'Book of Presidents, Entries &c.'

RYE/57/4

'Book of Presidents, Entries &c.'

15th century-c.1600

The contents in detail are as follows:--

Fly-leaf. Pasted in, a letter dated 19 August 1854 from W. W. Attree to W. H. Blaauw referring to this volume.

fo. ii Title: 'Booke of Presidents, Entries, &c.' perhaps in the hand of Samuel Jeake, sen.

fos. 1-12 Precedents of letters patent granting offices, licences, lands, etc., temp. Edw. VI, drawn from all over the country. They include the grant of clerkship of the peace for Haverford West (fo.11).

The text begins and ends abruptly, leaving the entries incomplete.

fo. 10r is blank.

fos. 13-22 Various forms of letters, some royal, with spaces filled with various legal precedents, c. 1550, and also writ for enquiry of damages sustained, 1556; with fos. 14v, 15r and 17r blank.

fos. 23, 24r Sayings.

fos. 24v, 25r Writ, royal letters and case concerning land, in legal French.

fos. 25v-27r Conveyances.

fo. 27v Grant of office of understewardship by Robert, Earl of Leicester.

fos. 28-29r Blank, with scribbles.

fo. 29v. Letter, n.d.

fo. 30 Leaf half torn away. Subpoena ad testificandum in hand of Francis Bolton, c. 1590-1600.

fos. 31-130 Another set of precedents of writs and entries of record in civil pleas, in a fresh, uniform, legal hand. Original foliation commencing fo. 1. Fos. 93 and 97 are blank.

fos. 131, 132 Precedents concerning Romney Marsh: (i) distraint for repair of walls, etc., n.d.; (ii) record that in 1287 on the eve of St. Agatha, virgin (4 February) the town of Winchelsea and all lands between Climesden [?] and le Vochere of Hythe were submerged, and in that year wheat was sold at 2s. a quarter; (Jeake, p. 105.) (iii) Commission of enquiry into damage by the sea dated 3 March 22 [Edw. III] and 8th [sic] year of France (1348) issued to William Aleyn', Stephen Forsham, Richard Morton and William Wassher, concerning All Saints marsh in Lydd and Pehell Broomhill, co. Kent, with inquisition stating the lands affected and the proceedings thereon and a protest by James de Echyngham, Theobald of Hope and other tenants of 'South new londs' against being rated for repairs; (iv) note that Thomas Godsyn was chosen as alderman, 1284, and John Budren as mayor, 1285 [? of Winchelsea] and an ordinance concerning hogs in the street made the Sunday after St. Giles, 29 Edw. [? I, i.e., 3 September 1301] in the time of William Pace, deputy of Geoffrey Alard, sen., mayor of Winchelsea. Latin.

fos. 132v, 133 Agreement dated 20 February 1394 between Hastings, Rye and Winchelsea for apportioning common charges. French. (Cf. 58/2; Jeake, pp. 95-7.)

fo. 134 Agreement and confirmation in Brodhull for settling charges and disputes between the ports, 11 June 1392. French. (Cf. 58/1; Jeake, pp. 93, 94.)

fos. 134v-135 Writ of mandamus directed to Roger de Mortimer, Lord Warden, concerning the jurisdiction of the ports under their charters, 15 May 1358. Latin. (As 57/1, fo. 56.)

fos. 135v-137 Exemplification of the services of the Cinque Ports [1359] taken from a certificate in the Red Book of the Exchequer dated Hilary 1293 and from a book (quaterno) then delivered into the exchequer by Stephen de Pencestre, Lord Warden. Latin. (The text as given here dates the Red Book entry as 31 Edw. I (1303), which is apparently an error; see H. Hall, The Red Book of the Exchequer (1896), part II, p. 714. See also Jeake, pp. 26-8; Murray, pp. 241-3.)

