Displaying all records
Master of Farne’s Accounts | |
| Jurisdiction 1: Monastic | Document category 1: Priors' or abbots' accounts |
| From region: County Durham | From place: Farne |
| Relevant material from 1432 to 1537 | |
| Great Farne Island was famous as the hermit retreat for St Cuthbert, and from the mid-12th century provided a semi-ermitic life for one or two monks from Durham. | |
Durham Priory Communars Accounts | |
| Jurisdiction 1: Monastic | Document category 1: Obedientiaries' accounts |
| From region: County Durham | From place: Durham Priory |
| Refers to location(s): County Durham, Durham Priory and County Durham, Durham City | |
| Relevant material from 1416 to 1454 | |
| The duties of the Communar were rather limited, including the provision of a number of minor physical comforts for the monks, notably fire and wine, with figs, walnuts and spices during Lent (see Fowler, Surtees Soc. 103, Introduction, xlv-xlvii; The Rites of Durham, Surtees Soc. 107, 101). The account for 1453-4 includes a payment to singers (most likely the cathedral choir?) for a performance in the Infirmary, presumably for aged and infirm monks. A Note on the manuscripts: Relevant rolls are one membrane each, length 429-685 mm., width 250-266 mm. Single column, with income and expenses divided into subsections according to subject matter. The account for 1416-7 has a separate line for each item, but thereafter continuous subsections are used. Terminal dates for relevant accounts are usually Pentecost, but the account for 1416-7 runs from St. Romanus (23rd October) to St. Petronilla (31st May, also Whit Monday in that year). NOTE: These records are offered in a pre-pub format, meaning they have not yet been through the vigorous editorial procedures for full REED publication (which will take place over the next year). Permission to use, share or quote the records must be sought from the REED: Durham editors John McKinnell and Mark Chambers, with acknowledgement to Durham University Library. | |
Durham Priory Chamberlain's Accounts | |
| Jurisdiction 1: Monastic | Document category 1: Obedientiaries' accounts |
| From region: County Durham | From place: Durham |
| Refers to location(s): County Durham, Durham Priory | |
| Relevant material from 1350 to 1528 | |
| [NOTE: The PDF of these records – including the introduction, transcription, translation and notes – have been provided by the REED: Durham editors John McKinnell and Mark Chambers, with the permission and assistance of Durham University Library\'s Special Collections staff. These records are offered here in a ‘pre-pub’ format, meaning that have not yet received REED’s full and official editorial checking and formatting. Permission to use or cite this material must be sought from the editors in any instance.] The chief responsibility of the Chamberlain was for the provision of clothing. The existing priory Chamberlains\' accounts for Durham Priory survive from the years 1334-1533, but relevant REED material appears only between 1350 and 1528. Most of the Chamberlains\' accounts record gifts (dona) made to the Priory Almonry Bishop, also known as the \'Boy\' Bishop (Episcopus puerili). Boy Bishop ceremonies featured in Durham, York, Beverley and other places with important churches or cathedrals. On feast days appropriate to children – such as the feast of St Nicholas (who became our familiar modern Santa Claus) or the Feast of the Holy Innocents, the children killed by King Herod – churches would appoint a Boy Bishop from among their choristers, to dress in rich robes like those of a real bishop, go in procession through ‘his’ parish, lead the congregation in prayer and preach a sermon. Durham in fact had two, unusually appointed in the summer; one chosen by the Cathedral, the other – the ‘bishop of Elvet’ – in St Oswald’s parish. The ceremony of the Almonry or Boy Bishop at Durham provides a good example of how a widespread custom could be adapted to local circumstances. The Almonry School probably opened around 1340, and its classroom was the room above the Abbey Gate. The earliest record of the existence of an annual Almonry \'Boy Bishop\' ceremony is in the 1346-7 account of the Prior of Lytham, a cell of Durham Cathedral Priory. In most other places the ceremony took place either on St. Nicholas’ Day (6th December) or on Holy Innocents’ Day (28th December), but in Durham, the ceremony seems to have taken place either in the week of Ascension Day or around Pentecost. A note on the manuscripts: One membrane, length between 474 and 1001 mm., width 199-355 mm. Single column; until 1352 expenses are undivided, but thereafter they are in subsections grouped according to subject matter, at first with a separate line for each item. From 1403-14 there is a tendency to group more than one item into a single line, and in the 1440’s some accounts have continuous subsection paragraphs. From 1448 until 1499 there is gain a separate line for each item, after which continuous paragraphs return until the end of the series. Terminal dates are usually on the Monday after Ascension, with the following exceptions: 1414 – Monday after Ascension to St. Cuthbert in September (4th September) 1440-1 – Friday before Pentecost to Friday after Ascension 1441-2 – Friday after Ascension 1442-3 – Martinmas to Monday after Ascension 1527-8 – Pentecost. | |
Durham Cathedral Treasurers Books | |
| Jurisdiction 1: Diocesan | Document category 1: Cathedral dean and chapter accounts |
| From region: County Durham | From place: |
| Relevant material from 1597 to 1634 | |
| After the death of the first dean (and last prior), Hugh Whitehead, in 1548, Durham had a succession of strongly protestant deans, one of whom, William Whittingham, dean 1563-79, had even spent some years in Geneva and was married to John Calvin’s sister. It is therefore not surprising that most Treasurer’s Books from this period yield no evidence of performance, and the solitary payment to the Earl of Leicester’s players on 28th July 1580 probably reflects the unique privileges enjoyed by that company as a result of its royal patent rather than any appreciation of drama by the dean and chapter (see End Note). But a more relaxed attitude began to appear in the affairs of the cathedral after the arrival of William James (as dean 1596-1606, then as bishop until 1617), for he was famous for the quality of his entertainment. This trend was maintained under Bishop Richard Neile (1617-28) and Dean Richard Hunt (1620-38), when the Cathedral came under increasing Laudian, high-church influence. The statutes of the Dean and Chapter also required continued annual accounts in roll form, but these continue the trend towards mere formality which is already apparent in the late rolls of the Bursar. Treasurer’s rolls survive between 1547 and 1607 and have all been searched, but they present the finances of the Cathedral in such a summarised form that they contain no material relevant to performance. These records are offered in a pre-pub format, meaning they have not yet been through the vigorous editorial procedures for full REED publication (which will take place over the next year). Permission to use, share or quote the records must be sought from the REED: Durham editors John McKinnell and Mark Chambers. | |
Durham Priory Feretrars Accounts | |
| Jurisdiction 1: Monastic | Document category 1: Obedientiaries accounts |
| From region: County Durham | From place: |
| Relevant material from 1376 to 1538 | |
