INTERIOR OF ST. HELEN'S, AS RESTORED, A.D. 18G5-8.
THE ANNALS /rut
OF
ST. HELEN'S, BISHOPSGATE,
LONDON.
EDITED BY THE
REV. JOHN EDMUND COX, D.D.
(OF ALL SOULS' COLLEGE, OXFORD), VICAR IN CHARGE.
LONDON: TINSLEY BROTHERS, 8, CATHEEINE STREET, STRAND,
1876.
[AU rights of Translation and Reproduction firr reserved.}
ii '
I
TO
THE MOST WORSHIPFUL THE MASTER, WARDENS, AND COURT OF ASSISTANTS
01?
THE GUILD OF MERCHANT TAYLORS', THIS VOLUME,
ENTITLED
"THE ANNALS OF ST. HELEN'S, BISHOPSGATE,"
PREPARED BY THEIR DESIRE,
AND ASSISTED, AS TO PUBLICATION, BY THEIR LIBERALITY, IS
BY THEIR TRULY OBLIGED AND FAITHFUL SERVANT,
JOHN EDMUND COX, D.D.
Vicar in Charge of the United Parish tffSt. Helen's, BisJiopsgate, and St. Martin Outwich.
PREFACE.
DURING the twenty-seven years of my connection with the parish of St. Helen's,, Bishopsgate, first as the incumbent of that parish, and now as " Vicar in charge/' since its union by her Majesty's Order in Council, May 5th, 1873, with the adjacent parish of St. Martin Outwich, it has been a desire on my part to give to the world an account of the considerable historical interest with which its ancient Church and surroundings must ever be associated. The difficulties of fulfilling that desire had, however, been found to be insuperable until the Merchant Taylors' Company — now the patrons of the United Parish, as they have been from time immemorial of St. Martin Outwich — encouraged me to undertake the task, which I was well aware would be one of difficulty, but of the full amount of which I had formed but a very inadequate idea previously to my attempt to overcome it ; and but that the researches of the late Mr. William Meade Williams, a former parishioner well known for his antiquarian and archaeological attainments, were most liberally and considerately placed at my disposal by his son, I have no hesitation in saying that I must have withdrawn from the task on its imme- diate commencement, in despair of ever being able to accomplish it. Mr. William Meade Williams's researches — the result of a long and well- spent life — are incorporated in two thick quarto volumes, each of which has been elaborately illustrated by an im- mense collection of engravings, obtained after much trouble and at considerable outlay. Inasmuch, however, as the literary matter in those volumes was not intended, or prepared, with a view to publication, although brimful of information, its numerous details required careful examination, patient research, and almost entire
vi Preface.
reconstruction. Very nearly two years have been spent in the effort to bring this invaluable " rude matter into due form ;" and it is now presented both to the Worshipful Company of Merchant Taylors and the public, in the hope that, " with all its imperfec- tions on its head," it may be received with some amount of favour, and with the admission that the subject itself is not unworthy of the pains that have been taken to make it generally acceptable.
Of the pre-Reformation History of the Parish of St. Helen's, Bishopsgate, nothing more remains than is incorporated in the first chapter of this work. Had there been more information extant to throw light upon the nearly three centuries' existence of the Convent and Parish Church of St. Helen's prior to that period, it is impossible that it could have escaped the un- wearied investigation and patient research of the Rev. Thomas Hugo, M.A., F.S.A. — one of the most accomplished antiquaries and archaeologists of his time. That gentleman had also the advantage of being assisted by the late Dr. Black in his inves- tigations— an authority of the very highest repute ; but nothing more could be discovered by either of those painstaking examiners than will be found embodied in a paper, read by the former gentleman eleven years ago before the Archaeological Society, of which I have availed myself, with his full consent. And here I would tender to Mr. Hugo my very best thanks for the abundant means he has afforded for lightening my labours, and assisting my researches ; for without his exhaustive paper — which hitherto has had but a limited circulation— I should scarcely have known where to turn for much of the information he had so abundantly and adequately supplied. To many other friends I must also offer my warmest acknowledgments both for advice and assistance, but to no one of them more so than to Charles Mathew Clode, Esq., one of the members, and a late Master of the Merchant Taylors' Company, and the accomplished author of " Memorials of the Guild of Merchant Taylors in the City of London, &c. ;" to J. B. Monckton, Esq., Town Clerk of the Cor- poration of the City of London, by whose permission and aid I
Preface. vii
have been permitted to furnish a copy of the will of Adam Fraunces, preserved in the archives of the Town Clerk's office, and never before printed; to Mr. H. C. Overall, of the same office, by whom that will has been deciphered and copied; to Mr. Tedder, the Librarian of the Athenajum Club ; to Mr. Williams, to whose liberality and co-operation I have already referred; to Col. Joseph L. Chester, who had previously collated the Parish Registers; and to Messrs. Wadmore and Baker, of Great St. Helen's, the architects of the Restoration of St. Helen's, 1865-8, by whom the architectural details of the Church have been supplied, and from whom the frontispiece of the interior has been obtained. I should also be greatly wanting in gratitude were I not to acknowledge the invaluable information concerning the Caesar family, which, unsolicited on my part, was most kindly afforded me by Miss Cottrell- Dormer, of Danes-Dyke, Flam- borough. That lady, being herself descended from the Caesar family, and having accidentally heard of the work I had in hand, at once communicated the valuable information for my use, which will be found under the narrative of Sir Julius Caesar Adelmare, and his descendants.
JOHN EDMUND Cox, D.D.
ST. HELEN'S, BISHOPSGATE, October 9th, 1876.
TABLE OF CONTENTS.
CHAPTER I.
Birth and character of St. Helena — Finding of the true Cross — First Roman Colony in Britain — Edmund the Martyr — Priory of St. Helen's — Foundation of Priory — William Basing's Will — Kent- wode's Constitutions — Directions to Prioress and Convent — Dancing and Revelling forbidden — Names of Three Prioresses — Will of Elizabeth Rollesley — Court of Augmentations — Thomas Cromwell- Common Seal of St. Helen's — Demise of Reginald Goodman — Leases of Tenements — " Valor" of Ecclesiastical Property — Thomas Benolt, Clarenceux Herald — Sundry Grants of Property — Anthony Bon- vixi, Merchant — John Rollesley's Annuity — Grants of Sundry Annuities — Annuities and Leases — Last Act of the Prioress and Convent — Edward Alleyne — Adam Fraunces — Cardinal Pole's Pension Book — Survey of the King's Officers — Site of the Priory — Plan of Buildings — Curious Hagioscope — Grant of the Site — Lease of Crosby Place — Surrender of Priory — Leathersellers1 Company — Ancient Crypts pp. 1 — 37
CHAPTER II.
St. Helen's Church — The Parish and Convent Churches — Architectural Details — Merchant Taylors' Company — The Nuns' Grate — Sir John Lawrence — Church Windows — Coats of Arms ... pp. 38 — 45
CHAPTER III.
Tithes and Impropriators of St. Helen's — Pope Nicholas IV. — Advowson of Vicarage — Grant by Queen Elizabeth — Michael and Edward Stan- hope— Sir John Langham — Appeal to the House of Lords — The Macdougall Family — Ministers, Curates, and Lecturers of St. Helen's, from A.D. 1571 to A.D. 1876 pp. 46 — 56
Table of Contents.
CHAPTER IV.
Monuments and their Uses — Robinson and Kerwin Monuments — Dame Abigail Lawrence — Francis Bancroft — Smith and Kuhff — Captain Martin Bond — William and Esther Finch — Bond, " Flos mercatorum," and Drax — Sir Thomas Gresham — Sir Andrew Judd — Sir William Pickering — Sir John and Lady Crosby — Sir Julius Caesar Adelmare — Sir John and Lady Spencer — Alderman Bernard and Gervash Reresby — Alderman Chambrelan — Monumental Brasses — Benolte, Windsor Herald pp. 57 — 74
CHAPTER V.
Benefactors — Robinson and Fenner Gifts— Prior's Bequest — Cicely CyolTs Will — Abraham Chambrelan— Sir Martin Lumley — The . Lumley Lectureship — Robinson and Fenner Gifts — Joyce Featly — Daniel Williams — Bond, Langham, and Try on — Sundry Bequests — Mary Clapham's Will — Baker, Roe, and Dingley Bequests — Christ's Hospital — The latest Bequest pp. 75 — 89
CHAPTER VI. Marriage, Baptism, and Burial Registers pp. 90 — 99
CHAPTER VII.
Vestry Records from A.D. 1558 to A.D. 1812 — Extracts from Church Wardens' Accounts, &c pp. 100—226
CHAPTER VIII.
" Worthies" connected with St. Helen's— Sir John Crosby — John Leven- thorpe — Sir William Holies— Richard Williams — Thomas Benolte — • Antonio Bonvixi — Nicholas Harpsfield — Sir Andrew Judde — Sir William Pickering — Sir John Spencer — Daniel Featley — Sir Thomas Gresham — Caesar Adelmare — The Caesar Family — Matthew and Alberigo Gentilis — Edward Brerewood — Peter Maunsell — Richard Ball — Arthur Barham — Thomas Horton — Jonathan Goddard — Robert Hooke — Sir Martin Lumley — Sir John Langham — Sir John Lawrence — Sir Philip Boteler — Sir John Eyles, Sen. — Sir Francis Eyles— Sir John Eyles, Jun pp. 227—328
Table of Contents. xi
CHAPTER IX.
Crosby Place — Richard, Duke of Gloucester, Lord Protector, and afterwards King — Sir Bartholomew Read — Antonio Bonvixi — German Cioll — Alderman Bond — Divers Ambassadors Resident — Crosby House a prison for the Royalists in the Civil Wars — Sir John Langham — Appropriated to Nonconformists in the Reign of Charles II. — Bernard Edward Howard, 15th Duke of Norfolk — Crosby Hall a Warehouse of the East India Company — Messrs. Holmes and Hall — Restoration of the Hall — Alderman Copeland — Miss Hackett
pp. 329 — 337
CHAPTER X.
Nonconformist Divines, Occupants of Crosby Hall, from A.D. 1662 to A.D. 176- pp. 338—358
APPENDIX.
Basing's Will — Benedictine Rules — Kentwode's Constitutions — Adam Fraunces' Will — Restoration, 1865-8 — London Tithes Acts — Special Commission — Queen Anne's Bounty — The Advowson of St. Helen's — William Bond — Thomas Benolte — Mayor of the Staple — Merchant Adventurers — Sir Thomas Gre sham's Will — Gresham College Act- Francis Bancroft's Will — St. Martin Outwich and St. Antholin
pp. 359—436
ILLUSTRATIONS.
Interior of St. Helen's as restored, A,D. 1866-8 ..... Frontispiece Seal of the Convent of St. Helen's ...... Title-page and Cover
Plan of St Helen's, Conventual Buildings, &c Page 31
Kuins of " St. Helen's Nunnery," A.D. 1799 34
The Crypt of " St. Helen's Nunnery," destroyed A.D. 1799 ... 36
Plan of Nunnery 37
West Front, St. Helen's, A.D. 1806 38
Monument of John Eobinson, A.D. 1609 59
Monument of Martin Bond, A.D. 1643 . . •. 63
Monument of William Bond, A.D. 1576 . . . 64
Monument of Sir Andrew Judde, A.D. 1558 66
Monument of Sir William Pickering, A.D 1574 67
Monument of Sir John and Lady Crosby, A.D. 1475 68
Monument of Sir Julius Csesar Adelmare, A.D. 1634 69
Monument of Sir John and Lady Spencer, A.D. 1609 70
Plan of the Church of St. Helen's
ERRATA.
Page 6. Foot-note*, for " Monascon," read " Monasticon."
„ 11. Dele from "Reynold Kentwode, Dean of .St. Paul's," to "at the end of this volume" — this paragraph having been retained in the text by an oversight.
„ 41. Foot note*, for " Kirman," read " Kirkman."
„ 59. Headline, for " Kirwin," read " Kerwin."
„ 59. Line 9, for " Thon Robinson," read " Jhon Robinson."
„ 265. Line 9, for " March 30," read " March 3."
„ 301. Foot note, line 25, for " Charles," read " Henry."
ANNALS
OF
ST. HELEN'S, BISHOPSGATE,
WITHIN THE
CITY OF LONDON.
CHAPTER I.
TRADITION reports that ST. HELENA, the patron saint of this Church, was born at Colchester A.D. £42, and was the daughter of Coel II., Prince of Britain and king of that district. Having revolted against the Romans, Constantius Chlorus, the Roman general then in Spain, who was afterwards Emperor, was sent to reduce Coel to obedience, and for that end besieged Colchester. After some time the siege was raised, and on Constantius betrothing Helen, from that marriage was born, in the year 265, Constantino, the first Roman Emperor who made public profession of the Christian religion and protected and encouraged it by wholesome laws. His father had secretly favoured the Christians and retarded the persecution against them, but Constantine declared himself their protector, and jointly with Licinius published an edict in their favour at Milan, A.D. 313. Helena was considered the most beautiful -woman of her time, was extremely well skilled in music, and adorned with many other accomplishments. Her father having no other child had caused her to be educated in such a manner as might best fit her to govern. Withal she was a woman of great charity and piety, and although it has been stated that she gave her son a Christian education, we are assured by Baronius,'* upon, as he reports, the authority of Euse- bius, that she herself was indebted to Constantine for her conversion to Christianity. At the advanced age of eighty, being desirous of visiting the place where our Saviour had suffered, she is reported
Annal. Eccl., Tom. iii. p. 594. Ed. Lucse, 1738.
2 Finding of the True Cross.
to have made a voyage to the Holy Land, and, during her journey, to have dispensed very considerable benefactions to many persons, towns, and societies. Finding that the heathens (offended at the superstitious veneration paid to the place of our Saviour's burial) had covered the tomb with earth, and erected over it a temple dedi- cated to Venus, she ordered that building to be demolished and the earth to be removed in order to build there a magnificent church, and by the eager desire and fervent piety of those who laboured in the work of preparing the place for the foundation, on May 3, 319, three crosses are said to have been discovered deeply buried in the ground, being those on which the Redeemer and the two thieves were crucified, as also the tablet whereon Pilate had written that Christ was crucified King of the Jews ! The true cross is reported to have been selected by the miraculous power it displayed of restoring the dead to life. The corpse of a female some time deceased was placed alternately upon the three crosses. The two first that were tried produced no effect, but the third instantly raised the body to a state of reanimation ! The true cross being thus discovered was divided and subdivided into innumerable fragments, so that the pieces thus distributed amounted to treble the quantity of wood contained in the original ; yet, through some holy miracle it was said to have remained entire and unimpaired ! Some of the frag- ments were encased in gold, and some in gems, and conveyed to Europe, the principal portion being left in the charge of the Bishop of Jerusalem, who exhibited it annually at Easter until Chosroes, King of Persia, plundered that city and took away the holy relic. The cross was subsequently recovered and solemnly deposited in the great church of the Twelve Apostles, at Constantinople !*
St. Helena having built a gorgeous church over the sepulchre, and called it New Jerusalem, then erected a second at Bethlehem, where Christ was born, as also a third church upon the Mount of Olives, whence Christ ascended to the Father. Many things she gave to churches and to poor people, and, after a godly and religious life, died at Rome in the arms of her son, Aug. 18, A.D. 327, where her festival is kept yearly on that day.
Richard, the Monk of Westminster, in writing of Britain says, " Our arrangement brings us to that province which was called by
* Clavis Calendaria, i. 340 ; ii. 155,
First Roman Colony in Britain. 3
the Romans f Flavia/ but whence it received that name, whether from Flavia Julia Helena, the mother of Constantine the Great, who was born at this place, or from the Roman family of the Elavii, length of time prevents us from determining, which also prevents our firm conviction in the truth of certain things which monuments of antiquity would indicate. — Near the Cassii where the Thames flows into the ocean was the country of the Trinobantes, a people, who not only placed themselves of their own accord under the friendship of the Romans, but also proposed to them to colonize their metropolis London and Maldon, which were situate near the sea. They say that in this city (London) was born Flavia Julia Helena, the most pious wife of Constantius Chlorus and the mother of Constantine the Great, being descended from the Kings of Britain. This also was the first of the Roman colonies in Britain, and was renowned for the temple of Claudius, the image of Victory, &c. London was first called Trinovantum, afterwards Augusta, and then London again. According to old chronicles it is of greater antiquity than Rome. It was fortified by the most pious Empress Helena, the most holy discoverer of the cross " Stow also states, on the authority of Simon of Durham, that " she builded the walls about the cities of London and Colchester."*
* " St. Peter's Eome. The third chapel has over the altar the statue of St. Helena, the work of Boggi, an excellent sculptor." In the church of St. John de Lateran, is " a magnificent monument of St. Helen of porphyrie." " We came to St. Crosse of Jerusalem, built by Constantine over the demolition of the temple of Yenus and Cupid, which he threw down ; and 'twas here they report he deposited the wood of the true Crosse found by his mother Helena, in honour whereof this church was built. Here is a chapel dedicated to St. Helena, the floore whereof is of earth brought from Jerusalem. They suffer no women to enter, save once a year." — Evelyn's Mem., vol i. pp. Ill, 116, 160.
" Also besyde the queer of the Chirche at the ryght syde as men comen downward 16 greces (steps) is the place where our Lord was born : that is fulle well dyghte of marble, and fulle richely peynted with gold, sylver, azure, and other coloures. And 3 paas (paces) besyde, is the crybbe of the ox, and the asse. And besyde that is the place where the sterre felle that ledde the three kynges." — The Voyage and Travaile of Sir John Maundeville Knight in the 14th Century.
Sandys adds " that at the upper end of the subterranean chapel of the Nativity, in an arched concave, stands the Altar of the Nativity : under this is a semi-circle ; the sole (flooring) set with stones of several colours in the form of a star, and in the midst a serpentine, there set to preserve the memory of that place where our Saviour was born." — A Kelation of a Journey begun 1610, by Geo. Sandys. 1670.
4 Edmund the Martyr.
The original church of St. Helen in London was dedicated to the Empress Helena, and is said to have been erected to her memory by her son Constantine.*'
In the year 1010 Alwyne, Bishop of Helmeham, removed the remains of King Edmund the Martyr from St. Edmundsbury to London, and deposited them in this church for three years, until the depredations committed by the Danes in East Anglia ceased. f
"In a court on the east side of Bishopsgate Street, in Bishopsgate Ward/' Newcourt reports/'stands the fair church of St. Helen, some- time a priory of Black Nuns, and in the same, the Parish Church of St. Helen." J That there was a church here before the founding of the said priory, which was granted to the canons of St. PauFs by Ranulph and Robert his son, appears by the following document : —
" This agreement between the Dean of St. Pauls, and Ranulph and Robert his son, Witnesseth, that the said Ranulph and Robert do grant to the Canons of St. Pauls, the church of St. Helen, yet so that they shall hold the same during the term of their naturaj lives, upon the payment of twelve pence yearly. . . . But on their decease a third person of their body (or from their friends) whom they shall have chosen, shall hold the aforesaid church, on the payment of two shillings per annum, to the said canons ; but upon his decease the said church shall remain in the full, free, and un- disturbed possession of the said canons. . . . Ranulph also obtained from his brethren that every year they should celebrate the anniversary of Turstin, Archbishop of York."§
To this agreement the following were witnesses : —
William the Archdeacon.
Richard & Richard his brothers.
Robert de Cadomo, Robert de Aco, Nicholas Gaufrid the younger, William the master, Henry Walter, Gaufrid the constable, William de Cain, Theodore, Richard de Amond, Baldwin, Robert the younger, Walfrid, Hubert Hugo the master, Radulf, Richard
* Europ. Mag., vol. xlviii. p. 173.
f Entick's Lond., vol. iii. p. 398. Hughson, vol. ii. p. 420. £ Newcourt's Kepertorium, vol. i. p. 263 (Reg. Dec. & Cap. lib. A.f. 32). § " Haec est conventio inter Capitulum S.Pauli et Ranulfum, et Robertum filium ejus, soil. Quod Ranulfus et Robertas concedunt Canonicis S. Pauli Ecclesiam S. Helena, ita tamen quod eandem tenebunt toto tempore vitae SUIB, reddendo singulis annis xiid. Quibus autem defunctis, tertius
Priory of St. Helens. 5
de Winton, Albirms the Priest, Richard Malatri, Fulk the Younger, Brun, Osbert, Becha.
After this, in 1181 (the first year of Ralph de Diceto, he being Dean), in the state of the manors and churches belonging to the said Dean and Chapter, it is thus recorded : — " Ecclesia S. Helena est Canonicorum, et reddit eis xx. sol per manum Magist. Cipriani, solvit Synodalia xijd. Achidiacono xijd. Habet ccemiterium."*
After the church fell into the hands of the dean and chapter by the death of the several parties, they granted the right of patronage to one William, the son of William the Goldsmith, who afterwards applying to Alard the dean, and the chapter of St. Paul's, had leave of them to found a priory of nuns there, as appears by the follow- ing instrument :f —
" PRIORY OF ST. HELENS next the way ofBishopsgate Street, in the City of London.}:
" Of the constituting of Nuns in the same.
" Know all present and to come, that I, Alardus, dean of the church of St. Paul, London, and the chapter of the same church, do grant to William the Son of William the Goldsmith, § patron of the church of St. Helen, London, that he may constitute Nuns in the same church for the perpetual service of God therein, and may bestow on the society of the same, the right of patronage to the said church, as the same was granted to him by our predecessors ; provided that the prioress or other governing such house (after election made by the same), do make presentation thereof to the dean and chapter of London and swear fidelity to the same Dean and Chapter, as well for such Church as for a pension or annuity of half a mark, payable within eight days of Easter . . . and they do
suorum quern elegerint, tenebit supradictam Ecclesiam reddendo duos sol. per Ann. eisdem fratribus : Illo autem defuncto remanebit eadem Ecclesia Canonicis soluta et quieta et libera. Etiam Ranulfus obtinuit a fratribus suis, quod singulis annis anniversarium Turstini Eborac, Archiep. celebra- bunt. Ad hauc conventionem fuerunt isti Archidiaconi, &c. &c."
* Newcourt (Eeg. Dec. and Cap. lib. A. f. 37, vol. i. p. 363).
f Stow (Survey of London, p. 430. Ed. Lond. 1754) says "founded by William de Basing, Dean of St. Paul's."
J For the original Latin Document, see Appendix A.
§ Lineally descended from William the Founder was Sir William Fitz- william, merchant tailor, and servant to Cardinal Wolsey, Alderman of Bread Street Ward, 1506, from whom is descended the present Earl Fitzwilliam.
6 Foundation of Priory.
further swear not to alienate such before mentioned patronage or to subject their convent to any other control. And we do more- over grant as far as in us lies, that the said society or convent, so to be erected may appropriate and convert to their own use all revenues belonging to the said Church, excepting the afore- said pension, they discharging all episcopal dues appertaining to the said church ; and if it shall happen that the Nuns of such convent shall conduct themselves improperly, "We grant the same to men of religion, to hold without molestation, in the same manner as is mentioned with respect to such Nuns ; And the Dean and Chapter bind themselves similarly towards them ; and that this our grant and concession and all other engagements may be held in perpetual remembrance and firmly observed, we have caused the same to be done in the form of a handwriting : the one part whereof to be kept by us, and the other by the said William and the said Nuns, and have mutually sealed the same &c.*
" Witness, Alardus, Dean of London and others."
