Digitized by the Internet Archi 
 in 2016 with funding from 
 Getty Research Institute 
 
 ve 
 
 https://archive.org/details/documentsrelatin38atth 
 
DOCUMENTS 
 
 RELATING TO THE 
 
 FOUNDATION AND ANTIQUITIES 
 
 OP THE 
 
 COLLEGIATE CHURCH OF MIDDLEHAM, 
 
 IN THE COUNTY OP YORK ; 
 
 WITH AN HISTORICAL INTRODUCTION, AND INCIDENTAL NOTICES 
 OF THE CASTLE, TOWN, AND NEIGHBOURHOOD. 
 
 BY THE 
 
 REV. WILLIAM ATTHILL, 
 
 CANON AND SUB-DEAN OF MIDDLEHAM. 
 
 LONDON: 
 
 PRINTED FOR THE CAMDEN SOCIETY, 
 
 BY JOHN BOWYER NICHOLS AND SON, 25 , PARLIAMENT-STREET. 
 
 M.DCCC.XL.VII. 
 
COUNCIL 
 
 or 
 
 THE CAMDEN SOCIETY 
 
 FOR THE KEAR 1846-7. 
 
 President , 
 
 THE RIGHT HON. LORD BRAYBROOKE, F.S.A. 
 THOMAS AMYOT, ESQ. F.R.S., Treas. S.A. Director. 
 BERIAH BOTFIELD, ESQ. M.P., F.R.S., F.S.A. 
 
 JOHN PAYNE COLLIER, ESQ. F.S.A. Treasurer. 
 
 C. PURTON COOPER, ESQ. Q.C., D.C.L., F.R.S., F.S.A. 
 WILLIAM DURRANT COOPER, ESQ. F.S.A. 
 
 BOLTON CORNEY, ESQ., M.R.S.L. 
 
 SIR HENRY ELLIS, K.H., F.R.S., Sec. S.A. 
 
 THE REY. JOSEPH HUNTER, F.S.A. 
 
 PETER LEVESQUE, ESQ. F.S.A. 
 
 SIR FRANCIS PALGRAVE, K.H., F.R.S. 
 
 THOMAS JOSEPH PETTIGREW, ESQ. F.R.S., F.S.A. 
 THOMAS STAPLETON, ESQ., V.P.S.A. 
 
 WILLIAM J. THOMS, ESQ. F.S.A., Secretary. 
 
 ALBERT WAY, ESQ. M.A., F.S.A. 
 
 THOMAS WRIGHT, ESQ. M.A., F.S.A. 
 
The Council of the Camden Society desire it to be under- 
 stood that they are not answerable for any opinions or observa- 
 tions that may appear in the Society’s publications the Editors 
 of the several works being alone responsible for the same. 
 
TO THE 
 
 VERY REVEREND P. S. WOOD, LL.D. 
 
 DEAN OF THE COLLEGIATE CHURCH 
 AND ROYAL PECULIAR OF MIDDLEHAM, IN THE COUNTY OF YORK. 
 
 Dear Mr. Dean, 
 
 Indebted to your friendship for the position which I 
 hold in the Collegiate Church of which you are the head, 
 I cannot resist my desire of dedicating its history to 
 you ; and most gladly do I embrace the opportunity thus 
 afforded me of tendering my sincere and grateful thanks 
 for the many and continuous acts of kindness which, 
 during the period of my connexion with you, now 
 approaching to eight years, I have at all times, and under 
 all circumstances, experienced at your hands. 
 
 That you may long continue to preside over the ancient 
 College of Middleham, and enjoy every blessing which 
 this world can afford, is not alone the earnest desire of 
 myself, and every member of your chapter, but also of 
 the many friends who have enjoyed your hospitalities 
 
DEDICATION. 
 
 during your visits to this seat of your jurisdiction, or 
 who have experienced the still greater gratification of 
 being occasionally inmates of your happy and refined 
 home. 
 
 Indebted as I am to you for many pleasant visits there, 
 as well as for the other favours to which I have already 
 alluded, I can only entreat that you will accept the 
 renewed assurances of esteem and gratitude, from, 
 
 Dear and Very Reverend Sir, 
 
 Your obliged and faithful servant, 
 
 WILLIAM ATTHILL. 
 
 The Deanery , Middleham , Yorkshire , 
 Jan . 1, 1847. 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 The desire which so generally prevails at the present day of 
 illustrating the ecclesiastical annals of our country, and of record- 
 ing whatever may be interesting or valuable in the pious and 
 munificent institutions of our ancestors, has led to the production 
 of the present volume. 
 
 The College of Middleham, one of the very few religious 
 foundations which escaped the sacrilegious rapacity of the Eighth 
 Henry, seems doomed at length, after an existence of nearly four 
 centuries from the date of incorporation by its royal founder, to 
 sink beneath the more specious but no less positive sacrilege of 
 the nineteenth century. 
 
 To preserve some faint memorials of this establishment, for 
 which the princely Gloucester procured privileges and immunities 
 rivalling those of Windsor,* and exceeding those of any other 
 ecclesiastical institution in the kingdom ; to save from the de- 
 cay into which ere long they might otherwise have fallen, some 
 most interesting documents of bygone days ; to rescue from 
 oblivion the few notices which may still be collected of its history ; 
 and to throw every possible light on the exemptions and liberties 
 of a jurisdiction, which, with every other peculiar throughout 
 
 * See Introduction, infra , p. 28, note. 
 
Vlll 
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 “Merrie England,” soon will have passed away — these are the 
 primary objects of the editor of the present volume ; should 
 it, however, be instrumental in preserving the faintest memorial, 
 the most trifling remnant, of an establishment for the incorpora- 
 tion of which its royal founder laboured so assiduously, he will 
 consider himself well repaid. 
 
 The sources from which this brief history of the collegiate 
 church of Middleham has been drawn, are fully detailed in the 
 notes appended to the foot of each page ; and no available source 
 has been left uninvestigated to render it at once correct and 
 interesting. 
 
 Amongst the mass of materials which the Editor has searched 
 for these ends, it is possible some few facts may have escaped his 
 notice, but he can confidently assert that not one statement has 
 been put forward which does not rest on sufficient authority ; and, 
 however others may differ from him in opinion on the inferences 
 to be drawn, the data upon which those conclusions rest must 
 remain unimpeached ; and perhaps, when, in a few short years at 
 most, he shall sleep with those who have preceded him as 
 ministers in its collegiate church, this little volume may form the 
 basis of some more interesting and perfect history of a place, of 
 which a distinguished and attractive writer * of the present day 
 says, cc Middleham — -not Windsor, nor Shene, nor Westminster, 
 nor the Tower — seemed the Court of England.^f 
 
 Although it is the principal design of the present volume to 
 give a brief history of the church and parish of Middleham, from 
 the period that, under the auspices of Richard duke of Gloucester, 
 it was erected into a college and deanery, still it seems desirable, 
 
 * Sir E. B. Lytton, Bart. 
 
 + Last of the Barons, vol. ii. p. 160. 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 IX 
 
 before the editor proceeds with his allotted task, to throw together 
 in this place a few memoranda of its earlier condition. 
 
 Middleham, or as it is called in Domesday, Medelai,* formed a 
 portion of those extensive possessions which the Conqueror 
 bestowed on his nephew Alan Rufus, earl of Bretagne, first earl of 
 Richmond, and lord of Middleham, after the conquest of England. 
 Alan, who died without issue a.d. 1089, gave the manor and honor 
 of Middleham, with its appurtenances, and various other lands 
 which, in the time of the Confessor, belonged to Ghilpatric, 
 a Dane, to his youngest brother Ribald, whose grandson Robertf 
 built the castle of Middleham. 
 
 “ Contiguous to a castle of this period/’ says Whitaker, J “ was 
 almost always a church. The village of Middleham had none 
 before; as a member of a parish in the Saxon times, it must 
 have been attached to Wensley. With equal probability, there- 
 fore, we may ascribe to Ribald both the one and the other/’ 
 And in another place § he remarks, 66 All this while ” ( i. e. at the 
 period when Robert de Neville, called the Peacock of the North, || 
 who died previously to the year 1331, was lord of Middleham,) 
 cc we hear nothing of a church at Middleham, nor till the following 
 instrument; but there can be little doubt that it was the work of 
 one of the first lords, who endowed it with an ample glebe, and as 
 
 * “ The land of earl Alan, Medelai (Middleham), to he taxed five carucates, and there 
 may be three ploughs. Ghile Patrick had a manor there ; Ribald now has it, and it is 
 waste. The whole one mile long and one broad, value in king Edward’s time twenty 
 shillings.” Eawdwen’s (Rev. W.) Translation of Domesday, p. 108. 
 
 f “ Robertus hie tempore suo fundavit et sedificavit Castrum de Middelham.” Inter 
 Collectiones Dodsworthii in Bibliotheca Harl. See Gale’s Honor of Richmond, Appendix, 
 pp. 233, 234. 
 
 t Whitaker’s Richmondshire, vol. i. p. 343. § Ibid. p. 332. 
 
 || Dugdale’s Baronage, vol. i. p. 292. 
 
 CAMD. SOC. 
 
 b 
 
X 
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 usual with the tithes of the town.’ 5 Such is Dr. Whitaker’s state- 
 ment, and the instrument he mentions is given below.* 
 
 * “ Omnibus hanc cartam indentatam visuris vel audituris Radulphus Comes West - 
 merlandise Dominus de Nevill et Marescallus Anglise salutem in Domino sempiternam. 
 Sciatis nos quandam cartam indentatam Marise de Nevill quondam Dominse de Midilham, 
 antecessoris nostrse, cuidam Domino Johanni Rectori ecclesise de Midilham prsedicta et 
 successoribus suis factam, inspexisse in hsec verba, Universis Christi fidelibus ad quorum 
 notitiam prsesentes literse pervenerint, Maria de Nevill Domina de Middilham salutem in 
 Domino sempiternam. Noverit universitas vestra me in pura viduitate ac ligea potestate 
 mea, concessisse et prsesenti scripto meo cyrographato confirmasse Domino Johanni 
 Rectori ecclesise de Middilham et successoribus suis communiam pasturse per totum 
 annum ad octo boves et duo jumenta, in bosco meo de Middilham qui vocatur Westwode 
 exceptis clausis meis separabilibus in prsedicto bosco existentibus, ubi prsedictus Dominus 
 Johannes et successores sui non solebant habere nisi tantum sex boves et duo jumenta : 
 habendum et tenendum prsedicto Domino Johanni et successoribus suis prsedictam com- 
 muniam pasturse ad octo boves et duo jumenta prsedicta in prsedicto bosco, exceptis 
 duobus clausis in eodem bosco existentibus dummodo permanserint clausa, de me et 
 heredibus meis libere, quiete, ben£ et in pace cum pertinentiis suis imperpetuum ; decimis 
 foeni in prsedictis duobus clausis prsedicto Domino Johanni et successoribus suis in omnibus 
 sibi salvis. Et si contingat quod aliqua averia de prsedictis octo bob us et duobus jumentis 
 prsedicti Domini Johannis vel successorum suorum, in prsedictis duobus clausis pro 
 defectu clausurse aliquo tempore intraverint et absque wardo facto, sine gravamine et 
 reparatione retractentur. Et prsedictus Dominus Johannes pro se et successoribus suis, 
 prsedictse Dominse Marise et hseredibus suis totum jus et clameum communis in prsedictis 
 duobus clausis in bosco prsedicto dummodo clausa permanserint penitus relaxat. Et quam 
 cito prsedicta duo clausa pro non clausis teneantur prsedictis Domino Johanne et 
 successoribus suis, ad statum communis pasturse sex bourn et duorum jumentorum 
 prius habitorum revertantur. In cujus rei testimonium prsesenti scripto cyrographato 
 alternatim sigilla sua apposuerunt. Hiis testibus, Willelmo de Burgo tunc Ballivo 
 Richemundise, et aliis. Datum apud Middilham die Sancti Jacobi Apostoli, anno 
 
 Domini Millesimo tricentesimo decimo. Quam quidem cartam ac omnia et singula in 
 
 eadem carta contenta Ricardo de Pykering nunc Rectori Ecclesise de Middilham 
 prsedictse et successoribus suis secundum formam cartse prsedictse indentatse, approbamus, 
 confirmamus et ratificamus tirmiter per prsesentes. In cujus rei testimonium uni parti 
 hujus cartse indentatse, penes prsedictum Ricardum et successores suos remanenti, sigillum 
 nostrum apposuimus ; alteri vero parti penes nos et hseredes nostros remanenti, dictus 
 Ricardus sigillum suum apposuit. Datum apud Raby vicesimo nono die mensis Decembris, 
 Anno Domini Millesimo, quadringentesimo, quinto et regni regis Henrici quarti post 
 conquestum septimo.” — Middleham MSS. 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 XI 
 
 There are, however, documents in existence in which a church 
 at Middleham is mentioned at a much earlier period than the 
 reign of Henry IV. 
 
 In the taxation made by authority of pope Nicholas IV. about 
 the year 1291, there is the following entry :* * * § ■ — 
 
 Antiq. Tax. Nov. Tax. 
 
 “ Ecclesia de Middelham . £8 0 0 5 0 0” 
 
 Again in the “ Nonarum Inquisitiones in Curia Scaccarii, temp. 
 Edw. Ill ”+ 
 
 “ Middelham. 
 
 Taxatio iiii li. 
 
 Iidem receperunt de iiij li. de nona ejusdem parochise commissa Ricardo 
 del Parsons, Johanni Generali, Ricardo de Mangeby, et Ricardo de Wayne- 
 brigg, et sic minus taxatione de iiij li. quia iiij. carucae jacent friscae quae 
 si essent cultae nona valuerit Iiij s. iiij c?. ubi Rector solet percipere xij. petras 
 lanae pretii xxxvjs. et xx. agnos pretii vijs. vj d. prout compertum est per 
 sacramentum hominum praedictorum. Summa iiij li” 
 
 While from the Inquisitions post mortem in the same and the 
 succeeding reigns, the following extracts are subjoined : 
 
 “ A 0 . 41 Edw. III. Rad’us de Nevill. 
 
 Midelham advoc’ Ecclesiae.” J 
 
 “ A°. 12 Ric. II. Joh’es de Nevill de Raby, et Elizabetha uxor ejus. 
 
 Middelham maner’ cum advoc’ Ecclesiae extent’.” § 
 
 It was the son of the Sir John de Neville here named, by his 
 former wife Maud, daughter of the Lord Percy, from whom 
 emanated the important instrument already given. 
 
 * Taxatio Ecclesiastica Anglise et Wallise, auctoritate P. Nicholai IV. circa A,D. 1291. 
 London, 1802, folio, p. 307. See also pp. 327, 337. 
 
 + Nonarum Inquisitiones, p. 237. Lond. 1807, folio. 
 
 X Calendarium Inquisitionum post Mortem, vol. ii. p. 282. Lond. 1806, folio. 
 
 § Ibid. vol. iii. p. 103. 
 
Xll 
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 This Ralph de Neville, having first won the golden spurs of 
 knighthood, was in the 21st year of Rich. II. created Earl of West- 
 moreland, and subsequently received from Henry IV. a grant of 
 the earldom of Richmond ;* and under him the power and grandeur 
 of his race seems to have attained a high degree of eminence, 
 having died possessed of the castle and lordship of Middleham, f 
 as well as many other extensive territorial possessions. J His 
 widow Joane, daughter of John of Gaunt, duke of Lancaster, 
 who died Nov. 13, 19 Hen. VI. most undoubtedly possessed, 
 with the castle, the advowson of the church. This is evident 
 from the following record : § — 
 
 “ Johanna nuper comitissa Westmoreland. 
 
 Middelham advoc’ Ecelesise. | ^ 
 
 Middelham Castr’, maner’ et domin’ \ 
 
 With the lordship and castle, the advowson of the church sub- 
 sequently passed into the hands of the renowned Richard earl of 
 
 * “ Notwithstanding this grant, Ralph Neville never assumed the title of Earl of 
 Richmond.” Nicolas’s Synopsis of the Peerage, p. 536, from Third Peerage Report, p. 102. 
 
 >f« “ About the 12th of Ric. II. he obtained the King’s charter for a weekly market every 
 Monday at his manor of Middleham, as also a yearly fair at that place at the feast day of 
 St. Alkeld the Virgin, the patron saint of that place.” 
 
 X He lies interred under a stately tomb in the church of Staindrop, adjoining to Raby, 
 in the co. Durham. Whitaker says (i. 345), that “ under this earl the power and 
 splendour of the Neviles had attained to a height from which they subsequently declined 
 that 11 he was the last of the Neviles in the right line who was seised of Middleham and of 
 its dependencies,” and that “henceforth we hear no more of the first line of the Neviles 
 at Middleham.” On this latter point Surtees says (Hist, of Durham, iv. 152), “The 
 Yorkshire castles of Middleham and Sheriff Hutton, and many a dependent manor, and 
 many a fair southern lordship, were settled on the issue of the first earl’s second princely 
 alliance.” It must, however, be remembered that the splendour of the second line of 
 Neville, which succeeded to Middleham, greatly surpassed that of the first ; and that the 
 grandson of this earl — the inheritor of this castle and its attendant domains — by his union 
 with the heiress of the house of Warwick, elevated the race of Neville to the highest 
 pitch of magnificence and power. 
 
 § Calendarium Inquis. post Mort. vol. iv. p. 206. 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 Xlll 
 
 Warwick, and at length, as w T ill hereafter be shewn, * became 
 eventually vested in Richard duke of Gloucester. 
 
 Prior however to that period, on the 25th of Jan. in the ninth 
 year of Edw. IV. the king granted licence f to John Cartmell to 
 found a chantry of our Lady in the church of Middleham, to pray 
 for the soul of the founder J and all Christian souls. 
 
 This chantry, forming the eastern portion of the south aisle, 
 from which it is now separated by rails, as it formerly was by a 
 screen, and extending more than half the entire length of the 
 choir, to which it is united by an arch, filled with a recently 
 erected parclose, seems to have been founded and endowed on the 
 21st day of July, A 0 . 10 Edw. IV. a few months after the grant of 
 the royal licence. 
 
 The following interesting particulars relating to it, are extracted 
 at full length from Whitaker’s Riehmondshire : § — 
 
 “ The Chaunirye of our Ladye in the Paryshe Churche of 
 
 Myddelham. 
 
 Robert Ambler, incumbent, of the aige of lxvi. yeres, lerned, of honest 
 conversacion and qualities, having no other promocions but onelye the 
 revenewe of his sayde chauntrye ; also there is one other pryst || in the sayd 
 paryshe at the fynding of the parson there ; the same chauntrye is within 
 the sayd churche, the necessite thereof is to minister sacraments, having 
 ccxxx. howselyng people in the sayde paryshe : there is no lands sold ne 
 alyenated sithe the xxiii. day of November, a 0 , reg. r. nuper Hen. VIII. 
 xxxvii. 
 
 * See Introd. infra, pp. 1. 4. 
 
 + “ Pro Cantar. Joh’is ChatLmele de Midiham.” Middleham MSS. See also Calen- 
 darium Rot. Pat. (in Turre Londinensi), p. 315. 
 
 X “ There was a chantry here, at the altar of St. Mary, for the soul of John Cartmell, 
 sometime rector of this church.” Lawton’s Collections, vol. ii. p. 568. 
 
 § Vol. i. p. 341. 
 
 || There can be little doubt that this “ one other pryst ” here alluded to was the minis- 
 ter for divine services and offices of whom mention will be found in the Introduction, p. 29. 
 
XIV 
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 The yerely value of the same as shall appere by the particlers of 
 the same ....... vi£. 
 
 In reprisis yerely going furthe of the same . . . xiis. 
 
 And so remaneth clere ..... cviiis. 
 
 Goods, ornaments, and plate pertening to the same, as apperith by in- 
 ventory, viz., goods ...... plate xiii ounces, parcell gilte. 
 
 The Chauntrye of our Ladye in the Parysshe Churche of 
 
 Myddelham. 
 
 Robert Ambler, incumbent, of the foundacion of John Cartemele, to 
 th’entent to praye for the soule of the founder and all christen soules, and to 
 helpe to do dyvine servyce in the sayde churche, and to kepe one yerely 
 obyte to the charge of xiii^. iiiic?. as apperyth by foundacion dated xxi. die 
 Junii, Anno reg. R. E. 4. decimo. 
 
 The same is wythyn the said church, and the necessitye is to pray for 
 the soule of the founder, and all christen soules, and to do dyvyne servyce 
 in the sayde churche ; and the same is observed and kepte accordinglye. 
 There is no lands or tenementes, solde, alienated, put awey, or entry d into 
 sithens the statute. 
 
 Goodes, ornaments, and plate perteynyng to the same chauntrye as ap- 
 peryth by inventory, that is to seye, goodes valued at xxiiiis. ii d. oh. and 
 
 plate xlviiis. 
 Goodes 
 
 xxiiii.s. ii d. 
 
 Plate ..... 
 
 xlviiis. 
 
 Firste, a certen yerely rent of vi£. comyng out of 
 the late monasterye of Seynt Agatha,* paid by the 
 late lorde Scrope, a fermor of the said late monasterye, 
 comying forth of the landes and tenementes in Hud- 
 deswell, Tunstall, and Scotton 
 
 vi l. wherof 
 
 Pa iable yerely to the kinges majestie for the tenthes 
 
 xiis. 
 
 And so remayneth clere 
 
 cviiis.” 
 
 * “Cantaria de Mydleham, Robertus Anmer incumbens. 
 Benariis numeratis de monasterio sanctse Agathse 
 
 £\i 
 
 Quae valet clare. 
 
 
 X ma pars inde - xij ” 
 
 Valor Ecclesiasticus, vol. v. p. 249. 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 XV 
 
 But this was not the only religious foundation then existing ; 
 there was another, although not within the church, yet within the 
 parish of Middleham. Of this not a vestige now remains, nor 
 did there even in Dugdale’s day ; for in speaking of the college, 
 he adds,* “ All that we know of an hospital here is from Leland, 
 who in his Itinerary says there is at the est end of Middleham a 
 little hospital, with a chapel of Jesus.” Some fields, however, 
 not far from the eastern extremity of the town, retain to the pre- 
 sent day the name of ee Chapel-fields,” the only existing memorial 
 of its desecration. Doubtless chantry, hospital, and chapel all 
 sank beneath the rapacious hand of him who styled himself 
 “ Fidei Defensor.” And their places are now worthily supplied 
 by the Union workhouse, and two barn-like conventicles ! 
 
 “ Hei ! quantum mutatus ab illo.” 
 
 “ Proh ! pudor inversique mores.” 
 
 The venerable church, however, still rears its embattled tower on 
 the summit of a gentle eminence overlooking the beautiful and 
 verdant valley of the Yore, and bearing though it does the weather- 
 stain of ages, seems capable of enduring for centuries yet to come. 
 Long may its beautiful peal of bells f fling their sounds of melody 
 abroad, inviting ever and anon those who hear them, to worship 
 within the walls of that hallowed fane, where our pure branch of the 
 holy catholic church offers to Almighty God the daily sacrifice of 
 prayer and praise ! 
 
 * Monasticon, vol. vi. p. 781. 
 
 *j- There were formerly but three bells in the tower. The present excellent peal 
 of six was (a.d. 1824), with all the contingent expenses, the munificent gift to the 
 parish of Middleham of the late John Breare, Esq. of Middleham Hall, now represented 
 by his nephew and successor Christopher Topham, Esq. 
 
xvi 
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 Dr. Whitaker,* speaking of this structure, remarks that a of 
 the original fabric of the church scarcely a vestige remains, save a 
 few fragments in the tower. The present building is plain and 
 handsome, of rather late Gothic, and not very ample dimensions ; 
 but it contains some very curious objects and matters of difficult 
 speculation.” 
 
 Through the kindness, however, of an eminent archseologist, 
 who has in the most handsome manner placed his beautiful and 
 erudite MS. journal at the disposal of the Editor, he is enabled to 
 add the following valuable and interesting details of the sacred 
 edifice : — 
 
 “ When Richard III. possessed the castle, he raised the rectory 
 to a deanery, and intended to build a college, t but his purpose 
 was frustrated by death. The church was never rebuilt in the 
 usual cruciform collegiate shape ; but is of the ordinary form, with 
 a western tower. The south aisle extends more than half way 
 along the choir, J and there is an original vestry on the north side. 
 
 “ The only portion of the present church which can be decisively 
 pronounced Norman is a fragment of a zig-zagged moulding, which 
 has been round either a door or a window, and is now inserted 
 high up in the exterior of the north aisle. This stone is quite 
 
 * Richmondshire, i. 333. 
 
 f A field at no great distance from the church still bears the name of Foundation Close, 
 where it is said the foundations of the college had actually been laid at the period of 
 Richard’s premature decease. “ If this were intended for the collegiate building,” 
 remarks Whitaker, i. 338, “ and the church were meant to remain where it was, however 
 convenient such an arrangement would have been for the castle and town, it must have 
 been very incommodious to the dean and canons. Yet there are such instances: the 
 college of Manchester is at a considerable distance from the collegiate church, and that of 
 Kirk-Oswald still farther, but neither so remote as the Foundation Field from the church 
 of Middleham.” 
 
 X The eastern portion joining the choir is the ancient chantry. 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 X Vll 
 
 enough to shew how erroneous Whitaker was, when he asserted 
 there were no remains of a church built by the Norman lords.* 
 c * It will be perceived on a careful examination that there are 
 abundant evidences of the shell of the present building being 
 early-English, for, though the mouldings are meagre and deficient, 
 still some exist which are decisive on the point. The tow r er arch, 
 the arches of the nave, and the main walls of the choir, are all 
 very clearly early-English. The tower arch dies into the walls ; 
 its mouldings, as well as those of the other arches, are merely 
 chamfered; and, if that were the only feature to judge by, it would 
 be vain to assign any particular date to these portions, but the 
 abacus of the capitals in the nave is fortunately very decidedly 
 early-English in its character. The jambs of the doorway in 
 the south aisle of the nave are also very clearly early-English, with 
 somewhat later mouldings than the other portions of this style : 
 the arch has been inserted. The height of the early-English 
 chancel appears from the north side, where the corbel-table which 
 was under the parapet is perfect the whole length. The east end 
 is flanked by early-English buttresses, and there is another in the 
 centre. Beneath the present east window are tw'o low plain square 
 windows (now blocked up), which have been considered by some 
 to be the windows of a former crypt ; but from careful measure- 
 ment I conceive that this is quite impossible, and that the arrange- 
 ment of the east end consisted of four lights, two above other two, 
 similar to the plan to be seen in the chancel and transepts of the 
 church of Darlington. 
 
 “ In the fourteenth century several alterations in the Decorated 
 style, then prevalent, were made. The end windows of the north 
 
 * Vol. i. p. 343. 
 
 CAMD. SOC. C 
 
XV111 
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 and south aisles, the nave clerestory, the sacristy on the north of 
 the choir, the two square windows above the early-English corbel- 
 table before referred to, and the great east window (which is re- 
 markable as having four lights), of flowing tracery, are of this date. 
 
 “ The Perpendicular additions consist of the western tower 
 (which is very good), the side windows of the north and south 
 aisles (very late), and the porch. 
 
 cc Of the Debased style are the remains of the stalls, cut up and 
 inserted in the modern pews. 
 
 “ Such is a brief history of the architecture of Middleham col- 
 legiate church : let us now proceed to its various ornaments, not 
 noticed in the above sketch. 
 
 “ In the tower about half way up is a stone fire-place,* which 
 appears to be of very late date, and is partly composed of ancient 
 tomb-stones. One has an elaborate cross, sword, and wand sculp- 
 tured on it; another, a part of a cross and keys ; and a third, 
 with the base of a cross and sword, the inscription — “ 
 jft$£00A!tt'” There is also part of a sculptured tomb-stone, with 
 a base of a cross, built into the lower part of the tower. In a 
 recent clearing of the formerly blocked tower-arch, were taken 
 out a stone with a cross patee, and also part of a figure, which 
 has either been an image or a sepulchral effigy. 
 
 ei In the western part of the nave stands the font— a modern 
 circular basin, with a good, though plain, florid cover, curiously 
 painted. The roof has been underdrawn within the last century. 
 There are marks of screens across the whole church, on the two 
 piers of the nave, first from the east ; and when the rood-screen 
 
 * “ The belfry chamber has a fire-place, about which are wrought up several fragments 
 of the first church. A fragment of one grave-stone in particular has cut upon it two keys, 
 emblems of the office of some ancient constable of the castle.” Whitaker, Richm. i. 334. 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 XIX 
 
 was also remaining, this part of the nave must have possessed a 
 peculiarly gorgeous and imposing appearance. 
 
 ee At the south of these two piers formerly stood an altar-tomb, 
 supposed to be that of St. Alkelda, on which payments of money 
 were required to be made (as on the tomb of John Haxby, in 
 York Cathedral ) ; this remained within the memory of man. The 
 pulpit now stands nearly on the same spot. 
 
 a The choir is occupied by some new stalls for the canons, in lieu 
 of the original ones demolished by a former dean.* There is under 
 the altar- steps a portion of a brass inscription, nearly obliterated ; 
 a line seems to be hid by the steps, tjie part seen appears to be — 
 
 “ $tc jacet magt0t' $011130 hat’ 
 
 ortums s 5 s 5 # 
 
 The corner pieces of brass are all lost. A stone within the altar- 
 rails bears marks of a black letter inscription, but it is completely 
 illegible: Along the south wall of the choir is a large rude recess 
 
 cut out, which probably had a seat and served as the sedilia ; at 
 the east end of it is a piscina (lately opened out), in an unusual 
 position. The whole of the elevation on which the communion 
 table stands is modern. The roof of the choir is described as 
 having been of black oak, pannelled, but is unfortunately under- 
 drawn, similarly to the rest of the church ; there are vestiges of a 
 cross on the choir gable. 
 
 ee North Aisle. — In the tops of the side windows are old tomb- 
 stones cut up, one has a good early wheel-cross and chalice ; the 
 west window is a small square one grated. 
 
 “ In the east window of the south aisle are five good heads in 
 the stained-glass fragments; one a peculiarly fine one, nimbed. 
 
 * See Introd. infra, p. 33. 
 
XX 
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 but no connected subject is now to be discovered. The passion 
 of St. Adkelda was depicted here, glowing “ in colours richly 
 dight/’ and her own figure yet remains, with a napkin twisted 
 round her neck. This east window, near which is a candle- 
 bracket, is in that part which is comprised in the choir portion of 
 the church ; and here was the chantry of our Blessed Lady, 
 founded by John Cartmele. At the extreme west end of this 
 aisle is placed upright a fine slab, which formerly rested on four 
 pillars, in another part of the church.* From the legend it must 
 have come from Jervaulx Abbey, but when is not recorded; it 
 reads — 
 
 SDrate. pro. aVa. tiompm. IRo&mi. ^orneton. afsbat’. 
 
 fnu . Uorni. 3[orctmufi0. btoimi Jk’tsi. 
 
 Between each word are thorn leaves, at the bottom of the stone 
 more than usual ; the diapering of the centre is also composed of 
 thorn leaves, which, with a tun , form a rebus on the name. Out 
 of the tun springs a pastoral staff, behind which is a mitre, and at 
 the sides the initials “ ft. C*” On two shields at the top, hung 
 by bands, are devices, one the usual monogram — — the 
 other an M with spear and sponge. The whole is in good 
 preservation. 
 
 “ There is nothing remarkable about the sacristy. In the porch 
 there is a three-foiled niche above the outer door-way, and a 
 mutilated bracket in the north-east corner of the porch itself. 
 
 * “ A huge flat stone, lately removed from the neighbourhood of the pulpit, which is 
 
 really the tomb of Robert Thornton, 22nd abbat of Jervaulx.” [a. d. 1510.] “ What 
 
 account can be given of the removal of. so massy a stone, and of its being found in a parish 
 church wholly unconnected with the abbey ? It is certain Thornton had not long been dead 
 at the Dissolution ; and, if he were a native of Middleham, and had friends surviving there, 
 it is not improbable that his remains and his gravestone were removed together on that 
 event to a situation where they might be protected, and where he might thenceforward 
 sleep among his friends.” Whitaker’s Riehmondshire, i. 334. 
 
GRAVESTONE OF ROBERT THORNETON, 
 
 THE 22l) ABBOT OF JERVAULX. 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 XXI 
 
 “ At the deanery is a gothic door bearing Decorated mouldings ; 
 it perhaps belonged to a rectory house converted into the deanery, 
 (as was the vicarage at Darlington) ; in the wall of an adjoining 
 out-house, attached to the same, is a curious tomb-stone, only 
 1 foot 9 inches long, with two wheel-crosses of unusual design, 
 which probably commemorated two children. 
 
 “ Let into the rear of a dwelling, opposite the principal front of 
 the castle, are also two mutilated sculptures ; one a pheasant or 
 peacock, the other apparently a stone rood, with the Saviour 
 extended on the cross between St. Mary and St. John, or perhaps 
 the two Marys. ^ 
 
 In a volume like this, professedly devoted to ecclesiastical mat- 
 ters, it may seem for a moment irrelevant to introduce any details 
 merely of a secular nature; yet, associated as the castle of Mid- 
 dleham was with both the earlier and later fortunes of its church, 
 it is impossible to pass it over altogether unnoticed. 
 
 It has been already observed that the massive and gloomy Keep, 
 forming the original pile, and still surviving the lapse of centuries, 
 was the work of Robert Fitz-Randolph, third lord of Middleham. 
 From him it passed in regular succession to his lineal descendants, 
 male and female, until it came into the hands of king Henry VI. on 
 the forfeiture of Richard Neville earl of Salisbury.* After that 
 
 * Richard Neville, earl of Salisbury, was the eldest son of Ralph Neville, earl of West- 
 moreland, K.G. by his second wife Joane, daughter of John of Gaunt. From marrying 
 Alice, the daughter and heir of Thomas de Montacute, earl of Salisbury, K.G. he was 
 created earl of Salisbury, and was appointed lord great chamberlain of England, 39 Hen. 
 VI. but was beheaded at York shortly afterwards. His eldest son Richard, K.G. acquired 
 the earldom of Warwick by marrying Anne, sister and heir to Henry duke of Warwick, 
 and is celebrated in the history of England as the “ King- maker,” from his great influence 
 and power. Testamenta Vetusta, p. 287 ; Halsted’s Rich. III. i. 115, 116’. 
 
XXII 
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 event the castle, with an annuity of 100 marks accruing from 
 certain manors in Wensleydale, was granted by the king (a 0 38 
 Hen. VI.) to sir John Neville (brother to Ralph first earl of West- 
 moreland, and uncle to the earl of Salisbury) as constable for life, 
 but the feudal fortress, with all its vast domains, manors, and 
 retainers, on the accession of Edward IV. reverted to its rightful 
 heir, the renowned Richard earl of Salisbury and Warwick; and 
 after his untimely death, at the battle of Barnet, was allotted to 
 Richard duke of Gloucester, who had married the lady Anne 
 Neville, Warwick’s younger daughter. 
 
 “ Some interesting scenes of English history have taken place in 
 and around this castle. Hence the earl of Salisbury marched 
 through Craven at the head of 4,000 Richmondshire men to the 
 battle of Bloreheath. Here, too, according to Stow, the bastard 
 Falconbridge was beheaded, a.d. 1471. On a neighbouring plain, 
 Edward IV. having been committed to the charge of archbishop 
 George Neville, at Middleham, being indulged with the privilege 
 of hunting, and having probably bribed his keepers, escaped on a 
 fleet horse to York, and thence to Lancaster, where he resumed 
 the government. Here Edward, son of Richard III. was born ; 
 and here the father, green in years but old in craft and cruelty, 
 amidst the sports of the field or the appearances of devotion, 
 meditated no doubt some of those tragedies which time and pre- 
 judice have left so mysterious.” * 
 
 * Whitaker’s Richmondshire, i. 348. 
 
 Modern research has, however, considerably modified these statements. It has been 
 discovered from the Foedera, that Edward IV. while said to be the prisoner of archbishop 
 Neville, was at full liberty, and doing acts of regal power: while the biographer of Richard 
 III. if she has not completely removed from Ms character every stain, has at least adduced 
 sufficient evidence to create serious doubts of his alleged crimes in every reflecting mind. 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 XXII 
 
 With respect to the edifice itself very few particulars can be 
 given.* 
 
 The small remains of this once magnificent castle stand on the 
 south side of the town. It consists of an outwork fortified with 
 four towers, inclosing a body or keep. This envelope is in figure 
 a right-angled parallelogram of 210 feet by 175 ; its greatest length 
 running north and south, and each of its sides forming one of the 
 cardinal points of the compass. As a specimen of architecture 
 Middleham is an unique but not a happy work. The Norman 
 keep, the fortress of the first lords, not being sufficient for the vast 
 trains and princely habits of the Nevilles, was inclosed by a com- 
 plete quadrangle, which almost entirely darkened what was dark 
 enough before, and the first structure now stands completely insu- 
 lated in the centre of a later work. 
 
 This building, which is much higher than the outwork, is of a 
 shape similar to it. The main building is unequally divided by a 
 wall which runs from north to south, and here still remain the 
 broken stairs. 
 