| Because the Feretrar was responsible for the Shrine of St. Cuthbert and its relics, his income and status returns provide as much relevant material as his expenditure. His income includes details of payments at processions, especially during the week of Pentecost, both from incumbents who attended and (following a legal process that began in 1398-9) also from those who were absent, as well as some idea of the banners and relics carried in these processions, especially the Banner of St. Cuthbert, which was also used to accompany military campaigns, e.g. Richard II’s Scottish campaign in 1385 and probably the Flodden campaign in 1513, which may explain why it needed repair (Feretrar’s Account 1513-4). It was repaired again in 1536-7 after being damaged by the common people of Durham (perhaps as a result of the heightened sectarian unrest which preceded the Pilgrimage of Grace). From the mid-1470’s, the Feretrar’s office also received the Boy Bishop payments from other officers of the priory – see the Prior of Finchale’s account 1474-5, Feretrar’s Account 1480-1 and end notes. As there are no Feretrar’s expenses that can be linked to the Boy Bishop, this may imply that the actual ceremony had lapsed and survived merely as an annual levy on the other obedientiaries and cells; this may also explain why the Boy Bishop is not mentioned in The Rites of Durham. These records are offered in a pre-pub format, meaning they have not yet been through REED\'s vigorous editorial procedures. Permission to use, share or quote the records must be sought from the REED: Durham editors John McKinnell and Mark Chambers. | |
Durham Priory Almonry Accounts | |
| Jurisdiction 1: Monastic | Document category 1: Obedientiaries' accounts |
| From region: County Durham | From place: |
| Relevant material from 1367 to 1480 | |
| The charitable responsibilities of the Almoner included the welfare of elderly men and women in an infirmary outside the abbey gate, old people’s hostels at St. Mary Magdalen, Durham and at Witton Gilbert, a house for four widows, and the Almonry School, whose schoolroom was immediately above the abbey gate. Although the Almonry Bishop was selected from among the boys of the school, there is no evidence that the Almoner ever received payment from other officers on his behalf; rather, these contributions probably went direct to the expenses of the ceremony, and it seems likely that they were administered by the Master of the Almonry School. After 1474 they went to the Feretrar’s Office, and it is doubtful whether the actual ceremony continued. Most of the dramatic records in the Almoners\' accounts relate to local folk customs. Records include payments for the folk custom of the harvest goose and perhaps a plough festival connected to it (1337-39ff), to further plough ceremonies (such as those at Elvethall Manor in New Elvet in 1413), as well as numerous regular, usually annual, payments for the Almonry Bishop (Episcopo Elemosinarie) - the Boy Bishop - selected from the boys of the monastery\'s Almonry School. There are also payments recorded to minstrels attached to noble households, including minstrels Ralph, Lord Neville (later first Earl of Westmoreland, born c.1364, d.1425), his son-in-law Ralph of Lumley (first Lord Lumley, 1384-1400), and Sir Ralph Euer of Witton-le-Wear, Co. Durham (c.1350-1422). Payment to a ‘Dominus Nicholas’ (Seynteler) appears under ‘Pensiones’ in the account of 1458-9, as master of the children of the Almery School; he appears to have been paid for copying the words and music for the Corpus Christi service and for a service for dedicating a church. *The records are presented here in draft form and have not had final checking and editing for official publication by REED staff. Permission to cite this material must be sought from REED: Durham editors Mark Chambers and John McKinnell, using the contact form provided on this site. | |
Durham Priory Locelli | |
| Jurisdiction 1: Diocesan | Document category 1: Cathedral memoranda and correspondence |
| From region: County Durham | From place: Durham Priory |
| Relevant material from 1237 to 1507 | |
| The designation locelli (from Latin locellus, lit. ‘a little place’) originally referred to boxes or chests in which important documents were stored. Now referring to a category of important Priory documents, the Durham locelli contain several fascinating records for ‘performance’ from pre-Reformation Durham. For example, there is a very early record of the presumed death of a tight-rope walker who apparently fell from the towers of Durham Cathedral! This appears in Durham Priory Locelli VI:20, under the 1237 ‘Objections of King Henry III to the Election of Prior Thomas Melsonby as Bishop’ (DUL Loc.VI:20). Among other accusations, the king was accusing the prior of manslaughter by (apparently) having let the performer attempt such a dangerous act on his cathedral church. Other valuable records include: • a letter of King Edward III of 1372, written to the Prior and convent of Durham, requesting prayers and processions to assure success in his proposed campaign against the King of France (Loc.I:55); • a record of a complaint made by the priory following a Benedictine visitation in the last decades of the fourteenth century (Loc:XXVII). In it, the monks complain that minstrels and others (who were presumably performing in the Prior’s Hall) are being allowed to use the privies in the building where the brothers are eating; • from 1394, there is a letter from Bishop Walter Skirlaw to the Prior, giving instructions for religious processions during a time of war (Loc.XVII:5); in this case, King Richard II had embarked for Ireland towards the end of September of 1394 in order to quell rebellion; • sometime around 1435, the Archbishop of York, John Kempe, wrote a very disconsolate letter to Thomas Langley, Bishop of Durham, commanding processions and other penitential acts (Loc.:XVII.21); in this document, reference England’s recent troubles may be an allusion to the Burgundians’ desertion of their alliance with England in September 1435, when the Archbishop had himself presided over the unsuccessful English negotiating team; • Loc.XVII:15 contains a comperta (a list of findings) made by the Bishop after his visitation of Durham Priory. Here the monks complain that visiting lords should help provide for their own performers (minstrels, acting troupes, etc.), rather than relying on the meagre provisions of the priory; • Loc.XIII:22 contains a payment to ‘minstrels’ by the priory; • Loc.XX:21 is a letter dated 20th October, 1452, from the Bishop of Durham to the Prior, written in time of plague and commanding processions and other penitential acts; • Loc.XXVII:29 tells us a bit more about church drama in Durham in the period: it contains a list of petitions dating from May, 1464, and notes, among other things, that the Sub-Prior should ‘be the keeper of the chalices and missals pertaining to liturgical plays’; • an inventory of the Prior’s of 1464-5 lists payment to ‘minstrels’ and other servants (Loc. XVIII:110): • Loc.XVII:38 contains yet another letter from the Bishop of Durham (in this case Lawrence Booth; 1457-76) to the Prior, requesting processions in time of trouble; in this case, the Bishop relays a papal request for processions in support of a proposed crusade to the Holy Land (1465); • finally, an inventory of 17th September, 1507 (Loc.XXXVII:10) containing record of a payment to a minstrel named ‘Craykke’. The locelli represent a category of document of medieval origin, though somewhat modified in modern times. It consists of a variety of papers that are grouped roughly according to subject matter, though with occasional deviations; thus most of the requests for processions are in Loc.XVII, some documents connected with visitations appear under Loc.XXVII, and wills of secular people are in Loc.XXXVII. A brief calendar, available in the Search Room of the Palace Green Library in Durham, was searched for any document that might contain anything relating to performance. All documents that might possibly contain any relevant were then read in detail. These pre-pub records have been made available by the REED: Durham editors John McKinnell and Mark Chambers. We are grateful to Durham Cathedral and Durham University Libraries for making these documents available to us. | |
