Historical Research Notes

HISTORICAL RESEARCH NOTES

acts of the dean and chapter of rochester 1575-1584

The first surviving Chapter Acts of Rochester Cathedral, translated and edited by the author, are published on the KAS website. The Introduction to these Acts is reproduced below.1 Inset page numbers are those of the original Chapter Acts (DRc/A1).

The Chapter

Rochester was one of the smallest of the Henrician cathedrals, governed by a Dean and six Canons (half the number at Canterbury). The cathedral body was formally established on 18 June 1541 and received its endowment two days later. Statutes followed on 30 June 1544, issued by commissioners who made similar regulations for most of the other new foundations during that summer.² From among the Canons a Vice-Dean, Treasurer and Receiver were elected annually, and this election is invariably recorded in the Act Book. The Receiver was responsible for collecting the income from the cathedral’s various properties, the Treasurer for its internal distribution. There were also six ordained minor canons and six lay clerks in the choir, eight boy choristers and their master, and two (lay) sub-sacrists or sextons. The chief minor canon, called Precentor or Chanter, was in addition to his musical function a kind of NCO overseeing the inferior ministers. The 20 scholars of the King’s School, with their two masters, were likewise a subordinate department of the collegiate body. In addition there were six almsmen (supposedly military veterans), and a small number of lay officers and servants. The Deans and Canons held office by grant under the Great Seal. All others were appointed jointly by the Dean and Chapter, though by internal agreement the placing of the scholars was shared out on a pro rata basis (p. 9). Some other nominations were also delegated to individual members of the Chapter. All appointments were made for life. The higher clergy tended to be the most transient element in the cathedral community, liable to move on to even better preferment. Nevertheless during the period of these Acts the Chapter members were generally long-serving; indeed two held stalls for over forty years.

Thomas Willoughby, who was appointed Dean in 1572, came from a prominent family in Lincolnshire, connected to the Barons Willoughby d’Ereseby.³ He had been appointed a Canon of Canterbury by Edward VI, but was deprived for marriage by Queen Mary. He was restored by Elizabeth, whose chaplain he was, and retained his stall along with the rectory of Bishopsbourne in commendam with his deanery.⁴ His successor John Coldwell was a native of the county, born at Faversham; he was Chaplain to Archbishop Parker, and beneficed at Tunstall and Saltwood with Hythe before succeeding Willoughby in 1585. He was advanced to the bishopric of Salisbury in 1591, and died five years later.⁵

Although new foundation canons were really portioners, with equal stipends from a common source, their stalls and ‘prebends’ were numbered I-VI.⁶ Seniority was however by date of appointment, and by that reckoning the Canons featured in the Act Book are Percival Wiborne (1560-1606),⁷ Robert Johnson (1569-87, 1588-1610);⁸ William Absolon (1574-1586/7),⁹ John Calverley (Feb. - June/July 1576),¹⁰ John Maplesden (1576-1613),¹¹ Edmund Rockrey (July 1576-after 1589),¹² and John Wolward (July 1576-?).¹³ Wiborne, Rockrey and Johnson were all ardent reformers; Rockrey was suspended for nonconformity between 1584 until 1588; Wiborne, from an earlier generation, had shared the Marian exile, and maintained contact with Beza and Bullinger; he also took the Reformation to Guernsey.¹⁴ Yet paradoxically both he and Johnson were shameless cathedral pluralists. Wiborne managed to retain his canonries at Norwich and Westminster as well as Rochester when he was sequestered from his London vicarage for refusing subscription. Johnson was Canon of Norwich, Peterborough, Rochester and Windsor, and likewise came into conflict with higher powers; he is chiefly remembered as founder of Oakham and Uppingham Schools.¹⁵

Most of these men shared a Cambridge background – Wiborne and Coldwell were at St John’s together; Maplesden was at the same college a decade later, Wolward was at King’s when Rockrey was next door at Queens’, and Johnson was his neighbour on the other side at Clare. Willoughby’s early life is not so surely documented, but it seems he too began his studies at Cambridge. Of the Rochester Chapter of 1575-84 only John Calverley and William Absolon were Oxford men. Maplesden is thought to have been born at Maidstone, and became Rector of East Barming; Calverley was successively Rector of Stone, Beckenham and Cliffe at Hoo.

In the old secular foundations canons could elect to serve a period of residence, which brought them certain financial and social (not to mention spiritual) benefits. This was voluntary, and most canons were content to draw the stipends (‘prebends’) attached to their stalls, delegating their places in the cathedral services to vicars choral. The system usefully provided incomes for administrators and diplomats, but was at odds with the principles of the Reformation. The Henrician cathedrals were meant to be centres of preaching, education and charity, and to this end the deans and canons were supposed to be permanently resident. Instead of separate prebends of varying value (deriving from particular estates or funds), the canons had equal stipends from a central endowment. But since absence was none the less anticipated, the stipend was divided into a basic element (corpus) and a daily allowance (quotidian) payable only to those who gave the minimum liturgical attendance. To encourage residence the unpaid quotidians of absentees were shared among those who were present.¹⁶ More valuable still were entry fines and sealing fees payable on new leases; only canons present when during these transactions were completed shared this ‘casual’ income. In the old foundations the residentiaries could protect the level of these perquisites by restricting their own numbers. New foundation canons did not have that option; on the contrary they reduced the number of their meetings so that most of them could be present to qualify for their dividends. So it was that by the 1570s the Rochester chapter was solemnly convened only twice a year; at Midsummer and in late November (on or after the 25th, St Katherine’s Day).

The Dean and Chapter did not use the monastic Chapter House for its meetings, but sat in a smaller room at the east end of the church (p. 21). During Dean Willoughby’s last days, when he was too ill to leave the Deanery, his colleagues joined him there. Often the meetings were extended over several days – sometimes in order to secure a larger attendance. But occasionally there was no quorum and the meeting was abandoned.