This is followed by a similar statement of ship-service and of the freedoms and privileges which the service bestows on the Cinque Ports, in particular the Court of Shepway and its jurisdiction. French. In the margin is a later note: 'All wch be taken Away by the Chartre of Kinge E 4 except high treason.'

fos. 137-138 Writ of mandamus to the Treasurer and Barons of the Exchequer dated 18 July 1386, exempting certain barons from tenths and fifteenths. Recites letters patent of 1298 (Jeake, p. 41.) that all barons shall contribute to ship service according to ability, and letters patent of 1327 (Jeake, pp. 45-50. On p. 46 he gives marginal references to other writs of this nature; see also Murray, pp. 219, 220.) exempting all goods taxed to ship service from tallages and other charges. Wherefore John Cobham and Walter Doret, tenants of the manor of Bekysbourne, co. Kent, a member of Hastings, holding 32a. of land bought by the said Walter and taxed to ship service, are to be quit of tenths and fifteenths, as also the collectors on that account. Latin.

fo. 138r. Procedure for electing a bailiff of Yarmouth. Latin.

fos. 138r-144. Customs of Hastings. 'Ceux sont les usages de Hastynges uses de temps dount memour ne Court compiles en temps John' Reade adonques Bayliff lan xxxmo [Edw. III, 1356].' 48 articles, of which Nos. 1-7, 12, 21, 23-5, 42-7 are in French, the remainder in Latin. (Full translation in S.A.C., vol. XIV, pp. 72-80. This copy was supposed to be lost; see M. Bateson, Borough Customs, vol. I, p. xxx.)

fo. 145 Letter from the barons of Hastings to the Justices of Common Pleas, without date, asking them to proceed no further in a plea of trespass brought by Alice Stake against Sir William de Hastyngs and Terrence Symme, combarons, concerning 2 oxen, for which they were committed in Hastings, which plea should be tried in the court at Hastings in accordance with their liberties. Latin.

Writ of significavit to the Justices of Common Pleas, dated 6 November 33 [? Edw. III, 1359]. Recites the liberties of the Cinque Ports to hear their own pleas and requires the cause of John Paulyn v. William Taylor of Rye for a debt of 5 marks to proceed in the accustomed way. Latin.

fos. 145v, 146 Withernam. Judgement of Withernam made 25 June 1333 for a debt of £7 16s. owed by William Franceys to John Coleram and John Lambet, by bond made before the mayor and burgesses of Dodyng [Bodmin] and they appoint Stephen Padyam their attorney to prosecute the debt.

On 19 July 1337 in the time of E. Alard, mayor [of Winchelsea], the goods of Roger Loky [of Bodmin] were seized by the plaintiffs' attorney Stephen Padyam in satisfaction of the debt, and Bodmin notified of this. Latin.

fo. 146 Letters patent dated 10 April 1358 granting 1a. near a windmill in Winchelsea to the Black Friars. (See W. D. Cooper, History of Winchelsea (1850), p. 150.)

Notes on the reign of Richard II: length of reign; peasants' revolt of 1381; earthquakes on Wednesday 21 May 1382 at the second hour after nones for the time it took to say the lord's prayer and another the following Saturday at sunset for a moment. Latin.

fos. 146v-147r Charter of Exchange between Henry III and the Abbot of Fécamp [15 May 1247] copied in part and continued on fo. 156v below. Latin. (See references under 57/1, fo. 52 above.)

fo. 147 Note of inquisition made about Whitsun 1396 before lord William, Abbot of Robertsbridge, Vincent Fynche and others at La Fothere, with names of the jury and stating the bounds of the King's lands and of others in Winchelsea. A marginal note in a late 16th-century hand says 'the inquisition after the drowninge of ould Winchelsey,' but this is not apparent from the text. Latin.

fo. 148 Grants of marshland in Stone, co. Kent, by the Archbishops of Canterbury to William Pysmedon and wife Juliana, 1325 and 1337. Latin.

fos. 149-152r The Dite and composition of Edward I between the Cinque Ports and Yarmouth, 1277 and 1305. French. (See 57/1, fo. 52 v and 57/3, fo. 49 with notes there.)