Durham Parishes and Borough Court Records | |
| Jurisdiction 1: Parish | Document category 1: Churchwardens' accounts |
| Jurisdiction 2: Parish | Document category 2: Parish registers |
| Jurisdiction 3: Civic | Document category 3: Borough civil court books (eg, mayors' court or leet books) |
| From region: County Durham | From place: City of Durham |
| Relevant material from 1395 to 1642 | |
| The document contains records from Durham, including St. Nicholas’ Church Parish Register; Borough of Crossgate court records; St. Giles’ Church Grassmen’s Accounts; and from St. Giles’ Church Parish Register. The Crossgate Borough court records contain records of lights carried in the Corpus Christi procession. The Grassmen's Accounts include musical accompaniment to dung-spreading. | |
Durham Priory Hostillars' Accounts | |
| Jurisdiction 1: Monastic | Document category 1: Obedientiaries' accounts |
| From region: County Durham | From place: Durham Priory |
| Relevant material from 1348 to 1481 | |
| The chief responsibility of the Hostillar was for the welfare of guests.1 Because he derived part of his income from his lordship of the manor of Elvethall, which was in the parish of St. Oswald’s Elvet, he makes a number of contributions to the parish Boy Bishop known as the ‘Bishop of Elvet’. | |
Durham College Oxford Accounts | |
| Jurisdiction 1: Monastic | Document category 1: Priors' or abbots' accounts |
| Jurisdiction 2: School | Document category 2: Accounts |
| From region: County Durham | From place: Durham Priory |
| Relevant material from 1399 to 1402 | |
| Durham Priory began to send monks to study at Oxford in the late thirteenth century, but did not found its own college there until 1381, when the initiators of the foundation were Prior Robert Walworth and the dying Bishop Thomas Hatfield. Durham College prospered both academically and financially and became the forerunner of the present Trinity College; Dobson estimates that nearly half of all Durham monks studied there in the last 150 years of the priory’s history, and while this is an exaggeration, its educational importance to the Priory was clearly very great (Dobson, Durham Priory: 1400-1450 [London: Cambridge University Press, 1973], 343-359). We are grateful to Alan Piper for access to his unpublished detailed figures for each decade, which show that between 22 and 34 percent of all Durham monks who were alive at any one time had studied or were studying at Durham College). Because Durham College had no land, derived its income only from appropriated churches and was expected to maintain eight monks and eight secular scholars, together with all the buildings, books etc. that they needed, it was usual to keep the mother-house’s financial demands on it to a minimum. It is therefore surprising that its only two contributions to the Almonry Bishop of Durham date from the brief period when it was in financial difficulty. | |
Durham Priory Cellarer's Accounts | |
| Jurisdiction 1: Monastic | Document category 1: Obedientaries' accounts |
| From region: County Durham | From place: Durham Priory |
| Relevant material from 1443 to 1444 | |
| The Cellarer’s main responsibility was to procure food. | |
Master of Wearmouth’s Accounts | |
| Jurisdiction 1: Monastic | Document category 1: Priors' or abbots' accounts |
| From region: County Durham | From place: Wearmouth |
| Relevant material from 1362 to 1534 | |
| Founded by Benedict Biscop in 674, Wearmouth had been Bede’s first monastery. Along with Jarrow, it was re-founded ca. 1075, having previously succombed to Viking attacks. In the later Middle Ages it was a small and rather impoverished cell. | |
Sacrist of Coldingham’s Accounts | |
| Jurisdiction 1: Monastic | Document category 1: Priors' or abbots' accounts |
| From region: County Durham | From place: |
| Relevant material from 1363 to 1367 | |
| Coldingham had been the site of a famous Anglo-Saxon monastery, which was re-founded by 1139 following grants to Durham Priory from the Kings of Scots. Wars between the English and the Scots led to disputes over control of the monastery, which ended with Durham’s loss of control (to Dumferline) in 1462. *The records are presented here in draft form and have not had final checking and editing for official publication by REED staff. Permission to cite this material must be sought from REED: Durham editors Mark Chambers and John McKinnell, using the contact form provided on this site. | |
Prior of Stamford's Accounts | |
| Jurisdiction 1: Monastic | Document category 1: Priors' or abbots' accounts |
| From region: County Durham | From place: Stamford |
| Relevant material from 1383 to 1533 | |
| The Priory of St. Leonard outside Stamford was in existence by 1146; it may have been founded by Durham Priory out of a desire for a cell south of the Trent. | |
Prior of Lytham’s Accounts | |
| Jurisdiction 1: Monastic | Document category 1: Priors' or abbots' accounts |
| From region: County Durham | From place: Lytham |
| Relevant material from 1346 to 1534 | |
| Lytham Priory was founded on the north bank of the River Ribble between 1189 and 1194, as a result of a gift from Richard Fitz Roger, a local magnate. It was a relatively prosperous cell that, at times, had a rather mixed relationship with its mother house and with local landowners. | |
Prior of Finchale’s Accounts | |
| Jurisdiction 1: Monastic | Document category 1: Priors' or abbots' accounts |
| From region: County Durham | From place: |
| Relevant material from 1365 to 1529 | |
| Originally founded as a hermitage by St. Godric in the early 12th century and bequeathed to Durham priory when he died, Finchale became one of the richest of the cells and a place where Durham monks frequently took retirement or holidays. *The records are presented here in draft form and have not had final checking and editing for official publication by REED staff. Permission to cite this material must be sought from REED: Durham editors Mark Chambers and John McKinnell, using the contact form provided on this site. | |
Master of Jarrow’s Accounts (1402 - 1537) | |
| Jurisdiction 1: Monastic | Document category 1: Priors' or abbots' accounts |
| From region: County Durham | From place: Jarrow |
| Relevant material from 1402 to 1537 | |
| Founded in 685 as part of the famous twin monastery of Wearmouth, it was famous as the home of the Venerable Bede (c.637-735). | |
Prior of Holy Island’s Accounts | |
| Jurisdiction 1: Monastic | Document category 1: Priors' or abbots' accounts |
| From region: County Durham | From place: |
| Relevant material from 1342 to 1537 | |