While much of their business was formal and regular, there is some evidence of controversy. When Thomas Bell was given a grant of the next vacant Rochester stall in June 1581, Sir Thomas Walsingham supported his claim to the 3rd stall in succession to Martin Collins. The Chapter replied that Collins had been dead for twelve years, and that Robert Johnson had been lawfully occupying the stall as his successor.¹⁷ This was the reason for the solemn caveat entered in the Act Book on 16 July (p. 20). Bell’s claim was not pressed, though for some reason Johnson later resigned and was almost at once reappointed to the next vacancy, which turned out to be the 5th stall.¹⁸ A tougher battle was fought for the 6th stall, which fell vacant by the death of John Ellis just before the main series of Acts begins. Walter Hayte was given a grant of the next vacancy on 26 March 1576; but before he could take his place, on 27 July the Queen gave John Wolward a patent in specific succession to Ellis.¹⁹ Wolward was in possession by 20 November (p. 4) but the dispute came before the Court of Common Pleas in 1578, when Wolward accused Hayte of forgery, and Hayte alleged that the Queen had herself altered Wolward’s patent in his own favour.²⁰ Wolward retained his stall throughout the period covered by the Act Book; but in January 1586 Bishop Young instituted Hayte as Ellis’s successor, so that Wolward (alive or dead) was struck from the record.

Most act books indict the lower clergy and men of the choir with intermittent disorder, usually associated with drink. The Dean and Chapter showed much forbearance in the face of repeated and colourfully expressed abuse from Thomas Morrice and John Kinge; and even when these men were finally dismissed they were given pensions of £5 a piece (p. 14). The deprived minor canons were still regarded as part of the collegiate body, to be assembled at the Bishop’s visitation (p. 35). With disorderly tenants the Chapter’s patience was shorter. They demolished dwellings which had without leave been built on their land (pp. 28, 30), and regularly went to law to assert their rights as landlords.

The Documents

Chapter Books or Acts are the business minutes of those who govern cathedrals and other collegiate churches. They are distinctive of secular colleges, in which the higher clergy are set in authority; there is no equivalent in monastic churches, where the Chapters comprises the whole community. The format varies from place to place, but generally includes the appointment and admission of clergy and other officials, the granting of leases, presentations to benefices, and regulations for communal life. These documents are therefore central to any study of the institutions which produced them.²¹ Such record-keeping began in old foundation secular cathedrals, and was taken up in the cathedral bodies established by Henry VIII. Indeed the latter were obliged by statute to keep act books, but at first this was done rather casually. In some cases the book was written up by the dean; at Westminster and Ely a marked improvement is seen when the original deans (ex-Abbot and ex-Prior) were replaced by men with experience in collegiate administration. Eventually the duty of keeping the minutes passed to the Chapter Clerk, an official long established in the old foundations.²² The first Dean of Rochester, Walter Phillips (lately Prior Boxley) may well have kept the first Act Book of the new foundation; but nothing survives from his time (1540-1570) or that of his successor Edmund Freake (1570-2). But whatever predecessors it may have had, the main document marks a new start by the recently-appointed Chapter Clerk, Martin Cotes. Although running for only nine years, it includes most elements in the genre; and beyond its formalities there is much personal and topographical detail. It is a rare survivor, having no successor for almost a hundred years.²³

Cotes was a Notary Public, Town Clerk, and in 1578 one of the City Coroners. He lived next to the great gate on the side of what is now King’s Head Lane, and died there in 1605.²⁴ A prodigious compiler and manager of paperwork, he has left his mark throughout the Dean and Chapter’s archives. His naive delight in his own consequence is signalled by the pointing finger at every mention of himself in the Acts. But his motto suggests that he knew that efficiency is not always welcome, when he came to compose his will in 1605 he made a last assault on those who had displeased him: ‘I will and bequeath to every tatling and tale-bearing gossip, man or woman, to their heirs and successors for ever, these golden tablets and pomanders out of the box of Solomon’s Proverbs, viz. Chapter the 18 verse the 8,²⁵ chapter the 20 verse 19,²⁶ chapter 20 verse 20’.²⁷ His more conventional bequests show him to have been a man of substance and orderly mind. Predictably he owned Justice Fitzherbert’s Natura Brevium (1534) and several books of statutes, as well as Grafton’s Chronicle. He asked to be buried alongside his wife on the north side of the cathedral.²⁸

The Chapter Act book is therefore the work of a professional. It is mostly executed in a crisp secretary hand, with only a few addenda more casually written. It was begun retrospectively, because the first sets of signatures (3 groups on p. 4) are all copies. Actual signing begins with the meeting of 23 June 1577 (p. 7). Even then genuine signatures could have been added retrospectively, by way of assenting to a decision taken when the signatory was absent; and it will be seen that signatures below the entry for 12 January 1583 (p. 25) do not agree with the names of those said to be present. Retrospective signing is specifically allowed at the meeting of 31 March 1578 (p. 10).²⁹ The book was probably already sewn together within its parchment covers in 1575. The main body of acts progressively filled the book forwards to 30 November 1584 (p. 31). At that point there were only two blank pages left before the memoranda and formularies which had been entered from the other end. Cotes must then have moved on to a new volume.

The main text is supplemented by two related documents. One is a straightforward set of regulations which immediately pre-dates the start of the book. There is also have a stray leaf with, on one side two draft but signed acts for 1577, and on the other side some rough notes and a deleted draft act for 1579.³⁰ This is a puzzling fragment because the two entries for 1577 are related but appear in the wrong order. Possibly the leaf was detached because of this muddle, but the diplomatic suggests that it was never more than a draft, signed by the Dean and some of the Canons outside the formality of a chapter meeting. The reverse of the paper was then used by Cotes for notes on other occasions.

¹ The editor’s thanks are due to successive archivists at Strood and Maidstone for access to and copies from the Cathedral and Diocesan records. Mr P. Mussett kindly provided a copy of relevant sections of the old Strood catalogue before the launching of cityark.medway.gov.uk.

² Bodleian Library, Oxford, MS e Musæo 51 printed in R. Rawlinson, History and Antiquities of the Cathedral Church of Rochester (1717), pp. 60-115; later copies in DRc/As1, pp. 1-39; As2, pp. 16-72. A.H. Thompson collated the texts of the new foundation statutes in The Statutes of the Cathedral Church of Durham (Surtees Soc. 143, 1929).

³ The Visitation of Kent, taken in the years 1619-1621. By John Phlipot, Rouge Dragon, ed. R. Hovenden (Harleian Soc. 42, 1898), p. 8.

⁴ ODNB. Alumni Cantabrigienses, ed. J. and J.A. Venn, pt 1 (Cambridge, 1922-7), iv, p. 423.

