Wreck ('Wrack') Hall Farm

The High Street c1960
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My grandmother's family originated on Canvey Island, farming at Wrack Hall from some time in the early 19th century until the death of my great great grandfather, Edward Morley, in 1863. Wrack Hall was so named because it was built from the timbers of a ship named the 'Ajax', which went aground on South Shoebury - if anyone knows when, I would be grateful for the information. My e-mail address is jmikedean@googlemail.com There seems to be no record of the wreck of an 'Ajax' on the Web in the appropriate period, possibly c.1770 (again, information, please), except in relation to the building of Wrack Hall. The timbers for the main building were bought by a Mr Richardson, a nearby houseowner. In view of its origins, the building must have been at least interesting. Perhaps someone was moved to take a photograph of it, but none seems to be recorded. Wrack Hall is known to have been sold at auction, first in 1770, for £110 and again in 1815 for £1,300 (it seems because everyone bidding had consumed a good deal of alcoholic refreshment at the Lion Inn, Rayleigh, beforehand - the reserve having been set at only £800). Photography having been invented for commercial purposes in 1839, when the principles of the Daguerrotype process were published in Paris, at the Academie Francaise, there would have been plenty of time for it to have been photographed between then and the end of the 19th century, when it was destroyed by fire. If anyone knows the date (and cause?) of the fire, I would also like to know. I would be particularly grateful, if anyone happens to have a picture of the buildings, if you would kindly let me know. All the sons of Edward Morley senior migrated, one after the other, to Hackney in London, between around 1850 and 1863. With the exceptions of a greengrocer and a stone mason, they and probably their sons became saddlers and harness-makers, two in Church Street, Stoke Newington (Edward junior at 7, Church St. and later his son, Samuel, at 13 Church St.) and one, my great grandfather, William Morley, at 11, Hertford Road, then 503, Kingsland Road, Hackney and finally in much larger premises at 449, Kingsland Road, which is still standing. At this time he had a house, also still standing, at 46, Sandringham Road, Hackney. Later he and his family moved to Beaconsfield House, Haringey Road, West Green, Tottenham, Mx., where he died in 1892. His grave is in section E03, no. 43030 in Abney Park Cemetery, Stoke Newington. The Cemetery is an arboretum, the trees for which were supplied by the famous horticulturalist, Loddiges, of Hackney. I would be glad of any further information about the Morley family and myself have a good deal more about the Hackney Morleys, including photographs of of their surviving buildings - houses and business premises, and of the grave of William Morley, his wife, Caroline and one of their twin sons, who died at the age of only one month. If anyone is interested in my archive, they would be welcome to share it. My grandmother, Maud Morley, married Ernest Barnett, a printer and stationer, of Burslem, Stoke on Trent. My Mother, Muriel Barnett, married Lesley Dean, the son of a pottery manufacturer, George A. Dean, of Thomas Dean and Sons, Tunstall. Further information willingly provided.