| Holy Island (or Lindisfarne) was historically the most significant of all the Durham cells, and one of the oldest Christian sites in Northumbria. Given by St. Oswald to St. Aidan as the seat of his new bishopric in 634, it had also been the seat of St. Cuthbert, and hence of the Community of St. Cuthbert, from which the Priory, City and Bishopric of Durham were all derived. *The records are presented here in draft form and have not had final checking and editing for official publication by REED staff. Permission to cite this material must be sought from REED: Durham editors Mark Chambers and John McKinnell, using the contact form provided on this site. | |
Master of Jarrow’s Accounts (1313-1314) | |
| Jurisdiction 1: Monastic | Document category 1: Priors' or abbots' accounts |
| From region: County Durham | From place: Jarrow |
| Relevant material from 1313 to 1314 | |
| Founded in 685 as part of the famous twin monastery of Wearmouth, it was famous as the home of the Venerable Bede (c.637-735). | |
Percy Family Accounts | |
| Jurisdiction 1: Family | Document category 1: Household accounts |
| From region: Percy Family Records | From place: Alnwick, Northumberland |
| Relevant material from 1575 to 1642 | |
| Accounting documents containing dramatic records extend from 1575-1642 at the Archives of the Duke of Northumberland, Alnwick Castle, Northumberland. Moved to the Castle from Syon House, Middlesex, they indicate that the Percies during this time supported performing arts generously. The family paid musicians, travelling players, jesters, and purchased musical instruments. Their entourage included ‘Iacomo the Italyan’ who performed a ‘comody’. Most of the MSS are paper rolls, the shortest two sheets, and the longest 22 sheets. All sheets are attached serially. Although some sheets are torn, most are clear and legible. Accounting time periods, usually from January or February of one year to January of February of the next, are defined at the heads of the rolls. The rolls are divided into different paragraphs, labelled ‘Stables’, ‘Liveries’, ‘Rewards’, ‘Foreign payments’, etc. The sections ‘Rewards’ and ‘Foreign payments’ are the most likely to include dramatic records, but these references can occur almost anywhere. English predominates, but occasional Latin phrases occur as well. The draft account booklets are less straightforward than the rolls and present many complications. Writing in the drafts is less legible, and there are many cancellations and corrections. For the booklets, beginning and ending dates within the year are difficult to ascertain. Fortunately, all the accounting documents included in this posting are available in microfilms listed in British Manuscripts Project: A Checklist of the Microfilms Prepared in England and Wales for the American Council of Learned Societies 1941-1945, compiled by Lester K. Born (Washington: The Library of Congress, 1955). However, after the passage of over 70 years, most Checklist shelf designations for Percy accounting documents are incorrect. Updated shelf designations and descriptions for the selected records are furnished here, thanks to Dr James Gibson. He was assisted by the Duke of Northumberland’s Archivist, Mr Christopher Hunwick, and his staff. Support for their work was contributed by REED-NE and Point Park University. The years covered by these dramatic records, 1575-1642, coincide with the times of the 12th, 13th, and 14th earls of Northumberland, all of whom lived in the South. Their turbulent lives were frequently associated with lethal violence. For instance, the 12th Earl, Henry Percy (circa 1532-21 June 1585), became implicated in plots to free Mary and was sent to the Tower on 12 December 1584. There he died by murder or suicide. Most of the dramatic records are associated with the 13th earl, Henry A. Percy (May 1564-5 November 1632), whose principal residence was always Petworth in West Sussex. [...] The 14th earl, Algernon Percy (29 September 1602 - 13 October 1668) sought compromise between Charles I and Parliament. But for REED purposes he is known for attending plays and buying playbooks in 1638 or early 1639 (see U.I.5/50 sheet [3] and Explanatory Note). Since the Percy family travelled widely and owned property throughout England, the locality of any given performance or payment is not always easily definable. However, historical context can give some indications of place. For instance, the family was required to stay in the South from 1574 or 1575, and so most of the dramatic records after this date are probably associated with this region. Other records include clear local references, such as the payment to Sir Francis Vere’s players in Holland (U.I.3/2, sheet [4]). Further study may help identify additional specific localities. -- Robert Alexander, 2018 | |
Beverley Great Guild Book | |
| Jurisdiction 1: Civic | Document category 1: Other |
| Jurisdiction 2: Guild | Document category 2: Accounts |
| From region: Yorkshire, East | From place: |
| Refers to location(s): Yorkshire, East, Beverley, Guildhall and Yorkshire, East, Beverley Minster and Yorkshire, East, Beverley, East Riding Archives, Treasure House | |
| Relevant material from 1375 to 1355 | |
| The Beverley Great Guild Book, compiled between c. 1409 and 1589 (although the original dates of some of the documents copied into it, including several included here, are considerably earlier), was maintained by successive groups of Beverley town Governors over about one hundred and eighty years. The twelve Governors (Gubernatores in Latin records), also known as Keepers (custodes), were the town authority, equivalent to a town council. Not till 1573, with a new charter of incorporation, was a Mayor instituted. The Great Guild Book, referred to within its own pages and in other contemporary records as the register or the ledger, is a large parchment book, now deposited in the East Riding Archives and Local Studies (ERALS) office in Beverley: shelfmark BC/II/3. Twentieth-century rebinding may have obscured its original gatherings, which are irregular, with the occasional single leaf; but it was evidently made up as a book, already bound, before most of the existing entries were made. The organisation, the layout and the nature of the contents strongly suggest that the initiating Governors intended it as a permanent formal register of municipal customs and regulations as well as a record of letters and proclamations addressed by state and church authorities to the town. The intended formality of the register is shown by the care with which the earliest entries have been made; they are carefully written in a formal hand, with elaborate rubrication, flourishing and decoration of headings and initials. Copies of many local craft and trade guilds’ ordinances have also been entered into the book – a fact which may have given rise to its (presumably modern) title, ‘the Great Guild Book’ now stamped on its cover – an unfortunately misleading one. In fact no original guild records survive in Beverley, only these registered copies. The frequently confusing unchronological order in which many of the guild ordinances have been entered confirms the impression that the book was pre-bound before its first use. The internal dates of ordinances are often much earlier than their dates of entry into the book, with the result that many ordinances are double-dated. Evidently successive bodies of Governors attemnpted to keep their copies not only of town but also of guild ordinances up to date – hence the confusion