The building now known as the Minories was acquired in 1731 by Isaac Boggis with wealth from the woollen bays or baize making trade. The Tudor mansion was remodelled as an elegant Georgian residence for his son, Thomas Boggis, in 1776. It started to be called “The Minories” in the 1870s, when it became fashionable to give buildings names. From 1884 to 1902 the house was leased by Dr Charles Otto Gustavus Becker, father of the artist Harry Becker who was raised in the Minories. In 1915 Geoffrey Crawford Bensusan-Butt and his wife, Dr Ruth, took the lease, and in 1923 they purchased the property from the Boggis-Rolfe family. Ruth was sister-in-law to Lucien Pisssarro, son of Camille, and the Pissarro family visited regularly. She was a GP, a founder member of the Socialist medical Association and for 35 years a Borough Councillor and Alderman. After her retirement she sold the Minories to the Victor Batte-Lay Trust (which later became the Foundation) in 1956. Since then the building has been run as a Gallery directly by the Victor Batte-Lay Foundation, and has also hosted tenants including Firstsite and Colchester Institute.