This foundation of the priory was probably about the year 1212, in the latter part of the reign of King John, for Alardus de Burnham, Dean of St. Paul's, died on the 14th August, 1216.f
The nuns were of the Benedictine order, and wore a black habit with a cloak, cowl, and veil.J
William Basing, one of the sheriffs of London in 1308, 2 Edward II., was a great benefactor to this priory, which he augmented both in building and revenue, for which probably he was also holden to be a founder. § Not long after the time of the above William Basing, one Henry Gloucester was interred here, descended from him, by the mother's side, whose will and testament are here inserted : —
" In the name of the Father, of the Son, and of the
Holy Ghost, Amen.
u I Henry de Gloucester, Citizen and Goldsmith of London, do make my Will and Testament as follows. I leave my body to be buried at St. Helens, London, in such place as the Prioress
* Dugdale, Monascon Angl., vol. iv. p. 553. Ed. Lond. 1817-30.
f Newcourt's Repertorium, vol. i. p. 364. J For the Rules of the Benedictine Order, see Appendix B. § Weever's Fun. Monts., p. 421.
William Basing' s Will. 7
and Nuns of that Convent shall direct. I also leave to my daughter Elizabeth a Nun in the said convent of St. Helens, six shillings. I also leave to the prioress and convent of St. Helens, Eleven Marks of Silver annually, for the purpose of providing two monks to perform divine service in the said church of St. Helen for my soul, for the soul of Margaret formerly my Wife and for the souls of William my father and of Wilhelmina my mother, daughter of Thomas de Basings brother of William de Basings the founder &c. The remainder I leave for the maintenance of my son John ; and if my said son John shall die without any offspring, the whole shall remain to my daughter Johanna, and the heirs of her body lawfully begotten. I also leave to my niece Johanna Adynet five shillings : Given and executed at London on Thursday next after the feast of St. Andrew the Apostle. Anno Dom. 1332 in the sixth year of the reign of King Edward III."*
A Cottonian manuscript, a large sheet of parchment, contains the following regulations, drawn up A.D. 1439, to be observed by the nuns of the convent, to which is appended a very small piece, containing a petition from the convent. The seal is much broken, A perfect impression of the seal appendant to a deed, dated 153i, 26 Hen. VIII., is among the records of the Leathersellers' Company.f
* Probate of this will was made January 15, 1332, 6 Edward III.-— MS S. in Bib. Cotton. Weever, Fun. Monts., p. 421.
The original is in Latin as follows : —
" In nomine patris, et filii et spiritus sancti, Amen. Ego, Henricus de Gloucestre, civis et aurifaber London, condo testamentum meum in hnnc modum, Lego corpus meum ad sepeliendum apud Sanctam Elenam, London ; ubi priorissa et conventus eiusdem domus ibidem eligere voluerint. Item lego Elizabeth filie mee, Moniali eiusdem domus, sancte Elene, sex solid. Item lego Priorisse et Conventui Sancte Elene undecim marcas argenti annuatim ad inuenend. duos Capellanos Divina celebrare in eadem Ecclesia Sancte Elene, pro anima mia, et anima Margarete quondam uxoris mee, ac pro animabus Willelmi patris mei, et Willelme, matris mee, fil Thome de Basings, fratris Willelmi de Basings, Fundatoris, &c. Eesiduum vero lego ad sustentationem Johannis filii mei. Etsi idem Johannes filius meus sine prole obierit, integre remaneat Johanne filie mee et heredibus de corpore suo legitime procreatis. Item lego Elizabeth filie mee, duas schopas abenas. Item lego Johanne Adynet nepte mee, quinque solidos. Dat et act, London die Jovis prox . post festum. Sancti Aiidree . Apostoli . Ann . Dom . 1332. Eeg Regis Ed. 3. 6." f Malcolm's Lond. Eediviv., vol. iii. p. 548.
8 Kentwodes Constitutions.
" Constitutiones per Decaimm et Capitulum Ecclesise Cathe- dralis S. Pauli, Lond. factae, Moniales Ccenobii S. Helense prope Bishopsgate infra civitatem London, tangentes :* —
" Reynold Kentwode, Dean and Chapeter of the Church of Poules, to the religious women, Prioress and Covent of the priory of Seynt Eleyns, of owre patronage and jurisdictyon immediat, and every nunne of the said priory, gretyng in God with desyre of religyous observances and devocyon. For as moche as in oure visitacyon ordinarye in your priory e boothe in the hedde, and in the membris late actually exersyd, we have founden many de- fautes and excesses, the whiche nedythe notory correccyon and reformacyon, we, wyllyng vertu to be cherished, and holy relygion for to be kepte as in the rules of your ordyerre, we ordeyne and make certeyne Ordenauns and Injunccyons, weche we sende you wrete and seelyd undir owre commone seele, for to be kepte in forme as thei ben articled and wretyn unto you.
" Firste. We ordeyne and enjoyne you, that deveyne servyce be don by you duly nyghte and day, and silence duly kepte in due time and place, after the observance of youre religione.
"Also we ordayne and enjoyne you Prioresse and Covente, and eche of you syngerly, that ye make due and hole confession to the confessor assigned be us.
"Also we enjoyne you Prioresse and Covent, that ye ordeyne conveiiyent place of firmarye, in the wiche your seeke sustres may be honestly kepte and releyed withe the costes and expences of youre house, accustomed in the relygion durynge the tyme of heere sikenesse.
" Also we enjoyne you Prioresse that ye kepe youre dortour, and by thereinne by nythe, aftyr observaunce of your relygion, without that the case be suche that the lawe and the observaunce of youre religione suffreth you to do the contraye.
" Also we ordeyne and injoyne you Prioresse and Covent, that noo seculere be lokkyd withinne the boundes of the cloy- stere ; ne no seculere persones come withinne aftyr the bell of complyne, except wymment servantes and mayde childeryne lerners, also admitte no one sojournauntes wymment withoute lycence of us.
"Also we ordeyne and enjoyne you Prioresse and Covent, that
* Dugdale, Monasticon Angl., vol. iv. p. 553. Ed. Lond. 1817-30 [Hodie Rot. antiq. Cotton. Mus.] Ex ipso autogr. in Bibl. Hatton.
Directions to Prioress and Convent. 9
ye, ne noone of youre sustres use nor haunte any place withinne the Priory, thoroghe the wiche evel suspeccyione or sclaundere mythe aryse ; wyche places for certeyne causes that move us, we wryte not here inne our present injunccyone, but wole notyfie to your Prioress : nor have no lokyng nor spectacles owtewarde, thorght the which ye mythe falle in worldlye delectacyone.
"Also we ordeyne and enjoy ne you Prioresse and Covent, that some sadde woman and discrete of the seyde religione, honest, well named, be assigned to the shittyng of the cloyster dorys, and kepyng of the keyes, that none persone have entre ne issu into the place aftyr comply ne belle ; nethir in noo other tyme be the wiche the place may be disclaundered in tyme comying.
" Also we ordeyne and enjoyne you Prioresse and Covent, that noo seculere wymmen slepe be nythe withinne the dortour, with ovvte specialle graunte hadde in the chapeter House, among you alle.
" Also we ordeyne and enjoyne you, that noone of you speke ne comone with no seculere personne ne sende ne receyve let- teres, myssyres or geftes of any seculere personne, withowte lycence of the Prioresse : and that there be an other of youre sustres present, assigned be the Prioresse to here and record the honeste of bothe partyes, in such communycation ; and such let- teres or geftes, sent or receyved may turn into honeste and wur- chepe, and none into vilanye, ne disclaundered of youre honeste and religyone.
" Also we ordeyne and enjoyne you Prioresse and Covent, that none of youre sustres be admitted to noone office but that they be of gode name and fame.
" Also we ordeyne and enjoyne you, that ye ordeyne and chese on youre sustres, honeste, abille, and cunnyng of discreyone, the weche can, may, and schall have the charge of teching and informacyone of youre sustres that ben uncunnyng, for to teche hem here service and the rule of here religione.
" Also for as moche that diverce fees, perpetuelle corrodies, and lyvers have be graunted before this tyme to diverce officers of youre house, and other persones, weche have hurt the house, and be cause of delapidacyone of the godys of youre seyde house, we ordeyne and enjoyne you, that ye reserve noone officere to no perpetuelle fee of office, ne graunte, ne annuete, corody, ne lyvery, withoute specialle assent of us.
10 Dancing and Eevelling Forbidden.
se Also we enjoyne you, that alle daunsyng and revelyng be utterly forborne among you, except Christmasse and other honest tymys of recreacyone, among youre selfe usyd, in absence of seculers in alle wyse.
" Also we enjoyne you Prioresse that there may be a doore at the noone's quere, that noone straungeres may looke on them, nor they on the straungeres, wanne thei bene at divyne service. Also we ordeyne and enjoyne you Prioresse, that there be made a hache of conabyll* heythe, crestyd withe pykys of herne, to fore the entre of youre kechyne, that noo straunge pepille may entre wethe certeyne cleketts avysed be you and be youre steward to suche personys as you and hem thynk onest and conabell.
" Also we enjoyne you Prioresse, that non nonnes have no Keyes of the posterne doore that gothe oute of the cloystere into the churcheyerd but the Prioresse for there is moche comyng in and oute unlefulle tymes.
" Also we ordeyne and enjoyne, that no nonnes have, ne receyve noo schuldrin wyth them into the house forseyde, but yf that the profite of the comonys turne to the vayle of the same house.
" These Ordenauns and Injunccyons, and iche of them, as thei be rehersid above, we send unto you Prioresse and Covent, char- gyng and commaunding you and iche of you alle to kepe hem truly and holy in vertu of obedience, and upon peyne of contempte ; and that ye doo them be redde and declared foure tymes of the yeere in youre chapele before you, and that thei may be hadde in mynde, and kepte under peyne of excommunicacyone, and other lawfulle peynes, to be yove into the persone of you Prioresse, and into singuler persones of the Covent, wheche we purpose to use agens you, in case that ye desobeye us: reservyng to us and oure successors poure these forsayde ordinaunces and injunctiouns to chaunge, adde, and diminue, and with hem despence, as ofte as the case requirethe and it is needfulle. In to which witnesse we sette oure common seele, govyn in oure Chapitter House, the XXI day of the monyth of June the yere of oure Lord MCCCCXXXIX. et anno regni Regis Henrici Sexti, post Conqusestum decirno septimo."
" The Nuns endeavoured, during the reigns of Henry III. and Edward I., to stop up the lane or passage through the court of
* " Reasonable," or rather, convenient, suitable.
Names of Three Prioresses. 1 1
their House, from Bishopsgate Street to S. Mary-Axe. In the thirty-third year of the former King they obtained a licence to include a lane lying across their ground, inasmuch as it had been found by inquest that no damage would accrue thereby to the citizens of London. The licence was dated at Westminster, the 24th March, 33 Henry III. 1248-9.* Some resistance, as it appears, was made to this inclusion, for in several subsequent inquests the jurors describe the lane as a common thoroughfare, from the Gate of the Nuns of S. Elen to the Church of S. Mary at Ax, called f Seint Eleyne Lane/ through which there was always in ancient times a common passage for carts and horsemen, as well as for foot passengers.f Their obstruction was at least partially successful, and, as such, has descended to our own time. There is still no thoroughfare for carriages.
"Reynold Kentwode, Dean of S. Paul's (1422—1441), together with his Chapter, made a number of Constitutions for the Nuns, dated the 21st of June, 14394 Many of these are extremely curiouSj and furnish us with most descriptive illustrations of con- ventual life. These have been accurately transcribed from the original document, now among the Cottonian Rolls, and are placed in the Appendix at the end of this volume.
" The names of the three Prioresses which are given by the last editors of Dngdale, are Eleanor de Wyncestre or Wiiiton, in the 7th and 12th of Henry III. ; Alice Asshfeld, who granted a lease to Sir John Crosby, the builder of Crosby Hall, in 1466 ;§ and Mary Rollesley, the last Prioress. To these four others may be
added, D , Alice Wodehous, Alice Tracthall, and Isabel
Stampe.|| The first-mentioned lady is believed to have been the first Prioress. She addressed a petition, which is given in the Appendix, to Alard de Burnham, dean of S. Paul's, and Walter Fitzwalter, archdeacon of London, in or some short time previously
* Pat. 33 Hen. III. m. 7.
f Eot. Hundred, i, 409, 410, 420, 425, 426, 431. J Rot. Cott. v. 6.
§ " See the particulars in the Kev. T. Hugo's History of Crosby Hall, Transactions of the Lond. and Midd. Archaeol. Soc., vol. i. p. 40."
|| " By will dated 26th April, A.D. 1469— Philip Malpas, merchant, citizen, &c., bequeaths to the Prioress of St. Helen's, 20s. ; and to Dame Alice Wood- hows, nun there, 20s., and also to every other nun professed in the same house 6s. 8d. to pray for his soul.— Extract from a Paper by B. B, Orridge, Esq., Transactions Lond. and Midd., vol. iii. p. 9, pp. 290,"
12 Witt of Elizabeth Eottesley.
to the year 1216. The second was the immediate predecessor of Alice Asshfeld, and granted to Sir John Crosby a lease of the house in which he resided when he obtained from the latter that of the same and adjoining premises, on which he subsequently built his magnificent mansion. It is presumed that she resigned her office of Prioress, as a lady of the same name and probably herself stands first of the eleven present and consenting Sisters in the document of 1466. The third, Alice Tracthall, leased some pre- mises in Birchin Lane, about which more details will be given, to Thomas Knyght, by indenture dated the 20th March, 13 Henry VII., 1497-8. The fourth, Isabel Stampe, was the last Prioress but one. When she succeeded to her office cannot be determined, nor the time of her decease or resignation ; but she granted leases of some of her conventual property on the 3rd of December, 1512, and on the 1st of November, 1526.*
" The will of Elizabeth Rollesley, who would appear to have been the mother of the last Prioress, is given by Maddox in his Formulare. It was dated the 23rd August, 1513, 5 Henry VIII. ; and, among other bequests, directs : — ' Item ; I bequeth to the Prioress and Covent of S. Elyns in London, v li. Item; I bequeth to Dame Mary, my dowter, being a Nonne of the same place, v li/ Another daughter, Alice, was a Nun of Dartford, and to her was left a similar legacy ,f
"On the 26th January, 19th Hen. VIII. 1527-8, the Prioress, Mary Rollesley, and Convent leased to Richard Berde a tenement in the parish of S. Ethelburga, for a term of forty years, at an annual rent of xx s. J
" On the 21st December, 20th Hen. VIII. 1528, they leased to Robert Nesham, citizen and baker, and Agnes his wife, one bake-
* See p. 11. For the following details, as for much other reliable informa- tion, I am very largely indebted to the Eev. Thomas Hugo's, M.A., Lecture read at Ironmongers' Hall, March 10th, 1864 ; he having collected the details from the Conventual Leases, the Ministers' Accounts, the Valor, the Sur- renders, the Particulars for Grants, the Orders and Decrees, Pension Lists, Surveys, and other Eecords of the Court of Augmentations, the Patent and Originalia Rolls, and several collections of Rolls and Charters, or docu- ments usually called by that name, &c. &c.
t Madox's Formulare Anglicanum, p. 440. J Ministers' Accounts, 31-32 Hen. VIII. No. 112.
Court of Augmentations. 13
house, with appurtenances, in the parish of S. Andrew Under- shafte, for a term of forty years from the following Christmas, at a yearly rent of Ixxiij s. iiij d. The repairs were to be done by the farmer.*
"On the 20th May, 21st Hen. VIII. 1529, they leased to Richard Staverton a tenement in the parish of S. Mary Magdalene in the Old Fishmarket for a term of sixty years, at a yearly rent of xxxiij s. iiij d.f
" On the 20th September, 23rd Hen. VIII. 1531, the Prioress and Convent leased two tenements, with two gardens adjoining to the same, within their close, to William Shelton, from the Michael- mas following, for twelve years, and, after the expiration of those years, for a term of fourscore and nineteen years, at a rent of Is. a year, payable at the four usual terms. The repairs were to be done by the farmer aforesaid. J
" On the 26th January, 23rd Hen. VIII. 1531-2, they leased to Richard Berde aforesaid, and Alice his wife a tenement in the parish of S. Ethelburga for a term of sixty years, at a yearly rent xlv s. Repairs by the farmers. §
" On the 10th of June, 25th Hen. VIII. 1533, Mary Rollesley, Prioress and Convent entered into an agreement with Richard Berde aforesaid, citizen and girdler of London, by which, inasmuch as the late Prioress of S. Helen's, Dame Isabell Stampe, had, by a deed bearing date 1st November, in the 18th Hen. VIII. 1526, granted and let to Thomas Larke, citizen and Merchant Tailor, their great tenement or inn called the Black Bull, with cellars, &c., in the parish of S. Alburghe, in the Ward of Bishopsgate, and two adjoining tenements, for one and twenty years, from Mid- summer following, at a yearly rent of 9£. 14*. sterling, they transferred the same to the said Richard at the same rent. If unpaid six weeks after due., the Prioress might enter and distrain. The agreement was allowed by the Court of Augmentations, on the 5th Jan., 32nd Hen. VIII. 1540-1. ||
"On the 10th of July, 25th Hen. VIII. 1533, they leased to the aforesaid William Shelton a tenement with appurtenances in
* London Conventual Leases, No. 24. Ministers' Accounts.
f Ministers' Accounts. J Ibid. § Ibid.
|| Conventual Leases, No. 17. Orders and Decrees, vii. f. 35 b.
14 Thomas Crumwell.
their close, for a term of four score and eighteen years from the next following feast of the Nativity of S. John the Baptist, at a yearly rent of x s. payable at the four terms. Repairs by the farmer.*
' ' Among Dean Kentwode's orders, previously referred to,f is the following regulation :
" ' Also for as moche that diu.ce fees ppetuett corrodies and lyuers have be grauntyd be for this tyme to diuerce officers of 3owre house and other' psones wheel! have hurt the house and be cause of delapidacyoii of the godys of 3owre seyde house we ordeyne and jnioyne 3ow that 36 reseyve noon officer' to noo ppetuett ffee of office ne graunte noo annuete corody ne lyuery without speciatt assent of vs.'
" On the 10th September, 26th Hen. VIII. 1534, the Prioress and Convent gave to Thomas Crumwell, the then secretary of the king, afterwards Earl of Essex, an annuity of four marcs, issuing from their lands and tenements in. London, for the term of his life, payable yearly at Michaelmas. If in arrear for three weeks, the said annuitant might enter and distrain. Four pence were paid imme- diately, as earnest and parcel of the annuity. This was allowed by the Court of Augmentations, with arrears from the dissolution of the House, on the 8th of February, 30th Hen. VIII. 1538-94
" On the 10th September, 1534, they also leased to Richard Berde aforesaid a tenement in the parish of S. Alborough, in the ward of Bishopsgate, for a term of three score years, from Michaelmas next ensuing, at a yearly rent of xvj s. sterling, payable at two terms of the year. If in arrear for six weeks, the Prioress and Convent might enter and distrain. §
" On the 1st of October, 26th Hen. VIII. 1534, Dame Mary Rollesley, Prioress, and Convent granted and leased to fee farm to John Rollesley, gent, all their manor of Burston or Bruston, in the county of Middlesex, with all the lands, tenements, woods, underwoods, court-leets, profits of courts, fines, amerciaments and other profits and commodities .whatsoever appertaining to the same manor, from the Michaelmas last past to the end of fourscore years next ensuing, at a yearly rent of 9^. payable at Lady Day and Michaelmas, in equal portions. Repairs were to be made by
* Ministers' Accounts. f See p. 8.
Orders and Decrees, x. f. 131. § Conventual Leases, No. 25.
Common Seal of St. Helens. 1 5
the aforesaid farmer. If the aforesaid rent or any parcel thereof were in arrear for forty days, the Prioress and Convent were to enter and distrain. This was allowed by the Court of Augmenta- tions, on the 8th of November, 34 Hen. VIII. 1542.* The original of this lease still exists among the documents of the Augmenta- tion Office, and has appended to it the common seal of the House, representing S. Helen, in agreement with the most important fact of her history, standing under the Cross which she embraces with her left arm, and holding in her left hand the three nails of the Passion. On the right, opposite to the empress, is a mul- titude of women with extended arms and upraised countenances. Beneath is a trefoiled niqhe, and under it a woman's (?) head and left arm in the same attitude as that of the figures above. The legend is SIGILL. MONIALIVM. SANCTE. HELENE. LONDONIARVM. a representation of this seal has been given by Malcolm, and has been reproduced for this volume.f
« On the 2nd December, 26th Hen. VIII. 1534, the Prioress and Convent leased to Alan Hawte, his executors and assigns, a messuage with a garden within their close for a term of fourscore and nineteen years, at a yearly rent of Is. payable at Lady Day and Michaelmas in equal portions. Repairs by the farmer.J
"On the 24th December, 26th Hen. VIII. 1534, the Prioress and Convent appointed Sir James Bolleyne, knt, to be steward of their lands and tenements in London and elsewhere, the duties to be performed either by himself or a sufficient deputy, during the life of the said James, at a stipend of forty shillings a year, payable at Christmas. If in arrear for six weeks, the said James might enter and distrain. Allowed, with arrears from the Dis- solution, by the Court of Augmentations, on the 10th of February, 30th Hen. VIII. 1538-9.§
" On the 1st January, 26th Hen. VIII. 1534-5, Mary Rollesley, Prioress, and Convent made Richard Berde aforesaid, their senes- chal, receiver and collector of all their manors, &c. by charter under the conventual seal, dated as aforesaid, for the term of his life from the date of the instrument, with a fee or stipend of 1 2£.
* Ministers' Accounts. Orders and Decrees, xiii. f. 14 b.
f Malcolm's Lond. Rediv. iii. 548. Minister^' Accounts. § Orders and Decrees, x. f . 141 b.