fos. 152v-153r Precedents for the bailiffs at Yarmouth, being forms for the arrival of the bailiffs, the gaol delivery, and for proclamation, in the form of a narrative for the year 4 Henry [? IV] giving the names of four bailiffs (Simon Lyngebergh for Hastings, Roger Gate for Winchelsea and Rye, John Earyon for Dover and Romney and Henry Loveryk for Sandwich and Hythe) appointed by the ports and William Oxne, prevost of Great Yarmouth. Latin. (For the proclamation in English, see No. 57/3, fo. 53.)

fos. 153-154r Decree of Brodhull in Easter 1495 establishing the proportion of a 'purse' contributed by the ports and members for common charges. English. (Jeake, p. 94.) The entry is preceded by a heading 'Pevensey. Placitum ibidem fuit pro eorum libertat' Anno x0 R.E. quarti vel ante prout patet per act' Brodehyld', which probably refers to the first decree for a purse in 1471 cited by Murray. (Murray, p. 185.) Decree of Brodhull, 23 September 1483, against freemen and indwellers suing outside the liberty. English.

fos. 154v-156r Inspeximus dated 15 June 1404 of charters for founding New Winchelsea. (Jeake, pp. 104, 105, W. D. Cooper, History of Winchelsea (1850), pp. 31-33.) Latin. This is followed by a note on the liberties of the Cinque Ports dating before the conquest.

fo. 156v Extracts relating to the Cinque Ports from Magna Carta and Articuli super Cartas.

fos. 156v-157 Continuation of the Charter of Exchange from fos. 146v-147r, preceded by the heading of the Inspeximus dated 20 September 1267, and a note that the record was found in a small canvas bag kept in a green chest at the back of the chamber. Latin.

fo. 158r Commission appointing William Didsbury as bailiff to Great Yarmouth for Hastings, Winchelsea and Rye. In a 17th-cent. hand. Latin. (See 57/1, fo. 57v.)

fo. 158v blank.

fos. 159-164 Selected articles from the Rye custumal headed 'In libro Custumale ibidem inter alia continenter sic.' English. Articles 12, 13, 17-22, 26, 27, 35, 36, 42-8, 55 and 58 following the numeration of the table in 57/1, fo. 39r except that '58' should be '57.

fos. 165-180 Precedents of writs in a law hand. The size of the folio is slightly smaller than the preceding section. The text ends abruptly. Latin.

fos. 181-187 A further series of similar precedents in another hand. Latin.

fo. 188 (i) Recognizance of William Pirle, butcher, taken before John Pecke, mayor of Winchelsea, 8 June 1561; (ii) Writ of replegiari facias in Winchelsea Court of Record, John Pecke, mayor; (iii) Return of barons elected to parliament for Rye, 1593, in the hand of Francis Bolton, town clerk (1590-1600). Latin.

fo. 189r (i) Return of barons elected to parliament for Winchelsea, 1544, namely Philip Chowtte, esq., and Thomas Hynxstend; (ii) Billet for tenths and fifteenths at Winchelsea, temp Henry VIII. Names are not given. Latin. (See 57/1, fo. 56v.)

fo. 189v blank.

fos. 190-196 Customs of Winchelsea. 'Ceux sunt les usages de vile de Wynchellse.' 66 articles including procedure on the appointment of a new Lord Warden, and for canopy service at coronations.

Articles are in French with the exception of the jurats' oath in English (Art. 5), and articles 13 (part), 14-18, 20-8, 47-54 and 63-6 which are in Latin. This version, in a mid 16th-century hand, differs considerably from that in Cooper, (W. D. Cooper, History of Winchelsea (1850), pp. 218-227.) Taken from Lyon's 'History of Dover,' but is close to the version translated by Maclean Homan from MS. Cotton Julius Biv, in Sussex Notes and Queries, vol. vi, pp. 65-70, 97-100, 129-132 and 161-3. The principal divergences from the latter are noted below, where the article number of this text is given in round brackets and the page references to Homan's translation in square brackets.

(5) The jurat's oath differs from the mayors [p. 65].

(17) In summoning 36 compurgators, day must be given to allow those living at a distance to be present, provided they be well known [p. 68].