⁵ ODNB. Venn, Alumni Cantab. i, p. 366.

⁶ Full details are given in John Le Neve, Fasti Ecclesiae Anglicanae 1541-1847, iii, Canterbury, Rochester and Winchester Dioceses, ed. J.M. Horn (1974) [part 2].

⁷ ODNB. Venn, Alumni Cantab. iv, p. 481.

⁸ ODNB. Venn, Alumni Cantab. ii, p. 480.

⁹ Alumni Oxonienses, ed. J. Foster (Oxford, 1891-2), i, p. 3.

¹⁰ Foster, Alumni Oxon. i, p. 232.

¹¹ Venn, Alumni Cantab. iii, p. 138.

¹² Venn, Alumni Cantab. iii, p. 477.

¹³ Venn, Alumni Cantab. iv, p. 450.

¹⁴ C.H. Garrett, The Marian Exiles: A Study in the Origins of Elizabethan Puritanism (Cambridge, 1938), p. 331.

¹⁵ The fullest accounts of him are in J. Barber, The Story of Oakham School (Wymondham, 1983), pp. 18-39, and B. Matthews, By God’s Grace ....: A History of Uppingham School (Maidstone, 1984), pp. 8-12.

¹⁶ So ordered by Bishop Guest in 1565: Visitation Articles of the Period of the Reformation, ed. W.H. Frere and W.McC. Kennedy (Alcuin Club 14-16, 1910), iii, p. 153.

¹⁷ DRb/Elb 1, ff. 34v-35. Le Neve, Fasti, p. 64.

¹⁸ Le Neve, Fasti, p. 67.

¹⁹ Ibid., p. 69 & n. 1.

²⁰ Calendar of State Papers Domestic, Addenda 1569-71, p. 541. Faith and Fabric: a History of Rochester Cathedral, 604-1994, eds W.N. Yates with P.A. Welsby (Woodbridge, 1994), p. 63.

²¹ See K. Edwards, The English Secular Cathedrals in the Middle Ages (2nd edn, Manchester, 1967), pp. 28-30, and D.M. Owen, The Records of the Established Church in England (1970, p. 54 n. 73). Editions include The Chapter Acts of the Cathedral Church of Lincoln, 1520-1559, ed. R.E.G. Cole (Lincoln Record Soc. 12, 13, 15, 1915-17); Extracts from the Two Earliest Minute Books of the Dean and Chapter of Norwich Cathedral, 1566-1649, ed. J.F. Williams and B. Cozens-Hardy (Norfolk Record Soc. 24, 1953; The Chapter Acts of the Dean and Canons of Windsor, 1420, 1523-1672, ed. S. Bond (Windsor, 1966); Wells Cathedral Chapter Act Book 1666-83, ed. D.S. Bailey (Somerset Record Soc. 72, and Historical Manuscripts Commission JP20, 1973); The First Chapter Act Book of Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin, 1674-1634, ed. R. Gillespie (Dublin, 1997); The Acts of the Dean and Chapter of Westminster, 1543-1609; 1609-1642, ed. C.S. Knighton (Westminster Abbey Record Ser. 1, 2, and 4, 1997-9, 2006); Gloucester Cathedral Chapter Act Book 1616-1687, ed. S. Eward (Bristol and Gloucestershire Archaeological Soc. 21, 2007).

²² Edwards, English Secular Cathedrals, pp. 208-10. K. Major, ‘The office of Chapter Clerk at Lincoln in the Middle Ages’, Medieval Studies presented to Rose Graham, ed. V. Ruffer and A.J. Taylor (Oxford, 1950), pp. 163-88.

²³ The next surviving act book comprises six sections covering the years 1678 to 1684: DRc/Ac 2.

²⁴ DRc/T281 (Cotes’s endorsement to 1475 enfeoffment of the property).

²⁵ ‘The words of a talebearer are as wounds, and they go down into the innermost parts of the belly’.

²⁶ ‘He that goeth about as a talebearer revealeth secrets: therefore meddle not with him that flattereth with his lips’.

²⁷ ‘Whoso curseth his father or his mother, his lamp shall be put out in obscure darkness’.

²⁸ DRb/Pw 20 (1605).

²⁹ Cf. D.E. Hoak, The King’s Council in the Reign of Edward VI (Cambridge, 1976), pp. 13-14, 18-19.

³⁰ DRc/Ac A1.

c.s. knighton

a rate assessment for st mary, lewisham, 1770

The listing below, created by the churchwardens, is of importance because the original no longer exists. A fire at the church on the 26 December 1830 destroyed or damaged a large number of early registers which included the churchwardens’ accounts. The catalogue of surviving records with the Lewisham Local Studies and Archives shows an overseer’s rate and account book for 1764-1770 (SM/1/4/1). The archivists very kindly checked but sadly this volume does not include an assessment made on 17th October 1770. The last assessment included in the volume is for November 1769 and the following pages covering business in 1770 are concerned with disbursements. The volume which follows this book has not survived. Fortunately, however, a copy of the 17/10/1770 assessment was an exhibit in a Rochester Consistory Court case and survives in the Bishopric of Rochester Muniment Book (see below).

The churchwardens were responsible for a large range of duties including maintain-ing the fabric and furnishings of the church and churchyard. For instance the Canons of 1604 gave them specific instructions about providing for the communion.

XX. Bread and Wine to be provided against every Communion.

The Church-wardens of every Parish, against the time of every Communion, shall at the Charge of the Parish, with the Advice and Direction of the Minister, provide a sufficient Quantity of fine white Bread, and of good and wholesome Wine, for the number of Communicants that shall from time to time receive there; which Wine we require to be brought to the Communion-Table in a clean and sweet standing Pot, or Stoop of Pewter, if not of purer Metal.

The churchwardens’ income could come from a variety of sources but here we have details from the church rates (which were not abolished until 1867). The Compulsory Church Rates Abolition Act was passed in 1868 whereby church rates were no longer compulsory on the person rated, but merely voluntary. Those who were not willing to pay them were excluded from inquiring into, objecting to, or voting in respect of their expenditure.

Rates were to be made by the churchwardens, together with the parishioners assembled, upon public notice in the church. The assent in many instances was from the vestry. These levies were not chargeable upon the land but upon the person in respect of the land, and houses as well as lands are chargeable. As can be seen from the listing persons living out of the parish but having lands within the parish were to be rated.

