History of the Site 
 
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 THE SITE OF 
 
 MERCHANT TAYLORS' HALL
 
 A History 
 
 OF THE 
 
 Site of Merchant Taylors' Hall 
 
 and adjoining properties belonging to the 
 
 Guild of Merchant Taylors 
 
 OF THE 
 
 iFraternttp of S»aint 3Jot)n mnptist 
 
 IN THE 
 
 City of London 
 
 BY 
 
 Henry Lennox Hopkinson 
 
 Master of the Guild for the Year igio-ii 
 
 THE RIORDEN PRESS, NOEL STREET, SOHO 
 1913 
 
 {Printed for Private Circulation)
 
 ^Dl\ 
 
 M 
 
 6S7 St. John Baptist's Day, 1913. 
 
 My dear Master, 
 
 I have often felt that it would be very desirable if one 
 could have, in an easily accessible form, for the 
 information of the members of the Court of the Merchant 
 Taylors' Company, a record of the circumstances and 
 conditions under which each particular property belong- 
 ing to the Company has been acquired. 
 
 Such a record would not only have a historic 
 interest, but, I venture to think, would be of practical 
 value in enabling one to reply to the criticisms which are 
 sometimes made even by fair-minded though imperfectly- 
 informed persons, in regard to the application by the 
 City Guilds of their corporate funds, which nevertheless 
 it has been declared on the highest authority, are as 
 much their own property as that of any private owner. 
 
 I am indebted to the kindness of my colleagues on 
 the Court, for having given me the opportunity in the 
 accompanying pamphlet, of trying to put my ideas into 
 effect, as regards an important part of the Company's 
 possessions, viz., the site of our Hall and other property 
 immediately adjoining. 
 
 In conclusion I should like to express the hope that 
 the record may at some future date be completed so as to 
 include the rest of our properties. 
 
 I am, my dear Master, 
 
 Yours sincerely, 
 
 Henry L. Hopkinson. 
 
 Cyril Wintle, Esq., 
 • Master of the Merchant Taylors' Company. 
 
 93S48?
 
 CONTENTS 
 
 Introduction 
 
 I 
 
 Hall Site ... 
 
 7 
 
 Chircheman's Land ... 
 
 33 
 
 Dowe's Gift 
 
 72 
 
 Hawes' Gift 
 
 76 
 
 Blundell's Gift 
 
 81 
 
 Site next Blundell's Gift ... 
 
 «3 
 
 Little Garden 
 
 85 
 
 Library Site 
 
 89 
 
 Union Bank of Scotland Site 
 
 93 
 
 General Observations 
 
 97 
 
 Plans 
 
 ... At end
 
 ABBREVIATIONS IN MARGINAL NOTES. 
 
 H.R. — Husting Rolls at the Guildhall, London. 
 
 C.P.R. — Calendar of Patent Rolls, published by the Record Office. 
 
 P. R.— Patent Rolls at the Record Office. 
 
 C.L.B.— City Letter Books, edited by Dr. R. R. Sharpe. 
 
 CM. —Court Minutes of the Merchant Taylors' Company. 
 
 M. — Memorials of the Merchant Taylors' Company, by C. M. Clode, 
 
 1875- 
 
 Stow — Stow's " Survey of London " (Edition of 1908 by C. L. 
 Kingsford). 
 
 Loftie — Loftie's *'■ History of London."
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 'nr^HE main object in view, in the preparation of these 
 notes, is to identify the sources from which the 
 Merchant Taylors' Company have derived the site of their 
 Hall and other properties lying within the area bounded 
 by Threadneedle Street, Bishopsgate Street, Cornhill and 
 Finch Lane, to shew the circumstances under which they 
 were acquired, and to trace the early titles thereto. 
 
 At the same time, I have not limited myself exclusively 
 to this object, but have dealt with other matters, 
 incidentally arising, in connection with the premises, 
 which appeared to me might be of interest to the 
 members of the Company ; including a short account 
 of any interesting or distinguished person formerly 
 connected with the Company's properties, either as 
 tenant or owner, whose name I may happen to have 
 come across in the course of my researches. 
 
 It will be seen that a large proportion of the property 
 dealt with is not subject to any charitable trust whatso- 
 ever, and that quite a considerable number of properties 
 have been acquired by the Company, down to as recent 
 a date as the year igii, for the purpose either of 
 investment or of rounding off their estate. 
 
 In view of the allegation contained in the Majority 
 Report of the Royal Commission on the City Livery 
 Companies (page 42) that " it is not improbable that 
 
 B
 
 2 INTRODUCTION 
 
 certain of the Companies' title deeds, which were 
 destroyed in the Fire, would if preserved, have disclosed 
 trusts," it seems very desirable to place on record the 
 actual facts in connection with the acquisition by this 
 Company of their various properties, by reference, where 
 the original deeds have been lost or destroyed, to the 
 copies preserved in the Record Office, or in the Court of 
 Husting. 
 
 If ever it were proposed to carry out, in whole or in 
 part, the recommendations contained in the Majority 
 Report of the Commissioners, legislation would be 
 necessary, which it would be the duty of the City Guilds 
 to oppose to the utmost. To do so with success or even 
 to mitigate the consequences of any such legislation, we 
 ought to be prepared betimes with all the true facts in 
 connection with the circumstances under which our 
 various properties were acquired, and then I believe we 
 should indeed be in a position to shew in Parliament 
 a very strong case against any interference, and I venture 
 to think, even a stronger case than was made out before 
 the Commissioners. 
 
 If however some unscrupulous Government should 
 hereafter seek to deprive us of our property, let us at least 
 prevent them from trying to justify an act of confiscation 
 pure and simple by any shallow pretence, that they are 
 only dealing with trust property. 
 
 I have been fortunate in discovering, enrolled in the 
 Record Office or in the Court of Husting, a large number 
 of deeds and documents relating to the Company, which 
 have been lost sight of, but of which I have now had 
 copies made and placed among the archives, for future 
 reference by any who may be interested in them. 
 
 I should like to take this opportunit}^ to acknowledge 
 the valuable assistance I have received in my search
 
 INTRODUCTION 3 
 
 through the Husting Rolls, from the work of Dr. R. R. 
 Sharpe, the learned Keeper of the Guildhall Records, 
 himself an old Merchant Taylor boy and an Andrews 
 Exhibitioner. He has prepared a full index or calendar 
 of all deeds enrolled in the Court of Husting, without 
 which any attempt to search the Rolls would have been 
 practically hopeless. It is at present in manuscript only, 
 but it is to be hoped that the Corporation will see their 
 way to have it printed, so as to render it more easily 
 accessible to all who are interested in the ancient history 
 of London and its citizens. 
 
 I have also consulted certain manuscript books in the 
 Company's possession known as " The Evidence Book," 
 *' The Wills Book," and " The Rentals Book." 
 
 The Evidence Book contains short and, for the most 
 part, very incomplete abstracts, though in some cases 
 copies, (not always accurate), of various deeds affecting 
 the Company's property, most of which have long since 
 been lost, mislaid, or possibly burnt in the Great Fire. 
 Full copies of many of these deeds, have, however, been 
 preserved in the Court of Husting or in the Record 
 Office, to which, as being more likely to be reliable, I 
 have, wherever available, directly gone for the parti- 
 culars given in these notes ; except of course in those 
 cases where the original deeds are still in the Company's 
 possession. 
 
 The Evidence Book is a copy of an earlier one 
 prepared by Richard Wright, Clerk to the Company 
 (1587-1594) and afterwards Master (161 1). It was made 
 in the year 1605 and brought down to date by Richard 
 Langley, then Clerk to the Company. 
 
 Langley resigned the Clerkship in 1610 on being 
 appointed Deputy Town Clerk, and was elected on the m., p. 545. 
 Court of Assistants the same year. He died in 1612 and
 
 4 INTRODUCTION 
 
 was buried in St. Martin Outwich, where there was a 
 monument to him and his wife. 
 
 The Wills Book contains not only copies of wills of 
 benefactors, as its name would imply, but also of many 
 other documents. 
 
 The Rentals Book gives particulars of the leases 
 granted by the Company. The two last-mentioned 
 books seem to have been also compiled by Langley about 
 the same time as the Evidence Book, but contain many 
 later entries. In the Court Minutes for the year 1608 is 
 a reference to the preparation of these and other books 
 c. M^, vol. V. i^y Langley, and a payment to him of ;fioo for his 
 services in connection therewith. 
 
 Without the help I have received from Mr. C. M. 
 Clode's "Memorials" and his " Early History" of the 
 Company, I could hardly have ventured on the task of 
 preparing these notes. 
 
 I believe that only those who have attempted to 
 follow in his footsteps, can fully realize the enormous 
 amount of research which the writing of those books 
 must have involved. If I have had occasion sometimes 
 to differ from his conclusions, it is because I have had 
 sources of information which were not available to him 
 at the time he wrote. 
 
 I should like to express my thanks for the en- 
 couragement I have received from members of the 
 Court, and for the help given me by the officers of the 
 Company, Mr. Edward Nash, Mr. H. A. F. Chambers 
 and Mr. W. T. Essex, with their intimate knowledge of 
 the Company's records. 
 
 In giving the dates of deeds and other documents, 
 I have throughout adopted the " New Style " which did 
 not come into force in England till 1752, up to which
 
 INTRODUCTION 5 
 
 time the year was reckoned to commence at Lady Day 
 instead of on the ist of January. 
 
 Many variations in the spelHng of proper names will 
 be noted ; but I have tried, in all cases, to adhere to the 
 spelling adopted in the particular document to which I 
 may happen to be referring. 
 
 In quoting from Latin and French documents, I have 
 given the spelling as I found it, though it is possibly 
 incorrect. 
 
 Attached to these notes will be found two plans ; one, 
 which I have called the " Ground Plan," indicating by 
 separate colours the titles under which the property is 
 held ; the other, which I have called the " Key Plan," 
 indicating the abuttals of the property at various dates, 
 with the ward and parish boundaries. 
 
 The ward boundaries are only approximately correct, 
 for I have not been able to find any authentic ward 
 maps ; while the boundaries as shewn on the ordnance 
 map are uncertain and confusing. 
 
 Neither the ward clerks nor the ward beadles are able 
 to tell me with certainty the original boundaries of their 
 wards. In the absence of any reliable maps or plans, I 
 have shewn the present ward boundaries as well as I 
 can, but there is no doubt that they have varied from 
 time to time. Indeed, I am officially informed that the 
 practice has been, when a new building has been erected 
 on the boundary of two wards, to treat it as lying within 
 the ward in which the greater part is situate, which, of 
 course, will account for most of such variations. 
 
 The parish boundaries are taken from parish maps, 
 and probably differ very little from the ancient boundaries, 
 but even in their case, differences, I think, do occur. 
 
 For instance, there is no doubt that the part of the 
 " little garden " coloured yellow (2) on the Ground Plan,
 
 6 INTRODUCTION 
 
 which is now incorporated in the site of the Court 
 Dining Room, was originally in the parish of St. Michael 
 Cornhill. 
 
 From the very nature of the subject dealt with in 
 these notes, I am afraid they must be somewhat dry 
 reading, except to those interested in all that concerns 
 the Company.
 
 (7 ) 
 
 THE HALL SITE. 
 
 Land coloured pink on the Ground Plan. 
 
 The first piece of land acquired by the Guild or 
 Fraternity of Taylors and Linen Armourers was the 
 site of the present Hall of the Merchant Taylors' 
 Company. 
 
 The history of the site before its acquisition by the 
 Fraternity is as follows : — 
 
 By a Deed, not dated but (as appears from its h. r. 
 being attested by the then Mayor and Sheriff) executed ^ ' 
 in the year 1297 ^i' 1298, and enrolled in the Court of 
 Husting on the 19th of October, 1299, Ralph de 
 Alegate (who is therein described as " clericus," and who 
 was also known as " Ralph Crepin," as I shall presently 
 shew), conveyed to Walter de Glovernia ■ his stone 
 gateway, with the stone chamber erected over the same, 
 and the new stone work for the purpose of constructing 
 a hall (" ad unam aulam construendam "), adjoining the 
 same gateway upon Cornhill (" eidem porte conjunctam 
 super CornhuU ") in the City of London, with the garden 
 adjoining, extending as far as the gable (" gabulum ") of 
 the stone chamber of the great mansion towards the 
 South, as the same is enclosed within stone and other 
 walls ; to hold the same in fee simple, at the rent of a 
 rose on St. John the Baptist's Day. 
 
 By another Deed, also not dated, but (as similar 
 internal evidence shews) executed in the year 1298 or^R, 
 1299, and enrolled in the Court of Husting at the same ^^ ^'^^^' 
 time as the last-mentioned deed, Ralph de Alegate
 
 S THE HALL SITE 
 
 (otherwise Crepin) conveyed to Walter de Glovernia his 
 principal mansion upon Cornhill, with houses and rents 
 adjoining, in the parishes of St. Peter and St. Michael 
 upon Cornhill, St. Benedict Fink, and St. Martin de 
 Otteswich, and the appurtenances thereunto belonging 
 (excepting from the said grant the stone gateway with 
 the stone chamber erected above it, and excepting also 
 the new work for the purpose of constructing a hall, and 
 the garden adjoining, extending as far as the gable of the 
 stone chamber of the aforesaid principal mansion towards 
 the South, as the same is included within stone and other 
 walls) To hold the same (except as aforesaid) to the said 
 Walter de Glovernia in tail, with limitations over (in the 
 event of his dying without issue) to his brother, John de 
 Glovernia, and his sister, Juliana de Glovernia ; but in 
 the event of their dying without issue, the property was 
 to revert to Ralph de Alegate (otherwise Crepin) and his 
 heirs. 
 Evidence Thcsc two dccds wcre at one time in the Company's 
 
 possession, as appears from the Schedule contained in 
 the Evidence Book. It is clear that they must relate to 
 some part at least of the Hall site, because, apart from 
 the evidence afforded by the fact of the documents being 
 in the Company's possession, the property with which 
 they deal is described as lying within the parishes of 
 St. Peter, St. Michael, St. Bennet Fink and St. Martin 
 Outwich. 
 
 From a reference to the Ground Plan, it will at once 
 be seen that it would practically be impossible to 
 demarcate a piece of land to which this description 
 would apply, without including some part of the Hall 
 site, lying, as it does, at the junction of the four parishes. 
 H R. By a Deed dated the 13th of June, 1300, Ralph de 
 
 29 (65). Alegate, " called Crepin," (" Radulphus de Alegate dictus
 
 THE HALL SITE 9 
 
 Crepin ") released to Walter de Glovernia (in the margin 
 called " Walter de Gloucester") All title and claim to all 
 lands, tenements and rents whatsoever at any time 
 belonging to him in the City of London, and given by 
 him to the said Walter. 
 
 At the same time, Ralph de Alegate (otherwise 
 Crepin), executed similar deeds of release to John de 
 Glovernia and Juliana de Glovernia. I have come across 
 many such deeds of release and quit-claim, following on 
 a prior deed of conveyance. They are interesting as 
 shewing the conveyancing practice of those days, but I 
 merely refer to these particular deeds, in order to 
 establish the identity of Ralph de Alegate with Ralph 
 Crepin, which is also proved by other deeds in the 
 Husting Rolls. 
 
 By a Deed dated the 8th of May, 1332, Edmund h. r. 
 Crepin, who is therein described as the son of Walter ° "^"^ " 
 Crepin, in consideration of a certain sum of money 
 (" quandam summam pecunie ") conveyed to John de 
 Yakeslee, Tentmaker to the King (" pavilonarius domini 
 nostri regis") All that his principal mansion (" man- 
 agium ") in the parishes of St. Peter de CornhuU, St. 
 Benedict Fink, and St. Martin de Oteswith, in the wards 
 of Cornhull and Bradestrete, in the City of London, 
 with the great gate belonging to the same mansion 
 towards Cornhull, and with the solar ("solarium," 
 i.e., an attic or upper room), built over the same gate, 
 and with another great gate belonging to the same 
 mansion towards Bradestrete, together with the right of 
 ingress and egress to and from the said mansion, as well 
 through the said great gate towards Cornhull as through 
 the said great gate towards Bradestrete, and with all 
 other the appurtenances whatsoever to the said mansion 
 within the said two gates belonging ; which said mansion
 
 10 THE HALL SITE 
 
 Sir Oliver de Ingham, knt. had hitherto held of the said 
 Edmund Crepin, and inhabited ; and the same was situate 
 in breadth between the tenement of William de Manhale, 
 and the tenement of Agnes Rikeman, and the tenement 
 formerly of Henry de Coventre, rector of the church of 
 St. Bride, Fletestrete, and the tenement which John de 
 Totenham, carpenter, held of the said Edmund Crepin 
 towards the East, and the tenement of the said Edmund 
 Crepin, and the tenement of the Brethren of St. 
 Augustine, London, (the " Austin Friars "), which 
 Thomas Lyon held for the term of his life, and the 
 tenement formerly of Henry de Schorne towards the 
 West, and extended in length from the highway (" vicus 
 regius"), of Cornhull and the tenements of the said 
 Edmund Crepin towards the South, as far as the 
 tenement" which the said John de Totenham, carpenter, 
 held of the said Edmund Crepin, and the highway 
 ("vicus regius") of Bradestrete towards the North, as 
 the said principal mansion was divided and separated 
 from the other adjoining tenements of the said 
 Edmund Crepin by boundary marks then recently placed 
 there. 
 H. R By a Deed dated the 12th of November, 1336, 
 
 4 (13)- Yakeslee, in consideration of a certain sum of money 
 (" quandam summam pecunie "), conveyed the premises 
 to John de Ayleston (therein described as "clericus") 
 under the same description as in the Deed of 1332, 
 except for a variation in the abuttals, which I shall set 
 out as they form another step in the work of identification. 
 The premises are described as bounded on the East by 
 the tenement of the Prior and Convent of the New 
 Hospital of St. Mary without Bishopsgate, which William 
 de Manhale holds for the term of his life, the tenement of 
 Richard de Basyngestoke, which formerly belonged to
 
 THE HALL SITE ii 
 
 Agnes Rikeman, the tenement of Henry de Coventre, and 
 the tenement of John de Totenham ; on the West by the 
 tenement of Edmund Crepyn, the tenement of the 
 Brethren of St. Augustine, which Thomas Lyon holds 
 for the term of his Hfe, and the tenement which formerly 
 belonged to Henry de Shorne ; on the South by the 
 highway of Cornhill and the tenement of Edmund 
 Crepyn ; and on the North, by the tenement of John de 
 Totenham and the highway of Bradestrete. 
 
 Ayleston did not retain the property very long, for on Evidence 
 the 29th of September, 1337, he reconveyed it to 
 Yakeslee. Possibly the transaction was only in the 
 nature of a mortgage. 
 
 By a Deed dated the 20th of March, i^4S, Yakeslee Evidence 
 
 ^ ^ . Book, p. 5. 
 
 conveyed the property to John Aystwick. This 
 Conveyance does not appear to have been enrolled in the 
 Court of Husting ; but there is a short abstract of it 
 in the Evidence Book, which, however, gives no abuttals. 
 
 By a Deed of Feoffment dated the gth of July, 1347, BoLt"p"6. 
 of which Deed there is also only a short abstract in the 
 Evidence Book, John Aystwick conveyed the premises to 
 William Galeis and twenty-five other feoffees. 
 
 This Deed is not enrolled in the Court of Hustins:, *^^*'4*^ ^°1't't 
 
 o' 21 Edw. III. 
 
 but on the Close Rolls is a recognizance for ;f300 given pt-i-m.36d. 
 by Astwyk to secure the feoffees' title, and an Indenture 
 dated the 22nd of July, 1347, setting forth the conditions 
 of the recognizance and containing a recital of the deed, 
 in which the premises are described as all that principal 
 mansion ("principal manage"), etc., and which states 
 that Aystwyk, who is therein described as ''marchant et 
 citein," had recently obtained the same of the grant and 
 feoffment of John de Yakeslee ("iadys avoit del doune et 
 feoffament de Johan de Yakesle"). This deed of 
 feoffment I believe, for reasons which I shall presently
 
 12 THE HALL SITE 
 
 give, marks the date when the Fraternity first acquired 
 the site of the present Hall. 
 
 I have traced the occupation of many of these 
 feoffees, and I have found all such to be members of the 
 Guild of Taylors and Linen Armourers. 
 
 I think it is safe to conclude, therefore, that this 
 Conveyance was taken in their names, as Trustees for 
 the Guild, which (assuming that the Charter of Edward 
 HL constituted an act of incorporation) had at that time 
 no power to hold land in mortmain. In this view I am 
 supported by the compiler of the Evidence Book, as I 
 shall shew later. Of course if the Guild was not a 
 corporate body, the purchase had of necessity to be taken 
 in the names of trustees on their behalf, just as in the 
 case of an ordinary club at the present day. 
 
 The premises were nevertheless spoken of as the 
 property of the Fraternity, certainly as early as the year 
 1378, for on the Husting Roll, is a Conveyance dated the 
 107(124). lyth of December, 1378, to one, John Organ, of a tene- 
 ment in Bishopsgate Street (now part of the Royal Bank 
 of Scotland), which is described as abutting on the West, 
 upon the tenement of " the Fraternity of Taylors." 
 
 From time to time during the next forty-five years, 
 new trustees were appointed in place of those who died 
 or retired, till ultimately the property became vested in 
 Boolf"'^^ 6-8 ^^^ ^°^^ following persons : Simon Wynchecombe, citizen 
 and armourer (Sheriff 1383), and William Sudbury, John 
 Shalyngford and Thomas Bridlyngton, citizens and 
 taylors. 
 
 At this point on the title, there is in the Evidence 
 Book, a note as follows: — "After all these several con- 
 veyaunces long holden in the hands of feoffees upon trust 
 and renued from time to time with change of feoffments, 
 the King's lycence in mortemaine was had and obtayned 
 
 H. R. 
 
 Evidence 
 Book, p. 9
 
 THE HALL SITE 13 
 
 for the amortizinge of the premises to the Master and 
 Wardeins of the Guild and Fraternity of St. John 
 Baptiste in the Citty of London ". 
 
 The history of the early Mortmain Acts, and the 
 numerous devices resorted to by the religious foundations 
 for getting round them — devices which, as afterwards 
 adopted by private persons for their own purposes, have 
 so profoundly affected our real property law — is a subject 
 of considerable interest, but this is not the occasion to 
 discuss it further. Suffice it to say, that one of these 
 devices was to cause the land to be conveyed to feoffees, 
 to the use of, or in trust for, the religious or other 
 corporation. This device, so far as such corporations 
 were concerned, was put a stop to by the Statute of 
 Mortmain of 15 Richard H., which expressly included in 
 its operation lands conveyed to the use of Guilds and 
 Fraternities. 
 
 It was no doubt in consequence of the passing of this 
 Statute, that the Guild immediately afterwards applied to 
 the King for his licence to hold the premises in mortmain. 
 
 Before a licence could be granted, it was necessary Chancery 
 
 . Inq- a.q.d. 
 
 that an official inquiry before the King's escheator and a File 413 
 
 *^ No. 13. 
 
 jury (" inquisitio ad quod damnum") should be held to 
 ascertain, among other things, the annual value of the 
 
 land proposed to be amortized. An inquiry was accord- \ 
 
 ingly held on the 6th of June, 1392, and it was found by j 
 
 the jury that the land and buildings, to which the ' 
 
 application referred, were then of the annual value of j 
 
 £10. 
 
 As a result of the application and inquiry, Richard II. 
 by letters patent dated the 23rd of June, 1392, in con- 
 sideration of 200 marks (;f 133 6s. 8d.) paid to him by 
 Thomas Sibsay, Master, and Stephen Hamme, William P-R- 16. 
 
 •^ . ^ Ric. II. 
 
 Waterton, John Patriche and Henry Seward, citizens Pt. i. m. 14.
 
 14 THE HALL SITE 
 
 and taylors of London, Wardens of the Guild and 
 Fraternity of St. John the Baptist of the same City 
 (" Custodes Gilde et Fraternitatis sancti Johannis Bap- 
 tiste ") granted to Simon Wynchecombe and his co- 
 feoffees Hcence to assign " Two messuages, eleven shops 
 and ten marks of rent in London, held of the King in 
 burgage, to the aforementioned Master and Wardens and 
 Brethren and Sisters of the aforesaid Guild and Fraternity" 
 and licence to the same Master and Wardens and Brethren 
 and Sisters to receive and hold the said premises to them- 
 selves and their successors for ever. 
 