 The entrance into this castle was by a very strong arched gate- 
 way on the north side. The remnants of a moat f now appear on 
 the south and east ; but the ditch is daily filling up with weeds 
 and rubbish : the leaden pipes, for the conveyance of water, were 
 taken up within the memory of the mother of a person now 
 living. In 1663 it appears as if the castle was occupied by 
 
 * The following memorials of the castle and town have been principally collected from 
 Whitaker’s Richmondshire, i. 342 ; Maude’s Wensleydale, pp. 79, 80 ; White’s History 
 of the North Riding of Yorkshire, pp. 617, 618 ; and the Gentleman’s Magazine, lxxxiv. 
 part ii. p. 318. 
 
 f Since the above was written the moat is completely filled up, and not a trace of it 
 now remains. This has been done within the last twenty years. 
 
 CAMD. SOC. d 
 
XXIV 
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 lord Loftus,* * * § who probably held it by lease from the crown, where 
 the property seems to be.f The duke of Leeds holds the sinecure 
 office of “ Governor of Middleham Castle and, as chief bailiff 
 of Richmondshire, he holds here a court baron and view of frank 
 pledge for suits under 405 . 
 
 As it is, — majestic in decay, — Middleham Castle is the noblest 
 work of man in the county of Richmond, Without any natural 
 strength, except that of standing upon a little elevated rock, the 
 views up and down Wen sley dale are delightful ; but at a time when 
 little gratification was taken in by the eye, the idea of property 
 would supersede the feelings of taste, and the Nevilles would survey 
 with pleasure the ample domains around them, not because they 
 were picturesque or beautiful, but because they were their own. 
 
 A word on the town itself ere this preface draws to a close. 
 Middleham is situated on a gentle rising ground in the most fertile 
 and open part of Wensleydale, a short distance from the south 
 bank of the river Yore, in the wapentake of Hangwest, and is a 
 small but ancient and well-built market town, containing several 
 neat mansions occupied by respectable families.J As a place of 
 trade it never had any high interest ; but on the adjacent moor, 
 which has long been famed as a school of the turf, many celebrated 
 racers have been trained. § With the exception of the church and 
 
 * See Introduction, infra , p. 26. 
 
 •f* “ Whether the lord of the manor is really owner of the castle does not seem very 
 certain ; at all events the Darcys, earls of Holderness, have long held the constableship of 
 the castle by grant from the crown, in consequence of which that office, a mere name, is 
 now vested in his grace the duke of Leeds.” Whitaker’s Richmondshire, i. 349. 
 
 £ The population of Middleham, according to Whitaker (i. 349), was, in 1811, 714 : 
 by the last census, taken in 1841, it had increased to 930. 
 
 § The following passage from a letter written in 1537 shews in what estimation this 
 district was then held for the breed of horses : — “ The king’s highness (Henry VIII.) is at 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 XXV 
 
 castle, it does not possess many objects of interest. In the market 
 place there is an ancient cross, and in the upper part of the town 
 is a curious flight of double steps, with a recumbent figure on one 
 side : this is now so mutilated as almost to baffle inquiry; but it 
 has been suggested by an antiquarian friend that it might represent 
 the bear, a portion of the cognizance of the earl of Warwick. 
 With greater probability, however, it may be assumed as the 
 emblem of the silver boar, which, it is well known, was the pecu- 
 liar badge of Richard duke of Gloucester. This surmise is borne 
 out by the circumstance of that portion of the town still retaining 
 the name of “ the Swine Market ; 5 ’ and it has been stated by some 
 of the older inhabitants that, in their earlier days, the figure, then 
 in tolerable preservation, was a boar.* Middleham still contains 
 one or two Tudor houses ; but within the last few years several of 
 the most ancient edifices have been pulled down. 
 
 Its neighbourhood, however, is rich not alone in objects of anti- 
 quarian and historic lore, but also in the beauty and richness of its 
 natural scenery ; and possessing, as it does, most comfortable 
 accommodation for the tourist, seems a spot well adapted, from its 
 central situation, for a resting-place to the lover of the one or the 
 
 great charge with his studs of mares at Thornborough and other places, which are fine 
 grounds ; and I think that at Jervaulx and in the granges incident, with the help of their 
 great large commons, the king’s highness by good overseers should have there the most 
 best pasture that should be in England, hard and sound of kind. For assuredly the breed 
 of Jervaulx for horses was the tried breed of the north ; the stallions and mares so well 
 sorted that I think in no realm should we find the like to them, for there is high and 
 large grounds for the summer, and low grounds to serve them.” 
 
 * This figure bears a strong resemblance, even in its present dilapidated condition, to 
 the couchant boar on which Richard III. and his son Edward Prince of Wales are repre- 
 sented as standing in an engraving, copied from a MS. in the College of Arms, and pre- 
 fixed to the second volume of Halsted’s Richard III. 
 
xxvi 
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 admirer of the other : while he who fortunately is blessed with a 
 taste for both may revel for days on the interesting and attractive 
 objects in its vicinity. 
 
 Westward are the yet perfect remains of Bolton Castle, where the 
 lovely and hapless Mary Stuart was erst a prisoner in the keeping 
 of the lordly Scrope ; and still the spot is pointed out, bearing the 
 name of the Queers Gap, where this victim of misfortune was 
 recaptured when endeavouring to escape from her prison home. 
 
 Westward, also, are the beautiful church of Wensley, the recently 
 discovered ruins of a preceptory of Knights Templars, and the 
 far-famed and romantic Aysgarth Force, with the adjacent church, 
 each of which will amply repay a visit. 
 
 North is the magnificent natural terrace known by the name of 
 Leyburn Shawl ; and within a drive Richmond Castle, with its 
 lofty and massive keep, as fresh and sharply chiseled as when, 
 seven hundred years ago, earl Conan, laying its foundation upon 
 the rocky bank of the Swale, reared that huge square tower, the 
 walls of which, with their pinnacled turrets, have braved the dilapi- 
 dating hand of time, and retain at this day their original dimensions 
 and stability. 
 
 South are the remnants of Coverliam Abbey, where some of 
 Middiehanfis earliest lords lie entombed ; and in a sequestered 
 spot, close by the romantic bed of the Cover, the little known, 
 but curious fragments of St. Simon’s chapel and holy well. 
 While eastward are the extensive and well kept ruins of the once 
 splendid abbey of Jervaulx ; and further still, the castle and 
 church of Tanfield, where lie enshrined the renowned lords 
 Marmion, each under his marble sepulchre. These for the antiquary 
 alone ; but for him who loves to read from Nature’s book, and 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 xxvii 
 
 delights in the works of his Creator, all Wensleydale abounds with 
 the picturesque and the beautiful. There are lofty dells and 
 heath-clad mountains— there are hanging woods and precipitous 
 rocks ; rivers winding, like the beauteous Yore, through the rich 
 and verdant meadows which gird its margin ; or, as the Cover, 
 foaming and tearing its way over rocks and stones, far, far beneath 
 the feet of him who stands on the summit of its precipitous and 
 wood-bound banks. 
 
 But here the editor must pause, nor indulge longer in expatiat- 
 ing on those most interesting subjects which constitute his chiefest 
 sources of amusement, and which have contributed to solace and 
 to cheer him in many a sad hour of solitude and sorrow. 
 
 In conclusion,* he cannot close this preface without returning 
 his sincere thanks to those friends who have aided him in his 
 undertaking ; among the many whom he could name, they are 
 principally due to Miss C. A. Halsted, the biographer of Richard 
 III.f who, even before he had the pleasure of her personal 
 acquaintance, generously placed her valuable MS. collections at his 
 disposal. 
 
 He is also deeply indebted to the Rev. G. C. Tomlinson, F.R.S., 
 the incumbent of Coverham, not merely for perusing the transcript 
 
 * It ought not to be passed over without notice, that, much to the credit of the 
 successive deans and registrars of Middleham — in whose custody they are deposited — 
 the many important documents, comprising royal and ecclesiastical licences, grants, and 
 charters (duplicates of which are to be found in the various state-paper offices in London), 
 together with the other muniments belonging to this deanery, have been kept with the 
 most scrupulous care, and are at the present day in most excellent preservation, although 
 extending over a period of nearly 450 years ! 
 
 f “ Richard III. as Duke of Gloucester and King of England.” 2 vols. 8vo. Longmans 
 and Co. 1844. A work abounding in deep research and valuable information, however 
 opinions may differ on the conclusions at which the author has arrived. 
 
XXVlll 
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 of his MS., but also for much important local information, and 
 for the use of several rare and valuable works ; to W. G. J. 
 Barker, Esq., of Harmby, for his ready aid in collating ancient 
 documents, and furnishing him with extracts from his notes, col- 
 lected with reference to an intended work on the antiquities of 
 Wensleydale; and to William Hylton Longstaffe, Esq., of Norton, 
 the use of whose Archeeological Journal has already been grate- 
 fully acknowledged. 
 
 To these, and to the authorities of the British Museum, from 
 whom he experienced every facility in the prosecution of his 
 researches, he desires to return those acknowledgements which 
 are so justly due. 
 
 The editor trusts that the professional avocations which neces- 
 sarily caused his absence from London during the time that this 
 book was passing through the press will be accepted as an 
 apology for any casual inaccuracies which may be discovered. 
 Owing, however, to the great kindness of the Messrs. Nichols, 
 who are ever ready and desirous to promote the objects of the 
 Camden Society, these, it is hoped, will be found but few and of 
 little consequence ; and he sends forth this volume to that society 
 with an earnest wish that it may prove, albeit a small, yet not an 
 unacceptable addition to the ecclesiastical annals of our country. 
 
 W. A. 
 
 The Deanery, Middleham, 
 January 1 , 1847 . 
 
XXIX 
 
 THE RECTORS OF MIDDLEHAM 
 BEFORE ITS ERECTION INTO A COLLEGIATE CHURCH. 
 
 Temp. Institut. 
 
 Reetores. 
 
 Patroni. 
 
 Yacat. 
 
 26 Apr. 
 
 1372 
 
 D’ns. Reginaldus de 
 Thorp Arch, Cap. 
 
 /D’ns. Nevill de 
 | Raby 
 
 jjoh’es D’ns. de 
 v Raby 
 
 
 17 July, 
 
 1378 
 
 M r . Ric. de Yeddingham 
 
 idem 
 
 p’ resig. 
 
 
 
 D’ns. Joh. Alwent, Cap. 
 
 Rad. Com. W’land 
 
 p’ resig. 
 
 23 Oct. 
 
 1399 
 
 D’ns. Ric. de Pykering, Cl. 
 
 idem 
 
 
 
 
 D’ns. Will. Reson 
 
 
 p’ mort. 
 
 2 Mar. 
 
 1426 
 
 D’ns. Petr, Fryston, Pbr. 
 
 Joh’ Com tissa W’land 
 
 p’ resig. 
 
 22 Sep. 
 
 1430 
 
 D’ns. Robt. Knayton,Cap. 
 
 eadem 
 
 p’ resig. 
 
 15 Dec. 
 
 1434 
 
 D’ns. Joh. Cartmell, Cap. 
 
 eadem 
 
 p’ resig. 
 
 10 Dec. 
 
 1437 
 
 D’ns. Joh. Strangland, 
 
 eadem 
 
 
 Pbr. 
 
 D‘ns. Will. Beverley p’ prom. 
 
 Torre's Peculiars, p. 1350. 
 

INTRODUCTION. 
 
 Former publications * of the Camden Society have brought 
 before our notice Richard Duke of Gloucester, as continually 
 engaged in the intrigues of a court or the storms of civil war, 
 while for four centuries both his person and character have been 
 the theme of almost universal vituperation. Into these subjects 
 it is not the province of the editor of the present volume to enter ; 
 and, in truth, there is now the less occasion for it, since the 
 volumes of Miss Halsted have appeared in the field of literature. 
 This talented and zealous writer has adduced a host of authorities, 
 apparently proving that his personal deformity existed but in 
 the libels of an opposing faction, perpetuated in the pages of the 
 poet and the novelist; while at the same time her researches 
 seem to throw such light over the darker shades in his chequered 
 career, as to induce the strongest presumption that he was not 
 guilty of, or accessory to, those startling crimes which have 
 been charged to his account. The limits, however, of the brief 
 introduction allotted to this work, compel us to turn our attention 
 from scenes of battle and of blood to other, and to us more 
 interesting portions of his history. 
 
 When, on the partition f of Warwick’s vast domains between 
 the sister heiresses, the lordship and manor of Middleham, with 
 its ancestral castle, became the fair heritage of Gloucester in 
 
 * Historie of the Arrival of Edward IV. ; Wark worth’s Chronicle ; and Polydore 
 Vergil ; being Nos. I. X. and XXVIII. of the Camden Society’s publications. 
 
 f A.D. 1473. 
 
 CAMD. SOC. 
 
 B 
 
2 
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 right of his wife,* the Lady Anne Neville, it assumed an extra- 
 ordinary interest in his eyes. It may have been the beauty and 
 fertility of the region in which it lay, still rendering Wensleydale 
 an object of attraction to the lover of God’s handiworks, — it mav 
 have been the reminiscences f of his earlier days, when within its 
 feudal walls he first learnt the art of war from the princely War- 
 wick, or whispered the soft breathings of affection into the ear of 
 his gentle daughter : it may have been all or any of these ; but 
 certain it is, that, though the pomp and circumstance of state, or 
 the high duties of his vice-regal station, may have compelled him 
 the while to unfurl his banner, and reside within the time-worn 
 walls of Pontefract, J yet ever and anon did he escape from these 
 to Middleham, ce the centre and the home of his domestic affec- 
 tions. 55 
 
 Here then it was that the royal Gloucester resolved to establish 
 a foundation, which might for ever attest his reverence for the 
 honour and glory of God. To quote the language of that inde- 
 fatigable historian § to whom we have already alluded, “ It w T as 
 not alone the restoration of castles and strongholds that occupied 
 Gloucester’s attention, and called forth his munificence ; to his 
 honour let it be recorded, that religion, || and the worship of God 
 
 * Halsted’s Richard III. vol. i. p. 298. 
 
 f Strickland’s Queens of England, vol. iii. pp. 432, 433. 
 
 X Richard Duke of Gloucester, made high constable of England 29 Feb. 1472, resided 
 at Pontefract as chief seneschal of the king’s duchy of Lancaster in the north parts. 
 — Plumpton Correspondence, p. 26, note. 
 
 § Halsted’s Richard III. vol. i. pp. 300, 301. 
 
 || The Harleian Collection contains a memorable instance of Richard’s horror of 
 sacrilege in a letter, “ whereby the king (calling to remembraunce the dreadfulle sentence 
 of the churche of God, yeven ayenst alle those personnes which wilfully attempt to usurp 
 unto themselffes, ayenst good conscience, possessions or other things of right belonging to 
 God and his said churche, and the gret perille of soule whiche may ensue by the same), 
 commands that 20 acres and more of pasture within the parke of Pountfret, which was 
 taken from the priour and convent of Pountfreit about the 10th yere of K. Edw. the IYtli, 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 3 
 
 in temples consecrated to his service, was fully as much the object 
 of his active zeal and attention as the repair of those defensive 
 fabrics that suited his warlike temperament. Whitaker states, in 
 his most interesting History of Richmondshire, c that that county 
 abounds with memorials of this princess bounty to charities and 
 religious-houses/ 4 He seems, 5 adds this able writer, 6 to have 
 divided his residence for a considerable time between his castle 
 here (Middleham), and that of Skipton. He bestoweth liberally 
 on the monks of Coverham* and the parish of Skipton, for the 
 repair of their respective churches : 5 but under the walls of his 
 own castle, his favourite Middleham, he meditated greater things, 
 and greater things he did indeed accomplish. 55 
 
 During Gloucester 5 s sojourn in the metropolis, and even amid 
 the splendour of that “ festive scene, which had induced his visit 
 to the court of Edward IV., 55 the solemnization of the marriage of 
 his infant nephew the Duke of York with the heiress of the 
 house of Norfolk, the Lady Anne Mowbray, he seems to have 
 turned his attention to the project which had long occupied his 
 mind, of amplifying the parish church of Middleham, by founding 
 and incorporating there a college for a dean and six secular priests. 
 The royal wedding occurred on the 15th of January, 1477; and on 
 the 21st day of February, in the same year, Richard’s exertions 
 were crowned with success ; and “ a licence 55 was granted by 
 King Edward, ce for erecting the church of Middleham into a 
 college. 55 t 
 
 be restored unto them. Yoven the 2d day of Octobre, an. primo.” MSS. Harl. 433, 
 fol. 121. — See also Miss Halsted’s admirable remarks on this document, Richard III. 
 vol. ii. pp. 174, 175. 
 
 * Gloucester obtained, in 1475, the reversion of the manor of Coverdale (vide Rot. Par.)* 
 a district in close local connexion with the Middleham domain. 
 
 + Middleham Charters, Appendix A. 
 
4 
 
 INTRODUCTION, 
 
 The advowson of the parish church and rectory of Middleham 
 was already vested in the duke in right of his heiress wife ; but, 
 as the expense of maintaining the six chaplains, four clerks, clerk 
 sacristane, and choristers, of whom the foundation was to consist, 
 must necessarily have fallen heavily upon the rector, he endea- 
 voured to provide a remedy by procuring the insertion of a clause 
 in the royal licence, which empowered the new corporation to 
 acquire lands of the value of two hundred marks yearly, the 
 statute of mortmain, or any other statute, act, or ordinance to the 
 contrary thereof notwithstanding. 
 
 Armed with this important document, the princely founder 
 proceeded to seek the sanction on his undertaking of one of the 
 highest dignitaries within the realm of England. 
 
 Middleham was then not merely within the province, but 
 actually in the archdiocese of York;* Chester and Ripon, within 
 each of which it has since successively been locally situate, were 
 neither of them in that day episcopal sees ; and the archi epis- 
 copal throne was filled by Laurence Booth.f To him therefore 
 
 * Chester was erected into a see on the dissolution of the monasteries temp. Henry VIII., 
 and Ripon was restored in the reign of William IV., on the union of the bishoprics of 
 Gloucester and Bristol, a.d. 1836. 
 
 “ He had risen by merit from obscurity. He studied at Cambridge, where he gained 
 great distinction for his proficiency in literature, law, and divinity. While still a young 
 man he was elected head of his house, and chancellor of that university. In 1457 he was 
 made Bishop of Durham, while Henry VI. was nominally king, but under the influence 
 of the Yorkists, to whom he continued steadily attached. In his old age he was selected 
 to fill the office of Lord Chancellor. His appointment turned out a great failure — 'he was 
 accordingly dismissed from the office of chancellor. To console him, he was soon after 
 translated from Durham to York. He died, after having quietly presided over this 
 province between three and four years ; during which time, abandoning politics, he exclu- 
 sively confined himself to his spiritual duties.” — Campbell’s Lives of the Lord Chancellors, 
 vol. i. pp. 391 et seq. 
 
 “ Laurence Booth, Archdeacon of Richmond, succeeded Robert Neville (as Bishop of 
 Durham), and was consecrated the 15th September, 1457. He was master of Pembroke 
 Hall, which he kept till he died ; Chancellor of Cambridge, and Lord Chancellor of 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 5 
 
 Richard naturally addressed himself for the confirmation of what 
 had been already done ; aware that, without the approval of holy 
 mother church, every arrangement which already had been or 
 thereafter might be made must fall to the ground. From this 
 illustrious prelate the pious designs of the royal founder expe- 
 rienced the same facilities which they had already met with in the 
 quarter to which he had first applied. The archbishop, taking 
 the matter into his grave consideration, proceeded, as a prelimi- 
 nary step, to issue his commission,* bearing date, from his manor 
 of Soutlrwell, the 6th day of August, 1478, and the second year of 
 his translation, to Robert Bothe, Doctor of Laws, Dean of York, 
 William Poteman, Archdeacon of Cleveland, Henry Gillowe, 
 Sub-dean, and Thomas Barow, Canon of York, to convoke the 
 Archdeacon of Richmond, or his procurator, especially, and all 
 others generally, to the said church of Middleham or to some 
 other fit and convenient place, on a certain day appointed ; and the 
 said parish church to erect into a college ; to make due inquiry into 
 the profits of the same ; and to appoint a certain number of chap- 
 lains and other ministers, providing for the governance of the 
 same and the cure of the parishioners. 
 
 At this period, the parish church of Middleham was a rectory 
 with cure of souls, in the diocese of York, and archdeaconry of 
 Richmond, of which the advow T son (as we have already stated) was 
 vested in the Duke of Gloucester, and the rector who then filled 
 the benefice was William Beverley. 
 
 England in 1473. He built the college gates at Auckland, with some adjoining edifices, 
 on both sides of the way, at his own expense. After he had been Bishop of Durham 
 about twenty years, he was translated to York, and was buried in Cawood church near 
 that city.” — Sanderson’s Description of the County of Durham, p. 78. 
 
 * Middleham Charters, Appendix B. 
 
6 
 
 INTRODUCTIONS 
 
 To him therefore (inasmuch as the consent of the incumbent 
 was indispensably necessary to so great a change) Richard, on his 
 return from the metropolis, immediately applied to sanction his 
 projected college. This sanction was at once and in the most 
 cordial manner granted by Beverley, who doubtless had already 
 been in those habits of familiar intercourse with the royal duke 
 to which his holy office would admit him. The consent of Wil- 
 liam Beverley was conveyed in a document * displaying evident 
 marks of having been prepared with the greatest skill and caution, 
 and bearing date the twentieth day of January, 1478, only four 
 days subsequent to an application made by Gloucester to the Par- 
 liament f then assembled in the painted chamber, Westminster, for 
 permission to alienate for the benefit of his college the advowson 
 of certain churches, which was granted. 
 
 So far thenhis wishes were already carried out; but before the holy 
 design could be completed there was another interest to be con- 
 sulted, another assent to be gained, and that was the assent of the 
 Archdeacon of Richmond,! a dignitary of very considerable power 
 and influence within his archdeaconry, and whose jurisdiction, in 
 consequence of his frequent residence at the Papal Court, was 
 exercised by his commissary. Gloucester, whose munificence to 
 the Church had been so well proved, would naturally experience 
 but little difficulty in obtaining the ready consent of both these 
 parties, and accordingly we find, on the same day on which Wil- 
 liam Beverley had resigned his rights as rector, an instrument was 
 executed, conveying the consent of Doctor Thomas Pearson, 
 Vicar General of the Archdeacon of Richmond, to the erecting of 
 the church of Middleham into a college, until the sanction of the 
 
 Middleham Charters, Appendix C. 
 
 See Gale’s Honor of Richmond, Appendix, p. 65. 
 
 f Rot. Pari. vol. vi. p. 172. 
 
INTRODUCTION. 7 
 
 archdeacon * himself could be procured, which, as we shall here- 
 after see, was most elaborately conveyed by a future deed. 
 
 All these preliminary assents having been thus satisfactorily 
 obtained, and the documents conveying them duly executed, and 
 laid before the above named commissioners, they in compliance 
 with the directions of Archbishop Booth, who was at once ordinary 
 and metropolitan, proceeded with the matters which were entrusted 
 to their care ; and having cited and convoked the archdeacon of 
 Richmond, or his procurator, and Master William Beverley, the 
 rector, especially, and all others generally, on the 29th day of 
 January, 1478, f they assembled in the parish church of Middleham, 
 and, finding that all proceedings connected with the royal founda- 
 tion had been rightly and canonically performed, did then and 
 there, in full form of law, with the sanction of all parties inter- 
 ested therein, and before divers witnesses, erect the same into a 
 collegiate church, and decree that it should be so held and esteemed 
 for ever; and William Beverley became the first Dean. 
 
 The princely founder, having thus far seen his wishes advanced 
 towards a successful completion, neglected not, amid the ever 
 varying duties of his high and important station, the concerns of 
 his new college ; and accordingly we find that on the 4tli day of 
 July, in the 18th year of Edward IV. and within a brief period 
 after the process of its erection had taken place, statutes were 
 promulgated for the proper government of its various members 
 and officers ; statutes drawn up with the most consummate care 
 and judgement, and bearing evident marks of the powerful mind 
 which influenced the entire arrangements of the college. 
 
 * The archdeaconry of Richmond was at this time filled by that learned man, Doctor 
 John Sherwood, who was subsequently appointed, in the year 1483, to the see of Durham 
 on the decease of Bishop Dudley. The archdeacon had been sent embassador into Italy, 
 where he collected many great Greek books. He held the see nine years, and died 1494. 
 Sanderson’s Description of Durham, p. 79. + Middleham MSS. Appendix D. 
 
8 
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 By these statutes * the principal place and stall on the right 
 side of the choir, called “ Our Lady’s ” stall, is assigned to the 
 dean, Sir William Beverley. 
 
 The principal place and stall on the left side, called “ Saint 
 George’s ” stall, to the first priest, Sir Lawrence Evmer. 
 
 The next stall to the dean on the right side, called ee Saint Ca- 
 tharine’s ” stall, to the second priest. Sir William Symson. 
 
 The second stall on the left side, called 66 Saint Ninian’s” stall, 
 to the third priest. Sir Richard Cutler. 
 
 The third stall on the right side, called “ Saint Cuthbert’s ” 
 stall, to the fourth priest, Sir William Burntyait.t 
 
 The third stall on the left side, called “ Saint Anthony’s ” stall, 
 to the fifth priest, Sir Henry Lonerhead. 
 
 The fourth stall on the right side, called “ Saint Barbara’s” 
 stall, to the sixth priest. Sir John Bell. 
 
 To two of the clerks, stalls on the right side, and to the other 
 two clerks, and to the clerk sacristan, called the minister for 
 divine services and offices, stalls on the left side. 
 
 And to the six choristers pews or places at the assignation of 
 the said dean. 
 
 These statutes, thus carefully drawn up, and still regulating the 
 affairs of the college, were next submitted for approval and con- 
 firmation to the highest authorities in church and state ; of this 
 we have incontestible evidence in a most important document, J 
 to which we shall have occasion again to refer, and which contains 
 the following passage : ee And also certain very laudable statutes 
 for the prosperous state and the safe direction of the said colle- 
 
 * Middleham MSS. Whitaker’s Richmondshire, vol. i. p. 339. 
 
 f Probably a native of the parish of Kirby- Malzeard, in which there is a township of 
 the name. 
 
 £ Archbishop Rotheram’s Confirmation. Appendix E. 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 9 
 
 giate church, and the present and future ministers thereof, were 
 laudably and honourably published by the mediation of the same 
 duke, and strengthened , corroborated , and established , with the 
 firmness of the apostolical see ; we therefore,” & c. 
 
 The Duke of Gloucester having thus far proceeded, not merely in 
 the nominal foundation of his college, but having actually framed 
 statutes for the government of the intended corporation, and by 
 those statutes appointed the chaplains who were to fill the several 
 stalls, we may naturally conclude that, in the prosecution of his 
 design, he would at once endeavour to procure, what doubtless 
 had been his original desire, the exemption of his college and the 
 parish of Middleham from the jurisdiction of the Ordinary, so that 
 the entire management might rest in the hands of the newly ap- 
 pointed Dean. But here an unforeseen event occurred to prevent 
 the immediate completion of his wishes. 
 
 Archbishop Booth, who had so heartily concurred in aiding 
 him to carry out his pious design, and under whose auspices 
 the actual foundation had been accomplished, was in the year 
 1480 called to enter into his rest, leaving to his successor the 
 completion of what he had already commenced. That successor 
 was Dr. Thomas Rotheram,* who on the decease of Lawrence 
 
 * “ He owed his elevation to his own merits. His family name was Scot, unillustrated 
 in England at that time, and instead of it he assumed the name of the town in which he 
 was born. He studied at King’s College, Cambridge, and was one of the earliest fellows 
 on this royal foundation, which has since produced so many distinguished men. He was 
 afterwards master of Pembroke Hall, and chancellor of this university. For his learning 
 and piety he was at an early age selected to be chaplain to Vere, 13th Earl of Oxford, 
 and he was then taken into the service of Edward IV. Being a steady Yorkist, he was 
 made Bishop of Rochester in 1467, and translated to Lincoln in 1471. To finish the 
 notice of his ecclesiastical dignities, I may mention here that in 1480 he became Arch- 
 bishop of York, and that he received a red hat from the pope, with the title of Cardinal 
 S’tse Ceciliae.” (Capipbell’s Lives of the Chancellors, vol. i. p.393, ch. 23). The Arch- 
 
 CAMD. SOC. 
 
 C 
 
10 
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 Booth was translated from Lincoln to fill the archiepiscopal see 
 of York. However anxious Gloucester might have been to ex- 
 pedite all the arrangements of his new foundation, so that they 
 might receive their final confirmation from the sovereign pontiff, 
 these events, as we have already observed, necessarily delayed 
 their completion. For so many would be the official engagements 
 of the new prelate, on coming into his diocese, that even sup- 
 posing him, as the event proved, most favourably disposed 
 towards Duke Richard and his college, some time must unavoid- 
 ably elapse before he could examine into and satisfy himself as 
 to the concessions he ought to make. The issue of the scrutiny, 
 however, proved as favourable as the princely founder could 
 desire, and on the 24th day of March, 14S1, not many months 
 after his translation, the archbishop, from his manor of Battersey, 
 issued a document,* not merely confirming the acts of his pre- 
 decessor, but totally and finally resigning his jurisdiction as ordi- 
 nary and metropolitan. 
 
 These matters being thus far satisfactorily adjusted, Gloucester 
 (while waiting for a more ample assent, and more decided and 
 formal renunciation of his jurisdiction from the Archdeacon of Rich- 
 mond, still absent at the papal court, as well as for a confirmation 
 of the foundation of his college by the Dean and Chapter of York; 
 which, in all probability, would require that body to be capitularly 
 assembled, and may thus account for the apparent delay in 
 
 bishop died of the plague at Cawood, in the year 1500, and was buried in his own cathe- 
 dral. He was the founder of Lincoln College, Oxford. — Ibid. p. 403. 
 
 Doctor Whitaker (Richmondshire, p. 337) states that this confirmation and resignation 
 of his jurisdiction was granted by Archbishop Savage, Booth being now dead. The chro- 
 nological data which we have already given shew the error into which Dr. Whitaker has 
 fallen. Archbishop Rotheram immediately succeeded Booth, and held the see till 1500. 
 
 * Middleham Charters. Appendix E. 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 11 
 
 obtaining that instrument,) seems to have turned his attention 
 towards the endowment of his new corporation. He had already, 
 by a deed* bearing date December 20th, in the 19th Edw. IV. 
 conveyed one acre of land and the advowson of the parish of 
 Middleham to the dean and chaplains of Middleham. 
 
 But it is evident that his care for their well-being did not 
 rest here, for during the summer of this year, 20 Edw. IV. on 
 which we have now entered, we find a grant from Richard Duke 
 of Gloucester and certain feoffees to William Beverley, dean of 
 Middleham, and his successors, and the chaplains there, of ten 
 acres of land; and on the 1st of October in the same year, an 
 agreement f entered into between the said duke and the dean and 
 chaplains about the tithe of hay and wood, “ is,” to use the words 
 of Whitaker, ei another relic of the transactions of Richard Duke 
 of Gloucester with the dean and prebendaries at a very early 
 period after the foundation/’;); 
 
 But the winter passed away, and early in the ensuing spring all 
 that was necessary for procuring the papal bull was complete. On 
 the 10th of April 1482,§ John Sherwood, Archdeacon of Rich- 
 mond, exempts the dean, the church, and the inhabitants of 
 Middleham, from all archidiaconal, ordinary, and other ecclesias- 
 
 * Middleham MSS. Append. F. Strange to say, “ that though the college were never 
 dissolved, the advowson never passed according to the founder’s grant, to the dean and 
 chaplains.” Such is Whitaker’s statement, vol. i. p. 338. But the probability is, if the 
 matter were more closely investigated, that the grant of the advowson did pass, and that, 
 on the appointment of a dean by the crown, he at first presented the parish to himself j 
 until in process of time, and during the stormy periods which ensued, the distinction 
 between the dean of the collegiate church and the incumbent of the parish seems to have 
 been forgotten, and the appointment to the one considered necessarily to imply the pre- 
 sentation to the other also. 
 
 f Middleham MSS. Append. Gr. 
 
 X Whitaker’s Richmondshire, vol. i. p. 348. 
 
 § Middleham Charters, Append. H. 
 
12 
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 tical jurisdiction whatsoever ; and on the 12th of April in the 
 same year, Robert Bothe the dean,* and the chapter, of York 
 confirm the exemption made by the archbishop, although it was 
 not until April 1483 f that they were enabled to confirm the 
 exemption granted by their archdeacon. And now there was 
 wanted but the one crowning act to confirm and establish the 
 entire proceedings ; and in those days, when the church’s weal 
 was not a secondary consideration with her spiritual rulers, no 
 unnecessary delays were likely to occur ; consequently the fiat of 
 the sovereign pontiff was, within a very brief period, accorded to 
 the work. On the 24th day of July, in the year of the Incarnation 
 of our Lord 1482, the fifteenth indiction, and the eleventh year 
 of the Pontificate of the most holy Father in Christ the Lord 
 Sixtus the Fourth, by divine providence Pope, in the collegiate 
 church of Middleham,J William, by divine permission Abbot of 
 the Monastery of the Blessed Mary of Jourvale,§ in the diocese of 
 York, Executor Judge and Commissary of the Apostolical See, 
 together with the venerable fathers in Christ the abbots of the 
 monasteries of the Blessed Mary near the walls of York and of 
 Fountains, in the said diocese of York, being nominated by 
 certain letters of commission or delegation, under hempen thread, 
 publicly sitting in tribunal, and lawfully proceeding upon the 
 business in the same letter contained : having called, cited, and 
 lawfully admonished the Lord Thomas, by divine permission 
 Archbishop of York, and all other persons therein concerned, did 
 solemnly publish, statute, and proclaim the bull of the most 
 
 * Middleham MSS. f Middleham MSS. 
 
 + Middleham Charters, Append. I. 
 
 § Now called Jervaux, the magnificent ruins of which continue in careful preservation 
 in the parish of East Witton, which adjoins to the deanery of Middleham. 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 13 
 
 holy father, together with their statute, decree, and ordination, 
 in the presence of the venerable and discreet men, John Gryndon, 
 chaplain, and Ralph Wintringham, gentleman, of the diocese of 
 York, and many others, especially called to be witnesses to the 
 premises. And now all was complete. 
 
 Having thus far recited the gradual progress of Richard’s pious 
 designs, from his first proposal to amplify and erect the parish 
 church of Middleham into a collegiate church, until, with the 
 fullest consents of all the parties interested therein, and the 
 highest sanction of the authorities, civil and ecclesiastical, he had 
 carried out and completed the same, we shall now proceed, as far 
 as the imperfect records handed down will permit us, to trace the 
 history and succession of its deans, and at the same time inci- 
 dentally to touch upon any other facts connected with its history ; 
 and, where we may be enabled to do so, to record the names of the 
 other individuals, lay or clerical, in any way connected with the 
 royal Gloucester’s foundation. 
 
 We have already stated that by the statutes, bearing date July 
 4th A.D. 1479, the principal place and stall in the choir was 
 assigned to the dean Sir William Beverley. But that his appoint- 
 ment as dean had taken place prior to that period ( most 'probably 
 it immediately succeeded his resignation as rector) is evident from 
 a document* dated January 29tli, 1478, being the receiver-general’s 
 receipt for 4s. from William Beverley, dean of Middleham, due to 
 the Archbishop of York, in recompense of his resignation of 
 ecclesiastical jurisdiction, while in that last important instrument 
 the papal bull, j* which crowned and confirmed all their privileges, 
 he is styled “ that provident man William Beverley, the now dean.'*’ 
 
 * Middleham MSS. 
 
 f See Appendix E. 
 
14 
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 But Gloucester’s kindness to Beverley, who had so cordially 
 aided his designs, ceased not here, for we find that on his accession 
 to the throne renewed marks of the royal favour were conferred, 
 not on the dean alone, but also on other members of the chapter 
 of Middleham. Amongst the earliest grants in Richard’s reign 
 bearing on the present subject, we find the following: 
 
 “ Maister William Beverley, the deanry of Wymbourne, in the 
 countie of Dorset, for term of his life,” * which is repeated almost 
 immediately after in these words : Maister William Beverley, 
 
 dean of the king’s chapell, the deanery of Wymborne Mynster, in 
 the countie of Dorset ;”f and this was followed, at no distant period, 
 by a grant to “ Maist’ William Beverley, J of the pension of the 
 Abbey of Yorke,” While in a warrant § “ yeven at the palais of 
 Westm. 7th Febr. anno primo, he is styled the king’s a fulle trusty 
 clerc and counsellour, Mr. William Beverley, deane of the cha- 
 pelle.” Simultaneously with these proofs of King Richard’s favour 
 to the first dean, we find also two of the primary chaplains em- 
 ployed in places of profit or of confidence; these were, John Bell 
 and William Symson, whose names are recorded in the following 
 royal warrants. 
 
 “ A warranty to Mr. William Wagot, clerke, and Sir John Bell, 
 parson of Parkham, out of such money as resteth in their hands, 
 that hath belonged to Sir Thomas Saint Legere, to pay and deliver 
 to Mastre John Whytfielde, his confessour, the sum of 36 pounds 
 sterling, to be employed by him like as it is appointed. Yoven the 
 xii. day of November, a 0 , primo.” And again, “ A warrant to 
 
 * Harleian MSS. 433, fol. 67, b. 
 t Harl. MSS. 433, fol. 101. 
 