16 Demise of Reginald Goodman.
sterling, and 20<s. for his livery : also with eatables and drinkables , two cartloads of fuel and ten quarters of charcoal a year allowed and delivered to him, and the use and occupation of one chamber, and of a certain parlour appertaining to the same, within the precinct of the Priory, with free ingress to and egress from the same at all convenient and lawful times during his life.*
" On the 20th of January, 1534-5, 26th Hen. VIII., the Prioress and Convent granted, demised, and let to Regnald or Rouland Goodman, citizen and fishmonger, their lands or great gardens, with a ' Shedd' and other appurtenances, with free entry and issue, incoming and outgoing at all times convenient, requisite, and necessary, into and from the same, by and through the next way now used, had, and occupied, lying and being in the parish of S. Botolph without Bysshoppesgate, in the tenure of John Newton, 'pulter/ from Michaelmas, 1540, for fourscore years, at a yearly rent of four marcs sterling, payable at Ladyday and Michaelmas, in equal portions. The said Rowland to keep and maintain competently all the fences of the said lands or gardens. If in arrear for a quarter of a year, the Prioress or Convent to have again and repossess their premises, as in their former estate. Allowed by the Court of Augmentations, on the 26th of Novem- ber, 31st Hen. VIII. 1539.f
" On the 10th of December, 27th Hen. VIII. 1535, they leased
* Conventual Leases, No. 20 ; Ministers' Accounts.
f Ministers' Accounts. Orders and Decrees, vi. f. 27. Mr. Hugo remarks, "Among the documents in the possession of the Leather sellers' Company is one of the same year as the seven last described, 1534, and probably the counter- part of one of them. I regret that I cannot give positive information on this point inasmuch as to my application to the Court of the Company for permis- sion to inspect it for a few minutes, in order to include its details in the present memoir, that body thought fit to issue a refusal ! It is difficult to understand the reason of such a repulse, further than that it appears to be a sort of tradition with the Company to resist all such solicitations. So long ago as the year .1803 Malcolm complained that he ' received no en- couragement in his enquiries.' * As it is,' he adds, ' what can be viewed by the passenger I shall describe ; but further this deponent cannot say.' (iii. 562.) This jealous custody and concealment of documents, which are now possessed simply of historical and archaeological interest, I had almost hoped were among the follies which have passed away — 01, at any rate, that it would not have found an apparently perpetual lodgment in a worshipful Company of the City of London,"
Leases of Tenements. 17
to John Rollesleye their messuage or mansion place, with the gardens, cellars, solars, &c. appertaining to the same, lately in the tenure of Nicholas late Bishop of Landaff, situated between the tenements of Sir John Russell, knt. and Alen Hawte, within the close of S. Helen's, from the Christmas following, for four score years, at a yearly rent of xlvj s. viij d. sterling, payable at the four terms in even portions. If in arrear for thirteen weeks, the Prioress and Convent might enter and distrain. Repairs to be done by the farmer. As in the other instances given in the notes, the original lease still exists.*
" On the 20th December, 27th Hen. VIII. 1535, they leased to Thomas Pett, citizen and grocer, a messuage in the parish of S. Ethelberga for a term of twenty years at a yearly rent of xlv s.f
" On the 7th of April, in the 27th year of Hen. VIII. 1536, the Prioress and Convent granted, demised, and let to John Rolesley ten tenements, with gardens thereunto adjoining, and three chambers, with their appurtenances, situated within the close and tenements aforesaid ; the tenements in the holding respectively of Richard Parker, Guy Crayford, Edward Waghan, Edward Bryseley, Margaret Dalton, widow, John Bernard, Richard Harman, John Harrocke, and Andrew Byscombe; and the chambers, one on the ground, in the tenure of Emma Lowe, widow, and the other two up the stairs, over the chambers of the said Emma, in the tenure of William Damerhawle ; together with the alley, tenements, cellars, and solars, to the said alley apper- taining, situated in the same close, (except a tenement or chamber in the said alley, wherein Johane Hey ward then dwelt,) and another tenement outside the close, wherein Thomas Rancoke then dwelt, from Michaelmas last past for threescore years ensuing, at a yearly rent of £15, payable at the four usual terms of the year. The said John to keep the said premises in good and sufficient repair. If the rent were in arrear for six months after any of the said feasts, and no sufficient distress for the arrears could be found, the Prioress and Convent might re-enter and repossess. This was allowed by the Court of Augmentations, on the 17th April, 31st Hen. VIII. 15404
* Conventual Leases, No. 14. f Ministers' Accounts.
J Conventual Leases, No. 15. Ministers' Accounts. Orders and De- crees, v. f. 1.
C
18 "Valor" of Ecclesiastical Property.
" On the same day the Prioress and Convent granted and let to the same John their tenements with appurtenances in the parish of S. Alphe in ' Muggewell Strete/ and S. Olave in ' Silver Strete by Crepulgate/ from Michaelmas next coming for a term of four- score years, at a yearly rent of £7 sterling, payable at the usual terms. The said John to keep the premises in competent and sufficient repair. If the rent were in arrear for six weeks, the Prioress and Convent were to have power to enter and distrain. If for a quarter of a year, or if the repairs were not accom- plished in avoiding rain and other extreme weather, they might re-enter and repossess themselves wholly of the property. This was allowed by the Court of Augmentations on the 20th April, 31st Hen. VIII. 1540.*
" On the same day, the Prioress and Convent leased to John Rollesleye, his executors and assigns, two tenements in the parish of S. Elen's outside the close, one in the tenure of William Shurburne, citizen and barber- surgeon, and a marsh called the ' Hare Marsshe ' in the parish of Stebunheth in the county of Middlesex, for a term of sixty years, at a rent of viij li. xv s. iiij d. payable at the four usual terms.f
" In the 27th of Hen. VIII. the < Valor * was taken of all ecclesiastical property, to determine the tenth which was hence- forth ordered to be paid to the King for the support of his dignity of Supreme Head of the Church of England. The yearly value of all the possessions of the House was £376 6,?., in rents from tenements in the city of London, the rectory of S. Helen's, tene- ments in Bordeston and Edelmeton in Middlesex, Eyworth in Bedfordshire, Barmeling in Kent, Balainesmede and Marck in Essex, Ware in Hertford, and Dachet in Buckingham. Out of this sum various rents for lands in several parishes of the city were to be deducted, together with the stipends of Sir James Bulleyn, knight, chief steward, Richard Berde, receiver, and John Dodington, auditor ; and pensions to David Netley, chaplain of the perpetual chantry of the B. V. M. in the Church of S. Helen's ; Thomas Criche, chaplain of the chantry of the Holy Ghost, in the same church ; the churchwardens of S. Mary Botowe ; the
* Ministers' Accounts. Orders and Decrees, v. f. 2. f Conventual Leases, No. 9. Ministers' Accounts.
Thomas Benolt, Clarenceaux Herald. 19
wardens of a fraternity in Bow Church ; Thomas More, chaplain of a chantry in S. Michael's, Cornhill; poor people at the anniversaries of Adam Fraunces, Robert Knolls, and Hugh Wynarde., in the Church of S. Helen's ; the vicar of Eyworth ; the Bishop of Lincoln, for sinodals and procurations ; and the Abbess and Convent of Barking. These amounted to £55 10s. 3J^., leaving clear £320 15*. 8Jf7.j the tenth to be deducted from which was £32 1*. Id*
" On the 6th October, 28th Hen. VIII. 1536, they leased to John Dodington a tenement called f the Sterre ' at Ware, with all its chambers, cellars, solars, &c. for a term of sixty years from the next following Michaelmas, at a yearly rent of xl s. payable at Lady Day and Michaelmas, in equal portions. Repairs to be done by the aforesaid farmer, f
" On the 20th of May, 29th Hen. VIII. 1537, the Prioress and Convent granted to Richard Wolverston, yeoman, for sundry good services, an annuity of twenty shillings sterling, issuing as before, for the term of his life, payable in equal portions at Christmas and Midsummer. If in arrear for six weeks, the said Richard might enter and distrain. Allowed, with arrears from the Dissolution, by the Court of Augmentations, on the 12th of February, 30th Hen. VIII. 1538-94
" On the 30th of May, 29th Hen. VIII. 1537, they leased to John Thurgood, his executors and assigns, a tenement with shops, cellars, solars, &c. in Ivelane, in the parish of S. Faith in Pater- noster Rowe, for a term of fifty-one years from the Lady Day of that year, at a yearly rent of liij s. iiij d. payable at the four usual terms. Repairs by the farmer. §
" On the 1st of July, 29th Hen. VIII. 1537, they leased to Richard Stafferton a tenement, with shops, cellars, solars, &c. in the parish of S. Mary Wolnoth, for a term of fifty years, at a yearly rent of xxiij s. iiij d. payable at the four terms. ||
" On the 1st of December, 29th Hen. VIII. 1537, they leased to Sir Arthur Darcy, knt. a messuage within their close, late in the occupation of Thomas Benolt the herald, from Michaelmas last
* Val. Eccl. v. i. pp. 392, 393.
f Conventual Leases, No. 18. Ministers' Accounts. Orders and Decrees, x. f. 164 b. § Ministers' Accounts. || Ibid.
C2
20 Sundry Grants of Property.
past, for a term of four score and sixteen years, at a rent of xl s., payable at the four usual terras. Kepairs by the farmer.*
"On the 1st of December, 29th (?) Hen. VIII. 1537, the Prioress and Convent granted to John Dodington an annuity of xl s. for the term of his life, payable in equal portions at Easter and Michaelmas, f
"On the 2nd of December, 29th Hen. VIII. 1537, they leased to Elizabeth Hawte, widow, their tenement or messuage, with cellars, solars, gardens, woodhouses, stables, &c. ' abbutting vpon the well yarde in the said P9 orye on the westt, one other parte therof ending at the gate called the tymber halle, gate buttyng vpon the Inner dorter on the East pte, the other pte therof w* the gardeyne therto adioynyng stretching alonge the ffrater on the sowthe parte, and the other parte therof lyeng alonge the cartewaye goyng into the tymber yarde on the north parte/ from the Christmas following for fifty years, at a yearly rent of xx s. sterling, payable at the four terms. The Prioress and Convent to keep in repair. {
"On the 20th of December, 29th Hen. VIII. 1537, the Prioress and Convent granted to John Dodyngton, gent, aforesaid, auditor of their accounts, to have the first advowson, nomination, and presentation of their vicarage of Eyworth, in the county of Bedford and diocese of Lincoln, for one single turn, whenever the said vicarage should by death, resignation, promotion, or in any other way, chance to be vacant, as fully and entirely as they themselves the patrons. Allowed by the Court of Augmentations on the 9th of February, 35th Hen. VIII. 1543-4.§
"On the 21st of January, 29th Hen. VIII. 1537-8, the Prioress and Convent granted to John Sevvstre, gent., for good counsel, past and future, an annual pension of four marcs, issuing as before, for the term of his life, in equal portions at Lady Day and Michaelmas. If in arrear for five weeks, the said John to have power to enter and distrain. Allowed, with arrears, by the Court of Augmentations on the 12th of February, 30th Hen. VIII. 1538-9.1!
* Conventual Leases, No. 11. f Ministers' Accounts.
J Conventual Leases, No. 16. § Orders and Decrees, xiv. f. 78.
|| Ministers' Accounts. Orders and Decrees, x. f. 149.
Antony Bonvixi, Merchant. 21
"On the 16th of March, 29th Hen. VIII. 1537-8, they leased to Nicholas De la Mare, priest, one little tenement on the north side of the close or churchyard, from Lady Day following, for the term of the ensuing forty years, at a yearly rent of x s. payable at Michaelmas and Lady Day. If in arrear for half a year, the Prioress and Convent might enter and distrain. The lessors were to do all necessary repairs. If the said Nicholas died before the end of the aforesaid term, a month after his decease the lease to be void, and of no effect.*
" On the same 16th of March, 29th Hen. VIII. 1537-8, they leased a tenement to David Necton, for a term of forty years from the following Lady Day, at a yearly rent of x s., payable at Lady Day and Michaelmas in equal portions. f
" On the 20th of March, 1537- 8, they granted to Thomas Percye, citizen and skinner, the renewal of a lease, which Alice Tracthall a former Prioress, had granted to Thomas Knyght, by indenture dated the 20th of March, 13th Hen. VII. 1497-8, of a tenement or ' brue hous called the Scomer vpon the Hope, sett and being in Byrchin Lane, and a plour sett on the northe syde of the hatte doreof the said ten? Bruehous towardtthe Strete/ &c. from Lady Day, 1547, when that lease would expire, to the end of a term of three score years, at a yearly rent of vj li. xiij s. iiij d. sterling, payable at the four terms. If in arrear for six weeks, the Prioress and Convent to enter and distrain; if for fourteen weeks to re- possess. Repairs by the farmer. The lessors or their deputies might examine the premises twice in every year, to see that the farmer fulfilled his engagement. J
" On the 28th of March, 29th Hen. VIII. 1538, they leased to Antony Bonvixi, merchant, their great messuage, with all houses, solars, cellars, gardens, &c. called Crosbyes Place, together with nine messuages belonging to the same, for a term of seventy-one years, immediately after the end and completion of a term of ninety-nine years to John Crosbye, citizen and grocer of London, viz., from the feast of the Nativity of S. John the Baptist, 1565, at a yearly rent of xj li. vj s. viij d. payable at the usual terms. §
* Conventual Leases, No. 12. f Ministers' Accounts.
J Conventual Leases, No. 6. § Ibid., No. 10. Part, for grants, Antony Bonvyxe. Ministers' Accounts.
22 John Rollesleys Annuity.
11 On the 30th of March, 29th Hen. VIII. 1538, the Prioress and Convent granted to Edward Rollesley, gent., in consideration of good and faithful service, an annuity of forty shillings sterling, issuing as before, for the time of his life, payable at Lady Day and Michaelmas in equal portions. If in arrear, the said Edward might enter and distrain. The said Edward was put into posses- sion by a payment to him of fourpence. Allowed by the Court of Augmentations, with arrears from the Dissolution, on the 26th of October, 31st Hen. VIII. 1539.*
" On the 12th of April, 29th Hen. VIII. 1538, they leased to Robert Owterede, citizen and cordwainer, two tenements outside the close, for a term of thirty years, at a rent of xlvj s. viij d. payable at the usual terms.f
" On the 17th of April, 1538, they renewed to Domenic Lomelyn a lease formerly made to him by Isabell Stampe, Prioress of S. Helen's, dated the 3rd of December, 4th Hen. VIII. 1512, of a tenement in S. Elen's, for four score and eleven years, at a yearly rent of x li. x s. sterling. If in arrear for six weeks, the Prioress and Convent to enter and distrain. J
" On the 20th of June, 30th Hen. VIII. 15 38, they leased to John Melshame a tenement in Chepesyde, in the parish of S. Matthew in Ffrydaye Strete, with shops, solars, cellars, &c., ' wherof one shoppe hath the signe of the Mylke mayde w* tankarde on her hedde, and the other shoppe hath the signe of the Cowe/ from the Midsummer following, for a term of forty years, at a yearly rent of vj li. xiij s. iiij d. payable at the four usual terms. §
" On the 26th of June, 30th Hen. VIII. 1538, the Prioress and Convent granted to John Rollesley, gent., for good counsel past and future, an annuity of four marcs sterling, issuing as before, for the term of his life, payable in equal portions, at Lady Day and Michaelmas. If in arrear for one month, the said John might enter and distrain. Allowed, with arrears from the Disso- lution, by the Court of Augmentations, on the 24th of April, 31st Hen. VIII. 1539.11
* Orders and Decrees, vi. f. 47 b. f Ministers' Accounts.
J Conventual Leases, No. 26.
§ Conventual Leases, No. 8. Ministers' Accounts.
|| Orders and Decrees, x. f. 298 b.
Grants of Sundry Annuities. 23
"On the 30th of June, 30th Hen. VIII. 1538, Mary, the Prioress and Convent gave toHenry Bowsell, gentleman, of London, a certain annuity or annual rent often shillings, issuing from their lands and tenements in the city of London. It was granted in reward of good counsel given previously, and to be rendered in time to come, and was to be paid in equal portions at Christmas and Midsummer. If it were unpaid for the time of six weeks, the said Henry might enter and distrain. This was allowed by the Court of Augmentations on the 28th of January, 34th Hen. VIII. 1542-3.*
11 On the same day the Prioress and Convent granted to Henry Bowsfell, gent., for good counsel, &c., and certain other consi- derations then moving them, a certain annuity or annual rent of twenty-six shillings and eightpence sterling, issuing from their property in London and elsewhere, for the term of his life, payable yearly at Christmas and Midsummer, in equal portions. If in arrear, in part or in whole, for six weeks, the aforesaid Henry might enter and distrain. Allowed, with arrears from the Dissolu- tion, by the Court of Augmentations, on the 17th of October, 31st Hen. VIII. 1539.f
"On the 1st of July, 30th Hen. VIII. 1538, they leased to Wil- liam Shyrborne a tenement with cellars, solars, &c., outside the close, from the feast of the Nativity of S. J ohn the Baptist in that year, for a term of thirty years, at a yearly rent of xx s. payable at the usual terms. \
"On the 2nd of July, 30th Hen. VIII. 1538, they leased to William Shelton two tenements in the parish of- S. Mary at Naxe, for a term of fourscore years from the following Michaelmas, at a yearly rent of xl s. payable at the four terms. If in arrear for a quarter of a year, the Prioress and Convent might enter and dis- train. Repairs by the farmer. §
"On the 9th of July, 30th Hen. VIII. 1538, the Prioress and Convent granted to Jerome Shelton, gent., for good counsel past and future, an annuity or annual rent of four marcs sterling, issuing from their tenements in the city of London or elsewhere, for the term of his life, payable at Christmas and Midsummer, in equal portions. If in arrear for forty days, the said Jerome
* Orders and Decrees, xiii. f. 126 b. f Ibid. vi. f. 114 b.
£ Ministers' Accounts. § Conventual Leases, No. 7. Ministers' Accounts.
24 Annuities and Leases.
might enter and distrain. The Court of Augmentations con- tinued this payment to the said Jerome, with arrears from the Dissolution of the House, on the 12th of February, 30th Hen. VIII. 1538-9.*
" On the same day, the Prioress and Convent granted to Roger Hall, for good and faithful service, an annuity of twenty shillings, issuing as before, for the term of his life, payable at Christmas and Midsummer. If in arrear for five weeks, the said Roger might enter and distrain. Allowed, with arrears from the Dissolution, by the Court of Augmentations, on the 19th of November, 32nd Hen. VIII. 1540.f
' ' On the same day, the Prioress and Convent granted to John Staverton, gent., for good counsel, &c., an annuity of four marcs sterling, issuing as before, for the term of his life, payable at Christmas and Midsummer, in equal portions. If in arrear for fourteen days, the said John might enter and distrain. Allowed, with arrears from the Dissolution, by the Court of Augmentations, on the 20th of November, 32nd Hen. VIII. 15404
" On the 1st of August, 30th Hen. VIII. 1538, they leased to John Rollesley their manor of Marke, with all and singular its appurtenances, situated in the parishes of Leyton and Walcombe- stowe, in the county of Essex, together with all its lands, tene- ments, rents, services, &c., for a term of fourscore years from the next following Michaelmas, at a yearly rent of viij li. payable at Lady Day and Michaelmas in equal portions. Repairs to be done by the aforesaid farmer. §
" On the 20th of August, 30th Hen. VIII. 1538, they leased to Thomas Persey one messuage with shops, cellars, solars, &c. in the parish of S. Martin Owtewiche, for a term of sixty years, at a yearly rent of liij s. iiij d. payable at the four usual terms. ||
" On the 1st of September, 30th Hen. VIII. 1538, they leased to Richard Staverton a messuage with appurtenances in the parish of S. Mary Magdalene in the Old Fishmarket, for a term of fourscore years, at a yearly rent of Ixvj s. viij d.H
"On the 10th of September, 30th Hen. VIII. 1538, they
* Orders and Decrees, x. f. 127. f Ibid. viii. f. 56 b.
Ibid. viii. f. 89 b. § Conventual Leases, No. 21. Ministers' Accounts. II Ministers' Accounts. [ Ibid.
Last Act of the Prioress and Convent. 25
leased to Richard Stavertou aforesaid, his executors and assigns two tenements outside the close for a term of fourscore years from the Michaelmas of the same year, at a rent of xlvj s. viij d. payable at the usual terms. *
" On the same day they leased to Richard Staverton aforesaid a tenement in the parish of S. Matthew in ffrydayestrete, for a term of fourscore years, at a yearly rent of Ixvj s. viij d. payable at the four usual terms. f
"On the same day they leased to the aforesaid Richard Staverton, his executors and assigns, two tenements in the parish of S. John in Walbrooke, for a term of fourscore years, at a rent of Ixxvj s. viij d. payable at the four terms. J
" On the 1st of October, 30th Hen. VIII. 1538, the Prioress and Convent granted to John Melsham, gent., for good counsel, &c., an annuity of twenty shillings, issuing as before, for the term of his life, payable at Lady Day and Michaelmas, in equal portions. If in arrear for five weeks, the aforesaid John might enter and distrain. Allowed by the Court of Augmentations on the 22nd of November, 32nd Hen. VIII. 1540.§
" On the 4th of October, 30th Hen. VIII. 1538, they leased to Antony Bonvixi, his executors and assigns, a tenement with solars, cellars, &c., situated in a certain alley within their close, over the ' larder-house ' and the ' cole-house ' of the said Antony, and lately in the tenure of Julian Fraunces, for a term of fourscore years from the feast of Michaelmas in that year, at a yearly rent of x s. payable at the usual terms. Repairs were to be made by the farmer. ||
" This was the last act of the Prioress and Convent before the event which removed from them the power of entering into any similar engagements for the time to come. In less than two months afterwards the storm had fallen upon them, and all was over. The unhappy Sisters, like hundreds of others in similar establishments, were then ruthlessly expelled from their ancient home, to encounter the dangers of a world of which they had
* Ministers' Accounts. f Ibid. J Ibid.
§ Orders and Decrees, viii. f. 81.
|| Conventual Leases, No. 22. Part, for grants, Antony Bonvyxe, and Ministers' Accounts.
26 Edward Alley ne.
hitherto little or no experience. The original deed of Surrender still exists in the Record Office. There are no signatures to this document, which was forced on the sufferers against their will, already prepared before it was submitted to their acceptance, and slightly concealing, under a flimsy disguise of law, an act of the basest and most shameless despotism. The common seal of the Priory was appended ; but only a fragment of it now remains. The document bears date the 25th of November, 30th Hen. VIII. 1538 — not 1539, as the editors of Dugdale have stated in error.
" The names of the last Prioress and Sisters, so far as they have been recovered, were Mary Rollesley, Prioress, and Margaret Sampson, Elizabeth Graye, Katherine Glassappe, Joan Pamplyii, Elionor Hanham, and Ann Alleyne, Sisters. The latter were surviving in 1556. It is probable that half were by that time dead. But there is no certain account of the number who witnessed the destruction of their House.
" It is probable that the last named Sister was daughter of the John Aleyn and Agnes his wife to whom the Prioress and Convent, on the 19th of July, 12th Hen. VIII. 1520, leased a tenement in the parish of S. Olave by London Bridge, called the ' Sonne/ alias the ' Salutacyon/ and a messuage adjacent to the same, for the term of the life of the survivor, at a yearly rent of six pounds thirteen shillings and fourpence."* It is surmised that she was related also to the famous Bishopsgate benefactor, the munificent Edward Alleyne, born in the parish of S. Botolph, September 1st, 1566, and founder of Dulwich College in 1619 (?)
" Roger Hall, already mentioned, was janitor of the west gate of the close, and with Alice his wife was at the Dissolution of the Priory in possession of a house worth 10s. a year.f
" At the time of the Suppression the Prioress received a gratuity of xxx li. and the grant of an annual pension of xli. ;{ and four annuities, or ' perpetual pensions/ in behalf of the dissolved House, amounting yearly to the sum of cxij s. ij d. ob. were paid by the Government to 'the Deane and Chapiter of Pawles' in the 34th, 35th, 36th, 37th, and 3Sth years of Hen. VIII.§
* Ministers' Accounts. f Ibid.
J Misc. Books, Off. Aug. vol. 245, n. 228. § Misc. Books, Off. Aug. vols. 248, 249, 250, 256, 262.
Adam Fraunces. 27
"In the year 1556 the annuities and pensions paid to the former officers and inmates of the Priory were as follows: —
s. HELEN'S LATE PRIORY.
Annuities.
Edward Rowlesley . . . xls. John Rowlesley . . . liij s. iij d
Richard Berde . . . xl s.
John Melsham . . . xx s.
Margaret Sampson . . . liij s. iiij d.
Elizabeth Graye . . . liij s. iiij d.
Katherine Glassappe . . liij s. iiij d.
Joan Pamplyn . . . Ixvj s. viij d.
Elionor Hanham . . . liij s. iiij d.