 The ten marks was a rent charge belonging to the 
 Fraternity and issuing out of premises known as the 
 Saracen's Head, Friday Street. 
 
 It will be observed what a heavy fee was charged for 
 the licence, equal to eight years' purchase of the annual 
 value of the property comprised therein ; that is to say, 
 fifteen marks a year (£io) from the two messuages and 
 eleven shops, and ten marks a year from the Saracen's 
 Head ; together, twenty-five marks a year. 
 
 Burgage tenure was analogous to the free socage 
 tenure, generally prevailing in the country. 
 
 Under this tenure, the land was held by citizens 
 directly from the King, on the single condition of being 
 bound to defend the walls of the City. 
 Evidence In pursuancc of the licence, by a Deed dated the 24th 
 
 pp. 10-12. of June, 1392, Simon Wynchecombe and his co-feoffees 
 conveyed the premises (together with the ten marks rent 
 issuing out of the Saracen's Head), to the Master and 
 Wardens and Brethren and Sisters of the Guild and 
 Fraternity of St. John the Baptist in London, and their 
 successors. Master, Wardens, Brethren and Sisters of the 
 same Guild and Fraternity, under the following descrip- 
 tion : "All those two messuages and eleven shops, of 
 
 .r-^
 
 THE HALL SITE 15 
 
 which one messuage called " Taillourshalle " and the 
 aforesaid eleven shops are in the parishes of St. Benedict 
 Fink and St. Martin Oteswych, between the tenements 
 of the Brethren of the Order of St. Augustine, London, 
 on the West, and the tenements of John Chircheman, 
 which were formerly of Master John de Totenham, 
 carpenter, on the East ; and between the tenements 
 of Edmund Saundeford, which formerly were of 
 John de Colonia, on the South and the highway 
 ("via regia ") of Bradestrete on the North; and the 
 other messuage is situate in the parish of St. Peter upon 
 Cornhill, between the aforesaid tenements of Edmund 
 Saundeford, which formerly were of John de Colonia, on 
 the West ; and the tenement of the Prior and Convent of 
 St. Mary without Bishopsgate on the North (East ?) ; 
 and the highway ("via regia ") of Cornhull on the South. 
 
 The abuttals are not so fully set out as in the Con- 
 veyance to Yakeslee ; but I doubt whether the Deed has 
 been accurately copied by the compiler of the Evidence 
 Book, though I am unable to check it, as it has not been 
 enrolled in the Court of Husting. The tenement of the 
 Prior and Convent of St. Mary was undoubtedly on the 
 East, and not on the North, of the messuage in the parish 
 of St. Peter upon Cornhill, which was bounded on the 
 North by the property of John de Totenham, as is clearly 
 shewn in the Conveyance of 1336 from Yakeslee to 
 Ayleston above referred to. 
 
 The property, which is described in the Conveyance of pj ^ 
 1332 from Crepin to Yakeslee as the tenement which John 5^ ('^^• 
 de Totenham held of Edmund Crepin, had in fact been 
 sold by Crepin to Totenham in 1328, subject to a rent 
 charge. 
 
 In 1336 Edmund Crepin sold to John de Colonia the 
 property belonging to him, which lay to the South of the 64(76).
 
 i6 THE HALL SITE 
 
 premises conveyed by him to Yakeslee. It afterwards 
 became vested in John Billesden, who by his Will dated 
 1522, in pursuance of the trust reposed in him by Sir 
 Thomas Lovell, devised it to the Grocers' Company, 
 subject to certain pious uses, with a gift over in case of 
 default to the Merchant Taylors' Company. It still 
 remains the property of the Grocers' Company. On 
 some part of it stood the "Weigh House" which was 
 afterwards removed to Eastcheap. The name survives 
 in the " King's Weigh House Chapel," which formerly 
 stood near Eastcheap, but is now removed to Duke Street, 
 Grosvenor Square. A body of Protestant Dissenters 
 formerly used to meet and hold their services in a room 
 over the Weigh House (then called the " King's Weigh 
 House ") in Eastcheap. They afterwards built themselves 
 a chapel near by, which came to be known as the " King's 
 Weigh House Chapel " and remained in existence till 
 the land was acquired by the Metropolitan and District 
 Railway Companies for the completion of the Inner 
 Circle Railway, when the chapel was removed to its 
 present site. 
 
 Sun Court, Cornhill, to which the Company has 
 an entrance from the Library, was formerly known as 
 Weigh House Yard. 
 
 It will be observed from a perusal of the above- 
 mentioned deeds that at the date when Edmund Crepin 
 sold to Yakeslee and down to, certainly, as late as the 
 year 1347, when the property was purchased on behalf of 
 the Fraternity, there was but one messuage or principal 
 mansion standing on the site, but that in the year 1392, 
 when the premises were conveyed directly into the names 
 of the Master and Wardens of the Fraternity, there were 
 two messuages in existence, namely, one messuage called 
 " Taillourshalle " in the parishes of St. Benet Fink and
 
 THE HALL SITE 17 
 
 St. Martin Oteswyche, and one messuage in the parish of 
 St. Peter upon Cornhill. 
 
 On referring to the accompanying plans, it will at once 
 be seen that the messuage in St. Peter's parish can only 
 have stood on the site of what is now No. 2, White Lion 
 Court, for it was not till nearly three hundred years after- 
 wards that the Fraternity acquired any other land in this 
 parish. 
 
 If we turn to the earliest rent rolls extant, namely, for 
 the year 1399-1400, it will be found that the messuage in 
 St. Peter's parish was then known as " le veille hostielle," 
 and that it was let at ^^5, afterwards increased to 
 £6 135.4^. (ten marks), per annum ; which, having regard 
 to the then value of money, shews that it must have been 
 a house of some consequence. Edward Courtenay, third 
 Earl of Devon, Admiral of the Fleet to Richard II., 
 appears to have been the tenant ; at any rate, he paid 
 several years' arrears of rent to the Fraternity during the 
 years 1403-1405. 
 
 The old French word "hostielle " means a mansion, 
 and corresponds of course to the modern word " hotel " as 
 applied to a private house. 
 
 Which of the two messuages was the more likely to 
 
 be the older building, that even then known as " le veille 
 
 hostielle," or that known as " Taillourshalle " ? Surely 
 
 the answer must be the " old mansion," " le veille 
 
 hostielle." Now, if we turn back to the Conveyance from 
 
 Ralph Crepin to Walter de Glovernia (or Gloucester), we 
 
 find that in 1298 there was a hall in course of erection 
 
 which adjoined the gateway upon Cornhill. The position 
 
 of this gateway is, beyond all reasonable controversy, that 
 
 now occupied by the present entrance from Cornhill into 
 
 White Lion Court. The description of the hall then in 
 
 course of erection, as adjoining the gateway, would more 
 
 c
 
 i8 THE HALL SITE 
 
 fitly apply to a building being erected on the site " where 
 " le veille hostielle " stood, than to a building so far away 
 \ as our present Hall. 
 
 j The conclusion, therefore, that I come to is, that the 
 
 ' hall which was being built in 1298 was afterwards 
 Edmund Crepin's mansion wherein Sir Oliver de Ingham 
 dwelt, and was the same as " le veille hostielle" which 
 stood on the site of No. 2, White Lion Court, that at the 
 time of the purchase on behalf of the Fraternity in 1347 
 the site of our present Hall was part of the garden and 
 grounds, and that some time between 1347 and 1392 a 
 new building which was called " Taillourshalle " was 
 erected, the Fraternity, perhaps, in the meantime tem- 
 porarily occupying " le veille hostielle." 
 
 The Conveyance from Ralph Crepin to Walter de 
 Glovernia of his " principal mansion upon Cornhill " 
 speaks of the garden adjoining to the hall in course of 
 erection extending as far as the gable of the aforesaid 
 principal mansion towards the South. From its relative 
 position, I think that this principal mansion probably 
 stood on the land sold by Edmund Crepin to John de 
 Colonia, now the property of the Grocers' Company, and 
 therefore does not affect the question. 
 
 It will be noticed that shops had been erected on part 
 
 of the site purchased. These shops must have been very 
 
 // small buildings, consisting of a room on the ground floor, 
 
 |^A>''*^ •writh perhaps a room over. The frontage to Brade- 
 
 ,^'t?' strete of the property comprised in the Conveyance of 
 
 1392, was only 148 feet, from which has to be deducted 
 
 the space occupied by the great gate, so that the average 
 
 width of the eleven shops could not have been much 
 
 more than 10 or 11 feet. 
 
 They are described in the early Account Books of the 
 Fraternity as " le peti rent pres le port " or " le rente in
 
 THE HALL SITE 19 
 
 Bradestrete pres le porte," the total rent received in 
 respect of them being about £^ each year. 
 
 This is not the earhest record of the erection of shops Evidence 
 
 Book, p. 5. 
 
 on the site, for they are mentioned in a Deed of the 21st 
 
 of October, 1336, and therefore must have been put up 
 
 shortly after Yakeslee acquired the property. 
 
 So far as I have been able to ascertain, this 
 
 Deed of 1392 is the earliest Conveyance of land 
 
 to the Fraternity as such, but I have come across 
 
 two earlier deeds granting to the Fraternity rent 
 
 charg-es issuino^ out of land. Under the earlier ofwnisBook 
 
 ° p. 12. 
 
 these Deeds dated the 3rd of August, 1351, John de 
 
 Totenham, carpenter, whose name has already been 
 
 frequently mentioned, granted "in pure and perpetual 
 
 alms " to John Pecche, pilgrim (" peregrinus ") of the 
 
 Fraternity of Taylors of London, William de Derby, 
 
 Robert de Gyldeford, Giles de Westmall, and Roger de 
 
 Coloigne (" collectores elemosinarum ejusdem fraterni- 
 
 tatis") an annual rent charge of 4s., issuing out of all 
 
 his lands in the parish of St. Martin de Oteswyche in the 
 
 Ward of Bisshopesgatestrete, To hold to the grantees 
 
 and their successors. Brethren of the said Fraternity 
 
 (" confratres dicte fraternitatis "). 
 
 This Deed gives the earliest list extant, so far as I 
 have at present been able to discover, of Masters and 
 Wardens of the Fraternity. 
 
 The other Deed is dated the 5th of April, 1377, and h. r. 
 under it Robert Payn and others granted to John 
 Tilneye, pilgrim (" peregrinus ") of the Fraternity of St. 
 John the Baptist of Taylors and Linen Armourers of 
 London, Robert Hunden, Robert Lyndeseye, Richard 
 de Burton, and William de Sudbury, Wardens (" cus- 
 todes") and the Brethren ("confratres") of the said 
 Fraternity and their successors of the said Fraternity for
 
 20 
 
 THE HALL SITE 
 
 Riley's 
 Memorials 
 p. 418. 
 
 Stow,vol. i. 
 p. 181. 
 
 ever, an annual rent of ten marks sterling issuing out of 
 all that tenement called " le Sarzinhede " (Saracen's 
 Head) in Friday Street, in the parish of St. Matthew, 
 which the grantors held of the gift and feoffment of John 
 Payn, late citizen and armourer. 
 
 A few years later the Fraternity purchased the 
 freehold of the Saracen's Head, which they still own. 
 
 It is to be noted that both the Licence and the 
 Conveyance to the Fraternity relating to the Hall 
 premises also comprised the above rent charge of ten 
 marks. 
 
 John Tilneye, the " pilgrim " of 1377, is no doubt the 
 same man as John Tilneye, the victim of a clever trick 
 recorded in the City Letter Books under the year 1378. 
 It seems he was a " paltokmaker." A " paltoke " was a 
 long doublet or cloak, perhaps the forerunner of the 
 modern " paletot." 
 
 A man named John Grey came to his house to 
 purchase a paltoke, but before paying for it, asked that 
 he might take it away to shew it to a friend for whom he 
 was buying it. As Tilneye required a deposit, Grey 
 produced some money which he proceeded to place in a 
 purse, and then apparently put the purse into a little box 
 and after locking it up handed it to Tilneye. Grey 
 disappeared, and when the box was opened, it was found 
 that the money was gone and worthless counters had 
 been substituted. When Grey was caught he was put in 
 the pillory and the counters were pierced and strung 
 round his neck. 
 
 Stow says that the Master of this Fraternity till the 
 year 1388 was called pilgrim, " as travelling for the 
 whole Company." 
 
 Among the so-called " Adulterine " Guilds fined in 
 1 180, because not properly licensed, was the " Gilda
 
 THE HALL SITE 2i 
 
 Pereerinorum." On the strenorth of the title " Pare- Loftie, vol. i. 
 grinus" as applied to the Master, Loftie suggests the 
 identity of this Guild with that of the Taylors ; but if 
 the coincidence in the names is the only evidence, I 
 venture to doubt it. ^ 
 
 " Peregrinus " means strictly, an alien or foreigner. 
 It seems to me " Gilda Peregrinorum " merely meant a | 
 guild of foreign merchants, like the " Gilda Teutonicorum " | 
 which existed in London. 
 
 In modern Italian, I believe the adjective "peregrino" 
 or " pelegrino " is used in a secondary sense to denote 
 something rare or out of the common, in the sense of 
 pre-eminent or distinguished ; for instance, I have seen 
 on a monument to a lady in an Italian church, her 
 virtues and characteristics described as " pelegrini." It 
 may be, that the word "peregrinus,'' as applied to the 
 Master of the Fraternity is used in some such secondary 
 sense, and merely meant one who for the time being was 
 distinguished above his fellows in the Guild, like the word 
 " Principal " of a College for instance. 
 
 An alternative explanation of the title of "pilgrim" 
 may be suggested from the ordinances of the mediaeval 
 guilds, many of which make express provision for 
 contributions by the members towards the expense of a 
 brother going on a pilgrimage to the Holy Land, Rome, 
 or elsewhere. Toulmin Smith, in his " English Guilds," 
 gives several instances, e.g. (p. 182) the Guild of the 
 Tailors of Lincoln. In the case of the Guild of the 
 Blessed Virgin Mary of Hull, the ordinance (p. 157) 
 says : — " If any brother or sister wishes at any time to 
 make a pilgrimage to the Holy Land, then, in order 
 that all the Guild may share in his pilgrimage, he shall 
 be fully released from his yearly payment until his 
 return."
 
 22 THE HALL SITE 
 
 It may be that it was the privilege or duty of one who 
 was chosen as head of our Guild that he should under- 
 take a pilgrimage to some shrine, the spiritual benefit 
 arising from which would enure to the whole Fraternity ; 
 and thus in Stow's words he may be said to have 
 travelled for the whole Company, and so received his 
 name of " pilgrim." 
 Ducange's j^ j^j^y \^q worthy of note that in monasteries the 
 
 Dictionary. -^ -^ 
 
 name " peregrinarius " was given to the official whose 
 duty it was to look after guests and strangers, and would 
 seem a more appropriate title for the master. Can it 
 be that the word " peregrinus " in this connection — or 
 rather the abbreviated form in which it appears in docu- 
 ments — is a corruption of " peregrinarius " ? 
 Loftie, vol. ii. Ralph Crcpin's name appears among the members for 
 London in the earliest list extant, which is that for the 
 Parliament of 1284. 
 p.**254.^°^" '' • ^^ that same year, Crepin became implicated in a 
 Loftie, vol. i. murder which seems to have caused great excitement at 
 Camden Soc. the time, probably because of the position of the persons 
 
 vol. xxviii. „ J 
 
 p. ig. concerned. 
 
 It appears that Ralph Crepin had been seriously 
 wounded in a street brawl by one Laurence Ducket, in a 
 quarrel over a lady, Alice Atte-Bowe by name, who was 
 Ralph's mistress. When Alice saw her lover brought 
 home on a stretcher, she vowed vengeance against 
 Ducket, who fled for sanctuary to Bow Church. There 
 Alice discovered him, and with the help of some ruffians 
 caused him to be hanged from the mullion of one of the 
 windows, in such a way as to suggest that he had 
 committed suicide. An inquest was held at which a 
 verdict of suicide was brought in, and it seemed as if the 
 affair would be hushed up with the help of the Sheriff, 
 and others of Ralph's powerful friends. Unfortunately
 
 THE HALL SITE 23 
 
 for those involved, a boy, hidden in the church, gave 
 information. The matter was re-opened, and the parties 
 impHcated were convicted, with the resuh that AHce was 
 burnt (the punishment in those days for women convicted 
 of murder), and her accomplices hanged. Ralph himself, 
 his friend, Jordan Godchepe, (who was one of the 
 Sheriffs that year), and others were attainted, and after 
 long imprisonment were, as Stow described it, " hanged 
 by the purse," that is to say, were released on payment 
 of fines. 
 
 Crepin's land was taken in execution, and on the p- R- 
 
 ^ . 13 Edw. I. 
 
 Patent Rolls is a Grant dated the 2nd of July, 1285, ofm. n. 
 his "houses" in Cornhill (" vicus de Cornhulle ") to 
 Ralph de Sandwych (" custos civitatis London ") to 
 occupy during the King's pleasure. I presume the 
 property was vested in Ralph de Sandwych, in his official 
 capacity. At that time, in consequence of some offence 
 caused to Edward L, the City had been deprived of its 
 liberties and placed under the authority of a royal 
 official called the ** Custos." 
 
 In the following year, 1286, Crepin's lands were c. p. r. 
 ordered to be restored to him, he having purged his p. 386. 
 innocence before Richard de Gravesend, Bishop of 
 London, to whom he had been handed over in accordance 
 with the benefit of clergy. 
 
 I think this Ralph Crepin and Ralph de Alegate 
 (" otherwise Crepin ") must have been the same person, 
 for if they were not, it would be a remarkable coincidence 
 that there should have been two men bearing the same 
 name, living about the same time, both described as 
 *' clericus," and both owning property in Cornhill. 
 
 Walter de Glovernia (or Gloucester) was the son ofn. r. 
 Ralph de Alegate, otherwise Crepin, for he is described as ^^^'^^'' 
 " filius domini Radulphi de Alegate clerici," in a deed on B.,p. 177
 
 24 THE HALL SITE 
 
 the Husting Rolls, and as "Walter de Gloucestre, son of 
 Ralph de Alegate, called Crepyn " in a document entered 
 in the City Letter Books. He was no doubt the same 
 Loftie, vol. ii. person as Walter Crepin, father of Edmund Crepin, and 
 p- 340. probably the same as Walter Crepin who was a member 
 
 e".,p. 175- of Parliament for London in the year 1322, and elected 
 E.,^'. ?8i. Alderman of the Ward of Cornhill, 1323. 
 
 Too much importance must not be attached to 
 changes in surnames, for in those days surnames had 
 hardly become fixed. Other members of the same family 
 assumed the name of Bultel, for among the deeds 
 H. R. relating to this title is a Deed of Confirmation dated the 
 
 7' ^*^^' 23rd of February, 1344, by William Bultel who is 
 
 therein described as the son and heir of Mascelinus 
 Bultel, brother of Ralph Crepin (" frater Radulphi 
 Crepyn"). 
 
 Sir Oliver de Ingham, who was tenant of the 
 premises when Edmund Crepin owned them, was a 
 distinguished soldier. An interesting account of his life 
 will be found in Clode's " Early History " of the 
 Company, Vol. II. p. i. 
 c. P. R. John de Yakeslee's name frequently occurs in the 
 
 Edw. III. . , ., - 
 
 1329. p- 393- Patent Rolls of the time of Edward III. He is described 
 as King's Serjeant and was appointed Keeper of the 
 King's Tents in 1329. 
 
 Id., 1334 In. 1334 he obtained a Writ of Aid for bringing to the 
 
 King at Newcastle-on-Tyne a new hall ("aula") of 
 
 Id. 1335 canvas, and in 1335 he obtained another Writ of Aid for 
 
 ^' ^^^' bringing the King's tents and pavilions to Carlisle. 
 
 These tents doubtless were required in connection 
 with the war with Scotland. 
 
 Id. 1351 In 1351, Yakeslee, in consideration of his long 
 
 service, was granted a pension of twelve pence a day, 
 with two robes befittinor his estate. He died about the
 
 THE HALL SITE 25 
 
 year i^'^?, and his Will is enrolled in the Court ofH R. 
 Husting. 
 
 It has been assumed, on the supposed authority of 
 Stow, that Yakeslee purchased on behalf of the Guild, 
 but Stow does not say so ; all he says is, that (as was 
 the fact) the premises formerly belonged to Crepin, who 
 sold them to Yakeslee. 
 
 It may be asked what object had he in referring to 
 
 the Conveyance to Yakeslee, unless he was under the 
 
 impression that Yakeslee was acting on behalf of the 
 
 Guild. The answer I think would be, because he had 
 
 access to the archives and found that this Deed was the 
 
 earliest record in the Company's possession containing 
 
 a full description of the property. 
 
 Compare Stow's account of Cutlers' Hall, where he stow, vol. i. 
 
 p- 244. 
 commences in the same way by settmg out particulars of 
 
 a conveyance of the site which is undoubtedly very much 
 
 earlier than the date on which the Cutler's Company 
 
 came into existence. 
 
 In the Evidence Book there is a short abstract of 
 numerous dealings by Yakeslee with the property, but in 
 not one of them is there the slightest reference to the 
 Guild, while the Conveyance from him to Aystwick of the 
 20th of March, 1345, above referred to was, for anything 
 appearing to the contrary, an out-and-out sale. 
 
 In the original Grant of arms to the Guild in 1480, a 
 pavilion appears on the shield and in the composition of 
 the crest, from which it would seem that the making of 
 tents was some part of the business of the Guild of 
 Taylors and Linen Armourers. 
 
 If so, Yakeslee may have been a member of the 
 Guild, but I have found no evidence of it ; though he 
 must have been a member of some guild, as in the Deed 
 of Confirmation of the 23rd of February, 1344, by
 
 26 THE HALL SITE 
 
 William Bultel above referred to, he is described as a 
 citizen of London, as well as tentmaker to the King, 
 and no man could be a citizen, unless he was a member 
 of a guild. 
 
 One would naturally have expected to find the King's 
 tentmaker, if a member of the Guild, occupying a prom- 
 inent position on it, and especially if his brethren had 
 such confidence in him as to have had their Hall conveyed 
 into his name as sole trustee for them, instead of into 
 the names of several persons, in accordance with the 
 usual practice even in those days. 
 
 There are two early lists of names of leading 
 
 members of the Guild, recorded in the City Letter Books. 
 
 c. L. B. One, dated 1328, of men elected and chosen to govern 
 
 E., p. 234. 
 
 Id., F., p. 52. the Guild, and the other, dated 1340, of men whose 
 certificate was required before any of the craft could be 
 admitted to the freedom of the City ; but Yakeslee's 
 name occurs in neither list, though he was alive on both 
 dates. Under the circumstances it seems more probable 
 that the year 1347, when the premises were conveyed to 
 William Galeis and his co-feoffees, was the earliest date 
 on which the Guild became beneficial owners of the site 
 of the present Hall, and that it was not till then that they 
 
 Stow, vol. i. removed from their old Hall, which according to Stow 
 
 ^' ^ ^' was " about the back side of the Red Lion in Basing 
 
 Lane and in the Ward of Cordwayner Street." 
 
 Idem, p. 250. jt would be interesting to know what was the exact 
 position of the old Hall. 
 
 In giving the boundaries of the Ward of Cordwayner 
 Street, Stow says that the Red Lion was in Watline: Street 
 
 Idem, p. 251. ' •' *-* 
 
 at the extreme western boundary of the Ward, and he 
 goes on to say that the back gate of the Red Lion was in 
 Basing Lane. 
 
 Basing Lane is now absorbed in that part of Cannon
 
 THE HALL SITE ^^ 
 
 Street which lies between St. Paul's Churchyard and 
 Mansion House Station, but as the north side of Basing 
 Lane was not set back for the purpose of the new street, 
 it corresponds exactly with the north side of Cannon 
 Street at this point. Red Lion Court is still in existence, 
 with an entrance from Watling Street and a back passage 
 into Cannon Street. 
 
 As the western boundary of the Ward runs down the 
 centre of the back passage, the old Hall, being within 
 the ward, must have stood on the east side of 
 the passage, where the building known as 39 
 and 41 Cannon Street now stands, nearly opposite 
 Mansion House Station, but a little more to the west. 
 The property now belongs to the Salters' Company. 
 