 I! Harl. MSS. 433, fol. 123. 
 
 + Harl. MSS. 433, fol. 68. 
 
 § Harl. MSS. 433, fol. 152 b. 
 f Harl. MSS. 433, fol. 201 b. 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 15 
 
 Geoffrey Frank,* receiver of the lordship of Sheriff Hooton,t to 
 content Sir William Symson, chauntrey priest of our Lady Cha- 
 pell beside the church of Sheriff Hooton, the sum of 100$. due 
 unto him for his salary at Martinmass last past, for half yeare, and 
 so yearly from Geoffrey, his salary of 200$. yeven at Windesore, 
 15 Jan. a 0 . 2 do .” And in the same year occurs the last record 
 which we have been able to discover of this prince’s munificence 
 to his college. In a list of royal grants, entitled, “ Maneria, do- 
 minia, terrae, tenementa concessa per D’num Regem R. tercium 
 diversis personis, haeredibus suis masculis, quos inter fuerunt,” 
 occurs the following : “ The Kinges Colleige of Middleham. t Com. 
 Norff. manerium de Wygenhalle et de Fersfeld in valorem per 
 annum, lxxiij 11 .” These words are remarkable, shewing even in the 
 midst of the overwhelming public business, domestic sorrows, and 
 unceasing anxieties, which must have surrounded him, Richard’s 
 continued interest in his foundation ; and, further, that since 
 his accession to the throne, it was designed to change the name 
 from ce the College of Richard Duke of Gloucester,” to “ the 
 King’s College, Middleham.” But these manors, which were 
 intended for the service of God, and the benefit of the church, 
 passed not, we must presume, into the possession of the corpora- 
 tion for which they were intended. Ere many months elapsed, 
 the sun of Richard’s glory set on Bosworth’s fatal field, and the 
 probability is, either that the grant had never been legally com- 
 pleted, or that his more fortunate, though less talented and gener- 
 
 * Geoffrey Franke here mentioned was also receiver of the lordship of Middleham, and 
 appears to have been much in Richard’s confidence. Harl. MSS. 433, passim. 
 
 + Of Sheriff Hutton it is only necessary to remark that it formed a portion of the 
 Neville property until seized hy Edward IV. and given by him to his brother, the founder 
 of the collegiate church at Middleham. 
 
 + Harl. MSS. 433, fol. 283. 
 
16 
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 ous rival and successor, cancelled the grant to bestow it upon 
 some of those adventurers who had helped him to mount the 
 throne. 
 
 It seems not improbable that the grant of those manors in the 
 county of Norfolk, which we have just recorded, might have been 
 made on the King’s last visit to Middleham. M From York,” 
 which he entered May 1 st, 1484, “ Richard (to quote the beau- 
 tiful language of his biographer)* proceeded to his favourite Middle- 
 ham, so long his dwelling-place as Duke of Gloucester, and the 
 scene of his child’s last earthly sufferings, — a spot once endeared 
 to him as the birthplace of his heir, now doubly fraught with 
 desolation from his decease having happened within its walls.” 
 And as several warrants and grants connected with the deceased 
 prince were issued then or just subsequently, it is not unreasonable 
 to suppose that one so intimately connected with the ecclesiastical 
 foundation there was made at the same period. 
 
 On Richard’s death,f says Whitaker, ee the sun of Middleham 
 set ; though transferred to the crown, it was neglected, for an obvi- 
 ous reason, by the house of Lancaster,” and this assertion, which, 
 no doubt, is correct, may also readily account for Henry’s neglect 
 of the college, which bore the name of him from whose hand he 
 had wrested the sceptre, as well as for the very imperfect records 
 which are left of many matters connected with its subsequent 
 history. How long William Beverley held the deanery of Middle- 
 ham does not appear, as there is no document in existence, at 
 least, none which has been brought to light, recording his decease, 
 or the appointment of his successor; but that Mr. John Halle was 
 dean, previous to the entrance of Simon Welden, whom Dr. Whita- 
 ker mentions as Beverley’s successor, is evident from the royal 
 
 * Halsted’s Richard III. vol. ii. p. 324. 
 
 f Richmondshire, vol. i. p. 348. 
 
INTRODUCTION. 17 
 
 mandate * issued to install the said Simon Welden into the dean- 
 ery of Middleham, which is there declared to be vacant by the 
 resignation of John Halle, on account of his removal to the rec- 
 tory of Elsdon, in the diocese of Durham; During his incum- 
 bency some disputes seem to have arisen with regard to part of 
 the composition, before alluded to, between Duke Richard and the 
 dean and chaplains of his college. For we find that a bill was 
 exhibited by Simon Welden, dean of Middleham, to King Henry 
 VIII. praying a commission with respect to right of pasture for 
 eight oxen and two horses in the West Park of Middleham, with 
 the commission annexed; and on the 26th of June, 16° Henry 
 VIII. (1525,) a lease was granted from Simon Welden, dean of 
 Middleham, to Edward Forest, of the going or pasturage of eight 
 oxen and two horses ; rent £l 6s. 8 d. yearly; term, for the life of 
 the said Simon. 5 * 
 
 This is the last recorded act of Dean Welden; we find him, 
 however, still in possession in the 26th Hen. VIII. (1535,) at which 
 time the ecclesiastical survey t was taken, in pursuance of an act 
 of parliament. This was at the close of his incumbency :J for in 
 
 * Middleham MSS. Appendix K. Whitaker’s words are : — 
 
 « William Beverley, last rector and first dean. He seems to have lived to the year 1515, 
 
 “ Simon Walden, installed by royal mandate, 1515.” Richmondshire, p. 340. 
 
 But this statement, as we have shewn, is evidently incorrect. 
 
 + Valor Ecclesiasticus, printed by the order of the House of Commons 1825, vol. V. 
 See Append. L. See also Appendix, Gale’s Honor of Richmond, p. 96. 
 
 + Whitaker, in his catalogue of Deans, i. 340, says “ John Smyth occurs 1535.” No 
 mention of a Dean of this name can be discovered in any public document, or among the 
 Middleham MSS. with the exception of an erroneous transcript of the Valor Eccle- 
 siasticus, made many years since, to which is subscribed “ Johes Smyth, Incumbens.” 
 It is difficult to conceive how this should have happened, except from the circumstance of 
 “ Johes Smyth, Incumbens” standing at the head of the valuation of Well Hospital, 
 
 CAMD. SOC. D 
 
is 
 
 INTRODUCTIONS 
 
 the very next year, on the 11th of April, 27th Hen. VIII. (1536,) 
 a similar lease to that made by Dean Welden,* and at the same 
 rental, was granted by William Willes, dean of Middleham, to the 
 above-mentioned Edward Forest. 
 
 It was during the period in which the preceding indivi- 
 duals held the deanery of Middleham, that all those momentous 
 changes occurred in the ecclesiastical polity of the country, which 
 eventually led to the position now occupied by the English 
 church ; and while we cannot but deplore the ruthless destruction 
 of religious-houses (which it is owned on all hands needed not a 
 sweeping and sacrilegious spoliation, but only a thorough and judi- 
 cious reform of those abuses which, by the lapse of ages, had crept 
 into them), foundations which might have been rendered such a 
 blessing to the country at large, in providing extended opportunities 
 for liberal and useful education, and to the poor in particular, who 
 felt that they were the churches peculiar care ; instead of bringing 
 a blight f on many a family, who became partakers of the unhal- 
 lowed spoil : there is abundant cause of gratitude to God, who 
 has still mercifully continued us a living branch of the holy 
 Catholic Church, and permitted us to see its gradual spread in 
 every quarter of the globe. Consequent on those changes to 
 which we have alluded, was the issue of a very important charter 
 by Thomas, Lord Cromwell, the King’s vicar general and official 
 
 which immediately succeeds that of Middleham, and which may possibly have led the 
 copyist into the mistake which has been committed. In that public record Simon Welden 
 is described as Incumbens Mense Maii, A 0 1535, and William Willes was Dean in April 
 1536. It seems therefore highly improbable that John Smyth could be Dean, as stated by 
 Dr. Whitaker, in 1535. 
 
 * Middleham MSS. 
 
 T See Spelman’s History and Fate of Sacrilege, passim. 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 19 
 
 principal* under the sanction of Henry himself; as supreme in all 
 causes^ civil as well as ecclesiastical; bearing date 15th July, 30th 
 Henry VIII. (1539.) This document* is a licence to the dean and 
 ministers of Middleham to grant probates of wills, to decide all 
 ecclesiastical suits, and exercise all other privileges within their 
 jurisdiction : thus perpetuating and confirming the exemptions 
 and powers which had previously appertained to them. 
 
 But, in a place so remote, and, after the accession of the 
 Lancastrian dynasty, so neglected as Middleham became, it would 
 seem that Dean Welden, having no inducement to take any 
 active part in the great religious changes, which were then in 
 progress, quietly yielded to the current of events, and smoothly 
 floated down the stream: Such, however, does not appear to 
 
 have been the case with Dean Willes : for the next document 
 which brings him under our notice is of a very singular character. 
 Admitted dean during the reign of the last Henry> and surviving 
 him, he was dean on the accession of the sixth Edward to the 
 throne. Immediately after that event the instrument f to which 
 we have alluded was issued, dated 5th July, 1 Edward VI. and is 
 “ Pardon granted to William Willes, dean of Middleham, for all 
 heresies, &c. committed by him.” What the peculiar nature of 
 these crimes was, it is impossible now to investigate. Suffice it 
 to say that the document still remains, bearing evidence as to the 
 fact we have recorded, and Willes still continued dean of Middle- 
 ham 5 for there is yet in existence a lease J dated 18th January, A 0 
 
 * Middleham Charters. Append. M. The words in the original are important* 
 “ Decano ac Ministris thereby evidently shewing that there were other spiritual persons 
 associated with the Dean at this period in the College of Middleham. 
 
 f Middleham MSS. 
 
 X Middleham MSS. Append, N. 
 
20 
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 sexto Edw. VI. (1552,) from William Willes, parson of Middleham, 
 to Thomas Clapham, of the rectory of Middleham, rent £35, term 
 six years. Whitaker/* in his History of Richmondshire, alluding 
 to this transaction, remarks, 66 in an old lease of the rectory, bear- 
 ing date 6th Edw. VI., I find a reservation by the lessor of the 
 whole jurisdiction of the church, u churchyarde mortuaries, pro- 
 bate of testaments, weddyng money, churchyngs, and headmas 
 pence.^ The rent was £35, with these reservations, within 18 
 years of the royal valuation, which was £15 19s. 4 d. 
 
 This is the last act of Dean Willes, of which there is any record 
 hitherto discovered. 
 
 Whitaker, in his Catalogue of the Deans of Middleham, on the 
 death of Willes, adds, e: after which is a very long chasm to — — - 
 D. D. or LL.D. admitted 1661.+ 
 
 “ Thomas Holdsworth occurs A.D. 1679.^ 
 
 It must ever be a matter of regret that such an interesting 
 writer as Dr. Whitaker, and one whose works are so frequently 
 referred to, should, at least in his account of Middleham, have 
 been guilty of so many inaccuracies. Some have already been 
 mentioned in the course of this narrative. But the point at which 
 it has now arrived, evidences how little research or attention he 
 has bestowed on those minute particulars, which, after all, are im- 
 portant links in the great chain of historical truth. 
 
 Whitaker names Thomas Holdsworth as dean in 1679, thus 
 leaving an unfilled chasm of no less than 12/ years from the last 
 mention of Dean Willes. It is to be lamented that, notwithstand- 
 
 * Page 340, note. 
 
 4* P. 340. Whitaker here falls into another error, there was no ™ — « D.D. or LL.D 
 admitted 1661 ; but, as will hereafter be shewn, Thomas Holdsworth, M.A. was installed 
 in 1660, and held the deanery till his death in 1681. 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 21 
 
 ing every exertion to make the catalogue of deans complete, an 
 hiatus still exists, but it is reduced from 127 to 57 years. 
 
 In the first existing parish register of Middleham, commencing 
 A.D. 1604, mention is made of three deans, who have been passed 
 over without any notice by Dr. Whitaker. 
 
 Of these three, the first in point of time was Mr. Henrie Pagett. 
 Several entries connected with the family of Dean Pagett occur in 
 the ancient register. 
 
 “ 1609, November. Linley, the son of Henrie Pagett, was bap- 
 tized 23 d day.” 
 
 “ 1612, Julie. Richard, the sonne of Henrie Pagett, was baptized 
 the 10th day.” 
 
 “1614, Aprill. Daniel, the sonne of Henrie Pagett, was bap- 
 tized the 29th day.” 
 
 The year 1618 seems to have been fatal to the Pagett family, 
 for in the month of March of that year we find recorded,— 
 “Tymothy Pagett was buried the 25th day.” 
 
 And in little more than a month after the dean himself expired, 
 as appears by the following entry : — - 
 
 “Aprill. Mr. Henrie Pagett, deane, was buried the 28th day.” 
 While in the short space of ten days the father was followed by 
 his daughter to the grave — “ Maie, An, the daughter of Henrie 
 Pagett, was buried the 8th day.” 
 
 Among the very few memorials which we possess relative to the 
 once regal castle of Middlehara, after the death of Richard III. 
 one or two occur during the incumbency of Dean Henrie Pagett. It 
 will be remembered that the first son whose baptism is extracted 
 bore the name of Linley ; thus again, as in Gloucester’s days, ex- 
 hibiting the friendly feeling existing between the lord of the castle 
 
22 
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 and the dean of the collegiate churchy for the name was evidently 
 bestowed upon him in remembrance of its recently deceased 
 occupant, whose interment is recorded in the following words : — 
 ce 1609, November. Sir Henrie Linley, that worthie knight of 
 Middleham castle, was buried the 8th day.” (A very brief period 
 before the baptism of the dean’s child, which took place on the 
 23d of the same month). And in the following year these two 
 entries occur 
 
 “ 1610, August. Ladie Feronoma Linley was buried the first 
 day.” 
 
 “ William George, servant to the Ladie Linley, was buried the 
 2?th day.” 
 
 €C All that can be further said on this place (Middleham Castle) 
 with any degree of certainty,” * writes Mr. Maude, cc is, that it was 
 inhabited, so late as the year 1609, by Sir Henry Linley, knight. 
 After his decease an appraisement of goods was taken on the 3rd 
 of January, 1610 ; the inventory was, in 1781, in the hands of the 
 then dean of Middleham ; and that in the 22nd of Charles I. it 
 was ordered by the committee at York to be made untenantable, 
 as being of no further use as a garrison.” 
 
 But we must return to our narrative. Dean Henrie Pagett was 
 succeeded by his namesake, and most probably his relative, 
 Nathaniel Pagett. As we have no account of his appointment to 
 the deanery, it becomes necessary to trace him, as best we may, 
 by aid of the ancient register. The entries after his installation 
 which we meet with are the following 
 
 Cf 1620, November. John Pagett, y e sonne of Mr* Deane; was 
 baptized y fe vii daie.” 
 
 * Maude's Wensleydale, p. 76, notes. 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 23 
 
 “ 1622, October. Anna, the daughter of Mr. Deane, was 
 baptized the 30th day.’* 
 
 “ Anna Padget, y e daughter of Mr. Nathaniel Padget, was 
 buried the xxviith day of May 1625.” 
 
 “ October. Nathaniell Pagget , was baptized the 
 
 second day, 1625.” 
 
 The next extract, which is evidently in the dean’s own hand- 
 writing, is of considerable importance, as establishing his con- 
 nection with the preceding entries ; it is as follows 
 
 “Christopher Dodsworth and Jane Cordwell, servantes unto 
 Mr. Arthur Linley, were married by me, Nathaniel Pagett, Deane 
 of Midleham, upon the 15 of July, anno Domini 1626, Nathaniel 
 Pagett, Deane.” 
 
 After a long interval, we find, 
 
 “ Ffabruary. Jane, the daughter of Mr. Nathaniel Padget, was 
 baptized the twenty-fift day, 1629.” 
 
 “ Januarie, 1632. Anna, the daughter of Mr. Nathaniell Pad- 
 get, was baptized the eight day, whose sureties were Mr. Mat- 
 thew Gale, Mrs, Marie Bulmar, Mrs. Lembert, 1632.” 
 
 “November. Samuel, the son of Nathaniell Padget, was 
 baptized the first day, 1636.” 
 
 The birth of this child was immediately followed by the death 
 of the mother ; and the infant survived her but a week, as we 
 ascertain from the same authority. 
 
 “November. Mrs. Jane Padget was buried the second day, 1636,” 
 “ Samuel Padget was buried the 9°, 1636.” 
 
 After this we have no further mention of Dean Nathaniel 
 Pagett ; but that at no distant period the loss of his wife was 
 succeeded by his own death, or, as there occurs no mention of his 
 interment at Middleham, probably by his resignation and removal, 
 
24 
 
 INTRODUCTION o 
 
 is evident from the appointment of a new dean 4 This was Joshua 
 Pullein*, the first record of whose name, as connected with Mid- 
 dleham, occurs in the following copious entry: — 
 
 “May, 1638. Jane, the daughter of Joshuah Pullein, Deane 
 of this Collegiate Church of Midleham, was borne the 4th day 
 of May, aboute 7 o’clocke in the morninge, and baptized the 10th 
 day. 5 * 
 
 There is every reason to judge, from the appearance of this 
 entry, that it was made by the new dean himself, as also the fol- 
 lowing, which is in the same handwriting : — - 
 
 “ 1640. Henry, the son of Joshuah Pullein, Deane of this 
 Collegiate Church of Midleham, was borne the 16th of June, 
 about 3 o’clock in the morning, and baptizde 23 of June.” 
 
 This child appears to have died in infancy. 
 
 " Henry, the son of Mr, Deane, was buried the twentie 1 day of 
 September, 164 L.” 
 
 But the name was again bestowed on another son bom in the 
 succeeding year ~ 
 
 “ Henry, the son of Mr. Deane, was baptised the one and 
 twentieth day of August, 1642.” 
 
 No other entry connected with Dean Pulleine occurs till, 
 
 “ Januarie, 1648. Robert, the sonne of Mr. Joshuah Pullein, 
 Dean of the Collegiate Church of Midleham, was born the 21st 
 day of Januarie, and baptised the 30th day, 164:8.” 
 
 And again, “ Paule, the son of Mr. Joshua Pulleyne, was born 
 and baptized the 7th day of March, 1650.” 
 
 This is the latest entry connected with the family of Dean Pul- 
 
 * The family of Pulleine is said to be descended from Burdet. It was a family of note, 
 seated for some centuries at Killinghall, near Harrogate. Heaps of ruins covered with 
 grass mark the spot where their residence stood. See Harh MSS, 1074, fol, 70. Also 
 Burke’s Commoners, art, Pulleine, 
 
INTRODUCTION, 
 
 25 
 
 leine, unless the following be the register of his daughter’s mar- 
 riage at the early age of sixteen - 
 
 “ 1654. Timothy Pressfield, of Yorke, and Jane Pullein, of 
 Middleham, were married the eight day of May.’ 5 
 
 And in the following year is recorded the birth of a daughter, 
 the issue of this union, 
 
 Deane Pulleine’s death, in possession of the deanery, is recorded 
 as follows 
 
 “ December, 165 7- 
 
 “ Mr. Joshua Pullin, Dean, was buried the first day.” 
 
 This decisive entry negatives a statement made by Dean Cotes,* 
 in his Notes, written for the benefit of his successors, bearing date 
 26th July, 1739, in which he says, “that in the time of the civil 
 w r ars the legal dean was thrust out of possession, and an intruder 
 placed in his room. 5 ’ 
 
 In fact, during the whole preceding period, from the first extract 
 which has been given, recording the birth of his daughter, anno 
 1638, down to the memorial of his burial in 1657, a space of nine- 
 teen years, he is almost invariably spoken of as “ dean of this 
 collegiate church;’ 5 and the most careful examination of the 
 registers and other muniments of the deanery, gives not the 
 slightest support to such an opinion as that expressed by Dean 
 Cotes. And the probability is great, that, in a place so remote, 
 and irresponsible either to ordinary or metropolitan, Dean Pulleine 
 quietly yielded to the pressure of the times, and was permitted to 
 remain in peaceable possession of his deanery. 
 
 We shall now revert to the contemporaneous history of the 
 castle, and endeavour to throw together the very few records we 
 can find of its inhabitants. 
 
 * Middleham MSS. 
 
 CAMD. SOC. E 
 
26 
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 It has already been stated, on the authority of Mr. Maude,* 
 no contemptible antiquary, that a in the 22nd Car. I. it was 
 ordered by the committee at York to be made untenantable, as 
 being of no further use as a garrison. 5 ' Whitaker, on the other 
 hand, informs us,f I learn from some papers in the dean’s pos- 
 session, that the castle was, from the year 1609 to the reign of 
 Charles II. in the possession of Sir Henry Linley and his repre- 
 sentatives, and that, one of his daughters having married a Lord 
 Loftus,J he succeeded to the estate. Charles I. having (long 
 before the decease at least of this nobleman) sold the manor of 
 Middleham to the citizens of London, who in 1661 conveyed it to 
 — — - Wood, esquire, of Littleton, in Middlesex, ancestor of the 
 present lord.” 
 
 Now this statement of Whitaker carries with it a very high 
 degree of probability, and the circumstance of Sir Edward Loftus’s 
 marriage, and the baptism of three children having taken place at 
 Middleham, indicate the residence of this illustrious family there 
 during a considerable portion, at least, of the above period. 
 Towards the close of the incumbency of Dean Nathaniell Pagett, 
 the union alluded to by Whitaker took place. 
 
 “ Feb. 28th 1635. Sir Edward Loftus and Mrs. Jane Lindley 
 were married the day and year above written. 5 ' 
 
 And subsequently the following baptisms were recorded : 
 
 “ Sarah, the daughter of the right worshipful Sir Edward Loftus, 
 was baptised the twentie eight of May 1636. 5 ’ 
 
 “ Arthur, the son of the right honarabel Lord Loftus was 
 baptised the 18th day of June 1644 ” 
 
 * Maude’s Wensleydale, p. 76, notes. + Richmondshire, vol. i. pp. 348, 9. 
 
 + it may not be unworthy of remark that the family of Lofthouse was seated at 
 Swineside, a hamlet in the parish of Coverham, and not far distant from Middleham, for 
 many centuries.— Yide Peerage, art. Marq. Ely. 
 
INTRODUCTION. 27 
 
 “ Aprill. Edward, the son of the right honarable Lord Loftus, 
 was baptised the 14th day, 1648.” 
 
 After this the name of Loftus does not again occur in the 
 archives of Middleham. 
 
 It has been already mentioned that Dean Pulleine died in 
 December 1657. This was within nine months of the termination 
 of Cromwell's eventful career, and there is no record of any 
 appointment to the deanery of Middleham during the brief 
 remainder of his protectorate, or the short and troubled reign of 
 his son and successor Richard. But no sooner had the Restora- 
 tion been effected, and Charles II. securely seated on the throne 
 of his ancestors, than we find the vacancy immediately filled up. 
 The exiled monarch entered his metropolis on the 29th of June 
 1660, and on the 23rd day of September, in the same year, the 
 following entry was made in the parish register, which is the first 
 direct notification therein of the installation of a dean : 
 
 (e Anno Domini 1660. 
 
 “ Memorandum : that I, Thomas Holdsworth, clerk, read the 
 Articles of the Church of England publiquely in the church of 
 Middleham, the 23rd day of September, which was the first Sunday 
 after my induction and installment there, declaring that I willingly 
 and ex animo subscribed to the said Articles, and withal reading 
 the letters testimoniall of the Vicar Generali in the then vacancyes 
 of the sees of Yorke and Chester. 
 
 Thomas Holdsworth, Dec. Midi. 
 
 Witnesses. 
 
 Alex. Wright. Symon Geldart. Robert Batte. 
 
 Th. Baitman. Richard Sweeting. Anthony Tyidmam 
 
 Christopher Ward, his mark +. George Baitman.’" 
 
 There are strong reasons for suspecting from the above docu- 
 
28 
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 ment, that Dean Holdsworth, on his first entry, was not aware of 
 the many privileges and exemptions which belonged to the college 
 of which he thus became the head. And this may partly be 
 accounted for from the great confusion which had crept into all, 
 and especially ecclesiastical matters, during the preceding years of 
 anarchy and usurpation. 
 
 Rrom these causes then most probably will have arisen his 
 “ withall reading the Letters testimonial! of the vicar-generall in 
 the then vacaneyes of the sees of York and Chester/* thereby in 
 some sort acknowledging the jurisdiction of those sees, and leading 
 at no distant period to its assumption by the archbishop, and to 
 that memorable appeal to the king as visitor,^ which terminated 
 in the signal defeat of the archbishop’s claims, in the person of 
 his vicar-general; and on the 14th August, 18th Car. II. in the 
 ei exemplification of a decree that the Dean of Middleham shall be 
 exempt from archiepiscopal visitation, &c. :’*fi imposing at the same 
 time the entire cost of the proceedings on that functionary of the 
 archbishop. 
 
 It is highly probable that Mr. Holds worth was one of those 
 individuals who, during the troublous times which preceded his 
 elevation, had proved himself a staunch and zealous royalist : for 
 not merely was he preferred on the Restoration to the deanery of 
 Middleham, but, within a few years afterwards, still further re- 
 warded by his appointment to one of the “ Golden Stalls of 
 Durham.** This appears from the following statement : j— 
 
 * u M i d d leham— a royal peculiar, having all ecclesiastical jurisdiction within the 
 parish, and exempt from all visitation, but that of the Crown. C. J. Chester, July 4th, 
 1845.” Valor Ecclesiasticus, Vol. V. p. 334. 
 f Middleham Charters. Append. O. 
 
 J “Antiquities of the Abbey or Cathedral Church of Durham, &c., by P. Sanderson, 
 Newcastle=upomTyne, 1767,” p. 107. 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 29 
 
 ce Prebendaries in the Ninth Stall. 
 
 “ 1675. Thomas Holdsworth, M.A. (after the resignation of 
 Dr. Sancroft) installed January 1, He was Dean of Midlam or 
 Middleham.” 
 
 It will be remembered that Mr. Holdsworth was installed as 
 Dean of Middleham in the autumn of 1660 ; and just a year after- 
 wards the following important entry was made in the ancient 
 register - 
 
 Michaell Wathenvicke, Minister of Middleham, was buryed 
 the 4th day of September, 1661,” being the first direct evidence 
 which we have found in it of a second clergyman, “ the clerk 
 sacristane, or minister for divine services and offices,” of the 
 Charters, being associated with the dean for the performance of 
 the spiritual duties of the collegiate church and parish of Middle- 
 ham ; a member of the corporation, of whose existence under 
 different appellations, from the foundation of the college, down to 
 the present day, we have little reason to doubt. 
 
 The deficiency which occurs in the parochial register of Middle- 
 ham, extending from October 16?3, till November 1681, a period 
 of eight years, renders it uncertain whether or not Dean Holds- 
 worth was buried there. But that his death did not occur till the 
 last-mentioned year, may be inferred from this memorandum in 
 the above cited history of Durham. 
 
 “ 1681.* Henry Bagshaw, D.D. (after the death of Mr. Holds- 
 worth) collated July 18th, installed the 20th.” And in the month 
 of November succeeding, we find, from the following entry in the 
 parish register, that the deanery was again filled up, being the 
 second appointment to that dignity made by Charles II. (i Mr. 
 
 * Sanderson’s Description of Durham, p. 107. 
 
30 
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 Christopher Coleby, clean of the collegiate church of Middleham, 
 entered the fift day of November, 1681.” While in the very next 
 line is recorded, in the same handwriting, the appointment of 
 another dark sacristane, (i Robert Turner entered claricus the 
 15th of November, 1681.” 
 
 Of Dean Coleby, whom we know to have been a native oi 
 Wensleydale,* little remains on record, and his incumbency seems 
 marked by no particular occurrence ; in fact the only memoranda 
 made during the long period that he enjoyed the deanery, in addi- 
 tion to the usual record of births, deaths, and marriages, are the 
 following : 
 
 “ The great bell was cast the 28th day of August 1684, and was 
 hung the 11th of September 1684.” 
 
 “ August 1st, 1715. 
 
 €e Memorand : that then it was agreed, by and between Chris^ 
 topher Coleby, Dean of Midleham, and the then present church- 
 wardens, viz. Thomas Wreather, Christopher Dixon, and Robert 
 Morfitt, of the one p te , to and with Marke Lambe, of Richmond, 
 plumber, in manner and forme following ; that is to say, that he 
 the said Marke Lambe is to uphold and keep the collegiate church 
 of Midleham aforesaid in good and sufficient repaire, in the lead 
 workes over the church of Midleham aforesaid, for and during 
 the terme of the naturall life of the said Marke Lambe ; in consi- 
 deration whereof the s d now present church wardens, and others 
 the chiefe ^freeholders belonging y e s d collegiate church & towne 
 of Midleham afores d , doe mutually agree to give & allow to the s d 
 
 ■ * Bowbridge Hall, the ancient residence of this family, is situate near the road fro m 
 Askrigg to Bainbridge, and, though now reduced to the condition of a farmhouse, bears 
 indubitable marks of former importance. 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 31 
 
 Marke Lambe the sume of twenty shillings p ann, In witness 
 whereof the s d dean and the then present church wardens have 
 hereunto sett their hands, the day and yeare above written. 
 
 He was buried in the choir. The precise spot has not been 
 marked, but on the right hand side a brass plate is affixed to 
 the wall, above the steps leading to the altar, with this inscrip- 
 tion : 
 
 NEAR 
 
 THIS PLACE LIES 
 CHRISTOPHER COLBY, A.M. 
 LATE DEAN OF MIDDLEHAM, 
 SECOND SON OF JOHN COLBY, ESQ R . 
 OF BOWBRIDGE HALL, WHO DIED 
 
 JULY 9th, 1727, AGED 83 YEARS. 
 
 HE WAS A KIND HUSBAND, 
 TENDER FATHER, AND A LEARNED 
 AND PIOUS DIVINE. NEAR HIM 
 LIETH MARGARET HIS WIDOW ; 
 JOHN, GABRIEL, MOORE, ANNE, 
 AND FRANCES, THEIR CHILDREN. 
 
 The general impression has hitherto been that Dean Colby was 
 succeeded on his decease by Luke Cotes ; but this is an error, for 
 it is evident from the following entry in the parish register, that 
 
 Witness hereof, 
 
 John Craggs. 
 Edw d Smithson. 
 
 Chr. Coleby, dean 
 of Midleham. 
 
 his marke 
 
 Jno. Pepper 
 of Edgley. 
 
 Thomas T. W. + Wreath er. 
 Chs. Dixon. 
 
 Robt. Morfitt. 
 
 Marke Lambe.” 
 
32 
 
 INTRODUCTIONS 
 
 Dean Cotes must have entered on the resignation of his prede- 
 cessor. 
 
 “ Luke Cotes, Master of Arts,, Dean of Middleham, February 
 ye ... . 1719.^ 
 
 And this is confirmed * by the manner in which the burial of 
 Dean Coleby is recorded. 
 
 <tf Mr. Christoph r Coleby, late Dean of Middleham, July 
 the 11th, 1727 ” 
 
 Whereas in similar entries connected with Deans Pagett, PuL 
 leine, and Place, they are styled Dean, not late Dean, 
 
 Mr. Cotes, who thus became Dean of Middleham, was destined, 
 in many respects, to act a more conspicuous part in the drama of 
 life than had most of his predecessors. Up to this period, the 
 Deans of Middleham, being exempt from the jurisdiction of ordi- 
 nary and metropolitan, had, without question, exercised divers 
 privileges and ecclesiastical jurisdiction within the bounds of their 
 royal peculiar, as, marrying people living in it, or any other parish, 
 without a licence or publication of banns. Of this’ the parochial 
 registers afford abundant proof ; for the marriages of parties from 
 various places in the north of England, and many of them remote 
 from Middleham, recorded there, might almost compete with the 
 more recent exploits of the high priest of Gretna Green. C( But 
 in the years t 1736 and 1739 a warm persecution was carried on 
 against Luke Cotes, then Dean of Middleham, for marrying a 
 couple without publication of banns, or a licence first had, grounded 
 
 * This is established beyond contradiction by the licence granted by Luke Cotes (Vide 
 Appendix P.), bearing date 1720, in which he is expressly styled Dean of Middleham. 
 This was several years prior to the decease of Mr. Coleby, who seems after his resignation 
 of the deanery to have resided at Middleham, where he lies interred, 
 f Maude’s Wensleydale, p. 75, notes. 
 
INTRODUCTION, 
 
 33 
 
 on the statute of the lOth Anne, ch. 19, sec, 17 0 , for the penalty 
 of £100 given by that statute. But upon producing the charters 
 and other proofs, the defendant Cotes in both actions had a ver- 
 dict, and the dean of Middleham for the time being afterwards 
 enjoyed the same privilege, till finally abrogated by the marriage 
 act, 26 Geo. II.” It is evident also from a manuscript left among 
 the deanery papers for the use of his successors, dated the 26th day 
 of July, 1739, and bearing the signature “ Lu. Cotes, dean of Mid- 
 dleham,” that he was engaged in much litigation with the then 
 inhabitants, arising out of various frauds, which, commencing 
 during the anarchy of the civil wars, had been practised on his 
 immediate predecessors, as regarded the different revenues of the 
 deanery, and which he was happily enabled in some measure to 
 restore. 
 
 Prior to the incumbency of Dean Cotes, the collegiate church 
 of Middleham, according to the accounts which we have collected 
 from the oldest inhabitants, one of whom died a few years since at 
 the advanced age of 97, was fitted up in the manner of a cathedral 
 church or college chapel, with open seats running east and west, 
 while the choir contained the ancient stalls of the dean and chap- 
 lains. The Dean, fancying doubtless that it would improve the 
 church, pulled down all the open sittings from the nave, demo- 
 lished the antique stalls, portions of the carved work belonging to 
 which may still be traced throughout the sacred edifice, pulled 
 down the rood-screen, and completed his innovations by filling 
 nave, choir, and chantry,* with large square pews of oak ; and 
 then he was left to bear alone the expenses of the costly work. 
 
 This, perhaps, may have caused him some temporary incon- 
 
 * See Addenda. 
 
 CAMD. SOC. 
 
 F 
 
34 
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 venience, and thus given rise to the statement made by Dr. 
 Whitaker, who, in speaking of this Dean, says that he “ did not 
 die at Middleham, nor is it known what became of him ; tradition 
 says that he was long a prisoner for debt;” * a report, which, 
 though prevalent in Middleham even to the present day, seems 
 to have been, like many others of a similar nature, entirely false. 
 
 This it appears, the historian of Richmondshire ascertained 
 before the final conclusion of his laborious work, for in the 
 Addenda he tells usf that “the following account of Dean Cotes, 
 communicated by a relative, and authenticated by family 
 papers, proves that the tradition respecting him, mentioned 
 p. 340, is totally void of foundation. Luke Cotes was a descendant 
 of George Cotes, master of Baliol college, Oxford, and Bishop 
 of Chester, in 1554. He was educated at Peter House, Cambridge, 
 and, having taken his first degree, received deacon’s orders from 
 Dr. Barlow, Bishop of Lincoln, in September, 1688, and priest’s 
 orders in the following year from the same prelate, being at that 
 time M.A. In July, 1701, he was presented by Archbishop 
 Sharpe to the vicarage of Birstall ; in 1717 became domestic 
 chaplain to Richard Lord Cobham, and was installed Dean of 
 Middleham on the 2nd of June, 1719. The king’s grant of man- 
 damus, bearing date the 11th of February preceding, states the 
 avoidance in this dignity to have been occasioned, not by the 
 death, but by the resignation, of Christopher Coleby. It was held 
 b]r Dean Cotes till his decease, in 1741, and till within a short 
 period of that event he resided chiefly at Middleham. His re- 
 moval was occasioned by the infirmities of age, for he was then 
 
 * Whitaker’s Richmondshire, vol. i. p. 340. 
 
 f Ibid. vol. ii. p. 4T2. 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 35 
 
 nearly eighty, and the loss of his wife,* Mary, daughter of Thomas 
 Smithson, to whom a monument was erected by her sons, Deo- 
 datus and Theophilus, in the vestry of Middleham church, f where 
 she was interred. The Dean died at the house of the former, in 
 Manchester, and was buried in the chancel of the collegiate church 
 there, the following inscription being placed over his grave : — 
 
 HIC JACET LUCAS COTES, A.M. 
 
 DECANUS DE MIDDLEHAM, COM. EBOR. 
 
 VITA FUNCTUS DIE DECEMB. XXII., iETATIS 
 
 SUA5 LXXX., A.D. MDCCXLI. 
 
 cc Far from being of obscure origin, or in embarrassed circum- 
 stances, his family was of considerable antiquity, and has still a 
 branch seated at Woodcote, in the county of Salop. He educated 
 eight children in a manner that enabled them to maintain the 
 most respectable connexions in life ; and, as appears from his cor- 
 respondence, took a lively interest in the welfare of Middleham, 
 and was in habits of intimacy with the most exalted characters of 
 the day up to the very time of his decease. 
 