Ann Aleyne .... liij s. iiij d. *
" There were two Chantriesf in the Church of S. Helen's, the priests of which received annual stipends from the Priory. These incumbents at the time of the ' Valor/ in 1536, were
David Netley, B. V. M. . viij li.
Thomas Criche, Holy Ghost . . vij li.
" In the Ministers' Accounts, 31-32 Hen. VIII. we find
Nicholas de la Mer, B. V. M. founded for
the soul of Adam Fraunces . . viij li. Thomas Ryson, Holy Ghost, founded for
the soul of Adam Fraunces, . . vij li. Thomas Wynestaneley, Nuns' chaplain . vj li. xiij s. iiij d. " In the Certificate of Chauntries and Fraternities, 2nd Edward VI. the names of the last incumbents are thus given, with their previous stipends and post-Dissolution pensions : —
S. Ellens.
Thomas Wynston, vj li. xiij s. iiij d. . pension c s. Thomas Robson vij li. » ' C s.
* Cardinal Pole's Pension Book, f. iii.
f These Chantries have lately been discovered, and restored, for a description of which, see p. 41. The will of Adam Fraunces is inserted in the Appendix.
28 Cardinal Poles Pension Book.
" In the Particulars for the sale of the Chantry Lands it is stated that certain property in S. Helen's of this nature was sold on the 24th of December, 3 Edward VI. 1549, and on the 26th of January, 3 Edward VI. 1549-50, to John Roulande, page of the King's wardrobe, and was ' past in the names of John Dodington and William Warde, as parcel of the sum of Mcclxxv li. iiij s. viij d.'*
" Lastly, from Cardinal Pole's Pension Book we learn that the priests before mentioned were still living in 1556.
CHANTRIES IN THE CHURCH OF S. HELENAS.
Pensions.
Thomas Robson, lately incumbent there . . c s. Thomas Wynstanley, lately incumbent there . c s.f
" Of the scene of these transactions, not a stone remains to tell of the House and its glories. A view of the place as it existed at the close of the last century, which is furnished by Wilkinson in his Lond. Illust., represents the ruins of edifices whose main por- tions and features are of the Early English period, and which were probably coeval with the foundation of the Priory. These he calls the ' Remains of the Fratry.' Having had the advantage of a personal examination of these beautiful memorials, he says : ' The door leading from the cloister to the fratry, which the writer of this well remembers to have seen at the late demolition of it, was particularly elegant, the mouldings of the upper part being filled with roses of stone painted scarlet and gilt ; the windows of the fratry itself also, which were nearly lancet-shaped, were extremely beautiful/ He also gives two views of the beautiful 'crypt/ and one of the hall above it ; the former of which is in the Early English style, while the latter has ornamental additions of post- Dissoultion times. It appears by his plan that there were at least two ' crypts/ one under the hall, and another to the south, under what would be called the withdrawing room. It is the former which is represented in his engravings.
" Of contemporary descriptions," Mr. Hugo remarks, " that con- tained in the ' Valor ' simply makes mention of the ' scite of the Priory, with the court-yards and little gardens, with divers houses
* Parts, for Sale of Chantries, vol. i. p. 270 b. •f" Cardinal Pole's Pension Book, f. iiii.
Survey of the King's Officers. 29
situated within the precinct/ And the Ministers' Accounts are similarly meagre. A few particulars, already given from several of the leases, necessarily refer to the adjoining premises rather than to the Priory itself. Stow, Howel, and others furnish us with nothing to supply the deficiency. Truly valuable, therefore, and by far the most interesting description of the House with which I am acquainted, is the following Survey of the King's Officers, pre- liminary to the disposal of the property. It is a picture of the place as the Nuns left it, and before the changes which soon after- wards ensued : —
" ' The late Priory e of Saint Elenes within the Citye of London. The View and Surveye ther taken the xxist daye of June, in the xxxiij Yeare of the raigne of our Soveraigne Lord Kinge Henrye the viijth, by Thomas Mildmay, one of the King's Auditors there- unto assigned. That is to saye,
" ' The Parisshe of Saint Elenes, within the Citie of London, and the Scite of the late Priory therin.
" ' Fyrste, the cheaf entre or cominge in to the same late Priory ys in and by the street gate lyying in the pishe of S* Elenes, in Bysshopsgate Streat, which leadeth to a little cowrte next adioyn- ing to the same gate, havinge chambers, howses, and buyldinges, environinge the same, out of wcb cowrte there is an entre leadinge to an inner cowrte, wch on the North side is also likewise environed wth edificyons and buyldings, called the Stewardes lodging, with a Countinge house apperteninge to the same. Item, next to the same cowrte ther ys a faire Kechinge, withe a pastery house, larder houses, and other howses of office, apperteninge to the same ; and at the Est ende of the same Kechyn and entre leadinge to the same hall, wth a litle plor adioyning, having under the same hall and plor sondrie howses of office, next adioyning to the Cloyster ther, and one howse called the Covent plor. Item, iij fair Chambers adioyninge to the hall, whearof the one over the entree leadinge to the cloyster, thother over the Buttree, and the third over the larder. Item, from the said entre by the hall, to the Cloyster, wch cloyster yet remaneth holly leaded, and at the North side of the same cloyster a fare long howse called the Fratree. Item, at thest end of the same Cloyster, a lodginge called the Suppryors lodging, wth a litle gardin lieng to the same. And by the same lodginge a pare of staires leading to the Dortor, at the
30 Site of the Priory.
Southend whearof ther is a litle hows, wherein the Evidence of the said hows nowe dou remayne, wth all howses and lodginges vnder the same Dorter. Item, at the Westende of the same cloyster, a done leadinge in to the nuhes late Quire, extending from the dore out of the churche yarde unto the lampe or pticyon deviding the priorye from the pisshe, wch is holly leaded. Item, at thest ende of the said cloyster, an entre leading to a little Garden, and out of the same littell garden to a faire garden called the Covent Garden, coteninge by estimacn half an acre. And, at the Northend of the said garden, a dore leading to another garden called the Kechin garden ; and at the Westende of the same ther is a Dove-howsshe • and in the same garden a dore to a faire Woodyerd, wth howses, pticons, and gardens, wthin the same Woodyerd a tenement, wth a garden, a stable, and other thapptances to the same belonginge, called Elizabeth Hawtes lodginge. All which pmisses ben rated, extentyd, and valued, The Kings highnesse to be discharged of the repacons, of the yerely value of
vj li. xiij s. iiij d-
" ' Item, one Tenement their in, in the hold of Wittm. Baker, by the yeare, xx s.
" ' Item, one other Tenement, in the hold of Jane Julian, by the yeare, xiij s. iiij d.
" * Item, one other Tenement ther, in the hold of Edmude Brewer, by the yeare, xiij s. iiij d.
" ' Item, one other Tenement ther, in the hold of Eye Sturdye, by the yeare, xiij s. iiij d.
" ' Item, one other Tenement ther, in the hold of Lanclott
Harryson, by the yeare, xiij s. iiij d.
viij li. xiij s. iiij d.
Sma x li. vj s. viij d. Exm p me THOMAM MILDMATE, Auditor/*
" The House was evidently a large and goodly collection of edifices. You entered from Bishopsgate Street by a gateway into a court surrounded by the more humble buildings of the community, and from thence into an inner court which contained some of the more important offices, the steward's lodging and
* Archaeol. xvi. 29. Malcolm's Lond. Bed. iii. 550, 551.
Plan of Buildings.
31
counting-house, the kitchen, pastry-house, larder, and other apart- ments, the entrance to the hall and an adjoining parlour, with offices below them, as well as that to the cloister and the Convent parlour. The entrance to the cloister, the buttery, and larder had
r\
each an elegant chamber above them adjoining the hall. Next came the Cloister, on the north of which was a long and goodly building, called the Fratry, and on the east the lodging of the Sub-prioress with its garden. Adjoining this a flight of stairs led to the dormitory, south of which was a small house, in which were deposited the various leases and other legal documents connected with the conventual property. West of the cloister a door led to the Nuns' church. An entry on the east side, by the Sub- prioress's lodging and the dormitory, introduced you to a little garden, and thence to the fair pleasure-garden of the house. At the north end of this a door led to the kitchen-garden, with a dove-house at its western end ; and a further door communicated with a capacious wood yard, which embraced various enclosures, tenements, gardens, a stable, and other appurtenances. Such was the home of the Nuns of S. Helen's.
" The north aisle of the Church of S. Helen's was ' the Nunnes Quire/ and was divided, by a screen from pier to pier of the arcade, from the part appropriated to the parish. One of the fastenings, or a piece of iron popularly considered so to be, until the restoration of 1867, was to be seen occupying its original position
32 Curious Hagioscope.
on the east side of one of the piers. In the north wall of this aisle is a curious hagioscope, which at first sight looks like an altar- tomb. Its base is ornamented with panels, and through these, which although now filled up behind, were pierced with oblique openings, an altar at the east end of the same aisle might have been seen from the so-called ' crypt/ which, I believe, was used by the nuns as a cloister."
With reference to the dispersion of the spoil, so far as regards the site of the house, and of the various adjoining tenements in and about the close, Mr. Hugo has supplied the following highly important information in his lecture above referred to :* —
"On the 21st of April, 30th Hen. VIII. 1539, the King granted to Balthazar Gwercy, of the city of London, surgeon, and Joan his wife, certain tenements, gardens, &c. in the parishes of S. Mary at Nax and S. Andrew Undershafte in consideration of £71 10$. the property to be held of the King in ckief by the service of a twentieth part of one knight's fee, and a yearly rent of xxvj s. viij d. payable at Michaelmas. f
" On the 3rd of October, 31st Hen. VIII. 1539, the King granted to Guy Crafford, Esq. and Joan his wife, in consideration of the sum of £54, a messuage or tenement, with cellars, solars, stables, gardens, &c., situated in the parish of S. Helen's, and within the close of the late Priory, formerly in the tenure of Thomas Benolt, then in that of Sir Arthur Darcy, knt. and lastly in that of the aforesaid Guy. Also another messuage adjoining the same on the west, and lately in the tenure of George Taylour, gent. Both were among the possessions of the late Priory, and were to be held from Lady Day last past by the service of a twentieth part of one knight's fee, and a yearly rent of six shillings and eight pence by name of tithe payable at Michaelmas. The grant was made without fine great or small, and was dated, witness the King at Westminster, on the day aforesaid. J
" On the 3rd of March, 31st Hen. VIII. 1539-40, the King granted to William Crane, Esq. and Margaret his wife, and their heirs, ten tenements, within the close and circuit of the late Priory of S. Helen's, then in the tenure of John Parker, Guy
* See p. 12.
f Ministers' Accounts. Pat. 30th Hen. VIII. p. 8, mm. 8 (20), 7 (21). t Pat. 31st Hen. VIII. p. 4, m. (35) 20. Orig. 31st Hen. VIII. p. 1, r. Iv.
Grant of the Site. 33
Crayford, Hugh Vaughan, Edward Brysseley, Margaret Dalton, John Barnard, Richard Herman, John Harrope, and Adrian Bryscombe ; three chambers, in the tenure of William Damaral, and Emma Lawe, within the close; and six chambers in the tenure of Richard Atkyns, Alice Paule, Reginald Deane, Elizabeth Watson, and the aforesaid William, situated in a certain alley within the close ; a tenement in the tenure of John Parker within the close, in the parish of S. Andrew Undershaft; and another tenement in the tenure of the said William within the close, all belonging to the said late Priory, and leased to John Rollesley. The property was to be held by the service of a twentieth part of one knighfs fee, and a yearly rent of thirty-four shillings and eightpence. The grant is dated at Westminster on the day above mentioned.*
" Then came the grant of the site of the House itself.
" On the 29th of March, 33rd Hen. VIII. 1542, the King granted to Sir Richard Williams, knt., alias Crumwell, in ex- change for the manors of Brampton and Hemyngford Grey, in the county of Huntingdon, and for the sum of 7317. Os. l\d. sterling, various lands in the counties of Glamorgan, Herts, Huntingdon, Bedford, Norfolk, &c. Also the whole of the site, sept, circuit, and precinct of the late Priory of S. Helen's the church vulgarly called 'the Nonnes Churche of Seynt Helyns/ and all and singular messuages, houses, buildings, &c. &c., belonging to the said site. Also certain messuages in the tenure or occupation of William Baker, Jane Julyan, Edmund Brewer, Guy Sturdye, and Lancelot Harrison, or their assigns. Added to this horrible amount of sacrilege, other lands in the counties of Devon, Herts, Huntingdon, and others, lately belonging to the dissolved monasteries of Ramsey, Nethe, S. Alban's, Hun- tingdon, Forde, Yermouth, &c. The property was to be held in chief, by the service of a tenth part of one knight's fee and the payment of various yearly rents for the different portions, that for the S. Helen's property amounting to thirty-nine shillings and nine pence farthing sterling, for all services and demands. The grant bears date, witness the King, at Westminster, on the day above mentioned.t
* Pat. 31 Hen. VIII. p. 7, m. 1 (32). Orig. 31st Hen. VIII. p. 2, r. ccv. f Pat. 33 Hen. VIII. p. 6, mm. 37 (16)— 34 (19). Orig. 33rd Hen. VIII. p. 3, r. xxi.
D
34 Lease of Crosby Place.
"On the 9th September, 34th Henry VIII. 1542, the King granted to Antony Bonvixi, merchant, in return for the sum of 20 11. 18$. 4>d. together with certain property in Essex, the rever- sion of Crosbyes Place, and all solars, cellars, gardens, lanes, messuages, tenements, void pieces of ground, and all other ap- purtenances thereunto belonging. It had been already leased to him, as we have seen, by indenture dated 28th March, 29th Hen. VIII. 1538. Also various curtilages in the parish of S. Mary at Naxe, leased to the same on the 4th October, 30th Hen. VIII. 1538. Crosbyes Place with appurtenances was valued at the clear yearly sum of III. 16$. Sd. and the pro- perty in the adjoining parish at that of 12,?. The former was to held in chief, by the service of a fortieth part of one knight's fee and the payment of a yearly rent of twenty-three shillings and eight pence of lawful money of England payable at Michaelmas by name of tithe. The latter also in chief, by the service of a hundredth part of one knight's fee, and a similar rent of 15^. payable at Michaelmas. The grant was dated, witness the King, at Westminster, the 9th December, 1542.*
" On the 16th July, 35th Hen. VIII. 1543, the King granted to Roland Goodman, citizen of London, for 146^. Os. 6^., the property formerly leased to him, a tenement called ' le Shedd/ lately in the tenure of John Newton, with a garden and three closes of land, in the parish of S. Botolph without Bishopsgate, and belonging to the Priory. Property belonging to other houses accompanied the aforesaid. That of S. Helen's was to be held in chief by the service of a hundredth part of one knight's fee and a yearly rent of five shillings and four pence. The grant was dated, witness the King, at Terling, on the day before named. f The original instrument is still preserved among the Harleian Charters, a large sheet of parchment, with a pen and ink minia- ture of the royal dealer in the upper left-hand corner, and
* Pat. 34 Hen. VIII. p. 1, mm. 14 (13)— 12 (15). Orig. 34th Hen. VHI. p. 1, r. xvi.
t Pat. 35 Hen. VIII. p. 9, mm. 14 (26), 13 (27). Orig. 35th Hen.VIII. p. 4, r. iiij xv.
Surrender of Priory. 35
a tolerable impression of the Great Seal appendant at the foot.*
"On the 24th September, 36th Henry VIII. 1544, the King granted to Roger Higham and William Grene, among other pos- sessions of various London houses, divers tenements in the parish of S. Helen's lately in the tenure of William Shirborne, Robert Owtred, William Plumpton, Richard Kyrton, William Hunte 'wever/ John Dymmocke, and Richard Staverton, with other tenements in the parish of S. Ethelburga and elsewhere, belong- ing to the late Priory. The annual value of these amounted to the sum of 19/. 125. %d. and they were to be held in free burgage for all services and demands. The grant was dated, witness Katherine, Queen of England, and General Ruler of the same, at Westminster on the day named above, f
t( The more distant portions of the possessions were granted to Henry Lord Audley, William Gurle, Sir Martin Bowes, Christopher Campion, John Rollesley, Richard Tate, John Pope, Robert Cur- son, John Gates, William Bodye, John Small, Thomas Goodwyn, Dominic Lomelyn, Robert Harrys, Richard Taverner and others."
At the dissolution of religious houses the priory was surren- dered (30 Hen. VIII.), and, according to the foregoing declaration, was valued according to Speed at 376^. 65. ; Dugdale gives the valuation at 314£. 2s. Qd.
After the suppression, King Henry VIII. 4 in the 33rd year of his reign, gave the site of the priory and its church (called the Nuns' Church) § to Richard Williams, alias Cromwell, and the whole church, the partition betwixt the Nuns' Church and the Parish Church being taken down, now remaineth to the parish. [| It is a Gothic structure of the lighter kind, consisting of a plain body with large windows. The steeple was not built until the year 1669, and is wrought with rustic at the corners, with a turret and dome. It appears, according to Stow, that Sir Thomas Gresham
* Harl. Cart. 51 H. 21.
f Part, for Grants, William Grene. Pat. 36 Hen. VIII. p. 14, mm. 37 (3)— 34 (6). Orig. 36 Hen. VIII. p. 5, r. i.
£ Newcourt's Repert. Eccles. Lond. 1708, vol. ii. p. 334. § Coll. Magist. Grimes. || Stow's Survey, Ed. 1754, vol. i. p. 430.
D 2
36 Leathersellers Company.
had promised to build a steeple, in recompense for the ground occupied by the erection of his monument in the Church ; but by an oversight, it is presumed, in his will, no provision was made for that purpose.
The Nun's Hall, and other houses thereto appertaining, were, after the dissolution, purchased by the Leathersellers' Company — a society incorporated by letters patent (22 Hen. VI, anno 1442) by the name of the Wardens and Society of the Mystery or Art of Leathersellers of the City of London — who converted the Nuns' Hall into a common hall, for the purpose of holding their meetings, and it continued in such use until it was demolished, with the other remnants of the old Priory, in 1799, to make way for the present St. Helen's Place.
The general view given of the ruins of this ancient Priory, as represented in the prospect delineated S.E., reminds us rather of some romantic fragment of antiquity to be found in distant counties, than of one situated in the very centre of the populous city of London. The drawing was made on the spot in 1799.
The Nuns' dining-hall or refectory, a view of which is repre- sented over that of the two crypts at the south end, was formed of the best joiner's and plasterer's work in the kingdom; the screen was most elegantly worked, having six columns of the Ionic order, richly adorned ; and the curiously fret -worked ceiling, panelled wainscot, richly-worked window abutments, Gothic recesses, and grand stone-work arched entrance, rendered the whole, when perfect, a scene truly striking, and sublimely grand. Enough is preserved in the view of the great south window to ascertain its immense magnitude ; and, from the number of the other windows that ornamented this apartment, sufficient light must have been admitted to dispel the gloom which pervades most ancient buildings.
The two crypts under the great hall communicating with each other, were probably in occasional use by the Nuns for devotional exercise and meditation. The view of the second crypt, looking from the south, was taken immediately after the demolition of the hall and other buildings above, and in the same plate are represented specimens of the architecture of the building, which is Norman. The parts delineated are the piscina on the west side of the double
Ancient Crypts. 37
range of vaulting, the springer to the arched head of the passage, the arched head of the passage on the west side of the double range of vaulting, elevation of the base, and plan of one of the columns and springers which support the arched roof. In the plan of the nun- nery are shown the entrances to the crypts by the vaulted passages, one of which was fifty-six feet in extent, looking to the north. It will also be observed that the crypt to the north was considerably larger than that at the southern end of the building.*
* Malcolm's Lond. Eediviv., vol. iii. p. 554,
CHAPTER II.
ST. HELEN'S CHURCH.
THERE are but few of the ancient structures in London that convey any idea of their former solemnity. S. Helen's is an ex- ception.* When entering, the tall and graceful Gothic impresses the beholder with veneration for past times, heightened by the altar tombs and recumbent figures in the chancel. Some of the most remote memorials are gone, and others mutilated, but the general effect is remarkably striking.
As to the exterior, the west front has been covered with cement. It presents, therefore, but inconsiderable features of the original architecture. The angles at each end have been strengthened by double buttresses, of which the northern ones are destroyed, and the front is divided, by a single buttress in the centre, into two portions, in each of which is a window of five lights, under a low pointed arch. The mullions have arched heads, but are destitute of cuspings. Beneath each window was formerly a doorway ; the northernmost has been walled up ; the southern still remains, and is the principal entrance to the Church ; it is covered with a pent-house, and the original workmanship is hidden by a frontispiece of carved woodwork. On a panel above the arch is the following inscription : —
" "Worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness."
The original finish of the elevation has been destroyed, and battlements of a bad style substituted. Above the centre rises a mean turret covered with cement, and finished with a cupola. The south side of the Church contains three windows of three lights each; the mullions resemble those of the west front, and have equally suffered from the hands of repairers. A single buttress remains between two of the windows, and below the second from the
* It is one amongst the few churches which escaped destruction at the Great Fire of London, A.D. 1666.
The Parish Church. 39
west is a low doorway with a semicircular arch enclosed in a heavy Doric frontispiece with the date of its erection, 1633.* This front, like the west, is covered with cement, and finished with a modern embattled parapet. The northern side has four windows of the same character and description as the others. The eastern end of the Church has four windows, all of which have been restored and filled with stained glass. f To understand the peculiar arrange- ment of this Church it should be borne in mind that the portion northward of the arches running along the centre was formerly the Nuns' Choir. This was added to the Parish Church for the use of the inmates of the adjoining Convent, probably about the year ]216, and was separated from it by a continuous screen until the dissolution of the Convent at the Reformation, when this screen was taken down, and the whole space thrown into the Parish Church. To the south of the nave is a transept and two chapels, the northern dedicated to the Holy Ghost, and the southernmost to the Virgin.
The Parish Church must have been in existence previously to the year 1010, as appears from a circumstance recorded, that in this year the remains of King Edmund the Martyr were removed from St. Edmundsbury, and deposited herein for three years, until the depredations by the Danes had ceased. The earliest portions now remaining are of the 13th century. Of this date are the lancet windows of the transept, now blocked up, the staircase door in the south-east corner, the second arch north of the chancel, an ambry under the pulpit, the doorway which led into the Convent on the north side of the Nuns' Choir, with the two openings formerly guarded with gratings, and a lancet window at the west end of the same side. At this date the floor of the Church must have been much lower than at present, and it was raised at each alteration of the Church until it became four feet higher than the original level . This was discovered at the restoration of the Church (1865-8), and is still visible at the north side, and at the staircase of the transept. Entering the Church by the western doorway, an oak porch internally covering the entrance is the first
* All these windows were repaired during the restoration of 1865-8, and filled with stained glass.
f Eestoration 1865-8. For subjects and donors, see Appendix.
40 Architectural Details.
object of attention. It is enriched with Corinthian pilasters and a profusion of carving,* with this inscription —
" This is none other than the howse of God. This is the gate of Heaven."
Against the entrance on the north side of the parochial nave is the poor box, supported on a terminal figure, representing a beggar soliciting alms. The southern doorway Jias, internally, a smaller porch, of Elizabethan work, the pilasters of the Ionic order. The shells and Cherubim, which, with the pediment, were removed from the east end of the Church, present very early specimens of Italian architecture in this country. At a small distance north- ward of the western doorway may be seen the staircase, which has received the finish of the mean bell turret. The portion which is within the church is constructed of wood, in imitation of rustic work, and shows in height successively three orders of architecture in pilasters, and each story has an oval window.