 No. 37 on the other side of the passage is a public 
 house still known as the " Old Red Lion," but I should 
 think there is no doubt that the original Red Lion did not 
 stand there but occupied the site of Red Lion Court, it 
 being the custom in those days for inns and taverns to be 
 built round a courtyard. 
 
 I have not referred in these notes to all the early deeds 
 relating to the Hall site, as it is not necessary for my 
 purpose, and would only prove tiresome to the reader. 
 There is however a Deed which is of interest for other 
 reasons. 
 
 It is a Deed dated the 15th of November, 1408, by h. r. 
 which Thomas Sutton (Master), John VVenlock, Thomas ^^ 
 Wylby, Adam Feryby and Ralf Shokelache (Wardens) of 
 "the Fraternity of Taylors and Linen Arm.ourers of 
 St. John the Baptist in the City of London," granted to 
 Beatrice, widow of Sir Thomas de Roos of Hamelake, 
 William Gascoigne, Chief Justice of England, Richard 
 Norton and Richard Gascoigne, an annual rent charge of
 
 28 
 
 THE HALL SITE 
 
 Wills Book, 
 p. 8. 
 
 Collins' 
 Complete 
 Peerage, 
 vol. vi. 
 
 twelve marks to issue out of a messuage called 
 " Tayllourshalle," and other property of the Guild. 
 
 This annuity or rent charge of twelve marks was 
 purchased by Dame Beatrice de Roos, for the purpose of 
 securing the salary of a priest to say masses for the souls 
 of certain persons, in the Chapel of the Fraternity, 
 dedicated to St. John the Baptist, in St. Paul's Cathedral, 
 under an arrangement to which I shall revert later on. 
 
 William Gascoigne was the famous Chief Justice of 
 Henry IV., who according to tradition committed the 
 future Henry V., (then Prince of Wales), to prison for 
 contempt of Court. The Judge had directed the punish- 
 ment of one of the Prince's companions, and was grossly 
 insulted by the Prince who was present at the trial and 
 enraged at the sentence. The incident is referred to by 
 Shakespeare in " King Henry IV.", part 2, act v., 
 scene ii. 
 
 Sir Thomas de Roos (or de Ros) was the fifth Baron 
 de Roos, and died in 1384. The barony still exists, and 
 is the premier barony in England. The first holder of the 
 title was one of the most powerful barons in Simon de 
 Montfort's Parliament. 
 
 It appears from the records that no less than four of 
 Sir Thomas de Roos' successors, including his son by his 
 marriage with Beatrice de Roos, were freemen (" con- 
 freres ") of the Fraternity, and it is possible that he 
 himself also may have been a freeman, but the earlier 
 records which might have shewn this are no longer in 
 existence. Dame Beatrice de Roos was the daughter of 
 Ralf, Earl of Stafford, and before her marriage to Sir 
 Thomas de Roos, was Dowager Countess of Desmond. 
 She married for the third time Sir Richard Burley, said 
 to be the first Lord Chancellor who was not an ecclesiastic. 
 She was included in the list of persons whose obits the
 
 THE HALL SITE 29 
 
 members of the Fraternity were, down to the time of the 
 Reformation, bound by oath to observe. She died in stow, vol. i. 
 1415, and. Stow says, was buried in the chapel of St. 
 John the Baptist in St. Paul's Cathedral, but he has ^^^^^ ^^^ .. 
 got the date of her death wrong, and also the order in p- 388 (notes), 
 which she married her husbands. 
 
 Before leaving this part of my subject, I should like to 
 refer to another distinguished name, that of Miles 
 Coverdale, the first translator of the whole of the 
 Bible into English, and whose translation of the Psalms 
 is the one used in our Book of Common Prayer. He was 
 Bishop of Exeter for a short time, but was ejected in 1553, 
 after the accession of Queen Mary. In 1564 he was 
 appointed rector of St. Magnus the Martyr, which living 
 he resigned in 1566. He then became tenant of one of 
 the Company's houses in Threadneedle Street, where he 
 lived until his death in 1568. He was buried in the Church stow, vol. i. 
 of St. Bartholomew by the Exchange, which stood at the 
 corner of Threadneedle Street and Bartholomew Lane. 
 
 It was of course known that he was the Company's 
 tenant, but I have been able to identify the exact site of 
 the house in Threadneedle Street, in which he lived, and 
 have shown it on the Ground Plan. It stood on the site 
 of a house afterwards known as 27, Threadneedle Street, 
 which adjoined the Hall at a point near the Oriel window 
 or " Buffet", as it is marked on plans on old leases. 
 
 After Coverdale's death, his widow continued to occupy 
 the house. She subsequently married a man named 
 Edward Dawson. There is an amusing correspondence 
 set out in the Court Minutes in connection with an appli- pp. 85,^8513!"* 
 cation for a renewal of her lease on more favourable terms 
 than her husband had already agreed to, in which she is 
 supported by letters from such well-known men, as Lord 
 Chancellor Bromley and Sir Walter Mildmay, Chancellor
 
 30 THE HALL SITE 
 
 of the Exchequer and Founder of Emmanuel College, 
 Cambridge. The Court in their replies absolutely 
 declined to give way, and described her as a " cumbersome 
 woman," but for whose interference the terms already 
 agreed upon with her husband would have been carried 
 out. 
 
 I think this would be a convenient place to describe 
 the method I have adopted for the purpose of identifying 
 various portions of the site with which these notes deal. 
 I will take this case of Coverdale's house as a typical one. 
 I find from the Renter Warden's Accounts that this house 
 was formerly in lease to Richard Mynsterly. The Court 
 Minutes for 1567 record the grant of an application by 
 Edward Babbington, the assignee of Mynsterly, for a 
 
 p.' 320. licence to assign to Miles Coverdale. After Coverdale's 
 
 death there appears on the Rent Rolls the name of his 
 widow and then, on her remarriage, that of her second 
 husband, Edward Dawson, who is described as having 
 married the widow Coverdale, and so on down to 
 one, Bennett, who was the tenant on the Rent Roll just 
 before the Fire of London. Then there comes almost 
 immediately after the Fire, a new lease to Bennett of the 
 site of his premises recently burnt down, and on this 
 lease is a plan. By comparing this plan with a general 
 Estate Plan still in the Company's possession, prepared 
 about the year 1680 (pursuant to a Court Minute of that 
 year), by William Leybourne, a stationer, and John 
 
 c. M., vol. xii. Oliver, a surveyor largely employed by the City in 
 surveying after the Great Fire, I am able to find the 
 exact position of the house. 
 
 By comparing the names of the tenants on the rolls 
 and the amounts of the rents paid, with the Court 
 Minutes, the " Rentals Book," and the old leases (where 
 such exist), especially the leases granted immediately
 
 THE HALL SITE 31 
 
 after the Great Fire, most of which latter have plans 
 attached, the work of identification is rendered com- 
 paratively easy. The calendar of expired leases prepared 
 by Mr. W. T. Essex, the Office Clerk of the Company, 
 contains a most complete analysis of their contents, 
 which has been invaluable in working out the devolution 
 of the various tenancies. I hope that some day a 
 similar calendar will be prepared of all our other ancient 
 deeds. 
 
 From the Masters' Accounts, it appears that m., p. 526. 
 Coverdale preached the sermon on St. John the Baptist's 
 Day, 1548, at the service which the Company still 
 annually attend before proceeding to the election of 
 Master. 
 
 He also preached the sermon at the funeral of Sir 
 James Wilford, a distinguished soldier, who died in 
 
 1550- 
 
 A few notes with regard to Sir James Wilford may be 
 
 of interest, as he was closely related to James Wilford 
 
 whose anniversary sermon in Holy Week is still attended 
 
 in state by the Company, but of whom or of whose family 
 
 very little has been known. In the " Dictionary of 
 
 National Biography," Sir James Wilford is stated to have 
 
 been the eldest son of Thomas Wilford, and the grandson 
 
 of James Wilford who was Sheriff in 1499, and great 
 
 nephew of Edmund Wilford, Provost of Oriel College, 
 
 Oxford. The James Wilford who was Sheriff" in 1499 
 
 was Master of the Company in 1494. He died in 1527 
 
 and was buried in St. Bartholomew's by the Exchange. 
 
 By a Deed of the 27th of April, 1526, he gave the 
 
 Company an annuity or rent charge of £g 13s. 4d. 
 
 (purchased by him in 15 14 of the Company for the sum 
 
 of ;f433 6s. 8d. and charged by them upon the Saracen's 
 
 Head, Friday Street, and all their other lands in London) 239 (60).
 
 32 THE HALL SITE 
 
 upon trust, among other things, to provide for an 
 Evidence anniversary sermon to be preached in St. Bartholomew's 
 
 Book, p. 275. -^ '■ 
 
 Church on Good Friday, upon the subject of the Passion 
 of Our Lord. 
 
 Since the demohtion of St. Bartholomew's Church, 
 the sermon is preached on Thursday in Holy Week at 
 St. Margaret's, Lothbury. 
 H. R. James Wilford had several sons in addition to 
 
 Thomas, who was his eldest son and inherited his 
 Kentish property. John, the second son, who was an 
 alderman and was Sheriff in 1544, gave money to the 
 Company upon trusts which they still administer. 
 
 Nicholas, the fifth son, was a member of Parliament 
 for London in 1542. 
 
 Sir James Wilford, the grandson, was a distinguished 
 commander in the French and Scottish wars of the 
 time. His most notable achievement was the gallant 
 defence, in 1549, of Haddington, which was besieged by 
 the combined Scottish and French armies for eighteen 
 months. Sir James Wilford had a younger brother. Sir 
 Thomas Wilford, who was also a distinguished soldier 
 and statesman. It is quite likely that both these men 
 were free of the Company. 
 
 Two other members of the family were Masters of the 
 Company, viz., William Wilford in 1518, and Thomas 
 Wilford in 1585. 
 
 The writer of the biography says the family originally 
 came from Devonshire, but was settled at Hartridge in 
 Kent.
 
 (33 ) 
 
 THE PROPERTY TO THE EAST OF THE 
 
 HALL. 
 
 Land coloured blue [i) on the Ground Plan. 
 
 The Company's next acquisition was from John 
 Chircheman of (a) the advowson of the parish church of 
 St. Martin Outwich, (b) the land on the East side of the 
 Hall, coloured blue (i) on the Ground Plan, which is still 
 owned by the Company, and (c) the adjoining land lying 
 within the edging of blue, which has long since been sold 
 by them. 
 
 By letters patent dated the 15th of July, 1405, Henry ^-jf^-^ j^ 
 IV., in consideration of £^0 paid by Robert Queldrik, p^- 2. i"- 2. 
 citizen and taylor (Master), and Thomas Medbourne, 
 Sampson Benet, William Surcestre, and Thomas Sutton, 
 citizens and taylors (Wardens), of the Guild and Frater- 
 nity of St. John the Baptist, London, granted a Licence 
 in Mortmain to John Chircheman, citizen and grocer, to 
 convey to the aforesaid Master and Wardens and 
 Brethren and Sisters of the Guild and Fraternity 
 aforesaid, to hold of the King in burgage tenure, four 
 messuages and seventeen shops in the parish of St. 
 Martin Oteswyche, together with 6s. 8^. rent from the 
 tenements of Richard Bedwynde, late citizen and grocer, 
 in the parish of St. Michael in Croked Lane, and the 
 advowson of the church of St. Martin Oteswyche. 
 
 At the preliminary inquiry (w^zm^^/o a.q.d.), held on Chancery 
 the 8th of July, 1405, the jury had found that the four No. 3. 
 messuages and seventeen shops were of the annual value 
 of ;/,'2i i8s. 4.d. ; from which the following deductions 
 had to be made, viz., quit-rents amounting to £1 8s. gd. 
 payable to various persons, a life annuity of £10 payable
 
 34 CHIRCHEMAN'S LAND 
 
 to Richard Stace and Joan Stace, his mother, and the 
 survivor of them, and a Hfe annuity of ^f lo reserved to 
 John Chircheman, leaving a balance of gs. 7^. only. The 
 jury also found that the emoluments of the church were 
 worth ("predicta ecclesia valet") 8 marks (£^ 6s. Sd.) 
 a year. 
 
 The following extracts in connection with this 
 transaction are taken from the ancient Account Books in 
 the Company's possession, and are interesting as 
 shewing the method of doing business in those days. 
 
 Accounts of Simon Lief, Master. 
 
 Rendered 19th August, 1405. 
 
 Expensis faitz entour Johan Chircheman. 
 
 En primes pur un dyner a dit Johan et 
 
 William Creswyk a Noel - - - 165. od. 
 
 Item pur un dyner a lui Creswyke, James 
 Billyngford et as autres meistres de la 
 Fraternite devaunt le feste seint Johan 22s. 3^. 
 
 Item pur un soper as ditz gentz et as 
 hommes de ley _ _ _ _ 
 
 Item done a Broughton, Cheyne et Martyn 
 
 Item pur le seal del ad quod dampnum 
 
 Item espendu sur le sergant et clerk del 
 escheterie ------ 
 
 Item done as ditz sergant et clerk 
 
 Item pur payn et vyn a seint Martyns le 
 graunt a James Billingford et as autres 
 hommes de ley ----- 8^^. 
 
 Item pur un dyner a Chircheman, Creswyk, 
 James et as autres gentz del mestier et 
 de la ley 125, o^d. 
 
 6s. 
 
 lid. 
 
 20s. 
 
 od. 
 
 
 6d. 
 
 
 7id. 
 
 135. 
 
 4d.
 
 CHIRCHEMAN'S LAND 35 
 
 Item pur payn vyn cheries as hommes de 
 ley a le sterre en Chepe pur surveier 
 lordenaunce 25. y^d. 
 
 Item done as deux justices cestassavoir 
 monsire William Thirnyng et monsire 
 William Haukford pur oier lordenaunce 40s. od. 
 
 Item pur un dyner a Westm' a Broughton et 
 Martyn quaunt ils avoient lise lorden- 
 aunce as ditz justices - - - i^d. 
 
 Item pur un dyner a Chircheman, Creswyk, 
 James Broughton, Martyn, Cheyne et as 
 autres gentz del Fraternite et as gentz 
 del enqueste apres que le brief fuist 
 retourne en le Chauncellerie - - 255. 3^. 
 
 Item delivere de le commune chatelle as 
 colectours del purchas et mortisement 
 cestassavoir Thomas Bridlyngton et 
 Johan Creek en argent, Somme - - 60/. 
 
 Accounts of Robert Queldrik, Master. 
 Rendered 21 August, 1406. 
 
 Espensis faitz entour le mortisement des terres et 
 tenementz queux fuirent a Johan Chircheman. 
 
 Au primes pur iii formages et ccc. peres 
 
 jouetz donez al chaunceller - - 45. 4^ 
 
 Item pur vyn a James Billyngforde et as 
 
 hommes del chaunceller - - . gd, 
 
 Item pur un lase al patent - - . 2od. 
 
 Item pur le rollement del dit patent - - 22d. 
 
 Item pur les fes del dite patent - . 225. 4^. 
 
 Item pur le fyn del mortisement paie de le 
 
 commune chatelle - - . _ oq/.
 
 4s. 
 
 od. 
 
 5^- 
 
 od. 
 
 
 6d. 
 
 
 4/. 
 
 36 CHIRCHEMAN'S LAND 
 
 Et X /. fuirent paiez pur le dite mortisement 
 queux furent creauncez de Robert 
 Whityngham et unqore sount duez pur 
 queux il ad en gage certeins biens et 
 joialx du dite Fraternitee 
 
 Item pur les fes del doublinge del chartre 
 
 Item pur un lase et lescripture - 
 
 Item pur le copie dun brief directe as 
 viscontz pur lez fes du Royne 
 
 Item pur les ditz fes du Royne 
 Somme 36/. 5^. 
 It will be observed that the fee of ^^40 for the licence 
 was raised partly by subscriptions from among the 
 members of the Fraternity, and partly by a loan of ;f 10 
 (shortly afterwards repaid) from Robert Whityngham, 
 secured by a pledge to him of certain goods and jewels of 
 the Fraternity. 
 Evidence gy ^ Deed dated the 20th of July, 1405, John 
 
 pp. 23-28. Chircheman conveyed all the premises comprised in the 
 above-mentioned licence, to the aforesaid " Master and 
 Wardens and Brethren and Sisters of the Guild and 
 Fraternity of St. John the Baptist, London," that is to say 
 (inter alia) '* Four messuages and seventeen shops situate 
 in the parish of St. Martin Oteswyche, namely, one 
 messuage called the Sterr on the Hope, and one 
 messuage lower down (" inferius ") and nine shops 
 thereto annexed, on the highway (" via regia ") of 
 Bishopsgate Street, between the church of St. Martin 
 and the churchyard thereof on the North, and the 
 tenement of Robert Whittynghame, citizen and taylor, 
 on the South, and abutting on the tenement of the 
 Fraternity aforesaid on the West, and one other 
 messuage and five shops thereto annexed, situate on the
 
 CHIRCHEMAN'S LAND 37 
 
 hio-hway ("vicus")of Bradestrete, between the church 
 of St. Martin on the East, and the tenements of the 
 Charterhouse (" domus Cartusiensis "), on the West, and 
 one other messuage and three shops thereto annexed, 
 situate on the said highway of Bradestrete, between the 
 said tenements of the Charterhouse on the East, and the 
 shops and tenements called Taillourshall on the West." 
 
 The copy of this conveyance in the Evidence Book is 
 in Latin and has not been accurately copied, certain 
 passages having been left out, but fortunately there is an 
 Endish translation in the Wills Book, from which I have wiiisBook 
 
 o _ ' pp. 1-5. 
 
 been able to fill in the missing passages. 
 
 The premises described as " one messuage and five 
 shops thereto annexed, situate on the highway of 
 Bradestrete, between the church of St. Martin on the 
 East, and the tenement of the Charterhouse on the 
 West," coloured yellow (i) on the Ground Plan, belonged ^ r. 
 in 1328 to Master William de Oteswyche, citizen and ^g jg^j 
 surgeon of London, and were acquired by Chircheman in ^°^ ("^) 
 1380. 
 
 The rest of the premises comprised in the conveyance 
 from Chircheman (except the advowson and the rent 
 charge of 65. 8^.) were acquired by him in 1379. They 
 formerly belonged to Edmund Crepin, and included the Evidence 
 tenement which John de Totenham, carpenter, held of ° ' ^" 
 Edmund Crepin, which it will be remembered is 
 described in the conveyance from Crepin to Yakeslee, as 
 lying to the East and North of the property thereby 
 conveyed. 
 
 The tenement of Robert Whityngham, which abutted 
 on the South of the premises, appears to be the same as 
 the tenement of Henry de Coventre, afterwards of John 
 Organ ; and now part of the site of the Royal Bank of 
 Scotland.
 
 38 CHIRCHEMAN'S LAND 
 
 c.p. R. In a Grant dated the 15th of December, 1465, to 
 
 1465, p. 367. Sir Thomas Montgomery, of forfeited lands belonging to 
 Robert Whityngham, (no doubt a descendant of the 
 above-mentioned man of the same name), this tenement 
 is described as situate in the parish of St. Peter, Cornhill, 
 between the Common Hall of the Art of Tailors and a 
 tenement pertaining to the Fraternity of St. John the 
 Baptist of the same art on the West and North, a 
 tenement of Valentine Dryland on the South, and the 
 highway there [i.e. Bishopsgate Street), on the East. 
 
 This grant is also interesting, from the fact that it 
 gives as an abuttal to other property comprised in it, an 
 ancient Hall of the Tallow Chandlers' Company, of the 
 existence of which, Mr. Monier Williams, the Clerk of 
 that Company, tells me they had no knowledge. 
 
 Robert Whityngham, the younger, was attainted in 
 the reign of Edward IV. on the charge of being an 
 accomplice in the murder of the King's father, Richard 
 Duke of York, who, as a matter of fact, was not murdered, 
 but was killed at the battle of Wakefield, fighting against 
 Henry VI. 
 
 On the site of the messuage and five shops adjoining 
 St. Martin's Church, the Fraternity in the year 1414 
 erected almshouses or "meson Dieux" as they were at 
 first called. 
 
 These consisted of seven almshouses built round a 
 court-yard. They continued in existence till the Fire of 
 London, when they were burnt down, and not rebuilt, as 
 the Company then owned other almshouses erected on a 
 site at the corner of Hog Lane (afterwards changed to 
 the more euphemistic name of Rosemary Lane) near 
 M., p. 365. Tower Hill, given by Richard Hills in 1587. The latter 
 were the immediate predecessors of our present alms- 
 houses at Lee.
 
 CHIRCHEMAN'S LAND 39 
 
 In consequence of the disastrous effect on their 
 finances caused by the Great Fire, following upon the 
 exactions of the Tudor and Stuart Kings, the Company 
 was compelled in the year 1688 to sell the land shewn on 
 the Plan as lying within the edging of blue. 
 
 The purchaser was John Bridge in trust for Michael 
 Rolls, and the price paid was ;f75o, the Company 
 reserving to themselves a rent charge of ^^24 a year, 
 which they still receive. 
 
 In the year 1752, the Company had an opportunity of 
 repurchasing the property for ;f5,8oo (as appears from 
 a letter from the then owner, Miles Barne, which is in 
 the Company's possession), but unfortunately the price 
 was considered too high. 
 
 According to Stow, the church of St. Martin Outwich stow, vol. 
 was founded by Martin de Oteswyche, Nicholas de ^' 
 Oteswyche, William de Oteswyche, and John de 
 Oteswyche, and hence the name of the church. 
 
 John de Oteswyche, under a Licence from Edward III. 
 dated the 27th of September, 1331, founded a chantry h. r. 
 in the church of St. Martin Outwich, and endowed a °^^^'" 
 chaplain to pray for the souls of William de Oteswyche, 
 and other members of his family but without giving their 
 names. 
 
 To secure the chaplain's salary of five marks a year, 
 he charged the same upon " all the tenements in the 
 parishes of St. Martin de Oteswyche and vSt. Benedict 
 Fynke" which he had inherited from William de 
 Oteswyche. 
 
 I think it is quite clear that Stow has mistaken the 
 foundation of the Oteswyche chantry for that of the 
 church. 
 
 The name of St. Martin " Otteswich " as applied to 
 the parish occurs earlier than any record of the family of
 
 40 CHIRCHEMAN'S LAND 
 
 Ancient Otcswyche, and it seems therefore more likely that the 
 
 Deeds ■ • 
 
 A. 2658 family took their name from the parish than the parish 
 
 ■ ^ ^ from the family. 
 
 Memodais Riley givcs several instances in which Stow has 
 
 (Introduction allowed his imagination to run away w4th him, in 
 reference to the origin of names, and mentions one in 
 particular, very much of the same character, viz., the 
 origin of the name of the parish and church of St. Bennet 
 Shorehog, where he shews conclusively that Stow was 
 wrong. 
 
 H. R- The advowson formerly belong^ed to Sir Thomas de 
 
 32 (54)- . . . 
 
 Leuknore, whose widow sold it in 1304 to Robert de 
 
 Harewedone, "parson" of Thingdene. 
 
 By the latter it was conveyed in 1305 to Hugh le 
 
 c. p. R. Despencer, the elder, the favourite of Edward II., but was 
 
 Edw. III. 
 
 1328, p. 271. forfeited to the Crown on his attainder and execution, and 
 
 was granted by Edward III. in 1328 to John de Warren, 
 
 Earl of Surrey. Chircheman purchased it in 1381, from 
 
 H. R. Matilda, the wife of John Aubrey and daughter of Adam 
 
 109 (87). .... 
 
 Fraunceys (Mayor 1353), she having inherited it from her 
 
 father, I have not been able to trace from whom 
 
 Fraunceys acquired it, but the advowson is mentioned in 
 
 H. R. his will dated the 26th of August, 1374, in which he 
 
 103 (79). . . 
 
 specially directs that it shall go to his heirs. Chircheman 
 
 conveyed it to the Fraternity, as above stated, and it has 
 
 ever since remained in their ownership. 
 
 The church of St. Martin Outwich stood at the South 
 East corner of Threadneedle Street and Bishopsgate 
 Street. The parsonage house was in Bishopsgate Street 
 Mm p. 345- and adjoined the church. 
 