 “ Archbishop Hutton J stood godfather to his youngest son, Deo- 
 
 * The following entry of her burial is extracted from the parish register : — ** Mary, 
 daughter of Thos. Smithson, of Moulton, Gentleman, and wife of Luke Cotes, Master of 
 Arts, Dean of this Church, died the 17 day and was buried the 19 day of December, 
 1740.” 
 
 The monument here alluded to is now nowhere to be seen, and if erected, as above 
 stated, must have been since removed : an act which reflects no credit on the parties, 
 whoever they may have been, that were accessory to such desecration. 
 
 £ Doctor Matthew Hutton, Archbishop of Canterbury, b. in 1692, d. 19th March, 
 1753, second son of John Hutton, Esq., of Ma-ske, com. Ebor. A family of great anti- 
 quity and high station, and memorable for having produced two archbishops, viz., the 
 subject of the present notice, and Doctor Matthew Hutton, his direct ancestor, translated 
 to the archiepiscopal sec of York, 24th of March, 1594. — Sec Burke's Commoners, 
 vol. iii. pp. 304, 305. 
 
36 
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 datus, who became an eminent merchant at Manchester, and is 
 known as the author of an account of the earthquake at Lisbon, 
 which appeared in 6 The Gentleman 5 s Magazine 5 of December 
 1755. His daughter, widow of Dr. Darbey, a physician of the 
 Manchester infirmary, and his nephew, Luke Heslop, D.D., Arch- 
 deacon of Bucks, are still living.* 
 
 6( Two other sons, Thomas and Theophilus, embraced the mer- 
 cantile profession in London, and died leaving considerable 
 fortunes : William, the second son, received a college education, 
 and was afterwards tutor to Lord Verney. His third daughter, 
 Catharine, married the Rev. John Wood, of Stockton ; and 
 Sophia died in Manchester, as did also her brother Deodatus.” 
 
 The only memorial of the Dean’s family in the parish register, 
 besides the extract already given, is the interment of his daughter 
 Constantia, in the month of September, 1/29. 
 
 But there is a curious document still in existence, exhibiting 
 another of the privileges exercised by the Deans of Middleham ; 
 and this is a licence f to Maria Stott, the wife of Thomas Stott, to 
 practice as a midwife any where within his jurisdiction. 
 
 On the decease of Mr. Cotes, the deanery was bestowed on 
 Edward Place, Master of Arts.f 
 
 His installation is recorded in the following memorandum made 
 in the parish register. § 
 
 * This account was written in the year 1823. 
 
 ■f Middleham MSS. Appendix P. 
 
 £ The family of Plaice has long been connected with the district of Riclimondshire, but 
 it does not clearly appear which branch of it produced the sire and son who were deans of 
 Middleham. Amongst the miscellaneous pedigrees Harl. MSS. 1174, 150 b, is one com- 
 mencing with Edward Lord Plaice, temp, Edward II. and carrying the line to the close 
 of the sixteenth century. 
 
 § See also Harl. MSS. 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 37 
 
 “ Memorandum, that on Saturday, the first day of May, one 
 thousand seven-hundred and forty-two, his Majesty’s grant of 
 the dignity and deanery of the collegiate church of Middleham, in 
 the county of York, dated the first day of March last, was publicly 
 read in the said collegiate church immediately after divine service 5 
 and also a mandamus to install or assign unto Edward Place, 
 Master of Arts, a stall in the choir, and a place in the said church, 
 according to custom; whereupon, a stall was assigned, at the 
 request of the said Edward Place, by John Clayton, Rector of 
 Wensley, Thomas Gale, Rector of Scruton, Thomas Nelson, 
 Rector of Fingall, James Hayton, Vicar of Hornby, Gregory 
 Elsley, Curate of Patrick-Brompton, George Shillito, Vicar of 
 Thornton-Steward, Mark Brathwait, Doctor of Laws, and several 
 others, which said stall the said Edward Place accepted and took 
 possession of as Dean of Middleham.” 
 
 The first act of Dean Place, and that within two days after his 
 installation, was the appointment of Mark Brathwait, Doctor of 
 Laws, as his commissary or official principal ; and under this Dean 
 commenced the issue of marriage licences and publication of banns, 
 as in other parishes ; although it would appear, that when the 
 Dean himself celebrated a marriage, he performed it, as his prede- 
 cessors had done, without either publication or licence first granted. 
 
 This we infer from the peculiar manner in which the entries of 
 weddings (and they were numerous) are made ; for wherever a 
 marriage is recorded, which had been performed by any clergyman 
 save the Dean, there is added “ by virtue of licence/’ sometimes 
 from Mark Brathwait, Doctor of Laws, sometimes from Mr. 
 Edward Place, Dean of this Collegiate Church, or cc by publica- 
 tion ; ” but when, in a few instances, the Dean himself performed 
 the nuptial ceremony, then the entry simply is c< ; 
 
38 
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 were married by the reverend the Dean of this Collegiate Church,” 
 without any reference either to banns or licence. 
 
 Dean Place, who had at one time been Vicar of Well, became 
 subsequently Rector of the valuable living of Bedale,* which he held 
 for some years, together with the deanery of Middleham ; but this 
 latter preferment he resigned in the year 1 754, and was succeeded 
 in it by his son, Edward Place the younger, who had been pre- 
 viously the curate, minister, or clerk sacristane. His instalment 
 is recorded nearly in the same terms as that of his father. 
 
 It may here be mentioned that during the entire incumbency of 
 the elder Dean Place, there v r ere regular courts held annually in 
 addition to the Dean’s visitation, called ee Courts of Correction,” 
 to which persons guilty of notorious crimes, punishable by the 
 ecclesiastical laws, v r ere cited, and “ the office of the judge pro- 
 moted against them.” 
 
 In several cases thus recorded, the decree of court was that the 
 convicted party should f u extract an order of penance,” to be 
 performed on one or other of certain specified Sundays ; and from 
 the same source we find that the penances were duly discharged. 
 
 A similar plan was pursued during the earlier years of the 
 second Dean Place ; although the last entry we find of a penance 
 having been actually performed, occurs in 1J55. 
 
 Each of the Dean Places seems to have pursued the quiet tenor 
 
 * Mr. Place held the Rectory of Bedale from the year 1731 till his death, which 
 we find, by the following extract from the register of burials in that parish, occurred in 
 “ 1775 ; May the 10th. The Rev. Edward Place, A.M., Rector of this parish.” He 
 was interred beneath a pew, belonging to the Rector, in the chancel, but without any 
 inscription. Among the bequests recorded in the south aisle there is the following : 
 
 “ The Rev. Edward Place, Clerk, late Rector of this parish, by will left twenty pounds, 
 the yearly interest thereof to be laid out in coals for the use of the Brethren of Bedale 
 Hospital.” 
 
 f Middleham Court Book, passim. 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 39 
 
 of his way,, apart from the busy scenes and vexing cares of public 
 life ; but Dean Place the younger was not exempted from severe 
 domestic trial — blessed with an only child,, he was doomed to sur- 
 vive his loss ; born, as we find by the following memorial, in 1763. 
 
 “ Edward, the son of the Reverend Edward Place, Dean of this 
 Collegiate Church, and Anne his wife, was baptized by the Reve- 
 rend Edward Place, Rector of Bedale, his grandfather, June 1.” 
 He closed his brief career in America, during the war of the 
 revolution, only a year before the death of his father, who lies 
 interred under a marble slab, marked with his initials E. P., and 
 to whose memory, as well as to that of his son, a mural monument 
 has been placed with the following inscription, against the north 
 wall of the choir. 
 
 “ EDWARDUS PLACE, A.M. 
 
 HU JUS ECCLESIiE PER ANNOS 30 
 DECANUS INFRA SEPULTUS 
 
 AETATIS 58 vo , MENSIS APRILTS 27° DIE, ANNO CHRISTI 1785 ; 
 PLACIDE MORTEM OBIVIT. 
 
 PASTOR FIDISSIMUS 
 CONJUGI PRiECIPUE INDULGENS 
 OMNIBUS PERGRATUS 
 NULLI INIMICUS, 
 
 FILII UNICI EDWARDI AMANTISSIMUS 
 QUI APUD TRANSATLANTICANOS 
 PRO PATRIA MILITAN S 
 IN MORBUM IMPLICITUS 
 VICESIMUM PRIMUM AGENS ANNUM 
 IMMATURA MORTE DECESSIT 
 ILLIUS EJUSQUE MEMORIAE 
 CONJUX ET MATER MiESTISSIMA 
 HOC MONUMENTUM PONERE CURAVIT.” 
 
40 
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 Grief for the premature loss of his only child accelerated, it is 
 said, the death of Dean Place at the early age of 58 ; and he was 
 succeeded in the deanery by 
 
 Robert Boucher Nickolls, LL.B.,* whose installation took place 
 on the 11th day of August, 1786. 
 
 This gentleman, a native of the West Indies, was presented, 
 in 1779, to the rectory of Stoney Stanton, Leicestershire, by 
 the Earl of Huntingdon; and, in 1785, to the collegiate deanery 
 of Middleham, through the interest of the Duke of Northumber- 
 land, for his services as chaplain to the 5th regiment of foot in 
 America ; and for his loyalty in that war.f 
 
 Dean Nickolls was a man of no ordinary stamp; living during a 
 period of unexampled excitement, and one fraught with imminent 
 danger to our national liberties and glorious constitution, he 
 was distinguished by his energetic and uncompromising exertions 
 in defence of those institutions, civil and ecclesiastical, which he 
 so venerated and loved. Associated, too, as he was, with the most 
 distinguished men of the day, Wilberforce,{ Granville Sharp, 
 Clarkson, and their companions, in endeavouring to break the 
 bonds of African slavery, and to remove from their country that 
 foul stain which had so long sullied the lustre of its diadem, he 
 neglected not the while the duties imposed upon him as Dean 
 of Middleham. 
 
 Of this, the several valuable memoranda made in his own hand- 
 writing in the parish register, and the records in the court book, 
 afford abundant evidence. 
 
 * Middleham MSS. Appendix Q. 
 
 f Gentleman’s Magazine, vol. lxxxiv. ii. 405. 
 
 X Life of Wilberforce, vol, I, p. 161, et passim. 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 41 
 
 The concurrent testimony of many respectable individuals who 
 knew him well, and still survive, prove how rigid was Dean 
 Nickolls in the performance of his own functions, and how strict 
 in endeavouring to enforce good conduct, moral and religious,* in 
 those entrusted to his jurisdiction ; requiring exemplary behaviour, 
 not merely within the walls of God’s House, and during the hours 
 of divine service, but also, after those services were concluded, 
 walking into different parts of the parish to enforce order and 
 decorum among the inhabitants. 
 
 Two records which he has left behind evince his decisive pro- 
 ceedings in more flagrant cases of irreverence. 
 
 The first, which is a very curious document, is extracted at full 
 length from the parish register : 
 
 * The following extract bears strongly on this point: ei As Mr. Hardy has totally confined 
 his ‘ Tribute ’ to one point in the many composing the late Dean’s character, perhaps you 
 will allow me to call your observation to a document, strongly characteristic of him as an 
 excellent and attentive parish priest. The following is a copy of a ‘ notice ’ which he dis- 
 persed throughout his cure, previous to the fast-day, in February, 1807. 
 
 * NOTICE. 
 
 £ The Rector of this parish a does hereby earnestly exhort and premonish all persons in 
 this his cure, strictly to observe the King’s proclamation for a General Fast on Wednesday, 
 the 25th instant, by resorting to the House of God for the solemnities of devotion, in due 
 season for the commencement of the service, both in the morning and in the afternoon ; 
 also by a religious abstinence till the service is over, and by a pious conduct in their 
 families afterwards ; and all publicans are premonished not to entertain any guests or 
 travellers during the hours of divine worship. The most serious regard to this admonition 
 is enjoined upon all in this day of public danger, as they desire the favour and blessing of 
 Almighty God, upon themselves and their country.* 
 
 “ The Dean was particularly attentive to the ‘ Youth of the Flock,* and I cannot avoid 
 expressing an earnest wish, that some of his reverend brethren will endeavour to raise a 
 ‘ tribute ’ to his clerical character, and snatch it from that oblivion which encircles the 
 gloomy mansions of the dead, and hides their excellencies or their foibles from the obser- 
 vation of posterity. C.R.” Gentleman’s Magazine, May, 1816, p. 400. 
 
 a Stoney Stanton. 
 
 CAMD. SOC, 
 
 G 
 
42 
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 “ Burials, October 29th, 1 792. 
 
 “ I enter under the head of burials as spiritually dead the 
 names of 
 
 John Sadler, 
 
 Clerk to Mr. John Breare, Attorney-at-Law, of this place; and 
 Christopher Felton, 
 
 Clerk to Mr. Luke Yarker, Attorney-at-Law, of this place ; first 
 for irreverent behaviour in church a second time, after public 
 reproof on a former occasion of the same sort ; and, secondly, 
 when mildly admonished by me not to repeat the same, they 
 both made use of the most scandalous and insolent words 
 concerning myself, for which I thought proper to pass a public 
 censure upon them after sermon (though they were wilfully 
 absent), in the face of the congregation ; and enter the men- 
 tion of the same in this book, that the names of those insolent 
 young men may go down to posterity as void of all reverence 
 to God and his ministers. Witness my hand, 
 
 Robt. B, Nickolls, Dean. 
 
 Witness, Rogr. Dawson, Reg 1 '.” 
 
 And when in January, 1/99, Thomas Ibbotson, who was then 
 parish clerk, had been guilty of gross misconduct in the House of 
 God, the Dean immediately caused him to be cited into his 
 court, where, after due investigation of the charges alleged against 
 him, he pronounced the following sentence : * 
 
 That Thomas Ibbotson should be suspended from the office 
 
 * Midclldham Court. Book. 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 43 
 
 of parish clerk, without forfeiting the wages, until after the 10th 
 day of February then next, being the first Sunday in Lent ; that 
 he do not approach the Sacrament of the Lord 5 s Supper on that 
 day, that, by the prayers of Lent, he might be fitted for it at the 
 festival of Easter ; and, lastly, that, on the first Sunday of the 
 ensuing Lent, he should stand during service until the Nicene 
 creed was read, before the font under the gallery, and then depart 
 to a private seat, after having read distinctly the following acknow- 
 ledgement, viz. : — 
 
 “ I, Thomas Ibbotson, do acknowledge that, on the day of the 
 Feast of Circumcision, I behaved very irreverently in the House 
 of God : that I interrupted the divine service, and conducted 
 myself in such a manner, both in the church and out of it, as to 
 give just cause of offence to the congregation then present : that I 
 was led to this misconduct by resentment, and not being perfectly 
 sober at the time, for which I beg pardon of Almighty God, and 
 do promise to order myself with greater sobriety and decency for 
 the time to come/ 5 
 
 Mr. Nickolls resided during the latter part of his life principally 
 at his rectory in Leicestershire, where he died, loved and 
 respected, on the 11th of October, 1814, in the 72nd year of his 
 age, and the 29th of his installation.* 
 
 So prominent was the part which this excellent Dean took in 
 the varied and important events of his day, that the following 
 tribute to his character from the elegant pen of J. Stockdale 
 Hardy, Esq., of Leicester, which originally appeared in (e The 
 
 * u The following elegant epitaph now graces a neat tablet that has been erected at 
 Stoney Stanton, to the memory of this truly worthy Dean ; — 
 
44 
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 Gentleman’s Magazine” for March 181 6, may, we conceive, be 
 most appropriately added here entire. 
 
 “It is much to be regretted that sufficient materials for a 
 regular biographic memoir of the lamented deceased do not appear 
 to exist, since, had they so existed, the public would doubtless have 
 been favoured with such a memoir from an abler pen than the one 
 which now ventures to direct the attention of your readers to the 
 shrine of departed worth. 
 
 “It would be inrpossible to delineate a faithful character of the 
 late Dean without occupying too large a portion of your columns ; 
 indeed I shall not presume to attempt, what I know I am utterly 
 incapable of performing; and I shall therefore, in the present 
 instance, totally coniine myself to that point of view, wherein he 
 furnished us with so striking an example of the union of the sacer- 
 dotal and citizen characters, an union which, in his person, was of 
 
 Underneath 
 
 are deposited the mortal remains of 
 The Very Reverend 
 Robert Boucher Nickolls, LL.B. 
 
 Dean of Middleham, and 
 Rector of this parish. 
 
 His Christian zeal and extensive learning were shown by numerous publications 
 in Defence of Religion ; and a diffusive charity, the fruit of his faith, shone 
 forth in his daily example. After a long life, spent in the Service of his Saviour, 
 in whom alone he trusted for acceptance with God, he was removed by a short 
 illness to eternal rest, 
 on the 11th day of October, 1814, 
 in the 75th year of his age. 
 
 This monument was erected by his afflicted surviving Brother, James Bruce 
 Nickolls, of Alexandria, in Virginia, in grateful remembrance of his private 
 virtues and public usefulness. 
 
 ‘ The memory of the just is blessed.’ ” 
 
 Gent. Mag. June 1818, p. 485. 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 45 
 
 great advantage to both church and state, and proved him to be 
 an orthodox divine, while it shewed him to be a loyal and active 
 member of the community. 
 
 “When that enemy to society and mankind the French Revo- 
 lution began to disperse its specious but baneful principles, the 
 Dean was among the foremost of those truly patriotic citizens 
 who raised their warning voices in exposing its dangerous tendency 
 and ultimate object; like Themistocles, he preferred nipping the 
 bud, to stemming the torrent ; 5 and, in the prosecution of his 
 object, he enlisted all his natural and intellectual powers. In this 
 Revolution he read not only a barefaced attempt upon social order 
 and decorum, but a direct attack upon Christianity itself. As a 
 citizen, he repelled the first ; and as a presbyter, he defended the 
 Church against the second. The press teemed with the labours of 
 his pen, while the pulpit echoed with the sound of his voice ; and 
 when the monster dared to erect its crest with additional boldness, 
 like a faithful centinel, he grappled with it in its very den, refuted 
 the assertions of its friends on their own data, and endeavoured to 
 bring into public odium those principles, which, while they spoke 
 6 smooth things 5 to the face, were secretly aiming a fatal stab at 
 the dearest privileges of our country, and the sacred institutions 
 of our ancestors. Convinced that civil society was of divine 
 appointment, and that its various ramifications were necessary to 
 its due preservation, the Dean manfully unmasked those flattering, 
 deceptive insinuations which were thrown out by designing men, 
 and the object of which was to render the lower classes of his 
 countrymen dissatisfied with that station in life which an All- wise 
 Providence had assigned them. 
 
 “ ‘ There must be wisdom and virtue in the higher orders of the 
 
46 
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 community/ said the Dean at this eventful period, £ to connect 
 and preserve, to defend and direct the several parts of the machine 
 of civil society ; while the patient labours and endeavours of the 
 meanest are equally requisite, though subservient, to the prosperity 
 of nations ; the foundation of the noblest building, though laid 
 deep and low, and composed of the coarsest materials, has yet the 
 merit of sustaining the whole work, and is no less essential to it 
 than the stateliest and most beautiful pillars. 5 * 
 
 “Thus was it that this firm friend to our happy constitutions, 
 endeavoured to direct the passions of his indigent neighbours into 
 a proper channel, and to prevent them from falling into that 
 labyrinth which had been prepared for their reception by the agents 
 of revolutionary frenzy, and which could not have failed of over- 
 whelming their ilbfated possessors with misery and despair, had 
 they madly precipitated themselves into its tremendous gulph. 
 
 “ The Dean ? s labours in the above respect were not in vain : he 
 had the gratification of knowing that his addresses and his writings 
 contributed, in several instances, to arrest the progress of some 
 who were preparing to shake hands e with the abettors of French 
 politics and the vindicators of French atheism/f and to recall 
 others who had formed so dangerous an union, to a proper sense 
 of their civil and religious duties. Although his personal con- 
 ferences possessed much of the fortiter in re , and stood much in 
 need of the suaviter in mo do, yet his zeal for the success of the 
 cause in which he had embarked, and his manifest sincerity in his 
 wishes for the welfare of those whom he addressed, supplied, in a 
 
 * See “ The Duty of supporting and defending our Country and Constitution : a Dis- 
 course preached in the Collegiate Church of Mjddleham, Feb. 10, 1793, on the prospect 
 of a war.” 
 
 t See his “ Essay on the principles of French Chism/ published in 1792. 
 
INTRODUCTION, 
 
 47 
 
 great measure, this defect, and induced them to listen to advice 
 communicated in an earnest, though uncouth form, and of such 
 a nature as to furnish ample food for the reflection of the sober 
 hour, and to induce them to forsake the inauspicious convoy- 
 under which they either had sailed, or were preparing to embark ; 
 to those who yet retained their scruples as to the propriety of 
 a Monarchical Government, he would apply the observation of 
 Tacitus ; and while he told them to remember the many blessings 
 which they enjoyed under the happy Government of their own 
 country, he would remind them, in the words of that historian^ 
 c Reipublicee forma, laudare facilius quam evenire ; et si evenit, 
 haud diuturna esse potest . 5 
 
 C€ When that memorable question of the Abolition of the Slave 
 Trade was brought under the consideration of a British Legislature, 
 and before the view of a British public— when the towering 
 eloquence of a Pitt supported the persuasive eloquence of a 
 Wilberforce in this great cause of humanity and justice — the 
 Dean was not idle. The abolition of the above traffic had been 
 an event which he had fondly cherished the hope of witnessing, 
 ever since his personal observation, when abroad,* of the inhu- 
 manity of Guinea captains, and (generally speaking) the avaricious 
 temperament of West India planters, had convinced him of the 
 unhappy state in which the African negroes were placed ;f torn 
 
 * “The Dean was a native of the West Indies.” 
 
 f The above is the substance of what he once mentioned to me in conversation ; pro- 
 bably, however, the Dean entertained by far too harsh an opinion of the Guinea merchants 
 and W est India planters : it is well known that many of the latter were men of the most 
 correct notions and humane habits ; and, with regard to the former, candour compels us 
 to hope that, amongst them, there were many whose employment had not so steeled the 
 heart as to render it impervious to the calls of humanity ! 
 
48 
 
 INTRODUCTION* 
 
 frequently when adults from their native soil, to serve the private 
 purposes of others— obliged to be fellow-labourers with those who 
 had been accustomed to the occupation from earliest infancy— he 
 commiserated these wretched creatures, who were impelled, con- 
 trary to nature, to follow an employment to which they felt no 
 attachment, to the due performance of which no moral or social 
 ties urged them, and in which their instructors were the Creoles, 
 and their incitement to labour the fear of chastisement. As a free- 
 man of a Nation professing to rank the highest in the scale of 
 nations, as the supporter of freedom, and the friend of humanity, 
 the Dean felt it his duty to protest against the continuance of a 
 traffic, which was a stranger to the name of the one, and a daily 
 violator of the laws of the other; and as a presbyter of the 
 Christian church, he felt himself no less imperiously called upon 
 to raise his voice against a system at direct variance with the 
 fundamental doctrines which she preached— doctrines which taught 
 men to ‘love one another,’ and which told them, that c all things 
 whatsoever we would that men should do unto us, we should do 
 even so to them/— Alike unmoved at the reproach of being a 
 religious enthusiast, which was cast upon him on the one hand, 
 and the charge of inconsistency as a favourer of revolutionary 
 principles, which was alleged against him on the other, the Dean 
 steadily pursued his object; telling the one party, that if a fellow- 
 feeling for the sufferings of fellow-creatures, and a desire of alle- 
 viating those sufferings, could be called religious enthusiasm, he 
 acknowledged himself as labouring under that disorder;* and the 
 
 u As his reply to the above cavil, I could fancy our lamented friend adopting the cele- 
 brated sentiment of the Roman Comedian — ‘ Homo sum, et humani nihil a me alienum 
 puto;’ a sentiment, which is said to have been received with reiterated plaudits by a 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 49 
 
 other, that if the desire of civilizing a nation rendered unprin- 
 cipled and barbarous by intestine commotions, occasioned by 
 resistance to illegal captures, savoured of revolutionary principles, 
 he was proud in entertaining them. The endeavours of the Dean 
 to bring the West India planters to a sense of their true interests, 
 were tantamount to those which he used to impede the progress 
 of infidelity and disaffection. Numerous were the journeys which 
 he took to forward this great cause of national justice and retri- 
 bution ; and the value of his services may be collected from the 
 public vote of thanks with which he was honoured, from the 
 society that was formed to assist in accomplishing the great object, 
 which Mr. Wilberforce and his parliamentary associates had in 
 view.* The publications on this subject which owed their 
 appearance to his prolific pen, were numerous ; and it is greatly 
 to be regretted, that our lamented friend never kept an accurate 
 account of the pamphlets and incidental tracts, which on this, as 
 on other great questions, he gave to the world. Happily he lived 
 to see the fruits of his labours in the abolition of this detested 
 traffic — an abolition produced, not by the blaze of eloquence, or 
 the trick of declamation ; but by solid, well-founded conviction ; 
 wrought on the minds of our Legislators by a slow yet sure pro- 
 gress, and which terminated, as it was certain of doing, in their 
 c breaking the bonds 5 of Afric slavery, and c throwing away from 
 their native country the stigma with which she had been so long 
 branded.’ 
 
 Roman audience, and which has been handed down to succeeding ages, as one, ‘ which 
 speaks with such elegance and simplicity the language of nature, and supports the native 
 independence of man.’ ” 
 
 * “ I believe the ever-to-be-remembered Granville Sharp presided when the above vote 
 was passed.” 
 
 CAMD. SOC. 
 
 II 
 
50 
 
 NTRODUCTION. 
 
 66 When the Roman Catholics petitioned our Legislators for what 
 was called Catholic Emancipation — when they boldly asked for an 
 unqualified repeal of those laws which have been justly denomi- 
 nated 4 the bulwarks of our Constitution/ the Dean was found at his 
 post. Convinced that a compliance with the above request would 
 be equivalent to an extinction of the Protestant ascendancy in this 
 country, he considered himself called upon, as a presbyter and a 
 citizen, to stand in the breach on behalf of the Protestant Church 
 and State to which he belonged ; and, with all his ability to protect 
 them from the infliction of so mortal a wound, as an unrestricted 
 concession of Roman Catholic claims could not have failed of 
 giving them. Perhaps no one, in an historical point of view, was 
 more competent to argue this great national question than the 
 Dean was ; and, although it is to be lamented that his zeal some- 
 times exceeded his prudence, pending the discussion, yet his 
 firmness in resisting what he thought to be wrong, and his equal 
 firmness in supporting what he conceived to be right, was deserving 
 of universal admiration. Believing that the Roman Catholic 
 question had never been sufficiently considered by many who had 
 the Protestant cause thoroughly at heart, he endeavoured to excite 
 their attention to it, as a question of the utmost consequence, and 
 as one upon the decision of which depended either the mainte- 
 nance or the downfall of our civil and religious privileges. With 
 every respect for the Church of Rome as a true branch of the 
 Catholic Church, he did not hesitate to expose those corruptions 
 which in the later periods of Ecclesiastical History had crept into 
 her pale, and robbed her of that purity which he believed the 
 Church of England to have retained. While he detested the 
 modern Pope, he venerated the ancient Bishop of Rome; and 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 51 
 
 his opposition to the claims of the Roman Catholics arose from 
 his dread of the operation of those principles, which teach them 
 to persecute and domineer, instead of to convince and unite.* 
 
 “In that memorable year (1812) when his country was placed 
 in so awful and novel a situation, when the mighty legions of 
 France were preparing to enter the austere clime of Russia, and, 
 by a conquest of her vast domains, to pave the way for a general 
 subjugation of Europe, then was it that the Dean so greatly dis- 
 tinguished himself in his exertions against the claims of the 
 Roman Catholics ; though far beyond the meridian of life, and 
 sinking fast into the c vale of years/ yet the urgency of the 
 occasion, and the peculiarly threatening aspect of public affairs, 
 aroused his yet active spirit, and induced him once more to enter 
 the 6 tented field' on behalf of all that he held dear and 
 sacred upon earth — the civil and ecclesiastical constitution of his 
 country ! His time at this moment was entirely devoted to the 
 service of this sacred cause 5 and his labours to produce a general 
 consideration of the subject amongst his Protestant countrymen, 
 and to arouse them from that fatal lethargy into which they 
 
 * “ It is unfortunate for the discussion of the Roman Catholic claims, that, unless great 
 care be taken, the party opposing them is very frequently betrayed into the use of expres- 
 sions, which are calculated to wound the feelings of most honourable and respectable 
 characters. It would be absurd to deny that amongst the Roman Catholics there is 
 every thing good, great, and noble; and this is most sincerely to be regretted, when it is 
 considered, that those who are otherwise every way calculated to be the ornaments and 
 pride of their native country, are necessarily excluded, by the fundamental laws of that 
 country, from directing her affairs or assisting at her Legislative Councils. It would give 
 me great pain, if, in the general observations which I have made, I should hurt the feelings 
 of any member of the Roman Catholic body ; but it would have given me far greater pain 
 if, to avoid hurting those feelings, I had hoodwinked the consideration of a great national 
 question.” 
 
52 
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 appeared to have fallen, were unremitting ; * but his success in these 
 particulars was by no means equal to his expectations ; and he was 
 almost going to sit down in despair ; was preparing to write 
 e Ichabod’ on the gates of that Church in which he delighted — 
 when the ever-memorable Charge of the Bishop of Lincoln burst 
 upon the view of the public, and carried with it that conviction 
 which had so long been wanting to fan the embers of Protestant 
 zeal into a flame. Happily the Archdeaconry of Leicester was 
 amongst those districts which first caught that hallowed flame ; 
 and the Dean was amongst the most active of those clergymen 
 who assisted in directing its course. In the month of November, 
 in the above year, a meeting of the clergy was holden, for the 
 purpose of petitioning the Legislature against any further con- 
 cessions being made to the Roman Catholic body, and early in 
 the month of December, a very spirited and able petition was 
 presented from them to the Lords, by their esteemed diocesan ; 
 and to the Commons, by their county representatives. From this 
 time until the great question received its decision, the Dean re- 
 mained in a state of the most anxious suspense ; but when the 
 intelligence arrived that the House of Commons had virtually 
 rejected the claims, he gave a vent to his joy, and improved the 
 subject by a very able discourse preached a few Sundays after- 
 wards. 
 
 66 Subsequent to this period, and during the life of the Dean, no 
 attempts worth noticing were made by the Roman Catholics to 
 
 * The Tracts, &e., which the Dean wrote and dispersed upon this, his favourite ques- 
 tion, were (I had almost said) innumerable : at the period above referred to, a week 
 seldom passed without one of them making its appearance ; and his sitting-room bore a 
 greater resemblance to a compositor’s study than the apartment of a private clergyman. 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 53 
 
 obtain their favourite object; notwithstanding this, he bore the 
 subject in mind, and it was one of his latest requests to an inti- 
 mate friend, never to neglect an opportunity of calling the atten- 
 tion of the public to the point. In a letter written a few months 
 previous to his decease, speaking upon the topic, he remarks, 
 that e it may seem improper to introduce any subject which may 
 have the slightest tendency to provoke discussion, or revive the 
 disputes of former days, at a time when the welcome appearance 
 of peace has been universally hailed with the most fervent rejoic- 
 ings by a delighted people — when the honours of a grateful 
 country have been heaped upon the heads of returning victors, 
 and nothing has been heard but the cheerful sound of congratu- 
 lation 3 (alluding to the rejoicings occasioned by the peace then 
 lately concluded), c but/ continues the Dean, ‘ when it is recol- 
 lected, that our dearest interests may be materially injured by our 
 silence, and that an interval of tranquillity may be made use of to 
 lull our suspicions and destroy our energies, by inviting our atten- 
 tion to the ephemeral scenes of present gaiety, when we should 
 be engaged in making preparations for the repulsion of a future 
 attack upon our national liberties ; I hope you will not consider 
 my present allusion to the Roman Catholic Question as either un- 
 seasonable or improper.’ The Dean had his request granted, in 
 not living to witness the constitution of his country, in his opinion, 
 either altered or infringed upon ; and I am quite sure, Mr. Urban, 
 that I am echoing your sentiments, when, in allusion to that con- 
 stitution, I exclaim, Esto Perpetua ! 
 
 “ Until, therefore, Sir, sufficient materials be formed to enable a 
 more powerful pen to rescue the memory of Dean Nickolls from 
 the wreck of time, by giving the world a regular memoir of his 
 
54 
 
 INTRODUCTION 
 
 life and writings,* this sincere but feeble tribute to that memory 
 may serve to show posterity, through the medium of your peren- 
 nial pages, that, in his person civil society has lost an able advo- 
 cate, humanity a firm friend, and the constitution of his country a 
 faithful presbyter and citizen \ ” 
 
 With Mr. Nickolls must close our brief and imperfect History 
 of the Deans of Middleham. He was succeeded in the Deanery 
 by the Very Reverend P. S. Wood, LL.D., the present Dean, 
 whose installation took place on the 3rd day of December, 1814. 
 
 * “ He published, in 1782, a discourse preached at Leicester, May 6, at the Visitation 
 of the Archdeacon, from 1 Tim. iv. 15. under the title of ‘The general objects of Clerical 
 attention considered, with particular reference to the present times ;’ in which the pecu- 
 liar objects of Christianity are inculcated with great energy, in opposition to the prin- 
 ciples of Hobbism ; and he distinguished himself honourably in 1788, by a very humane 
 pamphlet on the Slave Trade, under the title of ‘ A Letter to the Treasurer of the Society 
 instituted for the purpose of effecting the Abolition of the Slave Trade.’ In answer to a 
 request of Mr. Nichols to be furnished with a list of his publications for his ‘ History of 
 Leicestershire,’ the good Dean said, ‘ I have done nothing of importance enough to 
 merit notice ; and the things I have published, about half a dozen Sermons, and nearly 
 twenty anonymous tracts, I have set so little value upon, that I have not even kept 
 copies by me, except of a very few of the printed ones. The MSS. were left in the 
 hands of the different printers ; and I have not even a list of the titles. Some of the 
 last things, small pieces, were published in the Anti- Jacobin ; one upon the Dissolution 
 of Parliament — Considerations on the Rejection of the Catholic Bill, printed at Hinckley, 
 and inserted by the Anti- Jacobin (not by my desire) for April, or May, or June 1807; 
 another on the Curates proposed Bill in the same Review, in one of those months in the 
 next year, 1808 ; another, on the Authenticity of St. Matthew’s Gospel, in answer to 
 Evanson, December, 1808 ; the last, signed Eusebius, in the same Review for May, 1809, 
 ‘ On the Growth of Schism in the Church, and the means of checking it.’ 
 
 “ Mr. Nichols was indebted to this gentleman for some interesting memoirs of the Rev. 
 John Bold, formerly Curate of Stoney Stanton. 3 These memoirs have been adopted by 
 Mr. Chalmers in his ‘ Biographical Dictionary.’ 
 
 “ By the death of this worthy Divine, the cause of true Religion and the Church of 
 England has been deprived of a most valuable friend and advocate ; and all the poor with 
 whom he was in the remotest degree connected have sustained a severe loss.” — Gentle- 
 man’s Magazine, vol. lxxxiv. ii. 405. 
 
 a See “ History of Leicestershire,” vol. iv. p. 975. 
 
55 
 
 1846. 
 
 MIDDLEHAM COLLEGIATE CHURCH, 
 (Founded by Richard Duke of Gloucester, 1478.) 
 Dean, 
 
 *Very Rev. Peter Scrimshire Wood, LL.D., 1814 
 
 Canons, 
 
 
 Canonries, 
 
 
 fP. A. L. Wood, A.M. 
 
 . 
 
 St. George’s 
 
 1844 
 
 JWilliam Atthill, B.D. (Sub-Dean) 
 
 St. Catharine’s 
 
 1839 
 
 §G. A. Burnaby, A.M. 
 
 . 
 
 St. Ninian’s 
 
 1842 
 
 || John De La Feld, A.M. 
 
 . 
 
 St. Cuthbert’s 
 
 1842 
 
 If Charles Kingsley, B.A. . 
 
 * 
 
 St. Anthony’s 
 
 1845 
 
 **M. D. Duffield, B.D. . 
 
 • 
 
 St. Barbara’s 
 
 1843 
 
 Commissary, &c. 
 
 Rev. William Atthill. 
 
 Registrar and Chapter Clerk, 
 
 tfJ. B. Langhorne, Esq., Richmond. 
 
 Organist, Mr. Jones. Parish Clerk, Mr. J. Wright. 
 
 Sexton, Mr. J. Fisher. 
 
 Church Wardens, 
 
 Messrs. Robt. Johnson, Thos. Midgley, and Wm. Lodge. 
 
 * Rector of Littleton, Middlesex, and Yicar of Middleton, Norfolk. 
 
 •f* Curate of Littleton, Middlesex. 
 
 X Chaplain to Right Hon. Lord Louth. 
 
 § Rector of St. Peter’s Martin, Bedford ; and Chaplain to H.R.H. the Duke of 
 Cambridge. 
 
 || A Count of the Holy Roman Empire ; Vicar of Tortington, Sussex ; and Domestic 
 Chaplain to the Earl of Limerick. 
 
 Rector of Eversley, Hants ; and Domestic Chaplain to Viscount Sidney. 
 
 ** Vicar of Stebbing, Essex ; and Chaplain to H.R.H. the Duke of Cambridge, 
 tf Dep. Registrar for the Archdeaconry of Richmond. 
 