The manner of setting the assessment arose out of an order from Doctors Commons (concerning the assessors at Wrotham).¹

(1) Every inhabitant dwelling within the parish, is to be charged according to his ability, whether in land or living within the same parish, or for his goods there; that is to say, for the best of them, but not for both.

(2) Every farmer dwelling out of the parish, and having lands and living within the said parish in his own occupation, is to be charged to the value of the same lands or living, or else to the value of the stock thereupon; even for the best, but not for both.

(3) Every farmer dwelling out of the parish, and having lands and living within the parish, in the occupation of any farmer or farmers, is not to be charged; but the farmer or farmers thereof are to be charged in particularity, every one according to the value of the land which he occupieth, or according to the stock thereupon; even for the best, but not for both.

(4) Every inhabitant and farmer occupying arable land within the parish, and feeding his cattle out of the parish, is to be charged for the arable lands within the parish, although his cattle be fed out of the parish.

(5) Every farmer of any mill within the parish, is to be charged for that mill; and the owner thereof (if he be an inhabitant) is to be charged for his hability in the same parish, besides the mill.

(6) Every owner of lands, tenements, copyholds or other hereditaments, inhabiting within the parish, is to be taxed according to his wealth in regard of a parishioner, although he occupy none of them himself; and his farmer or farmers also to be taxed for occupying only.

(7) That the assessors are not to tax themselves, but to leave the taxation of them to the residue of the parish.²

Two justices (one of the Quorum) may make their warrant to the churchwardens to levy by distress all sums in arrear of those who refuse to contribute according to assessment and in default of distress commit them to gaol till payment.³ However, if someone feels aggrieved at the inequality of any assessment then his recourse is not to the justices but to the ecclesiastical court and that is what we have an example here.

The ecclesiastical court papers do not appear to have survived so we can only surmise that Russell felt that he was unfairly assessed by the churchwardens and took the matter to the Consistory Court of Rochester. Neither do we know from the surviving record the outcome of the case, but it is clear from the record that the arithmetic for some of the larger estates is not consistent with the given levy of 6d. in the pound.

Kent History and Library Centre (KHLC): DRb/A/m/5 Bishopric of Rochester Muniment book May 1754 to September 1773 folio 76v to 84

[The original English spelling of the document has been retained and where letters were omitted in the original, due to abbreviation, these have been expanded in the transcript to ease comprehension. If letters were superscripted, they have been given their modern positions in the word and capital letters have been retained as in modern usage. Interlined words shown between < > marks.]

Green and Price against Russell

Copy of Exhibit marked (A) pleaded in a libel given in by Mr Bishop the original of which is delivered out of Court pursuant to an order for that purpose:

An assesment made the 17th day of October 1770 on the inhabitants of the parish of Lewisham in the county of Kent for and towards repairing the church and other uses concerning the same on landholders and others of ability to the best of our judgment at six pence in the pound.

John Green & Henry Gresham

Churchwardens

October 17, 1770

At a lawful vestry this day held we whose names are hereunto sett do allow of this before written assessment amounting to the sum of £194-6s.

Will[iam] Lowth, vicar

John Green, Churchwarden

W[illia]m Gotty & John Tempest ,Overseers

John Tempest

Cha[rle]s Johnson

John Corbett

Thomas Sanders

5th July 1771

We confirm this rate as far as by law we may or can

Fr[anci]s Simpson, Prest

Rog[e]r Altham, Dep[u]ty Reg[iste]r

The entry of the preceeding church rate marked (A) is a true copy of its original having been examined therewith this fourth day of May 1773 by us

Nath[aniel] Bishop Notary Publ[ic]

Rog[er] Altham Not[ar]y Publ[ic]

Received 4th May 1733 the original rate book for the parish of Lewisham in which the above written rate is contained

Nath[aniel] Bishop proctor for the churchwardens

The number of householders residing in Lewisham listed above totals roughly 325 which suggests that the total population of the parish was in the region of 1,500 in 1770. A century earlier, the 1664 Hearth Tax data shows Lewisham then had 233 householders.¹⁴ It is apparent from some of the details in the listing and the two views of Lewisham (see Figs 1 and 2) also dated 1770, together with one of a watermill (Fig. 3), that the parish still had a very rural flavour. A contemporary map shows Lewisham as being of very modest size compared with the large built-up areas of Deptford and Greenwich to the north (Fig. 4). Its population was about to expand rapidly however – the 1801 census shows that it exceeded 4,000 by that date.

The Rochester muniment volume contains a number of other Lewisham items. A record of the vestry 26 December 1765 requesting a faculty for repairing the bells of the church which was granted 2 April 1766; another vestry and faculty regarding the creation of a drain under the tower in 1766, for which a caveat is pasted into the front of the book.

It is possible that the volume also provides the identification of the Mrs Knapp in the above listing. For on 29 September 1773 Elizabeth Knapp was granted a faculty to remove the body of The Reverend Joseph Knapp late of the parish of Lewisham, who died in 1757, from a vault in the churchyard of Lewisham for his body to be buried in the chancel of Cheriton church where she intends to be buried.

Leland Duncan, who wrote a History of Lewisham, donated his notebooks of Lewisham Monumental Inscriptions to the Kent Archaeological Society. These have been transcribed and from the on-line data we discover the following details.

460. [274]. Altar tomb*: Here lieth ye body of Elizabeth Knapp the beloved wife of John Knapp, of this Parish, Citizen and Vintner of London, she departed this life the thirteen of May, 1726 ætat 51. Here also lieth ye body of John Knapp of this Parish, who departed this life the 11 day of August, 1740 aged 64 years. Here also lieth ye body of Robert Knapp, second son of the above John and Elizabeth Knapp, he died the 28 June, 1744 aged 38 years. Here lieth the body of the revd. Joseph Knapp, Rector of Brampton, near Northampton, son of John and Elizabeth Knapp, he died the 22 of December, 1757, in the 55 year of his age. *On the top is the following Coat of Arms: A lion passant, in chief 3 helmets (Knapp). Impaling: An eagle displayed debruised by a chevron engrailed, charged with 3 lozenges (Hyde).