 By an Order in Council dated the 5th of May, 1873, 
 the rectory of St. Martin's Outwich was united with the 
 vicarage of St. Helen's, Bishopsgate. In the following 
 year the church was pulled down and the site sold for
 
 CHIRCHEMAN'S LAND 41 
 
 ^38,179 6$. 2d. Out of the proceeds, three other churches 
 were built, viz., Christ Church, Stepney, Holy Trinity, 
 Dalston, and Saint Peter, Limehouse, and endowments 
 for these churches provided out of the tithes of St. Martin's 
 Outwich. The advowsons of the united parishes of 
 St. Martin Outwich and St. Helen, Bishopsgate, and of 
 Holy Trinity, Dalston, and St. Peter, Limehouse, were 
 vested in the Company. 
 
 The parsonage of St. Martin's Outwich was sold in 1875 
 for ;f 15,000, and a new one provided in Finsbury Square. 
 
 Stow says that Chircheman "for William and John stow, vol. 
 Oteswich gave the avowson or patronage of this church, ^' 
 four messuages and seventeen shops in the parish of 
 St. Martin Oteswich " to the Fraternity. 
 
 I can find no evidence in support of this statement, 
 but, on the contrary, it seems clear from the title deeds 
 that the Oteswyche family never owned either the 
 advowson or any part of the premises ; except the 
 messuage and five shops lying between St. Martin's Church 
 and the property of the Charterhouse, coloured yellow (i) 
 on the Ground Plan, and even this messuage and five 
 shops passed through several hands before becoming 
 vested in Chircheman. 
 
 The only possible ground I can find for suggesting 
 any connection between Chircheman and the Oteswyche 
 family is that Chircheman augmented the salary of the 
 Oteswyche chaplain by a further five marks, in addition 
 to the five marks given by John de Oteswyche. 
 
 Martin de " Ottewich " did own land in the parish of Ancient 
 St. Martin Outwich, but on the opposite side of the street a. 2681 
 to the church, as appears from a conveyance about the '^ ^ 
 year 1246, made by his widow, Matilda, to the Prior and 
 Canons of Holy Trinity, London. 
 
 The property was conveyed by Chircheman to the
 
 42 
 
 CHIRCHEMAN'S LAND 
 
 Evidence 
 Book, 
 pp. 25-27. 
 
 Fraternity, subject (inter alia) to the following annual 
 payments for pious uses ; or, as they were afterwards 
 called *' superstitious uses " viz. : 
 
 To a Priest to celebrate for John Chircheman and 
 others in St. Martin's Outwich Church - 10 marks 
 (£6 13s. 4d.) 
 
 To provide a lamp continually burning in the afore- 
 said church. 
 
 To keep an obit on the anniversary of Chircheman's 
 death. 
 
 After the obit to pay the Rector of St. Martin's Out- 
 wich - 6 pence. 
 
 Each salaried chaplain (" capellanus stipendarius ") 
 present at the service - 4 pence. 
 
 The clerks (** clerici ") of the said church for ringing 
 bells and other offices - 8 pence. 
 
 To be distributed among persons present at the service 
 (''inter ibidem intervenientes ") in bread, cheese and 
 ale - 2 shillings. 
 
 To a Priest to celebrate for the Oteswich family in the 
 Oleswich Chantry in the same church, in augmentation 
 of the salary of 5 marks provided by John de Oteswich - 
 5 marks (;f3 6s. 8^.). 
 
 The monasteries having been dissolved, and their 
 property for the most part dissipated, Henry VIII. 
 next turned his attention to endowments for chantries. 
 Accordingly the Act 37 Henry VIII. c. 4 was passed, by 
 virtue of which the King was authorised, but only during 
 his natural life, to appoint Commissioners to enter into 
 and take possession of all chantry lands, and the same 
 were thenceforth to be vested in the King. 
 
 In the Record Office is the Return made by the Com- 
 
 Land 
 
 MlsceUaneous pany to the Commissioners, of the chantry lands held by 
 
 Books, 241 
 ff. 7-19. 
 
 them. It is not dated, but it was made during the
 
 CHIRCHEMAN'S LAND 43 
 
 mastership of Thomas Broke who was Master in 1545-6, 
 his Wardens being Nicholas Cosen, Henry Brayne, 
 Walter Yonge, and Richard Tonge. 
 
 The following is an extract relating to Chircheman's 
 land : saint 
 
 The ReNTALL. Marteins 
 
 Owtewhiches 
 
 Item iiij Tenements in the Tenure of Henry Parrysshe 
 Foisted per indenturam reddendo inde £ s. d. 
 per annum - - - - - -15 00 
 
 Item three tenementes in the Tenure of 
 the Right Honorable Sir Thomas 
 Wryothesley Knight Lord Chauncelor 
 of England per indenturami reddendo 
 inde per annum - - - - - 10 o o 
 
 Item one tenement in the Tenure of Richard 
 Carrell per indenturam reddendo inde 
 per annum - - - - - - 568 
 
 Summa ----- ^30 6 8 
 
 The yerely deduccions inde - - - - 
 
 To Sir John Palmer his Chaplen - - - 
 To Sir Richard Palmer Owtewyches Chaplen 
 For the obyte ------ 
 
 For the Lampe ------ 
 
 For certen quyte Rentes - - - - 
 
 £ 
 
 s. 
 
 d. 
 
 7 
 
 I 
 
 8 
 
 3 
 
 6 
 
 8 
 
 
 
 5 
 
 10 
 
 I 
 
 10 
 
 8 
 
 
 
 17 
 
 6 
 
 Summa ----- ^13 
 
 Remanent ----- (sic) £iy 4 o 
 
 In consequence of the death of Henry VIII., shortly 
 after the passing of the above Act and before further 
 action could be taken, the Act I Edward VI. c. 14, was 
 passed, which vested in the King all endowments for the 
 finding or maintenance of any priest, anniversary or obit,
 
 44 CHIRCHEMAN'S LAND 
 
 lamp or light, or other like thing, the same to be 
 paid to the King as a rent charge (sec. 4, 5, and 6). 
 
 The Act also vested in the King all lands, tenements 
 or hereditaments, belonging to any fraternity, brother- 
 hood or guild other than guilds or fraternities of 
 misteries or crafts (sec. 7). 
 
 Power was given to the King to issue a commission 
 to ascertain what endowments there were in existence 
 for the above-mentioned objects (sec. 8). 
 Herbert Herbert in his " History of the Twelve Great Livery 
 
 vol. 11. -^ •' 
 
 pp. 440-457. Companies of London," purports to quote from the 
 return made by the Merchant Taylors' Company to the 
 Commissioners appointed by Edward VL The 
 document, however, from which he quotes, though 
 embodying the return, cannot, as appears on the face of 
 it, be the return itself, but a much later document, for it 
 speaks of fifty years' arrears of some of the rent 
 charges payable under the Act. I believe, as a matter 
 of fact, that it is a document prepared about the year 
 1585 in connection with the subject of " concealed 
 lands," with which I shall deal later on. Though I have 
 had a most careful search made in the Record Office and 
 elsewhere, I have been quite unable to find any trace 
 either of the original return or even of the document from 
 which Herbert quotes. In the Report of the City Livery 
 Companies Commission, it is stated that the - returns 
 made by the Companies were then (in 1884) extant, but I 
 very much doubt whether the Commissioners ever saw 
 them, for if so, it is strange that they cannot now be 
 found. It is also remarkable that Herbert does not give 
 the returns of any of the Companies, except the Merchant 
 Taylors', which he describes as an " unique specimen " of 
 this species of document. One would imagine from this 
 that he had copied from some document in the Company's
 
 CHIRCHEMAN'S LAND 45 
 
 possession, were it not for the fact that he states in an 
 autograph letter, presenting a copy of his work to the 
 Company, that he had " not had the honour of an 
 introduction to the Company", and in his preface he 
 says that " the greater part of the very curious matter 
 which forms the history of that Company " had been 
 furnished to him by Mr. Robert Franks. This is probably m., p. 656. 
 the same Franks, a liveryman, who had for years been 
 engaged in acrimonious litigation with the Company with 
 regard to the constitutional position of the Master and 
 
 Wardens. 
 
 In the Company's return to this second Commission, 
 as quoted by Herbert, the following particulars are given 
 with regard to Chircheman's gift. 
 
 The yearly value of the said landes, p. ann. is 
 ^30 65. 8^. over and besides certen almes bowses. 
 
 Resolutes and Deduccions inde. 
 First to Sir John Wilkenson, serving for the 
 
 said John Churchman, p. ann. - - £^ 13^- 4^- 
 Item To Sir Richard Palmer servinge for 
 
 Will'm Owteswiche - - - - ;f3 ^s. M. 
 Item, Paed for the same lampe every yeere, 
 
 most comonly xvjs. or thereabouts - 165. od. 
 
 To the Priests and Clarkes of the said 
 
 Church for the said obytt - - - 4^- o^. 
 
 Item, Payed yearely to the Kings Highnes, 
 
 for one quite rent late belonginge to the 
 
 late dissolved Priory of Christ Churche, 
 
 London ...--- js. od. 
 
 Item, Paied more to the Kinges Highnes, 
 
 owt of the said landes for a quite rent, 
 
 late belonginge to the late dissolved 
 
 priory of St. Mary Overys ... 8«. od.
 
 17 
 
 o 
 
 6 
 
 
 
 i6 
 
 o 
 
 46 CHIRCHEMAN'S LAND 
 
 Item, Paied more for a quite rent due to the 
 
 Masters of the Bridge House - - 2s. od. 
 
 Item Distributed to the poore people yearely 25. od. 
 
 Summa inde - - - -£'^'^ '^9^- od. 
 
 In their report or " declaration " returned to the 
 Augmentation Office, the Commissioners find that : 
 
 John Churcheman (1405) gave unto the same Mr. 
 and Wardens to find a prest and a lampe within the 
 Churche of St. Mertens Owtewiche landes and tenementes 
 amounting to ;^30 6s. 8^. whereof 
 
 To Sr. John Wilkenson, Prest - - - £6 13 4 
 In Augment of a prestes lyving - - - ;f 3 6 8 
 In quite rent to the Kinge - - - - 
 Spent upon Th'obbite . . . . 
 
 Spent upon a lampe ----- 
 
 And then Remayneth clere - - - ;f 18 7 8 
 
 Certain discrepancies will be noticed in the figures 
 given in the two returns, but they are not very material. 
 
 The three quit rents formerly belonging to the 
 priory of Christchurch (Grey Friars), the priory of St. 
 Mary Overy and the Masters of the Bridge House, were 
 no part of the original charges under Chircheman's 
 composition. 
 
 I think they must have been created by the Fraternity 
 at some later date, probably in consideration of a 
 lump sum paid down. There are several instances of 
 rent charges so created by the Fraternity, some of which 
 have already been referred to in these notes. 
 
 The rent charges under the Act of i Edward VI. were 
 for a time paid by the guilds into the royal treasury, 
 but the King being very soon in urgent need of ready 
 money, the guilds were shortly afterwards required to
 
 CHANTRY LANDS 47 
 
 purchase or redeem these charges at no less than twenty- 
 years purchase. In order to raise the purchase money 
 they had to sell a considerable amount of their property, 
 at an average, in the case of this Company, of less than 
 eighteen years' purchase of the rental value with a cor- 
 responding annual loss of income, not a very profitable 
 transaction for the Company. 
 
 The Company did not purchase all the rent charges, 
 for some were sold to private individuals, but I think 
 these were mostly for fixed terms of years and not in 
 perpetuity, and so it suited the Company better to 
 continue to pay them until they ran out rather than to 
 redeem them. 
 
 The rent charges so purchased by the guilds from 
 the Crown were, by letters patent of Edward VI. dated 
 the 14th of July, 1550, vested in trustees on behalf of the 
 several guilds. This document sets out each rent 
 charge, the premises out of which it was payable, and the 
 purpose to which it had hitherto been applied. 
 
 It includes all the charges comprised in the return of 
 the Company as affecting Chircheman's land, with the 
 exception of the 2s. payable to the Bridge House and the 
 25. to the poor. 
 
 The 25. distributable among the poor, according to 
 the later return, is evidently the same as the 25. which, 
 according to the earlier return, was distributable in bread, 
 ale, and cheese among persons present at the service. 
 The object of the distribution was that the poor present 
 at the service should in return pray for the soul of the 
 deceased. There was nothing special in this provision, 
 which was in accordance with the usual practice of those 
 days, and was known as *' souls ale " or " dirge ale." 
 
 By a Deed dated the 14th of January, 1553, the LandRevenue 
 surviving trustees named in the letters patent released vo^LagTfo'ie
 
 48 CHANTRY LANDS 
 
 the rent charges purchased by the Company to the 
 
 " Master Wardens and Commonalty of the Merchant 
 
 Taylors of London." 
 
 c. M. In the Court Minutes for 1585 is a reference to a 
 
 vo. 111., p. 125. ^j^-^ 1^^^ ^j^g Masters of the Bridge House for a quit rent 
 
 of 2S. 6d. issuing out of the Company's premises in the 
 parish of St. Martin Outwich, which the Company agreed 
 Evidence to pay. This quit rent was redeemed in 1792 and is 
 p. 268. apparently the quit rent referred to in the Company's 
 
 Certificate, though there is a slight discrepancy in the 
 amount. 
 
 By an Order of the Charity Commissioners dated the 
 I2th of July, 1892, and made in pursuance of the powers 
 vested in them under the City of London Parochial 
 Charities Act, 1883, the Company redeemed among 
 others, an annual charge of 15. 10^. for the poor of the 
 parish of St. Martin Outwich, which appears in the 
 Order under Chircheman's name and which probably 
 represents the 25. for the poor referred to in the 
 Certificate. 
 
 As many of the grants to the guilds contained gifts 
 over, or rights of re-entry, or reversion to the donors and 
 their heirs, in the event of failure to carry out the " pious 
 uses," a private Act (5 and 6 Edw. VL, No. 28) was 
 passed, confirming the title of the guilds to all rents, 
 lands, tenements, and hereditaments, purchased of the 
 King, freed from all such rights of re-entry, reversions, 
 and gifts over. 
 
 The title of purchasers of chantry lands was later on 
 confirmed by the general Act of i and 2 Philip and Mary, 
 c. 8, which, by the way, was the statute which re-estab- 
 lished the authority of the Pope within this realm. 
 
 The guilds appear to have been left in undisturbed 
 possession till about the year 1578, when fresh trouble
 
 CHANTRY LANDS 49 
 
 arose in connection with the title to their lands. 
 Greedy adventurers with influence at Court obtained 
 from the Crown grants of letters patent of lands in 
 various parts of the kingdom, not only those belonging 
 to the guilds, but to private individuals, which they 
 alleged were formerly chantry lands or lands held to 
 superstitious uses, that had been withheld or 
 concealed from the Crown. The conditions under which 
 these grants were issued were that the patentees, or 
 " concealers," as they were somewhat illogically called, 
 might seize and retain the lands comprised therein 
 (subject in each case to the payment of a small rent 
 charge to the Crown), on the ground that they were 
 concealed, unless it could be proved with regard to any 
 particular piece of land that it had not been concealed or 
 " unjustly detained," in which case the grant so far as 
 that piece of land was concerned should be void. Of 
 these patentees were two men named Theophilus Adams 
 and James Woodshawe, who in the year 1582 obtained originaiia 
 a grant of letters patent comprising a large number of J^°|^j'^2^.^' 
 properties belonging to the City guilds. 
 
 The serious aspect of the case was that the patentees 
 set up a new claim that not only had superstitious 
 charges been concealed but that, even in those cases 
 where such charges had been redeemed, the lands 
 themselves out of which tliose charges issued were, so to 
 speak, tainted with the superstitious uses, and therefore 
 rightly belonged to the Crown, and so passed to them 
 under their letters patent. 
 
 After years of negotiation and litigation, those guilds 
 which were found to be affected were compelled to 
 compound with the patentees by a payment of nearly 
 ;f 6,000. Among the papers of Lord Treasurer Burghley, 
 now in the Lansdowne Collection at the British Museum,
 
 50 CHANTRY LANDS 
 
 are a number of documents relating to Adams' and 
 Lansdowne Woodshawe's claim, including a list of guilds whose 
 00.28."^°^^ lands were affected, and also "the names of the 
 Companies which were not touched by the Patent." 
 Included in the latter class are the " Marchant 
 Tailers." 
 Exchequer There are, at the Record Office, the Commission and 
 
 Commissions Certificate as to concealed lands, of certain Special Com- 
 Lond.&Midd. j^-gg-Qj^g^-g appointed in April, 1581, which undoubtedly 
 affected the Merchant Taylors' Company, for the Certifi- 
 cate comprises [inter alia) four messuages and seventeen 
 shops in the parish of St. Martin's Outwich late part of 
 the possessions of John Churchman, deceased, and by 
 him given to superstitious uses. 
 
 Following on this Certificate is a Grant dated the 2nd 
 of November, 1581, of concealed lands in various parts 
 of England to Edmund Hazelwood and Edward Tom- 
 lynson, including the said four messuages and seventeen 
 shops. 
 „ „ I have also found in the Record Office a very extensive 
 
 p. R. •' 
 
 i3iCom. 25. Grant dated the 22nd of November, 1590, to William 
 Typper and Robert Dawe, which comprises {inter alia) 
 the advowson of the rectorv' and church of St. Martin 
 and also all messuages, lands, yearly rents, etc., in the 
 City of London and suburbs or elsewhere formerly given, 
 limited, bequeathed or assigned to the Master, Wardens 
 and Commonalty of the Merchant Taylors, and all yearly 
 rents, etc., formerly given, etc., by the said Master, 
 Wardens and Commonalty of the Merchant Taylors for 
 the sustentation of chaplams or priests, etc., or other 
 superstitious uses in the parishes of St. Peter, Cornhill, 
 and St. Martin Outwich, or elsewhere ; and all those 
 yearly rents, etc., which formerly were given, etc., to the 
 said Master, Wardens and Commonalty of the Merchant
 
 CHANTRY LANDS 5f 
 
 Taylors, or of which they take rents or profits ; and all 
 other hereditaments, annuities and sums of money now 
 or formerly in the tenure, lease or occupation of the 
 Merchant Taylors, or of which they take and receive 
 rents and profits, or which were acquired by them in 
 mortmain without the royal licence. 
 
 I have been unable to find any other documents in 
 connection with these two last-mentioned grants, and 
 therefore, I am unable to say what arrangements were 
 finally made with the patentees, but at any rate the 
 properties did not pass out of the Company's hands. 
 
 In the following reign was passed another private Act, 
 4 James I., No. 23, "for securing and confirminge of the 
 Landes, Tenementes and Rentes heretofore graunted, 
 devised or conveyed to several companies within the 
 Citye of London," whereby it was enacted that all lands, 
 tenements and hereditaments mentioned in the letters 
 patent of Edward VL of the 14th of July, 1550, should 
 for ever thereafter be lawfully held, retained and enjoyed 
 by the several companies, guilds, or fraternities, to them 
 and their successors for ever against the Crown and all 
 persons claiming under it, any defect or imperfection 
 whatsoever in the said letters patent or other matters or 
 things to be found, objected or alleged to the contrary 
 notwithstanding. 
 
 In spite of this Act of Parliament, claims against the state Papers 
 Companies in respect of lands given for superstitious j^mes^T,' 
 uses, including arrears of rent, were again revived about no.' 3T' 
 ten or eleven years later. 
 
 Avery large sum was involved, nearly ;f 12,000, for 
 which the Attorney-General demanded by way of com- 
 position ^"6,000 ; upon payment of which it was stated 
 that the King would be " graciously pleased to ratify and ibid, vol. 109 
 
 no. 64.
 
 52 CHANTRY LANDS 
 
 confirm unto the several Companies of this Cyttie all the 
 landes and the rentes and rerages of the same which 
 they now enjoy and possesse." 
 p. R., Then comes a most important document, of which 
 
 (17 James I., the Original is in the Company's possession among their 
 ^ ' ' charters, namely, a Deed of Confirmation by the King 
 
 to the Merchant Taylors' Company. It is dated 
 the 23rd of July, i6ig, and comprises every bit of real 
 property the Company owned at that date, whether 
 originally subject to superstitious uses or not, down to 
 the very latest acquisition of only a few years earlier. 
 After reciting that these lands were held by the Company 
 either with or without a legal title, and that the Master 
 and Wardens had besought the King to ratify and 
 confirm the same to them to the intent that they might 
 hold the same in peace without any claims of the King or 
 his heirs, the King, in consideration of ;;f6oo paid by the 
 Master and Wardens, confirmed, released and ratified to 
 them all the said premises ; and the King also pardoned 
 and released to the Master and Wardens all purchases, 
 acquisitions and alienations in mortmain made by them 
 or in trust for them without the royal licence, and granted 
 to the Master and Wardens licence to purchase and 
 receive the premises or any parcel of them held in trust 
 for them or their use from any person so holding the 
 same ; and it was declared that the said letters patent 
 should be valid, sufficient and eff"ectual in law against 
 the King or his successors in all his Courts within the 
 kingdom. 
 
 Finally, in the year 1623, another public general Act 
 (21 James I., c. 2) was passed, "for the general quiet of 
 the subject against all pretences of concealment," which 
 confirmed the titles of all persons and corporations to lands 
 enjoyed uninterruptedly against the Crown for sixty years
 
 CHANTRY LANDS 53 
 
 last past, and against any grantees under letters patent 
 made on suggestion of concealment. 
 
 The result of these various letters patent and Acts of 
 Parliament was, as Lord Chancellor Cottenham said in 
 the case of the Attorney-General v. the Fishmongers' 
 Company (Kneseworth's case), "that the Company 5 ^yine and 
 
 '^ ■^ ^ /' f J Craigs reports 
 
 obtained all the title, which the Act, i Edward VL," (for ?• ^6. 
 vesting in the Crown lands held for superstitious, that is 
 to say, pious, uses) " would have given to the Crown." 
 
 The Lord Chancellor's further remarks are worth 
 quoting. "To dispose of rights in property upon any idem, p. 18. 
 evidence, however apparently clear, against a title and 
 course of dealing of 400 years, would be full of danger, 
 and no judge not destitute of that degree of prudence 
 and discretion, which is essential to the administration of 
 all system and law, but particularly to that of equity, 
 would feel justified in doing so, if any reasonable sug- 
 gestion could be made reconciling the history of trans- 
 actions, long since passed away, with the enjoyment of 
 the property." 
 
 There is a statement in the Majority Report of the 
 Livery Companies Commission to which I think attention 
 should be drawn, on account of the unfair and misleadincr 
 way in which it deals with the purchases by the Com- 
 panies. The Report says (p. 15): "The Companies 
 were allowed to redeem their lands on a representation 
 that they were required for the purposes of the eleemo- 
 synary and educational charities of which they were 
 trustees." 
 
 Further on (p. 40), after saying that the Companies' 
 lands have been " since the Reformation, in the eye of the 
 law, the corporate property of the Companies free from 
 any trust," it proceeds, " There is no doubt, however, 
 that the lands were only allowed to be bought back because
 
 54 CHANTRY LANDS 
 
 the Companies represented to the Crown, as was no doubt 
 the fact, that the rental was required for the support of 
 their almshouses, schools, and exhibitions, many of 
 which depended for their existence on these superstitious 
 benefactors." 
 
 Accordingly in their suggestions as to reform, one of 
 the grounds on which the Commissioners base 
 the propriety of State intervention as regards the 
 corporate estate of the Companies is " that their lands, 
 which were confiscated at the Reformation as being held 
 to superstitious uses, were suffered to be redeemed only 
 upon a representation that the rents were required for the 
 relief of poverty and the promotion of education." 
 (p. 42). 
 
 Apart from the absurdity of the suggestion that, by 
 redeeming the rent charges, the Companies were putting 
 themselves in a better position financially to carry on 
 their work, when the transaction involved (as I have 
 shewn) a loss of income, the statement of the Commis- 
 sioners as it stands is not only misleading but untrue. 
 