The arcade which divides the church lengthwise into two portions, displays two different styles of architecture ; it contains in all six arches, the first four from the west end rest on clustered columns, with four centred Tudor arches of a date between the early-pointed arch, the second from the east of the arcade, and the flat-pointed ones of the windows ; they were probably erected in the fifteenth century, f the two easternmost arches being of different altitudes. To the internal jambs of the higher arch are attached two semi-octangular columns which sup- port a chamfered equilateral arch of considerable elevation, but not equal in height to the others already described. The extreme eastern arch only differs from the westernmost in respect of altitude, springing considerably lower, and resting on one side on a half- round column — the most conspicuous remains of the earliest Church (erected A.D. 1210). The northern aisle is lighted at the east end by a window of five lights, circumscribed by a fairly-proportioned pointed arch, the tracery of which, until the restoration of 1865-8, was almost entirely destroyed. The form of the arch and other remains showed that this window was the workmanship of the
* The -work of Inigo Jones, during the restoration of 1633. f After the death of Sir John Crosby, 1475.
Merchant Taylors Com-pawy. 41
fourteenth century, a period when the pointed style was in the highest state of perfection. The east end of the nave had a window of seven lights ; the arch was of the low pointed form like the gene- rality of those before described, and with the rest of the windows of this Church, had been despoiled of its tracery.* The transept is separated from the body of the Church by a handsome low pointed arch of a very considerable span. On its east side are also two pointed Tudor arches, springing from clustered columns, and opening into the chapels of the Holy Ghost and Virgin Mary. In the south- east angle is a door leading to a winding stair of early work. The remainder of this side of the transept, and the south and western walls are plain, with only one window, f opened a few years since, but without any ornament. In the south wall this window was ornamented originally with tasteful mullions and tracery, which, at some former period, had been walled up, and in 1807 it was completely destroyed. It was, however, very imperfectly utilized a few years since. The small chapels eastward of the transept are separated from it by the arches, just noticed, and from the Church by a similar arch. They are lighted by two windows of three lights each in the eastern wall. In the eastern wall are several small niches and piscinas, all of which, as well as the roof, were restored in 1874, by the munificence of 'the Merchant Taylors' Company. From the style of architecture of these chapels and the adjoining transept, it may be satisfactorily concluded that these portions were erected in the fourteenth century. As now restored, they exhibit beautiful specimens of pointed Gothic, temp. Henry VII., and are probably a restoration of the original work, dating back to temp. Edward III.
The Vestry, which was most probably of the time of James I., had been built within the Lady chapel, which was cruelly mutilated for that purpose. This has been entirely removed, and the beauty of
* Each of these windows was discovered to be in such a ruinous condi- tion at the restoration of 1865-8, that they had to be replaced with new work, and were fitted with stained glass, the former by the Gresham Com- mit^tee in memory of Sir Thomas Gresham, and the latter by Messrs Kirman and Stewart Hodgson, in memory of their parents, whose remains are'interred within the Church.
f There were originally three lancet windows on the south side and two on the west ; one is still to be traced, although not available for use.
42 The Nuns' Grafe.
the two chapels brought out in its original perfection. Within the Lady chapel, upon a bracket, there is a small sitting statue of a female in the act of reading from a book which rests on her knee, and is supported by her right hand. It is evidently a Roman Sibyl, although it has been said to represent the Patron Saint of the Church. It is reported that large sums of money on several occasions have been offered for it. It has been thoroughly cleansed of numerous coats of black paint, and proves to be of alabaster, of rare Italian workmanship, previously to the time of Michael Angelo, and very little injured. How it came into the possession of the parish cannot be ascertained, no record having been ever discovered. The ceiling of the Church is composed of flat arched beams, resting on corbels, to which are attached shields, most of which are greatly mutilated. The spaces between the beams, which were originally of brown oak, are plastered ; and, together with the beams, were, until 1865-8, whitewashed, and repaired with plaster of Paris ! They were then carefully restored. The two compartments over the eastern end are painted with clouds, and an angelic choir — probably of the date of the porches, A.D. 1663. The roof of the northern aisle, or Nuns' quire, was thoroughly renewed, agreeably with the general characteristics of the building in 1865. At this restoration two windows — one of two lights> and the other deeply indented in the wall — were discovered. They have been restored, and filled with stained glass. The smaller is, doubtless, one of the most ancient features of the building existing before the demolition of the convent — in the remaining walls of which three most unsuitable windows were pierced, possibly under the direction of Inigo Jones, during the restoration of 1633. In the northern wall were likewise discovered the entrance doorway to the cloister and dormitory of the convent, with portions of the stone steps remaining uninjured. At this point the three levels of the floor may be now distinctly traced.
On the same side of the Church the Nuns' Grate is still existing. Its general appearance is that of an altar tomb, but more lofty. The base of the square pedestal is adorned with upright open niches, and the canopy, which is a low pointed arch, has its soffit richly panelled. The whole is surmounted by an embattlement, the frieze richly sculptured. At the angles of the cornice are two shields, having arms, but no longer discernible, and the upper
Sir John Lawrence. 43
member of the cornice has a row of conventional strawberry leaves set upright upon it.
Although the Church is not remarkable for either magnitude or architectural beauty, it will be gathered from the preceding description that it contains specimens of almost every variation of the pointed style, from the commencement of the thirteenth century to the last declension of its use, when it yielded to the newly-imported architecture of Italy, one of the earliest specimens of which is also to be seen in the woodwork of this building. The Church was until 1865-8 divided by a screen, erected in 1744, which crossed it at the second pillar from the west end, making a small ante-chapel. That screen was partially surmounted by a gallery, on which the organ was placed. This unsightly obstruc- tion was then demolished, and the organ removed into the south transept. The remainder of the Church eastward of this screen was pewed and appropriated to the use of the parishioners, but these were at the same time cleared away, open oak benches being substituted in their room. A quaint piece of carved work, which had been set up to sustain the Lord Mayor's sword and mace, was removed to the pillar dividing the choir from the chapel of the Holy Ghost at the same time. It consists of two twisted Corinthian columns, supporting an entablature highly enriched, and an attic panel. The shafts of the columns are set off with a wreath of foliage running round them. On the frieze are the following arms. Ar. a cross, Raguly. Gu. and a dexter canton. Ermine — the arms of Sir John Lawrence, Lord Mayor, 1665. In the attic is the City Arms, and the whole structure is crowned with the arms of Charles II., supported by two gilt angels, and surmounted with the royal crown. On the south side of the Church is the pulpit, an elaborate piece of carving of the seventeenth century, with a large sounding-board,* supposed to
* Some of the windows and other details were found to be so dilapidated that it is difficult to assign a date to them. This applies particularly to the east window of the Nuns' choir, and of the chapels and south window of the transept, which have all been recently restored, as well as to the choir seats which, until the late repairs, were placed against the north wall. They belonged probably to the fourteenth century. At his death in 1475, Sir John Crosby bequeathed to the Parish the sum of five hundred marks for the repair of the Church, and it must have been almost rebuilt soon after that date, for to this
44 Church Windows.
have been designed by Inigo Jones. There is also an elaborate rest for the insignia of the Lord Mayor in wrought iron, with the Royal, the Mercers, and another Company's arms emblazoned.
The woodwork of the Church is of various degrees of antiquity. Within the chancel a series of antique stalls, but without Misereres, are now placed for the choir. These stalls had been appropriated to the poor of the parish, on the northern side of the Nuns' quire; they were in all probability formerly the Nuns' seats. In con- struction they are very simple, and without ornaments, being merely separated by sweeping elbows, and are without canopies. From the same side of the Church, several pews, which show the workmanship of the early part of the seventeenth century, were removed, and arranged so as to form desks for the minister and choir. The altar screen of the Wren period, which was adorned with two Corinthian columns and two Antae, sustaining an entablature and cornice, being totally out of character with the architecture of the Church, and thoroughly rotten, was replaced by a neat stone reredos. The centre of the cornice, consisting of two scrolls disposed pedimentally at the side of the royal arms (probably those of Charles I.) , and which are supported by angels recumbent upon the scrolls, was removed to the south entrance door in 1865.*
In the several windows of the Church, previously to 1868, were many shields of arms in stained glass ; most of these were reglaized elsewhere and utilized. Those in the window above the communion table were introduced into the window of the chapel of the Holy Ghost, and skilfully blended with modern stained glass. They
period belong the arches on, the north side of the nave, and those east of the transept. The east window of the chancel, and the south windows of the Lady chapel, the roofs of the nave and of the Nuns' choir are probably of this period, as well as the doorway of stairs leading to the convent. Of the sixteenth century are the eastern sepulchre and the niches of the chapels, those windows of the Church which are not already noticed, and the arch over the monument of Sir William Pickering, who died 1574. In the year 1631, the Church having again fallen into decay, was repaired at considerable expense, and the works completed in 1663 ; the south porch under the superintendence of Inigo Jones. The tiles discovered in 1865-8 were reproduced by Messrs Minton, and used for paving the chancel, and are not only singular but unique, the subject of a portion of them being a double- headed eagle, with evident reference to Constantino the Great.
* See p. 40.
Coats of Arms. 45
consist of eight coats, viz. : 1. the City Arms; 2. the Grocers' Com- pany; 3. Sir John Crosbie ; 4. the Leathersellers' Company ; 5. the Merchants' Mark; 6. Lady Crosby; 7. Sir John and Lady Crosbie' s impaled together ; 8. Barry nebulle, Az. and Ar. a Chief of the last, supposed to be the arms of Sir Ralph Astry, Lord Mayor in 1493, in which case the Chief should be Gules, and charged with three bezants — the former colour has probably faded in this instance, as it has done in other shields in the present Church. The whole of these coats of arms — excepting those of the Leather- sellers' Company, which are more modern — are enclosed in orna- mental quatrefoils. The first window of the north aisle has four shields, held by angels. The arms are those of the City, the Mercers' Company, Sir Thomas Gresham's, and the family of Chicheley.
46
CHAPTER III.
TITHES AND IMPROPRIETORS OF ST. HELEN'S.
"AMONG the early Christians the payment of tithes was re- garded as a matter of conscience, and no laws were passed for its enforcement until the Council of Macon, Oct. 23, A.D. 585." In Britain, " the custom of devoting a tenth part of all property to the service of the clergy is mentioned in the Canons of Egbert, Archbishop of York in A.D. 750, and in the Ordinance of the Council of Celchyth in A.D. 787.* In A.D. 794, Offa, King of Mercia, endowed the Church with tithes of all his kingdom, and Charlemagne made several laws regulating their payment about A.D. 800." The whole tithe system appears to have been " sanc- tioned and amended by the General Lateran Council in A.D. 1215." The order of Roger Niger, Bishop of London, in 1228, was "that the citizens should pay of every pound's rent by the year, of all houses, shops, &c., the sum of 3$. &d.} as time out of mind had been paid."f
' ' In the thirty-seventh year of Henry VIII., the sum of two shillings and ninepence in the pound was agreed to be paid by the citizens of London to the clergy. This was a great diminution from what had been before; but so many were the evasions made, that the clergy, in the reign of James, had been obliged to have recourse to the Exchequer, by which court it was decided that this tithe of the houses justly belonged to the benefice. But, with the rise of Puritanism, the opposition became great and almost insurmountable. The clergy, reduced to poverty, declared that they had no means to discover the true value of their rents. The case, at first submitted to the King (Charles I.), was by him referred to the Archbishop (Laud), and the other members of
* See Townsend's Manual of Dates, p. 974. Ed. Lond. 1874. f Book's Lives of the Archbishops of Canterbury, vol. vi., New Series, pp. 257-8.
Pope Nicholas IF. 47
the council, and when Bishop Juxon became Lord Treasurer, the condition of the clergy was certainly improved. No doubt the Archbishop would have carried the improvement further had not the troubles of the times increased upon him. His attempt thus to benefit the clergy was one of the crimes laid to his charge at his trial."* Dr. Hook says, " the 25th year of Henry VIII.," but this is an error, as the Act itself, as set out in the Appendix, testifies.
In the year 1288 Pope Nicholas IV. granted the tenths to King Edward I. for six years, towards defraying the ex- pense of an expedition to the Holy Land, and that they might be collected at their full value, a taxation by the King's precept was begun in that year, and finished as to the province of Canter- bury in 1291, and as to that of York in the following year- This taxation is a most important record, because all the taxes, as well to our Kings as the Popes, were regulated by it, until the survey made 26th Henry VIII., and because the statutes of col- leges, which were founded before the Reformation, are also inter- preted by this criterion, according to which their benefices, under a certain value, are exempted from the restriction in the Statute 21st Henry VIII. concerning pluralities.f
After the dissolution of the monasteries, King Henry VIII. granted (March, 1537-8) the Priory of St. Helen's, as already noticed,! with many other castles, lordships, and manors, the annual value of which was estimated at 30,000/., to Richard Williams, alias Cromwell, in consideration of his good service and the payment of 4963£. 4*. M.
Edward VI., in the fourth year of his reign (1551), by his letters patent, bearing date the 1st of April, gave (inter alia} the jurisdiction of this place to the Bishop of London (Nicholas Ridley)
* Hook's Lives of the Archbishops of Canterbury (Second Series), vol vi. pp. 257-8.
f Liber Eegis, p. 572. St. Helen not in charge in the King's books, or to the payment of first fruits and tenths. As to what amount of tithes, or if any at all, paid by the parishioners of St. Helen's previously to the Eefor- mation, there is no record. The impression seems to be that the Chantry Priests (see above, p. 28) discharged both the conventual and parochial duties.
J See p. 33.
48 Advoivson of Vicarage.
and his successors, which was afterwards confirmed by Queen Mary by her letters patent, dated March 2, in the first year of her reign (1554), Edmund Bonner being then restored to the Bishopric.
Sir John Harrington, High Sheriff of Rutland,* 12th, 25th, and 32nd Henry VIII., and again in 6th Edward VI., " dying within St. Helens, London, in 1552, was, on Monday the 4th Sep- tember, carried into his country, in a horse litter, to be interred, with his standard and pennon; mass and dirge having every day been sung for him ; that is, from the 18th day of August, on which he died, to the day of his remove."f This appears to have been the first celebration of the funeral mass after the accession of Queen Mary (Edward VI. died July 6), and on the 21st August the minister of St. Ethelburga, with others, was set in the pillory and his ears nailed to it, for heinous and seditious words spoken against the Queen, and having spoken more words to the same effect, was set in the pillory again, August 23, which was the first day mass began to be said in a church.
In the year 1568, Queen Elizabeth granted a lease to Caesar Aldermarie (Adelmare), Esq., and Thomas Colcel or Colshill, parishioners and inhabitants of St. Helens, for, and in the name of all the parishioners and inhabitants there, upon their desire to them granted of the rectory of the said parish, for that intent and purpose, that the rents, issues, and profits of the same, shall, from time to time, rise, grow, and increase, to the use, profit, and com- modity of the parishioners there. Therefore, in consideration of III. 12s. 3d. paid by the said Caesar Aldermarie and Thomas Colcel, at the receipt of the Exchequer, she (the said Queen) granted and deviseth to them all that rectory and parsonage and Church of St. Helen's, except and reserved to her Majesty and her heirs, the advowson of the vicarage there. To have and to hold the said rectory, parish, and church, messuages, houses, tithes, and oblations, and other profits, to the said Caesar and Thomas, their executors and assigns, from the feast of St. Michael the archangel, unto the term of twenty-one years, yielding and paying therefore yearly to her,her heirs and successors, the sum of 81.1 6s. \d. The said Caesar and Thomas to pay as well the priest's wages there doing
* Betham's Baronetage, vol. i. p. 107. t Strype's Memorials, vol. iii. pt. 1. p. 34. Ed, Oxford, 1822.
Grant by the Queen. 49
service, and all other sums of money for bread and wine, and other necessaries in the Church to be expended and paid.
There was also a clause that the said " farmers" shall repair the chancel and housing to the said rectory belonging ; and likewise a clause that after such reasonable sums of money, received, paid, and deducted, as they laid out, as well for the expense of this lease, or otherwise, about the sum, and obtaining the same, or of these letters patent, and from thenceforth all such issues and profits, coming and issuing of the same parsonage, all charges of the said parsonage being deducted, they shall convert and dispose to the use and commodity of the parishioners ; dated May 27, in the 10th year of her reign.
About the year 1588 the Queen proposed to grant a lease to one Captain Oseley, for his good service against the Spaniards. This Oseley being in Spain in those eventful and dangerous times, had sent very good intelligence thence, and likewise in the fight against the Spanish Fleet in 1588, whereupon Howard, Lord- Admiral, sent a letter in his behalf to the Lord Treasurer, that, for the causes mentioned, it was the Queen's pleasure that he should so stay the same parsonage, that no lease of it in the meanwhile should be granted out of the Exchequer, which should prevent the reward of one, who had so well deserved in adventuring his life so many ways in her Majesty's service.
By deed dated April 11, 1589, in the 31st year of her reign, Queen Elizabeth lett to farme to the Churchwardens of St. Helens, to the public use of all the parishioners, the Rectory and Church, with their rights, &c., belonging to the late priory of St. Helens, reserving to her Majesty and her heirs the advowson of the vicarage for the term of 21 years, paying yearly the sum of SI. IQs. 4<#. at the receipt of Exchequer. The parish to provide and pay as well the stipend of the minister, and also all charges for bread, wine, and other necessaries in the said church. The said Churchwardens, after all reasonable expenses, shall give yearly 20£.* to a sufficient preacher, to be allowed by the Bishop of
* This amount still remains as the sole endowment from the tithes of St. Helen's, for the remuneration of the minister. The value of the tithes was for a considerable period GOl. per annum. It is, therefore, clear that the intention was that the stipend of the minister should be a third of the whole sum. Unfortunately those, who thus fixed that sum, had no idea that
50 Michael and Edward Stanhope.
London. The remainder of the profitts, &c., for the use and com- modity of the parishioners; and further, the said Churchwardens, for themselves and their assigns, do covenant that no greater rate of value of the houses or tenements within the parish than hereto- fore has been used or accustomed, shall be assessed or taxed without the consent of our Treasurer of England, or the Chancellor of our Court of Exchequer for the tyme being thereunto first, obtained. The Chauncell of the Church, and all houses, &c., belonging to the Rectory to have all necessary repairs, and in the default of the rent to her Majesty, or nonfulfilment of the above conditions, the lease to be avoid.*
In the year 1599 the Queen sold the "Rectory to Michael Stanhope, Esq., one of the Grooms of the Privy Chamber, and Edward Stanhope, LL.D.,f and one of the Masters in Chancery, to be held by them, their heirs and assigns, in consideration of their having paid to her Majesty the sum of 61 0£. 18$. Id., granting to them the whole Rectory and Church of St. Helens, with their rights, members, and appurtenances, late belonging to the priory of St. Helen; and all the messuages, houses, edifices, gardens, tithes, oblations, rents, fruits, profits, commodities, advantages, &c., belonging to the said rectory and Church ; and the annual rent of 81. 16$. Id.t formerly belonging to the said priory, and parcel of the
any change in the value of money would ever take place in the future, and, in consequence, whilst the whole of the tithes have increased in an immense ratio, those who have been possessed of them have appropriated all the increase to their own benefit and advantage, and continued, what they could not escape, the payment of 20Z. per annum, and added not a single farthing more. This system, however, is not confined to St. Helen's. It has obtained in almost every impropriation through the length and breadth of the kingdom, and in every capitular body where the Deans and Chapters, having paid themselves and all the inferior members the sums fixed by their statutes, then divided the handsome surplus over and above among themselves, with scarcely any reference whatever to Minor Canons, Lay Vicars, or Clerks, Choristers, &c. In taking the Decanal and Capitular Funds into their hands recently, the Ecclesiastical Commissioners, whilst providing in every respect for the Members of the Chapter, have almost wholly ignored the condition of the poorer members of the body.
* See Appendix.
f Edward Seymour, Duke of Somerset, Lord Protector, married Ann, daughter of Sir Edward Stanhope, Kt,, a lady of high mind and undaunted spirit.
John Langham. 51
possessions ; which priory, rectory, and church is extended to the clear yearly value of SI. 16s. \d. To hold by fealty, in free and common soccage, and not in capite, nor by military service. And, moreover, the Queen gave all the rents, profits, and revenues, &c., of all the premises, from the Feast of the Annunciation of our Blessed Lady last past. Twenty pounds to be issuing from the said Eectory for a sufficient preacher of God's Word within the said Church, to preach from time to time, to be allowed by the Bishop of London for the time being, to be paid him quarterly, by equal portions, and from the said payments to free and indemnify her and her successors." Dated at Westminster, September 13, 1599, in the 41st year of her reign.
Since the above period it appears to have been granted back, and also the advowson of the Church to the Dean and Chapter of St. Paul's, who became both patrons and ordinaries of the place, and collated to the Church as a vicarage.
In 1636 there was a return made of this Church, viz. : an Impropriation belonging to the Earl of Northampton, worth sixty pounds per annum.*
In 1662, Sir John Langham, Bart., became farmer of the Rectory of St. Helen, and filed a bill in Chancery, Michs . 14 Charles II., against Sir John Lawrencef and others, parishioners, setting forth that he was entitled to some certain rate or customary payment of tithes in the City of London of 2*. 9cl. for every 20$. rent, confirmed by Act of Parliament, 37 Hen. VIII. But that the defendants had combined and refused to pay any tithes, or any other customary payment, although they had often been requested in a friendly manner, and the plaintiff being but lately entitled to the said rectory, is not only a stranger to the duties which ought to be so paid, but also to the true rents of the respective houses, &c. The said plaintiff being without remedy, save only in a Court of Equity, was willing to have accepted the customary payments, but the defendants refused to inform him. The defendants, in their answer, stated the cus-
* Newcourt's Kepert. Lond., vol. i. p. 364. (Sion Coll. MS.) f Lord Mayor of London, A.D. 1665-6, who resided in a mansion within Great St. Helen's, built nnder the supervision of Inigo Jones, the front of which yet remains much the same as during his mayoralty.
E 2
52 Appeal to the Home of Lords.
tomary payments time out of mind. And it was decreed, with the consent of the plaintiff and all the defendants, that they shall pay the several sums of money, according to the several rates and customary payments by them set forth in their several respective answers, and shall continue the payment for so long as the said plaintiff shall continue Impropriator of the said Rectory, and the said defendants shall continue inhabitants of their respective houses.
A.D. 1734. Freeman, Esq., was rated at 64£. \Zs. 7cl. in
the King's books, as Impropriator, and was succeeded, A.D. 1739 by one William Parker. How long this Impropriator stood possessed of the tithes there are no records to show, or at what date he was succeeded by Edward Bradley. It is not stated what the purchase-money paid on the different changes was, but it has always been understood in the parish that Bradley, who was a parishioner, offered to sell the tithes to the parish for 700J.
A.D. 1805, the tithes were purchased by the Rev. Edward Cook, whose real purchase-money was not more than 700/. The actual sum paid by this purchaser was 13 OO/. Three per Cent. Consols, then very low in price ; and no sooner had he become the possessor of them than he set to work to exact tithes from the occupiers of Crosby Square and others who had been exempt, and increasing others. What he then said to dissentients was that he knew the law of tithes as well as any Chief Baron of the Exchequer, and thus frightened them and raised the income coasiderably, although far below the rating of 2s. 9d. in the pound. In the year 1822, "The Tythes of the Parish were sold by Mr. Cooke to Mr. Alexander McDougall for 6000 guineas." This sale was by public auction, and there is a list of the then tithes extant as acknow- ledged and paid, and that list with some of the particulars of sale in the parish, were produced and used in a suit between Mr. Alexander McDougall and the parishioners before the Master of the Rolls, and afterwards on appeal to the House of Lords, in which the claims of the former were established.