Fig. 5 is a fine view of Place House, Lewisham. According to Leland L. Duncan (History of Lewisham, 1908, p. 144) the portion of the house shown in the engraving belonged to Mr Richard Brooke, mentioned earlier in this note. Lysons’ Environs of London (1796), Volume IV, p. 518, gives the following details:

The manor of Sydenham was given by John Besvile to the prior and convent of St. Andrew in Rochester. What became of it immediately after the dissolution of religious houses, I have not been able to learn; but, in 1641, it was vested in George, Abraham, and Robert Edmonds, as coheirs, in gavelkind, of George Edmonds. The demesne land, and the manor-house, a great mansion, generally known by the name of Place-house, were then divided between the three brothers; but soon afterwards Robert sold his share to the other two. Abraham Edmonds, in 1679, sold his moiety to William Grimett. This moiety was afterwards subdivided into moieties in the Grimett family. Both of these were purchased by Richard Brooke, Esq.; the one in 1763, of Francis Grimett, Esq. the other in 1765, of Mrs. Christian Hunt, widow, great-grandaughter of William Grimett above mentioned. George Edmonds’s moiety passed through several hands, and was for many years in litigation between persons claiming under different wills. A decree in Chancery was obtained a few years ago, and it was then purchased by Mr. Jonathan Sabine (the present proprietor) who has pulled down his moiety of the house. The eastern moiety, which is now standing, was inherited (with the lands belonging to it) by Mr. Brooke’s niece, the widow of John Secker, Esq. who is the present proprietor. Place-house is said to have been one of the seats of the Earl of Essex, Queen Elizabeth’s favourite; but I cannot find any authority for the tradition.

duncan harrington

¹ F. Godolphin, Repertorum Canonicum: or an abridgement of the ecclesiastical laws of this realm (1687), Appendix p. 10, no. 31: ‘Instructions of the civilians for making rate. An order and Direction set down by Doctor King, Dr Lewen, Dr Lynsey, Dr Hoane, Dr Sweite, Dr Steard and others Doctors of the Civil laws, to the number of thirteen in all, assembled together in the Common-Dining hall of Doctors Commons in London, touching the course to be observed by the assessors to their taxations of the church and walls of the church-yard of Wrotham in Kent, and to be applied generally, upon occasions of like reparations, to all places in England whatsoever’.

The traditional starting point for the society of Doctors’ Commons is 1511 by Richard Blodwell, Dean of the Arches. According to others, it existed already in the 15th century. This famous institution was founded as a learned society of divines and of advocates practicing in the ecclesiastical courts of Canterbury and formed a kind of ecclesiastical Inn of Court. The society’s buildings, which were acquired on a long lease in 1567 by Henry Harvey ll.d., from the Dean and Chapter of St Paul’s Cathedral was bounded on the north by Knightrider Street where it remained until the buildings were sold in 1865. Initially it was for the use of the Advocates and Doctors of the Court of Arches or other graduates of the Universities. In 1768 it was incorporated under the official name of College of Doctors of Law exercent in the Ecclesiastical and Admiralty Courts. The college consisted of a president (the dean of Arches for the time being) and of those doctors of civil law (here meaning Roman Law) and Canon Law who, having regularly taken that degree in either of the universities of Oxford or Cambridge, and having been admitted advocates in pursuance of the decree of the archbishop of Canterbury, were elected fellows in the manner prescribed by the charter. There were also attached to the college thirty-four proctors, amongst whose duties were to represent the parties in instance litigation and prepare almost all the documents used in the courts. The building is known, by many, from the accommodation of the Prerogative Will Office and Registry, where the wills were kept in a strong room and the Registrars with their Principal Clerks had their seats.

² Godolphin appendix, pp. 11-12, then enumerates all the items that are to be accounted church and churchyard reparations and the duties belonging to the church covered by the rates.

³ The Complete Parish Officer (London, 1772), p. 128.

⁴ The sums have been carefully checked but quite a few are wrong especially the larger amounts.

⁵ No sum given but should be 30.

⁶ These two Boyde entries appear to have been duplicated by the copyist.

⁷ Should have been 4s. 6d.

⁸ Meaning uncertain, seemingly connected with payment, but added later.

⁹ Or Ponts.

¹⁰ Should be 8s.

¹¹ This is probably a purchase by ‘Feet of Fine’ and represents the value of the property (gives rental value of £4).

¹² From his MI’s (KAS on-line copy): 298. [58] Flat stone In memory of Richard BROOKE Esquire citizen and stationer of London who departed this life April the 2nd 1772 aged 66 years and lyes here interred. Also Mrs Jane Brooke relict of the above who departed this life August 4th 1784 aged 78 years. See also note 16.

¹³ Probably a purchase by ‘Feet of Fine’ and represents the value of the property (gives rental value of £16).

¹⁴ D. Harrington, S. Pearson and S. Rose, 2000, Kent Hearth Tax Assessment Lady Day 1664, Kent Records Volume xxix, pp. 21-24, 462.

¹⁵ Leland L. Duncan (History of Lewisham, 1908, pp. 22-23) discusses the number of water mills on the Ravensbourne . These were rateable by the churchwardens.

¹⁶ Description View of Place House, Lewisham: Ruins of the original 16th Century house. Artist Joseph Charles Barrow, Engraver George Isham Parkyns, Publisher Joseph Charles Barrow; J. Pashee, Date of Execution 1791.