(18) Additional paragraph concerning appeals of thefts and robberies [p. 68].

(37) Freemen may arrest only chattels of a foreign debtor found in the franchise [p. 99].

(44) [Not in Homan's version].

(45, 46) The mayor and jurats go to judgement, which is spoken by the mayor in full court. In cases of difficulty they are to consult their fellows of the Ports [p. 129].

(56) Persons making plaints outside the town are to be punished, unless there be default of justice, in which case the matter must be tried before the Lord Warden at Shepway and not otherwise [p. 162].

(63) In all cases of pleas personal or real (The text here has placitis realibus, following the Rye custumal c. 63, which, with Cooper's version, c. 36, has 'real,' but Homan read regalibus and translated 'pleas of the crown.' The Hastings custumal, c. 48 (above fo. 144v) gives regalibus, translated in S.A.C., vol. xiv, p. 80, as 'real.' The context is in favour of 'real'; cf. M. Bateson, Borough Customs, vol. II, p. 59, though no comment is made there, and the Cinque Ports charter, Jeake, p. 69, has 'pleas of and upon all manner of actions, real personal and mixt.') of which mention is not made 'the Mayor who is judge with his fellow jurats in the place or town where there be a mayor or the bailiff with his fellow jurats (sociis juris) shall have recourse to natural law upon which are founded and from which do proceed all laws and customs concordant with the laws (concordantes legibus)' [p. 163].

(65, 66) Appointment of Lord Warden and canopy service at coronations. [Not in Homan's version, but similar to the last articles of the Rye custumal].

fo. 196v Originally the last page of a section, endorsed (upside down) 'The customall of Wynchellseye.' Under the name 'William Marbread' are 4 quatrains of a love lyric in 16th-century secretary hand.

fo. 197 'A justyficacion in an accion of trespas upon a commission of Sewers' [c. 1596].

fo. 198 blank.

English

1 vol.

The volume, having this title upon a label on the spine, contains 200 folios of paper and is bound in calf, which has been repaired. It is a composite volume: fos. 1-129 with two preceding unnumbered folios measure 13¾ x 9 inches, trimmed at the head, with fo. 130 probably trimmed down at repair. The contents of this section fall into two parts: (1) fos. 1-30 being miscellaneous precedents mainly in letter form, in a variety of current hands of the mid 16th century, with the first folios lost and the last page suggestive of the end of a section; (ii) fos. 31-130, general judicial precedents written in a legal hand, with a contemporary foliation beginning fo. 1. Fos. 131-164 measure 12 3/8 x 8½ inches, and form an independent section with an original foliation 37-70, written in a late 15th-century hand, containing customs and precedents of the Cinque Ports, and in particular the customs of Hastings and select articles from the Rye custumal. Fos. 165-196, measuring 12 x 8 inches, are perhaps two related sections containing general judicial precedents, which from fo. 188 onwards relate to Winchelsea, including its customs. The first section ends at fo. 180 with some entries evidently missing, but has the last page soiled, as if it had been an outside leaf for some time. All, except later insertions in this group, are in legal hand of the later 16th century. Fos. 197-198 measure 12 x 8 and are of a later make than the other leaves, being written in the hand of Francis Bolton, c. 1590-1600. The present foliation is 18th century, probably when the sections were bound up. The volume may have been rebound twice.

Some time after 1872 the volume was in Brighton Reference Library, from whence it was returned to Rye.

Jeake seems to have used this text both for the exemplification of the services of the Cinque Ports (fos. 135v-137r) where he follows this text in misdating the Red Book entry, and also for a note on the submergence of Winchelsea (fo. 131). In these two cases he refers to his source respectively as 'Transcript' and 'Book remaining with the Records of the Town of Rye.' If this is the case, it is surprising he did not make use of the good precedent for exemption from tenths and fifteenths (fo. 137). A hand similar to that of Francis Bolton, who was town clerk of Rye and Winchelsea at the end of the 16th century, appears on fo. 30 and in marginalia from fo. 133v. onwards.