 There was no previous representation before the 
 purchase took place of any kind such as the Report 
 suggests, nor does the grant from the King contain 
 any reference to the subject. The plain and simple fact 
 was that the King and his councillors were badly in need 
 of money. It was the hard cash they wanted, and they 
 did not care who purchased so long as they got a full 
 price. As a matter of fact, some of the rent charges 
 issuing out of the Companies' lands were bought by 
 private individuals and not by the Companies. No 
 doubt great pressure was brought to bear on the City 
 guilds to force them to pay an extravagant price by 
 methods of persuasion which the Tudor sovereigns knew 
 so well how to apply.
 
 CHANTRY LANDS 55 
 
 The Companies redeemed the charges on their 
 properties because it was to their interest that they 
 should not pass into the hands of strangers. 
 
 Just in the same way, though the amounts involved 
 were much smaller and the element of compulsion was 
 absent, the Companies under the powers conferred by the 
 City of London Parochial Charities Act of 1883, redeemed 
 numerous charges for charitable purposes issuing out of 
 their lands. As well might it be suggested that the 
 Companies were allowed to redeem such last-mentioned 
 charges " on a representation that they were required for 
 the purposes of their eleemosynary and educational 
 charges." 
 
 Years after the purchase by the Companies, and Herbert vol. i. 
 
 , . . P- 161, note. 
 
 arismg out of the attempts made by persons claimmg 
 
 under letters patent from the Crown to get hold of the Lansdowne 
 
 r\ -111 •• iii<^' MSS. vol. 26 
 
 Companies lands, a petition was presented by the City to no. 72. 
 Queen Elizabeth, praying that she would allow the same 
 true interpretation of the statutes whereby the Companies 
 had hitherto enjoyed their lands, and that she would 
 command the suits, informations and molestations against 
 the Companies to cease, and that she would by a new 
 Act ratify their possessions in plain and express form. 
 The petition recites that the rent charges were purchased 
 or redeemed because the King, having occasion to levy a 
 great mass of money, " did require the Companies to 
 purchase these rents, which they were loth to do, but 
 being urged by their duty of love and service to the 
 King." 
 
 In support of the petition, the City alleged that, if 
 their property was seized, the Companies would (as is 
 obvious) be deprived of the means of carrying on their 
 charitable and educational work, but this is only one out 
 of many arguments set forth in the petition, among which
 
 56 tHANTRY LANDS 
 
 not the least important is the following: — "The Com- 
 panies being bona fide possessors, and having truly 
 purchased for greate sommes at the King's request, 
 should be defrauded of their lawful bargains." 
 
 However, the appeal failed and the City's arguments 
 were of no avail, for, so far from any favour being 
 extended to the Companies on the ground that the lands 
 were required by them for their charitable purposes, the 
 Crown continued issuing further grants and left the 
 Companies to settle as best they could with the patentees, 
 who, it may be sure, conceded nothing they could help. 
 
 In support of their view, the Commissioners quote 
 from the preamble to the private Act, passed many years 
 later, of 4 James I., No. 23, in which the King notes 
 "the good and charitable employment of the said lands," 
 but they omit to mention that the King also notes "the 
 several compositions made and greate sommes of money 
 paid for the said lands, rents, etc.," and further notes 
 the letters patent of the 14th July, 1550, under which, in 
 consideration of £iS,y44. lis. 2d. the said rents were 
 conveyed to trustees for the Companies. 
 
 On the other hand, in the enacting clauses of the Act 
 there is no reference to the purposes for which the lands 
 were employed and not a word to restrict the free 
 enjoyment by the Companies of their property. 
 
 The Commissioners also refer in their Report (p. 15, 
 
 note) to a document in Herbert, copied- by him from 
 
 strype's Stow Strypc's Stow, in such a way as to suggest that references 
 
 Book v., . , , , ..... ,, 
 
 p. 249. to " poor decaied brethren, exhibitions to scollers, poor 
 
 men and women, and the like " are contained in the 
 
 Return to Edward VI. 's Commissioners. As a matter of 
 
 Lansdowne fact, this docuiTient is copied from a paper dated 1588 to 
 
 no. 30. be found among the Burghley Papers (which at one time 
 
 belonged to Strype), which was prepared in connection
 
 CHANTRY LANDS 57 
 
 with Adams' and Woodshavve's claims, as the document 
 itself states. 
 
 As the Commissioners were for the most part an 
 honourable body of men, it is only fair to assume that 
 they did not themselves refer to the original documents, 
 but were content to accept their information second-hand 
 from the Companies' opponents (" concealers " m a 
 different sense), otherwise their method of setting forth 
 only part of the facts would seem hardly straightforward. 
 
 I have dealt at some length with the subject of 
 chantry and concealed lands, because it forms such an 
 important element in connection with the title of the 
 guilds to a large part of their property. If that title 
 should ever again be assailed, a knowledge of the circum- 
 stances under which, after continuous struggles and 
 sacrifices extending over nearly eighty years, it was 
 finally established, will again become of supreme im- 
 portance. I cannot pretend to have exhausted the 
 subject, but I hope I have been able to throw some 
 further light on transactions, which, though their prime 
 object was to extort money from the guilds, have ended 
 by placing the property affected on a basis which / 
 absolutely precludes the notion of its being encumbered 
 with trusts of any description. ' 
 
 For further information on this subject I must refer 
 the reader to Clode's " Early History of the Merchant 
 Taylors Company," vol. I., chapters 8, 13 and 15, and 
 to the Records of the Tallow Chandlers Company, edited 
 by M. F. Monier-Williams, part I., chapters 16, 18 
 and 19. 
 
 There is an interesting paper by W. S. Walford, 
 F.S.A., on the subject of these so-called superstitious 
 uses in " Archaeologia " (vol. 38, p. 135.). Taking as 
 his text a Deed of Purchase by the Armourers' Company
 
 58 GIFTS FOR MASSES FOR THE DEAD 
 
 of the advowson to the chantry of St. George in St, Paul's 
 Cathedral, he points out that one of the most important 
 objects of the guilds was to secure perpetual masses for 
 the repose of the souls of their deceased members, and 
 that, no doubt, it was in furtherance of this object that 
 this advowson was purchased, so that the Company 
 might have their own chantry, and their own priest, 
 whose duty it would be to pray for the souls of their 
 deceased members. 
 
 j^ ^ In the case of the chapel of St. John the Baptist in 
 
 St. Paul's Cathedral, belonging to our own Guild, it is 
 expressly stated in an early ordnance book, that the 
 Fraternity had appointed priests specially to say masses 
 daily and to pray for the souls of deceased brethren and 
 sisters of the Fraternity. 
 
 M., p. 42. By a Bull of Pope Calixtus III., permission was 
 
 granted to the Fraternity to have masses celebrated in 
 the chapel in " Taillours Halle," and that the anni- 
 versaries of the faithful servants of Christ of the 
 Fraternity might be performed according to custom. 
 
 Endowments for the purpose of providing masses for 
 the dead would usually take the form of land, or rent 
 charges issuing out of land, which in those days was 
 practically the only permanent form of investment. 
 
 Land could not, however, be transferred for this 
 purpose without the King's licence in mortmain, but the 
 charges for obtaining such licences had become so 
 prohibitive as to place them out of the reach of all 
 except the wealthy, and so other means had to be 
 resorted to by less fortunate people. 
 
 In some cases, bargains were made with existing 
 religious foundations, whereby, in consideration of a 
 money payment, masses were to be said, either in
 
 GIFTS FOR MASSES FOR THE DEAD 59 
 
 perpetuity or for a fixed number of years, for the souls of 
 the donor and his family. 
 
 In other cases, a number of individuals constituted 
 themselves into a guild, each of the members of which 
 contributed a small sum annually to provide a priest to 
 say masses for their souls after death, and they mutually 
 agreed to attend and offer prayers at the funerals of 
 deceased members. In the case of our own Guild, each 
 member at every stage of his corporate career, from 
 liveryman to Master, bound himself by oath to attend at 
 all obits and funerals of deceased members. 
 
 Such was the origin of the numerous religious guilds 
 that were spread throughout the country, not only in 
 cities and towns but even in villages. 
 
 As" Brentano puts it in his preliminary essay 
 (p. cxxxiii) to Toulmin Smith's " English Guilds " : 
 
 " Besides being brotherhoods for the care of the 
 temporal welfare of their members, the craft gilds were, 
 like the rest of the gilds, at the same time religious 
 fraternities. In this respect the craft gilds of all 
 countries are alike ; and in reading their statutes, one 
 might fancy sometimes that the old craftsmen cared only 
 for the well-being of their souls." 
 
 The Livery Companies Commissioners put it even 
 stronger in referring to the "close analogy" of the 
 mediaeval guilds, in which the Companies of London had 
 their origin, with the " collegia opificum," under the Roman 
 Empire, which were associations " the primary objects of 
 which were common worship and social intercourse, the 
 secondary objects the protection of the trades against 
 unjust taxes, and their internal regulation " (p. 8). 
 
 It was natural, having regard to the spirit of the 
 times, when men who were associated together in 
 some trade or craft constituted themselves into a guild,
 
 6o GIFTS FOR MASSES FOR THE DEAD 
 
 that religion should form at least as strong a feature as 
 trade among the objects of the guild. 
 
 It was also natural that a member of such a guild, 
 who wished to make special provision for masses for the 
 souls of himself and his family should make a bargain, 
 such as I have described, with his own guild rather than 
 with some outside foundation. 
 
 There are many instances of such bargains (com- 
 positions, as they were called) made with our own Guild, 
 where the consideration took the form not of land, but of 
 money, or even plate. There is the case of Thomas 
 Howdan (Master 1505) where, "in consideration of 
 ^333 65. Sd., a standyng cuppe and two saltes of sylver 
 Land with a cover, to the value of ;f4i 13s. 4.d. given unto the 
 
 MllcSneous Mystcric," the Master and Wardens covenanted by deed 
 ff°°_^i9!' with his executors to provide a chaplain at St. Mary 
 Abchurch to celebrate and to pray for the souls 
 mentioned in the deed, and to pay the chaplain a yearly 
 salary of £y 3s. 4^. and to keep an obit yearly at the 
 same church expending thereon 16s. Sd. and to dis- 
 tribute IDS. a year in coals amongst the poor. 
 
 Sometimes the bargain was for a fixed term of years, 
 as in the case of John Kyrkebye (Master 1501), where, in 
 consideration of ;f 100, the Fraternity granted him an 
 annuity of 20s. for the term of eighty years for the 
 Evidence maintenance of his obit. It is to be noted that this 
 annuity was not purchased by the Company but was sold 
 by the King to William Lewis, or his predecessors in title, 
 who, or his representatives, continued to receive it till the 
 expiration of the term, as our account books shew. 
 
 Sometimes the bargain was made with persons who 
 apparently had little or no connection with the Guild, but 
 having confidence in their integrity came to them in 
 preference to going elsewhere. 
 
 Book, p. 302.
 
 GIFTS FOR MASSES FOR THE DEAD 6i 
 
 Such a barofain was made with Dame Beatrice de Wilis Book, 
 
 D 8 
 
 Roos, the widow of the fifth Lord de Roos, who appears 
 in no way to have been associated with the Guild, except 
 possibly through her son, the sixth Lord de Roos, who 
 was admitted a freeman in 1390. 
 
 In this case, the Guild were to pay the salary of a 
 chaplain in their chapel of St. John the Baptist in St. 
 Paul's Cathedral, to pray for the souls of the foundress 
 and others, and to secure the payment they charged all 
 their property with a yearly rent charge of twelve marks, 
 by the Deed of the 15th November, 1408, to which I have 
 already referred. 
 
 Such compositions must have been a source of 
 considerable profit to the Fraternity ; for instance, in 
 Howdan's case, without taking into consideration the 
 value of the plate, a capital sum of ;f333 65. 8^. would 
 far more than represent the value of an annuity of 
 £S 105. even on a five per cent, basis, which would be 
 rriuch lower than the rate of interest then prevailing. 
 The surplus would be clear profit and would go into the 
 common box of the Fraternity, free from any trust 
 whatsoever, to be dealt with as they pleased. The person 
 entering into such a bargain must have known that 
 this would be the result, and that it would, in fact, 
 form the inducement for the Fraternity to undertake 
 the obligation. 
 
 Any capital so derived, which was invested at the 
 time in the purchase of land, would now be producing a 
 large income. 
 
 I refer to this subject as illustrating one of the sources 
 from which the guilds have obtained their wealth. / 
 
 Chircheman is sometimes described as a " peperer " 
 or " grocer," and sometimes as a " merchant." He is 
 claimed by the Grocers' Company as one of their
 
 62 JOHN CHIRCHEMAN 
 
 eminent members, but he was also a member of the 
 Guild of Taylors and Linen Armourers, as will appear 
 later. 
 
 He seems to have been held in high favour by the 
 Fraternity, for he was being constantly entertained at 
 dinner, as the " Masters' Accounts" shew. He was also 
 on the list of persons to whom hoods ("chaperons") 
 were given annually, in accordance with " the reasonable 
 usage for each of the rulers and officers of the City of 
 London in support of the said city, to receive either a 
 hood or a vestment each year from the different crafts of 
 the same city ; " as declared in an ordinance of the Mayor . 
 and Aldermen, passed in 1415, which however laid down 
 that in future no Mayor, Alderman or other officer of the 
 City should receive, " any livery or vestment from any 
 craft or fraternity, save only that one craft of which he 
 has been made free." 
 
 Chircheman was one of the Sheriffs in 1385 and his 
 name often occurs in the Patent Rolls. He may have 
 been interested in the wool trade, for it is recorded of 
 him that he built for the " quiet of merchants " a house 
 on his quay, called " Le Woolewharfe," in the parish of 
 All Hallows, Barking (now called the Wool Quay), for 
 the " tronnage " or weighing of wool, and that the King 
 had agreed that the " Petty Custom '' should be collected 
 and kept there during Chircheman's life, and to pay him 
 40s. (afterwards increased to 80s.) a year for the use of 
 the same. 
 
 Upon the strength of this, it is claimed that 
 Chircheman was the founder of the Custom House. 
 Herbert.voi.i. Herbert says that he transferred his rights for a con- 
 sideration to the Grocers' Company, but I think this is a 
 c. p. R. fiction, for he surrendered his grant to the King and 
 1399. p- 152- conveyed the property to John Shadworthe, mercer, who 
 
 c. p. 
 
 R. 
 
 
 Edw. 
 
 III. 
 
 1382, 
 
 
 
 pp. I. 
 
 \9, 
 
 154. 
 
 1383, 
 
 P- 
 
 299. 
 
 1386, 
 
 P- 
 
 204. 
 
 Stow 
 
 , V( 
 
 3l i. 
 
 pp. 1. 
 
 08, 
 
 I35.
 
 BRADESTRETE 63 
 
 obtained a new grant from the King of the special 
 privileges. 
 
 According; to Stow, a monument was erected to stow, vol. i. 
 Chircheman in the church of St. Martm Outwich. 
 
 It seems clear from the description of Chircheman's 
 premises contained in the above Deed of 1405, that by 
 Bradestrete is meant the street which is now known as 
 Threadneedle Street. As, however, it has been generally 
 assumed from the resemblance of the names that Brade- 
 strete is the same as the present Broad Street, I propose 
 to furnish some further evidence in support of my 
 contention. 
 
 Bradestrete is sometimes referred to as " via regia," 
 but more usually as " vicus regius." The distinction 
 between the two expressions apparently is that " via " is 
 usually applied to streets which are main thoroughfares, 
 and " vicus" to less important streets, just as the words 
 "via" and " vico " are used at the present day in Italian 
 cities and towns. 
 
 Taking a fixed point to start with, there can be no 
 controversy as to the position of the church of St. Martin 
 Outwich, which stood at the South-East corner of 
 Bishopsgate Street and Threadneedle Street, where the 
 Capital and Counties Bank now stands. 
 
 It will be observed that the messuage with five shops 
 annexed is described in the Conveyance from Chircheman 
 as being in the parish of St. Martin Outwich, and adjoin- 
 ing Bradestrete, with the church on the East and the 
 tenement of the Charterhouse on the West, and therefore 
 must have been on the South side of Bradestrete. 
 
 The same premises are described in a Deed of the h. r. 
 24th of December, 1375, as extending in length from the ^°^^^°°'' 
 highway (" vicus regius ") of Bradestrete on the North to 
 the tenement of Master John de Totenham on the South.
 
 64 BRADESTRETE 
 
 Now there are only two streets in this parish, viz. : — 
 Bishopsgate Street, which runs North and South, and 
 Threadneedle Street, which runs East and West. It is 
 only the latter, therefore, which can have a North and 
 South side to it. 
 
 The modern Broad Street, on the other hand, runs 
 nearly North and South, and therefore cannot have a 
 North or South side to it, and moreover no part of it lies 
 within or abuts on the parish of St. Martin Outwich. 
 
 The Conveyance from Chircheman also speaks of a 
 messuage and three shops in Bradestrete, lying between 
 the tenement of the Charterhouse on the East, and 
 " Tailoureshall " on the West. 
 
 This is the piece which is shown on the Ground Plan 
 as the site of George Sotherton's house, and on part of 
 which now stand the Beadle's house and Clerk's office. 
 
 It so happens that there is a Deed which gives the 
 exact dimensions of the piece of land on which this 
 H. R. messuage and the three shops stood. It is dated the 
 
 1st of July, 1400, and Chircheman was a party to it. 
 The premises are described therein as a tenement with 
 two shops (sic) "situate in Bradestrete " in the parish of 
 St. Martin, which said tenement and two shops contain 
 in length against the highway (" vicus regius ") called 
 Bradestrete on the North, 48 feet 8 inches, and lie between 
 the tenement of the Fraternity of St. John of the Taylors 
 of London on the West and the tenement of the Prior and 
 Convent of the Charterhouse on the East, and the 
 tenement of John Chircheman on the South, and contain 
 in depth 47 feet. 
 
 If these dimensions are compared with the dimensions 
 of the piece of land marked "site of George Sotherton's 
 house," it will be seen that they correspond within a few 
 inches. 
 
 129 (26).
 
 BRADESTRETE 65 
 
 The present Broad Street is over 250 feet distant in 
 a straight line from the South side of Threadneedle Street 
 at this point, and therefore as the Deed states that the 
 depth from the street was only 47 feet, it is absolutely 
 impossible that the Bradestrete on which these premises 
 abutted can be the present Broad Street. 
 
 I do not wish to labour the point, but there is one 
 more piece of evidence I should like to refer to from the 
 West end of Threadneedle Street, where the Bank of 
 England stands. 
 
 The Grant of 1465 to Thomas Montgomery, to which c. p. r. 
 I have already referred, includes a tenement in the t^es^'p. 367. 
 parish of St. Christopher les Stocks, situate between 
 the church of St. Christopher and the churchyard on the 
 West, the rectory of the church on the North, a tenement 
 pertaining to the church on the East, and the highway 
 of Bradestrete on the South. 
 
 As St. Christopher's Church stood on a site lying to 
 the West of the present main entrance to the Bank, and 
 some distance from Broad Street, no part of which is in 
 the parish of St. Christopher, it is evident that this part 
 of Threadneedle Street must also have been then known 
 as Bradestrete. 
 
 There are many other deeds I might refer to, defining 
 the boundaries of properties, which are only intelligible 
 on the assumption that Bradestrete and Threadneedle 
 Street are one and the same, but I think I have quoted 
 sufficient for my purpose. 
 
 In the Company's old rent rolls the tenements 
 standing in what we now call Threadneedle Street are 
 entered under the head of Bradestrete. 
 
 It may be said that by this is meant not the street but 
 the ward of the same name. 
 
 If so, it is a remarkable fact that out of a long list of
 
 66 BRADESTRETE 
 
 properties, only these particular tenements are given 
 under the name, not of the street but of the ward, while 
 all the others appear under the name of the street in 
 which they stand ; although it is true that some of these 
 streets happen to give their names to wards. 
 
 This practice prevailed from the earliest times, for 
 instance, in the accounts for 1406-7 are given the rents 
 from "Cornhill," " Fridaystrete," *' Bredstrete," '' Wod- 
 strete " and " Bradestrete," the last mentioned being 
 entered as " Le rente en Bradestrete pres le porte." 
 
 Though this practice continued after Threadneedle 
 Street came to be known under its present name, I think 
 the explanation is that the old name continued to be used 
 in official documents. This is further borne out by the 
 fact that the name Threadneedle Street occurs on the 
 Husting Rolls for the first time in 1656. 
 
 Since I wrote the above, I have come across another 
 piece of evidence which, it seems to me, finally disposes 
 of the matter. It is the will of Isabella Howdan (the 
 widow of Thomas Howdan above mentioned), in which 
 she disposes of certain annual rent charges issuing out 
 of certain tenements of the Master and Wardens of 
 Merchant Taylors "in the warde of Bradstrete of London 
 set and being in Bradstrete of the said Citie of 
 London." The Company never owned any land in the 
 present Broad Street, and therefore it must have been the 
 present Threadneedle Street that is referred to under 
 the description of Bradstrete. 
 
 What the original name for Broad Street was I am 
 unable to say. On Aggas's map of London, made in 1533 
 Memorials, (now said to be wrongly attributed to him), and repro- 
 duced by Newton in 1855, the part between Threadneedle 
 Street and Throgmorton Street, is called Pig Street. 
 The original map in the Guildhall Library gives no 
 
 p. 29
 
 BRADESTRETE 67 
 
 names either to Threadneedle Street or Pig Street ; but 
 
 from Maitland's History of London, published in 1756, it 
 
 appears that this portion of Broad Street was then still 
 
 known as Pig Street. 
 
 It is not unlikely that it got this name from the fact stow, vol. i. 
 
 p. 184. 
 that the Hospital of St. Anthony, which stood at the 
 
 North-East corner of Threadneedle Street and Broad 
 
 Street, had the privilege of allowing their pigs to run 
 
 in the neighbouring streets. 
 
 That part of Chircheman's land in Bishopsgate Street 
 which is still owned by the Company, and now forms 
 part of the Capital and Counties Bank, was the site of a 
 messuage and two tenements in lease to Lord 
 Chancellor Wriothesley, afterwards Earl of Southampton, 
 at a rent of ;/^io a year. 
 
 He was Chancellor at the death of Henry VHL but 
 was dismissed shortly after Edward VL came to the 
 throne. According to Lord Campbell in his " Lives of 
 the Chancellors," it was he who prepared the Will of 
 Henry VHL, under which the Stuarts came to the 
 throne. He was a very strong adherent of the old 
 religion, and did his best, though without success, to 
 induce the King to divorce his last wife, Catherine Parr, 
 who was supposed to favour the reformed religion. 
 
 How he came to get a lease of these premises there 
 is nothing to show, but the evidence is against his ever 
 having lived there. He died at Southampton House, 
 Holborn, which he built, and from which Southampton 
 Buildings gets its name. In those days it was not 
 unusual for persons in high positions to obtain leases on 
 favourable terms in consideration of services rendered or 
 favours expected. 
 
 The property lying within the edging of blue was the 
 site of the house, garden and other buildings occupied by
 
 68 SIR THOMAS ROWE'S HOUSE 
 
 Sir Thomas Rowe (Master 1557, Lord Mayor 1568), for 
 which he paid a rent of ;^I5 a year. Later on it was 
 let to Sir Thomas Rowe's son, Sir Henry Rowe, who 
 was a member of the Mercers' Company and Lord Mayor 
 in 1607. It was afterwards let to Robert Rich, Earl of 
 Warwick, and his second wife, Susan, daughter of Sir 
 Henry Rowe. 
 
 Susan Rowe was first married to William Halliday, 
 brother of Sir Leonard Halliday, a distinguished member 
 of the Company. She died in 1645, and was buried in 
 the church of St. Lawrence Jewry, where there is a 
 handsome monument to her and her first husband. 
 Robert Rich, Earl of Warwick, was one of the leaders of 
 the Parliamentary party in the Civil War and Lord High 
 Admiral of the Fleet. He was a strong supporter of 
 Cromwell, at whose inauguration he carried the Sword of 
 State. He was also one of the pioneers of colonization 
 in America, and was President of the New England 
 Company, a member of the Council of the Virginia Com- 
 pany, and one of the original founders of the Colony of 
 Bermuda. It is to a grant from him that the State of 
 Connecticut owes its origin, 
 c. M. Sir Thomas Rowe's tenancy also included two ware- 
 
 P°29ib.' houses on the first floor of premises in the Company's 
 own occupation, about where the Wardens' dressing- 
 rooms now stand. 
 