Rents £		£	s.	d.
4	Jos[eph] Kirl	—	2	—
5	Mr Hight or tenant	—	2	6
10	Mr Evans or tenant	—	5	—
12	Mr Roberts	—	6	—
26	Mr Boyde	—	154	—
6	Mr Thawny <Strong>	—	3	—
18	Mr Baily	—	9	—
6	Nat[hanie]l Townley	—	3	—
10	Mr Reynolds	—	5	—
[folio 77]
4	Mr Goodwin	—	2	—
15	Mr Bonnett	—	7	6
16	Mr Moleton	—	8	—
12	Mr Bale	—	6	—
30	Capt[ain] Newton	—	15	—
40	The Earl of Dartmouth	—	—	—
5	ditto for the Cherry Treefield	1	5	6
6	ditto for the Garden	—	—	—
40	Lord Faulkland	—	—	—
5	ditto ?pr [?pasture] land	1	15	0
40	Capt[ain] Thompson	1	—	—
15	Mr Cox	—	7	6
16	Mr Baker	—	8	—
9	Mr Best	—	4	6
20	Mr Richards	—	10	—
6	Mr Tillitt	—	3	—
12	Mr Echus	—	6	—
34	Mr Birch	—	—	—
20	ditto for a house adjoining	1	7	—
6	Mr Sanderson	—	3	—
6	Mrs Clay	—	3	—
12	Mr Jordain	—	6	—
15	Mr Markingfield	—	7	6
8	Mr Bishop	—	4	—
14	Mr Basden	—	7	—
9	Mr Horsley	—	4	6
Rents £		£	s.	d.
6	Mrs Calvert	—	3	—
1	Mr Groombridge	—	—	6
4	Mr Corfield	—	2	—
14	Mrs Loyd	—	7	—
[folio 77v]
20	Capt[ain] Barrett	—	10	—
12	Mrs Kimber	—	6	—
1	Mr Gale	—	—	6
20	Col[one]l Wynn	—	10	—
50	Mrs Steers	—	—	—
55	ditto for Willowise	5	15	—
125	ditto for North Park etc.	—	—	—
18	Mr Templeman	—	9	—
40	Mrs Norton	1	—	—
40	Mrs Turnpenny	—	—	—
6	ditto for the field	1	3	—
25	Mr Crofts	0	12	6
27	Mrs Griffin	—	13	6
18	Mr Birch	—	9	—
25	Mr Thomas	—	12	6
60	Mr Browning	1	10	—
1	Mrs Day	—	—	6
10	Mr Balcomb	—	5	—
10	Mr Watkins	—	5	—
10	Jos[eph] Heath	—	5	—
12	Mr Alen	—	6	—
11	Mr Williams	—	5	6
6	John Berryman	—	3	—
12	Mr Warner	—	6	—
7	Val[entine] Duden	—	3	6
3	John Boyde	—	1	6
14	Mr Peters	—	7	—
3	John Boyde	—	1	66
14	Mr Peters	—	7	—
6	Mr Enderbee for the field	—	3	—
[folio 78]
21	Capt[ain] Jolley	—	10	6
9	Mrs Goodwin	—	4	—7
3	Mr Gotty	—	1	6
10	Mrs Fisher	—	5	—
4	Mrs Parker	—	2	—
8	Mr Sharp	—	4	—
8	Mrs Eves	—	4	—
24	Mrs Whiffin	—	—	—
20	ditto for the meadow	1	2	—
5	Mr Stock	—	2	6
Rents £		£	s.	d.
74	Mr Collett	1	17	—
30	Mr Holt	—	15	—
10	Mr Fowl	—	5	—
24	Mr Rhodes	—	12	—
14	Mr Longley	—	7	—
60	Mr Wilson X X X8	1	10	—
10	Mr Scrags	—	5	—
7	Mr Jennings X X	—	3	6
6	Mrs Hunt	—	3	—
6	Mrs Bishop	—	3	—
6	Mr Smeeking	—	3	—
26	Mr Hartwell	—	—	—
16	ditto for Mr Brookes	1	1	—
15	Mr Ennes	—	7	6
18	Mr Fordgham	—	9	—
10	Mr Adderley	—	5	—
16	Mrs Burnnett	—	8	—
10	Mr Henry Corbett	—	5	—
4	Ed[ward] Harper	—	2	—
[folio 78v]
14	Mr Blackwell	—	—	—
20	ditto for Mrs Pouts9 land	1	2	—
10	ditto for ½ years land	—	—	—
50	Mr Evans	—	—	—
25	ditto for sundry mead	1	19	0
3	ditto for his house	—	—	—
35	Mr Price	—	17	6
43	Mr Neatby	1	1	6
18	Mr Eitherage	—	5	—
13	Mr Freeman	—	6	6
13	Mr Wright	—	6	6
24	Mr Johnson X X X	—	12	—
24	Mr Walter	—	12	—
22	Mr Peryear	—	11	—
4	Francis Thompson	—	2	—
4	W[illia]m Darby	—	2	—
15	[blank]	—	—	—
20	Mr Walker	—	10	—
5	Henry Rice	—	2	6
5	Mr Warren	—	—	—
2	ditto for the warehouse	—	3	6
89	Mr Charles Johnson	—	—	—
30	ditto for ½ years land	2	19	6
X 50	ditto for Gleeb	—	—	—
5	Gab[rie]l Folks	—	2	6
4	Mrs Jefferys	—	2	—
Rents £		£	s.	d.
6	John Slade	—	3	—
5	Mr Collier	—	2	6
5	Mr Taylor	—	2	6
[folio 79]
10	Mr Castell	—	5	—
20	Mr Lethulier	—	10	—
16	Capt[ain] Young	—	8	—
4	Edward Shorter	—	2	—
30	Mr Russell	—	—	—
X 4	ditto for the Gleeb	—	15	—
10	Mr John Corbett	—	—	—
X 6	ditto for the Gleeb	—	510	—
10	Wid[o]w Hawes	—	5	—
3	Rich[ar]d Major	—	1	6
4	Mary Reynolds	—	2	—
5	Tho[ma]s Syborn	—	2	6
5	Ed[ward] Bartlett	—	2	6
5	Mrs Hawes	—	2	6
6	Mr Chubb	—	3	—
13	Mr Douglas	—	6	6
3	Jos[eph] Saint	—	1	6
7	Mr Moffat	—	3	6
6	Mrs Cheffins	—	3	—
12	Mr Haselton	—	6	—
9	Mr Constable	—	4	6
60	Mrs Boyde	1	10	—
4	Mr Baker	—	—	—
2	ditto for the field at Brockley	—	—	—
4	ditto for field at Hither Green	—	17	—
6	ditto for the Juggs	—	—	—
2	ditto for Mr Playter’s land	—	—	—