in the chronology of many of the guild ordinances, as later revisions, in the absence of space beside the original clauses, have been entered in any convenient blank space elsewhere, with occasional cross-references which may reflect later Common Clerks’ efforts to keep the book in some kind of convenient order. The scribes are generally unidentifiable, but some can be recognised by their hands, with one or two which recur frequently enabling at least tentative dates to be assigned to undated entries: an example is the Corpus Christi pageant-assignment list, which on palaeographical grounds can be cautiously dated to the first quarter of the sixteenth century, perhaps c. 1515. (However it appears here along with other undated material.) Although the status of the Great Guild Book is evidently that of a permanent register, some entries suggest that its function was less clear-cut, though the reasons are not evident. Even at an early stage in its compilation, entries occasionally appear which are more suited to a minute book or even to accounts. For example, a fine imposed on the Smiths in 1392 for failure to perform their Corpus Christi pageant in accordance with an ordinance of 1390 (f. 12v) has been entered on f. 13. Was it recorded here as a reminder of the penalty and the seriousness with which the Corpus Christi regulations were to be regarded in future? However, some later entries do seem simply to be records of specific cases – although they may have seemed at the time to be of potential future significance as test cases. Dated entries extracted here have been arranged in chronological order, to give some sense of change and development in the management of performance-related matters, particularly the Corpus Christi play and the tradition of the guilds’ ‘castles’, which they erected as exclusive stands from which guild masters, entertained by minstrels, watched the Rogation day procession of the shrine of St John of Beverley. The practice of minstrelsy in the castles is specifically mentioned in the Minstrels’ own ordinances (ff. 41v-42), the only version of which has the surprisingly late date of 1555 – in fact these ordinance are the latest dated relevant record in the Great Guild Book. Undated records follow the dated sequence, and are arranged in MS folio order. Editing procedures: deleted material is shown in square brackets [ ]. Illegible letters are shown within caret brackets with dots representing the approximate number of letters <...>. Marginalia appear in smaller font at the head of each extract, with notes to indicate their postition in the MS. *The records are presented here in draft form and have not had final checking and editing for official publication by REED staff. Permission to cite this material must be sought from REED: Yorkshire East Riding editor Diana Wyatt, using the contact form provided on this site. | |
Prior John de Landa's Accounts | |
| Jurisdiction 1: Monastic | Document category 1: Priors' or abbots' accounts |
| From region: Yorkshire, West | From place: Bolton Priory |
| Relevant material from 1315 to 0 | |
| Prior John de Landa's account includes a reward to the boy bishop of York in 1315. | |
Sheffield Records | |
| Jurisdiction 1: Civic | Document category 1: Financial accounts (eg, chamberlains\' or bailiffs\' accounts) |
| From region: Yorkshire, West | From place: Sheffield |
| Refers to location(s): Yorkshire, West, Sheffield | |
| Relevant material from 1511 to 1637 | |
| Located at the confluence of the Rivers Don and the Sheaf, Sheffield remained a relatively small town through the later medieval and early modern period. Although it was not favourably located for visits by travelling players, Sheffield maintained its own waits, rewarded musicians when its semi-annual courts met, and had an annual fair, apparently with a horse show which, on one occasion at least, included a dragon from York. The one record of dramatic activity is a list of payments related to a play, perhaps of St. Margaret in 1511. For records of Sheffield and the region, we are indebted to John Wilson of Broomhead, who collected and preserved many early documents and transcribed others that are not longer extant. Extensions of abbreviations appear in italics. Square brackets set off material crossed through or cancelled; it illegible, the material is represented by a series of full stops. | |
Fountains Abbey Records | |
| Jurisdiction 1: Monastic | Document category 1: Priors\' or abbots\' accounts |
| From region: Yorkshire, West | From place: Fountains Abbey |
| Refers to location(s): Yorkshire, West, Fountains Abbey | |
| Relevant material from 1455 to 1458 | |
| Fountains Abbey was founded in 1132 in the valley of the River Skell southwest of Ripon. Given the natural advantages of the location, Fountains quickly became a prosperous Cistercian community. After economic setbacks in the late 13th- and early 14th-century, Fountains gradually recovered its wealth and influence. By the mid-1450s, the house was attracting many performers: minstrels, boy bishops, fools, story-tellers, players, and a Corpus Christi play. While most of these individuals and troupes had noble patrons, others were identified by their association with a place: Ripon, York, Beverley, Boston, Durham, Topcliffe, Thirsk, and Fountains Abbey itself. Caret brackets (<…>) set off damaged or illegible parts of the document. Italics are used to indicate extensions of abbreviations. A single quotation mark (\') indicates that the abbreviation mark is omitted or ambiguous. | |
Thorner Records | |
| Jurisdiction 1: Star Chamber | Document category 1: N/A |
| From region: Yorkshire, West | From place: |
| Refers to location(s): Yorkshire, West, Thorner | |
| Relevant material from 1619 to 1621 | |
| STAC 8/225/30: Oglesthorpe v. Clough et al In 1620, William Oglesthorpe of Oglethorpe, esquire, submitted a bill of complaint to the Court of Star Chamber alleging that four men had conspired together to defame him with false, malicious accusations of felony. The conspirators were William Clough, the Puritan vicar of Bramham (now \'Bramham cum Oglethorpe\'); his brother Robert Clough of Bramham, husbandman; his kinsman James Beale, also of Bramham; and Clement Stephenson, labourer, of North Dighton. They allegedly soborned John Spink and Richard Sayner, two of Oglethorpe\'s servants, to testify that he had, over the preceding five years, stolen sheep in the manors of Oglethorpe, Bramham, and Clifford. Sir Francis Baildon, JP for Yorkshire, heard their complaint and Oglesthorpe\'s defence and exonerated him. William Oglesthorpe\'s bill of complaint began with a charge that William Clough had delivered a seditious sermon early in August 1619 in which he objected to a rushbearing at Thorner that some parishioners of Bramham attended and criticized King James I for making laws contrary to the laws of God. In the transcription of the document, square brackets ([...]) are used to indicate material that is crossed through or otherwise cancelled. Caret brackets (< ... >) mark parts of the text that are damaged or illegible. | |
Leeds Records | |
| Jurisdiction 1: Star Chamber | Document category 1: N/A |
| Jurisdiction 2: Diocesan | Document category 2: Metropolitical and diocesan visitation articles and injunctions |
| From region: Yorkshire, West | From place: Leeds |
| Relevant material from 1594 to 1621 | |