5 6 
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 Catalogue of the Deans of Middleham. 
 
 Date of 
 Installation, 
 or first 
 Record of. 
 
 
 Date of Death, 
 Resignation, or last 
 Record of. 
 
 1478 
 
 William Beverley . 
 John Halle 
 
 1515 
 
 1515 
 
 Simon Welden, LL.B. 
 
 . June, 1535 
 
 1536 
 
 William Willes 
 
 . Jan. 1552 
 
 1609 
 
 Henry Pagett 
 
 . April, 1618 
 
 1620 
 
 Nathan iell Pagett . 
 
 Novr. 1636 
 
 1638 
 
 Joshuah Pullein 
 
 Deer. 1657 
 
 1660 
 
 Thomas Holdsworth, M.A. 
 
 1681 
 
 1681 
 
 Christopher Coleby, M.A. 
 
 July, 1727 
 
 1718 
 
 Luke Cotes, M.A. 
 
 July, 1739 
 
 1742 
 
 Edward Place, M.A. 
 
 . October, 1754 
 
 1754 
 
 Edward Place, junr. M.A. 
 
 . April, 1785 
 
 1785 
 
 Robert Boucher Nickolls, LL.B. 
 
 . October, 1814 
 
 1814 
 
 Peter Scrimshire Wood, LL.D. 
 
 . Diu Yivat ! 
 
 Catalogue of the Clerks Sacristane, Curates* or 
 
 Ministers for Divine Services and Offices. 
 
 Date of first 
 Record of. 
 
 Michael Watherwicke, Minister 
 
 
 Date of last 
 Record of. 
 
 1661 
 
 1681 
 
 Robert Turner, Claricus 
 
 • 
 
 . — — • 
 
 
 
 James King, Curate 
 
 . 
 
 1742 
 
 1742 
 
 Richard Walker, Curate to the Dean 
 
 . 1748 
 
 * In this Catalogue each minister is designated by the title affixed to his name in the 
 parish registers or other documents, in many instances by the individual himself. 
 
INTRODUCTION. 57 
 
 Date of first Date of last 
 
 Record of. Record of. 
 
 1748 Henry Hugill, Curate of Middleham . 1749 
 
 1749 Edward Place, Jun., Curate of Middleham 1754 
 
 — - — John Steble, Curate . . . 1768 
 
 1768 Lister Metcalfe, Curate . . . 1773 
 
 1773 Thomas Nicholson, Curate . . . 1777 
 
 1777 Alexander Simpson, Minister . . 1787 
 
 1787 Christopher Lawson, Curate . . 1789 
 
 1789 John Cockcroft, Minister and Curate . 1834 
 
 1834 Alfred Sadler, Curate . . . 1837 
 
 1838 H. S. Templeton, Curate to the Dean . 1843 
 
 1839 William Atthill, Minister . . . 
 
 Surrogates of Middleham. 
 
 May 3, 1742 Mark Brathwait, LL.D., Commissary or Official 
 Principal. 
 
 May 9, 1749 John Nursaw, Clerk. 
 
 r Rev. Edward Place, Jun. 
 
 May 17, I754j Rey w Browne. 
 
 Oct. 26 , 1754 (Rev. W. Browne. 
 
 1 Rev. Edward Place, Sen. 
 
 Nov. 1, 1758 Rev. Leonard Howson. 
 
 Jan. 5, 1765 Rev. John Steble. 
 
 June 10, 1769 Rev. Lister Metcalfe. 
 
 Aug. 11, 1786 Rev. Leonard Howson. 
 
 July 31, 1789 Rev. John Cockcroft. 
 
 Oct. 1834 Rev. John Thompson. 
 
 Dec. 27, 1842 Rev. William Atthill, Commissary & Surrogate. 
 
 camd. soc. 
 
 1 
 
58 
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 Registrars of Middleham. 
 
 1721 Mr. John Waite. 
 
 May 17, 1742 Mr. Thomas Raper, Bedale. 
 
 April 12, 1771 Mr. John Raper, Bedale. 
 
 Deer. 1, 1772 Mr. Wm. Baynes, Middleham. 
 
 Feb. 3, 1779 Mr. Wm. Luke Yarker, Middleham. 
 June 25, 1788 Mr. Wm. Ward, Askrigg. 
 
 Oct. 26, 1792 Mr. Roger Dawson, Middleham. 
 March 11, 1794 Mr. Chr. Topham, Middleham. 
 
 June 1832 Mr. Ottiwell Tomlin, Richmond. 
 
 March 1842 Mr. Ottiwell Tomlin, Jun., Richmond. 
 
 Jan. 1845 Mr. J. B. Langhorne, Richmond. 
 
 Parish Clerks. 
 
 Henry Brunton, Clerk of this Parish, was buried y e day of June, 
 1657. 
 
 Thomas Burton, 1702. 
 
 James North all. Parish Clerk, y e 1st of May, 1720. 
 
 William Bateman, May y e 1 7th, 1721. 
 
 Francis Ibbotson, 1764. 
 
 Thomas Ibbotson, 1772. 
 
 Francis Horner, 1829. 
 
 John Wright, 1831. 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 Churchwardens of the Collegiate Church and Pari 
 of Middleham. 
 
 1?15. Thomas Wreather, Christopher Dixon, Robert Morfitt. 
 
 1741. George Langdale, Christopher Allen, Thomas Place. 
 
 1742. Thomas Simpson, Brian Burrell, Matcham Timms. 
 
 1743. Edmund Atkinson, John Barnet, William Wray. 
 
 1744. John Nottingham, Christopher Dixon, John Langdale. 
 
 1745. The same. 
 
 1746. Thomas Bateman, Thomas Scott, Francis Ibbotson. 
 
 1747. The same. 
 
 1748. Thomas Bateman,jun., John Bulmer, Robert Downes. 
 
 1749. Matthew Thompson, Thomas Place, Richard Dixon, jun. 
 
 1750. The same. 
 
 1751. John Barnet, Thomas Mersh, John Moody. 
 
 1752. John Nottingham, William Ripley, George Langdale. 
 
 1753. Brian Burrell, Thomas Haw, Thomas Bulmer. 
 
 1754. The same. 
 
 1755. Peter Dixon, Edmund Atkinson, Francis Temple. 
 
 1756. Thomas Simpson, John Langdale, jun., George Metcalfe. 
 1 757* John Nottingham, John Langdale, Thomas Place. 
 
 1758. The same. 
 
 1759. Bryan Burrell, Thomas Haw, Simon Jefferson. 
 
 1760. Thomas Simpson, John Barnet, Thomas Bulmer. 
 
 1761. George Langdale, Richard Dixon, John Simpson. 
 
 J 762. William Baynes, Peter Dixon, John Langdale. 
 
 1763. John Langdale, Bryan Burrell, Thomas Bulmer. 
 
 1764. John Nottingham, Simon Jefferson, John Simpson. 
 
 1765. Thomas Place, Thomas Haw, William Hauxwell. 
 
 1766. Thomas Barnett, Robert Gill, George Harrison. 
 
 1 7 67. George Langdale, John Langdale, Thomas Harrison. 
 
60 
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 3 768. Thomas Bulmer, Francis Stabler, Thomas Tenant. 
 
 1/69. Mark Bulmer, John Place, Godfrey Deighton. 
 
 177l‘ Thomas Metcalfe, William Th waites, John Prest. 
 
 177J* George Langdale, Thomas Haw, William Hauxwell. 
 
 1775. Thomas Haw, Thomas Harrison, Mark Bulmer. 
 
 177^* Thomas Harrison, Mark Bulmer, Thomas Place. 
 
 1784. Thomas Harrison, Mark Bulmer, George Hudson. 
 
 1787. Christopher Walker, John Oliver Crowther, Godfrey 
 
 Deighton. 
 
 1788. George Langdale, John Kearton, Michael Pratt. 
 
 1794. John Kearton, John Dixon, Robert Burton. 
 
 1800. William Topham, Thomas Harrison, John Jackson. 
 
 1804. James Raper, Ralph Hauxwell. 
 
 1818. Ralph Hauxwell, James Ewbank, Anthony Cundall. 
 
 1820. Ralph Hauxwell, James Ewbank, John Bell. 
 
 1822. The same. 
 
 1823. James Ewbank, Robert Johnson, George Rider. 
 
 1824. James Ewbank, Robert Johnson, John Bell. 
 
 1825 — 1830. The same. 
 
 1831. James Ewbank, Robert Johnson, Thomas Midgley. 
 
 1834. Robert Johnson, Thomas Midgley, Ralph Warrior. 
 
 1837- The same. 
 
 1840. Robert Johnson, Thomas Lye, William Lodge. 
 
 1841. The same. 
 
 1843. Robert Johnson, Thomas Lye, Thomas Midgley. 
 
 1844. Robert Johnson, Thomas Midgley, William Lodge. 
 
 1845. The same. 
 
 1846. The same. 
 
DOCUMENTS. 
 
 APPENDIX (A). 
 
 Letters Patent of King Edward IV. 
 
 (Introduction, p. 3.) 
 
 Edwardus Dei gratia rex Angliae et Franciae et domimis Hiberniae 
 omnibus ad quos praesentes literae pervenerint salutem. Sciatis quod nos ad 
 humilem supplicationem praecarissimi fratris nostri Ricardi ducis Glouces- 
 triae, de gratia nostra speciali concessimus et lieenciam dedimus ac per prae- 
 sentes concedimus et lieenciam damus pro nobis et heredibus nostris, quan- 
 tum in nobis est, praefato fratri nostro quod ipse heredes vel executores sui 
 in honore domini nostri Jesu Christi et beatissimae virginis Mariae et sanctae 
 Alkildae quoddam Collegium apud Midelham de Decano et sex Capeilanis 
 et quatuor clericis et de sex choristis ac uno clerico divina servicia et officia 
 in ecclesia parochiali ibidem pro salubri statu nostro ac praecarissimae con- 
 sortis nostrae Elizabethae reginae Angliae ac praefati fratris nostri et Annae 
 uxoris ejus et heredum suorum dum vixerimus et pro animabus nostris cum 
 ex hac luce migraverimus, ac animabus illustrissimi principis Ricardi nuper 
 ducis Eboraci fratris nostri, et fratrum et sororum nostrorum, ac omnium 
 fidelium defunctorum, juxta ordinationem praefati fratris nostri heredum vel 
 executorum suorum praedictorum in hac parte fiendam ministraturis et cele- 
 braturis imperpetuum facere, inire, exigere, creare, fundare, et stabilire 
 possit et possint perpetuis futuris temporibus duraturum. Et quod iidem 
 Decanus et Capellani et successores sui sint unum corpus in re et nomine, 
 habeantque successionem perpetuam, ac commune sigillum pro negotiis et 
 agendis Collegii praedicti imperpetuum deserviturum. Et quod iidem De- 
 canus et Capellani Collegii praedicti et successores sui sint persones habiles 
 et capaces in lege ad perquirendum terras, tenementa, et advocationes 
 
62 
 
 DOCUMENTS RELATING TO THE 
 
 ecclesiarum a quacumque persona sive quibuscumque personis eis dare con- 
 cedere vel assignare volente vel volentibus sibi et successoribus suis imper- 
 petuum ; quodque ipsi et successores sui praedicti placitare et implacitari ac 
 alia quaecumque facere possint, sicut alius ligeus noster regni nostri Angliae 
 facere possit, pernomen Decani et Capellanorum Collegii Ricardi 
 ducis Gloucestrle de Middelham in comitate Ebor’, et quod 
 praedictus frater noster et heredes sui praedicti patroni Collegii prsedicti sint 
 et de fundatione ejusdem fratris nostri et patronatu heredum suorum prae- 
 dictorum Collegium imperpetuum nuncupetur, ac Collegium praedictum cum 
 factum, initum, erectum, creatum, fundatum et stabilitum fuerit, Collegium 
 Ricardi ducis Gloucestriae apud Middelham in comitatu praedicto fundatum 
 temporibus futuris absque impetitione nostri vel heredum nostrorum nuncu- 
 pari volumus, et ipsum fratrem nostrum fore fundatorem et heredes suos 
 patronos ejusdem imperpetuum ; et insuper de uberiori gratia nostra con- 
 cessimus et licenciam dedimus pro nobis et heredibus nostris praedictis 
 quantum in nobis est praefatis Decano et Capellanis Collegii praedicti et 
 successoribus suis quod ipsi et successores sui terras, tenementa, redditus, 
 servicia ac alias possessiones quascumque ac advocationes ecclesiarum ad 
 valorem ducentarum marcarum per annum ultra omnia onera et reprisas, 
 licet de nobis aut de aliis per quodcumque servitium teneantur, de quacumque 
 persona sive quibuscumque personis ea eis dare, concedere, legare vel assig- 
 nare volente vel volentibus perquirere et adquirere possint et recipere, habenda 
 et tenenda eisdem Decano et Capellanis Collegii prsedicti et successoribus 
 suis tarn in sustentationem divini servicii in Collegio praedicto quam in sus- 
 tentationem Decani et Capellanorum Collegii praedicti et successorum suorum 
 ac choristarum et clerici praedictorum pro tempore existentium imperpetuum ; 
 et eidem personae sive eisdem personis quod ipsi vel ipse terras, tenementa, 
 redditus, servicia, possessiones, ac advocationes praedictas ad annuum valorem 
 praedictum ultra omnia onera et reprisas ut praedictum est dare, concedere, 
 legare, vel assignare possit vel possint praefatis Decano et Capellanis Col- 
 legii praedicti et successoribus suis sicut praedictum est imperpetuum tenore 
 praesentium similiter licenciam dedimus specialem, absque impetitione seu 
 impedimento nostri vel heredum nostrorum, justiciorum, escaetorum, vice- 
 comitum, ballivorum, seu aliorum ministrorum nostrorum vel heredum nos- 
 trorum quorumcumque et absque aliquo brevi de Ad quod dcimpnum, seu 
 aliquo alio mandato regio aut aliquibus inquisitionibus superinde capiendis 
 
COLLEGIATE CHURCH OF MIDDLE II AM, 
 
 63 
 
 autaliquibus aliis literis regiis patentibus in hac parte prosequendis, faciendis, 
 sive habendis, et absque fine seu feodo inde ad opus nostrum aliqualiter 
 solvendo, statuto de terris et tenementis ad manum mortuam non ponendis 
 aut aliquo alio statuto, actu, sive ordinatione inde incontrarium facto, edito, 
 sive proviso non obstante. In cujus rei testimonium has literas nostras 
 fieri fecimus patentes. Teste me ipso apud Westmonasterium vicesimo primo 
 die Februarii anno regni nostri decimo septimo. 
 
 Per breve de privato sigillo et de datu praedicto, auctoritate 
 parliamen ti. — Morland. 
 
 APPENDIX (B). 
 
 Commission of the Archbishop of York. 
 
 (Introduction, p. 5.) 
 
 Laurencius permissione divina Eboracensis archiepiscopus, Angliae 
 primas, dilectis in Christo filiis magistris Roberto Bothe legum doctori 
 nostrae metropoliticss Eboracensis ecclesiae decano, Willielmo Poteman 
 archidiacono Clivelandiae, Henrico Gillowe subdecano, et Thomae Barow 
 canonico et prebendario praefatae ecclesiae nostrae metropoliticae Eboracensis, 
 salutem, gratiam et benedictionem. Cum illustris et praepotens princeps et 
 dominus dominus Ricardus dux Gloucestriae dominus de Midelham et 
 patronus ecclesiae de Midelham praedictae intendat ad laudem Dei et aug- 
 mentationem cultus divini ecclesiam praedictam ampliare et earn majoribus 
 redditibus et possessionibus dotare, ac numerum ministrorum in eadem 
 augere, si per nos vel auctoritate nostra cum consensu omnium quorum 
 interest, dicta ecclesia fuerit erecta in collegiatam, prout per nuntium 
 ejusdem nobis literatorie destinatum accepimus, vobis, de quorum circumspec- 
 tione et industria plene in Domino confidimus, communiter et divisim 
 committimus et mandamus, quatenus, vocatis archidiacono Richmondiae seu 
 ejus procuratore aliisque interesse cognitum habentibus in speciali et 
 omnibus aliis in generali ad dictam ecclesiam de Midelham seu alium 
 locum honestum et insignem per vos seu aliquem vestrum deputandum 
 
64 
 
 DOCUMENTS RELATING TO THE 
 
 ad certum diem per vos vel vestrum aliquem statuendum, dictam ecclesiam 
 parochialem ad petitionem et rogatum dicti domini ducis in collegiatam 
 erigatis ac ipsam pro collegiata habendam et reputandam decernatis, ac etiam 
 de inquisitione debita de fructibus, redditibus, et proventibus ejusdem certum 
 numerum capellanorum et aliorum ministrorum prout facilitates ejusdem 
 suppetere ad hoc possunt in eadem ordinetis, de regimineque dictorum capel- 
 lanorum ac ministrorum et cura parochianorum ac indempnitate nostra, 
 dominorum decani et capituli ecclesiae nostrae Eboracensis praedictae, et dicti 
 archidiaconi Richmondiae aliorumque interesse habentium provideatis prout 
 vobis melius videbitur expedire, juxta sacrorum canonum ac constitutionum 
 legalium et provincialium nostrae provinciae instituta, ceteraque omnia et alia 
 singula facienda, exercenda et expedienda quae in praemissis et circa eaneces- 
 saria fuerint seu quomodolibet opportuna, vobis communiter et divisim 
 committimus vices nostras et plenam in Domino potestatem per praesentes. 
 In cujus rei testimonium sigillum nostrum praesentibus apponi fecimus. Datum 
 in manerio nostro de Suthwell sexto die mensis Augusti anno Domini 
 Millessimo quadringentesimo septuagesimo octavo et nostrae translationis 
 anno secundo. 
 
 APPENDIX (C). 
 
 Consent of William Beverley, Rector of Middelham. 
 
 (Introduction, p. 6.) 
 
 Universis et singulis Christi fidelibus praesentes literas inspecturis 
 Willielmus Beverley capellanus, rector ecclesiae parocbialis de Medylham 
 arcbidiaconatus Ricbmondiae, Eboracensis diocesis, salutem in Domino et 
 fidem indubiam praesentibus adhibere. Cum inter cetera reparationis hu- 
 manae remedia missarum solempnia, in quibus pro salute vivorum et requie 
 defunctorum altissimo Deo patri filius immolatur, fuerint praecipue merito ju- 
 dicanda et divinae misericordiae plurimum allectiva, dignum duximus ea quae 
 missarum celebria divinique cultus augmentum ac ministrorum Christi 
 ampliationem in ecclesia militanti respiciunt pronis affectibus promovere; 
 sane siquidem exhibita mihi nuper pro parte excellentissimi in Christo 
 
COLLEGIATE CHURCH OF MIDDLE II AM. 
 
 65 
 
 principis et domini domini Ricardi ducis Gloucestriae domini de Medylham 
 archidiaconatus Richmondiae Eboracensis diocesis antedicti ac ecclesiae 
 parochialis in eadem veri patroni petitio continebat, quod ipse excellen- 
 tissimus princeps et dominus ad laudem Dei omnipotentis praeexcelsaeque 
 ejusdem genetricis M arise ac omnium sanctorum et divini cultus continuum 
 incrementum eandem ecclesiam parochialem de Medylham ampliare et 
 earn majoribus redditibus et possessionibus dotare, numerum quoque minis- 
 trorum in eadem Deo devote famulantium augere proposuit et intendit, si 
 per reverendissimum in Christo patrem et dominum dominum Laurencium 
 permissione divina Eboracensem archiepiscopum Angliae primatem et apos- 
 tolicae sedis legatum aut ejus per auctoritatem cum consensu venerabilium 
 virorum decani et capituli dictae ecclesiae cathedralis Eboracensis reve- 
 rendique viri magistri Johannis Shirwod sacrae theologiae professoris archi- 
 diaconi Richmondiae in ecelesia cathedrali Eboraeensi, necnon mei Willielmi 
 Beverley rectoris praenominati, ac omnium et singulorum quorum interest in 
 hac parte, dicta ecelesia in collegiatam erecta fuerit. Quare a me pro parte 
 ejusdem excellentissimi principis fuit humiliter supplicatum, quatenus 
 erectioni ejusdem ecclesiae parochialis de Medylham auctoritate dicti re- 
 verendissimi patris faciendae in collegiatam eonsentirem. Unde ego praefatus 
 Willielmus Beverley, attendens propositum dicti excellentissimi principis 
 fore laudabile meritorium at pium, quodque in divini cultus augmentum 
 tendere manifeste dinoscitur, volens illis piis affectibus confovere, dictae 
 ecclesiae parochialis de Medylham erectioni in collegiatam auctoritate dicti 
 reverendissimi patris faciendae harum serie expresse consentio. Quae omnia 
 et singula universitati vestrae innotesco per praesentes. In quorum omnium 
 praemissorum fidem atque testimonium, quia sigillum non habeo authenticum, 
 ideo sigillum venerabilis viri reverendi viri domini officialis curiae Ebora- 
 censis commissarii generalis praesentibus apponi proeuravi. Et nos vero 
 commissarius generalis antedictus ad instantiam et rogatum dicti domini 
 Willielmi Beverley rectoris antedicti sigillum nostrum praesentibus ap- 
 posuimus in fidem et testimonium omnium et singulorum praemissorum. 
 Datum Eboraci, xx mC die mensis Januarii anno Domini CCCC Ixx viij°. 
 
 J. (L.S.) Haryngton. 
 
 CAMD. SOC. 
 
 K 
 
66 
 
 DOCUMENTS RELATING TO THE 
 
 APPENDIX (D). 
 
 Act of the Erection of the Collegiate Church. 
 
 (Introduction, p. 7.) 
 
 Universis Sanctae Matris Ecclesie filiis praesentes literas sive praesens 
 publicum instrumentum visuris vel audituris, Thomas Barow canonicus el 
 prebendarius ecclesiae metropoliticae Eboracensis, per reverendissimum in 
 Christo patrem et dominum dominum Laurencium permissione divina 
 Eboracensem archiepiscopum Angliae primatem et apostolicae sedis legatum, 
 in causa sive negotio erectionis ecclesiae parochialis de Medylham archdiaco- 
 natus Richmondiae Eboracensis diocesis in collegiatam, unacum venera- 
 bilibus viris magistris Roberto Bothe legum doctore praefatae ecclesiae 
 metropoliticae Eboracensis decan o, Willielrao Poteman archidiacono Clive- 
 landiae in eadem ecclesia Eboracensi, et Henrico Gillow subdecano ejusdem 
 ecclesiae metropoliticae Eboracensis, judex et commissarius, cum clausula 
 communiter et divisim sufficienter et legitime deputatus, salutem in am- 
 plexibus nostri Salvatoris et fidem indubiam praesentibus adhibere. Noverit 
 universitas vestra praefatum venerabilem virum magistrum Henricum 
 Gillow et nos praenominatum Thomam Barow literas commissionis reveren- 
 dissimi in Christo patris et domini domini Laurencii permissione divina 
 Eboracensis archiepiscopi, Angliae primatis, et apostolicae sedis legati ante- 
 dicti, sigilloque suo magno in cera coloris rubei pendente communitas, per 
 venerabilem virum magistrum Nicholaum Loncastre in utroque jure bacal- 
 larium excellentissimi in Christo principis et domini domini Ricardi ducis 
 Gloucestriae domini de Medylham antedicti et ecclesiae parochialis in 
 eadem patroni procuratorem, suae procuration^ mandatum sub sigillo vene- 
 rabilis viri reverendi viri domini officialis curiae Eboracensis commissarii 
 generalis in cera viridis coloris pendente realiter exhibentem in haec verba — 
 
 Pateat universis per praesentes quod nos Ricardus dux Gloucestriae 
 dominus de Medylham et patronus ecclesiae parochialis de Medylham 
 praedictae dilectos nobis in Christo magistrum Nicholaum Loncastre in 
 utroque jure bacallarium et dominum Willielmum Lowther capellanum 
 conjnnctim et eorum alterum per se divisim et insolido, ita quod non sit 
 melior conditio occupantis, sed quod unus eorum inceperit id ipsorum alter 
 
COLLEGIATE CHURCH OF MIDDLEHAM. G7 
 
 per se libere prosequi valeat mediare et finire, nostros certos et legitimos 
 procuratores, actores, factores, negotiorum nostrum gestores ac nuntios 
 speciales ordinavimus fecimus et constituimus, dantes et concedentes dictis 
 procuratoribus nostris coujunctim et eorum alteri per se divisim et insolido 
 potestatem generalem et mandatum speciale pro nobis et nomine nostro 
 eoram venerabilibus viris magistris Roberto Bothe legum doctore ecclesiae 
 metropoliticae Eboracensis decano, Willielmo Poteman arcbidiacono Clive- 
 landiae, Henrico Gillow subdecano, et Thoma Barow canonico et prebendario 
 proefatae ecclesiae metropoliticae Eboracensis, quibuscumque diebus et locis con- 
 gruis et oportunis, communiter et divisim comparendi ac eisdem conjunctim et 
 eorum cuilibet divisim quasdam literas commissionis reverendissimi in Christo 
 patris et domini domini Laurencii permissione divina ejusdem Eboracensis ec- 
 clesiae arcbiepiscopi, Angliae primatis et apostolicae sedis legati, in negotio 
 erectionis praefatae ecclesiae parochialis de Medylham in collegiatam praefatis 
 venerabilibus viris cum clausula communiter et divisim directas praesentandi 
 et exhibendi, eosdemque venerabiles viros conjunctim et eorum quemlibet per 
 se divisim ut praemittitur onus executionis commissionis praedictae in se 
 communiter et divisim assumere, dictamque ecclesiam parochialem de 
 Medylham forma dictae commissionis servata in collegiatam erigere, ac 
 ipsam pro collegiata habendam et reputandam decernere, certum quoque 
 numerum capellanorum et aliorum ministrorum postquam dicta ecclesia 
 parochialis in collegiatam erecta fuerit prout facultates ejusdem ecclesiae 
 suppetunt in eadem ordinare, ceteraque omnia alia et singula quae in hujus- 
 modi causa sive negotio necessaria fuerint facere, exercere et expedire, re- 
 quirendi, petendi et humiliter rogandi, juramentum insuper quodcunque 
 licitum et honestum in hac parte requisitum in animam nostram praestandi et 
 jurandi, et generaliter omnia alia et singula faciendi, exercendi et expediendi 
 quae in praemissis et circa ea necessaria fuerint quomodolibet vel opportuna, 
 licet mandatum de se magis exigantur speciale. Promittimus insuper nos 
 ratum, gratum, atque firmum perpetuo habituros totum et quicquid dicti pro- 
 curatores nostri vel eorum alter fecerint aut fecerit in praemissis seu aliquo 
 praemissorum, sub ypotheca et obligati one omnium bonorum nostrorum, de quo 
 cautionem exponimus per praesentes. In quorum omnium fidem et testimonium, 
 quia sigillum ad manus non habemus autenticum, ideo sigillum venerabilis viri 
 reverendi viri officialis curiae Eboracensis commissarii generalis praesentibus 
 apponi procuravimus. Et nos commissarius generalis antedictus, ad iustan-- 
 
6'8 
 
 DOCUMENTS RELATING TO THE 
 
 tiam et petitionem dicti excellentissimi principis consensientes, sigillum com- 
 missariatus nostri generalis praesentibus apposuimus, in fidem et testimonium 
 omnium et singulorum praemissorum. Datum Eboraci quoad sigillationem 
 praesentium decimo tertio die mensis Januarii anno Domini Millesimo qua- 
 dragesimo septuagesimo octavo. 
 
 nobis presentatas et porrectas cum ea qua decuit reverentia nuper rece- 
 pisse, sub eo qui sequitur tenore verborum : 
 
 Laurencius permissione divina Eboracensis archiepiscopus, Angliae 
 primas, et apostolicae sedis legatus, dilectis in Christo filiis, magistris Roberto 
 Bothe legum doctori nostrae metropoliticae Eboracensis ecclesiae decano, 
 Willielmo Poteman archidiacono Clivelandiae, Henrico Gillow subdecano, 
 et Thomae Barow canonico et prebendario praefatae ecclesiae nostrae metropo- 
 liticae Eboracensis, salutem, gratiam et benedictionem. Cumillustris et prae- 
 potens princeps et dominus dominus Ricardus dux Gloucestriae, dominus de 
 Medylham, et patronus ecclesiae de Medylham praedicta, intendat ad 
 laudem Dei et augmentum cultus divini ecclesiam praedictam ampliare 
 et earn majoribus redditibus et possessionibus dotare ac numerum minis- 
 trorum in eadem augere, si per nos vel auctoritate nostra cum consensu 
 omnium quorum interest dicta eeclesia fuerit erecta in collegiatam, prout 
 per nuntium ejusdem nobis literatorie destinatum accepimus, vobis de quorum 
 circumspectione et industria plene in Domino confidimus, communiter et 
 divisim committimus et mandamus, quatinus vocatis archidiacono Richmondiae 
 seu ejus procuratore aliisque interesse cognitum habentibus in specie et 
 omnibus aliis in genere ad dictam ecclesiam de Medylham seu alium locum 
 honestum et insignem per vos seu aliquem vestrum deputandum, ad certum 
 diem per vos vel vestrum aliquem statuendum, dictam ecclesiam parochia- 
 lem ad petitionem et rogatum dicti domini ducis in collegiatam erigatis ac 
 ipsam pro collegiata habendam et reputandam decernatis. Ac etiam inqui- 
 sitione debita de fructibus, redditibus et proventibus ejusdem certum nu- 
 merum capellanorum et aliorum ministrorum prout facultates ejusdem 
 suppetere ad hoc possunt in eadem ordinetis. De regimineque dictorum 
 capellanorum ac ministrorum et cura parochianorum ac indempnitate nostra, 
 dominorum decani et capituli ecclesiae nostrae Eboracensis praedictae, et dicti 
 archidiaconi Richmondiae aliorumque interesse habentium, provideatis prout 
 vobis melius videbitur expedire, juxta sacrorum canonum ac constitutionum 
 legalium et provincialium nostrae provinciae instituta. Ceteraque omnia 
 
COLLEGIATE CHURCH OF MIDDLEHAM. 
 
 69 
 
 alia et singula faciendi, exercendi et expediendi quae in praemissis et circa ea 
 necessaria fuerint seu quomodolibet opportuna, vobis communiter et divisim 
 committimus vices nostras et plenam in Domino potestatem per praesentes. 
 In cujus rei testimonium sigillum nostrum praesentibus apponi fecimus. 
 Datum in manerio nostro de Suthwell sexto die mensis Augusti anno Domini 
 Millesimo quadringentesimo septuagesimo octavo et nostrae translationis 
 anno secundo. 
 
 Post quarum quidem literarum reverendissimarum praesentationem, por- 
 rectionem et receptionem dicto venerabili viro magistro Henrico Gillow et 
 nobis ac per ipsum et nos ut praemittitur factam, saepedictus magister Hen- 
 ricus et nos fuimus ex parte et per partem ejusdem excellentissimi principis 
 domini et patroni antedicti debita cum instantia requisiti et rogati, quatenus 
 onus commissionis dicti reverendissimi patris in nos assumere ac juxta et 
 secundum traditam nobis in eadem formam procedere et decernere digna- 
 remur ; praefatus vero venerabilis vir magister Henricus Gillow et nos requi- 
 sitionem et rogatum dicti serenissimi principis ad laudem et honorem Dei 
 omnipotentis praeexcelsaeque Virginis Mariae genetricis ejusdem ac omnium 
 sanctorum, et divini cultus continuum incrementum, tendere manifeste intel- 
 ligentes, onus dictae commissionis in nos assumentes, ac juxta et secundum 
 formam et effectum ejusdem commissionis procedere et decernere cupientes, 
 venerabilem virum magistrum Johannem Shirwod sacrae theologiae pro- 
 fessorem archidiaconum Richmondiae in dicta ecclesia metropolitica Ebora- 
 censi et dominum Willielmum Beverley rectorem ecclesiae de Medylham 
 praedictae in speciali, ac omnes alios et singulos interesse in causa sive negotio 
 erectionis ecclesiae praedictae in collegiatam habere praetendentes in generali, 
 quatinus comparerent coram praefato venerabili viro magistro Henrico 
 Gillow et nobis praenominato Thoma Barow seu altero nostrum in ecclesia de 
 Medylham praedicta vicesimo nono die mensis Januarii ultimo praeterito, 
 causam rationabilem si quam habuerint aut dicere sciverint, habuitve vel 
 dicere sciverit ipsorum aliquis, quare dictam ecclesiam parochialem de Medyl- 
 ham ad requisitionem et rogatum dicti excellentissimi principis et domini ac 
 patroni antedicti in collegiatam erigere, ac ipsam pro collegiata habendam, 
 reputandam, appellandam, et nominandam decernere, ulteriusque facere et 
 expedire quae in hac parte necessaria fuerint seu quomodolibet opportuna, 
 juxta et secundum formam in dicti reverendissimi patris commissionis literis 
 traditam minime deberemus, seu alter nostrum minime deberet, in debita 
 
70 
 
 DOCUMENTS RELATING TO THE 
 
 juris forma conversuri et allegaturi ; necnon quatuordecim viros fidedignos 
 tarn clericos quam laicos dicti archiadiaconatus Richmondiae de valore 
 reddituum, fructuum et proventuum ejusdem ecclesiae de Medylham me- 
 liorem notitiam habentes, quod consimili modo coram praefato venerabili 
 viro magistro Henrico Gillow et nobis seu altero nostrum dicto die et loco 
 comparerent, inquisitionem debitam de fructibus, redditibus et proventibus 
 hujusmodi subituri, ulteriusque dicturi, facturi et recepturi quod juri 
 consonum fuerit in bac parte et rationi, sub certa juris forma peremptorie 
 citari et vocari ; saepedictus magister Henricus Gillow et nos praefatus Thomas 
 Barow in matri ecclesia Eboracensi loco consistoriali ejusdem quintodecimo 
 die mensis Januarii antedicto pro tribunali publice sedentes effectualiter de- 
 creverimus justicia median te, denunciatione secundum statuta et laudabiles 
 consuetudines ecclesiae metropoliticae Eboracensis antedictae in bac parte re- 
 quisita venerabili bus viris et dominis decano et capitulo ejusdem ecclesiae 
 debite facta. Ipsoque vicesimo nono die dictae mensis Januarii adveniente, 
 certificatorio de et super citationem seu vocationem hujusmodi modoque et 
 forma eorumdem facto et concepto, sigillo reverendi viri nostri domini ar- 
 cbidiaconi Ricbmondiae in ecclesia catbedrali Eboracensi commissarii gene- 
 ralis in cera coloris viridis pendente communito, per honestum virum dominum 
 Thomam Cornthwate capellanum parocbialem dictae ecclesiae de Medylham 
 mandatarium et nuntium sufficientem et legitime in hac parte deputatum 
 coram nobis Thoma Barow, dicto venerabili viro magistro Henrico Gillow 
 ex causis licitis absente, in ecclesia de Medylham praedicta pro tribunali 
 publice sedentibus judicia liter exbibito ; quo de mandato nostro publice alta 
 et intelligibili voce perlecto, praelibatisque venerabili viro magistro Johanne 
 Shirwod archidiacono Richmondiae antedicto et domino Willielmo Beverley 
 rectore praenominato in speciali legitime citatis et vocatis de mandato nostro 
 publice praeconizato, tandemque venerabili viro Johanne Kendall armigero, 
 vice et nomine dicti venerabilis viri magistri Johannis Shirwod archidiaconi 
 antedicti et pro eodem, necnon dicto domino Willielmo Beverley personaliter 
 coram nobis praefato Thoma Barow judice et commissario antedicto judici- 
 aliter comparentibus, ac praelibato venerabili viro Johanne Kendalle consen- 
 sum venerabilis viri magistri Thomae Pereson decretorum doctoris, dicti ma- 
 gistri Johannis Shirwod archidiaconi antedicti in remotis agentis vicarii in 
 specialibus generalis, ad erectionem dictae ecclesiae parochialis de Medylham 
 in collegiatam, vice et nomine dicti magistri Johannis Shirwod et pro eo in 
 
COLLEGIATE CHURCH OF MIDDLEHAM. *J\ 
 
 scrip tis redactum, sigillo vicariatus generalis ejusdem in cera rubei coloris 
 pendente communitum, ostendente in haec verba — 
 
 Universis et singulis Christi fidelibus praesentes literas inspecturis 
 Thomas Pereson decretorum doctor, reverendi viri et magistri Johannis 
 Sbirwod sacrae theologiae professoris archidiaconi Richmondiae in ecclesia 
 cathedrali Eboracensi in remotis agentis vicarius in spiritualibus generalis 
 sufficienter et legitime deputatus, salutem in Domino et fidem indubiam 
 praesentibus adhibere. Cum inter cetera reparationis humanae remedia mis- 
 sarum solempnia, in quibus pro salute vivorum et requie defunctorum 
 altissimo Deo patri filius immolatur, fuerint praecipue merito judicanda et 
 divinae misericordiae plurimum allectiva, dignum duximus ea quae missarum 
 celebria divinique cultis augmentum ac ministrorum Christi ampliationem 
 in ecclesia militanti respiciunt pronis affectibus promovere ; sane siquidem 
 exhibita nobis nuper pro parte excellentissimi in Christo principis et 
 domini domini Ricardi ducis Glocestriae domini de Medylham archidiaco- 
 natus Richmondiae Eboracensis diocesis ac ecclesiae parochialis in eadem. 
 veri patroni petitio continebat, quod ipse excellentissimus princeps et 
 dominus, ad laudem Dei omnipotentis praeexcelsaeque ejusdem genetricis 
 Mariae ac omnium sanctorum, et divini cultus continuum incrementum, 
 eandem ecclesiam parocliialem de Medylham ampliare et earn majoribus 
 redditibus et possessionibus dotare, numerum quoque capellanorum in eadem 
 Deo devote famulantium augere proposuit et intendit, si per reverendissi- 
 mum in Christo patrem et dominum dominum Laurencium permissione 
 divina Eboracensem archiepiscopum Angliae primatem et apostolicae sedis 
 legatum aut ejus per auctoritatem cum consensu venerabilium virorum 
 decani et capituli dictae ecclesiae cathedral is Eboracensis praefatique 
 reverendi viri magistri Johannis Shirwod archidiaconi Richmondiae ante- 
 dicti, cujus vices gerimus in praesenti, necnon domini Willielmi Beverley 
 capellani rectoris ejusdem ecclesiae de Medylham, ac omnium et singu- 
 lorum quorum interest, dicta ecclesia in collegiatam erecta fuerit. Quare 
 a nobis ex parte ejusdem excellentissimi principis fuit humiliter suppli- 
 catum, quatenus nos erectioni ejusdem ecclesiae parochialis de Medylham 
 auctoritate dicti reverendissimi patris faciendae in collegiatam, vice et 
 nomine dicti reverendi viri magistri Johannis Shirwod archidiaconi Rich- 
 mondiae, cujus vices ipso in remotis agente ut praemittitur gerimus, con- 
 sentire dignaremur. Nos autem attendentes propositum dicti excellentissimi 
 
DOCUMENTS RELATING TO THE 
 
 72 
 
 principis fore laudabile, meritorium, atque pium, quodque in divini cultus 
 augmentum tendere manifeste dinoscitur, volentes illud piis affectibus con- 
 fovere, dictae ecclesiae parochialis de Medylbam erectioni in collegiatam 
 auctoritate dicti reverendissimi patris faciendae, vice et nomine dicti reverendi 
 viri magistri Johannis Shirwod archidiaconi Richmondiae antedicti et pro eo 
 expresse consentimus ac consensum nostrum pariter et assensum praebemus 
 per praesentes ; reservatis dicto reverendo viro magistro Johanni Shirwod 
 archidiacono Richmondiae antedicto et ejus successoribus sex solidis et octo 
 denariis in et de fructibus et proventibus ejusdem ecclesiae parochialis de 
 Medylham postquam in collegiatam erecta fuerit, annuatim ad festa Michaelis 
 et Paschae equis portionibus imperpetuum pro indempnitate archidiaconi 
 Richmondiae pro tempore existentis persolvendis. Quae omnia et singula 
 vestrae universitati innotescimus per praesentes. In quorum omnium et singu- 
 lorum fidem atque testimonium praemissorum sigillum vicariatus generalis 
 antedicti praesentibus est appensum. Datum Eboraci vicesimo die mensis 
 Januarii anno Domini Millesimo quadringentesimo septuagesimo octavo. 
 