After the decease of Mr. Alexander McDougall, Nov. 1835, the tithes were devised to the members of his family, their management being in the hands of his eldest son, Alexander John McDougall.
The MacDougal Family. 53
On his decease, in April, 1867, a division of their father's property was determined upon, and in order to effect this it was determined to dispose of the Impropriator's tithes by private contract. This was effected by a sale of those attached to that portion of the parish, which was originally the property of Sir Thomas Gresham, and after his decease became the site of Gresham College, agree- ably to the tenour of his will ; afterwards passing to the Crown, and being used as the Excise Office, in the courtyard of which the business of the Royal Exchange was transacted, until the re-build- ing of that establishment after the fire of 1839. The accommoda- tion for the transactions of the Excise not being sufficiently com- modious, the site was bought by a Company, and upon it was built what is now known as " Gresham House," a huge and ugly pile of buildings wholly occupied by merchants, &c. as offices. After a considerable amount of litigation between Mr. Alexander John McDougall as to the amount payable for tithes, the matter was terminated, on his decease, by their entire and perpetual redemp- tion for 5000£. Soon afterwards, the Leathersellers' Company in like manner redeemed the tithes upon their valuable property in St. Helen's Place for 7000£. The remainder, being very conside- rably diminished in amount by these sales, was purchased by Mr. Edwin Newman, solicitor, for 2250/., in 1875. This sale, in combination with those already mentioned since the death of Mr. Alexander John McDougall, as well as by several others previously made by his father, must have realized very nearly 20,000^. ; yet no further endowment for the minister than the 20/. per annum fixed by Queen Elizabeth, A.D. 1589,* was ever made. A proposition to raise this amount to 200/. per annum, contingent upon the success of Mr. Alexander John McDougall's litigation with the Gresham House proprietors, was indeed made, but it was frustrated by his death. The McDougall family afterwards pro- posed to purchase an annuity of 200£. for the then incumbent, f but it came to nothing after a considerable amount of negotiation, and the minister's stipend would still have remained 20/. per annum had not the amalgamation of the two parishes of St. Helen and St. Martin Outwich taken place, A.D. 1873, by Order of
* See p. 49. f The Rev. Dr. Cox.
54 Ministers of St. Helens.
Council, to which reference will be fully made in a future chapter.
The following is a list of the ministers or vicars, as also of the curates, lecturers, and readers, &c. ; and also of Sir M. Lumley's lecturers : —
VICARS. CURATES. LECTURERS.
1571. Thomas Sir,* died 1576.
1575. Olivar, John. 1576. Thos. Barbor.
1586. Lewis. 1580. Gardener.
1600. Hughes, Lewis. 1586. Lewis.
1603. Ball, Richard.
1613. Downing, Thomas.
1618. Evans, Thomas.
1619. Lawrence, William. 1621. Brown, Joseph.
1635. Maden, Richard, 1636. Townsend. 1636. Walker.
Author of Sermons of
Christ's love towards
Jerusalem. Lond. 1637.
1639. Milward, Matthias. 1639. Broadstreet.
1642. Edwards, Thomas. 1645. Willes, Samuel.
1647. Barham, Arthur. 1647. A. Barham.
1663. Sybbald, John, A.M., 1655. Cooper.
Oct. 5.f 1666. Horton, Tho3, S.T.P., J
June 13. 1674. Felling, Edw., A.M.,§
Maii 11.
* Such of the clergy as were under the degree of doctor were commonly called Sir. (Heylin's History of the Reformation, vol. i. p. 197, ed. Lond.) (Robertson, Eccl. Hist. Soc.), 1849.
f See Newcourt's Repert. Lond., vol. i. p. 365, edit. Lond. 1708.
J Tho. Horton, Doctor of Divinity of Cambridge, and Master of Queen's . College there, was incorporated in the same Degree in Convocation at Oxford, Aug. 9, 1652. He was born in London, bred in Emanuel College, of which he became Fellow, and a noted Tutor to young Presbyterian scholars. In 1637 he was constituted one of the publick Preachers of the University of Cambridge, and in 1638, or thereabouts, he became minister of S. Mary Cole-Church, London (a Donative in the Mercers' Company), afterwards he was Preacher to the Society of Gray's Inn, Reader of Divinity in G-resham College, a Holder-forth sometimes before the Long Parliament, one of the Triers or Commissioners appointed for the Approbation of publick Preachers and Vicar of this parish of S. Helen's, as my author saith [Ath. Ox., vol. ii. p, 779]. However, after the RestaUration, upon the Resignation of Sybbald, it appears that in 1666, June 13, he was collated to this Vicarage by the Dean and Chapter of St. Paul's, which he held till his Death. (June 13, 1674.)
§ Edw. Pelling on appointment to S. Martin, Ludgate.
Ministers of St. Helen's.
55
VICARS.
1678. Hesketh, Henry, A.M.,
Nov. 11, res. Chosen
by Parish, by consent
of Dean £ Chapter.
Bishop of Killala,
1689-90.* 1694. Willis, Thomas, A.M.,
Jan. 23. Died. Chosen
as above. 1701. Estwicke, Sampson, June
4. Chosen as above.
Impropriator's right
allowed.
1712. Butler, William, LL. D . f 1715. James Ptolemy, M.A.t 1729. Gaithorne, John. Called
Sequestrator. 1 73 J. Hay wood, Valentine,
A.M.§ 1745. Coulton, George.
1773. Naish, John, Febr 13. Presented by Impro- priator and collated byDean and Chapter.
1795. Watts, Robert, M.A., Nov. 2. Resd Col- lated by Dean and Chapter against Im- propriator's recom- mendation.
1799. Blenkarne, James, M. A. || Oct. 13. Died.
CURATES.
1678. Plymley.
1689. John Dalgarno.
LECTURERS.
1685. Dr Fuller.
1726. Ricd Bond. 1731. Allen.
1758. G. Toovey,
D.D.
Win, Edmonds. Assistant.
1795. J.J. Ellis.
1 700. Thos Haws,
1741. Simpson.
1745. Smith. 1760.Mapletoft.
1763. Carey.
1774. Middleton.
1805. Bleiikarne.
* Henry Hesketh, although nominated Bishop of Killala, does not appear to have been consecrated, William Lloyd, a Welshman, but of Trinity College, Dublin, Precentor of Killala, and Dean of Anchrory, having suc- ceeded Dr. Richard Tennison, translated to Clogher. See Cotton's Fasti Eccl. Hibern., vol. iv. p. 73. Ed. Dublin, 1848-51.
t Rector of St. Anne's, Aldersgate, and Prebendary of St. Paul's, pub- lished a sermon, " Thanks for Yictory," 1704, 4to, Esth. iv. 14 ; Fast sermon, 1712, 4to, Prov. xxi. 30 ; Assize, 1715, 4to, Titus iii. 1 ; " Vice the destruction of the Soul," 1719, 4to, Matthew, viii 22 ; " Reformation of Manners," 1722, 8vo, Eph. v. 11 ; Visitation, 1723, 4to, Ex. xx. 7 ; election of Lord Mayor, 1724, 4to, Nek v. 19 ; election of Lord Mayor, 1729, 4to, Ex. xviil 21.
% Of Christ Church, Oxford, A.M., 1694, Prebendary of St. Paul's, preached a sermon on the funeral of Mr. Durley, 1717, 4to, Psalm xxvii. 15 ; LL.B. of St. John's College, Cambridge, 1715.
§ A.M. of St. John's College, Oxford, 1781.
j| See Malcolm's History of London, vol. iii. p. 552., ed. London, 1803.
56 Ministers of St. Helen's.
VICABS. LECTURERS.
1835. Charles Mackenzie, 1835. C. Mac-
M. A, , resigned* 1 847. kenzie.
1847. J. M. L. Le Mesurier, 1847. Albert Als-
M.A., Archdeacon of ton, M.A., after-
Gibraltar, resigned. wards D.D., died
Dec. 1871.
1849. John Edmund Cox,M. A., 1872. J. E. Cox,
afterwards D.D. Jan. Jan? 6th.
19, 1849. Resigned May 22, 1873, on amal- gamation of St Martin Outwich with St. Helen's.
1873. John Bathurst Dean, Vicar in charge, by Order of Council, John
M.A., Rector of St. Edmund Cox, D.D., May 5th, 1873.
Martin's Outwich, was instituted Vicar, on re- signation of Dr. Cox.
* On appointment to St. Benet, Gracechurch.
57
CHAPTER IV.
MONUMENTS.
" MONUMENTS were denominated a muniendo, because they were at the first erected to defend the bodies of the dead from the savage brutishness of wild beasts, which otherwise might have destroyed the bodies in their graves; for in those days all were buried in the fields near some way, or at the feet or top of mountains, as now in Turkey, and the eastern parts of the world ; about which time it was the usage in England to inter their dead upon the ridges of hills, or spacious plains, fortified or fenced about with pointed stones, pyramids, pillars, or such like monuments, as Stonehenge on Salisbury Plain, &c., to put passengers in mind of their mortality ; and though the British cities had churches from the beginning of Christianity, yet the Christians always buried their dead without the walls of towns and cities until the time of Gregory the Great, who was Bishop of Rome, anno 590, when the monks, friars, and priests began to offer sacrifices for the souls departed. At length they obtained churchyards for places to bury their dead for the advantage of their profit ; and in process of time, license to bury in churches, that so often as their relations came to those holy places and beheld their sepulture, they might remember, and earnestly pray to the Lord for them; for which reason Con- stantine was buried in the porch of the Apostles in Constantinople, Honorus in the porch of St. Peter at Rome, and the Empress in the church : and in England Augustine the Monk, Bishop of Canterbury, was buried in the porch of the Church of St. Peter and St. Paul, near Canterbury a religious house of his own foundation, without the city, and the six next succeeding Bishops of the same Province were interred near him.
" Cuthbert, the eleventh Archbishop of Canterbury, consecrated anno 741, obtained a dispensation about the year 758, from the Pope, to make cemeteries and churchyards in England for the burial of
58 Uses of Monuments.
their dead ; for before his time the bodies of the Kings and Arch- bishops in England were not buried in cities, for in those days they followed the example of our Saviour who was buried without the gate, and this Archbishop was the first that was interred in Christ's Church. Shortly after, gravestones were made and tombs erected with inscriptions engraved upon them declaring briefly, with a kind of commiseration, the name, age, merit, dignity, state, praise, time, fortune, and manner of the death of the party interred which was called an epitaph, and have always been accounted the greatest mark of respect, because they express a great love to the deceased person, and preserves his memory to posterity, which was a comfort to his friends and relations, and put them in mind of his mortality.
' ( The invention of these epitaphs proceeded from the presage or sense of immortality implanted naturally in all men, and is attributed to the scholars of Linus the Theban poet (who flourished about the year of the world 2700. For they first bewailing this Linus their master in doleful verses when he was slain, those verses were called from him ^Elinum, afterwards Epitaphia, because they were first sung at burials, and afterwards engraved upon the sepulchres ; which may be called monuments a memoria, for that they are memorials to put men in mind of their frail condition and their deceased friends ; or a monendo to warn men of their mortality, and to excite their inward thoughts by the sight of death to a better life ; and these monuments were accounted so sacred, that such as violated them were heretofore punished with death, banish- ment, condemnation to the mines, or loss of members, according to the circumstance of fact and person.
" These monuments serve for four uses or ends : 1. They are evi- dences to prove descents and pedigrees. 2. To show the time when the party deceased. 3. They are examples to follow the good, and eschew the evil. 4. Memorials to put the living in mind of their mortality."*
It would occupy far too much space to enumerate the numerous monuments which exist within the walls of St. Helen's — such, for example, as tablets, footstones, &c. The following descriptions, therefore, are confined to those most especially worthy of notice
* Sir H. Chauncey's Historical Antiquities of HBrts, p. 554. Ed. Lond., 1700,
JHON ROBINSON, A.D. 1600.
Robinson and Kir win Monuments. 59
and consideration. They will be taken into consideration, not according to their respective dates of erection, but according to their position, beginning from the north wall of the Nuns' Quire. The first that claims attention is that of Jhon Robinson, merchant of the staple of London, and merchant-taylor ; an elaborate specimen of its period — husband, wife, and children being placed, according to sex, on each side of an altar-table, with the following inscription : —
Within this Monument lye the earthly parts of THON ROBINSON, Marchant of ye Staple of England, free of ye Copany of Marchant Talors, and sometymes Alderman of Londo, and Christian his Wife, Eldest daughter of Tho Anderson, Grocer. They spent together 36 Yeares in holy Wedlock, and were happy besides other worldly blessings in nyne sonnes and seaven daughters. She changde her mortall habitation for a heavenly on the 24th of April, 1592, Her husband following her on the 19th of February, 1599. Both much beloved in theire lives, and more lamented at theire deaths especially by the Poore to whome theire good deedes (being alive) begott many prayers and now (being dead) many teares. The glasse of his life held three score and ten yeares, and then ran out. To live long and happy is an honor, but to die happy a greater glory. Boeth these aspired to boeth. Heaven (no doubt) hath theire soules, and this howse of stone theire bodyes, where they sleepe in peace till the somons of a glorious resurrection wakens them.
Upon entering the Church by the west door, an altar-tomb, of somewhat small proportions, immediately attracts attention, for its simplicity in structure, no less than for the quaintness of its inscription, which is as follows : —
Here lyeth the bodie of WILLIAM KERWIN of this Cittie of London, Free Mason, whoe departed this lyfe the 26th daye of December, Au° Do. 1594.
^Edibus Attalicis, Londinura qui decoravi ;
Me duce surgebant aliis regalia tecta
Exiguam tribuunt hanc mihi fata Domo.
Me duce conficitur, ossibus vine meis.*
And here alsoe lyeth the bodie of MAGDALEN KIRWIN his Wife by whom he had issue 3 sonnes and 2 daughters shee deceased the XXIIIth August, 1592.
* The fates have afforded this narrow house to me, who have adorned London with noble buildings. By me, royal palaces were built for others. By me, this tomb is erected for my bones.
60 i t)ame Abigail Lawrence.
Magdalena jacet, virtus post fata supstes,
Corpus humo tectum, Christo veniente resurget
Conjugiique fides, Keligioque manent.
Ut mentis consors astra suprema colat. Nos quos certus amor primis conjunxit abbanis Junxit idem Tumulus, junxit idemque Polus.*
BENJAMIN KIR WIN ye sonne of WILLIAM KIRWIN, deceased ye 12th of July An. Dom. — 1621, whoe had issue 7 sonnes and 5 daughters whereof 5 of them are buried in this Vault.
Christus mini vita Mors mihi lucrum.f
On the right-hand side, or the south wall of the Church, is the following monument : —
En Jtftemorp Of Dame ABIGAIL LAWRENCE
Late Wife of Sr JOHN LAWRENCE, Kn4 & Alderman heere interr°d
was this tomb Erected
Shee was the tender Mother of ten Children
the nine first being all daughters
she suckled at her owne breasts
they all lived to be of age,
her last a son died an Infant
Shee lived a married wife thirty nine years
three and twenty whereof
Shee was an exemplary matron of this Cittie
dying in the 59th year of her age
being the 6 June
1682.
Returning to the Nuns' Quire, at a very small intervening space from the Robinson monument,J the spectator is startled by the appearance of a huge, incongruous, and ugly piece of masonry — a tomb in the very worst taste, and so unsightly as to mar the entire ecclesiastical proportions of this part of the building. It is to the memory of Francis Bancroft, and bears the following inscription : —
* Magdalen lies here ! Thou virtue survivest the tomb. Her body now covered with earth shall rise again at the coming of Christ : To her Husband, Faith and Religion still remain that when deprived of life, he may dwell in the loftiest heaven.
The same Tomb has joined and the same Heaven has united us, whom an unvaried love connected from our earliest years.
f To me to live is Christ, to die is gain* J Seep. 59.
Francis Bancroft. 61
The ground whereon this Tomb stands was Purchased of this Parish in MDCCXXIII by
FKANCIS BANCROFT Esq*
for the interrment of himself and friends only (and was Confirm' d to him by a Faculty from the
Dean and Chapter of S* Paul's
London the same year) and in his Lifetime he
erected this tomb, Anno, 1726 and settled part of
his Estate in London and Middlesex for the
Beautifying and Keeping the same
in Eepair for ever.
Francis Bancroft left behind him a very singular will, in which the most curious directions were specified for the interment of his remains.* The reputation this individual bore during his lifetime was not of the best. He was a descendant of Archbishop Bancroft, and in early life is reported to have been in poor cir- cumstances. He obtained the appointment of Lord Mayor's officer, of which there were at the time four, two seniors and two juniors. It appears that the juniors had the enviable (!) privilege of laying informations, and of obtaining half the fines that were levied upon those who had infringed the law. They were, in fact, informers. In the natural order of things, the junior officers became seniors. Thrice, it is said, this promotion fell to Francis Ban- croft's lot, and thrice did he buy back the junior office, in order to carry on the process by which he realized his money. So unpopular was he in the City of London, it is recorded, that when he was buried the populace mobbed his remains, attempted to upset the coffin, and rung the bells, which were then located above the entrance to Great St. Helen's. f With the property left to the disposition and management of the Drapers' Company, the Bancroft Hospital was founded in Mile-End Road, for the benefit of twenty-four almsmen, and the education, clothing, and maintenance of one hundred poor boys. The funds, most carefully and con- sistently husbanded, have very largely increased ; the value of the charity, in every particular, is reckoned only second to Christ's Hospital, Newgate Street. An application has been recently made to the Drapers' Company who, as will be seen by the monumental inscription upon the tomb, have the custody and charge of its maintenance and repair, by the testator's will, for ever — to
* For Francis Bancroft's Will, see Appendix, t See Stow's Survey, p. 278. Ed. Lond. 1754.
62 Smith and Kuhff.
remove this hideous specimen of bad taste and ridiculous vanity to another spot, under the great west window of the Nuns' Quire, unhappily without effect, it being supposed that a consent to comply with the request may invalidate the terms of Francis Ban- croft's will. In compliance with the directions of that document, a sermon is preached in commemoration of his ' ' Act and deed/' for which, and for reading the prayers, the sum of II. Us. Qd.} liberally increased of late years to 5£. 5$., has to be paid to the officiating minister, 7*. Qd. to the parish clerk, and 5$. to the sexton.
Passing from the consideration of Francis Bancroft and his tomb, the eye is caught by a plain tablet —
3En Jttemorp of
JOHN SMITH, Esqre
of this Parish who died June 29th 1783 Aged 80
By Strict Probity
Sincerity and Benevolence
he endeared himself to
ALL
who knew him.
But more especially to the Poor and Needy
by kind Condesension & boundless
CHARITY.
Reader Go and do thou likewise."
Adjoining the above is another equally plain and simple tablet, bearing the following inscription : —
Near this Spot are deposited the remains of
HENRY PETER KUHFF, Esquire*
who departed this life
October the 10th 1796
in the 70th year of his age
of
PETER KUHFF, his Son
who died January the 10th 1786
in his 7th year
of FREDERICK CHARLES KUHFF, Esquire
who died March 11* 1792 Aged 50 Years
* 1796, Oct. 10, at Highgate in his 70th year, Henry Peter Kuhff, Esq. An eminent merchant, and many years a Director of the Royal Assurance Co.— Gentleman's Mag., p. 883.
MAETIN BOND, A,D. 1643,
Captain Martin Bond. 63
We next approach one of the most remarkable amongst the many remarkable monuments for which this Church has obtained the appellation of " The Westminster Abbey of the City"— that of Martin Bond, Captain of the City Train-bands in 1588, when that body of citizen soldiers were reviewed by Queen Elizabeth at Tilbury, in preparation against the threatened invasion of the Spanish Armada. It is placed on the north wall of the Nuns' choir, and represents an encampment. In the foreground is a large open tent, within which he is represented sitting in a thoughtful posture at a table. At the side of the tent a page holds his horse, and in the front are two sentinels with partisans, in large boots and slouched hats. The whole is enclosed in a frontispiece, consisting of two composite columns, sustaining an enta- blature and pediment, the cornice broken to admit the arms ; below the sculpture is the inscription, from which we learn that all this military display is for a captain of the Trained Bands. * The monument is, however, invaluable as displaying to perfection the costume of the times. This was covered with numerous coats of black paint, which have recently been removed by the care of the Haberdashers' Company, to show that the materials of which the monument is composed consists of black marble and alabaster. The inscription is as peculiar as the monument itself is remarkable: —
Sacrum.
Neere this place resteth ye body of ye worthy
Cittizen and Soldier MARTIN BOND Esqr.
Son of Willm Bond, Sherief and Alderman of London He was Captaiue in ye yeare 1588 at ye Camp at Tilbury and after remained
Cheief Captaine of ye trained bandes of this Cittiy until his death.
He was a marchant adventurer and free of ye Company of Haberdashers.
he lived to the age of 85 yeares
and dyed in May 1643.
His pyety, prudence, courage and honesty have left behinde him, a never dyeing monument.
* Trained Band for Aldersgate. Afterwards in the Artillery.
64 William and Esther Finch.
Quam prudens hie Miles erat, quam Nobile Pectus Noverunt Princeps, Patria, Castra, Duces,
Civi quanta fuit Pietas, quam larga Manusq ; Pauperis agnoscunt Viscera, Templa Togas.
Miles hie et Civis qualem Vix millibus Unum Saecla referre queant, nee meminisse Parem.
Patruo bene merito Gulielmus Bond, Armiger Posvit. *
To the right of this monument, but at a lower level, is a monu- ment to the father of Captain Martin Bond, who was designated, as appears by the inscription, the Flos mercatorum of his times.
On the floor of the north aisle is a slab, on which the effigy of the deceased — name unknown — and several shields, &c. are cut on the stone in the manner of a brass. Such memorials are rather uncommon.
Immediately adjacent to the monument of Captain Bond is a somewhat ugly structure, to which reference is made simply on account of the singularity of its inscription, which runs to the
following effect : —
State &rattum
Peripatetice, & paulisper contemplare, Ornatissimi microcosmi heu ! breves reliquias
Nunc in pulverem redacti olim G ULTELMI FINCH, Armigeri antiqua &
in Agro Cantij Familia oriundi
Naturae & Gratiae dotibus egregie nobilitate Ad Oris Corporisq. venustatem accessit major Animae pulchritudo optimis virtutibus insignitae Quas in
Christianas Religionis testimonium et decus luculenter usque exeruit. Eximia in Deum. 0. M. Pietate erga Sacros Pastores summa Reverentia Fidelitate in Principem, Justitia in Proximum Conjugal! Paternaq Indulgentia Singular! in Familiares affectu integgerrimo propensa in Omnes Benevolentia ; Lingua castus et candidus, manu supra fidem Liberalis ; Nemini turpiter obloqui, aut, obtrectare solitus omnibus benifacere, inprimis Egenis absqb, proecinente buccina, Eleemosynis pariter ac Thesauris plenus, quo probe accumulatas in Terra plurimos prudens Mercator in Coelo recondidit, Vitam tandem comuiutandis aliquandiu mercibus prospere transactam 42 JEtatis annum emensus Jun 27. 1672. Meliori qusestu cum
Morte comutavit.