 Among the names appearing on the earlier title to 
 Chircheman's land is that of Sir Nicholas Brembre, 
 grocer, who was four times Mayor and, together with Sir 
 William Walworth, was knighted on the field, by Richard 
 II., after the defeat of Wat Tyler's followers. 
 Riley's He was an adherent of the King's party in opposition 
 
 p. W to the King's uncles, John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster, 
 and Thomas of Woodstock, Duke of Gloucester. With
 
 SIR NICHOLAS BREMBRE 69 
 
 Robert de Vere, Earl of Oxford, the favourite of Richard 
 II., and Michael de la Pole, Earl of Suffolk, he was 
 impeached in the "merciless parliament." The others 
 escaped to France, but Brembre was arrested and 
 hanged at Tyburn in 1388. Thomas Walsingham, 
 who wrote in the fifteenth century, makes the charge 
 against him that he intended, after slaying thousands of 
 the citizens, to change the name of London to New 
 Troy, and to have himself created Duke thereof. 
 
 As Brembre's name appears on the deeds as joint 
 tenant with others, I think it was probable he was a 
 trustee, and not beneficially interested in the property. 
 Chircheman, who served the office of Sheriff in one of 
 Brembre's mayoralities, was a colleague of his in the 
 Grocers' Company, and was very likely in sympathy with 
 his political views, but he does not seem to have got in- 
 volved in any trouble in consequence, though there were 
 reports about that he had been arrested and sent to 
 the Tower, and that his head had been broken by the 
 Duke of Gloucester. 
 
 For spreading these reports, William Asshewelle, c. l. b. 
 
 . H. p. 330. 
 
 beadle of the Ward of Cornhill, was dismissed from 
 office by the Mayor and Aldermen, on the ground that 
 the reports were false. 
 
 As I am on the subject of Chircheman's title, I should 
 like to refer to an interesting document. It is an 
 Indenture dated the 24th of June, 1388, and is made 
 between John Chircheman, " citizen and grocer," of the 
 one part, and William Sudbury and others, most of whose 
 names are familiar as members of the Fraternity of 
 Taylors and Linen Armourers, of the other part. It 
 recites that there had been long-standing disputes 
 between the parties with reference to the ownership of a 
 piece of garden lying in the parish of St. Martin Oteswych,
 
 70 SITE OF KITCHEN IDENTIFIED 
 
 H. R. between the tenements of the parties of the second part 
 
 on the South and West, a tenement of John Organ (now 
 part of the Royal Bank of Scotland), on the East, and 
 the garden of John Chircheman on the North, and that 
 at length an agreement had been come to between the 
 parties as follows : 
 
 John Chircheman, to the honour of God and on 
 account of his devotion to St. John the Baptist, of whose 
 Fraternity he is a member (" cujus fraternitatis ipse est "), 
 grants and confirms the said piece of garden to the parties 
 of the second part. He also agrees to erect, at his own 
 expense, a stone wall between the piece of garden in 
 dispute and his own garden, extending from the tenement 
 of the said John Organ to the kitchen (" ad coquinam ") 
 of the parties of the second part ; such wall is to be 
 49 ft. loj ins. (" i6j virgas cum 4^ policibus ") in length ; 
 and the parties of the second part are to have the right to 
 place " seven or eight corbels " in the said wall, on which 
 to build. 
 
 The only piece of land to which these abuttals can 
 possibly apply, is the piece about 48 ft. in length, running 
 from the back of the property, now the Royal Bank of 
 Scotland (formerly of John Organ) as far as the Com- 
 pany's kitchen. 
 I This Deed gives us some interesting pieces of in- 
 
 formation ; that John Chircheman, though a grocer, was 
 a member of this Guild, of which we had previously no 
 evidence ; that the membership of the Guild was, even 
 at that early date, not limited to Taylors and Linen 
 Armourers — a fact amply confirmed by the various occu- 
 pations of the persons admitted to the freedom as shewn 
 in the " Master's Accounts" of a little later period ; that 
 a man might even then be a member of m.ore than one 
 guild ; and, what is perhaps the most interesting from
 
 DOWE'S GIFT 71 
 
 our point of view, that the kitchen occupied the same site 
 in 1388 as it does to-day. 
 
 The compiler of the Evidence Book came to the same 
 conclusion with regard to the position of this piece of 
 land. He refers to this deed as the conveyance of " a 
 certain piece of a garden lying in the parish of St. Martyn 
 Outwich, which seemeth to be void ground, that lieth 
 before the pastery between the entry and it." 
 
 On Oliver's plan of the Hall premises, to which I 
 have already referred, the pastery is shewn as occupying 
 the site now partly occupied by the small kitchen, and 
 partly by the rear of No. 2 White Lion Court. 
 
 Land coloured yellow (i) on the Ground Plan. 
 
 The tenement of the Charterhouse, which is referred 
 to in the Conveyance from Chircheman to the Fraternity, 
 is the piece coloured yellow (i) on the Ground Plan. 
 
 It was purchased in 1349 by Michael de Northburgh, h. R^^ 
 Bishop of London, and was then described as : " all that 
 tenement in the parish of St. Martin de Oteswych, situate 
 between the tenement which formerly belonged to Master 
 Wilham de Oteswych on the East, and the tenement 
 which formerly belonged to Ralph Crepin on the West, a 
 piece of land on the South and the highway (' vicus 
 regius ') on the North." 
 
 Michael de Northburgh, with Sir Walter de Manney, S'jSSn, 
 founded the Charterhouse in London. He died in 1361, ed. of 1846. 
 and his Will is enrolled in the Court of Husting. ^g^^^^). 
 
 On the 25th of September, 1377, Michael Free, alias 
 Northburgh, clerk, as executor of Michael de Northburgh, 
 conveyed the premises in frank almoign to the Prior
 
 72 DOWE'S GIFT 
 
 ^R^'if 11 ^^^ Convent of the Charterhouse, in whose possession it 
 p- 242. remained till the dissolution of the monasteries. 
 
 In the Ministers' Accounts, 31 and 32 Henry VIII. 
 (2396), under the head of " Possessions of Charterhouse " 
 occurs this entry : 
 
 "^4, farm of two tenements in the parish of St. Martin 
 Outwyche, leased to Thomas Landen, for term of 40 
 years, 6th of April, 28 Henry VIII," (1537). 
 P. Rm By letters patent dated the 22nd of January, 1590, 
 
 32 Eliz. 1 • -r* T« 
 
 pt. 23. Queen Elizabeth granted the premises to Roger Rante 
 
 Close Roll, and Peter Whetcombe, who, by Deed dated the 23rd 
 
 1325 
 
 32Eiiz.pt. 19. of January, 1590, sold them for the sum of 200 marks 
 
 to George Sotherton (Master 1589), under the descrip- 
 tion of two tenements situate in the parish of St. Martin 
 Outwich, in the City of London, part of the possession of 
 the late dissolved Priory of Charterhouse ; to hold of the 
 Queen, her heirs and successors, as of her manor of 
 East Greenwich, in the County of Kent, in free and 
 common socage and not in capite or by military service ; 
 but subject to an outstanding lease for a term expiring 
 in 1619, at the yearly rent of £^, to one, William Hill, 
 Groom in Ordinary of the Chamber. 
 
 The purchase was taken in Sotherton's name, as 
 
 trustee for the Company, but the purchase money was 
 
 provided by Robert Dowe (Master 1578). 
 
 c. M. The proposal to purchase was brought before the 
 
 p°2oib. Court of the Company by Sotherton on the 25th of 
 
 November, 1589. 
 
 The circumstances of the purchase are fully set out 
 
 vol. iii. in the Court Minutes of the 24th of March, 1590. The 
 
 pp. 205b- 206b. 
 
 property is therein described as lying between the 
 
 Almshouses on the East, and the house then in the 
 
 occupation of the Master, George Sotherton, on the 
 
 West.
 
 DOWE'S GIFT 73 
 
 The identity of Sotherton's house is clear. It 
 occupied the site of the messuage and three shops in 
 Bradestrete, described in the conveyance from Chirche- 
 man to the Company as lying between the tenement of 
 the Charterhouse on the East, and Taillourshall on the 
 West, and of which the dimensions are given in the 
 above-mentioned Deed of the ist of July, 1400, as ex- 
 tending in length against Bradestrete 48 ft. 8 ins., and 
 in depth 47 ft. 
 
 Dowe's intention in purchasing the property was to 
 make further provision for the almswomen in the Alms- 
 houses then recently erected near Tower Hill. 
 
 M., p. 297. 
 
 He gave, as is well known, large sums to the g^^jy j^jg^Q^y 
 Company, to be laid out in the purchase of lands, from ^°^- '" p- ^57- 
 the revenues of which provision was to be made for 
 various charitable purposes, which are fully set out in 
 two deeds, dated respectively, the 28th of August, 1605, 
 and the 4th of April, 1610, and made between Dowe 
 and the Company. 
 
 The property is described in the Deed of the 28th 
 of August, 1605, as two tenements and one alley in 
 the parish of St. Martin Outwich, situate amongst the 
 Company's lands in the same parish, between their 
 Almshouses on the East side, and their tenement next 
 adjoining to their Common Hall, late in the tenure of 
 George Sotherton, on the West side. 
 
 By two Orders under the seal of the Charity Commis- 
 sioners, both dated the 7th of January, 1876, the Company 
 transferred into the name of the Official Trustee of 
 Charitable Funds, two sums of Consols, sufficient out of 
 the income thereof to meet all charges under Dowe's gift, 
 and thereupon all lands derived from Dowe were declared 
 freed from any future claims in respect of such charges.
 
 74 DOWE'S GIFT 
 
 WiiisBook Sotherton, by his Will dated the 15th of March, 1591, 
 
 p. 136. 
 c. M. 
 
 in pursuance of the trust reposed in him, devised the 
 vol. iii. premises to the Master and Wardens of the Company. 
 
 p. 227. ^ r J 
 
 He died in 1599, and a monument was erected to 
 him in the church of St. Martin Outwich. 
 
 Sotherton, it may be mentioned, was twice member of 
 Parliament for the City, viz. : in 1592 and 1597.
 
 (75 ) 
 
 THE PROPERTY TO THE WEST OF 
 THE HALL. 
 
 Land coloured blue (2) on the Ground Plan. 
 
 The next acquisition by the Company was the pro- 
 perty lying to the West of the Hall, coloured blue (2) 
 on the Ground Plan, which formerly belonged to the 
 Brethren of St. Augustine, commonly known as " Austin 
 Friars." 
 
 It is described in the abuttals to the premises com- 
 prised in the conveyance to Yakeslee, as the tenement of 
 the Brethren of St. Augustine, which Thomas Lyon held 
 for the term of his life. 
 
 The property continued to belong to the Austin 
 Friars down to the dissolution of the monasteries. 
 
 In the Ministers' Accounts, 31 and 32 Henry VIII. 
 (2396) under the head of " Possessions of the Austin 
 Friars," the premises are described as a brewhouse called 
 " Le Cokk," with two tenements adjoining, in Fynxe 
 Lane, leased to John Buffyn, for forty years, from Lady 
 Day 1535, at the yearly rent of £^. 
 
 By letters patent, dated the ist of July, 1544, Henry p^R-^^ ^^^^ 
 VIII., in consideration of the sum of £gS^ i6s., granted pt. 18. 
 to Hugh Losse and Thomas Bocher and the heirs and 
 assigns of Hugh Losse {inter alia) the messuages or 
 tenements in the parish of St. Benedicte within the City 
 of London, then or late in the tenure or occupation of 
 John Buffyne, lately belonging to the house of the 
 Brethren of Augustine of London. 
 
 By a Deed dated the 4th of August, 1544, Losse and Evidence 
 Bocher conveyed the property to John Buffyne, under p°i62.
 
 76 
 
 HAWES' GIFT 
 
 Close Roll, 
 1368 
 {32 Eliz. 
 pt. 22). 
 
 whose will it passed to his son, John Buffyne, the 
 
 younger. 
 
 By a Deed dated the ist of April, 1590, John 
 
 Bougham, alias John Buffyne, heir of John Bougham, 
 
 citizen and brewer, in consideration of the sum of ;^26o, 
 
 conveyed the property to Henry Shukar under the 
 
 description of " all that greate messuage or tenement 
 
 then in the tenure or occupation of Robert Warner, and 
 
 all those four messuages or tenements, then in the 
 
 several tenures or occupations of John Greene, Willyam 
 
 Mynn, Thomas Fryer, and Mark Dingley, sett, lying and 
 
 being in the parish of Saynt Bennet Fynck, in the warde 
 
 of Broadstreete, which great messuage or tenement and 
 
 four other messuages or tenements were sometyme a 
 
 great messuage and brewhouse called by the name of 
 
 the signe of the Cocke in Fynck Lane ; " subject to a 
 
 lease of the said premises to Robert Warner, expiring at 
 
 midsummer, 1645, at the yearly rent of ;f20. 
 
 Close Roll, On the 12th of December, ISQ';, Shukar, in con- 
 
 1519 ^ ~^ 
 
 (38Eiiz.pt.3). sideration of the sum of £^66 13s. 4^., conveyed the 
 
 CM. premises under the same description, to Robert Hawes, 
 
 ' citizen and merchant taylor. 
 
 Robert Hawes (Master 1580), by his Will dated the 
 
 17th of January, 1596, after reciting that John Robinson, 
 
 William Offley, Robert Dow, Richard Venables (Master 
 
 1598), and William Craven, together with himself, had 
 
 agreed to pay during their lives, to six poor widows then 
 
 in the Company's Almshouses, yearly pensions of 
 
 ^^3 9s. 4d. each, and being desirous of continuing the 
 
 same after their deaths, had subscribed the sum of ;f 336, 
 
 with which they had purchased a great messuage and 
 
 four other houses in the parish of St. Benet Fink, which 
 
 had been conveyed to him, the said Robert Hawes ; in 
 
 performance of the trust in him reposed, gave and 
 
 Memorials 
 p. 292. 
 
 Wills Book, 
 p. 138.
 
 HAWES' GIFT 77 
 
 devised the same premises to the Master and Wardens 
 of the Company and their successors, upon trust to apply 
 out of the rents thereof to the support of six poor widows 
 of London of the age of 55 years (whereof five to be 
 always widows of the Society of Merchant Taylors, and 
 the sixth to be chosen out of the parish of St. Botolph 
 Algate), yearly for ever the sum of £^ gs. 4^., and he 
 directed that the residue of the rents (if any) should 
 remain in the common box of the Fraternity, to support 
 the common charge as well of repairing the said premises 
 and almshouses, as otherwise for the good of the 
 Company in their discretion ; the testator not doubting 
 that should the rents increase to a good balance, the said 
 Master and Wardens would reward the said poor widows 
 with a larger pension, or otherwise relieve the necessity 
 of other poor members of the Society. 
 
 On the plan of the Hall and adjacent property 
 attached to the " Memorials," the greater part of the 
 land which I have described as belonging to the Austin 
 Friars is shewn as though it had formed part of 
 Yakeslee's purchase, though a note is added that " some 
 doubt exists as to that part of the purchase which lies in 
 the parish of St. Benet Fink." 
 
 It is incumbent on me therefore to shew my grounds 
 for stating that the Austin Friars' land comprised the 
 whole of the land coloured blue (2) on the Ground Plan. 
 
 There is in the Evidence Book a short abstract of an Evidence 
 Indenture, dated the 31st of May, 1389, between th-^ p°8. ' 
 Prior and Convent of St. Augustine of the one part, and 
 John Dymock, Master of the Fraternity of St. John the 
 Baptist, London, and Thomas Bridlyngton, Simon 
 Wynchecombe, John Shalyngford, Robert Lyndeseye and 
 Thomas Sibsay, " feoffees of the said Fraternity," with 
 reference to the erection by the Fraternity and their
 
 78 HAWES* GIFT 
 
 feoffees of a " chymney in a chamber by them newly 
 built upon the corbell of a wall extending itself upon the 
 land of the said Convent 2 feet 3 inches." 
 
 The comment of the compiler of the Evidence Book 
 is that this " seemeth to be a chymney built in the King's 
 Chamber on the West end of the house." The King's 
 Chamber before it was destroyed in the Great Fire stood 
 at the West end of the Hall, where the Gallery and 
 Grand Staircase now are. Towards the South it ex- 
 tended as far as the North wall of the Court Dining 
 Room, as I shall shew when I come to deal with " the 
 Little Garden " which it partly overhung. 
 
 In the Master and Wardens' Minute Books there 
 appears on the 14th of June, 1493, the following entry 
 with reference to a chimney in the King's Chamber which 
 was probably the chimney referred to in the agreement 
 of 1389. 
 
 " The same day Richard Gyrston rent gaderer shewed 
 unto the M. and to his Wardeyns that the chymney in the 
 Kyngs Chambre atte the west end of the Hall is so 
 ruynouse and feble that it may in no wyse long stand and 
 every daye is in all lyklyhode to fall down, to the grete 
 perill and jeopardye to the good man of the Cok, his 
 gestes, servauntes and bestes. The M. hearing of this 
 caas saw the same Chymneye and grete perill therof and 
 the wekenes and feblenes of the same wherfore he w* 
 thadvice of his Wardeyns willed the said Rentgaderer to 
 cause the said Chymney to be taken down from the 
 upperest part down unto the corbell whereupon the same 
 stode. And for the upper parte is lefte a pece of lede 
 upon the said Chambre's side and the Corbells yet stand 
 still in token and remembraunce that the same Chymney 
 was there set w* out any contradiccion or impedyment of 
 any man and the same Chymney to be bielded agen as 
 shall please the Company thereto to be advised."
 
 HAWES' GIFT 79 
 
 The Kind's Chamber was rebuilt between the years cm. 
 
 t> vol. 111., 
 
 1593 and 1596. It was to be planned "so that the p. 264b. 
 light at the weste ende of the halle may be preserved 
 undiminished." 
 
 It seems that the building operations caused incon- c. m. 
 venience or damage to Warner, the lessee of " the Cokk," 
 for which the Company paid him a sum of money by 
 way of compensation. 
 
 The position of the King's Chamber in relation to 
 the Hall being fixed, it is obvious that, as the chimney 
 belonging to it abutted on the property of the Austin 
 Friars, the latter must have extended to the eastern limit 
 of the land coloured blue on the Ground Plan. 
 
 Further evidence of the identity of the land coloured 
 blue with the Austin Friars land is afforded by the 
 "Rentals Book," in which particulars are given of the Rentals Book, 
 lease to Warner of "divers tenements in and neere ''^ 
 Finch Lane," followed by a Memorandum that "these 
 houses were, at the expiration of the term, granted to 
 severall tenants, reserving severall rents, viz. : "A lease 
 of the said tenement in Threadneedlestrete, granted to 
 Francis Thrisscross from Midsummer 1645 for 31 years." 
 
 Then follow particulars of the other leases of the Rentals Book, 
 
 pp. ^'*^-'^ * "^ 
 
 remainder of the property, formerly leased to Warner, 
 viz. : Jemimah Warner, one tenement, James Butler, a 
 messuage and two tenements, and William Talbutt, one 
 tenement ; all described as in Finch Lane. 
 
 By tracing from the rent rolls the names of tlie 
 persons in whom these several leases were vested at the 
 time of the Great Fire, and comparing the plans attached 
 to the new building leases granted to the same persons 
 immediately after the Fire, it will be seen that the 
 whole of the land coloured blue was comprised in the 
 lease to Warner. 
 
 239-241.
 
 8o HAWES' GIFT 
 
 My reason for going so fully into this matter is 
 in order to identify the property, which the Company 
 received under the will of Hawes, about which there 
 seems to have been much uncertainty. 
 
 The " Tenement in Threadneedlestrete," leased to 
 Thrisscross, came to be known as the " Buffalo's Head," 
 1307 & 1350.' or " Bouffler's Head" Tavern. It was built round a 
 courtyard, in accordance with the usual practice in those 
 days, and was approached from Threadneedle Street by 
 a covered roadway or passage, about 10 ft. in width, as 
 shewn on the Ground Plan. 
 
 It continued to be known by the same name till, at 
 least, the middle of the eighteenth century; for in 1747 
 the Company granted a lease to Edward Baker, of " a 
 tenement lately erected on a piece of ground whereon 
 lately stood a tenement called the Buffalo's Head Tavern 
 lately demolished by fire." 
 
 Between 1840 and 1850, when the property came into 
 hand, the buildings on the East side of the courtyard 
 appear to have been used for a time as the Company's 
 offices. 
 
 I think the " Cokk " must be the tavern referred to in 
 the Court Minutes of the 27th of June, 1607, when in 
 connection with the visit of King James I., it was resolved 
 that " the brick wall in the garden which adjoineth to 
 the tavern shall presently be raised up, to take away the 
 prospect of such as used to walk upon the leades of the 
 tavern, and thereby would overlook the garden and the 
 King's Chamber." 
 
 Land coloured green (i) on the Ground Plan. 
 
 Fronting Threadneedle Street, and lying between the 
 land coloured brown (i) on the Ground Plan and the
 
 BLUNDELL'S GIFT 8i 
 
 Company's other property on the East, stood a tenement 
 known by the sign of the " Grasshopper " (afterwards as 
 No. 24 Threadneedle Street). The site is coloured 
 green (i) on the Ground Plan, and I think must have 
 been the site of "the tenement formerly of Henry de Evidence 
 
 Book, p. 2. 
 
 Schorne," on which the premises sold to Yakeslee 
 partly abutted on the West. 
 
 At the beginning of the sixteenth century it belonged 
 to John Williams, by whose mortgagee it was sold to 
 Morgan Stevens, citizen and merchant taylor, who in turn 
 sold it to the Company for ;f 120. 
 
 By a Deed of Bargain and Sale dated the loth of Evidence 
 June, 1601, made between Morgan Stevens of the first 
 part, the Mayor and Commonalty of the City of London 
 of the second part, and the Master and Wardens of the 
 Merchant Taylors and Robert Dowe of the third part, 
 the property was conveyed to Robert Dowe in trust for 
 the Company. 
 
 Part of the arrangement with Stevens was that he 
 should have a lease of the premises for 21 years, and so 
 his name appears on our rent rolls, and thereby the 
 identity of the property is further established. 
 
 By a Deed dated the 14th of July, 1601, Dowe Evidence 
 covenanted with the Master and Wardens to devise the 
 premises to the Company ; which he did accordingly by 
 his Will dated the 30th of July, 1601, under the descrip- wiiis Book, 
 tion of " All that messuage or tenement situate in the 
 parish of St. Bennett Fink, in or near a certain street 
 called Threedneedle Street, late in the occupation of 
 John Williams, citizen and merchant taylor, deceased, 
 extending in breadth on the street side between a 
 tenement of the said Master and Wardens of the 
 Merchant Taylours, now in the tenure of William 
 Rutland, gent., on the East part, and a tenement 
 
 G
 
 82 
 
 BLUNDELL'S GIFT 
 
 Memorials, 
 p. 294. 
 
 Wills Book, 
 p. 171. 
 
 late of John Williams, deceased, now in the tenure of 
 John Wall on the West part, 14 ft. 3^ ins." 
 
 This is the most complete description of the property 
 I have come across, as I have not been able to find any 
 copies of the earlier title deeds but merely very short 
 abstracts in the Evidence Book. 
 
 The purchase money of £120 was part of a sum of 
 ^150 bequeathed to the Master and Wardens under 
 the will of Peter Blundell, dated the gth of June, 1599, 
 wherewith to purchase lands, houses, or other sure 
 hereditaments, or rents, out of the proceeds of which 
 40s. was directed to be paid yearly for ever to the poor 
 prisoners in Newgate, and the residue to be by the 
 Master and Wardens so employed and bestowed as they 
 should for ever have the benefit thereof for their pains 
 in paying the said 40s. yearly for ever. 
 
 By a Deed dated the loth of June, 1601, made be- 
 
 Book, p. i6q. ^^ggj^ ^|-jg Master and Wardens of the one part, and Peter 
 
 Blundell's executors of the other part, the Master and 
 
 Wardens covenanted with the executors to pay the sum 
 
 of 40s. a year as directed by the will of the testator. 
 
 Peter Blundell was the founder of the well known 
 school at Tiverton. He was a clothier, that is to say a 
 manufacturer of cloth. A man of considerable wealth, 
 he left large sums in charity. He died in 1601, and was 
 buried at St. Michael's, Paternoster Royal. 
 