 Dictoque domino Willielmo Beverley consensum ejusdem in scriptis sub 
 sigillo venerabilis viri reverendi viri domini officialis curiae Eboracensis 
 commissarii generalis realiter exhibente, sub eo tenore qui sequitur — 
 
 Universis et singulis Christi fidelibus praesentes literas inspecturis 
 Willielmus Beverley capellanus, Rector ecclesiae parochialis de Medylham 
 archidiaconatus Richmondiae Eboracensis diocesis, salutem in Domino et 
 fidem indubiam praesentibus adhibere. Cum inter cetera reparationis humanae 
 remedia missarum soiempnia in quibus pro salute vivorum et requie de-- 
 functorum altissimo Deo patri filius immolatur, fuerint praecipue merito 
 judicanda et divini misericordiae plurimum allectiva, dignum duximus 
 ea quae missarum celebria divinique cultus augmentum ac ministro- 
 rum Christi ampliationem in ecclesia militanti respiciunt pronis affectibus 
 promovere ; sane siquidem exhibita mihi nuper pro parte excellentissimi in 
 Christo principis et domini domini Ricardi ducis Gloucestriae domini de 
 Medylham archidiaconatus Richmondiae Eboracensis diocesis antedictae 
 ac ecclesiae parochialis in eadem veri patroni, petitio continebat quod ipse 
 excellentissimus princeps et dominus, ad laudem Dei omnipotentis prae- 
 excelsaeque ejusdem genetricis Mariae ac omnium sanctorum, et divini cultus 
 continuum incrementum, eandem ecclesiam parochialem de Medylham 
 ampliare et earn majoribus redditibus et possessionibus dotare, numerum 
 
COLLEGIATE CHURCH OF MIDDLEHAM. 
 
 73 
 
 quoque ministrorum in eadem Deo devote familantium augere proposuit 
 et intendit, si per reverendissimum in Christo patrem et dominum dominum 
 Laurencium permissione divina Eboracensem archiepiscopum Angliae pri- 
 matem et apostolicse sedis legatum aut ejus per auctoritatem cum con- 
 sensu venerabilium virorum decani et capituli dictae ecclesise cathedralis 
 Eboracensis reverendique viri magistri Johannis Shirwod sacrae tbeologiae 
 professoris arcbidiaconi Richmondiae in ecclesia cathedrali Eboracense, 
 necnon mei Willielmi Beverley rectoris praenominati, ac omnium et sin- 
 gulorum quorum interest in hac parte, dicta ecclesia in collegiatam erecta 
 fuerit. Quare a me pro parte ejusdem excellentissimi principis fuit bumiliter 
 supplicatum, quatenus erectioni ejusdem ecclesiae parochialis de Medylham 
 auctoritate dicti reverendissimi patris faciendae in collegiatam consentirem. 
 Unde ego praefatus Willielmus Beverley, attendens propositum dicti ex- 
 cellentissimi principis fore laudabile, meritorium, atque pium, quodque in 
 divini cultus augmentum tendere manifeste dinoscitur, volens id piis affecti- 
 bus confovere, dictae ecclesiae parochialis de Medylham erectioni in col- 
 legiatam auctoritate dicti reverendissimi patris faciendae harum serie expresse 
 consentio. Quae omnia et singula universitati vestrae innotesco per praesentes. 
 In quarum omnium praemissorum fidem atque testimonium, quia sigillum 
 non habeo autenticum, ideo sigillum venerabilis viri reverendi viri domini 
 officialis curiae Eboracensis commissarii generalis praesentibus apponi 
 procuravi. Et nos vero commissarius generalis antedictus, ad instantiam et 
 rogatum dicti domini Willielmi Beverley rectoris antedicti, sigillum nostrum 
 praesentibus apposuimus in fidem et testimonium omnium et singulorum 
 praemissorum. Datum Eboraci vicesimo die mensis Januarii anno Domini* 
 Millesimo quadringentesimo septuagesimo octavo. 
 
 Statim tunc ibidem coram nobis in judicio venerabilis vir Thomas Asper 
 generosus personaliter comparens literas venerabilium virorum domini decani 
 et capituli ecclesiae metropoliticae Eboracensis antedictae, consensum eorun- 
 dem ad erectionem dictae ecclesiae parochialis de Medylham in collegiatam, 
 auctoritate pontificali dicti reverendissimi patris faciendam, in se continentes, 
 sub eorum sigillo communi in cera glauci coloris pendente, realiter nobis 
 tradidit in haec verba — 
 
 Universis Sanctae Matris Ecclesiae filiis praesentes literas inspecturis Ro- 
 bertus decanus et capitulum ecclesiae Cathedralis beati Petri Eboracensis 
 salutem in omnium Salvatore. Noverit universitas vestra quod nos decanus et 
 
 CAMD. SOC. 
 
 L 
 
74 
 
 DOCUMENTS RELATING TO THE 
 
 capitulum antedicti, visis et perlectis quibusdam literis reverendissimi in 
 Christi patris et domini domini Laurencii permissione divina Eboraeensis arch- 
 iepiscopi Angliae primatis et apostolicae sedis legati,venerabilibis viris magistris 
 Roberto Botbe legum doctori ecclesiae cathedralis praedictae decano, Willielmo 
 Poteman archidiacono Clivelandiae, Henrico Gillow subdecano, et Thomas 
 Barow canonico et prebendario dictae ecclesiae cathedralis Eboraeensis, com- 
 missariis ipsius reverendissimi patris cum ilia clausula communiter et divisim 
 ad tractandum nobiscum de et super negotio et causa erectionis ecclesiae 
 parocbialis de Medylham in collegiatam ecclesiam, auctoritate dicti reve- 
 rendissimi patris faciendae, sub certa verborum forma confectis, nobis ac dictis 
 magistris Henrico Gillow subdecano et Thomae Barow canonico commis- 
 sariis antedictis, ceteris commissariis pertunc ex causis licitis absentibus, in 
 domo nostra capitulari capitulariter congregatis, ex parte illustris et prae- 
 potentis domini domini Ricardi ducis Gloucestriae domini de Medylham ac 
 ecclesiae parochialis de Medylham praedictae veri et indubitati patroni, qui 
 ad Dei laudem et divini cultus augmentum praedictam ecclesiam de Medylham, 
 si in collegiatam ecclesiam fuerit canonice erecta, ampliare et earn majoribus 
 redditibus et possessionibus dotare ac numerum ministrorum in eadem augere 
 intendit ut asseritur, praesentatis et exhibitis, convocationem confratrum et con- 
 canonicorum nostrorum ecclesiae nostrae cathedralis praedictae absentium, ad 
 vicesimum primum diem instantis mensis Januarii decrevimus fore faciendam. 
 Quo die advenientibus vocatis ad hunc diem, et legitime citatis dictis con- 
 fratribus et concanonicis nostris secundum morem ecclesiae nostrae Ebora- 
 censis praedictae ad hostium exterius domus nostrae capitularis, ipsisque 
 diutius expectatis et nullo modo comparentibus, continuationem per nos 
 quoad actum hujusmodi pronunciatam decrevimus in negotio hujusmodi 
 unacum dictis commissariis de justicia fore procedendum, eorum absentia in 
 aliquo non obstanti. Unde nos decanus et capitulum supradicti in domo 
 nostra capitulari praedicta, terminis ad hoc ut praefertur assignatis, de et super 
 contentis in dictis literis praefati reverendissimi patris hujusmodi negotium 
 erectionis dictae ecclesiae parochialis de Medylham in collegiatam con- 
 cernentibus, unacum commissariis praedictis tractatum habuimus diligentem 
 et solempnem ; necnon ecclesiae parochialis de Medylham antedictae in 
 collegiatam erectioni auctoritate pontificali praefati reverendissimi patris 
 pure simpliciter et libere faciendae, salva turn nobis et nostris successoribus 
 annua pensione trium solidorum et quatuor denariorum pro indempnitate 
 
COLLEGIATE CHURCH OF MIDDLEHAM. 
 
 75 
 
 nostra ratione hujusmodi erectionis per nos de consensu dicti reverendissimi 
 patris taxata et imposita, nostrum praebuimus et praebemus consensum tenore 
 praesentium pari ter et assensum. Quae omnia et singula universitati vestrae 
 predictae tenore praesentium intimamus, quibus sigillum nostrum apponi 
 fecimus in fidem et testimonium omnium praemissorum. Datum in domo 
 nostra capitulari vicesimo quarto die mensis Januarii anno Domini Milles- 
 simo quadringentesimo septuagesimo octavo. 
 
 Ceteris vero omnibus et singulis interesse in causa et negotio erectionis 
 hujusmodi habere praetendentibus in genere legitime citatis et vocatis, publice 
 preconizatis, diutius expectatis, et nullo modo comparentibus, per nos con- 
 tumacibus merito reputatis, ac ad petitionem dicti excellentissimi 
 principis domini et patroni antedicti procedendum fore ad erectionem dictae 
 ecclesiae parochialis de Medylham in collegiatam quatenus de jure fuerit 
 procedendum in contumacias eorundem per nos judicialiter decreto, ac 
 quatuordecim viris fidedignis tam clericis quam laicis dicti archidiaconatus 
 Richmondiae de valore reddituum, fructuum et proventuum dictae ecclesiae de 
 Medylham ac jure patronatus ejusdem meliorem notitiam habentibus, vide- 
 licet, dominis Roberto Walker, Johanne Bedalle, Willielmo Clerk, et 
 Willielmo Lowther capellanis, Thoma Ottour, Johanne Mowbray, 
 Johanne Beverley, Willielmo Nanson, Willielmo Foster, Johanne Foster, 
 Johanne Hudson, Waltero Bond, Thoma Glover, et Willielmo Tesedale 
 laicis, in hac parte legitime citatis et vocatis, de mandato nostro preconizatis, 
 judicialiter comparentibus, quibus per nos praefatum Thomam Barow ad- 
 missis et in forma juris juratis, ac super valore reddituum, fructuum et 
 proventuum dictae ecclesiae de Medylham et jure patronatus ejusdem ac 
 certis articulis ea concernentibus rite et legitime examinatis, ipsorumque 
 dictis, assertionibus et depositionibus in scriptis de mandato nostro 
 redactis, decretum erectionis dictae ecclesiae parochialis de Medylham 
 in collegiatam auctoritate pontificali dicti reverendissimi patris nos 
 praefatus Thomas Barow judex et commissarius antedictus pro tribunali 
 publice sedentes, Deum prae oculis habentes, legimus sub forma verborum quae 
 sequitur — 
 
 In Dei nomine Amen. Auditis, discussis, et plenius intellects per nos 
 Thomam Barow canonicum et prebendarium ecclesiae metropoliticae Ebora- 
 censis, per reverendissimum in Christo patrem et dominum dominum Lau- 
 rencium permissione divina Eboracensis archiepiscopum Angliae primatem 
 
76 
 
 DOCUMENTS RELATING TO THE 
 
 et apostolicse sedis legatum, unacum venerabilibus viris magistris Roberto 
 Bothe legum doctore ejusdem metropoliticse Eboracensis ecclesise decano, 
 Willielmo Poteman archidiacono Clivelandiae, et Henrico Gillow ejusdem 
 ecclesise subdecano, ad infrascripta cum clausula communiter et divisim judi- 
 cem et commissarium sufficienter et legitime deputatum, meritis et circum- 
 stantiis causae sive negotii erect ionis ecclesise parocbialis de Medylham 
 archidiaconatus Richmondise Eboracensis diocesis in collegiatam, denun- 
 ciatione secundum statuta et laudabiles consuetudines ecclesise metropoli- 
 ticse Eboracensis antedictse requisita venerabilibus viris domino decano et 
 capitulo ejusdem ecclesise in hac parte debite facta, vocatis citatis et legitime 
 prsemunitis magistro Jobanne Shirwod sacrse theologiae professore archidia- 
 cono Richmondise in ecclesia Eboracensis antedicta ac honesto viro domino 
 Willielmo Beverley rectore ejusdem ecclesise parochialis de Medylham 
 moderno in speciali, omnibusque aliis de jure vocandis, citandis vel pre- 
 muniendis in generali, nulloque in hac parte congruente causam rationabilem 
 quare dicta ecclesia parochialis de Medylham in collegiatam ad petitionem 
 excellentissimi in Christo principis et domini domini Ricardi ducis Glou- 
 cestrise domini de Medylham veri ejusdem ecclesise patroni, auctoritate dicti 
 reverendissimi patris, erigi non debeat in collegiatam proponente, dicente, 
 aut allegante, ac plena causse cognitione habita, decreto insuper interposito, 
 
 et aliis * subsequentibus quse in erectionibus ecclesiarum paro- 
 
 chialium in collegiatas juxta juris exigentiam et qualitatem negotii exiguntur, 
 jurisque ordine in omnibus observato, de consilio jurisperitorum cum 
 quibus communicavimus in hac parte ad erectionem ejusdem ecclesise paro- 
 chialis de Medylham in collegiatam, auctoritate, consensu et voluntate dicti 
 reverendissimi patris prsefatique archidiaconi ac decani et capituli necnon 
 domini Willielmi Beverley rectoris antedicti, ceterorum vocatorum citatorum 
 et premunitorum non comparentium hujusmodi in contumacione, ad peti- 
 tionem dicti excellentissimi principis, invocata Spiritus Sancti gratia, proce- 
 dimus in hunc modum — 
 
 In nomine Domini Amen. Quia per diligentem inquisitionem coram 
 nobis et per nos factam et captam, ac evidentes probationes, actaque et inac- 
 titata et coram nobis Thoma Barow judice et commissario antedicti pro tribu- 
 nali sedentibus judicialiter exhibita et probata, excellentissimum in Christo, 
 
 * Obliterated in the original. 
 
COLLEGIATE CHURCH OF MIDDLEHAM. 
 
 77 
 
 principem et dominum dominum Ricardum ducem Gloucestriae dominum de 
 Medylham dictae ecclesiae parochialis de Medylham verum fore patronum, 
 ipsiusque serenissimi principis propositum in hac parte laudabile, pium atque 
 meritorium fuisse et esse, necnon fructus, redditus et proventus dictae ecclesiae 
 parochialis de Medylham viginti una libris novem solidis et quatuor denariis 
 sterlingorum annuatim valere et ad eandem summam singulis in annis com- 
 muniter se extendere invenimus et reperimus ; idcirco nos de consensu 
 expresso venerabilium virorum domini decani et capituli dictae ecclesiae me- 
 tropoliticae Eboracensis reverendique viri magistri Johannis Shirwod sacrae 
 theologiae professoris archidiaconi Richmondiae in eadem ecclesia Eboracense, 
 ac honesti viri domini Willielmi Beverley rectoris moderni ejusdem ecclesiae 
 de Medylham, ac omnium aliorum et singulorum interesse in hac parte 
 habentium, dictam ecclesiam parochialem de Medylham, ad petitionem et 
 rogatum dicti excellentissimi principis et domini domini Ricardi ducis Glou- 
 cestriae et patroni antedicti, in collegiatam auctoritate nobis in hac parte 
 commissa erigimus et creamus, ac ipsam pro collegiata habendam, nomi- 
 nandam, appellandam, et reputandam, necnon Decanum curam animarum 
 ejusdem ecclesiae cum et de fructibus, redditibus et proventibus et emolu- 
 ments de et in eadem ecclesia provenientibus per se vel alium sufficientem 
 et idoneum deputatum juxta et secundum ordinationem dictae ecclesiae in hac 
 parte legitime faciendam supportantem et gerentem, acsex Capellanos, quatuor 
 Clericos, sex Choristas et unum Clericum divina servicia et officia in eadem 
 ecclesia ministraturos, facturos et celebraturos ac imperpetuum deservituros, 
 per dictum prepotentem dominum dominum Ricardum ducem Gloucestriae 
 dictae ecclesiae collegiatae fundatorem ac heredes ejusdem juxta tenorem 
 licenciae regiae eidem domino duci in hac parte concessae imponendos, tempo- 
 ribus futuris perpetuis fore et esse ordinamus, limitamus, statuimus et decer- 
 nimus judicialiter in hiis scripts ; reservantes nobis facultatem numerum 
 capellanorum et aliorum ministrorum Deo devote in ecclesia praedicta famu- 
 lantium et famulare debentium augendi et diminuendi, ac omnia alia et 
 singula in hac parte necessaria et de jure requisita juxta et secundum quali- 
 tatem dots dictae ecclesiae nunc assignatae et assignandae in futurum faciendi, 
 ordinandi, limitandi et exercendi pro loco et tempore opportunis. In recom- 
 pensationem vero lesionis et indempnitatem praefati reverendissimi patris et 
 successorum suorum Eboracensium archiepiscoporum ecclesiaeque metropo- 
 liticae Eboracensis ac domini decani et capituli ejusdem ecclesiae, vel ejusdem 
 
78 
 
 DOCUMENTS RELATING TO THE 
 
 capituli decano in remotis agente, ac praefati archidiaconi et ejus successorum 
 quorumcunque, ac in signum subjectionis dictae ecclesiae collegiatae quae 
 amplius non vacabit, annuum censum sive pensionem annuam quatuor soli- 
 dorum sterlingorum praefato reverendissimo patri et ejus successoribus 
 archiepiscopis Eboracensibus pro tempore existentibus, ac trium solidorum 
 et quatuor denariorum eisdem domino decano et capitulo ac eidem capitulo 
 decano in remotis agente, necnon sex solidorum et octo denariorum domino 
 archidiacono Richmondiae ac ejus successoribus, de et in fructibus, redditibus 
 et proventibus dictae ecclesiae collegiatae pertinentibus, ad duos anni terminos, 
 videlicet, ad festa sancti Michaelis archangeli et Paschae, per decanum dictae 
 ecclesiae collegiatae qui pro tempore fuerit fideliter persolvendum imper- 
 petuum assignamus et limitamus, ipsasque annuas pensiones sive annuos 
 census dictae ecclesiae collegiatae cum consensu et assensu praedicti praepotentis 
 domini fundatoris ejusdem ac aliorum quorum in hac parte interest vel 
 interesse poterit judicamus et imposuimus in hiis scriptis ac futuris tempo- 
 ribus per decanum dictae ecclesiae collegiatae pro tempore existentem sub 
 pena sequestrationis fructuum, reddituum, et proventuum dictae ecclesiae 
 collegiatae quorumcunque in forma praedicta fideliter persolvendas fore decer- 
 nimus judicialiter in hiis scriptis. 
 
 Acta fuerunt haec prout supra successive scribuntur et recitantur sub anno 
 ab Incarnacione Domini secundum cursum et computationem ecclesiae 
 Anglicanae Millesimo quadringentesimo septuagesimo octavo, indictione 
 duodecima, pontificatus sanctissimi in Christo patris et domini nostri domini 
 Sexti divina providentia papae quarti anno octavo, mense diebus et locis 
 superius descriptis. Quae omnia et singula vestrae universitati praedictae 
 harum literarium sive hujus instrumenti publici serie innotescimus. In 
 quorum omnium testimonium atque fidem praesentes literas sive praesens pub- 
 licum instrumentum exinde fieri fecimus, signisque et nominibus magistrorum 
 Johannis Haryngton, venerabilis curiae Eboracensis registrarii, et Willielmi 
 Biller, ejusdem curiae Eboracensis procuratoris generalis, notariorum publi- 
 corum scribarum, primo per dictum venerabilem virum magistrum Henricum 
 Gillow et nos conjunctim, deinde absente dicto magistro Henrico per nos in hac 
 parte specialiter assumptorum, subscribi et publicari mandavimus, sigillique 
 venerabilis viri reverendi viri domini officialis curiae Eboracensis commissarii 
 generalis, quia sigillum non habemus autenticum, appensione communiri 
 procuravimus. Et nos vero commissarius generalis antedictus, ad instantiam 
 
COLLEGIATE CHURCH OF MIDDLEHAM. 
 
 79 
 
 et procurationem dicti venerabilis viri magistri Thomae Barow judicis et 
 commissarii antedicti, praesentibus literis sive praesenti publico instrumento 
 sigillum nostrum apposuimus. Datum Eboraci quoad appositionem sigilli 
 nostri praedicti sexto die mensis Februarii anno Domini, indictione, et pon- 
 tificatu praedictis. 
 
 Et ego Johannes Haryngton, clericus Eboracensis diocesis, publicus auctori- 
 tatibus apostolica et imperiali notarius, venerabilisque curiae Ebora- 
 censis registrarius, ac in causa sive negotio erectionis hujusmodi 
 unacum praefato magistro Willielmo Biller, primo per dictos venerabiles 
 viros magistros Henricum Gillow et Thomam Barow conjunctim, 
 deinde dicto magistro Henrico absente per praenominatum magistrum 
 Thomam, scriba specialiter assumptus, quia dictae procurationi, mandati 
 exhibitioni, ac praefati reverendissimi patris literarum porrectioni 
 onerisque earundem assumptioni, ac praelibatae citationi sive voca- 
 tioni, decreto et certificatorio ejusdem, necnon literarum omnium 
 superius descriptarum exhibitioni in ordine factae ac praeconizationi, 
 decreto et dictorum quatuordecim virorum juramentis et examinationi, 
 praefatique decreti lecturae, ceterisque omnibus et singulis superius actis, 
 gestis, dictis et factis, dum sic ut praemittitur sub anno Domini, indictione, 
 pontificatu, mensibus, diebus et locis praedictis agebantur, dicebantur et 
 fiebant, una cum praenominato magistro Willielmo, altero scribarum in 
 hac parte assumpto, praesens personaliter interfui, eaque omnia et singula 
 sic fieri vidi et audivi ; ideo praesentes literas sive praesens publicum 
 instrumentum, manu aliena de praecepto dicti magistri Thomae ex 
 voluntate et consensu mei et dicti magistri Willielmi aliunde occupa- 
 torum scriptas sive scriptum, subscripsi, publicavi, et in hanc publicam 
 formam redegi, meisque signo ac nomine solitis et consuetis una cum 
 signo et nomine ac subscriptione dicti magistri Willielmi, et domini 
 officialis curiae Eboracensis commissarii generalis sigilli appensione, de 
 mandato dicti magistri Thome signavi, rogatus et requisitus, in fidem 
 omnium et singulorum praemissorum. 
 
 Et ego Willielmus Biller, clericus Eboracensis diocesis, publicus auctoritate 
 apostolica notarius, venerabilisque curiae Eboracensis procurator gene- 
 ralis, ac in causa sive negotio erectionis hujusmodi una cum praefato 
 magistro Johanne Haryngton, primo per dictos venerabiles viros ma- 
 
80 
 
 DOCUMENTS RELATING TO THE 
 
 gistros Henricum Gillowe et Thomam Barow conjunctim, deinde dicto 
 magistro Henrico absente per prenominatum magistrum Thomam, 
 scriba specialiter assumptus, quia dictae procurationi, mandati exhi- 
 bitioni, ac praefati reverendissimi patris literarum porrectioni onerisque 
 earumdem assumptioni, ac praelibatae citationi sive vocationi, decreto 
 et certificatorio [ejusdem, necnon] literarum omnium superius descrip- 
 tarum exhibitioni in ordine factae ac praeconisationi, decreto et dictorum 
 quatuordecim virorum juramentis et examinationi, praefatique decreti 
 lecturae, ceterisque omnibus et singulis superius actis, gestis, dictis et 
 factis, dum sic ut praemittitur sub anno Domini, indictione, pontificatu, 
 mensibus, diebus et locis praedictis agebantur, dicebantur et fiebant, una 
 cum praenominato Johanne altero scribarum in hac parte assumpto, 
 praesens personaliter interfui, eaque omnia et singula sic fieri vidi et 
 audivi, ideo praesentes literas sive praesens publicum instrumentum, 
 manu aliena de praecepto dicti magistri Thomae ex voluntate et consensu 
 mei et dicti magistri Johannis aliunde occupatorum scriptas sive 
 scriptum, subscripsi, publicavi, et in hanc publicam formam redegi, 
 meisque signo et nomine solitis et consuetis, una cum signo et nomine 
 ac subscriptione dicti magistri Johannis, et domini otficialis curiae 
 Eboracensis commissarii generalis sigilli appensione, de mandato dicti 
 magistri Thomae signavi, rogatus et requisitus, in fidem omnium et 
 singulorum praemissorum. 
 
 Nos itaque Robertas decanus et capitulum ecclesiae metropoliticae beati 
 Petri Eboracensis capitulariter congregati omnia et singula in super- 
 scripts literis contenta, habito super hiis in capitulo nostro tractatu 
 solempni et diligente qui in hoc casu requiritur, approbamus, ratificamus, 
 et quantum ad nos attinet pro nobis et successoribus nostris tenore 
 praesentium confirmamus. In cujus rei testimonium sigillum nostrum 
 commune praesentibus est appensum. Datum Eboraci in domo nostra 
 capitulari quinto die mensis Decembris anno Domini Millessimo qua- 
 dringentesimo septuagesimo nono. 
 
 Nos insuper Thomas Pereson decretorum doctor, reverendi viri magistri 
 Johannis Sliirwod sacrae theologiae professoris archidiaconi Rich- 
 mondiae in ecclesia cathedrali Eboracensi in remotis agentis vicarius in 
 spiritualibus generalis, dictam erectionem ratam, gratam, firmam pari ter 
 et acceptam habentes, ipsam ac omnia et singula in eadem contenta et 
 
COLLEGIATE CHURCH OF MIDDLEHAM. 
 
 81 
 
 specificata, ac totum processum inde secutum ratificamus et approbamus, 
 ac pro dicto domino archidiacono et successoribus suis quantum est in no- 
 bis tenore praesentium confirmamus. In cujus rei testimonium sigillum 
 nostrum praesentibus est appensum. Datum Eboraci quinto die mensis 
 Decembris anno Domini Millesimo quadringentesimoseptuagesimonono. 
 
 Nos vero Laurencius permissione divina Eboracensis archiepiscopus, Angliae 
 primas, et apostolicae sedis legatus, erectionem praedictam ratam, gratam, 
 firmam pariter et acceptam habentes, ipsam ac omnia et singula in 
 eadem contenta et specificata, totumque processum in hac parte habitum 
 et factum ratificamus et approbamus, ac nostro metropolitico jure tenore 
 praesentium confirmamus, omnesque et singulos defectus si qui in eisdem 
 fuerint ex nostra certa scientia graciose supplentes ; ad contemplationem 
 insuper excellentissimi principis Ricardi ducis Gloucestriae antedicti, 
 decano, capellanis, clericis et ministris quibuscumque dictae ecclesiae col- 
 legiatae de Medilham pro tempore existentibus, et matutinas horas, 
 missas, et vesperas ac alia quaecumque officia divina in praefata ecclesia 
 collegiata et locis eidem contiguis et annexatis ac ab eadem dependen- 
 tibus omnibus et singulis secundum usum, regimen, ordinationem et 
 consuetudinem ecclesiae cathedralis Sarum imperpetuum dicere, cele- 
 brare et can tare, eisdemque usu, regimine, ordinatione et consuetudine 
 imperpetuum uti, ac citra et praeter hujusmodi usum, regimen, ordina- 
 tionem et consuetudinem in illis sanctorum festis quibus idem ex- 
 cellentissimus princeps majorem dinoscitur habere devotionem, quae 
 secundum ecclesiae cathedralis Sarum praedictum usum simplicia et sine 
 regimine chori observari deberent, etiam duplicia et cum regimine chori, 
 juxta ordinationem ejusdem excellentissimi principis inde faciendam, 
 observare et tenere valeant et possint, plenam harum serie potestatem 
 et licentiam in quantum possumus damus, concedimus et impertimur, 
 dictae ecclesiae nostrae cathedralis Eboracensis statutis, consuetudinibus 
 et ordinationibus quibuscumque non obstantibus. In quorum omnium 
 et singulorum testimonium atque fidem sigillum nostrum praesentibus 
 apponi fecimus. Datum in manerio nostro de Scroby duodecimo die 
 mensis Decembris anno Domini Millessimo quadringentesimo septua- 
 gesimo nono et nostrae translationis anno quarto. 
 
 In dorso , — Exhibita et registrata in visitatione regia per me 
 Edoardum Planknay. E. P. 
 
 27° Octobris, 1547. 
 
 CAMD. SOC. 
 
 M 
 
82 
 
 DOCUMENTS RELATING TO THE 
 
 APPENDIX (E). 
 
 Charter of Exemption from Episcopal Jurisdiction. 
 
 (Introduction, p. 10.) 
 
 Universis Sanct® Matris Ecclesi® filiis ad quos pr®sentes liter® per- 
 venerint, seu quos infrascripta tangunt seu tangere poterunt quomodolibet 
 in futurum, Thomas miseratione divina Eboracensis archiepiscopus, Angli® 
 primas, salutem et fidem indubiam pr®sentibus adhibere. Ad vestr® universi- 
 tatis notitiam deducimus et deduci volumus per pr®sentes quod cum pa- 
 rocbialis ecclesia loci de Middelham nostr® Eboracensis diocesis, sita infra 
 limites arcbidiaconatus Richemondi® in nostra cathedrali ecclesia Ebora- 
 censi, qu® de pr®nobilis et pr®potentis principis Ricardi ducis Gloucestri®, 
 illustrissimi in Christo principis et domini domini Edwardi Dei gratia 
 Angli® et Franci® regnorum regis fratris germani illustris, jure patronatus 
 extiterat, opera, devotione, solicitudine, et pietate ejusdem ducis in collegi- 
 atam ecclesiam cum certo ecclesiastieorum ministrorum numero ibidem 
 Altissimo famulantium ad omnipotentis Dei laudem pariter et honorem, 
 beatissim®que Dei genetricis Mari® et sanct® Alkild® virginis, auctoritate 
 pr®decessoris nostri nuper sit erecta, processusque quoque erectionis hujus- 
 modi et illius forma, necnon statuta nonnulla plurimum iaudabilia pro diet® 
 ecclesi® collegiat® illiusque ministrorum pr®sentium et futurorum continuo 
 et prospero statu directione salubri plurimum laudabiliter atque honorifice, 
 mediante pr®dicto duce, edita fuerint, apostolic® sedis firmitate munita, 
 roborata et stabilita, nos archiepiscopus antedictus tantam pr®dicti principis 
 et ducis devotionem in pr®missis ipsiusque devotum animum, tamque accep- 
 tabilem sinceramque voluntatem quos ipse dux, in aliorum Christianorum 
 principum Christi fideliumque beatum exemplum, ad Altissimi laudem et su® 
 beatissim® genetricis Mari® et sanct® Alkild® predict® honorificationem, pr®- 
 missorum respectu gerere comprobatur, jugis considerationis oculo attendentes 
 et laudantes, ecclesiastieorum ministrorum, parochianorum, inhabitantium 
 et incolarum collegiat® pr®fat® ecclesi® pr®sentium et futurorum quieti et 
 paci, contemplatione Dei et dicti pr®potentis principis et ducis serenissimi, 
 salubriter providere cupientes, oblat® nobis pro parte dicti principis et ducis 
 illustrissimi petitioni favorabiliter annuentes, ut tarn pr®sentes quam futuri 
 
COLLEGIATE CHURCH OF MIDDLEHAM. 
 
 83 
 
 ecclesiae collegiatae praedictae ecclesiastici ministri, parochiani, inhabitantes 
 et incolae eo quietius et devotius possint absque nostra vel successorum 
 nostrorum ecclesiae cathedralis Eboracensis archiepiscoporum auctoritate, 
 nostrorum seu successorum nostrorum, aut aliorum quorumcumque nobis in- 
 feriorum judicum, quacumque notione, jurisdictione, potestate, praeeminentia, 
 seu dignitate fungentium, impetitione ac ordinaria et archiepiscopali et metro- 
 politana visitatione, necnon cujuscumque ecclesiasticae jurisdictionis exercitio 
 per appellationem vel querelam etiam in eosdem ministros seu parochianos, 
 incolas seu inhabitantes quomodolibet attemptando, Omnipotenti perpetuo 
 famulari, praelibitam collegiatam ecclesiam ejusdemque ecclesiae decanum pro 
 tempore existentem omnesque et singulos illius ecclesiae ministros et paro- 
 chianos incolas et inhabitantes praesentes et futuros ab omni ordinaria etiam 
 archiepiscopali et metropolitica, et alia quacumque ecclesiastica jurisdictione, 
 notione et vocatione per appellationem vel querelam, visitatione, correctione 
 et potestate nostris et archiepiscoporum Eboracensium ecclesiae successorum 
 nostrorum futurorum quorumcumque, quatenus ad nos attinet, nostra aucto- 
 ritate archiepiscopali et metropolitica plene, totaliter et integre eximimus et 
 tenore praesentium perpetuo liberamus, ipsosque in hac parte sufficienter 
 exemptos et ab omni nostra correctione, superioritate, visitatione, potestate, 
 jurisdictione, et cohercione quacumque totaliter liberatos et immunes fuisse 
 et esse pro nobis et successoribus nostris quibuscumque futuris dictae 
 ecclesiae Eboracensis archiepiscopis imperpetuum, ac de et cum consensu 
 capituli nostri Eboracensis, per praesentes decernimus et declaramus ; proviso 
 semper quod nostra praesens immunitatis, exemptionis, et privilegii donatio et 
 concessio, sive super hujusmodi immunitate, exemptione, et privilegiis donatis 
 et concessis decretum et declaratio ad aliquos ministros vel alias personas 
 dicti collegii qui nunc sunt vel in futurum erunt ad aliquod vel aliqua 
 beneficium vel beneficia ecclesiasticum seu ecclesiastica infra nostram 
 provinciam, diocesim, vel jurisdictionem, sive sint dignitates, personatus, pre- 
 positurae, plebaniae,* prebendae, rectoriae, vicariae, cantariae perpetuao, sive alia 
 beneficia quaecumque majora vel minora quibuscumque nominibus appellentur 
 electi, provisi, assumpti, instituti, vel quomodocumque aliter intitulati, sive in 
 posterum cligendi, providendi, assumendi, instituendi seu quomodocumque 
 aliter intitulandi, nullatenus extendantur, seu eis vel eorum alicui opitulentur 
 vel suffragentur, quominus coram nobis et aliis ordinariis nobis quibuscum- 
 
 Plebanus : qui sacramenta administrat in Ecclesia Cathedrali. Voss. 
 