Relictis & bonae Spei Parvulis cum dilectissima et amantissima Uxore quae in perpetuam tarn chari Capitis Memoriam Monumentum hoc constantissimi Amoris Pignus, exfcruendum curavit, Ipsa interim maerore cum Illo consepulta Abiiam attonitus Viator & mirare tarn probum in tarn pravo seculo Virum, aut vivere
potuisse, aut debuisse MORI.
* How prudent was this soldier, and how noble his mind, his prince, his country, and his superior officers knew. How great his piety, how extensive his liberality the poor can testify, as also religion and the pensioners on his bounty This soldier and citizen ages cannot produce one out of a thousand to equal, nor is his like remembered. William Bond, Esq. has erected this as a memorial of his uncle's worth.
WILLIAM BOND, A.D. 1576.
Finch and Drax. C5
ESTHER FINCH, Fcemina castissima, Viro morigera et curse dcmesticse dulce levamen liberorum (quos septem reliquit) Mater provida, Sincera pietate, alacri erga tenuiores beniguitate, liberalitate in omnes, morum denique sanctitate conspicua. Viri (dum in vivis esset) decus simul et . solamen, defuncti Vidua supra quaradici potest moestissima. Vixit annos 41. Menses 5. demptis diebus 11. Obiit Mali die 4 Anno Salutis 1673.*
Within very small intervening space another singular epitaph is worth consideration. It runs thus : —
lEpttapI;
On the lamented death of his honored Friend WILLIAM DRAX
Esq. who exchanged this life for immortality Decem 17
1669 in the 63 yeare of his Age. To thy dear memory blest soule i paie This humble tribuit though in such a way As reather doth proclaime my want of skill Than any want of love of heart and will True to thy trust none in our memory Can charge the more or less with treuchery Bring forth the p'son, Rich, poore, old or younge That can justly say he ever did them wrong In others weal or woe thy heart Would sympathies and take its part Oh what's more like the Deity Than blessed hoary piety A soul fitted for heaven when glorious Grace Triumphs with him in his sure restinge-place But is he dead Can I beleeve That he should die and we should live Methinks we may the knot untie Better to live fitter to dye Now death I see doth wisely chuse The gold but doth the dross refuse Weepe not as without hope cry not alas Hees better where he is than where he was Hearke, is not that his voice doth not he say Heaven's meanest mansion, is worth this globe of clay Who so doth live and doe and die like thee His fame shall last to all eternity.
* Stop ! 0 passenger, and for awhile contemplate philosophically the remains of that Microcosm, formerly most adorned, alas, now reduced to dust. William Finch, Esq., sprung from an ancient and illustrious family of Kent. To the beauty of his countenance and shape of body (gifts of Nature), as well as to nobility of birth, he added the beauty of a soul adorned with the best virtues, which he constantly used in testimony, and for the honour of the Christian Religion.
Of great piety towards God (our greatest good), reverence for his pastors,
F
66 Sir Thomas Greskam.
Northward of this is the tomb of the great City merchant, Sir Thomas Gresham, concerning whom the following information may for the present suffice, as an account of his remarkable career appears under the head of " Worthies" connected with St. Helen's. It consists of a large altar-tomb of rich Sienna marble, covered with a ledger of black marble, the dado of which is richly ornamented with various mouldings appertaining to Italian archi- tecture, and Sir Thomas's arms, in a more chaste style than the usual works of the period. It has recently been thoroughly cleaned and restored at the expense of the Gresham Committee and Mercers' Company. Above this tomb a helmet is placed upon a bracket, in the angle of the window — restored and filled with stained glass during the restoration of 1865-8, at the charge of the Gresham Committee of the Corporation of the City of London — which helmet, tradition intimates, was borne before the corpse on the night of Sir Thomas Gresham' s funeral.
In like manner, with reference to Sir Andrew Judd, whose monument is fixed upon the opposite side of the same window, the inscription of his monument is only given ; the further particulars
fidelity towards his prince, justice to his neighbours, indulgence to his wife and children, affection for his friends, and benevolence to all, chaste and sincere in language, and of incredible liberality of sentiment, he never reproached or disparaged anyone, but was accustomed to do good to all, particularly to the needy, without sounding a trumpet before him ; abound- ing in alms, as well as in wealth, which honestly accumulated on earth, as a prudent merchant he laid up in heaven. At length, June 27, 1672, having completed the forty-second year of his age, he bartered with death, a prosperous life for a better possession.
He was much lamented by those he had left behind him. His children of good promise, and his most beloved and most loving wife, who, for a perpetual memorial of his dear self, and as a pledge of her unvaried love, has caused this monument to be erected ; she having in the meantime died through grief, is buried together with him. Go now, astonished traveller, and wonder that a man so good, could have lived in so depraved an age, or ought to have died.
Esther Finch, a most chaste woman, obedient to her husband, and a sweet soother of his domestic cares, a careful mother of her children (of whom she has seven), of sincere piety, great benignity towards her inferiors, and of liberality to all. In short, conspicuous for the sanctity of her manners, and at the same time the glory and comfort of her husband when alive, but now dead. A widow more sorrowful than can be expressed, lived 41 years, 5 months, wanting 11 days, and died May 4, 1673.
KIR ANDRE\V JUDDE, A.D. 1588.
feJK \VILTJAM PICKERING, A.D. 1^74.
Judd and Pickering. 67
of his career, &c., being inserted in the chapter devoted to the " Worthies" of St. Helen's.
To Russia and Muscoua To Spayne Gynny withoute fable
Traveld lie by land and sea
Botlie inayre of London and Staple
The Commenwelthe lie norished
So worthelie in all his days That ech state fullwell him loved
To his perpetuall prayes.
Three wives he had : one was Mary
Fower sunes one mayde had he by her
Annys had none by him truly By Dame Mary he had one dowghtier Thus in the month of September A thowsande fyve hundred fiftey And eight died this worthie Stapler Worshipynge his posterytye. Sr ANDREW JUDD KNT.
The magnificent Tomb of Sir William Pickering, who died at Pickering House, St. Mary Axe, in 1574, aged 58, is situated under the north-east arch of the choir. For splendour of decoration, no monument in London, out of Westminster Abbey, can compare with it. It consists of an altar-tomb, panelled into compartments, sustaining on the ledger six Corinthian columns and two arches at the head and foot of the tomb, which jointly support a canopy formed of two arches resting on the entablature above the columns by way of impost, the soffits of the arches being filled with sunk panels, containing roses and fleur de lis alternately. The canopy is surrounded by an ornamental circle, sustained by two chimerse, and enclosing the arms of the knight — viz., SA. a chevron, between three fleur de lis, OR. Within this canopy, upon the altar-tomb, lies extended the effigy of the knight, the size of life, bareheaded, in complete armour with trunk breeches, his head resting on a rolled mat, and a ruff surrounding his neck. The countenance is open and full of animation, the nose Roman, and the whole bespeaks a very handsome man, worthy to be the favourite of the discriminating Elizabeth ; at the feet of the figure is a fleur de lis. Attached to a pillar near the monument is a tablet with an inscription : " To the memory of Sir William, and his father, Pickering." The monument bears the following inscrip- tion : —
? 2
68 Sir John and Lady Crosby.
Quiescit hie GULIELMUS PIKERINGUS, Pater, Equestris
Ordinis vir, Miles Mariscallus. Qui obiit 19 Mail, Anno
Salutis a Christo.
MDXLII.
Jacet hie etiam, GULIELMUS PIKERINGUS, Filius, Miles, Corporis Animiq ; bonis insigniter ornatus ; Literis excul- tus, et Heligione sincerus : Linguas exacte percalluit. Quatuor Principibus summa cum laude inservivit : Hen- rrco scilicet octavo, Militari virtute : Eduardo sexto, Legatione Gallica : Reginse Mariae, negotiatione Ger- manica : Elizabeths, Principi omnium illustrissimae, summis officiis devotissimus, Obiit Londini, in sedibus Pikeringiis, ^Etate LVIII Anno Gratia?, MDLXXIIII Januarii Quarto.
Cujus Memoriae, Thomas Henneagius, Miles, Camerse Regise Thesaurarius ; Johannes Astley, Armiger, jocalium Magister : Drugo Drureius, et Thomas Wottonus Armig., Testamenti sui Executores, Monu- mentum hoc posuere.*
In the Chapel of the Holy Ghost, on the south side of the choir, is a monument of Purbeck marble (A.D. 1475), with the figures of Sir John Crosby and his first wife, Anneys. He is represented in plated armour, with a mantle gathered up on his right shoulder, and falling over on his left, under his back, with a standing cape, and over it a Yorkist collar of rondeaux. On the little finger of the right hand is a ring, and others on the little and third fingers of the left hand : his hair is cropt and parted. Under his head is a helmet, the crest gone. He has a dagger at his right side, fastened by a singular belt, but no sword. His knee-pieces are riveted on the inside, and there is a fold or parting on his greaves. At his feet is a lion looking up to him. His lady is in a mantle, and very close-bodied gown, in which her feet are folded up, with long tight
* Here lies "William Pickering the elder, Knight, Field Marshal, who died the 19th of May, in the year of our salvation by Christ 1542.
Here also lieth William Pickering the younger ; a true soldier, remarkably endowed with good things, versed in literature, and a sincere Christian : he was singularly skilled in languages ; and served four sovereigns in the most honourable manner ; Henry the Vlllth in his military capacity. Edward the YIth in an embassy to France. Queen Mary in a negotiation with Germany ; and the most illustrious Princess Elizabeth, by the greatest devotedness to duties of the highest moment. He died in London at Pickering House, January 4. In the year of grace 1574, aged 58. To his memory Thomas Henneagius, soldier and Treasurer of the Royal Household ; John Astley, Esq.,Master of the Jewels ; Drugo Drury, soldier ; and Thomas Wotton, Esq., have placed this monument,
tx.KriieTit.Phcto,L,ui<-<.
Sir Julius Ctesar Adelmare. 69
sleeves down to her wrists. Over the back of her hand passes a singular band : she has a ring on her fore and little fingers, and mmd her neck a collar of roses ; a small cordon hangs on her ht hip from a belt sloping from the left side ; her cap is fitted close to her ears, and the hair tucked up under it, a veil falling off the cushion under her head, which is supported by two angels. At her feet lie two little dogs. The inscription, directed by his Will to be put on the ledge of this monument, has been long since removed, but in quatrefoils, surrounded by niches in two stories — one of which, until recently, was below the level of the floor and pavement — at the sides of the altar-tombs, are shields with the arms of Crosbie. Sable, a chevron ermine, between three rams trippant. Argent, armed and hoofed. Or.
The following is the inscription, on brass, that was originally placed upon the edge of the table whereon the effigies are re- cumbent : —
Orate pro animate JOHANNIS CROSBY, Militis, Aid. atque tempore vite Majoris Staple ville Caleis ; et AGNETIS Uxoris sue, ac THOME, RICHARDI JOHANNIS, JOHANNIS, MARGARETE, et JOHANNE liberorum ejusdem JOHANNIS CROSBY, Militis. lUe obiit 1475 et Ilia 1466. Quorum animabus propitietur Deus.*
Near this monument, in the south transept, is the singular altar- tomb of Sir Julius Csesar Adelmare, who, feeling the ruling passion strong in death, moulded his epitaph in the form of a deed, to which he affixed his broad seal, which is fe railed," and also its enrolment in a court — however, superior to that in which he used to preside.
The following is the inscription : —
To all faithful Christian People to whom this writing may come. Know ye, that I JULIUS ADELMARE alias CAESAR, Knight, Doctor of Laws, Judge of the Supreme Court of Admiralty of Queen Elizabeth, One of the Masters of Bequests to King James, and of .his Privy Council, Chancellor of the Exchequer and Master of the Rolls, by this my act and deed, confirm, with my full consent that by the Divine aid, I will willingly pay the debt of Nature as soon as it may please God. In witness whereof I have fixed my hand seal. Feby 27. 1634
JUL. C2ESAR.
* Pray for the souls of John Crosby, Soldier, Alderman, and during a .tion of his life Mayor of the Staple of the town of Calais, and of Agnes as H~.'e, of Thomas, .Richard John, John, Margaret and Johanna, Children of the same John Crosby, Soldier. He died in 1475 and she in 1466. On whose souls may God have mercy. — Weever's Fun. Mo num., p. 421, ed. London, 1631.
70
Sir John Spencer.
He paid this debt, being at the time of his death, of the Privy Council of King Charles, also Master of the Rolls : truly pious, particularly learned, a refuge to the poor, abounding in love, most dear to his country, his children, and his friends.
He died April 18, 1636, in the 79th year of his age. It is enrolled in Heaven. His Widow, Lady Ann Caesar, has erected this monument to his memory and here
rests with him.
Against the south wall of the parochial nave, the splendid monument of Sir John Spencer is now placed. At the restoration of 1865-8, it was removed from the south transept to this spot by the Marquis of Northampton, by whose care, and at whose expence it was cleansed from numerous coats of white paint, and found to consist of a magnificent specimen of the purest alabaster. Upon this tomb are placed the recumbent figures of Sir John and his wife in the habits of the times in which they lived, the size of life, and at their feet is the figure of their daughter, in the attitude of prayer. The monument is covered with a sumptuous arched canopy, ornamented with pyramids.
The following is the inscription :
HIC SITUS EST JOANNES SPENCER
EQTTES AURATUS CTVIS & SENATOR
LONDINENSIS, EJUSDEMQ CIVITATIS
PRAETOR ANNO DM. MDXCIIII
QUI EX ALICIA BROMFELDIA
UXORE UNICAMRELIQTJIT FTLIAM
ELIZABETH GUILIELMO BARONI
COMPTON ENUPTAM OBIIT 3°
MABTtI DIE ANNO SALUTIS MDCIX*
SOCERO BENE MERITO
GULIELMUS BARO COMPTON
GENER POSVIT
A full account of this great City merchant and trader is incor- porated amongst the " Worthies of St. Helen's."
On the floor of the north aisle is a slab, on which the effigy of the deceased (unknown), and the ornamentation are cut on the stone in the manner of a brass. Such memorials are rather un- common.
Removed from the old vestry wall to a spot immediately adja-
* Here lies John Spencer, Knight, Citizen and Member of Parliament for London. Lord Mayor of the same City A.D. 1594. By Alicia Bromfeld his wife he left an only daughter, who was married to William Baron Compton. He died March 3 in the year of our salvation 1609. To his most excellent father-in-law, this was erected by William Baron Compton.
\
SIR JOHN AND LADY SPENCER, A.D. 1(J
Alderman Bernard and Reresby. 71
cent to the tomb of Sir Julius Caesar, is a monument of Italian marble, which attracts attention. The following inscription records whose memory it is intended to preserve : —
In a Vault near this place are deposited the remains of WALTER BERNARD, Esq.
Alderman* & late Sheriff of this City in both which stations He acted to the General satisfaction
of his Fellow Citizens His private as well as publick character was truely amiable
He was a sincere Christian A Faithfull Husband, a kind master and a true Friend
And as the whole Conduct of his life
was agreeable to the principles of true Religion and virtue
so his death was universally Lamented.
He dyed May the 4. 1746 Aged 61.
A singularly beautiful tablet in the adjacent wall cannot be left unnoticed, the workmanship being in every particular worthy of consideration. It bears the annexed epitaph : —
l|tc Sacct QUOD MORTALE BEAT GERVASH RERESBY.
Antiquissima ejusdem nominis familia
Eborancensi oriundi
Qui cum triginta plus annos in Hispania fide indelibata sum moque honore
vixisset In Angliam tandem
rediit atque anima mente inconcussS,
Salvatori reddidit An° Dom MDCCIV.
Hoc Patri optimo
Filius posuit imicus.f
Mercy Jesu.
Another elaborate specimen deserves consideration : —
* Alderman of Broad Street Ward. — Gentleman's Mag., vol. xvi. p. 272.
t Here lies the mortal remains of Gervash Reresby, of a most ancient family of the same name, originally from Yorkshire, who, after he had lived for more than thirty years in Spain in the greatest estimation, and with the highest honour, returned to England, and, with an unshaken faith, delivered up his soul to his Saviour, Anno Dom. 1704. His only son erected this (monument) to his most excellent parent.
72 Cfiambretan.
M. S. CHABLES CHAMBRELAN, ESQ.,
Alderman of this City, in testimony of his true affection
and sorrow for their deaths,
hath consecrated this Monument
to the memory of his dearly beloved wife
RACHEL
(the daughter of Sr John Lawrence, K*
Lord Mayor of London, 1665),
who died August the 21st, 1687,
soon after her delivery of her 10th child.
And of his fourth daughter, Hester,
who dyed the 9th of June, 1687,
at the age of 6 years, 8 months,
Both whose Bodies are here deposited in a Vault
near this place
(belonging to his Ancestors),
In expectation of a joyful resurrection
at the last day.
M. S.
In the same Vault with his dear Wife and daughter
(And with like hopes of a joyful resurrection together),
yeth the body of CHARLES CHAMBRELAIN, Esq., Alderman of this City,
who departed this life Jan. 29th, 1704, aged 65 Years,
having nowhere left behind him either a Merchant better accomplished
or a Gentleman more compleatly adorned with all sorts of
useful knowledge. In memory of her most affectionate
and entirely beloved Father, Abigail, his sorrowful Daughter and sole executrix
(the wife of Lemying Rebow, Esq.), caused this Monument to be enlarged.
This monument conceals an Early English window, similar to one adjacent, which, although opened at the recent restoration, as to the interior, could not be utilized on account of a set of offices having been built upon the Church.
BRASSES.
St. Helen's is by no means rich in monumental brasses, but those which exist are generally believed to be excellent specimens of the several periods whose dates they bear. For the sake of safety, as well as of preservation, they have all been recently trans- ferred to the two restored chapels of the Holy Ghost and Virgin Mary. They date back to A.D. 1393, but in the more remarkable instances of a later period, A.D. 1400, the representation of a priest
Monumental Brasses. 73
in full canonicals, and a female figure, there is no record to indi- cate to whom they refer.*
Not so with regard to one adjacent — containing the effigies of a London merchant and his wife, in the costume of the period, to the memory of Thomas and Margaret Williams, with the following inscription : —
Hie jacet THOMAS WILLIAMS, generos, et MARGARETA Uxor ejus qui Thomas obiit XVI. die mensi Januarij a dm 1495,
Et Margareta obiit die mensi
Quoram animabus propitietur Deus. Amen.t
The most elaborate and perfect of all the specimens is that of some distinguished gentlewoman of the style of the latter part of the reign of Henry VII., whose costume is that which was worn by those aged ladies of that day who not unfrequently ended life in a nunnery as lady abbesses, or even as mere sisters, to the no small emolument of the Church. {
The next, belonging to the sixteenth century, in tolerable preser- vation^ to the memory of John Leventhorpe, Esq., a figure clothed in complete armour, bearing underneath the following record : —
Hie jacet JOHANNES LEENTHORP Armig imp unus quatuor hostiarior camere dom reg Henri septum, qui obiit VI die Augusti a° dm me V°X cuie die pplcietur deus ame.§
A similar brass, five years later.
Humbly prayeth you of your charitie to pray for the souls of Mr. ROB*. ROCHESTER, Esq., late Srgeant of the Pantry of our Sovrain Lord King Henry the VIII., which dep-d this p-sent lyff the first day of May, the yere of oure Lord God a thousand five hundredth and fourteen. On whose soul ihu of his i-fynite grace have mercy. Amen.
A plain strip of brass — the oldest memorial in the Church — records that it has reference to —
ROBERT COTESBROK gist ycy morust le xj jo de Maris, 1'an de g'ce
Mil ccc Ixxxxiij ce. 11
* See Fairholt's " Costumes," p. 183, ed. Loud. 1846.
f Here lies Thomas Williams, gentleman, and Margaret his wife. The
said Thomas died Jan. 16, 1495, and the said Margaret May God
have mercy on their souls. Amen.
£ See Fairholt's " Costumes," p. 238.
§ Here lies John Leventhorp, Esq., one of the four Keepers of the Chamber to King Henry VII., who died August 6th, 1510. To whose soul God be gracious. Amen.
|| Robert Cotesbrok lies here died the llth day of March, the
year of grace, 1393.
74 Benolte, Windsor Herald.
Two brasses, of which the drawings are still extant, although they themselves have altogether disappeared from their respective matrices, were to the memory of —
JOANE daughter of Henry Seamer, and wife to Richard, Sou and Heir of Robert Lord Poynings.*
Thomas Benolte (A.D. 1534), "Windsor Herald, and his two wives, the execution of which must have been exceedingly beautiful. The inscription, as follows, has been preserved : —
Here under lieth the Bodi of THOMAS BENOLTE, Squyer, sometyme servant and offycer of Armes, by the name of Windsor Herault, unto the right high, and most mighty Prince of .... most drade Souverayne Lord Kyng Henry the VIII: which Thomas Benolte, otherwyes namyd Clarenceux Kyng of Armes, decesid the Viii day of May, in the year of our Lord God MVCXXXIIIJ, in xxvi yere of our said Soverayne Lord.
* " The account of this monument, given in Stow's Survey of London, from the first to the last edition, adds ' she died a virgin, 1420.' This figure is now lost, but an impression of it ... taken by the late Mr. E. R. Mores, when it was preserved in the church chest, represents her habited in a mantle, surcot, and kirtle with mitten sleeves, and on her breast, $u mercg ; her head-dress is of the veil kind, with the bosses of reticulated hair above
her ears Mr. Mores has written under it, ' Obiit virgo, 1420.' —
Gough's Sepulchral Monuments, vol. ii. part 2, p. 55, ed. Lond, 1786-96. See also Stow's Survey of Lond., vol. i. p. 431.
" In this Church their was a figure of the Trinity, and a high altar of S Helen ; to wh much devotion was paid. In the year 1488, Rafe Mackin, Esq., of this parish, made his will, to be buried before the Trinity, in S* Helen's Parish, in Bishopsgate- Street, &c. Item, I bequeath to the Church a blake velvet gown, and a blake velvet cloke. Item, I bequeath to the high aultare of S* Ellen's a fyne Diaper Tabull Cloath." — Stow's Survey of London : vol. i. p. 431, ed. Lond., 1754-55.
75
CHAPTER V.
BENEFACTORS.
THE Benefactors belonging to this parish are numerous, as the following list — obtained from authentic parochial documents — fully proves, and cannot fail to be acceptable as a record of the pious benevolence of our forefathers by the antiquarian and archaeologist.
1579, May 16. — MARGARET DANE bequeathed to the Master, Wardens and Company of Ironmongers the sum of 2000£, on condition that they should lend to twenty young men of the Com- pany 100£. each at 61. per cent, for the space of three years, on sufficient security, and on repayment that it should be lent out again from time to time for ever, and that in consideration of the benefit thereof the Company should put in sufficient security to pay yearly 10 0£. as follows : to Christ's Hospital, St. Bartholomew's, and St. Thomas's Hospital, 10£ each ; to twenty poor maids at their marriage 10£; to the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge 5£. each, for the relief and bringing up in learning two poor scholars ; 10£. to be distributed in bread and beef amongst poor prisoners in Newgate, &c. ; 5£ towards the maintenance of a school at Bishop's Stortford; 10£. for a dinner in their hall on the anniversary of her death, and to provide twelve thousand faggots every year, to
be equally distributed to each ward The sum of £5£. is paid
yearly, in lieu of faggots, to the aldermen of twenty-four of the wards of London, \L Qs. 10r/. to each for distribution among the
poor of their respective wards The amount annually received
by this parish is two shillings.
