 28 December 1848 at Holy Trinity, Clapham, Surrey.