| Although we have not civic records that document performances in Leeds, the diocesan court of York and the Court of Star Chamber provide evidence of music during the time of divine service, two rushbearings, and two defamatory songs. All the records involve influential civic leaders, such as John Harrison, the \'benefactor of Leeds\'; John Metcalfe, deputy bailiff; Robert Cooke, vicar; and his successor in that office, his brother and curate, Alexander Cooke. The records provide evidence of the conflicts arising from the efforts to strengthen and develop the religious, economic, and political institutions of the borough. The format of the allegedly libellous songs in both the Star Chamber cases is editorial: we have set the songs as verse to facilitate the reading of them and to break up the single block of text produced by the court scribe. | |
Fewston Records | |
| Jurisdiction 1: Star Chamber | Document category 1: N/A |
| Jurisdiction 2: Diocesan | Document category 2: Metropolitical and diocesan visitation articles and injunctions |
| From region: Yorkshire, West | From place: Fewston |
| Relevant material from 1596 to 1622 | |
| Fewston Records The records of performance activity in the small village of Fewston arose from conflicts occasioned by rushbearings in 1596 and 1619 brought to the Church of St. Matthew and St. Lawrence. The conflicts led to charges heard in the Archdiocesan Court of York and the Court of Star Chamber. At the time of the first case, Nicholas Smithson was the vicar of Fewston, though he was not directly involved. In the second case, Smithson and three of his sons were the principal defendants, arguing against the complaint of Thomas Herryson, a local husbandman, that they had violently resisted the performance of the local custom and openly criticized King James\' Book of Sports as contrary to the law of God. In the transcriptions, italics indicate the extension of an abbreviation in the manuscript; an asterisk (*) precedes an item in the left margin; and caret brackets (<…>) set off material that is illegible or lost because of damage. | |
Accounts of Ingram of Temple Newsam | |
| Jurisdiction 1: Family | Document category 1: Household accounts |
| From region: Yorkshire, West | From place: |
| Relevant material from 1612 to 1642 | |
| Accounts of Ingram of Temple Newsam* Sir Arthur Ingram (before 1571-1642), financier and politician, was born in London, son of Hugh Ingram, a tallow chandler of Yorkshire origin and his wife Anne, daughter of Richard Goldthorpe, a haberdasher of York. Sir Arthur took over his father’s business and became a successful money-lender, gaining influence with powerful men at court. As a result of such support he was returned as a member of parliament for the first time in 1609. An active parliamentarian all his life, Ingram sat for York during the 1620s. He collaborated with Sir Thomas, later Lord,Wentworth at various times during his career, particularly in the late 1620s, but they fell out in the early 1630s, and Ingram resigned his secretaryship. He subsequently attached himself to Henry Rich, 1st earl of Holland, an opponent of Wentworth. Sir Arthur married three times: first (by 1599) to Susan Brown (d. 1613); secondly (in 1613) to Alice Ferrers (d. 1615); and thirdly (in 1615) to Mary Greville. He spent his considerable wealth on building and furnishing his houses. His principal residence in Yorkshire was his house in York, built between 1616 and 1630 on the site of the old archbishop’s palace, next to the Minster. He died on 24 August 1642. He died in York and is buried in the Minster. Sir Arthur Ingram’s Stewards’ Accounts: John Matteson was steward for Sir Arthur Ingram. By the 1620s he had general oversight of all Ingram’s northern affairs, apart from the alum industry. He was in charge of estate management, collecting rents, holding manorial courts, leasing property, supervising farming and dealing with tenants and neighbours. He was also in charge of building operations at Sir Arthur’s three houses, at York, Sheriff Hutton and Temple Newsam, and had oversight of the household, sorting out supplies of provisions, and transport of goods and money between Ingram’s London residence and Yorkshire. In addition to all this Matteson acted as Ingram’s treasurer in Yorkshire. Matteson was assisted in his work by his nephew, another John Matteson. Christopher Ellison was also a steward, but he was probably subordinate to Matteson. John Matteson the elder may have died in December 1642, just four months after Sir Arthur. Edmund Pawson’s notes: Copies and abstracts from stewards’ accounts (1604—42) from the Temple Newsam archives were made by Edmund D Pawson. Pawson, with Sidney D Kitson, prepared the first guide book to Temple Newsam house after it was bought by Leeds Corporation in 1922. The archive was not acquired by Leeds City Library until 1938. He attempted to create a chronological sequence of entries from the various accounts, not all of which can now be traced among the WYL100/EA MSS at West Yorkshire Archive Service, Leeds. His transcriptions are selective, and do not necessarily help to decipher the handwriting of Sir Arthur Ingram’s steward John Matteson. The three separate hands involved in writing the original accounts quoted here have been identified. John Matteson’s is often very difficult; his servant Richard Stones sometimes wrote accounts on his behalf; Christopher Ellison (‘Kitt’) was also a steward for Sir Arthur Ingram, and wrote some of the accounts. The Ingram records include evidence of the prominent role of musical performance in the life of a prosperous businessman’s household. Sir Arthur Ingram was willing to spend lavishly on his several organs, which were moved from house to house, even when finances were otherwise tight. He employed an organist, and a number of ‘singing boys’, who travelled to and from his various residences, and he regularly paid musicians to sing and play for himself and his guests. In addition his family owned and played their own instruments, including at least two harps. He also frequently brought in other kinds of entertainers, such as ‘the man that playes the birdes’, ‘the dog’, ‘the tonges’, ’the Jewes trumpes’ and ‘the Jugler’. In contrast to the family, Sir Arthur’s steward, John Matteson, records many more modest visits to hostelries, where he paid for ‘the musicke’ at convivial evenings with friends. Sources: Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (ODNB): Sir Arthur Ingram. Anthony F. Upton, Sir Arthur Ingram, c.1565-1642: a study in the origins of an English landed family, Oxford, 1961. Sidney D Kitson and Edmund D Pawson, Temple Newsam, 7th edn, Leeds City Council, 1936. Edmund D Pawson, manuscript notes (WYL178). Catalogues to WYL100 and WYL178 at WYAS Leeds. * These transcriptions appear with the permission of West Yorkshire Archive Service, Leeds (www.wyjs.org.uk/archives). The transcription and accompanying detail are provided by the REED West Riding co-editor Sylvia Thomas. | |
Beaumont of Whitley Beaumont Records | |
| Jurisdiction 1: Family | Document category 1: Correspondence |
| From region: Yorkshire, West | From place: Beaumont of Whitley Beaumont |
| Relevant material from 1604 to 1608 | |