1599, July 1£. — JOHN ROBINSON, Senr., Merchant of the Staple, by his will gave to his son Arthur a tenement in the parish of St. Olave, near the Tower of London ; and his will is, " that for ever shall be paid out of the said Capital house, to the Parson and Churchwardens, by quarterly payments, 61. 4*., which
76 Robinson and Fenner Gifts.
they shall distribute weekly by two shillings, every Sunday morning in bread to the poor people inhabiting in this parish,, with a clause for distress if unpaid after the space of forty days." ....
The premises charged with this payment, consisting of a house in Crutched Friars, afterwards became the property of the Car- penters' Company. They are now held by the East India Com- pany, who have taken down the house and erected on the site thereof a part of their warehouses in that street, on which is placed the arms of the Carpenters' Company, by whom the annuity is paid.*
1603, Sep. 29. — EDWARD FENNER, of this parish, citizen and carpenter, by his Will did order and dispose of his messuage or tenement, wherein he dwelt, being No. 40 Bishopsgate Street, in this parish, to several persons for their respective lives, and after their decease, the reversion thereof to the minister and church- wardens of this parish for the time being ; and to the master and wardens of the Company of Carpenters and their successors for ever, to the end that they, within four years after that they shall be possessed thereof, pay his next heir then living 20^., he requir- ing or demanding the same, and to be paid at the said messuage by quarterly payments, and then after that all such rents after made be divided in two equal parts, whereof one equal half part to be distributed yearly for ever to the poor of this parish, and the other equal half part among the poor of the said Company of Carpenters
This house was let on lease, Sept. 12, 1671, for thirty-four years, at the rent of ten pounds per annum. It was afterwards let to William Poole, sadler, at thirty pounds per annum, for twenty- one years from Lady- day, 1705, the first year at a peppercorn rent, on account of the repairs. This lease was renewed to Mr. Poole for the like period from Lady-day, 1726, at the same rent, with an allowance of 40£. for repairs.
Oct. 2, 1777. — A lease was granted to Mr. H. Ward for twenty- one years from Lady- day, 1779, at 34£ per annum, the fir.st year's rent being allowed on his undertaking to keep the house in good repair, and to expend 80£ thereon within two years. This lease was delivered up at Lady-day, 1793, and a new lease
* Commissioners' Eeport on Public Charities, p. 322,
Priors Bequest. 11
was granted to H. W. Ward for the term of forty years, at 34£ per annum, on his agreement to spend 25 01. in repairs, the parish allowing him the first year's rent in part thereof, at the expiration of which period, March 25, 1833, a new lease was granted to Mr. Stone, at 52£. 10$. per annum, Mr. Stone putting the house into complete repair, and paying all taxes and insurances.
1607, March 11. — WILLIAM PRIOR, citizen and pewterer, of London, by his Testament willed, after the decease of his wife, the yearly rent of his house, No. 27, Bishopsgate Street, to be paid to the churchwardens for the time being, and to be by them laid out yearly for ever, viz., SI. of the said rent to be bestowed on sea-coals, and given to the poor of this parish, and also for two sermons to be preached yearly for ever, viz., on the first Thursday in clean Lent, one sermon, and the other on the day of his burial (which was March 27, 1608), for which sermons he gave thirteen shillings and fourpence out of the said rent ; and to the minister, churchwardens, and parishioners for the time being 2£. yearly for " a drinking/' to be spent on the day the said first sermon shall be preached ; and the rest of the said yearly rent to be to the use of the poor of the said parish ; and if the said trust is not executed in the manner aforesaid, the messuage to go to St. Ethelburga parish, with remainder to the Pewterers' Company
The house was let on lease, June 4, 1697, for twenty-one years from Lady-day, 1699, to Mr. Math. Chewter, at 301. per annum, and a present fine of 50^., with agreement not to let it to a tallow chandler, a cook, a victualler, a blacksmith, or a baker ; and Mr. Chewter paid Mr. Churchwarden Woods five shillings in part of the fifty pounds fine, which he acknowledged the receipt of. ....
June 2, 1720, — A. lease was granted to Mrs. Ireson for twenty- one years, at 4<0l. per annum, with a fine of sixty pounds (" Mr. W. Palmer, a parishioner, had offered to take a lease for fifty years, at 45/. per annum, and fifty pounds fine, but retracted therefrom and eluded the vestry, whereby this vestry has deemed him injurious, troublesome, and impertinent"). At the expiration of the above period, Midsummer, 1741, a lease was granted to Mr. Nathl. Ware, for the like term of twenty-one years, at the same rent, the parish allowing one year's rent for repairs, and Mr. Ware paid one shilling to the churchwarden to bind him to his agreement.
78 Cicely Cyott's Will
Lady-day, 1784. — The same house was let on lease to Mr. Thomas Delafield for twenty-one years, at 421. per annum, on his expending 115£ in repairs, towards which the parish allowed the first year's rent. Anew lease was granted, October 27, 1803, to Mr. Whittenbury, for twenty- one years, at 42£. per annum. The premises were then taken by Mr. Edward Arman, on a building lease, for sixty years, from Lady-day, 1819, at the rent of 40£. per annum, and a further charge of 2>l. 16*. per annum for land-tax, which was redeemed by the parish in the year 1800, at an expense of 126£. 16s. Mr. Arman also purchased from the parish the tithes of his house during the duration of his lease for 12/. 12s.
1608, Aug. 25. — CICELY CYOLL, Widow of German Cyoll, Mer- chant, " considering the fickle and uncertain state and condition of this present lyfe, and having observed what contentions and controversies doe many times arise amongst deere friends for the goods and possessions of such as leave their estates undisposed, being either prevented by suddaine death or by protracting tyme until such feebleness and debility of body and memory overtake them, that they cannot set any certaine course or order therein, I leave my body to be buried in my late father's vault in St. Michael Bassishaw, and at my buriall I wish a sermon to be preached by my loving friend Mr. Ball, preacher at St. Hellens, unto whom I leave as a legacy 6/. 13s. 4^. . . I will that there be given to fourscore poor women, fourscore gowns of the value of II. Qs. Scl. apiece, twenty of the poor women to be of the parish of St. Hellens, and other twenty of St. Michael Bassishaw, and the others as my executors shall appoint. And to every of the said poor women twelve pence apiece. And for a dynner for the entertainment of my kindred and friends such as shall resort to my buriall, and I do limit the sume fifty pounds to be bestowed and the dinner to be kept in my dwelling house in Bishopsgate
Street
" I will and ordain and do give and dispose the sum
of One Hundred and Twenty pounds to be bestowed within convenient time after my decease by my executors upon some convenient purchase of lands, tenements or hereditaments within the City of London of the yearly value of Six pounds at the least and likely to hold the same value for ever, and the same purchase so found to be assured to certain ffeoffees of the said
Abraham Chamlrelan and Sir Martin Lmnley. 79
several parishes of St. Michael Bassishaw and St. Hellens. And to be continued in assurance to the said parishes for ever to the end that the Church Wardens of the said several Parishes from time to time for ever, shall by and with the revenues of the lands so purchased, distribute weekly for ever to as many poor widows or sole women of their parishes to be equally chosen by a like number in either parish, such as the said parishioners shall think meet to receive the same benevolence every Sabbath day in the morning as the rent or revenues of the said purchase shall extend, to give to every of them two pence a piece in white bread."
1612. FOUNTAIN gave IQl. to the poor of this parish.
1614. — EDWARD BRYERWOOD, Reader of the Astronomy Lec- ture at Gresham College, bequeathed the sum of 10£ to the poor of this parish.
1614. OLIVAR gave 2/. to the poor of this parish.
1630, June 10. — ABRAHAM CHAMBRELAN, merchant, in con- sideration of the sum of 60£. paid him by Sir Henry B-owe, executor of Mrs. Cyoll, with the consent of the parishioners of St. Helen's, granted unto the said parishioners an annuity or rent- charge of 31. per annum for ever on two messuages, situate in Great St. Helen's, to be distributed according to the will of Mrs. Cyoll : and by the will of Mr. Chambrelan, dated Decem- ber 15, 1 640, he bequeathed 100£, to remain as a stock, for the use of the poor of St. Helen's for ever, on condition that the parish will allow a vault to be made in the Church for a burial place for himself, wife, and posterity : and within six months after his decease receive and take in the above sum of 60£
The said sum now forms part of the parish stock.
163 J, Sep. 1. — Sir MARTIN LUMLEY, knight, and alderman of London, by his will, gave to the churchwardens and their suc- cessors for ever one annuity or rent-charge of 20/. issuing out of his messuage or tenement in the parish of St. John the Evan- gelist, London, called the Black Boy, at two payments — Christmas and Lady-day (?) — by even and equal portions, upon trust, for the establishing a lecture or sermon for ever, to be preached in this Parish Church on Tuesday evenings weekly, from Michaelmas to Lady-day, to the honour and glory of God and comfort of the auditors : the churchwardens to pay the same to a godly divine for his pains in preaching ; the said sermon or lecture to begin about
80 The Lumley Lectureship.
five o'clock in the evening : and to the said churchwardens like- wise one other amount or rent-charge of M. per annum, issuing out of the said messuage, for the use of the poor householders of this parish at Christmas and Lady-day by even and equal portions.
The heirs and successors of Sir Martin Lumley were to have full power and authority for ever in appointing or displacing the said minister. No claim to the appointment having been made by the heirs for many years past, the parishioners in vestry have usually appointed the vicar. Attendance was always given on the proper days at three o'clock, instead of the evening, and it is said that if a congregation of three persons attended, the lecture would be preached. It must be stated, however, to the credit of the Rev. Charles Mackenzie, the vicar from 1835 to 1847, that he altered it again to evening service, as ordered by the donor, commencing at half-past six o'clock, and continued yearly to a comparatively numerous congregation, during the whole time he held the living.
The annuity of 4£, together with those of W. Pennoyre and Thomas Hanson, is given away about Christmas to poor housekeepers not receiving parish relief, at the discretion of the churchwardens.
At a court for determination of differences touching houses destroyed by the fire of London, held in Clifford's Inn Hall, June 28, 1667 — on the petition of Rebecca Garrett, respecting the tenement left by Sir Martin Lumley, known by the sign of the Black Boy (afterwards called the Bear and Ragged Staff) in Watling Street, charged with the payment of 24£. per annum to the Parish of St. Helen's : and that the rebuilding of the said tenement will cost 1500^, the parish utterly refusing to contribute thereto, and that the ground as it lies will not pay the said annuities, the churchwardens being summoned to appear in court, after great debate touching the contribution — it was decreed : That the petitioner should rebuild the said tenement with all con- venient speed, and that the payment of the 4/. shall cease until Christmas, 1668, and that the payment of the annuity of 20/. per annum be forborne and cease for thirteen years from Michaelmas, 1668 ; and all arrears from the time of the fire are hereby acquitted; and after the expiration of the said thirteen years, the payment of the said annuity of 201. to revive and continue to be paid, and the payment of the said annuity of 4>l. to continue without ceasing when the messuage shall be rebuilt.
Robinson and Fenner Gifts. 81
]633. MEYNON left 10£. to the poor.
MASTERS left 10£ to the poor.
ITEM. — There is a payment of 31. per annum unto the vicar of this parish, issuing out of a messuage some time in the occupa- tion-of Charles Perkins. This is said to have been anciently the Vicarage House, and of late was claimed by the Skinners' Company.
1633, Oct. 14. — WILLIAM ROBINSON, late of this parish, citizen and mercer, by his deed enrolled in Chancery, charged a messuage or tenement, and two yard lands, and a quarter of a yard land in Staverton-upon-the-Hill, in Northamptonshire, and all his lands there, with one annuity of 21. 12s. after his decease, for ever to be paid to the churchwardens and overseers of the poor of this parish at Lady- day, to be distributed among the poor pensioners of this parish, by 12^?. per week, in good sweet wheaten bread every Sabbath-day after morning sermon or dinner service in the said Church. The property, thus charged, now belongs to the Manor of Staverton ; the annuity is regularly paid at the Banking-house of Messrs. Glyn and Company, and forms part of the fund for the distribution of bread on Sundays.
1635, Feb. 8. — THOMAS FENNER, citizen of London, by his will, gave all his messuage and tenement in this parish, after the decease of his wife and brother, unto the parson and churchwardens of this parish, upon trust that they shall, "out of the rent and profit thereof, yearly distribute, among seven poor women of this parish in most want, 11., and shall cause one sermon yearly to be preached in this church on the day of his burial (March 2, 1635,) by some godly preacher, and shall give to him for his pains for every sermon ten shillings, and that the churchwardens may take other ten shillings yearly for their travell and paines taken in and about the premises ; and all the rest of the rents and profits shall be to the use of the poor of the said parish."
The house devised by the above will was let on a building lease, June 1, 1687, to Thomas Kirkes, for 25 years at SI. per annum, and on May 7, 1 689, a further term of 25 years was added to the lease. At the expiration of that period, March 25, 1739, a new lease was granted to Mrs. Elizabeth Kirk for 21 years, to pay 10 guineas fine, 12/. per annum rent, clear of all taxes, and to lay out 60^. in repairs.
G
82 Joyce Featly.
In 1760 a surveyor being engaged to value certain premises in order to an exchange between the parish and Mr. Eyre, reported that Mr. Eyre should have all the premises over and against the gate- way leading into Great St. Helen's, the parish taking the premises on the north-side, No. 38, Bishopsgate Street, and paying him the
sum of 20£. 10s Advertisements having been inserted in
the daily papers to let the premises exchanged with Mr. Eyre, on a building lease, several proposals were received, and on August 27, 1761, a lease was granted to James Stone for 61 years at a yearly rent of twelve guineas, Mr. Stone also agreeing to give five guineas
for the use of the poor In 1805 an additional term of
seven years was added to this lease, then in the possession of Mr. Greenaway, at the same rent, in consideration of his long residence and services as churchwarden and continual overseer. The additional term was afterwards surrendered to the vestry, and they resolved to grant him a new lease for 21 years from the expiration of the original term, at the rent of 60/. per annum, the tenant
paying the land-tax and insuring the premises The new
lease bore date June 24, 1822.
1636, April 20. — JOYCE FEATLY,* by her will, did " appoint that, after the death of her husband, Dr. Daniel Featly and herself, yearly to be paid out of the rents and profits of a messuage in the parish of Lambeth in Surrey (being copyhold of the Manor of
* " Commission Issued 21 FeV 23d Chas. 1st.
" Executed 5th Dec. follg.
" found that Dan1 Featley and Joyce his wife both Decd were thentofore seized in Fee in right of sd Joyce accord* to the Custom of the Manor of Kennington in Co. of Surrey of one Messu. and Garden with the appurts. sit. in Lambeth, of the Yearly Yalue of £20.
"That sd Dan1 and Joyce in or ab* Apl. in the 12th year of his sd Majesty's Eeign according to the Custom of the Manor Surrender the Premes. as herein mentd.
" That sd Joyce with consent of her Husband, by a writing Dated the 20 day of Ap1 in the 12th year of his sd Majesty's Reign, did limit and appoint that after the Death of herself and Husband the use of the sd surrender of the Premises shod be to the use of Wm Kerwin her nephew and his Heirs upon Trust as therein mend. That the sd Joyce shortly after mak* sd writ* Died and was Buried in St. Helen's Church on the 3d Oct., 1637. That the sd Dan1 her husband her survived, and enjoyed the Premis. That sd Dan1 Died on or ab* 21 Ap1 1645, and that Andrew Kerwan Pretended Title to the Premises."
Daniel Williams. 83
Kemringtbn), for ever 4£ per annum to be paid to the vicar and churchwardens of this parish by quarterly payments upon trust to distribute ~LZd. thereof weekly every Sunday in bread, and 20,?. thereof yearly to the minister to preach on the day of her burial (which was October 3, 1637), and in default of such sermon the said 20s. to go to the poor of the parish, and 6s. per annum to be bestowed in repairing her father's tomb (KERWIN'S) and the other 2*. yearly to the sexton for keeping the same tomb clean. Upon the death of Dr. "Featly, April 21, 1645, the heirs of the said Joyce refusing to pay the said annuity, the vicar and church- wardens sued out an inquisition upon the statute for charitable uses, and in December, 1648, obtained a decree for the payment, but the Manor of Kennington being vested in the Crown, and in consequence of the change of Government and confusion in those times, the said decree was never put in execution or revived until the year 1702, when the vicar and churchwardens sued out a writ of Scire Facias to revive the said decree ; to which one Nicholas Lampon and others in possession of the premises put in exceptions, and the cause being heard before the Lord Keeper, November 1 3, 1703, his lordship ordered payment of the said annuity from Michaelmas 1703, with a remittance of all arrears by consent and each party paying their own costs ; which order was made a final decree of the Court of Chancery and enrolled in the Petty Bag Office, March, 1703-4. The money spent in this suit for the recovery of this annuity was 70£. 2*. %d. The premises thus charged, consist of three houses in Kennington Lane, and belong respectively to —
Mr. Slade, of Doctors' Commons, who pays ..£207 Mr. Cook, of Water Lane, Tower Street ... 132 And Mr. Hunter, of St. Martin's Lane ... 0 16 3 as their respective portions of this annuity/'
1636. — Sir JULIUS C.ESAR left the sum of 5£. for the use of the poor.
1636, Dec. 16. — DANIEL WILLIAMS, merchant, bequeathed 50£ to be distributed amongst such poor housekeepers, whose wants make them labour hard to get a poor living, inhabitants of the parish of St. Stephen, Coleman Street, where he was born ; St. Peter the Poor, where he was apprenticed ; St. Andrew Under- shaft and St. Helen, as his executors, in their discretion shall, by
G 2
84 Bond, Langham, and Tryon.
advice and information of the churchwardens of the said parishes, think tit to distribute the same. And a further sum of 200£. to be laid out in lands, one half thereof for the benefit of the poor of the parish of St. Stephen, Coleman Street, and the other half to the use of the poor of St. Helen's and St. Andrew Undershaft to be equally divided between them.
1643. — Captain MARTIN BOND bequeathed the sum of 25£. to the poor.
1646, April 21. — THOMAS HUTCHINS, Merchant Taylor, by his will directs " that the sum of 50£. shall be paid by my executors to the churchwardens of the parish of St. Helen's where I now dwell, to the intent, and upon trust and confidence that they with the other parishioners shall make such provision and assurance that fifteen penny loaves of wheaten bread shall be weekly for ever given and distributed amongst the poor of the said parish, whereof the almsfolk there to be first pre- ferred."
1647.— THOMAS ATJDLEY left 30£. to the poor.
1649. — JOHN EYLES left 20£. to buy coals for the poor.
1649. — Alderman LANGHAM gave 61. to be given in bread to the poor.
1652, Sep. 14. — MOSES TRYON bequeathed to this parish the sum of 100£. to remain as a stock for the said parish for ever ; the benefit and increase thereof arising, to be disposed of for the benefit of the poor of the said parish for ever, or otherwise as the church- wardens and vestry should think fit, in confidence that they and their successors would for ever thereafter observe and perform the grants and agreements contained in an order of vestry, October 25, 1643, touching a burial place in the said Church, thereby granted to him, his heirs and posterity for ever ; and if at any time hereafter the said vestry should infringe the said order, then the same legacy to be given to the parish of St. Nicholas Aeons in London for the benefit of the poor of that parish.
1654. — Mrs. CHAMBERLAIN gave 10£. to the poor.
1656.— Mr. GILES left 20£. to buy coals for the poor.
1656, March 23. — ADAM LAWRENCE bequeathed " to the relief of the poor of the parish of St. Hellens the sum of 10/., to be distri- buted amongst the said poor by and at the discretion of my executor, with the advice of the minister and churchwardens. I
Sundry Bequests. 85
give to Mr. Barham, minister of St. Hellens, the sum of 10 1. I give to my executor the sum of 100^., to be layd out by him to and for such charitable use as he shall like and approve, either for the encouragment of the minister, or relief of the poor of that parish, or both, having consulted with the vestry of the parishioners on that behalf." His nephew, Sir John Lawrence, sole executor, by an indenture dated May 16, 1684, obliged himself, his heirs, &c., to pay the said legacy of 100/., and the sum of 150£. due for interest thereof, and also to pay 100£ more for leave to make a vault in the parish church for the use of himself and his family. The said Sir John Lawrence did by the same indenture, therefore grant to several persons and their heirs forever, in trust for the Parish, one annuity or rent charge of 20£ per annum, to be issuing out of a messuage or tenement in this parish, late in the occupation of John Seagre, with a clause for distress, redeemable upon the pay- ment of 350/.
This annuity was redeemed by Mrs. Dorothy Lawrence, April 29, 1736, for the said sum of 350£. Of this sum 150£. was bor- rowed by the Parish, June 7, 1744, for the finishing of the work- house, and the remainder was invested, and now forms part of the parish stock.
1658.— H. HILL gave 20J. to the poor. „ — WILDS gave Zl. to the poor. „ — BYARD left 5£. to the poor.
1670, May 25. — WILLIAM PENNOYER bequeathed the sum of 100£ to be paid into the hands of the overseers of the poor for the parish of Great St. Helen's, to be by them put out and invested in good security for the relief of three poor housekeepers there forever
1670, November 1. — JOHN LANGHAM. — "I give and bequeath for the use of the poore of St. Hellenes, London, the sum of 100/., to be kept in my executors' hands, to be by them, the ministers and churchwardens of the same parish for the time being, distributed to twenty of the poorest ffamilyes or widdowes of the same parish, of the best name and ffame, by 20*. a-piece, every St. Thomas's day, for the next five years after my decease."
1672, June 4.— WILLIAM FINCH bequeathed 50/. towards build- ing a new steeple.
1673, July 25. — HENRY WHITTINGHAM, by his will: "I give
86 . Mary Claplianis Will.
and bequeath unto the poor of the parish of St. Hellens, where I do dwell, and have long lived, the sum of 25£."
1682, May 23. — DIANA ASTREY, of this parish, widow, did by her will give 10$. yearly, to the world's end, to the minister of this parish, for better encouragement to preach ; and to the clerk 2s. 6 d. yearly to the world's end, to be paid yearly in the month of Novem- ber, to be an example for others to do the like.
1683. — Sir THOMAS VINER left 101. to the poor.
1687. — Mrs. TRYON left 10£. to the poor.
1692. — Mrs. PAIGE left 20/. to the use' of this parish.
1702. — ABRAHAM CHITTY left 5£. to the poor.
1702. SPURSTOW left 5£. to the poor.
1704, April 13. — Alderman WOOLFE gave a carpet and cushions for the use of the communion table.
1705, May 13. — GERVASH KERESBY left 10£. to the poor. 1707. — Mrs. PRIDEATJX gave vallens of crimson velvet, with a
large gold fringe thereto, as an addition to the cushion provided for the pulpit.
1711. FOOTE left 20£. to the poor.
1718. — JOHN WRIGHT gave 5£. to the poor.
1719. — GEORGE BODDINGTON left 10£. to the poor.
1720, June 18. — ISAAC BERKLEY, late of Calcutta, did by his will give to this parish the sum of 4000 rupees, the produce thereof, amounting to 500£, was remitted to this country by the East India Company, and received by the parish July 25, 1723. It was then ordered to