16	ditto for Mr Burrels land	—	—	—
10	Mr End	—	5	—
[folio 79v]
5	W[illia]m Layson	—	2	6
10	Mr Leer	—	5	—
2	Mr Starks	—	1	—
10	Mr Hancock	—	5	—
10	Mr Harvey	—	5	—
13	Mr Atkyns	—	—	—
25	ditto for land	1	1	—
4	ditto for 100£ fine at 4£ per cent11	—	—	—
115	Mr Phillips	2	17	6
6	Mr Tho[ma]s Sanders junior	—	—	—
5	ditto	1	4	0
25	ditto	—	—	—
Rents £		£	s.	d.
2	ditto for Rob[er]t Chissell	—	—	—
4	Rob[er]t Howard	—	2	—
150	Mr Watkyns	—	—	—
25	ditto Lord Sonds’s land	4	7	6
12	Mr John Sanders	—	—	—
24	ditto for Frams Hills	1	8	0
15	ditto for Mr Mattocks	—	—	—
5	ditto for the late Hasolwoods	—	—	—
106	Mr Yeates	—	—	—
3	ditto for the shop at Blackheath	2	14	6
10	Mrs Lance	—	5	—
5	Mrs Tennent	—	2	6
5	Mr White	—	2	6
31	Mr Smith	—	15	6
24	Mr Hotchkiss	—	12	—
27	Mr Mylam	—	13	6
[folio 80]
4	Ditto for land of Mr Pickering	—	2	—
20	Mr Hodsdon	—	10	—
77	Mr Pickering	1	18	6
10	Mrs Sparruck	—	5	—
8	Mrs Corbett	—	4	—
8	Mr Dowswell	—	4	—
6	Mrs Papworth	—	3	—
3	Tho[ma]s Biggs	—	1	6
3	John Belamy	—	1	6
3	Robert Layson	—	1	6
8	Mrs Williams	—	4	—
8	Wid[ow] Williams	—	4	—
8	Mr Hankins	—	—	—
8	ditto for orchard	—	8	—
16	Mr Giles	—	8	—
4	Mr Roberts	—	2	—
4	Robert Burkin	—	2	—
5	Mr Green	—	2	6
5	Mr Manlove	—	2	6
40	Mr Syborn	—	—	—
20	ditto for Mr Wetherland’s land	—	—	—
25	ditto for Long Mead	—	—	—
4	ditto for Kempshill	4	2	6
65	ditto for late Sybleys	—	—	—
7	ditto for College Field	—	—	—
4	ditto for land of Mr Johnson	—	—	—
6	James Goodale	—	3	—
4	James Browne	—	2	—
3	[blank]	—	—	—
Rents £		£	s.	d.
3	George Windsor	—	1	6
3	[blank]	—	—	—
[folio 80v]
3	Ed[ward] Bush	—	1	6
4	Daniel Wyborn	—	2	—
10	Mrs Yeates	—	5	—
14	Mrs Brett	—	7	—
16	[blank]	—	—	—
14	Mr Spencer	—	7	—
3	W[illia]m Wallace	—	1	6
3	John Lamee	—	1	6
23	Mr Batersbea	—	—	—
16	ditto for land at Catford Hill	—	19	6
64	Mr Gresham	—	—	—
30	ditto for Clanger	5	8	—
122	ditto for Sangley Farm	—	—	—
10	James Older	—	5	—
3	James White	—	1	6
4	Mr Oliver	—	2	—
15	Mrs Beckett	—	7	6
1	James Constable	—	—	6
1	William Dove	—	—	6
4	Daniel <David> Wynn	—	2	—
30	Mrs Robinson	—	—	—
56	ditto for ½ year land	7	10	6
215	ditto for the Great Tythes	—	—	—
30	Mr Atwood	—	15	—
12	Mr Dearl	—	6	—
130	Mr Pyecroft	—	—	—
9	ditto for Mrs Knapps Land	3	9	6
107	Mr Isaac Evans	—	—	—
32	ditto for Lord Sond’s Land	3	9	6
[folio 81]
45	Mr Shephard	—	—	—
52	ditto for land at South<end>	—	—	—
30	ditto for land of Mrs Knapp	6	3	—
119	ditto for Lady Faulkland’s land	—	—	—
22	Mr Spencer	—	11	—
18	Mr Brooke12	—	9	—
49	Mr Arrowsmith	—		—
25	ditto for Mays Hills	1	17	—
30	Mr Wynn	—	—	—
10	ditto Miss Brookhouse’s land)	1	—	—
6	Thomas Glover	—	—	—
12	ditto for land of Mrs Robinson	—	15	6
13	ditto for other land	—	—	—
Rents £		£	s.	d.
20	Mrs Delves	—	10	—
18	Mr Nash	—	—	—
18	ditto for ½ year land	—	—	—
5	ditto for land at Perryslough	—	—	—
2	ditto for the Hillfoot Croft	1	6	—
7	ditto for Mr Pews land	—	—	—
2	ditto for Mr Shephards land	—	—	—
11	Mr Harriot	—	5	6
30	Mr Shellee	—	15	—
81	Mr Dean	2	—	6
50	Mr Askill	1	5	—
5	W[illia]m Barns	—	2	6
30	Mr Macnamara	—	—	—
4	ditto for land	—	17	—
1	Mr Cupp	—	—	6
4	Ed[ward] Jucks	—	2	—
[folio 81v]
3	Rob[er]t Backs	—	1	6
11	Wid[ow] Musgrave	—	—	—
2	ditto for land	—	6	6
6	Mrs Cotton	—	3	—
< 4	Mr Smith	—	2	—>
5	[blank]	—	—	—
38	Mr Ximenus	—	19	—
12	Mrs Breech	—	6	—
20	Mr Mendis or tenant	—	10	—
12	Mr Debeck	—	6	—
12	[blank]	—	—	—
12	Mrs Marriott	—	6	—
18	Mrs Garrard	—	9	—
40	Mr Bond	—	—	—
16	Mr Peabea	—	—	—
14	ditto for land	—	15	—
11	Mrs Axtell	—	5	6
8	W[illia]m Harriss	—	—	—
5	ditto for land	—	6	6
7	Wid[ow] Turner	—	3	6
8	Jos[eph] Turner	—	4	—
8	R[ichar]d Kilby	—	4	—
12	Mr Cooper	—	—	—
8	ditto for land	—	15	—
10	ditto for land Jos[eph] Batthild	—		—
16	Ben[jamin] Turner	—	8	—