| Sir Richard Beaumont, of Whitley Beaumont, received letters from Sir Thomas Beaumont and Sir Henry Savile with news of entertainments at court. The first letter (dated 21 February 1603/4) alludes to the pageants prepared by London for King James I\'s coronation entry into the city. The second letter (dated 18 February 1607/8) notes the masque, Ben Jonson\'s \"Hue and Cry after Cupid\", produced for the marriage of James Lord Ramsay, Viscount Haddington, and Elizabeth Radcliffe. The Beaumont collection also contains an undated, highly abbreviated list of dances with choreographies. In the transcription of the records: an asterisk (*) marks an item that appears in the left margin of the manuscript; diamond brackets (< >) indicate places where damage to the manuscript makes the text illegible; a vertical line ( | ) marks the end of a page in a manuscript; and square brackets set off material that has been cancelled or crossed through. | |
John Taylor's 'Summer Travels' 1639 | |
| Jurisdiction 1: Miscellaneous | Document category 1: Travellers' accounts |
| From region: Yorkshire, West | From place: Kiddal |
| Relevant material from 1639 to 0 | |
| During the summer and early fall of 1639, John Taylor, the 'water poet', travelled from London to various places throughout the north of England. During his journey from York and Tadcaster to Leeds, Taylor (along with two Drovers and 35 hogs) enjoyed an evening's entertainment provided by a tinker with a Banbury kettle-drum in an alehouse in Kiddal. | |
Aldborough Records | |
| From region: Yorkshire, West | From place: Aldborough, West Riding |
| Relevant material from 1585 to 1594 | |
| The village of Aldborough is located about 18.5 miles northwest of York. As an ancient parish, it included two townships in the old North Riding of Yorkshire, six in the West Riding, including the three that appear in the records: Aldborough, Boroughbridge, and Roecliff. Relevant REED material appears in the Manorial Court Roll for 1585 (held in the National Archives), the Diocesan Court Book for 1590-1 (Borthwick Institute) and the Diocesan Court Cause Papers for 1593-4 (Borthwick Institute). | |
Boroughbridge Record | |
| Jurisdiction 1: Diocesan | Document category 1: Metropolitical and diocesan visitation articles and injunctions |
| Jurisdiction 2: Parish | Document category 2: Churchwardens' accounts |
| From region: Yorkshire, West | From place: Boroughbridge |
| Relevant material from 1589 to 0 | |
| The Diocesan Visitation of 1589 provides evidence of the celebration of a traditional local custom at Boroughbridge, the election of a \'summer lord\'. The injunction to the churchwardens of the parish suggests that the ecclesiastical authorities aimed to control, but not to suppress apparently, the festivities associated with the parish event. | |
Doncaster Records | |
| Jurisdiction 1: Civic | Document category 1: Financial accounts (eg, chamberlains' or bailiffs' accounts) |
| Jurisdiction 2: Civic | Document category 2: Assembly rolls or council minute books |
| Jurisdiction 3: Star Chamber | Document category 3: N/A |
| From region: Yorkshire, West | From place: Doncaster |
| Relevant material from 1457 to 1642 | |
| Doncaster\'s records of performance, which range from 1457 to 1642 (the end of the period covered by REED) illustrate the various kinds of performance activity (musical, theatrical, customary, and ceremonial) and the various kinds of documents (personal, financial, legal, and administrative), that provide evidence of it. The numbers at the top right of each entry (DN01, DN02, etc) correspond to the document descriptions that follow. Items marked with an asterisk (*) appear in the left margin of the documents. Letters in italics mark the extension of abbreviations used in the manuscripts. Square brackets ( […] ) set off material that has been crossed through. Caret brackets ( <…> ) set off places where damage has resulted in the loss of material. | |
Wentworth Household Records | |
| Jurisdiction 1: Family | Document category 1: Correspondence |
| From region: Yorkshire, West | From place: |
| Relevant material from 1612 to 1638 | |
| WENTWORTH HOUSEHOLD. Edited by Sylvia Thomas. These transcriptions appear with the permission of Sheffield City Council, Libraries, Archives and Information: Sheffield Archives. WWM (Wentworth Woodhouse Muniments): reproduced with permission from The Milton (Peterborough) Estates Company and the Director of Communities, Sheffield City Council (the Wentworth Woodhouse papers have been accepted in lieu of Inheritance Tax by HM Government and allocated to Sheffield City Council). INTRODUCTION: Wentworth Woodhouse is in the parish of Wath-upon-Dearne, five miles from Rotherham and nine from Barnsley. It was the seat of the Wentworth family from the fourteenth century. William Wentworth of Wentworth Woodhouse, baronet (1562—1614), ‘a wealthy Yorkshire landowner whose family had long been established in the West Riding, was lord of two manors and master of a yearly income of several thousand pounds. Something less than a nobleman, something greater than a country squire, he belonged to that rising aristocracy of wealth who counted themselves inferior to none. His wife [Anne] was the daughter and heiress of Sir Robert Atkinson of Stowell in Gloucestershire… Sir Robert had a house in London and it was here that his daughter gave birth to her son’ [Thomas, on 13 April 1593]. [Wedgwood, chapter 1] Thomas Wentworth, first earl of Strafford (1593--1641), lord lieutenant of Ireland, was the second and eldest surviving son of William Wentworth. He was first elected to parliament in 1614, and again in 1620. His guiding belief was that there should be ‘a harmonious union betwixt the kinge, the nobles and Commons’ in order to achieve successful legislation (Cooper, Wentworth Papers, 153--5) but, as an opponent of the policies of the duke of Buckingham, he became allied to men hostile to the royal favourite. Wentworth’s first wife Margaret died on 14 August 1622, and by 1624 he was looking for an heiress to be his new wife, eventually settling on Lady Arabella Holles (1608/9 – 1631), daughter of John Holles, first earl of Clare. They were married on 24 February 1624/5. The influence of Buckingham, and of Sir John Savile, who was also hostile to Wentworth, resulted in the king’s decision to appoint him sheriff of Yorkshire in November 1625, so that he could no longer sit in Parliament. Over the next few years he continued to align himself with opponents of royal policy, refused to pay the forced loan raised to finance the war against France in 1626-7, and was imprisoned from June to December 1627. Elected a knight of the shire again in 1628, he spoke in favour of the bill of right, whilst at the same time believing that only adequate financial resources would enable the king to govern in accordance with the law and tradition, a principle in which Wentworth had a profound belief. His moderation in opposition earned him elevation to the peerage as Baron Wentworth of Wentworth Woodhouse and baron of Newmarch and Oversley on 22 July 1628. This apparent change of sides was seen as controversial in Yorkshire. After Buckingham’s death in August 1628 Wentworth was in December created Viscount Wentworth and on 25 December lord president of the north. He was successful in this office but ruthless in his methods, which made him a number of enemies. His second wife died on 5 October 1631, and he was deeply affected, all the more because her family, with whom he was on poor terms, held him responsible. They had four children, three of whom survived. Wentworth married again in October 1632. His third wife was Elizabeth (c.1614 – 1688), daughter of Sir Godfrey Rodes of Great Houghton, Yorkshire. This marriage produced a daughter, Margaret (d. 1681). On 12 January 1631/2 he was appointed