84 
 
 DOCUMENTS RELATING TO THE 
 
 que inferioribus respondere, et nostris ac illorum correctionibus, punitionibus, 
 decretis, injunctionibus, et mandatis in omnibus quae eorum beneficia respiciunt 
 seu respicere poterunt, perinde nobis ac illis modo et forma teneantur ac si 
 supradicta immunitas, exemptio, seu privilegia donata seu concessa non 
 fuissent. In quorum omnium et singulorum fidem, robur et testimonium, 
 necnon ad perpetuam rei memoriam, hiis literis nostris praesentibus sigillum 
 nostrum apponi fecimus. Datum in manerio nostro de Batyrsay vicesimo 
 iiij t0 die mensis Martii anno Domini secundum cursum et computationem 
 ecclesise Anglicanae Millessimo quadringentesimo octogesimo primo et nostrae 
 translationis anno secundo. 
 
 Omnibus Christi fidelibus ad quos praesentes literae pervenerint Ricardus 
 dux Gloucestriae, magnus camerarius, constabularius, et admirallus Angliae, 
 Johannes Huddelston miles, Jacobus Tirell miles, Willielmus Hopton 
 armiger, Thomas Barow clericus, Thomas Middelton armiger, Willielmus 
 Tunstall armiger, Ricardus Ratcliff armiger, Ricardus Middelton armiger, 
 Galfridus Franke et Robertus Brakenbury, feoffati inter alia de castro, 
 manerio et dominio de Middelham cum suis membris et pertinentiis, in 
 comitatu Ebor’, ad usum et proficuum dicti ducis, salutem in Domino sempi- 
 ternam. Sciatis nos prefatum ducem ac nos praefatos Johannem Huddelston, 
 Jacobum Tirell, Willielmum Hopton, Thomam Barow clericum, Thomam 
 Middelton, Willielmum Tunstall, Ricardum Ratcliff, Ricardum Middelton, 
 Galfridum Franke et Robertum Brakenbury, ad desiderium et speciale 
 mandatum ejusdem ducis tradidisse, dimisisse, liberasse, ac per praesentes 
 confirmasse Willielmo Beverley decano et capellanis collegii Ricardi ducis 
 Gloucestriae de Middelham. in comitatu Ebor’ unam acram prati, parcellum 
 dominii de Middelham, jacentem inter Yore versus unum locum vocatum le 
 Wheynell et communem viam subtus le Westparke de Middelham praedicta. 
 
 APPENDIX (F). 
 
 Grant of Richard Duke of Gloucester, 1479 . 
 (Introduction, p. IE) 
 
COLLEGIATE CHURCH OF MIDDLEHAM. 
 
 85 
 
 unacum advocatione ecclesiae de Middleham praedicta, cum suis per- 
 tinentiis in comitatu praedicto, habendum et tenendum praedictam acram terre 
 cum advocatione ecclesige praedictae cum suis pertinentiis praefatis decano et 
 capellanis collegii praedicti et eorum successoribus perpetue futuris tem- 
 poribus duraturis de capitalibus dominis feodi illius per redditus et servicia 
 inde debita, in puram et perpetuam elemosinam, secundum ordinationem et 
 dispositionem nostri praefati ducis inter cetera statuta nostra collegii praedicti 
 latius inde confecta et specificata. Et nos vero praefatus dux ac heredes 
 nostri praedictam acram prati cum advocatione ecclesiae praedictae praefatis 
 decano et capellanis et successoribus suis contra omnes gentes warranti- 
 zabimus et defendemus imperpetuum. Sciatis in super nos praefatum ducem 
 ac nos praefatos Johannem Huddelston, Jacobum Tirell, Willielmum Hopton, 
 Thomam Barow, Thomam Middelton, Willielmum Tunstall, Ricardum 
 Ratcliff, Ricardum Middelton, Galfridum Franke, et Robertum Braken- 
 bury attornasse, constituisse, et loco nostro posuisse dilectos nobis in Christo 
 Johannem Kendale, Thomam Otter, et Michaelem Warton nostros veros 
 et legitimos attornatos conjunctim et divisim ad intrandum in praedictam 
 acram prati, unacum advocatione ecclesiae predictae, et ad deliberandum vice 
 et nominibus nostris praefatis decano et capellanis collegii praedicti plenam 
 et pacificam seisinam et possessionem de et in praedicta acra prati, unacum 
 advocatione ecclesiae praedictae, secundum vim, formam et effectum hujus 
 praesentis cartae nostrae, ratum et gratum habituri quicquid dicti attornati 
 nostri fecerint aut aliquis eorum fecerit in praemissis. In cujus rei testi- 
 monium nos praefatus dux has literas nostras fieri fecimus patentes. Et nos 
 feoffati praedicti sigilla nostra praesentibus apposuimus. Datum vicesimo die 
 Decembris, anno regni regis Edwardi quarti post conquestum Angliae 
 decimo nono. 
 
 APPENDIX (G). 
 
 Agreement respecting Tithes, 1480 . 
 
 (Introduction, p. 11.) 
 
 Middleham. 
 
 This Indenture, made between the right high and mighty prince 
 Richard duke of Gloucestre, great chamberlayne, constable, and admirall of 
 
86 
 
 DOCUMENTS RELATING TO THE 
 
 England and lord of Middleham, on the one party, and sir William Be- 
 verley, deane, and the chapleyns of the College of Richard duke of 
 Gloucestre of Midelham, on that other party, witnesseth, that it is agreed, 
 accordit, and covenanted betweene the said partyes in maner and forme 
 following ; that is to wit, that the sayd deane and chapleyns for them and 
 their successours for ever been agreed, and by these present indentures 
 granten and truely releasen to the said duke, his heires and successors, 
 lords of Midleham, for ever and all their right, title and interest that they 
 in anywise have of and in the tythes of hay from tyme to be made 
 within the parks of Sonnescue and the West parke of Middleham and 
 in the closes called the Parson’s close, &c. ; and also of and in all brynnyng- 
 wood, thornes, breeres and brushell whereof they or the parsons of the 
 church of Middleham afore this tyme have beene possessed or had right 
 or title by force of any maner grant in this behalf before made. In 
 recompence whereof the said duke for him and his heires lords of Midleham 
 for ever is agreede and by these presente indentures granteth to the sayd 
 deane and chapleyns and their successors for ever certaine summes of 
 money under-written, that is to say, first, for the tyth of hay within the 
 sayd parke of Sonnescue, vj s . viij d . ; for the tyth of hay of the Parson’s 
 close, &c. and for the tyth of hay within the west parke of Midleham and 
 within the severalls and closes of Hedepyle, &e. and for the sayd brennyng 
 wood, &c. xx s . The same summes and every of them yearly to be payd 
 to the sayd deane and chapleyns and their successors for ever of the 
 revenues of the lordship of Midleham by the hands of the receivers 
 there for the tyme being, at tearmes there usuall by even portions. And 
 also the sayd duke for him his heires and successors for ever lords of 
 Midleham is agreede and by these presente indentures granteth to the 
 sayd deane and chapleyns and their successors for ever, one buck yearly 
 to be taken against the feast of the Assumption of our blessed Lady 
 Virgin, within the West parke aforesaid ; and a doe to be taken within the 
 sayd parke yearly against the feast of Saint Alkeld, and to them by the 
 keeper of the said parke from tyme to tyme to be deliverd, and likewise 
 a bucke to be taken yearely within the parke of Sonnescue aforesaid, &c. 
 And over the sayd duke for him his heires and successors lords of Mydle- 
 ham is agreede and by thes presente indentures granteth to the sayd 
 deane and chapleyns, and their successors for ever, sufficient pasture to 
 
COLLEGIATE CHURCH OF MIDDLEHAM. 
 
 87 
 
 and for eight oxen and two horses yearly within the said West parke of 
 Midleham. And that it shall be lawfull to the sayd deane and chapleyns 
 and their successors by their servants to have free entree in dryving into 
 the sayd parke the sayd oxen and horses or any of them at all times 
 covenable and convenient. And the same deane and chapleyns and their 
 successors for ever to have and enjoy all maner of tythes within the parks 
 and closes afore expressed and every of them, except the tythes of hay, 
 wood and breare afore excepted. In witnes whereof, to the one part of these 
 indentures remayning with the sayd duke, the sayd deane and chapleyns 
 have set their common seale ; and to the other parte of these indentures 
 remayning with the sayd deane and chapleyns the sayd duke have set 
 his seale. Yeven the first day of October in the xx th yere of the raigne 
 of kinge Edward the Fourth. 
 
 APPENDIX (H). 
 
 Charter of Exemption from Archidiaconal Jurisdiction. 
 
 (Introduction, p. 11.) 
 
 Universis Sanctse Matris Ecclesi® filiis ad quos prsesentes liter® perve- 
 nerint, seu quos infra scripta tangunt vel tangere possunt quomodolibet in 
 futurum, Johannes Sherwood sacr® theologi® professor archidiaconus Riche- 
 mundiae in ecclesia cathedrali Eboracense prothonotarius, salutem, et fidem 
 indubiam praesentibus adhibere. Noverit universitas vestra per praesentes 
 quod cum parochialis ecclesia loci de Middleham Eboracensis diocesis, infra 
 limites archidiaconatus nostri praedicti sita, quae de excellentis in Christo 
 principis et domini, domini Ricardi ducis Gloucestriae, serenissimi in Christo 
 principis Edwardi regis Angliae fratris germani, jure patronatus fuerat, 
 opera, devotione, solicitudine et pietate ejusdem ducis in ecclesiam colle- 
 giatam cum certo ecclesiasticorum ministrorum ibidem Deo famulantium 
 numero ad omnipotentis Dei praeexcelsaeque illius genetricis Mari® et sanct® 
 Alkild® virginis laudem pariter et honorem, auctoritate bon® memori® 
 Laurentii tunc Eboracensis archiepiscopi, de nostro ac aliorum quorum 
 intererat in hac parte consensu expresso sit erecta et firmitate munita, 
 
88 
 
 DOCUMENTS RELATING TO THE 
 
 roborata et stabilita, prout in literis desuper successive factis plenius con- 
 tinetur ; quodque nos Johannes archidiaconus auditus tantam dicti excellentis 
 principis et ducis devotionem in praemissis laudabilem, piam et meritoriam 
 fore, atque in divini cultus augmentum notorie tendere, jugisque conside- 
 rationis oculo attendentes et laudarrtes, volentesque propterea ecclesiasticoruin 
 ministrorum, parochianorum, inhabitantium, et incolarum collegiatae ecclesiae 
 praedictae praesentium et futurorum quieti et paci, contemplatione Dei et dicti 
 excellentis principis et ducis, salubriter providere, oblatae nobis pro parte 
 dicti principis et ducis petitioni favorabiliter annuentes, praedictam ecclesiam 
 collegiatam ipsiusque modernum et pro tempore existentem decanum 
 omnesque et singulos ejusdem ecclesiae ministros, parochianos, inhabitantes, 
 et incolas praesentes et futuros, ab omni archidiaconali, episcopali, ordinaria 
 et alia quacunque ecclesiastica jurisdictione, praeeminentia, dignitate, supe- 
 rioritate, notione etiam, vocatione, visitatione, inquisitione, correctione, 
 punitione, cohercione et potestate meis et archidiaconorum Ricbemundiae 
 in dicta ecclesia cathedrali Eboracense successorum nostrorum quorum- 
 cunque, necnon vicariorum et commissariorum nostrorum in spiritualibus 
 generalium, meorumque ac eorundem successorum officialium et omnium 
 aliorum nobis inferiorum judicum, quacunque jurisdictione, potestate, prae- 
 eminentia seu dignitate fungentium, quatenus ad nos vel successores nostros 
 attinet, nostra archidiaconali episcopali et ordinaria auctoritate plene totaliter 
 et integre exirnimus et tenore praesentium perpetuo liberamus, ipsosque 
 modernum et pro tempore existentem decanum ac ministros, parochianos, 
 inhabitantes, et incolas omnes et singulos in hac parte sufficienter exemptos, 
 et a nostra et successorum nostrorum jurisdictione, praeeminentia, dignitate, 
 superioritate, notione et vocatione, visitatione, inquisitione, correctione, 
 punitione, cohercione, et potestate quacunque totaliter exemptos, liberatos et 
 immunes fuisse et esse pro nobis et successoribus nostris quibuscunque in 
 perpetuum concedimus, pronuntiamus et declaramus ; reservatis nobis et suc- 
 cessoribus nostris quinque solidis sterlingorum in, de et super fructibus et 
 proventibus dictae ecclesiae de Middleham ad Michaelis et Paschae festa im- 
 perpetuum pro nostra et successorum nostrum pro tempore existentium in- 
 demnitate, nobis et successoribus praedictis vel eorum vicariis annuatim 
 solvendis. Hanc autem nostram exemptionem, declarationem, et decretum 
 ad ministros vel personas dicti collegii, seu parochianos, inhabitantes aut 
 incolas praenominatos praesentes vel futuros quoad aliquod aliud vel alia 
 
COLLEGIATE CHURCH OF MIDDLEHAM. 
 
 89 
 
 aliqua ecclesiastica beneficia infra jurisdictionem seu limites archidiaconatus 
 praedicti sita, etiamsi dignitates, personatus, prepositurae, prebendae, rectoriae, 
 vicariae, cantariae, liberae capellae, sive alia quaecunque beneficia quibuscunque 
 nominibus appellata fuerint, quae ipsos vel eorum aliquem pro tempore 
 
 obtinere contigerit, et ilia obtineant, volumus non extendi, ac eis 
 
 vel alicui eorum quominus ministri, personae, parocliiani, inhabitantes vel 
 incolae praefati, ratione aliorum beneficiorum hujusmodi, coram nobis et suc- 
 cessoribus ac vicariis praedictis et aliis judicibus ordinariis quibuscunque 
 
 respondere ac et illorum correctionibus respondentes, ac decretis 
 
 pari ter et mandatis quae illorum alia beneficia respiciunt, sive respicere 
 
 poterunt in futurum, perinde parere et obedire debeant, ac si ex- 
 
 emptio, declaratio et decretum hujusmodi nullatenus emanass 
 
 minime opitulari vel suffragari. In quorum omnium et singulorum fidem 
 et testimonium praemissorum praesentes literas fieri et nostri sigilli jussimus 
 appensione muniri. Datum Romae in domo nostrae solitae residentiae sub 
 anno Incarnationis Dominicae Millesimo quadringentesimo octuagesimo 
 secundo. Indictione secundum Romanam curiam quintadecima. Die vero 
 decima mensis Aprilis. Pontificatus ejusdem sanctissimi in Christo patris 
 et domini nostri domini Sisti divina providentia papae quarti anno undecimo. 
 
 APPENDIX (I). 
 
 Bull of Pope Sixtus the Fourth, 1482. 
 
 (Introduction, p. 12.) 
 
 Universis Sanctae Matris Ecclesiae filiis ad quos praesentes literae sive 
 praesens publicum instrumentum pervenerint sive pervenerit, Willielmus per- 
 missione divina abbas monasterii beatae Mariae de Jourvalle Eboracensis 
 diocesis, executor judex et commissarius sedis apostolicae, unacum venera- 
 bilibus in Christo patribus beatae Mariae extra muros Eboraci et de Fontibus 
 dictae Eboracensis diocesis monasteriorum abbatibus, suis propriis nominibus 
 non expressatis, cum clausula quatenus vos vel duo aut unus vestrum ad infra- 
 scriptas literas sanctissimi in Christo patris et domini nostri domini Sixti 
 CAMD. SOC. N 
 
90 
 
 DOCUMENTS RELATING TO THE 
 
 divina providentia papae quarti sufficienter et legitime deputatus, salutem in 
 Domino et fidem indubiam praesentibus adhibere. Noverit universitas yestra 
 quod nos quasdam commissionis sive delegationis literas sanctissimi in 
 Christo patris et domini nostri domini Sixti divina providentia papae quarti 
 praedicti sanas et integras, ac omni vitio et suspicione sinistra carentes, sub filo 
 cannabis more Romanae curiae bullatas, nobis per partem et ex parte excellen- 
 tissimi in Christo principis et domini Ricardi ducis Gloucestriae, serenissimi 
 in Christo principis et domini Edwardi Dei gratia Angliae regis illustrissimi 
 germani, nuper praesentatas, cum ea qua decuit reverentia recepimus, hujus- 
 modi verborum sub tenore — 
 
 Sixtus episcopus, servus servorum Dei, dilectis filiis beatae Mariae extra 
 muros Eboraci et de Fontibus ac de Jouravalla Eboracensis diocesis mo- 
 nasteriorum abbatibus, salutem et apostolicam benedictionem. Ministerio 
 sacri apostolatus disponente Domino praesidentes, ad ea nostrae solicitudinis 
 partes studio interponimus efficacius per quae personae ecclesiasticae quae- 
 cunque in via salutis eternae valeant feliciter contineri ; dudum siquidem ex 
 certis causis parochialem ecclesiam de Middleham Eboracensis diocesis infra 
 limites archidiaconatus Richmondiae in ecclesia Eboracensi, quae de jure pa^ 
 tronatus dilecti filii nobilis viri Ricardi ducis Gloucestriae carissimi in 
 Christo filii nostri Edwardi Angliae regis illustris germani erat, in collegiatam 
 ecclesiam, cum certo ecclesiasticorum, clericorum et ministrorum ibidem 
 Altissimo famulantium numero, auctoritate ordinaria erectam confirmavimus 
 et approbavimus, prout in nostris desuper confectis literis plenius continetur, 
 cum autem, sicut exhibita nobis nuper pro parte ducis memorati petitio con- 
 tinebat, expedire noscatur pro felici ipsius ecclesiae statu et personarum ejus- 
 dem directione et norma vivendi, quod deinceps perpetuis futuris temporibus 
 correctio punitioque delinquents capellanorum, clericorum, choristarum, 
 ministrorum, et aliarum personarum ecclesiae prefatae ad modernum et pro 
 tempore existentem decanum ipsius ecclesiae spectet, ita quod nullus alius de 
 correctione punitioneque hujusmodi se intromittere possit, pro parte ducis 
 praelibati nobis fuit humiliter supplicatum ut in praemissisopportuno providere 
 de benignitate apostolica dignaremur. Nos igitur, hujusmodi supplicationibus 
 inclinati, discretioni vestrae per apostolica scripta mandamus, quatenus vos vel 
 duo aut unus vestrum, vocatis qui fuerint evocandi ac de consensu illorum 
 quorum interest, quod deinceps perpetuis futuris temporibus correctio et 
 punitio capellanorum, clericorum, choristarum, ministrorum, et singularum 
 
COLLEGIATE CHURCH OF MIDDLEHAM. 
 
 91 
 
 personarum illius collegii hujusmodi pro tempore ut prsemittitur delinquen- 
 tium ad modernum et pro tempore existentem decanum ipsius ecclesiae et 
 nullum alium pertineant, ita quod nullus praeter eundem decanum de correc- 
 tione et punitione capellanorum, clericorum, choristarum, et ministrorum 
 hujusmodi pro tempore delinquentium ut praefertur se quolibet modo intro- 
 mittere presumat, auctoritate nostra statuere et ordinare curetis ; . . . 
 
 statutum, decretum et ordinationem hujusmodi, per vos vigore praesentium 
 fieri contigit ut praefertur exnunc initum decernimus, et nemo si secus super 
 hiis a quodam quavis auctoritate vel ignorantia contigerit attemptare, non 
 obstantibus quibuscumque felicis et bonae memoriae Octonis et Octoboni 
 olim . . . auctoritate apostolicae sedis legatorum, ac provincialibus et sino- 
 
 dalibus conciliis generalibus vel specialibus, constitutionibus et ordinationibus, 
 statutis quoque et consuetudinibus dictae ecclesiae, juramento, confirmatione 
 apostolica, vel quavis firmitate alia roboratis statutis, et consuetudinibus cete- 
 ris contrariis quibuscumque. Datum Romae apud Sanctum Petrum, 
 anno Incarnationis Dominicae Millesimo quadringentesimo octuagesimo 
 secundo, pontificatus nostri anno undecimo. 
 
 Ad quorum quidemcommissionis sive delegationis literarumexecutionemnos 
 Willielmus abbas, executor judex et commissariusantedictus, per partem excel- 
 lentissimi principis Ricardi ducis cum instantia requisiti, anno Dominicae Incar- 
 nationis, indictione, pontificatu, mense et die inferius descriptis, in ecclesia col- 
 legiata de Middelham dictae Eboracensis diocesis, in praesentis commissionis sive 
 delegationis literis superius descriptis nominati, pro tribunali publice sedentes, 
 ac in negotio in eisdem commissionis sive delegationis literis contento cogno- 
 scentes et legitime procedentes, vocatis, citatis et legitime praemunitis reveren- 
 dissimo in Christo patre et domino domino Thoma permissione divina Ebora- 
 censi archiepiscopo Angliae primate et apostolicae sedis legato, venerabilibus 
 viris Roberto decano et capitulo ecclesiae cathedralis Eboracensis, necnon re- 
 verendo viro magistro Johanne Shirwood sacrae theologiae professore archidi- 
 acono Richmondiae in eadem ecclesia cathedrali in speciali, omnibusque aliis 
 de jure in hac parte vocandis, citandis vel praemuniendis in generali, nulloque 
 in hac parte comparente causam rationabilem quare nos statuere decernere et 
 ordinare, prout in memoratis commissionis sive delegationis literis con- 
 tineatur non debeamus proponente agente aut allegante, seu quicquam contra 
 literas commissionis sive delegationis hujusmodi earumve finalem execu- 
 cionem aut aliter quomodolibet opponente, plena causae cognitione praehabita, 
 decreto insuper interposito, et aliis solempniis subsequentibus quae in hoc 
 
DOCUMENTS RELATING TO THE 
 
 92 
 
 negotio juxta juris exigentiam et qualitatem ejusdem negotii exiguntur, 
 jurisque ordine et literarum hujusmodi forma in omnibus observatis, ac 
 termino et via ulterius opponendi omnibus et singulis vocatis hujusmodi non 
 comparentibus per nos pro tribunali ut prsemittitur publice sedentes legitime 
 prseclusis, de expresso consensu dicti reverendissimi in Christo patris et 
 domini domini Thom® permissione divina Eboracensis archiepiscopi, Angli® 
 primatis et apostolic® sedis legati, ac dictorum venerabilium virorum 
 Roberti decani et capituli dictae ecclesiae cathedralis Eboracensis, et praefati 
 reverendi viri magistri Johannis Shir wood sacr® theologiae professoris 
 archidiaconi Richmondiae in dicta ecclesia cathedrali Eboracensi, ac omnium 
 et singulorum interesse in hac parte habentium, ceterorum vocatorum, cita- 
 torum, et praemunitorum non comparentium hujusmodi in contumacias, ad 
 petitionem providi viri Thomae Brounles clerici, procuratoris dicti excellen- 
 tissimi principis Ricardi ducis in hac parte sufficienter constituti, de cujus 
 probitate nobis legitimis constabat atque constat documentis, nomine procura- 
 toris ejusdem principis Ricardi ducis factis, de concilio jurisperitorum nobis 
 in hac parte assistentium, invocata Spiritus Sancti gratia, nostrum statutum, 
 decretum et ordinationem, auctoritate dicti sanctissimi in Christo patris ? 
 fecimus, legimus, et publicamus in haec verba — • 
 
 In Dei Nomine, Amen. Nos Willielmus, permissione divina abbas 
 monasterii beatae Mari® de Jourvalle, Eboracensis diocesis, executor judex 
 et commissarius sedis apostolic®, unacum venerabilibus in Christo patribus 
 beat® Mari® extra muros Eboraci et de Fontibus diet® Eboracensis dio- 
 cesis monasteriorum abbatibus, nostris propriis nominibus non expressatis, 
 cum clausula quatenus nos vel duo aut unus nostrum in quodam negotio 
 correctionem et punitionem capellanorum, clericorum, choristarum, minis- 
 trorum et aliarum personarum ecclesi® collegiat® loci de Middelham diet® 
 Eboracensis diocesis infra limites archidiaconatus Richmondi®, in ecclesia 
 cathedrali Eboracensi, et illius collegii pro tempore delinquentium intime 
 concernente, per literas commissionis sive delegationis sanctissimi in Christi 
 patris et domini domini Sixti divina providentia pap® quarti sufficienter et 
 legitime deputati, pro tribunali publice sedentes ac in negotio hujusmodi 
 cognoscentes et legitime procedentes, vocatis, citatis et legitime pr®munitis 
 reverendissimo in Christo patre et domino domino Thoma permissione 
 divina Eboracensi archiepiscopo Angli® primate et apostolic® sedis legato, 
 venerabilibus viris Roberto decano et capitulo ecclesi® cathedralis Ebora- 
 censis, necnon reverendo viro magistro Johanne Shirwod sacr® theologi® 
 
COLLEGIATE CHURCH OP MIDDLEHAM. 
 
 93 
 
 professore archidiacono Richmondise in dicta cathedrali ecclesia Eboracensi 
 in speciali, omnibusque aliis de jure in hac parte vocandis citandis et praemu- 
 niendis in generali, nulloque in hac parte coraparente causam rationabilem 
 quare nos statuere, decernere et ordinare, prout in memoratis commissionis 
 sive delegationis literis contineatur non debeamus proponente dicente aut 
 allegante, seu quicquam contra literas commissionis sive delegationis hujus- 
 modi earumve finalem executionem aut aliter quomodolibet opponente, plena 
 causae cognitione prsehabita, decreto in super interposito, et aliis solempniis 
 subsequentibus quae in hoc negotio juxta juris exigentiam et qualitatem 
 ejusdem negotii exiguntur, jurisque ordine et literarum hujusmodi forma in 
 omnibus observatis, ac termino et via ulterius opponendi omnibus et singulis 
 vocatis hujusmodi non comparentibusper nos pro tribunali ut praemittitur pub- 
 lice sedentes legitime praeclusis, de expresso consensu dicti reverendissimi in 
 Christo patris etdomini dominiThomae permissione divina Eboracensis archie- 
 piscopi, Angliae primatis, et apostolicae sedis legati, et dictorum venerabilium 
 virorum Roberti decani et capituli dictae ecclesiae cathedralis Eboracensis, et 
 praefati reverendi viri magistri Johannis Shirwod sacrae theologiae professoris 
 archidiaconi Richmondiae in dicta ecclesia cathedrali Eboracensi, ac omnium et 
 singulorum interesse in hac parte habentium,ceterorum vocatorum, citatorum, 
 et praemunitorum non comparentium hujusmodi in contumacias, ad peti- 
 tionem providi viri Thomae Brounles clerici, procuratoris dicti excellentissimi 
 principis Ricardi ducis in hac parte sufficienter constituti, de cujus probitate 
 nobis legitimis constabat atque constat documentis, nomine procuratoris 
 ejusdem principis Ricardi ducis factis, de concilio jurisperitorum nobis in hac 
 parte assistentium, invocata Spiritus Sancti gratia, ad nostrum statutum, 
 decretum, et ordinationem procedimus in hunc modum. In Nomine 
 Domini, Amen. Quia peracta, inactitata, deducta, allegata, et coram nobis 
 pro tribunali ut prsemittitur publice sedentibus posita et exhibita, dictaque et 
 depositiones testium coram nobis per dictum Thomam Brounles procura- 
 torem prsedictum nomine procuratoris dicti excellentissimi principis Ricardi 
 ducis productorum, ac per nos receptorum, admissorum, juratorum, et exami- 
 natorum, invenimus omnia et singula in literis commissionis sive delegationis 
 nostrse hujusmodi contenter suggesta et specificata veritati subjacere ac vera 
 fuisse et esse, idcirco nos Willielmus abbas, executor judex et commissa- 
 rius prsedictus, sic ut permittitur pro tribunali publice sedentes, de consensu 
 expresso prsedicto, quod deinceps perpetuis futuris temporibus correctio et 
 punitio capellanorum, clericorum, choristarum, et ministrorum, et singularum 
 
94 
 
 DOCUMENTS RELATING TO THE 
 
 personarum ecelesiae collegiatae loci de Middelham praedicti et illius collegii 
 hujusmodi pro tempore ut praefertur delinquentium ad providum virum 
 Willielmum Beverley modernum et pro tempore existentem decanum ipsius 
 ecclesise collegiatae et nullum alium pertineant, ita quod nullus praeter 
 eundem decanum de correctione et punitione capellanorum, clericorum, 
 choristarum, ministrorum, et personarum liujusmodi pro tempore delin- 
 quentium ut praemittitur se quovismodo intromittere presumat, auctoritate 
 dicti sanctissimi in Christo patris et domini nostri domini Sixti divina pro- 
 videncia papae quarti, nobis ut praemittitur in hac parte commissa, statuimus, 
 decernimus, et ordinamus in hiis scriptis ; quae omnia et singula vestrae uni- 
 versitati praedictae innotescimus per praesentes. In quorum omnium et singu- 
 lorum praemissorum testimonium atque fidem praemissorum praesentes literas 
 sive praesens publicum instrumentum, nostrum statutum, decretum, et ordi- 
 nationem praedictam in se continentes sive continens exinde fieri, et per pro- 
 vidum virum magistrum Johannem Haryngton in legibus baccalaurium 
 clericum, auctoritatibus apostolica et imperiali notarium publicum, scribam 
 nostrum per nos in hac parte specialiter assumptum, subscribi, publicari et 
 in hanc publicam forma redegi, ipsiusque signo ac nomine solitis et consuetis 
 mandavimus, nostrique officii sigilli appensione muniri fecimus. Facta, lecta, 
 et lata in scriptis fuerunt nostrum statutum, decretum et ordinatum prae- 
 dictum anno Dominicae incarnationis Millesimo quadringentesimo octuagesimo 
 secundo, indictione quinta decima, pontificatu dicti sanctissimi in Christo 
 patris et domini nostri domini Sixti divina providentia papae quarti anno 
 undecimo, mensis vero Julii die vicesimo quarto, in ecclesia collegiata de 
 Middelham praedicta, praesentibus tunc ibidem venerabilibus et discretis viris 
 domino Johanne Gryndon capellano et Radulpho Wintringham generoso 
 Eboracensis diocesis et aliis multis testibus, ad praemissa vocatis specialiter 
 et rogatis. 
 
 APPENDIX (K). 
 
 Mandate of King Henry VIII, to induct Dean Welden. 
 (Introduction, p. 17.) 
 
 Henricus Dei gratia rex Angliae et Franciae, et dominus Hiberniae, 
 dilecto sibi in Christo Thomae abbati de Gerves salutem. Cum nos decimo 
 die Februarii ultimo praeterito per literas nostras patentes dederimus et con- 
 
COLLEGIATE CHURCH OF MIDDLEHAM. 
 
 95 
 
 cesserimus dilecto nobis magistro Simoni Welden in decretis baccallario 
 decanatum de Medelham infra diocesem Eboracensem tunc per liberam 
 resignationem Johannis Halle ex causa permutationis in ecclesia parochiali 
 de Elsdem Dunolmensis diocesis, et non aliter neque alio modo factam 
 vacantem, et ad nostram donationem et dispositionem pleno jure spectantem, 
 habendum et gaudendum decanatum praedictum praefato Simoni Welden 
 cum omnibus suis juribus et pertinentiis, durante vita sua naturali, prout in 
 eisdem literis plenius continetur, vobis mandamus quod eundem magistrum 
 Simonem in realem et corporalem possessionem decanatus praedicti ponatis 
 et inducatis, admittentes ei stallum in choro et locum in capitulo prout moris 
 est. Teste me ipso apud Westmonasterium xvij die Februarii anno regni 
 nostri sexto. 
 
 Irrotulatur. (The King’s seal attached.) Pexsalle. 
 
 APPENDIX (L). 
 
 Valuation of the Deanery in 1535. 
 
 (Introduction, p. 17.) 
 
 The Deanery of Middleham is thus valued in the King’s Books : — 
 
 Comitatus Ebor\ 
 
 Decanatus ruralis de Cateryk. 
 Decanatus de Myddleham. 
 
 Simon Welden incumbens — Decanatus ibidem valet in 
 Mansione cum terris dominicalibus iij *. vj s . viij d . iij. vj. viij. 
 Decimis granorum xxvj s . viij d . foeni xiij s . iiij d . 
 
 Lanorum et agnellorum xxxiij 3 . iv d . vitu- 
 lorum vi s . 
 
 Pencione de domino nostro rege v 1 . 
 
 Minutis et privatis decimis ut in libro pas- 
 chali iii 1 . x s . 
 
 Reprisse, viz. in pensione annuali archidiacono 
 Richmondise 
 
 xv 1 . xvj 8 . 
 
 vj s . viij d . 
 
 Et valet clare .... xv 1 . ix s . iiij d . 
 
 Decima pars inde . . . xxx s . xi d . v 
 
 Ecclesiastical Survey taken in pursuance of an act of parliament, 26 
 Hen. 8th, in the First Fruits office. (Ex quodam Rotulo Pergam. in offic. 
 primitiarum Lond.) 
 

 DOCUMENTS RELATING TO THE 
 
 APPENDIX (M). 
 
 Royal License to grant Probates of Wills, &c. 
 
 (Introduction, p. 18.) 
 
 Henricus Octavus Dei gratia Angliae et Francise rex, fidei defensor, 
 dominus Hiberniae, ac in terris Supremum ecclesiae Anglicanae sub Christo 
 Caput, dilectis nobis decano ac ministris collegii de Myddelham intra 
 archdiaconatum Rychmondiae Eboracensis diocesis salutem. Cum omnis 
 potestas judiciaria ac jurisdicendi auctoritas atque etiam jurisdictio omnimoda 
 tam ea quae ecclesiastiea dicitur quam secularis regia potestate velut a supremo 
 capite ac omnium magistratuum intra regnum nostrum fonte primitus 
 emanaverit, ac praedilectus consiliarius noster Thomas Crumwell dominus 
 Crum well, praeclari ordinis Gartherii Miles, sigilli nostri privati custos, 
 atque ad causas ecclesiasticas nostra auctoritate quomodolibet tractandas 
 vicem gerens, Vicarius generalis, et officialis principalis, nostris et hujus 
 regni nostri Angliae negotiis tot ac tam arduis praepeditus existit, quod ad 
 omnem jurisdictionem nobis uti Supremo Capiti hujusmodi competentem 
 ubique locorum infra hoc regnum nostrum, et praesertim in hiis quae moram 
 commode non patiuntur, aut sine subditorum nostrorum injuria differri non 
 possunt, in persona sua expedienda non sufficeret : idcirco nos, vestris in hac 
 parte supplicationibus humilibus inclinati, et nostrorum subditorum parochi- 
 arum, vicorum, et locorum in quibus jurisdictionem exercere consuevistis 
 commodis consulere cupientes, vobis vices nostras sub modo et forma 
 sequenti committendas fore ; vosque licenciandos esse decrevimus, ad pro- 
 bandum igitur, approbandum et insumandum testamenta et ultimas voluntates 
 quorumcunque subditorum nostrorum infra parochias, vicos, et loca in 
 quibus jurisdictio per vos seu prsedecessores vestros aut illorum respective 
 commissarios temporibus retroactis exercebatur ac rite exerceri potuit et 
 consuevit ; bona, jura, sive credita [non ultra] summam centum librarum 
 vitae et mortis suarum tempore habentium, necnon administrationes bonorum 
 quorumcumque subditorum nostrorum infra parochias, vicos, et loca praedicta 
 ab intestato decedentium quorum bona, jura, sive credita non ultra summam 
 praedictam vitae et mortis eorundem tempore se extendent, quatenus hujusmodi 
 testamentorum probatio, approbatio, et insinuatio, atque administrationis com- 
 
COLLEGIATE CHURCH OF MIDDLEHAM. 
 
 97 
 
 missio per praedecessores vestros aut eorum commissarios temporibus re- 
 troactis fiebat ac fieri et comraitti potuit et non aliter committendi ; calculum 
 et ratiocinium et alia in ea parte expediendi, beneficiaque ecclesiastica 
 quaecumque ad vestram collationem sive praesentationem aut dispositionem 
 spectantia et pertinentia personis idoneis conferendi, easdemque in realem 
 actualem et corporalem possessionem eorumdem juriumque et pertinentium 
 suorum universorum inducendi, ac sic induci si et quatenus jus sic con- 
 ferendi et judicandi apud vos aut praedecessores vestros eorumve com- 
 missarios hactenus fuerit et non aliter, tarn in scriptis quam verbo faciendi 
 atque mandandi ; causasque lites et negotia coram vobis aut vestris com- 
 missariis pendentes indecisas, necnon alias sive alia quascunque sive quae- 
 cunque quae citra legum nostrarum et statulorum regni nostri offensa, coram 
 vobis vestrisve commissariis agitari aut ad vestram seu alicujus commissa- 
 riorum per vos vigore hujus commissionis deputandorum cognitionem 
 devolvi aut deduci valeant et possint, quatenus hujusmodi causarum cognitio 
 ad praedecessores vestros aut eorum officiales sive commissarios retroactis 
 temporibus pertinuit, ac per vos exerceri potuit et consuevit et non aliter, 
 examinandi et decidendi, ceteraque omnia et singula in praemissis tantum seu 
 circa ea necessaria seu quomodolibet opportuna, vice, nomine et auctoritate 
 nostris exequendi, vobis, de quorum doctrina vitaque et morum integritate 
 plurimum confidimus, vices nostras cum potestate substituendi tenore prae- 
 sentium committimus ac liberam concedimus facultatem, vosque in ea parte 
 licenciamus per praesentes ad nostrum beneplacitum duraturas, quacunque 
 inhibitione ante datum praesentium auctoritate nostra emanata in aliquo non 
 obstante, cum cujuslibet congruae et ecclesiasticae cohercionis potestate. 
 In cujus rei testimonium sigillum nostrum ad causas ecclesiasticas prae- 
 sentibus apponi mandavimus. Datum decimo quinto die mensis Julii anno 
 Domini Millesimo quingentisimo trigesimo octavo et regni nostri trigesimo. 
 