6	Mr Russell	—	3	—
16	Mr Wasbea	—	8	—
16	Mrs Soaper	—	8	—
Rents £		£	s.	d.
4	Tho[ma]s Poplett	—	2	—
3	Rob[er]t Hughes Howard	—	—	—
[folio 82]
3	W[illia]m Coomber	—	1	6
50	Mr Armitage	1	5	—
2	W[illia]m Scudder	—	1	—
16	The Rev[eren]d Dr Williams	—	8	—
50	Mr Willson	1	5	—
<40	Mr Baughan	1	>	—
18	Mr Fuller	—	9	—
18	Mr Brady	—	9	—
10	Mr Pagett	—	5	—
8	Abraham Henman	—	4	—
47	Mr Mendies	1	3	6
8	Mr House	—	4	—
6	Mrs Higginbotham	—	3	—
6	Daniel Tilt	—	3	—
14	Mr Staples	—	7	—
<14	Mr Lamelice	—	7	—>
20	Mr Steward or tenant	—	10	—
80	Mr Russell	2	—	—
20	Mr Carr	—	10	—
18	Mr Spring	—	—	—
4	ditto for land)	—	11	—
6	Jonathan Horwood	—	3	—
93	Mr Boxhall	2	6	6
5	Mihill Bradly	—	2	6
10	Mr Hulett	—	5	—
10	W[illia]m Thorn	—	5	—
16	Mr Rouse	—	8	—
14	Mr Waghorn	—	7	—
12	Mrs Mitcham	—	6	—
6	Mrs Tayer	—	3	—
8	Mrs North	—	4	—
16	Mr Renne	—	—	—
1	ditto for land at Perry Street	—	8	6
[folio 82v]
3	Daniel Rumins	—	1	6
4	W[illia]m Russell	—	2	—
15	Mr Plumridge	—	—	—
24	ditto for land of Mrs Hodsdon & Mrs Bowld	—	19	6
9	W[illia]m Roberts	—	4	6
36	Mr Whittle	—	—	—
18	ditto for land	1	7	—
24	Mr Scudder	—	12	—
3	Tho[ma]s Tilt	—	2	6
Rents £		£	s.	d.
10	Mr Schooly	—	3	—
5	Ed[ward] Edgson	—	2	6
2	John Clowsley	—	1	—
2	W[illia]m Howard	—	1	—
2	W[illia]m Rowland	—	1	—
8	W[illia]m Bagshaw	—	4	—
8	John Morris	—	4	—
12	W[illia]m Cornfoot	—	6	—
16	Mr King	—	—	—
8	ditto for land	—	12	—
109	Mr Jos[eph] Constable	2	14	6
50	Mr Gitton	—	—	—
10	ditto for land	1	10	—
16	[blank]	—	—	—
15	Mrs Phillips	—	7	6
	Mr [rest blank]	—	—	—
6	Mr Maxwell	—	3	—
16	Mr Dutnal	—	8	—
35	Mr Lineal	—	—	—
14	ditto for land	1	4	6
[folio 83]
14	Mr Pillion	—	7	—
74	Mr Clowder	1	17	—
12	Mr Perry	—	6	—
16	Mr Thompsett	—	8	—
4	Mr Rogers	—	2	—
4	Jos[eph] Bland	—	2	—
33	Mr Hicks	—	—	—
1	ditto for yard of Mr Shephard	—	17	—
3	Jos[eph] Glover	—	1	6
4	John Mills	—	2	—
5	Mr Lockington	—	2	6
4	W[illia]m Hathway	—	2	—
4	Mr Hughs	—	2	—
5	Charles Welch	—	2	6
10	Mr Chillingworth	—	5	—
3	Mr Bennet or tenant	—	1	6
3	R[ichar]d Battersbea	—	1	6
80	Mr Hankle	2	—	—
10	Mrs Knapp	—	5	—
8	Ben[jamin] Barlow	—	4	7
3	R[ichar]d Chillingworth	—	1	6
5	John Colebern	—	2	6
6	Jos[eph] Piper	—	3	—
4	John Black	—	2	—
3	John Stanbury	—	1	6
Rents £		£	s.	d.
4	Mr Brown	—	2	—
8	Mr Roberts	—	4	—
26	Mr Stubbs	—	13	—
25	Mr Flower	—	—	—
24	ditto for land	1	4	6
4	W[illia]m Wolfe	—	2	—
3	Jacob Parns	—	1	6
[folio 83v]
2	John Blake	—	1	—
4	Ed[ward] Francis	—	2	—
50	Mr Sanders	1	5	—
30	Miss Brockman Alis Turner	—	19	—
5	Mr Pring	—	2	6
5	Ed[ward] Humphreys	—	2	6
80	Mr Child	—	—	—
16	ditto for 400£ the purchase at 4 per cent13	2	8	—
30	Mr Slade	—	15	—
110	Mr Paul Valentine	—	—	—
2	ditto for the cottage	—	—	—
5	ditto for Mr Stoddard’s land	3	7	—
7	ditto for the College land	—	—	—
10	ditto for Miss Evans’s land	—	—	—
OUT DWELLERS
30	Sir Gregory Page	—	15	—
20	Mr Band	—	10	—
20	Mr Cater	—	—	—
5	ditto for land	—	12	6
14	Mr Whiffin	—	7	—
3	Mr Mann	—	1	6
31	Mr Butler	—	15	6
14	Mr Millar	—	7	—
12	The Armory Mill	—	6	—
2	Mr Wade	—	1	—
12	Mr Sampey	—	6	—
16	Mr Edlin	—	8	—
54	Mr Smith	1	7	—
12	The Duke of Mountague	—	6	—
[folio 84]
13	Mr Grout	—	6	6
11	Mr Tinsley	—	5	6
6	Mr Hodkisson	—	3	—
12	Mr Lee	—	6	—
2	Mr Unicomb	—	1	—
22	Mr Steward	—	11	—
18	Mr Gray	—	9	—

Fig. 1 A view of Lewisham showing an Inn (1770). KHLC image collection LEW 6.

Fig. 2 A view of Lewisham with Pond (1770). KHLC image collection LEW 4.

Fig. 3 A view of the watermill near Lewisham (1770).¹⁵ From the Gordon Ward archive in the KAS collection.

Fig. 4 Extract from Andrews, Dury and Herbert map (1769) of Lewisham and its environs.

Fig. 5 Place House, Lewisham, otherwise Sydenham Manor House.16

From the KAS image collection.