lord deputy of Ireland, arriving in Dublin on 23 July 1633. Over the next six years he successfully and again ruthlessly exercised power on behalf of the king, increasing revenues for the crown, and also enriching himself, although opposing corruption. He again made powerful enemies. In August 1639 Charles I, whose government was under threat from Parliament and from the Scots covenanters, recalled Wentworth to England to become his chief councillor, making him in January 1639/40 lord lieutenant of Ireland and creating him earl of Strafford. On the illness of the earl of Northumberland, the official commander, Strafford was sent to lead the king’s forces in northern England in August 1640, but the situation was hopeless, and his authority declined rapidly. ‘Black Tom Tyrant’ was held responsible for the king’s disastrous policies and mistakes of the past ten years. In November the Commons accused him of high treason and impeached him in the House of Lords. Strafford was so skilful in his own defence that the proceedings seemed likely to collapse, but the Commons passed a bill of attainder on 21 April 1641. In the face of intense public hysteria against him whipped up by his enemies the bill was passed and given assent by the king on 10 May (despite an earlier royal promise to save his life). He was beheaded on Tower Hill on 12 May 1641. [SOURCES: C.V.Wedgwood, Thomas Wentworth, First Earl of Strafford, 1593-1641: a Revaluation, London, 1961. Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (ODNB): Thomas Wentworth. J.P.Cooper, ed., Wentworth Papers, 1597-1628, Royal Historical Society, Camden Fourth Series, vol. 12, 1973.] *The records are presented here in draft form and have not had final checking and editing for official publication by REED staff. Permission to cite this material must be sought from Sylvia Thomas. | |
Slingsby Household Accounts | |
| Jurisdiction 1: Family | Document category 1: Household accounts |
| From region: Yorkshire, West | From place: Slingsby of Red House |
| Relevant material from 1610 to 1628 | |
| The Slingsby family was established in the Knaresborough area from the fourteenth century, having the manor and extensive estates at Scriven, and property elsewhere in the West Riding. In the sixteenth century they also acquired the manor house at Scagglethorpe, commonly called "The Red House" and the nearby manors of Moor Monkton and Wilstrop. The original Red House was replaced in the early seventeenth century by the one whose remains partially survive, having been partly demolished and refaced in the nineteenth century, converted into a school in 1902, and in the present century adapted again as private dwellings. The builder of the new house was Sir Henry Slingsby, knight (1560-1634), who lived there with his wife, Frances Vavasour (d. 1611), by whom he had 14 children. [...] The accounts also document expenses at private houses: Walton in August 1614, Bishopthorpe at Christmas that year, and Hickleton in January 1620-21. Walton was probably the house of Sir Henry’s daughter Alice and son-in-law Thomas Waterton 3 miles south east of Wakefield; the house of Sir John Jackson, where Sir Henry also stayed in 1614, and in January 1620-21, is probably at Hickleton, 6 miles north west of Doncaster. The grand Elizabethan house there, built by the lawyer Sir Francis Rodes for his son Peter, was in the ownership of the Jackson family by 1606. It was replaced by a new hall in the 1740s; Bishopthorpe was probably the Archbishop of York’s seat, 2½ miles south of York. These transcriptions have been prepared by Sylvia Thomas and Ted McGee and appear with the permission of the Yorkshire Archaeological and Historical Society and Special Collections, Leeds University Library. | |
Methley Records | |
| Jurisdiction 1: Family | Document category 1: Household accounts |
| Jurisdiction 2: Family | Document category 2: Journals/Diaries |
| From region: Yorkshire, West | From place: Methley |
| Relevant material from 1443 to 1614 | |
| Methley: Records of Performance The ancient village of Methley and, just to the west, Methley Manor were located about eight miles southeast of Leeds near the confluence of the River Aire and the River Calder. The records of performance in the manor house, home of Sir Robert Waterton, include a celebration of Hogmanay during the Christmas season of 1443-1444 and rewards to travelling musicians. For the village of Methley, we have evidence of several performances of a parish play and a rush-bearing at Whitsuntide in 1614. In both cases, we are fortunate that these records survive, for they are found in sources largely devoted to other matters: Richard Whitwood's manorial account and Richard Shann's personal miscellany or commonplace book. Document Descriptions and Notes appear after the transcriptions of the records. The transcriptions have been marked up in accordance with the following editorial procedures: Italics mark extensions of manuscript abbreviations. A horizontal line | marks the end of a folio or page. Square brackets [ ] set off text crossed through or otherwise cancelled. Caret brackets < > set off damaged text. Asterisks set off material in the left margin. Superscript circles set off material in the right margin. DISCLAIMER: The material below is offered in pre-publication form. It has not received editorial attention from REED’s staff paleographers and Latinists, nor have the notes and other editorial apparatus been checked for completeness and accuracy. | |
Aberford: Court of the Star Chamber: Silltoe vs. Thomson, etc. | |
| Jurisdiction 1: Star chamber | Document category 1: N/A |
| From region: Yorkshire, West | From place: Aberford, Yorkshire, West Riding |
| Relevant material from 1620 to 1621 | |
| Aberford: Court of the Star Chamber: Shilleto vs. Thomson, etc., 1620-21. The record comes from a case brought by Thomas Shilleto against Thomson, Pollard, Lofte, Dixon and others, accusing them of composing verses that denigrated Shilleto in his capacity as High Constable of Barkston Ash and, as a result, discredit him in the eyes of other officers of justice. The case also makes reference to Sherburn in Elmet, South Milford, Ferrybridge, Knottingley, and Pontefract. | |
Beckwith of Selby, Travel Expenses, Steward's Accounts | |
| Jurisdiction 1: Family | Document category 1: Household accounts |
| From region: Yorkshire, West | From place: Beckwith of Selby |
| Relevant material from 1551 to 1555 | |
| Sir Leonard Beckwith of Selbywas, according to W. Wilberforce Morrell "one of those enterprising individuals who elevated their social position and built up their houses on the ruins of the monasteries" (The History and Antiquities of Selby (Selby, 1867), 134.In 1541 Selby Abbey had been granted to Sir Ralph Sadler, who received licence from the king in the same year to transfer the manor to Leonard Beckwith. Selby was located on the River Ouse about 14 miles south of York. Taking advantage of his offices at St. Mary's Abbey in York, Fountains, and Selby and of his position as one of the commissioners "for ordering of bells, chalices, and other church goods" (Ibid.) for Yorkshire, Beckwith steadily amassed considerable property in Selby and elsewhere in the county. He served as High Sheriff of Yorkshire in 1550, the same year in which he was knighted by King Edward VI, and he died in 1557.The terms of his will suggest that he remained faithful to Roman Catholicism throughout his years of service to three Protestant regimes. | |