 Imprisonment for debt having been practically 
 abolished, the sum of 40s. with other prison funds is now 
 applied under the sanction of the Charity Commissioners 
 to the Men's Convalescent Home at Bognor. 
 
 Evidence 
 
 Memorials, 
 P- 336.
 
 SITE NEXT BLUNDELL'S GIFT 83 
 
 Land coloured brown (i) on the Ground Plan. 
 
 This appears to be the site of "the tenement late of 
 John Wilhams, deceased, in the tenure of John Wall," 
 which lay to the West of the land purchased out of Peter 
 Blundell's legacy, but how the Company acquired it I 
 have been unable to discover. 
 
 It appears from the abstract of Morgan Stevens' title, 
 that John Williams owned two tenements, one in his . 
 own occupation, (afterwards purchased by Stevens), and 
 another one adjoining in the occupation of John Wall. 
 
 The passage from the Buffalo's Head Tavern to 
 Threadneedle Street passed across this piece of land, as 
 indicated on the Ground Plan. 
 
 In the Court Minutes for the 17th of May, 1645, ^^ is c. m., vol. ix. 
 reported that one, Burrage, had set up a claim to the^'^"' 
 tenement in the occupation of Tue, over the gateway of 
 the passage to the tenement in lease to Francis Thriss- 
 cross (that is to say, the Buffalo's Head Tavern), and it 
 was resolved that Tue should resist the claim, and that 
 the Company would indemnify him from all loss. 
 
 What Tue's connection with the Company was does 
 not appear, but he does not seem to have been their 
 immediate tenant for his name does not appear in the 
 rent roll. Burrage commenced an action in ejectment in c.m.,vo1. ix. 
 the Mayor's Court, which he won, and Tue was accord- 
 ingly ejected and received compensation from the 
 Company for his loss. 
 
 At the time of the Great Fire, John Steventon was the 
 lessee of the site of the tavern. Both the plan on the 
 building lease of this site granted to him after the P'ire 
 and the plan on the subsequent lease of 1747 to Edward 
 Baker of the same site, to which I have already referred, 
 shew only the passage to Threadneedle Street, and not 
 the remainder of the land coloured brown (i). The lease
 
 84 SITE NEXT BLUNDELL'S GIFT 
 
 to Baker contains a provision that in case the messuage 
 extending over the gateway (that is to say, over the 
 passage to the tavern) " now holden under a lease from 
 the Masters and Wardens expiring at Christmas, 1757," 
 shall at any time during the term of Baker's lease be 
 rebuilt, the head of the said gateway shall be raised two 
 feet. It is clear therefore that the land coloured brown, 
 excepting the passage, formed no part of the premises 
 comprised in the lease of the tavern to Steventon, and is 
 consequently no part of the land acquired from Hawes. 
 
 Steventon also had a lease of the Grasshopper site 
 which adjoined the East side of the passage to the tavern, 
 and which expired at Christmas, 1757, but there is no 
 reference in it to any right of building over the adjoining 
 passage. The reference in Baker's lease would lead 
 one to suppose that there was a separate lease also 
 expiring at Christmas, 1757, of the messuage extending 
 over the gateway. Yet I can find no trace in the 
 Company's records of any such lease. 
 
 However, on the expiration of the lease of the Grass- 
 hopper site in 1757 a new lease was granted to Robert 
 Combes of the building then standing partly on the 
 Grasshopper site and partly over the gateway to the 
 Buffalo's Head Tavern together with a little shop on 
 the West side of the passage. 
 
 So that in the interval between the date of Tue's 
 ejectment and the granting of the lease to Combes 
 the Company must have become possessed of the land 
 coloured brown (i). 
 
 I have gone fully into the matter because it is a very 
 valuable piece of land, and I am sorry I cannot throw 
 any further light on the title. 
 
 A possible explanation may be that Steventon after 
 the Great Fire purchased the piece of land coloured
 
 THE LITTLE GARDEN 85 
 
 brown (i) and then proceeded to put up a building on the 
 Grasshopper site extending over the gateway to the 
 Buffalo's Head Tavern, the whole forming structurally 
 one building. 
 
 Years afterwards, when the lease of the Grasshopper 
 site fell in, perhaps the circumstances were forgotten, 
 and the whole building was surrendered to the Company. 
 
 It must be remembered that though the site is of great 
 value now, its value at that time was small. Combes 
 only paid a premium of £84. and £8 a year rent for the 
 whole building. 
 
 Land coloured yellow (2) on the Ground Plan. 
 
 The Company's next acquisition was the land coloured 
 yellow (2) on the Ground Plan. The front part, where 
 No. 4 Newman's Court now stands, was a building known 
 as ''the Quid Hall," otherwise " Slaney's Hall," and at 
 the rear was a garden which came to be known as the 
 " Little Garden." 
 
 It seems that John Slaney, the lessee of the premises, 
 who was a member of the Company and became Master 
 in i6ig, had allowed the Company to enlarge " the 
 King's Chamber " by adding a bay which overhung the 
 garden. In 1605, Slaney granted the Company a sub- 
 lease for the remainder of his term of years of the 
 encroachment, which is therein described as a " Gytty," 
 (i.e.^ jetty) building, and room, parcel of the Chamber 
 called the " King's Chamber." The Lease recites that 
 the Company, for the enlarging and beautifying their 
 great chamber called the King's Chamber, belonging to 
 their Hall, with the consent and agreement of John 
 Slaney, had built and gytted part of the said Great 
 Chamber over the wall of the garden belonging to the
 
 S6 THE LITTLE GARDEN 
 
 great messuage or tenement then in the occupation of 
 John Slaney namely, 13 feet in length, and 7 feet in 
 width. 
 
 The Company were desirous of purchasing the free- 
 hold of the premises, so that they should not be disturbed 
 c.M.,voi.viii. at the end of Slaney's lease, and many nesfotiations were 
 
 pp.382b,448b, . ^ . J ty 
 
 451- entered into, as the Court Minutes shew, 
 
 c.M.,voi.viii. Ultimately, in 1633, a contract to purchase the garden 
 
 "^'^^^ ' was entered into with Richard Norton, then owner of the 
 
 property, and in 1634 the Company contracted with 
 Idem, p. 505. Norton to purchase the " Ould Hall." It was arranged 
 
 that the Conveyance should be taken in the name of 
 Idem, p. 480. Robert Gray (Warden 1628) as feoffee for the use of the 
 
 Company. 
 H. R. By a Deed dated the 31st of August, 1633, Norton 
 
 318 (22). 
 
 conveyed to Gray " All that garden or plot of ground 
 adjoining to the West side of the garden belonging to the 
 Company of Merchantailors, and whereupon part of a 
 chamber called the King's Chamber belonging to the 
 said Company towards the North standeth, and upon part 
 of the said plot of ground towards the West, a tenement 
 or shed late in the occupation of Master John Slaney 
 late Merchantailor, deceased, standeth, and the same 
 abutteth towards the South upon the capital messuage in 
 Cornhill, late in the occupation of the said Master John 
 Slaney, which piece or plot of ground with the tenement 
 or shed aforesaid, containeth in length from North to 
 South 51 ft. 9 in. more or less, and in width from East to 
 West on the North side 38 ft. 3 in. more or less, and from 
 East to West on the South side 47 ft. more or less." 
 
 This Deed, in conjunction with the lease from Slaney 
 of the gytty overhanging the garden, clearly fixes the 
 position of the King's Chamber. 
 312(6) By a second Deed dated the 13th of March, 1635,
 
 THE LITTLE GARDEN 87 
 
 Norton conveyed to Gray, " All that piece or plot of 
 ground, whereon the tenement or room called the Ould 
 Hall, now or lately used as parcel of a house late in the 
 occupation of John Slaney, late Merchantaylour, deceased, 
 standeth, and all that piece or plot of ground used for an 
 entry at the West end of the said Ould Hall, and also the 
 cellar lying directly under the Hall and entry aforesaid, 
 situate lying and being in the parish of St. Michaell in 
 Cornhill, which said tenement called the Hall and entry 
 abutteth upon the capital messuage in Cornhill, late in the 
 occupation of Mr. John Slaney towards the South and 
 upon the tenement in the occupation of the said Richard 
 Norton towards the West, and upon the plot of ground 
 lately purchased of the said Richard Norton and whereon 
 part of a chamber called the King's Chamber belonging 
 to the Companie of Merchantailours standeth, towards the 
 North, and upon the garden belonging to the said 
 Companie towards the East, which plot of ground 
 whereon the said Ould Hall standeth and the said entry 
 contain in length from East to West 33 ft. i in. more or 
 less, and in depth 23 ft. 6 in. at the West end more or 
 less, and at the East end 23 ft. 4 in. more or less. 
 
 In neither Deed is the amount of the purchase money 
 stated, the consideration in each case being expressed to 
 be a competent sum of lawful money of England, but 
 from the Master's accounts for 1633 and 1635, it appears 
 that ;f20o was paid for the garden and ;fi7o for the 
 '' Ould Hall." 
 
 By a Deed dated the loth of March, 1638, Gray con- 
 veyed the whole of the premises to the Master and 
 Wardens of the Company. Shortly afterwards the Com- 
 pany granted a lease of the Ould Hall to one Laurence c. m.,vo1. ix. 
 Newman, from whom no doubt "Newman's Court " ^' '^°" 
 obtained its name.
 
 88 THE LITTLE GARDEN 
 
 The premises subsequently came to be known as the 
 " Virginia Coffee House." 
 
 The name " Ould Hall " as applied to Slaney's Hall 
 has given rise to great confusion. References in the 
 Company's books clearly relating to this old hall have 
 been erroneously attributed to some supposed previously 
 existing hall which stood on the site sold by Crepin to 
 Yakeslee, and to which (it is suggested), the expression 
 "old" was given in order to distinguish it from the 
 Company's present Hall ; and thus false theories have 
 been formed as to the position occupied by Crepin's Hall. 
 
 It will be observed on reference to the plan that part 
 of the site of the Little Garden is now incorporated in 
 the Court Dining Room. 
 
 Another small part is comprised in a lease to the 
 London City and Midland Bank.
 
 (89 ) 
 
 THE PROPERTY TO THE NORTH OF THE 
 
 HALL. 
 
 Land coloured brown (2) on the Ground Plan. 
 
 We now come to the small piece of land coloured 
 
 brown (2) on the Ground Plan. It forms part of the site 
 
 of the Library and the staircase adjoining. It formed 
 
 a wedge in the land which it will be remembered that the 
 
 Grocers' Company had acquired under Sir Thomas 
 
 Lovell's gift, and on part of which the Weighhouse 
 
 stood. 
 
 In the year 1572, the Grocers' Company set up a c. m., vol. i. 
 
 p. 593. 
 claim to this small piece of land, as appears from the 
 
 following entry in the Court Minutes. 
 
 " The Wardens of the Mistery of Grocers did this 
 
 daye make request to the Wurshipfull, the Master and 
 
 Wardens of this fraternitie, that they wolde shewe howe 
 
 and by what right they held the howse, comonly called 
 
 the Ypocrise howse, set in the sowth ende or parte of the 
 
 garden belonginge to this Misterye, adjacent to this 
 
 Commen Haull ; which the said grocers affirmed to 
 
 belonge to them. But the Master of this mistery wisely 
 
 and discretly reffuced so to doe, sayinge unto them, that 
 
 in all reason they ought to shewe rather their evidence, 
 
 that it maye appere what cause they have to demande it ; 
 
 syns their predecessors never before this yeare made lyke 
 
 request or any clayme thereunto, Albeit the same howse 
 
 hath ben in the quyet possession of this mistery tyme 
 
 owt of all memory of man and longe before the said 
 
 Grocers had any interest in the Wayhowse and the 
 
 Landes thereunto adyacent."
 
 go THE LIBRARY SITE 
 
 ** Note for memory thereof, whensoever this matter 
 shall agayne come in question, that in A° 15 14 John 
 Sandforth of Thorpe Sylvan in the Contie of Yorke 
 Esquyer did sell the said waighowse and other his 
 Landes in London to Master Dacres, then Master of 
 this Company, for £226 3s. ^d. But afterwards, Sr. 
 Thomas Lovell, Knight, and controller of the K's howse, 
 under the pretence and colour of a former Bargyn, 
 obtayned the purchase ; as it apereth by tholde Munu- 
 mentes of the registeres and Masters accomptes of this 
 mistery ; by the w'^'^ also it dothe apere that Mr. Povey, 
 Master of this Company in A° 1491, paid for a lock for 
 the Ipocras dore. Also the Master beinge in A° 1497, 
 paid ijs. for a workman, namely a carpenter working on 
 that tenement 3 days. Also in the tyme of Master Jamys 
 Wilford, Master, it apereth in an olde register written 
 with thand of Henr. Maior, Notary, then Commen Clark 
 of this mistery, how many messes of meit were placed in 
 the hall, and the other bowses and romes therabowt, to 
 the nombre of iij. c. vj. whear, amonges other, he noteth 
 vj. metz of loving frendes to be placed in the garden 
 chamber. Whereby it may apere, that the Company 
 have longe enjoyed the said howse, before the Grocers' 
 interest so that the said Company of grocers can have no 
 just title to the said howse, which I have thought good 
 here to note for better manifestacion thereof as afore- 
 said." 
 
 As I can find no other entry in the Minutes with 
 regard to the claim of the Grocers' Company, I presume 
 it was abandoned. 
 
 The " Ypocrise House" was a curious name for the 
 building. Possibly it was the place where the Ypocras 
 or Ipocras used in the loving cup was stored. 
 DiSniiy. Ipocras was composed of wine with spices and sugar
 
 THE LIBRARY SITE 91 
 
 strained through a cloth. It is said to have taken its 
 name from " Hippocrates sleeve ," the term apothecaries 
 gave to a strainer. Ypocras is the usual rendering in 
 early English documents of the name of Hippocrates, the 
 " Father of Medicine." 
 
 The Banqueting House in the garden to which the 
 store of gunpowder was transferred in 162 1 perhaps stood 
 on this site. 
 
 At a later date the Ypocrise House appears to have 
 been used as the Beadle's House, for in the Court 
 Minutes for 1667 is a reference to a lease to Nicholas Court 
 
 ' . Minutes, 
 
 Dawes, of a "toft of ground adjoining the Companie's voi.x., p. 140. 
 Garden, whereon before the late dreadfull Fire stood the 
 tenement in the occupation of Symon Baylie, the Beadle 
 of the Livery." 
 
 On Oliver's plan, but written in a later hand, the site 
 of the Ypocrise House is marked " Dawes," from which 
 it may be presumed it was the toft of ground leased to 
 Nicholas Dawes, and formerly the Beadle's House. 
 
 For many years the house which stood on this piece 
 of land used to be let to the tenant of the house which 
 stood on the land coloured green (2) on the plan, the 
 whole practically forming one house. 
 
 Land coloured green (2) on the Ground Plan. 
 
 This piece of land now incorporated in the Library, 
 with an entry into Sun Court, was purchased by the 
 Company in 1856 from the Grocers' Company, partly for 
 the sum of ^f 2,329 los. od. and partly in consideration of 
 a grant to the Grocers' Company of three small strips 
 of land in White Lion Court and certain easements
 
 ^2 THE LIBRARY SITE 
 
 for the benefit of other property of the Grocers' Company, 
 over White Lion Court, the soil of which belongs to the 
 Merchant Taylors' Company, as part of their original 
 acquisition. 
 
 As the title deeds relating to this and the other 
 remaining properties dealt with in these notes are in the 
 Company's possession, and are comparatively modern, 
 I have not thought it necessary to give full details of 
 them. 
 
 Land coloured green (3) on the Ground Plan. 
 
 CM., vol. ix. This was purchased by the Company in 1646 from 
 p. 229. Anne Brown, the widow of Francis Brown, at the price 
 
 of ;f 1484. 
 
 It is worth going into the circumstances under which 
 this particular purchase was made, so as to dispose of 
 any notion that it had to do with some trust. 
 
 The Company had allowed the owner to open a 
 doorway into White Lion Court, which was their private 
 property. Subsequently the premises were converted 
 into a tavern and the Company's tenants thereupon 
 began to complain of the nuisance caused by people 
 coming in and out of the tavern, and so the Company 
 gave the owner notice to close the doorway. This led to 
 negotiations, till finally the owner agreed to sell the 
 premises to the Company on terms which, under the 
 circumstances, were probably very favourable to the 
 Company and which they accepted. 
 
 The portion fronting Cornhill was then known as the 
 " Shipp," formerly the " White Hart." The rear portion, 
 with frontage on to Bishopsgate Street, was the site of a
 
 UNION BANK OF SCOTLAND SITE 93 
 
 tavern known as the " Starr Tavern," and afterwards 
 the " White Lyon Tavern," from which the adjoining 
 Court derived its former name of Star Court, and 
 afterwards its present name of White Lion Court. 
 
 This Court is also sometimes called " Red Cross 
 Yard." 
 
 The Conveyance from Brown included a narrow 
 
 strip 16 ft. 6 ins. long and 6 ft. wide, leading into 
 
 Bishopsgate Street, and lying to the South of the land 
 
 coloured yellow (3) shewn on the plan. 
 
 This was the site of a small shop and cellar which Rentals Book 
 
 p. 246. 
 was sold to the Poulters' Company in the year i66g. 
 
 By a Deed dated the 6th of December, 1662, the c. m., voi.x. 
 Company, in consideration of a bequest to them by Sir 
 Abraham Reynardson of a sum of ;f300, charged that 
 part of the property purchased from Anne Brown known 
 as the " Shipp," with an annual payment of £1^ to be 
 distributed among six poor women of the Company for 
 ever, 65. 8^. apiece quarterly. 
 
 Sir Abraham Reynardson was Master of the Company Fry's Pictures 
 in 1640, and Lord Mayor in 1648. As Lord Mayor, hcM.T. Co. 
 refused to proclaim the Act of the Long Parliament for 
 " Abolishing the King's Office," and was in consequence 
 fined ;/^2000, removed from his office of Lord Mayor and 
 committed to the Tower. At the Restoration, on the 
 occasion when Charles II. dined at the Guildhall in 1660, 
 he was knighted. He died in 1661, and was buried in 
 the church of St. Martin Outwich. 
 
 Land coloured brown (3) on the Ground Plan. 
 
 This was purchased by the Company in 1722 from 
 Richard Bowater, for ;f325. The purchase money was
 
 94 UNION BANK OF SCOTLAND SITE 
 
 provided by Thomas Jackson, who was the Company's 
 lessee of the adjoining White Lyon Tavern, under an 
 arrangement by which in consideration of such payment 
 and the conveyance of the freehold to the Company, he 
 was to have a new lease for a long term of years to 
 include both sites, the buildings on which had then 
 recently been burned down. 
 
 Land coloured yellow (3) on the Ground Plan, 
 
 This was purchased by the Company in 1766 from 
 Herbert Pyefinch, at the price of £2^0 obviously to 
 square off their property. There is a sum of £2 12s. paid 
 annually by the Company to the churchwardens of 
 Royston in Hertfordshire, which is supposed to represent 
 a rent charge issuing out of this property. The entry in 
 reference to it occurs for the first time in the accounts for 
 the year 1769-70, when four years' arrears were paid in 
 respect of a rent charge issuing out of premises in 
 Bishopsgate Street, which would correspond with the 
 four years which had elapsed since the purchase from 
 Pyefinch. 
 
 Land coloured blue (3) on the Ground Plan. 
 
 This was conveyed to the Company on the 27th of 
 June, 1911, by the Union Bank of Scotland, as part of an 
 arrangement, under which, in consideration of the Bank 
 transferring the freehold of this piece of land to the 
 Company, and surrendering the outstanding leases from 
 the Company ol the several pieces of land coloured green
 
 UNION BANK OF SCOTLAND SITE 95 
 
 (3), yellow (3), and brown (3), and of the building over the 
 gateway leading from White Lion Court into Cornhill, 
 the Company were to grant to the Bank, a new Lease of 
 the whole block for 99 years from Christmas 1910. 
 
 At the same time an arrangement was made with the 
 Corporation of London for widening and straightening 
 the frontage to Cornhill and Bishopsgate Street. 
 
 The gateway into Cornhill occupies of course the site 
 of "the Great Gate towards CornhuUe with a Solar above 
 the same gate built," which was included in the con- 
 veyance from Crepin to Yakeslee. 
 
 There is an old lease of the rooms above the gateway, 
 dated the 28th of June, 1659, to Symon Baily (the Beadle 
 of the Company) from which it appears that they then 
 consisted of a kitchen on the first floor, with a buttery 
 and staircase adjoining, and two floors above the kitchen, 
 so that access must have been obtained by an outside 
 staircase from Starr Court. 
 
 In the plan annexed to Mr, Clode's pamphlet on the 
 Hall, founded on Oliver's plan, the premises formerly 
 known as the " Rose," on the West side of the gateway 
 into Cornhill, are coloured in as though they formed part 
 of the Company's property ; but this is not correct. They 
 are, and have been from ancient times, the property of the 
 Grocers' Company, being part of Sir Thomas Lovell's 
 gift to that Company. 
 
 I think the mistake arose as follows : Shortly after 
 the Great Fire, the Merchant Taylors' Company granted 
 to Christopher Desborough a lease of the " Shipp," 
 together with the room over the gateway into Cornhill. 
 Desborough at the time was also a lessee under the 
 Grocers' Company of the " Rose." It so happens that 
 the plan on the lease from the Merchant Taylors' Com-
 
 96 UNION BANK OF SCOTLAND SITE 
 
 pany sheWvS the position of the " Rose," though it is not 
 included in the lease itself. 
 
 Oliver, in preparing the plans of the Company's 
 properties, perhaps only looked at the plan on the lease 
 without referring to the body of the Deed, and so came to 
 the conclusion that everything shewn on the plan 
 belonged to the Merchant Taylors' Company. 
 
 Excluding the rooms over the gateway, the site now 
 leased to the Union Bank of Scotland together with part 
 of the site of the Royal Bank of Scotland adjoining 
 constituted the site of "the tenement of the Prior and 
 Convent of the New Hospital of St. Mary without 
 Bishopsgate, which William de Manhale held for the 
 term of his life.'' 
 Dugdaie's This hospital was commonly known as " St. Mary 
 
 Spital," and stood where Spital Square now is. In the 
 priory yard stood the " Pulpit Cross," where the sermons 
 so frequently mentioned in the annals of the sixteenth 
 century, were preached. The Hospital was formed for 
 the reception of travellers and sick persons. In the 
 " Minister's Accounts," 32 Henry VIII. is the following 
 entry with reference to the land of the Hospital in the 
 parish of St. Peter's, Cornhill : 
 
 " London : St. Peter, Cornhill, Firma tenementorum 
 
 ;f 16 I05. 8^." 
 
 p. R., 761 On the dissolution of the monasteries this property of 
 
 3 enry vin. ^^^ Hospital was granted by letters patent dated the 23rd 
 of June, 1544, to Nicholas Bacon and others. 
 
 Nicholas Bacon, afterwards became Sir Nicholas 
 Bacon, Lord Keeper of the Great Seal, and was the 
 father of Sir Francis Bacon. 
 
 Among the Deeds relating to the land coloured brown 
 (3) is a Deed of Feoffment from Sir Nicholas Bacon with 
 his signature thereto.
 
 GENERAL OBSERVATIONS 97 
 
 It will be observed that, in many cases, land acquired 
 by the Company was conveyed in the first instance into 
 the name of some person who afterwards devised it by 
 will to the Company. 
 
 The person to whom the land was thus conveyed 
 entered into a bond to devise the land to the Company at 
 his death, or he made a will actually devising the land to 
 the Company and at the same time entered into a bond 
 not to revoke it. 
 
 It was quite usual to make several wills, each relating 
 to a separate property ; for instance in the " Wills book " 
 there are entered no less than three such wills made 
 by Robert Hawes. 
 
 The explanation of this roundabout method is, that 
 although land could not be conveyed to a corporate body 
 without a licence in mortmain, every citizen under the 
 custom of London had free power to dispose by will of 
 any tenement within the City, even to a corporate body, 
 and the latter might hold the land so obtained without 
 any limitation as to amount, a custom which is expressly 
 confirmed by a charter of Edward III., dated the 6th of c. p. r. 
 March, 1327. The early Statutes of Mortmain only applied 1327. ' 
 to transfers of land inter vivos, because, until the time of 
 Henry VIII. , there was no power at all of devising land 
 by will, except under the custom of London, and in certain 
 other privileged places where a similar custom prevailed. 
 