 Thomas Crumwell. 
 
 APPENDIX (N). 
 
 Lease of the Rectory of Middleham, 1562. 
 
 (Introduction, p. 19.) 
 
 This Indenture, made the xviij. daye of Januarye, in the sexte yeare 
 camd. soc. o 
 
98 
 
 DOCUMENTS RELATING TO THE 
 
 of the reign of oure sovereigne lorde, Edwarde the Sexte, by the grace of 
 God kynge of England, Fraunce, and Irelande, defensoure of the faithe, and 
 in earthe of the churche of Englande and also of Ierlande the suppreyme 
 heade, betweyne William Willys clerke, parsone of Myddelham, in the 
 countie of Yorke, of the one partie, and Thomas Claphame, of the same 
 towne, in the saide countie, gentleman, of the other partie, wytnessethe, 
 that the sayde William Willys clerke hathe demyside, granted, and to 
 ferme letten unto the saide Thomas Claphame all his hoolle parsonage 
 and rectorye of Middlehame afforsayde, with all maner of housses, lands, 
 tenements, meades, pastors, commons, tvthes, and oblations, with all and 
 syngular commodities, proffettes, and appurtynances to the saide parsonage 
 and rectorye in any wise belongynge or apperteyninge ; to have, hold, 
 occupie, and enjoye the sayde parsonage and rectorye, with all and everye 
 the premysses, unto the sayde Thomas Claphame, and his assignes, frome 
 the feaste of Seyncte Marke the Evangylyste next ensewynge after the 
 daite hereof, unto the ende and terme of sexe yeares nexte and imme- 
 diatlie followynge fullie to he complete and endede, yeldynge and paynge 
 therefore yearlie, durynge all the saide terme, unto the saide William W r yl- 
 lys, or his successors, thirty and foure poundes of lawfull Englishe money, 
 at two termes in the yeare, by even portions, that is to say, at the feaste 
 of Seyncte Mertyn in winter nexte ensewynge seventeyn poundes, or 
 within two dais of evther of the saide feastes, at and upon the tombe of 
 Seyncte Alkylde, in the paryshe churche of Myddelham afforsaide, and so 
 yearlie from yeare to yeare, and terme to terme, durynge all the said terme 
 of sexe yeares ; and if it forton the saide rentes, or any part thereof, to 
 be behynde and unpayde at any of the sayd feastes or termes, at the which 
 it ought to be payde, that then it shall be lawfull unto the sayde William 
 Willys, his assigns or successors, into the saide parsonage and rectorye, 
 with all and everye the premysses, to re-enter, and the same to reposseyde, 
 enjoye, and have agayne as in his or there former estayte, this indenture 
 or anythynge therein conteynede to the contrarye notwythstandynge ; pro- 
 vydede alwayse, that the sayde Thomas Claphame, and his assignes, shall 
 of his or there proper costes and chardges fynde, beare, and st.ende to all 
 maner of reparations of hedges and wallis belongynge to the sayde parsonage, 
 and of all other housinge, so often as neide shall requyer ; provydede also, 
 -that the saide Thomas Claphame, or his assignes, or any other person or 
 
COLLEGIATE CHURCH OF MIDDLEHAM. 
 
 99 
 
 persons in his name, or by his commandement, shall not cutt, fell, or shrede 
 any maner of eshe, elme, or ok woode belongynge to the sayde parsonage, 
 nor that the saide Thomas Claphame shall not durynge the saide terme 
 sell, lett, or sett over the saide parsonage, or any part or parcell thereof, 
 to any person but onlie to the saide William Willy s, or his assignes ; and 
 it is covenanted and agreed betwyne the saide parties that the saide William 
 Willys shall have reservede to hyme, his assignes and successors, oute of 
 the saide parsonage and rectorye, durynge all the saide terme, all the par- 
 celles hereafter followynge, that is to say, foure kye and two horses gaites 
 or pastors in the sprynge, wyntre, and somere, the teythe hay beyond Yoore, 
 and of all maner of enclosors that cannot be provede of the Myddellfelde, 
 Homesworthe, or Herdying (by two honeste men), and also all such houssyng 
 as the saide William Willys reservede in one indenture heretofore made 
 betweyne hym and the saide Thomas Claphame, savynge onlye the oxe- 
 house, which the saide Thomas Claphame shall have ; and also it is cove- 
 nanted and agreyde betweyne the saide parties that the saide William 
 Willys shall likewise have reserved unto him, his assignes, and successors, 
 durynge all the saide terme, one close callede the Foundation Close, one 
 piece of meadow called Sex Swaythes, the teythe hay of sex acres of 
 meadow of the said William Willys his owne in the Myddelfelde, and also 
 foure acres and one roode of medd grounde, that is to saye, one acre in 
 Homeswathe, one acre fyve roodes in Tutyng Close, three roods at Whennell, 
 three roodes at Crabtrye, and half an acre under Hubberskewghe ; and 
 also all the hoole jurysdiction, the churche yarde, mortuaries, probate of 
 testaments, weddynge money, churchynge, headmas pence, and cry somes ; 
 and further it is covenantede and agreede betwyne the said parties, that 
 the saide Thomas Claphame shall performe one indenture interchan geablie 
 betweyne the said William Willys and one William Parkynson, and take 
 and recyve of the saide William Parkynson all such somes of money as 
 shall be dewe to the saide William Willys, and pay it as parte of the saide 
 Thomas his rente for twoo yeares nexte to come ; and more overe the saide 
 Thomas Claphame dothe covenante by these presentes that he the saide 
 William Willys, his assigns or successors, shall not onlie at the ende of the 
 saide terme of sexe yeares peaseablie and quyetlie reentre into all the 
 saide parsonage, with the appurtenances, but also if it chaunce the saide 
 Thomas to departe to the mercye of God in the mean seasson, that then at 
 
100 
 
 DOCUMENTS RELATING TO THE 
 
 the feaste of Seyncte Marke nexte ensewynge the deathe of the saide 
 Thomas Claphame, this present lease to seasse, and to be utterlye voyde, 
 and of none effecte ; and if any maner of persone or persons within the 
 saide parsonage at any time duringe the for saide terme doo not well and 
 trewlie pay all their tythes and dewties belongynge to the saide parsonage, 
 then the saide Thomas Claphame shall of his own proper costs and charges, 
 without tract of time, attempte the lawe for the dewe reformacyon thereof ; 
 and also the saide Thomas Claphame shall peassablie and quyetlie avoyde 
 from any parte of houssying reserved to the said William Willys at his 
 commandement upon twoo days warnynge ; and further more it is cove- 
 nantede and agreeyde betweyne the saide parties, that the said William 
 Willys shall have reserved unto hyme, his assignes, and successors, during 
 all the said terme, twoo acres and three roods of the glebe lande laite in the 
 tenure of John Warde, and also the puttyne in and ordre of the preste 
 durynge all the saide terme, from tyme to tyme ; and for the trewe and 
 suer performance of all and syngler articles and covenantes herein con- 
 teigned and espycyfiede on the partie and behalf of the saide Thomas Clap- 
 hame, to be performede and kepte, the said Thomas Claphame, with suyrties 
 with hyme, standethe bounden to the saide William Willys in the some of 
 one hundrethe poundes by his deyde obligatorye bearynge the date hereof. 
 In wytness whereof eyther partie to other interchangeable to the partes of 
 these indentures have sett their handes and sealles, the daye and yeare 
 above sayde. 
 
 Thomas Claphame. 
 
 APPENDIX (O). 
 
 Decree of the Court of Delegates. 
 
 (Introduction, p. 28.) 
 
 Carolus SECUNDUs,Dei gratia Anglise, Franciae, et Hiberniae rex, fidei 
 defensor, &c. Universis et singulis cujuscunque dignitatis, status, gradus, 
 honoris sive praeeminentiae extiterint ad quos hae prsesentes literae nostrae 
 testimoniales pervenerint ipsas visuris lecturis sive legi audituris salutem. 
 
COLLEGIATE CHURCH OF MIDDLEHAM. 
 
 101 
 
 Universitati vestrae harum serie innotescimus et significamus quod, scrutatis 
 recordis et ar chi vis supremae curiae delegatorum nostrorum per Johannem 
 Oughton notarium publicum dictae curiae registrarii principalis deputatum 
 fideliter custoditis, invenimus sententiam quandem diffinitivam in dicta curia 
 nostra latam, et actum super promulgatione ejusdem expeditum, sub tenore 
 verborum sequentium, viz. 
 
 In Dei nomine, Amen. Auditis visis et intellectis ac plenarie et mature 
 discussis per nos Humfredum permissione divina Londonensem episcopum, 
 Johannem Kelyng militem capitalem justiciarium ad placita coram ipso rege 
 tenenda assignatum, Egidium Sweit militem et legum doctorem almae curiae 
 Cantuariae de arcbubus London’ officialem principalem, Robertum Wisemam 
 et Gulielmum Turner milites et legum doctores, illustrissimi in Christo 
 principis ac domini nostri domini Caroli secundi Dei gratia Angliae, Scotiae, 
 Franciae, et Hiberniae regis, fidei defensoris, &c. judices delegatos rite et 
 legitime constitutos, meritis et circumstantiis cujusdam causae appellationis 
 et querelae quae coram nobis in judicio inter Thomam Holdsworth clericum 
 rectorem rectoriae et decanum decanatus de Middleham in comitatu Eborum, 
 diocesis Cestrensis, provinciae Eboracensis, partem appellantem et quere- 
 lantem ex una, et Thomam Burwell legum doctorem reverendissimi in 
 Christo patris domini archiepiscopi Eboracensis vicarium in spiritualibus 
 generalem et officialem principalem provinciae Eborum partem appellantem 
 et querelantem partibus ex altera, aliquandiu vertebatur et pendebat, ver- 
 titurque adhuc et pendet indecisa, rite et legitime procedentes, partibusque 
 praedictis per earum respective procurators coram nobis in judicio legitime 
 et sufficienter comparentibus, parteque praefati Thomae Holdsworth clerici 
 sententiam ferri et promulgari ac justitiam fieri pro parte sua, parte 
 vero memorati Thomae Burwell sententiam etiam pro parte sua fieri 
 instanter respective postulantibus et petentibus, rimatoque primitus per 
 nos et diligenter recensito toto et integro processu coram nobis in 
 dicta causa habito et facto, servatisque per nos de jure in hac parte 
 servandis, ad sententiae nostrae diffinitivae sive nostri finalis decreti pro- 
 lationem in hujusmodi causa ferendum sic duximus procedendum fore, 
 et procedimus in hunc qui sequitur modum : Quia per acta inactitata, 
 deducta, allegata, exhibita, proposita, probata pariter et confessata com- 
 perimus luculenter et invenimus partem praefati Thomae Holdsworth 
 intentionem suam in quodam libello suo appellatorio alias ex parte sua in 
 
102 
 
 DOCUMENTS RELATING TO THE 
 
 hac causa dato et admisso, et penes registrum hujus curiae reman ente de- 
 ducto, quem quidem libellum pro hie lecto et inserto habemus et haberi 
 volumus, sufficienter et ad plenum quoad inferius pronuntianda fundasse 
 pariter et probasse ; nihilque effectuale aut sufficiens ex parte et per partem 
 praefati Thomae Burwell, legum doctoris, reverendissimi in Christo patris 
 domini archiepiscopi Eboracensis praedicti vicarii in spiritualibus generalis et 
 officialis principalis antedicti, in hac parte exceptum, deductum, allegatum, 
 exhibitum, propositum, aut probatum fuisse et esse, quod intentionem praefati 
 Thomae Holdsworth in hac parte elidei'it seu quomodolibet enervaret : 
 idcirco nos judices delegati antedicti, Christi nomine primitus invocato ac 
 ipsum solum Deum oculis nostris praeponentes et habentes, deque et cum 
 consilio jurisperitorum cum quibus in hac parte communicavimus matureque 
 deliberavimus, pro vice appellationis et querelae ex parte et per partem praefati 
 Thomae Holdsworth in hac factarumet interpositarum, ipsasque appellationem 
 et querelam suas fuisse et esse veras justas et legitimas, ac ex veris justis et 
 legitimis causis ad serenissimum dominum nostrum dominum Carolum se- 
 cundum Dei gratia Angliae, Scotiae, Franciae, et Hiberniae regem, fidei 
 defensorem, &c. et ad eum in suprema curia sua Cancellariae factas et inter- 
 positas fuisse et esse, necnon male perperam, nulliter et inique per judicem 
 a quo extitit in hac parte appellatum et querelatum processum fuisse et esse, 
 proque jurisdictione nostra seu potius domini nostri regis in hac parte ad 
 omnem juris effectum pronun tiamus, decernimus, et declaramus, omniaque 
 et singula gravamina et nullitates et injustitias per eundem judicem antedicto 
 Thomae Holdsworth in hac parte illata et inflicta, et praesertim ea vel id 
 propter quae vel quod fuit in hac parte appellatum et querelatum revocamus, 
 cassamus, et annullamus, proque nullis et invalidis ad omnem juris effectum 
 pronuntiamus etiam decernimus et declaramus, praefatumque Thomam Hclds- 
 worth clericum, rectorem ecclesiae et decanum decanatus de Middleham prae- 
 dicti, ab archiepiscopali visitatione Eboracensis archiepiscopi liberum et 
 immunem et exemptum fuisse et esse ad omnem juris effectum pronuntiamus 
 decernimus et declaramus, eundemque Thomam Burwell legum doctorem 
 reverendissimi in Christo patris ac domini domini Richardi providentia 
 divina Eborum archiepiscopi vicarium in spiritualibus generalem et officialem 
 principalem antedictum in expensis legitime, . . . ite et per partem praefati 
 Thomae Holdsworth in hac causa factis et faciendis, eidemque seu parti suae 
 solvendis, condemnandum fore de jure debere etiam pronuntiamus, decerni- 
 
COLLEGIATE CHURCH OF MIDDLEHAM. 
 
 103 
 
 mus et declaramus, sitque condemnatus easdemque expen sas ad summam 
 quadraginta librarum legalis monetae Angliae taxamus, et eundem Thomam 
 Burwell legum doctorem domini archiepiscopi Eboracensis antedicti vica- 
 rium in spiritualibus generalem et officialem principalem praedictum ad 
 realiter solvendum seu solvi faciendum praefato Thomae Holdswortb clerico 
 seu parti suae dictam summam taxatam citra vel ante primum diem mensis 
 Augusti proximo futurum monendum fore (sub pena juris) decernimus per 
 hanc nostram sententiam diffinitivam sive hoc nostrum finale decretum, 
 quam sive quod ferimus et promulgamus in hiis scriptis. 
 
 Humfr. London: John Kelyng. G. Sweit. Rob. Wyseman. 
 
 Will. Turner. 
 
 Lecta, lata et promulgata fuit hujusmodi sententia retroscripta per judices 
 delegatos in eadem mentionatos nono die mensis Julii anno Domini Millesimo 
 sexcentesimo sexagesimo sexto inter horas secundam et quin tarn post 
 meridiem ejusdem diei in aula publica hospitii dominorum servientium ad 
 legem in vico vocato Fleet Street, in praesentia mei Thomae Oughton notarii 
 publici actuarii assumpti, et testium in actis desurgum factis nominatorum, 
 ita testor, Tho. Oughton notarius publicus actuarius assumptus. Quae 
 praemissa omnia et singula, ita ut in curia praedicta agebantur et fiebant, sic 
 eadem omnia et singula universitati vestrae duximus exemplificanda fore, 
 eademque omnia et singula cum suis originalibus de recordo in curia prae- 
 dicta. remanentib us fideliter concordare attestamur. In cujus rei testimonium 
 sigillum dictae curiae nostrae praesentibus apponi fecimus. Datum Londini 
 in curia praedicta decimo quarto die mensis Augusti anno regni nostri deeimo 
 octavo. 
 
 J. Oldbury, Registrarius Regius. 
 
 APPENDIX (P). 
 
 Licence of Dean Cotes to a Midwife, 1721. 
 
 (Introduction, p. 34.) 
 
 Lucas Cotes clericus, artium magister, decanus ecclesiae collegiatae 
 de Middleham, legitim^ fulcitus, universis Christi fidelibus ad quos hoc 
 praesens scriptum pervenerit salutem. Vobis harum serie notum esse 
 volumus quod nos Mariam Stott uxorem Thomae Stott de Middleham 
 
104 
 
 DOCUMENTS RELATING TO THE 
 
 praedicta, propter ipsius peritiam, scientiam, et industriam circa mulieres in 
 summo periculo tempore puerperii, prout nobis ex parte sua per certificato- 
 rium sub manibus quarundem matronarum apparet, ad exercendum igitur 
 et practicandum artem sive industriam obstetricis in et per totum decanatum 
 de Middleham praedicta, prout res postulaverit et opus fuerit, approbamus, 
 eidemque Mariae Stott quantum in nobis est et de jure possimus licentiam 
 ac liberam facultatem damus et concedimus per praesentes quamdiu te bene 
 gesseris ( sic ) et donee habueris in mandatis nostris. Datum sub sigillo 
 officii nostri (quo in talibus utimur) vicesimo sexto die mensis Augusti 
 anno Domini 1721°. 
 
 Johannes Waite, Notarius Publ. 
 
 Lu. Cotes (L.S.) Decanus de Middleham. 
 
 (On a 10,v. stamp.) 
 
 APPENDIX (Q). 
 
 Grant of the Deanery to the Rev. R. B. Nickolls. 
 
 (Introduction, p. 40). 
 
 George the Third, by the grace of God of Great Britain, France, and 
 Ireland king, defender of the faith, and so forth, to all to whom these 
 presents shall come, greeting. Whereas the deanery of our collegiate 
 church of Middleham, in the county of York and diocese of Chester, is 
 now legally void by the death of the last dean thereof, and to our grant 
 and free disposition in full right belonging : Now know ye that we of our 
 especial grace, certain knowledge, and mere motion have for us, our heirs, 
 and successors, given and granted, and by virtue of these presents do give 
 and grant unto our trusty and well-beloved Robert Boucher Nickolls, 
 clerk, the office and dignity of dean of our collegiate church of Middleham 
 aforesaid, to have, hold, and enjoy the said deanery unto him the said 
 Robert Boucher Nickolls during his natural life, with all preheminences, 
 jurisdictions, titles, daily distributions, dividends, exceedings, refections, 
 mansions, houses, gardens, orchards, closes of pasture land, and all and all 
 manner of rights, commodities, emoluments, and advantages whatsoever to 
 the said deanery belonging or appertaining, or hereafter to belong, in as 
 
COLLEGIATE CHURCH OF MIDDLE HAM* 
 
 105 
 
 full and ample manner and form as the last dean thereof, or any other his pre- 
 decessors, had, held, and enjoyed, or ought to have had, held, and enjoyed, the 
 same, commanding and by these presents firmly enjoining and requiring the 
 chapter and chaplains of the collegiate church of Middleham aforesaid, or 
 any other or others whomsoever having sufficient power and authority in 
 this behalf, by whatsoever name or names they shall be called, that they do 
 rightfully and lawfully admit the said Robert Boucher Nickolls to the 
 aforesaid deanery, and assign him a stall in the choir and a place and voice 
 in the said chapter, and that they institute and invest him dean thereof, 
 with all its rights, members, and appurtenances ; and that they do and 
 perform all and singular other matters and things that shall be in any wise 
 fit and necessary to be done in this behalf. In witness whereof these our 
 letters we cause to be made patent. Witness ourself, at Westminster, the 
 twenty-ninth day of June, in the twenty-sixth year of our reign. 
 
 By the Lord Chancellor of Great Britain, 
 
 (L.S.) Greaves. 
 
 Endorsed . — In obedience to the mandate contained in the within 
 grant we whose names are underwritten did, on the eleventh day of 
 August, in the year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and 
 eighty-six, at the request of the within-named Robert Boucher 
 Nickolls, assign unto him a stall in the choir and a place in the 
 collegiate church of Middleham, in the county of York, according 
 to custom. Witness our hands, the said eleventh day of August, 
 one thousand seven hundred and eighty-six. 
 
 W m Chaytor. 
 
 J. Costobadie, Rect 1 ' of Wensley. 
 
 Leo d Howson, Vicar of East Witton. 
 
 Ja s Lawson, Minister of West Witton. 
 
 Alex r Simpson, Minister of Middleham. 
 
 Mark Bulmer, 'I 
 
 Tho s Harrison, > Churchwardens. 
 
 Geo. Hudson, J 
 
 Tho s Ibbetson, P. Clerk. 
 
 John Breare. 
 
 W m Luke Yarker, (Registrar). 
 
 CAMD. SOC. 
 
 p 
 
ADDENDA ET CORRIGENDA. 
 
 Since the preceding sheets were printed off, the editor has been furnished, 
 by the kindness of an antiquarian friend, with the following translation of 
 the charter granted by King Richard II., to Sir Ralph de Neville, first 
 Earl of Westmoreland, for a market and fair at Middleham. (Vide Pref. 
 p. xii. note.) 
 
 [R. Chart. A 0 11. Ric. 2. n. 21. Anno 1388.] 
 
 The king to all, &c. greeting. Know ye that we of our special favour 
 have granted, and by this our charter confirmed, to our beloved and faithful 
 Ralph de Nevill, that he and his heirs for ever may have a market every 
 week on Monday at his village of Midelham in the county of York, and 
 a fair there every year on the Feast of Saint Alkelda the virgin* : except 
 that market and that fair be to the hurt of neighbouring markets and 
 neighbouring fairs. Wherefore we will and firmly command for ourselves 
 and our heirs, that the foresaid Ralph and his heirs for ever have the 
 foresaid market and fair at the foresaid village, with all the liberties and 
 free customs belonging to a market and fair of this sort, except that market 
 and fair be to the hurt of neighbouring markets and of neighbouring fairs 
 as aforesaid. Besides, of our own special favour we have granted and 
 given licence for ourselves and our heirs, as much as we can, to the foresaid 
 Ralph, to inclose his wood of Raskelf called Raskelf Wode, near our 
 Forest of Galtres in the county foresaid, and thereof to make a park, and 
 three places to keep deer in, adjacent to the same park, the length of each 
 
 * This fair, which is still held on the 5th of November, being the feast of St. Alkelda, 
 and the two following days, in each year, is justly esteemed the largest cattle fair in the 
 north of England. 
 
ADDENDA ET CORRIGENDA. 
 
 107 
 
 of those places to keep deer in to be an hundred feet ; and he may hold for 
 himself and for his heirs for ever that wood so inclosed and the park there- 
 of, and the three foresaid places made to keep deer in, without any occasion 
 or impediment of us or of our heirs, justices, sheriffs, escheators, or other 
 bailiffs or ministers of ours whatsoever, provided, however, that wood be 
 not within the limits of our forest. These being- witnesses, the venerable 
 fathers, William archbishop of Canterbury, primate of all England ; 
 Thomas archbishop of York, primate of England, our chancellor ; William 
 bishop of Winchester ; John bishop of Hereford, our treasurer ; John 
 bishop of Sarum, keeper of our privy seal ; our very dear uncles Edmund 
 duke of York, and Thomas duke of Gloucester ; our very dear kinsmen, 
 Richard earl of Arundel, and Thomas earl of Warwick ; Richard Le 
 Scrope, and John Devereux, steward of our household, and others. Given 
 by our hand at Westminster the 16th day of February. 
 
 By the King himself. 
 
 Little need be added to those details of the Church which have been 
 already given. (Pref. pp. xvi. et seq .) The following inscriptions, how- 
 ever, on the front pannels of the organ-loft at its western extremity, ought 
 not to be omitted. 
 
 “ A Memorial of the Benefactions left to the Poor of Midleham, the several 
 securities being lodged in the vestry, 
 
 “ Robt. Pickering, late of Little Scrafton, in the parish of Coverham, 
 deceased, by his last will and testament, in writing, bearing date the 19th 
 day of Jan 1 ^, 1602, hath given 60 pounds, that some portion of lands might 
 be bought with the said ; and that out of the product thereof, amongst 
 other charities, thereout likwise to be paid, twenty shillings per ann m should 
 be paid by his exec 1 ' 3 to the poor of Midleham, upon every Thursday in 
 Passion week for ever, y e said being payable out of a certain dwelling house 
 in Ripon, in the possession of Rich d Skaife.”* 
 
 * This payment has been discontinued for many years. Vide 7th Report on Charities, 
 p. 702. See also Lawson’s Collectanea, vol. ii. p. 568. 
 
108 
 
 ADDENDA ET CORRIGENDA. 
 
 “ John Holdsworth, late of Midleham, gent n . deceased, by bis deed, 
 bearing date the 24th of Nov r , 1696, hath given and granted 3 gates in 
 the Busk’s Pasture, in Midleham, unto the Rev d Christ 1 ' Colby, dean of 
 Midleham, and his successors for ever, for the use of the poor thereof, y 8 
 said gates to be let by y e overseers, the profit thereof distributed by the 
 dean and overs rs every year on 24 th Dec r .” 
 
 “ Robert Dixon the ealder, late of Middleham, yeoman, deceased, by his 
 last will and testament, bearing date the 20 th day of Dec br , 1706, hath 
 given and bequeathed unto his two grand-children Rob* the son of Christ 1, 
 Dixon, and Rob* the son of Jn° Dixon, equally to be divided between them, 
 and to their heirs and assigns for ever, one close or parcel of ground lying 
 in Midleham, lately belonging to the said Rob* Dixon y e elder, commonly 
 called by the name of New Close, they paying out of the same for ever to 
 the dean, churchwardens, and overseers of y e poor for the township of 
 Midleham afforesaid, for the time being, the sum of forty shillings upon the 
 I s * day of May in every year for and towards the putting and binding out a 
 poor boy apprentice in every year, according to the discretion of the said 
 dean, churchwardens, and overseers, or as the majority of them shall agree.” 
 “John Heathfeild, late of Midleham afforesaid, deceased, by his last 
 will and testament, bearing date the 18 th day of Nov 1 ', 1688, hath given unto 
 the poor of Midleham 10 pounds, the interest of the said 10 pounds to be 
 paid yearly and for ever, to be disposed of by the churchwardens and 
 overseers of the said town ; and it is to be remembered that 5 pounds, part 
 of the said 10 pounds, is lately laid out, together with other monies hereafter 
 mentioned, in a purchase of a parcel of ground called Brough Close, now in 
 the possession of John Fawcit, for the use of the poor of Midleham.” 
 
 “ Thos. Sweeting, late of Liverpoole, in the county of Lancaster, merchant, 
 deceas’d, by his last will and testament, bearing date the 23 d day of May, 
 1706, hath given and bequeathed to the poor of the township of Midleham 
 the sum of 50 pounds, to remain as a stock, and the interest to be paid 
 yearly to their use, at the discretion of the minister, churchwardens, and 
 overseers of the poor for the time being ; which said sum of 50 pounds, 
 together with the sum of 5 pounds, part of the sum of 10 pounds before- 
 mentioned to be given to the poor by John Heathfeild before named, have, 
 by the dean, churchwardens, and overseers of Midleham, for the better 
 preserving thereof for the use of the poor, been lately laid out in a purchase 
 
ADDENDA ET CORRIGENDA. 
 
 109 
 
 of ground called Brough- Close, lying in Midleham, and lately belonging 
 to Jn° Fawcit, and now in the possession of the said Jn° Fawcit by virtue 
 of a lease thereof for his life, at the yearly rent of 55 shillings, by equal 
 payments, upon the 22 d of Oct r and the 20 day of May, for the use of the 
 poor of Midleham.” 
 
 “ Robert Nickelson, late of Midleham, deceased, hath given to the poor 
 of Midleham 10 pounds, which said 10 pounds hath been since disposed of 
 in a purchase of two cattle gates upon Midleham Moor, for y e use of the 
 poor, the rents whereof are to be distributed yearly, and for ever, upon the 
 24 th day of December amongst the poor of Midleham afforesaid.” Note. — 
 The security or title deeds for this legacy is not yet found, a.d. 1716. 
 
 “ William Tennant, late of Middleham, stone-mason, by his will, bear- 
 ing date about the year 1792, bequeathed the sum of fifty pounds, the interest 
 of which is to be paid to the schoolmaster of Middleham for instructing 
 two poor boys of the parish in reading, writing, or accounts. The dean 
 and churchwardens for the time being are from time to time to nominate 
 the two boys. 
 
 “ N.B. The said sum of 50 pounds is vested in the 5 per Cent. Navy 
 Stock in the name of the Rev d John Cockcroft. — Edward Place, A.M., dean ; 
 George Langdale, Thomas Haw, William Hanxwell, churchwardens, 1774.” 
 
 In addition to the above detailed charities there is also an ancient alms- 
 house in the town, the bequest, it is supposed, of some pious individual, 
 containing comfortable accommodation for six poor people. On a stone 
 inserted over the door appears the following inscription : 
 
 “ This almshouse is the property of the inhabitants of Middleham, and 
 was rebuilt by them for the use and maintenance of their poor in the year 
 1752.” 
 
 The church is very poor indeed in brasses or heraldry ; the only me- 
 morials of the kind which now remain in addition to those already noticed 
 are the following : 
 
 Above the inscription to Dean Coleby (vide Introduction, p. 31) are 
 engraved his armorial bearings, viz. : 
 
 Azure, a chevron or, between three escallops argent, within a bordure 
 engrailed of the second. 
 
 Crest. A dexter arm, armed and embowed, holding a sword, the point 
 dropping blood, all proper. Coleby. 
 
110 
 
 ADDENDA ET CORRIGENDA. 
 
 On a slab in the choir a brass, bearing, on a wreath, a fleur-de-lis, 
 beneath it — 
 
 E. P. 
 
 Ob. 28. Ap. 1785. 
 
 M. 58. 
 
 (Vide Introduction, p. 39.) 
 
 On a common flag in the centre aisle a small brass, with the inscription — 
 “Mary Fogerthwaite,” surmounting a heart, bearing the date 1731. 
 
 Above the sepulchral slab of Abbot Thornton (vide Preface, p. xx.) is a 
 marble tablet in memory of Mark Bulmer, of Middleham, ob. 30 June, 
 1792, his wife and son ; it bears the following arms : 
 
 Gules, a lion rampant, within an orle of billets or. 
 
 Crest. On a wreath of the colours, a demi-bull rampant regardant 
 gules, armed and unguled or, charged on the shoulder with an escallop 
 between two billets in fess of the second. Bulmer. 
 
 ERRATA. 
 
 Introduction, p. 17, line 8 from bottom, after vol. v. supply p. 246. 
 
 Ibid, last line, for u Well Hospital ” read “ the chantry in Tanfield 
 church.” 
 
 P. 33, last line, for “ Addenda ” read “ Preface, p. xiii.” 
 
INDEX, 
 
 Almshouse, 109 
 
 Abolition of the slave trade, 47 
 Armorial bearings, 109 
 
 Bedale, bequest to the poor of, 38, note 
 Beverley, Wm. rector of Middleham, 5 
 
 assents to the projected college, 
 
 6, 64 
 
 becomes first dean, 7 
 
 made dean of Wymbourne, 14 
 
 has a grant of the pension of the 
 
 abbey of York, 14 
 Bolton castle, xxvi 
 Booth, archbishop, 4, note 
 
 grants a commission to erect 
 
 Middleham college, 5, 63 
 death of, 9 
 
 Breare, John, esq. gives peal of bells, 
 xv, note 
 
 Charities, memorial of, 107 
 Chester, bishop of, testimony to the 
 jurisdiction of Middleham, 28, note 
 Church of Middleham, archaeological 
 details of, xvi, et seq. 
 
 • chantry in, xiii 
 
 Churchwardens, list of, 59 
 Coleby, Christopher, dean of Middle- 
 ham, 30, 31 
 
 Cotes, Luke, dean of Middleham, 32 
 
 — actions against, for marrying 
 
 without licence or banns, 32 
 
 ■ gains a verdict, ib. 
 
 demolishes ancient fittings of the 
 
 church, 33 
 
 notices of his family, 34 
 
 buried at Manchester, and in- 
 scription over his grave, 35 
 
 grants a licence to a midwife, 
 
 36, 103 
 
 Coverham abbey, xxvi 
 Cromwell, Thomas lord, licence of juris- 
 diction, 19, 96 
 
 Deans, catalogue of, 56 
 
 Errata, 110 
 
 Gloucester, Richard duke of, resolves to 
 found a college at Middleham, 3 
 takes the necessary steps to ac- 
 complish his design, 3 — 7 
 
 procures an Act of Parliament 
 
 to endow his college, 6 
 
 grants to it the advowson of the 
 
 parish, 11, 84 
 
 - — grants ten acres of land to his 
 
 college, 11 
 
 — enters into a composition for the 
 
 tithes, 11, 85 
 
 — last visit to Middleham, 16 
 
 Halle, John, dean of Middleham, 16,94 
 Halsted, Miss C. A. xxvii, 1 
 Hardy, J. Stockdale, tribute by, to dean 
 Nickolls, 44 
 
 Holdsworth, Thomas, dean of Middle- 
 ham, 27 
 
 appeals against the archbishop’s 
 
 jurisdiction, 28, 100 
 Hospital and chapel, xv 
 Hutton family, notice of, 35, note 
 
 Jervaux abbey, 12, note 
 
 Linley, family of, 22 
 Loftus family, notice of, 26, and note 
 Lytton, Sir E. B. his remarks on Mid- 
 dleham, viii 
 
 Market, charter for, 106 
 
112 
 
 INDEX, 
 
 Marriages from all parts of England, 
 celebrated at the collegiate church, 
 Middleham, 32 
 Medelai (Middleham), ix 
 Middleham, castle of, built, ix 
 
 church of, ix, xi 
 
 castle of, described, xxiii, et seq. 
 
 Gloucester’s partiality for, 3 
 
 parish church of, erected into a 
 
 collegiate church, 7, 66 
 
 castle, notices of, 22, 25 
 
 Ministers, catalogue of, 56 
 Monasteries, dissolution of, noticed, 18 
 
 Nickolls, R. B. dean of Middleham, 
 40 
 
 installation of, 104 
 
 * character of, 40 
 
 discipline enforced by, 42, 43 
 
 death, 43 
 
 epitaph on, 44, note 
 
 writings of, 54 
 
 Norfolk, manors in, granted to Middle- 
 ham College, 15 
 
 Pagett, Henry, dean of Middleham, 21 
 
 Nathaniel, dean of, 24 
 
 Parish clerks, list of, 58 
 Pearson, Dr. Thomas, commissary to 
 the archdeacon of Richmond, 6 
 
 — his assent, 71 
 
 Penances performed, 38 
 
 Place, Edward, dean of Middleham, 36 
 
 his installation, 37 
 
 appoints a commissary, ib. 
 
 curious notice with regard to 
 
 marriages, ib. 
 
 notice of family of, 36, note 
 
 Edward, the younger, succeeds 
 
 his father as dean, 38 
 
 loses his only son, 39 
 
 his death, 40 
 
 Pontefract Castle, a residence of Richard 
 duke of Gloucester, 2 
 Pullein, Joshua, dean of Middleham, 
 24 
 
 family notice of, 24, note 
 
 Registrars, list of, 58 
 Richmond, archdeacon, resigns his ju- 
 risdiction, 11, 87 
 — castle, xxvi 
 
 — title of earl of not assumed by 
 
 sir Ralph de Neville, xii, note 
 
 Rotheram, archbishop, 9, note 
 resigns his jurisdiction as ordi- 
 nary and metropolitan, 10, 82 
 
 Statutes drawn up for government of 
 Middleham College, 7 
 
 extracts from, 8 
 
 confirmed by the Holy See, 9 
 
 Surrogates, list of, 57 
 
 Tanfield castle and church, xxvi 
 Thornton, abbot, xx 
 Tomlinson, Rev. G. C. xxvii 
 
 Valor Ecclesiasticus, 17, 95 
 
 Welden, Simon, dean of Middleham, 17 
 Wensleydale, beauty of, xxv, 2 
 Whitaker’s statements erroneous, xi, 
 xii note, xvii, 10 note, 17 notes, 20, 
 and note 
 
 — omits a dean, 16 
 
 . — omits three deans in succession, 
 
 21 
 
 Willes, William, dean of Middleham, 
 18 
 
 — grants a lease of the rectory of 
 
 Middleham, 19, 97 
 Wilberforce, 40 
 
 Wood, P. S. dean of Middleham, 54 
 
 J. B. NICHOLS AND SON, PRINTERS, 25, PARLIAMENT STREET. 
 

 ♦ '^: ^ \ fir, % ■ y/'- i- V ^ y'y'' 
 
 i V,\y 1 yA A /,