 I have now accounted for all the properties comprised 
 within the area referred to at the commencement of these 
 notes. 
 
 It will be observed that they come within four 
 categories. 
 
 (i) The land on which the Hall stands, acquired as 
 a local habitation for the Company, the part not 
 required being let off.
 
 g8 GENERAL OBSERVATIONS 
 
 (2) Land given to the Company, prior to the 
 Reformation (subject to certain charges for 
 pious uses, since redeemed). 
 
 (3) Land given since the Reformation, subject to 
 certain trusts for charitable purposes. 
 
 [a) since discharged from such trusts, by arrange- 
 ment with the Charity Commissioners. 
 (6) still subject to such trusts. 
 
 (4) Land purchased by the Company as part of 
 their corporate estate, not subject to any trust. 
 
 I should like to draw attention to a passage contained 
 in the considered written opinion given by that most 
 eminent and learned lawyer, Lord Davey (then xMr. 
 Horace Davey and afterwards Solicitor General in Mr. 
 Gladstone's Government), in reply to certain questions 
 put to him by the Royal Commission on the City Livery 
 Companies (p. 50 of the Report). The passage is as 
 follows : 
 
 " In my opinion the Commission will not be justified 
 in recommending that the corporate property of the 
 Companies should be taken from them by the State. 
 I think that such an act of the Legislature would be an 
 act of confiscation, and would not unreasonably shake 
 the confidence of the owners of property in the security of 
 rights of property. It must be remembered that the 
 estates of these Companies have been recognised 
 and held by the Courts of Law to be as much their 
 property with as full right of disposition as the property 
 of individuals." 
 
 In his evidence before the same Commission, Lord 
 Chancellor Selborne said " I beheve them (the Companies) 
 to be in law absolute and perfect masters of their own 
 property as distinct from that which they hold in trust " 
 (p. 189). As Lord Selborne was a member of the
 
 GENERAL OBSERVATIONS 99 
 
 Mercers' Company, it may be suggested that he was 
 biassed, but no one could have accused Lord Davey of 
 any sympathy or sentiment with regard to the City 
 Guilds. 
 
 I had intended to have completed the account of the 
 acquisition of the Hall site, with a history of the ancient 
 buildings, which have stood or still stand thereon. 
 
 I found, however, that it would involve so much delay 
 in the presentation of these notes, that I came to the 
 conclusion to leave the subject to be dealt with on a 
 future occasion, especially as I hope to be able to obtain 
 the opinion and advice on technical points of architectural 
 detail, of Mr. A. W. Clapham, who is both an architect 
 and antiquary, and who is at the present time engaged 
 in preparing a series of reports on ancient buildings, 
 including our Hall, for the Royal Commission on 
 Historical Monuments. 
 
 The history of the Hall has already been dealt with 
 by Mr. C. M. Clode, not only in his " Memorials" and 
 his "Early History" of the Company, but also in a 
 pamphlet which deals exclusively with it. 
 
 Since he wrote, evidence and documents throwing 
 further light on the subject have been discovered. I 
 think, therefore, the time has come when the history of 
 the Hall should be re-written, and more especially as both 
 the " Memorials " and the pamphlet I have referred to 
 are out of print. 
 
 It is hardly necessary to say so, but to prevent any 
 misunderstanding, I should like to make it quite clear, 
 that the views herein expressed by me must not be 
 regarded as committing the Company or the Court of 
 Assistants in any way.
 
 ( 100 ) 
 
 INDEX 
 
 Adams, Theophilus, 49, 50, ^,7 
 
 Alegate, see Crepiii, Ralph 
 
 All Hallows, Barking, " le wool- 
 wharf e " in parish of, 62 
 
 Almshouses near Tower Hill, 38, 73, 
 76 
 
 in Threadneedle Street, 
 
 America, 68 
 
 Armourers' Company, Deed of Pur- 
 chase by, 57 
 
 Arms, Grant of, see Meixhaut Taylors' 
 Company 
 
 Asshewelle, William, 6g 
 
 Atte Bowe, Alice, 22 
 
 Aubrey, John, Matilda, wife of, 40 
 
 Austin Friars, 10, 11, 15, 75, 77, 79 
 
 Ayleston, John de, 10, 11, 15 
 
 Aystvvick, John, 11, 25 
 
 Babbington, Edward, 30 
 
 Bacon, Sir Francis, 96 
 
 — , Sir Nicholas, 96 
 
 Baker, Edward, 80, 83, 84 
 
 Bank of England, 65 
 
 Barne, Miles, 39 
 
 Basing Lane, 26, 27 
 
 Basyngestoke, Richard de, 10 
 
 Baylie, Simon, 91, 95 
 
 Bedwynde, Richard, 33 
 
 Benet, Sampson, t^^ 
 
 Bennett, tenant of house in Thread- 
 needle Street, 30 
 
 Bermuda, Colonj"^ of, 68 
 
 Billesden, John, 16 
 
 Billyngford, James, 34, 35 
 
 Bishopsgate Street, i, 12, 36, 38, 40, 
 63,64,67, 92, 93.94, 95 
 
 — , Star, afterwards 
 
 White Lyon in, 93, 94 
 
 Blundell, Peter, 81, 85 
 
 Bocher, Thomas, 75 
 
 Bognor, Men's Convalescent Home 
 at, 82 
 
 Bougham, see Buffyne 
 
 Bowater, Richard, 93 
 
 Bradestrete, 9, 10, 11, 15, 18, 19,37, 
 63, 64, 65, 66, Ji 
 
 , Ward of, 9, 66 
 
 Brayne, Henry, 43 
 
 Bredstrete, 66 
 
 Brembre, Sir Nicholas, 68, 69 
 
 Bridge, John, 39 
 
 Bridge House, 46, 47, 48 
 
 Bridlyngton, Thomas, 12, 14, 35, 77 
 
 Broad Street, 63, 64, 65, 66, 67 
 
 , Ward of, 76 
 
 Broke, Thomas, 43 
 
 Bromley, Lord Chancellor, 29 
 
 Broughton, James, 35 
 
 Brown, Anne, 92, 93 
 
 — — , Francis, 92 
 
 Buffalo's Head, see Threadneedle 
 
 Street 
 Buffyne, Bougham, John, 75, 76 
 Bultel, Mascelinus, 24 
 
 , William, 24, 26 
 
 Burley, Sir Richard, 28 
 Burrage, 83 
 Burton, Richard de, 19 
 Butler, James, 79 
 
 Cannon Street, 26, 27 
 
 Capital and Counties Bank, 63, 67 
 
 Carlisle, 24 
 
 Carrell, Richard, 43 
 
 Chantries, 28, 42, 43, 44 
 
 Chantry lands, 42, 43, 44, 47-57 
 
 Chantry, the Oteswyche, see St. Martin 
 
 Outwich, church of 
 Charity Commissioners, 48, 73, 82, 98 
 Charles H., 93 
 
 Charterhouse, 37, 41, 64, 71, 72 
 Cheyne, 35 
 Chircheman, John, 61, 62, 63, 64, 69, 
 
 7o> 7I' 7i 
 
 — , lands of, 15, 33- 
 
 48, 50, 63, 64, 67, 68, 70, 73 
 
 , obit of, 42, 43 
 
 Christ Church, Priory of, 45 
 
 , Stepney, 41 
 
 City Livery Companies Commission, 
 
 I, 2, 44, 45. 53. 54. 56. 57. 59.98 
 City of London Parochial Charities 
 
 Act, 47, 55 
 Cock, The, see Fink Lane 
 Coloigne, Roger de, 19 
 Colonia, John de, 15, 18 
 Combes, Robert, 84, 85 
 Concealed lands, see Chaatry lands
 
 INDEX 
 
 lOI 
 
 Connecticut, State of, 68 
 
 Cornhill, i, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 15, 17, 18, 
 
 23, 66, 86, 87, 95 
 
 , Rose in, 95, 96 
 
 , Ship formerly White Hart 
 
 in, 92, 95 
 
 -, Ward of, 9 
 
 Cosen, Nicholas, 43 
 Courtenay, see Devon, Earl ot 
 Coventre, Henry de, rector of St. 
 
 Bride's, 10, 11, ^y 
 Coverdale, Miles, 29, 30, 31 
 
 , widow of, 29, 30 
 
 Craven. William, 76 
 
 Creek, Johan, 35 
 
 Crepin, Edmund, 9, 10, 11, 15, 16, 18, 
 
 24, 37 
 
 , Ralph {alias Alegate), 7, 8, 9, 
 
 17, 18, 22, 23, 24, 71, 88, 95 
 -, Walter, g, 24 
 
 Creswyk, William, 34, 35 
 Cromwell, Oliver, 68 
 Cutlers' Company, 25 
 Hall, 25 
 
 Dacres, Master, 90 
 
 Davey, Horace, Lord, 98, 99 
 
 Dawe, Robert, 50 
 
 Dawes, Nicholas, 91 
 
 Dawson, Edward, 29, 30 
 
 Derby, William de, ig 
 
 Desborough, Christopher, 95 
 
 Desmond, Dowager Countess of, see 
 
 Roos, Beatrice de 
 Despencer, Hugh le, the elder, 40 
 Devon, Edward Courtenay, third 
 
 Earl of, 17 
 Dingley, Mark, 76 
 Dowe, Robert, 72, 73, 76, 81 
 Dryland, Valentine, 38 
 Ducket, Laurence, 22 
 Dymock, John, yy 
 
 Edward L, 23 
 
 HL, chantry of, 97 
 
 VI., acts of, 43, 46, 48, 53 
 
 , commissions of, 44, 56 
 
 — , letters patent of, 47, 51 
 
 Elizabeth, letters patent of, ■/2 
 
 , petition to, 55 
 
 Evidence Book, 3 
 
 Feryby, Adam, 2-/ 
 Fink Lane, i, 79 
 
 , " leCokk " in, 75 76, 78, 
 
 79, 80 
 Fire of London, see London 
 Fishmongers' Company, 53 
 Fraunceys, Adam, 40 
 Free, Michael, see Northburgh 
 Friday Street, 66 
 
 Friday Street, Saracen's Head, in 14, 
 
 20, 31, ^2 
 Fryer, Thomas, 76 
 
 Galeis, William, 11, 26 
 
 Gascoigne, Richard, 27 
 
 , William, Chief Justice, 
 
 27, 28 
 Gaunt, John of, see Lancaster, Dukeof 
 Gilda Peregrinorum, 20 
 Gloucester, Thomas of Woodstock, 
 
 Duke of, 68, 69 
 
 , see Glovernia 
 
 Glovernia, John de, 8, 9 
 
 , Juliana de, 8, 9 
 
 , Walter de, 7, 8, 9, 17, 18, 
 
 23, 24 
 Godchepe, Jordan, 2^ 
 Grasshopper, see Threadneedle 
 
 Street 
 Gravesend, see London, Bishop of 
 Gray, Robert, 86, 87 
 Greene, John, 76 
 Grey, John, 19 
 Grocers' Company, 16, 18, 61, 62, 69, 
 
 89, 91, 92, 95 
 Gyldeford, Robert de, 19 
 Gyrston, Richard, 78 
 
 Hall: Banqueting House, 91 
 
 Beadle's House, 64, 91 
 
 Chapel, 58 
 
 Clerk's Office, 64 
 
 Court Dining Room, 6, 78, 88 
 
 Gallery, 78 
 
 Garden, 5, 6g, 78, 85-88, 91 
 
 Grand Staircase, 78 
 
 King's Chamber, 78, 79, 80, 
 
 85-87 
 
 Kitchen, 70, 71 
 
 Library, 16, 89-92 
 
 Oriel window or " Buffet," 29 
 
 Pastery, 71 
 
 Wardens' dressing-rooms, 68 
 
 Ypocras House, 89, 91 
 
 Site I, 7-32 
 
 " Taillourshall," ^y, 38, 64, 73 
 
 Halliday, Sir Leonard, 68 
 , William, 68 
 
 Hamme, Stephen, 13 
 
 Harewedone, Robert de, " parson " of 
 
 Thingdene, 40 
 Haukford, William, 35 
 Hawes, Robert, 76 
 
 , gift of, 76-80, 84, 97 
 
 Hazelwood, Edmund, 50 
 Henry IV., letters patent of, 33 
 
 ^ VIII., 42, 43,67 
 
 , letters patent of, 75 
 
 Hill, William, 72
 
 102 
 
 INDEX 
 
 Hills, Richard, 38 
 
 Hog Lane, 38 
 
 Holy Trinity, Dalston, 41 
 
 , London, Prior and 
 
 Canons of, 41 
 Howdan, Isabella, wife of Thomas, 
 
 66 
 
 , Thomas, 60, 61 
 
 Hunden, Robert, 19 
 
 Ingham, Sir Oliver de, 10, 18, 24 
 
 Jackson, Thomas, 94 
 James I., 80 
 
 , acts of, 51, 52, 56 
 
 , confirmation by, 51 
 
 Kneseworth's Case, 53 
 Kyrkeby, John, 60 
 
 Lancaster, John of Gaunt, Duke of, 
 68 
 
 Landen, Thomas, 72 
 
 Langley, Richard, 3, 4 
 
 Leuknore, Sir Thomas de, 40 
 
 Lewis, William, 60 
 
 Leybourne, William, 30 
 
 Lief, Simon, 34 
 
 Livery Companies Commission, sec 
 City Livery Companies Com- 
 mission 
 
 London, Michael de Northburgh, 
 Bishop of, 71 
 
 , Richard de Gravesend, 
 
 Bishop of, 23 
 
 -, City of, deprived of its 
 
 liberties, 23 
 
 City and Midland Bank, 88 
 
 -, Great Fire of, 2, 3, 30, 31, 
 
 38, 39, 79, 83, 91, 95 
 Losse, Hugh, 75 
 
 Lovell, Sir Thomas, 16, 89, 90, 95 
 Lyndeseye, Robert, 19, 77 
 Lyon, Thomas, 10, 11, 75 
 
 Maior, Henry, 90 
 
 Manhale, William de, 10, 96 
 
 Manney, Sir Walter de, 71 
 
 Martyn, 35 
 
 Masses, gifts for, 58-61 
 
 Medbourne, Thomas, 7^2) 
 
 Mercers' Company, 68, 99 
 
 Merchant Taylors' Company, 11, 26, 
 27 
 
 ■ , Con- 
 firmation to, 51 
 
 , Con- 
 veyances to, II, 12, 14, 16, 19, 
 26, 33, 36, 40, 41, 47, 60, 61, 70, 
 74, 81, 87 
 
 Merchant Taylors' Company, Grants 
 
 of arms to, 25 
 Mildmay, Sir Walter, 29 
 Monasteries, dissolution of, 72, 75, 
 
 96 
 Montgomery, Sir Thomas, 38, 65 
 Mortmain, Statutes of, 13, 97 
 Mynn, Willyam, 76 
 Mynsterly, Richard, 30 
 
 Newcastle-on-Tyne, 24 
 
 New England Company, President 
 
 of, 68 
 Newgate, prisoners in, 82 
 Newman, Laurence, 87 
 Newman's Court, 85, 87 
 Northburgh, alias Free, Michael, 71 
 , see 
 
 London, Bishop of 
 Norton, Richard, 27, 86, 87 
 
 Offley, William, 76 
 Oliver, John, 30 
 Organ, John, 12, ;^j, 70 
 Oteswyche, family of, 39-42 
 
 , John de, 39, 41, 42 
 
 , Martin de, 39, 41 
 
 , Maud, widow 
 
 of, 41 
 
 , Nicholas de, 39 
 
 , William de, 37, 39, 41, 
 
 45. 71 
 "Ould Hall," see Slaney's Hall 
 Outwich, see Oteswyche 
 Oxford, Robert de Vere, Earl of, 69 
 
 Palmer, John, 43 
 
 , Richard, 43, 45 
 
 Parr, Catherine, 67 
 Patriche, John, 13 
 Payn, John, 20 
 
 , Robert, 19 
 
 Pecche, John, 19 
 Peregrinus, 19, 20, 21, 22 
 Philip and Mary, Act of, 48 
 Pig Street, 66, 67 
 Pole, de la, see Suffolk, Earl of 
 Polsted, Henry, 43 
 Poulters' Company, 93 
 Povey, Mr., 90 
 Pyefinch, Herbert, 94 
 
 Queldrik, Robert, n, 55 
 
 Rante, Roger, 72 
 
 Red Cross Yard, 93 
 
 Red Lion Court, 27 
 
 Red Lion Inn, 26 
 
 Rentals Book, 3, 4 
 
 Reynardson, Sir Abraham, 93
 
 INDEX 
 
 103 
 
 Rich, see Warwick, Earl of 
 Richard II., 68 
 
 , letters patent of, 13 
 
 Rikeinan, Agnes, 10, 11 
 Robinson, John, 76 
 Rolls, Michael, 39 
 
 Roos of Hamelake, Dame, Beatrice 
 de, 27, 28, 29, 61 
 
 -, (John), sixth 
 
 baron de, 61 
 
 -, Thomas, fifth 
 
 baron de, 28 
 Rosemary Lane, ^S 
 Rowe, Sir Henry, 68 
 , Susan, daughter of, 
 
 68 
 
 , Sir Thomas, 68 
 
 Royal Bank of Scotland, 12, 37, 70, 96 
 Royston, Hertfordshire, g^ 
 Rutland, William, 82 
 
 St. Anthony, Hospital of, 67 
 
 St. Bartholomew by the Exchange, 
 
 church of, 29, 31 
 St. Bennet Fink, parish of, 8, 9, 15, 
 
 16, 39. 75, 76, 77» 81 
 St. Bennet Shorehog, 40 
 St. Botolph Algate, parish of, yy 
 St. Bride's, Fleet Street, rector of, 
 
 see Coventre 
 St. Christopher les Stocks, church 
 
 of, 65 
 , parish 
 
 of, 65 
 , rectory 
 
 of, 65 
 St. Helen Bishopsgate, advowson of, 
 
 41 
 , vicarage of, 
 
 40 
 St. John the Baptist, Guild of, see 
 
 Merchant Taylors' Company 
 St. Lawrence Jewry, church of, 68 
 St. Margaret's, Lothbury, church of, 
 
 32 
 St. Martin Outwich, advowson of, 
 
 33. 40, 41. 50 
 
 , church of, 4, ^'/, 
 
 38, 39, 40, 41, 63, 74, 93 
 
 -, church of, Otes- 
 
 wyche chantry in, 39, 42, 45 
 
 -, parish of, 8, 9, 
 
 15. 17' 19. 36, 39' 40, 41. 42, 
 50, 63, 64, 69, 71, 72, 73 
 
 -, parsonage house 
 
 of, 40, 41 
 
 St. Mary Abchurch, 60 
 
 -, rector of, 42 
 -, rectory of, 40 
 -, tithes of, 41 
 
 St. Mary without Bishopsgate, new 
 hospital of, (St. Mary Spital), 10, 
 15. 96 
 St. Mary Overy, priory of, 45 
 St. Michael Cornhill, parish of, 6, 8, 
 87 
 
 Croked Lane, parish of, 
 
 33, 
 
 Paternoster Royal, 
 
 church of, 82 
 St. Paul's Cathedral, chapel of St. 
 
 George in, 58 
 — , chapel of St. 
 
 John the Baptist in, 28, 29, 58 
 St. Peter, Cornhill, parish of, 8, 9, 
 
 15. 17. 38, 50, 96 
 
 Limehouse, 41 
 
 Salters' Company, 27 
 
 Sandforth, John, 90 
 
 Sandwich, Ralph de, 23 
 
 Saracen's Head, see Friday Street 
 
 Saundeford, Edmund, 15 
 
 Schorne, Henry de, 10, 11, 81 
 
 Scotland, war with, 24 
 
 Selborne, Lord Chancellor, 98 
 
 Seward, Henry, 13 
 
 Shadworthe, John, 62 
 
 Shalyngford, John, 12, 14, 77 
 
 Shokelache, Ralf, 27 
 
 Shukar, Henry, 76 
 
 Sibsay, Thomas, 13, 77 
 
 Slaney, John, 85, 86, 87 
 
 Slaney's Hall, 85-88 
 
 Sotherton, George, 64, 72, 73, 74 
 
 Southampton, Thomas Wriothesley, 
 
 Earl of, 43, 67 
 
 Buildings, 67 
 
 House, 67 
 
 Spital Square, 96 
 Stace, Joan, 34 
 
 , Richard, 34 
 
 Stafford, Ralf, Earl of, daughter of, 
 
 see Roos, Beatrice de 
 Star Court, 93, 95 
 Star on the Hoop, sign of, 36 
 Star Tavern, " le sterre en Chepe," 
 
 35 
 Stevens, Morgan, 81, 83 
 Steventon, John, 83, 84 
 Sudbury, William, 12, 14, 19, 69 
 Suffolk, Michael de la Pole, Earl of, 
 
 69 
 Sun Court, 16, 91 
 Surcestre, William, 33 
 Surrey, John de Warren, Earl of, 40 
 Sutton, Thomas, 27, ^^ 
 
 Talbutt, William, 79 
 Tallow Chandlers' Company, ancient 
 hall of, 38
 
 104 
 
 INDEX 
 
 Taylors and Linen Armourers, Guild 
 of, see Merchant Taylors' Com- 
 pany 
 
 Thingdene, parson of, see Harewe- 
 done 
 
 Thirnyng, William, 35 
 
 Threadneedle Street, i, 29, 40, 63, 
 64, 65, 66, 67, 79, 80, 81, 83 
 
 , Buffalo's Head 
 
 in, 80, 83, 84, 85 
 
 -, Grasshopper in, 
 
 81, 84, 85 
 Thrisscross, Francis, 79, 80, 83 
 Throgmorton Street, 66, 67 
 Tilneye, John, 19, 20 
 Tiverton, school at, 82 
 Tomlynson, Edward, 50 
 Tonge, Richard, 43 
 Totenham, John de, 10, 11, is, 19, 
 
 37. 63 
 Tower Hill, see Almshouses 
 Trusts, charitable, i 
 Tue, 83, 84 
 Tyburn, 6g 
 Tyler, Wat, 68 
 Typper, William, 50 
 
 Union Bank of Scotland, 93-99 
 
 " Veille hostielle, le," 17, 18 
 Venables, Richard, 76 
 Vere, see Oxford, Earl of 
 Virginia Coffee House, 88 
 Virginia Company, 68 
 
 Wall, John, 82, 83 
 Walsingham, Thomas, 69 
 Walworth, Sir William, 68 
 Warner, Jemimah, 79 
 , Robert, 76, 79 
 
 Warren, see Surrey, Earl of 
 Warwick, Robert Rich, Earl of, 68 
 Waterton, William, 13 
 Watling Street, 26, 27 
 Weigh House, 16, 89, go 
 
 Yard, 16 
 
 Wenlock, John, 27 
 
 Westmall, Giles de, 19 
 
 Whetcombe, Peter, '/2 
 
 White Lion Court, 17, iS, 71, 91, 92, 
 
 93> 95 
 — — Tavern, see Bishopsgate 
 
 Street 
 Whityngham, Robert, 36, 37 
 , the younger, 
 
 . 38 
 Wiltord, Edmund, 31 
 
 , James, 31, 32, 90 
 
 , Sir James, 31, 32 
 
 , John, 32 
 
 , Nicholas, 32 
 
 , Thomas, 31, 32 
 
 , Sir Thomas, 32 
 
 , William, 32 
 
 Wilkenson, John, 45 
 
 WiUiams, John, 81, 82, 83 
 
 Wills Book, 3, 4 
 
 Wodstrete, 66 
 
 Woodshawe, James, 49, 50, 57 
 
 Woodstock, see Gloucester, Duke of 
 
 Wool Quay, 62 
 
 Wright, Richard, 3 
 
 Wriothesley, see Southampton, Earl 
 
 of 
 Wylby, Thomas, 27 
 Wynchecombe, Simon, 12, 14, 77 
 
 Yakeslee, John de, 9, 10, 11, 15, 16, 
 19, 24, 25, 26, 37, 75, 81, 88, 95 
 Yonge, Walter, 43
 
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